# Interactive English Master Transcript Book This book contains the compiled study transcripts for the @interactive_english YouTube channel. ## Table of Contents - [1. 1-HOUR LESSON - C2 Vocab Every Serious Learner Must Know](#1-1-hour-lesson---c2-vocab-every-serious-learner-must-know) - [2. 1-HOUR LESSON - Improve Your Writing โœ๏ธ (Academic, Professional, & Descriptive)](#2-1-hour-lesson---improve-your-writing-academic-professional-descriptive) - [3. 1-HOUR LESSON - Learn Over 100 English Phrasal Verbs](#3-1-hour-lesson---learn-over-100-english-phrasal-verbs) - [4. 1-HOUR PRONUNCIATION LESSON | 100+ Words to Fine-tune Your Pronunciation](#4-1-hour-pronunciation-lesson-100-words-to-fine-tune-your-pronunciation) - [5. 1-HOUR VOCABULARY LESSON - Descriptive Words & Phrases to be More Accurate & Precise](#5-1-hour-vocabulary-lesson---descriptive-words-phrases-to-be-more-accurate-precise) - [6. 1-HOUR VOCABULARY LESSON | 100 Phrases for Casual Conversation](#6-1-hour-vocabulary-lesson-100-phrases-for-casual-conversation) - [7. 100 Collocations Native Speakers Use in Academic Discussions](#7-100-collocations-native-speakers-use-in-academic-discussions) - [8. 100 Most Common Words in English | YOU NEED TO KNOW THESE WORDS](#8-100-most-common-words-in-english-you-need-to-know-these-words) - [9. 10 Adjectives to Help You Sound Like a SUPER GENIUS ๐Ÿค“ | Advanced Vocabulary](#9-10-adjectives-to-help-you-sound-like-a-super-genius-advanced-vocabulary) - [10. 10 Advanced Adjectives to Help You Sound More Intelligent](#10-10-advanced-adjectives-to-help-you-sound-more-intelligent) - [11. 10 Advanced Adjectives to Help You Sound Smarter](#11-10-advanced-adjectives-to-help-you-sound-smarter) - [12. 10 Advanced Adverbs to Help You Sound Smarter](#12-10-advanced-adverbs-to-help-you-sound-smarter) - [13. 10 Advanced Nouns to Help You Sound Smarter](#13-10-advanced-nouns-to-help-you-sound-smarter) - [14. 10 Advanced Verbs to Help You Sound Smarter](#14-10-advanced-verbs-to-help-you-sound-smarter) - [15. 10 Brand Names that Became Common Words](#15-10-brand-names-that-became-common-words) - [16. 10 Common Slang Words Americans Say All the Time](#16-10-common-slang-words-americans-say-all-the-time) - [17. 10 Common Words You' (PROBABLY) Mispronounce ๐Ÿ’ฌ](#17-10-common-words-you-probably-mispronounce-) - [18. 10 Dessert Idioms (YUM!) to Help Improve Your Fluency](#18-10-dessert-idioms-yum-to-help-improve-your-fluency) - [19. 10 Difficult Words to Pronounce in English](#19-10-difficult-words-to-pronounce-in-english) - [20. 10 Food Words that Are Difficult to Pronounce in English](#20-10-food-words-that-are-difficult-to-pronounce-in-english) - [21. 10 Useful Slang Words that ALL Americans Know](#21-10-useful-slang-words-that-all-americans-know) - [22. 10 Useful Tips to Help You Become an Excellent Writer โœ๏ธ](#22-10-useful-tips-to-help-you-become-an-excellent-writer-) - [23. 10 WORDS ENGLISH HAS TAKEN FROM FRENCH, GERMAN, & SPANISH](#23-10-words-english-has-taken-from-french-german-spanish) - [24. 10 Words English Learners Often Mispronounce](#24-10-words-english-learners-often-mispronounce) - [25. 12 BAD Words to IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY](#25-12-bad-words-to-improve-your-vocabulary) - [26. 12 Beautiful Words to Help Build Your Vocabulary](#26-12-beautiful-words-to-help-build-your-vocabulary) - [27. 12 English Words that People Say WRONG ๐Ÿ˜ณ | Pronunciation Lesson](#27-12-english-words-that-people-say-wrong-pronunciation-lesson) - [28. 12 GOOD Words to IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY](#28-12-good-words-to-improve-your-vocabulary) - [29. 12 Powerful Phrases to Talk About Personality Without Sounding Boring!](#29-12-powerful-phrases-to-talk-about-personality-without-sounding-boring) - [30. 13 Scary Words ๐Ÿ‘ป | Useful Vocabulary Lesson](#30-13-scary-words-useful-vocabulary-lesson) - [31. 15 Advanced Adjectives to Describe People and Build Your Vocabulary](#31-15-advanced-adjectives-to-describe-people-and-build-your-vocabulary) - [32. 15 Advanced Phrases w/ HAVE, DO & MAKE to Boost Your Proficiency](#32-15-advanced-phrases-w-have-do-make-to-boost-your-proficiency) - [33. 15 Useful Words to Say You're HAPPY ๐Ÿ˜ƒ](#33-15-useful-words-to-say-youre-happy-) - [34. 16 Useful Words & Phrases to Describe People](#34-16-useful-words-phrases-to-describe-people) - [35. 17 Education Idioms & Phrases | Build your informal vocabulary](#35-17-education-idioms-phrases-build-your-informal-vocabulary) - [36. 17 Super Useful Ways to Become FLUENT FAST ๐Ÿš€](#36-17-super-useful-ways-to-become-fluent-fast-) - [37. 17 Writing Tips That Will Help You Write Like a Pro!](#37-17-writing-tips-that-will-help-you-write-like-a-pro) - [38. 1 HOUR LESSON - Advanced Grammar In Use](#38-1-hour-lesson---advanced-grammar-in-use) - [39. 1 HOUR LESSON - Useful Idioms & Expressions to Build Your Vocabulary](#39-1-hour-lesson---useful-idioms-expressions-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [40. 20+ ANIMAL GROUP NAMES | Useful Vocabulary Lesson](#40-20-animal-group-names-useful-vocabulary-lesson) - [41. 20 Advanced Nouns to Describe People](#41-20-advanced-nouns-to-describe-people) - [42. 20 POSITIVE PHRASAL VERBS TO SURVIVE 2020](#42-20-positive-phrasal-verbs-to-survive-2020) - [43. 225 Useful Collocations You MUST Know | 1-Hour Vocabulary Masterclass](#43-225-useful-collocations-you-must-know-1-hour-vocabulary-masterclass) - [44. 25 Academic English Words You MUST Know | Great for University, IELTS, and TOEFL](#44-25-academic-english-words-you-must-know-great-for-university-ielts-and-toefl) - [45. 25 Academic English Words You Should Know | Great for University, IELTS, or TOEFL](#45-25-academic-english-words-you-should-know-great-for-university-ielts-or-toefl) - [46. 25 Academic Words You Need to Know | Perfect for University, IELTS, or TOEFL](#46-25-academic-words-you-need-to-know-perfect-for-university-ielts-or-toefl) - [47. 25 Academic Words You Should Know for University, IELTS, and TOEFL](#47-25-academic-words-you-should-know-for-university-ielts-and-toefl) - [48. 25 Advanced Adjectives to Describe Places](#48-25-advanced-adjectives-to-describe-places) - [49. 25 Grammar Rules on When to Use THE](#49-25-grammar-rules-on-when-to-use-the) - [50. 25 Jobs & Occupations | Advanced English Vocabulary](#50-25-jobs-occupations-advanced-english-vocabulary) - [51. 25 Jobs & Occupations | Vocabulary Lesson (Live-Stream)](#51-25-jobs-occupations-vocabulary-lesson-live-stream) - [52. 25 Most Common Adjectives You NEED to Know](#52-25-most-common-adjectives-you-need-to-know) - [53. 25 Most Common English Verbs You NEED to Know](#53-25-most-common-english-verbs-you-need-to-know) - [54. 25 Most Common Nouns in English | Words You Need to Know](#54-25-most-common-nouns-in-english-words-you-need-to-know) - [55. 25 Super Useful Phrases You Will Use Again and Again](#55-25-super-useful-phrases-you-will-use-again-and-again) - [56. 25 Useful Words that You Should NOT Mispronounce](#56-25-useful-words-that-you-should-not-mispronounce) - [57. 25 Ways to Say "Thank you" in English](#57-25-ways-to-say-thank-you-in-english) - [58. 25 Words Learners Mispronounce | American Pronunciation + Vocabulary](#58-25-words-learners-mispronounce-american-pronunciation-vocabulary) - [59. 3-WORD PHRASAL VERBS THAT ARE GOOD TO KNOW](#59-3-word-phrasal-verbs-that-are-good-to-know) - [60. 3-WORD PHRASAL VERBS | Build Your Vocabulary](#60-3-word-phrasal-verbs-build-your-vocabulary) - [61. 3-WORD PHRASES VERBS to Supercharge Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ช](#61-3-word-phrases-verbs-to-supercharge-your-vocabulary-) - [62. 30+ Ways to Use the Word ASS | American Expressions ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#62-30-ways-to-use-the-word-ass-american-expressions-) - [63. 30 Contractions to Help You Speak Faster](#63-30-contractions-to-help-you-speak-faster) - [64. 33 Useful Collocations to Build Your Vocabulary](#64-33-useful-collocations-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [65. 35 Essential Vocabulary Words for Flying โœˆ๏ธ](#65-35-essential-vocabulary-words-for-flying-) - [66. 3 Advanced English Phrases Native Speakers Use All the Time!](#66-3-advanced-english-phrases-native-speakers-use-all-the-time) - [67. 3 American Idioms Might Surprise You ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#67-3-american-idioms-might-surprise-you-) - [68. 3 Awesome Online Resources for English Learners ๐Ÿ‘](#68-3-awesome-online-resources-for-english-learners-) - [69. 3 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SPEAKING ๐Ÿ’ฌ](#69-3-effective-ways-to-improve-your-speaking-) - [70. 3 Grammar Mistakes Advanced Learners Often Make ๐Ÿ˜ณ](#70-3-grammar-mistakes-advanced-learners-often-make-) - [71. 3 Words You Need to Know for a Doctor's Checkup](#71-3-words-you-need-to-know-for-a-doctors-checkup) - [72. 40 Super Useful Phrases to Show that You Care](#72-40-super-useful-phrases-to-show-that-you-care) - [73. 4 Important Phrasal Verbs with CHECK | Vocabulary Lesson](#73-4-important-phrasal-verbs-with-check-vocabulary-lesson) - [74. 4 Things You Won't Learn in an English Textbook](#74-4-things-you-wont-learn-in-an-english-textbook) - [75. 50 American Idioms in 60 Minutes ๐Ÿ”ฅ | Sound Instantly More Fluent!](#75-50-american-idioms-in-60-minutes-sound-instantly-more-fluent) - [76. 50 Collocations to QUICKLY Build Your Vocabulary in 2025](#76-50-collocations-to-quickly-build-your-vocabulary-in-2025) - [77. 50 Idioms Native Speakers Use Daily | 60 Minutes to Sound American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#77-50-idioms-native-speakers-use-daily-60-minutes-to-sound-american-) - [78. 50 Super Useful Phrasal Verbs to Build Your Vocabulary](#78-50-super-useful-phrasal-verbs-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [79. 50 Useful Collocations with TAKE | Build Your Vocabulary](#79-50-useful-collocations-with-take-build-your-vocabulary) - [80. 5 Advanced Expressions in Spoken English ๐Ÿ’ฌ](#80-5-advanced-expressions-in-spoken-english-) - [81. 5 Adverbs Native Speakers Use Daily ๐Ÿ”ฅ Fix Your Pronunciation!](#81-5-adverbs-native-speakers-use-daily-fix-your-pronunciation) - [82. 5 BIZARRE WORDS w/ SPELLING & PRONUNCIATION THAT DO NOT MATCH ๐Ÿ™…โ€โ™‚๏ธ](#82-5-bizarre-words-w-spelling-pronunciation-that-do-not-match-) - [83. 5 Common GRAMMAR MISTAKES English Learners Often Make](#83-5-common-grammar-mistakes-english-learners-often-make) - [84. 5 Effective Tips to Become a Confident Speaker](#84-5-effective-tips-to-become-a-confident-speaker) - [85. 5 Phrasal Verbs with GET | Useful Grammar Lesson](#85-5-phrasal-verbs-with-get-useful-grammar-lesson) - [86. 5 SUPER LONG WORDS...VERY DIFFICULT TO PRONOUNCE](#86-5-super-long-wordsvery-difficult-to-pronounce) - [87. 5 TRICKY WORDS TO PRONOUNCE IN ENGLISH](#87-5-tricky-words-to-pronounce-in-english) - [88. 5 Tricky Grammar Rules You Need to Remember](#88-5-tricky-grammar-rules-you-need-to-remember) - [89. 5 Useful Phrasal Verbs with CHECK to Improve Your English](#89-5-useful-phrasal-verbs-with-check-to-improve-your-english) - [90. 5 Useful Tips on How to Learn & Improve Your English](#90-5-useful-tips-on-how-to-learn-improve-your-english) - [91. 5 Useful Verbs You May Be Mispronouncing... ๐Ÿ˜ง](#91-5-useful-verbs-you-may-be-mispronouncing-) - [92. 5 Useful Ways to Improve Your English Fluency](#92-5-useful-ways-to-improve-your-english-fluency) - [93. 5 WORDS w/ CRAZY SPELLING & DIFFICULT PRONUNCIATION](#93-5-words-w-crazy-spelling-difficult-pronunciation) - [94. 5 Ways on How to Achieve English Fluency](#94-5-ways-on-how-to-achieve-english-fluency) - [95. 6 Ways to Improve Your Fluency & Become a Better Speaker ๐Ÿ’ฌ](#95-6-ways-to-improve-your-fluency-become-a-better-speaker-) - [96. 75 ADVANCED COLLOCATIONS | Supercharge Your Vocab (B2, C1, & C2 Phrases)](#96-75-advanced-collocations-supercharge-your-vocab-b2-c1-c2-phrases) - [97. 75 Difficult Words to Pronounce (Fine-tune Your Pronunciation)](#97-75-difficult-words-to-pronounce-fine-tune-your-pronunciation) - [98. 7 Creative Ways to Get More SPEAKING Practice](#98-7-creative-ways-to-get-more-speaking-practice) - [99. 7 Grammar Mistakes You Should Definitely Correct](#99-7-grammar-mistakes-you-should-definitely-correct) - [100. 7 Super-Useful Expressions with the Word BRIDGE](#100-7-super-useful-expressions-with-the-word-bridge) - [101. 7 Super Useful Idioms to Improve Your Fluency](#101-7-super-useful-idioms-to-improve-your-fluency) - [102. 7 Things Americans Don't Really Say & What You Should Say Instead](#102-7-things-americans-dont-really-say-what-you-should-say-instead) - [103. 8 Common Writing Mistakes (AND HOW TO FIX THEM)](#103-8-common-writing-mistakes-and-how-to-fix-them) - [104. 8 Types of NOUNS | Improve Your Grammar](#104-8-types-of-nouns-improve-your-grammar) - [105. 8 Useful Proverbs to Offer Advice | ADVANCED EXPRESSIONS](#105-8-useful-proverbs-to-offer-advice-advanced-expressions) - [106. 8 Ways to Say "JOIN" | Build Your Vocabulary](#106-8-ways-to-say-join-build-your-vocabulary) - [107. 8 Words Native Speakers Don't Say & What You Should Say Instead](#107-8-words-native-speakers-dont-say-what-you-should-say-instead) - [108. A, AN, THE, or NO ARTICLE | English Grammar Quiz](#108-a-an-the-or-no-article-english-grammar-quiz) - [109. ACHIEVE ENGLISH FLUENCY | Here are 5 useful tips... ๐ŸŽŠ](#109-achieve-english-fluency-here-are-5-useful-tips-) - [110. ADVANCED AMERICAN PHRASES YOU NEED TO KNOW ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#110-advanced-american-phrases-you-need-to-know-) - [111. ADVANCED BANKING VOCABULARY ๐Ÿฆ | Words and phrases you need to know](#111-advanced-banking-vocabulary-words-and-phrases-you-need-to-know) - [112. ADVANCED COURTROOM VOCABULARY ๐Ÿ‘จโ€โš–๏ธ | Incredibly Useful Words & Phrases](#112-advanced-courtroom-vocabulary-incredibly-useful-words-phrases) - [113. ADVANCED DENTAL VOCABULARY ๐Ÿฆท | Words & phrases you should know](#113-advanced-dental-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-should-know) - [114. ADVANCED DRIVING VOCABULARY ๐Ÿš˜ | Words & phrases you need to know](#114-advanced-driving-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-need-to-know) - [115. ADVANCED FLYING VOCABULARY โœˆ๏ธ | Words & phrases you need to know](#115-advanced-flying-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-need-to-know) - [116. ADVANCED HEALTH VOCABULARY โค๏ธ | Words & phrases you need to know](#116-advanced-health-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-need-to-know) - [117. ADVANCED HOSPITAL VOCABULARY ๐Ÿจ | Words & phrases you should know](#117-advanced-hospital-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-should-know) - [118. ADVANCED MILITARY VOCABULARY ๐Ÿช– | Words & phrases you should know](#118-advanced-military-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-should-know) - [119. ADVANCED PHARMACY VOCABULARY ๐Ÿ’Š | Words & phrases you should know](#119-advanced-pharmacy-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-should-know) - [120. ADVANCED SCIENCE VOCABULARY | Words & Phrases You Should Know](#120-advanced-science-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-should-know) - [121. ADVANCED SPRING VOCABULARY ๐ŸŒผ | Words and phrases you need to know](#121-advanced-spring-vocabulary-words-and-phrases-you-need-to-know) - [122. ADVANCED VERBS FOR WORK ๐Ÿ‘” | Vocabulary Lesson](#122-advanced-verbs-for-work-vocabulary-lesson) - [123. ADVANCED VOCABULARY QUIZ LESSON (Live-Stream)](#123-advanced-vocabulary-quiz-lesson-live-stream) - [124. ADVANCED VOCABULARY QUIZ | Do You Know These Words?](#124-advanced-vocabulary-quiz-do-you-know-these-words) - [125. ADVANCED VOCAB FOR 2026! ๐ŸŽ‰ Words & Phrases You Should Know](#125-advanced-vocab-for-2026-words-phrases-you-should-know) - [126. ADVANCED WORDS, PHRASES, & IDIOMS โ™ ๏ธ | Useful Gambling Vocabulary](#126-advanced-words-phrases-idioms-useful-gambling-vocabulary) - [127. ADVERB CLAUSES | All the Grammar You Need to Know](#127-adverb-clauses-all-the-grammar-you-need-to-know) - [128. ADVERB VOCABULARY QUIZ | Advanced English Words](#128-adverb-vocabulary-quiz-advanced-english-words) - [129. ADVICE for English Teachers & English Learners + Vocabulary](#129-advice-for-english-teachers-english-learners-vocabulary) - [130. AMERICAN ENGLISH ACCENT TRAINING ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Speak Naturally & Easily)](#130-american-english-accent-training-speak-naturally-easily) - [131. AMERICAN FAST SPEECH ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Boost your speaking fluency & listening comprehension)](#131-american-fast-speech-boost-your-speaking-fluency-listening-comprehension) - [132. AMERICAN FAST SPEECH ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Improve your speaking fluency & listening comprehension)](#132-american-fast-speech-improve-your-speaking-fluency-listening-comprehension) - [133. AMERICAN IDIOMS ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Important phrases you need to know](#133-american-idioms-important-phrases-you-need-to-know) - [134. AMERICAN IDIOM #QUIZ ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ 3 Idioms to Build Your Vocabulary](#134-american-idiom-quiz-3-idioms-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [135. AMERICAN SLANG WORDS ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ QUIZ LESSON](#135-american-slang-words-quiz-lesson) - [136. ANIMAL GROUPS...Do you know these collective nouns? ๐Ÿฆ’ #interactiveenglish #shorts](#136-animal-groupsdo-you-know-these-collective-nouns-interactiveenglish-shorts) - [137. ANSWERING YOUR DIFFICULT GRAMMAR QUESTIONS โœ…](#137-answering-your-difficult-grammar-questions-) - [138. AUTUMN IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH](#138-autumn-idioms-expressions-in-english) - [139. A Complete Advanced English Makeover: 5 Hours, 250+ Words, Native-Level Vocabulary!](#139-a-complete-advanced-english-makeover-5-hours-250-words-native-level-vocabulary) - [140. A Proven Way to Effectively Build Your Vocabulary | CHUNKING](#140-a-proven-way-to-effectively-build-your-vocabulary-chunking) - [141. A vs. AN - Learn this ONE rule | Articles in English](#141-a-vs-an---learn-this-one-rule-articles-in-english) - [142. Abbreviations & Acronyms to Build Your Vocabulary](#142-abbreviations-acronyms-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [143. Accent & Pronunciation Training | 25 Sentences to Enhance Your Fluency](#143-accent-pronunciation-training-25-sentences-to-enhance-your-fluency) - [144. Advanced (C1) #Idiom | TO FALL FLAT](#144-advanced-c1-idiom-to-fall-flat) - [145. Advanced (C1) #Idiom | to set foot in (some place)๐Ÿฆถ](#145-advanced-c1-idiom-to-set-foot-in-some-place) - [146. Advanced (C1) Adjectives to Build Your Vocabulary](#146-advanced-c1-adjectives-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [147. Advanced (C1) Idioms to Strengthen Your Vocabulary](#147-advanced-c1-idioms-to-strengthen-your-vocabulary) - [148. Advanced (C1) Phrases That Will Transform Your Speaking Skills](#148-advanced-c1-phrases-that-will-transform-your-speaking-skills) - [149. Advanced (C1) Phrases to Strengthen Your Vocabulary](#149-advanced-c1-phrases-to-strengthen-your-vocabulary) - [150. Advanced (C1) Verbs to Level Up Your Vocabulary](#150-advanced-c1-verbs-to-level-up-your-vocabulary) - [151. Advanced (C1) Vocabulary MASTERCLASS in 60 Minutes](#151-advanced-c1-vocabulary-masterclass-in-60-minutes) - [152. Advanced (C2) Nouns to Build Your Vocabulary](#152-advanced-c2-nouns-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [153. Advanced (C2) Nouns to SUPERCHARGE Your Vocabulary](#153-advanced-c2-nouns-to-supercharge-your-vocabulary) - [154. Advanced (C2) Phrasal Verbs to Sound Fluent | Speak Smarter, Not Harder](#154-advanced-c2-phrasal-verbs-to-sound-fluent-speak-smarter-not-harder) - [155. Advanced (C2) Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary](#155-advanced-c2-phrases-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [156. Advanced (C2) Verbs to Build Your Vocabulary](#156-advanced-c2-verbs-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [157. Advanced (C2) Vocabulary in 60 Minutes | Phrases, Verbs, Nouns, and Adjectives You Should Know](#157-advanced-c2-vocabulary-in-60-minutes-phrases-verbs-nouns-and-adjectives-you-should-know) - [158. Advanced (everyday) Idioms that You Should Know for 2024](#158-advanced-everyday-idioms-that-you-should-know-for-2024) - [159. Advanced Adjectives (C2) to Build Your Vocabulary](#159-advanced-adjectives-c2-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [160. Advanced Adjectives to Build Your Vocabulary](#160-advanced-adjectives-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [161. Advanced Adjectives to Describe Personality & Behavior](#161-advanced-adjectives-to-describe-personality-behavior) - [162. Advanced Adjectives to Impress Your Friends | Build Your Vocabulary](#162-advanced-adjectives-to-impress-your-friends-build-your-vocabulary) - [163. Advanced American Idioms ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | LIVE QUIZ LESSON](#163-advanced-american-idioms-live-quiz-lesson) - [164. Advanced American Idioms ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | QUIZ LESSON](#164-advanced-american-idioms-quiz-lesson) - [165. Advanced Business Vocab to Help you Speak Naturally & Professionally](#165-advanced-business-vocab-to-help-you-speak-naturally-professionally) - [166. Advanced Color Vocabulary to Brighten Up Your Conversations ๐ŸŒˆ](#166-advanced-color-vocabulary-to-brighten-up-your-conversations-) - [167. Advanced English #Idiom | to pick up the slack ๐Ÿ‹๏ธโ€โ™‚๏ธ](#167-advanced-english-idiom-to-pick-up-the-slack-) - [168. Advanced English Grammar that Will BLOW YOUR MIND ๐Ÿคฏ](#168-advanced-english-grammar-that-will-blow-your-mind-) - [169. Advanced English Vocabulary Youโ€™ll Actually Use (C2 Level)](#169-advanced-english-vocabulary-youll-actually-use-c2-level) - [170. Advanced English Vocabulary | Quiz Lesson ๐Ÿ“](#170-advanced-english-vocabulary-quiz-lesson-) - [171. Advanced English in Under 2 Minutes ๐Ÿš€ Try These Phrases](#171-advanced-english-in-under-2-minutes-try-these-phrases) - [172. Advanced Expressions (C1 + C2) to Build Your Vocabulary](#172-advanced-expressions-c1-c2-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [173. Advanced Expressions (C2) to Build Your Vocabulary](#173-advanced-expressions-c2-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [174. 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Greet People Like a Native Speaker | Pronunciation Lesson](#320-greet-people-like-a-native-speaker-pronunciation-lesson) - [321. HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY & IDIOMS QUIZ ๐Ÿ‘ป](#321-halloween-vocabulary-idioms-quiz-) - [322. HAVE YOUR WORK CUT OUT FOR YOU | Advanced #Idiom to SUPERCHARGE Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ช](#322-have-your-work-cut-out-for-you-advanced-idiom-to-supercharge-your-vocabulary-) - [323. HOW TO EXPRESS THAT YOU'RE ANGRY ๐Ÿ˜ก](#323-how-to-express-that-youre-angry-) - [324. HOW TO GIVE A GREAT PRESENTATION ๐Ÿ’ฌ](#324-how-to-give-a-great-presentation-) - [325. HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH IN 2019](#325-how-to-improve-your-english-in-2019) - [326. HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS](#326-how-to-improve-your-listening-skills) - [327. HOW TO PRACTICE SPEAKING ENGLISH ON YOUR OWN](#327-how-to-practice-speaking-english-on-your-own) - [328. HOW TO SPEAK WITH A STANDARD AMERICAN ACCENT ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#328-how-to-speak-with-a-standard-american-accent-) - [329. 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Pronounce 25 Major US Cities Just Like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#488-pronounce-25-major-us-cities-just-like-an-american-) - [489. Pronounce the 50 US States Just Like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#489-pronounce-the-50-us-states-just-like-an-american-) - [490. Pronounce these Famous Brands with the American Accent ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#490-pronounce-these-famous-brands-with-the-american-accent-) - [491. Pronunciation English Lesson | Q&A w/ Interactive English](#491-pronunciation-english-lesson-qa-w-interactive-english) - [492. Pronunciation Q&A Lesson | You ask and I'll tell you how to say it ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ](#492-pronunciation-qa-lesson-you-ask-and-ill-tell-you-how-to-say-it-) - [493. Q&A About Learning English, Life Updates, and More](#493-qa-about-learning-english-life-updates-and-more) - [494. Q&A Live-Lesson with Interactive English | You ask, I'll answer...](#494-qa-live-lesson-with-interactive-english-you-ask-ill-answer) - [495. 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Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | Mental Health โค๏ธ](#503-reading-vocabulary-lesson-mental-health-) - [504. Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | Protecting the Environment ๐ŸŒณ](#504-reading-vocabulary-lesson-protecting-the-environment-) - [505. Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | Vaccines ๐Ÿ’‰](#505-reading-vocabulary-lesson-vaccines-) - [506. Reading Mean and Nasty Comments... And Laughing at Them ๐Ÿ˜œ](#506-reading-mean-and-nasty-comments-and-laughing-at-them-) - [507. Reported Speech vs Direct Speech | Advanced Grammar Lesson](#507-reported-speech-vs-direct-speech-advanced-grammar-lesson) - [508. Rhythm & Flow in English | Thought Groups, Word Stress, & Connected Speech](#508-rhythm-flow-in-english-thought-groups-word-stress-connected-speech) - [509. Riddles in English | Improve Your Comprehension](#509-riddles-in-english-improve-your-comprehension) - [510. SAY vs TELL | Confusing Words in English](#510-say-vs-tell-confusing-words-in-english) - [511. SENTENCES in English | Everything you need to know about TYPE & STRUCTURE](#511-sentences-in-english-everything-you-need-to-know-about-type-structure) - [512. SEXUAL INNUENDOS ๐Ÿ’‹ How to understand these suggestive remarks....](#512-sexual-innuendos-how-to-understand-these-suggestive-remarks) - [513. SHOPPING PHRASAL VERBS TO IMPROVE FLUENCY ๐Ÿ›](#513-shopping-phrasal-verbs-to-improve-fluency-) - [514. SHOULD HAVE | COULD HAVE | WOULD HAVE - Modals of Lost Opportunity](#514-should-have-could-have-would-have---modals-of-lost-opportunity) - [515. SLANG from All Over the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#515-slang-from-all-over-the-united-states-) - [516. SOME vs ANY | Commonly Confused Grammar](#516-some-vs-any-commonly-confused-grammar) - [517. SONGS TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING FLUENCY ๐ŸŽต](#517-songs-to-improve-your-listening-fluency-) - [518. 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SUPER USEFUL IDIOMS | Talk about Friends & Family](#539-super-useful-idioms-talk-about-friends-family) - [540. SUPER USEFUL PHRASAL VERBS w/ FALL | Build Your Vocabulary](#540-super-useful-phrasal-verbs-w-fall-build-your-vocabulary) - [541. SUPER USEFUL PHRASAL VERBS w/ SPRING | Build Your Vocabulary](#541-super-useful-phrasal-verbs-w-spring-build-your-vocabulary) - [542. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Binomial Pair Quiz](#542-super-useful-phrases-binomial-pair-quiz) - [543. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Build Your Vocabulary | Ways to Say "Happening Soon"](#543-super-useful-phrases-build-your-vocabulary-ways-to-say-happening-soon) - [544. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Expressing Ability vs Inability](#544-super-useful-phrases-expressing-ability-vs-inability) - [545. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Ways to Express Ability vs Inability](#545-super-useful-phrases-ways-to-express-ability-vs-inability) - [546. 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Upper-Intermediate B2 Vocabulary Every Fluent Speaker Knows](#640-upper-intermediate-b2-vocabulary-every-fluent-speaker-knows) - [641. Upper-Intermediate Phrases (B1 + B2) You Definitely Need to Know](#641-upper-intermediate-phrases-b1-b2-you-definitely-need-to-know) - [642. Use CONTEXT CLUES to Build Your Vocabulary](#642-use-context-clues-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [643. Use PREFIXES to Build Your Vocabulary](#643-use-prefixes-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [644. Use These (B2) Phrases to Instantly Sound More Fluent!](#644-use-these-b2-phrases-to-instantly-sound-more-fluent) - [645. Use These Advanced English Phrases to Sound Like a Native ๐Ÿ”ฅ](#645-use-these-advanced-english-phrases-to-sound-like-a-native-) - [646. Used to vs Use to | Confusing Grammar You Should Know](#646-used-to-vs-use-to-confusing-grammar-you-should-know) - [647. Useful (C1) #Collocations with BROADEN ๐ŸŒ…](#647-useful-c1-collocations-with-broaden-) - [648. 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Useful Expressions & Idioms All About HOME](#656-useful-expressions-idioms-all-about-home) - [657. Useful Expressions to Tell a Great Story ๐Ÿ’ญ | Time Order Words](#657-useful-expressions-to-tell-a-great-story-time-order-words) - [658. Useful Food Idioms for Delicious English Fun ๐Ÿ˜‹](#658-useful-food-idioms-for-delicious-english-fun-) - [659. Useful Games to Help Practice & Improve Your English](#659-useful-games-to-help-practice-improve-your-english) - [660. Useful Idioms You Absolutely NEED TO KNOW for 2025](#660-useful-idioms-you-absolutely-need-to-know-for-2025) - [661. Useful Idioms in 60 minutes | Greatly Improve Your Vocabulary](#661-useful-idioms-in-60-minutes-greatly-improve-your-vocabulary) - [662. Useful Idioms with the word TRAIN](#662-useful-idioms-with-the-word-train) - [663. Useful LOVE Idioms to Improve Your Fluency โค๏ธ](#663-useful-love-idioms-to-improve-your-fluency-) - [664. Useful Listening & Speaking Activity | Describe Words Around the Home](#664-useful-listening-speaking-activity-describe-words-around-the-home) - [665. Useful Listening Phrasal Verbs to Improve Your Fluency](#665-useful-listening-phrasal-verbs-to-improve-your-fluency) - [666. Useful Pet Idioms to Improve Your English Fluency](#666-useful-pet-idioms-to-improve-your-english-fluency) - [667. Useful Phrasal Verbs to Easily Talk about Clothing](#667-useful-phrasal-verbs-to-easily-talk-about-clothing) - [668. Useful Phrasal Verbs with GET ๐Ÿ‘ | Vocabulary Lesson](#668-useful-phrasal-verbs-with-get-vocabulary-lesson) - [669. Useful Phrases to Express Your Opinion | Build Your Vocabulary](#669-useful-phrases-to-express-your-opinion-build-your-vocabulary) - [670. Useful Phrases to Say "I'm tired." ๐Ÿ˜ด | Build Your Vocabulary](#670-useful-phrases-to-say-im-tired-build-your-vocabulary) - [671. Useful Proverbs to Share WISDOM | Advanced Expressions](#671-useful-proverbs-to-share-wisdom-advanced-expressions) - [672. Useful Proverbs to Share WISDOM | Build Your Vocabulary](#672-useful-proverbs-to-share-wisdom-build-your-vocabulary) - [673. Useful SPEAKING Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary](#673-useful-speaking-phrases-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [674. Useful Shopping Idioms So You Can Shop Till You Drop ๐Ÿ›๏ธ](#674-useful-shopping-idioms-so-you-can-shop-till-you-drop-) - [675. Useful Shopping Phrasal Verbs to Improve Your English](#675-useful-shopping-phrasal-verbs-to-improve-your-english) - [676. Useful Signposts to Improve Your Listening Comprehension & Speaking Skills](#676-useful-signposts-to-improve-your-listening-comprehension-speaking-skills) - [677. Useful Speaking Phrasal Verbs for Better Communication](#677-useful-speaking-phrasal-verbs-for-better-communication) - [678. Useful Speaking Tips to Help You Prepare for the IELTS](#678-useful-speaking-tips-to-help-you-prepare-for-the-ielts) - [679. Useful Speaking Tips to Improve Your Fluency ๐Ÿ’ฌ](#679-useful-speaking-tips-to-improve-your-fluency-) - [680. Useful Sport Idioms to Improve Your English](#680-useful-sport-idioms-to-improve-your-english) - [681. Useful Study Phrasal Verbs to Improve Fluency](#681-useful-study-phrasal-verbs-to-improve-fluency) - [682. Useful TRAVEL PHRASES That You Need to Know](#682-useful-travel-phrases-that-you-need-to-know) - [683. Useful Technology Phrasal Verbs for Surfing the Internet](#683-useful-technology-phrasal-verbs-for-surfing-the-internet) - [684. Useful Time Expressions to Help Improve Your Fluency](#684-useful-time-expressions-to-help-improve-your-fluency) - [685. Useful Tips on How to Build the Perfect Resume or CV](#685-useful-tips-on-how-to-build-the-perfect-resume-or-cv) - [686. Useful Tongue Twisters to Help You Practice Pronunciation ๐Ÿ˜œ](#686-useful-tongue-twisters-to-help-you-practice-pronunciation-) - [687. Useful Verbs to Talk about the SPRING ๐ŸŒป](#687-useful-verbs-to-talk-about-the-spring-) - [688. Useful Vocabulary for Job Performance (Lesson Notes Included)](#688-useful-vocabulary-for-job-performance-lesson-notes-included) - [689. Useful Vocabulary for Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter)](#689-useful-vocabulary-for-social-media-facebook-instagram-twitter) - [690. Useful Vocabulary to Talk About Sounds | ONOMATOPOEIA ๐Ÿ”Š](#690-useful-vocabulary-to-talk-about-sounds-onomatopoeia-) - [691. Useful Vocabulary to Understand the US Election | Trump vs Biden 2020 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ](#691-useful-vocabulary-to-understand-the-us-election-trump-vs-biden-2020-) - [692. Useful Water Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ฆ](#692-useful-water-phrases-to-build-your-vocabulary-) - [693. Useful Weather Idioms to Build Your Vocabulary](#693-useful-weather-idioms-to-build-your-vocabulary) - [694. Useful Winter Expressions to Build Your Vocabulary โ„๏ธ](#694-useful-winter-expressions-to-build-your-vocabulary-) - [695. Useful Words & Synonyms on How to Say You're SAD ๐Ÿ™](#695-useful-words-synonyms-on-how-to-say-youre-sad-) - [696. Useful Words to Say Things Are Cheap and Expensive](#696-useful-words-to-say-things-are-cheap-and-expensive) - [697. Useful World Cup Idioms for Your Vocabulary Goals](#697-useful-world-cup-idioms-for-your-vocabulary-goals) - [698. Using Pictures to Improve Your English](#698-using-pictures-to-improve-your-english) - [699. Using Subtitles to Enhance Your English Skills](#699-using-subtitles-to-enhance-your-english-skills) - [700. Using the Past Tense | Learn the Simple Past, Past Continuous, & Present Perfect](#700-using-the-past-tense-learn-the-simple-past-past-continuous-present-perfect) - [701. VERB TENSE QUIZ | Grammar Lesson for Intermediate to Advanced Learners](#701-verb-tense-quiz-grammar-lesson-for-intermediate-to-advanced-learners) - [702. VERB TENSE QUIZ ๐Ÿ“ | Advanced Grammar Lesson](#702-verb-tense-quiz-advanced-grammar-lesson) - [703. VOCABULARY Q&A LESSON w/ INTERACTIVE ENGLISH](#703-vocabulary-qa-lesson-w-interactive-english) - [704. VOCABULARY TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE PANDEMIC ๐Ÿ˜ท](#704-vocabulary-to-help-you-understand-the-pandemic-) - [705. Valentine's Day ๐Ÿ’– | Discussion of Useful Words & Phrases](#705-valentines-day-discussion-of-useful-words-phrases) - [706. Vocabulary - however, nevertheless, nonetheless, in addition, moreover, furthermore](#706-vocabulary---however-nevertheless-nonetheless-in-addition-moreover-furthermore) - [707. Vocabulary About the Economy | Read and Put New Words In Context](#707-vocabulary-about-the-economy-read-and-put-new-words-in-context) - [708. Vocabulary Challenge | What do you call this place?](#708-vocabulary-challenge-what-do-you-call-this-place) - [709. WAYS TO SAY "I'M SICK" ๐Ÿค’ | Learn these Super Useful Phrases](#709-ways-to-say-im-sick-learn-these-super-useful-phrases) - [710. WEIRD & STRANGE IDIOMS ๐Ÿ˜œ | Supercharge Your English Fluency](#710-weird-strange-idioms-supercharge-your-english-fluency) - [711. WHERE TO PLACE ADVERBS? | ADVANCED ENGLISH GRAMMAR](#711-where-to-place-adverbs-advanced-english-grammar) - [712. WILL vs GOING TO | Learn to correctly talk about the future](#712-will-vs-going-to-learn-to-correctly-talk-about-the-future) - [713. WORD OF THE YEAR (2010 - Present) | Advanced Vocabulary](#713-word-of-the-year-2010---present-advanced-vocabulary) - [714. Walk the Path to Achieving English Fluency ๐Ÿ’ฌ](#714-walk-the-path-to-achieving-english-fluency-) - [715. Want to Sound Fluent? Advanced Words Native Speakers Actually Use!](#715-want-to-sound-fluent-advanced-words-native-speakers-actually-use) - [716. Weird, Strange, and Fascinating Expressions | English Tautologies](#716-weird-strange-and-fascinating-expressions-english-tautologies) - [717. What's going on with US protests, Black Lives Matter, & George Floyd | Reading + Vocabulary](#717-whats-going-on-with-us-protests-black-lives-matter-george-floyd-reading-vocabulary) - [718. What's the most difficult language skill to learn? | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary](#718-whats-the-most-difficult-language-skill-to-learn-natural-conversation-vocabulary) - [719. What We Do NOT Miss About America | Interactive English Cultural Lesson](#719-what-we-do-not-miss-about-america-interactive-english-cultural-lesson) - [720. What We Miss About America | Interactive English Cultural Lesson](#720-what-we-miss-about-america-interactive-english-cultural-lesson) - [721. What it's like to live outside the US | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary](#721-what-its-like-to-live-outside-the-us-natural-conversation-vocabulary) - [722. What to Say & What NOT to Say When a Woman is Pregnant ๐Ÿ™…](#722-what-to-say-what-not-to-say-when-a-woman-is-pregnant-) - [723. Who Are You? | Fun Q&A with Interactive English](#723-who-are-you-fun-qa-with-interactive-english) - [724. Why English is SO hard to learn? | + Lesson Notes](#724-why-english-is-so-hard-to-learn-lesson-notes) - [725. Why It's Difficult to Understand Movies, TV, or Music | Improve Your Listening](#725-why-its-difficult-to-understand-movies-tv-or-music-improve-your-listening) - [726. Why You Should Learn Other Languages | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary](#726-why-you-should-learn-other-languages-natural-conversation-vocabulary) - [727. Why learn another language? | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary](#727-why-learn-another-language-natural-conversation-vocabulary) - [728. Why we created a Interactive English | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary](#728-why-we-created-a-interactive-english-natural-conversation-vocabulary) - [729. Winter Words, Idioms, and Expressions to Help Your Fluency โ›„](#729-winter-words-idioms-and-expressions-to-help-your-fluency-) - [730. Write Smarter, Not Harder ๐Ÿ’ก | 7 Tips to Instantly Improve Your Academic Writing](#730-write-smarter-not-harder-7-tips-to-instantly-improve-your-academic-writing) - [731. You're definitely fluent if you can change these. | Advanced (C1 + C2) Grammar](#731-youre-definitely-fluent-if-you-can-change-these-advanced-c1-c2-grammar) - [732. YouTube Vocabulary that You Need to Know โ–ถ๏ธ](#732-youtube-vocabulary-that-you-need-to-know-) - [733. You are DEFINITELY FLUENT if you can change these.](#733-you-are-definitely-fluent-if-you-can-change-these) - [734. You are FLUENT in Thanksgiving if you can answer these](#734-you-are-fluent-in-thanksgiving-if-you-can-answer-these) - [735. You are obviously fluent in English if you can understand these](#735-you-are-obviously-fluent-in-english-if-you-can-understand-these) - [736. You have certainly achieved fluency if you can change these. | Advanced Grammar (B2 - C2)](#736-you-have-certainly-achieved-fluency-if-you-can-change-these-advanced-grammar-b2---c2) - [737. You know YOU'RE FLUENT when ... | English Fluency Test](#737-you-know-youre-fluent-when-english-fluency-test) - [738. Your English grammar is EXCELLENT if you can answer these](#738-your-english-grammar-is-excellent-if-you-can-answer-these) - [739. Your Path to Speaking Confidently, Clearly, & Effectively](#739-your-path-to-speaking-confidently-clearly-effectively) - [740. Your listening skills are EXCELLENT if you understand AMERICAN FAST SPEECH](#740-your-listening-skills-are-excellent-if-you-understand-american-fast-speech) - [741. โ˜‘๏ธ ONLINE ENGLISH LESSON | Q&A with Interactive English](#741-online-english-lesson-qa-with-interactive-english) - [742. โšก LIVE ENGLISH LESSON โšก Q&A with Interactive English](#742-live-english-lesson-qa-with-interactive-english) - [743. โœ๏ธ 35 Creative Ways to Write SAID | Make Your Writing POP](#743-35-creative-ways-to-write-said-make-your-writing-pop) - [744. ๐Ÿ”ฅ FLUENCY TEST | What is your level of English?](#744-fluency-test-what-is-your-level-of-english) - [745. ๐Ÿšจ CRIME VOCABULARY | Words & phrases you need to know](#745-crime-vocabulary-words-phrases-you-need-to-know) - [746. ๐Ÿšจ LIVE ENGLISH LESSON | Q&A with Interactive English](#746-live-english-lesson-qa-with-interactive-english) - [747. ๐Ÿšจ LIVE ENGLISH Q&A LESSON | Interactive English](#747-live-english-qa-lesson-interactive-english) - [748. ๐Ÿšจ LIVE English Lesson | Q&A Session](#748-live-english-lesson-qa-session) - [749. ๐Ÿšซ DON'T MAKE THESE GRAMMAR MISTAKES THAT EVEN NATIVE SPEAKERS MAKE](#749-dont-make-these-grammar-mistakes-that-even-native-speakers-make) --- ## 1. 1-HOUR LESSON - C2 Vocab Every Serious Learner Must Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VKfsFwWU8LQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKfsFwWU8LQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:36:46 | --- Let's take your advanced vocabulary to the moon like a rocket because I am going to teach you some super useful advanced C2 level words and phrases. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, this vocabulary is at a C2 level, which is Cambridge's highest level of proficiency, which means that well, these words and phrases will definitely help you be more descriptive and precise. So, let's go ahead and get started with some C2 phrases. So, I am going to teach you these advanced phrases. I'll tell you the meaning. I'll give you some context as to how they're used. And I'm going to teach you the pronunciation because if you're going to use these phrases, you want to make sure that you are saying them correctly. So, let's face it, building your vocabulary is extremely important. And let's face it is the first phrase that I would like to teach you. So, this phrase is used to say that something is true and cannot be denied or it is said before something that is true but unpleasant. And just keep in mind that you're really going to use this phrase at the beginning of a statement. So to give you some context, let's look at a few memes. Let's face it, you laugh at anything I say. This is true and undeniable. Or let's face it, you're the reason I drink. In this case, it's true and and unpleasant. Or let's face it, memes are a childish way to communicate and debate ideas. This is also true, but they do make for some great examples. Now, when it comes to pronouncing this phrase, and you want to make sure you're saying these words together instead of pronouncing the words individually, one thing to keep in mind is that linking may occur. And this often happens when the final sound of one word is a consonant sound and the beginning sound of the next word is a vowel sound. So, let's face it. The final consonant sound in face may get linked with the vowel sound in it. And it's going to sound like face it. It's almost like we're carrying that consonant sound over to the next syllable. Face it. Let's face it. You know, let's face it. If you would like to continue building your vocabulary, well, then you need to subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. And the next C2 phrase that I want to teach you is few and far between. It means not happening or existing very often. And you would say that something is few and far between. So it it's often going to follow the verb to be. And typically it's going to come at the end of a statement. In this town, good workers are few and far between. This winter snowy days have been few and far between. And that's true. It's been a rather mild winter. Or I could say, "Miracles are few and far between." In each of these sentences, the phrase follows the verb to be and comes at the end of the statement. As for pronunciation, the very first thing that I want to point out is that the word and may get reduced to n. And this is common in spoken English. And and keep in mind, it's also an unstressed sound. N. Now, it begins with a vowel sound. and the word before ends in a consonant sound. So once again, linking may occur. Few, few and far between. And reductions, they're quite common. And in this case, it allows us to just say the phrase quickly. Few and far between. Few and far between. Just listen for it. >> All I'm saying is that the really good guys are few and far between. >> The wealthy families in the countryside are few and far between. >> Friends, close friends are few and far between. The next one that I have for you is fall into place. And this is when things are happening in a satisfactory way without any problems. So it really does have a positive connotation. And often you're referring to several things that are going on. And you could say everything is falling into place. So let's say that we're working on a project and toward the end everyone is completing their work on time. The numbers are adding up. people are working well together and we're going to finish well before the deadline. So in that case I could say as we got toward the end of the project everything was falling into place. When you pronounce this phrase keep in mind linking will often occur. sound in fall with the beginning vowel sound in into fall into. Fall into fall into place. You know say it with me. Fall into place. Good. Our next phrase for the best. This refers to an action that is done in order to improve a situation or or produce a good result. Although at the time it's going to seem unpleasant. And I think a great example would be uh ending a relationship and breaking up. So let's say that you are planning to break up with me and our relationship's coming to an end. I hope this this is just an example. And of course I'm very sad. that I would say, "Please, please don't break up with me. People like you are few and far between." And then you would tell me, you know, let's face it. It's for the best. Okay? We We need to break up. It's going to improve our situation in the future. It's for the best. >> Ted's stepdad and I have separated. >> Oh my god. >> It's for the best. Well, thank you, but uh we think it'd be better if we left. >> Not because of last night. >> It's for the best. I think that pronouncing this phrase, it's it's not too difficult for the best. The only thing that I would tell you to keep in mind is that the article 'the', it is the weak 'the', and you're using the schwa sound, that uh sound, because it comes before a word that begins with a consonant sound. For the best. For the best. The next phrase is conflict of interest. And you may be thinking, wait a second, I have heard this phrase. and that is because it describes a situation that is quite common. So this phrase is very useful and we're talking about describing a situation in which someone cannot make a fair decision because they will be affected by the result. So let's just say that I am going to judge a contest for children and my daughter is one of the participants. Do you think that I am a fair judge or would you say that I have a conflict of interest because this is my daughter. I would love to see her win. So perhaps I'm not capable of making a fair decision in this case. And you would say, "Look, Wes, you clearly have a conflict of interest. And I'm sure that you can think of someone that you know who has had a conflict of interest because like I said, this is a very common and useful phrase. For pronunciation, there is some more linking going on. We can actually link all three of these words together. We can link that final consonant sound in conflict with the beginning vowel sound in of conflict of. And then we can link that consonant sound with the beginning vowel sound in interest. Conflict of interest. Conflict of interest. And one thing I want to point out with that preposition of whenever you see this word linking often occurs such as in this phrase conflict of interest. Then we have the phrase something dawn on someone and this means to understand or realize something for the first time. I was about to pay for the groceries when it suddenly dawned on me that I forgot my wallet and I just realized it. All of a sudden, it dawns on me. And there are some great collocations with this phrase. You could say something suddenly dawn on someone or something finally dawn on someone. And when you're pronouncing this phrase, there's more linking. You can link the final consonant sound in dawn with the vowel sound in on dawn on. However, I think people may often use this phrase in the past tense in which they're going to say dawned on. And and that can be a little trickier because of the repetition when we're linking something dawned on me or dawned on him or dawned on her. And you hear that repetition dawned on. Our next phrase is to crack down on something or crack down on someone. And it just means to take strong action to stop something. And in order to show you this phrase being used in context, I have some news headlines that I'd like to share with you. Washington bill aims to crack down on street racing. Three things we know about Netflix's efforts to crack down on password sharing. Something that I'm not too happy about. The Supreme Court might not crack down on big tech after all. And when you pronounce this phrase, more linking may occur. We can link the final consonant sound in down with the vowel sound in on. crack down on. And I think this is a little easier to say than the other one. Something dawned on someone. But linking, it's very common. It allows us to connect these words and say these phrases easily and smoothly. Crack down on in the blink of an eye. This is our next phrase and it means extremely quickly. And it really makes sense because when you blink, well, that that's pretty fast. Now, you're likely going to use this phrase at either the beginning of a statement, in the blink of an eye, something happened. Or you'll use it at the end of a statement. Something happened in the blink of an eye. This phrase may often get used when referring to time or maybe someone is just suddenly gone. And instead of saying something happened very quickly, I would just switch it out. Something happened in the blink of an eye. Now, I have been married for, let me do the math, 6 years now. And I could say that, well, this time has passed quickly. 6 years have gone by in the blink of an eye. For pronunciation, we're going to use that weak 'the' with the schwa sound. And then link those final four words, the blink of an eye. And once again, it's like we're we're just carrying that final consonant sound over to the next syllable. Blink of an eye. the blink of an eye. And the next phrase, I really like this one, but in it just means to interrupt. And really, you would be interrupting a conversation, a discussion, or just getting involved in someone else's business. And you might hear someone use this phrase if they're telling another person to stop doing this. Don't butt in. >> Just make sure my idiot interns don't screw up. You're the IB Heep. Don't butt in. vowel sounds. I am going to say this as a flap t and it's going to sound more like a soft d. But in can link that flap t with the vowel sound in in but in. Hey hey hey don't butt in. Then there's the phrase by all means. This is used to give permission like you're just saying yes certainly. And often you may use this as a standalone statement. Uh you're responding to someone's question. Could I borrow this book? By all means. Can I make a suggestion? By all means. Perhaps you are asking me, would you like me to hit the like button? And I would say, well, yeah, by all means, please go ahead, hit that like button. By all means. When it comes to the pronunciation of this phrase and someone is speaking quickly, they may use intrusion to link the two vowel sounds in the words by and all. By all. And intrusion is when you're adding either a slight w sound or a slight y sound. And that then allows us to link two vowels. And we're gonna use a slight Y sound which comes after front vowel sounds like I. So, by all means. And you hear that slight Y sound. By all. By all means. Then we have the phrase behind closed doors. This refers to a situation that is hidden or kept secret from the public without an audience or crowd watching. And again, this is a situation that is common. So, I think this is a very useful phrase. People may often use this phrase when referring to government or business decisions that are kept secret. We didn't want the public to know. So, the decision was made behind closed doors. And yeah, secrecy, it's not a good thing. When pronouncing this phrase, elision may occur. is when certain sounds get removed. And I'm talking about the t or duh sounds when they come between two consonants. So, think about the word handsome. that D, it comes between two consonants. It elides. We don't hear it with our phrase. Both of the D sounds in behind and closed, they're going to elide. They come between two consonant sounds and and it's like they get muted and you just don't really hear it. Behind closed doors. Behind closed doors. Once again, just listen for it. >> I heard about a third fight between you and Apollo. >> Behind closed doors. How did he know to choose them? Everything happened behind closed doors. >> What's going on? There's been people whispering behind closed doors. >> So, we just talked about secrecy with the phrase behind closed doors. Now, let's go in the other direction and talk about the phrase come to light. This refers to facts that become known publicly. And once again, there are useful collocations with this phrase. We could say that new evidence comes to light or new facts may come to light or new details may come to light. I could say recently new details came to light showing how the decision was made behind closed doors. And it's like this secret information became known publicly. When you pronounce this phrase, it's pretty straightforward. The only thing that I would like to point out is the word to. when you're stressing it, it's pronounced just like I said to. But there is another accepted form of pronunciation and that is when it's unstressed and it's going to sound more like t. And if somebody is saying this phrase quickly, they may not stress that word and it's going to sound like come to light. Come to light. Some new evidence comes to light. Now, for a little review. I I know that this lesson has gone by in the blink of an eye, but by all means, please watch another video lesson because let's face it, great vocabulary lessons like this one are few and far between. And I I am a firm believer that if you keep practicing and you keep learning a little bit each and every day, when it comes to improving your English, everything's just going to fall right into place. So, I I think I need to wrap things up and and say goodbye. It's for the best. I hope that you enjoyed that last bit of review. It's always good to to hear how the vocabulary is used in context. I'm going to keep trying to do that as we go through the lesson, but right now, I want to switch gears and I want to teach you some incredibly useful C2 verbs. And I say incredibly useful because verbs are so important. They are like the heart of every statement, thought, and opinion. They provide us with invaluable information. So, without further ado, here are some essential C2 verbs. Let's learn some advanced C2 verbs. And I'm going to get right to the point and we'll begin with our first verb, which is to linger. So, this verb actually has two different meanings. The first one is to continue to exist. So if I were sick and I have a cold, I could say that it is still lingering. And in this case, you may often hear it being used in the continuous tense with that adverb still. That's a good adverb verb collocation. Something is still lingering. How's your cold? Unfortunately, it's still lingering. It also means to take longer than usual to leave. And in this case, you may be talking about a person or group of people. Some customers lingered for a while after the shop closed and and they just took longer than usual to leave. When you pronounce this verb, it has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, linger. But I want to focus on that ng because it can be a little confusing. Look at these two words. They are not rhyming words. Singer, you only have that ing sound. Whereas linger, you have the ing plus that g sound afterwards. Linger. It's similar to the word finger. These are rhyming words. Linger. Finger. >> Any of you wish to seek counseling due to lingering trauma. Speak with me privately. >> Yeah. Well, it turns out that there's some lingering feelings or something. >> Clark, get out of here. My mistake. Except Yes, it is your mistake. It's lingering. He's so annoying. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, then I hope that you linger for a while and watch more video lessons. Dole out. This means to give something, usually money, to several people. And this C2 verb, it it is a phrasal verb that may be separable. So you could dole out something or dole something out. And in order to show you how this verb may be used in context, I have some news headlines for you. As lawmakers dole out record surplus, many say they need more. Colts dole out $22.5 million for kicker Matt Gay. This is talking about American football. And yeah, that's a lot of money to dole out for a kicker. Should political parties be able to dole out freebies? When pronouncing this phrasal verb, you should know that linking is going to occur. And we can link the final consonant sound in dole with the beginning vowel sound in out. And this is when linking commonly occurs. Linking a final consonant sound with a beginning vowel sound. And it just helps us make a smooth transition from one word to the next. Dole out. Dole out. Then we have the verb pinpoint. It also has two meanings. The first one is to find or say the exact position in space or time of something. I may ask you the question, can you pinpoint our location on the map? Because I just want to know where we are. It also means to discover or describe the exact facts of something. I could tell you doctors could not pinpoint the cause of his illness. So, in this case, they they just could not describe the facts of his illness. For pronunciation, the verb has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, pinpoint. And I'd also like to point out that final T. It's really a stop T. It's pretty subtle. Pinpoint. And the next one that I have for you is plague. This means to cause worry, pain, or difficulty to someone or something over a period of time. And often you may follow this verb with the preposition by. You have been plagued by something. I could tell you that well my athletic career has been plagued by back injuries. And to be honest, I've never really had much of an athletic career. That's not really true. But yes, over the years I have been plagued by back injuries. That part is unfortunately true. When it comes to pronunciation, the spelling and pronunciation don't really look like they match. But that final gue, it's going to be pronounced with an aspirated g sound, plague. But often people may use this verb as well, the past participle, in which case it's going to end with the final d sound. And those consonants that can be a difficult combination that plagued. Plagued. You've been plagued by something. >> I'm plagued by an internal struggle. >> If you would just use the bucket, you'd be so much more comfortable. >> Sunrise Bay was a coastal community plagued by a centuries old curse. >> Next is the verb prescribe. And this is a very useful verb because it's when a doctor says what kind of treatment someone should have. And it's very specific because we're really talking about someone's health. And there are some common collocations with this verb because a doctor may prescribe some medicine or prescribe some pills or prescribe some rest or even prescribe some painkillers. Now, this verb has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Prescribe. And that first syllable, even though it's spelled p r e, it has a p sound because it's unstressed. Prescribe. Say it with me. Prescribe. Excellent. Then we have the verb utter. This means to say something or just make a sound with your voice. So sometimes it can be interchangeable with say except that it's a bit more formal and not as commonly used. Maybe I tell you he sat through the meeting without uttering a word. And that's a good collocation with this verb without uttering a word. Now to talk about the difference between utter and say is that well u is not always clear. She uttered something through the car window but I didn't understand what she was saying. It wasn't clear but I could tell she was making some sounds with her voice and uttered something. For pronunciation the verb has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable udder. But what I'd really like to point out is that T, I am going to pronounce it as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. And this is pretty common with the American accent when the T comes between two vowel sounds. There are many words we can say with the flap T, like water, better, udder. Just just listen for it. >> It was him. He uttered something. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I uttered. >> You think you're funny, don't you, bro? >> It is the truth. uttered with his own lips. [music] >> What she said? >> Hasn't uttered another syllable. >> Then we have the verb curb. And to curb something means to control or limit something that is not wanted. And you would try to curb something. And in order to show you how this verb is used in context, once again, I have some news headlines for you. This phone helped me curb my screen addiction. Syria agrees to curb drug trade in meeting with Arab ministers. Brazil orders Google to curb campaign against fake news law. And when you pronounce this verb, it's pretty simple and straightforward. There's just one syllable, curb. But that u has more of an vowel sound. Curb. To curb something. Then there's lure. This means to persuade someone to do something or go somewhere by offering them something exciting. And often you may follow this verb with the preposition into or to. The employees were lured into working over the weekend with the promise of overtime. Or universities try to lure the top academics to their school. >> They always set those things to pay out more so they can lure people into the casino. >> Tyler and I feel due to Marie's attempt to lure him to your house. trying to lure him. >> Oh, very clever, Simpson. Luring our bees to your sugar and selling them back to us at an inflated price. >> You're on to what now? >> Simpson, you diabolical. >> When you pronounce this verb, just make sure that you are saying that diff thong because that u it it's going to sound like a combination of vowel sounds. Lure. Say it with me. Lure. Lure. Good. Then there's indulge. And I really like this verb. It means to allow yourself or some other person to have something enjoyable, especially more than what's good for you. So you may follow this verb with the preposition in and you indulge in something. Late at night, sometimes I I get a little hungry and I probably shouldn't eat anything, but I like to indulge in sweets and I'll have some cookies or chocolate. And often you may use this verb when talking about food and you indulge in something and you have more than what's really good for you. For pronunciation, there are two syllables. The stress is on that second syllable and that g has more of a J sound. Indulge. Indulge. What do you like to indulge in? Let me know in the comments. Then there's delegate. This means to give a job, duty, or right to someone so they can do it for you. And and this verb is often used in the context of work because you can't do everything. So you may delegate certain responsibilities to other people. And you may also say that a boss or supervisor is good at delegating and they tell others what they need to do. Or perhaps someone is bad at delegating because they try to do everything themselves and yeah that may not be a good situation. So this is a very useful verb when talking about work. This verb has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Delegate. Now, don't confuse this with the noun because that third syllable is pronounced differently when you say the noun delegate. With the verb, you're going to use that long a sound delegate. Now, I'd also like to point out that when you use this verb in the continuous tense, it's going to change from a stop t to a flap t, at least with with the American accent. And you'd say that someone is delegating something. And you're going to use that flap T. Once again, just listen for it. >> I'm delegating. >> He's delegating. >> Don't shy away from delegating. >> Reconcile. Great verb. This means to find a way in which two situations or beliefs that are opposed to each other can agree or exist together. And you could hear somebody say something like, "We need to reconcile our differences." That's a great collocation with this verb. >> The boys appear [music] to have reconciled their differences. >> A rose and her daughter have reconciled their differences. >> That's why it's important for you to reconcile your differences. >> You could also reconcile something with something. I could say research is being done to reconcile the world's population growth with sustainability. So these two things, they seem opposed, but we need to reconcile them and find a way for them to exist together. Growth and sustainability. For pronunciation, the verb has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. And keep in mind that the c has more of an s sound. Reconcile. Reconcile. And then there's loathe, which is a pretty powerful verb because it means to hate someone or something. So loathe, just like hate, it's it's a strong word, so be careful how you're using it. But of course, there are probably things that I'm sure you loathe. I know there are things that I loathe, like I loathe sitting at an airport when my flight has been delayed. or I loathe anchovies. I I just don't like eating them. Or I loathe driving in really bad weather conditions. For pronunciation, it's just the one syllable, but make sure you're using that voice th at the end. Loath. Let's say it together. Loath. Loath. Nice. Now, for a little review. I'm sure that you do not loathe building your vocabulary and I hope that I can lure you into watching another video lesson because even though I'm not a doctor, that is what I would prescribe in order for you to develop your English fluency. And I to be honest, I know it's not good to watch a lot of videos and be in front of a screen, but in this case, of course, I think it's okay for you to indulge a little bit and watch many different video lessons. I have a lot on this channel, especially vocabulary lessons in which you will find me doling out words left and right. But in all seriousness, I just want you to keep practicing, keep improving. You're doing great. Let's continue supercharging your vocabulary with some informal phrases. And by that, I'm talking about some C2 idioms. Now, idioms, I think, are commonly used in just casual conversation. So, this is really going to help your listening comprehension. However, I think it's important to be able to use them and feel comfortable using them when you're having a conversation. And it's like learning any other vocabulary. You learn the meaning, kind of get an idea as to how it's used, and then you can go out and practice. So, here are some C2 idioms. Let's move on to those C2 idioms, which may not be as common, but they're great to learn because they're really going to help you express your thoughts, opinions, and feelings. like this next idiom which is at the end of your rope. It means having no strength or patience left. And it's a great way to emphasize that. And of course, you can replace that possessive [snorts] pronoun with others. My rope, his rope, her rope. But I could say, "I'm at the end of my rope. Why on earth have you not already hit the like button?" Okay, it's just the only example that I can think of, but I promise I'm not going to mention it again. For pronunciation, just keep in mind that the article 'the', we're actually going to use the stronger form 'the', because it comes before a word that begins with a vowel sound. Typically, the article comes before words that begin with a consonant and we say that weaker 'the', but I'm sure you already knew that because you're on the ball. We can also link the final consonant sound in end with the beginning vowel sound in of. End of. At the end of your rope. At the end of your rope. >> I hate to do this, but uh kind of at the end of my rope. I need to borrow some money. >> I was at the end of my rope. The financial pressure was crazy. >> You're not giving me a lot of direction here. I'm at the end of my rope. >> To the bitter end. This is a great idiom. It means until something is finished. And it's not always interchangeable with that meaning. If I'm eating something, I could say, "Yeah, I'm going to eat my food until it is finished." I wouldn't say, "I'm going to eat my food until the bitter end." That just sounds really awkward. So, you're really going to use this idiom when talking about an outcome that may not always be the one that you want, but you're going to keep going. We may not meet the deadline, but we're going to work to the bitter end. You're just going to keep fighting. And fight is a verb that's often used with this idiom. It's a common collocation to fight to the bitter end. Let me show you. Southampton boss vows to fight to the bitter end. Youngsville police chief will fight until the bitter end in proposed investigation. Nurses warn of more strike dates in January as they fight to the bitter end. For pronunciation, there are a couple of weak words that I'd like to point out. So, the weak to is going to sound like t and the weak article 'the'. And then we can link the final consonant sound in bitter with the beginning vowel sound in end. Bitter end. So, it's going to sound like to the bitter end. Say it with me. To the bitter end. To fight to the bitter end. Excellent. The next idiom is to get off on the right or wrong foot. And this just means to make a successful or unsuccessful start in something. Now, it's more common to use it in the negative and say that something got off on the wrong foot. The team did not get along, so the project got off on the wrong foot. It's also commonly used when talking about relationships. Two people meet each other. Doesn't go well. It's unsuccessful. It got off on the wrong foot. >> Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? >> I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. >> We got off on the wrong foot here. And I believe it's cuz we're just too damn similar. >> You do? >> Absolutely. >> Let's pronounce this idiom. And once again, linking may occur. You can see just how common this is in spoken English. So, we can link the phrase get off on. Just keep in mind that the final T in get, once again, I'm from the US, so I will pronounce it as a flap T. Get off on. Get off on. Get off on the right foot. Get off on the wrong foot. And then there's over the top. This means too extreme and not suitable or exaggerated. So something that's too extreme. She was supposed to buy me a small present, but her gift was way over the top. And that is a great word to emphasize this idiom. Way over the top. For something that may be exaggerated, I could say it was supposed to be a friendly competition, but his performance was a bit over the top. And that's another good word you can use with this idiom. A bit over the top. For pronunciation, there's not really much to say about this idiom. You're just going to say these three words one right after the other. Over the top. It >> was our fault. Our acting was way over the top. >> What are you talking about? We were totally believable. >> This is like secret agent stuff. I think a safe room is a bit over the top. But Ed thought with the two little ones, you can never be too cautious. >> What do you think of my news? Bit over the top. This just means very early in the morning. Usually the time when the sun first appears. So, it's a great way to emphasize that you're up really early. I could say, "This morning, I got up at the crack of dawn." Or, "We'll have to get up at the crack of dawn for our flight." I hate it when that happens. Or, "My grandfather has been up since the crack of dawn." I tried to present this idiom with some different verb tenses. When pronouncing it, there are a couple of things going on. There are some overlapping sounds and this is basically when your tongue is in the same position. So at your tongue is going to come up and block the air with that stop t. But then you're just going to release right into that voiced th in the atthe. Atthe. And then we can link the final consonant sound in crack with the vowel sound in of crack of at the crack of dawn. Have you ever gotten up at the crack of dawn? let me know down in the comments. And then there's change of heart. This is when you change your opinion or the way you feel about something. Basically like a reversal in your attitude. And there are three things that I want to point out when it comes to this idiom. Number one, overwhelmingly you will use this with the verb have to have a change of heart. Number two, I want to stress that this idiom really involves feelings. So, you're not always going to use it anytime you just change your mind. So, if I told you, "Look, this morning I was going to make pancakes, but then I had a change of heart and I decided to cook some eggs instead." You're not really going to use this idiom in that context. I don't have deep feelings when it comes to eggs or pancakes. But if I were to say something like, "She was going to sell her grandmother's necklace, but she had a sudden change of heart." In this case, she has stronger feelings when it comes to this necklace. It's more meaningful. And that's also a good collocation with this idiom, a sudden change of heart. Number three, notice that because you're talking about a change in your opinion or the way you feel. Most of the time, people are going to use this in the past tense. So, you would say that someone had a change of heart or they had a sudden change of heart. For pronunciation, once again, more linking. phrase change of had a change of heart and then you could say it easily and naturally just like that. Someone had a change of heart. I know that I am giving you a ton of information and I do not expect you to memorize all of these words and phrases. I think one of the primary goals of a long detailed lesson like this is just to get exposure. You hear this vocabulary, you see the meaning. you get a variety of examples. You're learning them passively and then hopefully you can then go out and use them actively. This is really the initial building blocks of developing your skills and really going to help you reach your fluency goals. So, let's continue with some more descriptive words and I want to teach you some important C2. Now, let's learn some advanced C2 nouns to help you supercharge your vocabulary and be a little more precise when you're having a conversation. Now, building your vocabulary, it's not always easy. It requires a lot of time and perseverance. And I want to start with that noun that I just mentioned, perseverance. This refers to a continued effort to do or achieve something even when it is difficult or takes a long time. And this has a positive connotation. It's a good thing. Often, you may use this when talking about things that are hard to do. As you know, learning a language takes a lot of time and energy, and you need perseverance. >> I said creative writing is hard. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Perseverance, Steve. It's all about perseverance. >> For pronunciation, this word has four syllables, and the stress is on that third syllable, perseverance. And the second and fourth syllable have that unstressed schwa sound. Sounds like uh perseverance. And it's good to practice these words because sometimes people tend to avoid these longer words because they're a bit more difficult to pronounce. Perseverance. And if you are someone who likes to learn new words and phrases, please subscribe to the channel. It shows perseverance and that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And as we go through the lesson, I'm going to tell you the meaning of each word. I'll talk a little bit about how it's used in context, and I'll go over the pronunciation so you can say them just like a native speaker. And the next noun that I have for you is one that I really like, and that is workaholic. This noun refers to a person who works a lot and actually finds it difficult not to work. And you may be able to relate to this noun. I I don't really think that I'm a workaholic, even though sometimes I feel like I work a little too much and I'm constantly thinking about new lessons. But what I really wanted to point out with this word is that suffix, the h o l i c at the end of the word. Because this suffix means that you are addicted to something. I'm sure that you may be familiar with the word alcoholic. In this case, a workaholic. It's like you're saying that someone is addicted to work. And this is a fun way to play around with the language because maybe you like to go shopping. Are you a shopaholic? Do you read a lot? Maybe you're a bookaholic. I drink a lot of milk. So, someone might say, "I'm a milkaholic." But let's not forget the reason why we're talking about this suffix is for all of you who love to work, you may be a workaholic. >> This is your wedding weekend. I'm marrying a real workaholic. You do know that. >> Yeah, but isn't that what you want in a partner? >> Homie, workaholic is probably your best aolic ever, but you need to relax. >> The pronunciation, it's not too difficult. There are four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable. workaholic. But let me let you in on a little secret. It's a syllable stress rule because when a word ends in IC, the stress is often going to be on the second to last syllable. It's a good little rule to keep in mind so that you can easily pronounce words like workaholic. The next word that I have for you is hierarchy. This is a system or organization in which people or things are arranged according to importance. And this is a word that we can actually visualize using a chart. So think about a company. It has a hierarchy. Who's at the top? The most important position. Well, that would be the CEO. And then according to this chart, below the CEO, we have the marketing manager and the IT manager. And then there are people below them. So, this is a chart detailing the company's hierarchy. To give you a better idea as to how this word is used in context, let's look at some news headlines. Is organizational hierarchy getting in the way of innovation? Support for legacy admissions is rooted in racial hierarchy. Maslo's hierarchy of needs, examples, and explanation. and his hierarchy of needs describes different levels of the human experience. It's very interesting stuff. But you know what else is interesting? That's the pronunciation of this noun because it's another long word. Hierarchy. There are four syllables. The stress is on that first syllable and the second syllable. You do hear that schwah sound. Hierarchy. It's a little easier when we slow it down. Hierarchy. And then we can speed it up. Say it with me. Hierarchy. Excellent. The next word, bias. This is when you support or oppose someone or something in an unfair way because you are influenced by your personal opinions. And there are some useful collocations with this noun. You could have a bias towards or against someone or something. And then there are some adjective noun collocations like having a strong bias or an unconscious bias, stereotypes that you're unaware of. Or you may hear somebody talk about confirmation bias when you seek out information to support the views you already have. >> I'm getting a little tired of this bias against the leaders of our industry. I thought I had an awareness to issues, ways of living, unconscious bias, like all of it. >> And your country owes you a debt of gratitude, Dr. Ryan. But even you can agree that a confirmation bias is a dangerous thing. >> When pronouncing this word, it's pretty simple and straightforward. There are two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Bias. Then we have the word scrutiny. This is the careful and detailed examination of something in order to get more information about it. And there's a useful phrase which is to come under scrutiny. And then you can use this phrase with some common adjective noun collocations and say that something comes under close scrutiny or it comes under intense scrutiny or additional scrutiny or constant scrutiny. There are quite a few collocations with this noun and they're all great to know. For pronunciation, the stress is on the first syllable, scrutiny. But I want to take a moment to talk to you about the glottle T versus a true T because if you listen to some online dictionaries, you may hear this >> scrutiny. >> And you hear the true T, but I'm from the US and with the American accent, when the T is followed by an N sound, people may pronounce it with a glottle T. And the the sound comes from the throat, your vocal cords are closing and that's stopping the flow of air. So when you hear me say words like mountain, certain, scrutiny, you hear that glottle t scrutiny. Just listen for it. >> Now Dutton's office is under intense scrutiny for its use of force in multiple gun battles. >> If your customers come under scrutiny, abalonia, your business comes under scrutiny. The next word is concession. This is when something is allowed or given up in order to end a disagreement. So if we disagree on something and we need to come to a compromise, you may make a concession and I may also have to make a concession. And that is a common collocation with this noun to make a concession. I understand that you like things a certain way and I'm willing to make some concessions, but you have to be open to compromise. >> Right. That's reasonable. >> But surely those rules changed the moment they invited television into the coronation. >> That was their right. And a huge concession >> to what? >> Popular interests. >> I am aware that I will have to make some concessions. >> Concessions? >> Yes, concessions. >> When pronouncing this noun, there are three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Concession. And another syllable stress rule for you is that when a word ends in s io n, the stress is going to come on the syllable before it. So that second to last syllable, concession. Another good rule to keep in mind. Next is the noun remorse. This is a feeling of sadness and being sorry for something you have done. And there are some useful phrases with this noun. to feel remorse for something or to feel no remorse for something or to be filled with remorse. So, let me show you some examples, some funny memes when someone might feel remorse. So, you might feel remorse when those were the droids you were looking for. You might feel remorse when you feel guilty for not studying and you are still not studying. You might feel remorse when you buy a new phone just before they announce an upgraded model. When pronouncing this noun, there are two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Remorse. Keep in mind that the first syllable is not stressed. Sometimes I hear people stress the first syllable and I hear that long e sound like re instead of a ri. Remorse. I'm sure you will feel no remorse when you learn how to pronounce all these nouns perfectly. The next word is snob. I like this word even though it has a bit of a negative connotation and it also has a couple of different meanings. So, the first one refers to a person who likes or respects only other people of a high social class. Now, it's a little antiquated, but you may still hear it from time to time. And if someone's a snob, it's like they just feel they're better than other people. >> Your family would never forgive you. >> Maybe not. >> They're snobs. >> They're such snobs. >> Your understanding of politics is limited to who won the election on Sesame Street. >> Can you believe the snob? >> It also refers to a person who has extremely high standards and is not satisfied with things that ordinary people like. And you may hear this noun being used with an adjective when talking about food or drink, but not always. And it does still have a negative connotation even though you you could use it playfully if you say that someone is a coffee snob or a wine snob or a pizza snob or even an art snob. For this person, it must be the finest quality and then you could say that they are a snob. >> A lot easier. Yeah, I'm a bit of a coffee snob. Now, the key to a perfect latte is in the temperature of the steamed milk. >> I'm going to unveil the duchess and watch every art world snob in town drool all over her. For pronunciation, it's pretty simple and straightforward. Just the one syllable snob. Try not to be a snob. Unless you are an English lesson snob and you only want the highest quality lessons, then yeah, you're in the right place. Then we have the word exile. This refers to someone who has to leave their home country and go live in another country, often for political reasons. And there are some useful phrases with this noun. You could say someone goes into exile or someone is in exile. After the overthrow of the government, the former president went into exile. Or currently the deposed leaders are living in exile in the neighboring country. To go into exile or to be in exile >> into exile. I must go. Failed. I have. >> You know the meaning of that word. >> Refugee driven from my home in exile. >> One who could reclaim the throne of Gondor. >> He turned from that path a long time ago. He's chosen exile. >> This noun has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Exile. I will never make you leave this channel and go into exile. In fact, I want the opposite. I want I want you to stay. I want to keep you here. Then we have the word narrative. This is a word that I think is becoming more commonly used. It refers to a story or a particular way of explaining or understanding events. But let's talk about how this word is used because even though it's basically a synonym for the word story, it's not really used interchangeably. I I could say my friend likes to read love stories. I'm not really going to say my friend likes to read love narratives. These days this word is used when talking about the story or the events that they would like others to believe and that is their narrative. Let me give you the interactive English narrative. So I think that this is the best channel to build your vocabulary and reach your fluency goals. I I say that in practically every lesson. That is the narrative that I would like you to believe. Let me show you some more news headlines so you can see how this word is used in context. New January 6 videos praised by Republicans. Narrative has crumbled. Notre Dame offense still has time to change the narrative. And stocks holding majority of recent gains fuels bullish narrative. For pronunciation, there are three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Narrative. Now, when you hear me say the word, I am going to pronounce that final T as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. This is common with the American accent. When the T comes between two vowel sounds, narrative. You hear that that soft D. Narrative. Then we have the word xenophobia. This refers to an extreme dislike or fear of foreigners, their customs, their traditions, their religion. And it's a word that may often be used as an adjective as well, xenophobic. But with this word, I want to highlight another suffix. This time, phobia. It comes from the Greek word phobus, meaning fear. So, whenever you see or hear phobia at the end of a word, you know it's referring to the fear of something. Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. Claustrophobia is the fear of being confined in a small space. Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking. And this is one that I didn't know before this lesson. So, I'm learning new words each and every day. So, there are many different words describing different fears using phobia. But the noun that I want you to remember is xenophobia. And when pronouncing this noun, it can be a little challenging. It's a longer word and the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match up. The word has five syllables and the stress is on the third syllable. Xenophobia. Now, there are two accepted pronunciations for this noun. You could say xenophobia like I've been saying or xenophobia. Either one is okay. Both are accepted. The only difference is that short e or long e in the first syllable. xenophobia versus xenophobia. The other thing I want you to keep in mind is, of course, that X at the beginning of the noun. It has a z sound. xenophobia. Then we have the word influx. This means the arrival of a lot of people or things at the same time. And often you're going to follow this noun with the preposition of an influx of something. The town experienced an influx of tourists this summer. Or the business needs an influx of money or it may not survive. When pronouncing this word, there are two syllables. the stress is on that first syllable. But one thing I want to say is that this noun will generally follow an article either 'the' or an. And if we have the phrase an influx of, then linking may occur. And linking is when we connect the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. So it's going to sound like an influx of. An influx of. Just listen for it. Wendy has identified a casino and hotel in northwest Missouri that needs an influx of cash to survive. >> One day, Carl, an influx of hormones that we can't control will overpower our better judgment and drive us to pursue the female species against our will. >> And now for a little review. I think it is great that you want to build your vocabulary, but I want to remind you that you will need perseverance because to be honest, it can be difficult to find the time. You may have to make some concessions in order to reach your fluency goals. And I I know some people may be thinking, look, do I really need to become a vocabulary snob and learn all these advanced words? Is my English really going to come under intense scrutiny? Probably not. It's entirely up to you. But personally, and I know that I have a bias, I think it's worth it to have a robust vocabulary. I think it's going to help you both personally and professionally. At least that's the narrative that I am trying to tell. So, I should really wrap things up and get going. But don't worry, I I'm not going to go into exile. I will be back soon with another lesson. What can I say? I'm a workaholic. I know that we covered a lot this past hour and I truly hope that you learned something new. Remember, building vocabulary takes time, and I hope that this lesson will be a great resource when it comes to learning C2 vocabulary. If you enjoyed the lesson and you actually did learn something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 2. 1-HOUR LESSON - Improve Your Writing โœ๏ธ (Academic, Professional, & Descriptive) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gFXE9n7hrOI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFXE9n7hrOI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:51:26 | --- I want to help you develop your overall writing skills and that is why I put together this 1hour Mega lesson covering a variety of topics we're going to talk about tips to write professionally I'm going to help you write more descriptive by teaching you many different reporting verbs we're going to improve your academic writing as well as look at some common writing mistakes so this lesson it has it all and if you are someone who would like to improve your writing skills Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so let's begin with some useful writing tips especially when it comes to writing professionally here are 13 tips to help you write professionally and what we're going to do is we're going to start with the big picture which is an idiom that means like the entire view of a situation or issue and then we're going to try to narrow it down to your actual writing so the first tip that I have for you the first thing that I want you to do is understand your purpose so it's a very simple question that needs to be answered what is the purpose of your writing now in general there are four major types of writing it could be a narrative and you're telling a story maybe it's descriptive and you're trying to capture an event or perhaps expository you're giving facts and information or even persuasive and you want to influence someone's opinion now whatever ever your purpose is you just need to have one because without it your writing is going to lack Direction it's like trying to understand what is your purpose for being here right now you would like to improve your writing skills the next tip that I have for you is that you need to know your audience who is going to be reading your writing is it your boss your teacher your peers your colleagues or or just the public in general because once you know your audience then that's going to help you choose your style and in a nutshell which is another idiom I'm giving you some idioms in this lesson it really means in the fewest possible words in a nutshell when I'm talking about style I'm really referring to formal or informal writing so if we're talking about formal writing you should avoid idioms slang just those colloquial Expressions you're also going to want to use more complex structures which I'll get into a little bit later with informal writing well then the rules are relaxed you can use some of those colloquial Expressions but because we're talking about writing professionally I really want to focus on helping you develop your formal writing style this is the style that you need to use if you'd like to appear professional you want people to take you seriously so that is the big picture now let's talk about your actual writing when you put pen to the paper or or even your hands to the keyboard so the next tip that I I have for you is that you need to organize your ideas this is so important I don't want you just to think about this I want you to write it down start with uh brainstorming use that information to develop an outline and when I say develop and outline I want you to develop a comprehensive outline don't just write down a few words write down complete thoughts because when you do this it's going to help your writing have cohesion and unity when I say cohesion I'm just talking about your sentences are logically ordered unity means that your paragraphs are centered around one idea so when you organize your ideas and you write this down it's going to make sure that your writing has cohesion and unity it's very important the next thing that I want you to do which can be a little challenging I'm not going to lie and that is find your voice and when I say find your voice it it's really referring to the words that you use the way that you write your sentences think of voice like your your fingerprint when it comes to writing that maybe you forgot to write your name but somebody reads your writing they know that it's you because of your words because of your sentences now when I say find your voice that means that I I don't want you to think about well how would somebody else write this and present these ideas or what are the words that my audience probably wants to hear you need to discover what is unique about the way you present the topic use your words your sentences be authentic people appreciate originality and I I mentioned that this can be challenging and if you're having trouble finding your voice I think the best thing that you can do is just to write as much as you can and you can start by writing to me down below in the comments but once again if you're putting together that comprehensive outline this is something that should start to be reflected in your outline when you're organizing your ideas something else that should be reflected in your outline is your tone you need to establish a tone and there there are many examples of this tone could be aggressive or humorous nostalgic cheerful sad and what what this really does is it shows your attitude about a topic no matter what topic you have you can have different tones but you need to be consistent you don't want to switch between an aggressive tone to a cheerful one humorous back to aggressive all right writing is not a roller coaster don't think about it like that think about it more like you're traveling down the straight road moving from one idea to the next going from one paragraph to the next which then takes me to my next tip is that you need to organize your paragraphs so I talk to you about organizing your ideas and then you can take a closer look at those ideas and make sure that each paragraph is organized with a topic sentence with supporting sentences and then wrapped up with a conclusion and this is a structure that you can follow over and over and over especially if if your purpose is you're you're writing something that's descriptive or persuasive or even expository and just to emphasize how important this is when you organize your paragraphs it is the easiest and most effective way to convey your ideas something else that's going to help you move smoothly down that road of ideas is that you need to take full advantage of transition words and phrases so these are words and phrases that will allow you to effortlessly and seamlessly move from one idea to the next now there are many transition words and phrases out there I I think it's very useful vocabulary for you to learn but just to give you an example if I want to add information I could use in addition if I want to contrast different ideas I could use however if I want to start out and say well well this idea is very important I could begin with first and foremost and then share my idea now what this does is it makes it so much easier for the reader to follow along not to mention it's going to help you sound more professional because you're you're going to sound like you know what you're talking about my next tip is that you need to vary your sentence structures so when I talked about formal writing I said that you'll use more complex structures and this is part of what I was talking about so you have four different sentence structures you have simple sentences compound sentences complex sentences and compound complex sentences and I've given you some examples here so you can see what what the sentences are like but when you vary your sentence structures it it's going to make your writing a lot more engaging people are going to want to continue reading because I if you're using too much of one structure if you're only using simple sentences it's just going to sound really choppy if you're only using compound sentences well then it may sound a bit repetitive when you vary sentence structures it's going to create a nice Rhythm and flow to your writing and and this is probably something that that you're not going to be able to do the first time it's likely something that you can do and develop when you proofread you may go through and find a couple of simple sentences that you can turn into a compound sentence or maybe you'll add a dependent clause and create a complex sentence and then you'll be developing that Rhythm and flow as well as finding your voice and this leads me into my next tip which is to keep simple especially at first use the vocabulary that you already know if you're writing a rough draft don't stop and analyze everything use your outline keep it simple find your voice and then when you're done you can go back and proofread it and really fine-tune some of those words and sentences and proofreading is what I want to talk to you about next because I want you to effectively correct your own mistakes so when you're writing I think many of you are going to use computer and you need to use those programs to your advantage because if you're using something like word it will tell you I if something is misspelled or perhaps there's a problem with the grammar use these programs to your advantage now if you're just going through and proof reading on your own what I would suggest you do is look for one mistake at a time don't try to look for all the problems at once so you could start with punctuation read through your writing and only look for punctuation mistakes and then go through it again and only look for spelling mistakes go through it again and only look for word choice and maybe change some of those words so what you end up doing is that you proofread your writing multiple times and the more you do this the more you go through it you're likely to find some mistakes you'll make some changes to make your writing better another tip that I have for you is to get others to look at your writing it's always good to have a second set of eyes because people may find spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes that you did not see before it's also good to get feedback in regard to the content but one thing I would tell you is that remember just because somebody gives you feedback about the content that doesn't mean that you have to accept it you can take it into consideration and then decide whether or not you would like to make the changes because remember it's your writing it's your voice and then I think it is very helpful for you to maintain healthy writing habits and there are two things that I think you should be doing a little bit each and every day first I think you should read regularly this is going to help you distinguish between different writing styles you'll get a feel for how someone else's writing is organized you'll also be able to see how people use transition words and phrases as well as varying their sentences and how that makes their writing more engaging I also want you to write regular ly and this is something you can do writing in a journal each and every day or like I said you can write to me down below in those comments it's going to help you develop and find your voice you'll also be able to explore different purposes in writing as well as writing to different audiences in addition you'll be able to practice correcting your own writing now that you have these useful tips to keep in mind let's talk about vocabulary because writing is a productive skill which means vocabulary is important and I want to help you write more descriptively when you're telling a story because often there's going to be dialogue and I want to teach you many different reporting verbs that you can use instead of just always using the word said so let's look at different reporting verbs to help you be more descriptive let's talk about some creative ways that you can say the word said so why is this important well first it allows you to be more descriptive it's also going to keep the reader attention because these words are are just more engaging they're more captivating and you will avoid redundancies because you don't want to keep saying he said she said we said they said you need to mix it up so let let's begin and say that you would like to persuade someone to do something or think something here are some verbs to help make your writing more descriptive you could use pleaded and this is when you're making an urgent or emotional request uh like don't leave he pleaded this is very similar to the next one which is begged except I I feel like begged is probably a little stronger than pleaded but once again this is a strong way to make an urgent request I want a balloon the child begged so in this case it's just more descriptive I'm capturing that feeling I want a balloon the child begged this is something that uh well yeah my child told me last week you can also use intreated which means to try hard to persuade someone to do something now this verb it it's probably not as common as these others however it's still very useful because it's specific and if I want to capture sure a direct quote I could say if you help me with the presentation then I'll work your weekend shift for you he intreated and then we have the verb implored this means to ask someone to do something or not to do something in a very sincere and emotional way think about this situation say that a woman gets pulled over by the police for speeding and and she's getting ready to get a ticket so she says please don't give me a speeding ticket she implored so she's imploring the police officer not to give her a ticket and doing this in a sincere way and of course I had to include the picture of that dog because I think this is a good association with these verbs because dogs May plead for things or beg for things or implore their owners to do something let's continue with some more verbs if you'd like to persuade someone you could use beseeched which means to ask for something in a way that that shows you need it very much I need this raise he beseeched his boss now this is not the most common verb in the world but once again it helps you get that variety same with the next verb cajoled this means to persuade someone to do something that they might not want to do and you're you're persuading them by just talking pleasantly and nicely like please please pretty please say yes she could so this is a a good reporting verb that I could use if I want to capture my little girl's direct speech if she wants something and I maybe I don't want to give it to her she might cajo me into giving it to her please pretty please the next two verbs I think are definitely more common insisted this means to say something firmly especially when others either disagree just oppose what you're saying I want to see my client the lawyer insisted so in this context I it makes me think of a situation in which somebody is asking more than once and then they start insisting the next verb I think is a similar but it's a bit stronger demanded this means to ask for something forcefully and really in a way that you don't expect to be refused I want to know another candy the child demanded so again I'm yeah I just I can't help but give many examples with children I have little girl so again these are these are things that I hear and this helps capture the moood and switch things up a little bit so you can avoid those redundancies so if you are wanting to express happiness or excitement there are some great verbs that you can use such as gushed this means to express a positive feeling especially praise but doing so in a way that it may not seem sincere perhaps they're doing it a little too much so if I'm writing a story and my character is just praising someone over and over and he says you look amazing he gushed right that that tells the reader that perhaps they're they're going a bit overboard it's a little too much and maybe the other person does not find it all that sincere then we have cheered which is to give a loud shout of approval or encouragement we won she cheered all right really expressing that happiness and I think this verb is commonly used it in the context of maybe a competition and you're really trying to encourage others then we have the verb touted it means to advertise talk about or praise something repeatedly and you're really you're doing this because you want the other person to accept what you're saying or maybe even buy something you won't find another car like this the salesman touted so in this case it's like well the salesman's really proud of the car they're really happy about it and they're kind of advertising it they're praising it yeah you won't find another car like this so this is a good verb for that context then we have these three verbs which are somewhat similar but also Express happiness and in all of the examples they really provide that extra bit of information to show you that well that something is funny like laughed it means that you are smiling and making sounds you believe that this is a funny situation I knew it was you she laughed we also have the verb chortled which is not as commonly used it means to laugh and really just showing some satisfaction did you hear the news she chortled giving that extra information that this news is funny it's satisfying and then there the verb giggled this means to laugh repeatedly in in kind of an uncontrolled way I think it's perhaps not as strong as saying laugh but again this is something we all do giggle we all giggle from time to time where did you get that hat he giggled I'm telling you that this hat maybe it looks a little funny which is why he giggled here are some more verbs proclaimed this means to announce something officially especially something that is positive this is the start of a new beginning he proclaimed another verb announced which means to make something known or to tell people something officially we got engaged she announced all right really happy news there's also the verb declared and this means to announce something clearly firmly officially publicly uh I could say we made it to the finals the coach declared so with each of these verbs they they may be used interchangeably depending on the context but it's still good to get that variety let's move from happiness to sadness if you want to show that you are upset about something there are many different verbs that you could use like pouted this is when you want to show that you are annoyed and you you're pushing your lips together and really pushing out your lower lip like M and and you're just unhappy happy about something I want some ice cream the child pouted you can also use the verb complained which is very common it just means that that you're saying that something is wrong or or just not satisfactory we don't want to work over the weekend the employees complained all right it's not a good situation I would complain about it as well if you want to emphasize that sadness you could use a verb like sobbed it means to cry noisily and you're really taking these deep breaths so think about this situation if someone says I work so hard on this project and now it has been destroyed in a matter of seconds she sobbed you could also use cried which means you are well producing tears and expressing that strong emotion she told me it was over he cried and really conveying that sadness let's keep it going with some moread sad verbs keep building your writing vocabulary with verbs like lamented and this means that you are expressing sadness and really just feeling sorry about something and I think that's a key part of it just feeling sorry maybe a little bit of regret I should never have accepted the offer he lamented you could also use the verb sneered when talking about someone or something in an unkind way that shows no respect is that the best you can do she sneered so it's not a good thing to sneer at someone but it it does it really captures that emotion wind is making that long high sad sound I'm sure you can think of someone from your life who has whined before my ice cream melted the boy whined you're really sad and upset about this and then there's the verb bemon this means to complain or Express sadness about something great verb to use from time to time our department has to lay some people off the manager bemon all right the manager's not happy about this situation bemoaning this situation now let's raise the noise level and talk about well if somebody's being loud you could use verbs such as shouted this means to to speak in a loud voice especially when you're in a situation that well it's very noisy around you and you want others to hear so you have to shout we won they shouted so in this context I I feel like the atmosphere is very noisy and he's very excited and just shouting this we won we also have the verb exclaimed which means to shout something suddenly because of surprise fear or pleasure that's not fair she exclaimed in this situation makes me think well perhaps she's a little surprised that's not fair and then there's bellowed which is to shout in a loud voice who's there he bellowed tells the reader that wow this this is a very loud voice when someone Bellows let's move on with some more loud verbs like yelled this means to shout and make a loud noise because you're angry you're in pain maybe you're excited get out she yelled in this case uh makes me think she's not happy and I should probably get out then there's the verb screamed which is similar to yelled you may use these verbs interchangeably but let me give you a different context if um people say help us they screamed and in this situation they are screaming for help and then there's the verb hollered this means to shout loudly pass me the ball he hollered and and you really want to get someone else's attention when you're hollering at them pass me the ball let's now bring the noise level down a little bit and talk about some verbs that you can use if you want to say someone's trying to be quiet like this verb right here murmured murmured just means to say something very quietly I love you the boy murmured and in this context it makes me think that well the boy is a little shy perhaps he doesn't want the other person to hear it but he really just still feels the need to say it and he murmurs this then we have the verb muttered it means to speak quietly in a low voice so that it's not easy to hear and and when I think about this verb muttered I think that people do this because they don't really want the other person to hear what they're saying it could perhaps cause an argument so if we are in a classroom and maybe a teacher gets angry and they call a student lazy and the student's a little upset you're the lazy one the student muttered and they say it in that low voice because they don't necessarily want the teacher to hear and that's why you would mutter something and this verb is also used in the phrase to mutter something under someone's breath which has the same meaning you're speaking softly it's not easy to hear because you don't really want the other person to hear and you mutter something something under your breath then there's mumbled which means to speak quietly and in a way that's not easy to understand so to to give you an example of someone mumbling uh I could say I can't believe they he mumbled and you're like wait wait what was that last part I can't believe they he mumbled so when I'm mumbling it's kind of like you're just trailing off and you just don't understand what someone's saying cuz it's like they're trailing off it becomes quieter and they may be mixing some sounds together and you're like wait what was that can can you say that again and then there's whispered okay if somebody's really trying to be quiet whispered it means that you are speaking quietly really so only the person next to you or close to you can hear what you're saying and you would whisper something don't tell anyone she whispered so this is a very common and and a great verb to use if you really want to show that somebody's trying to be quiet so I just gave you many different verbs that you can use instead of saying the verb said these are very useful reporting verbs that that'll really help you improve your writing they're more descriptive they're more precise and it's just going to make your writing that much more captivating I know I just gave you a lot of vocabulary and I I do not expect you to memorize all of it the goal is just to be aware that there are many different reporting verbs that you can use to help you be more descriptive now I want to switch gears from descriptive writing to academic writing and I know I've talked to you about different tips to help you write professionally but I I really want to do a deep dive to help you improve your academic writing skills and it doesn't matter if you're a student or a working professional this information will help I want to talk to you about some very useful tips that's going to help you immensely improve your writing really it's going to help you greatly improve your academic writing and develop those skills and I know that when I say academic writing you you may think of University which is where a lot of academic writing is done but this is also very important in a more professional setting a business setting so these tips will help so let's begin with the first tip and I think this one is is very important which is why I've put it at the very beginning and that is to be concise and what it means to be concise is that you are stating the information clearly and you are using as few words as possible so really you just avoid wasting words and I think this applies to so many different things so let me give you an example uh with these video lessons before a long time ago when I first started doing these lessons I thought that well the longer I could make them then that would just make it better and more people would be watching them but what I realized after once I started doing this is that I shouldn't be trying to make the lessons longer I should try to give you the information I should try to teach you the lesson and then whenever it's finished then well that's how long the lesson is and and that's the same with your writing you should be concise State the information and try to use as few words as possible because why say something in 10 words when you could say it in five and one way that you can do that that that's going to help you be prise is to use action verbs so let me give you some sentences so that you know what I mean a simple way that you can avoid using too many words is to stay away from the ti n words and I'm not saying that you should never use these but really just keep this in mind because it will help you cut down on unnecessary words so if I were to say the report provided an explanation for these unusual results you see that Tio N word explanation well can just make that an action verb and say the report explained these unusual results I've said the same thing it's more concise I've used fewer words and and you're still saying the information clearly another reason why it's very important to be concise is because it's going to help whoever it is that's reading your writing it's going to help them more easily understand what you're trying to say the final thing that I'll say about this is that you should try to use the vocabulary that you already know I think quite often people will try to look up words that are more difficult that sound more academic intelligent and and they put that into their paper even if it's a word that maybe you don't even know try to avoid doing that use the vocabulary that you already know it's going to help you say things clearly and be concise the next tip that I have for you is to organize your paper this is going to help you carefully structure your writing and all all you need to do is create an outline it's as simple as that and I cannot emphasize this enough because often I think many people will just skip this part of the writing process I used to teach I and Iz is a proficiency exam and part of the exam you have to write and it is timed and I would work with students to help them try to achieve a a high Mark and what I would always tell them is that at the very beginning just take 5 minutes organize your paper and write down create a quick little outline about what you want to say before you start writing and so so often they would tell me well I I just don't have time there's no time for this I just need to start writing and when I would read their writing I could see the lack of organization some of the ideas would overlap and and some points were not even connected to their main thesis so I I think without organizing your paper and saying okay this is what I'm going to talk about first second and third it it's very easy to lose track of where where you want to go and when you start to lose focus of your main idea you you kind of go off track and you start writing about things that may not even be relevant so please take a little bit of time create an outline organize your paper and think about how your writing should be structured my next tip is that you should avoid contractions idioms and other colloquial Expressions simply because they're very informal and writing in general writing is more formal and academic writing is definitely more formal so let's have a look at some informal language like contractions instead of writing its write it is instead of writing could have write could have or instead of writing theirs write their has I I'll also include phrasal verbs in this because they can also be a bit informal and in that case instead of if you were to say like put up with use a more specific verb like endure or or tolerate instead of saying check out you could use a verb like view or consult so not only are you using more formal language but you're also you're also being more concise you're using fewer words and as far as idioms go just just please avoid them look at these two sentences right here collecting data was easy and efficient or collecting data was a piece of cake it just uh just reading it is a bit awkward and the same goes for colloquial Expressions if you you if I were to write something like the scientist had trouble finishing the experiment but no biggie if they didn't finish they could just go back to the drawing board and I the colloquial expressions like saying something is well no biggie it's no big deal or I use that idiom go back to the drawing board not only does this informal language sound unprofessional but it's probably going to seem strange to the person who's reading it so please avoid contractions idioms and these other colloquial phrases the next tip is that you should vary your sentence structures and this is going to help you avoid choppiness and if you're unsure what that means I'm going to tell you a little story and I think it will make more sense but let's get into some more details about sentence structure so there are four basic sentence structures you have simple sentences this is one independent clause so if I'm going to tell you a story about my day I could say I woke up late this morning it's a simple sentence we also have compound sentences which is when you have two or more independent clauses so continuing the story I could say I immediately went to the kitchen and I made myself a cup of coffee a complex sentence is when you have one independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses after I finished my coffee I got ready for work then we have compound complex sentences which is when you have two or more independent clauses Plus one or more dependent clauses and let's continue when I looked at my watch I realized I was running late so I ran out the door and jumped in my car so let's review our story using all of those different sentence structures I woke up late this morning I immediately went to the kitchen and I made myself a cup of coffee after I finished my coffee I got ready for work when I looked at my watch I realized I was running late so I ran out the door and jumped in my car if we were to change this and just use simple sentences the story is going to sound well it's going to sound very choppy if I say I woke up late this morning I immediately went to the kitchen I made myself a cup of coffee I finished my coffee I got ready for work I looked at my watch I realized I was running late I ran out the door I jumped in my car all right it's it sounds more like a children's book and it's definitely not academic writing so when you vary your sentence structure it's going to help your writing have a nice Rhythm and flow and to be perfectly honest when you are writing you may not analyze each sentence and and really look at the sentence structure this is more likely something that you will notice and you'll be able to get a feel for it as you reread your writing so when you reread you'll be able to get a better sense if there is some choppiness and you need to adjust some of your sentence structures my next tip is to use the active voice and that is because the active voice it just gives more clarity now I'm not I'm not saying that you should never use the passive voice it really depends on what you're writing if you writing some scientific paper then yes it's likely you may have some passive sentences but in general overall most of your sentences should be active so let's compare the active and passive if I were to say archaeologists conducted a study of the newly Unearthed artifacts this is an active sentence it has nine words and if we compare it to the Passive A study was conducted of the newly Unearthed artifacts you see that the issue is that well in the passive we don't know who conducted the study now we could add that to the end of the sentence and I could say by archaeologist but now I have 11 words why say something in 11 words when I could say it in nine so again it's about being more concise so just keep in mind that most of your sentences are going to be in the active voice the next tip is to avoid repetition try to use a variety of words because it's going to make your writing more captivating use precise language if possible and try to avoid words like very because words like that are often overused now in writing one one way to avoid repetition is when it comes to transition words these transition words are when you can well add information perhaps you're moving from one idea to the next but when you're writing transition words it's easy to repeat them let's take the word also this is a word that's commonly use to add more information but you do not always need to use this word because there are other words that have the same meaning so instead of saying the crisis caused severe economic damage companies were forced to downsize and many people lost their job also Banks were forced to Titan lending practices which meant small businesses had a difficult time accessing money also the local government proved ineffective in offering relief we can just remove also to replace with some other words like in addition and furthermore and it's going to sound much better so we have also in addition furthermore moreover besides there are a variety of words that you can use when you're talking about these transition words the good news is is that well repetition is pretty easy to spot when you reread your writing you should be able to identify if you continuously use the same word again and again and again and really unless you're writing a poem there is no good reason to continuously repeat words over and over just remember this famous saying when you avoid repetition your writing Won't Suck actually it's not a famous saying I just made it up right now but the message the lesson is still relevant avoid repetition the next tip and I really want to emphasize this is proofread and the reason why I say I want to emphasize this is because it's another step in the writing process that some people tend to skip and the reason why it's so important to proof read is because you're able to do some of the things that I've already talked about you're able to get a feel for the sentence structure that you use you're able to spot some of the words that you may have repeated most of you are probably proofreading because you want to correct mistakes so in that case I have a bonus tip for you and that is read backwards go to the very last sentence read that one try to look for mistakes go to the next to the last sentence read that one look for mistakes and just continue reading backwards until you get to the beginning and the reason for that is because you're you're really isolating the sentence and you're able to look for spelling mistakes uh grammar mistakes punctuation and in short when you read backwards you're focusing more on the text and not the ideas so proofread forward from beginning to end if you want to get a feel for the Rhythm and flow of your writing make sure that your ideas are logically ordered as well as check for repetition proof read backward if you want to really focus on the text and check for grammatical errors and most importantly just make sure that you proofread and do not skip this step so I hope that you found these tips and suggestions useful because I definitely think this will help you immensely improve your academic writing so let's practice some of the things that we've been talking about in this lesson and the way that I would like to practice is by correcting some common writing mistakes now I'm sure that you may have heard the expression practice makes perfect so let's do that right now I want to talk to you about some common writing mistakes and see if you can identify them but most importantly I also want to talk about how you can fix these mistakes and really just try to avoid them all together this uh well these are the directions so I am going to give you a sample writing and I want you to read the sentences read what I have for you and see if you can identify all three mistakes so in each writing sample there are three mistakes but not only that I also want you to identify the common writing mistake like what is the overall problem what is the overall issue and that's really going to help you try to go through your own writing and tell you what to look for some of the things to keep in mind to help you improve your writing and help you correct some of those mistakes so let's just jump in I think as we go through this you'll you'll get what I'm talking about so the first one is this right here this little writing sample so I'll I'll read this as is I'll give you a moment to think about what are some of the mistakes write them in the chat and then we'll talk about the overall problem so here is the first writing sample neither John nor Mary are at school today John is a good friend who always asks for help I am happy to give my friend a hand from time to time however Mary usually tells me that he don't need my help and should do his own work so in this in these sentences right here there are three mistakes and I want you to think about well what are the mistakes and all of all of these mistakes are similar I think the one thing that stands out which you can probably see is that he don't let me show you all three and we'll talk about the general well topic the category so what I'm really referring to the three mistakes and what they have in common is that they all deal with subject verb agreement so the first sentence there's that first mistake neither John nor Mary is at school today when you're talking about that phrase neither or nor if we we have a singular subject in which case JN is singular Mary is singular we're going to use a singular verb neither John nor Mary is at school today and if it were a plural subject like neither children nor adults then you could use that plural verb the next sentence John is a good friend of mine who always ask for help we need that S at the end so who who is referring to John in this case again it's singular John ask who ask and then down there at the bottom however Mary usually tells me that he don't this is a common mistake that I I see in writing but also in spoken English when people want to use that negative and they're talking about he or she and I'll hear people go to and and use don't instead of doesn't so just something to keep in mind but the first Common mistake that I often see when it comes to writing is just subject verb agreement do the does the subject agree with the verb and that's something you should look through as you go through your writing to make sure that they do agree the next one please let me know when you're ready to talk I think there is much that we need to discuss it's been a difficult time for both of us to be honest I don't know if I can forgive you for your many mistakes and there are three mistakes in this little short passage right here and they all have they all have one thing in common so the three mistakes all have to do with contractions versus possessives these are words that they sound the same but they have a different meaning you're the contracted form or you're the possessive form or it's the contracted form or it's the possessive so in that first sentence please let me know when you are ready to talk you're ready to talk we need that apostrophe so it's with an apostrophe can there are two contracted forms it could mean it is or it could mean it has you could use it's for either one but in this case you see that past participle Ben so that tells you right there there that we're talking about the present perfect tense it's been a difficult time for both of us and then that last sentence uh to be honest I don't know if I can forgive you for your many mistakes in this case we're talking about your the possessive form y u r what do you think I never really check weather forecast luckily a friend told me it was going to rain tomorrow I made sure to bring a umbrella when our group of friends traveled to the Yos National park there are three mistakes they're all the same but once again the they have this in common one thing that I think is also a challenge when you're looking at someone else's writing it can be a little easier when you're going back through your own writing it it it's actually a little more challenging the three mistakes in this sample right here they all have to do with articles here are the the mistakes mes it's just we're talking about article misuse and when I say articles I'm talking about a andth or just no article and not using an article so I never really check uh the weather forecast you could use the article a in this case but mostly when talking about the weather you're referring to the specific weather where you are so I think it's preferable to use the I made sure to bring an umbrella an umbrella all right we're going to use that article an instead of a an umbrella when our group of friends travel um travel to not the yosan national park it should be no article and that last one when talking about no article we're talking about a national park we don't use an article before that so the next one see if you can find the three mistakes he spent much of his time studying Finance because he was interested with economics perhaps it came naturally because he was great in math he understood that people's H spending habits depended to their income what are the mistakes in this writing sample and you know what is the category what category of mistakes am I referring to what I'm referring to the mistakes the overall category is just the wrong preposition so so that first sentence he spent much of his time studying Finance because he was interested in economics if you're using that adjective interested you're going to say you're interested in something perhaps it came naturally because he was great at math great at something you're good at something and then finally he understood that people spending habits depended not depended to it depended on their in income so something depends on something else one thing that I'll say with these prepositions which can be tricky is that sometimes more than one preposition may be used the reason why I'm pointing this now out now is because I want you to look at that phrase great at math and again I think in just general conversation colloquial speech you may hear someone use the preposition in when talking about a subject oh he's is great in math but if you want a point of reference and I wanted to share this site with you and I've talked about it before andram viewer this is a good way to try to understand the language and understand which words or phrases are more commonly used good at math good in math and looking at the graph right there you can see that good at math is more frequently used every day I get get up and go for a run I usually took the same route yesterday however I decide to go jogging in the Hills nearby I had never been there before I really enjoy seeing the beautiful Forest perhaps I will do it again tomorrow so this actually goes back to what I was talking about before when I feel like in that one sample number three I had made a mistake and again the other thing is making mistakes it's it's natural it's going to happen and I I think it is especially difficult when you are proofreading your own writing when other people are doing it I think it can be a little easier and you're able to spot some of those things mistakes because they're not your words we're talking about changing tenses and even in that sample before I made a mistake in terms of talking about the future and then kind of switching to the past and this is a mistake that people not only make in writing even whether you're an English learner or a native speaker it's a mistake that people make and spoken English as well when they're telling a story so every day we're talking about a routine a habit we're going to use the present simple I go for a I get up and go for a run we're continuing with the present simple in that next sentence talking about what you usually do this is your routine your habit I usually take the same route the next sentence you see that word that time word right there yesterday that tells you that we're talking about the past yesterday however I decided with that Ed ending to go jogging in the Hills I had never been there before I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful Forest we're going to use the past tense because once again in the previous sentence I had just said well I never been there before so it's not something you regularly do that you enjoy uh and that you're familiar with we're talking about again a finished action in the past and then the next sentence we switch to the Future because we have that time word tomorrow perhaps I'll do it again uh tomorrow think about those time words when talking about yesterday or a few days ago tomorrow at the moment and those are indicators as to which verb tense you should be using then here is sample number six after going to the dentist I learned that I have three cavities the dentist said you need to take better care of your teeth he requested that I floss regularly and I should come in for a cleaning once every six months even as I was reading that hopefully just listening to it you might think that it sounded a little off what are the mistakes and it is the same mistake I'll give you a hint it's a punctuation mistake what is the problem with the the punctuation in this writing sample we're talking about comma misuse so comma misuse could be you're using a comma when you shouldn't perhaps you're using a full stop but in all of these example these mistakes right here I should have used a comma but I didn't after going to the dentist that is my adverb phrase when it comes before the independent clause you need a comma the next one the dentist said comma and this is in quotes you need to take better care of your teeth this is I feel like this is what my dentist would say says to me when I go there uh so again the dentist said said is that reporting verb before you say you give that direct quote those quotations you need a comma there the dentist said comma you need to take better care of your teeth he requested that I floss regularly comma and I should come in for a cleaning once every 6 months that is a compound sentence you have two two independent clauses joined by that conjunction and often they're joined by Andor but so in this case and but you need a comma before that conjunction sample seven her colleague was late to the meeting she was attempting to purchase some time in hopes that he would arrive clearly she was not prepared to make the presentation on her own this would certainly have a negative effect on their upcoming work evaluations so identify the mistakes and then think about well what category would this fall under some of these may be a little more difficult than others but I think if you find one you can start searching for those others so the three mistakes are right here all right right we're talking about the wrong word you're just using the wrong word a lot of times this happens with collocations words that are frequently used together the first mistake uh in that second sentence she was attempting instead of purchasing sometime we're talking about the phrase to buy sometime and buy and purchase they're generally synonyms but in this case you it's a fixed phrase to buy time which means to delay or you're trying to avoid doing something you're trying to buy some time so that's why I said think about the situation she's in this meeting she's trying to buy time because her colleague's not there clearly she was not prepared to give the presentation on her own or do the presentation now what makes this tricky is when talking about a presentation I just mentioned collocations you could use use the verb make give or do depending on the context so let me be a little clearer to make a presentation would really be creating the presentation if you're talking about give in that case you're really referring to presenting and you're actually in front of your audience speaking and you are giving the presentation with the verb do it can really refer to either one who's going to do the presentation like give the presentation or you could say who's going to do the presentation as in make it and create it it makes sense why some of these simple mistakes are made when it comes to these collocations it can be a little confusing and then at the end there this would certainly have a negative effect effect with an e is a noun so that is what we need there a negative effect with an e a effect with an a this is a verb to affect something so effect and effect they're commonly confused words different parts of speech the next one see if you can find all three mistakes I think one of them will definitely be easy to spot so I'll I'll read it for you dear sir or Madam I'm writing to let you know that I submitted the pro proposal in the nick of time time the project should be a piece of cake so I believe it will be completed within a week my team is going to work hard to make sure the project is finished in a timely manner okay what three mistakes do you see with this writing sample right here as I said one I think is pretty obvious and hopefully maybe that'll help you identify the other two if I want to give you a little bit of a hint think about that very first line Dear Sir or madam what is that telling you if somebody begins a letter or an email Dear Sir or Madam Dear Sir or Madam should tell you that this is a formal message it is either a formal letter or it is a formal email and because of that you really should avoid you using informal language Dear Sir or Madam this is a formal message a formal email I am writing to let you know that I submitted the proposal in the nick of time is an idiom and if you're writing an in a formal uh email or letter I would recommend avoiding idioms altogether they're more casual so instead of you you submitted the proposal in the nick of time I submitted the proposal before the deadline there are other phrases that you could use to finish that sentence but I would get rid of in the nick of time the project should be a piece of cake once again piece of cake is an idiom I would avoid it if you're writing something that's a little more formal so instead of a piece of cake maybe you could use simple and straightforward or just one of those the project should be straightforward so I believe it will be completed within a week and then that last sentence my team is going to instead of writing the reduction you need to spell out the full form going to my team is going to work hard to make sure the project is finished in a timely manner now even if I'm reading this and I see going to the full form in my mind I I'm saying gonna I'm changing that to the reduction my team is going to work hard to make sure the project is finished on time but I would certainly avoid writing reductions sometimes I I know I say that and sometimes you may see it if somebody's writing a text message or perhaps like song lyrics and you see people spell out these reductions it's very informal but the problem that I notice is that when people start writing these reductions it then carries over into more formal writing which can look really unprofessional if it's something for work or or School you definitely want to avoid using those reductions so just keep that in mind this informal language and I just want you to keep these things in mind and as you're proof rating these are the things that I want you to look out for so it's really difficult especially if you're reading your own writing to track down all of the mistakes but one problem that I notice is that people will write something and they they tend not to proof re it all and I would definitely recommend it whether you're writing an email or even just a an informal letter it's just a good habit to get into now I I know that I just gave you a lot of information this past hour and I I hope that you really think about some of the things that we've talked about you can go back and rewatch parts of the lesson because I really think that will help when it comes to improving your writing skills it is something that's going to take time it's going to take practice so if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 3. 1-HOUR LESSON - Learn Over 100 English Phrasal Verbs | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DSJXxLHAJCY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSJXxLHAJCY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:53:01 | --- buckle up that's a phrasal verb because I have a monster vocabulary lesson for you to help you level up your skills there's another one in this lesson I'm going to teach you over a hundred different phrasal verbs that's right over a hundred so it's a lot of information to soak in and there's another phrasal verb so you can see we use phrasal verbs all the time and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English and it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I I know phrasal verbs can be a bit tricky so I've grouped them into different categories I'm going to tell you the meaning and give you a lot of different examples so you can see how they're used in context are you ready game on listen up because today I am going to teach you some very useful phrasal verbs we use phrasal verbs all the time they are are so common in everyday conversation and today I'm going to teach you some phrasal verbs that are related to listening these are listening phrasal verbs and the first one that I have for you is listen up I said it at the very very very beginning of this lesson and all it means is to listen carefully it's just you're telling somebody or a group of people to listen carefully so when I think about this phrasal verb being used I think about maybe a coach talk to a group of players they might want to get their attention and tell them hey everybody listen up what I'm about to say is very important or maybe a teacher would say it to a group of students they want the students to pay attention and they tell everybody listen up listen up no one mention Richard roer again up I don't have to tell you what this game means listen up I'm hearing a lot of Whispers and rumors all right listen up listen up the next listening phrasal verb I have for you is to listen in now when you listen in you are secretly listening to their conversation you are secretly listening to what they're saying we can also make this a three-word phrasal verb with the preposition on and listen in on someone looks like Gary and Gertie are about to get briefed on the ukata assignment we should listen in I can only assume that you're listening in you've been listening in on our conversation tell the FBI agents listening in on this call then we have hear about so to hear about something or maybe you hear about someone is is just to receive information about this thing or or person did you hear about what people are saying in the comments you you should go check out those comments and and while you're down there just write us a comment because we love hearing from you how do you know you hear about people who are worth hearing about how did you hear about that oh how did you hear about us the next phrasal verb is he from and you you hear from someone now this phrasal verb has three different meanings the first meaning would just be you are receiving a a phone call or a message or maybe even an email from another person did you hear from your friend which would just be like okay did they call you did they write you did you hear from them will I hear from you did you hear from the doctor did you hear from your friend you hear from Bobby did you hear from Superman the next meaning is just to listen to a person or or even a group of people talk about a particular topic for example maybe the School faculty is going to hear from the students about some issue that's going on at the University you would hear from these people now we shall hear from tonight's featured guest as we begin our service we will now hear from her daughter and finally it means that I if somebody's angry then then you're just going to tell some other person about it I think it's often used in the context somebody's angry and they say You're going to hear from my lawyer I'm going to tell my lawyer about this thing that I am angry about or maybe somebody didn't apologize to to you and you say you know I if if he doesn't apologize then then he's going to hear from me I'm going to let him know about this thing you have two weeks otherwise you'll hear from my lawyer but you'll hear from my attorneys in the morning you'll be hearing from me Sherlock you will be hearing from me Mr Scott okay well I can be very very persistent then we have to hear someone out and when you hear someone out then you are just listening to this person you are listening to what they have to say and and you let them finish you are not going to interrupt this person because you are hearing them out I think people frequently use it when you're you're maybe having an intense conversation or a discussion with somebody and and you want this person to listen to you and you just tell them look hear me out listen to what I have to say hear me out before you say or do anything just hear me out out just hear me out it's called hinkly Cold Storage just hear me out now hear me out all right they're playing cards and um and I read his hand blind and I hope all of you hear me out and listen to the lesson until the very end because if you don't then you're you're going to hear from me you're you're going to hear about this another great listening phrasal verb is hear of and you can hear of something and you are just receiving news about this thing or about this event for example Le uh I I I was shocked to hear of the sad news or you could hear of someone and you're receiving news about this person for example I haven't heard of anyone all right I I don't know anyone who would not hit the like button for this lesson because phrasal verbs are amazing they're wonderful I haven't heard of anyone who who wouldn't hit that like button which is a way of me trying to tell you to hit that like button so why why don't you go ahead and do that you ever hear of Superman you ever hear of KFC the King you hear of this Crawford you ever hear of it now I won't hear of it Mo you're a fabulous cat then we have pickup now the phrasal verb pickup has many different meanings I just want to talk to you about the meaning that's related to listening so to pick something up is just to to hear a sound you could also pick up a scent as well but when it comes to listening you would pick pick up a sound and what I think about is somebody who who's trying to listen carefully maybe they have their headphones on and they're trying to hear listen in on a conversation and oh are are you picking anything up have you have you picked up the sound can you hear anything or maybe you're trying to listen to things happening in in outer space and you're trying to pick up some sounds you're trying to pick something up try the scanner see if you can pick up it wor cap I can handle it it's all yours the scanners pick up anything reported immediately I tried to get a fix on Alpha centur according to Will's calculations picked this up instead how about we talk about that other thing transmission Abdul picked up on his little radio the next listening phrasal verb is tune in and to tune in means to listen to and watch a a TV show or maybe a news broadcast or or even a video Lesson I really appreciate it that that all of you tune in to our video lessons and and hear me out I am really grateful for that thank you tune in next week for the exciting conclusion here if you've tuned in for wnyx's regularly scheduled can you tune in to the cockpit frequency yeah why the next phrasal verb and this is probably my favorite one on this list is to tune out and when you tune out you just you stop paying attention you stop listening and you can tune someone out or you could tune some something out and you're you're just not listening to this thing or this person anymore and I really hope that you are not tuning me out right now because you've heard about something else exciting going on don't don't don't worry about that just just stay with me I want you to hear me out all the way until the end children okay tune out okay cuz some some secrets are coming out all right the adult ones look when usually when Amy complains about her co-workers I just tune her out it's just one more shift just tune her out and she'll eventually leave you alone and then we have well this is not a phrasal verb it's just an expression but but I liked it so I thought I would throw it in there and it is to hang on to someone's word often I think the the entire expression would be to hang on to someone's every word and that just means you are listening very carefully to what someone is saying because somebody is saying something that is so exciting it is so captivating that you just want to listen to every single word that this person is saying and you are hanging on to every word but he hangs on your every word oh I'm asking I'm telling you take that responsibility seriously I guess it's because we all want to believe that what we do is very important that people hang under our every word I'm now the leader of thousands of people they all hang on my every word so listen up now that you've tuned in to this lesson and you've heard me out now I want to hear from you and I want you to write to me in the comments fall phrasal verbs and I I'm not really talking about The Fall season I'm talking about phrasal verbs that all have the word fall and phrasal verbs can be confusing for a couple of different reasons you have the verb followed by a preposition and when that preposition changes well the meaning is likely going to change and phrasal verbs many of them have multiple meanings as well and as we go through the lesson I will talk to you about that and the one thing that I will really try to do as I teach you these different phrasal verbs is to give you some context and talk about well how you might often hear people use these phrasal verbs or how you can use them if you're having a conversation with someone else let's start with our first phrasal verb our first fall phrasal verb which is to fall apart and if you say that something falls apart it's really it just means it's breaking into many pieces or you could use it to refer to something that's that's break in general so maybe you you build something it breaks into many pieces you could say Well it it fell apart or if I have something like uh maybe a table somebody could say well yeah this table it's really old it's falling apart it's not literally breaking into all these different pieces you're really just saying it's kind of breaking down in general it's not it's not working very well you need a new table because this one is falling apart well we could use the extra money and this house is falling apart then we have fall behind and this means that you you fail to do something fast enough or on time or even that you're you're just able to maintain some level so uh I think people often use this with work and maybe they have a project and they have other things that they need to do and you could say yeah I'm I'm falling behind with my work or in in the context of Education especially when you're talking about trying to maintain a certain level if you're having difficulty in a class and you feel like all the other students are getting ahead of you then you could say well the class is so difficult I I think I'm starting to fall behind and I'm not able to maintain a certain level fall behind spring session should end you'd be expected to tut to him so he doesn't fall behind in that respect your classroom experience may actually be of use fall through this phrasal verb means that something is just not going to happen and I think quite often we use this to talk about plans we have things that we want to do we hope that they happen but if they don't then you could say this weekend my plans just fell through and it's not going to happen that was great what are you doing here something fell through so I was able to come back a few days early then I have a three-word phrasal verb for you which is to fall back on and what this means is that you use something especially in the form of financial support when everything else has failed and you might say that well I'm I'm I'm I can't find a job right now and that's okay because I can always fall back on my savings and I have that financial support that I can fall back on uh what's your financial situation like do you have savings to fall back on uh do you come from wealth or no no no and then I have a very common phrasal verb which is fall down it means to well just fall to the ground or floor and you could use this to talk about a person or a thing now it is a little similar but also different than fall over which really means in that case that something is well falling on its side that when it was vertical so if I were to use them maybe interchangeably I could say I I tripped and fell down it's the same is like well I tripped and fell over because I I'm no longer standing and I'm on my side if I were to say something like I hung a painting and yesterday it fell down because it's probably falling to the ground or floor you're not going to use fall over in that case and because of that I think it's so much more common to use fall down fall down An Elevator Shaft what the hell does this mean I fall down An Elevator Shaft uh I don't know I just bring the Scripts still it's good to be a little more specific depending on the context if you want to say something is on its side it's not vertical anymore it fell over what you doing down there I fell over what you fell over I didn't do it on purpose well come on then and then we have fall off which has a couple of different meaning so the first one is that something becomes detached or separated from something else I hung a painting and then the next day it fell off the wall and often I think people will say what what this thing is falling from you could say the leaves are going to fall off the tree what do we do when we fall off the horse we get back on the next meaning of fall off is when the rate or quality of something is becoming slower or smaller and often I think you may use it in this context when when talking about business and you could say that well sales are starting to fall off it's becoming slower or maybe maybe new memberships have been falling off recently and hi so you can use fall off in that that context of business do you have anything you want to add the next phrasal verb is fall out it also has a couple of different meanings that I want to teach you the first one is that well to come out of something by Falling you could say that that something falls out the window the second meaning of Fallout is to become loose and separate from your head or mouth so think about it this way you could say that somebody's hair is falling out or maybe you have a tooth it's a little loose and then it falls out so in this case when talking about well like hair or teeth you're not going to use fall off you will use fall out Mrs Simpson there's no physical reason why your hair should be falling out then we have fall four also two meanings the first one is that well you you develop up romantic feelings for someone and you could say if somebody were say well I'm I'm falling for him or I'm falling for her they're talking about developing those romantic feelings my God you're falling for him I am not the second meaning is to be tricked or fooled by something and a very I think a common expression you might hear in a TV show or movie is like oh I I fell for the oldest trick in the book and that just means that you were tricked or deceived by something that you you should have known better because it happens quite often the ring I can't believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book and then there's fall into also a couple of different meanings the first one is that well you go into something like somebody falls into the pool or you could also say that you suddenly have a condition and you might fall into a coma hey Michael did you fall into a COI pond uh I can't really hear you I I think we sort of have a bad connection Jen did Michael fall into a koi pond like the cabin depressurized and fell into a coma or something oh I'm I'm fine sit sit and then there are some useful idioms that have this phrasal verb uh you could say that something falls into place that things happen in a satisfactory way without any problems and things just fall into place doing this mall tour and he came here to our Mall it was like everything was finally falling into place you know like it was um fake you could also use the idiom to fall in someone's lap and when something falls into your lap it really refers to well something happens in an unexpected way that you were not planning for you weren't trying to get this it just it just falls into your lap and you're often referring to something that's positive something desirable maybe you could say well I wasn't looking for a new job but this opportunity just fell into my lap it's up to you to make the best of it and it's not like opportunity is just going to fall into your lap I hope that you found this lesson useful I hope you learned something new and that you can well now go out there and try to use some of these phrasal verbs in everyday conversation they are pretty common they are very useful and I hope that it it you understand it a bit better talking about some of the context in which we use these different phrasal verbs I want to teach you 20 different phrasal verbs that have all positive meanings and I think because I'm already telling you that all of these phrasal verbs have a positive meaning I think that will make them a little bit easier to understand and possibly remember because you can connect it to that feeling the first phrasal verb that I have for you is believe in and this just means to feel confident about something or someone often I think we use it when we're talking about a person and you might say that you believe in someone for example you all want to improve your English and I truly I believe in you I feel that if you keep working hard and practicing and watching these video lessons I believe in you and and I think that you will achieve your fluency goals then we have a three-word phrasal verb which is brush up on and typically you would say that you're going to brush up on something which means that you are going to improve your knowledge or skill in well in something that you have learned before but you've kind kind of Forgotten let's say that you studied English in the past you forgotten a little bit but you're going to improve your knowledge and you are going to brush up on your skills read some books brush up on your history the quiz Monday brush up on chapters three and four yeah I need to House break I new police dog plus it couldn't hurt Ralph either brush up on the fundamentals get along this is a very common phrasal verb and it's used to talk about two or more people that are just friendly with each other and I think it's very important that everyone try to get along next is the phrasal verb get over you get over something and what this is talking about is that you return to a normal state of health or happiness after some bad experience and you might get over an illness or perhaps you get over a bad breakup and you just return to your normal State then we have the phrasal verb get through and to get through something means that you are trying to survive it you're trying to endure it and then you will you will reach the end and everything will be better and often I think you would use this phrasal verb if you want to offer some some encouragement some support and you might hear somebody say look you're you're going to get through this I believe in you you're going to get through this just get through today I'll be there tomorrow afternoon but we're just going to have to find a way to get through this get through this together next is go beyond and to go beyond just means to be more than or or do more than what is expected and often you may hear people use it with this expression to go above and beyond that if you do more than what is expected of you then somebody might say that you you just went above and beyond then we have goof off or goof around they mean the same thing and it pretty much means to to avoid doing something and kind maybe you're wasting time and I've included them in this lesson about staying positive because when you are dealing with some type of really bad experience I think all of us need to relax a little bit and it can be helpful to goof off or or goof around and it just helps us it it it could help you get through the day are we going to be goofing off like this every day uh we're not goofing off but what they really want is an excuse to goof off and not study for finals I can goof around JD I I can goof around hard this says they only pay you 100 bucks a week yeah but all I really do is goof around all day then we have help out and I think often you may find a pronoun between the verb and the preposition to help someone out and this means that you are just you're doing some work for somebody else or maybe you're giving them some money and you are helping a person out you guys you can help me out if you want and hit that like button down below then we have the phrasal verb keep at and if you keep at something if somebody tells you to keep at it they just want you to continue working at something and I think often this is really a little more encouraging that if somebody's thinking about giving up and they're thinking about quitting and you want them to stay positive and and really get through it you might tell them look I I believe in you you just need to keep at it then we have the phrasal verb keep up which is very similar if somebody tells you hey keep it up then they're telling you to continue working and maintain the effort that you're putting in or perhaps you're you're doing a great job and they want you to continue doing a good job and they may tell you to to keep it up so that's a little bit of a slight difference I think if somebody's going to tell you to keep at it then I think they want to encourage you if maybe you're having a difficult time or if you're doing well and they want you to continue doing well and working they may tell you to to keep it up keep up the good work CL there's too much at stake I can't just write Superman off we need him you're right we should keep at it no I should keep at it hey R your Department's killing baby hey my pleasure my treasure keep it up then we have light up and to light up is just to look happy and often I think people may use it to describe someone's face and they would say oh like uh her face just lit up that she became very happy or maybe somebody might use the Expression to light up the room that is somebody's presence that they enter and maybe you say they just light up the room they make everyone happy then we have look forward to it is a three-word phrasal verb and it means to feel very excited about something that that's going to happen in the future for example I look forward to 2021 I look forward to the tournament forward to tomorrow night I look forward to your call I look forward to meeting her look up this phrasal verb means to become better and often I think you would hear somebody say something like things are looking up things are becoming better they're starting to look up next is the phrasal verb pay off and if something pays off then it results in success for example uh people might say well hard work pays off if you work really hard then then it's going to pay off it's going to result in success then we have the phrasal verb pull through and pull through is talking about someone who becomes well again after a serious illness and if somebody is very ill they're in the hospital you want them to pull through and become well again next is the phrasal verb settle down and that means to become well familiar with a place and just be happy about it often I think people might use it when they're they're talking about the future or something like that and they'd say later on in life I just want to settle down and have a family and just enjoy life we'll claim our land and then we'll marry and finally settle down you do want to settle down don't you Shah yes so want to settle down I will say you know Kyle used to be just like us hanging out drinking and stuff but he seems happier that he's settled down then we have sort out which means that you are dealing with a problem in a successful way so so if you have a problem you might tell somebody that you know I just need to sort this out I need to deal with it successfully I'm going to sort it out because you want to stay positive I I really hope that you sort out all of your problems then we have the phrasal verb straighten up and if you say that someone straightens up it it's a positive phrasal verb because it means that they are behaving well after behaving poorly so if somebody has maybe they have some problems they have some issues you might tell that person to to straighten up and you'd say I I really want you to straighten up I want you to behave well you really you should sort out all your problems go settle down and just try to be happy and work hard and in the end it's all going to pay off work through this phrasal verb means that you're trying to manage a problem that has different parts so it could be a problem that is a little complic licated and you could say that you're you're trying to work through it you want to work through it so that afterwards everything is better then we have the phrasal verb work up and if you are trying to work your way up it means you're you're trying to make progress and typically I think you're you're trying to achieve some type of level or position for example you may hear people talk about the phrase to work your way up the corporate ladder you're you're trying to improve and make progress in the company and and work your way up the lap who doesn't love shopping I know I do but you know what's even better than shopping shopping phrasal verbs it's coming up welcome welcome welcome to our lesson today I have a super fun one we are talking about shopping phrasal verbs of course these are very useful phrasal verbs because we have to go shopping all the time we need food we need clothes and that is why these verbs will come in very very handy because we can use them all the time so let's begin first one is sell out so this means they sell out it means they don't have it any longer that the store doesn't have something anymore and it's not available to buy and many times we use it with of they sell out of something so maybe you go to the store and they have sold out of mushrooms it happened to me the other day they sold out of hummus or eggs or something this is also a very common word to use with um different events for example like a show or a concert yes from Milan you said it was in the store no no no we we sold out we've had to order some more oh you know what I can check for you it's sold out yeah sorry about that that's a bummer two tickets for let me guess look who's oning that's right sold out oh number two is try out and this just means to test something to see if you like it and of course this is going to be more of applicable to shopping trips that involve clothes or shoes because you want to test those items out before you buy them I want to try out these running shoes before I run the marathon number three is pickup and this just means to buy or grab something from the store when you pick something up from the store you're not spending a long time in there you are just grabbing what you need and leaving easy as that I'm here to pick up some delicados Jenny just you know she wants me to pick up some stuff on the way home we can pick up some things at the mall oh could you pick me up some panty hose maybe you could pick me up some underwear number four is almost like number three but slightly different it's pick out not pick up pick out and it has a completely different meaning it just means to choose this is why phrasal verbs are so complicated is because you switch the preposition and suddenly the meaning changes but pick out means to choose one thing avocado I don't know how to pick out an avocado I need you to help me pick out what to wear which women pay her to pick out their clothes go in there pick something out so we can go I thought I was just going to be picking out a chair number five is markdown and this one's among my favorite ones because uh when stores Mark something down it means they reduce it in price which calls for happy dance Happy dance they mark down the prices yeah that's I'm sorry about that that's really what it means the price goes down it's marked down I love this dress and they marked it down 50% and everything is marked down the shoes were just marked down from 155 look at this it's $85 marked down from $600 that dress is $66.95 marked down from 10 number six is to look around and this one can also be fun it just means to browse around without a plan you don't have a shopping plan you're not there to just go in buy something and get out you're just looking around you want to see what they have ooh maybe you can get a new dress oh maybe some new shoes it doesn't matter you don't have a plan you're just looking around I'm not buying anything today I'm just looking around number seven is to shop around and when you shop around you compare prices between two or more stores and we usually do this with more expensive items uh like a TV or a computer or a phone or things like that that are worth a lot of money we don't want to go in the first store we see and buy it we want to shop around before I buy a new laptop I want to shop around number eight is shell out and this means to pay a lot of money at once and maybe sometimes a price that just doesn't seem fair or too much so this one is not among my favorite phrasal verbs because nobody wants to Shell out a lot of money at once rooster today shelled out a record $600,000 when I shell out 50 I expect results yeah I'm on it yeah had to Shell out $5,000 to the Breck offs I haven't felt this dumb since I shelled out 30 bucks for that bracelet I shelled out 400 bucks for detective number nine is to blow money on something and this is also not among my favorites because it means to kind of spend money wastefully every month I blow $30 on a gym membership that I never use number 10 is take back and it means to return something to the store now I think Wes will agree that I do this a lot or I used to do this a lot if it's defective or it doesn't fit right many times we can take it back so you guys want me to take this back I'm thinking of taking it back to the thrift store actually the other thing is if you don't like anything takes it right back I don't return fruit so in the comments write down the answer to one of these questions what do you like to shop round four have you ever blown money on something when have you taken something back let us know we are going to study study phrasal verbs we are going to talk about phrasal verbs but phrasal verbs that are related to study so that's what I meant when I said we are going to study study phrasal verbs so the first phrasal verb that I have for you is think through and this just means to carefully consider the the possible outcomes of of some situation and you might say you know I just I just need to think it through you need to think something through and really consider it before you make a decision I just want you to think it through still thinking things through what is there to Think Through just try and think things through let's think this thing through logically I don't want to decide just yet I really want to consider things you want to think it through it's always good to think things through before you make a decision the next phrasal verb is pick up and you can pick up something or you can pick something up and it just means to learn something and often I think we use it when we're talking about a language or a musical instrument or even an activity so for example I would say that I am trying to pick up Romanian right now I am trying to learn Romanian and many of you are trying to pick English up which is why you're here you can't just walk up to those guys you have to get out there and learn the moves get into their head pick up the speech picked up English faster than I could teach it I got bored I thought I'd pick up a new language we'll be back I've never seen anyone pick it up that quickly do you have a special tool for these if it has to do with my hands I usually pick it up really quickly the next phrasal verb is a pretty common one and that is cheat on you cheat on something and this just means to act deceptively or unfairly when you are completing a task so you can cheat on a quiz you could cheat on a test or cheat cheat on an exam I don't recommend that you cheat on anything at school but you know it does happen from time to time to cheat on something what you cheating on your conversion test when I was a kid I always played by the rules I never cheated on a test I regret to announce that someone in this class cheated on yesterday's exam then we have a three-word phrasal verb read up on and when you read up on something then you are increasing your knowledge about a topic by reading about it so you might read up on History if you want to learn more about that you might read up on a person if you were trying to find out more information about them you would read up on something I read up on my history thanks for the tip this will all be on next week's midterm so I suggest you read up on it I've been reading up on your family's culture so I've been reading up on this whole Iraq war situation then we have go through and this is a great study phrasal verb because when you go through something it just means that you are scrutinizing it you are looking at it very carefully so you might go through a paper or you might go through a report that you wrote and you're looking for mistakes so when you go through something you are looking at it carefully I I always hope that you guys go through the comments and read them because it's another great way to practice English and practice your reading skills and as well as learn more about each other I could go through the Panama papers uh we have to go through those documents I took the liberty of going through your address book we still have the books of fuan to go through then we have two phrasal verbs that that actually have the same meaning and those phrasal verbs are hand in or turn in so when you hand in something or you turn in something it it just means that you submit something you you give it to the teacher you hand in your homework you turn in the paper you hand in the essay you turn in your presentation so when you hand in or turn in something you are just giving it to either your teacher or Professor you realize what would happen if I hand in my homework in your handwriting anyone failing to turn in any homework assignment will be penalized one point off their final grade hey I want to email you my paper before I hand it in it's the first paper she's had to turn in she's bound to fter a little the next study phrasal verb is fall behind and and this is a good one even though it's it's not a good thing you don't want to fall behind because when you fall behind it means that you are not current or or up todate with some information or even some task and you're really lacking in comparison to the other students so when you fall behind it's not a good thing but sometimes it happens and you know you might say yeah I I just fell behind or I've fallen behind boyss are falling behind in every subject you need to make school more challenging or else my son will fall behind we're falling way behind you haven't exactly been helping is there any company that doesn't have a product in production and I hope that you guys have not fallen behind and that you understand every one of these phrasal verbs but if you have fallen a little behind that's okay because then you can just go through the lesson again and again and again until you have picked up every single one of these phrasal verbs and I'm just going to keep saying them and repeating them over and over because that's just another great way for you to remember them the next phrasal verb is drop out and when you drop out that means that that you leave an activity or a program without completing it and often people use it and they talk about dropping out of school when you drop out of school you just leave and you don't complete it everything else I failed dropped out of school so you're dropping out no I'm going to public school you dropped out of college I uh heard you dropped out of school I went to University for a year as well before I dropped out so I'm a quitter don't drop out of school I I definitely don't recommend it I think you should work hard and turn in everything that your teacher ask you to at least that's what I would want from my students I always want them to hand in their assignments the next phrasal verb is hand out and this is a common study phrasal verb because you hear it a lot in the classroom to hand something out just means to distribute something you are passing something to the other students in the class so often times teachers would hand out an assignment or they would hand out a test or they'd hand out a quiz or yeah most of the stuff that they hand out it's it's not stuff that Learners are excited to get nobody wants a quiz or a test but but we got to do them and as long as you read up on all the information then then you should be fine it's true I've been handing out assignments and the kids turn them in and everything what kind of homework are they handing out in the first grade why don't you hand out the schedules that means we have to hand out the preparedness pack the next study phrasal verb is catch on and to catch on means that you understand what is meant or that you understand how to do something so maybe somebody might have a difficult time catching on and they have trouble understanding some material and you're not going anywhere of course not I'm already there you'll cat John but all our professionals have college degrees catch on pretty quick you've got to wait until your contracts are up I I get it you catch on slow you'll fit right in here I'm sure that you guys catch on quickly and you understood these phrasal verbs but if you didn't catch on that's okay just go through the lesson again and just think it through think through these phrasal verbs and try to understand them maybe you might want to read up on them so you have a better understanding and hopefully the fact that I've been repeating all of these phrasal verbs helps you remember their meaning a little bit better I have a very important lesson for you because I think just about all of us we like to travel and if you are traveling in another country it's a there's a pretty good chance you may be speaking English and if you get sick and you go to the doctor then you you will need to explain to them in English what is happening so I want to teach you some common phrasal verbs that you can use if you are talking to a doctor a friend a family member and you're trying to explain to them how you feel I if you're sick or maybe you think that you're getting sick so the first phrasal verb that I have for you is a three-word phrasal verb and it is come down with and you'd say that you are coming down with something and this means that you are are starting to become ill usually with a a particular disease that is not too serious so overwhelmingly I think you would use this phrasal verb when perhaps talking about a cold and you'd say that oh I I think I'm starting to come down with a cold or maybe you you feel really sick and you go to the doctor and you say I think I think I came down with the flu or maybe you just don't know why you are sick or or you don't know what you have and you could say well I I'm just I'm coming down with something I don't know what it is but I'm going to go to the doctor and I'm going to tell them look I think I'm coming down with something I need your help so to come down with means that you are starting to get ill and again it's usually something that is not too serious to come down with sure you're not coming down with a cold yeah I think I came down with the flu Peter's come down with something I thinks he caught it from the rats then we have the phrasal verb burn up and when you're talking about sickness burn up means that you are just you're you're very hot and typically this is because you have a fever so perhaps somebody comes to you and they say wow you know I'm you know I think I might have a fever this is when you might you could put your hand on their forehead and feel it and if if it feels very hot you would tell them you'd say wow you're you're burning up you definitely have a fever because you're burning up like crap yeah burning up yeah you're burning up got hotter places in my forehead let's stick with the preposition up right now and uh this next phrasal verb I I think is very common it's something that happens to all of us and I don't think anybody likes it and that is to throw up and when someone throw grows up it just means that they vomit so if you go to the doctor and you want to tell them that that you are sick and that you vomited you could just say yeah you know last night I threw up I don't know what's wrong I I I definitely think I'm coming down with something but if you throw up then then you just vomit another phrasal verb that is somewhat related but it is definitely different and that is cough up and when you cough something up it's talking about well liquid that may be in your lungs and and you're just coughing and you might cough something up so if you have a severe cold I think it's quite possible that you would cough some of that stuff up in your lungs and it's not a very pleasant feeling and then you'd want to spit it out if you are coughing up something like mucus if you are coughing up something like blood then that may be very serious and you would definitely want want to go to the doctor and tell them you know I'm I'm coughing up blood what what do you think the problem is cough up I think I'm going to cough up a fur bow glad I've been coughing all day I feel like I'm about to cough up a l no you should quit that's bad for you didn't you hear what I just said I saw you cough up blood another phrasal verb with up is puff up and this just means that that you're describing something that is starting to swell or en enlarge and you could say that it is puffing up maybe if you are like me and you get bad allergies then you might maybe your cheeks would start to puff up or your your eyes could puff up a little bit and they can start to swell and this phrasal verb I I really do think if you have allergies and you have a reaction to something there is a possibility that that something will start to puff up so if you want to describe it and and say that something is swelling it is enlarging you could say that it's puffing up there you go little guy I'm not scared of him but you know it's an allergic thing my whole face could pop up my ankles will swell my eyes will puff up I look just like the Pillsbury dough booy then we have another phrasal verb using the preposition up and that is flare up and if you say that something flares up or it is flaring up then you're talking about a condition that has returned and usually uh if if somebody has a condition uh it may go away over time but then it returns it comes back and you could then say well it's starting to flare up and especially if it's noticeable if you can see this and maybe you're talking about your skin you could say well you know something happens I have this condition and it it's starting to flare up again and perhaps you need to go to the doctor and get some medication because your your condition it's starting to flare up honey I thought you'd be I think my symptoms are flaring up yeah but most of the time it won't even be an issue it only really flares up during periods of great stress would you rather me say hey guys my irritable bowel syndrome is flaring up the next phrasal verb is break out and this just means to start suddenly and often I I think again you probably would be referring to something that that's going on with your skin that you can actually see but maybe you don't know what it is and you would go to the doctor and just tell them like look I I'm just I just started to break out I don't know what's going on I I don't know how to describe it I don't know what it is it happened suddenly I just started breaking out and perhaps it could be an allergic reaction to something maybe maybe it was something you ate and then suddenly you just started breaking out next is actually well this this is a good phrasal verb when you think about sickness and and that is fight off because this is something that we all want to do we want to fight off a cold because we want to stay healthy so to fight something off just means that you are trying to resist this this disease this illness and you are fighting it off maybe you are eating really healthy you're you're getting a lot of vitamin C and because of that you can say well I'm just I'm trying to fight trying to fight something off so I think most of the time people would use this phrasal verb if they are starting to feel a little sick and that's when people kind of spring into action and then they try to fight off the illness but why do you need the meds if you're not sick to fight off the cold symptoms that my healthy body is exhibiting I can fight off whatever stupid illness this pizza may or may not have had all right I'm in perfect control of my body we use your brain to fight off rabies then we have get over which well this one too this is a another positive phrasal verb when you think about sickness because when you get over something it means that you have recovered from this illness or disease and and you got over it so when you get over something then you you are starting to feel healthy again because you have recovered from this sickness and I think it's quite common to use this when talking about well a cold and you could say I was starting to come down with a cold but I was really trying to fight it off and I I got a little sick but because I was fighting it off I got over it really quickly and that is good news if you get over a cold or any illness for that matter Sheldon you don't get over the flu in half an hour I'm just getting over a cold I finally got over my seasickness next is the phrasal verb pass out and if somebody passes out then it just means that they lose Consciousness and there well there are many reasons why a person might pass out but it could happen if you are severely sick and you are just you have a really bad fever your your head is burning up you can't fight it off any longer and you're you're so tired and you might just pass out and and you become unconscious so to pass out is to become unconscious I got sick go outside pass out I'm fine I just pass out sometimes did you not listen to my messages I told you I I got locked in a storage room I don't know I got sick and passed out then if we want to say the opposite of pass out we can use well one of three phrasal verbs come to come around or come round and all of them they mean the same thing it just means to regain Consciousness so if you are really sick you're burning up and then you pass out a little later on you you might come to and regain Consciousness and uh hopefully whatever sickness you have you will get over it quickly and as always I will just try to continue using these phrasal verbs again and again because I I think that will just help you better understand their meaning then we have put on and this just means to receive some medical treatment but I I think there is more of a specific use because you would talk about it when you go to the doctor and they tell you they say okay you this is is what you need to take and then later on you might tell somebody else well the doctor put me on this medication the doctor put me on whatever it is they tell you that you need to take so they would put you on some medication and in that case they are giving you medical treatment to put on but my doctor put me right on a new round of chemo which is why I've been so tired lately doctors put me on medication to stop the seizures did they put you on medication better medical marijuana it's genius now I know sickness it is a very serious topic but I I want to end it on a lighter note so I could say that I hope that all of you learned some new phrasal verbs and that they may help you now or in the future if you have to go to the doctor and try to explain what's going on today I'm going to talk to you about phrasal verbs that deal with speaking let's start with the verb talk and the first phrase verb I have for you and possibly the most common is talk to talk to someone and when you talk to someone you are directly speaking to another person I have to talk to someone are you talking to me I suppose that you could also talk to something as well talk to the hand probably just talking to a tree right now you've been talking to my are those two are falling in love I'm talking to a dog most of the time we're talking about another person you talk to someone this is very similar to another phrasal verb talk with and they're basically interchangeable you are speaking directly with another person talk to talk with come and talk with me I've talked with the others well it was very nice talking with you the only difference is that talking with it it really implies that there is another person you're you're having a conversation with so for example I could talk to myself in the mirror I wouldn't really say talk with because there's no other person involved so that's why I think it's a little more common to talk to someone or something the next phrasal verb using talk is to talk someone up notice that someone goes in between the verb and the preposition and when you talk someone up then you are just speaking very enthusiastic basically about this person so if you're in a group of friends you can talk him up you can talk her up maybe you could talk me up and tell everyone about interactive English another good example is like in in a job interview you go in there and you want to talk yourself up because you want to show them that you're the best to talk someone up no I was talking you up you shouldn't have been talking me up you should have been taken care of I talked you up okay she's so well read good because I've got so many people I want you to meet I'm talking you up like crazy here another phrasal verb which is not so good is to talk back to someone talk back and this means that you are replying to someone in a rude Manner and you're not being polite so for example if there's a conversation and and somebody tells you to do something and you don't want to and you're angry you might talk back to this person often you hear it in situations like children talk back to their parents maybe employees sometimes talk back to their boss but when you're talking back to someone you are not being very nice and more often than not you you should be polite in these situations but instead you're talking back don't talk back to your dad D you talk back to a senior ranking officer he's not listening he's hostile he's talking back don't talk that now let's look at speak because there are several phrasal verbs using this verb the first one I want to talk to you about is speak up and this just means to raise your voice and and make it a little louder so often if you're having a conversation somebody might ask you to speak up because they can't really hear you well they don't know what you're saying you might hear this when talking on the phone because there's other noises and maybe it's difficult to understand somebody so they might say hey hey could you please speak up a little you speak up please please come on speak up could you speak up Mr Roberts is he well speak up George I can't hear you yeah what say speak up I can't hear you with that bubble down we can change this meaning completely by adding another preposition to make it a three-word phrasal verb and that is speak up for someone speak up for and if you are speaking up for someone then you are just defending this person so you may want to defend this person because they're they're being attacked and you want to speak up for him or speak up for her or maybe even speak up for yourself if we don't speak up for them who will you can't speak up for us at least speak up for yourself is the Peacekeeper on me for speaking up for you and and miss brookheimer and I uh are here today as Patriots uh speaking up for the common citizen now we can remove up and make it a two-word phrasal verb once again with another new meaning speak for someone and when you speak for someone you you're basically representing this person's beliefs this person's opinion you are speaking for this other person often it's used in some context where there's a group of people and you might say you know I speak for everyone when I say this opinion or this belief so for example I could say I think I speak for everyone when I say you should hit that like button I speak for this family but I know I speak for everyone I speak for the trees and I think I speak for everyone when I say you shall be missed oh and I think I speak for everyone here when I say thank you for taking us in another phrasal verb which is so so so common is this one right here and that is shut up now this phrasal verb is important because it it does have a couple of different meanings the first one which I think most of us probably think of is firmly or angrily telling someone to be quiet you don't want this person talking anymore you want them to close their mouth you don't want any more sounds coming out you might tell them shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up the other way that that this phrasal verb is used is kind of to express disbelief so somebody says something that is outrageous that you can't believe it and you might just say no shut up shut up really shut up so in this case it's not really used to be rude or mean you're basically expressing your disbelief you you can't believe what you're hearing shut up shut up shut up you and Beth shut up what happened who is somebody that you would like to talk to have you ever talked someone up have you ever talked back to someone or has anyone ever talked back to you write to us in the comments practice using these phrasal verbs because to be perfectly honest that is the best way to remember the meaning and really understand how to use them today I want to talk to you about some useful phrasal verbs that you may use every day phrasal verbs that are related to the computer to the internet to technology in general which is why I said you may use these every day because we use the computer all the time so so the first phrasal verb that I want to talk to you about well actually a couple of phrasal verbs that have the same meaning is log in and sign in and what this means is just to access a computer or even a site using a name and a password when you first start using the computer you may need to log in and then if you perhaps want to go to a website you might have to sign into that website Anonymous 821 signed into multiple accounts and standing by I logged into hitman's computer and flooded it with taii pornography then we have to click on and that just means to move the mouse over to an application to a link and then you select it you click on the application or you click on the link just click on the enchanted boots to put them on I don't know can I see them in another color just click on them next we have scroll up and scroll down and this just means to move to the top or bottom of a a site or a text so for example if if you're using a document you might need to scroll down to find more information or keep reading or maybe if you miss something then you would scroll back up okay wait a minute what happens if you scroll down how about if you scroll up you can also scroll through a a site or a document and this just means to go through it to go up and down usually because you're looking for some specific spe ific information and you are scrolling through the site in order to find the information that you need I will take a silent face Journey as I scroll through this comment section and scroll through the onscreen menu you should scroll through the pictures on my husband's phone to back up and often times you're talking about backing up your computer or backing up your hard drive and this just means to keep an extra copy of information for saf keeping every now and then I need to back up my computer I need to save that information in case something happens or maybe you say you're going to back up your hard drive which is where the information is stored and you are going to back everything up because you definitely don't want to lose it it's always smart to back up your computer every time it's triggered I get a text like a Google alert I don't even know what you're talking about mhm you know he backs up his hard drive every night right what are you doing backing up the hard drive it's a good habit to get into next is hack into and when somebody hacks into another computer or even a site then that just means they are illegally accessing a computer or they're illegally connecting to some kind of network so it's not a good thing I I hope that you are not trying to hack into someone else's computer in order to steal information but this is a phrasal verb that you may definitely hear if you're watching a movie or a TV show and somebody's trying to illegally access some information they may hack into the computer or May maybe hack into the network he hacked into our system he hacked into her computer wait I'm hacking into the phone's camera now there that's it that's a live stream Monica hacked into our server okay please don't tell me that you hacked into enr's system I won't tell you that well did you hack into it or not Sheldon that computer is used for National def hacking into it is a federal crime then we have the phrasal verb run out of and this just means to decrease the supply of something when talking about Compu Compu it's common to hear someone say that they are running out of space they use the computer all the time and they're storing all this information photos and they begin to run out of space now this is a phrasal verb that you can use in a variety of different context but it has the same meaning for example you might run out of gas if you're driving a car or maybe here at home I might run out of milk which is true I am running out of milk so I need to go to the store the supply is decreasing but when you're talking about a computer people would say they're running out of space apparently the net has run out of web space and they don't have enough bites left to have my name now if you're trying to create more space you might use the phrasal verb free up and you're trying to free up space and make it available so that you can continue to save photos and other information on the computer you need to free up some space we can also use this phrasal verb in a variety of other situations that as well for example you may need to free up some of your time and make it available so that you can do other things but when talking about computers it it's all about the the space that you have the memory most of the time people free up space by deleting things but just make sure that's why it's good to back everything up so you don't lose anything you're making a choice to destroy it to never see it again you choose to delete because you need to free up space because you don't want it anymore next is the phrasal verb pop up to pop up which means just to suddenly appear so I I think it's normal nowadays if you are using the internet uh that that an advertisement will will suddenly pop up and it just appears so this is a phrasal verb to pop up but it can also be used as a noun because that advertisement the one that pops up is referred to as a popup it's called a popup but the action to popup is a phrasal verb and I keep saying pop up so many times I hope that this is not confusing yeah except when you update the software a little window pops up and you click okay they actually go inside there but I've Seen Those ads pop up on my screen then we have opt in and opt out and this just means to choose to receive messages so if you opt in then you are saying yes I will receive some messages if you change your mind and say I don't want to receive any messages any longer then you can opt out opt in opt out what value can we offer now to user to entice them to download the app and opt into our Network this is the butt Whisperer 9000 cushion track walk side path must liability opt out button keep them coming and drill serent mode we also have the phrasal verb filter out and this just means to remove unwanted email messages so if you receive emails that that you don't want you're not interested in these messages then you may try to filter them out so that you just don't receive them anymore Google always filters out my emails I think I'm a lot and when we said someone should probably help Eric by filtering out any negative comments he mentioned you by name then we have three phrasal verbs that mean well they all mean the same thing so this should be easy and that is turn off shut down and power off and it just means to to end a session on the computer and you just stop using it so if you're not going to use the computer anymore you can turn it off or maybe you'll shut it down or perhaps you'll power it off you can use any one of these three in my personal opinion I think turn off is probably the most common followed by shut down and then power off it's still used but I don't think it's as commonly used and I'm probably going to hear from a bunch of people in the comments say I always say power off I love using that one you can use any of them don't worry about it they all mean the same thing turn off shut down power off turn off the computer and come downstairs I'm going to need your gimbal angles Jack before you shut down the computer energy probe shut down Alex shut down power off then we have plug in which is a phrasal verb specifically talking about plugging a power cable into a socket plug in so if you need to charge your battery then you're going to need to plug it into a socket so that you can continue to use the computer I don't I don't think your computer's plugged in I'm sorry guys what are you doing plugging in your computer then we have print out and if you are printing something out then you are making a copy of something from the computer most of the time it's talking about a document you open up a document and you want to have that that hard copy so then you will need to print it out print out look I've got your advert here I printed it out I've printed out some review I've been craving studes all day I'll print out some menus then we have set up and to set something up just means to install a new program or perhaps even assemble a computer I don't think that most of us are assembling our own computers and it's like oh I have to set up my computer you might say that in the context of you have a new computer and you need to move all your information from the old computer to the new computer and all of your programs in that case you could say you know I need to set it up I need to get everything ready so I can start using it again but you will see this phrasal verb when you start using a a new program for the first time you will need to set it up on your computer you install it you set it up and then you can start using it we set up a voice activation system on your computer I am going to need so much help setting up my computer I'm like a total Grandma then we have keep up with and this is probably my favorite phrasal verb because I I think it applies to me this is used when talking about techn ology because what it means is to maintain the same level of something and often I think it's talking about like knowledge or changes and it really applies to technology because often people well people like me might say you know with so many changes happening and and it's moving so fast it's difficult to keep up with all of these changes it's difficult to keep up with all of these updates on the computer it's difficult to keep up with with all of these different forms of social media so if you're like me then yes it may be difficult to keep up with all of these changes I've been trying to keep up with her but I'm an old ass what do you like about Ryan Ryan keeps up with all the latest technology Trends and he's very honest with me about when I put on weight and I hope that that you have no problem keeping up with our lessons because you don't have to sign in to anything in order to watch our lessons now there may be an advertisement that pops up from time to time and and you may have to watch it but but that's just about it and I'm just trying to use these phrasal verbs again and again because that's just going to help you remember their meaning if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new please hit that like button and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 4. 1-HOUR PRONUNCIATION LESSON | 100+ Words to Fine-tune Your Pronunciation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `5K7Xehf7JkQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K7Xehf7JkQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:50:48 | --- I want to help you improve and develop your pronunciation skills and that is why I put together this onehour Mega lesson going over some difficult and tricky words to pronounce and we're going to cover a variety of topics and if you are someone who would like to improve your pronunciation Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is West the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so let let's get the pronunciation ball rolling with some useful and difficult words to pronounce 10 words that Learners often mispronounce and I want to tell you how to say these words correctly now keep in mind that I am from the United States so I'm going to be sharing with you the American pronunciation of these words so I'll tell you the word and give you the pronunciation I will show you both the phonetic spelling as well as the IPA I'm also going to tell you the meaning of the word so that you can better understand how and when the word is used and finally I would encourage you to repeat these words after me as we go through each one say them out loud practice speaking practice your pronunciation because that is the best way to improve so the first word I have for you is subtle this word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable subtle say it with me subtle what this word means is it's something that is well not noticeable or not obvious in any way but what is obvious is why this word is often mispronounced and it's because of that b it is a silent letter a silent be you are not going to hear it subtle also remember I'm from the United States so that t I'm really saying a flap T which almost sounds like a very soft D sound it's a very subtle sound subtle subtle then we have segue this word also has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable segue segue it just means a smooth transition you may segue from one topic to the next and make a smooth transition the reason why this word you know people have trouble with it is because of that spelling that second syllable is pronounced way segue the next word that I have for you is epitome this word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable that that pit epitome and what this means is that that something is the perfect example of of some group maybe you could say that you have a plate of fruit and vegetables and you could say wow this is the epitome of a healthy meal it is a perfect example of that the reason why this word uh people have some trouble with this word is because of that third and fourth syllable that third syllable you have the schah that uh sound and that final syllable it's just me that long e so that o spelling it is really pronounced a me epitomy epitome so let's practice say the word with me this is good shadowing practice epitome epitome something is the epitome of something else then we have candidate and this word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable candidate now the reason why I think uh this word can be a little confusing is because I will be honest with you I think there are quite a few people out there that kind of just eliminate that D even though the word it does have that D sound candidate candidate also that that final syllable some people may say it with a d and others may say it with a dit candidate I say it more with a dit candidate candidate and well what a candidate is it's a person who wants to be elected for a certain position so this is a word that you will you will hear a lot of if you happen to follow well politics in any country in in the US it it is a word if you are following us politics this is a word that you may hear a lot that somebody is the candidate the candidate say it with me candidate and then say it as fast as you can candidate candidate candidate candidate cand okay all right all right that's enough let's let's move on to the next word literally now this word has four syllables and the stress is on that first syllable that third syllable it it has that schah that uh literally and when somebody uses this word it's talking about well it's saying that something is word for word that that that is the way it is literally now I I think one reason why some Learners have trouble with it is because of that L and R you you have quite a few of those letters in this one word literally say it with me literally again you because I am from the United States I say this word more with that flap T sound so that t in the middle it's going to sound like a a soft D sound it is a subtle D sound literally literally and the next word that I have for you I literally forgot what the next word is let me get it for you the next word Is MeMe so I think this is a great word because it's it's kind of a new word it's becoming more popular nowadays with the internet but this word it just has one syllable meme meme and what it is it is kind of well it is a typically an image that has been altered in some way and it's it can be a bit of a a cultural or social commentary and it's it's changed in a way so that that it's it's supposed to be a little humorous meme but I I think the spelling is what again throws some Learners off because I have had Learners pronounce this word as M I've had people say it's Mimi but this word I think it slightly it's pronounced the way it's spelled with that long e sound meme meme I'll give you an example of a meme I don't know why I I really like this one right here and I think yes I think they are mocking that dog it's quite funny this is a meme the next word is Debut it has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable and the a debut is just the first appearance of something or or even someone debut the reason why I think this word is often mispronounced is because you're you're not going to hear that that t at the end of the word it's almost that second syllable you're just you're just saying the letter youu you debut debut for example I could say that I made my debut on YouTube in 2017 it's been about it's been about three years exactly wow time flies the next word is albeit this word has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable albeit albe it and this word just means it's the same as although albeit I could say that well maybe I I really want a vacation and I take one I say well it was a very relaxing allbe it short vacation albeit one way that I think well one way to think about this word to help you pronounce it is that you can really break this word into those three syllables and pronounce the word the the the way it looks all be it allbe it allbe it the next word is resume this word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable so I'm talking about the noun resume and what that is it's it's just your CV it is a written account of your your personal work experience your education resume but I think Learners quite quite often confuse it with the verb resume which has two syllables and the stress is on the second syllable resume but we're talking about the your resume my resume maybe somebody needs to update their resume so be careful because if you are talking about the noun you want to say resume next is my favorite word on the list and that is kibos this word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and I just like saying it with a lot of emphasis and energy kibos to put the kibos on something and what this word means is just to to put an end to something to put the kibos on something you are putting an end to this thing so I could say well I'm going to put the kibos on your plans I'm going to put an end to it so make sure that you if you want to try to use this word to use it with that phrase put the kibos on something but keep in mind this is a very informal expression it's not something you're going to hear in everyday English it's just a fun word so I wanted to share it with you but if if you hear it or you you see this word when reading a story it's pronounced kibos to put the kibos on something I really hope that you you thought this lesson was the epitome of a wonderful pronunciation lesson and I well I hope that you reward me which is a subtle hint for you to hit that like button let's now transition to a topic that we talk about regularly food or at least I talk about it regularly but because this is often discussed in spoken English you want to make sure that you are pronouncing different food words correctly if you are out at a restaurant or even over at a friend's house therefore I've put together a group of food words that are commonly mispronounced I'm going to talk about 10 10 words 10 food words that are difficult to pronounce now they may be difficult because of the way they're spelled or the way that the syllable is stressed and what we're going to do is I'm going to tell you the word and repeat it again and again and again so you can hear the correct pronunciation I will tell you how many syllables the word has and which one is stressed in addition I will give you the phonetic spelling so that you you can see how the pronunciation is really spelled and I'll just give you a little information about the food in general mostly my opinion just to spice things up so let's begin the first word is zucchini zucchini this word has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable that key and that's where it confuses people because of this spelling that that CCH just has that key sound zucchini zucchini you could say it with me zucchini now I am somebody who really doesn't have to worry about the pronunciation of this word because I don't like zucchini I don't really eat zucchini I'm never asking for zucchini I'm never talking with people about zucchini except for right now but now you know how to say it if you ever want to ask for it zucchini what the hell is that my zucchini cancero zucchini so zucchini it's kind of leaving a bad taste in my mouth right now so let's just move on to the next word which is salmon this is a very popular fish word word it has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable salmon that second syllable has has that schah sound it's an unstressed syllable salmon and the reason why this word is commonly mispronounced is because of that L this is a silent l so you can forget about it get rid of it when you're saying the word and you would just ask for salmon what would you like for dinner I'd like some salmon if you like salmon just let me know let me know in the comments the next word is a great one simply because I think it just tastes really really good because it's butter sugar milk cooked together to give you caramel and the pronunciation it can be debatable a little bit there are several pronunciations for this word I think that that all of them are acceptable even though I'm sure some people would be like no no no there's only just one way to say it but I'm going to tell you all three ways to say caramel first you should know that the word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable that second syllable is going to have awah sound and that final syllable is where you might hear a different pronunciation people might say caramal and that mul is that third syllable or you might hear people say caramel and Mel so it's a difference between M and Mel caramel caramel and those are very similar and I think if you're just having a conversation and you say either one of those nobody's really going to think about it but another pronunciation which is I think becoming more popular in North America just in North America is making it a two- syllable word and dropping that second syllable and omitting that schwas sound and people would just say caramel I say caramel even though I I think many other English speakers would say caramel or caramel so now you know how to pronounce all of these different variations of caramel or caramel or caramel you you decide caramels it's good it's caramel I love caramel apples she can't eat caramel try the caramel it's delicious next is quinoa now you're probably looking at this word and the way it's spelled and you're thinking what the heck now the reason is is because this is not a word from the US or the UK or Canada Australia South Africa or other English-speaking countries quinoa is a tall crop that you mainly find in Peru Bolivia or Chile but the word does have two syllables the stress is on that first syllable quinoa now you might hear it pronounced with three syllables kinoa in which case the stress would be on that second syllable kinoa and that final syllable would just be that schah uh kinoa or quinoa again I don't have a problem with this word because I'm never using it even though quinoa I've heard it's very healthy I I don't really eat it that often but in case you like quinoa now you know how to pronounce it so let's just move on to the next word which is a drink we're we're switching it up a little we're going to throw a drink in there and that drink is a dairi dairi has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Dak this word can be confus using because that that Qi can throw people off it takes on that k sound so you have D that second syllable also has the schah dairi and this drink is a cocktail of rum lemon or lime and sugar it's usually also served with with some type of fruit fun fact the daquiri cocktail was invented by an American mining engineer who got the name from a beach in Cuba and then he introduced the drink to New York City and from there the rest is history so if you like Fruity cocktails then you might want to try a daquiri I'm not a big fan of dairies I think they're they're too sugary you haven't tried my daquiri how do you say banana daquiri banana daquiri another round of daies the next word is one of my favorites guacamole it is mashed avocados with with lemon or lime juice and you you can put it on on bread you can use it as a dip it's just it it's it's wonderful I love guacamole and it has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable now I am saying it like many Americans Say guacamole now it is a Spanish word and in Spanish the correct pronunciation would be guacamole guacamole so just just know that the correct pronunciation would be guacamole even though if you if you travel to the US you might hear a lot of English speakers saying guacamole oh guacamole I thought it was guacamole I used to like guacamole now I don't like guacamole holy moly that was a lot of guacamole next we have a cheese a cheese from Italy parmesan it has three syllables and the stress you might hear it on that first syllable parmesan or you could hear it on that third syllable and people would say parmesan I tend to stress it I'm trying to think parmesan I I think I end up stressing it on that first syllable one reason this word can be a little confusing is because that s has a z sound Parmesan Parmesan I'd like some parmes cheese I grew up in the southeast of the US and there you might hear people say parmesan I don't know where it came from but just an FYI if you're there you might hear people say yes I would like some Parmesan but I would encourage you just to say Parmesan Parmesan cheese you want some Parmesan cheese on there also from the great Cate of Wisconsin an aged parmesan next is artichoke this food has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable artichoke it is a vegetable uh common I think in the Mediterranean some people like artichokes I am not a big fan of artichokes now the word sounds similar to the way it's spelled the one thing I would tell you about this word is that when you say it in English that R it's not a strong R it's very soft artichoke in some cases it may sound like people are dropping that art Al together but I I think you'll slightly hear it artichoke I don't even know what that is artichoke know that you secretly love artichokes again another food that I don't have to worry about pronouncing artichokes now that I think about it all of the words that I don't have to worry about pronouncing are vegetables that's not good next is the word cinnamon which is a spice a delicious spice this spice has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable cinnamon notice that c is going to have an S sound and it's followed by the schwat cinnamon cinnamon I it's great I love cinnamon rolls those are very delicious if you never tried them you should ask for some cinnamon rolls it's not a vegetable not a healthy food but it's it's good cinnamon takes a backseat to no bka people love cinnamon it should be on tables and restaurants along with salt and pepper and our last word I save the best for last because this is my favorite food on the list and that is filet minion this food is actually two words and the stress is on the second syllable for each word filet Minon now you might be wondering about why is it pronounced this way because of the spelling well this is a French word fet minion it's a steak it's delicious it's juicy succulent savory who I really would like to have a fet minan right about now I thought I was making a fet minan in honor of Paige being home I made your favorite dinner filet M just because you can have filet Minon doesn't mean that you have to settle for fast food now that you know how to say these food words correctly I want to hear from you so in the comments write to me let me know what is your favorite food one thing that I want you to keep in mind is that we're we're taking our time going through these words and practicing your pronunciation and I want to remind you to do that say the words out loud work on your pronunciation and with that in mind I want to look at some common words that are sometimes mispronounced these are words that you probably already know but I still want you to practice say the words out loud because most of the time when I hear a pronunciation mistake it's not always with some long very Advanced word that is not often used most pronunciation mistakes that I hear are with common words that you use in everyday English so let's practice some of these common words that are sometimes mispronounced this is a really good lesson today we have 10 words they're very common words but they're also a little bit difficult to pronounce some because they're a little long others because they have a whole bunch of vowel sounds thrown in there so it can be a little bit confusing number one is exhausted this is a really really common word exhausted it means tired the X sound sounds like a like a g like a g sound we say exhausted the other reason why this word is difficult is because the H is silent so when you see it just ignore the H and it's exhausted and the third reason why this word is hard to pronounce is because of the Ed at the end in this case we say it uh it's exhausted say stay with me exhausted she was exhausted but couldn't sleep number two Brewery yeah that's right you heard me right it's it's hard to say so if you don't know what a brewery is it is where um people brew beer this one even just saying it it's obvious why it's why it's difficult to pronounce and that is because of the r sounds R it's very very faint a very soft R sound which in itself could be a very difficult uh sound to pronounce the second reason why this can be difficult is because uh right after the first syllable we have awah sound which is a shortened vowel sound and of course in the the third syllable you have the another R sound which is a little bit more pronounced than the first sound Brew Brewery when you say it they all kind of mash together Brewery say it with me Brewery we took a tour of the brewery this is true Wes and I took a tour of a brewery a few years back and it was a lot of fun Brewery the third word is a little bit long which makes it difficult to say uh this word is Antarctica basically what you have to do is you have to kind of break it down when you say it you can start with the first syllable which is an the second syllable is Arc keep in mind that for this word the stress is on the second syllable put it all together and you get Antarctica Antarctica say it with me Antarctica now say it really fast Antarctica Antarctica Antarctica Antarctica see it's hard don't do it don't say it fast it's really cold in Antarctica number four phenomenon this one is hard because it's long but it's not that hard if you break it apart now we we can break up this word in four syllables first of all the ph sound uh it makes an F sound it's a f so we have fomon the third syllable is a sh say with me phenomenon the Aurora Borealis is an amazing phenomenon number five specific now this word can be difficult because of that middle syllable the C makes an S sound now I know a lot of English language Learners May mispronounce the I sound it is not e it's not specific it's a short I sound so we say specific specific say it after me specific you got it say it again specific he needs specific directions in order to fix the boat number six another long word temperature now if you look up this word you will see that it technically has four syllables temperature but I think most people pronounce it with only three syllables so we have to kind of shorten everything we end up saying temperature in the second syllable we drop the e completely and we add awah temperature the T and U together are pronounced as a CH sound say it with me now temperature temperature the temperature was around 25ยฐ and the Sun was shining number seven rural this is a hard one oh gosh you guys I'm sorry I'm sorry for doing this to you the r sounds do make the words difficult and this one especially in the first syllable we have R and then in the second we have a r and of course there's a schah in the second syllable it's very fast you have to be kind of fast with it so say it with me please rural rural before moving to the city he lived in a rural area number eight choir now this is a short word but it is difficult to say for a few different reasons first of all the CH together in this case does not make a CH sound for example the word Channel makes a CH sound but not in this case CH sound together is a c c sound the second reason is that the o sound is is an A so put it all together and you get choir choir my mom sings in the church choir number nine is literature and this word is a little bit difficult because it's long first of all of course you have the L and rs which make this word even more difficult we have the r and the schwas sound and the T and U don't make a two sound or t sound they make a CH sound just like in temperature so we have literature say it after me literature literature my favorite subject in school was Russian literature number 10 is squirrel I used to have a theory that the word squirrel is cute in every language so I'm kind of curious uh please in the comments let me know how do you say squirrel in your Lang language does it sound cute but the word squirrel whether you believe me that it's cute or not it's it can be a little bit harder to pronounce is just two syllables and it goes like this squir and then the second one oh squirrel there's just a schw sound squirrel so let's say it together squirrel so cute when I was in college I would often stop to feed the squirrels on campus okay okay so now that I've told you the words that I think are difficult to pronounce I want to hear from you in the comments please let me know what other words do you find difficult to pronounce so far we've talked about quite a few individual words now we want to teach you some words that are very specific and what I mean is that we're going to teach you how to pronounce 25 brand names in American English and I want to be very clear about that because we are going to give you the American pronunciation of these brand names and if a brand is not from the US which some of them are not the pronunciation in the United States may sound different than the original name Americans like me May bastardize the pronunciation and in case you're unfamiliar with this word to bastardize something which may be used when talking about language and pronunciation it means to change something in a way that fails to represent the values and qualities that it is intend ended to represent this may happen with language when pronouncing certain landmarks or cities or or in this case popular brand names so I I wanted to give you that disclaimer but let's go ahead and begin we're going to talk about brand names and how to pronounce them so a while back we received a comment from somebody who asked I hope you guys can create a video that will teach us how to say some Brands correctly and that is exactly what we're going to do today keep in mind that a lot of these brands are not from English-speaking countries and that means that Americans like me will take the name and the pronunciation that it is intended to be and we will bastardize it and mispronounce it and then it just becomes you know mainstream so we'll explain a little more as we go along but right now um let's begin number one Ikea I I think that anybody who is not from Sweden possibly pronounces this wrong because in Sweden they they say if I eeka um and even maybe I still might be mispronouncing it but if you're in the US or or Britain I think most people pronounce it Ikea and that's what they understand Ikea yeah get you some end tables and some of them $5 lamps man so if you were to say I'm going shopping today I got this new stuff from EA people in America would be like where is that okay number two Nutella uh correctly it's Nutella and that's how I say it because I love it and it's my favorite but Americans like West will say Nutella it's similar but there's a little Nutella is my favorite brand so far because of all the chocolate of course she even has a shirt number three Coke now this is perhaps one of the most famous brands in the world and most of us I think know how to pronounce it but make sure that you are saying it with the long o sound Coke we had a student a while back who pronounced it with the short o and kept saying all right that means something different it is slang in English for I remember he was telling us a story that he went out to a restaurant and the waitress asked him what would you like to drink and he said I would like some and it it it just yeah in the end he eventually did get his Coke so everything worked out and I'm pretty sure he's pronouncing it correctly now this is you know is very innocent mistake but and this is how pronunciation um can cause a lot of confusion um among different people give me oh please give me I want a it's Coke number four Tommy Hilfiger uh because this is a name uh I think people may mispronounce the last uh the the last name the first name I think is easy Tommy everyone knows that but Hill figure might be a little bit more confusing so that's how you pronounce it Tommy hillfigure number five hunde or as I think a lot of Americans say Hyundai and this one it's Hyundai or Honda hyi it it's this is a Korean brand so again it takes on very different pronunciation I'm not really sure why but that's just the way it is number six Nike uh now I've heard people say Nike before uh they dro the E which kind of makes sense if you think about it what it looks like it looks like but it's not uh it's actually Nike uh from the old Greek goddess actually Nike and because it's an American company I guess this is the correct pronunciation looks like Nike but we say Nike number seven Adidas uh this is a German company and it's actually a port Mano which is the combination of two words so you have ai which is the nickname of Adolf and dos from dsler Adolf dsler who is the person who started all this Adidas so if you're looking for this shoe it's Adidas number eight Sephora uh with this word just make sure you know that the pH makes an F sound Sephora this is one of Yana's favorite Brands oh yeah I could live there number nine Porsche so in the US a lot of people either say Porsche or even shorten it and say Porsche but apparently the the company even made a video as to how pronounce this a while back PA posha posha posha posha I think in the US if you said you want to buy a posha people would probably ask you what that is again I think a lot of native English speakers would say Porsche or Porsche we don't drive a posha or a pors or a Porsche number 10 Louis Vuitton and in French it's Louie vuon I don't said it wrong how how does that go again I don't know say it again vuon okay Lou vuon but I would say Louis Vuitton because but I I don't know the French I'm not French either so I'm Louis vuon anyway it's Louis Vuitton yeah many Native English speakers would say Louis Vuitton my very own Louis Vuitton number 11 Samsung it's a Korean company so I think the the correct pronunciation technically would be Samsung but a lot of people English native English speakers um would say pronounce it Sam and not Sam so they'd say Samsung but if you did say Samsung um people will still know what you're talking about what kind of phone do you have I have a Samsung what kind of phone do you have I have an iPhone number 12 um Versace now uh the correct pronunciation in Italian is ver a but if you're talking to somebody who is uh a native English speaker and you want them to understand you you'd say Versace there you go the e at the end Versace mhm do you have a Versace no too expensive number 13 is a car company and it is pronounced chevret I'm not really sure the history behind uh this word the spelling is not necessarily like it sounds especially the T at the end uh it's not pronounced so we just say Chevrolet um or Chevy yeah or you could say Chevy for for short um not Chevrolet number 14 Stella Arta uh or you can just yeah it's it's pretty good you can just say Stella um but I mean I think it's pretty close to the actual French pronunciation Stella Ora yeah so Stella Stella Stella yeah so if you want a beer it's a Stella artoa or a Stella [Music] mhm Stella Arta number 15 Adobe so this is a word that many of you might know from computers and it's pronounced Adobe so the first a is the schwaha sound and the e at the end is the long e sound it's not Adobe it's not Adobe it's Adobe or adobe I gu Adobe not B just Adobe I can see people see that please don't ignore me like I was just some update from Adobe number 16 abber cromie and Fitch uh now this is a really long name so it's uh mispronounced many times uh but that's the correct pronunciation actually Wes I think says Finch but it's not Finch it's abian Fitch I used to but from now on no more uh the tea silent so keep that in mind and in Fitch abber cromie and fit number 17 uh Volkswagen um this is a German car company so I think in German they would pronounce it uh folks swagen is that pretty good yeah I think so in the US uh a lot of native uh English speakers would say Volkswagen so you'd hear that that W sound in there Volkswagen Volkswagen is that's how they say it what like the back of a Volkswagen Volkswagen have you ever had one no I like the buggies the old like 60s number 18 anthropology uh now this is French sounding so um I've heard people say anthropology uh or something but it's anthropology it's an American company uh so it's anthropology it just looks fancy do you shop there no it's so expensive like one thing is like $400 number 19 Huawei this is a company from China who pronunciation again not like it sounds I think a lot of people would say huawe they would pronounce the the H even though I think it might just be Huawei and I should probably know this because boom I have a Huawei he's very proud of it I am very proud of my hu now let's see if they'll be able to pronounce it how would you pronounce this word ho H who are we Hawai think this was okay this was it was it did it does the job most of the time time number 20 Levis um this is actually another one of my favorite Brands um because they're classic um jeans and it's just they fit really well uh but it's not a levy or Levy stra or it's just Levis number 21 for all you beer lovers out there Budweiser you can find it all over the world uh but the correct pronunciation is Budweiser or I guess you could shorten it and say bud can I help you yes I'd like a Budweiser please number 22 H&M uh now H&M is different in each country I think so I know in Romania for example some people say hash andm um because yeah yeah okay H&M in English so if you want to find the store and we all know we love H&M because it's cheap and trendy there you go that's where you go h& M just pronouncing the two letters as they are in the English alphabet yep number 23 Jack Daniels uh this is a whiskey brand so if you're out and you want to get some whiskey it is pronounced Jack Daniels I know I've heard some people depending on where they are like in East Asia Daniel but Daniel Jack Daniels or you could just say Jack yeah Jack and Coke yeah Jack and Coke or if you would like Jack Jack and Jack and no you don't want to say Jack and or if you'd like ice in the drink you could say I'd like some jack on the Rocks which is another expression for you ice on the Rocks two Jack Daniels one on the rocks and a h number 24 nesle uh now this is another European company and I think correctly it's Nestle but um Americans will pronounce it Nestle Nestle yeah Nestle again you don't pronounce the T Nestle Nestle Nestle good good chocolate stuff win this one and there's Nestle Quick for everyone quick Nestle Quick I got to have you Nestle Quick number 25 Corona this is a beer from Mexico so the pronunciation Corona a lot of native English speakers would just say Corona Corona coronaa Corona so if you'd like to try a Mexican beer you can order a Corona more a COR going man myself now what we'd like you to do is write and tell us your favorite brand in the comments below let's continue with another more American pronunciation lesson and this time we're we're really going to focus on the United States because I want to teach you how to correctly pronounce all of the US states and I think this is helpful if you're planning to travel to the US or you're just having a conversation and talking about about the us but there are 50 states and some of them are often discussed in conversation so let's learn how to pronounce all of the state names correctly I think many of you out there may be familiar with the different states in the US but do you know how to pronounce them all correctly I'm from the US Secrets out and the reason I'm telling you this is because often when I tell people I'm from the United States people will ask where you know a a lot of people around the world are are confident with geography in the US they're familiar with many of the different states but from time to time as we're we're talking about the US and places to visit and places that people may have been or they want to go I I may hear them talk about a state and they'll they'll have a slight mispronunciation maybe they're stressing the wrong syllable or or they're just saying it incorrectly so I thought today would be a good time to talk about each state and show you how to pronounce them correctly so I'm going to tell you the state I am going to tell you how many syllables each word has I will show you the phonetic spelling and the IPA version as well so all of that means that by the end of this lesson you will be able to say each and every state perfectly the first state and I'm I'm just going to go through these alphabetically is Alabama it has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable that bam Alabama and if you're in Alabama you might hear people pronounce it with a rather strong southern accent Alabama I was actually born in Alabama no it's true I was I've lived in quite a few of these states so I'll let you know the next state is Alaska it has three syllables the stresses on that second syllable that final syllable just has that schah Alaska it is a beautiful state if you love the outdoors I highly recommend it I worked up there for the summer it's gorgeous then we have Arizona it has four syllables the stress is on that third syllable Arizona zo zo zo Arizona not much to say about Arizona except it's hot next is Arkansas three syllables stresses on that first syllable Arkansas this is a common one that that people have a little trouble with because again don't don't think of the spelling don't try and pronounce it based on the spelling you could get all screwed up that final syllable sof saw Arkansas next is the most populous state and that is California it has four syllables stresses on that third syllable California sometimes if you're very cool you just shorten it to two syllables and just say c c you know I used to live in Cali I've just been informed that nobody cool says that then we have Colorado this state has four syllables the stress is on that third syllable even though it's rad it's Colorado not R Colorado the Rocky Mountains beautiful state I did my University there University of Colorado go Buffs next is Connecticut this is another one where the the spelling can can throw off the pronunciation A little bit if if you're trying to say it how it's spelled but Connecticut has four syllables the stress is on that second syllable Connecticut Connecticut I also used to live in Connecticut now that I think about it I've I've lived in quite a few of these states next is Delaware has three syllables stresses on that first syllable Delaware I don't know anything about Delaware I've never been there I've never lived there so let's just move on to the next date Florida it also has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Florida it's the Sunshine State my parents live there now known for its beautiful beaches Florida next is Georgia two syllables stress on that first syllable Georgia or again if you're in the South if you're in Georgia people might say Georgia I also used to live in Georgia Atlanta Georgia I'm sure people are like wait that's not how we say it in Georgia it's just Georgia my Southern accent's pretty bad then we have a state that I would like to live in and I think many people romanticize this state it's our only Island state Hawaii has three syllables stresses on that second syllable Hawaii and again the spelling can can throw off the pronunciation A little bit but yeah just remember Hawaii then we have Idaho has three syllables stress is on that first syllable Idaho Idaho when I think of Idaho I think of potatoes that's what the state's known for Idaho potatoes then there's Illinois also three syllables but the stress is on the third syllable Illinois again the spelling and the pronunciation can get a little crazy that last syllable that final syllable noi Illinois the next State Indiana has four syllables stress is on that third syllable Indiana I think many people might be familiar with this famous movie Indiana Jones not really have anything to do with the state just the name so let's just move on to the next one which is Iowa Iowa has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Iowa again Iowa spelling pronunciation a little crazy IA that second syllable has that schw Iowa and when I think of Iowa I think of corn because there's a lot of corn in Iowa the next state is Kansas the great state of Kansas two syllables stresses on that first syllable Kansas and what I have to say about Kansas is nothing really I drove through there once it it was a long drive so let's just keep driving on through to the next state which is Kentucky this word has three syllables stress is on that second syllable Kentucky Kentucky the next date Louisiana it has five syllables the stress is on that fourth syllable that an Louisiana and when I think of Louisiana I I start thinking of food I think of that gumbo Louisiana known for their gumbo and while we're on the topic of food our next state Maine has one syllable just one main Maine I also think of food I think of lobster when I think of Maine and then again let's just keep going Maryland this state has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable Maryland it's not Mary you don't really hear that why it's just Maryland also think of food crab Maryland has great crab then we come to Massachusetts not a food State well actually no no that's not true there is New England clam chowder there which is pretty amazing in Massachusetts they also have four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable that chew Massachusetts when I think of Massachusetts you know how people from each state have have names like if you're from Georgia then you're Georgian if you're from California then you're Californian if you're from Massachusetts then you're a masshole I don't know why I always I always laugh at that joke I guess if you're from Massachusetts you probably don't think it's funny then we have Michigan the state has three syllables stress is on that first syllable Michigan and very close to Michigan is Minnesota four syllables stress is on that third syllable that so that second syllable just the schwat Minnesota there's also a pretty distinct accent in Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota gosh I am just terrible at accents Minnesota Minnesota okay I'm just going to I just let's just move on then we have Mississippi this state has four syllables the stress is on that third syllable that second one's just that schah Mississippi Mississippi after Mississippi is Missouri this state has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable Missouri Missouri that s is going to have more of that z sound Missouri then we have Montana three syllables stresses on that second syllable Montana Montana another beautiful state gorgeous Mountains Montana near there is Nebraska three syllables stress is also on that second syllable Nebraska Nebraska not really mountains in Nebraska sorry next we have Nevada it has three syllables stress is on that second syllable Nevada and when people think of Nevada I think most of us think of Las Vegas Sin City gambling Nevada next is New Hampshire two words three syllables the stress is going to be on that first syllable in the second word looking at Hampshire now that last syllable it's not sh it's not like Frodo in the Shire it's sure New Hampshire New Hampshire I also for a very short time lived in New Hampshire Live Free or Die that's what it says on the license plate check it out next we have New Jersey three syllables stress is on well the first syllable of the second word that J New Jersey New Jersey again a state that I think probably has a more distinct accent Jersey a lot of times people will just say that second word just Jersey where are you from Jersey Jersey Jersey from Jersey I apologize for these terrible accents but let's just move on next is New Mexico four syllables again the stress is on that first syllable of the second word New Mexico Mexico New Mexico don't know what to say about New Mexico except yes it's very hot then another very well-known state New York two syllables stress is on that second syllable that second word New York often when people think of New York they may think of New York City first so sometimes people need to clarify that no I'm talking about New York state New York State the state of New York then we have North Carolina this state has five syllables but Carolina the stress is going to be on that the third syllable in that word Carolina Carolina North Carolina another state with a more distinct accent all my relatives and my parents they're from North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina oh goodness I'm going to get raked over the coals for my accent then we have North Dakota four syllables but Dakota has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable Dakota North Dakota then Ohio three syllables stresses on that second syllable Ohio Ohio let's just keep these O's going with Oklahoma this state has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable Oklahoma you can hear it emphasiz that hom Oklahoma I don't know why I think of Cowboys next is Oregon three syllables stresses on that first syllable Oregon that last syllable sounds like gun because it's un stress so it's just organ then we have the great state of Pennsylvania has four syllables stress is on that third syllable Pennsylvania Pennsylvania and also I did I used to live in Pennsylvania not bad that's all I that's all I have to say then we have Rhode Island three syllables stresses on that will the first syllable of the second word Island Road Island and no rad Island it is not an island it's just called Rhode Island then we have South Carolina these words together have five syllables but the stress is going to be on that second word that Carolina that third syllable again I I almost said North Carolina but no no no this is South Carolina we're not talking about North Carolina South Carolina why are there two Carolinas I have no idea then we have South Dakota this state has four syllables but the stress is going to be on that second word Dakota that second syllable doota South Dakota moving right along we have Tennessee this state has three syllables and the stress is on that third syllable that final syllable Tennessee Tennessee after that is Texas two syllables stress is on that first syllable Texas it's one of the biggest states and people in Texas like to say everything is bigger in Texas I don't know why they say that it's just an expression from Texas then we have Utah two syllables stresses on that first syllable Utah after that is Vermont also two syllables but the stress is on that second syllable Vermont Vermont next is Virginia three syllables stress is on that second syllable Virginia Virginia and an expression with this state people say Virginia's for lovers don't know why not a sure exactly what it means but I guess Virginia's for lovers then we have Washington three syllables stresses on that first syllable Washington sometimes people may confuse it with the capital Washington DC which is not a state it is a district district of Colombia next is West Virginia this state has four syllables but again the stress in that second word that Virginia is on that second syllable West Virginia if you say it quickly you really almost don't hear that T at the end it almost sounds like you're saying my name West Virginia then we have Wisconsin this state has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable that con Wisconsin people think of Wisconsin they think of cheese it is the cheese State finally there is Wyoming also has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable Wyoming Wyoming there you have it that is the pronunciation of each state so now that you have all this information you can say each and every state perfectly so you just learned over a hundred different words and I I know it's a lot to take in but the more you hear these words and practice saying them you're going to greatly reduce the possibility of making even a slight mistake so if you enjoyed this Mega pronunciation lesson you can let me know by hitting the like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 5. 1-HOUR VOCABULARY LESSON - Descriptive Words & Phrases to be More Accurate & Precise | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `zfJAxhbz6PE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfJAxhbz6PE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:49:01 | --- I want to teach you some advanced vocabulary to help you be more accurate and precise when you're describing people, places, or even the way that you move. So, if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is West, the channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, in this hour-long mega lesson, I'm going to teach you many different adjectives, nouns, and verbs to help you be more descriptive. Before we begin, I want to make a quick announcement because if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, check out the link down below in the description if you would like to learn more about my speaking course. It's all about trying to help you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Each week there is a different speaking topic. You will learn vocabulary related to that topic. We warm up with either pronunciation or connected speech. Uh we do a lot of different engaging speaking activities, and I'll try to teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases. Let's go ahead and begin and learn many descriptive words to help you build your vocabulary. Let's talk about some advanced adjectives that you can use to describe places. And let's go ahead and begin and talk about some words you can use to describe like well, the landscape, mountains, beaches, uh lakes. So, the first word that I have for you is serene. It just means calm and peaceful. So, in this case, it's like you're saying that the landscape looks undisturbed. It's very calm. It's very peaceful. I could say when driving through the countryside, the landscape appeared serene. Now, you you can use this word to describe other things. You could say a person looks serene. And so, I I just want you to know that yes, these adjectives are very useful. You can use them to describe different places, different things. I just want to give you something to associate each word with. So, the next word that I have for you is stunning. And if you're describing some some something you see, the landscape as stunning, it means it's extremely beautiful. So, this word is often used with the word view, and you might talk about a stunning view. I could say that if you go to Yosemite National Park, there are so many stunning views. And this is true. I would highly recommend you visit Yosemite if you ever travel to the US. Picturesque. This means that something is visually attractive. So, that suffix on the end there, that e s q u e, it means like or resembling. So, in this case, you're it's like you're saying something looks like or resembles a picture or a painting. And I could say the view from the mountaintop was picturesque. It looked like it belonged maybe on a postcard. The next adjective is desolate. Desolate, if you're describing a place as desolate, it means empty and not attractive. And this this definitely has more of a negative connotation. So, I might think of the desert. It's very empty. It's not a place that that I want to spend a lot of time, so I could describe it as desolate. Or I could say after the fire, the forest looked desolate and lifeless. It was empty. It's unattractive. It's desolate. Then we have the word unspoiled. This is a great word. Now now spoiled means something is ruined, so that has a negative connotation. So, unspoiled has a positive connotation, and you're saying that something is beautiful because it has not been damaged or ruined by by people or development. And you could describe some land as unspoiled. I could say the rainforest is unspoiled, which is what makes it so unique. And the next word is pristine. Pristine means well, in very good condition. And often people may use this with the word condition. Something is in pristine condition. But if we're talking about a place, I would think that well, this place is well-kept. There's no trash. And when I think of the word pristine, I would think of Japan. If you've ever been there and you even you drive outside the city, it looks pristine. There there is no trash. It's really well-maintained, and it's looks in very good condition. Next, I want I want to talk to you about words that you can use to describe the atmosphere of a place. These are great adjectives to talk about well, the mood or the feeling of a place like tranquil. So, tranquil means well, peaceful and calm, really without any noise. It's very similar to serene, but in my opinion, serene would more often be used to talk about the way a place looks, whereas tranquil really captures like that feeling of calm and peacefulness. I could say I traveled to this picturesque beach with stunning views, and it was so tranquil. It was just very calm and and peaceful. The next adjective is vibrant. I really like this one. It means exciting, energetic, full of enthusiasm. And you could use it to describe like a city and talk about the atmosphere. It's very vibrant. But I think this word is great for describing things like festivals and talking about the atmosphere. I could say that Carnival is one of the most vibrant festivals in the world. The colors, the dancing, just the mood. It's just Yes, it's definitely vibrant. And the next adjective is homely. So, if you say that a place is homely, it means that it it's just comfortable and cozy. And notice it has the word home in it because I think people often associate home as being comfortable and cozy. But in this case, you're not going to use it to to talk about your home. You would really use it to talk about another place like a hotel or a room. So, I could say that I stayed in a small hotel along the coast with a homely atmosphere. And then we have the word bustling. Bustling means very active and busy, and you could think of uh big cities. Big cities have an atmosphere that is bustling. For for example, Times Square in New York City is always bustling with tourists. All right? Just has that atmosphere, that busy mood, that busy feeling. And speaking of cities, let's talk about some adjectives that you can use to describe cities or towns like renowned. So, if you say that a city or town is renowned for something, it means that it's famous for something. And you're typically going to follow this adjective with the word for. I could say that Paris is renowned for the Eiffel Tower. All right? People think of this landmark when they think of Paris. Or Italy is renowned for pizza. I think connecting it with food, this is a great way to use this adjective. A place is renowned for some food. Cosmopolitan is a great adjective. It means including people from from many different countries. So, Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city. New York City is a cosmopolitan city. Then we have walkable. And I I included this one because I like places that are walkable. I like to walk. It means that a place is well, easy or safe to walk in. And you have that suffix that a b l e, which means able to do. You're able to walk. And I think often you're going to use this adjective and say that maybe a place is easily walkable or it's not walkable. I could say the city had many pedestrian streets, so it was easily walkable. And then there's overcrowded, which means containing too many people or things. And if you're going to use it to describe a place, you're probably referring to too many people. And it's a great word for adding emphasis instead of just saying a place is crowded. I remember traveling to Dubrovnik, Croatia. It's a beautiful city, but the old town was definitely overcrowded. Next is spacious. This is a word that I really like, and it just means large with a lot of open space. And if you if you describe a city or town as spacious, perhaps you're talking about well, like the streets or just the layout. Maybe there are a lot of parks, and it makes it feel like it's spacious. Uh parts of New York City are overcrowded, but if you go to Central Park, it is a spacious area. Another great adjective is charming. It just means pleasant or attractive. And maybe when traveling, I could say I discovered this charming little street that was very spacious and not overcrowded. And and this is a little different than charming because it means attractive because of being old-fashioned. So, maybe I I could tell you that I walked down this charming cobblestone street that had these quaint little cafes on both sides. And now let's talk about describing buildings, structures, or landmarks with adjectives like iconic. And iconic means very famous or popular, and it's often referring to the symbol of something. And you may even use this word with landmark and talk about an an landmark. So, if you travel to Sydney, Australia, the Opera House is an iconic landmark. And then there's contemporary, which means belonging to the present. And often you're going to use this adjective to talk about, well, the architecture, the way that buildings or homes look. So, I could say that well, Dubai is a very modern city with contemporary architecture. And I'm really talking about the way the buildings look. Majestic. It means beautiful, powerful, and causing great admiration. And you could describe a structure as majestic. I could say the London Tower Bridge is majestic. The Golden Gate Bridge is majestic. The Liberty Bridge in Budapest, right outside my door, is majestic. And I Those are just some examples. You You don't have to describe only bridges as majestic. Now, let's talk about some adjectives that are, well, not so good, like gaudy. So, if you say that, well, a building or a structure looks gaudy, then you're really saying that it's just unpleasantly bright or showy. So, I think that Las Vegas has some gaudy hotels and casinos. I know some others might think that they look majestic, but I think they look a little gaudy. there's another useful adjective, dilapidated, which means old and in poor condition. So, think of like a building that's Well, it's starting to fall apart. So, if I said that the neighborhood was abandoned a long time ago, and now the buildings are dilapidated. And then I have a few words to talk about, well, just like a general location when referring to some place, like out of the way. And if you say that some place is out of the way, it means that it's, well, just far away from where people usually live or go. And yeah, yes, you're you're probably referring to like a building or structure, like a restaurant. Uh I could say, "We ate at this out of the way restaurant, but the food was really great." I'm really saying that the location was just far away from where people usually go. And then I have an idiom, which is also an adjective phrase, and that is off the beaten path. Or you could say off the beaten track. Both of them are okay. And this just means that a place is, well, not known or popular. And typically you're you're going to use this in a positive sense. I could tell you that I went hiking in Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica. It There were not many people around. It was off the beaten path. And And I really like that. And then we have godforsaken. And you would use this adjective to describe a place that is, well, unattractive and contains nothing interesting or pleasant. And And often you may use it with the word place, and you talk about a godforsaken place. And the other thing I would say is You might use this like in the moment, like you to to express your temporary feeling about a place. Perhaps you're having a bad day, you're frustrated, and you feel that just Yes, some place is just a godforsaken place. Disney World is usually overcrowded. And if I were there, I'd probably think, I just want to get out of this godforsaken place. There are too many people. It's too hot." Yeah, I just It just sounds like a godforsaken place to me. I want to teach you some new verbs, and they are Well, they're kind of advanced verbs, but they're all about movement. These are verbs that you can use to describe different types of movement. And what I've done is that I've put them in categories to help you better understand the meaning of the verb, but also give you an idea as to when you might use these verbs. So, let's begin with walking and running. If you're talking about that movement, walking and running, there are different verbs that you can use. You can use strut. And if somebody is strutting, it's talking about the way somebody is walking, and it is more of a a very confident walk, perhaps even an arrogant walk as well. And you could say that that they are strutting. The next one is stagger. And to stagger means to walk with great difficulty, almost as if you are about to fall over. And often I think you would use this verb in the present tense, like you're talking about something that's happening right now, and you would say, "He is staggering" or "She is staggering." And also, I think it's commonly used when referring to somebody who who maybe has had too much to drink. They've had a lot to drink. They don't really have a lot of control over what they're doing, and they're walking with great difficulty, then you could say that this person is staggering. Then we have the verb to bolt. And this is just to move really fast, uh almost like a run. And you might bolt to get somewhere. For example, I I often would use this if I'm talking about trying to get to an airplane, and I'm late. And I might say, "Wow, I I bolted to the airplane. I was running behind, and I had to run. I bolted to that airplane." The next verb is slip. And this is talking about moving that you're you're moving quietly so that somebody doesn't notice you. And often you're going to follow this verb with a preposition. So, you might slip by someone or slip past someone. Both of those mean the same thing. You're just trying to get by this person without being noticed. You could also slip inside or slip outside of some place. Maybe you forgot something at work, and you don't want your boss to see you. You might slip inside the office and get whatever you need to get, and then you're going to need to slip outside because you don't want anybody to see you. And then we have the verb to drag one's feet. Now, this is an idiom, and it means that you are moving reluctantly. You're moving slowly, but you really don't want to be moving forward, and you could say, "Well, you know, you're you're dragging your feet." So, for example, let's say that, well, maybe you and I we're traveling somewhere, and we're late. We need to get to the gate, and I'm like, "Okay, we need We need to go. We need to bolt to that airplane." But you just want to take your time a little bit. Maybe you're like, "Hey, let's go. Let's go get a snack before we get on the airplane." Maybe I'll say, "Hey, you know, stop dragging your feet. We need to go. We need to bolt." Now, this idiom can also be used in other situations as well. It doesn't always have to be talking about movement. It could be referring to progress as well. you have some work that you need to do, but you're trying to avoid doing it, you are procrastinating, you could also say then that you're you're dragging your feet. That you're trying to avoid working on some project. You don't want to do it. I think we've all been there before. But maybe your your colleague, your co-worker, or even your boss might come over and tell you, "Look, you need to finish this project. Stop dragging your feet." Now, let's talk about some verbs that you can use if you're driving or flying. You're in the car, you're in the plane. And well, one thing we could say is hitchhike, to hitchhike. And this means that you get a free ride with someone in in a vehicle. you're talking about driving. You're You're on the road. You're standing on the road. You got your thumb out, and you are trying to hitchhike to some location, and perhaps somebody would stop and pick you up to hitchhike. Now, I think I don't think it's as common nowadays. In some places people might even say it's dangerous. But just so you know, in case you see somebody doing it on the side of the road, they are trying to hitchhike. Another verb, which I think is very common nowadays, is carpool, to carpool with someone or carpool with others, because it refers to traveling by car in a small group, either to protect the environment or just to save money. Perhaps save on using gas. And And people will carpool to work, or they will carpool to school, and they'll ride together in a small group to carpool. Then we have the verb leapfrog. And this just means to take turns moving ahead of each other. So, I think you would use this to describe a situation in which you are driving, maybe on the interstate. One person is passing the other, and then they pass you back, and then you pass them again, and back and forth you go. And you could refer to this situation, and you are leapfrogging each other, to leapfrog. And I think this This happens when people perhaps are driving on an interstate, and you want to pass a car, and you go in front, and then you're like, "Okay, I'm in front now." And then next thing you know, they pass you. They just leapfrog you, and then you want to pass them again. That is the situation in which you might use this verb or or hear somebody talking about it, to leapfrog. Then there's the verb swerve, to swerve. And you could use this if talking about driving or flying. And what it means is it's a sudden change in direction, especially if somebody has been moving in a straight line, and then they suddenly change directions and swerve to the left, or swerve to the right, to swerve. And finally, we have the verb soar, which is really for flying, because it just means that you are flying high. And you could describe a plane and say that the plane is soaring through the air. It is flying high. It is soaring. Now, let's talk about some verbs that you could use to describe the way, perhaps certain animals might move. And as I tell you these verbs, I I will well, I'll tell you an animal that I think of and just to give you something to associate the word with. So, you could use the verb glide, to glide. And this just means a continuous motion. And what I think of is perhaps a bird. Birds might glide through the air. Or maybe you're talking about like a swan or a duck, the way it moves across the water and you could say that it is gliding. It is just a smooth continuous motion. Now, we could also say slither. And this is talking about moving by by sliding and twisting. And I almost always I would think of a snake. And you would say that the snake slithers. That is how snakes move. They they twist, they slide, and they slither. Or you could use the word wobble. I think of well, I think of a penguin because it's talking about like moving you're like going back and forth from side to side. And you're walking with you're walking in a way that shows that there is poor balance. Because when penguins walk, they they do they kind of shake and they almost look like they're about to fall over. They don't have very good balance and you could then say that they look like they are wobbling. They're just wobbling along. And that is that's how they move. Then we have the verb gallop, which I think is often used to describe the way a horse moves because it refers to an animal who is running and all four feet are off the ground at the same time. They're running. The the horse is galloping. And then there is the verb wiggle. And I've included this verb because I think you could use it with if you're holding an animal. And you're holding the animal and maybe the animal does not want to be held. So, it's going to start wiggling. It's going to move back and forth from side to side, up and down. And they're just these really small quick movements because maybe the animal is trying to escape. Perhaps you're holding a puppy and the puppy wants to get down and it just starts wiggling, to wiggle. Now, let's talk about some verbs that you can use to well, talk about situations. So, in this case, it's not really always going to be a physical movement that you're referring to. But, we're talking about a situation that you may need to move in one way or another. Let let me give you some examples about what I'm talking about. So, the first one I have for you is approach, to approach. And this just means to get nearer and nearer to someone or something. Now, we could use this verb to describe some actual physical distance, some situation. I could say, well, hey, we are approaching our final destination. We are getting nearer and nearer to this destination. But, you could also use it if there is some problem or situation that you don't know how to solve. And you could say something like, okay, how are we going to approach this issue? How are we going to get closer to it? And in that case, you could use the word approach. How how are we going to approach this issue? How are we going to approach this problem? What is our plan? What are we going to do because we need to well, get closer to it in order to solve it or or remedy some situation. How are you going to approach this? Then we have the verb circumvent. And what it means to circumvent something is to basically avoid something, usually in a clever way. You're trying to go around some type of obstacle. For example, maybe well, a situation that all of us have is well, we have to pay taxes. And perhaps there is some type of tax we we want to avoid. We want to we want to get around this. And you might try to circumvent the tax law. And I could say, well, we discovered this new way to circumvent the tax laws and and we don't have to pay this tax. So, if you want to circumvent something, you you're just trying to avoid it. You're trying to go around it in some clever way. And then we have the verb smuggle. To smuggle something is to to move something secretly. And often I think you're we're talking about something illegal. So, you might hear it being used in the context of drugs. People might smuggle drugs. You could also smuggle other people. But, in either case, you're talking about moving something secretly and yes, it's often illegal to smuggle. Next is lag. And this just means that well, you're making slow progress and it it's usually behind some other people. So, in that case, it's quite often that you would follow this verb with the preposition behind, to lag behind someone or or you're lagging behind. You're making slow progress and well, you're behind everyone else. You are lagging. And then we have the verb spiral, which it means that something some situation, it's getting worse and worse. And it's becoming more difficult to control. And quite often you would probably hear that entire phrase and you'd say that some situation, it is spiraling out of control. That's that's not a good thing. You don't want any situation to spiral out of control. So, I hope this lesson was easy to follow. I hope it was easy to understand these verbs by breaking them into these different categories because that is the way I wanted to approach this lesson. That that is how I wanted to approach this situation. Because the next time that you see someone moving, I hope you'll be able to identify that. If if you see somebody strutting or maybe you see them staggering or perhaps you see somebody on the road hitchhiking, you'll be able to associate that movement with the correct verb so that you can more accurately express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. As always, I would encourage you to listen for these verbs, try to identify them if you're reading something or even use them in conversation if you happen to be talking about the way something moves. I want to teach you 20 different nouns to help you describe people. And these nouns would describe somebody's well, their profession or their personality or even their characteristics. through and we talk about these nouns, again, I want you to try to associate these words with a person that you know. Let's begin with with profession. Maybe somebody's somebody's job, do for work or maybe even a a position that they have for their work. And we will begin with the noun amateur. And if you say that someone is an amateur, it means that they they do some type of hobby or activity for fun. They are not a professional. This is not how they make a living. They don't typically get paid for it and you could say that he or she is an amateur. The next noun is a tutor. Now, this noun it it's talking about education because it's a person who will help a child study outside of school in order to give them extra help. And you would say that that this person is a tutor. Maybe in math, in science, even in English. Anybody could have a tutor. Mostly we're talking about children, but it could be a high school student, a university student, even an adult could have a tutor if they want extra help. Now, let's stick with education and the next noun is a scholar. This is talking about a person who studies a subject in great detail, especially in university. And if they they study it for a long time and they know it very well, you could say that they are a scholar. Amy is a decorated scholar. She forged a successful career in journalism. Jimmy's met a new young lady. Brenda, she's really something. Road scholar. Impressive. I just got a What I see. What you getting? A man of letters. Is your goal The next noun is well, it's actually two nouns that mean the same thing and that is big fish or you could say a big wig. And in in either case, it's talking about a person who is powerful and important. And it usually refers to a position within a company. And maybe you're talking about the boss and they are the big wig. Or perhaps somebody else in the company and you say, wow, you know, this person they're they're a big fish, all right? They're a very important, influential, and powerful person. A big fish or a big wig. Well, I wish I'm off to my first day as a corporate big wig. And we have information that a mobster by the name of Marco Ochoa to Paris about 6 months ago. He's the one who's big fish. Then we have the noun one's right hand. And if you're talking about well, one's right hand, you're not you're not really talking about the hand. You're talking about a person who supports someone else, usually at work. And you could say, well, you know, he's my right hand or she's my right hand. She's always helping me get stuff done and she supports my work. One's right hand. You may also use this as well, another noun and people might say a right hand man. And if somebody is like the right hand man, then that is the person who would help somebody else, especially at their work, a right hand man. Then Then have the word valedictorian. Why am I having such trouble with this word? Then we have the word valedictorian. And this is talking about the the person, really the student who has the highest grades at the end of high school. So, when high school finishes, the person with the highest grades, that person is the valedictorian. And typically they will give a speech at the the graduating ceremony when school finishes. Now, I I don't know if this is the same for all high school schools all over the world, but especially in the United States, the the person with the highest grades, they are called the valedictorian, and they would give a speech when when at the graduating ceremony. Valedictorian. I was not the valedictorian. That is okay, but it's a word that you may hear if you're watching a TV show or movie and they're talking about somebody who was very smart in high school, they did very well, and he or she was the valedictorian. Valedictorian. So, right now, I'm the best student. I'm going to be the velociraptor. You trying to say valedictorian? Now, let's talk about nouns that are related to someone's personality. Kind of the talking about the type of person that that they are. So, you could say that somebody is a dilettante. And this is talking about a person who is very interested in a subject, but doesn't really have a deep understanding of it. And I think all of us can relate to this that we might be interested in some area of study or or something in general, whether it's cars, fashion, computers, and we know about it because we're interested in it, but we don't really have a a deep understanding because, well, maybe it's not uh our job. And you could say that that, you know, we are just dilettantes in that regard. So, for example, maybe somebody they're very interested in politics, and you could say they are a political dilettante. They're interested in learning about it, but it's not their job, and, you know, they don't have a a very deep understanding of it. Dilettante. Then we have the noun aficionado. And this is actually a a Spanish word that that means fan. But an aficionado is a person who is very interested and enthusiastic uh in in learning about some topic. And you say, "Wow, you know, I am really a soccer aficionado. I love it." Or I am a cigar aficionado. There's actually a a magazine about cigars called aficionado. And I could say that all of you are vocabulary aficionados because you are interested and enthusiastic about learning new words and phrases. And you are not dilettantes because you have a deeper understanding of these words. You're an aficionado. Then we have the word confidant. And if you say that somebody is a confidant, it is a person that you really trust and you are willing to share your feelings and secrets with that person. You could say that that he is my confidant. That he is the person that I will tell secrets to. Or for Well, for me, I'd really say my wife. She is my confidant. If I have some problems, some secrets, and I I just need to tell somebody, I need some help, she is my confidant and I will tell her. Maybe not all the secrets. But but most of them. You need to choose her to be your vice presidential candidate. No. I chose you as a trusted confidant. A confidant of mine has told me that when he goes, Sansa Stark goes with him. Your heart is true. You're a pal and a confidant. Then we have the noun proponent. And this is talking about a person who speaks publicly in support of some plan or action. And you might often follow this word with the preposition of that that he is a proponent of some issue. She is a proponent of saving the dolphins. That she wants to publicly support it and talk to others about it. She's a proponent of saving the dolphins. I think all of us are are probably a proponent of something. If you think about something that you believe in, that you want to support, then you could say you are a proponent of this thing. The next noun I have for you is a guru. And a guru is it's more of a spiritual leader if you're thinking about like Hinduism, but it it's also somebody who is kind of a teacher as well. And you may hear this word used in that context. It makes me think of somebody who is wise and very spiritual, and they want to help others and teach others, and you could say that they are a guru. Then we have the noun gourmet. And if somebody is a a gourmet, then it means that they know a lot about food. They're very knowledgeable about food, and they typically like to eat fancy and expensive food, and this person is a gourmet. I like it better than tuna helper myself. Don't you, Clark? You're the gourmet around here, Ed. What else did Lance tell you about me? You're a real gourmet. Oh, yeah? These sandwiches are delicious, Mrs. Elton. You really are a gourmet. Next is the noun humanitarian. And if you say that somebody is a humanitarian, it means that they are interested in in helping other people, especially people who may be suffering in some way. And they may be donating money, donating clothes. They they are involved in some type of activity, and you could say, "Well, you know, this person, they're a great person. They're a humanitarian." Personally, I think all of us should be humanitarians, and and we should try to give back and help others who are in need. Now, let's talk about nouns that pretty much refer to people's characteristics. They're they're their emotions, their behaviors. And you could say that somebody is, well, a coward. And this is well, it's not good to be called a coward because it's talking about a person who is typically afraid of a lot of things. They're they're very scared. Somebody who is not brave, you could say that this person is a coward. We could also say that someone is an introvert. And if somebody is an introvert, it means that they are not very social. They're often quiet, a bit reserved. They typically may like to be left alone and have time to themselves. And you could say that this person is an introvert. Now, the opposite of an introvert is an extrovert. And this is somebody who, well, is very social. They like to go out a lot. They like to meet all different types of people, and typically they're very talkative, and you would say that they are an extrovert. I think if you were to think of yourself, like, for example, I, I think I can be both. Sometimes I am more of an introvert, and other times I might be more of an extrovert, and I like to to go out and try to meet people, and I'm a little more social. Introvert and extrovert. Zelda was the sunny, fun-loving extrovert. Look at my pumpkin, Mr. Peanutbutter. My pumpkin's throwing up because Halloween encourages excessive consumption of refined sugar at a time when obesity rates are sky-high. Then we have the noun perfectionist. And if you say that somebody is a perfectionist, it means that that this person thinks that, well, everything needs to be perfect. That they will not stop until they believe everything is perfect, and you would say that that he or she is a perfectionist. Now, a word a noun that is a little similar to that, but it's still different would be someone who is a purist. And if you describe someone as a purist, it means that that this person believes that things should be done in the traditional way. That we should follow the rules. We shouldn't do them in some other way. Follow tradition, and you could describe this person and say that they are a purist. Yeah, triple twist. Nice work. You sure this was done by hand? Yeah, she's a real purist. Hate those guys. As a Sesame Street purist, I don't think Elmo usually tells passing women that they have a sweet bumper. Repeat, is it a trophy sauna? Purist, getting off on the undiluted experience. And then we have the noun whiz. And if you describe somebody and say that, well, this person, they are a whiz, it means that they are highly intelligent and and very smart in some area or or some expertise. For example, you could say that somebody is a math whiz. They're very good at math. They're very intelligent when it comes to math. They're a math whiz. I could say that, you know, all of you, you are a vocabulary whiz. You are watching these lessons, you're learning new words and phrases, and this going to help you improve your overall English fluency. You are a vocabulary whiz. I want to teach you some useful and advanced adjectives that you can use to describe people. And this is a great lesson because, well, we talk about people all the time. We describe ourselves. We also talk about our friends, our families, our colleagues. So, many of these adjectives really describe someone's personality. Now, when we use adjectives, often we might use them before the noun, in which case they are called attributive adjectives, or they might follow a linking verb, in which case they are a predicate adjective. As we go through these, I will tell you which ones I think are more common as an attributive adjective before the noun, or those that I think are are commonly found in the predicate and would follow a linking verb. So, let's begin with overzealous. which means that someone is showing a little too much eagerness or enthusiasm. Almost to the point where well, you you find it a little strange that they are this eager or they're this enthusiastic about something. So, you could describe that person as being overzealous. So, this is an adjective that you can use either before a noun or it can follow a linking verb. Either one. So, you might describe people and say somebody has overzealous parents. They're showing a lot of enthusiasm for their kids. They're Yeah, her her parents are very overzealous. Perhaps Perhaps when when our little girl gets older, maybe maybe I will be an overzealous parent and I will be so enthusiastic about everything she does. Or maybe you have some overzealous colleagues that anything that happens, they're always enthusiastic, perhaps they're always eager to do things, and you might think, well, they're a little overzealous. I imagine that you guys are overzealous students, that you are so excited to build and learn new vocabulary. During the concert, some overzealous fans ran onto the stage. Next is tenacious. This adjective means that somebody is just not giving up, perhaps stubbornly, that they just absolutely refuse to give up, even though maybe maybe they should. Now, when I think of this word, I actually think it's used in more of a positive manner when you describe somebody as tenacious and they are not giving up, they refuse to give up, they're being very stubborn, but it they should keep going. It is a good thing that they don't give up in that sense. If you want to say, you know, well, you know, she is a tenacious student. Even though he's short, he always gives a tenacious effort. Then we have candid. And if you say that someone is candid, then basically you're just saying that this person is truthful and that they are honest. So, we can use this adjective and and describe someone and say that they are a candid person or perhaps they give a candid response to a question. Personally, I think it's maybe more common to follow the linking verb to be and you would describe somebody that he is candid or she is candid. They are truthful and honest. And if you're describing somebody in that way, it's almost like you're trying to say, well, this person can be believed. We can trust this person because they are candid and they give candid responses. And I guess I just I'm just going to keep using the word candid again and again so that it helps you remember the meaning. This candid photo shows some of the poor living conditions surrounding the city. Next is facetious. And this is one of my favorite adjectives. Now, the first thing that I want to point out is the pronunciation because looking at this adjective, it you may not be pronounced the way that it's spelled, facetious. That first syllable is going to have that schwa, that fa, and we're just basically going to pronounce the letter C, fa-ce-cious, facetious. And what it means is that somebody is joking and they're not being serious and perhaps in an appropriate way. In a in a sense, they should be serious, but they're joking around, they are being facetious. And I think it's commonly used just like that, that in some kind of situation, you're talking to somebody else and you're joking with this person, perhaps they don't know about it and you have to tell them and say, look, I'm being facetious. I'm joking. I'm not being serious. So, that is a phrase that that you might often hear with this word, somebody actually having to tell the other person say, wait, I'm being facetious. Or maybe you could say that of another person. If somebody doesn't understand that this person is joking, you say, well, look, he's being facetious. She's being facetious. Sometimes it's hard to take my boss seriously because he's always being facetious. Then we have the word obtuse. Now, this is not a a good adjective. You don't want to be called obtuse because what it means is that somebody is lacking in intelligence and maybe they're a bit slow to understand. And you would often use it with the linking verb to be and say that someone is obtuse, that that they are slow to understand and you could describe that person say, yeah, you know, he's a bit obtuse. He's slow to understand. He doesn't He's not a very smart person. They're obtuse. Or if there's a situation and somebody it's like they don't want to hear the truth and they're trying to to deny it and they don't want to listen and you could say, well, they are being obtuse, that they refuse to believe what is obvious, what is sensible, but they they just don't want to believe it. They're being obtuse. Sometimes my uncle can be so obtuse. He refuses to listen to anyone. Next is the word boorish. And again, this it's not a great adjective. You don't want to be referred to as a boorish person because it means that someone is rude or insensitive. And often I think it's used before the noun behavior. And this is a commonly used collocation and you might describe somebody's behavior as boorish, their boorish behavior. It's rude, it's insensitive, they may exhibit boorish behavior. Keep in mind that this adjective is unrelated to the word boring. That is a very common adjective, but they have different meanings. If somebody is boorish, they are rude or insensitive, boorish behavior. His boorish behavior caused me to hang up on him. Then we have jittery. And this is another great adjective and it's it's used to describe someone who is nervous and they are unable to relax. Often I think it's used as a predicate adjective and you'd say, someone is jittery. So, there is probably some kind of situation that would make someone nervous, they're unable to relax and you could describe them as jittery. Perhaps they have to give a very important presentation and before the presentation, you could say, wow, you know, he he's really jittery. It's also used in a situation that if somebody just they're unable to relax because they want to leave. For example, I have been in some very long teachers meetings in my life and the meetings just go on and on and on and I just I don't want to sit there anymore and I start to get jittery. I start moving around, I start shaking my legs and I just I want to get out of there. I can't relax. I'm jittery. The boy was so jittery, he had a tough time staying seated. Then we have capricious. Now, with this one again, let's first look at the pronunciation. That first syllable has the schwa sound, that uh sound, and then the PRI is just pronounced as pre, ca-pri-cious, capricious. And what this means is that someone or something is impulsive or unpredictable. So, you could use this adjective and say that, well, the weather is capricious, it's unpredictable, you don't know what's going to happen. Or if you describe a person as capricious, it makes me think of somebody who maybe they make a decision and then they change their mind almost immediately and want to do something else. And then they change their mind again and want to do something completely different. You could say that they are capricious. Or maybe a person is a capricious shopper. Capricious shopper. Capricious shopper. That's hard to say. Capricious shopper. Capricious shopper. Capricious shopper. I I I actually would just say that that person is capricious, that they are impulsive, they are unpredictable, and you might describe them as capricious. Because of his capricious nature, he couldn't commit to chewing just one thing. Then we have the adjective gullible. And this just means that a person is easily persuaded to believe something. Essentially, they just believe whatever you tell them. They are gullible. It often follows that verb to be. And I think we've all met people before in our lives who are pretty gullible. Whatever you tell them, they they just believe you. So, this is a great example of when if you are being facetious, they are not going to understand that you're joking, they will believe you because they're gullible, and then you would have to tell them, look, I'm being facetious. I'm not being serious. I think it's also used to describe somebody in a temporary situation because let's be honest, we've all been gullible at one point or another. So, in that case, I think of perhaps somebody is trying to trick somebody else or maybe there is some sort of scam and for some reason, you fall for it, you're not thinking clearly, you could say, you know, I you know, I was just gullible. I don't know why I believed this thing, but I did. I was gullible. I couldn't believe I fell for this internet scam. I was so gullible. Then we have adamant. And this adjective means that a person is refusing to change their mind or be persuaded. Often I think this adjective is followed by the preposition about. You are adamant about something that you just refuse to believe anything else. And often I think of maybe some sort of cause that a person is fighting for. They are very passionate about this cause and you could say they are adamant about this thing. I am adamant about protecting the environment. Uh I am adamant about teaching you guys vocabulary. I refuse to believe that you will not learn and build your vocabulary. I am adamant about teaching it to you. I think we can all think of different things that we are adamant about that we we just want this thing to happen. We won't be persuaded otherwise. You are adamant about something. The doctor was adamant she have surgery immediately. Then we have feckless. And this is used to describe a person who is weak or or ineffective and just really lacking in the strength of character. That this person is feckless. And I think it might be also used to describe somebody's personality or their traits. For example, you might say that someone is a feckless leader. They are an ineffective leader because they they lack that strong character. They are feckless. The coach's feckless leadership led the team to their worst record in school history. So I want to be honest. I I want to be candid with you that when you are building your vocabulary, I hope that two adjectives that I could use to describe you would be overzealous. That you are just eager to learn new words and that that you're tenacious too. That you are not going to give up for whatever reason. So that is what I hope for and I am absolutely not being facetious when I say that. I'd also like you to do a little bit of an association trick right now. Try to associate these words with somebody that you know because that's going to help you better the meaning and actually retain that information and you won't forget it. I'm going to teach you some different words and phrases that you can use so that that you can be very specific if you want to talk about another person and describe their personality, their behavior. So there are different adjectives and and nouns that we can use to describe people and I want to start with some adjectives. So the first word that I have for you is charismatic. other people and they can easily get people's attention. Just because you say that someone is charismatic, that does not mean that it's a good thing. It sounds like a good thing and it can be a compliment, but it does not always mean that the person you're talking about it is a good person. It's really just their behavior, the way they act. They have that influence and and they can easily get people's attention well, because of the way they talk, the way they speak and you could say that yes, this person is charismatic. The most popular scandal-free athletes of all time. He's heroic. He's charismatic and he's retiring. The charismatic guy promising to make America great again. You're the most remarkable person I know. You mean to tell me this all happened cuz you were messing with the shadow man? He was very charismatic. Then we have the word chatty. And if somebody is chatty, it just means that well, they like to talk a lot. Usually in a very friendly and informal way. You could say he or she is chatty. Now the one thing I would say about this word is that it's often used to make an observation about someone else. You you wouldn't often hear people say that oh, I'm so chatty. It's not really it's not necessarily a good or a bad thing, but you would use it more to make an observation and talk about the way somebody else is acting that they are talking a lot. And you could use it to describe a person's uh somebody's personality. You could say that he or she is a chatty person. But you could also use it to describe maybe somebody's temporary behavior because if a person just doesn't usually talk a lot and then suddenly one day they're very talkative, you could tell them well, you're you're a bit chatty today. What was I saying? She's so chatty. Maybe my parents are right. Maybe I'd be better off with an Indian girl. Something wrong? Boy, someone's in a chatty mood. But you can start with clearing those empties. Great. I'll get right on it. Not very chatty today, are you? I don't know. Is there something you wanted to talk about? And the next word that I have for you, the next adjective is surly. And this just means that someone is not very friendly and they're often in a bad mood. Let me show you a picture which really captures this word. Right here. All right. Now we would often use these words to describe people, but you could use them to describe animals as well. This picture, it is a perfect example of surly because that that is one surly cat. Sometimes you can come off a little surly. What? I'm not surly. Well, that's it. She gets very surly when you disobey a direct order. We're a different breed and also you're surly, suspicious, you don't play well with others. Then we have the phrase level-headed. And if you describe someone as level-headed, it means that that this person it is calm and they're able to easily deal with difficult situations. And I think this is that's definitely a good thing if somebody calls you level-headed. I think that all of us probably want to be level-headed and and think that we can solve difficult situations and remain calm. How nice so nice. Everyone's so chill and you're all level-headed. Okay, first of all, women don't like to be called dame. Second, women appreciate calm, uh level-headed and uh responsible. Mom, I'm not stoned. I'm completely fine. In fact, I'm more clear and level-headed than I've ever been. Then we have the phrase easygoing. And this is used to describe someone who is well, they're very relaxed and they they don't easily get worried or upset. And you could say that well, this person, they're just they're just easygoing. Nothing bothers them. They don't worry about anything because they're easygoing. The voice thought I was pretty easygoing, you know. Sounded like I have the big issues. Disappointed with you, Margo. But you seem so easygoing. Thought you'd let me try on a dress. What can I say? I'm an easygoing girl. Next is absent-minded. And this phrase is used to describe someone who easily forgets things or they're just not really paying attention to the things that are happening around them. And you could say that this person is a little absent-minded. I think it happens to all of us. I forget things from time to time and yeah, I would say that I can be absent-minded. Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile. Thought you'd know about it. And so we do. Of course we do. I'm sorry. I was being absent-minded. Oh yes. Oh yes, of course. She isn't old dear, but a little absent-minded. Then I have a couple of phrases that I'm going to put them together and that is above average and below average. And these phrases are used to describe uh someone that is well, higher or lower or better or worse than the usual amount or level. So you would use these phrases just to be a little more specific about your opinion as to this person's perhaps their ability. And you could say that that somebody is a below average tennis player. Or maybe I I guess I would like to think that I am an above average English teacher. That's what I'd like to think. But it's these are great phrases that you can use when you want to describe maybe even your own ability or talk about somebody else's ability, above average or below average. Wow. With above average height comes above average responsibility. Until then, how does Keep bringing him his below average pancakes and soggy bacon. Do you think I'm an idiot? No, I'd say you possess above average intelligence. Corporal Dawson was given a below average rating. Committed a crime. Then we have the adjective grumpy. And if you say that someone is grumpy, it means that they are easily annoyed and maybe they're usually complaining. They're always they're complaining about something. You could say gosh, you're you're always so grumpy. And to give you another example, let's just bring up another cat. Here, this is a picture of a grumpy cat. Now let's switch and talk about some nouns that can be used to describe people. And the first one because we just talked about someone who may be grumpy is a grump. All right. We can use this word as a noun as well. And a grump is a person who's not a very friendly person and that it's somebody who usually is complaining about something. You could say that this person is a Grump or you could have a little fun with the word and throw the adjective and noun together and say that somebody is a grumpy Grump. They are really complaining a lot. They're a grumpy Grump. Stanley Hudson is a Grump. Everybody knows that. Miss Mullins is out today so we have Mr. Cooper teach us biology. Such a Grump. No way. I bet you'd make way more money being nice than being a big grumpy Grump to everyone all the time. The next noun that I have for you is a jack of all trades. And if you say that somebody is a jack of all trades, it refers to a person that is capable of doing many different jobs and they would typically do those jobs well. And when I say different jobs, I'm talking about a a variety of of really different things. So perhaps somebody is able to fix cars. This person is a great programmer. This person is an excellent cook and they can do all of these different things and they are very capable at doing them. You could say that he or she is a jack of all trades. What if Big Head is sort of like a floating utility player, kind of like a like a jack of all trades? I listen, I'm so much more I'm kind of a jack of all trades if you will. The next phrase I have for you is a dark horse and this just refers to a person who is not expected to succeed or win but then they suddenly do. They they suddenly do win and you could say that this person wow, they were a dark horse but they won the competition. So often it is used in that context when talking about some competition. Ooh, a dark horse candidate. Late entry to the race. But what's this? I don't know. A dark horse is challenging Gagne. Any contestants with his mention it? Maybe. He's kind of the dark horse in the running. So here it is one more time the dark horse for this year's Christmas number one Christmas is all around. Thank you, Billy. Then we have the phrase black sheep which refers to a person who embarrasses a a group or a family because they're they're different in some way and perhaps they've done something they've gotten into trouble or they've done something wrong and because of that and they've embarrassed the family, you could say that he or she is a black sheep. Now it does not always have to mean that that they've done something wrong. It could just be that that they're just different in some way and maybe everybody else thinks it's a little strange. I think within all families there is somebody maybe a brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin who is a little different from everyone else and maybe other people think that that it's a little strange, you could say that that this person is a black sheep. Third brother in the middle. Gary I had him. He's the black sheep. A drunk. Do you know what is a black sheep? No. It's like when you're different to everyone else. The cones are like family, Neil. Maybe they're about to become the black sheep. Everybody thinks I'm the black sheep. I'll show them what a black sheep can do. Then we have the phrase know-it-all and this refers to a person that just they think they know everything and you could describe them and say that he or she is a know-it-all. And this is a phrase that it's you wouldn't use it as a compliment. So it's not something you would say about yourself but if somebody else they they're not being very humble and they're they're being a little too proud, they think they're so smart, you could tell them and say oh, you're such a know-it-all. Which means you're not taking your sin toward like you should. You're such a know-it-all. She's so rigid and demanding. Or she's a complete know-it-all. Hey. It's me. The know-it-all. What are you doing here? Next is the phrase wise guy and this refers to a person who is trying to be clever in a way that's a little annoying. So typically you would say this to a person not really to be very mean to them but really just kind of call them out on the way they are behaving, the way they're acting. They're trying to be clever but they're really being a little annoying. It's you're such you're such a wise guy. Stop stop being such a wise guy. I'm the delivery right here. I ordered a bad pepperoni. You're a wise guy. Okay. Okay. Hey, who's the wise guy? Hey. Hey, does this look like a petting zoo to you, huh? Okay. All right, wise guy. You just earned a time out. Then we have the phrase stick-in-the-mud and this is this is one of my favorite phrases. Uh it's it's a noun that's used to describe somebody who is old-fashioned and they just kind of want to avoid having fun. If somebody does not like to have fun and they're kind of ruining it for everyone else, you could say that they are a stick-in-the-mud. Typically if somebody is a a surly person and maybe they're just complaining because they're so grumpy, you could tell them that that they are a stick-in-the-mud as well. Why don't we all take a few pictures, have a few laughs? Jeez, Eddie. Why are you a stick-in-the-mud? You were a stick-in-the-mud when we judged that beauty pageant and you're being a stick-in-the-mud now. I am not a stick-in-the-mud. I just want to stop a party from happening. Then we have the phrase yes-man and this is talking about a person who is always trying to please a superior and they are saying things and doing things in order to please that person. I I I think it's often used in the context of work because if somebody is always trying to make their boss happy and whatever their boss asks them to do, they just say yes. Andy's a yes-man. Not all the time. Sometimes I'll say I don't like something, he says he doesn't like it either. It's very presidential of me, don't you think? Absolutely. You're not turning into a yes-man, are you? I'm becoming a corporate yes-man. I'm like, yes, Mr. George Bush. Whatever you say, Mr. George Bush. Then we have the word sitter. Now this noun refers to someone who who takes care of someone else. Now I I think the word is shortened. Typically it's used to refer to a babysitter. A babysitter, someone who takes care and looks after a baby. But it could be shortened to just a sitter. You can also use this with other nouns as well. For example, you could say that somebody is a house sitter and they are taking care and looking after another person's house. Or perhaps they are a dog sitter or a cat sitter and they are taking care of somebody else's pets. A babysitter, a house sitter, a cat sitter, a dog sitter, a pet sitter. I think that's about it for for for sitters. Three cities in six days, my head is just pounding. I'm not ready for a dinner party. I already got a sitter. Can't cancel her? So what you're saying is if I can get an acceptable babysitter here before you leave, I can go patrol. Babysitter, I'm 14. I'm old enough to be a babysitter. And thank you for reminding me. I can't find a freaking cat sitter. I'm not going. Chad's regular dog sitter is ill. I wonder if he know enough to go to my brother's place. I'm Paris. Maybe they have a house sitter. So I hope you learned some new words and phrases and I'm sure that you will remember them because you are not absent-minded. You you are a very level-headed person. You will remember these words and phrases and I I hope that you can use them. If you're having a conversation, maybe you're feeling a little chatty and you're talking to other people and you can practice using these words and phrases and just tell them how much you know but maybe they will think that you are a know-it-all. All right. If you enjoyed the lesson, please hit that like button. As always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 6. 1-HOUR VOCABULARY LESSON | 100 Phrases for Casual Conversation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `84miCo1NYGk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84miCo1NYGk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:47:02 | --- today I have a special treat for you because we have a special guest teacher Jennifer from J Forest English is going to join me and we have created a master class to help you supercharge your vocabulary welcome Jennifer it's great to be here Wes today you're going to expand your vocabulary with phrases you can use in casual conversations to sound fluent and natural you'll learn important collocations common phrasal verbs and other useful phrases let's get started and first Jennifer is going to teach you 15 useful collocations that you can definitely use when you're talking to friends family members colleagues really anyone so let's begin let's do something fun you'll learn these collocations by completing a quiz you'll see a sentence on the screen with a blank and you need to choose the correct word in 5 seconds after you'll learn the correct C location see an example sentence and listen to natives using the collocation in real speech are you ready question one he promised he wouldn't lie but he decided to his promise the correct answer is B to break a promise this means to fail to do what one has promised to to do 5 years ago I promised to post a new English lesson every week on my YouTube channel and I haven't broken that promise let's listen to some real world examples if I break a promise I have done something wrong even if the consequences of breaking the promise are slightly better than the consequences of keeping the promise you break a promise with God you're sinning and we'll break our promise it doesn't really matter question two a great handshake can leave a impression the correct answer is a A Lasting Impression this is an effect feeling or memory that remains in one's mind for a long time so hopefully after this lesson you might say this lesson left a lasting impression on me which means you remember all these new collocations the pronunciation and everything you've learned and if you enjoy this lesson and you want to have me as your English teacher in addition to Wes then make sure you subscribe to my channel j4 is English where like I said I post new lessons just like this to help you become fluent every single week week let's listen to some real world examples and the thing that left a longlasting impression on me was how the people I met in South Africa could Envision a better future for themselves and their country now that's honesty and integrity and it's also why faas performances left such a lasting impression a simple act of kindness can make a lasting impression and make a huge difference in a person's life question three she has a work load this month and needs extra help the correct answer is c a heavy workload I hear a lot of students say a big workload but the correct collocation is heavy a heavy workload and of course this is a large amount of work you might say it's hard to study English because of of my heavy workload let's listen to some real world examples how does she juggle all that heavy workload and be president of the sorority the number one um hindrance to good teaching is heavy workload it's definitely been a pretty heavy workload question four after finishing the project she finally has a workload the correct answer is C the opposite of heavy which means big is light which means a small amount of work so hopefully you say now that I have a light workload I can watch all your lessons let's listen to some real world examples the workload was so light to do compositor based operations compared to doing layout and paint that we can now fit it comfortably inside the 60 frames a second budget to lighten your workload question five to succeed you need to be proactive and initiative the correct answer is a and take initiative if you take initiative it means you're the first to take action to achieve a goal or to solve a problem for example he took initi itive to find a speaking partner and that's exactly what you need to do there are people everywhere who want to practice speaking but you need to take initiative to find one let's listen to some real world examples who are going to take an initiative not just do the minimum daily requirement people expect you to do things on your own here they expect you to take initiative they're thinking that person doesn't take initiative I guess they're not really a leader how are you doing so far with this quiz question six the campaign started slow but began to momentum the correct answer is B to gain momentum this means to progress or move forward at an increasing Pace as my English fluency and confidence grew I gained momentum in my career so your success in your career increased at a faster and faster Pace that's what fluent English can help you accomplish let's listen to some real world examples now as spaxs gain momentum more Blue Chip institutions and Veteran investors are buying in slowly but surely we began to gain momentum we gain momentum U by using the cupcakes for this documentary which was one of the clips that I showed earlier question seven her spe had a impact on everyone in the [Music] room the correct answer is c a profound impact this means a very significant or Deep Impact you might say my childhood teacher had a profound impact on my English skills you still remember those important lessons from your teacher today let's listen to some real world examples words are that powerful they not only affect your interior psychology and your identity they have a profound impact on the world around you it's something so simple and yet has such a profound impact you don't have to know someone well to have a profound impact on them question eight in order to pass the inspection our products need to stand standards the correct answer is B to meet standards if you meet a standard this means you reach the expected level of quality or requirements this is often used with products or Services all products must meet safety standards before being sold let's listen to some real world examples how often do judges not meet standards and we're going to close places that uh don't meet standards and which are harmful to people they don't have to meet standards and that is very very dangerous question nine The Proposal was accepted by an majority of the team the correct answer is is a an overwhelming majority this means a very large percentage or proportion there isn't a specific number but I would personally say it would be 75% or more to be considered an overwhelming majority maybe an overwhelming majority of students 75% or more prefer learning English online what do you think let's listen to some real world examples the overwhelming majority they work really hard doing really important stuff and the overwhelming majority said no and many Nebraskans I believe a overwhelming majority believe the death penalty is a part of that Public Safety focus of which I firmly believe in question 10 we had a discussion about the project challenges the correct answer is c a Frank discussion is one that is open honest and straightforward for example we need to have a Frank discussion about the client's expectations let's listen to some real world examples having Frank detailed and honest discussions on how you'll handle joint versus solo finances will guarantee that there won't be any surprise once you're married and I thought it was a good and and useful and Frank discussion and so uh our focus is on having a Frank discussion raising issues where we have concerns and of course looking for ways and places where we can work together you're doing a great job think of everything that you're learning let's keep going question 11 he decided to responsibility for his actions the correct answer is a to take responsibility this is when you accept responsibility for example you could be frank you could be honest and open and straightforward to be frank and say I take full responsibility for the project delay this a very mature thing to do let's listen to some real world examples training Afghan forces take responsibility for their own security he said someone you has to take responsibility we must take responsibility now for our role in this crisis a crisis in which the origins can be traced back to the onset of the anthropos scene era question 12 the board will approval for the new policy next week the correct answer is B to Grant approval this means to officially agree to or allow something the team needs to wait until the director grants approval let's listen to some real world examples the queen must Grant her approval before the Gown can even start being made he added the ministry will quickly Grant approval if companies apply for an extension in working hours to expend domestic production question 13 both parties finally reached a agreement the correct answer is a a mutual agreement this is one that all people involved there could be two people five people or 12 people but all people involved except we reached a mutual agreement to reduce the budget everyone agreed yes let's reduce the budget let's listen to some real world examples it's a mutual agreement in a group that you will put the welfare of the group you will put the safety of everyone in the group above your own and we talked about issues by mutual agreement that practice helped me a great deal because I came to understand Ronald Reagan this mutual agreement between the parent and child was a really nice cooperative strategy but somehow it just wasn't working for them question 14 the project had a influence on the younger team members the correct answer is b a positive influence is of course one that leads to improvements you might say learning English has had a positive influence on my life because it has helped you gain momentum remember remember that one to gain momentum let's listen to some real world examples she is a role model A positive influence and has a powerful ability to motivate others we're going to be positive influence to everybody around us talking about being a positive influence in their communities uh making a difference question 15 by introducing this new feature the company gained a advantage the correct answer is B competitive the adjective form a competitive Advantage is something that allows someone a person or even a company a team to outperform to perform better than others again you might say being fluent in English gives you a competitive advantage in today's global world do you agree with that let's listen to some real world examples it's going to be competitive Advantage for us and one of the things we decided was how do how can we reinvent the office leverage your sources of unfair competitive Advantage but make sure you reinvent yourself before disruption leaves you with no other option but to do so what really is a company's most competitive Advantage it's people we know this amazing job learning these important collocations share your score in the comments and now Wes is going to teach you 15 important phrases with make do and have let's make the most of it and keep building your vocabulary and we'll begin with a phrase that I just mentioned to make the most of this means to take full advantage of something because it's not going to last long so generally this refers to some sort of opportunity maybe it's a beautiful day outside and I say well you should make the most of it or perhaps you're in New York City for only a couple of days and you want to make the most of it you want to build your vocabulary so you're watching this video you should make the most of it hit the like button write to me in the comments it's not going to last forever we'll show your people how to use this land properly how to make the most of it on a ticking clock make the most of it well we have a few minutes right now let's make the most of it then there's make do with this means to use what is available although it's really not enough or even what you wanted so there are many situations that you can use this phrase maybe you need a knife but only a fork is available and you say yes I'll make do with the fork or perhaps you're trying to go somewhere and you can get there faster by car but a bike is the only thing that's available and you say I'll make do with it here are some news headlines so you can get a better idea as to how this phrase is used in context we need two pools in this town Orangeville residents make do with Tony rose pool closure the gender pension Gap even after work ends women must make doe with less as Louisiana a school seek to prevent school shootings some make do with limited resources let's have a look at some more examples I'll just make do with no assistance no don't just give up maybe you haven't found the right person yet they're not going to go back to the way they were you make do with what's left I can't find any baking soda going have to make do with Colgate then we have to make amends this means to do something to show that you're sorry for your bad behavior in the past so in this case it is a little similar to make up let's make up let's make amends the difference is that when you're going to use make amends it really means that you are actually doing or offering something to to show that you're sorry so if my my wife is upset with me I may buy her some flowers in order to make amends I thought this was a fun little saying make amends real quick Karma does not joke around and yes I I do think it's always better to make amends even though it it doesn't always happen I've been making amends you weren't amending you were avenging step nine of Narcotics Anonymous I'm here to make amends so I've been going through the 12 steps what are you up to now uh step nine yeah making amends I seek to make amends to pay for what I've done make a point of this is used to emphasize something or highlight a situation so one thing I want you to keep in mind is that you're often going to follow this phrase with a Jaren I could say I make a point of calling my parents once a week and I just maybe want to highlight that or to give you a business example maybe I could say we need to make a point of offering our employees professional development opportunities and you just want to emphasize that this is important you know I make a point of never interfering in your personal affairs the folk Thrive around here make a point of easing their neighbor burden seem somewhat familiar have I threatened you before I make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates then we have the phrase make peace with and you can make peace with someone or make peace with something and they really have two different meanings so when you make peace with someone it means that you need to stop fighting or disagreeing with someone and start working and living happily together so let's say that two people are fighting or arguing and I say you need to make peace with each other reach out and take it make peace with the lisce make peace with your sister amen make peace with yourself now when you make peace with something that means that you start to accept something that was worrying or annoying you and I could say uh well I made peace with the fact that I would never become a professional basketball player even though that's what I wanted when I was younger but I made peace with that a long time ago it's not going to change just make peace with it you know I've had to make peace with the fact that probably never going to get genuine accountability let's continue with more phrases but this time I want to teach you some useful phrases with the verb do and we will start with the phrase do a number on this means to harm someone or something and it really does have a negative connotation perhaps I say that well I went in for a cleaning but the dentist did a number on my teeth and in that case I'm referring to physical harm but you could also use this when referring to any type of harm like psychological harm perhaps I say after getting out of the relationship she did not trust anyone her ex really did a number on her here are some more examples boy did your mother do a number on you I haven't worn a bathing suit in public like ever Chrissa really did a number on you huh this is more than just a one night stand this lady's going to do a number on you m I appreciate the concern next is the phrase to do one's part and this means to to do what one is responsible for doing or is able to do so when I was younger I was supposed to help clean around the home and sometimes my parents didn't think that I was doing that and they would tell me you're not doing your part when it comes to protecting the environment I like to think that I'm I'm trying to do my part and that's also why I thought this was a funny little joke I'm doing my part to conserve water by drinking wine instead trust me we literally have no extra money so do your part sign your time card he will not know just do your part congratulation 9 million socially conscious and unified citizens all just stepping up and doing their part to do your own thing I really like this phrase because it means that you're going to do what you want without worrying what anyone else thinks of you so I I think it has a positive connotation and I would encourage you to do your own thing don't worry what others think I know I am going to do my own thing and I'm going to continue doing my own thing so you should also do your own thing and I'm just going to keep saying that phrase do your own thing I'm not in hoodie and the Blowfish anymore y'all doing my own thing Just Do Your Own Thing get your own life yeah I mean you do Your Own Thing comfortable with yourself no thank you I'm doing my own thing this year then we have the phrase do your best this is a great phrase because it's so common and it just means to make the greatest effort that you possibly can and you would often use this to encourage someone I could say I want you to study hard and do your best on the exam or even though the team lost everyone did their best do your best it's all anybody can ask for I can do it just do your best that go do your best it's not too late for you to become a person of substance Russell please get my son home safely so we just talked about do your best now I want to talk about do your worst you you would think that these phrases are exact opposites because of best and worst but that not really if you tell someone do your worst it just means to do the most unpleasant or harmful thing that you can so we're not talking about effort like in do your best we're talking about harm so you may often use this when there's some sort of Confrontation or competition perhaps someone is telling you that they're going to destroy your reputation and you say I'm not afraid of you do your worst and you're really challenging someone do your worst all right Monday do your worst I've lost track of the number of times I've been killed so go ahead do your worst so if you need to do your worst do your worst you've got the address the hotel I'll be here waiting I am going to do my part and continue teaching you some useful phras phes but this time with the verb have and the first phrase that I want to teach you is to have a onrack mind this means to think about one particular thing and nothing else now sometimes you may hear people use this phrase as more of a sexual innuendo suggesting that a guy has a onrack mind and is only thinking about sex but that's not always the case and to give you some more context here are some news headlines you have a one-track mind which is why multitasking is sabotaging your productivity Kristoff lre and maybe I'm mispronouncing the name this person is a French Sprinter and they say at the start lineup you have a onrack mind and finally you don't have to have a onrack mind to study law now let's look at some video examples using this phrase oh and then games know something you have a one track mind I don't care just as long as it takes me where I want to go I have a one track mind don't I my one track mind is telling me that I'm hungry no why not because my ex-girlfriend's getting married Jesus you got a one trck mind it's always Caitlyn Caitlyn Caitlyn next is have an in with this means to establish a connection with someone in a position of authority and often I think this phrase is kind of related to networking maybe you try to meet someone especially someone in a position of authority you try to establish a connection so that perhaps in the future you have an in with this person and it doesn't have to be someone with immense power power it could just be a regular person who perhaps because of their job they have power in specific situations I could say I'll be able to get us into the concert because I have an inn with the security guard he's an old friend from high school here are some more examples maybe have an inn with a big client that we could get our foot in the door oh I have an inn with the manager I delivered his baby and even better I have an end with the owner oh yeah we work together then there's the phrase to have feelings this is another common phrase and it's used to say that you feel pleased and not pleased at the same time perhaps I ask you what do you think about the new employee policy and you say h i have mixed feelings about it I thought this was a fun example because there's a popular slogan I love New York you see it on t-shirts with a heart but I think maybe this t-shirt is a little more accurate I have mixed feelings about New York let's have a look at some more examples mixed feelings about being a parent I have mixed feelings about doing interviews I have mixed feelings honestly about Christmas how's that possible share the same blood the same mixed feelings towards B to have a presence of mind and really you would have a presence of mind to do something this refers to the ability to make good decisions and react quickly and calmly in a difficult situation or an emergency it's another way of saying that you were able to think quickly and make a good decision when when the fire started she had the presence of mind to grab the fire extinguisher now I always like to inspire you so here are some inspirational quotes using this phrase presence of mind in all things I counsel be aware of thyself before all else it's very deep most important was to remain focused and always have a presence of mind I hope that you have the presence of mind to write to me in the comments it's not necessarily an emergency but a good decision at least have the presence of mind to act civilized usually when someone has the presence of mind to ask themselves if they're going crazy it suggests they're not if I had lost my temper would I have had the presence of mine to leave my card and my insurance information then there's to have your hands tied this is used to say that someone is unable to act freely because something like a law or rule prevents it let's say that you would like my help and I would like to help help you but for some reason I can't I might say sorry my hands are tied here are some more news headlines so you can get a better feel as to how this phrase is used in context fast food is targeting youths but local leaders have their hands tied border patrol agents have their hands tied priests fleas country with teen Valentine but police may have their hands tied let's have a look at some video examples totally disregard that last voicemail because you obviously have your hands tied good luck since his death my hands have been tied but I believe the universe has given us a gift you can't reward her for that my hands are tied so now Jennifer is going to teach you 15 common phrasal verbs which is incredibly helpful because we use phrasal verbs all the time in casual conversation remember that phrasal verbs have multiple meanings depending on context so I'll show you the phrasal verb and then I'll give you an example sentence so you can see how that phrasal verb is being used our first phrasal verb pull off I know the team can pull it off pull off do you know this one in this context to pull off means to succeed in doing something difficult or unexpected for example getting a high mark on your iel is challenging but I know you'll pull it off so not notice here I know you'll pull it off here it means I know you'll succeed at getting a high mark on your ey outs how about this one if you have a great teacher I know I'll pull it off maybe that's something you would say I know I'll pull it off I will be successful if I have a great teacher and I hope I'm that great teacher for you if you agree with that put that's right that's right I'll pull it off with Jennifer's help put that's right in the comments now let's listen to some real world examples using this phrasal verb is it something you really managed to pull off or does the Middle East really still have us kind of sucked in so how did Ukraine pull off such a stunning attack it requires a bit of confidence to pull off our next phrasal verb take off Sarah's online store really took off do you know what this means take off this means to become successful or popular for example my YouTube channel didn't take off at first it wasn't successful or popular at first but I was persistent and consistent and eventually it took off eventually it became successful I could also say and eventually I pulled it off I pulled it off and in this case it represents creating and growing a successful YouTube channel or I could say to you if you're consistent your English fluency and confidence will take off do you agree with that well put that's right that's right put that's right in the comments now let's listen to some real world examples using this phrasal verb just at the point where your career is starting to take off you're taking on seniority after the trial she was able to move away to Florence and that's where we really see her career kind of take off but once you look at that 10year Mark and Beyond that's where things really start to take off next put off she put off scheduling her IELTS do you know what put off means this means to delay or post postpone doing something she put off scheduling her ILS until she mastered phrasal verbs now this means she'll schedule her ey outs once she Masters phrasal verbs you might say let's put off the meeting let's delay the meeting until after the long weekend or your husband or roommate might ask you are we still cleaning out the garage this weekend and you can say h let's put it off until winter let's delay it until winter let's listen to some real world examples do you put off writing a paper until the last minute just an idea being put off for a better time that never came Funnies and I think it's such a waste when people just put off their vacation or travel plans now next turn around how did you turn around your online store do you know what this means to turn around this means to take a business plan or system from not successful to successful for example the new manager turned the marketing department around so to turn something around to take the marketing department from not successful too successful or she turned around her speaking skills by practicing speaking every day and you can add to this and say her excellent communication skills helped her career take off become successful let's listen to some real world examples I'm hoping we can turn it around accommodation that has turned the business turned it around our economy in Peril we turned it around our next phrasal verb call off do you know why the meeting was called off do you know what this means to call off this means to cancel something that was planned or scheduled for example the company had to call off the conference cancel the conference because of the hurricane now let's compare this sentence to One with put off remember put off means delay the company had to put off the conference because of the hurricane do you know the difference between these two sentences in the first example with call off the conference will not happen it is cancelled but in the second example with put off the conference will happen but at a later date or you could say she called off her birthday party when she got sick she cancelled it she didn't put it off she called it off let's listen to some real world examples at as violence they began to receive threats to call off their events after 2 hours the mams call off their attack and Retreat so we decided to call off the wedding at the last minute how are you doing with these phrasal verbs so far our next phrasal verb to catch up on I I spent the whole day catching up on emails do you know what this means to catch up on this means to do something that you haven't been able to do recently for example I need to catch up on your lessons maybe you say that to me or to your teacher or your piano instructor this means you haven't been able to review the lessons recently so now you have many lessons to review and you need to catch up on them you need to watch all the lessons you haven't reviewed or you could say this weekend I caught up on my chores I did all the chores I haven't been able to do because I was too busy doing other things so I put them off but this weekend I caught up on them let's listen to some real world examples anyone that wants to catch up on that the story can go back and watch their original issue which they should do anyway because it feels like a way to catch up on social media or read something let's have this down paed catch up an email go home at a regular time our next phrasal verb blurred out I can't believe I blured that out in front of my boss do you know what this means to blurred out this is when you say something suddenly without thinking often something that shouldn't have been said for example let's say you're in a meeting and you're discussing a strategy or a goal and you say there's no way we'll pull that off there's no way we'll be successful and then later in the meeting you can say oh why did I blurt that out I have such a big mouth so this is an expression to have a big mouth someone who has a big mouth often says things they shouldn't say because they don't think before they speak so people with big mouths often blurt things out or maybe your coworker is looking for a new job but it was a secret but then you say to your coworker I accidentally blurred it out that you're looking for a new job so you said it suddenly without thinking let's listen to some real world examples further when girls blur out without answers without raising their hands one of you so what's your story can you just blurt out a 30 second story his first reflex was not to blurt out what was going on next comb through do you have time to comb through this report do you know what this means to comb through and notice that b is silent comb comb through this means to analyze or review something carefully and completely before you submit your CV you should comb through it to make sure there are no errors that's always good advice or I comb through this entire textbook to prepare for my eye outs you reviewed it entirely and completely she spent the whole afternoon combing through old family photos to create a scrapbook let's listen to some real world examples NASA kind of comb through our data so I went back to my staff was comb through this um go comb through their website next skim through I only had enough time to skim through the report do you know what this means to skim through this means to review something quickly without going into detail so you can think of it as the opposite of comb through for example the consultant has an impressive background but I only skimmed through his proposal I didn't read it fully she skimmed through the recipe to make sure she had all the ingredients so she looked at it quickly not fully let's listen to some real world examples can't sort of skim through it and I'm just going to skim through hit couple of the highlights read the class syllabus skim through textbooks and review all the materials next gloss over over the consultant glossed over the budget increase do you know what this means to gloss over this means to briefly mention something without going into detail and you do this often to avoid discussing it thoroughly for example the manager glossed over the consultant's rude comment so how could he gloss over this rude comment maybe he's in the middle of a meeting and he says to the consultant who remember said something rude he says to him I appreciate your perspective anyway let's review the upcoming conference so he mentioned it briefly but then he quickly moved on to something else because he didn't want to spend time reviewing that negative comment how about this one my brother always glosses over why his girlfriend doesn't come to family gatherings he mentions it quickly but then moves on to a different topic on purpose because he doesn't want to discuss it he glosses over it let's listen to some real world examples love this stuff so I didn't want to gloss over anything in the early days I would gloss over my family's experience I'll have to gloss over or admit many formal details next pan out the speaker we wanted didn't pan out do you know what this means to pan out this means to have a successful outcome the strategy didn't pan out this means the strategy wasn't successful didn't have a successful outcome so we need to revise our approach or you could say to your spouse or roommate or family member let's see how our kitchen Renault pans out before we start the Bal bathroom Renault is short for renovation so you're renovating your kitchen let's see how it pans out let's see how successful it is before we start another Renault another renovation let's listen to some real world examples another reason why this learning styles Theory doesn't pan out and in that way in case there were any failures in case things didn't pan out we're excited to see how the metrics of those pan out our next phrasal verb drift off I think I drifted off during the presentation do you know what this means to drift off this means to gradually become less focused or to fall asleep unintentionally not on purpose often while engaged in another activity here's a real example sometimes I drift off when my husband starts talking about his work now in this case I don't fall asleep but I gradually stop paying attention to my husband and I start just paying attention to other things we have another expression my mind wanders I drift off because my husband's work is very technical and often I don't really understand what he's saying so I drift off you could also say I must have drifted off during the movie now this could mean that you stopped paying attention to the movie and you started paying attention to other things or quite likely you fell asleep during the movie and you didn't even realize that it ended and hours later you're asleep on your couch and the movie is over and you had no idea you drifted off let's listen to some real world examples listen to the sound of the ocean as you slowly Drift Off to Sleep it might feel nice for a while to drift off into past memories eventually Henry began to drift off for the last time next dip into we had to dip into our emergency fund to make payroll do you understand this one to dip into this means to spend a portion of a reserve or saving often temporarily so you have this Reserve or SA saving and if you dip into it you take a portion some of that money out so this is used specifically with spending money for example the company had to dip into its emergency fund so take a portion of that fund to cover the unexpected expenses or we had to dip into our savings to cover the cost of the car repair let's listen to some real world examples the house had ini ially proposed a $2,700 payout but couldn't muster the votes required to dip into savings to pay for it but there are other proposals to dip into it one for a school Lo construction fund and therefore I don't need to dip into my savings our next phrasal verb pick up I pick up a lot of English Expressions by watching TV do you know what this means in this context pickup means to learn something informally or casually often through exposure rather than instruction so right now you're not picking up these phrasal verbs I'm teaching them to you this is formal instruction but if you're watching a TV show and you hear the speaker say a phrasal verb in speech and you learn the meaning of that phrasal verb from that TV show you just picked up that phrasal verb which is a great way to learn or maybe you have a great skill you know how to code and someone asks you did you take coding classes and you say no I just picked it up over the years so you were exposed to coding and you just learned it gradually from being exposed to it you didn't take formal classes or have formal instruction let's listen to some real world examples to LinkedIn learning more than ever to pick up new skills find people with similar hobbies and pick come new interest it's not uncommon for humans to pick up new accents how about this phrasal verb shake off if you make a mistake just shake it off do you know this one if you're a Taylor Swift fan you probably do shake off this means to get rid of something such as a problem or a mistake and move on from it so you can imagine the problem is right here and you just Shake It Off shake it off this is commonly used in sports the coach might say to the team we're down three points which means we're losing by three points we're down three points we need to Shake It Off and play better than ever so this means not let let the fact that we're losing affect us we need to forget about it and play better than ever or you could say I know I made a few grammar mistakes during my spoken exam but I just shook them off and I passed which is a great reminder that you can make mistakes and still pull it off still be successful and they shake off criticism with a flip of the wig so my challenge is that we share and we shake off those narratives it had developed a reputation as the king of knockoffs and it couldn't shake the reputation of being a copycat so how did you do with those phrasal verbs share your score in the comments and now Wes is going to teach you 50 different collocations to help you speak more easily and naturally I am going to teach you 50 different collocations and if you don't know what a collocation is it is a word or phrase that is often followed by another word or phrase and there are many different types of collocations but in today's lesson I want to teach you 50 different adjective noun collocations so all of these phrases are adjectives that are commonly followed by different nouns so let's begin with our first collocation using the adjective high and you might hear people talk about high school this is a time period in a person's education you have middle school high school and then University or maybe somebody's talking about High Ground in which case you need to get to a higher or elevated position maybe there's a flood and somebody says we we need to get to high ground or high tech this just means advanced technology and you could say wow this this stuff it's it's really high-tech the technology is Advanced or somebody could have high standards it and that means that they just want the best for themselves and you could say well I have really high standards when it comes to food or when it comes to places to stay hotels you have high standards or for a high degree of certainty this means that you really you believe and you know that something is going to happen next we have collocations with the adjective big and we use this to really emphasize the the noun that it's describing for example there could be a big mistake and you're really trying to say that wellow okay this is a real problem and somebody made a big mistake or maybe there is a big surprise it's not your normal surprise it's a big surprise you could also say something is a big deal this emphasizes that that this thing is very important and you could say it's a big deal a person may also need to make a big decision this is talking about a very important decision and you will often hear somebody say look you know I I really have a big decision to make it's very important it's a big decision and finally you could hear somebody say big money which means you're you're talking about a lot of money that may be coming your way big money next adjective that I have for you is little and you would hear this used with a variety of nouns such as little boy or little girl this is just describing well describing somebody's age perhaps but you got to be careful it may not be polite sometimes to call somebody a little boy or a little girl you could also say little thought in this case somebody might say that well you gave this little thought you really didn't think about it much or perhaps a little bit this is talking about an amount there is a little bit or little time if you don't have a lot of time to do something you could say well we we have very little time we need to get moving because we have little time then we have the adjective heavy and you could say well somebody is a heavy drinker or a heavy smoker it means that they they do this a lot or maybe there is heavy traffic if there are many cars on the road you could describe that and say wow there's there's really heavy traffic today or perhaps there there's heavy rain and it means that it is it's raining a lot if it's raining if it's really coming down you could describe it and say there's Heavy Rain if you're out driving in the Heavy Rain then and there's heavy traffic traffic it's likely there will be a traffic jam you could finally say that someone is a heavy sleeper and this means that well they once they go to sleep you can make all the noise that you want because you are not going to wake this person up they are a heavy sleeper now because we just talked about heavy then I I think it's only appropriate that our next adjective is light and we can use this to say the opposite of many of those that I just talked about so instead of somebody being a heavy drinker or a heavy smoker you could say that that someone is a light Drinker or a light smoker you could say that someone is a light sleeper in which case any kind of noise would probably wake this person up they're not a heavy sleeper they are a light sleeper I I think I am more of a light sleeper I wake up pretty easily at night if there is any kind of noise so when I go to bed I really I just want Silence You could also say light rain if it's just it's not raining that much outside perhaps it's just starting to rain it's not heavy rain it's just a little light rain you don't need your umbrella just yet because it's only a little light rain if if talking about wind you could say that well there is a light Breeze that it's not well it it it's not very windy it's just well there's a light Breeze which I think is kind of nice when you walk outside and there's a light Breeze and finally you could say there is a light shade and in this case you're you're pretty much talking about a color a light shade of red or a light shade of blue or a light shade of green a light shade of some color then we have the adjective strong which I think is a great adjective and you can use this to describe many nouns for example you could say a strong argument if you are debating with someone you want to make sure that that you are presenting a strong argument you could also have a strong feeling about something or maybe something you want a strong desire if talking about well the wind instead of a light Breeze you could say there is a strong Breeze or even a strong wind we can also use it with the word evidence and and say that there is strong evidence police when they're trying to solve a crime they they really they're looking for strong evidence you could also say that someone has a strong hand and in in this case they're not really talking about your hands you could be talking about cards if you're playing cards you have a hand of cards and you could say you have a strong hand but it could also be referring to somebody's position that you have a position of power and you could refer to that and say well you know right now I have a very strong hand I'm in a very good position a position of power I have a strong hand another common way this adjective is used is when talking about a strong relationship and this just means that well you could use it to talk about maybe a family member or your friends or even a romantic relationship husband and wife and you say okay we just have a strong relationship we believe in each other we trust each other we have a strong relationship I I think that we you and I we have a strong relationship because you you watch our video lessons you write to me in the comments which I love hearing from you and because of that I can say that we have a strong relationship you and I at least I hope we do all right the next adjective is deep and we can use this with nouns such as deep thought that you are you are really thinking about something and you would say that somebody you know they in deep thought they're really focused and and they're really trying to think about some serious topic or maybe somebody you could D describe a person and say that they have a deep voice describing the way that they talk so for example this is my deep voice and it's it's really bad that's a very terrible example but you you kind of get the idea if you want to describe the way somebody sounds their voice you could say they have a deep voice it's down here in the chest you could also use it with sleep and say that that somebody is in a deep sleep even if somebody is is not a heavy sleeper but they're so tired they're they're just in a deep sleep you could also say that somebody takes a deep breath or maybe they are you could describe a person and say that they are in a deep depression they're very sad it it is a very intense depression it is a deep depression another way you could use this ad objective is deep down and often I think somebody would say deep down inside talking about uh a feeling a feeling that's deep down inside then we have the adjective fast and you could say that well somebody gets off to a fast start they begin but they do so quickly and they get a fast start you could also describe a person and say that well he or she is a fast talker you could well let's let's continue describing people and you could say that someone is fast asleep if they if this person is sleeping you can use this expression and say well you know they're fast asleep they're sleeping soundly they're fast asleep you may also hear somebody talk about uh a fast pace that you need to move kind of quickly and continuously and you might need to keep a fast pace another very common cocation would be fast food I think uh all of us uh are familiar with different fast food restaurants and I could also say that someone perhaps you I could say that you are a fast learner that you watch these video lessons and you are building your vocabulary because you are a fast learner you you learn quickly and well quick is the next adjective that that I want to talk about because it's it's a little similar to fast but we use it with different nouns for example we could use it with the word glance and and say quick glance to really describe something that that you saw for just a very very short period of time and and you just got a quick glance you just you looked at it and then and that that's it that's it that's a quick glance right there you could also say that uh you're going to get a quick bite in which case you're you're talking about you're you're going to eat you're going to get something to eat very quickly you're just going to grab a quick bite to eat or maybe you want to get a quick shower you you're telling somebody that well you need to shower you're not going to spend a long time in there you're just gon to get a quick shower and during a presentation somebody might give you a quick recap they're going to review whatever they just said and they're going to do it quickly they're going to give you a quick recap or perhaps uh a person might need to make a quick decision when when you really have to think fast you don't have a lot of time you need to make a quick decision now let's move well more to the opposite meaning and talk about the ad objective slow and we can use it with nouns such as well growth or progress I think quite quite often you would hear it used with these nouns when talking about perhaps the the work that somebody's doing or or you might say well you know we're just we're we're making slow progress we're not going very fast we we didn't get off to a fast start and right now we're just making slow progress and because of that the company the business is experiencing slow growth I'm sure many of you have heard it with the word motion and talking about slow motion to describe the way well somebody is moving or or something that you're watching that things were moving in slow motion I'm just going to move on to the next cocation and talk about a slow day and if somebody says that well it's a slow day it just means it's not very busy I often think people would use this collocation when when talking about work that they're not very busy at their job and they say you know today it was a slow day and you could also use it to describe a person and say that someone is a slow learner that that they're not a fast learner it takes them a little more time to understand and comprehend different things you could say Well they're a slow learner I think sometimes with with many things I I am a bit of a slow learner I really like to take my time time and quite often I need to review things and and do it numerous times before I understand so I could say yeah you know I'm a slow learner but that's okay I I don't expect you to watch this lesson and remember every single one of these collocations for the rest of your life it's all about getting exposure reading listening and then practicing because that is the best way to build your vocabulary and remember these phrases and that's what I want to do right now I want to practice using some of these collocations I'm going to give you a sentence and the adjective is missing the first sentence that I have for you is I need you to make a m decision I need you to make a m decision which adjective are you going to use I hope you said I need you to make a quick decision when you have to think fast you need to make a quick decision the next one is even though our neighbor threw a party I didn't wake up because I am a sleeper even though our neighbor had a party I didn't wake up because I am a sleeper in this case I hope that you said heavy a heavy sleeper you can just sleep through anything including your neighbor's party then we have uh I'm going to Vegas and I hope to win some M money this weekend I'm going to Vegas and I hope to win some M money this weekend if you're going to Vegas and you're going to gamble of course you want to win some big big money I'm going to Vegas and I hope to win some big money this weekend the next sentence is scientists believe that the climate will continue to change with a degree of certainty I think you should remember this one scientists believe that climate will continue to change with a M degree of certainty I hope that you said High we're talking about a high degree of certainty that somebody well they're pretty sure that that this is going to happen and finally I would tell you the sent and I would say I think you are a m learner and I really do I think you are a m learner and of course you should have said fast all right I don't think you're a slow learner I think you are a fast learner and I think if you really if you continue to read if you continue to listen if you continue to watch these video lessons that is going to help you build your vocabulary it's going to help you remember these different collocations and that is then going to help you improve your overall English fluency great job I hope that you learned some new phrases that you can now go out and use the next time you're having a conversation and I would like to give a special thanks to Jennifer for joining me today thank you so much for having me it was truly my pleasure and subscribe to my channel to enjoy more lessons to help you become fluent and to watch another special master class that Wes and I have prepared prepared just for you --- ## 7. 100 Collocations Native Speakers Use in Academic Discussions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jAYhLE6bfk8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAYhLE6bfk8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:39:08 | --- I want to teach you some powerful and highfrequency academic collocations that you can use in presentations, academic writing, IELTS or TOEFL, even when you're having a more intellectual conversation. And if you are someone who wants to supercharge your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, I'm going to give you the headword, which is really the primary word along with its meaning and some useful collocations that are used with that word. And collocations are just words that are frequently used together. So, let's get going. The first word is range. This is a noun that refers to a variety of things of a particular type, like a wide range of possibilities. Now, one thing I want you to be aware of is that you're often going to follow this noun with the preposition of. I just mentioned a wide range of possibilities. Some other collocations you may hear people talk about a limited range or a full range or even a broad range, which is one of my favorites, as well as a diverse range of something. These are great phrases whenever talking about a range. >> But frequent exposure to dangerous sound levels can lead to a wide range of hearing disorders. will give you a sense of the broad range of extraordinary opportunities that I hope you'll explore and take advantage of while you're here at Princeton. >> A history of swinging either way or maybe they have a diverse range of voters. >> Then we have vary. To vary. This is a verb and it means to differ in size, amount, or degree from something else of the same general class. And there are some excellent verb adverb collocations like to vary considerably or to vary significantly or to vary widely. And then there are some other phrases that we can use with this verb to vary depending on something or to vary among groups. Great verb to know. >> However, completion rates vary considerably from state to state. >> Size for example, some species can vary significantly between sexes. There are characteristics and experiences that characterize the most successful CEOs, but those those will vary depending on the situation. >> Next is implement. This is another verb. It just means to put a plan into action. And there are many things that you might try to implement like trying to implement a plan or implement a strategy or even implement a policy. And then you may also use this verb with other adverbs to implement something effectively or even implement it quickly. Now this lesson is my attempt to implement a plan effectively so that you get as much exposure to these useful collocations as possible because these are phrases that I think you should know and use. I am directing the Department of Justice to implement a plan to stop crime and crimes of violence against law enforcement officers. >> Time again over the course of this presidency is that we can implement a policy, a national security policy that is consistent with our values >> and have to work with the police department to make sure you've got the resources and support to effectively implement strategies that we know work. Now, if you are looking to implement a plan to greatly improve your English skills, Busu is an interactive language learning platform that can certainly help you reach your fluency goals. So, Busu offers you a wide range of features for anyone who is looking to grow personally or professionally. They have courses created by experts. There's an interactive community, and you get immersive speaking practice. I always say it's incredibly important to learn and practice the language that people actually use, which is why we're talking about collocations in today's lesson. And with Busu, you get access to real life conversations, which is going to build your confidence when communicating with others. Now, you may be thinking, sometimes it's hard to find the time throughout the day. But with Busu, you can take small and achievable bite-siz lessons, which makes it easier to achieve your goals and stay motivated. So, check out Busu with the links below. You can sign up and start learning for free and you can try Busu Premium with a 7-day free trial. So have a look at those links in the description and take your English to the next level. Let's get back to our amazing collocations. And the next word is subsequent. This is an adjective that basically refers to happening after something else. So in an academic context, you may hear people talk about subsequent research or subsequent analysis or possibly a subsequent event. Maybe people are going to have a subsequent discussion or even refer to the subsequent stage if there are multiple stages in some process. So these are excellent adjective noun collocations. I hope the work and ideas presented and discussed over the next two days will spur subsequent research. >> Now, that could spill over into the real economy for sure, but that's a subsequent event. >> And then that just snowballs into every subsequent stage. >> Rely. This is our next word. It's a verb and it just means to depend on with full trust or confidence. And I want you to know that often you're going to follow these phrases with the preposition on. So, I'm just going to include on when I share these collocations with you. So, you might rely heavily on someone or something. Or you could rely primarily on or rely increasingly on, rely excessively on, or even rely solely on someone or something. I hope that you rely heavily on these lessons to help you keep building your vocabulary. And if that's the case, you can let me know by hitting that like button. buoyancy, vertical thrust, lift. Though many aircraft rely primarily on just one of these modes, >> we're in an era in which mayors and cities um have to rely increasingly on what we would call mobile capital. >> Often we rely solely on our instincts to help guide us. >> Then there's to undertake, another verb. This means to do or begin to do something. Now, one thing you should know about this verb is that it especially refers to things that either take a long time or they're just difficult to do. So, speaking academically, you may undertake research or undertake a project, undertake a study, undertake a task, or even undertake responsibility. So just keep in mind when using this verb, it really refers to things that are either going to take a long time or they're just really difficult to do. Whenever you undertake something, >> teacher takes leave from their home school to work at the library and to use their resources to undertake a project to benefit their home school. >> So the new Colbo plan um requires that you undertake a study component and an internship. >> No one in England was willing to undertake such a daring task. Of course, we cannot have an academic lesson without talking about research. This is a noun that just refers to the detailed study of something, especially when you're trying to discover new information and really understand what's going on. And there is a common verb used with this noun, and that is to conduct research. And there are many adjectives that you could use to describe research such as groundbreaking research or extensive research. Somebody might talk about empirical research. And empirical, this is a more advanced word that just refers to verifiable experience. So it's really talking about people's experience. Or people may even talk about qualitative research. Again, we're talking about we're talking about academic collocations, but qualitative research would just refer to the type of research that does not involve like numbers and data. So, you might be analyzing things like interviews or observations when people are referring to qualitative research. >> And so, we have given them the green light to go and conduct research studies, which is really great because then we're not like conducting our own research study. There's groundbreaking research on this that comes from Dr. Rebecca Campbell. >> Boston Consulting Group, for example, has done very extensive research uh that documents that some growth actually destroys value. >> Then there's benefit. Great noun. It refers to a helpful or good effect or at least something that is intended to be helpful and you're trying to get some advantage. Now, there are many adjective noun collocations with this word. Maybe people are going to talk about the mutual benefit of something or even the long-term benefit or maybe the potential benefit in more of a business sense. People may talk about the economic benefit or even the health benefit if we're having some sort of medical conversation. Now, I think the potential benefit of you learning these collocations is enormous, and I would say it's going to have a long-term benefit on your overall English fluency. Just trying to have a little fun and give you a better sense as to how these phrases are used in context. Plus, I think it's true. >> Fungus and Root get together and they trade for mutual benefit. >> That means making investments now that will pay a long-term benefit uh in a better educated, better skilled workforce. Imagine if we could use the resources more efficiently, it would have a massive global economic benefit. Approach. This is another noun and it refers to a way of dealing with a situation or problem. To give you an example of a verb used with this noun, people may adopt an approach and in that case, they're really just going to start using it. And there are many adjectives used with this noun when being creative. You will certainly hear people talk about an innovative approach or maybe they'll discuss a theoretical approach, an alternative approach, or even a systematic approach. And you're really going to have more of a fixed plan whenever you take a systematic approach. >> I urge you to adopt an approach to learning that's less effortful because it's better tuned to the way the mind naturally learns. Nanotechnology, an innovative approach to developing high performance materials. >> You can employ a systematic approach to training and practicing, but you can't employ a systematic approach to actually living because life is a process. >> Then there's the noun outcome. This just refers to the way a thing turns out. And all of the collocations that I'm going to share with you are adjective noun collocations. And I think some very common ones would be talking about the desired outcome or maybe even a positive or negative outcome or even the eventual outcome. Some more advanced collocations with this noun would include an adverse outcome. Adverse just refers to something that is unfavorable, maybe even harmful. So, it's not good when there's an adverse outcome or a binary outcome. Binary just means involving two different things. So now you know in case you ever hear somebody talking about a binary outcome >> to assert that the universe has a purpose implies a desired outcome. But who would do the desiring and what would a desired outcome be >> is as it moves you are deciding what the eventual outcome will be. >> So that as they were doing things that caused their blood sugar to go up or caused an adverse outcome. >> Then we have the verb assess. This means to evaluate or estimate the nature, ability or quality of something. And there are many things that you can assess. You can assess the performance of something. You can assess the effectiveness or assess the impact or even assess the progress. And you could also assess one's needs. I told you there are many things that you can assess. This is just a sample of some common collocations. And one of the things that we did to assess the impact of this curriculum. >> How do you assess the performance of of a creative team or a creative individual? >> Then Vice President Biden traveled to Japan to assess needs and help with the recovery. >> Then we have source. This is a noun that refers to a place, person or thing from which something originates or can be obtained. And I want to share with you some useful adjective noun collocations. You can use this when talking about the primary source or the secondary source, maybe an original source, a reliable source, or perhaps even an anonymous source. And if something is anonymous, in that case, it's unknown. Whenever talking about an anonymous source, >> a primary source is a rockolid, airtight origin point for a fact or a quote. What if you had to drive 4 hours to charge your phone because you had no reliable source of electricity? Historians attribute the London magazine article to an anonymous source who spun the tail from scratch. >> Next is the adjective significant. I like this word. It's one that I often emphasize when I'm talking or having a conversation because it refers to something that is worthy of attention. It's large enough to be important or just affect a situation to a noticeable degree. So some common collocations are a significant difference, a significant impact, a significant factor. I told you I like to emphasize this word. Or maybe you're talking about a significant change. And then if I want to use it with an adverb, we could say that something is statistically significant. >> We know these changes may have significant impact on creators making kids content. >> Times when people stand up and demand real significant change. >> Mine just aren't matching up. I just can't get the results to be statistically significant. >> Justify. To justify something means to show that something is reasonable, right or true. So you can justify a decision or justify an action. You can justify behavior, maybe justify a conclusion or even justify an expenditure. And in this case, an expenditure just refers to spending time, money, or effort. Whenever you justify an expenditure, >> a person might make up things about what Jesus would do to prove a point or to justify an action or lifestyle. >> There are people that literally justify behavior based on views and likes and following count. >> We jump to a conclusion and then we try to justify that conclusion. I do that. Everyone does that. >> Then there's the verb indicate which means to show, point out or make clear in another way. And there are many nouns you can use with this word. You can indicate a trend or indicate a relationship or maybe even indicate a need. You can also use this with a noun before the verb. If I say studies indicate and then yeah, just say whatever it is that studies indicate. And then with an adverb to clearly indicate something. And when using these collocations, you can use more than just two words. For example, I could say studies clearly indicate that learning English with interactive English and me is the best way to reach your fluency goals. I think that's a great example. >> These examples indicate a trend. I haven't created it and it's not happening by accident. >> Recent studies indicate that farmers in Norway cultivated hemp as early as 650 AD. The game has been around for an entire century as Uncle Pennybags and his oldtimey hat clearly indicate. Then there's the word policy. This is a noun that you probably already know. It's a pretty common word and it just refers to a set of ideas or a plan of what to do in a particular situation that's been agreed upon by a group of people, business organizations, government, political party. And there are some excellent adjective noun collocations with this word when talking about public policy or economic policy or foreign policy. And then if you want to use it with some common verbs, you might implement a policy or even enforce a policy. That sounds uh, you know, definitely a bit stronger when you enforce a policy. Maybe you majored in political science because you were fascinated by global affairs or public policy or current events. >> Today, this science-driven economic policy has largely eliminated acid rain across the United States and Canada. Sometimes a president may use an executive order to clarify and help implement a policy that needs to be easily defined. >> Then we have the noun volume which refers to the amount of something that there is perhaps like the space that something occupies and some common collocations include total volume or sales volume or high volume. If talking about that that space maybe you want to increase the volume or decrease the volume. Great phrases to know >> in this candy. You see the the the total volume that it occupies is not equal to the total volume of the candy because there's gaps in it. >> Every day for the first 10 days the sandwich was back effectively doubling sales volume at those stores. >> Burn something up means to increase the volume or intensity. >> Then we have assume. This is a verb and it means to take or begin to have responsibility or control. And there are some very important verb noun collocations. You can assume responsibility, assume control, assume leadership, or maybe assume a role, or even assume a position. Here are some more examples. >> And I think if tech firms assume responsibility, uh they're less likely to face regulation, which they consider to be dumb or illinformed. >> When Democrats assume control of the House of Representatives, and he comes under more scrutiny. >> They can look at us, then we can look at them. To not fall asleep during the meditation is is to assume a position where where it's challenging to fall asleep. Then there's the verb require. It means to need something or to make something necessary. So some things that you might require would be to require approval or require attention. Maybe maybe require clarification or require analysis or even require resources. There are other things that you know, one might require, but these are some of my favorite collocations and I wanted to share them with you. >> None of this would require approval by the United Nations Security Council >> faculty and ourselves are united that there are areas and sections that do require clarification. >> We know we can do this because you've already done it with weather, but it's going to require resources. We need to encourage greater investment in water. >> Evidence. This is a pretty common noun. It refers to the available body of facts or information indicating whether something is true or valid. And there are some useful verb noun collocations like to provide evidence or even evaluate evidence. And if you're going to use it with some adjectives, maybe you're going to talk about strong evidence or even ample evidence. And ample in this case just means sufficient, which is another adjective that you could use, sufficient evidence. But the last one that I wanted to share with you, a little bit of review, empirical evidence. Do you remember what it means? We talked about empirical research, but we could also say empirical evidence to refer to something that is based on experience. >> Caveart may provide evidence of a time when humans were first able to etch their thoughts in stone. There has been ample evidence of storytelling in a multitude of cultures around mankind. >> There's no strong evidence of liquid water on the surface of Mars right now, though. Now, I know I just gave you many different phrases, and I do not expect you to memorize them, but the more that you see them, the more that you hear them, the more likely you are to remember and use them when you're having a conversation, giving a presentation, especially in an academic context. Now, if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. --- ## 8. 100 Most Common Words in English | YOU NEED TO KNOW THESE WORDS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3TNQ7TrC4wE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TNQ7TrC4wE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:41:07 | --- what's up everyone today I have a super useful lesson for you because I'm gonna talk to you about the 100 most common words in English these are words you need to know that's coming up hey my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills so today we are going to kill two birds with one stone and that is an expression that means we are going to achieve two things in this single lesson first we are going to talk about the 100 most common English words these are words that that you should know you should know how to use them and I think if you are an intermediate or advanced learner you're gonna be familiar with them but it's always fun to learn these words to know to make sure that you know them and especially if you see a word that you're not very familiar with or you think you don't know how to use it well then well that's a great reason to then look up and see how you can use that word the second thing we're going to do is I am going to share with you some interesting facts about the English language and I have some questions for you that I want you to answer so if you are joining us please tell us your name say hello to us in the comments we we just want to hear from you guys so hello you Lisa Alex um life of happiness Nazihah Halley alia Susheela David welcome welcome welcome thanks for joining me sorry if I missed any names at this point I'll try to talk to and say people's names a little bit later but let's let's just get right into it and start talking about these words and as I asked you these questions again I want you guys to answer them and see if you can figure out the answer to these different questions so the first thing that I want to to tell you is that these words all right this is not my list of 100 words these words were taken from the Oxford English corpus and what that is I think most people are familiar with the Oxford English Dictionary but the Oxford English corpus is is related to the the actual dictionary but it is a collection of texts both you know written or spoken language presented in electronic form it provides the evidence of how language is used in real situations so what this means is it's it's basically the the Oxford English corpus or you might say the OEC is a way of taking the English language today what we have right now or the most current version and see how it's used on the internet how it's used in newspapers how it's used in spoken conversation and and taking all of that information and coming up with the one with the most commonly used words what words are mostly used in the English language and again there's real value to that because these are the words that you definitely need to know if you're learning the language they're very very important so let's get into it with the let's just start out we're gonna start with 100 and we are going to work our way down to number one so let's just look at the first 10 right here so we have number 100 starts with us alright and then we go most day give these any because want new even I'm not gonna go over the the meaning of these words or the parts of speech I just want to show them to you because again if you see a word that like oh wait a second I'm not really sure how to use that word then that's a great way to identify things that you need to learn to improve your English skills so I just want to show these words to you and let you know what the most common ones are and and that's what i want you to gain from this and make sure that you know how to use all of these words right here so this is 102 number 91 and my question to you because after each set of 10 words I'm gonna get I'm gonna share a fascinating fact about the English language and my question is right here what's the most commonly used letter in the English alphabet alright so I want you to think of all words that we used which letter do you see the most which letter do you guys think is the most popular I want you to write that in the chat write that in the comments what what do you guys think that's my question and then I'll show you the answer so when you're thinking of this it makes me think of this game called Wheel of Fortune where you have to guess the word you have to guess the phrase or the sentence and you have to choose one letter at a time and most commonly people would always choose this letter I think most of you got it yes they would choose the letter e it is the most common letter even in those two words the letter you see that you see e three different times so the letter E is the most common letter in the English alphabet now let's get into number 92 81 so here we go we have way well first work our how to use after back alright these are words numbers 92 81 again you should know these words right here alright my question to you guys now that if any of you get this correct I will be amazed I would be amazed if you have time to actually type it in there what's the longest word in English all right what do you think is the longest word in English this is always like kind of a fun and interesting fact it's not a word that you need to know really because it's not like we use this word and everyday English does anybody have a guess about what what's the longest word in English what do you think probably not because that word is right here this is one word I couldn't even put it on the same like and one line so let's I'm gonna try and say this word all right and I'll tell you what it means and again I think it might make a little sense to you so it's pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis okay new mono ultra-microscopic cilia kind of a cana coney osis alright that is the meaning of this word and again if you if you start taking the word apart you see some prefixes or suffixes that you might see you see the word volcano the word volcano is in there also the word micro micro means small so this is a medical term and what it means is it's a lung disease a disease that one gets in the lungs from breathing in small particles usually particles from a volcano eruption that is what this word means it's the longest word in English again not really word you need to know but it's it's always fun to learn so again I told you you will learn something new in this lesson in all of our lessons you will always learn something new so let's look at words 82 71 we start out with number 80 also and then we go also think over it's remember that's it's not it is the contraction it's the possessive come number 75 only look now then van alright and those are two good words number 72 and 71 because then and then sometimes they're commonly confused and if you're looking at those words now and thinking hmm I'm not really sure I know how to use them then after this lesson you should do a google search then versus then and then you'll learn something new and you'll become a little more comfortable and and that's a great way to improve your fluency is to identify the things that you don't know and then look up the answers and then try to practice practice practice practice all right so my question to you guys and this is something I want to take a guess all right how many words are added to the English dictionary each year so the English language is constantly evolving it's constantly changing it's constantly growing and the we add words each and every year so how many words take a guess how many words are added each year to the English dictionary you know you don't have to give me an exact number the answer I'm gonna give you is kind of just an estimate what what do you guys think I see then under send 1000 but some 20 son Gen 2 or 3,000 words Haley a hundred thousand Wow so a lot of different answers the answer is around 4,000 words are added each year I've given you kind of the source down there these aren't scholarly sources but this is where I got this information from Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomsbury News around 4,000 words are added each year to the English dictionary that is that's a lot those are a lot of new words that we have to learn but as I'll show you at the end you know it's it's great to expand your vocabulary but I think it's best to to stick with words that are most common like these words right here make sure you know how to use them and then you can expand your vocabulary by learning words in the word family which I will get to at the end I'm gonna bring this back around full circle for you guys so let's look at number 72 61 we have other see them could come good your year into people all right these are again more words you should know and my question to you guys what is a pangram so when you're thinking about the English language this is just a you know it somebody might ask you oh what's it what's a pangram or actually nobody's probably gonna ask you that only me in this question but if you're thinking about okay what's a pangram do you have any guesses I would be surprised if you know but a pangram is this a pangram is a sentence containing every letter of the alphabet it has every letter of the alphabet A to Z and there's an example sentence for you the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog that is a pangram it has every single letter in the alphabet so food for thought alright next let's look at 6251 so at number 60 we have take the verb know him just know at 56 I thought that would be probably I thought that would be higher know number 55 time like can make when so these 6251 we're getting ready to to jump into the top 50 but before we do my question is what do you think what is this is a good one that I want you guys to try and answer what's the shortest complete sentence in English alright now when I say complete sentence I'm talking about a sentence with a subject and a verb not just like a statement if somebody says no are you hungry no alright not that's not you know that's not what I'm what I mean by a complete sentence it has a subject and a verb what is the shortest the fewest letters the shortest complete sentence in English alright any guesses all right we have so sun-jin okay I do on sam-i-am alright alright excellent so actually that every the the answer that they gave you is this all right from grammerly I am alright you know somebody asked you you know hey are you hungry yes yeah I am all right I am now it was point out somebody said I do I think again that that could be a tie then because I think of that when you get married and they say you know do you take this your husband or wife and you answer I do so I think that could be a tie I am I do now before we jump into the top 50 words I just wanted to let you guys know that we are now on patreon and we have some very cool rewards on patreon if you want to go check that out the link is located down below in the description so you can check that out now let's look at the top 50 words in the English language so we start out with number 50 the object pronoun me and then a verb that I think many of us like to use it's so so common go so we have me go which get who about if out up so alright notice you're starting to see more prepositions I think more prepositions are becoming more common so these this is 52-41 and my question that I have for you guys is right here how many English speakers are there in the world I'm not talking about native English speakers I'm not talking about it English speakers people that have a you know a level of proficiency which would include you know you guys as well so how many English speakers do you think there are in the world all right I'll tell you right now the just rough estimate there are about seven and a half about seven seven and a half billion people in the world right how many of them are English speakers so we have some guesses between 1 billion Holley 3.4 billion infinite I love that up to fuzzy 22.5 all right these are some good answer so what they had was source from Babel around 1.5 billion people there are 1.5 billion people that have a level of English proficiency which would include you guys around the world which i think is the obviously the most the most spoken language because so many people are learning it and and that is how many of us communicate especially from different countries so 1.5 billion English speakers that is pretty incredible and I think native English speakers I think there's less than 400 million native English speakers so the majority of English speakers are people that have learned it as a second language as a foreign language so here we have numbers 42 31 the top the most common words in English so we got what all right that's such a great such a great question word what what is going on what do you want what they're all right also the hair again note this is another one you should know the difference between their th e IR and their th er E again there there would all one my will and or and again I told you guys I'm not gonna give you the meaning or the part of speech I just want to show you the words and these are words you should know and it's up to you to identify so like I said these are commonly confused words 39 and 38 th yeah I are there or th ER e if you're a little confused or you're not 100% positive of the difference in how they're used after the lesson do a Google search type in their verses there and they will show you some example sentence it's a great way to to learn something new build your vocabulary and improve your fluency now my question right here and again this may not be something I think unless you're an English teacher some of you might be English teachers and you may know this what our crutch words because whether you are a native English speaker or whether you are a speak English as a second language or as a foreign language so many people use crutch words and it's something that happens kind of naturally but it's something that I think when we become aware of it we want to avoid and crutch words are here all right so these crutch words or they're also called filler words are words that we often repeat and add no real value to the sentence they don't really give us more information but people often use them to to have more time to think of what they want to say or maybe they just want to emphasize a statement and you might hear people using crutch words I use them too I'm sure you can hear them if I'm saying like something like or um usually those words like just know I can't help it now now that I'm talking about it they give us more time to think about what we want to say the other example that I wanted to give you about a crutch word is listen to this this is something that you might hear I'd hear this people in the United States especially teenagers would say something along the lines of this so they would be telling a story and it would go something like this and they would say you know yesterday I was like sitting like at home and I had like nothing to do so like my friend called me and said like what are you doing and I was like I'm not doing anything and she was like let's go hang out at the park so like we decided to like go to the park and when we were like taking the bus it was like and you notice the word I keep saying like like like like like like that would be another example of a crutch word and in this case it just adds no value to the sentence you can take it out and then it becomes a much more coherent thought and story and it's just much better so it's something just that we can try to avoid crutch words and I've been called out before when by friends or whoever at different periods in my life because I've been influenced in a certain way by my peer group or what I'm watching on TV and you hear it and I start using it and then somebody might say you know you use that word a lot and then I think wow I do use it a lot because I'm using it as a crutch word another one another example would be like the word actually we had a student who use that all the time actually say what are you doing for dinner actually I'm gonna make some pasta where did you do yesterday actually I went to the store and it's like wait you don't need to say actually so it's just something to keep in mind and again if your idea if you're able to identify that oh I I use crutch words sometimes it's a great way to improve your speaking skills because again it's just something that we can avoid so food for thought good to know now let's look at words 32:21 we're getting closer to number one so number thirty she/her say we they 25 from by his but this alright these are third words 32:21 the most common words in english and my fun fact for you my question what do you guys think how many countries have English as their official language how many countries have English as their official language what's your guest how many countries across the world have English as their official language right in in the chat write it in the comments we just wanna we want to hear from you guys what do you think what's your guess alright so I see anywhere from say at four bassam 100 sunjin 10:30 [Music] 3450 Maria two countries all right so countries that have English as their official language 67 English is the official language of 67 countries and that is a source that has come from lingo de I've actually seen that on a couple different sites when I was looking up some of this information that 67 countries have English as their official language that may surprise you but think of it there are a lot of countries even in Africa I used to teach in Namibia which is in southern Africa it's right north of South Africa now in Namibia there were about there were over 20 indigenous languages there but the they made English the official language I think gosh back in the early 2000s as a way of kind of trying to tie linguistically a lot of different groups of people together so even in the place like Namibia English was considered the official language of the country so now now we're getting into the we're getting close close to number one number 20 we have at do very very common verb we see it all the time and then number 18 you as he 15 with on not for it okay so these are words 22 11 again I think I'm pretty sure you guys know these words you should be familiar with them and also you you should be familiar with them with your listening as well if you're having a conversation or you're listening to a podcast or a radio program and you hear these words you should be able to identify them and understand them so my question and I'd be amazed if anybody gets this which word which English word has the most meanings and what I mean by that which word has the most the different definitions we're talking about a word that has multiple meanings different definitions which word has the most meanings all right what do you guys have any guess says whatsoever if anything these are these are good trivia questions that if you go out somewhere and it's trivia night you might come across like these weird random questions like this and now that you've learned this after this lesson you you go out and then you'll be like oh I know the answer to that the English word with the most meanings I think you will all be surprised I mean it's really like get okay yeah trying to think verbs yes exactly however the word with the most meanings is the word set has 464 definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary this is from the source was from lingo des but I saw this in in multiple other places the word set now I have no idea how they determine like what what is a different meaning I know that when you're talking about especially like if you're including phrasal verbs to set up to set apart to two you know there's many ways that we can then expand the definitions in the meanings but 464 that is amazing I think if I had to try and give as many different definitions to set I don't even know if I could try and come up with like ten distinct definitions but that it that that that's the word now let's look at the top ten the moment that you guys have all been waiting for the top ten words in English at number ten I number nine have the verb have very common eight that number seven the preposition in number six the article a or is some people just say ah as the schwa sound number five the conjunction and number four of that is a very common preposition of number three another common preposition to number two the verb to be which is again verb you guys should know and know how to use and the number one word the most common word in English the the article the alright so again these are words that I think you're familiar with because obviously you hear these words all the time you use these words if you're reading then you are reading these words and these are the 10 most common words in the English language according to the Oxford English corpus so my question is these 10 Leamas and what a lima is let me explain that quickly a lima is kind of like a a word family remember how I said if you want to build your vocabulary learn words in the word family so it's basically taking the root word and expanding on that would be like the lima so for example the verb to be alright when you talk about the verb to be we're talking about all the words in that lima which would include all the conjugations am is are was were been that is all in the same lima kind of like I'd like to say word family okay so if you're taking these top 10 words and the Lima is the though that include their word families what percent do you think that these words make up of all the words used in the Oxford English corpus so of judging say took all these words and these are the top 10 most common ones but what percent of all the words do these words make up what do you guys think what percentage we see about okay son 20% Louis 80% honest and 30% Sanjana around 20% okay so these are some good answers I was surprised to learn that the top 10 Leamas account for 25% of all the words used in the Oxford English corpus alright and this is according to the Oxford English corpus so these words right here account for twenty-five percent and if you think about it I guess it makes it makes sense because you know if you're having a conversation and somebody just says a sentence like oh did you did you go try out the new restaurant you say yeah you know I've been to that restaurant and you just set a sentence what is it I have been to that restaurant six words all right I have been to that all right those are in this top five restaurant is the six so five of those six words I have been to that restaurant are right here in the top ten so again if you're thinking about okay how do i improve my fluency how do i and build my vocabulary this is a good place to start to start with the most common words and especially focusing on those nouns and those verbs and those adjectives and make sure that you know how to use them and that you guys understand how to use these words so if you guys enjoyed learning about the top 100 words in English if you enjoyed learning all of those fascinating facts about the English language please please please please hit that like button down below and you know as always if you if you enjoyed what we do share these lessons try and help us spread the word so we can build and grow our classroom and also write questions in the comments if you have any questions or just say hello to us because we just like to hear from you and as always for more English practice you can join our social media classes up here we like to call them classes because we post a lot of different questions and want you guys to write to us in the comments we're on Facebook Instagram Twitter and of course right here on YouTube and you can find us at interactive Eng Interactive Eng Interactive Inc Facebook Instagram Twitter thank you guys for joining us thank you on a son Rahul you Lisa Paulo San Jim Bassam - jr. Paulo I'm trying to get as many names as I can Brian Abdul facil sorry again if I miss some of your names Sandra thank you thank you thank you guys for joining me I hope that you have a wonderful day and as always we will see you next time --- ## 9. 10 Adjectives to Help You Sound Like a SUPER GENIUS ๐Ÿค“ | Advanced Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CG5b9Ajb1vM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG5b9Ajb1vM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:19:24 | --- so let's make everyone a super genius [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is all about trying to help you improve your english skills and today i want to help you fine tune your vocabulary because i want to teach you 10 advanced adjectives that are going to help you be a little more precise whenever you're talking about the way somebody speaks or the way they're writing all of these adjectives are related to that the way people communicate now i do want to apologize because if you learn these adjectives it's not suddenly going to make you a super genius however if you are able to learn these adjectives use them correctly in the correct context then i think whoever you are talking to they're probably going to think okay this person has a larger vocabulary this person is pretty proficient in english and that is always a great thing if you're an english learner your english is amazing like a super genius so i i again i apologize it was a hyperbolic description and that is actually the first adjective that i would like to teach you is hyperbolic so what this means is that someone is saying or writing about something and they're making it sound better or more than it really is and i think about somebody who's trying to sell you something maybe a product or service and they say this is number one it's the best everyone is talking about it you could say they are making a hyperbolic sales pitch to you or somebody could make a hyperbolic comment or a hyperbolic remark and they're trying to make it sound a little bit better than it really is and i think all of us can probably relate to this because we talk about our experiences and we tell stories and maybe we want to make it sound a little bit better and our story becomes a little hyperbolic one thing i do want to say about this word is that it may also often be used as a noun and people will talk about hyperbole so the meaning is pretty much the same just the part of speech changes it's a noun hyperbole and again people are referring to the way somebody is speaking or writing and they may say something that is a little outrageous making it sound a little better a little more and you might say oh it's just it's a little bit of hyperbole so it is often used as a noun but in this lesson we are focused on the adjectives and the adjective is hyperbolic i suppose that you could also say that i was perhaps being a little flippant when i was writing that title about becoming a super genius and flippant is the next adjective that i would like to teach you because if you say that somebody is being flippant it means that they're not really serious about a topic mostly in an attempt to be funny or perhaps appear smart and you could say that someone is being flippant and you could also use it to describe like the way somebody's uh speaking a flippant comment or a flippant remark but i do not want to be flippant what i really would like to be is articulate an articulate is a great adjective because it means that you are able to easily and clearly express your your thoughts ideas your arguments and you're able to do so effectively and you could describe someone as being very articulate keep in mind that if you're going to use this word as a verb the pronunciation is going to be a little different the spelling's going to be the same but if you're going to use it as a verb you would say to articulate so that final syllable that is where the pronunciation is different if you're using the adjective articulate if you're saying the verb to articulate so i always try to be very articulate when talking about these words and trying to explain them so that it's a little bit easier to understand now can you guess what the next word in this lesson is going to be if you can guess then i would say that you are prescient and prescient means that somebody is able to suggest or perhaps they know about something that will happen in the future and again this video is talking about things people might say or write so in this context the somebody might say something and then it comes true in the future and you can say oh wow you're very prescient you you said this would happen and then it did happen this person is prescient or this word does have some different pronunciations because some people may pronounce it with just two syllables and they say prescient i typically say it with three syllables prescient and i know i just i keep saying this word a lot as i'm talking to you about the pronunciation but it's a good word if you find yourself in that situation and somebody said something and it happened to come true and it was like wow you were very prescient you said this would happen and then it did so i hope i was able to articulate the meaning of that word very well and you could easily understand it because yes i i try to be as articulate as i can i do not want to be flippant and you may notice because i i'm very passionate about learners building their vocabulary i am emphatic about having people learn new vocabulary words because it allows them to be more precise and more descriptive and easily express their thoughts and opinions i am emphatic about having people learn new vocabulary and i i said that word twice because that is the next adjective that i would like to teach you emphatic it means that you are trying to make something very clear making your opinion very clear because you have strong feelings about it and you could say that well you are emphatic about something or maybe you make a an emphatic argument because you have strong feelings about it or even in a sports competition you could say that the team had an emphatic victory it was a very strong victory the match wasn't even close but uh yes i am emphatic about having people learn new vocabulary words i always try to continue building my vocabulary it is so useful and i i definitely as a teacher i do not want to be a glib speaker glib is well it's another great adjective and what it means is that somebody is speaking in a confident way but really maybe a little careless and perhaps perhaps not completely honest and you could say that that someone is a glib speaker i often think of perhaps maybe a politician they they try to pretend and and they try to sound like they know what they're talking about but they may not be honest in every instance and you could say that well they they're very glib or they're a glib speaker and yeah it's not really a good thing or it's not really a compliment if you say that somebody is is being glib and i hope that was easy to understand i hope that my explanation was not unintelligible unintelligible is the next adjective that i would like to teach you and uh this means that something is simply well you're not able to understand it and you would say that this is unintelligible often i think people might use it to well talk about handwriting somebody's writing if you cannot read it it is unintelligible or perhaps you are at some place like a train station and you hear somebody come over the intercom and they make an announcement and sometimes it sounds like and you would say okay that is unintelligible i don't understand what this person is saying so that is an instance when you might think about using this word so do you want to keep going let's keep going you do not have to answer that question it's a rhetorical question and rhetorical is the next adjective that i would like to teach you and rhetorical speech or rhetorical writing is meant to will influence people it's meant to seem important and a very common collocation two words that are frequently used together rhetorical question and a rhetorical question it's really it's a question that you are asking and it's not meant to be answered it's mostly used as a way of like well effective speaking and somebody would ask a rhetorical question for example you might say something like like a tag question you didn't think you would get away with this did you you're not expecting the other person to say well yes i did think i would get away with it you're really asking it as a rhetorical question just to really create that that impact that effect another time when you might hear somebody ask a rhetorical question is when they're saying something demeaning about themselves like do i look like a fool to you all right of course i don't want you to say yes that's a rhetorical question but you might say that if you're well perhaps you're having an argument with somebody and you're upset with this person and you you ask that as a rhetorical question but as a teacher i i certainly try to be effective when i'm speaking because it makes these lessons a lot more interesting to watch so yeah i may use this and ask a rhetorical question from time to time just to just to create that effect one thing i definitely won't do is is say something that is defamatory i definitely would never do that to you i would never say anything about you that's defamatory and that is the next adjective that i want to teach you because defamatory means that you are saying something or writing something that's going to damage a person's reputation and the things that you're saying or the things that you're writing are just not true and you are making all of these false statements about someone and you could say that these statements are defamatory you're just saying these things that aren't true it's defamatory it's not something that i would encourage you to do to somebody else and i would never i would never do that to you what i do do from time to time i like that what i do do is when i'm explaining these uh these words to you i i tend to talk too much and you could say that i am verbose when i'm talking about these these words and what they mean and trying to give you some examples so that you easily understand them and if somebody is verbose or if you say that that something is verbose like someone's writing it means you're saying more than what is needed and at times if you're saying too much it can get a little long it can be a little boring and yes that's something that i try to work on because i love i'm emphatic about teaching these vocabulary words so i just want to talk and talk and talk and talk and it can be a little verbose i apologize i'm apologizing a lot during this video lesson i apologize for that hyperbolic description i don't know after learning all these words if you feel like a super genius or not but one thing i definitely will say is that if you're able to use them in the correct context then i i think people will believe that you are a more proficient english speaker and and that's that's a great thing trust me i know i'm not being flippant when i say this it it will happen to you in the future and you're going to think back and wow wes he was very prescient he said this would happen and now it is i'm using these advanced adjectives in conversation and people seem a little uh impressed with my fluency skills and as you notice again i'm being verbose because i just keep talking and talking and talking but i'm really trying to review with you and use some of these adjectives just so that you get a feel for how they're used just in normal natural conversation so i will just leave it at that i hope you learned some new vocabulary today if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 10. 10 Advanced Adjectives to Help You Sound More Intelligent | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `lHYjSqXex8M` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHYjSqXex8M) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:35:00 | --- I think all of us would like to sound more intelligent and competent when we're speaking English So today I'm going to tell you ten great adjectives to help you do just that. That's coming up. Welcome to today's lesson, which is more of a vocabulary lesson, because I'm going to talk to you about 10 amazing adjectives that you can use to sound more academic, more professional, and more competent when you're speaking English. And these are not words that you're going to hear every day on the street. Instead, you're more likely to hear these adjectives in presentations, debates, or in-depth conversations that are a bit more serious. Because these are words that sound more professional, more convincing, and they give us a bit more authority when we're speaking about a topic. So I'm going to tell you the adjective, show you how it's phonetically pronounced, give you the meaning, as well as a sentence, so you can see how it's used in context. Are you ready? Let's begin. So the first adjective I have for you is germane. Now this is two syllables, and the stress is on the second syllable. And it means that something is relevant, that it is closely related to something else. and we could use it in a sentence and say The next word, and it's one that I really like, is preposterous. And this adjective has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. and remember that "ous" has that schwa, that "uhs" sound. and this means that something is contrary to reason, it's just ridiculous, it's absurd. And the way it's used is: somebody would usually say something and it's ridiculous, It's absurd, and the other person would say: That's preposterous! That's absurd, that's preposterous! You're not going to like this video? That's preposterous! Next is a very cool word and that is perfunctory. and perfunctory has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. That third syllable has the schwa, and it's going to end with that long e sound: perfunctory. And if something is perfunctory, it means that that you're doing something out of routine. You're doing it without even thinking about it. It's habit. It's a ritual, You just do it in haste without giving it much thought, and we would say that that it is perfunctory. The next adjective is truculent. And this word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Keep in mind that that "cu" is pronounced it's like you're saying the letter "q": tru - kyuh-luhnt. That last syllable has the schwa. If somebody is being truculent, then that means that they're being fierce, a little cruel, kind of very aggressive. Aggressively hostile- if someone's being truculent. So it's not a good word. It kind of means that that this person is upset with you, maybe because of something you said, and they're just being a bit cruel. They're truculent. They're standoffish Sometimes when I've had a really bad day, and I don't want to talk to people and I'm just upset, I can be kind of truculent with others if they're trying to approach me, and I don't want to deal with anybody - I can be truculent. A great example would be in politics. People - maybe they do something wrong, and the media wants to talk to them about it and they're angry, they don't want to speak to the media, and they might be truculent. So we could say: Another great word is this one right here: austere. And this has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable with that long e sound And if somebody or something is austere, it means that they're very severe in their manner They're very strict or even without excess Austere The next adjective, which is one of my favorites, is capricious. And this word has three syllables and the stress is on the second syllable. And keep in mind that first syllable has that schwa sound: that kuh. kuh-pri-shuhs. And if someone or something is capricious then that just means that they are subject to sudden or even unpredictable change So you could say a person is capricious. Perhaps the weather is capricious, or maybe even your plans are capricious. They're subject to change. And I could use it in an example sentence and say: Next is the word defamatory. And this word has five syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable Defamatory - it's not a good adjective because if something is defamatory, we're talking about false or unjustified harm caused to one's reputation. And we could use it in an example sentence and say: The next word, which is another one of my favorite adjectives, is esoteric. And this word has four syllables, and the stress is on that third syllable: es-uh-ter-ik And when we describe something as esoteric, we're talking about something that's really understood by a small group of people because they have knowledge or interest in that thing. Usually it's somebody that has direct experience with it. So we say that it is esoteric. For example, somebody could have esoteric knowledge about something. Maybe they have an esoteric experience because there's just a few people that really understand and know what it's like. Another great adjective is nascent. And this word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. It has the long /a/ sound. That second syllable has that schwa. And if something is nascent, then that just means it's beginning to exist or beginning to develop. It's at the early stages. It is nascent. And we can use it in a sentence and say... Another very cool adjective is quintessential. And this word has four syllables and the stress is on the third syllable. And when we say that something is quintessential it means that it is representing just the most perfect example It's quintessential. Now, let me give you the quintessential example sentence. If you agree with that last sentence, please, please, please, show us some love and hit that LIKE button down below. And now I really want to hear from all of you. So in the comments, let me know what is an adjective that you have recently learned. Or what's an adjective that you like to use all the time? What's your favorite adjective? Let me in the comments. I hope you enjoyed learning about these adjectives and can go on to use them the next time you are giving a presentation, or you're having a debate, or even just a serious conversation Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 11. 10 Advanced Adjectives to Help You Sound Smarter | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BjLPyY_9aIc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjLPyY_9aIc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:41:45 | --- Would you like to sound smarter when you're speaking in English? Of course you do. So, that's why today I'm going to tell you ten different adjectives to help you sound smarter. That's coming up. So the adjectives that I'm going to talk to you about today are a little more academic, and they're great adjectives because they're very descriptive. Very precise. and that is a great way to improve your fluency because you're better able to express your thoughts, your opinions, your ideas. And they just so happen to be 10 of my favorite adjectives that I like to use. Because I want to sound smart. So I'm going to give you the pronunciation of these adjectives. I'm going to tell you what they mean, and how they're commonly used. So let's begin. The first word is ubiquitous. And ubiquitous has four syllables. That first syllable is just like you're saying the letter U. And the stress is going to be on that second syllable. Ubiquitous means existing or being everywhere. It is something that you see everywhere you go. It could be a shop, a store. And you find it all over the world. For example, you have companies that you see everywhere like Starbucks, McDonald's. Wherever you go, whether you like it or not, you see these places. They are ubiquitous. It could also be used to talk about...maybe a word, phrase, or expression that you might commonly hear that is ubiquitous. You hear it all the time. You wouldn't really use it to talk about a person that you see all the time because again there is only one person. Ubiquitous is talking about something where there is a lot. It is a lot more than just one. It's everywhere. Its ubiquitous. The next word is cumbersome. The word cumbersome has three syllables. And the stress is on the first syllable. And something that is cumbersome is something that is difficult, something that is burdensome, and usually it's often talking about something that is physical. That is difficult to move or carry. Maybe because it has an awkward shape or maybe it's really heavy. And it is cumbersome to move something from one place to another. It's not always used to talk about an object. It can be used to talk about a situation as well. Something that is difficult, problematic...we could say that it is cumbersome. It's a cumbersome situation, a cumbersome challenge, a cumbersome life. The next adjective, and it's one of my favorites because well, it kind of described me is facetious. Facetious has three syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. It's like you're just saying the letter C. And that first syllable has that schwa, that /uh/ sound. Facetious means not to be taken literally or serious. And I would say it's kind of in between a joke and a lie. And you're almost kind of teasing somebody when you're being facetious. You're saying something that is so ridiculous. It's so outlandish. That the other person or people...they shouldn't take you seriously because what you're saying is so ridiculous. You are being facetious. Next is arduous. And arduous has three syllables, and the stresses on the first syllable. Now you don't hear that D sound that much. It's not very strong. It almost sounds a little like a J. And something that is arduous is difficult because it requires a lot of exertion, a lot of thought, a lot of energy. And it's often used to describe something that you have to do like a task. It requires a lot of exertion and it's... because of that it's just really difficult. It's arduous. Next is presumptuous. And presumptuous has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. And the S almost sounds a little more like a Z. And if somebody is being presumptuous, then that just means that they're showing little or no respect for others by doing something that they shouldn't be doing. They're being presumptuous thinking that they can do this or that when they shouldn't do it. It's presumptuous. For example, if you go over to a friend's place, most of us don't just walk inside their home or apartment. You knock on the door because it's polite. It's respectful. If you just walk inside like you own the place, then you would be presumptuous. Next is pensive. And the pronunciation, very easy, just two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Now if somebody is pensive that just means that they are in deep thought. They're really thinking about or reflecting on something. It's almost like a dreamlike state. You're in such deep thought you've just tuned out the rest of the world. You would say that this person is pensive or somebody might look pensive. And usually if somebody is pensive, it's because something requires that deep thought. It could be something serious. It could be something bad or unfortunate that makes somebody pensive. And really have to think about something. The next adjective, which is another one that I really like, is circuitous. And circuitous has four syllables. And there's a few things going on with the pronunciation. In the first syllable that C is going to have more of an S sound. The stress is going to be on that second syllable. And that C - U, it's kind of like you're saying the letter Q. And circuitous is talking about a very roundabout way to get somewhere. Where you're just not taking the most direct route. And I think we've all probably tried to go somewhere and maybe we got a little lost, and we went way out of our way. And we ended up taking a circuitous route. And frequently it's used with this word when talking about the direction that you go. And it is just this windy, roundabout way that you try to go and get somewhere. Circuitous. Next is conscientious. And this is a great adjective to describe...maybe yourself or someone else. And I think the pronunciation is what makes many learners avoid this word. Because they look at it and think what's going on there. So conscientious has four syllables, and the stress is on that third syllable. That /en/ /en/. That second syllable is what really confuses people. Because that S - C - I almost sounds like you're saying "She." And someone who is conscientious just means that they have a moral responsibility to do their work carefully, and also you know treat others with respect. And be fair to others. Someone who's conscientious is really able to put themselves in another person's shoes. And really see how they feel and empathize with them. They are aware of their surroundings. And because of that we would say they are conscientious. Great word! The next word is meticulous. And this word has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. That first syllable also has that schwa, that /uh/ sound. That reduced vowel sound. This is another word that I like because I think it does describe me in in many situations. If someone is meticulous, that means that they try to pay really close attention to the details. They're meticulous in their work. They're focused on the details, and they want to make sure every little thing is in order. Someone is meticulous. Now it's usually, I think, it is a good thing when you're talking about somebody's work. That you want to pay close attention to the details, so you don't miss anything. And be very meticulous. The final adjective that I have for you is convoluted. Convoluted also has four syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable. That second syllable, again has that schwa sound. That reduced vowel sound. /uh/ If something is convoluted, it means that it is extremely difficult to follow because things are connected and intertwined, and mixed around in a way that's difficult to understand. That means that something is convoluted. It can be used to describe a story, or an argument, or maybe even a sentence that is hard to follow, and it doesn't make much sense. It's convoluted. So those are ten super-awesome adjectives that will help you sound smarter when you're having a conversation in English. It'll also help you be more descriptive when you're expressing your thoughts, your ideas, your opinions. So please, use those adjectives. Now, as a special treat, I have a bonus adjective for you. And this is your practice. I'm going to give you an adjective, and I want you to click on the meaning. What do you think this adjective means? If you don't know the meaning, then just write "I don't know" in the comments, and then I'll tell you. You ready for your adjective? Here it is. What do you think this means? Uncanny? If something is uncanny? I have an uncanny feeling that I'm being watched. What do you think it means? Click on the answer or the video is going to end. If something is uncanny it means... What? --- ## 12. 10 Advanced Adverbs to Help You Sound Smarter | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TAxjkGjfiDk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAxjkGjfiDk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:10:30 | --- today I have a vocabulary lesson for you which is all about advanced adverbs that's coming up [Music] what's up everyone my name is Wes this is Interactive English which is all about trying to help you guys practice and improve your English skills today I have a vocabulary lesson for you and these words are all adverbs they are advanced adverbs and every single one of them ends in ly and these are great adverbs to know because they're really going to help you accurately express your thoughts opinions and ideas and throughout the lesson I'm going to do a few things for you I am going to show you the adverb I will then tell you the correct pronunciation I'll give you the meaning and then I will also give you some example sentences so that you can see how the adverb is used in context and that is really useful because it's just going to reinforce the meaning so let's begin the first adverb is annually this word has four syllables and the stress is on that first syllable the second syllable it's like you're just saying that letter U and the third syllable has that schwa annually annually and this adverb means that that something is occurring once a year something happens once every year it happens annually US Marshal Service annually flies 155 thousand prisoners around the country evidence suggests it sheds its skin anyone extended annually 12 million a year it's also quite commonly used with numbers for example when you're talking about banking and maybe you earn interest on the money that's in the bank and you will earn interest annually we could also use it and say everyone should file their taxes annually the next word is reluctantly this word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable that third syllable also has that schwa reluctantly reluctantly and what it means is that just unwillingness to do something that you are not inclined to do this thing reluctantly I am asking for your help but all he gives his loser son is grief and a place to live reluctantly he gives that reluctantly each year we have to pay our taxes annually but I think most of us reluctantly file our taxes it's not something we want to do but we have to do it and many of us do it reluctantly the employees reluctantly came into work over the weekend then we have unabashedly this adverb has five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable that Bosch unabashedly that second syllable has that schwa that sound unabashedly and what it means is just that you are not apologetic you are not embarrassed you are very certain about your position you do something unabashedly or maybe you say something unabashedly she unabashedly told her boss that she wanted a raise then we have an adverb that that I like to use and that is vaguely it has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable vaguely and vaguely means that something is not clearly expressed or something is not clearly stated does smell vaguely poisonous who are exposing me to information and ideas that seem vaguely familiar if I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the time stem still attached it will vaguely irritating person remember that whole deal with you selling Peter and your stories for his book and then he came back to you vaguely we often use it with the word remember I vaguely remember what do I remember I vaguely remember the example I vaguely remember you telling me to pick this up at the grocery store the next adverb is one of my favorites fervently it has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable fervently and what it means is that you are just showing great enthusiasm great intensity to do something for example right now I'm fervently trying to explain the meaning of these new adverbs they fervently worked around the clock in order to finish the project on time next we have diligently this adverb has four syllables and the stress is on that first syllable diligently and it just means that that you are working very hard to accomplish something you were very focused on the task at hand and often it's used with the verb work we have been working diligently on this problem president shares your concerns and is working diligently to find a solution senator Gaetz had a series of mini-strokes a few months ago but we are working diligently to get him through his final term I'm sure all of you are working diligently to build your vocabulary and learn new words which is why you're here the police diligently collected evidence in order to find the criminal then we have another great adverb which is vicariously this adverb has five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable is it on the third syllable I vaguely remember second syllable my bad the stress is on that second well yes it is on the second syllable that third syllable it's like that that letter I just has that e sound and the fourth syllable has the schwa vicariously and what this adverb means is imagining a situation through the eyes of another person okay and it's often heard over and over again in the same way you live vicariously through another person so if somebody else has this exciting life going on and you're trying to imagine it and you might tell them wow I am going to live vicariously through you yes I leave vicariously through you remember oh I gonna buy carry through you guys can i ferryman uh-huh I need to live vicariously through you more details oh well I'm just going to live vicariously through you because you're doing all these cool and amazing things and you're gonna tell me about it and I will imagine it she lived vicariously through her children the next adverb is hastily this word has three syllables and the stresses on that first syllable hastily and what it means is just excessive speed that you are doing something quickly rapidly and with great urgency and because you're working so fast you're not going to be able to put the same amount of care into it that you normally would which means that you might be more likely to make mistakes if you are working hastily studies hastily passed on tested pandering was perhaps a bit hastily oh the last minute gift hastily bought on the way to the party often I think of a situation where you're running out of time and that's a problem so you have to work hastily in order to get it done they hastily completed the final report in order to meet the deadline then we have another great adverb uh Turley this word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable utterly it means completely totally absolutely those are all synonyms for utterly and he was brilliant brilliant case insane completely and utterly oh no I prefer to use utterly because I think it adds a nice little emphasis to to the verb or the adjective that you're describing for example his outfit is utterly ridiculous next is intently this adverb has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable intently so this word means that you're just giving all of your attention to something that you are you are sharply focused on this thing I'm sure he's pressing his ear up against it and listening intently why is he watching us so intently and you are intently listening to someone maybe you are intently watching something are you guys intently watching this video I hope so I hope you listen intently to our lessons so we work diligently to come up and create new English lessons for you guys each week and I completely and utterly hope that you find them useful and that they're easy to follow so if they are if you were listening intently to this lesson let me know in the comments tell me and just write I intently listen to this lesson that way I know that you were focused you paid attention and you understood all of these adverbs let me know in the comments thank you guys so much for watching don't forget to hit that like button actually you can fervently hit that like button do it with some energy some enthusiasm and as always I will see you next time --- ## 13. 10 Advanced Nouns to Help You Sound Smarter | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NnfmOvS8Qfc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnfmOvS8Qfc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:33:39 | --- - If you would like to sound smarter and be smarter then this lesson is for you, because I'm going to tell you ten nouns to help you do just that. - Welcome to today's lesson, which is a vocabulary lesson. Many of you out there have said you would like to learn more advanced vocabulary words and that's what these ten nouns are. They're not only gonna help you sound smarter, but they're going to help you more accurately express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. They also happen to be ten of my favorite nouns. So, as I go over these nouns, I'm gonna give you the pronunciation, tell you the meaning, as well as talk to you about how they're used in context. So, let's just get this show on the road. The first noun is this one, right here: "quid pro quo," and it is three words, each word is only one syllable, and if you're saying it together, the stress is kinda on that first word and that last word. Quid pro quo. And what this means is, it is something that is given, or even taken in return for something else. So it's kind of like you're doing a favor for someone in exchange for something else, and that would be considered quid pro quo. Often, we hear this when talking about politics. Somebody gives a politician money, and then that politician does something in return for them, and they would refer to it as quid pro quo. - Quid pro quo, Mr. Powers. - I need some quid pro quo from you. - Quid pro quo. I tell you things, you tell me things. - Maybe you're negotiating with somebody, and you're like "you know, I'm gonna need a little quid pro quo, if I do whatever favor it is for you." If you want us to donate to your campaign, we'll need some quid pro quo. The next noun, which is one of my favorites, is "catch-22." This is two words, it's a compound noun. The word catch is just one syllable, and then 22 is three syllables, and the stress is on that final syllable. Catch-22. The word comes from a famous book by Joseph Heller, which is titled "Catch-22," and the meaning of a catch-22, see if you can follow me, is, it is, a problem that cannot be solved because the solution to the problem is inherent in the problem itself. Now, you may be thinking "what the heck are you talking about?" And it's often referred to situations where, again, you can't solve the problem, because the solution is within the problem itself, and it's just like this circular loop. So, this is a great noun to describe this type of situation, and, again, it's just like a stand-alone statement. - And when you are tough, they resent you, and when you are cool, they walk all over you. - Catch-22. - There's no unspoken thing. - Well, it's a catch-22, because if you said then it would be spoken. - Part of their parole is that they're required to have a job. The catch-22 of it is not that many people are that excited to hire a felon. - We don't really use this noun with any adjectives, it's just really that stand-alone statement, and you would describe something, and say it's a catch-22. Next is "epitome," and this noun has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. Epitome. This is a word that, when you see it, many times people may mispronounce it because the third syllable has that schwa, and the last syllable is that long e. Epitome. Epitome. And what it means is a person or thing that is typical of a class or a group as a whole. Something that possesses, to the highest degree, what this whole group is all about. And, therefore, we say that something is the epitome of something else. Kind of giving an example, saying that this thing best represents this whole group. It's the epitome of something. Interactive English is the epitome of English-teaching excellence. And if you agree with that statement, then go ahead and hit that like button down below. It's kind of like a quid pro quo, I teach you new nouns, you hit that like button, it's a fair exchange. Another great noun is dichotomy. This word has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. Dichotomy. And that third syllable has that schwa, that uh sound. Dichotomy. What it means is the division or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different. So, let me give you a couple examples of a dichotomy. You could have science and religion. Two things that you can compare, and they're kind of opposed to each other in some ways. Also, city life and country life. Completely different, but we can still compare them. And, when using this noun, you say the two things that you're comparing. - Dichotomy of good and evil. - The tired dichotomy of jock, artist. - Often we use it with the preposition between. You talk about the dichotomy between two things. For example, we could say: we're studying the dichotomy between economic development and environmental protection. The next noun is "myriad." This word has three syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. That "m" "y" "r" sounds like a "meer." Myriad. And a myriad is a very great, or, indefinitely great, number of things. Often is can be used as a synonym for various. You talk about a myriad of something. There's a lot of variety, there's a great number of these things. There's a myriad. There is a myriad of trees in the forest. The next noun is "credence." This word has two syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. Credence. And what it means is the belief as to the truth of something. That, you're kind of, that there's a belief, and it's showing that that belief is true. - [Narrator] I never gave these stories much credence. - He's a criminal and a terrorist, people aren't gonna give him credence. - And, though we give them no credence at all, Larry. - And often you may find this noun with the verb "give." Something gives a belief credence. It makes it seem a little more true. For example, the email they discovered gave credence to his unethical behavior. Next is "malaise." This word has two syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. Malaise. And this is not a great noun. The reason I say this is because its meaning is a vague feeling of physical discomfort, or uneasiness as an early sign of an illness. So, if somebody is just starting to feel ill, then it's very possible that they might experience malaise. I experiences bad headaches and malaise before deciding to go to the doctor. The next noun is "sycophant," and this noun has three syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. The spelling may throw people off to the pronunciation, but that "s" "y" "c" is just pronounced "sic." Sycophant. And the meaning of a sycophant is a person that tries to gain attention by flattering wealthy or influential people. So, this is not a good noun, you don't want somebody to call you a sycophant, because it basically means you're sucking up to somebody else for no real reason, it's pathetic, yeah, it's not good. Some sycophants in the media refuse to acknowledge the political corruption. Another great noun, which is another one of my favorites, is a "dilettante," and this word has three syllables, and there's kinda like a stress on that first and last syllable. Dilettante. The reason I say it's one of my favorites is because I guess, you know, I could be considered a dilettante. Many of us could be considered dilettantes, because its meaning is a person that cultivates and interest in something without really learning in-depth information. And, I think this just happens with people all the time. We become interested in a topic, and we learn a little bit about it, so that we can converse with our friends, and have discussions, but we have difficulty really debating this topic with facts and information, because we just don't know enough. - They will remain dilettantes in war, and tourists in Vietnam. - What's your point? - Your knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep. You know what that makes you? A dilettante. - But if somebody calls you a dilettante, then it's probably not in a good sense, because they're probably referring to you saying that, "well, you're a person that you think you know a lot, but you really don't." You wanna think she knows a lot about health and nutrition, but she's really a dilettante. The next noun is "zenith." Has two syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable. Zenith. And, when talking about the zenith, you are talking about the top, the peak, the highest point, or state, of something, or someone's condition. So, if you are at the top, the highest point, then you are at the zenith. It basically implies that you're not going to go any higher, so, it's like saying you've reached the top, you're not gonna go any higher, and things are just going to start going downhill from here. His athletic career has reached its zenith. So, I hope some of these nouns were new for you, and now that you've learned them, you can go out and practice using them, so that you can improve your overall English fluency. But, if you really want to improve your English fluency, I highly recommend you check out our secret lesson. I've linked it in the description below. It's so secret, we're gonna email it to you. If you enjoyed this lesson, hit that like button. You know, that quid pro quo we have going on? And, as always, thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 14. 10 Advanced Verbs to Help You Sound Smarter | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bw6OPajGFRg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw6OPajGFRg) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:28:11 | --- - Today I am going to talk to you about some advanced verbs to help you sound smarter. That's coming up. Welcome to today's lesson. It is a super, awesome, amazing vocabulary lesson because I'm going to teach you 10 different verbs to help you sound smarter. And I say that they help you sound smarter because these are more advanced verbs, these are advanced vocabulary words that are very specific, very precise that you can use in certain situations so that you can perfectly express your ideas, thoughts and opinions and say exactly what you want to say. These verbs are going to help you do just that. Now I'm not only going to tell the verb and the meaning but I'm also going to give you the pronunciation as well as an example sentence so that you can see how these words are used in context. That's very important. So without further ado, let's begin. The first word is to admonish and admonish has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, mon, Admonish. And this is a verb that we use with a direct object, to admonish someone, usually for doing something wrong because what it means is to counsel or advise against something, it's kind of like you're scolding somebody in a way but not because you are super angry and they did something really terrible but they just did something wrong and it's not correct, maybe it was a little rude. - You just interrupted me again while I was admonishing you for interrupting me. - Have you ever been admonished for doing something? I definitely have been admonished for many things in my life. The next wonderful verb is to advocate. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, advocate and to advocate means to show strong support for something, it could be a support for a policy, it could be support for an issue and you advocate for it. We often use it with the preposition for, you advocate for something when you are really passionate about something, you really, really really believe in it and you want to advocate for this thing. The next verb is to bemoan and this verb has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, mohn, bemoan. You may also notice that word in that second syllable, which kind of shares a similar meaning to the verb, to bemoan, which means you are basically expressing that you are upset, you are distressed about something. It's kind of like you're complaining and you might bemoan a situation that you are in. You might bemoan someone's decision if you disagree with it and you don't like it, you're not very happy with something that happened and you bemoan the situation. The next verb is compel. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, compel and what it means is to, to force or drive or maybe even encourage somebody to do something, some course of action, to do something that you want them to do, you really want to convince them to do something, sometimes it can be done by force, you compel someone to do something because maybe you're threatening them in some way, shape or form and you are compelling them to do what you want them to do. - The power of Chrysler compels you. - But you're really just trying to get somebody to do this thing, to compel someone to do something. The next verb is a good one, embezzle, to embezzle. This verb has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, embezzle. Embezzle and what it means is to take money or maybe even property but most of the time we're talking about money and to do it in a fraudulent way. People are creating some false records, some false receipts and they are taking that extra money and stealing it and they are embezzling the money. You could embezzle money from a company, you can embezzle money from a bank. - Lloyd Gross is a fictional salesman we invented to, how do I put this, steal from the company, embezzle. To commit fraud. - I just got fired from Sweetems. - Because you were embezzling? - Now if you do this, it's a crime so it is not a good verb, it's not a verb that you want to be associated with. The next verb is extol, to extol. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, extol. And what it means is to praise highly, to give a lot of high praise, to someone or to something. Often times you might extol someone during a eulogy if there is a funeral and a person is giving a eulogy and talking about the person that has passed away, you want to talk about all of the good things that this person did, you want to give them a lot of praise and you would extol this person. You can also use it talking about places or things, if you really just want to speak highly of it, extol. Next is the verb impugn, to impugn. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, impugn. And what it means is to claim that something is false, to say that, to challenge it and say that's it's not true and kind of cast doubt upon this situation or even this person. - So because of a few bad apples, you're gonna impugn an entire continent? - I'm impugning a continent. - A lot of times you might hear it with the word character, to impugn someone's character. Basically saying that this person should not be believed, that they say things that are false, they're dishonest and you're trying to cast doubt over the things that this person is talking about when you impugn someone's character. - Mr. Chairman, if she's going to impugn his character while he's speaking. - It's not a good verb, it's not something that we should try to do but this is a situation that happens and it's a great way to describe it. To impugn someone or something. Another great verb, which is one of my favorites is obfuscate. This verb has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, obfuscate. And what it means to obfuscate something is to confuse or bewilder and just try to create a confusing situation so that it's really difficult to understand so you might hear it being used, they want to obfuscate a situation, they want to obfuscate an issue, they want to obfuscate a policy, it happens a lot I think in politics when you're trying to get people to believe one thing or another thing and some people try to obfuscate certain issues. The next verb is placate. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, placate. And what it means is to appease by giving something up, you're giving up some concession in order to try and get something that you want, to placate someone. For example, if somebody is upset with you, you did something wrong, you will do something for this person, you'll give something up, you are trying to placate them in order for this person to forgive you, to be okay with it and just to move on, to placate someone. Another great verb, repudiate. This verb has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, repudiate. And this means to reject something, to reject it with disapproval because there's no authority in this thing that people are trying to say or do. To repudiate someone or you could repudiate something. So for example at work if you are the manager and you have employees and they make a request and you could reject it and say no, I don't like it, this is a terrible idea, you would repudiate this. - Senator Eleanor, Prenses Shaw, does it bother you at all your son repudiates so many of your more controversial policies? - No. - It was refused, rejected, rebuffed, repudiated. - It's kind of a confrontational word because if you repudiate something then you're really letting the other person know that you're a bit unhappy, that you don't like this and you are rejecting it, you repudiate it. So right now I would like to advocate for you to write us a comment and let us know an English word that you have recently learned. It could be any word, a noun, an adjective, a verb. Just let us know, we love hearing from you in the comments. If you don't write us a comment, I'm not going to bemoan the situation, I'm not even going to admonish you but we would really appreciate it and if you do, I will placate you by coming out with another lesson next week. I hope you enjoyed learning these new words and you can go on and practice and use them, please hit that like button if you found this lesson useful and as always, thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. --- ## 15. 10 Brand Names that Became Common Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `htZcevWhaqw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htZcevWhaqw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:16:03 | --- let's talk about all of these things that you see around me right now and this is really going to help you build your vocabulary because i want to teach you some brand names that have become legitimate english words and well really companies they come out with products and they give it a name and that's their brand and they try to sell it they try to market it and sometimes that brand becomes so popular and so well known it really then becomes the name for the product in general and as we go through this i think it will make a little more sense and you're probably even going to recognize some of these brands and and some of the words that i'm going to teach you but let me quickly introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about trying to help you achieve your fluency goals different lessons on vocabulary grammar pronunciation so if that's what you want to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons let's begin with the first one which is band-aid so this is a it's the brand it's the name of a product that was developed by johnson and johnson in 1920 it's been around for a long time and really it's just an adhesive bandage that that is what this is except nobody calls it an adhesive bandage and i i'm from the united states overwhelmingly i think people just say band-aid if i cut myself especially just maybe like a little cut on the arm i'm not going to ask for an adhesive bandage i'm going to ask for a band-aid the next word or brand is photoshop and this is actually the name of some photo manipulation software it was developed by adobe in 1990 and often i think people are going to use this as a verb you could also use it as an adjective but let me give you some examples with some of my own pictures that have been photoshopped right there uh this is a an image that i photoshopped for one of the lessons yeah i really i really don't have um abs like that and then here's another uh picture that i photoshop that's me with bts and yeah you can do it to to be funny but again nowadays i think a lot of people will try to change or manipulate photos for a variety of different reasons and when that happens you could say that somebody photoshopped the picture which is using it as a verb or i could say that the image is photoshopped or the image was photoshopped using it as a participle adjective but it is a very useful word if you want to refer to some picture that has been changed in some way and you could say it's photoshopped and then we have a very famous brand and a very popular word which is google and i'm sure you you're probably familiar with google it is a very famous search engine that people would use to look up information and it was developed by alphabet in 1998 even though back then i think the company was named google and then they changed their name to alphabet but people will use this as a verb pretty much telling you uh to look some information up that that's really how it's used you could even use it as a command maybe you're telling somebody hey just just google it you want to find out some information just google it and if all of you if you google bts you are not going to find this picture right here because this picture is definitely photoshopped but any information you want to look up just google it next we have the word kleenex and this is a brand that was developed by kimberly clark in 1924 again it's been around for a very long time and really well what it is it's it's a tissue now i i will say that using the word tissue is also very common i think that uh well i'm just thinking of what i would use honestly i think i use both of them i i'd probably switch back and forth between kleenex and tissue sometimes i might ask for a kleenex other times i might ask for a tissue it really doesn't matter because i always get the same thing next is q-tip it is a product that yeah i use i think i have some q-tips around the home and this is from unilever it came out in 1926 and it just became so popular that instead of saying like cotton swab people would just say q-tip people still do say cotton swab or they may even just say a swab but i think in places like the united states it's pretty common for somebody to ask for a q-tip or they say like i would say we need to get some q-tips we're out of q-tips i'm gonna go to the store and i'm gonna buy some q-tips then we have the word xerox this is well it's the name of the brand but it's also the name of the company and it's really it's just a photocopy machine and this came out in 1938 and also i would say like just pay attention to the pronunciation xerox because the spelling and the pronunciation can be a little confusing and you could use this as either a verb or a noun so i could use it as a verb and i could say that i need to xerox these documents or as a noun instead of saying like well i need to make a copy or i need to make a photocopy you could say i need to make a xerox of this contract jacuzzi and i like this word because i enjoy relaxing in a jacuzzi this is also well it's the name of the the brand but it's also the name of the company and really it's just referring to a hot tub jacuzzi came out in 1956 and well some people instead of saying hot tub they may say jacuzzi i will say that i i think hot tub is well this is more commonly used if people are going to talk about like hey let's go let's go sit in the hot tub and relax but it's good for your comprehension because some people may say jacuzzi instead and as you can see that is something that i like to do i just like it and that picture was not photoshopped then we have crock pot this is a brand from sunbeam products came out in 1972 and it's really just a slow cooker and you could use the word crock pot to refer to any any type of slow cooker and the word croc comes from the type of pottery that many of these slow cookers are made of and last but not least we have bubble wrap i i love this product it was created by the sealed air corporation in 1960 and interestingly enough they tried to use this for for other purposes like wallpaper or insulation until eventually it started to be used for well the way that we all know it today which is packaging material so if you get a box in the mail there there's a good chance you might find some bubble wrap in there and i i have some bubble wrap right here it's i'm sure you could probably find some around your home and i don't know about you but i i like to pop bubble wrap oh that was not that was not a good one oh that's better i hope you learned some new words in today's lesson and i i also hope that they're pretty easy for you to remember because you can picture these products and you may even have some of them around your home right now if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 16. 10 Common Slang Words Americans Say All the Time | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WU_Qie7reeE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU_Qie7reeE) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:47:39 | --- Today, I'm going to talk to you about slang. How cool is that? In this lesson, I'm going to talk to you about some popular slang that is used in America. But before we begin, I'd like to remind you to subscribe to our social media classes. It's another great way to practice your English skills. So before we get into the slang words, it's important to know...well...What is slang? So slang is just words that are used among a particular region or age group or social circle. And it's not universally known by everyone else. Even if you're from the same country. Slang is also a little different than idioms because idioms tend to have more than one word and also they're a bit more well known among different groups of people. So I'm going to talk to you about some American slang that I think is kind of well known among most Americans. And maybe other people in other countries know of these words, but they probably don't use them. Or maybe they do. And now you can use them too. So the first word is crash. And crash just means to suddenly fall asleep. Or maybe you are so tired you know that you are going to go to sleep immediately because you're so tired, and you just want to crash. I'm just going to crash here tonight. I'm going to crash Tez. I'll catch you tomorrow. You can crash at my place. If you need to crash, you can have the couch. Number two is shotgun. So when you call shotgun, you are basically saying that you want to sit in the front passenger seat of the car. So if you are driving somewhere with a group of people, maybe the people that are not driving will call shotgun. And that means that that person gets to sit in the front with the driver. It's commonly used with the word call and somebody calls shotgun. Now, there's all sorts of weird rules when it comes to shotgun that you have to be outside before you can call shotgun. Some people say that you have to be able to see the car before you call shotgun. So it's kind of become a bit of a game to some extent. And it's regularly used among younger generations, especially kids in high school when they first start driving and they go places with their friends and everybody's calling shotgun and they're arguing over shotgun. I call shotgun. I call shotgun. Shot gun! Everyone knows you can't call shotgun before you see the car. Alright, I'm ready to go in on call shotgun. You never heard someone calling shotgun to sit in the front seat? Number three is creep. Now, this is an adjective that's used to describe a person who is unpleasant, strange, or a bit and weird. And weird in a bit of an awkward and get away from me type of way. A lot of times it's used to describe guys. It is a gender-neutral word, but mostly guys get this label and sometimes they deserve it. And people might say he is a creep. Stay away from him. Or maybe somebody is acting creepy because they're saying things that are a little unpleasant. And you just don't want to be around people that are creeps. That creep! But you're a creep! But I'm a creep. Number four is buck. Now, buck is just another word for a dollar. They're basically synonyms. So, if you have three dollars, you can say that you have three bucks. 3 bucks? 40 bucks! 30 bucks! 10 bucks. 20 bucks. 80 bucks. Yeah, 80 bucks. We borrow a few bucks, just a small loan from the briefcase. Number five is for real. So this is a declaration of honesty. It's kind of like saying believe me, I'm being honest, trust me...for real. So if you're telling a story and you really want those people to know that you're being honest you can add that at the end and just say for real. This is what the word means...for real. It can also be used as an interjection, kind of asking the question to somebody else. Are you being honest? Are you being serious? Maybe they're telling a story and you're not sure if it's true. And you just ask them. You say for real. For real? Is that what happened? Are you sure? For real? For real? For real? For real, for real. Thor is real, for real? We're for real. You're really for real. Number six is knock. Now, you can knock something or knock someone. And it's just saying something bad about something or someone. It's a disparaging remark. And mostly it's used to talk about an activity. Maybe you don't want to do something and you're not really thrilled about it, and then the other person Often, it's used in a negative sense when you're telling somebody don't disparage it. Don't say something bad. Don't knock it. There's also a popular expression that goes don't knock it till you try it. This is used mostly when people are talking about something, an activity that they've never done before but still they're saying some bad things about it. And another person might say, "Hey, don't knock it till you try it." Don't knock it till you try it. Don't knock it till you try it. I mean don't knock it till you try it right? That's what I'm saying. Hey, don't knock it till you try it. Number seven is sweet. Now, this is used to say that something is nice. It's talking about a favorable situation and people will just say, "Sweet." Now, you should know that it's really about the emphasis and the way you say it. You don't really just say... Sweet. Great. That's sweet. You want to say it with a lot more flavor, a lot more energy, a lot more pizzazz. SWEET! That's sweet. Sweet! Sweet! Sweet! Sweet. Sweet! Sweet. Sweet. Sweet. So sweet. So sweet. Number eight is zonked. Now, zonked is just when you are completely exhausted. You are so tired, you say that you are zonked. Often, if you haven't been sleeping that much, you might tell someone, "You know, I am just so zonked right now." It also means you're a little out of it because you haven't been sleeping, or you're just tired from doing something and you can't really think clearly. You're zonked. You're so zonked. Your body, from the neck down, is zonked. And she chooses today to show up totally zonked. It's a very important job for you, but if you're going to be zonked out all the time. Number nine...jonesing. So jonesing is a strong crave or desire for something. It's typically talking about a drink or food. Something that you're craving, you want, you're addicted to. You could be jonesing for coffee. Jonesing for sweets...chocolate. Jonesing for anything really. Rght now it's early, so I'm jonesing for some coffee. What are you jonesing for? Tell you what boys, I'm kind of jonesing. So I'm going to find someone I can bum a smoke off of outside. Good, I'm jonesing for a cup of coffee. Jonesing for a Starbucks since I got here. Speaking of crunching, I have been jonesing for some Double-stuff Oreos all day. Number ten is bail. Now to bail is to leave somewhere and often when you bail you are typically leaving somebody behind. So in that case you are bailing on someone. You can also bail on something. Maybe you want to bail on the party because you don't want to go. You want to bail on the dinner. Bail can also mean to avoid plans altogether. So maybe you're supposed to meet somebody at the movies and you never show up. They might ask you, "Hey, why'd you bail on me last night. Where were you." But regularly you're bailing on someone if you're just leaving and you don't tell somebody you're bailing on them. It's not good to bail on people. Don't bail on me. You bailed on me, okay. Oh, I see. You're chickening out. You're bailing on me. And now when I need you most you are bailing on me Okay, so now you are a bit more proficient in American slang. You can use them, practice these slang words, and also listen for them if you're watching TV or movies. Now before we go, I want to test your knowledge of slang. I'm going to give you some American slang and I want you to click on the correct meaning. Okay. If you don't click on anything then the video is just going to end and I hope that you give this video a thumbs up. And then go on to watch some other videos. If you don't know the answer, then write that in the comments. Just write, "I don't know." And I'll tell you the answer. So here is the slang. Amped. If I tell you I'm amped, what does it mean. If you don't know, again, write it in the comments. Amped. I want you to click on the correct meaning. What does it mean? Amped. What could it mean? Who knows? I'm amped. Are you amped? --- ## 17. 10 Common Words You' (PROBABLY) Mispronounce ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RlF5ly41FPY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlF5ly41FPY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:30:42 | --- Let's talk about 10 words that people often mispronounce. That's coming up. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I have a pronunciation lesson for you. I want to teach you 10 words that learners often mispronounce. And I want to tell you how to say these words correctly. Now, keep in mind that I am from the United States. So, I'm going to be sharing with you the American pronunciation of these words. So, I'll tell you the word and give you the pronunciation. I will show you both the phonetic spelling as well as the IPA. I'm also going to tell you the meaning of the words so that you can better understand how and when the word is used. go through each one. Say them out loud. Practice speaking. Practice your pronunciation because that is the best way to improve. So, the first word I have for you is subtle. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Subtle. Say it with me. Subtle. What this word means is it's something that is well not noticeable or not obvious in any way. But what is obvious is why this word is often mispronounced. And it's because of that B. It is a silent letter, a silent B. You are not going to hear it. Subtle. Also, remember I'm from the United States. So that T, I'm really saying a flap T, which almost sounds like a very soft D sound. It's a very subtle sound. Subtle. Subtle. Then we have segue. This word also has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Segue. Segue. It just means a smooth transition. You may segue from one topic to the next and make a smooth transition. The reason why this word, you know, people have trouble with it is because of that spelling. That second syllable is pronounced way. Segue. The next word that I have for you is epitome. This word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. That that pit epitome. And what this means is that that something is the perfect example of of some group. Maybe you could say that you have a plate of fruit and vegetables and you could say, "Wow, this is the epitome of a healthy meal. It is a perfect example of that." The reason why this word uh people have some trouble with this word is because of that third and fourth syllable. That third syllable, you have the schwah, that uh sound. And that final syllable, it's just me. That long e. So that om spelling, it is really pronounced me. Epitome. Epitome. So let's practice. Say the word with me. This is good shadowing practice. Epitome. Epitome. Something is the epitome of something else. Then we have candidate. And this word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Candidate. Now, the reason why I think uh this word can be a little confusing is because I will be honest with you. I think there are quite a few people out there that kind of just eliminate that D. Even though the word it does have that D sound, candidate. Candidate. Also, that that final syllable, some people may say it with a dut and others may say it with a dit. Candidate. I say it more with a dit. candidate. Candidate and well what a candidate is it's a person who wants to be elected for a certain position. So this is a word that you will you will hear a lot of if you happen to follow well politics in any country in in the US it it is a word if you are following US politics this is a word that you may hear a lot that somebody is the candidate. The candidate. Say it with me. Candidate. and then say it as fast as you can. Kennedy. Kennedy. Candidate. Kennedy. Can [laughter] Okay. All right. All right. That's enough. Let's Let's move on to the next word. Literally. Now, this word has four syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. That third syllable, it it has that schwah that uh literally. And when somebody uses this word, it's talking about well, it's saying that something is word for word that that that is the way it is literally. Now, I I think one reason why some learners have trouble with it is because of that L and R. You you have quite a few of those letters in this one word. Literally. Say it with me. Literally. Again, you because I am from the United States, I say this word more with that flap T sound. So, that T in the middle, it's going to sound like a soft D sound. It is a subtle D sound. Literally. Literally. And the next word that I have for you, [laughter] I literally forgot what the next word is. Let Let me get it for you. The next word is meme. So, I think this is a great word because it's it's kind of a new word. It's becoming more popular nowadays with the internet. But this word, it just has one syllable. Meme. Meme. And what it is, it is kind of well, it is a typically an image that has been altered in some way and it's it can be a bit of a a cultural or social commentary and it's it's changed in a way so that it's it's supposed to be a little humorous meme, but I I think the spelling is what again throws some learners off because I have had learners pronounce this word as me. I've had people say it's me, but this word I think it slightly it's pronounced the way it's spelled with that long e sound. Meme. Meme. I'll give you an example of a meme. I don't know why I I really like this one right here. And I think yes, I think they are mocking that dog. [laughter] It's quite funny. This is a meme. The next word is debut. It has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. And the a debut is just the first appearance of something or or even someone. Debut. The reason why I think this word is often mispronounced is because you're you're not going to hear that that t at the end of the word. It's almost that second syllable. You're just you're just saying the letter u. You debut. Debut. For example, I could say that I made my debut on YouTube in 2017. It's been about It's been about 3 years exactly. Wow. Time flies. The next word is albeit. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Albeit. Albeit. And this word just means it's the same as although. Albeit. I could say that. Well, maybe I I really want a vacation and I take one. I say, "Well, it was a very relaxing albeit short vacation." Albeit. One way that I think well, one way to think about this word to help you pronounce it is that you can really break this word into those three syllables and pronounce the word the the the way it looks. All be it. Albeit. Albeit. The next word is resume. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. So I'm talking about the noun resume. And what that is, it's it's just your CV. It is a written account of your your personal work experience, your education resume. But I think learners quite quite often confuse it with the verb resume, which has two syllables and the stress is on the second syllable. Resume. But we're talking about the noun your resume. My resume. Maybe somebody needs to update their resume. So be careful because if you are talking about the noun, you want to say resume. Next is my favorite word on the list and that is kaibosh. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and I just like saying it with a lot of emphasis and energy. Kaibos. to put the kaibosh on something. And what this word means is just to to put an end to something. To put the kaibosh on something. You are putting an end to this thing. So I could say, well, I'm going to put the kaibosh on your plans. I'm going to put an end to it. So make sure that you if you want to try to use this word to use it with that phrase. Put the kaibos on something. But keep in mind, this is a very informal expression. It's not something you're going to hear in everyday English. It's just a fun word. So, I wanted to share it with you. But if if you hear it or you you see this word when reading a story, it's pronounced kaibosh to put the kaibosh on something. I really hope that you you thought this lesson was the epitome of a wonderful pronunciation lesson and I well I hope that you reward me which is a subtle hint for you to hit that like button and I okay well I think I am literally going to end the lesson right now. I'm going to put the kaibos on this lesson. So thank you so much for watching. Hit me up in the comments because I love hearing from you and I will see you next --- ## 18. 10 Dessert Idioms (YUM!) to Help Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `l8lHxnn7k-Q` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8lHxnn7k-Q) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:49:59 | --- Today we're talking about 10 Desert Idioms. Today were talking about desert idioms. They're all related to dessert, but they all mean different things. If you want to relax with a piece of cake and an English video, subscribe to our channel. Hungry yet? Number One - Piece of Cake It just means if something is very, very easy just like eating cake. And every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake Number Two - To Have Your Cake & Eat It Too This idiom means you cannot have it both ways. You can't have your cake and still eat it. Because if you eat it, it's gone. You don't have it anymore. I have it, and I'm eating it. And now oops, it's gone. And this relates to life by telling you that you cannot have everything that you want. Think of somebody who maybe is working all the time, making a lot of money to get a really nice house. But they can't enjoy the house because they're always at work. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Number Three - Icing on the Cake Icing on the cake means something that makes something good even better or something bad even worse. So it really amps up a situation. It felt so great. I just wanted to go in and hit four for four and qualify for World's one last time. And winning was just icing on the cake. Number Four - To Sugarcoat (something) This means to make something seem better, more pleasant, or more acceptable than it is. To sugarcoat it. You don't have to sugarcoat it. I get the drill Number Five - Easy as Apple Pie What this means is that something is really, really, really easy. Just like eating pie. So sometimes you see it as "easy as apple pie." Or sometimes you just see it "easy as pie." So sometimes it has the apple and sometimes it doesn't. But it really just means that it's as easy as eating the pie. Not making it because making it is a little difficult. Number Six - Flat as a Pancake I really like this one. I don't know why. Probably one of my favorites. So you know pancake...it's very, very flat. It doesn't have any ridges or any bumps or anything. It just means that something is very, very flat. Flat as a pancake, huh? Number Seven - Nutty as a Fruitcake Now, I don't have a fruit cake to show you because I couldn't find one today. But you have to trust me. They're very nutty. They have a lot of nuts. But when we say that someone is nutty, it also means that they're a little crazy. So when someone is nutty as a fruitcake, it can mean anything from just being a little silly to completely crazy. Nutty as a fruitcake. Well, I can save you the trouble. You're nutty as a fruitcake. Number Eight - That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles Now this idiom really means "that's how life works." I'm Bruce Nolan. And that's the way the cookie crumbles. Number Nine - To Sell Like Hotcakes This means that something sells very well or is very, very successful. Number Ten - To Have a Sweet Tooth A person has a sweet tooth love's sweets. They love desserts. Okay. So, for example I have a huge sweet tooth. I love all kinds of desserts and sugar. And my favorite is chocolate. Here you go sonny. A little something for the old sweet tooth. So there was it for the ten idioms. I hope you like them, and I hope you're not too hungry. Now, it's time to practice what we've learned. I want you to look the a sentence and choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Say your answer out loud. The correct answer is c) easy as apple pie. When an exam is easy, you probably finish it quickly. So, during this lesson we ate a lot But we learned even more, no? Now you have ten dessert idioms that you can use any time. Not just when you want something sweet. I think this lesson was as easy as apple pie Don't you? If you think so too, please give this video a thumbs up. And if you want more practice, don't forget to join our social media classes. And sorry if I made you hungry, but that's it for today's lesson. Thanks for joining us today and see you next time. Bye! --- ## 19. 10 Difficult Words to Pronounce in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YqQzPwvPM9E` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqQzPwvPM9E) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:17:43 | --- Let's talk about difficult words to pronounce in English. And I know that there are many difficult words to pronounce, but today I want to have a look at 10 different words and really try to understand why these words may be a little challenging for English learners. Let me introduce myself. My name is Wes. This is Interactive English. The channel's all about trying to help you practice and improve your English skills. And today we're going to work on your pronunciation and have a look at 10 different words. And as we look at each word, I'm going to say the word several times. You can practice with me. I think that will help. And really the purpose of this lesson is not just to help you say these different words correctly, but also get you thinking about, well, what are some words in English that you find difficult to pronounce and try to understand why. And if you know of some words, let me know. Write them in the comments down below. It really gives me an idea as to, well, what words I should talk about in future lessons. So let's just begin with the first word that I have for you, which is applicable or applicable. I just gave you two different pronunciations for the same word. Yes, that does happen sometimes. Both are okay. Both are accepted. The word's going to have four syllables. The The difference is really, well, which syllable is going to get stressed. So applicable, the stress is on the first syllable. Applicable, the stress is on the second syllable and I hope you can hear that difference. Now, the word is going to have the schwa sound and I want to take a moment to tell you about the schwa because, well, many of these words have the schwa. It is an unstressed vowel sound and it really just sounds like uh. So when I say applicable, the schwa, you hear that in the third and the fourth syllable. Applicable. If I say applicable, you now hear the schwa in the first syllable as well. Applicable. And when I when I find that there are words that have two pronunciations that are accepted, I often think about, well, what do I typically say? I think that I would generally say applicable with that schwa in that first syllable and the stress on the second. Applicable. That's what I would do, but either one is okay. And then we come to pronunciation. It's a word that I've already said, well, a bunch of times in this lesson, but it's also a longer word. It has five syllables. The stress is going to be on that fourth syllable. That A, pronunciation. The first two syllables have that schwa sound, but I think uh probably maybe a little confusing is that C I A. into two different syllables. That C A and then it ends with that T I O N. You should know that when you see that letter combination at the end of a word, it's going to be pronounced as shun. Pronunciation. And a fun little pronunciation rule for those words that end with T I O N, the stress is always going to be on the syllable before the T I O N. So in this case, it's that A that is the stress. Pronunciation. There we have the word lettuce. It has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Lettuce. And I think it can be a little confusing. The C has really a an S sound in that final syllable. Lettuce. And uh the other thing I wanted to say about this word is that the T. I am going to pronounce it with more of a flap T sound because I'm from the United States. And the flap T, it it's more of a D sound and you would hear that when I say lettuce, lettuce. Even though with the phonetic spelling I I still used a T, but it's something to keep in mind. It's pretty common for people who are from the United States. So I would say if I want to make a salad, I need to go buy some lettuce. And then we come to the word suggestion. It has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, but you probably already knew that because before I told you that when the word ends with T I O N, that shun, the syllable before is going to be stressed. So suggestion. But the one thing I wanted to point out with this word is that that second G, that G E, those sounds blend together and you get that voice, that juh juh sound. Suggestion. And I have a suggestion for all of you if you would like to improve your pronunciation. I think the most important thing that you could do is just speak. And if you would like more speaking practice, then my suggestion is that you check out my speaking course called Speak Up. There's a link down below in the description. It's a 10-week course for intermediate to advanced speakers. Lessons are once a week. We talk about a variety of different topics, do different speaking activities. You'll talk to me as well as classmates from around the world. If you're interested, check out the link down below in the description. a 10% discount. And I I hope to speak to you soon. Then we have asterisk. And if you do not know what an asterisk is, it is this symbol right here. And the word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. That second syllable, you hear that schwa. And I think this word can be a bit difficult because sometimes you people may just forget about that second syllable and really just say it as two. But the word does have three syllables and you you really you got to really listen for that second syllable with the schwa. Asterisk. Asterisk. Usually. Very common word, this adverb of frequency, and some people may say it with four syllables. Usually. You hear that schwa in the third syllable. Or people may say it with three syllables. Usually. And that schwa is in the second syllable. Now, I don't think the most important thing about this word is whether you say it with four syllables or three syllables. I think the what I want you to take notice of is that S U. It's like those sounds they blend together and you have that juh sound. It is a voiced sound. You hear that vibration in your vocal cords. Juh. Usually or usually. So that's the important thing about this word is that juh sound. Usually. And again, I think about what I tend to say. I probably say it with three syllables most of the time, but that's just me. I Well, that's what I usually do. Next is encyclopedia. And I I chose this word because, well, it's a longer word. It has six syllables and I think it's a great example of a word in which you really pronounce each syllable and I think you should be able to hear all six of them when I say encyclopedia. Encyclopedia. It ends with that schwa sound. Encyclopedia. So it's a good word to know cuz I think it's pretty common. You're going to pronounce all six of those syllables. And then we have poignant. And you're probably looking at this word. You just heard me say it, poignant, and you're thinking that that just does not sound right. This is a word whose origins come from French. It has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, but yeah, this is a great example of a word whose pronunciation just does not match the spelling. Poignant. You have a silent G and then that A N T, it just sounds like yunt. Poignant. And if you don't know what this word means, it's it's talking about a strong feeling or just moving someone emotionally. Now, let's let's stick with French words because I have another word for you, which is lingerie. And this is a word that was borrowed from French and it is now a part of English, but the pronunciation is going to be similar to that of French. Lingerie. Which is why again, the spelling does not match up with the pronunciation. The word has three syllables and the stress is on that third syllable. Lingerie. The next word that I have for you is literature. Or somebody could say literature. So you could pronounce it with four syllables or three syllables. With With either one, the stress is on that first syllable. That lit. Literature or literature. The one thing that I wanted to point out with this word is that T U R E at the end, it's going to be pronounced as chur. So you could say either one, literature or literature. I think probably the more accepted form of this word is with four syllables. Literature. I I do catch myself from time to time saying literature. I think sometimes when you're you're speaking just normally, you tend to reduce words without even thinking about it. So yes, I sometimes say this with three syllables. If you would like to improve your pronunciation and get more speaking practice, check out my speaking course called Speak Up. Because let's face it, that is the best way to really work on your pronunciation is just to get more speaking. If you enjoyed the lesson, please hit that like button. As always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 20. 10 Food Words that Are Difficult to Pronounce in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `45VH3YBGxk8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45VH3YBGxk8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:28:46 | --- - Today's lesson is delicious. The reason is because I'm going to teach you how to say 10 difficult food words correctly. That's coming up. So all of us like to eat. Well, at least I hope all of us do, and therefore, I thought it would be useful to talk about food. And specifically, I'm going to talk about 10 words, 10 food words, that are difficult to pronounce. Now, they may be difficult because of the way they're spelled, or the way that the syllable is stressed, and what we're going to do is I'm going to tell you the word, and repeat it again, and again, and again, so you can hear the correct pronunciation. I will tell you how many syllables the word has, and which one is stressed. In addition, I will give you the phonetic spelling so that you can see how the pronunciation is really spelled. And I'll just give you a little information about the food in general, mostly my opinion, just to spice things up. So let's begin. The first word is zucchini. Zucchini. This word has three syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable, that "kee", and that's where it confuses people, because of the spelling. That C-C-H-I just has that "kee" sound. Zucchini. Zucchini. You could say it with me, Zucchini. Now, I am somebody who really doesn't have to worry about the pronunciation of this word, because I don't like zucchini. I don't really eat zucchini. I'm never asking for zucchini. I'm never talking with people about zucchini, except for right now. But now you know how to say it if you ever want to ask for it. Zucchini. - What in the hell is that? - My zucchini casserole. - Zucchini!? - So zucchini, it's kind of leaving a bad taste in my mouth right now, so let's just move on to the next word, which is salmon. This is a very popular fish word. It has two syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. Salmon. That second syllable has that schwa sound. It's an unstressed syllable, salmon. And the reason why this word is commonly mispronounced is because of that l. This is a silent l, so you can forget about it. Get rid of it when you're saying the word, and you would just ask for salmon. What would you like for dinner? I'd like some salmon. If you like salmon, just let me know. Let me know in the comments. The next word is a great one, simply because I think it just tastes really, really good, because it's butter, sugar, milked, cooked together, to give you caramel. And the pronunciation, it can be debatable, a little bit. There are several pronunciations for this word. I think that all of 'em are acceptable, even though I'm sure some people would be like, "No, no, no. "There's only just one way to say it." But I am gonna tell you all three ways to say caramel. First, you should know that the word has three syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. That second syllable is gonna have a schwa sound, and that final syllable is where you might hear a different pronunciation. People might say caramel, and that "muhl" is that third syllable, or you might hear people say caramel, and "mel". So it's a difference between "muhl" and "mel". Caramel, caramel. And those are very similar, and I think if you're just having a conversation and you say either one of those, nobody's really going to think about it. But another pronunciation, which is, I think, becoming more popular in North America, just in North America, is making it a two-syllable word, and dropping that second syllable, and omitting that schwa sound. And people would just say caramel. I say caramel even though I think many other English-speakers would say caramel, or caramel. So now you know how to pronounce all of these different variations of caramel. Or caramel. Or caramel (chuckles). You decide. - Caramels. - It's good, it's caramel. - I love caramel apples. - You can't eat caramel. - Try the caramel, it's delicious. - Ooh. - Next is quinoa. Now, you're probably looking at this word, and the way it's spelled, and you're thinking, what the heck? Now, the reason is, is because this is not a word from the US, or the UK, or Canada, Australia, South Africa, or other English-speaking countries. Quinoa is a tall crop that you mainly find in Peru, Bolivia, or Chile. But the word does have two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Quinoa. Now, you might hear it pronounced with three syllables, quinoa, in which case, the stress would be on that second syllable. Quinoa, and that final syllable would just be that schwa, "uh". Quinoa, or quinoa. Again, I don't have a problem with this word because I'm never using it, even though quinoa, I've heard it's very healthy. I don't really eat it that often. But in case you like quinoa, now you know how to pronounce it. So let's just move on to the next word, which is a drink. We're switching it up a little. We're gonna throw a drink in there, and that drink is a daiquiri. Daiquiri has three syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. Daiquiri. This word can be confusing, because that Q-U-I can throw people off. It takes on that k sound, so you have daiquiri. That second syllable also has the schwa. Daiquiri. And this drink is a cocktail of rum, lemon or lime, and sugar. It's usually also served with some type of fruit. Fun fact. The daiquiri cocktail was invented by an American mining engineer who got the name from a beach in Cuba, and then he introduced the drink to New York City, and from there, the rest is history. So if you like fruity cocktails, then you might want to try a daiquiri. I'm not a big fan of daiquiris. I think they're too sugary. - You haven't tried my daiquiri. - How do you say banana daiquiri? - Banana daiquiri. - Another round of daiquiris. - The next word is one of my favorites, guacamole. It is mashed avocados with lemon or lime juice, and you can put it on bread. You can use it as a dip. It's just, it's wonderful. I love guacamole. And it has four syllables, and the stress is on that third syllable. Now, I am saying it like many Americans say guacamole. Now, it is a Spanish word, and in Spanish, the correct pronunciation would be guacamole. Guacamole. So just know that the correct pronunciation would be guacamole, even if though, if you travel to the US, you might hear a lot of English-speakers saying guacamole. - Ooh, guacamole! - I thought it was guacamole (scoffs). โ™ช I used to like guacamole โ™ช โ™ช Now I don't like guacamole โ™ช - Holy moly! That was a lot of guacamole. - Next, we have a cheese, a cheese from Italy. Parmesan. It has three syllables, and the stress, you might hear it on that first syllable, Parmesan, or you could hear it on that third syllable, and people would say Parmesan. I tend to stress it, I'm trying to think, Parmesan. I think I end up stressing it on that first syllable. One reason this word can be a little confusing is because that s has a z sound. Parmesan. Parmesan. I'd like some Parmesan cheese. I grew up in the southeast of the US, and there, you might hear people say Parmesan. I don't know where it came from, but just an FYI. If you're there, you might hear people say, "Yes, I would like some Parmesan." But I would encourage you just to say Parmesan. Parmesan cheese. - You want some Parmesan cheese on that? - Also from the great state of Wisconsin, an aged Parmesan. - Next is artichoke. This food has three syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. Artichoke. It is a vegetable, common, I think, in the Mediterranean. Some people like artichokes. I am not a big fan of artichokes. Now, the word sounds similar to the way it's spelled. The one thing I would tell you about this word is that, when you say it in English, that r, it's not a strong r, it's very soft. Artichoke. In some cases, it may sound like people are dropping that r altogether, but I think you'll slightly hear it. Artichoke. - I don't even know what that is. - Artichoke? - Know that you secretly love artichokes. - Again, another food that I don't have to worry about pronouncing. Artichokes. Now that I think about it, all of the words that I don't have to worry about pronouncing are vegetables. That's not good. Next is the word cinnamon, which is a spice, a delicious spice. This spice has three syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. Cinnamon. Notice that c is going to have an s sound, and it's followed by the schwa. Cinnamon. Cinnamon, it's great. I love cinnamon rolls. Those are very delicious. If you never tried 'em, you should ask for some cinnamon rolls. It's not a vegetable, not a healthy food, but it's good. - Cinnamon takes a backseat to no babka. (laughing) People love cinnamon. It should be on tables in restaurants along with salt and pepper. - And our last word. I saved the best for last, because this is my favorite food on the list, and that is filet mignon. This food is actually two words, and the stress is on the second syllable for each word. Filet mignon. Now, you might be wondering about why is it pronounced this way, because of the spelling? Well, this is a French word. Filet mignon. It's a steak. It's delicious. It's juicy, succulent, savory. Oh, I really would like to have a filet mignon right about now. - I thought I was making a filet mignon. - In honor of Paige being home, I made your favorite dinner, filet mignon. - Just because you can't have filet mignon doesn't mean that you have to settle for fast food. - Now that you know how to say these food words correctly, I want to hear from you. So in the comments, write to me. Let me know, what is your favorite food? I just like learning more about you guys. Share with us. Write it in the comments. Tell me your favorite food. Mine, filet mignon, hands-down. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button down below, and if you wanna improve your English fluency, check out our secret fluency lesson. A link is in the description. You can sign up, and we will send you all this cool stuff. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. I'm gonna go eat right now (chuckles). --- ## 21. 10 Useful Slang Words that ALL Americans Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `L_z6YgILIG8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_z6YgILIG8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:53:15 | --- Yo are you down with today's lesson because you're going to have a blast and I'm going to tell you what all that means because today we're talking about slang. What's up everyone. My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today we're talking about boom slang. Specifically we're talking about American slang and I want to teach you some different words and phrases that I think are quite common. Now when it comes to slang, it really depends on on where you live and how old you are. Not, not everybody uses these words and phrases, but I tried to find slang that I felt is is more commonly known that that most Americans are aware of and maybe even used from time to time. So let's begin with our first slang word and that is chilling. So if you see this word, the spelling may may look a little crazy because we'll slang you. You don't often spell, it's mostly just used and spoken English, but you, you would probably see it without the g. Maybe you might find an apostrophe at the end or maybe there might not be and somebody would just say chillin. And what chillin means is that you are just spending time with friends and relaxing. It's very similar to hanging out and you could also say that you are just chilling out. You're just relaxing. Take it easy with friends, you know, I'm just chilling out. So what are you going to do later? I'm just going to chill right here at home. Just take it easy. Just just chill out with the family. Let's just chill out and go do this. I don't need to chill out. And you're chillin with me all day? Yeah, just chilling. Hanging with the cat. Go there about once a year to chill out for a month. Gross. It's that weirdo who chills with possums. We can chill together and we'll chill with those other guys. We'll all chill as one big unit. Then we have a slang word or it could be a phrase that I like to use and that is just down. And often somebody would just say, you know, I'm down. Or they might ask a question and be like, Hey, are you down? And what it means is that you are okay and willing to do something. So at the beginning I asked you, I said, are you down with this lesson? Are you okay? Are you willing to watch this lesson and learn these slang words? I hope you're down because I'm down to teach you these slang words. I'm down for a group hug. They might want to show about anything and everything. Anything, everything, something, nothing. Who the hell cares? Put me down. I'm down. I think that people deserve to know. Are you down with TPP? I'm not down with TPP. Then we have a phrase. It's actually a phrasal verb to knock someone up and to knock someone up is just talking about an unexpected or unplanned pregnancy. You could also use it as an adjective if you want to say that somebody got knocked up and when I think it might be used as when the pregnancy is so unexpected that that the girl gets pregnant and she doesn't have a boyfriend and her friends and family may not even, they may not even know who this guy is and she just met this person one night out at the bar and got knocked up. It's not something that people try to do, but it does happen. It's a fact of life and when it does, people might say that someone got knocked up. There was actually a movie that came out quite some time ago that was called Knocked Up. Can you guess what it was about? An unplanned pregnancy. Alright, fine. You want to know why you almost blew it with Kim? Because you knocked her up on your first date before you can get to know her. See you got a bun in the oven. I'm knocked up. Then we have a noun. It is a person and that is just an ass kisser. So somebody who is an ass kisser is... They just say really nice things to a person because they, they want to get something. Oftentimes I think of the the work environment that a, another colleague of yours might be a real ass kisser and they're always saying nice things to to your boss because they want to get a promotion or, or they just want to get something in return eventually and you could say, yes, that person is an ass kisser. You could also use it as a verb and say to kiss someone's ass and again to kiss someone's ass. It means the same thing. And when somebody kisses another person's ass, that person is an ass kisser. What was it? A helpless, fat, incompetent ass kisser. Actually I don't remember the ass kisser part. I'll be governing my own village. 10,000 employees kissing his ass. Yes boss, no boss. Instead of firing them, I am going to kiss their asses like crazy. Next is a word that I think is known pretty much by most people in the United States. I think it may even be well known by people outside of the United States, and that is the word hooker. Now, if you hear this word, it's talking again about a person and it's talking about a female prostitute. And if you don't know what a prostitute is, that is just a person that sells sex. So instead of saying the word prostitute, you might hear the word hooker and this is a word that you might hear in a TV show, or if you're watching a movie, it's not something like I said that that I expect you to go out and use this word because you're probably not having many conversations about hookers. Just so you know. In case you hear this word, a hooker is a female prostitutes. She's not a spy. She is a hooker. I picked her up in the Hollywood Boulevard. Look at that. A hooker with a heart of gold. Those don't exist. It's going to cost you $500. It will be illegal for him to drink at his own bachelor party. Or to get a hooker. A hooker. I bet if we hired her that would cheer him up. The next word is blast and this just means to have a good time and we often use it with the verb. Have to have a blast. I had a blast at the party. I hope you are having a blast watching this lesson and learning this slang and if you are having a blast and you love learning slang, just let me know and go ahead and hit that like button. We're having a blast. We just went biking and mini marting. The next slang word is flake. This is talking about a person. So someone is a flake. It just means that it's a person who says that they will do something but they do not do it. They are a flake. So, for example, somebody might say, Oh yeah, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go with you tomorrow. I'm going to do this. You can count on me. And then they don't do it. And you could say, Oh, you know that the, there, there's such a flake. Or You could even use it as a phrasal verb and say that somebody's flaked out. So for example, maybe you want your friend to go with you to this party. It's going to be a blast. You're gonna chill out there and you say, hey, let's go. And your friend says, yes, I'm there. You can count on me. But you know that they're a flake. You could say, oh my friend, they flaked out on me. They said they were down to go with me to the party, but they didn't go because they're a flake. You guys need any help? I can't believe you're late to your own raid. What a flake. He's not coming back. He's a lousy roofer and a flake. All right. Yes I'll do. Okay. Thank you so much. It's going to be awesome. And if I flake, I flake. What? Now listen, this is a big commitment. Now you don't just say yes if you're going to flake out later. Then we have a very small words, simple word and that is just Yo. People say this, I think kind of a little bit like a greeting. Often it's said at the beginning when you first encounter someone and then they may follow it with another greeting like, hey yo, how's it going? Yo? What's up? It's also used to to get people's attention. So you might say, hey Yo, I'm talking to you, Yo look at me. So at the beginning of this lesson I was using it as both. It was kind of like a greeting at the beginning and I wanted to get your attention. So I said, Yo, Yo D-dog. I need your help. Yo. What's up guys? Then we have the word quarterback. Now this is a position in the sport of American football but can use it in other situations as well. When you're talking about a person who is the leader and somebody might say, for example, like, well, okay, I'm going to quarterback this meeting. I am going to be the leader of the meeting. So if you're talking about somebody who's the quarterback, you're talking about the leader. I just want all of you guys to chill. I hope you're down with that. And I'm going to quarterback this lesson. Well, I guess I have to. There's nobody else here. Then we have the word moon. And no, I'm not talking about the moon that you see at night up in the sky. I'm talking about a verb. And that is two moon to moon someone. And when you moon somebody, you are just showing them your bare butt. And this is something that I think, uh, you know, high school kids would do. They're just joking around. They're like, oh, let's, let's moon this person. And they just show their butt and it is called two moon someone. Have you ever mooned anyone? Let me know in the comments. I'll be honest. Yes, I have mooned others on more than one occasion. How would you moon us if you were driving? I hope you had a blast, just chilling out and learning some of this slang and if you want to connect with us even more than join our email list, join the interactive English team. We will send you all these cool and useful resources as well as access to the secret fluency lesson. I know I'm being a bit of an ass kisser right now asking you to do this, but if you don't want to do it, if you just want to flake out, that's okay as well. And I also just want to keep using these words because it's good practice. It's good for you to listen to them because that's the best way to learn and remember them. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope that you learned something new and I will see you next time. --- ## 22. 10 Useful Tips to Help You Become an Excellent Writer โœ๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QpUv4CXBCdg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpUv4CXBCdg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:43:55 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson thanks for joining me my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place you want to be if you are trying to practice and improve your English skills and today I have a very very useful lesson for you because I'm going to talk about something that everybody uses and I'm sure that you use as well and that is ten useful tips to become a better writer I'm going to talk to you about different things different tips different things that you can do in order to improve your writing skills that's what we're gonna discuss today and throughout the lesson I'm gonna be asking you guys some questions so if you're joining me in the chat I want you to write your name tell me where you're joining joining me from also even if you're watching this later I want you to write your name tell me where you're from and and actually practice writing throughout this lesson that is what I want from all of you is to use your writing skills and this is perfectly possible because you have the chat you have that comment section and I want you to think of it like this is your piece of paper you can now use this to interact and practice your writing skills so hello Musa you Lisa a lot asthma thank you so much for joining me and everyone out there thanks for being here so the reason why I wanted to talk to you about writing is because it's such a useful skill because we use it all the time we use it in business we use it at school we use it just writing text messages or emails so so it's so so important that we learn to not only how to write but also that we improve our skills that we're constantly getting better now one thing that makes it there are a couple things that make it difficult to improve our first I would say is that it's often one of the last skills that we learn so if you're learning a language whether you are an adult or whether you're a child most people are exposed to listening first and they'll listen to words they maybe read them that's the first time they see stuff and then they'll they'll they'll try to maybe speak and use the language oftentimes writing is one of the last skills that people try to to learn and improve so that's what makes it a little more difficult the other thing that makes writing difficult is that it is it is very much rule-based it's in speaking you can you can make mistakes you can break the rules and it's a lot easier to get away with not as many people are gonna call you out on it but in writing if you are writing an essay or a business email and you see writing mistakes it stands out a lot more and with writing we really need to follow the rules a bit more but even if you're not following them I think it's very important to be aware of what the rules are so you know like okay which rules you can maybe bend a little bit and which ones you really really need to follow and the other reason I would say is that that writing really complements all of these other language skills and the example that I would give you that it complements these other skills is that it's a reflective process when you're writing your thinking about what you're trying to say and I would help students prepare for their IELTS exam and I would help them prepare for the speaking part of it and one thing that I would get them to do to help improve their speaking was to tell them to write about it so I would know which question that I want to give them and I would tell them I give them about maybe five minutes and be like okay here's the question write down your answer and they would actually get a little time to think and reflect about what they want to say the words that they want to use how they want to say it correctly and then they would put the paper away and then we'd have a conversation but because they've written it they were a bit more prepared to talk about it so writing is definitely connected with speaking and all the other language skills so it is really important now the first thing that I want you guys to do and answer this question is that in the chat in the comments I want you to complete this sentence right here I want you to tell me improving my writing will help me mmm what is improving your writing gonna help you do I want you to think about that right now and reflect on that and write it in the chat write a full sentence and again if you're watching this later write this in the comments all right tell us improving my writing will help me what what is it going to help you do what is it going to help you accomplish now there are so many different reasons that that writing is going to benefit you and it's can you could say you know it can improve your school you can improve your schoolwork your you need to improve your writing because of school maybe you need to improve your writing because of an English exam like the IELTS or the TOEFL perhaps you want to improve your writing because you are getting ready to do some job applications or you're putting together a cover letter or a CV resume and you really need to have your writing perfect for these reasons it may be it's just a professional work environment and you're writing different emails or you're sending text messages or even on a lighter note maybe you're just writing a love letter to somebody and you want to express your feelings about this person and there are just so many different reasons why you might want to improve your writing and and as you know people are writing this I want you to read read about it what are what are other people saying in the chat what were their reasons so for example broad one improving my writing will immensely help me boost my career progression perfect you're learning it for a job improving my writing will help me pass my exam Valentina thanks for sharing with us so these are all great reasons why you want to improve your writing so now let's talk about how we're going to do that so the first tip that I have for you and I know this one is going to be a little difficult is avoid reductions okay and what I mean by reductions an example would be like going to and people will say gonna but oftentimes people will end up writing gonna gon n/a and writing it as a reduction and what I would suggest for you is to avoid using reductions and I know it's difficult because like I said that you see it all the time and if you're in the chat right now I want you to write an example write an example of a reduction can you think of one I gave you an example going to gonna alright this is something that in spoken English and and and pretty much any spoken language we tend to reduce words and phrases to make it easier to pronounce and say and and these are reductions the the issue is because you you see it a lot in like text messages or just informal emails to a friend or even in you see it more nowadays and subtitles - if you're watching a TV show or even a youtube video and using the subtitles you might see reductions being used and the reason I tell you to avoid it as a teacher is because there's really very there's really no benefit that you get for using a reduction in your writing however there can be some consequences and some negative things to using reductions in your writing and that is when you are trying to write in a more formal context if you're writing an S for school if you are writing business email you really need to avoid those reductions because it's not going to help you achieve what you want to for example when when I was working in the school administration for my old school I would do a lot of the hiring and if I received an email from an applicant that said something like I love your company I want to work for you and they spelled wanna waa and na the first thing I would do is hit okay delete this person no it is not for us that's you know it's just not professional to use so I would say it is best to avoid them altogether my next tip tip number two is this be mindful of punctuation you should understand how to use different punctuation marks and when to use them the reason you need to be mindful of punctuation it is because it punctuation really helps control control the rhythm and the flow of your writing it really shows what you're trying to say because without punctuation there can be some some issues and let me give you an example I want you to look at these two sentences right here okay you have let's eat grandma versus let's eat grandma the only difference with these two sentences is the use of a comma but the meaning is completely different because if we say let's eat grandma without a comma you're talking about eating your grandmother I don't think anybody wants to eat their grandmother in the next sentence let's eat comma grandma then then you're asking your grandmother you're saying hey grandma let's eat let's have some food together okay so the comma in that case makes all the difference in the world if you're not using the correct punctuation it can make your thoughts it can make your ideas very very confusing so try to be mindful of your punctuation the next tip number three is to use transition words to connect or separate your ideas and when I say transition words there are so many different transition words out there and this is just something again you just need to build your vocabulary learn these words and learn how to use these words so for example if you're writing something and you have two idea you have an idea and you want to add more information to that idea you can use words like furthermore or in addition or also and that's basically telling the the reader the person who's reading your writing okay there's more information that this person is trying to give me there's more information that they're trying to tell us perhaps you are writing something about an event and you want to use sequencing those transition words to in order to tell the story about how things happen first how they happen next then after that we can use those transition words to really connect or help separate ideas so we know it just becomes more clear what the person is trying to say it is very important and to become a better writer to use transition words very useful the next tip I have for you is this is get rid of just nonspecific words these are words that you don't need to use that are not very important now what I mean by nonspecific would be a word like thing okay if if somebody writes thing I I don't know what they're talking about and I would say like thing or something instead of writing it tell me what the thing is tell me what something is be more specific you can also use it with you know avoid using adverbs like very this is something that I think in your writing if you were to read people's writing you see this a lot I would read students writing and I would find the word very very very very very very very they want to use it it's an adverb of degree and they want to use it you know to show that ooh okay it's not just fast it's very fast and it's one of these it's one of those words that gets way overused and I would say again try to try to get rid of it it's a nonspecific word instead try to use a more descriptive noun or adjective in order to describe it so instead of saying very fast say rapid or if you're if you want to use the word fast and you're like well I really want to express just how fast find a different adverb instead of very instead of very fast say unbelievably fast there are other ways to go about it and and not use those nonspecific words like thing or very because this is the difference if you're getting rid of these nonspecific words this is the difference between telling a good story and telling a great story it's the difference between writing a good essay and writing an incredible essay get rid of those nonspecific words tip number five is note how to use numbers know how to use your numbers and these are kind of stylistic rules because I would say that a general rule that I would follow is that if it's numbers 1 to 9 I'm gonna spell those numbers if it's greater than 10 I often write those out now there there are many people that disagree with that and that's fine but that's just a general rule of thumb that I tend to follow now what I want you guys to do and I want you to write about and tell us in the chat or in the comments is what is your favorite number I want you to tell me what what is your favorite number write it down and I want to see how your right are you spelling it or are you using the numeral now let me tell you what some of the other professionals say so when it comes this is just a general rule of thumb according to the MLA stylistic guidelines and MLA for those of you who don't know it stands for Modern Language Association and these are guidelines that people follow to for their writing if they're writing publishing papers if they're writing essays or a thesis for school or even if they're writing books or articles for magazines for a more professional writing these are the guidelines that they follow so what they say is rule the the first rule for ml r a MLA is spell out numbers written in one or two words such as two or three hundred so if you have a word that's written simply that it's just one or two words you know 1 2 13 10 400 500 you can just spell out those words because it's easy to read and people to put that number in their head now they also say that you should use numerals actually write the number for large numbers that do not allow for a smooth combination of numbers and words such as 151 this is a number that you would just write instead of spelling out the number these are the guidelines that they set forth so again it's important when you're using your writing to to know what some of those rules are so so you can write them correctly now I want to remind everybody that if you are writing a number at the beginning of a sentence always spell out the number do not write the it doesn't matter which number always spell the number at the beginning of a sentence this is something I would see from time to time in different papers always spell out the number at the beginning of a sentence and most importantly I would tell people again consistent in your writing because oftentimes your writing numbers and you have to write many different numbers you want to be consistent between whether you're writing the number or whether you're spelling them that's just something to keep in mind so thank you guys for sharing on that I add favorite numbers on that I have five Aquacade for Alessandro 12 excellent 12 is also my favorite number because I was born on the 12th the November 12th that's my favorite number too so the next rule that I have for you is this and that is to avoid redundancies and when I say redundancies what that means is avoid information or words that are not necessary and maybe it's not necessary because you've already said it so for example I'd say watch out watch out watch out I don't need to keep writing watch out I've already said it once you know you need to say something different and this is something that I think everybody does we do this in writing we do it in speaking that you tend to say the same thing over and over again and I do this too when I'm writing something and I notice that oh in one sentence I said I used this word and then I used it again in the next sentence and I think oh okay wait that's redundant and then I'll look at it and think okay I'm gonna change one of these and use a synonym instead and as I said I do this all the time I do this in speaking as well at one point I was living in California and I got caught up saying you know every time before I said a sentence I'd be like you know I really love going to the beach you know I just I just find it very relaxing you know what are you doing later and somebody eventually somebody told me they said you really say you know a lot and I thought about I was like oh yes I got in the habit of just using it again and again and again and it became redundant and you just need to be careful of it especially in your writing because if you can get rid of redundancies and use different words and only you know not repeat information it makes the reading it makes the writing so much more clear and so much more concise it's very important the next tip that I have for you is so important this is one of the most important things that you can do to improve your writing and that is read read read read and read some more this is so so important and it's something that's so simple because all of us all of us you know we can read we read every day but my question to you right now in the comments I want you to tell me okay what is the last book that you read I want you to tell me what is what's the last book that you actually read okay now the reason I'm asking you this is because I tell people to read and I feel like most of us probably think oh yeah you know I get plenty of reading because of technology nowadays because we're using the Internet and they think like for me I read every day but I don't really read because I don't read as many books as I would like to I don't sit down and take time and say okay I'm gonna spend an hour reading this story or I'm gonna spend an hour reading this book I think most of our reading is done quickly and we read articles online and we read a few paragraphs and the instead of reading for a longer period of time we end up reading for a short period of time and maybe we just read more often and what I would stress to you is I think it's so much more important to read try to read for those longer periods of time and I know it's difficult we all have busy days you really have to make time to do this but it has so many benefits when it comes to your writing because when you're reading you are learning new words you are seeing how these words are correctly used different context you're also learning sentence structures and seeing how to use the correct sentence structure and also as I mentioned before you're seeing punctuation and you're seeing how punctuation is used correctly so when you're reading even though you're not really thinking about that at the time you're not thinking about punctuation you are learning that information and when you're learning that information you can then turn around and use it in your writing and it's going to help you so I would really suggest to read as much as you can tip number eight that I have for you guys is use a variety of sentence structures writing think of it like an art form you are telling a story and you should use a variety of sentence structures to make your writing better so for example if you are just a beginner at English when I say a simple structure you could just use simple sentences write a sentence that's going to have a subject verb and an object it doesn't have to be a super long sentence you can keep it simple use simple sentences if you're an intermediate learner then you could use simple and compound sentences use those conjunctions and or buts so to combine two sentences and make your writing a little longer if you're an advanced learner use simple sentences compound and complex sentences and really vary your structure because it's gonna help you tell a better story it's going to make your writing more interesting and capture the reader's attention and that's what you want to do when people are reading your writing you want them to stay engaged you want them to you want them to keep reading and this is a good way to do it and if you're if you're worried about well how do I again practice using different sentence structures read that is a great way to see how people are using different sentence structures what punctuation they're using and and that'll you can use that in turn when you're writing is going to reinforce the information that you already know tip number nine is this big words don't always make writing better so I want to say that first of all it's true big words don't always make your writing better however I do think it's always great to learn new words it's always great to practice new words I would always encourage you if you learn a new word to try and practice it what I would say is that for this a lot of times people will write something and they're constantly going to the thesaurus to find the synonym and say okay instead of this word I'm gonna take that out and then use another word that I don't even know what it means because it said well this is a synonym and they'll take these words that that are common that people know and they'll try to replace them with these big words that are less common but people might think well this is going to help me sound more academic especially in school this is a lot of people end up doing this and what I want to say is you need to be careful doing this because it doesn't make your writing better sometimes it can make it very confusing and the example that I would give you is take the word unhappy most of everybody knows okay what unhappy means not happy and say you're writing a sentence like I was unhappy the restaurant didn't have the meal I wanted and you say well unhappy is just a boring word I want to replace it with a more academic word something that makes me sound a little more intelligent and smarter and you look up and you find oh here's a synonym for unhappy despondent and you say okay I'm going to use despondent instead of unhappy even though despondent it has a similar meaning despondent means that you are really really really unhappy that you are depressed that you are not reacting to anything around you because you are so miserable and unhappy so in this context that you know the restaurant didn't have the meal you wanted people don't get despondent from that it would be using the word incorrectly if somebody said I was despondent the the restaurant didn't have the meal I wanted I would read that and think really you were despondent that's that's very extreme so be careful about using big words especially words that you're not familiar with in your writing and what I want to do is use this moment to talk to you about a language learning theory it's called the input hypothesis and what the input hypothesis means is it's basically telling you that your input your level of language right now your ability when it comes to reading you should try to read as they say I plus one input plus one you should try to read one step beyond your current level if you're a beginner you shouldn't try to read an advanced story all right you should try to read just one step beyond because that's going to help you improve the most and I would say that that's what they say for your reading when students tell me well what what should I be reading right now I would tell them don't don't read something that's super easy you know it's not nothing's gonna hurt but try to read something that's just slightly beyond your current level that is the best thing that you can do and I would say with your writing as well don't try to take your writing at an intermediate level and say I'm gonna write an advanced academic paper try to write just one step beyond your current level that is what the input hypothesis is talking about and that is what I would encourage all of you to try to do in your writing as well as your reading now the next tip that I have for you and this is probably I think it's the most important I've saved the best for last and that tip is proofread this is something that I think is greatly overlooked and when I say proof if you don't know what I'm talking about it means to read something again and look for mistakes you need to proofread your writing so if you're writing a paper especially for for school or business once it's done look back through it and try to check for mistakes did you make a punctuation mistake did you use a reduction and you shouldn't have you shouldn't be using it because it's a professional writing assignment maybe you're using words more than once and you think okay this is redundant the way to improve your writing and find these mistakes that you're making is to proofread and this is something i think it's overlooked I think so many of us were busy with our lives and you just like you know I can't take the time I'm finished with my writing I'm just gonna submit it I'm just gonna hit enter and then it's gone or send if it's an email and then I don't have to think about anymore and if I make a mistake I make a mistake the best way to improve your writing is to proofread because not only is it talking not only am i talking about well you need to to change your mistakes but it's helping you identify your mistakes because when you're proofreading your stuff then you're kind of if you find a mistake you might see that you keep making the same mistake over and over again and once you're able to identify your your mistakes or the ones that you usually make then the next time you're writing that is the best way to correct those mistakes and begin writing correctly so not only is it a great way to help you identify to help you find mistakes and change them in your writing it is the best way to help you identify the the watch what you're having trouble with in writing and to know okay this is what I need to focus on this is what I need to improve in order to become a better writer and one thing I would be wondering my question to you is how many of you proofread your emails you guys send emails all the time and I'm not talking about in English if you're writing if you're writing an email in your native language I want you to write in the chat or in the comments right now just write proofread which tells me that okay I proofread it I read through it again because if we're being honest with ourselves I think most of us don't really end up reading things again we just write it it's informal and then we just hit Send and this is something that I need to do as well that I have to try to remind myself is that when I write something look it through it again one thing we do is we write you guys write us a lot of comments and we try to respond to every single comment and answer them and because we're doing it so often so many times a day it's hard to go back and proofread the comments sometimes we're just writing it quickly okay enter and I'll catch mistakes I'll catch mistakes when when when I'm writing comments and I'll go back through I'll try to change them but I try to get into the habit of telling myself okay I've written a comment it's only a few sentences go back and read it again and make sure that you didn't make any mistakes so proofreading is so so so important when it comes to improving your writing now what I want you guys to do is your homework assignment okay what I want you guys to do is in the comments I want you to tell me which of these tips do you think would most will most benefit you in your writing which of these tips is going to help you improve your writing what what do you think applies to you which tip is going to help you I want you to write that in the comments let us know practice your writing those comments section that's your piece of paper right there we really really really want to hear from you guys so thank you guys so much for watching again you can whoops this is interactive English you can find us up here please join our social media classes write to us in the comments we really really love hearing from you guys thank you Miguel Andre max iris patricia try to get some more names in here Radwan Quyen valentina thank you guys so much for joining me today I hope that you found these tips and useful and that you can use these to practice and improve your writing skills because it is so so so so important and as always please hit that like button if you enjoyed this lesson if you like learning English with us and share it with your friends your classmates your family members anybody that you know who's trying to practice and improve their English skills thanks so much for watching and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 23. 10 WORDS ENGLISH HAS TAKEN FROM FRENCH, GERMAN, & SPANISH | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `tFkCEssitco` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFkCEssitco) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:42:18 | --- Have you ever stolen anything? English has. And I'm going to tell you ten words that English has stolen from other languages. It's coming right up. Welcome to today's lesson. We have a bit of a vocabulary lesson for you. But before we begin, I want to remind you to join our social media classes because it's another great way to practice your English skills. So, we can kind of think of languages as being one big giant family that has a history, and these languages are connected to each other. And as languages develop and grow, and they add new words, sometimes they will take words or borrow them from other languages and then use them as their own. and these are called loanwords. And today, I'm going to talk to you about ten words that English has taken from other languages. And they're probably not going to get them back. So what exactly are loanwords? Well, according to the dictionary, a loanword is a word that is adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification. And modification is just another word for change. So there's typically little or no change in either the meaning of the word or the pronunciation of the word. And many times spelling as well stays the same So these are loan words that are taken from another language. I don't know why they call it a loanword because when you loan something, you typically give it back. But we don't really give back these words. We've just taken them. So for these ten words - maybe you know what they mean, maybe you don't - but now you're also going to learn a little more about the history of these words and which language they come from. So you'll also learn some new vocabulary words in a few different languages. So, let's begin with French. Now the first word that I want to show you is entrepreneur. And I don't think the pronunciation has changed much between French and English. My French is terrible, so I'm not really going to try and give you the French pronunciation. Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. Anyway, it's entrepreneur. And an entrepreneur is a person that starts a business. These are creative people. They're innovative people. They come up with a lot of different ideas So they start a business, and we say that they are entrepreneurs. The next word, which is one that I like, but not one that I like to do is a faux pas. And a faux pas is a social situation where somebody says something or does something that is awkward or inappropriate. And usually they don't mean to do this. This is not something they want to do. It happens on accident. So for example, maybe somebody quit drinking alcohol because they had a problem. And then you get together with them one night. And without thinking about it, you offer this person a drink. It can be a little awkward, but it's still like a faux pas. You made a mistake.You didn't mean to and it...it's just wrong. And often you have to apologize for it. If we're talking about a faux pas, we might use it with the verb "make" because somebody can make a faux pas or we would just say that "That is a faux pas." If you have one of these social misunderstandings and mistakes, it's a faux pas. The next word that we have taken from French is a genre. And in French this means they kind or style. We use it to classify different things such as movies or TV or music. We'd ask like, you know "What genre is it?" Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Is it a horror? Different types of genres. So notice the pronunciation of this, especially in English it does not sound the way it looks. That "g" does not have a G sound. It's more of a ZH sound. Genre. It's not gen-ray. It's not gene-ruh. It's genre. Genre. Genre. The next work is this one, right here. Now, when I was younger and first saw this word, I thought it was pronounced like lin-ger-ree. And I was like, huh, maybe is that some sort of cheese. But it is not. It is pronounced, in American English, lingerie. And this is a type of woman's underwear, which is usually sexy and seductive. Lingerie. Now, you should know that in American English it is pronounced lingerie. In British English, it is pronounced lingerie. Which is actually closer to the French pronunciation. So American English is lingerie British English lingerie. And French lingerie. I don't know why American English is so different in this. But it's a little weird. But... I'm a little weird. Americans are a little weird. And...yea, just go with it Next, I'm going to tell you a few words that we took from German. And the first word is kindergarten. Now this word literally means, in German, "children's garden." Which...I don't know how that kind of became the word for a children's school in English. Kindergarten is the first two years of school for children before they go to elementary school. So they would start in kindergarten and then go to elementary school, and then middle school, high school and so on. So kindergarten is a school in English. Kindergarten. The next word that we took from German which is a fun word is doppelgรคnger. And doppelgรคnger is translated as double-walker. And this just means that you are talking about a person that looks exactly like you do. It is a spitting image of you. It is your doppelgรคnger. Now, it's not a common word that's used frequently. It's only used in that situation when you want to say, "Hey, you look like this person right here." is It is your doppelgรคnger. Now, for example, people say that my doppelgรคnger is Ryan Gosling. It's just...It's like we're brothers. We look exactly the same. Okay. Nobody's told me I look like Ryan Gosling. But I have been told I look like Dennis the Menace, which is an old American cartoon. I don't see the resemblance, but maybe you do. The next German word is one of my favorites because it kind of describes me. And it is wanderlust. And the word has the same meaning in both languages. Wanderlust is just somebody who travels around and wants to travel around and learn and explore. Somebody has wanderlust. Just thinking about it makes me want to pick up and go. Finally, I want to talk to you about a few words that English has taken from Spanish. And the first word is aficionado. And aficionado is a person who is a fan of something. And it's not really just a fan. It is a true fan. This person has a real passion in this thing or this topic. And they have a lot of knowledge and information about it, and that makes them an aficionado. It's more than just a regular fan. So for example, I am an aficionado of... Gosh. What am I an aficionado of? So you can think about something that you really love and enjoy, and know a lot about it. And then you could say you are an aficionado. The next word that we've taken from Spanish is macho. Now this word is used to describe somebody who is strong, and masculine, and very manly. We say that they are macho. I think it was a lot more common maybe thirty years ago mostly because there was a famous disco song about it. Nowadays it's not as common, but people might use it to describe a guy who's trying to be very manly and act very strong and impress somebody. And I don't necessarily think it's a good word. If somebody...usually if you say somebody's macho, they're trying to pretend to be strong. And it's not really a compliment Another word that we have taken from Spanish is siesta. And this just means to take a nap. Now, I definitely think this is more common in American English. And it's one that we've started using a lot more recently. So instead of saying take a nap, you can say take a siesta. Who doesn't like taking siestas? So I hope you enjoyed this lesson on English loanwords. If you did, give the video a thumbs up. And now I want to hear from you. So in the comments, I want you to write any other language English words, that you know of, that have been taken from another langauge. Write the word. Tell us which language it comes from. Or maybe there is a word in your native language that was taken from English. You can share that with us as well. It's always great to hear from you guys, and in this case it's great to share this information because we can learn so much more about languages. Thanks for watching, and we will see you next time. --- ## 24. 10 Words English Learners Often Mispronounce | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ImSyYuWhOa0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImSyYuWhOa0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:40:07 | --- Have you ever wondered how to pronounce these 10 difficult words? Keep on watching to find out. So welcome to our lesson today. I am super excited because this is a really good lesson. Today, we have 10 words...they're very common words. But they're also a little bit difficult to pronounce Some because they're a little long. Others because they have a whole bunch of vowel sounds thrown in there. So it can be a little bit confusing. What I will do is I will tell you the correct pronunciation. I will tell you why they're difficult to pronounce. And I will also give you an example sentence, so you can hear it in context. Are you ready to become a pronunciation rock star? Join me. Number one is EXHAUSTED. This is a really, really common word. Exhausted...it means tired. The "e" sound, sounds like a like a /g/. Like a G sound. We say [ig - zawst - id]. The other reason why this word is difficult is because the H is silent. So when you see it, just ignore the H. And its exhausted. And the third reason why this word is hard to pronounce is because of the -ed at the end. In this case, we say it. It's exhausted. Say with me. Exhausted. Number two...BREWERY. Yeah, that's right. You heard me right. It's hard to say. So if you don't know what a brewery is it is where people brew beer. This one, even just saying it, it's obvious why it's difficult to pronounce. And that is because of the R sounds. It's very, very faint. A very soft R sound, which in itself could be a very difficult sound to pronounce. The second reason why this can be difficult is because right after the first syllable, we have a schwa sound which is a shortened vowel sound. And of course in the the third syllable you have another R sound which is a little bit more pronounced than the first sound. When you say it, they all kind of mesh together. Say with me. Brewery. This is true. Wes and I took a tour of a brewery a few years back and it was a lot of fun. Brewery. The third word is a little bit long which makes it difficult to say. This word is ANTARCTICA. Basically what you have to do is you have to kind of break it down when you say it. You can start with the first syllable which is "ant." The second syllable is "ahrk." Keep in mind that for this word the stress is on the second syllable. Put it all together and you get... Say it with me. Now say it really fast. Antarctica. Antarctica. Antarctica. Antarctica. See, it's hard. Don't do it. Don't say it fast. Number four...PHENOMENON. This one is hard because it's long. But it's not that hard if you break it apart. Now we can break up this word in four syllables. First of all, the PH sound, it makes an F sound. It's a /f/. So we have... The third syllable is a schwa. Say it with me. Number five...SPECIFIC. Now this word can be difficult because of that middle syllable. The C makes an S sound. Now I know a lot of English language learners may mispronounce the /i/ sound. It is not /ee/. It's not [spi - see - fic]. It's a short /i/ sound. So we say... Specific. Say it after me. You got it. Say it again. Specific. Number six, another long word, TEMPERATURE. Now if you look up this word you will see that it technically has four syllables. But I think most people pronounce it with only three syllables. So we have to kind of shorten everything. We end up saying... In the second syllable, we drop the E completely and we add a schwa. The TU together are pronounced as a /ch/ sound. Say it with me now. Number seven...RURAL. This is a hard one. Oh gosh, you guys. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for doing this to you. The R sounds do make the words difficult, in this one especially. In the first syllable we have /roo/. And then in the second we have a /ruhl/. And of course there's a schwa in the second syllable. It's very fast. So you have to be kind of fast with it. So say it with me please. Rural. Number eight...CHOIR. Now this is a short word, but it is difficult to say for a few different reasons. First of all, the CH together in this case does not make a /ch/ sound. For example, the word "channel" makes a /ch/ sound. But not in this case. The CH sound together is a /k/ sound. The second reason is that the O sound is an /ah/. So, put it all together and you get... Choir. Number nine is a LITERATURE. And this word...it's a little bit difficult because it''s long, first of all. Of course you have the L and Rs, which make this word even more difficult. We have the R and the schwa sound, and the T and U don't make a /too/ sound /tuh/ sound. They make a /ch/ sound, just like in temperature. So we have... Say it after me. Literature. Number ten is a SQUIRREL. I used to have a theory that the word "squirrel" is cute in every language. So I'm kind of curious. Please, in the comments, let me know how do you say squirrel in your language. Does it sound cute? But the word squirrel, whether you believe me that it's cute or not, it can be a little bit harder to pronounce. It's just two syllables, and it goes like this. And then the second one. There's just a schwa sound. So let's see it together. So cute. Okay. So now that I've told you the words that I think are difficult to pronounce, I want to hear from you. In the comments, please let me know what other words do you find difficult to pronounce. Write them down, and maybe we'll do a lesson explaining them. If you found this lesson useful, don't forget to give a thumbs up. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 25. 12 BAD Words to IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MaVt_mzmGtg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaVt_mzmGtg) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:52:35 | --- Today, I'm going to give you 12 words...Bad Words! That will help you expand your vocabulary and improve your English. Before we start our lesson, I'd like to remind you to subscribe to our channel for more videos where you can practice and improve you English. Today...we're going to learn some BAD WORDS! Now, these are not swear words or words you shouldn't say to other people. These are words you can use to say something is...well, you know....BAD! The word "bad" is too generic, too simple, too boring. So you can, and should, use the words I'm going to teach you, in order to be more descriptive and give more detailed information. This is also a great way to expand your vocabulary because you already know the meaning of these words...something that's bad. So, without further ado, here's a list of bad words. Number 1 - Horrible This just means something that is really, really, bad. It's pretty general and you can use it to describe many things. Number 2 - Awful This is another word that means very bad. And it can also be used to describe a variety of things and situations. Number 3 - Lousy This is used to describe something that's bad, but not super bad. It's slightly bad. Maybe you're not impressed with someone's work so you say it's lousy. Number 4 - Unpleasant This word is often used to describe an experience or a situation, especially one that is uncomfortable or annoying. Number 5 - Harmful We use "harmful" to talk about the effects of something. It's commonly used to describe things that effect us in a bad way. Number 6 - Detrimental This word is also used to describe things that have a negative effect. But these are usually things that regularly effect us. Number 7 - Horrendous Mostly, this word is used to describe the way that something or someone looks. And it doesn't just look bad. "Horrendous" looks really bad! Number 8 - Atrocious This word can also be used to describe the way something looks...like an atrocious work of art. But, typically, "atrocious" is used to describe an act that is brutal like an atrocious crime. Number 9 - Abysmal This word is often used when talking about the results of something. And abysmal means that something is bad...I mean really bad! Number 10 - Vile This word is used to describe something that is wretchedly bad. It is used to talk about a variety of things. Vile humor. Vile odor. Vile language. Number 11 - Appalling Now, "appalling" talks about things that are shockingly bad. Usually because they're offensive in some way. Number 12 - Hideous This is another word we frequently use when we want to say that something looks bad. Let's practice what we've learned today. But before we do, please like our video if you feel like you've learned something new. Also, if you'd like more English practice, you can follow us on social media. We're active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Okay, here we go! In the comments below, I want you to choose one of the words from this lesson to write a sentence about this picture. And if you'd like more time, please pause the video while you write your sentence. Thanks for joining today's lesson. We'll see you next time! --- ## 26. 12 Beautiful Words to Help Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nt80f7bE3RI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt80f7bE3RI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:48:29 | --- Have you seen anything beautiful today? Well now you have. Just kidding. I'm sorry. I had to because...today we're going to talk about Welcome to our global classroom. Today we're learning 12 Beautiful Words And before we go into the words, I would like to invite you to join our social media classes for more practice. We're active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. So today I'm going to give you 12 Beautiful Words that are synonyms for the word "Beautiful." I have some words that are better for you than just to say "Beautiful." These are very helpful when you're trying to express different nuances when you mean to express that something looks special or incredible. So by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to express yourself better and have a wider vocabulary. And kind of from now on use them instead of the word "beautiful." So the first word I have for your today is the word ALLURING. And alluring is something that's mysteriously attractive or that's fascinating. So, when I say that something is alluring I'm kind of drawn to it. So kind of attracted and I want to kind of get to it. The second word I have for you today is EXQUISITE. And exquisite is something that is very special. Of special beauty and rare. So when you want to say that something is very rare or very, very, very special. We say that it is exquisite. Number 3 - Lovely Lovely means very pleasant or enjoyable. Lovely is kind of a soft word. So when you want to express something that's not like extremely beautiful, but still really, really nice... We say lovely. Number 4 - Stunning Now stunning is very different than lovely. Where lovely was a little soft, stunning is strong. It means very impressive or attractive. So if somebody is stunning or if something is stunning It means that it kind of shocks you with it's beauty. Number 5 - Magnificent Magnificent means impressively beautiful or extravagant. This is a word I really like because many times it's used to describe nature. Of course you can use magnificent with people as well. So, it really means extremely impressive. For example, you can say... Number 6 is Splendid. And splendid really is just a synonym for magnificent. So it can be used interchangeably. But it's really mostly used for nature or objects rather than people. Number 7 - Appealing Appealing is attractive or interesting. I would say appealing is many times used to describe food. We really definitely use, "Oh this looks appealing" or "This doesn't look appealing to me." So you will definitely hear it in that context. Number 8 is Attractive. And attractive means very pleasing to the eye. You can use attractive to describe both men and women. It can be used for objects as well. But it's mainly used to say that someone's good looking. Number 9 is Charming. And charming means pleasant or attractive with a great personality. It can be used to describe both objects and people. Number 10 is Superb. And superb means excellent and splendid. It's really just very, very beautiful. Number 11 - Gorgeous Gorgeous means beautiful and very attractive. And it's...I would say it's mostly used for women. But it can also be used for nature and objects. Number 12 - and I really like this one - is Ravishing. Ravishing means delightful, entrancing. I would almost say disarming. It's such a beautiful word. I love it. So how did you like the 12 beautiful words? Aren't they beautiful? So here's what we're going to do for your practice. I'm going to give you this picture. And I want you to choose one of the words that you learned today. Now, you can use one or you can use more if you'd like a bigger challenge. So please write that sentence in the comments. And I'm looking forward to reading all of them. And if you think that what we do is beautiful please subscribe right now. So that's it for the beautiful lesson. Thank you for joining us today and we'll see you next time. Bye! --- ## 27. 12 English Words that People Say WRONG ๐Ÿ˜ณ | Pronunciation Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RxWCKwXjiuQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxWCKwXjiuQ) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:54:39 | --- Do you want to sound like an English learner or like an English speaker? If you want to sound like an English speaker, do NOT mispronounce these words! Welcome to our global classroom! Before we start today's lesson, please remember to hit that SUBSCRIBE button, if you enjoy practicing and improving your English. Today, we're talking about 12 words that are commonly mispronounced by English language learners. Many people get these words wrong. But if you learn how to say them correctly, you will automatically sound a lot more like a native English speaker. So let's begin! Here's Number 1... Say this word out loud. How did you say it? Sometimes English learners say /an-swer/. But in this case the "w" is silent. So don't worry about the "w," don't think about the "w." Just pretend it's not there. And you would say the word like this... Say it with me! See...easy! You just don't say the "w." Number 2...is debt. And this word is similar because it also has another silent letter..."b." So yes, the "b" is there. And we can't get rid of it. But we don't have to say it. Okay, so say it with me. See. It's easy! Number 3 - receipt This is another word in which silent letters get learners in trouble. When we say this word, we don't hear the "p." So say it with me. Number 4...and this is a difficult one - recipe So many English learners get this one wrong. I think it's because of the word stress. I've heard the word /ree-seep/ many times, but we actually pronounce it... Let's say it together. Done. Number 5 - comfortable It's not /kuhm-for-tay-buhl/. But /kuhmf-tuh-buhl/. Say it with me. Good job! Number 6 - hierarchy This is a word that I had trouble with when I was learning English. So I understand if you think it's difficult to pronounce. The way I was saying it, which is wrong, is /heer-ar-kee/. So it's not /heer-ar-kee/, it's /hahy-uh-rahr-kee/. Say it with me. Good. Number 7 - suite This is another challenging word for English learners because it looks kind of like "suit." Like the suit you wear. But...it's not. It's a room. It's a suite. Let's say it together. Wonderful. Number 8 - colonel This word completely baffled me when I was learning English. There's an "r" sound, but there is no letter "r." What? So even though it's spelled with an "l," we pronounce that first "l" like an "r." Okay, now say it with me. See...now you're even better than I was. Number 9 - Wednesday I know we're going down this list, and you're probably thinking English is strange. And you're right. Sometimes the spelling just doesn't match with the pronunciation. Here's another example. In Wednesday, the "d" is silent. So just don't say it at all. Practice with me! Number 10 - salmon To be perfectly honest, this is another word that I was guilty of mispronouncing when I first moved to the U.S. I'd say, "I love salmon. Salmon is great." Yeah Ioana...SALMON is great. Okay, so now you say it with me. Good job! And now I'm hungry. Number 11 - glamour I hear this word mispronounced quite often when girls talk fashion. They say /gluh-more/. But it's not. It's /glam-er/. Say it with me. Now you know. Number 12 - chocolate This is my favorite word in the world. So we should all pronounce it correctly. It's not /chaw-koh-lot/ or /chaw-koh-leyt/. It's /chawk-lit/. You don't pronounce the "o" in the middle of the word. Say it with me! Okay. Now I'm really hungry. Now, let's practice saying these words. But, we're going to practice saying them in context. I will show you some sentences using these words. And I want you to read them aloud. Ready? Here we go! That's it for today. Wonderful job! Make sure you keep practicing those words so you can say them perfectly every time. You can also check out our social media classes, which will help you practice and improve your English. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time! --- ## 28. 12 GOOD Words to IMPROVE YOUR VOCABULARY | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `sFJIW7fx7zc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFJIW7fx7zc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:53:28 | --- Today, we're talking about 12 good words. That is...12 synonyms to use instead of the word "good." Okay, so before we get into our lesson, here's something that you can do that is not just good... It's great! Join our social media classes! They'll give you a lot of information. We'll ask you questions. And generally, they'll help you practice a lot of your English skills. The word good...is okay. But it's not great or wonderful or outstanding. Here are some other words that will help you change things up and express yourself better than just using the word "good". Number 1 - Valuable We use "valuable" when we talk about the cost or worth of something, or someone's importance. Number 2 - Excellent This word means extremely good. It's very commonly used, and it describes someone or something that holds superior quality. Number 3 - Exceptional This is kind of similar to excellent but perhaps even more so because it means something that is unusually good. Number 4 - Outstanding Another similar word to excellent and exceptional, it means something that is remarkably good. Number 5 - Superb Superb means impressively beautiful. So many times we use it to describe how nice something is or how nice something looks. Number 6 - Divine Divine is related to something godly. But we also use it when we want to emphasize that something is out-of-this-world good. Number 7 - Brilliant Brilliant was initially used to describe something that shines brightly. But this can be extended to a performance or an idea that outshines the others. Brilliant is used in that context a lot more in British English than in American English. But it's still very common in both countries. Number 8 - Impressive Something that is impressive has the ability to blow your mind or make a great impression on you. Number 9 - Admirable Admirable means someone or something worthy of a lot of respect or admiration. Number 10 - Flawless We use "flawless" to describe someone or something that has no defects or faults. Number 11 - Wonderful Wonderful is used as a synonym for excellent. Basically, we use it to describe something that is much better than good. Number 12 - Great Great is another synonym for exceptional or outstanding. Okay, let's practice what we've learned today. But before we do, please like our video if you feel like you've learned something new. Here we go! I want you to choose one word from today's lesson. Then, in the comments below Write a sentence about...this picture. I'd also encourage you to read each other's sentences because this will help you reinforce your understanding of these words. And if you need more time to write, you can pause the video while you're writing your sentence. See you next time! --- ## 29. 12 Powerful Phrases to Talk About Personality Without Sounding Boring! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rAeTX7qyxWI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAeTX7qyxWI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:47:15 | --- let's talk about personality it's a very important topic and I want to teach you some useful phrases that you can use to describe someone's personality and let's get started with our first phrase and saying that someone is a stickler for the rules so a stickler is just an informal noun that refers to a person who follows the rules closely and you would often follow this noun with the phrase for the rules so it's really a cocation and you say that someone is a stickler for the rules and you can use this phrase in a variety of situations like playing a game if I say he said my foot was on the line when I shot the basketball he's such a stickler for the rules or maybe at work my boss got upset because I was I was a few minutes late she's a real stickler for the rules and I can use those words to add emphasis and say that someone is such a stickler for the rules or a real stickler for the rules for pronunciation I just want to point out that the word for has two different pronunciations a strong form for which is going to sound like the number and a weak form in which case the word gets reduced and the vowel sound's going to change slightly and it'll sound more like fur a stickler for the rules can you think of anyone who is a stickler for the rules I would have contacted him sooner but this is a rogue op and he's a real stickler for the rules last night I opened up this gift basket for my own pleasure really Leslie nope you usually such a prudish stickler for the rules the park inspector will be so impressed and he's a real stickler for the rules everything must be up to code now you may notice that I have an order that I like to follow when I teach these lessons what can I say sometimes I can be a stickler for the rules but as we go through the lesson I am going to teach you the meaning of these different phrases talk about how they're used in context give you a variety of examples as well as go over the pronunciation so that you can say them just like me and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I will always go out of my way to help you improve your English fluency and that's a great phrase so let's talk about it if you say that someone goes out of one's way this means to try very hard to do something especially something that is good or helpful and often you're going to use this phrase with the verb go to go out of someone's way now I could say I'm sure that you will go out of your way to hit the like button and write to me in the comments and in that case you really would be going out of your way because that takes time your time is valuable however I'm confident that you will be willing to go out of your way to do this and I'm just going to keep saying that that phrase out of your way for pronunciation there are two things I want to point out out of this is a common reduction you may hear people pronounce it as outa the other thing is that the T you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T this is very common with the American accent and I'm from the US it's going to sound like a soft D and this occurs when the t comes between two vowel sounds out of out of your way out of my way out of his way out of her way just listen for it what's the matter I'll tell you what's the matter I go out of my way for you but I don't go out of my way to hurt people when you know I go out of my way to marry a sicilian girl and all she cooks is green pinky you went way way way out of your way to make me happy now if you would like to improve your speaking skills because perhaps you are a stickler for the rules when it comes to English pronunciation I have a great app that can help so I'm going to go out of my way to quickly tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson Elsa speak this is an app that I first heard about from many of you so let's check it out you just download the app and you can explore all of the different features you can practice daily lessons study by topic let's say that you want to improve pronunciation you can work on specific sounds and there's even a daily study plan to help you practice but I think one of the coolest things about the app is that you have the ability to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so let's say that we want to practice the sentence I'm a stickler for the rules and then we can listen to it I'm a stickler for the rules and then practice saying it I'm a stickler for the rules now let me show you what happens if I make a couple of pronunciation mistakes I'm a Styler for the roles as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try to make adjustments so use the link in the description or scan the QR code you see on the screen to download Elsa and get S days of a pro membership for free or you can use the other Link in the video description to get 85% off a lifetime membership or 40% off a one-year membership so if you want to go out of your way to help yourself improve your English skills check out the links and discounts below let's continue with more useful phrases to describe someone's personality and the next one that I want to teach you is to talk out of both sides of your mouth and this means to give completely different advice or opinions about something in different situations so it would be like me talking to one group and saying it's very important to learn English and improve your skills and then I tell another group that learning English it's not that important in that case you could say that Wes is talking out of both sides of his mouth now this phrase really does have a NE negative connotation and to give you an association uh I want you to think about politicians because sadly yes I think you could describe a politician and say that he is talking out of both sides of his mouth or she is talking out of both sides of her mouth and that leads me to the next thing that I want to tell you about which is the grammar so just keep in mind that we're going to use a subject pronoun to identify the person and then a possessive adjective in our phrase he is talking out of both sides of his mouth the other thing that I want to point out which is also related to grammar is that often you may hear people use this in the continuous tense to talk about well right now or a point in the past maybe I say at the press conference the president was talking out of both sides of his mouth for pronunciation out of that's a reduction out of and once again you're going to hear me say that flap T and then linking may also occur this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word and the phrase that we can link is sides of it's almost like we're moving that consonant sound over sides of to talk out of both sides of your mouth he don't think before he says and he doesn't talk out of both sides of his mouth president Walker is the one who should be scrutinized here he's talking out of both sides of his mouth then there's to have a good head on your shoulders I like this phrase Maybe because I like to think that I have a good head on my shoulders and I'm sure that you have a good head on your shoulders this means to make good decisions and have good judgment so you're really giving someone a compliment when you use this phrase it has a positive connotation and in my opinion I think you may often hear someone who's older use this phrase to describe someone who's younger and once again they're giving a compliment he has a good head on his shoulders keep in mind we're going to use a subject pronoun and then a possessive adjective in our phrase I could say she is about to graduate and already has a few job offers she really has a good head on her shoulders for pronunciation more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in have with the vow sound in the article uh have we can also link the final consonant sound in head with the beginning vowel sound in on head on to have a good head on your shoulders I want you to listen for those two phrases is getting linked oh I don't know from what I saw she seemed to have a pretty good head on her shoulders mama was real strict and explains the good head on your shoulders well I mean isn't she in law school she's got a good head on her shoulders exude an air of something this means to show that someone has a quality or feeling to a great extent and often you're going to use this with a noun and it's going to have a negative connotation but not always and I think there are some common collocations with this phrase perhaps you say that someone exudes an air of confidence or someone exudes an air of superiority definitely negative or to exude an air of sadness still negative maybe something a little more neutral if I say well something exudes an air of mystery there are other collocations with this phrase but I just wanted to give you a few examples as to how it is used for pronunciation we can link the entire phrase linking the final consonant sound with those beginning vowel sounds to exude an air of something to exude an air of confidence when you exude an air of self assuredness others are naturally drawn to you known as Australia's most haunted house the Monte Cristo Homestead in New South Wales exudes an air of mystery and spectral Intrigue next is the phrase know it all this refers to someone who thinks that they know more than other people so it really does have a negative connotation and one thing I want you to keep in mind is that you're often going to use it with the verb to be to say that someone is a know--it all maybe I tell you well my colleague is always trying to give me advice he's such a knowitall or you may hear people use this phrase with the negative to tell someone to stop acting in this way don't be such a know-it-all here is a funny joke joke that I wanted to share with you you would think a know-it-all would already know that nobody likes a know-it-all and yeah I think that's true for pronunciation we can link the entire phrase but keep in mind you're going to hear me pronounce that final T and it as a flap te know it all say it with me know itall nobody likes a know-it-all excellent she's a complete know--it all she she's not even very much fun the one thing a know-it-all doesn't know is that everyone hates a know-it-all you're not a lawyer Sheldon you're just a know-it-all I am not a know it all I'm a person who knows lots of things and likes to correct other people when they're wrong that's the definition of being a know-it-all a neat freak I know a few people that I would describe as a neat freak this refers to someone who likes things especially around their home to be very tidy and very clean and someone who spends a lot of time cleaning now the word freak on its own it it does have a negative connotation talking about someone who is a little strange or unusual now this phrase in its entirety to say that someone is a neat freak I don't feel it's as negative as the individual word but you're really just emphasizing the fact that this person really likes things to be clean and tidy and you would say that they are a neat freak and I could add emphasis and use other words and maybe say say that somebody is a computer freak and they really love computers or maybe a bowling freak and they go bowling all the time but in general you're often going to hear people use this with someone who really likes things to be clean and you would describe them as a neat freak for pronunciation I think it's pretty simple and straightforward you're just going to pronounce one word right after the other and say that somebody is a neat freak kmen that egg girl has been there since Tuesday stop such a neat freak you can't use my room for anonymous sex I'm kind of a neat freak that way Glenn you cannot leave your dirty socks in the fridge you're such a neat freak then we have the phrase life of the party this refers to someone who is very Lively or funny at a party or some other social event and really this adjective phrase is going to follow the verb to be and you would say that someone is the life of the party here is a fun example because I I feel like this describes well me at this point in my life I'm going to be the life of the party as long as it ends by 8:30 and okay yes that's that's probably true when pronouncing this phrase keep in mind more linking may occur we can link life of and I'd also like you to keep in mind that the word party you're going to hear me pronounce that t as a flap T and once again with the American accent when the T follows an R sound it may get pronounced as a flap te like in the word dirty or in this case party the life of the party are you someone who is the life of the party you can let me know down in the comments you all took a life here today you did the life of the party oh yeah here it come the life of this party who wants to get back to work what he thinks that you're the life of the party he wants to be more like you then there's the ways to have an inquisitive mind this is really an expression that you can use to say that someone is inquisitive which means they are eager for knowledge or they are intellectually curious so instead of telling someone well you're very inquisitive I could say you have an inquisitive mind children are a great example because children definitely have inquisitive Minds like like my daughter she ask me questions like why is the moon called the moon or where do thoughts come from or why do we have two arms and not three they are all very valid questions I do not have a good answer for any of them but I can say that she has an inquisitive mind for pronunciation more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in have with the vow sound in an have an and the word inquisitive may be a little tricky on its own the word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable you'll also hear me pronounce that t as a flap T inquisitive to have an inquisitive mind Nancy has a very inquisitive mind she loves to unravel a mystery great question I love an inquisitive mind oh I'm sorry this is Jennifer my International asset student she has a rare and inquisitive mind the next phrase is to AA fault this means excessively extremely more than necessary and often it's used to say that too much of a good thing can actually be a bad thing so let's say that I'm talking to someone and I say hey what do you think of my new haircut and this person tells me it's awful I hate it that is their honest opinion but it could create an awkward situation but I could say that this person is honest to a fault or maybe I tell you that my friend went out of his way to help his neighbor and the neighbor did not say thank you did not appreciate my friend's help and I could say that my friend is generous to a fault that it's too excessive and therefore it ends up becoming more of a negative now this is not the most common phrase but I still think it's useful because it's a great way to capture that idea in saying that someone's personality when too excessive becomes a little bit of a bad thing for pronunciation I just want to point out that intrusion may occur this is when we add a sound in order to link two vowel sounds together in this case we're going to add a slight W sound between the words two and uh in order to link these vowels together to it's not something you have to force but you will hear it it's very slight to a fault to a fault he's not like that he's he's honest to a fault but you you're loyal to a fault your code is about family too competitive prone to jealousy bit of a kill Joy follow rules to a fault then we have hearing oneself talk or you could say hearing oneself speak this means to be self absorbed in your own speech without really having any regard for the other person or people that you're talking to there are several things that I want to point out with this phrase first as you can tell from the meaning it does have a negative connotation second you can use either of those words I've already mentioned this speak or talk third you're going to use a reflexive pronoun and finally you're often going to use this phrase with the verbs like enjoy or love which is why we're then going to use the Jaren hearing so I could say my colleague likes hearing himself speak or my aunt enjoys hearing herself talk or my neighbor loves hearing himself speak now if you're wondering which is more common to use talk or speak than we can use engram viewer to compare the frequency so if we're talking about a man it's more common to say hearing himself talk if we're talking about a woman it's pretty much about the same to say hearing herself speak or hearing herself talk and when comparing a man and a woman it's more common to hear the phrase hearing himself talk so I just like to point out that often you may hear people using this phrase to talk about a man and generally yeah I I'll concede I think this is true I think a lot of men like hearing themselves speak now when pronouncing this phrase I do not think it's too challenging again you're just going to say one word right after the other to hear himself talk or to hear herself speak saddest part of this whole thing is man you like hearing yourself talk you really think that by being her friend you're going to get her back what do you think of Amy brookheimer she likes to hear herself talk besides I hear Shadow Hunters love to hear themselves talk runs in the family this is used when you want to say that a skill Behavior or trait is exhibited by different family members so you could use this when talking about someone's personality if I say well he is dishonest and his father is also dishonest I guess it runs in the family or you may also use this phrase in a medical sense if you're talking about shared characteristics if for example several members in the family have uh diabetes and the doctor ask you about it and you could say yeah you know it runs in the family here is a fun joke using this phrase the doctor asked does obesity run in your family and the patient responds no nobody runs in my family for pronunciation keep in mind more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in runs with the beginning vowel sound in in runs in runs in the family but this is serious alcoholism runs in our family died of a brain tumor yeah that run in a family crazy runs in that family all Conor's art project gorgeous Talent runs in the family don't get mad at her it's a couple little strokes runs in the family now for a little review mostly because I like to hear myself speak and because I really want you to learn these phrases so that the next time you're at some social event you'll be able to use them confidently and you don't need to exude an air of confidence when using them but just use them naturally and if you're able to do that I think that others will say wow this person has a really good head on their shoulders and who knows maybe you will even be the life of the party so try to use them in conversation review them from time to time not because you want to be some sort of know-it-all but because you have an inquisitive mind and want to achieve your fluency goals now I want to help you keep building your vocabulary and I will always go out of my way to teach you new words and phrases because I am passionate about teaching English maybe I am even passionate to a fault but I would ask that you watch another video Lesson keep building your vocabulary if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new you can let me know by hitting that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 30. 13 Scary Words ๐Ÿ‘ป | Useful Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-UiyMsD1zHY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UiyMsD1zHY) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:45:26 | --- Ahh.... Oh, my. I didn't see you there. You really got me petrified, terrified, aghast. Are you ready to be scared? The only thing that will scare you is how amazing your vocabulary is going to be after you learn these 13 words. Fall is here, and Halloween is coming up... So we wanted to make sure that you are ready for this time of year. That you have all the words you need to know. So today, I'm going to teach you 13 very scary words. Or words that are synonyms or similar to the word scary. See what I did there? 13 - unlucky number, scary number. Are you ready? You're ready to be spooked? Okay. Let's begin the first word is fearful. Fearful means feeling or showing feeling of fear or anxiety. So...it's...showing that you're afraid. When you're fearful you're scared, and you're just really kind of nervous. You just don't know what's coming, and it's just that kind of anxiety. It makes you really afraid. That's fearful. Number two - panicked. Panicked is an adjective that comes from the word panic. And panic is a sudden feeling of terror and anxiety that just completely overwhelms you. And many times it can refer to a group of people. When we see a mass of people we can hear mass panic. Or just seeing a group of people really scared that is when panic applies. But it is not the only time when we can use panic. We can use it just for a feeling. When you're anxious and when you're fearful, those two feelings combined create panic. Number three - startled. Besides being difficult to say, this word is not as strong as some of the other ones in this lesson Meaning that when somebody is startled, they're not completely terrified. It's kind of a softer word. So startled means to cause shock or alarm. But it doesn't have to be to a great degree. You can be just a little startled if somebody just like taps you on your shoulder. Or you can be very startled if, for example, somebody scares your or shocks you. Oh is this the dining room...OHH, you startled me. I didn't realize how difficult this word was to say. Until I kept saying it...startled, startled, startled, startled, startled. Startled. Number four is petrified. I really like this word because it reminds me of a stone. So the first meaning of this word is organic matter that has turned into stone. But the second meaning is the one that we are talking about today. And it means that when somebody is petrified, they are so scared that perhaps they're unable to move or react. They're petrified. Have you ever been petrified? It's not a great feeling. It happened to me a couple times. When you can't react or do anything because of your intense fear. It's a really scary feeling Number five is...terrified. Five terrified. It kind of rhymes...five terrified. Now terrified is not just scared, it's extreme fear. So whenever you think of being afraid, if you take that - to like a hundred degrees. So it's an extreme state of fear. Now many times we see terrified together with the preposition "of." So we can say that you're "terrified of (something)." You can be terrified of ghosts or of clowns. I'm really terrified of clowns. So I am terrified of clowns, the dark... ...terrified of spiders, terrified of snakes. Oh my gosh, many things. Many things. I'm terrified of many things. Number six - aghast. I really like a aghast. It sounds... It doesn't sound like a typical English word. It sounds very... It sounds scary actually. Now aghast means filled with horror and shock. Or shocked or surprised in a very, very unpleasant way. Aghast. Number seven is anxious. I would like to start this by explaining that anxious is not really a synonym for "scared." But it can be a very severe state of mind. So when somebody is anxious, they have a feeling of worry, of unease, and nervousness about something that they don't know the outcome of. So it's just a feeling in our stomach. When your stomach goes like this... And you just don't know what's going to happen. It's a very good word because it expresses how many of us feel many times. Number eight - rattled. Rattled means worried or nervous. But somebody who is rattled is usually rattled because something rattled them. So there's usually an event that causes someone to become rattled. Meaning there was an event that caused you to lose your focus. And now you're worried and you're nervous, and you can't focus. Rattled. Not even Teddy KGB is immune to getting a little rattled. So for example, if you're taking a test and your almost at the end. And the teacher says, "Five minutes left!" This is always true for me. I get so rattled that I can't focus to finish my test. And then I'm worried. Oh, no. Oh, no. Five minutes. Five minutes. That's the feeling. I'm rattled. I can't focus. Safe to say, I don't like teachers announcing how much time is left. Because I get very rattled. Number nine - intimidated. Intimidated means frightened or nervous because you are not confident in a certain situation. And this is important because confidence is the key word here. Everyone who is intimidated by something, they're... they suddenly lose confidence in that situation. For example when I went Wes, I was intimidated because he was very tall. Number ten - frightened. Frightened is a very good synonym for scared. It means feeling fear or worry. Number eleven - spooked. I think this one is a little bit more informal because spook, in informal speech, means a ghost. So when you're spooked, you're frightened as if you've seen a ghost. Like that. That's my best impression spook. Like... How would you react if you saw a ghost? Number twelve is unnerving. I really like this word. Again, I don't know why. Sometimes I just have words that I really like. Now, if something is unnerving it means that it makes you feel weird or uncomfortable, deprived of courage or determination. That's the official definition. But it just... it just makes you feel uncomfortable. It's this feeling that something is definitely, definitely wrong. And the last one...unlucky number thirteen is chilling. So the word chill means being cold. And chilling is a sensation that you get that is fear mixed with being cold. It's a physical reaction to fear. When something is chilling, it's so frightening that you feel it in your body, you feel this shiver or cold throughout your body. It's chilling. Okay, so we're done with our 13 words. Now it's time to practice. Are you scared? Are you scared. Are you ready? So for this practice, I want you to write a sentence about this picture right here. Using one of the 13 words we learned today. If you're feeling daring and not scared, you can use more than one. I dare you. Don't be scared of the words. They're beautiful. Words are your friends. But please use them in a sentence. This will help you practice and improve, and retain these words because they're very, very, very, very, very, very, very useful words. I also encourage you to read everyone else's sentences because this will give you a better idea of how the words are used in different contexts. So how was that? Are you scared? I hope not. Don't be scared to share this video with all of your friends. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 31. 15 Advanced Adjectives to Describe People and Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PIGQVLCR-CU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIGQVLCR-CU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:53:28 | --- Today's lesson is all about building your vocabulary. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And the way we're going to do that today is by building your vocabulary. I am going to teach you some advanced adjectives that you can use to describe people. And this is useful because we often like to talk about ourselves and describe our personality and as well as talk about those around us. So I'm going to teach you the meaning of the word as well as give you an example sentence so that you can see how the adjective is used in context. These advanced words also happen to be some of my favorite adjectives. So are you ready? Let's begin. The first word that I have for you is frank. And what it means is that that somebody is very direct in the way that they speak. They're very open, they're honest. They, they're not shy about telling you what's on their mind. You would say that that person is frank. Often I think of somebody making the statement and saying, you know, I'm going to be frank with you. I'm getting ready to tell you what's on my mind. I'm not going to hold back. I'm going to be frank with you. The next word I have for you is boisterous. And this adjective means someone who is energetic, cheerful, and may even be a bit. So I think that it's not always a permanent part of your personality. Perhaps somebody is usually boisterous, but I think all of us can be boisterous from time to time. I think it depends on the situation, the people that we're with, and if we're really loud and energetic and cheerful, then somebody might say, wow, you are boisterous. Then we have persistent. And what this word means is somebody who is continuing to do something or trying to do something in a very determined way, but often kind of an unreasonable way that you are just not going to give up. You are persistent and you're going to keep going until you, you achieve your goal and you get what you want. So it can be a good thing and that, you know, don't give up. Always be persistent, keep trying. But it may also be a bad thing because if somebody is too persistent that that could get a bit annoying and you might want that person to go away and you tell them, get the hell outta here. You persistent little. So keep that in mind. If you're thinking about whether or not you should be persistent. Next is unassuming and this means somebody who is not arrogant, somebody who is not trying to get all of the attention. And I think it's usually describing somebody's personality and you might say that somebody has an unassuming manner that they don't try to stand out and get all the attention. They can be rather unassuming. The next adjective is intimidating and this is not a good word if somebody is using it to describe you because what it means is that somebody is making you feel frightened or afraid. So we could say that somebody might have an intimidating personality or maybe if you're just looking at their face, perhaps they have an intimidating look. The next word, and, and this is one that I really like, is pragmatic. It means that somebody is solving a problem in a sensible way, that you are taking a realistic approach in trying to solve this problem. So I often think of somebody who has a lot of common sense who is very reasonable. You could say that they are pragmatic. I like to think of myself as being pragmatic, but, but I'll be frank with you if you know that that's not always the case. Then we have pretentious. Now this is not a good adjective to describe another person because it means that someone is trying to appear smarter and sound a bit more clever than they really are. So I often think somebody who might be talking about art or or literature and the, they're trying to pretend that they know so much. You could say that this person, that they're being a little pretentious, The next adjective is cynical and a another. It's another good one because I think I can definitely be cynical and it's just the belief that that other people are motivated by their own self interests. So for example, I think especially when it comes to politics, I'm a bit cynical. I think many people are cynical when, when talking about politics. So that's a great example as to when you might hear or even use this word, The next adjective and, and this is a little more slang and that is cocky. And if someone is cocky, it just means that they are confident, usually in a bit of an arrogant and unpleasant way. And it can be kind of rude if somebody cocky because that means that they think that they're the best. They're number one. And you would say that, okay, this person is cocky. I think we often use this word when, when talking about sports and competition and people always like to say how, how good they are or that they're going to beat their opponent. And you could say, you know, yeah, they're, they're being a bit cocky. I think all of us have been cocky at one point or another, whether it's talking about, you know, our, our school performance, our work performance, or like I said, sports. Next is conceited and this should be easy because it has a similar meaning to cocky. So somebody who is conceited, it just means that they are too proud of their actions and abilities. They think very highly of themselves and you could say, okay, this person is a bit conceited. The next adjective is vain and it also has a bit of a similar meaning to conceded and cocky. So if somebody is vain, it just means that they have a strong interest in their appearance or, or even their abilities. But often I think it's usually talking about somebody's appearance, the way that they look, the way they style their hair, the clothes that they wear, and maybe they're always looking at themselves in the mirror and thinking, wow, I am just so amazing. Then you could say, you know that that person, they're pretty vain. Then we have diplomatic, which is a positive adjective. If you want to describe someone who has the ability to avoid offending others or , or even hurting their feelings that this is a person who's great at, at solving problems. If people are having, uh, some sort of conflict or you would want somebody to help them, help them solve the problem and you need somebody who is diplomatic. The next word is affable. And if somebody is affable, that just means that they are friendly and easy to talk to. So you might be talking about your friend, your neighbor, your teacher, your boss, and you could say, wow, they're there. They're affable. They're easy to get along with, easy to talk to, very friendly. I think I could say that all of you are affable because you're very easy to talk to. You write me so many wonderful comments and I hope you write some comments today. Just go on down below. Write a comment. The next word is chatty now. Now I think many of you might be familiar with is adjective because to chat to someone just means to talk. So if you're describing somebody and you're saying that they are chatty, it means that they are talking a lot and usually in an informal way. So if somebody is chatty, they'll pretty much talk to you about anything. Then we have one more word that I just wanted to give you, but this word is a noun. It's not an adjective, but it's also a word that can be used to describe someone. And that is a klutz. And if someone is a klutz, then that just means that they are very clumsy. Uh, you know, perhaps a little foolish, a little awkward. I often associate it with, with somebody who's clumsy and I think of a person who's always knocking things over or dropping things. And I think, wow, that that person there are real klutz. So that's a bonus one for you because it's not an adjective, it's a noun, but it's one that I think we can all relate to because at one point or another, I think we've all been a klutz and you know, we've just been clumsy. So I want to be diplomatic in my approach and I certainly don't want to be intimidating when I ask you to write to me in the comments and let me know which of these adjectives describe you. How would you describe yourself? Let me know in the comments. I just love hearing from you. I'm also going to be persistent and ask you again to hit that like button, especially if you learn something new. --- ## 32. 15 Advanced Phrases w/ HAVE, DO & MAKE to Boost Your Proficiency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `wlHUr36_5zs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlHUr36_5zs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:41:10 | --- I want to teach you some everyday words and phrases to help you build your vocabulary but in a very practical way because this is vocabulary that we use quite often and I'm talking about the verbs make do and have so I'm going to teach you the meaning of these phrases talk about how they're used in context as well as give you a variety of examples so let's make the most of it and keep building your vocabulary and we'll begin with the phrase that I just mentioned to make the most of this means means to take full advantage of something because it's not going to last long so generally this refers to some sort of opportunity maybe it's a beautiful day outside and I say well you should make the most of it or perhaps you're in New York City for only a couple of days and you want to make the most of it you want to build your vocabulary so you're watching this video you should make the most of it hit the like button right to me in the comments it's not going to last for forever we'll show your people how to use this land properly how to make the most of it on a ticking clock make the most of it we have a few minutes right now let's make the most of it then there's make do with this means to use what is available although it's really not enough or even what you wanted so there are many situations that you can use this phrase maybe you need a knife but only a fork is available and you say yes I'll make do with the fork or perhaps you're trying to go somewhere and you can get there faster by car but a bike is the only thing that's available and you say I'll make do with it here are some news headlines so you can get a better idea as to how this phrase is used in context we need two pools in this town Orangeville residents make doe with Tony rose pool closure the gender pension Gap even after work ends women must make do with less as Louisiana schools seek to prevent school shootings some make do with l limited resources let's have a look at some more examples I'll just make do with no assistance no don't just give up maybe you haven't found the right person yet they're not going to go back to the way they were you make do with what's left I can't find any baking soda we going to have to make do with Colgate then we have to make amends this means to do something to show that you're sorry for your bad behavior in the past so in this case it is a little similar to makeup let's make up let's make amends the difference is that when you're going to use make amends it really means that you are actually doing or offering something to to show that you're sorry so if my wife is upset with me I may buy her some flowers in order to make amends I thought this was a fun little saying make amends real quick Karma does not joke around and yes I I do think it's always better to make amends even though it it doesn't always happen I've been making amends you weren't a amending you are avenging step nine of Narcotics Anonymous I'm here to make amends so I've been going through the 12 steps what are you up to now uh step nine yeah making amends I seek to make amends to pay for what I've done make a point of this is used to emphasize something or highlight a situation so one thing I want you to keep in mind is that you're often going to follow this phrase with a Jaren I could say I I make a point of calling my parents once a week and I just maybe want to highlight that or to give you a business example maybe I could say we need to make a point of offering our employees professional development opportunities and you just want to emphasize that this is important you know I make a point of never interfering in your personal affairs the folk who Thrive around here make a point of easing their neighbor burden seem somewh familiar have I threatened you before I make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates then we have the phrase make peace with and you can make peace with someone or make peace with something and they really have two different meanings so when you make peace with someone it means that you need to stop fighting or disagreeing with someone and start working and living happily together so let's say that two people are fighting or arguing and I say you need to make peace with each each other reach out and take it make peace with the Lannisters make peace with your sister and then make peace with yourself now when you make peace with something that means that you start to accept something that was worrying or annoying you and I could say uh well I made peace with the fact that I would never become a professional basketball player even though that's what I wanted when I was younger but I made peace with that a long time ago it's not going to change just make peace with it you know I've had to make peace with the fact that probably never going to get genuine accountability let's continue with more phrases but this time I want to teach you some useful phrases with the verb do and we will start with the phrase do a number on this means to harm someone or something and it really does have a negative connotation perhaps I say that well I went in for a cleaning but the dentist did a number on my teeth and in that case I'm referring to physical harm but you could also use this when referring to any type of harm like psychological harm perhaps I say after getting out of the relationship she did not trust anyone her ex really did a number on her here are some more examples boy did your mother do a number on you I haven't worn a bathing suit in public like ever Chrissa really did a number on you huh this is more than just a one night stand this lady's going to do a number on you mate I appreciate the concern next is the phrase to do one's part and this means to do what one is responsible for doing or is able to do so when I was younger I was supposed to help clean around the home and sometimes my parents didn't think that I was doing that and they would tell me you're not doing your part when it comes to protecting the environment I like to think that I'm I'm trying to do my part and that's also why I thought this was a funny little joke I'm doing my part to conserve water by drinking wine instead trust me we literally have no extra money so do your part sign your time card he will not know just do your part she wish 9 million socially conscious and unified citiz all just stepping up and doing their part to do your own thing I really like this phrase because means that you're going to do what you want without worrying what anyone else thinks of you so I I think it has a positive connotation and I would encourage you to do your own thing don't worry what others think I know I am going to do my own thing and I'm going to continue doing my own thing so you should also do your own thing and I'm just going to keep saying that phrase do your own thing I'm not in hoodie and the Blowfish anymore y'all doing my own thing Just Do Your Own Thing get your own life I mean You Do Your Own Thing comfortable with yourself no thank you I'm doing my own thing this year then we have the phrase do your best this is a great phrase because it's so common and it just means to make the greatest effort that you possibly can and you would often use this to encourage someone I could say I want you to study hard and do your best on the exam or even though the team lost everyone did their best do your best it's all anybody can ask for I can do it just do your best I go do your best it's not too late for you to become a person of substance Russell please get my son home safely so we just talked about do your best now I want to talk about do your worst you you would think that these phrases are exact opposites because of best and worst but that not really if you tell someone do your worst it just means to do the most unpleasant or harmful things that you can so we're not talking about effort like in do your best we're talking about harm so you may often use this when there's some sort of Confrontation or competition perhaps someone is telling you that they're going to destroy your reputation and you say I'm not afraid of you do your worst and you're really challenging someone do your worst all right Monday do your worst I've lost track of the number of times I've been killed so go ahead do your worst so if you need to do your worst do your worst you've got the address of the hotel I'll be here waiting I am going to do my part and continue teaching you some useful phrases but this time with the verb have and the first phrase that I want to teach you is to have a onrack mind this means to think about one particular thing and nothing else now sometimes you may hear people use this phrase as more of a sexual innuendo suggesting that a guy has a onrack mind and is only thinking about sex but that's not always the case and to give you some more context here are some news headlines you have a one-track mind which is why multitasking is sabotaging your productivity Kristoff lre and maybe I'm mispronouncing the name this person is a French Sprinter and they say at the start lineup you have a onrack mind and finally you don't have to have a onrack mind to study law now let's look at some video examples using this phrase oh and then games something you have a one track mind I don't care just as long as it takes me where I want to go I have a one track mind don't I my one trck mind is telling me that I'm hungry no why not because my ex-girlfriend's getting married Jesus you got a one track mind it's always Katlyn Kaitlyn Kaitlyn next is have an in with this means to establish a connection with someone in a position of authority and often I think this phrase is kind of related to networking maybe you try to meet someone especially someone in a position of authority you try to establish a connection so that perhaps in the future you have an in with this person and it doesn't have to be someone with immense power it could just be a regular person who perhaps because of their job they have power in specific situations I could say I'll be able to get us into the concert because I have an inn with the security guard he's an old friend from high school here are some more examples maybe have an inn with a big client that we could get our foot in oh I have an end with the manager I delivered his baby and even better I have an end with the owner oh yeah we work together then there's the phrase to have mixed feelings this is another common phrase and it's used to say that you feel pleased and not pleased at the same time perhaps I ask you what do you think about the new employee policy and you say well I have mixed feelings about it I thought this was a fun example because there's a popular slogan I love New York you see it on t-shirts with a heart but I think maybe this t-shirt is a little more accurate I have mixed feelings about New York let's have a look at some more examples I have mixed feelings about being a parent I have mixed feelings about doing interviews I have mixed feelings honestly about Christmas how's that possible share the same blood the same mixed feelings towards B to have a presence of mind and really you would have a presence of mind to do something this refers to the ability to make good good decisions and react quickly and calmly in a difficult situation or an emergency it's another way of saying that you were able to think quickly and make a good decision when the fire started she had the presence of mind to grab the fire extinguisher now I always like to inspire you so here are some inspirational quotes using this phrase presence of mind in all things I counsel be aware of thyself before all else it's very deep most important was to remain focused and always have have a presence of mine I hope that you have the presence of mind to write to me in the comments it's not necessarily an emergency but a good decision at least have the presence of mind to act civilized usually when someone has the presence of mind to ask themselves if they're going crazy it suggests they're not if I had lost my temper would I have had the presence of mine to leave my card and my insurance information then there's to have your hands tied this is used to say that someone is unable to act freely because something like a law or rule prevents it let's say that you would like my help and I would like to help you but for some reason I can't I might say sorry my hands are tied here are some more news headlines so you can get a better feel as to how this phrase is used in context fast food is targeting youths but local leaders have their hands tied border patrol agents have their hands tied priests fleas country with teen Valentine but police may have their hands tied let's have a look at some video examples totally disregard that last voicemail because you obviously have your hands tied good luck since his death my hands have been tied but I believe the universe has given us a gift you can't reward her for that my hands are tied I hope that you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new and if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 33. 15 Useful Words to Say You're HAPPY ๐Ÿ˜ƒ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `2gmp9_UnasA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gmp9_UnasA) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:49:22 | --- Ioana singing: If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" How are you today? Are you happy? Maybe so-so? Well hopefully after watching this video, you'll not only feel happy, but thrilled, elated! You'll be walking on air! Because this lesson is all about happy words, or different ways to say you're happy! If improving your English makes you happy, join our social media classes. They will help you practice and improve every day. Now, let's get to the lesson. Today, I'm going to teach you 15 words to express your happiness. because saying "I'm happy" can get a little boring sometimes, and may not fully express how you feel. So let's get to it! In this lesson, you'll learn 12 words and 3 idioms. So next time you feel happy, you'll know what to say! Joyful means feeling and expressing happiness. I think the key word here is "expressing", which means that when someone is joyful, they make sure to show their happiness. When someone is ecstatic, they're feeling or expressing overwhelming excitement or happiness. Elated means ecstatic and happy combined. Someone who's elated is in very high spirits. This word means pleased or delighted. Glad usually takes a more subtle form of happiness, so when someone is glad, they might not be as expressive as when they're joyful. Many times you'll hear the sentence: "I'm glad to hear that"- which means you're happy, but maybe not overwhelmingly happy. Let's see another example: Someone or something that is upbeat is positive and optimistic. Lively means full of life and energy. So when someone or something is lively, we can feel that energy. Chipper is a synonym for lively, but perhaps a little more playful. Someone who is thrilled is extremely delighted or excited. Someone who is cheerful is noticeably happy and optimistic. We use blissful to describe someone or something that is happy and full of joy. It's happiness in the purest form. The definition of euphoric is a state of extreme happiness and joy. It's like you can feel the happiness throughout your body and mind. Jolly means happy and cheerful. We usually use this word around the holidays, when we want to describe Santa Claus. While we have a preference to use it around the holidays, it's also possible to use it in everyday conversation. This idiom means blissfully happy. It's kind of a synonym for euphoric and blissful combined. When we use it, we try to say we're soooo happy, at the very pinnacle of bliss. This is another happy idiom. It means to feel elated. Over the moon is an idiom that means very pleased or delighted. Let's practice what we've learned today! In the comments below, I want you to write a sentence about this picture using one of the words or idioms that we learned today. Got it? Easy? You'll do it? Good job! I also encourage you to read each other's sentences, because this will help reinforce your understanding of the words. Do you feel happy now? If yes, please like this video. Thanks for watching! We're thrilled, elated, over the moon to have you study English with us! We'll see you next time! Bye! --- ## 34. 16 Useful Words & Phrases to Describe People | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-rro1ekRUNo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rro1ekRUNo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:28:43 | --- [Music] Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I I want to help you build your vocabulary because I'm going to teach you some different words and phrases that you can use so that that you can be very specific if you want to talk about another person and describe their personality, their behavior. So there are different adjectives and and nouns that we can use to describe people. And I want to start with some adjectives. So the first word that I have for you is charismatic. other people and they can easily get people's attention. Just because you say that someone is charismatic, that does not mean that it's a good thing. It sounds like a good thing and it can be a compliment, but it does not always mean that the person you're talking about I is a good person. It's really just their behavior, the way they act, they have that influence and and they can easily get people's attention. Well, because of the way they talk, the way they speak, and you could say that yes, this person is charismatic. The most popular scandal-free athletes of all time. He's heroic. He's charismatic. And he's retiring. the charismatic guy promising to make America great again. Incredibly charismatic. You mean to tell me this all happened cuz you were messing with the shadow man? He was very charismatic. Then we have the word chatty. And if somebody is chatty, it just means that well they like to talk a lot. Usually in a very friendly and and informal way. You could say he or she is chatty. Now, the one thing I would say about this word is that it's often used to make an observation about someone else. You you wouldn't often hear people say that, "Oh, I'm so chatty." It's not really it's not necessarily a good or a bad thing, but you would use it more to make an observation and talk about the way somebody else is acting that they are talking a lot. And you could use it to describe a person's uh somebody's personality. She's so chatty. Maybe my parents are right. Maybe I'd be better off with an Indian girl. Something wrong. But you can start with clearing those empties. Great. I'll get right on it. Not very chatty today, are you? I don't know. Is there something you wanted to talk about? And the next word that I have for you, the next adjective is sirly. And this just means that someone is not very friendly and they're often in a bad mood. Let me show you a picture which really captures this word right here. All right. Now, we would often use these words to describe people, but you could use them to describe animals as well. This picture, it is a perfect example of surirly because that that is one sirly cat. Sometimes you can come off a little sirly. What? I'm not sirly. That's it. She gets very sirly when you disobey a direct order. You're a different breed than our sort. You're sirly, suspicious. You don't play well with others. Then we have the phrase levelheaded. And if you describe someone as levelheaded, it means that that this person is calm and they're able to easily deal with difficult situations. And I think this is it's definitely a good thing if somebody calls you levelheaded. I think that all of us probably want to be levelheaded and and think that we can solve difficult situations and and remain calm. LA's so nice. Everyone's so genuine and level-headed. Okay, first of all, women don't like to be called dame. Second, women appreciate calm uh levelheaded and uh responsible. Mom, I'm not stoned. I'm completely fine. In fact, I'm more clear and level-headed than I've ever been. Then we have the phrase easygoing. And this is used to describe someone who is well they're very relaxed and they they don't easily get worried or upset. And you could say that well this person they're just they're just easygoing. Nothing bothers them. They don't worry about anything because they're easygoing. I've always thought I was pretty easy going. You know it's not like I have the big issues. Disappointed with you, Margo. But you seem so easygoing. Thought you'd let me try on a dress. What can I say? I'm an easygoing gal. Next is absent-minded. And this phrase is used to describe someone who easily forgets things or they're just not really paying attention to the things that are happening around them. And you could say that this person is a little absent-minded. I think it happens to all of us. Uh I forget things from time to time. And yeah, I would say that I can be absent-minded. waving goodbye with an absentminded smile. I thought you'd know about it. And so we do. Of course we do. I'm sorry I was being absent minded. Oh yes. Oh yes, of course. She is an old dear but a little absent minded. Then I have a couple of phrases that I'm going to put them together. And that is above average and below average. And these phrases are used to describe uh someone that is well higher or lower or better or worse than the usual amount or level. So you would use these phrases just to be a little more specific about your opinion as to this person's perhaps their ability. And you could say that that somebody is a below average tennis player. or maybe I I guess I would like to think that I am an above average English teacher. That's what I'd like to think. But it's a these are great phrases that you can use when you want to describe maybe even your own ability or talk about somebody else's ability, above average or below average. Wow. With above average height comes above average responsibility. Until then, I'll just keep bringing him his uh below average pancakes and soggy bacon. Do you think I'm an idiot? No, I'd say you possess above average intelligence. Corporal Dawson was given a below average rating, committed a crime. Then we have the adjective grumpy. And if you say that someone is grumpy, it means that they are easily annoyed and maybe they're usually complaining. They're always they're complaining about something. You could say, "Gosh, you're you're always so grumpy." And to give you another example, let's just bring up another cat here. This is a picture of a grumpy cat. Now, let's switch and talk about some nouns that can be used to describe people. And the first one, because we just talked about someone who may be grumpy, is a grump. All right, we can use this word as a noun as well. And a grump is a person who's not a very friendly person and that it's somebody who usually is complaining about something. You could say that this person is a grump. Or you could have a little fun with the word and throw the adjective and noun together and say that somebody is a grumpy grump. They are really complaining a lot. They're a grumpy grump. Stanley Hudson is a grump. Everybody knows that. Miss Melons is out today. So we have Mr. Cooper teach us biology. SUCH A GRANDMA. NO WAY. I bet you'd make way more money being nice than being a big grumpy grump to everyone all the time. The next noun that I have for you is a jack of all trades. And if you say that somebody is a jack of all trades, it refers to a person that is capable of doing many different jobs and they would typically do those jobs well. And when I say different jobs, I'm talking about a a variety of of really different things. So perhaps somebody is able to fix cars. This person is a great programmer. This person is an excellent cook and they can do all of these different things and they are very capable at doing them. You could say that he or she is a jack of all trades. What if Big Head is sort of like a floating utility player? Kind of like a like a jack of all trades. Listen, I'm so much more. Um I'm kind of a jack of all trades, if you will. The next phrase I have for you is a darkhorse. And this just refers to a person who is not expected to succeed or win, but then they suddenly do. They they suddenly do win. And you could say that this person, wow, they were a darkhorse, but they won the competition. So often it is used in that context when talking about some competition. Oo, a dark horse candidate. Late entry to the race. But what's this? I don't know. A dark horse is challenging G. Any contestants worth mentioning? Maybe. There's kind of a dark horse in the running. So, uh, here it is one more time. The dark horse for this year's Christmas number one. Christmas is all around. Thank you, Billy. Then we have the phrase black sheep, which refers to a person who embarrasses a a group or a family because they're they're different in some way and perhaps they've done something they've gotten into trouble or they've done something wrong and because of that and they've embarrassed the family, you could say that he or she is a black sheep. Now, it does not always have to mean that that they've done something wrong. It could just be that that they're just different in some way and maybe everybody else thinks it's a little strange. brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin who is a little different from everyone else. And maybe other people think that that it's a little strange. You could say that that this person is a black sheep. Third brother in the middle, Gary. I heard him. Yeah, the black sheep. The drunk. Do you know what's a black sheep? No. It's like when you're different to everyone else. The cones are like family, Neil. Maybe they're about to become the black sheep. Everybody thinks I'm the black sheep. Well, I'll show them what a black sheep can do. Then we have the phrase know-it-all. And this refers to a person that just they think they know everything. and you could describe them and say that he or she is a know-it-all. And this is a phrase that it's you wouldn't use it as a compliment. So, it's not something you would say about yourself, but if somebody else they they're not being very humble and they're they're being a little too proud. They think they're so smart. You could tell them and say, "Oh, you're such a know-it-all." Which means you're not taking your s word like you should. You're such a know-it-all. She's so rigid and demanding here. She's a complete know-it-all. Hey, it's me, the know-it-all. What are you doing here? Next is the phrase wise guy. And this refers to a person who is trying to be clever in a way that's a little annoying. So typically you would say this to a person not really to be very mean to them but really just kind of call them out on the way they are behaving the way they're acting. They're trying to be clever but they're really being a little annoying and say you're such you're such a wise guy. Stop stop being such a wise guy. DELIVERY RIGHT HERE. I CAUGHT A BAD PEPPERONI. A wise guy. Okay. Okay. Hey, who's the wise guy? Hey. Hey. Hey, does this look like a petting zoo to you? Huh? Okay. All right, wise guy, you just earned a timeout. Then we have the phrase stick in the mud. And this is this is one of my favorite phrases. Uh it's it's a noun that's used to describe somebody who is old-fashioned and they just kind of want to avoid having fun. If somebody does not like to have fun and they're kind of ruining it for everyone else, you could say that they are a stick in the mud. Typically, if somebody is a a surirly person and maybe they're just complaining because they're so grumpy, you could tell them that that they are a stick in the mud as well. Why don't you take a few pictures, have a few laughs? Jeez, Eddie, what a stick in the mud. You were a stick in the mud when we judged that beauty pageant and you're being a stick in the mud now. I am not a stick in the mud. I just want to stop a party from happening. Then we have the phrase yes man. And this is talking about a person who is always trying to please a superior and they are saying things and doing things in order to please that person. I I I think it's often used in the context of uh work because if somebody is always trying to make their boss happy and whatever their boss asks them to do, they just say yes. Andy's a yes man. Not all the time. Sometimes I'll say I don't like something. And he says he doesn't like it either. It's very presidential of me, don't you think? Absolutely. You're not turning into a yes man, are you? I'm becoming a corporate yes man. Like, yes, Mr. George Bush. Whatever you say, Mr. George Bush. Then we have the word sitter. Now, this noun refers to someone who who takes care of of someone else. Now, I I think the word is shortened. Typically, it's used to refer to a babysitter. a babysitter, someone who takes care and looks after a baby. But it could be shortened to just a sitter. You can also use this with other nouns as well. For example, you could say that somebody is a housesitter and they are taking care and looking after another person's house. Or perhaps they are a dog sitter or a catsitter and they are taking care of somebody else's pets. A babysitter, a house sitter, a cats sitter, a dog sitter, a pet sitter. I think that's about it for for for sitters. Three cities in six days. My head is just pounding. I'm not ready for a dinner party. I already got a sitter. Can you cancel her? So, what you're saying is if I can get an acceptable babysitter here before you leave, I can go patrol. Babysitter? I'm 14. I'm old enough to be a babysitter. And thank you for reminding me I can't find a freaking catsitter. I'm not going. Ch's regular dog sitter is ill. I wonder if he'd know enough to go to my brother's place. They in Paris. Maybe they have a house sitter. So, I hope you learn some new words and phrases, and I'm sure that you will remember them because you are not absent-minded. You You are a very levelheaded person. You will remember these words and phrases. And I I hope that you can use them if you're having a conversation. Maybe you're feeling a little chatty and you're talking to other people and you can practice using these words and phrases and just tell them how much you know. but maybe they will think that you are a know-it-all. All right, if you enjoyed the lesson, please hit that like button. As always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next --- ## 35. 17 Education Idioms & Phrases | Build your informal vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4HHiBC0TFgk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HHiBC0TFgk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:59:56 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson which is all about idioms and expressions and this is very useful because we often use idioms in informal conversation so this is going to be very good for your listening comprehension as well as your speaking fluency if you want to try and use these idioms depending on the situation that you're in so the idioms and expressions we will talk about today are all dealing with education so these are phrases that we have taken from education because they have to do with learning they have to do with school and that's how they started that's where they came from but often you're able to use them in a variety of contexts and a variety of situations so the first one that I have for you and this is one that I I it happens to me and that is to draw a blank and when somebody draws a blanket means that they have no answer or no response to a question that was asked of them or it could also be used that if you're trying to think of something and you can't come come up with the answer or you can't come up with a response you could then tell somebody you know sorry right now I'm drawing a blank I can't think of an answer I'm drawing a blank cool can open again tomorrow explain to me again how that's a good thing drawing a blank reconstructive surgery I don't know I don't know Tony think I'm drawing a blank babe Peter I don't know why I'm drawing a blank on his last name Peter the next expression is back to the basics and when somebody goes back to the basics it's it's kind of exactly what it says you are returning to the beginning not only that but you're going back to the beginning and you're going to use a traditional method or a traditional approach that was successful in the past so oftentimes when you're going to try something people like to use new ideas and explore different options but they don't always work and if they don't work then somebody might say you know okay we need to go back to the basics because this other method worked in the past we need to go back and try it and use that method so we'll go back to the basics it's back to the basics classic Itchy and Scratchy it's a little similar to back to the drawing board in that case you are also going back to the beginning but this time you're going back to the beginning and you're starting over because what you did before wasn't successful so it doesn't really have to do with the method or approach that you're using it just means that you tried something it didn't work we got to go back to the drawing board and we'll try it again and again and again and again until we finally are successful wow okay that's not gonna work back to the drawing board all right everyone it's back to the drawing board Eagle rejected all of our ideas the next idiom is a copycat so this is an idiom that that comes from education I think all of us can relate to this when you're studying in school there are students that that cheat and they may copy off of another student and when you're copying somebody else that person can be referred to as a copycat they are copying your answers they're a copycat we can also use it in the sense of imitating somebody else if you are copying a person's uh movements if you're copying their gestures if you're copying the way that they speak then you could say that yes they are a copycat because you were yawning so I've I've just beyond so you're a copycat I know you wanted one for your hobby shop the janitor already gave me one nobody likes a copy the next idiom is to cover a lot of ground and when somebody says you know okay we're going to cover a lot of ground it's talking about you are covering a range of topics a lot of information so it's very common I think that in a classroom the teacher might say Okay throughout the semester we're going to cover a lot of ground there's going to be a lot of different things we're going to research a lot of different things we're going to do a lot of topics we're going to discuss we're going to cover a lot of ground so this idiom applies to school but it applies to basically anything that it is that you're learning so if you're learning about photography maybe you're learning yoga any type of class you could say yeah we're covering a lot of ground in this course we're specifically talking about building your vocabulary but at the same time there is so much information that you're learning about Advanced vocabulary idioms phrasal verbs we're covering a lot of ground well I've been picked up for loan sharking and racketeering but never convicted racketeering that covers a lot of ground then we've covered a lot of ground thank you this was very helpful we have to start early we've got a lot of ground to cover rule number one you can't question my ways then we have show of hands and this just means when a group of people would raise their hands in order to vote on something or or perhaps somebody would like to get information I think it's related back to school because in school teachers would ask questions to students and then they would raise their hands they wanted to give the answer to a question so this idiom is it's applicable I think any time that you're giving a presentation in front of another group of people whether it's at school or work or or just in any setting where you're speaking in front of an audience and you ask them a question and you want them to raise their hand you want them to be engaged in your presentation and then you could just start by saying Okay show of hands who has I don't know had some experience and people would raise their hands show of hands who has learned new vocabulary in this course I hope all of you are raising your hands right now and you're not drawing a blank okay anyone in this room think that I would accent Ross begging signals both hands again show of hands who here is familiar with the concept of topological insulators then we have to drop out of school and this is actually a phrasal verb and when somebody drops out of school it just means that they leave school they're they're not attending anymore and they didn't finish they didn't graduate they didn't finish the the program that they're in and they would drop out of school or drop out of the class or drop out of the program can also use it as a noun and refer to the person as a Dropout so if you say that somebody is a Dropout then that just means that yes they dropped out of school they didn't finish their schooling and finished the program whatever it is they're learning they're a Dropout I uh heard you dropped out of school why'd you drop out of school rummy tell you I decided drop off school and turn pro oh you're a College Dropout I'm a high school dropout she's also a police the next idiom has the word School in it and you could say that someone is from the old school or someone is of the old school and what this means is that a person is holding on to traditional values and beliefs that are not really relevant today or not relevant in the present so often I think it might be used in the context of perhaps a work environment and you're having to work with with other people and maybe somebody wants to uh try this old traditional method they have beliefs that were popular in the past but not so much anymore you could say you know well this person they're from the old school or they're of the old school you could also use it to say that an idea is from the old school or of the old school holding on to those traditional beliefs not really relevant in the present a kid I shouldn't have to explain myself from the old school don't raise your hands you give her your last name I haven't been my red Cardinals everything else I'm old school the next phrase is one that I really like and that is just a for effort so in school people will often get letter grades a b c d a is a a really good job so if somebody says the phrase a for effort they're talking about the effort that you put into it they are recognizing that that you put a lot of effort into something and they would tell you A for effort often I think it's said when somebody tries really hard to achieve something to accomplish some goal but they didn't quite get there and somebody could tell them you know you gave it your best a for effort and we can use this in a variety of context in which somebody is trying to do something maybe they're trying to learn something it didn't work out in the end but you could tell them A for effort to relate this back to one of my own experience variances I often think of of you know me trying to cook and I'm not a very good cook I I will try to cook different meals different dishes they don't always taste the best but at the same time I I could tell myself or somebody might tell me you know a for effort you tried you worked really hard even though the food doesn't taste like an A but I tried a for effort I don't do apologies so good will you get an A for effort this is amazing good um we're making progress a forever right then we have to learn something by heart and when somebody learns something by heart it just means that they have learned it really well they can do something automatically really with without even thinking about it because they've studied it again and again and again and they've learned it by heart so throughout this course we're just learning new vocabulary new idioms Expressions phrasal verbs and we're trying to repeat them over and over again that spaced repetition and in the end I hope that you're able to learn these words and their meanings by heart you're able to learn them by heart so that when you hear them in a conversation you understand what that person's trying to say but also when you're having a conversation you'll be able to speak and express your thoughts and opinions easily and accurately because you've learned these words by heart so please don't become a Dropout don't drop out of the course because if you do the next time you're having a conversation you will probably draw a blank and you won't be able to answer them because you didn't learn these words and phrases by heart so as you can see I can use these idioms naturally to express an idea to convey an opinion and now you understand them because you know their meaning also learn the municipal code you will learn them by heart okay so the next set of idioms they they all have the same meaning and that is to cut class to skip class or to play hooky and all three of these phrases they mean the same thing and it just means to to not go to class and not attend your lessons so somebody could cut class means the same thing as somebody who who skips class which means the same thing if somebody plays hooky they just don't go to class now when you're talking about cutting class and skipping class I think that is more specific because you're talking about a class it could be a class at school or it could be any kind of class that you're taking whether it's some exercise class it doesn't really matter play hooky now you could use this talking about school you could also use it talking about work that okay I'm not going to go to work today I'm going to play hooky I'm going to do something else and I'm not going to go so that is one difference between these three idioms cut class skip class those are the same they talk about class play hooky you could also use when talking about work or some other type of Engagement or event that you were supposed to participate in you're supposed to be a part of but you're not going to go you're going to play hooky keep in mind those phrases are very informal so it is something you would mostly hear in spoken English or use when you're having a conversation observing the school so that I can better evaluate applicants cool I'm cutting class cutting class is never a good idea did you know that Ari had been skipping her classes want to play hooky today oh maybe what do you got in mind we can do anything you want next is the idiom school of thought so when you're talking about the school of thought it just means that it's like a philosophy a way of thinking about some topic or some issue it's often used in the context like I think of somebody saying you know the general school of thought about some issue is this so when you want to talk about the the philosophy behind a certain topic you could just start out the sentence and say well the school of thought is this this is the the general philosophy the belief about this topic the school of thought Tyler is the one school of thought says they don't know nothing there are some schools of thought who of course say there are no other wines but Reds the next expression is to teach someone a lesson so again education school people are learning many lessons and they're learning all these new things but this is a little different because when you teach someone a lesson somebody needs to learn something but they need to learn something because they've done something wrong so if you say you know I'm going to teach this person a lesson they've done something wrong and instead of punishing them you're going to do something so that they realize they understand okay yeah I made a mistake thanks for teaching me the lesson I'm tempted to kiss again I see we could teach them a lesson why would that teach them a lesson I say you continue to grow accumulate power find this investor buy his business to teach him a lesson so you can teach somebody a lesson and then that other person will learn a lesson and learn a lesson it's kind of similar and that somebody made a mistake they did something wrong and they need to learn that and you'd say okay yes I learned my lesson I understand what I did wrong I learned my lesson so you can teach somebody a lesson and then that person will learn a lesson at least I hope that they learn a lesson because you don't want them to make that mistake again I hope you learned your lesson I hope you learned your lesson yeah sure did okay making fun of people is wrong then we have two expressions that are the exact same they're both phrasal verbs they have the same meaning and that is to goof off or to goof around and when somebody Goofs off or when they goof around it means that they're just wasting time they are procrastinating they are playing around they're not being serious you could say yes somebody is goofing off or maybe you might tell them hey stop goofing around we need to get serious we need to finish our work stop goofing off I definitely think of this in school especially when I would teach children that it's hard sometimes to keep their attention it's very normal for them to get up want to move around and you might say Hey you know we need to stop goofing off stop goofing around let's let's get serious let's focus focus on what I'm trying to say even adults let's be honest I think we've all done it especially whether it's at school or at work we're not very serious we're wasting time and we're goofing around I think we've all done that are we gonna be goofing off like this every day uh we're not goofing off we're creating musical Fusion it's titled 101 ways to goof off at the office that's all the goofing around at Pam's desk and and hanging out with Pam it's finally caught up to him I was just goofing around then we have the idiom hit the books now to hit the books yeah you're not punching a book it's not it's not like that but what it means is to study really hard so in this case it's often used when talking about school or education that you're preparing for an exam you need to study really hard and you're going to hit the books so for example maybe you're preparing for some exam and your friend says hey let's go out tonight let's go do something and say Hey you know I can't do that I gotta hit the books I gotta hit the books because I need to prepare for an exam I I need to study really hard hit the books law school buddy I've been hitting the books pretty hard lately looks like he's interested in hitting more than the books dad I mean not not the one of those nerdy guys well I'll uh I'll let you to hit the books better go hit the books if I'm gonna use this test nice meeting you though another great idiom which I really like and it does apply to me perhaps it's applied to you at some point and that is to pull an all-nighter and if somebody pulls an all-nighter it just means that they have stayed up all night or they've just stayed up really late to study and to finish their work so at school I think quite often people will wait until the last minute to do their work they will procrastinate and then they have to work all night in order to finish and they have to pull an all-nighter so it also applies to work if you have to finish a report or a project and you have to work all night in order to finish then you would pull an all-nighter I think we can all relate to this because I I've had deadlines before and they've been difficult to meet those deadlines and in order to do so I have to pull an all-nighter sometimes you might have to pull a few all-nighters in order to meet a deadline and to finish your work on time pull an all-nighter did this take you about 12 hours I pulled an all-nighter we've been pulling all-nighters to cram for this midterm tonight they need it first thing in the morning Peterson says we might be pulling an all-nighter so I hope you're able to learn all of these idioms by heart and again the best way to do that is try to connect them to your own experience connect them to your experience and education think about a time when you've had to hit the books or a time when you had to pull an all-nighter because the school of thought is that if you're able to associate the these idioms with your own experience and and think about their meaning in that way it's going to help you remember them and also as we keep reviewing these idioms and expressions and you learn them over a period of time again the school of thought is that you will be able to remember them and be able to use them the next time you're having a conversation and because we're covering a lot of ground with with this different vocabulary I'm always going to to keep repeating these idioms and expressions and phrasal verbs because that's just going to help you in the long run and even even some of these idioms over time and you hear somebody use one and you draw a blank and you can't remember the meaning or you want to use one in conversation and you draw a blank don't worry as long as you keep practicing hey I'll give you an a for effort and even now I hope that as I just have this conversation and I'm talking to you and I'm using these idioms that you can comprehend them and understand what I'm saying so show of hands who learns something new and found this lesson easy to follow and understand I hope all of you are raising your hands keep working hard keep hitting the books and I will see you next --- ## 36. 17 Super Useful Ways to Become FLUENT FAST ๐Ÿš€ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FV2KxREE2KE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV2KxREE2KE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:10:20 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about exactly what you need to do to become fluent and become fluent fast. That's coming up. [Music] What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I I want to talk to you about how you can achieve English fluency and do so quickly. And the way that you're going to do that is is by creating an English bubble. and you are going to surround yourself with the English language. It's like your own personal learning environment. And I want to talk to you about some useful ways in which you can shape that bubble and what you need to do in order to achieve fluency quickly. Everybody can do it and that is read every day. I tell this to learners all the time and this is probably one of the best habits that you can get into because reading is going to help you build your vocabulary. you'll be able to see how correct grammar structures are being used. And you know, I understand that it's not possible to take a long book and read something every day. But just start with something simple and easy and even short. You can read a newspaper article or even just something that you read online. As long as you read something every day, then that is a huge step that you are taking towards achieving English fluency. The next thing that you can do is take some online classes. The third thing you can do is listen to a podcast. And the reason I say you should listen to a podcast is because it it's like you're listening to a conversation. When you're listening to a podcast, you don't have images that you can follow so that you understand what people are talking about. You really have to pay attention to what it is that you're hearing and try to put a picture in your mind. So, it's really a great way to hone your listening skills and understand conversational English. Another part of the English bubble is writing down new words and phrases. If you write down new words and phrases that you're learning, then then you're keeping a record of everything that you should review because that means that you can go back one week later or one month later, review the material. Number five is focus on language that is suitable to you. And what I mean by that is not everybody's trying to learn the exact same thing in English. For example, you want to learn new vocabulary. then they may not need to study the vocabulary of a pilot. So, take that into consideration when you're trying to figure out, okay, what should I be studying? Think about what it is that you do, what is your job, what what are the things that you like? And those are the words and phrases that you should focus on learning. Those are the words and phrases that you should be writing down because this is the information that you want to use when you're having a conversation. You're going to talk about your job. You're going to talk about the things that you're interested in. And if you have that information that's suitable to you, then you're going to be able to talk about these things easily and fluently. Number six is study other things in English. is a language learning method called content integrated language learning. And basically what this is is that you are learning about another topic, but you are doing so in English. This is what they do at international schools. You are studying other subjects in English. You are learning about math in English. You are learning about science in English. So again, think about those things that you are interested in. Maybe you like cars or sports or gardening and use that to learn English. Read about those things in English. Take some online classes about those things in English. This is what it means to form that English bubble and surround yourself with the language. Number seven, watch more of our lessons. We have over 200 English lessons to help you guys practice and improve your English skills. Many of them are interactive. We want you guys to be active language learners, and actually practice your listening skills, practice your speaking skills, practice your writing skills. That's what it's all about. So, go to our YouTube channel, scroll through the lessons, find one that you haven't seen, watch it, and then write to us in the comments. Number eight is find a study partner. This could be a friend, a family member, you could even talk to yourself in the mirror. The most important thing is that that you are practicing your skills. And if you're able to find a study partner, it's useful because it it's going to help keep you motivated. It's also going to make you accountable to learning the language because you're bringing somebody else into your bubble. you don't have a study partner, don't give up. Don't get discouraged. Just keep looking. Keep practicing. That is the most important thing. Number nine, start thinking in English. This is a great way to practice your skills that I I don't think many people even consider. And it's something that's very easy to do because there are moments during the day where you you might not be doing anything. Maybe you're riding on a bus or maybe you're walking down the street. If you're able to take those moments, those brief moments, and say to yourself, okay, for the next minute, I'm just going to think in English. Whatever thoughts that are going on in my head, I'm just going to think about them in English. I'm going to think about those things that I see in English. I'm going to think about what it is that I feel in English. If you can set aside a brief moment during the day to say, okay, I'm going to think in English. Then you are practicing all of your skills. You were using your vocabulary. You were using your grammar. you are using your pronunciation because you're speaking using your inside voice. And the more exposure that you get to the language, the stronger that your English bubble is, then this is just going to start happening naturally. You're just going to start thinking in English on your own. So, start thinking in English to start achieving fluency. weaknesses. If you can identify your weaknesses and focus on those, then that is going to help your overall fluency. For example, listening is the most difficult language skill for me. So, whenever I'm learning another language, I I have to work extra hard when it comes to listening. And that also means that I need more listening exposure. I need to listen to more music. I need to listen to more conversations because the more listening exposure I get, the more I'll be able to improve my skills. And that means that my language skills are going to be more balanced because when we're talking about fluency, then we're talking about everything. We're not just talking about one language skill. Number 11, develop a routine. this is a great habit to get into because if you're able to tell yourself okay I am going to study at this time on these days then that's going to help you keep track of your progress as well as make you accountable for your own learning. So if you're able to say okay on this day I'm going to read at this time I'm going to think in English and you can develop a routine and stick to that routine week after week after week then you will notice a huge difference in your fluency. Number 12, use subtitles to match words and phrases with their correct pronunciation. This this is very useful and it's something that I tell learners to do all the time. I understand that there are many people out there, they just want to focus on their listening skills and they don't want to use subtitles. you'll be able to say them correctly. So, there's a lot of value in using subtitles to reinforce the correct pronunciation, which in turn improves your fluency. Number 13, practice your writing, even if it's just a little bit. And and again, try to do it each day. So, we've talked about reading, we've talked about listening, we've talked about finding a study partner so you can practice your speaking. Please, please, please do not forget about writing. It's easy, it's simple. You can write to us in the comments right now. It doesn't have to be a long message, but you're just practicing your language skills, and that's what it's all about because that's what's going to help you develop your fluency. Number 14 is stay around your level. And when I say this, I'm talking about listening and reading. So, for example, often learners will tell me, "I understand everything that you're saying, but when I turn on a movie, I don't understand anything." Well, that's because I naturally speak slower, especially after many, many, many years of teaching English. Somebody like me, I'm going to be easier to understand, which means that if you understand everything I'm saying, then this might be more to your level. And when you practice at your level, that is when you give yourself the most benefit to improve your listening skills as well as your reading skills. Read at the appropriate level. So remember, when you're in your bubble, try to stay at your level or even just a little above your level. That's going to help you improve the most. The next thing that I want you to do is be realistic with your expectations. I've had learners ask me before, they say, you know, if I work really hard, can I learn English in 3 months? Everybody is a different type of learner. Some people are able to learn languages within two months. If if you're like me, then it's going to take you a longer time. The ultimate goal, the reason for creating this language learning environment, the reason for creating your English bubble is so that you can move as fast as you can for the type of learner that you are. Try not to worry too much about time because that might just raise your anxiety and and fill you more with stress and that's just going to make it harder to learn. But if you're able to do the things that I've been telling you to do, read a little bit each day, keep a notebook of new words and phrases, watch our videos, then you will be creating this English bubble. Then I promise you, you will be learning as fast as you possibly can. Number 16, start a conversation. And when I say this, I I don't necessarily mean a conversation in which you are speaking to another person. If you can do that, then that's great. What I mean is try to find other ways to connect with people. Think about again what are those things that you're interested in. Let's say for example you are interested in fashion. Well, search different Facebook groups that talk about fashion and that the common language is in English. Start a conversation. Share the information that you know about fashion and try to connect with those people because again you're connecting with them in English. You might find somebody that you can write with back and forth and practice your English skills. Maybe you'll be able to connect with them and actually have a spoken conversation with them. Again, you'll be practicing your English skills. So, I encourage you be proactive. Start a conversation. It's going to help you connect with other people's so that you can improve your skills and achieve fluency. Number 17, don't be afraid to give your brain a rest. I I know that we talked about learning English fast, but again, you are going to learn as fast as you possibly can if you're going to be able to create this English bubble. But I know from time to time you you might need a break. If that break is a few days, if that break is a week, it goes back to setting a schedule as well as having realistic expectations. But I understand we are not robots. If you need to give your brain a rest, then I encourage you to do so. And if you're able to set that routine and keep that schedule, then you'll give yourself a break. And then when it's time, you'll jump back into it. And that is going to help you achieve English fluency, which is the ultimate goal. What I want you to do now is take all of those suggestions and use them to create your English bubble and surround yourself with the language because that is going to help you achieve fluency and achieve it quickly. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. --- ## 37. 17 Writing Tips That Will Help You Write Like a Pro! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TZRTVzJC7Zw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZRTVzJC7Zw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:45:00 | --- writing is an incredibly useful way to communicate and that's why we should continue to improve our writing skills and this is not a one-time thing this is something that we should really be doing throughout our lifetime and that's why I want to share with you 17 practical tips to help you become a better writer and I'm going to share tips for structure style Clarity vocabulary and grammar now I know we're talking about writing but these first few tips are more about reading and the first one that I have for you is to read read your work out loud this is so simple yet people do not always do this and hearing your words out loud it's another way of processing information and that's why it can help you identify awkward phrasing repetition or just errors in the general flow of your writing so just listen to the following sentence maybe I'm writing a story and now I'm reading it out loud and I say I inquired for a discount and he was gentle enough to give me one when you hear this you're probably thinking wait sounds a little strange and there are a couple of reasons why the first one is inquired for in this case you would either inquire about something or ask for something either one of those works the other reason why it sounds a little weird is you're not going to say someone was gentle enough to do something a very common collocation is to say someone is kind enough to do something for you so when you read your work out loud it's really going to stop and make you think does this sound right the next tip is to proofread multiple times this is something that's overlooked some people don't do it at all and others may just do it once and that's it but when you proofread multiple rounds you're more likely to catch different types of Errors ranging from punctuation to the organization of ideas so the more that you proofread the more likely you are to catch mistakes it's like uh the more you practice a presentation the more likely you are to give a better presentation so definitely proof read multiple times something else you should be doing is reading your writing backwards and I I know this may sound a little strange so hear me out I want you to start at the end start with that last sentence and then read all the way back to the beginning and I'm not talking about reading the individual words backwards I'm talking about the sentences so why does this help when you read backwards you're able to concentrate more on the individual sentences so that you can find more technical mistakes like typos or grammar you're not going to get distracted by the general flow of the story and you can focus more on removing those small silly mistakes this next one is extremely important and it's also probably one of the more difficult ones I want you to read widely and consistently and this would require a fair bit of time because reading your own writing is just not the only thing you should be reading you should read different things read articles story books academic text there are a lot of different benefits to doing this because well you're going to get exposure to different writing styles you're going to be able to see the correct grammar structure you'll be able to build your vocabulary and not to mention I think it's just going to help you be more creative reading is going to greatly complement your writing these two skills go hand in hand now that we've covered reading let's talk about other tips like write every day just like read in consistently this is a great daily Habit to develop daily writing builds fluency which allows for constant Improvement and refinement use active voice this is a grammatical structure in which the subject of the sentence performs the action so we have an active sentence like my grandfather built the house versus a passive sentence like the house was built by my grandfather when you use the active voice it's going to make your writing more engaging direct and really just easier to understand that does not mean that you will never use the passive voice but for the vast majority of sentences you write you will use the active voice so make sure that you do that you should also vary sentence structure basically there are four different types of sentence structures simple I wake up early in the morning for work compound I get in my car and I drive into the city complex when I get to work I have meetings with my col colleagues and compound complex after the workday ends my colleagues and I go to a pub but we never stay out too late changing sentence length and structure maintains reader interest and prevents monotony so vary your sentences variety is a good thing I would also encourage you to use strong verbs in my opinion verbs are perhaps the most important words in the sentence because they are descriptive and they give us a lot of information so when you use strong verbs it's going to help make your writing more Dynamic and precise to give you a quick example there are many common verbs like walk but there are other strong verbs that are really going to capture the reader's attention like trudge or Scamper or limp these verbs give us a lot more information the next tip is to use punctuation correctly this is when simple mistakes are often made and according to grammarly there are 14 different punctuation marks in English you absolutely need to use the most common ones correctly the period or full stop the comma and the question mark you will use these all the time when you're writing and I would even include the use of capitalization proper punctuation helps ensure Clarity and prevents misunderstandings perhaps you are familiar with this English meme let's eat Grandma versus let's eat eat Grandma punctuation saves lives it's true something else you should be doing eliminate wordiness and this is something you really can do as your proof reading multiple times though remember concise writing is clearer and more impactful and it's going to help the reader focus on your key message to give you a very quick example if I were to write something like I started my new job alongside the brother of my friend be careful with the preposition of we can make this more concise and I could write my friend's brother instead something to be mindful of I I come across this quite often now let's talk about a few things to avoid like avoid repetition and in this case writing and speaking are similar because people will notice if you continuously use the same vocabulary and that's why it's important to continuously use a variety of words and phrases repetition can make your writing feel tedious and redundant and being mindful of this will help keep your writing fresh and you'll be able to continuously improve your writing you're probably wondering why does he keep saying continuously I told you people will notice you should also avoid jargon and over complicated terms and this is when I think people may try to do a little too much when it comes to their language skills of course I think it's great to vary vocabulary but you don't need to use really Advanced words all the time unless you're writing for a very specific professional audience plain language is usually most effective and please do not go to the thesaurus and find a word that's really impressive even though you're not exactly sure how it's used and substitute it for plain language not all synonyms are used in the same context I see people do this all the time and it can make sentences sound very awkward you should also avoid cliches it goes without saying that cliches weaken your your writing making it sound unoriginal and predictable so better safe than sorry you really need to think outside the box and I'm sure you're you're picking up on the fact that I'm using some different cliches right now another practical tip is to outline before writing you need to organize your thoughts especially when it comes to academic writing outlining ensures that your writing has a clear structure and logical flow now if you're writing an email I would not expect that you come up with an outline however if you're writing an essay or a formal report an outline is a must it does not take long and it's going to make the writing process much smoother whenever you put pen to paper or hands to keyboard you should also use transitions bottom line it makes your writing easier to read Because transition words and phrases help guide The Reader through your thoughts and create smooth connections between ideas and and because you have an outline you'll be able to visually see where you need to use transitions which will then help you choose the appropriate words and phrases here is one of my favorite tips revise don't just edit often when people review their work they're they're looking for typos grammar mistakes redundancies which which is good don't get me wrong but that is part of editing you also need to revise and revising involves improving the overall structure and Clarity while editing Focus is on the smaller details like spelling and grammar so perhaps you need to reorganize some of your thoughts in order to make a stronger point do not be afraid to move things around I also think it's incredibly important to get feedback from others and sure it can be challenging to find other people to read your writing however fresh eyes can spot mistakes or areas of improvement that you might miss this is just a fact you may proofread something mult multiple times and then the first time that someone else reads your writing they spot a mistake that you miss and it can be frustrating because you think how how how did I miss this but it just reinforces the value of getting another set of eyes to read your work and give you some objective feedback so right now I would like you to practice your writing skills by writing to me in the comments you can write anything you want I just love hearing from you if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new you can let me know by hitting that that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 38. 1 HOUR LESSON - Advanced Grammar In Use | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `2TkB_yr7nCc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TkB_yr7nCc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:54:04 | --- I have an in-depth Advanced one-hour grammar lesson for you in which we are going to cover a variety of topics prepositions of place could have should have would have I have a challenging quiz for you and much more I've taken some of my best Advanced grammar lessons and put them together in this one video Lesson and if you are someone who enjoys improving your grammar skills Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so without further Ado let's begin with prepositions which preposition should we use to complete this sentence in on or at actually you could use any of them all of them are correct it really just depends on the context and that's what I want to do in today's lesson I want to break it down for you so that you easily understand how to use each of these prepositions when talking about place and I'm also going to give you a little bit of a mini quiz at the end to see how much you've learned also if you'd like to get a PDF copy of today's lesson just click on the link Down Below in the description so let's begin with in and when you're thinking about in think about an enclosed space that you are surrounded on all sides and I I want to give you some well General ideas as to when you would use this preposition so you will use in to talk about locations within a larger area how many people live in this town you'll use in with a car taxi or van if I were to say hey we're waiting in the car it's used to talk about workplaces or Industries if someone asks where do you work I work in human resources or I work in fashion and if if if you've seen many of my video lessons you you know I absolutely do not work in fashion it's my yeah my Fashion's pretty bad you would use in with water let's all get in the pool or the expression there's plenty of fish in the sea so again we're talking about the sea we're talking about water and you would use this expression to say that well if somebody's single and they're looking to have a relationship and find a partner you're saying this to to encourage them to keep looking that there's somebody out there for them don't give up hope there's plenty of fish in the sea we use this preposition with class I'm having trouble paying attention in class I'm enclosed in this space and we also use it with printed materials if you don't know the meaning of a word you can look it up in the dictionary and you can think about it that well that word it's surrounded by other pages so it's in the dictionary so just keep these in mind when you're thinking about in and now let's talk about on and when you will use this preposition and when it comes to on I want you to think about a a surface that something is attached to or touching something else so we use on to refer to the position of something on any surface your coffee is on the table I found some money on the sidewalk it's used to talk about a floor in a building I work on the seventh floor it also describes the position along a road or river or or by the sea or a lake I could say the car is on the road the boat is on the river again it's on that surface or or I could even say I grew up on the East Coast so I'm talking about the coast where I grew up on that surface and I would say on the East Coast so when you're talking about the coast East West West use on now the next few are technically not on the surface but I I still want you to use on so we're going to use it when talking about being on public transit like a bus or a plane I'm on a bus heading downtown or I'm on a plane to Chicago and I I know this can be a little tricky because we use in with a car like you're you're surrounded you're inclosed so one way to think about it is that you're going to use in with with smaller vehicles and you'll use on with larger modes of transportation but again there's always exceptions because you're still going to use on with a bike or motorcycle on a bike or on a motorcycle we use the preposition on with left or right my house is on the left oh no no no sorry it's on the right and we'll use this preposition with media as well did you see the new show on Netflix or you may be watching this lesson on YouTube so just just keep all of this in mind when it comes to using on so now let's talk about at and when to use this preposition and and when you think about at I want you to think of a point a specific location or position so of course we're going to use at when we're referring to the position or location as a point I I could say there's a package at the front door we use it to refer to an address I live at 44 Main Street and and this can be a little confusing because if we're just talking about the street then we'll use on I live on Main Street on that surface but if I give the specific location 44 Main Street well now we're talking about a point so we're going to use at we use this preposition to refer to most shops or public places and and in this case I want you to think about a large your point so I I could say I'm shopping at the mall and you would use at even if you are in the mall because if somebody were to ask you like hey where are you they're they're typically asking about your location so that's why you would use at and say I'm shopping at the mall we use it to refer to group activities I could ask you how many people were at your party we also use it with school or university I studied at a top Notch University and that's not really true I studied at a party school but you get the point with either of those we're going to use at and we use this preposition with work or home I could really say that right now I'm working at home so this should give you a better idea as to when you would use at now let's go back to our original sentence and I told you that all three prepositions are correct it it really just depends on on the context so if I say I'm in the lake well that just means that I'm physically in the water I'm surrounded by the water if I were to say I'm on the lake well now I'm talking about the surface so it it really implies that I'm probably on a boat and I'm out on the water and I'm on the lake and if I were to say I'm at the lake well now I'm talking about a specific location even though it's a larger area if somebody were to ask where are you then I would say I'm at the lake because we're talking about location and right now I want to test your knowledge I have a little mini quiz for you I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to think well which preposition best completes it in on or at I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I'll tell you the answer so your first sentence is I found a mistake M the first page which preposition would you use the answer is on so in this case we're talking about the surface of the page on the first page I found a mistake on the first page so so just keep this in mind if we're talking about a page we're going to use on and that is a little tricky because remember we're going to use in when talking about printed materials like a book so something is on a page but in a book here's your next sentence she felt proud the end of her month-long Journey what do you think the correct answer is at she felt proud at the end of her month-long Journey because we're talking about that that point that location she's at the end of her journey and these are really common phrases with at if we're talking about well at the beginning of something or at the end of something then there's this sentence there are no public toilets the city center the correct answer is in there are no public toilets in the city center we're going to use in because we're talking about a location within a larger area here's a question for you do you have anything your pockets I I think you know this the correct answer is in do you have anything in your pockets where talking about an enclosed area here's another one we wanted to sit M the front of the plane I'm trying to trick you a little bit but the the correct answer is at we wanted to sit at the front of the plane I I told you that with public transit you're going to use on on a plane but in this case we're talking about a specific location on a plane so in that case we're going to use at at the front of the plane how about this this one please refer to the graph the slide the correct answer is on please refer to the graph on the slide so once again we're talking about the surface of something on a page on a slide so how'd you do on the quiz I I want you to be honest let me know down in the comments because I just love hearing from you I should have joined the interactive English Community or I could have joined the interactive English community or I would have joined the interactive English community so today I want to talk to you about these models should have could have and would have and they're often referred to as modals of lost opportunity because we use them to describe situations that we imagine are different now the good news is that you have not lost this opportunity if you would like to join the interactive English Community there is a link down in the description it is is a great way for you and me to to keep in touch but let's get back to these modals because I I want to make sure that you are using them correctly and I think this is very useful because quite often we want to describe our feelings about past decisions so you're going to use should have when something did not happen but you wish that it did happen you'll use could have when something was possible but it did not happen and you will use would have when something happened but you're just a m ining a different result now before we just Dive Right into these modals I want to talk to you about pronunciation and grammar because with pronunciation these modals will often get reduced so what's happening is that the H in half it's it's just going to get removed and then that vowel sound is going to to become more of awah so we're left with of and then the final D that consonant sound will get linked with that schah so it's like we have should of could have would have all right it's linked together and people may even reduce it further if they're speaking really fast and they're going to drop that V and you just hear the schah Shoulda Coulda would a but in general I think it's often you're going to hear these modals get reduced and you can listen to me as the lesson goes on I will I will reduce them the other thing I want to say uh when it comes to grammar is that with these modals you're going to follow them with the past participle so with with regular verbs you're just going to to use that Ed should have played could have called would have walked with irregular verbs you just need to know the past participle should have won could have broken would have bought now that we got grammar and pronunciation out of the way let let me give you a little more context with each of these modals and we'll begin with should have so when you think of should have think of um regret I I told you that something did not happen but you wish that it did happen so perhaps you're you're thinking about a past decision and somebody had a good idea or a recommendation and you did not listen to it and you lost that opportunity when when talking about that situation we can then use should have so I'm I'm constantly asking you to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications so let's just let's just imagine that uh you you don't do this and then in the future you're going to look back at this situation and you might say I should have listened to Wes uh my name's Wes by the way in case this is your first time here uh you'd say I really want to practice and improve my English skills therefore I should have subscribed to the channel and and turned on notifications now if you want to use should have in the negative should not have in that case it's like you regret something that was wrong I should not have yelled at my brother I should not have cheated on the exam I should not have eaten that and that's one that I feel like I I probably use from time to time yes I I should not have eaten that bad decision now let's move on to could have and with this modal I want you to think of possibility that's the one word I want you to keep in mind possibility I I told you that with this modal something was possible but it did not happen I was so tired I could have stayed in bed all day it did not happen but I it was possible and I know that I I give you a lot of examples so today I have a special guest the famous Marlon Brando is going to give you the next example you was my brother Charlie you should have looked out for me a little bit oh excellent Marlin a a little bit of review with should have so you should have looked out for me again something that did not happen but but he wishes that it did happen now I will make a quick little grammar correction you would not say you was instead you're going to use you were but that that's okay let's just focus on these modal so please continue you don't understand I could have had class I could have been a Contender I could have been somebody instead of a bum so at this moment he feels like a bum but those other things were possible I could have been a contender I could have been somebody and and what he's referring to is uh boxing he was a prize fighter I could have been a contender and then if we want to use the negative could not have in that case we're just saying the opposite and saying that something was impossible so before before I said I was so tired I could have stayed in bed all day that's talking about something that was possible if I changed that sentence around and said I had so much work to do I could not have stayed in bed all day now I'm talking about something impossible I could not have stayed in bed because I had so much work and then there's wood have and with W have the word that I want you to remember and keep in mind is different because because when you use W have it's like something happened but you are imagining a different result something different from the the real situation and often you are going to use this modal with that third conditional those if statements so I could say the team would have won the championship if their best player had not gotten injured so in this case I'm imagining that different result because the real situation is that the best player was injured and the team did not win the championship I want to make a quick distinction between could have and would have because it's possible for you to use could have in that sentence the team could have won the championship but again in that case we're talking about a possibility if I say the team would have won the championship now it's more certain and that is the result that that I'm imagining so it's really a difference between possibility and certainty could have and would have you can also use W have to show that you wanted to do something but you were not able to I would have given you a ride but my car broke down and once again I could use the third conditional to say the same thing same meaning I would have given you a ride if my car had not broken down now using it in the negative would not have you're still imagining a different result but instead of imagining a result that would have happen you're imagining that your your real situation would not have happened if some other things occurred I would not have finished the project without your help so the real situation is that I did finish the project and I'm just imagining a different result or I if I had not been stuck in traffic I would not have been late for work so it can be a little tricky to to wrap your head around some of these examples just know that with would have your imagining a different result now something you may not have known about these modals is that you can use them together as an idiom should have could have would have mostly you people would use this in spoken English and they are going to reduce these modals should have could have would have or they would reduce it more and say should have could have would a so what what this means is that you are dismissing someone else's regret or worry about a past action or some lost opportunity and you're just dismissing that so it's kind of a cold response and it's just unsympathetic so let's say that we work together and you're a little upset with me because I I made you do more work and I'm telling you like yeah maybe maybe I should have worked harder so that you did not have to do my work for me and you're a little annoyed you're a little upset and you would say yeah should have could have would have uh it's already done it's too late I've already did your work and then I could keep going and say I know that you did that extra work and I would have offered to help but I was stuck in traffic and once again you could dismiss my regret and say should have could have would have I don't care about your excuse I'm still angry should have could have would have all right you can't change the past so that idiom is a fun way to wrap up the lesson I hope you learn something new and I hope you have a better understanding of these modals should have could have and would have let's talk about the difference between you used to and used to now they they can be a little confusing not not necessarily when speaking but when trying to determine well which one you should use in writing and I say they're not really they're not really confused when speaking because the pronunciation is the same and I will come back to that a little bit later on but for right now let's uh let's focus on used to because this is definitely the most common one that you are going to use when speaking or writing and I think well used to alone can be confusing because well dictionaries may look at it different ways Cambridge has used to as a modal verb Mariam Webster says that used to is an adjective as well as a verb McMillan dictionary has used to as a modal verb Oxford Learners dictionary also says that used to is a modal verb and dictionary.com has it as an adjective as well as a verb let's first make a distinction between used to as a modal verb or verb and used to as an adjective now the the grammar is different the part of speech but also the meaning is different so right now let's let's get rid of the adjective forget about the adjective let's just focus on used to as a verb or modal verb and I keep saying verb modal verb as you saw some of the dictionaries uh have it listed differently and that is because in some ways used to acts like a modal verb and in other ways it it really doesn't but whether or not used to uh is considered a verb or a modal verb the meaning is the same and let's talk about the meaning because that is very important and what this means is it's talking about something that was repeatedly done in the past or or even a situation that existed in the past but the the thing is not done anymore or the situation does not not exist anymore today in the present so I could will give you some examples talking about myself I could say I used to live in South Korea that that is true that is a situation that existed in the past and when I lived in South Korea I used to run uh around this Lake twice a a week bum Moon Lake I used to run around it twice a week and that is something that I had done repeatedly except for the winter uh in the winter it was a bit too cold so during those months uh I used to sit on my ass I could say that sometimes not always in those sentences used to is a modal verb it is a helping verb and I already told you that it has some similarities to modal verbs like it it it has one form it's not conjugated so I said I used to live in South Korea if I changed the subject to he it it's not going to change he used to live in South Korea but you used to it it can act differently from your average modal verb uh for example with modal verbs you you're not going to follow it with to so I can say something well like I can swim or it will rain or you should write to me in the comments I I just love hearing from you you should write to me in the comments now with all of those sentences we have the modal verb and then we follow it with the infinitive the base verb there is no to an exception is used to I used to run around the lake and well even if I want to change the subject and talk about myself in the third person to show that the form is not going to change I could say in Winter Wes used to sit around on his ass but sometimes all right so two is going to come before the base verb and that's why I think if you're if you're trying trying to think about it I think it's best to consider used to as just one phrase try to think about it together as one phrase used to questions and negative statements also make used to different from other modal verbs because if well if we're talking about questions typically we can just use the modal verb to create a question can he swim will it rain and if we're talking about negative statements then you're you're just going to use not with with a typical modal verb uh he cannot swim or it won't rain but this is not the case with used to of course used to it just has to be different than all the other modal verbs and I think this is also when people might say okay it acts more like a verb because if we're talking about questions used to it refers to the past so with questions you're going to use did and if you're going to make a negative statement then you're going to use did not so if we're going to use it uh as a question I could ask you did you use to study English and if I want to say a negative statement then I could say well I didn't used to have hair like this um and that's because I used to shave my head but more importantly than my shaved head is that you now see that used to has changed the spelling has changed to used to and this is what I want you to remember if we're talking about questions and negative statements you are going to use used to and you're going to spell it us I told you that the only distinction is in writing because well the pronunciation is the same whether you're saying used to or used to it's the same pronunciation the D and the T they blend together to create one sound so yeah the pronunciation it's really the same nobody's going to know if if if you end up making a mistake because you're still just going to say used to or used to and now that you have a perfect understanding of used to being used as a modal verb slash verb let's now talk about used to being used as an adjective so the the first thing that I want to tell you is the meaning I told you that the meaning is different and what this means is that well it's referring to something that you are familiar with or that you are accustomed to and it often follows the verb to be so I could say well I am used to hot weather all right I'm just it's just something that I'm used to I'm not used to cold weather it's just something I'm not that familiar with and in this case because used to is an adjective it's not going to change whether we're talking about questions or negative statements you are always going to spell used to like this used uh another thing that I want to tell you about used to as an adjective just giving you another example I do not think any of us were used to staying inside for so long during the pandemic and I think that's true I think we can all relate to that sentence and the thing the thing that I wanted to point out with this sentence is that you you may often follow used to with a Jared and you're used to doing something like I'm used to taking the bus in the morning or I'm not used to working late but even though we were not used to staying inside during the pandemic we had to get used to it and I just gave you an example right there of it being used with another verb that is not the verb to be and that I think is also it's a common usage to get used to doing something or even people using it as an imperative statement giving a command and you're telling somebody get used to it but just remember used to as an adjective has a different meaning than used to as a modal verb or verb that's the one thing that I really want you to remember from this lesson and I yes it's confusing but I think over time the more you listen the more you practice you're just going to get used to it I have studied English I have been studying English are these sentences the same or are they different let's find out I want to help you improve your grammar because I want to talk about the difference between two verb tenses the present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous and these two verb tenses can confuse many English Learners who may not be sure uh about how and when to use them as well as if there are any differences between these two tenses so before we talk about the differences between these two tenses I I want to focus on how and when we use them and let's first begin with the present perfect tense which on its own can be very confusing because there are many languages that do not even have a present perfect tense so I I want to first begin with how you're going to form the present perfect you're going to have a helping verb and a main verb the helping verb is going to be have and the main verb is going to be the past participle and we often use the present perfect to talk about a finished action in the past at an unspecified time we don't know when it's happened and it may have happened once or even more than once so let's look at this sentence right here I've been to China there there I am right there again we have the helping verb have plus the past participle Ben it is the past participle of the verb to be and you know that this happened in the past it's finished but you don't know when it's an unspecified time I've been to China or I could say well I've been to Barcelona twice this happened in the past we don't know when but we know that it happened more than once there were two different trips to Barcelona one thing that I want to say about the present perfect tense is that when you use it the the result is really what matters it's like you're more interested in the result than the action and I will come back to this when I talk to you about the present perfect continuous so let's let's think this situation right here I'll I'll I'll use a question and say have you hit the like button all right this is a question in the present perfect the the helping verb have the past participle hit that's our main verb have you hit the like button and again I I'm really more interested in that result and I really am and I hope you would say yes I have hit the like button it happened in the past sometime between when the video started and right now and if you have let me know write that to me in the comments just say yes I have hit the like button practice writing using the present perfect and then I will tell you that you are awesome all right so with all of those examples that I just gave you we were talking about finished actions in the past so let's now move to the present perfect continuous and let's look at how this verb tense is formed again we're going to use the helping verb have plus the past participle of the verb to be which is been have been plus our main verb with an ing at the end all right so in this case it's like we have two helping verbs have been and then the main verb and we use the present perfect continuous to talk about an unfinished action that started in the past it has continued to right now which is the present and then it will likely continue into the future so I could say well even like right now I've been teaching this lesson it's an unfinished action it started in the past it has continued until right now and it it's going to continue into the future and I hope you keep watching now one thing that I will say about the present perfect continuous is that when you use this verb tense the focus is more on the action because something is continuing so with the present perfect tense the focus is on the result with the present perfect continuous the focus is more on the action one thing that I want to remind you of and the reason why I'm so close is because I want you to remember this is that there are many non-action verbs that that you should not use in the continuous tense and I'm putting a list of these verbs up here right now so you you should not use these verbs with the present perfect continuous but again with English there people are always breaking these rules especially in spoken English but just to give you an example the if I give you a sentence like oh I have an iPhone I'm talking about uh ownership possession I could use it in the present perfect tense and say yeah I've had an iPhone for a long time uh it's an iPhone 6 so it's pretty old but I could not use it in the continuous tense and say I've been having an iPhone that just sounds awkward so just keep that in mind there are many non-action verbs that you should just avoid using in the continuous tense so now let's look at some differences between the present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous and I want to make some quick comparisons so you can see a clear difference between these two verb tenses especially how the focus is different so let's look at these two sentences right here we have redecorated our home and we have been redecorating our home the sentence in the present perfect we have redecorated our home it's talking about an action that started in the past and it's now finished we don't know when it started we don't know when itend ended but the focus is on that result that yes it's it's finished the home it's it has been redecorated with the present perfect continuous we're talking about an unfinished action it started in the past and it's still going on right now so the focus is on that action that continuing action also and this may help you know well when you should use the present perfect continuous if we're talking about an unfinished action that started in the recent past people may use the verb tense with the words recently or lately so I could say well recently we've been redecorating our home or lately we've been redecorating our home that tells me that this action it's started in the recent past it's a continuing action that's gone until now and yes it's probably going to continue into the future here are another couple of sentences I have thought about buying a new phone or I've been thinking about buying a new phone so with the present perfect it suggests that okay I I thought about this in the past and then maybe I decided Well no not to buy a new phone it's just something I thought about and then I stopped thinking about it and as you can see I still have this old iPhone 6 and maybe I just made the decision not to buy one if I use the present perfect continuous and say well I've been thinking about buying a new phone that that suggest that I have not made a decision not yet I'm still thinking about it and maybe maybe in the future I'm going to make a decision and upgrade and get a new phone because yes this iPhone 6 it's pretty old and then we get to these two sentences right here the sentences that you have been waiting for this entire lesson I have studied English versus I have been studying English and the difference between these two sentences is nothing well pretty much nothing because they are interchangeable you can use them and they they basically mean the same thing because with both of these sentences we're talking about an unfinished action and I know this can be a bit confusing because you're probably thinking like wait a second Wes you told us that the present perfect tense is used to talk about finished actions at an unspecified time in the past yes that is true but you can also use the present perfect tense to talk about an unfinished action that started in the past and and it's gone on for a duration of time or since a point in time and those are two key words that I really want you to remember and be aware of because we often use the present perfect with those words for and since so I could say I have studied English for three years a duration of time or I could say I've studied English since 2018 both of those sentences mean the exact same thing the only difference is for and since I could also say this using the present perfect continuous I've been studying English for 3 years or I've been studying English since 2018 so if somebody were to ask you how long have you been learning English you could respond with any one of those sentences it's it's really your pick there there's not much difference between them but there is a very there there is very slight difference of course I didn't want to I didn't want to disappoint you I wanted to really get into details here so I was saving it for the very end and let let's talk about those slight differences right now which is going to help you kind of well not only improve your comprehension but your overall fluency as well so the good news is is that when the present perfect and the present perfect continuous are basically interchangeable and they pretty much mean the same thing we're only talking about a handful of verbs we're talking about the verbs like teach play learn study and work all right so those are five verbs that when you're using either verb tense they're fairly interchangeable and they mean the same thing but again there there may be a slight difference in a certain context situation it may be more appropriate to use one over the other so let let's look at these sentences right here we've lived in Budapest for 4 years and we've been living in Budapest since 2017 so just looking at them generally speaking they're very similar they're they pretty much the same you could use them interchangeably but there there may be a slight difference when talking about the permanent versus temporary so let me give you a couple of other sentences that I think are probably a little easier to understand when I talk about the difference between permanent and temporary so you're more likely to use the present perfect tense when when talking about an unfinished action that's more permanent and you're more likely to use the present perfect continuous when you're you're talking about an unfinished action that's perhaps temporary so I could say well I've worked for the company for 25 years I I'm using the present perfect it's unfinished because I still work for the company and and it's more permanent it it makes you think well I'm not looking for a job I'm not going to change jobs I'm just giving you this information I've worked for the company for 25 years if I I say this that well I usually work downtown but I've been working at home ever since the pandemic started in this case I'm I'm referring to an action that started in the past it's unfinished because I'm still working at home but it's only temporary it makes you think that in the future then perhaps I I'm not going to be working at home anymore I'm talking about a temporary situation I've been working at home ever since the pandemic started so hopefully that makes it a little easier to understand the difference when I say permanent versus temporary and you could even apply this to other sentences that you may use interchangeably so those two sentences that I told you a moment ago we have lived in Budapest for four years or we've been living in Budapest since 2017 in general uh you could use either one but again if you use the present perfect if I say we've lived in Budapest since 2017 then it it's a more permanent situation it might make you think well uh we're not currently looking to change the place that we live that we're probably going to stay in Budapest if I say it using the present perfect continuous the focus is on that action that that we're we're still living here it's unfinish but it makes you think it may only be temporary because in the future that that's going to change if the focus is on that action in all likelihood that action is going to change in the future in which case we would well will move somewhere else and that this is only temporary and if you were to ask me I would say the second one we've been living in Budapest since 2017 because this is probably not going to be our permanent home in the future we will likely move somewhere else so even though with those five verbs work play Live teach study you can use these verb tenses interchangeably you you could read a little more information into it if you want to think about whether something is going to be more permanent or if something is temporary let's see how well you know your grammar so I'm going to give you a question I'll give you a moment to think of the answer and then I will tell you the answer and explain why it is correct so let's begin with our first question right here if somebody were to say whatever you do don't leave me alone talking to Wes he's so okay how would you complete that sentence are you going to use a bored or B boring so I hope that you chose B boring that is the correct answer he's so boring so this can be a little confusing the difference between Ed and ing adjectives in short you're going to use Ed adjectives to talk about the way you feel you're going to use ing adjectives to describe uh a situation a thing or just the a person's characteristic in this case we're talking about a characteristic of mine that I'm boring and this is just an example of course I hope that you do not think that I am boring I would rather you say that maybe I am amusing or interesting or charming I would take any of those ing adjectives here's your next challenging question if I had taken my medicine this morning M right now are you going to use a I would have felt sick or B I wouldn't feel sick so I said it's challenging and difficult because we're talking about a mixed conditional which means the answer is B I wouldn't feel sick if I had taken my medicine this morning I wouldn't feel sick right now in this case we're mixing the second and third conditional so we have an imaginary condition because we're imagining a different past which is the third conditional if I had taken my medicine this morning so I I did not take it and that leads us in to a hypothetical result in the present I wouldn't feel sick right now another way to think about it is with these two statements right here I didn't take my medicine this morning therefore I I feel sick right now I I'm saying the same thing with that mixed conditional if I had taken my medicine this morning I wouldn't feel sick right now here is your next question I don't know what are you going to say where I should go or where should I go this is is something I noticed that many Learners commonly confus so that what we're talking about that blank is really a noun clause which means the answer is a I don't know where I should go so a noun clause it's a dependent clause that has a subject and a verb and just know that it quite often noun Clauses are going to begin with words like that or how or those wh words like who what when why or where and then we have this question right here the movie M at 8:00 p.m. or you could say theie movie M at 8:00 how are you going to complete that sentence are you going to use a will start B starts or C is starting so for this one I I guarantee that you got the correct answer and that is because all of them are correct it's a little bit of a trick question you could use will start to talk about things that that will happen in the future you could use start the present simple to refer to scheduled events in the future and you could also use is starting the present continuous when when talking about future Arrangements even though all are correct it really just depends on the context when deciding which one you're going to use so let me try to give you some context and tell you how my mind works as to how I would choose which one of these so I I think overwhelmingly I am going to use the present simple and just say starts if somebody were to ask me hey what time's the movie I would say the movie starts at 8:00 I would probably use is starting if I kind of want to emphasize and highlight the time in that case maybe I'm trying to say well okay I want you to be there all right don't be late just remember the movie is starting at 8:00 so when you use the present continuous you're really referring to that point in time so I'm really trying to make that clear the movie started at 8:00 and then to be honest I would probably use will start less frequently I might use it if I'm thinking about maybe other things that are also going to happen in the future if I were thinking to myself well um I'll have to eat dinner before the movie and then the movie will start at 8:00 and after the movie um I'll have to go home because I have to work tomorrow so hopefully that gives you a little more context as to when you might use these different answers here is your next question I recommend that everyone watching this video that like button all right are you going to say hit that like button or hit that like button so once again this can be a bit tricky the answer is a hit we're talking about the subjunctive mood and we use this to talk about desires wishes or suggestions now grammatically speaking in that noun clause that's right we're talking about another noun clause that everyone watching this video hit that like button in that noun clause you're going to use the base verb when we're talking about the subjunctive mood and this can be a little tricky if if the subject is perhaps in the third person like he she or it or if we're talking about an indefinite pronoun like everyone now in spoken English people may not always follow follow this rule so if I'm going to use the subjunctive mood I I could say something like I wish I were faster I wish I were taller I wish I were living in a big beautiful home along the coast overlooking the ocean so in spoken English you may hear somebody say I wish I was taller I wish I were taller I wish I was taller it can be confusing but you will hear both in spoken English next we have this question I M English for several months and I plan to continue improving my language skills are you going to use a have studied or B have been studying so we're talking about the difference between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous all right I hope that you chose B have been studying I've been studying English for several months and I plan to continue improving my language skills so b i it is I think it's the correct answer you could use a but I think B is the better answer and and let me explain so the present perfect and the present perfect continuous it can be confusing because they they are sometimes interchangeable especially if we're talking about an unfinished action which in this case we are but you're going to use the present perfect continuous more specifically when you're talking about an action that's started in the past it's continued to the present and then will likely continue into the future and it's the second part of this sentence and I plan to continue improving my language skills that is why I say B have been studying is the better answer here's the next question M making progress we could not finish before the deadline are you going to use a in spite of or B although okay so I hope that you chose a in spite of in spite of making progress we could not finish before the deadline so both in spite of and although they they're referring to contrasting ideas the the only real difference is the way that you use them and I'm talking about the structure of the sentence after in spite of we're going to use a noun a Jaren which is that ing form or a pronoun after although we're going to use a subject and a verb so in our sentence you have making that is a Jaren so you're going to use in spite of in spite of making progress now I I could use although and say the same thing and use a subject and a verb and I would say although we made progress we could not finish before the deadline so just remember that in spite of making progress is a phrase whereas although we made progress is a clause they're really the same it it just depends on how you want to structure the sentence here's your next question talking about prepositions last night we left M New York City it was a long flight but we're really excited to see the Big Apple are you going to complete this sentence with two from or four which preposition completes this sentence last night we left M New York city so the answer is C4 last night we left for New York City now I know prepositions can be tricky and the best thing you can do is just practice them like we're doing right now so let me explain this the second sentence that is important it was a long flight but we're excited to see the Big Apple that tells us that the destination is New York City therefore we're not going to use from and normally if we're talking about a place you would go to a place but our verb is leave you're not going to use to when the verb is leave you're going to use for if you're talking about going to a destination you leave for someplace last night we left for New York City your next question M did you invite to the party are you going to use a who or be whom the correct answer is be whom whom did you invite to the party I I would say that a is also correct in spok in English and I will I will talk about that in just a moment but who and whom can be confusing but think of it this way you're going to use who when the unknown is referring to the subject and you'll use whom when the unknown is referring to the object so all we have to do is take our question and change it into a statement and I could say well I invited him to the party or I invited her to the party him and her those are objects so in that case I'm going to use whom whom did you invite to the party now I said that a is correct in spoken English because well yeah people just don't follow the rules I think it's quite common in in places like the United States which is where I'm from most people will use who instead of whom and I am somebody who also does this if I were to ask this question I would just say who did you invite to the party so just keep that in mind that this is another one of those rules in spoken English that people will tend to break who versus whom here is another question I bought a gift for my little girl it's this um this little stuff puppy right here I hope she enjoys M gift are you going to use a the or no article which one I hope that you chose be the I hope she enjoys the gift that is the correct answer so really what we're talking about is the rule of first mention and what this rule says is that the first time you mention a a singular noun you're going to use the indefinite article a or an and the second time that you mention that same noun you're going to use the definite article the' because it is now known so this is a very useful and important rule to follow if you are writing a story or telling a story because you want to make sure you get those articles correct I hope that you enjoyed the gift of this grammar lesson and if you did then you can give me a gift and that is the gift of writing to me in the comments because I just love hearing from you thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 39. 1 HOUR LESSON - Useful Idioms & Expressions to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RNc3CDY0nnk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNc3CDY0nnk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:54:39 | --- let's learn some useful idioms to help you build your vocabulary and this is important because we often use idioms in just casual conversation you'll hear them in movies and TV shows so it's going to help your listening comprehension and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and before we begin I want to make a quick announcement if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills you can join my speaking course it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn vocabulary and idioms related to that topic we do engaging speaking activities I'll teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases and there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course so check out that link Down Below in the description if you would like to sign up or learn more and when you click on that link you will find a special discount just for you that's all I have to say so let's begin our lesson and learn some useful idioms I want to talk to you about some common idioms and expressions that that you can use in everyday conversation and this will really help improve your your comprehension in overall English fluency so the first idiom that I want to talk to you about is to turn over a new leaf and this just means to start fresh to start new you really want to to change your attitude or your circumstances so for example maybe somebody might lose their job and they say okay I need to turn over a new Leaf I need to start fresh and I need to change these circumstances I need to start looking for another job start a new start fresh maybe a road trip is exactly what I need right now I'm turning over a new Leaf starting tomorrow I am turning over a new Leaf time with you is my my number one priority I'm turning over to New Leaf and my good luck Starts Now the next idiom is the Autumn years and well Autumn is another word for fall and if somebody's referring to the Autumn years they're talking about uh the later point in someone's life they would refer to it as the Autumn years when somebody gets older and yes this this is not your Autumn years that's our little girl Emmy she she's just a little baby but when you're talking about later on in somebody's life you may hear you may hear them refer to it and say the Autumn years you're getting a little philosophical for me I suppose so they say it happens in the Autumn years I may teach I may write a book whatever the hell one does when one approaches the Autumn of one's years then we have the idiom to drive someone nuts and this is relevant I think of fall I often think of nuts you can find them on the ground and nuts is also an informal word uh kind of slang that means the same as crazy so if you Drive someone nuts it just means that you making them crazy perhaps a person could be driving you nuts or maybe a situation is is just driving you nuts it's making you crazy hey yeah I'm not going to mince words Mitchell kid is driving me nuts you better think your lucky stars I'm not in this competition because I would eat you for breakfast you're driving me nuts babe you your mother drives you nuts then we have one of my favorite idioms cuz I like I like using it from time to time especially when I feel sick and that idiom is under the weather and you say that somebody maybe feels a little bit under the weather and what it means is that person is kind of starting to feel a little sick so it's not like they're really sick it's just maybe they're a little sick or they're starting to feel sick and say yeah I'm feeling feeling a little bit under the weather right now yeah um heard you were under the weather oh I uh I didn't think I was going to get to see you until tomorrow yeah well Bernadette's a little under the weather but this you sound unwell well I have been feeling a little under the WEA but I'm feeling much better now next is neck of the woods and if you hear somebody talking about like oh for example what are you doing in my neck of the woods they're talking about a particular area or maybe even a particular neighborhood so that's what it means neck of the woods and often times yeah people might ask a question like I just did and they say Hey you know you see somebody in your neighborhood and you say hey what what are you doing my neck of the woods or perhaps in the office that you work at somebody in another department comes and visits you in your department and you say hey yeah what are you doing in my neck of the woods what are you doing in in this particular area this what brings you to my neck of the woods a few errands I'm going to be in your neck of the woods soon and um it would be very nice to see you well if you ever get down in my neck of the woods you got a place to stay another idiom with Woods is not out of of the woods because when I think of the Fall I often think of the woods and if you say that you are not out of the woods it just means that you are not out of danger so out of the woods is talking about out of danger and I think most of the time you hear it with the word not somebody is trying to say that they are not safe they are still in a dangerous area they are not out of the woods just yet I think you might hear this in like TV shows and movies if somebody is being chased by another person or a group of people and they they haven't lost that group they're still being chased they say you know we're not we're not out of the woods just yet we need to keep running Mike's going to be okay can you see him not out of the woods yet I guess one of you could go in for just a minute the heart be stronger but we're not out of the woods need to get things going now the cord is wrapped around the neck the next idiom is shaking like a leaf and if somebody is shaking like a leaf it's a way to describe somebody who is trembling this person is shaking they're trembling mostly because of fear you can say oh oh they they were shaking like a leaf the same way that in Autumn Leaves they tremble they shake and then they fall to the ground and again if somebody is trembling then you could say they are shaking like a leaf come set in your chair de you're shaking like a leaf he's going to be on muscle muscle shaking like a leaf how's he going to do anything he wanted to talk about his father's symptoms he Skyped and there he was he was shaking like a leaf then we have to get wind of something and if you get wind of something it just means that you hear some rumor about something it could be a rumor about something or a rumor about someone and and you get wind of this information you learn about it you hear about it you could say yeah you know I I got wind of that I heard about that rumor or I heard that piece of information to get wind of something I thought the publicity would really help zip couch boy once the Press gets wind of this you know bolivians get wind of this you know what they're going to say they're going to say you wear pissy pants if the Community gets into morning jogging oh God help us then we have the apple of someone's eye and if if you're talking about the apple of someone's eye it just refers to a person who is loved the most by someone else so for for example yes I could say that that Emmy right here you are the apple of my eye that yes she is love the most by me she is the apple of my eye um as well as you want they are both they are the apples of my eye so if you describe someone as the apple of your eye it just means that they are loved the most by you what are you doing want kiss oh look who it is my husband the apple of my eye hello oh apple of my eye love of my life night and [Music] day I mean his household was a joyous place and his wife Dolly well she was the apple of his eye then we have the idiom cold turkey and you you just got to include this because turkey Thanksgiving it is a very very popular word around the around fall so if somebody you might talk about quitting cold turkey and what that means cold turkey is that somebody stops a bad habit immediately and and maybe suddenly as well and you would quit something cold turkey often I think of smokers somebody is a smoker they've been smoking for years and then they just suddenly quit they would say I quit cold turkey so any kind of bad habit that somebody might have whether it's smoking or drinking and then they suddenly stop you could say that they quit cold turkey so no it's not your fault you know it's partly my phone cuz I made you quit cold turkey you're right Lisa love isn't about fixing someone I'm just going to give her up cold turkey you need to prove to Tara that you can be trusted cold turkey Jacks no booze no weed I'm serious the world can't just quit on oil and nuclear power or cold turkey you'll dismantle our entire economy overnight so there you have it those are some great idioms that you can use in everyday conversation they are all related to the fall but you can use them in a variety of different situations and context you are someone who loves sports then you are definitely going to love this idiom lesson I'm going to teach you some idioms that are related to sports that doesn't mean that you can only use these idioms when talking about sports they can be used in a variety of different situations I'll give you some example sentences as well as show you some videos so you can see how these idioms are used in context so let's begin the first idiom is a tennis idiom and it is the ball is in your court and what this means is that it is up to you it is your responsibility to do something or to make a decision the ball is in your court so example when when you're playing tennis you hit the ball to somebody else and then the ball is in their court it's up to them to act so this can be used in a variety of context it could be used in business in a negotiation for example maybe you make an offer to buy something and then you'd say well okay here's my offer the ball is in your court it is your responsibility to make a decision now or tell me what you want to do and we often use this idiom as just a standalone statement and you would tell somebody you know the ball is in your court now it's up to you the ball's in your court call me back if you want balls in your court I said no would me right back in the driver's seat so the ball is in his court the next idiom is to get off the hook and if if we're talking about hooks you can probably guess that this is a fishing idiom when you're fishing you use a hook to catch the fish so if a fish gets off the hook then they are able to escape danger they're able to escape punishment and that's exactly what this idiom means you are escaping responsibility for something that that you are no longer responsible for this this action that happened that was bad or wrong you are no longer going to get punished for this thing you are able to get off the hook I don't have a choice I guess I'm kind of hoping you'll come back over the rail and me off the hook here so for example when I think of this idiom because I'm a teacher I I think of students that when they don't do their homework and maybe there's a punishment and they're trying to think of an excuse I might tell them and say you know you're you're not going to get off the hook that easy you are not getting off the hook that easy mister and that is a common sentence in which you might hear this idiom being used that you would tell someone you're not going to get off the hook that easy that you you need to be held responsible for for something that happens you're not going to have it completely removed you're going to have to suffer the consequences a little bit you're not going to get off the hook that easy then we have a baseball idiom go to bat for someone to go to bat for someone means just to to defend somebody so in baseball when you go to bat for another player player that that you're basically helping that person out they don't have to bat because you're going to do it for them you're going to help that person you are going to defend them just go to bat for them I'm tired of going to bat for you and your show I want to thank you for going to bat for me last week next is a hunting idiom and this idiom I is used quite often and it is to give it your best shot and often people would just say it as a sentence and just say give it your best shot and just means that you should just try your hardest do your best so when you're hunting even though I'm not a hunter you are shooting something and you want to give it your best shot you tell people this all the time whether they're doing sports or or business you would tell them and encourage them and say give it your best shot I'll go ahead and give it your best shot come on then Nigel give it your best shots okay o Conor Give Me Your Best Shot so for example I would tell you guys this if you're thinking that learning English is too difficult I don't know if I could do it I would encourage you and say you know give it your best shot just try your best that's all that we're asking you do give it your best shot next is an idiom that comes from horse racing and that is the home stretch and if you're talking about the home stretch you're talking about the end so when talking about horse racing at the the end of the race you might hear somebody say the horses are coming down the home stretch they're getting close to the end and you can use this when you are getting close to the end of something specifically when you're about to complete something or finish something so with this lesson uh I'm just about halfway through it I'm not quite in the home stretch just yet we're almost done home stretch this is the home stretch all we got to do is focus ain't tough you're in the home stretch next is a golf idiom and that is not up to par so in golf you you have a score that you try to get for each hole and if you match that score then that would be par so that's your the average score that's what you want to do if somebody's not up to par then that just means that they're not good enough to do a a job or a position and you you just don't have the skills or abilities to do something and somebody might say you know uh yeah it's you know this work it it's not up to par so if I'm not up to a par performance-wise Jim this isn't exactly a Turn on there's a thing called proposition 48 says that if your grades aren't up to par and take the SAT if you score 700 or more you can get into college I hope these video lessons are are definitely up to par for for you guys I hope so next is a boxing idiom to throw in the towel and in boxing if somebody throws in the towel then that just means they give up the match is over and that's exactly what it means to give up something so if you're tired of doing something you don't want to do it anymore you'd say you know I'm I'm just going to throw in the towel I'm done I give up or you might hear it being used that somebody's you know they're trying to encourage you and tell you not to give up and they'd say don't throw in the towel don't throw in the towel just yet keep going keep working hard they're throwing in the towel he says once the debts are paid there would't be too much left round after round I kept getting franker to patch me up he's talking about throwing in a towel but he ain't my manager he can't throw in nothing maybe it's time to throw in the towel if you guys are thinking you know I'm done learning English it's too difficult I don't want to do it I would tell you don't give up don't throw in the towel just yet and I'm not going to let you off the hook that easy I'm always going to encourage you and tell you to keep going and give it your best shot and I'm just going to keep using these idioms over and over so that you'll remember them let's just keep going we're coming down the home stretch which means we're getting close to the end but don't leave just yet I have some more great idioms for you and this next one is a football idiom it's an American football idiom and I'm sure some of you might be rolling your eyes like H American football nobody watches that but this idiom is a good one and it is blindsided and if somebody is blindsided it just means that they did not see something coming they did not expect this thing to happen you were were blindsided by something so for example somebody might tell you some news that is shocking like oh they're getting a divorce you're like oh my goodness I I was just blindsided by this like you were as blindsided by this as I was I can't believe she blindsided me like this being so nice and and friendly to my face so when you're blindsided it's not really a good thing it's something that you weren't expecting and you would be blindsided by something so we often use it with the preposition by I was blindsided by this thing that was not good and I was surprised I was blindsided then we have a basketball idiom slam dunk this is probably a a phrase that you've heard before especially if you're a basketball fan in basketball a slam dunk is when you take the ball and you slam it and hang on to the Rim Yeah I I can't slam dunk the basketball I can't jump so if something is a slam dunk then it just means it's a sure thing it's easy to do it's easy to accomplish you know that you're going to do this thing and you say well you know it's a slam dunk so you're watching this video right now and I'm thinking like hm I wonder if they're going to hit that like button but I know you know it's a slam dunk it's a sure thing you're going to hit that like button right unless you think this lesson's not up to par it's a slam dunk I hope it's a real slam dunk to me this decision is a slam dunk the next idiom is call the shots this is a Billiards idiom because when you're playing Billiards you you often have to call your shots and point to the pocket where you want to shoot the ball so if somebody calls the shots it it just means they are making the decisions you might often hear this idiom in business because there there's a hierarchy of people from the boss the manager and then you and and your boss would call the shots they would be making the decisions I call the shots I do what I want to do so you're calling the shots now huh I'm was going to see nothing but the bench this year you ain't calling the shots You'll Play so I'm a bit curious if you knew some of these idioms already I hope that you weren't completely blindsided by these idioms and I hope that you can go on to use them and try to use them and give it your best shot right now we're going to walk right out that door and I'm going to find some super useful and common idioms to help you improve your fluency let's go today I am out and about I'm outside and I'm going to try to find some different idioms to help you improve your overall fluency so let's just go let's go let's get out of here second I should probably take you with me and the camera here we go so here we have some bushes and the next uh idiom that I want to teach you is to beat around the bush and what it means if somebody is beating around the bush it just means that uh let me have a seat real quick it means that somebody is not speaking directly or they're speaking indirectly so instead of saying what's on their mind instead of just saying it straightforward they beat around the bush and they kind of maybe give you Clues and sometimes the reason you do this and you don't say things directly is because you're trying not to upset someone and I think this is very common in certain environments like work or home if you're talking to a colleague and you don't want to upset them and you have some news that you need to tell them you might beat around the bush or at home something happens and it's bad news and you don't want to tell your mother father husband wife you might uh beat around the bush instead of just coming right out and saying it directly so I think this is something that well I think a lot of us do it uh some of us I think are very direct and we don't beat around the bush but I think a common way this idiom is used is somebody is speaking indirectly and the other person would say stop beating around the bush just tell me tell me what you have to say stop beating around the bush please I will never beat around the bush like that in have a seat I'm not going to beat around the bush here will you don't have to beat around the bush I know exactly what you're getting at another great idiom is to bark up the wrong tree and what this means is that you're trying to tell someone that they're making a mistake that whatever they're saying or doing is wrong and it's almost like you know what the the right answer is or what this person should be doing and they're making a mistake and you could tell them look you're barking up the wrong tree th this is a mistake you shouldn't be barking up this tree you you should be barking up that tree over there I've got my BDI on you you're barking up the wrong tree and there's heaven but who's that confucious boy have I been barking up the wrong tree so you can see right behind me here is the river and a river well a river will flow so the next idiom that I have for you is to go with the flow and what this means if you say well I'm going to go with the flow it means that you are going to accept a situation and kind of relax you're not going to try to to change things you're just you're just going to go with the flow so I think this is a a great idiom that can be used if somebody might be asking well what are you going to do you're going to enter a situation and what what's your reaction going to be and say well I'm just going to go with the flow I'm not going to try to control things I'm going to relax I'm going to see what everybody body else is doing and I'm just going to accept what is going on I'm going to go with the flow when I'm traveling especially with a group of people and everybody maybe they want to do different things I like to just go with the flow but you know what we're not going to rush this time we're just going to go with the flow so you're on board now yeah I just go with the flow a good fighter needs to know how to improvise to go with the flow oh I don't care you know me I just go with the flow all right so let me show you this right here here is a bud all right and that's going to help you understand the next idiom which is to nip something in the bud so if you think of like um well like a flower like we're looking at right now before a flower blossoms it it's in these the bud and then the bud will Blossom so to nip something in the bud is to stop something at an early stage and you're stopping it before it becomes established and most of the time you're going to use it and say okay you know the situation you know what you need to stop and you might say we need to nip this in the bud we need to stop it we need to stop something at this early stage before it develops before it grows before it becomes a thing something that's established and then you cannot stop it anymore and you want to nip it in the bud I never should have let her do this Max from thinking in the first place going to nip this thing in the bud is going to make a public apology tomorrow on hard ball yeah I I got to nip this in the bud this has catastrophe written all over it and you can expect the same thing from everyone in this office if you don't nip this whole Employee of the Month situation in the bud so the next one that I have for you it's actually an expression and that is to knock on wood and if somebody says this it means that they are just hoping for good luck to happen and you could say it to somebody else El and just say you know knock on wood and actually I don't know if this is real wood but you you will hear this quite often if you want to well wish someone luck or hope that they have good luck for a performance or a test or basically anything and you just say you know knock on wood or maybe you want to you're you want to give hope to yourself for something you're getting ready to do so I I I wish for the best I hope I do well knock on wood actually this would be my first Fay into trial process I haven't had to go to court yet KN on wood let him see he's not the only one who builds solid houses you know I think you'll be pretty impressed knock on wood so all along right here these are well these are rocks actually they're kind of like uh they're more like pebbles but it really has to do with the the next uh idiom that I want to teach you and that is if you say that someone is living under a rock and if somebody says this if you hear it it means that if somebody has been living under a rock it means that this person is ignorant to something that is well known that there is some event something is happening that you think everybody should know about and if somebody says well I don't know about this thing then you could ask like whoa what's wrong with you have you been living under a rock so if you hear this expression it means that yeah they're referring to somebody who is ignorant to some news some information that is very well known that you think everybody should know about to be living under a rock they all work together God have you been living under a rock no David geta have I been living under a rock yeah that song Is My Jam hi am the Beast Master from the movie Beast Master what rock have you been living under this what have you been living under a rock this is the new meme cat breed Taylor Swift reporting so we're outside having a little bit of a picnic right now and you can see that that this right here is grass uh there's there's quite a bit of it and I have it's it's actually not an idiom it's a a phrase that I want to teach you and that is Grassroots because I think this is a very useful uh phrase to know and especially it's something you may hear if you're listening to the news and what it means is it's talking about the the basic level of some activity or organization or even some cause and I think I think that's how uh people use it quite often if you're talking about some Grassroots campaign and it's happening at the most basic level um people getting informed people becoming motivated to create some change and you could say that their their campaign it's it's Grassroots it's happening at that basic level so I wanted to teach you that phrase because well we're outside and there's plenty of grass the Tea Party presents itself as a Grassroots movement uh which means it should be fiercely resistant to central control I understand that Grassroots activism actually runs in your family so I opted for a more Grassroots approach to get the word out so I'm not going to beat around the bush those are all the idioms I have for you this lesson and I hope you learn some new ones if you did please hit that like button we are now going to play in these fountains right here thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time do you love idioms today we're talking about love idioms today we'll talk to you about 10 love idioms and these are idioms that don't necessarily have the word love in them but they are used to describe love and relationships so the first love idiom is to fancy someone and this is most mostly use in British English and it means to like someone and their company so it's not just to like someone but to enjoy spending time with them so if you enjoy spending time with someone and you really like them you would say that you fancy them you fancy that person the couple is on their first date it seems like they fancy each other number two is to fall for someone and to fall for someone means to develop romantic feelings for someone over a period of time it could be a short period of time or it could be a long period of time but that's how you say that you fall for someone I fell for West when we first started working together so number three is head over heels in love with someone so this one can be either head over heels in love or just head over heels and it just means completely and deeply in love with someone when some somebody's head over heels in love with someone else they cannot think of any other person this is the only person on their mind it's all that you think about you're very very very very into this person so you would say that you're Head Over Heels he felt head of our heels in love with her and they got married within a month number four is lydy have you heard this one before lovey doy I hear it quite a bit and it's uh kind of a way that people act it really describes how people act and how people are so you can say that two people act very lovey-dovey with each other uh that means that they're very affectionate and they really show their affection towards each other but very strongly very much and sometimes it's more viewed as a negative thing like H they're so lovey-dovey it can be almost a little too much but it's an act it's how you act towards each other they're so cute together and they're so lovey-dovey [Music] number five to be smitten it means to be strongly attracted to someone it's almost like you were smacked by love and now you're super in love with this person or very very attracted to them he is smitten with her [Music] smile number six to get hitched this is used quite a bit and it means to get married to get hitched to get married Wes and I got hitched in New York at the [Music] courthouse number seven to tie the knot this is another one that's just a synonym for uh to get hitched so it also means to get married to tie the knot my parents tied the knot in a beautiful Church number eight to go through a bit of a rough patch now this can be used as to go through a bit of a rough patch or to just go through a rough patch what it means is when a couple is having trouble a period of of problems in their lives you know something goes bad and then they're constantly fighting or arguing or they just have some issues we're saying that they're going through a rough patch or a bit of a rough patch this usually means when you say that that the period is finite and that things are going to get better they're going through a bit of a rough patch right now but they'll be okay number nine double date double date means an activity that two couples do together so it can really mean any kind of activity but many times it just means like a date like going some somewhere to a picnic or to the movies or to a bar just two couples hanging out with each other it's a double date my parents always went on double dates with my aunt and uncle because all four of them were best friends and finally number 10 on the rocks on the Rocks is a relationship experiencing difficulties and is likely to fail on the Rocks doesn't necessarily have to describe a relationship between a couple but it can really be used to describe any kind of relationship like if you don't get along with your mother or your father you can say that your relationship with them is on the Rocks the man is sad because the relationship with his son is on the Rocks let's talk about some weird weird and strange idioms in English and an idiom is a fixed set of words that have a particular meaning that's very different than the meaning of the individual words so if I say something is a piece of cake many of you may be familiar with this idiom I'm not talking about food I'm just saying that something is easy and that is also it's a bit of a strange idiom as well let's begin with our first idiom which is pardon my friend French so this is a phrase that is used to apologize for some offensive language if you say some a word that is bad you would then follow it with this idiom and you might say pardon my French if you were to say like this is pardon my French it's almost like you're you're trying to say that the bad word is part of another language but this idiom is used in a really a specific context if you're talking to another person or perhaps a group of people and you kind of want to to show respect and you want to be polite but for some reason you really need to say this bad word that use this offensive language so you would follow it with pardon my French it's like you're trying to say that well hey this is not the way I normally speak I usually I do not use this language and you would say something that might be offensive and then follow it with pardon my French yeah this is not to say I don't get a ration of in every conversation pardon my French pardon my French today's been gosh dang sugar show the fact is the industry is all of us by the balls pardon my French your honor then we have to weasel out of something and I like this idiom because well I like idioms that have animals in them and to weasel out of something it means you're trying to avoid something by being dishonest and I think we could all relate to this idiom if you have some housework to do I know that I have housework that I have to do sometimes my wife might ask me to do something and I'm like well wait I got I got to go somewhere I'll be right back and yeah I try to weasel out of doing the housework I think again we can all relate to this one to weasel out of something hey stroker 10 bucks for the cage don't weasel out on me I'd be taking an even bigger risk I didn't hand this to you personally you're not going to weasel out of my deal again if you can weasel me out of this physical I will blow your mind by doing something incredibly holy at some point amen hold your horses this is well I think this is actually probably one of the more common idioms and it just means that you're you're telling somebody to be patient to wait a moment calm down relax hold your horses and I it is a very strange idiom because I have no idea how hold your horses somehow became be patient but that's the way it is so this is good idiom if you want to use it and tell somebody hey just be patient just calm down wait a second hold your horses hold your horses I'm coming well apparently it is cuz you know this is taking forever it's forever hold your horses this is disch in yeah hold your horses down in front come on sweetie hold your horses buddy the next strange idiom is pot calling the kettle black and this idiom is used to point out uh hypocrisy so if there's a situation and you're you're trying to point out this hypocrisy you would just say that that statement you'd say well that's that's the pot calling the kettle black so to to help give you a little more context and meaning say that you are trying to weasel out of something and I tell you like hey you should not avoid this you should do it you should not try to weasel out of it and then later on you you learn that I am also trying to maybe weasel out of the same thing or something else and then you would tell me you point out that hypocrisy and you would say well that's the pot calling the kettle black why don't you go put some clothes on well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black or African-American suddenly she's thinking of filing a restraining order well isn't thought the pot calling the kettle black drinking while at school is just stupid and most importantly any of guys drinking at all is illegal it's a fair amount of the pot calling the kettle black then we have kitten Kaboodle and this this weird idiom means well the whole group uh of something of people the the entire amount all of something and I think people would use this maybe to to give emphasis when you tell somebody that you want well everything I want it all I want the whole kitten Kaboodle that' be that's the whole kitten Kaboodle catch you Ladi last week my stock was worth twice what it is now I'm thinking about getting out in a whole kitten kabo L it boys I see a vast Improvement not too late to change your mind lot of good cups want to drop the whole kitten cool who wouldn't then we have tongue and cheek and this idiom yeah it's really it's the meaning is very different than those individual words because this idiom means that you are just not being serious you're making a joke but maybe you're you're saying it in a serious way like you're being sarcastic and you could say that well it's just a little tongue and Chic and I think often you might hear people use it in that way they're telling somebody else they're explaining that they're just joking that they're being sarcastic and you would say yeah it's just it's just a little tongue-in cheek after he was threatened by a group that somewhat tongue-in Chic called itself the gay we know you're as straight as an Oklahoma Highway seems like kind of an opportunity missed would have been funny well I I feel that they were just trying to be tongue-in-cheek ah a winky face I guess that could be helpful if I'm saying something tongue-in cheek here is a very weird idiom and that is wet behind the ears and it has a pretty well straightforward meaning if you would describe somebody as wet behind the ears you're basically saying that they're inexperienced and I don't know well I don't know how this came about that wet behind the ears became somebody who's inexperienced but it's it's good to know and I could say that yeah when I first started making these video lessons I was wet behind the ears I felt a little uncomfortable being in front of a camera the the quality of the videos were not that great and yeah it because I was wet behind the ears you graduated 6 years ago so you're 27 28 yeah why you don't look at thank God my last assistant was only 23 and still wet behind the ears in fact even you and some wet behind the ears FBI agent decided to put some informant in my cartel next is gungho and if you say that you are gungho it means you're very excited and eager to do something I am always gung-ho to teach you guys new English lessons each week especially ones that help you build your vocabulary that is something that I am gung-ho about and I hope that you are gung-ho to hit that like button why don't you let your new assistant take all this down wow you were gung-ho you're getting a new assistant we were all pretty happy when Jeff came around he became really gung-ho about abid's documentary yes his arm is paralyzed yes his legs are paralyzed why is everyone so gung-ho to connect those two conditions then we have a very weird idiom which is mind your p's and q's and I I in my opinion I think this idiom is perhaps a bit older it's not one that I have heard in quite some time and what it means if somebody tells you to mind your Ps and q's they're really telling you to mind your manners to be careful about the way that you behave and I I think people might use it more often if you're talking to somebody perhaps a child or somebody who's just really being very immature you could tell them to to M their p's and q's that's right Capital City toi and former member of the Soviet Union and we kindly request y'all mind your pe's and q's now I want everybody to mind their p's and q's that means no effing and jeffin the next idiom is a bull in a china shop and often you you would say that perhaps you're talking about a person and you would say that someone is like a bull in a china shop and what that means is that this person is not really careful in the way that they move around or even behave and the idiom if you think about it it it makes sense because if you have a china shop China it's very uh very fragile very delicate a bull is not the animal that you would want to have in a china shop because everything's going to break so in a way it's almost like you're saying that somebody is just not delicate in a particular in handling a particular situation and you could say that that they were acting like a bull in a china shop like an elephant in a china shop in China shop anyhow hey I am Kurt get out now get out bow in China shop out of my house my temple this is why I come to find peace dog you're coming in here like an emotional bull in a china shop then we have this strange idiom to bite the dust and I really like this idiom because I am a fan of Queen and they have a famous song called Another One Bites the Dust and if you say that someone or something Bites the Dust it means well to die to come to an end or to fail so if you don't succeed at whatever you were attempting to do you could tell somebody yeah like I I was trying to to jump over this on my bike and I just bit the dust I did not succeed I failed or if you want to talk about well something dying probably more common you would refer to uh maybe an insect as opposed to a person because you don't want to talk about people that way you don't want to act like a bull in a china shop you want to be a little more caring but if we're talking about like a mosquito and you kill a mosquito then yes that mosquito bit the dust it means his current relationship is about ready to bite the dust hard ass counselors bullies all bite the dust but Timmy Still Standing I'm laughing because yeah this next idiom I think is very strange I have no idea where it came from but Bob's your uncle and this idiom you make may hear it in the US from time to time but I think it's more common in the UK and Ireland and what it means is it's really just a way of saying well there it is it's done that's it and often I think people would use it after giving a set of instructions you're telling somebody to do something and then once you're finished telling them what to do you could just end it with Bob your uncle sit down big smiles plant the bug underneath the table easy peasy Japanese Bobs your uncle that's say so I I could give you guys some instructions and say you know first watch this entire lesson second hit that like button third write to me in the comments and Bob's your uncle there you have it it's done it's over Bob's your uncle to you like shopping like I do cuz if you do I have some new shopping idioms for you and because this is a very very common subject you are going to hear these idioms all the time so what I'm going to do is I'll give you the idioms a little bit of an explanation of how and when they're used and then an example sentence so let's get to it our first idiom is window shopping to Window Shop means to just look in the window of a store without buying anything and just kind of look and see what what is there and this is probably the one I like the least and uh the reason is because when you window shop for something you don't actually shop you don't actually go inside the store store and and buy stuff you just look which I guess it can be fun sometimes but most of the time I think it's more fun when you actually buy things we've got a lot of window shopping to do plus this is the perfect time to catch up on my window shopping I'm very well aware that there are many people who like to Window Shop and I the only thing I like to window shop for is I think like furniture and interior design stuff that can be kind of fun it gives me ideas I like to window shop for antiques so how about you what do you like to window shop for do you like it is it annoying what do you think the next IDM is ripoff a ripoff and this is used as a noun or a verb so something can be a ripoff or somebody can rip you off and either way it's not a good thing because when something is a ripoff it means that it costs way more than it should way more what what a ripoff I got ripped off a ripoff is kind of kind of an informal way to say that um somebody's stealing from you so if something's a ripoff you almost feel like somebody was trying to steal money from you that's that's how much you're paying for this particular item it's a ripoff $4 for an avocado that's a ripoff the next idiom is shop till you drop you may have heard this one uh I I hear it in movies all the time everyone always talks about how they like to shop till they drop I think it's a it's a catchy IDM because it Rhymes it it just means to shop for a really really long time until you become exhausted so if you have ever shopped till you drop you know that feeling of the end of your shopping day when you're just like tired and ready to take a nap or something at Christmas time I usually shop till I drop for the perfect gifts the next EDM is retail therapy or shopping therapy you could say either one they mean the same thing what this means is to shop to make yourself feel better so just kind of like what it sounds like this is just something that we do if we've had a bad day or if we've had a rough time sometimes we just need a little retail therapy or shopping therapy I had a bad day at work so I did a little retail therapy on my way home the next one is bargain hunting and when you Bargain Hunt you are looking for deals that is what a bargain is is a deal so bargain hunting means actively searching for really really good deals on things that you shop for anyway now we are going bargain hunting I'm not going to blow this by bargain hunting I like finding good deals but I don't think I have the patience to always go bargain hunting my mom loves to go bargain hunting on Black Friday the next idiom is to shoplift and this is a little bit of a bad one because you know it involves a CME which is never good to shoplift means to steal something from a store you shoplift you take it and hide it and walk out with it without paying for it it's not a good thing don't don't shoplift the girl shoplifted some candy from the store fit like a glove is our next idiom and we usually use it for clothes or some kind of article of clothing because when something fits like a glove it means it fits you perfectly it looks like it was meant for your body and you know it's the perfect size the perfect shape for you fits like a glove 68 years since I wore this uniform still fits me like a glove and everyone loves to find something that fits like a glove it makes us feel great I love my new shoes they fit like a glove our next stum is like a bull in a china shop I know it sounds like a mouthful but it's it's it's going to a very specific idiom what it is it's kind of what you imagine it to be so if you imagine a bull in a china shop you know it would destroy everything so because everything is breakable it's porcelain so it would break you know I'm obviously going to have to go talk to bowl in a china shop you're coming in here like an emotional bull in a china shop the idiom kind of means the same thing if somebody behaves like a bull in a china shop they are acting recklessly they are acting clumsily they they are causing trouble he marched into the meeting like a bull in a china shop our next idium is a shopping spree and the shopping spree is kind of a short period of time in which somebody buys a lot of things the word spree it just means kind of a short period of time and it kind of shows like a lot of things that are happening in a short period of time when I got pregnant I went on a shopping spree for baby clothes our next DM is pay through the nose and this one's really funny for me for some reason just imagine taking out money out of our noses it's actually not that funny in real life because when you pay through the nose it means you end up paying a lot of money for something usually more than the fair price make them pay through the nose fact they'll pay through the nose for it so it's it's not really a a fair price that you're paying you're paying a lot more than that so it's not such a good thing we waited until the last moment to get our plane tickets so we had to pay through the nose I'm going to teach you some very common and useful American idioms and expressions that you might hear if you are talking to somebody who is from the United States or maybe you can use some of these if you plan to visit the US so believe me when I tell you that this lesson it's going to be a piece of cake and that is actually the first idiom that I want to teach you many of you are are probably familiar with this I wanted to start with something a little easier and and then it'll get a bit more challenging but if we say that something is a piece of cake it just means that something is very easy so I told you that this lesson it's going to be a piece of cake I'm going to teach you these idioms and expressions and after I explain them and tell you how to use them I I think that you will have a better understanding and like I said it's just going to improve your overall fluency so this lesson it's a piece of cake what's the sound of one hand clapping piece of cake oh Bart it's a 3,000-year-old riddle with no answer and every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake what about a race based on Merit right each person individually mhm piece of cake then we have the phrase run late or run behind and they they both mean the same thing it just means to be late for something now I I guess I could say that I use this phrase quite often and I would tell people that that I'm running late and I I would use it often because yes I am sometimes late for appointments or if I'm going to meet somebody but I would call ahead and tell them hey you know don't worry I'm I'm just running a little late so in that case I think it also implies that you are on your way to to get somewhere or if you're talking about about perhaps like a project and you say you tell your boss you know I'm running a little behind you're telling them that it it may be late but that you're working on it so again this is a great expression I think uh especially if you were somebody who who tends to be late for things you could just tell somebody hey you know I'm running a little late but I will be there it's only four blocks but they are so slow I'm running late too we're running late H we're always running late we're running a little behind schedule hi sorry I'm late I've been running behind om then we have the expression to get the hang of something and this just means to learn something that's not quite obvious so for example I think often you would use this when talking about some type of game or activity you're trying to learn it and and get a little bit better at it and in that case you could you could tell somebody you know I'm I'm starting to get the hang of this I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable I understand it a little bit better and I'm starting to get the hang of it one thing I would like to point out with this expression is that it is often going to end with that pronoun it so in that case it's almost like you know what it is you know the game or activity that somebody is talking about and if you're trying to learn it a little bit better then you're trying to get the hang of it or starting to get the hang of it or you could say he he is getting the hang of it but you know the activity so it's often going to end with that pronoun it don't worry you'll get the hang of it you're going to get the hang of it we'll help you how's he doing haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet then we have the phrase all set and this just means that that you are ready and you are everything is in order so it's something that maybe you could ask to somebody if you want to know if they're ready and you could say Hey you know all set or you could tell somebody if you want to say that you are organized you're prepared and you are ready to go and you'd say you know I'm I'm all set we're all set we are ready we're organized we're prepared you could also say just to throw in another expression good to go it means the same thing if somebody says you know I'm good to go that means that they are ready they're all set ready ready all set okay we're all set let rip is it okay if I put out some candy that Pam brought back from Puerto Rico sure thanks for asking Pam we're all set let me know what you got El good to go weapons good to go you're good to go then we have the expression to sound like a broken record and it really means well kind of exactly what it says and that is that somebody is just repeating something again and again especially when it's not really necessary and you would say to another person like oh you know you sound like a broken record you just keep repeating repeating the same thing again and again and again especially when you don't want to hear it then you could use this expression and say that someone sounds like a broken record I hope that I don't sound like a broken record because I do I tend to repeat things again and again so so that you have a better understanding of all of these idioms and expressions because I just I just want you to get the hang of it you know I know I sound like a broken record we are buddies you're going to murder me like you murder my father you people sound like a broken record baby baby baby you sound like a broken record next is the phrase pitch in and this just means that you start doing something as a group especially something that is helpful so if you are working with a group of people maybe a team you want everyone to pitch in you want everyone to do some work the something that's helpful for the group or the team and in that case you want everyone to pitch in in but it's used in in that context that you might ask someone who may not be helping and you would tell them to pitch in or say you need to pitch in but it is to to do something that's helpful everyone here has a job we all pitch in glad he could pitch in he needs all the help he can get by the way if you need help with that I'm more than happy to pitch in then we have the idiom to blow off some steam and this just means to to do something or to say something that helps you get rid of of some energy often some some negative energy that if you're you're angry or upset you might try to perhaps you go for a run and you just want to blow off some steam you just want to want to get rid of that energy so you could use it when talking about a a an activity that you do something physical in order to blow off some steam or maybe it's something that you you say to someone perhaps you even might yell at someone and you're just you're trying to blow off some steam time to thing no let him go he needs to blow off some steam I've never seen him like that give the big lug a break even he needs to blow off some steam been working so hard this semester really need to go crazy you know blow off some steam you still seem stressed you want to blow up some steam then we have the expression it's not rocket science so this is a St statement that somebody would would say to another person if they want to express that something is not really difficult and it's it should be easy to understand and you'd say no look it's not rocket science the listen for this if you're watching a TV show or movie because again if somebody wants to say that like look this is not difficult they might tell somebody you know it's not rocket science so I would tell you guys you know learning these idioms and expressions it's not rocket science I think it's a piece of cake and if you just keep practicing a little bit each and every day then you're really going to get the hang of it caller apologize it's not rocket science I mean fixing your hair is not exactly rocket science because I don't want to go by myself Barb it's not rocket science you just tell your parents you're going to stay at my place afterwards then we have the expression to table something and this just means to postpone a discussion until a later time and often I think it might be used in business perhaps you're having a meeting with a group of people and and you have a list of items that you're going to go through but you want to discuss one of them at a later time you might say you know let's let's table this item for right now and then we will discuss it later so you could table some item if it's on an agenda or maybe you could just table some discussion and you will talk about it at a later time to table something suppose that we table this discussion until let's say the second nope is gone I I think what the Dan is trying to say is uh there'll be time to talk about that we can table that for a later date what is your job exactly besides making balloon animals protecting your reality okay guys can we can we table this discussion right now the fact is is that we have this stuff next is the idiom to jump on the bandwagon and this just means to start supporting something or to even start doing something because it's trendy or fashionable often I I think I would use this ium uh when talking about sports that if there is a sport team that just suddenly started winning and then everybody they they like this team all of a sudden they're they're a huge fan then you could say look you know uh he he just jumped on the bandwagon he only likes the team because everybody else does he's supporting this team he jumped on the bandwagon of course this has happened to me if I'm living somewhere and then that that city has a sports team they become really great yeah I jump on the bandwagon everything's echo-friendly this echo-friendly that I just haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet millions of people got on the anti- Denmark bandwagon show me some kind of kindness not jumping on the let's get me family bandwagon let's stick with sports for right now because the next expression is to sit in the nose bed or you could say to sit in the nose bed section and what this refers to is that you are sitting in seats that are that are very high up at the the very top of a stadium and you're very far away from all of the action because you're so high up there you are sitting in the nose bed section and the reason why we use this is because if you are at a very high altitude then maybe your nose would start to bleed because of the altitude so if you're high up there in the stadium then you could say you know I'm I'm sitting in the nose bleed section when I jump on the bandwagon and I want want to go see uh a sports team play typically I don't have a ton of money to spend so I have to find the cheapest tickets which are usually high up there in the stadium and I would sit in the nose bed section can you take me to a concert with my new friend Harper sure why not it'll be nose bleeder obstructed view seat but you know what I have a friend uh he's got a couple of seats if uh if you don't mind the nose bed section they're yours no we don't care we just want to go then we have the idiom to fall through the cracks and and this just means to overlook something so if you are perhaps doing some project you don't want to overlook the details you don't want anything to fall through the cracks I need you to be sure that things don't fall through the cracks basically I need you to be more like Dean here you do it every week and you forgot things are falling through the cracks I'm pretty sure you've worn that sweater 4 days in a row this whole uh single parent thing everything is just falling through the cracks so what did I tell you those idioms and expressions piece of cake all right it it's not rocket science and I'm sorry I know that I sound like a broken record because I keep repeating these these same idioms and expressions over and over again I hope you're not upset with me but if you are a little upset and you think you need to blow off some steam then I would suggest that you check out another video Lesson I hope that you enjoy these lessons and that you just you jump on the internet active English bandwagon jump on the interactive English bandwagon and because okay I I can't think of anymore I just trying to review as much as I can thank you guys so much for watching I hope you learn some new idioms and expressions and I will see you next time --- ## 40. 20+ ANIMAL GROUP NAMES | Useful Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cQ1p7est4UM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ1p7est4UM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:29:34 | --- hey everyone welcome to interactive English my name is Wes and this channel is all about helping you practice and improve your English and today I have a fun vocabulary lesson for you because I want to talk to you about the animal groups I want to talk to you about the different names for animal groups and this is a great way to build and expand your vocabulary because sometimes well we talk about animals and if they are in groups it's nice to be able to know how to refer to these animals and the word that we use in English to call these animals so that's what I want to talk to you about today so thank you guys for joining me if you you know if you're joining me in the chat in the comments write your name tell me where you're from because I just want to hear from you so hello lollie Orlando Angela Samuel Petrie gertrudis ELISA thank you guys for joining me today let's just let's just get right to it so I told you today we're going to talk to you about animal groups and what I'm going to do I'm just going to show you the animal and then tell you the name of the group what we would call a group of of animals so let's just start with this when we when we're talking about the names of these groups they're called Co we we use collective nouns and these nouns these are nouns that we use to refer to a group of animals we could use it to refer to a group of people but when we assign a name to it it is a collective noun so let's first do you see that picture right there we're gonna start with this picture now if you have a picture of these aunt what know they're up here these animals right here what would you call a group of birds what do you think and this I think is one of the more common ones that if we're talking about a group of birds then you would say that it is a flock a flock of so flock this is the collective noun that you would use when you are referring to a group of birds now one thing you should know about the word flock that this is actually a generic name that can be used for any large group of animals or people so flock is a very generic one that's why I said I think this may be the most common one so you can use it to talk about a flock of birds a flock of sheep if you want to refer to even a group of children you could say wow there was just a flock of children at the zoo they were all running around it was a flock of children you could say a group of children as well but this is just to show you that flock it can be used as a generic name for any large group or maybe you travel somewhere and there were a flock of tourists there were so many tourists it was a large group so you can use flock to refer to a large group let's look at a few more are you ready so as you can see you have a bunch of elephants here if we're talking about a group of elephants think about it I want you to see as we go through these think about the word that you would use to describe these animals a group of elephants is a parade a parade of elephants if you see a group and like wow okay that parade of elephants that is the word that you use to refer to a group now what about these birds in particular now these blackbirds if you don't know they are crows crows are blackbirds that you find out on on farms that's where you you might have heard the word a scarecrow which are those that it looks like almost like a person they stick them out in the field to scare away the crows so if you have a group of crows it is called a murder a murder of crows a murder is a group now one thing that you might be wondering is where do these names come from because I think often you might hear some words like a flock that is more common that that is something that you may read about or hear or you may even use if you're talking about a group of birds that you see or you want to describe a large group some of these other words I think are a little more specific maybe you might read about them if you are reading about an arc academic book or an article that is about nature and animals then you might see some of these terms but some of them they're like a parade of elephants a murder of crows you probably like okay where do these come from and this is great stuff because I have learned a lot when doin doing this lesson because some of these names I don't think some many native speakers don't know many of these words because again it's not something you're going to go out and use in everyday English but it is fun so these names just for a little context they are called name terms of venery and this is derived from English hunting tradition in the late Middle Ages so people that would hunt back then they came up with these terms and there's this book called the book of Saint albums which was published in 1486 now this book is from it's a collection of essays from different authors and they didn't really name the authors but one name that did come up in the book was julianna burners and she is one of the known authors and they came up with these names to refer to groups of animals oxford dictionary believes that the names were not intended to be taken seriously they came up with sometimes these funny or entertaining names for these groups and they believed that the names should not be taken seriously however after the book was published other writers started using these names and then more people started using these names and eventually they just became the names for these groups of animals so if you're wondering okay why did this why does it have such a weird name this is the reason right here that the names work came up with a long time ago 1814 86 and they I don't think they were meant to be taken seriously but people just started more people started using them and they became part of the language so here we have a butterfly alright what what do you think a butterfly if you have a group of butterflies if you don't know it it is called a flutter a flutter of butterflies this is a group of butterflies alright the next one I think this one I think may be a little more common Lions I think you find lions as characters and stories movies as well and lions also they you find them in groups quite often so if there is a group of lions do you know what word refers to a group of lions right you're right it in the shaft right it in the comments again I try to try to see if you can come up with these and it's a good way again you're building your vocabulary you're learning new words because you know what a lion is but a group of lions is called a pride a pride of lions and again now that you know the story about these this group of people came up with these names and they were just fun entertaining names some of them make sense like lions you think of strength and pride you're proud a pride of lions what about the next one here we have some ants and I'm sure all of you you have seen ants especially as a group they they work I think many of them they work really hard and if you have a group of ants that live together that is called a colony a colony of ants now one thing I will show you as the the same with flock you could have a flock of birds or a flock of sheep some of these collective nouns you can use to refer to more than than one animal as well as there may be different collective nouns that can refer to one animal which I will show you so if you're talking about a colony this is a collective noun that can refer to a colony events a colony of bees as I said you could have more than one collective noun you could also say that there is a swarm of bees that is another collective noun when talking about bees you could have a colony of rats as well as a colony of penguins so again with collective nouns you may have more than one to describe an animal so you can have a colony of penguins and there are two more words that can describe a group of penguins it can describe a group of penguins that are outside of the water and then there's another word that describes a group of penguins when they are in the water and they're swimming around so those are there are three different collective nouns when talking about a a group of penguins so in general you could say a colony of penguins but if the penguin is outside of the water it is called a raft a group of penguins out of the water is a raft of penguins and if the Penguins are swimming in the water a group of penguins is called a waddle a waddle of penguins the next one let's keep moving on a lot a lot of these to go over with you today and again I don't expect you to memorize all of these the the best way to learn it is just to get exposure to to do a lesson like this and you see it once and then if you read about it later on eventually you'll start to to take hold of that vocabulary word up in your head and it'll just become a part of your active vocabulary so this is just a way to get some exposure and learn about some of these new words so a fish a group of fish if you have a group of fish such as those swimming right here around that coral you would talk about a school a school of fish and again I think this one may be a little more common because there's well most of the planet is water and fish again it's something you might read about in articles storybooks maybe in movies and you would talk about a group as a school a school of fish the next one this is a good one a group of owls now this is one that I again I don't think there are many people that probably don't know this because typically I don't know if we think of as groups but if we're talking about a group of owls when you think of owls I think most people think of the word wise owls are very smart they're very wise they have a lot of wisdom and in that case a group of owls is called a parliament so just like that yeah just like the form of government if if you have a group of owls it is called a parliament now this right here this is a jellyfish you find these jellyfish out in the ocean you don't maybe want to swim with them because those tentacles they can they can sting you but if you have a group of jellyfish again some of these words are just I think very funny very entertaining a little crazy a group of jellyfish is called a smack alright and then we have what about these guys right here these hippos what do you think a group of hippos so these are very large animals these hippos right here and a group if you have a group of these hippos it is called a bloat a bloat and I think when way you could think about this I feel like hippos are very big they have very big stomachs and if your stomach if you eat too much and your stomach feels a little it feels it just feels like it's expanded it's too big a little heavy you could say you feel bloated your stomach is bloated so a group of hippos is called a bloat what about this one maybe a little easier I think again this might be a little more common because these are wolves and wolves are often found in groups so typically wolves will hunt together they will live together in a group and we call that group what what do you think do you guys know a group of wolves I told you I think it's a little more common because I think again these animals they live in groups it is a pack a pack of wolves now we can use pack to talk about other animals as well for example you could say a pack of wolves a pack of dogs or even a pack of mules so that is my picture of a wolf it does look a little bit like a dog - so I guess we'll stick with it and then here is a mule down there which if you don't know what a mule is it is when you have a male donkey mate with a female horse when a donkey mates with a horse then you get a mule and mules they're typically used for carrying things up hills so a pack of wolves pack of dogs and a pack of mules the next one we have are these giraffe what do you think giraffe if you have a group of giraffe together what do you think that's called any guesses and again this one I I think the way I would say they're common it really depends on where you live because some of these animals may be native to your country and you may see them quite often other times maybe you've never seen a giraffe except for at the zoo so it may not be as relevant but that's why I said like a flock of birds I think is more common but if you have a group of giraffe it's called a tower and again think about it it makes it makes a little sense towers they're very high they're very tall giraffe are very tall animals so a group of giraffe is called a tower a tower of giraffe the next one those right there these little guys right here are porcupines porcupines are those animals I don't know if you can see on there they have those sharp needles and they're very sharp and if you Schiff you touch a needle you can get what there's a verb that goes with it if you touch something sharp you say ow I just got mmm and then think about that word and then think about well what is the name of the group because again once I show you the word I think you'll think oh this makes sense if you have a group of porcupines that have those really that those sharp needles on their backs if you touch something sharp you can get pricked and like oh I just got pricked so a group of porcupines is called a prickle a group of porcupines is a prickle the next one I think this one again this is a little easier because when you think of cows farming it's something that I think people are a little more familiar with so if you're talking about a group of cows which again you might often find cows in a group you would refer to it as a what what do you think a group of cows if you don't know you're in luck because I'm going to tell you a group of cows is called a herd a herd of cows the next one that I have for you is this one and this one is well this is a panda and I think this one is I think it's a little humorous and I was actually very surprised I had no idea what a group of pandas is called it is an endangered animal they are you there are many pandas still in China but it's not an animal that I think you see in your everyday life but a group of pandas any guesses as to what that is write that in the chat write that in the comments I was very surprised to learn that a group of pandas is called an embarrassment actually if you look it up a group of pandas is called an embarrassment so there are many many many names out there for these groups of animals again these are collective nouns that you use to refer to these animals so here again here is the list that we've gone over if we're talking about a flock a parade a flutter a colony and the ones that I would say that I think are more important that you will likely hear about or you may even want to use would be words like a flock a flock of birds because there are birds everywhere or maybe a school of fish or if you're talking about animals that you know always belong in a group like a group of wolves a pack of wolves or even Lions I think a pride of lions those are I think a little more important because you're more likely to hear about if you're watching a movie or TV show or read about if you're reading a magazine or some news article on nature but the other ones again I think they're they can be a little more fun to learn I think that's very interesting to learn these some of them were new to me I had no idea a group of pandas is called an embarrassment but this again is just a good way to build your vocabulary to try to learn some new words so that the next time you're having a conversation if you happen to be talking about these animals maybe you can listen for these group names or even try to use them the next time you are having a conversation and discussing these groups so again thank you guys so much for joining me I know we went through this pretty quickly today and went through all these lessons let's let's review them quickly because this was pretty fast so again these are all collective nouns if you don't know the names of these and we have the name of a group of birds is a flock if we have a group of elephants it is a parade a raid of elephants then we have a murder of crows next was a flutter of butterflies then we had a pride of lions a group of lions next would be a colony of ants I told you a colony has several different names penguins you could have a colony of penguins you could have a raft of penguins outside the water a waddle of penguins inside the water then there is a school of fish a Parliament of owls a smack of jellyfish that is a entertaining one a bloat of hippos could say that you could think that you are a little bloated a pack of wolves which i think is a little more of a common one we had a tower of giraffe a prickle of porcupines a herd of cows an embarrassment of pandas so these are some of the animal groups if you are interested in learning some more let me throw a couple links here and these are the these are the references that I used this is one of them and here is another one and they list a bunch of animal names because I I just went over a few of them with you I just chose these right here to go over with you today but if you're interested in learning more check out those links in the chat right there so thank you guys so much for joining me for today's lesson again if you guys want to make a connection with us if you want to join the interactive English community online subscribe to our newsletter we will give you access to the secret fluency lesson and there is a link to that right there if you want to subscribe email with us stay connected with us thank you guys for joining me thank you give some shout outs lolly app min Romina milena Thank You Aidan Aziza SMAW Maremma thank you guys for joining me today Maria Katty putri Angela al Abraham Yun sorry if i mispronounce names Hani CeCe I hope that you have maybe learned some new words if you did learn a new word please hit that like button show us some love and again this is just a great way to get exposure to the language learn some new words and as you continue to read about these words as you continue to hear about them then you will actually put these words into your active memory and they will just become a part of your vocabulary so hope you guys have a wonderful day enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 41. 20 Advanced Nouns to Describe People | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WTSpeu5k_RY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTSpeu5k_RY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:22:20 | --- today i am going to teach you 20 nouns that describe people that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and this channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i have a vocabulary lesson for you because i am going to teach you 20 different nouns that that describe people and they describe people's profession their their personalities or even their characteristics so i don't expect you to memorize every single one of these i think you are probably already familiar with some of them and that's great it's great review but what i'd like you to do for the nouns that you learn that okay they're new nouns i want you to try to associate them with somebody that you know because that's just going to help you remember the meaning of the noun so let's begin with uh professions like somebody somebody's work or or maybe a position that they have and the first noun that i have for you is co-worker so a co-worker that i think many of you may be familiar with that that is just somebody that you work with it is your co-worker now the the one thing i want to highlight with this noun is that co the that prefix at the beginning of this co because what that is short for is cooperation so it's talking about people working together co-co-workers we can also use it with other nouns as well for example you may hear somebody is the co-founder that they started a company with another person they were working together or maybe on a sports team somebody could be the co-captain these two people they are cooperating and and they are the leaders of the team or in a newsroom somebody who is an anchor they do the news there might be a co-anchor there's two people cooperating working together and they are co-anchors so keep that in mind when you see those two letters at the front of a word co co-workers then we have the noun backup and if you say that somebody is a backup then that just means they are there to help and support someone else and in this case i usually think of perhaps a sports team that you have the the primary player for some position but then they have a backup if they get injured or hurt there's a backup and somebody else will will take their place so a backup supports or helps another person neither of them are married by the time they're 40 they marry each other you mean a backup yeah exactly help well we could use a backup it's obvious we should take dr eva's lair by force and be my backup son back up that's fairly condescending the next noun is escort and this is talking about a person who will accompany another person to some type of social event and they they would be your escort they go with you to this party the this function whatever event it is and they are your escort you could also use it as a verb and this person could be escorting you to the party keep in mind be careful with this word because as a noun it also means someone who is paid to go with another person to some type of social event and even usually have sex afterwards so in that case it could be synonymous with the word prostitute so keep that in mind before you you go somewhere and you tell somebody hey you know this evening i am an escort but generally it means that you are going with somebody to some type of social event in escort then we have entrepreneur this is actually a word that comes from french and it just refers to a person who starts a business and you could say that that he or she is an entrepreneur they are starting your own business then we have the noun mediator now a mediator is a person who tries to find some solution in order to solve a disagreement and when i think of a mediator it could be a person who is finding solutions to help solve problems with a divorce or perhaps a a company if there are two companies that really disagree about something they may try to hire or find a mediator to help solve this problem rather than spend all day in court we have decided to settle our dispute using a mediator all right this is going to be an ugly ass divorce we're going to get a mediator you should settle this yeah but unfortunately my friendship to each of you precludes my getting involved what you need is an impartial mediator and then there is an organizer and this is just refers to a person who plans or prepares an event and you could say that that they are an organizer and again it's a little bit of a vague word that you it doesn't really specifically say what they are organizing but if you were referring to somebody who is in charge of planning the event or activity you'd say that this person is the organizer now i want to talk about personalities and in this case i'm talking about the type of person that someone is so someone could be a philanthropist and they like to help the poor they really like to help those who are in need and maybe a little less fortunate than others and they are a philanthropist or you could say that somebody is an advocate and if somebody is an advocate then it means that they they really support something or or maybe they could support someone as well and they are an advocate sometimes this word may be followed with the preposition for so you would say that somebody is an advocate for some cause maybe somebody could be an advocate for women's rights so whatever cause somebody might be passionate about they really believe in it they would be considered an advocate she's an advocate for superheroes it's a new job i've long been an advocate for diversity because i've always been an advocate of women in the workplace lise sometimes it does feel like industry was more protected than my son and that's what motivated me to become an advocate a person could also be an anarchist and this describes somebody who kind of wants to destroy government or existing laws and you could refer to them as an anarchist or perhaps a person could be an alpha and if you say that somebody is an alpha it means that they are they are strong they are powerful and they just like to be in charge and you might often hear this noun used with the word personality and you would say that somebody they have an alpha personality i am an alpha you're a madman but not an alpha if you want to beat an alpha you have to be an alpha next you can say that someone is an innovator and if you describe a person as being an innovator you are just saying that they are well they're really creative and they often introduce new change or new ideas they are an innovator or perhaps maybe somebody is a visionary and if you describe somebody in this way a visionary is a person who is able to see what what society or what technology or what maybe even a country will look like in the future that they know what the future might look like because they are a visionary often i think it's used to describe people who maybe work in technology and they're able to come up with all these great ideas because they are also innovators and then you could say that someone is a good samaritan and if you refer to somebody as a good samaritan it just means they like to help people who are in trouble and i this is a great word i think all of us should try to be good samaritans i'm i'm just a good samaritan we had robbie all wrong he wasn't a peeping tom he was a good samaritan we're just wasting this boy's time then aren't we i'll tell you what i'll be a good smirk what's the cheapest gun you got now let's talk about nouns that that describe people's characteristics their emotions their behaviors and we could say that someone is a klutz and if a person is a klutz it means that they are well pretty clumsy and even a bit silly and foolish so if if if i am always falling down and tripping and i have no balance whatsoever you might say wow wes you're such a klutz i really gave fell in the shower such a class i'm so sorry i fell okay i've just i've been such a classic oh my what the heck what the we have to go we could also say that someone is a brat and this is talking about well usually a child who behaves badly and you would say he is a brat she is a brat you could use it to describe an adult but mostly i think it's used to talk about a child a brat or you could say somebody's a genius that's that's a nice thing to say to someone because it's talking about a person who has a very rare skill or they're very talented in some way way beyond everyone else and you could say that this person is a genius then we have an optimist this is a great word i like to think that i am an optimist and it is describing a person who always tries to find the good in some situation and you really try to have a positive attitude no matter what's happening and you could say that that this person is an optimist we could also describe someone as a pessimist which is pretty much the opposite and it means that a person is they always find the bad in some situation or they always think that something is going to go terribly wrong and you could say that they are a pessimist so again try to be an optimist i think it's always good to try and stay positive think about the good things try to be an optimist run away live in the tear garden you're an optimist it could be anywhere in the world i'll never see him again it's over i thought you were an optimist miss lemon you're such a pessimist you know what my motto is everything always works out for the best and i have my it's about the effectiveness of this medicine too well donald are you becoming a pessimist you could also say that someone is an sob and i just wanted to include at least one acronym so sob is an acronym that stands for son of a it's not something that that you want well you don't want somebody to refer to you as an sob and i hope that you don't have to refer to many other people as an sob because what it is it's just it's another way of saying that somebody is just a jerk they're an ass and it's it's just not a nice thing to say to somebody if you call them an sob but unfortunately i think probably all of us if we really wanted to we could think of somebody we know who's kind of an sob god of night lord of the smoke and mirror a shape-shifter powerful sob he was really sorry about it of course that sob i know your syntomia's just a mean little sob and then we have the word heartthrob and this noun is talking about a famous singer or an actor that many women are attracted to and you would say that he is a heartthrob and actually wait i think i kind of made a mistake it's talking about singers actors or even english teachers yeah believe it or not heartthrobs i don't see karen i see dawson's creek heartthrob james van der beek what kind of things are the way you stop that i can't help it i feel like a teen heartthrob and i understand you've recently become engaged to young heartthrob crooner josh groban so in the comments i want you to write to me and tell me which noun describes you all right which noun do you think accurately describes your profession your personality or maybe any of your characteristics let me know in the comments i hope that you learned some new nouns in this lesson if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next --- ## 42. 20 POSITIVE PHRASAL VERBS TO SURVIVE 2020 | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bIVgytdhHHo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIVgytdhHHo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:23:54 | --- so 2020 it uh i think it's fair to say it's been a rough year i wanted to try and focus on something a little more positive so in today's lesson i want to teach you 20 phrasal verbs that all have a positive meaning that's coming up hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english which is the channel you want to be watching to improve your english and achieve fluency and today i have a lesson that i hope will be a little more positive and uplifting because i want to teach you 20 different phrasal verbs that have all positive meanings and i think because i'm already telling you that all of these phrasal verbs have a positive meaning i think that will make them a little bit easier to understand and possibly remember because you can connect it to that feeling you can connect it to something that is positive and i also have some positive news that i want to share with you about today's sponsor which is lingoda because at the end of the lesson i want to talk to you about the lingoda team challenge this is a great opportunity for you to improve your english i'll give you a lot more information and really tell you how this will make a positive change in your life and others the first phrasal verb that i have for you is believe in and this just means to feel confident about something or someone often i think we use it when we're talking about a person and you might say that you believe in someone for example you all want to improve your english and i truly i believe in you i feel that if you keep working hard and practicing and watching these video lessons i believe in you and i think that you will achieve your fluency goals then we have a three-word phrasal verb which is brush up on and typically you would say that you're going to brush up on something which means that you are going to improve your knowledge or skill in well in something that you have learned before but you've kind of forgotten let's say that you studied english in the past you've forgotten a little bit but you're going to improve your knowledge and you're going to brush up on your skills read some books brush up on your history the quiz monday brush up on chapters three and four yeah i need to housebreak our new police dog plus it couldn't hurt ralphie to brush up on the fundamentals get along this is a very common phrasal verb and it's used to talk about two or more people that are just friendly with each other and i think it's very important that everyone try to get along next is the phrasal verb get over you get over something and what this is talking about is that you return to a normal state of health or happiness after some bad experience and you might get over an illness or perhaps you get over a bad breakup and you just return to your normal state then we have the phrasal verb get through and to get through something means that you are trying to survive it you're trying to endure it and then you will you will reach the end and everything will be better and often i think you would use this phrasal verb if you want to offer some some encouragement some support and you might hear somebody say look you're you're gonna get through this i believe in you you're gonna get through this just get through today i'll be there tomorrow afternoon but we're just gonna have to find a way to get through this get through this together next is go beyond and to go beyond just means to be more than or or do more than what is expected and often you may hear people use it with this expression to go above and beyond that if you do more than what is expected of you then somebody might say that you you just went above and beyond then we have goof off or goof around they mean the same thing and it pretty much means to avoid doing something and maybe you're wasting time and i've included them in this lesson about staying positive because when you are dealing with some type of really bad experience i think all of us need to relax a little bit and it can be helpful to goof off or goof around and it just helps us it could help you get through the day are we gonna be goofing off like this every day uh we're not goofing off but what they really want is an excuse to goof off and not study for finals i can goof around jd i i can goof around hard this says they only pay you 100 bucks a week yeah but all i really do is goof around all day then we have help out and i think often you may find a pronoun between the verb and the preposition to help someone out and this means that you are just you're doing some work for somebody else or maybe you're giving them some money and you are helping a person out you guys you can help me out if you want and hit that like button down below then we have the phrasal verb keep at and if you keep at something if somebody tells you to keep at it they just want you to continue working at something and i think often this is really a little more encouraging that if somebody's thinking about giving up and they're thinking about quitting and you want them to stay positive and really get through it you might tell them look i i believe in you you just need to keep at it then we have the phrasal verb keep up which is very similar if somebody tells you hey keep it up then they're telling you to continue working and maintain the effort that you're putting in or perhaps you're you're doing a great job and they want you to continue doing a good job and they may tell you to to keep it up so that's a little bit of a slight difference i think if somebody's going to tell you to keep at it then i think they want to encourage you if maybe you're having a difficult time or if you're doing well and they want you to continue doing well and working they may tell you to keep it up keep up the good work there's too much at stake i can't just write superman off we need him you're right we should keep at it no i should keep at it right your department's killing babe hey my pleasure my treasure keep it up then we have light up and to light up is just to look happy and often i think people may use it to describe someone's face and they would say oh like uh her face just lit up that she became very happy or maybe somebody might use the expression to light up the room that is somebody's presence that they enter and maybe you say they just light up the room they make everyone happy then we have look forward to it is a three-word phrasal verb and it means to feel very excited about something that that's going to happen in the future for example i look forward to 2021. i look forward to the tournament i look forward to tomorrow night i look forward to your call i look forward to meeting her look up this phrasal verb means to become better and often i think you would hear somebody say something like things are looking up things are becoming better they're starting to look up next is the phrasal verb pay off and if something pays off then it results in success for example people might say well hard work pays off if you work really hard then then it's going to pay off it's going to result in success then we have the phrasal verb pull through and pull through is talking about someone who becomes well again after a serious illness and if somebody is very ill they're in the hospital you want them to pull through and become well again next is the phrasal verb settle down and that means to become well familiar with a place and just be happy about it often i think people might use it when they're they're talking about the future or something like that and they'd say later on in life i just want to settle down and have a family and just enjoy life we'll claim our land and then we'll marry and finally settle down you do want to settle down don't you shannon yes i want to settle down i will say you know kyle used to be just like us hanging out drinking and stuff but he seems happier that he settled down then we have sort out which means that you are dealing with a problem in a successful way so if you have a problem you might tell somebody that i you know i just need to sort this out i need to deal with it successfully i'm going to sort it out because you want to stay positive i i really hope that you sort out all of your problems then we have the phrasal verb straighten up and if you say that someone straightens up it's a positive phrasal verb because it means that they are behaving well after behaving poorly so if somebody has maybe they have some problems they have some issues you might tell that person to to straighten up and you'd say i really want you to straighten up i want you to behave well you really you should sort out all your problems go settle down and just try to be happy and work hard and in the end it's all going to pay off work through this phrasal verb means that you're trying to manage a problem that has different parts so it could be a problem that is a little complicated and you could say that you're trying to work through it you want to work through it so that afterwards everything is better then we have the phrasal verb work up and if you are trying to work your way up it means you're you're trying to make progress and typically i think you're you're trying to achieve some type of level or position for example you may hear people talk about the phrase to work your way up the corporate ladder you're trying to improve and make progress in the company and and work your way up the ladder now i want to tell you about a great opportunity to improve your english fluency and i think it will really pay off and i'm talking about the lingoda team challenge that's right when it comes to learning a language you you are not alone you can now do it as a team and this is a great way to win some cool prizes as well as donate classes to a good cause and i will tell you about all that in just a moment if you don't already know about lingoda it is an online language school where you can study english business english spanish german or french and you get to study with a native speaking teacher in small group classes and that's great because it gives you more opportunities to speak you can build your vocabulary work on your pronunciation do all of the things that you need to do to go above and beyond your fluency goals i've even studied with lingoda i wanted to brush up on my spanish so i took some spanish classes and it was a great learning experience so let me tell you more about the lingoda team challenge because when you participate you have two options you can do the challenge in which case you will study for seven weeks and take 21 classes three classes per week or you can do the super challenge in which case you will also study for seven weeks but you will take 35 classes so you'll be doing five classes per week now you can do the challenge or the super challenge as an individual or you can do it as a team and i highly recommend that you do this as a team because you will benefit more from this and very soon i will tell you why no matter whether you do this as an individual or with a team if you finish 100 of your classes lingoda will donate 20 of your attended classes to those in need with the lingoda language scholarship and these scholarships help those affected by covet 19 and just can't afford to pay for online classes so when you sign up and you do the challenge or the super challenge and attend 100 of the classes you you're not only helping yourself and supporting your own education you're also supporting somebody else's education as well and i think that's so important with it with everything going on in the world today i think that's exactly what we need more giving more helping and when you are supporting and helping somebody else out with their education there's just nothing more positive than that so i want to take a moment and tell you about some of the benefits you will get by forming a team because when you form a team you can become eligible to win some very cool prizes so the goal of a team is to qualify for those prizes and in order to qualify every team member must do three things the first thing that you must do is attend 100 of your classes the next thing that everyone must do is just take no more than one class per day and then the third thing is that each team member must take the same number of classes throughout the week so everyone on the team must do the challenge and they're taking three classes per week or everyone on the team must do the super challenge and take five classes per week and in case you're wondering about that first place prize it is a weekend trip to one of the following cities to practice your language skills another reason why you should form a team is because you can get 10 euro cash back for each person who joins your team and you can get a maximum of 110 euro cash back if you get 11 people to join all you have to do is use the name wes interactive when you fill out the team registration form so on that form you should see something like are you invited by an influencer and that is when you will use wes interactive to get 10 euro cash back for each team member all team members must sign up by november 1st and everyone must complete the seven week challenge within 63 days of purchase and by december 20th from november 10th to december 15th you will receive weekly updates of the team's results so that's really a great way to motivate each other you can click on the link in the description to learn more about the lingoda team challenge then start building your team so that you can win those cool prizes and donate to a good cause and remember use the name wes interactive when you complete the team registration form so this it's this is really a great opportunity for you to learn and improve your speaking fluency for you to support someone else's learning as well as just well n2020 on a positive note --- ## 43. 225 Useful Collocations You MUST Know | 1-Hour Vocabulary Masterclass | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Uxk9CbwW-7Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxk9CbwW-7Y) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:42:07 | --- Prepare yourself because I am going to teach you over 225 phrases to truly help you build your vocabulary. And I say truly build your vocabulary because I'm going to teach you different collocations which are words that are frequently used together. Now, many of these words you may already be familiar with, and that is a good thing because you should be using these collocations in order to sound more natural and fluent because if you tell me something like, I would like to raise my vocabulary, I understand you, it's grammatically correct, but it sounds awkward, you're not going to use the verb raise when talking about vocabulary. These are collocations. I want to start out with words that are at a B2, C1, and C2 level and go over some of the useful and common collocations with those words to help you be more descriptive and precise. Let's begin. Yeah, I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary by learning many different collocations, which are words that are frequently used together. And when you use them in conversation, it's just going to help you sound more natural. So, in this lesson, I'm going to teach you over 50 different collocations ranging from levels B2 to C2. So, the phrases that we're going to look at are more upper intermediate to advanced. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. Building your vocabulary is something that may take a considerable amount of time, but learning collocations can be somewhat of a shortcut. So, let's begin with some B2 collocations and with a word that I've already mentioned, considerable. This is an adjective that means very large or much. And there are some great adjective noun collocations such as a considerable amount of something. Previously I mentioned a considerable amount of time or you could say that you're making a considerable difference or you're making considerable progress or you have considerable influence over someone and this collocation you may follow it with that preposition over. Besides, we have to do a considerable amount of paperwork. Whether you might go back and use your considerable influence and ask your cabin colleagues if they might reconsider. And I am confident that learning collocations will make a considerable difference in building your vocabulary. And if that is what you'd like to do, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And if you follow my video lessons, I think that you will make considerable progress. Okay? See how just natural that sounds? Let's continue with our next set of collocations that have the noun feedback. So, this is information or statements of opinion about something such as a product and saying whether it's successful or liked. So you may give feedback or provide feedback or even offer feedback. And give, provide, and offer, those are really synonyms. You may also get feedback as well as receive feedback. And once again, get and receive, those are synonyms. And this may seem simple, but this is when I hear people make mistakes and they may say tell feedback instead of give feedback. So these are some great verb noun collocations. There are also some very common adjective noun collocations because I think overwhelmingly people may talk about positive feedback or negative feedback. The next word that I want to look at is deeply. We're going to mix it up with an adverb. So deeply means extremely or strongly and it is a great way to add emphasis. So there are some adverb adjective collocations that well may have a positive connotation or a negative connotation. Let's start with the negative. You may say that you are deeply worried about something or deeply concerned about something. So either of those collocations you may follow with that preposition about. You could also refer to something or someone as deeply flawed. So in this case, you may be talking about a deeply flawed plan or maybe a deeply flawed individual. I'm deeply worried about aging. The US is deeply concerned about an escalating conflict that will not end well for either side. He's deeply flawed and somehow somehow some way we raised a child. For those that may be a bit more positive, if you're apologizing, you could say that you are deeply sorry. Or maybe you were deeply moved by something and it just affected you emotionally and you're going to follow this with by or you could say that you are deeply in love and he is deeply sorry. I told him that I was deeply moved by a statement. I was in love with her and she was in love with me and we were so deeply in love. Then we have the word controversial and I have two different sets of collocations with this noun which means causing disagreement or discussion. So let's start with some adjective noun collocations. Maybe you're going to debate a controversial issue or say that someone made a controversial decision. Or if you're talking about a person, you could say, "Well, this person is a controversial figure." And I'm sure right now you can think of someone who you would refer to as a controversial figure and they're really causing disagreement. And then there are some common adverb adjective collocations if you want to say someone or something is extremely controversial or highly controversial. And we can build on top of this and say that someone is a highly controversial figure. And now we're using them all together. Can you think of someone who you would consider a highly controversial figure? Let me know down in the comments. Then we have the word wisdom which means using knowledge or experience to make good decisions. And there are only two collocations that I want to look at. The first one is an adjective noun collocation which is conventional wisdom. And in this case, the meaning changes slightly. So if we're talking about conventional wisdom, it refers to opinions or theories that have existed for a long time and that most people agree with. And this is a common collocation, conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom suggests that our next move is to resume hostilities to fight. Well, conventional wisdom says good fleeing will always beat good chasing, but the stats say put your money on the guy with the gun. I have another adjective noun collocation, except this time wisdom is the adjective. And I'm talking about a wisdom tooth or wisdom teeth. So, this is the last tooth to come in at the back of each side of your upper and lower jaw. And often you may have to get well this tooth or even the teeth removed your wisdom tooth or wisdom teeth. Dental emergency. I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled and count up all of the extra painkillers that I had left over from my wisdom tooth surgery. Let's move on to some C1 words and some of those common collocations. And we'll begin with the verb call. So, this is a verb that has well multiple meanings. But in this case, we're talking about arranging for something to happen, such as a particular event and usually something official. And there are some great verb noun collocations such as to call a meeting or more specifically to call an emergency meeting. And you could also call for something. And we're going to follow the verb with for. And I have a few different examples. You could call for a strike or call for an election or call for a halt to something. Those are some great collocations with this verb. Next is the word tedious. It's a word that I don't really like the meaning of it, but I like using it because it's very descriptive. It's an adjective that means boring or uninteresting. So, we can use this to describe some specific nouns and those are the collocations. You might talk about a tedious job or tedious work or even a tedious task. So once again, job, work, task. They're they're similar. They're synonyms, but great nouns to use with this adjective. Jerry selection is tedious work. It's the only way to get through yet another tedious and useless task. And then let's throw in a phrasal verb. Why not? Bubble over. And we're going to follow the phrasal verb with the word with. to bubble over with something. It means to be very excited or enthusiastic. And there are some great phrasal verb noun collocations such as to bubble over with excitement or to bubble over with enthusiasm or even to bubble over with emotion. And hopefully it makes it a little easier to grasp these collocations because excitement, enthusiasm, emotion, once again, they're really synonyms. I am bubbling over with excitement to continue teaching you more collocations with the next word which is burning. And no, I'm not talking about fire. This word has a couple of different meanings. And I want to talk to you about collocations with each. So the first meaning would refer to something that is very strong. And there are some great adjective noun collocations like a burning desire or a burning ambition. So, it's a great way to add emphasis. Firefighters have a passion for their work. Arsonists just have a burning desire. Is that even a joke? It's a word play or parody. The next meaning is a subject or question that must be dealt with or answered quickly. And there are also a couple adjective noun collocations with this meaning. Maybe you're talking about a burning issue or even a burning question. So again, we're really adding emphasis because we're not talking about a normal question. We're talking about a burning question. You look like a boy with a burning question. One that my tarot cards can answer better than any book. Then we have the verb capture. And the meaning that we're going to talk about is to feel interested or excited by something. And there are a few different verb noun collocations such as to capture the imagination or to capture the attention or to capture the interest. And you could follow each of these collocations with the word of to capture the imagination of someone. We could also put a pronoun between the verb and the noun. I could say that, well, someone's trying to capture the audience's attention or something captured my imagination. And I hope that this lesson has captured your interest. And if it has, and you've learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. Let's continue with some C2 words, which are a little more advanced. And we'll talk about some of those collocations. And we'll begin with the word underlying. This means that something is real, but it's not immediately obvious. I have several adjective noun collocations like an underlying cause or an underlying condition. And these you may hear somebody use medically. Perhaps a doctor may talk about an underlying condition or the underlying cause of some illness. As of right now, the mortality rate is fluctuating between 25 and 30% depending upon underlying medical conditions. You could also say that something is the underlying principle or perhaps uh an underlying motivation. Maybe you want to improve your English for more work opportunities, but perhaps you also maybe want to date someone and have the relationship in English. And you could say that maybe that is an underlying motivation. It's real, but it's not obvious. Next is the word framework. We're talking about a system of rules, ideas, or beliefs that is used to decide something. And you may hear people use this word with a few different adjective noun collocations talking about a legal framework or a regulatory framework or even a theoretical framework. Then there's the word expenditure which refers to the total amount of money a government organization or even a person spends. And a few different adjective noun collocations include government expenditure or annual expenditure or even personal expenditure. We also have a couple of verb noun collocations such as to cut expenditure or even to reduce expenditure. something that I think many businesses try to do with current and projected deficits. We need to cut expenditures by 32%. Then we have the word literal. It refers to a word's original or basic meaning. And there are a few different adjective noun collocations that I want to share with you. You may talk about the literal meaning of something or perhaps the literal interpretation or even use it in the phrase in a literal sense. Look, what's an M7G677? A black hole. In what sense? In a literal sense. And then finite. I don't know why I said it like that. Finite. This adjective means having a limit or end. And a few different adjective noun collocations with this word include finite resources or a finite number or a finite amount. Those are some great phrases with this word. We just learned a lot of different collocations and I do not expect you to remember all of these. I I think you're probably already familiar with many of these words, but it's all about recognizing which words are frequently used together. That's what collocations are. and your brain is going to start recognizing that pattern so that when you're having a conversation, you're just going to end up using the words together and you'll sound a lot more natural. I know I'm giving you a lot right now and I hope that you don't think this is a tedious task. I just want you to be able to recognize the words that are used together. That's why I'm showing them to you. I'm saying them. interest. And the way that I want to do that right now is by talking about a word that is overused by everyone, myself included. And I want to share with you some useful collocations that you can use instead. So this is really going to add flavor to your vocabulary. Today I have a very important lesson for you. But let let's just get this out of here because I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary. I want to teach you many different words and phrases that you can use instead of saying very because the word very it's a very common it's a very common word. I just used it several times then. It's probably one of the most overused words in English. I end up using it all the time. It's an adverb that means really or to a high degree. opportunity for all of you to greatly build your vocabulary. And there are two different ways that you can do this. I'm going to talk to you about both. The first way that you can do this is by learning some different synonyms for the word very. And here are some right here. These are all adverbs that typically come before an adjective to form a collocation. Words that are frequently used together. So, these are some very common and useful phrases that I'm getting ready to teach you. And I'm going to give you a lot. I do not expect you to remember all of them, but the more that you hear these phrases and that you see them, you're just going to end up making a mental note, and that's very important. So, let's begin with the first adverb, which is pretty. Now, pretty, it has a similar meaning. but it's it's extremely useful because we often use pretty with some some very common and simple adjectives and their opposites. So, you might hear somebody say that something is pretty good, or they may say it's pretty bad. Perhaps you're trying to do something and you have no problems and you say, "Wow, that was pretty easy." Or if there were a lot of problems, you might say, "It was pretty difficult." Maybe somebody's moving pretty fast. I do not want to do that in this lesson. I'll probably move pretty slow because that'll make it easier for you to understand. Or you're describing somebody and you say that they are pretty smart. And the opposite of that would be pretty dumb. The next adverb, which is probably more of a direct synonym, is extremely, which means a a very high degree. And I'll probably throw in some varies throughout the lesson, but you you could say something is extremely important. perhaps it's extremely dangerous. Maybe you are extremely grateful for something. Or you could describe uh something and say it's extremely difficult. And I've now used difficult twice. Really just to show you that you can use different words and mix them together because there is a difference. It helps you be more specific. If you're talking about something and you say it's pretty difficult or extremely difficult, then we have the word highly. And you could describe someone and say they are highly successful. Maybe you're you're talking about a situation that is highly unlikely. You could describe a person's uh personality and say they are highly competitive or maybe they are highly motivated. And the next adverb that I have for you is awfully. And instead of saying that that you're very tired, you could say you're awfully tired. Or uh a great phrase is awfully nice of someone. Uh I would say, you know, it's awfully nice of you to go ahead and hit that like button. It's awfully nice of you. Or maybe you say that you are awfully sorry. Or perhaps you're talking about a place that is awfully crowded. Then we have the word truly. I love this synonym. You could say that you are truly thankful. Or perhaps you're truly passionate about something. Or maybe you're truly happy. And we could also use truly with a synonym for happy. It's another collocation and say you are truly content. So either one. Truly happy, truly content. Great phrases to know immensely. And this just makes me think well like very big. But this adverb is used in some very common collocations. I threw another very in just now. And you could hear somebody describe a person and say that they are immensely talented. something is immensely popular. I I wish my video lessons were immensely popular. Or maybe you describe something as immensely useful. Or you could talk about a business and say that it is immensely profitable. So, I just taught you some truly remarkable, which is which is another collocation with truly truly remarkable synonyms that you can use instead of saying very. And I I don't think these phrases are extremely difficult to learn, but I do feel that they are immensely useful in helping you build your vocabulary. And I'm really trying to emphasize these synonyms. But now let's look at the second way that you can supercharge your vocabulary and avoid using the word very. And that is by using more precise language. So I think quite often people will use very with a a simple adjective such as the adjectives that you see up here. And instead of using very along with one of these adjectives, you can use a word that is more descriptive. It's more exact. And this is going to help you more accurately express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. So, let's start with very good. And you might use well, very good to describe uh an event, a party, a festival. And instead of saying very good, there are so many different words that you can choose from. You could say that something is incredible, amazing, those are two very common adjectives, or spectacular. And then if you want to use a couple of adjectives which may not be as common, maybe you could say something is phenomenal or breathtaking. I love that adjective. I've never had anyone describe one of my lessons as breathtaking. I've just been waiting. I've been waiting to hear that down in the comments. And then the same goes for very bad. There are many different words that you can choose from that are going to be more descriptive than just saying very bad like terrible or horrible. Those are those are very common adjectives, great words to use instead of saying very bad. You could also say that well something is lousy or dreadful. That's that is very bad. And then probably I I think the strongest word maybe that you could use would be atrocious. I I really hope I I don't see that word down in the comments. Then we come to very happy. Now I have already taught you one way that you could avoid using very if you want to use another adverb and you could say that that you are truly happy. But you could also just use one word instead to be a bit more descriptive. And instead of saying very happy, you have several choices. You could say that that you are cheerful or you are delighted or elated or one of my favorites is ecstatic. That that if I am very happy, I would I love saying that I am just ecstatic. And then you could also say that that you are jubilant. All of those words mean that you are at some level of extreme happiness. You're very happy. But if you're not feeling very happy, and you're actually feeling the opposite of that, very sad, then again, there are many words that you could use that would be a little more specific and tell somebody, well, just how sad you are, but also maybe give an indication as to why you may be sad. So, just in general, an informal word that you could use is down. If you're feeling down, then yeah, you're you're just sad. But if there's maybe love involved in some way, perhaps you could tell somebody that you're heartbroken and then they know that, well, this may have to do with with ending some relationship and they know that love is involved. Or if you want to express that there's no hope, maybe you tell somebody that you you're just you feel dejected. Or bitter. That's another good one. And bitter makes me think that. Well, not only are you sad, but you're also a little angry. And then you could say that you feel wistful. Wistful is like you're sad because you're you're thinking about the past. Maybe there was a bad memory and I was thinking about it and and I became wisful. Beautiful is another common adjective that well people use very with very beautiful. And instead of saying that somebody looks very beautiful, you could say, well, that they look lovely or or they look marvelous. Or if you want to make it a little more intense, a little stronger, you could say that somebody looks gorgeous. Or you could say elegant. That's another great word. It makes me think of somebody who might look a little more formal, a little more dressed up. You could use elegant. Or I've saved the best for last. Stunning. Stunning is a great word. The next time that you you see someone and you want to say that they look very beautiful, just say stunning. They look stunning. Another common adjective that's used with very is tired. Very tired. And I I think instead of saying very tired, probably the most common word that people would use is exhausted. I I use that one quite often. Instead of saying very tired, I would say I'm just exhausted. Or if you want to use a word that's more informal, you could say that you're drained. Or another informal word is beat. I'm I'm beat. And then there is exasperated. And with exasperated, it makes me think, well, you're tired mostly like up here in your mind that you're you're annoyed, you're bothered by something, and you you feel tired, and you're just you'd say you're exasperated. And then if we're talking about work, people get very tired because of work. You could say that you're just burnt out and and you need to take a break. You need to relax because right now you're you're burnt out. Now, when most people think of collocations, they think of verb noun collocations or adjective noun collocations. These are very I I shouldn't say very. These are immensely popular parts of speech. previously demonstrated with the word very, do not underestimate the power of adverbs. These are words that modify verbs and adjectives and they really add emphasis to whatever it is that we're talking about. They are descriptive. Actually, let's let's add some emphasis. They are incredibly descriptive words, which is why I want to give you more adverb collocations that you should know and use. I want to talk to you about adverb collocations. The idea again is not for you to memorize every single one of these. I think you may already be familiar with many of them. So, a lot of it will just be review, but it it's just getting that exposure so that you know which words go together. So let's begin with the adverb strongly. This is it's often used to emphasize. Some of the more common ones would be well you could strongly condemn that you really are are upset with someone and you might strongly condemn them for for doing this thing or perhaps you could strongly disagree with someone. You it's not just your normal level of disagreement. you want to emphasize that and say that you strongly disagree. You could also strongly suggest something that you want to make sure that this person well probably does what you are telling them to do. So you may strongly suggest something. Now if you want to add a little more to it and really kind of tell them look look this is what you should do then you might strongly recommend something. So suggest and recommend, they're they're pretty similar, but I think recommend has that extra little like, well, okay, this is what I think you should do. So you could strongly suggest something, but if that person doesn't listen, then you might strongly recommend it. You could also strongly support someone. you would strongly support them. The next adverb is fully. And this adverb is kind of just like talking about something that that's complete. For example, you could say that you are fully aware that you know everything that's going on around you and and you are fully aware of some situation. For example, I could say that I am fully aware that you are not going to memorize all of these collocations. But in that case, I I strongly suggest that you keep practicing that maybe you rewatch the lesson again because that is just going to help you build your vocabulary. You could also say that that a person if you're describing them, they are fully awake. They are they are definitely awake. They are completely awake. But you want to say they are fully awake. I hope that you guys are fully awake right now as you are watching this lesson. You would also use fully to say that something perhaps a a program or a machine it is fully operational. That everything works. It's fully operational. And finally, you can use it with the adjective upright and say that that someone may be standing fully upright. I I always try to stand fully upright, but it doesn't always happen and and I end up slouching like this. But I I try to stand fully upright. The next adverb that I have, well, it's actually two adverbs that can be used interchangeably. And those two adverbs are absolutely and utterly. Now, you can use either of these adverbs when when talking about the adjectives that I'm about to teach you, but sometimes I think it may be more common to use one over the other. And as we go through these, I I will tell you which one. So both of these adverbs they they kind of mean like like definitely or for sure. For example, you we can use it and say that someone is absolutely alone or utterly alone. Either one works, but in this case, I think it's probably a little more common to use utterly and say that well they they are they are utterly alone. Sometimes it's not good to be alone. So let's let's put a positive spin on it. And I could say that somebody could be absolutely amazed or utterly amazed. I think either one of these adverbs goes well with this adjective. If you again just want to add a little flavor to it and say, "Wow, you know, I I was absolutely amazed when I saw the movie. It was incredible. I was absolutely amazed." Or you could well we could use it with the adjective appalled and say that you were maybe you really didn't like something. You thought it was terrible and you were absolutely appalled by this thing or utterly appalled. Again, either adverb I think goes well with this adjective. We could say that something or or even someone is absolutely beautiful or utterly beautiful. I think in in this case, I I guess for me, I would tend to use absolutely more often than I would use utterly. If I'm talking about something that's beautiful, I'd probably say that it is absolutely beautiful. You could also be absolutely convinced of something or utterly convinced. And and in this case, I think both of them are quite common, but well, I'll tell you my personal take. I and this I think I would probably use utterly. Then we could use these adverbs with the adjective devastated that that maybe you could say we were absolutely devastated. We were utterly devastated when we heard the news. I think either of them go very well with this adjective. You could also say that a person might be absolutely furious or even utterly furious. Between these two adverbs, I would probably go with absolutely, but either one works. absolutely furious, utterly furious. Then we could describe a person's feeling and say that they were absolutely miserable or even utterly miserable. Both of them work well. So if you want to really say that a a situation w was bad, perhaps you got caught out in the rain and you were stuck there and you got soaking wet and you just felt absolutely miserable. These adverbs also go well with the adjective ridiculous. And you could describe well either a person or probably more often a situation and say that it that it was absolutely ridiculous or utterly ridiculous. And finally, you could use it with the adjective stupid and again describe a person or even a situation and say it was absolutely stupid or utterly stupid. Both of them work well. Especially if if stupid is just not good enough and you really want to say just how stupid it was. You could say that it was absolutely stupid or utterly stupid. Then we have the adverb deeply. And this is it's just talking about a great amount. For example, you could use it with uh the adjective concerned. and you would say that you are deeply concerned about something or it's quite often used with regret and you might deeply regret something. If you really want to say that you are well you you really are upset about this and you you wish that it had never happened you could start out and say well I deeply regret that this thing happened. Then we could use it with the adjective divided and say that well perhaps people are deeply divided. I think if you're talking about politics that is a great example. You could say I can't believe that that people are so deeply divided that they won't listen to each other. They strongly disagree and they are deeply divided. And I am utterly amazed at how absolutely ridiculous it is sometimes that people are so deeply divided. And finally, we can use it with ashamed. And you could somebody could say that they are deeply ashamed about something. So with all of these, keep in mind that they they all kind of have a negative connotation. It it's not talking about something that's overwhelmingly positive. if you are saying that that people are deeply divided or you're deeply concerned about something or you deeply regret it or you're just deeply ashamed. So keep that in mind. Next we have the adverb highly. And this really well it it kind of means the same as very. You're you're talking about a degree. And I think it does have more of a positive connotation to it. So we we can start out and you might say that something is highly unlikely that it's probably not going to happen. You could say it's highly unlikely that this thing will happen. You could also use it with recommend that you highly recommend something. Now, this is a little different than strongly recommend because I think when you highly recommend something, you're kind of telling that person that well, you think this is the best. It is the very best and that's why you highly recommend it. If you strongly recommend it, you do think it's really good, but it's kind of like you're you're maybe pushing it a little more on that person and you really want them to do it. So they they are a little different in that way. But if you think something is is great, it's it's absolutely the very best, you could highly recommend it. We could describe a situation and say that well maybe it's highly unusual. That is a a common collocation as well as highly controversial. That this it's it's not just it's not just controversial, it's very controversial, it's highly controversial. We could also say that something is highly sophisticated. It's it's very complex. It's detailed. Maybe we're talking about some advanced science and we say, "Wow, this it's just highly sophisticated." Or you could describe a person and say that they are highly educated that they have gone to university, they have their masters, their PhD, and you would describe this person and say, "Well, they are a highly educated individual." Perhaps then you could describe a person who is highly educated and say that he or she is highly intelligent. They're they're not just very smart, they are highly intelligent. And sometimes if a person is highly intelligent, they may get a job in which they are highly paid. That they are earning a lot of money and they are highly paid at their job. Now, let's kind of go in the opposite direction and talk about the adverb grossly. It it means pretty much the same like very you're talking about a degree, but I say that it's kind of in the opposite direction because most of these collocations have a negative connotation. For example, you could say that something is grossly exaggerated, that it's really it's not close to the truth, that some story, something that happened and you'd say, "Well, it was grossly exaggerated." Or maybe you're describing a person and say that they were grossly negligent, that they made a mistake, they were negligent, but it was a very careless mistake. and you could say that they were grossly negligent. We could also use it with the adjective inaccurate and say that something is grossly inaccurate. If somebody's telling a story that was grossly exaggerated, you would you could then say, "Wow, that is just grossly inaccurate. That is not what happened. It was grossly inaccurate." We could also say that somebody may be grossly mistreated and that is not a good situation. If somebody is mistreated and if they are mistreated well really bad then you could say they are grossly mistreated. You could also describe a situation and say that something was grossly unfair. It just really wasn't fair. It was grossly unfair. Or perhaps say that someone was grossly reckless. That they didn't care about what happened to others and they were grossly reckless. Their behavior was grossly reckless. Or you could use it and say that a a person might be grossly misled, that they were not told the truth. They were led to believe something that was grossly inaccurate. And in this case, you could say that they were grossly misled. And finally, we could say that well something or even someone was grossly underestimated. And in in the case of describing a person, maybe that sounds a little surprising and like, oh, we we grossly underestimated this person's value. They surprised everyone. And that would be a good thing. But if you're talking about a situation, perhaps that you were trying to plan for something, but you grossly underestimated what would happen. And in that case, that would be more of a negative connotation and you might grossly underestimate the results, which means you were wrong. And yeah, that that that might not be a good situation. Then we have the adverb mildly, which really just means slight or or not much. And you could say that a person is mildly upset. They're just a little upset. They're mildly upset. Or maybe they are mildly concerned about something there. There's something that they should be a little concerned about and you could say that they are mildly concerned or perhaps uh a person is mildly surprised by something that happened. So this is a great adverb to again just give that that extra little bit of information a and use mildly to describe that maybe the way you feel. You're mildly upset, you're mildly concerned, or you're mildly surprised. Then we have the adverb widely. And this it's a great adverb. I like using it because it really just means like universal. It's talking about everything or everyone. And you could say that something is widely available. That you can find this thing anywhere everywhere. It's widely available. Or maybe you want to say that you're talking about some information that everybody knows about and you'd say that it is widely known. And finally we can use it with accepted and say that something is widely accepted. Everybody accepts this information as the truth. It is widely accepted. And finally we have the adverb perfectly. It is another great adverb and to make some very common collocations in which you're saying that well things are are okay. But I think it's used in the context that somebody might be saying the the opposite and then you're trying to say no no no it's like this. For example, you might use it with the adjective normal perfectly normal. Somebody might be trying to say that well things are a little strange. This is a little weird. And you would say well no no no everything is perfectly normal. So, for example, perhaps I know many of you, you're you're learning English. It's quite uh it's quite common to make mistakes, but it doesn't make people feel good. So, I could then say, "Hey, don't worry about it. It's perfectly normal to make mistakes. It's not strange. It's not weird. It's perfectly normal." You could also say that that something is perfectly acceptable. That that this thing is just fine. It's perfectly acceptable. Or maybe you could say that somebody is perfectly willing to do something. They're willing to do it. They are perfectly willing to do it. And again, maybe it would be used in a context where somebody is may you think that they're not willing to do it and they say, "No, no, I'm perfectly willing to do this thing." So, I hope that that all of this made sense. I know that I gave you a lot of collocations today, but again, the idea is not that you you're going to memorize each and every one of these. Over time, you are going to learn all of these different collocations. And not only that, you will be able to use them correctly. I am utterly convinced that this will be the case. You will learn all of them because you are highly intelligent. Let's get back to the basics and have a look at some everyday phrases. And I'm going to present this next part kind of like a quiz. And once again, I think you probably already know many of these words. And if this is review, that's great. This review is essential because people use these collocations all the time and you should too. I want to start out today's lesson with a question. How would you complete this sentence? What what word would you use to complete this sentence? It's been a really m day. Just one problem after another. You may have used a variety of adjectives. You could have said it it's been a really rough day. Or perhaps you said it's been a bad day or a difficult day or even a tough day. These are all adjectives that we can use with the word day and they are frequently used together because they are collocations and that's what I want to talk to you about today in order to help you build, develop, and grow your vocabulary. So, let's go back to that first sentence. And the adjective that I want to use is rough. A rough day. It It was just difficult. We've actually had a bit of a rough day. We just returned from a trip and the airline destroyed our stroller. That That's a true story, but I I don't want to I don't want to make this about me. I want to make it more about you and building your vocabulary. The next one that I want to talk to you about is a rough draft. somebody says that they've done a rough draft, it means that they have done some work but it is incomplete. They they've only started the process and you could say it was a rough draft. Often it's used when talking about something that you're writing and the writing is not finished. The paper, the essay, whatever it is, you might just say, "Well, I I've only done a rough draft." You can also use this adjective with estimate and somebody might ask for a rough estimate, which is an approximation. And I I think about numbers. Somebody's asking for for some kind of value. Perhaps you're having car troubles and you take it to the mechanic and and you want to know how much it's going to cost. You might ask them for a rough estimate. They might not know exactly how much it's going to cost, but they perhaps could give you a rough estimate and approximation so that you know well whether you want to fix your car or or just leave it the way it is. You may also hear this adjective with the noun neighborhood, rough neighborhood. neighborhood perhaps. Uh you know, there's a lot of crime there. It's not very safe. And you might describe this area and say, "Yeah, you know, it's it's a bit of a rough neighborhood." Often I I think people use it maybe when they're talking about their past. They're telling a story. They say, "Yeah, you know, I I grew up in a really rough neighborhood or I used to live in a rough neighborhood and it it was a bit dangerous, but yeah, that's where that's where they were living. It was a rough neighborhood." Now, I want you to try and complete this sentence. All right? I I hope you didn't think I was just going to tell you all of these collocations. I I want you to try and work for it. Which of those words would you use to complete it? We'll give it a m of paint and and then it's finished. What do you think? I hope you said be touch a touch of paint. This is the next set of collocations that I want to teach you and that is those with touch. So this is a noun noun collocation. If you're talking about a touch of something, you're you're talking about a slight amount. For example, a touch of paint. A slight amount of paint. Or perhaps you could say that that you have a touch of the flu. For example, finishing touch. And this is talking about small details at the end of something. Maybe you want to put the finishing touches on something that you're creating. You're just adding those small details. We can also say that that something is a nice touch. And in this case, we're talking about something that makes another thing better. For example, maybe you are painting a picture and somebody suggests, "Oh, maybe you should put this down there in the corner." And you think, "Yeah, okay, that that's a nice touch. It makes the painting better." If we're talking about a person and we say that someone has a nice touch, in this case, we're saying that they do something very well. For example, maybe there there's a basketball player and he or she shoots the ball very well. you say, "Wow, you know, this person, they just have a really nice touch. They're a great shooter." So, in that case, I think it's commonly used when talking about sports and athletics, and you want to say that that somebody has a nice touch. A person may also have a soft touch. And in this case, we're we're just saying that something is delicate, that that it's very nice. It's comforting that that somebody has a soft touch. I don't know if I would describe myself and say that I have a soft touch, but perhaps you do. I I don't know. Now look at this sentence and tell me which word best completes it. Someday I hope to m a world record. I hope that you chose see break a record. Someday I hope to break a world record. I don't think I am going to do it, but but maybe you will. I don't know. But let's talk about some collocations with break. And these are all verb noun collocations. So to break a record, this just means to do something better than anybody else. You break a record. There is also an expression that's pretty common. You might tell somebody to break a leg. And if you tell somebody, hey, break a leg, then you're just wishing them luck. It's actually, this is an informal expression that somebody's getting ready to do something. Perhaps they have a performance or they're going to do a show and you say, hey, you know, good luck. Break a leg. promise which is not good. This just means that you don't do what you say you will do. Break a promise. You frequently hear that one. Or you can break the ice. This is another idiom which means that you are trying to start a conversation between strangers or you're trying to make a tense situation a little less tense. For me, I often think of a classroom because the very first time that that I have a class with students, I will try to break the ice and we will do different activities so that everybody gets to know each other a little better. To break the ice, then you can break the law. This is something else that you can break. It's not good because if you break the law, then it is illegal. You shouldn't do it. I hope that you don't break the law. Here is your next question. And this time, I'm not going to give you any options. I want you to tell me which verb do you think best completes this sentence. I need you to do me a All right. I'm sorry. I just told you the answer. favor. All right. I I apologize. We're talking about verb noun collocations using do. Do someone a favor. And if you do someone a favor, then you are just doing something for that person in order to help them do a favor. People may also have to do housework, which are the things you have to do around the home. You may have to do laundry or do the dishes. There's a lot of different housework that that people just have to do. You may also hear somebody like me tell you to do your best. If you haven't known any of the answers to these questions, that's okay. I want you to keep participating. I want you to keep watching and learning with us because I I just want you to do your best. And if you do your best, then then you are going to learn and build your vocabulary. And that is the most important thing of all. Just do your best. Another do collocation is to do harm. And in this case, you are well, it's just not something good. You don't want to do harm to others. You also don't want to do harm to yourself. There are so many different collocations with do and they are so important because we use them all the time. Here's another sentence for you. I spend too much m editing these videos. And and this is quite true. I do spend too much m editing these videos. I almost said the answer right then, but I didn't. But I hope you said time. I spend too much time editing these videos. So, you can spend time. This is a common verb noun collocation. So, not only can you spend time, you can also waste time, in which case you are not using your time wisely. I hope that you don't waste time, and you're certainly not wasting your time learning these different collocations and building your vocabulary. You can also kill time, which means that you are just doing something unimportant while you wait for something else to happen. So, you can kill time walking around a mall. You can kill some time watching TV. Until something else happens, you're just going to do something unimportant and kill time. There's another collocation that's pretty similar to kill time, and that is pass the time. You do something to pass the time. And in this case, you again, you are doing some activity. It's not super important. I like to read books to pass the time. that that you are just trying to occupy your time by doing something and you're trying to pass the time. Then there's an expression that I just wanted to throw in there, but it is frequently used and that is to say right on time. If someone is right on time, then then they are there right when they should be right on time. I try to be right on time, but mo most of the time it doesn't happen. I always do my best to be right on time, but especially if I'm having a bad day, not going to be right on time. And I hope you hope you recognize these collocations that that I continue to use. Let's look at this sentence right here. We're not going to go much further. What do you think? This is a verb noun collocation. And actually, it is a phrasal verb. That is a hint for you. And I hope that you said run out. Run out of gas. I want to talk about some collocations with run out. You run out of something. So, if something like a car runs out of gas, then it just means there there's none left. It runs out. Now, the way that we use this phrasal verb, the the meaning can change a little bit. For example, if we use it in the present continuous and we say that that we are running out of something, then it just means that there is a little bit left. There's still some left, but it's it's about to be gone very quickly. If we use it in the past tense and we say that we ran out of something, then it just means that that there's none left, that that's it. So, if a car is running out of gas, there's still a little bit left. If it ran out of gas, then then there's none. You can also run out of patience, which is another common collocation. think in this case, people may tend to give you a little bit of a warning and they may say, you know, be careful. Hey, I I'm running out of patience. I'm starting to run out of patience. There's just a little bit left. So, so be careful. And if somebody's already ran out of patience, then yeah, they're they're gonna be pretty upset with you. There are many different things that you can run out of. You can run out of time. You can run out of money. And the worst of all, you can run out of coffee. I hate it when that happens because in the morning I need my coffee. Here is another sentence for you. And and this is this is a little bit of a bigger sentence. and all of those blanks. It's the same word. You shouldn't be wasting m. Instead, you should invest your m or you can donate m to your favorite charity. Which word am I talking about? I hope that you can take a quick look at this and know that I am talking about money. Collocations with money. These are all verb noun collocations. So you can waste money which means that you are spending money in a carefree and careless way and you are just wasting it on things that you probably don't need. You can also invest money. You can buy stocks or maybe even buy a home. Those are good ways to invest money. Or if you're feeling very charitable, you can donate money. You can give money to your favorite cause, your favorite charity and donate your money. Some more collocations with money include save money. I think it's always a good idea to save money because you never know when you're going to need it. And along those lines, you can also set aside some money. And this just means that you you you have some money. It you're you're not going to spend it because you might need it for something important. We can also add to it to create the expression set aside some money for a rainy day that that you have this money for a time when you absolutely need it. you set aside some money for a rainy day. We always try to save money. That that's very important to us. And we also like to donate money when when we can. always we we try not to waste money because if we do that, then we're going to run out of money. And there's a very quick review, a quick money review for you. Now, I I want you to do me a favor and and help put the finishing touch on this lesson. And all you have to do is hit that like button if you enjoy learning these different collocations and building your vocabulary. Do you promise? You promise that you're going to do that? Okay, so we finished right on time and I'm not even wearing a watch right now. I have something fun for you. It's a throwback video. And by that, I mean it it's an older lesson. Perhaps you can tell I may look a bit younger. But in this lesson, I'm going to talk about a couple of super common verbs, make and do. And I'm going to point out different collocations with these verbs because to be honest, this is when I hear people make small mistakes and they confuse these two verbs. So, the production values may be a bit lower. Like I said, it's a throwback video. But it it is a little more energetic. I add some music. So, let's have some fun. Today, I'm going to talk to you about some common words that are used with some common verbs. And those verbs are make and do. [Music] So, let's look at some common collocations. And I want to start with the verb make. And generally speaking, when we use make, we're talking about things that we create, things that we might build. Keep that in mind as we go through these different categories and I talk about these collocations. First, let's start with food because who doesn't love food? Now, when we're thinking of things that we make, things that we create, in the morning, I usually make some coffee. It's the first thing I do in the morning. And then I make breakfast. We can also make lunch and we can make dinner. Uh something else that we make, we might make a cake for dessert. I love cake. Starting to get hungry now. So I need to start let's let's move on and talk about something else. We can also use make if we're talking about stuff that has been built like a product. It could be made of something. Maybe it's made of gold. That would be really nice and it's probably expensive. Or it could be made from something else. If something is made from grapes, like this bottle of wine that's that's already been opened by someone. What when did you open this? Also, when talking about products, we can find out like where something is made on tags in our shirt. things will say made in. Wonder where this one's made. Can't What? Okay, that's not going to work. Uh, I don't know where this is made. We also use make when talking about plans because you can Well, you can make a plan. You can make a decision. And well, maybe if you haven't made a decision, somebody might tell you, "Make up your mind." Make a decision. Make up your mind. Make also helps us talk about reactions. So, for example, something could make you happy, like this lesson. And you can give it a thumbs up if it makes you happy. I hope not. Maybe it makes you sleepy. I I don't know. Wake up. We're not done yet. We use make to talk about money. Yeah. Make money, make a profit. And with your job, we say that's how people make a living. Make money. Make make make money money. Some other common expressions with make. You can make a mistake. You can also make a phone call. You can make a sound. You can make a promise. And if you end up breaking that promise, then you can just make an excuse. There are actually many, many, many, many other collocations with make. These are just some of them, a few of them that I think are really common. So, I recommend that you keep studying, keep learning, and help build build your vocabulary. So, let's have a look at do and some of the common collocations with this verb and the nouns that follow. We use do generally speaking when we're we're talking about some type of activity. For example, maybe performing an action. You can do the dishes. You can do some exercise. You can also do the laundry. That reminds me, you need to do some laundry. We can also use do to talk about some kind of work like you can do your homework or you can do your job or you can even do chores around the house. Finally, we can use do to talk about non-specific activities like do something or do anything or maybe do everything. So, those are some common collocations with do. Again, there are others out there and I think they're great to learn because it'll just help you expand and build your vocabulary. So, now we're going to do a quick practice and I'm going to quiz you on what we just learned. I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to complete the sentence with either make or do. So, I want you to say out loud which verb would complete the collocation. And I'm not going to show you the sentence. So, this is going to be a bit of a listening exercise. Which one, which verb would complete this sentence? If you're not positive, just try and think think of what comes naturally. And if it helps, try to repeat the whole sentence and fill in either make or do. I'll give you a few moments and then afterwards, I I'll go over the answer with you. Are you ready? I hope that you do a good job. Let's begin. That was pretty cheesy. She's going to m her hair and nails for the party. She's going to m her hair and nails for the party. So, if we're talking about hair and nails, it would be more of an activity and we would use do. She's going to do her hair and nails for the party. Do hair. Do nails. Let's look at the next one. Someday I hope to m a lot of money. Someday I hope to m a lot of money. If we're talking about money, money, money, money, money. We make money. Someday I hope to make a lot of money. I hope to make money. I don't know if we'll make a lot of money someday. Maybe. We'll see. Here's the next one. Did you m the assignment for class? Did you m the assignment for class? Here we are talking about some kind of work. Remember you do homework. So in this example, did you do the assignment for class? Do the assignment. Do work. Here's another. I just want to sit back, relax, and m nothing. I just want to sit back, relax, and m nothing. In this sentence, we're talking about a non-specific activity. Nothing. So, you would do nothing. I just want to sit back, relax, and do nothing. The beach. I don't need to do anything. I just want to do nothing and relax and do nothing. Here's another. I'm going to m soup for lunch. I'm going to m soup for lunch. Talking about food. Food that I I want to eat. Make I want to make food. Make some food. That's wasn't the sentence. I'm going to make soup for lunch. That's what you would do. You would make soup. Make lunch. And I need to make some lunch because I'm hungry. Probably won't make soup. Maybe I'll make a sandwich. Here's another one. Going on vacation will always m me smile. Going on vacation will always m me smile. This is a reaction to something, a reaction that causes a smile. Going on vacation will always make me smile. It's true because when you're on vacation, you can do nothing. I hope you enjoyed that activity. And if you did and you did a good job, let me know. Write that in the comments. I just want to say I am a big believer in learning collocations to build your vocabulary. They're incredibly useful, which is why I wanted to put together this longer, more detailed masterclass lesson on collocations. I hope that you learned something new, but even if you didn't, trust me, getting this review was highly beneficial because it's going to help you avoid making small mistakes in the future. If you enjoyed the lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 44. 25 Academic English Words You MUST Know | Great for University, IELTS, and TOEFL | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `z4a78mln1hs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4a78mln1hs) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:36:45 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about 25 useful academic words that you can use for the IELTS, TOEFL, essays, reports, presentations... They're just good words to know. That's coming up. Welcome to today's lesson, which is all about helping you build and expand your vocabulary. Because I'm going to talk to you about 25 useful academic words, and these are words that are taken from the academic word list, which is a list of the most commonly used academic words. Now because they're so common, you may already be familiar with some of these words. And that's great. But it's really important to not only just know these words, but know how they're pronounced as well as seeing how they're used in context so it gives you a better sense of how to use these words correctly. So I'm going to try and do a few things for you. I'm going to give you the word. I'm going to show you how the word is phonetically pronounced. Give you the part of speech, the meaning, as well as an example sentence. Now these words are not in order of importance. I just put them in alphabetical order. And as we get through them, I'm going to give you a little tip about how you can build and expand your vocabulary. So let's begin. The first word that I have for you is achieve. And this word has two syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. To achieve is a verb, and it just means to bring to a successful end. To carry through. To accomplish something. To achieve something. We can use it in an example sentence and say... Next is acquisition. And this word has four syllables, and the stress is on that third syllable. Acquisition is a noun, and it means the act of gaining possession of something. Acquisition. Number three is administration. And administration has five syllables with the stress on that four syllable. This word is a noun, and it just means the the management of any business, office, or organization. And they would all have an administration to make decisions and decide what that business, office, or organization should be doing. Another great word is affect. And affect has two syllables, and the stresses on that second syllable. This is a verb and to effect something means to have an influence on someone or something, or to produce a change in someone or something. That's what it means to affect someone or something. Next is appropriate. Now this word does have two meanings and I'm going to give you both of them. Let's first start with the adjective appropriate. The word has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. Now, keep in mind that last syllable which has that short I sound. And if something is appropriate then that means that it is suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, occasion, or event. It's appropriate. This word can also be a verb: to appropriate. It has four syllables, the stress is still on the second syllable. But the fourth syllable has that long A sound. And to appropriate means to kind of set apart, to authorize for some specific purpose or use. Number six is authority. And authority has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. This word is a noun that has two slightly different meanings. The first one would be to have the moral or legal right, or the ability to control something. The next meaning if someone is an authority. That means that they are an accepted source of information. They're reliable. It's accepted. They're an authority. Number seven: compensation. This word has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable. I think many of us love this noun because it's talking about money that is paid to someone for their services. Or maybe it was paid to somebody for for loss or damage or some problem. And often it's used with the verb "receive." To receive compensation. Next is consequences. This word has four syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. Now, it's often used as a plural noun because we're talking about consequences. And the meaning of consequences is the effect, result, or outcome from something that happened earlier. From something that happened before. And then there might be consequences. It's usually used in a negative context because it's often something that's not good. Consequences. Number nine: data. This word has two syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. For the pronunciation, you might also hear data. I think they're a little interchangeable. Most common I believe would be data. But again, I think you could use either one and people are going to understand you. This word is a noun and it's talking about facts, statistics, or individual items of information. Data. Number ten: derived. This word has two syllables, the stress is on the second syllable. This is a verb that is often used in the past and it means to obtain or receive from a source or origin. And it's often followed by the preposition "from." Something is derived from something else. Next...distinction. This word has three syllables, the stress is on that second syllable. This word is a noun that means recognizing or noting the difference. Even between two things that appear to be fairly similar. And it's often used with certain adjectives. For example, there could be a clear distinction between two things. Or you could have a remarkable distinction. Number twelve: focus. The word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. This is a noun that means the central point of attraction, attention, or activity. The focus. Now that we're about halfway through I want to give you a quick tip on how you can build and expand your vocabulary. I think it's very useful when you're learning new words to learn the other words in the word family. So for example, you might have the verb "to cooperate." Learn the other words in the word family like "cooperative," which is the adjective and "cooperation," which is the noun. So learning word families...it's a great, as well as an easy way, to really, really expand your vocabulary. Number thirteen: framework. The word has two syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable. This noun has two meanings. The first is a structure that is composed of parts that are joined or fitted together. So for example, you could design something. A building or a project, and it will have a framework. It also means a system of rules or ideas that is used to plan or decide something. And we might use this word with some common adjectives and say that there is a legal framework or maybe a broad framework or even a simple framework. And we can use it in an example sentence and say... Number fourteen: journal. It has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. The word is a noun that also has two meanings. The first is just a record of occurrences, experiences, or even observations. People might keep a journal. It can also be a periodical or magazine that's published for a specific group or or even profession. Journal. Number fifteen: legislation. This has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable. And legislation is a noun that means the act of making or enacting laws. And it's often used with the verb "pass." To pass legislation. To make new laws. Number sixteen: obtained. It has two syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. And the stress is on that second syllable because this is a verb. To obtain. To obtain something. And this means to to come into the possession of. To get, to acquire something either by asking for it, buying it, working for it, or or even making it. To obtain something. Number seventeen: participation. This word has five syllables. The stress is on that fourth syllable. This is a noun that means that you are involved in or you are taking part in something. Number eighteen: perceived. It has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. This is a verb that's often used in the past tense. And it means to become aware of, to know, or or identify something by using your senses. Number nineteen: perspective. It has three syllables. The stress is on the second syllable. And this noun simply means a particular way of considering or looking at something. And we often use it with certain adjectives. For example, someone might have a different perspective. Or they might have a unique perspective. Number twenty: previous. This word has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. And this is an adjective that means coming or occurring before something else. Number twenty-one is relevant. It has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. This is also an adjective that means connected with with what is happening or being discussed. It's relevant. Number twenty-two: sought. Has one syllable. That's it. This is a verb and it is the past tense of "seek." And it means that you're trying to find or get something, especially that's not a physical object. Number twenty-three: subsequent. It has three syllables and the stress is on the first syllable. This is an adjective that means occurring or coming later. It's happening after something else. And keep in mind that it's often followed by the preposition "to." Number twenty-four: survey. This word has two syllables and depending on whether it's the noun or the verb It's going to change the syllable stress. If talking about the noun, the stress is on the first syllable. And this is an examination of opinions, behaviors made by asking people questions. If we're talking about the verb, to survey, the stress is on the second syllable. And this means to look at or examine all of something, especially carefully. Number twenty-five: text. Has one syllable. Simple. This is a word that many students might be familiar with because we're talking about the main body of a manuscript or book. And it's going to contain headers, notes, maybe graphs, even an appendix. This is a text. Now in the comments, I'd really like to hear from all of you. And I'd like you to let me know, "Why would you like to improve your academic English?" Why is this important to you as a learner?" Also, please like this video if you feel like you've learned something new. And I would highly recommend that you check out some of our other vocabulary lessons if you want to continue building and expanding your English vocabulary. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 45. 25 Academic English Words You Should Know | Great for University, IELTS, or TOEFL | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CVHg6k6sRjc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVHg6k6sRjc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:48:08 | --- I want to teach you 25 academic words that you should know and these words have been taken from the academic word list which is an excellent resource for English Learners those who are in University or would like to attend or those preparing for the ielt or TOEFL there's a lot to go over so let's get started the first word is arbitrary this adjective means that something is based on an idea or a desire or chance rather than reason and there are some common collocations with this word these are words that are frequently used together so someone may talk about an arbitrary decision or an arbitrary choice or even an arbitrary date it's a great academic word the board made an arbitrary decision When selecting the new CEO then there's inherent this means that something is existing as a natural or basic part of something and often this is used as an attributive adjective which means it's going to come before the noun like when talking about an inherent problem or an inherent risk here are some more examples there are certain inherent risks that come with the territory it's an inherent weakness of the breed so you're saying that friendship contains within it inherent obligation to maintain confidence is now personally I think there is inherent value in building your vocabulary and that is why I recommend you subscribe to the channel turn on notifications so that I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so let's continue with an adverb not withstanding this means despite the fact or thing mentioned so I could say despite injuries the team still won the championship and I can express the same idea and use this word by saying injuries notwithstanding the team still won the championship here are some news headlines so you can get a better feel as to how this word is used in context judicial review notwithstanding examining sex and gender rights in public education Ukraine visit notwithstanding does India have any real influence on today's geopolitical rivalries Trump's claims notwithstanding us elections are more secure than ever the next word Norm this refers to an accepted standard or way of Behaving or doing things that most people agree with and as you can see this word has become more commonly used over time maybe when talking about social norms or political Norms having one child per family is becoming the norm in some countries then there's straightforward I like this adjective because it just means easy to understand or simple so thinking academically there may be an assignment that's straightforward or perhaps instructions are straightforward or maybe somebody gives a presentation that's straightforward so what part of no more karate did you not understand seems pretty straightforward would you tell me about patient confidentiality it's very straightforward without your permission I can't disclose anything you tell me to anyone furthermore this is an adverb that is incredibly useful and common when speaking or writing and it just means in addition or more importantly now often you're going to use this at the beginning of a statement because you're really just adding more information here's an example children will receive a quality Education First furthermore lunch will be provided to all students then we have enormous now this is an adjective that you may already be familiar with and I hope that you're using it it just means extremely large it's a great way to add emphasis think about it there is a difference between me saying that's a big spider versus that's an enormous spider one is a little scarier than the other but because it's a descriptive word it can be really helpful in an academic sense and there are some use ful collocations with this adjective perhaps something has an enormous impact or there's an enormous difference or maybe an enormous amount of something so it's a great way to add emphasis there has been an enormous amount of theft due to fishing scams this is true there is an enormous amount of theft due to fishing scams but thanks to today's video partner you can protect your online activity using nordvpn all you have to do is click on the link in the description nordvpn.com interactive English nowadays using the internet is the norm I'm going to keep using these words and there's an inherent risk anytime you're online but nordvpn provides a gateway to a more private and secure internet nordvpn can help protect you from fishing scams which is when scammers pretend to be someone you trust in order to get access to your private information like passwords or banking details I get these emails all the time this literally happen happened to me recently thankfully I didn't fall for it but these messages are getting more and more difficult to spot but by using nordvpn's threat protection you will be protected from malicious links websites and malware and for every purchase of a 2-year plan you will receive four bonus months on top when you use my link nordvpn.com interactive English furthermore and I'm adding information there is a 30-day money bet guarantee so do not make any arbitrary decisions when it comes to your online activity check out nordvpn.com interactive English to get your exclusive offer the link is in the description let's continue with more academic vocabulary and the next word that I have for you is precise this just means exact and accurate now this is a word that I use a lot when encouraging you to build your vocabulary because the more precise words that you use when expressing your thoughts opinions and ideas well it's going to allow you to be more descriptive with which means people are going to have an easier time understanding what you're saying his colleagues were impressed by his presentation because it was clear and precise next is deviate this is a great example of a precise verb because it means to change from the usual way or to go in a different direction and often you're going to follow this verb with the preposition from to deviate from and here are some more news headlines to demonstrate that BCD survey 2third of Travelers deviate from policy riverboard to deviate from Plan 2014 that was a while ago nearly 50% of doctor prescriptions deviate from guidelines fine study that is not good but something that is good is our next word explicit this adjective means clear and exact and there are some common collocations with this word maybe talking about explicit directions or explicit it instructions maybe somebody has an explicit purpose or gives you an explicit warning the professor gave the class explicit directions for completing the assignment phenomenon this is a fun word especially when saying it phenomenon this means that something exist and can be felt seen tasted Etc especially something that is strange or unusual now I said it's a fun word to say so I want you to think about the pronunciation because it can be a little challenging it's a longer word it has four syllables the stress is on that second syllable phenomenon phenomenon now here are some useful collocations with this word and I want you to listen to the pronunciation as well it's a natural phenomenon phenomenon to encounter unexplained phenomena to understand an inexplicable phenomenon Ros do that it's a most interesting phenomenon then there's mediate this means to talk talk to two separate people or groups who are involved in a disagreement in order to come up with an agreement or find a solution to their problems and really this verb is used in a more formal context like law or business or maybe even an international conflict H I could say negotiators tried to mediate between the two sides and that's one thing I want to point out is that this verb is often followed by between to mediate between two people or groups several countries mediated a peace agreement between the two Nations then we have undergo this is a very useful verb because we can use it in a variety of contexts because it means to experience something unpleasant or something that involves change and one thing I want you to keep in mind is the conjugation undergo underwent undergone now when talking about something unpleasant think about perhaps a medical situation to undergo surgery or to undergo treatment she's undergone several surgeries on her knee now if something involves change and you're really highlighting the change and that is why you might say that something is going to undergo a change or undergo a transformation the world is undergoing a technological transformation due to AI likewise this is an adverb that you have probably heard of it just means in the same way but perhaps you've heard of it in a more informal context in which it just means like well me too if I were to say I didn't like the show and then someone else says likewise but it can still be useful in an academic context let me show you these are real sentences that I've taken from the Cambridge English Corpus likewise a pathogen will rarely be found in 100% of diseased persons or the opposing view that dialects are organized in a Continuum without sharp boundaries is likewise popular I I know that these examples are out of context but I just want to show you how the word may be used but keep in mind it can also be used informally to mean me too the next word that I want to teach you is via this is a preposition that actually has a couple of different meanings depending on whether you're talking about travel or use talking about travel it just means going through or stopping at a place on a way to another place very similar to by way of we drove via Route 66 on our road trip to Las Vegas now if talking about use then via can refer to a particular machine system or person used to send or receive something reports have been coming in via satellite then there's finite this means having a limit or end and there are many useful ications with this word but here here are some of them perhaps a finite amount of something or a finite resource or a finite number or a finite supply of something because there's a finite number of pickles we only have a finite amount of time to save it this universe is finite its resource is finite if life is left unchecked life will cease to exist ideology this refers to a set of beliefs or principles especially one that is based on a political system system party or organization this is another word whose usage has increased significantly over time you often end up hearing it when someone's talking about a person's political ideology their different political ideologies sometimes made conversations at the dinner table uncomfortable I have been at some of those dinner tables and I'll be honest I've also been the person arguing at times but let's just move on the next word is innovate this means to to introduce changes or new ideas mostly you're going to use this verb in the context of technology I could say the health care industry needs to innovate hospitals need to innovate medical equipment needs to innovate so I could use it to talk about the industry as a whole or an individual business or even all the way down to individual products or services to innovate tech companies constantly need to innovate in order to stay ahead of the competition next is confer this means to exchange ideas on a particular subject often in order to reach a decision on what action to take so this is a great verb to use in the context of working with someone else because you may need to confer with someone and I'd like to point out that you're often going to follow this verb with the preposition with to confer with someone here are some more news headlines so you can see how it's used in context Vietnam ready to confer with the US on human trafficking religious freedom two- fifths of advisers want to confer with investment Specialists and local Delaware officials confer with Congressional Delegation in DC widespread this means existing or happening in many places and or among many people now you could say that something is widespread but I think often you're going to use this as an attributive adjective it's going to come before the noun perhaps when talking about widespread support or widespread corruption or maybe even widespread hunger the attack on civilians Drew widespread condemnation next is rigid this adjective has two meanings the first would be not permitting any change so in this case think about rules or a schedule he has maintained a rigid schedule while working on the project it also means stiff or fixed like something is not able to be bent or moved here's an example the plastic chair was rigid and she was unable to get comfortable the next word is one that I think we can all relate to and that is reluctant this is a pretty common adjective and it means not willing to do something and therefore slow to do it and often you're going to follow this word with the preposition too you are reluctant to do something the other words in the word family are also pretty common so we have the adjective reluctant the adverb reluctantly and the noun reluctance he was reluctant to remove it it is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling oh right I reluctantly accept your proposal justify this means to give or be good reason for so you could say that maybe one action justifies another in English there's a pretty well-known expression the ends justify the means which refers to well wrong and unfair methods are okay to use if the overall goal is good the ends justify the means he lied on his resume in order to get the job perhaps he thinks the ends justify the means next is radical this is an adjective that's pretty common so you may be familiar with it it just means believing or expressing the belief that there should be great or extreme social or political change this is another great word to add emphasis and some common collocations include radical change radical views or maybe talking about a radical candidate here are some more news headlines so you can see how it's used in context radical left and radical right are indistinguishable from Outcast to Heroes Ghana's women footballers enjoy radical change inste status Mexico's Senate approves radical plan to elect all judges and then there's whereas this is a conjunction that is used to compare and contrast the features of different people or things I could say well you are trying to improve your English skills whereas I am working on my Spanish so just keep that in mind we're comparing and contrasting she works slowly and precisely whereas I tend to rush and make mistakes I know I just gave you a lot of words so go back review them try to practice using them when speaking and writing they're very useful in an academic context as well as conversationally if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 46. 25 Academic Words You Need to Know | Perfect for University, IELTS, or TOEFL | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `iTJgIgCtNi4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTJgIgCtNi4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:23:01 | --- let's talk about 25 important academic words that you should know that's coming up hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english which uh the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today is a lesson to help you build your vocabulary because i want to teach you 25 important academic words that you you should try to put in your vocabulary now i say that these are academic words which means they're probably more often used in for in university or perhaps at work if you're giving a presentation or maybe if you're taking an exam like the ielts or toefl these are all words from the academic word list and if you don't know what that is it is a list of the most commonly used academic words i will put a link down in the description linking you to the list if you would like to get a little more information about it i will also include all of the words from this lesson down in the description if you would like to review so as we go through these words i will tell you the meaning i will give you the part of speech i will also show you the ipa so that you know how the word is pronounced and finally i will give you an example sentence so that you can see how the word is used in context and hopefully that will give you a better understanding of the meaning so let's begin with uh the 25 important words that i want to talk to you about in this lesson the first word that i have for you is adequate it is an adjective and it means that you have enough of something or a satisfactory amount of something that is for a particular purpose and often you may use this word with a amount you have an adequate amount of something that is a common collocation for example the squirrel stored an adequate amount of food to last the winter then we have the word analysis this is a noun and somebody would do an analysis and you're talking about a very careful study or examination of something often i i think you might use this word when talking about perhaps research or something with science and you would do an analysis you could also use it with words such as detailed you do a detailed analysis or perhaps close you could perform a close analysis of something a close analysis of the report revealed misleading information next is the word constraints so constraints it's a noun and it refers to something that controls what you're able to do by keeping you within some limit so for example if you're doing something perhaps you're doing a research project you're trying to do an analysis of something and you have to follow certain guidelines and maybe you think those guidelines are constraints because you can't go outside of those guidelines you have to work within these limits and you could refer to those as constraints due to time constraints they had to work longer hours to finish construction corresponding this is an adjective and it means it's like similar to or connected with or caused by something else and you're really referring to a relationship between two different things the company increased its profits by 10 compared to the corresponding period last year then we have cycle this is a noun and it's talking about a group of events that are happening in a particular order and they may be following each other in a particular order and then it's repeated and you could refer to this as a cycle scientists continue to learn more and more about the life cycle of a butterfly dominant this is an adjective it's an adjective that i think you could really use to show some emphasis because what it means is that something is more important something is stronger or something is more noticeable than anything else you could say that it is dominant he is the most dominant player on the basketball court then we have exclude this is a verb to exclude someone or to exclude something and it it's talking about preventing someone or something from joining a group or even participating in a particular activity to exclude no one wants to be excluded from the group next is the word hence this is an adverb and it really means that that this is the reason for something uh or this is the explanation as to why this is happening hence he ate too much for breakfast hence his stomach ache implication this is a noun and it's talking about the effect that an action or decision will have on something else in the future and you might use it with uh words such as broad there are broad implications that it could have an effect on on many different things it's wide ranging broad implications for example the new environmental law will have broad implications on people's ability to develop land then we have indicate this is a verb to indicate something and it means to to show to point or to make clear in some way to indicate the survey indicates that most people have some financial debt then we have interpretation this is a noun and it's talking about an explanation or opinion about what something means and you may follow this with the preposition of and the you could talk about your interpretation of something or you could use it with the phrase and say something is open to interpretation there are a range of opinions about what this thing might mean for example the meaning of this painting is open to interpretation then we have the word link this is a noun and it's talking about a connection between two people things or ideas you could say there is a link there's a link between exercise and reduced levels of stress maintenance this is a noun and it's talking about the the work that you need to do on a road a bridge a building or anything so that it stays in good condition and you may use it with that verb something needs maintenance or you may say that you have to do some maintenance the city really needs to do more road maintenance then we have maximum so this can be either a noun or an adjective the meaning is really the same because it's talking about being the largest amount or number that is allowed or possible the maximum or you could use it as an adjective for example the car has reached its maximum speed and then the opposite of maximum is minimum you can also use this as either a noun or an adjective and it's talking about the smallest amount or number allowed or possible minimum in order to save money we need to keep our spending to a minimum normal this is an adjective that means that well everything is the same it's usual it's it's as it would be expected to be and i think of maybe you go to the doctor and it's always great news when they tell you that hey everything's normal every now and then it's normal for couples to argue next is the word obvious this is an adjective and you're basically saying that something is easy to see recognize or or understand and often i think this adjective will come after the verb to be if you want to say something is obvious or perhaps you want to say that something is not obvious the answer to the problem is not obvious then we have parameters this is a noun and it refers to a set of facts that really it establishes limits on how something can be done or how it must be done so so those limits that really determine how something must be done though those are parameters the department of health established the parameters for the experiment period so this word is a noun and it's just talking about a length of time a period and often you may use it that entire phrase and you might refer to a period of time i've already used this word in one of the previous examples when i taught you the word corresponding so let's have another look at that sentence the company increased its profits by 10 compared to the corresponding period last year proportion this is a noun and when i think of the word proportion i often think of math because it's talking about the number or amount of a group of something or or a part of something when compared to the whole and when you're talking about that amount that group or part and compared to the whole you're talking about a proportion and you may use this word with the adjectives small or large like a small proportion or a large proportion for example children make up a large proportion of the world's population reliance this word is a noun and it's talking about the state of depending on or trusting in something or someone often i think you are going to follow this word with the preposition on a reliance on something or a reliance on someone the world's reliance on oil has been bad for the environment next is the word role and this is a noun it's talking about the position or purpose that something or someone has in a situation in society in relationship or even an organization and you could say that that this is a person's role or this is something's role it's their it's their purpose teachers play an important role in the learning process then we have the word sequence this is a noun and it's talking about a series of related things or events and really like the order in which they follow each other and that that's actually a common phrase a collocation that that people will use they're talking about a sequence of events there was a terrible sequence of events that led to their divorce then we have the word shift and this could be either a verb or a noun to shift or as a noun a shift and it's talking about causing someone or something to change change direction or maybe even change a position and it's more referring to a slight change so you could say there was a shift like a change and you're using it as a noun or we could use it as a verb like in this example right here a boxer will often shift their weight from one foot to another then we have the word variables this is a noun and you're talking about a number amount or a situation that can change so if something can change then those are variables there are certain variables such as the weather which will determine how fast we can drive so those are 25 important academic words that i hope you can go out and use if you are in school or maybe you're getting ready to take the ielts or toefl or even for work i think these words are very useful and i hope you learned some new ones as well again i will leave a word list down in the description in case you would like to review and if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 47. 25 Academic Words You Should Know for University, IELTS, and TOEFL | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BNL7qK09r7I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNL7qK09r7I) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:46:28 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about 25 academic words that you should know. Now before I blow your mind with these academic words, I want to remind you to join our social media classes. It is a great way to practice your English. So in this lesson I am going to go over 25 academic words with you. Which is very important if you are in university or if you are going to attend university. Or maybe if you're going to take the IELTS or TOEFL exam. Or if you're just in some sort of job that requires some more academic vocabulary, this lesson will help. The words that I'm going to be talking to you about today come from the Academic Word List. It is a list of the most common academic vocabulary words used in English. So I'm going to give you the word, it's part of speech, its meaning as well as an example sentence. so you can see how it's used in context. And if possible, maybe I'll throw in a picture or two so we can spice things up a bit. Keep in mind, some of these words have more than one meaning. But in today's lesson, I'm just going to go over the more popular use of these academic words. Also, in order to expand your vocabulary, I would highly recommend learning the words in the word family. It is really going to help build your vocabulary. So for example, we have the verb DECIDE. If it's a noun, it's DECISION. And then the adjective is DECISIVE. They all have similar meanings, but they're different words depending on the part of speech. But if you're able to learn all of the words in the word family, it'll really help you build your vocabulary and become more proficient in English. Okay, so let's begin. I just put these words in alphabetical order. They're not really ordered by importance or anything. You should learn all of them. So let's begin, but before we do I need to free up a little space around here so... Okay, I think that's a little better. It gives us a little more room to go over these words. The first word is ALTERNATIVE. So this just means an additional choice or a possible or remaining choice. So for example, you might hear people say... We have no additional choice. We have to do this or we have to do that. You could also say... That taking the bus was the additional choice. It wasn't the first choice. It is the alternative. Taking the bus. Number two is ASSESSMENT. And this is just an evaluation of something. Some of you may be familiar with it because you might hear it in school where they want to do some sort of an evaluation and give you an assessment. And most of us probably don't like assessments. But we can use it in a sentence and say... They wanted to evaluate it. And maybe they go through their checklist and do an assessment and see how the operations are functioning. Number three is BENEFIT. And benefit means something that is good or something that is advantageous. So this is a good thing when you have a benefit. And we can use it in a sentence and say... And that benefit might be she gets the fly for free. That is a benefit. It's a good situation. Who doesn't want to fly for free? Number four is COMPLEX. Now, if something is complex, it just means it has many different connected parts that are unique. And they are twisted and tied together and may be very difficult to understand. So a few words that this is often used with is maybe a complex situation. Or a complex problem. Or maybe there's a complex issue. These are some words that complex is often used to describe. We could then use it in a sentence and say... If you're a doctor and doing surgery...that is not simple. It's probably pretty complex. Number five is the word concept. Now a concept is an idea about something that you form in your mind. So say that you are thinking of something new and different and you come up with a concept to try to explain that idea and show other people. Let's use it in a sentence and say... We might not be exactly sure how we're going to do it. But we need to come up with different ideas about how this can be done and think about what it can be like. Which makes it an interesting concept. Number six is a very important word, conclusion. And this just means the end or close. This is important in academic writing or if you're giving a presentation because you frequently hear the words IN CONCLUSION. Which tells people like...okay, this is the end this is the final result. What is the end or the close? Who knows? Maybe I had too much to drink. Maybe I was just singing karaoke really, really badly. In conclusion, they kick me out Number seven is CONDUCT. And this means to organize or lead an activity. Don't confuse it with the noun, conduct. Which means somebody's behavior. This is the verb conduct. The stress is on the second syllable. Now there are many different things that we can conduct. But some of the more common ones are you can conduct research. Or you can conduct business. Or maybe you can conduct a meeting. These are common ways that we can use the verb conduct. So for example, we could also say... He leads these science experiments. He does these. He conducts these science experiments. And hopefully they're safe and nothing explodes Number eight is consistent. Now this just means not moving away from principles or not being contradictory. So for example, we could say that... Maybe there is a good student and a bad student, and they both cheat on an exam. And the rule says that if you cheat you will be punished. So the teacher punishes both of them and not just the bad student. Which means the rules apply to everyone and not just some. The teacher is consistent. Number nine is CONTEXT. Now, this is just a statement that can either be written or spoken and surrounds a specific words or phrase. I tell students all the time, "Try to understand the meaning of a word by putting it in context. If you can understand what's being said at the beginning and what's being said at the end. Then you probably can guess what this one word or phrase means. So for example, maybe we have a passage that reads... Well, if I don't know what the word perilous means, I can put it in context. Dark clouds. No one returned. Well, these are bad things so maybe perilous means something that is dangerous or even life-threatening. We can put it in context. Number ten is COORDINATION. This is just a combination of parts or people that are working together. We must have coordination if we're going to succeed. If there's no coordination, then that's not good. Number eleven is ENVIRONMENT. And this is the condition of your surroundings and the surroundings. And those surroundings could be geography, could be society, could even be your mood It is the condition of those surroundings. Your environment. I wouldn't want to be in that meeting. Number twelve...ESTIMATE. To estimate is a verb that means to make an approximate guess or judgement. So we could say... ...which is pretty good. Number thirteen is FACTOR. And a factor is just something that contributes to a particular result. So we can say... And those factors might be poverty. Could be police presence or maybe even cleanliness. There are several factors. Number fourteen...FUNCTION. This is the purpose for which something is designed. What is its function? What is its purpose? For example we could say... And who knows. Perhaps it has other functions as well. Finding hotels. Finding rental cars. It might have several functions. Number fifteen...IDENTIFIED. And this just means to recognize something or someone. Commonly, it's used in the past tense, and it is followed by a direct object. We identified something. For example... What did we identify? We identified something. The three different factors. Number sixteen...IMPACT. And impact is the strong effect or influence that something has on a situation or on a person. And a common question that you might hear about something is... How is this going to affect the situation or the person? What is the impact? Number seventeen is INDICATE. And to indicate is just to point out or show something. For example, we could say that... What do they indicate? What do they show us? They indicate that people are unhappy. Number eighteen...INVESTMENT. And an investment is the use of money or capital to receive a profit or an appreciation in value. And there are all sorts of investments that we can make. So for example... Well, maybe not this home. But...yeah, yeah. This one is more like it. This is probably a good investment. Number nineteen is MAJOR. And major is just an adjective used to describe that something is greater in size, extent, or importance. And it is often associated with something that is like bad news. For example, we could say... Major. Number twenty...METHOD. Method is a technique, plan, or way of doing something. Especially when there is a plan in place. So it's something that you tend to think out beforehand. What is the method that we are going to use? For example... The scientific method. Number twenty-one is OCCUR. And this is something that happens or takes place. So for example, we can say that... That is when it happens and takes place. It occurs in winter. Number twenty-two is POTENTIAL. And this is something that could possibly happen. But maybe it might not come to pass. It has potential. For example... So it is something that is likely to happen, but it might not come to pass. He has potential because he's a good athlete. Number twenty-three is PRIMARY. And primary just means the first of importance. And there are a couple of synonyms for primary such as chief or principal. But it just means the first of importance. So for example, we could say... There were other things, but this was the primary cause. Number twenty-four is RANGE. Now this is the upper and lower limits between which a number and amount or type of something may vary. So for example, we could say... So $2000 is the lower limit, $4000 is the upper limit, and anywhere between that is our range. Number twenty-five is SIGNIFICANT. It is an adjective that means something of importance or something of consequence. So for example, we could say... And that is true. If you're watching this lesson and you were studying these words, that will be significant. And if you'd like to learn more about this word and the words in the word family, we did a video lesson on significant right there. So there you have it. Those are 25 academic words that you should know. That you should study and that you should practice. And again, I would recommend learning the other words in the word family. If you like this lesson and you learned something new, hit that thumbs up button. And also remember to subscribe to our channel for more video lessons on how you can practice and improve your English. Thanks for watching. We hope you enjoyed this vocabulary lesson and learned some new words. We'll see you next time. --- ## 48. 25 Advanced Adjectives to Describe Places | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `XIga6wpPbo0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIga6wpPbo0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:08:59 | --- Let's talk about some advanced adjectives that you can use to describe places. And let's go ahead and begin and talk about some words you can use to describe like well the landscape, mountains, beaches, uh lakes. So the first word that I have for you is serene. It just means calm and peaceful. So in this case, it's like you're saying that the landscape looks undisturbed. It's very calm. It's very peaceful. I could say, "When driving through the countryside, the landscape appeared serene." Now, you you can use this word to describe other things. You could say, "A person looks serene." And so, I I just want you to know that yes, these adjectives are very useful. You can use them to describe different places, different things. I just want to give you something to associate each word with. So, the next word that I have for you is stunning. And if you're describing some some something you see the landscape as stunning, it means it's extremely beautiful. So this word is often used with the word view. And you might talk about a stunning view. I could say that if you go to Yoseite National Park, there are so many stunning views. And this is true. I would highly recommend you visit Yoseite if you ever travel to the US. And if you are somebody who would like to have a stunning vocabulary, then please subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications so that I can become your teacher. My name is Wes and the channel is Interactive English and that's what it's all about. Just trying to help you practice and improve your English skills. The next adjective that I have for you is picturesque. This means that something is visually attractive. So that suffix on the end there that e s q u e it means like or resembling. So in this case you're it's like you're saying something looks like or resembles a picture or a painting. And I could say the view from the mountaintop was picturesque. It looked like it belonged maybe on a postcard. The next adjective is desolate. Desolate. If you're describing a place as desolate, it means empty and not attractive. And this this definitely has more of a negative connotation. So I might think of the desert. It's very empty. It's not a place that that I want to spend a lot of time. So I could describe it as desolate. Or I could say after the fire, the forest looked desolate and lifeless. It was empty. It's unattractive. It's desolate. Then we have the word unspoiled. This is a great word. Now, now spoiled means something is ruined. So, that has a negative connotation. So, unspoiled has a positive connotation. And you're saying that something is beautiful because it has not been damaged or ruined by by people or development. And you could describe some land as unspoiled. I could say the rainforest is unspoiled, which is what makes it so unique. And the next word is pristine. Pristine means well in very good condition. And often people may use this with the word condition. Something is in pristine condition. But if we're talking about a place, I would think that well this place is well-kept. There's no trash. And when I think of the word pristine, I would think of Japan. If you've ever been there and you even you drive outside the city, it looks pristine. There there's no trash. It's really wellmaintained and it's looks in very good condition. Next, I want I want to talk to you about words that you can use to describe the atmosphere of a place. These are great adjectives to talk about well the mood or the feeling of a place like tranquil. So tranquil means well peaceful and calm really without any noise. It's very similar to serene, but in my opinion, serene would more often be used to talk about the way a place looks, whereas tranquil really captures like that feeling of calm and peacefulness. I could say, I traveled to this picturesque beach with stunning views and it was so tranquil. It was just very calm and and peaceful. The next adjective is vibrant. I I really like this one. It means exciting, energetic, full of enthusiasm. And you could use it to describe like a city and talk about the atmosphere. It's very vibrant. But I think this word is great for describing things like festivals and talking about the atmosphere. I could say that carnival is one of the most vibrant festivals in the world. The colors, the dancing, just the mood, it's just Yes, it's definitely vibrant. And the next adjective is homey. So, if you say that a place is homey, it means that it it's just comfortable and cozy. And notice it has the word home in it because I think people often associate home as being comfortable and cozy. But in this case, you're not going to use it to to talk about your home. You would really use it to talk about another place like uh a hotel or a room. So, I could say that I stayed in a small hotel along the coast with a homey atmosphere. And then we have the word bustling. Bustling means very active and busy. And you could think of uh big cities. Big cities have an atmosphere that is bustling. For for example, Time Square in New York City is always bustling with tourists. All right? just has that atmosphere, that busy mood, that busy feeling. And speaking of cities, let's talk about some adjectives that you can use to describe cities or towns, like renown. So, if you say that a a city or town is renowned for something, it means that it's famous for something. And you're typically going to follow this adjective with the word for. I could say that Paris is renowned for the Eiffel Tower. All right? People think of this landmark when they think of Paris or Italy is renowned for pizza. I think connecting it with food. This is a great way to use this adjective. A place is renowned for some food. Cosmopolitan is a great adjective. It means including people from from many different countries. So Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city. New York City is a cosmopolitan city. Then we have walkable. And I I included this one because I like places that are walkable. I like to walk. It means that a a place is well easy or safe to walk in. And you have that suffix that able which means able to do. You're able to walk. And I think often you're going to use this adjective and say that maybe a place is easily walkable or it's not walkable. I could say the city had many pedestrian streets, so it was easily walkable. And then there's overcrowded, which means containing too many people or things. And if you're going to use it to describe a place, you're probably referring to too many people. And it's a great word for adding emphasis instead of just saying a place is crowded. I remember traveling to Dravnik, Croatia. It's a beautiful city, but the old town was definitely overcrowded. Next is spacious. This is a word that I really like and it just means large with a lot of open space. And if you if you describe a city or town as spacious, perhaps you're talking about well like the streets or just the layout. Maybe there are a lot of parks and it makes it feel like it's spacious. Uh parts of New York City are overcrowded, but if you go to Central Park, it is a spacious area. Another great adjective is charming. It just means pleasant or attractive. And maybe when traveling, I could say, "I discovered this charming little street that was very spacious and not overcrowded." Then we have quaint. And and this is a little different than charming because it means attractive because of being old-fashioned. So maybe I I could tell you that I walked down this charming cobblestone street that had these quaint little cafes on both sides. And now let's talk about describing buildings, structures, or landmarks with adjectives like iconic. And iconic means very famous or popular. And it's often referring to the symbol of something. And you may even use this word with landmark and talk about an iconic landmark. So if you travel to Sydney, Australia, the opera house is an iconic landmark. And then there's contemporary, which means belonging to the present. And often you're going to use this adjective to talk about, well, the architecture, the way that buildings or homes look. So I could say that, well, Dubai is a very modern city with contemporary architecture. And I'm really talking about the way the buildings look, majestic. It means beautiful, powerful, and causing great admiration. And you could describe a structure as majestic. I I could say the London Tower Bridge is majestic. The Golden Gate Bridge is majestic. The Liberty Bridge in Budapest right outside my door is majestic. And I those are just some examples. You you don't have to describe only bridges as majestic. Now, let's talk about some adjectives that are well not so good like gody. So, if you say that, well, a building or a structure looks goddy, then you're really saying that it's just unpleasantly bright or showy. So, I think that Las Vegas has some goddy hotels and casinos. I know some others might think that they look majestic, but I think they look a little goaudy. [gasps] Then, there's another useful adjective, dilapidated, which means old and in poor condition. So, think of like a building that's well, it's starting to fall apart. So, if I said that the neighborhood was abandoned a long time ago and now the buildings are dilapidated. And then I have a few words to talk about. Well, just like a general location when referring to some place, like out of the way. And if you say that someplace is out of the way, it means that it's well just far away from where people usually live or go. And yes, you're you're probably referring to like a building or structure like uh a restaurant. Uh I could say, "We ate at this out of the way restaurant, but the food was really great." I'm really saying that the location was just far away from where people usually go. And then I have an idiom which is also an adjective phrase and that is off the beaten path or you could say off the beaten track. Both of them are okay. And this just means that a a place is well not known or popular. And typically you're going to use this in a positive sense. I could tell you that I went hiking in Corkavado National Park in Costa Rica. It there were not many people around. It was off the beaten path and and I really like that. And then we have godforsaken. And you would use this adjective to describe a place that is well unattractive and contains nothing interesting or pleasant. And and often you may use it with the word place and you talk about a godforsaken place. And the other thing I would say is you might use this like in the moment like you to to express your temporary feeling about a place. Perhaps you're having a bad day. You're frustrated and you feel that just yes some place is just a god-forsaken place. I I could say summer in Florida is extremely hot and Disney World is usually overcrowded. And if I were there, I'd probably think, I just want to get out of this god-forsaken place. There are too many people. It's too hot. Yeah. I just It just sounds like a god-forsaken place to me. So, I know I gave you a lot of adjectives in this lesson, and I hope that you learned some new words. If you did, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 49. 25 Grammar Rules on When to Use THE | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `kqYX4G0PjJ8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqYX4G0PjJ8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:28:55 | --- today i want to talk to you about the most common word in the english language the [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and this channel is all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i have a grammar lesson for you because i want to teach you 25 rules that you can follow so that you know when to use the article the if you are a person that loves learning grammar rules because you think that rules make it a little easier for you to follow than this lesson is for you so the first rule that i have for you is you are going to use the when you are talking about things that you have already mentioned this is sometimes called the rule of first mention because the first time you mention something you will use the indefinite article a or n but the next time the second time that you mention it you will use the definite article the let me give you an example so you know what i'm talking about look at this picture here is a man with a bucket he has water in the bucket so the first time i mentioned the noun bucket i used that indefinite article but the second time i mention it it's already been mentioned i'm going to use the then i could go on and say there is a plant next to the man he is watering the plant all right but now when you are talking selling some story you're not going to emphasize the just like i did i just wanted to make sure it was easy for you to understand so the second time that i mentioned all of those things i used the we also use the when there is only one of something and we we kind of just assume that there is only one so maybe i go to a restaurant and i ask somebody where's the toilet i just assume that there is only one toilet in that restaurant so i would use the or maybe i could say we went for a walk in the park or even we drove to the mall downtown in that case downtown we just assumed that there is only one mall we drove to the mall downtown we use the when we want to refer to specific count nouns those nouns that we can count one two three four five so for example maybe you come over and visit me and i tell you you know make yourself comfortable have a seat on the couch i say have a seat on the couch it's specific you know that i'm really just talking about one because yes i only there is only one couch in my home even though it is a count noun the couch or maybe i often i ask you and i say please can you hit the like button it's specific there's just one like button so yeah please go ahead hit that like button please hit the like button we also use the to refer to specific non-count nouns those non-countable nouns for example i i could ask somebody please pass me the salt salt is a non-count noun or maybe i this is something when when we travel i always just just to be safe i always ask people you know is is the water safe to drink is the tap water safe to drink water is a non-count noun but i will use the is the water safe to drink we use the to refer to objects that are unique the sun the moon the sky we also use the to refer to people that are unique as well the boss the president the pope yes there's only one pope and then we use the before superlatives she is the smartest person in the class wes is the best english teacher in the world all right or maybe you you could be thinking you know what this guy is the worst whether or not you think i'm the best or the worst all i care about is that you remember we use the before superlatives the fastest the the most comfortable the spiciest the most beautiful the before superlatives we use the before ordinal numbers now this is not always going to be the case but if you're talking about a very common sentence that somebody might use with ordinal numbers and they say this is the time something happened this is the first time that something happened for example if i were again to ask you please hit the like button then i could say you know this is the second time that i've asked you to do that so yes please just go ahead and do it all right this is the second time i've asked that we use the with clauses introduced by only this is the only day i have available or maybe i could say you are the only person that i trust we also use the when we talk about decades the 1960s or perhaps somebody might just say the 70s that's when i was born or the 80s gotta love those one-hit wonders if you want to refer to groups of people like those collective nouns you are going to use the uh for example the french the british the elderly the police the rich the poor those are all collective nouns and you will use that definite article the we also use the if we want to talk about rivers the amazon the nile we use the if we want to talk about mountain ranges as well the rockies the andes the alps oceans that's another rule if you're talking about oceans you need to use the so i i could ask you what is your favorite ocean is it the atlantic ocean or the pacific ocean we use the if we're talking about deserts uh the sahara desert i've never been to the sahara desert i've driven through the mojave desert but i've never been to the sahara but either way we gotta use the before those deserts we use the when talking about certain points on the globe the north pole the south pole the equator we also use this definite article if we're talking about the names of islands especially as a group the bahamas and especially if you can follow the name with the word islands then you know okay use the the hawaiian islands the galapagos islands we use the when talking about countries with plural names like the the philippines or the netherlands i think it may just be those two all right but just just remember countries with plural names use the we're also going to use the when talking about countries with a name that really it says the type of state it is like kingdom or republic so for example i i could say the united states i i am from the us or the united kingdom or even the republic of china we use the when talking about the names of newspapers the new york times or the washington post now there there will be some exceptions to this rule and i think it's just because maybe the newspaper wants to be creative and have a catchy name but in general you're going to use the before the names of newspapers you will also use the before the names of buildings or structures like the empire state building or the great wall of china or the pyramids you need to use the when talking about monuments like the statue of liberty or the statue of david or even the taj mahal you will use the when talking about museums as well such as the louvre or the metropolitan museum of art that is that's probably the last museum that i visited you will use the when talking about the names of hotels uh like the marriott or the hilton there again there will be some exceptions to this rule and you are going to use the when talking about the names of families you're in this in this case you're talking about not not individual people but the family as a group so like the movie harry potter you you might hear people say the potters when talking about the family or a very famous family they have their own tv show the kardashians so those are 25 rules that you can follow so that you know when to use the definite article the now you do not need to memorize all of these rules what i would encourage you to do is is just get more exposure to the language because the more you read the more you listen you are just going to learn these rules naturally and then you'll be able to use the definite article correctly when you're writing or just having a conversation that is what i would recommend if you enjoyed this lesson again i just well please hit the like button this is now the third time that i've asked you to do that and thank you guys so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 50. 25 Jobs & Occupations | Advanced English Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Wvge8RGKpy8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wvge8RGKpy8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:25:33 | --- hey everyone welcome to another interactive english lesson my name is wes and at this channel we're all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and if you are new here please write to me let me know in the comments i just love hearing from all of you guys but especially new people to our channel so what we're going to talk about today are it's a it's a lesson to help you build your vocabulary we're going to talk about certain words that describe somebody's job or their occupation and i think this is very useful because this is something that people talk about all the time if you want to well share and talk about your own job or maybe talk about your dream job so it's it's useful vocabulary for you to know before i show you the job or the occupation i'm going to give you some clues and see if you can think of the word i'm talking about and then i will show you the word and it's going to go from easier to more difficult so i've tried to go make this list from beginner to advanced so we're going to start out a little easier and this is a job that somebody would have at the beach and if this person they work at the beach and they're supposed to make sure that everyone is safe all right i hope that you were thinking that this word is a lifeguard i don't know if it's just in the united states or other countries too i always think that they're wearing red that they have a red swimsuit and that is a lifeguard all right the next word um the next job is somebody who well works with languages and what they would do is they would they would interpret one language for another person we're talking about somebody who is a translator you could say interpreter as well that's perfectly fine translator interpreter uh they they mean the same thing i think translator might be a little more common a little more official all right the next job is this is a person who works in somebody's home and they go to the home if they're going to fix maybe some of the pipes or maybe there's a problem with the toilet uh who would you call if you have a problem with your your toilet or your sink you would call this person i hope that you said that you would call a plumber the next job is somebody who works with money all right that's your key word right there money all right somebody who works with money and they end up doing a lot of math most businesses have somebody who does this position i am talking about an accountant the next job um that i want to talk to you guys about is it's an animal doctor specifically a doctor for pets somebody who works with pets and they are a doctor they are a veterinarian most of the time this word is shortened to vet uh because the it is a longer word the pronunciation veterinarian uh can be a little challenging the next job is this person works in well with the law they work in a courtroom and this person would be the the leader of the courtroom pretty much the boss if i'm talking about somebody who makes the decisions of whether somebody is guilty or not guilty in that case we're talking about a judge all right the next job is it's going to get a little more difficult as we go through this this is a person who works with meat all right they work with meat like uh beef lamb chicken and it's typically like a small shop and this is where you would go to buy meat and the person that works there we call them what we're talking about a butcher somebody who is a butcher works with meat and this is where you this is the person that you would buy meat from the next job is this person works at in a building or perhaps they work in a school and it's the person that would clean the building so they would mop the floors they would clean the windows they might take out the trash i'm talking about a janitor or you could also say a custodian that's another word i think more commonly people would talk about a janitor somebody who's cleaning a building so let's continue and i again i think they're getting a little more difficult perhaps some of you may be familiar with many of these and that's great it's always good to review so the next job is somebody who would help people buy a home so if you are looking for a home and you want to buy a home you would contact this person the profession that i'm looking for is a real estate agent so a real estate agent is who you would call if you want to buy a home and they would take you around and they would show you different homes that might be for sale the next word this is a well it's a doctor if you have to if you have to do something it's very serious and you go into the doctor and they may have to open you up what would you call that type of doctor this person is a surgeon all right the next profession uh that i want to talk to you about the next occupation is somebody who would design a home so the person that would design either a home or a building what would you call this person and i am talking about an architect so an architect is the person who would do the design the next uh the next job moving into sports a little bit so what would you call the person who is making decisions in baseball and this is the person who makes sure that the rules are followed i'm talking about an umpire so in most sports if you're talking about football like soccer or american football basketball the person is called a referee they make sure that both teams follow the rules and they enforce the rules in baseball that person is called an umpire all right let's continue get a little more difficult at least i think some of them might be a little easier so this is a person who drives a car for a living this person could work for a business that would drive people to different places perhaps drive people to the airport or they could work with a specific person or a specific family and they would drive that family around i hope that you said chauffeur a chauffeur is a occupation in which someone is driving a car for a living the next job that i have is this is a person who works with flowers and they work at a shop that sells flowers if there is some type of holiday or special occasion we might want to buy flowers for someone and you would go see a florist the next word that i have is this person works at a university and it would be the person who is the head of the university i'm talking about the university's administration and you would call that person the dean if we're specifically talking about a university the head of a university would be uh referred to as the dean of the university or you could say the the president as well um the next word that i have for you is this person works in an uh well this person would drive an ambulance or they ride in an ambulance they would go um pick people up who are sick or injured and they try to help these people what do you call what is the name of that person who works in an ambulance the person is called a paramedic let's continue the the next job is somebody who works with uh well the mail and this person would deliver boxes to people if i want to send a box in the mail and i really want to make sure that it gets there i might hire this person if you have something that you want to deliver even if it's not a box and you want to bring something important or bring something valuable to another place you're going to hire this person the profession that i'm talking about is a courier this is the person who is responsible for delivering a box or it could be other items as well but typically i think of something that is more expensive or perhaps it's like a document that is very important and you want to make sure it gets there you're probably going to hire a courier all right the next job is somebody who would work at a hotel and this person would be responsible for helping people bring their luggage to the hotel room often you might find this person around the lobby what do you call this person i used to i used to work at a hotel this was one of my first jobs so typically the word that i have is a bellhop uh you may hear the word bellboy as well that's another very common word the next word uh the next job is this is a person that works outside and they would try to discover ancient artifacts they would try to dig up these ancient artifacts or ancient ruins in order to learn more about it what do you call that person i said they work outside an archaeologist except this i don't know if i would this is a a fake archaeologist indiana jones that's not really the life of an archaeologist going around and having all these adventures i think an archaeologist's job looks more like this where you are outside and you are digging slowly trying to discover some parts of a building or bones the next job that i have is okay this is the person who is the leader of an orchestra and everybody watches this person so they know when to start playing and when to stop playing and they're the ones who lead the orchestra you would call them what a conductor all right excellent so the person who leads an orchestra would be a conductor you could also say the word maestro i was trying to look up the difference between a conductor and a maestro it said like a maestro is more of a famous conductor all right a few more jobs for you this person is on a construction site this is the leader of the construction site they're going to be telling people what to do where to go and this is the person that you would want to talk to it's a foreman a foreman is the person who is the boss at a construction site so typically every construction site has a foreman this next person works in a funeral home so this person is their job is to make sure that the body looks looks kept and looks looks presentable for the funeral do you guys know what do you call that's a very specific job because again i'm talking about a very specific situation the job that i have is a mortician an undertaker is the same thing the word undertaker is a bit more informal and it's actually a euphemism for mortician the next job that i have for you is this is a person that if um if you have a position that that is very high up in a company and they they need to fill that position this person will go around and look for qualified people to fill a position instead of them like trying to just find many different applicants they will hire somebody to go look for the best people to to do this for this job the job is a head hunter so again specifically a head hunter is talking about somebody who would look for high level positions the next position is somebody who works at a bar and it's really the bartender's assistant sometimes bars can get really busy and the bartender would have an assistant and this assistant would be maybe they would be collecting cups or glasses and cleaning them they would change the kegs they go restock alcohol bottles that are empty this person is called a bar back i don't know where this word came from originally but somebody who is an assistant to a bartender would be a bar back then we have another word for you i don't have to give you many hints it is a doctor for the foot i will be very impressed if some of you get this because i think when you're talking about medicine you can get very specific with certain specialties if we're talking about a doctor for the foot it's a podiatrist so i hope that uh you learn some new words i hope some of these jobs were different for you and again if you guys like what we do here at interactive english and whoa uh i disappeared for a second you can check us out youtube memberships patreon links are in the description down below so those are some different jobs and professions and what i would ask all of you is to well let me know about your job your profession i love learning about all of you write to me in the comments tell me about your job your occupation i would just love to hear from you guys i hope you learned some new words and i hope you enjoyed the lesson please if you did hit that like button and i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 51. 25 Jobs & Occupations | Vocabulary Lesson (Live-Stream) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eq7ExJKi7zw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq7ExJKi7zw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:25:19 | --- hey everyone welcome to another interactive english lesson my name is wes and at this channel we're all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and if you are new here please write to me let me know in the comments i just love hearing from all of you guys but especially new people to our channel so what we're going to talk about today are it's a it's a lesson to help you build your vocabulary because we're going to be talking about specific jobs and occupations now the the first thing you may be wondering is well what's the difference between a job and an occupation they're basically synonyms i think overwhelmingly people use the word job much more than they would occupation i think the word occupation is a little more formal which is why you may find it if you are filling out some kind of form or an application it may ask you for your occupation but they're essentially the same thing so we're going to talk about certain words that describe somebody's job or their occupation and i think this is very useful because this is something that people talk about all the time if you want to well share and talk about your own job or maybe talk about your dream job so it's it's useful vocabulary for you to know so the way that i'm gonna do this is uh before i tell you uh before i show you the job or the occupation i'm gonna give you some clues and see if you can think of the word i'm talking about and then i will show you the word and what i want you guys to do who are hitting the chat if you want to to practice participate as we go through these different jobs and professions maybe right what do you think about this job what do you think about this profession what words would you use to describe it is it scary if it's something that is maybe you think it's very boring all right so thank you guys so much for joining me today uh lali angela uh mitni lucia um shia abdul rahman mandi learning with mehran lessons excellent kareem muhammad thank you guys for joining me today so let's just go into our first word so and it's going to go from easier to more difficult so i've tried to go make this list from beginner to advanced so we're going to start out a little easier and this is a job that somebody would have at the beach and if this person they work at the beach and they're supposed to make sure that everyone is safe all right i hope that you were thinking that this word is a lifeguard so a lifeguard is somebody if you travel to the ocean and you are at a very popular beach there is a good chance that you will see these people lifeguards working at the beach usually uh i don't know if it's just in the united states or other countries too i always think that they're wearing red that they have a red swimsuit uh and that is a lifeguard all right the next word um the next job is somebody who well works with languages and what they would do is they would they would interpret one language for another person and this is a job that maybe many of you you're learning english perhaps you're learning other languages and maybe you would like to have this job and you go with somebody to some type of meeting and you listen in one language and then you tell what that person is saying to another person what would you call that uh exactly yes kdwd perfect we're talking about somebody who is a translator a translator uh this is the uh it's a noun so in this case i was talking about a person whose job is a translator but the verb to translate from one language into another is also a very common word you could say interpreter as well that's perfectly fine translator interpreter uh they they mean the same thing i think translator might be a little more common a little more official all right the next job is this is a person who works in somebody's home and they go to the home if they're going to fix maybe some of the pipes or maybe there's a problem with the toilet uh who would you call if you have a problem with your your toilet or your sink you would call this person all right what do you guys think um i hope that you said that you would call a plumber so a plumber is a person who works with like i said they work around the home if they if somebody needed to fix anything that would have pipes like the toilet or the sink or the shower and you would want to contact a plumber the next job is somebody who works with money all right that's your key word right there money all right somebody who works with money and they end up doing a lot of math most businesses have somebody who does this position and they work with the comp they they work with uh money and finances to make sure that um that that everything adds up and you would want uh this per or if you want help with your own money or finances you might want to contact this type of person excellent english vibes i am talking about yes yamila mohammed an accountant so if again i think it's a very common job and there are many different there are different types of accountants most businesses will have an accountant so this is something that you maybe if you work in this job yeah i'm an accountant all right the next job um that i want to talk to you guys about is it's an animal doctor all right that's that's all i'm gonna say is a doctor for animals specifically a doctor for pets all right what would you call this person who is a doctor for pets i think many of you you may be familiar with this job this profession somebody who works with pets and they are a doctor they are a veterinarian all right a veterinarian a person who takes care of animals uh cats dogs birds and yes excellent lolly english vibes kathy perfect um you know many most people most of the time this word is shortened to vet uh because the it is a longer word the pronunciation veterinarian uh can be a little challenging that t uh v e t e r that t is kind of pronounced as a d like uh especially in the united states it's that flap t sound which is more of a d veterinarian veterinarian veterinarian so a vet or a veterinarian the next job is this person works in well with the law and specifically they work in a courtroom and this person would be the the leader of the courtroom pretty much the boss of the courtroom and what this person would do is they would listen and they make decisions in regard to the law perhaps if somebody is guilty or not guilty or if there's a jury this is the person who would kind of be the leader for the jury if the jury is going to make a decision so this was the person in the courtroom who is the leader uh who will maybe make the decisions that's the key word they would make the decisions if something is guilty or not all right i think this one maybe threw some people off because if i'm talking about somebody who makes the decisions of whether somebody is guilty or not guilty in that case we're talking about a judge so a judge would be the leader of a courtroom i know some people put down lawyer a lawyer is a person who works with the law and they would represent someone else and a lawyer would argue if perhaps a person is either guilty or not guilty and they would make that argument to a judge who would be pretty much the boss of the courtroom judge would be the boss of the courtroom if you're just joining us right now we are going over 25 different jobs and occupations which is a great way to build your vocabulary because we talk about work quite often all right the next job is it's going to get a little more difficult as we go through this this is a person who works with meat all right they work with meat like uh beef lamb chicken and it's typically like a small shop and this is where you would go to buy meat and the person that works there we call them what and often i think of this person as somebody who would well have like a knife especially like one of those cleavers those big giant knifes um and you would call them excellent uh lolly lila english vibes perfect you we're talking about a butcher somebody who is a butcher works with meat and this is where you this is the person that you would buy meat from uh you would go see the butcher and sometimes it's in a smaller shop other times i think in perhaps a grocery store there is a butcher and you would go and buy the meat there uh the next job is this person works at uh in a building or perhaps they work in a school and it's the person that would clean the building so they would mop the floors they would clean the windows they might take out the trash so it's a very common job because in any type of office building you need these peoples that you have this person would work at an office building they work at a school they would work in an airport and what do you call that person who would be responsible for cleaning that building and making sure that everything is clean all right um excellent uh yes kathy alex i'm talking about a janitor or you could also say a custodian that's another word i think more commonly people would talk about a janitor somebody who's cleaning a building somebody mentioned maybe a housekeeper one difference would be housekeepers really just going to work in a home this is specifically talking about somebody who would work in an office building or an airport would have a janitor schools and they would be responsible for cleaning uh excellent yes rod perfect you could also say cleaner as well i think um if somebody cleaner could be a lot of different things but i think if somebody specifically said that they work as a janitor then you know that they are cleaning some building or some office all right um hey what's up silvio excellent uh rod glad you guys can join us so let's continue and i again i think they're getting a little more difficult perhaps some of you may be familiar with many of these and that's great it's always good to review so the next job is somebody who would help people buy a home so if you are looking for a home and you want to buy a home you would contact this person this person does not own the home but they are the person who would help facilitate the sale of a home so this person technically works with both the homeowner and any any person who would be interested in buying the home so think about think about it that way if you want to buy a home who would you contact which person would you call so the the word uh yes excellent um the what i have because again there's a few different words you could use but the word i was looking for the profession that i'm looking for is a real estate agent so a real estate agent is who you would call if you want to buy a home and they would take you around and they would show you different homes that might be for sale you could also say a realtor as well that it means the same thing but a real estate agent specifically person who would help people find a home to buy the next word this is a well it's a doctor if you have to if you have to do something it's very serious and you go into the doctor and they may have to open you up if they open you up and they try they have to fix something i'm trying to use words so that i don't give away the answer what would you call that type of doctor it's something for that would definitely be more serious and you would go into a doctor perhaps you go into the hospital and if they have to open up the body um and do some work this person is a surgeon excellent you guys rock that uh lolly mahmood uh mahdi we're so surgery remember surgery a surgeon is the person specifically it's the person who's doing the operation surgery is the noun which is talking about the process and somebody would say that they they have to have surgery or i'm going to get surgery and they're going to go through that process but surgeon is the the specific the job all right the next profession uh that i want to talk to you about the next occupation is somebody who would design a home so the person that would design either a home or a building what would you call this person what is their job they they well they would do quite a bit of math and they would kind of they would make an outline of the home or the building um and this is before you would start construction before you actually start building this home uh or this office this is the person that you would need to talk to and they're the ones who do the design and i am talking about an architect yes you would want to contact an architect great job raj lali um uh eloisa yeah mila perfect all right excellent gotta give some try to give some shout outs here when i can't so an architect is the person who would do the design the next uh the next job moving into sports a little bit so what would you call the person who is making decisions in baseball all right so think about baseball that specific sport and this is the person who makes sure that the rules are followed and i i'm telling you to think of baseball and i'll tell you why in just a moment so the person whose job it is to make sure that both teams are following the rules this person makes sure this is the person that would enforce the rules as well what would you call that person in baseball all right do we have any baseball fans out there um so some of you are putting referee and the reason i chose baseball is because it's a different word it this person is the referee for baseball but we don't call them the referee i saw one right answer uh i think alex is the person who gave me the answer i'm talking about an umpire so in most sports if you're talking about football like soccer or american football basketball the person is called a referee they make sure that both teams follow the rules and they enforce the rules in baseball that person is called an umpire all right i don't know why it's different but again that's why i was trying to tell you focus a little more on baseball but we would call that person an umpire all right let's continue get a little more difficult at least i think some of them might be a little easier so this is a person who drives a car for a living and they would drive another person and i usually think that this person could work for a business that would drive people to different places perhaps drive people to the airport or they could work with a specific person or a specific family and they would drive that family around what do you think what would you call uh that person i hope that you said yes holly excellent i hope that you said chauffeur a chauffeur is a occupation in which someone is driving a car for a living and again it could be that they work for a person a family or even a business and they would drive people around i think you could say that somebody is a driver but chauffeur is more specific because a driver i don't know it could be for driving for anything maybe uh maybe you're a nascar driver i don't know and you're doing it for sports so the next job that i have is this is a person who works with flowers and they work at a shop that sells flowers so sometimes i might go buy roses for my wife and i would go to this store and i buy some roses and i would talk to a what person works at uh works at this type of store they sell flowers and i think this is a a job that i don't know how common it is but it's certainly something that i think we all deal with if there is some type of holiday or special occasion we might want to buy flowers for someone and you would go see a florist excellent you guys rocking that yes nice many of you got that one so a florist is a person that would sell flowers the next word that i have is this person works at a university and it would be the person who is the head of the university what would you call that person who is at the very top the leader of the university um is what this person would be called and specifically i'm talking about a university and again i think even within a university there are different departments and even the the head of a department could also have this name but the the person who is the head of the university's administration i'm going to add that word in there i'm talking about the university's administration and you would call that person the dean excellent wow uh supple uh busa khan sorry all these people flying by excellent um so again the when i think of a school in general like a high school then i would think of maybe a principal or even a headmaster but if we're specifically talking about a university the head of a university would be uh referred to as the dean of the university or you could say the the president as well um the next word that i have for you is this person works in an uh well this person would drive an ambulance or they ride in an ambulance so in general i guess they would they they would work for the hospital and the person that would either drive the ambulance or they would ride along in the ambulance and they would go um pick people up who are sick or injured and they try to help these people what do you call what is the name of that person who works in an ambulance all right and if you don't know what an ambulance is it is that that car that that you would see at a hospital that would go around and try to if there was an emergency you would call and sell somebody to send the ambulance and these people work uh in the ambulance all right uh close we've got a couple people uh omg85 uh anna thoseus uh maria the person is called a paramedic so a paramedic would be somebody i would say that works in an ambulance because there's no real difference between the person driving and another person who is riding along both people are trained uh medically to help others so it doesn't matter whether somebody's driving or riding in the back or wherever they are all paramedics and that person is called a paramedic all right let's continue the the next job is somebody who works with uh well the mail and this person would deliver boxes to people i think most the time they they deliver boxes i guess they could deliver envelopes and i would say that this is a more formal position and it's a position that somebody would have if you want to if i want to send a box in the mail and i really want to make sure that it gets there i might hire this person to bring this box to this other place or even if you have something that you want to deliver even if it's not a box and you want to bring something important or bring something valuable to another place you're going to hire this person because they are a professional at traveling from one place to the next all right so the profession that i'm talking about is a courier all right and the difference between a courier and a mailman i think a courier is like this is a bit more formal it's a bit more of a professional position so if i wanted to send something very valuable in the mail i might not go to the post office because i might be a little worried that they're going to lose it something's going to go wrong but you can go see if you want to pay a little extra money and it costs more you can bring it to a courier and this is the person who is responsible for delivering a box or it could be other items as well but typically i think of something that is more expensive or perhaps it's like a document that is very important and you want to make sure it gets there you're probably going to hire a courier all right the next job is somebody who would work at a hotel and this person would be responsible for helping people bring their luggage from the well from their car to the hotel room often you might find this person around the lobby they help customers they help people that are staying at the hotel and typically they would bring the luggage to the person's room and they wheel around those those carts what do you call this person i used to i used to work at a hotel this was one of my first jobs um and i would you would bring luggage to people's rooms what what do you call that um that person who would bring luggage uh yes uh christina eloisa turned it out so typically the the word that i have is a bellhop uh you may hear the word bellboy as well that's another very common word uh but a bellhop is just general because i don't know um i i think belle boy you could say that for for boys if a girl had that job because then you could say a bell girl a bellhop could be for either a man or a woman but a bellhop they wheel around you can see those little carts with the luggage on it and they would bring it to people's rooms um the next word the next job is this is a person that works outside and they would try to discover ancient artifacts so for example if this person is trying they're trying to learn a little bit more about history or uh some city or some building they would go there and they would try to dig up these ancient artifacts or ancient ruins in order to learn more about it what do you call that person it is kind of a a type of science i guess you could say it would fall under that category but somebody who would um and i guess like even like dinosaur bones uh that would be the same thing but somebody who would work more with uh with history yes exactly uh i think you guys got it specifically we're talking about uh i said they work outside an archaeologist except uh this i don't know if i would this is a a fake archaeologist indiana jones that's not really the life of an archaeologist going around and having all these adventures i think an archaeologist's job looks more like this where you are outside and you are digging slowly trying to discover some parts of a building or bones or anything i think it is a very maybe a very tedious job uh it takes a long time so the next job that i have is okay this is the person well very specifically this is the person who is the leader of an orchestra so somebody who is part of an orchestra that would play music but the person who is the leader and everybody watches this person so they know when to start playing and when to stop playing and they're the ones who lead the orchestra you would call them what i hope that you guys are thinking of uh [Music] this person is called a conductor all right excellent so the person who leads an orchestra would be a conductor you could also say the word maestro i was trying to look up the difference between a conductor and a maestro it said like a maestro is more of a famous conductor so somebody's really famous and well-known then the conductor becomes a maestro but it's basically the same thing the leader of an orchestra all right a few more jobs for you this person is on a construction site this is the leader of the construction site so if you are perhaps a construction site for a building there are going to be different people working at that construction site but this person is the leader they're going to be telling people what to do where to go and this is the person that you would want to talk to they are the leader at this construction site what do you call that person these now that i'm getting into a little more advanced words i hope that you said or if you knew it uh yes caravan perfect it's a foreman a foreman is the person who is the boss at a construction site so typically every construction site has a formant the difference between some people like an engineer the different an engineer i think would be somebody who does some of the designs and they would also be at the construction site but the foreman is the actual person who is um the boss of the construction and the building that's going on uh as you can see like that crane in the back there so a foreman would be the boss this next person works in a funeral home and when somebody dies they there is a funeral for this person this job this person is responsible for making sure that the body of the the dead individual looks nice and presentable because at some funerals people might go around and there is a casket which is open and people might go in and look at the body so this person is their job is to make sure that the body looks looks kept and looks looks presentable for the funeral do you guys know what do you call that's a very specific job because again i'm talking about a very specific situation all right um excellent yes so the job that i have is a mortician now a mortician this this is the person that if you are having um if there's somebody that would make sure that the body looks presentable you would call them a mortician an undertaker is the same thing the word undertaker is a bit more informal and it's actually a euphemism for mortician so i think of if somebody is talking about their job and this is what they do i think they're more likely to say that they are a mortician as instead of using the word undertaker both of them mean the same thing but undertaker is is definitely a bit more informal all right the next job that i have for you is this is a person that if um if you have a position that that is very high up in a company and they they need to fill that position this person will go around and look for qualified people to fill a position at a company and i'm talking about again i'm talking about positions that are very high up there um ceo cfo um a really high uh manager and it's a very important position and instead of them like trying to just find many different applicants they will hire somebody to go look for the best people to to do this uh for this job so what do you call that kind of person that would go around and search for high level individuals all right um excellent yes uh sarah the job is a head hunter so again specifically a head hunter is talking about somebody who would look for high level positions because i know some of you put down a recruiter the difference is a recruiter would really look for a recruiter would look to fill many different positions whether it's a high position or a low position head hunters specifically look for high level positions like ceos um cfos uh coos i'm doing all these acronyms uh chief executive officer chief operating officer um those are high level high paid positions and you want to find the most qualified people so you may go the company may go look for a headhunter in order to find those people so it's a good word to know all right again these are a little more advanced the next position is somebody who works at a bar and it's really the bartender's assistant what would you call the assistant of a bartender and and you might not know this word unless you have had a job and you've worked at a bar or maybe if you've just spent a lot of time at a bar a bartender i think you know what somebody who works at a bar and they serve drinks but sometimes bars can get really busy and the bartender would have an assistant and this assistant would be maybe they would be collecting cups or glasses and cleaning them they would change the kegs if one keg ran out they'd go get the other one and they'd change it real quickly they'd go restock um alcohol bottles that are empty all right what do you think all right so this again is a very specific word unless you work there this person is called a bar back i don't know where this word came from originally but somebody who is an assistant to a bartender would be a bar back and typically i think of somebody who is a bar back is perhaps a younger person maybe they don't have training or experience as a bartender perhaps they want to be a bartender in the future and they start out as a bar back and they would be getting like cups and glasses they would be restocking the shelves and bottles or changing the kegs and you would call that person a bar back some of you put busboy busboy is a little different that's talking about somebody who would work in the restaurant the person at a restaurant who would clean the tables would be the busboy so this is uh a bar back all right then uh we have another word for you i don't have to give you many hints it is a doctor for the foot all right so if we're talking about doctors and medicine there's many different types of doctors out there there are many different specialties so if you have a problem with the foot you would go see this doctor this is a specific doctor that you would go to uh for the foot it's a foot doctor what do you call that person all right um i will be very impressed if some of you get this because i think when you're talking about medicine you can get very specific with certain specialties so you would go see perhaps if there is a a problem with your foot um it could be maybe i don't know you you twisted it the wrong way perhaps even you have a fungus i don't really know um some of you are close the word uh pediatrics pediatrician that is a doctor for children you're talking about a children's doctor if we're talking about a doctor for the foot it's a podiatrist a podiatrist is uh the doctor for the foot all right very specific it's not a word that you're going to use or hear in everyday english but again it's always good to to learn different words in order to build your vocabulary so if something happened and you really hurt your foot or you needed to go get it checked out you may go see a podiatrist all right so i hope that uh you learn some new words i hope some of these jobs were different for you and again if you guys like what we do here at interactive english and whoa uh i disappeared for a second and you want to show us some love uh you guys can check us out we are active we have where we go there i am okay you can check us out youtube memberships patreon i have some there are some patrons and uh youtube members i saw today uh lolly rod um somebody else uh i saw as well always appreciate your guys support we couldn't have we couldn't do all this without you links are in the description down below so those are some different jobs and professions and what i would ask all of you is to well let me know about your job your profession i love learning about all of you write to me in the comments tell me about your job your occupation i would just love to hear from you guys so thank you guys so much for joining me and uh let's give some shout outs thank you thank you to uh magali uh rod mohammed um mandi eloisa trinidad fazuja uh donaire matthias um giovanna laura what is patreon pa patreon is just a it's a platform that um people can give rewards and it's a way to support creators um but links are down in the description below if you guys want to check that out thank you guys mohammed uh albatross abdulrahman angela devi i guess go on and on thank you guys so much for being here i hope you learned some new words and i hope you enjoyed the lesson please if you did hit that like button and i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 52. 25 Most Common Adjectives You NEED to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Me2WXc_BGD8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me2WXc_BGD8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:36:06 | --- So today, we have a really fun lesson for you. We are talking about the 25 most common adjectives in English. So today, we are going to share with you the 25 most common adjectives in English. And these are taken from the Oxford English Corpus, which is just a collection of the English language. Keep in mind that if you study English you should really, really know these 25 words. So we're going to tell you the adjective and also give you an example sentence. So we're going to count down from #25. And we don't know each other's adjectives, so we're going to try and think of a sentence just right off the top of our head. So number twenty-five - the 25th most common adjectives in English is ABLE. You can speak more than that. No? I can understand like five. Twenty-four is SAME. Can you believe it? Yeah. Scandalous. Number twenty-three - I actually thought this one would be higher but it's not - is BAD. Oh. I'm surprised in the higher too. I thought you were going to say Wes is a bad boy. Can we talk all his socks and sandal phase. Number twenty-two is PUBLIC. Public park. What's wrong with the public park? Nothing. I just...I had a weird image in... It's...it's a fine example. Number twenty-one is FEW. He has like two shirts. No I don't. I have like four. And two pairs of jeans. It's few. Number twenty - and this one I thought would be higher too - IMPORTANT. Really? Alright... Something is important. Number nineteen - YOUNG. Can you give us a sentence while we're young? Wes is a young man. What's wrong with "Wes is a young man"? Wes is a...because it's not true. Wes is not a young man. That's a terrible sentence. Eighteen is EARLY. Okay, this is true. I am not an early riser. That is...yes. Yes, I hate early mornings Yeah, we got it. Number seventeen is NEXT. Number sixteen is LARGE. It is large. Quite large. Number fifteen - quite fittingly - is SMALL. They're so cute. They're so small. I like this one. Number fourteen is DIFFERENT. Sometimes. It can be a good thing. Yeah. We should all be different. Number thirteen is HIGH. Yeah. High. Okay. What are you thinking about? High heels. High building. Yeah. If a person is high then they've been smoking something. Drugs. In case that wasn't clear for you. Number twelve is BIG. Is big? Can't wait. Big meal. Indian. Yeah, that's true. We're going to go get some Indian. Have a big meal. Number eleven... I kind of want to give the sentence, but never mind. Number eleven is RIGHT. Oh no. Wes is going to say "Wes is always right." It's not true. That is a good sentence. Thank you. Yes. It's annoying because he's usually right. Why is that annoying? Put yourself in my shoes. But we're on... we're on...we're on the same team. So it's good. But you love to tell me that you're always right. That's why I'm a bad boy. Top ten! Wahoo! This is also appropriate for Wes - OLD. What? Old? All right to be fair, I'd say... How old is it Wes? Probably...I don't know, maybe seven or eight years. We met five years ago, and you had it. I know I said it's like seven or eight years. It's old. Like its owner. What? Number nine is OTHER. So if somebody asks like "Oh, can I have that one?" I can say... Yeah. Something else. You could say like "What did you do the other day?" Oh, yeah. Other day. Number eight is OWN. Or like it's something that's yours. Yeah. My very own camera. I can't believe my own luck. Number seven is LITTLE. It's a nice word. It's cute. I'm trying to think of a cute sentence. It should be first thing that pops your head. Go! Go! Go! Go! Okay. You don't want a big cat? No. A little one. I want a big cat. I want a little one. I want a big chubby cat. I expected this to be where it is - GREAT. Number six is GREAT. Great. I would say... Ioana, she's great. That's true. I am great. Even though I'm always right. We've entered the top five. Do you think other people are as excited about adjectives as we are? Probably not. So number five is LONG. I was really tired so yesterday felt like a long day. I think a lot of people use it in that way. Like "Ah, it's been a long day." Number four is LAST. Okay, like... You could say last week, last month, last year. When we ran our marathon, we came in last. When we ran the marathon, yeah, we were almost last. Almost. We weren't quite last. There were four people after us. Number three - it's interesting how close they are together because number three is FIRST. We were nowhere close to first. I was going to talk about my first kiss, but it's inappropriate. Yeah, people talk about first kiss, first date. Yeah, I guess that's why probably first is probably more common than last. Okay the second one, second to last...second to first.... Number two is NEW. I was going to say new clothes. Yeah, I need a new pair of shoes. So the number one adjective - the most popular adjective in English is... You're screaming in my ear. GOOD. Number one is GOOD. I like that that's the first one. That is a good adjective. Yeah, it's good. I don't think that's surprising at all. We use good all the time. How are things? - Good. Basically anything. How are you doing? - Good. That's like the answer to everything. Keep in mind, these are Important adjectives so you should know these, learn these, study these. Dream of these. So now we want to know, which adjective do you use the most. Which one is your favorite? Write it in the comments. We want to hear from you guys. If you enjoyed this lesson, please don't forget hit that LIKE button. And if you enjoy learning English with us, we appreciate it if you subscribe. Thank you guys so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. See you. Bye. --- ## 53. 25 Most Common English Verbs You NEED to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BscXUHD0eNw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BscXUHD0eNw) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:38:00 | --- Okay. Are you read? You sure? Are you guys ready? I hope so because today we are going to talk to you about the 25 most common verbs in English. That's coming up. Yay. How was that intro? You think that was kind of off the cuff like? So today we are going to tell you the 25 most common verbs in English. These are verbs you really, really, really need to know. And this - these verbs - this list is from a study that was conducted using the Oxford English Corpus, which is basically a huge collection of written texts that were examined so they could find out which ones are the most frequent. So this is a list of the most frequently used verbs which means these are verbs that you guys should know. You really need to know them. Super important. Very important verbs. They're super important. You should know these verbs. You should know them. Did we say that you should know these verbs? You should know them. You need to know them. Okay, okay, okay. Okay, so what we're going to do is we're going to give you...stop laughing. Okay. Okay. So what we're going to do is we're going to give you these 25 verbs. But with each one, we will give you the conjugation. So we'll give you the present tense form, the past tense, and then the past participle from of the verb. What are the most frequently used verbs in English? What are they? We're going to tell you. All right. Let's begin. So the number one verb - drumroll. Drumroll. is, really to no surprise, the verb TO BE. It is the most common verb in English. So in the present, you would use IS or ARE depending on the subject. The past WAS/WERE and the past participle is BEEN. That's true. You confirm you confirm that? It's correct. You agree? He's not lying to you guys. Number two is HAVE or HAS. And in the past its HAD. Past participle also HAD. Number three...the third most common verb in English is TO DO. So in the present DO or DOES, in the past DID, and the past participle is DONE. Number four...SAY. Say or says. TO SAY or SAYS. The past tense is SAID and the past participle also SAID. Number five is TO GET. So the present simple GET/GETS. The past tense GOT. And the past participle can be either GOT or GOTTEN. So got is the more common form in British English. And Americans will sometimes say gotten. So for example, because we are from the United States, we say gotten. Number six is TO MAKE. So that's MAKE/MAKES. Past as MADE. What's the past participle? MADE. I don't know why I keep forgetting these. It's good practice for us. Yeah. I guess. Everyone has to memorize these, including native English speakers. So everyone has to memorize. Because there's a lot of irregular verbs. Pretty much all of them are irregular verbs. Number seven is TO GO. And...so the present simple GO/GOES. The past tense is WENT and the past participle GONE. Gone with the wind. Gone somewhere. With the wind. What? Gone with the Wind. That is a movie. Yes. It's out of focus. Number eight is KNOW. Not no. But "to know." Okay, let's backtrack. Okay, number eight is TO KNOW. In the present tense, we have KNOW/KNOWS. In the past tense we have KNEW and in the past participle it's KNOWN. We know. Number nine is TO TAKE. So in the present tense TAKE/TAKES. In the past TOOK and the past participle is TAKEN. No, not "tooken." TAKEN. Listen to him. Number ten...TO SEE. You look like such a dork. What? This is SEE. SEE. Number ten is TO SEE. Number ten is TO SEE. I'm okay Number ten is to... Number ten is... Number ten is TO SEE. So in the present tense...like how we did that? In the present tense... We were working on that for a while. A long time. In the present is we have SEE/SEES. And in the past it's SAW. And in the past participle SEEN. Out of the top ten, which is your favorite verb? KNOW. Why? Do you know why? I do know why because it's...first of all it sounds like another word. So it's like, if you know one word you know two words. And second because I like knowledge. I like to know things. Are you going to ask me? Do you care? You don't care what my favorite verb is. I want to share my favorite verb. Fine. What's yours? I would say...I like GO. Because it's kind of... You're what? You're going. No. It's just a good action. I just like the the action. Like, "Hey, let's go!" Let's go. Let's go. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's go. Let's continue our... let's continue our list. Number eleven is TO COME. So in the... Number eleven is TO COME, so... You're terrible. Number eleven is TO COME. So in the present simple you'd have COME/COMES. In the past COME, and in the past participle is just COME...again. She keeps laughing when I say, "Come." It's a popular verb all right. No. I'm sure. To come. Okay. You got to stop. It's popular verb. People use it a lot. People come and go all the time. They come and go. Don't they? Yes, they do. Are we done with the innuendos? Okay, I like this one. Number twelve is TO THINK. Think. So let's see. In the present tense we have THINK/THINKS. Past tense we have THOUGHT, and past participle THOUGHT as well. Number thirteen is LOOK. So this is our first regular verb. Oh my gosh. In the present simple LOOK/LOOKS. In the past is LOOKED, so the past perfect is also LOOKED. Regular verbs are awesome. First regular verb. Number fourteen TO WANT. In the present tense, this is WANT/WANTS. In the past WANTED, and in the past participle also WANTED. Another regular verb. Wow, two in a row. Amazing.Incredible. It's a good one TO WANT. I like it. I want...to tickle Wes. Number fifteen is TO GIVE. So in present simple GIVE/GIVES. In the past it is GAVE, and the past participle is GIVEN. Are you sure? Are you 100% sure? Why? Is it not... This is another regular verb. So number sixteen is TO USE. In the present tense, this is USE/USES. Past tense USED and past participle USED as well. Rocking along with these regular verbs now. Number seventeen - just when I say that - is FIND, another irregular verb. So in the present simple we have FIND/FINDS. Past tense is FOUND and the past participle is also FOUND. Memorize it. Practice it. Use it. Number eighteen is TO TELL. Present tense...TELL/TELLS. Past tense...TOLD. And past participle...TOLD. It is funny because these are...these are so common, but at the same time thinking of the conjugation I'm still like - wait a second. You have to think about it. Wait, which is that? Wait, what's the past participle? But if you have to say it in a sentence I think we'll say it quickly. Yeah, yeah. It's no problem. Number nineteen is TO ASK. So present simple ASK/ASKS. And the past is ASKED. And the past participle ASKED as well. It sounded like you said "assed." Wait, let me say it again. So the present is ASK/ASKS. And the past is ASKED. And the past participle is also ASKED. I'm trying to get "asked." I know I was laughing because your eyes are like bulging out. Every time you say it you're like "ASKS." And then it was ASKED. Asked. That -ed has that T sound because the K is voiceless. There we go. Number twenty - it's another regular verb - in the present tense we have... What's the verb? Number twenty is TO WORK. And this is another regular verb. So in the present we have WORK/WORKS. Past tense WORKED. Past participle WORKED. Number twenty-one TO SEEM. And the present SEEM/SEEMS. In the past - because it's regular - SEEMED. And the past participle is also SEEMED. And it's true. Number twenty-two is TO FEEL. This one in the present tense is FEEL/FEELS. Past tense FELT. Past participle FELT. Twenty-three...TO TRY. So we have TRY/TRIES in the present. The past...TRIED and the past participle TRIED. Ends with a -y so we use -ied. Number twenty-four is TO LEAVE. In the present tense this is LEAVE/LEAVES. Past tense LEFT. Past participle LEFT. And number twenty-five - the last of the most common English verbs - is TO CALL. So we have CALL/CALLS in the present. CALLED in the past, and the past participle is CALLED. So out of all of these verbs, which one is your favorite now? Is it still TO KNOW? I think so actually. Oh no. Can I change my answer? Yeah. I like TO GIVE. I like give. Okay. That's a good one. That's funny because mine would be TO WANT. I like TO WANT something. That's what I was going to say. Number fourteen...TO WANT. Yes. Next year, WANT - it's making its way to the top. Sure. I like GIVE. And KNOW. What about TO COME? Now, what we want you to do is in the comments tell us which of these verbs is your favorite. Or tell us which one that you think you use the most. Which one is most common for you? And write that in the comments. We want to know. We hope you give us... I'm trying to use your favorite verb. Give us a comment! We hope you enjoyed this lesson and know all of these verbs and that you can conjugate these verbs because that is very important. If you like this lesson, please give us a thumbs up. And as always thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Bye Is that better? Yeah, sure. --- ## 54. 25 Most Common Nouns in English | Words You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HepVl7q4Bco` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HepVl7q4Bco) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:37:08 | --- Today we are going to talk to you about the 25 most common nouns in English. That's coming up. I keep doing this It's your thing now Yeah Welcome to today's lesson. So today we're going to talk to you about the 25 most common nouns in English. And these are nouns that were taken from the Oxford English Corpus, which is just basically a collection of the English language and for more information, we'll leave a link in the description We're going to each say a word and the other person has to come up with a quick example on the spot using that word. Now we don't know each other's nouns So we're going to try and do it just off the top of our head. Are you ready? Are YOU ready? Yes Alright, here we go. That was a terrible. So number 25 is fact Really? Yes, fact. Okay. Wow, alright, so a sentence with fact If you study with us, you will learn English. That is a fact. Fact. True story. Number 24 is problem. Can't think of one right now. This morning I had a problem. What is it? We didn't have any water so I couldn't wash my hair. It's the first thing I came up with. Wes: That's not a fact. Okay, number 23 is group. Group, okay: Let's form a study group so we can learn together. Come together, group of people. Number 22 is number. My favorite number is six. Is it really? 6, oh.? Yeah, cause you were born on the six. Yeah, my favorite number is... six. It's when we got married. Oh, yeah. We also got married on the 6th because it was already my favorite number - I Yea, 6 is my favorite number too. I think it's strange for the place it's in, but number 21 is company. Company mm-hmm Okay, we hope to start a company. Company- a business, yeah. But you could have company like a group of people. I think it's probably more the business. Number 20 is government. government, okay um sentence with government The US government just shut down not too long ago. It did shut down temporarily. Yeah, the government did. Good, good example. Number 19 is point. Point? Point. Okay, so this is a noun, not a verb. Alright, alright, so I if somebody is right, then I could say: Yea, you know: you have a point. Or it could be a point like you can score points in a match. These multiple meaning words can really probably drive up the way it's used. Number 18 is case. apparently a case Okay, so you could say that was a hard hard case to crack. You see this in these like mystery... like Sherlock Holmes or something, solves a case. Or I bought a case of beer. Really, did you? No, I didn't but it's a good example, right? A case of something. Okay, so number 17 is week. like weekday. Oh! I thought you were talking about weak- like in "not strong". I was like: That's an adjective! Week, okay. I could say: Hey, what are you going to do this week? What are you doing this week? 16 (That's where we're at, right?) 16 is work. This one I expected, obviously. It's a popular word. This noun's kind of got you, huh? Well, no because it's such a common noun, that there's so many things that you can use it with. You could say: I go to work at 7 a.m. Every morning or something... or I start work at 5. Ah, see... now they're coming to me. Number 15 is place. place Okay: We live in a nice place. Number 14: woman. Well: My mother is an extraordinary woman. It's a good word. Do you think she's watching this right now? If you are: Ciao, mama! Hi, Lali! Number 13: eye. I was thinking the pronoun. I was thinking: Oh, this is easy. You can say: oh, you got beautiful eyes. People tell me that all the time. He does. He has really beautiful eyes. Big blue eyes. Number 12 is child. Oh, that's a cute one. Oh gosh. Um. Okay. The child was very annoying. I guess. What are you trying to say? Number 11 is part. There are many different car parts. Number 10! We have entered the top 10. 25 most common nouns... Number 10 is hand. Wes writes with his left hand My left hand, it's true. Number 9 is life. life You could say like: We have a great life. We get to work with all of you guys. It's great life. Number 8 is world. Um I'd love to travel the world. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? Argentina. You? I would go to... I think I would go to Korea actually, yeah. I used to live there. I miss Korean food. Why am I not surprised that this word is more common than the other one? Number 7 is man. I am a man. That's my sentence. I am an extraordinary man. How about that? You're just copying my sentence. I am copying your sentence! Number 6 - and I actually probably thought this would be higher up is- thing. Thing Oh yeah, that's a good one. My favorite thing to eat is chocolate. I think it's one of those words that a lot of teachers would tell you not to use. Be more specific. Tell me: what thing are you talking about? Number five! We're getting close to number one! Oh, I have to say it! That's you, yeah. Number five: day. Day. Oh, okay, you could say, well: What's your favorite part of the day? What's your favorite part of the day? Number 4 is way. I can see why this is so popular - cause you can ask: Which way are you going? or ... I always think of that song: Show me the way I forget who sings it, but... Number three is year. year, okay um This year is 2018. It's very factual. Yes, this year, 2018, it's going to be a great year. Number two- the second most popular noun in the English language- is... I forgot, wait, hold on. I want to make sure I get it. Oh okay. Yes number two is person. Let's see... My favorite person is a cat. Just kidding! Sorry mm-hmm. Wes is my favorite person. Thank you. Oh Because I'm an extraordinary man? Eh. Number one. Are you ready? I really like that this is number one actually. One is time. time Just a question I think most people ask: What time is it? What time is it? Out of all of these nouns, which is your favorite? Which one do you think? Which one do you like? A Woman. I like world. So, speaking of favorite nouns... Now we want to hear from you guys, and why don't you tell us: What is your favorite noun on this list? Write it in the comments, let us know. If you guys enjoyed this lesson, or if you enjoyed hearing about the 25 most common nouns, give us a like. Thank you guys so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye --- ## 55. 25 Super Useful Phrases You Will Use Again and Again | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `j7YqHhUpsSA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7YqHhUpsSA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:24:42 | --- let's talk about some very common english expressions that you should know that's coming up [Music] everyone my name is wes from interactive english and the channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your english so that you can achieve fluency and today i want to talk to you about 25 very common phrases that you will hear people use again and again and again and these are also phrases that that you should also be using over and over because they're just that common and you you may be familiar with many of these phrases already that's great but if you're not this is an excellent way to build your vocabulary and it's also good for your listening so that you can easily identify them and recognize them if somebody else is saying them so the first phrase that i have for you well this is one that i use all the time it's just a very uh simple greeting a way of saying hello is just how's it going how's it going so uh i i say this when i see other people how's it going and notice that how is is contracted to house and going you you're not really going to hear that g at the end it's going to get dropped how's it going how's it going the next phrase is uh well it's another question how's that sound so this is a phrase that you would hear people say if they if maybe they make a suggestion and they want to know what you think and i think most of the time they want you to agree like oh what do you think about that how does that sound you can have the name for thousand dollars how's that sound then we have never mind all right if if somebody says something and maybe they don't want to repeat themselves or they just uh they don't want to talk about something anymore never mind speaking of repeating oneself another common question that somebody may ask especially if uh you're somebody who's learning english if you don't always understand someone you could just say uh you know could you repeat that could you repeat that if you want to be polite you can throw a please on the end could you repeat that please i think personally if i don't understand someone and that that happens from time to time i'll usually throw a sorry at the beginning and then say it i'd say oh sorry could you repeat that uh and then they would say it again could you repeat that you repeat that please peter i'm sorry can you repeat that then we have um what do you mean all right this if you don't understand something that someone is explaining to you then you could just tell them you know what do you what do you mean if you want to be more specific and a very common phrase it's a question what does mean if they're if you're talking about a specific word what does mean great question especially for somebody who's learning english because if you don't understand something i think it's great to always ask of like a new word what does um mean what does rhetorically mean what does ostentatious mean what does potential mean then we have the phrase uh which is again is if you meet somebody where are you from i i ask this to many of you if i'm communicating with you in the comments i might ask you you know where are you from and notice when i say that the u i'm not i'm pronouncing it more with a schwa sound yeah when i say it just quickly where are you from next is the phrase what time is it i think throughout the day if you're somebody like me i don't wear a watch i might ask uh another person especially a friend somebody i'm with a colleague what time is it the next one is i was just about to hmm like you're you're just about to do something and i think when you're just talking with somebody else you you could use this uh or you may hear it quite often again the two has more of a schwa sound i was just about uh oh i was just about to call you uh i was just about to leave you were just about to do something you know i was just about to give up i was just about to ask you i was just about to say that i was just about to head out then we have uh another great phrase very common thanks so much and i'm gonna actually add a preposition after that thanks so much for something because i think oftentimes people will will say why they are thanking someone and four it can kind of sound like fur so uh thanks so much for for hitting that like button i hope i hope you hit the like button or thanks so much for watching this video then we have be careful i think this is something that well you're gonna hear all the time and i think you might say it to somebody else if they're doing something could be dangerous be careful next i don't mean to bother you but and then you would ask a question so for example if i have to interrupt someone else and maybe i'm asking directions maybe i'm asking him hey what time is it i might start out and say that i don't mean to bother you but uh listen uh i don't mean to bother you but believe me i i think i may have left my hat in your apartment so uh i thought i'd just come by later and pick it up i don't mean to bother you but my name is lois griffin for me to bother you but we're just really if you're big fans of firefly another common and great phrase don't worry about it all right just i just don't worry about it okay i think i think you've heard this you know what it means don't worry about it now if you are late to an appointment or a meeting or just yeah just to meet a friend you could tell them i'm running a little behind i'm sorry i'm running a little behind another phrase is just telling somebody i'm pretty busy i'm pretty busy so i think it's often used like that instead of just saying i'm busy you could say that but i think people will will throw pretty in there as well to emphasize that i'm pretty busy i'm running a little behind because i'm pretty busy i'm pretty busy tonight oh i don't know i'm pretty busy i've inventory all the giveaways if you're not too busy i'm pretty busy then we have i haven't heard about that so if somebody's talking about something you have no idea about this thing you just tell them yeah i haven't heard about that next is a question just who cares i think this is something that you will use when you are well maybe you disagree with someone and you could just tell them hey who cares next time that that is the next phrase that i want to tell you and if this is one that that i use uh quite often if i can't do something right now i just say you know next time and that phrase it's good to know and that is the other phrase that i wanted to follow up uh uh on and it's just saying yeah good to know that if if you're getting some new information hey it's good to know the church will read that as us suing them so will everybody else good to know honestly you are straight up cursed good to know protect your eyes she's a gouger good to know i'm not dead good to know next is let me know if you want somebody to reply or tell you something later on just say let me know and keep in mind that that let me is is connected and just sounds like let me know that works it's a great phrase i love using it if you want to agree with someone that you're just saying okay that works then we have i have no idea if somebody is asking you uh maybe to give them some information or and you just don't know tell them you know i have no idea then we have the phrase let me think about that so again let me is kind of connected and you you can hear that let me think about that let me think about that hold on let me think about that yes that'll work uh well let me think about that let me think about that okay then we have this phrase which i think is great if you are shopping and maybe you don't plan on buying anything and somebody comes over and says can i help you you could just tell them i'm just looking around i'm just looking around so it's great if you're out shopping and you you don't want you don't want to talk to anybody maybe you don't want to talk to one of the employees and you just tell them hey i'm just looking around i'll be there in a second this is a this is a phrase that i love to use if uh i'm doing something and i have to go do something else and yeah i might tell my wife hey i'll be there in a second you could also say i'll be there in a moment either one usually i'm i won't definitely i'm definitely not there in a second and sometimes it takes longer than a moment but it's just a phrase that i like to use i'll be there in a second come on i'll be there i'll be there next thanks can you take your brother downstairs i'll be there in a second waitress we'll be in a second it's ready we'll be there in a second all right i hope that you recognize and understand all of those phrases because again these are these are phrases that you will use over and over and over and it's it's not really a problem that you're going to use them again and again because i think they're just very relevant in everyday conversation if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 56. 25 Useful Words that You Should NOT Mispronounce | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cE24nAsus7c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE24nAsus7c) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:47:11 | --- Today, we'll talk about 25 difficult words for English learners to pronounce. If you haven't done it already, please make sure to join our social media classes where you can practice and improve your English. So a while back, we did a pronunciation video talking about common words that English learners often mispronounce. And then we asked you which words you had difficulty pronouncing, and we got some of your feedback. So today we're going to talk to you about 25 words that you guys told us were difficult to pronounce. As we go over these words, we are going to give you the phonetic spelling Which means that we are going to show you the words exactly how they sound. Some of you may be familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet. Others of you may not be, but I think everyone can understand and follow phonetic spelling. We will also show you how many syllables each word has, and remember a syllable is just one unit of sound. In addition, we will show you which syllable is stressed. So hopefully this information will help give you a better idea as to how to pronounce each of these individual words. If you want even more practice you can repeat the word after we say them. Practice makes perfect. It's true. Also keep in mind that in this video we are doing the American pronunciation of these words. Which is important to mention because some of the words may differ in their American pronunciation versus the British pronunciation. So yeah, keep that in mind. We'll be doing the American pronunciation. Because we're American. So the first word, fittingly, is the word pronunciation Now, there are two things about this word that could be a little tricky. First, that C actually sounds like you're saying the letter C Pronunciation. And the word ends with the -tion, which sounds like /shuhn/. Anytime that you see these four letters together at the of a word, it's pronounced as /shuhn/. Also, a pronunciation rule is that when a word ends with the -tion, the stress is going to fall on the syllable before. So in this case... Pronunciation. Wow, that pronunciation is flawless. The next one is characterization. And this one is difficult to pronounce, firstly, because it's so long. So let's break it apart. The first two letters, the CH, many times in English they make a /ch/ sound, so you would expect in this case that they would make the /ch/ sound like in channel. But not here. The way that it's pronounced is with the /k/ sound like the K sound. The other thing is that those last four letters, the -tion, are just like in any other instance in English read as /shuhn/. And remember to stress that syllable before... the /shuhn/. Say with me. Say it fast. I think I'm comfortable with that characterization as well. Number three is museum. Now this word can be tricky for two reasons. The first is that first syllable...that /myoo/ has like an M sound combined with like saying the word YOU. That S is also going to sound like a Z. Let's go to the museum. Let's go. It's easy. We haven't been to any museums lately. It's not like that, okay? And I'm not going to any museum. Well I'm not going back in this storage. The next word is disadvantage. And this one might be a little bit difficult because if we look at the last four letters, the -tage, I think they're easy to mispronounce. It's...it's kind of the /tij/ sound that is very quick. So it's not /tage/. It's /tij/. So we say... You're at a real disadvantage. Next...unfortunate. So this word can be troublesome because that TU actually sounds like a /choo/ That's it. Unfortunate. It was an unfortunate error. We're fixing it. The next word is occupation. This one might be a little difficult because of the C sound. Maybe if you look at it you think, "Oh, it's a C." Pronounced like a C, but it's actually pronounced like a Q sound. So it's... And remember to stress the syllable before the /shuhn/. Like that...with that kind of emphasis? Occupation would be the correct way to say it. That's better. Please state your name and occupation. The next word is cucumber. So this word can definitely be confusing because of the letter C. That first C sounds like a Q sound...Q, Q. Alright. And the next C just has a /k/ sound like a K. There are some other words that begin with the letters CU, where that C also sounds like a Q sound like cube or cute. And then there are some other words that begin with CU that don't follow that at all and sound like a /k/ sound like cup or... cupboard or... Anything else with cup. Curve. So, cucumber can really be a little tricky. What do you got a cucumber? I'm chill, I'm chill as a cucumber man. The next word is suitable. And this one may be a little tricky because of the vowels, the U and I together. They're making an /oo/ sound so it's... The other thing to keep in mind is that second syllable has the schwa sound, so you have suit-/uh/... So it's not suitable, but it's suitable. And you kind of go to a fast. That's a very suitable explanation. Quite suitable. Suitable for what? The next word is tongue. Now, the pronunciation of this word is all sorts of crazy. First off, it only has one syllable. And that O sounds like a U. And it would rhyme with words like sung or rung or... Tongue. Lung. Tongue...lung, yea. That's another one. Tongue...there you have it. Not porno tongue, church tongue. The next word is assume. And this one has a couple little tricks to it. The first one is that the first syllable is a schwa, so it makes it an /uh/ sound. So we can say... And the second one is that the U in there does not make a U sound but an /oo/ sound. We say... Okay, I will assume reputation Next is diary. So this word can be a little confusing because it is three syllables. It's not two. And the first syllable has that long I sound. That /dahy/... followed by the schwa.../dahy-uh/ and then the Y at the end has a long E sound. Do you keep a diary? Do you? I don't. Dear diary. Love makes you do crazy things. The next word is category. And here, what's tricky is the T sound because it's not an actual T sound. It's like a flap T or the American T. But it's kind of a D sound. So it's... Muted D even. You can barely hear it. What's the first category here? The first category is the hound group. The next word is schedule. So this word has two syllable. And it can be confusing because of that CH. It doesn't have a CH sound. It has a /k/ sound like a K sound. And the -dule sounds like /jool/. Especially when you say it fast... Precisely on schedule. The next word is physics. This one is also a little tricky even though it's short. There are a couple things to mention. The PH sound in English sounds like a /f/. Like a /f/...like an f sound. So it's... The other one is that the Y sound is not a /y/ sound but it's like a shortened I sound. And the third thing is that the S is pronounced like a Z. So put it all together and you have... In physics...well, we talk about physics. Properties of physics. The next word is curtail. So this word has two syllables and the second syllable has that long A sound... tail. Like you're talking about an animal's tail. Not curdle. Can we curtail this performance piece? The next word is chemistry. And chemistry is derived from kimia which comes from alchimia which is an Arabic term derived from Greek. It has a long story. But what that means is that the pronunciation is a little bit different. So it's not a /ch/ sound but instead a /k/.../k/ sound. So it's... Are you studying? Yeah, chemistry. I hate chemistry. Me too. Next is poignant. So this word...that GN has that nasal sound. That poignant. Which is different from some other words that also have a GN like pregnant. Alright. So this GN is that nasal sound. Is that nasal sound poignant poignant? And then there's the most poignant irony of all. Next we have hippopotamus. I like this word. There used to be a song called "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas." I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. Only a hippopotamus will do. I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. I...they're kind of cute. Hippopotamus is confusing because it's so freaking long. It's like a million syllables. Really? What you have to do is just break it down and say... And quickly... Yeah, practice one syllable at a time. Yeah, you kind of have to. Hmm...say hippopotamus. The next word, sticking with our animal theme, is rhinoceros. And this word can be confusing because the H is silent and the C sounds like an S. I want to rhinoceros for Christmas. Because the rhinoceros speaks English. The next word is science. I don't know why I did that. Science. How do we pronounce it? We pronounce it like science. Okay, the next word is science. And what's important in this word's pronunciation is that the C is not pronounced. So we don't say...I don't even know how you would mispronounce that. That's difficult, right? But to just make it easy we just omit the C. So we say science. The C is silent like in scissors. You also don't say the C there. Science? What sort of science? The next word is silhouette. This word is borrowed from French, so I'm not really going to try to explain why it's pronounced the way it is. It's just silhouette. And it sounds...I think the same in French. Like pirouette. What are you doing this weekend because your silhouette is kicking? Number 22 is arouse. And arouse has a couple things you need to remember. The first one is that the O and U combination creates a diphthong. The /ou/ sound. And the next thing is that the S makes a Z sound. So you have... If he can arouse that kind of passion. The next word is unique. And the pronunciation of this word is unique because the letter U sounds like you are just saying the actual name of the letter U. The -que at the end has a /k/ sound. Like a K sound. And then there is a tongue twister that is difficult to pronounce if you want to say it really, really fast. Unique New York. Unique New York. Unique New York. Accident...ooo this one...I like this one. I like it because I have so many students who always, always, always mispronounce this one because you have the two Cs and they each have a separate sound. So the first C is like a K sound and the second C is like an S sound. So we say... We don't say... We say... Yeah it's accident. These accidents aren't accidents. An accident? An accident? Yeah, but it was an accident man. An accident. Really? And the last word, number 25, is dumb. And the only thing you need to know about this word is that the B is silent. Wes can be dumb sometimes. You're dumb. Dumb luck. Dumbass. Yeah, pretty dumb. So what we'd like you to do is in the comments below please write any other words that you may have trouble pronouncing. If you have a hard time saying it, please write it down. Who knows, maybe we'll make another video. Or maybe we won't. Who's to say. We might. Thanks for watching and we will see you next time. Bye. --- ## 57. 25 Ways to Say "Thank you" in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BlA9CLJsEy0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlA9CLJsEy0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:04:31 | --- we just hit 500 000 subscribers which is an amazing landmark and i just want to say thank you and i was actually going to just make a short video but then i thought why not make a longer vocabulary lesson teaching you many different ways to say thank you because this is a very common and useful phrase that you will use quite often and if you enjoy building your vocabulary then please subscribe help us get to a million turn on notifications that way i can become your english teacher my name is wes the channel is interactive english and it's just all about helping you reach your fluency goals and if you'd like a pdf copy of today's lesson with all of these different ways to say thank you check out the link down in the description so let's begin with thanks it's short and sweet it's very casual but then you can add to this with other words especially if you want to give it a little more emphasis and say thanks so much you could also add emphasis by saying thanks a ton or thanks a million those are two other ones that you could use they're not as common i think most of the time if people want to add emphasis they'll just say thanks so much now if someone has done maybe multiple things for you you could tell them thanks for everything all right and then if you want to thank somebody for something that maybe they have not done yet you could say thanks in advance and you might tell them this because perhaps you're not going to be there when they do this thing for you so i could say to you thanks in advance for hitting that like button maybe you haven't done it yet but you will before the lesson ends so i could say thanks in advance now if you have already hit the like button then i i would just say thanks so much for hitting that like button we also have thanks a lot and this one is also pretty common it adds a little more emphasis than just saying thanks but the one thing i would say about this one is that sometimes people use it sarcastically when they don't want to thank you so for example if you are doing something that's important and i interrupt you and you make a mistake you might say oh gee thanks a lot wes now i've made a mistake i have to do it over again thanks a lot so just just listen for how people are using this one great now you stretched it out thanks a lot michael's not gay now he hates me thanks a lot eat the fly get it thanks a lot now if you want to say to someone that yes i am absolutely not thanking you and you want it to be perfectly clear then you could say thanks for nothing that somebody else has just not helped you at all and you would say this maybe if you're upset or angry and you say thanks for nothing but i don't want to focus on ways to not say thank you i want to help you build your vocabulary and tell you different ways that you can actually thank someone so let's just continue with the next one i'm so grateful so this one is it's a little more heartfelt it's also adding emphasis and then you could add to this if you would like to be more descriptive and say i'm so grateful for something and then you would just say whatever it is that you're grateful for i could tell you that i am so grateful for your support over the years really helping this channel become what it is today so i am so grateful for your support i appreciate it this one it's one that i like to use and it's very common and you're just it's another way of saying thanks now you can add a little more emphasis give it a little more oomph if you want to tell someone i really appreciate it and then let's go a little more old school and you could say much obliged so this this phrase in the united states it's seen as being a bit more formal and it's not as common i still think people do use this in the uk so that's it's a little distinction between british english and american english much obliged cheers this one is also it's more common in the uk it's part of british english people may use it in the us from time to time short and simple same as saying thanks you could also tell someone i can't thank you enough this one is really adding emphasis saying that you really really appreciate something i can't thank you enough you could also tell someone many thanks now i've included this one because i wanted to give you one that you may see more in writing than here in spoken english so many thanks is a way that people might close an email or maybe they'll end a text message that way and just say many thanks but it is a phrase that you'll probably use more in writing instead of spoken english i owe you one so in this case it's like you're you're telling someone that you owe them a favor and that you will do something for them in the future i owe you one now i will say that with this phrase people may not say it literally because it is used just casually instead of saying thank you hey i owe you one now if you want to add a little emphasis to this so that perhaps it is a bit more literal that you will do a favor for this other person then you could say i owe you big time and if you want to even be more literal because you're so thankful you could tell someone how can i repay you in this case you really do want to to do a favor for the other person because you're so thankful it's beautiful how can i ever repay you thank you tiny tom cruise how can we ever repay you amazing how can i ever repay you then we have you're too kind it's just acknowledging that someone has done something nice for you you're too kind if you want to add a little more emphasis to it and and use the word kind then you could say that's so kind of you yeah you know it's a little stronger that's so kind of you it means the world to me this is a great statement if you want to tell someone that you truly appreciate something that that they've done it means the world to me so i could tell you it means the world to me when you write to me in the comments because you've just taken the time to send me a message it means the world to me i couldn't have done it without you so this is a great statement if you want to well let someone know that you needed their help or support and i i really like this one because it's a little more inclusive than just saying thank you so who i i could tell you that growing this channel and getting it to where it is today i couldn't have done it without you i really appreciate it and you are just so kind so you can use some of these phrases one right after the other listen for that that's something that people will do from time to time and then there's oh you shouldn't have so this is a good one because it's a little more specific you are telling someone that that they were very generous and it wasn't necessary so maybe you helped me out it was very generous it wasn't necessary and i could say oh you shouldn't have you're too kind mike you shouldn't have oh no you shouldn't have open it oh you shouldn't have oh it's my pleasure no really shouldn't have i brought my own stopped and got him take out and finally we have please accept my sincere gratitude so this one it's not as common it's pretty formal if you're going to tell someone this it means that you just truly appreciate something and typically you might say this to someone who is like an authority figure they're of a higher position and you could say please accept my sincere gratitude i'm i'm just really appreciative of what you've done so i hope that you learned some new phrases and can now go out and use them the next time you want to tell someone thank you or instead of saying thank you you can use one of these phrases if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching i always say that at the end of these lessons thank you for helping us get to 500 000 subscribers and i will see you next time so long --- ## 58. 25 Words Learners Mispronounce | American Pronunciation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VOwv_fWCy1w` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOwv_fWCy1w) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:27:47 | --- let's talk about 25 words that are difficult to pronounce that's coming up hey everyone my name is Wes from interactive English videos calm and well this channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to help you improve your pronunciation by teaching you 25 words that are very difficult to pronounce and they can sometimes confuse English learners so I'm going to tell you the word and I will give you the meaning as well because well what's the point in learning how to pronounce a word if you don't know what it means in addition I am also going to show you the pronunciation that's right you heard me correctly I'm going to show you both the phonetic spelling and the IPA and I think seeing this will help you understand a little bit better how to pronounce these words correctly and finally I am going to pronounce the word for you I am going to say it slowly clearly I will say it several times and I would also encourage you to say the word as well say it out loud because that is the best way to practice your pronunciation keep in mind that I am from the United States so I will be giving you the American pronunciation of these words these are words that you might hear quite often and actually I just I just wanted to say that because often is the first word that I wanted to talk to you about this word it means something that happens frequently or many times it has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable often the second syllable has that schwa sound which is an a sound it is the most common sound in the English language and previously I did a lesson talking about the schwa sound I will put that up here if you want to check that out I recommend that you do because it is a very common sound that sound often now this word can be a bit confusing because you're not going to hear that T it is a silent letter a silent T often it is a word that I'm being very serious right now that I use quite often try to listen for it throughout this lesson and see how many times you hear say this word often the next word is paradigm and this is a model or clear example of something a paradigm it's a noun and it has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable paradigm that second syllable again it has that schwa sound but I think that final syllable that that IgM that spelling can throw people off a little bit that third syllable I'm paradigm then we have the word caveat which is a warning to consider something before taking any action the word has three syllables and the stress also it's on that first syllable caveat caveat I think this word is a bit challenging because when you just look at the spelling you might not think that it has three syllables but it does that second syllable has a long e sound e caveat caveat so you might hear somebody use this word and tell somebody well there's one caveat and then they would actually tell the person whatever that warning is for them to take into consideration one caveat the guy who runs the place is little temperamental really referred to as the Soup Nazi then we have cupboard which refers to a piece of furniture that we use to store things and it usually has shelves covered the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable cupboard notice that the word is spelled with the P but when I say it it sounds a little more like a B sound cupboard cupboard and the word is also very confusing because when you see it it looks like well it's spelled with two words cup and board but you're not going to pronounce that second syllable like board it's just going to be bird cupboard cupboard and if you look around the home I think quite often you are going to find a cupboard now let's talk about a few medical words such as Alzheimer's and sometimes you may hear it used with the word disease and people would say Alzheimer's disease and it's talking about a disease that results in memory loss Alzheimer's now the word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and I think that first syllable is what makes this word a little challenging alts it sounds like alts Alzheimer's Alzheimer's what do I have Alzheimer's disease I know people with Alzheimer's then we have the word or actually phrase because it's two words heimlich manoeuver now this is talking about an emergency method that someone would use if if a person is choking and you would give that person the Heimlich maneuver now Heimlich has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Heimlich and I think that second syllable even though it's spelled with ACH it's not a CH sound it is more of a cake sound Heimlich and maneuver has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable this is also a challenging word to pronounce maneuver the Heimlich maneuver you would give someone the Heimlich maneuver and then there is the word asthma which is talking about a person who would have difficulty breathing you would say they have asthma the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable that second syllable has that schwa again the sound asthma and again this word the spelling may not match up with the pronunciation because that a s th it's really pronounced as just like as like an z sound as asthma then we have the word mischievous and this is talking about behaving in a bad way but not usually intended to cause any real harm you just say maybe somebody is mischievous the word has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable and both that second and third syllable have that schwa sound but again the spelling can kind of throw you off when you want to say and pronounce this word so keep that in mind especially that second syllable that that sound mischievous mischievous today with me mischievous and then we have the word Coxon now this is a word that probably you may not have heard of before because it's a word that is used in the the sport of rowing or crewing and this is the person that sits in the back of the boat and they would give instructions to the other people who are rowing and that person is the Coxon it has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable again that second syllable can be a bit confusing has that schwa even though the spelling just does not look like that at all Coxon I wrote through it Harvard Oh Harvard over you a cocksman Coxon then we have the word close which is a very common word I'm sure you know what it means it's talking about things that we wear to cover our body but it is a word that is a little confusing the pronunciation because of that spelling it's just one syllable close close everybody is wearing clothes I assume that you're wearing clothes I really don't know but as you can see I I am wearing clothes I wear them quite often yes not always but okay anyway let moving on the next word is prescription this is talking about a note from a doctor and it just shows the medicine that a person needs to take and you would get a prescription from the doctor the word has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable prescription prescription I think the word is a little confusing because of that PR e it's not a pre sound it's more of a prick prick prescription Oh need a prescription what the hell is this it's a prescription we use drugs prescription drugs you know the kind of dentist has access to then we have the word perspire which just means to sweat and somebody would perspire the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable perspire then we have the word boutique which is talking about a shop that would sell a small shop that would sell clothes shoes jewelry and you could say it is a boutique it has two syllables the stress again is on that second syllable and of course with this one I think you can see that the spelling is not really in line with the pronunciation boutique that second syllable that that TI qu e it's pronounced like teak boutique you're planning on opening your own boutique owner of Elizabeth Albert a boutique that sells some of the top women's fashions on the Burbank stress they're actually from a very expensive boutique next is a word that is very common we use it often and that is police and I think many of you probably know what it means it's talking about a person responsible for for protecting people and making sure that people abay the laws the police now the word has two syllables the stress is on that second syllable that first syllable you hear that schwa that pup-pup but that second syllable that's spelling that Li si E is pronounced lys police police maybe I hope I hope that you never have to call the police then we have the word debris which is talking about small pieces that are basically torn off of something that that's larger debris the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable debris now that first syllable also it has that schwa sound that and that second syllable has a long e sound even though the spelling is a little different we're going to end it with that long e sound debris debris say it with me debris and you might use or actually hear this word if there is something like a natural disaster an earthquake and things get torn and afterwards there there might be debris on the ground debris then we have marijuana this is talking about well it's it's a plant and when it's dried people might smoke it and it's it's still illegal in many countries and it's it's called marijuana the word has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable it that wah-wah marijuana so say this word with me I'll say it slowly marijuana that second and four syllable you hear that schwa that marijuana so keep in mind that the spelling is nothing like the pronunciation that third syllable that wha that is the stress marijuana marijuana it's marijuana marijuana a marijuana cigarette next is the word February this is well it's the second month of the year it's a word we use quite often and I feel like I'm just gonna catch myself saying often again and again and again anyway the word has four syllables the stress is on that first syllable but I think this word is challenging because of the those two R's in there Feb rue air II February February say with me February again it's a word it's great word to practice because you will probably use it if you are having a conversation especially if it is the month of February all right February next is the word rural and this is just talking about the countryside and you may hear somebody use it with the word area a rural area the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable rural the the word is challenging because of those two R's in their rural rural say it with me rural a rural area then we have the word sorbet and this is talking about a food of juice water and sugar and it's frozen sorbet it has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable and again listen to the pronunciation sorbet it's not pronounced the way it's spelled sorbet that be et is pronounced as BAE sorbet let's continue with a rhyming word which is valet and this is a person who works at a hotel or restaurant and in parks people's cars they are the valet the word has two syllables the stress is again on that second syllable and the problem is the same that le T is pronounced Lai valet valet parking is five dollars because of of a good thing we use valet parking next is the word regime which refers to a a system of government the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable regime and that that second syllable notice it has that long e sound regime regime and then we have the word vineyard which is talking about land where people will whether they would grow vines specifically they would grow grapes and used for making wine and you would say that this place it's a vineyard a wine vineyard the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and that first syllable it can be a little challenging because you you you have that short I sound vineyard vineyard a vineyard next is the word coupon and this is talking about a piece of paper or maybe even an on line code that somebody can use to get something for free or at a cheaper price and they would use a coupon the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and that first syllable can be challenging because that cou is just pronounced as ku coupon a coupon then we have the word hyperbole and this refers to the way that somebody is speaking or writing they do this to make things sound bigger and better and you could say that they are just using hyperbole the word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable hyperbole now I think with this word just just keep in mind it has four syllables and when you say the word you are going to hear all four of those syllables hyperbola that bol E is pronounced Boley for example if I said this is the absolute most amazing and best English Channel in the world alright you might think that that is hyperbole oh I hope not I really hope that you do love these English lessons but just as an example of what it means hyperbole when someone says we've got people everywhere we expect to be hyperbole entirely it is not hyperbole to say we're in a great financial situation and finally we have a very common word which is receipt this is well it's a piece of paper that shows that you've paid for something the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable receipt now the spelling again just does not match up with the pronunciation there is a silent P in there you are not going to hear that P that second syllable just sounds like seat receipt if you go and buy something you will probably get a receipt wow that was a lot of words that we just went through now I will do another lesson next week but there's one caveat alright one caveat and that is I want you to write to me in the comments write a word that you think is difficult to pronounce because that will give me some ideas for future pronunciation lessons I want to make sure that I am helping you if you enjoy this lesson please hit that like button as always thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 59. 3-WORD PHRASAL VERBS THAT ARE GOOD TO KNOW | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HWW3uBxIv-s` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWW3uBxIv-s) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:18:14 | --- welcome to today's lesson it's good to be back i feel like i've taken a short little break from these live lessons but i'm glad to be back and i have a fun lesson for you today it's a little bit of a quiz lesson i am going to see how well you know some of your three word phrasal verbs and i think uh well just to go ahead and show you my little slide where it has that scary emoji face i think when people learners think of phrasal verbs it can be it can be a little scary because the meaning that many of them have multiple meanings and then if you change the the preposition then the meaning of the phrasal verb is going to change completely so i think there's a lot to learn when it comes to phrasal verbs and trying to use the correct one in conversation because that's the other thing phrasal verbs are quite common in just casual conversation but today we're gonna focus on three word phrasal verbs which i think may sound a little more daunting may sound a little like oh no i have enough trouble with two words but i think it may actually even be a little easier and as we go through this lesson i'm going to talk about why and and how you can learn these the meaning of these phrasal verbs and then try and go out and use them because i think that it might be a little easier i do want to say a quick hello to some of you who are with me if you are new please write to me in the comments tell me your name tell me where you're from write to me in the chat i always love hearing from new people but i also like seeing um some familiar names as well hello sleepwalker angela judith uh takaya juliana yashar good to see you uh as we go through the lesson i'll try to give some more shout outs because i i want you guys to participate i'm gonna give you some questions i want you to think of the answer write it in the chat even if you're watching this later write it in the comments it's always good to practice because that that is what interactive english is all about so as i mentioned we're talking about three word phrasal verbs and i i kind of want to start out by just basically breaking down and showing you well what is a three-word phrasal verb very similar to a two-word phrasal verb you have a verb and you have plus a particle and another particle and i i said particle right here most of the time i think people think of preposition which often times the verb is followed by a preposition sometimes it could be followed by an adverb which is why technically people would say well you have a verb plus a particle and i've given you this example right down here this is very common because i i think the the phrasal verbs that i'm going to talk to you about in this lesson i think they're very useful because these are words these are phrases that you're going to hear quite often all right so look forward to if you look forward to something it just means that you are excited about some future event something is going to happen and you say well i look forward to it i look forward to to traveling um during my next vacation so this is a perfect example of a three-word phrasal verb and i think many of them you're probably going to be a little familiar with i'll give you one more example i look forward to speaking with you all right and the reason i could say that and give you that example is because yes uh if you would like to speak with me i want to make a quick little announcement i'm getting ready to start another one of my speak up courses which is a speaking course you can see it right here it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally enrollment is now open and classes are going to begin in august there is a link down below in the description if you want more information or if you're interested in signing up i've also pinned a comment here uh with the link as well so really each week you're going to have a lesson with me so you'll talk with me as well as some of your other classmates each week there is a different discussion topic so you're going to learn to talk about a variety of different topics we do different speaking activities there's a lot included in the course including weekly video lessons pronunciation videos lesson previews a couple of audio lessons as well so check that out if you would like to improve your speaking fluency which is why i say i look forward to speaking with you or look forward to speaking uh i look forward to speaking with you and the last thing i want to mention oh yes please if you are going to sign up you can use the code i'll write this in the chat use the code speak 10 to get a 10 discount all right um so check out that link in the description for more information and remember use that code to get a 10 discount i'll make i'll say another reminder at the end but i want to jump in to the lesson right now and let's look at some of these phrasal verbs i look forward to to teaching you these phrasal verbs the first part what i've done i want to start out make it a little easier and then as we go through this it'll get a little more challenging so i've given you an example of well the blank that is the three word phrasal verb and i'm trying to give you an example of it being used in context think about somebody actually saying this sentence right here and then down below right here i have given you the meaning of the phrasal verb i want you to think about okay what three word phrasal verb would complete that sentence and has the meaning to tolerate or endure something you could say uh i'm sick and tired of your crap i'm not going to um it anymore all right what do you think write your answers in the chat uh or in the comments if you're watching it later and then we'll talk a little bit more about it sick and tired is a very it's a it's a common binomial uh pair it's a phrase that just means you're really exhausted and really frustrated uh with something and you might hear somebody say yeah i'm sick and tired of your crap i'm not going to um it anymore excellent uh see some great answers yes carolina um dipanjan uh anawat um gokvan sorry my mispronounced name put up with that is the the three for word phrasal verb that we're looking for it means that you are tolerating or enduring something oftentimes i would say that because i want to tell you a little bit about how you're going to use these in just general conversation oftentimes i think you're going to use this in the negative and you're talking about something that you are not going to tolerate anymore you are not going to put up with it or you don't want to put up with it anymore so often you will hear people use this when talking about the negative saying that they just they they can no longer endure this thing and they're not going to put up with it anymore very common very useful three-word phrasal verb let's continue here's the next one all right again think about the the situation that somebody's actually saying this all right you lied and cheated and i'm going to tell everyone what you did you won't um this again that blank that is your three word phrasal verb and the meaning the meaning of this phrasal verb is to succeed in avoiding punishment for something okay so think about uh again think about the meaning you're putting it into that that context and what phrase are you going to use don't try to think about the three individual words think about it as a phrase and one phrase because again these these are words that are used together to complete this uh sentence this phrase excellent uh yes um yufla takayao uh shikai perfects uh lamore angela ashar to to get away with something if you get away with something it means that like like it says down there a lot of these meanings i've taken from uh cambridge dictionary you succeed in avoiding punishment for something you get away with it and i think that statement that i said at the end is uh it's a statement that you will hear maybe in a tv show or movie uh somebody telling somebody else that you you won't be able to avoid punishment you're not going to get away with this you're not going to get away with this so excellent again this is another it's another very common three word phrasal verb to get away with something uh here we go let's continue and then i am going to switch up the way that i'm doing this quiz in just a little bit just again as i make it a little more difficult so again if you're just joining us right now we are doing a lesson on three word phrasal verbs i think it's very important and if you enjoy learning about phrasal verbs please go ahead hit that like button let me know it tells me that i need to to do more lessons like this so here's another one the meaning would be i think this is another very common one you're ending some type of romantic relationship so think about the context right here you should ask her out on a date i heard that she with her previous boyfriend a few months ago so what what what three word phrasal verb or again think of it as a phrase what phrase is going to um complete that sentence and i just realized i made a mistake well i didn't make a mistake but i kind of gave you part of the answer um as i did this i think i spotted it uh earlier but i forgot to delete one of the words so i gave you the last part um of this phrasal verb the third word but yes excellent um uh bung woo sleepwalker uh dreary morgianna the the answer is to break up with and again you see i forgot to delete with there uh i so i gave you that part of it and right here yeah so you could get rid of one of those with so it shouldn't say with with but um in this case you know you remember that if you wanted to get technical and i think many of you put that in your answer you we're talking about the past tense so the main verb that the verb is going to you use it in the past or the present um or the future so in this case we're talking about a few months ago she broke up with her previous boyfriend a few months ago broke up with that is the correct answer to break up with that is the three-word phrasal verb you're ending a romantic relationship here is the next one what do you guys think children should not um they're parents it's disrespectful so think about the situation what phrase would you put in there what could children possibly do there's quite a few things that would be disrespectful and the meaning of this phrase is to respond in really a rude and well defiant manner and you are well i don't want to give you i don't want to give you the answer make it too easy but i'm giving you the context i'm giving you the meaning so what three words what phrase would best complete this sentence excellent i already seen some great answers um anko lemur yashar angela the correct answer is to talk back to to talk back to someone means that you are talking to them in a very rude and defiant manner often times you're using this to you're talking back to someone in a position of authority so in this example that i gave you parents are in a position of authority children should respect their parents in general they should not talk back to them so thinking about it along those lines if you're thinking about a position of authority you might hear people talk about well students talking back to their teacher person in a position of authority or maybe an employee talking back to their boss again a position of authority so it's not something you would use like oh they were you're talking back to your friend it's really used in that context of somebody is in a higher position some position of authority and you're talking back to them um all right let's uh keep going i told you that i'm going to make it a little more challenging as we go through this i hope that you're familiar with some of the phrasal verbs that we just talked about i will review them at the very end and show you them as well as the meaning just to remind you once more but it's always good to practice kind of really helps it helps you put it up there in your active memory so that you can more easily use it when the time comes and you're having a conversation and you want to use these uh three word phrasal verbs so the way that i'm going to make it a little more challenging right here is i'm giving you a sentence i'm not giving you the meaning and i'm giving you two of the three words so i'm giving you part of the phrasal verb and you need to think of well the context try to determine well what is the meaning of this phrasal verb and i think that's going to help you once you kind of can put it in context the meaning you can start thinking of words to put in there to complete that phrase so yesterday we m out of milk so i went to the store to buy some more so that is your three word phrasal verb there's only one word missing which you can tell is that verb right there um so what do you think hello oh excellent lolly catrudus good to see you guys vicky and gustav um excellent thanks for joining so i think as i was kind of going through this you guys are really putting it in here perfect um we're talking about the verb run but again if you want to be very specific about this example yesterday you would need to use the past tense yesterday we ran out of milk so i went to the store to buy some more to run out of something means that well you've just used up all the supply of something i i think you would hear people use this phrasal verb talking about maybe uh food something that might be in your refrigerator like this example right here oh we ran out of milk um or you run out of something else and then you need to go to the store and get more people might use it um thinking about well like a car and maybe you're getting low on gas and you can say oh we're running out of gas you're using up the supply it's almost done so those i think are some common ways in which you may hear people use this phrasal verb to run out of awesome so maybe you guys rock that one maybe it was not as difficult as i thought but that's okay i think um i the ones i started with i think are definitely a bit more common i am going to get into some more phrasal verbs that are probably not as common so it may be a little more challenging in that regard so here's the next one again i'm giving you now i'm giving you the verb and those two particles that follow the next two words are missing so what do you think see if you can um come up oh no wait i don't wanna i almost just used it in context there anyway she's so imaginative i don't know where she comes her ideas so we're missing two words i basically kind of uh just gave it away a little bit but i think many of you um know it this is another one i i think is a pretty common uh phrasal verb the answer yes uh just give some quick shout outs to kyo sleepwalker um simple guy uh zine gertrudis we're talking about come up with she's so imaginative i don't know where she comes up with her ideas when you come up with something you suggest or think of an idea or plan and often i think uh people you might hear people use this if they're kind of stating that hey we need to cut we need to come up with a plan and somebody might say that if you're talking to a group of people or another person like what do you think we need to come up with a plan do you have any ideas um and this again i think is a fairly common phrase that you might hear somebody use to come up with uh the next one and i promise i won't give away this this answer this one i think is a little more challenging so again think about the context it was an unhealthy relationship so she eventually decided to um out her partner you have those three words in this case i'm giving you the middle word out so what two words are you gonna put around it to form this phrase it's an unhealthy relationship she decided to what uh her partner so think about again you know think about the meaning really like what is she doing in this situation and then try to think about the phrase it might be a little easier than you just trying to think about words to try to to plug in there so this one yeah i said it's a little more challenging it's not as common and the reason why i say it's maybe not as common is because it really is referring to a specific situation um such as like some relationship and this may happen so i'm gonna tell you the answer because i haven't um seeing the answer when some some people were saying like get out of i could say if you were trying to get out of a relationship sure absolutely you could use that to get out of a relationship but in this case i'm talking about somebody's partner all right their their boyfriend girlfriend husband wife it's an unhealthy relationship so you might say yes exactly um vicky gustav excellent walk out on so you i said that this is very specific like because you're talking about that situation to walk out on you can see the meaning down there when you suddenly leave your husband your wife your partner and end this relationship and you like they they walk out on you um so i again if you were saying like if you're referring to a relationship you might say to get out of a relationship but if you're talking about the person in this case like her partner um you could walk she walked out on her partner or somebody could walk out on their husband walk out on their uh wife and they are leaving so it's not as common because it is more specific but still it's a good phrase to know i hopefully for some of you this may be a new phrase um and you've just learned it which would be great if that's true please hit that like button let's look at the next one i appreciate you helping me on such short notice you more than [Music] for yesterday's mistake so here in this again i'm giving you the last part of this phrasal verb i'm giving you the last word you need to come up with uh the verb plus another particle um think of the situation i appreciate you helping me on such short notice somebody's very grateful they're very happy and then they're making this comment i'm you more than for yesterday's mistake so they're saying this to another person who apparently they made some kind of uh mistake before previously and it's like the other person is saying that it's it's okay and as i talk my way through this i'm kind of giving you the meaning of this three-word phrasal verb but some of you have shown uh that you knew the answer excellent uh takayo ana um simple guy amandeep we're talking about uh made up you made up for something and again because we're talking about something that happened yesterday yesterday's mistake we use it in the past tense i appreciate you helping me on such short notice you more than made up for yesterday's mistake the meaning of it if you um make up for something it's like you're making something that was bad and you're making it kind of become good you're or you're making it so it's not as bad so if there was a problem and you make up for it then you've done something right and you're you've made the situation less worse or maybe you've turned around and you've just made it into a good thing positive thing all right so let's keep going i have a few more uh some more questions for you as we learn some more phrasal verbs again i hope some of these are new for you and we will review at the end uh this the way that i'm gonna do this is we're gonna kind of walk through it i'm going to start by giving you the meaning and think about maybe if you can think about a phrase that has this meaning and then i'm going to give you a sentence using it in context to make it a little easier and then finally i'll just tell you the answer so the meaning of this phrase which this three-word phrasal verb is to think that someone is less important than you and again this one i would say probably not as common it's uh used in specific uh instances but to think that someone is less important than you what do you what do you think all right let me know let me know all right so to think that someone's less important let me give you the example sent well i don't i think i just gave you the answer quickly um the the neighborhood is so pretentious some people um others because they are not so wealthy all right here's the context maybe some of you saw the answer as i put it up there quickly um pretentious again this would be a word like a context clue if you're trying to figure this out pretentious means that basically somebody you know they have their nose up in the air um they they think less of others so in that case if we're talking about some neighborhood some group of people and they think well these people are not as wealthy then they might um them which again um excellent uh just to give you we're talking about the phrase uh angela yashar shikaya wang uh amundi perfect king kong or no almost king kong we're talking about the the answer is look down on if you look down on someone you basically it's like you think that someone is less important than you and you would say that they look down on this but i told you it's probably not as common it's used in this specific instance where you have one person or a group of people who might think that they are more important and they look down on others of course this is not a good thing so it's not a phrasal verb that i hope that you are trying like want to use because it's not a good thing to look down on others let's go to the next one so the meaning of this one is to do whatever is necessary to stay level or equal with someone or something and i think this one is a bit more common you do whatever is necessary to stay level or equal with someone or something what do you think could this phrase possibly be let me give you an example sentence uh to make it a little more a little easier so you can try and think about how it's used in context you know the meaning working and studying it's too it's too much it's too much for me right now i'm having trouble mmm my classes okay the situation somebody's trying to work they're trying to study perhaps at university or somewhere else and they're saying it's too much i'm having trouble my classes what is the answer all right excellent um i think some of you excellent perfect uh great job uh yashar alexander mohammed we're talking about now if you want to get techno the answer is keep up with but in this case if you were filling it um you completing it you're having trouble keeping up with i'm having trouble keeping up with my classes because in that situation you're having trouble doing something so keeping up with i'm having trouble keeping up with my classes so to keep up with means to do whatever's necessary you're trying to stay at that level or equal with someone or something and i think i said i think this is a little i think this is probably more common there are different situations in which you could use this phrasal verb if you are talking about you're having trouble trying to understand something or maintain a certain pace you're like i just can't keep up uh i just can't keep up with uh the the class or even doing something um physical like say that you're running and you're running with somebody else and that person's faster than you and you're having trouble staying with them and you're i'm having i can't keep up with you uh is another way that you could use this uh three-word phrasal verb so i think this is a good one good one to know then we have this meaning right here to tell the truth or to admit that you are responsible for something i think this one's a little more challenging um i every time i say that i feel like everybody gets the correct answer but when you're you're telling the truth and you're basically admitting like yes all right it's it's my fault it's my responsibility what phrase has this meaning three words all right let me give you a sentence uh to make it a little bit easier all right excellent uh rod thank you for uh thank you for becoming a member thank you i appreciate it so here is the sentence whatever i whenever i make a mistake i don't try to make excuses i try to um it so i really i'm giving you you know the meaning and i'm really kind of giving you a situation in which it's not maybe i don't know hopefully it'll help you as you kind of see it used in context but somebody's perhaps picture them saying saying this maybe i'm talking to you like you know whenever i make a mistake i don't try to make excuses i try to um it all right what do you think i haven't uh haven't seen too many answers for this one which makes me think people are thinking about it uh maybe it's still processing or maybe they're not sure don't want to take a chance i told you this is a little more more challenging the correct answer is to own up to to own up to something that's what i was going for if you own up to it you're like that meaning you're saying okay yes i am responsible uh it's completely my fault i'm gonna own up to it i think often um if i want to give you another example as to how somebody may use it perhaps you're probably trying maybe you're trying to give somebody advice and you're telling them like look admit the truth you need to own up to it uh tell them this person it was your responsibility you should own up to it own up to it uh oftentimes people might follow it with your mistakes like own up to your mistakes i try to own up to my mistakes but it is difficult i think it's difficult for all of us to own up to our mistakes and to admit that you might be wrong about something but from time to time i think it's important we need to own up to it all right then we have this one which i think i don't know how much help this is going to be these are definitely more more challenging i told you as we go through this it's going to get a little more difficult the meaning is to seem to be all right to seem to be and hopeful maybe let me give you some a con some more context i had heard bad things about him but when we met he um a stand-up guy and if you say that last part um stand up if somebody's a stand-up guy or a stand-up person in general it basically means that they're well a good person a nice person and it's an informal phrase oftentimes people i think use it with guy and say oh this person's uh a stand-up guy that they're a nice person a good person so that's what that means so think about the context i heard bad things about him about this person but then we met and he um a stand-up guy think about a phrase what do you think you would put in there um that has that meaning to seem to be and wow i'm impressed i thought this one was uh gonna be a bit more difficult um but seems like some of you know the answer yes julia um rayon perfect uh so the the phrase that we're looking for that i was looking for is come comes across as so our in this case came across as we're talking about the past past tense sorry uh but when we met in the past he came across as a stand-up guy and it means that this person seemed to be a good person i would say in this case if you're saying somebody comes across as something often i think it's used you you're probably referring to people somebody comes across as and then you're referring to maybe a part of their personality like this person they they came across as a stand-up guy or maybe you could say you know she she came across as a very hard worker and you're referring to some part of their their personality and you could say it seems to be this way this person came across as this way and you're kind of sharing your opinion so this one is a a little a little trickier so i said at the end i wanted to i want to review them right now and kind of just talk a little bit about why i think this hopefully could be a little easier so these are these were the answers to the first set of questions that i gave you and one thing i think when you're thinking about learning these phrasal verbs and you could try to think of them a little differently than two-word phrasal verbs because again with these if the preposition changes it is going to have a different meaning but what i would recommend is think about it as just one phrase put up with and if you think about that entire phrase together having that one meaning don't focus too much on the individual words think about it as a phrase learn it as a phrase understand the meaning and then try to think about how uh you may use it in context i told you that's a pretty common one to put up with something i said people often use it in the negative saying look i'm not going to put up with this anymore i'm not going to tolerate it so first off think about it as a phrase the next thing i would say let me show you the next ones um these were the next set of phrasal verbs that we talked about is that these really these phrasal verbs are uh inseparable so sometimes when you have the when you have these two word phrasal verbs um that might be transitive which means they take a direct object for example put on put on is a phrasal verb you put on uh shoes or put on clothes it's it's transitive so you can split the verb and the particle or in that case the verb and the preposition put your shoes on or put your clothes on and you'd say that that phrasal verb is separable if we're talking about three word phrasal verbs they're not separable so you don't have to worry about putting the object in between the the verb and the particle in this case so this is one way in which i think three word phrasal verbs are perhaps a little easier than than trying to deal with and learn two word phrasal verbs and then here are the the last set i told you that i think these were i thought these were maybe a little more challenging because they may they may not be as common perhaps because they're used in a specific uh specific instance like to look down on someone of course that's not a good thing um keep up with i think is probably a little bit uh more common and i just realized i did sorry i made a mistake there uh remember to keep up with that's the wrong meaning it is to stay um at the same level or uh as someone or something and you're trying to keep up own up to uh is one that i think was a little more challenging and come across as so my hope my hope is that you guys learned something new from this lesson um if you did if you want to show us some love i really appreciate rod you're becoming a member there are links in the description to sponsor and support the the channel and the last thing just as a quick reminder if you would like to speak with me many of you ask about that i do have another speaking course it's getting ready to start in august there's a link to that as well in the description it's all about helping you speak confidently clearly speak naturally the i've also pinned a comment and uh just for good measure i'll go ahead and throw the link in the chat right here as well if you're interested in joining my speaking course and improving your speaking fluency thank you guys so much for joining me today i again i hope that you enjoyed it but most importantly i just hope that when i do these lessons that everybody's able to learn something new just one thing new that maybe they didn't know before about the meaning of something for example we're talking about phrasal verbs or perhaps maybe you learned a bit more about how it's used and when it's used that um that makes me happy all right so it's been great seeing you guys again i am gonna start doing these live lessons more regularly now i did take a bit of a hiatus but i'll try to give you guys as much up-to-date information as to when they will be so thank you so much uh for being here rod um uh gettrudus lolly i really appreciate it to kyle juliana good to see both of you again they were in uh the the speak up course uh and i got to talk with all of you directly so i really know i really know the two of you um and thank you uh sleepwalker uh joelle manuel just necklace trying to give some last minute shout outs morgana um christina uh demos simple guy eloisa angela all right i'm going to wrap things up hope you have a wonderful --- ## 60. 3-WORD PHRASAL VERBS | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xrY3g_B4tuI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrY3g_B4tuI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:01:43 | --- let's learn some three word phrasal verbs okay that's right I said three word phrasal verbs and I don't want to waste your time so let's just begin and the first phrasal verb that I have for you is to live up to and what this means is to be as good as was expected so it's like you have this expectation and something meets your expectation and therefore you could say that it lives up to your expectation or it lives up to your standard those are two common collocations with this phrasal verb so I could also give you an example and say you know my parents put a lot of pressure on me and I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to live up to their expectations or maybe I could tell you that well the new restaurant was amazing and the food certainly lived up to our expectation okay so it's just it was as good as was expected you don't have to live up to anybody else's expectations You Are Who We Are because if you get what you want you'll deserve it if you don't you'll manage and I really hope that these video lessons are living up to your expectations I will always try my best so please go ahead subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if you would like to download a copy of the lesson notes these slides that are right next to me check out the link down in the description the next phrasal verb that I have for you is get rid of so you could get rid of someone or you could get rid of something they're a little similar but also well slightly different so if we're talking about a person and you want to get rid of someone it means to to really just find a way to make that person leave because you do not want to be around them any longer so of course it's not really a nice thing if you're like oh gosh we need to we need to get rid of this person and and you just want them to leave but you could think of it in the well the context of siblings you have like an older brother or sister and a younger brother or a sister and in that case sometimes you know a younger brother or sister can May bother the older one and they might annoy them and they would oh I just you know I just need to get rid of my little brother he's really bothering me or if maybe I don't know maybe if you don't like me and we're going to be at the same party you can say oh Wes is coming to the party he's going to ruin everything we need to get rid of him so in that case you would just want to find some way for well to get me to leave and get rid of me now if we're talking about getting rid of something in that case you're really just talking about removing something that you no longer want often I think people are talking about throwing something away maybe I well I have this pen and it no longer works and I'm just gonna get rid of it or perhaps there's this toy that I have it's broken yeah why keep it around let's just get rid of it now I'll be honest this is a phrasal verb that I hear quite often because well sometimes my socks they'll develop a little bit of a hole and at that point my wife will tell me okay you need to get rid of of your socks and this okay like I don't like to go shopping and often obviously so it gets a little bit of a hole actually this is a a rather big hole it's quite embarrassing so I should probably uh get rid of these socks but this is a useful and common phrasal verb you can get rid of someone or get rid of something he forbade me to touch it well if you don't like it get rid of it and put it in the closet the next one is to brush up on and what this means is to improve your knowledge of something that you already learned but partly forgotten and I I think we can all relate to this that we we do something for some time we learn it and then we step away and stop and yeah if we want to continue in the future we say wow I really need to brush up on this thing and you could even relate it to language learning I think you know learning a language is continuous I think over the course of many years and people will start and then stop up and then start again so in that case like I could say I really need to brush up on my Spanish I have lived in a couple of different Spanish-speaking countries but for the last five years I really have not spoken much Spanish and I've forgotten quite a bit and I could say yeah I really need to brush up on my Spanish or maybe you might be thinking um you know I would really like to brush up on my speaking skills and if that's the case then you're in luck because enrollment is now open for my speaking course so if you would like to brush up on your speaking skills build your vocabulary meet people from around the world then you can sign up for my speaking course the course is for intermediate to Advanced speakers and it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally check out the link down in the description and when you go to the course page you will find a special discount just for you each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn vocabulary related to that topic we do engaging speaking activities we warm up each lesson with something related to pronunciation connected speech there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course and I will teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases so click on the link below if you'd like to sign up or learn more about the course and just really brush up on your skills and I truly believe that the course will live up to your expectations it's good to to try and get a little review as I make these announcements but let's continue with some more three word phrasal verbs listen in on so this means to listen to a private conversation especially secretly so I think you would often use this phrasal verb with the word conversation you would listen in on someone's conversation now if we're talking about like secretly doing this and it's intentional well then it's really a synonym with the verb to eavesdrop to eavesdrop on someone but like I said with listen in on typically you're going to say listen in on their conversation so maybe I I want to know what they're saying so I'm gonna get a little closer so I can listen in on their conversation okay and it's secret it's intentional now you could also use this phrasal verb in the context of just overhearing a conversation and perhaps it's it's not your plan but someone is being really loud on a bus or a plane and you can't help but listen in on their conversation I could say the guy next to me was on his phone and I couldn't help but listen in on his conversation and I could tell that he was talking to his little girl and I think if someone were listening and on my my conversation and I was talking to my little girl they they could tell just because of the way that I'm speaking I'm very animated and loud like oh hello wow that's amazing you're incredible like yesterday she was actually she was showing me some of her artwork and that's what I was saying I was like wow that's amazing this is incredible you're so talented I you know I think she was going for more of a Jackson Pollock type of style but I will definitely not be getting rid of these you're the fixer you've been listening in on our conversation huh what's that that's one of the bugs you played I found it in the overhead light then we have to come down with and this means to catch or show signs of an illness and I think that we can all relate to this phrasal verb it's a very useful phrasal verb and I think often people are going to use it when talking about a cold or the flu or really just something and not really specifying the illness so if I were to say you know I think I'm starting to come down with a cold so in that case I'm telling you that okay this is just beginning I'm starting to come down with a cold or like I said you could use it with something and in which case you know maybe uh I I say to you hey you know it's cold outside you should really put on a jacket or you're going to come down with something I don't know what it is but it's like I'm I'm telling you you should take care of yourself or you could come down with something the only thing I'm fighting is this cold I'm coming down with Mom that's a beautiful thought next is the phrasal verb to get away from and this one has a couple of different meanings it means to avoid being caught so I could say the thief was able to get away from the police and in that case the the thief was able to escape and avoid being caught it also means to go away from and you're really going away from some place so I could tell you you know I can't get away from the office until this evening so in that case I'm saying I just can't leave this place until this time I can't get away from the office until this evening and then you may hear people use this phrasal verb in the expression I just want to get away from it all so if somebody were to say that what they mean is they just want to go some somewhere and forget about all their problems and relax and you say I just I just need to get away from it all what you doing just some heavy thinking this Spotlight is the only place that I could go get away from it all then we have look up to this is a great phrasal verb it means to respect and admire someone and really you would look up to someone so I I've always looked up to my father he's kind he's Fair he treats people well and well nowadays I think that many kids look up to celebrities or athletes or even people on YouTube and right now I would like to know who do you look up to let me know down in the comments you can practice using this phrasal verb and go easy on your brother okay looks up to you in his eyes you have everything then there stand up for which means to defend or support a particular idea or to defend or support a person who is being criticized or attacked so you would stand up for something or stand up for someone I could say you know when it comes to bullies you should stand up for yourself and you may hear people use this with that reflexive pronoun stand up for yourself or I could say you know it's important that people stand up for their rights they're going to defend and support that particular idea and stand up for their rights you're a smart successful young man with an adorable little belly stand up for yourself yeah I'll talk to her before the party next is the phrasal verb cut down on and this means to eat or drink less of a particular thing usually in order to improve your health so you you would cut down on something and I I want you to try to relate to this phrasal verb right now is there anything that you feel like you need to cut down on so well many people probably need to cut down on fatty foods because it's it's just not healthy or well for me I definitely need to cut down on chocolate I end up eating it late at night and it does not help me sleep at all it uh yeah it sometimes it's a problem so I should really cut down on chocolate may I ask what you're doing um I've decided to cut down on my drinking grow out of so this phrasal verb has a few different meanings uh it means to become too large to wear something and really we're talking about clothes Emmy is constantly growing out of her clothes so the reason I'm giving you this example is because you could often use it when talking about young children they grow quickly and they are often growing out of their clothes it also means to become too mature to maintain a childish habit so really we're talking about someone's behavior and you could say that they grew out of this or sometimes you could say well they just they didn't grow out of it um if I were to say something like well you know I still sleep with a stuffed animal and I just never grew out of it so again that that would be an example of a childish habit that well people grow out of and of course it's just an example I do not sleep with a stuffed bunny that would be really silly of me it also means to come into existence and in this case we're really referring to an idea so I could say the idea for the story grew out of her passion for human rights and that's how it came into existence it grew out of her passion for human rights I want my son back pay that relax Chris is just going through a phase he'll grow out of it just like you grew out of your Walk Like an Egyptian phase I hope that this lesson lived up to your expectations and if you would like to continue brushing up on your English skills you can watch another lesson or even join my speaking course the link is down in the description if you learn something new and learn some new phrasal verbs please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 61. 3-WORD PHRASES VERBS to Supercharge Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ช | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DRuPVFisLVQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRuPVFisLVQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:03:18 | --- three-word phrasal verbs that is what I want to teach you today in order to help you supercharge your vocabulary and if you like building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I love helping you build your vocabulary because it's such an important part of the way we communicate and phrasal verbs are very common in just casual conversation and if you would like to access the lesson notes right here join my email Community click on the link in the description if you're already a part of the community don't worry I'll send them to you so this is very useful as far as just casual conversation goes because phrasal verbs are a little bit more informal and I want to look at some that I think are pretty common as far as three-word phrasal verbs go and that's why I said these are some that you should know so first let's start out like what are phrasal verbs and like the building blocks basically you have the verb Plus instead of just one particle two particles and I've given you this example look forward to and the meaning down below if you look forward to something you're just excited about a future event and this I thought was a little funny mug talking about 40 and things to look forward to and yeah they're just some kind kind of I'll try to share with you some funny and humorous jokes or images just because I think it does make learning that much more captivating if you can find some humor in it now of course this is a quiz lesson I would love you to participate write your answers in the chat in the comments because after all this is interactive English so to start out I am giving you a sentence but I've Tak Tak away the verb so you have the verb plus two particles but I'm not giving you the main verb I'm not interested in going to the party this weekend I just don't up to it so the phrasal verb the blank verb plus up to so that together makes the entire three-word phrasal verb I just don't M to it up to it so think about the context you're not interested in something you don't I almost gave it away you you just would say look I just don't what what verb would be missing and I feel like as you know as I keep talking I just mention the verb because the answer is to feel up to it I don't feel up to it and the meaning is to you really you you have the strength or energy to do something I will point out that just like this example I think often people may use it to talk about something they don't have the strength to do and in that case you would say yeah I just don't feel up to it or he or she is not feeling up to doing something all right excellent great job everyone Loi well done uh great to see you now one resource that I wanted to point out and I was going to play it for you but I was having some technical difficulties is yish so there are other you know there are different uh sites that you can use if you would like to see how these words and phrases are used in context uish is one of them you can put in feel up to and then it gives you different videos in which somebody is using the the phrase the idiom the vocabulary word and it just reinforces the meaning so again I was going to play it for you I I'll get it working at some point uh just to provide you some more examples what do you think of this one we should have away with this department years ago because the company has been losing a lot of money so the three-word phrasal verb we're missing the verb but the two particles away with to M away with this department years ago because the company has been losing money we should have what what what is the main verb that is missing as part of this three-word phrasal verb again write your answers in the comments in the chats now if you wanted to if I really wanted to get specific and I'm looking for the precise response think about the the verb tense all right you're using that modal we should have what so the missing verb in this case is done done away with or the phrasal verb to do away with something if you do away with something you're you're just getting rid of it you stop using it we should have done away with this department years ago because the company has been losing a lot of money all right well done Joanne Julia Fabio just give some quick shoutouts to to give you uh a little more context here are some news headlines this is another resource that I'll use from time to time to show you how the word or phrase is used so here are some news headlines US news world report uh college rankings should do away with peer assessment and just get rid of it Trump trying to do away with every check and balance ahead of second term I feel like a lot of the lection stuff anytime I look for news articles there's always some political uh something political uh pharmacists urge public to do away with older antibiotic medication and they want them to do away with it to get rid of it and then finally house lawmaker wants to do away with pentagon's cmmc program I am not familiar with that program but a lawmaker wants the Pentagon to do away with it how about uh the next question I haven't found time to fix the door Al around to it eventually what is the missing verb and with all of these phrases I think these are phrasal verbs that are commonly used now they they have a specific meaning and in this case I'm giving you a context which I think often somebody would end up using this three-word phrasal verb I'll around to it eventually so you would use this when talking about something that you are supposed to do or that you need to do and you're having this conversation like in the example and say I haven't found time to fix the door I'll get around to it eventually and you get around to doing something so in that case it means to do something that you have intended to do for a long time very useful in conversation somebody asked did you do it and you said well I haven't gotten around to it or I I'll get around to it uh tomorrow I'll get around to it eventually and you always hear that get get around to get around to get around to and that is why I thought this was kind of funny uh talking about somebody who maybe procrastinates and it's like yeah I've been meaning to do it but you know I'll I'll get around to it so here is an example this is kind of like a gag gift a joke that you can buy and that is a round to it I don't know what uh then there is no the real meaning of to it but just thinking of this is a round to it I am going to get a round to it and now you can also get around to it and if somebody says wait where is this look I got around to it um here's the next one parents May up on their kids to make sure they're doing their homework I think this is true you have kids who are in school you want to make sure that they're working hard they're doing the things that they should be doing for example their homework and from time to time you may M up on your kids there is a verb missing here which which verb is best going to complete this to M up on their kids well done uh Ana talal uh we're talking about the verb check to check up on someone parents May check up on their kids to make sure that they're doing their their homework if you check up on someone you're discovering like just well what are they doing you know just to make sure that you know they're doing what they should be doing but also to see how someone is so this phrasal verb this three-word phrasal verb I think it does have a positive connotation it's good when you check up on someone else uh and make sure they're doing what they should be doing or that you know everything's okay and you want to check up on your friend or your colleague or you check up on a family member I think we should never forget the people who take time out of their day to check up on you anytime someone says hey I'm just call in to see how you're doing uh how are things and they're just you know checking up on on you making sure that everything is all right like I said it does have more of a positive connotation here is the next question it's just you and me we need to M out for each other and we have that three-word phrasal verb M out for this is a little bit of a shout out to the TV show Supernatural in case you're wondering like who are these people this is one of my my wife's favorite shows I you know I was never much of a fan but just to you know give a little shout out uh she really loved this show when it was out so it's about two brothers and it's just the two of them so this it fits this situation we need to M out for each other now the missing verb that I hope that as you see this it's like okay you can kind of put it together is look to look out for each other so if you look out for someone you you're just making sure that that person is treated well that they're being taken care of and you're just looking out for another person now one thing I want to say about this three-word phrasal verb we talked about you know positive connotation negative connotation if you are looking out for someone else I think it does have more of a positive connotation I am looking out for you because I want to make sure that you are learning new things building your vocabulary and it it is more positive I'm going to look out like in the example sentence I'm going to look out for my younger brother if you're using it with a reflexive pronoun I'm looking out for myself in that case it has more of a negative connotation that you only want what is best for you so if we're using it with that reflexive pronoun it's more negative he's only looking out for himself she's only looking out for herself or or I'm only looking out for myself something to keep in mind with this phrasal verb I just I like that picture of the the kitten right there I don't think I'll be able to up to my mother's expectations we have have the the missing verb plus the two particles up to M up to my mother's expectations a key word in this sentence is expectations because this is a collocation with this three-word phrasal verb I don't think I'll ever be able to up to my mother's expectations and yeah that cat looks like it just has that that look in their eye like oh no how am I ever going to be able to live up to my mother's expectations well done uh be happy Julia nice so if you live up to someone something it's basically to do as well as or or good as other people expect and I just said that a common cocation with this 3word phrasal verb is expectation to live up to someone's expectations and really you know do meet that standard of what they expect of you to live up to here is the next one she is not going to up with his nonsense anymore she's not going to up with his nonsense anymore hopefully I think maybe I don't know maybe it's a little easier this is uh like I said these are common phrases she's not going to M up to up with with his nonsense anymore so we have the verb followed by up with is our three-word phrasal verb so the verb that's missing the one that I hope that uh you can think of or that you thought of as you're reading this sentence is put up with again I think this is a common three-word phrasal verb that you're going to hear movies TV shows you'll read it in a story or a news article um well done Loli Orlando uh Manuel to put up with to accept to basically accept or continue to accept something you know some unpleasant situation or experience to put up with something or put up with someone uh here's another fun little joke it's not you it's me and my lack of desire to put up with your anymore so this is a fun little joke using this three word phrasal verb to put up with someone or to put up with someone's crap so let's make it uh maybe a little more challenging now I'm you know blanking out the three words so the three-word phrasal verb is missing but I'm giving you the meaning down below so perhaps giving you the meaning as well as the the sentence the context you can think of the appropriate three-word phrasal verb to complete the sentence sentence after struggling with his grades he decided to school the meaning of this phrasal verb is to not do something that you were going to do or you just you you stop doing it before you finish and this we're starting out a little easy uh because I feel like probably you'll get this you've heard this before it is common especially when talking about school or education and if you stop going in this case you might drop out of school after struggling with his grades he decided to drop out of school excellent a um what are we at Johan hakeim nice so one thing I wanted to share when it comes to this I wanted to share with you some common collocations collocations are words that are frequently used together so if we have our three-word phrasal verb drop out of well what some things that people may drop out of they drop out of school they drop out of University drop out of college or maybe you drop out of a competition or drop out of a Race So those are some common nouns that may get used with this three-word phrasal verb to drop out of something well played uh here's another little followup another little joke uh this is why people drop out of school it says sorry that's not correct the correct answer is 14 and your answer is 14 and people get frustrated they're done with it and maybe they they drop out again this is just a little Good Humor using this phrasal verb to drop out of what do you think about this one you're not going to this giving you the picture maybe is a little bit of a hint and the meaning of this three-word phrasal verb is to succeed in avoiding punishment for something and in I'm using in the negative and I'm telling somebody look you're not gonna um this maybe something gets stolen and I'm chasing after the person and I'm yelling this you're not going to this this three-word phrasal verb is another one that's very common I feel like you've heard it before especially when I show you the answer I feel like then sometimes that light bulb goes off and it's like oh yes I know this phrase I've heard it before and in this case we're talking about to get away with you're not going to get away with this I'm sure you've heard maybe this in movies TV shows somebody would say this to the bad guy you're not going to get away with this you're not going to avoid punishment you're not going to get away with this here's an example of it being used this is actually the title of a TV show I'm not really familiar with it I've heard it before because I feel like it's pretty popular pretty well known how to get away with murder but how to get away with something and avoid that punishment get away with what do you think this is uh a news article I told you that when I look for news examples it seems like everything's still political even though the the US election is over some Harris rally attendees M this is the three-word phrasal verb it's missing M heat in Houston talking about Houston Texas taken to the hospital so this was a situation at a rally Texas is a very hot state so some Harris rally attendees heat in Houston taken to hospital this was the result after they three-word phrasal verb the the heat now the meaning is to become unconscious for a short period of time due to something something and well in this case we're talking about doe to the heat what three-word phrasal verb is often used now sometimes it could be used as a two-word phrasal verb and you become unconscious and in this case we're using it as a three-word phrasal verb because we're we're specifying the something someone became unconscious due to this thing due to the heat so the phrase that we're missing here I think got some close answers but but not quite is pass out from when you pass out from something you become unconscious for a short period of time so to pass out is to become unconscious to faint if I wanted to add more information I can then use the other particle from to pass out from the heat here are some other examples down here if I I just Googled like things that you might pass out from and it just gives you a list down here you could pass out from low blood pressure you could pass out from alcohol you could pass out from uh what else do we have here hyper hyperventilation you could pass out from anxiety so these are just a list of some things that a person could pass out from what do you think in the US when you turn 18 it is not uncommon for some kids to the house I know that culturally this is perhaps a little different from other countries because 18 it's still considered young but in the US when you turn 18 it is not uncommon for some kids to M the house we're talking about a three-word phrasal verb that means to stop living or occupying a particular place most of the time it does have to do with the home or the house but not always it could be some other you could use this three-word phrasal verb to talk about something else and in this case we would I would say that in the US it is not uncommon for some kids to move out of the house you move out of someplace in this case the house or the home you just stop living there excellent uh Loi Macy Joanne well played so here is the next one and this is a this is a real picture of our uh our home some time ago I'm constantly having to my little girl all right you could see all those toys there they're kind of scattered everywhere it can make a little bit of a mess and in order to clean this is what I would say I would say this sentence to you oh I'm constantly having to my little girl I think parents do this when they have kids especially when they're younger and the meaning of this three word phrasal verb is to just clean a mess that's created by someone else and you are going to that person so in this case I'm the one who's cleaning this mess that you see on the table uh now now she's older so she does help a little bit but I'm constantly having to my little girl so I will say there are there are maybe a couple of different verbs that you could use there's one that I was going for clean up after it that would work as well you're cleaning the mess you clean up after someone there is another verb that you could use that has this that same meaning if I did not want to use clean as the main verb I see a lot of answers everybody's like oh clean up after clean up after that is correct I could say that I'm constantly having to clean up clean up after my little girl however the verb that I was looking for which has this meaning is also pickup after to pick up after someone is just cleaning a mess that someone has made just to clarify again if you want to say clean up after that also works but to pick up after someone is you you are cleaning up that mess to give you some fun examples uh you sometimes you might see these signs when people are out they're walking their dog and here are some signs please pick up after your dog poop pollutes or attention dog owners please pick up after your dog thank you attention dogs G gerve Ruff woof woof good day good dog um or this one I like over there in the far Corner dear dog please make C certain your owner is always attached with a leash and is properly trained to pick up after you thank you so you could even in these context use cleanup but I think it is common when you want to talk about cleaning up after someone someone to pick up to pick after Up After Your Dog to pick up after your your kid excellent well done all right great job Rafaela good to see you excellent how about uh this one I'm gonna give you a movie recommendation too if you are you know I'm into education this is not about language education it has to do with math but the movie Stand and Deliver it is an older movie is about a math teacher who ref refus to his students the meaning of this three-word phrasal verb is to accept someone or something to fa expect someone or something to fail so if you expect something to fail then what what are you you are this thing so keep in mind that in this case I'm using it well this is being used in the negative somebody refused to do this which means that they refused for these students to fail so the movie Stand and Deliver is about a math teacher who refused to his students and the answer is to give up on you refuse to give up on someone I'm I believe in you I'm going to help you I'm going to stay with you I got your back and I refuse to give up on you and that is true I'm not going to to give up on you guys so this movie is this it's it's about math for the most part it is a good movie it is educ you know it's an education movie I mean mostly because it's about a math teacher and I believe this is a true story from a long time ago this person just refused to give up on uh his students there's uh this is the a picture of the movie Stand and Deliver you can see a very young Lou Diamond Phil sitting in the desk there who plays the role of a student which shows you just how old this movie is I believe it's from the 80s maybe um but not a bad movie you can check it out how about this one if you your job it may be difficult to find another if you m your job it may be difficult to find another it means to stop doing something that you have agreed to do before it is completed what phrasal verb What three-word phrasal verb fits this situation if you m your job it may be difficult to find another one that you're you're just going to stop doing something that well you've you've agreed to do so the answer in this case and maybe the picture is a a little bit of a hint but the three-word phrasal verb that is missing is to walk out on this one may be a little trickier but in this context if you walk out on something in this case your job then you just stop doing it before this agreed upon period and you're just going to walk out on your job you're going to walk out on your company or if you walk out on someone then you're just you're leaving and it's done it's over and you walk out on someone or something to walk out on how about uh oh to give you a little more context again hopefully this helps when you see some of these new head news headlines so the first one Black Friday strike Amazon workers in UK and us to walk out on busiest shopping day of the year and they're going to walk out on it and just you know stop doing Turkish lawmakers either others walk out on Israel at Geneva meeting and they just walk out on in this case the the country or the representatives and then finally Trump supporters walk out on Maga rally before it ends so and they they leave and they walk out on this thing that's going on this event here is a little review some of the the phrasal verbs that we were talking about again I think they're commonly used they're great for casual conversation and of course right now I would like to know how you did again if you want to get these lesson notes check out the link Down Below in the description and I just want you to continue building your vocabulary a little at a time if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 62. 30+ Ways to Use the Word ASS | American Expressions ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7mJibYFFPSo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mJibYFFPSo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:27:09 | --- hey everyone today I just want to talk to you about one word and that word is ass hello and welcome to another interactive English lesson my name is Wes from interactive English videos comm which this channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today is it's a little bit of a vocabulary lesson for you because I am going to talk about what one word which is ass and all of the different ways that this word is used in English now there are many ways that this word is used which are very offensive it's not these are not things that you want to say to other people so what I'm doing by by teaching you this is I'm not trying to encourage you to go out and use some of these words you have to watch what you say but I'm doing this for two reasons first is to help with your comprehension because these are words and phrases that you may hear if you are watching a movie or a TV show or or even listening to music and the second reason is because it really shows you just how strange and unusual the English language can be so let's begin by talking about well the the meaning of this word in general and there are three primary meanings for the word ask that if you were to look up the word in a dictionary the first three meanings for this word that you will find well is that it just means the word donkey it is the word for this animal and ass is it donkey it also means a but somebody's but you could say ass and finally if you call someone an ass it means that you're saying this person is just a jerk a stupid person and again it can be very offensive to call someone an ass those are I think the three most common meanings for this word but you can use it in many different ways which I'm about to show you right now but one thing I want you to keep in mind is that a lot of what we're going to talk about these words and phrases are primarily used in spoken English it's not stuff you're going to find in writing but it's mostly for spoken English so let's begin with talking about using this word in order to emphasize or intensify another adjective so you can use it with an adjective before a noun and it does not change the meaning at all it just makes it makes that adjective a little more intense let me tell you what I'm talking about so you could say that someone is well maybe they are a broke-ass person and what that means is that this person is broke it does not change the meaning so for example maybe there there's a girl and she says that she has a broke-ass boyfriend that this person this boyfriend he has no money or perhaps you could say long ass and and in this case I've used this before if I have been traveling for a long time and I arrive and I'm tired and I tell someone wow I just I just took a long-ass flight and in this case again it does not change the meaning I'm talking about a long time a long-ass flight forlorn sDrive you gonna be waiting a long last time you could also say lazy ass and this just means that a person is lazy or perhaps even a cold ass night if you're talking about the weather and you just want to intensify the adjective cold and you could say wow it was a cold ass night so in all of those examples we use ass with those adjectives in order to to emphasize the meaning and the meaning doesn't change now we cannot do this with just any adjective sometimes it could mean well the opposite for example if you say that this person is a badass you're not saying that this person is bad or terrible in this case it really means the opposite of bad which is saying that this person is good or great that you say that maybe somebody is a badass soccer player that they play really well or maybe a badass musician or maybe I would like to think that I am a badass teacher which would mean that I I would like to think that I am a good teacher but even though I have not been called a badass teacher I definitely have been called a smartass and once again we're using this with the adjective smart but it does not have the same meaning you're not saying that somebody is intelligent if somebody is a smartass you're really saying that they are an annoying person which then brings me into all of the different ways that you can use this word if you want to say something derogatory and there are many of them so you could say that somebody is a jackass which means basically the same thing is calling someone an ass you could say someone is a dumbass you could also say someone is a hard-ass and in this case it means that someone is very strict and you could say that perhaps your teacher is a real hard-ass they're very strict you could say that he or she is a hard-ass or you could also say someone is a pain in the ass and that means that again this person is very annoying and you could use it to talk about a person or perhaps even some situations something that you have to do you can say this is really this is really a pain in the ass it's a difficult situation it's an annoying situation then we have another phrase which is to beat up someone's ass and that means that you are really annoying someone greatly for example I could say that my boss has really been up my ass lately in which case I'm saying that my boss is annoying they've really been really getting on me to do something I could say that that my boss has been up my ass and you could also say that someone has their head up their ass and if you say that someone has their head up their ass it means that they are this person is not thinking they're not pay attention and you could say you know you got your head up your ass I don't want a partner I don't need a partner all due respect Tribeca but you've got your head up your ass you're getting a partner man but that's what you get for playing with your head up your ass so if somebody tells you that you have your head up your ass then again it's not something you want to hear they're telling you that you need to pay attention you need to focus you need to get serious but these are not things that you want to tell others now let's talk about some more phrases that you would think that they have a similar meaning but they really don't for example you could say somebody is a kiss-ass and this is talking about a person who is trying to please others like oh he's a real kiss-ass you could also say he's an ass kisser they mean the same thing a kiss-ass and an ass kisser you're just trying to please this person that's very different though then if you tell somebody kiss my ass because if you tell somebody to kiss your ass then you're it's like you're saying hey screw you I'm not gonna do what you're telling me to do just kiss my ass all right so be sure that you don't confuse those then you could also say that somebody is a tight ass and a tight ass has two different meanings it can mean somebody who is cheap and they don't spend a lot of money that they're a tight ass or it could also mean that somebody just really kind of follows the rules that they they don't like to do things that are out of out of the ordinary and the person is a little bit of a tight-ass they're very strict we got to follow the rules now it's very different if you would tell somebody that they have a tight ass because in this case if somebody has a tight ass you're talking about their butt and you're saying that it's it's it's really nice it's attractive now this is not a compliment you're not you you shouldn't go tell somebody that they have a tight ass it's probably used more if you if somebody is talking to their group of friends and they make this comment and it is probably more commonly used when men might objectify women and say something that that they have a tight ass I don't honestly I really don't know if women would also say that about men that they have a tight ass I'm not sure that many many women would say wow that Wes he has a tight ass I think probably they would say that that Wes is a tight ass in which case they'd be saying I'm cheap and to be honest yes from time to time I can be a bit of a tight ass look you've been under my skin since New York starting with ripping off my cab god you're a tight ass then there are some other phrases that you don't want to confuse for example to bust ass or to bust some ass that's that's talking about farting somebody bust asked then they farted and it's probably gonna smell that don't confuse that if somebody is saying that they they are busting their ass and if somebody is busting their ass then that means that they are working hard so those are very different meanings if somebody bust ass and if somebody is busting his or her ass then and that means they're working hard no you could also say the phrase my ass and if somebody says my ass it's just it can mean no and this is a bit more slang it's very informal so for example you could hear it used in the context of somebody asking for money and they say hey can I borrow five dollars and I might say five dollars my ass in which case I'm saying no my ass means no now my ass can also refer to to you as a person it's talking about yourself so let me give you some examples for that if we're going to use my ass as a pronoun it refers to to yourself or oneself and you can use it to replace a different pronouns like a subject pronoun so I could say something like instead of saying I'm going to teach you grammar I could say my ass is gonna teach you some grammar okay and I replace that subject pronoun I with my ass I can also use it to replace a reflexive pronoun so instead of me saying I'm trying to buy myself some time I'm trying to buy my ass some time or if I want to replace it with an object pronoun I could say my friends bought my ass a beer that instead of they bought me a beer they bought my acid beer he's a psycho I dumped his ass Jesus my ass is kicked we get that shot just keep walking your ass is fired so again I this is showing you how crazy English can be especially the way that it is used informally if you want to say my ass which could mean no or my ass could refer to yourself in the form of many different pronouns and then there are some just just expressions that some of them are fairly well known that you can use when we're talking about the word ass for example you could say that you want to get some ass and in this case you're talking about you want to you want to get romantic with somebody maybe just one night and you're you're just you just want to get some ass you're trying to find a guy or girl to hook up with you could also kick someone's ass and in that case you're talking about fighting somebody and beating that person up to kick someone's ass or you could work your ass off and if somebody works their ass off then that means that they are working very very hard or you could have somebody talk out of their ass and if somebody is talking out of their ass then that means that they are just saying things that are ridiculous and not true and you would say that that that person is talking out of their ass they don't know what they're talking about what's she talking about major she's talking out of her ass I mean half the time I'm just talking out of my ass this is gonna sound like I'm talking out of my ass you could also say that someone is doing something half-ass and in this case it's more of an adverb and what you're saying that that that this person is just they're being lazy they're doing something they're very lazy maybe they're working half-ass so if you know somebody that is a lazy ass and they don't work very hard you could say that that they are working half-assed that they are they are not working very hard they're a bit lazy or you could say if something tastes like ass and if something tastes like ass then you're referring to some food that is just disgusting it's no good it tastes like ass and finally you could say that someone does not give a rat's ass and this is used this statement I don't give a rat's ass just means that that you don't care so instead of saying I don't care somebody who really wants to emphasize that they could just say look I don't give a rat's ass but you've got a Republican heavy judiciary not gonna give a rat's ass about that that's what I like about you karlie you don't get red that's what anybody thinks I'm Peter brand I don't give a rat's ass what your name is so I I hope that this lesson was not a pain in the ass and I hope that you continue to bust your ass and watch some more video lessons to improve your English fluency I'm confident that you're gonna bust your ass not you're not gonna bust ass you're not gonna fart I'm trying to say that you are going to bust your ass you're going to work hard and well you know to be honest this has been kind of a long-ass lesson so my ass is going to end it right here and and that is all I hope you enjoyed the lesson and I will see your ass next time --- ## 63. 30 Contractions to Help You Speak Faster | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `9m9x9LrI-JU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m9x9LrI-JU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:53:04 | --- today I'm going to tell you how you can speak faster and more efficiently using contractions that's coming up what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and today I want to help you improve your speaking skills as well as your listening skills by using contractions I am going to teach you 30 different contractions contractions are are when we take two words and and we shorten them we push them together and where we take letters out we put an apostrophe instead so for example instead of saying I am we just say hi we've already done a lesson on contractions and I will link it for you so I suggest you check that out the purpose behind this lesson is two parts first it's for your listening comprehension so that you're able to identify and understand these contractions then next part is for you to actually go out and be able to use these contractions we use them quite often because we want to speak faster we want to speak more efficiently so this is a way for us to do that and we just say as much as we can in as little time as possible what I'm going to do is I'm going to tell you the contraction I will then say it so you can hear my pronunciation and then I'll give you an example sentence so that you can see how it's used in context and again just just hear how it's being used so the first set of contractions that I have for you are those with the word not and we're going to begin with the verb to be plus the word not and we'll start with the present simple so we have is not isn't this isn't over this isn't over and it's not the lesson just began this isn't over we're going to continue there are many other contractions this isn't over this isn't over are not aren't we aren't ready for this maybe you're like whoa oh I haven't studied contractions before we aren't ready for this but I think you are ready for this don't worry now in the past was not wasn't Wes wasn't telling the truth yes okay there have been times in my life where somebody could say Wes wasn't telling truth but I'm telling you the truth now it's very important to learn contractions then we have were not weren't mmm they weren't satisfied with their meal maybe they didn't like the food they weren't satisfied now let's look at the verb do plus not so let's begin with do not don't I don't care all right I'm trying to use sentences and statements that I think are are quite common with these contractions somebody could just say yeah I don't care it doesn't matter to me I don't care you can also say something maybe a little more forcefully I don't give a damn I don't care I don't care I don't give a damn what your father thinks does not doesn't it doesn't matter all right that's another common phrase with this contraction if you know and something is important you're like you know it doesn't matter I don't care it doesn't matter did not didn't and with this one I will give you a declarative question it's a statement that's a question and I could say you didn't hit the like button what I'm so surprised if you didn't hit the like button you should hit it right now I would appreciate it and if you didn't hit the like button well well then I don't care actually that's not true Wes wasn't telling the truth just then I I do care because if it weren't for you guys we wouldn't be here and again I'm just trying to use all these contractions so that you hear them again and again and again then we have the verb have plus not have not haven't I haven't got a clue so if I don't know something I could just tell them you know I haven't got a clue has not hasn't Wes hasn't finished his work you know that that does happen from time to time but then I could also say had not hadn't if I hadn't finished my work then I would not have made this lesson which is true so I did finish my work so I made this lesson on contractions but keep in mind had not hadn't is a contraction that you might often hear with the third conditional if I had not if I hadn't then we have will plus not we're talking about the future will not won't I won't stand for this if you are upset about something if you are protesting it you might say I won't stand for this no no no oh stand for this teachers union won't stand for this and I won't stand for it but we still won't stand for this let's look at some modal's with the word not would not wouldn't I wouldn't like it if you left and that's true I wouldn't like it so please don't leave there's still quite a bit of the lesson left could not couldn't I couldn't help myself so so this is a phrase that that you might hear somebody say when they are trying to stop themselves from doing something but they're not able to stop themselves and you'd say yeah I couldn't help myself I just had to try one of the cookies I couldn't help myself could know myself that was weak I couldn't help myself I'm sorry I just couldn't help myself should not shouldn't you shouldn't eat that so if I couldn't help myself and I took a cookie maybe somebody would tell me hey Wes you shouldn't eat that must not mustn't this is talking about an obligation something that that you must not do you mustn't talk like that maybe somebody's using a lot of foul language and then they're told well hey hey you mustn't talk like that then we have contractions with have now these are quite common when you're talking about the perfect tense the present perfect the past perfect especially when they're used with other modal verbs could have could've I wish I could have gone to the concert would have would have I would have invited you to the party if I had your email yes I know it sounds a little weird asking for an email to invite somebody somewhere but that's just a way for me to transition and tell you guys to join the interactive English community subscribe to our email list we can email with each other a link is in the description should have should have you should have joined the interactive English community by now but maybe maybe you haven't if you haven't that's okay again link down below okay enough about the emails let's continue with a modal of possibility might have might have she might have left work already we don't know but you might have left already must have must have it's almost like you're saying must of put the contraction must have let's continue off of that last sentence and we could say she must have gone to pick up her kids moving right along to contractions with that that is that's that's what I said this is something you you will hear from time to time maybe you can use it if you want to tell somebody hey you know that's what I said you're saying something that I already said that's what I said that's what I said that's what I said that will that'll that'll show them maybe you're you're upset with somebody and you're like oh that'll show um that would that so think about the pronunciation it's almost a bit of a D sound at the end that that'd be nice you guys are gonna watch another lesson after this one that'd be nice really yeah that'd be great that'd be nice sure that'd be fine sure that'd be nice and it'd be good that has that's now be careful because it sounds and it's spelled the same way as that is that's so for example that has that's I could say we live in an apartment that's got two bedrooms that's a true story we have a master bedroom and a baby room now let's look at contractions with there there is there's and there's a famous expression that says where there's a will there's a way if you really want something then then you can find a way to make it happen where there's a will there's a way there would there often this is followed by the verb be there'd be and you could say maybe you're talking to somebody about registering for something and you say you know I want to know if there'd be any spaces available there has there's there's been a lot of rain lately that's true it has been raining quite a bit there had there'd there'd better be a comment okay it sounds it sounds a bit threatening I don't want to threaten you but yes I would like you to write me a comment down below and what I want you to do is I want you to use one of the contractions from this lesson write a comment using a contraction and then go to somebody else's comment and and write a response to them using a contraction because what I want is that for people to go down to the comments and be able to see all of these different example sentences using these contractions so please do that down below there better be a comment alright I hope you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new if you did hit that like button and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 64. 33 Useful Collocations to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `V2TFJNuuSek` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2TFJNuuSek) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:47:27 | --- I want to start out today's lesson with a question. How would you complete this sentence? What? What word would you use to complete this sentence? It's been a really [inaudible] day. Just one problem after another. You may have used a variety of adjectives. You could have said it's been a really rough day, or perhaps you said it's been a bad day or a difficult day, or even a tough day. These are all adjectives that we can use with the word day and they are frequently used together because they are collocations. And that's what I want to talk to you about today in order to help you build, develop and grow your vocabulary. Hey everyone. My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I want to help you build your vocabulary because it's just so important when it comes to your English fluency. And the secret that I'm going to share with you today is collocations. And I don't know why I'm whispering because it's really just the two of us. So I am going to teach you some different collocations which are words that are frequently used together. So let's go back to that first sentence and the adjective that I want to use is rough. A rough day. It was just difficult. We've actually had a bit of a rough day. We just returned from a trip and the airline destroyed our stroller. That that's a true story, but I don't want, I don't want to make this about me. I want to make it more about you and building your vocabulary. Now, not all words that are frequently used together have to be adjectives and nouns. You can have verb, Noun, collocations. You can even have noun, Noun, collocations, but, but these that I'm going to use with rough are all adjective. Noun collocations. For example, the next one that I want to talk to you about is a rough draft. If somebody says that they've done a rough draft, it means that they have done some work, but it is incomplete. They've only started the process and you could say it was a rough draft. Often it's used when talking about something that you're writing and the writing is not finished, the paper, the essay, whatever it is, you might just say, well, I've only done a rough draft. You can also use this adjective with estimate and somebody might ask for a rough estimate, which is an approximation. And I think about numbers. Somebody's asking for some kind of value. Perhaps you're having car troubles and you take it to the mechanic and you want to know how much it's going to cost. You might ask them for a rough estimate. They might not know exactly how much it's going to cost, but they perhaps could give you a rough estimate and approximation so that you know well, whether you want to fix your car or, or just leave it the way it is. You may also hear this adjective with the Noun, neighborhood, rough neighborhood, and I say that, I don't know why I'm saying that in a very cheerful way because if you're talking about a rough neighborhood, it's kind of a dangerous neighborhood. Perhaps a, you know, there's a lot of crime there. It's not very safe. And you might describe this area and say, yeah, you know, it's, it's a bit of a rough neighborhood. Often I think people use it. Maybe when they're talking about their past, they're telling us stories, Eh, you know, I grew up in a really rough neighborhood, or I used to live in a rough neighborhood and it was a bit dangerous. But yeah, that's where, that's where they were living. It was a rough neighborhood. Now I want you to try and complete this sentence. All right. I hope you didn't think I was just going to tell you all of these collocations I want you to try and work for it. Just kind of quiz yourself a little bit. Which of those words would you use to complete it? We'll give it a mm of paint and then it's finished. What do you think? I hope you said B, touch a touch of paint. This is the next set of collocations that I want to teach you and that is those with touch. So this is a noun, noun, collocation. If you're talking about a touch of something, you're talking about a slight amount. For example, a touch of paint, a slight amount of paint, or perhaps you could say that that you have a touch of the flu, you feeling a little bit sick and you might tell somebody, yeah, you know, I think I got to touch with the flu right now. We also frequently use touch with several different adjectives. For example, finishing touch, and this is talking about small details at the end of something. Maybe you want to put the finishing touches on something that you're creating. You're just adding those small details. We can also say that that something is a nice touch and in this case we're talking about something that makes another thing better. For example, maybe you are painting a picture and somebody suggests, oh maybe you should put this down there in the corner and you think, yeah, okay, that's a nice touch. It makes the painting better. If we're talking about a person and we say that someone has a nice touch. In this case we're saying that they do something very well. For example, maybe there there's a basketball player and he or she shoots the ball very well and you say, wow, you know this person, they just have a really nice touch. They're a great shooter. So in that case, I think it's commonly used when talking about sports and athletics and you want to say that, that somebody has a nice touch. A person may also have a soft touch. And in this case we're, we're just saying that something is delicate that that it's very nice. It's comforting that that somebody has a soft touch. I don't know if I would describe myself and say that I have a soft touch, but perhaps you do. I don't know. Now look at this sentence and tell me which word best completes it someday. I hope to a world record. I hope that you chose c break, break a record someday. I hope to break a world record. I don't think I am going to do it, but, but maybe you will. I don't know. But let's talk about some collocations with break. And these are all verb noun, collocation. So to break a record, this just means to do something better than anybody else. You break a record. There is also an expression that's pretty common. You might tell somebody to break a leg and if you tell somebody, hey, break a leg, then you're just wishing them luck. It's actually, this is an informal expression that somebody is getting ready to do something. Perhaps they have a performance or they're going to do a show and you say, hey, you know, good luck. Break a leg. You can also break a promise which is not good. This just means that you don't do what you say. You will do break a promise. You frequently hear that one or you can break the ice. This is another idiom which means that you are trying to start a conversation between strangers or you're trying to make a tent situation a little less tense. For me, I often think of a classroom because the very first time that I have a class with students, I will try to break the ice and we will do different activities so that everybody gets to know each other a little better. To break the ice, then you can break the law. This is something else that you can break. It's not good because if you break the law then it is illegal. You shouldn't do it. I hope that you don't break the law. Here is your next question and this time I'm not going to give you any options. I want you to tell me which verb do you think best completes the sentence. I need you to do me. All right. I'm sorry. I just told you the answer. I need you to do me a huge favor. All right. I apologize. We're talking about verb noun. Collocations using do, do someone a favor and if you do someone a favor then you are just doing something for that person in order to help them do a favor. People may also have to do housework, which are the things you have to do around the home. You may have to do laundry or do the dishes. There's a lot of different housework that that people just have to do. You may also hear somebody like me tell you to do your best. If you haven't known any of the answers to these questions, that's okay. I want you to keep participating. I want you to keep watching and learning with us because I just want you to do your best and if you do your best then then you are going to learn and build your vocabulary and that is the most important thing of all. Just do your best. Another do collocation is to do harm and in this case you are well, it's just not something good. You don't want to do harm to others. You also don't want to do harm to yourself. There are so many different complications with do and they are so important because we use them all the time. Here's another sentence for you. I spend too much editing these videos and this is quite true. I do spend too much editing these videos. I almost said the answer right then, but I didn't. But I hope you've said time. I spend too much time editing these videos so you can spend time. This is a common verb. Noun collocation and I want to talk to you about some other collocations with time. So not only can you spend time, you can also waste time, in which case you are not using your time wisely. I hope that you don't waste time and you're certainly not wasting your time learning these different complications and building your vocabulary. You can also kill time, which means that you are just doing something unimportant while you wait for something else to happen. So you can kill time walking around a mall, you can kill some time watching TV and until something else happens, you're just going to do something unimportant and kill time. There's another collocation that's pretty similar to kill time and that is past the time you do something to pass the time. And in this case you again, you are doing some activity. It's not super important. I like to read books to pass the time that you are just trying to occupy your time by doing something and you're trying to pass the time. Then there's an expression that I just wanted to throw in there, but it is frequently used and that is to say right time. If someone is right on time, then then they are there right when they should be right on time. I try to be right on time, but mo, most of the time it doesn't happen. I always do my best to be right on time, but especially if I'm having a bad day, not going to be right on time and I hope you hope you recognize these collocations that that I continue to use. Let's look at this sentence right here. We're not going to go much farther. The car is about two mm of gas. What do you think? This is a verb. Noun, collocation and actually it is a phrasal verb that is a hint for you and I hope that you said run out, run out of gas. I want to talk about some collocations with run out. You run out of something, so if something like a car runs out of gas, then it just means that there's none left. It runs out. Now the way that we use this phrasal verb, the meaning can change a little bit. For example, if we use it in the present continuous and we say that we are running out of something, then it just means that there is a little bit left. There's still some left, but it's, it's about to be gone very quickly. If we use it in the past tense and we say that we ran out of something, then it just means that that there's none left that that's it. So if a car is running out of gas, there's still a little bit left. If it ran out of gas then then there's none. You can also run out of patients, which is another common collocation. And I think in this case people may tend to give you a little bit of a warning and they may say, you know, be careful, hey, I'm running out of patients, I'm starting to run out of patients. There's just a little bit left, so, so be careful. And if somebody has already ran out of patients, then yeah, they're, they're going to be pretty upset with you. There are many different things that you can run out of. You can run out of time, you can run out of money and the worst of all you can run out of coffee. I hate it when that happens because in the morning I need my coffee. Here is another sentence for you and, and this is, this is a little bit of a bigger sentence and all of those blanks. It's the same word you shouldn't be wasting. Instead you should invest your [inaudible] or you can donate to your favorite charity. Which word am I talking about? I hope that you can take a quick look at this and know that I am talking about money collocations with money. These are all verb noun collocations so you can waste money, which means that you are spending money in a carefree and careless way and you are just wasting it on things that you probably don't need. You can also invest money. You can buy stocks or maybe even buy a home. Those are good ways to invest money or if you're feeling very charitable you can donate money. You can give money to your favorite cause, your favorite charity and donate your money. Some more complications with money include save money. I think it's always a good idea to save money because you never know when you're going to need it and along those lines you can also set aside some money and this just means that you, you have some money you you're not going to spend it because you might need it for something important. We can also add to it to create the expression. Set aside some money for a rainy day that you have this money for a time when you absolutely need it. You set aside some money for a rainy day. We always tried to save money. That's very important to us and we also like to donate money when, when we can and we always, we try not to waste money because if we do that then we're going to run out of money and there's a very quick review, a quick money review for you. Now I want you to do me a favor and help put the finishing touch on this lesson and all you have to do is hit that like button. If you enjoy learning these different collocations and building your vocabulary, do you promise you promise that you're going to do that? I really hope that you're not going to break your promise because that's going to make me sad and I could have a pretty rough day. Okay, so we finished right on time and I'm not even wearing a watch, but I'm going to end the lesson there before you run out of patience and notice all of the collocations that I'm using just to give you a quick review. But they are so important when it comes to building your vocabulary. They're very, very useful. Not a waste of time. Okay? All right. That's it. That's it. I'm gonna. I'm gonna end it there. --- ## 65. 35 Essential Vocabulary Words for Flying โœˆ๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NcwJMB71_nY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcwJMB71_nY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:31:56 | --- let's pack your bags and head to the airport because today I want to talk to you about words all related to flying hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today this lesson is all about flying if you have ever traveled on an airplane and you've been to an airport then I want to talk to you about many different words that you are going to see that you are going to hear so this is very useful especially for your comprehension so the way that we're going to do this I am going to teach you these words as though you and I are going on a trip that we are going to depart from some location and then arrive at another location and we're going to go through these words in order and those are actually the first two words that I wanted to talk to you about departures and arrivals so when you go to an airport and you're driving in a car you may actually see a sign that says departures this way arrivals this way and what this means is that when you are departing you are leaving from a place and when you are arriving you are getting to a place but in this sense they are used as nouns departures and arrivals so since we are leaving we are going to go to the departures side of the airport and if somebody is dropping you off at the airport which is often the case for many of us you you can't just pull up there and park right in front you can park temporarily in an area that is for loading or unloading these are two other words that you may encounter if you are getting dropped off at an airport you may even see a sign that says this area is for loading and unloading which means that you can take the bags out of the car you can say goodbye to somebody and you can do this quickly you cannot park there permanently because it's just for loading and unloading so the first thing that we need to do now that we're at the airport is we need to check-in now this word can be used a noun a phrasal verb or an adjective and I just used it as a phrasal verb because I said we need to check in as a noun you might hear somebody say okay where is the check in or as an adjective you could say well we need to go to the check-in counter so this word is very useful because you can use it with different parts of speech there are typically three ways that you can check in you can do an online check-in which nowadays I think is pretty common you could possibly do a curbside check-in which sometimes you have that option other times you don't or you can go to the check-in counter inside the airport many of you may be familiar with online check-in you're just using your computer at home to check in and get your boarding pass now if you're going to do a curbside check-in which you might find at some airports other airports maybe they don't have this but when you get dropped off and you unload the vehicle there may be a counter right there on the curb and the curb is just that that stone edging along the side of the street that is the curve and if there's a counter there then you might do a curbside check-in you unload the car and then you can check in right there outside on the curb now many people will go inside the airport to the check-in or the check-in counter either one it has the same meaning but this is the area where you will go talk to an airline representative you will show your documents you will tell them where you're going and then they will issue you a boarding pass now I've already mentioned this word several times but that is another word that I think is very important when you talk about flying the boarding pass is the the document it kind of looks like a ticket and this is what allows you to get onto the airplane you will get a boarding pass once you check in you may have the option to check your bags and when you check your bags it means that you are giving your suitcase or luggage to the airline to take to the place that you are they are going to take it to your destination and you are going to check your bags we use it with that verb to check bags many times people are just going to carry their bags with them they are not going to check them and if that's the case then you can go straight to security and security is the place where people will go and there are officials there that are just checking to make sure that that everybody is safe that you are not bringing anything dangerous onto the airplane and that is what this area is called so after you get your boarding pass you need to go through security and we often use it with that phrasal verb go through you go through security and people might say an example sentence like wow we were we were waiting in such a long line when we had to go through security we just wanted to go through security quickly but there was a long queue and it took some time to go through security when you are going through security another verb that you will often hear is remove that the officials that work there are going to tell people to remove things they might say to remove your computer from your bag or they might tell you to remove your belt or in some cases maybe remove your shoes so the next time you are going through security I want you to listen for that verb remove they will tell you to remove maybe a variety of different things after you go through security I just I just keep using that fred is no verb over and over I told you we use it a lot when talking about security but after you go through security there are there are two different types of flights that one person might take and that is a domestic flight or an international flight if you are taking a domestic flight it means that you are traveling within the country and that is a domestic flight an international flight it means that you are traveling to another country international or domestic flight now it's time to start looking for our flight we need to find where we need to go and you may need to find the correct terminal so at some airports there will be different terminals and this is a building where different planes will either arrive or take off the terminal and when you are flying you may need to find the correct terminal the correct building which is where your gate is located at the terminal there are many different gates so we need to look for our specific gate because the gate is the location where an individual flight will either leave or arrive so we need to go to our gate because that is where we are going to leave from and often it may even say the gate on the boarding pass once you check in and get your boarding pass it may even tell you the gate that you need to go to at airports there are different ways to get around you will find elevators you will find escalators you may find buses or trams but you may also see a moving sidewalk because at airports sometimes people have to walk a long distance to get to their terminal or get to their gate so you may find moving sidewalks at airports and that they mean exactly what they say it's like a sidewalk it's moving it helps people walk a little quicker so they can get around an airport faster a moving sidewalk once you get to the gate you may see your your plane that's parked right there something else you may see is a gangway this is the elevated platform that is connecting the plane to the gate so once you give airline employee your boarding pass you are going to walk down the gangway in order to enter or board the plane so as you are boarding the plane the first person that you will probably see is the flight attendant and this is the person who works on a plane and just helps the passengers they may bring you food or drinks and or just assist you in any way that they can you may also see the pilots now the pilots they they fly the plane but they are flying in a compartment which is called the cockpit so the pilots will fly the plane from the cockpit when you're walking down the aisle to find your seat you will see those large storage areas up top they may be called overhead compartments or even overhead storage and this is where people will put their bags during a flight either in the overhead compartments or overhead storage listen for those words they're very common once you sit down you will find things such as an armrest you will find that between the seats or even in front of you there will be a trade table this is a small table that folds down and you can put food on it you can put drinks on it you could even put a baby on it if you wanted to sometimes people will put their heads down on the tray table and try to sleep again very common word listen for it the next time you are flying a tray table now that you and I are on the plane we're getting ready to leave the plane is going to go down the runway this is the long stretch of smooth ground that a plane will go down before it takes off it will take off down the runway and take off that is the another phrasal verb that I wanted to highlight because we use that all the time when a plane takes off it means when it actually leaves the ground you can also use this somewhat as a synonym for leave so a person might ask you know hey what time does the plane leave you could also ask well what time does the plane take off in this case leave and take off they can be used interchangeably but specifically take off is talking about the the point in which the plane is leaving the ground it takes off after we take off the plane is going to ascend which means it's just going to rise the opposite of that once the plane starts to land it's going to descend it's going to fall it's going to go down so ascend is to go up to rise descend is to go down to fall it can also be you used as a noun ascent and descent and when the pilot is talking to the passengers you may hear him or her say those words and they might refer to our ascent or our descent and they may often use it with the word altitude that's another word that you may hear the pilot talk about and altitude just refers to the height at which the plane is above sea level the altitude of the plane now that we're flying we are up in the air typically at this point the the flight attendants will come on and make some announcements they will talk about the need for people to stay seated they will highlight the the fasten seatbelt sign or the no smoking sign they may also talk about the lavatory and if they mention the lavatory then they are just talking about the toilet that is located on the airplane the lavatory you may also hear them talk about the galley the galley is often where these flight attendants are working it is where they prepare the food or get the food ready to or even get the drinks ready to come around and serve the passengers that area is called the galley and they they may tell passengers not to congregate around the galley and to congregate just means to kind of a group of people standing around and just hanging out so on a plane it's very small you need these areas to stay open so they may say not to congregate around the galley because people need to get to the laboratory while flying you may also experience turbulence this just refers to violent or unsteady wind that that is basically going to shake the plane it is called turbulence and you may hear a pilot make an announcement and tell people hey we are going to experience a little turbulence so that people are aware that this is going to happen and and they're not they don't need to be nervous if the planes start shaking but if it does that is called turbulence once the plane starts its descent and we are now starting to and the flight attendant may come on and make another announcement for people to return their seats and tray tables to their upright position an upright is the word that I wanted to mention because you will definitely hear that word on a plane they will say return the seats return the tray tables to their upright position and upright just means that it is in a straight and vertical position an upright position so once the plane starts to descend and then it lands then we are going to taxi to the gate and taxi I'm not talking about the yellow car that people use to go from one place to another this is actually a verb to taxi and what it means is to move slowly on the ground after landing again listen for this verb this is something that pilots will say and they will say that we need to taxi to the gate so they want everybody to stay seated to taxi after we have taxi to the gate and we are sitting there you may hear flight attendants make another announcement and they will say be careful when opening the overhead storage because the bags may have moved around during the flight so again you will hear them mention the overhead storage then once we get our bags we are going to disembark the plane that is leaving the plane we often use that verb to disembark to disembark the plane once people disembark sometimes they're in a hurry I know that sometimes I am especially if I need to catch a connecting flight and if you hear somebody talk about a connecting flight what this means is that that the person is not at their final destination they need to disembark one plane and then get on another plane so that they can continue their trip it is referred to as a connecting flight fortunately for us we are at our final destination so after we disembark the plane because it is an international flight it's not a domestic flight we will need to go through immigration and this is the area where government officials will just check your documents to make sure it's okay to enter the country it's called immigration we may also need to go through customs this is the area where officials may check your bags or maybe they'll check any other things that you are bringing into the country customs then once we have gone through immigration and gone through customs again we can use it with that phrasal verb go through then we will head to baggage claim and this is where we will collect our luggage or our suitcase so at the beginning if you checked a bag we use that verb check to check a bag you will need to collect that bag at baggage claim so instead of saying suitcase or luggage airports we'll use the word baggage and you will see that on signs throughout an airport baggage claim it is the place where you will collect any check bag or suitcase or luggage baggage claim and then once we collect our suitcase at baggage claim we're going to walk outside to the arrivals area and then find a way to leave the airport and then that's it our flight is over so I hope you enjoyed this lesson and found it useful and if you learn some new words please hit that like button down below thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 66. 3 Advanced English Phrases Native Speakers Use All the Time! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `076g3Puqrng` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=076g3Puqrng) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:53:51 | --- tow the line. This means to do what you're expected to do without upsetting anyone. And this is a great idiom that you can use in a work context because let's say you're supposed to follow a policy or maybe just follow your boss's instructions or maybe even follow what your colleagues are supposed to do. And in that case, you could say you're just trying to tow the line. You don't want to upset anyone. You're towing the line. >> Yeah. Well, I'm the chief now and I got to everyone's got to line up behind me, you know, tow the line. Then we have off the cuff. Simply put, it just means without preparation. So, basically, you might do something off the cuff. And in this case, it's really just an adverb phrase. You could speak off the cuff or give a presentation off the cuff or make a decision off the cuff. Interestingly, this phrase is believed to have originated from people writing notes on their shirt cuffs for a quick reference, typically done by speakers or actors. >> Take a last bow enough, make it seem more off the cuff. >> Let's talk about the elephant in the room. And when somebody mentions this idiom, the elephant in the room, they're really referring to an obvious problem that everyone ignores. And I think we can all relate to this idiom when thinking about problems that we don't want to talk about, we're trying to ignore. The next thing I want to say about this idiom is it's often used with specific verbs. To talk about the elephant in the room or to address the elephant in the room. >> But I think we should probably talk about the elephant in the room. I think it's time we address the elephant in the --- ## 67. 3 American Idioms Might Surprise You ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Wbqlgd7tlYU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbqlgd7tlYU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:54:16 | --- something is a game-changer. You would use this when you want to say that something is going to significantly alter a situation. So, once again, this is a great way to add emphasis. "Robo-taxis are a game-changer. This will be the future of mobility." So, in general, we're talking about a new development that has a significant impact on a situation. And in that case, you can say that it's a game-changer. If you follow me, I swear to you, it's a game-changer. Hey, you're looking at the 65-in 4K, huh? It's a game-changer. FOMO, fear of missing out. I really like this acronym. It it refers to the anxiety a person feels when missing out on some social event or experience. I could say, "A lot of people are buying Bitcoin because of FOMO." And this is an acronym that I think we can all relate to. I think we've all experienced FOMO at one point or another. >> Man, some of our friends are at a rooftop in Brooklyn. Ooh, somebody's got FOMO. Thank you for coming to celebrate Meredith. I betcha she's in heaven right now with some serious FOMO. Clapback. This is another informal phrase that's mostly used in the US. So again, it may not be as common as some of these other idioms, but still gaining in popularity. And this refers to a sharp, quick response to criticism. Here's an example. "I'm not afraid to clap back at the haters who criticize my English lessons." This is not true. Uh there are haters out there, but I tend to ignore them and I don't clap back. Everyone in this office wants to fight you. And they're planning a prank. Clapback. --- ## 68. 3 Awesome Online Resources for English Learners ๐Ÿ‘ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NIiAkmYWfKY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIiAkmYWfKY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:51:35 | --- I don't think he's working hello and welcome today we're going to talk about three different online resources that will help you improve your English so today's lesson like I said was about three different online resources that will help you become a better speaker and these resources that I'm talking to you about today are number one free they are available for everyone to use and there are literally your fingertips because they're online so as long as you have an internet connection then you have access to them and they're very useful for English learners because they help you build your vocabulary so today we'll talk about why you need to improve your vocabulary and then how to do it with the resources that I'll tell you about so what is vocabulary it's just the words that make up a language so any words and all of the words that make up a language are part of our vocabulary and in order to speak a language as you know you need to know new words and what do you do how do you either find new words to use or how do you find the definition of the words you or you're encountering in your studies we're going to talk about that today but it's very important that you build new words so I'm going to show you how to do that right now okay so to build your vocabulary I have compiled for you three resources that like I said you may have already used some of them I haven't used until very recently and obviously I've been online and teaching for a long time so it's kind of cool that they're right there but sometimes we don't notice them so I'm going to share them with because they're really really useful okay so the first first one I'm going to actually share my screen with you so you can see what I do and you can use these on your computer and you can use these on the phone so let's go to the first one okay so this one right here is the merriam-webster dictionary website and if you have been using or have been using dictionaries for a while you know that merriam-webster used to have these paperback dictionaries that we all had in our classrooms and at home and they're very very good so they have a they're very credible they have an important name behind them so you can safely kind of retrieve definition from these websites it's a very trustworthy source basically so what we do here is of course we can type a word in the box so for example I will choose the word joyful okay and then hit enter and then just like any dictionary it tells us a few things I'm going to use my little blue marker to point some things out because you cannot see my cursor so first you can see is in any word you can see the word here you can click the little speaker to hear the the pronunciation although you do have it spelled out phonetically and then of course you see the definition here now I'm actually going to to transition back because I want to kind of pose a question for you especially in your earlier stages of learning English have you ever encountered a time when you looked out a word and that was maybe a little difficult and then you found the definition that was even more difficult to understand because I have and it's frustrating right you're trying to improve your language you're trying to you know further your knowledge and then there you are even more confused than you were and it can be confusing trying to look up these definitions but there's a really really cool option that they're doing for you on this website that I'm going to show you so let's go back here and for example we're going to look up the word exultant okay and the word exultant okay so back to my little cursor now okay so okay so it says here that exultant you know expressing great triumph and jubilant and then at this point you may be like what I don't understand this it's a little difficult right it's a little advanced so if you're trying to find the definition you can scroll down on this section right here that's a really cool section and it's a definition for English language learners okay so it has its own separate section for English language learners and it offers the definition very happy and excited it's something that you can comprehend right very happy excited okay that's much easier than jubilant for example so this really simplifies the definition so that any level of English language learners can understand and it comes in very very very handy very useful so you just scroll down to it like I did another thing you can do is if I scroll back up do you see this link right here where it says oops see exultant for English language learners okay I'm going to click on it and it takes me to the merriam-webster it's it's it's like a sister site it's a site of Merriam Webster but it's a different site and it's called the learners dictionary and this is wonderful it's its own resource but it has so many different resources that are very useful for language learners for example so as you see it gave us the definition for the word we were looking for again it gave us the word it gave us the pronunciation it tells us what's part of speech it is it's an adjective and then it tells you the definition and it gives you more kind of related words but I want to talk to you if I scroll up here you can see the different section so you can see there's a nasty editor section a word of the day you have little quizzes you can test your vocabulary then you have a quarter vocabulary section which we'll talk about in a second then you have very popular words and then you have vocabulary quizzes and all kinds of different resources and you can really spend some time here to help you improve your vocabulary and build it and make it stronger and use it right so very very very useful website okay now to show you a little bit we're gonna go through the core vocabulary so if I click on it here you will see what it's taking us by the way core vocabulary just means words that are very important that words that you need to know okay so there at the core of language so you should know them okay so we're going to randomly click on air travel so these are words that you should know useful words for as they say traveling on airplanes and through airports and we whole do that right okay so I'm going to click on aisle here the first one kind of to show you what's going on so as you can see I owe a you must notice that aisle has an S in there but you don't hear it right so this is where it's really important to click on that little speaker because it will pronounce it for you and you'll notice that the S is silent for example okay but of course we write it down and then it tells you not just the definition but look how much more it gives you sentence examples it gives it to you in different parts of the of the sentence then it gives you even idioms that go with this so it's it's a very very thorough resource for you to use very useful okay so we are going to move on to our second resource and this is something that you literally use today probably twice three times depending on when you woke up you use it many times a day you've used it already I've used it we all have and it's pretty amazing what it can do for you I know you're going to give me some looks like are you crazy this is too easy it is not it's incredible and I'll show you why so the next resource is where did it go da Google like I said we use Google many times a day but I will show you how to use it in a way that will help you a lot with your vocabulary okay so for example we have the same word as before how do we find out a word okay so we type in joyful and then we type in definition and then boom it gives it to you so even if you just stop right here you think this is great you know it's very quick it shows it in the same browser window you don't have to go to a different website it's wonderful right yes that's true it gives you right it gives you the definition it gives you the phonetic pronunciation the little speaker you can click on it part of speech it even gives you synonyms and of course the definition but what I want you to look right now is this little thing right here this arrow down arrow okay and we can see that it says translation word origin and more definition and once I click on it we can see that there is so much more that we can look at and for example I'm going to start with the translation part okay which is right here okay so for example because I'm Romanian I'm going to choose Romanian and you see that immediately it gives you four different words it doesn't always give you four words in this case it gives me four words four different translations to kind of really make sure that you understand what the word is now you should know that this should be your last resource because I do not encourage translation as your main way of understanding a word but if if it's the only way and you really don't understand the word and you really need to use it then you have it and it's right here for example I'll show you in Spanish it will give you two so it just gives you more nuances to the word so you kind of really understand it but I'm going to turn it off now because like I said this is your last resource and you shouldn't use it until you cannot you if you really don't understand it okay okay and then we're going to focus on this last section they use over time and pay over word now this is super cool and I'll show you why you have this timeline here right so it shows you that the words maybe started getting used in the 1800s and then it kind of its evolution over time and then this is where we are today right here okay so as you can see the word was really used in the 1800s and the 1850s and then it kind of decreased a little bit towards the 1950s and it's picking a little bit back up today but it's not used as much as it used to be used okay so why does this matter you asked okay I'm going to show you why this matters in a second let's say you go online and you know you actually let me switch to explain in one second okay so this matters because I don't know about you but I'm sure you have a similar experience we learn English from different sources right we don't just go to class and then come back and that's all the English we watch movies we read books we read articles we have different kinds of sources that we learn English from and this is how we find words and sometimes it's good to know not sometimes it's good to know where these words come from so going online I wondered upon this little oops this little quotation okay okay so it's an Isabella birth quote and she was an English explorer okay and this is the website the quote the Rocky Mountains realized may exceed the dream of my childhood it is magnificent and the air is life-giving okay so it's a beautiful quote and maybe you want to understand it completely but there may be a little part that you didn't understand like for example the word neigh okay so the word neigh you're trying to figure out what it means okay one thing to mention is that isabella bird was an explorer who lived between the years of 1831 oops in 1904 like you can see over here okay so 1831 1904 not very recently okay okay so let's say you want to find out what the word name means okay so I go to Google okay and then type in neigh definition okay wonderful so it shows me a few things what does it mean right I'm not sure okay it means no great I find it and the problem is I should not stop right here and this is where what I just showed you comes in very very handy oh yes sometimes is if you can see it also gives you the words origin which is very useful as well but if I look at the timeline here that I was showing you boom I can see a few things when Isabella bird was alive between you know the 1830s and the 1900s the word was used a lot okay but now I told you were right here it is not it's almost now you at all so the problem is with using a word like that is that if we use words I'm gonna transition so you see my concern my face if we use words that are not used today there are a few problems with that a somebody may not be able to understand you so you talk to them and you use words that are dated and archaic they might not understand you and this can be a problem if you give a presentation or if you write an essay or if you have a business meeting or B they might think that your English is not as advanced because they think that this person doesn't understand what words are being used and what words are not being used so that's why it's very important that you used words that are current and words that are currently being used in the language so this is when the resource I just showed you comes in very very handy you have to check your words and once you do it takes two seconds you've seen it it was very quick you just click the down arrow and then you're done so please make sure to use this resource because you it's Google very quickly very easy and you're done you can use the water just don't use it forget about it right okay my third resource that I'm going to talk about is kind of one that you know it's it's a supplementary resource in the sense that by this time you will have looked up the definition of a word you have gone through the origin can I use it should I use it you've seen the word in context you know it's part of speech and all of that but maybe maybe you still don't know how to use it in a sentence maybe you still have trouble with that so that's where I'm going to show you right now so we're going to go to this website called your sentence that you're dictionary.com okay and this website just gives you sentences that are community contributions so it's just people are writing these sentences so there may be some mistakes but not a lot there because the correct ones keep going on top so it's just kind of examples that everyone has and everyone is using and that will give you even better understanding of how people are using this word in the context it's super useful so for example going back with the word joyful okay hit enter and then we see quite a few different examples of the word joyful in context it's pretty incredible how many we have right so if we don't fully understand how to use joyful then this is a great way to test it out and to look and see how do people use it okay so they use it you know it's an adjective so they use it as a joyful light something new and joyful joyful news joyful significance okay so you can see that there's different ways and not just one way so this will really really really help you see that okay not all of the words have these many examples but a lot of them do at least all of them have more than one so this resource really really helps kind of cement and further understand why you've already learned about the word it's not a first resource I would say that you go to but it should definitely be used as a supplementary resource so I'm going to transition back and okay so these were the three resources that I would recommend to anyone who's trying to improve their English but we are not done here okay as a teacher I have to emphasize that it's you okay so just kind of explain what's been going on a little bit so so far you know you are trying to understand the new word you don't know what you look it up you may have you may find the definition you may find the origin is that you find out if it's current you see it in context you see all of this but all that you've done is basically taken in this information okay so you're kind of absorbing it but now you have to produce it you have to let it out okay so how do you do that well simple either take you know go old school and take a pencil and a piece of paper and write down your own sentences okay so that's one way or do it on your computer you know we all have like a notes folder or a word document that you can open it but please use that word produce it in a sentence okay you have to in order to understand it fully you have to produce it okay so don't just say okay I understand it and move on because I know you do it I've been that student and I just okay I know it then move on no no you'll forget it okay so use it write a sentence right - right 3y 5 however many it takes to understand okay promise okay okay so once you do that you're also still not done because then you have to try to use the word every chance you have so you know you have a new opportunity maybe just try to make sure to use the word every new opportunity you have and maybe every week or every other week try to bring it back and study it and learn it and use it I mean and then you'll make sure that you and that's how you make sure you understand it and you remember it that's what I meant to say okay these are my tips they're trust me they're very useful I've been using vocabulary learning tips even to learn languages but also to teach them to my students so yeah well thank you very much for joining us and we will see you next time --- ## 69. 3 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR SPEAKING ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-fFjhzX9WnE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fFjhzX9WnE) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:54:12 | --- This is one of the most common questions that English learners ask. And I'll tell you the answer! Students always want to know how they can improve their speaking ability, and I always tell them the same thing. If you want to improve your speaking, you need to practice these three skills. Anyone can practice these skills. But it takes time, discipline, and dedication if you truly want to see improvement. Let me explain. When it comes to learning a language, there are four different skills. Now...these are little different. Listening and reading are receptive skills. You are receiving the information and getting language input. Speaking and writing are productive skills where you're producing the language as part of your output. Each of these skills complements the other and is important in improving your overall language ability. Now, let's look at three ways to improve your speaking skills and I'll save the best for last. The first way to improve your speaking is with listening. When you're listening, you're performing a variety of tasks. You're hearing the flow and rhythm of speech, the pronunciation of words, and people's intonation. Really? Yes. Really! All of this language input from listening will help your output in speaking. Finally, it's very, very, very... I'm going to add one more very... easy to practice listening in English. You can listen to music in English. You can watch movies or TV in English. Even watching this video and listening to me helps. That's true. In order to speak and produce the language, you need to absorb it first. This brings us to the second way to improve your speaking...Reading! Notice the theme. Listening and reading are the two receptive skills. You can read a book, a magazine, a newspaper. Just read... First, reading helps improve your vocabulary. When you read, you're learning new words, and you're seeing how these words are used in context. Next, you can read out loud. And this will help improve your verbal delivery. But soft, what light through yonder window breaks.... Okay. You may need to read something more current than Shakespeare. Lastly, when you read you're processing the syntax of a language. Essentially, reading helps improve your grammatical structure. Finally, let's look at the most important way to improve your speaking. The absolute best way to improve your speaking is by.... Speaking! Surprise! You need to produce the language. Talk to your friends. Talk to your classmates. Talk to your teachers. That's a good question. Then talk to me! If you don't have anyone to practice speaking with, or if you don't have the time or the money to go take English lessons somewhere, You can use these interactive English videos to practice speaking. You can choose how long you want to study for and when. And best of all...it's FREE! That's a great idea man! I know what you're thinking. Why would I speak to a video? How does that help? Well for starters, we already do it. These days people video chat all the time. And more importantly, you're actually getting the opportunity to produce the language. Don't worry about mistakes... To review, if you want to improve your speaking, you need to practice the following skills. Do this by watching our interactive English videos. So be sure to check out some of our video lessons in order to learn and practice your English. Now, I just have one question for you. Leave us a message in the comments below. We love to hear from our students. Bye! --- ## 70. 3 Grammar Mistakes Advanced Learners Often Make ๐Ÿ˜ณ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CZDvRAgEM4k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZDvRAgEM4k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:47:41 | --- today I want to talk to you about three grammar mistakes that English learners often make what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills today we're gonna work on improving your grammar skills I'm gonna talk to you about some different grammar that English learners commonly confused and simple mistakes are made so I'm gonna teach you the grammar I'm gonna tell you how you can correct these mistakes and then we're gonna practice a little bit because that's the best way to improve your skills practice practice and practice some more so the first grammar mistake that you might be making is this right here I want you to tell me which sentence do you think is correct the doctor recommends that she go to bed early or the doctor recommends that she goes to bed early which one do you think is correct because there is only one answer I hope you chose this sentence right here the doctor recommends she go to bed early now you may look at this and think wait a second what's going on subject-verb she goes but this is an example of the subjunctive mood that expresses a suggestion another way to think about it which i think might be a little easier is that there is a hidden modal verb in there and we could rework this sentence and I could tell you this the doctor thinks that she should go to bed early so you see that modal verb should and we follow that with the base verb go now there are some verbs out there that that basically contain the same meaning should for example recommend when you recommend something you're basically telling someone what you think they should do so you don't need to use should it's almost like it's hidden within the meaning of the verb recommend so you would say the doctor recommends that she go to bed early we use the base verb go now mistakes are commonly made when that noun clause is in the present simple and the subject is he she or it because naturally learners want to conjugate that verb using that subject he share it and they would conjugate it incorrectly when we're talking about the subjunctive mood you're going to use the base verb keep in the subjunctive mood covers a range from wishes to commands to suggestions to conditions and there are some verbs that tend to attract the subjunctive mood and those are the following so these are verbs in which you may end up using the subjunctive mood so let's practice this right now I am going to give you a sentence and I want you to transform that sentence so that it has the same meaning but you are going to use one of these verbs with the subjunctive mood I'll tell you the sentence and then give you a few seconds before I give you the answer are you ready so the first sentence that I have for you is this she thinks that he must leave at once I want you to change this sentence and use the verb demand she thinks that he must leave at once remember how I told you that said that he didn't modal that modal is in the meaning of the verb so if we're gonna transform this and change this sentence around you would say she demands that he leave at once he leave the next sentence I have for you is I believe the game should get rescheduled I believe the game should get rescheduled I want you to transform the sentence and use the verb insist okay so if we're gonna take that verb insist and change this sentence around you would say I insist the game get rescheduled I insist the game get rescheduled subjunctive mood I hope that was easy for you and that now it makes a little more sense the next grammar mistake that learners often make is just subject verb agreement when they are saying negative statements in the present simple and they're using the contraction with do and not so let's let's unpack this what I'm talking about is when when people are speaking that that's key because when people are having a conversation they they just want to say things quickly they want to say things naturally and when this happens I subject verb agreement can become a little confusing so when you want to say a negative statement if the verb is not to be then you're going to use the helping verb do and you would need to conjugate that helping based on the subject if we're talking about the present simple we can conjugate it I don't he she it doesn't you don't we don't they don't simple enough now the problem that I think a lot of learners have is that when they're talking when they're having a conversation people make a mistake with that doesn't I hear this quite often when the subject is he/she/it they want to say the negative and they say he don't she don't if I hear somebody make this mistake I understand what they're saying but it's just a matter of fluency I I know that they're just we're having a conversation perhaps it's moving a little fast people just want to speak quickly they want to speak naturally and they may conjugate this incorrectly so when we're talking about subject verb i I think overwhelmingly this is where people have issues when they're stating that negative in the present simple and the best way to correct this is just to get more exposure to the language more reading more listening more practice and the more you do those three things then it's just going to come to you naturally you're not gonna have to stop and think about it you would just be conjugating these correctly he doesn't she doesn't it doesn't so now let's do a quick practice it's always good to practice this I am going to tell you a sentence a positive sentence and I just want you to change it and make it negative so I'll give you a moment to say the sentence and I want you to say the sentence out loud because we're talking about spoken English are you ready the first sentence is he eats pizza every day change that make it negative and you would say he doesn't eat pizza every day the next one is people want to email with us make that sentence negative and when you do that that sentence becomes people don't want to email with us people don't they don't I didn't say that all of these would use doesn't so I hope that you said don't people don't want to email with us but I really hope that you do want to email with us and if you do check out the link in the description join our email list link is down below finally I have if someone likes it please tell me if someone likes it please tell me how do we make that negative I hope you said if someone doesn't like it please tell me if someone doesn't like it please tell me all right so again this is just good practice subject-verb practice practice practice that is the way to improve so that the next time you're having a conversation you will just say this naturally and correctly the final mistake that learners often make is just confusing Edie and ing adjectives and the reason why I think this can be confusing for many learners is because the only difference between the two adjectives are just those letters at the end bored boring interested interesting excited exciting so besides those letters there is another key difference between these adjectives and that is their meaning and usage for example Edie adjectives describe a person's feeling and and it is a temporary feeling ing adjectives describe a situation a thing or a person's characteristics and it's that last part a person's characteristics that's where I think many learners confuse these adjectives and they would say something like I am boring and they use the ing and they're actually describing their characteristics I am boring when they really want to talk about the way they feel and they should say I am bored now this is important because I am bored and I am boring have very different meanings if you're bored it's just how you feel about some situation you don't like it it's a temporary feeling you're bored if you say I am boring well then that's describing your character you're saying that you are a boring person and if that's the case then not many people are probably going to want to hang out with you and spend time with you because they would they may also think you're boring so keep that in mind when we're talking about Edie adjectives and you're talking about your feeling and ing adjectives when you're talking about someone's characteristics okay so so let's practice this I'm going to give you a situation and then ask you a couple of different questions I want you to answer those questions using the adjectives that I give you I'm just gonna give you one adjective and you're going to answer the question with either a needy adjective or ing let's do one as an example so you know what I'm talking about the situation that I'll give you is I like to play soccer alright very simple now here is the adjective that I want you to use and I'll ask you a couple of questions and just give me an answer using either edy or ing so I would ask you how do you feel and you'd say I'm excited to play soccer and then I could ask you what do you think about soccer I think soccer is exciting now you know what I want you to do here is the next situation and and I will give you a moment to answer each question all right the next situation is she couldn't solve the problem all right now my question would be how's the problem the problem is frustrating how she feeling she feels frustrated I hope you were able to answer those correctly with the e d and ing adjectives here's the next situation all right English grammar drives me crazy my question is how do you feel about English grammar English grammar is confusing how do you feel I feel confused now I know that some of this grammar may be confusing but I hope that after watching this lesson you are less confused and if you are less confused and and not frustrated anymore but actually excited because you learned something new then I recommend that everyone hit that like button and I'm just trying to get in a quick little review of everything we learned today that's all for right now thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 71. 3 Words You Need to Know for a Doctor's Checkup | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `SQUHFU9Ob0A` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQUHFU9Ob0A) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:01:34 | --- so let's learn some well vocabulary that you might encounter at a doctor's office so if you go in there uh you may see one of these right here this is a stethoscope can you say stethoscope yes yes yeah and how do we use a stethoscope do you want to share it yeah it goes put in your ear and you would listen to somebody's heart to the heart yeah exactly the next one is well this right here this is a shot and you would use it with the verb get to get a shot and it would probably go in the arm right here yeah you don't like shots I I don't really like them either and then this is a thermometer and what do we do with the thermometer do you want to show it yeah how about me what is it yeah and we put in the ear yeah and what is it it's red oh no oh no [Music] oh --- ## 72. 40 Super Useful Phrases to Show that You Care | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jXVdz6tM6is` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXVdz6tM6is) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:09:27 | --- we all have close relationships family friends colleagues so i want to teach you some super useful and very common phrases phrases that you need to know to help show that you care and also help you build meaningful relationships so let's start with travel if somebody's getting ready to leave it's very common for for another person to say travel safe or safe travels mean the same thing but they're very useful if somebody is getting ready to leave now if you want to be a little more specific and somebody is getting ready to board an airplane and they're going to fly then you could say have a safe flight if a person is going to be traveling by by train or bus or car in that case i think it's pretty common for somebody to say have a safe trip now when that person it's they're on their way and you want to make sure that that they're safe another thing that that you may tell them is let me know when you get there i just want to know that you're safe let me know when you get there or you could say text me when you get home because when you're traveling people can be a bit busy they may not make a phone call but they can send a text message and you could tell that person text me when you get home so if somebody is away and you want to tell that person that you miss them let's talk about some of those useful phrases because i think overwhelmingly it's very common just to say i miss you all right it's it's very direct you're letting somebody know how you feel you can add a little emphasis and say oh i really miss you or you might tell somebody i wish you were here that's letting that person know that that you want them by your side i wish you were here and you could also say that by telling someone i'm lost without you that's even giving it a little more emphasis that you you really need that person i'm lost without you i i just need you by my side i wish you were here i really miss you now if somebody's away and you're getting ready to see that person again and you want to tell them that you're excited a very common phrase that somebody could use is i can't wait to see you and you can actually change that last part and and put some different things in there just make sure that you're using the base verb i can't wait to see you i can't wait to give you a big hug you could also show excitement by telling someone i look forward to seeing you once again we can change the end of that sentence but this time you're going to use the gerund i look forward to seeing you i look forward to giving you a big hug and i i could tell you when you are away i really miss you i'm just lost without you and i can't wait to hear from you down in the comments and just let me know that you've subscribed to the channel and that that i can become your english teacher my name is wes and and that's what interactive english is all about just trying to help you reach your fluency goals if you are looking to build relationships in english with with a friend or another family member perhaps even something that's a little more romantic remember valentine's day it's right around the corner then i want to share with you an amazing offer from lingoda who is the sponsor of today's lesson and if you don't already know about lingoda it is an online language school where you can learn english business english spanish german or french and right now you can get 30 percent off 30 off a monthly subscription which is very flexible you just pay each month or you can get 30 off a marathon course in which you commit to learning for either 3 6 or 12 months all you need to do is click on the link down in the description to start taking some classes and start building some new relationships one of the best things about this offer is that when you sign up you get a free seven-day trial that includes three group lessons or one private lesson free of charge and over the years i have built a relationship with lingoda as you know i share with you these great opportunities but i've also studied with lingoda you can see me right there taking a class in spanish and the classes really helped me build my speaking confidence as well as improve my pronunciation and i enjoyed studying with lingoda because well these are small group classes which meant i had plenty of opportunities to speak i had qualified teachers using a proven curriculum the classes are available 24 7 so i could easily plan them around my schedule and i got to study from the comfort of my own home it's a very calm and relaxing environment and with lingoda there are always cash back rewards just click on my exclusive link down in the description and when you sign up the 30 discount it's automatically applied so i hope you take advantage of this amazing opportunity to build some new relationships make some new friends as well as take your english to the next level so let's get back to those super useful phrases that you need to know in order to show that you care and we've already talked about phrases when when somebody's away they're traveling or they're just not with you so now let's talk about phrases that you should use when somebody's with you especially if you want to show them a little bit of support you could say let me help you with that and i think this is very useful if if somebody is carrying something or maybe somebody needs help with some work and you can say yeah let me help you with that or if you want to tell somebody that you will be there by their side you could say i'll go with you you're not going to be alone because i'll go with you or if you want to express that they have your support if they absolutely need it you could say i got your back all right it's a little more informal but a great phrase i got your back if you want to build someone's confidence you could say i believe in you people love hearing that i i believe in you that you will continue to improve your english skills you could also help build someone's confidence by saying well believe in yourself if you believe in yourself then yeah show me let me know by hitting that like button you could also say you can do anything if you put your mind to it this is a a known expression that means well if you focus your attention on something you work hard then you can achieve your goals you can do anything if you put your mind to it and then if you want to show some support for something that that's going to happen in the future you could tell them you're going to do great all right i believe in you you're gonna do great if something is happening at that moment well then you could support them and say yeah you're doing great all right believe in yourself you're doing great you can do anything if you put your mind to it again you can use these phrases one after the other depends on how much support you really want to show now let's talk about expressing joy so if you hear some some good news somebody is going to have a baby or maybe they get a new job then you could say i'm so happy for you this is a very common phrase i'm so happy for you or you could say congrats on something and you could put different things in there congrats on the engagement congrats on the new job or you could just tell them that's wonderful news okay and you can replace wonderful with other adjectives that's great news that's amazing news i don't know why i think i often use wonderful that's wonderful news and then if you want to express love and and this is more in a romantic sense you could tell somebody you are my everything okay you're letting them know just how much they mean to you you are my everything or you could say you complete me this is a famous line from the movie jerry maguire saying that well this person it's a they're a big part of your life you complete me perhaps you want to tell your loved one you are my strength all right lets them know how important they are because i think yeah many of us we want to be stronger one thing i'll say about those phrases you are my everything you complete me you are my strength it's not something you're going to use on a daily basis it is a little more meaningful more serious it's something you might say on just very important occasions like valentine's or an anniversary and you really want to let somebody know that you love them another phrase related to love is saying well she's my better half or he's my better half this is an idiom and when you say this you're not talking directly to the person that you love you're more referring to your partner or your spouse as your better half meaning that well they they are the better part of the relationship okay your better half and sometimes you could just refer to your spouse as my better half my better half asked me to do something or my better half suggested that i do something good idiom to know and then if you're in a relationship and you want it to become more serious you could say i'm ready to take it to the next level all right you would tell this to your boyfriend or girlfriend you're you're ready to make more of a commitment i'm ready to take it to the next level and then if you want to offer a little bit of comfort you could tell someone one day at a time okay you would say this if a person is in a difficult situation and they should maybe just you know proceed slowly focus on one thing that comes up one day at a time or maybe it's very common to tell somebody it's going to be okay in this case you're not you're not solving a problem for another person you're just trying to offer a little bit of reassurance that that the end result will will be okay all right it's going to be okay if someone is experiencing a difficult situation that is ongoing then you could try to offer them a little bit of comfort and say you're going to get through this all right i believe in you you're going to get through this another phrase that you can use which means the same thing is you will overcome this no matter what the challenge is you will overcome this and then let's talk about some nice reminders that you could tell someone that just shows that you care these are very common you could tell someone i'm so proud of you i think many of us like hearing when another person is proud of our achievements our accomplishments and just say i'm so proud of you or you could say you're the best okay it's a great compliment you're the best if you want to say somebody is a rare individual you could tell them you're one in a million there are not many people out there like you you're one in a million or perhaps someone does something that that really helps you out and you appreciate it you could let them know and say you made my day or something a little similar to that maybe you could tell them what would i do without you all right letting this person know that they're very valuable and you might often say this to a friend a family member a colleague gosh what would i do without you and now let's talk about just some general phrases to show that you care if someone is maybe a little tired and you want them to take it easy you could say get some rest all right you know i just i just want you to get some rest or if somebody's getting ready to go to bed tell them sweet dreams this is a phrase that you would more likely say to a loved one like a spouse or a child you know sweet dreams hey watch your step this is more specific if you're walking and you're you're telling someone that you want them to be careful watch your step or if a person is sick which is also a little more specific you could say i hope you feel better i re i really hope you feel better if something shocking or maybe a little spontaneous is going to occur a good thing you could say i have a surprise for you all right who does not like good surprises and then this well this it shows that you care if you are eating uh with someone else and they they have something between their teeth i think this has happened to all of us you could just let that person know you have something in your teeth okay whether it's a friend a colleague a family member or even a stranger it's just yeah it shows that you care you don't want them walking around with food in between their teeth so you want to tell them you have something in your teeth so i just gave you a lot of very common and useful phrases and well it's a lot to take in so i hope that you get some rest and when it comes to building your vocabulary just just take it one day at a time because i i believe in you and i hope that you believe in yourself and very soon we're going to take our relationship to the next level okay i i don't know what that means but i just want to get a little bit of review in all seriousness i hope that as i went through these phrases that you recognize them you've heard them before and i also hope that you're you're using them in conversation and try to do that because they are very common they're very useful if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 73. 4 Important Phrasal Verbs with CHECK | Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `g9esdVrDDP4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9esdVrDDP4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:44:33 | --- We have an amazing lesson for you today, we are talking about phrasal verbs with check, and I have four different prepositions that follow them. So let's get to it! Hello and welcome to our global classroom. We have an amazing lesson for you today. But first, I'd like to remind you to join our social media classes. Because if you practice with us you can improve your English even more. Today, we are talking about phrasal verbs with CHECK. And phrasal verbs are difficult for English language learners because it can...they can have so many meanings, and the prepositions are the ones that change these meanings. So people get confused, naturally. So if you're having trouble with phrasal verbs, I understand. Another reason that phrasal verbs are confusing is because we have to memorize them to be able to use them correctly. And many times they don't make sense. For example, I can PUT ON a jacket, but I can't PUT OFF a jacket. I have to TAKE it OFF, so it can be confusing. Today, we're talking about phrasal verbs with CHECK. And I have four different prepositions that follow them. So let's get to it! The first phrasal verb I want to talk to you about today is CHECK OUT. And this verb is one of those that has multiple meanings. So let's go over the first one. The first meaning is the one that I think all of us are familiar with. Which is CHECK OUT of a hotel, for example. And it means to settle the bill before leaving a hotel. You can check out of a hotel or you can check out of a hospital. Before you leave the hotel, you have to pay or you have to make sure that everything is in order. And when it is, we say they you check out. Now the second meaning for this phrasal verb is related to a book. So you can check out a book from the library. Now I know many of us at this point use Kindles and other devices to read books. But libraries are still very, very important. And when we take a book from the library, we say that we check it out. Now the third meaning for CHECK OUT is a little different than the first two. And this one means to investigate or look at. So for example, let's say you're walking down the street and you notice someone wearing a really nice dress. So you might want to say, "Check out that cool dress." It means "look." Look at. Look at that cool dress. I do this all the time. I always check out what people are wearing. So that I can get inspired. That's it for CHECK OUT. Now let's go to the next verb. The next verb is CHECK FOR. And this one is easier than the previous one because as far as I can tell it only has one meaning, and that is "try to find." So if we CHECK FOR something, we try to find something. For example, when you go to the doctor, maybe they check for health problems. They check your heart. They check your lungs. Hopefully everything's okay. But when you go to the doctor they check for health problems. Our third phrasal verb is CHECK INTO. CHECK INTO to has two different meanings. The first meaning is CHECK INTO a hospital or a hotel. So remember how we talked about checking out of a hotel. Well, you can certainly CHECK INTO a hotel or, hopefully not, but a hospital as well. It just means to enter. Now the second meaning of this verb is a little trickier because it means something completely different, which is to investigate. Let's see an example. Now in this sentence, I am trying to find out who the cookie thief is. And...so I'm looking around, I really want a cookie, and I really don't know who stole my cookie. I bet it was Wes. Our last phrasal verb for today with check it's CHECK OFF. And...drumroll. This only has one meaning. No, it doesn't. Does it? Yes, it does. To CHECK OFF means to put a little tick next to an item on a list to indicate that you have done it. For example, when you have a shopping list and you go shopping for groceries many times we put little ticks as we get things. We CHECK these things OFF our list to indicate that things are done. We've gotten them. Everything is okay. Feels good. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, CHECK OFF. By the way, if you're wondering what a bucket list is, it's a pretty cool idiom that talks about the things that you are going to do before you die. It's a bucket list. There's a movie about it too, actually. Well that is it with a phrasal verbs for today, but we are not finished yet. We need to practice. Otherwise we can't remember them. In the comments below, I would like you to use one of the four phrasal verbs that we talked about today. And you can use any of the meanings as long as you use them correctly. If you like a bigger challenge, make sure to use two, three, or all four of them Because the more you practice, the better your English will become, and the more you will remember these phrasal verbs for next time. I hope you enjoyed learning about some new phrasal verbs. If you enjoy this lesson, please share it with your fellow English language learners. Well, that's it for today. Thank you for watching, and we'll see you next time. Bye! --- ## 74. 4 Things You Won't Learn in an English Textbook | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Avo3WOhzezE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avo3WOhzezE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:21:29 | --- today i want to talk to you about four things that you will not learn in a textbook that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your english skills especially if you want to learn things that you might not find in a textbook because today i want to talk to you about four different things that you're not likely to learn in a textbook because when people want to learn another language i think it's very common that they use a textbook to learn and study grammar or build their vocabulary but you're not going to learn everything about a language especially when you're talking about things that might be a little more informal that are more casual that you possibly might hear in everyday conversation so the first thing i want to talk to you about is just playing around with the language and really creating new words that's right in english i think it's fair to just create new words especially when you're talking about using prefixes and suffixes let me give you a few different examples and i'm going to use some suffixes let's start with the suffix hubble if you use this suffix what it means is that you are able to do something like you are capable or perhaps you're there's some water and you want to know if it's drinkable but you can play around with it and perhaps use it in different ways that people in certain areas might understand for example i used to live in uh the san francisco bay area and a form of public transportation was the bart it's uh it was kind of like it was like their metro system it stands for bay area rapid transit but people would just say the bart like oh how are you going to get into the city i'm going to take the bart now if i if there was a situation and i wanted to go somewhere and i was not sure what i needed to do in order to get there did i have to take a bus might i have to take a taxi or could i take the bart maybe i would ask somebody and say hey is it bartable am i able to use the bart in order to get there now this is uh it's not a word that you're going to find in the dictionary but i was taking this uh the name of the metro system you can add that suffix and really kind of create this new word and if you were to ask somebody in san francisco if if some location is bartable they're going to know exactly what you're talking about let's look at one more suffix which is ish we use ish to say that something is kind of like like something else or similar for example colors i think it's very common to say that something is like this other color like oh it's purple-ish it's kind of like that but we can use this informally you could actually just use it just as the prefix you don't really need to say it you don't need to connect it to another base word maybe you're asking somebody oh is this person really good at football and you could say well ish they're they're kind of good so again you may hear people use this informally they're not going to attach it to another word if they want to say something is kind of like something else they may just say ish something else that you may not learn in textbooks which i think is very important is learning english outside of american english or british english and i think it's very useful nowadays because english is a world language i think it's very helpful to learn other english varieties but most textbooks are going to be written based on like standard american english or standard british english but i think it's very useful and relevant to learn other english varieties and learn how they use the english language i'll give you an example uh in india i learned that people will use the word prepone and when i first heard this i was like pre-pone what what is that well typically i think people may be familiar with the word to postpone something if you want to postpone something like a meeting you're going to push it off and do it later if you want to pre-pwn something it means that you're going to do it earlier so you might say okay let's uh let's pre-pone the meeting let's have the meeting earlier and when i found this out i was like that is awesome i love that it's very helpful to learn different english varieties and often that's not something you're going to find in many textbooks something else you may not learn in a textbook is mirroring and this i think is very useful when it comes to speaking and listening because what mirroring is it's when you repeat a few of the words that you hear so if you're having a conversation and i'm listening to somebody speak i may repeat a couple of words to them and i do this for uh several reasons first it shows that i'm paying attention to what they're saying and shows that i'm interested in the conversation and second it it gives the other person an opportunity to provide some more information that is mirroring so perhaps uh we're having a conversation and you're talking about some party that you went to and you say i went to this party last night it was crazy and i said oh it was crazy i just repeat those three words and then that that shows that i'm listening to you and it gives you an opportunity to tell me some more information and talk about well why it was crazy it also helps the the person who's listening pay attention to the conversation when you repeat a few of the words so when you use mirroring in conversation i i think it's great to help keep the conversation going but it's also something that a textbook may not talk about because when you're going through a textbook uh depending on the type of textbook it is you may not really have any speaking activities so mirroring is very important when it comes to speaking and listening and it's something that i would encourage all of you to try the fourth thing that you're probably not going to learn from a textbook is confidence and confidence i think is so important when it comes to speaking i think many learners out there they want to practice speaking but they might not have confidence in what they're saying possibly because they've only been studying using a textbook so when it comes to confidence you really need to practice and this goes pretty much for just about anything think about a sport the more you practice a sport the more you do it the more confidence you're going to have in your abilities the same goes for for language if you have to do something like give a presentation if you're going to give a presentation it's very important that you practice and practice and practice some more because the more you practice the more confidence you're going to have that you're going to give an excellent presentation so that's why i think it's very important to actually get be engaged in a conversation and practice your speaking because the more that you do that the more confidence you're going to have in your speaking abilities you're going to have more confidence that you are using the right grammar that you're using the appropriate vocabulary and that you're you're speaking clearly and using the correct pronunciation the more you practice the more confidence you're going to have and the textbook may not really help you with that but something that will help you build your speaking confidence is taking the interactive english speaking course called speak up this is a speaking course that is designed to help you speak clearly speak confidently and speak effectively and each week what we do there there's a different topic and we're going to have a lot of different discussion questions about that topic do different speaking activities will break into small groups which means you'll have more opportunities to speak and we'll we'll work on your pronunciation as well it's a little bit of everything all of it is designed to truly help you improve your speaking fluency you can check out the link down below in the description if you'd like to learn more about the speak up course learn more about the schedule the price check out that link it's down in the description i hope that you found this lesson useful and i'm not saying that you should stop using textbooks textbooks can be very helpful i just want you to understand that when it comes to learning a language that you may not learn everything from a textbook there are different things that you can do and that you should do to truly improve your fluency skills such as taking the speak up course check out that link down below in the description okay that's the last time i'm gonna mention it thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 75. 50 American Idioms in 60 Minutes ๐Ÿ”ฅ | Sound Instantly More Fluent! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FVQChiYcVXU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVQChiYcVXU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:40:10 | --- I'm going to teach you 50 idioms. That's right, 50 idioms that you can use in just everyday conversation. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary using idioms when you're having a casual conversation, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And if you would like to get these notes right here next to me, click on the link down below in the description. Join my email community and you can just better remember these idioms, learning how and when to use them. So, let's just let's just go ahead and jump into it with our first idiom, which is to twist someone's arm. This means to persuade someone to do something that maybe you just really don't want to do. And in that case, you're trying to twist their arm. it generally has a little bit more of a negative connotation. For example, I asked you to join my email community. I am not going to twist your arm. If it's not something you're interested in, that's okay with me. I I'm not going to twist your arm in order to get you to do that. So, just keep in mind you're persuading someone maybe in a little bit more of a forceful way. Here's an example sentence down below. There's no need to twist my arm. I will do it. The next idiom is this idiom is right up your alley. [laughter] So, if you use this idiom, you're just saying that something is the the type of thing, the exact thing that somebody really likes and enjoys. It's right up your alley. As you can see, there is a picture of a bowling alley. And you're really just using this to add emphasis. And instead of me saying, "Look, I really think that you are going to enjoy this lesson. You're going to learn a lot of new idioms." Instead, I could just say, "This lesson is right up your alley." I could also say, "The game we're going to play is right up your alley." So once again, I'm just adding emphasis, saying that this is the exact thing that you like, you enjoy when I tell you that it's right up your alley. The next idiom is one that I think is very common. I really I you maybe you know it already. I hope that you use it because it is so common in just casual conversation. And this is something that I say all the time. Instead of saying, "Yeah, I'm a little sick." I would use I'm a little under the weather or I'm a bit under the weather or I would just say I'm under the weather. I'm feeling under the weather. So often you may use this with the verb feel to feel under the weather. But this is commonly used in everyday conversation because I think we can all relate to this. From time to time we get sick and instead of saying that you could use this idiom, yeah, I'm feeling a little under the weather. So, please, the next time you're feeling a little sick, just use this idiom instead. Highly useful. I I thought this was funny, so I thought I would share it with you. Can't work today. I'm feeling a little under the weather. I think I can relate to this, and I'm sure you can, too. Maybe it's a beautiful day. We don't want to go to work or we don't want to do other responsibilities. And we might tell, you know, I'm I'm feeling a little under the weather. to make ends meet. This means to earn enough money to live on. So if you are making ends meet, then you are earning enough money to buy groceries, pay your rent, maybe pay some other bills, and you can say that you are making ends meet. Now, this is not a a great situation. Typically, I would say not not that it has a negative connotation, but it really it really shows that there is some difficulty. So, you may use this with a verb like struggling. You are struggling to make ends meet. To struggle to make ends meet, or maybe you are barely making ends meet. You barely have enough money to pay for the things that you need. Once again, I this may be an idiom that that you can relate to. Think about when you you first finish university. You're looking for a job. You're you may be struggling a little bit. You don't have a lot of savings. You don't you're not making a lot of money and you are just making ends meet or you're trying to make ends meet or barely making ends meet or struggling to make ends meet. Those those are some common collocations with this idiom. The next one is to take something with a grain of salt. So th this is something that I would recommend that you do. It just means to not completely believe something that you are told because you may think it's unlikely to be true. This is a great example. Don't believe everything you read on social media. You should take it with a massive grain of salt. And I'm emphasizing the word massive because I I think there's a lot of misinformation on social media. So, I'm adding a little emphasis when I say take it with a massive grain of salt to give you uh an example of a difference between American English and British English. So, in the US, which is where I'm from, I would say that I am going to take something with a grain of salt. In the UK, you may hear somebody say take something with a pinch of salt. The meaning is the same. But I I wanted to point out the difference between these two very common English varieties. To take something with a grain of salt or to take something with a pinch of salt. The next idiom is to take a rain check. I think this one is maybe a little more common in the United States. And you would use this to tell someone that you can not accept an invitation to do something. now, but you would maybe like to do it at just a later time. And you would say, "Look, I can't do it right now, but let's take a rain check. I can't go running with you. I'll take a rain check." And of course, if it's raining outside, then yeah, you're not going to want to go running outside. And then, yeah, you definitely tell somebody, look, I'll take a rain check. Now, to give you a little bit of a nuance with this idiom, I think that sometimes people would say this when they want to delay something and you're really not planning to do it. Maybe I say, "Hey, would you like to go get a coffee?" And you're thinking, "H, I don't really Wes, I don't like this guy. I I don't want to spend much time with him, but I don't want to be rude. I don't want to be mean." And in that case, I'll say, "Look, let's take a rain check." Now, that's not always always the case. Maybe you actually are going to do this thing later and would like to and you could use this idiom. But just keep in mind, sometimes people would use this when they don't really want to tell you no, but they also don't want to do the thing that you're inviting them to do. And in that case, they may use this idiom and say, "Let's let's take a rain check." To play it by ear. This is an idiom that I love probably because I use it quite often. And what this means is to decide uh what to do when you know what is happening rather than you know planning in advance. I use this a lot maybe when talking about what am I going to do for the day or if I'm traveling, what are my plans. Generally, I'll have an idea as to what I would like to do, where I would like to go. But I I like to be flexible. If something happens, like maybe it's raining or something else is going on and I want to be flexible and then change the plan, I might say, let's let's just play it by ear. So whether you're traveling and you have an outline of what you're going to do during the day, but you want to be flexible, you could say, "Let's just play it by ear." Or even you're talking with your family. Like I said, I use this quite often. My wife might say, "What are we going to do uh tomorrow on Saturday? Seems like it's going to be a beautiful day. Then maybe we'll grab some lunch out somewhere." I'll say, "Well, okay. You never know what's going to happen with the weather. Let's just play it by ear. I think that's a good idea. Let's do it. but let's just play it by ear and see what happens. So, it is a great idiom, not just because I like to use it. I just think it's a good one that you can certainly use in conversation whenever you're talking about potential plans that you're getting ready to make and you can just play it by ear. Now, the not the opposite of playing it by ear, but on one end of the spectrum would be just to wing it. And if you are winging it, then you are doing something without preparation. So, uh, you could say, I didn't prepare a speech. I'm just going to wing it. Or maybe you're traveling somewhere and I say, well, what are you going to do the first day that you're there? Maybe you have no plan. You don't plan to come up with a plan and you're just going to walk out the door. Say, I'm just going to wing it. Let's just wing it. Let's not come up with a plan. It's a little more adventurous, but depending on the context, like if you're giving a speech or a presentation, sometimes it's not the best idea to just go ahead and wing it. You you could get into trouble depending on the the situation. But it is a useful idiom. If you ever want to say that you're going to do something without preparation, you could say that you're just going to wing it. I thought this was funny, so I wanted to share it with you. I'm going to wing it. And it says me about something I most definitely should not wing. this. I feel like I've done this before and I don't have a plan. I'm just going to wing it. And then it really goes poorly and I think to myself, I should have uh I should have come up with a plan. I should not have been winging it. Off the beaten path. Now, I think this is a great idiom that you can use when talking about travel. So, it just means that it is not known or popular with many people. So, if you're talking about travel and you want to you want to avoid the crowds, which is something that I like to do. I I don't want to be around too many people. And maybe I'm coming to your hometown or your country. And I ask you, I say, "Where can I go that's a little off the beaten path? I don't want to be around a bunch of tourists. I I want to find these secret spots that most people are unaware of. Where can I go that is off the beaten path?" Now, you may know that by the the way that I'm using it, it does have a little bit more of a positive connotation. These are places that it may or may not be secret, but these are places that people tend to enjoy because there's not many people. A lot of people don't know about it. And you could say it is off the beaten path. This beach is certainly off the beaten path. You can see there's nobody there. It's a beautiful beach. and maybe you tell me about this place that is off the beaten path and I'm very happy about it because I want to spend the day at a beautiful beach without many people, without many tourists and just go somewhere that is off the beaten path. The next idiom to blow off some steam. This is something that we all need to do from time to time. It just means to do or say something that just helps you get rid of this well strong feelings, energy, stress, and you just want to blow off some steam. I'm going to go for a long run if I want to blow off some steam. And generally, I think a lot of people will do some sort of exercise if they want to blow off some steam. You're going to go for a run. you're going to go to the gym. And that's not always the case. You may do other things that may not be too physical. Perhaps you like to do yoga in order to blow off some steam. But you could also read a book or watch a TV show if you want to just get rid of some stress and blow off some steam. If I'm ever stressed out and I need to blow off some steam, I'll probably just walk around the neighborhood. Here are some news headlines to give you a better idea as to how this idiom is used in context. Thinking of hitting the gym to blow off some steam? An angry workout is a bad idea. Research says or drop the vape. There are other ways to blow off some steam. I told you that it it's not always used to talk about a physical activity, but I think it often is. And finally, every once in a while, a guy has to blow off some steam. I I think that's true for everyone. Every once in a while, I think we all need to get rid of that pent up energy and we just need to blow off some steam. Then we have down to the wire. This is referring to a situation that is full of suspense. And what you're referring to is the last minute, the very end. So I could say, "This is it. The game is coming down to the wire." And that would be a great association. Think of a sporting event. Think of a a match. Doesn't really matter. And it's at the very end. It's close. There's a lot of suspense because you don't know which team is going to win. And you could say it's really it's coming down to the wire. So you're talking about the end but there is that element of suspense. If we're talking about a project and there is a deadline and you don't know whether you are going to meet the deadline and there's a lot of suspense and you might say oh you know I'm I'm stressed out it's coming down to the wire. I don't know what's going to happen. and I hope that I'll finish in time, but right now I got to work hard because yeah, things are really coming down to the wire. And in that case, probably there's a lot of stress. You may also need to blow up some steam in that situation. Now, down to the wire, it is a little different than in the home stretch. Or sometimes you may not need in and you could just use the home stretch. The reason why it's a little different, even though the meaning is the same, because the home stretch refers to the last part of something that's being done. So, both of those idioms refer to like the final period of something, but in the home stretch, you're only talking about that. You're not really referring to the suspense of, oh, what's going to happen? I'm stressed out. I don't know if I'm going to finish. Basically, you're just saying that this is the final period or part of an activity. We are in the home stretch. Think about that picture because this idiom actually comes from horse racing. At the end of the race, the announcer might say they're coming down the home stretch and that is it is the final part of the race. when they are in the home stretch it. But I could use it when talking about work as well. Like in my example sentence, the project is almost done. We are in the home stretch and we're just at the the final the end of the project. [laughter] I just like to throw in these funny memes from time to time just give you a little uh make it a little more entertaining, a little more humorous. We all need a good laugh. It's a better way to learn. So in this case, you know, this this cat is at home and that is that is certainly a home stretch and that is a a rather big stretch. The next idiom is in the doghouse. If you are in the doghouse, it just means that you are in a bad situation because someone is angry at you. And often you're going to use this idiom or you're going to hear other people use it uh when they're you're talking about a relationship. So for example, this did not happen. It's just an example. But if if I were to tell you, I forgot my wife's birthday. Now I'm in the doghouse. So keep in mind someone is upset with you when you are in the doghouse. So, if my wife is upset, if she's upset at me, then I would be the one saying, "Yeah, I I'm in the doghouse. I need to maybe buy some flowers, buy a present in order to get out of the doghouse." So, this picture, I think, is a also a good association when thinking about it. You see that this guy, he did something wrong. He screwed up and he is now sleeping outside in the doghouse because uh I I imagine his wife is upset with him. So keep that in mind that often you're going to use this with talking about a relationship either husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend. You could use this talking about at work. Maybe you make a big mistake and your boss is really upset, angry at you, and then you tell a colleague, "Yeah, you know, right now I'm I'm in the doghouse." You could also use it in in that context as well to be at a loss for words. And this just means you are unable to speak. You are speechless. Really, it is a it is interchangeable with speechless. To be at a loss for words. You are going to use this with the verb to be. I could say, "I can't believe it. I'm at a loss for words." Now, there are a variety of reasons as to why someone might be at a loss for words. they are very surprised or they're very upset or maybe they're very angry. And in any of those situations, if you cannot speak, you could instead of saying, "Well, I'm speechless," you could just tell the other person, "Look, I'm I'm at a loss for words." To be in the same boat. This just means to be in the same unpleasant situation as other people. So, well, let me just give you the sentence because I think it gives you a better idea as to how to use this idiom. I have I have a similar problem. We're in the same boat. You're really using this to talk about the same situation or at least say that you are in the same situation that as someone else. Generally speaking, it is a problem because it is an unpleasant situation and you want to say, "Look, yeah, we're we're in the same boat." If I tell you, uh, look, my wife is very upset with me and right now I'm in the doghouse. And you might say, ah, yeah, I have the same problem, um, you know, with my partner and I am in the doghouse. They say, "Oh, okay. I guess I guess we're in the same boat." And we are in the same unpleasant situation. if you are in the same boat. [laughter] I like this uh this little comic right here is saying, "Sure, glad that hole isn't uh at our end of the boat." Uh even though little do they know they have the same problem and they are in the same boat and quite literally in this case they are in the same boat. But I think it's a good example uh to to demonstrate this idiom. pick up the tab. Maybe you've heard this. Perhaps you even use this, and I think that's great if you do. Uh it just means to pay the bill, such as food or or drinks at a bar. Now, also very commonly used would be to pick up the check. You go out to a restaurant or a cafe, go get a coffee at a coffee shop, and I say, "Look, I'm I'll pick up the check. Don't worry about it." But if I just want to use another word, you could refer. You could say the tab because the tab literally refers to the bill. I'll pick up the tab. Don't worry about it. Whether you're at a restaurant, a cafe, or a bar, and you pick up the tab. Just keep in mind that you're really going to use it in that context. I wouldn't use it [clears throat] to talk about other really other things like purchasing an airline ticket or something like that. You're really going to use this when talking about out at some restaurant or a bar or coffee shop. Who's going to pay pay for the bill? Pick up the check. Pick up the tab. We go out and I say I ask you, I say, "Look, whose turn is it to to pick up the tab? Do you mind picking up the tab?" Because I'm I'm barely making ends meet. Okay? I just want to review. Throw that idiom back in there just to to review it because I know I know I'm giving you a lot right now. Hopefully, you are already familiar with some of these idioms. And if you've heard of them before and it's a little bit of review, that's always great. And if you learn something new, I love when that happens. And you can let me know by hitting that like button. If some of these idioms are new, yeah, let me know. Hit that like button. Then we have to bend over backwards. This just means to to try extremely hard to help or please someone. And you may actually use that bend over backwards to help someone. I've bend I've been bending over backwards to help you. So that is a little bit of a collocation with this idiom. It's frequently used if you are bending over backwards to help someone. Often I I feel like in this context uh you're basically saying I don't need to do this. I don't have to do it. I'm doing it because I want to help you and I'm going out of my way to help you and I'm bending over backwards to assist you in some way. And you're bending over backwards behind the eightball. Just looking at the picture, you can tell this is a this is an idiom that comes from billiards because uh it means to be in a difficult situation or in a worse situation than other people. And think about it, I don't know if you play billiards, but if you are trying to um if you're playing and you are behind the eightball, it's not a good position to be in. We didn't start the project immediately and now we're behind the eightball. So it is it it does have a negative connotation because we're referring to a difficult situation. So it's not a good situation to be in if you are behind the aball. Elbow grease. All right. I I say it like this because of the meaning. It just means to put a lot of physical effort, especially when cleaning. You can get that stain out, but you may need to use a little elbow grease. I think that, you know, cleaning around the home. We've all done this and there is some type of stain or maybe just a, you know, somebody spilled something on the table and you're trying to clean it and it's not coming out. And what do you do? You give it give a little elbow grease. You try to, you know, really push down on it. That's what I'm pushing down on the table. And you're using a little more physical effort. and you need to use a little elbow grease. Give it a little elbow grease. So, whenever you're talking about or you hear elbow grease, then you know that you're talking about more physical effort. But just keep in mind the context. situation apart from cleaning that you might say like elbow grease. I guess maybe if you're trying to take the top off of something and it's really hard, you just got to give it a little elbow grease. or maybe you're um fixing something. You're using tools and you really need to push hard or turn hard, use more physical effort. In that case, I I guess too, you could also say that you need to use a little elbow grease at the hardware store. It's like where where do you keep the elbow grease? Uh so, like I said, maybe you could use it in this situation as well when you're fixing something tools and you need to use a little more physical effort. You need a little elbow grease. Unfortunately, of course, you're not going to find any at a hardware store. You just need to maybe uh maybe need to go to the gym instead. Head in the clouds. This is an idiom that you're going to use to talk about a person. And it refers to someone that is who is not paying attention to what is happening around them or is impractical or unrealistic. So, if somebody's not paying attention, I could say, "Well, yeah, he really just has his head head in the clouds. He has no idea what's going on around him and he has his head in the clouds." Or if I want to refer to it as somebody being a little unrealistic and somebody tells me something and uh I say, "Well, yeah, she she has her head in the clouds." it. The idea it sounds good, but it is completely unrealistic and she has her head in the clouds. So, just keep that in mind that you're going to use this idiom when talking about a person and [laughter] yet you're just saying that you know this person not paying attention, not very practical or realistic and he or she has his or her head in the clouds. Then we have uh through thick and thin. And this just refers to going through many difficult times over a long period uh of time. And really you're going to use it with the past participle been. And you would say that you and someone else have been through thick and thin. You're using this in the context of a relationship. And generally, it's a relationship with someone that that you've known over a long period of time because of the meaning. I would say, well, my wife and I, we have been through thick and thin. My brother and I have been through thick and thin. I have had some colleagues that I've worked with for a really long time. And yeah, I could say that that we've been through thick and thin. My best friend, we've been through thick and thin. So, I'm giving you examples of people that I've had a a long relationship with. And if you just want to express that you've had ups and downs, uh, good times and bad times, this is another way of of saying that, that we've been through thick and thin. Here is a great visual, very, very touching. It's just like a like these these two cats when they were kittens and now they're older, but they have been friends through thick and thin. Great example to get or to have your ducks in a row. You could use this really with with either verb. It's commonly used with both, but it just means to be well prepared or organized for for something that's going to happen. I think this is a great idiom when talking about work and you want to say that someone is very well organized. They're very well prepared and this person has his or her ducks in a row. I could say my colleague really has his ducks in a row, knows what's going on, does not have his head in the clouds, and just has his ducks in a row. Another example, when talking about work, I said this is a great work idiom. his workspace is chaotic. He really needs to get his ducks in a row. So, in this case, I'm saying somebody needs to do this. They need to get prepared and they need to get their ducks in a row. So, great idiom, especially when talking about work. I thought this picture was funny, so I I wanted to share it with you. All ears. And generally, you're going to use it with the verb to be. to be all ears. You are waiting eagerly to hear about something. I think often you're going to use this kind of as a standalone statement. I would say I I'm all ears. You want to tell me something and I'm I eager I'm waiting eagerly to hear what you have to say and I tell you, look, I'm all ears. I am paying close attention to what you're saying. I'm all ears. This dog right here is certainly all ears and just really excited to hear what you have to say. To get wind of something. This means to hear a piece of information that someone else was trying to keep secret. So maybe I have a secret that I don't want you to know about. and maybe I've told a few other people and you approach me and tell me about this like you know what it is and I might say well how did you get wind of this how did you hear about this information that I was trying to keep secret another example she got wind of the surprise party and pretended not to know so in this case they of course it's a surprise party you don't want we don't want her to know but she got wind of the party and in that case yeah I I think it is polite to pretend that, oh, I had no idea what was going on. But this is a great idiom because it's very specific. Instead of having to basically use the meaning to describe the situation, how did you hear about this piece of information that I was trying to keep secret? It's very wordy. That's a that's a lot a lot to say. Instead, I could just say, well, how did you get wind of this? very simple, very clean, very precise to get wind of something. Here are some more examples to give you a better idea as to how it's used in context. These are different news headlines. Fiji police get wind of unreported drug cases in schools or cancellations flood for in Caldor Hotel as guests get wind of lockdown. And finally, this Hot Wheels set won't last long once collectors get wind of it and they find out this well, this new set is coming out and they get wind of it and that's why it's not going to last long. Then we have the idiom to stick your neck out. This just means to take a risk and really do something that might turn out wrong, especially if you stick your neck out. A lot of times you might do this for another person and I, you know, I'm going to try to help you in some way and I'm going to stick my neck out and try to help you because we are friends even though it could be risky for me and I could get in trouble. So, think about uh again just using you and me as an example. Maybe we're colleagues and our our boss is upset about something that happened on the project and it was maybe your responsibility and you're thinking, "Oh gosh, the boss is going to be so upset and I am going to be in the doghouse." I say, "Look, don't worry. We were both working on it even though uh if it was your mistake. Uh I'm going to help you. It it was our our fault." And you might say, "Oh, I appreciate it. you know, you sticking your neck out for me and also taking the blame for this. You're trying to help someone and you're putting yourself at risk to stick your neck out for someone. Then we have out of the loop. This refers to a person in a group who is unaware of information and doesn't take part in the decisionmaking process. And you could say that this person is just out of the loop. The loop would be the people that know what's going on. And you have somebody who doesn't know what's going on. Maybe their head head is in the clouds. I don't know. But you could just say this person is out of the loop. He is completely out of the loop. So really, you might use this when talking about someone that perhaps they should know what's going on, but they're not paying attention. they're not working doing the work they should be doing. Say, "Yeah, he's kind of out of the loop." Keep in mind, you could use this the other way and say that you are in the loop. And in that case, it's the opposite. You know what's happening. You are aware of what's going on if you are in the loop. And maybe I ask you, you know, please keep me in the loop. I don't want to be out of the loop. I want to know what's going on. So, uh, please keep me in the loop. When it rains, it pours. You can see that uh I'm using a full stop at the end there because really you're going to use this idiom as a standalone statement just commenting that when one bad thing happens it's typically followed by other bad things and it just it can make the situation worse or maybe it makes your day worse and you could then say yeah when it rains it pours. You're not really helping the situation when you say this. You're not expressing any type of sympathy or anything. You're really just commenting on what the other person is telling you that, oh, I woke up late. My alarm didn't go off and I I missed the bus, so I had to try to get an Uber to the airport and then when I got there, my flight was cancelled and I had to get on a new flight. And then finally when I arrived, they lost my luggage. And they just talk about all these bad things that are going on and say, "Oh, you know, I'm sorry to hear that." you know, when it rains, it pours. Generally, it is used to talk about negative things that are going on. If somebody is talking about a lot of wonderful things, you you could also use this when and say, "Yeah, when it rains, it pours." Uh, you're really just referring to one thing that happens after the other. Um, whether good or bad, but most of the time, you're you're going to use this when somebody's talking about things that are bad that are happening. And yeah, you'd say when it rains, it pours. Once again, I want to point out a little slight difference between American English and British English because of course I I am going to say when it rains, it pours. But in the UK, you may hear someone say it never rains, but it pours. The meaning is the same, but the the phrase is a little different. The next idiom, to get something off your chest. This just means to tell someone about something that has been worrying you. Maybe it's uh making you feel a little guilty for some time and you need to tell someone and you just need to get something off your chest. I think we can all relate to this and typically you would tell someone who's close to you. So I told you that my wife and I have been through thick and thin. So, I I feel comfortable telling her things that I that have been worrying me, and I just want to get it off my chest. I will add one little nuance. You may end up saying this to someone that you need to tell them something that's worrying you, that could upset this person. And it's like you're saying, "I I need to tell you something. You're not going to want to hear it. you may not like it, but I I need to get it off my chest. It's good to get things off your chest, but who knows? Maybe afterwards if that person is angry with you and then you're going to be in the doghouse. So, but but in general, I think it's good to confess and just get things off of our chest. Then we have to be on thin ice. This idiom really means what it says. You can see in this picture right here, somebody is standing on thin ice. It's starting to crack. it is not a good position to be in. So, you're really you're you're doing something that is dangerous. It involves risk and and you're on thin ice. So, once again, uh give you an example. I don't know why I'm just giving you these examples like I'm forgetting uh I'm forgetting birthdays. I forgot to buy her a birthday present. Um maybe my wife. So, right now I'm on thin ice. I think sometimes you may use this when you're giving a warning to someone that uh they're they're saying something to you, whether a friend or your partner, and you are upset, and you're like, "Stop right there. You're you're on thin ice. You are in a dangerous position. So, you better just and and zip it because you are on thin ice." Then we have to throw caution to the wind. This is a little bit of the the opposite of being on thin ice. This is when you are going to stop being careful and do something that is dangerous or that might result in failure and you're going to throw caution to the wind. I don't think we need to uh take any chances. Now is not the time to throw caution to the wind. So keep that in mind when you are you're you're not being careful and in that case you are throwing caution to the wind. I'm using it in the negative down here because you may I may tell you instead of like I'm telling you to be careful and in that case I look don't throw caution to the wind. All right? Don't do don't take any unnecessary chances or risk don't throw caution to the wind. So in that case I'm using it in the the negative. So, I'm telling you to be careful. So, something to keep in mind, you may end up using this in the affirmative, the negative. I I personally think a lot of times it's used in the negative, saying, "Look, don't throw caution to the wind." And it's another way of telling somebody to be careful. This uh you know, this this cat trying to jump off the boat onto land. Sometimes you just you got to throw caution to the wind and go for it. Uh it's it's very risky, but you know that cat wanted to to get off the boat and just you know you got to throw caution to the wind and see what happens. The next idiom is to hang on someone's every word. This means to listen carefully to what someone is saying because you admire this person, you respect them and you're also you are captivated by this individual. And this is a great way to say that you are paying close attention because you're so captivated and you are hanging on this person's every word. Throughout the lecture, I was hanging on his every word. I hope that throughout this lesson, you have been hanging on my every word and you are really paying close attention to these idioms, trying to understand how they're used in context and really organizing your thoughts. And I think that you are able to do this because you are someone who has their ducks in a row. All right, that's that's just what I think. I think you got your ducks in a row and you're going to be able to learn all of these idioms because you are hanging on my every word. At least that's what I would like to think that that you are doing. But good idiom if you want to express that uh that level of excitement and interest if you're listening to somebody whether it's a lecture, a presentation, or even somebody telling a story and you are hanging on their every word. [sighs] Mums the word. All right. This is uh I think also used as a standalone statement, but this this is said when you want to tell someone that uh you're trying to keep a secret. So, I tell you a secret. Don't don't tell anybody. This is a secret. This is between you and me. Mum's the word. I don't want anyone else to get wind of this. So, I trust you. I don't want people to get wind of it. So, mum's the word. You really I I think we've all been in the situation. We tell somebody something that we don't want them to repeat to another person and you feel like you need to actually say that you need to tell this person, look, this is a secret. Don't tell anyone. So, this is more of a casual informal way of saying don't tell anyone. Mum's the word. I think it's a I think it's more of a fun way to say that to put a pin in it or put a pin in this. It really just means to take a break from discussing some topic with plans to resume the discussion later. And you could say, "Look, we'll we'll put a pin in it." So, you're you're really going to follow it with it or this. You don't have to, but most of the time you will because it's like you the the other person already knows what it is you're talking about. you're having this discussion about something and you want to say okay let's talk about it later and that is why we're going to say put a pin in it meaning the thing that you've been talking about or this let's put a pin in this for for right now and we'll come back to it later. So once again I think this is one that you could use in more of a work context with a team. you're discussing something and maybe you feel like you're getting sidetracked like look, okay, we don't need to be talking about this right now. Let's put a pin in it and we'll come back to it later and then we'll just focus on this other thing. Keep in mind this is definitely different than take a rain check because remember take a rain check, you're saying look, we're not going to do it now, we'll do it some other time. That's really more about an invitation. This is about a discussing a topic. And when you say, "Let's put a pin in it." I do think people actually intend to discuss it later. It's not like take a rain check, in which case, look, I may ignore your invitation. In this case, if you say, "Let's put a pin in it." I think the intention is certainly to resume and come back to the topic at a later time in the future. But once again, I think it's a great one to know and use, especially in a work situation when you say, "Okay, let's we'll come back to it. Let's put a pin in it for now. Ring a bell. And it just means to sound familiar. Maybe I say, "Well, look, his name it just it doesn't ring a bell. It doesn't sound familiar to me." So, we're talking about being able to recall some information or remember something and instead of using sound familiar because they're really interchangeable, you could use ring a bell. Maybe you know some of these idioms and I hope that some of these idioms ring a bell and you're like, "Oh, yeah. Yeah, this one sounds familiar. I've heard it before or I've learned this before. Or maybe it's new. And you say, "Well, this idiom, I've never heard this before. It just does not ring a bell." [laughter] Okay, but if if some of these idioms ring a bell, let me know. Ring that like button uh down below. Let me know if if some of these idioms ring a bell and you you've heard them before. Maybe you've used them and that's even better. Names that ring a bell. You hear this name. Oh yeah, that rings a bell. Or uh Robert Dunlap, does the name ring a bell? He invented something you probably rode on this morning. Maybe it doesn't ring a bell. Dunlap, it's talking about like tires. It was like a a brand or company. Tire company. Anyway, that's what they mean by that. probably something you wrote on this morning or just I I've said it before, it doesn't ring a bell. And that is a phrase that someone would use instead of saying it doesn't sound familiar. It doesn't ring a bell. Off the hook. This means when you are free from blame or from an annoying obligation, you are off the hook. Either one. So you make a mistake. I am Yeah. I'm, you know, I'm not going to punish you. and I can say, "Look, you're you're off the hook." All right? Or an annoying obligation. I invite you to um come to my party and you don't want to go. You say, "Look, I I'll take a rain check." And then I know I'm like, "Okay, all right. They just they don't want, okay, don't worry about it. You don't have to come to my party. I know that there's something else that you've got going on. Don't worry about it. You're off the hook." So, in that case, you're free from from some annoying obligation. But I would hope that if I had a party that you would you'd want to come to my party and hang out and uh and have a good time. Great idiom. I know I've said that a bunch, but this time I mean it. Great idiom to know to be off the hook. Pay through the nose for something. This is uh an idiom that you can use to really emphasize that you are paying too much for something and you pay through the nose. I I will say to add, you know, a little bit of a nuance to this, I think it's really you're you're paying too much for something like more than the fair price. So, think about uh a price that may change. All right. Now, are you thinking about, oh, wait, what prices may change? airline tickets, hotel prices. So, you're gonna travel over the holidays. Well, during the holidays, the airline the the price of an airline ticket goes up. You're going to pay through the nose. Pay more for something more than the fair price. Wherever you stay at a hotel, the prices are going to go up because it's the it's a holiday. You're going to pay through the nose. So, keep that in mind when you're using this idiom. you are emphasizing that you're paying more for something, too much for something, more than the fair price. Generally, when the prices fluctuate because of supply and demand, airline tickets, hotel prices, and there are other things as well in which the the prices may fluctuate and you end up paying through the nose. to bite the bullet. This means to force yourself to do something unpleasant or difficult. You don't want to do it. You've been avoiding this thing and you maybe now you cannot avoid it any longer and you have to bite the bullet. Despite her fear of public speaking, she had to bite the bullet and give the presentation. Maybe, I don't know, maybe she's just going to wing it and didn't plan anything. Perhaps if somebody uh does not have their ducks in a row and they're going to give a presentation, I'm just going to wing it and yeah, they they don't want to, but they're going to have to bite the bullet. But in this case, we're referring mostly to somebody's fear of public speaking, which again is something that I think we can all relate to. Uh getting up there in front of a large audience, you don't want to do it. You find it unpleasant, you gotta do it. [laughter] This is a fun little meme for all of you office fans out there. I love the office, which is why I I put this in there. And it says false. Bullets travel at uh 1,100 ft per second. Say goodbye to your teeth. Now, of course, we're not talking about this idiom in a literal sense, but if there's something unpleasant that you don't really want to do and you have to do it, you're going to have to bite the bullet. Then we have to be in a pickle. I thought that again, cute, adorable little picture, but that kitten is in a pickle. It just means to be in a difficult situation. So, instead of saying I'm in a difficult situation, you could say, "I'm in a pickle." Now, it's a a difficult situation that is not catastrophic like really uh end of the world problems. Generally, I think you might use this when you're talking about a difficult situation that is frustrating. Um you don't want to be in but and you just want to express that when saying that, yeah, I'm kind of in a pickle. I don't know what to do. Something happened. My flight got cancelled. I'm not sure to if I want to find another flight or just cancel the trip. I'm kind of in a pickle right now. Can you help me? I'm in a pretty pickle. Now, in the example, you notice that I added the word pretty. You may hear people use that when using this idiom to be in a pretty pickle. If I'm going to use this, I would just say, uh, I'm in a pickle. That kitten is in a bit of a pickle, but I think if it if it drops to the ground, I I imagine the cat will be fine. Red tape. This is one that I I feel like probably maybe you've heard of it. You're you're familiar with it because I I think often it's used especially if you read the news uh and you're talking about government or business official rules and processes that seem unnecessary and delay results. So, as an example, there was a lot of red tape in order to get the construction permits. When talking about government, I'll give you an example, perfect example. I, you know, live a live abroad with my family and we got to go and do this immigration stuff. We got to get a residence card. Um, all all of these different things. And there is quite a bit of red tape. For any of you who live in another country, maybe you're dealing with a green card, residence card, and you feel like you have to deal with a lot of red tape. Very common idiom. And that's why I wanted to share it with you. Very useful if you want to talk about that situation. And oh, it's just frustrating. There's so much red tape. I think we can we can all relate to this in one way or another. Here is a fun little comic using this phrase. The office supply store is having a sale on red tape this week, but it will take us 9 months to approve the purchase because there's a lot of red tape in order to get that approval. So, I think you can you get the joke and see why it's funny. There's a lot of red tape, even though red tape is something that is is mostly very frustrating. Here is the next idiom I want to share with you. Hindsight is 2020. This refers to looking back on a situation or an an event and having a clearer understanding of how uh things could have been done better. Now, I again I just know how it is in the US. I don't know um in in other countries if you go and get your eyes tested 2020 means that you have perfect vision. So I I need glasses. I I do not have 2020 vision. But it it basically means hindsight looking back when you think about the past and think about the things that happened. Of course, you're now able to look at it and say, "Ah, I should have done this or I should have done that. That was a mistake." Hindsight is 2020. So you're basically commenting that well and maybe somebody maybe you are expressing some frustration like oh you know I should have done this I should have done that and I just tell you yeah you know hindsight is 2020 the ability to look back at something you you can see things clearly I should have seen this coming but you know what they say hindsight is 2020 and again it is more of a standalone statement when you use this uh idiom hindsight is 2020 Look on the bright side. This is used when you want to well try to cheer someone up and tell them to think positively even though there's some bad situation. Maybe you are maybe you're on thin ice and because of a mistake that you made at work. And I say, "Well, look on the bright side. Now you understand what you've done wrong because hindsight is 2020 and you are never going to make that mistake again and you can move forward and do things the correct way from now on. The one thing I will say which I didn't really give in this example, oh it's not so bad, try to look on the bright side. I when people use this even though it's not in the example when you tell someone look on the bright side the expectation is that you're then going to say why the other person should stay positive or what is the good that is going to come out of this when you tell someone look on the bright side out of your league you're going to use this when talking about a person when someone or something I generally think you're going to talk about a person uh is too good or expensive expensive for uh someone to have. So in this I said, "Oh, she's definitely out of your league." So this is why I said you're you're often going to use this when talking about a person. When I was younger, I was attracted to this woman. She was incredibly beautiful, but all my friends told me, "Look, she is out of your league. She is too beautiful for you." Sadly, this is actually true. This is something that my friends uh told me a long time ago. I might be interested uh in some girl like, "Oh, I'm going to ask her out. She's so beautiful." And they're like, "Dude, don't don't even try. She is out of your league. She is too beautiful for you." So, you could say that somebody is out of their league maybe because they're too beautiful or too intelligent or too anything could have to do with social class. And it it could go the other way around. Maybe uh a man, he is out of your league. But generally, I feel like it's used in that context. Maybe because that's my personal experience with it that uh you a man is attracted to some woman they say look she is out of your league. Now to go back to the meaning and saying that something maybe a car or you're trying to buy a home and look like look you're never going to be able to afford this. It is way out of your league. You could use it in that context, but generally I feel like it's often talking about, you know, dating, wanting to ask someone out and say, "Look, she's out of your league." But again, maybe that's because of my own personal experience with this idiom and people just constantly telling me she's out of your league. Not only am I out of your league, you're not even playing the same sport. So, it's kind of a fun little take on this idiom. Jump on the bandwagon. This means to start doing something because it's fashionable, popular, or maybe profitable. There are many reasons why someone may jump on the bandwagon. Uh once the team started winning, many people jumped on the bandwagon. I think often it's used in that context. A sports team, they suddenly start winning, they become more and more popular, and then all of a sudden everybody's a fan. Oh, they I love this team. It's my favorite team. No, no, you just jumped on the bandwagon. But you could uh use this in let's think about the context of something that's profitable and a lot of some a business they start making money selling something and then other companies they jump on the bandwagon because it's profitable and they also want to follow this trend and try to make money and jump on the bandwagon. Fun idiom to use to cloud one's judgment. I like this book because it is a little more specific. It just means to impair one's ability to think clearly and make sound decisions. And I say it's precise because there are, you know, different moving parts uh to the situation. If I'm saying that, look, something is clouding your judgment. Perhaps you have a a history with with someone. Maybe you know someone and you you and this person have been through thick and thin and uh somebody tells you, "Look, they they stole something from me." You're like, "That's impossible. I I know this person so well." And I may tell you, look, because you are so close to this individual, perhaps it's clouding your judgment and that you have this history and therefore you're unable to clearly understand the situation or or make a sound decision if your judgment is clouded. His emotions clouded his judgment during the negotiations. So that's why I said there are other moving parts typically when you're in a situation, you're trying to make a decision or like some negotiation and your judgment is clouded because of something else. Great idiom to use in that context when you want to say, "Look, you're not going to be able to make a sound decision or think clearly because something is clouding your judgment." Monday morning quarterback. This is definitely an American idiom because well the football is a sport that is incredibly popular in the US. I guess it is becoming more and more popular uh in other parts of the world as well. But generally speaking, a Monday morning quarterback is a person who criticizes the actions or decisions of others after the fact. And keep that in mind. you are criticizing these decisions because you could say, "Well, hindsight is 2020. Now you know what you should have done." But if I'm criticizing it, well, why the hell did you do this? This was such a stupid mistake. Then it's like, I'm I'm playing Monday morning quarterback. To give you more context, typically all the football games are played on Sunday. So, of course, on Monday, you can look back and then criticize the decisions that were made by quarterbacks. Why did they throw that ball? Why? Why did they throw that pass? That was a bad pass. Bad decision. And you're playing Monday morning quarterback. So, this is certainly more of an American idiom, one that you are going to hear and use in the US. To weather the storm. This means to be able to continue doing something despite serious problems. And you're in a situation that is difficult, but you're trying to say, "I I think we can continue. I think we can move forward and we're going to try to weather the storm. Here's another example more related to like a business uh context. The company is confident it can weather the storm of economic uncertainty. So whether we're talking about business or just life in general, uh you're maybe trying to make ends meet, but inflation has been a problem all all over the world. And I think all of us in some way we're we're trying to weather the storm and get to the other side. It's a little more uh problematic. Things are more expensive and we're trying to weather the storm and just continue and keep going. The next idiom is one that I imagine you've heard this idiom. For some reason, when people teach idioms, th this is like one of the first idioms all teachers uh will will go over with their students, and that is raining cats and dogs. This just means to rain very heavily. Personally, I don't feel like I use this idiom that often, but I think it's still one that you may come across. It it's good to know if you want to add emphasis talking about the weather and just say, "Wow, it's it's raining cats and dogs." Keep in mind one slight mistake that I've heard people use, they try to switch cats and dogs and oh, it's raining dogs and cats. That does sound a little bit awkward. So, I would just stick with this phrase right here. Raining cats and dogs. Don't forget your umbrella. It's raining. I almost said it right there. I just told you not to do it. I almost said it. Don't forget your umbrella. It's raining cats and dogs out there. So um then we have the next idiom which is to pull some strings. If you are pulling strings or pulling some strings, this just means to secretly use influence you have over important people in order to get something uh or to help someone. So maybe I am applying for a job and you know the person who is going to hire uh the person for the job and I might ask you and I say hey you know can can you pull some strings and see if you can help me get this job because you know the person who is in charge of hiring or here's another example down below. I was able to pull a few strings and get you on an earlier flight. Maybe this is something that uh a gate attendant might tell someone at the airport and they're able to pull a few strings and help out a passenger. Now, keep in mind uh you may often say pull some strings or pull a few strings. Both of them mean the same thing and they are commonly used. The next idiom is ballpark figure or you you may just say ballpark, but basically you're talking about an educated guess or estimation. So maybe I I ask you, how much is this car worth? And you say, well, I don't really know. Just give me a ballpark or give me a ballpark figure. Essentially, I'm asking you to make your best guess when you are giving me a ballpark figure. So like just in this question down below, can you can you give me a ballpark figure? That that's all I want to know. Then we have the idiom tow the line. This means to do what you are expected to do without causing trouble for anyone and you are just trying to tow the line. Maybe this is used in a situation in which you're not trying to cause any controversy. You don't want you don't like confrontation and even if you disagree with something or maybe you disagree with someone, you're not going to cause a lot of trouble and you're just trying to tow the line. employees who refuse to tow the line will be let go. up. This is more of an informal idiom and it just means to ask someone for something. Generally speaking, I I think you're going to use this when maybe asking for money and I might hit you up for a loan or I just need a few bucks and yeah, I'm just going to hit you up for some cash. So, that's not always the case, but I I think quite often if you hear someone using this idiom or you want to use it yourself, you're probably going to be talking about money. Now, we have just learned a lot of idioms in this lesson. I don't expect you to remember all of them. Remember, you can check out the link down below in the description if you'd like to get these lesson notes. And uh yeah, I will see you soon for another lesson in the future. So long. --- ## 76. 50 Collocations to QUICKLY Build Your Vocabulary in 2025 | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `d8N3ZSU0B_U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8N3ZSU0B_U) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:30:20 | --- Today I'm going to teach you 50 different collocations. That's coming up. [Music] Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today it it's all about helping you build your vocabulary because I am going to teach you 50 different collocations. And if you don't know what a collocation is, it is a word or phrase that is often followed by another word or phrase. And there are many different types of collocations. But in today's lesson, I want to teach you 50 different adjective noun collocations. So all of these phrases are adjectives that are commonly followed by different nouns. So let's begin with our first collocation using the adjective high. And you might hear people talk about high school. This is a time period in a person's education. You have middle school, high school, and then university. Or maybe somebody's talking about high ground. In which case, you need to get to a higher or elevated position. Maybe there's a flood and somebody says, "We we need to get to high ground." Or high tech. This just means advanced technology. And you could say, "Wow, this this stuff it's it's really high-tech. the technology is advanced. Or somebody could have high standards. It and that means that they just want the best for themselves. And you could say, well, I have really high standards when it comes to food or when it comes to places to stay, hotels. You have high standards. Or a high degree of certainty. This means that you really you believe and you know that something is going to happen. Next, we have collocations with the adjective big. And we use this to really emphasize the the noun that it's describing. For example, there could be a big mistake and you're really trying to say that, wow, okay, this is a real problem and somebody made a big mistake. Or maybe there is a big surprise. It's not your normal surprise, it's a big surprise. You could also say something is a big deal. This emphasizes that that this thing is very important and you could say it's a big deal. A person may also need to make a big decision. This is talking about a very important decision and you will often hear somebody say, "Look, you know, I I really have a big decision to make. It's very important. It's a big decision." And finally, you could hear somebody say big money, which means you're you're talking about a lot of money that may be coming your way. Big money. The next adjective that I have for you is little. And you would hear this used with a variety of nouns such as little boy or little girl. This is just describing well describing somebody's age perhaps. But you got to be careful. It may not be polite sometimes to call somebody a little boy or a little girl. You could also say little thought. In this case, somebody might say that, well, you gave this little thought. You really didn't think about it much. Or perhaps a little bit. This is talking about an amount. There is a little bit or little time. If you don't have a lot of time to do something, you could say, well, we we have very little time. We need to get moving because we have little time. Then we have the adjective heavy. And you could say, well, somebody is a heavy drinker or a heavy smoker. It means that they they do this a lot. Or maybe there is heavy traffic. If there are many cars on the road, you could describe that and say, "Wow, there's there's really heavy traffic today." Or perhaps there there's heavy rain. And it means that it is it's raining a lot. If it's raining, if it's really coming down, you could describe it and say there's heavy rain. If you're out driving in the heavy rain, then and there's heavy traffic, it's likely there will be a traffic jam. You could finally say that someone is a heavy sleeper. And this means that well, they once they go to sleep, you can make all the noise that you want because you are not going to wake this person up. They are a heavy sleeper. Now, because we just talked about heavy, then I I think it's only appropriate that our next adjective is light. And we can use this to say the opposite of many of those that I just talked about. So, instead of somebody being a heavy drinker or a heavy smoker, you could say that that someone is a light drinker or a light smoker. You could say that someone is a light sleeper, in which case any kind of noise would probably wake this person up. They're not a heavy sleeper. They are a light sleeper. I I think I am more of a light sleeper. I wake up pretty easily at night if there is any kind of noise. So, when I go to bed, I really I just want silence. You could also say light rain. If it's just it's not raining that much outside, perhaps it's just starting to rain. It's not heavy rain, it's just a little light rain. You don't need your umbrella just yet because it's only a little light rain. If if talking about wind, you could say that well there is a light breeze that it's not well it it it's not very windy. It's just well there's a light breeze which I think it's kind of nice when you walk outside and there's a light breeze. And finally, you could say there is a light shade. And in this case, you're you're pretty much talking about a color. A light shade of red or a light shade of blue or a light shade of green, a light shade of some color. Then we have the adjective strong, which I think is a great adjective. And you can use this to describe many nouns. For example, you could say a strong argument. If you are debating with someone, you want to make sure that that you are presenting a strong argument. You could also have a strong feeling about something or maybe something you want a strong desire. If talking about well the wind instead of a light breeze, you could say there is a strong breeze or even a strong wind. We can also use it with the word evidence and and say that there is strong evidence. Police when they're trying to solve a crime, they they really they're looking for strong evidence. You could also say that someone has a strong hand. And in in this case, they're not really talking about your hands. You could be talking about cards. If you're playing cards, you have a hand of cards. And you could say you have a strong hand. But it could also be referring to somebody's position that you have a position of power. And you could refer to that and say, well, you know, right now I have a very strong hand. I'm in a very good position. a position of power. I have a strong hand. Another common way this adjective is used is when talking about a strong relationship. And this just means that well, you could use it to talk about maybe a family member or your friends or even a romantic relationship, husband and wife. And you say, "Okay, we just have a strong relationship. We believe in each other. We trust each other. We have a strong relationship." I I think that we you and I we have a strong relationship because you you watch our video lessons, you write to me in the comments, which I love hearing from you. And because of that, I can say that we have a strong relationship. You and I, at least I hope we do. The next adjective is deep. And we can use this with nouns such as deep thought. That you are you are really thinking about something. And you would say that somebody, you know, they're they're in deep thought. They're really focused and and they're really trying to think about some serious topic. Or maybe somebody you could describe a person and say that they have a deep voice. Describing the way that they talk. So for example, this is my deep voice. And it's it's really bad. That's a very terrible example, but you you kind of get the idea. If you want to describe the way somebody sounds their voice, you could say they have a deep voice. It's down here in the chest. You could also use it with sleep and say that that somebody is in a deep sleep. Even if somebody is is not a heavy sleeper, but they're so tired they're they're just in a deep sleep. You could also say that somebody takes a deep breath. Or maybe they are you could describe a person and say that they are in a deep depression. They're very sad. It It is a very intense depression. It is a deep depression. Another way you could use this adjective is deep down. And often I think somebody would say deep down inside talking about uh a feeling. A feeling that's deep down inside. Then we have the adjective fast. And you could say that well somebody gets off to a fast start. They begin but they do so quickly and they get a fast start. You could also describe a person and say that well he or she is a fast talker. You could well let's let's continue describing people and you could say that someone is fast asleep. If they if this person is sleeping you can use this expression and say well you know they're fast asleep. They're sleeping soundly. They're fast asleep. You may also hear somebody talk about uh a fast pace that you need to move kind of quickly and continuously and you might need to keep a fast pace. Another very common collocation would be fast food. I think uh all of us uh are familiar with different fast food restaurants. And I could also say that someone perhaps you I could say that you are a fast learner that you watch these video lessons and you are building your vocabulary because you are a fast learner. You you learn quickly. And well quick is the next adjective that that I want to talk about because it's it's a little similar to fast but we use it with different nouns. For example, we could use it with the word glance and and say quick glance to really describe something that that you saw for just a very very short period of time and and you just got a quick glance. You just you looked at it and then that that's it. That's it. That's a quick glance right there. You could also say that uh you're going to get a quick bite. In which case you're you're talking about you're you're going to eat. You're going to get something to eat very quickly. you're just going to grab a quick bite to eat. Or maybe you want to get a quick shower. You you're telling somebody that, "Well, you need to shower. You're not going to spend a long time in there. You're just going to get a quick shower." And during a presentation, somebody might give you a quick recap. They're going to review whatever they just said, and they're going to do it quickly. They're going to give you a quick recap. Or perhaps uh a person might need to make a quick decision when when you really have to think fast. you don't have a lot of time, you need to make a quick decision. Now, let's move well more to the opposite meaning and talk about the adjective slow. And we can use it with nouns such as well growth or progress. I think quite quite often you would hear it used with these nouns when talking about perhaps the the work that somebody's doing or or you might say, well, you know, we're just we're we're making slow progress. We're not going very fast. We we didn't get off to a fast start and right now we're just making slow progress and because of that the company the business is experiencing slow growth. I'm sure many of you have heard it with the word motion and talking about slow motion to describe the way well somebody is moving or or something that you're watching that things were moving in slow motion. I'm just going to move on to the next collocation and talk about a slow day. And if somebody says that, well, it's a slow day, it just means it's not very busy. I often think people would use this collocation when when talking about work that they're not very busy at their job and they say, you know, today it was a slow day. And you could also use it to describe a person and say that someone is a slow learner that that they're not a fast learner. It takes them a little more time to understand and comprehend different things. You could say, well, they're a slow learner. I think sometimes with with many things, I I am a bit of a slow learner. I really like to take my time and quite often I need to review things and and do it numerous times before I understand. So I could say, yeah, you know, I'm a slow learner, but that's okay. I I don't expect you to watch this lesson and remember every single one of these collocations for the rest of your life. It's all about getting exposure reading, listening, and then practicing because that is the best way to build your vocabulary and remember these phrases. And that's what I want to do right now. I want to practice using some of these collocations. I am going to give you a sentence and the adjective is missing. The first sentence that I have for you is I need you to make a m decision. I need you to make a m decision. Which adjective are you going to use? I hope you said I need you to make a quick decision. When you have to think fast, you need to make a quick decision. The next one is even though our neighbor threw a party, I didn't wake up because I am a m sleeper. Even though our neighbor had a party, I didn't wake up because I am a sleeper. In this case, I hope that you said heavy. A heavy sleeper. You can just sleep through anything, including your neighbor's party. Then we have uh I'm going to Vegas and I hope to win some m money this weekend. I'm going to Vegas and I hope to win some money this weekend. If you're going to Vegas and you're going to gamble, of course you want to win some big money. I'm going to Vegas and I hope to win some big money this weekend. The next sentence is, "Scientists believe that the climate will continue to change with a m degree of certainty." I think you should remember this one. Scientists believe that climate will continue to change with a m degree of certainty. I hope that you said high. We're talking about a high degree of certainty that somebody well they're pretty sure that that this is going to happen. And finally, I would tell you the sentence and I would say I think you are a mle learner. And I really do. I think you are a marner. And of course, you should have said fast. All right. I don't think you're a slow learner. I think you are a fast learner. And I think if you really if you continue to read, if you continue to listen, if you continue to watch these video lessons, that is going to help you build your vocabulary. It's going to help you remember these different collocations, and that is then going to help you improve your overall English fluency. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. And as always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next --- ## 77. 50 Idioms Native Speakers Use Daily | 60 Minutes to Sound American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BcUlPYGdsJo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcUlPYGdsJo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:44:22 | --- I have an incredible lesson for you teaching you over 50 different idioms and expressions that you can use in casual conversation and I'll teach you the meaning, talk about how they're used as well as give you a variety of examples. And because we're talking about vocabulary that is often used in spoken English, let's begin with some idioms and expressions that have the word speak or talk. I am going to speak my mind and I'm going to tell you exactly what I think about these idioms and expressions. And this is actually the first idiom that I want to teach you. And that is to speak one's mind. It means to say what you're thinking openly and honestly. And when it comes to well the word mind, you're really referring to a person's thoughts. Similar to the way somebody would ask, well, what's on your mind? In this case, they're asking, "What are you thinking?" But as far as speaking your mind, in that case, you are speaking and saying and sharing your thoughts with another person. And you may hear people use this as like a standalone statement, kind of like giving a command to another person. And you would say, "Hey, speak your mind." And in this situation, probably the other person is thinking something and they want to say what they're thinking, but perhaps they they just haven't yet. And you are just telling them, "Hey, I want to know what you're thinking. Speak your mind. Tell me openly and honestly." Or you could use this to encourage a person to to speak honestly and say, "Hey, don't be afraid to speak your mind." All right? You should share what you're thinking honestly and openly. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. You don't think we can win? May I speak my mind? Your grace. Speaking your mind, Lord Car. I think you lost this war. In this lesson, I am going to teach you a lot of different idioms and expressions that all have the word speak or talk. Not only am I going to give you the meaning, but I will talk to you about how the idiom and expression is used because if you're going to use them, you want to make sure that you are using them in the correct context. The next one that I have for you is speaking from experience. This means that you are talking about something having had prior experience so that you what you have to say is more credible and and that you have a worthwhile viewpoint. And and really I I think the key word is credible because if somebody says well speaking from experience, it's kind of like you're letting somebody know that well you are an authority figure when it comes to this topic or this situation because you have prior experience. Now just because somebody says this and they say speaking from experience that does not necessarily mean that they are a professional. It just means that this person has some experience. So perhaps they have some valuable insight. So you may hear people share their viewpoint and then say, "Well, I'm speaking from experience so that you know this person is credible." Or you you can use this as an introductory phrase before sharing your viewpoint. So I I could say speaking from experience. I think one of the best ways to learn another language is to continuously get exposure to the language. And I'm I'm talking about my experience when I was learning both Spanish and Korean. I would try to get as much exposure to each language listening and reading and then I would try to practice using the language with speaking and writing. And I I'm just speaking from experience. Okay? So I tried to use it both ways. Once to introduce my viewpoint and then again just to reaffirm it at the end and tell you, hey, I'm speaking from experience. Secrets create barriers between people. Speaking from experience, believe me. The next idiom that I have for you is to talk one's ear off. And what this means is to talk to someone for a long time, often excessively and loudly. So really, it's a situation in which you feel like the conversation should be shorter, but it just goes on and on and on because the person is talking your ear off. Now, it it's not really a good thing, but because it could be more negative if you say someone is talking your ear off because people may not like that, but people also use this jokingly as well. Perhaps my my wife might say, "Hey, if you start talking about football, my husband is going to talk your ear off." which tells you that I am a fan of the sport and that I like to talk about it and I might talk about it a little too much and talk your ear off. Now, this is an idiom that you may not often say directly to another person. Perhaps you might use it apologetically and say, "Hey, you know, sorry for talking your ear off." In which case, you're letting the person know that you're probably talking a little too much. But more often you may use this idiom to talk about well another person and say that they were talking your ear off about some topic. Uh I could say I went to the party last night and I saw one of my work colleagues and he just started talking my ear off about a presentation that he has to give next week and it's a party. I I don't want to talk about work. So, I quickly tried to get out of that conversation. And then I talked to the host of the party who who was just complaining about the weather and was going on and on about it and was just talking my ear off. So, I I wanted to get out of that conversation and ultimately I just left the party. So, those are a couple of examples using this idiom to talk one's ear off. You two have a great time getting to know each other. Don't let this one talk your ear off. She's the type of girl who just loves to talk. That's Mrs. Watch how she will talk your ear off right now. I want to take a moment to tell you about my speaking course. And I I'm just going to speak my mind and I will try not to talk your ear off. So, Speak Up is a course for intermediate to advanced speakers. And it's really all about trying to help you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Check out the link in the description if you would like to join or learn more information. And when you click on that link and go to the course page, you will find a special discount just for you. So each week there is a different speaking topic. You will learn vocabulary related to that topic. We do engaging speaking activities at the beginning of each lesson. We warm up with something related to pronunciation or connected speech. There are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course. In addition, I'll teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases. So, click on the link below if you would like to sign up. And I really hope you consider enrolling because perhaps you are someone who thinks, "Yeah, I would like to practice and improve my speaking skills." And maybe you tell this to yourself, but in the end, actions speak louder than words. actions speak louder than words. So, this is actually a proverb, which means that actions are more revealing of one's true character because it it's easy just to say things and make promises, and it takes more effort to actually do something and follow through. Actions speak louder than words. Now, you can use this proverb in a variety of situations like uh perhaps somebody is just talking about some of the things that they want to do or they're planning to do and maybe you don't really believe this person. You could use this proverb and say, "Hey, actions speak louder than words." In this case, it's like you're telling them, "Hey, show me. All right, don't just talk about it. Let's see you do it." Or you could use this in a situation in which somebody talks about one thing, but then their actions are doing like completely the opposite. And I I can give you a great example when it comes to this. Think about politicians. They like to say things all the time, say the things they're going to do or say the things they believe in. But when it comes time to vote, which would be the their action, they do the exact opposite. So in this case, you could say, "Hey, actions speak louder than words. Your actions really reveal your your true character and what you truly believe in." Actions speak louder than words. Uh he's he's just a loader. They don't allow them to communicate. But what if he has something to say? Actions speak louder than words. The next expression is one that I really like and it's one that I hear from time to time and that is like talking to a brick wall. And what this means is that you are unsuccessfully trying to persuade or reason or talk with someone who just does not listen or or does not react. And I think people would say this out of frustration and they would say, "Wow, it's like talking to a brick wall." And I it's a it's an expression that I think we can all relate to. Sometimes my wife says this when trying to talk to me. I I might be on the computer and I'm really concentrating on something. Maybe I have my headphones in and she is talking to me at the same time perhaps asking me something and I'm not I'm not ignoring her. I I kind of out of the corner of my eye or the corner of my ear, I can hear that that she's saying something. And the one the one thing that I do catch is her saying it's like talking to a brick wall because I'm not listening and I'm not reacting. and she would say it's like talking to a brick wall. Says it just like that. All right. Another time when you may use this expression is when you're trying to reason with someone who is just unwilling to listen. Perhaps this person is just really stubborn and it doesn't matter what you say or the reasons that you give, they're just not going to listen. And again, out of frustration, you could say it's like talking to a brick wall. What did he talk about? Did he talk about rugby? But what did he talk about? Francois, it's like talking to a brick wall. What did he say? I think he wants us to win the World Cup. Next is the phrase on speaking terms. And this just refers to a mutual relationship that is limited to uh casual greeting or just casual conversation. It it means that you're friendly enough to talk. Now, the one thing that I want you to know about this idiom is that often you're going to use it in the negative with the word not to say that you are not on speaking terms with someone in which case it's like you're saying that that you had a falling out and you and this other person you are no longer talking. So, we can actually use engram viewer to show you which one is more common. And as you can see, it's more common to say that you are not on speaking terms with someone than to use this idiom in the affirmative and say that you are on speaking terms. We're not on speaking terms or they're not on speaking terms. Now, as far as using this idiom, you may hear people use it in the context of, "Well, like there somebody is asking about someone from your past and asking like, "Hey, do you still talk to Dave and keep up with Dave?" Now, maybe I don't know that you and Dave, well, you had a falling out. And then you could tell me, "Look, yeah, we're not on speaking terms." or perhaps a situation where you're you're asking about an ex-husband or an ex-wife and then this person might say, "Well, unfortunately, we're not on speaking terms." You could also use it in a situation in which you're asking someone to talk to another person. If I asked you and say, "Hey, can you talk to Dave and convince him to join our team?" And again, I don't know that you had a falling out and you would just tell me like, "Look, we're not on speaking terms. You You should ask someone else because Dave and I, we're just not on speaking terms." Call them. The Avengers broke up. We're toast. Broke up. Kev and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms. Then we have to talk one's way into something or out of something. And it means to persuade people to do something or to not do something by the reasons that you give. So if you talk your way into something, you are persuading someone to give you something or maybe allow you to do something. Uh I could say he talked his way into getting a promotion. Okay, he got a promotion. Or we talked our way into the private party and they allowed us to enter. If you talk your way out of something, then you're persuading someone not to give you something, perhaps a punishment, or persuading them not to make you do something like chores or work. So, I could say she got pulled over by the police and she talked her way out of a driving ticket. She persuaded the police officer not to give her a ticket. Or maybe I tell you, you have to write to me in the comments. It's like I'm I'm making you do something and you are trying to talk your way out of it and persuade me not to make you do this and I'm I'm not buying it. And I say, "Look, you're not going to talk your way out of this." All right, that that is a statement that you may often hear if somebody's trying to persuade the other person and they're they just don't believe it and they're not going to fall for it. They may say, "You're not going to talk your way out of this, okay? So, comparing these two phrases, you can see that it's more common to talk your way out of something. I'm not letting you just throw your life away. I'm going to talk our way out of this. Start a new life there. Meet a local girl, fall in love, talk my way into a line job at a textile plant. And it just means at this exact moment right now and really it just adds emphasis to whatever it is you're talking about. You might say it's happening as we speak. And there's really a sense of urgency. So, you can use this phrase at the beginning of a statement and I could say, "Hey, as we speak, there is a crowd forming outside the building and perhaps a protest is going to begin." And yeah, there's a sense of urgency. Or I could use it at the end of a statement and tell you, "The plane is boarding as we speak. We need to go right now because the plane is boarding as we speak." Even as we speak, millions of children are staring at the TV instead of getting some much needed exercise. And then there's to talk some sense into someone. And this means that you are talking to someone and really trying to persuade them to see reason. scared or angry there. There's a lot of emotion involved and you may be trying to talk some sense into this person and it really implies that this other person is perhaps out of control and they're not listening to anyone. So maybe I say, "Well, look, Dave is out of control. Can you please try to talk some sense into him right now? It's like talking to a brick wall. He won't listen to me or anyone else. So please, please try to talk some sense into him." And then maybe once again you tell me, "Sorry, we're not on speaking terms. I I can't help you because Dave and I were not on speaking terms. You're gonna have to find someone else to try and talk some sense into him." Dad, mom is crazy. Can you talk some sense into her? I hope you learned some new idioms and expressions and you don't feel like I just talked your ear off this entire lesson because I know that that when you watch these videos, you're paying close attention. And because of that, I never feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. And please check out the link down in the description if you'd like to learn more about my speaking course. There are people signing up as we speak. Now, speaking from experience, and I'm talking about my teaching experience, I think it is useful for you to learn some more advanced idioms. And I don't think I need to talk you into learning these. I think you are ready. I think you're capable. So, let's have a look at some C1 and C2 idioms. And these are Cambridge's highest levels of proficiency. And without further ado, let's begin. You really need to be on the ball if you're going to follow this lesson because I am going to teach you different C1 and C2 idioms to help you build your vocabulary and improve your skills when having a casual conversation. So, let's begin with an idiom that I've already mentioned, which is on the ball. And to be on the ball is a C1 idiom and it means to be quick to understand and react to things. So it's like you're you're just really ready and alert. And often this idiom is going to follow the verb to be. And you could use it in the affirmative and say, "Look, you really need to be on the ball for the important meeting tomorrow." Or you may hear people use it in the negative and say something like, "Well, he didn't sleep much last night, so today he's just not on the ball." I always try to be on the ball when I come up with these lessons. I try to react and always give you the best information, provide some nuance. So throughout the lesson, I'm going to tell you the meaning of each idiom. And with that in mind, let's talk about the pronunciation right now. When pronouncing this idiom, linking may occur. And this is when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. And really, we're talking about linking that consonant sound of the verb to be with the vowel sound in on. I'm on the ball. You're on the ball. And it's like you can hear that consonant sound getting moved over to that preposition. And if I were to say it a little faster, she's on the ball. I'm on the ball. You're on the ball with flying colors. And that is the next idiom that I want to teach you with flying colors. This means to do something such as pass an exam successfully. And often you're going to use this with the verb pass. To pass with flying colors. It's a common collocation. both pass with flying colors and will be named finalists in our astronaut search. You pass with flying colors. Yes. You can also put the object in there right after the verb to pass something with flying colors. Well, you've passed the vetting process with flying colors. You passed the breathalyzer with flying colors. And the next one that I have for you is to turn a blind eye. This means to ignore something that you know is wrong. And unfortunately, I think we can all relate to this idiom. You see something that you know is wrong, but you don't say anything. You don't do anything. You turn a blind eye. You may follow this idiom with the preposition to to turn a blind eye to something. turned a blind eye to cheating during the quiz. Or maybe I know that Emmy stole the cookie, but I decided to turn a blind eye to the situation and I just ignored it. for pronunciation. More linking may occur with the first two words and the last two words. Turn a blind eye. Turn a blind eye. Just listen for it. For years, the government turned a blind eye to the recruitment of immigrants by the meatacking industry. Obviously, I'm not going to turn a blind eye, no matter how absurd I find all of this. Then we have the easy way out. I really like this idiom. who does not like the easy way out. So, this really refers to what is easiest in a difficult situation. And often you may use this idiom with the verb take, to take the easy way out. Have you ever taken the easy way out? When it comes to these vocabulary lessons, I try not to take the easy way out and just teach simple basic vocabulary. I try to tackle some advanced words and phrases and give you nuance and context. And to give you some context as to how this idiom is used, I have some news headlines for you. LeBron James taking the easy way out on offense? Are regulators about to take the easy way out and declare CBD a drug? African currencies are crashing and there's no easy way out. For pronunciation, we can connect those final two words way out. And really, what's going on here is intrusion. And this is when you insert a slight consonant sound between two vowel sounds in order to connect them. So way, even though it's spelled w a y, it's actually a vowel sound. way. It's a front vowel sound, which means we would insert a slight y sound in order to link it with the vowel sound in out. Way out, the easy way out. And we'll talk more about intrusion with our next idiom, which is how on earth, what on earth, why on earth? This is a great idiom for conveying some emotion. It's used when you're extremely surprised, confused, or angry about something. How on earth did this happen? Why on earth are you changing jobs? What on earth is that? Okay. And notice the way that I'm saying it, really capturing that emotion. When pronouncing this idiom, there are really two things that may occur, but it really just depends on the question word that you're using. who, what, where, when, why, how. But the two things are linking or intrusion. Let's start with linking because this is something that may or may not occur. I told you that this idiom it it can convey emotion. And when that happens, people may emphasize the individual words and possibly even speak slower, in which case you're not really going to link the words together. What on earth are you doing? How on earth did you get that? But if somebody is speaking casually and naturally, they may say it a little faster. And in that case, we can link some of these words. So, what on earth or where on earth? The other thing I'd like to point out is that what on earth that final T in what? Because I'm from the United States, I am going to pronounce it as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. And this is because it comes between two vowel sounds. What on earth? And we can link that flap T with the vowel sound in on. What on earth? Where on earth? Just listen for it. What on earth is going on here? Where on earth did you get these? Where on earth did they go? Now, you may be thinking, what about when on earth? Can we also link this phrase together? Yes, you can. But I want you to know that it is not commonly used. You can see that right here using Engram Viewer. This is a great resource to compare different words and phrases and see how frequently they are used. And as you can see, when on earth is not commonly used. If we're talking about the question words why or how, well then intrusion is going to occur. I told you it's when we insert a slight consonant sound between the two vowels. So why on earth? That's a front vowel. So we can insert a slight y between the two vowels. Why on earth? And how? This is a diff thong, but it's a back vowel. So we can insert a slight w sound. How on earth? Why on earth? How on earth? It's very slight, but just listen for it. Why on earth would we have sex? Why on earth would you turn around and give the contract to the Chinese? How on earth is that possible? And then there's in light of or really in light of something. And this means because of or as a result of and typically it's something that you learn about or become aware of and therefore a change is going to be made. So, I could say, "In light of recent events, we cancelled the match." And this is a good collocation with this idiom. In light of recent events, you may be thinking, "In light of learning new vocabulary, I'm going to hit that like button." And I would really appreciate it. And I know that you're not going to turn a blind eye to hitting that like button. For pronunciation, there are just two things that I want to point out. linking and a flap t. So the final t in light because it comes between two vowel sounds with the American accent, I am going to pronounce it as a flap t. And then I can link that soft d with the vowel sound in of. In light of. In light of. Say it with me. In light of. Good. In light of finishing the C1 idioms that I wanted to teach you, let's move on to those C2 idioms, which may not be as common, but they're great to learn because they're really going to help you express your thoughts, opinions, and feelings like this next idiom, which is at the end of your rope. It means having no strength or patience left. And it's a great way to emphasize that. And of course, you can replace that possessive pronoun with others. my rope, his rope, her rope. But I could say, "I'm at the end of my rope. Why on earth have you not already hit the like button?" Okay, it's just the only example that I can think of, but I promise I'm not going to mention it again. For pronunciation, just keep in mind that the article 'the', we're actually going to use the stronger form the because it comes before a word that begins with a vowel sound. Typically, the article comes before words that begin with a consonant, and we say that weaker 'the'. But I'm sure you already knew that because you're on the ball. We can also link the final consonant sound in end with the beginning vowel sound in of. End of. At the end of your rope. the end of your rope. I hate to do this, but uh kind of at the end of my rope. I need to borrow some money. I was at the end of my rope. The financial pressure was crazy. You're not giving me a lot of direction here. I'm at the end of my rope. To the bitter end. This is a great idiom. It means until something is finished. And it's not always interchangeable with that meaning. If I'm eating something, I could say, "Yeah, I'm going to eat my food until it is finished." I wouldn't say, "I'm going to eat my food until the bitter end." That just sounds really awkward. So, you're really going to use this idiom when talking about an outcome that may not always be the one that you want, but you're going to keep going. We may not meet the deadline, but we're going to work to the bitter end. You're just going to keep fighting. And fight is a verb that's often used with this idiom. It's a common collocation to fight to the bitter end. Let me show you. Southampton boss vows to fight to the bitter end. Youngsville police chief will fight until the bitter end in proposed investigation. Nurses warn of more strike dates in January as they fight to the bitter end. For pronunciation, there are a couple of weak words that I'd like to point out. So the week two is going to sound like t and the weak article 'the'. And then we can link the final consonant sound in bitter with the beginning vowel sound in end. Bitter end. So it's going to sound like to the bitter end. Say it with me. To the bitter end. To fight to the bitter end. Excellent. The next idiom is to get off on the right or wrong foot. And this just means to make a successful or unsuccessful start in something. Now, it's more common to use it in the negative and say that something got off on the wrong foot. The team did not get along, so the project got off on the wrong foot. It's also commonly used when talking about relationships. Two people meet each other. Doesn't go well. It's unsuccessful. It got off on the wrong foot. Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden? I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. We got off on the wrong foot here. And I believe it's cuz we're just too damn similar. You do? Absolutely. Let's pronounce this idiom. And once again, linking may occur. You can see just how common this is in spoken English. So, we can link the phrase get off on. Just keep in mind that the final T in get, once again, I'm from the US, so I will pronounce it as a flap T. Get off on. Get off on. Get off on the right foot. Get off on the wrong foot. And then there's over the top. This means too extreme and not suitable or exaggerated. So, something that's too extreme. She was supposed to buy me a small present, but her gift was way over the top. And that is a great word to emphasize this idiom. Way over the top. For something that may be exaggerated, I could say it was supposed to be a friendly competition, but his performance was a bit over the top. And that's another good word you can use with this idiom, a bit over the top. For pronunciation, there's not really much to say about this idiom. You're just going to say these three words one right after the other. Over the top. It was our fault. Our acting was way over the top. What are you talking about? You were totally believable. This is like secret agent stuff. I think a safe room is a bit over the top. But Ed thought with the two little ones, you can never be too cautious. What do you think of my news theater? Bit over the top. idiom, at the crack of dawn. This just means very early in the morning. Usually the time when the sun first appears. So, it's a great way to emphasize that you're up really early. I could say, "This morning, I got up at the crack of dawn." Or, "We'll have to get up at the crack of dawn for our flight." I hate it when that happens. Or, "My grandfather has been up since the crack of dawn." I tried to present this idiom with some different verb tenses. When pronouncing it, there are a couple of things going on. There are some overlapping sounds and this is basically when your tongue is in the same position. So at your tongue is going to come up and block the air with that stop t, but then you're just going to release right into that voiced th in the atthe. Atthe. And then we can link the final consonant sound in crack with the vowel sound in of. Crack of. At the crack of dawn. Have you ever gotten up at the crack of dawn? Let me know down in the comments. And then there's change of heart. This is when you change your opinion or the way you feel about something. Basically like a reversal in your attitude. And there are three things that I want to point out when it comes to this idiom. Number one, overwhelmingly you will use this with the verb have to have a change of heart. Number two, I want to stress that this idiom really involves feelings. So, you're not always going to use it anytime you just change your mind. So, if I told you, look, this morning I was going to make pancakes, but then I had a change of heart and I decided to cook some eggs instead. You're not really going to use this idiom in that context. I don't have deep feelings when it comes to eggs or pancakes. But if I were to say something like she was going to sell her grandmother's necklace, but she had a sudden change of heart. In this case, she has stronger feelings when it comes to this necklace. It's more meaningful. And that's also a good collocation with this idiom, a sudden change of heart. Number three, notice that because you're talking about a change in your opinion or the way you feel, most of the time people are going to use this in the past tense. So, you would say that someone had a change of heart or they had a sudden change of heart. For pronunciation, once again, more linking. We can link that first phrase had a as well as that second phrase change of had a change of heart. And you could say it easily and naturally just like that. Someone had a change of heart. Now for a little review. Idioms are a useful part of casual conversation. And I hope that learning these idioms will help your next conversation get off on the right foot. And I know they can be difficult to learn. And I don't want you to take the easy way out and avoid them. I want you to work hard to learn them. I want you to fight until the bitter end. And even if you're at the end of your rope and you're thinking to yourself, how on earth am I going to learn all these different idioms, just take it one day at a time and try to learn uh and practice a little bit each and every day. That way, the next time you have a conversation, you're really going to be on the ball when it comes to using these idioms. Now, in light of the time, and I'm not even wearing a watch, but I just need to to start wrapping things up because tomorrow I have to get up at the crack of dawn. In light of learning these C1 and C2 idioms, which are broadly used, I now want to turn your attention to a topic that is more specific. And I apologize if you feel like I'm talking your ear off, but you're doing great. Keep at it. I I really think you're on the ball. And the topic that I want to focus on right now is the military. And these are expressions that I think at one time they were they were mostly used in that that setting just by people in the military. But nowadays it it's changed and anybody might use these phrases and expressions in everyday conversation depending on on what they're talking about. So I'm going to do four things. I'll teach you the expression. I'll tell you what it means. I'll talk a little bit about how the expression came about and then tell you how people might use it in conversation today. The first expression that I have for you is boots on the ground. Now, this expression is probably still mostly used in in just a military context because it's talking about troops that are on the ground engaged in some operation and you would say that that they are going to put boots on the ground. This is an expression that became a bit more popularized after the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. And they talked about more troops being sent there, more boots on the ground. Another time you might hear this expression is from politicians when they're talking about whether or not the military might be engaged in some operation and they might have to send troops to a combat zone and put boots on the ground. It may also be used to talk about the civilian police force. At times that that they have to go out into the city for some reason or another and they're going to put boots on the ground. The next phrase is bite the bullet. Now, this is an expression that you might find more commonly used in everyday English because what it means is to endure some sort of pain or discomfort. you're you're going to suffer through something and basically you know that you're going to do this and you would say you know I I'm going to bite the bullet. I am going to endure this pain. I'll bite the bullet. So for example, maybe you lie to somebody could be your husband or wife and something happens and you you need to confess. You need to tell them the truth even though you know that you're going to experience some some pain and heartache from this but in the end you're going to do it. You're going to bite the bullet. This was a phrase that was used by soldiers during the American Civil War, but I think it can actually be traced back to a British Army officer who wrote a book and referred to an expression with a similar meaning, chew the bullet. But today, if you know that you're going to endure some sort of pain or suffering, could be physical, could be mental, you can just say, I'm going to bite the bullet. Next is the phrase got your six. somebody says got your six, then that just means that that hey, I have your back. I am watching your back and protecting you and making sure nobody's going to hurt you. So the reason somebody would say got your six is because in the military people might often refer to a clock as to where something is located. Something is in front of you at 12:00. Maybe it's to this side 3:00. Here's 9:00. And then behind you would be six. 6:00. That's it. Back of you. So somebody would say, "Hey, I got your back. Okay, showtime. Mac, I got your six. I got your six. This is an expression that you're not going to go out and use unless you are in the military or law enforcement, but it is an expression that you may hear if you're watching a TV show or movie that has to do with the military. And people will refer to the position and say, "Hey, something's at 12:00, something's at 3:00." Or if you're talking about protecting somebody and watching their back, they might say, "Got your six." You may also hear somebody say, "Watch your six," which is similar to saying, "Watch your back." Especially if the enem is behind you, they could say, "Watch your six." The next expression is bought the farm. And this is an expression where bought would would be used in the past tense. It's an informal way and saying, you know, somebody somebody bought the farm, somebody died, somebody passed away. Now, we don't know exactly how this expression came about. Some people think it has to do with with jet pilots during the 50s that when they died, the family would receive some money, some compensation, and then they could buy the land, they would buy the farm. Then we have an expression to catch flak. someone, it just means that you are being criticized, harshly criticized by this person. And we often use it with the preposition from. You catch flak from someone. So if you do something wrong at home, you might catch flak from your husband or wife or if you do something wrong at work, you might catch flak from your boss. This is an expression that that can be used by anyone. If they are describing that situation that they are going to get criticized by somebody else, then you could say, "Yeah, you know, I I'm going to catch some flak." Or if it already happened, you could tell somebody, "Yeah, I I caught a lot of flack for doing this thing." So where does this expression come from? the German air missile defense system, which they called, and I'm probably going to mispronounce this, the Fleer Abaran. If you're German, let me let me know how bad that pronunciation is, but it's an acronym for Fleer Abanan. And when pilots would would try to fly over, they would catch fire from these systems. They would catch flack. And then over years and years the expression changed to its current meaning today which is to get harshly criticized by someone to catch flack. Then we have some acronyms and those acronyms are fooar, snafu and tarfu. Now fubar is an acronym that stands for effed up beyond all recognition. The first time that I heard this expression I was watching the movie Saving Private Ryan. Even if you think the mission's foo, sir. Especially if you think the mission's fooar. What's huba? It's not a word that people might use in just their their general life. I I'm not a military person, so I don't know if this term is still used today, but this is if anything, it's more for your comprehension because you may hear this when you're watching a TV show or a movie such as the one that I just mentioned. Now, snafu stands for situation normal, all effed up. That that something happened, a normal situation, and then it just really went completely to hell. This is an expression that personally I have heard in in other contexts that if there was some situation that got screwed up and you tell someone, "Yeah, we hit a bit of a snafu. There was a problem and and then we got through this problem." You might hit a snafu. Oh, good work people. Little snafu. We're taking care of. Oh, there was a snafu in when we stopped. I called that bed and breakfast in Napa. Tiny snafu. I've already given the money to the contractor. Sorry, but the security snafu that was on you. And Tarfu is an acronym. Things are really effed up. So if you're you're describing this situation and things are really effed up, you could just say tarfu. This is an expression that to be honest, I haven't heard it in in a movie or a TV show. I'm not in the military, so I I can't really say how common these expressions are used today, but it's good to know these acronyms for your comprehension in in case you hear them. Fubar, snafu, tarfu. The next phrase is in the trenches. And this just means that you are you you're in a tough fight. You are in the midst of things. You you are in the trenches. And this expression, of course, it applies to war, but but people may also use it in other context as well, that that they're in a fight, they're down in the trenches, perhaps maybe in in a sports competition, that you're you're in the middle of this fight, you're down in the trenches. Or maybe in business, if you feel like you're in the middle of this fight, you're stuck, you got to keep fighting through, you could say that, you know, you're in the trenches. So during a war like World War I, they would dig trenches. They would dig these trenches in the ground. And when the enemy would fire, they'd get in the trenches, try to protect themselves. It was a tough situation, but it was a way for them to survive, to keep fighting. They were in the trenches. Next, we have the expression no man's land. dangerous area that or maybe a topic that that can't be discussed. No man's land. And where this expression comes from, it's talking about the area between two opposing armies. And that area when when people would dig those trenches and they were they were stuck there, they were fighting. That area in between those two armies, that was no man's land. Nobody would go in that area. That is a very dangerous place to be. No man's land. Then we have the expression nuclear option. Now th this is an expression that's used today in US politics. And what it means is that you are just going to destroy everything in instead of having a debate. So just a quick little civics lesson in the United States Senate that this is where they would debate legislation. But if one party has control and they don't want to debate, they may opt for a nuclear option, which means they're not going to allow a debate. They're just going to destroy everything and do what they want. This expression refers to nuclear warfare, a nuclear bomb. When in the military, when people might discuss a nuclear option, they're talking about dropping a nuclear bomb, which would destroy everything. But nowadays, if you hear this term, then you're probably watching something or reading something about US politics. Next is the expression on the double. And if somebody says on the double, it just means to to do something quickly. Pretty much double twice as quickly as you would normally do it. And this is an expression that that people could use in their daily lives. If they're asking somebody to do something quickly, they might tell them, "On the double." Get back up here. On the double. Over on the double. double, man. On the double. Yes, sir. Right, sir. Right away, sir. Now, suit up and get out there on the double. So, in the military, I if you wanted somebody to move twice the pace, twice the speed, they might say to do it double time. And if you're talking about a task and and you want them to get this task done, that's when they would say on the double. When I think of this expression, I I think of people that that used to be in the military and they take some of these terms and phrases with them. For example, my grandfather who was in the military, I would hear him use this from time to time and he'd say that that something needs to be done on the double. Then we have the expression on the front lines. forefront of a battle, an argument, or maybe even some movement that they are out there, they are leading the charge, and you could say that they are on the front lines. If talking about the military, then I I think it's self-explanatory that if if there's a battle, if there is a fight, and you are right in the middle of it, if you are out front, then you'd say you are on the front lines. So, this is an expression that that may be used outside of discussing the military. You could say that that you are on the front lines of this issue. The next expression, and I think this is a very well-known one, and that is just roger that. And if somebody says roger that, it just means yes. And when I think of this expression, I I think about two people communicating over the radio or maybe they're using walkie-talkies and that somebody's telling somebody to do something and instead of saying yes, you just say roger that. You may hear this expression just in general, especially if somebody's giving a command and telling you to do something, you okay, roger that. Yes. Yes, I'll do that. Well, in the old NATO phonetic alphabet, the letter R was pronounced as Roger. So if a message was properly received they would confirm that by saying roger. Over time it evolved to the meaning of yes. Nowadays in the NATO phonetic alphabet they use the word Romeo in place of the letter R. But Roger is still used to to say that a message has been received. But this is a phrase that I think you may hear in a TV show or movie and it's good for your comprehension. So if somebody says roger that, then it just means yes. Did you understand these expressions? And if you did, let me know in the comments and just write, "Rogger that." So, if you write that in the comments, then I know that the lesson was easy to understand and follow. I just got to say, you are doing amazing. You're learning these idioms and expressions. You're building your vocabulary. And remember, I'm here to help. I got your six. And let's continue with another specific topic. And I I want to speak my mind because I think learning vocabulary by topic is a great way to associate these words and phrases with their meaning. So, let's switch gears and talk about the seasons. And we'll begin with winter. Winter is coming. Actually, that's a lie. It's already here. And nice and cold outside. So today figured it'd be a good time to talk about some cold words and winter expressions. Cold words? What do you mean what are cold words? What are cold words? Cold word words that have to do with cold. I think we should go out there. So, we decided to do this lesson today cuz it's cold outside and well, it's a good time to talk about the cold. Yana really likes the cold, but uh I like snow. Uh I'm not a huge fan. Where'd you go? I'm here. There was so much more this morning. The first word is a bundle up, which is this what I'm doing right now. Bundle up means to take all of the clothes that you have in the closet and put them on. Just kidding. But it means to just really really really uh put on some warm clothes because it's cold. So, you have to bundle up. Put on a hat, a scarf, gloves, jacket, boots. I don't know. Just bundle up. Put on put on some warm clothes because it's cold outside. You feel cold? No, it's not that cold. Cuz you're all bundled up. I'm bundled up. So, wait. Don't tell them that it's not that cold. That's We're It's supposed to be really cold outside. Oh, yeah. It's freezing. Ow. Why don't you just Did you just throw a snowball at me? Often in winter when it's snowing, people will build a snowman. Gummy nose. Another uh common winter word, especially when there's snow outside, is slush. And slush is just when the snow starts to melt and it kind of Yeah. makes this weird sound. And we have slush in the slush. You having fun? Wait, are you gonna be What are you doing? Where are you going? Okay, I was just hiding. So, when we're talking about the weather and it's cold outside, there are varying degrees that we can use depending on how cold it is. So, the first one, if if it's not really that cold outside, somebody might say that it's chilly. Or you could say that it's also nippy. Nippy outside. Do you ever say it's nippy outside? Nippy. Nippy. Nippy. And I actually I don't think that one's as common, just so you know, in case you might hear it. Uh, so chilly and nippy are kind of like it's it's just a little cold out. And of course, uh, probably the most common thing to say is just it's it's cold. Like today it's cold outside. You can see the snow. But if you want to say it's really cold and emphasize just how cold it is, you could say it's freezing outside. Like, wow, it is really, really cold. It's freezing. We could also use a simile to talk about how cold it is. And that's when we just compare two things that are not alike. So you could say that it is as cold as something. And frequently people might say it's as cold as ice because ice ice is really cold. You could also say maybe it's as cold as what would you think? It's as cold as in Canada, the North Pole. I don't know. And depending on how informal you want to be, you could also throw some profanity at the end there and just say, "It's cold as fuck." Now, this one everyone uses a lot. It's true. Cold AF. You can also say that. Do you want to get out there? Yeah. Let's go. Go, go, get out there. I don't have skates. A common word that comes up all the time when we're talking about winter is ice. So, I have an expression for you uh that has to do with ice. Uh it is on thin ice. So, when somebody's on thin ice, we say that uh they're in kind of a dangerous situation. Uh for example, when Wes keeps saying stupid things, many times I'll say to him, "Wes, you're on thin ice, which means if you say something stupid one more time, I'm going to get really, really mad at you." But I never fall through the ice. And that's very important. So that's a great use of you're on thin ice. If he says one more stupid thing, he'll end up sleeping on the couch. Yeah, that's not true. Yes, it is. It's not true. You're you're on thin ice. You're thin ice. Another expression that has to do with the cold is to give someone the cold shoulder. And this just means to ignore someone or not pay attention to them. You would give them the cold shoulder. And sometimes when Yuana is on thin ice, I will give her the cold shoulder. That's That's not how that works. I don't pay attention to her. I give her the cold shoulder. True story. Nope. True story. You can't just say through story. It doesn't make it true. It does make it true. Does make it true. All right. Put my hat on. It's It's cold. You can just say AF. You don't have to cold AF. Yeah. You don't have to say cold. I'm not I'm not that cool to say cold AF. I don't think No, you're not cool. That's true. You're not cool. You're cold. Get it? I'm like full of funs today. Full of funs. Puns. Word play. You said funs. Puns. What? It's a word in the English language. I said you're not cool. You're cold. Get it. He doesn't get it. Look. Oh gosh. Oh gosh. Oh no, she's so slow. She is so slow. So I can run with the camera and she still won't catch me. Oh god, it's fast. Hit the brakes. They fly right on by. She's like my my Top Gun reference right there. This is it, Maverick. I'm going to hit the brakes. She'll fly right by. Yes, it was pretty lame. I tried to ignore it, but you wouldn't let it go. I think it's going to freeze our butts if we sit on this bench. Which bench? There's no bench. Okay. So, another expression that's related to the cold is cold feet. And of course, this means that your feet are so cold. No, it's not. It's not really what it means. So, cold feet uh you say we say cold feet like we get cold feet. So, um many times it means that you are how do I put this? So we say that you get cold feet when uh before like a major event uh you get nervous, you have a lot of anxiety about this event and many times especially now people uh refer to getting cold feet before they get married. So it's very common. Everyone's always asking, "Oh, did you get cold feet before you married Wes?" And I answered, "Yes, of course." I was terrified. He's so scary. Look at him. I had cold feet. Did you? Well, my feet Well, literally. My feet were literally cold. It was a very cold day. It was a very cold day. Yeah. When we got married. But you can also get cold feet before like a a really a really big presentation or like a speech or but just about always it's used to talk about marriage. Yeah. Now mostly marriage. I Okay. Oh, that's cute. if you guys were wondering what's this gorgeous background behind us, uh we are in Budapest. Uh it's a beautiful city and we love it. And that's why I wanted to say if you're wondering where we are and it's so cute and pretty. The last cold expression that I have for you is a very very common one and that is just to catch a cold. So cold is a word that has multiple meanings. It could be talking about the weather, but it could also mean when you're sick and you say that you have a cold or you can get a cold or even catch a cold. This is an expression that we often use. Getting a cold. I just want to say from the outside it looks like there's a crazy man just kind of giving a lecture to a phone. It's pretty funny. Oh, you're talking about me. Yes, I was talking about you. Now that we've talked about winter, I think it is only appropriate that we talk about summer as well. And I want you to stay with me. Do not give me the cold shoulder. And I I'm not going to waste any more of your precious time. So, let's begin and learn some summer idioms and expressions on the double. I'm going to teach you these expressions come rain or shine. Thought I'd take this opportunity to teach you some common expressions that are related to the summer. So, the first one that I have for you is is one that I've already mentioned and that is come rain or shine. And what it means is that that something's going to happen. Doesn't matter what the weather's like. That something is going to happen come rain or shine. Often I think it's used when talking about some some event, maybe a sporting event that it's scheduled for this day and it doesn't matter what the weather is like. The event is going to happen. Could be a sporting event, it could be a concert, could be some other festival that that's going on and it will take place come rain or shine. And then we're going to do 10 miles rain or shine. It's after school. Rain or shine. The re-exam will be tomorrow morning at 4:00 a.m. outside. Rain or shine. The next expression is everything under the sun. And what this means is that you get everything that you want. Everything on earth. Anything that you want that that you will get. So often I think it's used when you you're talking about maybe describing a person that they they want a lot. Maybe they want too much. And you could say they're asking for everything under the sun. you were thinking you could control everything under the sun. Then there's an expression an Indian summer. And what this means it's it's an unexpected period of hot and dry weather. And the the reason why they call it an Indian summer is cuz it doesn't happen in the summer. It's usually in the fall when you think that summer has ended and it starts to cool down, but then suddenly it gets really hot again for a short period of time. You could say it is an Indian summer. What do you think of this heat this light in the air? Yeah. Indian summer, huh? I'm I'm sure my husband and I can brave another week or however long this Indian summer is going to be. Then we have a ray of sunshine. And often I think that this expression is used to describe a person and saying that that something or someone just brightens your day. It makes you so happy. It makes you so excited. And that you'd say, "Well, it's, you know, you are just a ray of sunshine." For me, I would say our little daughter Amelia. She is my ray of sunshine. And you guys, do you are also my ray of sunshine because yeah, you you brighten my day with all those amazing comments. You are a ray of sunshine. You're not exactly a ray of sunshine. You're my ray of sunshine, Cupid me. The next expression is to take a shine to someone. So shine again makes me think of the sun, summer. And what this expression means is to take a liking to someone. So, if you meet a person and and you really get along with them and you really hit it off, you could say, "Wow, you know, I'm I really I really taking a shine to this person and we're really getting along. I really like them." To take a shine to someone. Yeah. Took a shine to me. Because we rather hoped Lady Mary might have taken a shine to him. He is quite a charmer. Your father's certainly taken a shine to him. Homer, you are the living. Then we have to soak up the sun. And when I think of this expression because it just means to to get a lot of sun, to sit out in the sun and just take it all in. You just want to soak it up. So I often think of somebody perhaps going to the beach and they just want to lay out on the sand and soak up the sun. We're going to be soaking up some sun at the Phillies game. So soak up all the sun you can. The next expression is summer fling. And often I think people would say that somebody has a summer fling. And what it means is just a a short-term romance during the summer. And often I think it's used with with younger kids, teenagers, high school students might have a summer fling that school has ended and summer has started and they might meet somebody and they have a short-term romantic relationship and then school starts again and the relationship ends and you just say it's a summer fling. I'm a fling. [Music] So, our summer fling was going to be just that, a fling. Oh, Miss McGar, you say anything about girlfriends? Let's just start with the summer fling. The next expression is not a cloud in the sky. And this is, I think, used to describe the weather that you're talking about uh a summer day and you want to say, well, there's not a cloud in the sky. It means exactly what it says, that the sky is clear. And you could describe it and say, you know, everything is good, everything is well because there's not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful day, Mr. Sp. Not a cloud in the sky. cloud in the sky. A perfect day to unveil Operation Slam. Then we have to brighten up someone's day. And what this means is to make someone's day more special. To make somebody's day better, especially after somebody might be having a bad day and somebody does something for you and it might brighten up your day and make you feel a little bit better. Bunch of some flowers and brighten up your day. I'm just trying to brighten up your day with my dope ass anecdotes. The next expression is just a statement. It's a way to describe uh a summer day, especially if you're talking about the weather and it's really hot, you could just say it's a scorcher. So, if somebody says it's a scorcher, then it just means a very, very hot day. It's a scorcher. Right now, it's kind of nice out. It's not really a scorcher, but maybe later in the week it it's supposed to get a lot hotter. It's a scorcher today, ain't it? But it'll be a real scorcher today. Well, it's going to be a scorcher. Then we have a phrase that I I don't really like and that is rise and shine. And all this means is that somebody would say this when it's time to get up. So if somebody says rise and shine, it just means okay, it's time to get up. It's time to get going. You you you need to start your day. And the reason why I don't like hearing this is because I usually I usually want to sleep a little later in the morning. I don't want to have to get up. So, if somebody's telling me, "Hey, you know, it's time to rise and shine," then usually I'd be like, "Uh, I just want to stay in bed." Rise and shine. Day one, Greeny. Rise and shine. Rise and shine. Rise and shine. It's a beautiful morning. Yes. Oh, rise and shine, Cameron. Don't forget your booties cuz it's cold out there today. Now, let let's talk about a few expressions with the word heat in there because when I think of summer, I think of the heat. And the first one is to beat the heat. And if you are trying to beat the heat, it means that you are doing something to stay cool and refreshed and and get out of the hot weather in some way, shape, or form. You are trying to beat the heat. So, during the summer, what do you guys do? What do you do to beat the heat? And while people have found all sorts of ways to beat the heat, one local man is using his head. Is it warm out? I hadn't noticed. I think I have a way for us to beat the heat tonight, Philly style. Then we have to take the heat. And what this means is to accept criticism or just just get scolded for something that was done wrong or for something that was wrong. You you're you're going to take heat for this thing. So, if you do something bad, like you have a a summer fling and your partner finds out about it, then you're going to take a lot of heat for that. And we're supposed to be some kind of decoy for you and take all the heat. This is all my fault. You're not taking the heat for this. If I'm wrong, I'll take heat for it, but I'm just trying to do what's best for the paper. The next expression is in a dead heat. And this is used quite often with with sports because if something is in a dead heat, it just means that it's a draw. It's even. It It's the same. So, you could say that the match ended in a dead heat and it ended in a draw. It was a tie. Nobody won. Anybody has a strong feeling one way or another. Our preference survey shows a dead heat and the latest polls have it as a dead heat. So, there you have it. Those are a bunch of different summer expressions that that you can use in a variety of contexts. So, I would encourage you to go out and practice them. So, you just learned many idioms and expressions to build your vocabulary. And I I really hope you keep at it. Do not take the easy way out. Keep watching and learning so that you can reach your fluency goals. And you know what they say, actions speak louder than words. If you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new, please let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 78. 50 Super Useful Phrasal Verbs to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KQwib1WCrww` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQwib1WCrww) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:35:53 | --- I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary and teach you 50 super advanced phrasal verbs to help you fine-tune your English fluency. And if you'd like to get the lesson notes, click on the link down below in the description. Join my email community. That way you can remember these phrases, try to use them. If you're already a part of the community, check your inbox. I have sent them to you. I don't want to waste any time. Let's go ahead and jump into it with our first phrasal verb, phase out. This means to gradually stop using or producing something. And you're going to do this over a period of time. Here's an example sentence. The government announced that it would gradually phase out the use of coal power plants. And that is an adverb that you may use with this phrasal verb, to gradually phase something out. You could also gradually phase something out of your diet. Or quite common in business, you're going to gradually phase out maybe a department. And you're going to stop using it over time. Here are some news headlines to give you some more context as to how it's used. Swastikas on some Finland Air Force flags to be phased out. Florida will phase out certificates of completion for students with disabilities. And finally, Disney announces plans to phase out standalone Hulu app. The next phrasal verb is wear off. I think this is commonly used in kind of a medical context. It just means to lose effectiveness or intensity over time. After a few hours, the effects of the drug were starting to wear off. And it's just not as strong, it's not as effective. And then you could say, "Well, yeah, it's starting to wear off." This thought this was a amusing. So, I I feel like what better way to build your vocabulary, learn a language with a little humor. Says Botox injections begin to wear off and that dog has this It looks very cute, all those wrinkles. But yeah, in this case it's it certainly looks like it's starting to wear off. >> [snorts] >> Spell out. This means to explain something in a very clear way with details and you're going to spell something out for someone. The prosecutor had to spell out the charges against the suspect in court. And in that case, they're explaining it clearly. So there are several different context in which you can use this phrasal verb. The first is just everyday communication. Do I have to spell it out for you? If somebody says that, it is a little more confrontational. If somebody doesn't understand and you're frustrated, and like look, do I do I have to spell it out for you? Or let me spell it out for you. Let me explain it clearly. Again, it it can sound a little condescending. Just keep that in mind. In a professional context, the contract spells out the responsibilities of both parties. Or the teacher spelled out the grading criteria at the beginning of the semester. Not necessarily positive or negative, just more descriptive in that case. And then finally, just like our example before, in a legal context, the law spells out the penalties for tax evasion, the agreement spells out the terms of payment, and you're just explaining something in a very clear way. Talk down to. This certainly has a negative connotation. If someone is talking down to you, they are speaking to you condescendingly. As an example, I could say she was a gifted teacher who never talked down to her students. This is a three-word phrasal verb and the most important thing is just to remember that it has a negative connotation if you feel like someone is talking down to you and it can just really sound condescending. Hammer out. This is a great work-related phrasal verb. It just means to work out details through discussion. After months of negotiations, the two companies finally managed to hammer out an agreement. And that is a common collocation with this phrasal verb, to hammer out an agreement. Or maybe you're going to hammer out the details or hammer out a framework. All useful collocations with this phrasal verb. Here is a a fun little comic. Sorry for interrupting. I didn't realize you were still trying to hammer out an agreement. And of course it's funny, they're fighting. And that is one that's one way to hammer things out. Bow out. This means to withdraw or retire from an activity or role. And you're you're just going to bow out. I don't [laughter] know how else I was going to try to explain it other than just saying that. I guess you got to bow out. She is going to bow out of the competition because of her injury. So in that context, it means the same thing as withdraw and it's interchangeable, but it's always good to add a little flavor to your language skills and you can use this phrasal verb and say, well, somebody bowed out or you're not going to bow out of the competition and give up. Frown upon. This means to disapprove of something or consider it bad or wrong. And the way that you may use this, often it's going to follow the verb to be, in which case you would say something is frowned upon. Public displays of affection are often frowned upon in conservative cultures. You might use this in a work context if you're wondering, hey, can I do this? Is this appropriate? Is it okay? Or is this frowned upon? I use sarcasm at work because slapping the out of someone is frowned upon by management. Yes, all right, again, I found it humorous. So, in that case, I thought I would share it with you. Bottle up. This means to repress or conceal feelings over time. It's not a good thing if you bottle up your emotions or bottle up your anger, but it it's used in that context, which can be a bit more negative. He bottles up his emotions, which is not good for his mental health. And you don't want to let things out, even though I think we need to from time to time, and you just bottle things up or you keep things bottled up. Check up on. This is a three-word phrasal verb that means to try to discover what someone else is doing in order to be certain that person is doing what they should be doing, and you're going to check up on that person. So, you in a work context, you would check up on someone just making sure they're doing what they should be doing, but you could also use it when just more in a friendly manner, that somebody's sick or ill or injured, and then the next day you call just to check up on them, and you want to make sure that that they're doing okay. To give you an example, I could say parents may check up on their kids to make sure they're doing their homework. I know I certainly check up on my children to make sure everything's okay, and that yeah, sometimes that they are doing what they should be doing. Never forget the people who take time out of their day to check up on you. So, this is more in a just a caring, loving context if you check up on someone and you just want to know how they're doing, especially if they're struggling or they're going through a difficult time and you want to check up on your friend or a family member. Follow through. This is a phrasal verb that, as you can see, you may often follow it with the preposition on or with. You're going to follow through on something or follow through with something. To continue an action or task to its conclusion. Here's an example. He made a commitment to the team, but he didn't follow through with his responsibilities. Either one works. If you want to use with or on. He didn't follow through with his responsibilities. He didn't follow through on his responsibilities. If you want to see or which is more commonly used, you can use Ngram Viewer. This is a great resource in order to learn which words and phrases are going to help you sound more natural in conversation. In this case, it really it really doesn't matter. Either one works. You can see that they're used at approximately the same frequency to follow through on or follow through with. The next phrasal verb, do away with. Another three-word phrasal verb, it just means to get rid of something, stop using it, and you're just going to do away with it. We should have done away with this department years ago because the company has been losing a lot of money. So, in this case, they're expressing regret. We should have just done away with it. Maybe instead they were phasing it out over a period of time, but yeah, they should have just done away with it. Here are some more news headlines to give you some context. US News & World Reports College Rankings Should Do Away With Peer Assessment or Trump Trying to Do Away With Every Check and Balance Ahead of Second Term. Pharmacist urges public to do away with older antibiotic medications. Who knows? I don't know. Maybe they wear off quickly. Going to keep trying to use these phrasal verbs just to get a little review. And the last one, house lawmaker wants to do away with Pentagon's CMMC program. I've no idea what that is. I just wanted to just give you an example using this phrasal verb do away with. Then there's branch out. This means to extend or expand one's activities or interest in a new direction. And I think it's considered just more positive if you are going to branch out or some business decides to branch out and they're going to go in another direction. Here's an example. He started as a mechanic but has branched out into engine repair for boats. So whenever you branch out the idea is that this is going to be a good thing for your future. You're going to learn something new. Maybe there's a financial opportunity if you try to branch out and do something new. Rattle off. This means to say, perform, or produce something quickly and effortlessly. And you might rattle off the name of something or you're going to rattle off uh the numbers if you're just saying it from memory. She can rattle off the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. To be honest, this is something that I I think a long time ago I used to be able to rattle off the names in alphabetical order. There was a song that they taught us. It It went like Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana. Not going to sing. I'm not going to keep rattling off these names. I I think you know them but just to give you an example of, you you what it would be like to rattle something off. Live up to. I think this is a great three-word phrasal verb. It's even a great picture of these of these cats. To do as well as or be as good as people expect you to. And you're going to try to live up to someone's expectations. That is a very common collocation with this phrasal verb. I don't think I'll be able to live up to my mother's expectations. That kitten looks very worried that they're just trying to live up to those expectations. Latch on to. This means to follow someone and try to talk to them, get their attention, especially when they would prefer to be left alone. It's very specific that you are and just trying to be close to this person. They want to be left alone and you're latching on to them. So, it does have more of a negative connotation. He latched on to his friend and followed her around the party. Again, not a good thing. It's more negative if somebody is latching on to you and just following you around when you want to be left alone. Now, this phrasal verb has multiple meanings and I know that's why phrasal verbs in general can be confusing because many of them have more than one meaning. But, just to share a couple of others with you. So, latch on to could also mean to become very interested in something. It says, "Don't just latch on to the latest management trends." The next meaning is the one that we've already talked about, trying to get someone's attention, following them around. with your hand. So, keep in mind there is more than one meaning with this phrasal verb and I I think over time it's just great to get exposure and try to use them and you will pick them up slowly. Don't worry about it. The next one, to feel up to. It means to have the strength and energy to do something and you feel up to it. And a lot of times you may use this in more of the negative sense to say that you don't have the strength or you don't have the energy. If you ask me, "Hey, let's go to this place. Let's go do this thing." and I tell you, "Look, I just I just don't feel up to it. I don't feel up to it right now." I'm not interested in going to the party this weekend. I just don't feel up to it. Maybe you are worried that I am going to latch on to you and that is why you tell me, "Look, Wes, I just don't feel up to it." and yeah, you're you think I might just latch on to you at the party. Could happen. Mull over. This means to think carefully about something for a long time and you are mulling it over and you're considering it and then you're going to make a decision. I'd like to mull it over before making my final decision. This is another way of just saying I'd like to think about it, but I I will say a slight nuance. When you mull something over, you are really thinking carefully. So, that is the key word I want to emphasize, carefully. You're taking your time, you're considering all the different facets of something and you're just mulling it over. >> [laughter] >> I don't know. Again, I don't know why I thought this was funny. Hopefully you do, too, but some of this can be a little cheesy. I must ask you a question, but I will give you time to mull it over. Just this play on words. You can see this gentleman right there. He has a mustache and he also has a mullet. Anyway, let's move on. The next phrasal verb, buckle down. This is one that I would hear when I was a child. My parents would say this to me. Means to get serious about your work, focusing diligently on the task at hand. And you need to buckle down. Exams are coming up and I really need to buckle down. I really need to focus about on these exams and get serious and yeah, I need to buckle down. I said that I would hear this a lot when I was a child. This is something my parents would tell me to encourage me to do well in school and take it seriously and work hard and they say, you need to buckle down and do your homework. You need to buckle down and study for the exams. So, any parent out there who is looking to use a phrasal verb with their child, this one's for you. You just tell them, you look, you got to buckle down. This is now definitely you you don't want them to do this, to drop out of. This is a three-word phrasal verb that means to not do something that you were going to do or stop doing it before you have completely finished. Commonly, I this may be used when talking about education. I just said that you might want to tell your child to buckle down, work hard and you do not want them to drop out of school or drop out of a course or drop out of a class. So, often you may hear it used in that context. After struggling with his grades, he decided to drop out of school. Common collocation with this three-word phrasal verb, to drop out of something. Here are some other collocations, even though I mentioned uh a few already, to drop out of university, to drop out of college. You could also drop out of a competition or to drop out of the race. As far as competitions and races are concerned, do you remember the phrasal verb we talked about already when you're going to withdraw? You could bow out of the competition or bow out of the race. If somebody bows out, it makes me think that there's a reason for that. There was an injury or an illness and they just cannot compete. If somebody drops out, it just makes me think they don't want to do it. They're they're not interested in it and they don't like it and they're going to drop out of the competition or drop out of the race. Slight nuance, something to keep in mind as far as the difference between drop out of and bow out. This is I thought this was humorous. This is why people drop out of school. It says, "Sorry, that's not correct. The correct answer is 14. Your answer is 14." And yeah, that's confusing. I think people would probably need to mull this over and figure out, "Okay, is it is it worth it?" Cash in on. This means to take advantage of or exploit a situation and you're just going to cash in on it. She was able to cash in on her 15 minutes of fame. In case you're unfamiliar with the this expression, I'm going to give you a little more vocabulary. 15 minutes of fame, this is an idiom. It refers to a brief period of celebrity or notoriety. You kind of become famous for a short period and then it goes away. But if you have your 15 minutes of fame, maybe it's not a bad idea to try to cash in on it. Maybe make a little money or try to take advantage of another opportunity. You're going to cash in on your 15 minutes of fame. Then there's get around to. I like I like this three-word phrasal verb, maybe because I use it quite often and I'll I'll explain why in just a moment. It means to do something that you have intended to do for a long time. And you're planning to do it, but maybe you just haven't gotten around to it. I haven't found time to fix the door. I'll get around to it eventually. So, I said I'll use this. I have a lot of plans, a lot of things that I would like to do and that I tell my wife and others that I think I'm going to do this thing. And then they ask about it. Maybe they're just checking up on me and saying, "Hey Wes, what's going on? You said you were going to do this." And then I have to tell them, "Well, you know, I haven't gotten around to it." I haven't gotten around to it, but I hope to get around to it really soon. Here is another fun little meme. You said you would do it when you got around to it. And this is literally it is a round to it. You're getting you got around to it. And you could show somebody, "Hey, yeah, I did it. I got around to it." Uh yeah, that's it's kind of a cheesy joke. I apologize so let's continue. Plow through. Plow through means to finish reading, eating, or dealing with something with difficulty. And you just want to you want to get through it. You're just going to plow through it. I have a stack of financial reports that I have to plow through over the weekend. Very descriptive, really captures the way that you feel about something because if you say that you have to plow through some reading material or in this case plow through some financial reports, it gives me the impression that it's not something you're you're looking forward to. It's a lot of work. You're overwhelmed. You're going to try to just do it and get it done with. You're just going to plow through it. And you're not going to say, "Well, I haven't gotten around to it." You're going to deal with it and you're going to try to plow through it. Here are some news headlines. through data. I thought I could plow through the pandemic without burning out. I was wrong. I think a lot of people thought they could just plow right through it. And then finally, Maharashtra, sorry if I mispronounced that, votes 2024, farmers across state plow through pain of an uncertain future. And they're trying to just get to the other side and finish whatever difficult activity it is and just plow right through it. >> [snorts] >> Run through. This means to discuss, repeat, or read something quickly. In this case, I often think about uh performances and you're going to run through some lines. This was the example I have. Will you rehearse with me? I'd like to run through my lines and just discuss them, repeat it, practice, and just run through your lines. Put up with. I think this is a common three-word phrasal verb. To accept or continue to accept an unpleasant situation or experience or someone who behaves unpleasantly. And you are putting up with someone and you're still accepting and dealing with it or you could use this with a negative and say, "Look, I am not going to put up with this." And you're saying you're not going to accept it. She is not going to put up with his nonsense anymore. I apologize for adding that that extra extra full stop at the end. I meant to take it out. I just didn't get around to it. But I I appreciate you putting up with the with my mistakes. So, again, you're just continuing to accept something and you're putting up with it or keep in mind you may use it with that negative that you are not going to accept it. I am not going to put up with it. It's not you, it's me and my lack of desire to put up with your anymore. Feel like this is something my my wife probably could say to me. Like I just I'm not going to put up with your anymore. Hash out. Great phrasal verb. I little more specific and it is advanced. It just means to talk about something with someone else in order to reach an agreement about it and you're going to hash things out. I think we need to hash out some of the details before we make an offer. And this case it's it is a little similar to hammer out. In the example, I think you could use, you know, we need to hammer out the details before we make an offer. One slight nuance, I feel like when you are trying to hash things out, I feel like it you may use it in the context of a relationship and you're trying to work things out, you're trying to figure things out, make things better and you could say, "Look, we need we need to hash things out. We need to talk about our problems, talk about our disagreements, figure things out and we're going to hash things out." So, you will use this phrasal verb in that context. If we're talking about hammer out, that is more work related to hammer out the details, hammer out an agreement. But in a relationship, friend, family, there's a problem, disagreement, you could just hash things out. And then if you are able to solve your problems and figure things out with another person, then you could say, "Hey, glad we hash things out. Glad we hashed it out and we've solved our problems." I I will say, it this caught my attention because McDonald's, I feel like the breakfast is not half bad and I I will admit, I enjoy I enjoy their hash browns. The next one is zero in on. If you're zeroing in on something, it means to direct all your attention towards a particular thing. And you're really focused on this thing. Government regulators are starting to zero in on artificial intelligence. And we need to give it more attention because it's going to have a meaningful impact and we need to zero in on this thing. But this is a three-word phrasal verb that I think is useful in a work-related context. It adds emphasis. Instead of saying, well, we need to direct our attention over here, we just need to zero in on this thing. Now, I'll give you another three-word phrasal verb that is similar. on. As you can see, zero in on has a few different meanings. I put a check mark down by the one that we've been talking about, to focus one's attention on something. And in that case, it is rather interchangeable with to hone in on something and you are focusing on or concentrating on something. Great phrasal verbs to to know, to understand because a lot of them you are likely to come across and this is really going to help your listening and reading comprehension, even if you feel like you may not actively use them when you are speaking and talking to someone else. So, great for your comprehension. The next phrasal verb is listen in on. To listen in on means to listen to a private conversation, especially secretly. I want to know what they're saying. I'm going to get closer so I can listen in on their conversation. And you're listening to someone secretly. To give you a verb that has the same meaning and you could use them interchangeably is to eavesdrop. To eavesdrop on someone or to eavesdrop on a conversation. There's another verb that sounds a little similar, but it is different and that verb is to overhear. To overhear a conversation is different than eavesdrop and listen in on because it's not intentional. When you overhear something, you did not mean to secretly listen. For example, maybe somebody is talking loudly on a bus and you overhear their conversation. Now, if you're interested in their conversation, then you may start listening in on the conversation. Hopefully, that makes sense me explaining it that way. You don't plan to do it. You overhear a conversation and then you do plan to listen secretly and you listen in on the conversation or you eavesdrop on someone's conversation. I know I'm giving you a lot of vocabulary. Just try to absorb what you can. Hopefully, some of this is review already and that's perfect. And if some of it's new, just keep it in mind, try to store it, review it later. And then, if you can, actively use it when you're having a conversation. Lash out. This is Well, I was going to say it's good to use. Hopefully, you don't have to use it. It It has more of a negative connotation. If someone lashes out, it just means to suddenly attack someone or something physically or criticize him or her in an angry way and somebody is lashing out. I was only teasing him when he suddenly lashed out at me. It is negative, but I think we can all relate to this because we've had an argument or disagreement with someone and then either like either we did this or the other person they just lashed out and they start criticizing or attacking you and you could say the other person lashed out. I think children could also be a common association and they get really upset and they just lash out. And you should still tell them, look, I want you to buckle down, work hard because I do not want you to drop out of school. You can lash out all you want, but you're not going to drop out of school. Right, using all these education phrasal verbs. Here is a fun meme. I'm going to lash out irrationally at the next person to take something from my desk, use my phone, or ask me what I'm eating. And it's like you're at your your breaking point and then you're just going to lash out at the next person. Then there's look out for. This means to try to make sure that someone is treated well and you are looking out for someone else. It's just you and me. We need to look out for each other. Now, it may sound a little similar, but it is different than check up on. When you are checking up on someone, often I I feel like there's like a distance there. Maybe you're calling to check up on someone or I mean, you could go over to someone's house and say, look, I just want to check up on you, make sure you're doing all right. Uh you could look out for someone's best interest. That is a collocation with this phrasal verb. So, one one thing I want you to be aware of as far as using this in a positive or negative uh way, to look out for someone else, this has a positive connotation. I'm going to look out for my younger brother. You want to make sure that your younger brother or anybody is just treated fairly. If you are looking out for yourself or you say that he is looking out for himself, she's just looking out for herself, that is it's a it's a little selfish. So, that has a negative connotation. If I say, "Well, he's only looking out for himself." Keep that in mind. Looking out for someone else, good. Looking out for yourself can seem pretty selfish and have more of a negative connotation. Eke out. I like this phrasal verb. I just like saying it. I just like saying the word eke eke out. It means to obtain or win something only with difficulty or great effort. You might come across this in a sports context. This is the example I have for you. Surprisingly, the team was able to eke out a victory. So, it tells me that the the match was close, but ultimately, the team was able to eke out a victory. Very specific. Uh not one that you're going to come across as often. Still, I just mentioned this is good for your comprehension in case you do come across it. You're reading about some sports competition and a team or someone eked out a victory. Here are some news headlines just to give you more context with this phrasal verb. Stocks eke out gains amid growing political noise. Or how Maduro could eke out another win. These are old articles, by the way. And finally, smartphone market in India eke out mere 1% growth in Q2. The next phrasal verb is get away with. It just means to succeed in avoiding punishment for something and you get away with it. You do something wrong, you make a mistake, you don't get punished, you can say, "Wow, I can't believe I got away with it." Or maybe you hear somebody use this in the context, "Look, you are not going to get away with it." I I feel like that is a statement you'll hear in a movie, TV show. Look, you're not going to get away with this. Like that is like that example. Somebody steals something and they're yelling, "Look, you're not going to get away with this. You will get caught. You will get punished. Brush up on. This means to improve your knowledge of something already learned but partly forgotten. I I think often you may use this when talking about languages. Maybe you are going to take a pause from English for a little while and then you come back to it 3 months later, 6 months later and you say to yourself, "Look, I I just need to brush up on my English. I am going to watch a lot of interactive English videos in order to brush up on my English skills and learn new vocabulary, learn new phrasal verbs." Here's an example, "I really need to brush up on my Spanish." And just start using it again because there are things that you've have forgotten. Then there's tone down. This means to make something less forceful or offensive. You want to want to tone it down. There's so much anger in politics. People need to tone down the rhetoric. The way that people talk about each other can be very well, very hateful, very angry and therefore you can say, "Look, we need to to tone it down a little bit. We need to tone it down and just make it less forceful or offensive." Here are some collocations with this phrasal verb to tone down the rhetoric, to tone down the expectations. You could tone down one's language, tone down the excitement or tone down the response. Great phrases to know with this phrasal verb. Then there's move out. It means to stop living in or occupying a particular place. In the US, when you turn 18, it is not uncommon for some kids to move out of the home and they no longer live there and they move out. So you could move out of a house, move out of an apartment, um move out of I guess wherever wherever it is that you're living and you may move out. Give up on. This is a three-word phrasal verb that means to expect someone or something to fail. And you you're no longer going to try. If you give up on something or give up on someone. The movie Stand and Deliver. I was talking about this movie about a week ago. The movie Stand and Deliver is about a math teacher who refused to give up on his students. And he did not want to give up on his students. He believed in them. He told them that they need to buckle down because there were there were some students, maybe one or two, that dropped out of school and he cared about his students and he was not going to give up on them. He was a great teacher who was always looking out for his students. As I use these, hopefully it's a little it's easier to understand. These are phrasal verbs that we've already talked about and he was looking out for them. I don't know why. I just I talked about the gave it an example, but here's I'm really sharing a plug for the movie Stand and Deliver. You can go check it out. It's an old movie. >> [gasps] >> The next phrasal verb, air out. This means to expose something to fresh air, often to improve its scent. The example, after returning from vacation, she opened windows in order to air out the room. That makes sense. Maybe you move out of your old apartment, then you move in to a new apartment and hasn't been occupied, maybe it just has this stale smell and you open a window because you want to air out the room. Now, you may be looking at this phrasal verb thinking, wait a second, I feel like I've heard it used in another context and that is what I want to point out. So, this was the the meaning that we just looked at and some example sentences. I'm trying to air out the car to get rid of the smell, or we really need to air out the house. It also means to discuss or address an issue openly. And here are a couple example sentences. It's important to air out any grievances, and you're going to discuss them openly. Or I think we should air out some of our concerns. If you have a problem with another person, you say, "Look, let's just air out our concerns, and that is going to help us hash things out." And we'll be able to solve those problems. We'll be able to to hash things out if we air out our concerns and our issues. The next phrasal verb, come down with. To catch or show signs of an illness. Very specific when talking about the you know, the way you feel, your health, and you come down with something. It's cold outside, you should put on a jacket or you're going to come down with a cold. That is a common collocation, to come down with a cold. Some other common collocations with this phrasal verb, to come down with the flu, to come down with a fever, or just to come down with something. And when I say something, I literally mean you're going to say, "Well, I hope I don't come down with something." You don't know what it is, but you will hear people use that phrase with this phrasal verb. Then there's pick up after. I'm This phrasal verb is near and dear to my heart. To clean the mess created by someone. You can't really see the picture there. This is our This is uh the home, our little girl, and I'm constantly having to pick up after my little girl. I think that's just what parents do. They always have to pick up after their children. Someone else you might have to pick up after would be your dog. If you're a dog owner, here are signs that you may come across saying like, "Look, pick up after your dog. Poop pollutes. Please, pick up after your dog." I'm not going to go through all of them. The next one is pass out. This means to become unconscious for a short time due to something. He was so tired that he passed out in the middle of his exam. I don't know what happened. Maybe he didn't buckle down and take things seriously and just got really tired and just passed out during the middle of the exam. Hopefully, hopefully he does not drop out of school. To give you a little more context, this is just a little search that I did. Things that you can pass out from and some examples. So, what are some things that might cause you to pass out? Low blood sugar, emotional stress, prolonged standing, hyperventilation, anxiety, eating a meal, medicine, your your collar's too tight, alcohol, fear, pain, low blood pressure, arrhythmia, cough, pregnancy. There are many things, of course, that that can cause you to pass out and you just become unconscious for just that short period of time and you pass out. Walk out on. This means to suddenly end your relationship or involvement with someone or something. So, if you walk out on your partner, then yeah, the relationship's over, but you could also maybe walk out on your job. If you walk out on your job, it may be difficult to find another. So, when you walk out on someone or something, then you just it's over, right? It's no more and you are walking out. Here are some news headlines to give you more context. Black Friday strike, Amazon workers in UK and US to walk out on busiest shopping day of the year. Or Turkish lawmakers, others walk out on Israel at Geneva meeting. And finally, Trump supporters walk out on MAGA rally before it ends. So, when you walk out on someone or something, it's really Look, it's over. We're leaving. We're done. The next phrasal verb is jazz up. I like this one. Has a positive connotation. To make something more attractive or interesting. You should add more lights in order to jazz up the place. Make it a little more lively, more appealing, and you're going to jazz up the place. Great phrasal verb. Here are some other example sentences because it's not one that you're going to come across as often as some of these others. He jazzed up the food with some special seasoning. Or Coca-Cola jazzed up its bottles with new designs. And finally, it's entirely up to you if you want to jazz up or tone down your look. that other phrasal verb, tone down. >> [sighs] >> Then we have fall behind. To fail to maintain a certain level and do something fast enough or on time. I think this is a common phrasal verb, one that I think you should know and can go out and use because I think we can all relate to this. The class is difficult. I think I'm starting to fall behind. And if you are falling behind, maybe you should talk to your teacher. And if your teacher does not give up on you, they're going to help you work hard, buckle down, so that you can catch up and you are no longer falling behind. But, useful phrasal verb, one that I think is is quite commonly used. The next one, look up to. This means to admire or respect someone. I've always looked up to my father. He's kind, he's fair, he treats people well. And you then look up to your father. And I'm sure your father is someone who is looking out for you. And they want to make sure that you're treated well. They are looking out for your best interest, and that is why you might look up to your father. But of course, you can look up to anyone if you admire and have respect for this person. Then there's goof off. I like this phrasal verb. It's it sounds fun even though it maybe it's a little more negative to avoid doing work. You're wasting time, you're goofing off. Of course, I like it when I goof off, but if my daughter is goofing off, then maybe I I might get a little more annoyed and say, "Hey, you know, stop goofing off. Uh stop goofing off and do your work." That sound sounds like something I I might say. But I think we can I I know we've all goofed off before and it yeah, it just it happens. One thing I want you to be aware of because you could say goof off or goof around, they really have the same meaning. You could use them interchangeably. But going back to Ngram Viewer to see which one is more commonly used, I think you're more likely to come across goof off. But if you want to use goof around, be my guest. Uh they mean the same thing. Catch on. To understand what is meant or understand how to do something and you are trying to catch on or you're starting to catch on. Those are some common collocations. Uh she will do well in her new position. She catches on quickly. That's another collocation with this phrasal verb, to catch on quickly. When you lied on your resume, but you catch on quickly. Apparently, Shrek can catch on quickly and and pretend to be a ninja turtle. Stand up. Now, you could follow this with four or two. Stand up for someone or stand up to someone. To defend or support a particular idea or person who is being criticized or attacked. When it comes to bullies, you have to stand up for yourself. So, in this case, it's positive if you're standing up for yourself. And you don't you don't need to lash out. If you're lashing out, then you're attacking. It's more negative. This is more positive. And you're going to defend yourself, or you might stand up for another person, which is also which is also a good thing. Burn up. This means to have a very high temperature. And you might tell someone, "Look, oh, you put your hand on their forehead. Oh, you're burning up. You definitely have a fever. And you are burning up." And you take some medication, and hopefully it doesn't wear off quickly. And you can you can get over it and feel better again. Talk back. This means to answer someone in a rude way. Just looking at the meaning, you know this has a negative connotation if someone is talking back to you. The student got in trouble when he talked back to the teacher. Often, I think you'll use this phrasal verb when there's like different positions, like of authority. So, teacher student. The student will talk back to the teacher. Or parent child. The child may talk back to the parent. So, it makes me think of somebody in a lower position may speak to someone in a higher position rudely, and they're talking back. Don't confuse this with the other phrasal verb that we talked about, which is to talk down to someone, which is more the way somebody is speaking. It's condescending. So, if somebody's talking back to you, it's more being angry. If they're talking down to you, it's condescending. Then we have run out. This means to finish, use, or sell all of something so that there is none left. And now that I'm reading this, I I apologize. This is a This is a mistake. That is the end of the meaning right there. To finish, use, or uh sell all of something so that there is none left. I apologize. I I I appreciate you putting up with all of my flaws and my mistakes. I I appreciate you putting up with it because I know that making mistakes can it's it's frowned upon. All right? I can at least try to give you a little review as we go through this. So, yes, that that is a a mistake right there. Here's the example. I was disappointed because when I got to the grocery store, they had run out of milk. And I think this is a great association with this phrasal verb. You go somewhere to a store and they have run out of something and it's no longer there. Text me if you run out of toilet paper. I know you're on your phone. This is a great uh sign. It I feel like it probably is true for many people because they're on their phone. You can text me if you run out of toilet paper. Then there's get rid of. This means to relieve or free oneself of something or someone unpleasant or undesirable. You're going to get rid of something. My wife wants me to get rid of my socks because they have holes in them. This is This is true. I have holes in my some of my socks, not all of them. And she always tell you like you need to get rid of those. It It's horrible. Just get rid of them. One thing I want you to keep in mind with this one, don't confuse it with like stop. So, get rid of something like you're discarding it, you're throwing it away. Sometimes when I hear people try to use this, they try to use it like I need to stop smoking. I need to get rid of smoking. You're not going to use it that way. You're going to use this more like you're throwing something out. You got to get rid of it like the garbage. Now, I know that I gave you a lot of information in this lesson and I'd encourage you to go back and review these phrasal verbs because building your vocabulary, it's a process. It takes time. And phrasal verbs are super useful because we use them quite often in just casual conversation. If you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 79. 50 Useful Collocations with TAKE | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `28N8JezOOfg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28N8JezOOfg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:24:57 | --- i'm so happy that you are taking part in this lesson because i am going to teach you many different collocations with the verb take so take a seat and get ready to build your vocabulary [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english which is the channel that you want to be watching to practice and improve your english skills and if you don't believe me just take a look at all of our video lessons there is so much for you to learn and in today's lesson i am going to teach you 50 different collocations with the verb take and these are phrases that you can use in everyday english and if you don't know what collocations are they are words that are frequently used together and as i talk and say these collocations you will see them appear and you you don't need to take notes because i am going to include a list of all of the collocations from today's lesson down in the description but i'll be perfectly honest learning collocations takes time the real key is getting more listening and more reading because as you see and hear these words being used together when it comes time for you to speak or when it comes time for you to write you will be able to use them correctly naturally fluently and effortlessly trust me when you do this you are taking a step in the right direction but right now i want to take a moment and tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda and as i tell you about today's sponsor i'm going to continue using these collocations with take so if you don't know about lingoda it is an online language school where you can learn english business english spanish german or french and taking online classes with lingoda is an excellent way to achieve english fluency lingoda has a proven teaching method and curriculum and i know this because i've studied with lingoda i took some spanish lessons and it was a great experience and i loved it for four main reasons first you you study in small group classes with a native speaking teacher which means you will have plenty of opportunities to speak also you don't have to travel anywhere you don't have to to take a bus you don't have to take a taxi to and from school you can study from the comfort of your own home in addition classes are available 24 7 which means you can plan these lessons around your schedule and finally the lessons are very affordable as low as 8 euro per group class so if you want to dramatically improve your english then take some lessons with lingoda and you can find out more information by clicking on the link in the description and as a bonus you can use the voucher code interactive 8 to get a 20 euro discount on your first month of classes i also wanted to let you know which is great news is that entries for the lingoda language sprint have reopened and you can now join until september 18th and the language sprint it's an excellent way to take your english to the next level because when you participate in the language sprint you study for three months and if you take all of the required classes you will become eligible to get 100 cash back i talk about the language spread more in another video lesson which i will also include in the description down below so so check out those links down in the description don't forget to use the voucher code interactive 8 to get a 20 euro discount and truly put yourself in a position to achieve english fluency now let's just take a deep breath and continue our conversation about collocations with take because i i know what you're thinking how am i possibly going to learn all of these different phrases and you to be honest you're doing that right now as you are watching this video lesson and you're listening to me use these phrases in context you see these collocations appear on the screen that's going to help you moving forward but i want you to take comfort that you will be able to learn all of these different collocations and put them right up here in your active memory and use them correctly when the time comes because when you're learning a language i think it's easy to feel like you've been taken hostage and that you think well my english is just never going to improve so if you have that feeling like you've been taken prisoner then you need to break free from that feeling because learning a language it's not only about taking exams or taking tests or taking quizzes it's about taking pride in the fact that you were doing something you were learning something that's helping make you a better person and you will be able to communicate with people from all over the world and understand different people with unique perspectives now i i think i can help you with all of this because when it comes to learning english i hope that you take my advice i have i have three different pieces of advice that i would like to share with you the first thing is that i think you need to take a long hard look in the mirror which is a great expression that means you need to examine something carefully and really reflect on it i want you to take a long hard look in the mirror and think about why you're doing this what's motivating you because once you have those answers it's going to allow you to take charge of your learning and and allow you to work even harder but if you need to take a break then you definitely should you really need to do whatever is going to make you feel better about learning think about it if people feel dirty they they take a shower it makes us feel better or perhaps they take a bath it's really up to you just take a break if you think it'll help what i'm trying to say is that it's perfectly fine to take turns focusing on english as well as doing other things that you find rewarding i i just don't want you to burn out and i certainly don't want you to get sick but if you do get sick then maybe you should take some medicine just don't take drugs i would not recommend that but something that i would recommend is that you find ways to relax and not let anxiety hold you back and that's my second piece of advice because learning a language may cause anxiety for example you may be afraid to speak and say something because you think it might be wrong and therefore you don't take a risk perhaps you're afraid that someone's going to take notice of all of your mistakes and that they're just going to take your grammar apart and say this is wrong and that is wrong but i think it is important that you take some chances don't worry about making mistakes just take heart which is an expression that means be hopeful and optimistic take heart that you are doing the very best that you can making mistakes is part of the learning process and we just move on from them and if you can relax and continue speaking and practicing i promise that people will take you seriously my final piece of advice is that you find ways to connect with the language make it uh make it a part of your day make it an experience and this is exactly what happens when you take a trip to another country and you communicate with the locals in english because english is the common language it's it's an experience and a memorable one probably because you're you're taking pictures but language can be a part of that experience so remember that the next time you you take some time off from work and you take a vacation to another country when you when you read when you listen those are also great ways to connect with the language right now you are connecting with the language by watching this video and and learning these different collocations the more you connect with the language the more i'm convinced that english will take your breath away which is an expression that means you are astonished or amazed by something or someone the english language has certainly taken my breath away it's a great expression it's also a song by the music group berlin for those of you who are familiar with the movie top gun i would play you a little bit of the song but i can't because of copyright and i i don't want anyone to take me to court now i apologize i'm getting off topic but music and movies those are also great ways to connect with the language and so is having a conversation or writing a letter the list goes on and on you just need to decide that that you're gonna do this and take that decision but that's more british english but it's still a collocation with the verb take so i really hope you take my advice and follow these suggestions actually i've i've already used that one haven't i i i'm sorry i shouldn't do that i try to take responsibility for my mistakes i guess you could say that i was trying to take a shortcut all right i'm i'm getting close to 50 so i'm going to start wrapping this up i'm also feeling a little tired so perhaps i'll take a nap and if you are also feeling a little tired after learning all of these collocations then you can take a page out of my book and do the same and that is an excellent idiom that means to do something the same way as someone else you can take a page out of my book take a nap and of course i love hearing from you guys so please write to me in the comments i will read your comment after i wake up from my nap so in a way it's like i'm taking a message i am very proud of all of you for for following me throughout this entire lesson and learning all of these different collocations so please take a bow thank you guys so much for watching and wait a second that's only 49 huh uh okay thanks for watching i will see you next time take care so long --- ## 80. 5 Advanced Expressions in Spoken English ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `aXuM1bwpWR4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXuM1bwpWR4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:21:55 | --- today i want to teach you some advanced expressions to help you improve your overall fluency that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to teach you some advanced expressions that i think are very useful and they're pretty common in in places like the united states now i want to go ahead and say that these expressions are are often used in spoken english so these are expressions that you would hear if you're listening to a conversation or listening to a podcast or even watching a tv show or movie so i'm going to give you as much information as i can and talk about these expressions in great detail so that you you really understand what they mean how they are used why they are used which again it's really going to help your comprehension so let's begin with our first expression which is without further ado and i think this is appropriate i could say without further ado here is our first expression and what this means it just means immediately or without delay and most of the time people are going to use this expression when they're talking in front of a larger audience perhaps they are getting ready to introduce a person and they could use without further ado so without further ado my very good friend and the finest broadcaster i know bill mcneil so in that situation they're they're talking about this person they're saying all these great things and just before they introduce them they will say without further ado and then introduce the person you could also use this expression before before an event before you introduce some event or before something begins so without further ado ladies and gentlemen and snail start your engines notice that in both of the examples that i just gave you without further ado comes at the beginning of the statement it it becomes before you introduce the person or the event that's getting ready to start one thing i do want you to know is that even though most of the time it's used in front of an audience you could use it casually with with smaller groups of people or even just one person but most of the time you are going to hear people use this expression when they're talking in front of an audience and the next one that i have for you is with all due respect and people would say this when they're they're trying to politely disagree with someone but really i'm not just talking about anyone i'm talking about a person of authority so you might say this if you want to politely disagree with your boss or you may hear people say this during a political debate or even a lawyer might say this to a judge with all due respect we ask you to enforce the subpoena with all due respect your honor chloe decker is not on trial so this is pretty common if you're watching a tv show or movie that takes place in a courtroom you may likely hear this expression but no matter if you are talking about uh talking to your boss or a debate or even a conversation in a courtroom you're going to use this expression in in more of a formal situation and the reason why people use it is kind of to soften the level of disrespect because when you when you disagree with someone you don't want it to be very forceful especially if this person is in a position of authority so if if this is your boss you could say all due respect boss i think that's a terrible idea all right you don't want you don't want it to be too forceful so you could say all due respect now one thing i want to point out here is that notice i did not include with that is another thing about this expression is that you you can use it in different ways you don't have to include with you could just say i'll do respect or even in british english people might just say with respect so there are different variations of this expression but they all have the same meaning you're trying to be polite when you disagree with someone but most often i think people would use with all due respect then we have the expression quote unquote so this is it's one of my favorites from this lesson and i'm going to take a little time to walk you through this so what it refers to is what somebody directly says and quote unquote really it refers to the quotation marks so let me give you a quote and i'm going to put some writing up here so that you can follow along but remember people are really going to use this in spoken english so the the quote that i'm going to say and this i truly believe this i would say you guys are awesome all right that is my quote so in a more formal situation somebody like a news reporter could say wes said quote you guys are awesome unquote all right but casually i don't think people are really going to use it that way but in that case i'm really saying the entire quote and i'm i'm putting the direct words between quote and unquote i think if if somebody wanted in a conversation to talk about what somebody said and you want to say everything i think it'd be more common for somebody to say something like this wes said and i quote you guys are awesome i think that would be more common in spoken english but i think casually informally people would use quote-unquote as a single phrase they're going to use it together and in that case it's it's more like an idiom you're also not really going to say the entire quote what you're going to do is really just highlight a few words or even one word that's important and and i think that's commonly how it's used so i could say something like well at work she said she's been under quote unquote intense pressure so the words that i want to highlight intense pressure that is something she said and that that's important so if i'm telling somebody else this i i could say at work she said she's been under quote unquote intense pressure really emphasizing that hi it's the quote-unquote auburn-haired girl in 307. he maimed him in a quote-unquote fit of rage you really are kind of a quote-unquote fantastic fox this expression may also be used sarcastically as well when you say something and you really mean the opposite and in that case it's the same way people would use air quotes so perhaps you know somebody they think they're an expert at something but you really don't think so and you're talking to another person and you say yes he is a quote-unquote expert so you you don't really think they're an expert you're saying it sarcastically and you're using quote unquote to highlight the word or phrase that you're being sarcastic about and you're also probably going to be able to tell based on somebody's tone and this the way that they're speaking another drink now or will that quote unquote embarrass you why do we have to work around the clock to get our quote-unquote partners to do what they already promised they would do get a load of that quote-unquote santa can't believe those kids are falling for it then we have the expression all downhill from here or or you could say all downhill from there this is more of an idiom but the reason why i'm giving you this is because it can have two different meanings and not only that the meanings are really the exact opposite so in this case it's really important that you understand the context because if somebody says it's all downhill from here they could be talking about uh a situation that from now on it's just going to get easier and easier think about um a bike if you ride your bike uphill that can be pretty difficult once you get to the top and it's all downhill it's pretty easy you can sit back and relax and just cruise right down the hill the other meaning which is the exact opposite is that if somebody says it's all downhill from here they could be referring to that something is just going to get worse and worse and worse that there's really there's really nothing positive that's going to happen then and you'd say yeah it's it's all downhill from here so let let's quickly do a little bit of grammar and talk about the the difference between saying all downhill from here and all down hill from there so think about those words here and there here is really talking about the present so if you're referring to some situation in the present you would say it's all downhill from here and that could be for either meaning and if you're going to use there because there is talking about something that's further away you would use that if you're talking about a situation that that happened in the past or even a situation that will happen in the future then you're going to use all downhill from there that's a little bit of grammar to help you understand well should you use here or should you use there so let's look at a couple of examples involving school to help you try to better understand the context and see if you can pick that out so you see this girl right here she's very happy and she may say oh today i turned in my final project it's all downhill from here so in this situation you finish your final project it's over there there's a lot of relief from this point on it's all downhill from here it's just gonna get easier or maybe in another class she's very upset and she says in the beginning i was doing great but then i stopped trying it was all downhill from there in that case again she stopped trying so things became worse and worse and worse and it was all downhill from there i'm talking about a situation that happened in the past she stopped trying so it was all downhill from there so check out this other example and see what you think is it talking about something that is going to become easier or something that is just going to get worse and worse this is the best time of your life it is yes it is pull it together because it doesn't get any better than this it's all downhill from here so when we put this in context we have this older guy talking to a younger kid that should enjoy life now it's great you're young because later on it's just going to get more and more difficult it's going to get worse and worse it's all downhill from here so that is the meaning that he was referring to so just remember that with this expression it has two different meanings the meanings are opposite and you just really need to put things in context then we have agree to disagree and this is a great expression it's one that i like to use uh especially if you're having an argument with somebody and you want to stop arguing you want to bring it to a close you can just say let's let's agree to disagree people would use this when they they have different opinions and they're not going to change their opinion and instead of continuing to argue to debate to have this conversation you could just say look let's let's agree to disagree and it really kind of means what it says it's basically saying that two people disagree but the one thing that they can agree on is that they disagree so you say let's agree to disagree and people will i think they'll often use that statement right there and just say yeah let's just agree to disagree we don't need to keep talking about this anymore neither one of us is going to change our opinion here are a couple of other examples i think we should be paid a living wage you think that we're commies that need to go back to russia agree to disagree it doesn't mean saint diego no no that's what it means really well agree to disagree so there really doesn't have to be a lot of anger or frustration i think it's okay if people have different opinions but sometimes i think it can get a little heated if you're having this this debate and discussion and you're trying to change somebody else's opinion this is a way to i think calm things down and just say look we we don't need to continue talking about this let's let's respect each other's opinion let's just agree to disagree and i truly hope that we can all agree that this was a useful lesson and if you feel that way you can let me know by hitting that like button and again just really just try to listen for these expressions because you will hear them from time to time and i definitely think it will help you improve your english comprehension so i i hope you enjoyed the lesson i hope you learn some new expressions and i hope to see you in another english lesson thanks for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 81. 5 Adverbs Native Speakers Use Daily ๐Ÿ”ฅ Fix Your Pronunciation! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ENnkvBHflJk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENnkvBHflJk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:53:40 | --- Can you correctly pronounce these five common and useful adverbs? Let's find out. We'll begin with particularly. There are five syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Particularly. I I think the last two syllables is what makes this a bit tricky. So, just repeat after me. Particularly. Say it again. Particularly. This really just means that something is at a higher degree than normal. like you don't particularly want to do something. But I know that you want to learn how to pronounce this next word, which is literally. There are four syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Literally. One thing I want to say about this word, because I'm from the US, you're going to hear me pronounce that T as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D because it comes between two vowel sounds. Literally, it is really just means like exact or exactly. This is exactly how Americans pronounce this word. This is literally how we pronounce it. The next word is regularly. Four syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Regularly. And I think this can be confusing with the Rs and the L's. And just keep in mind that your tongue is in a different position. With the R, your tongue is pulled back. The tip of your tongue is not touching anything. Whereas with the L, the tongue is going to come up and touch the top of your mouth behind your front teeth. And you can really feel it when you say those L's regularly. Regularly. Something just happens often. It happens regularly. Then we have eventually. This word has five syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Eventually. I'm really stressing it right now. One thing I want you to keep in mind with this word, you may hear that schwa sound a lied and it's like it just gets removed and instead of five syllables, it may sound like it only has four. Eventually, something that you may come across, but really the word has five syllables, eventually. And this adverb basically means in the end. So I could say eventually you are going to hit that like button. So you could just go ahead and do it right now if you want. And then there's accidentally. This word has five syllables, the stress is on that third syllable. Accidentally. One more thing about the American accent. When the t follows an sound, it may elide. You don't really hear it. When I say accidentally, and if something happens accidentally, it just means that well, it was not your intention for this to happen. Now you know how to literally pronounce all of these words. And I imagine you are particularly good at it as well and you can use them regularly. --- ## 82. 5 BIZARRE WORDS w/ SPELLING & PRONUNCIATION THAT DO NOT MATCH ๐Ÿ™…โ€โ™‚๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `D_TrY7gOBK0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_TrY7gOBK0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:55:40 | --- can you correctly pronounce these five words right here because the spelling and pronunciation do not match so the first word choir that CH has a C Sound I know it's crazy choir like a singing choir then there's aspirin now in many dictionaries you'll find it with three syllables but most of the time especially in the US you'll hear people say it with two aspirin kernel you do not hear that first L instead you hear an R sound kernel my grandfather was a kernel in the Air Force next is Q it's like you're just saying the letter Q you need to form a Q and then squirrel that SQ has a squ sound you do hear a slight W squirrel very cute little animal squirrel so now you know in case anyone asks you --- ## 83. 5 Common GRAMMAR MISTAKES English Learners Often Make | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `E1wyYB1hL9Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1wyYB1hL9Y) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:26:03 | --- we all make grammar mistakes i make grammar mistakes and today i want to talk to you about five grammar mistakes that you could be making that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com which is the number one channel to practice and improve your english and today i want to help you improve your grammar because i want to talk to you about five common grammar mistakes that learners often make and an even native english speakers are guilty of making these mistakes as well and i promise by watching this lesson you will make fewer and fewer mistakes and that that's actually what i want to talk to you about first is a word pair that's commonly confused and that is fewer and less we use these words to talk about a quantity an amount a degree and in general we use less with uncountable nouns so i could say i have less energy than i did yesterday maybe maybe i should eat a banana [Music] okay wow that took less time than i thought it would so i just gave you two examples as to when you would use less with uncountable nouns less energy less time one thing i do want you to keep in mind is that people use less when talking about singular nouns there's a popular expression that goes there's one less thing to worry about so even though thing is a countable noun it's singular so we're going to use less there's one less thing to worry about we use fewer when we talk about plural nouns so i could say now that i just ate one banana i have fewer bananas left now when people confuse these words they're pretty much using less when they should use fewer and there are some clear mistakes that that you can find well such as this one like an advertisement or if you walk into a grocery store this is something that you might definitely see 10 items or less should be fewer then there are mistakes that i think well they're more understandable but they're still not correct for example when people use irregular plural nouns so i could say in the morning there are less children on the playground children is an irregular plural noun and i should use fewer in the morning there are fewer children on the playground or perhaps if we're talking about work uh so you might hear somebody say less and less people are willing to work on the weekend again people it's an irregular plural noun and you should say fewer and fewer people are willing to work on the weekend to be perfectly honest i am guilty of making some of these mistakes like with those irregular plural nouns but i still try to avoid making them and i would also encourage you to try to avoid them as well and use the grammar correctly now i want to take a moment and tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda and studying with lingoda it's a great way to improve your english and you will make fewer and fewer speaking mistakes and that's one less thing to worry about and right now lingoda has an amazing opportunity for those of you who would like to improve a lot improve quickly and do so at an affordable price i got three words for you lingoda language sprint that's right lingoda is doing another language sprint and if you complete it successfully you can get 100 cashback or 50 cashback if you attend all your classes i've even studied with lingoda i took some classes in spanish and it was a great way for me to build my vocabulary improve my pronunciation and really gain some much needed speaking confidence and the great thing about lingoda is that classes are available 24 7 and these are small group classes which means you will have a lot of opportunities to speak so let me give you a little more information about the language sprint because you have two options you can take the super sprint in which you will take 30 classes a month for three months and successful completion means you can get 100 cash back or you can take the sprint in which you'll take 15 classes a month for three months and if you complete that successfully you can get 50 cashback and the way it works is that you will pay each month you will take the required number of classes and then you will be eligible for either that 100 or 50 cashback the language sprint will begin on september 23rd so you have until september 8th to sign up and reserve your spot once you sign up you will pay a 49 euro deposit but you can use the voucher code school 16 to get a 10 euro discount on your deposit so click on the link in the description to find out more information about the language sprint and don't forget to use that voucher code school 16 and just start taking some online classes to improve your english gain some speaking confidence and make fewer and fewer mistakes let's get back to the lesson and the next grammar mistake that learners often make is with another word pair which is used to and used to now the first reason why it can be a little confusing is that the pronunciation is very similar used to and used to for the most part if you are speaking and you happen to make a mistake people really aren't going to take that much notice the problem would be with writing if you are writing and you need to use either used to or used to people are gonna see that okay this is the wrong one this is a mistake so let's let's look at uh let's look at what these verbs mean it's a modal verb and let's start with used to because this is definitely the more common one because of the meaning so if you say that you used to do something it's talking about something that was done or something that was experienced in the past and it's not done or experienced right now in the present for example i could say i used to play guitar that's true i don't play it anymore i don't play it now or perhaps i could say i used to look like this and as you can see i don't look like that anymore it's unfortunate or finally i could say we used to get regular sleep in the past but not now in the present because we have a baby girl and regular sleep has just gone out the window and that's a great idiom if something goes out the window it means that it just no longer exists so you may be wondering when are we going to use the form used to and we're going to use this when talking about negative statements and the reason for that is because when you are stating the negative with do not or does not you're going to use the base verb afterwards which in this case is used to so i could say something like well i didn't use to have hair like this i didn't used to have hair like this i used to have hair like that when i when i shaved my head which was well it was a long time ago or to be perfectly honest i didn't used to look like this but you probably already knew that i didn't used to look like this i well i i feel like i kind of look the same one other thing i want you to be aware of is that used to has another meaning which is to be accustomed to something so in this case it's pretty much an idiom and i could say wow this summer it's really hot and i'm not used to it this is a common expression that you will hear if somebody just wants to say they're not accustomed to something i'm not used to it so when we're using this idiom and you're talking about something you're accustomed to you're going to use used to and now let's talk about noun clauses because this is another common mistake that learners will make so i i can give you this sentence which is correct i don't know where she is what i might hear learners say is which is incorrect is i don't know where is she i understand why learners make this mistake but first we should know what a clause is a clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb a noun clause is a group of words that will take the place of a noun so this group of words together just acts like a noun and one way to identify a noun clause is to look for these words right here these words often start a noun clause they're not the only ones but these are some common words that you will find at the beginning of a noun clause so let's go back to that sentence and i started it with i don't know and we're going to follow that with a noun i don't know the answer or i could say i don't know this person actually i do i do know this person that's me a long time ago at a halloween party but i can follow i don't know with a noun and i could also follow it with a noun clause i don't know where she is where she is just acts like a noun and when we write our noun clause we have a subject and a verb and the subject is going to come first subject verb she is the reason why i that learners confuse this is because they see where and when people they they see where they think question and if we were going to ask a question you'd say where is she where is she and in that case the subject and the verb are reversed so it's understandable that learners make this mistake but realize that when we're talking about a noun clause it's going to have a subject and a verb the subject is going to come first and there are common phrases that are often followed by a noun clause like the one that i just gave you i don't know plus a noun clause or even i know plus a noun clause i know why you are here you're here to improve your english or another phrase would be i wonder plus a noun clause i wonder if you will write me a comment i do i really wonder because i love hearing from you or i could say ask someone plus a noun clause like ask him what time it is now there are again two main reasons why i think this can be really troublesome the first reason is because well mistakes are often made when the verb is to be and the second reason is when noun clauses are used in questions we can use noun clauses when we ask questions so let's go back to that last sentence ask him what time it is now a common question that i just think is burned into people's mind is what time is it what time is it what time is it what time is it it's something it's a question that i ask a lot but if i want to ask the same question perhaps even be polite i'm going to use a noun clause and i got to switch it around could you tell me what time it is could you tell me what time it is it's a little more polite but it's the same exact question except i'm going to use a noun clause and the subject will come before the verb it's the same if i ask do you know plus a noun clause do you know what time it is and this is a more specific example as to when learners may struggle with noun clauses so do you know what time it is it's time for me to end this lesson and i hope that you learned something new and if you did please hit that like button and i hope that you will make fewer and fewer mistakes because you now know the difference between some of this confusing grammar and understand how to correct these mistakes thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 84. 5 Effective Tips to Become a Confident Speaker | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PipnD-LoA64` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PipnD-LoA64) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:17:53 | --- so often i hear from learners that they want to become a more confident speaker so in today's lesson i want to share with you five different suggestions that i think will really help you build your confidence when you are speaking and having a conversation my name's wes this is interactive english and in case this is your first time here the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today is all about focusing on your speaking confidence and this is very important because without confidence then there might just be a lot more awkward pauses when you're having a conversation or worst of all you just may not speak and that is not what i want so i want to share with you some of these suggestions that i think will help make you a more confident speaker and the first suggestion that i have for you is that you really need to find a comfortable environment because this is going to help you lower your anxiety and instead of just trying to think of the words that you want to say you're just going to be able to say them easily and naturally right as they come into your your thoughts so you really need to take into consideration the the place in which you are speaking and having a conversation because often you may not know the other person so that's why it's important that your surroundings you feel comfortable whether you are having this conversation in a classroom or whether you're trying to speak to someone at a coffee shop or at a friend's house if you feel comfortable then that's going to help you become a little more confident with when you're trying to express your different thoughts and opinions and you're not going to worry about making mistakes and that leads me into my next suggestion which is to embrace your mistakes and i know that this is something that's much easier said than done try not to worry too much about making mistakes when you're having a conversation or when you're speaking i i want you to embrace them just understand that this is it's part of learning another language and if you're able to kind of put that out of your mind and not worry or focus on your mistakes then then that means you're just going to be able to focus more on what you're trying to say what you're trying to express and then you you'll be able to feel a little more confident in that because you're not going to be thinking about mistakes that you might be making and in order for you to embrace your mistakes and not worry about them you need to stop trying to find the perfect sentence don't try to find the perfect word or the perfect grammar when you're having a conversation and you're just trying to speak because again then you're you're gonna worry about your mistakes and then you're just going to feel more uncomfortable and and then you're just going to lose confidence and i think it's okay that if you're having a conversation i think it's perfectly normal if you want to take a moment and try to think of the word that you want to use you might think well it's right on the tip of my tongue and that's a great expression if something is on the tip of your tongue it means that you are well you you almost have the right word or phrase that you're trying to think of and if you can't think of it you might say oh it's just it's on the tip of my tongue and i know that happens to many of you out there that you're in a conversation and you stop for a moment because you're trying to think of that perfect word it's okay give it a couple of seconds but if you can't think of it then then just try to move on it's perfectly fine to then stop and tell somebody well let me let me try to explain it a different way because when you're able to do that if you can't think of the perfect word or or grammar and you just move on and try to explain it another way you can just keep the conversation going and not focus on whether or not you said something correctly or you use the correct word i want you to continue trying to have a natural free-flowing conversation instead of a conversation in which you're stopping every uh minute or two to think of a word and you have those awkward pauses the next suggestion that i have for you is to maintain eye contact so this is something that it all of this is really connected maintain eye contact with the person that you're speaking to because when you when you're looking directly at them you're really able to focus on what they're saying and when you focus on what they're saying it makes it easier for you to comprehend the information which would then make it easier for you to respond when you're having that free-flowing conversation and this is what happens when when people stop to search for that that perfect word people will end up looking away and they look away from somebody and they may lose focus not just on the the word or sentence that they're trying to say but they may start to lose focus on the entire conversation in general and then you start worrying about your mistakes and then you might feel a little more uncomfortable and start losing your confidence so again this is a building process if you're able to do each one of these it's going to help you build your confidence more and more and more so it's very important try to maintain eye contact it's also important that you try to speak clearly i know that many of you out there when you hear things like fast speech or i've done some lessons talking about fast speech or reducing your speech because i think there are many native speakers even in your language they reduce words and phrases because we want to say things well as much as we can in the shortest amount of time but don't feel like you need to do that it's so much more important for you to try to speak clearly which means that you're trying to speak at your speed so if you don't feel comfortable trying to reduce words and phrases or if you don't feel comfortable trying to link different words that's perfectly okay i think it's more important that you focus on speaking clearly and speaking at a speed that you're comfortable with because when you're able to do that it's just going to help you feel a little more confident having that conversation and you're listening to me right now you can tell i i am not somebody who speaks very fast this is the speed that i feel comfortable speaking at and i try to speak clearly and because of that i like to think it might make it a little easier for you to understand what i'm saying so i hope those five tips help you but i've saved the best for last because if you would really like to gain more speaking confidence then one suggestion that i have is that you enroll in my speaking course called speak up this is a 10 week course to really help you speak clearly speak confidently and speak naturally we talk about a variety of topics there are different speaking activities and there are also video lessons to help you practice and improve your pronunciation and if you are interested in improving your speaking and would like more practice and you want to join you can use the voucher code speak 10 to get a 10 discount off the course so check out the link down in the description if you would like to sign up or learn more about the course thank you guys so much for watching and i hope to speak to you soon --- ## 85. 5 Phrasal Verbs with GET | Useful Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `koMJWojuEr8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koMJWojuEr8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:50:56 | --- all right let's see if this is working all right so hello hello hello I hope that uh everybody out there is having a wonderful weekend and if you when you join us just tell us where you're from and uh you're name and if you are watching this at a later date in time uh don't worry about that but today what I want to talk to you about is phrasal verbs all right and phrasal verbs um you know they they're very important they're very useful it they're they're great to learn even though they can be extremely extremely frustrating because phrasal verbs can be very conf confusing you're dealing with prepositions which are words that can people can easily forget and also because phrasal verbs you have one of them and they have several different meanings oh hello hello um Brazil here excellent awesome welcome um I want to we're going to talk about phrasal verbs with get we've already done one video One lesson about some get phrasal verbs um with which we will link in the description below and I want to talk to you about five more of those phrasal verbs and I don't want to go over too many at one time because again they each have different meanings and we we it's best to do a little at a time so if you can just learn maybe two or three phrasal verbs in one day or even one week it is really useful so I'm going to go over five different phrasal verbs with you today and then we're going to do a little practice and I am going to test your knowledge um and what you remember from this lesson so if you are in the chat I am going to ask you some questions and I want you to type your answer uh so we can all see it and if you're watching this video later again my recommendation use the comment section as a a whiteboard and just write your answer and keep trying to produce the language even though you're listening to a video it doesn't always have to be passive learning you can make it into an active language learning lesson and actually write out uh your answers so today let's go ahead and begin with the first phrasal verb um again if you're just joining us hit us up in the chat tell us your name where you're from we say I know uh is it Natalia's in here from Brazil so so again say hello um which country are you are you um joining us from it' be great to hear from you so the first phrasal verb let's go ahead and begin we're going to talk about is get around okay so again this phrasal verb has three different meanings um the first one when you're talking and using get around it just basically means to travel to different places and this can be talking about traveling from one country to another country and you travel all throughout the world and you could say wow that person really gets around it can also mean shorter distances talking about just being around the home and I think this is a little more common usage of get around um in this context if you're talking about somebody who's older maybe a grandparent or somebody who just broke their leg and you're asking you know do they have trouble getting around the house like getting out of bed and walking around different rooms and I gave you an example sentence there hey what's up George uh also from Brazil awesome um the example sentence I gave you for get around is you know for her age my grandmother gets around easily so again getting around is more the literal sense just talking about moving from one place to another also get around can mean to avoid something where you literally want to get around something else because you want to avoid it and this is frequently used in the context of traffic we should find a way to get around this traffic I hope you like my lovely picture down there supposedly that is from the longest traffic jam in the world it was 62 miles in Beijing and apparently it lasted for 12 days so to get around something is to really just to go around it and the final meaning of get around is to if you're talking about just having sexual relations with many people and this is you know usually used in the context of it's not a typically a compliment you're usually talking about somebody else and you're not talking about yourself self so typically it's used in just a sentence like oh he gets around or oh she gets around um and in using it people would use it more so as like gossip in talking about other people getting around so those are the three different uh meanings of get around and again I know this can be difficult because you have one phrasal verb three different meanings but again we're going to practice this it's good to know um how to use it and especially keep practice practice practice practice because practice makes perfect uh again if you just joined us we are talking about different phrasal verbs with get you can hit us up in the chat say hello where where are you joining us from um and uh yeah it'd be great to hear from you guys so that is get around let's look at the next phrasal verb that I want to show you is this one get through okay so get through also yay it has three different meanings again that we need to learn so to get through you can also use it with the other preposition it can be a three-word prepositional phrase um get through two but I'll talk to you about that one in just a second so to get through um the first meaning is just when you're talking on the phone okay okay you're you're trying to contact somebody and sometimes I think we've all been there depending maybe our cell reception is not good and you have a difficult time getting through to somebody else and a lot of often you might hear somebody say like I gave an example and said you know I'll call you later I can't get through I'll call later I can't get through right now you're not able to connect you're not able to reach that person because perhaps you don't have uh cell cell perception you can't get through the other way that it's used get through too and this is talking about like you get through to someone else is to effectively communicate uh with somebody else you're trying to reach somebody you're trying to make them understand you're trying to show them your point of view you need to get through to somebody and a lot of times this might be used in the context when talking about maybe children or students that are difficult to work with and as a teacher this has happened to me before when I've taught when I taught kids way back when and some of the students some of the kids it was tough to get through to them um because of one reason or another and like they said in the example sentence he doesn't listen to anyone nobody can get through to him so it's easy to it's it's a little more difficult to communicate with somebody and a lot of times it's used in the negative talking about you can't get through to somebody else the last one um with get through is to survive or to endure something all right you need to get through it so perhaps you're experiencing an unpleasant ordeal or an unpleasant situation and you are trying to get through it you are trying to survive it you are trying to endure it I know this time of year a lot lot of people are finishing up school and they have final exams in either um if they're in high school or university and they are trying to survive it and they're trying to get through it which is the picture of the young lady studying and says I don't know how I'll get through my final exams how are you going to get through this how are you going to survive so again one phrasal verb three different meanings for it let's continue and then we're going to practice practice rce practice um again if you guys have any questions just hit us up in the chat ask us anything English related and we will try and get back to you all right so also you know again let us know your name where you're watching from and if you really want to be helpful for us you know again just share the video sharing is caring help us spread the word and to spread the word is an idiom that means to talk to other people and other people and other people so more people know what's going on all right so I um the next one that I want to talk to you about so we've done get around we've done get through the third phrasal verb that I want to show you is this one right here to get across all right and to get across thankfully this one just has two meanings that we are going to discuss the first one is is a little bit similar to getting through through to someone all right trying to make them understand to to get across is to make someone understand something the difference between the two if you want to get through to somebody you were wanting to communicate with them person to person if you're trying to get across you're actually trying to get something across all right not just you communicating you are actually trying to communicate an idea or an opinion or or a thought and you are trying to get that cross to the other person um so I gave you an example sentence up there again she couldn't get her point across because he wouldn't listen and a lot of times um you know you you are talking about this you're getting your point across which is you're trying to say something you're trying to express your feelings your thought and you get your point across and this is kind of a very common cocation used in English with this phrasal verb to get some point across all right um all right George excellent example sentence all right I have to go through some work on Sunday morning um you have to get through some work on Sunday morning yes unfortunately I I I'm sorry that you have to be working on Sunday but um you know it's all good great uh example sentence again I'd encourage you guys for more practice as we're going through these just like that keep writing in the chat throw out some sentences I'll talk about them um um and and let you know uh how they work if you're using it in the right context but again it's good to keep keep practicing the other meaning of get across is more the literal meaning is that you are trying to go across something and get from one side to another now I would say there is a difference between get across and go across and that difference is when when somebody says get across I think that there is something kind kind of blocking or stopping somebody or you know something making it difficult to try and go to the other side so I'll give you an example so if we are standing at a street and there are no cars around absolutely nothing then I would just say hey we need to go across uh to the other side we're just going to cross the street if there are a lot of cars there and it's going to be very difficult and we have to wait and maybe it's a little dangerous then I would more likely use get a cross again because there is something there is a challenge in the way that may be preventing us from going from one side to another so that is a slight difference between get across and go across but you can use get across and then talking about like I said in the example sentence we need to get across the street all right so oh Jesus from uh Venezuela awesome welcome welcome um again if you guys are just joining us us tell us hello tell us your name where you're joining us from and if you really want to practice as we go through these phrasal verbs write a sentence out there in the chat tell us something about you about your lives using one of these phrasal verbs so we've done three phrasal verbs now we' talked about get around get through get across I'm going to go do two more phrasal verbs and then we I'm going to ask you guys some questions and I'm going to want you to put your answers um into the chat and we'll see how that goes so the next uh phrasal verb that I want to show you is this one okay which is get off okay so get off it's a big one it has four different meanings and again I think these are phrasal verbs that many of you you might already be familiar with you've already learned them but maybe there might be a meaning that you are not too familiar with so again it's always good to learn um new ways to practice and improve your English so get off I have four meanings the first one is talking about leaving a place and typically you you're almost always talking about work so if somebody's at work and you're talking to somebody else and you might ask them hey what time do you get off they're talking about what time are you going to be leaving work work and this is a very common question like the one that I gave you what time do you get off work so right now I have a question for you that I want you to write in the chat I am going to ask you what time do you get off work what time do you normally get off work um during the week or on the weekends if you're on it so I want you to try and write that sentence in the chat answer that question what time do you get off work and try again just practice write a full sentence write a complete compl sentence don't just give me a time what time do you get off work let us know um the next sent or the next meaning of get off is one that you guys are probably already familiar with and that you know about which just is to exit or disembark something you're talking about getting off of a bus getting off of a train getting off of a bike getting off of a horse so these are some of the more common ones that you use get off with notice that there's a lot of Transportation ones but you do not get off of a car all right um that is not one that we use but when you're actually kind of leaving something and disembarking uh is kind of the word that I would like to use with those other forms of transportation um you get off of a bus you get off of a train uh even in the example sentence um you would say like uh we got off the train immediately you left the train you got off the next meaning of get off is to again you're basically telling somebody to stop touching you in some way shape or form so for example uh maybe somebody steps on your toes or they step on your foot and you'll just tell them hey you know get off of me hey um get off of my foot all right you're basically saying stop touching all right or maybe somebody tackles you all right if you are wrestling um playing around with your friends and just say hey you know get off of me uh that is another common phrasal verb meaning for get off the last one um if you're trying to get off is to avoid being punished severely so what I mean by this is you know if somebody went to uh jail and then they got out um you would say you know they got off easy or something like that so actually it's kind of like you're you're getting punished but um it wasn't a very severe punish so you'd say again mostly as a cocation you get off easy all right so sometimes at school I use this as an example in the as for our sentence um students maybe cheated on the test and maybe they didn't have much of a punishment and you could say wow they got off easy for cheating on the test all right you get off is kind of to avoid a severe punishment and you have a lesser punishment and you are able to get off easy the next one all right guys you aren't very chatty today all right like again let us know what time do you get off of work um and again use it in the sentence try to practice practice makes perfect um hello Matas how's it going uh if you guys were if you guys are joining us again let us know your name where are you writing us from um it's always good to know so we've talked about now that is the fourth one get around get through get across get off I want to talk to you one more phrasal verb and then I want to do some practice and I'm going to give you 10 questions 10 fill-in the blank questions and I want you to write the answer using one of these phrasal verbs so the next one that I want to show you is this one all right which is get by okay so to get by has two different meanings Zeus I get off work at 400 p.m. awesome perfect use um Natalia it doesn't work sorry hey okay that's fine um good use of the the word get off 4M nice that's that's good you got the whole afternoon after you get off work mostly um so again this phrasal verb to get by um has two meanings and these are maybe a little more difficult especially the first one um to get by is to have enough money or knowledge to do what is necessary now these are two separate uh meanings so for example in the sentence that I gave you like I lo uh he lost his job but he's still getting by this one is talking about money mostly and the ability to survive so if you're able to get by typically it's talking about you're able to survive with the little resources the little means that you have um often you're talking about in this context maybe you lose your job or maybe you're experiencing some financial difficulties and you say yeah you're you're still able to get by it can also be used when talking about knowledge which is a little different so I'll tell you this would be like kind of in the context of school or education maybe you're taking a a class and it is so difficult and you don't really understand the material and you would say like look I really don't know how I'm going to get by um which is I don't know how I'm going to survive with the knowledge that I have or for example maybe you finished and you got a good grade in the class and you say wow I can't believe I got by with an a um that you were able to survive with the knowledge you have you were able to get by with this grade so to get by is again you're talking about typically either money or knowledge um and you're able to survive and endure Vel hi hi hello how are you um where are you writing us from let us know um and tell us too what time do you get off work that was the question that I had for everybody um the other meaning of get by is again more of a literal one you're trying to pass somebody or something that is blocking you or in your way so if you are here and you need to go over there and maybe you need to get by something and this is again little typical little different than get around to get around you are actually going out of the way to go um to where you want to be to get by is kind of you know kind of going through and and um so for example like have those two nice security guards there hello hello from Argentina awesome cool got people from all over the place joining us Estella welcome um in that picture those two security guards so this is something you would hear a lot of times in movies um or TV and they say oh how are we going to get by the guards or how are we going to get by uh this person or that thing how are we going to get from here to the other side and get by okay so uh awesome joining us from India cool a lot of different places today um one of the questions that I had we talked about the phrasal verb get off let me know what time do you get off of work um I well I will get off my work in almost 4M all right nice um George excellent sentence a lot of times you really don't need to to use it like um as an estimate you just say hey uh I I'm I get off around 4M or something if you want to like if you're not sure of what time you know you get you get off around 400 p.m. sometimes you get off before sometimes you get off later um I'll get off around 4 pm um I get off school uh it's a good sentence I get off school at 4M um typically again I'd say get off when you're talking about leaving it's almost always used in the context you're you're talking about work mostly um so you wouldn't really um you would say kind of maybe get out of class at a certain time like I get out of class at 4 pm or you just say yeah I finished school at at 4 p.m. show those that just joined us we talked about again I'll just run back through these real quick to review um get around is again talking about three different meanings going from um one place to another maybe traveling from country to Country and you really get around a lot it can be to avoid something often times I would say avoiding traffic we need to get around the traffic um and again it's also can be used talking about in the having a lot of sexual relations just saying again it's a standalone sentence mostly gossip saying oh you know he gets around or she gets around um and you're talking about some other person to get through it was the second one we talked about and you're talking about getting through to someone like on the phone you're trying to connect with them it can also mean to communicate effectively with somebody I'm trying to get through to you to help you understand the meaning of these phrasal verbs and hopefully this is making it easier um it can also mean to get through something to survive in ordeal or an issue or a situation that that maybe you find difficult um we talked about get across and after I go through these I'm going to give you guys the questions um to get across that first one is to help make sure to help make somebody understand something and typically you're talking about something like a an idea a feeling an opinion you're trying to get that across to another person or to a group of people you're trying to get your point across and then the other one like I said is to get across like literally to go from one side to another but it is typically talking that something is maybe a little more challenging that you have to get across and that was the difference between get across and go across um and I use that street as an example if there's no cars I would go across the street if there are cars I would say oh wow we need to get across the street try and find some way to do it um the next one we talked about again quickly was get off um I asked you guys what time do you get off work uh again it's typically it's just talking about work another meaning for get off was again like the bus the train uh a bike you are actually getting off of it um and leaving another one is again telling somebody hey you know get off of me somebody's on top of you or maybe like I said they step on your foot and you just say hey you know get off um asking them stop touching me get off probably the more difficult one would be in this context of you know getting out of a punishment and then you're talking more specifically about crime maybe somebody's going to jail and they got off pretty easy um they weren't severely punished and then the last one we just talked about it was get by talking about getting by with money getting by with knowledge um and surviving and being able to get through this um and it also means again getting by if somebody's blocking your way um excellent George I'm following you on Twitter you have nice lessons there thank you very much again if you guys want more practice please follow us on social media we're on Facebook and Twitter we post a lot of different questions um it's not just stuff that's YouTube related to help you guys practice this um and kind of test your your different knowledge of of English so right now I am going to test uh your knowledge of what we just learned okay so wait a second uh I want to delete this before I turn it on I don't want to show you the question just yet here we go okay so here we have the five phrasal verbs there okay now there's my hand five uh that we talked about get around get through get across get off and get by so I am going to ask you a question and what I want you to do is write it into the chat and I want see how fast you guys are I know there's a little bit of a delay in this but I'm going to give you a question and I just want you to write the answer okay which phrasal verb are you going to use uh get around get through get across get off or get by so your first question is right here let's see okay so there is the first question I want you to write the answer write the phrasal verb in the chat all right so the question the bridge is destroyed how are we going to to the other side the bridge is destroyed how are we going to to the other side all right again we're talking about going from one side to the other which phrasal verb are we going to use for that uh all right just write your answer into the chat okay okay what do you think the bridge is destroyed how are we going to to the other side um again if you know we're talking about a bridge probably the bridge is crossing over some type of river or something um which means that there is a challenge remember uh if if the bridge uh is is maybe crossing over something there is a challenge standing in your way which means let me write I'll throw the answer in there for you so the Pidge is destroyed how are we going to get across to the other side whoops that is there we go okay that is actually still can't see that on there let's all right remember the reason that we're talking about like we use get um across um there we go we're trying to get from one side to the other and typically like I said there's usually something that maybe is preventing you from doing this remember I use the example of crossing the street when there are a lot of cars um you wouldn't really say I know some of you said get through to the other side like usually if you're getting going getting through something you're actually going through like a tunnel or something like that um so again in this context where you're specifically talking about a bridge that's kind of the key word there you would be talking about getting across from one side to the other all right um again all right who's wrong don't worry it's all right if you get it wrong this is all good it's just practice practice practice next question that I have have for you guys um okay this one should be easy you guys should get this one the next question for you this right here all right she's working late and won't until 11 p.m. that's my my popping sound effect for uh those blank spaces she's working late and won't until 11 p.m. which one which one is it which phrasal verb are we talking about get around get through get across get off or get by if you're just joining us I'm kind of we're doing a little practice right now quizzing you on your knowledge of these get phrasal verbs and again even if you're watching this later and this is no longer being live streamed i' suggest you know go ahead um you know keep answering write these answers in the comments it's good to keep practicing um so the key word here is again we are talking about work okay so if we're talking about work then the phrasal verb that we would want to use make sure I have enough room is this one all right she's working late and won't get off until 1100 p.m. we're talking about work we're talking about leaving work we want to use get off excellent good job guys um let's go with the next one all right you're ready here we go the next one question I have for you is Boom this one right here all right we were finally able to and speak to our family all right think about the context that that this sentence is being used in what is the situation what do you think just by reading this sentence we are finally able to and speak to our family okay you know that you're speaking to somebody you are communicating all right which phrasal verb is it write it in the comments all right let's see let's see who's the fastest all right we we were finally able to and speak to our family which phrasal verb do you think we use get around get through get across get off or get by okay all right so think about it um got some answers excellent you're talking about you know we're talking about speak to our family you're talking about talking to somebody and typically in this context you know given that oh like we're finally able to uh and speak to our family it makes me think that they are not in the same areas they are not right in front of each other which means that probably they're talking on the phone all right so if they're talking on the phone we would say oh um we would want to use this one all right get through we were finally able to get through and speak to our family all right you're talking about communicating with somebody get through the next one all right let's do some more um boom all right this one it's easy but it's a little more challenging I want you to use the phrasal verb but use it with the correct form okay try to see if you can use it in the correct form how would you really complete this sentence right now I'm the bus right now I'm the bus are you going to use get around get through get across get off or get by and which form that is a that that that is a hint as to what I want you to try and write in there okay um all right how would you complete this other sentence right now I'm the bus the key word another key word in here is right now you are talking about now now now now now which verb form do we use with right now okay right now I'm the bus what phrasal verb which of these F uh which which of these five phrasal verbs are you going to use all right you guys are getting it awesome uh I like that you're getting the form that I'm talking about again we're talking about something that is happening now um so which verb form are we going to use okay the answer okay remember we're talking about um the the bus you're talking about uh a situation most likely what do people do they either get on a bus or they get off of a bus okay so they're talking about uh you know the other phrasal verbs you wouldn't really you know it doesn't make much sense to use with this context of talking about a bus again um when you're getting off of something getting off a train getting off a bus getting off a bike we would say right now again because you're talking about now which is the present continuous right now I'm getting off the bus okay so again maybe you're talking to somebody on the phone and they say hey what are you doing and you're like well I'm getting off right now I'm getting off the bus okay you just got somewhere you are getting off um or maybe you were traveling somewhere okay does that make sense if you get off of something you are exiting it you are leaving okay the next question that I have for you okay let's do another one this one right here okay which phrasal verb which of these five get phrasal verbs would you use get around get through get across get off get by so the sentence I just barely with a passing grade okay I just barely with a passing grade I kind of when we were going through this I gave you some of those examples um if you're just joining us again we're just kind of doing a little phrasal verb quiz with get so I would ask you guys write your answers in the comments ments um right or wrong it really doesn't matter this is not a test this is just for you to practice and make this a little more interactive in an actual lesson um so fill in the blank with this sentence I just barely with a passing grade okay I'll give you a little hint because I haven't seen any answers um I'll give you a little hint you're you're talking about you know surviving you're talking about enduring something um with the resources that you have and this is talking about your knowledge okay your knowledge you got you you were able to survive or endure with your knowledge and with a passing grade I was I almost said the answer right there I just barely with a passing grade so this is a context you're talking about school um you're talking about it uh the other thing I would say again um and I should have reminded you from the beginning play pay close attention to the verb form okay so again in this context is this something is this a sentence that you would say is in the future is it in the present or is it in the past all right are they talking about the the future the present or the past in this sense because I see some of you you got the you got the right phrasal verb um so again this sentence we told you you're talking about the your knowledge you're able to survive you're able to endure it is something that is said and you're talking about the past because it's a passing grade you already received it it's finished it's done all right so I barely got by with a passing grade okay I just barely got by with a passing grade you took a class it was difficult maybe you thought you were going to fail but you didn't you survived you endured you got by with the knowledge that you had and again this was used in the past all right excellent but you guys got that one good job good job um next question that I have for you uh let's keep doing some of these okay next question boom right time so we're talking about he's having a tough time the divorce we're talking about a difficult situation all right something that some somebody is inexperience a difficult experience a difficult situation so which phrasal verb um would you use all right and again bonus points pay close attention to the verb form that that you would need to use as well all right are you going to use get around get through get across get off get by okay which one would you use okay so he's having a tough time the divorce get around get through get across get off get by um remember the the verb form or the form that we would need to use okay so again you're talking about a difficult uh situation and exper erience that that you need to survive all right you guys awesome I'm going to you if you're having a difficult time with an experience a situation you're talking about getting through it you're talking about surviving it enduring it um so that uh you know it's at a point where it finally ends so you'd have a tough time the form that you'd want to use again it's not typ typically a a verb but he's having a tough time getting through the divorce all right and this one was a little tricky because again the main verb is um you know talking about like he he is having all right this is actually uh you know a j so this is going to be a Jaren of it you know you're having a tough time um you know I'm having a tough time when when something follows that phrase you're going to use the jiren all right I'm having a tough time doing homework I'm having a tough time um following this lesson I don't know I'm having a tough time getting through the divorce so this one was a little more tricky because we're using the Jaren right here um still even though it is a phrasal verb getting through I don't want to get too much into the grammar if some of you are sitting there thinking like what the heck is a Jaren um in this sentence this is the correct context he's having a tough time getting through uh the divorce excellent um again yeah that one that that is a little more difficult um trying to throw some easier ones out there and then uh some more challenging ones so let's try let's do an easier one okay uh let's do this one right here so see if you can fill in this sentence all right again if you're just joining us we're doing a little uh phrasal verb quiz here with get okay so I want you to look at the sentence write the correct phrasal verb in the blank get around get through get across get off or get by you are stepping on my toes all right this is a command you're using it in the imperative and you're telling somebody to what um which phrasal verb which get phrasal verb are you going to use in this context so which one would you guys use all right I thought it was a a video not live no no Marco we are live actually this is live um so okay excellent so this one was a little easier I think um again you're talking about somebody's stepping on your toes and you want them to stop touching you so you would tell them to get off all right you're stepping on my toes get off okay again get off telling somebody stop touching you um is one of the meanings of that phrasal verb let's do another one um this one I think is a little more more challenging cuz maybe the context um I think we use it it's not something you would hear as regularly okay so give that one a try she broke her leg so it's difficult for her to okay so think about again the context somebody breaks their leg um it's difficult for them to move so which phrasal verb which those get phrasal verbs would complete that sentence she broke her leg so it's difficult for her to we're going to use get around get through get across Amad Amad hi hi everyone hey welcome how's it going we're doing a quick little practice with get phrasal verbs if you're just joining us um I'm giving you some questions and just asking you to fill in the blank with either get around get through get across get off get by write your response in the chat so she broke her leg so it's difficult for her to which one which one do you think which one would would make the most sense to complete that sentence all right and so again we're talking about in this context some somebody broke their leg so it is like I said it's difficult for them to move all right it's difficult for them you know I don't I I don't know if you've ever broken your leg before I haven't but I imagine it is tough for people to you know obviously go from one room to the next even in or go shorter distances so in this context if you're talking about moving she broke her leg so it's difficult for her to get around remember this was the first phrasal verb and the first meaning that we talked about during this live lesson I told you to get around basically means to move from one place to another and you can use it in the context of traveling long distances whether maybe you say oh you know I've been to France I've been to Egypt I've been to China I've been to the United States you say wow that person really gets around they move a lot from one place to the other it can also mean about moving short distances I said typically um you know getting around is used frequently when you're talking about maybe somebody who's older maybe a grandparent um that you're talking about oh you know my grandmother has a tough time getting around um moving from one place to another one all right so does that make sense let's do another one okay got two more for you uh here we go so the next one boom all right so this one um it is a separable phrasal verb all right I didn't talk too much about which one's separable un Inseparable again it's another challenge with phrasal verbs um some of them you can some of you can't in this one um it is separated if you let me my point then I'll tell you why you're wrong all right again this is uh a common cocation in English these are this when you're talking about your point it is commonly used with this get phrasal verb are we talking about get around get through get across get off or get by okay which one would you guys say which phrasal verb write it in the chat if you are watching this later again just write the sentence in the comments make it more active language learning even if it is a recorded video and we are not live anymore write it in the chat keep practicing um those of you are with us now of course we are live um so what I want you to do again how would you which phrasal verb are you going to use with that question if you'd let me my point then I'll tell you why you're wrong all right you're talking about about trying to share information trying to share express your your feeling your opinion your idea what would you say what phrasal verb would complete that sentence which get phrasal verb get around get through get across get off or get by again like I said this one maybe is a little more difficult because a lot of times I think uh again you hear it in this context when you're talking about somebody's point they're trying to express themselves um and you're using which one okay all right so again if we're talking about an idea or an opinion and especially if you're talking about your point we would say if you'd let me get my point across then I'll tell you while why you're wrong okay if you'd let me get my point across then I'll tell you why you're wrong so again if you're talking about your point you want to get your point across get it across to somebody you want to them to understand your idea your opinion you want to get something across to someone else and a lot of times like I said it's used with the word point it's also could be used with the word message you want to get your message across um when you're wanting to share your idea a lot of times politicians would talk about this when they're talking about a new policy or something that they want to implement in the government and they want to get their message across um to the public to the people so again when you're using with get across a lot of times you find it with either point or maybe a word like message to get your point across or to get something across to someone else okay let's do one more all right let's do another let's give this one a try so hopefully that one makes sense want to get your point across how about this one it's hard to to him because he's so stubborn all right it's hard to to him because he's so stubborn which phrasal verb which get phrasal verb most appropriately completes this sentence okay and this is a this is a little more maybe challenging again um it's hard to to him because he's so stubborn which one which phrasal verb are you going to use are you going to use get around get through get across get off or get by okay remember you're in in this in this instance you're talking about communicating with somebody you're you're trying to communicate with somebody and the other key word that here is stubborn if you know what stubborn means then I think this would make a little more sense okay if subon is stubborn they don't like to change they don't really listen to people um they do whatever they they want and they it's difficult to change them so if somebody is stubborn it's hard to all right it's hard to it's hard to to him because he's so stubborn um maybe I I am actually like this sometimes I can be very stubborn so it's hard to to um so what which one would you say oh eloisa hello how are you got some new names up there now um so again write your answer in the chat or if you don't know just write I don't know it's okay again this isn't uh you know this isn't a major quiz or a test that you guys are taking it's all just about practice and you know what what they say practice makes perfect okay so again you're you're talking about um you're trying to communicate something with this person him maybe we're talking about me because he's so stubborn and to give you the answer it's hard [Music] to it's hard to get through to him because so stubborn all right you get through to someone else one of the key words I'd say in there was that to because I told you this is technically a three-word phrasal verb get through to someone all right to be able to communicate with them so that you you guys make a connection that you understand each other and this is different than get across because getting across you're talking kind of about something else you're talking about your idea your thought this is just trying to establish a connection with somebody so that you can start a conversation so that you can try to find some common ground and you say it's hard to get through to him because he's so stubborn okay so again I hope you guys I I hope you guys enjoyed that lesson what i' would say is if you came in a little late again you can go back rewatch it um we went through the meaning of each of those phrasal verbs um where we talked about all of those we talked about get around get through get across get off get by and their different meanings and then we did that practice so again I'd recommend you know rewatching it again um going through the practice again see if that makes sense because again all of this is going to help you and phrasal verbs they can be a real pain I know that um and and they are difficult to try and teach because again you have one phrasal verb with all of these different meanings but it's just good to practice um and expose yourself to these meanings so again you'll start to internalize this information and you will really start to understand it so again you know we appreciate you guys joining us and finally I'd say check us out right there on social media if you want more practice if you're using any of these social media accounts Facebook Instagram Snapchat Twitter obviously you're watching us on YouTube right now but these are all good ways to just get a little exposure each day we put up different questions for you to answer if you want to answer them or not it's up to you but it's always good to have that option and this is available for you so please take advantage of it the last thing that I want to tell you um is please please please again sharing is caring if you want to help us spread the word to other people please share this video or some of our other videos we are trying to um reach as many people as possible and we are going to keep doing these live stream lessons and hopefully we'll do them a little more regularly so you'll know exactly when to expect them but right now we did one on Saturday we're going to try and do one next Saturday and we post that on both Facebook and Twitter so you will know what time we will be doing that uh so again thank you guys uh for joining us Natalia George uh Marco Louisa um who else was with us thank you guys Ahmad it was great having you guys here um hope you enjoyed this lesson hope you enjoyed uh learning some new phrasal verbs hope you learned some of these new phrasal verbs and now try to go out and continue practicing them all right thank you guys and we will see you next time goodbye --- ## 86. 5 SUPER LONG WORDS...VERY DIFFICULT TO PRONOUNCE | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bj36KIilDTQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj36KIilDTQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:56:32 | --- can you correctly pronounce these five long words right here let's find out veterinarian notice with my American accent I pronounce that t as a flap T veterinarian encyclopedia all six syllables you hear them encyclopedia hierarchy that second syllable has that unstressed schah sound hierarchy syruptitious stress is on that second to last syllable syruptitious and particularly I don't know why this is even difficult for me because this is a particularly difficult word to pronounce and now we have just answered the question --- ## 87. 5 TRICKY WORDS TO PRONOUNCE IN ENGLISH | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `F0LoNWPAC0Q` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0LoNWPAC0Q) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:56:17 | --- five tricky words to pronounce so repeat after me jewelry most people will just say it with two syllables jewelry sixth you hear that voiceless th slightly sixth epitome that t is actually two different syllables epitome thoroughly thoroughly Brewery for anybody who enjoys a beer brewery and now you know --- ## 88. 5 Tricky Grammar Rules You Need to Remember | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Yc1HfOzwzsM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc1HfOzwzsM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:20:30 | --- [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i have a grammar lesson for you i want to talk to you about five tricky grammar rules that i think you should remember because this is just going to help you improve your overall english fluency so let's begin with these two tricky words right here who vs whom so the first thing that you should know is that who refers to the subject and whom refers to the object of the verb or preposition so a simple little trick that i want to teach you right now to help you determine okay which one should you use who or whom is that if you are going to take make a sentence using the unknown word if you can use he or she then you are going to use who if you make a sentence and you can complete it with him or her then you will use whom so let's look at these sentences right here these questions and we're going to change these questions around and i can take the first one and i can make the sentence he would like some ice cream i'm going to use he which is the subject so you would use who who would like some ice cream in the next question let's change it again we'll make a sentence and we could say i should ask her for help her is the object so now i'm going to use whom whom should i ask for help so i think this can get pretty confusing when you have sentences like these and you are going to have a noun clause and a noun clause will have a subject a verb and maybe an object and you're trying to determine whether or not you're going to use who or whom so let's get rid of the first part of this sentence and let's just focus on that noun clause and i can change it around and make a sentence and say he wrote the email so again i'm talking about the subject so i'm going to use who i don't know who wrote the email in the next sentence again let's forget about the first part focus on that noun clause and again we can make the following sentence the email is about him him is an object so now you know that you're going to use whom i don't know whom the email is about another reason why this can be tricky is because in spoken english especially in places like the united states which is where i am from people will often use who instead of whom every time you get into the ring that's who you're going against you're going up against him the objects so it really should be that's whom you're going up against oh i'm sorry but who else can i talk to about this i can talk to her about this so it really should be but who else can i talk to about this so you can see that it's it's pretty common that in places like the us people will use who instead of whom in spoken english that's just something that i want you to be aware of i'm not saying that you should do this i would always encourage you to try to follow the rules as best as you can but this is another reason why this is this is pretty tricky grammar now before we continue i'd like to take a moment and tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda and if you would like to improve your overall english fluency taking online classes with lingoda will really help there are so many benefits to learning with lingoda i've even studied with lingoda i took some spanish classes and it was a really great experience and i say that this will really help for several reasons first these are small group classes which means you will have more opportunities to speak and you're also going to get more attention from the teacher also classes are available 24 7 because i know many of you have a busy schedule but this way there are always classes available for you to take in addition you you get to study at home and i think that's very important because i always tell learners that it's so much more helpful if you are able to learn in a comfortable environment and i think home is probably one of the most comfortable places for you to learn english and you can do all of this at a very affordable price as low as 8 euro per group class and lingoda is always finding ways to continue making their school better and better now they even have quizzes and homework all of this is done to help you improve your fluency skills right now lingoda has a great offer because you can sign up and get a free seven-day trial that includes three group classes and you can also use my voucher code west7 to get a 20 euro discount off your first month's payment click on the link in the description down below to sign up for your free 7-day trial and don't forget to use my voucher code west 7 so that when you continue your classes you will get a 20 euro discount and then you will just be on your way to achieving your fluency goals so let's get back to our lesson on tricky grammar rules and the next thing i want to talk to you about is spelling because sometimes people will write me and they'll ask me about the spelling of certain words and they're like well which one is correct because i've seen it spelled two different ways and often the difference that they're talking about is the difference in spelling between american english and british english and there are some notable differences one example would be the er versus re in words like theater or center there are also differences with the single l versus the double l in words like traveled and counselor and of course there are differences between the o and o u in words like color and favorite so let's let's go back to what you should do the one thing that i would say is that i either form is acceptable you can you can spell the words either way the only thing i would say is that you are consistent and that you're not switching back and forth between the american spelling and the british spelling if you're going to say some sentence like this and say blue is my favorite color and you are going to spell favorite like you would in the united states but then you're going to spell color like you would in the uk that may look a little strange so what i would recommend is that you just try to be consistent and follow one of the spelling forms whether it is american english or british english just just be aware there are some differences when it comes to spelling then we come to gender neutral pronouns or some people may refer to them as third person personal pronouns i just like to say gender-neutral pronouns but well what i'm talking about is this i once had someone write to me and they said that their friend is getting ready to have a baby but they're not sure whether it's a boy or a girl and they were wanting to know well well how should i refer to the baby and my advice was that if if they don't know then you could just say the baby but this brings us to a problem in english because there's not a gender neutral pronoun that is widely accepted think about this situation perhaps you have a friend and you tell me like oh my my friend is traveling to the u.s and i ask well why is your friend traveling to the u.s is he or she taking a vacation people may use he or she when you don't know the gender of a person you're talking about your friend but you don't say if it's a man or a woman and i don't know so if i want to refer to your friend i would have to say he or she that is it's it's a problem in english because sometimes when you're talking about an unknown gender you you might do it quite often and it gets a little tedious and a little i guess weird to keep saying he or she he or she he or she so instead of using he or she i would say that you can use they all right i'm gonna go ahead and tell you that you can use it because i do think nowadays it's more accepted to use they as a gender-neutral pronoun and i know that you're probably thinking wait a second in class i've always learned that they refers to more than one person it is a plural pronoun yes that is true however in this situation when you're talking about a gender that you don't know i think it's very common i do it all the time i would use they instead of he or she i'm not always going to say he or she so let's go back to that example if you told me that your friend is traveling to the u.s it's very natural for me to say oh why is your friend traveling to the u.s uh are they taking a vacation so i'm going to use they the pronoun but i'm going to use it as a singular pronoun that is gender neutral because i do not know if your friend is a man or woman this is definitely becoming more accepted nowadays you will even find this in some very well-known online dictionaries cambridge says that you can use this to avoid saying he or she told you i don't really like to continuously say he or she and meriam webster actually gives you a lot of specific information about the singular they one thing i would say is that if you are writing and writing is a bit more formal i i think it is appropriate to use he or she when you're writing in a formal context and when you're speaking i think quite often you will hear the singular they and i think you can use it as well if you're talking about an unknown gender it's a singular gender-neutral pronoun now let's talk about crazy plural nouns and i say crazy because they are irregular and i think most of you are probably familiar with the rules if you want to change a noun from singular and make it plural then perhaps you're going to add an s like shares or e-s in boxes or i-e-s such as stories those are the general rules when you want to change a noun from singular to plural now the good news is there there's even a rule that you could follow with some irregular plural nouns for example if a noun ends with an f or fe then when you change it to plural you're going to add v e s so wolf becomes wolves or leaf becomes leaves for other irregular plural nouns you you really just need to memorize like you're learning new vocabulary but the there are many of them that we use frequently and you probably already know for example child becomes children that's a pretty common word or foot becomes feet these are some common irregular plural nouns there are others that well are not very common you're probably not going to use them in everyday conversation and you would just really try to learn them over time for example ox the plural is oxen or the plural of index is indices or octopus is octopi because you never know maybe you're out swimming in the ocean and you are surrounded by some octopi it could happen and now let's talk about pronouncing silent letters because in english there are many words that have silent letters like this one knee and you might be wondering well wait why why is that k silent well pronunciation is something that has changed over time so this word actually i think we got it from german and if you look up the german word for knee you have it right here and then if we have google pronounce it for us it's going to sound like this knee knee many german speakers out there can tell me if that's if that's close the pronunciation but you hear that k sound and in old english a long time ago people would pronounce the k and then over time i think they they think maybe in the 16th and 17th century because of the influence of latin and french the k just got dropped and people stopped pronouncing it so how do you solve this puzzle because you might want to know well how can you avoid pronouncing these silent letters so that you don't uh misspeak and perhaps cause a little confusion if you're having a conversation well there's not really a general rule that you can follow i think the best thing you can do is just try to understand which letter combinations may have a silent letter like k n and knee you also have the w r combination where the w is silent in words like right and then there is the g n combination where the g is silent in words like foreign so in my opinion if you want to learn how to pronounce these words with silent letters i'm going to give you three suggestions the first one is use subtitles if you're watching a tv show or a movie turn on those subtitles you're able to see the word see the spelling and listen to the correct pronunciation something similar to that and it's my next suggestion is audiobooks when you're reading a story you're reading a book listen to the audiobook and follow along because again you see the words you see the spelling and you're listening to the correct pronunciation and my final suggestion and personally i think this is the best one of all and that is to watch some of my video lessons i have created a playlist just for you that has a lot of different pronunciation video lessons in which i'm talking about commonly mispronounced words many of them have silent letters so you can check that out if you want to practice and improve your pronunciation if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button and as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 89. 5 Useful Phrasal Verbs with CHECK to Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VKRc0QP9uJM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKRc0QP9uJM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:48:22 | --- hello hello hello hope you're having a great day wherever you are in the world and I want to welcome you to today's lesson have a super super awesome lesson for you today which I promise you will learn something new why because today we are talking about phrasal verbs okay so I am going to talk to you about five phrasal verbs five with the word check now this is following up on a previous lesson we recently posted about phrasal verbs with check if you have not seen that lesson I will leave a link to it in the description so you can check that one out all right see I'm using these phrasal verbs already but I'm not going to talk to you about those same phrasal verbs I'm going to talk to you about five more five different phrasal verbs with check there are when it comes to phrasal verbs there are many of them so what we're trying to do is just take it a little bit out of time and teach you some of them at a time we don't want to overwhelm you so this is following up on that previous lesson first I want to welcome all of you if you are joining us in the comments please write your name let us know where you're joining us from Emiliano from Argentina hey what's up hi Aman oh that's uh hello hope you guys are doing well it's so great to see some familiar faces and if you are new to interactive English then I welcome you write your name in the comments in the chats and even if you are watching this later on write a comment to us say hello say what's up we like to hear from everybody so Katie from Germany welcome thank you thank you guys for being with us so again I'm going to talk to you about five phrasal verbs with check and this is a follow-up on the previous lesson we did and you should check that one out it was a really cool lesson so first as we begin this I think it is appropriate to know this all right you know what is it that you should know about phrasal verbs now I'm sure most of you have studied phrasal verbs and you know that yes it is they're very difficult to learn and these are you know phrasal verbs are mistakes that learners of all levels will make if you're a beginner learner or you're an advanced learner they they can give everybody trouble mostly because of that littl little little preposition that comes after the verb there are so many and it's easy to confuse those in on at by with over through there are many of those prepositions so that's one of the reasons why they are a bit difficult another reason is that many phrasal verbs can have multiple meanings they don't just have one meaning you could have one phrasal verb that means three or four different things completely different things depending on the context so they're very important because we use them all the time they're a little more informal so we use them regularly in conversation all the time you'll hear them when you're watching movies or TV so they're very common which is why they're important to study and try to learn and another reason that final one that I have down there for you is that phrasal verbs can either be separable or inseparable and that means that sometimes the direct object that follows the phrasal verb can go in between the verb and the preposition and sometimes it cannot so I'm gonna talk to you about five phrasal verbs with check and I think I hope this should be a little easier because most of the phrasal verbs I'm going to teach you today only have one meaning alright only one meaning and I think most of them are inseparable as well so they're pretty straightforward and don't go away because at the end we are going to do a practice I have some questions for you that I will want you to write your answers in the comments hi Russia Marco good to see you guys who else Jennifer from Panama welcome awesome great to have you guys here again if you're just joining us say hello to us in the comments chat with us I know oh hello new phone hung I sorry if i mispronounce names but again it's great to have you guys please like and share these lessons if you enjoy learning with us it helps us spread the word and build our community and our global classroom so let's begin the first phrasal verb that I want to go over with you is check back ok check back has one meaning and that meaning is to return somewhere or someplace to determine if everything is ok if everything is in order to make sure that everything is in order you check back so for example I have those example sentences for you to help give you some context and if you want I don't know where you guys are if you're at home if you're in the car if you are on the bus maybe you're at work read these sentences with me it's always good to practice saying these sentences out loud and using these phrasal verbs and it's also good pronunciation practice as well so that first example sent the grocery store does not have the tea that I like I'll check back tomorrow okay you will return to see if everything is in order if the store has your tea the grocery store does not have the tea that I like I'll check back tomorrow all right you return to see if everything's okay the next sentence the teacher has not finished marking our exams she said we can check back later the teacher has not finished marking our exams she said we can check back later all right that you can check back you can return to see if everything is finished if it is okay and you can find out your exam score so that is check back to return to make sure everything is fine the next phrasal verb that we have is this one check on and again this is a bit similar to check back but it is a little different because you're checking back your you're returning somewhere when you're checking on someone or something you're just making sure it is okay that everything is okay so in the comments practice practice using this alright tell me something what is something that you have had to check on what or what do you check on regularly I gave an example sentence it's quite common may be used with cooking because you start cooking something maybe you're baking something you always need to kind of watch it periodically so you are always checking on the food and that example sentence can you check on the cake and see if it's done baking you put something in the oven you set the timer but you still check on it to make sure that it's ready you make sure everything is okay so you check on something to make sure it's okay again if you can write a sentence in the comments and let's practice using these a little bit bonus phrasal verb right there whoops all right there it is it B can become a three word phrasal verb to check up on and I put someone because most of the time it is talking about maybe a person but it can also talk about a situation you can check up on a situation and again you're making sure that someone is okay and that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing or a situation you're checking up on it to make sure everything is okay and again this phrasal verb is inseparable okay so that object cannot go in between the verb in the preposition it must go after so that is your bonus phrasal verb to check up on someone okay check up on I don't know if you it you have people checking up on you sometimes you might have your boss maybe we'll check up on the employees to make sure they're working and they're not on YouTube learning English or playing around who knows you check up on someone so we have some example sentence excellent I check on I check on my door to make sure it's locked properly usually in this case if you're talking about like a door you'd say mostly I just check the door you check to confirm that it's locked like to check on something you are something is in the process it think about something is in the process of happening and you need to check on it all right because that's why I said it's commonly used with food because you are cooking and it's in the process of undergoing something it's in the process of cooking of baking and you want to check on it to make sure things are okay or running smoothly so like I said maybe a boss would check on their employees they're in the process of doing work and they want to make sure that they are working but no excellent excellent appreciate you guys writing these sentences it is always good to practice the next phrasal verb so that is check on and check up on your bonus phrasal verb the next one is to check over okay and this just means to closely examine so again in the comments what is something you've had to check over and I will give you a hint when when I think of check over I think of something in writing okay something that I'm reading or something that is written and you are checking over it you are closely examining this thing so this is something so think about something in writing something you've read something what is something you have had to check over or what is something you check over the example sentence this is something I would tell my students all the time especially in writing class all right they would hand in a paper an essay an assignment and I would always ask them I said did you check over your work did you check it over now notice I said it in between the verb and the preposition because this one is separable you can check something over alright you can check it over and I would and the example sentence I gave you as students should check over their assignments before turning them in to the teacher they should check over their assignments check over their work okay things that you are writing so some another example sentence that I gave you she reread and meticulously checked over the contract before signing it okay meticulously means again I put an adverb there it means thoroughly carefully with attention to detail all right you check over the contract if use if you're about to sign a contract maybe a lease or you know for an apartment or whatever you should definitely definite we definitely check it over okay some census is a check over the text message before sending it yeah you you can check it over I always these slides because we make the slides right here I always check them over before the lesson because I'm looking for mistakes and often times I will find a mistake I will find a typo so it is important to check it over and even still you might find a mistake because again it's just you know you always have to check over your work Rosa hello from Italy awesome you are new here welcome welcome welcome you always checks up on her children to make sure her they're doing their homework that is a perfect example sentence using check up on you check up on someone so again if you guys are just joining us write us write to us in the chat let us know where you are joining us from and again even if you're watching this video later on in the future at some other time practice writing these example sentences okay I asked you before what is something that you check over it's always good to practice writing and using these phrasal verbs because that's the best way to learn is to practice so the next phrasal verb that we have is check with okay you check with most of the time you're checking with someone and this phrasal verb is inseparable we cannot separate the verb check with the preposition with and the meaning is you are asking for confirmation sometimes it's kind of like you're asking for permission even you are checking with someone so for example Wes should check with you wanna before going ahead and making plans for Saturday night and it's true yeah I always check with her hey what do you want to do what's going on tonight maybe she might not agree with that I don't no but it is important you check with someone and on a side note we do have plans tonight we are gonna go out meet some friends it should be fun so I will check with her she will check with me and again we we make plans together the next sentence this I need to check with my parents to make sure it's okay that I borrow the family car alright in this case it is your asking for confirmation but it's also a little bit like permission your checking with them your checking with someone kind of to make sure it's okay to let them know what's going on I check another example sounded great excellent I check with my parents before going out with my friends perfect all right you were checking with someone letting them know what is happening all right an example sentence with check over perfect I had checked over my test before before I left before I left the examination or I left the exam I checked over my test yes perfect you check it over definitely with an exam if you are taking an exam in English or any other subjects any teacher will always tell you check it over before you turn it in check it over make sure everything's all right make sure your name is written on it - I don't know how many over the years how many exams I've gotten back and students forget to write their names so another example sentence you check with your girlfriend before choosing that place for a wedding so yeah you should check with your girlfriend before choosing maybe choosing a place for your wedding choosing a place for your wedding but yes you should check with your girlfriend before that that is very important excellent example sentence I check with my parents before before I buy something again remember because that is an adverb clause you'll need a subject and a verb I check with my parents before I buy something perfect exactly great example sentences guys keep it up so you check with somebody to ask for confirmation all right this is good practice because very shortly I have that quiz for you guys or a little bit of it I have some questions for you that I'm gonna want you to answer the next phrasal verb the last one okay is check through okay so this is again the meaning is to inspect or examine thoroughly now you might be thinking that oh this is a little similar to check over yes the meaning is a little similar but remember with check over I told you it's more so used with things that are have to do something that is written alright something maybe you were reading or something you are writing you check it over check through okay it doesn't have to be just writing okay so that example sentence I gave you I can't find my keys I checked through every drawer in the house alright you were looking through the drawers you were examining it you were you were examining them you were inspecting them because you were looking for your keys you checked through something okay in this context in with this meaning right here this one has two meanings it's the only one of our phrasal verbs that has two meanings that first meaning it is inseparable okay so we cannot separate the verb and the preposition alright I check through every drawer in the house you check through something okay could be a closet a drawer you are checking through the garage you are trying to find something is usually the reason why you are checking through something the other context the other meaning for it is I believe I'm sure most of us have traveled and we've gotten on a plane and when you travel and you have a lot of luggage you will check it through to your final destination okay you check you check your luggage and when you're talking about sending your luggage from one place to another you are checking it through you were sending luggage to a final destination this phrasal verb it is separable okay you would check the luggage through so for example I said we checked all of our luggage through to San Francisco that is true when we traveled to San Francisco earlier this year we checked our luggage through to our final destination okay so those are the five phrasal verbs you guys ready to practice okay so I am going to give you da all right a sentence like that one right there I want you to write your answers in the comments in the chat again if you are watching this later on write the answers in the comments practice as we go through this it is good practice okay so you are going to complete the sentence with back on over with or through okay which one are you going to use back on over with or through that first sentence right there okay we ran out of the new iPhone why don't you check with us next week okay we ran out of the new iPhone why don't you check with us next week it almost kind of is it has the same meaning kind of a three word phrasal verb because I added width okay so which one which which preposition best completes the sentence okay back on over with or through again I'm trying to provide some more context getting some answers excellent we ran out of the new iPhone why don't you check with us next week okay so it's talking about coming back to some place okay coming back so we should write in there right here all right we ran out of the new iPhone why don't you check back with us next week all right so back is the answer the next one all right I have another question for you guys is this so how about again complete the sentence you guys did really you rock that last one okay so again with this sentence think of it like maybe you're watching some kind of crime show all right and you hear somebody say this alright we need to know if he paid back the money can you check that alright which which preposition best completes the sentence write your answers in the chat and if you're watching this later write your answers in the comments ok just write us write out the whole sentence if you can this is a great way to practice using these phrasal verbs okay we need to know if he paid back the money we need to know this and then you're asking somebody can you check that all right can you check that all right which one is is going to best complete the sentence okay you need to know something all right back on over with through all right we didn't know if he need to main it can you check all right getting some different answers the answer that would best completed we didn't know if he paid the money all right can you check on that can you check on that situation okay can you go determine if this happened if things are in order if it is okay okay can you check on that you're asking somebody so something happened okay you don't know what the answer is and you might ask hey can you check on this can you check on it make sure everything is okay make everything is in order can you check on this can you check on this or can you check on that the next one already is right here okay so again write your answers in the chat or the comments before you click okay you should check the Terms of agreement before you click okay you should check the Terms of agreement write your answer in the comments which preposition Bess completes the sentence okay this is something you know we're all using the Internet we're online all the time and we're reading these things when we sign up for it and at the end you have to click okay that you accept the Terms of agreement but before you click okay you should check all right getting some good answers in there all right remember if we're talking about something that is written if you are reading it you should check over all right you should check over the Terms of agreement all right you should read through them I know none of us really do I think a lot of the times we just click OK but technically yes we should check over the Terms of agreement we should read through them all right you guys are doing awesome I have a few more for you and here is the next one okay so wait a second make sure some of these wanna make sure there's no typos in these sentences but I can always change them if there are so let's let's look at this one right here okay again think of the context I put these in quotes thinking of like that somebody's saying this that you were listening to somebody say these sentences all right what do you mean you can't find the shirt did you check your closets alright maybe somebody has two three four closets in their room in their home they are looking for a shirt what do you mean you can't find the shirt did you check your closets okay what do you think the answer is write it in the comments in the chat all right to getting some good answers remember in this case all right you are looking for something all right so you need to inspect you need to examine all right this person's asking them if they inspected if they examined if they checked through their closets all right so what do you mean you can't find the shirt did you check through your closets all right remember the other example sentence that I gave you with check through when I was showing you these I said oh I can't find my keys I checked through all the drawers again the meaning is a little similar to over but again over is more so with something something that is written so but this did you check through your closets the next one okay let's give this one a try how about this there we go okay so again think of the context all right maybe we can do it let me check my boss and then we'll get back to you okay maybe we can do it let me check my boss and then we'll get back to you okay what do you think is the correct preposition back on over with or through all right getting getting some good answers in there what do you guys think all right maybe we can do it let me check my boss and then we'll get back to you all right again think of it two people they're having this conversation what would you say all right so this person is kind of unsure if they can do something maybe we can do it they don't know they need to check with all right they need confirmation all right they need permission kind of from somebody else check with my boss and then we'll get back to you all right excellent you guys rock that one boom right there maybe we can do it let me check with my boss and then we'll get back to you okay the next one that I have for you all right I'd say it's a little more tricky we'll see we'll see see what you guys think all right we need to check the children and make sure they're sleeping okay maybe you have young children or somebody has young children and they might say this sentence okay they're talking to their husband or wife and they say we need to check the children and make sure they're sleeping all right so what do you think write your answer in the chat or in the comments all right don't be afraid to write in the comments and practice using these okay what would you use there's one phrasal verb in particular that I was that I'm looking for that I didn't highlight too much but so again we're getting Wow getting different some different answers but for the most part I think it's good so we need to check the children and make sure they're sleeping so in this context the parents presume want to know that the children are sleeping they want to make sure that they're doing something that they should be doing at this time okay so you could either say one or two things all right you can check on the children but the best I think the more appropriate response in this case would be again that bonus phrasal verb to check up whoops check up on alright remember you check up on someone to make sure they know what they're doing you could say check on the children that that's fine that is also perfectly fine we need to check up on the children and make sure they're sleeping remember check on check up on very similar meanings like I said I think when you say check up on it's mostly talking about a person or someone even though it could be talking about a situation all right so that is our practice you guys did awesome thank you for all of you for joining me today I appreciate you guys participating writing in the chats practicing what we've been learning if you like this lesson please give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends your classmates anybody else you know that is trying to learn English and as always if you have any other questions once this video gets posted write them in the comments that that's what they're there for that's what we want to use this comment section for is you know communicating with our community our global classroom but also for practicing actually what we're learning and as always you can find us right there join our social media classes where we like to practice they're down there we're on Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat and of course right here on YouTube so thank you guys so much for joining us thank you thank you thank you hanya if I sorry I mispronounced words names Amano thank you so much I hope that you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend have a wonderful Saturday a wonderful Sunday Stephanie thank you guys for joining me here today and we will be back next Saturday for another super awesome live lesson alright thanks for watching and we'll see you next time --- ## 90. 5 Useful Tips on How to Learn & Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `70UK4Pqtm6Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70UK4Pqtm6Y) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:49:32 | --- Do you want to know how you can improve your English skills? Today we're going to give you 5 tips on how you can do just that. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you to subscribe to our channel for more video lessons on how you can practice and improve your English skills. In this lesson, Wes is going to talk to you about 5 different tips that will really help you when it comes to learning English. So let's begin! Number 1 - Review, review, and review And I know that teachers have probably told you this before. They want you to review your homework. They want you to review an article or a book you just read. But the reason that review is important is because it helps with your comprehension and memory. So that's why we suggest that you rewatch these videos...maybe after a few days or up to a week. And this spaced repetition will help you remember the material. And we don't just recommend that you do this with our videos, but any videos that you are using to practice and improve your English. As well as reviewing books that you might be using for self-study, or even music that you're listening to. Review everything. It'll help! Number 2 - Use a variety of resources to learn the language Don't just rely only on videos or only on books or just talking with people. Use different resources to help complement different learning styles. So for example, use videos to appeal to your visual learning. Music will help with your auditory skills. And books are very important with self-study. And finally, use the Internet to your advantage. There are so many different resources that you can access online. You can just Google the words "online English quizzes" and you will find numerous webpages that will help you practice and improve your English skills. Number 3 - Set short term and realistic goals Because this will help you realize your learning accomplishments. Don't just tell yourself, "I'm going to learn English in one year." That's not realistic for most people. So instead, try to set goals for yourself each week or each month. For example, you might say to yourself "Each day, for one month, I'm going to learn a new vocabulary word." And you're going to write that word down, it's meaning, and study that word and try to use it. And this is just one example. You can set short-term goals when it comes to pronunciation, reading, or even learning new grammar. Number 4 - Practice a little bit each day I've said this a bunch of times before... that learning a language is a marathon and not a sprint. Personally, I don't think it does much good if somebody crams and studies English for 10 hours a day. I don't think that's going to help you learn the language quicker. Instead, try to find 15 minutes during the day that you can allocate to learning English. I think it's much more effective to learn in shorter intervals. And take that 15 minutes and watch a video or read a book or maybe just listen to music right before you go to bed. Because if you're able to practice a little each day, it's going to help you retain the information and you won't overwhelm yourself. Number 5 - Immerse yourself in the language Really try to surround yourself with English. Now, I'm sure that some of you might be thinking that in order to immerse yourself in the language you need to go live in an English-speaking country. And that is just not true. With the technology that we have today you can really surround yourself with the language. So we recommend immersing yourself with TV, movie, music...you can use the apps on your phone to practice your speaking skills, your listening skills, or even build vocabulary. There are a variety of different outlets that you can use for learning English. So we suggest you really try to surround yourself with them. We hope you found those tips useful. In the comments below, please feel free to share any other tips that you may have that have helped you with your English. Finally, remember to join our social media classes. We're active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. --- ## 91. 5 Useful Verbs You May Be Mispronouncing... ๐Ÿ˜ง | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MSX4EZgzBDw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSX4EZgzBDw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:53:14 | --- Can you correctly pronounce these five verbs right here? Let's begin with alleviate. Has four syllables, the stress is on that second syllable. Alleviate. Just keep in mind that first syllable has a schwa sound. It's an unstressed vowel sound. Just sounds like uh, alleviate. When you alleviate something, you make well, something just the pain go away. It's more tolerable. It's not as severe when you alleviate something. Then there's deteriorate. This word has five syllables and the stress is on the second syllable. Deteriorate. Now, keep in mind you would do hear all five of those syllables and that fourth syllable has that schwa sound. Deteriorate. Deteriorate. Say it with me. Deteriorate. When something deteriorates, it just well, becomes worse or or more painful or problematic over time when something deteriorates. Then there's prioritize. Great verb, very common one. So, you should definitely know how to pronounce it. Four syllables, the stress is on that second syllable. Prioritize. And really the spelling and the pronunciation, they don't really look like they match up. So, let's say it again. Prioritize. When you prioritize something, you you really put things in order of importance. Prioritize. Emphasize. Three syllables, the stress is on that first syllable. Emphasize. Keep in mind the ph has a f sound. And when you emphasize something, you say something louder, longer, you attract attention to it. Then there's speculate. Three syllables, stress is on that first syllable. Speculate. That c has a k sound. And when you speculate, you're just really kind of making an educated guess about something whenever you speculate. --- ## 92. 5 Useful Ways to Improve Your English Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `zKyJeHWp3qs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKyJeHWp3qs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:50:24 | --- okay stirred okay hello everyone welcome to our live lesson on fluency I hope you guys are doing great I hope your Saturday is wonderful today we're talking about fluency tips and I'm very excited to see who's joining us for a live lesson I hope you're doing wonderful I hope the weekend is great if you're just joining us please in the comments write your name and where are you joining us from it will be nice to kind of see who is who is with us today hi cacao welcome welcome welcome where are you from kicka today we have a very exciting lesson at least I think it's very exciting because it's the topic that many people might not know is one of the most important for their language for it to evolve their language to get better at speaking English but it truly truly is and it's where we all want to be when we speak a language we always imagine that we are fluent in that language we want to be able to have a conversation in that language with somebody without stopping a million times to think oh my god what am I trying to ask what is this word what am I saying it's very difficult hello Marco welcome welcome to our lesson if you're joining us yes please let us know your name where you're writing to us from it it's it's great to see you on here okay so I'm going to begin here is my little my little page so today we're talking about five fluency tips five that is a lot and if you do all of them you are going to be one step closer to speaking perfect English I'm just joking I don't think anyone speaks perfect English and that's okay because we are not perfect let's see it's hot yes it is I think we are here in Budapest it is about 33 degrees Celsius here I don't know where you are Marko but I am sure it's oh in Italy okay welcome welcome and hello Natalia Natalia where are you joining us from please feel free to keep writing and I have a little lag so I might not see your comments immediately but Wes he's my co-pilot and he's in the chat room and he's going to try to answer as fast as possible he likes typing a lot okay um okay so let me talk about the five fluency tips that I have promised okay first of all what the heck is fluency because I think it's such a fancy word and we keep throwing it around like everyone knows what it is but I don't think everyone doesn't know what it is fluency means to speak a language effortlessly like when you speak your native language to someone and you get into a very political conversation or something and you want to really get your point across you're doing it naturally that is not just political but I just mean any conversation that is fluency so I was looking online and I found some synonyms for fluency and some of those are fluidity flow smoothness effortless ease naturalness so all of these really represent what we want to achieve when speaking a language we definitely don't want to stumble and we don't want to stutter and we don't want to think a million times about what words to say hello from Mexico Natalia great to see that you're from Brazil from Rio I hear great things about it if you're just joining us today welcome welcome welcome and I hope you're enjoying our lesson on fluency so as I was saying fluency is trying to speak a language effortlessly which is easy to say and extremely difficult to achieve okay so let's talk about why it's important because it may look cool but it's actually very important the first reason of course is to sound more like a native English speaker of course we all want to sound native we all want to speak very well but that's it's actually not the only reason throughout my teaching career I've dealt with a lot of English with professionals with with people who are trying to learn English for business purposes or for teaching like professors or academics going into English for academic purposes and it really helps to become more fluent in order to sound more professional meaning that if you if you're maybe your your written English is flawless maybe you can write very well maybe you are very good at reading but if you cannot express yourself and you take so long to say a sentence you will sound a little bit less professional than somebody who's more fluent and that's very important because of course many times our jobs depend on that and you're the way you look especially if you put a lot of hard work into a presentation and you can't say what you're trying to say is a little it's tough but the more fluent you become the more you're able to express yourself more professionally so it's it's it's maybe not something that we want to hear but it is important and true and of course one of the most important reasons it's last year but it's not the least is because we want to be understood when we speak to somebody the more fluent we are the easier it is for them to understand us and answer to our questions especially when we're talking to native English speakers and a lot of people are trying to travel and talk about talk to a of English speakers okay welcome to everyone else who's joining us oh my gosh were from Syria from Tajikistan wonderful wonderful welcome please keep telling us where you're from welcome to our lesson and let us know what fluency questions you may have West is doing his best to answer and I will also do my best to answer all of your questions okay so now that we've established that fluency is important and it is important I'm going to show you my secret secret secret secret tips they're not really secret but I will share with you I'll share them with you anyway the first tip is please I beg you I really really pretty pretty please ask you to stop translating and the reason I'm asking you to stop translating is because we were talking about about if if if our goal here is to think more in English if if English is the if English is the goal that we're trying to achieve as if thinking in English is what we're trying to achieve and being fluid and it's speaking effortlessly is what we're trying to achieve that means to think in English but what happens when you translate is you take yourself out of the mind state over the state of the mind of in English and that you immediately put yourself back into your language so your brain is doing this switch from you trying to speak in in English to trying to go back to your to your language and go back to English and it doesn't work very well okay so what you're doing is you're doing the opposite when you're translating you're doing the opposite of fluency you're hurting your language progress many times so if you're seeing a word that you don't know and I know you I know because I've been there I want to know the word what is the word in the different language please and of translating it what I would recommend is the first thing would be to guess the meaning from the context many times will we won't know one word that's in a sentence and many times we'll be able to guess that meaning from the words surrounding the sentence so try to do that first if that's impossible then use an English to English dictionary that is you know merriam-webster has a good one just use a dictionary in English that explains things in English and we've talked about this in a previous lesson but what you can do is you can even google it and type in whatever words and then definition and Google will give you a good explanation so just please please please PLEASE promise me you will stop translating okay let's see yes I know it's very tough um but it's it's it's it's something that that we need to do definitely okay again thank you for watching if you just came please make sure to write your name and where you're from and where you are watching us today because it's great to see who is joining us are you guys ready for tip number two okay this is another one that actually I think you'll really like because it it will put you put your mind to ease my my second tip is don't obsess over grammar okay many of us I know think about think about some of the problems that we have with grammar and I actually wanted to ask you what grammar do you have difficulty with so in the comments below in the comments below please please if you have any questions about grammar that you're really struggling with write them down so that we can look at them a little bit okay so just just write down any questions that you have okay so my tip is don't obsess over grammar and this means that of course grammar is very important to language learning and we all know that and we oh that's why we all learn it but sometimes we get caught up in little small things like is it who or whom or do we say you know the boy who we saw the boy whom we saw or something like that or even I remember somebody asking me a while back is it teacher is it a lot of apples or is it many apples and to those questions my answer is is is is pretty simple it doesn't always matter and it doesn't always matter because language changes and English is a live spoken language and the grammar rules have changed and they're going to change and like I was saying about who and whom actually whom is becoming less and less used but I'm sure in your grammar books you will see that you have to use whom as an indirect object it's not really used anymore so much so don't worry too too much about being correct or getting the correct part I don't study it on its own because it might change and it's also making you pretty unhappy I'm I'm sure I've been there okay okay somebody was asking how to stop translating when I am expressing my opinion it that's that comes with time you know but I think if you get yourself in the context of speaking in English just try to find the words in English instead of trying to go to the words in your language and trying to translate like that just try to go to the vocabulary you have in English and there are a few practices that we can talk about later on how to do how to keep making yourself to think in English but it's just something that you have to kind of do as a daily practice okay but back to grammar so the best way I think to practice grammar is of course in context which means when you read something on when you hear something and you recognize a grammar pattern emulate that pattern like say it or use it and don't take it out of context and don't learn it separately because you might forget it and it might just be a pain a pain to remember and it just might not not work very well and also it's okay to make mistakes by the way everyone makes mistakes native native English speakers make mistakes so if you make a grammar mistake it's not the end of the world just keep practicing keep reviewing and it will be okay okay let's see if you're joining us again I'm going to say this again please let us know where you're from we love to hear from you if you have any questions about fluency please write them down and I will try to answer them or West in the comments so now that you don't have to worry too much about grammar of course try to use correct grammar but don't obsess over it if you make a mistake or two it's not a big deal you just move on okay so now that we're not that worried about grammar I'm gonna share my third tip with you which is a really good one and it's a really fun one and it's called listen and repeat okay so this one means follow a show or follow um a song or something that you like in English and try to repeat it try to repeat the lyrics the song try to repeat everything the way the person is speaking in that video the same way there so before we move on I wanted to ask you if in the comments you can tell us what do you like to listen to in English do you like to follow like a podcast or or maybe a TV show or really anything anything helps I'm actually trying to practice my my French a little bit and what I've been following has been a cooking show because I love food and I love cooking so that's even helped me so if and if you follow anything like that I'd really liked it to see it it really helps or music a lot of people really really enjoy music so let us know what kind of things you like to listen to and of course if you're just joining us make sure to mention where you're where you're from and what's your name okay so what can you what can you listen and repeat and why should you do this it's actually a very complex exercise that your brain is doing and when you repeat something we don't just copy the words but we copy the the grammar the sentence structure intonation and stress and in English especially in English intonation and stress matters so much on how people perceive us and on how fluent we sound I've had many many students who have spoken to me an almost perfect English vocabulary but because their stress was a little off or because their intonation was a little strange they sounded a lot less fluent than they really were so I repeat it's very very very important to copy and listen to how native speakers actually speak and to repeat that pattern it's not enough to listen to it you have to say it believe me you have to say it because if you just if you just listen to it and you take it in there's no way you you say it you print out you you pronounce it it's it's your your body your brain is not doing the best it can to retain the language okay so let's see if you guys have been writing some of the music no music you guys don't music nobody likes music here you guys are missing out you could be listening to Adele I'm trying to think what else is good for listening to music you could be watching TV shows like friends is a good one especially for intonation because they exaggerate a little bit of how they speak but that actually helps English language learners and of course I think Modern Family is another one that's really good with that let me think what else I think that's it i really like adele for for english lyrics because she speaks her lyrics are a little bit more complex so it helps us understand a little better and it's a little bit more challenging which is kind of good so please please please i know you listen but don't forget to repeat okay okay before we move before we move on from to the other to [Music] the other tip I wanted to address because forgot said when I listen to music I can't understand one thing you can do in many songs you can type in into YouTube you can type in for example because I'm talking about Adele the name of the song and then lyrics and you can many many songs will have the lyrics so you can listen to the song and also see the lyrics so you can read them at the same time as you're listening which is very beneficial because it helps your brain understand so there's your tip okay we are moving on to the fourth tip if you guys are just joining us welcome welcome welcome please write in the comments where you're from and what is your name and wes is also in the comments and he's been answering he's like a fiend in there just answering all the comments okay wonderful okay this is one of my favorite ways to learn because again it makes things easier okay remember we're all about making things easier so far we've talked about let me just do a little review about stop translating I know that it's going to seem a little difficult in the beginning but if you're trying to become more fluent you are helping yourself okay you're doing yourself a service when you translate you are hindering your progress you are stopping you're stepping out of that mindset and you are going into your own language and then you have to go back to English and then back to your own language and then back to English and that is exhausting I have been there trust me so don't do it it will be hard in the beginning but the more you do it the easier it becomes the second tip is I was talking about don't obsess over grammar it's okay to make mistakes because grammar changes don't fixate on one mistake just just go with it and learn it from the context the third tip I was just talking about is listen and repeat and there are a few things we can listen and anything from podcasts to to [Music] YouTube to music to TV shows anything you like as long as you repeat it exactly the way they say it it's it will be very beneficial for the way you sound in English for your pronunciation and for your intonation and stress those things are more important than we think and the fourth one is learn phrases not words and I said I like this one because it makes a language easier and what do I mean by that phrases are easier than what it's like because you don't have to learn each word one and one and 101 if we learn phrases together they're easier to remember in English certain phrases sound more natural than others so for example if we're talking about things like you know words that go with with with make you know you make mistakes but but for example we do you do homework or you do shopping or with catch you catch a bus or you catch a cold so if you remember these if you're able to remember these um in phrases then you're not just learning one word but you're learning a few different words and you use them again and again and again and this is it's it's it's actually it really helps when you learn a language because it it shows that you know how to put words together which is very important okay and are you guys ready for the fifth tip okay so you guys are talking about things you watch very nice so we have Game of Thrones very good that's a little high it's easier for some people the British accent is a little easier for others it's a little bit more difficult there was say hidden he's never seen G ot him he means Game of Thrones was okay okay we're moving on moving on okay the last tip that I want to talk to you about today is proper etiquette but before I do I just want to make sure that everyone who is just joining us is sharing is sharing where they're from and their names and of course welcome we're talking about how to become more fluent and what you can do to improve your fluency it is not that hard you just have to practice but one thing that's very important is proper etiquette and what I mean by proper etiquette this one is probably one of the tougher ones different language contexts require different language and what I mean by that is an email for example will be in the language you use in an email it will be different than the language used in a letter and it will be different than the which you will use in a resume and it's you can do you can practice this by even looking up on Google resume example or email formal email example or informal email friendly email example if you do this you will see that the language is different and I'd really like to emphasize this because I've been teaching for quite a few years and I've had many students especially younger students who don't know when to be formal and when to be informal and many times they are too informal and when you're talking to a teacher it's it's not recommended that you're informal I actually remember that I had a student who was asking me he was writing an essay and he was asking me how do I spell chillax I was like excuse me and he said yeah I want to use the word chillax you know like chill and relax I want to use it in my essay and I was telling him that's not it's not it's not acceptable it's not appropriate to use a word like that that is completely informal in in the essay but basically if you know which which kind of language to use in the proper context that will help you sound a lot more fluent and it will also her help your your if your learning English for business purposes that's very very important okay okay so these were my five tips I'm going to go over them again and then see if you guys have more questions about them so my first tip is stop translating and if you're still translating I know it's difficult try to do a little bit every time if you find a word that you don't know resist the urge to translate it in your language and just try to use it in English just try the second tip was don't it obsess over grammar if there are mistakes that you're making it's okay if you hear somebody make a mistake don't try to think like why do they say like this why didn't they say the other way you know many native English speakers make mistakes they make mistakes all the time and I know it's confusing if you're trying to learn and you're thinking like why aren't they saying it like this because as a spoken language English is very fluid so it changes and people will make mistakes and that's okay and remember the best way to learn grammar is from context so from books from articles from things you hear those are the best ways to practice and my third tip was listen and repeat whether you listen to like I said to a podcast your your favorite TV show political show your favorite comedy your favorite movie your favorite music anything like that make sure to repeat it because when we repeat we emulate the sentence structure the intonation the stress the pronunciation all of that okay okay and the fourth one was learn phrases now words it's easier to remember words in certain phrases and not just words so make sure that that you remember and kind of try to use them as much as possible in phrases and the fifth was proper etiquette and make sure that you use the proper tone and the proper language in the in the proper context meaning don't write a friendly email to your boss make sure that your write a formal email when you're supposed to make sure that you use formal language when you are talking to a teacher on when you're writing a resume it's very important okay so these were my tips I hope they're they were helpful again fluency is not one of those things that fluency is not one of those things that just happens you know it takes time it's not you're not going to be perfect that's okay it's not going to you're always going to make mistakes that's okay I think progress is is is more important than than being perfect in a language or just in life in general so even if maybe you're still translating even if maybe you're still like trying to think about your grammar here and there it's fine as long as you consciously know and you're trying to improve so these were our tips thank you so much for joining us from everywhere in the world you guys are awesome we love having you as your students we love your feedback and please if you found these helpful if you have any other questions about fluency please write to us and we'll do our best to answer please share the video if you found it useful or if you just know somebody who needs a little bit of a reminder on what to do to become fluent again thank you so much from a lovely Budapest have a wonderful wonderful Saturday and the rest of your weekend okay thank you for watching we will see you next time --- ## 93. 5 WORDS w/ CRAZY SPELLING & DIFFICULT PRONUNCIATION | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PcHCqWg-vMU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcHCqWg-vMU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:56:04 | --- five words with crazy spelling which makes them difficult to pronounce like nauseous has two syllables nauseous sometimes yeah I feel nauseous ingenious typically when words end with that iio it's an es sound but not in this case ingenious asthma just forget about that th you don't hear it asthma I have seasonal asthma this is true indict the spelling and pronunciation do not match someone may be indicted for a possible crime and then paraphernalia I included this because it's a nice long word paraphernalia and now you know how to correctly pronounce these --- ## 94. 5 Ways on How to Achieve English Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NRTVxat66-s` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRTVxat66-s) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:39:41 | --- I think most English learners out there would like to achieve a certain level of fluency. And that's why today I'm going to talk to you about several keys to success that will help you achieve your fluency goals. That's coming up. Welcome to today's lesson, which is all about achieving English fluency. And before we begin, I want to remind you to join our social media classes because it is a great way to improve your fluency. So I'm going to do things a little different I want to talk to you about five different ways that you can achieve your fluency goals using a motivational quote or expression that is very common in English. and by understanding these quotes and expressions, it will help you better understand how to improve your fluency. So let's just jump right into it. The first one that I want to tell you about is this one right here. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again. And again and again and again. Language learning - you can think of it kind of like a roller coaster. When you start learning, it's like we're on this uphill slope. We're learning new words, new expressions. We feel that we're making a lot of progress. But then, we start to hit a few dips along the way. And we think that maybe we're forgetting something Or we're not making as much progress as we want to. And when we hit those dips, those lows, when I think learners feel like: Look, this is too difficult. It's too much. I don't want to do this anymore. Those are the times that you really need to try and make yourself work harder to work through it, So you can get back to that uphill slope where you feel like you're making progress, and you're improving. One thing that's difficult is that the more fluent we become, I think for many people, they feel like they're making less progress because it's not as noticeable And you just need to remember that you really are making progress. You're learning new things, and most importantly you're improving on the skills that you already have. You're improving on what you already know. So if you feel like you are not succeeding, you just need to keep this in mind: Try again, and again, and again. Keep at it, keep practicing, and keep learning. The next tip I have for you is this: You just really have to want it, and that's most of it right there. It's saying: Yes, I really want to improve my fluency, and in order to do so, I'm going to do this, and I'm going to do that. You really have to make it a part of your lifestyle. And that decision right there that you are you are really going to make this happen, you are determined Making that decision is is one of the most difficult things, and that's eighty percent of it right there. Because when you make that decision and you're able to commit to it, Then you're going to put yourself on a path to fluency Because you're going to be doing the things that you need to do: you're going to be studying a little bit each day, You're going to be reviewing the material you already know. You're going to be practicing at home or in the classroom. You're basically going to do whatever it takes to improve your fluency. The next way to improve your fluency (and this is one of my favorite expressions that I say to students all the time) and that is You need to do things differently. Don't just say: Well, I'm going to learn English and I'm gonna buy a textbook and then it's done. I don't need to do anything else. I can just use this and my language skills are gonna flourish. That's not really how it happens. You need to find a variety of resources that you can use to practice and improve your skills and improve your fluency. And this could include getting a textbook and studying at home, This could include watching videos, and movies, taking e-courses You could also use technology to your advantage: use social media. if you live in a big city or town, there might be a foreign community there. You could find a Facebook group that maybe people meet up from time to time and they're having discussions in English. You could even start your own group in your town or city and try to get people together and find others who want to practice their English skills. And you need to think about what works best for you, and what you think is beneficial because we all have different language needs. If you're looking to to improve your pronunciation, then videos are a great way to do that and listen to the correct pronunciation. If you're looking to build your vocabulary, reading's a great way to do that. It's different for each and every one of us, and you need to think about which ways complement your needs. There are many ways out there to practice and improve your skills And you just need to think outside the box Another way to achieve your fluency goals is to be stronger than your excuses. It's easy to come up with excuses and think: Well, I'm just too busy for this or it's too difficult. It'll take too much time. You need to be stronger than your excuses. You need to overcome these excuses and find ways to get through them. So if you think: Well I just don't have enough time, you need to try and find just a little bit of time during the day or during the week to practice. You could just do 5 minutes a day, and that is going to add up. The most important thing is that you are consistent. You might think: Well, this is just too difficult, and yeah... language learning: it is a challenge for most of us, especially me. It takes a long time. And it's just something that you really need to want. So much of it depends on you and your motivation and your desire and how strong you can be to overcome each of these excuses. Maybe you tell yourself: Well, I don't have anybody to speak to. Well, you can find people to practice your speaking skills. You can invest in yourself and take some online classes, or find a private English tutor. You can even try to start your own language learning club, because in your town, in your city, if you are looking to practice your speaking skills, I guarantee you somebody else is as well. And you just need to find these other people so you can meet with them You can practice your speaking skills and help support each other. For every excuse out there, there is a way through it, so you just need to be stronger than your excuses And I promise you: You will see the results. The last way to achieve your fluency goals is to keep in mind that the sky is the limit. When it comes to learning a language there is always something that you can learn. There's always something that you can improve. For example, every year new words are added to the English language. So there is new vocabulary that you can use all the time. I learn new things about English every single day as I'm preparing lessons, and I'm doing research. There's things that I'm learning about grammar and vocabulary and the way the language is used, and all of that helps me become a better instructor because I really want to learn. I want to find out new things. It's not like you can think: Well, I'm just gonna finish learning English, and then I'm done. I don't need to do any more. There's always something that you can keep practicing and improving. And that's not only going to help you achieve your fluency goals, But it's going to help you maintain your fluency goals when you do get to a level that you're comfortable with, and that you're happy with. The sky is the limit. So in the comments, I want to hear from you: Which of these ways applies to you and your fluency goals? Do you need to think outside the box? Are you the type of person that needs to be stronger than your excuses? Which one do you think would benefit you the most right now in trying to achieve your goals? We love hearing from you guys and writing this down and expressing this is a great way for you to start even thinking about where you're at and what you need to do to improve your fluency skills If you enjoyed this lesson, and you feel more confident and motivated to go out there and improve your fluency, please give this video a thumbs up. I hope you can use this advice to benefit yourself and improve your English skills. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 95. 6 Ways to Improve Your Fluency & Become a Better Speaker ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nS0Kc2l9L00` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS0Kc2l9L00) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:20:01 | --- do you want to improve your speaking skills well I am going to tell you six useful and practical ways to truly unlock your speaking potential that's coming up [Music] what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and today we are talking about speaking because we get comments all the time about this I need to improve my speaking how do I practice my speaking I need speaking for the IELTS what should I do to improve my speaking speaking speaking speaking speaking it is so important to many of you out there and I understand why because it is the primary way in which we communicate but before we begin I want to talk to you about a great opportunity to really boost your English fluency as well as unlock more of your speaking potential and that is by doing the lingo to marathon and lingo des was kind enough to sponsor today's lesson alright so you can see I am wearing my lingo 2 shirt because I want to talk to you about the lingo 2 marathon this is a great opportunity to really take your English to the next level but if you don't know about lingo des they offer online language lessons with qualified teachers who are all native speakers and I was also a student there I took some classes in Spanish and it was a great experience but the marathon this this right here this is a big event and this is a great way to dramatically improve your speaking skills so you're going to take your English fluency from right here and it's gonna go up up up up up up up up up up all the way all the way up there it's gonna go way up there because you are going to speak English every day for 90 days and that is really just going to take your English to the next level and you can sign up for the marathon by clicking on the link in the description and secure your spot because the marathon is going to begin on May 27th 2019 but you need to reserve your place before May 13th now here's the best part if you successfully complete the marathon and you take one class a day for 90 days then you will be eligible for a full refund that's right you'd be able to take 90 English lessons and save over 800 euro again I encourage you click on the link check out the site because lingo too has some different options you can either do the full marathon or the half marathon notice there is normally an entry fee of 5 euro but for you guys here at interactive English if you use the voucher code speak for when you register for the marathon you will not pay an entry fee your entry fee will be free so if you are truly motivated to improve your English and you are a dedicated learner then the marathon is meant for you and you don't have to take my word for it just go to the site and read about what others have had to say about the marathon and their experience and don't forget about the best part if you successfully complete it then you will be eligible for a refund for more information please click on the link in the description and remember to use the voucher code speak for so that you don't have to pay an entry fee again this is a great way to unlock your speaking potential and let's talk about some more ways to do that right now and I'm gonna do this a little differently because I'm going to give you quotes to make it a little more meaningful and then tell you exactly what you need to do to truly unlock your potential and the first amazing wonderful quote I have for you is this the greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another so this quote is all about anxiety when we're full of anxiety then then we're afraid of making mistakes and we become afraid of speaking and this this can be very stressful when you're focused on one what it is that you're afraid of when you're focused on making a mistake and you are completely stressed out that is when so many learners just just put up a wall between themselves and whoever it is that they're speaking to and that's when people become quiet so what you want to do is bring down that anxiety and that's all it is it is just a thought and what this quote is encouraging you to do is just to find something else to think about don't focus on what makes you afraid to speak don't worry about that try to focus on the positives not the negative and that's going to help you speak more freely that's going to lower your anxiety you are not going to feel stressed and you will be able to unlock your speaking potential the next quote that I have for you is this one confidence is not they will like me confidence is I'll be fine if they don't so this book kind of ties in with that last one you just need to be confident in your speaking ability and it doesn't matter if you make a mistake just keep speaking you don't want to feel anxious you don't want to be stressed you want to show confidence you want to have confidence in your speaking ability and that's what this quote is trying to tell us who cares what the other person or what the other people think about your speaking ability who cares if if they know that you are not a native English speaker who cares if you make a little mistake it does not matter you need to be confident in your speaking ability because that is just going to allow you to just communicate freely and say what you want to say as long as people understand what you're saying that is the key that is the most important thing so you need to try and build yourself with confidence and a great way to do that is really put yourself in a situation that you might not be comfortable with so if you're a little shy when it comes to speaking maybe you don't like singing then practice that start singing in the shower actually say words out loud and practice your speaking skills maybe you don't like being on a video camera maybe you don't like the way you sound so set up the camera and record yourself having a conversation or record yourself just speaking about any topic and then you can go back and watch it and see if you feel confident about what you're talking about and if you don't just do it again and again and again because that is the best way to build confidence and that also brings us to our next quote which is don't practice until you get it right practice until you can't get it wrong I tell learners this all the time practice practice and practice some more and don't just practice things that are new to you go back and review just just practice anything it is all good for your speaking fluency and this really complements those first two suggestions because the more you practice the the less stress the less anxiety you will feel the more you practice the more confidence you will have in your speaking ability and even if you don't have someone that you can speak to directly there are other ways that you can practice your skills I mentioned singing in the shower setting the camera and recording yourself but I'd encourage you to try and find someone that you can speak English with look for somebody around your hometown who would also like to improve their English skills or maybe you can find someone online who would do a language exchange you can also look online to find a tutor or an instructor or even do events like the lingo to marathon because all of that is going to help you unlock your speaking potential the next quote that I have for you is this realize it's okay to make speaking mistakes and own up to it everyone makes mistakes even if you're a native English speaker I make speaking mistakes all the time especially when recording these videos if you'd like to improve your speaking spill or you can find in English and structure hmm but before we short term speaking goals because there's easy I just make so many of them it's ridiculous and that's why it's just important to own up to it just acknowledge that yes I am going to make mistakes it's going to happen there's nothing you can do to change that and it's okay to admit it and even acknowledge it and just say well sorry I forgot what I was going to say or maybe you're like well sorry I got sidetracked I was talking about something that wasn't relevant or you could say yeah and I digress you were getting away from the topic and now you're gonna get back on that topic or maybe they don't understand what you're saying and they look a little confused or or they got the wrong impression just say that's not what I meant to say let me say it again so that you understand perfectly just own up to it move on and that is going to help you unlock your speaking potential then I have this wonderful quote for you right here your dreams are only your dreams until you write them down then they're your goals this quote is all about goals setting goals and trying to reach them don't just think about things that that you would like to do because when you're just thinking about it again those are those are just dreams that's not reality but as soon as you write them down and say okay this is what I'm going to do this is what I'm going to achieve then they become an actual goal that you can try to realize that you can try to accomplished and I'd recommend setting short-term goals because you want to keep it simple you want to have that sense of accomplishment and that's just going to help you build your confidence and unlock your speaking potential then we have another quote for all of you book lovers out there which is a person who won't read has no advantage over a person who can't read this is all about highlighting the importance of reading which is a skill that is so important because if you don't read then it's almost like you can't read you have no advantages and there are many advantages to reading two very important ones are grammar and vocabulary because when you're reading you are seeing how the correct grammar is being used and you're taking that information in and you will be able to then use it the next time you're speaking also when you're reading you are learning new words and phrases you are building your vocabulary and you're able to see how these words are used in context and that means when you're having a conversation with someone and you want to use this new vocabulary you'll be able to use it correctly so I hope that you'll be able to use these suggestions and really put them into practice so that you can unlock your speaking potential and while I have you here let's practice speaking right now so I have a question for you and I want you to tell me the answer and I want you to speak to me just just say your answer out loud all right I want you to tell me why do you want to improve your speaking how is this going to help you all right I just gave you an opportunity to try and speak and I want to know if you took advantage of that if you did if you answered that question then write the word speaking in the comments so that I know you were talking to me and you really want to unlock your speaking potential if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 96. 75 ADVANCED COLLOCATIONS | Supercharge Your Vocab (B2, C1, & C2 Phrases) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IJGldlaS8jo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJGldlaS8jo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:38:21 | --- Today, I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary by teaching you many different collocations, which are words that are frequently used together. And the phrases that I'm going to teach you today are really at a B2 to C2 level. So, if you are able to use them in conversation, it's just going to help you sound a lot more natural. And if you are someone who wants your vocabulary to take off like a rocket, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. Let's begin at a B2 level. These are phrases that I think are pretty common. Upper intermediate essentials. And we'll start with the word crucial. This is an adjective that means extremely important or necessary. And some phrases with this word include a crucial factor or crucial element or crucial evidence or even a crucial role. And in this case, you may even use it with the verb play. Say saying saying that someone plays a crucial role in something. She played a crucial role in the negotiations. The other thing that I'll point out is that these phrases may be followed with the preposition in like in the example that I just gave you. But to give you another example, I could say the weather was a crucial factor in our decision. And then finally, if I want to give you one more phrase, this time with an adverb, and I want to add emphasis, I could say that something is absolutely crucial. say it like that just to add that emphasis because I think that it is absolutely crucial that you learn these phrases. Try to use them because it is going to help you develop your overall fluency. >> It plays a crucial role in the lives of many animals, including these small fiddler [music] crabs. And I realize I left one crucial element in the bedroom. >> Yes, I I didn't want to frighten the girls, but it is absolutely crucial you keep your true identities under wraps. >> The next set of collocations are with the word terms. This is a noun that refers to conditions in an agreement or the way something is expressed. So you may hear somebody talk about favorable terms. And in that case, it's a good thing if you have favorable terms or with a verb to dictate terms. and you're trying to control the situation whenever you dictate terms. A very common phrase would be terms and conditions. I think that everybody, you and me, we should always read the terms and conditions. You could say that someone is on friendly terms with someone. And the phrase on friendly terms would really refer to a relationship. >> My ex-husband and I had been divorced for 5 years, but we were on friendly terms and we kept in touch. You could even replace the word friendly with good. You're on good terms. Or if you want to say the opposite, hey, we are not on good terms. And then we could use it in the phrase in terms of something when referring to a particular subject. Maybe I ask you about your job and you say in terms of salary. The job is great, but the hours are really long. The Tyrells are our only true rivals in terms of resources and we need them on our side. >> Wrongly. This is an adverb that means in a way that is not correct or not fair. And we're going to follow this with some different adjectives and because of the meaning they these phrases really have a negative connotation. Like if you say someone was wrongly accused, he was wrongly accused of the crime. Or maybe someone is wrongly convicted or wrongly imprisoned or wrongly informed or even wrongly mistaken. >> Sorry, you were wrongfully imprisoned, Simpson. >> I don't know. I guess I hoped you were another cop wrongly convicted of crimes you didn't commit. >> We are wrongly accused just because the feds say it. >> Now, let's look at some collocations with the word academic. This is an adjective that really refers to things relating to schools, colleges, or universities. And I think quite often you will hear people talk about someone's academic achievement or academic performance. We could use it with the phrase academic purposes. The library's resources are intended for academic purposes. Time-wise, you will definitely hear people talk about the academic year. And you could also use it with academic rigor. And in this case, the phrase really refers to high standards. The course is known for its academic rigor. jeopardize the academic performance of a weaker student. >> We invite you to return as an instructor for the 1954 1955 academic year. >> This perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with higher education, privileging athletic and alumni contributions over academic rigor. >> And then there's the word temper. This is a noun that refers to the tendency to become angry easily. And there are some common verbs that you could use with this noun. Most commonly just to say that someone has a temper, to have a temper. You could also use it with lose, to lose your temper. Please do not lose your temper. And in that case, I might also tell you to control your temper. You could use it with that verb as well, to control your temper. If I want to use it with some adjectives, I could say that someone has a short temper and they just get angry very quickly. Or if I want to emphasize just how severe someone's temper is, I could say they have a vile temper. I think it's good to avoid people that have a vile temper. >> You won't lose your temper, will [music] you? Promise me that they they won't make you angry. >> He has a long memory and a short temper. >> Would you keep that violent temper of yours under control? >> Now, let's move into some C1 collocations. More a little more advanced fluency. And we'll start with the word ethnic. This is an adjective relating to a population group with a common national or cultural tradition. And quite commonly, people may refer to an ethnic group or maybe they celebrate ethnic diversity or even refer to a group of people as an ethnic minority. You could ask about someone's ethnic background like where do they come from? If we're talking about conflict, in that case, people may talk about ethnic tensions and there is some conflict going on. We're really at a crossroads. The impending environmental apocalypse [music] juxtaposed with simmering ethnic tensions. >> There's a difference, Daryl. You can't hate people because of their ethnic background. >> You do know uies are a real ethnic group that actually exists. >> Then we have the word pose. This is a verb that means to present or cause something, especially a problem or difficulty. So, in general, these phrases are likely going to have more of a negative connotation. If someone were to pose a threat or pose a danger or even pose a problem, you could say something poses a risk. Smoking poses a risk to your health. And then well this is not really negative but somebody could pose a question. Often this is a little more formal if uh I were to pose a question and say what are the ethical implications of AI but I don't want to be very formal. That's not who I am. But I'm still going to pose a question to you right now. Will you please go ahead and hit that like button if you're learning some new and useful phrases. For the first time in our history, humans pose a threat to our kind. >> Your honor, as you can see, my clients [music] are elderly and infirm. Any incarceration could pose a serious health risk. >> I'd like to pose a question that I'm sure is on everybody's mind here today. >> Immediate. This is a great word. It's an adjective with a couple of different meanings. So, it could refer to someone or something that is close to or is a cause or effect of someone or something. And with this meaning you could use it with the phrases immediate effect. You know what is the immediate effect of something or your immediate surroundings? [music] >> The immediate effect of the war for Elizabeth is the same in one sense [music] as so many other young people living in London. >> It also means in the present like as soon as possible. And in that case you may hear somebody talk about an immediate response or immediate danger. I do not pose a threat, so you are not in immediate danger. Or you could use it with the phrase immediate future. What is going to happen in your immediate future? >> Well, as long as you can keep your mouth shut for the rest of your life, you're in no immediate danger. >> I won't tell. >> Tomorrow, my Spanish exams with Senor the unforgiving. My main concern is for my immediate future. >> Then we have alternate. This is an adjective with a couple of different meanings. The first is to happen one after the other repeatedly. And some very common collocations include alternate days or alternate weeks. That's really the time period we're going to use. We're not going to often use this adjective with minutes, hours, or years. >> Colin was [music] a good blow >> and you were happy with Celia. >> Alternate days. >> It also refers to a plan or method that can be used if you don't want to use another one. And in that case, you may hear somebody talk about an alternate plan. Or maybe you're going somewhere and you're going to take an alternate route or you're trying to figure something out and somebody has an alternate explanation, >> right? But what if they don't? You need an alternate plan. >> Traffic. >> Give me an alternate route. >> Then there's the word insight. This is a noun that refers to a deep understanding of a person or thing. You could also follow these phrases with the preposition into. I could say, "I hope these lessons provide valuable insight into some of the slight nuances in English." When using it with verbs, you could gain insight or offer insight or say that something provides insight. I used it in the previous example of these lessons, providing insight into those slight nuances. >> This is our one chance to peak behind the curtain and gain insight into young womanhood. >> What valuable insight did you glean as a result? >> Well, I thought they could provide some insights that might improve your love life. >> Now, let's have a look at some C2 collocations, a real masterass. And we'll begin with the word abrupt. This is an adjective that has a couple of different meanings, but most of the phrases really refer to something that is sudden and unexpected, often in an unpleasant way. referring to someone's abrupt departure. And very commonly, you will use this word when talking about an abrupt end. If this lesson came to an abrupt end, I'm sure you might be surprised and hopefully you'd be a little disappointed too because I still have more collocations that I want to teach you. >> And uh it was so well it was such an abrupt end. >> Godzilla just made an abrupt change direction. He's moving very fast. >> This word also means using few words in a way that may seem rude. And a collocation that you may come across or you could even use when describing a person is abrupt manner. So it does have a negative connotation. I could say her abrupt manner offended many people. >> I assumed you know working on Wall Street, curly dark hair, prominent nose, abrupt banner, and I'm sorry, am I still talking? >> Then there's paramount. This is an adjective that means more important than anything else. And you could say that something is of paramount importance or of paramount concern. Perhaps you want to talk about your paramount goal or your paramount interest. And if I want to use it with a verb, a common collocation is to remain paramount. In my opinion, the quality of these lessons must and will always remain paramount. I can't leave by the furniture. >> Your safety [music] is a paramount concern to us. the life and safety of King Joffrey be of paramount importance. >> The next set of collocations are with the word invasion. This is a noun that has a couple of different meanings. The first refers to the act of entering a place in an unwanted or annoying way or or just by force. So really, these phrases have a negative connotation. If I'm talking about an invasion of some group, I could say, "The small beach town experiences an invasion of tourists every summer." If I say this, then that would imply that I just don't like the tourists being there. I could add emphasis using the phrase massive invasion. if I were to say there is a massive invasion of tourists. And the other two phrases are more war conflict related if I'm talking about a full-scale invasion or an imminent invasion. >> All of Gotham City is buzzing about an imminent invasion of flying sauces. >> Well, no. >> Tonsillitis adoiditis is in Chinese medical an invasion of heat and wind. >> This word also refers to an action that affects someone's life in a a negative way. And a very common collocation is an invasion of privacy. So if someone were to try to look at your phone or check your emails or they're asking a lot of personal questions, you may feel like that is an invasion of privacy. >> Holy pepperoni. >> Okay, this is an invasion of privacy. >> Remember you and then create ads for other stuff you might want to buy. >> So it learns information about me. Seems like an invasion of privacy. >> Then there's toll. This is a noun that has a couple of meanings. The first refers to the number of deaths or casualties. And in this case, you may hear people talk about the death toll or the human toll. >> No word on casualties yet, but we can assume the death toll is catastrophic. >> It also refers to a heavy cost. And I could use it with an adjective like emotional. There's an emotional toll on someone. And if I want to use it with a couple of verbs, I could say that something exacts a toll on someone. This is a little more formal. I think most of the time people are going to use the verb take and say that something takes a toll on someone. If I want to put some of these together and give you a real example, sometimes I have to work over the weekends. I'd rather spend time with my family, but when that happens, it Yeah, I feel like it can take an emotional toll on me. But, you know, I got to do it. Quality, quality remains paramount. >> The toll was visible. The emotional toll that it was having on both of us, especially um especially my wife. >> Forgive him cuz there's nothing you can do about it. It's taking a toll on you. >> Then there's undo. This is an adjective that refers to a level that is more than necessary, acceptable, or reasonable. And there are some common nouns that you can use with this word when talking about undue pressure or undue stress. That's not a good thing. Or maybe somebody is getting undue attention. You could also talk about undue influence. This phrase you might hear more in a legal context as well as undue hardship. The context might be more about finances but also legal. I could say this outrageous fine will cause undue hardship to the family. >> Ma'am, you said that serving on this jury would cause undue hardship. Can you elaborate? >> Now, look, I'm not trying to put any undue pressure on you and Mario. >> The statute requires proof that there was some undue influence. Someone threatening the residents of San Piper Crossings. >> I know I just gave you a lot of different phrases and and don't feel like you need to memorize them. And I don't think you should try to memorize them. Try to learn and familiarize yourself with them passively and then slowly start using them actively. It's it's a all a process building your vocabulary. Hopefully, you're using some of them already. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. So long. --- ## 97. 75 Difficult Words to Pronounce (Fine-tune Your Pronunciation) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BDBIilAqVj8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDBIilAqVj8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:02:57 | --- today i am going to teach you 75 difficult words to pronounce in english and i'm gonna do it all in under 45 minutes so this it is a long lesson buckle up and what i've done is i've taken well some of the very best of my pronunciation lessons and i've just put them together into this one and there's a lot of words to go over but before we jump into that i want to let you know that you can now enroll in my speaking course it's all about helping you practice and improve your speaking skills so click on that link down below and when you do there will be a special discount just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn vocabulary related to that topic we do engaging speaking activities there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course we warm up each lesson with something related to pronunciation or connected speech i will also teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases so click on the link down below if you'd like to sign up or learn more about the course and yeah i just hope to speak to you soon so now let's just jump right in to our pronunciation lesson and learn how to pronounce these different words today we'll talk about 25 difficult words for english learners to pronounce today we're going to talk to you about 25 words that you guys told us were difficult to pronounce as we go over these words we are going to give you the phonetic spelling which means that we are going to show you the words exactly how they sound some of you may be familiar with the international phonetic alphabet others of you may not be but i think everyone can understand and follow phonetic spelling we will also show you how many syllables each word has and remember a syllable is just one unit of sound in addition we will show you which syllable is stressed so hopefully this information will help give you a better idea as to how to pronounce each of these individual words if you want even more practice you can repeat the words after we say them practice makes perfect it's true also keep in mind that in this video we are doing the american pronunciation of these words which is important to mention because some of the words may differ in their american pronunciation versus the british pronunciation so yeah keep that in mind we'll be doing the american pronunciation because we're american so the first word fittingly is the word pronunciation now there are two things about this word that could be a little tricky first that c actually sounds like you're saying the letter c pronunci and the word ends with the t-i-o-n which sounds like shun anytime that you see these four letters together at the end of a word it's pronounced as shun also a pronunciation rule is that when a word ends with the tion the stress is going to fall on the syllable before so in this case pronunciation pronunciation pronunciation wow that pronunciation is flawless the next one is characterization and this one is difficult to pronounce firstly because it's so long so let's let's break it apart the first two letters the ch many times in english they make a chis sound so you would expect in this case that they would make the ch sound like in channel but not here the way that it's pronounced is with a k sound like the k sound the other thing is that um those last four letters the t i o n are just like in any other instance in english read as shun characterization and remember to stress that syllable before the shun characterization say with me say fast characterization characterization characterization characterization characterization characterization uh i'm i'm i think i'm comfortable with that characterization as well number three is museum now this word can be tricky for two reasons the first is that first syllable that mu has like an m sound combined with like saying the word you mu zeum that s is also going to sound like a z museum let's go to the museum let's go museum it's easy museum to any it's not like that okay and i'm not going to any museum well i'm not going back into storage the next word is disadvantage and this one might be a little bit difficult because if we look at the last four letters the t a g e i think that they're easy to mispronounce it's it's kind of that tidge sound that is very quick so it's not t h it's stitch so we say disadvantage disadvantage you're at a real disadvantage next unfortunate so this word can be troublesome because that tu actually sounds like a chew unfortunate unfortunate unfortunate that's it unfortunate it was an unfortunate error we're fixing it the next word is occupation this one might be a little difficult because of the c sound um maybe if you look at it you think oh it's a c pronounced like a c but it's actually pronounced like a q sound so it's occupation and remember to stress the syllable before addition occupation i'm sorry occupation would be the correct way to say it's better please state your name and occupation the next word is cucumber so this word can definitely be confusing because of the letter c that first c sounds like a q sound q q all right and the next c just has a k sound like a k k q cumber there are some other words that begin with the letter c u where that c also sounds like a q sound like cube or cute and then there are some other words that begin with c u that don't follow that at all and sound like a k sound like cup or cupboard or anything else with coke curve so cucumber can really be a little tricky what do you got a cucumber i'm chilling chill's a cucumber man the next word is suitable and this one may be a little tricky because of the vowels the you and i together they're making an oo sound so it's suit suitable the other thing to keep in mind is that second syllable has the schwa sounds you have suta suitable so it's not suitable but it's suitable suitable suitable and you you kind of go through it fast suitable suitable it's a very suitable explanation quite suitable suitable for what the next word is tongue now the pronunciation of this word is all sorts of crazy first off it only has one syllable and that o sounds like a u tongue and it would rhyme with words like sung or rung or tongue lung tongue lung yeah that's another one tongue there you have it porno tongue church tongue the next word is assume and this one has a couple little tricks to it the first one is that the first syllable is a schwa so it makes an uh sound so we can say uh assume not asum or anything like that and the second one is that the u in there does not make a u sound but an oo sound we say assume assume i will assume the position next is diary so this word can be a little confusing because it is three syllables it's not two and the first syllable has that long i sound that dye followed by the schwa daiya and then the y at the end has a long e sound diary diary diary do you keep a diary do you i don't dear diary love makes you do crazy things the next word is category and here what's tricky is the t sound because it's not an actual t sound it's like a flap t or the american t but it's kind of a d sound so it's a category muted even you can barely hear it category category what's the first category here this guy is the hound group the next word is schedule so this word has two syllables and it can be confusing because of that ch it doesn't have a ch sound it has a k sound like a k sound and the d-u-l-e sounds like jewel schedule especially when you say it fast schedule schedule schedule precisely on schedule the next word is physics this one is also a little tricky even though it's short there are a couple things to mention the ph sound in english sounds like like like an f sound so it's physics the other one is that the y sound is not a yes sound but it's like a shortened i sound and the third thing is that the s is pronounced like a z so put it all together and you have physics physics in physics we uh we talk about physics uh properties of physics the next word is curtail so this word has two syllables and the second syllable has that long a sound tail like you're talking about an animal's tail curtail curtail not curdle curtail can we curtail this performance piece the next word is chemistry and chemistry is derived from kimia which comes from alchemia which is an arabic term derived from greek it's it has a long story but what that means is that the pronunciation is a little bit different um so it's not a ch sound but instead of k sound so it's chemistry are you studying yeah chemistry i hate chemistry me too next is poignant so this word that gn has that nasal sound that point which is different from some other words that also have a gn like pregnant alright so this gn is that nasal sound poignant poignant poignant and then there's the most poignant irony of all next we have hippopotamus i like this word uh there used to be a song called i want a hippopotamus for christmas [Music] for christmas i want a hippopotamus for christmas i they're kind of cute hippopotamus is confusing because it's so freaking long hippopotamus it's like a million syllables really what you have to do is just break it down and say hippopotamus and quickly is hippopotamus hippopotamus yeah practice one syllable at a time yeah you kind of have to [Music] say hippopotamus the next word sticking with our animal theme is rhinoceros and this word can be confusing because the h is silent and the c sounds like an s rhinoceros rhinoceros i want a rhinoceros for christmas as the rhinoceros speaks english the next word is science i don't know why i did that science how do we pronounce it we pronounce it like science okay the next word is science and what's important in this word pronunciation is that the c is not pronounced so we don't say i don't even know how you would mispronounce that science that's difficult right um but to just make it easy we just omit the sea so we say science the sea is silent like in scissors you also don't say this either science science what sort of science [Music] the next word is silhouette this word is borrowed from french so i'm not really going to try to explain why it's pronounced the way it is it's just silhouette and it sounds i think the same in french like pirouette silhouette what are you doing this weekend because your silhouette is kicking number 22 is a rouse and a rouse has a couple things you need to remember the first one is that the o and u combination creates a diphthong the ow sound and um the next thing is that the s makes a z sound so you have a rouse arouse a round if he can arouse that kind of passion the next word is unique and the pronunciation of this word is unique because that letter u sounds like you are just saying the actual name of the letter u unique the q u e at the end has a k sound uh like a k sound unique and then there is a tongue twister that is difficult to pronounce if you want to say it really really fast unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york unique new york accident oh this one i like this one i like it because i have so many students who always always always mispronounce this one because you have the two cs and they each have a separate sound so the first c is like a k sound and the second c is like an s sound so we say accident we don't say accident or accident we say accident accident yeah it's accident these accidents aren't accidents an accident an accident yeah but it was accident man an accident really and the last word number 25 is dumb and the only thing and the only thing you need to know about this word is that the bee is silent dumb what's going to be dumb sometimes you're dumb dumb luck dumbass so what we'd like you to do is in the comments below please write any other words that you may have trouble pronouncing if you have a hard time saying it please write it down who knows maybe we'll make another video or maybe we won't who's to say we talk about 25 words that are difficult to pronounce and they can sometimes confuse english learners so i'm going to tell you the word and i will give you the meaning as well because well what's the point in learning how to pronounce a word if you don't know what it means in addition i'm also going to show you the pronunciation that's right you heard me correctly i'm going to show you both the phonetic spelling and the ipa and i think seeing this will help you understand a little bit better how to pronounce these words correctly and finally i am going to pronounce the word for you i am going to say it slowly clearly i will say it several times and i would also encourage you to say the word as well say it out loud because that is the best way to practice your pronunciation keep in mind that i am from the united states so i will be giving you the american pronunciation of these words these are words that you might hear quite often and actually i just i just wanted to say that because often is the first word that i wanted to talk to you about this word it means something that happens frequently or many times it has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable often the second syllable has that schwa sound which is an uh sound it is the most common sound in the english language and previously i i did a lesson talking about the schwa sound i will put that up here if you want to check that out i recommend that you do because it is a very common sound that uh sound often now this word can be a bit confusing because you're not going to hear that t it is a silent letter a silent t often it is a word that i'm i'm being very serious right now that i use quite often try to listen for it throughout this lesson and see how many times you hear me say this word often the next word is paradigm and this is a model or clear example of something a paradigm it's a noun and it has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable paradigm that second syllable again it has that schwa sound but i think that final syllable that that igm that spelling can throw people off a little bit that third syllable i'm paradigm then we have the word caveat which is a warning to consider something before taking any action the word has three syllables and the stress also it's on that first syllable caveat caveat i think this word is a bit challenging because when you just look at the spelling you might not think that it has three syllables but it does that second syllable has a long e sound e caveat caveat so you might hear somebody use this word and tell somebody well there's one caveat and then they would actually tell the person whatever that warning is for them to take into consideration there's one caveat the guy who runs a place is a little temperamental especially referred to as the soup nazi then we have cupboard which refers to a piece of furniture that we use to store things and it usually has shelves cupboard the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable cupboard notice that the word is spelled with the p but when i say it it sounds a little more like a b sound cupboard cupboard and the word is also very confusing because when you see it it looks like well it's spelled with two words cup and board but you're not going to pronounce that second syllable like board it's just going to be bird cupboard cupboard and if you look around the home i think quite often you are going to find a cupboard now let's talk about a few medical words such as alzheimer's and sometimes you may hear it used with the word disease and people would say alzheimer's disease and it's talking about a disease that results in memory loss alzheimer's now the word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and i think that first syllable is what makes this word a little challenging alts it sounds like alts alzheimer's alzheimer's what's it do alzheimer's i have alzheimer's disease i know people with alzheimer's then we have the word or actually phrase because it's two words heimlich maneuver now this is talking about an emergency method that someone would use if if a person is choking and you would give that person the heimlich maneuver now heimlich has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable heimlich and i think that second syllable even though it's spelled with a c h it's not a ch sound it is more of a k k sound heimlich and maneuver has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable this is also a challenging word to pronounce maneuver the heimlich maneuver you would give someone the heimlich maneuver and then there is the word asthma which is talking about a person who would have difficulty breathing you would say they have asthma the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable that second syllable has that schwa again that uh sound asthma and again this word the spelling may not match up with the pronunciation because that a-s-t-h it's really pronounced as just like as like an a-z sound as asthma then we have the word mischievous and this is talking about behaving in a bad way but not usually intended to cause any real harm you just say maybe somebody is mischievous the word has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable and both that second and third syllable have that schwa sound but again the spelling can kind of throw you off when you want to say and pronounce this word so keep that in mind especially that second syllable that that ch sound mischievous mischievous stay with me mischievous and then we have the word coxon now this is a word that probably you may not have heard of before because it's a word that is used in the the sport of rowing or crewing and this is the person that sits in the back of the boat and they would give instructions to the other people who are rowing and that person is the coxswain it has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable again that second syllable can be a bit confusing has that schwa even though the spelling just does not look like that at all coxson i wrote crew at harvard oh harvard or were you a coxman coxswain then we have the word close which is a very common word i'm sure you know what it means it's talking about things that we wear to to cover our body but it is a word that that is a little confusing the pronunciation because of that spelling it's just one syllable clothes clothes everybody is wearing clothes i assume that you're wearing clothes i really don't know but as you can see i i am wearing clothes i wear them quite often i guess i guess yes not always but uh okay anyway but moving on the next word is prescription this is talking about a note from a doctor and it just shows the medicine that a person needs to take and you would get a prescription from the doctor the word has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable prescription prescription i think the word is a little confusing because of that pre it's not a pre sound it's more of a pr prescription need a prescription what the hell is this it's a prescription we use drugs prescription drugs you know the kind of dentist has access to then we have the word perspire which just means to sweat and somebody would perspire the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable perspire then we have the word boutique which is talking about a shop that would sell a small shop that would sell clothes shoes jewelry and you could say it is a boutique it has two syllables the stress again is on that second syllable and of course with this one i think you can see that the spelling is not really in line with the pronunciation boutique that second syllable that that t i q u it's pronounced like teak boutique you're planning on opening your own boutique owner of elizabeth albert a boutique that sells some of the top women's fashions on the burbank's dress they're actually from a very expensive boutique next is a word that is very common we use it often and that is police i think many of you probably know what it means it's talking about a person responsible for for protecting people and making sure that people obey the laws the police now the word has two syllables the stress is on that second syllable that first syllable you hear that schwa that but that second syllable that spelling that l-i-c-e is pronounced lease police police maybe i hope i hope that you never have to call the police then we have the word debris which is talking about small pieces that are basically torn off of something that that's larger debris the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable debris now that first syllable also it has that schwa sound that uh and that second syllable has a long e sound even though the spelling is a little different we're going to end it with that long e sound debris debris say it with me debris and you might use or actually hear this word if there is something like a natural disaster an earthquake and things get torn off and afterwards there there might be debris on the ground debris then we have marijuana this is talking about well it's it's a plant and when it's dried people might smoke it and it's it's still illegal in many countries and it's it's called marijuana the word has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable it that wa marijuana so say this word with me i'll say it slowly marijuana that second and fourth syllable you hear that schwa that uh marijuana so keep in mind that the spelling is nothing like the pronunciation that third syllable that wah that is the stress marijuana marijuana it's marijuana marijuana a marijuana cigarette next is the word february this is well it's the second month of the year it's a word we use quite often and now i feel like i'm just gonna catch myself saying often again and again and again anyway the word has four syllables the stress is on that first syllable but i think this word is challenging because of the those two r's in there feb ru air e february february say with me february uh again it's a word it's a great word to practice because you will probably use it if you are having a conversation especially if it is the month of february right february next is the word rural and this is just talking about the countryside and you may hear somebody use it with the word area a rural area the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable rural the the word is challenging because those two r's in there rur roll rural say it with me rural a rural area then we have the word sorbet and this is talking about a food of juice water and sugar and it's frozen sorbet it has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable and again listen to the pronunciation sorbet it's not pronounced the way it's spelled sorbet that b-e-t is pronounced as bae sorbet let's continue with a rhyming word which is valet and this is a person who works at a hotel or restaurant and and parks people's cars they are the valet the word has two syllables the stress is again on that second syllable and the problem is the same that l-e-t is pronounced lay valet valet parking is five dollars because the valet good thing we use valet parking next is the word regime which refers to a a system of government the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable regime and that that second syllable notice it has that long e sound regime regime and then we have the word vineyard which is talking about land where people will or they would grow vines specifically they would grow grapes and used for making wine and you would say that this place it's a vineyard a wine vineyard the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and that first syllable can be a little challenging because you you you have that short eye sound vineyard vineyard a vineyard next is the word coupon and this is talking about a piece of paper or maybe even an online code that somebody can use to get something for free or at a cheaper price and they would use a coupon the word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and that first syllable can be challenging because that cou is just pronounced as ku coupon a coupon then we have the word hyperbole and this refers to the way that somebody is speaking or writing they do this to make things sound bigger and better and you could say that they are just using hyperbole the word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable hyperbole now i think with this word just just keep in mind it has four syllables and when you say the word you are going to hear all four of those syllables hyperbole that b-o-l-e is pronounced boli for example if i said this is the absolute most amazing and best english channel in the world all right you might think that that is hyperbole i hope not i really hope that you do love these english lessons but just as an example of what it means hyperbole when someone says we've got people everywhere you expect it to be hyperbole it goes on fire enough for the hyperbole it is not hyperbole to say we're in a great financial situation and finally we have a very common word which is receipt this is well it's a piece of paper that shows that you've paid for something the word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable receipt now the spelling again just does not match up with the pronunciation there is a silent p in there you are not going to hear that p that second syllable just sounds like seat receipt if you go and buy something you will probably get a receipt wow that was a lot of words that we just went about some silent letters that you will not pronounce when you say these advanced words and today i it's a pronunciation lesson but also a little bit of vocabulary because i want to talk to you about 25 words and i think these are more advanced words and i want to teach you how to pronounce them and all of them have a silent letter so in this lesson we are going to look at words that have silent letters at the beginning in the middle as well as at the end and i am going to show you both the phonetic spelling as well as the ipa so that you can see the pronunciation and i will also put the meaning of the word up there in case you want to build your vocabulary and the word is new for you i'm going to say the word twice so you can hear my pronunciation and feel free to repeat after me and actually practice your pronunciation so let's begin with the letter w because well my name's wes let's just let's just start with the letter w and often w may be a silent letter at the beginning of a word especially when it's followed by the letter r that w r combination for example we have the word wrangle wrangle to wrangle sometimes if if i put on a little weight i may wrangle with my belt then we have wrench wrench if you have tools in your home there's a good possibility that you have a wrench and then there's the word wretched this is an adjective wretched keep in mind this word has two syllables because that e d at the end is the second syllable that id wretched now let's look at the silent k which is another letter that will often be silent at the beginning of a word especially when it's followed by the letter n so let's look at these three words the first one is knuckle knuckle right here your knuckles then we have the word not not same as like you're saying the negative in this case though we're talking about a noun and you may hear it being used with the verb tie to tie a knot then we have the word need need this is a verb to need especially if you want to talk about clay or dough to need dough now let's look at a couple of words that begin with a silent p and both of these words have three syllables so the first one is pneumonia pneumonia that stress is on that second syllable pneumonia then we have pseudonym pseudonym the stress is on the first syllable this time pseudonym and sometimes yeah if people write books instead of using their real name they will use a pseudonym okay now let's let's move to the middle of the word and let's begin with the letter c because often you may find words that have a silent c in the middle of the word especially when it it comes after the letter s so all of these words you're going to see that s c combination so let's begin with crescent crescent it's a shape i often i think of the moon when i hear the word crescent next is fluorescent fluorescent stress is on that second syllable fluorescent if you work in an office chances are those may be fluorescent lights next is the word obscene obscene stress is on that second syllable obscene then we have resuscitate resuscitate stress is on that second syllable and this is a four syllable word resuscitate and if you well for example if you give someone mouth to mouth you are trying to resuscitate this person let's move on to the letter t a silent t that you will find in the middle of some words now i'm going to go over four words all of them have two syllables and the stress is on the first syllable so let's begin with mortgage mortgage if you think if you were thinking about buying a home this is a word that you will probably need to know mortgage next is nestle nestle to nestle cuddle close together sometimes people animals they like to nestle then we have hasten hasten this is a verb to hasten and finally we have moisen [Music] it's another verb if you have a cloth or a napkin and you want to get it wet then you may moisten the cloth or moisten the paper towel now let's talk about some words that have a silent letter at the end and i'm talking about the letter b and often this this letter will be silent when it comes after the letter m that mb combination so let's start with this first word which is catacomb catacomb three syllables stresses on the first syllable catacomb when i traveled to to paris france i visited the catacombs next is the word crumb crumb when i eat cookies sometimes i might get some crumbs on my shirt all right then we have limb limb i hope that you never break any of your limbs stay safe and finally the word womb womb keep in mind that that o it really has that ooh sound womb we're going to talk about a silent t that you will find at the end of some words so the first word that i want to pronounce for you is debut debut i made my debut on this channel in i think 2017. wow it's been it's been a while then we have the word gourmet gourmet this is an adjective that you will find before some nouns like gourmet coffee next is the word rapport rapport and you will hear people use this word and they may say someone has a good rapport with someone else a good rapport and finally there's the word ricochet ricochet three syllables stress is on that third syllable ricochet and i know we're talking about silent letters at the end but i i now want to go to the end of the alphabet and we're going to look at the letter z a silent z which comes in the middle of this word right here rendezvous it has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable rendezvous and if people ever want to get together they may rendezvous at a certain place so i hope that this was helpful with your pronunciation if you want to say and pronounce any of these advanced words and i also hope that you learn some new words as well if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 98. 7 Creative Ways to Get More SPEAKING Practice | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `00bJgonDEr8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00bJgonDEr8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:17:51 | --- hello welcome to today's lesson so this lesson i think um it's going to be hopefully it might address some of your concerns i know many of you out there maybe not concerns but you talk about speaking and wanting to get more practice speaking i think that is the one language skill that i think many learners would like to engage in have more practice and it can be a little bit a little bit of a challenge so that's why in today's lesson i i just want to give you some suggestions some ideas that will get you thinking about different ways that you can practice speaking and really this is more catered toward people who um you you may not live in an english-speaking country perhaps um you you're very busy with your schedule and you want to figure out different ways that you can practice uh speaking because you would like to improve your skills i think it's very important that if you're talking about developing your language fluency you you work on all of the four primary skills listening speaking reading and writing and i think that speaking part can be a little elusive sometimes and it can be difficult difficult to grab onto so i just want to give some quick little hellos and shout outs to everybody who's here uh lolly as always great to see you um hello judit kyle simple guy uh jane marcelo uh glad you glad you all can join me um chars um miram uh miguel angela trying to give as many as i can so again as we go through this these are just some thoughts suggestions and ideas um that maybe could you know kind of get the get the creative juices flowing when you're starting to think about well how can i get a little more speaking practice so let me begin with my my first suggestion and these are not in order of importance or anything like that um but the first one would be to try to find a speaking group and what i mean by like a speaking group typically i think these examples that i'm giving you this would be more like face to face um speaking with someone and there are different um those are some different apps or sites that you can go to and try to do this for example meetup is a very uh popular one and common one eventbrite city socializer open sports now because of the pandemic i don't know if how much this has maybe affected some of these groups and perhaps people are meeting online instead of in person but again there are numerous apps or sites like the ones i've listed here where you can connect with people and people you might be talking about a certain topic let me give you um a more a clearer example because meetup was something that was becoming more popular in the us had a lot of learners um who i would teach in the us and they would practice with me at at school in the classroom that setting but they would say look out you know i want to having difficulty making friends i would like to practice more speaking outside of the classroom and really have conversations with people not like things that you know you would talk to somebody at a coffee like you're ordering a coffee or going to the grocery store or something like that but really to have a conversation and i would always suggest like meet up because where around where we lived in california there were always different groups getting together you could find a meet-up that was talking about um maybe like a book like a book club or a meet-up that was referring to like hiking or exercise and people would get together and sometimes they might do the activity and do something or they just get together and share ideas and have discussions because they share the same interest so when i say find a speaking group it's not like a speaking group like oh you want to learn english i want to learn english this would be more like finding a speaking group somebody a group that's talking about something you're interested in so maybe um it could be about art and you find a group using one of these sites that having a weekly discussion about art and you can then join that discussion and be a part of that conversation that's what i mean so it's not really finding a speaking group that's related to learning english but something else that you are interested in that you are passionate about and you can talk about that in english so that's really the the main idea there so the first thing i would suggest yes find uh find a speaking group and there uh i think you can check out some of those sites you might be able to do it join do this um mariam somebody says i joined some groups on telegram but people just said greetings okay yeah i haven't checked out telegram i don't know much about it um but yeah i think there are different ways out there get creative and find some sites where you can engage with some of these groups the next one would be like i said this is more when i say this more in person face to face the other thing i would say is engage in an online community again consider your interest so if you love to read there might you could maybe find an online book club where people are reading and then they get together using zoom or skype and you have a conversation about the book so just like there are ways to meet people in groups and talk to them face to face about some topic you can also do this online i think it's possible again you just have to get a little creative and finding the right community that you can talk to people um and perhaps they're getting together and and speaking english so i said like again consider your interests don't focus i know you're interested in improving your language skills and practicing speaking think beyond that what is something else you want to do what's something else you want to learn and and start your search there and see what you can come up with see what you can find um all right so let's see just kind of checking out some of the what you guys are mentioning uh in the chat it's an awesome idea uh thank you simple guy um all right so the next suggestion that i have for you which again leads me into uh something else that i wanted to talk about is you could take an online class but this is something that is going that would be paid for perhaps online it depends on where you live sometimes in certain countries it can be a little more expensive than others but you could take an online class it's a way to connect with people english teachers from around the world whatever country and i i would say that yes this is kind of leading me into telling you that this is the last call if you would like to join my speaking course um called speak up you can talk to me we talk about different topics each week which are really kind of trying to help you build your confidence speaking about these different topics as well as doing speaking activities so it's about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally because there are a lot of pronunciation video lessons in there so this is your last call you can use the code speak10 to get a 10 discount there's my little uh wait here it is there's my little promo right there if you want to take classes with me and practice improving your speaking fluency you can take an online class directly directly with me because some of you have asked are like how can i how can i speak with you um and joseph yes is there money included yes yes there is um so check that out there's a link down in the description if you're interested um i'm also going to throw the link in right here if you would like to check out my speaking course um you can click on this link right there if you would like to join so let me replace that i'll just pin it up top in case uh you guys are wondering but this is the last call the classes are getting ready to start next week but that is something um again that's another way to practice uh your speaking skills get regular practice and really build um confidence so let's look um oh yes that's right dc i have joined that's right you're you are enrolled and i look forward i look forward to speaking to you very very soon um so yeah i really i love this i love the course um i have so much fun with it it's so amazing i think getting ready getting being able to meet um all of you that have kind of been following the video lessons and and really get to know you i know uh takaya was in here i saw your name before also uh has been a part of the course um simple guy no it is it is a payment it is a payment for for doing these classes so the um the the cost is 149. check out the link there's a lot more information if it's something you guys um would be interested in but i i do want to kind of i'll come back to this a little later on make one more plug i wanted to continue in talking about some ideas suggestions to get more speaking practice so the next one um is this one right here which is a little outside the box and that is to become a tour guide in your city or town and what i mean by that um some of you live in perhaps a big city and if you're in a big city there are probably international tourists there visiting some of the different places some of the different sites and what you could do is kind of become a tour guide you could even put up something at like a local coffee shop or a hostel or a hotel something where people might be staying where you might find international tourists they can contact you you could say hey i'll show i'll show you around if it's not too much of an inconvenience for you if you happen to live close by some place that there are many tourists and this is something that i've seen when i lived in i lived in south korea i've also traveled to china those are two places where um in in other countries in east asia as well i would be traveling somewhere and somebody uh would come up to me and say hey you know i can show you around a little bit tell you a little bit about this place i'm just looking to practice uh my english have a little bit of a conversation and yeah i would uh i would talk to them for a little bit typically we would talk about other things that are unrelated to uh the the landmark of the site because i would be curious about well you know what can you tell me about the city or your country or what do you do and and have a conversation that way so that is one thing that you could do um if you're in a city or town where international travelers come because typically the the common language may be english even if somebody's not from a place like the united states then uh this could be this could be an idea be very curious if any of you have done this as well let me know in the chats if this is something that that you've actually uh that you've tried the next suggestion is um well you could find a speaking partner and really when you're finding a speaking partner this it can be a little challenging there are again different sites out there that you can try to connect with other people who want to learn english so in this case when you're looking for a speaking partner i would say that this this way you're probably looking for somebody who is also like okay i just want to practice speaking english so you can do this online or even in your town i think if you are somebody who wants to improve your english there is probably somebody close by around where you live who also wants to practice speaking english and if you can connect with that person you guys can do that um and and work together so the one thing that i would say that is challenging about this is that when you find a speaking partner there needs to be a little bit of a direction for the conversation there needs to be some kind of topic something that you're going to discuss and engage in so it one person would really need to be responsible for trying to find that and facilitate that um but this is another way that you can try to practice your speaking uh let's see the next one the next suggestion that i have for you which is a little uh unorthodox but something else you could do and it doesn't have to be this direct you could start a youtube channel and i would say again go back to thinking about your interest it does not have to be a youtube channel about learning english you could be talking about something else something that you're passionate about the reason why i'm saying start a youtube channel is because then you are sitting down you're filming yourself you're you're trying to teach people something about something you're interested in you're trying to talk about something that you're interested in and you're still getting speaking practice even though you're talking to a camera i'm i'm talking to you right now even though technically i'm looking at a camera that's sitting on top of my computer but you get the idea you have that um that talk and while you're doing this if you're talking about something you're interested in you're once again you're using the vocabulary that you know that's related to that topic you may be even thinking about words that oh like how i want to be able to explain it this way but i don't know how to do that and then once the the video is done once you turn off the camera you can go find out well like how would i explain this or what words do i need to use to convey this message so even if you sit down and film yourself talking about something you don't have to post it if you don't want other people to see that it's just getting you know being disciplined enough to sit down try to talk about something and actually record yourself in in front of a camera and i i think it's similar to like if you're giving a presentation at work or somewhere else when you do that you're basically giving a talk and you practice it again and again and again in order for it to be you know for it to be successful so think about starting a youtube channel you don't have to do it as your job or try to become famous but it is one way that you could practice speaking english regularly once a week sharing something that you feel like you might be a bit of an expert in and you're doing that in english um then we have this one all right check out our speaking activities video lesson so we had interactive english this was mostly my wife and i we haven't done any lately and i want to do more before we did some interactive videos in which we were basically asking you to speak and and talk to us and i put them together in um a playlist that i can share with you and i want to see where is it and i will put that in the chat so these are all videos that are well you're watching a video but in the video i'm i'm going we're going to ask you to participate to actually speak out loud it's another way to get a little bit of practice let me throw that in the chat um speaking activity videos boom right there um check out that playlist i'll i'll put it down in the description as well but that is another way that you can get a little bit of speaking practice and in the future um we hope to we we plan to do some more because i think it's always good even if you're watching a video you can still get prompts from like in this case from me asking you to do something to talk about something even if it's just for a short period of time so just to review my my seven creative ways to kind of find ways to practice speaking get more practice here they are all seven of them together and yes uh i want to make one last comment about speak up if you would like to practice speaking with me this is the last call to join my speaking course again i will link it in the chat there's a link down below see some people who are in it enrolled like dr c uh um saw takayo in here some others um and again that is a great way for you to connect directly uh with me let me throw it in here one more time join speak up this is the last call because classes start next week all right and also if you have any questions um feel free questions just email me send me an email at info interactive englishvideos.com all right so some people if you have questions just shoot me an email i'll try to get back to you as soon as possible um and then i think after this i'm going to try to get i've been on a little bit of a crazy schedule when it comes to these live lessons i've done some traveling with family recently my parents were here visiting so it took a little bit of time off from the live lessons but i kind of want to get back into the groove of things and get back on the the regular uh the regular saturday schedule so i appreciate all of you guys joining me um uh look forward to speaking with you soon dr c um thank you for being here lolly vicky gustav good to see you gustav oh sorry to hear that the city is locked down um oh that's not good hoping i was hoping this whole pandemic was going to kind of ease and kind of ease its way out but we'll have to see what happens um thank you manuel striker nora murmah norris i don't want to improve my speaking well you can consider consider some of the suggestions that i have in this video hope it helps again you kind of need to think outside the box or you can talk to me join speak up um myrna uh let's see shadan lolly takayo good to see you marcelo um the previous video awesome excellent louisa angela uh simple guy hope you guys enjoy the the rest of your weekend and for some of you i look forward to speaking to you --- ## 99. 7 Grammar Mistakes You Should Definitely Correct | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `GGDdzDcYkKo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGDdzDcYkKo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:14:34 | --- let's talk about seven glaring grammar mistakes that i hear english learners make in spoken english and i i say that these mistakes are glaring because they're they're simple mistakes they're pretty common and they're they're easily noticeable when i hear these mistakes it's easy to notice and the first thing i would say is that i would always encourage you to just keep speaking practice speaking don't worry about making mistakes but i think it is important to try and identify your mistakes understand them so that you can correct them in the future and that's really what this lesson is all about i want to quickly introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so if that is what you would like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons the first mistake that i may hear an english learner make is they they may say something like i'm boring and in this case we're really talking about the difference between ed adjectives and ing adjectives and i think that most of the time learners make the mistake of using an ing adjective when they should use the ed and they would say something like i'm boring or i'm confusing or i'm exciting when they're trying to talk about the way they feel and for this one in order to correct it just just follow the rule there is a grammar rule that you can follow and that is you should use ed adjectives when describing a feeling or an emotion and you should use ing adjectives when describing a thing a situation or a person's characteristic so it's very different to say well he's boring versus he's bored if he's bored then you're just saying well he's not interested in what's happening if you say he's boring well then you're talking about his personality so so just keep that in mind and try to follow the rule the next mistake that i may hear learners make is they they would say something like i am agree and in this case they're adding the verb to be when when it's not needed it's unnecessary and i think this could be the result of directly translating from from your native language to english so in spanish i think it's common that somebody would say estoy de aguero but if we're going to directly translate that into english it's really like you're saying i'm in agreement but i think most of the time people would just say i agree or i agree with you you can say i'm in agreement it's it's a little more formal but just just know that if you are translating from your language into english the grammar may not always be the same but when you are able to identify some of the mistakes that you may be making in conversation i think the best way to stop making these mistakes is to get more practice and a wonderful way to get more practice and learn from an english teacher is to use italki which is the sponsor of today's lesson so italki is where you can find teachers from all over the world and take lessons in over 150 languages and one great thing about italki is that the lessons are one-on-one which means that you get to focus on your learning goals you can learn at your own pace you can take classes anytime from anywhere and you'll get feedback from qualified professional teachers there is no subscription there is no commitment you just pay per lesson when you click on the link and sign up just choose an english teacher select a time and date that's convenient for you and then you are practicing and improving your english skills it's that simple so if you would like to develop your english skills check out italki you can click on that link and take advantage of this special offer let's get back to our lesson and talk more about some of those glaring grammar mistakes and well the next one is i may hear somebody say something like today was more hot than yesterday and in this case learners are just incorrectly using comparatives and superlatives and to be perfectly honest i also hear native speakers make these mistakes quite often i've made these mistakes sometimes i'm having a conversation and i will catch myself making a mistake and i realized that and would think wow i i just screwed that up so with with this one again there is a rule that you can follow so it's good to know the rule so in general with shorter one-syllable words you're going to use er to make the comparative hotter than spicier than and use e-s-t to make the superlative the happiest the strangest with bigger words use more to make the comparative uh more beautiful than more famous than and use most to make the superlative the the most successful the most exciting so what are some of the mistakes i i think most of the time they happen with with those shorter one-syllable words and somebody could just say like more hot today was more hot than yesterday they're using more with that short word instead of just saying hotter or maybe they they use more and the er and say something like more spicier my food was more spicier than yours instead of just saying spicier now even though i think i hear most mistakes being made with the comparative form it also happens with superlatives as well somebody may say most happy this is the most happy i've seen her in a long time instead of just saying happiest or again somebody may use most with the est like most strangest this is the most strangest day ever instead of just saying strangest so just follow the rules that's what i would encourage you to do and it's going to help you correct any of these mistakes the next mistake that i hear somebody could say something like i'm interested about learning english and they're just using the wrong preposition and i know prepositions there's many of them in on at overthrow and i it's a very common mistake but the one thing i would say about this is that even if you make a mistake and you use the wrong preposition it's not going to hurt somebody else's ability to understand what you're trying to say so even though um somebody may make a mistake and say i'm interested about learning english i still understand what they're trying to say they should be using the preposition in interested is an adjective that's often followed by the preposition in you're interested in something now what's the best way to to correct this and to improve and and not use the wrong preposition well i think that you first need to just get more exposure to the language get more speaking practice and i think it is especially important that you read because when you read your you you see the language you see the prepositions being used correctly and it's like you're learning them passively so that when it actually comes time to use these prepositions in conversation you're more likely to use them correctly so just spend a little more time reading the next mistake that i hear learners make is just saying things like he don't or she don't which is a simple subject-verb agreement mistake it's very common and i i understand that when when you're having a conversation you're you may be trying to speak quickly and express your thoughts and ideas and and not really focus too much on the grammar and that is what i would encourage you to do and i that's why i think it's it's easy to make a simple mistake like this and say he don't or she don't instead of he doesn't or she doesn't and i think when it comes to correcting this again i think you get more exposure to the language you get more practice listening and reading i think when it comes time to actually use the language and use the subject and the verb correctly you'll be able to do this naturally then i may hear learners say something like i enjoy to go and this is a mistake because you're following the verb enjoy with the infinitive it is a mistake when it comes to gerunds and infinitives and i know this can be a little confusing because some verbs are followed by uh the gerund i could ask you a question and say do you feel like watching another video lesson and you would follow feel like with the gerund feel like watching and there are other verbs that are you're going to follow with an infinitive i want to ask you a favor i want to ask and that favor would be to go ahead and hit the like button i'd really appreciate it and then there are other verbs that you can follow with either a gerund or an infinitive i told you i know it can be confusing so i could say you like learning english like learning and i like to teach you english like to teach so you can follow the verb like with either the gerund or infinitive and i think there are quite a few common verbs in which you could use either one the challenge is when you have some of those common verbs in which you either need to use only a gerund or an infinitive so i i understand why somebody may make the mistake and they say well i enjoy to go instead of i enjoy going and i think it makes it a little trickier because well like and enjoy those are verbs with a similar meaning so with like you can use either one but within joy you're going to follow it with the gerund if you search online there are lists that will tell you like well which verbs are followed by gerunds infinitives or even both i've even done a lesson on gerunds and infinitives i'll i'll put it up here somewhere so that that's what i would encourage you to do go online get some more practice it's going to help another mistake that i hear learners make would be something like this uh i went to dinner with my mother i ate the chicken and he ate a salad so i'm talking about misgendering pronouns if learners are talking about a man i may hear them say she or her and if talking about a woman i may hear them say he or him and i think this can happen because of people's native language different languages treat pronouns differently this happens most often when when people are just trying to speak quickly and naturally and you're not focusing on the individual words but you're focusing on the ideas that you're trying to share and again that is what i would encourage you to do focus on sharing your ideas and not worry too much about the individual words so the best way to correct this and and just work this out of your system is to get more speaking practice i hope that with this lesson i've given you something to think about because as i said at the very beginning it's okay to make these mistakes but if you're able to identify them and understand them that's going to help you avoid making these mistakes in the future if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 100. 7 Super-Useful Expressions with the Word BRIDGE | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `U8SO0Os7n5g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8SO0Os7n5g) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:19:52 | --- today i want to teach you some very useful expressions that all have the word bridge that's coming up hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel that is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and and achieve your fluency goals and today i have well it's more of a vocabulary lesson for you because i want to talk to you about some very common and useful expressions that all have the word bridge and there of course there's a bridge right behind me and i hope that because you know what a bridge is you know what a bridge does it's going to help you more easily understand the meaning of these different expressions so the first one that i have for you is build bridges and what it means if somebody says well we need to build bridges they're talking about creating a friendly relationship with another person or a group of people or you could even use it in the context of countries every all these all the different countries around the world they need to work on building bridges and creating a friendly relationship because a bridge well it makes it easier for to go from one side to the other and in this case i think it makes it we're talking about making a situation easier for for perhaps people to work together they need to build bridges they need to create a friendly relationship it's just going to make life much easier we're here in aspen to build bridges to the future bridges made of ideas in times of crisis wise build bridges the foolish build barriers we must find a way then we have another expression which is is kind of the opposite of build bridges and that is burn bridges or you could say burn one's bridges and what this is talking about is you are ruining a relationship and especially ruining it so that you may not be able to repair this relationship in the future and and you burn bridges i think it's often used if somebody is perhaps leaving a job they're they're leaving some situation that they're very unhappy with and then they tell everyone this and they may burn bridges so that well you may not be able to repair that relationship in the future to burn bridges well he can wait till hell freezes over a wise man does not burn his bridges until he first knows he can park the walls old ashanti say we can remind him that if he persists he won't only be burning bridges in washington he risks burning down american democracy in the process then we have the expression to cross that bridge when we get there or people may use this expression uh a little differently you could say we'll cross that bridge later or we'll cross that bridge when the time comes all of them have the same meaning and that is that you are going to deal with a problem or an issue when it happens and you're not going to really worry about it in the present you're going to worry about it in the future when it happens or when it becomes a problem and you're going to cross that bridge when you get there so what do you say when we get to arrows or wherever it is you're going we shake hands and forget all this ever happened we'll cross that bridge when we get to it mike is not your brother no he is related to him okay can we cross that bridge when we get there if we get there we're there now then we have the expression a bridge too far and if you say that something is a bridge too far you're talking about a goal that is too ambitious it's yeah it's a little it's a little too difficult so for example you could say that learning english in one week just one week that's a that's a bridge too far it's a bit too ambitious look you know uh chilling out money to the accent or a little boy i kind of get it but this this is a bridge too far now he's opening up a restaurant the same night my line launches oh that is a bridge too far you found out that your best friend was going to be your son-in-law and it was a bridge too far you snapped then we have to bridge over something and what this means is you're talking about something that serves as the same function as a bridge it's kind of connecting two points for example i could say that the rocks bridge over the river in this case it's like the rocks are acting like a bridge to bridge over something then we have the expression water under the bridge this is one of my favorite expressions it means that a previous issue or problem has been resolved so if there was a problem and you solved the problem and you can move on you could tell somebody don't worry about it it's water under the bridge anyway thanks for having me back and sorry about the misunderstanding water under the bridge yeah i should have i should have come to you right away water under the bridge honey frank the tank is not coming back okay that part of me is over it's water into the bridge next is the expression to bridge the gap and this means to use something as a temporary fix so you're not completely solving the problem but it's it's just temporary and you are trying to bridge the gap her english is limited i've had to learn cantonese to bridge the gap i'm just trying to bridge the gap between what just happened and the fact that i'm going to be doing the rest of the presentation his holiness thought that the discovery could actually scientifically prove the existence of a divine power and begin to bridge the gap between science and religion so there you have it those are some common and useful expressions using the word bridge i hope that you learned some new expressions and if you did please hit that like button down below i don't think that's a bridge too far as always thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 101. 7 Super Useful Idioms to Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NbxxchddqwE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbxxchddqwE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:25:54 | --- so right now we're gonna walk right out that door and i'm gonna find some super useful and common idioms to help you improve your fluency let's go [Music] everyone my name is wes this is interactive english which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your english and today i am out and about i'm outside and i'm gonna try to find some different idioms to help you improve your overall fluency so let's just go let's go let's get out of here second i should probably take you with me and the camera here we go so here we have some bushes and the next uh idiom that i want to teach you is to beat around the bush and what it means if somebody is beating around in the bush it just means that let me have a seat real quick it means that somebody is not speaking directly or they're speaking indirectly so instead of saying what's on their mind instead of just saying it straightforward they beat around the bush and they kind of maybe give you clues and sometimes the reason you do this and you don't say things directly is because you're trying not to upset someone and i think this is very common in certain environments like work or home if you're talking to a colleague and you don't want to upset them and you have some news that you need to tell them you might beat around the bush or at home something happens and it's bad news and you don't want to tell your mother father husband wife you might uh beat around the bush instead of just coming right out and saying it directly so i think this is something that well i think a lot of us do it uh some of us i think are very direct and we don't beat around the bush but i think a common way this idiom is used is somebody is speaking indirectly and the other person would say stop beating around the bush just tell me tell me what you have to say stop beating around the bush please i will never beat around the bush like that come in have a seat like i'm not gonna beat around the bush here well you don't have to beat around the bush i know exactly what you're getting at another great idiom is to bark up the wrong tree and what this means is that you're trying to tell someone that they're making a mistake that whatever they're saying or doing is wrong and it's almost like you know what the the right answer is or what this person should be doing and they're making a mistake and you could tell them look you're barking up the wrong tree this is a mistake you shouldn't be barking up this tree you should be barking up that tree over there i've got my bdi on you you're parking up the wrong tree and there's heaven but who's that confucius boy have i been barking up the wrong tree so you can see right behind me here is the river and a river well a river will flow so the next idiom that i have for you is to go with the flow and what this means if you say well i'm gonna go with the flow it means that you are going to accept a situation and kind of relax you're not going to try to to change things you're just you're just going to go with the flow so i think this is a a great idiom that can be used if somebody might be asking well what are you going to do you're going to enter a situation and what what's your reaction going to be and say well i'm just going to go with the flow i'm not going to try to control things i'm going to relax i'm going to see what everybody else is doing and i'm just going to accept what is going on i'm going to go with the flow when i'm traveling especially with a group of people and everybody maybe they want to do different things i like to just go with the flow but you know what we're not going gonna rush this time we're just gonna go with the float so you're on board now yeah i just go with the flow a good fighter needs to know how to improvise to go with the flow oh i don't care you know me i just go with the flow all right so let me show you this right here is a bud all right and that's going to help you understand the next idiom which is to nip something in the bud so if you think of like um well like a flower like we're looking at right now before a flower blossoms it it's in these the bud and then the bud will blossom so to nip something in the bud is to stop something at an early stage and you're stopping it before it becomes established and most of the time you're going to use it and say okay you know the situation you know what you need to stop and you might say we need to nip this in the bud we need to stop it we need to stop something at this early stage before it develops before it grows before it becomes a thing something that's established and then you cannot stop it anymore and you want to nip it in the bud i never should have let her do this maxim thinking in the first place going to nip this thing in the bud is going to make a public apology tomorrow on hardball yeah i i got to nip this in the bud this has catastrophe written all over it and you can expect the same thing from everyone in this office if you don't nip this whole employee of the month situation in the bud so the next one that i have for you it's actually an expression and that is to knock on wood and if somebody says this it means that they are just hoping for good luck to happen and you could say it to somebody else and just say you know knock on wood and actually i don't know this is real wood but you you will hear this quite often if you want to we'll wish someone luck or hope that they have good luck for a performance or a test or basically anything and you just say you know knock on wood or maybe you want to you're you want to give hope to yourself for something you're getting ready to do so i i wish for the best i hope i do well knock on wood actually this would be my first foray into the trial process i haven't had to go to court yet knock on wood let him see he's not the only one who built solid houses you know i think he'll be pretty impressed knock on wood so all along right here these are well these are rocks actually they're kind of like uh they're more like pebbles but it really has to do with the the next uh idiom that i want to teach you and that is if you say that someone is living under a rock and if somebody says this if you hear it it means that if somebody has been living under a rock it means that this person is ignorant to something that is well known that there is some event something is happening that you think everybody should know about and if somebody says well i don't know about this thing then you could ask like whoa what's wrong with you have you been living under a rock so if you hear this expression it means that yeah they're referring to somebody who is ignorant to some news some information that is very well known that you think everybody should know about to be living under a rock they all work together god have you been living under a rock no david guetta have i been living under a rock yeah that song is my jam i am the beastmaster from the movie beastmaster what rock have you been living under this what have you been living under a rock this is the new meme cat bretta taylor swift reporting so we're outside having a little bit of a picnic right now and you can see that this right here is grass uh there's there's quite a bit of it and i have it's it's actually not an idiom it's a phrase that i want to teach you and that is grassroots because i think this is a very useful uh phrase to know and especially it's something you may hear if you're listening to the news and what it means is it's talking about the the basic level of some activity or organization or even some cause and i think that's how people use it quite often if you're talking about some grassroots campaign and it's happening at the most basic level people getting informed people becoming motivated to create some change and you could say that their their campaign it's it's grassroots it's happening at that basic level so i wanted to teach you that phrase because well we're outside and there's plenty of grass the tea party presents itself is a grassroots movement uh which means it should be fiercely resistant to central control i understand that grassroots activism actually runs in your family so i opted for a more grass roots approach to get the word out so i'm not going to beat around the bush those are all the idioms i have for you this lesson and i hope you learned some new ones if you did please hit that like button we are now going to play in these fountains right here thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next at time --- ## 102. 7 Things Americans Don't Really Say & What You Should Say Instead | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PWzCtm5ESJc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWzCtm5ESJc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:06:37 | --- Today I want to talk to you about seven things that native English speakers don't really say and what you should say instead That's coming up (Intro) What's up everyone, my name is Wes This is interactive English, which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills today I'm gonna tell you seven things that native English speakers We don't really say but these are things that you may have also learned or or have heard when you're studying English in the classroom I want to tell you what these things are and what you should say instead. What's more common? What do people actually say in everyday conversation? The first one is it's just a greeting and that is how do you do? How do you do? How do you do? This is something that it's it's a very old greeting. It's very formal Nobody really uses it anymore. And if you do say this to another person, it's just gonna sound a little awkward It's gonna sound a bit peculiar and they're gonna wonder like wow, I I have not heard that greeting in an awful long time So please stay away from how do you do and use one of these greetings instead. How's it going? How are you? If you want to be a little more informal just say you know, what's up. How's it going? Howdy What's up? So you may be wondering how you can get away from these phrases that people don't really use and learn the vocabulary And expressions that native English speakers actually do say all the time that are very common in everyday English well The way you can do that the best way to do that is just to get more and more It's almost like it's become a part of English learning culture. And the response is I'm fine. Thank you and you? Just just don't say this, all right, this is not a a proper response when somebody asks you you know How are you? First off it just sounds robotic second in English It's not common to thank somebody after they ask them. You know, how's it going go? I say Oh, how's it going and say oh, I'm good. Thanks for asking. It's just it's not something that happens So this is not a common occurrence We don't say it and neither should you so if somebody asks you how's it going? And you respond with I'm fine that that is perfectly okay, but it's also very common to just tell someone you know I'm good, or I'm great. Those are also very popular responses. Are you I'm fine. I'm fine How are you? Good? And how are you? I'm great. I am great The next one is just a word and that is Shou And this is just old English because Chou is just used with the the subject pronouns I and we Just just means will we're talking about the future And the reason why I'm bringing this up is because you will still find this in certain English books today Even though you are not really going to hear this in spoken English you could also use it as a suggestion with I or we like shall we leave a comment and And instead of saying you shall I'd say you should because shall replaces should in that case so again If you're talking about the future just use will or be going to don't worry about shall and if you're talking about Suggestion you should next is just another single word And that is whom now whom has just been it's just been overtaken by who even though to be grammatically Correct whom is is still used. You will find it especially in written English but again we're talking about things that people say so the difference between Who and whom who is used in the subject position and whom is used in the object position? It's important Is that is that we're having a baby is that it doesn't matter who came on through That's right The word whom is used most often with questions because when we're talking about the direct object and it's an unknown person Chances are you're asking a question? For example, you could ask Whom should we ask for help? But again in spoken English? It's more common People are just gonna say who should we ask for help or maybe? Whom would you like to speak to and then if you really want to be grammatically, correct? You shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition. You'd have to put it before whom and say to whom would you like to speak but this just sounds Very old very very formal people don't use it anymore You're not gonna hear somebody say this they will just say Who would you like to speak to? The next thing that people don't often say but you might think they do take a look at these These phrases right here and I will explain this I am going to I do not like, okay You're probably looking at this thing and whoa, wait people use this all the time but again These are things that people don't often say that's the key word right now Speaking and if we're talking about spoke in English instead of saying I am going to the park Somebody is going to say I'm going to the park they're going to use the contraction I'm instead of I am instead of saying I do not like green vegetables I'd say I don't like green vegetables. Yes. That's true. I don't really like green vegetables. I know I should like them They're very healthy for you. But yes, I don't like green vegetables But my point is is this most of you you may be familiar with contractions and you've learned them before and that's great Just keep that in mind when you're speaking and you're having a conversation It is so much more common to use actions instead of the full form. It's also very useful for your listening comprehension Because you are going to hear Contractions as well and you should be able to identify these words quickly and not have to think much about them So contractions very very common This is what people say another phrase that people don't really say or at least it's a question and they don't ask this question as often as you might think and That is just how's the weather? So the reason why I chose this is because when you're learning English vocabulary, especially as a beginner Vocabulary about the weather is some of the first things that people learn you want to be able to talk about the weather but at the same time People don't often just have random conversations about the weather if there is extreme weather for example If it's snowing or it's really hot Then yeah, or it's raining a lot then people might talk more about the weather But this question when it comes to learning English is more about practicing English than it is about Practical English because I don't know when the last time I just ask somebody. How's the weather? It's not something that you're gonna go out and you're gonna talk to people and meet people And you're just gonna start talking about the weather automatically. I said them. How's the weather in Hawaii? They said great It's in the 80s low humidity Doesn't speak English fluently. Thank you So keep that in mind the next time you meet somebody and you're having a conversation and you're thinking okay I don't know what to say next. So I'm gonna jump in there I'm gonna talk about the weather what you should do instead is talk about those things that are interesting to you What are you interested and what books are you interested in reading? What activities are you interested in doing? If you talk about those things then perhaps you can find something in common With that other person and that's a more natural way to have a conversation than just talking about these artificial topics such as the weather then we have an idiom and that idiom is Raining cats and dogs now, don't get me wrong. I think it's great to learn idioms Especially for your comprehension because people use idioms all the time the reason why I'm putting this up there raining cats and dogs is because when you're learning English idioms, I think this is often one of the first idioms that people learn people learn idioms Like piece of cake something's easy or they might say Oh raining cats and dogs Because we love talking about the weather even though you would learn this idiom We don't really say it that much. I just say, you know, it's raining hard I don't really say well it's raining cats and dogs. You may hear it from time to time You may hear it. If you're watching a TV show or movie said it was going to rain cats and dogs Wow, it is raining cats and dogs out there, but it's not one that people use often in spoken English So instead of saying it's raining cats and dogs Just sound a little more fluent like a native speaker and saying wow It's raining really hard now you know seven things that we do not say and what you should say instead and if you found this lesson useful I want you to write to me in the comments and let me know and Just ask me the question just say how's the weather? All right I want you to say how's the weather if you enjoyed this lesson and found it useful and I will respond to you and I Will tell you what the weather is like and we will have that artificial Conversation that you may not have with other people in spoken English. Thank you guys so much for watching Don't forget to hit that like button down below. And as always I will see you next time --- ## 103. 8 Common Writing Mistakes (AND HOW TO FIX THEM) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-0HPxRZxoQE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0HPxRZxoQE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:12:49 | --- Hello and welcome to today's writing lesson. We're going to switch things up a little bit and I want to talk to you about some common writing mistakes and see if you can identify them. But most importantly, I also want to talk about how you can fix these mistakes and really just try to avoid them all together. So the this is interactive English. So the one thing I definitely want you to do is participate in this lesson. So whether you're with me now live or you're watching this later, I want you to write your answers in the comments in the chat a as we go through this and see if you can identify some of the the different mistakes that we're talking about. So let let me just tell you what I want to do first off. So this uh well these are the directions. So I am going to give you a sample writing and I want you to read the sentences. Read what I have for you and see if you can identify all three mistakes. So in each writing sample there are three mistakes. But not only that, I also want you to identify the common writing mistake. Like what is the overall problem? What is the overall issue? And that's really going to help you try to go through your own writing and tell you what to look for, some of the things to keep in mind to help you improve your writing and help you correct some of those mistakes. So, let's just jump in. I think as we go through this, you'll you'll get what I'm talking about. So, the first one is this right here, this little writing sample. So, I'll I'll read this as is. I'll give you a moment to think about what are some of the mistakes. write them in the chat and then we'll talk about the overall problem. So here is the first writing sample. Neither John nor Mary are at school today. John is a good friend who always asks for help. I am happy to give my friend a hand from time to time. However, Mary usually tells me that he don't need my help and should do his own work. So, in this in these sentences right here, there are three mistakes. And I want you to think about, well, what are the mistakes? And all of all of these mistakes are similar. And they would fall under the same category, if you will. And that's what I want you to think about. And that's this is the thing that I want one of the things that I want you to look for if you're going over and looking through your own writing whether it's an email or you're writing a letter uh whatever it may be and something to check for. So yes says okay I think the one thing that stands out which you can probably see is that he don't but there are some other mistakes as well. Yes, Vinda, Julia. Excellent. So, let me show you all three and we'll talk about the general well topic, the category. So, what I'm really referring to, the three mistakes and what they have in common is that they all deal with subjectverb agreement. So, the first sentence, there's a first mistake, neither John nor Mary is at school today. When you're talking about that phrase neither or nor, if we we have a singular subject, in which case John is singular, Mary is singular, we're going to use a singular verb. Neither John nor Mary is at school today. And if it were a plural subject, like neither children nor adults, then you could use that plural verb. The next sentence, John is a good friend of mine who always asks for help. We need that s at the end. So who is referring to John in this case again it's singular John asks who asked and then down there at the bottom however Mary usually tells me that he don't. This is a common mistake that I I see in writing but also in spoken English when people want to use that negative and they're talking about he or she and I'll hear people go to and and use don't instead of doesn't. So, just something to keep in mind. But the first common mistake that I often see when it comes to writing is just subjectverb agreement. Do the does the subject agree with the verb? And that's something you should look through as you go through your writing to make sure that they do agree. The next one, okay, excellent. I think you guys, a lot of you got that one. Perfect. The next little writing sample that I have for you is this. Please let me know when you're ready to talk. I think there is much that we need to discuss. It's been a difficult time for both of us. To be honest, I don't know if I can forgive you for your many mistakes. Okay? So, if you're just listening to to that and you're just listening to me say this, you might think, "Well, I don't I don't think there were any mistakes." But we're talking about writing and there are three mistakes in this little short passage right here. And they all have they all have one thing in common. So what what do you think? Can you find if you can find the first one or the second one or the third one? It doesn't matter. Then I think it'll help you figure out the others as well. So I see excellent some good answers to good to see you Stacy. Uh, Anoa. Yes. All right. So, the three mistakes all have to do with contractions versus possessives. So, we're talking about these are uh homonyms. These are words that they sound the same, but they have a different meaning. You're the contracted form or you're the possessive form or it's the contracted form or it's the possessive. So, in that first sentence, please let me know when you are ready to talk. You're ready to talk. We need that apostrophe. And this is again, this is I think as you look through this, if you're able to identify it, that that's perfect. But you wouldn't believe again if you're checking through your own writing, you might find some of these slight mistakes. I think there is um much that we need to discuss. It's it has been a difficult time for both of us. Again, we need that apostrophe. So, its with an apostrophe can there are two contracted forms. It could mean it is or it could mean it has. You could use its for either one. But in this case, you see that past participle been. So, that tells you right there there that we're talking about the present perfect tense. It's been a difficult time for both of us. And then that last sentence, uh, to be honest, I don't know if I can forgive you for your many mistakes. In this case, we're talking about your, the possessive form. Yo, you r. And one thing I do want to mention is that if you would like to get the lesson notes, if you're part of the email community already, I will send them to you. You can check your inbox. you'll probably see them there. But if not and you want to get these lesson notes, I'll just throw that link in there. There's also a link down in the description. So, let's look at our first pro tip. Okay, so if you are proofreading and you're trying to avoid some of the mistakes that I just talked about, subjectverb agreement, contraction, contractions versus possessives, one thing that you can do is read backwards. Now, when I say read backwards, you let's say you write your email. I don't want you to start at the beginning, which is where naturally people start when they're proofreading. I want you to go to the very last sentence, read that sentence, look for any grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, and then when you're done, move to the next the second to last sentence. And the reason for this is because when you're writing, you're you're following a logical progression. You're moving from one idea to the next. You want to make sure that things are in order. You want to make sure that your writing makes sense. But in this case, we're talking about trying to find grammar mistakes. If you read from the beginning, then you start thinking about your ideas and what you're saying instead of just focusing on the grammar. So when you read backwards, what's what this helps you do is isolate the sentence so that you can only focus on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and you're not really thinking about the substance of what you're writing. You're not thinking about your ideas or your support or your points or your arguments. You're just focusing on the sentence and looking for some of those grammar mistakes. And that's a good way to find those subject verb agreement uh mistakes as well as like I just pointed out those contractions and the possessives. So, the next little writing sample. All right. Right here. What do you think? I never really check weather forecast. Luckily, a friend told me it was going to rain tomorrow. I made sure to bring a umbrella when our group of friends traveled to the Yoseite National Park. There are three mistakes. They're all the same, but once again, the they have this in common. And I I think this is good if you guys are able to to point these out. And one thing that I think is also a challenge when you're looking at someone else's writing, it can be a little easier when you're going back through your own writing. It it it's actually a little more challenging. So the three mistakes in this sample right here, they all have to do with articles, as some of you just pointed out. Anowit Sema. So here are the the mistakes. It's just we're talking about article misuse. And when I say articles, I'm talking about a and the or just no article and not using an article. So I never really check uh the weather forecast. In this case, you're talking about something that you know you usually do. I never really check the weather forecast. You could use the article a in this case, but mostly when talking about the weather, you're referring to the specific weather where you are. So, I think it's preferable to use the I never really check the weather forecast. Luckily, a friend told me it was going to rain tomorrow. I made sure to bring an umbrella. An umbrella. All right, we're going to use that article an instead of a an umbrella. when our group of friends travel um travel to not the Yosemane National Park. Uh it should be no article uh Yusede National Park and I did realize somebody had pointed out again Stacy good call travel uh it should not be in the past. So that was another that was another bonus writing mistake that I made. So it should be I I made sure to bring an umbrella. Um, uh, oh, actually, no, cuz we're talking about the the past tense. Sorry. No, it should be. I made sure to bring an umbrella when our group of friends traveled to Yusede National Park. So, luckily, I again, actually, now that I think about it, this this is well, I don't want to give it away, but I' I've made some other mistakes with the verbs in this, which I will point out in just a second. But really, I wanted to focus on the articles in this case. And that last one, when talking about no article, we're talking about a national park, we don't use an article before that. Now, there are rules that you can follow when it comes to using a and and the, especially 'the', and I wouldn't say that you necessarily need to memorize these rules. And I'll get to the tip in just a moment to help you figure this out. But the next one, so this is talking about article misuse. Here's the next sample. And I apologize for those verb mistakes that I made in the last one. I maybe that was a little confusing, but we'll we'll get to that in just a moment. So the next one, see if you can find the three mistakes. He spent much of his time studying finance because he was interested with economics. Perhaps it came naturally because he was great in math. So what mistake what are the mistakes in this writing sample and you know what is the category what category of mistakes am I referring to and again if you find one I think it will be easier to find the other three as well. All right. So, let me know. Write your answers in the chat, in the comments. I see some of you already pointed out one of those uh mistakes in that first sentence. Excellent. So, Samasul New, sorry if I mispronounced names. I just want to give a couple shoutouts. Uh Anna, uh Lai, excellent. Good to see you. So what I'm referring to the mistakes the overall category is just the wrong preposition. So that first sentence, he spent much of his time studying finance because he was interested in economics. If you're using that adjective interested, you're going to say you're interested in something. Perhaps it came naturally because he was great at math. Great at something. You're good at something. And then finally he understood that people's spending habits depended not depended to it depended on their income. So something depends on something else. One thing that I'll say with these prepositions which can be tricky is that sometimes more than one preposition may be used. At times it may alter the meaning a little bit and other times they they may just be used interchangeably. The reason why I'm pointing this now out now is because I want you to look at that phrase great at math. And again, I think in just general conversation, colloquial speech, you may hear someone use the preposition in when talking about a subject. Oh, he's great in math. But if you want a point of reference and I wanted to share this site with you and I've talked about it before, Engram Viewer, this is a good way to try to understand the language and understand which words or phrases are more commonly used. And really, I just want you to look at the visual graph. You could I could put in those phrases good at math, good in math. And looking at the graph right there, you can see that it's a lot more frequent that that good at math is more frequently used. And really engram viewer is a source that pulls different writing from the internet whether it's news articles, academic articles, blogs, websites, and it just is a good reference for trying to understand well which which one is more commonly used. So in this case you can see good at math is the way to go. So the pro tip that I have for you is to read daily. And this is just a habit that you should really get into. So reading and writing are just so closely linked together. But the value of reading every day, if you can make that a habit, is that you're just going to passively learn this information and you're going to absorb the grammar, the syntax, the style, the punctuation. And in case you're unfamiliar with syntax, that's really just referring to the order that words are used. So like if you have an adverb, is it going to go at the beginning or are people likely going to use it at the end? or where does that preposition phrase go? That is syntax. And you're not specifically focusing on uh again the grammar when you're reading. You're just absorbing this information. So you're reading about well what articles are used with which nouns. Are you using a and or the? Which prepositions are going to typically follow certain nouns, adjectives, verbs? and you just absorb this information passively. So definitely if you're not doing it now, I I would highly recommend just getting in the habit of reading a little bit each and every day. The other benefit right down here is that it it will expose you to a variety of writing styles and that is valuable because it's going to help you find your own voice when you're writing because we're not always writing the same thing. You might be writing a formal letter. you might be writing a casual email. So, it's good to get that exposure. The next one that I have for you, all right, so let's look at some more mistakes. Okay, so every day I get up and go for a run. I usually took the same route. Yesterday, however, I decide to go jogging in the hills nearby. I had never been there before. I really enjoy seeing the beautiful forest. Perhaps I will do it again tomorrow. So, this actually goes back to what I was talking about before when I feel like in that one sample number three, I had made a mistake. And again, the other thing is making mistakes. It's it's natural. It's going to happen. And I I think it is especially difficult when you are proofreading your own writing. When other people are doing it, I think it can be a little easier and you're able to spot some of those things mistakes because they're not your words. So the Yes. Excellent. Uh Ana, Kira, perfect. Stacy, Sonia, very nice. And Vicki Gustavana, welcome. Good to see you. We're talking about changing tenses. And even in that sample before, I made a mistake in terms of talking about the future and then kind of switching to the past. And this is a mistake that people not only make in writing, even whether you're an English learner or a native speaker. It's a mistake that people make in spoken English as well when they're telling a story. So, every day we're talking about a routine, a habit. We're going to use the present simple. I go for a I get up and go for a run. We're continuing with the present simple in that next sentence talking about what you usually do. your habit. I usually take the same route. The next sentence, you know, you see that word, that time word right there, yesterday. That tells you that we're talking about the past. Yesterday, however, I decided with that ed ending to go jogging in the hills. I had never been there before. I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful forest. We're going to use the past tense because once again in the previous sentence, I had just said, "Well, I had never been there before." So, it's not something you regularly do that you enjoy uh and that you're familiar with. We're talking about again a finished action in the past. And then the next sentence, we switch to the future because we have that time word tomorrow. Perhaps I'll do it again uh tomorrow. So, just something to keep in mind changing uh those tenses. Uh but again, look for it and think about it and really think about those time words when talking about yesterday or a few days ago, tomorrow, at the moment. And those are indicators as to which verb tense you should be using. Then here is sample number six. After going to the dentist, I learned that I have three cavities. The dentist said, "You need to take better care of your teeth." He requested that I floss regularly and I should come in for a cleaning once every six months. Okay. So, even as I was reading that, hopefully just listening to it, you might think that it sounded a little off and there was a reason for that. What do you think? Uh well, what are the mistakes? And it is the same mistake that you will find. And again, it helps you identify this category. So, just looking at this, you might think, well, there's no maybe no mistakes with the the verb tenses or um I'll I'll give you a hint. It's a punctuation mistake. So, what is the problem with the punctuation in this writing sample? Again, it's the same mistake. If you if you said punctuation, cojo Sonia, perfect. Excellent. the mistake. Perfect. Albert, Dena, we're talking about comma misuse. So, comma misuse could be you're using a comma when you shouldn't. Perhaps you're using a full stop. But in all of these example, these mistakes right here, I should have used a comma, but I didn't. After I go to the dentist, I learn that I have three cavities. after I go to the dentist. That is my or after going to the dentist. That is my adverb phrase. When it comes before the independent clause, you need a comma to separate those. The next one, the dentist said, and this is in quotes, you need to take better care of your teeth. This is feel like this is what my dentist would say says to me when I go there. Uh, so again, the dentist said, said is that reporting verb before you said you give that direct quote, those quotations, you need a comma there. The dentist said, comma, you need to take better care of your teeth. He requested that I floss regularly, and I should come in for a cleaning once every six months. That is a compound sentence. you have two two independent clauses joined by that conjunction and often they're joined by and or but so in this case and but you need a comma before that conjunction after regularly. So I think you guys did a pretty good job with that one and identifying it. And the pro tip that I have for you in order to try to avoid making some of these punctuation mistakes, whether it's a comma and full stop, is to read out loud. So when you read out loud, even if you're you're reading something like a story or an article, when you read out loud, you're practicing the rhythm and flow of the language. Because if you're reading an article and you see a comma, well then you should take a slight pause. If there's a full stop, it should be a longer pause. And the same goes if you're reading your own writing out loud. You're expressing and voicing it. And it may, depending on how it sounds to you, it could indicate that you need some sort of punctuation such as a comma. And you may need that pause. The other thing it could help you do is if you just read through it and you don't take a breath, well then that may indicate that you have a run-on sentence. And a run-on sentence is when you need to break things up and you probably need a full stop. Maybe you need to use a comma or two. So reading out loud can help you try to capture that rhythm and flow and is a good indicator as to whether or not you may need to add some punctuation to your writing or even take it away. So reading out loud another good proofreading uh like best practices when you're going through your writing to make sure that everything is okay. Then sample seven writing mistakes. So what what do you think? And this I don't think well we'll see how easy or difficult it is for you. Her colleague was late to the meeting. She was attempting to purchase some time in hopes that he would arrive. Clearly, she was not prepared to make the presentation on her own. This would certainly have a negative effect on their upcoming work evaluations. Think about the context, the situation. Um, this woman is waiting, she's at this meeting waiting for her colleague. But there are three mistakes in there. And again, I want you to think about the overall category, not just the mistakes. So, identify the mistakes and then think about, well, what category would this fall under? Let me know. Let me know in the chat, in the comments. And maybe some of this, some of these may be a little more difficult than others, but I think if you find one, you can start searching for those others. So, I see some good answers. Sonia emit. Perfect. You gave some those are those are two uh of the examples when looking at this writing sample. So the three mistakes are right here. All right. We're talking about the wrong word. You're just using the wrong word. A lot of times this happens with collocations. Words that are frequently used together. And people you have collocations like a verb that's often used with this noun. and and people may just use the wrong verb. So the first mistake uh in that second sentence, she was attempting instead of purchasing sometime, we're talking about the phrase to buy sometime and buy and purchase. They're generally synonyms, but in this case you it's a fixed phrase to buy time, which means to delay or you're trying to avoid doing something. and you're trying to buy some time. So that's why I said think about the situation. She's in this meeting. She's trying to buy time because her colleague's not there. Clearly, she was not prepared to give the presentation on her own or do the presentation. Now, what makes this tricky is when talking about a presentation, I just mentioned collocations. You could use the verb make, give, or do depending on the context. So, let me be a little clearer. To make a presentation would really be creating the presentation, not delivering it, but creating it. And you're putting together the PowerPoint slides. If you're talking about give, in that case you're really referring to presenting and you're actually in front of your audience speaking and you are giving the presentation with the verb do. It can really refer to either one. Who's going to do the presentation? Like give the presentation. Or you could say who's going to do the presentation as in make it and create it. So all three of those verbs, you know, are are correct. But in this context, this specific context, she's at the meeting, like I think it's obvious that in this case, they have to give the presentation. They are presenting. So I would say that give is preferable in this context. But you uh as well prepared to give the presentation or do the presentation. And again, it's it makes sense why some of these simple mistakes are made when it comes to these collocations. It can be a little confusing. And then at the end there, this would certainly have a negative effect. Effect with an e is a noun. So that is what we need there. And there a negative effect with an e. A negative well effect with an a. This is a verb to affect something starts with an a. So effect and effect there commonly confused words different parts of speech. The next one let me know uh let me know what you think this uh I I always say oh maybe it's going to be a little more challenging but then you guys nail it. See if you can find all three mistakes. I think one of them will definitely be easy to spot. So, I'll I'll read it for you. Dear sir or madam, I'm writing to let you know that I submitted the pro proposal in the nick of time. The project should be a piece of cake. So, I believe it will be completed within a week. My team is going to work hard to make sure the project is finished in a timely manner. Okay. What three mistakes do you see with this writing sample right here? As I said, one I think is pretty obvious and hopefully maybe that'll help you identify the other two. If I want to give you a little bit of a hint, think about that very first line, dear sir or madam. What is that telling you? if somebody begins a letter or an email, dear sir or madam, and then that should help you find those other mistakes. So, Anat Julia, excellent. The one mistake I think is very clear. The others may be a little more difficult to to pick out. So, here are the mistakes that in the category that I was going for. Dear sir or madam should tell you that this is a formal message. It is either a formal letter or it is a formal email. And because of that you really should avoid using informal language. So I see. All right. Perfect. People got some Stacy Li. Nice. You nailed it. Dear sir or madam, this is a formal message, a formal email. I'm writing to let you know that I submitted the proposal in the nick of time is an idiom. And if you're writing in in a formal uh email or letter, I would recommend avoiding idioms altogether. They're more casual. So instead of you you submitted the proposal in the nick of time, I submitted the proposal before the deadline. There are other phrases that you could use to finish that sentence, but I would get rid of in the nick of time. The project should be a piece of cake. Once again, piece of cake is an idiom. I would avoid it if you're writing something that's a little more formal. Uh, an academic paper or like I said, something for work. So, instead of a piece of cake, maybe you could use simple and straightforward or just one of those. The project should be straightforward. So I believe it will be completed within a week. And then that last sentence, my team is gonna instead of use writing the reduction, you need to spell out the full form. Going to my team is going to work hard to make sure the project is finished in a timely manner. Now, even if I'm reading this and I see going to the full form, in my mind, I I saying gonna I'm changing that to the reduction. My team is going to work hard to make sure the project is finished on time, but I would certainly avoid writing reductions. Sometimes I I know I say that and sometimes you may see it if somebody's writing a text message or perhaps like song lyrics and you see people spell out these reductions. It's very informal. But the problem that I notice is that when people start writing these reductions, it then carries over into more formal writing which can look really unprofessional. If it's something for work or school, you definitely want to avoid using those reductions. So, just keep that in mind, this informal language. And the pro tip is just to know your audience. All right? Keep that in mind before you start writing. Who is it that is going to be reading your writing? And knowing your audience, it has several different benefits. It's going to help you decide the information that should and should not be included. It's also going to help you arrange that information and your order, the order of your ideas. And then that last part right down there, which is more connected to what we were just talking about, the wrong word or informal language. It's going to help you determine the tone and structure of your writing. Should this be a little more formal and using those formal words or is it just casual? It's friendly. You're writing uh a text message to your friend. And in that case, you could just write it as though you're having uh a spoken conversation. It can be very informal. So, just know your audience and know the situation that that you're in and that you're writing. So, here is a little bit of review. some of the common writing mistakes that I tend to find when I'm reading other people's um papers or essays or letters. And I just want you to keep these things in mind. And as you're proofreading, these are the things that I want you to look out for and the mistakes that you're going to find because I know that people will go through and they'll just read it and see if they can find anything. I would recommend going through your writing, proofreading it, and only looking for subjectverb agreement. Go read backwards. Go through, see if you can make sure all those subjects agree with those verbs. And go through each one. Proofread it a second time. Look for those prepositions. Make sure that you're using the right one. And again, because I don't expect you to memorize this, reading really helps and complements it. If you're unsure of which one to use, that's one of those times when you can just, hey, what feels right? Which word feels right? Um, and same goes for the rest of that informal language, changing tenses. Just keep all of this in mind. And as I've already mentioned, if you'd like to get the lesson notes, check out the link down in the description. If you're already a part of our email community, I'm going to go ahead and send it to you. Thank you guys for participating in today's lesson. I I I feel like my hope is that as you went through this, it was pretty easy to identify. Like I said, if you can pick out one mistake, it then becomes easier to try and track down the others. But please, please, please, please always try to proofread your writing. I again, you're going to proofread, you're still going to make mistakes. I go through these slides probably about three or four times and even before as you saw as I was looking through that one writing sample, there was still a mistake. There was a mistake with those changing verb tenses. So, it's really difficult, especially if you're reading your own writing to track down all of the mistakes. But one problem that I notice is that people will write something and they they tend not to proofread at all. And I would definitely recommend it whether you're writing an email or even just uh an informal letter. It's just a good habit to get into and keep in mind those pro tips. So, thank you. Uh it's good seeing you, Tayo, uh Lai, Julia, Simron, Kevser, Diego. Uh glad that you were able to join me today. Again, if you'd like to get the lesson notes, check out that link down below in the description. I hope that you all have a wonderful day and I will see you next time. So, --- ## 104. 8 Types of NOUNS | Improve Your Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eRxyqEZlsBo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRxyqEZlsBo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:28:13 | --- hello everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English and if this happens to be your first time watching one of our video lessons the channel it's all about trying to help you practice and improve your English skills whether it is vocabulary pronunciation grammar and today is more it's a grammar lesson because what we're going to talk about in today's lesson is nouns I'm gonna talk to you about noun types because when you think of nouns we can group them into different categories and that's going to help you well not just understand these words a little bit better but it's also going to help you understand a little bit of the grammar as well so really the importance of today's lesson is really to help you with your writing it's going to help you with your spelling because that is definitely that's part of writing it's going to help you with your grammar because some of these nouns we we use them with specific words or phrases and it's also going to help you with your vocabulary so we're gonna cover a wide variety in today's lesson that III think is relevant and it I really hope that it helps you so I just want to give a quick little hello today hello Aidan Olivia or a celinda Kareem Angela gertrudis dreary sleepwalker sorry if i mispronounce names as we go through this again i encourage you to participate i'm going to ask you some questions try to throw some answers down in the chat and share with us i don't think i don't think this will be too difficult in terms of the grammar because when you start learning english nouns well that's that's some of the first things that you learn so let's just start out basically what is a noun you should know that the the meaning of a noun is just it's talking about a person a place or a thing a person place or thing when we say that we're going to talk about nouns that is what it describes these are also content words and when I say content words I'm talking about words that have meaning and what they really do is they help you they help you create a picture up here in your mind so for example if I just tell you a sentence I'm gonna give you the sentence I want you to put a picture up here in your mind and I could say something like the turtle is on the grass okay the turtle is on the grass now in that sentence I use two different nouns people place or thing I had talked about turtle and I talked about grass and those nouns those are the words that really help give meaning and that's what you're able to picture now there are many different parts of speech that can be content words so nouns can be content words adjectives can also be content words because you you have this picture in your mind the turtle is on the grass now let me add a Content word to that and adjectives and if I said the the purple turtle is on the grass did your picture change so probably now you're picturing something that looks just like this you're the before probably you were thinking of a green turtle but I added that extra information I added that adjective and that changed the picture the purple turtle is on the grass so that that's what I mean when I say nouns are content words because they're really going to help your your comprehension and you'll be able to put your picture in your mind you'll be able to listen to and follow a conversation much easier than you would because basically nouns are they are used as the subjects and objects of sentences and if we take those away if we don't have any subjects or objects in our sentence then we are basically left with nothing so it is very important to understand nouns how we use them and that's what we're going to talk about is the different groups that we can put these nouns into to help us understand them a little easier and the first group of nouns that I want to discuss with you are common and proper nouns so if you take any noun a person place or thing and we're gonna separate them into either common or proper nouns if we're talking about common nouns we're talking about general people places or things if we're talking about proper nouns we're talking about specific people places or things so I'm gonna throw out some words I just want you to tell me is it a proper noun or is it a common noun so if I say the word book okay what do you think is that a common noun or a proper noun or maybe I say the word Street common or proper noun what do you think or I could throw out the word teacher common noun or proper noun so I hope that when I talked about all of those you should have said those are all common nouns they're very general all right the book Street teacher those are general nouns you can picture it in your mind but it's not very specific so yes excellent a great job Mary minty dosa Linda Carlo Gladys excellent those are now what if I change it let's make it more specific so these are proper nouns if I were to say instead of book if I were to say Harry Potter or maybe I say Main Street or even my name Wes so those would all be examples of common now common and proper nouns so here is just this little chart that I have for you now the main reason why you should know this and understand the difference this really is specifically to help with your writing because when you're talking about common nouns you are not going to capitalize these common nouns unless it's the first word of a sentence but these proper nouns they are specific names you are always going to capitalize the first letter in each word so this is a great example if you understand common nouns proper nouns and you are writing an email text message or even if you're writing a story something that you have to do for work or for school that if you're writing a proper noun make sure that it is capitalized so again I think this is something that we start out with the basics that we when you're learning nouns okay what are some common nouns proper nouns so you know how to use them especially when we're talking about writing in your writing so let's look at the next to the next two that I want to go over singular versus plural so again these are all different noun categories and the reason it's important to be able to distinguish both of all of these and it when you understand all of this again it's gonna help with your writing it's gonna help your grammar your vocabulary your comprehension basically everything so when we're talking about a singular noun versus plural singular is just talking about one person place or thing if we're talking about plural then we're talking about more than one person place or thing so singular versus plural the reason why I say this is important not just with well your your writing but as well as with your speaking because the one thing that you guys do you need to remember and be aware of because this is when many I think learners make simple mistakes if you're talking about a singular noun you need to use a singular verb if you're talking about a plural noun then you need to use a plural verb so for example if I say let's take the the well let me let me give you some example to show you a chart but just keep that in mind because sometimes when we're talking about nouns singular and plural and then you talk about the verb the subject and the verb need to agree and I told you nouns are often used as the subjects of the sentence so make sure that the subject is going to agree the verb that is the most important thing but again just to give you some basics we're talking about this here is a singular chart with some singular singular nouns and plural nouns this is a good example of spelling as to why you need to learn the singular and plural because there are different rules so for example you have chair and the plural would be chairs common most often you're just going to add the s to the noun in order to make it plural chair chairs now box boxes if it ends with an X then you're going to add es alright Fox Fox's knife if the word ends with an Fe or even an F then you're going to make it plural you're gonna add ves so again this is important for your spelling to understand the difference between these singular nouns and these plural nouns city if it ends with that Y then the rule is IES and quiz this is one of those rare ones in which you would need to double the final consonant and then add es so singular versus plural the best way that I think if you want to kind of not not just really have to memorize these but if as long as you're reading if you are reading a little bit each and every day like you're seeing this now that's just going to help you remember it later on when you need to write an email or a story and you're going to remember the correct spelling so the one thing that I did want to test you on a little bit and see what your skill is is when we're talking about irregular plural nouns so some nouns do not follow the normal rule of just adding an S or an es or an IE some nouns don't follow that rule so these are all irregular plural nouns so the first one is child if we're talking about one child alright what is the plural form of child write it in the chat write it in the comments again this is just a little bit of practice a little bit I of review for many of you which i think is always great so the the plural of child yes excellent Mikael Carlo Afrin children all right the next one is tooth alright if you go to the dentist and you know you're not just talking about one tooth what if you're talking about many or several or a few what what is the the plural of tooth what do you think so again I hope that you said it's always there's a little delay so I don't think I see this in real time because I'm sure many of you know what the answer is but the correct answer is teeth yes the hair minty and remember spelling te ETH one tooth many teeth all right that's why they say you need to brush your teeth for these I think somebody had mentioned you do kind of need to just memorize these irregular plural nouns there's not I don't think there's a ton of them but there are some and again the more you read and you actually see them being used that's gonna help you remember so the plural of sheep alright so this is getting a little trickier if we're talking about one just one sheep or maybe we're talking about many yes named AB dotty sheep sheep and sheep that is whether it's singular or plural it's both the same one sheep there are many sheep same with other irregular plural nouns like deer if you're talking about one deer or many deer it's the same scissors okay I'm trying to point out some different some different irregular plural nouns because sometimes they change like children teeth some of them stay the same as the singular noun like sheep sheep and sheep deer deer scissors alright this is actually a plural noun it does not really have singular form so the thing that you need to remember scissors it's always going to be used with a plural noun so excellent Olivia Harriet Sajjad Martha trying to throw some different different names every now and then scissors the plural again is scissors and what there are several words like whether you're thinking of these are typically words that already end with an S and you're talking about a pair it's basically two pairs that have come together to make one one object for example scissors pants glasses all right those are already those are nouns that are already in their plural form but you're going to say glasses are the glasses are because the subject needs to agree with the verb now the last one's a little trickier all right so I think commonly all right the plural form of fish if you're talking about there's one fish in the fish tank but you could also say there are there's many fish in the fish tank but there are there there are instances when you could say fishes now hopefully maybe this is something new for you today if you're talking about fish in the plural you're really talking about just any fish the number of fish that are in there if somebody says fishes they're talking about the species of fish so for example maybe you have a different fish in a fish tank but there are three species of fish maybe there's a clownfish there is a Blowfish and then maybe there's a shark I don't know and in that case if you're talking about the species the type of fish it is then you could say fishes as far as a plural form it's not that common I think overwhelmingly people are really just going to talk about one fish or many fish so one one thing I want to address because I think so you just asked about sheep all right so again because we're talking about singular and plural it really depends on the meaning if I say the sheep is white all right you need to put it in context I'm talking about the singular verb one sheep all right the Sheep is white if I say the sheep are black because I'm using are because I'm using that plural verb then you would recognize and you'd understand okay the subject is also plural I'm talking about more than one sheep so in in a case like that where you have the singular and plural noun are both the same you really need to listen for the verb the Sheep is is talking about one the sheep are that is talking about two or more so keep that in mind excellent question so let's look at the the next part so we've talked about some of these different verbs we've talked about common and proper nouns we've talked about singular and plural now let's move into a little more challenging part and that is count vs. non count nouns so again if we're talking about nouns people places things we can separate them into these two categories right here is it a count noun or is it a non count noun so if we're talking about a count noun then we're just talking about things that we can count one two three four five six seven eight nine ten and in that case the plural you'll be able you can add an S to it a non-count noun is just it refers to things items that you cannot count you cannot count these things you cannot add an S in that case there is no plural form you're not going to be able to add an S so let me look at this so right here here what okay this is water alright this is a good example of a non now we can't count the different pieces Oh in that case you're always going to use water with a singular verb the water is the water is so that is one difference between these count and non-count nouns let's again let let me give you some examples I just want to I'm gonna tell you some nouns and I just want you to tell me is it count or non count so we talked about water alright that is a non-count noun if you can think of any countable or non count nouns throw them down in the chat all right somebody Rosalinda said you can count apples you can add an S that's a great example apples it's countable the hair milk perfect milk is a non count noun that you cannot use it in a plural form let's see kareem mentioned two bottles of water so if you take this and you say bottles that is what's called a quantifier and you are able to then count it because bottles is countable so bottles of water cartons of milk so let me let me show you the what I wanted to show you most importantly with these is really the different words and phrases that you're going to use this with so for example oh I want to say le Lai says people or people so for example remember people is the plural form alright this is it's another irregular verb if we're just talking about one singular person one person many people so people again we're talking that is an irregular form let's look at where is it boom right here so really what I wanted to point out with some of these and perhaps in the future because this it's a lot of information to take in and I'm kind of really giving you a surface level approach to all of these different types of nouns maybe in the future we will just do a lesson on count and non-count nouns but what I wanted to show you was some of the words that you're going to use with count and non-count so for example too many we're going to use many with countable things too many apples too many too many chairs too many students if we're talking about non count items then you would use much so those are words that I think again it's great to know this is a great way to build your vocabulary improve your grammar knowing when to use many and when to use much too much water too much milk too much sugar somebody had mentioned sugar as yes that's another great example of a non-count noun perfect so the next one if we're talking about I tried to use ones that are opposite of each other if you say a large number of we're talking about count items a large number of a large number of tables all right there's a large number of can't think of anything right now a large number of something or a small number of if we're talking about a number of we're talking about countable things if we're talking about in a mount that is going to be used with non counts a small amount of water a small amount of sugar a large amount of sugar the next one this is this is an important one and I say this because I think often people make mistakes even me I make a lot of mistakes with this we use or not not this one the next one so a few is talking about count items a little would be talking about non count items so there are there are just a few [Music] there are just a few cars on the street all right or a little something all right there's just a little a little rain because again we're talking about water in that case a little rain what if this one is the confusing one fewer and less so fewer we use with count nouns less with non count nouns and what I wanted to do is show you a great example of you know people make mistake with people often make mistakes with this so look at that picture right there and this is a this is something that I I make mistakes with all the time I think often people have a natural tendency to use less instead of fewer so in the example right here again this is a real picture in a grocery store in probably the United States or Australia somewhere and it's talking about an express lane at the grocery store ten items or less this is a common common thing that you would see on a sign but items remember you add that s it is a plural noun it is countable ten items it should say ten items or fewer that is that is grammatically correct ten items or fewer but this is a great example of I think a common mistake that many people make even native speakers and I I said I'm guilty of this all the time if we we talked about people it is an irregular plural noun you can count people however sometimes I would catch myself and I would say less people when I should say fewer people so again this is must these are mistakes that I even make that I will miss speak and you kind of catch yourself or like wait a second I should have said fewer so that's just something to keep in mind that again people make mistakes with these all the time even native speakers especially fewer or less these last two at the bottom I wanted to show you those are words that you can use with either count or non count nouns some some apples some water you can use both a lot of a lot of a lot of apples a lot of water we'll just stick with apples and that's a little easier so again I think if you are not sure about whether you're using the right word or phrase when talking about count or non count those are stuff you can use either one use sum or a lot of I think I think it's great to just say a lot of so those are some great examples again count or non count alright let's look at the next part so we've talked about now we've talked about this is our fourth category alright and the fourth category is going to be talking about either concrete or abstract nouns so again if we're talking about people places or things we can separate them into these two categories right here concrete nouns abstract now if anything I'll you can learn the meaning of these words if you're talking about concrete it basically the meaning is something that is real that's easy to understand specifically we're talking about the five senses all right sight smell taste sound or hearing as well as weight what's the other one sight sound smell taste touch alright you're touching it so something that is real and again you can use this as an adjective somebody might say give me a concrete example it's basically saying give me an example something that's real that I can understand that you can perceive by using the five senses if something is abstract it's not something that you know using your five senses so for an example like some type of an idea would be something that's abstract you can't smell some idea you can't taste it you can't touch it so that is an example of an abstract noun now the reason why let's look over here one of the reasons why this is important to kind of be able to identify them is because I have my chart right here when we're talking about these concrete and abstract nouns you can use either indefinite or definite article articles with these so you could start a sentence I told you nouns can be the subject of a sentence and I could talk about a spice or the spice if you're talking about abstract nouns they can be used as the subject of the sentence with no article so this is a good example of why you would want to classify and understand is it a concrete noun isn't an abstract noun so if you're talking about using this as the subject of the sentence you do not need to put an article there so I'd say like something like a statement love is blind that that is an example love is an abstract noun so I have these examples things that you can taste if you want throw some more examples down there I'll try to read them out give me some examples of concrete or abstract nouns so spice that's something you can taste concrete now snow you can see snow so that would be again another example concrete noun thunder you can hear thunder cologne smell Cologne people put that on or lump if you don't know what a lump is it's kind of talking about like a little bump alright and you could say it's a lump so you could say well there's a lump on your skin or maybe you're talking about a pillow a pillow has some lumps it's not very comfortable it's something you can touch now abstract we're talking about feelings such as love you could talk about the state of something chaos I always think of a little finger from Game of Thrones anybody who's a game of Thrones fan out there and he would say that famous line chaos is a ladder that when things are completely chaotic it's easy to climb chaos is a ladder creativity if you're talking about qualities that is abstract we can't we don't know it from the five sentences knowledge that is talking about an idea or even an event such as marriage that is a great example of an abstract now let's see do we have any others I'd say is money abstract no money is a concrete again you can you can touch money I guess it would depend on the context in which you could use it because some of these nouns they could be a form that is concrete and abstract so again money if we're talking about like dollar bills that is something yes you can touch be a concrete brave wisdom those are great examples abstract nouns what else do we have somebody said I thought I saw another good example of happiness sadness excellent fear let's say yes that's another abstract now so again if you want to be able to classify these different nouns that is another way you can do it in talking about concrete nouns or abstract now so just as a quick little review little review review review we talked about different types of nouns remember I told you the first one we talked about would be common nouns and proper nouns this is important for your spelling if you're writing something common nouns are general proper nouns are specific and you're always going to capitalize the first letter in the name of a proper noun the next ones that we talked about are nouns that were singular or plural and we said remember singular we're talking about one plural we're talking about two or more and there are certain rules that you should follow if you're making nouns plural which will help with your spelling and remember there are irregular plural nouns child children person people sheep sheep those are the same then we talked about count versus non count nouns and being able to separate people places and thing or they are they nouns that we can count one two three four five six and that and in that case you would add an S or is it a non count noun in which case you are going to use them with a singular verb I also gave you that a good example remember keep in mind people confuse this all the time ten items or less again be careful when using fewer and less and then we also just talked about concrete versus abstract now think of concrete those five senses if you can identify them using those five sentences senses it is a concrete now if you can't like some idea some quality you would it is an abstract noun so I know that this was I hope that some of this was a little bit of review for you guys that this grammar you've studied it you've learned it before and I know it was a lot and perhaps in the future we'll go back over and we'll just take one of these ideas like count or non count and really practice using it and do more of a deep dive into this lesson so thank you guys so much for watching I appreciate you guys as always for joining me in today's lesson if you guys like what we do again you can sponsor and support interactive English you can join us either on YouTube or patreon and there are links down below in the description as well as some cool rewards if you want to check those out so thank you guys so much for joining me today let me give some last minute shoutouts of you who are still here Thank You Olivia Quan Mary a 10 thank you guys so much for joining this lesson I hope that you really learn something new and that this will help you if you are next time you are writing something or maybe it'll help you understand if you are listening to a TV show or a movie thank you Sayyid lolly GLaDOS sleepwalker Lillie Mary Sajjad gratuitous Abdulrahman ramen yeah you sell Mary could aim thank you thank you thank you I hope that you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend stay safe stay healthy and I will you next time so long --- ## 105. 8 Useful Proverbs to Offer Advice | ADVANCED EXPRESSIONS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rTEbQIs21e4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTEbQIs21e4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:20:39 | --- today i'm going to teach you some proverbs that you can use to give people some great advice that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and this channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i i kind of want to help you improve your overall english fluency because i want to teach you some very common proverbs that people use to give advice and if you don't know what a proverb is it is a short saying that people use to typically offer some wisdom or general truth or advice which is what we're going to focus on in this lesson it's all about giving advice so right now i think that we should take advantage of this opportunity that would be my advice to you you should take advantage of this opportunity watch this lesson to build your vocabulary and you need to strike while the iron's hot and that is the first proverb that i want to talk to you about to strike while the iron's hot so if somebody were to tell you this and they they were to give you this advice it means well exactly what i just said it means that you should take advantage of an opportunity right now because that opportunity may go away so if there is a situation in which you want to achieve some goal or you want to do something and you think that okay i may not have this opportunity in the future somebody could tell you hey strike while the iron's hot take advantage of it now and that would be their advice and that's my advice to you to keep watching learn these different proverbs strike while the iron's hot she really likes you man stephanie will tell you you know in life you gotta strike while the iron's hot iron is hot sage advice jack the next proverb that i have is don't put all of your eggs in one basket and this i think this is great advice because what it means is that you should not put all of your trust all of your faith into one person or one thing because if it fails then well then you could be in a lot of trouble so to give you an example think of well money maybe you you make some money and you want to invest it and somebody could give you this advice and they say whatever you do don't put all of your eggs in one basket you want to invest your money in different things because if you put all of your money in just this one thing and it fails then you you're going to lose all of your money so in that situation you you could give somebody some advice and say hey don't put all of your eggs in one basket great advice that is not a plan that's a reaction you ever hear not putting all your eggs in one basket then we have the proverb look before you leap and this is great advice because what you're telling somebody to do is that they should stop and think about something carefully before making a decision and you would tell them look before you leap and i think this especially applies to a situation in which it could be a little dangerous that there is some type of danger around and a person should not make a quick decision it's better to think about it before making a decision and that is when you could give this advice and use this proverb and tell somebody hey look before you leap because if you make a quick decision then that could put you in a bad situation or a dangerous situation look before you leap did i tell you always look before you leap well i made it didn't i then we have the proverb don't bite the hand that feeds you and what this means is that you should not disrespect or act poorly toward the person who is helping you or supporting you you need to be careful before you do something or say something that's going to upset this person because they may stop helping you they may stop supporting you and in that case you could give somebody advice and say look just be careful before you upset this person don't bite the hand that feeds you just keep that in mind it's too risky for me or you you want a dark risky why are you living in that house look don't bite the hand that feeds you you can't stay then we have a proverb which is perhaps one of the most famous proverbs in english and that is don't judge a book by its cover and what this means is that you cannot tell what something or someone is like simply by looking at the outward appearance that you you just don't know what is on the inside or what is underneath because you can't see it and that's really what is most important and to help you understand this just think about what the proverb means exactly because if we're talking about a book well the story is the most important part of a book that is inside the book here is another picture to help demonstrate this proverb i think often you would use this proverb when when talking about people that you should not look at someone and see their outside appearance and form an opinion based on that you need to get to know the person you need to see what is their what's their character like what's their personality like that is what you should judge a person on is their inside not their outside don't judge a book by its cover let's say i was bald and had the complexion of of a popular primary color would you still enjoy my company of course you don't judge a book by its cover next is the proverb mind your own business and this it's it's very common i think people use it quite often and it really means that you should not interfere with other people's lives or you should not interfere with their affairs that you should just well think about take care of yourself so if you are trying to get involved in another person's life which i think happens to all of us that person may tell us and say hey mind your own business all right this does not concern you mind your own business listen you're not in charge i am mind your own business then we have the proverb practice what you preach this is another very common proverb another great piece of advice that you can tell someone else because i think this applies to everyone if you tell somebody to practice what they preach you are basically advising them that they should do the things that they say and i think for for example okay broccoli i i don't really like broccoli broccoli and i we have a little bit of a difficult relationship however i know that this it's a very healthy food and i know that i should eat it and i have a baby girl and as she gets older i'm sure that i will encourage her to eat broccoli now even though i don't like it and i don't really eat broccoli she might tell me one day hey dad you should practice what you preach you're telling me to eat broccoli well you should eat it too so i again this is a great proverb and i think if all of you try to think of some situation in which you have told other people to do something that you don't necessarily do and in that case they could they could tell you practice what you preach we are not hypocrites we practice what we preach then we have the proverb don't put the cart before the horse and if you give someone this advice you're telling them that that they need to do things in order and it's a way of saying that that they need to be organized because well the horse should go before the cart horses pull the cart and that's the way to move forward if the cart is before the horse then you're just not going to move at all so i think this is used if well you're talking about work because sometimes with work you need to do things in a certain order so someone could say hey don't put the cart before the horse you need to do things in this order because it's going to help you be more organized or you could use it when just talking about people's lives in general i think they're during the day there are things that all of us need to do and sometimes we need to do them in a certain order so if you're talking to someone and you're listening to what they're going to do during the day and you think wait this is not this is not going to help you you need to do things in order you need to be organized you could give them advice and tell them don't put the cart before the horse so i fully realize i'm putting the cart before the horse but i was spitballing some design ideas and i think i may have come up with a few potential campaign logo so if you want to continue improving your english skills then i suggest you strike while the iron is hot check out one of these other video lessons around me because well it's a great way to learn different parts of the english language you don't want to put all of your eggs in one basket it's it's great to get a lot of different exposure in a variety of ways if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next --- ## 106. 8 Ways to Say "JOIN" | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `UM7Ro3L0LWA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7Ro3L0LWA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:29:48 | --- so today I want to teach you different ways that you can say join to join something and the reason why I'm doing this lesson today is because you can now join the interactive English community you can click on the join button on the YouTube home page or just click on the link in the description if you join the community you can access different rewards you could also join us on patreon if you like but if you cannot join right now that is okay I still love it that you guys are here watching our video lessons and learning with us in order to improve your English fluency so let's talk about some different verbs that you can use if you want to say that you want to join something because not all of them are the same they're not always interchangeable so for example the first one that I have for you is follow to follow someone because you're often talking well about a person or a group and in this case I think it's quite often used when when referring to social media for example like Twitter or Instagram you might follow someone's page because you want to know what their what they're doing what they're thinking you could also say that maybe you guys you are following our video lessons because you want to improve your pronunciation or build your vocabulary and you follow these lessons another word is to enroll so you can enroll in a class because I often think that this is used when talking about a class so instead of joining a class you can say that you are going to enroll and and take a class another verb is to enlist but this time I when you think of the the verb to enlist I think of the military that you are going to join the military and you will enlist in the military then we have the verb take part in and this is a well it's a phrasal verb and what means is that you are while you are joining some sort of activity or event that is what I think of when when people would use the verb take part and you take part in something you are taking part in this activity or event you are joining it you are taking part in it then we have team up with and if you team up with someone or maybe some group then you are joining a group or a person or an organization in order to work together in some way so when you join someone and you team up with them then you're really working together it's very it's a little similar with the the next phrase which is to associate with because when you associate with another person or a group or or even a company I think many companies are associated with each other they are joined together but it is it is a loose connection that they are working together in some way but it is a rather loose connection for example think of airline programs you might join a an airline program in order to get points but because they are associated with other airlines if you fly on those airlines you can still earn points in whatever program you are in because they are associated with each other then we have to come aboard and this means that well you are joining some organizations some business I often think that it's used when talking about maybe you're hired for a job or for a position and you come aboard and you are now working with this company or business and you have joined this new team you have come aboard then we have to network and this is definitely more of a business expression because it refers to people trying to meet other other people or other businesses or organizations so that maybe you can join them in the future or you can try to associate with them in some way and you can work together to network with someone or to network with other businesses in order to join them in the future so if you have a little disposable income you can come aboard and access some of those rewards such as private posts monthly lessons lesson notes as well as get an emoji for when we do our live streams I hope that you learn some new words and can use them the next time you want to talk about joining a class a business or some kind of event if you enjoy this lesson please hit that like button thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 107. 8 Words Native Speakers Don't Say & What You Should Say Instead | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rWn-x4yKwnQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWn-x4yKwnQ) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:48:03 | --- Let's talk about some words that you should probably forget and I'll tell you what you should say instead. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. So quite often we get asked, hey, should I use this word or phrase? What's more common? Is this word frequently used? This is a question that we get regularly. So in today's lesson I want to talk about some words that are not commonly used in English and some of you you probably haven't even heard of before, and I want to tell you the words that you should use instead, but also I want to show you some resources that you can use that will help you answer that question. If you're wondering which phrase or word is more commonly used, these resources will help. Also as a disclaimer, I'm from the United States, so I'll be giving you the American perspective when it comes to the usage of these words. Let's start with something that that's easy and straightforward and that is thou the enzyme. So if you haven't heard of these words then, then that's, there's a good reason for that. It's because these are archaic and very old forms of the word you. The word thou is used as the subject. The would be the object and zine would be the possessive form. So for example, I could say, thou needs to forget about these words. I told the to stop using these and then I guess I could ask you what is thy name? Let me know in the comments. Write your name. Say Hello. I just want to hear from you. So as you can tell it, it just sounds really awkward. You're not going to hear these words out on the street and everyday spoken English. You may hear them if you are listening to a play and it's a very old play and they're using this as part of the dialogue, or you could read about these words in a story. The next that you can eliminate from your vocabulary is hither. And what hither means is to go towards someplace. And when I think of it being used, I always think of the phrase and somebody saying, come hither, come hither. They're telling somebody to come to them. Nowadays, you're not going to tell somebody to come hither. I guess you could ask them and say, Hey, could you please come over here or, or tell them I, I'd like to ask you something. Or, again, if you're talking about somebody you might be attracted to and you want to start a conversation with them instead of telling them to come to you, I think it's actually better for you to go to that person and introduce yourself. So the first resource that I want to show you is that just doing a Google search for the word. And if we type in the word hither plus meaning, well then it's going to bring up the definition of the word. But if we move down to here where it says translations, word origin and more definitions, and click on that Arrow and then move down to the bottom. And you can see the use over time for this word and hither has declined dramatically in the last 200 years. We can do the same with that if we want to see its usage. And if we scroll down, you can see that it has also declined a lot. Are you ready for more words? Then we have salutations. So this is a word that I, you may not have heard somebody say in spoken English. It's not very common. But you may read it in a story and what it means is, well, it's just a greeting. It's a fancy way of greeting somebody and just saying, hello salutations. When I think of this word, I think of the story Charlotte's web because the two main characters, Charlotte, the spider, and Wilbur the pig, this is what she says to Wilbur when they first meet. Charlotte says, salutations. And even Wilbur, who's a pig said, Charlotte, what the hell are you talking about? What does that word mean? And she had to explain to Wilbur that it is a fancy greeting, a way of saying hello. So when you meet somebody, instead of saying salutations, just say hi, hello, nice to meet you. There are so many different ways to greet somebody and you don't need to use salutations. Then there's frolic and what this word means is just to play in a lively and cheerful way. A very carefree way. Often think it's more appropriate when describing children there. They're frolicking on the beach or out in the field or on the playground. They're just playing in a lively manner. Now, this is another word that I think you're more likely to read in a book than you would hear being spoken on the street. However it is a word that hasn't completely disappeared. You will hear people say this from time to time. You may hear it in a movie or a TV show, but I think its usage has declined significantly in the last hundred years. Another useful resource is word and phrase.info. So we can just go to the frequency list and put in the word frolic and it tells us how often this word is used in different styles of writing as well as in spoken English because they use transcripts as well as interviews and as you can see it is a word that you will more likely read than than here in spoken English. I always think it's good to check and see what the trend is like as well. So we can go down here and see that frolic is on the decline. We can also look up salutation and it is a word that you are much more likely to read than here because it's not that common in spoken English. Another cool little feature about this site is that if we go down here, it will actually show you how the word is used in context. We can also check out the trend and you can see that salutation is becoming less and less common. Here are a couple more words for you. Then we have whippersnappers. Now this may be a word that you've never heard of before and yeah, it's just not commonly used, but a Wipper snapper is a person and it's talking about a young person who is maybe a bit arrogant, over confident, presumptuous, and an older person might refer to them as a wiper snapper and they'd often use it with the word young and say that, oh, this person is just a young whippersnapper. They don't know what they're talking about. These young whippersnappers. Finally and I, I'm going to catch a lot of heat for this word, but I'm going to put it on the list anyway. And that is so, so now this is a word that's actually become more popular over the years. But the reason that I'm putting it on there is because English learners tend to overuse the word. So. So I imagine that most of you know what it means. It just means that that something is okay, that you really don't have a positive or negative feeling one way or the other things are just so. So now the reason I say that English learners tend to overuse it is because I often hear them use it to describe themselves, to describe their feeling like, oh, you know, how are you doing? And they'd say, well, you know, I'm so, so in this case, I think it's more common for somebody to say, you know, I'm okay, I'm good, I'm not bad. If you don't really want to convey a really positive or negative feeling, you wouldn't really say that that inside you're feeling so. So it's a, it sounds a little awkward. You may use this word if you're describing the way you feel about something else. So for example, maybe I were to ask you a, well, you know, what did you think of the movie? And you didn't really love it. You didn't really hate it. You could say, yeah, you know the movie. Well, you know, it's just so, so, so keep that in mind. If you're going to use this word, try to use it when you're describing something else, like a meal or an event and you don't have a good feeling about it or a bad feeling, you're just going to say, man, you know, it was so, so, but still, I'm going to keep it up there and try to discourage you a little bit from using sozo because it's not a, it's not a descriptive word. I always encourage learners to try to be more when they want to convey their feelings. And so, so yeah, just, it just doesn't give a lot of lot of information. And personally I feel when somebody says it to me, I get the feeling like, okay, this person just, they just don't want to talk to me about this thing. They don't want to describe the way they feel about it. So okay, we won't talk about it. And that's probably not what you want to do. You want to practice your speaking skills and find ways to engage in conversation, not shut it down. So try to use a more descriptive word than Sosa. Finally, and I've saved the best for less is Google's end. Graham viewer. Now in Graham viewer attracts the frequency of words and phrases in books over the last 200 years. And the best thing about this resource is that you can type in more than one word or phrase and see how they compare with each other. So let's take a look at whippersnappers. Now as you can see, it really took off in the first half of the 19 hundreds but then it went down significantly before leveling off and as for so, so it has been on a steady climb these past 200 years. And I know you're looking at Soso thinking, okay, I can't wait to go out and use this, but still I would encourage you to use more descriptive words and we can also compare Soso and whippersnappers. And when you put both of them in there, you can kind of get an idea how much more commonly used one word is over the other. So I hope you learned something today about those words and I hope you can use those resources to help you better understand which words and phrases are commonly used in English. If you enjoyed this lesson, then I want you to hit the like button and write the word frolic in the comments. It's lively, it's fun, it's carefree. If you thought the lesson was okay, I want you to hit the like button and right, so, so, all right. It's just, you know, that's the way you felt about it wasn't good, wasn't bad. If you didn't really care for the lesson, I want you to hit the like button and write the word whippersnappers in the comments because then yes, I'm just a young whippersnapper. A bit presumptuous telling you which words you can no longer use in English either way. Right. To me in the comments. --- ## 108. A, AN, THE, or NO ARTICLE | English Grammar Quiz | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `e03NtUMDhCk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e03NtUMDhCk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:14:15 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. I have a fun grammar lesson for you. And I think this is a very very I'm going to add one more very important lesson because we're going to be talking about articles. And this is uh something that I feel like many learners struggle with. And this is also when small mistakes are made. So really, we're going to be talking about the articles a and the or just using no article at all. And the way that I'm going to present this to you as is like a quiz and I want you to participate. You can write your answers in the chat. Write your answers in the comments. Uh, I love hearing from you and I'll give you a moment to think of your answer and then after I'll I'll show you the answer and talk to you a little bit about the rule because often like with these articles there are rules that that you can follow. And I also wanted to to let you know that yes, I am getting ready to start another speaking course. I'll talk about that a little later, but there is a link down in the description if you'd like to check that out. Speak with me. So, let's let's just start with our first question. Okay? And um you you complete the sentence and it's the first half is going to be a little easier because I'm showing you the sentence. The second part of this quiz is just going to be listening and that's going to make it a little more challenging. So, how would you what article would you use to complete this sentence? Penguins don't live at m North Pole. What do you think? So, again, after I'll I'll think about the answer and then I'll tell you and we'll talk a little bit about well, what the rule is in this situation. Penguins don't live the Oops, I almost I just told you the North Pole. Okay, trying to to blank that out myself. So, I see a lot of great answers. The answer is the. And you're going to use the when talking about those specific locations, the North Pole, the South Pole. Okay. So, that's just something to keep in mind. Um, the next one. Here we go. Okay. Let's I don't know why I was thinking about penguins when I put this lesson together. What would you say? Most penguins live Antarctica. Okay. Most penguins live m Antarctica. All right. So, when it comes to these articles, if you're unsure, this is one of those instances in which I tell learners, okay, what what feels natural? What just feels right? Because you get a lot of exposure to the language. listening, reading. I'm I'm sure you've come across this before. Maybe you've heard the word Antarctica. And then in that case, if you if you remember, just do what feels right. Then you would know that there there is no article when you're talking about the names of continents. So again, these are like the rules that you can follow like uh whether you're talking about North uh or South America, Europe, Asia, you're not going to use an article before the names of continents. Okay, the next one. So again, with these articles, I would say you can you can learn the rules. It's good to know them, but I don't think the best approach would be to memorize the rules, but just be aware of them and just keep getting exposure. Just understand that, okay, use no article with the names of continents. Try to keep that in mind. And this is one of those ways, practicing with this quiz and practicing right now with articles. That's another way to get great exposure. So, think about this context. If uh I'm I'm asking you uh this question. Can you bring me m shirt? If you can bring m purple shirt. So think about this as though I were talking directly to you and I say this. So there's two blanks for you to fill in. Can you bring me shirt? If you can bring m purple shirt. So a lot of you I think you got this right. This is kind of like the the basic fundamental rules when it comes to articles. Um, can you bring me a shirt? If you can, bring the purple shirt. And you see there's a purple shirt right there. So again, this is some of the first rules that you would learn when it comes to articles. Use a or an with non-specific count nouns. In this case, we're talking about shirt. So shirts, that is a countable noun. Um, but it's non-specific. So really, it's like if there are five, 10 shirts, it's hey, you know, bring me a shirt or I need a shirt. Now I follow that up with something more specific. If you can bring the purple shirt. So I use we use the with specific countdowns. So once again we're talking about um shirt that is our noun but in the first uh in the first question it's not specific and then I become specific in the next statement the purple shirt that's what I'm bringing there's just one all right so I'm going to come back to this this right here in just a moment the next one okay so this right here uh again I love it I like seeing all these answers. It's great. Think about um well, I don't want to give it away. Just last week I found m dog. M dog was wearing m collar, but unfortunately I couldn't read the name on mllar. Sorry, I'm saying m a lot. Those are those blank spaces. So, think of this as like a story. Say, you know, you're talking about your day. That's kind of a story or if you're writing something and this is part of a story. Last week I found m dog. Okay, the first uh missing one. Mm dog was wearing m collar but unfortunately I couldn't read the name on mllar. Okay. So I told you to think of it like it's a story because I I want to talk about the the rule of first mention or it's called first mention. And what I'm referring to is well this. So last week I found a dog. Okay. So this the first indefinite mention requires a or n for a singular count noun. We're talking about a dog. All right? And no article for plural or non-count nouns. Um like if I said last week I found some dogs. Okay. There's no article there. But in this case, it's the first mention. Last week, I found a dog. In the next sentence, okay, I'm using the instead. The dog was wearing a collar. And the reason why I'm using the in the next sentence is because, well, it's the second time it's been mentioned. Another way to think about it would be like, well, now it's specific. I've already mentioned the dog once. Now you know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the specific dog. So now I'm going to say the dog. And the second mention it it's going to to take the um with both count and non-count nouns. So let's let's continue. Last week I found a dog. The dog was wearing a collar. Again, it's uh the first time I'm mentioning this noun, a collar. But unfortunately, I couldn't read the name on the collar. So, even though it's the same sentence, um it's a compound sentence. The first time I mentioned collar, I'm going to use a a collar, that article. And the next time, the second time, now it's specific. So, I said the collar. Let me read the whole thing to you. And again, just try to try process all the information. Um just listening to it. like last week I found a dog. The dog was wearing a collar, but unfortunately I couldn't read the name on the collar. Okay, so again, this is what I'm talking about when I say like rule of first mention. Just the first time you're going to mention something, you're going to use a or n if it's a singular count noun. No article for plural nouns. And then the second time, we're going to use the. Okay. Uh then we have this right here. This is another well rule that we're going to get into. Um, tallest mountain in the world is Mount Everest. What do you think? Which what two articles go in there to complete that sentence. All right, write your answer in the chat. Write your answer in the comment. I I just want to hear from you. It's always good to actually participate. These are active learning exercises. So m tallest mountain in the world is mount Everest. So and that is actually I at least the the search that I did I think that is a picture of Mount Everest. I'm not trying to to trick you here. So I'm seeing some different answers. So let me provide some clarity. And the the correct answer is the tallest mountain in the world is Mount Everest. So, when we're talking about superlatives, you see tallest, it ends with that est. Okay? We're we're going to use the the tallest, the fastest. And even when you use uh most, the most uh the most interesting, the most expensive, you're always going to use the with superlatives. Now, the second part of this rule is when we're talking about the name of a mountain, no article. Okay? So, you could be talking about Mount Everest. You could be talking about um Mount Denali, um Mount Arangagwa, trying to think of some of the highest mountains in in the different continents. So, now we've already you've learned two rules uh so far with no article. No article with the names of continents and no article with the name of a mountain. The tallest mountain in the world is Mount Everest. The next one right here. So remember we just talked about superlatives. Okay. Now you'll notice with this sentence, it's a comparative sentence. Um or it's a comparative like I would like more expensive ring. I would like more expensive ring. Okay. What what would you say uh for this one? All right. I would like more expensive ring. So what what I would say is in this case, think about the picture, okay? that you see, you know, there are two rings right there. All right. What would you what would you say? Um because I see some answers and it it it really could go either way. One of two ways. I was trying to tell you to think about the picture. In this case, if somebody is looking at the two rings, all right, they're right there. In that case, it's specific. Um and you would say 'the'. But in general, the thing that I wanted to point out with comparatives, unlike superlatives, you're always going to use the. Comparatives, you're just going to follow um you know, the general article usage, you could use both a or n and the when it comes to uh this. So, for example, uh like I said, for if you said, I would like a more expensive ring, that's perfectly fine. The context though, what what I would think of is this. If you're looking at like one ring and then you're just making a comment like I would like a more expensive ring. It's not specific. You're talking about any other ring that's just more expensive. But in this situation when I was trying the reason I put the is because of the picture where you have these two rings and you're looking at them and it's specific in that case. Okay, I would like the more expensive ring like this one. The one that um I don't know is on top. That's the more expensive one. I would like the more expensive ring, but in general, you could use either one. A and the We just follow those same rules about whether it's non-specific or specific. Then we have this one. This is a this is a good one. This is an interesting one. I think maybe you might know the answer. Perhaps you're not sure why. The tour is going to cost $100 person. Okay. The tour is going to cost $100 person. Which uh what would you complete that with? A and the or no article at all. So there's probably a word that you could you could substitute instead of using an article. There's another word that you could substitute in there. Uh which is also fairly common. If I said the tour is going to is going to cost $100 per person. So if we're talking about the word per, okay, we can replace that with the articles a or an, okay, those indefinite articles, the articles a or an may be used like the word per. The tour is going to cost $100 a person. So in this case, it it has the same uh the same meaning. They're interchangeable. So the next one and they will this is going to get a little more challenging in just a moment when we make it just purely a listening exercise. We went on m rafting trip down m Colorado River. Okay. We went on m rafting trip down mol river. Okay. So again, you I'm sure you'll start to pick some of these things out like the names of continents, um you know, the names of mountains, and what what was the rule? What do we follow? In this case, the second part of this, we're talking about the name of a river. So I think uh let me get this one. That's good. So the correct answer is well, we went on a rafting trip. Again, trip is that uh countable noun. We went on a rafting trip down the Colorado River. So, the first part again, you're going to use um a or n before singular countable nouns that are not specific. We went on a trip down the Colorado River. You're going to use the before the names of rivers. The Nile, the Amazon River, the Colorado River, the Mississippi River. And again, getting that exposure, reading, listening, you you just you get that information and just it just internalizes. And when you're having a conversation, hopefully like look, you're just going to use the when talking about rivers. It's good to know the rule, but again, I don't think the best way is just to memorize all of these different rules. Now, this one, this is a this is a fun one. uh you can see the all of the the names of those different countries. So I'll read this. Last year I visited UK Brazil Republic of China, M Bahamas and M Indonesia. According to this, this is not true, but it it would have been sounds like a very busy travel year. But, uh, what what article would you use before those names? All right, there's five different ones. And again, we'll talk about what the the rule of thumb that you should follow in just a moment. Last year, I visited m UK, m Brazil, m Republic of China, Bahamas, and m Indonesia. All right. So really the decision to make uh is just using either the or no article. All right? You're not going to use a or n uh with the names of countries. So generally speaking, all right, most countries around the world, you're going to use no article. However, again with well a lot of grammar, English grammar, there are always exceptions. So let me I'll read the sentence. Last year I visited the UK, Brazil, the Republic of China, the Bahamas and Indi Indonesia. So typically there is no article before the names of countries uh or and territories. However, the is used before countries who whose names are in the plural form. So like Bahamas, it ends with an s, the Philippines. uh as well as countries uh whose names include words like states, kingdom, republic. Um and again you have the United Kingdom, the UK, the Republic of China. If I ju if I took out Republic of China and just said China, in that case then there's no article. Uh the United States is another example. So for the most part, you're not going to use an article, but again there are some exceptions. Then I have this one more and then we'll get into our listening practice. Last month I got mco and right after that I came down with mm flu. Okay. What uh what do you think a and the or no article at all? Last month I got mco and right after that I came down with m flu. So this I think is again useful. We're talking about illnesses, diseases. It's something that is part of just conversation sometimes. So I hope that you put the following. Last month I got COVID and right after that I came down with the flu. So just to clarify between, you know, what's the difference? no article with COVID, but then you're going to use 'the' when talking about flu. So once again, generally no article is used when when you're talking about the names of illnesses or disease diseases. So like COVID, no article. But uh you will some some illnesses require the and you're going to use the and I think over time you just kind of um end up you know you hear them enough you end up just memorizing it. It becomes a part of your spoken and written vocabulary. I gave you some examples down there. I don't know if you can see them very well. So I'll read them. the measles, the flu, the mumps, the b the bubanic plague. Uh, out of all of those, I feel like people are generally going to use the flu most often. It's very widespread. So, uh, just keep in mind if you're talking about the flu, you're going to use the article 'the'. So, now I I would like to make it a little more challenging, a little more difficult. And before uh bec the reason why I want to make it a listening exercise now is because I think you you could see those sentences. You saw uh it written down and I think that makes it a little easier to think about okay well which article is going to go in there is it a and the or no article. The mistake that I think people often make when it when it comes to articles well is when you're producing it, writing or even speaking and you're just having a conversation and you're not really thinking about, hey, should I use an article before this word or or that one. So, the way that I want to do the second part of this is I'm just going to say the sentence without the the article. So, in this case, all of these sentences, it's missing a or 'the'. All right? I'm not going to try to trick you with no article and say, "Oh, the sentence was correct." In all of them, it's either missing a, or the. And I just want you to listen to it and think about where that article should go. And then I'll show you and talk to you about, well, if there's a general rule to follow, you can. Th it makes it a lot more challenging if you're listening to someone and they're talking and then maybe realizing like wait a second did they did they not use an article when they should have and that's where where people will make slight mistakes which again is when now I wanted to follow up on that tell you about my speaking course uh enrollment is now open if you'd like to join uh the course is all about helping you speak confidently clearly and naturally there is a link down in the description if you want to go to the course page check that out, see what times, uh, days, times the classes are offered. Uh, you can check out that link down below in the description. Um, and and really practice and improve your speaking skills. And this is part of that. Again, when you're having a conversation, articles, we use them all the time. They are very, very, very I'm going to add one more. Very again, common. Okay. So, the first one uh let me make sure I have this uh set up. Okay. So, again, I'll say it a couple of times and then I just want you to think about it. Um if you're fast enough to like write down an answer, that's great. But I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I'll tell you um the answer. So, if I were just to say um here's the first one. Um I'm English teacher. I am English teacher. Okay, I just said that there's a article missing. Um, if if you were to listen to that and think, okay, that that sentence it's not grammatically correct. I am English teacher. All right. And these will get a little more challenging, I think, as we go through this. So in that case when you're talking about your job or your profession um you're going to use a or an. So I would say the answer I am an English teacher. I am an English teacher. And again when these these articles they're not content words. They're not stressed. They're not emphasized, which is why often I think they can go unnoticed if you're listening to someone and maybe you don't hear one or even when you're speaking. Uh it's easy just to to to not say them and really you might not even think about it. But you're going to use a or n when talking about jobs. I am an English teacher. I'm a firefighter. I'm a pilot. Uh and you're going to use those uh indefinite articles. The next one, I have to be careful because I don't want to just go and go on to the next one and give you the answer. So, if I were to say the following sentence, I got a call first thing in the morning. Okay, I woke up. I got a call first thing in the morning. All right. What would uh what what article is missing from that statement? I got to call first thing in morning. What would you say? And I hope I think again because it's listening, I tried to make at least these first couple a little easier. It's a common expression that you would hear um which I'll point out in just a moment. I I got a call first thing in morning. Okay. So I think when you hear in morning, okay, when talking about those time expressions, we're going to use the okay in the morning. All right, those time expressions. So I got a call first thing in the morning. And I again I included some of them down there. I you've heard these before. They're very common. in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, during the day, during the night, and you're going to use the the next one that I have for you. Let's see. I got to keep my place so I know where I am. Um, if I were to say the sentence, we spoke in unified voice. We spoke in unified voice. We spoke in unified voice. I'm just repeating it. Repeating it uh again. So again, once again, there's a missing article a and or the we spoke in unified voice. What do you think? And again, this is if you're trying to just think about it quickly. What what feels natural? Again, um what do you think? So, I hope that you uh realized that the missing article is uh we spoke in a unified voice. And this one I maybe I kind of wanted to trick you a little bit. Unified. It starts with a a vowel, the letter U. However, what determines whether you're going to use a or N is not the actual letter, but the sound. So unified, it begins with a consonant sound that y unified. We spoke in a unified voice. So because of that, we're going to use a or I would pronounce it with thewah sound. Uh we spoke in a unified voice. All right. The next one, my sentence is she took strong interest in accounting. What do you think? She took strong interest in accounting. And and I think maybe I'm giving you the the isolated sentence. Uh and that's what I want. I don't want to make it too crazy and difficult, but if I were like telling a story talking about um you know my cousin, oh you know she getting ready to go to university and she started her classes. She took strong interest um she took strong interest in accounting. That's when I feel like again it can be a little more challenging to pick up these articles and understand okay which one was that a mistake or was it not a mistake. So in this case she took a strong interest in accounting. So the first thing I wanted to tell you is the meaning a strong interest in something. Um it it just means to be concerned with curious about or interested in someone or something. In this case we're talking about this person was interested. you take an interest in something and you're going to use a or an with certain phrases. So, in this case, to take an interest in something, uh to take an interest in something, you would use it with an because interest would start with that vowel sound. But in this case, I've I've added uh that adjective strong. So, now we're going to say take a strong interest in something. Keep that in mind. Take a strong interest in something or take an interest in something. And there are some other phrases which I've included. Take an interest in. Keep an eye out is another one. Make a statement. Well, we really need to to make a statement and and do something. So, there are certain phrases that are more fixed and these articles are a part of that. The next one, I almost uh just showed you the answer. if uh I'll I'll kind of private premise it instead of just giving you the sentence. I'll tell you a few things and see if you can figure it out or figure out where the um so you know I am from the United States. Um and I'm from the US and when I was younger I I grew up in upper Midwest. I don't know if you know that about me. I'm from the United States. When I was younger I I grew up in upper Midwest. I don't know. Perhaps you you didn't know that about me. Okay. So, in there in that short little those sentences, there was a missing article. Uh I don't know if you noticed that. I'll say it one more time. So, I'm from the United States. Um you know, when I was younger, I grew up in upper Midwest. I don't know if you knew that about me. All right. So, I I didn't isolate the individual sentence to make it a little more challenging. I think a lot of you caught that the the missing article was the the I grew up in the upper Midwest. So, I I was saying I grew up in upper Midwest. But when you're talking about parts of a country, you're going to use the the upper Midwest, the South, the North, the East Coast, the West Coast. Um, so when talking about those parts, use the. Just something to keep in mind. The next one, uh, is right here. Oh, you need some directions. Well, if you want to find the store, then just go straight and, um, the store is on right. Okay, that's where you'll find it. If you need some directions, just go straight and the store is on right. You'll see it. Uh, you you won't miss it. Okay, maybe I feel like I slowed down as I was saying that, which would have been a bit of a bigger hint. All right, what do you think? What's missing? A, and or the If you need directions, uh, you're looking for the store, just go straight and the store is on right. You'll see it. Trust me. Okay. So, uh, the missing article is the in this case. When you're talking about, uh, directions, go straight. and the store is on the right. So instead of on right, on the right and you would use um the if the if it follows that preposition on the right, on the left. Um so again, if you're just talking not following with a preposition, oh, you need to go right, you need to go left. So don't think of it as left or right. Think of it as you have that preposition and then you're going to follow it with the right or the left. All right? It's on the right. It's on the left. Okay. Then the next one is, you know, my friend is a little down and out. Um, but you know, I think he's going to he's going to get back in the game. He still has few tricks up his sleeve. Okay. My friend is little maybe down. Maybe people are think he's going to lose, but I think he's going to come back. He still has few tricks up his sleeve. Okay. What do you think? So, in this case, the sentence, if I wanted to to isolate the sentence, he still has few tricks up his sleeve. Okay. There's a missing word in there. A missing article. He still has a few tricks up his sleeve. All right. The missing article in this case is the article uh he still has a few tricks up his sleeve. So once again, I'm giving you the meaning if somebody were if you're unfamiliar with this to have a few tricks up your sleeve. It just means um do you have a secret method, a trick, something that you can use when needed. But the going back to the the article usage, you're going to use uh with the expression like a few and a little. And in this case, it just means some. So it's like saying like, yeah, my friend still has some tricks up his sleeve. Has a few tricks up his sleeve. If we're talking about like few and little, meaning not much, then you're going to use no article. So think of this example. If I were to say um we still have a few choices. In that case, a few choices means some. If I were to say we have few choices, all right, that has a completely different meaning. I use no article. We have few choices. And that in that case, I'm saying, well, we don't have many. We we don't have much. We have few choices, which is different than saying we have a few choices. But just keep in mind you're going to use the article uh with uh those those expressions a few or a little. Then do one more one more for good measure. All right. This is uh this is actually a famous uh apherism in the US and af or in English uh I should say. I it's attributed to um gosh I hope I don't get this wrong. Um Percy Shelly I think. Uh and an apherism is kind of just like a an expression in which like there's there's just some truth to it like a saying. Okay. And it is um rich get richer and poor get poorer. Okay. So that that's not it. There's missing articles in there. If uh I were to say, you know, a lot of people will say rich get richer, poor get poorer. What's missing in there? what there there's actually two articles missing from that that statement that apherism rich get richer and poor get poor and I think some of you uh are right that the missing article is the and it's missing twice so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and what the distinction I want to make down here the reason why I'm giving you this one is that you can use the with certain adjectives like in this case rich or poor to create a noun phrase that's going to refer to a group of people. So, in this case, when I say the rich or the poor, I'm referring to uh a group of people. All right? It's a noun phrase. The rich, the poor. Uh I put some other examples down there. The blind, the elderly is another example. So in that case when talking about the group of people um you're going to use the article the the rich, the poor, the blind, the elderly. All right. So what I would like to know in those comments is how did you do on this quiz? Let me know down below if you got most of those rights, if you got most of those correct. I shouldn't say rights and put an S on it. If you got most of those right. Um, but what I really hope is that you learn something new with all of these lessons. I just hope that you learned something new. I know I covered a lot of different rules in here and I tried to present those to you, but just to reiterate once again, I don't think uh the best way to learn this is just to memorize rules. You can look at the rule, understand it, but just get, you know, more reading, more listening, and then of course more practice using these articles in speaking and writing. And of course, if you want more practice when it comes to speaking, just to plug it once again, you can check out my speaking course. That link is down in the description. If you enjoyed the lesson, please hit that like button. I appreciate all of you being here with me live. Um Vicki Gustav, um Llana, I know you're here. Teao, good to see you. Uh I heard uh had somebody uh join our community. Maria, welcome. Thank you for joining. Um and I will be posting these lesson notes for our um patrons, members, subscribers that are on Facebook. Um, I will be posting these. So, thank you again, Angela Shaheen, just give some quick shout outs. Zenat, um, Reesh, thanks for being here. Eloa the waffle, excory. Um, thank you guys. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the day --- ## 109. ACHIEVE ENGLISH FLUENCY | Here are 5 useful tips... ๐ŸŽŠ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nyeFvq3_LFY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyeFvq3_LFY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:10:50 | --- let's talk about how you can improve your english in 2022 and i have some very useful suggestions for you and the first thing that i think you need to do and this goes without saying is to get more practice now let me tell you what i mean by that because when i say get more practice i'm saying that you need to get more practice than you did the previous year which means that you're going to have to put a little bit of effort into this and another thing that i want you to think about when i say get more practice specifically i'm referring to actually having to do something when you practice the language in which case i'm talking about more speaking and more writing now i think writing is available to you you can write to me right now in the comments down below and i hope you you do write to me in the comments and you can tell me well what are your learning goals for this year what are the things you hope to accomplish in 2022 write that to me in the comments and practice your skills now when it comes to speaking because i know many of you out there would like to get more speaking practice and it can be difficult to put yourself out there and try to make a new friend someone that you can speak to regularly in english there are other ways like techniques like shadowing in which you are speaking and actually trying to say things exactly as you hear them this is a great way to practice the the rhythm and flow of english many of you have told me that you like to shadow using these video lessons and you're shadowing me but something else you can do and i think this is the best way to get more speaking practice is to take an online class and you're in luck because i am getting ready to start a new speaking course in which you can practice and improve your speaking with me and the speaking course is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally and the course includes weekly group lessons with me there are also lesson pdfs on a variety of topics in which we do different speaking activities there are lesson preview videos as well as pronunciation video lessons a couple of audio lessons there there's a lot so click on that link down in the description if you'd like to join and i have a special new year discount just for you because it is 2022 you can use the code speak 22 to get a 22 discount so check out that link down below if you'd like to enroll you can learn more about class times and availability if you have any questions please feel free to email me at info interactiveenglishvideos.com and this is a great opportunity for you to practice and improve your speaking with me and if this is your first time here and you're wondering who i am well my name is wes the channel is interactive english and it's really all about trying to help you improve and develop your fluency skills and if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future video lessons and there is a lot that we are going to go over this year so let's get back to some of my useful suggestions on how you can best improve in 2022 and the next thing i wanted to tell you which you're kind of doing right now is i want you to use technology to your advantage there are so many sites and apps out there that you can use and many of which are free and it's really going to help you improve your skills there are sites that allow you to practice and work on grammar there are apps to help you build your vocabulary and what i would also suggest is try to find something that that's more engaging that's more active and i when i say active i'm talking about active learning in which you need to do something so even though right now you're watching this video that's more passive learning but when i ask you to write to me in the comments now it becomes active you practice your writing skills you write to me in the comments that that is active that's more engaging and i i would also say continue doing what you're doing right now continue using youtube watch different english video lessons there is so much that you can find on just about any topic the next thing that i want you to do is make a habit of reading in english we just talked about active learning and in my opinion i think reading is the best way to passively learn the language because you see the correct grammar being used you you also see which words may commonly be used together they may be collocations and that's a great way to build your vocabulary you may also come across words that you don't know and you can try to put them in context another way of building your vocabulary so there are so many benefits to reading in english and i'm not saying that you need to take some of your free time and sit down and read a book what i'm suggesting is do something that you think is manageable for you to do so if you like to read um articles online maybe you're reading the news instead of reading it in your native language try to find an article in english and make that transition that is really going to help you a lot and it just requires a little bit of effort you can turn on captions with this lesson and read as you listen to me speak you can also go down there to those comments and read some of the comments write and respond so in that way you're practicing reading and writing you can even just read simple things like some funny memes like this one any exposure that you get is great i just want you to get more something else you should do is set short term goals don't just tell yourself i'm going to be fluent in english by the end of the year okay that that is a goal but you really need to map out how you're going to get from point a to point b so the first thing you should do is think about well what are some of the things you need to work on maybe you want to build your vocabulary or or work on grammar or improve your speaking confidence then you need to decide when you're going to work on those things so maybe you tell yourself well in january and february i'm really going to work on my speaking confidence after that you need to think about well how how are you going to do this so you could say well i'm going to join wes's speaking course that that is how i'm going to improve my speaking confidence i i just wanted to throw in one more reminder but you know what i'm talking about just be realistic about what you think you need to do the time that you want to dedicate to it and then how you're going to practice so that you can improve your skills and then this is probably the most important thing on the list and that is just have fun don't forget to have fun while you're learning english because language learning should not be a chore so so think about the things you enjoy those tv shows the music or movies if you're reading make sure that you're reading something that interests you like i said just transition from some of the things that you normally read in your native language and move that over to english if you are setting goals set the goals that you want to achieve instead of thinking about maybe well what you have to achieve so if you're able to have fun it's so much easier to stay motivated so that you can continue learning and continue improving so those are my five suggestions to help you start the new year and there are going to be many more video lessons this year because i want to continue supporting you as you continue to practice and improve your english so if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button don't forget click on that link down in the description if you'd like to join my speaking course and yeah that's it i look forward to seeing you throughout the rest of this year thanks so much for watching and i will see you next time so --- ## 110. ADVANCED AMERICAN PHRASES YOU NEED TO KNOW ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `O2xM6mVfrVw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2xM6mVfrVw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:15:29 | --- let's not table this conversation it's very important so please scoot over make room for anyone else who may be around you and would like to learn these 12 advance phrases that are uniquely american and i promise you in this lesson and even in future lessons i will not jump the shark my name is wes and yes i am from the united states the channel is interactive english which is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so if that's what you would like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons this lesson in particular is all about helping you build your vocabulary but also improve your comprehension and what i'm going to do i will tell you the meaning of these different phrases i'll talk to you a little bit about them and then give you an example sentence so you can see how the phrase is used in context let's just begin with our first phrase which is to table something and i'm not talking about a table that you would eat at notice i'm using this as a verb to table something and basically what it means is to delay a discussion or subject or something that may come up in conversation and you're you're not going to talk about it now but you're probably going to come back to it a little bit later and you could use this casually with friends you could even use it at work if you're sharing ideas with people and you bring something up and somebody says look let's just let's just table that for right now and then we'll come back to it later here's another example that's a good idea but let's table that suggestion for right now and focus on the immediate future then we have scoot over and somebody also might say scooch over as well but if somebody tells you to scoot over what they're telling you to do is slide while sitting but really you you would probably hear this uh or even say this if you are maybe getting ready to go ride in a car and it's pretty crowded you want somebody to move over to make room for you you would tell them to scoot over or you could even say it to a group of people if it's a if it's a crowded room you're trying to sit down and you want people to scoot over can you please scoot over even just a little and make some room someone's two cents and this really refers to someone's opinion about something especially when when that opinion is not asked for and that someone's i'm really talking about a possessive pronoun there so you might hear like my two cents or your two cents his two cents her two cents and this is uniquely american because well sense in the united states that's talking about change like one cent five cent 25 cents so if i were to make the statement and say well that's my two cents it really means the same thing is well that's my opinion but again it's really like well your your opinion's not asked for and you would say two cents i could say you know i think you should hit the like button i know you didn't ask me but that that's my two cents here's another example if changes at the company will affect the employees then they should be able to put in their two cents and the next one is just one word and that is period and people would use this they would say this to really emphasize something and they're being dramatic so a period is a punctuation mark that would come at the end of a statement and really you would well you would say something and then follow it with period kind of suggesting that okay there's nothing else to talk about i have nothing more to say about this and one thing i'm curious about is that well in the uk it's called a full stop and i wonder if they use full stop the same way if you know let just just tell me down in the comments but people would use this if they're maybe debating something or even arguing a little bit and uh for example like students some sometimes in the classroom they would they'd want to play games and they would ask me and they'd say let's play some games and i might say look today today we're not playing any games period or maybe you're you're really debating somebody and uh this is i truly feel this way chick-fil-a is much better than in-n-out burger period all right there there are some people that are very passionate about this and if you want to debate me debate me down below in the comments but chick-fil-a so much better period here's another example it's too late we're not changing our travel plans period then we have jump the shark now this is an idiom that people use mostly to talk about tv shows and really what it means is it's referring to a point in a tv show in which they're maybe trying to generate publicity and they they do something that's kind of a little ridiculous for the storyline and people kind of think about it as a point at which the show begins to lose popularity and that things really change and you could say wow that show it really jumped the shark i really enjoyed the first season of prison break these guys are in a prison they're trying to break out and the first season was great and then as the show went on they just really jumped the shark they got out of prison and then it the storyline changed into some crazy like worldwide conspiracy and it just it just was too much now the the idiom actually comes from the show happy days which was very popular in the 1970s and in one of the episodes the main character fonzie he's water skiing and then all of a sudden he he jumps a shark it was pretty absurd it was pretty ridiculous in my opinion game of thrones jumped the shark once the show could no longer reference the books the next phrase which is certainly uniquely american is american dream and people would really talk about the american dream which refers to the idea that anyone could be successful through hard work and they would talk about well that's that's the american dream mostly i think it's used in the context of business especially if you're talking about entrepreneurs people who want to start a business make a lot of money and they say they want to be successful that's that's the american dream oprah didn't grow up wealthy she worked hard and has become one of the most successful media personalities of our time it's truly the american dream i have another idiom for you which is bent out of shape and what this means it means that somebody's very angry or very upset so instead of saying like he was really angry you could say well he was really bent out of shape and often i i think people might use this when they're you're telling somebody like don't get angry like hey don't don't get so don't get so bent out of shape here's another example i'm sorry it was an innocent mistake there's no need to get bent out of shape then we have the phrase monday morning quarterback now this phrase is definitely american because well it refers to american football and what it means is to unfairly criticize someone for well their decisions or maybe their actions after it's already happened so it's like you have the ability of hindsight and you're you're criticizing someone else so in in the united states football games are typically played on sunday so what that means is that if if somebody made a mistake during the game on sunday the quarterback which is pretty much the primary position on monday it's like somebody's looking back and criticizing like well they should have done this why didn't they do this and it's unfair it's already happened so you would say well that that person is a monday morning quarterback if they are the one who is criticizing you i know i made a mistake there's no need for you to play monday morning quarterback next i have a statement which is tell me about it and what this refers to is if you're talking to another person and they're telling you about some difficult situation or maybe saying that something is unpleasant and you want to tell them that you agree with what they're saying and that you are familiar with this you could just respond and say yeah tell me about it it means the same thing as like well i know what you mean that i i truly agree with you i've had the same experience tell me about it here is well a rather long example using this phrase also reviewing some of the previous phrases as well the boss was so bent out of shape when one of his favorite shows jumped the shark he wouldn't stop complaining ugh tell me about it uncle sam and this is it's not a person it's a phrase that really refers to the us government and it's represented by a picture of this tall thin old man with a tall hat and people would just instead of saying the government they might just say uncle sam it's not a phrase that you're probably going to use all the time but you may hear people talk about it if they want to refer to the government and you may also hear it in a tv show or movie uncle sam we all have to pay taxes to uncle sam or he's going to come looking for us let's stick with the government for right now because i have another phrase related to that and that is fishing expedition and what this means is that you're attempting to discover the facts about something by by collecting a large amount of information and it's often done secretly so really you you have those two main parties the democrats and republicans if somebody is trying to maybe find some information about another party or another political uh person in that party just maybe to make them look bad or perhaps they think they did something criminal well then that party if they want to say like well you know what you're doing is just it's just wrong it's political they might say this is just a fishing expedition they're just trying to collect a lot of information just to find something that i did wrong and they would try to to downplay the situation and they might refer to it as a fishing expedition the congressional commission is merely a fishing expedition to make the other party look bad then we have sweep it under the rug and what this means is you're trying to hide or conceal something so it kind of means like like what it says you're sweeping something under the rug you're trying to hide it and interestingly enough in the uk people would say sweep it under the carpet it's it's pretty similar but still a little different if you're in the united states though just remember you want to sweep it under the rug he never expresses his emotions he just sweeps everything under the rug so i hope you enjoyed the lesson and learned some new phrases if you did you can let me know by hitting that like button or writing to me down below in the comments i always love hearing from you thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 111. ADVANCED BANKING VOCABULARY ๐Ÿฆ | Words and phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8RHGW3Utsps` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RHGW3Utsps) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:14:39 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. I have I think it's a it's a fun vocabulary lesson for you and we're going to be talking about something that I think we can all relate to because it is part of our everyday lives. So, the vocabulary that we're going to focus on in today's lesson is really just banking vocabulary. Really banking and finance. I I the way that I'm going to do this is I'm going to present this to you as a quiz. So, I would like you to participate in the lesson. If you're joining me live or even watching this later, you can write your answers in the comments. I love seeing that to know that you're you're actively participating in the lesson. So, I'll give you a few I'll give you a moment to think of the answer and then of course I'll I'll tell you what the word or phrase is and then we'll talk a little bit about it. And I will say that I think this is a little more like more on the advanced side, more advanced vocabulary, but with all of these lessons, the main goal that I that I hope for is that you just learn something new. So, are you ready? Here we go. Let's just go ahead and begin with our first question. So, the first question that I have for you um that I would like you to answer is this one right here. So, I'll I'll read it for you um just in case it's a little challenging to see. Uh this is talking about an agreement that allows you to borrow money from a bank, especially in order to buy a house is called a All right. What would you call that agreement? So I if you have bought a home in the past or then probably this is a word that you are familiar with um because it's something that exists in I think across all languages. So what what word am I talking about? If you're somebody who is a renter, um you may not have dealt with this with as far as a bank is concerned, but again, this is I think a useful word to know um because it's another word that you might come across if you're reading a newspaper or you're watching a TV show or movie. So, I see a couple of great answers. Hello. Hello, everyone. Uh good good to be back because I know this has been a while since I've done a lesson live, but uh I'll give a few shoutouts here. Um, yes. Excellent. Angela, uh, Miriam, nil, perfect. So, the correct answer is, uh, mortgage. All right. So, this is what you would call that agreement with the bank is a mortgage. And you might have something like, uh, a 30-year mortgage on the home. So, like for 30 years, you're going to be making these payments. And again, it's useful because if you you have a mortgage with the bank, that means you don't have to pay all of that cash upfront in order to buy the home. So, this is a very this is a common way that that people will buy homes and they get a mortgage with the bank. The other thing that I want to point out, you can kind of see it down here. pronunciation because you're not going, even though it's spelled with a T, you're not going to hear that T sound. So, it's just mortgage. Mortgage. Okay. So, yeah, this one, uh, again, the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match. That t is going to get dropped. All right. So, the next one, are you ready? Is right here. Um, person A takes money from person B to buy a car. Okay, so A and B. Who is the borrower and who is the lender? So I think again the the reason why I'm giving you this I don't think these are the most advanced words but these are words that are commonly confused. So person A takes money from person B to buy a car. Who is the borrower and who is the lender? Which person who is person A the borrower or lender or is person B the borrower or lender? All right. So, let I'll give you a moment to think about that, process that. It's good to see uh so many familiar faces. Vicky Gustav, yes, good to be back. Um so, again, these are words that that can be a little confusing. I've done a lesson um with these words in the past and in case you're wondering. So, I'll read it one more time and then tell you just to remember remind you. Person A takes money from person B to buy a car. Who is the borrower and who is the lender? All right. So, in this case, uh seeing a bunch of answers now. Excellent. So, person A is the borrow borrower. They're taking the money. Person B is the lender because they're giving the money. And I mention borrow and lend can be confusing and sometimes people end up confusing them when they're verbs to borrow money or to lend money. But just to try and simplify this a little bit, when you think of borrow, think of take. And when you think of lend, think of give. And then I again, if you're you're interchanging those, then it'll make a little more sense and you're not likely to confuse them. In this case, we're talking about nouns. Somebody is a borrower and the other person is a lender. So the borrower is taking the money, the lender is giving the money. So in this case, yeah, as Susanna mentioned, the bank is the lender in in most cases. Yes, the bank is the lender. Perfect. Um, the next question is just a I got this visual and I just want you to tell me what what is this? All right. This is a picture of a what? uh it's not I think it's uh not not something that you have to know what the meaning is but I think it is kind of common especially if you're talking about um children and you might give this to a child in and en encourage them to to save money and put money aside and they're going to put money in this and it is called a what and I think Uh I I think uh you're probably familiar with it. I think it's a pretty common phrase. Yes. Excellent. Um Kevin, Kim, Sunny, Angela, perfect. The answer is a piggy bank. So it is a picture uh of you see the the it is a pig and again you're keeping money in it in order to save. So it's called uh a piggy bank. All right, the next one right here. When you put money in the bank, you're making a what? So again, you're putting money in the bank. This is referred to as oh, you're going to make a what. So in this case, uh you see the article before the blank, so you know it's a noun. And think about it in another context. If somebody were to say, "Oh, I'm going to the bank. I need to make a" and you're going to put money in the bank. What is that called? And this is a this is a noun that I is specific to banking. Um it's one that's very common. So again, if you don't know this one, this is a good one to learn, but it seems like many of you are familiar with this word. Uh so if you're going to put money in the bank, excellent. Uh Kevin, Maria, Sunonny, uh Sajid, you're going to make a deposit. Okay? So when you put money in, you are making a deposit. And like I said, a context you may use this um like, yeah, I'm going to go to the bank. I need to make a deposit. So you can also use this as a verb to deposit. I need to deposit some money and I need to put money in the bank. Okay, let's look at the next one. All right, so when you take money out of the bank, what are you doing? So in this case, it's the opposite. You put money in the bank, you're making a deposit. When you take money out of the bank, you're making a what? What do you think? So, another this is another I mean, very useful, very common banking word. Um, it's the opposite of uh deposit. So, what do you think? I see some good answers in there. Um, the correct answer is withdrawal. All right, you're making a withdrawal. So, remember to make a deposit and you could use that as a verb like to deposit money. In this case, it's not it's not the same exact word. So, you're going to make a withdrawal and you're going to take money out if you're going to use it as a verb to withdraw to withdraw some money. And the other thing that I'll point out, same here, uh trying to put uh a little some pronunciation tips down here. This can be a little tricky, I think, because you have those uh the the R combinations or that R combination and that final W. So, I I tried to give you the phonetic spelling down there, withdrawal. So that w a l you have that schwa sound and it is going to be a dark l all and your tongue is being pulled toward the back of your mouth. Withdrawal. Withdrawal. So you can practice saying that right now. Withdrawal. I'm going to make a withdrawal. I've had actually I've had learners tell me that this is a difficult word to pronounce. Um but it's very useful especially it's common if you're talking about banking. The next one right here. All right. So again, I'm you know what? What word would you use to fill in that blank? M fees occur when you don't have enough money in your account to cover your transactions. M fees occur when you don't have enough money in your account to uh cover the transactions. What do you think? So this is the actual this is the meaning of the word you if you you don't have enough money in your account and then you make a transaction and there's not enough money in there, the bank is going to uh penalize you and they're going to penalize you with a m fee. And what is that first uh what is that first word? It's an adjective. It is a mee. And like some of you had said, this is called an overdraft fee. So an overdraft fee occurs when you don't have enough money in your account to cover your transactions. It's an overdraft fee. So again, this is a it's it's a useful word. It's very specific for this situation um when you don't have enough money. So again, I think a lot of people depending on your account, you want to be careful to make sure there's enough money because you don't want to get an overdraft fee. Um because then they're basically trying to you're going to have to pay more money. Then we have this right here. This is another picture. I just want you to tell me what this is. This is a picture of what? And you will find these at a bank. So, I'll give you a moment. Think about it. I've I think you've heard these phrases before or this phrase before. I'm guessing you've heard it. So, this is a picture. This is a picture of a safety deposit box. So, these are boxes. I've given you the meaning right here. These are boxes that are well, it says a lockable metal box or drawer, especially in a bank vault used for safely storing valuable papers, jewelry, etc. There's many things that you can put in uh a safety deposit box as long as they're small because typically they're not very large. Um, and you would keep this at the bank and people will store valuables in there. Uh, and they would get a safety deposit box. Okay. So, hopefully, again, that's a it's another word that you may come across, movie, TV show, um, that you may hear. Again, this is something they have at banks. Then, let's keep moving on. This is another one, and this one I think is a little more tricky. um looking for a phrase and I guess you could say it is a collocation. So for example, they purchased the home when the bank extended their m of credit. So what word would go in there? And I say it's more of a collocation because you would hear that phrase being used together, your m of credit. I need the bank to extend my m of credit and then I can make a a larger purchase. So what word goes in there? All right. They purchased the home when the bank extended their m of credit. What do you think? All right. So, wow. I thought this one would be a little tricky, but some of you uh you some of you seem to you've heard this before. I'm guessing again like these are this is these are words that I think are frequently used together. Excellent. Eddie, uh Kevin, Carill, uh Angela, we're talking about line of credit. So in this case I've highlighted here it just the your line of credit means the meaning of this is an amount of credit extended to the borrower. So basically credit refers to capital. The bank is giving you some capital. Typically they're letting you borrow money. All right? Money extended to the borrower. You're increasing your line of credit and then you could purchase uh something that might be a bit more expensive. So again, it's not uh something that you're you're going to hear all the time, but good to know. Like I said, as long as you learn something new, that's the most important thing. Then uh we have this one. Banks will provide you with a monthly detailing your transactions. Banks will provide you with a monthly detailing your transactions. What do you you have money in the bank typically? I think all banks are the same with this. Each month you're going to get this and it shows all of your transactions. Maybe you get it in in the mail. I think nowadays uh many banks have it all online. So, what do you think? Write your answers in the chat or write them in the comments. I think this one was a little bit easier. Excellent. uh Karina Pac uh AV trying to throw out some different ones. Uh Win theory. So yes, the the correct answer is a statement. You you get your monthly statement and it shows all the transactions that you've made. Then here's another one. We're going to keep going. This one I have two blanks in here for you. So again, think of the context, the situation. If you take out a M and borrow money from the bank, talked about borrow and lend, you will have to pay some m, which is a small percentage. So these words I think are pretty common. So I imagine this might be a little uh easier. If you take out a m from the uh if you take out a m and borrow money from the bank, you will have to pay some m which is a small percentage. So in both of these situations, I give you the blank and then kind of follow it up with the meaning. All right? You take out a m in which case you're borrowing money from the bank and then you have to pay the second blank which is going to be a percentage. That would be the key word. So the two blanks in there, uh, we're talking about if you take out a loan and borrow money from the bank, that is what you're doing. It is a loan. This is a noun. You'll have to pay some interest. And interest is a small percentage uh just to have the benefit of being able to borrow that money. You get a loan and you have to pay some interest on that loan. All right? So I think a lot of you got that one. Perfect. The next one is this one. Think about it. This is the difference between credits and debits in an account is the what? What do you think? So we have you know on the one hand we have credit on the other hand we have debit and when you talk about the difference between those then you have your what? So again, this is the meaning of the word. Uh I'm giving you the meaning and I'm just blanking it out. And the big hint in this one would be that picture right there. This image is what what what's going on. Uh so I think probably that made it a little easier. At least I hope so. But the the difference between credits and debits in an account is the balance. So, another this is a very again useful word. We're talking about a bank. You have an account. Um, you get your monthly statement and it's going to tell you what your balance is. Okay? How much money you have in your account. Um, knowing the credits and the debits and the difference between the two is is the balance. What is what's your current balance? Then here's this one. Here's another picture. Again, I think this one's a little easier. What is this? Okay. I'm not asking what the guy's doing. Just what what is he standing next to? What do you call uh I I was about to to say a word that would have you know made it a lot easier even though again I I think this is uh many of you are familiar with this. So this is a picture of what it is an acronym for bonus points. I don't know if you uh know what the acronym stands for, but as many of you are putting down there, all right, excellent. The answers are just rolling right in. So, this it's an ATM. The ATM stands for automated teller machine. Okay. So, uh no matter where you are in the world, you find a bank, typically there's an ATM right outside. It allows you to easily uh withdraw some money. There's that word again, withdraw. you're going to withdraw money uh from the ATM. All right. So, this one is this one's a little more challenging. Okay. So, this is more specific to the United States, which is where I'm from. So, in the US, if a business is about to go bankrupt, right, they're they're losing money. This is a big problem. They may file for chapter what? So chapter it's synonymous with bankruptcy more or less. So uh again this is uh a phrase well chapter which is more connected to the United States because it's part of the um the law. So, in the US, if a business is about to go bankrupt, they may file form. And again, this is another phrase that if you watch a lot of movies, TV shows, you'll hear you I'm sure you've heard this phrase before, but it's pretty specific. And if you don't know, then that's good if you learn a new phrase. So, what we're talking about, it seems like some of you have heard uh heard of this. We're talking about chapter 11. So, chapter 11 in like law is what it allows businesses to restructure well to restructure the business in order so that they can make an attempt to pay off some of uh uh their debts and to repay the creditors. And then businesses will file for chapter chapter 11. they'll try to restructure and sometimes they you could say they come out of chapter 11 and then they start running their business again. Um, but this happens when businesses are losing money and yes, they're about to go bankrupt and they file for chapter 11. It basically gives them some sort of uh protection uh from lawsuits and allows them to attempt to pay pay off these debts. So, with all of these lessons, the main goal that I that I hope from all of this is that you learn something new. Here is um the vocabulary list. These are all the words and phrases that I had included in this lesson right here. Uh if you want because I know I had mentioned it before. Um you can I'm going to add it down in the description below if you would like to get a copy of this lesson PDF. Uh I'll throw it right here in the chat right here. Boom. Okay. You can click on that link, get a copy of these lesson notes. You're basically joining our email community. in which case I'll also send you some other cool and useful resources from time to time. All right, so thank you guys so much. It's good to do like another little live lesson and and get to connect and see everybody once again. I hope that you learn some new words and phrases trying to expand your vocabulary a little bit. I do think this is very useful when talking about banking and finance because it is a part of our everyday lives. So just to give you some shoutouts, thank you uh for joining Vicki Gustav, Talal, Angela, um so many familiar faces, Carill, Nil, uh Pac, Eddie, uh it's just great to see everybody. Hopefully, Maria, hopefully I'll be able to do another live lesson soon in the near future. It really just depends. My schedule's been very hectic these past few months. But it's been great seeing you and I will see you. Oh yeah, if you did learn something new, please hit that like button. I'll throw that in there right now. Please hit that like button. So I will --- ## 112. ADVANCED COURTROOM VOCABULARY ๐Ÿ‘จโ€โš–๏ธ | Incredibly Useful Words & Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8umdJfJaVno` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8umdJfJaVno) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:09:23 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson in which we are going to learn courtroom vocabulary so if you enjoy building your vocabulary which I think you do please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher if you don't know me and you've never been here before my name is Wes the Channel interactive English it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals and vocabulary is essential when it comes to achieving those goals so also the other thing I'd like to point out if you would like a copy of the lesson notes you can access these the slides that you see right next to me click on the link down in the description if you are already a part of our community uh check your email because I have sent them to you so I will throw that in the chat right there you can click on that link or the one down in the description if you would like to access the lesson notes so that you can review because that is the best way to remember the words and phrases and continuously build your vocabulary so this it's a quiz lesson and I want you to participate I want you to write your answers in the chat in the comments you can also tell me your name I'd love to hear from you uh especially if you're new to the channel tell me where you're from so let's begin with some pre-trial words and phrases this is definitely I think a bit more advanced I think a lot of people watch TV shows movies relate that take place in the courtroom so this this is vocabulary you may have heard of before I don't know if you would actively use much of it because it's very specific but again it's good to know you'll read this articles uh like I said movies TV shows so let's let's jump into it here is the first question I am going to I'll read it to you I'll give you a moment to think of the word or phrase and then I'll tell you the answer so the proceeding in which a defendant is brought to the court is brought to court informed of the charges and asked to plead guilty or not guilty is called and what so this is a word that again if you're reading if somebody if somebody's in trouble with the law and there's an article about it in the newspaper yes you may come across this word that's why it's important and it refers to this proceeding the defendant must come in and say whether they're going to plead guilty or not guilty what is that proceeding called there is one hint and the hint would be that article and because then that tells you that the next word word well it's going to begin with a vowel sound so what do you think write your answers in the chat in the comments so all right this is good I like I told you I think some of this will definitely be new so if we're talking about that proceeding that proceeding is called an arraignment the defendant comes in and they must they they're asked to plead are you guilty or are you not guilty that is the arraignment to give you some more examples because I thought maybe this might be new here are some news headlines using this word and again some of it's political because in the US there's been a lot of uh well some people that have uh are in trouble with the law so for example that first one it says Hunter Biden arraignment they're talking about Joe Biden son president's son pleads not guilty to gun charges this happened during the arraignment or NASA murder suspect waves arraignment ordered held without bail when somebody waves arraignment I think they're just saying look they they're just waving their right to be there they don't need to be there and then finally down here Donald Trump pleads not guilty to election charges in latest arraignment so if we're talking about that proed proceeding when the defendant comes in and they plead guilty or not guilty we're talking about the arraignment the next one right here so a m I almost said the word and just told you the answer a m is the testimony of a witness other than in open court often in the form of an oral statement made before an officer who is authorized to administer Oaths so think about the situation that last part this person is going to give testimony and they're a witness maybe it's not an open court but they're going before somebody who is an authorized official that can administer Oaths that means that this is more serious this person really should tell the truth they must tell the truth and they are basically giving a what a lot of times you're going to use it with the verb give to give a M it refers to the testimony of a witness and haven't uh seen the correct answer a lot of people trying to put uh indictment indictment is really this the charges that are are are being brought uh against somebody and like somebody is indicted and they're being charged with with a crime it doesn't mean they're guilty or not guilty but I see that getting thrown in there a lot so in this case we're talking about the testimony it is referred to as a deposition so I told you that a lot of times you might hear people use it with uh give somebody's going to give a deposition and they're going to go before an officer under oath and basically say what they know and they're going to give a deposition so once again this is more advanced but if you're following the news like I said there are some people have been uh caught up ER with you know caught up in a courtroom lately these are words and phrases that you may hear and that you may come across so a deposition is when that person they're giving their testimony but it's under oath all right so feel like it's been uh it's been a little Challen I'm not making it easy on you for this one all I wanted you to do was to try to look at the picture and see if you can tell me the word that I I'm I'm thinking of so you see all these folders there and there's that magnifying glass like you're looking through it you're trying to find information in general the word that I'm looking for I'll go ahead and talk a little bit about the meaning this is the process that both parts ities basically um the the the attorneys the prosecutor the defendant they're going to share information or basically they're going to let all the information out that they have so that the other party can prepare and they can get organized and you're going to look through all of this stuff this is known as what and sometimes people don't go to court because they're work worried about this they don't want all the information out there but if you do go to court then this this is what this is how things get revealed a lot of um if you were following again the the Fox News defamation lawsuit there's a lot of information that came out in this process and I saw the correct answer yes uh tiura we're talking about I'm trying to describe Discovery this is the procedure in a lawsuit in which each party through the law of civil procedure can obtain evid evidence from the other party or parties and you it's referred to as Discovery and it Things become more known and it allows people to kind of prepare for the trial like I said this is the this vocabulary that we're looking at now is pre-trial words and phrases I know that was difficult I think this one will be a little easier don't worry don't worry if you're if you're thinking like oh goodness I I didn't know any of these when the court M uh I'm giving you the first letter of those two words it requires a person to appear before the uh sorry that should be before the court not the course that's a typo to give testimony or submit evidence when a c when the court m a m what words uh there are two words that are missing there and this is what requires someone to appear before the court and they give testimony evidence they have they have to answer questions so again this is different than the arraignment that's when the defendant would show up to say guilty or not guilty this is more about testimony evidence sometimes people don't want to provide evidence and that that is when the court will do this and they will the first word yes issue and that other words they're going to issue a what this is a common cocation which is why I included it Al together the court will issue a subpoena saw it Edward great job Angela nice so when the court issues a subpoena then it it's more serious you don't want to you can get into a lot of trouble if you're not going to comply with the subpoena because this means that you are required to come in there give some evidence uh provide submit evidence give testimony talk about what you know if they issue a subpoena and remember that with the the pronunciation subpoena you're not going to hear that b sound silent but the pronunciate subpoena if you issue a subpoena nice I think again I feel like you guys knew this one it's it's a pretty common phrase that's used when talking about like pre-trial and they want to get testimony if you learn something new please you can let me know go ahead and hit that like button that tells me okay you're learning new words you're building your vocabulary and again I don't expect you to remember all of this but as you continue to read about cases that are happening in the courtroom you will come across the the these words and phrases trust me so this is what is going to help you then remember it put it up here in your active memory so let's talk about some trial words and phrases and actually I feel like I'll go ahead and tell you I think as we go through this it will get a little easier for some typically it go the other way and I start out easy and get a little more difficult the way it's turned out this lesson with the pre-trial words and phrases I think that was uh the most difficult part we'll see so this next one is a false statement made under oath which a which is a criminal offense is called what so if you are under oath you shouldn't lie that's that's a big no no that's a problem but if you do lie and you make a false statement then what is this Criminal offense called and sometimes you may hear it used with the verb to commit to commit what and I saw some great answers in there excellent Magdalena uh sjad perfect perjury we're talking about perjury so uh raphaela nice excellent good to see you uh too hi if we're this is this is a I would say a false statement you could say a lie somebody lied under oath they commit perjury that is the criminal offense a lot of times people will use words like lying because it it's just more commonly used but if you specifically want to refer to the criminal offense you would say it's perjury to commit perjury great job La nice excellent here we go I I'm trying to all right all right hopefully what is this what is this you May if you're looking closely maybe you'll find the word in there somewhere I've I've actually blocked out uh the top part of it because that's uh what what it is but in general it's kind of what it says up there it's a sworn statement but what would you call this form this paper that you would submit and you're basically providing a sworn statement that hey this is what I saw this is what happened and a notary May acknowledge this now this doesn't mean that it's absolutely true people have again lied when they've filled out these statements so but a sworn statement in like this form this paper what would you call this again it is a word that I think is pretty common if you're going to read about some article of some who's in the courtroom and there's a there's a a trial going on and you're trying to keep up with the information and again this is something that I think you will come across whether it's we're talking about politicians or famous people you're going to find people that are in trouble with the law all the time so the word that I'm talking about great job nice is an affidavit so you can see up there I kind of uncovered it in affidavit this is a written or printed statement made under oath so again it it is more serious even though I feel like it does the reason I say it it doesn't mean that it's absolutely true because sure people lie under oath they commit perjury it happens uh but this is a great job uh give some quick little shout outs I heard like marrow nice bright future good so the other thing that I want to talk about quickly the pronunciation there are four syllables the stress is on that third syllable affidavit affidavit an affidavit so we're talking about that proposal that statement under oath and affidavit here is the next one you guys are I think you're doing well if a court or someone in Authority a decision or judgment they officially reject it I think this one it it could be a little challenging because it's not a a verb that I think is used often even outside of a courtroom and I'll I'll go ahead and tell you it is a verb if a court or someone in Authority a decision or judgment they officially reject it and you could think about it as a little bit of a collocation this verb and noun you're going to m a decision or m a judgment and once again you are rejecting it so in this case the verb that I'm looking for I'll go ahead and tell you I think this one is a bit more challenging is to quash so if someone quashes a decision or judgment they're rejecting it some other collocations I decided to include down here with this verb in the courtroom somebody could uh quash a motion and they reject it or they could quash evidence and they're saying look we're rejecting this it's uh you know we're not we're not going to use it and we're going to quash the evidence so hopefully maybe that might be a new verb for you this one I think is probably more commonly used than talking about quashing a motion or quashing a decision but in this case we're talking about the M of so again this is a phrase that's used together refers to the standard used to prove allegations in a court proceeding and I think the key word in there we're talking about the standard to prove allegations so to give you a little bit of a hint if there is a trial going on generally speaking I would say the M of M is on the prosecutor and you might follow it with that preposition is on this person and they are the ones who have to meet that standard to prove that the allegations are true and if they don't then probably the person is going to be found not guilty so I thought maybe that of may help you kind of jog your memory thinking about this phrase so when we're talking about the standard we're talking about the burden of proof and I mentioned that you may hear people use this and follow with on like the burden of proof is on this person so a lot of times it would be on the prosecution because they're the ones who need to prove Beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty so the prosecution needs to meet that standard so the burden of proof is on them and again you're referring to that standard the burden of proof great phrase okay now let's get to the sentencing all right so we did pre-trial uh and then we talked about some words and phrases that are more commonly used when when the trial is going on and let's say that it's now over and we're at the end and we're on the sentencing portion of this and let's talk about some words and phrases that have to do with sentencing so oh gosh all right I I decided I used this picture bonus points if you can tell me who this is I think you probably know but and means that the defendant is found not guilty because the prosecution did not prove its case Beyond A Reasonable Doubt so the burden of proof I said is on the prosecution if they don't prove the case Beyond A Reasonable Doubt then there's likely to be n what once again there's a the key word in there n that article tells you that this next word is going to begin with a vow sound yes great job Alex OJ Simpson and the reason why I included that picture of OJ because that is what happened in this case personally I think OJ was guilty but uh that that's not what happened there was and what this is another word that I think is pretty common in when you hear about sentencing if somebody's not guilty of course you you could say I see many people like writing innocent sure you could say somebody is Innocent but you're using it as an adjective in this case we're talking about a noun you would not say somebody is an innocent or in this case like it's not a uh a formal Court term that is used but I do see other people talking about yes all right excellent uh but remember you use it as a noun we're talking about an acquittal so you could say somebody was acquitted but in this case if I wanted to be picky and say we're okay we're referring to the noun in aqu quid so an acquittal means that the defendant is not guilty they the burden of proof was on the prosecution they didn't reach uh meet that standard and there was an acquittal so the next one like kind of following up on this a little bit and maybe I don't think that's too much of a hint and means that you have been proven to have not committed the alleged offense or offenses what what word would you put here and again you see that article and you know that the word begins with a vowel sound so an aqu quiddle is when the prosecution they don't prove it Beyond A Reasonable Doubt there was an AC quiddle but like I said I gave you my opinion I thought O.J was guilty that I don't want to give it away too much that doesn't mean that this person was what which is the word I'm talking about here and means that you have been proven to have not committed a crime and that that's really the key there is proof that it was not you so what what would that be it's different than an aqu quiddle so the word that I'm looking for or yes nice Lait an exoneration so if somebody says they were exonerated it means that there is proof there is evidence that they did not commit the crime but here again I'm using it as a noun an exoneration means that you you're proven not to commit the crime so for example if going back to the the OJ case where he was tried for murder and he was acquitted because they did not prove Beyond A Reasonable Doubt at least in the eyes of the jury so there was an acquittal they never found the murderer so hypothetically if the murderer was found then you could say he was exonerated because okay we found the criminal we know for a fact that this person did not commit the crime so that in that case they are exonerated or you could say it's an Exon eration so there is a difference between an acquittal and an exoneration when you're exonerated there is proof that it was definitely not you which is not the same with an aquid how about this phrase right here after a defendant is found guilty they can M and or a request that a higher Court review the decision to determine if it was correct I think this is a phrase that you probably familiar with maybe you've heard it it's very common and I think this happens all the time in the judicial system there is a an initial judgment and if the defendant does not like that judgment they can what this is a and it is a phrase so I'm including it together they M and M so you would want to use it with this verb even though the the last part of this that last word that is the request uh that that some higher Court review it to determine well was this correct were things done by the book was this the right decision I'm a little surprised I guess I thought people uh might be familiar with this again it's a pretty common phrase uh lonel excellent to file an appeal so if the initial judgment comes down and the guilty party the defendant doesn't like it then they can they can file an appeal as long as they didn't represent themselves again I'm not a lawyer but I think people defendants can represent themselves in a court of law and I think if they do that then they lose their right to an appeal but if that's that's another reason why you would want to have a lawyer somebody else representing you so then if there's an issue you can you can try to file an appeal appeal but that is uh the word an appeal and like I said you're often going to use it with that verb to file an appeal how about this when a jury is unable to reach a verdict it's considered a what what would you call this jury they can't reach a verdict and you would call this jury a this is a little more challenging I don't think it's a phrase that you would hear as often especially is talking about filing an appeal because I think that's pretty common in the judicial system but specifically again this is very specific the jury can't reach a decision uh or the jury can't reach a verdict so you would call this a if you're not sure and specifically I'm talking about the jury what would you refer to the jury uh or actually the process I guess you could say I'm talking about if the jury cannot reach a verdict it would be called a hung jury a hung jury maybe that's new hopefully it is so these are the words and phrases that we talked about I told you I broke it into three different parts pre-trial trial and sentencing if you would like to get the lesson notes please uh click on that link down in the description if you're already a part of our community then check your email I think I've sent them to you very quickly because I got to get going actually I have a class right now uh starting in a few minutes how did you do on the quiz okay I'm going to say nailed it um okay and I need whoops um I need a lot more practice this with my courtroom vocabulary but let me know what you think if you enjoyed the lesson and you did learn something new of course I appreciate it you hit that like button that tells me that these vocabulary lessons are helpful I know with this topic it is rather specific but that's a good thing because I think in this case there are many people it's as often in the news if there's a famous celebrity or a politician someone is having legal troubles and they find themselves in the courtroom these are words and phrases that you're going to come across that you could use even if you're having a conversation and they definitely are a bit more advanced I appreciate you guys being here with me today thank you so much for watching the lesson and participating because I love that that is uh this is uh interactive English after all and just looking at some of these poll results uh yeah I don't again if you said you need more practice that's okay uh the these are challenging words uh have --- ## 113. ADVANCED DENTAL VOCABULARY ๐Ÿฆท | Words & phrases you should know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `v4Nx-tBHkvU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Nx-tBHkvU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:10:24 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson sorry I had a little bit of a mishap I just spilled water all over myself but that's not very important what we're going to do today is I am going to see just how much vocabulary you know when it comes to the dentist now this is something that I think is very useful because we all do this or at least I think we all should go to the dentist from time to time if you're like me then you probably don't enjoy going to the dentist but I was there a few weeks ago which is what really inspired me to do a lesson and talk about some of this vocabulary now I know that many of you are very proficient some of these words you may already know which is great I'm confident that you'll learn maybe one or two new words that are not as common in just general casual conversation but these are words that are helpful if you go to the dentist and you need to talk about a problem that you're having something going on with your your tooth or teeth and yeah let's let's just go ahead and begin and see how much you know and of course I want you to participate in the lesson write your answer in the in the chat in the comments even if you're watching this later I also want to mention if you would like to get a copy of these lesson notes just click on the link down in the description and you join our email Community if you're already a part of the email Community then I've sent them to you already and you can check your inbox but I will throw that right there in the chat that link but it's also down in the description I like the little Smiley Emojis all right so let's begin with some well I say must know words and phrases because I think these are very common when you go to the dentist and the dentist is going to be telling you about things you should do or things you need to do so I'm just going to give you the meaning and I want you to tell me the vocabulary word what word are we talking about and in this case we're talking about damage to a tooth's surface I'm having trouble saying tooths damage to a tooth's surface so this I I kind of maybe giving a little bit of a hint talking about just how common this is but if you go to the dentist and they are checking out what's going on and you have some damage to that surface they may tell you that you have this what are we what are we talking about damage to a two surface and this I don't don't worry don't think too much about the picture um and what I would say I I think the picture maybe makes you think of like a toothache but really what we're talking about is decay all right great job uh L dice yanu um this is a word that could be either a noun or verb the meaning is the same so I gave you a couple of examples down there your teeth have some Decay that is something a dentist might tell you or they could say you know your teeth are starting to Decay that that damage is starting to appear but this is a common verb or noun that you may hear if you're you're at the dentist and they may talk about Decay that's happening all right then we have no I think I think more of you will get this one a damaged area in the the hard surface of your teeth that develop into time tiny holes what are we talking about here and again I've already mentioned that this first part these are words and phrases you need to know very common you go to the dentist and especially if you're traveling in uh whether you live in an English-speaking country or you're traveling in an English-speaking country and you may need to go to the dentist this is very useful so if we're talking about a damaged area in the hard surface of your teeth that they develop in you know into these tiny holes in that case we're talking about a cavity and I'm sure that well I don't know I can only speak uh for myself over the years of course I feel like I have had cavities from time to time I I think it's a normal thing that people many people experience when they go to the dentist they they have a cavity all right uh if you have ever had a cavity hit that like button all right that'll let me know kind of give me a sense of okay maybe wow a lot of people have cavities so the next one is think about the the process that we're following okay the dentist says yes there is Decay oh you have a cavity now we need to treat that cavity what are they going to do this is used to treat a small hole or cavity in a tooth so that small hole again it's just a another cavity is another way of saying it that's that meaning so like I said this is this is actually what the the experience I had a few weeks ago the dentist talked about Decay and there a oh yes there's a cavity and we're going to have to do what we're going to you need a what this is used to treat a small hole in this case we're talk talking about a filling nice Julia Loi well done so once again if you've had a cavity then it's likely that you've also had a filling and this is what it's called in English if you go to the dentist and they may ask you stuff like oh you know when's the how many fillings do you have or you know they can tell when they look inside your mouth you know how many feelings you've had over the years so again kind of going through that process to DEC cavity filling very common if you go to the dentist so now you can look at the picture the picture accurately represents the the word or words that I'm talking about this is a person who is trained and licensed to clean teeth take dental X-rays and provide relat related dental services and care this is somebody who works um well at a dentist office it's not the the title is not dentist but it's the other person or people there may be two or three that also work there what would you call this person generally they do the cleaning they take the x-rays this is again what happened when I went in there a few weeks ago I'm not talking about the dentist but the person who I I would say is is helping out the dentist and doing some of these other activities what would you call this person I know everybody's thinking like you got dentist in your mind I think a dentist is also somebody who's train to clean teeth take dental X-rays but I'm not talking about that the person who works with a dentist so think about it like at a um Hospital you have a doctor and then the nurse would also take care of patients and help them but it's not a nurse because if we're talking about a dentist well in that case we're talking about a dental hygienist so a dental hygienist is the person who's helping out the dentist they may end up cleaning your teeth they'll do the x-rays so again this is a a good phrase or a good word uh phrase that you could know because it's a job that somebody uh may have and they say yes I am a dental hygienist and you also I mean just like dental school you go to school you have to go to school to become a dental hygienist okay now this is this was actually in a lesson that I did a few weeks ago unrelated to uh the dentist because that is our topic today but this is talking about the last tooth to come in at the back of each side of both both your upper and lower jaw and they are there sometimes they come in a lot I I think often people get them removed I know I had mine removed and we're talking about what and this is sometimes you may have this conversation when people are talking about their teeth when they're especially these teeth in particular we're talking about your what I think you guys probably can guess this so again the last tooth at the very back and sometimes they don't come in and you don't need to get them taken out but if they do come in and you got to remove your wisdom tooth so you could say you know one would be your wisdom tooth but in general you have wisdom teeth on both sides at the very back of your upper and lower jaw your wisdom teeth well done so again the these are common words this is useful vocabulary dentist deay cavity filling dental hygienist wisdom tooth so the next part that I want to do because we're going to switch it up as we go through the lesson again if you're joining us just write your answers in the chat write your answers in the comments because this is interactive English it's all about participating and practicing your skills now I want you to identify the pictures simple enough I'm going to show you the picture and I want you to tell me well what what is the word what vocabulary word am I talking about so here's the first one now I yeah I don't want to give it away I think you can look at the picture and tell okay this is what we're we're talking about what what word captures this picture right here it's something that again everybody I think should do the dentist for sure will tell you to do this each day and they say you need to use M or you could use it as a verb you need to M your teeth so the answer is floss nice LLY Manuel uh Julia so floss it can look like this you have those sticks with the the string between there that is the floss or you could it comes in a pack and you just take the floss wrap it around your fingers that's what I do each night and then you floss in between your teeth so like I said it could be a noun and the dentist says you need to use floss or you could use it as a verb to floss to floss your teeth what are these and this is something that uh people like I had them when I was younger and I think it's I I want to say it's fairly common honestly I I don't know I'm a teacher I'm not a dentist but once again when it comes to your teeth when it comes to taking care of your teeth this is something that you you see people have this and generally I think a lot of times when they're younger but even when they're older I've seen people um have these and we're talking about braces yes you have braces elel Wally Manuel uh viia great so again hopefully the some of this may be new uh I think a lot of this is pretty common right now when we do that final part I'm pretty sure there's a word or two you you haven't heard of before unless I don't know unless you're a dentist or a dental hygienist then maybe you have what is this uh we're looking at a picture of what right here and what I'm talking about is this liquid right here in the bottle that she's pouring into either the cup or the cap maybe I'm not really sure but she's pouring it in there and then she's well I don't want to give it away she's going to do what but what is she using that is also something that I think people use daily again in order to take care of their teeth and just practice uh good hygiene so we're talking about mouthwash okay she's using mouthwash nice haa yanu Tanya okay excellent then we have this right here now this one may be uh a little trickier what are what's this I I'll go ahead and tell you that the these are not real teeth these are fake teeth but people will use them and I think in general older people use these or will have them again that's not always the case but uh in general somebody who's older may have what and this is a picture of them right here I kind of told you what they are they're not real teeth they're fake teeth and you would say that you have what see the answer in there you're right Lolly so we're we're talking about Dentures so Dentures are just yeah artificial fake teeth but again people have them they need them uh maybe I'm not really again sure what what what would lead to someone getting Dentures but generally speaking older people may have dentures and yes they are not real this is I guess you could say it's a it's a well part of our body it's part of our mouth and I tried to find an image that captures what I'm talking about so what part of your mouth right there she's showing you uh I'm assuming I think that may be a woman in the picture but she's showing you her what what what are those in your mouth and this is one of the reasons why I think people would also use mouthwash they use mouthwash to really have strong healthy what and the word that we're talking about are gums you want to have strong healthy gums and again I think this is more common um than than some of those others gums mouthwash I think these are things you hear all the time you go to the dentist that they tell you things you need to do you need to use floss uh try to use mouthwash I don't know if you'll probably may not be talking about Dentures um it depends on you know where you're at in your life and and the the maintenance that you have uh to do with your teeth but Vicki and Gustaf said they cost $8,000 I did not know that that Dentures were that expensive okay so the next part of this quiz is just complete completing the sentence I'm going to give you the sentence I'll give you the meaning of the missing word and I want you to tell me which word goes in the blank and each sentence there are two of them there are two missing words so the first sentence I was given some M when I had a m I was given some this is a it's the the condition of not feeling pain it's basically going to make the pain go away and they may give you this if you're having a dental procedure that they're worried about okay this is going to cause the patient this may cause some pain so we're going to give the patient some what when I had a so this is the a procedure used to treat infection at the center of a tooth and I do think these words are common and I actually was given some of this uh I have not had this procedure down here I may need it in the future and I am not looking forward to it I think everybody you kind of get that first one again to just take away the pain we're talking about anesthesia but that procedure that somebody may have you're treating getting an infection at the center of a tooth Claudia well claudo well done we're talking about a root canal so I was given some anesthesia when I had a root canal and I think depending on what you're having done at the dentist they may give you some anesthesia or you may ask for some if you're worried that it's going to hurt and again I think a root canal is kind of a larger problem so in general when you have those cavities those holes you can get a filling but if it's a little more serious which mine is it's heading in that direction the dentist told me that maybe I I may need to get a root canal we'll have to see one thing I want to point out is the pronunciation anesthesia it kind of is pronounced the way it sounds the one thing that can be a little tricky are the two e's because that first e and it's the schw sound it's an unstressed V sound and that next e is the long e because that is the stress syllable that anesia anesthesia so that the the that is the stress syllable so that's why I think it can be a little tricky because both of those E's that first one's the schah the next one is that long e sound anesthesia okay was root canal good all right the next one one they took a m during my m not giving you much help with the context for these sentences so they took a what we're talking about uh an x-ray examination that captures the entire mouth in a single image okay what I I guess I'll go ahead and tell you like what type of X-ray is it so it has uh it's a phrase they took a m during my and this is we're talking about the process used by dentists to carefully review your oral health so this is a general meaning but I'm talking about the process this is what everybody would go in for like once a year you go into the dentist for your what and that is the second part right there the dentists they review your oral health they're checking your teeth to see if there are any problems but once a year you're going to go in for this appointment and that is that that process of them checking carefully so let's go back to the first one uh I'm surprised I thought this one would be I thought these would maybe be a little easier so we're talking about an x-ray again the entire mouth in a single image so in photography you can do this as well you start to the side and you go across and you get everything and if you're putting it in a single image well then that is a Panoramic X-Ray a Panoramic X-Ray and that General checkup you could just say like an annual checkup you do it once a year you could call it it it may be called an oral exam a dental checkup an annual checkup there are different words that or phrases that you could use to talk about this just review that a dentist would do to see if there are any problems but maybe you need to go into the dentist and you say look yeah I just need to just come in for a dental checkup and then they know what it is that they want you to do a dental checkup excellent okay here's the next one unfortunately I had a tooth so I needed a root canal we just talked about that after the dentist told me I would need a a so the first one it is a noun I had a tooth we're we're talking about um tooth as an adjective but that noun is a pocket of pus that's caused by a bacterial infection this is a really more of a dental word it's not one that you may end up using in just casual conversation you may it it just depends uh uh but down here I think this is another one that's a little more common when you're talking about that tooth shaped cap it's placed over a tooth it's that that covering so what are we talking about here wow excellent great job uh nice Loi elel nice so that first one we're talking about um a tooth abscess unfortunately I had a tooth abs and maybe you could hear about it because it's not just used when going to the dentist you could use this anytime you're talking about like pus that that kind of builds up um and it's infected I had a tooth abscess so I needed a root canal and then after the dentist told me I would need a crown so a crown is that uh cap that's going to go around that tooth to protect it and you get a c fortunately I've I've never I've only had fillings um I was a little worried when the doctor told me or the dentist told me oh you may need a root canal we'll see but if that's the case then who knows maybe I'll also need uh a crown as well we'll see not looking forward to this I told you I'm not uh I'm not too keen on going to the dentist then we have this uh next sentence the dentist told me I had lost some tooth M because of my teeth once again that first one the protective outer covering of your tooth it's very specific it's not a word that you're probably going to use just talking to your friends whereas people they talk about their teeth they may talk about cavities or fillings or gums or mouthwash uh floss things like that um the the next one's a little more specific specific so maybe it's a new word but this I would say is common and you people would talk about this the the condition in which you Nash or clench your teeth what is that called the dentist told me I had lost some tooth because of M my teeth and yeah if you're doing this then you may lose some of that protective outer covering I always feel like when I say like oh this is a little more diff ult word maybe uh it's going to be challenging everybody seems to just oh put it throw it down in there uh it seems like you guys know that which is great so that protective outer covering yes is called enamel well done Sarah book uh Olga great and that condition which I said is common because I think some people do this they have a habit it's it could be a bad habit and you're we're talking about grinding your teeth or clenching your teeth I think more commonly people would use the word grinding you're grinding your teeth sometimes this happens when people are sleeping and they end up grinding their teeth and they damage some of that um enamel now down here I included the medical term for teeth grinding is called bruxism but once again I think overwhelmingly you're talking to someone else even the dentist they may just say you know grinding your teeth or they may ask you have you been grinding your teeth like yeah that's not a good habit try to you know stop doing that something like that along those lines so those were there were a lot of words in and phrases in today's lesson as I said I think some or many of them you already knew which is it's always great to get that review because this is very practical you wherever you live or you you got you're probably going to go the dentist or if you're traveling especially in english- speaking country and you have a problem uh with your teeth you may need to go to the dentist and these are some useful words and phrases that you may need to use or that you'll hear the the dentist use so once again if you want to get a copy of the lesson notes click on that link down in the description if you're a part of our email Community I'll go ahead and send them to you if you want to review and continue building your vocabulary if you enjoyed the lesson please hit hit that like button that tells me that I should do more of these lessons people are learning a lot and it's always good to build your vocabulary I want to give uh some quick shoutouts thank you uh for joining me today Loi Manuel uh elel Victor Gustav good to see you and yeah I hope that uh with all of these lessons I hope that you just learned something new so have a wonderful day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 114. ADVANCED DRIVING VOCABULARY ๐Ÿš˜ | Words & phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `08o4nWu9QMI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08o4nWu9QMI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:09:37 | --- hello welcome to today's lesson we are going to talk about driving vocabulary and the first thing I want to tell you is that if you would like to get a copy of the lesson notes just the notes that you see up here right next to me you can join our community and I will send you them in your email I will send them to your email and if you are already a part of our community check your inbox they have probably already been sent to you but let me go ahead and I'll just throw that in the chat just as a quick reminder so this is something that we do a lot many of many of you get in the car every single day and that's why I want to talk to you about useful and important driving words and phrases that I think you're likely to come across so I want to begin talking about the parts of the car and this this is a quiz lesson so I also want you to participate write your answers in the chat in the comments and also if this is your first time here let me know tell me your name where you're from once again write to me in the chat or the comments I just love hearing from you so I am going to show you the picture and I just want you to tell me the word so here's the first one and I think it's it's evident based on the picture but what what would you call that what what is that in the car you get in sometimes you fix it you you turn it and what is it that you are looking I always got to be careful because I feel like as I talk I really want to just say the word but write that in the chat in the comments and then I will tell you the answer and if you don't know hopefully in this lesson you will absolutely learn something new so we're talking about the rear view mirror so this is your rear view mirror and down here below that on the side it is also a rear view mirror but if I wanted to be more specific I would say that is your side rear view mirror but the one that's really almost right in front of you as you get in the car that you look through quite often that is your rear view mirror excellent Angela talal vincias uh I'll try to throw out some shout outs as I go through the lesson what is that right there uh we're again we're talking about parts of the car and this is well it's going to come up later in a question and I'll when it comes up I'll I'll mention it but what what is that what part of the car you see that that part right here would be in the front and that would be the back but this is something a part that I I think is a it's good to know and excellent all right seeing some great answers so those well are your bumpers so we're talking about the front like the front bumper or the back bumper uh just in case sometimes people will uh when they when they bump a car they bump into the car with their bumper especially if you're not uh going really fast the next one well done nil Jerry Stellar great job how about this I think again you can look at the picture you know what I'm talking about but do you know what it's called and this actually has a few different names so you could write I'll tell you all of them that I know and I think there is a little bit of a distinction between the US and the UK If you don't know I am from the United States so of course that that's the primary answer that I will give you but there are definitely several different phrases that you could use when describing this thing so I see some great answers I think you guys you guys know these parts of the car I'm talking about the glove compartment that that's what I would call it I would say Hey you know check the glove compartment is there anything in there you may also hear people say storage compartment or I think in the UK it's more common to say glove box I think there are also parts of the US in which people would refer to this as the glove box and I want to say maybe in the Northeast they may say glove box but in general you would say the glove compartment how about this is an easier one I I think you guys know this but I wanted to include it because this is an important word this is a part of the car that you you definitely should know especially if it starts raining and you're driving with somebody and you tell them hey maybe you should turn on your what what are these called because if it is raining it's definitely important that you you have them on because you want to be safe but what what would you call these and I hope that you're thinking of this word or words right here your windshield wiper now I see that some people are saying wipers that's perfectly fine a lot of times people will just call hey are you going to turn on your wipers but if you want it to be a little more specific because that glass glass window is your windshield but you could say your windshield wipers nice job uh uh Melinda say Peter Rose talao great job nice uh Cinderella all right nice I love it all right how about this and the challenge that I want to present to you with this picture right here is I want to see if you can tell me the two names for both the US and the UK so in American English like I would call this the what and in the UK people would call this something else and I think this is uh I think this is a word that you you come across people use this we talk about driving movies TV shows and they would call this the well in the United States I would call it the trunk but in the UK people may say the boot excellent you guys did a nice job Ava Oleg hottie Peter nice and you guys are everybody's participating I love it love it when that happens okay now let's make it a little more challenging I think as we go through this I want to make it a little more difficult and these are some different driving phrasal verbs so I'm going to present you the sentence uh with the phrasal verb missing and I want you to try to put it in uh put it into context which phrasal verb would you use to complete the sentence that I'm going to give you all right so again if you're just joining us please write your answers in the comments in the chat that's what this is all about uh if you don't know me my name is Wes the channel is interactive English and I want you to participate because this is an interactive lesson I want you to write your answers down and participate in this quiz so the first one you can see the picture and this person might say my car on the side of the road now there are two blanks there so two words of course we're talking about a phrasal verb but how would you complete that sentence and I think this is a common phrasal verb one of the reasons why I put it I noticed as I done lessons and we talk about driving people sometimes just use one word and then I always have to kind of correct well in this context you would say that your car broke down on the side of the road so this person is looking at their car something is wrong my car broke down on the side of the road this is when a machine or vehicle stops working so again a machine could break down as well but generally speaking most of the time when you would use this or hear this phrasal verb being used people are going to be talking about their car and driving and as I mentioned sometimes when I would hear people tell a story and they might just say my car broke on the side of the road and that's when I would detail okay remember it's broke down your car broke down on the side of the road excellent Lolly takayo uh great to see you both nice Eric you guys rock that one all right we're going to get to one that maybe you don't know all right or maybe it's going to be a little more challenging so don't I mean read too much into the picture but he had to wait before he could um of the driveway he had to wait before he could um of the driveway now I guess I maybe you could say it's a three-word phrasal verb which would include of but there's only one you know verb and particle that's going to fit into this sentence nicely so that it uh makes sense and now there are actually there are a couple of different phrasal verbs that you could use and I'll talk about both of them in just a moment but what do you think he had to wait before he could um of the driveway so I told you there's one of two that I think really would fit this sentence and you could use either one so the one that I have is pull out you're going to pull out of the driveway and this is when you're you're moving on to the road now I saw uh some of the people put uh back out and I think that works as well you could back out of the driveway you have the car in reverse and you just back out of the driveway but I feel like if you're talking about more like moving on to the road you're gonna pull out of the driveway well done Rose um talal Angela nice of an association you nailed both of them well done so pull out pull out of back out of either one of those works and you're just moving uh out onto the the road all right here is the next one I I saw some uh different answers with that one so hopefully again maybe you you learned something new or again that makes sense thinking about pull out of back out of in that context this one I do want you to think more about the picture you see because somebody would just say a statement make sure you what and you could use that pink picture as a hint in order to guess the phrasal verb that I'm looking for and this is something that I think yeah you tell people you would you get into the car you would say this to your friend a family member a colleague make sure you what there's a phrasal verb you could see in the picture right there and kind of rambling on so give you a little more time to write your answer that you see the picture of the seat belt and another way of saying this would be hey put on your seatbelt but we're not talking about that instead I'm going to say the same thing but I'm going to say make sure you buckle up to buckle up is when you fasten the belt that keeps you in your seat and you would use this uh car you're on a plane you got to buckle up wear your seatbelt well done great job uh Jerry Ashley let's see who else we got here Julia Ahmed or Melinda all right well done buckle up so that was the phrasal verb I was looking for that question how about this right here maybe this will be a little more challenging and I know every time I say that I think everybody gets the correct answer the thing about the the situation um I can't believe that car just um so this is a phrasal verb you're going to have that pronoun me in between the verb and the particle we could have had an accident right you didn't have an accent we could have had an accent because the car just um me um so this is something that happens when you're driving you're on the road and it can be frustrating I it's it's not safe it's not a good thing this is when accidents happen if some car just you know zoom and they um so I I told you that I feel like everybody kind of nailed that one to cut off I can't believe that car just cut me off we could have had an accident it's when you're dry you drive aggressively into the path of another driver and you cut someone off all right if you guys are if you're enjoying the quiz and you're learning something new you can let me know hit that like button that tells me that I should do more of these vocabulary quizzes in the future well done uh Cinderella Cinema Park um Ahmed some names uh I can't read nil talal to cut someone off you're going to drive into their path I told you it's not a good thing how about this one right here what do you think last night I got um by a cop I think this is something that does happen in the United States quite often if somebody is speeding they run a red light some problem and maybe I'm telling you I'm telling you a story I'm talking about this situation and I say hey yeah last night you know it was terrible I got um by a cup and that picture I think accurately sums that up right there once again you would hear this movies TV shows of course there's a lot of things that involve driving and nice job Edwin higher higherman um Niha talking about the phrasal verb pulled over last night I got pulled over by a cop that's not true it didn't happen but it's happening in that picture right there is when the police would stop uh you're gonna stop your car at the side of the road you're basically gonna pull over but if the cop pulled you over it's like the police is that's the one who made you did this who made you stop your car at the side of the road and you got pulled over but again you could use it just in other another context like oh can you pull over I need to stop at the side of the road and you might have to pull over for a number of reasons here is the next part that I want to do this is we're going through this quickly and I want to see if you can identify these different driving phrases so the first one is right here and for this one I'm really giving you the meaning and I'm just blanketing it blanking out uh the word or phrase that I want you to tell me and again the picture is associated with this meaning so we're talking about a um is when you have a large number of Vehicles close together and unable to move or moving very slowly so when just like that picture when you have all these vehicles they're just close together it's moving slowly or just not moving at all it's a really really annoying situation I imagine most of you would agree with me and I could see the judges everybody talking about this probably you can I feel like I can sense your frustration as well just thinking about this word great job uh we're talking about a traffic jam um nice vincia Jackie Julia mochika uh let's see Oleg a traffic jam is when you have like all these cars close together you're unable to move it's moving slowly and you could use it with verbs like you know stuck you're stuck in a traffic jam and that is a bad situation that I don't think anybody enjoys it can be really frustrating then we have this phrase right here this is informal all right so informally a minor collision between two Motor Vehicles is called a what and you can see I told you I would bring up that uh that word the those bumpers right there that the front bumper of one car has hit or uh the the back bumper of the other car and what would you call this type of accident this minor Collision and I would say it's informal I think it's often used in the U.S I'm not so sure about the UK and I'm gonna wait I'm gonna wait and see if I if it's not it is a car crash but again car crash it could be a range especially I feel like if I think of a car crash I think of something maybe a little more severe this is minor and that's the key word here if we're talking about a minor traffic accident great job Cinderella I saw Rose uh had the first one of an association a fender bender so offender Bender is a minor collision between two vehicles so if somebody were just to casually tell you yesterday I was stuck in traffic I was in a traffic jam it was moving slowly but it just had such bad luck and I I got into a fender bender so if somebody mentions fender bender then you know that it was a minor accident probably that nobody but got hurt it was a fender bender how about uh so yes that's a good good picture of a fender bender right there how about like this uh this pick this guy right here I think it sums up the meaning so the meaning of this phrase I will I'll go ahead and tell you it's a phrase there are two words and I'm talking about anger or violence between drivers often caused by difficult driving conditions is referred to as what and I think again me being from the U.S in the U.S a lot of people have to drive to go everywhere and sometimes there are really bad and annoying driving conditions whether it's a traffic jam maybe someone cuts you off and you have this anger that just overtakes you and you're like this guy just yelling out the window what would how would you refer to that I could see that many of you put the right answer in there we're talking about road rage so that anger or violence between drivers it's referred to as road rage and yes that guy is experiencing some serious serious road rage right there the next one hmm is a time during each day when traffic is at its heaviest I I want to make a little distinction because that picture looks similar to the other one maybe we talked about a traffic jam even though that looks like a traffic jam that's not what I'm talking about the key word here is time like the time of the day so when you use this phrase you're you're talking about this specific time of the day traffic is at its heaviest likely there is going to be a traffic jam in that situation and we're talking about well done uh Angela Lolly Rush Hour so if you want to just refer to that time where most cars are there maybe it's a traffic jam maybe it's not but there's just there's a lot of cars out on the road and you're talking about Rush Hour generally speaking the time when most people finish work between like 5 p.m and 7 P.M is considered rush hour traffic and you're like yeah I'm hoping I'm going to leave early so I can avoid rush hour or maybe I'm gonna stay late do a little extra work so that I can avoid rush hour nobody likes to be in rush hour because that's when I think a lot of people may experience road rage but this again even though it looks like a traffic jam if we're talking about the time we're talking about Rush Hour rush hour traffic how about this and I think you guys if you can't think of it now I know it is a phrase that you've heard of before is a method of parking a vehicle alongside a road and in line with other parked vehicles so what this car is doing right here what what is that word giving you the meaning up here a method of parking a vehicle alongside a road and in line with other parked Vehicles is called what and this is something when you're driving it's important to learn because people should know how to do this especially if you live in a city you probably have to do this quite often and you are going to need to learn how to what what this car is doing right here is we're talking about parallel parking excellent Manuel Claire Diana nice parallel parking is the act of or the method of parking a vehicle alongside a road and you're really in line with those other cars and you are parallel parking or maybe you need to parallel park quite common if you are driving or you live in a city and you see this all the time but now you know what it's called if this is new for you you see a car they kind of stop next to the other car in front of them and then they back up and they parallel park let's see I'm curious to see how many of you know this one and I think this is this picture's a a good picture uh capturing this phrase a passenger in a car who gives the driver unwanted advice may be referred to as a what so you can see uh in the car maybe she's giving advice that he doesn't really want or he doesn't he want to hear and maybe it bothers him it annoys him but you could say in this context that she is a what and I think maybe the picture is too much of a hint because I see many people throwing in the correct answer and what I'm talking about is you could call that person a backseat driver so if somebody in the car is giving you unwanted advice they're telling you what to do hey go over move them to that Lane right there maybe you should go a little faster slow down a bit you could say that person is a backseat driver they're not driving the car but they're telling the driver what he or she should be doing and you could say somebody's a backseat driver excellent well done you guys I think a lot of you uh got that one so and again I think the picture maybe it makes it a little easier at least I hope so if you would like to get these lesson notes once again click on that link Down Below in the description if you are already a part of our email Community check your email I will send them to you here's a little bit of review of the words and phrases that we talked about in this lesson different car parts phrasal verbs useful car phrases my hope is always that with these quiz lessons that you learn something new my last question and I'm going to type it in here I just want to know and I'm going to give you a little bit of a poll how did you do in today's lesson um how did you do on the quiz and give you a chance to answer uh I'll say all of them correct all right and uh I got most of them and then the last choice would be okay I need more practice all right which is fair I think if there's something that we're not familiar with it's always good to get a little more practice I told you that my hope is that you always learn one or two new things with these lessons I I do I would I would be familiar with many of these I do think this is a bit more advanced because these are very specific when you're talking about driving if you live in the U.S you probably spend a lot of time in the car if you live somewhere else in Europe or another part of the world you may not spend as much time driving so some of these words and phrases uh may be new all right so uh I I hope that you enjoyed the lesson uh again I hope you learned something well most not I don't have many doesn't seem like many of you got all of them correct and the fact that most of you are like I got most of our I need more practice makes me think that you learn something new and if you did learn something new and enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button that's all I have for you today have a wonderful --- ## 115. ADVANCED FLYING VOCABULARY โœˆ๏ธ | Words & phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MTGvqz4wOAE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTGvqz4wOAE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:08:01 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson we are going to talk about some Advanced flying vocabulary and the first thing I want to say is that this vocabulary is very specific it's all about travel now if you are someone who flies often then you may not think well oh this is not that advanced I've heard these words and phrases before and I think that's great and then in that case you'll just get a little review but I say there Advance because you know some people fly a lot others don't fly very often but if you get on an airplane you go to the airport this is vocabulary that I think is useful and you may come across from time to time and I also want to let you know that if you would like to get a copy of the lesson notes these notes right here then check out the link down in the description you can join our email community and I you can access the notes and from from time to time I will send you notes if you're already a part of the community check your inbox I have sent them to you uh for those of you who don't know me my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and let's let's begin this is an interactive quiz so I want you to participate let's start out with uh you know talking about the airplane different parts different areas of a plane and I'll well I'll show you the picture and let you know give you information the definition down there and I want you to write your answer in the chat in the comments I want you to participate in the lesson that's what it's all about these are these are this is active learning so what would you call the compartment for the pilot in an aircraft there are actually well a couple of different words or phrases that you could use I think this part is will start out a little easy or easier and then we'll get a little it'll get a little more challenging as uh we go through this so the compartment for the pilot in an aircraft is called the cockpit or you could say flight deck either one of those works great job uh SSI excellent great to see you uh fatty acid slana Lazaro excellent so uh I'll give a few shout outs here and there as we go through this so you could say either the cockpit or refer to it as the flight deck if you are flying on an airplane and they make an announcement uh the flight attendants you may hear them use flight deck and they say that phrase the next one if you're you on a plane I'm sure you've seen this part of the plane before not many many of you may not have been into in the cockpit pit uh but if we're talking about the section of an aircraft of a plane where the passengers travel what would you call that section this section right here you get on the plane you go find your seat you sit down but that whole area that section is referred to as what I feel like some of you probably fly quite often you're like oh I know these you're gonna you're gonna uh pass this quiz with flying colors but like I said it's always good to get review and I I think there probably will even if you fly a lot there's going to be something new today at least that's my hope so uh as many of you have said in the chat you would call this the cabin so the area where people sit uh where the passengers travel they will call this the cabin and you will when you get on the plane they'll make an announcement you will definitely hear this word well done uh Julia uh Angela excellent the next one how about this right here I I'm not I know we're still it's we're in the cabin but I'm really referring to this specific this place above the seats where you can store luggage you have your bag you put it up there and then you can close it what uh excuse me what uh what would you call this it actually has a few different names and I'll accept um all of them so what what would you say then again the I think this is useful you you're on a plane you're people are going to talk about this um so one of the key words in here would be overhead so you're going to use overhead and then I would follow it with either well one of other one one of three words um but they would say overhead because it is it is over your head where you're sitting so the answer is well I told you one of three you guys uh I think you guys got it so you could say the overhead compartment I know a lot of people I just saw you putting in compartment there sorry excuse me overhead bins or even overhead storage all right either uh any one of those phrases works and this is something that we were I was traveling yesterday with my wife and we were talking about hopefully there's enough room in by the time we board the plane hopefully there's enough room in the overhead compartment so we can put our bags up there excellent great job uh Vicki Gustaf good to see you nice um the next one okay how about this place right here this area of the plane which is the compartment of an aircraft where food is cooked or prepared and I honestly I don't know how much cooking is is actually done I think the food is like heated up but yeah you could say it's cooked it's prepared a lot of times the you'll find the the flight attendant in this comp apartment what part of the plane it has a it has a name and again if you fly quite often I'm sure you've you've heard this um maybe even use it in conversations if you're on an airplane or maybe not I don't know but excellent it seems like uh I see some good answers you would refer to this as the galley this is the galley great job school photo video um RI nice nice mate perfect how about uh this next one I don't know do I have another picture are we moving on to a different part of this yes this is the I think the last part of this well this part of the quiz and then we'll uh look at something else I have a little bit of a story to tell you and we'll do some fill-in the blanks but how about um this right here these are seats directly behind the interior dividing wall that separates cabins so there are different cabins when you board the plane you have well economy or first class and there may be this dividing wall now the seats right right next to the dividing wall right here what would you refer to these seats as and there's really well I I don't want to give it away and this is a part of the plane to be honest I I've heard some people enjoy sitting here at this at these seats right here I don't personally I don't really like it um the answer is not the aisle because there are many uh there are many aisle seats on a plane these specifically that are behind that dividing wall what you know that's that area what kind of seats would you call those write your answers in the chat in the comments I just want you to participate practice build your vocabulary so the the seats right here the dividing wall is called the bulkhead Rich chub rby nice so the the seats would be like it's bulkhead seating so if somebody if I were sitting in this seat and somebody were ask me oh how was your flight where did you sit and I was like yeah it was a you know bulkhead then that basically means those are the seats that are right behind that dividing wall so that wall that dividing interior wall is called like that is the bulkhead so if we're talking about the seats you could say bulkhead seating or some people might just say bulkhead um but just keep that in mind there are different well there there may be several different Dividing Walls several bulkheads um on the plane depends how large it is so now I want you to complete the sentence I'm actually going to tell you a story we were traveling I don't want to say yesterday maybe it was two days ago it was a long flight and the first part of this and as we go through these are all different words and phrases related to Flying um yesterday or I guess I could say maybe two days ago again it's all blurring together yesterday we took an M flight from San Francisco to Budapest it's a true story now there are different different words that you could fill in there and there's really one specific that I'm looking for and the picture it's a little bit of a hint another hint um there is that that article an so that tells you that the next word begins with a vowel sound and I told you there are several several words that you could fill in there so there are quite a few answers that you could uh put put in there but you'll you'll see where I'm going with this when uh um when I show you what the the answer that I'm looking for yesterday we took an flight from San Francisco to Budapest I see a lot of people saying International that is true you could that works it is an international flight but that's not uh what I'm going for uh some people said direct flight actually I wish I wish that it were a direct flight it was not a direct flight but you could say uh maybe an indirect flight but that's also not the answer I was looking for uh I heard people put some people put in a red eyee yes but what I was actually going for was an overnight flight so in overnight flight this is also informally called a red eyee so we took an overnight flight and I tried to give you a picture you see that it's dark outside uh we took an overnight flight from San Francisco to Budapest again true story this is a flight that it departs at night and arrives the next day it's an overnight flight pretty much means what it says but informally and I think this is actually more common in the United States people may refer to this as a red eyee that you fly overnight you get in the next morning to you arrive at your destination and you were on the red eyee and they call they call it this because if you don't sleep much maybe your your eyes uh can be a little red and that's why they would call these flights a red eyee uh so yesterday that's true we took an overnight flight from San Francisco to Budapest now our flight from San Francisco to Budapest it was not a direct flight it was an indirect flight and we had to Frankfurt what what what phrase are you going to use I've gone ahead and told you that this is a phrasal verb we had to M Frankfurt what do you think so this is a a phrasal verb that you would use when you know you're flying it's not it's not a direct flight and what would you use see some uh good answers um so you I I know what you mean transfer if you're actually going to use transfer that's not a phrasal verb you would need to follow it with a a particle and you would still you would use it you could say transfer but you need to follow it with another particle uh stop over no I see some people lay over no so the phrasal verb that we're talking about because that would uh that would complete the sentence now of course I could say we had to stop in Frankfurt but that's not what we're that's not what I'm looking for so the the phrasal verb that I'm talking about is wow it's surprised nobody nobody got it connect through so we were connecting through Frankfort some people put transfer that would work but again you would want to use through as well you're going to transfer through Frankfurt actually flying and this may be more American English I'd say it's probably a little more common to say connect through instead of transfer through both of them would work but if you connect through this is when you train you change from one plane to another in order to continue your journey now sometimes people may not always change planes overwhelmingly they do and you stop in one city you change to another plane and you are connecting through that City so our flight from San Francisco to Budapest was not a direct flight we had to connect through Frankfurt the next part and this is also true we experience some M which always makes me feel a little uneasy and you can see in the picture there I tried to find something that was well I don't know related to this vocabulary and I think when you're flying this is something that's pretty common and you experience this while flying and when this happens yeah it can make me feel a little uneasy what word I just well yeah I give it it is one word What word are we looking for uh great job Sam uh si tarus uh we're talking about turbulence and once again you're on a plane the you hear these announcements this is a word listen for it you experience turbulence this is when they're I give you the meaning down here it's an Abrupt these are abrupt uh caused by abrupt irregular movements of air that create a sharp quick up the sharp quick updrafts and downdrafts so basically the plane is just shaking and there is some turbulence and sometimes it's pretty mild other times it can be it can be intense actually we had uh one period on the flight that yeah it lasted for like 20 25 minutes uh and it was uh yeah it was a little intense uh so we experienced some turbulence and I felt a little uneasy now while in Frankfurt we had a three-hour you can see these people sitting there uh on those chairs kind of just chilling out and again this is this is true I'm kind of using these words and phrases to talk about my flying experience from San Francisco to Budapest uh so as you as you can tell yes I'm back in Hungary we're back home uh and we're still I'm still maybe take another week before we get back onto our to our regular schedule uh we don't often have these Friday lessons but while in Frankfurt we had a three-hour what and I I'm going to actually talk about two different words and talk a little bit about the difference so well done Julia Allen we're talking about a layover while in Frankfurt we had a three-hour layover so a layover is a period of rest or waiting before a further stage in a journey and you could use a layover when talking about any type of travel whether it's planes or trains uh it doesn't really matter you just have this waiting period and then you continue I think overwhelmingly people use it when talking about flying now some of you had put in stopover so there is a difference between layover and stopover and let's talk about that right now layover versus stopover so the main difference is that really just the length of time so you can see right there it says stopover rules vary by Airline but are essentially longer layovers at least 24 hours in length layovers meanwhile are connections less than a day in length depending on if you're flying domestically or internationally so generally I well I think most of the time people are going to have a layover if they are connecting through you know one or more cities a stopover is a longer period of time sometimes think if you have a stopover you may go into the city do some sightseeing and then you come back to the airport because it is longer it's a day could be two days and some people like to travel this way but just keep in mind yes there is a slight difference between layover and stopover most of the time you're going to talk about layover two-hour layover three- Hour 4 Hour 5 hour layover so why when we were traveling we were really tired we were really tired especially because we were lugging around several M bags to to Lug something is you're you're carrying something and it's kind of difficult um and you would say you're lugging this around a lot of times people use this verb when talking about suitcases cuz they're heavy so we were really tired especially because we were lugging around several M bags so I want you to think you can see this bag right here when you're traveling what the bags that you take with you what would you call those bags kind of telling you right now what would you call those bags generally I think each person can bring one some Airlines uh let you bring more or it depends on the status you have with the airline and I see a lot of people know this one where I'm talking about yes the carry-on bags so the carryon bags the ones that you would take with you on the plane we each had one um my I had one my wife Emmy and we also had three personal bags and also traveling with Emmy it's a little challenging so we were having to carry her at certain points as well but a carryon is the luggage that can be brought on board plane and stowed in the cabin you put these up in the overhead compartment or the overhead bins your carry-on bag well done all right and now uh this one I think I saw this in the chat before because of the time difference we have serious and this is I'm I have I feel like this right now because it's it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I am exhausted I could probably go to sleep right now but I need to fight through it stay up and try to uh get used to the the time now because there's a big time difference I think nine hours between San Francisco and Budapest and because of that right now I have yes jet lag great job uh Whitney Sam Julia lar perfect so jet lag is extreme tiredness could have other physical effects felt by a person after a long flight across different time zones so we have like a 9h hour difference this morning actually wasn't too bad I woke up at I think 5:30 in the morning hopefully tomorrow I don't know I'm expecting I'll probably get up around 4 or five we'll we'll see I'm going to bed early but I'm going to try to to stay up and hopefully this won't last maybe more than a couple of days few days we'll see now uh Le let's talk about if you're at the airport I'm going to show you a picture and I just want you to tell me what is it what are we looking at so here's your first one I think these some of these are easy some of them are a little more difficult so at an airport these are not carry-on bags you might check your bag and it goes under the plane um or under the cabin and then you're going to pick up the bag where where would you go pick up this bag what would you call that area these this is a phrase that you will see on signs throughout the airport if you are trying to pick up your luggage now I heard a luggage carousel that is what the this machine this conveyor belt would be called what would you call that area so that conveyor belt would would be like yes a luggage carousel but in general you're going to ask somebody hey where is what this part of the airport so I said you would you're I think uh you know luggage carousel that works but I was looking for a kind of that area nice uh we're talking about baggage claim so baggage claim is the the place in the airport where you get your cases and bags when you arrive after flying but in case you didn't know that is that that where the bags go around that is the luggage carousel but you probably you'll see signs for baggage claim how about this right here what what would you call and I'm specifically talking about the the light blue I don't want to give it away ramp uh what what would you call that that you would use that either to board the plane or disembark when you get off the plane and you may use those I know I definitely use them here when we fly in and out of Budapest but there are a couple different words that you could use I think it has a couple of different names but what would you say what is that right there write your answer in the chat or even in the comments I just want you to participate get involved in the lesson see some where's my passport I don't know it's a good question I know I have mine I made sure to really keep up with that yesterday so this right here this this ramp that passengers would use to either board the plane or when they're disembarking you could call that the gang way or the jetway this walkway or platform that provides safe access to the plane the gang way way or the jetway so maybe this I don't know if this is new for you that's great uh if you learn something new today that's all that I hope for here's an easier one that uh that that that strip right here that runs all the way from the bottom of the picture all the way to the top what is that called that you see the plane on there it's getting ready to go down the what I I think you guys know this but it is another uh if we're at the airport yes you you will see these if you're flying on the plane the plane's going to go down the the answer I'll just go ahead and give it to you because I think you guys know it is the runway well done hardi Julia asai sum uh perfect so the runway is the this hard level roadway and other or other surface from which the aircraft take off and on which they land that is the runway now something else that's well this may be a little more difficult we'll see but this picture right here what would you call that the ground here so the runway is where the plane goes and then it's going to take off what about the ground here in this picture so I'm not talking about the terminal right there and the gates and you can see those other jetways that are go across and connect to the airplanes talking about the ground where these planes are parked what would you call that this is a little more difficult it's not a word or phrase that you may need to know but again the goal is to to learn something new remember I'm not talking about the terminal there the building that you see I'm talking about the ground that paved ground and there are actually couple of different answers all right see good so in general well what I was I think what it's commonly called especially in the US even though it may not be is the tarmac it's like the parking lot for airplanes so this is the area of an airport where airplanes taxi that is a verb that you could use to taxi is when the plane it it starts to take off and the plane is leaving from the gate going out to the runway in order to take off so you would call this the tarmac where think of it as like I said the parking lot for airplanes well done uh uh Vicky Gustaf nice said taxi way I I think maybe that would work I I haven't really heard that much I feel like taxiing is used more as a verb that the plane is getting ready to taxi uh the one thing I wanted to say because I heard saw one answer in there ramp ramp would also work because this part is also called um like the apron the airport apron or the airport ramp and something that you may or may not know I actually didn't know this it says an airport apron or ramp is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the tarmac which basically means any pave Serv including the runway Landing Strip air strip and taxi way oh there it is taxi way all right the apron at airports often paved uh the apron at airports are often paved with concrete not tarmac so even though it's called many people will call it the tarmac I would that the airport Aon mostly concrete or asphalt tarmac it comes from the that there was tar used uh in making that ground a lot of the way the roadways um have it in there I think it just makes it a little more uh rain resistant so that's why it says it's incorrectly referred to as the tarmac because most of the time at the airports they they don't use tar when they are making those um runways but again at this point like I said most of the time people are going to refer to that area that airport parking lot as the tarmac okay so hopefully uh this made sense personally I've actually never used apron before the airport apron I might say ramp um and somebody else said mentioned taxi way yes that works as well so here is a little review these are the different words and phrases that we were talking about in this lesson a lot of different vocabulary all related to flying again I said it's Advanced vocabulary but if you are somebody who flies often maybe it didn't feel too advanced to you and I I completely understand but I would like to know how you did on the quiz so I started this little poll I'm always curious to see how you guys performed on this let it lets me know if I should probably make it a little more difficult or maybe even a little easier in the future and if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new I would really appreciate it if you hit that like button uh it tells me that uh you enjoy these interactive quiz well not too many of you seems like uh just by looking at the results not too many of you rocked it uh and I some of these were definitely a little more difficult than others for example talking about the gang way or the jetway or the tarmac uh or the galley the part of the plane th those can be a little more challenging but in general seems like a lot of you did really well I really appreciate you guys being uh here with me today I apologize for the inconsistencies with the days and the times it's only because of the travel and in the coming weeks we're going to get back to the the regular Wednesday lessons I don't know if we'll do it next week I may have it Thursday just to space things out we'll see but I'll make an announcement and let you guys know but I hope that you enjoyed the lesson learned something new and of course I will see you guys again in the future thank you for joining me just some last minute shout outs Vicky Gustav great to see you uh SSI uh nice tal Julia Sam Angela Cly thank you uh hope you guys enjoy the upcoming weekend and of course I will see you again --- ## 116. ADVANCED HEALTH VOCABULARY โค๏ธ | Words & phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PXuIa2LLkUo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXuIa2LLkUo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:01:17 | --- This is an incredibly important topic because we're talking about health. This is something that we discuss all the time with friends, colleagues, family members, and I I really want to go deep and talk about some advanced vocabulary when it comes to both physical and mental health. We're going to look at some idioms, individual words, useful phrases. And before we begin, if you are interested, if you're someone who likes building your vocabulary, practicing, and improving your speaking skills, check out the link in the description if you would like to join my speaking course. It's for upper intermediate to advanced speakers. And the course is all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. So, click on that link down below if you'd like to learn more or join the course. And yeah, I hope to speak to you soon. So, let's go ahead and get going because I I there's a lot that I want to cover. I actually have quite a few words and phrases that I want to go over. And we're going to start with some idioms. Idioms that are related to health in one way or another. Of course, I want you to participate and write your answers in the comments in the chat because after all, this this is interactive English. This is what this is what you're supposed to do. This is my expectation. So, I'm giving you part of the idiom. Uh, it's not good to keep things m up. If you're having problems, you should talk about them. So, there's one word missing. You can see that the part of the idiom is up. It's not good to keep things m up. If you're having problems, you should talk about them. So, what what phrase are we talking about that would fit this context? And yeah, this is one that I feel like you would often use. It is an idiom. So, I think it is a little more uh often used in casual conversation, but still one that I think is useful. One that you can use in casual conversation, especially if somebody is going through a tough time and they're, I don't know, they're keeping things in their anger, their frustration, and you say, "Hey, it's not good to keep things bottled up." I saw a couple answers. Perfect. Excellent. Well done. If you're having problems, you should talk about them. So, in this case, we're talking about to bottle something up. And that means to suppress or hide emotions. This is something that, to be perfectly honest, we can all relate to this. I I think at one point or another, something's happened. We've had some emotional distress and we just bottle things up. It's not a good thing. It happens. And that's why I said I feel like this is one that you could certainly use in conversation. and you're talking to someone and you're talking about yourself and yeah, I just bottled things up or talking to someone else. Hey, don't you shouldn't bottle things up. Here are a couple example sentence sentences. I just want to give you a little more context so that it it has you have a better understanding, especially if this is new. If you keep bottling up your anger, it might eventually explode at the wrong time. I think that's true. So, to bottle something up, very good phrase. All right, let's keep going. I saw some uh great answers in there, especially All right, from our members, Lai Kevin, uh good to see you. How about uh what do you think about this one? After crying for a while, she m together and face the situation. So I gave you two of the the mm to indicate that there are two missing words and the final word in this idiom this phrase is together. Think about the context. After crying for a while she m together and faced the situation. So, this is another one that I feel like is often used because we're in these situations where there whether you're you're crying, uh you're sad, you're really angry, there's a lot of emotion. And I'm kind of giving you a hint. That is a key word when thinking about this phrase, emotion. And I see some people like put yourself, not put yourself together. You're close. You're on the right track. So, in this case, we're talking about the phrase to pull yourself together. She was able to pull herself together and face the situation. So, if you were to use it or you're telling someone else, look, you need to, you know, you need to pull yourself together. In that case, you're talking about regaining control of your emotions, whether it's sadness, anger, uh, and any, it really it would be more of a negative emotion and you're trying to tell someone, "Get control. Pull yourself together." Or maybe you're talking about yourself. I need to pull myself together. Keep in mind, we are going to use that reflexive pronoun, myself, himself, herself, yourself to pull yourself together. just because I thought this was a humorous picture right here like this this cat uh sitting there nonchalantly just saying hey pull yourself together that you know the cat has it under control emotionally then yeah I think uh telling the other person pull your pull yourself together so one thing to keep in mind is pull yourself together is talking about emotion there's another phrase that sounds similar is to get your act together to get your act together is more about getting organized and doing things efficiently and effectively. Sometimes I hear people confuse those two. So, pull yourself together is more emotion. Get your act together is more organization. Let's keep going because I I told you I have quite a few words and phrases that I want to share with you today because this topic is it's very important but there's a lot to discuss when it comes to our health. What do you think about this? Sorry, I forgot. I've got on right now. So, there is uh there are a few words missing. And I think I I would not be surprised if uh there is another phrase idiom that would fit, but I don't think it would be the best in this situation. We're talking about health. But again, maybe so I I don't I'll leave it there to give you a moment to think about this idiom. Sorry, I forgot I've got on M right now. So, I'm giving you part of the idiom. Hopefully, it makes it a little easier to think of the phrase that I'm referring to in this context. Somebody forgets something. What would you say? I mentioned that there's probably one of two responses at least that I can think of right now, but the one that I I'm trying to lead you towards as far as forgetting something and that would be the the primary thing that we're referring to in that case like uh I've got a lot on my mind right now. The other idiom when when you got a lot on your mind in this case you're you're talking about you're mentally preoccupied and when that happens you forget something you you just we're talking about in this case like mental health you got a lot on your mind and you're just preoccupied the other phrase which I'm seeing right now yes when you get a lot on your plate that would all that would fit in that sentence and sometimes if you have a lot on your plate you forget things But when you have a lot on your plate, we're talking that's more, you know, you're busy. There's a lot of different things going on, uh, and you got a lot of work or other responsibilities. You got a lot on your plate. It's really about being busy. Whereas, when you got a lot on your mind, then you're just preoccupied. You're worried about things that could be related to finance or uh, family issues. And in that case, I think it does cause this, you know, mental stress. And you could say you got a lot on your mind. You're thinking about a lot of things. So there is a difference between those two phrases to have a lot on your mind or have a lot on your plate. But both of them would work in that sentence. To give you a couple more examples with this uh phrase right here, I've had a lot on my mind lately with work deadlines and family issues or he couldn't focus during the meeting because he had a lot on his mind. So just keep in mind the distinction between those two. When you have a lot on your mind, you're just thinking about a lot of different things, not necessarily the things you have to do to make you busy, which would be more you have a lot on your plate. Okay, so I hope that makes sense the distinction between those two. And let's let's keep going. Let's move right along with the next one. What do you think? Uh this is one that well I don't want to he hasn't been getting much sleep so lately he has had a really short there is one word missing and the idiom this is a well a phrase two-word phrase a short so if somebody's getting not they don't get a lot of sleep lately you can think of this picture right here this person seems really angry they're not they're not getting a lot of sleep and because of that maybe it just causes them to get angry. I feel like I would uh get angry too if I were having to use a rotary phone from from decades ago. So there once again there are a couple of words that work. Now you could say somebody has a short temper. That's perfect. That that works. That means the same thing. The other word that I was thinking of means the same as short temper, which is more of an idiom, is to have a short fuse. So whether you said short fuse, short temper, they're interchangeable. They both work. But the idiom, if somebody has a short fuse, it just means that they have a tendency to get angry quickly, they lose their temper quickly. But in this case, short temper, short fuse, they mean the same thing. So, generally you're going to use it with the verb have to have a short fuse. And I thought this is a good way to remember it, this little comic right here, because you can kind of visualize where this comes from. And you have this couple there. They're both bombs. And he says he always has a short fuse. So, think about like that that bomb. The fuse is the time that you would typically have before the explosion. And if there's a short fuse, then it's going to go quickly before that explosion happens. So just as a visual reference when it comes to this phrase to have a short fuse and you get angry quickly. I imagine again this is something that we can all relate to. Try to make an association of a time when you maybe had a short fuse. You were frustrated. Maybe you had a lot on your mind and you just had a short fuse and you got angry quickly. What about this one right here? Um, despite his age, he's fit. Now, they're actually there's two blanks, but they're actually more words. There are three missing words. And this is an idiom. It's an expression that you would use to talk about, well, I don't if I give you the meaning, then I'm giving you too many hints. But can you think of an idiom that begins with the word fit? And in this context again, we're we're kind of using it as a compliment. So it has a positive connotation. And I see some great answers. I think once it uh comes in then yes. Yes. Everybody's like, "Oh yes, I know the answer." Uh well done. Um Lai Gunara uh Miranda fit as a fiddle. So, this is an expression or an idiom that you can use when talking about somebody's physical fitness and you're just saying they're in good health, that you are fit as a fiddle. Now, it doesn't necessarily you you have to use this for people that are older. You can, but really just commenting on anybody's health and saying that yes, they're in really good health, fit as a fiddle. So, one thing I'd like to point out because we're using as this is a simile. We're making a comparison. Now, with simileies, you could use like or as. In this case, you wouldn't use like. You wouldn't say fit like a fiddle. This, think of this as more of an idiom. It's a fixed expression. Fit as a fiddle. Somebody's fit as a fiddle. You just ran a marathon. You must be fit as a fiddle. Despite working long hours, he manages to stay fit as a fiddle with daily workouts. I would like to think that I am fit as a fiddle, but that's just uh it's just not true. Uh, I'm not fit as a fiddle. I would like to be. I'm trying to be. So, what do you think? Uh, here's the next one. After a few weeks of rest, this is like, think about the doctor is saying this to you as the patient. You have some injury and the doctor saying after a few weeks of rest, you will be m on again. There's more than two words missing. I don't know why I didn't put to all the the individual spaces but there there is uh we're going to use on. So you will be on on in no time. Now a key indicator or something to help you think of that final phrase in no time. This is a collocation with the idiom you will be m in no time. So, what idiom are you going to use in this situation? You're injured and the doctor says, "Look, you just need to get some rest, but then you'll be m on in no time." Look at the picture because I'm using that to try to give you a little bit of a hint. And in this case, I don't see no I don't see any answers just yet. The the phrase the idiom that I'm talking about is back on your feet. You'll be back on your feet in no time. So when you say somebody is going to be back on their feet, it means that they're going to recover from an illness or or some trouble. So it nec it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have an injury to your foot. Maybe you have some illness and because of that you have to stay in bed and get a lot of rest. you could still use this and say, "Look, I hope uh you'll probably be back on your feet next week and you'll feel much better and you recover from this illness or injury." To give you a little more context with this, I thought I'd share some news headlines with you. Let's see if you understand the first one. It's supposed to be it's a it's just a joke. So, the first headline is podiatry team getting you back on your feet. All right, very hilarious pun. So, uh podiatrist is a foot doctor. So, they're trying to use this idiom to make a joke, saying that the foot doctor is, of course, going to get you back on your feet. And then the next uh headline, four steps to get back on your feet financially after identity fraud. I chose this headline because I wanted to share with you that it can be used in other examples as well. when you think of recovering from something an illness or trouble of course we think of our health but you could also think about well one's financial health and it also can be used in that context like you something happened you know financially it's like look I you know I need to get back on my feet and recover from this trouble this issue so well let's let's keep going I forget how many idioms I I have because then I'm going to move into some other different topics. But what do you think? I've been feeling m lately from all the travel. In this case, I'm not giving you any word because I feel like if I did, it would just make it incredibly easy. Uh, but what do you think? What phrase would fit here? And there are probably quite a few different well words that you could use when you're trying to express this. you've been feeling m lately from all the travel. So, if somebody's traveling a lot, they're probably feeling extremely tired. And in this case, you could say you've been feeling lately from all of your travel. Of course, you could use a word like exhausted. That works. uh drained and but that a phrase that has a similar meaning and we're talking about one that you would use when talking about health. Um worn out that I mean that would work. That's not the phrase that I'm thinking of. Under the weather that might happen, but under the weather is more uh you're getting sick. That's that's not the one I was thinking of. But again, the there are multiple words or phrases that could fit this situation. what I was thinking of um or what the one I want to share with you is run down. So again, I saw a lot of answers like exhausted, jet lag, burnt out, those all work. Uh because this is what happens when if you're traveling a lot, you're tired, you're exhausted. But rundown is another phrase that you can use that means you're just feeling very tired or exhausted and you feel run down. Here are some examples. he was so run down from stress that he caught a cold. Or I always feel rund down at the end of the semester and you're just exhausted. So think of this phrase more as a synonym for really exhausted and really tired and you just feel rund down. So here here is the last idiom actually and then we're going to move on to the next part. This is one that maybe maybe this is new for some of you, maybe not. I feel like every time I say that then I see all these answers in the chat u and everybody's they get the right response. He had to go mthem to repair his shoulders. So, we're talking about an idiom that includes the verb go and then a missing word the another missing word repairing the shoulder. Look at the picture. The picture should help because that's basically what the idiom means and what is happening. So he had to go mthem to repair his shoulder. So in this picture you can see that some um individual is having surgery. So in that case I'm basically giving you a major hint. What idiom could you use that means the same thing to have surgery? Of course, you could say I I mean you had to undergo surgery to repair his shoulder. That works. But there's another there's an idiom that means the same thing to undergo surgery. It is an idiom. So it's more casually used. And yes, the answer to go under the knife. So if you are telling somebody like next week I got to go under the knife and they're going to, you know, do something, you're basically just saying you're going to have surgery to go under the knife. I feel like in this is one that you're not probably going to use as often. I feel like when people are talking about surgery, it is more serious and they may choose a little more formal phrases like to undergo surgery in in that case I think would probably be more commonly used because idioms are more casual. But uh if you want to use another idiom that means the same thing to go under the knife. Here is again just to give you a little uh visual context. This is a comic for Halloween. It's a Halloween comic. And he says, "I went under the knife. Do you like it?" And he had that surgery and now he is a jacko'lantern. So, let me know. We're going to keep going. But if you if you learn something new, a new idiom, let me know. Let me you can hit a heart or a like or something in the comments right there. And that way I know you're you're building your vocabulary. You're learning new words and phrases. Just because you get exposed to an idiom for the first time, I don't expect you to remember it. It's all about getting exposure, learning the word, tr seeing how it's used in context and then slowly making, you know, changing it from your passive vocabulary to uh to making it active vocabulary, putting it up here in your active memory. Let's talk about some common acronyms when it comes to health. So, the first one, again, this is fill-in-theblank. It is just one acronym that is missing. People with m often struggle with focus, but many also show remarkable creativity and energy. I'm giving you the meaning essentially when I give you this example sentence. So, what acronym would you use? And then I'll tell you the answer and I'll actually tell you what the acronym means and uh again give you some more examples. So these I think are highly useful and and commonly used when people are having discussions about health or talking about some someone else and what they're going through. So people with what this condition often struggle with focus but many also show remarkable creativity and energy. What do you think? I'm actually this is I think a very common acronym when it comes to one's health. So, I'm surprised I'm not seeing any answers in there. Just Okay, now they now they're now they're coming in. Perfect. So, yes, you guys you guys are right. ADHD, that is the acronym that I'm referring to. And this is something that I said it's it's common because I think a lot of people experience this and it's not like again I'm not a health care professional. It's I don't feel it's like it's either you have it or you don't. It is a little a bit of a spectrum. So you could be on like the low end of having ADHD or some it could be more severe for some people. It stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it's characterized by inattentive hyperactivity and impulsivity. I I I'm confident and again I I'm sorry I don't know all of you personally but I imagine that you know somebody who who has ADHD. I know I can think of a bunch of people just off the top of my head that I've met that are have a a some level of ADHD and I imag that's why I said I imagine you do as well. So this is a very common acronym that you're going to hear and you'll hear people talk about it a lot. You're not going to hear people use really attention deficit. They may say attention deficit disorder but it's most of the time people are just going to say ADHD. Uh, I think overwhelmingly that is the acronym they're going to use. I thought just to just to keep it light, I thought these were um a little humorous. ADHD, your secrets are safe with me because there was a good chance that I wasn't listening. ADHD. How about this one? This is another, I think, common one. Many veterans return home with Mhm. this acronym requiring long-term support and therapy. So most of the time I feel like it's used in this context when we're talking about um soldiers who have gone off to war and uh it it affects people profoundly and deeply and then they come home and they experience what what what acronym fits in here. So, I I told you that I think overwhelming you'll hear it in this context when talking about people that were in the military that served uh you know in some capacity and were in war and they may return home with PTSD. So, PTSD, as I think some of you already wrote in there, you you beat me to it. Um post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a condition caused by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Now I I told you that I feel like often you'll hear it in the context of uh veterans or soldiers who are in war. It does not mean that you you it has to be it has to involve some type of war. There are numerous trauma traumatic experiences, traumatic events in which somebody could then ha experience PTSD and and develop this. So, it doesn't have to be war. I just want you to keep that in mind. It's really this condition caused from well it could be a number of traumatic events but it would be something that would be I'm really emphasizing the word traumatic because that is what uh it would uh it would entail. So here is the next one. The doctor scheduled an to get a clearer image of the patient's brain. Once again, I think you'll know this because this is something that's common and I think obviously an acronym that you should know if you go to the doctor. This is something you may need. And I don't know if you need to communicate in English, but if you're in a situation where you do, this is a great acronym to know. So, you kind of have an idea of what the meaning is, a clear image of the patient's brain, and you schedule N. The other key word here is that we're using the article N uh which tells you that the vowel sound of this acronym is going well the acronym is going to begin with a vowel sound. So the acronym that we're referring to is an MRI. The scheduled an MRI which stands for magnetic resonance imaging. And this is again, it's an an acronym that you're going to use. You're not often going to hear people use the individual words. They're just going to say MRI. This medical imaging technique used to visualize internal body structures. But again, one that comes up quite often, even if you're not in the doctor and you're telling somebody about this treatment that you had or you uh had to get an MRI or you knew someone else that needed to get an MRI. So, keep that in mind. This is a good acronym. I I feel like in in a way, all of these acronyms are fairly common and hopefully you're familiar with most of them. If you are, again, let me know. Hit that like button. It tells me that uh that that this is a good reminder if you've learned this before and just to to bring these words and phrases back up uh and hopefully you're learning some new ones as well. The M is equipped to handle patients with lifethreatening conditions. So in this case we're talking about well I'll I'll give it away like to handle patients with life-threatening conditions. This is a part of the hospital and you're handling patients with life-threatening conditions and I would say the the ER stands for emergency room. I guess it would fit in this. I'm thinking after after you go to the ER, which is where you may go under the knife and have surgery, but if you have to stay in the hospital, then you may they may keep you in this part of the hospital where you are have this life-threatening condition and this is the area where those people these patients may stay. And I think a lot of you again you got it um the ICU it stands for the intensive care unit. This is an acronym that you may hear people say the individual words and they say, "Well, they, you know, so and so was in the intensive care unit or they were in intensive care." Or you could just say the ICU, a hospital unit that provides treatment for critically ill patients, the ICU. This is I I'm curious with some of these I'm always curious to to see how people respond if you actually know them. This is probably one that I feel like is a little more difficult than the other ones because it is well, we're referring to a specialist here. I'll go ahead and tell you. So, if you're having issues with your sinuses, you should probably go see an what what acronym? What specialist would you go see? I've already told you that this is a medical specialist. And if it's problem with the sinuses sinuses, then this is the specialist that you would make a doctor's appointment with and you would go in and see them. Of course, this person is a doctor, but it is a a again, you would say they're a specialist and what do you think? So, problems with the sinus or with your ears as well as with your throat, that would be the specialist that you would go see because they're really they're really all connected. So, we're talking about an ENT, ear, nose, and throat doctor. That's simple simple enough what it stands for, ear, nose, throat. So, an ENT is a medical specialist dealing with conditions of the ears, nose, and throat. Of course, let's Oh. Oh, this last one. This and then we're going to I got again I got some more. Don't Don't go anywhere. I told you I got a lot of words that I want to go through today. My roommate is constantly washing his hands. I think he has. Now I I said at the very when we started doing these acronyms and we talked about ADHD and I said this a very common one. I think this is another one that is commonly used and people will use this acronym loosely in my opinion that it is a condition that you know you would be uh somebody would be medically diagnosed and so okay yes this person has this condition but I feel like it's used loosely to refer to a lot of people who uh I don't want to give it away I was about to say it but I think you you guys I I said the Fact that everybody's writing the response in there tells me yes, you're familiar with it. You've heard of it. We're I'm talking about OCD, obsessivecompulsive disorder. So, I said it's used loosely that if people have certain obsessive tendencies like whe whether it's washing your hands or like the the shoes need to be lined up perfectly, they may use this loosely and say, "Oh, yeah, you know, my brother's OCD or this person's OCD even though they technically have not been medically diagnosed." So OCD, what it really this involves are unwanted thoughts, obsessions, and repetitive behaviors, which are the compulsions. And you could say somebody has OCD. I I forgot this was in here, but this is uh I this was perfect as far as like OCD. It says, "The hardest OCD decision of my life." That the the sale is $39.99. Of course, you want to round it up to 40, but as soon as you do that, then it's uh you're not going to get the 10 gallons exactly. Uh and this is referring to uh filling up gas at a gas station, but I thought this was funny and uh really encaps encapsulates this idea of OCD. So, whoops. Sorry about that. Okay. Uh let me see. Hopefully uh maybe this is going to um maybe I'll readjust the this as we go through this. So, let's talk about mental health again. I have some words and phrases that I want to go through and quiz you on this. And yeah, I'm going to have to adjust myself as we go through this. Autistic individuals may identify as what I'm giving you. First letter of the word and the meaning describes people who whose neurological development is atypical. This is a picture from a movie and bonus points if you can tell me who that is in the name of the movie. Uh but uh we're talking about autistic individuals may identify as what? What is the word that we're talking about? This is a word that I feel like is more commonly used nowadays. Um, and it is one that you'll I think you'll hear from time to time. Uh, whether you're having a conversation or you're reading an article in a newspaper. And yes, I think you got it. Excellent. Um, Paulina, well done. Christina, Sarah, neurode divergent, and I apologize for the just having to correct these videos as we go through this. So autistic of ind individuals may identify as neurode divergent. The meaning a person whose neurological development is atypical and you could say someone is neurode divergent. Paulina well done. Bonus points for you. This is a picture of Dustin Hoffman from the movie Rainman a long time ago in which he his character in the movie uh is uh autistic. Excellent movie. In case you haven't seen it, it it is I guess maybe gosh, how old? About 30. Gosh, I feel like I'm old now. Like feel this movie was back in the early 90s maybe. Um, so one that I still recommend. Uh, great movie. Her headaches were determined to be th this is more difficult. I feel like the this vocabulary, we're getting a little more specific. I told you this is advanced, but we're talking about physical symptoms caused or worsened by mental factors. And you could say that well again I don't want to give it away, but the word starts with a P. Her headaches were determined to be these physical symptoms caused or worsened by mental factors. So if you have these uh you know me some mental stuff going on and it actually worsens these physical symptoms then this can be referred to as anyone buler buler. No. Well excellent psychossematic. Yes. So that is the word that we're looking for. Her headaches were determined to be psychossematic, which refers to these physical symptoms caused by worsened or mental factors. Uh again, this is a little definitely a little more specific when it comes to mental health. Here is my next question. Obesity is often seen as a in patients with type 2 diabetes. Obesity is often seen as a M in patients with type two diabetes. The meaning of this is the presence of more than one disorder in the same person. Once again, this is a word that you will more likely come across if you're reading uh an news article about health or listening to a report on health. You could still use it in a conversation depending on the, you know, who what you're talking about, but obesity, type two diabetes. So, we're talking about the presence of more than one disorder. So, if we're talking about the presence of more than one disorder, the same person, we're talking about a comorbidity. That is the meaning of this word. So, I told you that this is a word that you may not use as often in just general conversation, but one you could still come across if you're reading um it doesn't even have to be a health journal, but a news article talking about health and a new scientific discovery and you may come across that word and they're talking about a comorbidity. How about this? Starts with an R. Can be cultivated through therapy and support. We're talking about the ability to recover from setbacks or trauma. Now even though this is used medically as far as uh you know mental health is concerned this is a word that is is used in other context as far as well I don't want to again give it away but this is I think a more uh common word because it's not only just used in mental health but somebody somebody's ability to overcome problems or issues or setbacks. So if we're talking about the ability to recover from setbacks or trauma can be v c cultivated through therapy and support um I'm talking about uh not not rehab um but resilience. So I told you that this word is more common because you might hear people use it in other context as well. your ability to overcome a tough situation. And you could say uh not just resilience as a noun, but say that somebody is resilient and use it as an adjective. How about uh this right here? So setting boundaries to pre setting boundaries is essential to prevent two words. I'm giving you the first letter of each m in high stress environments. We're talking about this feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted. You're run down. All right. So, when you're run down, this this feeling of mental and emotionally exhausted. You're you're emotionally run down. You could say that you're experiencing what often due to to chronic stress. Two words. I feel like this is uh especially uh the second one is one that you hear. So what we're talking about I think everybody you got the first word emotional but what I'm referring to is emotional burnout. So burnout is a word that I think is very commonly used when talking about uh mental health. you experience burnout from a lot of stress or uh you could just say you're burnt out. But if we're talking about emotional burnt out, burnout, then it is just this really feeling emotionally exhausted for one reason or another. Now, you you could say to prevent if if I wanted to get grammatically um I would say prevent an emotional breakdown in high stress situations, but I think that that that phrase works as well. If we're talking about an emotional breakdown is another common collocation and another phrase that yeah, you'll hear people use when talking about one's mental state. This is I think just trying to capture this idea. when you leave things for tomorrow and tomorrow arrives. This is an example. I was trying to find an example of emotional burn burnout and I think Kermit the frog that's that's kind of what it looks like. Uh you you postpone things till tomorrow and then that day here and you're just like oh gosh I can't do it. I can't do it. So let's do I have one more and then I want to talk about some physical um physical health vocabulary. He began practicing two words. All right. Daily to to to stay present and focused. We're referring to methods to stay present and reduce anxiety, especially uh panic or trauma related disorders. And you're methods. The second word is more of a kind of a synonym for methods. What are you going to say? We're talking about what you're trying to stay present. So that is a key word that you to to think about. So if you're trying to stay present, you're reducing anxiety. You're going to practice quite possibly some different grounding techniques. So that is the phrase that I'm I'm talking about these methods to stay present reduce anxiet and grounding techniques could be something as simple as just you know breathing exercises and you could refer to them as these grounding techniques to stay present. Let's look at the the last part physical health and once again I have some other words and phrases related to physical health. Some of them I think uh are a little more commonly used than others. But what do you think? This I think is definitely a word that you need to know and you probably are familiar with it already. But if we're talking about um exercise can significantly improve heart health. So what type of exercise? The the meaning of this word is just related to the heart and blood vessels. So, this is a word that I feel like you probably have heard of. Again, depending on the context, I don't know how often you may use it in casual conversation, but I think it's incredibly important. This is a useful one when you want to talk about the heart. So, I wouldn't really say heart exercise. Instead, I'm going to use another word which is a common collocation, exercise of the heart. I I now I see cardio. Yes, I would say cardio. Uh I guess you could say cardio exercise. I'd probably instead with when talking about exercise, I'd probably just say the whole word and say cardiovascular. Uh so cardio is simply short for cardiovascular. Uh cardiovascular exercise can significantly improve heart health. what I was trying to say before I I guess you could say um cardio exercise that works. Sometimes I feel like you could just say cardio and just say look cardio can can really significantly improve health improvement. Sometimes I feel like when people talk about cardio they're referring to cardiovascular exercise but uh I I any of those would work. So well done. Like I said, I feel like you you know that this is another one very important, very common. Back pain can greatly reduce quality of life. So in this case, we're talking about a condition that persist over time. That is the meaning of this word commonly used when talking about physical ailments like your back. And this is something that I I experience uh and I'm dealing with it. I'm trying to manage it. And I'm talking about m back pain persisting over time. So the key word in this case, well done uh Lai cookbook. Nice. Chronic chronic back pain. So this is an adjective that you can use quite often with a lot of different like chronic uh back pain, chronic stress. And if any condition persists over time, you can use it with this word chronic something commonly used. So like I said, a word that I definitely think you should know. Uh we're using it in this next example sentence. Chronic can lead to serious diseases. So this is where the the meaning is the body's response to injury or infection often causing redness, swelling or pain. So that redness, swelling or pain is really the meaning and we're talking about chronic what what do you think? Uh so when we have this this swelling, this redness in response to something, another word that I feel like you've you're familiar with, maybe you use it actively, which is great, and this is just a reminder, chronic inflammation. So inflammation is another word that you could use with chronic and somebody experiences chronic inflammation and it just persists over time. So what do you think? [Music] He's now I'm giving you the three words. There are three missing words for someone in his 60s. This is just means physically fit. It is more commonly used. So once again, I think if you don't know this phrase, this is a good one to learn. But I think it is more common. So you may be familiar with it and hopefully yeah, this hopefully you're able to use this phrase because you uh may commonly you may talk about somebody instead of like saying, "Well, he's physically fit." I would say, "Oh, he's in good shape." Or, "He's in really good shape." All right. Well done. Excellent. Saw some good answers. Well done, Lilly. So once again I have some news headlines to give you a little more context. So we talk about good shape to talk about physically fit of course but you can use it in other context as well talking about like a good condition the economy is in good shape you know growth is on track or five signs that your heart may not be in good shape that your heart may not be in good condition and diet tips to improve the heart and health. So think about that. It can be used in different contexts, but a very common and useful phrase. great shape, that's uh excellent shape. There are other adjectives you could put in there. How about this? Getting enough sleep can. This is a little more challenging. We're talking about strengthening your body's defenses. So, when you hear body's defenses, maybe it does make you think of this two-word phrase, but I'm I took out the verb uh as well as a possessive adjective, even though I probably could have included them, but this this is true. In order to strengthen your defenses, you got to get enough sleep. And that can what what would you say? So when I say body's defenses, hopefully then your mind might go to I'm just giving you part of it. I immune system and you want to get enough sleep to do what? To your immune system. Well done, Julia. To boost your immune system. So your immune system is a a is a phrase that you need to know. your body's defenses. To boost your immune system is a common collocation with this. So, you wouldn't really raise your immune system or anything like that. You want to boost your immune system. How about this? This next one, a increases the risk of heart disease. So, we're talking about a way of living with little or no physical activity. This is another phrase that I think is becoming more commonly used because people such as myself, you work remotely, you're not getting out as much. You feel like you need to get out, be a little more active, and sometimes, yeah, I feel like I have a and then I use this phrase. And in this case, it does. It can reduce the risk of heart disease, but we're talking about a way of living with no phys with little or no physical activity. So what we're talking about Yes. Well done. A sedentary lifestyle. So sedentary just refers to little or no movement. And of course lifestyle, you know the meaning. So this is a collocation. A sedentary lifestyle is one with no little or no physical activity. Not generally a good thing as far as your physical health goes. that it's always good to be well active and and get some exercise. Uh I gave a lot of examples with cats today. I don't know why. I thought they were all kind of cute. So this is a good one. Sedentary lifestyle is unhealthy. Um but I choose recumbent. So this is funny in in case you're wondering. Recumbent just means like lying down. Uh so it's like you don't want to say, "Well, it's not a sedentary lifestyle." I'm just saying it's recumbent. Uh I'm lying down. And yes, that cat does have it does, you know, look recumbent. So here are all of the words and phrases. Again, I apologize for this uh little mishap with the video. I I went over a lot today. We covered a lot. Hopefully, you are familiar with many of these words and phrases. I do think they're a little more advanced only because we're talking about a specific topic. And all of these words and phrases are related to your health. If you didn't know some of them, that's great. You learned some new words, phrases, acronyms, let me know by hitting that like button. You can hit the like button right now or hit it in the chat or the hearts or whatever. That just tells me that you learned something new and you're getting some value out of these vocabulary lessons. And just once again, if you're interested in practicing and improving your speaking skills, check out that link down below in the description if you want to join my speaking course. So very increant topic, very useful. out, try to to use some of these words and phrases because I think we talk about health all the time, whether it's physical health or mental health. So, I thank you guys for watching and participating in this lesson and I will see you soon for another lesson in the future. --- ## 117. ADVANCED HOSPITAL VOCABULARY ๐Ÿจ | Words & phrases you should know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4WHHTGr6VbA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WHHTGr6VbA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:15:34 | --- hello welcome to today's lesson which is really about trying to help you build your vocabulary i have these well they're more advanced words and phrases but i think they're also very important because we're going to be talking about hospital and medical vocabulary so if you are you go to the hospital these are some words and phrases you may hear or if you're watching a tv show or movie and something uh is happening at a hospital again these are words and phrases that that you may come across and like i said they are a bit more advanced so hopefully i well like all these vocabulary lessons i just hope that you learn something new today at least one new word or phrase um before we jump into it i want to say hello to everyone if you are new here please write to me in the chat or tell me your name in the comments uh if you love building your vocabulary please subscribe and hit that like button then i i can become your teacher i always want to to build and expand our our classroom i do want to say a quick uh hello um and i'll give shout outs as we go through the lesson vicky gustav welcome good to see you lali yashar sleepwalker angela a lot of familiar faces so the way this is going to work is i'm going to present these words kind of like a quiz so you'll have the opportunity to write your answers in the chat or write your answers in the comments i always want you to participate because this is interactive english i want to make it a little more interactive and have you actually participate in the lesson so let's go ahead and begin with our first um let's go ahead and begin with our first question and i want to start with some some acronyms okay so actually wait a second uh yes there it is all right so the acronym i've maybe you can see it here i've pointed out is er and the way that i'm presenting this to you is this is actually the a headline that you would come across in a news article so in this case nb they're talking about i believe new brunswick in canada so they're saying nb says primary care expanding to try and relieve er overcrowding so if we're talking about the hospital and you hear the the two letters the er what are what does it stand for what are people referring to when they say er that is the first the first question that i have for you and i the first few of them there there are acronyms like this and this is a this is something you'll hear i think quite often especially if you're watching a movie or tv show about hospitals they may mention the er all right so if somebody is talking about the er then they are referring to the emergency room all right excellent uh great job uh anna what uh yashar good to see you shar lucy and duty um let's see who else i saw some other answers in there um virginia excellent uh shaheen yes lali er is the emergency room and i think most of the time people are going to use that that acronym they're going to say er instead of emergency room the next one you guys rock that one awesome the next one is icu so again i'm just trying to show you how these are these are words and phrases that you will come across this is another article it says overwhelmingly overwhelming majority of icu patients in switzerland unvaccinated show show the the data okay so this is an article referring to um the pandemic the covet pandemic so overwhelming majority of icu patients in switzerland unvaccinated show data so if we're talking about the icu this is another um another acronym that you would come across that you're going to hear talking about hospitals medicine what does icu stand for okay and i'm actually i feel like i told you these are advanced but we're starting out a little i think a little easier and we're going to kind of ease our way into this and the icu it stands for as many of you have uh pointed out excellent the intensive care unit intensive care unit if is what somebody's referring to when they say i see you great job uh vicky gustav theresa um isan natalia angela sleepwalker ava perfect great i love it you guys everybody's participating very nice um so again if you just happen to be joining us we are talking about hospital and medical vocabulary so i do think i think this is really useful um useful vocabulary not that i hope that anybody ends up in the hospital but again this is a part of a part of our lives and there are also many tv shows and movies that have to deal with hospitals so the next one um this is the last uh the last acronym that i have for you for right now it's not a it's not all acronyms um it says once again it's another article heading guilfoyle ambulance offering free emt classes so if we're talking about emt what does that stand for all right emt and the the picture right there it's a it's a little bit of a hint you see this is a picture of an ambulance so ambulance offering free emt classes so if if you meet somebody and they say well what do you do for a living and they say well you know i'm an emt okay then you'll know oh okay i i know what this person does so if somebody tells you that he or she is an emt what that means is that this person is some of you got it an emergency medical technician and again once again overwhelmingly i think people are just going to use those three letters and they'll talk about an emt i'm an emt i'm an emergency medical technician so um excellent job like the thinking uh the thinking emoji that means okay you're maybe learning learning some new words excellent um great job anna what uh lucy and doody um who else got that angela vicky gustav some of you very close i think um emergency medical but the t at the end is talking about a technician emergency medical technician the next one that i have for you so an emt would they're gonna they're going to be in the ambulance all right let's follow up on that okay so still let's think about um think about the ambulance okay i just you just saw a picture of it before so this one is a the the meaning the definition is a health care professional whose primary role is to provide advanced merging emergency medical care for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical system in general this is also someone who would work in an ambulance they may be in an ambulance so there are two different types of people like positions you have an emt and you also have this person right here that would fit this description so what is the other word for somebody who may work in an ambulance all right that's kind of following up on the previous question so as many of you correctly pointed out awesome you guys know that word i'm talking about a paramedic so again give you the the meaning of paramedic they're providing that primary role advanced medical care so great job uh lolly virginia um ceasar just throwing out some uh al al raza sorry if i mispronounced some names shaheen yashar perfect uh vicky gustav that's what i do perfect excellent um so the one thing i want to point out is sometimes if you don't know the difference between a paramedic and emt this is this is what i got from i think it was like the maybe the mayo clinic was the source so what it says is like emts can handle most of the basic healthcare procedures like performing cpr and using oxygen on a patient and paramedics can perform more complex procedures like inserting ivs administering drugs and more so basically i think paramedics there there's a lot more training um involved to become a paramedic and i believe i i could be wrong that somebody would you know become an emt and then maybe they study more and then they become a paramedic but a paramedic has more advanced training all right so more easier questions okay yes i told you this was going to be this is going to be an advanced some advanced words and phrases but again like i think useful vocabulary you meet people if somebody says yeah i'm an emt or i'm a paramedic then you know okay i kind of know what they do now uh here's some some pictures this is something that you may see if you go to a hospital and my question is just what is it what do you call this right here so this is it's not just something you would see um at a hospital i mean you would see them but even if you just go to a clinic and you visit and go see the doctor they they may be wearing this um and i'm sure whether you know the name or not i'm sure that you have all seen this um when you've gone to see your doctor so this is just a picture i just want you to tell me in the chat in the in the comments if you're watching this later what is this okay so being able to to put the the name with that image and you guys rocked it out um maybe just a few spelling uh for some of it but it's a it's a stethoscope okay so you would the definition it's a medical instrument for listening to the action of someone's heart or breathing and they would use a stethoscope and again if you're wondering this is the picture that i want you to put in your mind when you think you hear stethoscope okay the next one another picture one that i want you to tell me what it is in english this right here what is this um here linda excellent stethoscope emoji wow cool i've actually i don't think i've ever seen a stethoscope emoji very cool thanks for sharing so this right here it it has two names i'm looking for the more specific name so i'll go ahead and tell you that some people may call this a stretcher all right that is not the word that i'm looking for okay i guess you could say it's a type of structure but more specifically what would you call this all right and as soon as i say that i know everybody's writing putting down stretcher stretcher stretcher all right that's that's not that's not the answer okay you could say it's a type of stretcher um but i'm looking for a more specific and when i say more specific notice how it's designed okay it's on wheels so you have this stretcher on wheels you would call it what all right and i know i see some correct answers in there anna shashank um vicky gustav mickermault perfect yeah you got it it's called a gurney so a gurney is technically like a wheeled stretcher used for transporting patients at a hospital so this is something uh a gurney is something you would really you would see uh at a hospital stretchers could also like i said people generally could call this a stretcher but a stretcher is also one that's more i think it's flat and like two people would carry it so for example if they're thinking about a sporting event like a football match and somebody gets really injured and they have to carry that person person out they may carry them out on a stretcher and two people are holding one person at each end but this with the wheels you'd say is a gurney um but no that's good i think a lot of you um some a lot of you got that one that was good the next one i i want to talk about the difference between um these two words down here diagnosis versus prognosis so the way i've presented this is like the the doctor is telling the patient this so a they're saying looks like you were severely dehydrated and then b you know get plenty of rest and you'll make a full recovery so my question is which one is the diagnosis and which one is the prognosis so a or b um so one of them is the diagnosis the other one is the prognosis so i'm really just trying to point out the difference between these two words sometimes they they may confuse people mostly because the pronunciation especially toward the end of the word is the same so diagnosis prognosis which one is which all right looks like you were severely dehydrated and then he says get plenty of rest and you'll make a full recovery okay so i think um i think many of you guys you guys got this that's awesome awesome uh love it many people participating in today's lesson so let me give you i'll tell you the answer the first one because remember a and b a is the diagnosis and b would be the prognosis and i think many of you you got that um which is great because i think this is a these are words that you will use if you're talking to um your your health care physician you're talking to your doctor they may talk about the diagnosis and the prognosis so basically to to sum up the difference show you the meaning of them the diagnosis is more identifying a present disease illness or problem through examination and that is the diagnosis they're telling you what the problem is in general the prognosis is well as i said i got this from the dictionary refers to predicting the course of a diagnosed disease illness or problem and determining treatment or an outcome so you could think about it like the simple terms um diagnosis like the problem and the prognosis the treatment like what should you do what do you need to do in order to recover okay pri pro diagnosis versus prognosis okay um so you guys rock that one thank you guys for all those answers um i think a lot of you got that one correct this one may be a little more challenging so i'm interested i'm interested to see uh how many of you get this one correct and i think this could be a new word so we're talking about a separate a separate room in a hospital typically one allocated to a particular type of patient what would you call this room or i think in a hospital it may be like one it could even be an area um maybe more than maybe it's a few rooms but this one section this one area or like i said a separate room what would you call it to give you a little bit of a hint look at the picture so you see in this picture this is a picture of a hospital but it's very colorful it's um it's a little soothing and because of the colors who would uh you know who would typically who is this room for all right um and that's trying to kind of lead you into the into the answer and wow i think uh a lot of you a lot of you got this excellent uh sleepwalker manu um very good shaheen so what we're talking about is this separate room is basically referred to as the ward all right so a ward is a separate room in a hospital for a particular patient and you may hear it being used with other words for example what i was going for with this picture you could say this is the children's ward all right it's very colorful and therefore yeah it's the children's ward or you may hear people talk about the psych ward or something like that but the separate room separate area for a particular patient then we have i actually have um quite a few words for you this lesson and i'm trying to present it in different ways as well but overall you guys are i'm i'm very impressed with some of this uh advanced um these advanced words that you guys know maybe they're not too advanced after all so this is from an article and basically i've i've blanked out the word and i want you to put it in context what do you think it's talking about i know it's a little small i couldn't make it bigger so i'll read it just in case you can't really see it too well so it says it's a misconception to think that when most patients are um from the hospital they're back to normal so dr milan han chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the university of michigan health in ann arbor okay so just really i want to focus on the first part of this where i've blanked it out it's a misconception to think that when most patients are um from the hospital they are back to normal this is the doctor talking which word goes in that blank all right when most patients are um from the hospital and i think the word i'm hoping that from is kind of a bit of a hint somebody is um from the hospital it's a collocation that i think is it's one that you will hear if people are talking about the hospital and i can already see that many of you got this one correct well done kudos to all of you we're talking about discharged all right when somebody is discharged from the hospital great job vicki gustav um lolly lucy doodle yusef sleepwalker yashar virginia shawshank um uh hijron you're new here excellent well welcome hey who else we got uh some people some of you put released i i think released in this context would also fit um you know fit well it would also work but i think discharged is to give you the meaning to tell someone you that officially that they can leave or must leave a place or a situation and i think it's that really word official that uh captures the meaning of discharge so somebody may be discharged from the hospital or maybe they might be discharged from the military those are collocations with with this verb if somebody is discharged um the next one you guys got that one excellent here is another article headline and i've blanked out one of the words that i i think i don't know i think maybe you guys can get this one um it's pretty recent from a couple of weeks ago it's saying that this top agent ra raula i i'm sure i'm mispronouncing it um i think this from in italy raoula has um checkup okay so top agent has um checkup all right so the first thing i think you would need to know and understand is well what is a checkup and then what's what are some words that often go before checkup so top agent has um checkup to give you a hint okay look at the this line right here is saying ibrah agent decries urgent denies urgent op report okay so think about the context or this person the agent is denying that it was an urgent op report i'm assuming they're talking about an urgent operation so the agent is saying no no no it was not an urgent operation it was a checkup so hopefully that kind of gives you a little bit more of an indication as to what word um i'm talking about it wasn't urgent they're saying no no that's not true it was just a um checkup all right and i feel like i've said um enough that i should show you the answer and i the the word that we're looking for i saw one answer in there sajad excellent sajad way to go um we're talking about a uh routine checkup so the this agent i guess there were rumors that um he had to have an urgent operation there's like no no there's nothing to worry about it was a routine checkup there are other words that you can use with a checkup somebody could go in for an annual checkup when they go once a year you could go in for a wellness checkup um just to see how you're doing so there are other i think words that would fit in there if you're talking about a checkup i think the the clue was the saying they're denying that it was urgent it was just routine i was supposed to go in anyway um but that's good those are some good collocations with the word checkup so routine is like a reddit a regular medical examination by your doctor just to you know to confirm that things are okay and there's nothing wrong with your health then we have another some more pictures for you what is this what do you what do you call this right here and i guess the to make it a little more specific i'm really thinking about like that that tube right there okay so what would you call well i should say these because there are many there are several there are four of them but what is that called this is just a picture and you um thinking well what is this what is this vocabulary word i'm talking about this thing so it is a noun okay and i told you like really referring to that that tube so wow you guys uh you guys know this vocabulary okay excellent um i don't want sleepwalker uh where is it eva talal seed so uh referring to uh syringe okay so the meaning of uh syringe you can see the picture right here uh and it's really like i said the tube is an important part the way the dictionary defines it is a holland a hollow cylinder shaped piece of equipment used for sucking liquid out of something or pushing liquid into something especially one with a needle that can be put under the skin okay so that that tube like a syringe excellent then we have this right here at a hospital or or even a doctor's office people might patients may have to wear this and they put this on and it is called a what what would you what would you call this um recently i had uh well very i just got a mole removed this was several months ago um but yeah i put uh i put this on right here so what what do you think what would you call this that a patient would wear all right and i see excellent um great job mohit the word that i'm looking for is a gown okay this is a robe worn by a patient in a hospital some of you had put um scrubs in there which i think if i'm again i'm not a medical professional but i think the scrubs would be what the like the the nurses or the doctors that's that's what they would be wearing the patients would wear a gown um a hospital gown is what and typically i think most of the time they are blue but imagine not always but this is what it says for a gown a robe worn by a patient in a hospital very good so then we have this i've given you the picture and the meaning um a procedure where a needle inserted directly into a vein to deliver liquids to the blood what what would you call this um and it's well i don't want to i don't want to give it away we've actually already talked about it in one of the the meanings of one of these other words before but hopefully that picture what does that that person have um that that's going into their their hand right there um and that this is the meaning that i found online the needles inserted directly into the vein and i think that that's a key word right there or phrase into the vein so the correct answer and some people i think you guys got this um the correct answer is an iv and i saw like yes angela caesar um vicky gustav uh perfect sid and an iv is short for intravenous and i think what the like the literal meaning of it is like into the vein um intravenous and this is they defined it as a procedure where a needle is inserted directly into the vein to deliver liquids into the blood and sometimes you might hear people talking if they're talking about their experience at the hospital and they say yeah they hooked me up to an iv because they had to get these liquids into their blood somebody was hooked up to an iv uh all right so i think a lot of you are familiar with uh iv which is good the next one this is a a drug treatment so you can see that this person has hooked up to an iv a drug treatment that most of that most often um the most often used to treat cancer by killing fast-growing cells in your body i've included this because again cancer is something that i think all of us um you know know about many are affected by this whether if it's not directly uh yourself but you know someone a family member a friend who uh is is dealing with this so i wanted to include this word the the drug treatment that most often used to treat cancer by killing fast-growing cells and many of you it seems like you guys are familiar with this because again this is a common treatment that people will talk about not just in real life but also in movies tv shows um it's a it's a pretty common word i'd say and like many of you said we're talking about chemotherapy so the drug treatment that in specifically it uses powerful chemicals to kill fast growing cells in the body chemotherapy is most often used to treat cancer since cancer cells grow and multiply much more quickly than most cells in the body all right then we have like following up on this following up on chemotherapy and talking a little bit about cancer i have another where i'm blocking out two words and they're both adjectives um and they're somewhat opposites i'd say so there's two parts a and b i'll read the the paragraph in case you're having trouble seeing it i know it's very small but it says brain tumors can invade or spread metastasize into healthy brain tissue and rarely to distant organs within the body brain tumors do not invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body so in this case it's talking we're talking about a brain tumor so the first part brain tumors can invade or spread the next part is saying the the other the brain tumors do not invade nearby tissues so a is a one adjective that you may hear people talk about and b is another one um and i i included this with like talking about brain tumors again this is another um article that i found online and just block those out uh you may hear people use these words when referring to blame brain tumors so i think again like it seems like a lot of you are familiar with uh some of these words you guys are getting uh a lot of them correct it's great like i said i think it's great and very important vocabulary to know and i try to to teach you new vocabulary as often as i can related to a topic um so that we can stay on the same topic so let me show you the answers um so whoops let me move myself over okay um so it's saying the first one a is talking about malignant malignant brain tumors can invade or spread and then the next one that's saying they don't invade would be benign so it's really talking about the difference between malignant and benign and to give you the meaning and show you them to you right here once again there malignant means like likely to grow and spread in a rapid and uncontrolled way that can cause death so basically a malignant tumor is is a is cancerous so if you you're referring to a tumor and they say it's malignant that would be cancerous if it's benign then it means like mild type or character that does not threaten um health or or life so specifically talking about um a tumor it's it's not always cancerous but if it's malignant then it would be cancerous if it's benign then then no um so these again i think are two useful and important adjectives to learn when you think about um hospitals or health or treatment or medicine so these are kind of bringing it back around these are all of the words um that we went over today's lesson for those of you who are uh and what i want to say is that i think that like i said not only is this useful but these are words that you are going to come across um in it probably likely to come across in just your daily life alright so uh the next thing i did want to say i hope you guys enjoyed the lesson if you do if you like what we do i'm going to post these for the patrons and members if you like what we do and want to show a little love support you can join um get a youtube membership patreon saw a lot of members and patrons today lolly vicky gustav takayao um always appreciate the the support thank you guys so much for for joining me again my my goal is that i i hope that you guys learn something new a new word a new phrase um that you can take with you and hopefully put up here in your active memory so thank you guys for participating um again just throw out some quick goodbyes and ava uh caesar ario uh lolly um thanks for joining um vicky and gustav uh where is it takayo yashar good to see you mariano uh aguirre thank you um good to see you uh namrata eddie jane i think i could go on and on today it was a lot of uh i think there was a lot of great participation in today's lesson and of course uh in the future i will come back again with some of these more interactive lessons so please enjoy the rest of your weekend if you did like the lesson hit that like --- ## 118. ADVANCED MILITARY VOCABULARY ๐Ÿช– | Words & phrases you should know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `6Rzsggq29fk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rzsggq29fk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:07:38 | --- welcome to today's lesson we are going to be talking about Advanced military vocabulary and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I in this lesson I have some rather specific vocabulary that's related to the military now now if you would also like to get a copy of these lesson notes that you see right here next to me click on the link down in the description you can join our email community and I'll send you lesson notes from time to time I'll also go ahead and throw that in the chat as well if you're interested if you are already a part of our email Community that's great check your inbox I've already sent them to you so why is this useful and helpful because because from time to time you may watch a movie or TV show that involves the military or let's say that you're reading a newspaper article in the New York Times or the Washington Post some of this is vocabulary you may come across so it's really going to help your comprehension now it is specific if you're having a conversation you may be able to use them but the one thing I guarantee is that you're going to learn something new and I I can I can say that confidently only because we're going to start out talking about some slang terms and some of this I I didn't even know before creating the lesson it's very inform these are informal words and phrases that I think are specific to somebody who's in the army or the Navy and the other thing I'll go ahead and tell you is that a lot of this vocabulary may also be specific to the United States which is where I'm from so th this in in other words this vocabulary is related to uh us vo US military vocabulary I'll I'll go ahead and throw that out there but again it's something you may come across reading an article watching in a movie TV show so because I I said this is a bit diff difficult I'm I'm making this part multiple choice there are three different parts to this quiz and I want you to participate write your answers in the chat or in the comments after all this is interactive English I want you to take part in the lesson so nowadays m is a common term for an Army soldier this is one that I maybe you will know because there's something uh this this word is related to something else that you may be familiar with so which which name is a common term for an Army soldier specifically I would say a US Army soldier I'll give you a moment think of the answer and then I'll tell you and um for these slang terms I try to give a little explanation as to how they came about and why they exist so the answer excellent as I see I'll try to give some shout outs great job uh Julia Angela John the answer is a Joe so nowadays Joe is a common term for an Army soldier I thought maybe you've heard of this before because there is a a toy character gii Joe I think it's also a um a cartoon but just so you know during World War I a soldier was generically referred to as a Johnny so originally a Johnny eventually the term changed and even before World War II soldiers were being called gii Joe's which is where that the toy comes from as well as the cartoon GI Joe then we have this question right here a soldier who is a United States Army Special Forces member may be called a what do you think a this is again specific to an army Special Forces member you may refer to this member as a what this is informal it's slang lot some of these words and phrases I think think you perhaps if you're going to come across these maybe not in an article in the New York Times but maybe you're watching a movie or TV show this may be how soldiers talk to each other and they may use this term so I'll give you a hint for this one it I think it originally came about during the Vietnam War I don't know if that really helps you at all is trying to determine which one is which so I'll I'll go ahead and start breaking it down Tommy knocker it's not a Tommy knocker this is actually I think a like a mythical creature feel like there was a book written by someone I don't know Stephen King Tommy knockers Shyer it's not Shyer this is a vulgar term that it's an informal term that refers to a dishonest person which then means the answer is nice mic John Snake Eater a soldier who is a United States Army Special Forces member may be called a Snake Eater so special force me forces members were known as snake eaters during the Vietnam war because of survival training it was a common thing to do as a right of passage so I can only infer from that that as a write of Passage if somebody is um you know part a member of the Special Forces Unit then they might eat a snake as far as joining this and becoming a member so this would be a Snake Eater the next one a m is is a person assumed to be an enemy running away from a military attack again this is slang these are not words and phrases that you're probably going to come across in in everyday conversation but I thought it was a fun way to start this a and once again I didn't know many of these as well a squirter a lily liver or a s a m is a person assumed to be the enemy running away away from a military attack so once again you probably could use maybe the process of elimination to arrive at the correct answer I think I talked about the word simp in a previous lesson talking about American slang which is slang for somebody who's trying really hard to impress someone else I think often like to impress another woman so we know it's not a s now Lily liver this is again an informal phrase that you could use to refer to someone who's scared but it is not a military term so I just told you it's not b or c which means the answer is a squirter nice Angela tal a squirter is a person assumed to be an enemy running away from a military attack and this uh says right here it was defined elsewhere in glossies of the war in Afghanistan as an Insurgent Runner leaving a Target and as a person to attempting to escape a a cordoned area if you're unfamiliar a cordoned area is an area that is protected by maybe military police or it's kind of guarded and somebody's trying to escape that area they may informally be called a squirter so now you know and knowing is half the battle that is a phrase from the from the the cartoon G Joe A M was a slang term for a morse code intercept operator a morse code intercept operator what do you think is the answer this is again refers to a person a morse code intercept operator May informally be called what a musketeer a code cruncher or a diddy bopper so I think many of you are probably familiar with Morse code as this way of communicating a long time ago it's not as often I don't think used today but a long time ago this term for a morse code intercept operator was called I feel like a lot of people would probably think code cruncher cuz that that is a phrase you may use somebody who's trying to break a code but that is not the correct answer the correct answer is a diddy bopper all right I had no idea before putting this lesson together that a diddy bopper was a slang term for a morse code operator Morse code is used by I guess nowadays amateur radio operators around the world and this is you know food for thought there is even an international Society called the international Society for the preservation of Morse code and this uh Society I guess is active in many different countries so now you know that a morse code intercept operator was is well was referred to as a diddy bopper since it's not really used today I I assume that people are uh not using this very often at this point the next one a sailor aboard a Navy ship who has successfully crossed the equator may be referred to as a what take a guess if you're not sure participate write your answer in the comments in the chat what do you think so somebody who is a part of the Navy and they cross the Equator what what might you call this person a shellback a crisscross or a beiner specific to the Navy again uh this is slang so it's probably not something that I don't know maybe you've you've come across or maybe you have heard of it I'm not sure so the correct answer for this one if somebody's a sailor they've successfully crossed the equator they may be referred to as a shellback I think some of you got that one well done so Sailors who have already crossed the equator are nickname there are several names shellbacks Trust trusty shellbacks honorable shellbacks or sons of Neptune many many slang words for this those who have not crossed are nicknamed poliwags or slimy pows or sometimes simply slimy wogs good to know okay so the the next thing that I want to move into I told you that I'm sure some of those slang terms were new for you they were new for me but uh I thought that would be a fun way to start out the quiz begin the lesson with some new new words and phrases when it comes to military uh military vocabulary let's talk about some acronyms and I think you're probably going to be more familiar with these acronyms which you would come across in movies TV shows and in even in certain articles so what I want to do is I'm going to give you an acronym and I want you to tell me what it stands for so what what does the acronym stand for and I'll I'll put it in a sentence for you write your answer in the comments in the tra in in the chat and I think this one's a common one the troops went awall to express their complaints about the camp so the acronym awall may be used when talking uh about something in the military but this is an acronym that actually has become a part of just uh you know General English depending on what you're trying to convey or the context of the situation you may or you could would use This Acronym so what does it stand for awall a w l it's a military acronym that has what meaning and if this is new for you I think that's great because I I told you this is useful you may come across this in conversations people may use this to describe someone who is not not around so awall stands for of absent without official leave or sometimes I think commonly I know see some people um absent without leave um Iran SSI Loi uh John I think that works as well absent without leave I guess technically speaking you would have to put in that official leave absent without official leave that somebody is absent from one's post or Duty without official permission but without intending to Desert so it's not like this person intends to leave but they they just took off and they did not get permission and you could use this if uh somebody is supposed to show up for an important meeting they're not there nobody knows where this person is and You' say yeah I don't know John is's they're they're awall I have no idea where this person is and and they just left so again you could use this in just general conversations it's a good one to know the next one you can check out that picture right there I'm sure somebody somebody looks familiar in that picture tourists are allowed to visit the DMZ between the two koreas so this is a picture of me actually at the DMZ this was a long time ago back when I used to teach in South Korea and there is a DMZ between North and South Korea there are I think I I tried to look this up I think there are several maybe a dozen or so DMZ that currently exist around the world but what does that acronym stand for again I think this is a useful one it's more common that you're going to come across watching something related to the military or reading about it especially if you're reading something about uh North and South Korea tourists are allowed to visit the DMZ between the two koreas excellent well done I think many of you guys rock that you've heard of this we're talking about a demilitarized zone the DMZ stands for demilitarized zone this is an area of land from which countries or groups have agreed to remove military forces and you have this area that there's just it's kind of just open there's nothing there it's just the land it's the DMZ the demilitarized zone then we have this one and bonus points if anybody can tell me what this where where this picture comes from first lieutenant soble was the CEO of easy company I think even if you're maybe unfamiliar with Co perhaps you could just put it together what This Acronym actually stands for Co would refer to your but first lieutenant soel this is uh maybe that makes sense to some of you maybe not this is from a I think well-known TV show that came on it was on HBO I think a long time ago if you can tell me the name of the show then you get bonus points but otherwise what is This Acronym Co stands for what what do you think I think you guys got it excellent uh Tom Aaron we're talking about a commanding officer an officer who is in charge of a group of people in the mil military or of a military camp or base this is your commanding officer this is your C oh so first lieutenant soel was the CEO of easy company and nice well done Aaron Band of Brothers this was from the show Band of Brothers I think it it was uh about uh World War II it was a really good show and again you watch some uh show like that that is related all about the military that's when you start hearing some of these acronyms some of these terms the co the commanding officer the next one which again I think is also very common in just general English nowadays it's not just a military acronym after the failed rescue attempt some of the soldiers have been been declared Mia so MIA this is originally and still is a military acronym I want you to tell me what this acronym stands for what do those three letters stand for for Mia but once again we can apply this to other situations that maybe don't involved the the military and you could just say well somebody's Mia and because of that because I think there is regular usage of This acon Acronym in everyday English imagine again it's one you've heard of even if you're not exactly sure what the acronym stands for but some of you did excellent well done uh Loi uh Angela Julie Miss Julia Sabine trying to give some shout outs here and there missing in action so MIA missing in in action this is when a member of the Armed Forces has not returned from fighting in a war but it's not known uh or certain to be dead so somebody's missing and they don't know whether this person or group of people are alive or dead they may be de declared Mia but in just casual everyday English if somebody is Mia they're just they're just not there so to use that example before that I mentioned somebody's supposed to show up at a certain time for a meeting or negotiation or a presentation and they're not there and you don't know where they are well yeah they're you know they were they're Mia or you see this person again like wait you were Mia why didn't you come to the meeting or the presentation excellent well done um Loi Peter great job so let's uh let's do another one the Pentagon is the headquarters for the dod I mentioned at the very beginning that this lesson on Advanced military vocabulary is really associated with American English or I guess you could say the US military once again because I am from the United States so this is again very us specific of course the the Pentagon is the headquarters for the dod but whether you may be watching an interview with somebody talking about the military or again in reading an article in the New York Times this is an acronym that you may come across and somebody May refer to the dod which stands for what I think already you guys uh got this one excellent perfect so the dod is the Department of Defense great job Peter sunday Aaron uh da Tom great the department of the defense this is the department charged with supervising all agencies related to National Security the US Arm Forces so it's kind of it's it's at the top uh the dod the Department of Defense okay let's move into some more General vocabulary that not only acronyms because I mentioned as we went through that through this some of those acronyms uh like Mia or um um uh what was the other one I already forgot I'm drawing a blank right now um awall is another one more used in general English and these are are are as well so the military term ten Hut is a contraction for which command I think these are going to be a little easier because once again you you would maybe hear this uh more often in movies or TV shows not that you're probably going to use ten Hut in regular General conversation this is a military command but it's a contraction for which word if somebody says T Hut i m I'm sure you've heard this in a movie or a TV show with the soldiers are doing this so in this in this situation this is when a soldier would salute possibly their Co their commanding officer but it is not a contraction for uh salute the ten Hut is a contraction for the word good job nice talal attention so it's a contraction for the command attention but that is what that that is what somebody is supposed to do when they say ten Hut you're supposed to then salute your commanding officer your Co but ten Hut is a contraction for the command attention and sometimes you may hear somebody say attention and that's when you're supposed to stand firmly and salute the other person now to follow up on this if somebody says tan Hut there's an officer now possibly you've seen this movie in bonus points if you can tell me which movie this picture is is taken from it's a good movie and the the the phrase actually there's an officer on actually has to do with one part of the military and we'll talk about that when I mention what movie this is from but you may recognize this picture and you know that the movie ah okay I've seen this movie before and then it may make sense this is a direct quote from the movie at the very end this character says 10 Hut there's an officer on and then they salute Tom Cruz so there's there there's your hint as to what movie I'm talking about so we we are talking about the Navy all right that was Tom Cruz's character he was a part of the Navy but I I haven't seen it wow interesting it's not there's an officer on board I feel like if some people say bored um uh we got the right movie It's A Few Good Men the answer is deck there's an officer on Deck so I mentioned that you would say this to someone who might be in the Navy and the Navy you're on a ship the deck of a ship that's kind of where it's coming from 10 Hut there's an officer on Deck this is an officer in charge of a naval vessel for an assigned period as maybe I don't know a 4-Hour watch who is stationed on the bridge while at sea or on the quarter deck while in Port and who represents the commanding officer this is from the movie A Few Good Men which again I think is another it's another good movie it's from a long time ago 1992 but once again you come across some of these terms Tom Cruz's character was part of the Navy which is why the quote says there's an officer on Deck excellent well done the next one I've given you some army military rank Rings here and I think this is somewhat I guess useful vocabulary that you may hear these rankings being talked about uh at at one point or another so it basically starts um this is actually the lower level and it goes to the higher level down here so second Lieutenant this is a lower level and then first lieutenant then captain and then what that's the one that I want you to try to to think about and then we move on down here and then general of the Army is the higher rank the higher position on this list I know typically we'd like to think of things at the top being the highest but in this case it kind of goes the other direction but which rank is uh is blanked out there so second Lieutenant first lieutenant captain and then we have well done um Aaron Julia n I Peter Sunday sepen uh Tom major now uh I said somebody M you put sergeant in there that also works because I think technically it's sergeant major so instead of Sergeant people Ma just in saying sergeant major they would just say major but I think Sergeant would also be an acceptable answer so second Lieutenant first lieutenant Captain then major then lieutenant colonel colonel Brigadier General Major General tenant General General general of the armor many different rankings as you can see well done though you guys uh you guys knew that one I I'm I'm impressed how about this um the president said he had no intention of ground troops now there probably there maybe a couple of different verbs that you could use there's one specific verb that I'm think thinking of that is specific when talking about the military and that is the verb that I I put here even though I I think you could uh you could use a couple of different verbs in order to complete um or in this case a couple of different jirens to complete this sentence the president said he had no intention of ground troops so the verb that I'm talking about or in this case again it's used as a jiren but often it's used as a verb to M troops is one that you guys know and I think it's useful if you don't know it but the answer well done lli Peter Manel Manuel deploy to deploy means to move troops or equipment into position for military action to deploy ground troops now I mentioned there are other verbs that you could use I guess you could say of sending ground troops mobilizing ground troops of course those would work but the answer that I was looking for was or that I wanted to teach you that I wanted you to be aware of this verb to deploy is when you are moving and our troops or equipment into position for some type of military action to deploy the next one the office buildings were used as M for the soldiers the office buildings were used as for the soldiers this is a word that you again may come across you're watching a show like Band of Brothers or you're watching a movie like a Few Good Men I think in both of those movies this word is absolutely mentioned the office buildings were used as M for soul soldiers and I think the picture there may give it away because as you can see that looks like uh your standard or stereotypical housing for a group of soldiers and that building you would refer to as the barracks excellent nice uh Manuel uh Sabine Julia helina nice so Barracks would be the building um or group of buildings where soldiers live and again you would use this specifically when talking about housing Soldiers the army barracks the military Barracks but as I just mentioned you would come across it in movies TV shows or again reading an article uh that has to do with the military and you may hear or come across this word Barracks so when you hear Barracks think of like okay where the soldiers live or are currently living the barracks well done nice uh you guys did a a fabulous job here's a little review some of the the words and phrases again we started out with those slang terms which I don't think I I'm sure that many of those are new for you but it's probably not something that you're going to come across uh all the time or probably even use the other vocabulary I definitely think is more relevant like those military uh acronyms specifically awall m you could use in other context DMZ dodco would be acronyms you would certainly come across if you're reading something an article that has to do with the military as well as that vocabulary that we just looked at ten Hut officer on Deck Army rankings uh went looked at all of them deploy and Barracks so of course my question right now is how did you do on the quiz I'm going to put this little poll in there uh and I want you to let me know how you did on the quiz and um you could say let's see I um I am a general let's put it this way uh I'm a general would be you did perfect um let's say that would be like 100% let's say we talked about the word major I am uh our are yeah major would be 50% maybe you got half of them right and then I'll add another one I M A first uh Lieutenant would be let's say less than 25% correct all right there are the options that I want to give you for this um okay wait a second uh oh wait this was a quiz I keep doing these polls sorry about that um I always choose the the wrong the the wrong one um oh no that was it I don't know why it didn't let me post that okay anyway you can let me know in the chat or the comments how you did on the quiz but with all of these my goal is that you just learn something new and that with each of these lessons you can participate at interact take part in the lesson and try to slowly and continuously build your vocabulary and yeah hopefully if anything maybe if you're not if you don't end up using a lot of these words in speaking or writing you come across them when you're you're listening to something or reading it's just going to help you improve your overall comprehension so I hope you enjoyed the lesson learned something new if you did please let me know by hitting that like button and of course I will be back with another lesson in the future --- ## 119. ADVANCED PHARMACY VOCABULARY ๐Ÿ’Š | Words & phrases you should know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `b_4j7MsJLKg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_4j7MsJLKg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:12:36 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson I have a vocabulary lesson for you and this I think this is a very important lesson and I know I say that often but this time I really mean it because we're going to talk about something that is a part of our everyday lives and that is just going to the pharmacy this is something that we have to do from time to time so that's why I think it's very important that we're able to express our thoughts and opinions when we are there and this vocabulary that I'm going to go over with you today I think is very useful and I would say that it is more advanced vocabulary but because we people go to the pharmacy often I think some of these words you've probably heard of which is great because I like again they're very important but again it's good to get a little bit of a reminder if you already know some of them and I as always I really hope that you learned something new and as we go through this it's going to get a little more difficult so some of the more difficult words I've saved uh until the very end so let's go ahead and begin I'm going to present this to you as well a little bit of a quiz to test your knowledge so that you can participate in the lesson I want you to write your answers in the chat or uh write your answers in the comments even if you're watching this later I just want you guys you know it's interactive English I want you to participate so the first question uh I wanted to start out with something well probably one of the most important words so this is referring to a piece of paper on which a doctor writes the details of a medicine or drugs that someone needs what do you call that piece of paper and this is an important word again if you go to the doctor they may give you this and then you're going to take it to the pharmacy in which case then they will give you the the drugs or the medicine that you need all right so excellent uh great Lolly great to see you perfect uh Takaya good to see you Muffin Oleg so the answer I'll try to give some shout outs as we go through this is a prescription so if you go to a pharmacy or even a doctor this is a must know word very important but just based on the the chat it seems like this is a word that many of you are familiar with that's wonderful we're talking about a prescription one thing thing that I want to point out very quickly is just the pronunciation has three syllables the stress is on that second syllable prescription prescription so again you want to make sure that you are pronouncing this word correctly if you go to a pharmacy and you tell them okay here is my prescription and they will give you the medicine that you need the next one okay let's keep uh let's keep moving right along all right so this is talking about uh a medicine or chemical that can destroy harmful bacteria in the body or limit their growth all right what what would you call this okay what are what are we talking about here so again this is a word that I think is very important Anonymous started that's why I said these are must know words a medicine or chemical that can be uh that can destroy harmful bacteria in the body or limit their growth is called excellent good job uh Rafaela good to see you so not Uh Kevin so again I think you guys know some of these words right off the bat which is great we're talking about an antibiotic so this is what you may ask for or the doctor May tell you you go to the doctor they tell you that in order to get over your illness you are going to need to take some antibiotics and you'll go to the pharmacy and they will give you them excellent you guys rock that one Vicky Gustav good to see you perfect I I also want to follow up uh because you know a prescription antibiotic very important words so again I want to highlight the pronunciation quickly so you've noticed I've been saying antibiotic the stresses on that fourth syllable antibiotic now I've been saying it more definitely with that that British pronunciation in the United States because I know that um you may be someone who lives in the U.S or you travel to the U.S and this is specific to the American accent sometimes when that t it follows an n Sound it may allide and it's going to go away not always but you may hear people say an antibiotic antibiotic and you don't really hear that t sound so that is specific to the American accent but I wanted to point that out that does not mean you'll always hear everybody in the U.S say it like that again often people would say an antibiotic and you hear that that true T zone so I wanted to point out the pronunciation with this one as well because very important word um just to start out so the next one we're talking in in this case about the amount of medicine that you should take at one time what word uh you know has that meaning captures that meaning the amount of medicine that you should take at one time and this is something if you're talking to a pharmacist they would probably they may use this word when they're telling you about the medicine giving you some instructions and they're referring to the amount and they're talking about uh perfect uh video lolly um Violet so again some of you dose dosage both of those are correct I I just use the word dosage again this is a noun but again you may also use the the word dose as well you're going to need to take four doses of this each day but if you also want to talk about that amount you could say the dosage what is the dosage how much of the medicine am I going to take so the next one again you guys are you guys are rocking this I told you it will it will get more difficult as we go through this so I'm I'm confident there will be some words that you will learn especially toward the end it definitely becomes more advanced so the next one this is uh well I don't want to give it away the blank I'm just gonna say we're talking about drugs that are bought in a shop without first visiting a doctor so think about a pharmacy you don't always go to a pharmacy after you go to a doctor you may before going to the doctor uh you may go visit uh you may go to a pharmacy just in order to to get some medicine to get some drugs and in this case you don't need a prescription so what would you say these are medicines drugs that you can buy and again the picture is a little bit of a hint uh but uh good job again I like the you guys are are rocking this uh Victor I know what um YouTube kalencia sorry if I mispronounced some names Mina Lolly uh Vicky Gustav we're talking about over the counter so you go to a pharmacy you don't have to have a prescription there are many other medicines that you can buy without a prescription and that would just be referred to as these are over-the-counter medicines uh drugs that you can just purchase it could be something like cough medicine something that's not too severe but if you feel if you have a cold you might get some of this medicine that's over the counter so that is a good uh good phrase to know and I was about to say phrase and I thought well that makes it a little uh maybe a little too easy then we have uh this one right here so this is a word it's referring to products that do not have a trademark and are sold without the name of the company that produce them all right what what word would you use to refer to these products all right the there's no trademark it doesn't have the name of the company that produced them and again this is a word that is very it's relevant to when talking about a pharmacy but it's a word maybe you might have in conversations with friends or something talking about the the medicines the drugs that you have uh excellent good job Lolly rafella um Vidya muffin the word that uh we're looking for is generic so I've given you an example down here so you see that Advil Cold and Sinus so Advil this is the trademark this is the brand name this uh Advil is I believe it's owned by Pfizer so Pfizer is the company that produced the the this drug and this is their brand Advil on the other side over there you can see the generic drug and even on the label there it says uh you know check uh the active ingredients Advil Cold and Sinus it even says that on the front of this generic drug and typically if you're talking about the difference between the brand drug and the generic drug I think primarily the the main difference is the price you're going to pay more for Advil Cold and Sinus the brand name then you would the this the generic drugs so I think that's really the main difference so I have one more for for the must-know words and phrases and again because I think there must know I think you guys know most of these this is good review this is a word that's referring to well something that's continuing for a long time especially uh when talking about a disease or just something bad and to give you a little bit of a hint think about the that picture right there all right and you're talking about something that's continuing for a long time this is a word that you may use when you're trying to describe something or explain it to the doctor and you're talking about your situation your condition awesome I think you a lot of you guys got this one we're talking about the word chronic if you say that something is chronic it means that it's continuing uh for a long time and that picture somebody might say that they have chronic back pain so if they say it's chronic back pain then you know okay they've they've been dealing with this for some time it's chronic uh so you might hear like chronic back pain chronic chest pain and it's a good word if you're trying to describe uh what you're going through what you're enduring and trying to describe that when talking to a doctor or a pharmacist so those were some must-know vocabulary words and now I want to look at some collocations these are words that are frequently used together and again these are good phrases to know the next time you go to a pharmacy so let's go back to the very first word that I said is so important which is the word prescription so what word would you use to fill in the blank here to to complete this sentence I need to go to the pharmacy in order to um my prescription I need to go to the pharmacy in order to um my prescription which word completes that sentence and then I'll identify the collocations uh the word the collocation the words that are frequently used together so when talking about a prescription there is a well there's a common word that you may use when talking about a prescription so there actually another well there's some there are some phrasal verbs you could use that's not uh that's not what uh it was going for so again I think I saw some correct answers exactly Kevin zero gamer so the word that I was looking for is you're going to fill your prescription this means I've given you the meaning down here to supply and sell a dose there's that word again uh or set of doses of a medicine as prescribed uh to one by the doctor and you want to fill your prescription you could again you some of you use the phrasal verb which fine you you're going to drop off your prescription because maybe you're you're going to have to go back to the pharmacy and then pick up your prescription so though again those phrases work um they would work in this sentence even if you want to drop off your prescription or pick up your prescription however in this case I'm talking about you're trying to fill a prescription and kind of get that supply and I think this is something that's relevant if you if you're going to continually take some medicine and you're gonna have to go back to the pharmacy every so often and get your prescription filled so a good word to know when talking about a prescription then and we have this I I well I think maybe you guys will get this one I think it's very common this phrase somebody may ask uh maybe you're gonna ask the pharmacist and say what do you think does this does the medication have any um effects does the medication have any um effects what word would you use this is a common phrase I have already mentioned it once in this lesson uh pretty pretty recently we're talking about effects so effects that's you see it starts with an E we're talking about the noun and to complete this sentence excellent uh we're gonna we're talking about side effects side effects this refers to un the unpleasant effect of a drug or medical treatment in addition to the main intended effects so I think oftentimes medicine may have some side effects or people may experience some side effects when taking uh different medications so this is something that you want to be aware of and you may want to ask the pharmacist about any side effects or they may just go ahead and tell you and say hey be careful this this medicine is going this could have some side effects and a good very important phrase to know very important collocation also I wanted to mention too if you would like to get a copy of the lesson notes click on that link down in the description if you are already a part of our the my the email Community I've gone ahead and sent them to I wanted to I'll Make a reminder of that at the end but if you want to get these lesson notes learn these words review them you can get this ebook right here that that I'm showing you the next one you can check the label if you'd like to see the medicines ingredient this is another well this is another collocation that's that's already come up once in this lesson so I I think again maybe you see that noun ingredient think about what word is commonly used with that so you can check the label if you'd like to see the medicines ingredient right your answer in the chat or in the comments if you're watching this later I just want you guys participate take part in these lessons so excellent we're talking about the word active all right you can check the label if you'd like to see the medicines active ingredient and I've gone ahead and highlighted the collocation so the active ingredient refers to the main ingredient in a medicine that produces a its chemical or biological effect now to go back to something that we talked about earlier if you're trying to decide between the brand name medication or the generic medication this is something that I I might do I might look on the back and check out the active ingredient to make sure that okay this is the same it's the the same amount and then you know okay well I can you know if I want to save some money I can just buy the the generic drug but again it's good it's helpful to look at the active ingredient make sure it's the same then we have this last one again maybe you can use the picture if you would like a hint I think maybe it makes it a little too easy but if possible I'd prefer to use a um spray sometimes medications they come in the form of a spray but you would use this collocation when referring to this instead of just saying a spray which is fine people would commonly say a um spray if possible I'd prefer to use a um spray so just you know simple enough you would use a spray think about where it goes how are you going to take this medicine you're going to take it uh you're gonna you know put it up uh in your nose and therefore it's referred to as a nasal spray all right excellent job uh rafella um anawit was it Irene alamit Perfect all right give some more shout outs so a nasal spray is just a liquid medication it's inhaled as a spray and I think you know sometimes people think I I agree I think sometimes it's easier and just uh not as invasive sometimes to take a nasal spray especially if you experience some congestion so now that we've kind of gone through uh some of these collocations once again I want to switch gears and I want to test your knowledge when it comes to some drug vocabulary and I will say this is a little more difficult than the words and the collocations that we've just discussed so I told you that it's going to get a little more challenging as we go on so this is some drug vocabulary and we'll see you know see how much you know but if you go to a pharmacy these I think are important words and phrases so when talking about medicines that are often used to relieve symptoms of allergies such as hay fever hives and reactions to inset bites or stings these medicines are referred to as what so just this kind of like the the collective group of medicines so if you for example in the spring I get allergies and I would need to take a what right so especially I think a lot of people experience allergies and in that case you would need to take an antihistamine so this is a great word to know when talking about allergies as well as some of those other things and you might uh you know go to the pharmacy and say look I've some you know bad allergies oh look here you know over there you'll find some antihistamines and you can choose one and that's going to help with your allergies and antihistamine excellent uh Vicky Gustav rafella Ronnie nice work then we have this this is a drug used to treat fever swelling pain and redness by preventing the body from making a substance that causes inflammation all right I've got the these meanings from the you know online from the dictionary and again these uh I think maybe you I'm sure you may have heard of some of these words they're very useful very important go to a a pharmacy so again they were talking about the drug so the drug that's used to treat the fever swelling or pain has a specific name and again I would say think about a headache all right you have a fever or again pain like a headache what are you gonna take if you have a headache I see some answers not the one that I'm looking for this would be really the I believe it would be the active ingredient what I'm referring to so we're not talking about like like a painkiller um in general you could say that you're going to take some ibuprofen so ibuprofen ibuprofen would be if you have a headache or fever then you could take some of this ibuprofen and it acts it acts as like this anti-inflammatory I know some of you had mentioned that um like even Tylenol I said like I think this is more the active ingredient uh ibuprofen is like Tylenol this would be the the more generic uh form of it ibuprofen so the next one hopefully again this is uh a new word again something you can think of but again I also wouldn't say Painkiller Painkiller is I think a very broad term but in this case I think of painkillers often associated with injuries a lot of physical pain ibuprofen like think of like a headache again very common the next one this is a a word when talking about drugs substance that makes it easier for the waste from someone's bells to come out okay what what would you refer to this substance as and there is again give you that picture there and there are many types of medications that you would say oh this is a um and it's going to well it's going to have this effect it's going to make it easier for uh somebody to for their bowels to come out if for example if somebody is constipated if they're constipated then they would need to take a all right you guys uh you guys are rocking this and again these are like I said these are things that I think everybody experiences from you know at maybe at one point in your life and that's why this vocabulary I believe is so important because you're talking we're talking in this case about a laxative so if you are experiencing constipation you go to the pharmacy and you would ask like hey I need to uh to get a laxative what would you recommend or what do you have and then there are are different brands that make medications that would be a laxative and that could help you in this regard so the next one okay this is talking about a drug used to calm a person or animal or to make them sleep so it's going to have that calming effect or just allow someone to sleep easier what type of drug are you going to take you're going to take a what so once again this is kind of just the overall like name referring to this drug and there are different brands that maybe you you could buy that's going to have this effect what would you say so I see some different answers uh so maybe again this might be a new word for some of you so in this case if you're looking for that calming effect or to help somebody sleep you would refer to that as a sedative I need to take a sedative because I'm having trouble sleeping and that's going to help and again there are different types of sedatives there are sedatives some maybe more mild others might be very strong but in general you would be talking about a sedative then we have this okay and the thing about the picture look at the picture to help we're talking about a thick substance usually containing medicine that is put on the skin where it is sore or maybe there's an injury and you're just trying to cure it what would you call that thick substance and really I said look at the picture because I think this is a good example A lot of times they come in these smaller tubes so I I know some people may be thinking cream I'm not talking about cream it's a little similar but again it's these smaller tubes uh and it's a thick substance sometimes cream isn't too thick so in this case uh if you're trying to to cure it and you're just putting it on the skin wow all right excellent I thought maybe this might be new for some of you you guys rocked it Lolly Rafaela uh young he Mina uh talking about ointment so you would use an ointment I think this is a good picture when you want to you know you have some uh it could be like even a bite or something and you'd put some ointment on there hoping to cure it but great job excellent so the next one is talking about an artificial form of a natural chemical substance okay this is a natural chemical substance but it's an artificial form in this case and it's used for treating particular medical conditions now I don't I don't want to give it away but often this is people when people think about this they think about something specific about that picture all right it has to do with the picture however this this uh this can also be used for for treating other medical conditions as well so I I thought maybe the picture would definitely give it away if you see that person with those muscles and wow okay that does not look natural it looks like that person uh maybe on steroids so steroid is again people often I think associate this with like Sports and people trying to become stronger but you you might have steroids I mentioned the word cream you might have a steroid cream for example if someone has eczema and they get the you know maybe the the redness that looks like a rash on their skin and in order to make that eczema go away you might use a steroid cream so again steroid it's not just about getting stronger and people using it in athletics and competitions but there are other medicines that people will use um that that you could say it's a steroid then we have this one we're talking about a drug that makes the mind or body more active what would you refer to that that type of drug as so I guess to give you a little bit of a hint we talked about a drug that would have that calming effect to help you sleep in that case you're going to take a sedative if you want to make your body more active then you might take a drug that would be considered a what so it's really it's like kind of the opposite of a sedative so you have something that's a sedative and then another drug that might be considered a what and I know people see that picture of coffee uh again not talking about coffee or caffeine but coffee or caffeine would be considered a um that is the word that I'm looking for excellent Victor Lawley uh rafella Ernie zero gamer we're talking about a stimulant so you would say that yeah coffee has caffeine it's a stimulant it's going to help you know your body and mind be more active and like I said it's the opposite of taking a sedative which is going to have that calming effect to help you sleep so you can think of those as opposite ends of the spectrum you have a sedative to help you sleep and a stimulant in order to help you stay active and stay awake maybe you need to stay up um late into the evening and you might drink coffee or there are some other medicines that you could take that that have this effect and you would say they are stimulants so here this is a little bit of review the words and phrases that went over in this lesson if you want to get a PDF copy check out that link Down Below in the description I will put it in the chat right here just so you have it and again if you're already a part of our email Community I've gone ahead and sent you these notes you can get them there but yeah this is a good way to review and just as far as collecting documents and resources when it comes to learning English this is a good way to do that because like I said this is I think very useful and important vocabulary because going to the pharmacy it's part of our everyday lives and I think these are good words and phrases to know when you want to express your thoughts and opinions so My overall goal hopefully is that at least uh you got a little bit of review because it seems like you knew many of these words and I hope that you just learned one or two new words in this lesson uh or a new collocation because it even though I think these are common because you go to the pharmacy all the time I would still say that that they are Advanced because outside of this context of medicine Pharmacy you may not use them often it really depends on the conversations that you're having so thank you guys so much for joining me today I really appreciate you being here again I hope you learned something new if you like if you enjoyed the lesson and you did learn something new please hit that like button lets me know that okay maybe I'll I'll keep doing some of these vocabulary lessons helping you guys build your vocabulary I think it is an important part of reaching your fluency goals so thank you to Kaio good to see you I'll see you next week uh muffin young he Mina Lolly uh Vicki Gustav thanks for joining us Elena uh I hope that you have a wonderful Wednesday enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you guys next --- ## 120. ADVANCED SCIENCE VOCABULARY | Words & Phrases You Should Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `67PIzr-Pukk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67PIzr-Pukk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:06:08 | --- science is what we're going to talk about today and I have some I think Advanced but also common words and phrases that I want to quiz you on and I I tried to choose words that I think are a little more relevant because I know this topic is very Broad and if you like if you like learning new words and phrases building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is Interac English it's all about trying to help you reach your goals and as we go through this I want you to participate in the lesson answer the questions this is after all interactive English and if you would like to get the lesson notes that you see right next to me you can join our email Community click on the link down in the description if you are already a part of the community check your inbox I have sent them to you so let's just jump into it and start with some must know words and phrases and I say must know because I I think these are this this is vocabulary that you may come across if you're reading the newspaper or maybe you're having a a conversation about some topic related to science and here is my first question I I think some are going to be a little easier than others but this is an idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved is called a what I'm basically giving you the meaning of this word and this is definitely a word it's related to science this idea an or an explanation for something you know you're basing this on on some known facts but it hasn't been proved you would say well I have a this word right here what do you think and I think one of the the key words in there and I know see Theory it's not yet been proved if something has not yet been proved then in that case it is a hypothesis and that is the key part of this it hasn't been proved yet you would say then it is an hypothesis and then you need to try to prove the hypothesis or maybe it doesn't get proved so that's really the difference between a theory and a hypothesis a theory has been proved and a hypothesis has not been proved see some good answers in there uh you guys are all on the right track so to give you some more examples how this is used in context and I told you it's common these are just a few news headlines using this word the rare earth hypothesis a hotly debated solution to the fery Paradox I'm not really sure what the fmy Paradox is from hypothesis to advances in cancer research this is from the New York Academy of Sciences or nature on the feasibility of malaria hypothesis scientific reports again all related to science when you talk about a hypothesis good word to know then we have this phrase the there are two missing words there is the process of objectively establishing facts through testing and experimentation now notice I've highlighted the bolded the wordthe it's really a part of the phrase because you're really talking about the what there are two missing words and again I'm giving you the meaning this this process of objectively establishing facts through testing through experimentation and it is called what what do you think I'll give you a moment to think of an answer write your answers in the chat I always love hearing from you even if watching this later please write your answers in the comments so this process which I think if you you know take any class science class they're going to talk about this process or specifically this method because it is known as the scientific method so you may talk about trying to establish facts and you got to test experiment ment and you're going to use the scientific method that's really what what this phrase is and like I said you you really would talk about use it with the article the the scientific method to put more of this in um into context for you I I thought this was a funny meme using different pictures like the scientific method so it starts up here like observation then you come up with a question and then there's the hypothesis like what do you think the the prediction with keano Reeves's face right there then you're going to experiment you get your results and either the hypothesis is rejected right there in the middle like Jackie Chan's picture or it's accepted and then it becomes a theory and then back to the observation so this is a using memes to kind of give you some images and the process of the scientific method then we have this uh again I there's so much to cover when talking about science and I am going to bounce around with vocabulary in different fields of Science and I think again you could see the animals up here and you see this circle what is this referring to and if you if you're having trouble reading it you could start with the uh you know the grass the producer and then the the grasshopper is the primary consumer the bird is the secondary consumer and then the snake is the tertiary consumer the owl is the apex predator and then we move on to the mushroom which we're talking about decomposers so what what is this what am i showing you right here as we go through this circle it's really a visual of what okay it's not not the food pyramid I mean it does have something to do with food I'll give you that hint right there we're talking about what and again this is a a phrase you may come across if you're talking about animals in the environment and who is hunting who and eating this person because this case we're this is an image haven't seen any answers all right interesting the food chain we're talking about the food chain that the grasshopper will eat you know the grass the bird will come after the grasshopper the snake then eats the bird the owl is the apex predator in this case which would mean that they're hunting other animals but nobody's really hunting The Owl and then when the owl passes away they decompose uh which is the mushroom and it just goes around in a circle and this is the food chain all right now I don't know there was a delayed response now I'm seeing all those answers in there but good job good job everybody how about this this is one that I do think that you will read uh when talking about or if you're reading a newspaper article about the environment or if you're having a discussion about the environment could be talking about climate change is the purposeful clearing of forest Land by people this is happening in many parts of the world I really do think this is a word that you've probably heard again I don't know if you end up actively using this vocabulary that is the goal that you not just learn the vocabulary passively but if you're in a conversation you're talking about some topic that these words will come up and you can use it in context but this is a common word and I would still say it is Advanced it's specific excellent I see a lot of great answers uh just give some shoutouts uh Curious ghost myth myth yeka Ava Rosie perfect we're talking about deforestation so when when people mention deforestation it's done by people they're they're clearing the land for one reason or another it could have to do with development but if you read articles that might be talking about the Amazon rainforest this is a word that will certainly come up to give you um to give you more of an example as to how common this word is used if we go to engram viewer and I just typed it I put in the word deforestation and then the word Superman you're you're familiar with Superman the superhero uh DC Comics The Frequency that they're used is pretty much the same so again this is a word that is related to the environment it is a science word that is common one that I would definitely recommend that you make a part of your active vocabulary deforestation the next one uh this maybe is a little trickier so again I'm giving you the meaning m is a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced this is a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced and I think a key word in there just to give you a little bit of a hint is the word balanced so what do you think if you have any guesses write it in the chat don't worry if you get the wrong answer it's it's not a problem this is all about practicing and just using the the vocabulary that you already know trying to guess these answers so when we're talking about opposing forces or influences that are balanced were referring to the equilibrium excellent great job uh Kim for for bors uh nice nishat perfect so equilibrium is the state in which forces uh or influences are balanced when talking about this word I gave you the general meaning but within the different types of science like chemistry biology physics the meaning May slightly change and that's what I wanted to show you right here when talking about equilibrium so just I'll read this quickly in chemistry it says the state in which the reactants and products do not change because the rate of forward reaction is equal to the rate of reverse reaction if we're talking about biology equilibrium is the state of balance maintained by the various organisms that live in a particular environment there's that word again balance and in physics it also means the state of balance between opposing forces and that was more the the meaning that I gave you so just keep in mind that Within These different areas of science chemistry biology physics the meaning may change slightly and of course if we're talking about equilibrium it's also the title of a movie from I believe 2002 starring Christian Bale about some dystopian future and it's actually a decent movie if you haven't seen it and it's called equilibrium the next uh part of this I want to quiz you on different types of scientist so when you think of science there are different areas and you would have the name of the this area of science this field of science and then the scientist I just want you to tell me well what is this what is the scientist called so for example the first one what do you call a physical scientist who observes studies and forecast the weather now that I realize like when I say it like that it almost makes me think like I'm telling a joke what do you call a physical scientist who observe is this is not a joke but in all seriousness yes what what would you call this person this this is a scientist observes studies or forecasts the weather and I feel like if well I'll I'll get to it in just a second if you watch the local news or even I'd say the national news then they they talk about the weather they're going to cut over to this person who is going to talk about the weather forecast and that is when you will hear this word so yeah it is it is the another name is a weather man or weather woman but specifically if we're talking about the scientist you guys rock this one the meteorologist this is a meteorologist is a person who observes studies and forecasts the weather but specifically to to my point what I was trying to talk about I think a lot of times you you see these people on TV these are all examples of you know different meteorologists giving the weather forecast but excellent great job uh Ella Angela Zara Miranda perfect John lot of good answers with that one okay all right I think you guys maybe know these scientists let's let's see if you know this one all right this is a scientist who studies the history of life on Earth through the fossil record so I don't I'm not sure maybe if you'll confuse this with another one so the history of life on Earth through the fossil record specifically um what would you call this type of scientist I'll give you uh a hint just because I like having a little fun this is more of a pop culture hint when you think of the TV show Friends very famous show from a long time ago there was a character called Ross this was Ross's job Ross was a what all right that's a little pop culture quiz as well but this type of scientist in case you're unfamiliar studying through the fossil record is a paleontologist well done uh Kim uh Tong melon nice all right saw some good answers I thought maybe again people might think of archaeologist when they're digging up and trying to learn about communities and the animals that were there so I think again this in this case we're talking about the history through the fossil record paleontologist we're talking about paleontology so that that was a little trickier how about this one who is a scientist that studies the origin and structure of the universe including its planets Stars galaxies and blacks black holes I think this one's a little easier but I know when I've T about I've talked about this word in the past some people um confused it with another word that is also related to the the Stars uh so this they study the origin and structure of the universe plants Stars galaxies black holes this person is a what I hope that you were thinking about an astronomer all right ior uh Angela job astronomers they would study the origin and structure of the universe Stars galaxies sometimes I saw astrophysicist in this case um I was thinking that there might be a little more confusion with an astrologer so I know when we're talking about the stars and the skies there are different types of scientists specifically uh when we're talking about stars galaxies black holes an astronomer astronomy would be the subject an astronomer would be the scientist so just uh well let's have a look at uh the next one simply put this scientist studies plants what would you call a scientist who studies plants and this does have a specific uh name and you would talk about well the study of plants is a specific field of science and a person who studies plants is called oh c he guesses so oh there they are nice uh a botanist a botanist is a scientist who studies plants excellent um on Ella just a random person good job the last one for these different types of scientists which kind of scientist studies animals and plants that live in the sea again I feel like this is a well this is a scientist that maybe you've you've come across or you've you've heard about newspaper an article or maybe listening to the news or I don't just through your through your travels maybe and you've heard this type of scientist the the kind of scientist that studies the animals and plants that live in the sea so we're talking about the sea okay plants and animals in general because I had to change around the the wording uh when I asked this question we're talking about marine life and the study of Life Of course biology we're talking about a marine biologist I think uh many of you got that so yeah marine biologists would study animals and plants that live in the sea the ocean is a marine biologist excellent I think so many of you got that one perfect now I want to do another part of this little mini science vocabulary quiz that I have for you and I want you to complete the sentences and the first one is well we're going back to uh astronomy there are M planets in our what so there are M planets we're looking for a number in our that is there are two words this is the phrase that I really wanted to uh point out and again it's a common phrase I think if you're talking about astronomy this is a phrase that may come up you're studying science General Science you're going to hear this phrase when talking about planets because in this case we're talking about again two words we're talking about our soul solar system and there are eight planets in our solar system when I was back in school a long time ago there were actually nine planets in our solar system so in case you're wondering here are the eight planets uh listed from their as their proximity to the sun you have mercur Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune and the one that uh got demoted was Pluto because I put that up there does Pluto belong to our solar system this I thought was kind of funny I'll just read this to you uh in 2006 the international astronom astronomical Union the iaau demoted the much Lov Pluto from its position as the ninth planet from the sun to one of five dwarf planets the IOU had likely not anticipated the widespread outrage that followed the change in our solar systems lineup I just thought that was humorous like this widespread outrage when Pluto got demoted I don't know if you also experien and express some outrage when that happened but there are eight eight eight currently there are eight planets in our solar system how would you complete these sentences so you have that the grasshopper The Mouse and the owl animals that eat plants are called what animals that eat both plants and meat are called this and animals that eat meat are called what I feel like probably some of these words are more commonly used than other but if we're talking about science and you know the environment and the animals and who which animals are eating other animals again these are words that you will come across these are words that you will use so what do you think and and a lot of times you may you know you're going to use them not together you might use them together because you're talking about these different animals that either eat plants or eat meat or eat both plants and eat so I I think you guys are a lot of on the right track with this one we're talking about herbivores omnivores and carnivores so like the grasshopper is an herbivore only eats plants a mouse mice are omnivores they eat both plants and meat and the owl is a carnivore and really just eats meat even though I think there are some kind of owls that might be omnivores but in general you have those three words herbivores omnivores carnivores how about this right here I think you all know this word this um again it's a common word I think a good one to know still related to science if you leave a pot of hot water or if you leave a pot of water on a hot stove sorry if you leave a pot of water on a hot stove the water is going to do what what are what what verb is missing you have this hot stove the water it's boiling and it's going to what this is a again a word that yeah you use talking about science maybe I don't know you're listening to a meteorologist talk about something and they may use this verb because when water heats the liquid turns to a gas and you would say it's going to evaporate all right I think a lot of you got that one excellent um and this is again a liquid changes to a gas especially by heating it's going to evaporate so the next one let me know what you think in order to speed up the reaction we need a what this is a word that is a science word but I also want I I I'm sharing it with you because it's also used in other contexts as well which I think can be very useful but in general it is a science word you're talking about speeding up a reaction and in order to do that you will need a find a noun I feel like just me saying it you could hopefully think of the word a what we're talking about a noun and I see all right some some good answers in there nice um uh oning uh just a random person a catalyst so uh Ella good job if we're talking about a catalyst is something that makes a chemical reaction more happen more quickly without itself being changed and it's a catalyst now there are other way ways that this may be used because you can talk about uh Catalyst as being like something that causes a big change and I think you often use this word maybe an everyday Co conversation I gave you some cations right there along with some news headlines you could talk about the Catalyst behind something this article says the Catalyst behind my profession for my passion for journalism and why I embrace the field or maybe you talk about the Catalyst for something here's this line mobile internet a catalyst for economic growth in Africa or a catalyst to do something this article for poetry afficionados in chenai I'm probably mispronouncing that April serves as a catalyst to create to create poetry this is a catalyst so here I know I I gave you a fair number of words these are some of the words we talked about they're all related to to science if you enjoy learning science vocabulary let me know hit that like button because there are definitely more lessons like this I can do in the future it is a topic that you are going to come across watching the news reading a newspaper or even in general conversations if you're talking about something like climate change a lot of this vocabulary may come up I tried to give you a little bit of variety as we went through this and talk about words that are I think a little more advanced but still comments so of course uh I want to I want you to tell me how how did you do on the quiz um you can let me know and write your answer right there how did you do on the quiz um and you could say like I am a Scientist like uh 100% uh maybe um I did pretty well 50% and maybe another one because most of us we study science in school you could say oh I need to go back to school um maybe 25% what do you think you can let me know how you did on this quiz I always love hearing from you uh always write to me in the comments and I try to respond and again if you want to get these lessons notes you can join my email Community Link is in the description if you're already a part of it check your inbox because I have sent them to you but I want to thank everybody for joining me today thank you uh Glo good to see you um Ella uh St kareim Myer Carlos glad you enjoyed the lesson I hope that you knew most of these words maybe some of them were new I always want to build vocabulary but thank thank you guys so much for being here and I will see you soon for another lesson in the future --- ## 121. ADVANCED SPRING VOCABULARY ๐ŸŒผ | Words and phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bvziedjcWZU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvziedjcWZU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:15:11 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. This is going to be an advanced vocabulary lesson. Because while spring is right around the corner, I I wanted to talk to you about some different advanced words that are related to spring. These are words that I think you should definitely know. So, as I mentioned, we're going to be talking about some advanced spring vocabulary. I think some of the words and phrases you will be familiar with. And the way that I I want to do this is I'm going to present this to you like a little bit of a quiz. So I'm going to give you like a question, a sentence, and I want you to think of the answer and then of course uh I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I will tell you the answer what the missing word or phrase is. Before we begin, I do want to make a quick little announcement and that is that enrollment for my speaking course is now open. Um, you can click on a link down in the description. It's it's a speaking course. It's all about trying to help you speak confidently, speak clearly, speak naturally. The it's an 8week course in which uh there are different topics each week. And the other thing I wanted to tell you is that you can use the code uh it's right up here at the top. Uh I'm kind of blocking it. Speak 20 to get $20 uh off. So uh I'll kind of come back and mention this once more at the end, but yes, enrollment is now open. Classes are going to begin uh the first week of April and spaces are limited. So check that out if you're somebody who would like to practice and improve your speaking skills. So as I go through the and then ah okay okay okay so my apologies I think the the connection dropped for just a moment and then now we're back. Okay so we're we're talking about advanced spring vocabulary and the first question that I have for you is right here. All right. So this is kind of uh fill in the blank. What what do you think? Uh what what word would best complete this sentence? I love the warm days when there's a nice gentle. What do you think? What word best completes that that sentence? Yes, everything we're we're back now. Everything's all good. A little technical uh difficulties there for just a moment. So, let me get the microphone here. So, what do you guys think? Um, this is a common collocation too. I think when you're when you hear you feel it gentle and of course the picture I think is a little bit of a a giveaway. So just to uh let you guys Yes. Uh Lii correct good to see you Li Tyo good to see you. Um Vivian Angela Yashar welcome. Nice. The the correct answer is breeze. So we're talking about like the wind. It's a gentle wind, but instead of people saying gentle wind, that's not a common collocation. I think in the springtime, uh, you you have these days where there's a nice gentle breeze and everybody loves that. I really love these the gentle breeze. The next one is right here. And this is just well the question, what are those? What do you call those? I've given you the first letter. Okay. And then I'll talk to you. Well, I don't want to give it away, but what what do you call those in English? That that's the first letter that that you can see, which is G. All right. What do you think? Let me know. Write your answers in the chat or like I said, even if you're watching this later, write your answers in the comments. All right. So, this is one that I I told you this is advanced vocabulary, so it's a little more challenging. Um, and this is something I don't I don't wear these. Um, but and and the other thing I would tell you is that they do have different names as well, but I think commonly they're known as what? So, this the the question mark. Hey, that's all good. No, no problem. Alex, I have no idea. Okay. Um, Moier Fenon, you got it. Excellent. That you got the correct and uh Vetlana. Sorry if I mispronounced names. Angela. Yes. So, these are called galosshes. And you may be wondering, well, what is it that makes a galash uh different than rain boots or whatever? They do have different names. The difference is that uh galashes specifically, technically, if you want to be more exact, they go around your shoe. So galashes will cover your shoe and they protect your shoes from the rain or the mud. Whereas a rain boot would really protect your socks and under like you just have your socks and then you would put on your rain boots and you'd go outside um wherever you need to go and you wear them like shoes whereas galashes you're going to put over your shoes to protect them from the rain. So, that's the slight a slight difference between galashes and rain boots. Um, so hopefully, again, this is a new word for you. If you didn't know this, now you do. Those are galashes and they go over your shoes. Uh, I told you I don't wear them to be honest. I don't really wear rain boots either. I just when it's raining, I just go outside in my shoes. So, the next question u, but again, do you think of spring the weather changes? I think it starts to rain a little bit more. Um, so it's something that you would associate with with spring. This one is more I I guess you could say it somewhat specific to the United States, even though I think that other countries have the same break um this time of year. So just in general though, it's very common and well known in the United States. Um, a popular oneweek vacation period is known as what? And I'm sure that if you have visited the US or just watching TV shows and movies, it's kind of a a well-known vacation period mostly associated with school because school is off for one week. Families will travel and we're talking about Yes. Excellent. Uh, Max, Yashar, Vivian, uh, Lai, Angela, uh, Kevin, spring break is the phrase. And I think again, it's mostly associated with schools when school is off for a week and you say, well, it's spring break. And I think in many other countries, there's also a break in the springtime. I don't know if many people would refer to it as spring break, but yes, in the US, you'd say, oh, like where are you going to go for spring break? And as you can see in the picture, a popular destination would be just traveling to to the beach. The next one that I have for you is, and this one I think is a little more challenging, so I'll I'll be impressed if uh if you guys get this one. It's a word that describes weather that is pleasantly warm. So, we've already talked about weather a little bit already. Um, a breeze is like a gentle wind. And often you might talk about a gentle breeze. In this case, we're saying the weather. It's pleasantly warm. It's what? It's one word. And this is the word that I I took it straight from the dictionary as to what this word means. And I told you I think it's one that to be honest, I don't often use this word. Um, others might, but you know, if you want to describe weather that's pleasantly warm, which happens in the spring, you would say it's what? And I see one correct answer so far uh given by Victoria. Excellent. That is the word. So, you would I mean you could of course many of you are putting mild. You could describe like, hey, it's you know the weather's a bit mild like in terms of it's warm. I think pleasantly would be the kind of the key to say yes, it is balmy. Balmy means like pleasantly warm that you're that you enjoy this the weather that's outside. Um and typically I think spring there are days that are pleasantly warm and you could say yes it's balmy um outside. So excellent. I see some other correct answers. Uh Mark, Angela, well done, Alex. Perfect. And I told you it's it's this is not a word that I uh often use. Typically, I think many people would just say, "Hey, it's a nice day outside. Uh it's a beautiful day. It's gorgeous." But again, it's always good to build your vocabulary. It helps with your comprehension. And then you could use it as well. But I like I said, this is probably a more advanced word because it's not one that you're you're always going to hear when it's pleasantly warm outside. But it's all about learning new words. That's what it's all about. So here I gave another sentence. Uh I provided the picture to give you a little more context and I maybe I made it a little too easy because I do think these are very common words and this is true. Uh this is kind of about myself. Every spring the m in the air gives me what what are the two words that would go in those blanks? And you could use the picture to help you out. Um, but this is definitely something I would say about myself. Every spring the m in the air gives me what? And these, like I said, these are, I think, definitely more common words. Um, words that I definitely think you should know. So, excellent. Great job. Uh, Loi, perfect. Um, sleepwalker. Victoria uh MZZ. Nice. So, the first blank if you're talking about like you see the flowers back there. What is in the air? The pollen is in the air in the spring. Um you know, flowers, everything's blossoming, it's growing, and you have all that pollen in the air. And if you're like me, then it you could you get allergies. And it's actually it's already started for me this year. I've been sneezing a lot yesterday and today and I'm starting to take some uh allergy um medicine for that. So every spring the pollen in the air gives me allergies and that's true. So I think these are definitely good words to know um especially especially if you also are somebody who tends to get allergies in the springtime. Then we have this right here. This is this is uh I guess maybe you could even think it's a little bit of a biology question. Um this is more challenging. So I've given you these different parts of the flower and I've covered up this one down here which is actually the more difficult word. Um so which part of the flower is this? So you see the flower, the flowering stem, the leaf, and then the roots down at the bottom. Which part is covered up? What word is that? Um, excellent. See some more familiar faces. Bamini, good to see you. Um, what do you think? And I I I think I feel like I'm there's a lot about flowers that I don't know. Um, I know some people may be a bit more familiar with it, so maybe this is a little easier for you. Uh, because I am seeing excellent uh, a lot of great questions. Uh, are great answers for this one. Yes, Vivian, Victoria, Christine, um, Spatlana, Lai, Yashar, Bamini, Angela, the correct answer. Yes, this is the bulb. So the bulb of a flower in botney, botany is the study of plants is a modified stem that is the resting stage of certain seed plants. That is not my definition. That is uh from the internet. But to give you an idea of exactly what it is if somebody's talking about the bulb, but many of you got that one. So excellent. Uh I'm very impressed. Well done. Good job. If you got that one right, hit that like button. Let me know. It tells me how many people are actually participating in the lesson. So, this one, um, there could be more than one answer. I I'm I'm looking for a synonym. So, when you think of the spring, people would think of words like renew, refresh, revitalize. And those are all synonyms for another word that begins with an R. All right, so there there actually many R words that are synonyms. These all mean the same thing. Renew, refresh, revitalize. And what other word could you use that is a synonym for these? And I'm very uh very impressed that uh see some couple of uh correct answers already. And this is this is useful because I think it's always good to build your vocabulary with synonyms. You already know the meaning of one word and then you can associate with these other ones and then over time learn which words are more commonly used to talk about different topics. Something else we cover in the the speaking course. But in this case, we're talking about spring. And I think a very common word is the one that's missing like some of you said, which is rejuvenate. Um, that's the that's the word that we were looking for, even though there are other R words. So, Angela, um, who else? Bamini, Ava, uh, Yapang. So, again, sorry if I mispronounced names. Kevin, um, Sleepwalker, nice, Christine. So, rejuvenate means to make someone um, look or feel young and energetic again. And I think this word is often used with spring because you have that word again. So every year when spring comes around, it's like people feel rejuvenated. Everybody's going they're going outside more often. They're doing more activities. And I think it's just part of the the process. I think a lot I know I feel that way because you see flowers, trees coming to life again and everything just is like it's a good word to know with spring, rejuvenate. Uh the next one that is this one right here. This is um I guess it's a little more of a maybe a a biology question too. Um so I'm giving you this example even though it applies to other things as well. Caterpillars change to butterflies. Okay. This uh this change in form and appearance is known as a what? There is a specific word that talks about a change in like the physical form or appearance and it is known as a this. Okay. So, this is the example that I kind of trying to get you to associate with it. A caterpillar changing to a butterfly. You could also use it um to talk about people as well that if somebody just changes the way they look, the physical appearance, maybe they color their hair or they get a bunch of tattoos and you could say, "Wow, this person just did a complete what." And I see some great answers in there. Yes, I told you it's you could think of it as a little bit of a biology word. Metamorphosis. So, a metamorphosis, the meaning of that is a change in one's physical form or appearance. So, great job, uh, Max MZ to Kaya. We know we've talked about this in class. Excellent. Uh, sleepwalker. Uh, and hopefully, again, I if this is a a new word for you, that's great. So you can kind of just keep it in the back of your mind, but this is one that you would uh use to describe like this example. Caterpillar changing to a butterfly. It's a metamorphosis. Uh the next one right here. I thought this picture was funny, so I wanted to include it. It refers to a thorough cleaning of a house or room. This time of the year is called a what? And often I think you might hear people use it in the context like, oh, you know, maybe they're they're cleaning the house. Yeah, we're doing a little bit of a m All right, it's this time of the year. And I think all of us uh I think people can relate to it. Also, I think it's part of just rejuvenating again. And you're doing this thorough cleaning um this time of the year. And this is a phrase that I'm sure you're familiar with that you've heard before. I see many people writing answers down. Excellent. Um, yes, Lai, Kevin, Ava, Victoria, Yashar, uh, Duke, uh, we're talking about a spring cleaning. So, I think when when we clean our place, if somebody asks like, "Hey, what are you doing?" Yeah, we're just doing a bit of a spring cleaning right now. And really trying to clean the place thoroughly. And also, I think it's associated with maybe getting rid of some of the things you don't need any longer and you're kind of, you know, cleaning out the closets a little bit or really trying to throw some things out, make more space, and you do a spring cleaning. So, it definitely is a thorough thorough cleaning. Perfect. Um, so I think that, like I said, this is a phrase that's pretty common that I think is useful to know this time of the year. Okay. Now, um, this is like, what do you think? I'm really just giving you, uh, two choices. Um, do you, looking at that picture, do you think this plant is sprouting or germinating? What What do you think? Um, is it sprouting or germinating? And maybe maybe it's a little bit of a trick question. and I'll give you a full uh just a moment to think about it and then of course I'll I'll let you know what's going on. So, is this plant sprouting or germinating? What would you say? And I I guess it's not surprising many people are saying sprouting uh right now. Kevin's saying germinating going against the grain. Okay, so let me let me explain. I told you this is a trick question because in this case for this picture you could use either one. They can be used interchangeably sometimes sprouting and germinating. I could say that plant is sprouting. Um and I could also say it's it's germinating. So the specific difference to sprout means to grow from a seed. So since this plant is so small, it's just coming out of the like the seed and you could say it's sprouting. to germinate is to produce buds. Um, so it's also in this case it's germinating. So when when plants are really just starting to come out of the ground, you could really say it's sprouting or germinating. The one distinction I would make is that it's probably more common for people to use the word sprout because you can use this word to talk about other things as well like uh some you know it's growing quickly. It's really growing. You say wow they're sprouting. Um so this word is more common than germinate. So I think most of the time people would probably look at something like a plant like oh it's it's sprouting. But in this case, you could use either one. So, everybody's correct. Um, good job. Everybody got this one. If you got this one, then hit that like button. Let me know. Um, that you were just participating. So, to to put a finer point on what I just said, I told you that I think that sprouting would be more commonly used. If you have words like this and you have a situation in which you're like, "Okay, these words, they're interchangeable. Which one is more common? A great reference is Google Engram Viewer. And what this is taking is all the the like written English um books, online articles. So you can it maybe is a little more formal, but you can find stuff on there that's a little more informal. But the reason it is you put the words up there and I put sprout and germinate. And basically it's giving you a graph a representation of how common like how frequent the words are used over time. So you can see that germinate in red sprout is in blue that for a time period it seems like from 1860 to 1960 people would use germinate more often especially um in writing and over time it seems like nowadays sprouting is is more common. So, uh I just wanted to point this out as another reference. If you have this situation and you're thinking which like which word or phrase is more commonly used, you can use uh Google Engram viewer. It's a great resource. And then another one um what do you think? What are these called? This is another just visual uh visual vocabulary testing your your knowledge. I think you perhaps are familiar with uh with this word and again I'm putting it in here. This is advanced spring vocabulary. This is something else that this time of year um this is what goes on. Okay. So what do you think? What what are these called? And I know like I feel like you start seeing some of those answers in the chat and there is yes I remember the word. Um so hopefully again this could be a new word for you. It's very specific because we're talking about these little guys right here. I know the picture looks big but they're actually very small. Um and yes, excellent. Great job. Just going to throw out some names. Kevin, Niha, Vivian, Khalid, Lai. Um, El Negrine, English class, Angela, uh, sleepwalker, mna. Uh, so the answer is tadpoles. These are tadpoles. They the meaning like the the small black creature with a large head and a long tail that lives in water and develops into a frog or toad is called uh a tadpole. And this is something that again happens um in the springtime. And this would be another example of a metamorphosis of a change of a tadpole becoming a frog or a toad would be another example of a metamorphosis. That physical change in appearance. Just wanted to throw that little bit of review in there for you. So I I know these I I just gave you about I think there were 12 or 13 words. Um, they're right here. So, this is the vocabulary list from today. Some of the words we talked about. Um, and yeah, I'm going to put this uh online for members, subscribers, patrons. Um, may even email this out if you are part of our email community. And you can find that link down below as well. So, I my main goal with these is to make this class a bit more interactive. I hope you learn some new words. Uh, great way to build your vocabulary, especially relating it to um certain topics. In this case, the time of year, so it's springtime or it's getting it's coming into spring. These are words or phrases that you may hear this time of year that can be useful or or you may read them u if you're reading the newspaper or some other article. I did want to circle back. I told you um for those of you who are interested in practicing and improving your speaking skills, uh the first week of April, I'm starting a new speaking course, um a new SpeakUp course. It's all about helping you speak confidently, clearly, and naturally. Uh check out that link down in the description. And again, if you have any questions, you can send me an email. the email. This is the course page down here. Um is right down here at the bottom. But on this page, you'll find out a lot more about class times. Um the cost of the course, it's somebody is asking it. It is not free. Uh this is an 8week course. It's $159. You can use the code speak 20 to get $20 off. Um and like I said, if you have other questions, uh you can send me an email. But this uh this page try gives you a lot of information as to how it's set up and what all is included. So check that out in the link if yeah if you want to speak if you want to speak with me and I see I've you know some familiar faces who have taken the course uh uh like Takayo, Yashar, Bamini. Um I appreciate you guys being here with me today. Again, I hope you learn some new words and phrases. That that is the goal. Thank you, uh, Lai, Sleepwalker, Areli, um, Marcella Parna. Just throw out some last minutes, uh, shout outs. Mark, Christine, Kevin, um, Curly, MZ, Udith. Uh, yeah, thank you guys. I hope you enjoy uh, the rest of your weekend. I hope you have uh a wonderful spring. It's it's one of my favorite times of the year. And of course, I will see you guys later for another lesson uh in the future. All right, see you next time. So long. --- ## 122. ADVANCED VERBS FOR WORK ๐Ÿ‘” | Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WbHkaXrx0lE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbHkaXrx0lE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:28:09 | --- [Music] hey everyone my name is Wes from interactive English videos calm and the channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to help you build your vocabulary by teaching you some advanced verbs that are related to work and they are advanced which means these verbs are more specific so you may not hear them in everyday English but they will help you better express your thoughts opinions and ideas I'm going to tell you the verb give you the meaning and I will also share with you an example sentence so you can see how the verb is used in context and hopefully this will help you better understand the meaning now just because we're talking about verbs that are related to work that does not mean you can only use these verbs in the work environment you can use them in a variety of situations but I wanted to give you something to associate it with something that is relevant to your life experience because that's going to make it much easier for you to understand so let's begin with our first verb which is expedite to expedite something and this just means to make something happen more quickly so at work maybe you have some process that you have to go through in order to complete or finish something and you may want that to become more efficient and you want it to happen a little quicker and in that case you could say that you want to expedite the process the assembly-line helped expedite the manufacturing process next is a phrasal verb and that is step down to step down this means that you are giving up a position and when we're talking about work I think often it may be used with somebody who's at a high level and maybe they are forced to step down or perhaps they are asked to step down those are some common collocations that you would use with this phrasal verb and I think you could this could happen for a variety of reasons perhaps there's some scandal and somebody's forced to step down or maybe they're at work there's just a lack of performance and they are asked to step down to give up the position the CEO was asked to step down because the company continued to lose money then we have a crew and to accrue means to increase in the number or amount of something over a period of time so in business perhaps a business takes out a loan and that loan is going to accrue interest this will get added over a period of time or maybe an employee an employee could accrue benefits the longer they work with a company to accrue the loan accrued interest each month then we have the verb cold call and to cold call someone it means to to call or visit a possible customer and try to get them to buy something but without them being asked to do so you didn't ask this person to call or visit you I think this has happened to all of us for example we we answer the phone and somebody is trying to sell us some product or service we did not tell them to call us but they are cold calling us so you can use this phrase as a verb to cold call someone or you could also use it as a noun to make a cold call and with work I think of someone who who is in sales and perhaps their job is to cold call all of these different people and they're trying to get them to buy their product or service to cold call we constantly cold called people in order to bring in new clients then we have another phrasal verb which is drum up and to drum up means to increase business activity or try to get more support for something for example you may want to drum up demand for a new product so that more people will buy it or perhaps you want to drum up support for some new promotion that you're trying to do to drum up the store tried to drum up business with a new promotion next is well one of my favorite verbs because I think I like to do it I think all many of us like to do it from time to time and that is to procrastinate and what it means to procrastinate is to delay doing something and and try just putting it off until later mostly because it's something you you don't want to do perhaps it's unpleasant perhaps it's a little boring and you could say that that you are procrastinating at work I think this happens if there is something that we don't really want to do but we have to do it people tend to procrastinate stop procrastinating next is adjourn and to adjourn means to have a pause or rest during some formal meeting or trial and with this verb I tend to think of someone who may work in law or politics it's more of a formal setting so in that case people may use this verb and and talk about a journeying a meeting and and taking a pause taking a rest to adjourn let's adjourn the meeting and we'll get back together next week then we have the verb implore and to implore someone means to ask someone to do something or even not to do something in a very sincere and determined way I think it's more kind of like a professional way of begging and you implore someone to do something you're really you trying to get them to do it or maybe you would implore them not to do something I implore all of you to go ahead and hit that like button that's that's my professional way of begging and saying please please hit the like button she implored her employees to follow the new guidelines next is the verb vessel 8 and to vacillate means to be uncertain about what to do or to change between different options it's a little similar to the verb hesitate but I think you would often use this verb when there is an important decision that needs to be made and there are some different options that a person may have and they're gonna go back and forth between those options they are vacillating it happens it happens at work because there are many important decisions that need to be made I tend to vacillate when presented with two good options then we have a verb that another one that I really like and that is enlighten to enlighten someone and this means to provide some information or understanding so I think at work if you need to explain something to your colleagues or your boss and you want to help them understand you want to enlighten them and often I think you may use this verb or even hear it being used with just a simple short statement and someone would say enlighten me in which case they're saying help me understand whatever it is you want to explain enlighten me give me that information enlighten me I tried to enlighten my colleagues about the value of working together next is an idiom which is a little more informal but also very relevant when when talking about work and that is to run out of steam and what this means is to lose energy or interest to to continue doing something that you've been working really hard and perhaps you're starting to lose energy and you could say that I'm running out of steam or maybe you've just you're so busy and you're starting to lose interest in what you're doing you could also say I'm running out of steam of course I think at any business any company they don't want their employees to run out of steam he needs a vacation he's starting to run out of steam so I hope I was able to enlighten you with some new vocabulary words and I also hope that you're not running out of steam and you will continue to watch some more English lessons because I just know that you're not going to procrastinate this is something that it must be done don't wait any longer keep watching some lessons and I I'm going to adjourn this lesson right now and I'm just trying to use as many of these words as I can just to help you get a quick review thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 123. ADVANCED VOCABULARY QUIZ LESSON (Live-Stream) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vhxShGts9_M` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhxShGts9_M) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:25:40 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. My name is Wes. This is Interactive English. And if this is your first time here visiting our channel, it's all about just helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today, uh, we try to do that in a variety of ways. And today, I want to help you build your vocabulary. Specifically, we are going to be talking about some advanced vocabulary words. And I say that it's advanced and I feel like I'm trying to walk um a fine line here because I really I I do want to teach you some more advanced words that are going to help you be more precise and that if you want to describe a situation or express yourself that you will be able to do that with these words because they are more specific. But at the same time, I try to choose words that are not just very random and that they're words that nobody ever uses. I try to find words that you will come across if you're reading a story or maybe you're listening to the news and that you could still use in everyday conversation. So, I say they're advanced. I think they're advanced. Um, and I definitely want to challenge you as well. So, thank you guys so much for joining me. Great to see so many familiar faces. Great to see so many members. Hello Aiden, Lai, um Patri, uh welcome to welcome to the chat. Angela, Nyla, um great to see all of you. So again, this is going to be an interactive lesson because what I want you guys to do is I want you to participate. I'm going to give you um a bunch of different questions and I want you to write your answers in the chat. And even if you're watching this later, write your answers in the comment. Use it like uh it's a piece of paper. And again, it's just a great way to actually practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. Um and I what I'll do is I'll I'll give you the question and then I will give you a moment to try to think of an answer and then of course I will tell you what the answer is. So let's go ahead and begin. And the first set of questions that I have for you, I'm going to give you the word and I just want you to choose the correct meaning. What is the meaning of this word? here with cajul. So this I'll go ahead and tell you this is a verb to cajul to cajul someone. What do you think this verb means to cajul? I'll give you a moment and then I will reveal the answer. Does it is it talking about a playful fight? Does it mean to persuade someone? Or does it mean to overcook some food? What do you think? Write your answers in the chat or even in the comments if you happen to be watching this later. To cajul. Excellent. Uh yes, Mike MZ Mazar. Uh Delia Shishri. Yes, the correct answer is B. To cajul someone means to persuade someone. I'm going to add something else. You're persuading them with flattery. And what that means is you're you're just saying a bunch of nice things to this person in order to persuade them. I'll give you an example. I think of well as a teacher perhaps the students are trying to cajol me into delaying the exam and they say oh Wes we need a little more time to study don't give us the exam tomorrow and you you should do that because you're such a nice teacher you're such a kind teacher so they're saying these things to flatter me so that I will be persuaded to do what they want me to they're trying to cajol me into delaying the exam exam. So, you're really persuading somebody with flattery. All right. Excellent. Uh the next one, flabbergasted. All right. I chose this one. Um I think this one definitely is a little more common. And this is one you may have heard. I just like saying the word uh flabbergasted. It's an adjective. What do you think it means if somebody says that that they were flabbergasted? All right. And maybe I'm I'm giving it away with the context. Do you think it means that somebody is greatly surprised, they're out of breath, or perhaps they're they're just having an upset stomach? All right. Uh, what do you guys think? Write your answer in the chat. If somebody is flabbergasted, again, I said I think this one is a bit more common. It's a great adjective to use. And yes, just to give some great Wow, you guys are rocking this one. Yes. Uh, Aiden, Ruma, uh, Orlando, uh, Aan Athonosas, Saluturus. Sorry if I mispronounced names. I'm just trying to give out as many shout outs as I can. Loi, perfect. The correct answer is a. If you if somebody is flabbergasted, it just means that they're greatly surprised. So, it's a great adjective that you can use to describe someone who is extremely surprised. and you say that this person was flabbergasted. Something happened and they were flabbergasted. The next question or the next vocabulary word that I have for you is this one, viferous. So again, this is an adjective, viferous. And we can use it, well, you can use it as an adjective. You can use it with other parts of speech as well. And I will uh tell you about that in just a moment. But what do you think is the meaning of viciferous? Does is it talking about the sound of loud music, expressing opinions loudly, or is it talking about the noise of a traffic jam? And the reason we're starting this way and just me asking you for um what you think the meaning is, I feel like this is uh this is a little easier and then it's going to get a bit more difficult as we go through this. So yes, perfect. Uh Mike, Lordes, Aiden, Paulo. Uh if something is uh or someone is viciferous, then it basically means that they are expressing opinions loudly and you're you're doing it with a lot of energy and emotion. And therefore, yeah, you you you would use this word to describe a person and they are talking about the an argument that was just um viciferous. I said that you you would use this with other parts of speech. Um other parts of speech as well because I think you might also commonly use this word as an adverb and you say that somebody was arguing viferously and that they were doing it loudly and they're really expressing their opinion. Viciferous or as an adverb viciferously. The next one opine. This is a verb. I'll go ahead and tell you to opine. What do you think it means if someone is opining? Um, are they expressing regret? Are they is it mean to express an opinion or just does it mean to express dislike? What do you think? Uh, and if you guys are just joining us again, we're just doing uh this vocabulary uh advanced vocabulary. It's a quiz lesson. So I just ask try to participate take part in this lesson. That is what it it's all about. So if somebody uh tuine I said it's a verb. What what do you think? Um excellent. Uh so you guys you guys are rocking this first part. Uh Ario uh Yenia Esther Ba Bashir. Yes. To uh opine means to express an opinion. So somebody might opine and in that case they are sharing their opinion. And we could combine it with the word that we just talked about. Perhaps somebody might opine viciferously and they are expressing their opinion loudly with a lot of energy and emotion uh to opine. All right. So that is the first part of the vocabulary quiz. The next part that we're going to go through is I am going to give you a statement and I'm going to use uh the word and I want you to see I want you to put the word in context. All right? Using the the sentence, see if you can put the word in context and tell me uh what the meaning of the word is. So, let's go ahead and begin with this one. All right. Uh, I I'll read it for you. It says, "He used irrational arguments and obfuscated the primary issue." All right. I highlighted the word for you. Obfuscated. What does that word mean? It's a You can see that it it's a verb. What do you think it means? and try to use the sentence to try and put the the word into into context and see if you can determine what the meaning of it. What does it mean to obfuscate? Does it mean to highlight the importance to make something less clear or to purposefully lie? All right. And I will say for those of you who are very active and following our channel, I did a lesson ah probably over a year ago about advanced verbs. This is one of them. This is one of the verbs that I talked about to obuscate and maybe maybe many of you have seen that. Yes, excellent. Uh perfect boost your English Nyla uh Lai Andrea. The correct answer is B. To obiscate means to make something less clear and I'll go ahead and add something else. You could say you are trying to make it more difficult to understand. So in this case to give you an example I think of perhaps politicians. If somebody does not want to tell the truth or they want to talk about some issue and do it in a way that may confuse other people and then you could say they're trying to obiscate the truth or they're trying to obiscate some issue or some problem and they want to make it more difficult to understand. They want to make it less clear. So that is an example as to when you may come across this word or perhaps even use it to obiscate. The next one is, "The student asked me my age. It was such an important question." All right. The student asked me my age. It was such an impertinent question. I think that uh this is it's an adjective and I think it is a fairly common adjective. So, this may be one that perhaps you are familiar with already. Um impertinent. What do you think it means if you describe someone or something as impertinent? Does it mean that it's showing ignorance, it's inquisitive, or it's lacking respect? All right. What do you think? Uh, excellent. Yes. Uh, Yenia. Uh, Lai Ladan, Angela, Tan, uh, Aiden. Yes. If if you say that someone or something is impertinent, it means that it is c. It is lacking respect. And I use this adjective before a noun saying it was an impertinent question because I I think depending on the country, the culture as well as the situation like a a teacher student relationship, you may not you you may not want to ask someone their age and you could say that it's lacking respect. Often I think you would use this adjective as a predicate adjective at the end of uh the sentence and you may describe someone and say that this person is impertinent. Um so I often think this adjective may come uh as a predicate adjective after the verb to be and you'd say somebody is impertinent or they are impertinent um in its lacking respect. The next question I have for you is this one's a little more difficult. Over the years, our high school reunions have become uh peruncter. All right. Over the years, our high school reunions have become peruncter. So, I'm talking about this situation of a high school reunion um and describing it as peruncter. So, what do you think? Does that mean that it is done quickly without care, increasingly interesting or necessary to attend? Which of those uh is the meaning of peruncter? Now, I said I think this one is definitely a little more advanced. It's probably not as common, but you never know. I think you may hear it if you're watching a TV show or a movie, or you may come across it in a book. So, peruncter. [laughter] All right. Yes, this one I can see it. I get a I get a little there are a little more mixed responses here. Um, but yes, tan sai uh ruma dhs 615. So, if you say that if you describe something as peruncter, it means a it is done quickly without care. And for example, maybe this uh I I try to give uh the example of like a high school reunion that over the years, which means it's done again and again and again. And the more you do something, you're probably not going to put as much effort and care into it. So that is what I was going for when I say that, okay, it's become peruncter. It's done quickly without care. But you could also use this in the context of perhaps like a greeting. Somebody might describe a greeting as peruncter. If you meet somebody on the street and they they say hello, but it's really just done quickly. It doesn't seem like they want to talk to you. And that that is the way. And you could say it was a it was a prefuncter greeting. It was done quickly without much care or interest. It's prefuncter. The next one is he had had better days. That's why he found his roommates's celebratory mood quite irksome. All right. What do you think? He had had better days. That's why he found his roommates's celebratory mood quite irksome. Does irksome, that is the word that uh I've highlighted. Does that mean that something is comforting, surprising, or annoying? What do you think? Write your answers in the chat or even in the comments later. Again, it's interactive English. I want all of you guys to interact and participate in these lessons. So, he had had better days. I'm using the uh the past perfect there. That's a good example of the past perfect. Had had uh he had had better days. That's why he found his roommates's celebratory mood quite irksome. So, if you if you say, "Well, I've had better days," then that means that well, you didn't have a good day. So if somebody has a celebratory mood perhaps you would find that erxom which means that you would find it quite annoying. So if you describe something as irksome it just means that it is annoying. I think many of you um kind of you did well with that one. Excellent. Um so the next part again we have another part to this vocabulary practice quiz. So, what I'm going to do for this part is I'm going to give you uh a sentence with a blank. So, there's a blank in there. And I want you to tell me which vocabulary word best completes the sentence. So, in this case, you really need to know the meaning of the word and you really need to understand the context of the sentence. What's it trying to say? Now, I will give you a few different options. I will only go over the correct answer. Um, I'm not going to talk much about some of the other words because they are also advanced. Um, I want to keep this lesson at a reasonable length. So, let's begin uh with this one, which is there's a monument to pay to her achievements. There's a monument to pay to her achievements. Which of those words, those vocabulary words, best completes this sentence? So, you really got to try and do both. Now, put it into context as well as understand the meaning of the word. Uh, and of course, you can take a guess if you want. Uh, but I'll give you a moment. What do you think? There's a monument to pay pilgrimage, to pay homage, or to pay a mortgage. All right. What do you think? Um, so yes. Excellent. Uh, [laughter] perfect. Sid, um, Manati, Abin, Lai, Kadija, Leonardo. If we're talking about, uh, in this case, the correct answer is B, homage. All right, there's a monument to pay homage to her achievements. And homage is talking about a deep respect that you show for someone. And I think th this is actually a collocation. Pay homage. To pay homage, those two words are frequently used together. So if you're talking about homage, it is quite quite often you will uh it's going to be used with that verb to pay homage. The next one is right here. I could say that the company their income on the tax forms. Which word best completes this sentence? The company inundated their income on the tax forms. The company capitulated their income on the tax forms or the company fabricated their income on the tax forms. So, write your answer in the chat uh in the comments again. See see what you guys uh [laughter] see if you guys can get this. So there is only there is only one correct answer. Um and wow getting some different responses here. All right. So excellent. Uh yes, Nord. Uh 1990. All right. Uh have some right answers. This one's a little more challenging. uh Jerry uh Nikita uh Mazar Kareem. So the correct answer is C fabricated. All right. Uh in this case the company fabricated their income on the tax forms which is not something that you want to do because to fabricate something means to create something false in order to deceive someone. So you could use it with um somebody might fabricate a story. That is a common way in which you would use this verb to fabricate. The next one is this question right here. I can't believe my family had the m to go on vacation without me. I can't believe my family had the m to go on vacation without me. Which word best completes the sentence? complacency, tammerity or the posity. All right. And there is only one of those words will accurately complete this sentence. What do you think? Again, try to think of the context, the situation. Somebody is saying this. They're talking about this. I can't believe my family had the to go on vacation without me. What would you say? Complacency to posity. Um, all right. Yes, this one. Uh, okay. Still some mix. Uh, yes. On loca. Uh, alamin. Perfect. Yesia. So, the word that we're looking for is be. Tammerity. I can't believe my family had the tmerity to go on vacation without me. Tammerity is um it's a noun and it's talking about the willingness to do something that may upset others. So in this case, you would use it in talking about a situation that you're really surprised that somebody did something because it's likely to upset others. And you would say, "I don't believe they had the tmerity to do this thing." The willingness to do it because it would upset other people. Like in this example, if your family leaves and goes on vacation without you, yeah, I'd be a little upset, too. And I'd be like, I can't believe I can't believe they would do this, that they had the temerity to go on vacation without me. All [snorts] right, the next one. Some people believe that technology is a m for solving climate change. Some people believe that technology is a m for solving climate change. Which word completes that sentence? This this is a this is a this is definitely a more advanced word. I think all of these are more advanced. Is it uh panacea rigmmoral cloer? What do you think best completes this sentence? Some people believe that technology is a m for solving climate change. Uh all right. Well, like uh I think you guys doing well on this one. Yes. Li Nikita MZ Shaloo. Uh [laughter] Angela Tan. All right. [snorts] So the answer that we're looking for is a panacea. So some people believe that technology is a panacea for solving climate change and a panacea is talking about well just something that will solve all problems. So in this case uh climate change is a problem and some people may believe that well technology is going to help us solve this problem. It's a panacea for this problem as well as others and they may believe that it solves all of our different problems and it is a panacea. Excellent. So those are the the words that I wanted to go over with you in this lesson. And again, if you guys do like what uh what we do here at Interactive English, if you want to become uh a member, support our channel, uh you can get a YouTube membership or become a patron. We offer some different and cool rewards. There are links down in the description below if you want to check that out. So remember, these are the words I put together, this word list, and I will put these words in the description part of this lesson. Um, actually wait, no, I don't think I don't think I will. Uh, because I don't want to just give you the answer to some of these questions. So, this this is your word list in case you want to review and maybe practice some more. Wait uh a few weeks, watch the lesson again and see if you remember the the meaning of these words. It is a great way to get exposure to new words. And then the more you practice with them, the more you hear them, the more you read them, you're just going to uh you're going to internalize the meaning so that when you want to speak or write, you will be able to use this word correctly. You're going to put it in your active memory. So, here are the words that we talked about uh from this lesson. I hope that you guys I think you guys did very well for the most part. Um, you guys knew most of those. Again, I do think they are more advanced words, but I tried to find words that are also common that you would hear in a TV show, movie, or if you're watching the news, but you could probably also use in conversation depending on the the context and the situation. So, thank you guys so much for joining me. Thank you, Anderson. Um, all too easy. All right, I'll make it more difficult next time then. Uh, Olivia, uh, Paulo, Lai, Rose, uh, Aiden, Ruma, Rod, good to see you. Uh, Samuel, Lucky, just trying to give some quick shoutouts at the end. I try to say as many names uh, as possible and acknowledge all of you because I really appreciate you being here with me. [snorts] I hope that you have uh a wonderful rest of the weekend. Thank you guys so much for joining me and watching this video. Uh keep practicing and keep up the good work and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 124. ADVANCED VOCABULARY QUIZ | Do You Know These Words? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MayDJjvDuj4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MayDJjvDuj4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:40:02 | --- I think so all right what is up everyone so I hope I hope this is working this is the first time we've tried like setting an event and and trying this live so this I hope it I hope it should be working right now I actually just started doing the lesson when it wasn't streaming and I was basically talking to myself but welcome to today's lesson I have a super fun lesson for you today it's it is a vocabulary lesson and this lesson the reason I say it's special it's fun is because it's going to be completely interactive because I'm going to ask you questions I want you guys to answer it I want you to engage with the lesson if you're watching it now even if you're watching this later if you're watching this a year from now I still want you to participate and and just use that comment section like it's a piece of paper and write down the answer and then at the end you can comment and that way I know that you guys were actually participating in the lesson so today I have I'm gonna give you a quiz alright and it's not just any quiz it is a vocabulary quiz now I will tell you that the vocabulary words that I'm going to give you today they are more advanced words all right many of you ask us they're like oh I want some advanced vocabulary these are definitely more advanced words which means you're not going to hear these words if you everyday when you walk outside or if you turn on the TV you will hear them from time to time because they are great and very specific words so that some of them may be a bit difficult but you know it's always good to practice and learn new words and that's the best way to improve your fluency so I just want to say hello to some of you you guys have been waiting in the chat for me grace go SIA Lally hi how are you guys Nelson wifey muhr nell Sabean jr welcome welcome welcome it's great to have you guys here thank you guys for joining us and let's see I want to talk to you oh okay some technical difficulties so I want to begin before we jump into our quiz all right I want to go ahead and just tell you real quickly okay why is it important to build your vocabulary all right there are three reasons why it's important this is very important stuff the first one is it just gives you greater comprehension and when I mean when I say greater comprehension that when you're listening to a TV show or a movie or you're listening during a lecture then you're going to know these words and be able to identify the vocabulary so that you can just follow along with what is being said and that way you don't have to stop and think to yourself oh what is that word I didn't get that and then the conversation continues and then suddenly you're lost that happens to me all the time so the more you build your vocabulary the greater comprehension you have the easier it is to follow along with different conversations or whatever it is you're listening to so that's why it is so so so important another reason is that you can just more easily communicate and produce the language if you're having a free-flowing conversation and you're talking about a variety of topics you could be talking about education you could be talking about health care government and no matter what you want to say which is the third one you're going to be able to accurately express your thoughts your opinions and your ideas and really use specific words in order to do so and that's why it's important when you learn new words to practice using them so that you remember and then you can continue using them on into the future and the next time you're having a conversation so these are three very important reasons why you should continue to build your vocabulary right so as I said if you are just joining us I'm gonna give you guys a vocabulary quiz and I'm going to ask you there are 12 different questions so what I'm going to do is I'm gonna ask you the question all right the vocabulary question I'll give you a little bit of time to try and answer you can write all of them are multiple choice too so you can write the word or you can just write the letter and you know what what do you think the answer is and then I'm going to tell you the answer and give you the meaning as well as some example sentences so you can see how the word is used in different context all right so again if you're worth if you're with me now write the answer in the chat all right I want to hear from all of you guys and even if you're watching this later I expect you to participate in the lesson and actually you know use that comment section write the answer and then we will go over them with you all right so we see a lot of people are you guys ready I hope you guys are ready to practice okay so hello Sudeep Jatinder Lyn SWAT Fareed sorry if I missed some names it is great to see all of you so now let's let's just get to it are you ready you ready to practice so the first word the first question that I have for you is this one all right what is a synonym for contrived alright that's the word right there contrived now a synonym is a word that has the same meaning or a very similar meaning so you're thinking of the word contrived which one of those words a b c or d has the same meaning or just a very similar meaning what what do you guys think I want you to write your answer in the chat I'll give you a few more seconds and then I'll go over it with you so if something is contrived that means it is what all right what what do you guys think all right seeing some answers I don't know some question marks and no idea okay this is good okay so if something is contrived the answer is D it's artificial so contrived is an adjective and a lot of the times it's used after the verb to be and they talk about something is contrived and it just means that you it's having a unnatural or false appearance it's artificial it's fake so for example I Wes talked in a contrived British accent it's used as an adjective it's a fake British accent so if I were to say like hey hello hello mate chap how's it going you know today I'm just sitting in my flat giving this English lesson here and you can see that is a very bad British accent it is horrible it's fake it's artificial it's contrived okay the next one the story line seems a bit contrived often I think if you're talking about somebody's telling a story I think that's a common way that it's used and you say yeah the story is contrived and it could be somebody talking about their experience and they're saying oh this is what happened and you're like yeah I don't know it sounds a little fake it sounds a little artificial it's false it's contrived so I think that's one way it's commonly used and often it's used after that the verb to be something is contrived so now you know if something is contrived it's fake jr. good accent that really okay well I appreciate that but yeah that didn't sound FAO Samara thank you all right I'll take it I guess all right the next question that I have for you this one I think may be a little easier for you all right so in this one I'm giving you the meaning but I've just put that blank there so blank means completely exhausted drained of strength and energy so what what do you what do you guys think completely exhausted drained of strength and energy that is the meaning of one of these words right here what do you guys think a B C or D write your answer in the chat and even if you guys don't know this or even if you don't know just take a guess have fun with it it's always great practice practice practice and if you're watching this later right you know use that use those comments make a list 1 to 12 write your answer and then hit comments so that I way I know okay you actually you took the quiz so many of you said yes a lot of you perfect D fatigued that is the answer it is an adjective if somebody is fatigued or they feel fatigued it means that they feel completely exhausted they are drained of strength and energy for example my sentence she was so fatigued she hurt everywhere sometimes if you are fatigued it means that you are really really exhausted you are really tired and sometimes yeah your your muscles hurt when you're fatigued I this happened to me recently all right many of you know if you follow us on on Instagram Twitter or Facebook you should check that out Wes felt fatigued after the marathon a few weeks ago I ran a marathon and afterwards I was exhausted I actually I hurt my body hurt I felt fatigued so as well as we're doing these words to again you guys feel free practice in the chat write a sentence share a sentence with us it's always great to practice next question already so this is another different type of question this is just a gap fill where I give you the sentence and I want you to fill in which word appropriately completes the sentence the family grew a amount of vegetables in their garden the family grew a amount of veg Stables in their garden what do you guys think the answer is as I'm looking through these I don't think there is not more than one answer I don't think there should be in any of these so how would you guys complete this sentence which of these words would you use to complete the sentence what do you guys think I'll give you a hint for this one the key word to me the key word is amount all right if we're talking about amount what do you guys think I things are right a lot of it let up jump a B a B so again you could say if you're talking about a plethora you're talking about you know a variety a difference but I said the key word is amount and if you're talking about amount you're talking about a number specifically so then that case the answer is copious a copious is an adjective and it means large in quantity or number something that is abundant so I was talking about in that one a copious amount of vegetables I said ammount we're talking about a number and if it's a copious amount that just means it is a large amount so for example right here she took she took copious notes during the class lecture so if somebody was taking copious notes that means they're taking notes again and again and again and again they are taking many notes a large amount it is a copia they are taking copious notes this one down here we just finished we traveled to LA when we were back in the US and yes Los Angeles has a copious amount of vehicles on the road there is a lot of traffic in Los Angeles way too much traffic and there are a copious amount of cars on the road so again if you're talking about a copious amount you're talking about a large large number all right so those are the first first few for you let's do another one again if you're just joining us we're just taking a vocabulary quiz I'm gonna ask you the question you give me the answer and then I'll tell you the answer so the next question it's another synonym one all right what is a synonym for hypocrisy this is a good word I really I really enjoy this word it's something you know you know it's a hypocrisy what's a synonym for the word hypocrisy again we're talking about a synonym so it can be something that has the same meaning or just a very very similar meaning all right what do you what do you guys think the answer is a hypocrisy and again don't don't worry take a guess if you don't know don't be shy don't worry about I don't want to say anything everybody's just writing down write down your answer and if you don't know just write a question mark it's okay it's okay if you don't know all of these answers so if we're talking about a hypocrisy I think many of you you got this one a deceitfulness all right so hypocrisy is a noun and it's talking about the false appearance of virtuous character or high standards it's deceitfulness because you're saying it's like somebody who's saying one thing and then they do something else for example all right this is I think this is true in many many countries you could say the hypocrisy of the government is stunning so for example many governments out there would be like you know all people should people should be good we should do good things we should not steal you know we're government officials and then many politicians they do that they they steal they they lie they cheat and then you could say well that is that's a hypocrisy you're saying one thing and then you're you're saying one thing to be like oh we have good character but then you do you do the exact opposite it's a hypocrisy again this is another great example my boss is known for his hypocrisy he tells us to a arrived on time but he's always late so if the boss says you know oh you guys you need to be on work you need to be at work on time you should never be late but then the boss arrives late that's a hypocrisy and if you want to use it as an adjective you would say hypocritical somebody is hypocritical all right excellent so let's do another question this one right here what do you think it's another I give you the meaning you just have to fill in the blank hmm means something added to something else in order to enhance it what do you think something added to something else in order to enhance it you're trying to enhance something you're trying to make it better alright so what would you say means something added to something else in order to enhance it okay what do you guys think uh some of you yes excellent all right we got some good answers in there the answer is B supplement so supplement that is a noun and again it means something added to something else in order to enhance it for example I could say you know and I do this well not to increase my endurance but he takes vitamin supplements to increase his endurance you can take vitamin supplements to increase your endurance you can take it to get more vitamins get vitamin C there are many different supplements that people can take to to give them you know more energy more more vitamins so again it's something added to something else or in this example right here I could say the worksheet is a supplement to the course material so if I'm teaching a class and I teach the class and I say well here before in take this worksheet it's going to help you out it's a supplement it's added to something else which is the course to make it to make it better to enhance it is to supplement the next one already alright again this is just a complete the sentence okay which word best completes this sentence what do you guys think people who seek peace violence alright people who seek peace violence how would you complete that that sentence which word makes sense when you want to complete that sentence you're talking about two opposite things peace and violence so people who seek peace they want peace what do those people think about violence what would you say alright so some of you okay yes all right yes this one most of you if people who seek peace abhor violence all right it is C abhor that is the answer because that is a verb and it means to disregard with extreme hatred or disgust so if you're somebody who likes peace then you hate violence you abhor violence so if you AB something it's not that you just hate it you really really hate it so for example you could say I abhor this type of insulting behavior if somebody is being rude or mean or insulting you'd say yes I just I abhor their behavior you could also say if you for example if you abhor racism you don't like it you can make a difference by fighting it all right you can fight against it all right so if you have poor something then yes you really really really dislike it so let me know how are you guys doing how many we just did six questions right then how have you guys been doing how many out of six did you get right what do you guys think all right so while you're telling me how many out of six you got again I just want to give you a reminder let you know if you guys like what we do then you can check us out on patreon if you want to help support free education free English education we have some very cool rewards we will leave a link in the description so what do you guys thinks I see some 5 out of 6 mistake - sunshine great job go SIA excellent Ronin well done on assume 6 out of 6 excellent perfect so again let's let's just keep practicing I have some more questions for you so this is great it's great to be able to practice and and then hopefully the more you practice then the more likely you are to actually remember and retain the words so that you can use them correctly the next time you are having a conversation or maybe even if you're writing and you're writing an email so let's continue the next question is this one acquiesce what is a synonym for acquiesce what do you guys think alright write your answer in the chat and if you're watching this later write the answer in the comments because I want to know that you guys are participating in these lessons which this is Interactive English you're supposed to interact with us alright so what is a synonym for acquiesce alright acquiesce it makes me think of a movie and and that is actually one of my example sentences which I will show you in a moment so acquiesce all right we see some okay some different answers in here alright so if to acquiesce it is a synonym it basically means to comply to comply means yes to do with to do what somebody is requesting so acquiesce is a verb and it means to accept something without protest to comply and just do as you're asked do as you're told so that first example sentence bonus points to whoever can guess the movie what movie is that from I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request I told you that it made me think of a movie and I actually had to look up the quote because I want to make sure I got it right I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request bonus points if you can tell me the name of that movie the next one the next example sentence the board will acquiesce to any decision the CEO makes so if the CEO makes a decision the board will acquiesce they will not challenge the CEO and they'll say okay whatever do what you want another one this is a good sentence for me to me the students acquiesced to the teachers demands so when I'm in the classroom I say hey this is what I want you guys to do and the students acquiesce they accept it they don't protest and they just do whatever homework I might give them so the students acquiesce to the teachers demands so no guesses about what what movie that's from Star Wars no not really start now the the movie is Pirates of the Caribbean Pirates of the Caribbean it's they have like six of them now but in the first one the first one that came out gosh maybe like ten years ago Pirates of the Caribbean this is something that they said I think a few times in the movie I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request so again you will find these words if you're listening to a lecture or or watching TV or watching a movie you will come across some of them so it is good to know this next word I think is a very common one nowadays it's becoming more and more common and that is well first I got to give you the question I don't want to give you the answer all right blank means to divide into two different opposing groups okay that's the meaning I want you to tell me what what word has this meaning to divide into two different opposing groups okay so when I say groups okay I want you to think I'm talking about most mostly people I guess you could talk about animals but something living it's mostly you're talking about people so it's not like you're talking about groups of objects you're talking about groups of people and it means to divide into two different opposing groups and I said it's so common nowadays because a lot of times it has to do with politics okay we hear this word a lot when you people are talking about politics and many of you yes you got it right excellent the answer is a polarize polarize it's a verb and it means to divide into two different opposing groups so for example I say that you know it's happening a lot in the United States when we're talking about our politics I think in many other countries I know that you guys are from all over the world but I think it might be happening in some of your countries as well in your politics that people are polarized they either they're either on this side or they're on this side so for example Donald Trump has completely polarized the company the canopic company the country he has completely polarized the country where you many people are very much anti Trump or they're very much Pro Trump and they are in two different opposing groups you can also talk about it like in this case I think this is another good example because again we're talking about people the brexit decision was polarizing and if something is polarizing again it's dividing the people into two different categories you are either for something or you are against it so again if we're talking about politics this word a it's being used more and more and more and more because people are you know they're either on one side or they're on the other side and you'd say they are polarised alright the next question which word best completes the sentence okay what do you guys think what do you think which word best completes the sentence Marco Polo was an explorer all right Marco Polo was an explorer this one you know I there is a hint which you can automatically process of elimination you could get rid of one word altogether the other ones again we're talking about an adjective technically speaking you could maybe use any of those adjectives but there's one in particular because again the key word is Explorer and also Marco Polo if you know who Marco Polo is and a little bit about his life then you would know okay what kind of Explorer he is what do you guys think most you yes excellent you guys got this the answer is C intrepid okay the key word was n so you know it should start with a vowel sound all right which gave means infantile and trumpet obnoxious again maybe he was some of those I really don't know but he was definitely an intrepid explorer which is an adjective that means fearless or adventurous somebody who is intrepid I like to think that I am an intrepid person I love to travel go places have new adventures have some excitement in life so I would like to think that I am intrepid so my example sentence which is more like an example story she has an intrepid spirit okay why well why is it intrepid because instead of flying she took a train then got on a ferry and fine I rode a bicycle to reach her destination it was an adventure all right so she has an intrepid spirit so if somebody is intrepid then they are fearless adventurous are you guys are you intrepid let me know the next question this one I think is a bit more difficult Damir now read the question carefully read it carefully what is an antonym for demurrer what do you think what is an antonym for demure write your answer in the chat or write it in the comments alright I'm paying attention I don't matter when you guys are watching this I want you guys to participate in the lesson and actually try to answer these so again we're talking about an antonym so it's not a synonym not the same meaning an antonym we're talking about the opposite meaning what is the opposite of Damir what do you guys think okay yeah oh I got them all some of you guys I am intrepid lolly excellent perfect this one I think we're okay we're seeing a bit more of a variety so we're talking about an antonym the word that is the opposite and the answer would be d unreserved which means that timid reticent shy those are all synonyms for demure and that is what the word means so demure is an adjective and it means reserved you're modest you're shy you're you're a little reticent you you're not just looking to to speak and say hey everybody look at me so my example sentence I apologize I this was from a story I just got this it's a quote in a book the sentence is a little it's a bit heavy she spoke with the Damier dignity of which the picturesque value was well known to her all right the demure dignity a modest dignity in this sense I think they're talking about it means modest alright somebody who doesn't brag and say how wonderful they are they're demure a demure dignity being modest in this case he's a demure old man who rarely leaves the house it's more like shy you're a little more reticent you're more reserved you don't want to leave alright so if somebody is demure then you know it's a bit you know shy modest reserved you're not outspoken demure so let's continue with this question right here alright I'm giving you the meaning all right means capable of being perceived by touch real or actual so something blank means capable of being perceived by touch or it just means something that is real something that is actual which word has that meaning and these are these are meanings that I've taken I didn't make them up I took them straight from different online dictionaries and kind of just came up with what I thought was I think maybe more of an easy-to-understand meaning so that everybody you guys can follow along with this so what do you think it means alright write your answer in the chat or in the comments if you're watching it later so many of you I think you guys got this one be tangible is the answer tangible it's an adjective and that means capable of being perceived by touch something that is real something that is actual it is tangible so some example sentences III could say the rain brings tangible benefits to the community and that's a good word I think especially like in in business English if you want to talk about something something that has tangible benefits real benefits actual benefits again it's not always something that you have to be able to touch but oftentimes it is but in this case you're talking about tangible benefits something that's real in this case some people enjoy tangible gifts while others would rather spend time whoops that should be with friends I forgot my preposition there while other would rather spend time with friends so for example some people like it's like Oh what would you rather do would you rather take a vacation or get a car some people would be like well I'd rather have that car it's something that's tangible it's something that that I can touch that I can perceive that's real and I would rather have a tangible gift so again tangible it's something that's real all right next one let's do this one all right how would you complete that sentence right there I rejected the request but they tried to me into signing the document all right what would you use to complete that sentence I rejected the request but they tried to me into signing the document so you know you just try to put it into context if you're not sure which which which word or MS think about the context of the situation all right what's happening and maybe that'll help you decide well which word it is all right what do you guys think all right getting a lot of answers excellent keep answering that's this is the best way to practice so I think a lot of you yes the answer is a coerce I rejected the request I said no but they still try to coerce me into signing the document and that is a verb and it means to persuade an unwilling person or individual to do something by using force or threats you could also try to get them to do it by by tricking somebody to I think you could be coerced by trickery but mostly it's you're persuading somebody to do something that doesn't want to do it and you're persuading them by force or threat that's the that's the common way to coerce somebody in this case he even men to coerce the children into doing the dishes so in in this case the word doesn't have like a strong negative meaning it's almost more trickery more playful like oh you coerce the children into doing the dishes you trick them and you got them to do the dishes even though they didn't want to in this case it is a little more you know strong with force or threat thus the oh it should be sorry another typo the suspects the schmuck the suspects were coerced into turning over the evidence they were coerced they were persuaded to do so by force or by threat I hope it helps to see these words being used in these different sentences to really put it in context to to understand the meaning and to see how they're used I really hope that's helping you guys right there so coerce is to persuade an unwilling participant so these are today's twelve words these are the words that we used in the quiz I want you to think right now how did you do let me know write it in the chat or write it in the comments if you're watching this later on how many did you get correct how well did you do did you get half of them correct six out of 12 did you do really well and get 10 out of 12 or maybe you got all of them correct even if you didn't do well it's okay because you are still practicing your English trying to build your vocabulary and learn new words because that's really what's going to help you improve your English fluency so again in the chat let me know how did you guys do let I'd love to hear from you guys so let's look at somebody people Oh 10 out of 12 excellent 10 out of 12 Pedro great job Pedro great job junior anak you're welcome Rosa's 9 Wafi 7 perfect all right guys that's great and hopefully what I hope today is that even if you didn't get all of them correct that maybe you've learned a new word and even if you just learned one new word that is one more word than you knew yesterday and that is an improvement so I hope you can remember that word go practice using it and again that's the best way to improve your skills and even if you want to you can come back and watch this lesson later on to remind yourself how to use these vocabulary words and see those sentences so you can understand the context in which they are used so thank you guys for joining me today I hope you enjoyed this interactive vocabulary quiz if you did please like and share this with all your friends helped us build grow and expand our classroom if you have any questions write those in the comments once the video gets posted and remember check us out on social media Facebook Instagram Twitter it's another great way to continue practicing and improving your English because we ask you a bunch of questions some of them are vocabulary questions like we did throughout today's lesson so thank you guys Ronen Barbara do knock Pedro what a nose yes Sierra Luke thank you thank you thank you Junior I appreciate you guys being here I appreciate you guys tuning in for these lessons I hope you find them useful and remember if you want to check out some of those cool rewards I was talking to you about check us out on patreon we'll leave a link in the description so thank you thank you thank you I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and we will see you next time so long --- ## 125. ADVANCED VOCAB FOR 2026! ๐ŸŽ‰ Words & Phrases You Should Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DfaYzwF77GA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfaYzwF77GA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:58:41 | --- I want to teach you some incredibly useful and advanced words that you can use and that I think you should know for 2026. So, I say that this vocabulary is very useful because I think these are words and phrases that are trending. They're becoming more popular. We're using them in more context. And I'll talk a little bit about that as we go through the lesson. And if you are somebody who wants to build your vocabulary in 2026, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And if you would like to get these lesson notes next to me, click on the link down below in the description. Join my email community. And if you are already a part of it, then check your inbox. I have sent them to you. So, of course, this this is a quiz lesson. I want you to participate. That's what it's all about. This is after all interactive English. So, I'm giving you the sentence and the missing word as well as the first letter because this one's a little little tricky, but and I'm giving you the meaning down below. The manager gave the team some H to adjust the timeline as long as the final deadline was met. So, the word begins with the letter L. I don't know if you can see it too well, but I'll go ahead and tell you that the meaning of this word, it refers to the amount of freedom that is available to move or even the to act on something like make a decision. So, the manager gave the team some what uh to adjust the timeline. They're going to make this decision on their own as long as they as long as the final deadline is met. And what is it that you are giving this team or you would give someone somewhat I think this is a a a great word be especially in a work context and you're talking about that amount of freedom that you may have or you could use it and say well you do not have much what and in that case you don't have a lot of freedom. So, the word that we're talking about, I see it. Uh, great job. Uh, nice, Katarina, Julia. Leeway. Leeway refers to the amount of freedom that is available to move or act. And you might give someone some leeway. Or somebody might say, I I don't have much leeway. Now, I see somebody wrote wiggle room. They mean the same thing. So, in this case, you could also use wiggle room. In this context, they are synonyms. So that's actually also another great phrase. The manager gave the team some leeway, some amount of freedom to adjust the timeline as long as the final deadline uh was met. Just to give you a little more context because I think this also helps you build your vocabulary, I want to share with you some collocations with this word. And often you might use it with a quantifier and talk about, you know, somebody has a little leeway or they have some leeway or maybe you you're asking for more leeway in order to do something or maybe say, look, I don't have much leeway. I don't have much freedom. and and you have a lot of leeway. So there are many quantifiers that you can use with this noun and I wanted to share some of them with you. What do you think? Uh here is the next question that I have for you. Write your answers in the comments in the chat. I just want to know that everybody's participating. the company's public statement felt what begins with the letter P rather than a genuine commitment to improvement. So we're talking about an adjective here. This that's the part of speech and the meaning of this word is done or expressed for the sake of appearance especially to impress others or just to improve your own image. And I think this is a good context to to think about this word the company's public statement. It felt this rather than genuine. So well I'll talk a little bit a bit about it when I tell you the word or show you the answer. What adjective? What word starts with a P and you're basically saying it's not it's not genuine. It's really I don't I was about to say it uh that not political pretentious those are not the words I this is a word that well part of it is commonly used uh especially as a verb but this again we're using it as a descriptive adjective when you want to say it's not really it's not really genuine when talking about this performance which which is a noun that's very common or to perform. But in this case, I'm going to take that word as part of the word family, use it as an adjective to say that something is performative. So, the one thing I was going to say is that it does have more of a negative connotation because you're using it to say that well, this other person or group of people, they're not they're not sincere in what they're saying. it is actually a performance and they just want to look good or they just they don't mean what they say and you could describe this action speech behavior as performative. It is done or expressed for the sake of appearance that you and and maybe to impress someone or maybe you're doing it for your own image or your reputation and you could say that it is performative. So the example sentence, just to read it one more time with that word, the company's public statement felt performative rather than a genuine commitment to improvement. And it's just something they do for the sake of their own appearance. And you want to use it in a negative way and say, "Yeah, that's really just performative. It's all a it's a show. That's all it really is. These people aren't sincere or this person is not genuine. It's just performative." Here is the next one. This is a phrase. This is a phrase that I like and I feel like I've been using it more. Maybe I've I've been around other people who've been using this. Uh so let's let's have a look. He failed to m the m and made a joke that landed poorly during a tense meeting. I'm giving you the first word there. There are actually three words that are missing. The first word begins with the letter R. Mm. Them. So, somebody is in a meeting, they make a joke, and it's like, "Okay, that, you know, that landed poorly. Nobody was laughing. People maybe thought it was a little awkward, and they're surprised that this person would even attempt to make the joke." And you would say, "Why didn't you what?" So, the meaning is to understand or or be sensitive to the mood or feelings of a group of people that that one is addressing or engaging with. And in that case when especially you're talking about a group of people and you're trying to gauge what is the you know what's the feeling in this room. Are people happy? Are they angry? Are they sad? Or in this meeting maybe they're being they're discussing something that's very serious and somebody comes in and makes a joke and it's like look why why would you why would you make that joke? you know, can't you read the room and understand that it's inappropriate to to make a joke? You got to read the room. So, I saw some correct answers. And if you tell someone to read the room, you're telling them, look, understand the environment that you're in and so that you don't say something that is insensitive or awkward or stupid or silly. He failed to read the room and made a joke that landed poorly during a tense meeting. And a lot of times you might say this to another person just as a standalone statement if you're telling somebody does something and maybe it's awkward. It's like look you read the room. All right. Know where you're at. You got to read the room. So this is a I think a useful phrase that I told you I feel like I use. I'm starting to use it more. And you find yourself in these situations and you're telling someone or maybe somebody may say it to me, uh, if I make some off-hand comment and they say, "Look, Wes, you got to read the room. Read the room." Here is a fun little comic just to follow up on this that they're out camping. I don't know why I thought this was funny. Uh, it seems just really a bit silly. over here getting ready to tell a scary story. maybe a scary ghost story without thinking that, hey, there's another ghost over there. You're going to hurt you're going to hurt this ghost feelings if you tell a story like this. And you got to understand that. You got to read the room. So, really, this is about appealing to somebody's understanding that they need to be sensitive. They need to be aware of the comments that they're making, what they're saying, or the way they're behaving that it could be offensive and it's just inappropriate. And you got to read the room. Great phrase to know. I don't have the mental to take on another project this quarter. I'm using it in a business context and it refers to the energy or mental capacity required to deal with a situation. And it actually has two meanings. I feel like this is the meaning that is becoming more commonly used and that's why I say these are words and phrases that are trending. Actually, maybe it's because I put this lesson together recently. I used this I used this phrase yesterday when I was I was my wife wanted to to talk to me about something that was more serious. I was a little stressed out. I had a lot of things to do. Look, I was like I just don't have the mental to to talk about this right now. We can come back to it later. So, what word begins with a B? And it has that meaning down below. The energy or mental capacity required to deal with this situation. You could use this in a work setting. You could use this at home like I just did and gave you an example. I I can't I can't deal with this right now. I don't have the mental what. So, we're talking about the word bandwidth. When you hear this word probably you're thinking wait bandwidth like related to computers but that is the other meaning and I think the first one that a lot of people think about when talking about bandwidth but we're going to use it to refer to the energy or mental capacity that you would need in order to deal with a situation. the mental bandwidth. That is a common collocation. And as you probably tell, as I mentioned the word collocation, you know that I'm getting ready to share some other common collocations with this noun. Talking about the mental bandwidth or somebody like I don't have the emotional bandwidth to wrap my head around this situation or sufficient bandwidth or I not have enough bandwidth to do something. I've been using it uh in the negative as I've been talking like I don't have the mental bandwidth. Uh you could follow this with the preposition to if you want to talk about the thing that you need to do. I don't have the mental bandwidth to have this conversation right now. Or maybe you have the lack of bandwidth to do something. So keep in mind you may follow these phrases with the preposition too. Uh, but I hope that you I hope that you have the mental bandwidth to watch this lesson, participate in these lessons, and supercharge your vocabulary so that you can prepare for for the next year. What do you think? The M startup is already attracting significant investment from major tech firms. The word begins with an N. It's just a single word and it is an adjective that means only recently formed. So really kind of new uh recently formed or started but likely to grow larger quickly there. It's it's going to grow or it's probably going to grow. So it's like we're referring to the initial stages of something like in this case the initial stages of a company a startup and the expectation that it's going to grow quickly. But when we're in that you know just the beginning it was recently formed or recently started we can use this adjective that kind just captures that idea. Please, if you have any guesses again, I want you to participate. Write your answers in the comments in the chat. Uh, so many great to see so many members. Lai, Manuel, uh, Lai, no, no, no. I'm I think I was the one late today. I wrote the wrong time. Uh, and I apologize about that. Uh, like I said yesterday, I just didn't have the the mental bandwidth to deal with a lot of uh, things going on. So, the word that we're looking for, excellent, Julia Manuel, nent. Nent is a word that you can use to talk about something that is recently formed or started but the expectation is oh it is going to grow and get bigger. So you may hear people use this in a business context like a naent startup or a naent industry. People could use that to talk about AI that it's still in the early stages and it's uh you know experiencing uh the nent uh stages of growth in this case. So good word to know one that I think as things change quickly uh especially when it comes to technology you're going to hear that word more and more nent this is one well I don't want to again I feel like sometimes I just talk and I give it away let me read the sentence to you social media often creates an where people only hear opinions they already agree with I think this is true And it there are two words that are missing. So this is a phrase. The first word begins with the letter E. You can tell using that indefinite article N that the next word would begin with a vowel sound. So social media creates an what and you're in this situation where you only hear the opinions that you already agree with. So we're referring to an environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own. What would you call that atmosphere? And I I absolutely agree with this that if you are on social media or use social media, which we all do, you're more likely to come across post or uh content that is very similar to your own opinion that already exists. and you it it makes it more challenging to understand what's going on and I feel like probably social media is not a good place to get really like get news. You could find news using social media but just be aware that when you are using social media it does create this echo chamber. Yes. Excellent. Well done. And this is, I think, a phrase that you probably have heard of before. I don't know if you use it actively in com conversation. I think that when talking about social media, you will absolutely hear and use this phrase. And because social media is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives, more we have more conversations about it and we will continue to do so next year, I think that it is a very relevant phrase when talking about this environment that we're in. and we only hear the opinions that we already have and you have this echo chamber. Social media creates an echo chamber where people only hear opinions they already agree with. echo chamber, I came across this. I thought it uh I thought it's true. You see this person just stuck in this bubble of like like like like and you just get that exposure to those beliefs or opinions that you already have. And it basically confirms the thing that you believe and people think it's true and you're not getting other perspectives or outside opinions. And that is why you might say and I think all all of us are in an echo chamber when we use social media. So it's not necessarily something that's overly offensive because I really just think it's a fact that we're on social media and we are in this echo chamber. Before making a decision, we need to issue from a practical standpoint. This is a phrase that you could play around with a little bit and I'll talk about what I mean uh when I say that. But basically the phrase means to analyze, explain or break down a complex idea, statement or issue into smaller understandable parts. So if you approach me with a complex issue, I might just use this statement right here. Look, we need to uh this issue. I kind of gave away I gave away part of it just now. I didn't mean to, but it has two words. What the first one begins with a U. What would you say? Put yourself in this situation and there's just this problem that you need to analyze or an issue and you are actually saying this statement right here. You could say it out loud and maybe you'll, you know, end up saying the answer. Before making a decision, we need to issue from a practical standpoint. And the word that the word that I'm talking about that I want and it is a phrase is to unpack this. You the the reason why I say you could play around with it. You might say unpack that or there's a lot to unpack. But really, we're talking about the the word unpack and we're using it in the context to mean to analyze, explain or break down a complex idea, issue or statement. Before making a decision, we need to unpack the this issue from a p practical standpoint. So once again, you may say somebody brings presents this problem, let's unpack this or we need to unpack that or there's a lot to unpack. to highlight that one more time. I feel like the this context in which somebody is like maybe talking to a therapist and in this case of course it's a joke. They say let's unpack this fear of the mailman and he's talking to his dog. And you would use like that statement. Let's unpack this. Let's analyze the situation and see and understand what's going on. We need to unpack this. Here is the next question that I have. What word best completes this sentence? We need to explore all M options before committing to a long-term strategy means capable of working successfully. And in this case, we're talking about the the different options or feasible. Feasible is really a synonym for this word. It's one word. It begins with a V. And we're talking about what kind of options? Again, these are options that are capable of working. They're feasible. And in that case, you could also say they are what? Give you five more seconds and then I'll tell you the answer. Five, four, three, two, one. We're talking about viable. Excellent. See some great answers. Viable options. If something is viable, then you're basically saying, "Well, yeah, I think that that might work." Uh, we need to explore all viable options before committing to a long-term strategy. It's feasible. It's viable. Those are are synonyms. I want to give you some collocations. Even though there are many different words that you can use with viable. So you might talk about a viable plan or a viable alternative or as in our example sentence, a viable option. If I want to use it with some adverbs, you may come across uh using it with saying something is perfectly viable or economically viable, fancially viable, or even politically viable. Those are some common phrases with this word that you may come across. movie, TV show, listening to a podcast, watching the news. Uh, but this is a useful word to know. So, really try to to think about it, the meaning, how it's used, think about these collocations, and just keep building your vocabulary. Let's for a moment, what if the plan fails because we weren't given enough leeway to work independently? trying to bring back up that word leeway. The the phrase that I'm referring to, there are three missing words. The phrase is to argue against a popular or accepted idea, not because you personally disagree with it, but just to stimulate debate. This is a word that or a phrase that I've talked about in previous lessons. So, if you've been a longtime follower of the channel, probably you've come across this before. It's something that I will do from time to time and I'm may just want to debate someone, challenge their opinion, what they're saying. I may not necessarily that may not be my real opinion, what I'm actually what it seems like I'm arguing for, but what am I doing in that situation? In this context right here, they're trying to make the best decision. and they want to know, okay, instead of assuming that the plan is going to work, let's what and let's let's think about, okay, let's have a debate about what if the plan fails because we weren't given enough leeway. What is going to happen then? But this situation when you're going to argue against a popular or accepted idea is to great job Tayo Bod to play devil's advocate. I think we can all I don't want to say relate to this, but I'm sure you can think of someone in your life who likes to play devil's advocate. They like to debate, challenge others, and it may not be their real opinion. They just Sometimes people just like to argue and debate and they like to play devil's advocate. Let's play devil's advocate for a moment. What if the plan fails because we weren't given enough leeway to work independently? Again, I know I say this with all of these great phrase to know and uh I would say if you want to try to, you know, put it in a little more context, make an association. Think of somebody that you know right now. Who do you think of when you hear this phrase to play devil's advocate and you know somebody who likes to debate, likes to argue? Here is the next question. traditional storytelling and create a more immersive experience. This is a verb that means to to go further, rise above, be more important or better than something, especially a limit. This word I do think is more advanced. It's a more advanced verb that you're you're not going to just come across or use in everyday conversation, but I think it is a great verb to add emphasis and trying to show how just how much further or how, you know, much more important something is. And you can use this verb to really add emphasis. It always happens like when I say I think when I say this is an advanced word, it's not as commonly used. Everybody just they they rock it in the comments. Great job. Uh Wordsworth um Bodie, Julia Jen, great to see you. Um Zakaria to transcend. And if you say that something is going to transcend something else, it just means yeah, to go further, to rise above, to be more important. The film aims to transcend traditional storytelling and create a more immersive experience. So, we're adding that emphasis. It's a very descriptive verb when you want to say that something is going to transcend something else to give you a little more context. One thing that I like to do from time to time is share with you some news headlines so that you really get a better idea as to how it's used in context. So, here's the first one. I'll just read through these. Joanna Macy uh who found a way to trans transcend eco anxiety dies at age 96. It's a nice long uh life but this person found a way to transcend eco anxiety. I'm not really sure what that uh eco anxiety refers to but uh just an example with transcend a recent one. Diverse Jazz Head program seeks to transcend all borders and UK jazz showcase added to club rights. I feel like this is a collocation with this verb to transcend all borders to transcend the limits. Here's another example with this verb theater review. How to transcend a happy marriage presented by Iron Crow Theater at Baltimore Theater Project. And they're talking about transcending a happy marriage. And then the last article, time to transcend the how to teach battles. And we're using this verb. It's very descriptive, adding emphasis when you want to say something transcends something else. Let's Well, what I didn't give you any letters for this one. I It's two. It's a phrase. I'll I'll go ahead and tell you it's a phrasal verb. I'll give you that hint. Let's m for a moment and look at the long-term implications of this choice. And when you do this this action, because it is a phrasal verb, you are stepping back from a problem or situation to see the patterns, the overall context or unintended consequences. I've given you uh you can see the picture. I thought maybe the picture might be a little bit of a hint when it comes to this phrasal verb, but for some reason I feel like uh I'll I use YouTube and I'll listen to different news reports, uh commentary, podcast, and this is one that I I feel like I keep hearing more and more and it's one of these things where I feel like other people are using it online or in the news and then people hear it and then they start using it and just gains a lot more steam and that therefore I would say yeah this phrasal verb is trending and somebody would say let's for a moment even they might just say that standalone statement let's for a moment and they're going to take a step back in order to I I don't want to well a meaning like to see the big picture but instead of saying to see the big picture they're they're going to say this. Let's mm for a moment and they're going to follow it and uh look at the the long-term implications of this choice. I I feel like close like let's take a step back and but I feel like in that case it's not when I think about stepping back or stepping forward. It's like progress. You're like look let's stay let's take a step back and pause what we're doing. This is not necessarily about pausing something. It's more about kind of getting that overall view of what's happening. And I just mentioned that see the big picture. So yes, the phrasal verb we're talk that I'm looking for, Takaya, well done. Zoom out. Let's zoom out for a moment. And you're taking a step back to from from a problem. And you're the the idea when you zoom out is that you're then going to try to look at the big picture, see the overall context. What are some of the unintended con consequences of this plan or action? And you want to say, let let's zoom out. So, think about this phrasal verb having a very similar meaning to, okay, let's let's try to see the big picture. Let's take a look at the big picture. and you're wanting to see the entirety of a situation or issue or problem before you proceed. And in that case, instead of saying like, oh, the big picture, you could use this phrasal verb, let's zoom out. Let's zoom out for a moment and really try to understand everything that's going on when we zoom out. And I don't know if that picture of that guy, I was trying to show it like he's like looking through some like camera angle, but you're going to zoom out. And of course, when people think about this phrasal verb, I think the first meaning that they go to would be actually using a camera. You zoom in, you zoom out, but it basically means what it says. When you zoom out, you can see more. You understand what's going on in the room or in that uh in that environment. The politician's vote for a policy he publicly opposed was a clear display of political what? There are two words. I'm giving you the first word of both of them. I I thought maybe this might this phrase might be a little more challenging, but once again when I say that I feel like a lot of people know the answer. Uh but if you know it, if you have a guess, write it in the chat, write it in the comments. But this phrase refers to a state of mental discomfort that occurs when a person holds beliefs or opinions that are inconsistent or that conflict with an aspect of their behavior. I think you you hear you would hear this when talking about polit politics because politicians they would vote one way but it really is kind of the opposite of what their um something that they may have publicly supported or in this example sentence that they publicly opposed. So it was an example of what you're just you're holding these conflicting views, conflicting opinions and you could capture that by referring to this phrase and it is an example of what first word begins with the letter C. The next word D. It is one that it you're you're not going to hear it as often as I feel like maybe that phrasal verb like to zoom out, but I do think it's becoming more and more popular. Uh very close answer. Uh not cognitive disassociation. Very close. Cognitive what? That's the first word. Cognitive. I'll give you five more seconds. Five, four, three, two, one. That was a very quick 5 seconds. We're talking about cognitive dissonance. And this refers to that mental discomfort, that challenge, that struggle that somebody's going through because they have beliefs or opinions that are inconsistent. The politician's vote for a policy he publicly opposed was a clear display of political cognitive dissonance. I want to give you some more examples when it comes to this phrase. And these are more cartoons. This is actually I feel like a series of cartoons, jokes that is labeled as cognitive dissonance. I don't know if you can really see these, but I'll I'll go ahead and read them to you. But think about again this idea of conflicting opposing views or beliefs. And like somebody say, "Oh, I want to lose weight. uh my goal weight can be achieved through cake. These are two opposites. Or relying to work um uh replying to work emails in 2 minutes or less, but replying to text messages in two years or less. And you have these these replying to someone this cognitive dissonance or telling people I read a new book every week but still bing binging say yes to the dress. And then finally, refusing to spend an extra 10 cents for a paper bag at checkout because I'm cheap, but spending $16 on a salad that only with only that only has one tiny piece of halfbaked chicken. It's like, wait, why did I spend so much money for for this? It's clearly not worth it, but I do it anyway. Here is the next one. I'm trying to give you another hint with the picture. I'll go ahead and put that out uh right up front. The department worked in and rarely communicated which slowed down the entire project. So you can use this word when referring to a system, process, department, etc. that operates in isolation from others, not sharing information or cooperation with other departments or groups. I'm giving you, as you can tell, just based on the meaning that I'm going to use it in more of a work context, the same way that I have done in this example sentence right here, the department worked in what? Now, the picture you might be looking at and be like, wait, this is not an office. There's I don't see anybody working. But this is a word that has multiple meanings. This is the real actual meaning uh of this word. I feel like when I think of the word, this is the first thing I think of in this picture. What are those? Do you know in English you would call these? This is a or there are several what it is a place. The other meaning would be a place where you would store grain. So, if you're you go to a farm or you're driving by a farm, you may see these uh things constructed right here that they're going to use in order to store grain or other things. And those are called what? Uh yes, excellent. We're not not a solo. You're kind of close. A silo. Those are silos. But you can use it in this context to say that the department worked in silos and rarely communicated which slowed down the entire project. And in that case, we're referring to a system process department that operates in isolation. So, if you're talking about a farm, these are silos and you're just going to use it to store grain or what have you and you're going to store them in a silo. But in this context, we could use it to talk about work and I feel like it's becoming more popular because there are situations in which this is happening. People, departments, they're not communicating and everyone is siloed uh off from the other. Which brings me to the next thing I want to mention about this word is that you could use it different parts of speech like as a noun. The departments worked in silos and rarely communicated. If I want to use it as a verb, the company tried to silo its marketing data from sales but it hurt the overall strategy or as an adjective. The marketing team became very siloed and lost touch with sales. So really think about the isolation that word when we're talking about uh a department a team whether they are trying to silo some information or they're working in silos. And whenever you hear this word just kind of associate it with that isolation. Many people attempt to m their productivity with supplements and digital tools. Once again, I feel like this is a word that you may come across. I feel like I hear it a lot, especially on YouTube, and it's becoming more and more mainstream. I feel like in some online dictionaries may not even include it, but it means the it refers to attempts to improve the condition of your body and mind using either technology, drugs, or other chemical substances such as hormones. It begins with the letter B. And I I feel like again boost would work. Boost would work. That is not the the word that I'm talking about. But it does. Yeah. If something boost your productivity, it's a good thing. I feel like this word is becoming more commonly used because I feel like it's a good sales word. People would hear it and they think, "Oh, wow." Like, uh, this is very important. I want to I'm going to pay money. I'm going to try this. Uh, and it I think in that case, it's very useful from a marketing standpoint. So, when talking about improving your condition, could be supplements, it could be uh technology, the word that I'm referring to is a biohack. Uh if if you have somebody's trying to promote something, say, "Oh, like um I have this great biohack for helping you build your vocabulary." You hear biohack and that that's a real captivating word and like whoa, tell me more. So that's why I said I feel like this word is more often used uh in this marketing context where somebody has a method or approach or a device or a supplement that they want to sell or they want others to use and they're going to use this word biohack to say that it's going to improve your body or mind when you use this technology or drug. It's going to help you uh biohack your productivity or biohack your efficiency. Many people attempt to biohack their productivity with supplements or digital tools and yes I think I think that is true. So keep an eye out or listen listen for this word. Uh I think you will come across it in this context especially somebody has this oh I have this innovative new approach to help you biohack something. These are the words that we just went over this advanced vocab for 2026 to help you gear up, get ready for the new year. And uh if you want to get these lesson notes, remember, check out that link down below in the description. You can join my community. But if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, please let me know by hitting that like button. That tells me that you're learning new things. You're building your vocabulary. It's an ongoing process. Remember, it's a marathon. It's not a sprint. But I want to thank all of you for joining me today. I apologize for kind of messing up the time. Uh and uh I'll just try to be more mindful of it. But yeah, I just didn't have the uh emotional bandwidth yesterday uh to deal with some of these things. And uh yeah, that's why I I made that mistake. But I'm going to try to get things in perspective. I feel like sometimes I just need to zoom out, try to get a better idea of the big picture, uh, so that I can move forward in a productive way. Not really biohack my productivity. Kind of like the way that I'm doing things. And I'm just using these words, uh, just before we wrap things up. So, thank you uh, Lai, Julia, Manuel, Teao, uh, Natalia, Bod, great to see you guys. Hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you --- ## 126. ADVANCED WORDS, PHRASES, & IDIOMS โ™ ๏ธ | Useful Gambling Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Mi2o00wn60E` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi2o00wn60E) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:50:27 | --- how well do you know your gambling vocabulary let's find out because I want to quiz you on a lot of different words phrases and idioms that are related to gambling but many of them you can use in a broader context and I will explain that as we go through the lesson and if you would like to access the lesson notes that are right next to me click on that link Down Below in the description join my email community and you can review these words and really make them A Part of Your Action Ive memory so let's begin with some useful words and phrases and this is a quiz lesson I would love it if you participate you can write your answers on separate sheet of paper or just use the comment section below and let's start out with just some fill-in theblank questions if you play long enough the M always wins I'll give you about 5 Seconds to think of the answer so in this case where where do you play where do you gamble so you would say the M always wins I think a key word is the article the and you would say the house when often talking about a casino a business a place where people gamble and that is a statement that I think is pretty common The House Always Wins The House Always Wins yes The House Always Wins because The House Always Wins play long enough you never change the stakes the house takes you how about this question right here I think we need to roll the what I'm giving you this picture hopefully it it's a hint it's a clue as to what the answer is I think we need to roll the dice so dice refers to the small cubes and there are dots on each side to represent numbers and the singular people may say die the plural dice now you may hear people say dice when talking about just one but you may hear d or dice to roll the dice now this is an expression that you could also use to refer to just some risk that you're taking in order to achieve a goal and like say okay let's take a risk let's roll the dice roll a dice just roll the dice Tri the da will throw everything at us you just be rolling the dice yeah roll the dice to help you better understand how this phrase roll the dice is used in context I have some news headlines for you Mercedes roll the dice with the w14 as a bid to return to title winning ways but will it pay off again they're going to roll the dice or help me Hara should I roll the dice on a Dungeons and Dragons based romance and finally angels will roll the dice by keeping shoh atani making other deals so again in all of these examples they're talking about taking that risk to achieve a goal to roll the dice the next question let's play a game does anyone have a m of cards in this case I'm talking about the quantifier if you have a group of cards you may call it a what deck of cards so this is the quantifier that you would use when you're talking about this group of cards a deck of cards now in a deck of cards there are four different suits this is a bonus question do you know the names of these suits we have hearts spades diamonds and clubs a little bit of a bonus question for you the next question at a casino the m is the person who M the cards there are two blanks but really it's very similar I guess you could say these words are perhaps in the same word family because we're talking about in the first blank a noun and in the second one a verb at a casino the dealer is the person who deals the cards if you and I are playing a card game I might say well well who's going to be the dealer oh I'm the dealer okay I will deal the cards dealers are watching The Players the boxmen are watching the dealers all right dealer cards come on let's dealer cards do you know this word at the casino know I won several stacks of what you can see in the picture I'm talking about uh those things over there they are not tokens they are not coins in English I would say they are chips I think they're pretty much used in in just about every Casino you give the casino money and then they will give you back chips that represent that same value of money and you will get chips at the casino she just won ,000 she's going to bet it all and go what phrase would complete that sentence so you win some money and then you're going to bet it all again and you can say oh I'm going to go in this case you could say double or nothing this is a phrase that you can use when playing a game to say that the amount that you either won or even lost you're going to bet it all again that same amount and go double or nothing one thing I want to point out is a distinction between American English and British English now of course I am from the US so I am going to say double or nothing but in British English people would say double or quits double or qu it's a challenge yeah double or quits double or nothing double or nothing and okay double or nothing here is a situation that you may find yourself in at a casino I have 11 and the dealer is sh showing a six therefore I would like to what we're talking about the game Blackjack which I think is very common at a casino and in this case I would say I have 11 and the dealer is showing a six therefore I would like to double down to double down another phrase using the word double but in this case it means to double the BET after seeing someone's initial cards and basically you're just hoping to win more money got 11 you always Double Down 11 I know but it's $200 I it's blood money I get that a double down I can't double down it one thing that I would like to point out with this phrase to double down it also has another meaning which I think is often used in just casual conversation and in this case it would mean to strengthen one's commitment to a particular strategy or course of action typically one that is a little risky and I've given you a couple of example sentences to help you better understand how it's used in context he didn't admit that he was wrong instead he decided to double down or I could say the company decided to double down on their marketing efforts in hopes of increasing sales uh look you know what I think we need to talk about was doubling down doubling down mhm cooking 100b a week not 50 here is the next one he doesn't have the winning hand his bet is just a what if you don't have a very good hand but you bet anyway what is it that that you're doing his bet is just a bluff so if we're talking about using it as a noun a bluff is just an attempt to deceive or trick someone into believing that one can or is going to do something and You' say oh it's just a bluff but I can use it as a verb as well to Bluff to deceive someone as to one's abilities or intentions and you are bluffing someone he's bluffing Vulcans never Bluff you're bluffing I never Bluff here is another one he played the lottery and hit the what which noun is missing in this sentence to hit the it's a pretty common phrase he played the lottery and hit the jackpot so if we're just talking about jackpot as a noun it refers to a large cash prize that someone would win if you're maybe at a casino or you're playing the lottery but I could also use the phrase to hit the jackpot when referring to really a huge or big success or just making a large profit often through luck to hit the jackpot we hit the jackpot wow Mason really hit the jackpot this Christmas now let's let's have a look at some gambling idioms and expressions and I'm going to switch things up a little bit because this time I'm giving you the meaning of the idiom as well as an example sentence below to try to help you figure it out so this idiom means to protect yourself against loss by supporting more than one possible result or both sides in a competition and this this is going to be a bit more challenging but check out the example sentence below they decided to M by say a large bet on the home team and a small bet on the opposing team so what is it that you're doing in this situation I would say they're trying to hedge their bets so you don't want to risk too much and lose too much so you're going to place another bet to pretty much offset the amount that you could lose and you're trying to hedge your bets it's called hedging your bets boys my brother's a book mker bookmakers hedge their best here is the next one this refers to something that is very likely to happen and you can see in the example sentence so you think they'll get married next year I think it's you you think this thing is likely to happen in that case you would use this idiom you would say that something is in the cards that if you believe it's going to happen yeah you know know I I think it's in the cards this is more of a US idiom because in the UK instead of in the cards they may say it's on the cards both of them are correct but I wanted to to make you aware of that distinction between American English and British English in the cards versus on the cards how about the next one this means to be honest and not hide what you are thinking or doing I'm not going to keep secrets and be completely transparent I'm going to what so if you're trying to be honest and you're not going to hide anything you could say I'm going to put my cards on the table I'm going to show you what I have and be completely transparent I'm going to put my cards on the table let's put our cards on the table here lady let's put our cards on the table here is the next one this is used to describe a situation in which it is impossible to be sure about what Will will happen so if he becomes the new CEO what we don't know what could happen and you could just use this idiom and say all bets are off if he becomes the new CEO all bets are off you have no idea what will happen all bets are off Legend has it when the S below all bets are off anything can happen you want to be like them waste of time you want to be different all bets are off to help give you a better idea as to how this idiom is used in context I have some more news headlines for you Jay Leno says censorship can't change comedy if it's really funny all bets are off when AI unplugs uhoh we don't know what's going to happen all bets are off and finally tasmania's unique electoral system means all bets are off on the liberals' future and then we have this next idiom to be the result of chance rather than something that you have control over she was chosen first at random it was just the what and you can kind of see in the picture what's going on and you could say it was just the luck of the draw so if you say something's the luck of the draw it means that well you don't really have control over it it's another way of just really emphasizing that well this was just a lucky situation it was luck of the draw sorry yeah well luck of the draw if we get too many bad candidates up front we're son luck of the draw here is the next one a powerful and often secret weapon Advantage Etc that can be used if it is needed if they try to back out of the deal I'm not worried because I've got an what and you can see that article ends so you know the next word begins with a vowel sound and you can see in the picture the cards those are Aces so in this case you could say you have an ace up your sleeve if they try to back out of the deal I'm not worried because I've got an ace up my sleeve this is just that secret weapon or advantage that you may have and you can say that You' you've got an ace up your sleeve catching them something else yeah C but I got an ace up my sleeve see this little guy they uses to track game in Africa you like that what is that isn't that beautiful it's like an ace on my sleeve what else you wait how about this one to allow events to happen without trying to change them that is the meaning of this idiom and as an example I could say it's out of our control we'll just have to see what happens and you see the picture there those chips and what are they doing they are falling so you could say it's out of our control we'll just have to see what happens and let the chips fall where they may and you just you want to allow these events to unfold and really not try to change them and in that case you could say let's let's just let the chips fall where they may and we'll see what happens say let's evolve chips fall where they may please the man is talking let him get it out and let the chips fall where they may I can't bring myself to do it Russ we just have to let the chips fall where they may then we have this idiom which means to arrange something in a dishonest way in order to achieve the result you want what is it that you're doing it's impossible for us to win the competition because they have what and you're doing something in a dishonest way in that case you may be stacking the deck to stack the deck means to arrange certain things whether it could be rules or whatever so that you have an advantage and you you're just really doing it in a dishonest way and you could say that you are stacking the deck or maybe someone else is stacking the deck they got Lan they're stacking the deck with ringers the deck is stacked the rules are rigged what are you up to Nigel oh just stacking the deck in my favor once again I want to point out the difference between American English and British English because in the US you would say that someone is stacking the deck while in the UK K you would say they're stacking the cards same meaning we're just going to change that one word stacking the deck versus stacking the cards now let's get to some more Casino specific vocabulary and talk about some of the games that you would find if you walk into a casino because before some of the many of those idioms and even the vocabulary that we talked about in the beginning you you can use in a broader context but specifically these are games games that people may play in a casino or even you know among your friends a card game in which players try to acquire cards with a face value totaling 21 or more this is actually a game that I have previously mentioned when I talked about the phrase double down so if you're going to double down and double the bet you would do this when you're playing Blackjack it's a card game and you're you're trying to get to 21 or as close to 21 as you can here is the next one I think if you go into just about any casino you're going to see these machines right here that you try to win money by putting coins into it and and operating it and you may pull the handle or push the button and these machines are called slot machines and yes if you go into a casino you we'll certainly see slot machines they're very colorful they're very loud how about this game right here this is a very Lively and energetic game played with two dice remember we talked about dice already in which a throw of seven or 11 is a winning throw two three or 12 is a losing throw and this is a very you know simplified way of playing the game there there's more to it than that but the game that you see in the picture right here is called craps what about this game right here and these are I'm sure these are games that are very popular I'm sure you've seen them movies TV shows this is a gambling game in which a ball is dropped onto a revolving wheel with numbered compartments you would call this game roulette how about this card game right here which is probably the most famous card game that is played all around the world it is is played by two or more people who bet on the value of the hands dealt to them and you are going to play this game of poker now Texas holdom I included that because it is a well it is a version of Poker that I think is commonly played in casinos and even among friends you could have your own game of Texas holdam and you get together and you play poker what do you think this game is called right here it is a comparing card game played between two hands the player and the banker this is a game I'm I've never really I actually have never played this game but you you see it in just about every Casino it is called bakarat so you're comparing cards and you have a player and the banker and now for a little review I know I've given you a lot but look I I'm just going to going to put my cards on the table and be transparent because it's a lot to take in hopefully you were familiar with some of these words and phrases but I hope you learn some new ones as well some people may say well this this approach it's it's too difficult because there are too many words but I'm going to double down and say I I think it's helpful and it's good to get review as well as you know learn a few new ones and build your vocabulary slowly and I really hope that you enjoy some of the other video lessons and feel that discovering the channel was like just like you hit the jackpot I I hope you feel that way and of course uh you know I you can continue to build your vocabulary watch another video Lesson I think that this is something that will happen I can see it in your future I think it's in the cards and of course I I will be back with another video Lesson next week I promise it's true I am not bluffing and uh what else could I throw in there I I think that's good we can wrap things up if you enjoyed the lesson and you did learn something new you can let me know by hitting that like button and as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 127. ADVERB CLAUSES | All the Grammar You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KffFRuV9l8E` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KffFRuV9l8E) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:34:59 | --- hello and welcome to another super amazing incredible fantastic I don't know how many more adjectives I can use to describe this grammar lesson but it's just going to be really great so if you don't know if this is your first time here my name is Wes this is interactive English and we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I have a fun lesson for you and we are going to talk about adverb clauses alright so this is a grammar lesson and they don't know why that that's a picture of a beach has nothing to do with adverb clauses I kind of just like the picture I thought it was fun I thought it looked nice so we are going to discuss adverb clauses we I'm gonna teach you what they are I'm gonna tell you different types of adverb clauses and then we're gonna actually practice using them and I want you guys to write your answers in the chat and again even if you're watching this later we always tell everybody who's watching these videos to write your answers in the comments use the comments section like it's a piece of paper we want you to interact with us this is what interactive English is all about but first I want to give a shout out to some of the people who are here with me right now hello Andre so elias carlos luma jacqueline manipur chef chef d gamer excellent Natalie Moustafa English vibes on to some lolly Paul but I've gone Menotti sorry if I miss some names I will try to say everybody's name and recognize you for being here I really appreciate it love it that we have so many people from all over the world joining these classes so today we're gonna work on adverb clauses so it's important to know first well what is what is an adverb clause so an adverb clause it's a group of words that function as an verb that function as the adverb of a sentence so these this group of words it can it mostly modifies verbs but it could also modify an adjective it can also modify another adverb so these are some things right here that are important to know about adverb clauses they can come at the beginning middle or end of a sentence so they're very versatile as to where they can be located they contain a subject and a verb that is also very important all of these clauses they will contain a subject and a verb if they do not then it might be a phrase so keep that in mind and they are all dependent clauses and if you're wondering what a dependent clause is it's just it's not a complete thought this is not a sentence on its own so it needs an independent clause in order to become a full complete and powerful sentence and it will begin with a subordinating conjunction so this is a great way to be able to identify an adverb clause if you can identify the subordinating conjunction and I've listed some of those for you right here before after even if because wherever then you probably know okay so this is an adverb clause this is what we're talking about and I will give you a list of many more subordinating conjunctions so that you can try to identify them so you know exactly what an adverb clause is for example look at that sentence right there I won't continue unless you hit the like button alright I'm always I'm always fishing for likes so I've underlined the adverb clause unless you hit the like button now notice again it has a subject you it has a verb hit so this would be something that somebody could say using unless I won't continue unless you hit the like button so please please please just go ahead just go ahead and hit that like button down below Oh notice that this is at the end of a sentence so I'm going to give you some examples what if the adverb clause came in the middle all right well then it's going to be surrounded by commas most often it'll be surrounded by so for example here's another example for you our students , after they watch our lessons okay that's is my adverb clause another comma it's surrounded by the commas our students after they watch our lessons are 25% more likely to get a promotion to get a promotion at work can you believe that there is no scientific evidence to back up that claim but it's something that I would like to think I would like to think that if you watch our lessons it'll make you're smarter it'll improve your English skills and maybe you'll get that promotion so that is an example of an adverb clause in the middle of a sentence now let's look at it at the beginning and again notice the grammar alright notice the grammar let the punctuation is what I should say so this in the middle it's surrounded by commas now we have it at the beginning and this time I want you guys you complete this sentence right here I've given you the adverb clause whether you like it or not comma and then you're going to add that independent clause at the end so what would you think if the first thing that comes to your mind just write it down there write it in the chat write it in the comments whether you like it or not what what what is the first thing that comes to your mind share some sentences with us because again as people are watching this it's great to be able to see a lot of different examples because that's just again it reinforces the grammar it means that you're more likely to comprehend what what it is alright so for example whether you like it or not Johansen said you have to work yeah that's true whether you like it or not you have to work yeah you like that we have to go on or lesson yes whether or not Wes will continue the video yes Wes will continue the video you like it or not I will keep doing what I'm doing right now excellent jin-hee perfect so those are some great examples thank you guys for sharing so let's now that you know what an adverb clause is I want to just go through some different types of adverb clauses and again as we go through these feel free to just throw out some sentences practice using these adver Claes I always encourage everyone practice practice practice don't worry about making mistakes so the first one that I want to talk to you about is adverb clauses of place so these answer the questions where and the subordinating conjunctions that you will find with these wherever or even just where wherever where so that example sentence wherever you go that's where you are all right wherever you go that is the adverb clause all right wherever is the subordinating conjunction wherever you go that's where you are it's very philosophical I know exactly you go to the kitchen that's where you are you go to the bedroom that's where you are if you travel to Brazil that's where you are wherever you go that's where you are so these are adverb clauses of place all right now adverb clauses of time these I think are perhaps some of the most common ones that you will see and these will answer the question of when when something happens and you look at look at that list whoops right there so you can see that that list of subordinating conjunctions you see these words quite often before after when while as soon as whenever by the time when you see those words that we often use them as an adverb clause so for example I was watching Netflix while I created this lesson all right this is answering like it's modifying the time that I was watching it and telling you know answering like will when all right when was this happening I was watching Netflix while I created this lesson that is a true story I was watching Netflix while I created this lesson and if you want to know what I was watching it was little baby bum all right this is what we show our five our five month old baby girl if you have Netflix you can search for it check it out little baby bum all right that's it that's a that's a shout out for a little baby bum right there our little girl loves it so let's at the next one adverb clauses of reason all right these are going to answer the question why all right so we have because of due to since because as now all right try to give me an example sentence all right use use one of these all right and see if you can give me a full sentence using the subordinating conjunction and create an adverb clause you can check out my example right here it I use it in a question we can have these adverb clauses in questions as well can you answer the question since you're so smart so if somebody was just asking this can you answer the question since you're so smart since you're so smart that is the adverb clause it has a subject it has a verb and if I were talking to these cats right here they look a bit worried all right they look a bit worried okay so um let's see we have some other people sharing sentences excellent so again as an adverb clause of time I completed my homework while you were sleeping perfect excellent um miss diem on some little baby bomb I think yes you're right that's the one since we were out of soap I will go buy some perfect all right we did not enter the place since it was restricted that is a great example great use of it English vibes I cannot come to meet you as I was dejected yes if you don't feel good you're not gonna go meet someone excellent good example an issue Nisha Nisha Hussein perfect so let's keep going says there are more types of adverb clause this was adverb clause of reason now let's talk about adverb clauses of condition so last week I did a quiz all on conditionals all right those are adverb clauses though that that condition is an adverb clause so you will see those words if even if only if unless in case and I will link that quiz up above if you have not taken our quiz and even still let me let me do you one more all right if you haven't taken it you can check it out I'm gonna throw it in chat right there boom okay so there is a link to our conditional quiz which we did recently so condition adverb clause a condition they answer the question of how here is my example it is a long example even if you're not part of our email list even if you can still communicate with me in the comments so even if you're not a part of our email list in which we send you the access to the secret fluency lesson we send you some lesson updates information we send you some useful and free resources and I'm really really really trying to sell you on this email list so that you guys can you guys can stay in touch with us join the team there is a link to it in the description if you want to check it out and boom doing it again there is a link to it right there in the chat check out the email list we will send you the secret fluency lesson or if you don't that's okay you can write to us in the comments and keep in touch with me but this is a good example of an adverb clause of condition that's not using if all right so what are some examples do we have some yes even if I ask for permission from my parents they won't let me go to the party excellent Abner even if I had money I wouldn't have bought you a Porsche Aiden that's a good example why not why not I would love to drive a Porsche I've never been I've never driven a Porsche alright even if I'm tired I'm following les West's lesson all right Thank You Lally for following this lesson even if you're tired I appreciate it so let's look now more more and more types of adverbs adverb clauses of purpose I told you that there are many subordinating conjunctions and I'm not saying like oh you have to learn each one perfectly the first step with just being able to identify them once you identify them then you know okay I'm dealing with an adverb clause and that's really gonna help you put together the grammar in your mind if you want to better comprehend how these sentences are constructed and why we say that why we say things the way that we do so here are some so that in order that in case for fear that and I gave you my example right down here and and this is what somebody you know could say they may not they might not do this but uh you know I'm gonna write myself a note in case I forget in case I forget that is my my adverb clause of purpose I'm gonna write myself a note in case I forget and the note that I would write to myself is eat breakfast because often I get up in the morning and I just start going I just start working I forget to eat breakfast I do make coffee but I often forget to eat breakfast I didn't eat breakfast this morning and as soon as this lesson is over I need to eat something because I'm hungry all right let's look at this last one all right the last type of of adverb is adverb clauses of contrast okay so these are answering the questions of how and some of the subordinating conjunctions although even though though whereas while all right I just want to tell you though so in case you're wondering about the pronunciation so here's my example although you just started learning English maybe many of you have it but as an example although you did although you just started learning English your skills are amazing all right so some of you out there you've told me like oh I just started learning and I'm reading the way that you you know that you're writing in the comment like wow that's impressive alright so I can say although you just started learning English your skills are amazing that is an example of an adverb clause of contrast I'm gonna gonna read a few of you guys you guys are throwing down some you guys are dropping some great examples so I just feel like I need to read some of them alright so Misbah I you could say I will finish my work so that I can go for a walk exactly after I'm gonna after I finish this lesson I'll finish this lesson so that I can go for a walk or so that I can eat and then go for a walk let's look at this take an umbrella in case it rains Hezbollah that's a great example thank you for sharing let's see you can't uh you let's see Maria you can't leave you can't leave it out your your job unless you finish it up on time so it's like maybe he's like you can't leave your job unless you finish unless you finish up your work like you can't go home unless you finish up your work you have to do something before you can leave excellent great so now it's time to practice so we went through that quickly but I want to practice using these adverb clauses and again what I'm going to ask you to do is to write a sentence using an adverb clause so this is going to be an activity dealing with transformations I am going to give you either one sentence or a couple of sentences I am going to then give you the subordinating conjunction and I want you to write a new sentence using the subordinating conjunction that has the same meaning it means the same thing but you're just creating a sentence with an adverb clause it's gonna start easy it I'll start out easy and then it's going to it's going to quickly get more difficult alright so the first one I think shouldn't be a problem so this is kind of like even an example all right two things he brushes his teeth he goes to bed I want you to write the subordinating conjunction I want you to use is after okay so use that subordinating conjunction write a sentence with an adverb clause that means the same thing that that gives me the same information he brushes his teeth he goes to bed use that adverb clause of time and give me a write read me a sentence write it in the chat write it in the comments again I want to I want you guys to participate in these lessons alright so there are a couple of different ways that you could write this you can put the adverb clause at the beginning alright just like Paul did after he brushes his teeth he goes to bed perfect all right or you could put it at the end just like ona some and English vibes did he goes to bed after he brushes his teeth remember though if it comes at the beginning I put it at the beginning remember it needs that comma after he brushes his teeth comma he goes to bed alright so now that you know what I want you to do they're gonna get a little more difficult okay so the the next one that I have for you is it's talking about choices okay I don't care where we go you decide now I want you to capture this same the same meaning I don't care where we go you decide it's like people are having a conversation and I want you to use wherever now there are different ways that you would be able to write this alright there's not just one answer it's really this is really a test it's good because it's really testing your fluency skills to think about okay I have the meaning I know what this means now let's see if I can say the same thing but say it in a different way so I want you to use the word wherever and capture that meaning I don't care where we go you decide all right okay all right let me see Dan Monson said wherever wherever you decide to go I don't care hey that works all right wherever we go you decide Paul that also works let's see Mirek son said I don't care wherever yeah but maybe it needs say wherever we go all right I don't care wherever we go you decide so mine was a little different all right let me give you my answer it seems the same thing i I think this is commonly somebody said would say hey I'll go wherever you want or maybe you wanted you're talking to somebody else and you'd say well we can go wherever you want wherever you decide wherever you want to go that's where we'll go all right I'll go wherever you want again there are there there's more than one answer it's all about you know practice and that's great that that we're giving different answers perfect so the next one all right this is we used to take the bus to work but we just bought a car okay so think about that that sentence think about the the context we used to take the bus to work but we just bought a car okay and use now that so I'm gonna tell you I capitalized the N and now I want you to put this at the beginning put it at the beginning of the sentence all right put the adverb clause at the beginning we used to take the bus to work but we just bought a car and that right there and that that would not be the car all right there cuz that's just a little toy car so how would you take that meaning use now that and capture capture the same meaning say the same thing alright so this is this is great practice not just for writing adverb clauses but really to get you thinking and to test your fluency skills okay so write me a sentence with the adverb clause use the subordinating conjunction now that alright and put it at the beginning so we have so many examples all right I'm gonna let's see lolly wrote now that now that we buy a car we don't take well we don't take the bus anymore now that we would say now that we bought a car because we're talking about the past let's see Donna now that we've bought a car we stop taking the bus that works perfect that's general though I got wheels I take Bo I got wheels I take the bike to go for shopping I guess you're really changing the meaning of that sentence Lucia now that we have a car we don't need to take the bus that works perfect Tatiana now that we just bought a car we don't take a bus to work that works my example I said now that we have a car we don't have to take the bus to work or you can say we don't have to take the bus anymore now that we have a car so let's look at another one all right it's just I got I got baby on the mind because we have a little five month old girl Emmie so I thought this you know maybe I was looking for pictures I said to describe it so I would say again I can help you but I need you to tell me what happened I can help you but I need you to tell me what happened use the subordinating conjunction unless all right and it's a lower case unless so in this case put it at the end of the sentence put the adverb clause at the end see if you can put it at the end all right how would you take that meaning I can help you but I need you to tell me what happened use the word unless right right a sentence with an adverb clause that has that same meaning okay so let's see um what we're getting some great answers all right already perfect English vibe I cannot help you unless you tell me what happened boom perfect mix on unless you tell me what happened I can't help you that works the adverb clause in that case is at the beginning so remember you need that comma after the adverb clause what else Alonso I can help you unless you tell me what happened but Rimmer it Alonso it'd be I can't help you because you need to know what happened so you'd have to say I can't help you unless you tell me what happened I cannot help you unless you tell me what happened unfortunately when it's a baby that's young they can cry they really can't though they can't talk to you and tell you what happened not yet all right so here we go all right you ready for the next one this is a little trickier okay because the grammar the grammar is a little more specific and we'll see if you guys can can do this one so I would say I was running I know I was late to the restaurant so my friends began eating without me all right you're maybe you're meeting your friends you're supposed to meet at a certain time you're late but they do said hey this person's late we're just going to go ahead and start eating I was late to the restaurant so my friends began eating without me and I want you to use by the time all right that is the adverb clause that I want you guys to use by the time so what what do you guys think all right use that advert call use it at the beginning of the sentence because I gave you that capital B so it tells you okay it's at the beginning of the sentence by the time what I was running late I was are I keep saying running late you can say I like to say that but it needs the same thing you're running late you're late I was late to the restaurant so my friends began eating without me and again even if you're watching this later practice practice practice write the sentences and in the comments section love it when when people do that so here we go all right on a sum by the time I got to the restaurant my friends my friends have already started eating clothes clothes clothes the grammar remember we're talking about the past perfect let's see you donรญt by by the time I reach the restaurants my friends had started eating okay that works mixing by the time I got to restaurants my friends began eating could say that remember I'm looking the the independent clause I was looking for the past perfect there was another sand it's in here who is it gotcha been here sorry if i mispronounce names by the time I arrived at the restaurant my friends had already begun eating alright so again this is a little more specific the ground by the time I arrived at the restaurant you're using the simple past in the adverb clause by the time I arrived at the restaurant my comma remember that comma my friends had begun eating you could say my friends had already begun eating my friends had begun eating without me but in that independent clause we are using the past perfect because we're talking about two events two things that happen in the past by the time I arrived at the restaurant happened in the past my friends had begun eating without me it happened even earlier in the past so this is one where again some of these you've got to be careful with the grammar but in general you guys rock that that was amazing I am I am extremely impressed yet you guys sharing these sentences thank you always for participating in these activities because that is by far that is the best way to learn when you learn something new whether it's grammar pronunciation vocabulary practice practice practice that is a big part of helping you comprehend the information and then be able to use it as well in writing and speaking so thank you guys thank you thank you thank you so much for joining me today please hit that like button if you already didn't do that share this lesson with other people you know who are trying to practice and improve their English skills and if you want to contact us you can join join our team check out subscribe to our newsletter we'll give you access to the secret fluency lesson or just write to us in the comments you can also follow us on social media we are active on Facebook Twitter and Instagram so thank you thank you thank you Camila thank you guys thank you for joining me where is it Adrianna Thank You Maria glad you enjoyed the lesson Misbah thank you malone Tatiana that's a joto our ISA Maria June Aidan tried to get as many shout outs as I can Alex thank you guys for being here joining me and I hope to see you guys next time we will see you --- ## 128. ADVERB VOCABULARY QUIZ | Advanced English Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `zTCZGBnbE0I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTCZGBnbE0I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:37:39 | --- what is up everyone I hope that you are feeling super smart today because I have an adverb vocabulary quiz for you that is what we are going to do in today's lesson now if this is your first time here I just want to introduce myself my name is Wes and this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and we do that by trying to make interactive lessons we want you to participate in these lessons which is exactly what we're going to do today because I have a bunch of different questions for you and I want you guys to answer if you are in the chat then I want you to write your answers in the chat even if you are watching this lesson later I want you guys to write your answers in the comment I want you to be engaged and interact with this quiz so I want to take a quick moment and say hello and give a shout out to to those who are with us today hello Vishnu qu uh Claudia um avilash Andre Kai indu Judy noain Ira um who else do we have aat welcome welcome Ana hello hello if you joined us just say your name tell me your name in the chat I just love hearing from you guys so I told you that today we are go be going to do an adverb quiz an adverb VOC vocabulary quiz so when you think of adverbs I think most people think of grammar but this is not a grammar quiz I want to make that very clear at the beginning this is more of a vocabulary quiz because I am going to ask you the meaning of different adverbs that is the quiz so I've taken uh different words and these are more advanced English words and the reason I chose these words is because I feel like they're often used as adverbs of course you can have a word that is a verb an adjective or an adverb uh they can be used in different parts of speech but I speech but I specifically chose these words because I feel like we often find them as adverbs so the way I'm going to do this is some of these questions are going to ask you about synonyms uh some questions are going to be asking about the the meaning of these adverbs what what does this adverb mean and others are going to be about trying to put the words in context and I'm going to give you an example sentence so it's all multiple choice all right don't worry and I just want you guys to try the best you can don't be shy don't hesitate to give an answer please please please please write those answers in the chat or in the comments so the reason why we're doing this today is because well first it's important to build your vocabulary the the bigger your vocabulary the greater your comprehension it's also going to be more easily uh you can more easily communicate and produce the language especially when you're speaking and the reason you can do this is because of number three you can more accurately express your thoughts your opinions your ideas you will be able to say exactly what you want to say because you know the words so adverbs uh just a quick review what are adverbs well again as I mentioned it is a part of speech mostly when we think of adverbs we think of grammar and we did a grammar lesson on adver verbs before which I will link somewhere around here if you want to check it out it is all about adverb placement and I highly suggest you check out that lesson so an adverb the first thing we need to know is that it modifies a verb most of the time it doesn't always modify a verb it can modify an adjective a determiner a clause but in this quiz all of these adverbs will modify the verbs and we use them they they typically Express manner time frequency such as always usually sometimes rarely never or a a degree to the extent at which something can happen so this is how we usually uh what adverbs typically Express and mostly these words will end in an ly all of our words today in this quiz they are all ly words all right I'll I'll go ahead and tell you that from the beginning and the other tricky thing like I mentioned we talked about in a previous lesson is that adverbs may go in different places within a sentence they might go at the beginning they might go at the end most often you will find adverbs in the middle of a sentence they will either come before the verb or right after the verb and as as I go through the quiz I will be giving you some example sentences so you'll be able to see where they fall in the sentence all right the one other thing I will say in this vocabulary quiz I am when I give you the answer I'm going to tell you what that ad verb means and I will give you some example sentences all of the other adverbs that I use in those examples I'm not going to go over the meaning for every single adverb that you see on on this quiz because that would just take hours so if there is another word on there that you don't know I highly encourage you to to look it up look up that word find out its meaning try to see how it's used in different sentences so that you can better understand that word but I'm just going to go over those adverbs that are the an answer to these questions all right are you guys ready Ethan riswan Loi Mr English are you are you guys ready Mina all right so if you're ready you need I want you to click on the Go Button you need to click on the go button and then this quiz is going to start so please click on that go button right now even if you're watching this later all right excellent let's begin I told you this is interactive so the first question is which is a synonym for quickly which of these adverbs keenly briskly fervently cooly which is a synonym for quickly I told you these are all ly adverbs so I want you to write your answer in the chat or write your answer in the comments you can either write the word or just write the letter A B C or D what what do you guys what do you guys think all right which is a synonym for quickly all right one of those words all right so this is okay so I we got some mixed answers in here between C and B the answer if you're talking about quickly you know doing something quickly moving quickly the answer is brisly which is which is wait what is briskly that is B briskly that is the answer so briskly means to move or do something with great speed and often when I think of briskly I think you're you're very focused and you're very serious and you are doing something briskly you're not joking around so for example uh right here he was running late so he walked briskly to work and it's talking about the way he walked the way he moved you walk briskly and in this example I wanted to give you a different context so when when you retort it's also like you're say saying something back what's that she retorted briskly I couldn't hear you and in this case again this this briskly it kind of gives us a little more information because it it sets the tone of the conversation because when you if you retort briskly you're you're kind of saying it quickly and with a little bit of force and you're serious it's not like you're like oh what's that I didn't hear you you're more like wait what's that I didn't hear you so it really kind of captures the the the essence of the dialogue that you're trying to you so that is number one B briskly if you got that right uh hit that like button so that I know if I see it go up then I'll like okay you guys you guys got this you understand all right so the next question all right this means happening or being done at the same time which of these adverbs means happening or being done at the same time a automatically B annually C mechanically or D simultaneously what do you guys think and some of these adverbs again I I I think they are a little more advanced but some are more intermediate you might be familiar with some of these words already which is great because it's always good to review all right so we're getting some answers in there great excellent austo uh Kow AI lyd deare indu Judy excellent yes the correct answer is D simultaneously so if you do something simultaneously it is happening or being done at the same time check out my beautiful example sentences over here yes the letters and packages went out simultaneously they went out at the same time and again this comes after the verb the the phrasal verb went out and we use it down here and we use it for the verb in this example we simultaneously developed a marketing plan and created new products you're talking about two things that you do at the same time you are doing them simultaneously all right are you ready the next question right here now put this in context I'm giving you a sentence now they M offered to donate their time and money to the relief effort okay so uh I'll go ahead you can you know that the verb is offered and that's what we're trying to describe now I will I I will say grammatically you you could use maybe some of these different words in there but again think about the context of this situation so you need to understand some of the other words in this sentence to help you accurately choose which adverb best completes this sentence all right what do you guys think yes Junior Andre uh Mr Dy ell a wait oh see no oh close uh yes so the answer is generously a generously they generously offered to donate so again the key word in there was donate when you're donating you're giving something and if you're doing that you know that's a very generous thing to do so you generously offer to donate and it's it just means that you are regularly giving or sharing you're just an unselfish person so you do things generously and in my example sentence I said people in the community generously volunteered to build houses after a storm so most of the time this adverb is used with verbs that that mean good things that mean things that have to do with sharing or or good work like volunteering or it could say they generously cooked dinner for the entire neighborhood they did this thing it was very generous of them they were unselfish and they generously genuis did that I'm having a tough time saying generously all right the next question are you guys ready you guys are rocking this excellent what is a synonym for intentionally what is a synonym for intentionally A B C or D I want you guys to write your answers in that chat all right or write them in the comments if you if you guys are just joining us we are doing a quiz an adverb vocabulary quiz and I'm asking you questions I want you to write the answer all right what is a synonym for intentionally is it deliberately promptly honestly or reluctantly all right excellent uh I see some great answers in here yes Ellie essan Olivia uh pritish Mor morillo uh I'm trying to get as many names as I can the answer is a deliberately so if you do something deliberately it means consciously and intentionally you do something on purpose so again in this case uh I'm I'm describing these verbs these actions and I might say you deliberately gave me the wrong directions maybe you did not want this person to find this place and you deliberately gave them the wrong directions it's I I feel like this word is often used as an adverb you hear this a lot you deliberately do something or I left his name off the list deliberately there is a reason why I didn't do this so you do something deliberately you do it on purpose there is a reason for doing that all right so I just wanted to let you guys know if you enjoy what we do here at interactive English I encourage you to check us out on patreon we offer some cool reward rewards I will leave a link in the description down below part of those rewards one of them is actually the lesson notes to all of these live lessons I post these notes on on our uh patreon page and those people who are patrons who are who who are absolutely our best friends they have access to these notes that that we use during these live lessons so check that out link is in the description let's continue all right how how are you guys doing let let me you know in the comments tell me how how many have You' got we got we did four questions already how many out of four have you gotten have did you get all of them correct did you get two correct did you get three correct write that write that in the comments let me know all right so let's continue the next question is this asking you for the meaning blank m means in a way that makes fun of someone or or something so we're talking about a word this word means in a way that makes fun of someone or something is it A woefully B zestfully C mockingly or D boastfully and and don't try to guess based off of my intonation and again even if you don't know all of these words you know just take a guess all right have fun with this just just try and guess which one you think it means so which one means to make fun of someone or something this is not you know this is not a very good word I don't think because people you know they don't like this so yes excellent all right maybe this was a little easy uh most of you got this excellent Zen Shanti uh purple butterfly Alonzo gelle excellent yes the answer is C mockingly all right you're doing something mockingly it's in a way that makes fun of someone or something for example he imitated his boss's voice mockingly so if you imitate somebody's voice maybe you're you're making fun of them the way that they talk or the way that they sound and you're doing it mockingly or this one I just love that picture down there I've used it before when when asking questions on our social media and I'd say they mockingly bought two stuffed animals that was a little typo there that should be animals with an S for their pet and if you can't see that image down there it's the dog with the two stuffed animals and he's asking are you mocking me cuz I feel like I'm being mocked so in that case he's using mock to mock someone as a verb but again many of these words you can use them as a verb an adjective an adverb different parts of speech it's great to learn them all because that's an awesome way to build your vocabulary so mockingly you do something mockingly next question all right are you guys ready here we go so this is a sentence I want you to put it in context our home is M clean but we try our home is M clean but we try all right this is I I I am actually talking about our apartment where we live so keep in mind the context we do have a a new baby so I I would actually say you know yeah our home is clean but we try all right what do you think would best complete this sentence based on that context speedily disparagingly certainly or relatively what what do you guys think AB BC or D all right you guys quick quick on the quick on the draw there ly Ellie Claudia jelle Asma uh Alonzo star night yes all right excellent thank you guys for answering the correct answer is D relatively our home is relative L clean but we try so if I'm saying something is relatively clean it's talking about to a certain degree especially when you're comparing it with some other thing or some some of the same kind so maybe I'm just comparing it to to other people's apartments and saying yeah you know our home is relatively clean but we have this new baby we're we're trying we're trying to keep it as clean as we CL can but it's relatively clean um probably I think these are two other good examples if you're talking about you can use it to talk about an environment or even an object so for example my phone is relatively new if somebody says hey is that a new phone and maybe it's 3 months old or it's it's two weeks old and you can say yeah it's relatively new it's not brand new it's relatively new compared to other phones it is new another time where you often hear this adverb is when talking about the weather if you ever watch the weather channel in English the next time you are watching The Weather Channel I want you to see if you can identify the word relatively because you hear it a lot because when talking about the weather we often compare one day to the other days or to the week before or to the month before so you're often comparing different days and they might say you know Tom tomorrow will be relatively cool but things will warm up next week so again especially when talking about the weather you say yeah it's going to be you know relatively hot compared to other days um so we use this word a lot excellent so keep that in mind all right ready next question boom all right what is a synonym for longingly what do you guys think A B C or D what is a synonym for longingly that is my and if you don't know what longingly means then that's going to make it a little more difficult but I encourage you to take a guess do you think it means the same sim same as a sharply B whsy C queasily or D wearily what do you guys think all right which one would you say is is a very is similar to longingly all right you do something longingly is very similar to what all right have some different answers in here um all right yeah all right this one maybe is a little more challenged so yes uh junior excellent um Gaz gazelle yes uh AI who else has that one I'm trying to get to Alonzo great job yes if you're talking about longingly it it means the S it's has a similar meaning to wishfully so when you're talking about doing something wishfully it's like you're a little sad and you're thinking about something that it's just not possible it because maybe it already happened and you can't change the past or you're just thinking about the past you're remembering things that happened in the past and you're thinking about it longingly you you you you want this thing to happen again you wish it could happen again and you're thinking about it you you remember something wistfully like that first example so I say he whis ful remembered his childhood playground so he's thinking about this good memory and he's thinking it makes him a little sad because maybe it was such a good memory he wants to go back and you wistfully remember his childhood playground or in the case of this like you you want something and you can't have it the cat stared wistfully at the mouse and I just love that image so that's why I I use that sentence the cat stared wistfully at the mous he wants that Mouse all right but it's impossible he shouldn't he shouldn't attack the mouse he shouldn't eat it so this one again it's maybe not as common but again it's good to learn new words and and be able to understand how they're used in different context are you guys ready ready for the next one all right again if you if you've gotten more than five of these right uh let let me know hit hit that like button so I know okay you guys you guys are in this all right you guys are doing well the next question that I have for you is right here ready so it's another definition one all right it means very serious or formal in manner Behavior or expression okay again if you guys if you're just joining us welcome we're taking this quiz and I want you guys to participate write your answers in the chat or if you're watching it later write your answers in the comments this means very serious or formal in your manner Behavior or expression is it a captively b abnormally C solemnly D deceivingly what do you guys think all right seeing uh some good answers excellent wow you guys you guys rock this one all right so the answer is C solom ly it means very serious or formal in your manner Behavior or expression so in my example sentence I used it at the very beginning in this case all right most of the time like I said it goes before the verb or or after the verb but in this case I put it at the beginning and this just adds a little emphasis because solemnly he recounted what happened during the accident so once I start out with solemnly I really set you you set the mood you know it's a serious situation and and he's talking about this accident so it's probably something that very very bad that happened very serious very maybe even a little sad so in this case it go it went at the beginning of the sentence or this is another example if you watch any kind of Law and Order type show where there's lawyers and police and there a jury and in a courtroom you might hear something like people would say I solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth and in in the reason it's used in this case is because when you're in a courtroom you're you're often taking an oath and people will like put their hand up and they will say you know I promise to tell the truth they solemnly swear to do something it's very formal and it's a formal situation so you might hear that I solemnly swear to tell you the whole truth and nothing but the truth next time you're watching a movie in a courtroom see if you hear this adverb being used solemnly and in that picture it's a picture of a pinky swear this is not formal at all it's very informal promise you would say you know oh do you promise me pinky swear and people will take their pinkies and they make a promise like that it that's more informal I just like the picture and that is a little American cultural that that's that's your cultural lesson for today pinky swears and maybe they have pinky swears in your country I don't know you guys can let me know in the chat or in the comments all right the next question that I have for you is this one complete the sentence all right Wes smiled M when he forgot to buy Yana flowers for Valentine's Day all right I will I will confess this is this is not a true this is not a true sentence it's just an example I didn't buy flowers I usually buy chocolate because that that's more uh her preference is chocolate instead of flowers but it's a good example so Wes smiled M when he forgot to buy flowers for Valentine's Day did I smile a passionately B cooly C gleefully or D sheepishly what do you guys think all right write your answer in the chat all right I want to hear from all of you guys who are in there right now write your answer which which which adverb best completes this sentence and again you know you could put a bunch of adverbs in there but based on the context all right I forgot to buy something for this special day so the answer would be D sheepishly I sheepishly smiled when I forgot to buy Yana flowers for Valentine's Day because sheepishly means in an embarrassed manner due to some shame or lack of confidence so in the sentence before if you forget a Valentine's gift that's you know that's a little shameful you might you're proud of that so you might do something like smiled sheepishly like I forgot and check out these sentences I I've given you one for each context the boy smiled sheepishly at the girl across the room in this case the boy likes the girl he has a crush on the girl but he lacks confidence so he smiled sheepishly so in this case it means lacking confidence in this other one right here the employees sheepishly turned in the The Unfinished report this would be more shame all right you're not the report wasn't finished they should finish it but they sheepishly turned in the report they were not proud of doing it but they had to turn it in so they sheepishly turned this report in all right the next one ready what is an antonym for syruptitious all right which of those adverbs right there is an antonym for surreptitiously all right if if you guys are with us right now write your answer in the chat and if you're watching this later again we want you to interact write your answer write your answer in the comments so what is an antonym which one is an antonym for surreptitiously is it a timidly B openly C secret happily or D secretly what do you guys think all right this one this question right read it carefully it's it's a little more difficult okay so an antonym for surreptitiously all right if you're talking about doing something surreptitiously the meaning would be doing something secretly but because I asked for an antonym an antonym means a word that has an opposite meaning so the opposite of doing something secret secretly or doing something surreptitiously would be to do it openly so everybody knows what's happening so B openly is the correct answer that is the antonym for ctitious so surreptitiously again it means in a way that somebody is attempting to avoid being noticed or they're trying to avoid attention and they don't want to be noticed so it's kind of like you're trying to do something secretly and example sentence the politicians surreptitiously pass a law to promote corporate interest and this is something happens in the US all the time maybe it happens in your country that some companies corporations they have a lot of money they have a lot of influence so they will buy these politicians and donate to their campaigns and then these politicians will pass laws to help these companies and they will surreptitiously do that because they don't want people to notice they don't want people to know so this is a good example um the other one down here is just a little more of a simple example the rat surreptitiously walked toward the food the rat doesn't want people to see that they're going to get the food and take it so they walk and move surreptitiously again you can use it in a way to describe the the way that somebody moves they're moving surreptitiously all right that is a good word that's a good adverb I like that one so remember today's word list we talked about 10 different adverbs uh and let's go through them right now so even if you joined us a little late we'll go through the meaning of these one more time it's always good to review what you've learned so the first word that we talked about was briskly it means to move or do something at great speed you move briskly he was running late so he walked briskly to work simultaneously means happening or being done at the same time you're doing two things right at the same time the letters and packages went out simultaneously generously I think many of you know that generously you are regularly giving or sharing you are unselfish so people in the community generously volunteered to build houses after the storm deliberately means intentionally you do something on purpose you deliberately gave me the wrong directions why did you do that the next one mockingly means in a way that makes fun of someone so you could he intimidated his boss voice mockingly you are making fun of this person relatively means to a certain degree especially compared with some other kind I told you keep an eye uh keep listen for this adverb when you're when you watching The Weather Channel or hearing people in English talk about the weather tomorrow will be relatively cool but things will warm up next week and that's true the weather just cooled down here the next one was wistfully wistfully is sad thinking about something in the past longingly all right he wistfully remembered his childhood playground it was a great memory and I am longing to go back to that time solemly means very serious or formal in manner Behavior or expression I told you right here in these courtroom shows you might hear somebody say I solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth and the next one sheepish sheepishly in an embarrassed manner due to some shame or lack of confidence all right so like I said good example about shame the employees sheepishly turned in the unfinished report and then surreptitiously in a way that avoid that attempts to avoid being noticed or or drawing attention to yourself you do something surreptitiously like those sneaky politicians the politicians surreptitiously passed a law to promote corporate interest all right so that is your quiz today if you learned a new word please hit hit that like button down below we really appreciate it thank you guys so much for being here uh I I hope that you will like and share our lessons with other people because we're constantly trying to build and grow our classroom and as always write us questions in the comments what I want to know I want you guys in the comments tell me how many you got right there were 10 questions how many did you get correct I want to hear from you and you can join Jo our social media classes up there we're always posting questions for you guys to practice and improve your English skills so give a shout out to everybody thank you Kai farat Andre yasu Daisy indu um snigga thank you guys Maria for being here Mahendra ban uh IR Anderson Miriam Rosal Linda Vishnu thank you uh Risa glad you guys were here jelle essan Olivia savah Molly thank you thank you thank you sorry if I missed some of your names I tried to say as many names as possible during this lesson we will do more quizzes in the future because they're very interactive and it is a great way for you guys to practice your English skills so thank you guys for being here I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 129. ADVICE for English Teachers & English Learners + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `2mAcTakk94w` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mAcTakk94w) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:28:25 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English and if this is your first time here our channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today it's going to be a discussion lesson I'm gonna have a little discussion with all of you so it's good for your listening if you want to just follow along and listen to this discussion also I'm going to be giving you some new vocabulary so as we go through and talk about our topic which is about education I'm gonna put it together a vocabulary list of some different words or phrases that I've picked out and I'll give you the meaning and then after the lesson I will put all of those vocabulary words down in the description so I just want to give a quick shout out a quick hello to those of you who are with me in the chat hello Aidan hello sleepwalker Lalli Mary Jane Saeed so so excellent thank you guys for joining me today and the the discussion that we're going to have today and I'll have some other questions for you it's it's all about well it's mostly about teachers but as also it applies to learners because there are many teachers out there that watch our lessons that follow this channel and I get a lot of different questions I love hearing from other English teachers and you get to hear about their experiences and what's happening so I wanted to share with you some of my own experiences and and offer up some advice that is going to really be talking about okay what do you need to know when you enter the classroom and most of the advice is geared toward teachers and I'm going to share with you my experience that the the knowledge that I've gained after 15 years of teaching English but some of it is relevant to learners as well so when we go through this I'm going to be talking about how it to both teachers and learners so the first thing that I want to tell you which is an expression that I want to teach you is that look I'm gonna be talking about my experience I'm gonna be talking about my opinions my thoughts and I would say again just take everything with a grain of salt you might agree with me about some things you may disagree with me about others but this is something that I tell English learners all the time or anybody you know it's good to take things with a grain of salt and if you don't know what this expression means we're gonna add it this is gonna be the first one we're going to add to our vocabulary list right here so if you tell somebody you know take things with a grain of salt it just means that you should you know not believe everything is true you know to to to doubt things so when I say that I'm gonna be talking to you again about my experience that might be different from your experience in the classroom and that's perfectly okay so again even though I'm sharing my opinions I'd still tell you you know take things with a grain of salt just keep that in mind so that is the first expression that I really wanted to teach you today so let's go ahead and jump into it so the first thing that I would tell a teacher especially a new teacher and I think this applies to anybody who is going to start a new job and the way I'm gonna do this is go through some of these quotes that I found that I think are relevant that I just kind of enjoy and if you can't read that because I had a tough time finding the picture with it it says a bad attitude is like a flat tire if you don't change it you'll never go anywhere and I think this is so true so the first thing that I would tell people is that you know you need to make sure that you have the right attitude if you decide that you know you you know you're interested in teaching make sure you know that that's some that you are passionate about and because that's going to help you have that right attitude and the first question that I'd ask for all of you guys who are even in the chat right now have you ever had a teacher that you just didn't get along with that for some reason their attitude their behavior the way they acted you just didn't get along with this person and why why is it that you feel like you didn't get along right that to me let me know I'd love to hear back from you guys and see what you think because I always say that you know your attitude is infectious if you go into the classroom with a very positive attitude it's going to influence the attitude of the learners and of course you want your students your learners to have a positive attitude because that's going to create an atmosphere that makes it easier to learn and understand the information you want to tell them of course I know that they're people everybody has a bad day that's perfectly fine it's normal and I noticed that when I've had bad days and I've taken that attitude into the classroom most more often than not those lessons are not the best lessons they they they it's it's affected me and it's affected my learner's and you can tell that that that's a problem so again just I it's something to think about as you get in go into the classroom especially if you are doing this for the first time and you are entering a new class I think it's so important that if you are starting a new class to make sure you get off on the right foot and go in there with a very positive attitude first impressions are so important so let's add a couple more words to the vocabulary list I told you you want to go into the classroom with a a positive attitude you want to make sure that you get off on the right foot and what that means it's an expression to to get off on the right foot it means that you start out start out a relationship let me say in a positive way so I think whatever job you do it's important if you're your co-workers or your boss you want to get off on the right foot for teachers you want to start your classes off on the right foot and I also told you for new classes first impressions are are so important and if you hear this word talking about a first impression it's the way someone you know initially thinks about you all right what do they think about you that is your first impression and you always want to make a good first impression whether you are a teacher whether you are a businessman a businesswoman whatever job first impressions are good so again some people you guys are sharing with me in the chat excellent Mikhail said I believe one of the university hated me because he saw me as a threat I was confident and going for big projects simply did not like me at all okay that's a great example when maybe if if you get into the classroom and you if you think that way of another student then that's definitely not a way to get off on the right foot so again that is a great example Miguel thanks for sharing with us he said who is it Kotter Beck said yes I have a teacher I like he didn't listen when I answered and he decreased my results and that's something that I do want to talk about a little later we're gonna talk about listening so I told you that it's important to go in there with just a positive attitude again I think a lot of these things are fairly common sense but it's important that that people even though that we should know these things it's always good to hear it again and again and again and to really think about that because we can all be better the next thing that I would say is that it's very important to know your audience now this is this is something that I tell to students all the time I say know your audience and the season is it's important you would say you need to know your audience when you are writing or if you are giving a presentation because if you're writing you want to know who is reading your essay who is reading your email because you're not always going to write it the same way the same goes with a presentation and what I would ask you guys this question let me know I'd like to hear your experience have you ever given a presentation or you were giving a talk to a group of people and as you got into it you realized that okay this is the wrong audience perhaps you were trying to tell a joke or you were trying to to say something to the group and you realized okay this is not the right audience for for what I'm trying to say so this is definitely something that I would tell learners all the time for for presentations for writing you need to know your audience and I would say that the exact same goes for for teachers as well you need to know your audience you need to know who the students are for example I I first started teaching a long time ago in South Korea on young haseo to anybody out there who's in South Korea and I first started teaching children and I was teaching I teach to school for about a year and I was teaching children that were around you know fourth fifth grade they were high elementary school students and then I switched from teaching children to teaching at a university so I went from children to university and I remember when I first got in there and started teaching University the very first class that I had I said okay you know one of the first thing I'm gonna do I'm gonna talk about the rules of the class you know what are some of the expectations and I realized as I started going through it I was kind of treating in the situation as though it were still children about like don't do this you can't do that you know no running around in the classroom and as I started doing it I realize okay this this is not the right audience these are students that were anywhere from 18 to 22 years old it was not a bunch of children and again this that's a very important thing when a teacher they need to know their audience they need to know their students the other thing that I would tell teachers when it comes to knowing your students is typically one of the first things that a teacher should do is a needs assessment so when you get into learning about teaching English teachers might do a needs assessment and basically that just means that they need to understand what the student what the students the learners what do they need to do in order to improve the most it's basically like talking about that gap between well what do the students know now and where do they want to be in the future and that gap in between those are the needs the student needs and you need to understand what those needs are and you can do different types of a needs assessment if you're a teacher you can do just like student feedback and this is something that I would do I would go into a classroom especially with adults and I did this with my University students and I would ask them even the first day and have them write down what are some things that you hope to accomplish in this course and I would ask them other questions what do you think is the most difficult part of learning English so automatically I was trying to have them identify the greatest challenges that they think exist and what they want to accomplish because then I could take that information and try to shape my lesson plans around that to better help them throughout the course so you could do student feedback you could even do a quiz that's another great way to do a needs assessment but again for teachers it's very important to know your audience understand well who the students are and what does everybody need of course it's very difficult for like on a platform like this as a teacher I you know all of you you are different ages different parts of the world I'm not able to speak with you one-on-one directly so again a lot of the information that we have on our Channel I try to do a variety do vocabulary that is a little more difficult some vocabulary that might be easier I try to do a little bit of grammar and again the level is going to vary because many of you are at different levels as well but if you're going into the classroom needs assessment is very important so let's look at the next thing that I would tell you is this quote right here I love this quote this is a famous quote that is it's attributed to Lois past year and it's just chance favors the prepared mind and I think this goes without saying okay and that is another great that's another great expression if somebody says this goes without saying so let's just gonna I'm gonna add that to our vocabulary list right here so if somebody says that sentence and they say this goes without saying it kind of means well it means exactly what it says you're basically telling somebody kind of like yeah you should know the information that I'm about to tell you and people would say that when they're getting ready to say something that most people already know that maybe a little bit of common sense so I could say that this right now it's it goes without saying chance favors the prepared mind and basically it's just saying you know don't underestimate the the power of preparedness that you as a teacher and both as a learner this is a you need to be prepared you need to be ready and especially as a teacher and I feel like this is this has happened to me where something's going on in your life and for some reason you're not able to prepare as well as you would like to and typically in my experience when that's happened when that happens the class it just it's not as good as those classes where I'm able to prepare every activity I know very well what I want to do and those classes tend to be better that you you need to really prepare and keep that in mind and when I say prepare especially as teachers you need to you need to have a syllabus you need to know what you're going to do throughout the course when a year when you're planning lessons you need to have a lesson plan you would be surprised at over the years how many teachers I've met and some of them they just don't use lesson plans and I think it's a little strange but again the more prepared you are the better that you're going to have a successful class and that's better for the learners as well a syllabus a lesson plan I would also say you need to show transparency how our grades going to be determined how are you going to do that and tell the learners what they need to expect this is something that I think has always helped me that if I had a class for example and it was going to be one semester Monday Wednesday and Friday the very first week I would go in there and I would tell the students okay this is what we're gonna do every Monday this is what we're going to do every Wednesday and this is what we're going to do every Friday and I create that routine so students know what to expect every day when they come to class of course the lessons are going to be different but there is that there is that expectation and I've always found that in my experience again routine really has helped the students because they know what to expect they know what they're doing they're more likely to do the work that you assign them and it helps them come to class more prepared if they know what the routine is and they know what to expect and I'm not saying a routine that for example what I would do would be like maybe a warm-up and I'd say okay every Monday we're gonna do idiom of the day and I teach a new idiom and that's our warmup and we'd have a discussion every Wednesday maybe we'd go over some new type of academic vocabulary and then we'd have a discussion on that so again establish some sort of routine so that the students know what to expect and for learners when I say try to be prepared I think I think again maybe think about your long term and your short term goals where is it that you want to be and how are you going to get there and what's going to help you prepare in order to accomplish those short-term goals and to accomplish those long-term goals all right so the next thing that I would tell you as teachers if you're going into the classroom would be this is what works for some may not work for others okay so teachers I'd say especially they need to understand that all learners are different and that for some learners certain styles and methods and approaches are going to be more beneficial than it might be for other students and the reason I say this is because I tell I would tell teachers you need to try a variety of methods and a variety of approaches and when you start I think learning to become a teacher you learn about these different methods for example there is what's called the direct method and this is a method where you only use the target language and you're learning more every day vocabulary and sentences there's another approach which is called total physical response this is an approach which is more for kinesthetic learners it's about you know you're moving around you're getting up out of your chair and and some people who learn that way who are more kinesthetic learners and they it helps them remember things to move around this is a great approach that they can use total physical response there's also one that I like and again this is my personal preference for any of you out there who are listening it's it's called content and language integrated learning sometimes it's shortened to cl-cl IO and what this means content and language integrated learning it's basically you are teaching a language while you're teaching some other topic and you're you're using the target language to teach something else and this is what happens at international schools all the time where students will learn math but they will learn math in English and because of that they're not only learning math but they're also learning the English language they're learning new vocabulary that's related to math they're constantly reading in English they're constantly listening to English and as you're learning this other subject you're able to learn the language so that is one of my personal favorites but again in this case as a teacher what I would tell people is that you should try to use an eclectic approach and that's actually the next vocabulary word that I wanted to teach you is eclectic because some of you may be wondering well what what does that mean what does eclectic mean so let's go back over to our vocabulary list and I'm going to write it down if you're talking about something that is eclectic it is an adjective so I'll go ahead and write that down and what it means is that it's talking about it is using a variety of sources or it comes from a variety of sources so I'm talking about you should use an eclectic approach which basically means that somebody is using all of those methods that I just talked about you're using the direct method you're doing a little TPR and you're having students move around the classroom you're also doing some content and language integrating learning by you're studying some other topic but you're doing it in English that would be an eclectic approach now often when I think about using this word I think about somebody talking about maybe art and they would say that somebody has an eclectic taste that they have a taste that is developed from a variety of sources and they say oh it's very eclectic so I often think that this is a word that you may hear when people are talking about art but just keep that in mind what works for some may not work for others and that's something I tell when we're talking about variety that's something I tell learners all the time try to get a variety recently I just had a lesson on on talking about listening and how you improve your skills and one of the the very first thing we talked about was a variety try to get a variety of listening whether you are listening to these videos on YouTube you're listening to an audiobook or a podcast or even music variety is always good so if you're a learner remember that keep that in mind variety can't go wrong the next thing the next little bit of advice that I would like to share with teachers and learners would be about mistakes in talking about mistakes and again this is another quote which is attributed to Albert Einstein and it just says a person who never made a mistake never tried anything new and I think what what everybody needs to realize I think again this goes without saying is that mistakes it's a fact of life and that is actually the next expression or next phrase that I want to add if you say that something is a fact of life it's just an expression that people use let's go over to our vocabulary list but it's a common one and basically what you're just trying to say is that well this thing is true you'd say that something is a fact of life so this is a great expression phrase that you can use and you're trying to kind of emphasize that something is true and I'll add and cannot be avoided alright and I just told you right then I said mistakes it's a fact of life if you are teaching you're going to make mistakes if you are learning a language such as English you're going to make mistakes even in the chat right now I want you guys to think we as a learner what is the last mistake that you made and I know that if you feel comfortable share that share that with us because again the one thing I would say is try to embrace your mistakes it's a fact of life we all make them I know that some people if you make a mistake it can really get you down and that makes it as a learner it makes it harder for you to continue especially when it comes to something like speaking I think if somebody makes a speaking mistake and then they get corrected they may feel a little self-conscious and then go that was a that was a silly mistake why did I do that and they maybe become a little bit more maybe a little shy and they're a little more reticent to speak the next time but even as a teacher you're going to make mistakes I make mistakes all the time I still make mistakes and I think as a teacher the most important thing is that you're going to learn from those mistakes that you're not going to avoid them but just think about okay how can I do this better in the future because when you do a lesson quite often you're going to teach that lesson again possibly to another class and you can think about that mistake and think okay why did I make this mistake how can I avoid it then next time so if you're talking about avoiding a mistake in your lesson then that's that's great you know you can do that and the same goes for learners if you make a mistake in speaking in grammar in writing whatever it is then if you can identify it the goal is not to avoid using this word or phrase or try to avoid using this grammar but just to practice and then the next time try to use it and do it correctly so as a teacher you're definitely going to make mistakes even as a learner try to embrace them and understand that I'll give you an example just to make fun of myself a little bit recently I did a live lesson talking about adjectives that are our adjectives that are followed by prepositions that was the lesson that I had put together but I made a mistake and on one of the very first slides I had the word verbs and it was a mistake I should have changed the word to adjectives but when I started doing the live lesson I for some reason I got it in my mind okay we're talking about verbs and through the entire first half of the I kept talking about verbs instead of saying adjectives and I realized that halfway through help the lesson and if you were to go back if you were to find the lesson you will see that I kind of froze and I was like oh no I just realized I've made a huge mistake because I've been using the wrong part of speech I corrected it I kept going through with the lesson but again it was a mistake it was an embarrassing mistake but I've left it up there so again like what I asked you guys about some mistakes let's see Vicki shared if you make a speaking mistake in German sometimes they switch to English all you and that doesn't help at all and it's annoying that that is an excellent point I think sometimes when especially it's happened to me when you're twin as an English speaker and you're trying to learn another language since since many people out there there are many speakers of English and people they feel very confident in their their language skills you're trying to learn a language but then when somebody switches back to to English again it can make you feel a little down you're like oh like you know I'm trying to practice this other language when I lived another quick story when I lived in in Costa Rica Pura Vida anybody out there who's in Costa Rica I would often meet people and I was learning Spanish and I could I could speak Spanish but I would meet people from Costa Rica they would see me they'd want to practice their English skills and even if even if my Spanish was much better than their English I still would speak to them in English because I knew that they just wanted to practice they wanted to improve their skills and I think that that's what would help them the most so again that that that is a great point thanks for sharing with us Vicky so the next the next little quote the little piece of advice that I'd have for you and this is another great I heard this a long time ago and I heard it was like oh this is so true and it says a teacher is a person who never says anything once I think when I heard this the first time it was like a great teacher is a person who never says anything once and this is so true if you are a teacher or you're you want to become a teacher or you're getting ready to be a teacher you have to realize that you need to repeat repeat repeat repeat repeat and just keep saying it again and again and again and you need to get comfortable with that because that is the best way that not only people are going to learn it but they're going to remember it and I'm not talking about just like well learning English you do this with new vocabulary I don't know you you many of you have seen our lessons and I'll do a vocabulary lesson and I'll teach a word and then later on in the lesson I'll say it again and typically I'll just try to keep repeating the words throughout the lesson hoping that you just learned it that maybe you you have a better understanding of the meaning so you need to do this whether you're talking about well for English teachers new vocabulary you need to do this with grammar and just repeat the information you need to do this with homework assignments as well you can't just tell a student or a learner like okay this is your homework assignment or or this is what I want you to do for your essay or this is what I want you to read you need to say it again and again and again and just understand and know that you need to repeat yourselves because I think for some people when you first enter this profession and you have to repeat yourself it can be a little annoying and you're like ah why do I have to why do I have to keep telling you the same thing but as a teacher you need to be patient you need to realize okay you're going to need to say the same thing again and again and again because a teacher is a person who never says anything once and I think this is a good time to point out as a learner I think it's very important that you need to listen to understand that this is going to require your complete concentration you need to listen because I think we've all been there if you stop listening and it's you just it's very easy to tune out if you're listening to another language and when you tune out and you stop focusing it's you try to come back into the conversation you're like wait what what just happened what I I completely missed what somebody said so that's another word let's add it to our vocabulary list to tune out and that is a phrasal verb so if we go over here and I said if you're learning another language it's very easy to tune out so you can tune out something or you can tune out someone and it basically means to stop paying attention and again yeah this would happen to me when I was learning Spanish and I would try so hard to focus but especially at the beginning if I'm involved in a conversation it was very easy to tune out and then suddenly I tried to join the conversation again it's like oh no I'm lost what is everybody talking about so again when you think about you enter the classroom as a learner you really again you need to focus you need to listen because that's going to help you better follow along with the lesson and then when the teacher says something the first time you may hear it you may remember it exactly so let's look at the next one the next little piece of advice I have is to strive for continuous improvement instead of perfection and this is something else that I I think is relevant for well will any job that it's good to strive for continuous improvement instead of perfection I would tell learners the same thing because well if you're talking about teaching if you're talking about learning another language there's always room for improvement and well that's another great expression let's write it down I said there's always room for improvement and I would say that this is kind of a collocation if you say that there is room for room for improvement it basically means that there is space for for somebody to improve a room for improvement all right there is well let's just say more more space in which someone can improve all right so this is an I said it's like kind of it's a collocation it's a phrase you white frequently hear somebody use this if they're talking about well of their own skills like I'd say even with Spanish you know I I have lived in several different spanish-speaking countries but for me let's there's there's so much room for improvement there's so much I can do to to improve my language skills and to go back to the point about teaching as a teacher I think you you need to understand you need to realize there's always going to be room for improvement that you're always going to be able to get better and again that's the goal is just to try and get better and better because you can learn something from anyone even somebody who maybe you think well this person is not a good teacher there's still some things that you can learn and I think that you need to keep an open mind when it comes to improving when it comes to learning because I think a lot of people especially teachers if you see some money and I think this you know same with any kind of environment work environment if you see somebody who you think oh you know I'm much better than that person there's nothing that they can teach me I think that's not that that's not the right attitude to have you need to try and understand that yes there are so many things that we can teach each other there are all you other English teachers who are watching this right now there are so many things that I could learn from you and I think that's so important that you need to understand that we can all learn from each other and especially for teachers let's I want to get back to that perfection point you need to make sure you know that the lessons don't have to be perfect all right because again you're going to make mistakes and it shouldn't be about well I need to make this perfect you shouldn't be asking yourself how can I make this perfect instead what you should be asking yourself is well how can i how can I make this better instead of how can I make it perfect how can I make this better and learner's should be asking themselves the same thing your language skills do not have to be perfect instead of saying that you should just be asking yourself how can I make this better and I want to talk to you a little bit about reflective teaching when I lived in I lived in California before my wife and I moved to Europe this is where I did my masters in Teasle which is teaching English to speakers of other languages and I did my final I did my final report on reflective teaching practices and I think this is where you can try to reflect and understand what you need to do in order to do it better and the whole idea about reflective teaching is where when you you teach a lesson you kind of you just think back about okay what did I do what what could I have done better did I make any mistakes why was there a mistake how can I improve for the next time and there's a lot of other methods you can go in there like for example peer observations it's an example of a reflective teaching practice because you are somebody else is watching your lesson and then they're able to give some feedback some advice and you actually sit down and you're supposed to talk with that person about okay what did you see what did you think about this how can I improve and you basically brainstorm some ideas you reflect on the lesson that both of you that that that one teacher gave and the other teacher observed and you reflect on it and think about well how can how can you improve what are some areas that you need to improve on and how can you do that so strive for improvement not perfection I would tell learners the same thing because I think when it comes to language learning so many people want you know they say I want fluency but again fluency is different for dim people because what I think might be somebody fluent in a language might be different than what you think so again it goes back to this whole notion of you know perfection things don't have to be perfect perfect it should all be all about you know what what do I need to do to improve so those are some of my suggestions that I wanted to throw out for for all of you I hope that especially for teachers I hope that maybe you found it useful if you're a learner this is great listening practice I hope that you learned some some new vocabulary and I will take this vocabulary and I would I will put it down in the description below so that all of you have it and those are you who are watching it later you'd be able to listen for those words as we go through the lesson so again if you guys if you like what we do here at interactive English if you want to sponsor or support our channel you can check us out on youtube with a membership or even on patreon I've noticed some people today here in the chat thank you guys so much for being sponsors for for joining me today in these lessons links are in the description down below so thank you guys again for joining me just want to say thank you to Artem Vijay Parsa Mary named lolly Harriet Aiden thanks for joining me Sohail so again I did some of these shoutouts at the very end I like being able to now sit back and actually kind of talk to you guys a little bit because as we go through these lessons I I kind of try I'll try to acknowledge some people but sometimes it's a little difficult because I just want to go through and keep a continuous flow of the content Thank You Samuel stephannie have a good weekend too Francesca Francesca Carlo sleepwalker Gertrudis neckla Samuel Astana Minotti Lena I could just keep going sang on names forever and sorry if I mispronounced them sir Bosch here hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend stay safe stay healthy and I will see you guys next time --- ## 130. AMERICAN ENGLISH ACCENT TRAINING ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Speak Naturally & Easily) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rCRR2c5dzDA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCRR2c5dzDA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:44:11 | --- I want to talk to you about fast speech because this is something that people often tell me that when they're watching a movie or TV show or just listening to English out on the streets if you're in the US and they say well it's really hard for me to understand what other people are saying even though when they're watching me in these videos they say well it's much easier to understand so I want to look at some simple sentences and really do a deep dive and talk about what's going on so you have a better understanding of why people sound the way they do and I know everybody has different speaking goals you should never feel like you need to speak with one accent or another because some of the things that I'm going to talk about they they are more closely related to the American accent so this is the dialogue that I would like to practice and we're going to go over it and really look at what's going on with each of these sentences so I'll go ahead and say the dialogue you can just listen to me say it right now what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around it's your call but I think we may want to consider other options we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time I'm going to see if I can find one on the app pretty simple easy enough to understand especially now that you're able to read it but I know reading and listening are two different things but let's uh let's have a look at what's going on and of course one thing I want to point out if you would like to get the lesson notes check out the link Down Below in the description you can join our email Community my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so the first two questions what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around the first thing I want to point out is the phrase what's up with something this is used to say that you just don't understand something or you're asking for an explanation so in this context if somebody says what's up with the bus then basically it uh implies that maybe the bus is late and something's wrong and you don't know what's going on and that's really the situation that we're in when I start out with the question well what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around so here are some different things that are happening the first thing I want to talk about is linking what's up so linking is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so we can link the final consonant sound in what's with the beginning vowel sound in up what's up with the there's a little some coarticulation this is when you have overlapping sounds you have a voiceless th and with and a voice th inthe and you should you feel that vibration when you saythe but essentially your your tongue is going to move into the position as well as your mouth with that th sound in withth and you're going to release into that voiced th sound should we keep waiting around so there's a few things I want to talk about here the first is that with verbs in the continuous tense and this is pretty common uh in the United States if we're talking about what the way that Americans generally speak and what they'll do is they'll drop the G in those ings so if I have uh like a sentence like I'm taking a break instead of taking and you hear that in sound I drop the G it's going to sound like taken taken I'm taking a break now in this cas waiting I'm going to drop the G and it may sound like waiting and you're think wait those those two those two words don't sound the same and that is because the t is then going to change from a flap te in waiting and I will talk about the flap te in just a moment to a gladle te which is going to be a glottal stop and if you're thinking well what the heck is a gladle stop this is when your glotus closes it blocks the flow of air and you you feel this tightness in your throat so think about uh if somebody makes a mistake and they say uhoh in between those sounds that uh oh you can feel that gladle stop uhoh and your glotus is closing so there are times when the te is going to be a gladle te and some this happens when you have the T followed by an n Sound and there there are many individual words that in which this happens so Mountain you may hear people pronounce it with a t or Mountain kitten all right instead of a true te I'm going to say kitten with a glottal te so instead of waiting I'm going to say waiting now this is not a fixed rule you may hear somebody say in this case the flap te waiting or the glottal te waiting either one of them is perfectly fine but for this exercise I am going to say that glottal T waitting and then I can link that wait that n Sound with the vowel sound in around wait and around give that phrase a try wait and around wait and around so let's practice saying it together I've given you like well kind of the phonetic spelling up top there I don't know if it's a little easier for you to look at when you're trying to say these sentences but let's go through and say these two questions and I am going to say it slowly two times I want you to Shadow and say it with me and actually practice your speaking skills say these sentences out loud and just say it with me like we're we're singing a song and saying it together so I'll say it two times slowly and I want you to Shadow and say it with me are you ready what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around now I want to say it three times and I'm going to say it more of a normal speed again Shadow say it with me see if you can maintain that same Pace because I think that's one of the more challenging parts of shadowing three times here we go what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around all right excellent let's continue and look at the next sentence it's your called but I think we may want to consider other options so the first thing I want to point out is want some more vocabulary it's your call this is a statement that you could use to basically tell someone look you should make the decision I I know you're asking my opinion but really it's up to you it's your call so with this sentence there are several different things happening the first is a similation this is when you have two sounds they blend together to create a new sound this is not a fixed rule it's not always going to occur you may hear people pronounce those individual sounds but in this case that TS plus the Y sound in your they blend together and you get a sh like it's sure it's sure it's call so this is not something you have to force it's like we're taking that CH sound in putting it between the two words and that is what allows us to connect them together but uh you'll hear me say this when I when I say this look it's your call it's your call and then the next Clause but I I can link these two words together and what I want to point out most importantly is that that final T in but you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T I told you that I would come back to that because I I'm from the US and Americans we love the flap tea so the flap T it most often occurs when the t comes between two vowel sounds in words like water but this is a phrase the t is at the end of the word but because the next word begins with a vowel sound you're going to hear me pronounce that as a flap T but ey you you should hear that soft D but ey but I but I think we may want to we can reduce that to just W to this is very I feel like you you've heard this before you may even already use it as part of your speaking fluency we may want to consider other options we can link those three words together and I'm linking that final r with the beginning vow sound and it's almost like we're moving it over consider other options consider other options just repeat and say this after me consider other options consider other options good let's say the sentence together once again I want to Shadow and really have you say it at the same time and see if you can maintain that same speed so I'll say it two times slowly and then three times at more of a a regular speed but let's say it slowly together ready it's your call but I think we may want to consider other options it's your call but I think we may want to consider other options okay so now I I trust that you were saying that with me let's say it at more of a normal speed I'll say it three times try to say it with me try to maintain that same speed here we go it's your call but I think we may want to consider other options it's your call but I think we may want to consider other options it's your call but I think we may want to consider other options all right you're doing great you're doing great let's keep moving along with our next sentence we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time so in Uber is this is like a taxi they operate in many different parts of the world uh if you're unfamiliar what Uber is so what's happening with this sentence going to we can reduce that to Gunna this is very common again you may already be using it when you're having a conversation have to I can also reduce that to have to it is a little tricky when you have one right after the other we're going to have to we're going to have to give that a try repeat after me we're gonna have to we're gonna have to get n Uber I can link that entire phrase the final T and get you'll hear me you'll hear me pronounce it as a flap T that I can then link with the vow sound in N get an Uber get an Uber we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to we can reduce that to wna and then make it on time make it on I can link those three words and there you see it again that T I told you Americans love the flap te you'll hear me pronounce it with that soft D sound but I can link all those three word those three words together make it on time repeat this phrase after me make it on time make it on time all right I think you're ready let's let's practice saying this together two times slowly and then three times at a faster speed so let's start and say it slowly and say it with me we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time now let's say it a little faster three times repeat after me try to maintain that same pace we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time nice let's look at the final sentence in in this situation in this dialogue the other person responds and says I'm going to see if I can find one on the app so what's happening when I just said that statement the first thing is I'm going to now I told you that going to may get reduced to Gunna I'm gonna that's very common you can use that but you may hear people reduce I'm gonna even further and it's going to sound like Amna so this is not something that you have to do I know when I've taught people this sometimes they say well I just don't feel very comfortable with it and that is perfectly fine do not feel like you need to say i'mna if you want to use I'm gonna that that works but I told you that I think this is good for your listening comprehension because when you watch a movie or TV show you may hear that am so instead of I'm going to cook dinner I'm going to cook dinner or I'm going to go to the mall I'm going to go to the mall so when I said those sentences you hopefully it was easy for you to pick out that i'mna and in your mind you're like okay yes that means I'm going to so I'm going to I'm going to see if I I can link those two words together can find so in this case find I'm I'm pronouncing that D sound at the end and releasing it but that's not really how you're going to hear people pronounce the word because elision is going to occur this is when sounds or syllables get removed and this sometimes happens when a t or a d follows an N sound so instead of fine it may just sound like fine like if I said um I cannot uh find my phone I I I can't find my phone I can't find my phone you don't really hear that D D sound because I'm not releasing it in my mouth so if I can find one on the app one on I can link that phrase together and the the only thing I want to point out with the article the it really has a strong and a weak form you hear you're hearing me say the weak formthe and that occurs when the next word begins with a consonant sound the the car the cup the glass but when the word begins with a vowel sound then you may hear that strong form the the app app begins with a vowel sound the elephant the air so just something to keep in mind as we go through this sentence and I want you to say it with me I'll say it twice slowly if you want to try and say use that am feel free but if you want to use I'm Guna that's also okay but let's let's say it twice slowly and then we'll say it three times at a faster speed are you ready I'm going to see if I can find one on the app I'm going to see if I can find one on the app now let's say it a little faster three times I'm going to see if I can find one on the app I'm going to see if I can find one on the app I'm going to see if I can find one on the app I think we are now ready to practice this entire dialogue and what I'd like to do I'll I'll say it one more time so that you can hear it again in its entirety and then I want you to practice and say it with me and I'll be a and then you can be B and we'll switch so just to say it one more time what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around it's your call but I think we may want to consider other options we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time I'm going to see if I can find one on the app okay so I am going to start out I will say a I want you to say B and we'll see if we can kind of sync up our this conversation so that it sounds natural because I'll give you a moment to say the sentence so let me start out I will say a and I want you to say B out loud okay okay here we go what's up with the bus should we keep waiting around we're going to have to get an Uber if if we want to make it on time okay good I trust that you were saying this sentence the saying these sentences and having this conversation with me I want to switch and now I want you to say a and I am going to say B so you are a you can begin now it's your call but I think we may want to we may want to consider other options I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app okay sorry for my my kind of stuttering right there uh but the whole idea is just to help uh give you a better understanding of why people speak and sound the way they do but also G give you a little speaking practice I hope that you were speaking and saying and practicing these sentences out loud and if you were I want to know about it I want you to write the word speaking in the comments so that I know that you are participating but just to remind you one last time in general I do think this is really helpful when it comes to improving your listening comprehension because this is the way that you're going to hear people in the United States speak especially if it's a little more uh of a casual situation and they're going to use linking and reductions and assimilation and elision and all of these different parts of connected speech which is why it it may sound very fast so if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please you can let me know by hitting that like button down below as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 131. AMERICAN FAST SPEECH ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Boost your speaking fluency & listening comprehension) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `W3gg_8Qf7Ho` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3gg_8Qf7Ho) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:07:04 | --- I want to help you improve your speaking fluency. And the way that we're going to do that is by talking about fast speech. So, if you are someone who would like to improve your speaking and listening skills, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, one thing that I often hear is learners tell me, 'Look, when you are speaking, I understand what you're saying, but when I'm watching a movie or TV show, it's really confusing. And if you ever wonder why certain phrases just sound like one long word, mostly it's because of connected speech. And that's what I want to look at right now. We're going to do a deep dive into some different sentences so that you have a better understanding of uh why people speak the way they do. So I have this short little dialogue which we are going to practice reading it uh saying it together at the end and we're going to go through one at a time. So just so you can hear me say this dialogue and then we're going to break it down sentence by sentence. So I'm going to read both A and B right now. Uh, did you know we're not going to finish on time? I should have seen this coming from a mile away. What do you think we ought to do now? We're going to have to go back to square one. Okay, it it's I think it's rather simple, straightforward. Perhaps that was easy for you to follow. But let's go through this one at a time. And of course, as we do this, I want you to practice. I want you to say these sentences out loud. Practice your speaking skills. And again, even if this feels a little unnatural, don't feel like you ever have to speak with any sort of accent, I do think this will certainly help your listening comprehension. So, just keep that in mind. Let's look at this first question right here. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? So, when I just said it right there, I was pronouncing each individual word. Let's look at what's going on. And this should give you a little better idea as to what's happening. So did you assimilation is going to occur. This is when we have two sounds. They blend together to create a new sound. In this case, the D and Y, they blend together and you get this JJ J sound. It's almost like we're going to put that between the two words and that allows us to connect them together. Did you? Did you? It's not something you have have to force if you're just saying one word right after the other. It it's going to occur naturally. And you often come across this in in questions. Did you Did you know we're not going to? This is probably the most common reduction in spoken English. Going to is often reduced to gonna. This is when we're removing or changing sounds. Did you know we're not gonna finish on time? So linking may occur. This is when we can link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. So finish on. It's you. It's like we're taking that final sh sound and we're moving it over to that preposition. Finish on. Finish on time. So on time there's a little co-articulation going on. This is when we have overlapping sounds. So basically, just so you're aware of it, again, it's going to help you speak a little more easily and naturally, when you finish making that N sound, think about where your tongue is in your mouth. On your tongue is going to be up behind your top front teeth, but we're going to stop the air and then we're going to release right in to that T in time. That true T on. So when your tongue comes down, we're going to be moving right into that T. So you can see down there, uh, we're stopping it with the N and then releasing into the T on. I've given you the phonetic spelling so that you can kind of get a better idea and actually see what what it is that I'm pronouncing. So I'll say it slowly and uh I I want you to repeat after me and then we'll do this a few times. So let's say it one time slowly. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? All right. Now, I'll say it at uh a more normal speed. Again, repeat after me. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? And then if you again, somebody were to say this quickly and you can give it a try. It's always good to to practice, you know, positioning the tongue and the mouth and transitioning from one sound to the next. And even though these are this is a simple question, it may be a little challenging. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? All right. I was really trying to say it say it much faster. We're going to come back to this when we say the dialogue together. If if you are actually practicing your speaking skills, let me know. Write that in the chat in the comments. just write the word speaking so I know that you're participating. Now, I I forgot to mention with each of these uh because we're talking about American fast speech because I'm from the United States. Each of these pictures is just like a landmark in the US. And I'll I'll I was going to ask you at the beginning like to quiz you where what is this? Uh you can tell me what you think about the next one. This is um from St. Louis, Missouri. This is the Gateway Arch that is a famous landmark in St. Louis. One thing before we continue, if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, you can check out the link down in the description if you want to learn more about my speaking course. This course is for intermediate to advanced speakers. It's all about trying to help you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Check out that link down below if you'd like to learn more about class times and availability. And I actually see some some people in here uh taken the speaking course. Good to see you. Teao, Raphaela. Um and excellent. Thank you for participating, Kishna, Sophie. Perfect. All right. I'm going to ask you guys that each time if you're practicing just write that word speaking. So this is the next sentence that I want to uh look at and examine. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. When I say it like that, I sound like a little like a robot. And I'm not gonna say it like that. I'm gonna say I should have seen this coming from a mile away. And in case you're wondering, I I put that expression down there. To see something coming from a mile away is an expression. And basically, it means that you are you're able to foresee something that will happen in the future. and you can come you can prepare for it because it's it's kind of obvious that this is coming and you can see it from a mile away. In this case, we're using I should have to express regret. This is a modal. We can call this a modal of lost opportunity. And you're expressing regret for about something. So you're basically saying, well, I should have seen this coming from a mile away. It was obvious, but in this case, I did not see it. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. If you want, you can write in the chat, too. Uh, where where is this? This is another famous landmark in the US. This is a little more challenging. I'll tell you after we we talk about this sentence. So, what's going on with this sentence? First, should have, we can reduce that. that with these modals of lost opportunity should have, could have, would have, we can reduce them and it's going to sound like should have or should have. There's also some over there's some co-articulation overlapping sounds with seen this. Again, we're stopping the air with the n and releasing into that voice th this seen this coming. Now, this is not something that you have to do. I think in places like the United States, it's a little more common. People will drop the G in continuous tense verbs. So instead of coming, I I might say coming. Either one is okay, but just so you're aware of it, we can gropping may occur. And then linking, we can link those different phrases down there. From we're going to link that consonant sound with that vowel sound. from a mile away. It's like we're moving that L sound over to that uh that schwa sound in a way. Mile away. From a mile away. And that can be a little tricky to say quickly. From a mile away. From a mile away. So, here is what uh it looks like. You can reduce should have either should have and you're going to end it with that vv sound or because the next word is a consonant, you could even drop that v and it's going to sound like shoulda. Should have. So let's say it slowly. I want you to repeat after me and let again just repeat it slowly and then we're going to get a little faster. So one time slowly. Uh and I'm going to say shoulda. Okay? just because it's a it's a little more reduced. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Okay, now we'll say it uh maybe just at a natural speed. I want you to repeat after me. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Okay, now I want to challenge you and see if you can just run right through the sentence. Um, ready? I should have seen this coming from a mile away. All right, again, you can let me know. Just write the word speaking. Excellent, Roman. Perfect. I want you guys participating in this lesson. After all, this is interactive English. And I I saw an answer in there. Someone says, Kareem, yes, this is a picture of Alcatraz in San Francisco. This is um Alcatraz, the the famous well-known prison. It's now a tourist attraction. It's not really being used right now, but that's a that's a good eye. Excellent. Um the the next sentence, and once again, you can tell me what what is this landmark? The I I've done this lesson these lessons before, and I've I've used more famous landmarks. I think these are a little trickier, but if you've been to these places, maybe I'm sure you're familiar with it. So, the next um qu this is a question. What do you think we ought to do now? Again, I'm I'm not going to say it like that. I'm going to say it I'm going to ask this question. What do you think we ought to do now? What do you think we ought to do now? So, what's happening? What do you So, the one thing there are two things that I want to point out. Let let's let's skip over the co-articulation for right now. I want to talk about some of these reductions. So the reduction and I'm going to skip to the end there with ought to. So this is another modal. It's like saying should. It's it's not as commonly used. Most of the time somebody would just say should. What do you think we should do now? But I want to mix it up a little bit. You could use ought to as well. And we're going to reduce that to ought to. Now do you. There are phrases that we can reduce. gonna, wanna, have to, should have, could have, would a, ought to. But words can get reduced as well when they're not stressed. So, we have do you, these words aren't really stressed and we can reduce them. And that vowel sounds going to change slightly. And instead of saying do, it's almost going to sound like we're saying with the schwa sound. Same with you. It's going to sound more like that schwa sound. Do you dy? So, what do you think we ought to do? Now, a few more things I want to point out. Let's go back to that co-articulation with what do so we have, you know, the T and the D. Your tongue is pretty much in the same position and you're going to have that stop T and then release into the D, the D sound in D. But when you have that T and the D, it almost is like the the T just goes away and it elides. You're not really going to hear it. So because of that, it's almost gonna sound like what are you? What are you? If I'm saying it quickly, what do you what do you think we ought to do? Now, I want to mention um the flap T. And this is a distinct part of the American accent. I told you I'm from the United States. When you have the t between those two vowel sounds, often it's going to get pronounced as a flap t. It's going to sound like a soft d. So ought to I'm going to reduce it. It's going to sound like ot. Otter. Now, even though I'm spelling it with o u tta, again, just so you you know, I'm pronouncing it as a flap t. So, here is what the what it what's what what I'm saying basically what it's going to sound like. What do you what do you think we ought to do now? Let's say the question. I'm going to say it slowly. Repeat after me and then we're going to speed it up. What do you think we ought to do now? Okay, let's say it again at a normal speed. What do you think we ought to do now? And then if somebody were really just to run through the question and you could try and and say it quickly, what do you think we ought to do now? Hopefully as you as you listen to me say this question, you kind of hear that what do you what do you what do you what do you think we ought to do now? So just keep that in mind. reductions. You could have individual words that get reduced when they're unstressed and that vowel sound is going to change slightly. What a What do you think we ought to do now? And then we have um Oh, I forgot to tell you this is a picture of Grand Central Station. I didn't see any uh guesses in there. So, this is Grand Central Station, very uh famous train station in New York City. Okay. So, here's the last one right here and then we're going to practice the dialogue and we're going to say it together again. I want you to speak. So, the last sentence and you can tell me where you think this is right here. We're going to have to go back to square one. That's me pronouncing the individual words. But when you're having just a natural conversation, speaking casually, you're going to pronounce the more as like phrases instead of just the individual words. So I would say we're going to have to go back to square one. We're going to have we're going to have to go back to square one. And I put that expression that idiom down below to go back uh to square one. It basically means to start over from the beginning because whatever you were doing before, it didn't work. You failed and you have to go back to the beginning. It really means the same as to go back to the drawing board. Either idiom. Um, you could you could use either one. Um, I realize right there there is a spelling mistake, so I apologize. Square. Squar E. I always find these typos when it's too late. That's okay. We're I'm human. We all make mistakes. Okay, so let's uh see what's going on with this one. And then I spell square correctly here. So we're going to I've already mentioned this is probably the most common reduction. Gonna have to I can reduce that to have to. It's a little trickier when you have one right after the other. Gonna have to gonna have to go back to square one. I just mentioned that when words are unstressed, they may get reduced. So to actually has two different pronunciations. When stressed to when unstressed, it's going to sound more like to to square one. To square one. Hopefully you can hear that schwa sound. So here is what it looks like. Let's practice saying it. I'll say it slowly. Repeat after me. And then we're going to speed it up. We're gonna have to go back to square one. Okay, let's say it a little faster. We're gonna have to go back to square one. And then if I were saying this quickly and maybe there's a sense of urgency and I tell you, oh yeah, we're going to have to go back to square one. All right. So, I saw somebody mention Robbie. Excellent. This is uh in case you're wondering, this is a picture of Pearl Harbor, which is in Honolulu, Hawaii. This is uh the Pearl Harbor National Museum. You can see the the sunken ship down below. I believe that is the USS Arizona. Um you can check me on that uh because I'm not positive. But uh let's go go back and look at all of it. So, we just went through each of these sentences, and now I want you to practice this dialogue with me to to begin with, let's just do a listen and repeat of each one. And I don't expect you to memorize every little thing that we went through. I just want you to listen and try to say it in the exact same way. So, that a right there, just repeat after me. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? And B, I should have seen this coming from a mile away. And then A, what do you think we ought to do now? And then finally, B, the response, we're going to have to go back to square one. Okay, let's uh let's practice this together. I am going to start out. I'm going to read A. I'm gonna say A and I want you to say B and and then we're gonna switch. Are you ready? Did you know we're not going to finish on time? What do you think we ought to do now? Excellent. Okay. I trust that you were you were speaking. I'm going to ask you about that in just a moment. Let's switch. I want you to say A and I'm going to say B. So, you can begin right now. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Well, we're going to have to go back to square one. Okay, well done. So, if you were participating and actually speaking, let me know. Write that in the chat in the comments right now. It just tells me that that you were participating in the lesson. I can actually just go ahead and take this as as a little bit of a a quiz and and have you tell me a poll. Uh let me put this down right here. Again, this is all about trying to help you not just improve your speaking skills so you have that more natural way of speaking, but if anything, again, some of this may sound a feel a little more natural for you than others. It may you may feel a little more comfortable using reductions like gonna than trying to link some of these phrases together. And that's okay. You should never feel like you have to speak in a certain way, but this definitely will help with your listening comprehension. Well, how let me ask you this. I'm going to pull you this way. I know you guys are excellent. Li Helen, perfect. Ida um how difficult um was it to say these sentences using connected uh speech? All right, that's actually question I'd be more curious to know. It was a piece of cake. All right, tell me it was easy. Um not bad. And then the last one, I need a lot more practice, which in that case, that's perfectly fine. So, you can let me know in the chat right there. I just put that poll in there because I get different response responses. Some people are more comfortable with these speaking activities. Others find it um a little more challenging and maybe they don't feel as comfortable. And what I would tell you if you know you don't feel comfortable, don't feel like you need to force yourself to do anything. It's always good to practice even if this is not something you use. If you feel like, okay, I want to pronounce the individual words, that's perfectly okay. But in just understanding this, like I've mentioned several times already, this will absolutely help you with your listening comprehension because that's the way that you would hear people say this in a movie or TV show. and they would say this dialogue, "Did you know we're not going to finish on time? I should have seen this coming from a mile away. What do you think we ought to do now? We're going to have to go back to square one." Right? And they just may move right through these sentences rapidly. that people are are feeling or going through. So, for the most part, it's a little bit of a mix. Uh, I'm glad that some of you, many of you found this to be a piece of cake and that it was easy. And that tells me again you're developing a more natural way of speaking. And once again, if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, this is this is stuff we do in the course. Check out that link down below in the description. We always warm up with something related to pronunciation, connected speech. Most of the time we we talk about connected speech and we'll look at some sentences, analyze them, and just have you try to practice them over and over and and just try to say it in that exact same way. So, I want to thank all of you for joining me right now and participating in the lesson. I saw many people write that they were speaking and saying these sentences with me. I love seeing that because the more you the more you do this, the more comfortable you're going to feel and you're going to be able to speak easily and naturally the next time you're having a conversation. So, I hope that you have a wonderful day. Thank you. Um to see a piece of cake now. All right. Thank you for participating, Lolly. Uh I think you're doing great. It's always good to to to get this practice. Thanks to Kaio for being here. I look forward uh I look forward to seeing you in the upcoming lesson. Um and again, I'm going to do more lessons like this in the future because I think this is useful just to get have that understanding of why people sound the way they do even when these are basically some now that you see them. I think they're from some simple and straightforward sentences and questions. Hope you have a wonderful day and a happy Easter as well. Thank you, Angela. and I will see you next time. --- ## 132. AMERICAN FAST SPEECH ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Improve your speaking fluency & listening comprehension) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TPNT_bN7IVA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPNT_bN7IVA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:08:23 | --- If you are someone who thinks, you know, in a class like an English class, I can easily understand what the teacher is saying or maybe you easily understand what I'm saying. But when it comes to English in movies and TV shows or just out on the street, it's really difficult to comprehend what people are saying. That is what this lesson is all about. We're talking about fast speech and specifically I'm going to talk about American English because I am from the United States. And as we go through the lesson, of course, I want you to practice with me. And if you enjoy practicing your speaking skills, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes for those of you who don't know me. And if you uh yeah, I J just appreciate you subscribe uh turn on notifications and uh as we go through the lesson mostly I'm going to be talking about connected speech and this is not something that I would say that you have to do. Everybody has different speaking goals but I do think just to reiterate this is going to help with your listening comprehension. And the way that I want to practice is with this mini dialogue right here. And of course, as we go through this, I am going to ask you if you've been practicing. So you can tell me in the chat, just write the word speaking. So I know you've been participating. It's great to see a lot of familiar faces. Lai, Tayo, Vicki, Gustav, Julia, Sleepwalker. Perfect. I'm glad so many of you were able to make it today. And maybe I'll try to again give some shoutouts as we go through the lesson. But here's the dialogue. And right now, I'm just going we're going to take one of these at a time as we go through this. But right now, I just want you to listen to the way that I say this dialogue right here. So, I would say, "He's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. Don't you want to wait until he's done? I'm going to try to stay out of his way." So, think about the context. Let's say again, somebody is cooking in the kitchen. The other person wants to go in there and get something to eat, but maybe they're worried that they're going to bother the person who's cooking. But let's let's take one sentence at a time and look at what's going on. And we're really going to do a deep dive into this. Here is the first sentence. And as we go through this, again, I told you that I'm from the US, so this is more American English. I have these pictures of different landmarks in the United States. And bonus points, if you know where this is or what this is, write it in the chat, write it in the comments. Just another little short quiz when it comes to American landmarks. And then I'll come back and tell you. So the first part, he the first sentence, he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. So let's look at the what's going on. Just that first line, he's been in linking can occur. we can link those two words together. And this is when we can we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. So, Benin, you can hear me link that final N sound, that N sound with the preposition. It's almost like I'm moving that over to the next word. Been in. Been in. Been in. He's been in the kitchen. And then the next part cooking up a storm. So cooking a lot of times with uh these verbs in the continuous tense or even some of these jirens gdropping may occur. And I know g-dropping may sound like a cool new dance but it's really we're just well doing what it says. We're dropping that final G. So instead of cooking and you hear that ing sound often with American English that we drop that G and it's cooking. Cooking. So, can you hear the difference? Cooking. Cooking. I want you to say those both with me right now. Again, start practicing. Cooking. Cooking. And often when that G is dropped, it just makes this easier to say because linking can occur. And we can link that final N sound with up. Cooking up. So, it's easier to link the N sound instead of the ing. Cooking up. And of course, we can link the final p- sound in up with that schwah sound in the article. Uh, cooking up aa. Cooking up. Say it with me. Cooking up a cooking upa. And this is this is the difference between pronouncing the individual words or saying them together as a phrase. So, here we have this first sentence. And I've kind of gone through and put the phonetic spelling. So hopefully you can see the pronunciation and it makes uh it makes it hopefully makes it a little easier to follow. He's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. All right, I want you to say that after me. Think of it like shadowing. Try to say it in the exact same way. And I think one of the more difficult things to do when it comes to shadowing would be pacing. See if you can keep the same speed. And it's not like I'm trying to say it really fast, but I just say, "Yeah, he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. All right, say it again out loud. He's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. All right, I trust I trust that you're speaking. If you are, let me know. Write it in the comments. Just write the word speaking. And down below, I wanted to I've included this because I wanted to give you this phrase up a storm. So, if you say something up a storm, it's an informal phrase to say that you're doing something with a lot of energy and often you're you're good at this thing. So, it's something you know how to do. So, some examples would be like cooking up a storm, dancing up a storm, somebody who's really energetic when it comes to dancing or somebody's talking up a storm and they're just speaking a lot. So, when somebody says something up a storm, that's what it means. you're doing something with a lot of energy and and often skill. So, he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Great job. Thank you for participating. Nice, Alejandra. Um, uh, Tanvir. Perfect. Now, to go back to this slide, if you were trying it, just out of curiosity, if you were wondering, this right here is in Chicago. This is a landmark. It's called the bean because it's shaped like a bean. I have no idea when and why they did this, but if you're in Chicago, this is some place that you may go check out the bean. It's just this reflective bean. So, that's what this is in case you're wondering. So, we just did this first sentence. He's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Let's look at the next few phrases. And again, we're going to practice all of these. But if you again are someone who wants to practice and improve your speaking skills, you can check out my speaking course. It is a course for intermediate to advanced speakers and it's just all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, speak naturally. Check out the link down below in the description if you'd like to enroll or learn more. And you can use the code speak 20 to get $20 off the course fee. So I'll I may come back to this and mention it at the very end. But let's look at the next part. And once again, if you can just looking at the picture, where do you think this where where is this? What what place is this a picture of? You can write it in the chat and I'll come back and let you know. A little bit of a geography quiz in the United States. So, the next part, if I were to pronounce the individual words, I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. There's nothing wrong with saying it like that. Again, the most important thing is people understand you. But if I were to say this, I would just say, I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. So, let's look at what's going on with this sentence. I don't want to want to. This is a common reduction and you're going to reduce want to to just wanna. This is when we remove or change sounds. There are many different reductions, very common in spoken English. And I'd say if there's any part of connected speech that is useful to learn and practice to help you sound more natural, it would be reductions. I don't want to I don't want to bother him. Now, I forgot I should have highlighted bother as well because it's a part of this, but let's let's talk about elision first. So, elision is the omission of sounds or syllables. And there are several times when this may occur. And one of them would be like the H. And what's going on? What I would like to say is that you could think about it as like that H gets removed. I would say think about it like we're turning down the volume on that H and you're not really going to hear him and really hear that H. That H elides. And then once that goes away or we turn down the volume, linking can occur. And this is this is common with words that begin with H like he, him, her, his. When these words come in the middle of a sentence or clause, especially when they follow a verb, I don't want to bother him. So, you don't really hear that h sound. It's not really uh too pronounced. And then we can link that R in bother over. Bother him. Bother him. And I can really move right through it. Bother him. So just that first part of the sentence, that first clause. I don't want to bother him. I want you to say that. Say that after me. I don't want to bother him. Yeah. I don't want to bother him. And then the next part. But I really want a wanna. So, one thing I want to point out is more elision. Another time this may occur is with the T or D. And for the T, when it follows an N sound, it may elide and you don't really hear that. So, think about this. If I say interactive English, that T in interactive, I don't say interactive, it elides interactive interactive English. This is something that is more specific to the American accent. And there are other words that you have that you're you're not going to hear that T like the word I don't say center. I would say center. Somebody is the center of attention and you don't really hear it. Or right now I'm using the internet. I'm not going to say internet. Internet. That tides. But again, keep in mind specific to the American accent. So I don't really or but I really wanna when that tides we can then link that n sound over with the schwa sound that uh article uh w to bite to eat. The one thing I want to say about to is again this is another reduction. I I know this preposition to when it's stressed, when it's unstressed and it gets reduced, it may sound a little more like t with thewah. It's a softer sound because this is a word that you don't want to emphasize. You don't want to highlight. It's a function word that's just showing the relationship between, in this case, bite and eat. A bite to eat. A bite to eat. Can you hear that soft t? A bite to eat. I really want a bite to eat. Just say that that clause with me, but I really want a bite to eat. Okay, again, I trust that you're practicing. Say this out loud. It's going to help you. This is what it's all this is what interactive English is all about. So, one thing I want you to keep in mind is that the reduction want to wanna, it sounds the same as this. I really wanna. So, wanna and wanna, even though they're two different one's the reduction, I wanna do something, you're going to follow it with a verb. I want to go. I want to play. I want to dance. Or if you really want a something, I want a bike. I want a new phone. Okay, just keep in mind that it's going to sound the same, but there's a difference between want to and want a. So, let's practice this right here. I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. So, can you say that after me? I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. All right, good. Let's say one more time again. Try and see if you can keep that same speed. I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. Okay, good. If you're practicing, write that in the comments. Write speaking. Okay, so I know you're participating in the lesson. Now, once again, just to go back, if you're wondering where this is, I saw some great answer. Yes, uh Vicky Gustav, um Nicholas, this is Seattle, the city of Seattle up in the northwest. That is the Space Needle. And I don't know, maybe some of you have been to Seattle and you have seen this before, but it's a it's a well-known city in the Northwest. So, we talked about that sentence right there. Let's look at the next one. So, I have two more that I want to go through and then we're going to practice the dialogue. So, if I were to say the individual words, don't you want to wait until he's done? Okay. And if I want to say it together as like connected speech, connecting these phrases, don't you want to wait until he's done? Don't you want to wait until he's done? Okay. So, the first thing that I want to point out that's going on is assimilation. This is when two sounds they blend together to create a new sound. In this case, the final T in don't and the beginning Y, that Y sound in U, they blend together and you get this ch. Don't you? Don't you. It's not something that you have to force as you say one word right from the next. It's going to occur naturally. Don't you? And then reduce want to to wanna. Don't you wanna? Don't you wanna? Don't you wanna? And then the next part of the sentence, wait until he's done. So wait. The one thing I want to point out is with the American accent. Again, this is specific to the US accent. That T is going to be a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. So it this occurs when it comes between two vowel sounds. So even though we're talking about two different words, it still comes between those two vowels. That vowel sound in wait and then the beginning vowel sound in until. So just listen. Wait until wait until. Again, that's more the American accent. You can hear me say that flap t which I can then link to that vowel sound in until. Wait until wait until. Wait until. And then the next word he's again you can see all this elision going on. Uh if we mute that H. We can link the final consonant sound and until that L sound with that vowel wait until wait until. So can you hear that? I don't want to wait until then done. Again this is a yes no question. So you can hear that rising intonation. Actually I should go this way. Rising intonation at the end. I don't want to wait until he's done or or asking a question. Sorry. Don't you want to wait until he's done? You hear that rising intonation at the end? Don't you want to wait until he's done? So, here is the phonetic spelling right here. So, I've tried to I tried to break down the syllables. Wait until Wait until he's Don't you want to wait until he's done? Say it after me. Don't you want to wait until he's done? All right, one more time. Trying to hit that rising intonation at the end. Don't you want to wait until he's done? All right. Again, if you're you're speaking, let me know in the comments. I already see like some people participating. That's what I want to see. Teao, uh, Sicha, Vicki, Gustav, Cinderella. Excellent. Perfect. Don't you want to wait until he's done now to go back again? and your little geography quiz, which I'm giving you. I thought I heard somebody say it's not it's not Pikes Peak in Colorado. This is actually in Utah. So, this is Grand Arches National Park. If you travel to the US and you like the outdoors, you love national parks. It's in the summer, definitely hit up Utah. There are so many cool uh national parks. You have Grand Arches National Park. Uh Zion is another one. Bryce Canyon. Uh, and actually, no, wait, I'm sorry. I think this is Bryce Canyon National Park. It's not Grand Arches. It's Bryce Canyon, but there are a lot of great national parks in Utah. That's basically what I want you to know. Okay, let's look at the the next sentence. So, we we we've gone through this one. We did a deep dive. Hopefully, it all makes sense as far as what's going on, what what you hear, and what's happening with this. So, the last one, and again, if you I I'll be very impressed if you know where this is right now. So, I'm going to try to stay out of his way. I'm not really going to say it like that. I'll say it much faster and I'd say, I'm going to try to stay out of his way. I'm going to try to stay out of his way. And I guess one thing hopefully, again, this is all about improving your comprehension. That's what's most important. If if you didn't see this and you just heard me say, "I'm going to try to stay out of his way or would you be able to understand all of those like again pick out those individual words?" If so, then I think that's great. I'm going to try to stay out of his way. But let's talk about what's going on and then I'll come back and tell you well where this where this beach is right here. Of course going to we can reduce to gonna. I'm going to. If we want to reduce it even further, and this is something that I do a lot in casual conversation when we're talking about I'm going to, we can reduce it to I'm goingonna. So, I'm going to or I'm going to. And again, you'll hear me say I'm going to. That's what I'll practice. You can give it a try. I know when I've taught this in the SpeakUp course and we practice some of these uh some of these reductions and this connected speech, you uh some people are more comfortable than others. But if you wanted to reduce it further, I'm going to I'm going to try to it's unstressed. his way. So out of his. Once again, that final T in out, you're going to hear me say it as a flap T. And then we can link it with the vowel sound in of out of. Out of. And in this case, his. I told you it's very common with words like he, him, his, her. If that H gets muted and we turn down the volume, we can link that final consonant sound. In this case, of. It's more of that VV sound. Out of is. out of his I'm gonna try to stay out of his way. So again, trying to give you the phonetic spelling so you can see the pronunciation. I'm going to try to stay out of his way. I'm going to try to stay out of his way. Let's I want you to say it after me and let's do it slowly one time. I'm going to try to stay out of his way. And then if we speed it up a little bit. I'm going to try to stay out of his way. Okay, good. All right. Again, just I want we're practicing one at a time because then I want to go through and actually say this dialogue. So, before we practice the dialogue, let's go back to this picture right here. And I saw a correct answer. Sarasota. Yes. This is actually where I I chose this because this is where I am right now. We're visiting family. I'm in Sarasota. This is one of the beaches there out at Siesta Key. Uh, and it's very, again, Florida, I think, along the Gulf has really nice beaches. The white sand, the the ocean is very calm and warm, so the waves aren't big. If you have a family, um, then this is a good spot, uh, with kids because the waves, it's not too rough. Uh, but this is a picture Sarasota, Florida. All right, so let's uh let's look at the dialogue. So, we kind of went through and I know I've done this quickly and asked you to practice, but again, this is just the more you do this, the more you might get you'll get used to it using these reductions, linking these phrases, but more importantly, it's good for your listening comprehension because when you're watching a movie or TV show, this is what's going on. People are using reductions. They're linking words and phrases together. They're blending sounds with assimilation. They're removing sounds uh with elision. So, I'll read it one more time. I'll say it one more time and then we're going to practice together. Okay? So, just listen the first off. I'll say, "He's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. Don't you want to wait until he's done? I'm going to try to stay out of his way." Okay. So, now you heard me say it one time. Let's do this together. I am going to say A and I want you to say B. We're going to we're going to work on this together. Say it out loud. Are you ready? Here we go. He's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Don't you want to wait until he's done? Okay. Good. Good. Now, let's switch. I want you to say A and then I'm gonna say B. We're just going to read this together. All right. So, I want you to begin. You can begin right now. I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. I'm going to try to stay out of his way. All right. So, once again, if you participated in the lesson, I want to know. And I'm actually going to give you a poll. All right. Did you practice your speaking skills? All right. I want you to be honest. It's just a It's just a yes, no. And I just got to get a feel for what everybody's doing. I told you this is interactive English. It's all about trying to help you practice and improve your skills. That's actually what I wanted to say earlier. I had a little bit of a uh I froze up at the beginning after I introduced myself. And usually that's kind of the the routine that I go through. Uh this is interactive English. It's all about helping you practice and improve your skills. This is not just helping you practice your speaking skills, but I told you listening comprehension because everybody has different goals when it comes to speaking. And I never would say, oh, you have to speak a certain way. You have to speak with a certain accent. I'm from the US. So, I kind of want to help you better understand the American accent and understand why people sound the way they do. Like when you say these different sentences right here, he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm. I don't want to bother him, but I really want a bite to eat. Don't you want to wait until he's done? I'm going to try to stay out of his way. And you can hear this and say, "Okay, now I know what's happening." People are reducing certain phrases. They're linking their these phrase words together. They're reducing certain sounds or words. it makes uh a bit more sense. And just looking at the poll, all right, we're about yeah 20 uh 20 80%. Yes, that's good. That is a passing grade right there. And even if you weren't speaking out loud, I imagine you're just taking it all in. Still, I think this is going to be helpful when it comes to your listening comprehension. So, if you enjoy these lessons like this and enjoy practicing, let me know. You can hit that like button. That tells me in the future I should do more lessons just like this. And just to to reiterate again, if you want to practice and improve your speaking skills, you can check out the link down below in the description. I'll go ahead and throw it in the comments if you'd like to learn more about the course or see when it's available. The course uh enrollment is now open. So, wait a second. I lost my page here. And I'll just throw it in the chat really quickly. But I do want to thank you guys for participating and joining me today. I think I will well I will be back next week with another lesson and you can all right here check out my speaking course and I'll put the link boom right there in case you're interested. Give some quick shoutouts. Thank you for being here. Vicki Gustav uh participating Lai Miriam Halandra Teao good to see you sleepwalker Ava so sorry if I'm missing some names right here uh Cinderella dude excellent I love it thank you guys uh so much for joining me for today's lesson on fast American speech and like I said I will be Back. --- ## 133. AMERICAN IDIOMS ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Important phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oVPgrG0LnpQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVPgrG0LnpQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:12:25 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson so I have a fun lesson to test your knowledge of some informal vocabulary and I say the word informal because we are going to be learning some American internet American idioms all right I'm having a tough time speaking today uh I am from the United States so these are some idioms that I think you could use or you may hear in more casual conversation and I I've done this in the form of a quiz lesson so I want you to participate write your answers in the chat or in the comments even if you're watching this later after all this is interactive English I want you to be a part of the lesson and if you would like to get the lesson notes from today's lesson check out the link down in the description you can join our community if you are already a part of our email Community then I've I've gone ahead and I've sent them to you you will find them in your inbox so without further Ado here is the first idiom that I want to teach you or well test your knowledge so to start out with we're going to start easy and then I'm going to try to make it a little more difficult so right now I'm giving you a couple of words in the idiom as well as the meaning so the meaning of this idiom is to do or say something that helps you get rid of strong feelings and energy and what are you going to do so I'll go ahead and tell you that there are four words in this idiom and and that's what it means right there and you could use the picture as a little bit of a hint but let me know if you know what idiom I'm talking about write it in the chat write it uh in the comments I want to hear from you and I'll try to give some shout outs as we go through this if I see some correct answers so any guesses about what this idiom is to um off some um you're doing something that helps you get rid of some strong feelings or energy and typically I would say they're probably it's probably negative energy or you're upset about something and then you're gonna do some activity in order to off some um so all right Reagan excellent nailed it we're talking about the idiom to blow off some steam so I've given you an example sentence down there like looking at this picture I go for a long run if I want to blow off some steam so perhaps you had a tough day at work and you're just frustrated and you have a lot of I don't know pent up emotion you need to get rid of that energy and you do something to blow off some steam and often I think it would refer to a physical activity you're going to go for a run you'll go for it go to the gym and you just need to blow off some steam so hopefully again my my goal with all of these lessons is that you learn something new and if that idiom is new for you then that's perfect I'm happy as long as if you learn one thing today then then I think that's a success so the next one again I'm giving you a couple of words that are a part of this idiom and what do you think the the meaning it's referring to someone or something is too good or expensive for someone to have often I think that this is referring to a person so I know it says someone or something but generally someone is too good for someone else you would use this idiom and say wow this person is um out your um I feel like the second word you probably know you can guess that that's a preposition and I'm kind of giving you part of it so what would that final word be out of you oh I just said it out of your what do you think excellent Vidya Manuel you got it and think about when you when I show you the idiom I'll tell you it's right out of your league try to think about a TV show or movie perhaps you've seen and you've you've maybe heard this idiom before and say someone's out of your league so that example sentence down there oh she's definitely out of your league often I think if you hear this idiom I'll go ahead and tell you you probably would hear it in the context of talking about some uh some woman who they you know some maybe some guy is interested in this woman and the the guy's friends are like look she is too good for you she's too attractive she's too smart she's too successful for you she's out of your league so you would probably more likely hear it in that context it could go the other way around in saying some guy is out of a woman's League either way but generally speaking I think you would hear it like some some guy some friends are telling this guy look she's out of your league all right don't even try to date this person she's too successful she's too attractive to date you uh and you'd say someone's out of your league the next one all right I think you guys again you did well on that one excellent uh Ali Yankee Park perfect uh thank you guys participate love it Mina Sid again I'll try to get those shout outs this one down I'm only giving you one word now there are actually four words in this idiom so think about the meaning and consider the picture as well we're talking about a situation it's full of suspense and we're referring to the last minute of something or at the very end and generally you would be talking about some activity perhaps a sport a competition and you could say it's coming down and there are four words and once I know this can be a little tricky I think sometimes I'll probably I'll show you the idiom and then you think oh yes I have heard that it makes sense now so I'm trying to give you a little bit of the context to to better understand it again competition this situation it's at the last minute very suspenseful so it's perhaps a close competition to give you a a more specific example think about the final World Cup match between France and Argentina full of suspense it came down to the very end and you could say it's coming down um the answer in case you have not heard this one down to the wire so if something is coming down to the wire it it's referring to the end of this activity and generally I would say often you might hear this being used in the context of like some competition a match because of it's very close then well that's full of suspense you're like well who's going to win we don't know it's coming down to the wire and that's the example that I gave you this is it the game is coming down to the wire and you would often use it with that verb to come to come down to the wire all right excellent uh Ricardo Julia uh sanjana me uh down and we'll close uh Bahar perfect down down to the wire the next one what do you think I almost skipped ahead and and showed you the answer um again just giving you one word at the very end and you would um this one has three words up and you're asking for some something and I think often you might be asking for money that's why I included this picture someone handing another person some money perhaps they were asking for this money and they were um up they were up for money in this case so let me know if you have any guesses like I said this is a little bit more challenging I'm only giving you that that tiny word at the end up but if you are up you are asking someone for something this is an informal way of asking and I would say no not could you help me up we're talking about yes NC good job to hit someone up and again you could use this uh you could talk about you're going to hit your friend up for some cash you're trying to borrow money like I said I think often you may hear people using it in that context they need some money they need to borrow it and you're gonna hit someone up for some cash like that a sentence he's always hitting me up for cash but you could hit someone up you could hit him up you could hit her up you can hit them up and you're just asking for something to hit someone up it is a very informal phrase then we have this one what do you think uh the picture again you I'm giving you the word arm and you can see that arm in the picture so it's probably not uh giving you too much of a hint but hopefully the meaning will help you out in thinking about this idiom in which you're trying to persuade someone to do something they do not want to do what do you think what's that idiom we're talking about to um arm again this this idiom has three different words it's going to end with the arm and you're really you're kind of being a little aggressive trying to persuade this person to do something that they're really reluctant to do it's like I'm not sure about this I don't know if I want to do it and then the other person is trying to um [Music] their arm and really trying to get them to do this so if you know the answer write it in the chat or write it in the comments I see one correct answer already in there excellent uh uh Mage you you got it we're talking about the idiom to twist someone's arm again you could say you're twisting his arm or twisting her arm in which case you are persuading someone rather aggressively to do something that they are reluctant to do and I used it down here like again more in the negative like hey there's no need to twist my arm I'll do it like in this situation the person saying yes I'll do it you don't have to persuade me you don't have to try to twist my arm all right there's no need to twist my arm so now I want to switch things up a little bit and what I want to do is I'm going to just give you a picture and I want you to look at the picture and see if you can guess the idiom that I'm talking about and I will give you a hint after showing you the picture once again if you would like to get the lesson notes check out the link down in the description I'll go ahead and throw it here in the chat if you're interested in getting these lesson notes and joining our email community and of course if you if you enjoy learning new idioms let me know hit that like button that gives me an idea of okay people are interested in learning American idioms and maybe I'll do another follow-up lesson in the future teaching some more of these idioms again this is part of building your informal vocabulary so this I think is a common idiom this is one that I use I don't want to say all the time but when I don't want to give you too much of a hint so look at the picture you can see this person is on the couch uh you have that cloud hanking over them and I think you will probably get this because this is a really common idiom I just told you that I use this all the time when I'm feeling this way I generally don't say that I'm sick I would say yeah I'm feeling a little under the weather you guys rock that one so that was I I was gonna give you the idiom and I just told you the meaning it means that you're feeling a little sick slightly unwell so if you're really ill you wouldn't really use this idiom so generally you would use it when you have a cold you're coughing you're sneezing you feel a little sick and you'd say you're you're feeling a little under the weather excellent job uh Wolfgang yong-hee Valentina uh Julia nice uh Dario great job so that one I feel like maybe is a little easier this one's going to be a little more difficult because I don't think this idiom is as common as the last one to say that you're feeling under the weather however what I would say is look at the picture and the idiom is really exactly what this picture is showing so what you see again I don't want to give away all of these words but looking at the picture what phrase would you use to describe this picture talking about this person or someone what do you think it's not as commonly used but again it's still one that you may come across if you're watching a TV show or movie so I'll give you a hint it's not a cucumber it's a pickle that is a it's a jar of pickles and where where is this person what would you say where is this person so you would say someone is um now I know I see many of you using like cool as a cucumber that is another idiom to say that you're you're calm you're relaxed you're you're Carefree but that that's not the idiom I'm talking about this is a pickle so what would you say someone is um the idiom I'll go ahead and tell you we're talking about the idiom uh to be in a pickle excellent Dario Reagan now what does it mean if someone says I'm going to quiz you again if somebody says wow I'm I'm in a bit of a pickle what does that mean and that's really I think how you might hear it you're talking about some situation and saying yeah right now I'm really in a bit of a pickle or you could use it to describe someone else I don't know what she's gonna do she's she's in a pickle so if someone is in a pickle in case this idiom is new it means that they're really in a difficult situation and you're not sure how to handle this situation and you'd say wow right now I'm in in a pickle and yeah you could say Bahar like you said to be stuck kind of it's it's a problem uh that you're experiencing so the example sentence can you help me I'm in a pretty pickle and I added the word pretty sometimes you may hear people use the word pretty with this idiom that's that's a pretty pickle uh and referring to this difficult situation but in general you could say just someone's someone's in a pickle now let me give you a little more context with this picture and think about well where is this picture and what what's going what's going on so you can see that this is a a bowling alley now I know that this specifically is a bowling lane but the word Lane is not in this idiom I've actually already used the word that was in this idiom I just want you in general to think about where is this picture at and then look at that arrow and what could you say I think this one is a little more difficult to try to think of the idiom even though it's one that you might already be familiar with and and you know so like I said think about where this picture is at and then think about that Arrow so the picture is at well the place would be a bowling alley so specifically if this is a lane at the bowling alley but I said not just in general where's that it's at the bowling alley and that arrow is pointing in which direction it's pointing up so the idiom that I was trying to elicit from you was to say up someone's alley so if you say that something is up your alley do you have any guess what what that means that hey I really hope that this lesson is right up your alley and often I think you may hear people use it with that word right something is right up your alley if you don't know or you haven't heard of this idiom before I think it's a good one to describe this specific situation you're talking about something that is you're saying that it is exactly the type of thing that this person knows or likes to do I just mentioned that oh this lesson I really think this is right up your alley if you enjoy building your vocabulary learning new idioms this lesson is right up your alley it is the exact kind of lesson that you like that you enjoy or just to give you another context with that sentence down there the game we're gonna play is right up your alley so maybe somebody does not know what game they're getting ready to play and say oh don't worry this game it's right up your alley I'm sure that you're going to like it you're going to enjoy it it's the the exact thing that you love to do the next one again I started with that easy one talking about a little under the weather very specific this one is a little more challenging uh but there's there's two pictures and I was trying to give you a little bit of a hint with the inside and outside so think about let for forget that person who's thinking for just a moment think about that other picture on the other side it is a circle but it's also what and you're inside that and then the other person who's clearly outside seems a little confused and they're not sure they're not really sure what's going on so I know the word circle is not part of this I'll I'll go ahead and give you a little bit of a hint what I was going for was a loop so a loop is like a circle and now that you know we're talking about a loop and you can inside or outside what would you say and this I think is a I think this is a kind of a common idiom that somebody might use excellent Rose you you nailed it we're talking about out of the loop so what does it mean I'm telling you the idiom now what's your guess what do you think it means if I say look I'm I'm out of the loop don't ask me I'm out of the loop if someone is out of the loop what do you think and then now you could use the picture some people are trying to think outside the box that is another expression you'd say to think outside the box but like I said in this case we're I use that Circle trying to say a loop uh you're inside the loop if you're outside the loop then you're out of the loop and if you are out of the loop then all it means is that you are unaware of information and or you're not a part of the decision making yes Wolfgang like you said you're uninformed or Bissell yeah you have no idea so if I if you ask me a question you're asking me for some information and I tell you like look I really don't know nobody's told me anything I'm out of the loop and I am just unaware of what's going on and somebody would yes they'd say that sentence perhaps about me don't ask Wes he's completely out of the loop and you could also say that someone is in the loop if somebody's in the loop then that just means the opposite they are aware of what's going on but I think often people would use this idiom to describe someone who is unaware and does not know what's happening and they would say that they're out of the loop then uh we have this one and I think this one is very specific and you actually you could use this picture to just say well what is happening in this picture and that is the idiom so of course you can see in the picture we're talking about the pool what do you think what's going on in this picture and I think that will help you guess the idiom even though I would say that it's one that maybe is not as common and maybe you haven't heard of it before or maybe you have and you're not quite sure what the meaning is what do you think is going on in this picture you see the pool you see they're talking about pool you see very clearly that eight ball all right what what idiom and again there's not there's not I don't know that maybe this may be the only idiom in which they're talking about eight ball so uh yes Jesse great job the idiom is behind the eight ball now again to make it a little more difficult what does it mean if I say look right now I'm I'm behind the eight ball is it a good thing or is it a bad thing just the way that I said it hopefully if I say wow I'm I'm really behind the eight ball you can you can infer that this is not a good situation to be behind the eight ball but if somebody is behind the eight ball all it means is that you're they're in a difficult situation or in a worse situation than other people so to give you that example we didn't start the project immediately that's a problem and now we're behind the eight ball so if you're behind the eight ball you're just saying that you are in a a difficult situation and you got to try to figure your way out of it and you're probably going to need to work harder or think outside the box in order to come up with a solution so that you are no longer behind that eight ball and yes this does have a negative uh connotation it's not a good thing to be behind the eight ball so I want to try to make this even a little more challenging because I know that you love a challenge and right now I am going to just give you the meaning and I want you to tell me what idiom is this referring to I'll the you could also use the picture as a little bit of a hint and I'll give you some letters too uh as we go through this but right now I just want to give you the meaning again please write your answers in the chat or in the comments uh love love seeing all this the the participation in these lessons and I really hope that some of these idioms are new and that you're learning some new phrases today so this next one refers to a person who criticizes the actions or decisions of others after the fact and what that means after the fact is well something has already happened and someone is criticizing the decision that was made in the past and you're able to look at the situation and because it happened in the past you can oh this was the right decision Ro you should have done this and you have that ability of hindsight but you would say that somebody is doing what and I think maybe that picture was too much of a giveaway however let me give you some hints so I'm I'm giving you the first letter of each word this uh this idiom has three words in it and we're talking about what I see uh yes a couple of correct answers in there excellent so the idiom that I'm talking about and this is definitely an American idiom we're talking about Monday Morning Quarterback so if somebody's playing Monday Morning Quarterback you're you're in that situation you're criticizing a past decision as though like you would have known what to do and of course it's easy to play Monday Morning Quarterback and you you probably use it with that verb to play Monday Morning Quarterback like in this example sentence he likes to play Monday Morning Quarterback he likes to analyze the situation after it's happened and then be critical of others and you're playing Monday Morning Quarterback how about this next one what do you think and the picture I don't think is going to be well too much of a hint because it's part of the meaning but you're talking about taking a risk and doing something that it yeah it may turn out wrong so what do you think what idiom do you have any guesses any thoughts as to what this idiom might be and then I'll I'll give you I'll give you a hint because this one's a little more challenging it is four words you're taking a risk especially one that may turn out uh well to be a problem that is the first letter of each word so I told you there are four words in this idiom and that is the first letter of each word so what do you think what do you what are you doing in this case you're taking a risk it may turn out wrong hopefully not but you're really doing what and if you can think of that first word hopefully it'll allow you to to guess the other parts of the idiom and this is one that I think is fairly I think this is common I think people will you you would definitely hear this and the idiom that I'm talking about is to stick your neck out if you stick your neck out you are putting yourself at risk and it may not go in your favor things may turn out badly and the example sentence that I gave you I stuck my neck out for you at the meeting so there was this meeting you're trying to help someone and you stuck your neck out for them and you may often use this idiom and then follow it with that preposition you stick your neck out for someone so you're taking a risk you're trying to help someone else and you stick your neck out for them or some maybe maybe somebody's asking you for help or assistance and you don't want to take the risk and you could say look I'm not going to stick my neck out for you I'm not going to risk things going really badly I'm not going to stick my neck out for you so good idiom to know to stick your neck out for someone then we have this one what do you think again the picture you can you can see what's going on the context we're talking about telling someone about something that has well it's been worrying you and you've been feeling guilty for a long time can you think of an idiom that describes this situation and I actually at the very beginning I saw some people uh use this actually write this idiom is one of the some of the answers before so we're you're you're confessing talking about something it's been worrying you for a long time and you're trying to what just kind of give you a little bit of a hint there are well that's the the first letter of each word so in this idiom there are five words and you're trying to confess something you feel guilty about it I saw a correct answer in there uh sorry I can't not sure about the pronunciation I don't even want to try but yes I see that correct answer good job uh yes Julia Dario we're talking about the idiom to get something off your chest and you could say like I need to get it off my chest I need to get this something but often people would use something when they're talking about this idiom um and you would say like in the sentence I have something I need to get off my chest I I really have something to get off my chest and I want to confess something that has been bothering me for a long time then there's this one it's another sport idiom and we're referring to an educated guest or estimation so what would you think and I really do think when you when you see that word estimation you can think about numbers you're giving an educated guess use that picture to try to try to give you some idea as to what idiom we're talking about and this idiom I'll go ahead and tell you I know you can't really see it uh using those blank spaces it's two words this idiom is a two-word idiom we're talking about a guess or an estimation and you would just ask somebody so if I'm asking you like hey can you you know give me an estimation I would say hey can you give me a what do you think all right we're talking about a close I see some words in there yes uh I see a correct answer Rose though there are two words that's the first letter of each word sometimes people would just use that first word which some of you just wrote Dario Mage yes excellent um young he we're talking about a ballpark figure and I've put the word figure in parentheses because somebody may just use the word ballpark like hey can you can you give me a ballpark can you give me a ballpark figure you may hear either one but if somebody is asking like hey can you give me a ballpark that's what they're asking for can you give me an estimation a guess and typically it would refer to a number and again that example that question you may hear can you just give me a ballpark figure so let's look let's look at another one all right what do you think again use the picture to to help you uh guess this idiom we're talking about you're you're gonna stop what you're doing because you don't want to do it anymore and you think that you have done enough and you would I think likely use this idiom or hear people use this idiom in the context of work whether it's you're you're doing your job or you're just doing work at home you're working on some project but you're working hard and you're going to stop because you don't want to do it anymore or you think that you've done enough and there are four words in this idiom and I'll go ahead and give you the first letter of each word and actually that third word is just the article uh so what are you going to do if we're working really hard and I say okay it's time to stop I think we've done enough let's um and again this is one that I think is pretty common I I would hope that you could see these hear these idioms and try to associate it with uh you know an experience that you've had with watching a TV show or movie or listening to a podcast these are idioms that will come up in conversation great job uh everyone we're talking about to call it a day well done Sid nyz Valentina uh Mina mazzitov so if you say let's call it a day or like in this the example sentence I gave you I think it's time to call it a day you're basically saying we're going to stop what we're doing we've done enough I don't think we need to continue we're going to call it a day and there is a reason why I chose to to present this as the last idiom because yes right now I'm gonna have to call it a day but uh there is a little review these are all the idioms that I just went over these American idioms of course some are more common than others I'm sure that you are familiar with some of them already and you've heard them perhaps you use them in conversation I think that's great just bear in mind these are more informal more commonly used in spoken English so if you would like to get these lesson notes again check out that link down in the description if you're already a part of our email Community check your inbox I have sent them to you but this is a good way to practice become I guess a little more comfortable with these idioms not only to help you improve your comprehension if you're yeah watching a TV show or movie but hopefully when you're having a conversation if you experience this and you would tell somebody look I'm I had a really rough day at work I really need to blow off some steam and you can actually use that idiom in context or one that I think is very common we all feel sick from time to time and instead of telling someone hey I feel a little sick you could say right now I'm feeling a little under the weather very very common idiom or again you're in that situation where you're going to take a risk you're going to help somebody out and you're gonna stick your neck out for them so hopefully I hope with all these lessons I just hope that you learned something new thank you guys so much for participating in today's lesson and joining me if you did enjoy the lesson and you did learn something new please hit that like button --- ## 134. AMERICAN IDIOM #QUIZ ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ 3 Idioms to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `AyLGfaMe4sY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyLGfaMe4sY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:56:40 | --- do you know your American idioms let's find out the home the last part of something that is being done the horses are coming down the home stretch so when you're in the final part of some activity it's the home stretch how about this one to blow off some to do or say something that helps you get rid of strong feelings or energy whenever I have a lot of stress I go for a run in order to blow off some steam so if you need to get rid of some pent up energy you need to blow off some steam and then there's this one off the path not known or visited by many people this beach is certainly off the beaten path this is a great travel idium if you want to go somewhere secluded not known and you want to go off the beaten path and now you know three American idioms in case someone asks you --- ## 135. AMERICAN SLANG WORDS ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ QUIZ LESSON | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FdocSXPK07E` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdocSXPK07E) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:32:55 | --- Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills. And today we're going to do another practice lesson. This is going to be a bit of a quiz on American slang. That's right. I have a bunch of different questions for you to test your comprehension of American slang. Now, slang is interesting because I'd say that a as somebody who's a teacher, I would tell you that it's not absolutely necessary that you learn slang, American slang or British slang. But at the same time, I understand that many of you want to learn slang because you hear it quite often when you're talking or when you're listening to um maybe a podcast or a TV show or you're watching a movie. So, I understand why it is something you want to learn. it can be important for your comprehension. So, we're going to go over these words and phrases today that I think are you don't have to go out and try to use them because they they can be very specific, but it is good to have for your comprehension. And like I said, today it's all about practicing your skills and this is a great way to do so because you can practice them in real time. So, if you are in the chat, I'm gonna ask you questions. I want you to write your answer in the chat. And even if you're watching this later, I want you to write your answer in the comments and and use it like like it's a piece of paper and you are writing down your answers. All right. I will give some shoutouts to those of you that are with me right now. But whoops, I'm getting ahead of myself. Sorry. Wait, you were not meant to see that just yet. I I wanted to start out just with this simple um you know just talking about what is slang in case that this is something you are not familiar with. So I I will read that in case you're having trouble seeing it. I was trying to find a font color that just popped out but it was a little difficult. So slang that this is it's words and phrases that are very informal, very casual. They're much more common in spoken English instead of writing. So you will hear them u more often than you're going to read uh these words or phrases and they are typically restricted or limited to a particular group um a particular group of people and this could be a particular group of people in a certain region because slang on the east coast of the United States is different from slang on the west coast of the United States or it could depend on the age group as well. So, younger people might use certain words or phrases that older people like me don't use or we may even be unaware of these words. And this is why I find it interesting because with when it comes to slang, I we've done some lessons before uh on slang and I will leave a link in the comments if you want to check out some of those lessons because all of the questions that I have for you are based on those lessons. And sometimes when I when I did those lessons, I would receive comments and people, especially Americans, they would be like, I don't use that word. Nobody uses it. And that's the thing about slang. Just because one person doesn't use the word, that does not mean that it that people don't use it. Slang is very limited to again a certain region, a certain age group, a particular group of people. So that that is important to keep that in mind, especially when you're talking about, oh, I want to go out and use it because some people the people you're talking to, they may not be familiar with this slang. So keep that in mind. And now let's begin the first question that I have for you. Now this is a bit more common. All right. And I I've given you this to try and put it in context and I'd say, "Dude, what are you doing? That's my food." So I put it in quotes because again, we're we're referring to spoken English. It's more common when it's spoken. So that's the way I kind of want you to think about this. Even though you're able to read it, think about it as though somebody's saying it. And if somebody's saying, "Dude, what are you doing? That's my food. What does dude refer to? Does it refer to a man? Does it refer to a woman? Or does it refer to either a man or a woman? So dude, it's talking about a person. I think many of you know that. You probably have heard this word and you are familiar with it. But what do you think is it referring to? Does it refer to a man, a woman, or either a man or a woman? And this could be a bit tricky. All right. Excellent. Yes. Uh, busorn ramesa uh Chris Albert, thank you for your answer. The answer is C. Either a man or a woman. Now, I I will say this, it generally refers to a man. Most of the time that you you're when somebody says dude, they're talking about like maybe a group of guys or or a a guy or a man. However, it can be used as a genderneutral uh noun. All right. It can be a a girl could say this to another girl and say, "Dude, it does not only have to be for a man." The reason I put this in here is because many of you have asked me this question um from one of our other lessons, and you say, "Well, dude, can it be used to talk about either a man or a woman?" Yes, it can be used in that s context, but generally speaking, most of the time it's used when talking about a guy. For example, in that sentence, if somebody says like, oh, you know, it's a dude, then they're talking about it's a guy, it's a man. In that context, if somebody says, oh, you know, it's a dude, they would be referring to, okay, it's a man. But when you're talking to somebody else and kind of instead of saying like, hey, you, you want to talk to that person and say, hey, dude, dude, what are you doing? It could be a man or a woman. It just depends. All right. So, ju just a quick little that's a quick clarification on the word dude. Most of the time it's talking about a man, but you could it could be used to talk uh to another a woman, a female. And again, this is a word that typically younger people are going to use. Like people like like my grandparents, they're not using the word dude. Okay? I I used it a lot more when I was younger. All right? Now I feel like I'm getting old because I don't use dude anymore. All right, the next one. It's a fill in the blank. All right, I would just tell you guys, you know, you all are great. I really want to give you m for being here today. I really want to give you m for being here today. What do you think? Which word best completes that that phrase? And I've I've highlighted the slang phrase in in red. So that is the whole part of the slang. Give you what do you think? Uh, which word best completes that? Is that a cred, b props, or c shoutouts? All right, what do what do you guys think? All right. Um, you all are great. I really want to give you m for being here today. Which one do you think uh best completes it? And I'm seeing a a lot of different answers. Wow. Okay. Wait a second. I thought you guys watched our other slang videos. You should have learned this already. All right. So many of you are saying see all right if you know I you could give a shout out but in this case this context when you're talking about the phrase together um yes I want to give some shout outs to yes Mrs. reluctant. Perfect. Claudia, excellent. Esther, uh, miracle happens. The correct answer is B. You give someone props. All right. Now, when you give props like, hey, I want to give you props. You are giving someone proper recognition or respect or, you know, for doing something like uh in that sentence, you know, I want to give you mad props. Sometimes it's used with that word as well, mad. But to give someone props is, you know, you're giving them respect. you're giving them some recognition. I do think that this is a little more common. You might even hear it used uh in the workplace as well, like yeah, you know, I want to give you props for the work that you did on that project. You want to give somebody respect. Now, many of you said a shout out because a shout out is also uh recognition, but oftent times um you could say I guess you want to give a shout out. But when when I think of this context like I want to give a shout out, it means like I am announcing something. Somebody is saying something to a wide audience cuz right now there are many of you watching this. So I might give a shout out to you individually. But if you're just talking to one other person and you say like you know oh or even a small group you'd say you know I want to give you props. I want to give you props for uh for doing this thing. You want to give them respect. So, that is the entire slang phrase to give someone props. All right. This this next one. Okay. What do you guys think? Um, all right. This means to expose your butt to others on purpose. And this is very childish. It's something that I I think maybe it's an older term. Um, but it to expose your butt on purpose. Usually doing it as a joke. And I put that picture. Do you see those zebras in there? Th those pesky zebras. They're showing us. They're showing us their butts. All right. If somebody's showing you your butt on purpose, does that mean to A to show, B to flash, or C to moon? What do you think? Uh what do you think is the correct answer? A, B, or C? Show, flash, or moon. All right. Again, this was in one of the previous lessons, so if you saw that, then you should remember it. Yes. Excellent, Paul. Perfect. Um, who else? Uh, Simo, Cece, uh, Arty, Metate. It's moving really fast now, but yes, the answer is C. Moon. So, to moon someone, you're using it as a verb. It means that to expose your butt to somebody on purpose. This is when you are joking around. And like I said, it's childish. I think of like teenagers, they would do this and they would moon somebody or like if uh and and again I think maybe this is some kind of childish joke that is just in the United States. I can't say whether other countries that this is happening. Um but I could ask you know have you ever mooned? Have you ever mooned someone or have you ever mooned a group of people? I will admit yes. When I was a child I mooned I think it was probably like a car. the cars are going down the road and I would show my butt or something and that would be like to moon someone. All right. Yes, it is a childish prank. Um, but now you know. Again, this is probably not as common, but again, that's why it's slang. So, here's the next one. All right, put it in context. Again, I put those uh wait a second so you can see my quotes my quotes up there so you know that I'm talking about spoken English. and somebody would say, "Hey, are you down to go with me to the courthouse? Are you down? Are you down to go with me to the courthouse?" Again, I highlighted uh the slang in red, which is down. So, what does that mean? If somebody says, "Hey, are you down to go with me to the courthouse?" A, are you okay to do something? B, are you happy to do something? C, are you unwilling to do something? Which uh which of those would be the meaning if if somebody were to ask you are you down? guys think? A, B, or C? Write your answer in the the chat or write your answer in the comments if you're watching this later. Love it when people participate. And yes, got some good answers. Uh, perfect. Moses Paul um sa Rose uh Albert the answer is a if somebody asks like oh are you down to do this it means you are willing to do something now I would say there's a difference between willing and happy because when you're happy to do something like you're kind of excited and I tried to give you this context of a courthouse nobody really it's not like hey are you down to go to the party and then it's like yeah that's great let's go not many people would want to go to a courthouse, but maybe you're doing your friend a favor and they might say, "Hey, are you are you down to do this? Are you okay to do this with me? willing to do something?" And I might ask you, uh, you know, I'd say, "Hey, you know, do you want to do you want to hit that like button? Are you down? Are you down to hit that like button? Are you okay with doing that that favor for me? Because if you do enjoy these lessons, if you like these quizzes that we do, hit that like button. Let me know." Because then that tells me I should do more quiz lessons. um, grammar, all of it. All right, we can do a bunch of different quizzes. So, I could ask you again, do you want to hit that like button? Are you down? Are you okay? Willing to do something? The next one is a fill-in- thelank again. So, uh, I would say, "I'm so tired. I just want to I'm so tired. I just want to." So, I've given you that situation, that context. What would best complete that sentence? I'm so tired, I just want to. Is it a crash, B snore, or C plop? All right. What What do you guys think? Uh whi which knowing that uh sentence the situation I'm so tired I just want to m what would you say crash snore or plop? A b or c? Yes. Excellent. Um perfect. The falcon uh simo shilpa. Uh sleepwalker. The answer is Stephano. Perfect. A crash. So if somebody says that they just want to crash, it means that they want to go to sleep. And often it's kind of like sleeping suddenly because they are very exhausted. Maybe they have not slept in a long time and they say, "Oh, you know, I just want to crash." Perhaps they've been working very hard and they're tired and they say, "Ah, I just want to crash." Or maybe you've done something physical like running a marathon. And I could say, you know, after the marathon, I crashed. All right. I was so tired that I just crashed. I went to sleep. And I went to sleep suddenly. Excellent. Perfect. I think many of you, many of you were able to get that. To crash is to go to sleep. This one. All right. So, this one I I will tell you is more difficult. It's very regional. So, this is not one that many people across the United States are familiar with. It's not even one that I was very familiar with uh until doing some research and actually traveling. We traveled to the Northeast. We traveled to the New York area. Um I think it was yeah about a couple years ago and I heard this word being thrown around. So, this means something is messed up. All right? It's messed up or it's of poor quality. something is messed up or poor quality. What What word means that? Is it a wicked, b janky, or c bummer? What do you guys think? And you're saying, "Wow, this thing this thing is what? If it's poor quality, is it wicked, janky, or bummer?" And I tried to put those phones in the background. I don't know if you could see it. They're just these phones that look like old, broken phones. They don't work. They're very poor quality. You would say that it is what? What do you think is the right answer? Yes. Uh, excellent. Jasmine, uh, Jessica, Jessica, Ruth, um, Fia, perfect. The answer is B. Jankee. Many of you got that. How did you know? This was again, if you saw one of our previous lessons, we talked about this slang that is really regional um, on the east coast of the United States. If you're talking about something that's poor quality, you could say it's messed up. It's it's janky. All right? So, it is used as an adjective, but again, many many Americans probably are not familiar with this word. Uh, so it it's something you you might hear on a TV show or movie. It's good for your comprehension, but you don't necessarily, if you are an English learner, you don't need to try and go out and oh, let me use this word because some people are going to be like, what are you talking about? What is janky? Um, so janky is something that's poor quality. Like this phone right here, this is an old phone. All right, it is not high quality. You could say, "Wow, that phone that that's a bit janky." All right, it's it's not very good. If you guys like these lessons, if you like what we do here, you can check out our Patreon page. It is a great way to support our lessons, support what we do. We offer some cool rewards and I will throw a link in the chat right there in case you haven't gone there and checked that out. If you don't want to, that is okay. We are still going to keep doing these free English lessons because we just like helping you practice and improve your English and actually just growing this this global classroom that we have. It's amazing. It's awesome. So, you can check that out. Let's continue the quiz. Are you ready for the next one? So, I'd say this again. Think about it as, you know, I put quotes there. Somebody's talking. They're saying this. I'm not sure about this. It all seems a bit sketchy. All right. The word, the slang word is sketchy. I've highlighted it in red. So, again, somebody would say, "I'm not sure about this. It all seems a bit sketchy. What do you think that means?" I I think maybe I'm giving it away with my intonation in the way that I'm looking at the camera. Is it a suspicious, b detailed, or c confusing? Which which word if somebody says that something seems sketchy or something looks sketchy? You could even say that somebody is acting sketchy. And I'm really giving away the answer right now because there's really just one one adjective that really describes that. All right. Is it A, B, or C? Suspicious, detailed, or confusing? Yes. Excellent. Um, Rose, Angela. Um, who is it? Love music. Perfect. All right, Zoe. The answer is a somebody is suspicious or some you could say some plan or situation, some idea. It looks it it's just sketchy. All right, it's suspicious. You shouldn't be trusted. So, it it means that something if something is sketchy, it is suspicious or out of place. And again, you could use it to describe a person. Like this guy right there. This guy. This guy definitely looks sketchy. All right. I don't know what I was doing in that picture, but I do. I think I look a little sketchy. Uh you could describe a situation. You know, somebody's plan like, "Hey, let's do this. What do you think of my idea?" And you'd be like, "Yeah, it looks it seems a little sketchy to me." All right. I'm a little suspicious of it. So, sketchy is suspicious. How would you fill in that blank? Okay, there's the car I call. All right, now this one I I don't know if it's still used as often. This one I used a lot when I was younger. I used this word a lot to talk about this situation. Oh, there's the car. I call m a bumper, b lemon, c shotgun. Which word would complete that sentence? So that that makes sense. Oh, there's the car. I call m. Would you call bumper, call lemon, or call shotgun? What do you guys think? This was one of the first slang lessons that we did and I talked about this. And yes, uh Paul, I can. Uh um Simo anonymous, you don't know. That's okay. If you don't know, I will tell you the answer. Perfect. I like your I like your honesty. Um Banini Lai, yes, the answer is C. Shotgun. So this when you're talking about shotgun, of course it would mean like a gun, but the literal meaning would be a shotgun. Uh, but it is a noun and it all it means if somebody calls shotgun, they're talking about riding in a car and they're saying that that they want to sit in the front passenger seat. So, like I said, when I was younger, uh, you know, I'm hanging out with my friends, there's three or four people and everybody wants to sit in front with the driver. So you would call shotgun and you would make a game out of it. Like in order to call shotgun, you have to see the car. So you have to wait until you're outside and once you see the car, then somebody call, "Oh, shotgun." Or they say, "Oh, I call shotgun." And that means that person gets to sit in the front passenger seat. Again, I don't know. This this slang may be out of date, but you you might hear it if you're watching a movie or a TV show um or listening to somebody old like me talk about when they were younger and they were call calling shotgun. I call shotgun. The next one that I have for you is and this one this one I think is more common. This is more um well known across the United States to me and it says you know this means to borrow something. It's very simple. It means to borrow something. Um, also I'd say not just to borrow, but also just to have something because when you borrow something, you kind of give it back. But in this context, uh, you're not always giving it back. So, I should have added that. So, it means to borrow, but also to get something to to have it. So, you can have it. It's yours. So, what what does that mean? Does it mean a snag, bum, or c buck? All right. Which which of those words means to borrow or to get something? All right. Um, seeing some different answers. Excellent. Um, some more shoutouts. Wait a second. It's going so fast. Uh, Alberto Schilpa, very nice. Um, Zeissors, sorry if I mispronounced the names. Yes, we're talking about be to bum. So if you bum something from another person then you are borrowing it from that person. But it also again you're not you might not just be borrowing it. You might just be getting that person is giving you this thing to borrow something. And I think a very common situation it's used in is talking about smoking. All right. you if somebody smokes and you don't have a cigarette, you might ask your friend or you might ask another person on the street and you say, "Hey, can I bum a smoke? Can I have a smoke?" In this case, you're not borrowing it because you're not going to give it back, but you're asking them, "Can I have this thing? Can I bum a smoke?" Oh, or maybe you're talking about, and I put no smoking because we don't we're not really wanting to encourage you to smoke or anything. Uh I I just put the no no smoking. There's no smoking in this class. um even though I don't know if you are smoking or not. in this case you're talking about a very low amount. Can I bum a few dollars? Can I bum a few dollars? Uh you know just uh I I'll pay you back. In that case they would you would try to pay somebody back. Can you bum something? All right. Can you bum a smoke? Um so it could be cigarettes. Uh yes. It could also be talking about marijuana too. That that is also a smoke. Can you bum something? So to bum is to borrow or to have. All right, let's look at the next one. And this one this one is outdated. Not outdated. It's actually one that younger people are using. I I am the person who is outdated. Um but somebody might say, you know, oh this party is lit. All right, this party is lit. What does it mean lit? That is the slang that that people would use. Does it mean that is it describing something that is a exciting, b out of control, or c just getting started? All right. So, I tried to make the the party, which is the situation, I I tried to make the answers applicable, but there is really just one answer. If somebody says, "Oh, this party is lit." What are they talking about? And yes, excellent. Um, Cathi, perfect. Milan, um, Kareem, uh, Roose Zafar. Yes, the answer is a a exciting. So, it is used as an adjective to describe something that you really enjoy like, oh, this party is lit. These live lessons are lit. Yes, they are so exciting, so amazing. At least I hope so. So again, this is something it's not a word that I often use. I feel like when I say it, it just doesn't sound natural. Um because I'm not used to saying it. I think again younger generations say it, people who are teenagers, maybe in their 20s, they might talk about something and say, "Ah, you know, this YouTube channel is lit. It's exciting. It's amazing. It's excellent." All right. The next question that I have for you is this one. It's another fill in the blank. So, uh, to, you know, to give you the situation, say, you know, hey, where where are you going? Don't m on me. Where are you going? Don't m on me. Which word best completes the sentence? These are the slang words. Is it a ditch, B jump the shark, or C bail? All right. What What do you think? Don't m on me. A ditch. B jump the shark. C bail. Which word best completes that situation? Where are you going? Don't m on me. What do you think is the answer? A, B, or C? All right. I'm seeing again, if you guys are just joining us, we are doing a slang quiz. So, stick around, answer some questions. Uh, great way to practice your English skills. So, yes, Ruth, Freddy, hot flesh. Uh, excellent. Um, Louisa Adrian, yes, the correct answer is C. Don't bail on me. So, in that context, somebody says, "Where are you going?" which means that somebody is leaving. Where are you going? Don't bail on me. Don't leave me. Um, ditch means the same thing. Ditch is also to leave, but the difference is you wouldn't ditch on somebody in this case because we're using that preposition. you bail on someone. All right? If you're just using ditch, you would say, "Don't ditch me." So, that is one little thing. I tried to trick you there, but ditch, it also means to leave. And to jump the shark is an expression just to let you know in case you haven't heard of it. It's when you're watching like a TV show and then it just becomes unrealistic. It's just like they after after so many seasons, the show just becomes crazy out ridiculous and you say, "Yeah, they really jumped the shark." But in this case, we're talking about leaving somebody is to bail. It's a verb. And you would often use it with that preposition on. You bail on someone. right? It means to leave often suddenly or unexpectedly. Like you were not planning to leave. Somebody was not planning to leave and then all of a sudden they bail. That person bails. So, and then I'd say again, I tell you guys, hey, hey, hey, don't bail just yet. There are more questions. I'm going to ask you guys more questions. Don't bail on me, okay? Please, please don't bail. Um, the next question, all right, is okay. Asking about the meaning. All right, I think I think this one is is pretty common. I think many people might use it. I use it a lot. Uh, I think it's used among different ages. Uh, it's an expression. It's still slang. This means that you made a mistake. So if you made a mistake, you might respond and say what are you going to say? A my spiel, B, my bad, or C my wrong. What do you think? So if somebody makes a mistake, if you make a mistake, you are going to say this sentence. All right, very short, very sweet. Many of you know it, I think, because we talked about it before. Um, in our other lessons, yes. Uh, there's just so many answers flying by me right now. I can't give too many. I can't give any shout outs. It's B. My bad. So, if you make a mistake and you want to acknowledge that you made this mistake, you would tell somebody, oh, you know, instead of saying, I'm sorry, you could just say, yeah, my bad. And again, this is much more informal. It's much more casual than saying, "I'm sorry." And you often use it for small mistakes. So, if somebody makes like just a small mistake, like you step on somebody's shoes or foot and you say, "Oh, you know, oh, my bad. I didn't mean to do that." If you're talking about a big mistake, you are not going to use my bad. You are actually going to be I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I apologize. Um because this is talking about something that's a small mistake like like that shirt. you get something on somebody's shirt like some mustard say, "Oh, I didn't mean to do that. My bad. That's a mistake. I acknowledge that I made this mistake." All right. So, another way thing I want to let you guys know in case you have not already done so if you want to connect with us and you can access the secret fluency lesson. We will send you some useful resources as well and we will also provide you with some lesson updates so that you know you know uh like well about the lessons that are going to be coming out in the future check out our email list. I will throw a link right there. I know many of you have already subscribed but if you guys want to make that connection with us join our email list, join our community. Uh link is right there in the chat. So let's do let's do some more slang questions. A few more questions. So, I could say, again, I'm saying this, I'd be like, "Oh, this is so sweet." What does it mean? If I say, "Oh, this is so sweet." Am I talking sweet? That is the slang word. Am I talking about something that is a tasty, bunny, or c nice or good? If somebody says, "Oh, this is sweet." Sweet. You can listen to how I'm saying it. What do you think? Am I talking about something tasty, funny, or nice or good? What do you think? And when I say nice or good, those that's together. And yes, so many of you uh got the answer. Shilpa, Paul, Rose, Angela, uh Milan, Richard, excellent, Jean, Carlos, the answer is C. You're talking about something that is nice or good. You are expressing that something is nice or good. And you could say it in that content like, "Oh, sweet. Yes, but you could also you may also hear somebody talk about another person and say, "Oh, you know, you're so sweet. You're so nice. You're so good. You're so sweet." So, this is a I think this is a rather common slang word that is used throughout the United States because again, we're talking about American slang. Um, so I would tell you guys, you know, your your comments, you guys write us comments and your comments, they're so sweet. Uh, they're so nice. So again, it depends on the intonation. You might hear somebody just say, "Oh, so sweet." Or if somebody's just like, "Oh, sweet." It means that it's great. It's expressing it. It's like saying, "Yes." All right. You are happy. Uh let's look at the next one. Here it is. Here is my statement, my my sentence. What I would say, I say, "Dude, I can't believe you bailed. You're such a what how would you complete that that sentence? You're such a A no-show, B flake, C weasel. All right. Um, I'm trying to trick you a little bit here. Uh, but again, I'll read it to him one more time. Dude, I can't believe you bailed. You're such a what? You're a no-show, you're a flake, or you're a weasel. All right, which one uh do you think uh which one do you think best completes that sentence? Uh I'm seeing some different answers here. Uh not everybody is in agreement on this one. Yes. Um meat. Excellent. Krishna. Perfect. Uh hot flesh. Nice. Sajed. The correct answer is B. If somebody is a flake. All right. It means that this person can't be trusted. They do not do what they say they will do. So if somebody bails, it means they leave unexpectedly. You were expecting this person to stay. They're not doing what they say they're doing. So, you would say they're bailing on you. That means they are a flake. It's a noun. A no-show is just somebody who doesn't show up. All right? If I said, "Oh, we're going to have a lesson." And then I don't come and I don't arrive and you guys are just here waiting. Then you say, "I was a no-show." And a weasel is somebody that you just can't trust. All right? They're trying to trick you in some way. You'd say they're a weasel. So again, those are also other terms that you can use, but in this case, we're talking about somebody who is a flake. It is an unreliable person who says they will do something, but they do not do it. And you say, yeah, that person, they're a flake. I cannot rely on this person. So I say, somebody might just be, oh, don't be such a flake. All right? Don't you need to be somebody that that I can rely on. Don't be a flake. And I don't know why I put that picture there of a snowflake because we're talking about flakes. All right, so let's look at another. All right, so this one we're talking about the meaning is affection between two heterosexual men. Okay, what does that mean? This is a word that I think has become more popular over the last 5 to 10 years in describing this situation. If you have two guys, um, they're heterosexual, they're not gay, they're not having a relation, uh, any kind of romantic relationship, they're heterosexual men, but they they become suddenly friends, and they really get along with each other. You can describe this situation as what? A, a bromance, B, tomboy, or C, bffs. What do you think would describe this situation? Affection between two heterosexual men. Um, and I think yes, great answers. Lai Jr., Eloa, um, Shilpa, Rose, Angela, Simo, uh, Jatth, uh, just trying to throw out as many names. Uh, Russian, I forget. It just went just went on through. Yes, the answer is a. We're talking about a bromance because when you're saying bro, you're talking about another guy. It's a it's an amalgamation of bro and romance. A bromance. But again, in this case, you're not talking about a romantic relationship. It is just people that are friends. And the way that it's used, I would say the the two men, they are not going to describe their friendship as a bromance. This is something that other people would say about their friendship. And you'd say, "Oh, look. Oh, these guys, they made friends. They became friends so quickly. It's a bromance." Other people would say this to describe their friendship. All right, this is not something that the the two men would say about this, but other people um and I say, "Oh, you know, yeah, it's a bromance." All right, I I do I didn't I didn't have other pi pictures of other people. I could say, "Yes, I do like myself. Um I do get along with myself. Oh, it's a bromance." Okay, those are the only pictures that I could find. So, that is describing that situation right there. All right. So, let's see what you know. Thank you guys for joining me today. Thank you guys for being here. That is it for your slang quiz. I hope you were able to when when you've watched our other videos that you able to learn these words. And then again, this is good practice because the more you practice, the more likely you are to remember the meaning of these words. So that the next time you hear them in when you're watching a TV show, you're listening to somebody talk on the street, you're going to be able to comprehend the meaning of what they're saying. You'll be like, "Oh, I know this word." And you can follow along with the conversation. Again, I told you I think slang is most important for your comprehension. It's not necessarily like you need to go out and use these words if you are an English learner. So, thank you guys so much for joining me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, let's see. Where is it? Eloa Simo. Um, uh, Farhang, thank you guys. Give some more shout outs. Li, um, Musen, thank you. Well done, dude. Yes. Yes, I am a dude. Sure. Um, Sajid, uh, Neckla, sorry. Yes, I am bailing on I'm gonna have to bail on you guys right now. I know you want to continue, but but I got to bail. I am not a flake though because we will be ne we will be I will be back next Saturday for another lesson. I promise you I'm not a flake. I will be back next weekend. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your day. Uh remember like and share the lesson, write to us in the comments and join our social media classes. Thank you guys for being here with me today. So long. --- ## 136. ANIMAL GROUPS...Do you know these collective nouns? ๐Ÿฆ’ #interactiveenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `j6jy1eR1jeo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6jy1eR1jeo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:59:40 | --- [Music] what do you call a group of deer a herd how about a group of camels this is a caravan and a group of dolphins it's called a pod how about a group of crows this is a murder yes that's right a group of crows is a murder of crows and how about a group of elephants you could say heard or parade a group of ants is called a colony a group of lions would be a Pride and a group of giraffes would be called what I like this one a tower --- ## 137. ANSWERING YOUR DIFFICULT GRAMMAR QUESTIONS โœ… | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HJjvPXO1wNU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJjvPXO1wNU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:38:34 | --- all right hello hello hello what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills of course so welcome to today's lesson it's going to be it's going to be something new something a little different but in general we are talking about grammar you like you like my picture there so I want to give a quick shout out and hello to the people who are here joining me live L Stephen Franco Thon Wendy Jella gudus uh sorry if I mispronounce names or Miss people Kareem Veronica Sabria hello hello hello uh Diva Len uh lenisha Freddy praim welcome thank you guys for joining me today and even if you're watching this later thank you for being here please write to me in the comments tell me your name tell me where you're from I just want to hear from you guys we love hearing from you and reading all of your comments so what we're going to do let me kind of explain what this lesson is all about it's a little different but it's something that I really want to do in the future and I want to do it more often because these are grammar question questions that I've gotten directly from you so a few days ago I made a post on our patreon page as well as our YouTube Community page asking you well what are some grammar questions that you guys have and I've taken some of those questions I've created some slides gave some examples and and that's what this lesson is all about so I've taken some of your questions that you guys have asked and we're going to go through those today and I'm going to give you some brief explanations because when it comes to grammar there there is a lot that you can talk about so this is kind of just a quick overview but again this is something I want to do in the future and and ask you guys questions and see what questions you have when it comes to pronunciation vocabulary and then we can go through and and do these live lessons and answer those questions so this is kind of a test run a trial run so let's just jump into it if you have some other questions in the chat write them down as long as they're very specific and I'll see if I can get to them but today I want to focus on some of these questions so our first question comes from a patron and that is from Katherine thank you Katherine um said she unfortunately she won't be able to attend today's live lesson that is okay because it's going to be posted on our Channel but interesting she's interested in getting some clarifications regarding time concordance especially for the future um so I I followed up with her to see a little more specifics and she she's mostly interested in about future time Clauses now we do have another lesson on future time Clauses which I will link up above if you guys want to check that out but I kind of want to talk to you a little bit about just the general rules um when we use future time Clauses and how we use them so of course when when we're talking about future time Clauses it's we're we're referring to it's a statement referring to an event something that's happening in the future and the statement is going to be made up of an independent clause and a dependent clause now that dependent clause that's that's the future time Clause um right there and it's introduced by a conjunction so the one thing I want you to know the one important thing is that sentences you know it can be an independent clause an independent clause is going to have a subject and a verb that verb the verb in the independent clause that is your main verb that is going to determine when the action is taking place if it's the past the present the future that main verb in the independent clause that is you know what's going to determine the time so in that independent clause that is when you use the future tense in the dependent clause that's introduced by the conjunction after before when while um uh what other ones there's there's quite a few of them we're going to use the present simple okay so look at those example sentences boom right there after we eat dinner dependent clause present simple the show is going to begin that is our main independent clause so going to again that is my main verb and again it's you it's telling us the future is going to begin be going to we use be going to or will when we're referring to the Future so the show is going to begin that is our independent clause that is you know that's what's really showing the time what's get confusing and we've had so many students ask us before they want to say they want to use the future tense in the dependent in the dependent clause and say after we will eat dinner and when we're doing this the rule is again dependent clause present simple independent clause that's your future all right so for example here's another one giving you guys some hints here these these lessons are very suggestive all right when the lesson ends I'll hit the like button all right when the lesson ends again present simple I will hit the like button that that shows the future so right now I want you guys practice write a sentence using a future time Clause all right remember have a dependent clause use use the present simple and the independent clause you will use the future you can use will you can use be going to but let's get some sentences up here this is what we want you guys to do we want you to interact with us this is interactive English and and even if you're watching this later you probably you see the chat on the side it's great to see sentences that that people have to say and you can see you know it's a lot of different examples so again in the chat write us a sentence using a future time Clause all right you can use after before while and then use that future tense all right so again this is from Katherine she's a patron uh again we we try to give priority to our our patrons our super students and if you guys are interested all right in becoming a patron you can check us out on patreon links are in the description it's just another good way to to connect with us to interact act with us and and this is what we'll end up doing when we do lessons like this and ask questions we we will give them priority um so yes when the lesson ends I will have hit the all right yes you can use it uh with that as well with the future perfect excellent example so again if you're just joining us we're talking about the we're just answering diff difficult grammar questions questions that you guys had we asked those questions I've taken them and I've put them together in this lesson which we're going through right now um after watching your video I will summarize the key points excellent great um great future time clause and that is just good practice all right good practice summarizing lessons uh reviewing content is a great way to learn so another question that we had is this and this was this is a common one it's one that we get quite often all right and that is so asked like I find prepositions extremely confusing hope you'll explain it um raky also said prepositions all right we need help with prepositions and you are not alone this is one of the most difficult things um when it comes to I'd say really perfecting your English because there are rules and you can learn prepositions it's easy to follow those rules but often times people make little simple mistakes because these are those tiny little function words that are easy to forget now when you make these mistakes most people you know even if they notice them they will still understand what you're saying okay sometimes it can cause confusion but again don't don't stress out about it don't worry about it th this is really uh a definitely a more advanced form of really perfecting your English but I want I'm I'm not going to go through every single rule when it comes to preposition I just want to show you some some highlights here and let you know so these are the top five these are the most common prepositions in the English language so when you're listening to a TV show or movie when you are reading a book these five prepositions are the ones that you will come across the most of into for with those are the top five most of you are familiar with prepositions because again we learn them and the types of prepositions that is how that's often how we learn them when we are starting to learn English when you are a beginner you might learn prepositions of time for example and and people learn to say in the morning in the evening in the afternoon preposition of time or a preposition of place we can learn those or prepositions when it comes to Direction so when you're learning English and studying often there they might prepositions might be grouped into those categories of time place Direction but again prepositions we find them after verbs we find them after adjectives and that's when people are like oh I I really you know I'm confused when do we use this preposition and the best way again I say this all the time I think one of the best ways to really learn prepositions and internalize that information is to read because then you are reading you're reading the sentences you you see how it's used correctly you're seeing how the grammar is used correctly and you're seeing the prepositions used correctly now that does not mean that that you are going to memorize every single thing that you read but you once as you see it enough as you see these prepositions enough you're going to see of used in in certain sentences with certain words and then it's just going to start to seep in so that the next time you are using the language when you're using it speaking or writing you'll start to use it correctly so when it comes to studying prepositions I think especially as a beginner or intermediate it um even as an advance it's good to review the different types and learn prepositions when it comes to time or place or Direction but overall I think one of the best ways to improve your your grammar when it comes to prepositions is just to read read books read newspaper articles read these sentences that people are writing read our sentences in the examples it's just a great way to internalize it so um again thank you guys for all these comments excellent you guys are writing some great sentences with those future time Clauses perfect when the lesson ends I'll go to sleep all right great sentence Andy thanks for sharing with us so again prepositions they're always going to be tricky they they will always be challenging in the future we are going to do some lessons specifically about certain prepositions and what we'll do is probably put them in those categories and talk about prepositions of time and go over all the different ones from the easy ones to the more advanced ones the prepositions of place there is just so much that we can talk about when it comes to prepositions but I just wanted to show you those top five and again suggest that reading read read read read read that is a great place um to start when you want to improve your skills and and improve your knowledge of preposition so the next question let's go ahead let's keep moving along one of the next questions we have is uh from Shanda um Shanda sure sorry if I mispronounced that transformation please make a video about transformation affirmative uh to negative so there's a few things that I want to say about this this this is great idea uh this is great information great feedback that we're getting because again this topic can be very indepth because a lot of times I think this is probably being asked because it's something that might happen on the AIS uh you might get a complex Advanced sentence and what they want you to do is transform it into like say the same meaning but say it a different way and you're transforming the sentence so there's a lot that we can go into when it comes to transformation again I'm just going to give you this a little quick brief overview um but this gives us uh ideas for lessons in the future to really do another live lesson and to do a deep dive into showing you more examples because again when it comes comes to transformation PE especially on an ielt like you think you have like these affirmative sentences you can have declarative sentences negative sentences exclamatory sentences and you you they just want you to change it and see if you can say the the same meaning but say it in a different way and again it's a way to really test your Advanced uh level of English so let's look at again basically basically when you're talking about transform you're just transforming senten and it comes down to sentence structure at the most basic form so at the most basic form like when we talk when we're teaching students especially beginner and intermediate students you kind of have these these sentence structures right here you'd have a simple sentence with a subject and a verb you'd have a compound sentence which are two independent clauses you're going to have two subjects two verbs connected by a conjunction and then you're going to have a complex sentence down there at the end which like a future time Clause you'll have a dependent clause and an independent clause and when we we're talking about writing or English fluency it's good to use all of these you want to use simple sentences you want to use compound sentences you want to use complex sentences it's great to use a variety because again that's the best way to keep people engaged in in what you're writing or what you're saying so simply like again you can transform a sentence from a simple to a complex and I said I study English on Sundays and then you could make it a compound sentence and say I work on Saturday and I study English on Sundays okay we've just made it a longer sentence giving you more information and if we want to make a complex sentence again we have that dependent clause I could say after I work out I study English or I could say after I work out on Sundays I study English and you can say things in a different way and often give more information I always tell students give especially when it comes to writing details details details speak using details write using details provide as much information as you can now again this is a great way to look at it again if you're a beginner English learner you you just start out with simple sentences you don't and just speak using simple sentences and then as you get more comfortable learn how to use compound sentences start using those and then complex sentences as you become more of an advanced learner so this is a good topic I appreciate the question because again that's something I think would be a good topic to go into and do a deeper dive and really go over some of those ielt examples which I think is what um you know probably brought about this question another one uh question from Rosalinda all right she has a lot of questions but the most important have problems with the perfect tenses I'm guessing the present perfect and the past perfect um also uh Julia has a similar question that's why I put it up there uh I have a lot of questions in my head but the most ofo when to use have in a sentence and I included this one because we use have often when you're talking when you're talking about perfect tenses the present perfect and the past perfect we also we did lessons on this before and I will link those again we have a lesson on the present perfect we have a lesson on the past perfect if you have not seen those please check those out because we give a lot more detailed information as well as some examples but just simply put we use the present perfect we're it's it's talking about something in the past but it's kind of linking the present with the past because you're having that conversation now and I'd say yeah I have I have traveled to Thailand I'm having a conversation with you guys and I'm talking like oh yeah yeah yeah I've traveled to Thailand I've been there now this is an unspecified time and we do use present perfect when talking about spec unspecified time now if I gave a specific time for example I said last year then that time indicator that would tell me to use the past tense and I'd say oh I traveled to Thailand last year but when we're talking about unspecified time just as an example we would use the present perfect um past perfect okay for this one you are talking again about in the past but you're talking about two events all right and you're linking those events you're linking one event in the past with another event in the past so look at my example sentence right here again this is a complex sentence we have a dependent clause with an independent clause so by the time they arrived by the time they arrived that's my dependent clause in this case in that dependent clause you are just using the past simple like I said the independent clause that is really going to be your your your time uh indicator right there that's where you're going to use the past perfect this is another example where students might they want to use the past perfect in the dependent clause and no it is just the simple past but we use the the past perfect in the independent clause we had already eaten so by the time they arrived in the past all right they arrived in the past we had already eaten also in the past all right it happened before before they arrived so we're talking about these two events and one happened before the other we we had already eaten it happened before we we ate before they arrived that's basically the meaning of this sentence so that's a quick little overview about the present tense the the perfect tenses again please please please check out those lessons uh that we already did to find more examples and to get a lot more information so excellent all right moving right along let's look um kind of trying to check out the comments seeing what's going on um this was another one from KH he said sir please teach us uh about uh used to and causitive verbs actually used to I want to do another lesson on used to just about used to so I'm saving that one but causitive verbs the reason I this caught my attention is because somebody asked us about this not too long ago and maybe we'll make another video just dedicated to causitive verbs but if you don't know what causitive verbs are it is a verb used to indicate that some person or thing makes something happen so there's a common list of causitive verbs make cause allow help let have keep require and when we use these causitive verbs you're basically this this is not how it is for all of them but this is kind of a general format a general structure when we're making these sentences you'd have a causitive verb you say the person or the thing and then you're just using that base verb okay so for example made make let's start with that one and my my sentence right here my boss made me work late all right made is a positive verb you see that formula my boss that's the subject made a positive verb me would be the person work is just the base verb work late so it's kind it's a simple sentence all right I think it's easy to understand um but now you know that yes make would be the causitive verb the next sentence Wes helped you w to cook dinner uh it's something usually I usually I'm on Dish duty but I I want to cook more that's one of my resolutions I want to be able to cook more this year so West help Yana cook dinner all right helped is my causitive verb uh the followed by the person you w to cook is the base verb all right so let's look at the next one we had another question from Olivia she asked all right hi I have grammar question about direct object and indirect object it's really confusing there are a lot of rules want a simple explanation again this is a great topic maybe we'll do more of a deep dive in another lesson but just real quickly if if you're looking to know the between direct and indirect objects okay uh here's a sentence right here Wes gives Yana a present all right and this is something I going to do tomorrow in case you didn't know is Yana's birthday so you guys give a give a shout out in the comments tomorrow uh to Yana or on Facebook if you follow us on Facebook or Instagram uh a birthday shout out so Wes gives Yana a present you know this is our sentence now the direct object all right we we use direct objects and indirect objects when we're talking about transitive verbs so transitive verbs are those verbs that will take on a direct object or uh and and if we have a direct object then you may have an indirect object so give to give that is a transitive verb so Wes gives Yana a present the direct object is going to answer who or whom or what all right so the easiest way to do it and what I always tell students is to make a question take your subject take your verb in this case Wes is the subject give is the verb and make a question all right what does Wes give and the answer to that question is the direct object so we have Wes gives what does Wes give a present so that is our direct object present is the direct object now the indirect object is going to answer the question of to whom for whom or for what so then we can take our we can take this and ask another question all right using the direct object so we've asked the first question uh what does Wes give the answer is a present now we want to know to whom does Wes give a present all right now we're making a question using the subject the verb and the direct object to whom does Wes give a present well to Yana sh she is the indirect object so in this in this sentence right here we have subject is Wes gives is our main verb Yana is the indirect object and a present is the direct object okay so I hope this is a very simple and easy way to follow again there are more complex grammar sentences with direct and indirect objects but that we we'll save that for a longer lesson so again just want to give a shout out what up if you guys are joining us just going through and answering some grammar questions um that you guys asked a few days ago and I'm taking those questions and and kind of just going through them so let's look at this next one so the next question is um hello I'm a pre-intermediate level uh Native Russian speaker have some problems with that okay for example I want you to be happier why don't use that in the sentence it's confusing yes all right when and where to use that again this is it's not a a very simple answer it could be long detailed but I wanted to quickly talk to you about the that Clause okay so often times that is probably one of the most overused words in English when speaking and even when writing uh I once had a writing instructor in University told me he said when you're done with your writing go through your paper and just eliminate all like most of the time where you write that just get rid of it all right it's it's unnecessary we overuse it so when we're talking about the that Clause it's a dependent clause that begins with the ver word that all right now this may follow verbs adjectives or nouns and this is where like my writing teacher has said the Clauses they can be used without the word that we can just take it out and it's not going to change the meaning so it it's a word often it's like a filler word that people tend to throw in there um for example all right he knows that the match is over all right we often follow that the that Clause often follows the verb no all right I know that something all right he knows that they know that it's very common that that Clause will follow the verb no so he knows that the match is over we can just as easily take that out of there and just say he knows the match is over we we don't need to say it but sometimes we just want to say it the second sentence also I'm glad that you joined me for today's lesson it's very true I'm glad that you joined me but in this case again we can take that out if we want I'm glad you joined me for today's lesson but there's often a list of like just verbs adjectives and nouns that are are often followed by a that clause and and that is the reason we see this word so much and it comes up so this is just a quick little quick dive into the that Clause but also great idea for a future lesson to really go in there all right so let's look um at that all right so again this is something we just wanted to try out and and see that you know how you guys uh enjoyed this and and for me to be able to get some questions from you because in the future I want to be able to put something up on our community page and say hey tell me your pronunciation questions or tell me what words are difficult to pronounce or tell me uh you know a vocabulary word you want to learn and then I can put use that use your question put together a lesson the same way we did with this grammar so again hope you guys uh found this a little useful even though we went through this very quickly thank you thank you thank you for asking us questions and again please check out some of our other lessons especially grammar we have a ton of grammar lessons up there again I will leave a link to a playlist of many of our grammar lessons so thank you guys so much for joining us please if you enjoy what we do hit that like button share the lesson also there is a link to the secret fluency lesson in the description click on on that if you want to subscribe stay up to date get emails about what we're doing and and new developments because we have a lot planned for this year a lot of new stuff going on write questions in the comments on the vid once the video is posted we love hearing from you guys and join us on social media right up here we're on Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course right here on YouTube so thank you uh Olivia thank you shout out all right you guys here awesome uh tripy Ronaldo Molly thank you thank you thank you um awesome glad you guys would join us today hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and again please write to us write to us in the comments we love hearing from you guys thank you guys have a wonderful day and I will see you very soon so long --- ## 138. AUTUMN IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `O2soNSGbnUI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2soNSGbnUI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:43:22 | --- Welcome everyone! Today, we are in a park in Madrid on a beautiful fall morning. So what we thought we'd do today is take this opportunity and go over a few different English expressions that have to do with the park. So let's begin! So the first English expression that we have for you today is a walk in the park,. And this just means something that is pleasant to do. That it's easy to do. You don't mind doing it. We'd say it's a walk in the park. So for example, usually at the end of these lessons we'll ask you to write a sentence in the comments and practice using these words of phrases. And maybe it's easy for you. You enjoy doing it. It's a walk in the park So stupid... That was perfect. Let me see. Excellent walk. Excellent walking The next expression is to turn over a new leaf. And this means to start something again. To start anew. it's just a new beginning, basically. So for example, every September in most... ...in most countries, children start school again. They start a new school year. So we can say that they're turning over a new leaf. Beginning a new school year. Just like the leaves are changing every fall, we have a chance to turn over a new leaf and start new things. Learn new things. Improve. It's a wonderful thing. So the next expression that we have for you has to do with trees. It also has to do with apples, but unfortunately we don't have any apples here to show you, but... The expression is the apple never falls far from the tree. And this just means that a person's characteristics or traits is often similar to their relatives for their parents. So for example, my father is not the best at remembering the names of places, and I am also... I'm actually really, really terrible at remembering the names of places, or statues, or the names of restaurants, whatever. And you could say that the apple never falls far from the tree because we share that characteristic. What? Tell us about the Ralph Machio's. The Ralph Machio's. Drinking the Ralph Machio's. What's a Ralph Machio's? Those are good. What is it? Ralph Machio is a drink. What it is really though? What is it called? Do you remember? A mocchiato. A macchiato. A macchiato. See I can't even say it now. Thank you guys for joining us today. I hope you learned some new park expressions or new expressions related to parks and autumn. And what we'd like to do now is practice using these expressions. So what we want you to do is take one of the expressions from this lesson, and write a sentence in the comments below because it's always good to practice what you've learned. Also, remember...share this video if you feel like you've learned something new. And we will see you guys next time. See you. --- ## 139. A Complete Advanced English Makeover: 5 Hours, 250+ Words, Native-Level Vocabulary! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3JjJpXrhI50` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JjJpXrhI50) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:39:32 | --- I am getting ready to share with you the best, the most detailed and amazing vocabulary lesson that is going to help you get a step closer to reaching your fluency goals. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, this lesson has it all. I've put the lesson together in five 1-hour blocks, and I will be thoroughly impressed if you watch it all in one sitting. But what I recommend is that you take your time. You can watch some now and then come back to it later. I just wanted to put all this together for you in one resource. So, let's start with some descriptive words and phrases that you can use in everyday conversation. Let's talk about some advanced adjectives that you can use to describe places. And let's go ahead and begin. and talk about some words you can use to describe like well the landscape, mountains, beaches, uh lakes. So the first word that I have for you is serene. It just means calm and peaceful. So in this case, it's like you're saying that the landscape looks undisturbed. It's very calm. It's very peaceful. I could say when driving through the countryside, the landscape appeared serene. Now you you can use this word to describe other things. You could say a person looks serene. And so I I just want you to know that yes, these adjectives are very useful. You can use them to describe different places, different things. I just want to give you something to associate each word with. So the next word that I have for you is stunning. And if you're describing some some something you see the landscape as stunning, it means it's extremely beautiful. So this word is often used with the word view. And you might talk about a stunning view. I could say that if you go to Yoseite National Park, there are so many stunning views. And this is true. I would highly recommend you visit Yoseite if you ever travel to the US. Picturesque. This means that something is visually attractive. So that suffix on the end there, that e s q ue e, it means like or resembling. So in this case, you're it's like you're saying something looks like or resembles a picture or a painting. And I could say the view from the mountaintop was picturesque. It looked like it belonged maybe on a postcard. The next adjective is desolate. desolate. If you're describing a place as desolate, it means empty and not attractive. And this this definitely has more of a negative connotation. So, I might think of the desert. It's very empty. It's not a place that that I want to spend a lot of time. So, I could describe it as desolate. Or I could say, after the fire, the forest looked desolate and lifeless. It was empty. It's unattractive. It's desolate. Then we have the word unspoiled. This is a great word. Now, now spoiled means something is ruined. So that has a negative connotation. So unspoiled has a positive connotation. And you're saying that something is is beautiful because it has not been damaged or ruined by by people or development. And you could describe some land as unspoiled. I could say the rainforest is unspoiled which is what makes it so unique. And the next word is pristine. Pristine means well in very good condition. And often people may use this with the word condition. Something is in pristine condition. But if we're talking about a place, I would think that well this place is wellkept. There's no trash. And when I think of the word pristine, I would think of Japan. If you've ever been there and you even you drive outside the city, it looks pristine there. There's no trash. It's really wellmaintained and it's looks in very good condition. Next, I want I want to talk to you about words that you can use to describe the atmosphere of a place. These are great adjectives to talk about well the mood or the feeling of a place like tranquil. So tranquil means well peaceful and calm really without any noise. It's very similar to serene, but in my opinion, serene would more often be used to talk about the way a place looks, whereas tranquil really captures like that feeling of calm and peacefulness. I could say, I traveled to this picturesque beach with stunning views and it was so tranquil. It was just very calm and and peaceful. The next adjective is vibrant. I I really like this one. It means exciting, energetic, full of enthusiasm. And you could use it to describe like a city and talk about the atmosphere. It's very vibrant. But I think this word is great for describing things like festivals and talking about the atmosphere. I could say that carnival is one of the most vibrant festivals in the world. The colors, the dancing, just the mood, it's just Yes, it's definitely vibrant. And the next adjective is homey. So, if you say that a place is homey, it means that it it's just comfortable and cozy. And notice it has the word home in it because I think people often associate home as being comfortable and cozy. But in this case, you're not going to use it to to talk about your home. You would really use it to talk about another place like uh a hotel or a room. So, I could say that I stayed in a small hotel along the coast with a homey atmosphere. And then we have the word bustling. Bustling means very active and busy. And you could think of uh big cities. Big cities have an atmosphere that is bustling. For for example, Time Square in New York City is always bustling with tourists. All right? just has that atmosphere, that busy mood, that busy feeling. And speaking of cities, let's talk about some adjectives that you can use to describe cities or towns, like renown. So, if you say that a a city or town is renowned for something, it means that it's famous for something. And you're typically going to follow this adjective with the word for. I could say that Paris is renowned for the Eiffel Tower. All right? People think of this landmark when they think of Paris or Italy is renowned for pizza. I think connecting it with food. This is a great way to use this adjective. A place is renowned for some food. Cosmopolitan is a great adjective. It means including people from from many different countries. So Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city. New York City is a cosmopolitan city. Then we have walkable. And I I included this one because I like places that are walkable. I like to walk. It means that a a place is well easy or safe to walk in. And you have that suffix that able which means able to do. You're able to walk. And I think often you're going to use this adjective and say that maybe a place is easily walkable or it's not walkable. I could say the city had many pedestrian streets, so it was easily walkable. And then there's overcrowded, which means containing too many people or things. And if you're going to use it to describe a place, you're probably referring to too many people. And it's a great word for adding emphasis instead of just saying a place is crowded. I remember traveling to Dravnik, Croatia. It's a beautiful city, but the old town was definitely overcrowded. Next is spacious. This is a word that I really like and it just means large with a lot of open space. And if you if you describe a city or town as spacious, perhaps you're talking about well like the streets or just the layout. Maybe there are a lot of parks and it makes it feel like it's spacious. Uh parts of New York City are overcrowded, but if you go to Central Park, it is a spacious area. Another great adjective is charming. It just means pleasant or attractive. And maybe when traveling, I could say, I discovered this charming little street that was very spacious and not overcrowded. Then we have quaint. And and this is a little different than charming because it means attractive because of being old-fashioned. So maybe I I could tell you that I walked down this charming cobblestone street that had these quaint little cafes on both sides. And now let's talk about describing buildings, structures, or landmarks with adjectives like iconic. And iconic means very famous or popular. And it's often referring to the symbol of something. And you may even use this word with landmark and talk about an iconic landmark. So if you travel to Sydney, Australia, the opera house is an iconic landmark. And then there's contemporary which means belonging to the present. And often you're going to use this adjective to talk about well the architecture, the way that buildings or homes look. So I could say that well Dubai is a very modern city with contemporary architecture. And I'm really talking about the way the buildings look majestic. It means beautiful, powerful, and causing great admiration. And you could describe a structure as majestic. I I could say the London Tower Bridge is majestic. The Golden Gate Bridge is majestic. The Liberty Bridge in Budapest right outside my door is majestic. And I those are just some examples. You you don't have to describe only bridges as majestic. Now, let's talk about some adjectives that are well not so good like gody. So, if you say that, well, a building or a structure looks goddy, then you're really saying that it's just unpleasantly bright or showy. So, I think that Las Vegas has some goddy hotels and casinos. I know some others might think that they look majestic, but I think they look a little goaudy. Then there's another useful adjective, dilapidated, which means old and in poor condition. So, think of like a building that's well, it's starting to fall apart. So, if I said that the neighborhood was abandoned a long time ago and now the buildings are dilapidated. And then I have a few words to talk about. Well, just like a general location when referring to some place, like out of the way. And if you say that someplace is out of the way, it means that it's well just far away from where people usually live or go. And yes, you're you're probably referring to like a building or structure like uh a restaurant. Uh I could say, "We ate at this out of the way restaurant, but the food was really great." I'm really saying that the location was just far away from where people usually go. And then I have an idiom which is also an adjective phrase and that is off the beaten path or you could say off the beaten track. Both of them are okay. And this just means that a a place is well not known or popular. And typically you're going to use this in a positive sense. I could tell you that I went hiking in Corkavado National Park in Costa Rica. It there were not many people around. It was off the beaten path and and I really like that. And then we have godforsaken. And you would use this adjective to describe a place that is well unattractive and contains nothing interesting or pleasant. And and often you may use it with the word place and you talk about a godforsaken place. And the other thing I would say is you might use this like in the moment like you to to express your temporary feeling about a place. Perhaps you're having a bad day. You're frustrated and you feel that just yes some place is just a god-forsaken place. I I could say summer in Florida is extremely hot and Disney World is usually overcrowded. And if I were there, I'd probably think I just want to get out of this god-forsaken place. There are too many people. It's too hot. Yeah. I want to teach you some new verbs, and they are well, they're kind of advanced verbs, but they are all about movement. These are verbs that you can use to describe different types of movement. And what I've done is that I've put them in categories to help you better understand the meaning of the verb, but also give you an idea as to when you might use these verbs. So, let's begin with walking and running. If you're talking about that movement, walking and running, there are different verbs that you can use. You can use strut. And if somebody is struting, it's talking about the way somebody is walking and it is more of a a very confident walk, perhaps even an arrogant walk as well. And you could say that that they are struting. The next one is stagger. And to stagger means to walk with great difficulty, almost as if you are about to fall over. And often I think you would use this verb in the the present tense like you're talking about something that's happening right now and you would say he is staggering or she is staggering. And also I think it's commonly used when referring to somebody who who maybe has had too much to drink. They've had a lot to drink. They don't really have a lot of control over what they're doing and they're walking with great difficulty. Then you could say that this person is staggering. Then we have the verb to bolt. And this is just to move really fast, almost like a run. And you might bolt to get somewhere. For example, I I often would use this if I'm talking about trying to get to an airplane and I'm late. And I might say, "Wow, I I bolted to the airplane. I was running behind and I had to run. I bolted to that airplane." The next verb is slip. And this is talking about moving that you're you're moving quietly so that somebody doesn't notice you. And often you're going to follow this verb with a preposition. So you might slip by someone or slip past someone. Both of those mean the same thing. You're just trying to get by this person without being noticed. You could also slip inside or slip outside of some place. Maybe you forgot something at work and you don't want your boss to see you. You might slip inside the office and get whatever you need to get and then you're going to need to slip outside because you don't want anybody to see you. And then we have the verb to drag one's feet. Now, this is an idiom and it means that you are moving reluctantly. You're moving slowly, but you really don't want to be moving forward. And you could say, well, you know, you're you're dragging your feet. So, for example, let's say that, well, maybe you and I we're traveling somewhere and we're late. We need to get to the gate. And I'm like, okay, we need we need to go. We need to bolt to that airplane. But you just want to take your time a little bit. Maybe you're like, hey, let's go. Let's go get a snack before we get on the airplane. Maybe I'll say, "Hey, you know, stop dragging your feet. We need to go. We need to bolt." Now, this idiom can also be used in other situations as well. It doesn't always have to be talking about movement. It could be referring to progress as well. So if you have some work that you need to do, but you're trying to avoid doing it, you are procrastinating, you could also say then that you're you're dragging your feet, that you're trying to avoid working on some project, you don't want to do it. I think we've all been there before, but maybe your your colleague, your co-orker, or even your boss might come over and tell you, "Look, you need to finish this project. Stop dragging your feet." Now, let's talk about some verbs that you can use if you're driving or flying. And this means that you get a free ride with someone in in a vehicle. typically, you're talking uh about driving. You're you're on the road. You're standing on the road. You got your thumb out and you are trying to hitchhike to some location and perhaps somebody would stop and pick you up to hitchhike. Now, I think in I don't think it's as common nowadays. In some places, people might even say it's dangerous. But just so you know, in case you see somebody doing it on the side of the road, they are trying to hitchhike. Another verb which I think is very common nowadays is carpool. to carpool with someone or carpool with others because it refers to traveling by car in a small group. Either to protect the environment or just to save money, perhaps save on using gas and and people will carpool to work or they will carpool to school and they'll ride together in a small group to carpool. Then we have the verb leapfrog and this just means to take turns moving ahead of each other. So, I think you would use this to describe a situation in which you're driving maybe on the interstate. One person is passing the other and then they pass you back and then you pass them again and back and forth you go. And you could refer to this situation and you are leapfrogging each other to leaprog. And I think this this happens uh when people perhaps are driving on an interstate and you want to pass a car and you go in front and then you're like, "Okay, I'm in front now." And then next thing you know, they pass you. They just leapfrog you and then you want to pass them again. That is the situation in which you might use this verb or or hear somebody talking about it to leaprog. Then there's the verb swerve. to swerve. And you could use this where if talking about driving or flying. And what it means is it's a sudden change in direction, especially if somebody has been moving in a straight line and then they suddenly change directions and swerve to the left or swerve to the right to swerve. And finally, we have the verb soar, which is really for flying because it just means that you are flying high. And you could describe a plane and say that the plane is soaring through the air. It is flying high. It is soaring. Now, let's talk about some verbs that you could use to describe the way perhaps certain animals might move. And as I tell you these verbs, I I will well, I'll tell you an animal that I think of and just to give you something to associate the word with. to glide. And this just means a continuous motion. And what I think of is perhaps a bird. Birds might glide through the air. Or maybe you're talking about like a swan or a duck. The way it moves across the water. And you could say that it is gliding. It is just a smooth continuous motion. Now, we could also say slither. And this is talking about moving by by sliding and twisting. And I almost always I would think of a snake and you would say that the snake slithers. That is how snakes move. They they twist, they slide, and they slither. Or you could use the word wobble. I think of well I think of a penguin because it's talking about like moving. You're like going back and forth from side to side and you're walking with uh you're walking in a way that shows that there is poor balance because when penguins walk they they do they kind of shake and they almost look like they're about to fall over. They don't have very good balance and you could then say that they look like they are wobbling. They're just wobbling along and that is just that's how they move. Then we have the verb gallop, which I think is often used to describe the way a horse moves because it refers to an animal who is running and all four feet are off the ground at the same time. They're running, the the horse is galloping. And then there is the verb wiggle. And I've included this verb because I think you could use it with if you're holding an animal and you're holding the animal and maybe the animal does not want to be held. So, it's going to start wiggling. It's going to move back and forth from side to side, up and down, and they're just these really small quick movements because maybe the animal is trying to escape. Perhaps you're holding a puppy and the puppy wants to get down and it just starts wiggling to wiggle. Now, let's talk about some verbs that you can use to well talk about situations. So, in this case, it's not really always going to be a physical movement that you're referring to, but we're talking about a situation that you may need to move in one way or another. Let let me give you some examples about what I'm talking about. So the first one I have for you is approach. To approach. And this just means to get nearer and nearer to someone or something. Now we could use this verb to describe some actual physical distance, some situation. I could say, well, hey, we are uh approaching our final destination. We are getting nearer and nearer to this destination. But you could also use it if there is some problem or situation that you don't know how to solve. And you could say something like, okay, how are we going to approach this issue? How are we going to get closer to it? And in that case, you could use the word approach. How how are we going to approach this issue? How are we going to approach this problem? What is our plan? What are we going to do? because we need to well get closer to it in order to solve it or or remedy some situation. How are you going to approach this? Then we have the verb circumvent. And what it means to circumvent something is to basically avoid something usually in a clever way. You're trying to go around some type of obstacle. For example, maybe well a situation that all of us have is well we have to pay taxes and perhaps there is some type of tax we we want to avoid. We want to we want to get around this and you might try to circumvent the tax law. And I could say, well, we discovered this new way to circumvent the tax laws and and we don't have to pay this tax. So if you want to circumvent something, you you're just trying to avoid it. you're trying to go around it in some clever way. And then we have the verb smuggle. something is to to move something secretly. And often I think you're we're talking about something illegal. So you might hear it being used uh in the context of drugs. People might smuggle drugs. You could also smuggle other people, but in either case, you're talking about moving something secretly. And yes, it's often illegal to smuggle. Next is lag. And this just means that well, you're making slow progress. And it it's usually behind some other people. So in that case, it's quite often that you would follow this verb with the preposition behind to lag behind someone or or you're lagging behind. You're making slow progress and well, you're behind everyone else. You are lagging. And then we have the verb spiral which it means that something some situation it's getting worse and worse and it's becoming more difficult to control. And quite often you would probably hear that entire phrase and you'd say that some situation it is spiraling out of control. That's that's not a good thing. You don't want any situation to spiral out of control. So I hope this lesson was easy to follow. I hope it was easy to understand these verbs by by breaking them into these different categories because that is the way I wanted to approach this lesson. That that is how I wanted to approach this situation because the next time that you see someone moving, I hope you'll be able to identify that. If if you see somebody strutting or maybe you see them staggering or perhaps you see somebody on the road hitchhiking, you'll be able to associate that movement with the correct verb so that you can more accurately express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. As always, I would encourage you to listen for these verbs. Try to identify them if you're reading something or even use them in conversation if you happen to be talking about the way something moves. I want to teach you 20 different nouns to help you describe people. And these nouns would describe somebody's well their profession or their personality or even their characteristics. So as I go through and we talk about these nouns again, I want you to try to associate these words with a person that you know. Let's begin with with profession. maybe somebody's somebody's job, what they do for work, or maybe even a a position that they have for their work. And we will begin with the noun amateur. And if you say that someone is an amateur, it means that they they do some type of hobby or activity for fun. They are not a professional. This is not how they make a living. They don't typically get paid for it. And you could say that he or she is an amateur. The next noun is a tutor. Now, this noun, it it's talking about education because it's a person who will help a child uh study outside of school in order to give them extra help. And you would say that that this person is a tutor, maybe in math, in science, even in English. Anybody could have a tutor. Mostly we're talking about children, but it could be a high school student, a university student, even an adult, could have a tutor if they want extra help. Now, let's stick with education. And the next noun is a scholar. This is talking about a person who studies a subject in great detail, especially in university. And if they they study it for a long time and they know it very well, you could say that they are a scholar. >> Amy is a decorated scholar. She forged a successful career in journalism. >> Jimmy's met a new young lady. >> Brenda, she's really something. Road scholar. >> Impressive. >> Well, well, quite a scholar, I see. Look, giddy. A man of letters is your book. >> The next noun is well, it's actually two nouns that mean the same thing. And that is big fish. Or you could say a big wig. And in in either case, it's talking about a person who is is powerful and important and it usually refers to a position within a company and maybe you're talking about the boss and they are the big wig or perhaps somebody else in the company and you say, "Wow, you know, this person, they're they're a big fish." All right, they're a very important, influential, and powerful person, a big fish or a big wig. >> Well, Lois, I'm off to my first day as a corporate bigwig. And we have information that a mobster by the name of Marco O >> moved to Paris about six months ago, he's the one. He's a big fish. >> Then we have the noun one's right hand. And if you're talking about, well, one's right hand, you're not you're not really talking about the hand. You're talking about a person who supports someone else usually at work. And you could say, well, you know, uh, he's my right hand or she's my right hand. She's always helping me get stuff done and she supports my work. One's right hand. You may also use this as well another noun and people might say a right-hand man. And if somebody is like the right-hand man, then that is the person who would help somebody else uh especially at their work. A right-hand man. Then we have the word valid. Why am I having such trouble with this word? Then we have the word validictorian. And this is talking about the the person really the student who has the highest grades at the end of high school. So when high school finishes, the person with the highest grades, that person is the validictorian. And typically they will give a speech at the the graduating ceremony when school finishes. Now, I I don't know if this is the same for all high schools all over the world, but especially in the United States, the the person with the highest grades, they are called the valadictorian, and they would give a speech when when at the graduating ceremony, valadictorian. I was not the validictorian. That is okay. But it's a word that you may hear if you're watching a TV show or movie and they're talking about somebody who was very smart in high school. They did very well and he or she was the valadictorian. Valadictorian. Yes. >> Right now I'm the best student. I'm going to be the Velociraptor. >> You trying to say validictorian? >> Now let's talk about nouns that are related to someone's personality. Kind of the talking about the type of person that that they are. So you could say that somebody is a dilotant and this is talking about a person who is very interested in a subject but doesn't really have a deep understanding of it. And I think all of us can relate to this that we might be interested in some area of study or or something in general whether it's cars, fashion, computers and we know about it because we're interested in it but we don't really have a deep understanding because well maybe it's not uh our job and you could say that that you know we are just dilotants in that regard. So for example, maybe somebody they're very interested in politics and you could say they are a political dilotant. They're interested in learning about it but it's not their job and you know they don't have a a very deep understanding of it. Dilotant. Then we have the noun aicionado. And this is actually a a Spanish word that that means fan. But an afficionado is a person who is very interested and enthusiastic uh in in learning about some topic. And you'd say, "Wow, you know, I am really a soccer aficionado. I love it." Or, "I am a cigar aicionado. There's actually a a magazine about cigars called aicionado." And I could say that all of you are vocabulary afficionados because you are interested and enthusiastic about learning new words and phrases and you are not dilotants because you have a deeper understanding of these words. You're an afficionado. Then we have the word confidant. And if you say that somebody is a confidant, it is a person that you really trust and you are willing to share your feelings and secrets with that person. You could say that that he is my confidant that he is the person that I will tell secrets to. Or uh for well for me I'd really say my wife she is my confidant. If I have some problems, some secrets, and I I just need to tell somebody, I need some help, she is my confidant, and I will tell her. Maybe not all the secrets, but but most of them. >> You need to choose her to be your vice presidential candidate. >> No, I chose you as a trusted confidant. >> Confidant of mine has told me that when he goes, Sansa Stark goes with him. >> Your heart is true. You're a pal and a confidant. [music] Then we have the noun proponent. And this is talking about a person who speaks publicly in support of some plan or action. And you might often follow this word with the preposition of that that he is a proponent of some issue. She is a proponent of saving the dolphins. That she wants to publicly support it and talk to others about it. She's a proponent of saving the dolphins. I think all of us are are probably a proponent of something. If you think about something that you believe in that you want to support, then you could say you are a proponent of this thing. The next noun I have for you is a guru. And a guru is it's more of a spiritual leader if you're thinking about like Hinduism, but it it's also somebody who is kind of a teacher as well. And you may hear this word used in that context. It makes me think of somebody who is wise and very spiritual and they want to help others and teach others and you could say that they are a guru. Then we have the noun gourmet. And if somebody is a a gourmet then it means that they know a lot about food. They're very knowledgeable about food and they typically like to eat fancy and expensive food. And this person is a gourmet. >> I like it better than tuna helper myself. Don't you, Clark? You're the gourmet around here, Ed. >> What else did Lance tell you about me? >> You're a real [music] gourmet. >> Oh, yeah. >> These sandwiches are delicious, Mrs. Elton. You really are a gourmet. >> Next is the noun humanitarian. And if you say that somebody is a humanitarian, it means that they are interested in in helping other people, especially people who may be suffering in some way. And they may be donating money, donating clothes. they they are involved in some type of activity and you could say well you know this person they're a great person they're a humanitarian personally I think all of us should be humanitarians and and we should try to give back and help others who are in need now let's talk about nouns that pretty much refer to people's characteristics their their their emotions their behaviors and you could say that somebody is well a coward and this is well it's not good to be called a coward because it's talking about a person who is typically afraid of a lot of things. They're they're very scared. Somebody who is not brave. You could say that this person is a coward. We could also say that someone is an introvert. And if somebody is an introvert, it means that they are not very social. They're often quiet, a bit reserved. They typically may like to be left alone and have time to themselves. And you could say that this person is an introvert. Now, the opposite of an introvert is an extrovert. And this is somebody who well is very social. They like to go out a lot. They like to meet all different types of people. And typically, they're very talkative. And you would say that they are an extrovert. I think if you were to think of yourself, like for example, I I think I can be both. Sometimes I am more of an introvert and other times I might be more of an extrovert. and I like to to go out and try to meet people and I'm a little more social introvert and extrovert. >> Zelda was the sunny, funloving extrovert. >> Look at my pumpkin, Mr. Peanut Butter. >> Whereas Zoe was a smart, cynical introvert. >> My pumpkin's throwing up because Halloween encourages excessive consumption of refined sugar at a time when obesity [music] rates are skyhigh. >> Then we have the noun perfectionist. And if you say that somebody is a perfectionist, it means that that this person thinks that well everything needs to be perfect that they will not stop until they believe everything is perfect. And you would say that that he or she is a perfectionist. Now a word uh a noun that is a little similar to that but it's still different would be someone who is a purist. And if you describe someone as a purist, it means that that this person believes that things should be done in the traditional way. That we should follow the rules. We shouldn't do them in some other way. Follow tradition. And you could describe this person and say that they are a purist. [clears throat] >> TRIPLE TWIST. Nice work. You sure this was done by hand? >> Yeah, she's a real purist. >> Hate those guys. As a Sesame Street purist, I don't think Elmo usually tells passing women that they have a sweet dumper. >> Repeat visitor traveling solo >> purist getting off on the undiluted experience. >> And then we have the noun whiz. And if you describe somebody and say that wow this person they are a whiz, it means that they are highly intelligent and and very smart in some area or or some expertise. For example, you could say that somebody is a math wiz. They're very good at math. They're very intelligent when it comes to math. They're a math whiz. I could say that, you know, all of you, you are a vocabulary whiz. You are watching these lessons, you're learning new words and phrases, and it's going to help you improve your overall English fluency. You are a vocabulary wiz. I want to teach you some useful and advanced adjectives that you can use to describe people. And this is a great lesson because well, we talk about people all the time. We describe ourselves. We also talk about our friends, our families, our colleagues. So many of these adjectives really describe someone's personality. Now when we use adjectives often we might use them before the noun in which case they are called attributive adjectives or they might follow a linking verb in which case they are a predicate adjective. As we go through these I will tell you which ones I think are more common as an attributive adjective before the noun or those that I think are more commonly found in the predicate and would follow a linking verb. So let's begin with overzealous. which means that someone is showing a little too much eagerness or enthusiasm almost to the point where well you you find it a little strange that they are this eager or they're this enthusiastic about something. So you could describe that person as being overzealous. So this is an adjective that you can use either before a noun or it can follow a linking verb either one. So you might describe people and say somebody has overzealous parents. They're showing a lot of enthusiasm for their kids. They're Yeah. Her her parents are very overzealous. Perhaps perhaps when when our little girl gets older, maybe maybe I will be an overzealous parent and I will be so enthusiastic about everything she does. Or maybe you have some overzealous colleagues that anything that happens, they're always enthusiastic. Perhaps they're always eager to do things and you might think, "Well, they're a little overzealous." I imagine that you guys are overzealous students that you are so excited to build and learn new vocabulary. During the concert, some overzealous fans ran onto the stage. Next is tenacious. This adjective means that somebody is just not giving up perhaps stubbornly that they just absolutely refuse to give up even though maybe maybe they should. Now when I think of this word I actually think it's used in more of a positive manner when you describe somebody as tenacious and they are not giving up. They refuse to give up. They're being very stubborn but they should keep going. It is a good thing that they don't give up in that sense. If you want to say, you know, well, you know, she is a tenacious student. She refuses to give up. Even though he's short, he always gives a tenacious effort. Then we have candid. And if you say that someone is candid, then basically you're just saying that this person is truthful and that they are honest. So, we can use this adjective and and describe someone and say that they are a candid person or perhaps they give a candid response to a question. Personally, I think it's maybe more common to follow the linking verb to be and you would describe somebody that he is candid or she is candid. They are truthful and honest. And if you're describing somebody in that way, it's almost like you're trying to say, well, this person can be believed. We can trust this person because they are candid and they give candid responses. And I guess I just I'm just going to keep using the word candid again and again so that it helps you remember the meaning. This candid photo shows some of the poor living conditions surrounding the city. Next is facicious and this is one of my favorite adjectives. Now, the first thing that I want to point out is the pronunciation. Because looking at this adjective, it it may not be pronounced the way that it's spelled. Facicious. That first syllable is going to have that schwah, that fu. And we're just basically going to pronounce the letter C. Facicious. Facicious. And what it means is that somebody is joking and they're not being serious and perhaps in a inappropriate way. in a in a sense they should be serious but they're joking around they are being facitious and I think it's commonly used just like that that in some kind of situation you're talking to somebody else and you're joking with this person perhaps they don't know about it and you have to tell them and say look I'm being facitious I'm joking I'm not being serious so that is a phrase that that you might often hear with this word somebody actually having to tell the other person say wait I'm being facitious. Or maybe you could say that of another person. If somebody doesn't understand that this person is joking, you say, "Well, look, he's being facitious. She's being facitious. They are joking. They're being facitious." Sometimes it's hard to take my boss seriously because he's always being facitious. Then we have the word obtuse. Now, this is not a a good adjective. You don't want to be called obtuse because what it means is that somebody is lacking in intelligence and maybe they're a bit slow to understand. And you would often use it with the linking verb to be and say that someone is obtuse that that they are slow to understand. And you could describe that person and say, "Yeah, you know, he's a bit obtuse. He's slow to understand. He doesn't he's not a very smart person. They're obtuse." Or if there's a situation and somebody it's like they don't want to hear the truth and they're trying to to deny it and they don't want to listen and you could say well they are being obtuse that they refuse to believe what is obvious what is sensible but they they just don't want to believe it. They're being obtuse. Sometimes my uncle can be so obtuse he refuses to listen to anyone. Next is the word borish. And again, this it's not a great adjective. You don't want to be referred to as a borish person because it means that someone is rude or insensitive. And often I think it's used before the noun behavior. And this is a commonly used collocation. And you might describe somebody's behavior is borish. Their borish behavior. It's rude. It's insensitive. They may exhibit borish behavior. Keep in mind that this adjective is unrelated to the word boring. That is a very common adjective, but they have different meanings. If somebody is borish, they are rude or insensitive. Borish behavior. His borish behavior caused me to hang up on him. Then we have jittery. And thi this is another great adjective and it's it's used to describe someone who is nervous and they are unable to relax. Often I think it's used as a predicate adjective and you'd say someone is jittery. So there is probably some kind of situation that would make someone nervous. They're unable to relax and you could describe them as jittery. Perhaps uh they have to give a very important presentation and before the presentation you could say, "Wow, you know, he he's really jittery." It's also used in a situation that if somebody just they're unable to relax because they want to leave. For example, I have been in some very long teachers meetings in my life and the meetings just go on and on and on and I just I don't want to sit there anymore and I start to get jittery. I start moving around. I start shaking my legs and I just I want to get out of there. I can't relax. I'm jittery. The boy was so jittery. He had a tough time staying seated. Then we have capriccious. Now with this one again, let's first look at the pronunciation. That first syllable has the schwa sound, that h sound, and then the p r i is just pronounced as pre capriccious. Capriccious. And what this means is that someone or something is impulsive or unpredictable. So you could use this adjective and say that well the weather is capriccious. It's unpredictable. You don't know what's going to happen. Or if you describe a person as capriccious, it makes me think of somebody who maybe they make a decision and then they change their mind almost immediately and want to do something else and then they change their mind again and want to do something completely different. You could say that they are capriccious. Or maybe a person is a capriccious shopper. Capricious shopper. Capricious shopper. That's hard to say. Capriccious shopper. Capriccious shopper. Capriccious shopper. I I I actually would just say that that person is capriccious. That they are impulsive. They are unpredictable. And you might describe them as capriccious. Because of his capriccious nature, he couldn't commit to chewing just one thing. Then we have the adjective gullible. And this just means that a person is easily persuaded to believe something. Essentially, they just believe whatever you tell them. They are gullible. It often follows that verb to be. And I think we've all met people before in our lives who are pretty gullible. Whatever you tell them, they they just believe you. So, this is a great example of when if you are being facitious, they are not going to understand that you're joking. They will believe you because they are gullible. And then you would have to tell them, look, I'm being facitious. I'm not being serious. I think it's also used to describe somebody in a temporary situation because let's be honest, we've all been gullible at one point or another. So, in that case, I think of perhaps somebody is trying to trick somebody else or maybe there is some sort of scam and you for some reason you fall for it. You're not thinking clearly. You could say, you know, I you know, I was just gullible. I don't know why I believe this thing, but I did. I was gullible. I couldn't believe I fell for this internet scam. I was so gullible. Then we have adamant. And this adjective means that a person is refusing to change their mind or be persuaded. Often I think this adjective is followed by the preposition about. You are adamant about something that you just refuse to believe anything else. And often I think of maybe some sort of cause that a person is fighting for. They are very passionate about this cause and you could say they are adamant about this thing. I am adamant about protecting the environment. Uh I am adamant about teaching you guys vocabulary. I refuse to believe that you will not learn and build your vocabulary. I am adamant about teaching it to you. I think we can all think of different things that we are adamant about that we we just want this thing to happen. We won't be persuaded otherwise you are adamant about something. The doctor was adamant she have surgery immediately. Then we have feckless and this is used to describe a person who is weak or or ineffective and just really lacking in the strength of character that this person is feckless. And I think it might be also used to describe somebody's personality or their traits. For example, you might say that someone is a feckless leader. They are an ineffective leader because they they lack that strong character. They are feckless. The coach's feckless leadership led the team to their worst record in school history. So, I want to be honest. I I want to be candid with you that when you are building your vocabulary, I hope that two adjectives that I could use to describe you would be overzealous, that you are just eager to learn new words, and that that you're tenacious, too. That you are not going to give up for whatever reason. So, that is what I hope for. And I am absolutely not being facitious when I say that. I'd also like you to do a little bit of an association trick right now. If I just say the word jittery, who are you thinking about in your life? Try to associate these words with somebody that you know because that's going to help you better remember the meaning and actually retain that information and you won't forget it. I'm going to teach you some different words and phrases that you can use so that that you can be very specific if you want to talk about another person and describe their personality, their behavior. So there are different adjectives and and nouns that we can use to describe people. And I want to start with some adjectives. So the first word that I have for you is charismatic. other people and they can easily get people's attention. Just because you say that someone is charismatic, that does not mean that it's a good thing. It sounds like a good thing and it can be a compliment, but it does not always mean that the person you're talking about is a good person. It's really just their behavior, the way they act, they have that influence and and they can easily get people's attention. Well, because of the way they talk, the way they speak, and you could say that yes, this person is charismatic. >> The most popular scandal-free athletes of all time. He's heroic. He's charismatic. And he's retiring. the charismatic guy promising to make America great again. >> You were the most remarkable person I know and I met Jal White, incredibly charismatic. >> You mean to tell me this all happened cuz you were messing with the shadow man? >> Then we have the word chatty. And if somebody is chatty, it just means that well, they like to talk a lot, usually in a very friendly and and informal way. You could say he or she is chatty. Now, the one thing I would say about this word is that it's often used to make an observation about someone else. You you wouldn't often hear people say that, "Oh, I'm so chatty." It's not really It's not necessarily a good or a bad thing, but you would use it more to make an observation and talk about the way somebody else is acting that they are talking a lot. And you could use it to describe a person's uh somebody's personality. >> She's so chatty. Maybe my parents are right. Maybe I'd be better off with an Indian girl. >> Something wrong, >> boy. >> But you can start with clearing those empties. Great. I'll get right on. >> Not very chatty today, are you? >> I don't know. Is there something you wanted to talk about? >> And the next word that I have for you, the next adjective is sirly. And this just means that someone is not very friendly and they're often in a bad mood. Let me show you a picture which really captures this word right here. All right. Now, we would often use these words to describe people, but you could use them to describe animals as well. This picture, it is a perfect example of sirly because that that is one sirly cat. >> Sometimes you can come off a little sirly. >> What? I'm not sirly. >> That's it. She gets very sirly [music] when you disobey a direct order. >> You're a different breed than our sort. You're sirly, suspicious. You don't play well with others. Then we have the phrase levelheaded. And if you describe someone as levelheaded, it means that that this person is calm and they're able to easily deal with difficult situations. And I think this is it's definitely a good thing if somebody calls you levelheaded. I think that all of us probably want to be levelheaded and and think that we can solve difficult situations and and remain calm. >> LA's so nice. >> Everyone's so genuine and level-headed. >> Okay, first of all, women don't like to be called dame. Second, women appreciate calm uh levelheaded and uh responsible. >> Mom, I'm not stoned. I'm completely fine. In fact, I'm more clear and level-headed than I've ever been. >> Then we have the phrase easygoing. And this is used to describe someone who is well they're very relaxed and they they don't easily get worried or upset. And you could say that well this person they're just they're just easygoing. Nothing bothers them. They don't worry about anything because they're easygoing. >> I've always thought I was pretty easygoing. You know it's not like I have the big issues. >> Disappointed with you, Margo. >> But you seem so easygoing. Thought you'd let me try on a dress. >> What can I say? I'm an easygoing gal. >> Next is absent-minded. And this phrase is used to describe someone who easily forgets things or they're just not really paying attention to the things that are happening around them. And you could say that this person is a little absent-minded. I think it happens to all of us. Uh I forget things from time to time. And yeah, I would say that I can be absent-minded. Waving goodbye with an absent minded smile. >> Thought you'd know about it. >> And so we do. Of course we do. I'm sorry I was being absent minded. [music] >> Oh yes. Oh yes, of course. >> She is an old dear but a little absent minded. >> Then I have a couple of phrases that I'm going to put them together. And that is above average and below average. And these phrases are used to describe uh someone that is well higher or lower or better or worse than the usual amount or level. So you would use these phrases just to be a little more specific about your opinion as to this person's perhaps their ability. And you could say that that somebody is a below average tennis player. or maybe I I guess I would like to think that I am an above average English teacher. That's what I'd like to think. But it's a these are great phrases that you can use when you want to describe maybe even your own ability or talk about somebody else's ability, above average or below average. >> Wow. With above average height comes above average responsibility. Until then, I'll just keep bringing him his uh below average pancakes and soggy bacon. >> Do you think I'm an idiot? >> No, I'd say you possess above average intelligence. >> Corporal Dawson was given a below average rating, committed a crime. >> Then we have the adjective grumpy. And if you say that someone is grumpy, it means that they are easily annoyed and maybe they're usually complaining. They're always they're complaining about something. You could say, "Gosh, you're you're always so grumpy." And to give you another example, let's just bring up another cat here. This is a picture of a grumpy cat. Now, let's switch and talk about some nouns that can be used to describe people. And the first one, because we just talked about someone who may be grumpy, is a grump. All right, we can use this word as a noun as well. And a grump is a person who's not a very friendly person and that it's somebody who usually is complaining about something. You could say that this person is a grump. Or you could have a little fun with the word and throw the adjective and noun together and say that somebody is a grumpy grump. They are really complaining a lot. They're a grumpy grump. >> Stanley Hudson IS A GRUMP. EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT. >> Miss Melons is off today. So we have Mr. Cooper teaches us biology. SUCH A GRUMP. >> NO WAY. I bet you'd make way more money being nice than being a big grumpy grump to everyone all the time. >> The next noun that I have for you is a jack of all trades. And if you say that somebody is a jack of all trades, it refers to a person that is capable of doing many different jobs and they would typically do those jobs well. And when I say different jobs, I'm talking about a a variety of of really different things. So perhaps somebody is able to fix cars. This person is a great programmer. This person is an excellent cook and they can do all of these different things and they are very capable at doing them. You could say that he or she is a jack of all trades. >> What if Big Head is sort of like a floating utility player? Kind of like a like a jack of all trades. I >> listen I'm so much more. Um I'm kind of a jack of all trades, if you will. The next phrase I have for you is a darkhorse. And this just refers to a person who is not expected to succeed or win, but then they suddenly do. They they suddenly do win. And you could say that this person, wow, they were a dark horse, but they won the competition. So often it is used in that context when talking about some competition. >> Oo, a dark horse candidate. Late entry to the race. But >> what's this? A dark horse is challenging Gany. >> Any contestants worth mentioning? >> Maybe. There's kind of a dark horse in the running. >> So, uh, here it is one more time. The dark [music] horse for this year's Christmas number one. Christmas is all around. Thank you, Billy. Then we have the phrase black sheep which refers to a person who embarrasses a a group or a family because they're they're different in some way and perhaps they've done something they've gotten into trouble or they've done something wrong and because of that and they've embarrassed the family. You could say that he or she is a black sheep. Now it does not always have to mean that that they've done something wrong. It could just be that that they're just different in some way and maybe everybody else thinks it's a little strange. I think within all families there is somebody maybe a brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin who is a little different from everyone else and maybe other people think that that it's a little strange. You could say that that this person is a black sheep. >> Third brother in the middle, >> Gary. Yeah, the black sheep. The drunk. >> Do you know what's a black sheep? >> No. >> It's like when you're different to everyone else. >> The cones are like family, Neil. >> Maybe they're about to become the black sheep. >> Everybody [music] thinks I'm the black sheep. Well, I'll show them what a black sheep can do. >> Then we have the phrase know-it-all. And this refers to a person that just they think they know everything. and you could describe them and say that he or she is a know-it-all. And this is a phrase that it's you wouldn't use it as a compliment. So, it's not something you would say about yourself, but if somebody else they they're not being very humble and they're they're being a little too proud. They think they're so smart. You could tell them and say, "Oh, you're such a know-it-all." >> Which means you're not taking your s word like you should. You're such a know-it-all. She's so rigid and demanding or she's a complete know-it-all. >> Hey, it's me, >> the know-it-all. >> What are you doing here? >> Next is the phrase wise guy. And this refers to a person who is trying to be clever in a way that's a little annoying. So typically you would say this to a person, not really to be very mean to them, but really just kind of call them out on the way they are behaving, the way they're acting. They're trying to be clever, but they're really being a little annoying and you're such you're such a wise guy. Stop stop being such a wise guy. >> DELIVERY RIGHT HERE. >> I CAUGHT A BAD PEPPERONI. >> The wise guy. >> Okay. Okay. Hey, who's the wise guy? >> Hey. Hey. Hey, does this look like a petting zoo to you? Huh? >> Okay. All right, wise guy, you just started a timeout. >> Then we have the phrase stick in the mud. And this is this is one of my favorite phrases. Uh it's it's a noun that's used to describe somebody who is old-fashioned and they just kind of want to avoid having fun. If somebody does not like to have fun and they're kind of ruining it for everyone else, you could say that they are a stick in the mud. Typically, if somebody is a a surirly person and maybe they're just complaining because they're so grumpy, you could tell them that that they are a stick in the mud as well. >> Why don't you take a few pictures, have a few laughs? Jeez, Eddie, what a stick in the mud. >> You were a stick in the mud when we judged that beauty pageant and you're being a stick in the mud now. >> I am not a stick in the mud. I just want to stop a party from happening. >> Then we have the phrase yes man. And this is talking about a person who is always trying to please a superior and they are saying things and doing things in order to please that person. I I I think it's often used in the context of uh work because if somebody is always trying to make their boss happy and whatever their boss asks them to do, they just say yes. >> And he's a yes man. >> Not all the time. Sometimes I'll say I don't like something. He says he doesn't like it either. >> It's very presidential of me, don't you think? >> Absolutely. >> You're not turning into a yes man, are you? >> I'm becoming a corporate yes man. Like, yes, Mr. George Bush. Whatever you say, Mr. George Bush. >> Then we have the word sitter. Now, this noun refers to someone who who takes care of of someone else. Now, I I think the word is shortened. Typically, it's used to refer to a babysitter. a babysitter, someone who takes care and looks after a baby. But it could be shortened to just a sitter. You can also use this with other nouns as well. For example, you could say that somebody is a housesitter and they are taking care and looking after another person's house. Or perhaps they are a dog sitter or a catsitter and they are taking care of somebody else's pets. A babysitter, a house sitter, a cats sitter, a dog sitter, a pet sitter. [sighs and gasps] I think that's about it for for for sitters. >> Three cities in six days. My head is just pounding. >> I already got a sitter. >> Can you cancel her? >> So, what you're saying is if I can get an acceptable babysitter here before you leave, I can go patrol. >> Babysitter? I'm 14. I'm old enough to be a babysitter. >> And thank you for reminding me I can't find a freaking catsitter. >> I'm not going. A regular dog sitter is ill. >> Wonder if he'd know enough to go to my brother's place >> in Paris. Maybe they have a house sitter. So, I hope you learn some new words and phrases, and I'm sure that you will remember them because you are not absent-minded. You You are a very levelheaded person. You will remember these words and phrases. And I I hope that you can use them if you're having a conversation. Maybe you're feeling a little chatty and you're talking to other people and you can practice using these words and phrases and just tell them how much you know, but maybe they will think that you are a know-it-all. Now that you've learned all of those descriptive words and phrases, let's have a look at some vocabulary that is at a C1 level. Now, this is an advanced level and would signify that you are a proficient speaker. But still, even though it's advanced, these words and phrases are commonly used. And that's why it's incredibly important to know how and when to use this vocabulary. And what I've done is I've separated the lesson into different categories based on the part of speech, nouns, verbs, phrases, etc. in hopes that it makes it a little easier for you to understand and follow along. So, without further ado, let's learn some C1 vocabulary. this lesson is going to be helpful and useful. And all things considered is the first phrase that I would like to teach you. So you would use this phrase when you're trying to say that something is true or good in general when you consider all of its aspects. And like you're saying that a situation's not perfect, but in general it's pretty good. And often I think you may use this phrase when you're referring to an event, like the success of an event. So, if we're talking about a wedding, I could say, "The wedding was a great success, all things considered." There's a lot of planning that goes into a wedding. Some things may go wrong, but you could say, "All things considered, it was a great success." I also want to teach you the pronunciation of these phrases so that you can say them accurately and clearly. And with this phrase, the only thing that I'd like to point out is that there's a bit of co-articulation going on with that final dark L and all. And then you move right in to that voiceless th in things because the tip of your tongue is going to be behind your top front teeth. And it's like we can just connect those two words. All things. All things considered. lucky Dwight was there. >> Bit by bit is the next phrase that I'd like to teach you. So this is a binomial pair which is talking about an expression that has two words joined by a conjunction and that conjunction it's often and or or but in this case it's not. We're talking about by bit by bit. And what this means is gradually you're going to do something gradually. Often I think that you would use this when talking about something you're going to grow or develop or even just the opposite, something that you're going to destroy or take apart. So I could say that I am trying to grow this channel bit by bit. I'm doing it gradually and hopefully it'll get bigger and bigger. You may be thinking is there really any difference between bit by bit and little by little which is also another binomial pair and they really have a similar meaning. Uh, I would say that little by little is more commonly used. It's actually a B2 phrase. But if you know that binomial pair, then you should have no trouble using bit by bit. And for pronunciation, there's not really anything too difficult going on here. There's a little bit of alliteration. When you have the same sound said again and again, bit by bit, you hear that B sound. So, in that case, it's pretty fun to just say bit by bit, bit by bit. Then I sat back and watched Mariati destroy my reputation bit by bit. >> Let's just stay with the B sound with our next phrase, which is before you know it. And this just means very soon. So when you use this phrase, you're emphasizing that something is going to happen quickly and suddenly. And before I give you some examples, I I want to talk about the pronunciation. And I really want you to pay attention to the linking that occurs at the end of this phrase. So you have that wconsonant sound in no. It's going to get linked with the vowel sound in it. That beginning vowel sound. No wit. And people will generally say this phrase together. They'll say it quickly. So linking will occur when you use this phrase before you know it. >> First she's texting at work and then she's not doing her homework and then she's hanging out with the bad kids and before you know it she's pregnant. To give you a few more examples, I could say, "I know flying gives you some anxiety, but the plane will be on the ground before you know it." Or perhaps someone's pregnant and you say, "Congratulations. I bet the baby will be here before you know it." Out of the blue. And that is the next C1 phrase that I want to teach you. Out of the blue. You can use this phrase to say that something happens that is completely unexpected. And often you you would use this if you're telling a story and then you want to emphasize the thing that was unexpected. Last week, out of the blue, she said that we should move in together. And I didn't know that our relationship was that serious. It just happened out of the blue. So, I use this adverb phrase once at the beginning of the statement and then at the end. You can kind of move it around a little bit. And once again, this phrase has a similar meaning to another phrase, which is out of nowhere, except out of nowhere is a B2 phrase. But when you're building your vocabulary, it's good to get a little variety when you're having a conversation or in this case, when you're telling a story, and you can use different phrases. For pronunciation, the one thing that I want you to keep in mind is that final T in out. I'm from the United States. So with the American accent, I'm going to pronounce that T as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. And then I will link it with the vowel sound in of. It's going to sound like out of. Out of the blue. And because you're emphasizing something that happens, people will say this quickly and they will link those words together. >> Everything was going great until he suddenly reappeared out of the blue, but that dumb dumb ran his mouth. >> The next phrase is at a glance. This means to see something immediately or quickly. And people may use this phrase with the word quick and say at a quick glance. You're just adding a little emphasis to the speed. Or someone might say at first glance. That's another collocation with this phrase, saying that you looked at something quickly, but then you had to look at it closer. Or maybe you looked at it again. To show you how it's used in context, uh, I could say, "I could tell at a glance that something was wrong. Everyone looked worried." Or, "I recognized her at a glance. She was the woman from the party." And for pronunciation, once again, that t in at, I'm going to pronounce it with a flap t. And then I will link it with the vowel sound in uh, that article. At a at a glance. At a glance. We're going to line the front seat and the back seat and the floorboards with some blankets. Cop stops us and starts sticking his big snout in the car. The subtuge won't last. At a glance, the car will appear to be normal. >> Then there's the phrase to have something against someone. And this just means to dislike someone for a reason. And even though the meaning is pretty simple and straightforward, the usage of this phrase can be a bit challenging because the something is your reason. And let's say you don't like someone because uh they stole something. I I would not say I have stealing against him. That just sounds awkward. Instead, the reason that something it's often well, it's not going to exist or it's going to be unknown. So, let's talk about a reason that just doesn't exist. In this case, you're basically saying that you have no reason to dislike someone. And people may use this with the words nothing or anything. So I might say I have nothing against him. We just don't have anything in common. So I don't have any reason to dislike him. The reason it just doesn't exist. But maybe you don't have anything in common and therefore you're not friends or using anything. I don't have anything against her. We just don't get along. So once again, the reason why I dislike this person just doesn't exist. But maybe again with some people, you don't end up getting along and you're not friends. If we're talking about a reason that is unknown, well then people may ask a question and use this phrase like why were you so mean. What do you have against her? So again, it's unknown the reason. So that's why I'm asking the question, what do you have against her? Or you could just use this in a statement if I'm asking you like, well, look, I don't know what you have against me, but we really need to find a way to work together. So again, what you have against me is that noun clause, but I'm still talking about a reason that is uh that is unknown. I don't know what you have against me, but I know that's that's just an example. You know, we're friends. We get along. I think we work well together. But if we're talking about the pronunciation of this phrase, uh I'd like to point out that elision may occur if the someone is him or her. And elision is when you remove uh a certain sound or even syllable. So in this case, we're talking about that h in him or her. And if it gets removed, well then we can link that final t in against with the vowel sound. So it'll sound like against him or against her. What do you have against him? What do you have against her? And elision may occur when you're pronouncing this phrase. >> You don't care very much for our community, do you, Mr. Walsh? >> I have nothing against your community, Mr. Puit. >> The next C1 phrase that I have for you is to look on the bright side. And this just means to find good things in a bad situation. And you would tell someone to look on the bright side. So think about it in the context of trying to cheer someone up and there's a bad situation and you tell them look on the bright side and then you would follow it with a reason and that's really important. So you're telling them to cheer up, try and stay positive and then you got to give them a reason why. If you just say look on the bright side and don't say anything else, then it's going to seem a little strange. So, let's say you tear your new shirt and you're really upset about it and I'm trying to cheer you up and I say, "Hey, look on the bright side." Now, you get to go shopping for some new clothes and you get to find a new shirt and you can look on the bright side. When you're pronouncing this phrase, just keep in mind that once again, linking will occur. with the vowel sound in on. Look on. And remember the article 'the', we're gonna pronounce it with a schwa sound because it comes before that consonant B sound in bright. Look on the bright side. Look on the bright side. >> This is a deal breaker. >> Look on the bright side. >> What's the bright side? Only nine more months to ComicCon. >> Oh yeah. >> To take issue with. So this just means to strongly disagree with someone or something. And you could just use this instead of saying I disagree. I take issue with that. And it just gives it a little bit of emphasis. I take issue with teachers who use corporal punishment. Or we took issue with the changes they made to the contract. Or you're not going to hit the like button. I take issue with that. Okay? I just I disagree with that. And of course, I'm just kidding. You you can do whatever you want. But when you are pronouncing this phrase, keep in mind that we can link the final consonant sound in take with the beginning vowel sound in issue. Take issue. And you can start to see a theme here that linking commonly occurs in many of these phrases. >> Daddies thought we already are. >> Cool your tongue, airman, because I intend to take issue with your performance. >> Then we have to keep a low profile. And this means to avoid attracting attention to yourself. And I think that we can all relate to this phrase right now. Can you think of a time when you were trying to keep a low profile? Perhaps you go to some social event, maybe a party, and you really don't feel like talking to many people, so you try to keep a low profile. Or or perhaps at work, maybe you showed up late or you forgot to submit something. You don't want to attract attention to yourself, so you try to keep a low profile. And for pronunciation, yes, more linking. We can link that consonant sound in keep with that schwa sound in the article uh keep. Keep a low profile. >> Advice for me on my new position. >> Keep a low profile. >> If I had a gold dragon, for every time I heard that joke, I'd be richer than you are. Then we have the phrase in accordance with. And this means in a way that agrees with or follows. And and typically you're talking about agreeing with or following a rule or a law. And because of the meaning that you're following a rule or a law, I think it's likely that you may hear this phrase being used in a more formal situation. So I could say the Justice Department acted in accordance with the new law. or to be honest, I could get banned from YouTube if I am not in accordance with YouTube's terms of service. So, in both of those examples, it's a it's a little more formal because I'm talking about following a rule or a law. Now, when you pronounce this phrase, of course, we can link those first two words. We can link that consonant N and in with the vowel sound in accordance in accordance. And keep in mind that final syllable in accordance even though it's spelled d a n ce. You're not going to say dance. It's going to have that schwa sound. It's going to sound like dunce. In accordance with >> in accordance with FAA rules. The first two people to the front will be upgraded to first class. >> Okay. You two. >> The next couple of phrases are more related to driving. And the first one is back road. So, a back road refers to a small road that does not have a lot of traffic on it. So, maybe you're just trying to avoid traffic or avoid those busy streets and you take some back roads. And one thing I want to point out is that I think you'll often use this with the plural roads because when you're driving, if you're trying to avoid traffic, you're probably not just going to stay on one road. You may take several different ones. And that's why people often talk about back roads. I know some back roads that we can take in order to avoid rush hour traffic. And the pronunciation of this phrase is pretty simple and straightforward. You just say those two words as they are back roads. >> I'm glad we took the back roads. >> Then there's bear left or bear right. This means to change direction slightly so that you're going in a particular direction. in this case, left or right. And I think these phrases are very useful, especially if you're giving directions and you want to be specific because some roads, especially some of those back roads, uh, they they may not always have a full left turn or right turn. And I would say, hey, up ahead, you're you're going to want to bear left. And then after that, the road's going to intersect with another one. And when that happens, you should bear right. All right? I'm just trying to be a little more specific. And I also want you to keep in mind that the word bear, this is a homonym. Do not think about the animal. it means to change directions slightly. And again, we're just going to provide that extra bit of information to bear left or bear right. And for pronunciation, the only thing I want to say about well, just one of the phrases, bear right, you have that overlapping R sound. That final R in bear and the beginning R and right just allows you to move from one word right into the next. Bear right or maybe we'll bear left. >> Fuzzy. >> Yes. >> Bear left. >> What? >> Bear left. >> Right frog. >> What? >> Never mind. >> That's cute. Huh? >> Now, I know some of these phrases may be challenging, but I I want you to look on the bright side. As you continue to build your vocabulary bit by bit, well, then you will continue to develop your overall English fluency. You just need to keep reviewing these phrases from time to time and before you know it, they'll become a part of your active memory and you'll be able to use them easily and naturally. agree with me and you don't take issue with what I just said. I would love it if you write to me down in the comments, unless you're trying to keep a low profile. In that case, I I understand. And sometimes it can be difficult to differentiate between two words. But that's why I'm here. I want to teach you some of the slight nuances to help you be more precise and easily differentiate between different words and phrases. So let's begin with a verb that I have mentioned twice already. Differentiate. This means to show or find the difference between two things that are compared. So, it may be difficult to differentiate between American and British English, software and hardware, facts and opinions. And you're often going to follow this verb with the preposition between to differentiate between two things. >> Transporter cannot differentiate between Dr. McCoy and the torpedo. >> Michael, I cannot differentiate between the hostages and the guards. >> A program that could differentiate between foreign and domestic. When pronouncing this verb, there are five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable. Differentiate. Differentiate. Keep in mind that the t i a t e at the end of the word has a shate sound. So this is when the spelling and pronunciation don't really match. Differentiate. And if you are someone who would like to be able to differentiate between words and phrases that are similar, then let me help you develop your vocabulary. The next verb is broaden. This means to increase the range of something. And there are some great collocations with this verb. These are words that are frequently used together. So you can broaden your horizons. This is an idiom that means you're increasing the range of things you know about or your experiences. You can also broaden your mind. In this case, you're increasing the knowledge that you have about something. You can broaden the scope of something. And if we were talking about politicians, they may need to broaden their support. Let me show you some news headlines so you can see how this verb is used in context. Local historian urges town to broaden horizons when it comes to school names. Does travel broaden the mind? Not according to new research. US and China agree to broaden talks in bid to ease tensions. When pronouncing this verb, there are two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Broaden. Now, one thing I want you to be aware of is that you may hear people pronounce this with a glottle stop. So listen to the difference between broaden and broaden the the sounds coming from the throat down here. Broaden broaden. It's something that you may hear and hopefully it's easy for you to differentiate between the two pronunciations of this verb. But generally you can just stick with broaden to broaden your horizons. And if you would like to broaden your horizons when it comes to pronunciation, then I think it's very important that you practice. And the next one that I have for you is grasp. It has two different meanings. The first one is to quickly take something in your hand or hands and hold it firmly. So this is a very descriptive verb. He grasped my hand or she grasped my arm or the child slipped from my grasp. There are some other phrases that have a similar meaning. You can grasp an opportunity. You're taking it eagerly. And there's an idiom, grasp at straws. It means that you're trying to find a way to succeed, but whatever you choose, it's probably not going to help you. So, think about the situation. You are holding tightly or grasping something weak like a straw. And because of that, it's not likely to save you. I tried going back to work like you. Honestly, I'm just grasping at straws and Cooper was one of those straws. >> Mr. President, it doesn't matter where we debrief this man. The fact is we're grasping at straws here. >> The other meaning of this verb is to understand something, especially something difficult. I could tell you the child was able to grasp the main idea of the story. Or I if I am able to explain these verbs well, then you will be able to easily grasp the meaning of these verbs and know how to use them correctly. When pronouncing this verb, I think it's pretty simple and straightforward. Grasp. But just say it with me, grasp. Excellent. Then we have the verb diminish. This means to reduce or be reduced in size or importance. So, you can diminish something. As we get older, our muscle strength tends to diminish. At least that's what's happening to me. But you could also diminish someone. And this has a little bit more of a negative connotation. I could say his careless mistakes diminished him in the eyes of management. So, in this case, the mistakes reduced his importance. >> Just makes things seem small. It diminishes them. You must prepare for life and whatever it will throw at you. The opportunities will diminish. >> I am shocked, sir. I I >> like the hell you are. >> You want to diminish me. >> Diminish you? >> Laying the groundwork for a challenge in 2016. >> For pronunciation, the verb has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Diminish. Diminish. To diminish something or to diminish someone. Fall flat. This is an idiom, but we're going to use it as a verb to fall flat. This is said when a joke, suggestion, or idea does not have the intended effect. Now, most of the time you're going to use this when talking about jokes. So, right now, I'm going to tell you a couple of jokes, and you can let me know in the comments if they fall flat. If I am what I eat, then I'm fast, cheap, and easy. It's a little ridiculous. Here, here's another one. You know what they say, never go to bed angry. Stay up and fight. So, I suppose one or both of those jokes fell flat. It did not have the intended effect of laughter, but you can let me know. For pronunciation, I don't think it's that difficult. Fall flat. The only thing I want to point out is that there is alliteration. An alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant sound in two words that are next to each other or close to each other. Fall flat. I hope that my jokes did not fall flat. >> For your attempts at mockery fall flat. >> Let's call it a joke that fell flat and leave it at that. Robert and Sarah's textures fell flat. >> A huge performance tomorrow where a man's joke is going to fall flat. >> Next is the verb contradict. And it also has two meanings. It really depends if we're talking about people or statements, but if we're talking about people, it just means that someone is saying something that is the opposite of what someone else said. And people can contradict each other. This happens all the time. Her testimony contradicted the policeman's story. You could also contradict yourself. And often you may follow this verb with that reflexive pronoun. If I were to say, I can tell you everything that you need to know, but I don't know anything about that. I just contradicted myself in saying the opposite. When using this verb to talk about a statement or a fact, it just means that some statement or fact is so different than another statement or fact that one of them must be wrong. I could say new evidence contradicts the established theories on this subject. They're so different that yeah, one of them must be wrong. Just keep in mind that when someone or something contradicts someone or something else, it's not really telling us which one is right or correct. It's just saying that they're either opposites or different. To give you a little more context with this verb, here are some more news headlines. Video evidence appears to contradict Lauren Boowbert's denial that she was vaping at Beetlejuice show. OPEC figures contradict Iran's oil production claims. Opinion: Liberal climate policies are fine on their own, but contradict each other when together. When pronouncing this verb, it has three syllables and the stress is on that third syllable. Contradict. I will try not to contradict myself. Then I have another idiom for you which we'll use as a verb and that is to set foot in some place. This means to go to a place or to enter a place. And you're really going to use this idiom when you want to add emphasis and there's some emotion involved. I could say, "I'm afraid to set foot in my hometown because it's no longer peaceful and quiet and I'm just afraid to go to this place." or I'm so angry at my brother I refuse to set foot in his home and I refuse to enter his home. So hopefully you can sense that emotion. >> I haven't set foot in a bar in years. >> If you set foot in this store ever again, I will bring hell down on you. >> Unless Cersei grants us an audience and is somehow convinced not to murder us the moment we set foot in the capital. When pronouncing this idiom, it's pretty easy to say the individual words, but I want you to say it as a phrase. So, I want you to think about that final T in foot. I'm from the United States, so I am going to pronounce this as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. This is very common with the American accent when the T comes between two vowel sounds. And then we can link that final consonant sound that flap t with the beginning vowel sound in in. And it's going to sound like foot in to set foot in. Just listen for it. I refuse to set foot in there. Then we have the verb allocate. And this means to distribute something for a particular purpose. And there are some great collocations with this verb. You can allocate resources or allocate money or allocate funds or even allocate blame. I could say the city allocated money for disaster relief. Or the company's profits were allocated to its shareholders. And in these sentences, I want to point out that this verb may often be followed with the preposition for or to. to allocate for something or to allocate to someone. >> For every $100 we allocate to research, we spend nearly 30,000 on care. >> In response to your repeated inquiries, it has allocated the enclosed funds for your library project. >> For pronunciation, the verb has three syllables. The stress is on the first syllable and that second syllable has that unstressed schwa sound. Allocate. Allocate. Then we have the verb collaborate. I like this verb. It's a great one when talking about work because it means to work with someone else for a special purpose. And often you may follow this verb with the prepositions with, on, to, or in. I collaborated with my friend. Collaborate with someone. We collaborated on a project. collaborate on something. We collaborated to create new guidelines for the company. Collaborate to do something. We collaborated in implementing the guidelines companywide. Collaborate in doing something. For pronunciation, the verb has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. The first and third syllable have that unstressed schwa sound, that uh sound. Collaborate. Collaborate. I'm sure that at work we have all collaborated with someone. >> Do you want to collaborate on something? >> I collaborated with my designer. It was a match made in [music] heaven. >> The aliens are thinking as we are to collaborate in producing explosion. >> Next is the verb generalize. This means to make a statement that something is true in all cases based on what is true in some cases. I think we can all relate to this verb because people often generalize when talking about groups. So, I'm generalizing when I say salespeople often lie to make more money or dogs are more affectionate than cats [sighs] or politicians are Okay, I'm I'm generalizing and I'm joking, but perhaps that joke didn't fall flat. Let's look at some more news headlines to see how this verb is used in context. Let's not generalize about the kids these days. Don't generalize the LGBTQ community. Smart brands won't generalize when it comes to Gen Z. For pronunciation, there are four syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Generalize. Generalize. One one thing I'll say is that you may hear people say the word without that schwa sound and that schwa sound will elide and it's going to sound more like it has three syllables. Generalize. Generalize. Keep that in mind. Then I have another phrase for you which is also an idiom and that is lose your head. This means to lose control and not act calmly because you're upset. You're angry. And often you're going to use this idiom when talking about troubling situations. I could say, "It's a stressful situation and now's not the time to lose our heads." Or, "When my car broke down, I lost my head and didn't know what to do." Now, this idiom may sound similar to another idiom, lose your mind, but that has a slightly different meaning. If you lose your mind, you become mentally ill, you become crazy. So, I want you to be able to differentiate between those two idioms. Lose your head, lose your mind. But let's just stick with lose your head. When pronouncing this idiom, once again, I would like you to say it as a phrase. And when you say it, assimilation may occur. This is when two sounds blend together to create a new sound. So the final consonant sound in lose may blend with the beginning consonant sound in your and you get this slight sound. It's like we're going to put it right between the words and that allows us to connect them together. It's not something you have to force if you say these words one right after the other. It's just going to occur naturally. Lose your head. Hopefully you can hear that slight sound. Just listen for it. Don't lose your heads. >> Then why did you fall in love with her? >> Well, you know, you lose your head sometimes. >> And then we have the verb facilitate. This means to make something possible or easier. And there are some great collocations with this verb. You can facilitate growth or facilitate learning or facilitate access or even facilitate communication. I create these lessons to facilitate learning and your engagement when you like and comment on these videos. Well, that is going to facilitate the channel's growth. So, please do that. For pronunciation, the verb has four syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Facilitate. And just keep in mind that the C has more of an S, that S sound. Facilitate. I hope that you help facilitate the channel's growth. Now, for a little review, I hope that I was able to broaden your horizons and teach you some new verbs, and I truly believe that if you are able to allocate more time to building your vocabulary, learn new words, review old ones, that's going to help you more easily grasp the meaning of different words and phrases, and it will help you facilitate clear communication. Because let's be honest, as we get older, our brains, our memory, it starts to diminish. And the next thing you know, you won't be able to differentiate between the mafia and government. But I'll tell you, one of them is organized. That was supposed to be a joke. I don't know. Perhaps it fell flat. So, I I need to get going. I'm going to wrap things up. Please don't lose your head. You are welcome to watch another video lesson and continue building your vocabulary. I have a cutting edge vocabulary lesson for you to help you improve your English. Let's just begin with a word that I have already mentioned cutting edge. And this just means very modern with all the newest features. And there are some common collocations with this adjective. Really words you would think of when you hear very modern like cutting edge technology or a cutting edge design or cutting edge research. >> I was a young scientist working with a world-class team. Cutting edge research. >> To attract the top headeds, we'll need to make a recruitment film picture that showcases our cutting edge technology. When pronouncing this word, the stress is going to be on that first syllable. And that T, I am going to pronounce this as a flap T, which is very common when talking about the American accent because that T comes between two vowel sounds. So, I'll say it as a flap T, which is going to sound more like a soft D. Cutting. Cutting edge. And that DG combination. And edge has that J sound. Cutting edge. And if [clears throat] you are someone who appreciates cuttingedge vocabulary lessons, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And throughout the lesson, I'm going to talk to you about the pronunciation of each adjective because I tried to choose words that were a little trickier to pronounce, like this next word, affluent. This means having a lot of money or owning a lot of things. A and you could use this word to describe a person, but often I think you would use it to describe a group of people. Perhaps you're talking about an affluent neighborhood or an affluent country or an affluent family. And in order to demonstrate how this adjective is used in context, I have some news headlines for you. Savvy travel to open new branch in affluent area. Addressing poverty in an affluent society. How can luxury travel companies attract affluent travelers on digital channels? When pronouncing this word, the stress is going to be on that first syllable, affluent. Now, that is the way you're going to find it in most English dictionaries. However, you may hear some people stress that second syllable, and in that case, that first syllable is then going to have that schwa sound, that uh sound. Affluent. You may hear both of these, but I think more commonly, people are going to stress that first syllable, affluent. Then there's the word competent. It means that you are able to do something well and I imagine that you are a competent speaker of English. I I like to think that I am a competent teacher. Now with this adjective you may also follow it with the preposition at. You are competent at something or competent at doing something. If I were to say he is competent at his job. For pronunciation, the stress is on that first syllable and the final syllable has that schwa sound, that uh sound. Competent. Say it with me. Competent. Competent. Excellent. And the next one that I have for you is daytoday. So day-to-day means happening every day as a regular part of your life or job. And I I think we all have day-to-day responsibilities. If I were to talk about my own day-to-day responsibilities, I I take my little girl to school. I teach classes. I try my best to respond to as many comments as possible. So, how about you? What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities? Write to me in the comments and I'll try to respond to you. When it comes to pronouncing this adjective, the only thing that I want to point out is the weak to. When unstressed, it's going to sound more like t with that schwa sound. The other thing that I would say is that t with the American accent. I told you I'm from the US. When it comes between two vowels, I'm going to pronounce it as a flap t. So, it's going to sound more like a soft d. Day to day. The stresses on the words day to day. Day to day. Just just listen for it. >> How does the schedule of an orthopedic surgeon compare to that of a fetal surgeon? Mode varies dayto day. >> Day-to-day administrative responsibilities are to reside with the deputy ops if they don't already. >> Actually need written authorization from the Pentagon to be able to discuss the program with anybody who [music] does not have day-to-day clearance. >> Then we have an adjective that I I think we all try to avoid and that is monotonous. So if something is monotonous, it means not changing and therefore it it's pretty boring. And I I think often you would use this word to talk about task that you have to do routinely either at work or around the home. Uh I could say typing numbers into a spreadsheet can be monotonous. Or sweeping around the home may be monotonous. At least I think it is. When pronouncing this word, it can be a little challenging. It's a longer word, monotonous. The stress is on that second syllable and the t it's going to be a glottle t. This happens when you have the t followed by a vowel sound followed by the n sound. Words like mountain, kitten, monotonous. And really it it's just a glottle stop and it's almost like you're just swallowing the sound. That's the best way I I can describe that glottle stop. Monotonous. Say it with me. Monotonous. monotonous. Excellent. Then there's the word alleged. This refers to something bad or illegal and is believed to be true but not proved. And there are some common adjective noun collocations with this word perhaps talking about an alleged crime. And you can really talk about an alleged any criminal activity you fill in the blank. Alleged thief, alleged drug dealer. He has been arrested for the alleged crime. So, the stress is going to be on that second syllable. But you may hear some people add an extra syllable because of the ed and they're going to say alleged and then it becomes three syllables. And I think that may be more common in the US, but but let's hear both. So, you can hear the the two syllables alleged. He is hereby absolved of all his alleged crimes. >> Alleged, but not proven. >> Since blackmailing is a felony, even when you do it to alleged drug dealers. >> I'm an alleged killer. >> And now you can hear the three syllables. Alleged. >> See if you can identify this alleged killer. >> I've represented mobsters like this for years. Alleged mobsters. >> Either one is okay. I just wanted you to be aware of this. The next adjective is fruitful and this means producing good results. So it really has a positive connotation. Often I think this word describes an outcome that involves some sort of interaction. So I could say my boss and I had a fruitful talk about my contract or there was a fruitful discussion at the meeting. Or how would you describe the negotiation? Fruitful. Okay. It's a It's a positive word, positive connotation. It's good to learn these words. The pronunciation is pretty simple and straightforward. The stress is on that first syllable and that T in fruit, it it's a stop T. Fruitful. Fruitful. Then we have the word conservative. And this means not usually liking or trusting change, especially sudden change. And and really this word is often associated with politics. So, it can be emotionally charged, but but I could say that people who are older tend to be more conservative. I recently tried to talk to my parents about cryptocurrency and they they really were not interested. They don't really trust it. So, I could say in that case they they're definitely more conservative. Now, that is a nonpolitical example, but most of the time you'll hear this word relating to someone's politics, their conservative outlook, referring to the way they view social or economic changes. When pronouncing this word, the stress is on that second syllable, and the T, I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T. Conservative. Conservative. Now, because we're talking about the word conservative, let's go to the other end of the spectrum and talk about the word liberal, which is also a C1 adjective. This means respecting and allowing many different types of beliefs or behavior. And I'll use the same example. I'll just replace the word older with younger. People who are younger tend to be more liberal. When pronouncing this word, the stress is on the first syllable and you may say it with three syllables, liberal. However, because of elision, which is when sounds get removed, that schwa sound in the middle may elide and now we're left with just two syllables. Liberal. And I think often you will hear people pronounce this word with just two syllables and they'll say liberal. >> My mom says you're just going through a liberal phase. >> What? My mom says you're going through a conservative phase. >> There's no such thing. Conservatives only get more conservative. >> Then we have the word idealistic. This means believing that very good things can be achieved often when other people just do not think that it's likely. So this is a great adjective to describe a person. And once again, let me give you some context with some news headlines. What urban planners can learn from this idealistic coffee shop. Utopia isn't just idealistic fantasy. It inspires people to change the world. This is an opinion. Are young social activists too idealistic? And do some have an overly idealistic view of internationalism? For pronunciation, there are five syllables. The stress is on the second to last syllable. Idealistic. Now to give you a syllable stress rule. When a word ends with IC, the stress is going to come on the second to last syllable. Electronic, strategic, idealistic. Next is the adjective preliminary. This means coming before a more important action or event, especially introducing or preparing for it. So think about a courtroom. uh you have a hearing which is a meeting that is related to the the legal problem and I could say there's going to be a preliminary hearing. You could use this with other nouns as well. Here are some examples. >> The preliminary hearing set for next Friday. We'll have to do some preliminary evaluations. >> Preliminary investigation suggests that this was suicide. >> Michael, my preliminary calculations indicate that 15 minutes are needed to break that code. When you pronounce this word, the stress is on the second syllable. Preliminary. But it it's a longer word, so it can be a bit challenging. Let's break it down and say it together. Preliminary. Preliminary. Preliminary. Excellent. And then we have the word genuine. This refers to people or emotions that are are honest and sincere. So, this is another great adjective to talk about a person. Perhaps you make a mistake. You apologize. I accept your apology because you are a genuine person. And and I like to think that I am a genuine person as well. But you don't always have to use this word to talk about people. Perhaps someone makes a genuine apology. And and then the last thing I would say is that people may often use this with the negative not to talk about something that is not honest or or not sincere. His apology was not genuine. When pronouncing this word, it has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. And just keep in mind that the ne at the end of the word is pronounced in genuine. Genuine. So, let's get a little review. I hope that you did not think the lesson was monotonous and I hope you go on to watch another video lesson because it it really doesn't matter whether you are in the preliminary stages of building your vocabulary or if you are highly competent when it comes to using different words and phrases. It's good to learn new words and it's good to review old ones. And and I'm really being genuine when I say this because building your vocabulary should be a part of your day-to-day routine, especially if you want to continue developing your English fluency. So, if you enjoyed this cutting edge vocabulary lesson and you found it fruitful and you learned something new, I'd really appreciate it if you hit that like button. I know. >> I think it's only appropriate after learning that C1 vocabulary that we we take it up a notch and make it a little more difficult. And I want to teach you some C2 vocabulary. And this is even more advanced and would really signify that you are highly proficient and have near native fluency. And once again, I've put them into different categories to make it a little easier to follow along. Now, I don't make many guarantees, but I'm going to make one right now because this vocabulary is more advanced. I guarantee that you will learn something new. I am going to teach you some advanced phrases that I think are common and I'm going to tell you the meaning, talk a little bit about how these phrases are used and I'm also going to teach you how to correctly pronounce these phrases because if you're going to use them, you want to make sure that you are saying them correctly. And if you enjoy building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, let's begin with our first phrase, which is clear the air. people. And you might use this if you have a couple of friends who are unhappy with each other or maybe some family members and there are just some bad feelings and then someone else the person who wants to get those feelings removed that's the person who's going to use this phrase. So if I have a couple of friends that are have been arguing and there are some bad feelings and I am the one who wants them to make up then I might tell them you know it's time to clear the air. We we really need to clear the air and we need to just remove these bad feelings. Now as far as pronunciation goes the the one word that I want to focus on is the article 'the'. And you notice how I just pronounced it then I said it with the schwa sound which is an h sound and it's definitely weakerthe. And typically people might say 'the' before a consonant sound the cat the dog. If the article comes before a vowel sound then people may say the the elephant the air. Now, I I will say that people in the United States, which is where I'm from, may not follow this rule, and they often use the before either a consonant or a vowel. However, in a phrase like this, which is fixed, and you hear these words together, in this case, you are going to say the clear the air. >> Make me join THE ARMY. OKAY, I'LL CUT OFF A TOE. >> WHAT? [laughter] >> OKAY. OKAY. we are just going to clear the air. >> And then we have trial and error. And this is a way of solving a problem by trying a number of different methods and then learning from the mistakes that you make. And I think often this phrase is used when when talking about science because perhaps somebody is doing an experiment and you could say it's just a matter of trial and error before we get the result that we want. These words are frequently used together, a process of trial and error. And I could say that well learning new vocabulary, it's also a process of trial and error because you're learning these phrases. You're going to try to use them in context. You may make mistakes, but that's okay. You'll learn from those mistakes and then you keep practicing until these phrases are a part of your speaking vocabulary. For pronunciation, what I would tell you is that with and I'm going to reduce it so it just sounds like n. Trial and error. And then error is it's a little challenging on its own. The word has two syllables has those two R sounds. Just remember that the stress is on the first syllable. Error. error, trial and error. >> And I can tell you relationships are just trial and error. >> Something else that's a little bit of trial and error is pronunciation. And that's why I've been talking to you about how to correctly pronounce these phrases. And the next phrase that I have for you is to be at odds over or to be at odds with. You can follow it with either of those prepositions. This just means to disagree or be different from something. So, I could say, "My siblings and I are at odds over the family estate. We just disagree." Or, "I'm at odds with his version of the story." Okay? My version is different. So, as far as pronouncing this phrase, I I want you to look at that word at. Okay? Okay, typically it would end with a stop t. But in American English, because I'm from the United States, that T comes between two vowel sounds. So I am going to pronounce it as a flap T, which is going to sound a little more like a soft D. And then I'm going to take that soft D and link it with the vowel sound in odds. At odds. So, you should hear that flap t and then it's getting linked with the vowel sound in odds. I'm at odds with his version of the story. >> Some people say your immigration policy is at odds with your jobs program. How would you respond to that? >> Then there's beyond a doubt or beyond a shadow of a doubt. And in this case, you are just expressing certainty that something is true. I could say I think it's beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Earth's climate is changing. In law, you may hear someone say beyond a reasonable doubt. And this just means that the argument presented shows that someone is guilty and it just must be accepted as fact. So a person might say, "We have shown that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." In order to correctly pronounce this phrase, keep in mind that the article is just going to be pronounced as the schwa sound. It's just going to sound like uh a and then we can do some linking and link some consonants with that schwa sound. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. So two things beyond a of a beyond a shadow of a doubt. So hopefully you can hear that linking occurring. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Clark Kent loves Lois Lane. >> The next phrase is one that I use quite often and that is play it by ear. I really like this one. It means that you are deciding how to handle a situation as it develops instead of acting on some well previous plan that you had. So, I I think I would often use this when traveling that I I like to have an idea of what I'm going to do, but I also want to be able to change those plans as the day develops. So, I could say, "Yeah, you know, let's just play it by ear. I I know we're going to try to do these things, but you know, we can make some changes if necessary. We'll just play it by ear." And when it comes to pronouncing this phrase, there's also some linking going on. The final consonant sound in play can get linked with the vowel sound in it. Play it. Play it. Let's play it by ear. >> So, when are you getting back from Florida? >> I don't know. Play it by ear. Why? >> Go with the flow. This means to do what other people are doing or just agree with other people simply because it's the easiest thing to do. So, you may hear somebody tell you, "Hey, you should just relax and go with the flow." Or I could talk about myself and say, "I'm just going to go with the flow. I really don't have a strong opinion about things. I just want to do what's easiest, so I'm just going to go with the flow." And when saying this phrase, keep in mind there there are some overlapping sounds, those th's. So, that final th in with is going to overlap with the beginning th in 'the'. The only difference is that in with that th is voiceless and in 'the' the th is voiced. So when you're pronouncing this those sounds will overlap and you're really going to say that voiced th. Go with the flow. Go with the flow. I'm going to go with the flow. >> I'm done complaining. I'm evolving. Just going to go with the flow. >> Then we have the phrase to put one's foot down. And this just means to use your authority to stop something from happening. And often I think people would use this phrase in the first person talking about something that's happening at that moment, in which case they're going to use the continuous tense. I'm putting my foot down. So think about somebody who is more of an authority figure. Like parents would say this to their child. If they want to go out to some party and the parent doesn't want them to go, they could say, "No, you're not going to that party. I'm putting my foot down. I'm using my authority to stop this from happening. I'm putting my foot down." There are two things that I want you to keep in mind when pronouncing this phrase. The first is that if you're saying it in the continuous tense, the T in putting comes between two vowel sounds. So again, being from the United States, I am going to use a flat T. So it'll sound like a soft D. I'm putting my foot down. The other thing I want to say is that foot down, there's some co-articulation going on because the position of your tongue when you say foot, all right, that stop T, your tongue is going to be at the top part of your mouth. But then when you move into saying down, your tongue with that duh sound is also going to be at the top. So you're not going to touch it twice and say them as two different words. You're really going to say foot and then move right into that d sound in down. Foot down. Foot down. And your tongue is really just coming up to the top part of your mouth one time. Foot down. I'm putting my foot down. Come on, you guys. >> I'm putting my foot down. Either the dog moves out or I do. >> Then there's down the drain, which is it's not a good phrase because it means that work or money has just been wasted. So, if I were to say all that work down the drain, that the work was well, it wasn't used, it was wasted, maybe it was destroyed, just down the drain. or the money that I won went right down the drain. Okay, I I used it all up probably carelessly. It's gone now and it just went right down the drain. The pronunciation of this phrase, it's pretty straightforward. The only thing I would say is that the article is going to be pronounced with that schwa soundthe. It's that weaker sound down the drain. >> I bought you a ticket for the my pad raffle, Dad. >> Oh, that's tooth fairy money down the drain, sweetie. I never win anything. >> Next is to come under fire. And this just means to be criticized. And really, someone or something comes under fire. I could say the government has come under fire after the failed response. People are angry. They're upset. They're criticizing the government. So, the government has come under fire. Or the CEO has come under fire after the latest scandal. Again, people are angry and they're criticizing and someone has come under fire. Now, when pronouncing this phrase, again, there's a little bit of linking going on. That final consonant sound in come is going to get linked with the vowel sound in under. Come under. Come under fire. Take a look. >> Cam Brady has come under fire. Getting it on with this woman, Shaina St. Cro, a former professional cheerleader. The next one, and it's also one of my favorite phrases from this lesson, and that is jump to conclusions. And and what this means is that someone is just guessing the facts about a situation with without having enough information. And you would say someone is jumping to conclusions. Often, I think people may use this with not. In that case, you're telling someone, let's not jump to conclusions. Let's not guess until we get more information. So I could say let's not jump to conclusions. Uh we need more evidence that is beyond a shadow of a doubt. So in the meantime, let let's just not jump to conclusions. For pronunciation, the only thing that I would say is that preposition to it. It can either be pronounced to, but sometimes it's pronounced with that schwa sound and it's going to sound like t. And often I think you will hear people say t when they're using this phrase. Jump to conclusions. Okay, I'll say it slowly again so you can hear that t. Jump to conclusions. And then when I say it quickly, jump to conclusions. So, it's a very subtle difference, but I'm still using that schwa. Jump to conclusions. >> This was stolen from there. We're accessories to a federal crime. >> Let's not jump to conclusions. A lot of things start with you. >> Then there's out of one's depth. And this means that a a person is not having the knowledge, experience or skills to deal with a particular situation or subject. I I think you would often hear somebody saying this phrase to another person, in which case they're saying, "Look, you're out of your depth. It's too difficult. You don't have the experience or the knowledge. You're out of your depth." A few things when it comes to pronunciation out of. So that t again it comes between two vowel sounds. So I'll pronounce it as a flap t and then I will link it with the vowel sound in of out of out of. And then just just keep in mind depth. It ends with that voiceless th. It's very slight but you should pronounce that voiceless th. Depth. Out of your depth. Out of your depth. >> I know what I'm doing. You don't. You're out of your depth, Ruth. And I'm not going to let you drag Jonah down with you. Okay. >> And then there's to do someone or something justice. And this just means to be accurate or fair by representing someone or something as that person or thing truly is. And let me let me give you a couple of examples. I think it'll make more sense. So, this phrase is often used in the negative and with the pronoun it. Doesn't do it justice. So, it's like I'm I'm talking about a situation and then saying that it's just not an accurate representation. Like the the book is so much better than the movie. The movie doesn't do it justice or the Grand Canyon is breathtaking. Pictures don't do it justice. That pictures are just it's just not a fair or accurate representation of the Grand Canyon. you really got to go there. The pictures, they just don't do it justice. So, when you say this phrase, if you're using the pronoun it, then there's going to be some intrusion. Intrusion is when you are adding a sound in between two other sounds. So, in this case, we're going to add a slight W sound between do and it. Do it. This allows us to link those two vowel sounds together. It doesn't do it justice. It just doesn't do it justice. doesn't do any justice. I'll tell you that. >> You always said you like my nose. >> I love your nose. >> It's real big up there. >> So, I hope that I have demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that these phrases are useful. And I I truly think that when you are learning advanced phrases like these, you are not out of your depth. You have the experience. You have the knowledge. You just need to learn them and just get a little practice using them. But I I do not want to jump to conclusions. Only you can tell me how much you understand and how much you have learned. And I would appreciate it if you let me know down in those comments. In today's lesson, I want to teach you some advanced C2 verbs. Let's begin with the verb to relish. What this means is to like or enjoy something. And really, you're just adding a bit of emphasis. So, as I just said, I I'm sure you relish learning new vocabulary. You enjoy it and and you know that you're enjoying it. And you can follow this verb with either a gerand or a noun. So, to give you a couple of examples with jirens, I could say, I relish traveling to exotic locations. Or, I relish eating ice cream on a hot summer day. And then if you're going to follow it with a noun, there are some common collocations and these are words that are frequently used together. So you may relish the thought, prospect or idea of doing something or you may relish the chance or the opportunity to do something. And those are some useful collocations. When it comes to pronouncing the verb, it has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Relish. >> She won't survive. [music] >> I don't relish hurting anyone, Steven, but she's not a child. >> H. Well, Victoria relishes her status as queen bee, right? >> Pathologically >> coincide. So, this verb has two meanings. The first one is to happen at or near the same time. And often you're going to follow the verb with the preposition with. So, you would say that something coincides with something else. And uh you're not really talking about everyday activities like going to the coffee shop coincides with this. You you're talking about events that may not occur regularly. So I could say, "Look, I'm sorry I can't go to your birthday party because it coincides with a business trip that I have to take. It's happening at the same time." It also means to be the same or similar. So I could say, "If our schedules coincide, then we can plan to travel together." We'll we'll take the train. If our schedules coincide and they're the same. For pronunciation, the verb has three syllables. The stress is on that third syllable. Coincide. And just keep in mind the co o i n. It's not pronounced as coin. Two different syllables. Coen. Coincide. To coincide with something. And then we have the verb squander. I like this verb even though it it has a negative connotation because it means to waste money or supplies or to waste opportunities by not taking advantage of them. So in the United States which is where I am from I could say many people feel that the government squanders taxpayer money and they just waste that money. You may also hear people use this in a statement and say, "Hey, don't squander this opportunity." That is a collocation to squander an opportunity. For pronunciation, the verb has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, squander. And keep in mind that sqa has that squa sound. To squander something. >> Screw you, Dean. You squandered your gift. >> Squandered my gift. Made 68 albums. Did I want to be made manager? Sure. A great opportunity squandered? Absolutely. A crushing blow? Yes. And the next C2 verb that I have for you is commemorate. And this means to remember officially and give respect to a great person or event, especially by some public ceremony or by making a statue or a special building. And I thought that I would show you some different news headlines so that you can see how this verb is used in context. Events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. or to lane to host campus celebration to commemorate historic cotton bowl win. That's talking about American football. Museum to commemorate 70th anniversary of 1953 floods. Democrats commemorate January 6 attack with tears and silence at US capital. So, these are just some random news headlines that I found on the day that I created this lesson. And it's just using the verb in context. So, hopefully that gives you a better understanding. When pronouncing this verb, it has four syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Commemorate. Commemorate. And just keep in mind that first and third syllable have that schwa sound, that unstressed vowel sound which sounds like uh commemorate. Commemorate. And the next verb. [gasps] That's that's your hint. What verb is that? And the verb that I'm talking about is gasp. Gasp. >> And it it has two different meanings. And it's really a difference between talking about well one breath or many breaths. So the first meaning is to take a short quick breath through the mouth because of shock, pain or surprise. It's just that one breath. Gasp. And people may use this as an interjection and saying something surprising like and he never returned home and saw his family again. Gasp. or it's used in storytelling with those dialogue tags to describe speaking. Help me, he gasped. It also means to breathe loudly and with difficulty, really trying to get more air. And in this case, it's several breaths and often people may end up using it in the continuous tense, gasping. Uh I could say that the wave knocked me over and I was gasping for air. That is a common collocation with this verb to say that someone is gasping for air. When it comes to pronunciation, I think the most challenging thing about this verb would be saying it in the past tense. Gasp. It's a regular verb. So in the past, it's going to end with ed d. And because that final p sound is voiceless, the ed d is going to take on a t- sound. So, we have the P sound followed by the T- sound, which can be a little difficult. It's going to sound like T- gasped. Gasped. Give it a try. Gasped. Excellent. The next verb is intervene. And this means to intentionally become involved in a situation in order to improve it or just prevent it from getting worse. So, if there is an argument or a fight, someone may intervene. I could say that the referee intervened to stop the fight. They just did not want it to get worse. I could also say the Federal Reserve has intervened in financial markets in order to stop inflation and they're getting involved in the situation to try to improve it. Now, for pronunciation, the verb has three syllables. the stress is on that third syllable. Intervene. One thing I want to point out when it comes to the American accent, because I'm from the United States, is when the T follows an N sound, especially in unstressed syllables, it may elide and people may drop it. So instead of intervene, you may hear someone say intervene. So just keep that in mind. In the United States, you may hear both pronunciations. One with the T. >> Intervene. Go ahead. Intervene all you. I'm just afraid you might be interfering while we're intervening and one without. >> I want to say something terrible to someone I love. >> I curse my tongue. >> I'm going to intervene here. >> And then there's to label. This refers to a word or phrase that's used to describe the characteristics or qualities of a person, event, or thing. and really in a way that's unfair. So, you may label someone as something. That is a common phrase to label someone as something. In my lifetime, I have been labeled as a troublemaker uh at school when I was younger. I've also been labeled as a slacker, which is a noun that means someone who does not work very hard. And of course I would disagree with this, but it happens if we get the wrong impression of someone or something and we may label them as this thing, which is usually negative. Now, for pronunciation, the word has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable label. The other thing I'd like to point out is the second syllable, it ends with that dark L, which is that sound. And then if we're following it with the word as, I told you that's a common phrase. Well, then we can link that dark L with the beginning vowel sound in as. Label as. Label as. >> They imposed struggle and hardship on us. They labeled us as criminals for pushing back. >> The mortgage officer had messed up Miranda's application. They had inadvertently labeled her as separated. >> The next verb is imply. And this is a very useful verb. It means to communicate an idea or feeling without directly saying it. And because you're not directly saying it, people may use this verb when asking a question. And they would ask, "What are you implying?" So, I'm going to give you an example. I'm going to imply something without directly saying it. And I just want you to think about what it is that I'm implying. So, if I said, "Gosh, I really hope that you like this video lesson." And when I say like, I'm talking about enjoy that you relish learning new vocabulary. And if only there were some way for you to commemorate this lesson so that it gets labeled as a great vocabulary lesson. And now I'm using it in a positive way. It gets labeled as a great lesson. if there was just something that that you could do to commemorate this video. And I'm just pointing to that thumbs up because I'm implying that you should hit the like button and I think that you are probably able to guess that. So, when it comes to pronouncing this verb, it has two syllables. The stress is on the second syllable, imply. Now, I I don't think the pronunciation is too challenging. What I think is difficult about this verb is that it's sometimes confused with another verb, which is infer. And that's the next C2 verb that I want to talk to you about to infer something. This means to form an opinion or guess that something is true based on the information that you have. So if you see me and I'm just soaking wet, what might you infer about the weather? I imagine that you would infer that it's raining outside. Or maybe you see me and I'm really happy and I'm smiling, grinning from ear to ear. What might you infer? I I really don't know. You can you can let me know down in the comments. The verb, it has two syllables. And once again, the stress is on the second syllable, infer. And I don't think the pronunciation is too challenging. Just try not to confuse those two verbs. To imply to infer if by me you are inferring that I have BO. >> Michael, he wasn't inferring. He was implying you. You were inferring. >> Was I? >> I see you guys are inferring that I'm stupid. >> That's not correct. We were implying it. >> You then inferred it. >> The next verb is to speculate. And I think this is a very useful verb because it's pretty common. People do this all the time to speculate. It means to guess possible answers to a question when when we don't have enough information to be certain. So we do this quite often because well I think people just like speculating about different things when trying to explain something that happened and we don't have all the answers and we may speculate or we're trying to guess what will happen in the future and we can only speculate. To give you an example, I could say journalists are speculating what the president may say in his upcoming announcement. And I think in general, it's well, it's not always good to speculate or at least we should tell people that that is what we're doing because sometimes people will speculate and then others will just take that as the truth and it can cause some problems. Now, the verb has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Speculate. And I really think this verb is well pronounced the way it's spelled. It's pretty straightforward. To speculate, succumb. So to succumb has two different meanings. And once again, I'll show you some news headlines so that you can see how this verb is used in context. So the first meaning is to lose the determination to oppose something. And really, you're just accepting defeat. visit these popular tourist traps before they succumb to climate change. This is how Israel's economy could succumb to populism. Samsung is first to succumb to a slowing economy that is crushing semiconductors. The next meaning is to die or suffer badly from an illness or injury. Battling Morocco eventually succumb to injuries. And in this case, they're they're talking about their football team. to succumb to injuries sustained after falling from mobile tower. When pronouncing this verb, it has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Succumb. And just keep in mind there is a silent b at the end of the verb to succumb. And then there's the verb trudge. To trudge means to walk slowly with a lot of effort, especially over a difficult surface or when carrying something heavy. And often you may follow this verb with a preposition. Trudge up, trudge down, trudge over, trudge through. Maybe you had to trudge up a mountain. Or perhaps you had to trudge through the snow. And in both situations, you're walking slowly with a lot of effort. For pronunciation, it's just one syllable. That dg has that J sound similar to the word judge. These are rhyming words. Trudge. judge. The other thing I'd point out is that if the verb is followed by a preposition that begins with a vowel sound, then linking may occur. Trudge up. Trudge over. Right? Something to keep in mind. Let's do a little review. Now, I am not going to speculate as to whether or not you will watch another video lesson. I I'm sure that you relish building your vocabulary. And because you're still here right now, then I'm just going to infer that you will watch another video lesson because I don't think you want to squander this amazing opportunity to continue improving your overall English fluency. And I really don't want you to succumb to any feelings of inadequacy when it comes to your language abilities. I want you to stay positive. I want you to stay motivated. And I want you to continue learning new things. All right, that's a little review using these verbs in context. I think you will be in awe of the nouns that I'm going to teach you. And I'm sure that you will learn something new. And awe, this is the first word that I want to teach you. That's right. This is a noun awe and it's referring to a feeling of great respect sometimes mixed with fear or surprise. And often you're going to use this word in the phrase in awe of someone or in awe of something. So I I could say the children were in awe of their grandfather. Okay, they had that feeling of respect. Or we watched in awe as the lion attack the buffalo. So again, it's like you have respect for mother nature, but it's also mixed with a bit of fear and surprise. When pronouncing this word, it's just that vowel sound a like you would have in the word saw. And when talking about the phrase in a of, we can link that final consonant sound in in that n sound with the vowel sound a in awe. In awe of someone or in awe of something. And as we go through the lesson, I want to talk to you a little bit about the pronunciation because I I tried to choose words that are a bit challenging like this next one, bureaucracy. So, this is talking about complicated rules or processes used by an organization, especially when they do not seem necessary. And this noun, it really does have a negative connotation. And frequently you may use this when talking about larger companies, uh, governments or institutions. And you may even emphasize it with a a phrase like a lot of. There is a lot of government bureaucracy or the company is so slow to change because there's too much bureaucracy. >> With all the bureaucracy in a hospital, sometimes you have to bend the rules to help a patient. >> No, I didn't. I didn't do it for Leslie. I did it because I hate bureaucracy. >> I'm giving you both the IPA and phonetic spelling so you can actually see how the word is pronounced in bureaucracy. It has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy. Frenzy. This is talking about uncontrolled and excited behavior or emotion that may sometimes be a little violent. So, I could say Black Friday is a shopping frenzy. It's busy. It's a bit aggressive. Or you may hear this noun being used in the collocation feeding frenzy, which refers to a group attacking a prey. But you really could use feeding frenzy when referring to a situation in which people are trying to get as much of something as they possibly can. Your brother is creating his own media feeding frenzy and all of it is negative. >> Store in the village had one of those crazy sales. It was a footwear feeding frenzy. >> You could use this noun in the phrase to whip someone into a frenzy. And what this means is like you're causing someone to feel this way, this uncontrolled emotion. >> As the crowd that had gathered to hear Herbert Love speak was whipped into a frenzy. >> As far as pronouncing this word, it's pretty simple and straightforward. It just has two syllables. the stress is on that first syllable, frenzy. But for the most part, I I really wanted to share with you those phrases that you can use this noun with. And the next one that I have for you is cliche. This is a saying or remark that is often used and therefore it's not interesting and it's not original. So I I could tell you something like, well, look, you know what they say, opposites attract. That phrase opposites attract. It's pretty common, well-known. It's It's not original. And maybe you tell me, "Come on, Wes. That's so cliche." And if you were to tell somebody, "Look, oh, it's so cliche." It it kind of has a bit of a negative connotation because basically you're saying that, "Well, you're you're just not impressed with what somebody's saying to you. It's just not interesting." Or maybe I I start out by saying something like, "Hey, I know it's cliche, but time heals all wounds." All right. So, I'm basically admitting that what I'm the saying that I'm using, it's cliche. So, there there are many different sayings in English that you could say are cliche. >> I really just want him to be happy. And I know that sounds cliche. And I know saying it sounds cliche sounds cliche. Maybe I'm being cliche. I don't care. >> I know that you're just looking at this word and thinking, "Wait a second. There are no accent marks in English." Well, this is a word that English has borrowed from French. And that's why again the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match. Cliche. It has two syllables. The stress is on that second syllable and the ch e with the accent mark sounds like shay. Cliche. The next word is paradigm. So this noun is talking about well a model of something or just a very clear and typical example of something. And I thought well a good way to give you an example is just to show you some different news headlines so you can see how this word is used in context. A paradigm shift EUR Russia relations after the war in Ukraine. Are we witnessing the emergence of a new paradigm? And and this article goes on to talk about the the mental health system. But what I really want to point out are the words that are being used with this noun. These are collocations, talking about a paradigm shift or a new paradigm. When pronouncing this word, it has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. But it's that third syllable that can be a little tricky because once again, this is when the spelling and pronunciation just do not match. So the third syllable has a silent G. And the vowel sound, it's a long I sound, not a short vowel sound. Paradigm. Paradigm. >> But our society has undergone a paradigm shift. In the information age, Sheldon, you and I are the alpha males. >> Let's just keep the momentum going with our next word, which is momentum. So this is talking about the force that moves an object or an event developing or making progress. So, if we're talking about the force that moves an object, think of, well, physics. As the car goes downhill, it gains momentum. If we're talking about an event developing or making progress, well, then you could think of a competition. The home team lost momentum when their star player got injured. And and once again, I want to point out those collocations, those words that are used with this noun, to gain momentum or to lose momentum. The word has three syllables. the stress is on that second syllable. Momentum. one thing I'll say, and this is really about the American accent. Sometimes when the T follows an N sound, it may elide and it gets removed. And this happens with words like internet or center. So, if you're in the United States, you may hear somebody drop that T and it's going to sound like momentum. >> So, I figured we start out local just to get our momentum going. Now, again, this is specific to the US, and I'm only telling you this because that's where I'm from, but in general, you can't go wrong pronouncing that T, momentum. >> Why are you taking so long between fireworks? I'm building momentum, man. >> Then we have morale, which is a great noun to know. It's talking about the amount of confidence felt by a person or group of people, especially when in a difficult or dangerous situation. And once again, there are a lot of great collocations with this noun. So, you could use them with certain adjectives like high morale or low morale or employee morale or you could use them with uh some different verbs as well. To raise morale, to boost morale, to bring up morale. I really hope that these video lessons boost your morale, and just make you want to continue learning. >> I think I should, don't you? >> Absolutely, sir. Sure. force boost morale. Trying to keep morale high. Just trying to raise morale. >> The pronunciation can be a little tricky. Just know that the stress is on that second syllable. Morale. And don't be fooled by that e at the end. It's not a long vowel sound, but a short vowel sound. Morale. Then there's withdrawal. And this just means well taking money out of the bank. And there is a common verb noun collocation to make a withdrawal. I need to make a withdrawal. Can I make a withdrawal? And really, I chose this word because of the difficulty with the pronunciation. Because I've had many learners tell me that they really have trouble pronouncing this word. It has three syllables. The stress is on that second syllable, that draw. But it's that third syllable that I I think people have trouble with that dark L. So you're going to stress that second syllable and move right into that dark L which is has that sound. Withdrawal. Drawal. Withdrawal. Just keep practicing. Give it a try. Say it a few times and I think you'll start to feel a little more comfortable saying it. The next noun is deterrent. And this is something that stops people doing something because they're afraid of what may happen. And you may use this noun in the phrase and say that something acts as a deterrent to something else. Like the teacher's strict punishments act as a deterrent to cheating. And there are also some useful adjective noun collocations uh saying that well something is a strong deterrent or talking about a nuclear deterrent or an effective deterrent. This word has three syllables. The stress is on that second syllable deterrent. Now one thing I want to quickly point out uh and this also has to do with the American accent and that is the flap t. A flap T is going to sound like a soft D. And Americans, we love the flap T. Often this occurs when the T comes between two vowels like water. Now the T in deterrent, it also comes between two vowels, but we are not going to say this with a flap T. And this is because the T comes at the beginning of a stressed syllable. So when the T comes at the beginning of a stress syllable, then you're going to say it as a true T and not a flap T. And that is why you would pronounce this and say deterrent. Just thought you should know. >> How will the Umbrella Academy ever become an effective crime deterrent? >> Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. >> Ambiguity. I like this noun. It's talking about something that may have more than one meaning and can therefore cause some confusion. And you may also use this word as an adjective. It's quite common, ambiguous. But we're talking about nouns, so let's use it as a noun. And I could say there is ambiguity in the new law. In this case, I'm saying that the law, you know, may have different meanings. Or perhaps I tell you, hey, be specific so there's no ambiguity. All right? I I I want things to be very specific and clear so there's no ambiguity. >> All right, time for Fast and the Furious 1 through 7. This is a 14-hour meditation on the importance of family, fast cars, product placement, racial ambiguity, and family. >> The word has five syllables. And if you want to learn something about syllable stress, when the word ends in I ty, the stress is going to be on the third to last syllable. That gu. Ambiguity. Ambiguity. The next noun is this one right here. Diarrhea. And this is an illness in which your waste is not solid but liquid. And I really don't think I need to go into great detail explaining the meaning of this noun. I think there is no ambiguity with what I'm trying to tell you. I I think this is a word you have probably heard of before. You probably know it already. But the reason why I'm including it in this lesson is really because of the spelling. And even in the UK, there's a different spelling. And I think a lot of native English speakers probably could not spell this word. It it is one that you're probably going to use more in spoken English, but I think it's important because it it has to do with your health. if you're in the doctor's office or perhaps you may even need to write it down if you're trying to write some of your symptoms. So, it's important to to keep in mind the spelling and try to remember how this word is spelled. For pronunciation, the word has four syllables. The stress is on that third syllable, diarrhea. But really, I I just wanted to highlight the spelling of this word. And then there's whereabouts. This is just talking about the place where someone or something is. And often you would use this talking about someone's whereabouts. The police don't know the criminal's whereabouts. Or or perhaps uh I could say we're unsure of her exact whereabouts. That is a collocation with this noun. You may hear people use this in a question like whereabouts in the US are you from? This is a question that I sometimes get and I tell people well I grew up in the south but there are quite a few different places all over the country where I have lived. And this is also a C2 word. And I use the word also because when you're using it in a question like this, it's not a noun, it's an adverb. But we're we're talking about nouns. And in this case, you're you're often going to be talking about someone's whereabouts. >> We need his whereabouts. >> And her whereabouts are unknown. >> The pronunciation, it's pretty straightforward. There are three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Whereabouts. Let's try and do a little bit of review. I hope that I was able to avoid any ambiguity when explaining the meaning of these different nouns. And you know, now that you probably feel good about building your vocabulary, I I hope that you can use that positive momentum to to go ahead and watch another video lesson because I I try to make these lessons easy to follow and understand because I I think that's what's really going to help boost your morale. And even if you find a word confusing and you don't completely understand it, please don't let that be a deterrent when it comes to building your vocabulary and just trying to learn new words. And [laughter] you can let me know your whereabouts down in the comments. I was just trying to use some of these nouns, get a little review, and use them in context. learn some advanced C2 adjectives to help you build your vocabulary. And I will be very clear with my explanation and I will not be ambiguous. And that's the first word that I want to teach you in today's lesson. Ambiguous. It means having or expressing more than one possible meaning. And often this is done intentionally. So let's have a look at this image right here. Is it a rabbit or is it a duck? What do you see? A rabbit or a duck? I could say that this image is ambiguous. All right, it has more than one possible answer. And mostly you're going to use this adjective to to refer to something that someone says or perhaps the way that something is worded like uh a contract. I could say the contract is ambiguous and open to interpretation that it may have more than one possible meaning. It's ambiguous. >> I'm looking over my text correspondence with Beverly and I don't see anything that would have given her offense. Nothing's ambiguous. I spell everything out. Then we have complimentary. So this word has a couple of different meanings. The first one is praising or showing admiration for someone. I could say that well sometimes you are very complimentary about some of my vocabulary lessons and I really appreciate that. Now the C2 meaning the more advanced meaning for this word it refers to well tickets, books or any item that may be given for free especially by a business. So in in this case I want you to think of uh a hotel or a flight. So if I go to my hotel room I might say oh I was given a complimentary bottle of water. All right it was already in the hotel room. it's free. Or on an airplane, when you fly, you may be offered complimentary snacks. Now, when it comes to pronunciation, very quickly, I just want to let you know because I'm from the United States, sometimes people will drop that T because it follows the N sound and it's going to sound like complimentary. Okay? So, complimentary or complimentary if you are in the US. >> Hi, what's the damage here? >> Nothing. Yes, >> for the for these >> free >> these are complimentary >> complimentary free whatever you want. >> Handy is the next adjective that I want to teach you. If you say that something is handy, it just means that it is useful or convenient. Mostly I think people are going to use this adjective to talk about items in which they can well use for a variety of reasons or just items that are are really helpful in a difficult situation. You could say, "Wow, this is just really handy. My wife thinks that her Apple Watch is pretty handy because she can use it for a variety of things. And you can also use this adjective in the idiom to come in handy. And if you say that something comes in handy, that just means that it's useful. >> Oh, that's the latest liquid crystal TV. >> Very handy. >> Indispensable. Now you will use this adjective when you want to say that something or someone is so useful, so good, so important that you cannot manage without it or without him or her if we're talking about a person. And most of the time you're going to use this as a predicate adjective and it's going to follow the verb to be. She is an indispensable part of the team. The office should not get rid of the coffee machine. It's indispensable. And legitimate is the next adjective that I want to teach you. And this has two different meanings, both of them. C2. The first meaning is allowed by law. So when I was younger, I had a fake ID and it looked legitimate. Okay? Like it was uh lawful. And I I used this ID when I was in university to buy beer. You know, I was younger. the US you have to be 21 which I think is a little old but that's neither here nor there but the ID looked legitimate. The next meaning is reasonable or acceptable. So I could say her argument was legitimate so we refunded her money. That the argument was reasonable and we gave her a refund. It was legitimate. And with the pronunciation of this word, that first T, because I am from the United States, I will pronounce it as a flap T, which is going to sound like a soft D. Legitimate. Legitimate. >> You assert that Mr. Rose harassed you. How do you know he didn't have a legitimate reason to be in your office? >> Then there's questionable, which means not certain or wrong in some way. And questionable, it has that able suffix, which means you're capable of something. In this case, it's like you're capable of asking questions. Is this right or wrong? Is it good or bad? And really, yes, it implies that something is just it's it's just wrong. So, my wife would say that my sense of fashion is questionable. And to be honest, she's she's right. It it is questionable. Uh but you could also say that, well, something may be ethically questionable. Is it the right thing to do? Or you could even refer to the way food tastes and say, "Wow, this food, it tastes questionable. I don't I don't know if it's still good." And yeah, if food tastes questionable, then you probably should not eat it. >> There's a solid chance I may have insulted the owner. >> That doesn't sound like something you do. >> She has very questionable taste. >> Next is grim. And I probably shouldn't be smiling when I say this adjective because it means worrying and without hope. So, it's not a good thing if you say something is grim. And typically, you're talking about the way something looks, appears, or seems. So, I could say, "Wow, the weather today looks grim. I don't think we should go outside." Or, you know, to be honest, the future of American politics right now, it looks grim. People are very divided. There's a lot of misinformation out there. And, yeah, I think a lot of people would agree that it looks grim. Son of a beasting. She's turning the entire office against us. >> This is grim. Real grim. What are we going to do? >> The next adjective is coherent. This also has two different meanings. Both of them C2. And the first meaning is referring to an argument, plan or idea that is clear and each part connects to each other in a reasonable way. So really, you're just saying that something is very easy to understand. I could tell you that the lawyer made a coherent argument. The next meaning refers to someone who you understand what they're saying. And in this case, I think most of the time people will use this in the negative to say that you don't understand someone. Uh I could tell you he's he's not coherent at the moment. Or I could just use the antonym and say incoherent. But just keep that in mind when talking about a person. I I think often you will use this in the negative to say that someone is not coherent or incoherent. >> You don't hear that loud high-pitched incessant humming coming from the vents that is making it impossible for me to think straight, let alone string together one coherent sentence. >> Dubious. And I like this adjective mostly because I just like saying dubious. All right, that sounds dubious. And it means that something is just not completely true or just should not be completely trusted. And I I think we can all relate to this one. Think about email scams. And I would get an email with this subject heading. Congratulations, you've been selected. And it just it's all it just looks dubious. And these are actually legitimate emails that I have received just this past week. And I did not open them. I did not click on anything because they're dubious. It didn't compress the whole thing. It should be twice that size. >> I mean, 24 gigs, that's less than a fourth the file size. That seems dubious, Richard. >> Then there's compulsive. And this means that you are doing something a lot and you're unable to stop it. And this is often used as an attributive adjective, which means it's going to come before the noun. I could say that my neighbor is a compulsive gambler or my colleague is a compulsive liar. And because of the meaning that you're doing something excessively and you just can't stop, it really often refers to things that are not good like compulsive gambler or compulsive liar. >> Read it. Uh personality overview. Mr. Stark displays compulsive behavior. In my own defense, that was last week. Then we have pushy. And this is another adjective that I just like to say pushy. But it's also not a good thing because it means that someone is behaving in an unpleasant way by trying too much to get something or to make someone do something. So it's not good if somebody's being really pushy. And I want you to think of a salesperson. They want to sell you something. And sometimes they can be very aggressive. And you could say that maybe they're they're being really pushy. I could also say that, well, my wife likes to try new restaurants around town. And even if I think that the place is questionable, she really wants to go and sometimes she can be a little pushy. And even though this adjective is not a good one, you can use it among friends or family because I think often we we really want someone to do something. And yeah, I think we can all be a bit pushy from time to time. >> Before you go in, you fill out comment card. >> Okay. Uh, don't forget the back. >> You people are so pushy. >> What? Israeli people are pushy. >> Then there's carefree, which means having no problem and not worried about anything. And I think you would often use this to describe a person's uh personality. And I could say he is young, carefree, and just wants to travel the world. And I I think we can all relate to this word uh thinking about a different time or a period in our lives where maybe we didn't have much worry. And I could say, well, remember those carefree days back in high school? Those were some carefree days. >> See, before when I was just another employee, I was happy, carefree, the guy who hung out in the break room making fun of the boss. Then we have conceited which means you are too proud of yourself and your actions and abilities. And I think that well we can all think of someone who we might describe as a little conceited. And that's what I want you to do right now. I want you to think of someone and make an association with this word. And I am thinking about an old colleague of mine from a long time ago who was a great teacher. But typically you don't go around just telling everyone this and they would sound conceited. And because this is pretty common that someone is acting too proud, there are several other synonyms. You could say arrogant, proud, superior. But this is a great way to build and expand your vocabulary by learning a word like this. Conceited. >> Friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us. >> So conceited, Clint, you're so conce you're like full of yourself. Why are you like that? >> I'm not saying that to be conceited. >> Then we have the word rigid which means stiff or fixed, not able to be bent or moved. And I will try to give you an example of each. So, think about well a metal uh you could say that it's rigid. You're not able to bend it. If we're talking about fixed, I think people might be referring to well something like a set of rules. The teacher's rules were so rigid throughout the year that they were just fixed and and very strict in that case. If we want to say stiff, then I think you're probably describing uh a person and this that they're very stiff perhaps because they're scared or afraid. We were all so scared of the new boss. We were rigid in our chairs. All right. And you're just very stiff. >> Do you have any idea how rigid you can be? I have to be rigid to hold things together in the face of Armageddon. >> Then we have the adjective feeble, which means weak or without energy, strength, or power. And you could use this to describe a person especially as someone becomes much older. I could say that well in the future like far away in the future I hope I will become a feeble and helpless old man. All right that's probably what will happen in in the distant future. Or perhaps you're describing an institution or government that just does not have much power. Uh, I could say it didn't take long to discover that the new government was feeble and corrupt. >> The first year, by sheer dumb luck, Jake eaked out a feeble victory. >> And last year, I let the captain win because he's old and sad. >> So, I hope that I was coherent throughout this lesson and that my explanation was clear and that nothing was ambiguous. But I I will say that uh these words are legitimate and you will hear them from time to time. So I think they're very useful when it comes to building your vocabulary, but at the same time I I don't want to be pushy. I don't want to tell you like, oh, you have to learn these words. It's all about just getting that exposure, learning a little bit at a time. And I just hope that you learn something new in today's lesson. And if you're doing great, we've covered a lot so far. And right now I want to switch gears and focus on idioms which are are more casual, but we still use them often in everyday conversation. And I I've talked about some idioms already, but I'd really want to do a deep dive and teach you some useful idioms that I definitely think you should know. And when it comes to using idioms, it can be a little tricky figuring out how to use them and in what context. and you really just need to practice and it's going to help your overall speaking fluency. I think it is very useful for your listening comprehension because you are definitely going to hear these idioms in movies, TV shows, or if you're just out on the street. So, let's have some fun and learn a lot of useful idioms. I want to talk to you about some common idioms and expressions that that you can use in everyday conversation. And this will really help improve your your comprehension and overall English fluency. So, the first idiom that I want to talk to you about is to turn over a new leaf. And this just means to start fresh, to start new. You really want to to change your attitude or your circumstances. So, for example, maybe somebody might lose their job and they say, "Okay, I need to turn over a new leaf. I need to start fresh and I need to change these circumstances. I need to start looking for another job. Start a new start fresh. >> Maybe a road trip is exactly what I need right now. >> Starting tomorrow, I am turning over a new leaf. Time with you is my number one priority. >> I'm turning over a new leaf and my good luck starts now. >> The next idiom is the autumn years. And well, autumn is another word for fall. And if somebody's referring to the autumn years, they're talking about uh the later point in someone's life. They would refer to it as the autumn years when somebody gets older. And yes, this this is not your autumn years. That's our little girl Emmy. She she's just a little baby. But when you're talking about later on in somebody's life, you may hear you may hear them refer to it and say the autumn years. >> You're getting a little philosophical for me. >> I suppose so. They say it happens in the autumn years. I may teach, I may write a book, whatever the hell one does when one approaches the autumn of one's years. >> Then we have the idiom to drive someone nuts. And this is relevant. I think of fall. I often think of nuts. You can find them on the ground. And nuts is also an informal word, kind of slang that means the same as crazy. So if you drive someone nuts, it just means that you are making them crazy. Perhaps a person could be driving you nuts or maybe a situation is is just driving you nuts. >> Hey, uh, I'm not going to mince words. Mitchell is driving me nuts. >> You better think you're lucky stars. I'm not in this competition because I would eat you for breakfast. >> You're driving me nuts. >> Babe, you your mother drives you nuts. >> Then we have one of my favorite idioms cuz I like I like using it from time to time when especially when I feel sick. And that idiom is under the weather. And you say that somebody maybe feels a little bit under the weather. And what it means is that person is kind of starting to feel a little sick. So it's not like they're really sick. It's just maybe they're a little sick or they're starting to feel sick. You say, "Yeah, I'm feeling feeling a little bit under the weather right now." >> Yeah. Um heard you were under the weather. >> Oh, I uh I didn't think I was going to get to see you until tomorrow. >> Yeah, well Bernardet's a little under the weather. >> Manubis, you sound unwell. Well, I have been feeling a little under the weather, but I'm feeling much better now. >> Next is neck of the woods. And if you hear somebody talking about like, oh, for example, what are you doing in my neck of the woods? They're talking about a particular area or maybe even a particular neighborhood. So, that's what it means, neck of the woods. >> A few errands. >> I'm going to be in your neck of the woods soon. And um it would be very nice to see you. >> Well, if you ever get down in my neck of the woods, you got a place to stay. Another idiom with woods is not out of the woods. Because when I think of the fall, I often think of the woods. And if you say that you are not out of the woods, it just means that you are not out of danger. So out of the woods is talking about out of danger. And I think most of the time you hear it with the word not. Somebody is trying to say that they are not safe. They are still in a dangerous area. They are not out of the woods just yet. I think you might hear this in like TV shows and movies. If somebody is being chased by another person or a group of people and they they haven't lost that group, they're still being chased. They say, "You know, we're not we're not out of the woods just yet. We need to keep running." >> Mike's going to be okay. >> Can we see him? >> Not out of the woods yet. >> I guess one of you could go in for just a minute. The heartbeat's stronger, but we're not out of the woods. Need to get things going now. The cord is wrapped around the neck. And if somebody is shaking like a leaf, it's a way to describe somebody who is trembling. this person is shaking. They're trembling mostly because of fear. You can say, "Ah, they they shaking like a leaf." The same way that in autumn leaves they tremble, they shake and then they fall to the ground. And again, if somebody is trembling, then you could say they are shaking like a leaf. >> Come sit in your chair, deary. You're shaking like a leaf. >> He's got to be on muscle. Muscle. He's shaking like a leaf. How's he going to do anything? >> He wanted to talk about his father's symptoms. He Skyped and there he was. He is shaking like a leaf. >> Then we have to get wind of something. And if you get wind of something, it just means that you hear some rumor about something. It could be a rumor about something or a rumor about someone and and you get wind of this information. You learn about it. You hear about it. You could say, "Yeah, you know, I got I got wind of that. I heard about that rumor or I heard that piece of information." To get wind of something. >> Thought the publicity would really help. Zip couch. Once the press gets wind of this, you know, Bolivians get wind of this, you know what they're going to say? They're going to say, "You wear pissy pants." >> If the pervert community gets wind of morning jogging, oh god, help us. >> Then we have the apple of someone's eye. And if if you're talking about the apple of someone's eye, it just refers to a person who is loved the most by someone else. So for [laughter] for example, yes, I could say that that Emmy right here, you are the apple of my eye. That yes, she is loved the most by me. She is the apple of my eye. Um as well as you want to. They are both they are the apples of my eye. So if you describe someone as the apple of your eye, it just means that they are loved the most by you. >> What are you doing? [laughter] It is. >> Oh, look who it is. My husband, the apple of my eye. >> Hello. >> Oh, apple of my eye. Love of my life. [singing] >> Night [music] and day. The apple of your eye. >> I mean, his household was a joyous place. And his wife Dolly, >> well, she was the apple of his eye. >> Then we have the idiom cold turkey. And you you just got to include this because turkey Thanksgiving it is a very very popular word around the around fall. So if somebody you might talk about quitting cold turkey and what that means cold turkey is that somebody stops a bad habit immediately and and maybe suddenly as well and you would quit something cold turkey. Often I think of smokers. Somebody is a smoker. They've been smoking for years and then they just suddenly quit. They would say, "I quit cold turkey." So any kind of bad habit that somebody might have, whether it's smoking or drinking, and then they suddenly stop, you could say that they quit cold turkey. >> No, no, it's not your fault. No, it's partly my fault cuz I made you quit cold turkey. >> You're right, Lisa. Love isn't about fixing someone. I'm just going to give her up cold turkey. >> You need to prove to Tara that you can be trusted. Cold turkey, Jacks. No booze, no weed. I'm serious. The >> world can't just quit on oil and nuclear power or cold turkey. You'll dismantle our entire economy overnight. >> So, there you have it. Those are some great idioms that you can use in everyday conversation. They are all related to the fall, but you can use them in a variety of different situations and context. If you are someone who loves sports, then you are definitely going to love this idiom lesson. I'm going to teach you some idioms that are related to sports. That doesn't mean that you can only use these idioms when talking about sports. They can be used in a variety of different situations. I'll give you some example sentences as well as show you some videos so you can see how these idioms are used in context. The first idiom is a tennis idiom and it is the ball is in your court. And what this means is that it is up to you. it is your responsibility to do something or to make a decision. The ball is in your court. So, example, when when you're playing tennis, you hit the ball to somebody else and then the ball is in their court. It's up to them to act. So, this can be used in a variety of context. It could be used in business in a negotiation. For example, maybe you make an offer to buy something and then you'd say, "Well, okay, here's my offer. The ball is in your court. It is your responsibility to make a decision now or tell me what you want to do. And we often use this idiom as just a standalone statement and you would tell somebody, you know, the ball is in your court now. It's up to you. The ball's in your court. >> Call me back if you want. Ball's [snorts] in your court. >> I said no. Which be right back in the driver's seat. >> So the ball is in his court. >> The next idiom is to get off the hook. And if we're talking about hooks, you can probably guess that this is a fishing idiom. When you're fishing, you use a hook to catch the fish. So, if a fish gets off the hook, then they are able to escape danger. They're able to escape punishment. And that's exactly what this idiom means. You are escaping responsibility for something that that you are no longer responsible for this this action that happened that was bad or wrong. You are no longer going to get punished for this thing. You are able to get off the hook. >> I don't have a choice. I guess I'm kind of hoping you'll come back over the rail and me off the hook here. >> So, for example, when I think of this idiom, because I'm a teacher, I I think of students that when they don't do their homework and maybe there's a punishment and they're trying to think of an excuse, I might tell them I'd say, you know, you're you're not going to get off the hook that easy. >> You are not getting off the hook that easy, mister. And that is a common sentence in which you might hear this idiom being used. That you would tell someone you're not going to get off the hook that easy. That you you need to be held responsible for for something that happens. You're not going to have it completely removed. You're going to have to suffer the consequences a little bit. You're not going to get off the hook that easy. Then we have a baseball idiom. Go to bat for someone. To go to bat for someone means just to to defend somebody. So in baseball when you go to bat for another player that that you're basically helping that person out. They don't have to bat because you're going to do it for them. You're going to help that person. You are going to defend them. >> Just go to bat for them. >> I'm tired of going to bat for you and your show. I want to thank you for going to bat for me last week. >> Next is a hunting idiom. And this idiom I is used quite often and it is to give it your best shot. And often people would just say it as a sentence and just say give it your best shot. And this means that you should just try your hardest. Do your best. So when you're hunting, even though I'm not a hunter, you are shooting something and you want to give it your best shot. You tell people this all the time, whether they're doing sports or or business, you would tell them and encourage them and say, "Give it your best shot." >> Well, go ahead and give it your best shot. >> Come on then, Nigel. >> Okay, Okconor, give it your best shot. >> So, for example, I would tell you guys this. If you're thinking that learning English is too difficult, I don't know if I could do it, I would encourage you and say, you know, give it your best shot. Just try your best. That's all that we're asking you do. Give it your best shot. Next is an idiom that comes from horse racing. And that is the home stretch. And if you're talking about the home stretch, you're talking about the end. So when talking about horse racing at the end of the race, you might hear somebody say, "The horses are coming down the home stretch. They're getting close to the end." And you can use this when you are getting close to the end of something. Specifically, when you're about to complete something or finish something. So, with this lesson, I'm just about halfway through it. I'm not quite in the home stretch just yet. >> We're almost done. Home stretch. >> This is the home stretch. All we got to do is focus. >> Tough. You're in the home stretch. >> Next is a golf idiom, and that is not up to par. So in golf, you you have a score that you try to get for each hole. And if you match that score, then that would be par. So that's your the average score. That's what you want to do. If somebody's not up to par, then that just means that they're not good enough to do a a job or a position. And you you just don't have the skills or abilities to do something. And somebody might say, you know, uh yeah, it's you know, this work it it's not up to par. >> There's a thing called Proposition 48. Says that if your grades aren't up to par and take the SAT, if you score 700 or more, you can get into college. >> I hope these video lessons are are definitely up to par for for you guys. I hope so. Next is a boxing idiom. To throw in the towel. And in boxing, if somebody throws in the towel, then that just means they give up. the match is over. And that's exactly what it means to give up something. So, if you're tired of doing something, you don't want to do it anymore, you'd say, you know, I'm I'm just going to throw in the towel. I'm done. I give up. Or you might hear it being used that somebody's, you know, they're trying to encourage you and tell you not to give up. And they'd say, don't throw in the towel. Don't throw in the towel just yet. Keep working hard. >> They're throwing in the towel. He says once the debts have paid, there won't be too much left. Round after round, I kept getting Frankie to patch me up. He's talking about throwing in the towel, but he ain't my manager. He can't throw in nothing. >> Maybe it's time to throw in the towel. >> If you guys are thinking, you know, I I'm done learning English. It's too difficult. I don't want to do it. I would tell you, don't give up. Don't throw in the towel just yet. And I'm not going to let you off the hook that easy. I'm always going to encourage you and tell you to keep going and give it your best shot. >> [laughter] >> And I'm just going to keep using these idioms over and over so that you'll remember them. Let's just keep going. We're coming down the home stretch, which means we're getting close to the end. But don't leave just yet. I have some more great idioms for you. And this next one is a football idiom. It's an American football idiom. And I'm sure some of you might be rolling your eyes like, "Ah, American football. Nobody watches that." But this idiom is a good one. And it is blindsided. And if somebody is blindsided, it just means that they did not see something coming. They did not expect this thing to happen. You were blindsided by something. So, for example, somebody might tell you some news that is shocking, like, "Oh, they're getting a divorce." You're like, "Oh my goodness, I I was just blindsided by this." >> Like, you were as blindsided by this as I was. >> I can't believe she blindsided me like this, being so nice and and friendly to my face. So when you're blindsided, it's not really a good thing. It's something that you weren't expecting and you would be blindsided by something. So we often use it with the preposition by. good and I was surprised. I was blindsided. Then we have a basketball idiom, slam dunk. This is probably a a phrase that you've heard before, especially if you're a basketball fan. In basketball, a slam dunk is when you take the ball and you slam it and hang on to the rim. Yeah, I can't slam dunk the basketball. I can't jump. So, if something is a slam dunk, then it just means it's a sure thing. It's easy to do. It's easy to accomplish. You know that you're going to do this thing and you say, "Well, you know, it's a slam dunk." So, you're watching this video right now and I'm thinking like, hm, I wonder if they're going to hit that like button, but I know, you know, it's a slam dunk. It's a sure thing. You're going to hit that like button, right? Unless you think this lesson's not up to par. >> It's a slam dunk. >> I hope it's a real slam dunk. >> To me, this decision is a slam dunk. >> The next idiom is call the shots. This is a billiards idiom because when you're playing billiards, you you often have to call your shots and point to the pocket where you want to shoot the ball. So if somebody calls the shots, it it just means they are making the decisions. You might often hear this idiom in business because there there's a hierarchy of people from the boss, the manager, and then you and and your boss would call the shots. They would be MAKING THE DECISIONS. >> I CALL THE SHOTS. I DO WHAT I WANT TO DO. >> So you're calling the shots now. >> That's going to have seen nothing but the bench this year. You ain't calling the shots, you'll play. So, I'm a bit curious if you knew some of these idioms already. I hope that you weren't completely blindsided by these idioms, and I hope that you can go on to use them and try to use them and give it your best shot. Right now, we're going to walk right out that door and I'm going to find some super useful and common idioms to help you improve your fluency. Let's go. Today, I am out and about. I'm outside and I'm going to try to find some different idioms to help you improve your overall fluency. So, let's just go. Let's go. Let's get out of here. Second, I should probably take you with me and the camera. Here we go. So, here we have some bushes. And [laughter] the next uh idiom that I want to teach you is to beat around the bush. And what it means if somebody is beating around in the bush, it just means that uh let me have a seat real quick. It means that somebody is not speaking directly or they're speaking indirectly. So instead of saying what's on their mind, instead of just saying it straightforward, they beat around the bush and they kind of maybe give you clues. And sometimes the reason you do this and you don't say things directly is because you're trying not to upset someone. And I think this is very common in certain environments like work or home. If you're talking to a colleague and you don't want to upset them and you have some news that you need to tell them, you might beat around the bush. or at home something happens and it's bad news and you don't want to tell your mother, father, husband, wife, you might uh beat around the bush instead of just coming right out and saying it directly. So, I think this is something that well I think a lot of us do it. Uh some of us I think are very direct and we don't beat around the bush. But I think a common way this idiom is used is somebody is speaking indirectly and the other person would say stop beating around the bush. Just tell me tell me what you have to say. Stop beating around the bush. >> Please. I would never beat around the bush like that >> in. Have a seat. I'm not going to beat around the bush here. >> Will, you don't have to beat around the bush. I know exactly what you're getting at. >> Another great idiom is to bark up the wrong tree. And what this means is that you're trying to tell someone that they're making a mistake, that whatever they're saying or doing is wrong. And it's almost like you know what the the right answer is or what this person should be doing. And they're making a mistake. And you could tell them, "Look, you're barking up the wrong tree. Th this is a mistake. You shouldn't be barking up this tree. You should be barking up that tree over there. >> I've got my BDI on you. You're barking up the wrong tree." >> And there's heaven. Confucious. [music] Boy, have I been barking up the wrong tree. >> So, you can see right behind me here is the river. And a river. Well, a river will flow. So, the next idiom that I have for you is to go with the flow. And what this means, if you say, well, I'm going to go with the flow. It means that you are going to accept a situation and kind of relax. You're not going to try to to change things. You're just you're just going to go with the flow. So, I think this is a a great idiom that can be used if somebody might be asking, well, what are you going to do? You're going to enter a situation and what what's your reaction going to be? And say, well, I'm just going to go with the flow. I'm not going to try to control things. I'm going to relax. I'm going to see what everybody else is doing, and I'm just going to accept what is going on. I'm going to go with the flow. When I'm traveling, especially with a group of people and everybody maybe they want to do different things, I like to just go with the flow. >> But you know what? We're not going to rush this time. We're just going to go with the flow. >> So, you're on board now? >> Yeah. >> A good fighter needs to know how to improvise to go with the flow. >> Oh, I don't care. You know me. I just go with the flow. >> All right. So, let me show you. This right here is a bud. All right. And that's going to help you understand the next idiom, which is to nip something in the bud. So, if you think of like um well, like a flower like we're looking at right now before a flower blossoms, it it's in these the bud and then the bud will blossom. So, to nip something in the bud is to stop something at an early stage. and you're stopping it before it becomes established. And most of the time, you're going to use it and say, "Okay, you know the situation. You know what you need to stop." And you might say, "We need to nip this in the bud. We need to stop it. We need to stop something at this early stage before it develops, before it grows, before it becomes a thing, something that's established, and then you cannot stop it anymore, and you want to nip it in the bud." I never should have let her do this maximum thing in the first place. >> Going to nip this thing in the bud. Is going to make a public apology tomorrow on Hard Ball. >> Yeah, I I got to nip this in the bud. This has catastrophe written all over it. >> And you can expect the same thing from everyone in this office. If you don't nip this whole employee of the month situation in the bud. >> So the next one that I have for you, it's actually an expression and that is to knock on wood. And if somebody says this, it means that they are just hoping for good luck to happen. And you could say it to somebody else and just say, you know, knock on wood. And actually, I don't know if this is real wood, but but you you will hear this quite often if you want to well wish someone luck or hope that they have good luck for a performance or a test or basically anything. And you just say, you know, knock on wood. Or maybe you want to you're you want to give hope to yourself for something you're getting ready to do. Say, I I wish for the best. I hope I do well. Knock on wood. >> Actually, this would be my first feray into the trial process. I haven't had to go to court yet. >> Knock on wood. >> Let him see. He's not the only one who builds solid houses, you know. I think you'll be pretty impressed. Knock on wood. >> So, all along right here, these are Well, these are rocks. Actually, they're kind of like uh they're [laughter] more like pebbles, but it really has to do with the the next uh idiom that I want to teach you. And that is if you say that someone is living under a rock. And if somebody says this, if you hear it, it means that if somebody has been living under a rock, it means that this person is ignorant to something that is wellknown. that there is some event, something is happening that you think everybody should know about. And if somebody says, "Well, I don't know about this thing." Then you could ask like, "Whoa, what's wrong with you? Have you been living under a rock?" So, if you hear this expression, it means that yeah, they're referring to somebody who is ignorant to some news, some information that is very wellnown that you think everybody should know about to be living under a rock. >> They all work together. God, have you been living under a rock? >> No. David Geta, have I been living under a rock? Yeah, that song is my jam. >> I am the beast master from the [music] movie Beast Master. >> What rock have you been living under? >> What's this? What have you been living under a rock? This is the new meme. Cat breaded Taylor Swift reporting. >> So, we're outside having a little bit of a picnic right now. And you can see that this right here is grass. Uh there's there's quite a bit of it. And I have it's it's actually not an idiom. It's a a phrase that I want to teach you and that is grassroots because I think this is a very useful uh phrase to know and especially it's something you may hear if you're listening to the news and what it means is it's talking about the the basic level of some activity or organization or even some cause and I think that's how uh people use it quite often if you're talking about some grassroots campaign and it's happening at the most basic level um people getting informed, people becoming motivated to create some change and you could say that their their campaign it's it's grassroots. It's happening at that basic level. So I wanted to teach you that phrase because well we're outside and there's plenty of grass. >> The Tea Party presents itself as a grassroots movement uh which means it should be fiercely resistant to central control. I understand that grassroots activism actually runs in your family. >> So, I opted for a more grassroots approach to get the word out. >> So, I'm not going to beat around the bush. Those are all the idioms I have for you this lesson. And I hope you learned some new ones. If you did, please hit that like button. We are now going to play in these fountains right here. Thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time. Do you love [music] idioms? Today we're talking about love idioms. Today we'll talk to you about 10 love idioms. And these are idioms that don't necessarily have the word love in them, but they are used to describe [music] love and relationships. So the first love idiom is to fancy someone. And this is mostly used in British English and it means [music] to like someone and their company. So it's not just to like someone but to enjoy spending [music] time with them. So if you enjoy spending time with someone and you really like them, you [music] would say that you fancy them. You fancy that person. The couple is on their [music] first date. It seems like they fancy each other. Number two [music] is to fall for someone. And to fall for someone means to develop romantic feelings for someone over a period of time. [music] It could be a short period of time or it could be a long period of time, but that's how you say that you fall for someone. I fell for Wes when we first started working [music] together. So number three is head over heels in love [music] with someone. So this one can be either head over heels in love or just head over heels. And it just means completely and deeply [music] in love with someone. When somebody's head over heels in love with someone else, they cannot think of any other person. This is the only person on their mind. It's all that you think about. You're very, very, very, very [music] into this person. So you would say that you're head over heels. He fell head over heels in love with her and they got married within a month. [music] Number four is loveydovey. Have you heard this one before? Loveydvey. [music] I hear it quite a bit and it's a kind of a way that people act. It really describes how people act and how people are. So you can say that two people act very loveydovey with each [music] other. Uh that means that they're very affectionate and they really show their affection towards each other [music] but very strongly very much and sometimes it's more viewed as a negative thing like oh they're so loveydovey. It can be almost a little too much but it's an act. It's how you act towards [music] each other. Number five to be smitten. It [music] means to be strongly attracted to someone. It's almost like you were smacked by love and now you're super in love [music] with this person or very very attracted to them. He is smitten with her smile. Number six, to get hitched. This is used quite a bit and it means to get [music] married. To get hitched. To get married. Wes and I got hitched in New York at the [music] courthouse. Number seven, to tie the [music] knot. This is another one that's just a synonym for uh to get hitched. So, it also means to get married. [music] To tie the knot. My parents tied the knot in a beautiful church. Number [music] eight, to go through a bit of a rough patch. Now, this can be used as to go through a bit of a rough patch or to just go through a rough [music] patch. What it means is when a couple is having trouble, a period of of problems in their lives, you know, something goes bad and then they're constantly fighting or arguing or they just have some issues, we're saying that they're going through a rough patch or a bit of a rough patch. Number nine, double date. [music] Double date means an activity that two couples do together. So, it can really mean any kind of activity, but many times it just means like a date, like going some somewhere to a picnic or to the movies or to a bar. Just [music] two couples hanging out with each other. It's a double date. My parents always went on double dates with my aunt and uncle because all four of them were best friends. And finally, number 10, [music] on the rocks. On the rocks is a relationship experiencing difficulties and is likely to fail. [music] On the rocks doesn't necessarily have to describe a relationship between a couple, but it can really be used to describe [music] any kind of relationship. Like if you don't get along with your mother or your father, you can say that your relationship with them is on the rocks. [music] The man is sad because the relationship with his son is on the rocks. Let's talk about some weird and strange idioms in English. And an idiom is a fixed set of words that have a particular meaning that's very different than the meaning of the individual word. So if I say something is a piece of cake. Many of you may be familiar with this idiom. I'm not talking about food. I'm just saying that something is easy. And that is also it's a bit of a strange idiom as well. Let's begin with our first idiom which is pardon my French. So this is a phrase that is used to apologize for some offensive language. If you say some a word that is bad, you would then follow it with this idiom and you might say, "Pardon my French." If you were to say like, "This is Pardon my French." It's almost like you're you're trying to say that the bad word is part of another language. But this idiom is used in a really a specific context. If you're talking to another person or perhaps a group of people and you kind of want to to show respect and you want to be polite, but for some reason you really need to say this bad word that use this offensive language. So you would follow it with pardon my French. It's like you're trying to say that, well, hey, this is not the way I normally speak. I usually I do not use this language. and you would say something that might be offensive and then follow it with, "Pardon my French." Now, >> this is not to say I don't get a ration of in every conversation. Pardon my French. >> Pardon my French. Today's been a gosh dang sugar show. The fact is the industry is all of us by the balls. >> Then we have to weasle out of something. And I like this idiom because, well, I like idioms that have animals in them. And to weasle out of something, it means you're trying to avoid something by being dishonest. And I think we could all relate to this idiom. If you have some housework to do, I know that I have housework that I have to do. Sometimes my wife might ask me to do something and I'm like, "Well, wait. I got I got to go somewhere. I'll be right back." And yeah, I try to weasle out of doing the housework. I think again, we can all relate to this one. To weasel out of something. >> Hey, stroker. 10 bucks for the cake. Don't weasel out on me. >> I'd be taking an even bigger risk if I didn't hand this to you personally. >> You're not going to weasel out of my deal again. If >> you can weasle me out of this physical. I will blow your mind by doing something incredibly holy at some point. Amen. >> Hold your horses. This is well, I think this is actually probably one of the more common idioms. [clears throat] And it just means that you're you're telling somebody to be patient, to wait a moment, calm down, relax, hold your horses. And I it is a very strange idiom because I have no idea how hold your horses somehow became be patient. But that's the way it is. So this is a good idiom if you want to use it and tell somebody, "Hey, just be patient. Just calm down. Wait a second. Hold your horses. >> Hold your horses. I'm coming." Well, apparently it is cuz you know this is taking forever. It's forever. >> Hold your horses. Contact. >> This is dispatch. Come in. >> Yeah. Hold your horses down in front. Come on, sweetie. >> Hold your horses, buddy. >> The next strange idiom is pot calling the kettle black. And this idiom is used to point out a hypocrisy. So, if there's a situation and you're you're trying to point out this hypocrisy, you would just say that that statement. you'd say, "Well, that's that's the pot calling the kettle black." So, to to help give you a little more context and meaning, say that you are trying to weasle out of something and I tell you like, "Hey, you should not avoid this. You should do it. You should not try to weasle out of it." And then later on you you learn that I am also trying to maybe weasle out of the same thing or something else. And then you would tell me, you point out that hypocrisy and you would say, "Well, that's the pot calling the kettle black. >> Why don't you go put some clothes on?" "Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Or, "Uh, African-American." >> Suddenly, she's thinking of filing a restraining order. >> Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? >> Drinking while at school is just stupid. And most importantly, any of you guys drinking at all is illegal. It's >> a fair amount of the pot calling the kettle black. >> Then we have kitten kaboodleoodle. And this this weird idiom means well the whole group uh of something of people the the entire amount all of something. And I think people would use this maybe to to give emphasis when you tell somebody that you want well everything. I want it all. I want the whole kitten kaboodleoodle. >> That'd be all you. >> That's the whole kitten kaboodleoodle. >> Got you ladies. Got you. >> LAST WEEK MY STOCK WAS WORTH TWICE what it is now. I think about getting out in a whole kitten kaboodleoodle boy. I see a vast improvement. >> Not too late to change your mind. A lot of good cops want to drop the whole kitten cool. And who wouldn't? >> Then we have tongue and cheek. And this idiom, yeah, it's really it's the meaning is very different than those individual words because this idiom means that you are just not being serious. You're making a joke, but maybe you're you're saying it in a serious way, like you're being sarcastic. And you could say that, well, it's just a little tongue and cheek. And I think often you might hear people use it in that way. They're telling somebody else. They're explaining that they're just joking that they're being sarcastic. And you would say, "Yeah, it's just it's just a little tongue-in-cheek." >> After he was threatened by a group that somewhat tongue and cheek called itself the gay, >> you're as straight as an Oklahoma highway. >> Seems like kind of an opportunity missed. Would have been funny. Well, I I feel that they were just trying to be tongue and cheek. >> Ah, a winky face. I guess that could be helpful if I'm saying something tongue and cheek. wet behind the ears. And it has a pretty well straightforward meaning. If you would describe somebody as wet behind the ears, you're basically saying that they're inexperienced. And I don't know, well, I don't know how this came about that wet behind the ears became somebody who's inexperienced, but it's it's good to know. And I could say that, yeah, when I first started making these video lessons, I was wet behind the ears. I felt a little uncomfortable being in front of a camera. The the quality of the videos were not that great. And yeah, it was because I was wet behind the ears. >> You graduated 6 years ago, so you're 27, 28? >> Uh, yeah. I don't look at Thank God. My last assistant was only [music] 23 and still wet behind the ears. >> In fact, even you and some wet behind the ears FBI agent >> decided to put some informant in my cartel. >> Next is gung-ho. are gung-ho, it means you're very excited and eager to do something. I am always gung-ho to teach you guys new English lessons each week, especially ones that help you build your vocabulary. That is something that I am gung-ho about. And I hope that you are gung-ho to hit that like button. >> Why don't you let your new assistant take all this down? >> Wow, you're gung-ho. >> You're getting a new assistant. >> We were all pretty happy when Jeff came around. He became really gung-ho about Avid's documentary. >> Yes, his arm is paralyzed. Yes, his legs are paralyzed. Why is everyone so gung-ho to connect those two conditions? Then we have a very weird idiom which is mind your P's and Q's. And [laughter] I I in my opinion I think this idiom is perhaps a bit older. It's not one that I have heard in quite some time. And [snorts] what it means if somebody tells you to mind your P's and Q's, they're really telling you to mind your manners, to be careful about the way that you behave. And I I think people might use it more often if you're talking to somebody perhaps a child or somebody who's just really being very immature. You could tell them to to mind their P's and Q's. >> That's right. Capital City Tissi and former member of the Soviet Union. And we kindly request y'all mind your P's and Q's. >> Now I want everybody to mind their P's and Q's. That means no effing and jeffing. >> The next idiom is a bull in a china shop. And often you you would say that perhaps you're talking about a person and you would say that someone is like a bull in a china shop. And what that means is that this person is not really careful in the way that they move around or even behave. And the idiom, if you think about it, it it makes sense because if you have a china shop, China, it's very uh very fragile, very delicate. A bull is not the animal that you would want to have in a china shop because everything's gonna break. So, in a way, it's almost like you're saying that somebody is just not delicate in a particular in handling a particular situation. And you could say that that they were acting like a bull in a china shop. >> Like an elephant in a china shop. >> Bull in a china shop. >> Anyhow, hey, I am Kurt. >> Get out now. >> Get out. Bull and china shop. Out of my house. >> Temple. This is why I come to find peace, dog. You're coming in here like an emot bull in a china shop. >> Then we have this strange idiom to bite the dust. And I really like this idiom because I am a fan of Queen and they have a famous song called another one bites the dust. And if you say that someone or something bites the dust, it means well to die, to come to an end or to fail it. So, if you don't succeed at whatever you were attempting to do, you could tell somebody, "Yeah, like I I was trying to to jump over this on my bike and I just bit the dust. I did not succeed. I failed." Or if you want to talk about well something dying, probably more common, you would refer to uh maybe an insect as opposed to a person because you don't want to talk about people that way. You don't want to act like a bull in a china shop. You want to be a little more caring. But if we're talking about like a mosquito and you kill a mosquito, then yes, that mosquito bit the dust. >> It means his current relationship is about ready to bite the dust. >> Hard ass counselors, bullies, all bite the dust, but Timmy's still standing. [laughter] >> I'm laughing because yeah, this next idiom I think is very strange. I have no idea where it came from, but Bob's your uncle. And this idiom, you may hear it in the US from time to time, but I think it's more common in the UK and Ireland. And what it means is it's really just a way of saying, "Well, there it is. It's done. That's it." And often I think people would use it after giving a set of instructions. You're telling somebody to do something and then once you're finished telling them what to do, you could just end it with Bob's your uncle. >> Sit down. Big smiles. Plant the bug underneath the table. Easy peasy Japanese. Bob's your uncle. That's that. So, I I could give you guys some instructions and say, you know, first, watch this entire lesson. Second, hit that like button. Third, write to me in the comments and Bob's your uncle. There you have it. It's done. It's over. Bob's your uncle. >> Do you like shopping like I do, cuz if you do, I have some new shopping idioms for you. And because this is a very, very common subject, you are going to hear these idioms all the time. time. So, what I'm going to do is I'll give you the idioms, a little bit of an explanation of how and when they're used, and then an example sentence. So, let's get to it. Our first idiom is window shopping. To windowshop means to just look in the window of a store without buying anything and just kind of look and see what what is there. And this is probably the one I like the least. And the reason is because when you window shop for something, you don't actually shop. You don't actually go inside the store and and buy stuff. You just look, which I guess it can be fun sometimes, but most of the time I think it's more fun when you actually buy things. >> We've got a lot of window shopping to do. >> Plus, this is the perfect time to catch up on my window shopping. >> I'm very well aware that there are many people who like to window shop and I the only thing I like to window shop for is I think like furniture and interior design stuff. That can be kind of fun. It gives me ideas. I like to window shop for antiques. So, how about you? What do you like to window shop for? Do you like it? Is it annoying? What do you think? The next idiom is ripoff. A ripoff. And this is used as a noun or a verb. So, something can be a ripoff or somebody can rip you off. And either way, it's not a good thing because when something is a ripoff, it means that it costs way more than it should. Way more. >> What? What a ripoff. I GOT RIPPED OFF. >> A ripoff is kind of an informal way to say that um somebody's stealing from you. So if something's a ripoff, you almost feel like somebody was trying to steal money from you. That's that's how much you're paying for this particular item. It's a ripoff. $4 for an avocado. That's a ripoff. The next idiom is shop till you drop. You may have heard this one. Uh, I I hear it in movies all the time. Everyone always talks about how they like to shop till they drop. I think it's a it's a catchy idiom because it rhymes. It It just means to shop for a really really long time until you become exhausted. So, if you have ever shopped till you drop, you know that feeling of the end of your shopping day when you're just like tired and ready to take a nap or something. At Christmas time, I usually shop till I drop for the perfect gifts. The next idiom is retail therapy or shopping therapy. You could say either one. They mean the same thing. What this means is to shop to make yourself feel better. So, just kind of like what it sounds like. This is just something that we do if we've had a bad day or if you've had a rough time. Sometimes we just need a little retail therapy or shopping therapy. I had a bad day at work, so I did a little retail therapy on my way home. The next one is bargain hunting. And when you bargain hunt, you are looking for deals. That is what a bargain is, is a deal. So bargain hunting means actively searching for really, really good deals on things that you shop for. >> Anyway, now we are going bargain hunting. >> I'm not going to blow this by bargain hunting. I like finding good deals, but I don't think I have the patience to always go bargain hunting. My mom loves to go bargain hunting on Black Friday. The next idiom is to shoplift. And this is a little bit of a bad one because, you know, it involves a crime, which is never good. To shoplift means to steal something from a store. You shoplift it. You take it and hide it and walk out with it without paying for it. It's not a good thing. Don't Don't shoplift. The girl shoplifted some candy from the store. Fit like a glove is our next idiom and we usually use it for clothes or some kind of article of clothing because when something fits like a glove, it means it fits you perfectly. It looks like it was meant for your body and you know it's the perfect size, the perfect shape for you. >> Fits like a glove. >> 68 years since I wore this uniform. Still fits me like a glove. And everyone loves to find something that fits like a glove. It makes us feel great. I love my new shoes. They fit like a glove. Our next idiom is like a bull in a china shop. I know it sounds like a mouthful, but it's it's it's kind of a very specific idiom. What it is is kind of what you imagine it to be. So if you imagine a bull in a china shop, you know, it would destroy everything. So, because everything is breakable, it's porcelain, so it would break. >> You know, I'm obviously going to have to go talk to a bull in a china shop. >> You're coming in here like an emotional bull in a china shop. >> The idiom kind of means the same thing. If somebody behaves like a bull in a china shop, they are acting recklessly. They are acting clumsily. They are causing trouble. He marched into the meeting like a bull in a china shop. Our next idiom is a shopping spree. And a shopping spree is kind of a short period of time in which somebody buys a lot of things. The word spree, it just means kind of a short period of time and it kind of shows like a lot of things that are happening in a short period of time. When I got pregnant, I went on a shopping spree for baby clothes. Our next idiom is pay through the nose. And this one's really funny for me for some reason. Just imagine taking out money out of our noses. It's actually not that funny in real life because when you pay through the nose, it means you end up paying a lot of money for something. Usually more than the fair price. >> Make them pay through the nose. >> In fact, they'll pay through the nose for it. >> So, it's it's not really a a fair price that you're paying. You're paying a lot more than that. So, it's not such a good thing. We waited until the last moment to get our plane tickets. So, we had to pay through the nose. >> I'm going to teach you some very common and useful American idioms and expressions that you might hear if you are talking to somebody who is from the United States or maybe you can use some of these if you plan to visit the US. So, believe me when I tell you that this lesson, it's going to be a piece of cake. And that is actually the first idiom that I want to teach you. Many of you are are probably familiar with this. I wanted to start with something a little easier and and then it'll get a bit more challenging. But if we say that something is a piece of cake, it just means that something is very easy. So I told you that this lesson it's going to be a piece of cake. I'm going to teach you these idioms and expressions. And after I explain them and tell you how to use them, I I think that you will have a better understanding and like I said, it's just going to improve your overall fluency. So, this lesson, it's a piece of cake. Piece of cake. No, Bart. It's a 3,000-y old riddle with no answer. >> And every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake. >> What about a race based on merit? >> Rank each person individual. >> Mhm. Piece of cake. >> Then we have the phrase run late or run behind. And they they both mean the same thing. It just means to be late for something. Now, I I guess I could say that I use this phrase quite often and I would tell people that that I'm running late and I I would use it often because yes, I am sometimes late for appointments or if I'm going to meet somebody, but I would call ahead and tell them, hey, you know, don't worry, I'm I'm just running a little late. So in that case, I think it also implies that you are on your way to to get somewhere or if you're talking about perhaps like a project and you say you tell your boss, you know, I'm running a little behind, you're telling them that it it may be late, but that you're working on it. So again, this is a great expression. I think uh especially if you are somebody who who tends to be late for things, you could just tell somebody, "Hey, you know, I'm running a little late, but I will be there." >> It's only 4:00, [music] but they are so slow. >> I'm running late, too. >> We're running late. >> We're always running late. >> We're running a little behind schedule. >> Hi. Sorry I'm late. I've been running behind all morning. >> Then we have the expression to get the hang of something. And this just means to learn something that's not quite obvious. So, for example, I think often you would use this when talking about some type of game or activity. You're trying to learn it and and get a little bit better at it. And in that case, you could you could tell somebody, you know, I'm I'm starting to get the hang of this. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable. I understand it a little bit better, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. One thing I would like to point out with this expression is that it is often going to end with that pronoun it. So, in that case, it's almost like you know what it is. learn it a little bit better, then you're trying to get the hang of it or starting to get the hang of it. Or you could say he he is getting the hang of it, but you know the activity. So, it's often going to end with that pronoun it. Don't >> worry, you'll get the hang of it. >> You're going to get the hang of it. We'll help you. >> How's he doing? hadn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. >> Then we have the phrase all set and this just means that that you are ready and you are everything is in order. So it's something that maybe you could ask to somebody if you want to know if they're ready and you could say hey you know all set or you could tell somebody if you want to say that you are organized you're prepared and you are ready to go and you'd say you know I'm I'm all set. We're all set. We are ready. We're organized. We're prepared. You could also say, just to throw in another expression, good to go. It means the same thing. If somebody says, you know, I'm good to go, that means that they are ready. They're all set. >> Ready? Ready. All set. >> Okay, we're all set. Let her rip. >> Is it okay if I put out some key that Pam brought back from Puerto Rico? >> Sure. Thanks for asking, >> Pam. We're all set. >> Let me know what you got, Ela. Good to go. Weapons good to go. >> You're good to go. >> Then we have the expression to sound like a broken record. And it really means well kind of exactly what it says and that is that somebody is just repeating something again and again. Especially when it's not really necessary and you would say to another person like, "Oh, you know, you sound like a broken record. You just keep repeating the same thing again and again and again." Especially when you don't want to hear it, then you could use this expression and say that someone sounds like a broken record. I hope that I don't sound like a broken record because I do. >> You know, I know I sound like a broken record. >> You're going to murder me like you murder my father. You people sound like a broken record. Babies, babies, baby. You sound like a broken record. >> Next is the phrase pitch in. And this just means that you start doing something as a group, especially something that is helpful. So if you are working with a group of people, maybe a team, you want everyone to pitch in. You want everyone to do some work the something that's helpful for the group or the team. And in that case, you want everyone to pitch in. But it's used in in that context that you might ask someone who may not be helping, and you would tell them to pitch in or say you need to pitch in. But it is to to do something that's helpful. >> Everyone here has a job. We all pitch in. >> Glad you could pitch in. He needs all the help you can get. >> By the way, if you need help with that, I'm more than happy to pitch in. >> Then we have the idiom to blow off some steam. And this just means to to do something or to say something that helps you get rid of of some energy, often some some negative energy that if you're you're angry or upset, you might try to perhaps you go for a run and you just want to blow off some steam. You just want to want to get rid of that energy. So, you could use it when talking about a a an activity that you do something physical in order to blow off some steam. Or maybe it's something that you you say to someone. Perhaps you even might yell at someone and you're just you're trying to blow off some steam. >> No, let him go. He needs to blow off some steam. >> I've never seen him like that. >> Give the big logo a break. Even he needs to blow off some steam. I've been working so hard this semester. Really need to go crazy. You know, blow off some steam. >> You still seem stressed. >> You want to blow off some steam? >> Then we have the expression, it's not rocket science. So, this is a statement that somebody would would say to another person if they want to express that something is not really difficult and it's it's should be easy to understand. And you'd say, you know, look, it's not rocket science. >> Barb, it's not rocket science. You just tell your parents you're going to stay at my place afterwards. >> Then we have the expression to table something. And this just means to postpone a discussion until a later time. And often, I think it might be used in business. Perhaps you're having a meeting with a group of people and and you have a list of items that you're going to go through, but you want to discuss one of them at a later time. You might say, you know, let's let's table this item for right now and then we will discuss it later. So you could table some item if it's on an agenda or maybe you could just table some discussion and you will talk about it at a later time to table something. >> I I think what the Dana is trying to say is uh there'll be time to talk about that. We can table that for a later date. >> What is your job exactly besides making balloon animals? >> Protecting your reality. Okay guys, can we can we table this discussion right now? The fact is is that we have this stone. >> Next is the idiom to jump on the bandwagon. And this just means to start supporting something or to even start doing something because it's trendy or fashionable. often I I think I would use this idiom uh when talking about sports that if there is a sport team that just suddenly started winning and then everybody they they like this team all of a sudden they're they're a huge fan then you could say look you know uh he he just jumped on the bandwagon he only likes the team because everybody else does he's supporting this team he jumped on the bandwagon of course this has happened to me if I'm living somewhere and then that that city has a sports team. They become really great. Yeah, I jump on the bandwagon. >> Everything's echofriendly this, echofriendly that. >> I just haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet. Millions of people got on the anti- Denmark bandwagon. >> Show me some kind of kindness. Not jumping on the Let's Get Meg family bandwagon. >> Let's stick with sports for right now because the next expression is to sit in the nosebleleed. Or you could say to sit in the nosebleleed section. And what this refers to is that you are sitting in seats that are that are very high up at the the very top of a stadium and you're very far away from all of the action. Because you're so high up there, you are sitting in the nosebleleed section. And the reason why we use this is because if you are at a very high altitude, then maybe your nose would start to bleed because of the altitude. So, if you're high up there in the stadium, then you could say, you know, I'm I'm sitting in the nosebleleed section. When I jump on the bandwagon and I want to go see uh a sports team play, typically I don't have a ton of money to spend, so I have to find the cheapest tickets, which are usually high up there in the stadium, and I would sit in the nosebleleed section. >> Can you take me to a concert with my new friend Harper? >> Sure, why not? It'll be nosebleleed or obstructed view seat. >> But you know what? I have a friend. Uh he's got a couple of seats. If uh if you don't mind the nose bleed section, they're yours. >> No, we don't care. WE JUST WANT TO GO. Then we have the idiom to fall through the cracks. And this just means to overlook something. So if you are perhaps doing some project, you don't want to overlook the details. You don't want anything to fall through the cracks. >> I need you to be sure that things don't fall through the cracks. Basically, I needed to be more like Dean here. >> You do it every week and you forgot. Things are falling through the cracks. I'm pretty sure you've worn that sweater four days in a row. >> This whole uh single parent thing, everything is just falling through the cracks. >> So, what did I tell you? Those idioms and expressions, piece of cake, all right, it it's not rocket science. And I'm sorry. I know that I sound like a broken record because I keep repeating these these same idioms and expressions over and over again. I hope you're not upset with me. But if you are a little upset and you think you need to blow off some steam, then I would suggest that you check out another video lesson. I hope that you enjoy these lessons and that you just you jump on the interactive English bandwagon. Jump on the interactive English bandwagon and [laughter] because okay, I I can't think of anymore. I just trying to review as much as I can. Now, you just learned many idioms, and they can certainly be confusing because the meaning doesn't really match up with the individual words, but that's not all that can be confusing. After all, English is a kind of a crazy language. because they either have the same spelling or the same pronunciation or even both. And I really want to highlight some words, talk about the difference, why they're confusing, and hopefully just clear up any confusion that you may have. So, let's do that right now. English is full of confusing words like these first two words that I have for you, between and among. They're both prepositions, but you're going to use between when you're you're talking about, well, two things or two people. There there's a one- on-one relationship. use among when you're talking about well more than to and and it's not really distinct. So, I I could say, you know, the information in this lesson, let let's keep that between you and me. Talking about a one-on-one relationship between you and me. Or there there's an idiom that is between a rock and a hard place. This is talking about uh a difficult situation. A rock, a hard place. You're between it. It's It's not a good place to be. It's a difficult situation. Now, with among I I know I told you to keep this information between you and me, but I' I'd rather you share it among all of your friends. So, in that case, I'm I'm talking about that group. And you you may also hear people use amongst instead of among. And they they mean the same thing. I think it's more common to use among, especially in the United States. Amongst it's a little bit of an older word, but there are still some phrases, statements in which people are likely to use amongst. If you're in front of a group of people and maybe you're talking to them and you have to leave the room, you could say talk amongst yourselves. That is that is a statement that you may hear in which people may use amongst. My name is Wes. The next two confusing words that I have for you, reluctant and reticent. They're both adjectives, but you're going to use reluctant to to refer to something that maybe you are hesitant to do or you're unwilling to do this thing. Use reticent when you're you're really talking about somebody's manner that they're shy or reserved. So, in that case, I I think it's more common that you're going to hear people use reluctant when when talking about things they're unwilling to do in general. Reticence's going it's going to allow you to be more specific. So maybe if we're talking about somebody shy to speak and they don't want to speak, they're reluctant to speak, then you could describe them as being a bit reticent because we know that they're a little shy. Um, if I were talking about maybe a team that had to do a presentation and I could say, well, well, she was reluctant to put together the presentation. She was unwilling to do it. Maybe it was very difficult. But then he was reticent to give the presentation. So in that case I'm talking about well his his willingness to speak. He was reticent. He was shy. He didn't really want to do it. Here are another couple of confusing words achieve and accomplish. And these are great words to know. So you're you're going to use achieve when talking about well you want to succeed in something. If you use accomplish, then that means well you you finish something often successfully. So if I were to say like I want to achieve my goal, it means that I I I want to reach this point and I want to do it successfully. That's a little different than if I say I accomplish my goal. Well, then it's finished and well perhaps I I was successful. Think of it this way. I I always talk about trying to achieve English fluency that you want to be successful in in learning English. And it's not something that you're probably ever going to finish. So, in that case, I'm not going to use accomplish. But if I'm talking about like a mission or a task, well, then I could say that I I want to accomplish this mission. Or maybe I already accomplished this mission. It's done. It's complete. And I did what I needed to do. Then we have customers and clients. So customers refer to people who who are buying a product or service and clients refer to people who need some type of professional support or help from another person or a company. So I am going to to tell you I'm going to give you a situation uh talking about some people and I want you to think whether I'm talking about customers or clients. I'll give you a moment and then I'll I'll tell you the answer. So if I am talking about well shopping at the mall those are customers. If I need to hire a lawyer and I need to use their services then I am the client. If a company uses services from another company then they would be this is a little tricky because you they could be either clients or customers. So in some instances they may be used interchangeably. It really just depends on the relationship maybe between these companies. But that's another reason why they can be a bit confusing. And finally, if I were to talk about, well, people at a people at a restaurant, those are customers. Yes, those are customers. Here are another couple of confusing words figuratively and literally. They're they're adverbs. We use figuratively to refer to well, using words or phrases in an imaginative way, talking about something that that is not realistic. you would use literally to talk about something that well is realistic, something that happened. So there there's a phrase that people might use with figuratively and they may say figuratively speaking at the beginning of their statement and then go on to say something that is not realistic. Figuratively speaking, people were kicking down the doors to buy the new iPhone. So it's not realistic. It's just an example. And people would would do this really kind of to emphasize their statement. If I want to use literally, and this does happen, maybe you're you're talking with a friend about another friend and that person shows up and you say, "Hey, we were literally just talking about you. So, this was realistic. It happened." The reason why these words may be confusing is because people use literally instead of figuratively. And I know that may seem a little strange because their meaning is it's pretty much the opposite. And I there are people who say this is incorrect. This should not happen. Somebody might say something like I I literally have not slept in weeks. Of course, that's not true. It's not realistic, but they they may use literally just to try and emphasize the fact that they have not been sleeping at all. Or I could say people have literally been kicking down the doors to buy the new iPhone. So once again, I'm I'm talking about something that's not realistic, but I'm using literally instead of figuratively. This is something that happens quite often in spoken English, and I I'm even guilty of doing this from time to time. Then we have these confusing abbreviations, eg versus IE. And it's something that people will often confuse in writing. They may even confuse it in spoken English if people say these abbreviations, but you're going to use eg in order to mean for example. You're going to use iie. It's it's like saying that is to say or it it's even interchangeable with specifically. So let me try to make it a little easier for you to understand. If I were to say something like I've been trying to eat more foods that are high in protein, eg tuna, broccoli, chicken, I'm really just giving an example of some of the things that I'm eating. If I if I were to say, well, the hotels downtown, they raise their price during the high season, i.e. May to August. Now, I'm specifically talking about that time period, May to August. Let me give you a couple of statements and you tell me if we should use eg or i.e. If I were to say the restaurant is closed once a week on Mondays. All right. In that case, you should use iie because we're talking specifically about Mondays. How about um there are many chores that I have to do during the week. Take out the trash, mop the floor, uh clean the living room. Okay. You should have said eg because once again I I'm giving just examples of some of the chores that I have to do. So just just really keep that in mind. Eg is used to just give uh some examples. I.e. is much more specific. You are talking about something that is specifically happening or some specific information. And then we have these two confusing words consecutive and concurrent. And I I think they may be confused mostly because of well the spelling and they kind of sound like they might be the same word but they have different meanings. You're going to use consecutive to talk about well something that happens one after the other without interruption. And you use concurrent to talk about well things that are happening at the same time. So I could say that the city experienced consecutive heat waves. there was a heat wave and once it ended without interruption another one started or uh if I were to use concurrent I could say well the country is experiencing concurrent heat waves that there are different heat waves happening across the country at the same time it's concurrent so just remember they're two different meanings consecutive one after the other without interruption concurrent it means happening at the same time >> we need to have a talk about phrasal verbs. Okay, so phrasal verbs can be very confusing. They can be very annoying, but they're very important to learn because we use them quite often, especially when speaking. I want to look at some phrasal verbs that well the these can be very confusing because their meaning is similar. Nevertheless, there are some slight differences which I want to teach you. And this is really going to help with your comprehension and your overall English fluency. So, let's just go ahead and start with these two phrasal verbs right here. Burn up and burn down. teaching English and uh you know, I was having to learn a lot about the English language and one of the things that I I came across was just trying to show how crazy the English language could be. And somebody was asking a question and they said, "How is it possible that a house can burn down at the same time it's burning up?" That just doesn't make any sense. But it it's true that can happen because if we have this sentence and somebody says, "Oh my god, my house is burning down." All right? It it means the same thing and somebody could say, "Oh my god, my house is burning up." So both of these phrasal verbs mean that something is destroyed by fire. And in the example that I just gave you, you could use either phrasal verb. You could say, "My house is burning down." Or, "My house is burning up." either one of them, it's okay. They mean the same thing. But there are there there is a slight difference between these two phrasal verbs because if you say that something is burning down, what that makes me think of is some type of structure like uh a home or a building or a bridge. And when it burns down, that structure is just destroyed and often it may just collapse. If we're talking about something that burns up, it makes me think of something that is perhaps smaller, like an individual item. Not always because you could say that a home is burning up, but I think uh you you will typically use this with smaller individual items, paper, a book, or perhaps photo albums. Let's use that as an example. So, if you have this home and your home is burning down inside the home, maybe you have some photo albums. It's a smaller item and if it's destroyed by the fire, then you would say, "My photo albums burned up in the fire. They were destroyed by the fire." But another word that I want to give you to help you probably better understand it would be that it was consumed by this fire. I think that that word may help you make a distinction between burndown and burn up. So if something burns up, it's really consumed. You could also use the phrasal verb when you you get rid of energy. When you consume energy, you can burn up calories. And the other thing that I would say about burn up, I think there is a level of intensity that this is happening uh right in front of you. It's intense. It's really hot. It's getting hotter and hotter. And in that case, think of the same way if somebody has a fever, they might say, "Wow, your forehead is burning up. You're really burning up. It's intense. It's getting hot." And and that is another way in which you could use this phrasal verb. So, in my original example of saying that my house is burning down or my house is burning up, I think they are interchangeable. You could use either one, but I think it's because you are talking about something that is happening right at that moment. You are watching this structure getting destroyed by the fire. My my house is burning down. You are watching the the home getting consumed and it's very intense. My house is burning up. If we are going to talk about this in the past and it's already happened, I think in that case most people would use burn down and you could say last year my home burned down. All right, you you're probably not going to use burn up if you're talking about something that that's larger like a home. You may use it if you are looking at it at that moment and you see that the fire is consuming it. It's very intense. you you could say, "Oh no, my house is burning up." So again, even though these phrasal verbs have a very similar meaning, there are some slight differences between the two. Now, let's look at the phrasal verbs walk up and walk down. So, let me give you an example. Perhaps you are looking for a restaurant and you ask somebody on the street, "Hey, do you know where this restaurant is?" And they say, "Oh, it's it's just right over there. Just just walk down the street and you'll see it." Or maybe they say, "Just walk up the street and you'll see it." In this case the both are correct. You can use either one because walk down and walk up it means that you are just walking to some place. I would say that there can be some subtle differences because you can take geography into consideration. So for example if a person is going to be walking uphill then I'm more likely to use walk up. Just just walk up the street and you'll see it. If the person's going to be walking downhill, then I'm probably going to use down. Just walk down the street and you'll see it. And if it's flat, well, then you can use either one. I would say that I I think that in spoken English, people are more likely going to use walk down. Now, one way we can check this is using a great resource like Google's engram viewer, which pretty much shows you how common different words and phrases are, and you can compare the two. So, I can compare walk up and walk down. And when I looked it up, lo and behold, I saw that their usage is very similar. One is not that much more common than the other. And then I was thinking, wait, maybe am I wrong? Is it just me that I would use walk down and a lot of other people would use walk up? Perhaps that is the case. But we can look at it uh a little closer in depth because if you use walk up, it can also mean something that's a little different. So walk up can mean to uh to a to walk to a person or place with a level of confidence that you are feeling very confident. You have something you want to say and you might walk right up to some person or you walk up to some place. Let me give you some examples. I could say she [snorts] walked up to her boss and said, "I quit." All right. She walked up to her boss. She was very confident and and really had something important to say. Another example uh would be he walked up to her and asked her out on a date. Again, in that situation, you are walking to someone, but it really uh it there really is a level of confidence that you have when you are going to this person or or this place. So, when I went back to Google Engram Viewer, I was a little more specific with my uh with my phrase and I put in walk down the street and walk up the street. And yes, in that case, uh you can see that walk down the street is more more common than walk up the street. And this also applies to drive. If you want to say drive up or drive down, perhaps you're looking for a grocery store and you ask somebody and they say, "Oh, it's it's just just drive down the road and you'll see it in about 10 minutes." Or just drive up the road and you'll see it in 10 minutes. Again, they're interchangeable. They mean the same thing. You are driving to some place. But I I think it also applies if somebody's going to be driving uphill. You could use drive up. If they're driving downhill, drive down. And if it's flat, either one. But once again, I think drive down is going to be used uh more often in spoken English. Now, let's look at these phrasal verbs, takeoff and liftoff. So I could say the helicopter is taking off or the helicopter is lifting off. Both of them are correct and both of them kind of mean the same thing in this case, but these phrasal verbs do have uh a bit of a difference. So for example, take off refers to an aircraft or a bird or an insect that leaves the ground and begins to fly. Liftoff refers to the action of some aircraft or spacecraft that is leaving the ground. And typically with liftoff, I I kind of think of going straight up. You are going straight up from a particular point. So I could you could say that a rocket could lift off the ground or a helicopter could lift off the ground. Uh a hot air balloon could lift off the ground. A drone could lift off the ground. So, if we're talking about takeoff, I could use takeoff with all of those as well. I could say the rocket took off, the helicopter took off, the hot air balloon, it also took off. Even the drone, it took off. Because I can use takeoff with with all of those as well as many more. If we're talking about well, like birds, insects, and planes, takeoff is used much more often than lift off. The reason why I think somebody would use liftoff would be if they they just want to be a little more specific uh and precise when whenever they're speaking or perhaps writing and they want to say that that this aircraft is leaving the ground and it's kind of moving straight up. So you think of a a rocket, a helicopter, a hot air balloon, a drone. Those are things that can lift off but they could also take off as well. I hope that you have a little bit of a better understanding about the differences between these phrasal verbs even though in certain instances they are interchangeable and you could use either one. Used to and used to. Now they they can be a little confusing. Not not necessarily when speaking but when trying to determine well which one you should use in writing. And I say they're not really they're not really confused when speaking because the pronunciation is the same. And I will come back to that a little bit later on. But for right now, let's uh let's focus on used to because this is definitely the most common one that you are going to use when speaking or writing. And I think well used to alone can be confusing because well dictionaries may look at it different ways. Cambridge has used to as a modal verb. Mryiam Webster says that used to is an adjective as well as a verb. McMillan dictionary has used to as a modal verb. Oxford Learner's Dictionary also says that used to is a modal verb and dictionary.com has it as an adjective as well as a verb. Let's first make a distinction between used to as a modal verb or verb and used to as an adjective. Now the the grammar is different. the part of speech but also the meaning is different. So right now let's let's get rid of the adjective forget about the adjective let's just focus on used to as a verb or modal verb and I keep saying verb modal verb as you saw some of the dictionaries uh have it listed differently and that is because in some ways used to acts like a modal verb and in other ways it it really doesn't. But whether or not used to uh is considered a verb or a modal verb, the meaning is the same. And let's talk about the meaning because that is very important. And what this means is it's talking about something that was repeatedly done in the past or or even a situation that existed in the past, but the the thing is not done anymore or the situation does not exist anymore today in the present. So I could we'll give you some examples talking about myself. I could say I used to live in South Korea. That that is true. That is a situation that existed in the past. And when I lived in South Korea, I used to run uh around this lake twice a a week. Bamoon Lake, I used to run around it twice a week. And that is something that I had done repeatedly except for the winter. Uh in the winter it was a bit too cold. So during those months uh I used to sit on my ass. I could say that sometimes, not always. In those sentences, used to is a modal verb. It is a helping verb. And I already told you that it has some similarities to modal verbs. Like it it has one form. It's not conjugated. So I said, I used to live in South Korea. If I change the subject to he, it it's not going to change. He used to live in South Korea. But used to it it can act differently from your average modal verb. Uh, for example, with modal verbs, you you're not going to follow it with to. So, I can say something well like I can swim or it will rain or you should write to me in the comments. I I just love hearing from you. You should write to me in the comments. Now, with all of those sentences, we have the modal verb and then we follow it with the infinitive, the base verb. There is no to. An exception is used to. I used to run around the lake. And well, even if I wanted to change the subject and talk about myself in the third person to show that the form is not going to change, I could say in winter, Wes used to sit around on his ass, but sometimes. All right. So, to is going to come before the base verb. And that's why I think if you're if you're trying to think about it, I think it's best to consider used to as just one phrase. Try to think about it together as one phrase. Used to. Questions and negative statements also make used to different from other modal verbs. Because if well, if we're talking about questions, typically we can just use the modal verb to create a question. Can he swim? Will it rain? And if we're talking about negative statements, then you're you're just going to use not with with a typical modal verb. Uh he cannot swim or it won't rain. But this is not the case with used to. Of course, used to it just has to be different than all the other modal verbs. And I think this is also when people might say, okay, it acts more like a verb because if we're talking about questions, used to it refers to the past. So, with questions, you're going to use did. And if you're going to make a negative statement, then you're going to use did not. So, if we're going to use it uh as a question, I could ask you, did you used to study English? And if I want to say a negative statement, then I could say, well, I didn't used to have hair like this. and that's because I used to shave my head. But more importantly than my shaved head is that you now see that used to has changed. The spelling has changed to used to. And this is what I want you to remember. If we're talking about questions and negative statements, you are going to use used to and you're going to spell it us. I told you that the only distinction is in writing because well the pronunciation's the same whether you're saying used to or used to. It's the same pronunciation. The D and the T, they blend together to create one sound. So yeah, the pronunciation it's really the same. Nobody's going to know if if you end up making a mistake because you're still just going to say used to or used to. And now that you have a perfect understanding of used to being used as a modal verb/verb, let's now talk about used to being used as an adjective. So the the first thing that I want to tell you is the meaning. I told you that the meaning is different. And what this means is that well it's referring to something that you are familiar with or that you are accustomed to and it often follows the verb to be. So, I could say, "Well, I am used to hot weather." All right. I'm just It's just something that I'm used to. I'm not used to cold weather. It's just something I'm not that familiar with. And in this case, because used to is an adjective, it's not going to change. Whether we're talking about questions or negative statements, you are always going to spell used to like this. US D. Uh, another thing that I want to tell you about used to as an adjective, just giving you another example. I do not think any of us were used to staying inside for so long during the pandemic. And I think that's true. I think we can all relate to that sentence. And the thing the thing that I wanted to point out with this sentence is that you you may often follow used to with a Jared and you're used to doing something like I'm used to taking the bus in the morning or I'm not used to working late. But even though we were not used to staying inside during the pandemic, we had to get used to it. And I just gave you an example right there of it being used with another verb that is not the verb to be. And that I think is also it's a common usage to get used to doing something or even people using it as an imperative statement, giving a command and you're telling somebody get used to it. But just remember used to as an adjective has a different meaning than used to as a modal verb or verb. That's the one thing that I really want you to remember from this lesson. And I yes, it's confusing, but I think over time, the more you listen, the more you practice, you're just going to get used to it. There are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. How many didn't? If you are confused right now, then that is because of homonyms. And I promise that that by the end of this lesson, you will not be confused anymore. So, let's talk about homonyms. like these two words right here, flower and flower. So, homonyms are words that that are pronounced the same or maybe they're spelled the same as another word, but they have a different meaning. And flower and flower, you can hear that they are pronounced the same, but you can see that they are not spelled the same and they do not have the same meaning. All of the words that I'm going to teach you in this lesson are like this. To be exact, they are called homophones, but homophones th those are a type of homonym. I think that'll make it a little bit easier for you. And I'll tell you the different meanings as well. And if we're talking about this flower, well then that is one that you might find in a garden or in a park. It has a very pleasant smell. And this other flour, well, that is referring to that fine powder that that you might use for cooking, like if you're baking a cake. Then we have these two words right here, addition and addition. All right, good words to know. So, the words have have three syllables and that first and third syllable, you can hear that schwa sound, that uh sound. The tio n is pronounced as shun and the syllable stress comes before it on the second syllable. Addition. If we're talking about this edition, well then we're referring to adding numbers together like in math and this other edition would be talking about like a book or a newspaper or a magazine being published and and there might be different editions. Then we have click and click. So this first click I think is is more common. It's the verb to click to click on something. Think about a computer. You might uh click on a link. I hope all of you click on that like button and and show me a little bit of love. The next click that q, it does it has that k sound, but it's referring to a a small exclusive group of people. And what what I would say is maybe think about like high school. That's how I think it's commonly used talking about young people. They have their exclusive group of friends and you might refer to it as a click. I don't think this word is often used to reference or talk about adults. Then we have these two homonyms right here. Patience and patience. These words have two syllables. The the stress is on that first syllable. And notice both words they have that tie e which is pronounced sh with that schwa sound. Patience. And in this word patience the t is going to be silent. And this refers to well a person who is under medical care or getting some type of medical treatment. And this patience refers to the ability to wait and not be annoyed by something, especially if there is a delay. And you could say somebody has patience. Moose and you guessed it, moose. All right, these words are homonyms. And you you may be familiar with uh this moose, that large mammal that's part of the deer family. And this other moose is talking about that that creamy and foamy dessert. And it's actually a French word because the dessert it comes from France. And in French it means like like froth or foamy which is what gives it its second meaning in English because you could talk about mousse referring to a foamy substance that somebody could use for for styling their hair. Like right now um I actually I did not use any mousse. I did use a little bit of gel but but not mousse. The next set of homonyms, metal and metal. So, both of these words, it's going to end with that dark L, that you're not going to release it at the end. But, but these words are homonyms in in American English, mostly because if we're talking about that T in metal, it's going to be a flap T, which is going to sound more like a soft D sound. And the reason that we're going to use a flap T is because it comes between two vowel sounds. So, um, I'm from the United States, so I would pronounce it as metal, which then means it's also it's a homonym with the verb to metal. So, metal, the noun, which is the one with the T, is talking about an element like like gold or silver that is generally hard and strong. and meddle. The verb to meddle it means that you are getting involved in a situation in which um well you have not been asked to be involved and to share your opinion and you could hear somebody talk about meddling in somebody else's business or meddling in someone else's personal affairs to meddle. Then we have horse and horse. So this horse very well known uh the animal that people can ride around on. I don't know if you have ever ridden on a horse. But this next horse, I it's a good This is a good word. Hopefully, you're building your vocabulary. It allows you to be a little more specific because it's talking about this the sound of a person's voice. So, if somebody sounds horsearo, it means that that their voice sounds a bit rough, possibly because they have a cold. So, you could hear somebody in choir and say, "Hey, your voice it sounds a little horsearse. Do you have a cold? Are you feeling okay?" Then we have principal and principal. These two words I think are commonly confused. So hopefully we'll we'll clear this up right now. Of course, both words sound the same. So they have three syllables. The stress is on the first syllable. That second and third syllable, you'll hear that schwah sound. Principle. Principle. So these words are confusing because they have multiple meanings. And I think this is especially important in your writing because of course you you want to make sure that you are using the correct one. So, if we're talking about this principal as a noun, it refers to a person who is the leader of a school. A school has a principal. If we're going to use this word as an adjective, well, then it just means that something that is very important. I could talk about the principal reason for for doing something. Then we have gorilla and gorilla. These words have three syllables that that first and third syllable you'll hear that schwa sound and the stress is on the second syllable. gorilla. Gorilla. And this gorilla refers to that that giant ape. Perhaps you have seen a gorilla at the zoo. And this other gorilla, it's a noun. It's talking about a like a member of an unofficial military group. And the the group of people together, you would say they are gorillas. The next set of homonyms, core and core. And I'm sure that one word you're thinking, what? Wait a second. that sounds nothing like the way it's spelled. Well, the reason for that, it's it's like you have that that P and S. You don't even hear it. The other thing I would say about this word is that it is singular. You see that s? I think people might think that it is a plural noun, but it's singular. So, let me let me explain why this is pronounced core. So, the origin of this word, it comes from Latin corpus, which means body. Now, this word was borrowed from French as well as the pronunciation core, which is why you don't hear the P and the S. So, if we're talking about the this core, it refers to the central part of something like the Earth's core. And this core refers to a a military organization. Kind of like that that body, that organization, that body, the army corps. Then we have sweet and sweet. I'm sure you may like this one word like I do. Sweet. It it is talking about a flavor, something that's sugary. I really enjoy foods that are sweet. And this other sweet that s ui, it is pronounced like sweet sweet. And that is because it's another word that's been borrowed from French and it refers to uh a set of connected rooms like um that you might find at a hotel, a hotel suite. Then we have these three words. Seas, seas, and seas. Okay, you have that long e and it ends with that z sound. So seas, well, this is just talking about like the ocean. This sees the verb uh to look at something and really talking about it in the third person like he sees or she sees. And then this other verb to seize something means to grab a hold of it suddenly. Okay, so now that you have a a much better understanding of homonyms, let's go back to that riddle I told you at the beginning of the lesson. There are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. How many didn't think about which word is a homonym? There are 30 cows in a field and 20 ate chickens. Okay, the word eight is a homonym. We could be talking about well the number eight or the verb to eat in the past tense which is eight. And that that was the word I was saying all along. There are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. How many didn't? The answer of course is 10. I I know you're probably thinking, well, wait a second. Cows don't eat chickens. Of course they don't. It's just a riddle. But it's it's a fun little way to to introduce and talk about hominins. Which preposition should we use to complete this sentence? In, on, or, or at? Actually, you could use any of them. All of them are correct. It really just depends on the context. And that's what I want to do in today's lesson. I want to break it down for you so that you easily understand how to use each of these prepositions when talking about place. And I'm also going to give you a a little bit of a mini quiz at the end to see how much you've learned. So let's begin with in. And when you're thinking about in, think about an enclosed space that you are surrounded on all sides. And I I want to give you some well general ideas as to when you would use this preposition. So you will use in to talk about locations within a larger area. How many people live in this town? You'll use in with a car, taxi, or van. If I were to say, "Hey, we're waiting in the car." It's used to talk about workplaces or industries. If someone asks, "Where do you work?" I work in human resources. Or, "I work in fashion." And if if if you've seen many of my video lessons, you you know I absolutely do not work in fashion. It's my Yeah, my fashion's pretty bad. you would use in with water. Let's all get in the pool. Or the expression, there's plenty of fish in the sea. So again, we're talking about the sea. We're talking about water. And you would use this expression to say that, well, if somebody's single and they're looking to have a relationship and find a partner, you're saying this to to encourage them to keep looking, that there's somebody out there for them. Don't give up hope. There's plenty of fish in the sea. We use this preposition with class. I'm having trouble paying attention in class. I'm enclosed in this space. And we also use it with printed materials. If you don't know the meaning of a word, you can look it up in the dictionary. And you can think about it that well that word it's surrounded by other pages. So it's in the dictionary. So just keep these in mind when you're thinking about in. And now let's talk about on and when you will use this preposition. And when it comes to on, I want you to think about a a surface that something is attached to or touching something else. So we use on to refer to the position of something on any surface. Your coffee is on the table. I found some money on the sidewalk. It's used to talk about a floor in a building. I work on the seventh floor. It also describes the position along a road or river or or by the sea or a lake. I could say the car is on the road. The boat is on the river. Again, it's on that surface. Or or I could even say I grew up on the east coast. So, I'm talking about the coast or I grew up on that surface. And I would say on the east coast. So, when you're talking about the coast, east, west, use on. Now, the next few are technically not on the surface, but I I still want you to use on. So, we're going to use it when talking about being on public transit, like a bus or a plane. I'm on a bus heading downtown or I'm on a plane to Chicago. And I I know this can be a little tricky because we use in with a car, like you're you're surrounded, you're enclosed. So, one way to think about it is that you're going to use in with with smaller vehicles and you'll use on with larger modes of transportation, but again, there's always exceptions because you're still going to use on with a bike or motorcycle. On a bike or on a motorcycle, we use the preposition on with left or right. My house is on the left. Oh, no, no, no, sorry. It's on the right. And we'll use this preposition with media as well. show on Netflix or you may be watching this lesson on YouTube? So just just keep all of this in mind when it comes to using on. So now let's talk about at and when to use this preposition. And and when you think about at, I want you to think of a point, a specific location or position. So, of course, we're going to use at when we're referring to the position or location as a point. I I could say there's a package at the front door. We use it to refer to an address. I live at 44 Main Street. And and this can be a little confusing because if we're just talking about the street, then we'll use on I live on Main Street on that surface. But if I give the specific location, 44 Main Street, well, now we're talking about a point. So, we're going to use at. We use this preposition to refer to most shops or public places. And and in this case, I want you to think about a larger point. So, I I could say, I'm shopping at the mall. And you would use at even if you are in the mall because if somebody were to ask you like, hey, where are you? They're they're typically asking about your location. So that's why you would use at and say I'm shopping at the mall. We use it to refer to group activities. I could ask you how many people were at your party. We also use it with school or university. I studied at a top-notch university. And that's not really true. I studied at a party school. But you get the point. With either of those, we're going to use at. And we use this preposition with work or home. I could really say that right now I'm working at home. So this should give you a better idea as to when you would use at. Now let's go back to our original sentence. And I told you that all three prepositions are correct. It it really just depends on the context. So if I say I'm in the lake, well, that just means that I'm physically in the water. I'm surrounded by the water. If I were to say I'm on the lake, well, now I'm talking about the surface. So, it it really implies that I'm probably on a boat and I'm out on the water and I'm on the lake. And if I were to say, "I'm at the lake." Well, now I'm talking about a specific location, even though it's a larger area. If somebody were to ask, "Where are you?" then I would say, "I'm at the lake." Because we're talking about location. And right now, I want to test your knowledge. I have a little mini quiz for you. I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to think well which preposition best completes it. In, on, or at? I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I'll tell you the answer. found a mistake the first page. Which preposition would you use? The answer is on. So in this case, we're talking about the surface of the page. On the first page, I found a mistake on the first page. So, so just keep this in mind. If we're talking about a page, we're going to use on. And that is a little tricky because remember, we're going to use in when talking about printed materials like a book. So something is on a page, but in a book. Here's your next sentence. She felt proud, the end of her month-long journey. What do you think? The correct answer is at. She felt proud at the end of her month-long journey because we're talking about that that point that location. She's at the end of her journey. And these are really common phrases with at if we're talking about well at the beginning of something or at the end of something. Then there's this sentence. There are no public toilets. M the city center. The correct answer is in. There are no public toilets in the city center. We're going to use in because we're talking about a location within a larger area. Here's a question for you. Do you have anything m your pockets? I I think you know this. The correct answer is in. Do you have anything in your pockets? We're talking about an enclosed area. Here's another one. We wanted to sit m the front of the plane. I'm trying to trick you a little bit, but the the correct answer is at. We wanted to sit at the front of the plane. I I told you that with public transit, you're going to use on on a plane, but in this case, we're talking about a specific location on a plane. So in that case, we're going to use at at the front of the plane. How about this one? Please refer to the graph m the slide. The correct answer is on. Please refer to the graph on the slide. So once again, we're talking about the surface of something on a page on a slide. So how'd you do on the quiz? I I want you to be honest. Let me know down in the comments because I just love hearing from I'm going to tell you a secret. Well, it's not really a secret, but you should listen carefully to what I'm about to say because I'm going to tell you the difference between these [music] two words. And these two words confuse English learners mostly because their meaning is pretty similar. So, let's get right to it. First, let's look at the verb say. Now, we use this verb when we want to say something to someone. Now, we don't necessarily have to identify the person or people that we are saying something to, but we're just saying something in general. And that something might be general information. The weather report says it's going to rain today. In this example, the weather report is saying something. We don't really know specifically who they're saying it to, but they're just saying it in general. Another example is that you might be saying your opinion about something. The kids said West teacher is crazy. Or perhaps you're reading what the instructions say. >> Instructions say if we finish the game, it'll all go away. >> So in each of these examples, we were saying something to someone. Now this is different from the verb tell which is when we tell someone something. In this case we usually identify the person or people that we are talking to which is why tell is often followed by a direct object. Take a look at these examples. Yana told Wes to take out the garbage. In this example, Yana is telling Wes. Me, she's telling me something. She's telling me to take out the garbage. >> Wes, can you please take out the trash? >> Yeah. Yeah, I'll do it. We tell our students to join our social media classes. This, of course, is something that we tell you all the time. We tell you to join our social media classes. So, join them. Here are a few more examples using tell. And keep in mind the object that follows the verb. She told me to sit in this chair. The teacher tells us to do our homework. My mom told me to take a bath. I told you not to wake me up. Now, keep in mind that there are a few exceptions when it comes to using tell. I I know English and all the exceptions. It It sucks. But you don't always have to tell someone. Sometimes you can just tell something. For example, you can tell a secret. You can tell a lie. You can tell the truth. You can tell a joke. And you can also tell a story. These are several exceptions when it comes to using tell. And you just have to memorize them, use them, and you will eventually remember them. I'm telling you the truth. Okay, let's practice what we've learned. And this is a listening comprehension activity. I am going to tell you a sentence and that sentence is missing a word which is either say or tell. After listening to each sentence, I want you to say your answers out loud. you'll be saying this to me and I'm going to be listening. I'll give you a moment to say your answer and then after I will tell you the correct answer. So, let's begin. I don't want you to any more lies. I don't want you to any more lies. The answer is tell. This is one of those exceptions. You tell a lie. I don't want you to tell any more lies. I I can't hear you. Can you please your answer again? I want you to your answer. I I can't hear you. Could you please your answer again? I want you to your answer. The answer is say because I want you to say something, which is the answer. I want you to say your answer out loud. That was so rude. I I can't believe he didn't Hello. That was so rude. I can't believe he didn't Hello. The answer is say because we were talking about something that the person didn't say. I can't believe he didn't say hello. Um I can't remember what what did you me I should do? Um I I can't remember. What did you I should do. The answer is tell because we're talking about telling someone something. What did you tell me I should do? Perhaps it's a little easy when I do the activity. Now, let's see if you can listen for these words when other people say them. >> Be careful what you Be careful what you Be careful what you say. >> Now, tell the truth. Now, tell the truth. Now, tell the truth. >> Just the first thing that pops into your mind. Just say the first thing that pops into your mind. Just say the first thing that pops into your mind. >> Don't his name. Don't his name. Don't say his name. >> And what did you tell her? And what did you tell her? >> And what did you tell her? >> Something I'm [music] giving up on you. something. [music] I'm giving up on you. Say [music] something. I'm giving up on you. I just want to tell you that you are amazing. You have made it through the entire lesson and got so much exposure to a variety of different words and phrases. And I'm sure that you knew some of this vocabulary already. I'm sure that some of it was also new. But in general, the goal is to keep building your vocabulary and developing your understanding of the language because ultimately that is what's going to help you reach your fluency goals. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 140. A Proven Way to Effectively Build Your Vocabulary | CHUNKING | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `921Oi8wT-wI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=921Oi8wT-wI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:03:40 | --- in today's lesson i want to talk to you about another great technique to help you build grow and develop your vocabulary and the way that you can do this especially if you would like to do it quickly is with chunking now chunking in a nutshell just means that you are learning phrases and not just individual words over time our brains have developed to recognize patterns that that's just how we're wired let me give you an example say that i were to ask you to memorize 100 numbers 100 different numbers and you had to say them back to me in this specific order you're probably thinking like well that that's impossible i can't do that it would take me forever to memorize 100 numbers maybe you don't think you can do it at all but what if we broke up those numbers into smaller chunks let's say chunks of seven numbers now i don't know how old you are and when you first started using a cell phone but before we started using cell phones and keeping all of our phone numbers in here we had to memorize the different numbers when i was in university just before i started using a cell phone i probably had about 15 different phone numbers memorized i had my number memorized i knew my work number i knew the number of my family members and friends now if i were to line those up and put those numbers in order and tell you my number my work number my friends numbers you can do the math 15 times seven that is a hundred and five different numbers that that i could just tell you and the reason i could do this is because i had these numbers stored up here in these small chunks of seven and language works the same way we can build our vocabulary by learning small chunks so when you're using chunking you're just learning groups of words as a single unit here's another example of how i use chunking when i was learning spanish so when i first started learning spanish i wanted to learn a lot of useful and important phrases kind of like just those survival phrases that you need to know throughout the day maybe you're you want to say hello or you want to ask where the toilet is so one phrase that i wanted to learn was to tell people to have a nice day and that phrase is que tengo and wendia so here's what i had to do in order to learn this chunk and then use it effectively i had to do three things the first thing i had to do was just learn that there were five different words in this chunk that i needed to use five different words in order to say this phrase then i had to learn the order of those words they had to understand me so in this chunk of words i had to know which came first second third fourth and fifth finally i had to learn how to pronounce this chunk together and to say these words as one unit here's what i did not have to learn i didn't have to learn the grammar this phrase uses the subjunctive and as a beginner learning spanish the subjunctive it is way too difficult trying to understand that would just cause me a lot of pain and heartache and and it wasn't necessary i could still learn and use the phrase i also did not have to learn the meaning of every individual word all i had to learn was the meaning of the chunk have a great day personally i think it's great if you can understand the meaning of all the individual words however i want you to realize that it's not always necessary it's not absolutely necessary in order to communicate so remember when we're talking about chunking we're talking about learning groups of words and if we can learn and use these groups of words it's just going to help us communicate more effectively and naturally so in my example i was talking about a complete sentence have a great day when you use chunking you don't always have to learn a whole sentence you can just learn a chunk of a sentence and then fill in different information around it for example you can learn the phrase every now and then just learn this chunk it's four words this phrase can go at the beginning of a sentence or it can go at the end of a sentence it's an adverb phrase that means the same as sometimes so instead of saying sometimes i eat pizza you can say every now and then i eat pizza sometimes i go to the gym every now and then i go to the gym or we can move it to the end of the sentence and you might have a conversation with somebody and they could say i like to travel internationally every now and then or maybe they're talking about family and they tell you i visit my parents every now and then and you understand what they're saying because you understand this chunk that doesn't always mean that everything is interchangeable for example sometimes can go in the middle of a sentence i sometimes watch tv in the case of every now and then you you cannot use this adverb phrase in the middle it either goes at the beginning or it goes at the end and because you understand this chunk of words you'll you'll be able to identify it when you're listening when you're reading and you'll get a better feel as to how you should use it when you're speaking and when you're writing so again building vocabulary is so important because it's connected to all the other language skills and that's kind of what i want to talk to you about next because now that you know what chunking is i want to talk to you about the advantages of building your vocabulary using chunking it feels it feels a little weird to just keep saying chunking chunking chunking it's kind of a funny word but again it's a great technique and i want you guys to use it the first advantage is that it's going to greatly improve your listening and reading comprehension this is because you will identify groups of words instead of trying to follow each and every individual word ultimately you'll be able to listen to faster speech and you'll be able to read faster as well chunking will also give you a better understanding of the information another advantage of chunking is that it's going to help your speaking fluency because you're going to be saying these groups of words as one chunk instead of trying to pronounce each individual word let me give you an example when i think of greetings and i hear students learn greetings sometimes i would hear students learn greetings like the following they would say hello how are you i'm fine thank you and you i understand exactly what's happening in this greeting i can hear the words being pronounced but it doesn't sound natural it sounds robotic a more common natural greeting would be would be this how are you i'm doing well so let's compare those two quickly how are you you can learn that as one chunk and you can say those words individually like i just did how are you there's nothing wrong with it but it's more natural and common to hear people say how are you so if you learn it as that chunk as that one unit and that's the pronunciation that you try to use you're going to sound a little bit more like a native speaker because you're going to blend those first two words how are how are and then that last word you is going to have that schwa that yeah how are you but again with chunking you don't have to learn all of the specifics about pronunciation you just have to learn how to say it together how are you the next part which is the response i'm fine thank you and you again i think many students might learn this but it doesn't sound natural not many people are going to respond this way they might just say you know i'm good i'm doing well but in my example i said i'm doing well again if you learn this chunk then you're going to learn how to say it naturally in this case i'm dropping the g in doing i'm not saying i'm doing well that's okay but a lot of people might drop that and just say you know i'm doing well i'm doing good how are you doing so when you learn chunks of words and practice saying them as one unit it's really going to help your speaking fluency one final advantage is that you're learning the connections between different words when you understand that some words are commonly used together and you're able to identify these words then you'll be able to practice using them on your own and again this is going to help you sound more like a native speaker you'll be able to speak english more naturally and effectively for example there are many words that are commonly used with other words think about the word strong it's an adjective and when i just say the word strong you might be thinking of somebody flexing their muscles they have strength however we can use strong with other nouns and we could talk about coffee and say wow that's strong coffee or maybe you're talking about the weather and like wow that that was a strong thunderstorm you could even talk about food and say something has a strong taste in this case it's like it means powerful now it doesn't mean that we can substitute it in every way that you talk about something being powerful because you can say that a film is powerful it affects you emotionally we would not say that a film is strong so that's why it's so important to learn those different connections because there's a big difference between me saying well yesterday there was a thunderstorm and yesterday there was a strong thunderstorm and as you understand these different connections and realize that some words are commonly used with others that's just going to help you communicate more effectively and you'll be able to express your thoughts opinions and ideas and say exactly what you want to say so when you learn how different words are connected you're basically learning a unique language pattern and as i said at the very beginning our brains are designed to recognize patterns we just need to learn words and phrases and build our vocabulary in small manageable chunks so remember chunking is a great technique for building your vocabulary sharpening your listening and reading skills and developing your overall english fluency that's all for right now so i hope you keep learning keep practicing and keep up the good work --- ## 141. A vs. AN - Learn this ONE rule | Articles in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `UvSWjOttZOs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvSWjOttZOs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:25:44 | --- today i have a great lesson for you actually it's an awesome lesson which is all about these two words right here [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and this is the number one channel to help you practice and improve your english skills at least i'd like to think it's number one and today i have a great lesson for you it's it's kind of a grammar lesson because i'm going to talk to you about the words a and and and i we i really want to focus on how they are different and when you need to use these two words so it kind of ties in with grammar writing speaking a little bit of everything so the first thing that you should know is that a and n are considered indefinite articles or as i would typically call them non-specific articles and the reason why i say non-specific is because these words come before nouns that are either general or the identity is not known they can also come before adjectives as well so let me give you an example you could say i have a book or i have an english book english is an adjective that's modifying the noun book or maybe i'll give you a question a couple of questions should we go to a movie or maybe should we go to an aquarium all right and if you don't know what an aquarium is it's like uh it's like a zoo for fish for sea creatures but if you're just looking at these sentences that i just said some we're going to use a and others we're going to use n and i want to focus on well why is that what is the difference i think that it's important to begin with a problem when it comes to teaching these two words and it's learners sometimes get some information that's not so good so for example let's let's first look at the alphabet the english alphabet has 26 letters a b c d f g i j j j k l m p q r s t v w x y z z now what some teachers may say is that you are going to use a before words that begin with a consonant and you are going to use and before words that begin with a vowel and this is not it's not correct all right i think the reason why teachers say this is because generally speaking it's true in many cases plus it's very easy for learners to see the word that that's going to come after the article and you could see that first letter and you can identify oh that's that is a consonant that is a vowel and you want to follow this rule except again it's that rule it's it's not it's not accurate and i want to tell you that it's not about what you see it's about what you hear so you shouldn't just look at the word and and look at that first letter you need to think about the sound that you hear that first sound because the real rule is that you are going to use a before words that begin with a consonant sound and you are going to use and before words that begin with a vowel sound so let's let's first start with a and i want to give you some example sentences i have a book book begins with that consonant sound or she applied for a job or he told me a story that's that that s consonant sound so for each of those nouns we are going to use the article a now quickly i want to talk to you a little bit about the two different pronunciations because you might hear people pronounce it like a or you might hear people pronounce it like uh now both are accepted forms and there's no rule saying okay use this pronunciation here and use this other pronunciation here there is no rule generally speaking i think most english speakers are going to use uh which is the schwa sound and that is an unstressed vowel sound uh i i have a book she applied for a job he he told me a story now in my professional opinion i think that people might use a when they really want to emphasize that noun and typically i think they may they may be speaking a little slower and again they're just trying to give something a little more emphasis so so think about when people are you know they're they're they're expressing an emotion maybe they're angry or they're anxious or that they're upset and in that case you they may emphasize a noun so i could say for example she said the job interview was a disaster all right i'm trying to emphasize the fact that the interview it was a disaster or i could say he has a story to tell all right again i'm giving that noun a bit more emphasis or if somebody is maybe they're very anxious and they could say look we need a plan all right this is very important we need a plan and this this is true for even these lessons because i always need a lesson plan before i do these lessons i just i just don't turn on the camera and start talking i i need to organize things and how i'm going to present the lesson and i certainly need a lesson plan i even use this pronunciation at the very beginning of this lesson when i said i have a great lesson for you i was just trying to emphasize that yes this is a great lesson now that that doesn't mean that you always have to say that i can use uh as well and again i think that is the more common form but most importantly i want to get back to focusing on the difference between a and n so a is going to come before words that begin with a consonant sound and n is going to come before words that begin with a vowel sound it's not about what you see it's about what you hear so let me give you a few examples using the article and so i i gave you that one of those first sentences i have an english book english begins with that vowel sound or maybe i ask you the question would you like to live in an igloo all right igloo begins with a vowel sound yeah i don't know would you like to live in an igloo or i could say you know sometimes i can be a bit of an ass all right and that is true yes sometimes i can be a bit of an ass ass begins with that vowel sound and if you want to if you want to learn how i can be a bit of an ass i did an entire lesson on this word it is a great lesson that is all about the word ass and i will link that up here you can check that out so again we're going to use and before those nouns because they begin with a vowel sound let's practice because i i want you to participate in this lesson and i want you to say these sentences out loud so i'm going to give you a sentence with a blank and i want you to fill in that blank with either a or n and you're really you're just going to be identifying different objects so let me give you an example here is this you're going to say it's a watermelon all right watermelon begins with that that consonant sound so i am going to use the article a but i'm going to pronounce it with the schwa sound because that's generally that's generally what i do it's a watermelon just say the sentence out loud and then i will tell you the answer and maybe you'll also learn some new vocabulary words are you ready okay it's a coconut it's an ostrich it's a unicorn all right remember with this one it begins unicorn with that y that consonant sound all right the next one it's an acorn it's an x-ray all right again x-ray it begins with that vowel sound x x and x-ray same as excited or expert you're going to use and the next one it's a url all right again this is an acronym so we it begins with that consonant sound a url or some people might say this is a euro all right either one url you're real doesn't really matter you're still going to use a it's an honest mistake all right that h is silent an honest mistake okay now this one is a little tricky because you can use either one you can either say it's an herb or you could say it's a herb now the reason why i i say that is because in the united states which is where i am from that h is silent so i would use the article an it's an herb but in the uk they would pronounce that h and you would hear that consonant sound so they would use a it's a herb so again the the rule still applies even though sometimes it's sometimes it still can be a little confusing because all over the world there are so many different varieties of english and with that last one i was just trying to show you how english can you know it can be a little different depending on where in the world you are so again just i want you to focus on the most important thing from this lesson it's not about what you see it's about what you hear you're going to use a before consonant sounds and you are going to use and before vowel sounds so i hope that you learn something new and i would just love it if you write me a comment all right and notice how i wanted to emphasize that in saying a comment just because i love hearing from you also if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button and as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 142. Abbreviations & Acronyms to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `onlXcyDeXYc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onlXcyDeXYc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:31:57 | --- so if you want to improve your English fluency then you need to know abbreviations and acronyms they are so important and that's what we're gonna talk about today I'm gonna talk to you about some common and popular abbreviations and acronyms that you are going to come across if you are reading a book or a newspaper and you may even hear some of these in just general conversation so this is really going to help so hello to everyone out there my name is Wes this is interactive English and we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and if this is your first time here welcome please say hello to me in the chat or write your name in the comments because we just love hearing from you guys so I just want to give a quick shout out to some people who are we're here with me hello Mary Angela Syed Ryan sleepwalker Lally sada it's great to see you thank you so much for joining me and the way that we're going to do this I'm gonna try and I have a few different activities that we're going to do to practice your knowledge of abbreviations and acronyms now it there is a lot to go over and there are so many of them so it's not like we're gonna go through all of them today I have just chosen some that I think are the most common abbreviations the most common acronyms and and just just to practice them a little bit because that's really what's gonna help you improve this is an interactive lesson so as we're going through this I want you to write your answers in the chat and if you're watching this later write your answers in the comments and participate in the lesson so let's begin with talking about well okay first well you know what are abbreviations when we talk about abbreviations we're talking about shortened forms of different words and phrases now think of abbreviations as like the umbrella and underneath that umbrella are our different categories and I'm going to talk to you about four are different categories right now so types of abbreviations now the first one would be a contraction and this is when letters are omitted and you would just shorten the word and put a period after it and this is common when you're talking about proper nouns for example MT this is when you would be talking about the name of a mountain so if you're reading this if you're you're reading a newspaper you should pronounce this word like Mount and even that is a shortened form for example Mount Everest so you would often see this when it comes before when you're talking about a proper noun the name of a mountain Mount Everest Mount Elbert Mount Aconcagua Mount Kilimanjaro you don't know I am just naming the highest mountains on all of the different continents now there's also a truncation and this is they shortened it's a shortened form using the first part of a word so I probably don't need to tell you what set is if you see this it stands for Saturday now the important thing to know when you're talking about those first two alright this is something that you will read or it's something that you will write you are not going to pronounce Saturday like SAT this would just be when you're writing or you may come across this win reading if you just say you know hey this Sat I'm gonna go do this people are gonna be confused they're gonna be like what are you talking about Sat is the past tense of sit so keep that in mind the first two the contraction and the truncation is something you might use if you're writing but it's something that you're probably going to come across when you're reading so I think it's it's very important to make that distinction now the third one is an acronym that's right an acronym is a type of abbreviation it is underneath that umbrella and an acronym is pronounced as a single word ASAP now if somebody says you know I need it ASAP do you know what that means I hope that you said it stands for as as possible so these are very common in spoken English people will use these acronyms and they will pronounce it as a single word I need it ASAP bring it to me ASAP that report it's due ASAP as soon as possible now initialism initialism is is actually a type of acronym it is another kind of acronym acronym but I'm going to put it in a different category because initialism is when you use the initial letters but you're going to pronounce them individually you're not going to say it as one word for example FB I if you're talking about this part of the United States government the FBI it stands for the Federal Bureau of Investigation now often people don't say Federal Bureau of Investigation they want to shorten that and they will just use the initials FBI and this is something that I think it just takes time and practice the more exposure you get to the language the more you are going to understand okay which one is an acronym and I just say as one word and which one is more initialism and I need to say the individual letters so the way that we've broken the way I've broken down this lesson is the first part I'm gonna practice the number one and number two we're gonna do those together contractions and truncations and then the next part of the lesson is going to be acronyms and initialisms because those are actually ones that you are going to use and spoke in English those acronyms and the initialism so let's just get to it alright let's let's get to the first part of the practice now this is just a very simple exercise right here I want you to take these words and abbreviate the following alright let's just focus on mister so just look at that word if you're in the chat write your answer how would you abbreviate mister and we're gonna go through these quickly and again if you're watching this later I want you guys to participate because that is what interactive English is all about so I hope that if you're going to abbreviate the word mister you should use the right here the mr period and again you're talking about a person all right so you would say like mister and then that person's name okay so if you see this because oftentimes when I maybe I'm reading a story with learners and they come to an abbreviation sometimes they don't know how to pronounce it now I think that one's a basic one now let's look at Monday all right this is a truncation how would you truncate Monday what would you do again you're going to cut it off and just use the beginner it's beginning letters it's very common when talking about days of the weeks or months so I told you Saturday is just SAT period Monday you should write em o n all right Monday so this is something again that you might find if you're just writing an informal note maybe an email and you just want to write it quickly so instead of writing out Monday you might just say mo and excellent you guys are rocking this yes sir geez Samiha Mary Katerina excellent so let's look at the next one a pint often I would think of hey you know a pint of beer so again if you're saying the word out loud you're going to say pint but if you are writing something or you're reading something it's just going to be PT all right just that PT and that is an abbreviation for pine kilometer what do you guys think alright if we're talking about a killer may a kilometer or kilometer we're talking about a distance and the abbreviation for that is a km so again this we're starting a little easy it will get more challenging don't worry and these are all abbreviations Boulevard all right what do you think that is the the name of like a street so you have you could have a street you could have a drive Lane Boulevard and if you want to abbreviate that Blvd and again it would most commonly be used when you are actually writing the proper name alright so you're talking about the the actual name of the boulevard so if you're just writing about it separately like I live on a boulevard you're probably not going to abbreviate it but if you're talking about the name then you will and the last one Department what do you guys think how do you abbreviate Department I hope that you said DEP T all right this would be a shortened form to write Department often I think you might use this more in business in your job if you're just writing an email to somebody or you're writing a note and you're talking about somebody else or another group in a different department you may see an abbreviation like this so these are all different either contractions or truncations and this is just this is just something you're going to see if you're reading or maybe you might use in your writing this is not going you're not going to speak these abbreviations you're actually going to speak the full word so the next part that I want to do we're gonna stick with these I'm gonna show you a postcard alright it is a postcard it's not a real postcard and I want to see how many you can identify so take a look at this postcard just glance through it how many different words do you see on there that you can abbreviate and when I say abbreviate I'm talking about we can use a contraction and rich like shorten the word or a truncation and shorten the word and if you guys are just joining us we are talking about abbreviations and acronyms and we're just practicing using them because this is very important for your comprehension it really helps as well as your fluency so what do you think how many words in there do you see that we can abbreviate and then and them and then I'm gonna tell you how many and we're gonna go through those abbreviations at the end alright so what do you think how many do you see how many words I know some of you're like writing the word but in total okay uh in total these are the words that I had in mind there are six that I want to focus on August st. Avenue Fahrenheit gallons doctor so let's just take the first one August if you are going to abbreviate that and we're going to make it shorter alright what would we do excellent I see some where some Michelangelo perfect Nino August is going to be now the one thing I would say if you are just stating the month you're probably not going to abbreviate it you would really just abbreviate it if you're writing the date and in this case we have the date August 8th so because of that because we're talking about the date it may be abbreviated Aug 8 but we're gonna read it on August 8th I've visited the beautiful st. sulpice Church and I'm probably mispronouncing this if you are from Paris and you are French and I apologize but how would you abbreviate st. okay this is another one that I think people might come to and maybe they don't know it so excellent I see some great answers yes marna sorry if i mispronounce names who else Natasha excellent Katrin so st. is just st alright on August 8th I visited the beautiful st. sulpice Church then I took a walk down the famous remember I'm actually saying the name of the Avenue how are we going to abbreviate Avenue do I see some excellent yes perfect they see some great answers so if we're talking about Avenue the abbreviation is just a ve all right we are going to truncate it and use a ve I walk down the famous Avenue de shuffle is it jump shuffle easy and I'm probably butchering that pronunciation as well it's okay it was so hot outside about 97 Fahrenheit so instead of Fahrenheit what am I going to abbreviate that with all right yes M RN excellent you're going to abbreviate that and many of you are probably thinking well what what Fahrenheit okay so in the United States instead of Celsius we use Fahrenheit and that's what I did I wrote this as though it's somebody from the US well because I am from the US and Fahrenheit yes Katarina excellent is just F all right you're just gonna write the letter F and the same as Celsius you're just gonna write that first letter C so it was so hot outside about 97 Fahrenheit so I probably drank three gallons of water all right how can i abbreviate gallons again we're talking about a unit of measurement for a liquid three gallons of water that is actually that's quite a bit of water that somebody is drinking and if you're going to abbreviate gallons it's just gonna be G al it's that truncation we're just gonna use those first three letters three gallons of water still I got some heat exhaustion so I had to go to the clinic where I saw dr. jeckyl and I think this is one of the most common abbreviations that you would use with a person's name dr. is abbreviated dr dr. jeckyl and of course you're probably wondering well dr. Jekyll is not from Paris he is from London and yes I just I couldn't think of the name of another doctor but you get the idea so this is just a good practice for being able to identify it and and again understand when you might see these because this is for for writing you are going to see these types of embroidery Vienna in in a postcard like this it's something you may come across but I just want to let you guys know again if you guys like what we do if you guys want to connect with us check out our patreon page we offer some cool rewards and again it's just it's just a way to become a part of our patreon family I see some patrons in here now and again we just appreciate and love all the support I will throw a link right there boom in the description so what I want to do now is we're gonna we're going to move on we've talked about some truncations we've talked about contractions now I want to look at acronyms and initialisms so let's practice this and the first way I am going to give you an acronym and I just want you to tell me what do you think it means all right here is a very common acronym right here so I would say identify the acronym and I put it in quotes wait where's my there we go my quotes all right which is spoke in English because somebody might say this right here hey you need to enter your PIN and if somebody's talking about your PIN it is an acronym you pronounce it as one word what is the meaning of pin is it a private individual number is it be personal identification number or is it C personal individual number all right I'm trying to maybe throw you off with some of this but which which does it stand for the acronym pin I think many of you have probably heard it you're familiar with it you you know what it is but do you know what it stands for and I think this is the challenge with many acronyms is that people know the meaning but then when you ask well what do these individual letters stand for it may be a little tricky excellent perfect thank you Lally Mary Jane Catherine II know M RN go Sarah Angela the answer is B all right your pin stands for your personal identification number and this is a very very common acronym because you know if you have a bank you probably have an ATM card that you use and you have a PIN number on it so it is the code that you use at your bank the next one let's look at it is right here so it says so I would say this for example this would be something I would say we live in Europe so when we buy something we have to pay a vet all right now if you're talking about that and another way people might use it if they're buying something perhaps maybe they go to a restaurant well I think you would know depending on where you live but you could say oh what is this what is this charge what is this VAT I see these I see these letters here this v80 but again it's an acronym you're going to pronounce it as one word that what does it stand for a value all tax be vendor added Tech's or C value added tax which one does it stand for what do you guys think let me know write that in the chat or the comments if you're watching it later excellent yes I think everybody knows agon Sedna's bint kutzia yes IRA Estella hello excellent al-amin perfect so many it's his answers are going so fast that is value-added tax so in some countries they they have a value-added tax of that which you will see on a receipt if you buy some things all right so now I'm gonna make it a little more difficult I am going to give you the acronym I want you to write the meaning I'm not gonna give you this is not multiple-choice now I want you to write the meaning what do you think it stands for okay so and this is another one that I think is common I don't know what happened to him he's gone AWOL so what do you think those letters stand for a WOL what is I mean first of all like what do you think is the meaning of a wall and then what are those letters stand for so this can be pretty difficult but I chose this one because I think it is a little more common you may hear this acronym if you're watching a TV show or a movie or just even in conversation with a native English speaker especially from the United States so what do you think the a wall stands for if somebody has gone AWOL and that is often how it would be used you would use it in that context that somebody's gone AWOL he's gone AWOL she's gone AWOL um so I've got some answers Wow all right thank you for answering Catarina Adney Oh Danny you guys are close so no idea that's okay this is a little more challenging if somebody's gone AWOL it stands for absent without leave so this is a an acronym that means that somebody has left a particular group this acronym comes from the military that if somebody's in the military they are supposed to stay there but if somebody leaves without permission that's the key they leave without permission they would say that they are a wall so it started out as a military acronym but nowadays you can use it in you can use it in a variety of situations if you're talking about somebody leaving a group without permission maybe you work with somebody maybe you work with your colleagues on some project and somebody has not been showing up to the meetings they've left they don't have permission and you're telling the boss like I don't know where I don't know where he is he's gone AWOL he is left he is not there or maybe in a music group somebody leaves the music group they've gone AWOL they leave without telling anybody without permission it is a good acronym to know all right AWOL the next one all right this is more of a political one and I'm gonna read this I'll share my personal feeling a little bit so I don't want to get too political but this is one that you will hear nowadays especially if you're keeping up with American politics so I'd say wow that POTUS he's something all right and maybe you can you can infer my feeling based on the intonation that I'm using but what does it stand for POTUS if you're watching the news and I think I just gave it away I'd mentioned the word politics I didn't want to but if you're watching the news and you hear this term POTUS what are what are they referring to alright and I put the American flag in there because again it is it's a very American acronym alright and I would say again just to capture my feeling I'd say wow that POTUS mmm he's something all right so yes if you're talking about the POTUS this is a political acronym excellent Danny Josh have been here English vibes we are referring to the President of the United States and if I would say it like this I'd say yeah he's something yeah it's not not something I'm very happy about but if somebody says POTUS it stands for the President of the United States the same with FLOTUS you might hear somebody mentioned FLOTUS and it's talking about the First Lady of the United States so this is a political acronym which you you will hear if you're watching the news and you like to stay up on current events and you're interested in politics and government so we're gonna Ken we're gonna switch it up I'm gonna make it I'm gonna make it even more challenging now what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to rewrite the sentence using a type of acronym but the acronym is going to be initialism so that is the accurate that's the type of acronym I wanted you to use remember it's all like categories and subcategories abbreviations that's at the top an acronym is a type of abbreviation and even under that initialism is kind of a type of acronym but you have to say each individual letter so I want you to rewrite the sentence using an initialism alright I'm gonna start out easy so you know what I mean so here is the sentence I want you to rewrite it and I will give you some time to do this and I'd say last night she saw this mysterious thing flying in the sky alright so this is a little bit of a transformation to practice your overall well kind of your vocabulary and see what words you know because these are very common acronyms that I'm talking about and I think most of you should be able to get this one last night she saw this mysterious thing flying in the sky how would you rewrite that sentence alright so again if you guys just joining us we are practicing abbreviations and acronyms in order to improve your comprehension and your fluency so again wait if you guys can try to rewrite the sentence I know it's a lot more to type but it's good practice see if you can rewrite the whole sentence I think most of you know the acronym but I'm more curious to see how you would say the sentence alright so yes excellent uh go SIA meirin ah okay yeah I think yes I got some good sentences in there what I would say there's a there could be more than one day I would just say last night she saw a UFO alright in this case again you you don't know what it is I don't think I would say the UFO because it's not really specific it's it's just general because we don't know exactly what it is or that UFO that would make me think that we know some more information about it but we saw a UFO an unidentified flying object if you don't know what that stands for that there it is right there it stands for unidentified flying object initialism UFO all right so let's look at the next one now you know what I want you to do try to rewrite the whole sentence and use an acronym if it's difficult to read I'm gonna say it so try it try to just listen for it so the sentence is I read a book that told me how to change the oil in my own car I read a book that told me how to change the oil in my own car so what what acronym what it's initialism again this is one where you would say the individual letters would you use all right how could you rewrite that sentence all right I read a book that told me how to change the oil in my own car all right the key word there I'm gonna give you a hint in case it may be a little difficult a little confusing the key word there is own alright we're talking about your own car alright it's something that you are doing to your own car alright so how would you rewrite that sentence they told me how to change oil in my alright so first you got to think about which acronym we're gonna use I see bent bent baladi you you have the acronym how would you write the sentence so the acronym that we're talking about is yes Alex a DIY DIY stands for do-it-yourself and often times when you hear this Do It Yourself I think it's commonly used when talking about books because there are so many books out there telling people how to things on their own oh you want to fix computers here's how you do it by your own you want to create a website you can do it on your own you want to fix your car you can do it on your own and it would be called a DIY book and the sentence that I would put that I made I read a DIY book I would use it as an adjective so we often refer to something and say it is a dy DIY book it is the type of book so instead of saying it's a fantasy book it is a romance novel you would say it is a DIY book and often in book stores you might find a section of the book stores that is DIY that all of it is do-it-yourself and that's what it stands for right now I read a DIY book so I could change the oil in my car so if I'm writing that I don't need to say my own car because that's what DIY is saying it's saying that I did it myself Do It Yourself DIY so that is a good one to know a DIY book is saying do it yourself it'll it it teaches you something so you can do it on your own alright the next one this is a this is another very common one all right and I don't know if many of you you maybe many of you will get this easily and others maybe it's a little more challenging but I'd say he suffers from a chronic condition that includes attention difficulty hyperactivity and impulsiveness so write the sentence alright see if you can write the sentence and I'll give you a hint this is a pretty short sentence so you already know that the acronym again it is an acronym that I've just I've just taken from the internet chronic condition that includes attention difficulty hyperactivity and impulsiveness alright what what what acronym again it's initialism because you would say the initial letters what am I talking about all right what do you guys think all right seeing some good answers Catherina um Nino Mary Jane right yes actually I think technically oh you guys actually gave a better answer probably because yes you have ADHD often I I just put down another form of it a DD somebody suffers from a DD which stands for attention deficit disorder but you could say ADHD which would include that hyperactivity now the reason why I say this is common because this is a chronic condition if somebody suffers from a a DD ADHD they can go to the doctor and they may get some medicine but it is something that I think a lot of people throw out there if somebody has trouble paying attention somebody might say you know I'm a little a DD and that just tells you if somebody says that that they have difficulty paying attention now it does not mean maybe they've gone to the doctor and that's what they said but again the reason I put this is because a lot of people will throw it out there without having gone to the doctor that they know that oh this means you have trouble paying attention it probably applies to me and then they might go tell other people yeah you know I'm a little bit a DD or they may describe another person and say yeah he's a little a DD he doesn't pay much attention or she has a bit of a DD so this is a very common acronym that you would come across but again you're going to pronounce each letter a DD attention deficit disorder and this one this is one of my favorites okay remember you need to bring your own beer to the party this weekend okay how would you rewrite that sentence and this is a good one and I'll tell you why in just a second because it applies to it applies to many different things all right remember you need to bring your own beer to the party this weekend how would you how would you rewrite that sentence okay what do you what do you guys think all right this is I think this is more something that I think you hear a lot more in pop culture you might hear it if you're watching a TV show or a movie but it's a good one to know and the reason it's a good one to know is because they people use it in a variety of ways so again I think mini you got the acronym but hey how would you guys write it how would you change that sentence I think that's what we need to practice about taking it and then using the acronym in the sentence where would you put it how would you write it all right so um you need to okay all right Danny gave it a good try you need to be why I'll be the part that that's very close so many of you have the the acronym the initialism BYOB BYOB stands for bring your own beer but if I was going to rewrite no rewrite this sentence right here what I would say is that the party is BYOB and you would say remember the party this weekend is BYOB bring your own beer so you would say that a party is BYOB the reason why I said this is a great acronym to learn is because you can you can take beer out of there and you can replace it with well whatever kind of party you're having perhaps I have a party and I say well everybody needs to bring juice alright jokingly I could say well hey the party's BYO J bring your own juice or maybe everybody has to bring a cake and say hey guys the party's BYOC bring your own cake so this is an acronym that you could replace it with something that everybody must bring this thing BYO bring your own and then whatever it is but most commonly I think people would say bring your own beer if you're talking about some kind of informal party that people are having and they'd because the person does not want to buy beer for everyone they would say the party is BYOB alright so this this is good practice if anything maybe some of these you you already know it's good review because you you're going to find those contractions and truncations when you're reading articles reading stories especially informal things and those acronyms you are going to hear them all the time if you're watching a TV show or movie but it's also those are things that you can throw out and actually use in your everyday conversation like that one I talked at the beginning like I talked about it beginning ASAP as soon as possible a very common one so thank you guys so much for joining me if you enjoyed this lesson and liked practicing your English please hit that like button that lets me know that okay you guys I should continue doing these live lessons on a variety of different topics so like and share the lesson we always love hearing from you so write to us in the comments and again you can check us out on our social media if you haven't joined our Facebook our Instagram I recommend that you do so because we we always try to practice there and have people practice with us there so check that out uh here I'll go ahead and throw a link so here is our Facebook if you have not already been to it boom alright check out Facebook we're also on Twitter and Instagram thank you guys give some quick shout outs um where is it gosh it's moving so fast and I can't even see the names the names went away I'm sorry ah there they come thank you Syed Jun wah Walter Mary thank you guys didi you Hania Nino Lally Syed so Gigi thank you guys for being here booster corn hope you guys have a wonderful day Claudia M RN I know we'll be back next time for another life lesson have a wonderful day I will see you then so long --- ## 143. Accent & Pronunciation Training | 25 Sentences to Enhance Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `AC_eh1wDDQA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC_eh1wDDQA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:37:10 | --- I told ChatGPT, "Give me 25 sentences in English that are commonly used but difficult to pronounce for ESL learners because of pronunciation or connected speech." And I want to go over these sentences right now, practice them with you so that you can improve your overall speaking fluency. And if you are someone who wants to develop your skills when it comes to pronunciation, connected speech, or accent, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is West, the channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, the way it turned out, ChatGPT organized this into three different groups. And the first 10 sentences have to do with connected speech. So, let's have a look at our first sentence, which is What are you going to do about it? And there are a couple of different reductions, and I want to add one more thing. So, what are you? I'm not going to say the individual words just like that. The first thing I want you to know and be aware of is that the final T in what you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. This is a distinct part of the American accent. So, it's going to sound like what are you? Can be either stressed or unstressed. If it's stressed, it's going to sound like you. When unstressed, it's going to sound like it has more of a schwa sound in unstressed uh ya. What are you? Going to is probably the most common reduction, and you hear it all the time in spoken English. What are you going to do? Just those six words, I think, are incredibly helpful because there are so many different ways to end this sentence. What are you going to do tomorrow? What are you going to do next week? What are you going to do after lunch? The The thing I'll say about this particular question is about it. We can link this together. Linking is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. About it. It's like we're moving that consonant sound over. What are you going to do about it? Let's say it a few times and I want you to practice shadow. Say it with me and I'll start out slow and then we'll get a little faster. So, let's say it slowly. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? I think it can sound a little aggressive, so I don't know how often you might find yourself in a situation in which you're saying to someone, "Hey, what are you going to do about it?" Let's look at the next sentence, which is, "Did you get a chance to look at it?" I think this is a great question, especially maybe in a work context. Did you get a chance to look at it? That did you. This is assimilation. So, I think that the simplest way to put it, you have these sounds like they run up against each other and it creates this new sound. In this case, the D and Y, did you, you get that just sound. You do not need to force it as you transition from one sound to the next. It should just occur naturally. Did you? But, this often occurs in other questions as well. What did you? Where did you? Why did you? How did you? Get a, I can link that phrase together and you hear me pronounce that flat T. I told you, I'm going to talk about the flat T a lot. Did you get a chance to look at it? One thing I really want you to pay attention to is the word to. When it is unstressed, it may sound like tuh. It's a much softer sound and you will hear this all the time and if you can make it a part of your speaking fluency, it's going to help you sound a lot more natural. To look at it. And we can link that together. Look at it. There's another flat T. The final T in at. Did you get a chance to look at it? Say it with me. Let's say it slowly, and then I'm going to speed it up a little bit. Did you get a chance to look at it? Did you get a chance to look at it? Did you get a chance to look at it? Now, if you would like to improve your overall fluency, like we're working on speaking right now, I think you will benefit from taking classes, and you can do that with Skillshare, who is the sponsor of today's lesson. Skillshare is a platform where you can take classes taught by professional designers, accomplished educators, successful entrepreneurs, which makes it the best place to learn a creative skill or just pick up a new hobby. Of course, there are many classes to help you improve your English. But, on Skillshare, you can take a wide range of classes on topics that really interest you, and you can learn about these topics in English. Recently, I took a class called social media and phone addiction, and the class provided practical ways to disengage away from the phone and engage in other creative outlets. I even got to be creative when completing the project, and I came up with this illustration showing the relationship with our phones. It's a little exaggerated, but you get the idea. So, a class like this is something that we can all relate to, but I recommend that you explore your interests, whether it's crafts, personal development, photography, and use that to develop your English skills. You get to learn something new and improve your English. And right now, Skillshare has a special offer for you. The first 500 people to click on the link in the description or scan the QR code will get a 1-month free trial of Skillshare. So, click on the link to get your free trial, take some online classes, improve your English while you learn about one of your creative passions, or about a topic that may help you advance your career. Let's get back to our lesson to help you fine-tune your speaking fluency. And the next sentence is, I should have told you earlier. Th- This is another reduction with the modal verb should have. you can really just contract it, but you could think of it as a reduction because have it it's like that H elides. Elision is when sounds or syllables get removed. So, should have may sound more like should of. And then I can link that final d I should have told you earlier. That DNY, once again, may blend together, and it's like you hear that slight little j sound in there. That is not a rule. You may Sometimes you may not hear it. But, as I say the sentence, you're going to hear that slight I should have told you earlier. I should have told you earlier. So, let's practice this. Say it a few times. Let's say it slowly. I should have told you earlier. I should have told you earlier. I should have told you earlier. And yeah, I I should have told you earlier that if you enjoy these lessons, then please go ahead, hit the like button. It really helps reach a wider audience of English learners. I apologize, I should have told you earlier. Then we have, could you pass me the water bottle? I don't know why, I feel like ChatGPT seems to really be fond of assimilation, cuz here, once again, we have that DNY and that j sound. Could you pass me the water bottle? I I want to add to this because, again, I'm from the US and I just like talking about the flat T. Water bottle. You hear those Ts, I'm pronouncing them as a flat T. Water bottle. So, the T in water comes between two vowels. This is one time when it occurs. It also occurs when the T comes before a dark L, like in the word bottle. Water bottle. Very American. Let's say it slowly, and then we'll speed it up a little bit. Could you pass me the water bottle? Could you pass me the water bottle? Could you pass me the water bottle? Great. How about this one? Let me know when you're ready. Great sentence. I think people just use it in everyday English. You're talking to someone else. You say, you know, just let me know when you're ready. Let me is another reduction. It's going to sound like lemme. And then the rest of it, I think it's pretty straightforward. One thing I will point out is that in spoken English, especially in the United States, people will often use contractions. Now, if you use the full form, let me know when you are ready, that's perfectly fine. But casually, people are going to use these contractions and I think it would help you to sound more natural if you get accustomed to using them. Let me know when you're ready. So, let's say this together slowly. Lemme know when you're ready. Lemme know when you're ready. Lemme know when you're ready. Just say, lemme know when you're ready and I'll continue. Okay, you're ready right now? All right, let's move on to the next sentence. What do you want to eat tonight? We're really reducing the the first part of that question. What do you? Now, the T and the D, they're like overlapping sounds because the tongue is in the same position in your mouth. It's up just behind your top front teeth. And in this case, it's like that T aligns. We're not going to hear it. Do is going to get reduced and may sound a little more like duh. What do you want to eat tonight? Want to, besides going to, this is probably the next most common reduced phrase. Want to is going to sound like wanna. What do you wanna? What do you wanna? Let's just isolate those words right there. Just repeat after me. What do you wanna? What do you wanna? And then you could finish the question with, well, a lot of different things. What do you want to do tomorrow? What do you want to watch on Netflix? And or in this case, what do you want to eat tonight? So, let's practice this question. Let's say it together slowly. What do you want to eat tonight? What do you want to eat tonight? What do you want to eat tonight? Great little drill exercise with that what do you want to? What do you want to? Here's the next one. I'm going to call you later. Going to I'm going to reduce that to gonna and then keep in mind later is another word that you really hear my American accent cuz you hear that flat T, later. I'm going to call you later. Now, I I I will say before we practice this together, I'm gonna, you could reduce this even further and I like to practice this. It does get people outside of their comfort zone a little bit. So, I'm gonna, you could reduce this even further to I'm onna. I'm onna. I'm gonna call you later. I'm gonna call you later. If it's not comfortable for you to say, don't feel like you need to, but I do think it will help with your listening comprehension because you'll hear people use this I'm gonna do whatever. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna go to the gym. I'm gonna go to the park. I'm gonna call you later. And you hear that I'm onna I'm onna I'm onna. But it is still very common just to say I'm gonna. So, let's just practice I'm gonna call you later. Let's say it slowly. I'm gonna call you later. I'm gonna call you later. I'm gonna call you later. I'm gonna call you later. I feel like the faster I keep saying it then it then you start to hear that I'm onna. I'm gonna call you later. The next sentence. Do you think it'll work out? Now, we can reduce that do you and it's almost like you're just saying that d sound and then moving right into you. Do you? Now, you could say do you? Do you if you want to unstress you. But in this case, let's just say do you think it'll work out? Now, we can link some of those other phrases, think it'll, think it'll. You can hear me moving that consonant sound over, work out. Work out. Again, linking will occur. Do you think it'll work out? Let's say it a few times. We'll say it slowly. Do you think it'll work out? Do you think it'll work out? Do you think it'll work out? And you just kind of just get faster and faster and faster. And I think that's part of the challenge, too, is trying to transition from one sound to the next. Here is the next sentence. Have you ever been there before? Now, I don't know why it says very fast linking. I mean, you can say this question fast, but I told you that linking is really when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next. And we don't really have any consonant vowel linking that occurs. You don't even have any vowel to vowel linking. So, just again, keep in mind, this is chat GPT and the AI, you got to take everything with a grain of salt. Still, you could practice saying this question naturally, smoothly, and at a quicker pace. Once again, there is value in just trying to transition from one sound to the next. So, let's say it slowly, and then we're going to speed things up a little. Have you ever been there before? Have you ever been there before? Have you ever been there before? I think this is a valid question that you may use in just casual conversation. Have you ever been there before? Let's have a look at our next statement. I would have done it if I'd known. Would have. This is a modal of lost opportunity, but we can still reduce this. I told you that H, it's kind of like an elide, you don't really hear it. Maybe you could think of it like we're we're turning down the volume on that H, and have is going to sound like that of, would have. I would have done it. Now, this is a phrase that we can link, and kind of just move that n sound over. Done it. Done it. If I had known. I had known. I told you that contractions, I think are common in spoken English and that is the contraction I known. I would have done it if I'd known. I don't know if you hear it, but there is a slight pause in the middle of this sentence. I'm separating them into two different thought groups. This is a way of just organizing your speech and I think it really helps with clarity and the pause, that slight pause, is going to come between the two clauses. I would have done it short pause, if I'd known. Now, if I took if I had known and moved it to the other side of the sentence, then there's going to be a comma there and then you know, okay, comma, I'm going to make that slight pause. But you can still make that pause even if the if statement is at the end. I would have done it if I'd known. This isn't not a fixed rule. You could just run through the sentence without that pause. I would have done it if I'd known, but I think it just sounds better if you're making that slight pause. It's much easier to understand and it's part of developing that nice rhythm and flow. I would have done it if I'd known. Let's practice this. Say it slowly and I'm going to make that pause and you can try to make it, too. I would have done it if I'd known. I would have done it if I'd known. I would have done it if I'd known. And hopefully it makes sense when I talk about separating them into two different thought groups and you have that slight pause. Let's look at our next group, which is difficult because of consonant clusters. And in this case, I I actually agree with chat GPT. I'm working on reading with my little girl and yeah, consonant clusters can be challenging. So, our first sentence, 6th Street is straight ahead. I know I said commonly used sentences. I don't know how often you're going to say this sentence, but it is a great example of practicing these consonant clusters, sixth street. I think the word sixth alone is is a bit challenging. Just remember that th is voiceless and you really do hear it that sixth street is straight ahead. That final t in straight, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap t and then I'm going to link it with ahead, straight ahead, straight ahead, straight ahead. Sixth street is straight ahead. Let's practice it. We'll say it slowly. Sixth street is straight ahead. Sixth street is straight ahead. Sixth street is straight ahead. This I feel like these sentences, this is going to be a little bit of a tongue twister. Here is the next one. Next spring, we're planning a trip. Next spring, that is the consonant cluster. A lot of consonants in there. One thing I want you to be aware of, the word next, you're not really going to hear that t sound because when it comes between two consonants, it's going to elide. Next spring. It's just easier to say and you hear this quite often with next, next week, next year, next spring, next summer. And of course spring, you have that spr consonant cluster, can be a little challenging. Next spring, we're planning a trip. You hear me say this right now. Once again, I'm going to separate it into two different thought groups. We have our time expression, next spring, slight pause, we're planning a trip. Next spring, we're planning a trip. I think it just makes it easier to say. It just sounds nicer, too. So, let's practice this sentence. Let's say it slowly. Next spring, we're planning a trip. Next spring, we're planning a trip. Next spring, we're planning a trip. Let's keep going with more consonant clusters. Here is the next sentence. Please ask Chris first. Maybe maybe you have a friend named Chris, in which case this sentence could be very relevant. But the consonant cluster ask Chris. Now, it is a little tricky trying to say these two words one right after the other, and don't really feel like you need to force it. In this case, when it comes to these consonant clusters, just say the individual words. Ask Chris. Let's say the sentence a few times. Slowly. Please ask Chris first. Please ask Chris first. Please ask Chris first. Please ask Chris first, okay? I just want you to ask Chris. This is a tricky sentence to say, but it's still a good one to practice these consonant clusters. Here's the next sentence. The text were sent yesterday. Text were sent. I don't know why GPT said, well, you know, consonant clusters were sent. There's not really many consonants in there. Text, I understand, but this is a sentence they gave us and we can still practice it. I think any practice is helpful. The word text, when you make this plural, it is challenging on its own. Because you have that x, and you want to add that slight s sound to make it plural. Texts. Texts. Say it with me. Texts. The text were sent yesterday. Let's say this a few times. We'll say it slowly. The text were sent yesterday. The text were sent yesterday. The text were sent yesterday. And then there's I asked them twice already. Asked them twice. That is the challenging consonant cluster that GPT identified. And yeah, there are some consonants in there. Let's begin with asked. Because that ed you would pronounce it as a t sound because the k in ask is voiceless. Asked. But I told you that when that t comes between two consonants, it's going to elide. You're not going to hear it. So, you're just going to say, "Ask them." And you're going to move right into that voiced th sound. I asked them twice already. And twice already, we can link that final s sound with the vowel sound in already. Twice already. Twice already. I asked them twice already. Let's say it slowly and then faster. I asked them twice already. I asked them twice already. I asked them twice already. The next sentence, he works at the bank downtown. Works at the bank, I don't know why again they classified this phrase as having a lot of consonant clusters. Of course, works, yes, that rks is a good consonant cluster to practice. Let's just go ahead and say this one. One thing I want you to keep in mind, works at. I can link that final s sound with the vowel sound in at. And let's do that when we practice this. Let's say it slowly and then faster. He works at the bank downtown. He works at the bank downtown. He works at the bank downtown. If you know someone who works at a bank, and then you could say this sentence. He works at the bank downtown. Then there's the first prize went to her. First prize, that is our consonant cluster. Remember, that final t in first comes between two consonants, it's going to elide. You don't really hear it. First prize. First prize. The first prize went to her. I want to remind you that preposition to, when unstressed, it's going to sound like a softer t, to her. To her. Just say that, to her. The first prize went to her. Let's practice saying the sentence. We'll start it out slowly. The first prize went to her. The first prize went to her. The first prize went to her. Excellent. Let's move on to our next group, which GPT identified as difficult because of specific sounds. And the first sentence, which I don't even think is really a sentence, but three free throws. This is difficult to just say these three words because of that th and r. Three free throws. Three free throws. Just we can just say it a few times. This is more of a tongue exercise in your mouth and trying to transition from one sound to the next. Three free throws. And just we'll say it quickly. Let's Let's just say it together slowly and then I'm going to get faster and faster and faster. Let's see how fast you can go. Three free throws. Three free throws. Three free throws. Three free throws. Three free throws. Three free throws. Three free throws. Okay. And it is it is difficult to just say it again and again and again, but let's move on to our next sentence, which is the 33 thieves thought they thrilled the throne. I don't know why they're just giving us tongue twisters. They're good to practice, but I I did tell GPT sentences that are commonly used. Nevertheless, we'll we'll practice this. This is great for the the th because th has two different pronunciations, a voiceless th in words like 33 thieves, and then a voiced th sound. You're going to feel that vibration in your vocal cords with words like they, the, that, those, this. Something to keep in mind as we practice this sentence. The 33 thieves thought they thrilled the throne. Let's say it slowly and then we'll we'll speed things up. The 33 thieves thought they thrilled the throne. The 33 thieves thought they thrilled the throne. The 33 thieves thought they thrilled the throne. Faster. The 33 thieves thought they thrilled the throne. As you're saying this quickly, you're going to feel the tongue shooting between those teeth to make that th sound. The 33 thieves. There is a The tongue twister continues. There's more to it, but let's just move on to our next sentence, which is Really rarely do I read reviews. Just looking at this sentence, you see all those r's and l's, and that can be challenging for for many ESL learners, really depending on where you're from. So, just keep in mind the position of the tongue in your mouth. Of course, the l l That l sound, the tip of your tongue is going to come up and touch just behind your top front teeth. Whereas, the r, like your your tongue is pulled back. The tip is curled up. But, they they're in completely different positions. Really rarely do I read reviews. I'll point out something extra as far as connected speech is concerned, do I. This is an example of intrusion. Intrusion is when you add a sound between two vowels in order to connect them together. In this case, you can hear a slight w w sound, do I, do I, in order to link these words. Really rarely do I read reviews. Let's say it slowly, and then we'll speed it up. Really rarely do I read reviews. Really rarely do I read reviews. Really rarely do I read reviews. These sentences are tough. They're even tough for me to say these these tongue twisters. And speaking of tongue twisters, the next sentence, She sells seashells on the seashore. This is perhaps one of the most famous tongue twisters in English, and really it's challenging because not only you have the s versus the sh sounds, which I I don't think are too difficult to make and distinguish between, but they become challenging because of the minimal pairs in this tongue twister. So, she see, that is a minimal pair. The only difference is the s and sh sound. She see. And it comes between two other minimal pairs, sells shells. Once again, the only difference would be that s and sh. She sells seashells. And trying to say that quickly is very challenging. She sells seashells on the seashore. Let's practice this. Say it slowly. She sells seashells on the seashore. She sells seashells on the seashore. One more time. She sells seashells on the sh- seashore. The shells she sells are seashells, I'm sure. Again, we can add to this. It's a much longer tongue twister, but in this case, we're just focusing on that s and sh sounds. Then there's world leaders rarely agree. This is a sentence that you may actually use in conversation. So, this is this is useful. World leaders rarely agree. It's challenging not only because the the r and l, but world. That rld consonant cluster, I've had so many people tell me that they struggle with this consonant cluster, especially this world. World. I think if you want to practice it, slow it down. Think about the position of the tongue in your mouth, and just keep doing it again, and you can speed up a little more. World, you have that ur sound. Your tongue is pulled back, and then the tip is going to come up behind your top front teeth for the l, and then release into the d. World. World. World leaders rarely agree. Let's say it slowly, and then faster. World leaders rarely agree. In this case, I am pronouncing the individual words. World leaders rarely agree. World leaders rarely agree. I think this is true. And then there's the rural area is really beautiful. Chat GPT is really running with these R and L combinations, but hey, that's just what came up. The rural area is really beautiful. Rural is a tough word because of the R L combination, but I think you can do it. Let's practice this together. Let's say it slowly. The rural area is really beautiful. The rural area is really beautiful. The rural area is really beautiful. And I do, I think rural area I think I'm having trouble saying it. A lot of too many R's and L's. I do think rural areas are very beautiful. They are picturesque and it's nice to get outside the city. And then you could say, "Wow, the rural area is really beautiful." Here is the next sentence. This year's weather is worse than last year's. And this is a sentence that you may actually use. I've said this before. This year's weather is worse than last year's. I don't know why GPT was identifying the th, the w and linking as two reasons why this sentence is difficult. So, I'm just going to break it down on my own. And really I want to point out assimilation. So, this year, that s and y they they come up next to each other and you hear a slight sh sound. This year's. This year's weather I'm going to pause it there. I'm going to separate it into two different thought groups right before the verb to be. Again, this is not a rule. This is something that I might do just for clarity, for ease of understanding. And for that reason, I'm not going to link the final consonant sound in weather with the beginning vowel sound in is because of that pause. This year's weather is worse than last year's. Last year's, more assimilation. Last year's, this time you hear a slight little ch sound between them. Last year's. Let's say it slowly and then speed it up. This year's weather is worse than last year's. This year's weather is worse than last year's. This year's weather is worse than last year's. And I do think that's true if I'm comparing this year versus last year. This year's weather is worse than last year's. I hope that you were practicing and saying these sentences out loud with me and if you were, let me know down in the comments. Just write the word speaking so I know that you were working on developing your speaking fluency and I wasn't just talking to myself. If you enjoyed the lesson and found it helpful, please hit that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 144. Advanced (C1) #Idiom | TO FALL FLAT | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `0uqyL0Xs140` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uqyL0Xs140) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:57:12 | --- your attempts at mockery fall flat fall flat this is an idiom but we're going to use it as a verb to fall flat this is said when a joke suggestion or idea does not have the intended effect now most of the time you're going to use this when talking about jokes so right now I'm going to tell you a couple of jokes and you can let me know in the comments if they fall flat if I am what I eat then I'm fast cheap and easy [Music] it's a little ridiculous here here's another one you know what they say never go to bed angry stay up and fight so I suppose one or both of those jokes fell flat it did not have the intended effect of laughter but you can let me know --- ## 145. Advanced (C1) #Idiom | to set foot in (some place)๐Ÿฆถ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_41BCne-ky0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_41BCne-ky0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:58:41 | --- I haven't set foot in a bar in years to set foot in some place this means to go to a place or to enter a place and you're really going to use this idiom when you want to add emphasis and there's some emotion involved I could say I'm afraid to set foot in my hometown because it's no longer peaceful and quiet and I'm just afraid to go to this place unless Cersei grants us an audience and is somehow convinced not to murder as the we set foot in the capital or I'm so angry at my brother I refuse to set foot in his home and I refuse to enter his home so hopefully you can sense that emotion if you set foot in this door ever again I will bring hell down on you --- ## 146. Advanced (C1) Adjectives to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YQEwCkSiWME` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQEwCkSiWME) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:58:23 | --- believe it or not I have a cutting edge vocabulary lesson for you to help you improve your English so right now I'm going to teach you some Advanced C1 adjectives and let's just begin with a word that I have already mentioned Cutting Edge and this just means very modern with all the newest features and there are some common collocations with this adjective really words you would think of when you hear very modern like cutting edge technology or a cuttingedge design or cuttingedge research I was a young scientist working with a worldclass team Cutting Edge research to attract the top EDS we'll need to make a recruitment film picture that showcases our Cutting Edge technology when pronouncing this word the stress is going to be on that first syllable and that T I am going to pronounce this as a flap T which is very common when talking about the American accent because that t comes between two vowel sounds so I'll say it as a flap T which is going to sound more like a soft D cutting Cutting Edge and that DG combination an edge has that J sound Cutting Edge and if you are someone who appreciates Cutting Edge vocabulary lessons Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and throughout the lesson I'm going to talk to you about the pronunciation of each adjective because I tried to choose words that were a little trickier to pronounce like this next word affluent this means having a lot of money or owning a lot of things a and you could use this word to describe a person but often I think you would use it to describe a group of people perhaps you're talking about an affluent neighborhood or an affluent country or an affluent family and in order to demonstrate how this adjective is used in context I have some news headlines for you Savvy travel to open new branch in affluent area addressing poverty in an affluent society how can luxury travel companies attract affluent Travelers on digital channels when pronouncing this word the stress is going to be on that first syllable affluent now that is the way you're going to find it in most English dictionaries however you may hear some people stress that second syllable and in that case that first syllable is then going to have that schah sound that uh sound affluent you may hear both of these but I think more commonly people are going to stress that first syllable affluent then there's the word competent it means that you are able to do something well and I imagine that you are a competent speaker of English English I I like to think that I am a competent teacher now with this adjective you may also follow it with the preposition at you are competent at something or competent at doing something if I were to say he is competent at his job for pronunciation the stress is on that first syllable and the final syllable has that schah sound that uh sound competent say it with me competent competent excellent right now I want to take a moment to thank the sponsor of today's lesson which is Elsa speak this is a Cutting Edge app to help you fine-tune your pronunciation so that you can become a competent speaker and if you're unfamiliar with the app let me show you how it works you just download the app create an account and there is a lot that you can do practice daily lessons improve pronunciation study by topic so let's say that we want to study by topic and there are many different topics to choose from let's choose relationships and as you can see there are a lot of different lessons to help you practice and improve but I think one of the coolest parts of the app is the ability to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so let's say that I want to practice the sentence this app is Cutting Edge and then you can listen to the pronunciation this app is Cutting Edge and then practice saying it this app is Cutting Edge now let me show you what it looks like if I make a mistake and I mispronounce that adjective this app is cutting e and as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try and make adjustments and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get 7 Days of the pro membership for free but you can use my discount to get 85% off a lifetime membership or 40% off a oneyear membership so check out the links and discounts down in the description if you would like to improve your pronunciation and before you know it you'll sound just like a native speaker let's get back to our Advanced C1 adjectives and the next one that I have for you is dayto day so day-to-day means happening every day as a regular part of your life or job and I think we all have have day-to-day responsibilities if I were to talk about my own day-to-day responsibilities I I take my little girl to school I teach classes I try my best to respond to as many comments as possible so how about you what are some of your day-to-day responsibilities write to me in the comments and I'll try to respond to you when it comes to pronouncing this adjective the only thing that I want to point out is the week two when unstressed it's going to sound more like T with that schah sound the other thing that I would say is that t with the American accent I told you I'm from the US when it comes between two vowels I'm going to pronounce it as a flat T so it's going to sound more like a soft D day to day the stress is on the words day day to day day to day just just listen for it how do the schedule of an orthopedic surgeon compared to that of a fetal surgeon mode varies day to day day-to-day administrative responsibilities are to reside with the deputy office if they don't already actually need written authorization from the Pentagon to be able to discuss the program with anybody who does not have day-to-day clearance then we have an adjective that I I think we all try to avoid and that is monotonous so if something is monotonous it means not changing and therefore it it's pretty boring and I I think often you would use this word to talk about task that you have to do routinely either at work or around the home uh I could say typing numbers into a spreadsheet can be monotonous or sweeping around the home may be monotonous at least I think it is when pronouncing this word it can be a little challenging it's a longer word monotonous the stress is on that second syllable and the T it's going to be a gladle t this happens when you have the T followed by a vowel sound followed by the n Sound words like Mountain kitten monotonous and really it's just a gladle stop and it's almost like you're just swallowing the sound that's the best way I I can describe that gladle stop monotonous say it with me monotonous monotonous excellent then there's the word alleged this refers to something bad or illegal and is believed to be true but not proved and there are some common adjective noun collocations with this word perhaps talking about an alleged crime and you can really talk about an alleged any criminal activity you fill in the blank alleged Thief alleged drug dealer he has been arrested for the alleged crime so the stress is going to be on that second syllable but you may hear some people add an extra syllable because of the e d and they're going to say alleged and then it becomes three syllables and I think that may be more common in the US but but let's hear both so you can hear the the two syllables alleged he is hereby absolved of all his alleged crimes alleged but not proven since blackmailing is a felony even when you do it to alleged drug dealers I'm an alleged killer and now you can hear the three syllables alleged see if you can identify this alleged killer I've represented Mobsters like this for years alleged Mobsters either one is okay I just wanted you to be aware of this the next adjective is fruitful and this means producing good results so it really has a positive connotation often I think this word describes an outcome that involves some sort of interaction so I could say my boss and I had a fruitful talk about my contract or there was a fruitful discussion at the meeting or how would you describe the negotiation fruitful okay it's a it's a positive word positive connotation it's good to learn these words the pronunciation is pretty simple and straightforward the stress is on that first syllable and that t in Fruit it's a stop te fruitful fruitful then we have the word conservative and this means not usually liking or trusting change especially Sudden Change and and really this word is often associated with politics so it can be emotionally charged but but I could say that people who are older tend to be more conservative I recently tried to talk to my parents about cryptocurrency and they they really were not interested they don't really trust it so I could say in that case they they're definitely more conservative now that is a non-political example but most of the time you'll hear this word relating to someone's politics their conservative Outlook referring to the way they view social or economic changes when pronouncing this word the stress is on that second syllable and the T I'm going to pronounce it as a flat T conservative conservative now because we're talking about the word conservative let's go to the other end of the spectrum and talk about the word liberal which is also a C1 adjective this means respecting and allowing many different types of beliefs or behavior and I'll use the same example I'll just replace the word older with younger people who are younger tend to be more liberal when pronouncing this word the stress is on the first syllable and you may say it with three syllables liberal however because of elision which is when sounds get get removed that schwas sound in the middle May alide and now we're left with just two syllables liberal and I think often you will hear people pronounce this word with just two syllables and they'll say liberal my mom says you're just going through a liberal phase what my mom says you're going through a conservative phase there's no such thing conservatives only get more conservative then we have the word idealistic this means believing that very good things can be achieved often when other people just do not think that it's likely so this is a great adjective to describe a person and once again let me give you some context with some news headlines what urban planners can learn from this idealistic coffee shop Utopia isn't just idealistic fantasy it inspires people to change the world this is an opinion are young social activists too idealistic and do some have an overly idealistic view of internationalism for pronunciation there are five syllables the stress is on the second to last syllable idealistic now to give you a syllable stress rule when a word ends with I see the stress is going to come on the second to last syllable electronic strategic idealistic next is the adjective preliminary this means coming before a more important action or event especially introducing or preparing for it so think about a courtroom uh you have a hearing which is a meeting that is related to the the legal problem and I could say there's going to be a preliminary hearing you could use this with other nouns as well here are some examples the preliminary hearing set for next Friday we'll have to do some preliminary evaluations preliminary investigation suggest that this was suicide Michael my preliminary calculations indicate that 15 minutes are needed to break that code when you pronounce this word the stress is on the second syllable preliminary but it it's a longer word so it can be a bit challenging let's break it down and say it together preliminary preliminary preliminary excellent and then we have the word genuine this refers to people or emotions that are are honest and sincere so this is another great adjective to talk about a person perhaps you make a mistake you apologize I accept your apology because you are a genuine person and I like to think that I am a genuine person as well but you don't always have to use this word to talk about people perhaps someone makes a genuine apology and then the last thing I would say is that people may often use this with the negative not to talk about something that is not honest or or not sincere his apology was not genuine when pronouncing this word it has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable and just keep in mind that the in at the end of the word is pronounced in genuine genuine so let's get a little review I hope that you did not think the lesson was monotonous and I hope you go on to to watch another video Lesson because it it really doesn't matter whether you are in the preliminary stages of building your vocabulary or if you are highly competent when it comes to using different words and phrases it's good to learn new words and it's good to review old ones and and I'm really being genuine when I say this because building your vocabulary should be a part of your day-to-day routine especially if you want to continue developing your English fluency so if you enjoyed this Cutting Edge vocabulary lesson and you found it fruitful and you learn something new I'd really appreciate it if you hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 147. Advanced (C1) Idioms to Strengthen Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `b9yp_wddmTI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9yp_wddmTI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:52:06 | --- I want to set the record straight learning these Advanced and common C1 idioms will help you do two things you will build your vocabulary as well as improve your overall fluency by having a more natural way of speaking so let's begin with an idiom that I just mentioned to set the record straight this means to write or say something in order to make the true facts known so it's really a great way to emphasize the fact that you want to explain the truth or at least tell someone what you believe is the truth now you may also use this idiom with the verb put to put the record straight but as you can see it's overwhelmingly more common to use the verb set to set the record straight when pronouncing this idiom it's pretty simple and straightforward there are some overlapping sounds with the final stop T in set and the voice th inth so your tongue is going to be behind your top front teeth and you're just going to transition from one sound right into to the next set the set the record straight it's just it allows for a much easier and smoother transition from one word to the next now I want to set the record straight once again if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary then I can help please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is West the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goal and throughout the lesson I'm going to tell you the meaning of each idiom I'll talk about how it's used in context as well as give you a variety of examples and if if needed I will talk to you a little bit about the pronunciation now I always try to strike a balance between giving you a lot of useful information while not overwhelming you at the same time and to strike a balance is the next idiom that I want to teach you this means to achieve a state in which two things occur in equal or proper amounts or have an equal or proper amount of importance and often you're going to follow this idiom with the preposition between to strike a balance between two things so you may need to strike a balance between work and family you may need to strike a balance between screen time and social activities you may need to strike a balance between how much you make and how much you spend so this is really a great idiom to tell someone that you're trying to satisfy the need for both things instead of just satisfying the need for one thing you need to strike a balance when pronouncing this phrase there is some linking that may occur we can link the final consonant sound in strike with the beginning vowel sound in uh and it's almost like we're moving that consonant sound over strike a to strike a balance try to listen for it we need to strike a balance between your needs as investigators and the First Amendment rights of the Sun and its source the color of anger rage but also the color of the Heart of Love This strikes the perfect balance between the two now perhaps you are trying to strike a balance between learning English and all the other things you have going on in your life and if that's the case then I have a great idea so allow me to set the record straight you can take classes and improve your English fluency with Ling who is the sponsor of today's lesson lingoda is an online language school where you can learn English business English Spanish German or French and lingoda flex is a great way to develop your language skills if you are someone who has a busy schedule or you would just like to learn at your own pace so it's exactly what it says it is you have flexibility you can take oneon-one lessons if you would like a little more individual 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can get a 7-Day trial for free and take three group classes or one one-on-one class so check out my unique link down in the description choose a plan and you will be on your way to taking your fluency to the next level let's get back to our Advanced and common C1 idioms the next one that I have for you is to not think twice this means to do something immediately without considering whether or not it's a good idea so there are two things I want to point out with this idiom the first thing is that you're often going to use this to talk about something in the past that you did without thinking about it you did not think twice the other thing is that you may often follow this idiom with the preposition about you did not think twice about something so to to give you a better idea as to how this idiom is used in context I have some news headlines for you teenar Talis Magno I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly did not think twice about joining NYC FC I didn't think twice man says after rescuing motorists who fell into sea I did not think twice about swallowing capsules to smuggle drugs to Malta now one thing I want to say is that you may hear people use this in the affirmative telling you hey think twice which would mean that you should think about something before doing it and in this case I I guess I would say you should think twice before you decide to smuggle drugs to any country but of course you should not think twice about hitting that like button so please you can you can go ahead and do that the next idiom that I want to teach you is at short notice or you could say on short notice this idiom is used to say there is only a short time before something happens and you may use it when talking about something in which generally you you need a little more time to plan but it's it's coming soon so if I asked you to write a 20page essay and give it to me tomorrow you may say look I can't do that on such short notice you need more time or if I tell you they were engaged but then got married on such short notice it's also used to say that you did something immediately after someone asks so I could tell you thank you for coming at such short notice one thing I want to point out is that you may often use this idiom with such at such short notice or on such short notice when pronouncing this phrase and this is more specific to the American accent because I am from the United States the T in notice I am going to pronounce that as a flap T it's going to sound more like a soft D this is because that t comes between two vowel sounds notice at such short notice on such short notice let's listen to some more examples and I don't know where to find a replace on such short notice first I want to thank all of you for putting together those proposals for Pakistan on such short notice and bless you for coming at such short notice I'm Trixie thank you for coming at such short notice Trixie wait and see this means to wait and discover what will happen and often you're going to use this in a couple of different contexts so the first one would just be to be patient that you need to wait and well let's find out what the results are if I were to say we don't know how your body is going to react to the medication we'll just have to wait and see or I could use it in the context of really expressing confidence that I'm right and I'm telling you like look just wait you will eventually see that I was correct if I were to say the United States is going to win the next World Cup you just wait and see and I just have that confidence that that my prediction whatever it is that I'm saying is going to be true for pronunciation it may seem simple wait and see but I'm not really going to say it like that I would say wait and see so what's going on and in spoken English is often reduced to just n and with the American ACC when you have the T followed by an N that t may get changed to a gladle t so think about these words right here and just listen for that glottal T when I say Mountain certain kitten the The Sounds coming from your throat waitting wait and see I I want you to try to listen for that glottal te just wait and see you have to wait and see wait and see oh yeah wait and see oh you just wait and see the next idiom is to take something at face value this means to accept something as it appears rather than studying it more closely so really you would be accepting something as true even though you don't really know if it's true perhaps you don't come to work and you tell me that you're sick well I may not know that that's true or not but I will take your word at face value and in this case your word just means whatever it is that you're saying to give you another example I would love it if you write to me in the comments and you're probably thinking okay yes I will do that I don't know if it's true I want to believe you so once again I will take your word at face value here are some more examples this is a troubled man I mean we can't take everything he says at face value okay so that's it you just accept my answer at face value why how the hell do we miss that apparently CIA took the stats at face value then we have the best of both worlds this means that you get to enjoy the advantages of two very different things at the same time so I I could say that you get the best of both worlds when you work very little but make a lot of money or perhaps you get the best of both worlds when you don't step at all but you get perfect grades or maybe you get the best of both worlds when you eat a lot of junk food unhealthy food fast food whatever and your doctor tells you that you're in great health so you can use this idiom to accurately describe such a situation it's the best of both worlds when pronouncing this phrase I just want to point out that more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in best with the vowel sound in of Best of the Best of Both Worlds the goal of course is to be like you all our strengths of our weaknesses you got the best of both world it's half keyboard half guitar so is it a guitar or a keyboard exactly it's the best of both worlds so I put the brains and the bra together and now look at me Best of Both Worlds the next idiom to be in the public eye this means to be famous and Rich WR about in newspapers and magazines or seen on television and in movies so really celebrities athletes these are people who are generally in the public eye so to help you better understand how this idiom is used in context I thought it would be fun to read some celebrity quotes using this idiom so Taylor Swift says it's dangerous to read the internet about yourself when you're me or when you're anyone in the public eye Ricky h erson people recognize me but if you've been in the public eye as long as I have and people don't recognize you I feel bad about myself I don't I don't know why Ricky feels that way in case you don't know who Ricky Henderson is he he was a famous baseball player a long time ago the next one I am not a big fan of Mike Tyson I almost idolized him for what he did in the ring he was such a great fighter but his behavior out of the ring he needed to realize he was in the public and there is a responsibility well said Tommy Morrison one thing I want to add about this idiom is that even though you can say that people are in the public eye you could also say that people are out of the public eye for example if I were to say even though some celebrities are in the public eye they often hope to keep their children out of the public eye for pronunciation you guessed it more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in public with the beginning vowel sound in I public ey to be in the public eye next is the idiom get a grip and I say it like that because it means to make an effort to control your emotions and behave more calmly and somebody just tells you as like a command get a grip D get a grip get a grip n is going to ruin s's life as well get a grip what's a b she got a grip you're right T or you may follow this with the preposition on and a reflexive pronoun and because you're typically talking to another person you would say get a grip on yourself all right okay let's fly get a grip on yourself it's all a dream what about Jim we can't just leave him down there need to get a grip on yourself doctor you've got to get a grip on yourself St put rert and Chris out of your head for pronunciation there are two things I want to point out first that final T and get because I'm from the US I am going to pronounce it as a flap T that I can then link with the vowel sound in the article uh get I can also link the final consonant sound in grip with the beginning vow sound in on gripon so we have two phrases that we can link together I'll say it slowly get a grip on yourself now I want to say it a little faster I want you to repeat after me get a grip on yourself good the next idiom off the record this is used to indicate that what someone is saying should not be publicly reported and this is an idiom that you're probably not going to use it that often but it is certainly one that you will hear if you watch movies and TV shows so really this idiom may be used in the context of one person asking questions and the other person perhaps they want to be honest but they just don't want the information to be publicly reported so perhaps someone is interviewing a famous celebrity who is in the public eye and they ask did you get along well with the other actors and you say yes we got along well but off the Record there were a lot of issues please keep in mind that just as something may be off the record it can also be on the record in which case it is okay to be publicly reported do code red still happen on this BAS want to ask me about code Reds on the record I tell you I discourage the practice off the record I tell you it is an invaluable part of close infantry training then we have the idiom up to speed this means all the latest information about an activity or subject and often you're going to use this idiom with the verb get to get someone up to speed or the verb bring to bring someone up to speed we hired a math tutor to work with your daughter so we can get her up to speed or he missed the meeting because his flight was delayed could you please bring him up to speed for pronunciation the only thing that I want to point out is that weak unstressed to because when it's unstressed it may sound a bit more like it has that schah sound to up to speed to bring someone up to speed or to get someone up to speed again just listen for it jump in and then when this calms down maybe we can grab a cup of coffee I'd love to be a chance to get you up to speed before I start I will find you did me up to speed it's a miracle he survived this long better bring him up to speed I'll need the copywriters and sent here get me up to speed oh Dante bring me up to speed and then we have rule of thumb this refers to a practical approach and way of doing something based on experience and often you may use this idiom with the word General and talk about a general rule of thumb so let's look at some general rules of thumb in business you should overpromise and under no no I got that wrong that is not a rule of thumb you should under promise and overd deliver another rule of thumb is that you should set benchmarks for reaching goals and another rule of thumb is that you should sell what people will buy now we can get a little silly and have fun with comics and memes I like this one all should be under me that is certainly the rule of thumb or I rule cuz I has thumb and that cat really does look like he has a thumb and I don't know why they said I has I think just being playful and having fun and finally if it tastes good don't eat it yeah that that could be a general rule of thumb and sometimes I feel like that's what my doctor is trying to tell me here are some more examples my B think I'm a fool for coming in If I Was Your Hand I would have advised against it general rule of thumb Stark men don't fare well when they travel South after a heart attack rule of thumb is if you can climb a flight of stairs you can have sex what to you as a large crowd any he group big enough to trample me to death general rule of thumb is 36 adults or 70 children now for a little review I hope that I was able to strike a balance between giving you helpful information as well as making it easy to follow and understand because building vocabulary I I think a general rule of thumb is that you don't want to overwhelm people with too many words and of course it's always good to review just like we're doing right now I I believe that you will take my word at face value and of course when it comes to using idioms I think people often worry that they're going to make a mistake and what I would recommend is that you don't think twice about using these idioms and practice using them in casual conversation I think it's always going to help and if you make a mistake just don't worry about it over time it's all going to come together you just wait and see now I need to start wrapping up the lesson I know that may be upsetting to hear so I would just tell you you know got to get a grip on yourself but if you want to continue building your vocabulary and just bring yourself up to speed feel free to watch another video Lesson they're entertaining they're informative It's the Best of Both Worlds and if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 148. Advanced (C1) Phrases That Will Transform Your Speaking Skills | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vqWvqUTHHkM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqWvqUTHHkM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:57:32 | --- let's learn some Advanced C1 phrases to help you build your vocabulary and first and foremost I would like to begin with the phrase first and foremost so this just means most importantly or or more than anything else and this is an introductory phrase that you may often hear if somebody's giving a presentation or a speech and they're talking about several things that may be important so if we're just talking about this lesson and how this is going to work I would tell you first and foremost I am going to talk about the meaning of these different phrases and then I will give you some context so you can understand how the phrases are used and finally we'll we'll talk about the pronunciation and I'll teach you how to say them correctly just like a native speaker would say these phrases so let's just move into that and talk about the pronunciation and the first thing that I'd like to point out is the word and is going to get reduced to just n and this is quite common in spoken English the other thing that is going on is linking this occurs when the final sound of one word is a consonant it may get linked to the beginning vowel sound of the next word so we can link that final consonant sound and first with that beginning vowel sound when I reduce it and just say n and it's going to sound like first in first in first and foremost all right just listen to it if I were to well talk about myself first and foremost I am an English teacher and then after that maybe I guess I would say I'm a YouTuber or if we're talking about achieving English fluency and I say first and foremost you need to build your vocabulary all right that's the most important thing and then go on to talk about other things that are also important and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary well please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals let's continue and I'm gonna get straight to the point I'm not gonna beat around the bush which happens to be the next phrase that I want to teach you to beat around the bush this just means to avoid talking about what's most important and often you may hear people use this phrase to describe what someone else is doing he's always beating around the bush or she tends to beat around the bush people may often use this phrase if they're telling someone not to avoid a certain topic don't beat around the bush all right let's not beat around the bush let's not beat around the bush don't beat around the bush Leonard you don't want me here just say the word and I'll leave beaten around the bush a little when pronouncing this phrase and this is more about the American accent because I am from the United States that final T in beat it comes between two vowel sounds so I am going to pronounce this as a flap T which is going to sound more like a soft D and then I can link that flap t with the vowel sound in a round beat around the bush and that is a weak the because it comes before a consonant sound so you would say this with that schwa the beat around the bush hey don't beat around the bush the next best thing this is our next phrase and it refers to the thing that is best if you cannot have or do the thing that you really want and you would really say that something is the next best thing so probably you're talking about the thing that you really want to do what you really want but you can't have it so you'd say oh well this is the next best thing I wanted some ice ice cream but they didn't have any so I got some cake which is the next best thing for pronunciation once again we're going to use a week the with that schwa sound but most importantly I want to talk to you about illusion and this is when sounds may get removed because the final T in next and the final T and best are going to Allied and this often happens with the T when it comes between two consonant sounds the next best thing the next best thing you don't really hear that T it's almost like it's muted and you know when it comes to building your vocabulary you really need to practice and of course I think it would be wonderful if you're able to practice speaking English every single day however I realize that's not always possible but if you would like to join my speaking course that is the next best thing I want to quickly tell you about it right now first and foremost the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally this course is for intermediate to Advanced speakers of English and if you're interested check out the link down in the description and you will find a special discount just for you so I don't want to beat around the bush let me tell you what the course involves each week there is a different speaking Topic at the beginning of each lesson we'll we'll talk about pronunciation or connected speech you will learn vocabulary related to that topic and then practice using the words and phrases with engaging speaking activities I'll also teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases and there are pronunciation video lessons included in the course so click on that link down in the description if you'd like to sign up or learn more and I I just hope to speak to you soon because achieving English fluency it's something that you need to put in a lot of hard work it's one of those things that's easier said than done and that's the next C1 phrase that I want to teach you easier said than done so this phrase pretty much means what it says it's used when someone says something that may seem like a good idea but it's just really difficult to do and often it's used as a standalone statement a person may say something that's a good idea but difficult and another person may say well easier said than done so so let's practice this right now I am going to say something and I just want you to say easier said than done one day I am going to hike Mount Kilimanjaro in the future I'd like to learn how to fly a plane I really hope this video gets 25 000 likes okay and and this is something that you could actually help with you know go ahead hit that like button let's try to make it happen so when you pronounce this phrase I think it's pretty straightforward there is some co-articulation going on this is when you have some overlapping sounds and it allows us to link words together so really we're just moving from the final sound of one word right in to the beginning sound of the next word so said ends with that final D sound your tongue is at the top part of your mouth behind your front teeth and you're going to release right into that voice th and then said then now that final n Sound and then once again your tongue is at the top behind your front teeth but now you're going to release right into that D sound in done said then done pronouncing this phrase is easier said than done then we have the phrase to have an ear for something and this just refers to someone who is good at hearing repeating and understanding sounds and often you're talking about either music or language so you're really just commenting on either your ability or someone else's ability when it comes to sounds and I'm trying to think of an example but this is not a phrase that I would use to describe myself but I do have some videos so you can hear how this phrase is used in context some people are born to sit by a river some have an EF music some are artists even here for accents I've lost my accent entirely I've been here for that as well it's Lakme actually for pronunciation linking is going to occur you have the three words have an ear we can link them together those final consonant sounds with the beginning vowel sounds have and near it's almost like we're taking that consonant sound and moving it over to the next syllable have an ear have an ear for something then we have behind the times this means well not fashionable or modern and really it does have a negative connotation if you're saying that someone or something is behind the times it's like look you're you're late to the party you should have changed years ago you're behind the times in order to show you how this phrase is used in context I have some news headlines for you Canadian Tick Tock are slammed for behind the times video help out your wife in the wake of chat gbt Google is worried it's behind the times 10 video games that are painfully behind the times when pronouncing this phrase keep in mind Collision may occur remember this is when sounds may get removed but in this case I'm talking about that D in behind it's going to align because it comes between two consonant sounds behind the times and yes we're going to use that week the once again with that schwa sound behind the times I've heard people use this phrase to talk about me and say hey Wes you're a little behind the times when it comes to to new technology yes I I'm behind the times then there's down to earth which is a pretty common adjective phrase that means practical realistic reasonable friendly those are all great adjectives so this this really does have a positive connotation and often I think you may use this to describe a person I think my father is a Down to Earth person I like to think that I am down to earth if you feel like you are down to earth let me know down in the comments the only thing I want to say about pronunciation has to do with the word to which actually has two accepted pronunciations when stressed it sounds like well just like I said two when unstressed it may sound like it has that schwa sound like it's unstressed it's very soft but you would often hear it when people say this phrase down to earth down to earth just just listen for it she's really nice bunny down to earth you and Regis Philbin awesome right surprisingly down to earth guy and definitely not the picture I meant to show you you're a very special girl I really look at you you're just so down to earth it's nice you know she's down to earth and uh and mature face the music this means to accept criticism or punishment for something you have done maybe you made a mistake you did something wrong you have to tell others so you could say yeah I have to face the music if I told you oh gosh I broke my wife's favorite mug she's gonna be upset I can't lie about it so I'm gonna have to face the music or maybe you'll hear people use this phrase when giving advice to someone else telling them look you need to be honest about what happened you need to take responsibility you have to face the music when pronouncing this phrase it's pretty simple and straightforward just keep in mind you're going to use that week the with the schwa sound face the music have you ever had to face the music then we have the phrase have had enough and I say it like that on purpose because it means you want something to stop because it's just really annoying you and bothering you and I want you to think about the grammar because we're talking about the present perfect have had something annoying started in the past it has a relationship with the present and it's just like you you hit your breaking point and you say I've had enough and generally when somebody says this phrase they they probably would use a lot of emotion because they may be upset we've had enough I have had enough I have had a lot of emotion with this one when you pronounce this phrase there is some linking that may occur that final consonant sound and had make it linked with the beginning vowel sound in enough had enough I've had enough then there's to make ends meet and this means to have just enough money to buy the things that you need and really this idiom is associated with hardship and difficulty and there are some useful collocations that you can use with this phrase to give it a little bit of emphasis like the verb struggle to struggle to make ends meet or the adverb barely to barely make ends meet and once again with pronunciation there is more linking that may occur we can link the final sound in make with the beginning vowel sound in ends make ends to make ends meet then there's the phrase go hand in hand with something and this is when something is closely related to something else especially when they happen at the same time or as a result of it I could say this backpack has been designed to go hand in hand with that suitcase and and they're just closely related or wealth goes hand in hand with saving money it's related as a result for pronunciation there are two things going on linking and delusion both with those well the the two hands that are in there so we can link that final D in hand with the vowel sound in in hand in and then the next hand that final D aligns it comes between those two consonant sounds so it's going to sound like to go hand in hand with to go hand in hand with something just just listen closely for those two things look at you hand in hand with apes and women Nick must have seen that you were working hand in hand with the police gee Batman I'm sorry I'll be silly gotta love those old Batman Clips the next phrase is for the most part and this just means mostly or usually and this is an adverb phrase that you may find at the beginning the middle or the end of a statement so perhaps right now you are thinking for the most part this vocabulary lesson was really helpful or this vocabulary lesson was for the most part really helpful or this vocabulary lesson was really helpful for the most part so I just said the same thing I just moved that adverb phrase around when it comes to pronunciation I want to point out two unstressed words and I'm talking about the words for and the so we've already talked about that unstressed weak the with the schwa but four when unstressed it may sound a little more like fur for the most part it allows us to say this phrase easily and quickly for the most part for the most part let's do a little review so first and foremost I I really hope that you have for the most part enjoyed this video Lesson and I hope that you're not thinking I've had enough and that you're done I would love it if you watched another video Lesson because look I'm going to be honest I'm not going to beat around the bush achieving English fluency goes hand in hand with building vocabulary and now that this lesson has come to an end watching another video Lesson would be the next best thing and I know I've already asked you once but I would appreciate it if you hit that like button if you've learned something new it's easier said than done actually that is pretty easy to do but I just wanted to give you a little bit of review and so you could hear these phrases being used in context that's all for now thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 149. Advanced (C1) Phrases to Strengthen Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `XCgPBpKK97k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCgPBpKK97k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:43:55 | --- If you want to greatly build your vocabulary, but sometimes you're unable to think straight, this lesson is for you because I want to teach you some useful C1 phrases to help you develop your overall vocabulary. And let's begin with a phrase that I just mentioned, not think straight. This means to be unable to use your mind in an effective way. And often you're going to use this phrase when talking about your inability to do something. I could say, "Last night, I didn't get any sleep, so I I just can't think straight." Or, "This morning, I didn't have my cup of coffee, so right now I'm unable to think straight." You may also hear people use this in the continuous tense to talk about a specific time. I could say, "Last night, I made a mistake. I wasn't thinking straight." Or perhaps, "I'm telling you, you're too close to the problem. You're not thinking straight." For pronunciation, this phrase does have a couple of overlapping sounds with the final stop t and not. And then we can move right into that voiceless th sound in think. Because your tongue is going to be in the same position right up top behind your front teeth, not think straight. It just allows us to say it a little faster to not think straight. And for what it's worth, she's not thinking straight. I know I'm not thinking straight, but I don't want to think straight. I think he's on drugs and he's not thinking straight. The drinks, the flirting. Now, if you really want to build your vocabulary, please subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications, otherwise you may not be thinking straight, but that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. Let's continue with our next C1 phrase, which is one that I really like. In any event, it just means whatever happens. So, you use this when talking about something that could possibly happen and then basically you're commenting, well, whatever happens, this is what we're going to do. So, let me give you some examples. I could say, "The weather forecast looks bad, but in any event, the concert will go on as planned." Or, "I may not make it to the meeting, but in any event, you can reach me by phone." or the project is running a little late. But in any event, we are committed to finishing on time. One thing I want you to be aware of is that in British English, you may hear someone say at all events. Now, people are also going to use in any event, and in the US, you are only going to hear in any event, but I want you to be aware of this. For pronunciation, linking may occur. This is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. So, we can link the final consonant sound in in with the vowel sound in any. In any. I want you to repeat after me right now. In any. In any event. Excellent. I still don't know what you and your president said to her in that room to get her to sign. In any event, she signed the treaty. Oh. Um, I I didn't do anything. Nope. In any event, he's back where he belongs. There's no need for such formalities. In any event, judging from the king's enthusiasm, the queen mother will be a queen grandmother. That'd be a lovely day. Now, if you would like to improve your speaking skills and fine-tune your pronunciation, let me quickly tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson, Elsa Speak. This is a great app that allows you to do so much. And if you're unfamiliar with it, let me show you how it works. And I want to demonstrate a really cool feature when you join Elsa Premium because you can have an in-depth conversation using their AI feature. welcome to Elsa. As you can see, there are different AI conversations, but we are going to create our own scenario. I want to have a conversation with a close friend about whether or not I should go back to school to get a business degree because I'm thinking about changing careers. Hey, it's great to see you. So, I've heard you are thinking about going back to school for a business degree. Well, I think it's just about time for a change and I'm having a tough time making a decision. Sometimes I just feel like I'm not able to think straight. I understand how you feel. Maybe you can write down what you like and don't like about your current job. What do you think? I I think you're right and that'll be a good start. So, I'm going to give it a try. In any event, I'll let you know how it goes when I make a final decision, but I really appreciate your help. I'm glad to hear that. I'm here for you if you need to talk more about it. Thanks so much. I'll talk to you later. I'm excited to hear what you decide. Chat later. Role play completed. We are computing your feedback. And then after the role play, you get a full assessment of your conversation, giving you meaningful feedback when it comes to pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. So, click the first link below or scan the QR code on the screen to download Elsa and get 7 days of a premium membership for free. Or you can use the other link to get 50% off a one-year membership. So, don't wait any longer. If you want to improve your speaking skills, check out my special links down below. Get an Elsa premium membership and take your fluency to the next level. Let's get back to more useful and essential C1 phrases. And the next one that I have for you is in the event of something. This just means if something happens. Now, don't confuse this with the previous phrase, in any event, because they do sound a little similar. But if we're talking about in the event of something, I want you to know that the something is really bad news. And there are some common collocations with this phrase. In the event of an emergency, in the event of a disaster, in the event of bad weather, or in the event of a delay. And really, you're going to follow this phrase telling someone what should be done or what will happen. In the event of an emergency, try to find an exit door. Let me give you some more examples, some funny examples using this phrase. In the event of an apocalypse, I would spend the first 20 minutes wondering why my internet doesn't work. And I think this is probably true for many of us. In the event of a disaster, I have strategically placed rum in various locations. Good idea. For pronunciation, two things I want to mention. The word 'the' has two different pronunciations. the and the. In this case, we're going to use the because the next word begins with a vowel sound, the event. We can also link the final consonant sound in event with the vowel sound in of. In the event of. Just listen for those two things. In the event of a crash, driver always protects his side first. The doctor entrusted me with your contact details in the event of an emergency. In the event of fire, follow the older heavy set lady in just a t-shirt. Then we have of no consequence or of little consequence. You could use either phrase. They mean the same thing which is not important. I could say my boss thinks that my opinion is of little consequence to her. Or the new information is of no consequence because we had already made a decision. Now you could also use the phrases not of any consequence or not of much consequence. They all work. But if you're curious as to which phrase is more commonly used, we can check out Engram Viewer. And as you can see, most of the time people are going to say of no consequence or of little consequence. To give you some more context using these phrases, I have some news headlines for you. Brain size of little consequence. Iran government says US election results of no consequence. And AU vote to leave international criminal court of little consequence. And in this case, au is referring to the African Union. For pronunciation, just keep in mind the word little. You're going to hear me pronounce those T's as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. And this is a distinct part of the American accent. So, I'm going to pronounce little with a flap T because the T's follow a vowel sound and then come before a dark L. battle. You hear all those flap T's. Here are some other examples. No, it is of no consequence. Will be king. Really don't mean to interrupt. It is of no consequence. Captain, whether or not you care to act on this information is of little consequence. Next is from scratch. This just means from the beginning without using anything that exists. Maybe I ask you, do you like my lasagna? I made it from scratch. And this is this is not true. I'm not a very good cook, but I want you to be aware that there are some very useful collocations with this phrase and different verbs that are often used with this phrase, like to make something from scratch or to build something from scratch or develop something from scratch or start something from scratch. When pronouncing this phrase, I think it's pretty simple and straightforward. From scratch. We're building our house from scratch. We can put down whatever we want. We're starting from scratch. Yeah, from scratch. Great. Now, would you care to join me for an authentic Frontier dinner made entirely from scratch? The last straw or the final straw? You could use either phrase. They both mean the same thing. And they refer to the last in a series of unpleasant events that makes you feel like you cannot continue to accept a bad situation. It's the last straw or it's the final straw. And you can really sense that emotion. Often you're going to use this as a standalone statement. I can't take it anymore. I've had enough. That's the last straw. We can go back to engram viewer if you want to see which phrase is more commonly used. And as you can see, more often people are going to say the last straw. For pronunciation, elision may occur. This is when sounds or syllables get removed. So the final t and last, it comes between two consonant sounds. So, it's going to a lie. You're not really going to hear it. The last straw or the final straw. Your complete lack of table manners was the last straw. Just a haircut and some clothes. No, it's the last straw. I can't take anymore. Yeah, Homer, let your wife have a glimpse of success for once. All right, that's the last straw. From the man who sells me my Marorrow lights, the final straw. The next phrase is for all you food lovers out there, and that is out of season. because this refers to fruits and vegetables that are not grown in an area during that time. This is a very useful phrase when talking about food because fruits and vegetables, they have a season in which they are grown. So I I could say we cannot find strawberries right now because they're out of season. Or research has shown that frozen vegetables have more nutrients in them than imported fresh vegetables that are out of season. I don't know if this is true. It's just an example, but let's go ahead and talk about pronunciation because the final T in out, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T because it comes between two vowel sounds. And then I can link that flap T with the vowel sound in of out of out of season. Remember, no prime cuts, no fancy sides, no outofse vegetables, no market price. Then there's in no time. This means very quickly, very soon. This is a great phrase to add emphasis and often you're going to use it either at the beginning or end of a statement. I could say, "If you watch my video lessons, you will build your vocabulary in no time." And I can just emphasize that fact. To help you better understand how this phrase is used in context, I have some more news headlines for you. 29 expert hacks to sell your home in no time. Seven easy stairmaster workouts that'll burn calories and melt fat in no time. And finally, gardens will be colorful in no time if you plant these five flowers. Now, for pronunciation, once again, there are some overlapping sounds with the final N sound in in the beginning N sound in no. This just helps us easily transition from one word to the next. In no time. in no time. We'll be done in no time. She's gonna be employee of the month in no time. Will have that 10,000 bucks in no time. Take it from me. This is actually the next phrase. Maybe you thought I was going to give you some advice, but it's a very useful phrase because you're going to say this. Take it from me. When you want to tell someone, accept what I'm saying as true because I know or have experienced it. Now, often you will use this maybe when you're giving advice, and it's typically going to come at the beginning of a statement. So, let's talk about this in relation to building your vocabulary. I could say, "Take it from me." Learning these phrases will help you improve your speaking fluency. And take it from me. The more you practice, the more confident you will feel using these phrases in casual conversation. When pronouncing this phrase, more linking may occur. We can link the final consonant sound in take with the beginning vowel sound in it. Take it. We also have overlapping m sounds from me. It almost sounds like one word from me. Take it from me. These two things will help you say this phrase easily and naturally. Take it from me. You're always better off with a really good lie. Relationships are tough. Take it from me. I'm here to make your life better because life is complicated. Take it from me. I'm recently divorced. Then there's room for improvement. I really like this phrase, possibly because I use it quite often. And this just refers to a possibility or hope that someone or something will improve and there's really the potential to become better. Really, it's a polite way to say that someone needs to get better or something can get better. Perhaps I tell you, your English is great, but there's room for improvement. Or commenting about myself. my my teaching skills are solid, but there's still room for improvement. Here are some funny memes using this phrase because yeah, it's important to have fun when learning a language. There is room for improvement. Now, politics aside, I personally have never really cared for how the cyber truck looked. So, yeah, I would agree with this. There is room for improvement. Or how about this one? Look at all this room for improvement. from the sound of music. You're surrounded by all this nature, but it's like, hey, we need more buildings. We need more malls. Look at all this room for improvement. For pronunciation, keep in mind that the word for often gets reduced and that vowel sound is going to change slightly. So instead of for, it's going to sound like for. It's a much softer sound. And then I can link the final consonant sound with the vowel sound in improvement. for improvement. Room for improvement. Saying that we can do better. I'm saying there's always room for improvement. And again, I think the offense has a lot of room for improvement. And all that starts with me. Few hours ago, we both love this song. I still love it. I just think there's room for improvement. Then there's do your utmost or try your utmost. This means to do something as well as you can by making a great effort. Really, this phrase has a similar meaning to do your best. Now, of course, it's a lot more common to say do your best, but it's always good to get a little bit of variety. Now, often you may follow this phrase with an infinitive. utmost to help you build your vocabulary." Or, "She assured her boss that she would do her utmost to meet the deadline." Or perhaps I tell you try your utmost to remain calm in a difficult situation. For pronunciation, I just want to highlight the word utmost. It's not the most commonly used adjective, but there are two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Utmost. Do your utmost or try your utmost. We must do our utmost to avoid shedding English blood. I shall do my utmost to help you form strong ideals. True repentance means you try your utmost not to repeat the same mistake. Then there's to put your mind to something or to set your mind to something. You could use either verb, but this just means to decide that you're going to do something and put a lot of effort into it. And often you're going to use these phrases when you're trying to encourage someone. You can do anything if you put your mind to it. This is a common expression using this phrase. Or I could say, if you set your mind to achieving your goals, you'll find a way to succeed. Or, you can reach your fluency goals if you put your mind to it and watch my video lessons. I like to think that that's true. For pronunciation, assimilation may occur. And the key word there is may. So assimilation is when two sounds blend together to create a new sound. In this case, the T and Y may blend together and you create this slight ch sound put. So we have that stop T and then we're releasing into that slight ch sound. Now this may not always occur. Somebody may say that stop T and then you're going to hear that Y in your put your set your Here are some examples. It is plain to see that you're excellent at whatever you put your mind to. When you set your mind to it, you're one of the most charismatic people I've ever met. You can do anything you set your mind to. But if you're speaking a little faster, this is when I think assimilation will most likely occur. The sounds blend together and you get that slight ch sound. Put your satur you can find something to love about every man if you put your mind to it. Compared to everything you've already overcome, you can do anything you put your mind to. You can achieve anything you set your mind to. Now, when it comes to building your vocabulary, there's always room for improvement. And I really hope that you don't think building your vocabulary is of no consequence because take it from me, learning new words and phrases like the ones today are going to help you be more precise when you're having a conversation. And if you would like to build your vocabulary in no time, you're going to have to try your utmost and spend some time and energy. But I think you can do it if you just put your mind to it. In any event, if you'd like to continue building your vocabulary right now, you can check out another one of my video lessons. And if you enjoyed this video lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time. --- ## 150. Advanced (C1) Verbs to Level Up Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_NkFvqGJPkQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NkFvqGJPkQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:55:16 | --- let's learn some Advanced C1 verbs to help you build your vocabulary and this may seem challenging because some words are rather similar and sometimes it can be difficult to differentiate between two words but that's why I'm here I want to teach you some of the slight nuances to help you be more precise and easily differentiate between different words and phrases so let's begin with a verb that I have mentioned twice already differentiate this means to show or find the difference between two things that are compared so it may be difficult to differentiate between American and British English software and Hardware facts and opinions and you're often going to follow this verb with the preposition between to differentiate between two things transporter cannot differentiate between Dr McCoy and the torpedo Michael I cannot differentiate between the hostages and the gods a program that could differentiate between foreign and domestic when pronouncing this verb there are five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable differentiate differentiate keep in mind that the ti a te at the end of the word has a shate sound so this is when the spelling and pronunciation don't really match differentiate and if you are someone who would like to be able to differentiate between words and phrases that are similar then let me help you develop your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English which is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and throughout the lesson I am going to tell you the meaning of these different verbs I'll talk a little bit about how they're used in context and we'll go over the pronunciation so that you can say them clearly and naturally the next verb is broaden this means to increase the range of something and there are some great collocations with this verb these are words that are frequently used together so you can broaden your horizons this is an idiom that means you're increasing the range of things you know about or your experiences you can also broaden your mind in this case you're increasing the knowledge that you have about something you can broaden the scope of something and if we were talking about politicians they may need to broaden their support let me show you some news headlines so you can see how this verb is used in context local historian urges town to broaden Horizons when it comes to school names does travel broaden the mind not according to new research us and China agree to broaden talks in bid to ease tensions when pronouncing this verb there are two syllables the stress is on that first syllable broaden now one thing I want you to be aware of is that you may hear people pronounce this with a gladle stop so listen to the difference between broaden and broaden the The Sounds coming from the throat down here broaden broaden it's something that you may hear and hopefully it's easy for you to differentiate between the two pronunciations of this verb but generally you can just stick with broaden to broaden your heart Horizons and if you would like to broaden your horizons when it comes to pronunciation then I think it's very important that you practice and that's why I want to talk to you about the sponsor of today's lesson Elsa speak this is a great app to help you fine-tune your pronunciation and practice your speaking skills and right now I want to show you some of the cool features when you join Elsa premium because there are so many ways to improve your pronunciation and you can have a back and forth conversation using their AI feature I can even create my own scenario welcome to Elsa AI what kind of scenario would you like to role play I want to have a conversation at the airport with another passenger who is asking me about things to do once we arrive in New York City sure I will play the role of a fellow passenger who strikes up a conversation with you let's start hi there waiting for your flight too yeah I'm on my way to to New York City how about you yes I'm also on my way to New York City what would you recommend for someone who has never been to New York before well if you've never been there before I would recommend going and visiting the Statue of Liberty as well as the Empire State Building and even walking around Central Park thanks for the recommendations are there any other places that you think are worth visiting in New York City I think you should also go see Time Square and if you like shows check out Broadway there's a lot playing um make sure to add that to my list of things to do thank you for all the recommendations role playay completed and then after you finish you get a full assessment of your conversation providing you with in-depth feedback you can also use Elsa's speech analyzer from your desktop whenever you have a meeting or you give a presentation or you're practicing for an exam like the ielt there's just so much to help you improve so join Elsa premium by clicking on the link down in the description and you can get a 30 % discount on a one-year membership if you already have a pro membership you can upgrade with the new Elsa conversation bundle once again check out my unique Link in the description if you'd like to get an Elsa premium membership and take your speaking fluency to the next level let's get back to our C1 verbs and the next one that I have for you is grasp it has two different meanings the first one is to quickly take something in your hand or hands and hold it firmly so this is a very descriptive verb he grasped my hand or she grasped my arm or the child slipped from my grasp there are some other phrases that have a similar meaning you can grasp an opportunity you're taking it eagerly and there's an idiom grasp at straws it means that you're trying to find a way to succeed but whatever you choose it's probably not going to help you so think about the situation you are holding tightly or grasping something weak like a straw and because of that it's not likely to save you I tried going back to work like you honestly I'm just grasping at straws and Cooper was one of those straws Mr President it doesn't matter where we debrief this man the fact is we're grasping it straws here the other meaning of this verb is to understand something especially something difficult I could tell you the child was able to grasp the main idea of the story or if I am able to explain these verbs well then you will be able to easily grasp the meaning of these verbs and know how to use them correctly when pronouncing this verb I think it's pretty simple and straightforward grasp but just say it with me grasp excellent then we have the verb diminish this means to reduce rce or be reduced in size or importance so you can diminish something as we get older our muscle strength tends to diminish at least that's what's happening to me but you could also diminish someone and this has a little bit more of a negative connotation I could say his careless mistakes diminished him in the eyes of management so in this case the mistakes reduced his importance just makes things seem small it diminishes them you must prepare for life and whatever it will throw at you the opportunities will diminish I am shocked sir I I never like hell you are you want to diminish me diminish you lay the groundwork for a challenge in 2016 for pronunciation the verb has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable diminish diminish to diminish something or to diminish someone fall flat this is an idiom but we're going to use it as a verb to fall flat this is said when a joke suggestion or idea does not have the intended effect now most of the time you're going to use this when talking about jokes so right now I'm going to tell you a couple of jokes and you can let me know in the comments if they fall flat if I am what I eat then I'm fast cheap and easy it's a little ridiculous here here's another one you know what they say never go to bed angry stay up and fight so I suppose one or both of those jokes fell flat it did not have the intended effect of laughter but you can let me know for pronunciation I don't think it's that difficult fall flat the only thing I want to point out is that there is alliteration and alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant sound in two words that are next to each other or close to each other fall flat I hope that my jokes did not fall flat for your attempts at mockery fall flat let's call it a joke that fell flat and leave it at that Robert and Sarah's textures fell flat a huge performance tomorrow where a man's joke is going to fall flat next is the verb contradict and it also has two meanings it really depends if we're talking about people or statements but if we're talking about people it just means that someone is saying something that is the opposite of what someone else said and people can contradict each other this happens all the time her testimony contradicted the policeman's story you could also contradict yourself and often you may follow this verb with that reflexive pronoun if I were to say I can tell you everything everything that you need to know but I don't know anything about that I just contradicted myself in saying the opposite when using this verb to talk about a statement or a fact it just means that some statement or fact is so different than another statement or fact that one of them must be wrong I could say new evidence contradicts the established theories on this subject they're so different that yeah one of them must be wrong just keep in mind that when someone or something contradicts someone or something else it's not really telling us which one is right or correct it's just saying that they're either opposites or different to give you a little more context with this verb here are some more news headlines video evidence appears to contradict Lauren bobert's denial that she was vaping at Beetlejuice show OPEC figures contradict anon's oil production claims opinion liberal climate policies are fine on their own but contradict each other when together when pronouncing this verb it has three syllables and the stress is on that third syllable contradict I will try not to contradict myself then I have another idiom for you which we'll use as a verb and that is to set foot in some place this means to go to a place or to enter a place and you're really going to use this idiom when you want to add emphasis and there's some emotion involved I could say I'm afraid to set foot in my hometown because it's no longer peaceful and quiet and I'm just afraid to go to this place or I'm so angry at my brother I refuse to set foot in his home and I refuse to enter his home so hopefully you can sense that emotion I hav't set foot in a bar and you if you set foot in this St ever again I will bring hell down on you unless CI grants us an audience and is somehow convinced not to murder us the moment we set foot in the capital when pronouncing this idiom it's pretty easy to say the individual words but I want you to say it as a phrase so I want you to think about that final T in foot I'm from the United States so I am going to pronounce this as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft d this is very common with the American accent when the t comes between two vowel sounds and then we can link that final consonant sound that flap t with the beginning vowel sound in in and it's going to sound like foot in to set foot in just listen for it I refuse to set foot in there then we have the verb allocate and this means to distribute something for a particular purpose and and there are some great collocations with this verb you can allocate resources or allocate money or allocate funds or even allocate blame I could say the city allocated money for disaster relief or the company's profits were allocated to its shareholders and in these sentences I want to point out that this verb May often be followed with the preposition for or two to allocate for something or to allocate to someone for every $100 we allocate to research we spend nearly $ 30,000 on care in response to your repeated inquiries has allocated the enclosed funds for your library project for pronunciation the verb has three syllables the stress is on the first syllable and that second syllable has that unstress schah sound allocate allocate then we have the verb collaborate I like this verb it's a great one when talking about work because it means to work with someone else for a special purpose and often you may follow this verb with the prepositions with on to or in I collaborated with my friend collaborate with someone we collaborated on a project collaborate on something we collaborated to create new guidelines for the company collaborate to do something we collaborated in implementing the guidelines companywide collaborate in doing something for pronunciation the verb has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable the first and third syllable have that unstressed schah sound that uh sound collaborate collaborate I'm sure that at work we have all collaborated with someone do you want to collaborate on something I collaborated with my designer it was a match made in heaven the aliens are thinking as we are to collaborate in producing explosion next is the verb generalize this means to make a statement that something is true in all cases based on what is true in some cases I think we can all relate to this verb because people often generalize when talking about groups so I'm generalizing when I say salespeople often lie to make more money or dogs are more affectionate than cats or politicians are okay I'm I'm generalizing and I'm joking but perhaps that joke didn't fall flat let's look at some more news headlines to see how this verb is used in context let's not generalize about the kids these days don't generalize the lgbtq community smart Brands won't generalize when it comes to gen Z for pronunciation there are four syllables the stress is on that first syllable generalize generalize one one thing I'll say is that you may hear people say the word without that schwas sound and that schwas sound will alide and it's going to sound more like it has three syllables generalize generalize keep that in mind then I have another phrase for you which is also an idiom and that is lose your head this means to lose control and not act calmly because you're upset you're angry and often you're going to use this idiom when talking about troubling situations I could say it's a stressful situation and now's not the time to lose our heads or when my car broke down I lost my head and didn't know what to do now this idiom may sound similar to another idiom lose your mind but that has a slightly different meaning if you lose your mind you become mentally ill you become crazy so I want you to be able to differentiate between those two idioms lose your head lose your mind but let's just stick with lose your head when pronouncing this idiom once again I would like you to say it as a phrase and when you say it a similation may occur this is when two sounds blend together to create a new sound so the final consonant sound in lse May blend with the beginning consonant sound in your and you get this slight J sound it's like we're going to put it right between the words and that allows us to connect them together it's not something you have to force if you say these words one right after the other it's just going to occur naturally lose your head hopefully you can hear that slight J sound just listen for it do be careful my dear children don't lose your heads and why did you fall in love with her well you know you lose your head sometimes and then you know what you're knocked for a loop and you completely lose your head and then we have the verb facilitate this means to make something possible or easier and there are some great collocations with this verb you can facilitate grow grow or facilitate learning or facilitate access or even facilitate communication I create these lessons to facilitate learning and your engagement when you like and comment on these videos well that is going to facilitate the Channel's growth so please do that for pronunciation the verb has four syllables the stress is on that second syllable facilitate and just keep keep in mind that the C has more of an s that s sound facilitate I hope that you help facilitate the channels growth now for a little review I hope that I was able to broaden your horizons and teach you some new verbs and I truly believe that if you are able to allocate more time to building your vocabulary learn new words review old ones that's going to help you more easily grasp the meaning of different words and phrases and it will help you facilitate clear communication because let's be honest as we get older our brains are memory it starts to diminish and the next thing you know you won't be able to differentiate between the mafia and government but I'll tell you one of them is organized that was supposed to be a joke I don't know perhaps it fell flat so I I need to get going I'm going to wrap things up please don't lose your head you are welcome to watch another video Lesson and continue building your vocabulary if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 151. Advanced (C1) Vocabulary MASTERCLASS in 60 Minutes | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `C2w_zVN8XLk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2w_zVN8XLk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:47:36 | --- Let's flex your vocabulary muscles because I want to teach you some advanced but still common words, phrases, and idioms to help you build your vocabulary. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes, the channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. Now, I say that this is advanced but still common vocabulary because I'm talking about C1 words and phrases. And C1 is one of Cambridge's highest levels of proficiency. And I'm really going to go into the weeds and give you a lot of information about this vocabulary. I'm going to tell you the meaning, talk about how it's used, give you a variety of examples, as well as go over the pronunciation so that you can say them just like me. So, let's begin with some C1 phrases. helpful and useful. And all things considered is the first phrase that I would like to teach you. So, you would use this phrase when you're trying to say that something is true or good in general when you consider all of its aspects. And it like you're saying that a situation's not perfect, but in general, it's pretty good. And often I think you may use this phrase when you're referring to an event like the success of an event. So, if we're talking about a wedding, I could say the wedding was a great success all things considered. There's a lot of planning that goes into a wedding. Some things may go wrong, but you could say all things considered, it was a great success. And with this phrase, the only thing that I'd like to point out is that there's a bit of coarticulation going on with that final dark L in all, and then you move right into that voiceless th in things because the tip of your tongue is going to be behind your top front teeth. And it's like we can just connect those two words, all things. All things considered. I guess all things considered, I was lucky Dwight was there. Bit by bit is the next phrase that I'd like to teach you. So, this is a binomial pair, which is talking about an expression that has two words joined by a conjunction. And that conjunction, it's often and or or, but in this case, it's not. We're talking about by bit by bit. And what this means is gradually. You're going to do something gradually. Often I think that you would use this when talking about something you're going to grow or develop, or even just the opposite, something that you're going to destroy or take apart. So, I could say that I'm trying to grow this channel bit by bit. I'm doing it gradually, and hopefully it'll get bigger and bigger. You may be thinking, is there really any difference between bit by bit and little by little, which is also another binomial pair? And they really have a similar meaning. I would say that little by little is more commonly used. It's actually a B2 phrase, but if you know that binomial pair, then you should have no trouble using bit by bit. And for pronunciation, there's not really anything too difficult going on here. There's a little bit of alliteration when you have the same sound said again and again, bit by bit. You hear that b sound. So, in that case, it's pretty fun to just say bit by bit, bit by bit. Then I sat back and watched Moriarty destroy my reputation bit by bit. Let's just stay with the b sound with our next phrase, which is before you know it. And this just means very soon. So, when you use this phrase, you're emphasizing that something is going to happen quickly and suddenly. And before I give you some examples, I want to talk about the pronunciation. And I really want you to pay attention to the linking that occurs at the end of this phrase. So, you have that w consonant sound in know. It's going to get linked with the vowel sound in it, that beginning vowel sound. Know it. And people will generally say this phrase together. They'll say it quickly, so linking will occur when you use this phrase, before you know it. First, she's texting at work, and then she's not doing her homework, and then she's hanging out with the bad kids. And before you know it, she's pregnant. To give you a few more examples, I could say, I know flying gives you some anxiety, but the plane will be on the ground before you know it. Or perhaps someone's pregnant, and you say, "Congratulations. I bet the baby will be here before you know it." Out of the blue. And that is the next C1 phrase that I want to teach you, out of the blue. You can use this phrase to say that something happens that is completely unexpected. And often you you would use this if you're telling a story, and then you want to emphasize the thing that was unexpected. Last week, out of the blue, she said that we should move in together. And I didn't know that our relationship was that serious. It just happened out of the blue. So, I used this adverb phrase once at the beginning of the statement, and then at the end. You can kind of move it around a little bit. And once again, this phrase has a similar meaning to another phrase, which is out of nowhere. Except out of nowhere is a B2 phrase. But when you're building your vocabulary, it's good to get a little variety when you're having a conversation, or in this case, when you're telling a story, and you can use different phrases. For pronunciation, the one thing that I want you to keep in mind is that final T in out. I'm from the United States, so with the American accent, I'm going to pronounce that T as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. And then I will link it with the vowel sound in of. It's going to sound like out of. Out of the blue. And because you're emphasizing something that happens, people will say this quickly, and they will link those words together, out of the blue. Everything was going great until he suddenly reappeared out of the blue. But that dum-dum ran his mouth. The next phrase is at a glance. This means to see something immediately or quickly. And people may use this phrase with the word quick and say at a quick glance. You're just adding a little emphasis to the speed. Or someone might say at first glance. That's another collocation with this phrase, saying that you looked at something quickly, but then you had to look at it closer, or maybe you looked at it again. To show you how it's used in context, I could say, I could tell at a glance that something was wrong. Everyone looked worried. Or I recognized her at a glance. She was the woman from the party. the vowel sound in a, that article. At a. At a glance. At a glance. We're going to line the front seat and the back seat and the floorboards with clothes and blankets. Cop stops us and starts sticking his big snout in the car. This subterfuge won't last. But at a glance, the car will appear to be normal. Then there's the phrase to have something against someone. And this just means to dislike someone for a reason. And even though the meaning is pretty simple and straightforward, the usage of this phrase can be a bit challenging because the something is your reason. And let's say you don't like someone because they stole something. I I would not say I have stealing against him. That just sounds awkward. Instead, the reason, that something, it's often well, it's not going to exist, or it's going to be unknown. So, let's talk about a reason that just doesn't exist. In this case, you're basically saying that you have no reason to dislike someone. And people may use this with the words nothing or anything. So, I might say, "I have nothing against him. We just don't have anything in common." So, I don't have any reason to dislike him. The reason it just doesn't exist, but maybe you don't have anything in common, and therefore you're not friends. Or using anything, I don't have anything against her. We just don't get along. So, once again, the reason why I dislike this person just doesn't exist, but maybe again with some people, you don't end up getting along, and you're not friends. If we're talking about a reason that is unknown, well then people may ask a question and use this phrase, like, "Why were you so mean? What do you have against her?" So, again, it's unknown, the reason, so that's why I'm asking the question. What do you have against her? Or you could just use this in a statement if I'm asking you, like, "Well, look, I don't know what you have against me, but we really need to find a way to work together." So, again, what you have against me is that noun clause, but I'm still talking about a reason that is that is unknown. I don't know what you have against me, but I know that's that's just an example, you know, we're we're friends, we get along. I think we work well together. But if we're talking about the pronunciation of this phrase, I'd like to point out that elision may occur if the someone is him or her. And elision is when you remove a certain sound or even syllable. So, in this case, we're talking about that H in him or her. And if it gets removed, well then we can link that final T in against with the vowel sound. So, it'll sound like against him, or against her. What do you have against him? What do you have against her? And elision may occur when you're pronouncing this phrase. You didn't care very much for our community, do you, Mr. Walsh? I have nothing against your community, Mr. Pruitt. The next C1 phrase that I have for you is to look on the bright side. And this just means to find good things in a bad situation. And you would tell someone to look on the bright side. So, think about it in the context of trying to cheer someone up. And there's a bad situation and you tell them, "Look on the bright side." And then you would follow it with a reason. And that's really important. So, you're telling them to cheer up, try and stay positive. And then you got to give them a reason why. If you just say, "Look on the bright side." and don't say anything else, then it's going to seem a little strange. So, let's say you tear your new shirt and you're really upset about it and I'm trying to cheer you up. And I say, "Hey, look on the bright side. Now you get to go shopping for some new clothes and you get to find a new shirt and you can look on the bright side." When you're pronouncing this phrase, just keep in mind that once again, linking will occur. We can link that final "k" consonant sound in look with the vowel sound in on, look on. remember the article "the", we're going to pronounce it with a schwa sound because it comes before that consonant "b" sound in bright, look on the bright side. Look on the bright side. This is a deal breaker. Look on the bright side. What's the bright side? Only 9 more months to Comic-Con. Oh, yeah? To take issue with. So, this just means to strongly disagree with someone or something. And you could just use this instead of saying, "I disagree. I take issue with that." And it just gives it a little bit of emphasis. I take issue with teachers who use corporal punishment. Or we took issue with the changes they made to the contract. Or you're not going to hit the like button? I take issue with that, okay? I just I disagree with that. And of course, I'm just kidding. You You can do whatever you want. But when you are pronouncing this phrase, keep in mind that we can link the final consonant sound in take with the beginning vowel sound in issue, take issue. And as you you can start to see a theme here that linking commonly occurs in many of these phrases. Daddy. That's where we already are. Cool your tongue, Airman, because I intend to take issue with your performance. Then we have to keep a low profile. And this means to avoid attracting attention to yourself. And I think that we can all relate to this phrase. Right now, can you think of a time when you were trying to keep a low profile? Perhaps you go to some social event, maybe a party, and you really don't feel like talking to many people. So, you try to keep a low profile. Or or perhaps at work, maybe you showed up late or you forgot to submit something. You don't want to attract attention to yourself, so you try to keep a low profile. And for pronunciation, yes, more linking. We can link that consonant sound in keep with that schwa sound in the article "a", keep a, keep a low profile. advice for me on my new position? Keep a low profile? If I had a gold dragon for every time I heard that joke, I'd be richer than you are. Then we have the phrase in accordance with. And this means in a way that agrees with or follows. And and typically you're talking about agreeing with or following a rule or a law. And because of the meaning that you're following a rule or a law, I think it's likely that you may hear this phrase being used in a more formal situation. So, I could say, "The Justice Department acted in accordance with the new law." Or to be honest, I could get banned from YouTube if I am not in accordance with YouTube's terms of service. So, in both of those examples, it's a it's a little more formal because I'm talking about following a rule or a law. Now, when you pronounce this phrase, of course, we can link those first two words. We can link that consonant "n" in in with the vowel sound in accordance, in accordance. And keep in mind that final syllable in accordance, even though it's spelled d a n c e, you're not going to say dance. It's going to have that schwa sound. It's going to sound like dunce, in accordance with. In accordance with FAA rules, the first two people to the front will be upgraded to first class. Okay, you two. The next couple of phrases are more related to driving and the first one is backroad. So, a backroad refers to a small road that does not have a lot of traffic on it. So, maybe you're just trying to avoid traffic or avoid those busy streets and you take some backroads. And one thing I want to point out is that I think you'll often use this with the plural roads because when you're driving, if you're trying to avoid traffic, you're probably not just going to stay on one road. You may take several different ones and that's why people often talk about backroads. I know some backroads that we can take in order to avoid rush hour traffic. And the pronunciation of this phrase is pretty simple and straightforward. You just say those two words as they are, backroads. I'm glad we took the backroads. The highways are probably a mess right now. Then there's bear left or bear right. This means to change direction slightly so that you're going in a particular direction, in this case left or right. And I think these phrases are very useful, especially if you're giving directions and you want to be specific because some roads, especially some of those backroads, uh they they may not always have a full left turn or right turn. And I would say, "Hey, up ahead, you're you're going to want to bear left and then after that, the road's going to intersect with another one and when that happens, you should bear right." All right, I'm just trying to be a little more specific. Do not think about the animal. slightly. And again, we're just going to provide that extra bit of information to bear left or bear right. And for pronunciation, the only thing I want to say about well, just one of the phrases, bear right, you have that overlapping "r" sound, that final "r" in bear and the beginning "r" in right, just allows you to move from one word right into the next, bear right. Or maybe we'll bear left. Ozzie. Yes. Bear left. What? Bear left. Right front. What? Never mind. That's cute. Now, I know some of these phrases may be challenging, but I want you to look on the bright side. As you continue to build your vocabulary bit by bit, well then you will continue to develop your overall English fluency. You just need to keep reviewing these phrases from time to time and before you know it, they'll become a part of your active memory and you'll be able to use them easily and naturally. And I hope you agree with me and you don't take issue with what I just said. I would love it if you write to me down in the comments unless you're trying to keep a low profile. In that case, I I understand. But if you learned something new, I'd really appreciate it if you hit that like button. I hope you enjoyed that little bit of review at the end. I think it's a great way to reinforce how the vocabulary is used in context. And I'm going to keep doing that throughout the lesson. But right now, I want to teach you some C1 verbs. And verbs are incredibly important. I want to say that again. Verbs are incredibly important because they tell us so much. So, learning these C1 verbs will allow you to be more descriptive and precise when having a conversation. So, without further ado, here are some C1 verbs. This may seem challenging because some words are rather similar. And sometimes it can be difficult to differentiate between two words. But that's why I'm here. I want to teach you some of the slight nuances to help you be more precise and easily differentiate between different words and phrases. So, let's begin with a verb that I have mentioned twice already, differentiate. This means to show or find the difference between two things that are compared. So, it may be difficult to differentiate between American and British English, software and hardware, facts and opinions. And you're often going to follow this verb with the preposition between to differentiate between two things. Transporter cannot differentiate between Dr. McCoy and the torpedo. Michael, I cannot differentiate between the hostages and the gods. A program that could differentiate between foreign and domestic. When pronouncing this verb, there are five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable, differentiate, differentiate. Keep in mind that the t i a t e at the end of the word has a she ate sound. So, this is when the spelling and pronunciation don't really match, differentiate. And if you are someone who would like to be able to differentiate between words and phrases that are similar, then let me help you develop your vocabulary. The next verb is broaden. This means to increase the range of something. And there are some great collocations with this verb. These are words that are frequently used together. So, you can broaden your horizons. This is an idiom that means you're increasing the range of things you know about or your experiences. You can also broaden your mind. In this case, you're increasing the knowledge that you have about something. You can broaden the scope of something. And if we were talking about politicians, they may need to broaden their support. Let me show you some news headlines so you can see how this verb is used in context. Local historian urges town to broaden horizons when it comes to school names. Does travel broaden the mind? Not according to new research. US and China agreed to broaden talks in bid to ease tensions. When pronouncing this verb, there are two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, broaden. Now, one thing I want you to be aware of is that you may hear people pronounce this with a glottal stop. So, listen to the difference between broaden and broaden. The the sounds coming from the throat down here. Broaden, broaden. It's something that you may hear, and hopefully it's easy for you to differentiate between the two pronunciations of this verb, but generally you can just stick with broaden to broaden your horizons. And if you would like to broaden your horizons when it comes to pronunciation, then I think it's very important that you practice. And the next one that I have for you is grasp. It has two different meanings. The first one is to quickly take something in your hand or hands and hold it firmly. So, this is a very descriptive verb. He grasped my hand or she grasped my arm or the child slipped from my grasp. There are some other phrases that have a similar meaning. You can grasp an opportunity, you're taking it eagerly. And there's an idiom, grasp at straws. It means that you're trying to find a way to succeed, but you whatever you choose, it's probably not going to help you. So, think about the situation. You are holding tightly or grasping something weak like a straw, and because of that, it's not likely to save you. I tried going back to work. Like you. Honestly, I'm just [music] grasping at straws, and Cooper was one of those straws. Mr. President, it doesn't matter where we debrief this man. The fact is, we're grasping at straws here. The other meaning of this verb is to understand something, especially something difficult. I could tell you the child was able to grasp the main idea of the story. Or if I am able to explain these verbs well, then you will be able to easily grasp the meaning of these verbs and know how to use them correctly. When pronouncing this verb, I think it's pretty simple and straightforward, grasp. But just say it with me. Grasp. Excellent. Then we have the verb diminish. This means to reduce or be reduced in size or importance. So, you can diminish something. As we get older, our muscle strength tends to diminish. At least, that's what's happening to me. But you could also diminish someone, and this has a little bit more of a negative connotation. I could say, "His careless mistakes diminished him in the eyes of management." So, in this case, the mistakes reduced his importance. It just makes things seem small. It diminishes them. You must prepare for life and whatever it would throw at you. The opportunities will diminish. I am shocked, sir. I I never you are. You wanted to diminish me. Diminish you? Laying the groundwork for a challenge in 2016. For pronunciation, the verb has three syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable, diminish. Diminish. To diminish something or to diminish someone. Fall flat. This is an idiom, but we're going to use it as a verb, to fall flat. This is said when a joke, suggestion, or idea does not have the intended effect. Now, most of the time, you're going to use this when talking about jokes. So, right now, I'm going to tell you a couple of jokes, and you can let me know in the comments if they fall flat. If I am what I eat, then I'm fast, cheap, and easy. It's a little ridiculous. Here Here's another one. You know what they say, "Never go to bed angry. Stay up and fight." So, I suppose one or both of those jokes fell flat. It did not have the intended effect of laughter, but you can let me know. For pronunciation, I don't think it's that difficult, fall flat. The only thing I want to point out is that there is alliteration, and alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant sound in two words that are next to each other or close to each other, fall flat. I hope that my jokes did not fall flat. For your attempts at mockery, fall flat. Let's call it a joke. It fell flat and leave it at that. Robert and Sarah's textures fell flat. A huge performance tomorrow where a man's joke is going to fall flat. Next is the verb contradict, and it also has two meanings. It really depends if we're talking about people or statements, but if we're talking about people, it just means that someone is saying something that is the opposite of what someone else said. And people can contradict each other. This happens all the time. Her testimony contradicted the policeman's story. You could also contradict yourself, and often you may follow this verb with that reflexive pronoun. If I were to say, "I can tell you everything that you need to know, but I don't know anything about that." I just contradicted myself in saying the opposite. When using this verb to talk about a statement or a fact, it just means that some statement or fact is so different than another statement or fact that one of them must be wrong. I could say, "New evidence contradicts the established theories on this subject." They're so different that, yeah, one of them must be wrong. Just keep in mind that when someone or something contradicts someone or something else, it's not really telling us which one is right or correct. It's just saying that they're either opposites or different. To give you a little more context with this verb, here are some more news headlines. Video evidence appears to contradict Lauren Boebert's denial that she was vaping at Beetlejuice show. OPEC figures contradict Iran's oil production claims. Opinion, liberal climate policies are fine on their own, but contradict each other when together. When pronouncing this verb, it has three syllables, and the stress is on that third syllable, contradict. I will try not to contradict myself. Then I have another idiom for you, which we'll use as a verb, and that is to set foot in some place. This means to go to a place or to enter a place. And you're really going to use this idiom when you want to add emphasis, and there's some emotion involved. I could say, "I'm afraid to set foot in my hometown because it's no longer peaceful and quiet, and I'm just afraid to go to this place." Or "I'm so angry at my brother, I refuse to set foot in his home." And I refuse to enter his home. So, hopefully you can sense that emotion. I haven't set foot in my barn in years. If you set foot in this store ever again, I will bring hell down on you. Unless Sersi glances an audience and is somehow convinced not to murder us the moment we set foot in the capital. When pronouncing this idiom, it's pretty easy to say the individual words, but I want you to say it as a phrase. So, I want you to think about that final T in foot. I'm from the United States, so I am going to pronounce this as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. This is very common with the American accent when the T comes between two vowel sounds. And then we can link that final consonant sound, that flap T, with the beginning vowel sound in in, and it's going to sound like foot in. To set foot in. Just listen for it. I refuse to set foot in there. Then we have the verb allocate, and this means to distribute something for a particular purpose. And there are some great collocations with this verb. You can allocate resources or allocate money or allocate funds or even allocate blame. I could say, "The city allocated money for disaster relief." Or the company's profits were allocated to its shareholders. And in these sentences, I want to point out that this verb may often be followed with the preposition for or to, to allocate for something or to allocate to someone. For every $100 we allocate to research, we spend nearly 30,000 on care. In response to your repeated inquiries, it has allocated the enclosed funds for your library project. For pronunciation, the verb has three syllables. The stress is on the first syllable, and that second syllable has that unstressed schwa sound. Allocate. Allocate. Then we have the verb collaborate. I like this verb. It's a great one when talking about work because it means to work with someone else for a special purpose. And often you may follow this verb with the prepositions with, on, to, or in. I collaborated with my friend. Collaborate with someone. We collaborated on a project. Collaborate on something. We collaborated to create new guidelines for the company. Collaborate to do something. We collaborated in implementing the guidelines company-wide. Collaborate in doing something. For pronunciation, the verb has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. The first and third syllable have that unstressed schwa sound, that uh sound. Collaborate. Collaborate. I'm sure that at work we have all collaborated with someone. Do you want to collaborate on something? I collaborated with my designer. It was a match made in heaven. [music] The aliens are thinking as we are to collaborate in producing explosion. Next is the verb generalize. This means to make a statement that something is true in all cases based on what is true in some cases. I think we can all relate to this verb because people often generalize when talking about groups. So, I'm generalizing when I say sales people often lie to make more money or dogs are more affectionate than cats [sighs] or politicians are Okay, I'm I'm generalizing and I'm joking, but perhaps that joke didn't fall flat. Let's look at some more news headlines to see how this verb is used in context. Let's not generalize about the kids these days. Don't generalize the LGBTQ community. Smart brands won't generalize when it comes to Gen Z. For pronunciation, there are four syllables, the stress is on that first syllable. Generalize. Generalize. One one thing I'll say is that you may hear people say the word without that schwa sound, and that schwa sound will allide, and it's going to sound more like it has three syllables. Generalize. Generalize. Keep that in mind. Then I have another phrase for you, which is also an idiom, and that is lose your head. This means to lose control and not act calmly because you're upset, you're angry. And often you're going to use this idiom when talking about troubling situations. I could say, "It's a stressful situation, and now's not the time to lose our heads." Or when my car broke down, I lost my head and didn't know what to do. Now, this idiom may sound similar to another idiom, lose your mind, but that has a slightly different meaning. If you lose your mind, you become mentally ill, you become crazy. So, I want you to be able to differentiate between those two idioms, lose your head, lose your mind, but let's just stick with lose your head. When pronouncing this idiom, once again, I would like you to say it as a phrase. And when you say it, assimilation may occur. This is when two sounds blend together to create a new sound. So, the final consonant sound in lose may blend with the beginning consonant sound in your, and you get this slight zh sound. It's like we're going to put it right between the words, and that allows us to connect them together. It's not something you have to force. If you say these words one right after the other, it's just going to occur naturally. Hopefully you can hear that slight zh sound. Just listen for it. Do be careful, my dear children. Don't lose your heads. Hey, why did you fall in love with her? Well, you know, you lose your head sometimes. And then we have the verb facilitate. This means to make something possible or easier. And there are some great collocations with this verb. You can facilitate growth or facilitate learning or facilitate access or even facilitate communication. I create these lessons to facilitate learning and your engagement. When you like and comment on these videos, well, that is going to facilitate the channel's growth. So, please do that. For pronunciation, the verb has four syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Facilitate. And just keep in mind that the C has more of an s that S sound. Facilitate. I hope that you help facilitate the channel's growth. Now, for a little review. I hope that I was able to broaden your horizons and teach you some new verbs, and I truly believe that if you are able to allocate more time to building your vocabulary, learn new words, review old ones, that's going to help you more easily grasp the meaning of different words and phrases, and it will help you facilitate clear communication. Because let's be honest, as we get older, our brains, our memory, it starts to diminish. And the next thing you know, you won't be able to differentiate between the mafia and government. But I'll tell you, one of them is organized. That was supposed to be a joke. I don't know, perhaps it fell flat. So, I I need to get going. I'm going to wrap things up. Please don't lose your head. You are welcome to watch another video lesson and continue building your vocabulary. You're doing great, so let's continue building your vocabulary with some informal phrases. And by that, I'm talking about idioms. Now, we use idioms all the time in just casual conversation, so I think they're really helpful when it comes to your listening comprehension because when you're having a conversation, you really need to be on the ball. You got to be on the ball, and I'll talk about that in just a moment. If someone uses an idiom, you need to be able to understand it so that you can keep the conversation going. And I think it's also wonderful if you can use them from time to time, such as saying that someone is on the ball. Here we go. So, let's begin with an idiom that I've already mentioned, which is on the ball. And to be on the ball is a C1 idiom, and it means to be quick to understand and react to things. So, it's like you're you're just really ready and alert. And often this idiom is going to follow the verb to be, and you could use it in the affirmative and say, "Look, you really need to be on the ball for the important meeting tomorrow." Or you may hear people use it in the negative and say something like, "Well, he didn't sleep much last night, so today he's just not on the ball." I always try to be on the ball when I come up with these lessons. I try to react and always give you the best information, provide some nuance. When pronouncing this idiom, linking may occur, and this is when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. the ball." "I'm on the ball." "You're on the ball." And it's like you can hear that consonant sound getting moved over to that preposition. And if I were to say it a little faster, "She's on the ball." "I'm on the ball." "You're on the ball." With flying colors. This means to do something, such as pass an exam, successfully. And often you're going to use this with the verb pass, to pass with flying colors. It's a common collocation. Both passed with flying colors and will be named finalists in our astronaut search. pass with flying colors? YES! YOU can also put the object in there right after the verb, to pass something with flying colors. Well, you passed the vetting process with flying colors. Well, you passed the breathalyzer with flying colors. And the next one that I have for you is to turn a blind eye. This means to ignore something that you know is wrong. And unfortunately, I think we can all relate to this idiom. You see something that you know is wrong, but you don't say anything, you don't do anything, you turn a blind eye. You may follow this idiom with the preposition to, to turn a blind eye to something. The teacher turned a blind eye to cheating during the quiz. Or maybe I know that Emmy stole the cookie, but I decided to turn a blind eye to the situation, and I just ignored it. For pronunciation, more linking may occur with the first two words and the last two words. Turn a blind eye. Turn a blind eye. Just listen for it. For years, the government turned a blind eye to the recruitment of immigrants by the meatpacking [music] industry. Obviously, I'm not going to turn a blind eye, no matter how absurd I find all of this. Then we have the easy way out. I really like this idiom. Who does not like the easy way out? So, this really refers to what is easiest in a difficult situation. And often, you may use this idiom with the verb take, to take the easy way out. Have you ever taken the easy way out? When it comes to these vocabulary lessons, I try not to take the easy way out and just teach simple, basic vocabulary. I try to tackle some advanced words and phrases and give you nuance and context. And to give you some context as to how this idiom is used, I have some news headlines for you. LeBron James taking the easy way out on offense. Are regulators about to take the easy way out and declare CBD a drug? African currencies are crashing and there's no easy way out. For pronunciation, we can connect those final two words, way out. And really, what's going on here is intrusion. And this is when you insert a slight consonant sound between two vowel sounds in order to connect them. So, way, even though it's spelled w a y, it's actually a vowel sound, way. It's a front vowel sound, which means we would insert a slight y sound in order to link it with the vowel sound in out, way out. The easy way out. And we'll talk more about intrusion with our next idiom, which is how on earth, what on earth, why on earth. This is a great idiom for conveying some emotion. It's used when you're extremely surprised, confused, or angry about something. How on earth did this happen? Why on earth are you changing jobs? What on earth is that? Okay, and notice the way that I'm saying it, really capturing that emotion. When pronouncing this idiom, there are really two things that may occur, but it really just depends on the question word that you're using, who, what, where, when, why, how. But the two things are linking or intrusion. Let's start with linking because this is something that may or may not occur. I told you that this idiom, it it can convey emotion. And when that happens, people may emphasize the individual words and possibly even speak slower, in which case you're not really going to link the words together. What on earth are you doing? How on earth did you get that? But if somebody is speaking casually and naturally, they may say it a little faster, and in that case, we can link some of these words. So, what on earth or where on earth. The other thing I'd like to point out is that what on earth, that final t in what, because I'm from the United States, I am going to pronounce it as a flap t. It's going to sound like a soft d. And this is because it comes between two vowel sounds. What on earth. And we can link that flap t with the vowel sound in on. What on earth, where on earth. Just listen for it. What on earth is going on here? Where on earth did you get these? Where on earth did they go? Now, you may be thinking, what about when on earth? Can we also link this phrase together? Yes, you can, but I want you to know that it is not commonly used. You can see that right here using Ngram Viewer. This is a great resource to compare different words and phrases and see how frequently they are used. And as you can see, when on earth is not commonly used. If we're talking about the question words why or how, well then intrusion is going to occur. I told you it's when we insert a slight consonant sound between the two vowels. So, why on earth, that's a front vowel, so we can insert a slight y between the two vowels, why on earth. And how, this is a diphthong, but it's a back vowel, so we can insert a slight w sound. How on earth. Why on earth, how on earth. It's very slight, but just listen for it. Why on earth would we have sex? Why on earth would you turn around and give the contract to the Chinese? How on earth is that possible? And then there's in light of, or really in light of something. And this means because of or as a result of. And typically, it's something that you learn about or become aware of, and therefore a change is going to be made. So, I could say, in light of recent events, we canceled the match. And this is a good collocation with this idiom, in light of recent events. You may be thinking, in light of learning new vocabulary, I'm going to hit that like button. And I would really appreciate it, and I know that you're not going to turn a blind eye to hitting that like button. For pronunciation, there are just two things that I want to point out, linking and a flap t. So, the final t in light, because it comes between two vowel sounds with the American accent, I am going to pronounce it as a flap t. And then I can link that soft d with the vowel sound in of, in light of. In light of. Say it with me. In light of. Good. I know that I am giving you a lot of information, and I I do not expect you to remember all of it. But one of the primary goals of a long, detailed lesson like this is to get exposure. You are getting exposure as to how these words and phrases are used. Let me put it this way. If you already know some of this vocabulary passively, and it's review, then that's great. In that case, I would say it's time to start actively using these words and phrases. Now, if some of this vocabulary is completely new, that's also a plus because you're learning these words and phrases passively, which is really the initial building blocks when it comes to improving your skills, and it's ultimately going to help you reach your fluency goals. So, let's continue with some more descriptive words, and I'm talking about adjectives. Believe it or not, I have a cutting-edge vocabulary lesson for you to help you improve your English. Let's just begin with a word that I have already mentioned, cutting-edge. And this just means very modern with all the newest features. cutting-edge research. I was a young scientist working with a world-class team. cutting-edge research To attract the top heads, we'll need to make a recruitment film, picture that showcases our cutting-edge technology. When pronouncing this word, the stress is going to be on that first syllable, and that t, I am going to pronounce this as a flap t, which is very common when talking about the American accent, because that t comes between two vowel sounds. So, I'll say it as a flap t, which is going to sound more like a soft d, cutting. Cutting edge. And that dg combination in edge has that j sound, cutting edge. And if you are someone who appreciates cutting-edge vocabulary lessons, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes, the channel is Interactive English, it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And throughout the lesson, I'm going to talk to you about the pronunciation of each adjective, because I tried to choose words that were a little trickier to pronounce, like this next word, affluent. This means having a lot of money or owning a lot of things. And you could use this word to describe a person, but often, I think you would use it to describe a group of people. Perhaps you're talking about an affluent neighborhood or an affluent country or an affluent family. And in order to demonstrate how this adjective is used in context, I have some news headlines for you. Savvy travel to open new branch in affluent area. Addressing poverty in an affluent society. How can luxury travel companies attract affluent travelers on digital channels? When pronouncing this word, the stress is going to be on that first syllable, affluent. Now, that is the way you're going to find it in most English dictionaries. However, you may hear some people stress that second syllable, and in that case, that first syllable is then going to have that schwa sound, that uh sound, affluent. You may hear both of these, but I think more commonly, people are going to stress that first syllable, affluent. Then there's the word competent. It means that you are able to do something well, and I imagine that you are a competent speaker of English. I I like to think that I am a competent teacher. Now, with this adjective, you may also follow it with the preposition at. You are competent at something or competent at doing something. If I were to say, he is competent at his job. For pronunciation, the stress is on that first syllable, and the final syllable has that schwa sound, that uh sound, competent. Say it with me. Competent. Competent. Excellent. And the next one that I have for you is day-to-day. So, day-to-day means happening every day as a regular part of your life or job. And I think we all have day-to-day responsibilities. If I were to talk about my own day-to-day responsibilities, I I take my little girl to school, I teach classes, I try my best to respond to as many comments as possible. So, how about you? What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities? Write to me in the comments and I'll try to respond to you. When it comes to pronouncing this adjective, the only thing that I want to point out is the weak to. When unstressed, it's going to sound more like tuh with that schwa sound. The other thing that I would say is that t with the American accent. I told you I'm from the US. When it comes between two vowels, I'm going to pronounce it as a flat t. So, it's going to sound more like a soft d. Day-to-day. The stress is on the words day. Day-to-day. Day-to-day. Just just listen for it. the schedule of an orthopedic surgeon compare to that of a fetal surgeon? Well, it varies day-to-day. Day-to-day administrative responsibilities are to reside with the deputy officer if they don't already. I actually need written authorization from the Pentagon to be able to discuss the program with anybody who does [music] not have day-to-day clearance. Then we have an adjective that I I think we all try to avoid and that is monotonous. So, if something is monotonous, it means not changing and therefore it's pretty boring. And I think often you would use this word to talk about tasks that you have to do routinely either at work or around the home. I could say typing numbers into a spreadsheet can be monotonous or sweeping around the home maybe monotonous. At least I think it is. When pronouncing this word, it can be a little challenging. It's a longer word, monotonous. The stress is on that second syllable and the t it's going to be a glottal t. This happens when you have the t followed by a vowel sound followed by the n sound. Words like mountain, kitten, monotonous. And really [clears throat] it's just a glottal stop and it's almost like you're just swallowing the sound. That's the best way I can describe that glottal stop. Monotonous. Say it with me. Monotonous. Monotonous. Excellent. Then there's the word alleged. This refers to something bad or illegal and is believed to be true but not proved. And there are some common adjective noun collocations with this word. Perhaps talking about an alleged crime. And you can really talk about an alleged any criminal activity. You fill in the blank. Alleged thief, alleged drug dealer. He has been arrested for the alleged crime. So, the stress is going to be on that second syllable. But you may hear some people add an extra syllable because of the ed and they're going to say alleged and then it becomes three syllables. And I think that may be more common in the US but but let's hear both. So, you can hear the the two syllables, alleged. He is hereby absolved of all his alleged crimes. Alleged but not proven. Since blackmailing's a felony, even when you do it to alleged drug dealers. I'm an alleged killer. And now you can hear the three syllables, alleged. See if you can identify this alleged killer. I've represented mobsters like this for years. Alleged mobsters. Either one is okay. I just wanted you to be aware of this. The next adjective is fruitful and this means producing good results. So, it really has a positive connotation. Often I think this word describes an outcome that involves some sort of interaction. So, I could say my boss and I had a fruitful talk about my contract. Or there was a fruitful discussion at the meeting. Or how would you describe the negotiation? Fruitful. Okay, it's a it's a positive word, positive connotation. It's good to learn these words. The pronunciation is pretty simple and straightforward. The stress is on that first syllable and that t in fruit it's a stop t, fruitful. Fruitful. Then we have the word conservative and this means not usually liking or trusting change, especially sudden change. And and really this word is often associated with politics so it can be emotionally charged. But but I could say that people who are older tend to be more conservative. I recently tried to talk to my parents about cryptocurrency and they they really were not interested. They don't really trust it. So, I could say in that case they they're definitely more conservative. Now, that is a non-political example but most of the time you'll hear this word relating to someone's politics, their conservative outlook referring to the way they view social or economic changes. When pronouncing this word, the stress is on that second syllable and the t I'm going to pronounce it as a flat t, conservative. Conservative. Now, because we're talking about the word conservative, let's go to the other end of the spectrum and talk about the word liberal, which is also a C1 adjective. This means respecting and allowing many different types of beliefs or behavior. And I'll use the same example. I'll just replace the word older with younger. People who are younger tend to be more liberal. When pronouncing this word, the stress is on the first syllable and you may say it with three syllables, liberal. However, because of elision, which is when sounds get removed, that schwa sound in the middle may elide and now we're left with just two syllables, liberal. And I think often you will hear people pronounce this word with just two syllables and they'll say liberal. My mom says you're just going through a liberal phase. What? My mom says you're going through a conservative phase. There's no such thing. Conservatives only get more conservative. Then we have the word idealistic. This means believing that very good things can be achieved often when other people just do not think that it's likely. So, this is a great adjective to describe a person and once again, let me give you some context with some news headlines. What urban planners can learn from this idealistic coffee shop. Utopia isn't just idealistic fantasy, it inspires people to change the world. This is an opinion. Are young social activists too idealistic? And do some have an overly idealistic view of internationalism? For pronunciation, there are five syllables. The stress is on the second to last syllable, idealistic. Now, to give you a syllable stress rule, when a word ends with ic, the stress is going to come on the second to last syllable. Electronic. Strategic. Idealistic. Next is the adjective preliminary. This means coming before a more important action or event, especially introducing or preparing for it. So, think about a courtroom. You have a hearing which is a meeting that is related to the the legal problem. And I could say there's going to be a preliminary hearing. You could use this with other nouns as well. Here are some examples. The preliminary hearing set for next Friday. We'll have to do some preliminary [music] evaluations. Preliminary investigation suggests that this was suicide. Michael, my preliminary calculations indicate that 15 minutes are needed to break that code. When you pronounce this word, the stress is on the second syllable, preliminary, but it's a longer word so it can be a bit challenging. Preliminary. Preliminary. Preliminary. Excellent. And then we have the word genuine. This refers to people or emotions that are honest and sincere. So, this is another great adjective to talk about a person. Perhaps you make a mistake. You apologize. I accept your apology because you are a genuine person. And I like to think that I am a genuine person as well. But you don't always have to use this word to talk about people. Perhaps someone makes a genuine apology. And then the last thing I would say is that people may often use this with the negative not to talk about something that is not honest or not sincere. His apology was not genuine. When pronouncing this word, it has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable and just keep in mind that the ine at the end of the word is pronounced in, genuine. Genuine. So, let's get a little review. I hope that you did not think the lesson was monotonous and I hope you go on to watch another video lesson because it really doesn't matter whether you are in the preliminary stages of building your vocabulary or if you are highly competent when it comes to using different words and phrases. It's good to learn new words and it's good to review old ones. And and really being genuine when I say this because building your vocabulary should be a part of your day-to-day routine, especially if you want to continue developing your English fluency. So, if you enjoyed this cutting-edge vocabulary lesson and you found it fruitful and you learned something new, I'd really appreciate it if you hit that like button. I know that we covered a lot this past hour and just know that building your vocabulary takes time and I hope that you can use this lesson as a useful resource when it comes to C1 vocabulary. If you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new, please hit that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 152. Advanced (C2) Nouns to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `W4tahPeQiyA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4tahPeQiyA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:00:17 | --- I think you will be in awe of the nouns that I'm going to teach you and I'm sure that you will learn something new and ah this is the first word that I want to teach you that's right this is a noun ah and it's referring to a feeling of great respect sometimes mixed with fear or surprise and often you're going to use this word in the phrase in awe of someone or in awe of something so I could say the children were in awe of their grandfather okay they had that feeling of respect or we watched in awe as the lion attacked the Buffalo so again it's like you have respect for mother nature but it's also mixed with a bit of fear and surprise when pronouncing this word it's just that vowel sound ah like you would have in the word saw and when talking about the phrase in awe of we can link that final consonant sound in N that n Sound with the vowel sound ah in awe of someone or in awe of something and as we go through the lesson I want to talk to you a little bit about the pronunciation because I tried to choose words that are a bit challenging like this next one bureaucracy so this is talking about complicated rules or processes used by an organization especially when they do not seem necessary and this noun it really does have a negative connotation and frequently you may use this when talking about larger companies governments or institutions and you may even emphasize it with a phrase like a lot of there is a lot of government bureaucracy or the company is so slow to change because there's too much bureaucracy the with all the bureaucracy in a hospital sometimes you have to bend the rules to help a patient no I didn't I didn't do it for Leslie I did it because I hate bureaucracy I'm giving you both the IPA and phonetic spelling so you can actually see how the word is pronounced and bureaucracy it has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable bureaucracy bureaucracy and all of the nouns that I'm going to teach you in this lesson they are Advanced C2 nouns and C2 this is just cambridge's highest level and shows that you are a highly proficient speaker of English and because of that these are words that you're you're not going to probably use every day they are more specific but they're really going to help you develop your overall fluency and if you would like to continue building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals so let's continue with our next word which is frenzy this is talking about uncontrolled and excited Behavior or emotion that may sometimes be a little violent so I could say Black Friday is a shopping frenzy it's busy it's a bit aggressive or you may hear this noun being used in The collocation Feeding Frenzy which refers to a group attacking a prey but you really could use Feeding Frenzy when referring to a situation in which people are trying to get as much of something as they possibly can your brother is creating his own media feeding use this noun in the phrase to whip someone into a frenzy and what this means is like you're causing someone to feel this way this uncontrolled emotion as the crowd that had gathered to hear Herbert love speak was whipped into a frenzy as far as pronouncing this word it's pretty simple and straightforward it just has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable frenzy but for the most part I really wanted to share with you those phrases that you can use this noun with and right now I have an announcement that may whip you into a frenzy because if you'd like to practice and improve your pronunciation then you should check out Elsa speak and I'd like to thank Elsa speak for sponsoring today's lesson this is a great pronunciation app that I actually learned about from many of you because many of you have been using Elsa speak to fine-tune your pronunciation and if you're unfamiliar with it let me show you how it works you download the app you create an account and you can see there's just so much that you can do practice daily lessons improve pronunciation let's say that you want to study by topic and there are many different topics to choose from so let's go to work and career and there are a lot of lessons to help you practice and improve but I think the coolest part is being able to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so how about we practice that sentence there is a lot of government bureaucracy and then you can listen to the pronunciation there is a lot of government bureaucracy and then practice there is a lot of government bureaucracy and let me show you what it would look like if I make a mistake and mispronounce that now there is a lot of government bureaucracy as you can see you get instant feedback which allows you to try and make adjustments and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership for free but you can use my discount to get 85 percent off a lifetime membership or 40 percent off a one-year membership so check out the links and discounts Down Below in the description if you would like to practice and improve your pronunciation and before you know it you're gonna sound just like me now let's get back to those C2 nouns and the next one that I have for you is cliche this is a saying or remark that is often used and therefore it's not interesting and it's not original so I I could tell you something like well look you know what they say opposites attract that phrase Opposites Attract it's pretty common well known it's it's not original and maybe you tell me come on Wes that's so cliche and if you were to tell somebody look oh it's so cliche it it kind of has a bit of a negative connotation because basically you're saying that well you're just not impressed with what someone's saying to you it's just not interesting or maybe I I start out by saying something like hey I know it's cliche but time heals all wounds alright so I'm basically admitting that what I'm the saying that I'm using it's cliche so there are many different sayings in English that you could say are cliche I really just want them to be happy and I know that sounds cliche and I know saying it sounds cliche sounds cliche maybe I'm being cliche I don't care I know that you're just looking at this word and thinking wait a second there are no accent marks in English well this is a word that English has borrowed from French and that's why again the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match cliche it has two syllables the stress is on that second syllable and the c-h-e with the accent mark sounds like Shea cliche the next word is Paradigm so this noun is talking about well a model of something or just a very clear and typical example of something and I thought well a good way to give you an example is just to show you some different news headlines so you can see how this word is used in context a paradigm shift EU Russia relations after the war in Ukraine are we witnessing the Amer urgence of a new paradigm and this article goes on to talk about the the mental health system but what I really want to point out are the words that are being used with this noun these are collocations talking about a paradigm shift or a new paradigm when pronouncing this word it has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable but it's that third syllable that can be a little tricky because once again this is when the spelling and pronunciation just do not match so the third syllable has a silent G and the vowel sound it's a long I sound not a short vowel sound Paradigm Paradigm but our society has undergone a paradigm shift and the information age Sheldon you and I are the alpha males let's just keep the momentum going with our next word which is momentum so this is talking about the force that moves an object or an event developing or making progress so if we're talking about the force that moves an object think of we'll physics as the car goes downhill it gains momentum if we're talking about an event developing or making progress well then you could think of a competition the home team lost momentum when their star player got injured and and once again I want to point out those collocations those words that are used with this noun to gain momentum or to lose momentum the word has three syllables the stress is on that second syllable momentum now one thing I'll say and this is really about the American accent sometimes when the T follows an n Sound it may allide and it gets removed and this happens with words like internet or Center so if you're in the United States you may hear somebody drop that t and it's going to sound like momentum so I figure we start out local just to get our momentum going now again this is specific to the US and I'm only telling you this because that's where I'm from but in general you can't go wrong pronounce announcing that t momentum why are you taking so long between fireworks I'm building momentum man then we have morale which is a great noun to know it's talking about the amount of confidence felt by a person or group of people especially when in a difficult or dangerous situation and once again there are a lot of great collocations with this noun so you could use them with certain adjectives like high morale or low morale or employee morale or you could use them with uh some different verbs as well to raise morale to boost morale to bring up morale I really hope that these video lessons boost your morale and just make you want to continue learning I think I should don't you absolutely so show Force boost morale trying to keep morale High just trying to raise morale the pronunciation can be a little tricky just know that the stress is on that second syllable morale and don't be fooled by that e at the end it's not a long vowel sound but a short vowel sound morale then there's withdrawal and this just means we'll taking money out of the bank and there is a common verb noun collocation to make a withdrawal I need to make a withdrawal can I make a withdrawal and really I chose this word because of the difficulty with the pronunciation because I've had many Learners tell me that they really have trouble pronouncing this word it has three syllables the stress is on that second syllable that draw but it's that third syllable that I think people have trouble with that dark l so you're going to stress that second syllable and move right into that dark L which is has that all sound withdrawal draw wool withdrawal just keep practicing give it a try say it a few times and I think you'll start to feel a little more comfortable saying it the next noun is deterrent and this is something that stops people doing something because they're afraid of what may happen and you may use this noun in the phrase and say that something acts as a deterrent to something else like the teacher's strict punishments act as a deterrent to cheat it and there are also some useful adjective noun collocations saying that well something is a strong deterrent or talking about a nuclear deterrent or an effective deterrent this word has three syllables the stress is on that second syllable deterrent now one thing I want to quickly point out and this also has to do with the American accent and that is the flap t a flap T is going to sound like a soft D in Americans we love the flap T often this occurs when the t comes between two vowels like water now the T in deterrent it also comes between two vowels but we are not going to say this with a flat T and this is because the t comes at the beginning of a stressed syllable so when the t comes at the beginning of a stress syllable then you're going to say it as a true T and not a flap T and that is why you would pronounce this and say deterrent just thought you should know how will the Umbrella Academy ever become an effective crime deterrent because I'm your nuclear deterrent it's working we're safe ambiguity I like this noun it's talking about something that may have more than one meaning and can therefore cause some confusion and you may also use this word as an adjective it's quite common ambiguous but we're talking about nouns so let's use it as a noun and I could say there is ambiguity in the new law in this case I'm saying that the law you know may have different meanings or perhaps I tell you hey be specific so there's no ambiguity all right I I want things to be very specific and clear so there's no ambiguity all right time for Fast and the Furious one through seven this is a 14 hour meditation on the importance of family fast cars product placement racial ambiguity and family the word has has five syllables and if you want to learn something about syllable stress when the word ends in i t y the stress is going to be on the third to last syllable that you ambiguity ambiguity the next noun is this one right here diarrhea and this is an illness in which your waist is not solid but liquid and I really don't think I need to go into great detail explaining the meaning of this noun I think there is no ambiguity with what I'm trying to tell you I think this is a word you have probably heard of before you probably know it already but the reason why I'm including it in this lesson is really because of the spelling and even in the UK there's a different spelling and I think a lot of native English speakers probably could not spell this word it is one that you're probably going to use more in spoken English but I think it's important because it it has to do with your health if you go to see the doctor this is a word that you may read if you're in the doctor's office or perhaps you may even need to write it down if you're trying to write some of your symptoms so it's important to to keep in mind the spelling and try to remember how this word is spelled for pronunciation the word has four syllables the stress is on that third syllable diarrhea but really I just wanted to highlight the spelling of this word and then there's whereabouts this is just talking about the place where someone or something is and often you would use this talking about someone's whereabouts the police don't know the criminal's whereabouts or or perhaps uh I could say we're unsure of her exact whereabouts that is a collocation with this noun you may hear people use this in a question like whereabouts in the U.S are you from this is a question that I sometimes get and I tell people well I grew up in the South but there are quite a few different places all over the country where I have lived and this is also a C2 word and I use the word also because when you're using it in a question like this it's not a noun it's an adverb but we're we're talking about nouns and in this case you're often going to be talking about someone's whereabouts we need his whereabouts I'm Norton the pronunciation it's pretty straightforward there are three syllables the stress is on that first syllable whereabouts let's try and do a little bit of review I hope that I was able to avoid any ambiguity when explaining the meaning of these different nouns and you know now that you probably feel good about building your vocabulary I hope that you can use that positive momentum to go ahead and watch another video Lesson because I try to make these lessons easy to follow and understand because I I think that's what's really going to help boost your morale and even if you find a word confusing and you don't completely understand it please don't let that be a deterrent when it comes to building your vocabulary and just trying to learn new words and you can let me know your whereabouts down in the comments I was just trying to use some of these nouns get a little review and use them in context all I really hope is that you learn something new if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 153. Advanced (C2) Nouns to SUPERCHARGE Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `x3IAgqivDls` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3IAgqivDls) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:53:38 | --- let's learn some Advanced C2 nouns to help you supercharge your vocabulary and be a little more precise when you're having a conversation now building your vocabulary it's not always easy it requires a lot of time and perseverance and I want to start with that noun that I just mentioned perseverance this refers to a continued effort to do or achieve something even when it is difficult or takes a long time and this has a POS positive connotation it's a good thing often you may use this when talking about things that are hard to do as you know learning a language takes a lot of time and energy and you need perseverance I said creative writing is hard oh yeah yeah a perseverance Steve it's all about perseverance for pronunciation this word has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable perseverance and the second and fourth syllable have that unstressed schw W sound sounds like uh perseverance and it's good to practice these words because sometimes people tend to avoid these longer words because they're a bit more difficult to pronounce perseverance and if you are someone who likes to learn new words and phrases please subscribe to the channel it shows perseverance and that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and as we go through the lesson I'm going to tell you the meaning of each word I'll talk a little bit about how it's used in context and I'll go over the pronunciation so you can say them just like a native speaker and the next noun that I have for you is one that I really like and that is workaholic this noun refers to a person who works a lot and actually finds it difficult not to work and you may be able to relate to this noun I I don't really think that I'm a workaholic even though sometimes I feel like I work a little too much and I'm constantly thinking about new lessons but what I really wanted to point out with this word is that suffix the h o l i c at the end of the word because this suffix means that you are addicted to something I'm sure that you may be familiar with the word alcoholic in this case a workaholic it's like your saying that someone is addicted to work and this is a fun way to play around with the language because maybe you like to go shopping are you a Shopaholic do you read a lot maybe you're a bookaholic I drink a lot of milk so someone might say I'm a milkaholic but let's not forget the reason why we're talking about this suffix is for all of you who love to work you may be a workaholic this is your wedding weekend I'm marrying a real workaholic you do know that yeah but isn't that what you want in a partner homie workaholic is probably your best aholic ever but you need to relax the pronunciation it's not too difficult there are four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable workaholic but let me let you in on a little secret it's a syllable stress rule because when a word ends in I see the stress is often going to be on the second to last syllable it's a good little rule to keep in mind so that you can easily pronounce words like workaholic now when it comes to practicing English I'm confident that you demonstrate perseverance perhaps you're a workaholic and that's why I want to take a quick moment to tell you about Elsa speak which is a great app for practicing and improving your skills and they're also the sponsor of today's lesson with this useful app you can fine-tune your pronunciation and practice speaking and I want to show you some of the amazing features when you join Elsa premium because now you can have a full-on conversation using their AI feature welcome to Elsa AI please select one of the following role plays and you can even create your own scenario I want to have a conversation with a colleague at work about an important presentation that I'm supposed to give and I'm feeling a little nervous I heard you're giving a presentation today how are you feeling to be honest I'm feeling a bit nervous is there anything specific that's worrying you I feel like I know the material but I'm worried that when I get up there and start presenting I might freeze and just forget what I'm talking about had you thought about practicing your presentation in front of a mirror or with a friend I haven't given the presentation in front of an audience yet do you mind if I practice in front of you of course I'll be happy to give you feedback on the clarity of your presentation I'm going to go get my stuff and I'll be back in 30 minutes and you can listen to the present presentation I'll be here when you're ready role playay completed we are Computing your feedback and then after the role play you get a full assessment of your conversation giving you in-depth feedback when it comes to pronunciation vocabulary and grammar another cool feature is Elsa speech analyzer which you can use from your desktop and get immediate feedback whenever you have a meeting or give a presentation or practice for an exam like the a there's just so much to help you improve so join Elsa premium today by clicking on the link Down Below in the description and you can get a 30% discount on a oneyear membership and if you already have a pro membership you can upgrade with the new Elsa conversation bundle once again check out my special link in the description to get an Elsa premium membership so you can improve your speaking fluency by Leaps and Bounds let's continue with more advanced C2 nouns and the next word that I have for you is hierarchy this is a system or organization in which people or things are arranged according to importance and this is a word that we can actually visualize using a chart so think about a company it has a hierarchy who's at the top the most important position well that would be the CEO and then according to this chart below the CEO we have the marketing manager and the IT manager and then there are people below them so this is a chart detailing the company's hierarchy to give you a better idea as to how this word is used in context let's look at some news headlines is organizational hierarchy getting in the way of innovation support for legacy admissions is rooted in racial hierarchy maso's hierarchy of needs examples and explanation and his hierarchy of needs describes different levels of The Human Experience it's very interesting stuff but you know what else is interesting that's the pronunciation of this noun because it's another long word hierarchy there are four syllables the stress is on that first syllable and the second syllable you do hear that schah sound hierarchy it's a little easier when we slow it down hierarchy and then we can speed it up say it with me hierarchy excellent the next word bias this is when you support or oppose someone or something in an unfair way because you are influenced by your personal opinions and there are some useful collocations with this noun you could have a bias towards or against someone or something and then there are some adjective noun collocations like having a strong bias or an unconscious bias stereotypes that you're unaware of or you may hear somebody talk about confirmation bias when you seek out information to support the views you already have I'm getting a little tired of this bias against the leaders of our industry I thought I had an awareness to issues ways of living unconscious bias like all of it and your country owes you a debt of gratitude Dr Ryan but even you can agree that a confirmation bias is a dangerous thing when pronouncing this word it's pretty simple and straightforward there are two syllables the stress is on that first syllable bias then we have the word scrutiny this is the careful and detailed examination of something in order to get more information about it and there's a useful phrase which is to come under scrutiny and then you can use this phrase with some common adjective noun collocations and say that something comes under close scrutiny or it comes under intense scrutiny or additional scrutiny or constant scrutiny there are quite a few collocations with this noun and they're all great to know for pronunciation the stress is on the first syllable scrutiny but I want to take a moment to talk to you about the glal Tea versus a true tea because if you listen to some online dictionaries you may hear this scrutiny and you hear the true te but I'm from the US and with the American accent when the t is followed by an n Sound people may pronounce it with a gladle t and the the sound comes from the throat your vocal cords are closing and that's stopping the flow of air so when you hear me say words like Mountain certain scrutiny you hear that glottal te scrutiny just listen for it now dutton's office is under intense scrutiny for its use of force in multiple gun battles if your customers come under scrutiny abalonia your business comes under scrutiny the next word is concession this is when something is allowed or given up in order to end a dis disagreement so if we disagree on something and we need to come to a compromise you may make a concession and I may also have to make a concession and that is a common cocation with this noun to make a concession I understand that you like things a certain way and I'm willing to make some concessions but you have to be open to compromise she's right that's reasonable but surely those rules changed the moment they invited television into the coronation that was they're right and a huge concession to what popular interest I am aware that I will have to make some concessions concessions yes concessions when pronouncing this noun there are three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable concession and another syllable stress rule for you is that when a word ends in s IO n the stress is going to come on the syllable before it so that second to last syllable concession another good rule to keep keep in mind next is the noun remorse this is a feeling of sadness and being sorry for something you have done and there are some useful phrases with this noun to feel remorse for something or to feel no remorse for something or to be filled with remorse so let me show you some examples some funny memes when someone might feel remorse so you might feel remorse when those were the droids you were looking for you might feel remorse when you feel guilty for not studying and you are still not studying you might feel remorse when you buy a new phone just before they announce an upgraded model when pronouncing this noun there are two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable remorse keep in mind that the first syllable is not stressed sometimes I hear people stress the first syllable and I hear that long e sound like re instead of a r remorse I'm sure you will feel no No Remorse when you learn how to pronounce all these nouns perfectly the next word is snob I like this word even though it has a bit of a negative connotation and it also has a couple of different meanings so the first one refers to a person who likes or respects only other people of a high social class now it's a little Antiquated but you may still hear it from time to time and if someone's a snob it's like they just feel they're better than other people your family would never forgive you maybe not they're snobs they're such snobs your understanding of politics is limited to who won the election on Sesame Street can you believe a snob it also refers to a person who has extremely high standards and is not satisfied with things that ordinary people like and you may hear this noun being used with an adjective when talking about food or drink but not always and it does still have a negative connotation and even though you you could use it playfully if you say that someone is a coffee snob or a wine snob or a pizza snob or even an art snob for this person it must be the finest quality and then you could say that they are a snob wow lattes yeah have a bit of a coffee snob now the key to a perfect latte is in the temperature of the steamed milk I'm going to unveil The Duchess and watch every art World snob in town drool all over her for pronunciation it's pretty simple and straightforward just the one syllable snob try not to be a snob unless you are an English lesson snob and you only want the highest quality lessons then yeah you're in the right place then we have the word Exile this refers to someone who has to leave their home country and go live in another country often for political reasons and there are some useful phrases with the this noun you could say someone goes into Exile or someone is in Exile after the overthrow of the government the former president went into Exile or currently the deposed leaders are living in Exile in the neighboring country to go into Exile or to be in Exile into Exile I must go failed I have do you know the meaning of d wart refugee driven from my home in Exile one who could reclaim the Throne of Gondor he turned from that path along time ago he has chosen Exile this noun has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Exile I will never make you leave this Channel and go into Exile in fact I want the opposite I want I want you to stay I want to keep you here then we have the word narrative this is a word that I think is becoming more commonly used it refers to a story or a particular way of explaining or understanding events but let's talk about how this word is used because even though it's basically a synonym for the word story it's not really used interchangeably I I could say my friend likes to read love stories I'm not really going to say my friend likes to read love narratives these days this word is used when talking about the story or the events that they would like others to believe and that is their narrative let me give you the interactive English narrative so I think that this is the best channel to build your vocabulary and reach your fluency goals I I say that in practically every lesson that is the narrative that I would like you to believe let me show you some more news headlines so you can see how this word is used in context new January 6 videos praised by Republicans narrative has crumbled Notre Dame offense still has time to change the narrative and stocks holding majority of recent gains fuels bullish narrative for prononciation there are three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable narrative now when you hear me say the word I am going to pronounce that final t as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D this is common with the American accent when the t comes between two vowel sounds narrative you hear that that sof e narrative then we have the word xenophobia this refers to an extreme dislike or fear of foreigners their Customs their Traditions their religion and it's a word that may often be used as an adjective as well xenophobic but with this word I want to highlight another suffix this time phobia it it comes from the Greek word phobus meaning fear so whenever you see or hear phobia at the end of a word you know it's referring to the fear of something Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders claustrophobia is the fear of being confined in a small space glossophobia is the fear of public speaking and this is one that I didn't know before this lesson so I'm learning new words each and every day so there are many different words describing different fears using phobia but the noun that I want you to remember is xenophobia and when pronouncing this noun it can be a little challenging it's a longer word and the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match up the word has five syllables and the stress is on the third syllable xenophobia now there are two accepted pronunciations for this noun you could say xenophobia like I've been saying or xenophobia either one is okay both are accepted the only difference is that short e or long e in the first syllable xenophobia versus xenophobia the other thing I want you to keep in mind is of course that X at the beginning of the noun it has a z sound xenophobia then we have the word influx this means the arrival of a lot of people or things at the same time and often you're going to follow this noun with the preposition of an influx of something the T Town experienced an influx of tourists this summer or the business needs an influx of money or it may not survive when pronouncing this word there are two syllables the stress is on that first syllable but one thing I want to say is that this noun will generally follow an article either the or an and if we have the phrase an influx of then linking may occur and linking is when we connect the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so it's going to sound like an influx of an influx of just listen for it Wendy has identified a casino and hotel in Northwest Missouri that needs an influx of cash to survive one day Carl an influx of hormones that we can't control will overpower our better judgment and drive us to pursue the female species against our will and now for a little review I think it is great that you want to build your vocabulary but I want to remind you that you will need perseverance because to be honest it can be difficult to find the time you may have to make some concessions in order to reach your fluency goals and I I know some people may be thinking look do I really need to become a vocabulary snob and learn all these Advanced words is my English really going to come under intense scrutiny probably not it's entirely up to you but personally and I know that I have a bias I think it's worth it to have a robust vocabulary I think it's going to help you both personally and professionally at least that's the narrative that I am trying to tell so I should really wrap things up and get going but don't worry I I'm not going to go into Exile I will be back soon with another lesson what can I say I'm a workaholic but if you enjoy this lesson and learn something new please hit that like button Button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 154. Advanced (C2) Phrasal Verbs to Sound Fluent | Speak Smarter, Not Harder | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ndMHM6H0Gls` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndMHM6H0Gls) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:57:39 | --- Let's learn some advanced C2 phrasal verbs. And I think these are incredibly useful phrases because we use them quite often in casual conversation even though they are, you know, a little more advanced, a little more specific, and they are all at a C2 level. And one thing that I want to make clear right away is that if you want to get these lesson notes, click on the link down below in the description. Join my community. If you're already a part of it, check your inbox. I have sent them to you. Might as well go ahead and introduce myself while I'm at it. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. And this channel, it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, I'd also appreciate if you subscribe, hit the like button, all of that good stuff. Now, this is a quiz lesson. In case this is your first time participating in one of these lessons, in which I want you to write your answers in the chat, in the comments. I don't It doesn't matter when you're watching this. I want you to participate in the lesson. So, I've given you a sentence, and there is a missing phrasal verb, of course. And I'm also giving you the meaning down below to try to help you, to lead you to the correct answer. Some of these I think are going to be a little easier than others. It really depends on the phrasal verb. But, uh I I again, I I hope that you're familiar with some of them already. And if some of them are new, that's great. I'll try to provide a little more nuance as we go through this. The local community mm the politician's office mm complaints. So, we're going to use this phrasal verb that means to receive many of something that is difficult to deal with them all. In this situation, there are many complaints probably from the constituents. They're calling into the politician's office and the local community and they mhm the politician's office complaints. I almost said I almost said the particle that follows the the verb. Maybe you you caught it for a moment there. I was thinking about giving you part of the phrasal verb, but I I decided let's just I'm just going to keep them all blank, make it a little more challenging. So, what phrasal verb means like you're receiving something that is difficult to deal with them all and would fit this context. Now, I'll be honest. Sometimes there's more than one phrasal verb that you can use, and as we get some uh different answers and go through this, then I'll I'll let you know. what do you think? Um we're talking about flood with. To flood with complaints, to flood with inquiries. When you When you would really say something um you flooded someplace with something, like in our example, the community flooded the politician's office with complaints. There were so many of them that they didn't know what to do. They couldn't deal with it. Now, somebody mentioned overwhelmed. It really it it kind of in this context it means the same thing. But instead of saying they overwhelmed the office with complaints, they flooded the the office with complaints, and that tells me that there were a large number of complaints. There to give you a little nuance, uh I'm putting be flooded with because often you are going to use this uh in the passive voice. So, to give you some examples, I mean I I could say um uh you know, in the in our example, the politician's office was flooded with complaints. Uh I could say the you know, in in before I I was using it in the active, but I did want to point out that a lot of it is used in the passive, like to be flooded with something. Uh here are some other examples. After the advertisement aired, the company was flooded with inquiries. The help desk was flooded with emails following the server crash. So, that's not always the case because again, I've given you an example using the active, the local community flooded the politician's office with complaints, but more often, I feel like this might be a sentence you'd come across. The politician's office was flooded with complaints using it in in the passive, mostly because you want to direct it attention to the object, in this case like the politician's office or the advertisement that was aired or the help desk, and then you're going on to say what happened. So, the next question, I think again, good some good answers in there. People uh knew that one, flooded with. It's great phrasal verb to know. The police have mm foul play in the investigation. So, I'm giving you actually two meanings down here. The meaning of the phrasal verb is to decide something is impossible um or to exclude it from consideration. Like look, yeah, we don't need to consider this anymore. We can mm hit I I almost Again, I don't want to say it. I was about to. The other thing, because of the context of this sentence, I in case you're unfamiliar with foul play, I think that's another useful phrase to know. If you are someone who reads articles about crime, you watch TV shows or movies related to crime uh or police investigations, foul play just refers to the criminal act that results in serious damage. I think most of the time people might use it when talking about uh a murder a case and you're trying to figure out, well, who is the murderer, but we can we don't have to consider this suspect right here, and then you can use this phrasal verb. You could decide that look, that's impossible. We don't need to do it. Great great job identifying it to rule something out. To rule out means you're going to decide that something is impossible or to exclude it from consideration. You can use it in other situations as well, even at home. If somebody does something like well, wait, was it this person? No, we can rule that out. Like they you know, this person left. But I think often you're going to hear you're going to use it in this context of law enforcement or the courtroom, and you might rule something out and say we don't need to consider it anymore. I don't know why I thought this was funny. But I just did, so I I thought that picture looked ridiculous. This was a meme. Since hair can't be preserved in fossils, we can't rule out the possibility that dinosaurs look like this. Now, this is just a meme. It's just supposed to be funny. If if a T-Rex >> [laughter] >> had these ponytails right here, I don't think it would look as scary or ferocious. But if you rule something out, then you're not you don't need to consider it anymore because it's impossible. It's ridiculous. Let's rule that out. Here is the next one. They were best friends in school. But they over the years. Now, I I think you all seem to be I think pretty in tune with these phrasal verbs, which is good. They These are all at a C2 level because maybe typically when I do some of these lessons, people are like, "Wait, that's not that advanced. I know that." But that's good. If you know it, then you should be proud that you're familiar with this vocabulary because it is at a C2 level. It's not one of these phrases that you will never come across or never use. over the years. And they gradually become less friendly or close to someone. That is the meaning of this phrasal verb. So, I have a Well, one one thing they're close close. Now, >> [laughter] >> I'll tell you what I'm going to I wouldn't you wouldn't say drift away. You're getting close. Now, you could say I I feel like grew apart. That would work as well. That is not the phrasal verb that we're talking about, even though you could say people grew apart, and that is perfectly fine. The one that I'm talking about, we can combine part of it with drift, and it is drift apart. If somebody drifts apart, then basically the relationship is uh you know, they're just not as close. And they gradually become less friendly. They were friends in school, but they drifted apart over the years. One distinction that I would make if we're talking about grew apart, drift apart, because you could use grew apart in this context, I think you could also use grew apart like people they just no longer share the same interest. And in that case, you could have like a couple like a spouse, and they you grow apart over the years, and you like different things. Whereas people drift apart, it does make me think of communication and that they are you're communicating less frequently than you did before when people drift apart and they just you just don't come into contact. Whereas I feel like when people grow apart, maybe it's more about their their interest, the things they like to do, and not necessarily because of well, distance or just lack of communication. So just wanted to add that slight nuance even though I think grow apart would they would work it would work in this context as far as happening over the years. To give you well, the the other nuance that I wanted to add as far as specifically with drift apart, it it is like an unintentional thing. So it's not like whereas again, going back to grow apart, maybe there were arguments and people just started to grow apart, but in this case, it's just something that happens. You no longer see this person anymore, you start to drift apart or people move on, you get a different job, you move away and it just happens. And there are some common adverb phrasal verb time expressions that we can use. So I'm going to you can mix and match some of these, but to slowly drift apart over the years. And we have slowly plus drift apart and then our time expression or to gradually drift apart over time or naturally drift apart as we grow up. To eventually drift apart after college, a specific thing, an event or to inevitably drift apart after the marriage. If somebody I I don't want to say in that context that the two people got married, but maybe one of your friends gets married and then oh, you drifted apart after this person got married and then, you You they're hanging out with other couples and you're still doing your own thing. Doesn't matter. So, like I said, you can mix and match some of those. You can naturally drift apart over the years or gradually drift apart as we grew up. I just wanted to point out some of these common phrases that you may hear with this phrasal verb to drift apart. You need to mm and enjoy the party. I feel like some people I don't I I don't know. Some people have said this to me before. Sometimes, you know, sometimes I like going to parties, other times I'm just like, "Eh, you know, maybe I'm not in the mood or I'm not I'm just not feeling it. Got too much on my mind, and I seem stressed. Maybe I'm not very open, even though maybe I seem a little open in these videos." It cuz the meaning of this phrasal verb is to become less stressed, reserved, informal. And somebody, in that case, if I am acting that way, somebody would say, "Look, you need to mm and enjoy the party." So, again, there are different phrasal verbs you could use. I guess open up um I don't know if I would use it in this context. Like, you could tell somebody open up like, "Look, you know, kind of uh uh you know, speak to people, socialize, you know, be honest." But, I feel like uh when you're trying to tell somebody to relax, I You could say chill out, but chill out would make me think that the person is acting like they're a little too in your face, a little too energized, a little too much here and there, and you're like, "Look, you got to Look, just chill out. Just chill out." But, if somebody is very tense, and they're very stressed, and they're not relaxed, you may tell this person to again, I like some of these work. You know, lighten up, chill out, mellow out. The the phrasal verb that I was like to loosen up. And I feel like in this context of at a party or an event and you want to tell somebody to relax, you would tell them to loosen up. I'm sure you've watched a TV show or movie and you've seen this situation and somebody say, "Look, just loosen up. Go have a drink and just loosen up." All right, you need to relax, you need to somebody mentioned unwind, but of course that's not a a phrasal verb, but you could use you would use this in that context if somebody seems a little stressed, they are not really, you know, somebody's kind of acting like a stick-in-the-mud, which is a nice noun phrase, informal noun that somebody is trying to avoid having fun and you're trying to say, "Look, just loosen up. Loosen up and enjoy the party." So, there are some other words, phrasal verbs that I think you all put in there that I think would work, but the one that I wanted to highlight was loosen up. I I don't know if these quotes, some of them I think are are BS and these are just like little memes, but it doesn't really matter. I did I did like the the idea. It says, "Loosen up a bit. Loosen up a bit, laugh more, get involved with people around you, do simple things. If you only do important things, you will become dead serious." And that's another time I think if somebody's being very serious and you want to tell them, "Look, you don't need to be so serious. Just loosen up." All right, just relax. Loosen up a little bit. Here is the next uh the next well, question and the next missing phrasal verb. Do you want to give a quick shoutout to all the the members that I see? Cindy, Lolly, Vicky, Gustav. Thank you so much for joining me today. Great to see. Welcome to some new members as well. Dato, Jar, Omara, Shakeel. Excellent. Thank you guys for participating, being part of the Interactive English community. It finally mhm me when she had been acting or why she had been acting so strangely. I think uh maybe I I think this one maybe a little easier. You suddenly realize or understand something and you could say that it what? I I think uh you'd probably know this phrase, you've heard of it. Still, it is at a C2 level and I think it is a useful one to add to your vocabulary if you're unfamiliar with it because they're you're having a conversation, you're talking about a situation and you you're going to you may find yourself at some point in this context when you say, "Oh, I suddenly realized this something or it finally mhm." And you may often use it with finally. And the answer, which I see many of you saying, is dawned on. To dawn on someone. It finally dawned on me why she had been acting so strangely. If something dawns on you and then you suddenly realize it. Um and I just to go back here really quickly, I feel like that is a common collocation and I think a lot of times you may use it end up using it more in the past. Something dawned on you and you realize it later on and you're talking about it. Oh, like oh, it eventually dawned on me that something happened or it finally dawned on me that this thing occurred. Just wanted to point that out. Here is the next question. I know she was late, but you can't mhm that mhm. Given uh get uh Wait, wait. Maybe I I misread that. Let me start over. I know she was late, but you can't mhm that mhm her given the traffic. So, this it is a phrasal verb, but it's also it is also a bit of like an expression uh because we're going to use a specific pattern. And the meaning is to allow something someone has done in the past affect your opinion of them now. So, somebody was they did something in the past or they they were behaving in some way and you are not going to dismiss it. You're not going to let it go. You could say it's going to influence the way that you view this person right now because of what happened. And you are going to what? All right? And in this case we're saying, "Okay, somebody was late cuz of the traffic." And they're saying, "Look, that that's the reason why." And you're saying, "Look, well, then you can't mhm that mhm her." That's kind of the the form. It is it is similar, not necessarily blame, even though that is a a little um kind of similar to what I'm I'm trying to get at here, but it's not necessarily blaming uh as far as it it being like somebody's fault, but you're basically saying, "Look, don't let this it shouldn't influence like you shouldn't be upset that this person's late because of the traffic." And you should understand. Obviously, you're not going to blame this person um if there was a Okay, so I'm not We're not I'm not talking about blame. Uh like you're blaming that on her. Even though that kind of fits it in here, but I want to highlight this other expression in case it is new. Because it is like a phrasal verb, but I feel like it's a specific pattern. Thank you for the hearts. See those in there. Don't worry. I catch all of it. And that is to hold something against someone. So, the phrasal verb is to hold against, but this is really like the the pattern that you will use with this phrasal verb. To hold something against someone. You're allowing like something that's happened, in this case the person was late, uh to affect your opinion about them now. Like whether you're going to be upset with her or something. So, it's not necessarily about blaming as in like this is your fault. It's more about influencing someone's opinion. So, maybe you make a mistake and I say, "Look, I'm not going to hold that against you." All right? I'm not going to let me have an unfavorable opinion about you because of this thing. I'm not going to hold that against you. So, we could say, "I know she was late, but you can't hold that against her given the traffic." All right? So, again, not not directly interchangeable with to uh you know, blame somebody for for something. Uh and if this is new, again, that's great. It is another C2 phrase. They decided to mm their work differences to work on the project. Let me read that again. There was that awkward pause in there. They decided to mm their differences to work on the project. So, I There are probably some other phrases that you could fit in there that would work, but keep in mind the meaning right here. You to ignore or forget something, like a disagreement, for a particular purpose. So, let's say that there is a disagreement, an argument, a fight, just something that's that's negative. And that is when you may use this. And often you that's a common collocation. Phrasal verb, their differences. Let's mm our differences. And we're going to work together. That is a a a collocation that you would use with this phrasal verb. And I see something like You could I mean you could iron out your differences, but ironing out something would mean more you're solving it. In this case, you're not really solving the problem. You're just again, you're ignoring it. And in that case, excellent um yeah. Lolly, Cindy Juliet, we're going to put it aside. Let's put aside our differences. In that case, we're going to ignore it temporarily while we work together. And they decided to put aside their differences to work on the project. So, it's not about resolving some disagreement or conflict. It's really just let's forget about it temporarily because we need to work or function together in some way. We need to put aside our differences. So, just to point out to put aside something this that C2 meaning is to ignore something like a disagreement for a particular purpose. They decide to put aside their differences to work on the project or you must put aside your fears if you want to succeed. To put something aside because it does have multiple meanings and that's what I wanted to get up. But this is a B2 meaning is when you save something, typically time or money for a purposes for a for a specific specific or special purpose. She puts aside a little money every month for a deposit on a home. Or I try to put a put some time aside every evening uh to read to the kids. Phrasal verb has multiple meanings. One C2, B2. Just wanted to give you both of them, even though you may be familiar, uh, with it. If you're going to put aside time or put aside money, or in this case, when you put aside your differences, great phrase, then you're just going to ignore some problem temporarily. I hope we don't I hope we don't have to, mhm, legal action to resolve this. The meaning is to do something unpleasant because no other option is available. And I hopefully based on the sentence, you can kind of guess and figure it out what the the phrasal verb that I'm talking about. We hope to We hope we don't have to, mhm, legal action to resolve this. And you're doing something unpleasant. There are no other options. Which phrasal verb fits this sentence? And I I think you could use it. Basically, I feel like you're going to use it with something that's not positive. It's a a bit negative. And we're talking about legal action. Nobody nobody wants to get sued uh, or have to go to court. And then you could say, "I hope I hope we don't have to resort to legal action." Resort to something. You do something unpleasant because there are no other options. I hope we don't have to resort to legal action to resolve this. There are other collocations, and I just want to add that nuance, the sense of desperation. When you resort to something, it is like that last-ditch effort. So, you resort to legal action or resort to litigation, resort to violence. That is another common collocation with this. I hope things don't resort to violence. Resort to force or resort to extreme measures. And we can use that phrasal verb. I'm sorry to mhm but I have a quick question. This means to to interrupt or join a conversation or activity when the other people don't want you to. Now, you could use it like in a this like apology. Look, I'm sorry to mhm. Now, the phrasal verb it it has this meaning, but it is like a little more aggressive. Of course, I feel like if somebody wanted to be polite, they might say, "Look, I'm sorry to interrupt." All right? This is more of an an aggressive interruption or especially an unwanted interruption. So, I might tell somebody instead of saying, "Look, don't interrupt." and you're trying to join this conversation, I could say, "Look, don't what?" It is It is rather informal, but a phrasal verb. And one that maybe you've heard of to give you another context, people might use this when dancing. And there's a couple dancing, and maybe I want to dance with her, and I'm going to walk up and say, "Look, may I what?" Actually, that's another It's a You could say You could use either one, but now uh I'll I'll clarify in just a moment. So, the phrasal verb, in case you're you're wondering, is to butt in. All right? You're interrupting or joining a conversation or activity when, you know, people don't want to. And that's like it has that little bit of a negative connotation. You want to be polite, I'm sorry to interrupt. But if you want to be look If you know that you're really, you know, doing this, then you could say, "Look, I'm sorry to butt in. This is an emergency, and I have to butt in." Now, I mentioned that you could do this when talking about dancing. You could say butt in or cut in. Uh would would either one would work in that situation. But if somebody butts in, then they're interrupting in like a bit more of an aggressive way. Everyone mhm to help clean up after the event. To voluntarily contribute money, time, or effort toward a shared goal. So, everybody is going to do what? There are actually there there are two different phrasal verbs that I think would work in this context. I well, I just randomly chose one, but there are a couple of them that that really have this same meaning. Everyone mhm to help clean up the event. You're voluntarily contributing something, generally like money, time, or effort um to do something. So, the phrasal verb that we're referring to. Any guesses? No? I think maybe the Okay, there it is. Now the the chat's catching up. Yes. So, you guys got it. Excellent. Well, talking about chip in. The other one that I was thinking of, pitch in. Especially if we're talking about effort, like we all need to pitch in. We all need to to do something, but you could use pitch in in this context, but chip in is the one that I wanted to highlight, especially because you can use it when talking about money. We everyone chipped in to help clean up after the event. But, if we're talking about money, and because again, I like sharing these ridiculous memes with you, the groundhog is currently taking bribes. Everyone chip in. Everyone chip in in order to bribe this groundhog. And just so you know, I know Groundhog Day is past for those of you who may or may not know Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania, I guess he saw a shadow, there're going to be six more weeks of winter. Supposedly. So, in this maybe maybe nobody chipped in to bribe Punxsutawney Phil. Many people change after they mhm a lot of money. To suddenly receive money or property, especially by inheriting it. So, what are we going to what are we going to Many people change after they mhm a lot of money. And it has this meaning. So, that it is a common collocation to use this phrasal verb with money. To mhm money. I don't think I don't know if that helps you at all as far as piecing it together, the phrasal verb that you should use. But, many people change after they come into a lot of money. If somebody comes into a lot of money or comes into money, then they receive money or property, especially by inheriting it, but not always. You could come into money if you win money. Maybe you win the lottery or something else happens and you just suddenly come into um a lot of money. We mhm a charming little cafe in the backstreets of Vienna. That is a real picture right there. You're To find something by accident. Which phrasal verb could we use? So, there's a the the verb I I do want to highlight, the particle that follows, there's actually several that you could use. And I'll tell you which one I would come to my mind as far as this goes. We mhm a charming little cafe in the backstreets of Vienna. We found it suddenly by accident. And in that case, you could say that you stumbled upon something. So, you could say stumble across, stumble upon, stumble on. All of them work. I don't know why personally I'd probably just uh I probably would use stumble upon um even though I'm giving you stumble across in the example. We stumbled across a charming little cafe in the backstreets of Vienna and you could use again any of those particles across upon on here are a little nuance again just it is really unexpected maybe even lucky. Some common collocations items you might stumble across a book letter photo information stumble stumble on the truth. A place stumble upon a shop a village a cafe or people stumble across someone or a person. Now I say someone a person or even a stranger. I don't know if you would use it with a friend because it might not be as unexpected or sudden. So that's why I was saying like you stumbled across someone who you know knew a friend from a long time ago or knows one of your relatives. It's hard to it's hard to imagine what they during the war. To experience a difficult or dangerous situation and survive it. What do you think? So if you are experiencing this dangerous or difficult situation and I keep it's hard to keep myself from saying the answer. It's hard to imagine what they during the war. And I think you've familiar with this you could say You could say what they went through as far as what somebody experienced that's not the one that's not the verb that I was going for in this case I'm talking about well it's hard to imagine what they lived through. Live through you experience a difficult dangerous situation. It's hard to imagine what they lived through during the war. To everybody's point cuz I see everybody putting went through to go through something it also means you're you're you're experiencing something, so that would work. Uh it's hard to imagine what they went through during the war. That that would work as well. One more. As the situation escalated, the police decided to mhm to avoid a riot. What do you think? They they stopped being aggressive, intrusive, annoying, and they did what? So, uh feel like annoyingly, this is not what is happening, at least in the US. I think they need to They need to do this. Um I think it would be much better if uh if if ICE were to do this, and they stopped being aggressive, intrusive, or annoying, and in that case I you could say back down, um which which would work, but I in this case, I'm talking about backing off. Uh back down, back off, very similar, but if you say, look, they're you're going to back off, they're going to stop being aggressive, intrusive, or annoying, and somebody is going to back off, like this bear right here. The other one says, "Back off. I know karate." He does. That one bear does look like a uh you know his karate. So, here are all the phrasal verbs that we talked about. Uh again, these are all at a C2 level. Hopefully, some of them are new for you. Try to listen for them. Think about the context that we use them in. Tried to give you a little slight nuance as we went through this, but if you enjoyed the lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 155. Advanced (C2) Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QCIsv3AadCA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCIsv3AadCA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:04:03 | --- let's learn some advanced c2 phrases to help you build your vocabulary and c2 is just cambridge's highest level qualification and is really just proof that you are a highly competent speaker and i am going to teach you some advanced phrases that i think are common and i'm going to tell you the meaning talk a little bit about how these phrases are used and i'm also going to teach you how to correctly pronounce these phrases because if you're going to use them you want to make sure that you are saying them correctly and if you enjoy building your vocabulary please subscribe turn on notifications that way i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so let's begin with our first phrase which is clear the air so to clear the air means to remove the bad feelings between people and you might use this if you have a couple of friends who are unhappy with each other or maybe some family members and there are just some bad feelings and then someone else the person who wants to get those feelings removed that's the person who's going to use this phrase so if i have a couple of friends that are have been arguing and there are some bad feelings and i am the one who wants them to make up then i might tell them you know it's time to clear the air we we really need to clear the air and we need to just remove these bad feelings now as far as pronunciation goes the one word that i want to focus on is the article the and you notice how i just pronounced it then i said it with the schwa sound which is an uh sound and it's definitely weaker the and typically people might say the before a consonant sound the cat the dog if the article comes before a vowel sound then people may say the the elephant the heir now i will say that people in the united states which is where i'm from may not follow this rule and they often use the before either a consonant or a vowel however in a phrase like this which is fixed and you hear these words together in this case you are going to say the clear the air make me join the army okay i'll cut off the toe what okay okay we are just gonna clear the air and then we have trial and error and this is a way of solving a problem by trying a number of different methods and then learning from the mistakes that you make and i think often this phrase is used when talking about science because perhaps somebody is doing an experiment and you could say it's just a matter of trial and error before we get the result that we want i also want to tell you that people may use this phrase with the word process and somebody could say it's a process of trial and error these words are frequently used together a process of trial and error and i could say that well learning new vocabulary it's also a process of trial and error because you're learning these phrases you're going to try to use them in context you may make mistakes but that's okay you'll learn from those mistakes and then you keep practicing until these phrases are a part of your speaking vocabulary for pronunciation what i would tell you is that with and i'm going to reduce it so it just sounds like n trial and error and then error is it's a little challenging on its own the word has two syllables has those two r sounds just remember that the stress is on the first syllable error error trial and error and i can tell you relationships are just trial and error something else that's a little bit of trial and error is pronunciation and that's why i've been talking to you about how to correctly pronounce these phrases but a great way to practice and learn from your mistakes is by using the pronunciation app elsaspeak who was kind enough to sponsor today's lesson to tell you the truth i actually heard about this app from you i've had students tell me that they've been using elsa speak to practice their pronunciation and speaking and that's when i decided to see what it's all about so i downloaded the app and i started exploring and there there's a lot of cool things that you can do with elsa speak you can practice linking sounds or dropping consonants the schwa sound and all of this is really going to help you fine-tune your pronunciation skills you can even practice the pronunciation of different words and phrases such as the ones we've been talking about so if i put in trial and error we can then listen to the phrase trial and error and then you can practice trial and error all right and you can see you get instant feedback and that's going to help you make adjustments learn from your mistakes and continue to improve your pronunciation and right now when you click on the link below and download the elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership for free but you can also use my discount to get 85 off the elsa speak lifetime membership or 40 off a one-year membership so check out those links and the discount down in the description if you would like to improve your pronunciation and sound just like a native speaker now let's get back to those advanced c2 phrases to help you build your vocabulary and the next phrase that i have for you is to be at odds over or to be at odds with you can follow it with either of those prepositions this just means to disagree or be different from something so i could say my siblings and i are at odds over the family estate we just disagree or i'm at odds with his version of the story okay my version is different so as far as pronouncing this phrase i want you to look at that word at okay typically it would end with a stop t but in american english because i'm from the united states that t comes between two vowel sounds so i am going to pronounce it as a flap t which is going to sound a little more like a soft d and then i'm going to take that soft d and link it with the vowel sound in odds at odds so you should hear that flat t and then it's getting linked with the vowel sound in odds i'm at odds with his version of the story some people say your immigration policy is at odds with your jobs program how would you respond to that then there's beyond a doubt or beyond a shadow of a doubt and in this case you are just expressing certainty that something is true i could say i think it's beyond a shadow of a doubt that the earth's climate is changing in law you may hear someone say beyond a reasonable doubt and this just means that the argument presented shows that someone is guilty and it just must be accepted as fact so a person might say we have shown that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in order to correctly pronounce this phrase keep in mind that the article is just going to be pronounced as the schwa sound it's just going to sound like uh and then we can do some linking and link some consonants with that schwa sound beyond shadow of doubt so two things bianda of beyond a shadow of a doubt so hopefully you can hear that linking occurring beyond a shadow of doubt beyond a shadow of a doubt i can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that clark kent loves lois lane the next phrase is one that i use quite often and that is play it by ear i really like this one it means that you are deciding how to handle a situation as it develops instead of acting on some well previous plan that you had so i i think i would often use this when traveling that i like to have an idea of what i'm going to do but i also want to be able to change those plans as the day develops so i could say yeah you know let's just play it by ear i know we're going to try to do these things but you know we can make some changes if necessary we'll just play it by ear and when it comes to pronouncing this phrase there's also some linking going on the final consonant sound in play can get linked with the vowel sound in it play it play it let's play it by ear so when are you getting back from florida i don't know play it by ear why go with the flow this means to do what other people are doing or just agree with other people simply because it's the easiest thing to do so you may hear somebody tell you hey you should just relax and go with the flow or i could talk about myself and say i'm just going to go with the flow i really don't have a strong opinion about things i just want to do what's easiest so i'm just going to go with the flow and when saying this phrase keep in mind there there are some overlapping sounds those th's so that final th in with is going to overlap with the beginning th and the the only difference is that in with that th is voiceless and in the the th is voiced so when you're pronouncing this those sounds will overlap and you're really going to say that voiced th go with the flow go with the flow i'm gonna go with the flow i'm done complaining i'm evolving just gonna go with the flow then we have the phrase to put one's foot down and this just means to use your authority to stop something from happening and often i think people would use this phrase in the first person talking about something that's happening at that moment in which case they're going to use the continuous tense i'm putting my foot down so think about somebody who is more of an authority figure like parents would say this to their child if they want to go out to some party and the parent doesn't want them to go they could say no you're not going to that party i'm putting my foot down i'm using my authority to stop this from happening i'm putting my foot down there are two things that i want you to keep in mind when pronouncing this phrase the first is that if you're saying it in the continuous tense the t in pudding comes between two vowel sounds so again being from the united states i am going to use a flat t so it'll sound like a soft d i'm putting my foot down the other thing i want to say is that foot down there's some co-articulation going on because the position of your tongue when you say foot all right that stopped t your tongue is going to be at the top part of your mouth but then when you move into saying down your tongue with that d sound is also going to be at the top so you're not going to touch it twice and say them as two different words you're really going to say foot and then move right into that d sound in down foot down foot down and your tongue is really just coming up to the top part of your mouth one time foot down i'm putting my foot down come on you guys i'm putting my foot down either the dog moves out or i do then there's down the drain which is it's not a good phrase because it means that work or money has just been wasted so if i were to say all that work down the drain that the work was well it wasn't used it was wasted maybe it was destroyed just down the drain or the money that i won went right down the drain okay i used it all up probably carelessly it's gone now and it just went right down the drain the pronunciation of this phrase it's pretty straightforward the only thing i would say is that the article is going to be pronounced with that schwa sound the it's that weaker sound down the drain i bought you a ticket for the my pad raffle dad oh that's tooth fairy money down the drain sweetie i never win anything next is to come under fire and this just means to be criticized and really someone or something comes under fire i could say the government has come under fire after the failed response people are angry they're upset they're criticizing the government so the government has come under fire or the ceo has come under fire after the latest scandal again people are angry and they're criticizing and someone has come under fire now when pronouncing this phrase again there's a little bit of linking going on that final consonant sound in come is gonna get linked with the vowel sound in under come under come under fire take a look cam brady has come under fire getting it on with this woman shayna a former professional cheerleader the next one and it's also one of my favorite phrases from this lesson and that is jump to conclusions and and what this means is that someone is just guessing the facts about a situation with without having enough information and you would say someone is jumping to conclusions often i think people may use this with not in that case you're telling someone let's not jump to conclusions let's not guess until we get more information so i could say let's not jump to conclusions we need more evidence that is beyond a shadow of a doubt so in the meantime let let's just not jump to conclusions for pronunciation the only thing that i would say is that preposition 2 it can either be pronounced two but sometimes it's pronounced with that schwa sound and it's going to sound like ta and often i think you will hear people say when they're using this phrase jump to conclusions okay i'll say it slowly again so you can hear that to jump to conclusions and then when i say it quickly jump to conclusions so it's a very subtle difference but i'm still using that schwa jump to conclusions this was stolen from there were accessories to a federal crime let's not jump to conclusions a lot of things start with you then there's out of one's depth and this means that a person is not having the knowledge experience or skills to deal with a particular situation or subject i think you would often hear somebody saying this phrase to another person in which case they're saying look you're out of your depth it's too difficult you don't have the experience or the knowledge you're out of your depth a few things when it comes to pronunciation out of so that t again it comes between two vowel sounds so i'll pronounce it as a flap t and then i will link it with the vowel sound in of out of out of and then just just keep in mind depth it ends with that voiceless th it's very slight but you should pronounce that voiceless th depth out of your depth out of your depth i know what i'm doing you don't you're out of your depth ruth and i'm not going to let you drag jonah down with you okay and then there's to do someone or something justice and this just means to be accurate or fair by representing someone or something as that person or thing truly is and let me let me give you a couple of examples i think it'll make more sense so this phrase is often used in the negative and with the pronoun it doesn't do it justice so it's like i'm i'm talking about a situation and then saying that it's just not an accurate representation like the the book is so much better than the movie the movie doesn't do it justice or the grand canyon is breathtaking pictures don't do it justice that pictures are just it's just not a fair or accurate representation of the grand canyon you really gotta go there pictures they just don't do it justice so when you say this phrase if you're using the pronoun it then there's going to be some intrusion intrusion is when you are adding a sound in between two other sounds so in this case we're going to add a slight w sound between do and it do wit this allows us to link those two vowel sounds together it doesn't do it justice it just doesn't do it justice doesn't do any justice i'll tell you that you always said you like my nose i love your nose it's real big up there so i hope that i have demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that these phrases are useful and i truly think that when you are learning advanced phrases like these you are not out of your depth you have the experience you have the knowledge you just need to learn them and just get a little practice using them but i i do not want to jump to conclusions only you can tell me how much you understand and how much you have learned and i would appreciate it if you let me know down in those comments if you enjoyed the lesson and you learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 156. Advanced (C2) Verbs to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `U9IOamy4BGg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9IOamy4BGg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:57:45 | --- let's learn some Advanced C2 verbs and I'm going to get right to the point and we'll begin with our first verb which is to linger so this verb actually has two different meanings the first one is to continue to exist so if I were sick and I have a cold I could say that it is still lingering and in this case you may often hear it being used in The Continuous tense with that adverb still that's a good adverb verb collocation something is still lingering how's your cold yeah unfortunately it's still lingering it also means to take longer than usual to leave and in this case you may be talking about a person or group of people some customers lingered for a while after the shop closed and and they just took longer than usual to leave when you pronounce this verb it has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable linger but I want to focus on that NG because it can be a little confusing look at these two words they are not rhyming words singer you only have that ing sound whereas linger you have the ing plus that g sound afterwards linger it's similar to the word finger these are rhyming words linger finger any of you wish to seek counseling due to lingering trauma speak with me privately yeah well it turns out that there's some lingering feelings or something Clark get out of here my mistake except yes it is your mistake it's lingering he's so annoying and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary then I hope that you linger for a while and watch more video lessons and I would also love it if you subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and throughout the lesson I'm going to talk to you about how to pronounce these verbs because I tried to choose verbs that are a little difficult to pronounce or maybe confusing or just have something about the pronunciation that I'd like to talk to you about like this next verb Dole out this means to give something usually money to several people and this C2 verb it is a phrasal verb that may be separable so you could Dole out something or dull something out and in order to show you how this verb may be used in context I have some news headlines for you as lawmakers Dole out record Surplus many say they need more Colts Dole out 22.5 million dollars for kicker Matt gay this is talking about American football and yeah that's a lot of money to Dole out for a kicker should political parties be able to Dole out freebies when pronouncing this phrasal verb you should know that linking is going to occur and we can link the final consonant sound in Dole with the beginning vowel sound in out and this is when Lincoln commonly occurs linking a final consonant sound with a beginning vowel sound and it just helps us make a smooth transition from one word to the next Dole out it's like we're we're taking that consonant sound and just moving it over to the next syllable Dole out then we have the verb pinpoint it also has two meanings the first one is to find or say the exact position in space or time of something I may ask you the question can you pinpoint our location on the map because I just want to know where we are it also means to discover or describe the exact facts of something I could tell you doctors could not pinpoint the cause of his illness so in this case they'd they just could not describe the facts of his illness for pronunciation the verb has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable pinpoint and I'd also like to point out that final T it's really a stop T it's pretty subtle pinpoint now if you have some lingering doubts when it comes to pronunciation then I'd like to tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is Elsa speak this is a great app that will help you pinpoint your mistakes so that you can fine tune your pronunciation and if you're unfamiliar with it let me show you how it works you just download the app create an account and there's so much that you can do practice daily lessons improve pronunciation study by topic but let me show you some of the other cool features that Elsa has to offer you can do fun activities like like unscrambling words practicing both vocabulary and pronunciation like this one fireworks let's do one more okay party you can also practice a variety of study sets based on your needs because I know that well many of you may be practicing for the IELTS so we can well practice synonyms for very and you can listen to it both the book and the film are Dreadful and then practice saying it both the book and the film are Dreadful now let me show you what it's like if a mistake is made and I mispronounced that synonym both the book and the film are Dreadful as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try and make adjustments and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership for free but you can also use my discount to get 85 percent off a lifetime membership or 40 off a one-year membership so check out the links and discounts in the description if you'd like to pinpoint your mistakes and improve your pronunciation and before you know it you'll sound just like a native speaker now let's get back to our C2 verbs and the next one that I have for you is plague this means to cause worry pain or difficulty to someone or something over a period of time and often you may follow this verb with the preposition by you have been plagued by something I could tell you that well my athletic career has been plagued by back injuries and to be honest I've never really had much of of an athletic career that's not really true but yes over the years I have been plagued by back injuries that part is unfortunately true when it comes to pronunciation the spelling and pronunciation don't really look like they match but that final gue it's going to be pronounced with an aspirated G sound plague but often people may use this verb as well the past participle in which case it's going to end with the final D sound and those consonants that can be a difficult combination that plague plagued you've been plagued by something I'm plagued by an internal struggle if you would just use the bucket you'd be so much more comfortable Sunrise Bay was a Coastal Community plagued by a centuries-old curse next is the verb prescribe and this is a very useful verb because it's when a doctor says what kind of treatment someone should have and it's very specific because we're really talking about someone's health and there are some common collocations with this verb because a doctor May prescribe some medicine or prescribe some pills or prescribe some rest or even prescribe some painkillers now this verb has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable prescribe and that first syllable even though it's spelled p-r-e it has a PR sound because it's unstressed prescribe say it with me prescribe excellent then we have the verb utter this means to say something or just make a sound with your voice so sometimes it can be interchangeable with say except that it's a bit more formal and not as commonly used maybe I tell you he sat through the meeting without uttering a word and that's a good collocation with this verb without uttering a word now to talk about the difference between utter and say is that well utter is not always clear she uttered something through the car window but I didn't understand what she was saying it wasn't clear but I could tell she was making some sounds with her voice and uttered something for pronunciation the verb has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable utter but what I'd really like to point out is that T I am going to pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D and this is pretty common with the American accent when the t comes between two vowel sounds there are many words we can say with the flap T like water better utter just just listen for it it was him he uttered something oh I'm sorry I uttered you think you're funny don't you bro it is the truth I did with his own lips what's she said though then we have the verb curb and to curb something means to control or limit something that is not wanted and you would try to curb something and in order to show you how this verb is used in context once again I have some news headlines for you this phone helped me curb my screen addiction Syria agrees to curb drug trade in meeting with Arab ministers Brazil orders Google to curb campaign against fake news law and when you pronounce this verb it's pretty simple and straightforward there's just one syllable curb but that U has more of an ER vowel sound curb to curb something then there's lure this means to persuade someone to do something or go somewhere by offering them something exciting and often you may follow this verb with the preposition into or two the employees were lured into working over the weekend with the promise of overtime or universities try to lure the top academics to their school they always set those things to pay out more so they can lure people into the casino Maurice working to your house oh very clever assistant we're luring our bees to your sugar and selling them back to us at an inflated price they're on to what now Simpson you diabolical when you pronounce this verb just make sure that you are saying that diphthong because that you it's going to sound like a combination of vowel sounds lure say it with me lure lure good then there's indulge and I really like this verb it means to allow yourself or some other person to have something enjoyable especially more than what's good for you so you may follow this verb with the preposition in and you indulge in something late at night sometimes I get a little hungry and I probably shouldn't eat anything but I like to indulge in sweets and I'll have some cookies or chocolate and often you may use this verb when talking about food and you indulge in something and you have more than what's really good for you for pronunciation there are two syllables the stress is on that second syllable and that g has more of a j sound indulge indulge what do you like to indulge in let me know in the comments then there's delegate this means to give a job job Duty or right to someone so they can do it for you and and this verb is often used in the context of work because you can't do everything so you may delegate certain responsibilities to other people and you may also say that a boss or supervisor is good at delegating and and they tell others what they need to do or perhaps someone is bad at delegating because they try to do everything themselves and yeah that may not be a good situation so this is a very useful verb when talking about work this verb has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable delegate now don't confuse this with the noun because that third syllable is pronounced differently when you say the noun delegate with the verb you're going to use that long a sound delegate now I'd also like to point out that when you use this verb in the continuous tense it's going to change from a stop T to a flap T at least with with the American accent and you'd say that someone is delegating something and you're going to use that flap T once again just listen for it I'm delegating he's delegating don't shy away from delegating reconcile great verb this means to find a way in which two situations or beliefs that are opposed to each other can agree or exist together and you could hear somebody say something like we need to reconcile our differences that's a great collocation with this verb the boys appear to have reconciled their differences a rose and her daughter reconcile their differences that's why it's important for you to reconcile your differences you could also reconcile something with something I could say research is being done to reconcile the world's population growth with sustainability so these two things they seem opposed but we need to reconcile them and find a way for them to exist together growth and sustainability for pronunciation the verb has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable and keep in mind that the C has more of an S sound reconcile reconcile and then there's loathe which is a pretty powerful verb because it means to hate someone or something so loathe just like hate it's it's a strong word so be careful how you're using it but of course there are probably things that I'm sure you loathe I know there are things that I loathe like I loathe sitting at an airport when my flight has been delayed or I loathe anchovies I just don't like eating them or I loathe driving in really bad weather conditions for pronunciation it's just the one syllable but make sure you're using that voice th at the end loathe let's say it together loathe loathe nice now for a little review I'm sure that you do not loathe building your vocabulary and I hope that I can lure you into watching another video Lesson because even though I'm not a doctor that is what I would prescribe in order for you to develop your English fluency and to be honest I know it's not good to watch a lot of videos and be in front of a screen but in this case of course I think it's okay for you to indulge a little bit and watch many different video lessons I have a lot on this channel especially vocabulary lessons in which you will find me Doling out words left and right but in all seriousness I just want you to keep practicing keep improving and I'm not going to linger around any longer I'm going to say goodbye but as always I hope that you learn something new if you enjoy the lesson please hit that like button thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 157. Advanced (C2) Vocabulary in 60 Minutes | Phrases, Verbs, Nouns, and Adjectives You Should Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MrsC3GCo9vs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrsC3GCo9vs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:56:11 | --- This is a massive vocabulary lesson because in the next hour I am going to teach you many different C2 phrases, verbs, nouns, adjectives. And if you're wondering what that means, C2, this is Cambridge's highest level of proficiency and really just means that, well, you are a proficient speaker of English. And what I would encourage you to do is just take your time. As you go through the lesson, think about the examples, probably rewatch the lesson a week from now or a month from now. Because the more you do that, the more easily you're going to be able to build your vocabulary, which is what a lesson like this is all about. Before we begin, I'd like to make a quick announcement about my speaking course because if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, click on the link down in the description and when you do, you will find a special discount just for you. The course is all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Each week there is a different speaking topic. You'll learn vocabulary related to that topic. I'll also teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases. We do engaging speaking activities and there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course. So, click on that link down in the description if you would like to improve your speaking fluency and well, yeah, I just hope to speak to you soon. So, without further ado, let's begin our lesson and learn a lot of C2 vocabulary. I am going to teach you some advanced phrases that I think are common and I'm going to tell you the meaning, talk a little bit about how these phrases are used, and I'm also going to teach you how to correctly pronounce these phrases because if you're going to use them, you want to make sure that you are saying them correctly. And if you enjoy building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes, the channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, to clear the air means to remove the bad feelings between people. And you might use this if you have a couple of friends who are unhappy with each other or maybe some family members and there are just some bad feelings and then someone else, the person who wants to get those feelings removed, that's the person who's going to use this phrase. So, if I have a couple of friends that are have been arguing and there are some bad feelings and I am the one who wants them to make up, then I might tell them, you know, it's time to clear the air. We we really need to clear the air and we need to just remove these bad feelings. Now, as far as pronunciation goes, the one word that I want to focus on is the article the. And you notice how I just pronounced it. Then I said it with the schwa sound, which is an uh sound, and it's definitely weaker, the. And typically people might say the before a consonant sound, the cat, the dog. If the article comes before a vowel sound, then people may say the, the elephant, the air. Now, I I will say that people in the United States, which is where I'm from, may not follow this rule and they often use the before either a consonant or a vowel. However, in a phrase like this, which is fixed and you hear these words together, in this case you are going to say the, clear the air. Make me join the army, okay? I'll cut off a toe. What? Okay, okay. We are just going to clear the air. And then we have trial and error. And this is a way of solving a problem by trying a number of different methods and then learning from the mistakes that you make. And I think often this phrase is used when when talking about science because perhaps somebody is doing an experiment and you could say it's just a matter of trial and error before we get the result that we want. I also want to tell you that people may use this phrase with the word process and somebody could say it's a process of trial and error. These words are frequently used together, a process of trial and error. And I could say that, well, learning new vocabulary, it's also a process of trial and error because you're learning these phrases, you're going to try to use them in context, you may make mistakes, but that's okay. You'll learn from those mistakes and then you keep practicing until these phrases are a part of your speaking vocabulary. For pronunciation, what I would tell you is that with and, I'm going to reduce it so it just sounds like and, trial and error. And then error is is a little challenging on its own. The word has two syllables, has those two R sounds. Just remember that the stress is on the first syllable, error. Error. Trial and error. And I can tell you, relationships are just trial and error. Something else that's a little bit of trial and error is pronunciation and that's why I've been talking to you about how to correctly pronounce these phrases. And the next phrase that I have for you is to be at odds over or to be at odds with. You can follow it with either of those prepositions. This just means to disagree or be different from something. So, I could say my siblings and I are at odds over the family estate. We just disagree. Or I'm at odds with his version of the story, okay? My version is different. So, as far as pronouncing this phrase, I I want you to look at that word at. Okay? Typically it would end with a stop T, but in American English, because I'm from the United States, that T comes between two vowel sounds, so I am going to pronounce it as a flat T, which is going to sound a little more like a soft D. And then I'm going to take that soft D and link it with the vowel sound in odds. At odds. So, you should hear that flat T and then it's getting linked with the vowel sound in odds. I'm at odds with his version of the story. Some people say your immigration policy is at odds with your jobs program. How would you respond to that? Then there's beyond a doubt or beyond a shadow of a doubt. And in this case you are just expressing certainty that something is true. I could say I think it's beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Earth's climate is changing. In law, you may hear someone say beyond a reasonable doubt. And this just means that the argument presented shows that someone is guilty and it just must be accepted as fact. So, a person might say we have shown that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In order to correctly pronounce this phrase, keep in mind that the article is just going to be pronounced as the schwa sound. It's just going to sound like uh and then we can do some linking and link some consonants with that schwa sound. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. So, two things, beyond a of beyond a shadow of a doubt. So, hopefully you can hear that linking occurring. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Clark Kent loves Lois Lane. The next phrase is one that I use quite often and that is play it by ear. I really like this one. It means that you are deciding how to handle a situation as it develops instead of acting on some, well, previous plan that you had. So, I I think I would often use this when traveling that I I like to have an idea of what I'm going to do, but I also want to be able to change those plans as the day develops. So, I could say, yeah, you know, let's just play it by ear. I I know we're going to try to do these things, but, you know, we can make some changes if necessary. We'll just play it by ear. And when it comes to pronouncing this phrase, there's also some linking going on. The final consonant sound in play can get linked with the vowel sound in it, play it, play it. Let's play it by ear. So, when you're getting back from Florida? Uh I don't know. Play it by ear. Why? Go with the flow. This means to do what other people are doing or just agree with other people simply because it's the easiest thing to do. So, you may hear somebody tell you, hey, you should just relax and go with the flow. Or I could talk about myself and say, I'm just going to go with the flow. I really don't have a strong opinion about things. I just want to do what's easiest, so I'm just going to go with the flow. And when saying this phrase, keep in mind there are there are some overlapping sounds, those THs. So, that final TH in with is going to overlap with the beginning TH in the. The only difference is that in with that TH is voiceless and in the, the TH is voiced. So, when you're pronouncing this, those sounds will overlap and you're really going to say that voiced TH. Go with the a Go with the flow. I'm going to go with the flow. I'm done complaining. I'm evolving. Just going to go with the flow. Then we have the phrase to put one's foot down. And this just means to use your authority to stop something from happening. And often I think people would use this phrase in the first person talking about something that's happening at that moment, in which case they're going to use the continuous tense. I'm putting my foot down. So, think about somebody who is more of an authority figure like parents would say this to their child if they want to go out to some party and the parent doesn't want them to go. They could say, "No, you're not going to that party. I'm putting my foot down. I'm using my authority to stop this from happening. I'm putting my foot down." There are two things that I want you to keep in mind when pronouncing this phrase. The first is that if you're saying it in the continuous tense, the T in putting comes between two vowel sounds. So again, being from the United States, I am going to use a flat T, so it'll sound like a soft D. I'm putting my foot down. The other thing I want to say is that foot down, there's some coarticulation going on because the position of your tongue when you say foot, all right, that stop T, your tongue is going to be at the top part of your mouth, but then when you move into saying down, your tongue with that d sound is also going to be at the top. So, you're not going to touch it twice and say them as two different words. You're really going to say foot and then move right into that d sound in down. Foot down. Foot down. And your tongue is really just coming up to the top part of your mouth one time. Foot down. I'm putting my foot down. Come on, you guys. I'm putting my foot down. Either the dog moves out or I do. Then there's down the drain, which is it's not a good phrase because it means that work or money has just been wasted. So, if I were to say, "All that work down the drain," that the work was well, it wasn't used, it was wasted, maybe it was destroyed. Just down the drain. Or the money that I won went right down the drain. Okay, I I used it all up, probably carelessly. It's gone now, and it just went right down the drain. The pronunciation of this phrase, it's pretty straightforward. The only thing I would say is that the article is going to be pronounced with that schwa sound, the. It's that weaker sound. Down the drain. I bought you a ticket for the my pad raffle, Dad. Oh, that's tooth fairy money down the drain, sweetie. I never win anything. Next is to come under fire. And this just means to be criticized. And really someone or something comes under fire. I could say the government has come under fire after the failed response. People are angry, they're upset, they're criticizing the government, so the government has come under fire. Or the CEO has come under fire after the latest scandal. Again, people are angry and they're criticizing, and someone has come under fire. Now, when pronouncing this phrase, again, there's a little bit of linking going on. That final consonant sound in come is going to get linked with the vowel sound in under. Come under. Come under fire. Take a look. Cam Brady has come under fire for getting it on with this woman, Shayna Saint Coq, a former professional cheerleader. The next one, and it's also one of my favorite phrases from this lesson, and that is jump to conclusions. And and what this means is that someone is just guessing the facts about a situation with without having enough information. And you would say someone is jumping to conclusions. Often I think people may use this with not. In that case, you're telling someone, "Let's not jump to conclusions. Let's not guess until we get more information." So, I could say, "Let's not jump to conclusions. Uh we need more evidence that is beyond a shadow of a doubt. So, in the meantime, let let's just not jump to conclusions." For pronunciation, the only thing that I would say is that preposition to, it it can either be pronounced to, but sometimes it's pronounced with that schwa sound, and it's going to sound like tuh. And often I think you will hear people say tuh when they're using this phrase. Jump to conclusions. Okay, I'll say it slowly again so you can hear that tuh. Jump to conclusions. And then when I say it quickly, jump to conclusions. So, it's a very subtle difference, but I'm still using that schwa. Jump to conclusions. This was stolen from there. We're accessories to a federal crime. Let's not jump to conclusions. A lot of things start with you. Then there's out of one's depth. And this means that a person is not having the knowledge, experience, or skills to deal with a particular situation or subject. I I think you would often hear somebody saying this phrase to another person, in which case they're saying, "Look, you're out of your depth. It's too difficult. You don't have the experience or the knowledge. You're out of your depth." A few things when it comes to pronunciation. Out of. So, that T again, it comes between two vowel sounds, so I'll pronounce it as a flat T, and then I will link it with the vowel sound in of. Out of. Out of. And then just just keep in mind depth. It ends with that voiceless th. It's very slight, but you should pronounce that voiceless th, depth. Out of your depth. Out of your depth. I know what I'm doing. You don't. You're out of your depth, Ruth, and I'm not going to let you drag Jonah down with you, okay? And then there's to do someone or something justice. And this just means to be accurate or fair by representing someone or something as that person or thing truly is. And let me let me give you a couple of examples. I think it'll make more sense. So, this phrase is often used in the negative and with the pronoun it. Doesn't do it justice. So, it's like I'm I'm talking about a situation and then saying that it's just not an accurate representation. Like the the book is so much better than the movie. The movie doesn't do it justice. Or the Grand Canyon is breathtaking. Pictures don't do it justice. That pictures are just it's just not a fair or accurate representation of the Grand Canyon. You really got to go there. The pictures, they just don't do it justice. So, when you say this phrase, if you're using the pronoun it, then there's going to be some intrusion. Intrusion is when you are adding a sound in between two other sounds. So, in this case, we're going to add a slight w sound between do and it. Do it. This allows us to link those two vowel sounds together. It doesn't do it justice. It just doesn't do it justice. It doesn't do you any justice, I'll tell you that. You always said you liked my nose. I love your nose. It's real big up there. So, I hope that I have demonstrated, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that these phrases are useful. And I I truly think that when you are learning advanced phrases like these, you are not out of your depth. You have the experience, you have the knowledge, you just need to learn them and just get a little practice using them. But I I do not want to jump to conclusions. Only you can tell me how much you understand and how much you have learned, and I would appreciate it if you let me know down in those comments. In today's lesson, I want to teach you some advanced C2 verbs. Let's begin with the verb to relish. What this means is to like or enjoy something, and really you're just adding a bit of emphasis. So, as I just said, I'm sure you relish learning new vocabulary. You enjoy it and and you know that you're enjoying it. And you can follow this verb with either a gerund or a noun. So, to give you a couple of examples with gerunds, I could say, "I relish traveling to exotic locations." Or "I relish eating ice cream on a hot summer day." And then, if you're going to follow it with the noun, there are some common collocations. And these are words that are frequently used together. So, you may relish the thought, prospect, or idea of doing something. Or you may relish the chance or the opportunity to do something. And those are some useful collocations. When it comes to pronouncing the verb, it has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, relish. She won't survive. I don't relish hurting anyone, Stephen. But she's not a child. Mhm. Well, Victoria relishes her status as queen bee, right? Pathologically. Coincide. So, this verb has two meanings. The first one is to happen at or near the same time. And often you're going to follow the verb with the preposition with. So, you would say that something coincides with something else. And Uh, you're not really talking about everyday activities like going to the coffee shop coincides with this. You You're talking about events that may not occur regularly. So, I could say, "Look, I'm sorry. I can't go to your birthday party because it coincides with a business trip that I have to take. It's happening at the same time." It also means to be the same or similar. So, I could say, "If our schedules coincide, then we can plan to travel together. We'll We'll take the train if our schedules coincide and they're the same." For pronunciation, the verb has three syllables. The stress is on that third syllable, coincide. And just keep in mind the c o i n, it's not pronounced as coin, two different syllables, co-in. Coincide. To coincide with something. And then we have the verb squander. I like this verb even though it it has a negative connotation because it means to waste money or supplies or to waste opportunities by not taking advantage of them. So, it In the United States, which is where I am from, I could say, "Many people feel that the government squanders taxpayer money." And they just waste that money. You may also hear people use this in a statement and say, "Hey, don't squander this opportunity." That is a collocation to squander an opportunity. For pronunciation, the verb has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, squander. And keep in mind that s q u a has that squa sound. To squander something. Screw you, dick. You squandered your gift. Squandered my gift? Made 68 albums. Did I want to be made manager? Sure. A great opportunity squandered? Absolutely. A crushing blow? Yes. And the next C2 verb that I have for you is commemorate. And this means to remember officially and give respect to a great person or event, especially by some public ceremony or by making a statue or a special building. And I thought that I would show you some different news headlines so that you can see how this verb is used in context. Events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Or Tulane to host campus celebration to commemorate historic Cotton Bowl win. And that's talking about American football. Museum to commemorate 70th anniversary of 1953 floods. Democrats commemorate January 6th attack with tears and silence at US Capitol. So, these are just some random news headlines that I found on the day that I created this lesson. And it's just using the verb in context. So, hopefully that gives you a better understanding. When pronouncing this verb, it has four syllables. The stress is on that second syllable, commemorate, commemorate. And just keep in mind that first and third syllable have that schwa sound, that unstressed vowel sound, which sounds like uh, commemorate, commemorate. And the next verb That's That's your hint. What verb is that? And the verb that I'm talking about is gasp. Gasp. And it it has two different meanings and it's really a difference between talking about, well, one breath or many breaths. So, the first meaning is to take a short, quick breath through the mouth because of shock, pain, or surprise. It's just that one breath. Gasp. And people may use this as an interjection and saying something surprising like, "And he never returned home and saw his family again." Gasp. Or it's used in storytelling with those dialogue tags to describe speaking. "Help me," he gasped. It also means to breathe loudly and with difficulty, really trying to get more air. And in this case, it's several breaths. And often, people may end up using it in the continuous tense, gasping. Uh, I could say that the wave knocked me over and I was gasping for air. That is a common collocation with this verb to say that someone is gasping for air. When it comes to pronunciation, I think the most challenging thing about this verb would be saying it in the past tense. Gasp, it's a regular verb. So, in the past, it's going to end with e d. And because that final p sound is voiceless, the e d is going to take on a t sound. So, we have the p sound followed by the t sound, which can be a little difficult. It's going to sound like p-t, p-t. Gasped. Gasped. Give it a try. Gasp. Excellent. The next verb is intervene. And this means to intentionally become involved in a situation in order to improve it or just prevent it from getting worse. So, if there is an argument or a fight, someone may intervene. I could say that the referee intervened to stop the fight. They just didn't want it to get worse. I could also say the Federal Reserve has intervened in financial markets in order to stop inflation. And they're getting involved in the situation to try to improve it. Now, for pronunciation, the verb has three syllables. The stress is on that third syllable, intervene. One thing I want to point out when it comes to the American accent, because I'm from the United States, is when the t follows an n sound, especially in unstressed syllables, it may elide and people may drop it. So, instead of intervene, you may hear someone say intervene. So, just keep that in mind. In the United States, you may hear both pronunciations, one with the t Go intervene. Go ahead, intervene all you want. I'm just afraid you might be interfering while we're intervening. and one without. I want to say something terrible to someone I love. I cursed my thumb. I'm going to intervene here. And then there's to label. This refers to a word or phrase that's used to describe the characteristics or qualities of a person, event, or thing and really in a way that's unfair. So, you may label someone as something. That is a common phrase to label someone as something. In my lifetime, I have been labeled as a troublemaker uh, at school when I was younger. I've also been labeled as a slacker, uh, which is a noun that means someone who does not work very hard. And of course, I would disagree with this. But it happens if we get the wrong impression of someone or something and we may label them as this thing, which is usually negative. Now, for pronunciation, the word has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, label. The other thing I'd like to point out is the second syllable, it ends with that dark l, which is that all sound. And then if we're following it with the word as, I told you that's a common phrase, well then we can link that dark l with the beginning vowel sound in as, label as, label as. They impose struggle and hardship on us. They label us as criminals for pushing back. A mortgage officer had messed up Miranda's application. They had inadvertently labeled her as separated. The next verb is imply. And this is a very useful verb. It means to communicate an idea or feeling without directly saying it. And because you're not directly saying it, people may use this verb when asking a question. And they would ask, "What are you implying?" So, I'm going to give you an example. I'm going to imply something without directly saying it. And I just want you to think about what it is that I'm implying. So, if I said, "Gosh, I really hope that you like this video lesson." And when I say like, I'm talking about enjoy, that you relish learning new vocabulary. And if only there were some way for you to commemorate this lesson so that it gets labeled as a great vocabulary lesson. And now I'm using it in a positive way. It gets labeled as a great lesson. If there was just something that that you could do to commemorate this video. And I'm just pointing to that thumbs up because I'm implying that you should hit the like button. And I think that you were probably able to guess that. So, when it comes to pronouncing this verb, it has two syllables. The stress is on the second syllable, imply. Now, I I don't think the pronunciation is too challenging. What I think is difficult about this verb is that it's sometimes confused with another verb, which is infer. And that's the next C2 verb that I want to talk to you about, to infer something. This means to form an opinion or guess that something is true based on the information that you have. So, if you see me and I'm just soaking wet, what might you infer about the weather? I imagine that you would infer that it's raining outside. Or maybe you see me and I'm really happy and I'm smiling, grinning from ear to ear. What might you infer? I I really don't know. You can You can let me know down in the comments. The verb, it has two syllables and once again the stress is on the second syllable, infer. And I don't think the pronunciation is too challenging. Just try not to confuse those two verbs, to imply, to infer. If by me you are inferring that I have BO. I'm likely he wasn't inferring, he was implying. You you infer. Was I? I see you guys are inferring that I'm stupid. That's not correct. We were implying it. You then inferred it. The next verb is to speculate. And I think this is a very useful verb because it's pretty common. People do this all the time, to speculate. It means to guess possible answers to a question when when we don't have enough information to be certain. So, we do this quite often because well, I think people just like speculating about different things when trying to explain something that happened and we don't have all the answers and we may speculate or we're trying to guess what will happen in the future and we can only speculate. To give you an example, I could say journalists are speculating what the president may say in his upcoming announcement. And I I think in general it's well, it's not always good to speculate or at least we should tell people that that is what we're doing because sometimes people will speculate and then others will just take that as the truth and it can cause some problems. Now, the verb has three syllables, the stress is on that first syllable, speculate. And I really think this verb is well, pronounced the way it's spelled. It's pretty straightforward, to speculate. Succumb. So, to succumb has two different meanings and once again, I'll show you some news headlines so that you can see how this verb is used in context. So, the first meaning is to lose the determination to oppose something and really you're just accepting defeat. Visit these popular tourist traps before they succumb to climate change. This is how Israel's economy could succumb to populism. Samsung is first to succumb to a slowing economy that is crushing semiconductors. The next meaning is to die or suffer badly from an illness or injury. Battling Morocco eventually succumbed to injuries. And in this case they're they're talking about their football team. To succumb to injuries sustained after falling from mobile tower. When pronouncing this verb, it has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, succumb. And just keep in mind there is a silent b at the end of the verb, to succumb. And then there's the verb trudge. To trudge means to walk slowly with a lot of effort, especially over a difficult surface or when carrying something heavy. And often you may follow this verb with a preposition. Trudge up, trudge down, trudge over, trudge through. Maybe you had to trudge up a mountain or perhaps you had to trudge through the snow and in both situations you're walking slowly with a lot of effort. For pronunciation, it's just one syllable, that dg has that j sound, similar to the word judge. These are rhyming words, trudge, judge. The other thing I'd point out is that if the verb is followed by a preposition that begins with a vowel sound, then linking may occur. Trudge up. Trudge over. All right, something to keep in mind. Let's do a little review. Now, I am not going to speculate as to whether or not you will watch another video lesson. I I'm sure that you relish building your vocabulary and because you're still here right now, then I'm just going to infer that you will watch another video lesson because I don't think you want to squander this amazing opportunity to continue improving your overall English fluency and I really don't want you to succumb to any feelings of inadequacy when it comes to your language abilities. I want you to stay positive, I want you to stay motivated and I want you to continue learning new things. All right, that's a little review using these verbs in context. you will be in awe of the nouns that I'm going to teach you and I'm sure that you will learn something new. And awe, this is the first word that I want to teach you. That's right, this is a noun, awe. And it's referring to a feeling of great respect, sometimes mixed with fear or surprise and often you're going to use this word in the phrase in awe of someone or in awe of something. So, I I could say the children were in awe of their grandfather. Okay, they had that feeling of respect. Or we watched in awe as the lion attacked the buffalo. So again, it's like you have respect for mother nature but it's also mixed with a bit of fear and surprise. When pronouncing this word, it's just that vowel sound, awe, like you would have in the word saw. And when talking about the phrase in awe of we can link that final consonant sound in in, that n sound with the vowel sound awe, in awe. In awe of someone or in awe of something. And as we go through the lesson, I want to talk to you a little bit about the pronunciation because I I tried to choose words that are a bit challenging like this next one, bureaucracy. So, this is talking about complicated rules or processes used by an organization especially when they do not seem necessary and this noun, it really does have a negative connotation and frequently you may use this when talking about larger companies, governments or institutions and you may even emphasize it with a phrase like a lot of. There is a lot of government bureaucracy. Or the company is so slow to change because there's too much bureaucracy. With all the bureaucracy in a hospital, sometimes you have to bend the rules to help a patient. No, I didn't I didn't do it for Leslie. I did it because I hate bureaucracy. I'm giving you both the IPA and phonetic spelling so you can actually see how the word is pronounced. And bureaucracy, it has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, bureaucracy, bureaucracy. Frenzy. This is talking about uncontrolled and excited behavior or emotion that may sometimes be a little violent. So, I could say Black Friday is a shopping frenzy. It's busy, it's a bit aggressive. Or you may hear this noun being used in the collocation feeding frenzy, which refers to a group attacking a prey. But you really could use feeding frenzy when referring to a situation in which people are trying to get as much of something as they possibly can. Your brother is creating his own media feeding frenzy and all of it is negative. Or in the village had one of those crazy sales, it was a footwear feeding frenzy. You could use this noun in the phrase to whip someone into a frenzy and what this means is like you're causing someone to feel this way, this uncontrolled emotion. As the crowd that had gathered to hear Herbert Love's be was whipped into a frenzy. As far as pronouncing this word, it's pretty simple and straightforward. It just has two syllables, the stress is on that first syllable, frenzy. But for the most part I I really wanted to share with you those phrases that you can use this noun with. And the next one that I have for you is cliche. This is a saying or remark that is often used and therefore it's not interesting and it's not original. So, I I could tell you something like, well look, you know what they say, opposites attract. That phrase, opposites attract, it's pretty common, well-known, it's it's not original and maybe you tell me, come on Wes, that's so cliche. And if you were to tell somebody, look, oh it's so cliche, it it kind of has a bit of a negative connotation because basically you're saying that well, you're you're just not impressed with what someone's saying to you, it's just not interesting. Or maybe I I start out by saying something like, hey, I know it's cliche but time heals all wounds. All right, so I'm basically admitting that what I'm the saying that I'm using, it's cliche. So, there there are many different sayings in English that you could say are cliche. I really just want him to be happy. Maybe I'm being cliche, I don't care. I know that you're just looking at this word and thinking, wait a second, there are no accent marks in English. Well, this is a word that English has borrowed from French and that's why again, the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match. Cliche, it has two syllables, the stress is on that second syllable and that c h e with the accent mark sounds like shay, cliche. The next word is paradigm. So, this noun is talking about well, a model of something or just a very clear and typical example of something. And I thought well, a good way to give you an example is just to show you some different news headlines so you can see how this word is used in context. A paradigm shift EU Russia relations after the war in Ukraine. Are we witnessing the emergence of a new paradigm? And and this article goes on to talk about the the mental health system. But what I really want to point out are the words that are being used with this noun. These are collocations talking about a paradigm shift or a new paradigm. When pronouncing this word, it has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, but it's that third syllable that can be a little tricky because once again, this is when the spelling and pronunciation just do not match. So, the third syllable has a silent G and the vowel sound it's a long I sound not a short vowel sound. paradigm paradigm But our society has undergone a paradigm shift. In the information age Sheldon, you and I are the alpha males. Let's just keep the momentum going with our next word, which is momentum. So, this is talking about the force that moves an object or an event developing or making progress. So, if we're talking about the force that moves an object, think of well, physics. As the car goes downhill, it gains momentum. If we're talking about an event developing or making progress, well, then you could think of a competition. The home team lost momentum when their star player got injured. And and once again, I want to point out those collocations, those words that are used with this noun. To gain momentum or to lose momentum. The word has three syllables. The stress is on that second syllable, momentum. Now, one thing I'll say, and this is really about the American accent. Sometimes when the T follows an N sound, it may elide and it gets removed. And this happens with words like internet or center. So, if you're in the United States, you may hear somebody drop that T and it's going to sound like momentum. So, I figured we start out local just to get our momentum going. Now, again, this is specific to the US and I'm only telling you this because that's where I'm from. But in general, you can't go wrong pronouncing that T, momentum. Why are you taking so long between fireworks? I'm building momentum, man. Then we have morale, which is a great noun to know. It's talking about the amount of confidence felt by a person or group of people, especially when in a difficult or dangerous situation. And once again, there are a lot of great collocations with this noun. So, you could use them with certain adjectives like high morale or low morale or employee morale. Or you could use them with a some different verbs as well. To raise morale, to boost morale, to bring up morale. I really hope that these video lessons boost your morale and just make you want to continue learning. You think I should, don't you? Absolutely, sir. Show force, boost morale. Trying to keep morale high. Just trying to raise morale. The pronunciation can be a little tricky. Just know that the stress is on that second syllable, morale. And don't be fooled by that E at the end. It's not a long vowel sound, but a short vowel sound, morale. Then there's withdrawal. And this just means well, taking money out of the bank. And there is a common verb noun collocation to make a withdrawal. I need to make a withdrawal. Can I make a withdrawal? And really, I chose this word because of the difficulty with the pronunciation because I've had many learners tell me that they really have trouble pronouncing this word. It has three syllables. The stress is on that second syllable, that draw. But it's that third syllable that I think people have trouble with, that dark L. So, you're going to stress that second syllable and move right into that dark L, which is has that all sound, withdrawal. drawal withdrawal Just keep practicing. Give it a try. Say it a few times and I I I think you'll start to feel a little more comfortable saying it. The next noun is deterrent. And this is something that stops people doing something because they're afraid of what may happen. And you may use this noun in the phrase and say that something acts as a deterrent to something else. Like the teachers strict punishments act as a deterrent to cheating. And there are also some useful adjective noun collocations saying that well, something is a strong deterrent or talking about a nuclear deterrent or an effective deterrent. This word has three syllables. The stress is on that second syllable, deterrent. Now, one thing I want to quickly point out and this also has to do with the American accent and that is the flap T. A flap T is going to sound like a soft D and Americans, we love the flap T. Often this occurs when the T comes between two vowels like water. Now, the T in deterrent, it also comes between two vowels, but we are not going to say this with a flap T and this is because the T comes at the beginning of a stressed syllable. So, when the T comes at the beginning of a stressed syllable, then you're going to say it as a true T and not a flap T and that is why you would pronounce this and say deterrent. Just thought you should know. How will the Umbrella Academy ever become an effective crime deterrent? Because I'm your nuclear deterrent. It's working. We're safe. ambiguity I like this noun. It's talking about something that may have more than one meaning and can therefore cause some confusion. And you may also use this word as an adjective. It's quite common, ambiguous. But we're talking about nouns, so let's use it as a noun and I could say there is ambiguity in the new law. In this case, I'm saying that the law, you know, may have different meanings. Or perhaps I tell you, hey, be specific so there's no ambiguity. All right, I I I want things to be very specific and clear so there's no ambiguity. All right, time for Fast and the Furious 1 through 7. This is a 14-hour meditation on the importance of family, fast cars, product placement, racial ambiguity, and family. The word has five syllables and if you want to learn something about syllable stress, when the word ends in ity, the stress is going to be on the third to last syllable, that gu, ambiguity ambiguity. The next noun is this one right here, diarrhea. And this is an illness in which your waste is not solid, but liquid and I really don't think I need to go into great detail explaining the meaning of this noun. I think there is no ambiguity with what I'm trying to tell you. I I think this is a word you have probably heard of before. You probably know it already. But the reason why I'm including it in this lesson is really because of the spelling. And even in the UK, there's a different spelling and I think a lot of native English speakers probably could not spell this word. It is one that you're probably going to use more in spoken English, but I think it's important because it it has to do with your health. if you're in the doctor's office or perhaps you may even need to write it down if you're trying to write some of your symptoms. So, it's important to to keep in mind the spelling and try to remember how this word is spelled. For pronunciation, the word has four syllables. The stress is on that third syllable, diarrhea. But really, I I just wanted to highlight the spelling of this word. And then there's whereabouts. This is just talking about the place where someone or something is. And often you would use this talking about someone's whereabouts. The police don't know the criminal's whereabouts. Or or perhaps I could say we're unsure of her exact whereabouts. That is a colocation with this noun. You may hear people use this in a question like whereabouts in the US are you from? This is a question that I sometimes get and I tell people, well, I grew up in the south, but there are quite a few different places all over the country where I have lived. And this is also a C2 word. also because when you're using it in a question like this, it's not a noun, it's an adverb. But we're we're talking about nouns and in this case, you're you're often going to be talking about someone's whereabouts. We need his whereabouts. Und hat whereabouts? Unnoten. The pronunciation, it's pretty straightforward. There are three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable, whereabouts. Let's try and do a little bit of review. I hope that I was able to avoid any ambiguity when explaining the meaning of these different nouns. And you know, now that you probably feel good about building your vocabulary, I hope that you can use that positive momentum to go ahead and watch another video lesson because I try to make these lessons easy to follow and understand because I I think that's what's really going to help boost your morale. And even if you find a word confusing and you don't completely understand it, please don't let that be a deterrent when it comes to building your vocabulary and just trying to learn new words. And you can let me know your whereabouts down in the comments. I was just trying to use some of these nouns, get a little review, and use them in context. Learn some advanced C2 adjectives to help you build your vocabulary. And I will be very clear with my explanation and I will not be ambiguous. And that's the first word that I want to teach you in today's lesson, ambiguous. It means having or expressing more than one possible meaning, and often this is done intentionally. So, let's have a look at this image right here. Is it a rabbit or is it a duck? What do you see? A rabbit or a duck? I could say that this image is ambiguous, all right? It has more than one possible answer. And mostly you're going to use this adjective to to refer to something that someone says or perhaps the way that something is worded, like a contract. I could say the contract is ambiguous and open to interpretation. That it may have more than one possible meaning, it's ambiguous. I'm looking over my text correspondence with Beverly and I don't see anything that would have given her offense. Everything's ambiguous. I spell everything out. Then we have complementary. So, this word has a couple of different meanings. The first one is praising or showing admiration for someone. I could say that well, sometimes you are very complementary about some of my vocabulary lessons and I really appreciate that. Now, the C2 meaning, the more advanced meaning for this word, it refers to well, tickets, books, or any item that may be given for free, especially by a business. So, in this case, I want you to think of a hotel or a flight. So, if I go to my hotel room, I might say, "Oh, I was given a complementary bottle of water." All right? It was already in the hotel room, it's free. Or on an airplane, when you fly, you may be offered complementary snacks. Now, when it comes to pronunciation, very quickly, I just want to let you know because I'm from the United States, sometimes people will drop that T because it follows the N sound and it's going to sound like complementary. Okay? So, complementary or complementary if you're in the US. Hi, what's the damage here? Nothing. For the for these? Free. These are complimentary. Complimentary, free, whatever you want. Handy is the next adjective that I want to teach you. If you say that something is handy, it just means that it is useful or convenient. Mostly, I think people are going to use this adjective to talk about items in which they can well, use for a variety of reasons or just items that are are really helpful in a difficult situation. You could say, "Wow, this is just really handy." My wife thinks that her Apple Watch is pretty handy because she can use it for a variety of things. And you can also use this adjective in the idiom to come in handy. And if you say that something comes in handy, that just means that it's useful. Very handy. Indispensable. Now, you will use this adjective when you want to say that something or someone is so useful, so good, so important that you cannot manage without it or without him or her if we're talking about a person. And most of the time, you're going to use this as a predicate adjective and it's going to follow the verb to be. She is an indispensable part of the team. The office should not get rid of the coffee machine, it's indispensable. And legitimate is the next adjective that I want to teach you. And this has two different meanings, both of them C2. The first meaning is allowed by law. So, when I was younger, I had a fake ID and it looked legitimate. Okay? Like it was lawful. And I I used this ID when I was in university to buy beer, you know, I was younger, the US you have to be 21, which I think is a little old, but that's neither here nor there, but the ID looked legitimate. The next meaning is reasonable or acceptable. So, I could say her argument was legitimate, so we refunded her money. That the argument was reasonable and we gave her a refund. It was legitimate. And with the pronunciation of this word, that first T, because I am from the United States, I will pronounce it as a flat T, which is going to sound like a soft D, legitimate, legitimate. You assert that Mr. Rhodes harassed you. How do you know he didn't have a legitimate reason to be in your office? Then there's questionable, which means not certain or wrong in some way. And questionable, it has that A B L E suffix, which means you're capable of something. In this case, it's like you're capable of asking questions. Is this right or wrong? Is it good or bad? And really, yes, it implies that something is just it's it's just wrong. So, my wife would say that my sense of fashion is questionable. And to be honest, she's she's right. It it is questionable. Uh but you could also say that well, something may be ethically questionable. Is it the right thing to do? Or you could even refer to the way food tastes and say, "Wow, this food it tastes questionable. I don't I don't know if it's still good." And yeah, if food tastes questionable, then you probably should not eat it. There's a solid chance I may have insulted the owner. That doesn't sound like something you'd do. She has very questionable taste. Next is grim and I probably shouldn't be smiling when I say this adjective because it means worrying and without hope. So, it's not a good thing if you say something is grim. And typically, you're talking about the way something looks, appears, or seems. So, I could say, "Well, the weather today looks grim. I don't think we should go outside." Or, you know, to be honest, the future of American politics right now, it looks grim. People are very divided, there's a lot of misinformation out there, and yeah, I think a lot of people would agree that it looks grim. Son of a bee sting, she's turning the entire office against us. This is grim. Real grim. What are we going to do? The next adjective is coherent. This also has two different meanings, both of them C2. And the first meaning is referring to an argument, plan, or idea that is clear and each part connects to each other in a reasonable way. So, really you're just saying that something is very easy to understand. I could tell you that the lawyer made a coherent argument. The next meaning refers to someone who you understand what they're saying. And in this case, I think most of the time people will use this in the negative to say that you don't understand someone. I could tell you he's he's not coherent at the moment. Or I could just use the antonym and say incoherent. But just keep that in mind when talking about a person, I I think often you will use this in the negative to say that someone is not coherent or incoherent. You don't hear that loud, high-pitched, incessant humming coming from the vents that is making it impossible for me to think straight, let alone string together one coherent sentence? Dubious. And I like this adjective mostly because I just like saying dubious, all right? That sounds dubious. And it means that something is just not completely true or just should not be completely trusted. And I I think we can all relate to this one. Think about email scams and I would get an email with this subject heading, "Congratulations, you've been selected." And it just it's all it just looks dubious. And these are actually legitimate emails that I have received just this past week and I did not open them, I did not click on anything because they're dubious. It didn't compress the whole thing. It should be twice that size. I mean, 24 gigs, that's less than a fourth the file size. That seems dubious, Richard. Then there's compulsive and this means that you are doing something a lot and you're unable to stop it. attributive adjective, which means it's going to come before the noun. I could say that my neighbor is a compulsive gambler or my colleague is a compulsive liar. And because of the meaning that you're doing something excessively and you just can't stop, it really often refers to things that are not good, like compulsive gambler or compulsive liar. Read it. Uh personality overview, Mr. Stark displays compulsive behavior. In my own defense, that was last week. Then we have pushy and this is another adjective that I just like to say, pushy. But it's also not a good thing because it means that someone is behaving in an unpleasant way by trying too much to get something or to make someone do something. So, it's not good if if somebody is being really pushy. And I want you to think of a salesperson. They want to sell you something, and sometimes they can be very aggressive, and you could say that maybe they're they're being really pushy. I could also say that, well, my wife likes to try new restaurants around town, and even if I think that the place is questionable, she really wants to go, and sometimes she can be a little pushy. And even though this adjective is not a good one, you can use it among friends or family because I think often we we really want someone to do something, and yeah, I think we can all be a bit pushy from time to time. Before you go in, you fill out comment card. Okay. Uh uh don't forget the back. You people are so pushy. What? Israeli people are pushy? Then there's carefree, which means having no problem and not worried about anything. And I think you would often use this to describe a person's uh personality. And I could say he is young, carefree, and just wants to travel the world. And I I think we can all relate to this word uh thinking about a different time or period in our lives where maybe we didn't have much worry. And I could say, well, remember those carefree days back in high school? You know, we just didn't have We didn't have jobs. We didn't have a lot to worry about at that time. Those were some carefree days. See, before, when I was just another employee, I was happy, carefree, the guy who hung out in the break room making fun of the boss. Then we have conceited, which means you are too proud of yourself and your actions and abilities. And I think that, well, we can all think of someone who we might describe as uh a little conceited. And that's what I want you to do right now. I want you to think of someone and make an association with this word. And I am thinking about an old colleague of mine from a long time ago who was a great teacher, but typically you don't go around just telling everyone this, and they would sound conceited. And because this is pretty common that someone is acting too proud, there are several other synonyms. You could say arrogant, proud, superior, but this is a great way to build and expand your vocabulary by learning a word like this, conceited. Friends wouldn't like cuz they look up to us. So conceited. You're so conceited. You're like full of yourself. Why are you like that? I'm not saying that to be conceited. Then we have the word rigid, which means stiff or fixed, not able to be bent or moved. And I will try to give you an example of each. So, think about, well, a metal. Uh you could say that it's rigid. You're not able to bend it. If we're talking about fixed, I think people might be referring to well, something like a set of rules. The teachers' rules were so rigid throughout the year that they were just fixed and and very strict in that case. If we want to say stiff, then I think you're probably describing uh a person and this that they're very stiff, perhaps because they're scared or afraid. We were all so scared of the new boss. We were rigid in our chairs. All right? And you're just very stiff. have any idea how rigid you can be? I have to be rigid to hold things together in the face of Armageddon. Then we have the adjective feeble, which means weak or without energy, strength, or power. And you could use this to describe a person, especially as someone becomes much older. I could say that, well, in the future, like far away in the future, I hope, I will become a feeble and helpless old man. All right? That's probably what will happen in in the distant future. Or perhaps you're describing an institution or government that just does not have much power. Uh I could say it didn't take long to discover that the new government was feeble and corrupt. year, by sheer dumb luck, Jake eked out a feeble victory. And last year, I let the captain win because he's old and sad. So, I hope that I was coherent throughout this lesson and that my explanation was clear and that nothing was ambiguous. But I I will say that uh these words are legitimate, and you will hear them from time to time. So, I think they're very useful when it comes to building your vocabulary. But at the same time, I I don't want to be pushy. I don't want to tell you like, "Oh, you have to learn these words." It's all about just getting that exposure, learning a little bit at a time, and I just hope that you learned something new in today's lesson. And if you did, please hit that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 158. Advanced (everyday) Idioms that You Should Know for 2024 | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `92ZddQDjVYg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92ZddQDjVYg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:06:52 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. We are going to talk about some useful and I think common idioms that you will definitely be able to use in 2024. And this is going to be a quiz lesson. So I I want you to participate. I want you to write your answers in the chat or the comments. Let me know that you're actively trying to learn and understand these idioms. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And today I want to improve your well both your mostly your speaking fluency when it comes to using some of these idioms but also your listening comprehension because these are uh phrases that you will hear from time to time. So if you would like to get access to these notes right here, check out the link down below in the description. Join my email community. If you are already a part of it, then check your inbox. I've already sent them to you, but it's a good way to review and just have these idioms um on hand. So, let's begin with our first question. And we're going to start out with a an activity. Complete the idiom. So, I'm giving you part of the idiom. I'm giving you the meaning right here. And what is the idiom that we're talking about to m off some? There are two words missing. And what this means is to do or say something that helps you get rid of, you know, strong feelings or just some pent up energy. So often if you are frustrated, you're you're angry, you may do some activity. I think mostly like a physical activity, exercise, and you just want to m off some. What do you think? Uh let me know in the chat in the comments. I always love it when when you participate in these lessons. So in in this case, what we're talking about is the following right here. To blow off some steam. you are doing something or I guess it could be again you're saying something just to get rid of that that energy. Most of the time it's something negative and you have this pent up negative energy. You want to release it. You want to blow off some steam. Um, excellent. You could say I see in the chat like let off some steam. I think that that also works. I feel like in this context, it's probably a little more common to say you're trying to blow off some steam or you would like to blow off some steam. But those are some great answers. Excellent. Um, Takaya, Alina, Ava, perfect. Uh, the next one. Let's uh let's keep moving on. Oh, just to give you some examples as to how this is used in context, I put some news headlines up there for you. Uh, so I'll just read these because I know it's a little small. It says, "Thinking of hitting the gym to blow off some steam. An angry workout is a bad idea, research says." So again, if sometimes somebody's angry, they may want to blow off some steam. The next one, drop the vape. There are other ways to blow off some steam or to blow off steam. And then finally at the at the bottom, looking glass. Every once in a while, a guy has to blow off some steam. Again, you're just getting ready, releasing that uh that energy, those strong feelings. Then we have this one. And for those of you who have uh been in my uh speaking course, some of this is review. We've talked about these expressions, these phrases before. Um, this one been through m and well I'll I'll get to a second but the meaning of it is through many difficult times over a long period and that is the key word over a long period. So uh you're going to use this with Ben. That's why I put it in parenthesis right there. And you would say that two people been through m and m. How would you complete this idiom this expression? And I'm sure you can relate to this. I think this is relevant uh not just this year but any year when you have people these long relationships and you can say uh well done. Excellent. We've been through thick and thin. Nice. Uh, Far Teao, Annabelle, good to see you. Angela, uh, Miranda, perfect. All right, I'll try to give some shout outs as uh, we go through this, but if you're saying that you you would talk about somebody that you have a a long relationship with, your spouse, maybe a colleague, a family member, and you could say, "Oh, of course, my wife and I, we've been through thick and thin. We've had many good times. We've had difficult times. We've been through thick and thin. And really, this is often used as a standalone statement talking about two or more people have been through thick and thin. So, to give you a little more, I thought this was a fun little picture that I found online talking showing these two cats when they're when they're just young kittens and then when they get older. But these the these would be friends that have been through thick and thin, the good times and the bad times. Cute little image. Then we have this idiom right here. To be in the same what? There's one word missing. You if you are an avid watcher of my video lessons and you've seen some of the vid idiom lessons before, again, some of these are review. It's always good to get a little bit of review. This idiom means to be in the same unpleasant situation as another person. That you and I, we are in the same. And once again, I put the verb to be in parentheses because you're often going to use this with the verb to be. And the answer, the word that we're looking for is to be in the same boat. You are both in some difficult or unpleasant situation. and say, "Yeah, you know, I know how you feel." We're in the same boat. And I feel like anytime this year, if you are also experiencing an unpleasant situation that somebody's telling you about, that's this is what you could say. Yeah, you know, I know how you feel. We're in the same boat. Great job. Uh, Miranda Muhammad, Lai, excellent, Angela. Well done. Here's the next one. And again, there's just one word missing. M the word. This is an idiom that you would use when you're trying to tell someone that just keep something secret. Often you would say the secret or you would tell someone the secret. And then you're going to use this idiom really just as a reminder that they should keep quiet. Don't tell anyone else the word. And I like this idiom. It's one that I I feel like I end up using from time to time. It's a bit more playful. If you're sharing some secret information, you're say, "Hey, you know, so don't tell anybody the word." And I I was kind of curious because I haven't taught this idiom before. How many people would recognize it? But if you watch movies or TV shows, this is this is certainly one that you will hear. The the word that's missing is mums. Mums the word. I see some people said like mum. Um Julia Ava. To be a little more spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe spe specific. You keep it with that apostrophe. S. Mum's the word. Mum's the word. So I tell you a secret. And if I follow that with, hey, you know, mum's the word. I'm letting you know. Don't tell anybody. This is a secret. Mum's the word. All right. Now, I am giving you a sentence and I'm just the the idiom is the blank right there. And I want you to think about what idiom would fit this context and complete the sentence. And again, I'm giving you the meaning down here. And I think this one is especially important for 2024 and any year beyond. You should take what I say with a you can look at the picture in the background. That's a little bit of a hint. But this means to not completely believe something that you are told because you you think it may unlikely be true or it's not likely to be true. So what again whether you're listening to me or anybody else online I I think this is a good habit to get into. You want to doubt the things that you hear. You want to check and make sure that the information is true. And I would even tell you yeah you should take what I say with a m and what what's the idiom? I think this is a very common one. And the answer I would say a grain of salt. Take what I say with a grain of salt. What many of you you guys rock that one. Nice. HK Tom uh Angela Annabelle Tayo. So this is the idiom to take something with a grain of salt. Some news or information you hear. You don't necessarily just want to believe everything that you see online, especially if you're on social media. And I gave you another example down there. Don't believe everything you read on social media. You should take it with a massive grain of salt. And you hear me emphasize that word massive because that is a collocation with this idiom. If you want to emphasize that, okay, you should certainly question what it is that you hear or read, take it with a massive grain of salt. Now, one thing I want to point out that some of you are probably wondering like, "Wait a second. Uh, I saw many people took pinch of salt like, "Yes, Lolly, you're correct." In British English, that is the idiom. So whether you said grain of salt or pinch of salt, both of them are correct. But just so you know, if you're talking about if you're in the US, you could say, "Hey, I think yeah, take it with a grain of salt." If you're traveling in the UK, then say, "Well, I think you should take it with a pinch of salt." Both of them have the same meaning. It's just a slight little difference between American English and British English. Of course, I gave you the answer, take something with a grain of salt because I am from the United States. But whether you said grain of salt, pinch of salt, both of them are correct. And I saw many many great answers there. We are traveling to new well NYC New York City for New Year's Eve. Um we really for our hotel room. The meaning of this idiom is to pay too much money for something. And really, you're paying more than the fair amount or whatever you think is fair. And you could say you for this thing. This is an idiom that you're often going to follow with that preposition for. You m for something. You're paying too much, more than the fair amount. And think about the context. You go to New York City, New Year's Eve. the prices are going to go up. The prices for those hotel rooms, they're going to go up a lot and you're going to pay a lot more for the fair the fair price. And that is part of the idiom to pay for something. So, the answer is to pay through the nose. In this case, I'm um talking about actually wait, I think I we really um I made us a little slight mistake. You probably can see that there with the verb tenses. I should said we traveled to New York City for New Year's. Kept it in the past tense. We paid through the nose for our hotel room. Or in this case, we are traveling. That's like the future continuous. We will pay through the nose for our hotel room. Apologize for that. If you saw it, that's awesome. U great. But just keep in mind to pay through the nose for something, it means that you're paying more than the fair amount. to give you another example that I think you can relate to and I said it's relevant to this year in particular because I could use it in this sentence. Because of inflation, we have been paying through the nose for everyday items. It's more than the fair amount. You're paying through the nose. And I know that I think in many countries places inflation it's starting to to go down which is great. But in general, I think a lot of people feel that they've been paying through the nose for some everyday items. So, it's a great way to emphasize that you're paying more than the fair amount. It's just too much. How about this one? And if those of you who have been in my speaking course, I think you're this is good review. Good review. I should have seen this coming. But you know what they say, and I don't know if I'm giving you enough information there with that context, uh, but it refers to looking back at a situation in the past and you just have a clearer understanding of well, how things could have been different. And I'm using it that first sentence, I should have seen this coming. using that modal of lost opportunity to say that you should have been aware uh that this was going to happen. And it's like you can reflect back and think about something that's already happened and you say, "Well, you know what they say and you're looking back at this situation." I put those glasses there to give you a little bit of a hint, but this is an idiom and expression that may be new. And if it's new for you, that's great. So you could use this if someone's expressing regret and you want to tell them of course the way you you can look back and you see what you should have done or what you should have changed and you could say hindsight is 2020. So 2020 I put those eyeglasses there refers to your vision. And I know in the US I actually I don't know how it is in other countries. you you can let me know. But if you go to the um you know the eye doctor, the optometrist and you get an eye exam and they say you have 2020 vision, it means that you have perfect vision and you can see things clearly. Hindsight is talking about reflecting on the past. So it pretty much means what it says. When you think about the past and things that have already happened, you have a very clear understanding of, you know, how you could have made the situation better or what you should have done. And it's like, of course, yeah, hindsight is 2020. How did I not see this? So, if this one is new, that's good. Uh, again, I feel like there are many times we express regret throughout the year, and that's why I said it's relevant for this year, even beyond. empathize with someone and say, "Oh, yeah, I know what you mean. Like, I feel the same way, but you know, hindsight is 2020." Or, "Hindsight is always 2020." You could add that adverb of frequency in there as well. Here's another example. I should never have trusted him. There were many warning signs. Okay, again, I'm expressing regret. And somebody else could say, I know, but hindsight is always 2020. All right, you can reflect back and you really know what you should have done in that situation. Here is the next one. I have not heard uh I've not heard his name before. It doesn't what what is the missing idiom? And basically it means the same as to sound familiar. And you could use that meaning to complete the sentence. I have not heard his name before. It doesn't sound familiar, but instead of saying sound familiar, I can use this idiom instead. I was actually going to give a picture that would be a hint, but I think that would just give it away if I were to Well, I don't again, I don't want to give it away now, even though I feel like everybody's you guys got it. So, the answer, it doesn't ring a bell. Great job, Loi, Joanne, HK, perfect, Ava. So, if something rings a bell, it just means it sounds familiar. A a lot of times, the one thing I want to point out is that you may hear people use this with the negative to say that something does not sound familiar and say, "Oh, it it doesn't that that doesn't ring a bell, right? It doesn't sound familiar. That doesn't ring a bell." So, keep that in mind. That doesn't mean you'll always use it like that, but often you end up using it with the negative. Something doesn't ring a bell. So the other thing that I want to point out, you can see that question like I'm asking uh this like hey does her name ring a bell. You may use this when talking about not just a person's name but just the name of anything. It could be the name of a a restaurant and like oh yeah, you know that that doesn't ring a bell. I don't remember the name. So here are some other examples using this in context. Some news headlines. And that first one, names that ring a bell. Okay, names that sound familiar. Or Robert Dunlop. Does the name ring a bell? He invented something that you probably wrote on this morning. And they're referring to Dunlop uh the tires. I think it's a I don't know. I guess it's a still a well-known uh brand of tires. And in that case, they're like, "Oh, does the name does it ring a bell?" And then finally down here, again, I mentioned using it in the negative. If somebody's asking you if you know of something and you're not really familiar with the name, you could say, "Well, yeah, that it doesn't ring a bell. It just doesn't ring a bell." Good idiom. Now, I want to challenge you with um a I'm giving you a picture that hopefully you can use to guess the idiom. And I'm giving you a little bit of a hint. I'm not giving you the entire meaning, just one word. That's a hint. So in this case, use this picture. What idiom do you think I'm talking about? And your hint is the word unpleasant. And I really think this picture is exactly what the idiom says. And it's one that you're going to come across in movies, TV shows. Even if you feel like you don't, you know, these idioms don't come up when you're having a conversation. I think they always help your listening comprehension because you will come across them from time to time. And I think you guys, yeah, maybe this was a little too easy. I think it's going to get a little more challenging. Bite the bullet. Well done, uh, Lai, Annabelle, uh, Muhammad, Julia. Nice. It means to force yourself to do something unpleasant or difficult. Something's unpleasant and you say, "Okay, you know, I just I got to do it. I got to bite the bullet." And here's an example sentence for you. I know you hate going to the dentist, but if your tooth hurts, I think you need to bite the bullet and get it over with. So again, you're talking about a situation that's unpleasant and you say, or somebody might say, um, who's going to do this unpleasant thing? We need we need a volunteer. Okay, I'll do it. I'll bite the bullet. So again, I think this happens in our everyday lives. We have to do some things that may be unpleasant and we got to bite the bullet. Here's the next one. I said it's going to get a little more difficult. I actually think this one might be even easier. Uh maybe these pictures are are too spot-on. So, you can see what's happening there. And the hint that I'm giving you is the word trouble. So, I don't want to to it away. Um, what what what do you think is the idiom? Trouble. That is the key word. And I'll go ahead and tell you it's not break the ice. Because again, an ice breaker if we use it as a noun or to break the ice is to kind of again get feel more comfortable in a situation, learn about other people, and you're going to break the ice. So, it's not really related to the word trouble, but uh yeah, I I see what Okay, I'll let you know. The answer is to be on thin ice. You are doing something that is dangerous. It involves risk and you're on thin ice. So, well done. Um Rabbi, Julia, um Farab, sorry if I mispronounced names. Uh Muhammad I You could tell somebody, "Yeah, you're walking on thin ice." That's perfectly fine. Or just use it with the verb to be. Sometimes you may, well, I'll give you the example. I forgot to buy her a birthday present, so right now I'm on thin ice. That I'm in a dangerous or risky position. A lot of times you might use this idiom with your spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, partner if you are if one person is upset with the other and just say, "Hey, look, you know, you're on thin ice right now that you're about to get into a lot of trouble um if you keep talking." and something that maybe my wife would say to me if I'm causing problems or I'm talking and I probably should shut up. She might say, "Look, okay, hey, just you're on thin ice." So, good idiom, good idiom to know. How about this one? This, I think, is a little more well, it's a little trickier, but again, use that picture. Look at what's going on. the hint the hint that I'll give you the word trends and think about what is happening in this picture. Again, I think the picture really accurately sums up what the idiom is and you would end up using this. Well, I'll go ahead and tell you when talking about trends and you're going to follow a trend. You're going to what the answer well done um Miranda Ava to jump on the bandwagon. So this means to start doing something because it is fashionable, it's popular, it's profitable, and you're going to jump on the bandwagon. Think about trends. people follow trends and it's oh you see somebody else doing it like oh I'm gonna start doing the same thing I'm going to jump on the bandwagon you may al also hear this when people talk about sports teams that's the example that I'm giving you right here once the Yankees the the baseball team in New York once the Yankees started winning many people jumped on the bandwagon and all of a sudden it's like oh that's my favorite team as well and people jump on the bandwagon And then we have this idiom right here. It has to do with punishment. And look at the picture. What's going on? And you hopefully you can put this one together. This is one that I've talked about in my course as well as I I pretty sure I've done a video lesson with referring to this idiom maybe even more than once. Maybe it it goes to show you that maybe I just like using this idiom. But once again, it's always good to get review and if it's new that that's perfect. So look at the picture what's happening and I think you can kind of start to put it together. So I mentioned I said we're talking about punishment and in this case this person you can see right now here they are facing the music. That is the idiom to face the music. Great job Ava Rabi Lai Miranda Angela well done to accept responsibility for something you have done. And really I'm it's a mistake. You made a mistake. You have to accept responsibility for this mistake even if it means you're going to get punished and you have to face the music. So that's how I'm relating it to punishment. It doesn't always have to it doesn't always mean you're going to get punished, but really it's about accepting responsibility and you're tell someone, okay, yeah, I I have to face the music. All right, I made a mistake. I got to face the music. Or maybe you tell this to someone else. Look, it's better to confess and then face the music if um there's going to be punishment or no punishment. Either way, but you may need to face the music. I'm sure that this is an idiom that uh you're going you will relate to this year because I feel like everybody can associate with this that they we all make mistakes and maybe we don't want to accept responsibility but ultimately we have to face the music. So, here are the idioms. And if I wanted to run through, give you a little quick review. If you want to continue building your vocabulary and just keep learning new things, feel free watch another uh video lesson. It's a great way to blow off some steam. If you have some pentup energy, blow off some steam, watch another lesson because I feel like many of you want to build your vocabulary and it's difficult. It takes time. So in that in that regard, many of you are in the same boat when it comes to learning new words and phrases because the more you come across these idioms, whether it's in one of these lessons or watching a TV show or movie, you're going to think, "Oh, that that phrase, I remember it. That rings a bell and I know what that means." And of course, I hope that you continue watching other lessons and that you continue following. subscribe to the channel and just jump on the interactive English bandwagon. It's not going to cost you anything. You don't have to pay through the nose for uh for these lessons. They're on YouTube. Um they put up some ads. And again, I'm just trying to get you give you a little bit of review using these different idioms in context. Remember, if you want to get these lesson notes, check out the link down below in the description. And if you are already a part of our email community, check your email. I have already sent them to you. But for the most part, I think you you all did a great job uh identifying these different idioms. It's just first it comes down to comprehension. I want you to be able to understand them. If you hear them and as you become a little more comfortable, then you're going to be in a position that you can use them naturally in conversation. But you know, you don't have to take my word for it. always take what I say and everybody else take it with a grain of salt. Okay, so thank you for joining me. Uh Stephanie, Lai, uh Annabelle, Juliet, it's great to see you to Kyle, uh Oleg, I hope that you have a wonderful day. And of course, I will be back very shortly with another lesson to help you build your vocabulary, improve your grammar, fine-tune your pronunciation. We do a little bit of everything to help you improve your English fluency. --- ## 159. Advanced Adjectives (C2) to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KLZrMur4Z40` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLZrMur4Z40) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:02:20 | --- let's learn some advanced c2 adjectives to help you build your vocabulary and i will be very clear with my explanation and i will not be ambiguous and that's the first word that i want to teach you in today's lesson ambiguous it means having or expressing more than one possible meaning and often this is done intentionally so let's have a look at this image right here is it a rabbit or is it a duck what do you see a rabbit or a duck i could say that this image is ambiguous all right it has more than one possible answer and mostly you're going to use this adjective to to refer to something that someone says or perhaps the way that something is worded like a contract i could say the contract is ambiguous and open to interpretation that it may have more than one possible meaning it's ambiguous i'm looking over my text correspondence with beverly and i don't see anything that would have given her offense nothing's ambiguous i spell everything out then we have complementary so this word has a couple of different meanings the first one is praising or showing admiration for someone i could say that well sometimes you are very complementary about some of my vocabulary lessons and i really appreciate that now the c2 meaning the more advanced meaning for this word it refers to well tickets books or any item that may be given for free especially by a business so in this case i want you to think of a hotel or a flight so if i go to my hotel room i might say oh i was given a complimentary bottle of water all right it was already in the hotel room it's free or on an airplane when you fly you may be offered complimentary snacks now when it comes to pronunciation very quickly i just want to let you know because i'm from the united states sometimes people will drop that t because it follows the n sound and it's going to sound like complementary okay so complementary or complementary if you're in the u.s hi what's the damage here nothing for the for these free these are complimentary complimentary free whatever you want and if you go ahead and subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications well then you will receive complimentary english lessons and i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel interactive english it's all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and i promise that these lessons will really come in handy and handy is the next adjective that i want to teach you if you say that something is handy it just means that it is useful or convenient mostly i think people are going to use this adjective to talk about items in which they can we'll use for a variety of reasons or just items that are really helpful in a difficult situation you could say wow this is just really handy my wife thinks that her apple watch is pretty handy because she can use it for a variety of things and you can also use this adjective in the idiom to come in handy and if you say that something comes in handy that just means that it's useful oh that's the latest liquid crystal tv very handy indispensable now you will use this adjective when you want to say that something or someone is so useful so good so important that you cannot manage without it or without him or her if we're talking about a person and most of the time you're going to use this as a predicate adjective and it's going to follow the verb to be she is an indispensable part of the team the office should not get rid of the coffee machine it's indispensable busu is an indispensable language learning platform that can help you reach your fluency goals it's indispensable and i want to thank busu for sponsoring today's lesson and i want to tell you how it can help you practice and improve your language skills so busu really comes in handy if you would like to learn english or any of these other languages you can use it on your desktop or as an app on your phone they have different levels that you can choose from but there are really two things that make busu indispensable well at least in my opinion first they offer these bite-sized lessons which makes it easier for you to achieve your goals and i always tell learners to try and get a little bit of exposure to the language each and every day and with busu you can set up a study plan and learn even just 10 minutes a day and complete a lesson it's all up to you the second benefit is that it allows you to practice the four primary language skills like reading and listening to help you build your vocabulary and improve your grammar as well as speaking and writing like this activity right here in which you introduce yourself and then you send that on to the busu community to get feedback which is another cool feature because you're not just learning the language on your own you can connect with other learners from around the world so check out busu with the links below you can sign up and start learning for free and try out busu premium with a seven day free trial it's complementary and i'm serious you should check it out this is a legitimate way to improve your language skills and legitimate is the next adjective that i want to teach you and this has two different meanings both of them c2 the first meaning is allowed by law so when i was younger i had a fake id and it looked legitimate okay like it was uh lawful and i i used this id when i was in university to buy beer you know i was younger the us you have to be 21 which i think is a little old but that's neither here nor there but the id looked legitimate the next meaning is reasonable or acceptable so i could say her argument was legitimate so we refunded her money that the argument was reasonable and we gave her a refund it was legitimate and with the pronunciation of this word that first t because i am from the united states i will pronounce it as a flap t which is going to sound like a soft d legitimate legitimate you assert that mr rhodes harassed you how do you know he didn't have a legitimate reason to be in your office then there's questionable which means not certain or wrong in some way and questionable it has that able suffix which means you're capable of something in this case it's like you're capable of asking questions is this right or wrong is it good or bad and really yes it implies that something is just it's just wrong so my wife would say that my sense of fashion is questionable and to be honest she's she's right it it is questionable uh but you could also say that well something may be ethically questionable is it the right thing to do or you could even refer to the way food tastes and say wow this food it tastes questionable i don't know if it's still good and yeah if food tastes questionable then you probably should not eat it there's a solid chance i may have insulted the owner that doesn't sound like something you do she has very questionable taste next is grim and i probably shouldn't be smiling when i say this adjective because it means worrying and without hope so it's not a good thing if you say something is grim and typically you're talking about the way something looks appears or seems so i could say wow the weather today looks grim i don't think we should go outside or you know to be honest the future of american politics right now it looks grim people are very divided there's a lot of misinformation out there and yeah i think a lot of people would agree that it looks grim son of a bee sting she's turning the entire office against us this is great real grim what are we gonna do the next adjective is coherent this also has two different meanings both of them c2 and the first meaning is referring to an argument plan or idea that is clear and each part connects to each other in a reasonable way so really you're just saying that something is very easy to understand i could tell you that the lawyer made a coherent argument the next meaning refers to someone who you understand what they're saying and in this case i think most of the time people will use this in the negative to say that you don't understand someone i could tell you he's he's not coherent at the moment or i could just use the antonym and say incoherent but just keep that in mind when talking about a person i think often you will use this in the negative to say that someone is not coherent or incoherent you don't hear that loud high-pitched incessant humming coming from the events that is making it impossible for me to think straight let alone string together one coherent sentence dubious and i like this adjective mostly because i just like saying dubious all right that sounds dubious and it means that something is just not completely true or just should not be completely trusted and i i think we can all relate to this one think about email scams and i would get an email with this subject heading congratulations you've been selected and it just it's all it just looks dubious and these are actually legitimate emails that i have received just this past week and i did not open them i did not click on anything because they're dubious it didn't compress the whole thing it should be twice that size i mean 24 gigs that's less than a fourth the file size that seems dubious richard then there's compulsive and this means that you are doing something a lot and you're unable to stop it and this is often used as an attributive adjective which means it's going to come before the noun i could say that my neighbor is a compulsive gambler or my colleague is a compulsive liar and because of the meaning that you're doing something excessively and you just can't stop it really often refers to things that are not good like a compulsive gambler or compulsive liar read it uh personality overview mr stark displays compulsive behavior in my own defense that was last week then we have pushy and this is another adjective that i just like to say pushy but it's also not a good thing because it means that someone is behaving in an unpleasant way by trying too much to get something or to make someone do something so it's not good if somebody's being really pushy and i want you to think of a salesperson they want to sell you something and sometimes they can be very aggressive and you could say that maybe they're being really pushy i could also say that well my wife likes to try new restaurants around town and even if i think that the place is questionable she really wants to go and sometimes she can be a little pushy and even though this adjective is not a good one you can use it among friends or family because i think often we really want someone to do something and yeah i think we can all be a bit pushy from time to time before you go in you fill out comment card okay don't forget the back you people are so pushy what israeli people are pushy then there's carefree which means having no problem and not worried about anything and i think you would often use this to describe a person's uh personality and i could say he is young carefree and just wants to travel the world and i i think we can all relate to this word uh thinking about a different time or a period in our lives where maybe we didn't have much worry and i could say well remember those carefree days back in high school you know we just didn't have we didn't have jobs we didn't have a lot to worry about at that time those were some carefree days see before when i was just another employee i was happy carefree the guy who hung out in the break room making fun of the boss then we have conceded which means you are too proud of yourself and your actions and abilities and i think that well we can all think of someone who we might describe as a little conceited and that's what i want you to do right now i want you to think of someone and make an association with this word and i am thinking about an old colleague of mine from a long time ago who was a great teacher but typically you don't go around just telling everyone this and they would sound conceited and because this is pretty common that someone is acting too proud there are several other synonyms you could say arrogant proud superior but this is a great way to build and expand your vocabulary by learning a word like this conceited friends wouldn't mind because they look up to us so conceited clint you're so cozy it's like full of yourself why are you like that i'm not saying that to be conceited then we have the word rigid which means stiff or fixed not able to be bent or moved and i will try to give you an example of each so think about well a metal you could say that it's rigid you're not able to bend it if we're talking about fixed i think people might be referring to well something like a set of rules the teacher's rules were so rigid throughout the year that they were just fixed and and very strict in that case if we want to say stiff then i think you're probably describing a person and this that they're very stiff perhaps because they're scared or afraid we were all so scared of the new boss we were rigid in our chairs all right and you're just very stiff do you have any idea how rigid you can be i have to be rigid to hold things together in the face of armageddon then we have the adjective feeble which means weak or without energy strength or power and you could use this to describe a person especially as someone becomes much older i could say that well in the future like far away in the future i hope i will become a feeble and helpless old man all right that's probably what will happen in in the distant future or perhaps you're describing an institution or government that just does not have much power uh i could say it didn't take long to discover that the new government was feeble and corrupt the first year by sheer dumb luck jake eeked out a feeble victory and last year i let the captain win because he's old and sad so i hope that i was coherent throughout this lesson and that my explanation was clear and that nothing was ambiguous but i i will say that these words are legitimate and you will hear them from time to time so i think they're very useful when it comes to building your vocabulary but at the same time i i don't want to be pushy i don't want to tell you like oh you have to learn these words it's all about just getting that exposure learning a little bit at a time and i just hope that you learned something new in today's lesson and if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 160. Advanced Adjectives to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `958yGO_JC8o` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=958yGO_JC8o) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:07:26 | --- today's vocabulary lesson is all about helping you be a little more precise when you are talking about some situation or if you're telling a story these adjectives will help you do just that so as we go through this lesson i'm gonna tell you the adjective i will tell you the meaning i will also try to tell you some nouns that i think these adjectives are commonly used with some collocations and i will also give you an example sentence so that you can see how it's used in context are you ready the first adjective that i have for you is off hand and what this means is little or no preparation so you may hear it used in the context of a an offhand comment or an offhand remark somebody says something and it's just offhand it's an offhand comment there is little or no preparation before they say this thing now keep in mind because you are not preparing you are not really thinking about it sometimes offhand remarks can get people in trouble they say something without really thinking about it and then when they do think about it maybe they're like um perhaps i should not have said that that comment i should not have made that remark but because it was offhand well i did i said it and i can't take it back so in that sense it may not be something that that you want to say an offhand comment or offhand remark this adjective also means thoughtless or inconsiderate and in that sense you may hear it being used with the noun manner you you could hear somebody talk about another person's off-hand manner it's just perhaps a little insensitive it's inconsiderate the way that this person behaves their offhand manner it makes you want to stay away from this person you don't want to be around them because they're a bit thoughtless my mother made an offhand remark about my boyfriend the next adjective is forthcoming and this just means that something is about to be made available something is about to appear or maybe it's about to be produced it is forthcoming some kind of event is forthcoming it is about to be produced it is about to appear it is forthcoming it it will be here in the future forthcoming you can also use this adjective to describe a person if they are honest and candid this person tells the truth you could say that that he or she is forthcoming they are making the truth available they are honest they are candid the police said that new evidence will be forthcoming then we have the adjective widespread and if something is widespread it means that it is happening in many different places and and among many different people now this adjective is very versatile you may find it before the noun and you might hear somebody talk about widespread chaos it's everywhere you can also find this adjective after the linking verb to be and you say that that something is widespread it's happening in many different places for example perhaps you you could talk about a disease that is widespread now in both of those examples that i gave you one thing to to be aware of is that i think often when you talk about something that is widespread you're talking about something that is negative something that's not good whether it's uh some kind of disaster and there's widespread chaos or like i said you could say that the disease is widespread it's happening everywhere that's not always the case but often i i think it is associated with something that is negative when you're referring to something that is widespread there was widespread dissatisfaction with the president and his administration next is straightforward now this adjective has has two meanings and usually i think this adjective is going to follow the linking verb to be and you could say that something is straightforward which means that it's not complicated that it's easy to understand the instructions they were straightforward i was able to understand them easily because they were straightforward you can also use it to refer to a person who is honest and tells the truth and you could say you know he or she is is straightforward this person straightforward they tell the truth and when they tell the truth they are they're very forthcoming and they tell they tell everything they tell all of it so remember straightforward two different meanings not complicated easy i could say that well your directions they were pretty straightforward i used the map and i could easily find the place because your directions were straight forward or it means honest sincere for example i try to be straightforward with you guys when i i tell you about these words and the way in which they are used and the other words that we use them with i i really try to be straightforward with all of you i easily put the cabinet together because the instructions were straightforward then we have so-called now this is one of my favorite adjectives again it has two different meanings the first one is just talking about something is named in a particular way for example if you're referring to a group of countries not many countries have nuclear weapons and you could say that the this group of countries they are the so-called nuclear powers they they are named in this particular way the other meaning which i think is a little more commonly used when when we're talking about so-called and it's also why it's one of my favorite adjectives and the meaning is it's it's used to show that a word is not suitable to describe something or someone let me give you some examples he's just a so-called expert so-called expert and if you refer to somebody as a so-called expert it means that well that they should not be called an expert that word should not be used to describe this person or you could say somebody is just a so-called doctor maybe they think of themselves as a doctor but you don't think they're a real doctor you could say well you know she's just a so-called doctor uh it's not the the word should not be used for this person it's not suitable for them again when you're using it in this context it's not a compliment you are not being nice to somebody else now with those examples you can see that this adjective will come before the noun when you refer to somebody as like a so-called expert or a so-called doctor or a so-called friend that the adjective will come before the noun so called celebrities and other so-called role models may not have a good influence on children then we have egregious i want to have a quick look at the pronunciation because this word has three syllables and the first and third syllable will have that schwa sound that uh sound agree just that second syllable has the long e sound egregious and egregious it's a great adjective to help you be more specific and precise because what it means is something is really really bad it's shockingly bad and you could say that it is egregious you can also use it before the noun if you want to describe something for example you could say that um this person exhibited egregious behavior that it was really bad or perhaps if you want to use it after the linking verb to be you could say what the government did was egregious it wasn't just bad it was really bad so again instead of using the word bad which i think is very common and possibly even overused you can be more precise more accurate and say that something is egregious if the government is spying on its citizens that is an egregious abuse of power then we have frivolous and this adjective means that that someone is behaving in like a silly or foolish way kind of showing that that this situation is not important that it's not serious and you could refer to it as frivolous for example perhaps you have a couple of people they're they're dating they're they're seeing each other but you could describe their relationship as frivolous it's a frivolous relationship which means that it's not serious it's not that important they're they're just dating they're having fun but you could say that it is a frivolous relationship so it's often used to describe some sort of situation if you want to say that it's unimportant you could just say it's frivolous the judge decided to throw out the frivolous lawsuit next is excruciating this well it's not a good adjective because it means that you're talking about something that is very painful it's excruciating and i i often think of physical pain that you you have to go in for some type of operation some type of surgery it was really painful it was excruciating you can often use this adjective with the noun pain and this is a common collocation excruciating pain you could say i i got injured playing soccer and it hurt really bad and i was in excruciating pain it was very painful excruciating he was in excruciating pain after twisting his ankle next is noxious let's look at the pronunciation quickly this adjective has two syllables that first syllable that knock and then shuffs that schwa sound you hear that in the second syllable noxious and what it means is something that is harmful something that is poisonous and you could use it to describe some noxious fumes if there is some kind of gas a noxious gas in the air it is poisonous it's harmful you could say it is noxious be careful do not confuse this adjective with the word nauseous because that's describing the way somebody feels if they feel nauseous they feel sick this is a different word it is a different adjective noxious is harmful poisonous for example a noxious gas we're trying not to breathe the noxious fumes from the bus then we have inveterate so this adjective means that something is done as a habit and in that case it's not likely to change often we use this adjective to describe a person and you could say that someone is an inveterate gambler that they are always gambling it's not going to change they are an inveterate gambler or maybe a person is an inveterate liar that they are always doing this it is it is a habit that they always lie they are an inveterate liar again i think that you would often use this adjective that you were saying something about this person that is probably negative whether it's talking about somebody who is an inveterate gambler an inveterate liar that you are using it to describe a person in a negative way because they do some they have some kind of bad habit that they can't break in veteran she has been all over the world because she's an inveterate traveler then we have nefarious and this adjective means that something is morally bad we use it to describe some kind of situation or perhaps even a person that is morally bad and i say morally because it's to show that the the person who's doing this thing they know better they know that it's wrong and you could say that well because of that this thing is nefarious i often think it follows the linking verb to be and you'd say that something is nefarious but you can use it before a noun as well for example you could say that well he had a nefarious plan to steal from the company that he was going to steal from the company and the plan was nefarious it was morally wrong this person knew better it was nefarious the grinch had a nefarious plan to steal christmas next is the adjective preposterous and this just means that something is it's ridiculous it's absurd so often i think it's used in the sense that somebody would just say that's preposterous they're they're talking about a situation they're describing it as ridiculous and you would hear them saying that's preposterous or you can say that if you want to describe something that you think is absurd and just say well you know that's preposterous somebody tells you something that you can't believe you think it's crazy it's absurd you can just say you know that's preposterous you think i ate the sausage that's preposterous now even though these adjectives may not be well widespread that you are going to hear everybody use them every single day the reason they are not widespread is because they are a little more advanced they are more specific it is to help you be more specific when you're describing a person or describing some situation so i want you to go out and practice using them that is my request that's what i want you to do and i don't think that this request is absurd it's not preposterous i want you to go out practice them or at least try to identify them when you are listening to a podcast or you are watching a tv show or you're reading a book see if you can try to pick them out because again as you're able to continue getting exposure to these words it's going to help you remember their meaning so that you can use them confidently and correctly the next time you are having a conversation that's all for now keep up the good work and i will see you next time --- ## 161. Advanced Adjectives to Describe Personality & Behavior | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_vvKQPMBavU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vvKQPMBavU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:01:03 | --- welcome to today's lesson in which i want to teach you some useful and advanced adjectives that you can use to describe people and this is a great lesson because well we talk about people all the time we describe ourselves we also talk about our friends our families our colleagues so these are useful adjectives that you can use mostly to talk about the way people act or behave so many of these adjectives really describe someone's personality now when we use adjectives often we might use them before the noun in which case they are called attributive adjectives or they might follow a linking verb in which case they are a predicate adjective as we go through these i will tell you which ones i think are more common as an attributive adjective before the noun or those that i think are more commonly found in the predicate and would follow a linking verb so i'm going to do a few things throughout this lesson i will tell you the meaning of the adjective i will then talk a little bit about how it's used and then give you some example sentences so that you can really see how it's used in context so let's begin with overzealous this is a great adjective which means that someone is showing a little too much eagerness or enthusiasm almost to the point where well you you find it a little strange that they are this eager or they're this enthusiastic about something so you could describe that person as being overzealous so this is an adjective that you can use either before a noun or it can follow a linking verb either one so you might describe people and say somebody has overzealous parents they're showing a lot of enthusiasm for their kids their yeah her parents are very overzealous perhaps perhaps when when our little girl gets older maybe maybe i will be an overzealous parent and i will be so enthusiastic about everything she does or maybe you have some overzealous colleagues that anything that happens they're always enthusiastic perhaps they're always eager to do things and you might think well they're a little overzealous i imagine that you guys are overzealous students that you are so excited to build and learn new vocabulary during the concert some overzealous fans ran onto the stage next is tenacious this adjective means that somebody is just not giving up perhaps stubbornly that they just absolutely refuse to give up even though maybe maybe they should now when i think of this word i actually think it's used in more of a positive manner when you describe somebody as tenacious and they are not giving up they refuse to give up they're being very stubborn but they should keep going it is a good thing that they don't give up in that sense if you want to say you know well you know she is a tenacious student she refuses to give up no matter how difficult it is she's tenacious even though he's short he always gives a tenacious effort then we have candid and if you say that someone is candid then basically you're just saying that this person is truthful and that they are honest so we can use this adjective and describe someone and say that they are a candid person or perhaps they give a candid response to a question personally i think it's maybe more common to follow the linking verb to be and you would describe somebody that he is candid or she is candid they are truthful and honest and if you're describing somebody in that way it's almost like you're trying to say well this person can be believed we can trust this person because they are candid and they give candid responses and i guess i just i'm just gonna keep using the word candid again and again so that it helps you remember the meaning this candid photo shows some of the poor living conditions surrounding the city next is facetious and this is one of my favorite adjectives now the first thing that i want to point out is the pronunciation because looking at this adjective it may not be pronounced the way that it's spelled facetious that first syllable is going to have that schwa that pha and we're just basically going to pronounce the letter c facetious and what it means is that somebody is joking and they're not being serious and perhaps in a inappropriate way in a in a sense they should be serious but they're joking around they are being facetious and i think it's commonly used just like that that in some kind of situation you're talking to somebody else and you're joking with this person perhaps they don't know about it and you have to tell them and say look i'm being facetious i'm joking i'm not being serious so that is a phrase that that you might often hear with this word somebody actually having to tell the other person say wait i'm being facetious or maybe you could say that of another person if somebody doesn't understand that this person is joking you say well look he's being facetious she's being facetious they are joking they're not being serious they're being facetious sometimes it's hard to take my boss seriously because he's always being facetious then we have the word obtuse now this is not a good adjective you don't want to be called obtuse because what it means is that somebody is lacking in intelligence and maybe they're a bit slow to understand and you would often use it with the linking verb to be and say that someone is obtuse that they are slow to understand and you could describe that person and say yeah you know he's a bit obtuse he's slow to understand he doesn't he's not a very smart person they're obtuse or if there's a situation and somebody it's like they don't want to hear the truth and they're trying to to deny it and they don't want to listen and you could say well they are being obtuse that they refuse to believe what is obvious what is sensible but they they just don't want to believe it they're being obtuse sometimes my uncle can be so obtuse he refuses to listen to anyone next is the word boorish and again this it's not a great adjective you don't want to be referred to as a boorish person because it means that someone is rude or insensitive and often i think it's used before the noun behavior and this is a commonly used collocation and you might describe somebody's behavior as boorish their boorish behavior it's rude it's insensitive they may exhibit boorish behavior keep in mind that this adjective is unrelated to the word boring that is a very common adjective but they have different meanings if somebody is boorish they are rude or insensitive boorish behavior his boorish behavior caused me to hang up on him then we have jittery and this is another great adjective and it's it's used to describe someone who is nervous and they are unable to relax often i think it's used as a predicate adjective and you'd say someone is jittery so there is probably some kind of situation that would make someone nervous they're unable to relax and you could describe them as jittery perhaps they have to give a very important presentation and before the presentation you can say wow you know he's really jittery it's also used in a situation that if somebody just they're unable to relax because they want to leave for example i have been in some very long teachers meetings in my life and the meetings just go on and on and on and i just i don't want to sit there anymore and i start to get jittery i start moving around i start shaking my legs and i just i want to get out of there i can't relax i'm jittery the boy was so jittery he had a tough time staying seated then we have capricious now with this one again let's first look at the pronunciation that first syllable has the schwa sound that uh sound and then the pri is just pronounced as pre capricious capricious and what this means is that someone or something is impulsive or unpredictable so you could use this adjective and say that well the weather is capricious it's unpredictable you don't know what's going to happen or if you describe a person as capricious it makes me think of somebody who maybe they make a decision and then they change their mind almost immediately and want to do something else and then they change their mind again and want to do something completely different you could say that they are capricious or maybe a person is a capricious shopper capricious shopper capricious shopper that's hard to say capricious shopper capricious shopper capricious shopper i i actually would just say that that person is capricious that they are impulsive they are unpredictable and you might describe them as capricious because of his capricious nature he couldn't commit to chewing just one thing then we have the adjective gullible and this just means that a person is easily persuaded to believe something essentially they just believe whatever you tell them they are gullible it often follows that verb to be and i think we've all met people before in our lives who are pretty gullible whatever you tell them they just believe you so this is a great example of when if you are being facetious they are not going to understand that you're joking they will believe you because they are gullible and then you would have to tell them look i'm being facetious i'm not being serious i think it's also used to describe somebody in a temporary situation because let's be honest we've all been gullible at one point or another so in that case i think of perhaps somebody is trying to trick somebody else or maybe there is some sort of scam and you for some reason you fall for it you're not thinking clearly you could say you know i you know i was just gullible i don't know why i believed this thing but i did i was gullible i couldn't believe i fell for this internet scam i was so gullible then we have adamant and this adjective means that a person is refusing to change their mind or be persuaded often i think this adjective is followed by the preposition about you are adamant about something that you just refuse to believe anything else and often i think of maybe some sort of cause that a person is fighting for they are very passionate about this cause and you could say they are adamant about this thing i am adamant about protecting the environment uh i am adamant about teaching you guys vocabulary i refuse to believe that you will not learn and build your vocabulary i am adamant about teaching it to you i think we can all think of different things that we are adamant about that we we just want this thing to happen we won't be persuaded otherwise you are adamant about something the doctor was adamant she have surgery immediately then we have feckless and this is used to describe a person who is weak or ineffective and just really lacking in the strength of character that this person is feckless and i think it might be also used to describe somebody's personality or their traits for example you might say that someone is a feckless leader they are an ineffective leader because they they lack that strong character they are feckless coach's feckless leadership led the team to their worst record in school history so i want to be honest i i want to be candid with you that when you are building your vocabulary i hope that two adjectives that i could use to describe you would be overzealous that you are just eager to learn new words and that that you're tenacious too that you are not going to give up for whatever reason so that is what i hope for and i am absolutely not being facetious when i say that i'd also like you to do a little bit of an association trick right now when you hear these adjectives which person do you think of you can probably think of someone that that adjective describes so for example if i just say the word jittery who are you thinking about in your life try to associate these words with somebody that you know because that's going to help you better remember the meaning and actually retain that information and you won't forget it so i want you to go out use these adjectives when you're talking about other people or even talking about yourself that's all for right now i will see you guys next time --- ## 162. Advanced Adjectives to Impress Your Friends | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vgZCPm4Acos` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgZCPm4Acos) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:10:23 | --- let's talk about some advanced adjectives that you can use to impress your friends like this one so called so you would use this word to say that that you think that a word that's used to describe a person or a situation is just not suitable or it's not correct so if somebody it could be a little bit of an insult if somebody were to say to me and say well wes is a so-called teacher in that case it's like you think that the word teacher is not suitable to describe me and yeah i wouldn't like that but you could hear somebody say that another person is a so-called expert that you think the word expert is not suitable for this person superheroes in new york these so-called heroes have to be held responsible for destruction done to the city someone could even argue that these are so-called advanced adjectives because maybe maybe you might not think they're advanced because you know many of them but i guarantee you will learn something new in this lesson and i also say that you can use these adjectives to impress your friends because they are more informal words that you can use in casual conversation like this next one which is messed up and i'm not talking about the phrasal verb to mess up to make something dirty or untidy i'm talking about using this as an adjective which has a couple of different meanings so if we're using this to to talk about a person it means that well someone is unhappy or just emotionally confused if we were to say that somebody had a messed up childhood perhaps it was an unhappy childhood i mean he's messed up look at him you gotta figure his family life's a disaster now if we're talking about like just some situation then this adjective could be used to to say that it's just wrong bad or full of problems and you might hear somebody say something like wow that's messed up i just cannot believe that happened that's messed up they had someone else lip-sync her part and she never got credit for it that's messed up maybe i i'm always asking you to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications and if you have not done that yet i could say wow that that's messed up i can't believe it now to be honest i i really don't think that's messed up it's okay if you have not subscribed i'm just giving you an example but in case this is your first time here my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if that is what you would like to do then yes you can subscribe if you want it's not messed up if you don't the next word is cocky and this is an adjective that you could use to describe a person and it means that that someone is very confident but really in a slightly annoying way and i think this is a word that we can all relate to because i i think you would often use it when people are competitive and you you think you're better than somebody else and you're just being competitive and yeah we can all act a little cocky from time to time when i saw you that wedding i knew we'd be having dinner together well aren't you cocky then we have dope and if you say that something is dope it just means that you think it is very good or cool and mostly i think younger generations would use this word but people my age and even older they they also use it and a collocation with this adjective you could say that something is pretty dope and i hope that you think these lessons are pretty dope and if you do you can let me know by hitting that like button now speaking of things that are dope i have a pretty dope opportunity that i would like to share with you because if one of your new year's resolutions is to dramatically 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sprint don't forget to read those terms and conditions and also don't forget to use my code wes 2022 to get your discount let's get back to those advanced adjectives we just talked about dope so let's go in the opposite direction and the next word that i have for you is lame and and this has a couple of different meanings the first one is that it can mean that something is weak and and undeserving of being believed so in this case you're probably talking about an excuse or an argument and you would use this adjective with those words a lame excuse or a lame argument limited seating i am just one tiny person yeah but she doesn't know that limited seating oh that is such a lame excuse it can also mean uninspiring or boring and you could describe something well maybe like a meeting and say well the meeting was lame we didn't learn anything it was just lame you know they say a scent can make a memory come alive so i made one of him it's lame i'm no it's not lame out of whack i i really like this phrase it means that something is not working properly mostly because well like the natural balance has been upset so think about your your body has like a natural balance but if something is off if something is not working properly then you could say yeah my my body's just all out of whack or maybe i could say the public transportation is all out of whack today because of the bad weather that it just it just upset that natural balance and things are not working it's all out of whack what was the matter with it your variable tuna was out of whack wow and you fixed it then we have the word woke and this is an adjective that i think has become more and more popular over the years especially in a place like the united states and what it means is really just well aware and mostly it refers to awareness of social problems such as racism or inequality and the one thing i want you to know is that you you may hear people use this word in either a positive way or a negative way so if i were to say like oh yeah we need to be a bit more woke when it comes to some social issue that's more of a positive way of using this adjective now others may talk about like woke people or woke culture and they're they're using in a way in which they're saying that well they don't care for it that they think it's too much so just be mindful as to how someone is using this word we're tapping the keg at nine with the keg's consent of course he is so woke next is an adjective that i really like and that is ballsy and what it means is brave or or determined and you could say that well that this was a ballsy move or a ballsy request but most of the time i i think you're going to use this word describing a person perhaps i could say wow my my colleague is just so ballsy they're not afraid to talk back to the boss she's spontaneous she's ballsy she has no clue what she's doing and she doesn't care and then we have jaded this is a good word it means that you you just don't have interest or you're losing interest because you've experienced something too many times and often you may use this adjective with some verbs like you you feel jaded or you have become jaded those are those are some common collocations and i i also think that you're more likely to use this adjective with things that are maybe typically work related you've experienced it a lot and then you just you start to become jaded had i become so jaded that i didn't even recognize romance when it kissed me on the lips next is moody which is an adjective you can use to describe a person it means that their mood can suddenly change and they become upset or angry well perhaps for a variety of reasons and i think this would be more well talking about a temporary state that it's not permanent something happens and just somebody yeah they're acting a bit moody maybe they they didn't eat breakfast in the morning and they become a little moody or perhaps they they didn't sleep much at night i know when i don't get a lot of sleep yes i i can be a little moody it's just her psycho fans that get all crazy right the moody junior hi girl moody you call this moody then we have legit and really this is just an informal word that's been shortened it just means legitimate so instead of saying legitimate you would just say legit is something allowed by law is it reasonable is it acceptable and perhaps you're talking about some situation and you want to know well is this okay you might ask look is this is this legit should we be doing this is this legit no way is this legit well it's a legit threat but it's definitely not from the real black hood the next adjective is clingy and this is used to describe a person who really just sticks on to someone else or or something else and often i think you would use this to talk about somebody that you you really do have a relationship with that you know pretty well maybe your your friend is a little clingy or your co-worker is clingy or maybe even uh your partner can be clingy children children can certainly be clean basically everything we know guys hey it'll be touchy clingy yeah then we have feisty and i say it like feisty it means like active and and full of determination and i i kind of said it like this because i think it somewhat has a negative connotation and people may use this adjective referring to somebody else who's kind of like fighting back or or talking back or just they're willing to push back you could describe that person as just feisty it's called your band of karate thugs or i'm going to the police got it you're advised you want but i like that i like it then we have ballen and and yes you you would probably spell it like this with with the apostrophe it's very informal so it's it's going to be an adjective you would use more in spoken english and if somebody is ballin it just means that they are just living a wealthy lifestyle and spending a lot of money and this is very informal and probably no younger people would use this but again you would hear people my age and older say this well especially if they're just balling shooting bad enough i gotta buy all this damn champagne in new sheets i ain't jay-z shoot i ain't bowling like a rock star i would love to say that i'm ballin but uh that's just not true and then we have kinky which means unusual strange and possibly exciting and mostly we're talking about well things involving like sexual acts so there are collocations like uh a kinky idea or maybe a kinky behavior or if you're describing a person like they are kinky in the bedroom or perhaps somebody makes a suggestion you say well that sounds kinky so this is a word that i think you will definitely hear in in movies and tv shows you're here to join me all these japanese businessmen in the car kinky kinky and then i thought i would wrap things up with an informal adjective from the uk one one that i like and that is cheeky and if you say that well someone is cheeky it means that they're like slightly rude or not showing respect but really in a humorous way and this is an adjective you are probably not going to hear in the united states but i really like this one so i wanted to share it with you including respect for elders and the like i cheeky now let's do a little review because when it comes to these video lessons i hope that you are clingy i hope that you just want to to hold on to them and stick to them and watch them again and again and keep learning new things because well these lessons are legit i think you're going to learn a lot and i really don't think you will ever get jaded because the lessons they're not lame they are dope and i know that right now just hearing me say this i'm sure i sound very cocky and i wanted to give you a quick little review it's always good to to practice uh the things that we just learned so if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 163. Advanced American Idioms ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | LIVE QUIZ LESSON | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cSVpsfA-pfQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSVpsfA-pfQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:23:02 | --- everyone welcome to today's lesson uh my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel it's it's just all about helping you practice and improve your english skills if this is your first time here please let me know in the comments in the chat love hearing from new people and i also enjoy uh hearing from people who regularly watch our videos as well uh great to see so many familiar faces i have i think it's a fun lesson and it's a useful lesson especially for your comprehension so i'm going to talk to you about idioms we're going to talk about some advanced idioms and i put the um the flag from the united states because i think these are idioms that people will use in the u.s that that does not mean that they're only used in the united states i think many of these idioms are pretty common across all english varieties if you're talking about british english or in canada australia south africa i think many people may use these idioms but the reason why i say they're advanced is because they're not um they are a little more difficult i think the meaning of these idioms are very different from their individual words and the way that we're going to do this is we're going to practice i'm going to give you it's it's kind of a quiz lesson so i'm going to give you some questions and i want you to try to answer and think about the the idiom in english and it this is going to be challenging it will be difficult i hope that you learn some new idioms today and the one thing i want to say is this will be very helpful for your comprehension i'm i'm teaching you these idioms not so that oh i have to go out there and use them if you can if you find yourself in the appropriate situation that's great but i think it's really useful for your comprehension because you will hear these idioms from time to time if you're in a conversation or watching a movie tv show listening to a podcast or an audio book these are idioms that you may hear and it's really helpful for your conversation so this will be challenging i'm just going ahead and throw that out there uh i want to give some quick hellos to uh people that are here with me hello lollygatrudist uh great to see some members excellent um bombas and nat karina uh arafan takayo hey takayo how are you um and i i want you guys to participate throughout this lesson and i will give you some questions give you a moment to think about the answer and then of course i will tell you the answer so let's go ahead and start and we're going to practice with some of these idioms the first way that we're going to do this is i'm going to give you the meaning of the idiom and then i'm going to give you a picture that to kind of help you out and i want you to just write the idiom what idiom am i talking about in english so the the first one is this right here to do or say something that lacks evidence or support and you see the picture use that picture hopefully it'll help you again i know this is difficult i know this is challenging but just bear with me and i will show you the idiom and then the meaning as well so you can kind of think about it but if you're thinking about like you're you're saying something that lacks evidence or support often i think people will use this idiom at the beginning of a sentence when they want to make a guess about something all right and the picture there is well you see a bird that is out on a limb the key word there is limb that's what i was hoping that you would think of but i i know that that that may be very difficult because the idiom that i'm talking about is to go out on a limb and if you say that you're going to like go out on a limb you're saying something or doing something that lacks evidence let me give you uh more of an explanation i told you that somebody would use this when they're about to maybe make a guess they don't really have much evidence but they're going to make a guess and they'll say i'm going to go out on a limb and say that and then they share their opinion i'm going to go out on a limb and say that he was lying all right i don't have evidence but i'm going to suggest that and you'd say i'm going to go out on a limb all right so that's a good idiom um that's a good idiom to learn you go out on a limb you're saying something not with much evidence and remember i think it's mostly it's often used in that context people would say well i'm going to go out on a limb and say whatever guess it is all right excellent um i hope some of you got that one let's look at this one the next one hopefully this is a little easier i think the picture um you could probably perhaps guess it a little more so is to greatly annoy or upset someone use that picture think about what's happening in the picture there's a car driving and there is a what what is that those are bricks but i was trying to go for a wall all right so think about what edm that would be in english if you are uh greatly annoying someone or perhaps you're upsetting uh this person you could say that this person is what excellent uh i'm a uh anna perfect we're talking about driving someone up the wall to drive someone up the wall means that you are well you're very annoyed and you would say that uh like i said you could um say this person is driving me up the wall so if somebody is driving you up the wall then they are annoying you um and upsetting you excellent uh [Music] we have uh voice uh ramon excellent i'll try to get in as many shout outs as i can and again if you're just joining us we are doing a little bit of an idiom quiz and these are more advanced idioms and i think it's definitely a little more advanced in the way that i'm trying to quiz you on these so again i'm giving you the meaning when someone is so frustrated or annoyed they can no longer cope or they can no longer deal with this situation and you would describe this and somebody would they would say this idiom right here and it that's what it means and use this picture uh to help you guess what the idiom is that's a picture that's a rope all right um so i just told you it's a rope that is part of the idiom so think about that hopefully that may help you especially if you've heard this idiom before um you some you're frustrated you can no longer cope excellent yes uh ramon uh sid what somebody would say is that they are at the end of their rope so so if i were to tell you i'm at the end of my rope it means that i'm so frustrated i can no longer deal with this situation and often i think people may use this if you're maybe having an argument or a disagreement with somebody you're very frustrated uh perhaps parents with children they're they're very frustrated with their children and you could say they they can't cope they'd say uh i'm i'm at the end of my rope so it's in that case people might use it as kind of a warning that if you're frustrated with somebody and you're telling them look i'm at the end of my rope that you're you're really about at this point that you're no longer to cope excellent um so are you ready uh these are some other good i see some other good and uh idioms guesses that people are using here's another one and then i'm gonna switch it up the way that i'm asking you this so here's the the meaning of the idiom and there are some pictures to help you so if uh you are talking about personal issues in front of other people that are not involved so really if you're talking about your personal issues that in front of other people and you don't need to be doing this what would you how would how would you describe that situation you have a picture right there of laundry all right dirty laundry so that that is your clue that is your hint uh dirty laundry and people are talking about their issues in front of other people and i think often people would use it to tell somebody not to do this so perhaps you're at a party with a group of people and you're talking maybe you're having a little bit of an argument with your friend your boyfriend girlfriend husband wife and you you start talking about your personal issues your relationship whatever and the other person i say look we don't need to let's let's not do this let's not do this so often um you may use this with the negative excellent um we have some excellent uh mzz uh you guys are close uh michael perfect the the idiom is to air out one's dirty laundry to air out your dirty laundry is if you are talking about your personal issues in front of other people and like i said i think you would think somebody's in a group and two people are talking and somebody is really they're talking about their personal issues with maybe this other person and they say look let's let's not air out our dirty laundry or you don't need to air out your your dirty laundry um excellent yes so you i think you might hear it used with that word let's like let's not air out our dirty laundry we don't need to do this stop airing out your dirty laundry excellent uh maggie perfect how are you excellent great to see you uh so those are again a couple of idioms that we've talked about so far so i've given you uh to go out on a limb you're kind of saying something without evidence we can also drive someone up the wall which makes them a little crazy you if you want to say that you can no longer cope you're at the end of your rope and uh to air out your dirty laundry is talking about your personal issues so now we're gonna switch it up i have some more idioms for you uh but the way that i'm going to do it this time now i'm i'm going to give you uh like a conversation and i'm gonna give you a blank so i'm gonna give you the context and then i'm gonna give you one word which uh is a hint to what the idiom is so let me show you that will be a better way to explain it so think about here's this situation right here one person there's a blank because this person is using the idiom the key word is speak so this that word is part of the idiom and the other person says hey tom we were just talking about you so think about what what idiom might this person be using it's really um it's kind of it's an expression that people would use in english to when this situation occurs and i think we can all relate to this situation so what is what's this first person saying right here you know the situation somebody tom this guy he just arrived and they were just they were just talking about him and you would say this excellent um julio lulu perfect um ramon julie uh gertrudis lolly i think i i think you may have heard this uh expression before speak of the devil so i told you i think we can all relate to it we're having a conversation talking about somebody that person just arrives or perhaps they call and you could say speak of the devil which refers to it's used informally in speech to say that a person was being talked about and then they suddenly appear they appear or it could be like a phone call that their their presence is felt excellent the next one that i have for you is this and this one i think is a little more it's not as common but i it's good again it's good for your comprehension i told you guys i think this if anything the expectation is not that you're going to learn these and just go out and start using them but so that you understand them if you happen to hear them uh in another conversation or movie tv show so they say i understand it's a big risk but we need to that's the idiom the key word that i'm giving you is caution so you the the context is they're going to take some risk and they're following it up with this idiom what idiom am i talking about keyword is caution all right so excellent uh ramon very very quick on that answer perfect uh ahmed yes the answer is to throw caution to the wind if you're saying that you're going to throw caution to the wind it's basically saying that you're going to you're not going to be careful and in that situation if there's something that's a risk then perhaps you're not going to be careful and you would throw caution to the wind so to throw caution to the wind to give you the meaning is to behave in a way that is not considered sensible or careful to throw caution to the wind all right now let's look at this next one here's another conversation that these um these three ladies are having she says i need your help finding my ring so the ring is lost it's so valuable to me and then she would say this idiom right here so based on this context this situation i need your help they're looking for this ring that well that's what i was going to say they're going to look for it the ring is lost they're going to look for it it's very valuable it's very important to her and before they start looking for the ring perhaps she uses this idiom right here um so what do you think uh this one this context i it's you well i don't want to give you i don't want to give you the meaning i told you that i was just going to try to give you an example uh of a situation and the key word is stone all right so what phrase would you say it's an idiom and you would tell somebody this stone and well it's using the word stone and you're trying to to find it all right you need to find this um all right you guys are close um close it's more of a a command so think of it that way you're going to tell somebody a command using stone i think ahmed mcc you guys were close but the idiom that i'm referring to is when you would tell somebody leave no stone unturned so most of the time i think you're going to you hear it as a command if you're telling a a group of people or another person to look for something carefully really look hard and say look everywhere leave no stone unturned so in this situation i was trying to think that well the ring is valuable it's very precious they're going to look for it and she might say leave no stone unturned it means to do everything you can to achieve a good result but i think it's it's typically used in the context of looking for something you're trying to find it and you would leave no stone unturned this could be an example as to when you might hear this perhaps you're watching some tv show that involves uh the police and a criminal and they're looking for the criminal they're looking for the thief and they need to find this person and they may tell the group of police officers leave no stone unturned we need to find uh the thief the next one that i have for you again is this situation um this this person right here saying i don't want to hear a long explanation please just what and then that's that's the idiom the key word is chase okay so think about it again think about the situation what do you think the idiom uh the english idiom is and maybe maybe you've heard of it maybe you haven't again i hope that that you are learning some new idioms right now that's what i hope and i don't expect you to remember all of them i think when it comes to idioms it's just good to get exposure it's good to become a little bit familiar with them because over time as you're listening to music podcasts watching tv you get that exposure to the language you're just going to hear these idioms and then you'll be able to remember them well i think you guys wow you guys rock this one okay so i don't want to hear a long explanation please just cut to the chase all right excellent i gotta give some shout outs there um excellent muthalite anna julio uh anawat chris stella trying to find some new names i haven't said abraham uh mike perfect so uh gertrudis maggie cut to the chase it means that you're you're telling somebody quick like come to the point what are you trying to say what are you trying what point are you trying to make cut to the chase all right so we've had uh let me back up and review some of these so the this last part we've talked about speak of the devil i told you that it's used informally to say that some somebody suddenly appears and then you could use this phrase and typically it's used as a standalone phrase somebody well speak of the devil and then maybe you start talking about um you just start having a conversation or if you want to throw caution to the wind you're behaving in a way that's not careful and somebody might throw caution to the wind or to leave no stone unturned i said that you're looking for something and and you want to have that good result and you might again use it as a command and you're telling a group of people we need to find this thing leave no stone unturned and we just talked about this cut to the chase i think this is a common one because uh sometimes like i'm i'm a person that may not come directly to the point and somebody would say this to me like wes just cut to the chase all right tell us tell us what you're thinking all right so i i have more idioms for you again i want to keep going a little more practice but i'm trying to switch it up in the way that we're practicing these and now it's going to be even a little more difficult so uh this time i'm going to give you um i'm going to give you the situation and i want you just to listen to what i'm saying listen to the situation and then i may give you a key word that has that that the idiom has and you can try to guess it okay so in this first one uh it's talking about a situation in that somebody is not speaking directly all right and maybe another person is just saying look just tell me what's on your mind please cut to the chase give it to me straight and they might be telling this person stop stop doing this thing and that's the idiom stop all right stop speaking indirectly instead of saying that they're going to use this idiom and say stop what just give it to me straight stop what so the idiom is really when um somebody is speaking indirectly but i told you that i think it's used when you people may use this when you're telling another person to stop doing that and they say don't do like stop doing this um and you guys wow excellent uh stella julie um ramon chris you guys got it to beat around the bush so if somebody's doing that again i tend to do that and not come and somebody would say wes cut to the chase stop beating around the bush just just say whatever it is you want to say so i think that's a good way to remember it and a good way to kind of listen for it somebody might tell another person stop beating around the bush you need to speak uh directly excellent uh yes gettrudus lolly perfect um maggie you guys rock that one so let me give you another situation and i'll give you another word that the idiom has so this situation um you're going to do something for another person perhaps you're going to get a birthday present for your friend and then you talk to your other friend and they say oh i have the perfect present for for this person um i'm going to get them [Music] some shirt that they always wanted and your friend says well i already bought that shirt i already i'm going to give i already uh i'm already giving that birthday present so you have to find somebody else and you say oh no you did what so it's kind of like they they took your idea a little bit and if you want to use an idiom that they've taken your idea and it's maybe a good idea and now you cannot get sick you cannot have success you're not gonna get praise for this great idea you'd say well that person did what and think of the word steel that would be the key word that i'm going to give you in this context in this situation so if somebody they they took your idea for a birthday present and you say oh my goodness you stole what all right and i think this is a good idiom i think it is a little i guess you could say it's fairly common um but again the meaning is very different from the individual words yes excellent uh sid anna uh gary uh sorry i've mispronounced names i'm talking about the idiom to steal someone's thunder so in that context that situation that i gave you right here um these people are talking and this person says i was going to get her that same birthday present you totally stole my thunder you took like my idea so in this case it's not something that is really you're kind of just saying that maybe playfully perhaps it wasn't planned so maybe there's not they're not going to be angry but perhaps if you could talk about a situation which would make somebody angry if somebody steals your idea at work and they take all the credit they get all the praise and you say this person they stole my thunder so to steal someone's thunder is you are preventing them from um that praise or that success to steal someone's thunder i think i showed you guys the the last one yes to beat around the bush you're avoiding talking to someone i think most people do it because it's unpleasant or it's difficult to talk about so they might beat around the bush um we just talked about steel one's thunder let me give you uh another situation um the next one so this would be a situation in which think about you are competing in some kind of competition and before the competition begins the the rules change and because of that you are surprised you're confused you're you don't know what to do and i could say wow this really what and the key word that i would give you is loop all right think about that situation that i just described with if the idiom has the word loop in it so if something if if something confuses you it distracts you um and i gave you that situation about perhaps somebody changing the rules at the last minute and you're telling somebody well that really what and the idiom has the word loop in it okay so i told you again this is definitely um it's definitely an advanced quiz because now i'm just you're really just having to listen to me give you the information and then try to figure it out all right uh yes um irvin excellent some of you are very close um what i'm talking about what you would say is this here's the situation at the last minute they changed the rules of the competition and it really threw our team for a loop so if something throws you for a loop it kind of it confuses you to the point where it's like well maybe you you don't know what to do so i know some of you had mentioned that you're out of the loop that is another idiom but if somebody is out of the loop it means that they are unaware of some information in this case you are aware of the information but it just confuses you it distracts you and you you don't know what to do you could say it it threw me for a loop and typically i think you would use it in a situation in which you are you are temporarily unfocused and you're not sure what to do and then you you refocus and you're able to in this case like you're able to compete in the competition and you're you're just going to do the best you can but for a quick for a brief moment you were you were thrown for a loop so i really think it's often used to describe a temporary situation where something is just shocking and it just like it says it upsets you it confuses you because something unexplained happens and i tried to give you that in the context of somebody changes the rules and it's it's unexpected and that may throw you for a loop so um it's a it's a good idiom the next one uh the next situation uh that i have for you is if uh okay uh i can relate to this uh my wife and i we can relate to this that over time maybe your place starts to get a little messy and you you know that you need to clean up and as it begins to get messier and messier you could say well this is really starting to what and the the key word that i'll give you that's hand hand that's part of the idiom so think about that situation that i just told you that uh your place it's just over time you haven't cleaned in a while everybody's very busy it's getting messier and messier and you say oh goodness this is really uh this is really starting to what so it's a situation that it's it's getting really chaotic it's almost getting too much and you might use this idiom has the word hand in it um what do you think that situation and then and this is something that i'd like to use this idiom because i think you could use it to describe a lot of situations that are just too chaotic and you say all right i need to do something this is starting to all right excellent uh i think you guys got that one uh erwin ramon uh well thank you mustafa sid uh daryan uh amman uh i'm talking about to here it is let me show you the situation so somebody might say we really need to clean up our place this mess is starting to get out of hand and say yeah you're right so in that case uh if something is getting out of hand it's getting out of control it's a situation it becomes chaotic and sometimes it's unmanageable so you could say it's getting out of hand so let's review those um that i just went over so to avoid talking about something because it's difficult or unpleasant is to beat around the bush oftentimes i think somebody might you might be telling somebody to stop doing this you're like just tell me just be honest tell me the truth stop beating around the bush we have to steal someone's thunder is like your somebody takes your idea somebody takes your credit your praise they stole your thunder so it's a great it's a great idiom be careful with that preposition so if somebody takes your idea they steal your thunder if you take their idea then you steal their thunder so be careful with that preposition to throw someone for a loop is when something unexpected happens and you're temporarily upset or confused and like wow that that really threw me for a loop i wasn't expecting that it threw me for a loop and i talked about something that is unmanageable it gets a little chaotic it's difficult to control you may say you may say that this is this is starting to get out of hand and i think that's a really uh great one and i hope that i hope that you learned some new idioms and before before this lesson gets out of hand i want to make a quick announcement you guys like what we do want to show us some love um want to sponsor interactive english with a membership patreon links are down below in the description great to see some members here uh today as well as uh some patrons to kyo maggie lolly uh gettrudis excellent great to see you guys uh happy that you can join me today so i hope that i hope that you were able to follow um i hope you were able to follow the lesson i i hope that it was i hope the lesson was easy to follow that's what i'm trying to say i hope it was easy to follow i hope it was under easy to understand and again the idea is not for you to just go out and try and start using these idioms it does take some time to learn idioms and use them in the correct context it's mostly i think for your comprehension because we people use idioms in everyday conversation so these are idioms that you will hear in movies tv shows podcasts songs books because i think many of you out there get exposure to the language in a variety of different ways watching youtube videos there's many different things you can do so it's good to try and practice this from time to time here is a list here is a list of the idioms from today's lesson if you want to take a snapshot a screenshot of these idioms go for it i'm not going to include these idioms in the description typically i will do that so people can review but in this case it was more of a quiz lesson so i do not want to give the answers so here is a list of the idioms that we talked about today there were 12 in total i hope that you learned some new ones and if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button down below um i'm not going to beat around the bush i'm just going to tell you please hit that like button um and uh that's that's really it i was trying to think of some other idioms that uh i could use all right i'm gonna go now i'm gonna end the lesson because probably i might be starting to drive you guys up the wall so um thank you guys for joining me some shout outs peter marwa mustafa um mn glad it was useful excellent nabila uh julio nekla i hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend maggie lally excellent thank you glad you guys could join me um i know it's you early for you too maggie that's awesome uh it's impressive uh suhana mo mona uh julio gosh it goes on i had a lot of people today in class that's excellent um and i i think again the more the comments the likes it really tells me that uh okay i'll do more lessons like this in the future enjoy the rest of the weekend um and i will see you --- ## 164. Advanced American Idioms ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | QUIZ LESSON | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `LlbbezgA48w` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlbbezgA48w) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:20:19 | --- hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i have it's a quiz lesson i'm going to quiz you on some advanced english idioms and these are idioms that i think are pretty common in the united states you may hear these uh in conversation from time to time so for some of you this may be new and for others you may be familiar with it because if you follow the channel regularly what i've done is i've taken an older live lesson and i've just shortened it so if you have already seen it then this would be a good time to review and see if you remember the answers and see if you remember these idioms so without further ado here is your idiom quiz the first way that we're going to do this is i'm going to give you the meaning of the idiom and then i'm going to give you a picture that to kind of help you out the the first one is this right here to do or say something that lacks evidence or support and you see the picture use that picture hopefully it'll help you again i know this is difficult i know this is challenging but just bear with me and i will show you the idiom and then the meaning as well so you can kind of think about it you see a bird that is out on a limb the key word there is limb that's what i was hoping that you would think of but i i know that that uh that may be very difficult because the idiom that i'm talking about is to go out on a limb and if you say that you're going to like go out on a limb you're saying something or doing something that lacks evidence i hope some of you got that one let's look at this one the next one hopefully this is a little easier i think the picture um you could probably perhaps guess it a little more so is to greatly annoy or upset someone use that picture think about what's happening in the picture there's a car driving and there is a what what is that we're talking about driving someone up the wall to drive someone up the wall means that you are well you're very annoyed and you would say that uh like i said you could um say this person is driving me up the walls again i'm giving you the meaning when someone is so frustrated or annoyed they can no longer cope or they can no longer deal with this situation and you would describe this and somebody would they would say this idiom right here what somebody would say is that they are at the end of their rope so so if i were to tell you i'm at the end of my rope it means that i'm so frustrated i can no longer deal with this situation here here's another one and then i'm gonna switch it up the way that i'm asking you this so here's the the meaning of the idiom and there are some pictures to help you so if uh you are talking about personal issues in front of other people that are not involved how would you describe that situation the idiom is to air out one's dirty laundry to air out your dirty laundry is if you are talking about your personal issues in front of other people so now we're gonna switch it up i have some more idioms for you uh but the way that i'm going to do it this time now i'm going to give you uh like a conversation and i'm going to give you a blank so i'm going to give you the context and then i'm going to give you one word which is a hint to what the idiom is so let me show you that will be a better way to explain it so the thing about here's this situation right here one person there's a blank because this person is using the idiom the key word is speak so this that word is part of the idiom and the other person says hey tom we were just talking about you what idiom might this person be using it's really um it's kind of it's an expression that people would use in english to when this situation occurs i think you may have heard this uh expression before speak of the devil so i told you i think we can all relate to it we're having a conversation talking about somebody that person just arrives or perhaps they call and you could say speak of the devil which refers to it's used informally in speech to say that a person was being talked about and then they suddenly appear the next one that i have for you is this and this one i think is a little more it's not as common but i it's good again it's good for your comprehension they say i understand it's a big risk but we need to that's the idiom the key word that i'm giving you is caution the answer is to throw caution to the wind if you're saying that you're going to throw caution to the wind it's basically saying that you're going to you're not going to be careful to throw caution to the wind to give you the meaning is to behave in a way that is not considered sensible or careful to throw caution to the wind all right now let's look at this next one here's another conversation that these um these three ladies are having uh she says i need your help finding my ring so the ring is lost it's so valuable to me before they start looking for the ring perhaps she uses this idiom right here the idiom that i'm referring to is when you would tell somebody leave no stone unturned so in this situation i was trying to think that well the ring is valuable it's very precious they're going to look for it and she might say leave no stone unturned it means to do everything you can to achieve a good result but i think it's it's typically used in the context of looking for something you're trying to find it and you would leave no stone unturned uh the next one that i have for you again is this situation um this this person right here saying i don't want to hear a long explanation please just what and then that's that's the idiom the key word is chase so i don't want to hear a long explanation please just cut to the chase cut to the chase it means that you're you're telling somebody quick like come to the point what are you trying to say what are you trying what point are you trying to make cut to the chase i'm trying to switch it up in the way that we're practicing these and now it's going to be even a little more difficult so i'm going to give you the situation and i want you just to listen to what i'm saying listen to the situation and then i may give you a key word that has that that the idiom has and you can try to guess it in this first one uh it's talking about a situation in that somebody is not speaking directly all right and maybe another person is just saying look just tell me what's on your mind please cut to the chase give it to me straight and they might be telling this person stop stop doing this thing and that's the idiom stop speaking indirectly instead of saying that they're going to use this idiom and say stop what to beat around the bush so if somebody's doing that again i tend to do that and not come and somebody would say wes cut to the chase stop beating around the bush just just say whatever it is you want to set you're avoiding talking to someone i think most people do it because it's unpleasant or it's difficult to talk about so they might beat around the bush so let me give you another situation if you want to use an idiom that they've taken your idea and it's maybe a good idea and now you cannot get sick you cannot have success you're not gonna get praise for this great idea you'd say well that person did what and think of the word steel that would be the key word that i'm gonna give you in this context in this situation and you say oh no you did what i'm talking about the idiom to steal someone's thunder so in that context that situation that i gave you right here these people are talking and this person says i was going to get her that same birthday present you totally stole my thunder so to steal someone's thunder is you are preventing them from um that praise or that success to steal someone's thunder let me give you uh another situation um the next one so this would be a situation in which think about you are competing in some kind of competition and before the competition begins the the rules change and because of that you are surprised you're confused you're you don't know what to do and i could say wow this really what and the key word that i would give you is loop what you would say is this here's the situation at the last minute they changed the rules of the competition and it really threw our team for a loop and typically i think you would use it in a situation in which you are you are temporarily unfocused and you're not sure what to do and then you you refocus and you're able to in this case like um you're able to compete in the competition and you're you're just going to do the best you can but for a quick for a brief moment you were you were thrown for a loop the next situation uh that i have for you over time maybe your place starts to get a little messy and you you know that you need to clean up and as it begins to get messier and messier you could say well this is really starting to what and the the key word that i'll give you that's hand hand that's part of the idiom over time you haven't cleaned in a while everybody's very busy it's getting messier and messier and you say oh goodness this is really uh this is really starting to what here it is let me show you the situation so somebody might say we really need to clean up our place this mess is starting to get out of hand and say yeah you're right so in that case if something is getting out of hand it's getting out of control it's a situation it becomes chaotic and sometimes it's unmanageable so you could say it's getting out of hand before this lesson gets out of hand i want to make a quick announcement you guys like what we do want to show us some love want to sponsor interactive english with a membership patreon links are down below in the description here is a list of the idioms from today's lesson if you want to take a snapshot a screenshot of these idioms go for it i'm not going to include these idioms in the description typically i will do that so people can review but in this case it was more of a quiz lesson so i do not want to give the answers and again the idea is not for you to just go out and try and start using these idioms it does take some time to learn idioms and use them in the correct context it's mostly i think for your comprehension because we people use idioms in everyday conversation so these are idioms that you will hear in movies tv shows podcasts songs so here is a list of the idioms that we talked about today there were 12 in total i hope that you learned some new ones and if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button down below all right i'm gonna go now i'm gonna end the lesson because probably i might be starting to drive you guys up the wall --- ## 165. Advanced Business Vocab to Help you Speak Naturally & Professionally | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `wrcbalPgkqE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrcbalPgkqE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:38:58 | --- Right now, you are going to learn a lot of powerful business English vocabulary. And I say powerful because these are incredibly useful words and phrases that you can use in a meeting, giving a presentation, just talking with colleagues. So, this is not only going to help your speaking fluency, but I also think it will really help with your listening comprehension because you're also going to hear this vocabulary. And if you would like to get these lesson notes, click on the link down below in the description. Join my email community. If you're already a part of it, then I have sent them to you. expression to set the tone at the top. And what this refers to is just really the character and values established by an organization's senior leadership. those people, the CEOs, uh the the CFOs, the executives, those people are at the top and they are the ones setting the tone at the top. Here's an example sentence. The CEO's aggressive and dismissive comments set a negative tone at the top, leading to a decline in employee morale and a toxic work environment. That's not a good situation. The one thing I really want you to keep in mind is the phrase set the tone. So, if you want to be specific, set the tone at the top referring to the company's leadership. But this is a phrase that you're going to hear quite often even in other situations. And to give you an example, I have some of these news headlines for you so you get a better idea as to how it's used in context. AI stocks now set the tone for global markets. or Dave Anderson on why leaders must set the tone early to drive daily success. And you got to establish that character, those values early on. And finally, invitations make lasting impressions and set the tone. So, we're using it in a non-b businessiness context, but again, it still refers to the character values, the the mood that you're trying to convey whenever you set the tone. I am trying to set a positive tone when it comes to building your vocabulary because I want to teach you a lot of different phrases. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. The next phrase is to get someone up to speed. And again, you could use this in other contexts, but I think it's very useful in a business setting because you may not have all the information and in that case, someone else could get you up to speed. So that that's basically what it means to have all the latest information about something and you really want to get up to speed and figure out well what's happening, what's going on. An example, he arrived a little late, but his colleague was able to get him up to speed on the project's progress. And you're getting someone up to speed and letting them know everything that's going on. Then we have a I think a a useful phrase, instill confidence. So whenever we're talking about business and work, I think confidence is a very important noun. And in this case, when you instill confidence, we're using it with that verb. It means to create or establish a feeling of trust, self asssurance, or certainty in others. When you instill confidence in your colleagues, or you instill confidence in your employees if you are the owner of the company, here's an example. The project leader calm and competent approach serve to instill confidence in a stressed team. So, this is a common collocation with the word confidence. But because I I mentioned that this noun is useful when talking about business, let's look at some other collocations with this word. So, you could instill confidence in someone. And often you're going to follow this phrase with the preposition in. So, I've gone ahead and included it with all of these collocations. You can also build confidence in someone or increase confidence or maintain confidence or restore confidence or shatter confidence which in that case is a negative thing if you shatter someone's confidence in their ability to do something. So, these are some great phrases to know and it's also an excellent way to keep building your vocabulary and and learning the phrases the words that are often used together. Here is the next one. Pay close attention to detail. So, it's it's very common to say to pay attention if we want to make it a little more descriptive to pay close attention and then to give you more information to pay close attention to what? Well, I think in business it's important to pay close attention to detail. This is to think about something carefully and avoid sloppy mistakes. She is really careful and pays close attention to detail. This is a positive thing. It has a positive connotation. If you are someone who pays close attention to detail, I try to do it, but it's not always the case. Sometimes uh you know I I do find mistakes in in some of these slides after I I go through them but you know that's okay. Nobody's perfect but I still try to pay close attention to detail. Then I have an idiom which is to level the playing field. And if you are trying to level the playing field you referring to a situation in which everyone has a fair and equal chance of succeeding. The new pay uh equity policy aims to level the playing field between new hires and long tenur employees. So this is an idiom that you of course you could use when talking about business. I I'll give you another example. Right now uh everybody's talking about AI and there are some major some big companies involved uh in the development of AI and then there are other companies that are much smaller. But I could ask you, you know, do you think it's a level playing field? Do you think these companies are in a situation that it's e it's equal, it's fair? Or do you think some of these big companies have a much bigger advantage? Maybe they have connections, ties with the government, they have other operations that help give them a lead. And again, I'm asking you, look, do you think it's a level playing field? or in the case of saying we need to level the playing field. We need to create that situation of of fairness. Here's a a fun little comic just to give you an example. He says, "We're still not on a level playing field because they have more lawyers." And of course, this is funny. I I guess maybe I'm from the US. There's a lot of there are a lot of lawyers in the US. And just looking at that picture, you're probably thinking, "Wow, that's a lot of lawyers." But they're saying, "Look, the other people the other people have more lawyers, so it's not it's not a level playing field." Here is the next one. To take the initiative. This is a this is a great business phrase to be the first one to do something, especially to solve a problem. And you are going to take the initiative. I think a lot of managers, CEOs, executives, they they love it when their employees take the initiative. She regularly takes the initiative and does things before anyone has to ask and you go ahead and you take the initiative. Great, great phrase, positive phrase. Then I have this is an idiom that really I think is often used when talking about a group of people or if people are working as part of a team then then you could use this idiom to pull one's weight. So you know keep in mind we're going to use that possessive adjective to pull my weight to pull your weight to pull his weight to pull her weight. And it means to do things that that should be uh that you should be doing as part of a group who who are working together. Really essentially it's like you're doing your fair share of work. When you're working on a team, there is an expectation that you might do this work. If you do that, then you are pulling your weight. Here's another example. The company had to let him go because he wasn't pulling his weight. So, if you and I are working on a team and maybe you you work really hard, but maybe I maybe I don't pay close attention to detail and I make a lot of mistakes and I am I'm not really working that hard. You could say, "Wes, you're not pulling your weight." All right, you need to work harder because right now you're not pulling your weight. So, this is an idiom that you may hear people use in the negative when they want to say someone is not doing their fair share of work and they're not pulling their weight. To give you another idiom that is also one that you're more likely to use when talking about a team is to pick up the slack. This means to improve a situation by doing something that someone else has not done or not completed. And in that case, you have to pick up the slack. She's not working hard, so someone else will need to pick up the slack. I could use both of them in the same sentences, the both both idioms. So, if I am not pulling my weight and we're working together, then possibly you will have to pick up the slack and you're going to do the extra work that has not been completed. Now, you may pick up the slack in a variety of situations. So, maybe somebody calls in sick and the supervisor says, "Look, this person's out sick. You know, I I need you to pick up the slack." Or maybe somebody takes a vacation, which is normal. Everybody does does that. And somebody's away and then the rest of the team has to pick up the slack. So, it's not only because somebody's lazy and they're not pulling their weight. There could be a variety of reasons why another person or a group of people has to pick up the slack and do that extra work. Then I have uh another it's not it's not an idiom, but it's more just a useful phrase that you would often hear in business to take pride in something. This is that feeling of satisfaction which you have because you've done something well. And I think often people might use it when talking about work. You take pride in your work. Not only in business, but maybe in your personal life. There are things that you might do around the home and that is a project and you could still take pride in that work. He takes pride in completing work projects on time. Or maybe you're trying to encourage or motivate someone and you tell them, "Look, you really you really need to take pride in your work and uh and and you're going to have to pull your weight because if you don't, I'm going to have to pick up the slack and I don't I don't want that to happen. So, please please take some pride in your work." Just going to keep trying to use these different phrases as we go through this just just to get a little bit of review. Then we have to burn the midnight oil. This means to to work late into the night and you're really well, let me let me give you the example. She's been working hard all night and burning the midnight oil. So when I think of somebody burning the midnight oil, maybe they're working until 10:00, 11:00, midnight. So it's not necessarily staying up all night, but they're just working really late. And therefore you could say someone is burning the midnight oil. But it is a a idiom that's really used in a work context. Whether you're talking about your job or even school work that could also be something that would apply to this idiom. If a student is burning the midnight oil. Now that this one is even you're you're working more because if you say that you are working around the clock to work around the clock is really to work all day and all night without stopping. I really think people probably use this more to add emphasis and they don't literally mean they've just been working non-stop 24 hours and they keep going and going and going. So, you might just add emphasis if you want to tell somebody, "Oh, I'm trying to finish the project and I I've been working around the clock." Keep that in mind. Uh, you're burning the midnight oil. You're just working late. If you want to add a little more emphasis and say, "Look, I day and night I've been working around the clock. He's been working around the clock in order to meet the deadline." Due diligence. This is a a very important phrase because I I think people should certainly do their due diligence before making an important decision. And this just means the investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business, a reasonable business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party. You should do your due diligence before signing the contract. So think about that context. There is a negotiation in which maybe you're going to come to some sort of agreement, but you want to make sure that you have all the information and that you investigate all the different angles and you perfect you understand perfectly what's going on and you want to do your due diligence. Due diligence. All right. It's very very great phrase to know. Then we have uh I think this is a common idiom uh to go the extra mile. This means to make more effort than is expected of you. Let let's say that you have a your work responsibility but you actually do more than what is expected and in that case you could say that you went the extra mile. She is the type of person who will go the extra mile. I I don't know about you, I try to go the extra mile when putting together these lessons and give you a lot of information, talk about some of the nuances as well as the context in which you would use them. And for this idiom, I want to talk about a little bit about where small mistakes are made. So, think of this as a fixed expression because sometimes I'll hear people replace that article with the indefinite article and to go an extra mile. That's not you're you're really going to use the to go the extra mile. The other thing that I'll sometimes here is people may try to make mile plural and they may say miles to go the extra miles. It just sounds awkward. So it no matter the situation, just really think of this as a fixed expression to go the extra mile or in the past you went the extra mile to lead by example. This really means what it says. You're just modeling the behavior that you expect from others rather than just giving instructions. So, if I want you to work a certain way or burn the midnight oil and really just work hard, pay close attention to detail, then I need to lead by example. I should be doing the same thing. And I want you to know that yes, I am pulling my weight. So, I think like it says, a great manager always leads by example, not by commands. So instead of me just telling you like oh do this do that I need to lead by example and that is going to encourage others to then follow my lead. Here is uh again nice little fun example with this phrase lead by example. It says leadership is action not position and those little ducklings are following that dog who is leading them through the water. No show. It's not a good thing, but it is a great phrase to know. This refers to a person who is expected to be somewhere but who does not arrive. And you could say that person is a no-show. Keep in mind this is used as a noun. And you would say someone is a no-show. If they're not at a meeting, and they should be, uh, for example, uh, at our weekly meetings, he's usually a no-show. It does have a negative connotation if you're saying someone's a no-show because the expectation is that this person should be at this meeting or they should be in their office or at some place and they're not. And you could say this person is a no-show. Then we have dilemma. This refers to a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially ones that are equally undesirable. Therefore, it's like you have these options and you don't really like any of them. And in that case, you are faced with a dilemma and you really you have to make a choice. Uh I could say we are faced with an agonizing dilemma and it seems there is no correct choice. So, just keep that in mind when talking about a dilemma. A choice has to be made. To give you a little more context, here are some more news headlines says best of Beth Ashley, the retirement dilemma. What to do now? A lot or return or stay the dilemma facing Syrians living in Europe. Again, there it's referring to a choice. And then finally, fam, the family business dilemma. Who is next in line? I really trying to emphasize this idea of there there's a choice because the next word that I want to talk about is conundrum and this really refers to a confusing or difficult problem or question. Arranging child care over the school holidays can be a real conundrum for working parents and this is a problem that you are faced with and I might say wow that is quite a conundrum. Sometimes these words may be interchangeable but I do want to highlight that there is a difference there is a nuance between these words. So, let's let's look at this part uh and basically of trying to break it down how they're similar and how they're different. Are you going to find your kids a daycare or will one of you stay home? Okay, that that's a real dilemma. When I say that's a dilemma, then the emphasis is really on the difficult choice that that has to be made. Stay home or find the daycare. Are you going to find your kids a daycare or will you stay home? That's quite a conundrum. When I use conundrum in this case, then I'm really just commenting on the problem that it's a difficult problem and you're trying to solve it. So, just keep that in mind. Even though both of them work in this example, when you use dilemma, you're really focusing more on that choice. When you use conundrum, you're you're really you're more talking about just the problem in general. It's very difficult. It's very complex. whenever you say that well that's that's really a conundrum that you're you're you're faced with then we have to get the ball rolling this is one that I don't know why I feel like I end up using this quite often and say look whenever I want to start something okay let's let's get the ball rolling to make something begin or happen come Monday morning we really need to get the ball rolling and start planning the conference and there are many different situations in a work environment in which you could use this. You're starting a project, you need to get the ball rolling. You're starting even a new position and like, okay, let's let's get the ball rolling. Even in just your daily life, if you're planning something and you need to begin it and you could say, "We should get the ball rolling." Great, great idiom to know. To delegate authority. This is a phrase that means to assign decisionmaking power and responsibility to a subordinate or a team. And you are delegating authority to someone else or another group of people. Effective managers know when to delegate authority rather than micromanaging every minor task. as you can see from the example does have more of a positive connotation. Even though you are assigning something to another person, it shows leadership that you are setting this tone. you're setting the tone that you trust other people and you feel comfortable delegating authority because you know that the team that everybody on the team is going to pull their weight and nobody's going to and you're not going to have to pick up the slack. So, it is used in a positive way when you say somebody is delegating authority or they need to delegate authority. Let's uh talk about some more common collocations with the word authority. Once again, I'm going to keep saying this. It's an excellent way to build your vocabulary when you learn these words that are frequently used together. We've already talked about to delegate authority, but it's also common to say that someone needs to respect authority or to command authority or to assume authority, to demonstrate authority. You could even exert authority and not a good situation if someone abuses authority. So, these are some phrases that you are often going to hear and can even use when talking about the noun authority. Business model. I think this is a phrase you're probably familiar with. It's quite common if you're if you read any articles, you listen to the news, they may talk about a company's business model, which is the a description of the different parts of a business or organization showing how they will work together successfully to make money. Here's an example. Despite recent challenges, the company is not planning to change its business model. I think if you're trying to maybe you're you're planning to go into business with another company, of course, you need to do your due diligence and understand and investigate what's going on. And I think it's important that you understand the other company's business model. You know, how does how does it work? What are they trying to sell? What are their goals? What what's their mission? So, very useful phrase. And again, maybe I I'm sure some of this is review, and it's always good to get a little review. Then there's the phrase nervous wreck. This if you say someone is a nervous wreck, it refers to a person who is extremely anxious, worried, or stressed to a point being emotionally overwhelmed, or debilitated. I have never spoken in front of such a large audience. I'm a nervous wreck. So, you could just say that you're a wreck and referring to like, okay, I'm just I'm overwhelmed. But this is a common collocation to say somebody is a nervous wreck whenever you want to capture that high level of anxiety that a person is experiencing. And I I think this is a common example if somebody is going to give a presentation in front of a large audience or in front of their colleagues and people may feel or they may feel like they become a nervous wreck and you experience that anxiety to have some loose ends to tie up. This means to complete the parts of something that have not been completed. And I feel like maybe that that definition, this dictionary definition may be a little hard to follow. In general, if you tell someone that you have some loose ends to tie up, you're really just saying that there are certain things that must be done before you leave or before you go on to the next thing. And really, you might use this because it it doesn't matter what you're doing. Maybe you don't want to explain or go into detail. So, this is a good way of just casually letting someone know, there's still some things that that I have to do in order to finish, in order to meet the deadline, in order to be ready. I I still have some loose ends to tie up before I leave the office. Yeah, I have some loose ends to tie up and there are some things that I must do. So, I really want you to think of that context that you're letting somebody know that there are still some things that need to be done, but it's not important. I don't need to tell you every single little detail about what I'm doing or what has to be finished. And in that case, I could just say, "Look, I just got some loose ends to tie up." All right. Then there's a very very common expression to get everyone on the same page. This is to ensure that a group of people has a shared understanding, agreement, and knowledge about a particular topic, project or goal. And uh you you want to get everyone on the same page. I think you're working uh with a group of people. It's incredibly important that you get everyone on the same page. That way, everyone knows what they have to do and they can pull their their own weight so that the work gets done and some other person's not going to have to pick up the slack. Let's take a moment to get on the same page about the project deadline. So I'm using get everyone on the same page. I think quite often people will just use part of this expression, the idiom on the same page. So there are different there are different uh verbs you can use with this and I've highlighted them right here. Some common collocations to get everyone on the same page. And everyone is optional uh if you want to use it or or not. You could say we need to get all the employees on the same page or we need to get um the the team members on the same page. But you could also keep everyone on the same page. You could often use it with the verb to be and say everyone is on the same page. I think you and I, we are on the same page uh when it comes to building your vocabulary, learning these new phrases, making it a part of your active memory so that you can just use them in in conversation. And you could also have everyone on the same page. These are verbs that you may use with this idiom on the same page. To run behind schedule, this happens to me. I I try to be punctual, but sometimes, you know, I run behind schedule. It happens. I'm sure you can relate to this as well. And there has been a time when you were running behind schedule to do something or happened later than planned or expected. So you could be talking about finishing a paper and you're running behind schedule. Finishing a project and you're running behind schedule. Or just your work in general. Uh you're working with others. Say, "Guys, I'm running behind schedule. I apologize. Would it would it be possible for someone to pick up the slack? Here is my example sentence. It seems that she is often running behind schedule. And you can kind of see that that woman uh running down the street right there trying to capture the the meaning of this expression to run behind schedule. Next is the phrase a tough act to follow. This refers to someone who has been so successful that it will be very difficult for the person who comes next to be as good. And there are many work situations that that you could then use this when whenever somebody's being replaced. And if somebody has done an excellent job in this position like the maybe they were the head of marketing and they get promoted in the company, another person has been hired to become the new uh head of marketing. But you could say wow this you know this is he this person was is a tough act to follow. They did such a good job that it is going to be challenging for the next person to perform their job as well. her leadership style made her a tough act to follow for the incoming manager. So really when you whenever you use this, you're really giving the other person a compliment. The person who is leaving and moving on to another position or even perhaps retiring, you're giving that person a compliment and saying they did such a good job that for whoever comes in next, well, it's it's going to be a tough act to follow. I want to point out that you could use a couple of different words in here when talking about a tough act to follow. You could also say that it's going to be a hard act to follow or a difficult act to follow. And to demonstrate this, I'm using Engram Viewer, which is a useful resource whenever you want to compare the frequency uh of different phrases or words and understand which one is more commonly used. To be honest, I I was a little surprised. I thought it might be more common to say a tough act to follow, but as I learned when I checked that out on Engram Viewer, more often you're going to come across the the phrase and say that wow, this is going to be a hard act to follow. But really any of them would work hard, tough, difficult whenever you're talking about a well a tough act to follow. Then I want to share with you this word which is I I really think this is a useful business word especially in the context of an interview and somebody says well you know talk about some of your strengths uh and they want to know more information about you of course they're they're trying to do their due diligence and understand who what kind of employee you would be and you could say I'm very personable and if you say that you're personable it just means you're you're having an agreeable or or pleasing personality that you're you can meet people and talk with them and work with them and you can get along with others. It really kind of implies all of those things. So, it has a positive connotation if you want to describe someone as being very personable. She's intelligent, hardworking, and personable. All of those are great adjectives when you want to give somebody a compliment and describe the way that they work. So just a word to keep in mind for your next job interview whenever they ask like, "Okay, tell us tell us a little bit about yourself." You say, "Well, I'm hardworking. I'm also very personable." All right. I like to think I'm personable because again, it does have a positive connotation. Keep someone posted. This means to make sure someone knows what is happening. especially in in a situation that is quickly changing. I could say, "I want to know what happens during the meeting. Please keep me posted." And you want to give someone updates. It it is a little similar to get someone up to speed. But there there is a difference. If I'm telling you like, hey, keep me posted, then I'm really asking you to, you know, let me know from time to time what's happening so that I understand what's going on. If you're going to get someone up to speed, it really implies that the other person is behind in some way, they they just have not been around or maybe they're new and then you're trying to get that person up to speed. me posted. I I think often, especially managers, they they want to know what's going on. Even though they're willing to delegate authority to others, they they still want to know what's happening. and therefore they may tell someone else or the team in general, look, just keep me posted so I'm aware of what's going on. To hit the nail on the head, this is an idiom whenever you want to say that something is exactly right. Now, of course, you could use this in other situations that may not be business related. Whenever somebody says something and you agree and you think, "Wow, that was exactly right." You could say you you hit the nail on the head. When she said the project failed due to poor communication, she really hit the nail on the head. It is a little more informal because it's an idiom, but still you could use this in a work setting whenever you want to let someone know or your colleague or whomever that was exactly right. Yeah, you really you really hit the nail on the head. Then there's a pivotal role. This is a phrase that refers to a role that is central, essential, and crucially important to success. And you could say it is a pivotal role. And often you may follow this with the preposition in. Innovation is playing a pivotal role in the company's ability to maintain its market share against competitors. And it's playing a pivotal role in this. Here are some other common collocations. Once again, I've just gone ahead and included in as part of the phrase because it often follows them. But whenever we're talking about the noun role, we've talked about a pivotal role. But you could use other adjectives as well that that really they're interchangeable. If I say somebody has a vital role in doing something or they have a major role or an important role or a unique role or an essential role or even a starring role. This the last one is more for movies and and shows. It's like somebody has a starring role in this this movie. Uh I guess you could use it in business if you just want to have some fun and play around with it. But in general, I think these other ones are more commonly used and you're trying to emphasize the importance that someone has whenever they are playing a pivotal role in something or a vital role or a major role. Take one for the team. Okay. So this is an idiom that means to make a personal sacrifice for the collective benefit of your colleagues. And in that case, you are going to take one for the team. She's willing to do any task and is always ready to take one for the team. In this example, it's almost like maybe nobody wants to do a certain task, but she's willing to do it. Okay, I'll, you know, make the personal sacrifice. I'll take one for the team. This is a fun idiom and one that uh it's very specific when you're talking about taking one for the team and someone is making that personal sacrifice. To phase out, this is a phrasal verb which means to gradually stop using or producing something and you are going to phase it out. the government announced that it would gradually phase out the use of coal powered plants. So the key word in here is gradually because you're not stopping it immediately when you phase something out. There is a period of time and you're going to reduce more and more and more until it's done and you're going to phase something out. great phrasal verb for business because I think this happens all the time when companies maybe there's a policy that you're going to phase out or maybe there's a department that you're not just going to get rid of everybody all at once but maybe you're just going to phase it out over time. There are many different business applications that could get phased out over time and it's a very descriptive phrasal verb and one that yes, I definitely think you should know and use. Here are some news headlines to give you a bit more context. Uh it says swastikas on some Finland Air Force flags to be phased out. Florida will phase out certificates of completion for students with disabilities and they're going to phase it out over time. And finally, Disney announces plans to phase out the standalone Hulu app. Once again, just giving you some more information about this phrasal verb and how it may be used in in a business context. can't handle pressure situations. This is a phrase that refers to the ability to manage, deal with, or control the demands and stress of a circumstance. And I I I think you probably are familiar with it, but it's not a good thing when somebody can't deal with the pressure of a situation. And yeah, you can't. You could just say, "Look, the, you know, he can't handle pressure situations or she can't handle pressure situations." And like I said, I just used it more as a standalone uh statement, and you're basically commenting on someone's inability to deal with the pressure. And I think there are a lot of times in business where there are pressure situations, a negotiation, a presentation, and maybe people maybe they become a nervous wreck right before they're supposed to give the presentation or go into the negotiation. And in that case, you could say, "Yeah, you know, he or she just can't handle pressure situations." Next is the phrase to hold down the fort. This means to take responsibility for a situation while another person is temporarily absent. She had to hold down the fort when the manager was on leave. Somebody had to go away. Another person had to assume responsibility and then that person essentially they were holding down the fort. You may hear people use this when the person who's leaving and is in charge say, "Look, I'm going to step out. I want you to hold down the fort. And they may use it and basically tell this other person, you are now in control. You are now the leader. I want you to hold down the fort. Here is a fun example with this cat. You know, someone's someone's got to hold down the fort. And of course, this cat is certainly certainly holding down the fort. Cut corners. This means to do something quickly by doing it in a less thorough way than you should. So if somebody's cutting corners, they are certainly not paying close attention to detail. We can save some time if we cut a few corners. And generally, just to follow up on this example sentence, I think it really gets to why people end up cutting corners. They do it to save time and they want to finish something faster and maybe move on to something else or maybe it's going to save them some money. And in that case, they may cut a few corners, but it certainly has a negative connotation and it's not good if somebody accuses you of cutting corners. It is it is absolutely frowned upon if you cut corners. Frown up. This is another phrasal verb. It just means to disapprove of something or consider it bad or wrong. Public displays of affection are often frowned upon in conservative cultures. So, this is a way of kind of softening it a little bit. Instead of saying people hate this or they really don't like it, you could say it's just frowned upon. And you could use this in many different business situations. Somebody's new to a company and they're trying to figure out what they should and should not do. Maybe the way that the clothes that they wear to work and you say, "I like I'm maybe going to wear some socks and sandals tomorrow." Something that I probably would do. And somebody would say, "Look, don't do that. It's frowned upon." And I my wife would probably say, "Even wearing socks and sandals out in society, she would say it's frowned upon." Even though, hey, you know, I I like it. All right, that's that's me. I'm just putting it out there. Here's an example. I use sarcasm at work, but slapping the out of someone is frowned upon by management. So, trying to make a little light joke using this phrasal verb and saying that something is frowned upon by management. In this case, yeah, definitely you shouldn't slap people at work. It's not a good thing. Empower employees. This refers to giving them the employees the authority, resources, and autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work without constant oversight. Great corporate leaders will empower their employees to do the right thing. It it's a positive thing because you it shows that you trust the people that work for you when you empower your employees to make decisions and you trust that they're going to do the right thing. This is another great phrase we talked about, for example, to delegate authority. Managers, CEOs, executives may delegate authority to their subordinates, people below them, because they trust them and they're going to empower their employees to make the right decision. Above all, this is a phrase that just means most importantly. I included it because you could use this in a presentation when talking about a list of things. most importantly above all and then you could say what it is. Any furniture you buy must be cheap, attractive, and above all practical. This is a common phrase, one that you probably know and maybe even use. Like I said, some of this is review. It's always good to get a little bit of review. And just to reiterate the usefulness of this phrase, whatever you want to say, most importantly, above all, back to the drawing board. And this is something that probably nobody likes to do, but you may have to do it from time to time and go back to the drawing board. You're going to go back to the beginning of a process to start it again. Mostly because it's not working. We made a major mistake, so we need to go back to the drawing board. I think any time you're working on a team and you're trying to put something together and you realize that it's not working, instead of saying we need to start over, which you could say it's perfectly fine, you could then just use this idiom, we need to go back to the drawing board and we're going to have to start again. Empty promise. It has a negative connotation. I'll go ahead and tell you that it refers to a commitment or assurance that is not sincere or is unlikely to be fulfilled. My boss told me that I'd get a raise at the end of the year. I don't know if I believe him. It may just be an empty promise. It's not good to make empty promises because I think people will pick up on that over time and they're not going to trust you if you are making an empty promise. Here is a fun little visual kind of showing with this empty promise and you're you have this person who is of course lying. You can see their nose right there and they're dangling that carrot in front of people uh to get them to do what they want. And ultimately, it's just an empty promise. Hopefully, the visual makes it a little easier to grasp the meaning. Take the reigns. This means to take control or assume leadership of something such as an organization, government, or project. The after the CEO retired, the COO took the reigns. Refers to like the reins uh on a horse. It's what you're going to use to control the horse. And that's where this phrase comes from when you take the reigns. Instead of just saying like, oh, this somebody uh left the project and this the person was a very important leader on the project. Whoever steps in to fill their shoes, it's going to be a tough act to follow, but I think I can do it. I am willing to take the reigns. I am willing to take control of the situation and I will lead this new project or this effort. So use this whenever you want to basically say that somebody is taking control of a situation or could be a project any type of leadership role and they are taking the reigns. Then we have to fall on deaf ears. It just means to be ignored or disregarded. If you say that something is falling on deaf ears, despite repeated request from the staff, the manager's please for more resources continued to fall on deaf ears. So if I am making a request or a suggestion and it's ignored, then I would then just say look my request it's it's fallen on deaf ears. So, if I am maybe making some type of request to the senior leadership and I'm being ignored, I could say, well, my request has fallen on deaf ears and they are just ignoring me. To give you a little more context, here are some more news headlines. Mega bill debt warnings fall on deaf ears inside the GOP. You are worried about the debt, but it's falling on deaf ears. or China's latest cry for more babies may fall on deaf ears and people are ignoring it. And then calls to reinstate students, professors fall on deaf ears and it's not happening. This is being ignored and it's falling on deaf ears. Put something on the back burner. I like this idiom. It just means to postpone or deprioritize something. And I think in a work context, there are multiple things that you may need to do. And that's why I think this idiom is useful when you depprioritize something and you put it on the back burner. It doesn't mean that you're going to completely ignore it and never get around to it. You're just depprioritizing it and say, "Okay, let's just put that on the back burner and then we'll get to it later." Here's an example. Right now, we have more pressing issues. So, let's put your idea on the back burner for now. And you may be wondering, well, where where does this idiom come from? Well, think about a stove. which is where people are need to address things more immediately where they're cooking. And if something uh is not a priority, they're just going to move it to the back burner so that they can get to it later. So, this is where the idiom comes from. Uh, I thought this was just a little humorous, neglected. Kitten has been put on the back burner. And yeah, it's just it seems like uh the cat's comfortable there getting a little nap while uh put on the back burner. Hit the ground running. This just means you are ready to work immediately on a new activity. If you accept this new position, you're going to have to hit the ground running and you just get started immediately and start working. I think you can use this in different contexts whenever you're starting something, a project, a new position, and you say, "Look, let's let's just hit the ground running, and we need to get going." So, it does have a positive connotation whenever you want to say that you or someone else is going to hit the ground running. Walk the talk. There's a couple of things that I want to say about this uh phrase. It really just means to back up one's boastful talk with meaningful action. So sometimes maybe you if you want to instill confidence in your employees, you may be a bit boastful and this is what we're going to do. This is these are our milestones. This is what we're going to achieve. And you think, wow, that's that's going to be difficult. but because I want to lead by example, I am going to burn the midnight oil and make sure all of these things get done. And in that case, you could say, "Wow, Wes, he's really walking the talk. He is doing the things that he says he's going to do." Here's another example. Employees trust leaders who walk the talk, not just make promises, especially especially those empty promises. Those are not good. I I said there's a some things I wanted to mention about this because there are different ways to phrase this and I I I tried to provide a slight little nuance between them. So, walk the talk backing up one's boastful talk and I am emphasizing the word boastful because it's like you're bragging, you're being very ambitious, but you are actually following it up with meaningful action. When you walk the walk, it simply just means you're going to do what you say. It doesn't mean you're being boastful about it and saying like we're the best, we're the greatest or this is what we're going to achieve. You're just saying this is what needs to get done and yeah, I'm going to do it and I'm going to walk the walk. Or if you talk the talk, it just means to talk about an action in a confident way. That's that that boastful boastfulness so that you seem to be very good at what you're doing. And this is more I I think a little, you know, empty when somebody says they're gonna they just talk the talk. And this one is I I don't think there's really the follow through and the the doing these actions, which would be the walk, the walking the walk or walking the talk. If you just say somebody's just talking the talk, that they're just talking about the things they want to do, but they may not actually do it. So there is a difference between these phrases. Even though if we go back to engram viewer, you can see that I think all three of them are, you know, used at about the same frequency whenever you want to express these different ideas. But I do want you to keep in mind the subtle difference when you use these different phrases. But for the most part, I I feel like walk the talk and walk the walk are somewhat similar uh in and talk the talk is a little different. Then we have on the cusp. This just means on the verge of some beginning point or or the start of some major development. And often you're going to follow this phrase with the preposition of. We you are on the cusp of something. We are on the cusp of a technological revolution. And you could say that right now with AI or even robotics. And there are going to be some major changes in the way that we go about our lives. And we are on the cusp of something that is going to dramatically change our lives. Really, when I think about this phrase, you're you're you're adding a bit of emphasis leading up to something that is major. So, uh, you're probably going to use it or hear it in a presentation and somebody's being a bit dramatic and they want to emphasize that there is going to be a major change and you say that you are on the cusp or we collectively are on the cusp of something major. Here's another well a quick little uh example I think trying to well get you more to appreciate the now. It says you can be on the cusp of something. Appreciate the cusp, not the something. Appreciate this moment now. And I think that's true. I think we are on the cusp of a major uh development with AI. And I want to appreciate the way that things are being done right now because there are going to be a lot of major changes. Some I might like, others I might not like and be like, "Wow, I really wish we could, you know, go back to the way things were when we when we were just on the cusp of this thing." Then we have a phrasal verb branch out. This means to extend or expand one's activities or interest in a new direction. So I could say he started as a mechanic but has branched out into engine repair for boats. So, you could use this uh and it it is a good thing when you branch out. If you're talking about your own career and you're doing this type of work, but you have another interest and you're going to try to branch out, learn more about it so that you can also do this other thing. or if I'm just talking about a company in general that this is their business model and they're going to branch out and try something different in order to grow the business, get new customers, and the company is going to branch out. So, no matter whether you're talking about a person or a company, you could use this phrasal verb in a positive way when you say that someone or some company is branching out. Let's uh let's stick with another phrasal verb. Hammer out. This just means to work out details through discussion. And you're going to hammer out the details or hammer out an agreement or hammer out a framework. Those are some common collocations. But in general, I think you're going to use this when there's maybe a negotiation or a meeting and you're trying to figure things out and you have this back and forth. And that is when you could use this and say you're trying to hammer out the details. Or like in this example sentence, after months of negotiations, the two companies finally managed to hammer out an agreement. So just to review those collocations that I just mentioned, to hammer out the details, hammer out the an agreement, or maybe to hammer out a framework. So great phrasal verb in that negotiation back and forth negotiation context. Bend over backwards. This is an idiom. It refers to well to try extremely hard to help or please someone. And you're bending over backwards to well, possibly to help someone. I've been bending over backwards to help you. You may end up using this out of a sense of frustration or to express that. If I say, "I've been bending over backwards to help out the other colleagues on my team. Unfortunately, it's fallen on deaf ears and I'm being ignored." But I I Yeah, I just been bending over backwards to help people and it's frustrating that nobody will listen. So you're just emphasizing the fact that you are trying extremely hard to either help or please someone when you are bending over backwards. Then we have to overcome obstacles. This is a common collocation. It just means to succeed in dealing with or conquering difficulties or barriers that stand in the way of achieving a goal. It took years to grow a successful business and we had to overcome many obstacles along the way in your career. Uh as you do your job, of course, there are many different obstacles that you need to overcome. So once again, this is a common collocation. We have the noun obstacles and you're you're often going to use it with the verb you to overcome these obstacles. So this is a of course this is a good thing when you overcome obstacles. Here are some news headlines. Just want to give you more context even though I feel like this is a common one. You've probably heard this phrase before. International Women's Day. Give girls role models to overcome obstacles or seven ways to overcome obstacles to using AI and healthcare. And finally, collaborations help the denim industry overcome obstacles. I want to help you overcome obstacles when it comes to building your vocabulary, which is why I do these lessons and try to go through these words and in a very meticulous way and pay close attention to detail. And that is why I want to remind you once again that if you want to get these lesson notes, join my community, click on that link down below in the description. And if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, I I truly hope that at least you learned one thing new. I want you to let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 166. Advanced Color Vocabulary to Brighten Up Your Conversations ๐ŸŒˆ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ym3y24xyA7Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym3y24xyA7Y) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:48:40 | --- I guarantee this will be one of the most colorful English lessons you will ever watch. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I have, well it it, it's two parts. It's a vocabulary lesson as well as a pronunciation lesson. I'm going to talk to you about 12 colors and these are, I'd say these are advanced vocabulary words because some of these colors you may not be familiar with when I show you the colors, you'll notice them, but you might not know the name, but learning these colors will help you be a little more precise when you're having conversations and you're talking about the colors that you see in nature such as flowers or maybe the clothes that people wear or even the cars that they drive. Learning these colors will help. I'm also going to teach you the pronunciation of these words and I will give you both the phonetic spelling and the IPA so that you know how to pronounce them perfectly. The first color I have for you and I, I really like this color that is turquoise. Now turquoise has two syllables and the stresses on the first syllable, Turquoise. Turquoise. This is a blue, green color that is actually named after the the gem and Turquoise is a French word that actually means Turkish because the gem was imported from Turkey. So now you know how to pronounce turquoise and you know a little bit about its history. And when I think of turquoise, I think of the water, the ocean, it's just this turquoise. This blue green I think is really beautiful. It looks very nice and you could describe it as, wow, you know that that is a beautiful turquoise color. This is another example of turquoise. Now if you're wondering what this rubber spoon looking thing is, it's actually used to wipe cream on a baby's bum. It's not for me. We have a baby girl. That's why we have this. I hope you believe me. The next color is fuchsia. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, fyoo-shuh. Fuchsia. Now you may be looking at this color and thinking, well isn't that just pink? It is a bit of a strong pink. But this red purplish color is actually named after the flower of the fuchsia plant. So that is a great example as to when you might talk about this color and use it when, when talking about flowers, perhaps you could use it when talking about the color of somebody's shoes or maybe even a color of lipstick. Fuchsia. Next is navy and this is actually a shade of blue and you might often hear it used in combination with the word blue and people will just say navy blue. And the word has two syllables and the stresses on that first syllable ney-vee. Navy blue. Now this is just a dark blue color and it's also another color that I like cause quite a few of my clothes are our navy. Let let me show you and give you an example. So I could say here comes Wes sporting an all navy outfit with a navy long sleeve shirt and some navy cargo shorts that actually look a little too big. And I don't know why I look like I'm, I'm dancing instead of modeling. Yeah. I, I don't have much of a modeling career as you can tell. Then we have the color crimson and this word also has two syllables and the stresses on that first syllable. That second syllable has a bit of that schwa, that /uh/ sound crimson, and this color is a shade of red. It can actually be described as a strong, bright, deep red, at least according to the Wikipedia page. That is a good way to describe crimson and when I think about this color, I might think of maybe a paint. You're going in the store, you want to paint your room, you want to paint whatever it is, and you might find crimson the color, this strong, the strong red, perhaps the color of somebody's car is a strong crimson red. Then we have this color right here, which is beige. Just one syllable. Very simple, very short, beige and beige is shorthand for I think a variety of colors. It can be used to describe a yellowish brown color to a light brownish gray, and you would just say it's beige. And when I think of this color, I think you would hear it a lot when talking about the color of somebody's clothes. You could say that they have beige pants or trousers or, or a beige hat or a beige jacket. I think you often find a variety of clothes that can be identified as beige. The next color is auburn, two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. And you may be looking at this right now and thinking, well, what is the difference between auburn and crimson? Both of them are our dark shades of red, but I would say Auburn is just slightly darker. It's a slightly darker shade of red than crimson. And when I think of auburn and the way it's used and how it might be discussed, I think of people's hair describing their hair color as auburn, or maybe somebody's going to get highlights in their hair and they want some auburn highlights. You can use this color to describe other things as well, but I just personally ended up thinking about hair, a hair color. Auburn. Another popular color lavender. This word has three syllables and the stresses on that first syllable, lav-uhn-der. And lavender...I know you've seen this color, you may have already heard of it before. It's kind of just a light purple and when I think about this word being used, I think about weirdly enough bedsheets and linens and towels that if it has this, this light purple, it is lavender. Everybody loves lavender. I love lavender as well, which is why I have some lavender sheets. You just can't get enough lavender. Do you guys have lavender sheets? Let me know. Then we have magenta. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable muh-gen-tuh. The first syllable has that schwa that /uh/. Magenta. Now magenta could be defined as a purplish red color. When I see it, I think it is a bit of a pink, a shade of pink, maybe more of a hot pink. But when I also think of Magenta, I again just me. I don't know why I think about the crayons. It reminds me of my childhood and I think back to when I was drawing pictures with crayons because in my box of crayons I remember vividly that there was a crayon magenta. The next color is teal and this word has just one syllable. It's very easy to pronounce teal and this is probably probably my favorite color on this list. Teal. I like that. That blue, green color and fun fact. The name teal comes from the Eurasian Teal, which is a duck that has a stripe on its head, which is the same color teal. Then we have amber, which has two syllables and the stresses on that first syllable, am-ber. And amber is a yellowish orange color and the name comes from the material, the material amber, and when I think of amber, I don't know why I think of paint. Some places are very vibrant and colorful and walking around. You might see buildings or homes or offices that have that color paint and amber color. The next color is burgundy. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, bur-guhn-dee. And burgundy is a dark red and it has a bit of purple in it as well. And the name comes from the burgundy wine. That's where it comes from. Burgundy wine. And I think the color burgundy is often associated with with clothing. Somebody could have a burgundy colored jacket or maybe burgundy socks, perhaps a burgundy hat. Basically anything that you wear, it could be burgundy. Then we have scarlet. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and we're going back to a shade of red. This is a bright red with a bit of an orange feel to it and scarlett is another one of those colors. I think you might often hear it with the word red and people would describe something as being a scarlet red, such as again, the color of somebody's hair. I, when I hear the word scarlet, I think of a hair color and somebody describes it as being scarlet, scarlet red. So now you just greatly expanded your color vocabulary and, and I want to hear from you. Out of all of these colors that you just learned today, which is your favorite, I already told you that, that mine would be teal. I like that, that blue green color, that teal color. Let me know in the comments which color you prefer. If you enjoyed this lesson and you learn something new, please hit that like button. And as always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 167. Advanced English #Idiom | to pick up the slack ๐Ÿ‹๏ธโ€โ™‚๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WdYcIq-Q-uA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdYcIq-Q-uA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:55:27 | --- to pick up the slack this is a great idiom when talking about working with a group because it means to improve a situation by doing something that someone has not done or completed so if some work has not been completed maybe you have to pick up the slack we're all going to have to dig deep and band together to pick up the slack while your mother recovers and we Roy going we got a smaller crew and I'm picking up all of his slack so I think I should be compensated so if you are working in in a group you may need to pick up the slack if someone calls in sick you may need to pick up the slack if a member of your team goes on vacation and you may need to pick up the slack if other people on your team are just a bunch of slackers and a slacker is an informal noun for well a lazy person who does not work very hard and if you are working with someone else who is a slacker then yes you may need to pick up the slack --- ## 168. Advanced English Grammar that Will BLOW YOUR MIND ๐Ÿคฏ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `EzCYag46_XY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzCYag46_XY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:37:33 | --- I'm going to teach you some grammar that will blow your mind. It's confusing, it's tricky, and I'm going to try to clear it all up for you. And if you are someone who enjoys fine-tuning your fluency skills and learning about grammar, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes, the channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. Let's go ahead and jump into it. And this is a quiz lesson. I'm not going to spend too much time on the questions, but mostly just going over the answer and talking about, you know, what's going on and providing some nuance. So, here's here's the first question. Choose the grammatically correct sentence. She suggested me to take the train. She suggested that I take the train. Or she suggested that I took the train. This is something that a lot of people get this wrong. So, I hope I truly hope that you chose B as the correct answer. She suggested that I take the train. If you did not choose B, really really try to remember what I'm about to tell you. So, when you're talking about the verbs suggest and recommend, I want you to follow the the pattern that I'm outlining right there. You're going to use the verb plus that. I mean, you could omit that if you want to, but then the subject and the base verb. Here are some examples right here. I suggest that you wake up early. Once again, that you can have or you can remove it altogether. We recommend you dress appropriately. She suggested I get more exercise. I recommend [laughter] that you hit the like button. Yes, that is something that I recommend. And if you love these lessons and developing your skills, yeah, I'd really appreciate it. That is what I recommend, that you hit the like button. Now, there are other patterns that you can use when we're talking about suggest and recommend, and let me go over those right now. So, we've already talked about suggest recommend plus that plus the subject plus the base verb. You could also use suggest or recommend followed by a gerund. He recommended arriving on time. That works. Or suggest and recommend plus the noun. She suggested the restaurant nearby. So, the one thing I really want you to take away is that when you're using suggest or recommend, you're not going to use the subject plus two and then the base verb, and that is a common mistake. Now, whenever I have talked about this, some people they they just don't believe me. And just to to reiterate this, this is from Cambridge, and it's talking about the verb suggest along with typical errors. I'm not going to go over the whole thing. I I just want you to look right here. He suggested that I should apply for a job in a bank or insurance company. Not he suggested me to apply. They've even crossed it out saying, "Do not use this structure." To be perfectly honest, it really does sound awkward when I hear this structure right here. He suggested me to do something. So, remember, you're going to use suggest or recommend plus that plus the subject plus the base verb. And if you would like to to get these lesson notes so that you can remember the grammar that we're going over, check out the link down below in the description. Download the notes when you join my email community. If you are already a part of the community, check your inbox. I have sent them to you, but you can check out that link down in the description. The next question is this is something else that is incredibly confusing, and I and I understand why. What would you say? Your voice is soothing. What? Are you going to say can you read this story to me or can you read this story for me? I think when it comes to to me, for me, uh yeah, it it it can definitely be tricky. So, the answer I would say your voice is soothing, can you read this story to me? Now, there are different nuances between to me and for me, which I'm going to go over right now, but very quickly when you think of to me, it's more like uh you know, you're you're receiving something. Can you read this to me? Can you explain this to me? Can you show this to me? If you're going to use for me, think about like it's it's for your benefit. Maybe you're not able to. So, you may say to somebody, "Hey, can you read this for me?" But when I hear that, I think about well, for some reason maybe you're not able to read it. I'm not wearing my glasses and I say, "I look, I don't know. Can can you do this for me?" And it's for my benefit. So, you're going to use to me when it emphasizes something that is perceived. That's news to me. Whenever [snorts] you're expressing an opinion, to me your plan is not going to work. Movement, bring it to me. Uh or something that impacts you personally. If it can happen to me, it can happen to you. For me, I've already mentioned like it's done for your benefit. Can you do the homework for me? Okay, I can't do it for some reason. Maybe I don't want to do it. Can you do it for me? Maybe to satisfy your needs. It's really helpful in order for me to get ahead. Or just something that affects you personally. This is too spicy for me. For me as an individual. I I want to follow up on this and and really make a little bit of a distinction when, you know, perceived opinion versus, you know, something that affects you personally. And I'm giving you some examples with both of them. So, let's look at this first one. This problem sounds difficult to me. All right, this is my opinion. I don't know how to solve it. It sounds difficult to me. If I were to say, "This problem is too difficult for me. I can't solve it." In that case, I'm really talking about how it's affecting me. It's difficult for me. Hopefully, it makes sense as I'm, you know, reading this and we're looking at it and going over it. Here's another one. This is important to me. You must help. All right, I think it's it's important to me. This is my opinion. If I were to say, "This is important for me. You must help." I think it adds a little bit of emphasis, maybe even a little desperation, because it really does impact you personally. If you're saying this is important for me. Like more I need this. And then finally, and this is probably a little more interchangeable, which again is why this is confusing. This vocabulary is new to me versus this vocabulary is new for me. If you were to say those sentences, either one, I I don't think I would really take notice as far as perhaps the difference between them. But to follow up on this, if you want to see which is more commonly used, we can check out Ngram Viewer and I put in it's new to me versus it's new for me. And as you can see, you're more likely to come across somebody using to me in this context. Like, "Look, it's new to me." This vocabulary is new to me. This is a great resource if you really just want to know, okay, this is a phrase or these words, like what are people more likely to use and you can use this resource. What do you think? We were planning a family trip over the weekend. However, when we saw the weather report, it looked like it was going to rain mm the end, we decided to wait until the following weekend. Which word are you going to put in there? I've highlighted the whole phrase mm the end. And this is a common mistake that I hear. I think people are are familiar with both phrases. But once again, I want to help you eliminate and avoid some silly mistakes. So, in this situation, I hope you would have said in the end. In the end, we decided to wait until the following weekend. Often, this gets confused with at the end. So, let's have a look at in the end versus at the end. We're going to use in the end when we want to refer to the outcome of events or disclose a result. In the end, you know, what did we decide? We did what was best for the kids. Think of in the end as like saying ultimately, um you know, this is the result. This is what we decided to do. At the end, it's really a bit more specific because you're going to use this when referring to the end of something or want to indicate a specific time or place. What happened at the end of the story? I'm talking about that point at the end of the story. And then you might say, well, in the end, the character decided to do this. It's saying ultimately, this is what happened, the result. Also, I want to point out, and this is another reason why it's confusing, at the end of the day. So, at the end of the day, this means after everything is considered, ultimately, you've already heard me mention that. In this case, at the end of the day is similar to in the end. But if we're just talking about in the end and at the end. We're just remember when it comes to at the end, think about specific point in time. But if we're going to use the expression at the end of the day, you know, this is what we decided. Ultimately, similar to in the end. I know this can be incredibly confusing. But uh just keep in mind in the end, ultimately at the end like that specific point. Here is your next question. Did you watch my new lesson on YouTube? Are you going to use the preposition in, on, or at? So we're talking about YouTube and in this case, you're going to use on. Did you watch my new lesson on YouTube? When it comes to prepositions, this is another time when I hear people make make just common mistakes. And when this happens, I people still understand what you're trying to say. But this is more about speaking accuracy. You want to make sure you're using the right preposition. Did you watch my new lesson on YouTube? Here are some general rules that you can follow when it comes to in, on, at. So when it comes to in, think about this enclosed space surrounded on all sides. It's used to talk about locations within a larger area. Like what is going on in your neighborhood? All right, neighborhood is within some larger area. It's used to talk about workplaces or industries. With a car, van, or taxi, get in the car. With water, in a lake, in a river. With class or with printed materials, I read it in a book. On is used when referring to like a surface. Maybe it's attached to something. It's used to refer to a position on any surface. Talk about a floor in a building, on the first floor or second floor. Describes a position along a road or river. I'm sure you've heard the phrase on the side of the road. It's used to talk about being on public transit, bus, plane, motorcycle. Used with left or right and with the media, on YouTube, on Netflix. At specific points, specific location. Used to refer to a position or location as a point. At work, at school, at church. Used to refer to an address. I live at such and such address. Used to refer to most shops or public areas. Refers to group activities or with school or university. I go to school at this, you know, name the school. And finally, you're going to use it with home or work. So, these are some general rules that you can keep in mind whenever we're talking about the prepositions in, on, or at. Here is the next one. What do you think? He acts as if he mhm the boss. Is, was, were. Which one best completes the sentence? I say best because I feel like there is a grammatically correct answer, but at the same time colloquially, you you may hear something else. I don't want to be too strict with the these grammar rules. So, in this case, this is an example of the subjunctive. He acts as if he were the boss. So, here is the explanation. When describing an unreal situation, because he's not the boss, the verb following as if is in the past subjunctive, usually using were for all subjects. Now, I said that this is like the grammatically correct answer, the subjunctive. He acts as if he were the boss, but uh colloquially, you may hear someone say was because you have that subject-verb agreement. He acts as if he was the boss. So, I'm not going to be too strict when it comes to this because you may hear was, but just keep in mind the grammatically correct answer would be to use the subjunctive were. This time, I want you to choose the best question for the following statement when having a casual conversation. My friend is traveling to South America. What What do you think would be the correct question? Where are he or she going? Where are they going? Where is he or she going? Which question would you ask? If If I were to say, "Look, hey, I have a friend uh you know, my friend is traveling to South America." And you have a follow-up question and you're going to ask one of these. This is a little bit It's not really a trick question. I I do want to focus on well, what is grammatically correct, but also what is commonly used. So, what I would say is B, "Where are they going?" And you may think, "Wait a second. Why are you using they?" Because they refers to more than one person. But, we're talking about the singular they has become the pronoun of choice to replace he and she in cases when the gender of the antecedent, the word the pronoun refers to, is unknown. To put it in, you know, simpler terms, you can use they as a gender-neutral pronoun. If you tell me, you say this to me, "My friend is traveling to South America." I do not know if your friend is a man or woman. And when you say, you know, he or she, it can sound just a little wordy. It It's It's just not as smooth. So, naturally in spoken English, people are going to just say, "Well, where are they going?" And I'm going to use they as a gender-neutral pronoun. And to back up my claim, all right, I'm I'm going to cite some evidence for you. The Associated Press settles the matter. So, the Associated Press weighed in on the matter in March 2017 and as far as talking about what is accepted, especially stylistically, it came out and said, yes, you can use they as a gender neutral pronoun. It is acceptable. It is grammatically correct. So, now you know. Here is the next question. I want you to choose the grammatically correct sentence. He is used to work late at night. He is used to working late at night. He is used to working late at night. Now, I'm sure that you chose the correct answer, which is C. He is used to working late at night. So, in this case, I'm following used to with either a noun or gerund. In the example, I'm following it with the gerund working. Used to working. It just means you are accustomed or familiar with something. Just That is the meaning of used to plus the noun or gerund. Here's another example. I'm not used to eating late at night. And I'm not used to doing something. If I'm going to use used to followed by a base verb, then this this is more of a modal verb that has a different meaning. It's used to describe past habits, states, or repeated actions that are no longer true in the present. Here's an example. I used to go dancing on the weekends. It's something I did in the past, but I no longer do it in the present. So, the meaning is going to change depending on whether you follow it with a noun or gerund or whether you're going to follow it with the base verb. Let me give you a couple more examples. So, here is used to plus noun or gerund again. The meaning is you're accustomed to something. You're familiar with it. When everything is going wrong in your life, but you're used to it. And following it with the pronoun it. You're used to it. I'm accustomed to this happening. This is a fun little meme. Used to plus the base verb. Again, this is a modal verb. We're describing something in the past, but you just no longer do it. Thought this was funny. I used to be a people person, but people ruined that for me. And you just you you are no longer a people person in the present, but in the past you used to be a people person. Here is the next question, or it's really just a a fill-in-the-blank. Which which phrase are you going to use? This is the first time I mhm sushi. Are we going to use have eaten, had eaten, or am eating? The the key phrase that I'm going to highlight is this well, the first time. And that would really give it away. But in this case, you're going to say this is the first time I have eaten sushi. So, the present perfect tense is used with the phrase the first time to describe an experience that is new or has just happened. It emphasizes the novelty of the experience and its connection to the present. This is the first time that I have done something. Keep that in mind as far as that phrase. First time, present perfect. The first time I have eaten sushi. This is the first time I have gone fishing. This is the first time I've seen fireworks. And just the novelty of that experience. How are you going to complete this sentence? And I'm not really I'm not giving you any options right here. The you work, the likely you will have a better result. I I think you can probably figure it out. The you work, the likely you will have a better result. The words that you should use to complete the sentence the harder you work, the more likely you will have a better result. Now, if you instead of harder said more, the more you work, the more likely you will have a better result. Okay, that works. The point that I'm trying to make is just provide an example of a double comparative. Sometimes this can be confusing, but double comparatives are phrases that show a a cause and effect relationship. Here are some more examples that will hopefully maybe clear up some confusion. The less money I spend, the less I have to worry about saving because you're able to save. Or the faster the car is, the more dangerous it is to drive. Again, using two different comparatives, faster, more dangerous, that cause and effect relationship. The more the students study for the test, the higher their scores will be. Cause and effect. Just keep that that's the main thing I want you to keep in mind when it comes to these double comparatives. The more the students study for the test, yeah, it makes sense that the higher the test scores will be. How would you complete this sentence? I really need is a cup of coffee. There are maybe a couple words that you could use, uh but there's one uh one in particular that I want to talk about, which is the word what. What I really need is a cup of coffee. And in this case, using what in this sentence, it is a cleft sentence, a what cleft sentence. You may be thinking, what the hell are cleft sentences? So, cleft sentences are complex sentences that have a meaning we can express with a simple sentence. Of course, you don't have to say what I need is a cup of coffee. You can just say I I need a cup of coffee. So, you can use a what cleft to draw attention to the most interesting or important part. Here are some examples. What they did was give us a refund. Of course, I could just say, you know, oh, they gave us a refund. But, if I want to draw attention to it, I say, oh, what they did is give us a refund. What she wants is some peace and quiet. Really adding emphasis when I use this what she wants. Or what we need to do is get some batteries. I think this is a common use of a what cleft sentence. Somebody saying, look, what we need to do is this thing. And you're just emphasizing something that needs to get done. Instead saying, look, oh, we need to do this. What we need to do is blah blah blah blah. So, those are what cleft sentences. And now you know. Which sentence would you choose? Neither of the answers are correct. Neither of the answers were correct. Or neither of the answers is correct. Just look at it right now. Which one do you think, okay, this is the right answer. And this is a little bit of a trick question. Neither of the answers is correct. What I want you to understand is this explanation. Neither is a singular pronoun. It refers to not either of two things or people and therefore requires a singular verb. Neither of the answers is correct. If you said neither of the answers are correct, that that also works. And you may use that and you may come across that casually in spoken English. So, that's why I said it's a little bit of a trick question, but to follow up on that, this is from the Britannica Dictionary talking about the usage of neither. According to the rules of grammar, the pronoun neither, or neither if you want to use that pronunciation, is singular and requires a singular verb. Neither is correct. However, and this is why I tried to trick you a little bit, in informal writing and speech, the plural form is common when neither is followed by of. Neither of the answers is or are correct would be okay. Either one or neither of them know or knows my friend, and you can use either the singular or plural verb, but just to reiterate, neither is considered a singular pronoun. It really just depends on whether you're just saying neither or neither of something. Keep that in mind. Here's the next one. I started learning English mhm an early age. Are you going to complete this sentence with since or from? In an example like this, I think since and from are commonly confused. So, the correct answer is B, from. I started learning English from an early age. Let's now talk about why. So, you're going to use from to denote the starting point of an event, action, or journey. You're going to use since to indicate a point in time that continues to the present. Uh I'm giving you some examples hopefully to to clear clear up any confusion. So, the doctor will be here from 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, all right? Starting at that point in time, from 10:00 a.m. The doctor has been here since 10:00 a.m. Indicating that point that's continues to the present, since 10:00 a.m. The exhibition runs from March to May. That is the the starting point of this event or action or the exhibition has been running since March. Talking about that time in the past continuing to the present. So, just keep that in mind because this one it would sound a little awkward if you used since with early age. You're going to do something from an early age. And think of that as a collocation from an early age. The next the next question. And this is actually a question. Everyone left. >> [laughter] >> What are you probably wondering like wait, what what do you want me to say? It is a question. So, just keep that in mind. How would you complete this question? Everyone left. I don't know if that helps you me making these gestures, but what I'm trying to get to is these tag questions. Everyone left, didn't they? So, tag questions this is a statement and followed by a mini question. We use tag questions to ask for confirmation. Just keep in mind the the pattern here. You have a positive statement followed by a negative tag. You have money, don't you? Now, if we have a negative statement, you don't have money, do you? We need to use a positive tag in that case because the negative is already in the statement. You don't have money, do you? So, these questions they're incredibly useful when we're talking about that that confirmation that you want to get from someone. Like oh, you don't have money, do you? I forgot my wallet, you know. All right, you don't have money, do you? Uh here is the next one. If I had eaten earlier, I mhm right now. Not giving you any options, but hopefully you can kind of put it together. And I hope you enjoy that uh that image right there. I thought it was funny. If If had eaten earlier, I mhm right now. So, the answer, the way I'd complete the sentence, if I had eaten earlier, I wouldn't be hungry right now. This is an example of a mixed conditional. We're talking about a past condition, in which case we're going to use the past perfect along with a present result. And I'm going to use would plus the base verb. So, we have conditionals like the zero conditional, first conditional, second conditional, third conditionals, but we can mix them up, which is why uh it can be confusing. Past condition plus a present result. Here are some other examples. If you had asked for directions, you wouldn't be lost. So, in this case, you did not ask for directions, right? It didn't happen. And what's the result right now? Well, we're lost. And I can express that using this mixed conditional. Or if they had taken the train, they would be here by now. Past condition, present result. And if I had taken my medicine, I would feel better. And unfortunately, I didn't take the medicine, and that's why I feel a little a little sick or nauseous right now. We decided to go out mhm, the rain. In spite of, despite, or both are correct? Maybe I'm trying to trick you here. What do you think? In spite of, despite, or C, both of them are correct. We decided to go out Both are correct. In spite of the rain or despite the rain. Both of them are correct. These These two are They're really interchangeable, but I I would like to follow up on this. This is from Cambridge, talking about in spite of and despite. I'll just read through this quickly. In spite of and despite are prepositional expressions. In spite of and despite have a similar meaning to although or even though. They express a contrast between two things. They are both more common in writing than speaking, and take note of that because I think in spoken English, people are really going to use although or even though probably more frequently. spite of. We usually use in spite of and despite with a noun. Here's another example. They arrived to the airport late despite leaving in plenty of time, and I'm using that gerund leaving. They arrived to the airport late in spite of leaving in plenty of time. Either one is correct, they mean the same thing. You can use in spite of or despite. There is a bear in our neighborhood mhm sometimes rummages through our garbage cans. If you're unfamiliar with the word rummage, it just means to look through something quickly and carelessly. So, the bear may rummage through a garbage can. I may rummage through my closet or suitcase. Going to add a little vocabulary into this lesson for you just for fun. So, the answer is that. There is a bear in our neighborhood that sometimes rummages through our garbage cans. And when we're talking about these relative clauses that, which, who, you know, they can be confused every now and then. Just remember that that is used when referring to people, animals, or things, which when referring to animals or things, and who when referring to people. If we're talking about a restrictive clause, in that case, the information is needed. We're going to use that or who. If we're talking about a nonrestrictive clause, then and the information is not needed, then we'll use which or who. Sometimes people get confused, especially with animals, uh I may hear who, and in this case, when we're talking about dogs, cats, or in this case a bear, you're going to use that. This is a restrictive clause. There's a bear in our neighborhood that sometimes rummages through our garbage cans. I need that information. It's a restrictive clause, and if my choice is between that or who, talking about animals, I'm going to use that. He didn't realize what doing. And this >> [laughter] >> this guy looks like that in in this picture. There are several words that are missing here. And this is a This is a common mistake. I come across this quite frequently, especially in just discussions. People are talking casually, and they might say this sentence. He didn't realize what he [snorts] was doing. He didn't realize what he was doing. But in conversation, the mistake that gets made is because of that what there. In normal with a question, the subject and verb are going to be inverted. Somebody would say, "He didn't realize what was he doing?" And to my ears, when I hear that, it sounds awkward. You're going to use he didn't realize what he was doing. This is a noun clause, and within this clause, you're going to follow the normal subject-verb pattern. Within a noun clause, the subject comes before the verb even when the noun clause begins with a question word such as what, where, when, why, who. Here are some examples. I don't know who he is. And I think that's a common uh time when this mistake is made. Somebody will say, "I don't know." And then they're going to follow it with a noun uh a question word and then a noun clause. I don't know what, or I don't know who, I don't know how. But you want to use that subject-verb. Uh here's another example. Please tell me how you got lost. Or we know what we must do. And I'm following that subject-verb pattern. She's New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. Are you going to complete this sentence with been to or gone to? Sometimes these phrases can be a little confusing. I want to clear that up. I hope that you said gone to. She's gone to New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. So, there is a difference between been to and gone to. What is it? So, you're going to use been to to describe completed actions. I have already been to the store and now I'm back. All right? But, I've already been through to the store. It's completed. Or we have been to India twice in the last year. And I'm I'm no longer in India at this point. Gone to is describing a visit that you have not returned from just yet. He's gone to the toilet. He'll be back soon. You missed her. You just missed her. She's already gone to bed. Or of course I could say, she's gone to New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. Then that case you know, okay, she's still in New York. Keep some of this in mind. Hopefully with these example sentences, it kind of sheds light as to what's going on as to the meaning and thinking, okay, been to it's completed, gone to, okay, you're not back just yet. How would you complete this sentence? It is high time you your homework. Are you going to use do, did, or have done with that phrase? It's high time. All right? We're adding a little emphasis talking about, you know, something that should have been changed a long time ago, but we're going to use the past did. It is high time you did your homework. Here's the explanation. It is high time is a phrase used to refer to something that should have been done in the past and you want to emphasize that this really needs to get done right now. I I could say and and again high time really adds emphasis, but it's also common to say it's about time, which is a phrase maybe you're familiar with or just somebody saying look, it's time we you're going to use that past tense. So, that's what I wanted to really show you right here. Giving you some suggestions as well. It's high time you subscribe to the channel and I'm really adding emphasis. If I say it's about time you subscribe to the channel, that is more commonly used and you're going to come across that it's about time yes, you did something or you know, we can take out about. It's time you subscribe to the channel. That is also commonly used and I could use that as well. It's time that you subscribe to the channel. Hopefully more that I keep telling you that you should do this, you're then more likely to subscribe to the channel. It's high time you subscribe to the channel just adding that emphasis. I thought this was humorous and I think humor is a good way to learn the language and understand it. Well, this is just more of a rhyme. It's high time for pie time. I don't know. It sounds it's I I thought it was funny at the time. Maybe now that I'm in the moment it doesn't seem as funny. So, I apologize. Here's the next one. Not until the last moment that the event was canceled. Are going to use did we learn, had we learn or do we learn? I hope that you chose A, did we learn. Not until the last minute did we learn that the event was canceled. I did say the right one, A, didn't I? Yes, it was A. Did we learn? I forgot for a second. Okay, here's the explanation. Uh this cuz this is inversion. We use inversion after negative adverbials, in this case like not until. This means reversing the normal subject-verb word order word order in a sentence. We can use inversion to add emphasis. All right, talking about just creative ways to add emphasis, but that's why this grammar can be confusing. And we're going to add emphasis because it has a persuasive and impressive effect. Like not until the last moment did we learn that the event was canceled. And you know, I think this is very useful in storytelling because you're adding that emphasis and it's persuasive and it's yeah, it just really captures your attention. Not until the last moment did this thing happen. So this is an example of inversion and we're going to invert the the subject and the verb in this case did we learn moving that modal ahead of the subject. Which sentence uses reported speech correctly? I'll just read the three. A, she said that she had visited the museum yesterday. B, she said that she had that she has visited the museum yesterday. Or C, she said she visited the museum yesterday. And I think I forgot sorry, it was C. There should be uh quotation marks to end the quote after yesterday. Which sentence uses reported speech? Sorry about that that mistake. It's not C, okay? I'll go ahead and tell you, C is not the answer. The answer is A. She said that she had visited the museum yesterday. In reported speech, the past perfect had visited is used to describe an action completed before the reporting verb said. So, said is the reported the reporting verb and I'm going to use the past perfect because it's completed. We're talking about yesterday. That is my time expression. She said that she had visited the museum yesterday. That is the rule to follow. These are commonly confused. At the store, we need to pick up some fruit. Mhm, apples, bananas, and watermelon. Am I going to use e.g. or i.e.? At the store, we need to pick up some fruit and I'm, you know, coming up with this list and in this case, I'm going to use e.g. So, both e.g. and i.e. they they stand for something. E.g. stands for well, this is the like the the Latin, I believe, exempli gratia. I'm not going to try to pronounce it, but it just means for example. And you're giving these different examples. I love eating exotic fruits. E.g. for example, durian, passion fruit, horn melon, guava, and jackfruit. I.e. is the abbreviation for id est. This means in other words. I could say the the fact that they came up with something like I don't even I I I think I wrote I don't even know why I wrote this. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia It's a long word. I.e. instead of the fear of long words shows that psychiatrists do have a sense of humor. So, this is a word. It basically means the fear of long words. So, instead of saying this long word, I can use i.e. the fear of long words. Instead of hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia And I And again, I can't even go through it. But yeah, check this out. This is This is what it means. The fear of long words. And yeah, I guess psychiatrists do have a sense of humor. Just keep in mind, e.g. for example, i.e. instead of. Complete the sentence with the correct verb. Which verb tense would complete this sentence? By the time you arrive, I mhm my homework. This is an example, and really by the time, you know, is an indicator, but you're going to use the future perfect. Whenever you see by the time, you should think perfect tense. And then you just need to decide, okay, is it the past perfect or the future perfect? Uh so, in this case, we're going to use the future perfect construction. It's used to express an action that will be completed before a specific time in the future. By the time you arrive, you have not arrived just yet. This is in the future. Now, what will happen before then? I will have completed, or I will have finished, my homework. I'm using the future perfect tense. If I wanted to give you an example on the right, like by the time I arrived, and I'm talking about in the past, everyone had already eaten dinner. And now I'm using the past perfect. Everyone had eaten dinner. So, anytime you see by the time, just think of perfect tense, either future or past. But since we're talking about the future perfect, it is a verb tense that is not as often used, which is why it can be a little tricky or confusing, which is what makes it more advanced grammar. And here are a lot of example sentences uh using the future perfect tense. I'll I'll just read a couple of them. Um by next Friday, I will have finished my report. And then I'm giving you, okay, what is like what's happening? The action of finishing the report will be completed by next Friday. Uh number two, by the time we arrive, uh, they will have left the restaurant. The action of leaving the restaurant will be completed before we arrive. You can, you know, go through the rest of them. Like I said, download these notes. I really do think that reading through these different sentences help understand the grammar concepts that I've been going over in the lesson. Did you catch mhm fish today? Are you going to use some or any? Once again, this is when I hear people make a simple mistake. We're talking about a question, so we're going to use any. Did you catch any fish today? And there are rules that you can follow when it comes to some and any, even though there are also exceptions, which is what makes grammar pretty annoying. So, in general, you're going to use some when talking about affirmative statements. And I'm I'm going to actually bounce back and forth. Here are a couple of examples. I have some extra pizza or we have some questions. Both of those are affirmative statements. In general, you're going to use any when making negative statements or asking questions. I don't want any pizza or a question, are there any questions? Now, the exception would be that you're offering something and in that case you you'll use some. Would you like some tea? Would you like some coffee? So, when you offer something, you'll use some. There are also exceptions with conjunctions like if or whether. And in this case, it's a statement, "Please tell me if you have any questions." And we're using if, "If you have any questions." Uh, there's also, uh, useful phrases. That's some plus a noun. And he said, I don't I don't know if you've read the book Charlotte's Web, but this is part of it. That's some pig. You're saying, "Wow, that is very impressive." And there's also the phrase and then some. You're kind of talking about a little extra or a little more than what's indicated. They paid us a thousand dollars and then some. Right? We don't know what that extra is, but that's how I'm saying it, and then some. And then the useful phrase with any by any means necessary. We must win by any means necessary. The phrases, this is more vocabulary. Don't try to think about those as far as some of these rules are concerned, but those are useful phrases or phrases that you could use with some or any, but just in general, keep it in mind. In general, some with affirmative statements and in general any with negative statements or questions, that uh I think is for the most part going to clear up any of those mistakes. Which sentence is correct? He stopped to smoke because he was coughing, or he stopped smoking because he was coughing. There's a reason why I've chosen this as an example, mostly because of the verb stopped. So, the correct answer is B. He stopped smoking because he was coughing. Stop smoking means that you quit, while stop to smoke means that you really just paused whatever it was you were doing in order to smoke. So, the context, it wouldn't it wouldn't really fit in this case because somebody's coughing and I want to say that the person quit. He stopped smoking because he was coughing. Now, I mentioned the verb stop because when it comes to verbs that are either followed by gerunds or infinitives, for the most part many verbs uh you're either just going to follow it with a gerund or you're just going to follow it with an infinitive. Some verbs, such as the verb like, you can follow it with either a gerund or infinitive. I like teaching English. I like to teach English. Both of them are okay, and they mean the same thing. And that's the key thing that I want to highlight right here, because with these verbs right here, you can follow them with either a gerund or infinitive, but the meaning changes. Just like I was showing you with stop doing something versus stop to do something. And I'm not again, I'm not going to go through all these examples, but I just wanted to point out those verbs. Stop, try, remember, forget. You can follow those verbs with either a gerund or an infinitive, but depending on which one you use, the meaning is going to change. And hopefully that this was a very clear example. Stop smoking and you quit smoking versus stop to smoke or stop to do something and you pause whatever it is you're doing in order to do whatever activity. So, I hope that I just blew your mind with all of this different, confusing, tricky, advanced grammar. And if I did blow your mind and you learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 169. Advanced English Vocabulary Youโ€™ll Actually Use (C2 Level) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8iLhWTPReJY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iLhWTPReJY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:47:46 | --- I want to teach you some Advanced C2 phrases to help you build your vocabulary and C2 is cambridge's highest level which shows that you are basically a proficient English speaker now you are probably looking at me and thinking hey this guy looks familiar but perhaps you can't quite put your finger on it and that is the first phrase that I want to teach you to put my finger on something this means to discover the exact reason why a situation is the way it is and there are three things that I want to tell you about this phrase now often the something is just going to be it which is talking about the situation to put my finger on it the next thing that you should know is you're likely to hear this being used with the negative I cannot put my finger on it or I'm not able to put my finger on it and finally I think most of the time you're going to hear this phrase being used with can't quite I can't quite put my finger on it now I said that maybe you think I look familiar but you can't quite put your finger on it so let me help you maybe you think that I look a little like Mr Beast or Andy from the office I I get that from time to time when pronouncing this phrase keep in mind linking may occur this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word and it's almost like we're moving that consonant sound over so we can link the phrase finger on it finger on it I can't quite put my finger on it just listen for it something evil I can't put my finger on it this is one thing missing what well I can't quite put my finger on it something was off but I couldn't quite put my finger on it so as we go through the lesson I am going to teach you the meaning of each phrase I'll talk about how it's commonly used as well as go over the pronunciation so that you can say them just like me and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if you don't subscribe you're going to be kicking yourself later and that is the next phrase that I want to teach you to kick yourself it's not a good thing this is used to say that you are very annoyed with yourself because you've done something stupid or you've missed out on the chance to do something now often you may follow this phrase with the preposition for to kick yourself for well doing something or for not doing something so let me give you some examples of things that I have been kicking myself for so I've been kicking myself for not investing in Apple stock many years ago I've also been kicking myself for eating chocolate late at night and that's because it it just doesn't help me sleep and I've also been kicking myself for not exercising enough this year that is something that I told myself that I was going to do and I haven't done enough of it and that's why I've been kicking myself for it just keep in mind we're going to use the reflexive pronoun to kick myself for something to kick yourself to kick himself to kick herself and we use that reflexive pronoun for pronunciation I think it's pretty simple and straightforward you're just going to say one word right after the other to kick yourself you know your mom's kicking herself for missing your swim team finals I still kick myself for missing that topless cheerleader with 100 foot chocolate teddy bear D you don't like boo boo but tomorrow you might and you'll be kicking yourself not entering this contest now if you would like to improve your speaking in pronunciation skills because maybe you think you're making a slight mistake but you can't quite put your finger on it well there's a great app that I think can help you so let me quickly tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson Elsa speak this is an app that I first heard about from many of you so let's check it out you just download the app and then you can start exploring many of the different features you can have ai conversations practice daily lessons improve pronunciation let's say that you want to focus on a specific topic like small talk you just go to study by topic small talk and there are many different lessons to choose from but I think one of the coolest features is to be able to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so I can just put in the sentence I can't quite put my finger on it and then we can listen to it I can't quite put my finger on it and then practice saying it I can't quite put my finger on it now let me show you what happens if I make a pronunciation mistake I can't quit put my funger on it as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try to make adjustments so use the Link in the description or scan the QR code on the screen to download Elsa and get 7 Days of a pro membership for free or you can use the other Link in the description to get 85% off a lifetime membership or 40% off a one-year membership so take advantage of this opportunity so that you're not kicking yourself later and check out the links and discounts below let's get back to our C2 phrases and the next one that I have for you is at your own risk this is really used to serve as a warning with full understanding that what you're doing is dangerous and you are responsible for your own safety so it's like you can do something dangerous but you are responsible so you should do it at your own risk to help give you a better understanding as to how this phrase is used I have some news headlines for you beware typing these four characters will make your iPhone crash do at your own risk tobogan at your own risk town of New Market advises and enter outer space at your own risk I know that's risky and probably something that many of us don't have to worry about when pronouncing this phrase you should know that assimilation may occur this is when two sounds they blend together to create a new sound so the T and Y May blend together and you get this slight CH sound and it's almost like we're going to put that CH sound between at and your and that allows us to connect the words together at your own risk linking may also OCC her and we can link the final consonant sound in your with the beginning vowel sound in own at your own risk now one thing I want you to be aware of is that assimilation may not always occur you may hear people pronounce the words individually here are some examples get involved at your own risk enter at your own risk camp at your own risk but you may hear people blend those sounds as well as link that phrase so here are some examples and I want you to listen for those two things i' enter at your own risk no lifeguard on duty swim at your own risk get a move on I like this phrase it just means to hurry and often I think you're going to use it as a command maybe you tell someone get a move on or let's get a move on so this is an excellent way to add emphasis instead of saying hurry up just say get a move on are you listening get a move on go on no not doing it get a move on got a hit 70's charger going to move on for pronunciation the final T in get you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D and this is very common with the American accent because well I'm from the US so when the t comes between two vowel sounds many Americans May pronounce it as a flap T and then I can link the flap t with the article a get a get a move on perhaps you are thinking right now let's get a move on to our next phrase which is hard to come by so if you say that something is hard to come by it refers to getting something using effort or by chance or just in a way that has not been explained now this is a picture that my little girl Drew it's very valuable to me there's not anything like it I'm not going to sell it to you because I could say pictures like this are very hard to come by actually we have quite a few of them but that's that's just an example now you may sometimes hear people say that something is difficult to come by and if you want to compare the frequency we can check out engram viewer and as you can see it's more common to say that something is hard to come by when pronouncing this phrase I just want you to know that the word to actually has two different pronunciations a strong form and a weak form the strong form to just sounds like the number the weak form T has more of a schw sound it's much softer and this is because two as a function word it often gets red uced and The Vow sounds going to change slightly to come by something is hard to come by I just want you to listen for that week two true friends are hard to come by second chances are really hard to come by things happen on the street proof is hard comum by we seek political Asylum visas are extremely hard to come by then we have make a run for it this means to suddenly start running in order to escape from somewhere so this is another phrase that you can use to really add emphasis it's starting to rain we'd better make a run for it here are some funny memes to give you a little more context let's make a run for it she can't catch both of us I don't always get out of prison but when I do I make a run for it should we make a run for it he ain't got no backup when pronouncing this phrase more linking may occur we can link two different phrases make a and for it to make a run for it that's it we're making a run for it we're going for the rock okay maybe maybe we can make a run for it just get to the car then there's lose count this means to not be able to remember how many times something has happened or just to forget a number or total so often you're going to follow this phrase with the preposition of to lose count of something I could say I lost count of how much money we spent last month also because of the meaning not remembering something in the past you're often going to use this phrase in the past using the past simple or the present perfect I I could say I don't know how many students I've taught over the years I've lost count so as you can see it's much more common to say I lost count or I've lost count as opposed to saying I lose count in the present for pronunciation if using this phrase in the past a lesion may occur this is when sounds or syllables get removed so the final T and lost May Al lied because it comes between two consonant sounds and and you don't really hear it I've lost count or I lost count here are some examples how many times have you been cloned I've lost count how many do you have now I don't know 8,9 you lost count time for phase five of my plan or possibly phase four or possibly phase six I've entirely lost count from top to bottom another phrase that I really like it just means completely thoroughly all parts of something and again you're really add adding emphasis that something has been done completely often you may end up using this phrase at the end of a statement if I were to say I want you to paint this fence from top to bottom or they clean the house from top to bottom or we're going to have to search the office from top to bottom for pronunciation once again you're going to hear that week two top to bottom and the word bottom you're going to hear me pronounce those t's as a flat T because they come between two vowel sounds bottom from top to bottom I'm in charge of discipline conduct and Tru Andy from top to bottom K through 12 meaning we will burn the program to the ground and I mean from top to bottom Road Islands a mess from top to bottom during which you would do all your homework and clean the apartment from top to bottom then there's follow suit this just means to do the same as someone else it's like you're saying somebody does something and and then another person follows suit maybe I tell you well I'm going to quit my job and I think some of my colleagues plan to follow suit they're going to do the same to give you more context here are some news headlines Brazil just banned X could other countries follow suit man driven to clear Road of litter hopes others follow suit and and in this case driven just means someone is compelled to do something and yeah let's hope that others follow suit as usfed sles rate expectations grow that Korea will follow suit next month I don't think the pronunciation is too difficult the word suit can be a little tricky because that ooh vowel sound it's a little longer but your lips are rounded your tongue is going to be high in your mouth so just say it after me suit to follow suit you got it he since started a trend here in Hollywood with other celebrities following suit an hour ago China mobilized forces and now Russia's following suit I was playing it cool you were too I was just following suit the next phrase is in attendance this just means present at a function or place and often you would say that someone is in attendance generally this is going to refer to an important person it could be a celebrity or even a family member it just really depends on the event or perhaps it could be used to highlight a great number of people if I were to say thousands were in attendance to give you some examples I could say graduation is a memorable event will your parents be in attendance because yeah they are important people or thousands of people are in attendance for the Super Bowl matchup Taylor Swift and Johnny Depp are some of the celebrities in attendance when pronouncing this phrase just keep in mind more linking may occur linking the final consonant sound in in with the vowel sound in attendance in attendance for the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world there's going to be a ribbon cutting ceremony with Governor duly in attendance I intend to propose who her tonight at the restaurant our friends and family in attendance then there's the phrase to have a chip on your shoulder it's not a good thing because it means that you are angry all the time because you've been treated unfairly or you just feel like you're not as good as other people so think about situations that involve well groups of people perhaps there is an athlete or a celebrity who feels that they have been treated unfairly by the media and yeah this happens maybe they really show that anger and then you could say he or she has a chip on his or her shoulder and I I do want to point out the grammar because we're using a subject pronoun as well as a possessive adjective I have a chip on my shoulder maybe you have a chip on your shoulder he has a chip on his shoulder or she has a chip on her shoulder when pronouncing this phrase more linking may occur there are actually two different phrases that we can link have as well as chipon to have a chip on your shoulder you're stubborn you have a chip on your shoulder you don't care if your co-workers like you somebody's got to show them how the real world Works kid's got a chip on his shoulder 23 he's still living at home don't give them reason to say to the Press you have a chip on your shoulder will you do that for me I don't have a chip on my shoulder then there's I wouldn't dream of doing something this is used to say that you would not do something because you think it's wrong or silly so really you're you're adding emphasis and assuring someone that look this is not going to happen maybe I I tell you look you can't quit your job and you respond and say I wouldn't dream of it and that's something that I wanted to point out is that often that something is is going to be it when talking about the situation I wouldn't dream of it now you may use never with this phrase I would never dream of but as you can see it's just more common to say wouldn't I wouldn't dream of it and if I'm not going to use it keep in mind you're going to follow this phrase with the Jaren I wouldn't dream of doing something I could say I wouldn't dream of quitting my job because I really love being a part of your English learning Journey for pronunciation there's more linking linking the final consonant sound in dream with the vowel sound in of dream of I wouldn't dream of it you're not staying here tonight Lillian I wouldn't dream of it we can't leave him waiting I wouldn't dream of it temper I wouldn't dream of challenging you no no we we can go home by ourselves I wouldn't dream of leaving you alone let's do a little review I really appreciate that you've been here in attendance for this lesson and now that you've learned these phrases from top to bottom I hope that you go out and use them because you need to practice them like I'm using them right now so that you don't forget and you don't want to be in the middle of a conversation and say look I know the phrase but I just can't quite put my finger on it so one suggestion is that you just continue building your vocabulary by watching another video Lesson and if you do that I think other people will follow suit now I I understand if you have to go and you can't watch watch another lesson right now and then you're not going to keep building your vocabulary so do so at your own risk but I I definitely think if you don't watch another lesson you're probably going to be kicking yourself later because quality lessons like this are hard to come by so I'm going to wrap things up and make a run for it but if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 170. Advanced English Vocabulary | Quiz Lesson ๐Ÿ“ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `iCCxi4uLv2s` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCCxi4uLv2s) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:26:44 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english and if this is your first time here visiting our channel it's all about just helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you build your vocabulary specifically we are going to be talking about some advanced vocabulary words and i say that it's advanced and i feel like i'm trying to walk a fine line here because i really i do want to teach you some more advanced words that are going to help you be more precise and that if you want to describe a situation or express yourself that you will be able to do that with these words because they are more specific i try to find words that you will come across if you're reading a story or maybe you're listening to the news and that you could still use in everyday conversation so again this is going to be an interactive lesson because what i want you guys to do is i want you to participate i'm going to give you um a bunch of different questions and then i will give you a moment to try to think of an answer and then of course i will tell you what the answer is so let's go ahead and begin and the first set of questions that i have for you i'm going to give you the word and i just want you to choose the correct meaning what is the meaning of this word so let's begin here with cajole so this i'll go ahead and tell you this is a verb to cajole to cajole someone what do you think this verb means the correct answer is be to cajole someone means to persuade someone i'm going to add something else you're persuading them with flattery and what that means is you're you're just saying a bunch of nice things to this person in order to persuade them the next one flabbergasted all right i chose this one um i think this one definitely is a little more common and this is one you may have heard i just like saying the word uh flabbergasted it's an adjective what do you think it means if somebody says that that they were flabbergasted the correct answer is a if you if somebody is flabbergasted it just means that they're greatly surprised so it's a great adjective that you can use to describe someone who is extremely surprised and you say that this person was flabbergasted the next question or the next vocabulary word that i have for you is this one vociferous so again this is an adjective vociferous is it talking about the sound of loud music expressing opinions loudly or is it talking about the noise of a traffic jam if something is uh or someone is vociferous then it basically means that they are expressing opinions loudly and you're you're doing it with a lot of energy and emotion you might also commonly use this word as an adverb and you say that somebody was arguing vociferously and that they were doing it loudly and they're really expressing their opinion vociferous or as an adverb vociferously the next one opine this is a verb i'll go ahead and tell you two opine what do you think it means if someone is opining alpine means to express an opinion so somebody might opine and in that case they're sharing their opinion and we could combine it with the word that we just talked about perhaps somebody might opine vociferously and they are expressing their opinion loudly with a lot of energy and emotion uh to opine the next part that we're going to go through is i am going to give you a statement and i'm going to use uh the word and i want you to see i want you to put the word in context all right using the the sentence see if you can put the word in context and tell me uh what the meaning of the word is so let's go ahead and begin with this one he used irrational arguments and obfuscated the primary issue all right i highlighted the word for you obfuscated what does it mean to obfuscate does it mean to highlight the importance to make something less clear or to purposefully lie the correct answer is b to obfuscate means to make something less clear and i'll go ahead and add something else you could say you are trying to make it more difficult to understand so in this case to give you an example i think of perhaps politicians if somebody does not want to tell the truth or they want to talk about some issue and do it in a way that may confuse other people and then you could say they're trying to obfuscate the truth or they're trying to obfuscate some issue or some problem and they want to make it more difficult to understand they want to make it less clear the next one is the student asked me my age it was such an impertinent question what do you think it means if you describe someone or something as impertinent does it mean that it's showing ignorance it's inquisitive or it's lacking respect if you say that someone or something is impertinent it means that it is c it is lacking respect so i often think this adjective may come as a predicate adjective after the verb to be and you'd say somebody is impertinent or they are impertinent um in its lacking respect the next question i have for you is this one's a little more difficult over the years our high school reunions have become a perfunctory does that mean that it is done quickly without care increasingly interesting or necessary to attend if you describe something as perfunctory it means a it is done quickly without care you could also use this in the context of perhaps like a greeting somebody might describe a greeting as perfunctory if you meet somebody on the street and they they say hello but it's really just done quickly it doesn't seem like they want to talk to you and that that is the way and you could say it was it was a perfunctory greeting it was done quickly without much care or interest it's perfunctory the next one is he had had better days that's why he found his roommate's celebratory mood quite irksome does that mean that something is comforting surprising or annoying if you say well i've had better days then that means that well you didn't have a good day so if somebody has a celebratory mood perhaps you would find that ericsson which means that you would find it quite annoying have another part to this vocabulary practice quiz so what i'm going to do for this part is i'm going to give you a sentence with a blank so there's a blank in there and i want you to tell me which vocabulary word best completes the sentence so in this case you really need to know the meaning of the word and you really need to understand the context of the sentence what's it trying to say so let's begin uh with this one which is there's a monument to pay um to her achievements which of those words those vocabulary words best completes this sentence the correct answer is b homage all right there's a monument to pay homage to her achievements and homage is talking about a deep respect that you show for someone and i think this this is actually a collocation pay homage to pay homage those two words are frequently used together the next one is right here i could say that the company um their income on the tax forms which word best completes this sentence so the correct answer is c fabricated all right in this case the company fabricated their income on the tax forms which is not something that you want to do because to fabricate something means to create something false in order to deceive someone so you could use it with um somebody might fabricate a story that is a common way in which you would use this verb to fabricate the next one is this question right here i can't believe my family had the um to go on vacation without me which word best completes the sentence complacency temerity or the paucity the word that we're looking for is be temerity i can't believe my family had the temerity to go on vacation without me temerity is um it's a noun and it's talking about the willingness to do something that may upset others so in this case you would use it in talking about a situation that you're really surprised that somebody did something because it's likely to upset others and you would say i don't believe they had the temerity to do this thing the willingness to do it because it would upset other people like in this example all right the next one some people believe that technology is a um for solving climate change this is definitely a more advanced word i think all of these are more advanced which word completes that sentence the answer that we're looking for is a panacea so some people believe that technology is a panacea for solving climate change and a panacea is talking about well just something that will solve all problems so those are the the words that i wanted to go over with you in this lesson and again if you want to become a member support our channel uh you can get a youtube membership or become a patron we offer some different and cool rewards there are links down in the description below if you want to check that out so remember these are the words i put together this word list this is your word list in case you want to review and maybe practice some more wait uh a few weeks watch the lesson again and see if you remember the the meaning of these words i hope that you guys i think you guys did very well i do think they are more advanced words but i tried to find words that are also common that you would hear in a tv show movie or if you're watching the news but you could probably also use in conversation depending on the the context and the situation thank you guys so much for joining me and watching this video keep practicing and keep up the good work and i will see you next time so long --- ## 171. Advanced English in Under 2 Minutes ๐Ÿš€ Try These Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rubASGctshw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rubASGctshw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:52:46 | --- advanced phrases that native speakers use to be more precise, descriptive, and persuasive when both speaking and writing. To strike a chord with someone, this means to resonate emotionally or intellectually. I hope that this lesson strikes a chord with you and creates this emotional response that that makes you go ahead and hit that like button. And when I started sobbing uncontrollably, apparently that struck a chord with quite a lot of people. The next phrase, a case in point. This means a good example of something that was just mentioned. So think about this phrase as having the same usage as the phrase for example. Now, often you're going to just say, for example, this phrase is commonly used, but it's always good to get a little bit of variety because a slight nuance would be that you're going to use a case in point in more formal situations. I could say many species are struggling to adapt to climate change. A case in point is the polar bear. >> Boss has to loosen up every now and again. Case in point, me, I'm half loaded right now. Then there's the phrase to go against the grain. This refers to something that you would not usually do because it is different from what is usual or what is normal. And in that case, you're going against the grain. Maybe I tell you the new policy goes against the grain of everything that the company stood for. >> Shouldn't mean that we can't have a civil conversation. I just don't understand why you always have to go against the grain. Please hit the like button if this lesson strikes a chord with --- ## 172. Advanced Expressions (C1 + C2) to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IOoND9VopY4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOoND9VopY4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:56:34 | --- let's learn some Advanced expressions and this lesson is going to be extremely informative to say the least and let's start with that last expression to say the least so you would use this when you want to say that you could have expressed something in a much stronger and more detailed way however you chose not to elaborate and give more information something else I want to say about this expression is that typically you're going to use it at the end of a statement maybe you don't want to talk about something or give more information or or perhaps it's just not relevant so if I say you know the flight was a bumpy ride to say the least somebody asked me hey how was your flight and I don't want to give a lot of detail or really have to explain it so I can use this expression to draw attention to bumpy flight without having to give those extra details it was a bumpy flight to say the least or I could use this expression when I don't want to be too critical and I don't want to be too rude and I could say yeah dinner wasn't very good to say the least so once again I'm drawing attention to the fact that the dinner wasn't that good but I don't have to give extra information because if I said the chicken was undercooked and I think I might get food poisoning that that could come off as being a little rude so you could use this expression to really tamper down the level of criticism when pronouncing this there are two unstressed words that I'd like to point out the first one is two so when it's unstressed it's going to sound weaker and it'll sound like ta with that schwa sound the other unstressed word is the article the and this is because it comes before a word that begins with a consonant sound and I think the article is commonly pronounced with that schwa the so all together it's going to sound like to say the least to say the least just listen for it young Master how does it feel to walk on a new web exciting say the least has identified the atheist as Brian Griffin of Spooner Street here's the reaction from City Hall they're shocking to say the least now as we go through the lesson I am going to tell you the meaning of each expression I'll talk a little bit about how it's used and I'll go over the pronunciation so that you can pronounce these different Expressions just like a native speaker and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I trust that you will subscribe to the channel and I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt which is the next expression that I want to teach you to give someone the benefit of the doubt so this may be used in situations in which there's a lot of uncertainty but you're going to believe someone or give that person a favorable judgment or opinion so if you're really skeptic call you may still say okay I believe you I'll give you the benefit of the doubt to help you better understand how this expression is used in context I have some news headlines for you give Pope Francis the benefit of the doubt I don't know what people are skeptical of but the headline is saying hey just just trust him believe him progressives get benefit of the doubt when accusations of bullying fly and the Supreme Court has lost benefit of the doubt so with these last two headlines I'd like to point out that verb that's being used overwhelmingly you're going to use this with the verb give to give someone the benefit of the doubt however you may use it with other verbs as well for pronunciation there are a couple of things that I want to talk about the first is that final TN benefit I am going to pronounce this as a flap T because I'm from the United States and this is very common with the American accent when the t comes between two vowel sounds often I am going to say it as a flap T it's going to sound more like a soft D and then I can link that flap t with the beginning vowel sound in of and linking commonly occurs when one word ends in a consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound so it's going to sound like benefit of to give someone the benefit of the doubt now if you were to tell me that you want to improve your pronunciation and practice speaking well I'll certainly give you the benefit of the doubt and that's why I'd like to tell you about Elsa speak who is the sponsor of today's lesson this is a great app to help you fine-tune your pronunciation and practice your speaking skills but not only that you can practice your conversation skills and that's what I want to show you right now so you download the app and there are many ways to practice your pronunciation but if you want to have a back and forth conversation you can do that using Elsa AI hi welcome to Elsa AI please select one of the following role plays as you can see there are several different scenarios to choose from but you can also create your own scenario which is what we're going to do right now sure what kind of scenario would you like to create I want to have a conversation with a friend at a coffee shop and I want to talk about possibly changing jobs and starting a new career hey there what's been going on with you lately lately I've been thinking about changing jobs and maybe starting a new career that's interesting what sparked this desire for change well I just have a strong desire to do something that allows me to be more creative so I'm thinking about becoming a content creator on YouTube have you done any research on what it takes to become a successful content creator you know I haven't really given it much thought you have any ideas yes there are definitely some things you'll want to consider for example it's always good to have a clear focus on what kind of content you want to create and who your target audience is wow that sounds like some great advice and I'm really going to think about it but right now I have to get going so I'll talk to you later keep me posted on how things go role play completed we are Computing your feedback as you can see you get a full assessment of your conversation with overall feedback as well as specific feedback when it comes to pronunciation vocabulary and grammar and right now when you click on the link in the description you can sign up to get Early Access of the AI feature and start having a conversation in English you can sign up for free without a paid membership and use Elsa AI for three scenarios a day so check out that link below if you want to improve your pronunciation and practice speaking English let's get back to some more advanced expressions and the next expression that I have for you is per se this is a Latin term that means of or by itself it's a little more formal so it's not one that you're going to use all the time in just everyday conversation but you can use this to emphasize the importance of other factors money per se does not make people truly happy true happiness comes from the relationships that you build with others so I'm saying money by itself it doesn't make people truly happy and I'm using per se to emphasize the importance of other factors and that is why I follow it with the next sentence because it helps complete the thought this is not a criticism of the government per se it's about holding people accountable once again I'm using per se to emphasize the importance of other factors I was born in the state of Alabama it's not a famous State per se but it does have some charming towns here are a couple of other examples to help make this easier to understand upstairs from here but under you not under you per se but under your apartment no no I mean he's not over but is there anything relevant to the sales staff here no sales topic per se well the new Andy Bernard per se when pronouncing this expression I just want to focus on that second word say even though it's spelled s-e you're going to pronounce it with that long a sound say per se and then we have to top it all off so this is used when you're describing several things that happened but you'll use this expression to introduce the final thing that happened that made the situation either Better or Worse there was no traffic on my way to work this morning and it was a pretty easy day because a couple of meetings got canceled and to top it all off the boss said everyone can go home early so in this case I'm talking about a series of positive things but in my opinion I think most of the time this expression gets used when talking about negative things and describing a series of bad events my alarm didn't go off this morning so I was late for work on my way to work it started raining I didn't have an umbrella so I got soaked and to top it all off I gave a horrible presentation because I had forgotten my notes at home it was not a good day for pronunciation once again we're going to use that week two which is more like ta and then we can link the next four words together top it all off that final t in it I am also going to pronounce it as a flap T to top it all off to top it all off the next expression at the end of the day I really like this one maybe because I feel like I use it quite often but this means when everything is taken into consideration and then you're going to say the most important thing about a situation so this expression is an adverb phrase that it's very similar to saying ultimately and typically you're going to use it at the beginning of a sentence or Clause so I could say you can give me your opinion but at the end of the day I'm going to make the final decision or perhaps you're in a situation in which there are a lot of different choices and it was a difficult decision to make and perhaps the result was a good one and you could say at the end of the day I made the right decision when you pronounce this expression I want you to keep in mind that the article the is both stressed and unstressed it's stressed when it comes before the vowel sound in end the end and it's unstressed when it comes before the consonant sound in day the day there's also linking that may occur we can link that final consonant sound and end with the beginning vowel sound in of end of so listen for those two things the stressed and unstressed the along with linking and then just Richard and I because at the end of the day people only want to see a picture of the board members members but at the end of the day if we show up for each other is reason enough keep believing and then there's few and far between this means not happening or existing very often so if something is not happening very often you could say something is few and far between here are some news headlines for you so you can see how this expression is used in context storms stay few and far between as summer heat continues no shortage of ideas but affordable housing options remain few and far between food inflation is easing but price breaks are still few and far between for pronunciation the first thing that we're going to do is reduce and to just n which is very common in spoken English and then we're going to link that final consonant sound and few with that beginning vowel sound and it's going to sound like few when few went far between say it with me few and far between good the next expression be my guest this is something you say when you give someone permission to do or use something it seems pretty simple and straightforward it's like you're saying okay no problem go ahead you think I can have submit be my guest can I use magnetizing glass magnifying Bobby be my guest but to add one thing when it comes to usage another time people would use this expression is when they're upset and they're really angry and it's like they're saying ah okay fine do it and you can really hear the frustration you want to spend the rest of your life with your head up your ass be my guest can I put Randy to bed please you want to sleep here be my guest when pronouncing this expression it's pretty simple and straightforward you're just saying the three words one right after the other be my guest be my guest and then we have to give someone a run for their money this means to not allow someone to win easily so often you're going to use this expression in some sort of competitive situation like a sport or a game I also want you to keep in mind the grammar because we have an object pronoun as well as an adjective pronoun you are going to give me a run for my money they're going to give us a run for our money but people are not really going to pronounce it like that I was really trying to emphasize those pronouns so let's talk about pronunciation right now and there are a few different things I want to tell you about and some of it really depends on that object pronoun no matter what I think people are going to reduce the word for to fur and I want you to listen for that but if the object pronoun is me we have give me we can reduce that to gimme give me a run for my money but it looks like you're going to give me a run for my money now if someone is him her or them in that case a lesion may occur which is when certain sounds or syllables get removed so if we remove that first consonant sound of each word we can then link the phrases together give him give them give her Giver give them give them once again just listen for it you're giving her a run for her money I'm at least going to give him a run for his money what do you say we give him a run for their money huh so hopefully you can hear those three things that weak fur along with illusion and linking then there's the expression sooner rather than later and this is really an extension of the binomial pair sooner or later which means something is going to happen but you're not exactly sure when so with this expression it can mean fairly soon it's going to rain probably sooner rather than later fairly soon but it could also mean without too much delay I want you to turn in the report I need it sooner rather than later so I need it without much delay you're gonna run out I guess it's sooner rather than later painful detox is inevitable no although I look I see you after right there it will work and we need this to work sooner rather than later for pronunciation there is some co-articulation which refers to overlapping sounds and in this case I think it's pretty straightforward that final R sound and sooner is going to overlap with the beginning R sound and rather and it just allows us to make a very smooth transition from one word to the next sooner rather than later sooner rather than later and then we have on the fence this is another expression that I like probably because I use it quite often and it means not being able to decide something and usually it's between two choices but not always so think about it if you are on a fence you may fall on this side or you may fall on the other you're not really sure so this also implies a difficult and tough decision and it's often used with the verb to be to be on the fence I don't know which job applicant to choose I'm really on the fence sometimes I ask you to write to me in the comments maybe you do maybe you don't perhaps you're on the fence and in that case I would encourage you to write to me because yeah I love hearing from you for pronunciation just know that linking may occur it really depends on the verb to be I'm on the fence she's on the fence you're on the fence so in that case you may be able to link that final consonant sound with the beginning vowel sound in on now for a little review I know when it comes to language learning vocabulary per se is only one piece of the puzzle but it's a very important piece especially as you become more proficient and I really hope that you learn some new Expressions but I don't expect you to remember all of them because at the end of the day as long as you learn one or two new things and can practice them that's going to help you take a step in the right direction and believe me your mistakes will become few and far between if you would like to watch another video Lesson be my guest and if you're on the fence just click on one of the lessons that you see around me right now that's all for today I hope to see you again sooner rather than later if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 173. Advanced Expressions (C2) to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BSyjjmq2V-o` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSyjjmq2V-o) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:05:34 | --- hey everyone i have a great lesson for you today because we are going to talk about some common expressions and i think these are a little more advanced expressions that you can use in a variety of situations now i'm going to tell you how these expressions are used as well as when they are used and try to explain the situation because when uh when you think of these expressions i don't want you to look at the individual words i want you to think about it as a whole i think that if you're able to try and learn these expressions as one chunk as as a single piece of information then it'll be a little easier to comprehend to understand and you'll be able to use it correctly when you find yourself in a situation where these expressions are relevant so i am going to tell you the expression i'll give you the meaning i will tell you and explain some of the situations in which i think you may use these expressions or you may hear somebody else use them and then i may throw in a few video clips here and there to help reinforce that information so that you have a better understanding the first expression is having said that so this is a transitional phrase which means that you are using it to transition from one idea to the next and in this case you are transitioning basically to an opposing view you are going to say something contradictory to what was just said and this this phrase i think is often found at the beginning of a sentence and i think it's becoming more and more common in spoken english now let me give you an example so you know what i mean when i say that you are trying to disagree or you're basically contrasting information that was just said maybe i am talking to you and i i'm saying these you know this this great stuff about you and then i want to say the opposite so i'd say oh you you know you are amazing you're very smart you're very hard-working and then i'd say having said that and then i would say the opposite of everything i just said often i i think it's used in a context in which you are maybe you have to give somebody bad news but before you give them the bad news you want to say some good things about them so let me give you an example hopefully make this a little easier to understand let's say that you are applying for a job and you know unfortunately you don't get the job and i am going to tell you this but before i tell you i might try to say some things that are that are nice about you that are great uh because i don't want to just be mean and say you know you didn't get the job get out of here so i might say something like okay you you know you are obviously very passionate about what you do you're you're hard-working you seem like you're a responsible person having said that i contacted your previous employers and they said you were stealing from the company so you're not going to get the job i hope that example makes it a little easier to follow having said all of that stuff before let me tell you what the opposite is and it can go both ways it's not just about delivering bad news it could be used in a positive sense so for example maybe you say a lot of uh of bad and negative things to begin with and then you say having said that and then you say the positive things i can't be your hero anymore okay sure having said all that i still would like to get together on tuesdays for bowling and alternating sundays for general horseplay recognize that google is not a conventional workplace having said that we have rules i'm over it completely having said that it's so hard to move on the next expression and this is one of my favorites is wishful thinking and if somebody says wishful thinking then it means that some other person is imagining a future event that is rather unlikely but they they just wish that that is the way things were and you could say look you know that's wishful thinking and often i think it's used as that statement right there and you hear somebody talking about some situation that is unlikely but that's what they want to happen and then you could say look you know that's wishful thinking i you know that's just wishful thinking it's not going to happen for example if somebody were to say okay i want to learn um portuguese and i am going to start studying portuguese and i am going to be fluent in portuguese by the end of the week give me seven days and i will achieve fluency and then you would look at me and say okay that's wishful thinking it is an unlikely event it is an unlikely future it's it's probably not going to happen but that's wishful thinking you were you were just hopeful you were optimistic that something will happen anyway can't raise a kid here where would you even put her how do you know it's a she wishful thinking i guess i just hope he found some place where he could find a little piece a place set in the cedars and oak trees but that's probably wishful thinking then we have to take something for granted and this me i think this is a very common expression and what it means is that you don't fully appreciate something because you just you come to assume that it will always be there and it will always be available you could also use it when talking about a person to take someone for granted and it means the same thing that you don't fully appreciate this person because you just assume that they will always be there for you let me give you an example uh imagine you have a car and you drive it every day you go to work you go shopping you go to the grocery store and you use it quite often and then the car breaks down and now you have to change your routine and you have to take a bus or you have to walk it takes a lot more time it then becomes a reminder how much easier things were with the car that you could do things much faster and you might think to yourself wow i was starting to take it for granted i i completely forgot that it's a it's a lot more challenging to have to take a bus to all of these places and you didn't realize it and until it was gone until it was no longer available to take something for granted or to take someone for granted sure but philosophy is about questioning things that you take for granted stop complaining new york is the greatest city in the world no it's rude obnoxious and dirty you take this place for granted most of us here were born in america we take this country for granted not immigrants like apu then we have another expression which i i guess you could say it is also one of my favorite expressions because i use it all the time and that is keep that in mind you're telling somebody you know hey keep that in mind and what it means is that that this person should be aware of something or or maybe yeah they should acknowledge that that something exists so you may find this expression at the end of a person's comment they they tell you what they want you to be aware of and then just as a reminder say look keep that in mind or maybe they use it at the beginning of a statement and say something like look i want you to keep this in mind and then proceed to tell you what they want you to be aware of listen for it with me i i think i think i say that quite often because i'm teaching you these words and phrases and sometimes they can be used in different ways and i would i want you to be aware of that and i would just tell you look i i want you to keep that in mind so just now that i've told you that try to listen for it i think it's a great expression especially when you are giving instructions because as a teacher i'm constantly talking to learners and trying to explain the difference between things and really help them understand a little bit better so i would often try to remind them to be aware of something and say keep that in mind so when you are giving instructions i think that is a a common way in which this expression is used the volturi don't give second chances keep that in mind the world ain't what it seems is it gunny no sir you keep that in mind the next expression is be that as it may this is another expression that is often used at the beginning of a sentence and it's a little more formal as well and and what it means is that you use this expression when you want to say that you believe some information that you have been given that you think it is true but it does not change your opinion about some topic or some situation so let me give you an example and i'm i'm trying to think of something that would be a more formal setting maybe a courtroom with a judge and the judge is deciding that that somebody is guilty and they're just they're trying to determine should they give a a very strict punishment or should they give a very light punishment and the person is trying to say well hey here are some facts here's some here's some information to show you that i'm i'm a good person even though i did something wrong and when the judge is talking to this individual the judge may say that information and they may say look yeah you have been uh very helpful in your community you have shown that you can be an honest and trustworthy individual you've been a good friend to to others be that as it may you have still broken the law and you must be punished for that so once again you are basically reaffirming that it doesn't matter what information or facts that you get it's not going to change your opinion about this topic or this situation and remember it is a bit more formal and somebody is trying to say look i am not going to change my opinion even though i believe all of this other information be that as it may i'm not going to change my opinion all i can tell you is that i'm a different person now oh great i don't care be that as it may i know i don't deserve your mercy or your forgiveness well i see it i'm old be that as it may rickon's not yours to sell anymore here i am not out of control that is it me i must request that for the time being you allow the city to handle its own emergency then we have the expression around the clock so in this case it's talking about something that is continuous that it is lasting especially lasting 24 hours that it is around the clock all day every day and this expression i think it's often used before words like open like you know we're open around the clock or uh words like available you know i'm available around the clock you can call me anytime my phone is always on any time of the day around the clock efforts continue around the clock i'm working around the clock you've been working around the clock you can call me nikki it will be a pleasure to serve you i am available to you around the clock just let me know next is the expression to toss around the idea or you could say to toss around some ideas and this it's almost it's a form of brainstorming that you were just thinking about new ideas or new possibilities usually with with another person or often with a group of people as well if there is a group of individuals and you have to think of something you have to come up with some new ideas you might tell the group you know let's let's toss around some ideas let's get some ideas out there and then we'll make a decision this expression i think is used a little more informally when you are talking maybe with your colleagues or friends in order to make a great decision we need to come up with many different ideas so let's toss around some ideas do you wanna you wanna go over it and toss some ideas around no that's okay that means i'm gonna go to my book editor melinda and toss around some book ideas and go home soak in the tub drink a glass of wine the next expression and i i think this one is a bit more challenging and sometimes it may even be used incorrectly is in and of itself and what this means is that you are considering something alone that is apart from everything else so you're referring to something that is being considered alone now i will say that some people they may think this expression is a little outdated it's a little old-fashioned i think that this is definitely a more of an advanced expression you may not hear it as often but when you do just realize that it's referring to something that is being considered alone let me give you an example to help you better understand how it's used so i might say that a sentence like this the rainy weather in and of itself was not the cause of the traffic jam so there could be many causes for this traffic jam the rainy weather it could be one of them it's not the only one it could be part of this so what i said in that sentence i said the rainy weather in and of itself when it's considered alone which means that is the only thing that you are thinking of is the rainy weather was not the cause of the traffic jam something else you should know about this expression is that it would often be found in the middle of the sentence that it's going to be separated by two different commas so you're going to say something in and of itself and then finish the sentence that is reverse sexism which is in and of itself a sexist thing to do summoning the brother in court then jesus i really hope that that's a sad commentary in and of itself my cousin violated his parole which in and of itself isn't good news but we're gonna get his van until he gets out i did not say stuart i said stalwart which in and of itself would be weird enough next is the expression lo and behold and when somebody uses lo and behold they are are telling someone something surprising that happened this expression often follows the word and i i think also that it's quite common that you would use this when you're telling a story you're telling somebody a story and talking about some events that happen and then you want to reveal something surprising all of a sudden lo and behold for example if somebody said wow and i i looked in the drawer and lo and behold i found my wallet so if we if you just hear that sentence i looked in the drawer and lo and behold i found my wallet what other information is that telling you if you just hear that sentence what it tells me you're saying and lo and behold i found my wallet it was a surprise which tells us that this person they were looking for their wallet maybe they were looking all over the place they could not find their wallet and they were surprised when they found it in the drawer when you you use these expressions sometimes they help give a little more information as to the situation and what's happening i looked in the drawer and lo and behold i found my wallet is there any way that i could have any less respect for you two geniuses i would have said no no that's not possible but lo and behold you went and pulled it off congratulations no one would have predicted the results of the election that year no one not long after the election lo and behold a miracle some believed it was the work of god himself next is the expression in hindsight so this expression means that a person has gained understanding about a situation or event after it has already happened or perhaps after it has developed and you would often find this expression at the beginning of a sentence somebody might say well you know in hindsight and then talk about what should have happened maybe how they would have changed the past because now they have a better understanding of what was going on for example you say well in hindsight i should have told the truth i never should have lied about it in hindsight i should have told the truth or in hindsight i should have left hours before there was no reason for me to stay at the party and and stay out really late and not get any sleep in hindsight i i should have left charles and i blame ourselves in hindsight we weren't ready in hindsight i probably could not have picked a worse way to be honest with mary elizabeth they'll never know in hindsight one of us should have brought a camera you seem pretty hell-bent on several ties yeah in hindsight that might have been a bit dramatic well it's a little late to take it back so again i i think it really helps to just learn these expressions as one chunk and learn their meaning so that it gives you a better understanding as to how and when it's used now having said that if you are somebody who likes ah i need to really know each and every individual word then i think that's okay but really try to view these expressions as a single chunk with a single meaning because what i really don't want i don't want you to take these expressions for granted because you will hear them from time to time and now that you understand their meaning i hope that you can go out and use them and i i know it can be difficult i know it can be challenging but i think you guys you can do it you're just gonna study around the clock and the more you study them the more you practice them you're just gonna start speaking and lo and behold you're just gonna start using these expressions naturally and easily and that's going to help you improve your overall fluency and i i thought i'd just try and give you a little bit of review while at the same time giving you an inspirational message all right just you know i always want to encourage you to learn practice and continue building your vocabulary keep that in mind all right that is it i hope you enjoyed learning some of these advanced expressions and i will see you next time --- ## 174. Advanced Expressions You NEED TO KNOW | Speak Like a Pro | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `w51bZNyywNE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w51bZNyywNE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:57:50 | --- I want to help you speak like a pro with some advanced expressions that I I think you just need to know. That's my opinion, but I think these are fun, useful phrases that you can use in daily conversation and in order to be specific, precise, and just have some more fun with the language. So, if this uh is your first time joining me, my name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. This lesson is all about helping you build and grow and develop your vocabulary. And if that is something that you're interested in doing, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. The if you are also if you would also like to get these lesson notes that are next to me, click on the link down below in the description. Join my email community if you're already a part of it. Check your inbox. I have sent them to you. So this is a quiz lesson. It is after all interactive English. I want you to participate. Write your answer in the chat, in the comments. I I just love it when I see people participating, learning new things. It's just more active learning. So, I am giving you I' I've taken the expression out. I'm giving you a sentence and the meaning down below, and I just want you to tell me, well, what what expression is this referring to? I was exhausted halfway through the run, but I got my m near the end. So, the meaning of this expression is to experience a sudden surge of new energy or strength. Emphasis on that new energy or strength after being exhausted, tired. This is actually a phrase that I I don't know. I think it's incredibly useful because I I actually do use this uh from time to time. if I'm in that situation. You're really tired. You're really exhausted, but maybe there's something else you need to do. You can't go go to sleep just yet, and you're hoping to get your what. And generally, we're going to use it with the verb get. You're going to get your or in this case, you're halfway, you're exhausted halfway through the run, but I got my M. So, what phrase? I'll tell you right now. It's two words. Two words that are missing. You experience this sudden sudden surge of energy or strength. And in that case, no, no, no. I don't. And maybe the the chat's not catching up. I'm surprised. I feel like this is one that maybe I thought maybe people would definitely be familiar with it. Um maybe it's a little behind, but in this case, we're talking about your second win. to get your second wind. And if you are I I mentioned you're in a situation where you're really tired and you cannot go to sleep just yet. You're like, you know, hopefully I'll get my second win. Or maybe you're really tired, but then you're going to go out after work. You're going to go out with friends and have a good time and like look, I'm I'm starting to get my second win. Let's go. Let's do it. I have this sudden burst of energy. whenever you get your second win. It does not always have to be about a physical activity. It could be you're tired from work, you're tired from travel. I think that's another specific time when you could use this. You've been traveling all day, but then you're still going to go out whenever you get to your final destination. You're like, you get your second win. I think you're excited when you travel, especially if you're on vacation and you arrive, even if it's late, you might get your second wind and you want to go out and do something and explore. So, excellent. I'll try to give some shout outs as we go through this. And uh hopefully hopefully even if you're tired right now, you're just going to get your second wind and and figure out uh some of these questions, these phrases. This I thought was just a fun little visual of this raccoon right here when you're tired. But then you get your second win. And in this case, I feel like this this little guy is up to no good. Uh when they're that sudden burst of energy, what do you think? My team is m after taking on three projects. Now, there may be more than one expression. I I the other thing I like about some of these activities is that it's just getting the vocabulary juices flowing. you're thinking about okay what what phrases what expressions might work in this context. The meaning is when you are just having too many tasks responsibilities or demands to manage them all effectively. So if you have too many things going on, you can't manage them all effectively. You just it's just too demanding and stressful. You could say that you are what? This one's a little trickier. It's one that again I think you will certainly come across it movies, TV shows. Uh and and I think it's worth learning, which is why I said these are advanced phrases. You need to know my team is m after taking on three projects. So in this situation when you have too many tasks or responsibilities there are there are a couple of different expressions that work and I will talk about both of them. The one that I was thinking of just in this context is to be stretched thin. So, if you tell someone you're stretched thin, it's basically saying you are really stressed out because you have a lot going on and you don't know if you can keep going at this pace and you might tell somebody, "Look, right now I'm stretched thin." Perhaps you ask me for help and I say, "Look, I'd love to help you, but right now I have a lot going on and I'm just stretched thin and I cannot help you with whatever it is." So, this is uh you overwhelmed like this is just really adding emphasis to saying you're overwhelmed. It's a synonym. So, instead of saying I've overwhelmed, you can use this informal phrase instead. The team is stretched thin after taking on three new projects. and they got too much going on, they can't handle it. And you could say you're you're stretched thin. Now, the other phrase, which really has a very similar meaning, there is a slight nuance, would be to say that you are spread thin. And because again, I'm trying to embrace this new this AI and see how we can use it. And I I this is an AI overview. if I put in stretch thin versus spread thin. So really both are talking about being overwhelmed. I think that is a great synonym for either one of those phrases. But it does say it says stretch thin is really um you know talking about that that you are at the maximum capacity. You can't do anything else when you are stretch thin. When you use spread thin, I think the emphasis is more on the the number of things happening that you've done this and this that and it's like you are spreading yourself thin. So both of them mean overwhelmed, but maybe the emphasis is on one or the other. If you're stretched thin, you're just at the maximum capacity. If you're spread thin, it may imply a bit more that you've taken on too much. In our sentence, you could use either one. Either one of those phrases would work. And if either one of these is new for you, let me know. Hit that like button. Hit some hearts that you this is new information, new vocabulary. To be stretched thin or to be to to spread yourself thin. Here is another question that I think you could use more than uh one expression. His question m what? and I needed a moment to respond. What expression could you use in this context? I there is one of two at least that I'm thinking of. Sometimes as you all put this this uh your responses in the chat I realize like oh there are actually more. But the meaning of this expression is uh to surprise someone by doing or saying something they are not expecting or they're not prepared for. So, what expression could you use in this context? You're not prepared for something. You're not expecting it and you could use this expression. His question me and I needed a moment to think about it. So, I like uh Yes. Uh Marissa, that's a good guess. I I would say uh you said instead of got me. So, one of the expressions was you could take someone by surprise. So, instead of gat, I would say you could say his question took me by surprise. That works. It means the same thing. This is not the one that I was thinking of. Uh, the one that I was thinking of, uh, yes, Teao, uh, Joanna, it caught some to catch someone off guard. It means the same as to, uh, take someone by surprise. You're surprising someone by saying or doing something. you're not prepared for it, you're not expecting it. So that's why those were the two that I was thinking of that would work in this context. His question caught me off guard and I needed a moment to to respond. So you could say his question took me by surprise and in that case I feel like the emphasis is more on the surprise like oh wow I was not expecting it and you need a moment to respond. If you say his question caught me off guard, then I feel like maybe you're leaning more towards the preparation aspect of it and you needed a moment to respond. So either one of those works, but again, this is when you have these slight nuances with some of these phrases which do allow you to be very specific. If you want to really emphasize that you were not prepared, oh, you that really caught me off guard. Uh or you're emphasizing you were surprised. That really took me by surprise. To give you some more context, here are some news headlines. This is something I like to share with you from time to time to help you better understand the meaning. It says, "Don't let retirement plan uh don't let retirement plan deadlines catch you offguard." Or, "Four driving conditions that catch even experienced drivers offguard. They're not prepared for it." Beware um beware morning. Beware morning tax scams designed to catch you off guard. Uh, finally or then there's T-Mobile may catch you off guard uh with its next request. I think companies do this. Oh, and definitely airlines. Flying United, the new check-in deadline could catch you offguard. I think that's a great association with this phrase when airlines they change rules, they change their prices. And yeah, it certainly catches me off guard and I am not prepared for it. I was not I am not expecting it. This is a great phrase when it's going to come at the beginning of a statement and you would say what what is part of the phrase. I think you handled the situation well. So you want to say the statement look I think you handled the situation well. But I'm adding this phrase at the beginning when you're you're saying it like you're giving uh you know giving someone a piece of advice or information that you're not certain if it's helpful or useful. So if you have something you want to share or say and you don't know well I don't know if this is going to help this person. I don't know if it's meaningful. I don't know if it's relevant. You can use this phrase before stating the advice or the information. This is a phrase that I think you've heard. You might not be able to pick it out right now, but once I tell you and show you the answer, I think you be okay. Yes, I've heard this before. You may not actively use it, but now hopefully after this, you you can kind of grasp the meaning a little bit better. But it is a little it is pretty precise in that context. You don't know if it's helpful. You don't know if it's useful. And you're going to state this phrase before sharing the advice or information. Any any guesses? Can anybody tell me? Write your answers in the chat in the comments. Um not close, not say what you will. Um, this is a little I I think this is more specific to the meaning that I I'm sharing with you right now. So, I I'll go ahead and show you tell you the answer. And again, it's maybe one that you're just not thinking about, even though I'm I'm confident. I'm going to go ahead and say that you've heard this before. Um, not come what may. The phrase, the expression is for what it's worth. for what it's worth and then you say whatever information or advice. But as soon as you say for what it's worth, you're then implying that look, I don't know if this is helpful. I don't know if it's relevant. I don't know if it's useful, but I'm going to go ahead and say this or share this information with you anyway. Um, if I were to say like, yeah, I think you should build your vocabulary, but I don't know if that is useful for you. I say, "Look, for what it's worth, I think, yeah, you should uh continue to build your vocabulary, watch more of my video lessons, and just keep developing and improving your overall English fluency." So, keep in mind, you're going to use this at the beginning of a statement when you're talking to another person. You say, "Look, for what it's worth," and then you share whatever advice or information that you would like to tell someone. Hopefully, again, let me know if you have heard this expression before. Hit that like button, hit the hearts, hit any of those down below that that tells me that I'm not delusional and that this actually is a common expression that maybe you've come across in a movie, TV show, and somebody has said before, look, for what it's worth, whenever they're getting ready to share something with you. The next one, it took a few days to get back into the M after vacation. I'm giving you part of the expression already. Get back into the what? That is the full expression. You're you go on vacation and then you come back. You're returning to your activity or your routine. In this case, your job most likely. And it may take some time. It may take a few days to get back into the what? What is it? Uh groove. That works. Yeah. Yeah. I you could use groove. You got to get back into the groove. That that is okay. To get back into the grind. Um I I wouldn't say get back into the grind. I would say you you would use grind in that um you would say back to the grind instead of back into. And basically in that case you're you're also implying that like yeah it's going to be difficult it's frustrating you know back to the grind. Uh that that that's similar in this context the phrase that the expression that I'm talking about you're getting back into and maybe this is new I hope so back into the swing of things. So whenever you are you haven't done something in some time or you return to doing it most likely work or something that you do regularly after being away and you might say now I'm getting back into the swing of things. Maybe you haven't worked for some time. You were on vacation or maybe you haven't been exercising for a while. Now you're trying to get back into the swing of things. So this is uh another I think great phrase to know especially in this context you're returning to a routine or activity. Uh all right excellent. I think you guys are again bringing throwing out some uh uh good guesses. One thing I want to point out when it comes to this phrase when you say get back into the swing of things you're returning to an activity. You could also use this when talking about a new activity but in that case you're just going to take back out of it. you're going to get into the swing of things and you're starting a new activity. Now, more com mo most of the time, people are going to use this to talk about an activity you've done before and you're returning to it and you're getting back into the swing of things. to engram viewer and we could look up I put in get back into the swing of things versus get into the swing of things. You can see it's more commonly used when somebody's talking about returning to an activity and you're trying to get back into the swing of things. Uh the next one, let's keep moving right along. That kind of policy change is above. This one's a little more difficult. It's uh again the meaning I don't know if that that might help when you're talking about something uh that a person does not have enough knowledge or authority to do. Emphasis on authority. If somebody is asking you a question or they're asking you to make a change or they're asking you to do something and you're like look I don't have the authority. It's above. above is part of this expression. We're talking about a change in this case policy. Look, I can't I have no authority to do that. That kind of policy change is above my I gave you the next word that you would use in this uh sentence. Uh not not above your payroll, not above and beyond. Uh yeah, I said excellent. I saw some answers in there. Um, yes, Joanna, Cindy, excellent. Uh, great to see so many members. Love it. Manuel, uh, Maria, above one's pay grade. So, this is a great phrase whenever you want to say that you don't have the power authority to do something. Look, that's above my pay grade and you cannot make this change. you cannot do something because you don't have I I you could say knowledge but I think in general I do think uh I would say emphasis on authority you don't have the power to do something or you don't have the ability when it is when it's something that is above your pay grade let's uh I don't know why I thought this was funny just this little girl like kind of shrugging her shoulders like look I don't know I can't do anything about it looks to be above my pay Uh, I don't know. I just I just find it humorous. This is referring to a feeling of regret experienced after making a purchase. So, we're talking about purchasing something and then you have that regret. typically one regarded as unnecessary or extravagant. And I think that's pretty Yeah, that that's pretty key. You purchase something that's unnecessary and then you regret it. You can say that you have or you're experiencing what those are some verbs that you might often use this expression with when talking about this unnecessary purchase or it was just too expensive and you regret it. And if you regret something, then I think you can kind of piece things together that there is some remorse whenever you regret something. And in this case, we're talking about buyer's remorse. To have buyer's remorse is a common collocation, but you could also experience buyer's remorse. Well done, uh Joanna, Julia, just give some shout outs. So if you are experiencing buyer's remorse or you're telling someone then then they know okay you regret or you're having some regret about purchasing this thing that you may not need or it was just too expensive and now you have a little buyer's remorse. My blood pressure goes when I'm stuck in traffic. I think uh I think you've heard of this one too, but there's a specific reason why I wanted to include this mostly because I have heard people use the wrong word then it's part of it uh that that is part of the expression. You're talking about something that to rise to a very high level and you want to emphasize just how high th this has gone. My blood pressure goes when I'm stuck in traffic. I hate when I'm stuck in traffic. I think this happens to my blood pressure. This happens to my stress level. And I could say I know it goes ballistic. Yeah. I mean, it would work in this situation, but I don't want to emphasize like going crazy. I'm talking about just the level like where it's going. Uh you could say off the charts, that would also work in this context. something goes off the charts, it's at a really high level. There's another There's another one. Keep them coming. Keep them coming. We'll get to it at some point. My blood pressure goes what? Maybe this is more American. Uh I don't know. So, you could say something. Yeah, skyhigh. That would also work. But the the phrase that I was thinking, it goes through the roof. If something goes through the roof, then you're talking about that it's just goes to a very high level. uh my blood pressure goes through the roof. There are some other common collocations with this expression. Your stress level goes through the roof. Your anxiety goes through the roof. Prices may go through the roof. Interest rates uh I think have been going through the roof. Sales if you're in talking about business may go through the roof. Demand or even the stock price goes through the roof. So there are a lot of different ways that you can express this idea. Uh skyrockets, goes skyhigh, is off the charts, goes through the roof. But I mentioned before, I've heard people say goes through the ceiling. You're going to say something goes through the roof. How about this? Please let me know if I'm m you're doing something that is not allowed or not acceptable. This one I think is a little more challenging to guess even though I think you're familiar with it. And I think this is a statement that somebody would say like, "Oh, am I am I doing something that's not allowed? Is this acceptable? Just let me know if I'm my What do you think in this context? I don't want to do something that's not allowed or unacceptable. So, I hope you tell me if I'm I don't know. I don't know why I think that if I if I do this, maybe it's going to help you come up with the answer. I said, I think this is one that you've heard of before, but maybe it's a little more difficult to come up with in this context to overstep one's boundaries. Let me know if I'm overstepping my boundaries. That is a statement that you would use with this expression. If you're you want to know if you're doing something that is not appropriate, it's not acceptable, it's not allowed, look, am I overstepping my boundaries? And I think it's often used in that that continuous tense overststepping one's boundaries. So it's a great great great expression to know in case uh you're unfamiliar with it. I would not use like I wouldn't say crossing with boundaries or anything. I would always use overstepping. she was what what do you think to understand the reasoning feelings or motivations behind a person's opinions or actions once she explained the situation I could what another expression that I think you've heard of it is quite common but because I'm taking so much out it may be a little more challenging but when you understand the reasoning feelings or motivations behind someone's uh actions or like what they think, then you could say, "Look, I see where you're coming from." Which is again a great great expression to know, especially as far as communicating with someone else, and you want to say, "Look, I understand what you're trying to say. I understand why you did that. I see where you're coming from." Uh, once she explained the situation, I could see where she was coming from. I think you've probably have heard this before. You may even actively use it, which is great, but I know that I didn't give you a lot of context there as far as trying to guess it. What do you think? Some people talk just because they love themselves something. This uh refers to a person excessively fond of talking, dominating conversations, self-focus, trivial monologues with regard to listeners. Maybe you feel like I do this. Uh, and yeah, I don't I don't know. I hope I don't come off this way because it is it has a negative connotation. Uh, and part of it love themselves. Uh, it it is more negative. You're saying somebody is a little more self-absorbed. They're thinking about themselves. Like it says, you're dominating the conversation. And it is more negative. There are different phrases you could say uh one of yeah to hear themselves talk. I had like to to love to hear oneself talk. Some people just talk because they love hearing themselves speak. So the the thing that I wanted to point out you could say somebody loves hearing themselves speak. They love hearing themselves talk. They like the sound of their own voice. And you could use either like or love. So like hearing themselves speak. Loves hearing themselves uh speak. like loves the sound of their own voice, likes the sound of their own voice. All of them mean the same way. And I tried to give you as far as like which one's more commonly used, but again, I think this is a useful one because I think we can think of somebody that that that fits that. I know achieving English fluency is difficult and challenging, but remain persistent, determined, difficult situations. I think you need to what? All right. And this is true. I know I think a lot of you have you you have certain fluency goals and you need to keep working at it, building vocabulary, improving pronunciation, getting speaking practice, listening, reading, writing, and you want to remain persistent, determined. It's a difficult situation. So, I would say look, just hang in there. I know achieving English fluency is difficult and challenging, but hang in there. You're giving that encouragement to someone else. Hang in there. This is a again I thought I I feel like anytime you do a Google search with hang in there and go to images, you find all these cats just hanging on like a rope. So hang in there. Don't forget that you are awesome. And that is true. I don't forget that you're awesome. Here are the the expressions from the lesson. I hope that some of it's new. Uh, I hope all I also hope that some of it's a reminder in its review because I think it's always good to get you get practice. So, check out the link if you want to access the lesson notes. Thank you guys so much for joining me. Great to see you, all these members. Have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you --- ## 175. Advanced Grammar Quiz (ONLY 2% CAN PASS THIS TEST) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `lbHFL1PlImo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbHFL1PlImo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:13:03 | --- let's see how well you know your grammar so i'm gonna give you a question i'll give you a moment to think of the answer and then i will tell you the answer and explain why it is correct so let's begin with our first question right here if somebody were to say whatever you do don't leave me alone talking to wes he's so um okay how would you complete that sentence are you going to use a bored or b boring so i hope that you chose b boring that is the correct answer he's so boring so this can be a little confusing the difference between edie and ing adjectives in short you're going to use ed adjectives to talk about the way you feel you're going to use ing adjectives to describe a situation a thing or just the a person's characteristic in this case we're talking about a characteristic of mine that i'm boring and this is just an example of course i hope that you do not think that i am boring i would rather you say that maybe i am amusing or interesting or charming i would take any of those ing adjectives and if you do believe that then please go ahead subscribe turn on notifications that way i can become your new english teacher my name is wes as you already know the channel interactive english that's what it's all about just trying to help you reach your fluency goals here's your next challenging question if i had taken my medicine this morning um right now are you going to use a i would have felt sick or b i wouldn't feel sick so i said it's challenging and difficult because we're talking about a mixed conditional which means the answer is b i wouldn't feel sick if i had taken my medicine this morning i wouldn't feel sick right now in this case we're mixing the second and third conditional so we have an imaginary condition because we're imagining a different past which is the third conditional if i had taken my medicine this morning so i did not take it and that leads us in to a hypothetical result in the present i wouldn't feel sick right now another way to think about it is with these two statements right here i didn't take my medicine this morning therefore i feel sick right now i'm saying the same thing with that mixed conditional if i had taken my medicine this morning i wouldn't feel sick right now now when it comes to learning advanced grammar or grammar at any level it's not just something that you should write you also need to speak using the correct grammar and a great language school to help you improve your grammar vocabulary pronunciation is lingoda which is the sponsor of today's lesson so lingoda is an online language school where you can study english business english spanish german or french and and i really think lingoda can help you for several reasons first these are small group classes which means you will have plenty of opportunities to speak you can ask a lot of questions classes are also available 24 7 which means you you pretty much get to customize your learning schedule they have qualified teachers using a proven curriculum you get to learn at your own pace which i think is the ideal way to learn you basically get to design your course because the courses are suited to your level and needs and you can choose which topics you would like to cover you also get to study from the comfort of your own home and you can do all of this at affordable prices and i know all this because i've also studied with lingoda you can see me right there taking a class in spanish and it was a great experience and i was able to improve my pronunciation which is something that i wanted to do so if you would like to know if lingoda can help you like it helped me well then that's easy because when you sign up each plan includes a seven day free trial but most importantly right now lingoda has an exclusive offer just for you you can get thirty percent off all monthly subscriptions and marathon courses when you use the voucher code wes oct30 wes like my name oct like october and then the number 30. so click on the link in the description if you would like to sign up and start improving your english don't forget to use that voucher code wes oct30 and then just put yourself in a position so that you can achieve your fluency goals let's get back to our advanced grammar quiz and here is your next question i don't know um what are you going to say where i should go or where should i go this is something i noticed that many learners commonly confuse so that what we're talking about that blank is really a noun clause which means the answer is a i don't know where i should go so a noun clause it's a dependent clause that has a subject and a verb and just know that it quite often noun clauses are going to begin with words like that or how or those wh words like who what when why or where and then we have this question right here the movie um at 8 pm or you can say the movie um at 8 o'clock how are you going to complete that sentence are you going to use a will start b starts or c is starting so for this one i i guarantee that you got the correct answer and that is because all of them are correct it's a little bit of a trick question you could use will start to talk about things that that will happen in the future you could use starts the present simple to refer to scheduled events in the future and you could also use is starting the present continuous when talking about future arrangements even though all are correct it really just depends on the context when deciding which one you're going to use so let me try to give you some context and tell you how my mind works as to how i would choose which one of these so i think overwhelmingly i am going to use the present simple and just say starts if somebody were to ask me hey what time's the movie i would say the movie starts at eight o'clock i would probably use is starting if i kind of want to emphasize and highlight the time in that case maybe i'm trying to say well okay i want you to be there all right don't be late just remember the movie is starting at eight o'clock so when you use the present continuous you're really referring to that point in time so i'm really trying to make that clear the movie's starting at eight o'clock and then to be honest i would probably use will start less frequently i might use it if i'm thinking about maybe other things that are also going to happen in the future if i were thinking to myself well um i'll have to eat dinner before the movie and then the movie will start at 8 o'clock and after the movie um i'll have to go home because i have to work tomorrow so hopefully that gives you a little more context as to when you might use these different answers here is your next question i recommend that everyone watching this video um that like button all right are you going to say hit that like button or hits that like button so once again this can be a bit tricky the answer is a hit we're talking about the subjunctive mood and we use this to talk about desires wishes or suggestions now grammatically speaking in that noun clause that's right we're talking about another noun clause that everyone watching this video hit that like button in that noun clause you're going to use the base verb when we're talking about the subjunctive mood and this can be a little tricky if if the subject is perhaps in the third person like he she or it or if we're talking about an indefinite pronoun like everyone now in spoken english people may not always follow this rule so if i'm going to use the subjunctive mood i could say something like i wish i were faster i wish i were taller i wish i were living in a big beautiful home along the coast overlooking the ocean so in spoken english you may hear somebody say i wish i was taller i wish i were taller i wish i was taller it can be confusing but you will hear both in spoken english next we have this question i um english for several months and i plan to continue improving my language skills are you going to use a have studied or b have been studying so we're talking about the difference between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous all right i hope that you chose b have been studying i've been studying english for several months and i plan to continue improving my language skills so b i it is i think it's the correct answer you could use a but i think b is the better answer and and let me explain so the present perfect and the present perfect continuous it can be confusing because they are sometimes interchangeable especially if we're talking about an unfinished action which in this case we are but you're going to use the present perfect continuous more specifically when you're talking about an action that started in the past it's continued to the present and then will likely continue into the future and it's the second part of this sentence and i plan to continue improving my language skills that is why i say b have been studying is the better answer here's the next question um making progress we could not finish before the deadline are you going to use a in spite of or b although okay so i hope that you chose a in spite of in spite of making progress we could not finish before the deadline so both in spite of and although they're referring to contrasting ideas the the only real difference is the way that you use them and i'm talking about the structure of the sentence after in spite of we're going to use a noun a gerund which is that ing form or a pronoun after although we're going to use a subject and a verb so in our sentence you have making that is a gerund so you're going to use in spite of in spite of making progress now i could use although and say the same thing and use a subject and a verb and i would say although we made progress we could not finish before the deadline so just remember that in spite of making progress is a phrase whereas although we made progress is a clause they're really the same it just depends on how you want to structure the sentence here's your next question talking about prepositions last night we left new york city it was a long flight but we're really excited to see the big apple are you going to complete this sentence with 2 from or 4 which preposition completes this sentence last night we left new york city so the answer is c 4. last night we left for new york city now i know prepositions can be tricky and the best thing you can do is just practice them like we're doing right now so let me explain this the second sentence that is important it was a long flight but we're excited to see the big apple that tells us that the destination is new york city therefore we're not going to use from and normally if we're talking about a place you would go to a place but our verb is leave you're not going to use to when the verb is leave you're going to use for if you're talking about going to a destination you leave for some place last night we left for new york city your next question um did you invite to the party are you going to use a who or be whom the correct answer is be whom whom did you invite to the party i would say that a is also correct in spoken english and i will i will talk about that in just a moment but who and whom can be confusing but think of it this way you're going to use who when the unknown is referring to the subject and you'll use whom when the unknown is referring to the object so all we have to do is take our question and change it into a statement and i could say well i invited him to the party or i invited her to the party him and her those are objects so in that case i'm going to use whom whom did you invite to the party now i said that a is correct in spoken english because well yeah people just don't follow the rules i think it's quite common in in places like the united states which is where i'm from most people will use who instead of whom and i am somebody who also does this if i were to ask this question i would just say who did you invite to the party so just keep that in mind that this is another one of those rules in spoken english that people will tend to break who versus whom here is another question i bought a gift for my little girl it's this um this little stuffed puppy right here i hope she enjoys um gift are you going to use a the or no article which one i hope that you chose be the i hope she enjoys the gift that is the correct answer so really what we're talking about is the rule of first mention and what this rule says is that the first time you mention a singular noun you're going to use the indefinite article a or an and the second time that you mention that same noun you're going to use the definite article the because it is now known so this is a very useful and important rule to follow if you are writing a story or telling a story because you want to make sure you get those articles correct i hope that you enjoyed the gift of this grammar lesson and if you did then you can give me a gift and that is the gift of writing to me in the comments because i just love hearing from you thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 176. Advanced Grammar Quiz That Will BLOW YOUR MIND ๐Ÿคฏ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `dPgaNbdPvNs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPgaNbdPvNs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:00:30 | --- I have some advanced grammar for you that is going to blow your mind. And what this really is all about is just trying to finetune your English fluency because some of this grammar, it's a little tricky. It's a little confusing, but that's what I want to do. That's what I'm here for. And if you are someone that would like to access these lesson notes right here, just click on the link down below. Join my community. Or if you're already a part of it, then check your inbox. I have sent them to you. So, this is a quiz lesson. This is how I make them more interactive. And what I'd like you to do is just, you know, choose the sentence that is grammatically correct. Now, I told you that some of this is a little tricky. So, let's go through these and what do you think? Uh, right now it's just multiple choice. A, she suggested me to take the train. B, she suggested that I take the train. or C. She suggest see I can't even speak today. She suggested that I took the train. It's a little bit of a tongue twister. Uh if I wanted to try to say it very quickly. So just looking at these three sentences, which do you think is correct? In this case, there is only there is only one answer. There's only one correct answer. And just looking uh in the chat, you guys yes rocked it. B is the correct answer. She suggested that I take the train. Now, that is optional. I could just say she suggested I take the train. A lot of times I'll hear people say a and they'll wanted to say suggested someone to uh do something. So, this keep in mind when we're talking about suggest and recommend, when you're giving advice to someone, you're going to follow it with that clause plus the subject plus the base verb. Here are some other examples just to, you know, give give you a little more context. I suggest that you wake up early or we recommend you dress appropriately. She suggested I get more exercise and I recommend that you hit the like button. Of course, that is something that I always recommend. Uh, so if you got this correct, you can let me know by hitting that like button. Now to give you a little more information when talking about giving advice because that's not the only pattern that you can use uh is the suggest or recommend plus that plus the subject plus the base verb. There are other patterns that you can use. For example, you could use suggest or recommend plus a gerand which is the verb like the verb form with an ing. He recommended arriving on time. You could also use suggest or recommend followed by a noun. She suggested the restaurant nearby. So there are different ways that that you can go about this. Uh just something that I I want you to to keep in mind. So the next one and you can let me know uh what you think. Here is your question. What do you think? Write your answers in the comments in the chat. I just want to hear from you. So, it's high time you m your homework. Now, there is an expression in there that I really want to highlight and we're going to talk about it even though there's more than one way to say this and I'll I'll give you a little more information in just a moment. Are we going to complete this sentence with a do b did or c have done? It's high time you m your homework. Now of course I don't many of you you might not be students so you don't have homework. Maybe this can kind of be like your your your homework and we're doing it together because I want you to participate in these lessons. Write your answers in the comments in the chat. I also didn't introduce myself. I'm sorry if this is your first time here. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And as I've already mentioned, this is about fine-tuning your grammar skills. So, the phrase that I wanted to highlight is it's high time. And when we use that expression, we're going to use it with the past. It's high time you did your homework. So, the correct answer is be did. It's high time you did your homework. To give you an explanation, this is a phrase used to refer to something that should have been done in the past. You're basically saying, "We should have done this already." And you just want to emphasize that, okay, we need to do this now. We need to make this change now. It's high time you did your homework. Really, this is a way of adding emphasis. If you want to say it's high time, more commonly used, and I've put this down there, more commonly used would be saying it's about time you did your homework. Or I could even just say it's time you did your homework. So using either of those phrases is more common. You could use it's high time if you just want to add emphasis. So here are more the I like dropping these subtle hints. It's high time you subscribe to the channel. And I'm just trying to add that emphasis more commonly used. It's about time you subscribe to the channel. Again, I'm still using that past or it's time that you subscribe to the channel. All right. So again, keep in mind one is about adding emphasis and the others I think are you're going to hear and probably use more often. So I wanted to talk about all three of those phrases. And yes, I would love it if you subscribe to the channel. That would be wonderful. I thought this was funny. I don't know why. I just came across it. It's high time. It's high time for pie time. Like you want to have some pie and okay, you want to emphasize that. Look, I should have had pie already. So, we need to do this now. It's high time for pie time. What do you think? Which sentence is correct? By the time you arrive, I will finish the report. That's a B. By the time you will arrive, I will have finished the report. B. And then C. By the time you arrive, I will have finished the report. There is only one sentence that is grammatically correct. This is I think you see it. It's probably a little easier to follow and understand, but still this is this is advanced grammar. This is advanced. Uh that's how I feel. Lai, it is high time for coffee, even though I'm drinking water right now. But I I do need a little pickme up. So the answer if you had put C then that is correct. By the time you arrive I will have finished my homework. So two things this sentence consists of a dependent clause using by the time and in this case you're um you know using the present simple the main verb in our main clause will have finished. We're talking about the future perfect. All right? It's not often that you're going to use the future perfect, which is why I said this is more advanced grammar, but we're gonna when when you hear that expression or when you use that by the time that automatically indicates the perfect tense. So really, you're talking about either the past perfect or the future perfect. By the time you arrive, we're talking about that happens in the future. So what happens right before that? Then we're using the future perfect. I will have done this thing. By the time you arrive, I will have finished the report. If I wanted to switch this around, give you an example. In the past, um, by the time you arrived, I had already finished the report. It had already been done. I just added already in there. But I just wanted to show you that in this case, if we change it to the past, then we're going to use the past perfect. By the time you arrived, I had already finished the report. So, two points that are either in the future and you use the future perfect or two points that are both in the past and you're using the past perfect. And this is with that phrase by the time. And I I I do gosh I think it is a phrase that is often you a time expression that you do hear. So really just keep in mind the grammar when using that by the time with either the future perfect or the past perfect. I hope all of that like makes sense. It's easy to grasp. What do you think? I prefer tea m coffee. Pretty simple sentence. Pretty straightforward. But what word would you use or words would you say a to b over c instead instead of? So this is a little trickier because colloquially you may hear people use I mean who knows you may hear people say either but in general there is one answer that I would encourage you to use because I'm going to keep saying it. This is all about fine-tuning your grammar skills and making sure that you are speaking or writing accurately and avoiding simple mistakes. So, excellent. Well done. Let's give some shout out Lai. Uh Teresa, nice. Um uh Angela, nice. So, the correct answer is A. Now, let me let me explain. When we're talking about prefer, prefer X to Y. This is the correct idiomatic form. However, and I don't know if I don't know if that gives you much confidence when I use those howevers because you may hear people use more than one preposition. I would encourage you to use two, but one of them was over. I prefer tea over coffee. You may hear somebody say that uh from time to time colloquial and more casual informal speech. But if you want to think about the correct idiomatic form, tea to coffee, um chicken to beef. All right, I prefer Coke to Pepsi. All right, that's true. So to to highlight what I'm saying as far as using either two or over, a resource that I have talked about regularly is Engram Viewer. If you are ever in a situation in which you're like, "Okay, I have these two phrases. Which one's more commonly used?" And you can put that into engram viewer. I just put in that prefer uh tea to coffee or prefer uh tea over coffee and then prefer tea uh instead of coffee. As you can see the instead of it doesn't even show up on the graph, but you you hear prefer tea to coffee. This is the one that that you're going to come across most. And you actually do you can see prefer tea over coffee. It does appear on the chart. So, just something to keep in mind. But once again, when talking about this forum, I would encourage you to say, "Prefer X to Y." All right. Um, let's look at the next one. Here we go. Uh, Jiao, new subscriber from Brazil. Good to see you. Nice. Thanks for uh being a part of our of our member community. I love it. This is I I don't think it's tricky, but there is something that I really want to hammer home when it comes to this question. I really want to just make sure drive the point, make sure that you understand this. So, which which sentence is correct? I think you all are going to know this. He stopped to smoke because he was coughing or he stopped smoking because he was coughing. There is something important that I want to say about the sentences specifically when talking about the verb stop because just look at well done. Excellent you guys. I see all these are BB B. Perfect. Uh so the correct answer is yes. He stopped smoking because he was coughing. Now that dependent clause because he was coughing that gives us the information we need so that we know all right B is the correct answer because this this person stopped they do not smoke anymore. So when you use stop smoking it means you quit. If I were to use stop to smoke, it's basically it means that I'm stopping. I'm pausing to do this activity, which if we're talking about like coughing, that sounds really weird and awkward like somebody's coughing. I better stop and smoke a cigarette. I'm sure there are people out there that may do that. I don't know. But in this case, the correct sentence, he stopped smoking because he was coughing. Now, one thing that you may find not not weird but interesting when it comes to English grammar, we have the verb stop. Now, most verbs you're either going to follow it with a gerand or the infinitive. However, there's that. However, there are some verbs that you can follow with either a gerand or infinitive. The verb stop is one of them. Now within that that group of verbs that can you can either follow with a gerand or an infinitive there is another group a smaller group that depending on whether or not you use the gerand or infinitive it changes the meaning sometimes it whether you use like I um I you could follow like with either one. I like playing tennis. I like to play tennis. They mean the same thing. I could follow the verb like with either a jarnire or infinitive. If I use stop and then depending on which one I follow it with, it actually changes the meaning. Like in the example I just gave you, I've taken this. This is from the um British Council and it basic I wanted to share this with you because it highlights the verbs in which the meaning is going to change. You can see up here I'm blocking my face now. Stop. try try to do something versus try doing something and then remember and forget. So, let me just we've talked about stop as far as you stop to do something versus uh and you actually pause to do it versus stop doing it and then you quit it. try if you're going to follow that with the the Jiren and I know this is difficult to see but uh again you want to you can access the lesson notes but I'll I'll tell you what the sentence um it says have you tried turning off the on and off off and on the computer so try doing something is really like talking about experimenting doing it like try doing this thing like you would make a suggestion well have you tried doing this or have you tried doing that so you're experimenting whereas Whereas you try to do something, it means that you're doing something that's difficult. And I I tried to learn um um Japanese, but it was just too difficult for me, but I tried to do it. So that's a distinction. Remember and forget. When you remember doing something, think about like your your memory. Uh, oh, I remember um walking in the park this last weekend. That's what we did. It was very lovely. If you remember to do something, then you're basically remember, oh, I this is something I need to do or uh I I did not remember to lock the door and you're thinking about that that instance and you remember to do something. You're recalling information. Forget functions the same way as remember. You forget doing something versus forget to do something. So, I really wanted to highlight those four verbs. Um, stop, try, remember, forget. Depending on whether you follow it with a gerand or infinitive, it's going to change the meaning. How about this one? This is more advanced grammar, and I'll tell you why. Because it's not the most commonly used form, and that's okay. It's always good to get a little bit of variety. that the event was cancelled. Which phrase are we going to use to complete this sentence? Did we learn? Had we learned or do we learn? And I don't know why I'm just doing this thing. All right, I'm going to stop. Okay. Not until the last moment that the event was cancelled. So the grammar concept that I wanted to talk or that I want to talk about and share with you is this idea of inversion. So the correct answer I'm not seeing too many uh uh responses. Maybe people are thinking this one through. Don't be shy. Even if you get incorrect, it's no big deal. Uh it's it's perfectly fine. Not until the last moment did we learn that the event the event was cancelled. So let me tell you inversion. We're going to use this after negative adverbials like not until the last moment. Not until the this means that you're going to reverse the normal subject verb order in the sentence. So, I'm not going to say we did learn. I I'm going to switch it around almost like you're forming a question. Did we learn? And you're really going to use inversion when you want to add emphasis. You're trying to be persuasive. And therefore, you may come across it or you may hear people use it more often. They're giving a speech or a presentation and they really want to emphasize something. It is a little more formal and you just use this for an effect. Not until the last moment did we learn that the event was cancelled. So something to keep in mind. What do you think? Choose the grammatically correct sentence. This is another one that I think is well I don't want to say whether it's easy or difficult but the this can certainly be confusing. So which sentence is correct? He is used to work late at night. He used to working late at night. He is used to working late at night. I want you to tell me which of those sentence sentences is correct. And there is only one. There is only one answer to choose. So I hope I wasn't seeing I wasn't seeing much and then all of these answers boom boom came out at once. So I I think as you're looking at this you can probably see that okay uh in this case C is the correct answer. Excellent Katarina Julia uh uh good to see you uh Raphaela Lai nice all so many people here today. Excellent. He is used to working late at night. So there are several things that I want to point out when it comes to this. So he's used to working late at night. When we have used to followed by a noun or a gerand, which is like in our sentence, he's used to working. The meaning of used to, it is an adjective. It's an adjective phrase and it means you're accustomed to something. You're familiar with this. Like, oh, I'm not used to eating late at night. That's true. I like to I have dinners a little bit earlier uh in the evening. In our sentence, he is used to working late at night. That is something. Yeah, I am used to. And basically, you're saying you're accustom. Uh, you know, you're familiar with this. Used to plus a noun or a jarn. If we use used to plus a base verb, this is really a verb. You could say it's a people might say it's a verb or a modal verb. That that really doesn't matter. The meaning changes though. And in this case, when you use it, used to plus the base verb, this is used to talk about a past habit that you no longer do. I used to go dancing on the weekends. I did it in the past, but I don't I don't do it any longer. I used to do this thing and I'm using used to plus the base verb. So, just keep in mind that it can used to can be two different parts of speech. It can be an adjective or it can be a modal verb. And depending on which one you use, the meaning is different. So in our sentence right here, I'm using it as an adjective. He is used to working late at night. To give you a little more context, I I have I like to share these funny little memes with you from time to time. So we're talking about used to plus the noun or Jared. You're accustomed to or familiar with something when everything is going wrong in your life, but you're used to it. So, I'm using used to it. I'm following it with a noun, the pronoun it. guess yeah, the the the bar is on fire and from the family guy and he still just said, "Hey, you know, I'm I'm used to it." All right. Everything's going wrong, but I'm used to it. So, we're using it as an adjective. If I want to give you an example, another example, using it as a modal verb. So, we're talking about a past action here. It's no longer true. I used to be a people person, but people ruined that for me. I I thought this was funny when I read it. Uh saying, "Oh, yeah. I used to be a people person. I love people." And then you start talking and engaging with him like, "Okay, yeah, yeah, maybe I don't like people as much as I thought." Uh and people ruin that for me. But once again, I'm using it as um a a verb. I used to be following it with the base verb be. What do you think? Here's the next one. Hope you guys thought those were funny or entertaining. It's always good to, you know, throw a laugh in there every now and then. The man along with his sons m planning the event. Just giving you there's two choices. I want you to use the verb to be, but how are you going to conjugate it? Are you going to use are or is the man along with his sons planning the event? I'm trying to actually read this in a way that makes it a little easier and perhaps gives it away is making that longer pause when it comes to those commas. So, we're talking about uh you know a group of people. Now, when you think about a group of people, you might think, oh, like they are and that's but that's not the case because really the main subject of the sentence is the man. That is going to be our subject verb agreement. The man along with his sons is planning the event. It's going to maybe it sounds a little awkward because right after sons then we're using that verb to be is. Uh but really what happens I've already said is that the man this is the main subject and the verb must agree with it. The phrase along with his sons this is a nonrestrictive clause. It's really just providing additional information and therefore it can be omitted and that's why I was making that longer pause. I really could just say look the man is planning the event. All right and that tells you that this man is planning the event. If I want to give you a little extra information, I can use that clause. Well, the man along with his sons is planning the event. So, just keep that in mind. Uh, and hopefully if as you're able to see it, I know when you see things in writing, it makes it a little easier because you saw those commas in there, that should tell you that we're talking about a non-restrictive clause and you could throw that information out. This is the first time I sushi. What? What? What are you going to complete this sentence with? Have eaten, had eaten, or am eating. The There is a phrase that I really wanted to highlight with this. This is the first time I m sushi. Let me know. Write your answers in the comments in the chat. I just want you to participate so that you can fine-tune your grammar skills. That's what it's all about right now. So, this is the first time I you could really when you use the Well, that's the phrase that I want to talk about. I'll just go ahead and give it away. Uh the first time and when you're saying something, well, this is the first time I and then you fill in the blank. There are so many different things that you could say. In this case, you're going to complete the sentence with a have eaten. This is the first time I have eaten sushi. So really, the present perfect tense is used with this phrase, the first time when you're describing some new experience or something that just happened. Now, you're not always going to use the first time in in that context, but whenever you're starting out the sentence like, "Oh, this is the first time I have done something." That is more of a fixed phrase and it's something that people will say from time to time. You're emphasizing the the novelty of this experience and really the relationship to the present. This is the first time this is this is the first time I have taught a lesson in this room and that's true. I'm at an Airbnb right now. So, it's probably uh maybe just one or two more times and then that that'll be it. But I could say that this is the first time I've taught a lesson in this room. And uh just to give you another example again, dropping more of these subtle hints. If this is the first time you have seen one of my lessons, let me know by hitting the like button or any of those heart buttons in there. I know there are people in the chat. This may be your first time. Let me know. I see some of those hearts coming up. That's perfect. This is this is the first time you have participated in one of these lessons. Again, I'm using the present perfect. All right. Glad I like to see a lot of new people joining and practicing their English skills. Excellent. Love it. Love it. Love it. Love it. What do you think? She insisted that he mresent at the meeting. She insisted that he mresent at the meeting. Are you going to complete this sentence with the ver with a b or b is or c was? Which uh we're we're talking about the verb to be. Are you gonna use the base verb or is or what? She insisted that he present at the meeting. Um what do you think Miguel is? It's a second time. All right. Glad that's perfect. Glad to have you back Miguel. Uh so there is a Okay. I I don't want to give it away. So the the I want you to really think about the verb. She insisted she insisted that he present at the meeting. So what the reason I want to highlight or emphasize that verb insist because well the correct answer in this case I know I'm getting I when you get a mix of responses then I know okay this was maybe a little trickier is a she insisted that he be present at the meeting. So the verb insist can be followed by the subjunctive mood but only when it expresses like a demand or some strong recommendation. I insist like I don't know why again I'm just using like uh I insist that he go to the doctor and I'm using the subjunctive mood. However, let me throw that however. Uh, I know some people will be putting uh B and C in there. Colloquially, you will hear people use is or or was. You may hear like, "Oh, she insisted that he was present at the meeting." So, you will hear that from time to time. This is one of those uh instances in English where you have the subjunctive mood and say, "Okay, this is grammatically correct." But a lot of times people don't use it. It's like if saying if I were you. That's another time the subjunctive mood. But you will hear people say like look if I was you. And you'll hear either one. So this is why it can be a little trickier. But when you see that verb insist and you're talking about a demand or a recommendation, you'd really use that subjunctive. She insisted that he be present at the meeting. He acts as if he m the boss. It kind of just All right, never mind. How would you complete this sentence with is, was, or were. He acts as if he m the boss. If I knew it or wrong, it's okay. It's okay. Uh, these are these are questions that yeah, people make just simple simple uh mistakes. But with that last one, it is tricky because you'll you'll hear um a variety. So, he acts as if he I I kind of just mentioned this when I talk. Oh, if I were you. So, the correct answer is C. He acts as if he were the boss. We're talking about a describing an unreal situation. So, once again, like I just said, if I were you, it's the same thing. But you will again hear people say, "Oh, if I was you." Um, but I would in this case I would encourage you to say, "If I were you." Uh, always when talking about this this situation or he acts as if he were the boss. Uh, because the verb uh following as if, all right, it's often going to be that past subjunctive usually were for all the subjects. So when it gets to that when when talking about the subjunctive, there are rules that you can follow. I would encourage you to follow them. If I were you, he acts as if he were the boss. She insisted that he be present at the meeting. But you may hear people break these rules from time to time. So hopefully that one was maybe a little easier. And what do you This is another I guess this is another I don't want to never mind. I don't just let's just look at it. Choose the correct sentence. Which one is correct? Neither of the answers are correct. Neither of the answers were correct or neither of the answers is correct. How would you well which one of these sentences would you choose as being the correct the correct answer? Let me know. Write your answers in the comments in the chat. Just want to kind of gauge where everyone's at. This is one of those questions because I've done these grammar lessons before and you probably have noticed even with some of the the previous ones that I do throw in things that are a fair bit of review when talking about the subjunctive mood or conditional sentences. Inversion is something we meant before and using uh this is something else. Neither. So the correct answer I I'm going to say is C. Neither of the answers is correct. However, there's that however. All right. So, let me just read this and then I'll get to the however. Neither is a singular pronoun. So, because it is a singular pronoun, then you're just going to use a singular verb. Neither of the answers is correct. Now, however, the however, and this is actually something that I've I've shown in a previous lesson. This is from the Britannica dictionary and it's talking about the usage of neither. So basically what it's saying if you I'll read it in case you're having trouble uh if it's too small. According to the rules of grammar, the pronoun neither is singular. It requires a singular verb. Neither is correct. And then they even use they're using my however. All right. However, in informal writing or speech, a plural verb is common when neither is followed by of like in our sentence that I just gave you. So, they gave you something like neither of the answers is or are correct. You could use either one or neither of them know or knows my friend. So, technically speaking, again, I I do want you to consider neither. This is a singular pronoun. But, uh, if I wanted to go back and look at those, you um could use the singular is or are would would work. Um, so something to keep in mind when talking about neither or neither of something. So, this is a bit tricky. Uh, like many of these grammar questions, I tried to put in include some resources here to make it a little easier to understand. And all I could say is I just hope that your mind is blown right right now. But really, what I really hope is that you learn something new, that you knew probably many or most of these, that's great. But as long as you learn just one new thing, I consider that to be a great success for the lesson today. So if you did enjoy the lesson and you learned something new, you can let me know uh let me know by hitting that like button. I really appreciate all of you being here today. I love seeing so many familiar faces, so many members uh joining uh new members joining and old members. Rafaela, Lai, uh, Teresa, uh, great to see everyone and, uh, thank you guys so much. I hope, uh, you have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you very soon for another lesson in the near future. Just give some quick shoutouts. Thank you uh, Tao, Julia, Ahmed, Angela. Uh, great to see everybody. Have a good one and I will see you soon. Oh, Cinderella, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate uh the the donation. Does help make all of this possible. Just keeps us going. Keeps it all going. So, thank you guys very much. Uh have a good one. And I'm going to stop. --- ## 177. Advanced Grammar in 60 Minutes (Improve Your English Fluency) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `c7xWLw3cWI4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7xWLw3cWI4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:46:01 | --- The next hour is all about grammar. And I am going to teach you a variety of things that are really more upper intermediate to advanced grammar. And learning this is incredibly helpful because it's going to allow you to speak and write more accurately. In addition, and I think this is the most important thing, you'll be able to avoid making simple mistakes. So when it comes to the English language, verbs are perhaps well, some of the most important words because they're very descriptive and they really shape the way that we communicate. So it is very important that you understand all of the different verb tenses and I want to teach you all of them right now. I want to teach you all 12 English verb tenses and then I'm going to give you a quiz to see how much you've learned and how much you remember. So let's first talk about well, how do we get to 12? So in English there are three main tenses that refers to time. We have the past, the present, and the future. And then there are also four aspects and that refers to the state of action. And those are simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. 3 * 4 is 12, so we have 12 verb tenses. Now, I'm going to tell you a little bit about each verb tense, I'll give you an example sentence, and then we'll take that quiz. So let's begin with the present simple. So the present simple can be used in a few different ways. Generally, it's used to describe actions that are habitual. And when we talk about these habits, quite often we'll use an adverb of frequency like always, usually, sometimes, rarely, never. I could say I always ask you to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel. That is that's a habit. That's something I always ask you to do. And I really hope you do like and subscribe to the channel because that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes and that's what Interactive English is all about. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. We use the present simple to talk about facts. Fire is hot. That's a fact. Fire is hot. And we use the present simple to talk about scheduled time in the future. Now, this one can be a little trickier because we're talking about the present simple, but now we're talking about something in the future. And this is actually quite common when we refer to a a certain time and something that is scheduled. So I could say the movie starts at 8:00. It starts in the future, but I'm using the present simple. The movie starts at 8:00. Now let's talk about the past simple, which is used to describe a finished action in the past. And often there are are some keywords that really indicate the past simple like yesterday or last week or last year or a long time ago. If I were to ask you what did you do yesterday? You hear yesterday and you should automatically start thinking past simple. I could say a long time ago I taught in South Korea. That's true. That that's long time ago, it's finished. I taught in South Korea. Annyeonghaseyo to anyone out there who's watching from Korea. The next one, it's a very important verb tense. We we just talked about the past simple, so I want to stay in the past and talk to you about the present perfect. And this one it can be challenging because not all languages have a present perfect tense. But when we use the present perfect, we're going to use the verb have plus the past participle. So with unfinished actions, you may find words like for when talking about a duration of time or since when talking about a point in time. 2017. If talking about finished actions, people commonly use this when when talking about experiences. Uh I could say we have been to Berlin. It it's it's in the past, it's finished, but we we also don't know when. So whenever you're talking about those experiences, it's very common to use the present perfect. Or we could use it to talk about something that was completed in the recent past. And in that case, uh I could say we recently traveled to Italy. You can see us right there. I I like this verb tense. It gives me an opportunity to share some some family photos with you. Now let's move on to the future and talk about the future simple, which is used to describe an action that that happens in the future and expresses fact or certainty. And when talking about the future simple, you're going to use either will or be going to. Previously, I did a lesson talking about all the differences between will and going to and I'll I'll leave that up here for you in case you're interested. But uh I could say I I think it'll rain tomorrow. So that's that's an example with will and going to. All right. The United States is going to win the next World Cup. Okay, I have a tough time saying it with a straight face, but I just I got to be supportive, so yes, United States is going to win the next World Cup. Just just wait. The present continuous. So we are going to use the present simple of the verb to be, is, am, are, plus the verb and ing. And we use this verb tense when talking about actions that are happening right now and they're not yet finished. So if I were to ask you, what are you doing? You could say that you are watching this lesson. We use the present continuous to talk about temporary situations or habits. So if somebody were to say, well, this month I'm working from home. That's a temporary situation. We also use this verb tense when talking about annoyances. So if somebody were to say, you're always asking me for help. And in this case, you may hear people use words like always or constantly when when expressing that annoyance. And just like the present simple, we can use this tense to talk about the future, but not not a time in arrangements, something that that you have planned. Uh I could say I'm leaving on a jet airplane, don't know when I'll be back again. And bonus points if you can tell me who sang that song. Let me know down in the comments. And then there's the past continuous and we're going to use the past simple of the verb to be, was or were, plus the verb and ing. So we use the past continuous to refer to continuous actions that happened at a specific time in the past or actions that were happening when some other event occurred. And we use the past continuous with story backgrounds. I could say the sun was shining, the birds were singing, it was a beautiful day. So with story backgrounds, you will often hear the past continuous. Or overlapping actions. They happen at the same time. She was working while he was cooking dinner. Both of them happening at the same time, we use the past continuous. We can also use this if we're talking about a change of mind. We were planning a road trip, but the car broke down, all right? Something we were planning, but then yeah, we we changed our mind. Now let's go back to the future and pardon the movie puns, but I want to talk to you about the future continuous. So we're going to use will be plus the verb and ing. And we use the future continuous to refer to a continuous action that's happening at a given time in the future or actions that will be happening when some event occurs. So for given time, I could say a week from now, I will be sitting on a beach. It's not true. I wish it were true. And for an overlapping action, then I could say while you are shoveling snow in your driveway, I will be sitting on a beach. And and notice that you have that future arrangement with the present continuous. While you are shoveling snow in your driveway, I will be sitting on a beach. And you often hear statements like this when talking about the future. While you are doing something, I will be doing something else. And then we have the present perfect continuous and we'll use have been plus the verb and ing. And we can use this with unfinished actions to refer to an action that started in the past and continued to the present. And once again, you may use this with words like for and since. I could say I've been waiting for the bus for 30 minutes, all right? It started in the past, it's continued to the present. And just to add one more thing about this verb tense, it's likely going to continue into the future. That that's another key part of the present perfect continuous. We can also use this tense to talk about a past action that just finished. So say that I walk outside and and it's wet everywhere, I could use this verb tense and say, well, it's been raining. It's not raining now, it finished in the recent past, so I could use the present perfect continuous. It's been raining. And then there's the past perfect in which we'll use had plus the past participle. And this refers to two actions in the past and really just shows that one happened before the other. Now the past perfect is often used with a dependent clause that's going to begin with a subordinating conjunction like when or before or by the time, but just keep in mind that the past perfect is going to be used in the independent clause. So, I could say, "When I arrived at the office, the meeting had already begun." It's not a good situation. And then there's the past perfect continuous. And now we're getting into more advanced verb tenses. So, we're going to use had been plus the verb and ing. And we use the past perfect continuous to refer to an action that started in the past and continued to another point in the past. And we're going to use the past perfect continuous in that independent clause. And I could say, "I had been working at the school for a year when I met my future wife." All right, I had been working there for a year, it continued up until that point when I met my future wife. That is a true story. You can see see us right there. And I like to tease her because she just started working there and observed one of my classes. And I joke around and say that she saw my class and was like, "Wow, this guy can teach. That's so hot." I should I should probably edit this out. But, yeah, whatever. Let's continue. Let's continue with the future perfect. So, we're going to use will plus have plus the past participle. We use the future perfect to talk about two actions that happen in the future. And it really just shows that one action happens before the other. So, I could say, "By the end of next year, you will have achieved your fluency goals because you will have watched all of my video lessons." So, just go ahead, subscribe, turn on notifications so that you'll learn about all of my video lessons in the future. And last but not least, we have the future perfect continuous. We're going to use will have been plus the verb and ing. And we use this verb tense to talk about an action that happens in the future and continues to some other point in the future. And I could say, "By 2067, I will have been teaching on YouTube for 50 years." And oof. Okay, that's that's a long time. So, now you know these verb tenses, you know how they're used, you've seen some example sentences. So, let's put your knowledge to the test. I am going to give you some sentences without the verb tense. And I want you to think, how would you best complete this sentence? I'll give you a moment to think about it, and then I'll tell you the answer. So, let's begin with our first one right here. Wes mhm broccoli. Okay. I'm giving you the verb. How would you best complete that sentence? Wes mhm broccoli. I hope that you used the present simple to complete it and say, "Wes doesn't like broccoli." It's true. Broccoli and I, we have uh a bit of a contentious relationship. The next one, it's a question. What mhm around 8:00 last night? Okay, I'm giving you the subject and the verb. It's a question. What mhm around 8:00 last night? Couple things going on. You see last night, you should think past. There's a specific time, which is continuous. So, I hope you used the past continuous. What were you doing around 8:00 last night? At 8:00 last night, I think I was taking a shower. All right, again, past continuous. Then we have this next one. I mhm to India, but I hope to go in the future. I mhm to India, but I hope to go in the future. Okay, so in this case we're talking about an experience. So, you would use the present perfect. I have not been to India, but I hope to go in the future. And that is true, I really do. I haven't been there, but I hope to go in the future. Then we have she mhm to Brazil a long time ago. She mhm to Brazil a long time ago. The keyword in this sentence, a long time ago. You see that, you should think past simple. She traveled to Brazil a long time ago. I'm sure you got that one right. So, here is the next one. By the time I got to the stadium, the match mhm. By the time I got to the stadium, the match mhm. So, I talked about that phrase by the time already. That that is a key indicator of the past perfect. By the time I got to the stadium, the match had already finished. Had already finished, past perfect. And then I have one more question for you. How long mhm in line? Think about the context in which someone would ask you this question. How long mhm in line? So, we're talking about something that started in the past, it's continued to the present, and will likely continue into the future. And you would use the present perfect continuous. How long have you been waiting in line? I'm sure that you rocked that quiz. And if you did, you can let me know and write, "I am a grammar all-star" down in the comments. So, now I want to switch gears and talk about changing sentences. And the change that I'm referring to is active to passive. This is incredibly useful. I want to teach you the differences between active and passive voice, as well as when and how to use these sentences. So, without further ado, let's fine-tune your grammar skills and do a deep dive into the active and passive voice. It's all about active and passive voice. I want to tell you, well, what is the difference between active and passive? How do you change sentences from active voice to passive voice? And when should you use the passive voice? Because I think that can confuse learners from time to time. The reason why I'm doing this is because often in the comments I get questions and people are like, "Well, hey, how do you change this sentence to the passive voice?" It made me realize that, "Okay, this is valuable information for you to know about when and how to use active and passive voice. So, when you're thinking about, okay, like let's start with the sentences that we can change from active to passive. So, the first thing that I want to do is focus on the verb. And the verb tense does not matter. What really matters is what follows the verb. Does an object follow the verb? Because if it does, then we can change it to the passive voice. Let me give you some more information about that. So, verbs can either be transitive or intransitive. If a verb is transitive, it means that it has an object in order to help complete the meaning of the sentence. For example, the verb buy. We we will follow that with an object because it tells us, well, what the person is buying. I buy some food. Subject, verb, object. So, if a verb has an object, then it is a transitive verb. If a verb is intransitive, then, well, that just means that there is no object. The verb will likely be followed by a prepositional phrase or maybe even an adverb. Think about the verb laugh. All right, you you know what the meaning of that is. And I could say the sentence, "She laughs at the joke." Subject, verb, prepositional phrase. Or I could say, "They laughed immediately." Subject, verb, adverb. Now, there are some verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive. Let's look at the verb eat. I could say, "We will eat the sandwiches." Talking about the future, I have my subject, verb, and the sandwiches, that is my object. Now, I can use that same verb and follow it with a prepositional phrase and say, "Well, we will eat in the park." In that case, I have subject, verb, prepositional phrase, it is intransitive. Now, the reason why I'm telling you all this because you may be thinking, "What what the heck does this have to do with active and passive voice?" If a verb is intransitive, you cannot change it to the passive voice. So, all of the sentences that I just talked about that were intransitive, "She laughs at the joke." "They laughed immediately." "We will eat in the park." Those sentences cannot be changed to the passive voice. In order to change a sentence from active to passive, or or even just to use the passive, you need to have an object. So, now you know the types of sentences that you can change to the passive voice. They must be transitive verbs. Let's look at the difference between active, passive, how to change it, and when to use that passive voice. So, that I think just in general, the main difference between active voice and passive voice is that with active voice, the subject is performing the action. When you're using the passive voice, the subject is receiving the action. Keep in mind that the vast majority of the time you're going to use the active voice. When you're speaking, you're going to use active voice. And when you're writing, you're going to be writing those active sentences. The reason for this is because active voice, it's it's more direct and the focus is on the actor. For example, I could say, uh well, "Wes teaches English." It's direct, it's easy to understand, and the focus is on well, Wes, who is doing the action. The subject is doing the action. So, the vast majority of the time, just know, all right, you are going to use the active voice. There are certain instances in which it's common to use the passive voice. And I want to talk to you about four different times in which you you may want to use the passive voice and why. And as we go through this, uh I'm going to give you some examples, and we're going to change the sentences from active to passive. So, let's begin with the first one, which is when you want to emphasize the action over the actor. This is a a great example of when you would want to use the passive voice. So, let's take the sentence I wrote that email. This is an active sentence. Subject, verb, object. Now, if we want to change this to the passive voice, we're going to take the object and move it to the front of the sentence. Then you are going to add the verb to be plus the past participle plus the phrase by and the subject. So, let's look at this change a bit closer. We have our active sentence, I wrote that email. That email, that's the object. I'm going to move it to the front of the sentence. Then I'm going to follow it with the verb to be. Now, one thing you need to keep in mind is the verb tense, because in the active sentence, wrote is in the simple past. So, that means I need to use the verb to be in the simple past. That email was, then the past participle. The main verb in the active sentence is write. The past participle is written. Write, wrote, written. That email was written by me. All right, that is the subject. The subject is moved to the end. Notice changes from a subject pronoun to an object pronoun. So, in our active sentence, we're going to use the subject pronoun I, I, you, he, she, it, we, they. If we're changing it to the passive, then it's going to become an object pronoun, me. Me, you, him, her, us, them, those are object pronouns. One other thing that I think is important it is subject-verb agreement, because in this case, I'm saying that email was written. If in my active sentence, I were to say, well, I wrote those emails, and the object is plural, that's going to change the subject-verb agreement. Then I would say, those emails were written. So, that that's something you need to pay close attention to when changing from active to passive. Is the object singular, or is the object plural? So, this this is kind of a difficult example to start out with, because there are many changes that are occurring. You have a simple sentence like I wrote that email, and you're going to change it to the passive, that email was written by me. And again, I told you in this sense, you might use the passive if you want to emphasize the action over the actor. Another time that you may want to use the passive voice is when you want to avoid identifying the actor. You want to avoid identifying that subject. So, let's take let's take an active sentence we made mistakes. We have our subject, verb, and our object. Our object is mistakes. Let's now change it to the passive, and this time, we're going to avoid we're going to avoid identifying the actor. So, I would take mistakes, I'm going to move it to the front of the sentence. Mistakes were, because again, we're talking about the past tense, and then the past participle, made. Mistakes were made, finished. I don't want to identify who made the mistakes. And the reason why is because well, we made the mistakes. So, this in this example, I I think of government and politician, because they don't want to admit when they made a mistake. So, instead of going up there and saying, well, look, sorry everyone, we made mistakes, they would get up there and they would use the passive voice and say, well, mistakes were made. And in that case, they are not identifying themselves, because people would would would hate them for it, and this is a way for them to avoid responsibility. So, in this example, I I tend to think of politicians. I know I'm rather cynical. Instead of saying, you know, oh, we made mistakes, they might say, mistakes were made, and they avoid identifying the actor. Another time in which you may want to use the passive voice is when the actor is unknown. We don't know who the subject is that is performing that action. For example, let's take the sentence someone stole my bike. Subject, verb, object. Now, let's change it to the passive. We're going to take the object, move it to the front. My bike. Follow it with the verb to be, was, because it was the past tense. My bike was, plus the past participle, stolen. So, we have my bike was stolen by, well, we don't know who the person is. In the active voice, I just said someone, I use the indefinite pronoun. But if we're changing this to the passive you don't need to say by someone. It's not necessary. We don't know who it is. You just say, oh, my bike was stolen. So, this is a great example as to when you would use the passive when you don't know who the actor is. My bike was stolen, my wallet was stolen. Those are examples of when I think it's pretty common that you may hear someone use the passive, or maybe you want to use the passive voice as well. Another time in which you may want to use the passive is when you want to you want to have a firm tone. You're you're giving a command, you want to be firm, but you also want to be polite as well. someone using the passive, or you can use it, too. So, let's start with just a general command, which is no talking. So, if we want to change this to the passive, it can be a little tricky. So, let's expand that sentence out to we do not allow talking. Now, we have something to work with and can change it to the passive voice. So, we're going to take talking, we're going to move it to the front. We're going to follow it with the verb to be in the present tense. Talking is not, because we're talking about something in the negative. Talking is not allowed. That is the past participle. And and that's basically how you would say it. You don't need to identify the actor, you're giving a command, it's understood. So, you would just say, talking is not allowed. And I said it's a little more polite, because if if somebody's going to tell you, hey, no talking I think that can be come off as a little rude. Instead, I think it's a little more polite to just say, hey, you know, talking is not allowed. So, these are four great examples as to when you may want to try and use the passive voice, or you may likely hear somebody else using the passive voice. So, let let's practice a little bit. I want to go back through each and every one of these instances. loud. I'll give you a moment to think about it, and then I will tell you the answer. And I'm going to try and give you sentences that I think are relevant, that that I think people would actually say in the passive voice. So, let's begin with that first instance in which you may want to emphasize the action over the actor. And the sentence that I'm going to give you is this one right here. My ancestors farmed this land. Change it to the passive voice. I'll make it a little easier for you, all right, I'm giving you part of the answer right here. What would you say? How would you change this to the passive? I hope that you said in the passive voice, this land was farmed by my ancestors. And this is something, yeah, you may want to emphasize that, especially if maybe something is going to happen to the land. We can't We can't destroy this land. This land was farmed by my ancestors. It's very important to me. The next sentence that I want you to change, and I want you to avoid identifying the actor is this one. They will put their dog to sleep. It is It's It's a sad sentence. It's a fact of life. If you don't know what it means to put an animal to sleep is basically to to kill the animal, mostly because of old age, or they're sick, and they have a poor quality of life. So, you could say in the active voice, they will put their dog to sleep. How would you change it to the passive? Here is part of it. How would you complete that sentence? I hope that all of you said, their dog will be put to sleep. We're talking about something that will happen in the future, will be put. In this case, you're not identifying the actor, you're not saying by them. If you're talking to somebody else about this family situation, and you know it's difficult for them, you're just going to tell somebody what would happen without identifying the actor, and say, their dog will be put to sleep. The next one is when the actor is unknown, and this time, I have a question for you. I want you to change this question from the active to the passive. And that question is, "Has anyone fed the cat?" This is a question in the active voice. How would you change it to the passive? And I'm not going to give you any hints this time. So, what do you think? "Has anyone fed the cat?" Again, the actor is unknown. We have that indefinite pronoun anyone. So, if we change this to the passive, I think a very common question someone might ask is, "Has the cat been fed?" We're still using the present perfect in the question, and and the grammar is going to remain the same. Has the cat Remember that object is going to move to the front, and it will go after that helping verb. Has the cat the verb to be been plus the past participle fed. "Has the cat been fed?" We don't need to say "by anyone" because well, it it's not really relevant. We don't know, so it's very common just to ask, "Hey, has the cat been fed?" And then I have a a command for you that I want you to change, and that is, "No smoking." Now, we did this before. I gave you that example, "No talking." I want you to change "No smoking" to the passive, but I don't want you to use the word not. And because of that, I really want you to think about what verb should you use. What verb is commonly used, and this is actually I think a sign that you may see quite often out in public. Let's stretch this out. I'll make it a little easier for you. The verb you could use is prohibit. We prohibit smoking. And then if I give you that, I think it's much easier to change and make a passive sentence, and you would say, "Smoking is prohibited." "Smoking is prohibited" passive voice. It is a it's a firm tone, but it's also I think a little more polite than just saying, "Hey, no smoking." Just tell somebody, "Smoking is prohibited." So, I hope you have a perfect understanding of active voice, passive voice, how do you change these sentences, as well as when to use the passive voice. I think that is very important because, like I said, most of the time you are going to use the active voice. What I want you to do right now is let let's do some more practice. I want you to write an active sentence in the comments, and then I want you to go to someone else's comment, reply to their comment, and change it to the passive. So, what I want is just to have this long list of comments in the active, and then you can respond to those comments and change the sentence from active to passive. Right now, I want to have a look at some tricky grammar and teach you the ins and outs of causative verbs, which are commonly used in everyday conversation and writing. And that is why it is super important to understand the causative structure when it comes to the verbs have, get, make, let, and help. And let's begin with a question. I have a question for you, and just tell me which one you think is correct. I help my friends make dinner, or I help my friends to make dinner. So, th- this can be a bit tricky for a couple of reasons. The first has to do with the verb help, which I will come back to in just a little bit. The second reason, which is really the main reason, is because when you learn verbs, and I'm sure you've noticed that when you have the verb followed by an object, it's often then followed by the infinitive, which is to plus the base verb. So, co- consider the following sentences. I taught her to swim. They asked me to stay. We told him to help. In each of these sentences, we have the verb followed by an object followed by the infinitive. Something else I could tell you is that I always ask you to subscribe to the channel if you would like to improve your English skills, and that way I can become your English teacher. My name is West. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, in this lesson, we're going to talk about causative verbs, which are different than the ones I just showed you. And it's important to understand how to form sentences with these verbs and use the causative structure so that you don't make simple mistakes because these verbs are very common, and they're very useful. So, in today's lesson, I am going to talk to you about the verbs have, get, make, let, and help. So, what exactly are causative verbs? Well, these are verbs that we use to indicate that someone or something causes something to happen. So, I I'm going to use the word cause a lot, so it's also important to understand what this word means, and that is just the reason why something is happening. Let me give you an example, and then we'll go into more detail. I could tell you, "My wife made me take out the garbage." Okay, giving you a real-life example. So, basically, my wife is causing me to do something, which is take out the garbage. She is the reason why this is happening. So, the subject is causing the action. Now, even though she is not doing the action of taking out the garbage, she is in control of the situation. So, the subject may not do the action, but controls the situation causing something to happen. And notice that I'm not going to follow the object with to. I'm not going to say "to take." Now, I'm trying to help you understand just the basic idea because the way that someone or something controls a situation and causes something to happen is either by paying, asking, convincing, forcing, or permitting someone to do something. Right now, I want to switch gears and talk to you about the causative structure, but I will come back to these ideas throughout the lesson. So, let's begin with have. Normally, people think of the verb have meaning possession, like uh "I have a phone." But in this case, the meaning is different. It means causing something to happen either by paying, asking, or convincing someone, but mostly it it's by paying. And there are two different structures depending on whether the object is a person or thing. So, you have someone plus the base verb. You have someone do something. Or you have something plus the past participle. You have something done. Let me walk you through a situation. If I give you the sentence, "My brother painted my house." We know what happened, but we don't know what caused this to happen. Now, if I said, "I had my brother paint my house." I had someone do something. Now, we know that I caused this to happen. I I didn't do the action. I didn't paint my house. My brother did. And and we can infer that I either asked him or convinced him or or maybe even paid him some money. Now, if I said, "I had my house painted." I had something done, and I'm using that past participle. Again, I am the one who caused the house to get painted, but we don't know who did the action. And in this case, the structure is similar to the passive. And that's because the focus it is not really on well, who's doing the action because we don't know. The most important thing is the result that that the house got painted. And in this case, we can infer that I paid someone to do this. Here are some more examples, but when you think about these sentences, keep in mind that the subject is causing something to happen, but not doing the action. So, with have someone plus the base verb, I could say, "I'll have my friend give us a ride." Or the teacher had the students learn causative verbs. And with have something plus the past participle, I could tell you, "They had their home remodeled." Or we had the event catered. Let's now have a look at the verb get, which, once again, has two different structures depending on whether the object is a person or thing. So, you get someone plus two plus the base verb. You get someone to do something. Or you get something plus the past participle. You get something done. To be honest, it has the same meaning as have in that someone or something is causing something to happen either by asking, convincing, or paying. Like mostly paying. So, as causative verbs, have and get may be used interchangeably. The the only real difference is that have it is a bit more formal than get. Once again, though, I have some sentences, and we'll we'll just walk through a situation. "A mechanic fixed her car." I'm just stating a fact, and I'm not talking about who caused this to happen. But if I say, "She got a mechanic to fix her car." She got someone to do something. So, now we know that she caused this to happen, and we can infer that she paid this person to do this. So, you could use this form if someone asked, "Did she find someone to fix her car?" I'm asking if she caused the fixing to happen. And then you could respond, "Yeah, she got a mechanic to fix her car." And then if I said, "She got her car fixed." she got something done. Again, we're using the past participle, and this is similar to the passive. We don't know who did the action because that's not important. The focus is on the result that the car is fixed, and yes, we can infer that she paid someone to do this. So, maybe somebody is asking, "Can she give us a ride? I I thought her car was in the shop." In this case, all that matters is the result that the car is now working. So, you could say, "Yeah, she can give us a ride. two plus the base verb. I could say, "When my daughter gets older, I'll get her to do her homework." Okay, that's that's probably not true, but an example with get. Or I could say, "We got our neighbors to give us a hand." And then a couple of examples with get something plus the past participle. Um he's going to get his hair cut this week. Or she got her nails painted yesterday. Then the next three, make, let, and help are a little easier because they share the same structure. You have the verb plus the object plus the base verb. And And really the object is going to be someone or something. Now, when someone or something makes something happen, generally it's by force or or just causing this thing to happen. I could say, "My boss made me work late." All right, that's force. Or the wind made my bike fall over. Once again, force. Or the movie made me cry. It just caused this to happen. When someone or something lets something happen, it's because of permission. My boss let me leave work early. She let me borrow her car. The pass lets us enter all of the museums. And then we have the verb help, which I told you at the beginning of the lesson is a little tricky because with the verb help, you're not necessarily causing something to happen. You're really assisting someone. But still, it's considered a causative verb because we use the same structure. I could say, "My wife always helps me do the dishes." Or the article will help me understand the situation. Or my experience helped me get the promotion. Now, with help, I should tell you, it is possible to follow the object with two plus the base verb. So, we can use to help with all of these sentences, and the meaning stays the same. But because we're adding an additional word, which is two, most of the time people won't use it because it's just more efficient to say or write fewer words. But you don't have to take my word for it. You can check out Ngram Viewer and compare these phrases on a graph so that you can visually see which of the phrases is more commonly used. And as you can see, using help plus the object plus the base verb is more frequently used. But let's go back to my original question. I help my friends make dinner, or I help my friends to make dinner. Both of them are correct, but it's more common for someone to just say, "I help my friends make dinner." Now, let's test your knowledge with a mini quiz. I will give you a moment to think of the answer, and then I will tell you the correct answer. Are you ready? Here's your first question. I mhm my toilet. What do you think? So, the correct answer is C. I had a plumber fix my toilet. I had someone do something. Here's the next one. She mhm her jacket. The answer is she let her friend borrow her jacket. She let someone do something. Here's another question. The bad weather mhm our plans. What do you think? The answer is the bad weather made us alter our plans. It forced us to do this. And then there's we mhm the contract. The correct answer is we got a lawyer to look over the contract. We got someone to do something. Let me know how you did down in the comments because I love hearing from you. Now, when most people think of grammar, they think of rules. So, right now I want to share with you 25 very important rules with the most common word in English. Now, these are rules that you you don't really need to memorize, but just be familiar with them. Know that they exist. This is about fine-tuning your English skills and avoiding simple mistakes. I said that at the beginning. So, let's have a look at some grammar rules with the article the. I want to teach you 25 rules that you can follow so that you know when to use the article the. If you are a person that loves learning grammar rules because you think that rules make it a little easier for you to follow, then this lesson is for you. So, the first rule that I have for you is you're going to use the when you are talking about things that you have already mentioned. This is sometimes called the rule of first mention because the first time you mention something, you will use the indefinite article A or An, but the next time, the second time that you mention it, you will use the definite article the. Let me give you an example so you know what I'm talking about. Here is a man with a bucket. He has water in the bucket. So, the first time I mentioned the noun bucket, I used that indefinite article, but the second time I mentioned it, it's already been mentioned, I'm going to use the. Then I could go on and say, "There is a plant next to the man. He is watering the plant." All right, but now when you are talking, selling some story, you're not going to emphasize the just like I did. I just wanted to make sure it was easy for you to understand. So, the second time that I mentioned all of those things, I used the. We also use the when there is only one of something, and we we kind of just assume that there is only one. So, maybe I go to a restaurant and I ask somebody, "Where's the toilet?" I I just assume that there is only one toilet in that restaurant, so I would use the. Or maybe I could say, "We went for a walk in the park." Or even we drove to the mall downtown. In that case, downtown, we just assume that there is only one mall. We drove to the mall downtown. We use the when we want to refer to specific count nouns, those nouns that we can count, 1 2 3 4 5. So, for example, maybe you come over and visit me, and I tell you, you know, "Make yourself comfortable. Have a seat on the couch." I say, "Have a seat on the couch." It's specific. You know that I'm really just talking about one because yes, I only there is only one couch in my home even though it is a count noun, the couch. say, "Please, can you hit the like button?" It's specific. There's just one like button. So, yeah, please go ahead, hit that like button. Please hit the like button. We also use the to refer to specific non-count nouns, those non-countable nouns. For example, I I could ask somebody, "Please pass me the salt." Salt is a non-count noun. Or maybe I This is something when when we travel, I always just just to be safe, I always ask people, you know, "Is Is the water safe to drink? Is the tap water safe to drink?" Water is a non-count noun, but I will use the. Is the water safe to drink? We use the to refer to objects that are unique, the sun, the moon, the sky. We also use the to refer to people that are unique as well, the boss, the president, the pope. Yes, there's only one pope. And then we use the before superlatives. She is the smartest person in the class. Wes is the best English teacher in the world. All right, or maybe you you could be thinking, "You know what? This guy is the worst." Whether or not you think I'm the best or the worst, all I care about is that you remember we use the before superlatives, the fastest, the the most comfortable, the spiciest, the most beautiful. The before superlatives. We use the before ordinal numbers. Now, this is not always going to be the case, but if you're talking about a very common sentence that somebody might use with ordinal numbers, and they say, "This is the time something happened." This is the first time that something happened. For example, if I were again to ask you, "Please hit the like button." Then I could say, "You know, this is the second time that I've asked you to do that." So, yes, please, just go ahead and do it. All right, that's This is the second time I've asked that. We use the with clauses introduced by only. This is the only day I have available. Or maybe I could say, "You are the only person that I trust." We also use the when we talk about decades, the 1960s. Or perhaps somebody might just say the '70s. That's when I was born. or the 80s. Got to love those one-hit wonders. If you want to refer to groups of people like the those collective nouns, you are going to use the for example of the French, the British, the elderly, the police, the rich, the poor. Those are all collective nouns and you will use that definite article the. We also use the if we want to talk about rivers, the Amazon, the Nile. We use the if we want to talk about mountain ranges as well, the Rockies, the Andes, the Alps. Oceans, that's another rule. If you're talking about oceans, you need to use the. So, I could ask you, what is your favorite ocean? Is it the Atlantic Ocean or the Pacific Ocean? We use the if we're talking about deserts, the Sahara Desert. I've never been to the Sahara Desert. I've driven through the Mojave Desert, but I've never been to the Sahara. But either way, we got to use the before those deserts. We use the when talking about certain points on the globe, the North Pole, the South Pole, the Equator. We also use this definite article if we're talking about the names of islands, especially as a group, the Bahamas. And especially if you can follow the name with the word islands, then you know, okay, use the. The Hawaiian Islands, the Galapagos Islands. We use the when talking about countries with plural names like the the Philippines or the Netherlands. I think it may just be those two, all right? But just just remember countries with plural names use the. We're also going to use the when talking about countries with a name that really it it says the type of state it is like kingdom or republic. So, for example, I could say the United States. I I am from the US or the United Kingdom or even the Republic of China. We use the when talking about the names of newspapers, the New York Times or the Washington Post. Now, there there will be some exceptions to this rule and I think it's just because maybe the newspaper wants to be creative and have a catchy name, but in general, you're going to use the before the names of newspapers. You will also use the before the names of buildings or structures like the Empire State Building or the Great Wall of China or the pyramids. You need to use the when talking about monuments like the Statue of Liberty or the Statue of David or even the Taj Mahal. You will use the when talking about museums as well such as the Louvre or the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That is that's probably the last museum that I visited. You will use the when talking about the names of hotels like the Marriott or the Hilton. There again, there will be some exceptions to this rule and you are going to use the when talking about the names of families. You're in this in this case you're talking about not not individual people, but the family as a group. So, like the movie Harry Potter, you you might hear people say the Potters when talking about the family or a very famous family, they have their own TV show, the Kardashians. So, those are 25 rules that you can follow so that you know when to use the definite article the. Now, you do not need to memorize all of these rules. Learning grammar in part is about avoiding mistakes. You want to learn the structure and the rules that should be followed. However, mistakes are inevitable. They're going to happen and it is okay to make mistakes. to help you avoid making these mistakes, especially the simple ones. But in order to do that, it is important to understand well, what are some common mistakes? And right now I want to take a look at three grammar mistakes that even advanced learners make. I'm going to talk to you about some different grammar that English learners commonly confuse and simple mistakes are made. So, I'm going to teach you the grammar. Practice, practice and practice some more. So, the first grammar mistake that you might be making is this right here. I want you to tell me which sentence do you think is correct? The doctor recommends that she go to bed early or the doctor recommends that she goes to bed early. Which one do you think is correct? Because there is only one answer. I hope you chose this sentence right here. The doctor recommends she go to bed early. Now, you may look at this and think, wait a second, what's going on? Subject verb, she goes. But this is an example of the subjunctive mood that expresses a suggestion. Another way to think about it, which I think might be a little easier, is that there is a hidden modal verb in there and we could rework this sentence and I could tell you this. The doctor thinks that she should go to bed early. So, you see that modal verb should and we follow that with the base verb go. Now, there are some verbs out there that that basically contain the same meaning should. For example, recommend. When you recommend something, you're basically telling someone what you think they should do. So, you don't need to use should. It's almost like it's hidden within the meaning of the verb recommend. So, you would say the doctor recommends that she go to bed early. We use the base verb go. Now, mistakes are commonly made when that noun clause is in the present simple and the subject is he, she, or it because naturally learners want to conjugate that verb using that subject he, she, or it and they would conjugate it incorrectly. When we're talking about the subjunctive mood, you're going to use the base verb. Keep in mind, the subjunctive mood covers a range from wishes to commands to suggestions to conditions. And there are some verbs that tend to attract the subjunctive mood and those are the following. So, these are verbs in which you may end up using the subjunctive mood. So, let's practice this right now. I am going to give you a sentence and I want you to transform that sentence so that it has the same meaning, but you are going to use one of these verbs with the subjunctive mood. I'll tell you the sentence and then give you a few seconds before I give you the answer. Are you ready? So, the first sentence that I have for you is this. must leave at once. I want you to change this sentence and use the verb demand. She thinks that he must leave at once. Remember how I told you that that hidden modal. That modal is in the meaning of the verb. So, if we're going to transform this and change this sentence around, you would say she demands that he leave at once. He leave. The next sentence I have for you is I believe the game should get rescheduled. I believe the game should get rescheduled. I want you to transform this sentence and use the verb insist. Okay? So, if we're going to take that verb insist and change this sentence around, you would say I insist the game get rescheduled. I insist the game get rescheduled, subjunctive mood. I hope that was easy for you and that now it makes a little more sense. The next grammar mistake that that learners often make is just subject verb agreement when they are saying negative statements in the present simple and they're using the contraction with do and not. So, let's let's unpack this. What I'm talking about is when when people are speaking. That that's key because when people are having a conversation, they they just want to say things quickly, they want to say things naturally and when this happens, subject verb agreement can become a little confusing. So, when you want to say a negative statement, if the verb is not to be, then you're going to use the helping verb do. And you would need to conjugate that helping verb based on the subject. we don't, they don't. Simple enough. Now, the problem that I think a lot of learners have is that when they're talking, when they're having a conversation, people make a mistake with that doesn't. I I hear this quite often when the subject is he, she, it, they want to say the negative and they say he don't, she don't. If I hear somebody make this mistake, I understand what they're saying, but it's just a matter of fluency. I I know that they're just we're we're having a conversation, perhaps it's moving a little fast. People just want to speak quickly, they want to speak naturally and they may conjugate this incorrectly. So, when we're talking about subject verb, I I think overwhelmingly this is where people have issues when they're stating that negative in the present simple. And the best way to correct this is just to get more exposure to the language, more reading, more listening, more practice. And the more you do those three things, then it just going to come to you naturally. You're not going to have to stop and think about it. You would just be conjugating these correctly. He doesn't, she doesn't, it doesn't. So, now let's do a quick practice. It's always good to practice this. I am going to tell you a sentence, a positive sentence, and I just want you to change it and make it negative. So, I'll give you a moment to say the sentence and I want you to say the sentence out loud because we're talking about spoken English. Are you ready? Change that, make it negative, and you would say, he doesn't eat pizza every day. The next one is, people want to email with us. Make that sentence negative. And when you do that, that sentence becomes, people don't want to email with us. People don't, they don't. I didn't say that all of these would use doesn't, so I hope that you said don't. People don't want to email with us. But I really hope that you do want to email with us, and if you do, check out the link in the description. Join our email list, link is down below. Finally, I have, um, if someone likes it, please tell me. If someone likes it, please tell me. How do you make that negative? I hope you said, if someone doesn't like it, please tell me. If someone doesn't like it, please tell me. All right, so again, this is just good practice, subject verb, practice practice practice. That is the way to improve so that the next time you're having a conversation, you will just say this naturally and correctly. The final mistake that learners often make is just confusing ED and ING adjectives. And the reason why I think this can be confusing for many learners is because the only difference between the two adjectives are just those letters at the end. Bored, boring, interested, interesting, excited, exciting. So besides those letters, there is another key difference between these adjectives, and that is their meaning and usage. For example, ED adjectives describe a person's feeling, and and it is a temporary feeling. ING adjectives describe a situation, a thing, or a person's characteristics. And it's that last part, a person's characteristics, that's where I think many learners confuse these adjectives, and they would say something like, I am boring. And they use the ING, and they're actually describing their characteristics. I am boring, when they really want to talk about the way they feel, and they should say, I am bored. Now, this is important because I am bored and I am boring have very different meanings. If you're bored, it's just how you feel about some situation. You don't like it, it's a temporary feeling, you're bored. If you say, I am boring, well then that's describing your character. You're saying that you are a boring person, and if that's the case, then not many people are probably going to want to hang out with you and spend time with you, because they would they may also think you're boring. So keep that in mind when we're talking about ED adjectives, and you're talking about your feeling, and ING adjectives when you're talking about someone's characteristics. Okay, so so let's practice this. I'm going to give you a situation, and then ask you a couple of different questions. adjective that I give you. I'm just going to give you one adjective, and you're going to to answer the question with either an ED adjective or ING. Let's do one as an example, so you know what I'm talking about. The situation that I'll give you is, I like to play soccer. All right, very simple. Now, here is the adjective that I want you to use, and I'll ask you a couple of questions, and just give me an answer using either ED or ING. So I would ask you, how do you feel? And you'd say, I'm excited to play soccer. And then I could ask you, what do you think about soccer? I think soccer is exciting. Now you know what I want you to do, here is the next situation, and and I will give you a moment to answer each question. All right, the next situation is, she couldn't solve the problem. All right. Now my question would be, how's the problem? The problem is frustrating. How's she feeling? She feels frustrated. I hope you were able to answer those correctly with the ED and ING adjective. Here's the next situation, all right? English grammar drives me crazy. My question is, how do you feel about English grammar? English grammar is confusing. How do you feel? I feel confused. Now I know that some of this grammar may be confusing, but I hope that after watching this lesson, you are less confused. And if you are less confused and and not frustrated anymore, but actually excited because you learned something new, then I recommend that everyone hit that like button. And I'm just trying to get in a quick little review of everything we learned today. I know that we've covered a lot this past hour, and I hope that I've cleared up some confusion with these different grammar concepts. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 178. Advanced Idioms (C1-C2) to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eEn2wyDZiyM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEn2wyDZiyM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:57:09 | --- you really need to be on the ball if you're going to follow this lesson because I am going to teach you different C1 and C2 idioms to help you build your vocabulary and improve your skills when having a casual conversation so let's begin with an idiom that I've already mentioned which is on the ball and to be on the ball is a C1 idiom and it means to be quick to understand and react to things so it's like you're you're just really ready and alert and often this idiom is going to follow the verb to be and you could use it in the affirmative and say look you really need to be on the ball for the important meeting tomorrow or you may hear people use it in the negative and say something like well he didn't sleep much last night so today he's just not on the ball I always try to be on the ball when I come up with these lessons I try to react and always give you the best information provide some Nuance so throughout the lesson I'm going to tell you the meaning of each idiom I'll talk a little bit about how it's used and we'll go over the pronunciation so that you can say them easily and naturally and with that in mind let's talk about the pronunciation right now when pronouncing this idiom Lincoln may occur and this is when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word and really we're talking about linking that consonant sound of the verb to be with the vowel sound in on so I could say she's on the ball I'm on the ball you're on the ball and it's like you can hear that consonant sound getting moved over to that preposition and if I were to say it a little faster she's on the ball I'm on the ball you're on the ball and if you really want to be on the ball then I would suggest you subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so in this lesson we're looking at both C1 and C2 idioms these are cambridge's highest levels of proficiency and we're going to start with C1 idioms and then move into some more challenging C2 idioms and look I'm confident that if you learn these idioms you're going to be able to pass any type of exam IELTS TOEFL it doesn't matter I really think you'll be able to pass any of these exams with flying colors and that is the next idiom that I want to teach you with flying colors this means to do something such as pass and exam successfully and often you're going to use this with the verb pass to pass with flying colors it's a common collocation both passed with on colors and will be named finalists in our astronaut search to pass with flying colors yes you can also put the object in there right after the verb to pass something with flying colors well you passed the vetting process with flying colors well you pass the breathalyzer with flying colors now if someone were to test your pronunciation in speaking fluency I'm sure that you would like to pass with flying colors and there is a great app to help you do just that and I'm talking about Elsa speak who is the sponsor of today's lesson this is a great app that will help you fine-tune your pronunciation so that the next time you're having a conversation you're really going to be on the ball and if you're unfamiliar with it let me show you how it works you just download the app create an account and there's so much that you can do let's say that you're preparing for the IELTS well then you can check out these study sets and we will go over here to well how about idioms for IELTS speaking and you can listen to the idiom it can't hold a candle to the other hotel and then practice saying it it can't hold a candle to the other Hotel but I think one of the coolest features is to be able to practice words phrases and sentences that you want to learn so I could put in the sentence I'm going to pass with flying colors and then you can listen to it I'm going to pass with flying colors and again practice saying I'm going to pass with flying colors now let me show you what it looks like if I make a mistake and I mispronounce the idiom I'm going to pass with fleeing colors as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try and make adjustments and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership free or you can use my discount to get 85 percent off a lifetime membership or 40 percent off a one year membership so check out the links and discounts in the description if you'd like to learn your mistakes and improve your pronunciation and before you know it you'll sound just like a native speaker let's get back to our idiom lesson and the next one that I have for you is to turn a blind eye this means to ignore something that you know is wrong and unfortunately I think we can all relate to this idiom you see something that you know is wrong but you don't say anything you don't do anything you turn a blind eye you may follow this idiom with the preposition too to turn a blind eye to something the teacher turned a blind eye to cheating during the quiz or maybe I know that Emmy stole the cookie but I decided to turn a blind eye to the situation and I just ignored it for pronunciation more linking may occur with the first two words and the last two words turn Blind Eye turn a blind eye just listen for it for years the government turned a blind eye to the recruitment of immigrants by the Meatpacking industry obviously I'm not going to turn a blind eye no matter how absurd I'd find all of this then we have the easy way out I really like this idiom who does not like the easy way out so this really refers to what is easiest in a difficult situation and often you may use this idiom with the verb take to take the easy way out have you ever taken the easy way out when it comes to these vocabulary lessons I try not to take the easy way out and just teach simple basic vocabulary I try to tackle some Advanced words and phrases and give you nuance and context and to give you some context as to how this idiom is used I have some news headlines for you LeBron James taking the easy way out on offense events are Regulators about to take the easy way out and declare CBD a drug African currencies are crashing and there's no easy way out for pronunciation we can connect those final two words way out and really what's going on here is intrusion and this is when you insert a slight consonant sound between two vowel sounds in order to connect them so way even though it's spelled w-a-y it's actually a vowel sound way it's a front vowel sound which means we would insert a slight yes sound in order to link it with the vowel sound in out way out the easy way out and we'll talk more about intrusion with our next idiom which is how on Earth what on Earth why on Earth this is a great idiom for conveying some emotion it's used when you're extremely surprised confused or angry about something on Earth did this happen why on Earth are you changing jobs what on Earth is that okay and notice the way that I'm saying it really capturing that emotion when pronouncing this idiom there are really two things that may occur but it really just depends on the question word that you're using who what where when why how but the two things are linking or intrusion let's start with linking because this is something that may or may not occur I told you that this idiom it can convey emotion and when that happens people may emphasize the individual words and possibly even speak slower in which case you're not really going to link the words together what on Earth are you doing how on Earth did you get that but if somebody is speaking casually and naturally they may say it a little faster and in that case we can link some of these words so what on Earth or where on Earth the other thing I'd like to point out is that what on Earth that final T in what because I'm from the United States I am going to pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D and this is because it comes between two vowel sounds what on Earth and we can link that flap t with the vowel sound and on what on Earth where on Earth just listen for it on Earth is going on here where on Earth did you get these where on Earth did they go be thinking what about when on Earth can we also link this phrase together yes you can but I want you to know that it is not commonly used you can see that right here using engram viewer this is a great resource to compare different words and phrases and see how frequently they are used and as you can see when on Earth is not commonly used if we're talking about the question words why or how well then intrusion is going to occur I told you it's when we insert a slight consonant sound between the two vowels so why on Earth that's a front vowel so we can insert a slight ya between the two vowels y on Earth and how this is a diphthong but it's a back vowel so we can insert a slight sound how one Earth why on Earth how on Earth it's very slight but just listen for it why on Earth would we have sex why on Earth would you turn around and give the contract to the Chinese how on Earth possible and then there's in light of or really in light of something and this means because of or as a result of and typically it's something that you learn about or become aware of and therefore A change is going to be made so I could say in light of recent events we canceled the match and this is a good collocation with this idiom in light of recent events you may be thinking in light of learning new vocabulary I'm going to hit that like button and I would really appreciate it and I know that you're not going to turn a blind eye to hitting that like button for pronunciation there are just two things that I want to point out linking and a flap T so the final T in light because it comes between two vowel sounds with the American accent I am going to pronounce it as a flap T and then I can link that soft D with the vowel sound found in of in light of in light of say it with me in light of good in light of finishing the C1 idioms that I wanted to teach you let's move on to those C2 idioms which may not be as common but they're great to learn because they're really going to help you express your thoughts opinions and feelings like this next idiom which is at the end of your rope it means having no strength or patience left and it's a great way to emphasize that and of course you can replace that possessive pronoun with others my rope his rope her rope but I could say I'm at the end of my rope why on Earth have you not already hit the like button okay it's just the only example that I can think of but I promise I'm not going to mention it again for pronunciation just keep in mind that the article the we're actually going to use the stronger form the because it comes before a word that begins with a vowel sound typically the article comes before words that begin with a consonant and we say that weaker the but I'm sure you already knew that because you're on the ball we can also link the final consonant sound in end with the beginning vowel sound in of and uh at the end of your rope at the end of your rope I hate to do this but uh kind of at the end of my rope I need to borrow some money I was at the end of my Row the financial pressure was crazy you're not giving me a lot of Direction here I'm at the end of my row to The Bitter End this is a great idiom it means until something is finished and it's not always interchangeable with that meaning if I'm eating something I could say yeah I'm gonna eat my food until it is finished I wouldn't say I'm gonna eat my food until The Bitter End that just sounds really awkward so you're really going to use this idiom when talking about an outcome that may not always be the one that you want but you're going to keep going we may not meet the deadline but we're going to work to The Bitter End you're just gonna keep fighting and fight is a verb that's often used with this idiom it's a common collocation to fight to The Bitter End let me show you Southampton boss vows to fight to The Bitter End Youngsville police chief will fight until The Bitter End in proposed investigation nurses warn of more strike dates in January as they fight to The Bitter End for pronunciation there are a couple of weak words that I'd like to point out so the week two is going to sound like ta and the weak article the and then we can link the final consonant sound in bitter with the beginning vowel sound and end Bitter End so it's going to sound like to The Bitter End say it with me to The Bitter End to fight to The Bitter End excellent the next idiom is to get off on the right or wrong foot and this just means to make a successful or unsuccessful start in something now it's more common to use it in the negative and say that something got off on the wrong foot the team did not get along so the project got off on the wrong foot it's also commonly used when talking about relationships to people meet each other doesn't go well it's unsuccessful it got off on the wrong foot why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot we got up on the wrong foot here and I believe it's because we're just too damn similar you do absolutely let's pronounce this idiom and once again linking may occur you can see just how common this is in spoken English so we can link the phrase get off on just keep in mind that the final T and get once again I'm from the US so I will pronounce it as a flat T get off on get off on get off on the right foot get off on the wrong foot and then there's over the top this means too extreme and not suitable or exaggerated so something that's too extreme she was supposed to buy me a small present but her gift was way over the top and that is a great word to emphasize this idiom way over the top for something that may be exaggerated I could say it was supposed to be a friendly competition but his performance was a bit over the top that's another good word you can use with this idiom a bit over the top for pronunciation there's not really much to say about this idiom you're just going to say these three words one right after the other over the top it was our fault our acting was way over the top what are you talking about we were totally believable this is like secret agent stuff I think a safe room is a bit over the top but I thought with the two little ones you can never be too cautious what do you think of my new theater get over the top the next idiom at the crack of dawn this just means very early in the morning usually the time when the sun first appears so it's a great way to emphasize that you're up really early I could say this morning I got up at the crack of dawn or we'll have to get up at the crack of dawn for our flight I hate it when that happens or my grandfather has been up since the crack of dawn I tried to present this idiom with some different verb tenses when pronouncing it there are a couple of things going on there are some overlapping sounds and this is basically when your tongue is in the same position so at your tongue is going to come up and block the air with that stop T but then you're just going to release right into that voiced th in the at the at the and then we can link the final consonant sound and crack with the vowel sound in of crack of at the crack of dawn have you ever gotten up at the crack of dawn let me know down in the comments and then there's change of heart this is when you change your opinion or the way you feel about something basically like a reversal in your attitude and there are three things that I want to point out when it comes to this idiom number one overwhelmingly you will use this with the verb have to have a change of heart number two I want to stress that this idiom really involves feelings so you're not always going to use it anytime you just change your mind so if I told you look this morning I was going to make pancakes but then I had a change of heart and I decided to cook some eggs instead you're not really going to use this idiom in that context I don't have deep feelings when it comes to eggs or pancakes but if I were to say something like she was going to sell her grandmother's necklace but she had a sudden change of heart in this case she has stronger feelings when it comes to this necklace it's more meaningful and that's also a good collocation with this idiom a sudden change of heart number three notice that because you're talking about a change in your opinion or the way you feel most of the time people are going to use this in the past tense so you would say that someone had a change of heart or they had a sudden change of heart for pronunciation once again more linking we can link that first phrase had a as well as that second phrase change of had a change of heart and you could say it easily and naturally just like that someone had a change of heart now for a little review idioms are a useful part of casual conversation and I hope that learning these idioms will help your next conversation get off on the right foot and I know they can be difficult to learn and I don't want you to take the easy way out and avoid them I want you to work hard to learn them I want you to fight until The Bitter End and even if you're at the end of your rope and you're thinking to yourself how on Earth am I going to learn all these different idioms just take it one day at a time and try to learn and practice a little bit each and every day that way the next time you have a conversation you're really going to be on the ball when it comes to using these idioms now in light of the time and I'm not even wearing a watch but I just need to to start wrapping things up because tomorrow I have to get up at the crack of dawn so if you enjoyed the lesson I would appreciate it if you hit the okay I told you that I wouldn't mention it again so let's I'll just end it right now thank you so much for watching I will see you next time so long --- ## 179. Advanced Irregular Verbs You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `iMtFzWeDibo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMtFzWeDibo) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:44:57 | --- Today, I want to teach you some advanced irregular verbs that you need to know. That's coming up. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I have an advanced grammar lesson for you because I want to teach you 15 irregular verbs that I think will help you improve your overall English fluency. Now these irregular verbs in particular are not as common as verbs like go or have, but they are very useful, especially in specific situations, which is why they are a bit more advanced. So I'm going to give you the verb in three different forms, the present, the past and the past participle. I will also tell you the meaning of the verb and then give you an example sentence so that you can see how it's used in context. The first verb that I have for you is arise, arose, arisen. That is the present, the past and the past participle. And this just means to become a parent, to notice something. So to give you an example, I could use it in the past and say new problems arose last week, which delayed the project. If you were working on something and problems arose, then that may delay the work that you're doing. Problems arose. Then we have the verb bear, bore, born. Notice that with the past participle you may find it with the E or without the E. And this verb has, it has a few different meanings. It can mean to turn slightly in one direction. It can also mean to accept something that is unpleasant or to give birth or produce. So let me give you a few example sentences. I could say, uh, if I'm giving directions, you need to bear to the left or you need to bear to the right. This is a common way in which this verb is used in the present tense. Or perhaps I could say he was the leader and bore the responsibility of his team. It was his team. So he bore the responsibility and had to accept maybe something unpleasant. And finally I could use it in the present. Perfect. And say the Apple trees have born plenty of fruit this season. They have produced plenty of fruit have born. So if you're thinking to yourself, well how can I not only learn these irregular verbs but remember them as well? Well the best way to do that is just to practice, practice and practice some more. And a great way to get quality practice is to participate in the Lingoda language sprint. And Lingoda was kind enough to sponsor today's lesson. If you don't know about Lingoda, it is an online language school where you can take classes in English, German, Spanish, and French. And I have even studied at Lingoda. I have taken some Spanish classes there I am right there and I can tell you it was a great classroom experience. So let me tell you about Lingoda. language sprint because this is how you can make 2020 your year to become in English. You'll also have the opportunity to get a 100% refund of your money. So Lingoda has decided to extend the deadline from the last sprint. So this is your last call, your last opportunity to start out 2020 with a bunch of great English lessons and truly improve your skills. There are two options that you can choose from. If you are motivated and serious about improving your English, then you can take the super sprint in which you will take one class each day for 90 days. And if you successfully complete the super sprint, you will be eligible for a 100% refund. Now if you would like a little more flexibility because of your schedule, then you can take the sprint in which you would take 15 classes a month. And if you successfully complete the sprint, then you'd be eligible for a 50% refund. Now you must sign up by January 27th because both the super sprint and sprint will begin on January 29th for more information on costs, schedules, how to receive that refund, just click on the link in the description. But before you do that, Lingoda is offering you a 10 euro discount off your first month. If you use the voucher code LASTCALL10. So if you are determined to improve your English, then check out the lingo to sprint, click on the link in the description, use the voucher code LASTCALL10 and make 2020 your year to become fluent in English. The next verb I have for you is behold, beheld, beheld. So the past and the past participle are the same. And this verb just means to see or observe something. And often I think you may hear it being used in the context of like showing somebody something that you want them to see. And you'd say, behold, um, behold my water bottle. Now you'd want to show somebody something a little more exciting than a water bottle, but you get the idea as to how somebody might use this verb, Behold...and then they would show somebody something that is important or maybe even a little surprising. The next verb is creep, crept, crept. Now this verb means to move slowly and carefully, uh, in order to avoid being heard. You don't want anybody to notice you. You don't want anybody to hear you. So you might creep through a room and that's kind of, that's how I was going to use it in my example. And I was going to say last night I crept into the kitchen and took a cookie and that's actually a true story. Yes. Last night I did, I crept into the kitchen and the reason that I crept into the kitchen is that, well I felt a little guilty so I just, I didn't want anybody to hear me and I crept into the kitchen. Notice how many times I say these verbs, I do that for a reason. So you will hear it again and again and again because this works, this will help you remember. Then we have deal, dealt, dealt, and this verb has a couple of different meanings. It can mean to distribute cards or that you have some kind of business in commercial trading and you are buying and selling things. I think most often you would use it in the context of a card game and playing cards and somebody would deal the cards. So I can give you an example sentence in which you could actually use all three forms of this verb. I could say she deals with the cards in the present tense or in the past she dealt the cards. Or if I want to use the past participle, I could give you a sentence in the present perfect. She has dealt the cards. Then we have forsake for sook, forsaken and this verb means to abandon or to give up. For example, I think of usually some kind of promise or commitment was abandoned. People take vows so somebody could say he has forsaken his vows, he has abandoned his commitment, his promises. He has forsaken his vows. Now the next two verbs cause a lot of confusion and I hope to clear up some of that confusion right now. So let's just start with lie, lay, lain. And this verb means to assume a resting position or to be kept in a specific state that that's where you are. So let, let me give you an example. I will use it in the past and I'd say, well, I didn't feel well. I lay in bed all day that this happened in the past. I assumed that resting position in my bed and I lay in bed. Don't confuse this with the other meaning of the verb, which is to say something that's not true. That is actually a regular verb and ends in ED. But still this irregular verb lie lay lane is confused with a another irregular verb, which is lay, laid, laid. And this verb means to put something down or to prepare something. Lay, laid, laid. So let me give you an example and we'll, we'll start with putting something down again, I can use one sentence and use all three forms. For example, I could say we lay the baby on the bed in the present tense or in the past we laid the baby on the bed or using the past participle. We have laid the baby on the bed. We have put the baby down. Then to give you an example with its other meaning to prepare something, I think, ah, you may hear somebody say, we've already laid the groundwork for this project, laid the groundwork they have prepared for the start of this project to lay the groundwork. So please don't confuse these verbs. Lie, which is to assume a resting position, lie in bed or lay, which is to put something down. I'm gonna lay, I'm gonna lay my head down on the pillow. Then we have mean, meant, meant. And this I think is actually a very common verb, but the meaning can be a little challenging. And what this bird means is due to intend to refer to something often. I think it's used when we'll talking about questions. Well what does this mean? I might ask students will, what does this word mean? Or if I want to use it in the past and say, well that is not what I was referring to. You may hear somebody say, well no, no, that's not what I meant. That's not what I meant. I didn't want to refer to this thing. That's not what I meant. Then we have the verb overtake, overtook, overtaken, and this verb means to come from behind and move in front of. Often I think you would hear this verb used in the context of driving because cars pass each other all the time and you might want to overtake a car that is in front of you. I can give you an example and say, well, we overtook the bus because it was driving so slow. So we came from behind and went in front of the bus. We overtook the bus. Then we have the verb rise, rose, risen. This verb has a couple of different meanings. The first one is to move from a lower position to a higher position and the next meaning is just to to get up. So let's start with the first meeting and I'll give you an example and I could give you a simple sentence and use all three forms. I could say, well the sun rises or in the past, the sun rose or using the past participle, the sun has risen. And if I want to say get up, I often think of the expression rise and shine. And somebody would say this, just telling somebody else to get up. It's time to start your day. Rise and shine. Next is the verb swear, swore, sworn. And this verb means that you are making a promise to do something. Swear, swore, sworn. And let me give you another example in which you could use all three forms in this one sentence. I could say he swears to tell the truth or in the past he swore to tell the truth or he has sworn to tell the truth. Often I think it's used in, in that context of you're, you're making a promise in which you are going to tell the truth. I think it's also used as a question and somebody would just ask, you know, do you swear? Do you promise? Or they might say, do you swear on something that is important? Which in that case it's kind of an expression, which means, well, you really have to be serious about this promise to swear on something. Then we have shake, shook, shaken, and this verb means to move something up and down from side to side or or even to tremble. And I could use it and give you an example and just say, you know, when we met, we shook hands, I often think of this verb being used, talking about introductions and people shaking hands. Or to give you an example about trembling, I think, well in that case I think somebody is very cold. And not only that, but I think it would often be used in the continuous tense. So I could say, well, you know, last night was very cold and I was shaking, I was shaking as I lay in bed. Next is weep, wept, wept. And this verb means just well to cry or to shed tears. And often I think it would be used in a context that is a little more serious, a little more severe in which you would say that you wept. You were crying a lot. For example, uh, I could say that after the breakup, he wept for days. He was so sad, he wept for days. Then we have withdraw, withdrew, withdrawn. And this verb means to remove something or to to take something back. So when I think of this verb, I think it's often used in the context of money and you could say, well, she has withdrawn all her money from the bank account. She has removed it from her account. Or maybe you want to apply for a job and then you decide that you don't want it. And I can give you an example and use all three forms and say, I withdraw my name from consideration or I withdrew my name from consideration, or I have withdrawn my name from consideration. So there you have it. Those are 15 advanced irregular verbs that I think you need to know because these verbs are more specific. They allow us to give more information when we find ourselves in certain situations. I hope that you can now go out and use these verbs and practice them and I hope you learn some new ones as well. And if you did, please hit that like button down below. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 180. Advanced Listening & Speaking Activity | Practice English on Your Own | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DMg_wrqwCK0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMg_wrqwCK0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:38:13 | --- How are your listening skills? Do you feel like you could use some practice? Because if you do, I have a really really really really really awesome, really fun listening practice. It's coming up. What we're going to do is I have prepared two texts for you today, and I am going to read these texts out loud. They're not long texts. They're short, but they have a lot of detail. So I'm going to read them twice, and you have to listen for all the details. So this is an exercise where you have to really listen and pay attention And then say it back. And when you do, I'm going to give you some clues that will help you to remember. Now, keep in mind that the point of this exercise Is to improve your listening, but also your speaking. So you really really really have to speak in full sentences. This will really help your fluency. Are you with me? Are you ready? Are you brave enough? Ok, so I brought Wes for moral support. He's going to do the exercise with with you guys. I'm a little nervous. Are you sure? Can you handle this? I'm a little nervous put my listening skills on display like this. Yeah Are you guys excited to see how he does? To see how much I forget? I'm going to read the text twice and then you're going to have to repeat what I say. But I will give you some clues to help you. Okay? Good, good. Why are your eyes closed? Hmm? I'm concentrating. Ok, that was the first time. So do you think you'll remember some of these details? I'm going to read it again. Okay, so you guys also have to remember. This is very important. You have to pay attention to the details. I'll say it again So I feel like Wes is trying to cheat, so I'm just I'm just going to cover this. Okay, stop. Got it? I kind of tuned out for a little bit (LOL) Did you guys get it? Oh my god, how did you tune out? Should I read it again? It's okay it's okay, no no no we're gonna go for it. Did you fall asleep or something? It wasn't a very exciting story, but... What? It's super exciting! It's OK, it's good for listening practice Okay, so now I'm going to give you some clues Okay, so you have to repeat this story with as many details as you can and you have to speak in full sentences And use the clues I'm giving you right here on the screen Now what I need you to do is pause the video. Okay? Pause it and say the story with the clues you see. And then you can play it, and then you'll hear Wes say it. So don't cheat. Say it first, and then we'll listen to Wes say it. Please Okay, are you guys ready? Hopefully you should have used those clues and should remember at least 50% of the story, I hope, and Let's see how Wes does. Are you ready Wes? You think you remember? I will find out. Okay, so I'm going to show him the same clues I'm showing you guys. I'm not showing him the story. Okay, let's see how much he remembers Let's laugh at him. Okay, so there's a guy named Steve who... He is 35 years old. He lives in California He works at a paper company in a small office with 12 other people He goes to lunch and Listens to jazz, or bachata, merengue or something I don't think that was in the lesson. He goes home later after work to see his wife, Maria and they like to cook Spanish food together, and then they go walk their dog, Snowball Yeah, that's pretty good!... except for the bachata & merengue. I am pretty sure they listen to what jazz and something. Classical music. Yeah, so some things that you missed I think Is that he was a manager at a paper company. He likes jazz and classical music. and bachata. There's no bachata in here. Just jazz and classical music. So definitely not bachata or merengue, but you got it. Bachata is much better than classical music. So hopefully you guys were able to repeat these, I think was did pretty well. Let's do another! Let's do another. I'm ready for another! Are you ready for another? Ok, so same as last time. I'm going to read a text two times, and you have to be able to repeat with as many details as possible. Pause the video, repeat, and then we'll make Wes do it and see how he does. Are you sleeping? No, no, I'm very focused right now. Where do you get these stories? I wrote it. I'm trying to picture everything as it's going on. Obviously I wrote about the cats. It's obviously my work. Okay, one more time. Why are you laughing? Stop laughing at my story! Okay, so I don't know why Wes is laughing, But if you if you guys were listening right now what I need you to do is to pause the video, look at my clues and try to say as many details as you remember, but please don't forget to speak in full sentences. Okay, so just say what you remember in full sentences. Follow the clues if you forget some of the details. And pause the video. And then unpause it to see what Wes comes up with. Got it? Okay, so I hope you remembered some of these I think this one was a little bit harder than the first one because I snuck in more details in there. Wes: I thought you said it was going to be easier. I know, but I was tricking you. So let's see how Wes does. Are you guys ready to see how he does? I'm curious to see how much I remember. okay. I need those clues where the clues. Oh, yeah here are okay, so There is a young girl named Millie. She is nine years old. She lives in Boston and goes to a bilingual school. Her favorite subject is art because she likes to draw pictures, and she draws a picture of these two cats, Socks and Whiskers. Socks and Mustache. So socks is a black cat with white paws, Mustache is brown and black with funny whiskers Millie Because this is a little out of order... The subjects that she likes to study history as well History and science, but she doesn't like math and in the future she wants to be a marine biologist. No, that's not what you remember. She wants to be a bachata singer? Again with the bachata! No! A vet! You did really well. I think you got all of them right except you didn't mention what kind of school it was. It was it was a bilingual school. Yeah, but you didn't mention the languages English and French. You did really well. How did you guys do? Where'd you come up with Millie? Why Millie? There was a cartoon...sounds like an older name. I like the name Milly. Also there was a teleovela I used to watch. And her name was Mili, from Milagros. Okay, so this was our listening activity. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you did well like Wes did here. He did really well, right?We're proud of him. We're proud of Wes. Well, it is in English so... So if you guys actually did the speaking activity I want you to write the word speaking in the comments. Let us know if you were talking. Yeah, we need to know. I hope so. If you enjoyed this lesson, please give us a thumbs up! That's it for today, that's all I got. We'll see you next time! Bye! --- ## 181. Advanced Listening & Speaking Practice | Transportation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nO1nb_w5HGY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO1nb_w5HGY) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:48:05 | --- Welcome to today's lesson, which is all about describing nouns Today we're going to describe some transportation nouns. This activity will help improve your listening and speaking skills. These nouns are more or less at an advanced level. However, we'd encourage all learners to participate. And who knows: perhaps you'll learn some new vocabulary words! For this activity, Ioana will describe six nouns to you. Each of these nouns is about transportation. You will have ten seconds to guess the answer. Remember, this activity is to improve your listening and speaking skills. I know you're listening, but you need to speak. Before we start, let's see an example. Ioana will describe a word to me, and I will guess the answer. Here's the word: Are you ready for this? It's a tough one. I was born ready. Ok... here we go! This is a type of boat, like a rowing boat. It's long and narrow. You see these on very calm waters, mostly canals. People will sit in this boat, and traditionally someone will stand behind them and paddle. Venice has a lot of them. I'm pretty sure it's a kayak. There are no kayaks in Venice! It's a gondola, obviously! Oh, well they're kind of the same thing... No they're not. This is a gondola, and this is a kayak. Very different. I was about to say gondola, but the time ran out. You believe me, don't you? You were not ready. Now that you know how the activity works, let's begin. Ioana will choose a noun and describe it to you, and you will need to guess that noun. Remember to say your answers out loud. After we finish all six words, I'll go over the answers with you. Ready? Let's get the clock up there: This is a boat for very very very very rich people, It's a really big boat, it has bedrooms, it has a kitchen, many rooms for different functions, it's very luxurious. Do you know what this is? This is something people use in the snow. You go really fast, they're a lot of fun, they're a lot of fun, they're entertaining. usually only one person would ride it, but you could put two people on there. This is like a motorcycle that you use on the snow... kind of This is a car for children. It's motorized. Kids drive it around the neighborhood, have contests, race each other. Some of them can go very fast. You can find these at amusement parks. This is like a small boat you find on the water, usually in rivers, it's inflatable, there's no motor so people have to paddle. Usually small groups of people can fit in this Can you guess what it is? This is a means of public transportation in many cities. It runs on tracks, but it's not a train. Sometimes there are cables running above it. It just runs within a city. What do you think this is? This is something people use on the water, on the ocean or at lakes. People ride it for fun. They go very fast, it kind of skips over the water. It holds just one or two people. It's a little like a motorcycle on water. Hopefully you were able to give an answer to all of those and you got them right and not wrong like I did. Feel free to do the activity again if you'd like to try it one more time before I tell you the answers. You can just pause the video and go back to the start of the activity. But before I reveal the answers to you, I'll replay some of the key words that Ioana used to describe the nouns. It's a really big boat. It has bedrooms, it has a kitchen. It's very luxurious. A big luxurious boat is a yacht. This is something people use in the snow. You go really fast. This is like a motorcycle that you use on the snow. Snowmobile is the answer that we were looking for. This is a car for children. It's motorized, kids drive it around the neighborhood The answer is a go-kart. This is like a small boat. You find it on the water, usually in rivers. It's inflatable, there's no motor so people have to paddle. Raft is the answer we were looking for. This is a means of public transportation in many cities. It runs on tracks. Sometimes there are cables running above it. This type of transportation is a tram. This is something people use on the water, on the ocean, or at lakes. People ride it for fun, they go very fast, it kind of skips over the water. The answer is a jetski. That was easy, right? But now we're gonna switch roles and it's your turn. I'll show you two nouns, and you will describe them to Ioana and she will guess the nouns that you are describing. Make sure you speak up, use complete sentences, be creative, and most importantly, have fun! Ready? Here's your first word: I know that! That's a hot air balloon! Ready for the second word? Here it is! Oh, that's a sled! Great job today! We hope you enjoyed this activity and if you did, give us a like down below. We also hope it wasn't too difficult, but you can let us know which ones you had trouble with in the comments below. And finally, remember that sharing is caring. If you like the activity, please share it with your friends, your classmates, anyone you know who is trying to learn English. We'll see you next time! --- ## 182. Advanced Phrasal Verbs Natives Use That Textbooks DONโ€™T Teach ๐Ÿ“š | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PWzoEcS92Pc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWzoEcS92Pc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:00:05 | --- I am going to challenge you with some super advanced phrasal verbs to help you supercharge your vocabulary. So, this is this is a way to explore new words. Think about the situation in which you're going to use these phrasal verbs because they are very specific. They're not ones that you're going to just casually use every single day when you walk out the door, but they are going to help you, especially if you you want to develop your overall speaking fluency. And if that is something that you're interested in doing, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, let's just go ahead and jump into it with the first one right here. Uh, so I'm giving you the first letter of the main verb followed by the particle. So just try to think about the phrasal verb that best completes this sentence. The government announced that it would gradually mout the use of cold powered plants. The government announced that it would gradually out the use of coal powered plants. So you see that the main verb it starts with the letter P. Which phrasal verb am I referring to? M out. I want you to write your answers in the chat in the comments. I just want to hear from you. I love it when people participate. After all, this is interactive English. The government announced that it would gradually out the use of coal powered plants. So this is something that I think many countries around the world are starting to do. They are gradually going to use coal powered plants or try to less and less and in that case they are going to phase out the use of cold power plants. You guys nailed that. Uh great job. It the meaning of to phase out is to gradually stop using or producing something. A lot of times you may end up using it with that adverb gradually to gradually phase something out. So it's not like you're stopping completely. You're just going to do less and less over time until yeah, you're just not doing it anymore. So I want to give you some more examples. And in this case, I have some news headlines. It's another way of trying to, you know, put it into context, give you a better understanding as to how this phrasal verb is used. So, here are just some recent news headlines using this phrasal verbs. Uh, swastikas on some Finland Air Force flags to be phased out. So, over time, it's just going to go away. The next one, Florida will phase out certificates of completion for students with disabilities. So, they have these certificates and then they're going to phase them out. And then finally, Disney announces plans to phase out standalone Hulu app. So, in all of these instances, they're going to gradually reduce the use of this until it's just no longer there. And often I I think you will may hear this more in a business context because they have something's going on, some activity, and you just want to phase it out over time. I do want to mention if you are interested in getting and accessing these lesson notes that you see right next to me here, click on the link in the description. Join my email community and you can have access to these notes so that you can remember these phrasal verbs if you are already a part of the community. Check your inbox. I have sent them to you already. The next one. Oh no. Okay, let's pretend. Let's pretend that you didn't see that. So I expect many correct answers. After a few hours, the effects of the drug were starting to m off. I I I I anticipate there are going to be many correct answers. Uh but think about this situation. Even if you saw uh the the the previous slide, think about the context uh as to what's being said in the sentence. After a few hours, the effects of the drug were starting to what? And in this case, obviously over time, it's going to weaken. So, what phrasal verb has that same meaning? If something weakens, it's starting to m off. Of course, the main verb starts with uh a w. And I'm seeing many correct answers. Great job, uh, Laman. Well, Taya, Julia, perfect. Some give some shout outs to wear off. So, I know this already slipped in there, but if you say that something wears off, the effectiveness diminishes over time. So, it's just not as intense. And this is a perfect example. thinking you take some type of uh drug, medication, painkiller, over time it's going to wear off and it's just not going to have the same intensity and something wears off. So, this is a common context when talking about medications that you could use this phrasal verb. Uh, and there are some others as well. I want to uh I couldn't help myself. This is a this is just a a funny little meme using this phrasal verb. Botox injections begin to wear off. And you can see that uh little dog right there. Uh it's it's certainly wearing off uh in that case. And you can see all those wrinkles right there. But I again it's good to have a little fun and uh enjoy these English lessons. That's what make that's what learning should be all about. All right. At least in my opinion. So let's look at the next one. the prosecutor had to m out the charges against the suspect in court. Now, based on the context, this one may be a little more challenging to to try to come up with, but uh I think maybe you could put it together. The prosecutor had to out the charges against the suspect in court in this situation. think that that maybe the suspect did not understand what the charges were or maybe the suspect was a little confused about okay what's going on and then the prosecutor had to m it out. So I've already given you another uh context to go by. So what the the main verb it begins with an s you're going to something out. It has a specific meaning and I think this is a phrasal verb that is certainly more advanced, but I imagine it is one that you have heard before. If you watch movies or TV shows in in English regularly, I'm certain that you've probably heard this at one point or another. And you're going to in this case the I don't know not not suss out it's a it's a good guess. Uh, in this case, spell out. To spell something out is to explain something in a very clear way. The prosecutor had to spell out the charges against the suspect in court. Now, think about the the the meaning to spell something out. The literal meaning would be to well give you the spelling. If you don't know a word and you say, "Well, wait. I'm trying to write this word. I don't know it." and I say, "Oh, I can I can spell it out for you." And in that case, I'm giving you the individual letters and explaining it to you in a clear way. Now, more informally, you can use this with this meaning right here. You're explaining something or trying to explain something in a clear way. There are different contexts in which you could use it and I wanted to share that with you right here. The first one that comes to my mind, if you are frustrated with someone because they don't understand something, you might say, "Oh, do I have to spell it out for you?" So maybe I'm trying to share something with you and I'm giving you a hint, like I don't want to say it out loud and I just want you to know what I'm talking about. I'm like, "Hey, you know, leave what's going on." And maybe you're just like, "Wait, I don't I don't understand. Okay, do I have to spell it out for you? Do I have to explain it clearly? This is a question. This is the one I'm thinking of. If you watch a lot of movies, TV shows, you you may hear somebody use that statement. Or they might say, "Look, let me spell it out for you. Let me explain it to you clearly in a professional context such as the one uh well, not the one that was more legal, but professional like the contract spells out the responsibility of both parties and it explains it clearly." Or the teacher spelled out the grading criteria at the beginning of the semester and again, they explain it clearly. they spell it out. And then finally, in a legal context, like the example, the law spells out the penalties for tax invasion or the agreement spells out the terms of payment. So there are different situations that that you can use this phrasal verb in. All the meaning is the same with all of them. You are just explaining something in detail in a clear way to spell something out. How about this one? What do you think? her students. This is I don't know if you can see it. It's a three-word phrasal verb. M down to. So that is the three-word phrasal verb. And I tried to highlight it in like that little yellow color right there. She was a gifted teacher who never Okay, this is saying that they she never did this thing which is not a good thing down to her students. What phrasal verb, what three-word phrasal verb would accurately fit this situation? So, we're saying that the the teacher is gifted. All right, this is a good thing. But then they would never do this other thing which is not good. It's bad to down to someone. So, the correct answer because the the first verb starts with a t. I feel like I'm getting some different responses. So, I I don't think this one's new, but I feel like once I I tell you the answer, probably you're going to um remember hearing about this uh at one point or another. To talk down to someone. So, if you're talking down to someone, you're just speaking to them in a bit of a condescending way that like it's just not very nice. It's pretty rude and you're talking down to someone. Often you may hear people use this in a context where the like a a hierarchy where someone is the authority and they are talking down to someone who is maybe a subordinate. So think about the example. The teacher is the leader of the classroom and they talk down to the students. If they talk down to the students, then that's that's not good. They would be speaking in a condescending way. Or maybe you might say you don't like your boss because he or she talks down to you and they speak to you in a condescending way. So a lot of times when you come across this phrasal verb, it's like a person in authority may talk down to a subordinate. Now, that's not always the case. It is negative as well. Just trying to add a little bit of uh nuance to that. So, here is the next question that I have for you. After months of negotiations, the two companies finally managed to m out an agreement to m something out. So there were a lot of negotiations and then eventually you get to this point where there is an agreement. So you could use this phrasal verb to basically I I could say emphasize the fact that you reached an agreement. Of course, I could take out the phrasal verb and just use the verb reach. Finally, the company the finally uh the two companies managed to reach an agreement. That's perfect. That's fine. And that's also commonly used. But if I want to emphasize the fact that there was a lot of work and effort that went into this and trying to figure out and um work out an agreement, what what word could we use? It begins with an H. Uh see some different uh responses in there. Um do it nailed it. Hammer out. To hammer out it just means to work out details through discussion. You're going to hammer something out. A lot of times it is used when talking about some type of agreement that you you need to work with some other person on a project or if it's a contract or some other negotiation and you're going to hammer out the details and you're going to talk about it, discuss it and then figure things out. So, after months of negotiations, the two companies finally managed to hammer out an agreement. So, if that was new for you, if any of these are new, let me know. Hit that like button, hit those hearts, whatever. That tells me that, okay, maybe you're learning a new phrase or two, which is which is perfect. That is my goal in all of these lessons is that you just learn something something new. So, this is a fun little cartoon and using the phrasal verb. I I wanted to share it with you. is this person says, "Sorry for interrupting. I didn't realize you were still trying to hammer out an agreement." And of course, they're fighting, which uh is is not a productive way to try to hammer something out, but uh that is a common collocation with this phrasal verb to hammer out an agreement. Discuss it, figure it out, and then you come to some type of resolution. Well, the LA Well, I'm going to switch it up a little bit. I now realize Well, let me read this real quickly. She is going to m out of the competition because of her injury. There are a lot of particles. A lot of these prepositions are without hammer out. Uh I've already gone through uh several to phase out. So in this case, this is another one to out starts with a B and think about the situation, what what's going on and kind of hopefully maybe lead you to the correct response as to well what the meaning is. So there's a competition of course this person she's injured. She's not going to be able to participate. So in that case she's going to out. It's like you are in in this specific example withdrawing withdrawing from well this competition in this case. So she is going to m out of the competition. Uh and I see some different answers uh which tells me maybe again this is going to be a new phrasal verb for you which is perfect. So it's not bailout. Uh that's not what we're looking for. Um, you could say you could say back out as far as not compete. I'm going to I'm going to back out. I'm not going to do it. But that's not the one I'm looking for. I I'd say this is one is a little more I I think common in this context. It is a little more advanced. Uh, so back out is not the one that I'm looking for even though that's a that's a good good guess. So when talking about a a competition or some activity event that you are supposed to participate in, you are supposed to be a part of it and then for some reason you you can't do it, you are going to bow out of the competition or bow out of well whatever whatever it may be that you're whatever activity or role you're going to withdraw from or retire from and you are going to bow out. She's going to bow out of the competition because of her injury. Now, some of you, you said back out, that that would work. To be honest, that would work in this context as well. But this is the phrasal verb that I wanted you to be familiar with. It is more advanced. If you are supposed to do something, you say, "Look, I'm not going to be able to do it anymore. I'm going to have to bow out." All right? Can't do it. I got to bow out. So, uh, yeah, hopefully it was new. There was some some good guesses. Bail out. No, not that. Not that one. Um, bow out. Excellent. What do you think? I I'm I'm switching it up now. I still want you to try to write the full phrasal verb in there. And now I'm I'm not giving you the main verb or the particle, but I'm giving you the meaning down below. So, this some of these may be a little easier, others may be uh a bit more challenging. All right. Public displays of affection are often in conservative cultures. So, what do you think? It means to disapprove of something or consider it bad or wrong. All right. What do you think? Um, all right. Well, Cinderella, thank you so much for the super chat. Uh, I love it. Love that you're learning new things. I hope that the rest of you are. Uh, always great to see uh so many members in here as well. Pete's Coffee. Uh, I miss Pete's coffee. Uh, back in the Bay Area, Lai, good to see you. Um, so this is a phrasal verb that I I'm going to say that you have definitely heard it before. I don't know if you actively use it and you might think about using it if you're in a conversation, but I'm pretty sure you've probably heard it before or maybe you were reading something and you come you came across this phrasal verb. So public display displays of affection PDA are often inconservative cultures. So it's you're talking about disapproving of something. Uh I think we got some uh all right correct answers. So if if you disapprove of something or if you say something like ah I don't really approve of this thing then you could say that it is frowned upon. To frown upon something is to disapprove of it. So it's not saying that it is illegal. You're not saying that oh you cannot do it. You're just saying that oh you know it's frowned upon. It'd be like if um so I'll just read the sentence. Public displays of affection are often frowned upon in conservative cultures. Let's say that you and I work together and I'm new and I say look is it okay? Do people care if I show up maybe five or 10 minutes late? And that you tell me, well, you're not going to get fired, but it's important to be punctual. And if you if people, you know, it's frowned upon for, you know, people to show up late to work, it's frowned upon. So, it's not against the rules or against the laws, but people in general or in the other example I gave you, your boss or other colleagues, they may disapprove of it. And then you could say that this thing something is frowned upon. All right? Hopefully, uh I I don't know. I I told you I thought maybe you probably uh heard of that before. Even if you don't actively use it, if it's new, then that's great. Uh because I think it is something that is useful when you want to be a little more descriptive. Now I I thought this was funny even though uh it's maybe just my my warp sense of humor. Uh you I use sarcasm at work because slapping the out of someone is frowned upon by management. All right. They don't want people to slap other colleagues. So this person says they use sarcasm. It's just a joke. Uh, and but uh, I thought it was a good another good example using using the phrasal verb frowned upon. And I I would say that I think often it's used that somebody asks you something, hey, is this okay? And you say, well, you know, you should know that this is frowned upon that people disapprove of this thing. It is frowned upon. What do you think? He his emotions, which is not good for his mental health. We're talking about uh to repress or conceal feelings over time. This is a little more challenging. I I think it's a little more challenging, but uh I don't want to give it away. He m his emotions. All right. You repress them. You conceal them. And it really it keeps things in there. And yeah, it's not good for people. But I think a lot of people do that, myself included, instead of I'm not always able to talk to someone or I have that ability. And in that case, I just things. I was about to say the particle, but I don't want to. Uh I I feel like maybe you guys are familiar with this one. Great job. Uh Talal, Kristoff, uh Dawit, Julia talking about bottling something up. To bottle up means to repress or conceal feelings. Think about the meaning because I said these are specific because when you you want to use bottle up, you really are talking about feelings and emotions and those are the things that you're you're trying to repress and you don't want to think about it and it's it can be difficult. I think this is a phrasal verb that we can all relate to. And I I imagine I told you I've done this before. I imagine you have as well. And there was a time when you just wanted to repress some of these feelings and you bottled them up. He bottles up his emotions, which is not good for his mental health. All right. As always, wow, Cinderella, thank you. Thank you so much. Uh hope again hopefully some of these are new. Uh, and remember if you guys you want these lesson notes, check out the link down in the description. Join the community. But again, if you're already a part of it, uh, I've sent them to you. He started as a mechanic but has into engine repair uh, for boats. So the phrasal verb that we're referring to, the meaning is to extend or expand one's activities or interest in a new direction. And that's kind of key, something com, you know, it's completely new. You're trying something new. You're going in a new direction. What is it that you are then doing? So for context, he's started as a mechanic, but now there's a new direction fixing engine uh engines on boats. All right, it's a little it's a little different than maybe working on cars. So this per it's not like completely different, but it is still something new. And you could say this person is doing what? I'll give you I'll go ahead and give you a hint since I haven't seen any correct answers. I mentioned that many of these phrasal verbs, I don't know why, it's just the way it happened that the particle is out. This one also is uh that so you have the main verb followed by out. He started as a mechanic but has m out into engine repair for boats. Any guesses? All right, so maybe uh maybe we have a a new phrasal verb for most of you, for just about everyone. And I think whenever you want to try new things, like if this is your first time here, I think it's great. I want you to participate. And I think it's always good to branch out and try new things. I feel like you could think about the meaning of this phrasal verb in relation to a tree. You have tree branches. They spread out. They go into different directions. And I I think that may be a good association with this phrasal verb. And you're trying to branch out. Let's look at the next one. He made a commitment to the team, but he didn't with his responsibilities. So, the meaning is to continue an action or task to its conclusion. I do think this is a little trickier. This is a little more challenging. you you may be familiar with it, but I feel like I'm probably not giving you the best example sentence to really think, oh, okay, this this is the answer. He made a commitment to the team, but he did not with his responsibilities. So, in this case, I'm saying he did not continue, you know, with this commitment or the promise to its conclusion. And therefore you could say he did not with his responsibilities. So there may be I'm trying to think I see not carry on not I wouldn't say stick with again the answer I think would be a a phrasal verb that would be most accur that would most accurately fit this context. So the answer well done Cinderella talking follow through. To follow through is to continue an action to its conclusion. One thing I want to point out with follow through, you may often follow it with the preposition on or with. In this case, I I don't think it really matters. It's really interchangeable. So in in my first example, I had used with. He didn't follow through with his responsibilities. But down here, if I wanted to use on, I I think it's okay as well. He made a commitment to the team, but he didn't follow through on his responsibilities. So to follow through means to continue something until its conclusion. You may follow it with on or with. Or you you don't have to. It really depends on the situation. But to give you a little more context when you're thinking about, okay, on or with, does it really matter? Is one more commonly used than another? A great resource that I always I think I tend to point out with some of these is using Engram viewer. If you have uh a similar phrase, two different phrases that are similar or completely different and you just want to know which one is more often used, then you could put them in there and it it graphs it out is slightly is used uh you know just slightly more often than to follow through with. But in general, you could use either to follow through on, to follow through with. Just something to to keep in mind. Here is the next one. She can m the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. So when well the meaning of this phrasal verb is to say, perform or produce something quickly and effortlessly. What what do you think? She can m the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. This is this is another one that I think you've probably heard. Maybe you don't actively use it as much, but what any if there any guesses? I do I do apologize for the connection. I don't know that the background's going to change over the course of the next uh weeks or months. I'm at an Airbnb right now, so the internet is a little it seems like it's hit and miss. It's not your connection. It's mine. It's on me. So, I I apologize. Hopefully, it it won't go out again. So, she can m the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. the phrasal verb that we're looking for. If you can say, perform, produce something easily, effortless, effortlessly to rattle off to rattle off something and you just do it quickly, easily. And it it really is like there's some it's like there's some some information that you're trying to convey or share and you could say that you can rattle off this information or rattle off these names. So if I this is actually when I was younger I could uh I I don't know I I'm not going to do the whole thing. I can't. But you you're familiar with uh melodic learning, using a melody to learn something. It really helps you remember it. And when I was a kid, one of the teachers, they they did this same thing with the names in alphabetical order. It goes something like Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana. All right, that's all. I'm not going to I'm not going to make you suffer through more uh of my singing, but that that would be an example of using the song to rattle off the names of these states. What do you think? Here's another one. He m to his friend and followed her around the party. This is a this is one is a bit more challenging to follow someone and try to maybe talk to them or you're trying to get their attention. Especially when this other person may maybe they just want to be alone or they just don't want to be near or or close to you and you're just trying to follow them around. Hey. Hey. And it's almost like you were doing something to this person. He m to his friend and followed her around the party. What do you think? Again, I apologize for my singing, but I just wanted to give you an example of rattling off some of those uh US states in alphabetical order. So, I I I tried to give you that maybe I don't know if this was much of a hint when you're following someone around and you're really trying to stay close. So in this context, if you're following someone, you're trying to get their attention, you could say that you are latching on to onto this person. So he latched on to his friend and followed her around the party. You're following someone. You just want the their attention. And this other person, it, you know, they maybe they don't want to be they want to be alone, but you may latch on to this person. This is actually from Longman. I try to vary up some of these sources from time to time, but I wanted to let you know there are different uh context in which you can use this phrasal verb. So, to latch on to somebody or something. Uh you could use it in the context of becoming very interested in something. If you can't see this, I'll I'll read the example sentences to you. The first one like don't just latch on to the latest management fads. So, like don't latch on to some trend and you're just really interested in it. someone um trying to uh keep talking to them, get their attention. This was the one that I shared with you as far as latching on to someone at the party and you're just following them around. And then the third one is more the the literal meaning. I think one that most people think of when you think of the phrasal verb to latch on to something, holding something tightly with your hand or mouth, of course, like the the baby latching onto its mother's breast. And you could use this phrasal verb in those different context. So, these are the 12 phrasal verbs that we went through today. Hopefully, some of them are new. I also hope that you were familiar with several of them already perhaps passively and then over time the more you get exposure to them practice using them like you were today it just helps you make it a part of your active vocabulary so that next time you're in a conversation you could use some of these if you're doing some activity you say okay well we're not going to keep doing it forever we're going to phase it out we're going to gradually phase it out or you want to talk about some medication that's starting to wear off or you're going to hammer out an agreement with someone or maybe you're not going to be able to compete in a competition and you say, "Look, I got to I got to I'm going to have to bow out." So, there are specific situations in which you can use them, which is why I say they are definitely a little more advanced. super useful phrasal verbs and learned something new, let me know by hitting that like button. Uh, you could also let me know how you did on the quiz in the comments. --- ## 183. Advanced Phrasal Verbs for Everyday Conversation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CZapHyjqdA4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZapHyjqdA4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:05:09 | --- I want to teach you many different phrasal verbs. Not only that, I want to teach you some super advanced phrasal verbs that you can use in everyday conversation, but these are phrases that are really going to help you be more descriptive. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications, then I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And in this case, I want to help you build your vocabulary. And I I know I I always make this guarantee, but I promise by the end of the lesson, you will learn something new. I I definitely think one or two or three or more of these phrasal verbs will be new. And if you would like to access these lesson notes, click on the link down below in the description, join our email community, and then you can download them. If you're already a part of the community, check your inbox. I have sent them to you. Of course, this is a quiz lesson. So, I would love it if you participate. Write your answers in the chat or in the comments. This is after all interactive English. So, let's begin with our first question. And for for this first set of questions, basically, I'm giving you the verb and then the particle is missing. So, it's going to get a little more challenging as we go through this. So in this case, just know that the first few questions, the particle is missing. Surprisingly, the team was able to eek a victory. I've highlighted part of the phrasal verb. So the verb is to eek. So maybe this verb is new uh for you, which is great. And then we're going to follow that with what particle to eek. Surprisingly, the team was able to eek a victory. This is a again a phrasal verb that's a little more specific, a little more precise, but you will come across it from time to time and certainly it is advanced. Now, the correct answer is to eek out. Excellent. Great job, Lai. Surprisingly, the team was able to eek out a victory. This means to obtain or win something only with difficulty or great effort. So, in this case, you're talking about, well, to win, to ek out a victory. That is a common collocation. But also to eek out, it makes me think you're able to obtain something when it comes to numbers. So, to give you some more context with this phrasal verb, I I have some news headlines. And let's just go ahead and look at them. Stocks ek out gains amid growing political noise. So, they are able to obtain gains. And again, talking about numbers, you're you're going to ek out gains. Or this next one, how Maduro could ek out another win. This headline is a little old. Venezuela just had their elections. It's being contested. But another example using eek out. Eek out a victory. Eek out a win. And then finally, smartphone market in India eek out mere 1% growth in Q2. Once again, we're talking about a number and there you're trying to ek out gains or eke out growth. Again, very more advanced phrasal verb, but one that you can still you may still come across. Here is the next question. I'd like to mullet before making a final decision. I like this phrasal verb because I do think it is a little more informal, which again relates to just that everyday conversation. I'd like to mul it before making a final decision. One thing I'll point out about this phrasal verb is that just in the example, you can see that there this is separable. We have the verb followed by it and then it's we're going to follow that with the the particle. I feel like this one's a little more common. You guys rocked it. Yes, we're talking about to mul it over. I'd like to mull it over before making a final decision. To think carefully about something for a long time. I think often you might hear this phrasal verb being used like you somebody says they want to think about it and you're like, "Look, take your time. Just mull it over. Don't worry about it. Mull it over. Give it some consideration. Excellent. Great job. Uh, everyone, Raphaela, Lai, um, great to see you, Angela. Perfect. All right. Good to see so many familiar familiar faces, familiar names, I should say. So, I thought I wanted to include this. I thought it's humorous in this case. It's a meme using this phrasal verb, but also it's a play on words. So uh it says I I mustache you I mustache you a question. So instead of must ask mustache I mustache you a question but I will give it I but I will give you time to mul it over. So mullet again at the back of the head you could see this guy has a mullet but we're using it as a play on words to mul it over to think about it. I thought it was humorous so I try to throw some of these uh some of these memes in here from time to time. How about this one? I feel like this one is, if you've been following US politics, this phrasal verb has been used a lot in the last couple of weeks. There's so much anger in politics, people need to tone the rhetoric. We're going to follow that verb tone with which particle? There's so much anger in politics, which I feel like is in general is true. People need to tone the rhetoric. Again, this is a collocation to tone the rhetoric. You'll hear that these are words that are frequently used with this phrasal verb. And guys, rocking it. Perfect. To tone down. Great job. Um, Raphaela, Joanna, Tilla, I'm going to try to give some shout outs as we go through this, but it means to make something less forceful or offensive, to tone down the rhetoric, the way that people are talking about one another. I wanted to give you some more collocations with this phrasal verb. So, as we just mentioned, uh, to tone down the rhetoric, you could also use it in the context of, well, toning down the expectations or toning down your expectations or to tone down one's language to make it less offensive if somebody is using maybe a lot of profanity and like, hey, you need to tone down your language. You could also tone down your excitement. What do you think? Will you rehearse with me? I'd like to run my lines. I have to be careful when I'm reading these because I don't know. Generally, I just want to end up saying the phrasal verb and then give you the answer. But I want to give you a moment to think about which particle fits this sentence to well complete the phrasal verb. Will you rehearse with me? I'd like to run my lines. I think if you have ever watched something in well related to acting or theater or a play you would hear this phrasal verb let's run our lines or I need to run my lines and the missing particle you're going to run through your lines in this case will you rehearse with me I'd like to run through my lines which means to discuss repeat or read something quickly. It's like getting a a quick practice in before the show begins and you're going to run through your lines. Well done. Excellent. Uh saw some uh great answers answers in there, Sabina. Good to see you. Excellent. Uh Mukesh, perfect to run through. So once again, think about this in the context of acting theater and you're going to run through your lines. Again, another common collocation. I'll point some of these out as we go through the quiz. I'm I'm switching it up now, and this time I'm not giving you any part of the phrasal verb, but I'm giving you the meaning down below. This is going to be a little more challenging. However, I think these next few phrasal verbs are maybe a little more commonly used. So, hopefully you can you can come up with the answer. Think about this situation. Exams are coming up and I really need to what what phrasal verb completes this sentence. It the meaning of this phrasal verb is to get serious about your work. You're focusing diligently on the task at hand. I will say that this is a phrasal verb that I feel like parents would say to their children in high school and they say, "I want you to get serious. I want you to what? Exams are coming up. I really need you to do what?" or in this and I really need to like you're telling yourself I do see an answer in there and the correct response is buckle down. Keep in mind you're going to follow this buckle buckle down in this way. Buckle up would be more referring to sitting into a car and putting your seat belt on. Everybody buckle up. In this case buckle down means you just need to get serious about the work you're doing. Excellent Joanna. Well played. So think about that as far as uh this context of studying and you need to get serious. A lot of times you're going to use this when talking about school education. You could use this when talking about work. Maybe you have a big project and you're telling a friend like, I really got to buckle down and focus on this project and just get it done. But most of the time I think you may use this or hear this being used in the context of education. What do you think about this next question? After returning from vacation, she opened the windows in order to m the room. The meaning of this phrasal verb is to expose something to fresh air often to improve the scent. What do you think? What is the missing phrasal verb? I feel like this one probably based on the the situation, the example sentence I'm giving you, hopefully it makes it much easier in order to come up with the verb and the particle. After returning from vacation, she opened the windows in order to m the room. And I I really do think that if you come back from vacation, maybe it it smells a little musky and this might be one of the first things you do. You open the windows in order to what the correct answer is air out. You want to air out the room. You're exposing it to fresh air. You want to improve the scent, the smell, because like I said, if you're gone for a while, it may smell a little musky in there. I I want you to keep in mind that this phrasal verb, it does have multiple meanings. So to air out, like to air out the room, the air out the car, you're exposing it to fresh air. I've given you a couple of example sentences there. I'm trying to air out the car to get rid of the smell or we really need to air out the home or the house. It may also mean to discuss or address an issue openly. So, think about these example sentences. It's important to air out any grievances and you want to address these things or I think we should air out some of our concerns. So, when when it comes to phrasal verbs, many of them have multiple meanings. This is one of them. And I think that's another part of what makes phrasal verbs uh a bit more challenging. So, in this case, to air out has a couple of different meanings, but great job. If you're learning something new, I told you I think you'll learn something new. Or if you've already learned something new, you can let me know. Hit that like button or hit some of those hearts, those smiley emojis as soon as I see them going and think, "Okay, this is good. Need to maybe do more phrasal verb lessons. have to over the weekend." Now, the meaning of this phrasal verb is to finish reading, eating, or dealing with something with with difficulty. I want to add to this a little more to make it a little easier. So, you would use this phrasal verb in the context of there's a lot of something and you're going to really just do it over a certain period of time and you're not really going to take a break. So in this case, you're you're doing it over the weekend and you're just going to boom, go ahead and do it and finish it. A lot of times it would be yeah involving eating uh reading or just dealing with something that is challenging. It is difficult. There are now that I'm saying there there again I feel like there are um some other phrasal verbs that you could use. So people said, "Oh, I'm going to go through it over the weekend." Yes, that would work. However, I think a key part is like the difficulty or I'm going to run through it over the weekend. I would still say that's acceptable. But if you want to add that aspect of saying this is going to be difficult, it's going to be challenging. It's not really something that I want to do, but I'm just going to, you know, put my head down and go ahead and do it. In that case, as I'm trying to add some more context to this, you could plow through it. I'm going to over the weekend or I'm going to run through it over the weekend. It that works. That I don't want to say that is incorrect because in some of these sentences, there are multiple phrases uh in this case multiple phrasal verbs that you could use. But in this specific context in which I want to imply that something is challenging, it's really difficult and I'm just want to finish it and get it done. I'm just going to plow through it. I want to plow through it over the weekend. I want to give you a little more context because I think this is a is a trickier one. And I have some more news headlines for you. The first one, we uh we we used to publish Farmers Weekly. Now we help clients plow through data and there's a lot of it. It's challenging and they help their clients plow through, you know, uh, a lot of different a lot of data. How about this one? I thought I could plow through the pandemic without burning out. I was wrong. This is a a good example of it being used in context. You're trying to plow through this time period, which was the pandemic without burning out. And this person was wrong. I feel like many of us perhaps thought we could just plow through the pandemic without burning out. And well, for me that was not the case. I also was not able to do it. And then finally down below, farmers across the state plow through the pain of an uncertain future. It's challenging. It's difficult. And you just want to get through it to the other side. What do you think? She was able to her 15 minutes of fame. This is a little more challenging. And perhaps this is a phrasal verb that once I show you maybe like okay yes I've heard of it but in this context it will be a little more difficult to guess. She was able to m her 15 minutes of fame. Now the meaning of this phrasal verb is to take advantage of or exploit a situation. And when I say you're taking advantage of it, typically there's money involved and that is a little bit of a hint. There's uh a financial gain involved and that is that is one of the ways in which you are taking advantage of this situation or you are exploiting this situation. She was able to m her 15 minutes of fame. The next hint that I'll give you is that this is a three-word phrasal verb. So, a three-word phrasal verb which implies that there is some financial gain that has been made. What phrasal verb could you use to complete this sentence? I'll give you just a few seconds to think about it and then I'll tell you the answer because like I said, I think it's one that maybe you've heard of and once I show you the answer, you'll know it. But in this context, it can be a little more challenging to come up with the three-word phrasal verb cash in on. She was able to cash in on her 15 minutes of fame. So, if you're able to cash in on something, that's essentially what it means. You're taking advantage of a situation or exploiting a situation typically to have well some sort of financial gain. And that was a hint in terms of cash money. and you're able to cash in on, in this case, her 15 minutes of fame, which I wanted to point out is an idiom. So, if you're unfamiliar with this idiom, it refers to a brief period of celebrity or notoriety. So if something goes viral on Tik Tok or YouTube and this person is unknown and then suddenly everybody's talking about this person before they lose their per this period of uh when they're become a celebrity, you could refer to it as oh they're getting their 15 minutes of fame. And often if somebody has their 15 minutes of fame, you might want to cash in on it and take advantage of it. So, that's where I thought it was relevant with this uh idiom. Now, I I'm switching it up again. This is also going to be perhaps a bit challenging. I'm not giving you the phrasal verb, but I'm giving you synonyms. These are words that don't that are not always interchangeable, but they have a similar meaning. You should add some more lights in order to m the place. and we're talking about to to beautify something, to accessorize, what what phrasal verb could you use that has a similar meaning? And yeah, you might use it in this context referring to uh a place like a room in your home. We don't really know the specific place, but you want to add more lights in order to m the place. Actually, I say that's what I'm gonna go ahead and say. Well done, Sky. Spruce up is one that you could use. That would be correct. And but it's not the one that that's not the one I have, but it does have that's a this that's actually a a another phrasal verb that is a synonym and has a similar meaning. Um, uh, brighten up, I think, would also work. Uh but brighten up would specifically make me think of really colors and again but that would also work in this context. Again not the one that uh I'm thinking of. So even if some of these others are new like to spruce up to brighten up but the one that I was uh going to teach you is to jazz up. If you want to jazz up the place you're making something more attractive and interesting. And again, some of those other phrasal verbs that people mentioned, brighten up, spruce up, they have a similar meaning as well. So, I think those would would also work. The next one, again, we're getting we're learning a lot of different phrasal verbs. Well, actually, uh, because I thought maybe this is one that might be new for some of you, I wanted to give you some more example sentences, uh, just so you can see how it's used in context. He jazzed up the food with some seasoning. So, in this case, we talked about a place. You could jazz up, brighten up, spruce up. They're not always interchangeable. I could use jazz up when talking about food, like some seasoning. In this case, you wouldn't use brighten up because that's specifically talking about colors. And I don't even think I would use spruce up in this context. I would go with, yeah, you jazzed up the meal with some seasoning. I could also say Coca-Cola jazzed up its bottles with new designs. I don't know if this is true. This is not a sponsored video, but just as an example. Or it's entirely up to you if you want to jazz up or tone down your look. I I wanted to use both of those phrasal verbs. You want to jazz up your look and make it more appealing. Or maybe you just want to tone it down a little bit and, you know, not have it be so, you know, exciting or out there. You could jazz up or tone down. Those are really art opposites. What do you think about this next one? I think we need to m some of the details before we make an offer. So, the missing phrasal verb has a similar meaning to discuss or agree on. I think we need to some of the details before we make an offer. What do you think? I like appreciate that Jawad that I'm I I love it to hear if I am jazzing up your life with these live streams, with these lessons. Love it. So, in this case, we're talking about discussing something, you're trying to agree on it. I think we need to hash out some of the details before we make an offer. There are other phrasal verbs that you could use in context. Uh I see some people like to go through some of the details to go over th that would work as well, but I wanted to uh specifically point out hash out. This is probably a bit more advanced and more specific. When you're hashing out something, you are discussing it and it does really imply that you're trying to come up with some sort of a compromise. That's agreement is important because the meaning of it is to talk about something uh with someone else in order to reach an agreement about it and you're trying to hash out some of the details. So there is a difference between going over some of the details which is more reviewing them. But if you want to hash out some of the details, it would imply that you're you're going to discuss it in order so in order to have agreement on the specifics before making an offer. What do you think about uh the next one right here? Oh, again I'd like to forgot that I had some of these little funny jokes in here. uh just for your entertainment. This is just uh something I found online. Glad we hashed it out with these uh two McDonald's hash browns right here saying, "Look, they made up. They they solved their problems. They've come to an agreement and we've hashed things out." So you you might also use it if you're telling someone like, "Look, you need to discuss things and agree upon it. You need to hash things out or you need to hash it out." Again, if this is new, let me know. Hit that like button or some of those hearts. Then I can know like, yes, this is this is good. I say it's everyday conversation because again, I feel like some of these phrasal verbs are ones you might hear in movies, TV shows, more in general conversation. Uh even though you, as I shown you with some of these news headlines, you may come across them um when you're reading an article as well. What do you think about this next one? Government regulators are starting to artificial intelligence. They are directing their attention towards artificial intelligence or they're focusing on artificial intelligence. Which phrasal verb best completes this? There are actually two that I would say are correct and would work. Both of them are three-word phrasal verbs. And that is a quick little hint that I'll give you before uh telling you the answer. And I already see a correct answer in the chat, which is to zero in on. Excellent. Uh well done, Julia Miranda. Nice. So if you are zeroing in on something, you are directing your attention towards a particular thing. In this case, government regulators. they're starting to zero in on artificial intelligence. We need to deal um with this situation and come up with some legislation. The other one that I was I said that you could use two and you could use zero in on or even hone in on. And I wanted to talk very quickly about these because zero in on is one that has multiple meanings to zero in on something. I believe I got this from uh McMillan dictionary and it has a few multiple meanings but the one the number three there where I put that check mark it says to focus one one's attention on something to hone in on has that same similar meaning to focus or concentrate on something. So in that context you could either use to zero in on or to hone in on. I know it's small and it's hard to see, but if you're talking about zeroing in on like to direct your um line of uh vision, you're you're looking at something or it also says to uh get incrementally closer to something like a physical location, zeroing in on something to keep in mind that even though these phrasal verbs, they have multiple meanings, in certain situations, they may overlap. And in this case, you you could use either one. To zero in on or to hone in on. What do you think about this one? I was only teasing him when he suddenly m at me. The phrasal verb that's missing is to yell or to attack. They're not direct synonyms, but they are similar. Again, this is a I I feel like in this situation, you're being descriptive. You're describing something that happened suddenly and this person like yelled at you or you could say they at you and use this phrasal verb. Any guesses which verb and particle I could use that would fit this context? I was only teasing him when he suddenly lashed out at me. Well done, Alan, Joanna, Julia. It means to suddenly attack someone or something physically or criticize him, her, or it in an angry way and somebody is lashing out and they're lashing out at you. I I again, this is another little fun um thing you could look at. I'm going to lash out irrationally at the next person to take something from my desk, use my phone, or ask me what I'm eating, and they're going to lash out irrationally. Here is a review of all the phrasal verbs. And I know I'm giving you a lot. It's difficult, especially if many of them are new. I I know it seems like uh Deborah talking about, you know, how you know, how can we learn these? What's the best way to do that? I I think it takes time, especially with phrasal verbs. I think reading is a great way to do that. You come across them, and just learning them this way, watching video lessons, participating in these quiz lessons, trying to figure it out. The more exposure that you get to these phrasal verbs and trying to understand the meaning, you you're just going to start to remember them over time and then use them in context. Of course, these are definitely more advanced. They are more specific. But try to to keep them in mind because you will hear them in specific situations like the ones I just mentioned like somebody lashes out at you or in the context of education telling your you know students like if any of you are teachers out there you could use buckle down and say I want you to really get serious. I want you to buckle down and study hard for the exam. to give you a little quick review. Now, I'm going to try to use some of them in context because I know that I have kind of plowed through these phrasal verbs in the last 30 minutes, but I hope some of these are were new for you and you can use them as a way to jazz up your conversations or jazz up your writing and making it a little more captivating. And I hope that you will watch another video lesson to help you continue building your vocabulary. It's just something that you can mull over. You don't have to to do it, but please mull it over. And probably I should start wrapping things up. I don't want to drag this out too long. I don't want to upset you and then something maybe you lash out at me. I know that's not going to happen. I just wanted to give you one last example with these. But seriously, I do think if you study hard, if you buckle down and keep practicing, you're just going to learn them slowly over time. I know I'm throwing a lot at you, but you can get these lesson notes. Click on that link down below. If you're already a part of our community, I've sent them to you. And I know uh running I always like to do this with these quiz lessons. How did you do? I am going to I'm going to put a quiz in the chat there and and let me know how you did because I I'm kind of curious if this was a little too difficult. How did you do on the quiz? And let's just make it um great, which I would say would be 75% to 100%. Uh good. Maybe 50% to 75%. And then um I need to buckle down. Let's use it. And let's say 50 50% or less. Actually, if you if you got half of them correct, I think that's still really good that you still you have a high level of proficiency for being able to identify even half of these. Even though in the even though in that little quiz I said you need to buckle down. It's okay. I'm already seeing like most people most people uh saying that they need to buckle down, which is good because when it comes to building your vocabulary, there's always so much to to learn, to improve, to do. Um, but ultimately, if this were a competition, if learning English were I'll give you a sport analogy, I am confident that you, even after all this hard work, you'll be able to eek out a victory. Okay. So, uh, for th for those of you, some of you did great. That is incredibly impressive. Well done. Um, but I'm always glad if I can come away from these lessons knowing that some of this was new and that you learned one, two, or three new things. Thank you guys so much for being here, especially the members, Deborah, Lai, uh, Raphaela, great to see you. um some of the uh people in Speak Up as well. Teao, Raphaela, and those who are always here with me. Manuel, Angela, Talal, um Sabina, good to see you. Um Jacqu Vinn here. Good to see you, too. Long time. Uh I hope that you all uh enjoyed the lesson. Hit that like button. Let me know so I can probably do some more advanced phrasal verb lessons in the future. I will end the poll right now as well as end this lesson. Thank you. --- ## 184. Advanced Phrasal Verbs with โฌ†๏ธ UP โฌ†๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `l68QN2qzjc8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l68QN2qzjc8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:15:21 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. Uh my name is Wes in case this is your first time here. And the channel Interactive English, it's it's just all about trying to help you improve your English skills. And please, if that is what you would like to do, I would love it if you would subscribe so that I can then become your English teacher. And today I I have a fun lesson. I think this is one that many English learners I I think people find it interesting. They find it challenging. And we're going to be talking about phrasal verbs. So that is what we're going to be we're going to be talking about today, but specifically phrasal verbs with up. So all of these are phrasal verbs in which the particle that follows the verb is up. And I'm sure you've heard some of them before. I tried to find ones that are a little more difficult, a little more challenging, which is why I'm saying that they are advanced phrasal verbs. But the way we're going to do this, because I love it when when you guys interact uh with these lessons, is I'm going to present it more as a quiz. So, I'm going to give you a question or um like show you an article and and blank out the verb and I want you to write your answers in the chat or if you're watching this later, write your answer uh in the comment. And if this is your first time here, let me know. Write to me in the comments. I love hearing from from new people as well as others who are typically here. And speaking of others who are often here, hello, good to see you. Li, Sleepwalker, Yar, how's it going? Takaya, Vivien, uh, Angela, great to see, uh, Ankor, so many familiar names. And as we go through this, I'll I'll be able to give out a few more shoutouts, um, as you guys are answering these questions. So, let's jump right into it with the first one. And I, you know, I said it's advanced. I started, this is a little easier, this first one. Um, and I just want you to think which uh which verb goes in that blank. You see that orange square right there? So, this is a I guess kind of a a comic image that I found. LOL, which is an acronym. It stands for laugh out loud. You m me up. So there is a verb uh that goes in there and the picture you can use it to help you. I told you I think just looking at the picture that's that's kind of a big hint which is why this one I think is a little easier but as we go through them they will get uh more and more challenging. So I see a couple uh answers. Um all right. Hello. Oh Vicki Gustav Hansa. Excellent. Glad you guys can join us. Uh Gustav and and Hans. Um who else we see? Essie is the first time here. Hello. Welcome. So I I see some excellent answers. Yes. Fasil, Encore, Lai, HJ, Eloisa, uh Yashar, Gina. The answer is crack. So in this case, typically I would I think I would have taken I forgot to put that extra one in there and take that off. You crack me up. Lol. Crack me up. The egg is cracked. And the egg is laughing because to crack up means to laugh with great enthusiasm. This is a little bit more informal. I think often people would just say, "Oh, you make me laugh." But informally people could say, "Oh, you crack me up." The next one, which um this this is definitely, I think, a little more challenging, this phrasal verb um or this verb with up. So, this is actually taken from an article I found this uh the founder of Zapos. They they passed away in 2020, a couple of years ago, and this is a a very wealthy person. Um it says they had a fortune of $500 million. But this line right here, I I'll read it for you um in case you're having a hard time seeing it. I know it's small. It says, "So he passed away, had this fortune of 500 million, and it says, "And so his friends and family are now grappling with how to mumm up his empire." So they're trying to m up his empire. They're trying to uh figure out a way to well the meaning down here to divide and share something. In this case, they're they're talking about dividing and sharing um all of that money. So, which which verb goes in there? And this one, like I said, this one is definitely a little more challenging. I don't know if you've heard of it before. If it's a new phrasal verb for you, then I'm happy that you've you've learned something new. I have not seen the correct answer in here, which is why I'm kind of drawing this out. Uh, so I'll go ahead and tell you the it's not to to build up. So you could say I'm going to build up an empire in which case you are getting more. But in this case they're talking about dividing it. They're trying to share something. So the correct answer is divvy. All right. Divvy up. I see that in there. Gina. I saw that last second. Excellent. Good job. So if you're going to to divvy something up, it just means to divide and share. And often I think you might hear people using this when you're asking, well, how are we going to do this? How are we going to divide it up? How are we going to divvy this up? How are we going to divvy it up? So, to divvy up means to divide or share something. If this phrasal verb is new, if you learned something new, please let me know. Hit the hit the like button. That way, it tells me, okay, this this number of people learned something new in this lesson. The next one that we have um is well, okay, this is this is from a a meme. Oh, did I hurt your feelings? M up. And they're saying it with that exclamation at the end. M up. Now, hopefully you can try to think about it based on the context of what what's going on. You have this cat who uh is not very happy. like, "Oh, did I hurt your feelings?" Well, m up. Which verb goes before up in this case? And I'll give you a little bit of a hint. Um, I don't want to give you too much of a hint. When you would say this to a person to tell them to, well, be more mature and uh act like uh act like an adult. So that that's the phrase, that's the the context because there are other words that could go in there. I see somebody else saying like shut up, which yes, that would that would work technically. Um, suck it up is another good guess. That would that also fits. That's not the one that I'm looking for. If you're talking about to to be more mature, act like an adult, you would tell somebody. Yes. Shha. Got it. Fil uh Medlife. Perfect. Grow. grow up. So in this case, oh, did I hurt your feelings? Oh, grow up. So again, if you're telling somebody to grow up, often people would think of the meaning that somebody is um maybe they're getting older or a place that they lived and this is where they spent their childhood. Like I grew up in the southeast part of the United States for me. But in this case, we're talking about grow up to behave like an adult. And it you're using it to criticize someone who you think is being silly or unreasonable. Um you say, "Oh, grow up. Grow up." Um man up. All right. Man up. That would also work in this context. I like that. Uh so the next one that I have, again, these are all phrasal verbs with up. This one's um from recent. It's from the Olympics. So this is from an article headline. And you can see the Olympics, the Winter Olympics are going on in Beijing. And it says that uh Beijing 2022, US m up against Slovakia in ice hockey, which um which verb best completes that. I've given you the meaning down here because I think just trying to put it in context can be a little challenging. We will get to that later on because I'm going to take these take the meaning away. So up means to make a mistake. US up against Slovakia in ice hockey shock. All right. What do you think? To make a mistake. Mess up. See some people saying mess up is that is also making a mistake. You wouldn't not using it in this context. You wouldn't say it. Um, what else do we have? Um, screw up. Screw up. Yes, that also works. Like, uh, you you make a mistake. That's more informal, so it's probably not something that you're going to see in like a newspaper headline. Uh, so hopefully this is another one that's new for you. Excellent. Yes. You knocked it out of the park. Um, that's the one we're looking for. Slip up. So, actually I should have chose it showed it to you in the article. Sorry about that. Um, so to slip up means to make a mistake, simply put. And like I said, you could some people you I see a lot of people saying screw up that that also means the same thing. I think screw up more is you make a a bad mistake. So, it's also more informal. So, it's not one that you might see in like a news headline like screw up. The one thing I would say in this case probably to that makes slip up more appropriate is because you're making a mistake when the expectation is that you should not. So the US hockey team uh just looking reading it on context the US hockey team should have won but they made a mistake. They slipped up. So, that's another little nuance that you could think about, like you're slipping up where the expectation is that you probably should not have made a mistake here. Um, so to slip up means to make a mistake. Somebody said, "Never heard this one before." Awesome. Excellent. You learned a new one. Perfect. That's what that's what I like to hear. Then, uh, here is the next one. Um, this one I'm just giving you the definition and I want to see I want to see if you can put in that missing verb. Um, somebody asked, "Yes, these are I I mean I labeled them as advanced phrasal verbs. I tried to find ones that I think are a little more challenging and difficult." So to move towards someone or something especially in a confident way and you would m up to this person and yeah I think you to to a person or something and I'm going to show you this in a song to give you a hint. Um, the song goes, uh, he m up to me and he asked me if I wanted to dance. Okay, that's that's the song if you want to listen and put that in context. He m up to me and he asked me if I wanted to dance. Uh, I I'll show this to you in a little bit. So, to move towards someone and something, especially in a confident way. That's that's the key word, I think, right there. It's a confident way. And yes, Vivian, uh, you got it. Excellent. So, the answer is to walk. To walk up to someone or something. Now, I will tell you that the meaning actually instead of move, it's to walk towards someone, especially in a confident way. I took out walk because then it would have just made it too too easy. So, think about it. If you walk up to someone, then you you are you are walking toward them, but you have like a confident way. Like there's something that you want to tell this person. You need to tell this person. You feel confident to say something, and you walk up to them. People might say, "I'm going to walk up to him and and let them know what's on my mind." So, I told you that you would um find this in this song. This is a it's an old song. All right. Maybe I'm I'm dating myself. Um, so the song is Then He Kissed Me by the Crystals. You can look up and listen to the YouTube video. It's a song maybe you've heard the in a movie or a TV show. The song begins that first line. Well, he walked up to me and he asked me if I wanted to dance. I'm not going to sing the whole song. I don't want you to leave. I know my singing is really bad. But to walk up to someone, you're you're walking toward them in a confident way. Okay, so the next one, again, hopefully maybe that one's new. I think hopefully some of these are are new for you. Uh I took this one from uh another meme. So this you can see that the picture right there, that's uh an image from the movie Lord of the Rings. And he's saying one does not simply m up a date without asking my opinion. Mm up a date without asking my opinion. So I've given you again for this one I've given you the meaning right down here. You arrange a meeting between two people with the aim of encouraging some uh romantic relationship between them and you would m up a date. In this this is the context right here. One does not simply m up a date without asking my opinion. What do you guys think? Um, so all right. I think yeah, this is uh one that I think you're probably more familiar with because we're you you have that keyword dating. And when people talk about dating, they may use this phrasal verb. And yes, um, Maxim, Maxim, HJMZ, uh, Marksman, trying to throw some new, uh, shout outs. Harry, uh, yes, Esther, the the answer, Sarah, the answer is set. So, in this case, like one does not simply set up a date without asking my opinion. So, you might hear people use it in the context like to set someone up. In that case, you're setting someone up on a date. So, I told you I think this one is probably one you may be a little more familiar with. You're arranging a meeting between two people with the aim of encouraging a romantic relationship between them to set someone up. Uh, all right. So, let's move on to the next one. All right. We're going to keep running through these. All of these again are phrasal verbs with up, advanced phrasal verbs with up because it seems like just listening, looking at some of the answers that some of these may be new for you, which is good. So once again, this is taken from an article and in this article, I've blocked out the times when they use this verb. So Liam Gallaer on Oasis, he's talking about the old um the music group and he's saying we should never have m up. All right. Which verb best completes that statement. And to give you a little more context, I think if you kept reading right there, it says in an interview Liam Gallagher said he believes Oasis should never have up. He also said he would love to get the band back together. So that's giving you a little more context, making it easier. Down here, they use the same phrasal verb, but you know, I love him. He adds, we m up nearly 13 years ago. It's ridiculous. We can go on about whose fault it is, but he's his own man. So again, they're talking about this group that was together and now they're not. All right. So again um the ant no I see some people like give up um should never have now again in that case give up we should never have given up which again giving up like you know quitting we're not quitting again think about together and then not together hopefully like met up no breakup breakup is ending it Um, but that's not the one we're looking for. Okay. So, wow. I haven't seen Oh, Maxim got this answer. So, again, I told you that we're not the the key would be like in this situation, the band is not together. They they are separated. They Well, I'll just tell you the answer. The answer is split. That's what uh we were looking to split up is to end a relationship or marriage and you could say somebody split up. So there are different ways again you could say this um a lot of people put like oh people broke up. In that case I think if somebody breaks up that's more of a relationship like you're dating somebody and then two people break up and they're not together anymore. in this case like you're you're ending a relationship in which they were this is a band so it's not they're not dating so you wouldn't really say uh they they broke up um even though I think some b people will talk about bands and say yeah the band broke up um you could use it in that context but I think it is common if you're talking especially about music like yeah the band they split up uh they split up last year so in this case he's saying like they they split up nearly 13 years ago. We should never have split up is the the up phrasal verb that we're looking for. So again, it's to end a relationship or marriage. And maybe I don't know if that one's new. Again, hit hit that like button. Hit that like button again. Just keep just keep hitting it if it's new. Um to split up. This is one where once again I've given you the just the the definition the meaning and I want you to think of which verb should go there. So it's to talk to someone whom one has not seen for some time in order to find out what they've been doing. All right? You're you you haven't seen this person for a long time. You want to talk to them to find out what they've been doing. and you'd say, "Oh, you know, we really need to m up." Please, let's m up sometime. Okay, which which verb would complete that sentence. All right, please write your answer in the chat or in the comments. I want you to participate in these lessons. And this one, I feel like uh maybe it's a little easier. Again, you're you guys know this context. You can think about it like, "Yeah, we really need to up." So, great job, Sleepwalker, Angela, Yashar, um, Misetta, we're talking about catch to catch up. So, here is the answer. Yes, to catch up. You're talking to someone who you haven't seen in a long time, and you want to find out how they've been doing. And you might say to that person, "Oh, we really need to catch up." Or, "Let let's catch up. Let's go grab a coffee and we'll catch up. Here is a fun little uh I thought this was funny. So, this is a again this is more of a joke saying let's catch up by asking mutual friends about each other. And I say it's a joke because they're saying like we're not going to talk to each other directly. We're going to ask our other friends what what each other has been up to. So, we don't have to talk to each other. So, this is kind of just making a joke about this. Okay, the next one. Here we go right here. This was taken actually from a like a Reddit Reddit comment. I really I really don't use Reddit that much, but I this worked for this phrasal verb. And this one I I think this one is more challenging. This is more advanced. Um, it's one that maybe you've heard. I don't know how often you would use it because it is fairly specific. So, the the title of this Reddit thread signs really m up the place. And to give you a little bit more of a hint, think about that last part of that that phrase right there. Mm up the place is a context in which people would often use this phrasal verb and say, "Wow, it really m up the place." What do you think? Signs really m up the place. So I this one's more challenging because I'm not giving you the meaning to help you out. Uh, the only hint that I'm giving you is thinking about that last play phrase up the place. You're thinking about, well, it makes it better. It makes it more entertaining. And you'd say, wow, this really changes this room for the better. It really m up the place. I told you maybe this one's new. I definitely think this one is more advanced. It's more specific. Um, but one that yeah, you could still try to listen for. So, the answer I haven't seen any correct answers, so I'm just I'm just going to tell you guys what the answer is. The answer is to liven to livven up the place. So, sorry, I I should have just taken it away and shown you how it's there, but signs really liven up the place. So if you say something livven up the place, it means it becomes more interesting or exciting or to make something become more interesting or exciting. And typically you might hear people use this in that context like somebody they change the room and they put up some pictures or they um they remodel it or they do something to to change it and you'd say, "Wow, this really livens up the place. It makes it more interesting or exciting." So typically you would use it in a complimentary way and you would say something really livens up the place. It makes it more exciting. I don't know. Think about like if I were to ask you guys, think of your room right now. What could you add to your room to make it more interesting? What could you add to make it just just to liven up the place a little? Okay, so again, hopefully this one is new. Hopefully you're you're learning some new phrasal verbs. This is this is why I said they're uh advanced. Then uh here again here's another one which I think is more common so maybe you'll know it. I'm giving you uh I have given you the just the definition and I want you to think of which verb goes in there to fail to take advantage of an opportunity to up. What do you think to um up and I I'm sure that you've heard this phrasal verb before. I think it is pretty common because you would hear people in that situation to fail to take advantage of an opportunity. I would say please don't m up the opportunity to subscribe to the channel so that you'll and and turn on notifications so that you learn about future lessons and I can become your teacher. Please do not m up on this opportunity that you have right now. Um, so the answer is not miss or mess. Um, again, you're talking about an opportunity. Don't m up on this opportunity. You hear people possibly use it in that statement. So you're you failed to take advantage of it. You're basically it's like you've you've turned it down. And I think once I tell you the answer, you'll probably be like, "Oh yeah, I've I've heard that before." So if you fail to take advantage of an opportunity then you are passing up on it to pass up um to fail to take advantage of it. So think about Yes. Excellent. Um Gustav Hans perfect pass up. So think about that context I gave you like saying like you know working in that plug like telling you to subscribe like don't don't pass up on the opportunity to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications. Don't fail to take advantage of it. And people would use it in that context, like don't pass up on this opportunity, especially if it's like a good one to pass up. Uh, all right. So, I have another one, some more. Oh, this is a here's a good example. This quote from uh Winston Churchill. Famous quote. Never pass up the chance to sit down or go to the bathroom. Okay. Famous quote by Winston Churchill. Food for thought. All right. I think again this is I think just a joke. Um but it's another example of using pass up. This is not I do not think this is an actual quote that that um he used, but I like it nonetheless. Never pass up the chance to sit down or go to the bathroom. That's very true. Uh all right. Um here is another one which I think I think this one's a little easier. I think you um will probably get this one. I hope so. This is also current events. I was unaware of this that Robert Patterson used to m up as Batman his entire childhood. And I've also blocked it out down there. Uh they're saying the the same thing. So Robert Patter Patterson used to up as Batman his entire entire childhood. The reason why I say this one, uh, it's a little bit of current events because apparently Robert Patson is going to be the new Batman. Um, I feel like in my lifetime there have been many different Batmans. Some have been good, others not so good. I'm not really sure about how I feel about this one. Uh, with Robert Patterson. I guess I'll have to see the movie when it comes out. So, hello Mariano. How are you doing? Excellent. Uh, yes, Lai. Uh, you got it. Ava, Jane, um, Yashar, Sajid, Sajid. Um, we're we're talking about Esther. Dressing up. Robert Patterson used to dress up uh as Batman his entire childhood. That was what we're going through. So, to dress up, you're saying um to put on special clothes in order to change your appearance. This one, I think, is more common. I imagine you have heard this one before, like you're dressing up as some character or you're dressing up for Halloween or for a party. Um, okay. I think you said that Winston Church never pass up a chance to go to the Lou. That's probably more accurate as to what Winston Churchill would have said. Yes, you would have said the L instead of the bathroom. Uh, then I have I think there's another one. Okay, so this is another like just a funny example of a mug apparently, but this is a I I think this one is a little more advanced. Um, but it's a good and useful phrasal verb to know. Not in this context, but I'll once you know the meaning. So, it says, "Never take advice from me. You'll m up drunk." Can you guess which verb would go in that uh that statement? Again, this is supposed to be just a funny little joke um that's on a mug. I've seen some like t-shirts, too, that say the same thing. They're just like novelty mugs or novelty t-shirts. But which verb best completes that sentence? Never never take advice from me. You'll up drunk. And wow, everybody's seems to be knocking this one out of the park. Excellent. Great job. Uh, first one to answer was Sylvio. Nice. Myra, HJ, um, Nosna, William, Allison, Brian, Eloisa, perfect. Uh, so yeah, we're we're talking about Loi, nice job. Um, to end up drunk is the actual um what the actual statement is. So to end up is to reach or come to a place, condition or situation that was not planned or expected. So like you'll end up in some condition or you'll end up in some place. So it's a it's a very I think it's a useful phrasal verb. It's one that's pretty common also. Um another one with up. So in that case again it's saying don't take my never listen to take my advice. you'll you'll end up drunk as though this person's advice is always to I guess drink alcohol. So, here just to to show you guys a little bit of review, here is the word list of the different phrasal verbs that we talked about. And some of them have multiple meanings. And I tried to make the meaning a little more challenging. Like I said, grow up has different meanings. But in the one that we were talking about, it was like to act more mature. or like somebody saying, "Oh, grow up." So, here are the the the ones that uh talked about. I will put these notes up on for the the patrons and um YouTube members. So, keep an eye out for that. But, I hope that you guys enjoyed this lesson. I hope some of these phrasal verbs were new. If they are, again, you can let me know by hitting that like button is the best way to do that. And please write to me in the chat or write to me in the comments um once this gets posted. I love hearing from people especially if there was one that was new and like yes I learned something new today. I love hearing that. Sleepwalker, Lai, Tao, Yashar, Angela, Gustav, Hans, um great to see all of you today. Um who else is in there? Mariano, excellent. Louisa Sherrod, thank you guys. I I hope that you enjoy the rest of your --- ## 185. Advanced Phrases (C2) to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `1Wmnx7WC3Lg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Wmnx7WC3Lg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:58:51 | --- let's learn some Advanced C2 phrases to help you build your vocabulary and C2 this is just cambridge's highest level qualification and shows that you are a highly proficient speaker of English so I am going to teach you these Advanced phrases I'll tell you the meaning I'll give you some context as to how they're used and I'm going to teach you the pronunciation because if you're going to use these phrases you want to make sure that you're saying them correctly so let's face it building your vocabulary is extremely important and let's face it is the first phrase that I would like to teach you so this phrase is used to say that something is true and cannot be denied or it is said before something that is true but unpleasant and just keep in mind that you're really going to use this phrase at the beginning of a statement so to give you some context let's look at a few memes let's face it you laugh at anything I say this is true and undeniable thank you or let's face it you're the reason I drink in this case it's true and and unpleasant or let's face it memes are a childish way to communicate and debate ideas this is also true but they do make for some great examples now when it comes to pronouncing this phrase and you want to make sure you're saying these words together instead of pronouncing the words individually one thing to keep in mind is that linking may occur and this often happens when the final sound of one word is a consonant sound and the beginning sound of the next word is a vowel sound so let's face it the final consonant sound in face may get linked with the vowel sound in it and it's going to sound like face it it's almost like we're carrying that consonant sound over to the next syllable face it let's face it you know let's face it if you would like to continue building your vocabulary well then you need to subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and the next C2 phrase that I want to teach you is few and far between it means not happening or existing very often and you would say that something is few and far between so it's often going to follow the verb to be and typically it's going to come at the end of a statement in this town good workers are few and far between this winter snowy days have been few and far between and that's true it's been a rather mild winter or I could say Miracles are few and far between in each of these sentences the phrase follows the verb to be and comes at the end of the statement as for pronunciation the very first thing that I want to point out is that the word and make it reduced to n and this is common in spoken English and keep in mind it's also an unstressed sound n now it begins with a vowel sound and the word before ends in a consonant sound so once again linking may occur few when few went far between and reductions they're quite common and in this case it allows us to just say the phrase quickly few and far between few and far between just listen for it all I'm saying is that the really good guys are few and the wealthy families in the countryside are few and far between friends close friends a few and far between now when it comes to improving your pronunciation good apps are few and far between however I want to talk to you about a great app for fine-tuning your pronunciation skills and that is Elsa speak who is the sponsor of today's lesson this is an app that I actually heard about from many of you so I thought that I would check it out and just see what it's all about so I downloaded the app I started exploring and I was really impressed with all the different things that that you can do practice daily lessons improve pronunciation let's say that you want to study by topic and there are many different topics to choose from so what if we go to Lifestyle and as you can see there are a lot of different lessons to help you practice and improve but I think the coolest part of the app is the ability to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so we can type in the phrase let's face it and then we can listen to the pronunciation let's face it and then practice saying it let's face it now let me show you what happens if a mistake is made and I mispronounce a word let's facet as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try and make adjustments and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership for free but you can use my discount to get 85 percent off a lifetime membership or 40 percent off a one year membership so let's face it this is a great way to practice and improve your pronunciation and if that's what you'd like to do check out those links and discounts in the description now let's get back to our C2 phrases and the next one that I have for you is fall into place and this is when things are happening in a satisfactory way without any problems so it really does have a positive connotation and often you're referring to several things that are going on and you could say everything is falling into place so let's say that we're working on a project and toward the end everyone is completing their work on time the numbers are adding up people are working well together and we're going to finish well before the deadline so in that case I could say as we got toward the end of the project everything was falling into place when you pronounce this phrase keep in mind linking will often occur we can link that consonant sound in Fall with the beginning vowel sound in into fall into fall into fall into place you know say it say it with me fall into place good our next phrase for the best this refers to an action that is done in order to improve a situation or or produce a good result although at the time it's going to seem unpleasant and I think a great example would be ending a relationship and breaking up so let's say that you are planning to break up with me and our relationships coming to an end I hope this this is just an example and of course I'm very sad I would say please please don't break up with me people like you are few and far between and then you would tell me you know let's face it it's for the best okay we need to break up it's going to improve our situation in the future it's for the best Ted's stepdad and I have separated oh my God it's for the best well thank you but uh we think it'd be better if we left not because of last night for the best I think that pronouncing this phrase it's it's not too difficult for the best the only thing that I would tell you to keep in mind is that the article the it is the weak the and you're using the schwa sound that uh sound because it comes before a word that begins with a consonant sound for the best for the best the next phrase is conflict of interest and you may be thinking wait a second I have heard this phrase and that is because it describes a situation that is quite common so this phrase is very useful and we're talking about describing a situation in which someone cannot make a fair decision because they will be affected by the result so let's just say that I am going to judge a contest for children and my daughter is one of the participants do you think that I am a fair judge or would you say that I have a conflict of interest because this is my daughter I would love to see her win so perhaps I'm not capable of making a fair decision in this case and you would say look Wes you clearly have a conflict of interest and I'm sure that you can think of someone that you know who has had a conflict of interest because like I said this is a very common and useful phrase for pronunciation there is some more linking going on we can actually link all three of these words together we can link that final consonant sound in conflict with the beginning vowel sound in of conflict Dove and then we can link that consonant sound with the beginning vowel sound in interest conflict of interest conflict of interest and one thing I want to point out with that preposition of whenever you see this word linking often occurs such as in this phrase conflict of interest then we have the phrase some thing Dawns on someone and this means to understand or realize something for the first time I was about to pay for the groceries when it suddenly dawned on me that I forgot my wallet and I just realized it all of a sudden it Dawns on me and there are some great collocations with this phrase you could say something suddenly Dawns on someone or something finally Dawns on someone and when you're pronouncing this phrase there's more linking you can link the final consonant sound in Dons with the vowel sound in on Dawn's on however I think people may often use this phrase in the past tense in which they're going to say Dawn Dawn and and that can be a little trickier because of the repetition when we're linking something dawned on me or dawned on him or dawned on her and you hear that repetition dawned on our next phrase is to crack down on something or crack down on someone and it just means to take strong action to stop something and in order to show you this phrase being used in context I have some news headlines that I'd like to share with you Washington Bill aims to crack down on street racing three things we know about Netflix's efforts to crack down on password sharing something that I'm not too happy about the Supreme Court might not crack down on big Tech after all and when you pronounce this phrase more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in down with the vowel sound and on Crackdown on and I think this is a little easier to say than the other one something dawned on someone but linking it's very common it allows us to connect these words and say these phrases easily and smoothly crack down on in the blink of an eye this is our next phrase and it means extremely quickly and it really makes sense because when you blink well that that's pretty fast now your likely going to use this phrase at either the beginning of a statement in the blink of an eye something happened or you'll use it at the end of a statement something happened in the blink of an eye this phrase May often get used when referring to time or maybe someone is just suddenly gone and instead of saying something happened very quickly I would just switch it out something happened in the blink of an eye now I have been married for let me do the math six years now and I could say that well this time has passed quickly six years have gone by in the blink of an eye for pronunciation we're going to use that week the with the schwa sound and then link those final four words the blink of an eye and once again it's like we're we're just carrying that final consonant sound over to the next syllable blink of Van Nai the blink of an eye and the next phrase I really like this one but in it just means to interrupt and really you would be interrupting a conversation a discussion or just getting involved in someone else's business and you might hear someone use this phrase if they're telling another person to stop doing this don't butt in just make sure my idiot interns don't screw up you're the idea don't put it or perhaps someone needs to interrupt and they would say something like I'm sorry to butt in but or I don't mean to butt in but I don't mean to butt in but any of you and Derek could co-host the party something I want to say about the pronunciation of this phrase and this is more related to the American accent because I am from the U.S and that is that t sound in but that double consonant T because it comes between two vowel sounds I am going to say this as a flap T and it's going to sound more like a soft D but in and then we can link that flap t with the vowel sound in in but in hey hey don't butt in then there's the phrase by all means this is used to give permission like you're just saying yes certainly and often you may use this as a standalone statement uh you're responding to someone's question could I borrow this book by all means can I make a suggestion by all means perhaps you are asking me would you like me to hit the like button and I would say well yeah by all means please go ahead hit that like button by all means when it comes to the pronunciation of this phrase and someone is speaking quickly they may use intrusion to link the two vowel sounds in the words by and all by all and intrusion is when you're adding either a slight W sound or a slight Y sound and that then allows us to link two vowels and we're going to use a slight Y sound which comes after front vowel sounds like I so by all means and you hear that slight y Sound by all by all means then we have the phrase behind closed doors this refers to a situation that is hidden or kept secret from the public without an audience or crowd watching and again this is a situation that is common so I think this is a very useful phrase people may often use this phrase when referring to government or business decisions that are kept secret we didn't want the public to know so the decision was made behind closed doors and yeah secrecy it's not a good thing when pronouncing this phrase a legion may occur and illusion is when certain sounds get removed and I'm talking about the t or d sounds when they come between two consonants so think about the word handsome that D it comes between two consonants it aligns we don't hear it with our phrase both of the D sounds in behind and closed they're going to align they come between two consonant sounds and and it's like they get muted and you just don't really hear it behind closed doors behind closed doors once again just listen for it I heard about a third fight between you and Apollo behind closed doors how did he know to choose them everything happen behind closed doors what's going on there so we just talked about secrecy with the phrase behind closed doors now let's go in the other direction and talk about the phrase come to light this refers to facts that become known publicly and once again there are useful collocations with this phrase we could say that new evidence comes to light or new facts may come to light or new details may come to light I could say recently new details came to light showing how the decision was made behind closed doors and it's like this secret information became known publicly when you pronounce this phrase it's pretty straightforward the only thing that I would like to point out is the word to when you're stressing it it's pronounced just like I said two but there is another accepted form of pronunciation and that is when it's unstressed and it's going to sound more like ta and if somebody is saying this phrase quickly they may not stress that word and and it's going to sound like come to light come to light some new evidence comes to light now for a little review I know that this lesson has gone by in the blink of an eye but by all means please watch another video Lesson because let's face it great vocabulary lessons like this one are few and far between and I am a firm believer that if you keep practicing and you keep learning a little bit each and every day when it comes to improving your English everything's just going to fall right into place so I think I need to wrap things up and say goodbye it's for the best and if you enjoyed the lesson and learn something new I would appreciate it if you hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 186. Advanced Phrases That Will Change the Way You Communicate | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `0gjn_DvSMNQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gjn_DvSMNQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:00:44 | --- Let's change the way you communicate. And the way that I want to help you communicate more effectively and more accurately is by teaching you some advanced phrases. These phrases are more specific. It's not like you're going to use them all the time, but it's going to help you do two things. I mentioned it's going to help you be more specific, descriptive, but also help you improve your listening comprehension because you will come across them. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications, and then that way I can become your teacher. In case we have not met yet, my name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. So, this is a quiz lesson. I want you to participate and write your answers in the chat and let's go ahead and get the show on the road. This is our first question and I've highlighted the phrase and in this case I'm just I'm omitting one or more words. So we are on the m of a technological revolution. Which phrase are you going to use in this context? Specifically in this context, we are on the M of a technological revolution. This is a phrase that I'm sure many of you have heard before. Whether you whether you knew the meaning or not, I don't know. But once again, it's not one that you you're going to walk out the door and hear somebody using this phrase. We are on the of a technological revolution. So with some of these I will I will say I haven't seen the word that we're looking for yet. I I will say with some of these phrases there may be more than one word that can be used. So for example I I see people like we are on the the verge of a technological revolution. That that would work. We are on the brink of a technological revolution. I would say verge and brink would work. edge not so much but the word that I was thinking of maybe this is new I don't know we are on the cusp of a technological revolution you are on the cusp of something so if you're going to use this phrase on the cusp it means we just talked about that word verge you are on the verge of some beginning point or the start of some major development you are on the cusp so keep in mind if you say we're on the verge that would work as Well, we are on the brink. The these are all synonyms, but specifically and this will give you a better idea. Cusp. You uh you can be on the cusp of something. Appreciate the cusp, not the something. Appreciate this moment. Now, so the meaning of the word cusp, it really refers to this point uh in between uh two different things. A point of transition. That is the meaning of cusp, but you're really going to use it with this phrase and say on the cusp of something. We're talking about a major development that's going to change people's lives. So, I I want to emphasize the fact that you're not going to use this every day. Typically, you might hear this more in maybe a speech and somebody says, "We're on the cusp of some major change, technological revolution." And maybe you hear somebody use this when talking about AI. To give you a little more context, I my family, we're getting ready to make a move. And that is a major development for our family. But I would not use this phrase. I w I would not say we are on the cusp of moving to a new city. That's going to sound a little weird. So you would really use this to emphasize some major development that's really going to influence everybody around the world. you are on the cusp of something. If you if this phrase is new, then let me know. You can hit that like button, hit those hearts. Uh it just tells me that okay, you are building your vocabulary. Uh what about this one? I think this one maybe maybe it's a little easier. We'll see. I always say that and then it's difficult and then when I think it's difficult, everybody gets it. So, I'm giving you the counterargument. I don't really believe it. I'm just playing. So, if we're having a conversation, think about like somebody's actually saying this and you and I are I don't want to give it away. Uh we're having this conversation and I say, "Look, I I'm just giving you the counterargument. I don't really believe it. I'm just playing what which phrase are you going to use?" In this case, you could say the This is more of a an idiom. I someone said you're just playing around. Yeah, you could say that like, hey, I don't I'm just playing around. I'm just messing with you. That would work. But there is a specific phrase that would really fit in this case. And I see uh one one of the answers in here. So, the idiom or the phrase that we're talking about, especially when arguing with someone else, devil's advocate. So, if you're playing devil's advocate, then this just means that you are arguing a position or viewpoint that you may not personally believe in. Maybe you just want to debate someone else or you want to see how much they know about the issue or the topic and you're just playing devil's advocate. People may also use this to argue against an idea that is popular among many people. So, I I'm sure that I want you to think of someone right now that you know personally that likes to debate. They like to argue with other people, even if they don't really believe what they're saying. In that case, you could say they're playing devil's advocate. And really, you would use this in the context of a debate or an argument and you're giving your position and they're giving their position and maybe they're just playing devil's advocate. All right? So, there's a great a great phrase to know. Uh, good job, Teao. Well, well played. Well played. So, I thought this is um this was a funny little meme because I think you need to be careful when you are debating someone whether or not you're playing devil's advocate or if you're just coming off and being mean and rude. So, just something to keep in mind. And this comic I thought was funny where they say, "Hi, I'm just playing devil's advocate." And you see the devil there. He's like, "No, no, he's just being a douchebag." So, if somebody's playing devil's advocate, maybe again, they're they're really maybe bringing up some good points. But you got to be careful whether or not you're you're not offending someone. You're not talking to them in a condescending way. When you're playing devil's advocate, you're really just arguing the other position, the other point, not necessarily in a rude way or a combative way. So, let's look at the next one. Again, if this phrase, if any of these phrases are new, let me know. You hit those the like button, the heart, those hearts. That that tells me that I should continue doing some more uh advanced vocabulary lessons because I told you these are these are advanced phrases. His comments were beyond it was totally unacceptable. So, we're talking about somebody saying something. They make a comment that was unacceptable. And really, when you use this phrase, you're really emphasizing this fact. His comments were his comments were beyond what? So, that is part of the phrase, beyond something. and and then you could follow it up and say, "Look, this was totally unacceptable. He should have never made those comments that it was just absurd, ridiculous. It was beyond." And every time I say beyond, I I feel like I'm actually going to give away the answer or say it, but I can go ahead and tell you. We're talking about the phrase beyond the pale. So, if you say that something was beyond the pale, it was outside the bounds of acceptable behavior. Well done, um, Angela Joanna, uh, KB, beyond the pale. A lot of times people will use this when referring to somebody's comments, something that they say to someone or the way they're treating someone. And if you think that they're treating somebody really badly, it's unacceptable. It's beyond the pale. or they say something to a person like in this case you you make a comment and it's unacceptable. It's beyond the pale. So just keep in mind this is a great phrase to add emphasis. If you say that something is very unacceptable, that's when you can use this phrase and say it's beyond the pale. What about this one? This is another phrase that you could put in more than more than one word works here. So if somebody's in this situation being passed over for that should be the promotion. I apologize that's a typo. Being passed over for the promotion was a m swallow. There are a few words missing here, but there are several words that you could use that really mean the same thing. And once again, I will just want to acknowledge the typo there, the missing article being passed over for uh the promotion was a m swallow. I feel like the fact that I'm giving you the word swallow, maybe it makes it a little easier because that is very specific. So in this case, we're talking about something happens and it's really tough to accept. So the phrase that I feel like is often used and I saw many of you got the right answer. Perfect. We're talking about a bitter pill to swallow, a difficult or unpleasant fact that you need to accept and just deal with it. And it's difficult and you can describe that difficulty and say it's a bitter pill to swallow. Now, the word in here that I think you could change out, instead of saying a bitter pill to swallow, you could say something is a it's a tough pill to swallow or a hard pill to swallow or a bitter pill to swallow. So, all of those phrases are really interchangeable. I think this one is the more common one when you're thinking about this expression, a bitter pill to swallow. To to give you an example, again, in this case, they're using hard. It says hard pill, hard pill, hard to swallow pills. Just following up a little joke using this phrase says just because you spent a long time making a mistake, being with the wrong partner, hanging out with toxic friends, working at the wrong job, taking the wrong courses in college, etc. doesn't mean you should keep doing it. So again, just thinking about something is a bitter pill to swallow. It's hard to accept, but you got to accept it and move on. And that's kind of what this is trying to say. all of these bad things. Don't keep doing it. Accept it. It's a tough pill to swallow and then move forward. Um, wow, Cinderella, thank you very much. I appreciate uh that super chat. Uh, love it. Glad you enjoy these lessons and find them useful, especially when it comes to building your vocabulary because I do a lot of these quiz lessons and a lot of them are vocabulary related because they're I think it's more interactive that way. So really appreciate that, Cinderella. Um, much love. Much love. The ruling was a moment for civil rights. There are several adjectives that you could use. We're talking about the civil rights movement. So, of course, you could say, and maybe I'm going to go ahead and take some of your responses. It was a crucial moment or this was a um this a pivotal moment. This was the ruling was a an an inspirational moment. The these are not the words that I'm looking for. This is a very specific word which is used with moment. It is a collocation. This is more difficult. This is more advanced. And I wanted to share this with you even though there are other words that you could put in there that make sense and it it works fine whether it's um just reading what you all said like pivotal um uh vital essential crucial there was I saw the correct answer. Excellent. So the the phrase that I wanted to point out, well done uh Joanna, talking about a watershed moment. And if this phrase is new, again, it means the same thing as all of those like crucial uh pivotal. And if you describe something as being a watershed moment, it refers to a critical turning point. So I don't want to necessarily say this is going to add emphasis. If you use a word like pivotal or vital, uh that is also very expressive. It's very descriptive. But I wanted to share this with you in case it's new because I thought this may be a phrase that you haven't come across or maybe you might not come across it as often. But if you describe something as a watershed moment, it is a cru critical turning point. I will say that when you do hear this phrase or even maybe use it, you may be talking about some type of judicial ruling. So the court rules, maybe the Supreme Court rules in some way. It's really going to be a turning point and you could refer to it as a watershed moment. And that is what this is talking about here with this example in the civil rights movement. The ruling was a watershed moment. Uh, I'm trying to think whether this is easy or difficult. Let's just give it a try. The professor's follow-up lecture continued m same. There are some missing words around the phrase. The word same is going to be in the middle. So, the professor's follow-up lectured continued same focusing on ethical dilemmas in modern medicine. Now, I I feel like as far as the meaning in this phrase, maybe I'm not giving you too much context with this example, but what I really want to say or keep in mind, we're talking about a follow-up lecture. So, they've this professor has already talked about ethical dilemmas, modern medicine, but then they do a follow-up lecture. It really continues. And that's kind of leading into this phrase in in trying to say um well what it is. So like the the same old song like you could same old song I feel like uh has a little bit more of a a negative connotation like ah you're bored. It's the same old thing. That's that's not the the phrase we're talking about. Uh in this case what I want to say is it's it's very similar. So it's not the exact if you say the same old song it is more uh exact when talking saying something similar and this is another phrase maybe I think you probably have heard of it in the same vein and if you say something occurs or happens in the same vein you basically mean that something is happening in a similar style or theme. So in this case, there was one lesson talking about ethical dilemmas, modern medicine. The follow-up lesson was very similar. It's really we're talking about those same topics. So it continued in the same vein. So great phrase, uh especially if this is one that you you haven't heard of before. I see these like little numbers. I don't know what this familiar with. The number three, the number two, number one with that that crown. I'm going to have to look into that. So, I'm switching it up now uh a little bit. In this case, I am blanking out the phrase. I'm giving you the meaning, but you can use the picture to try to help you. So, the first one is talking about a decision or conclusion that has not been reached. Use the picture, think about the meaning, and what phrase am I referring to? a decision or conclusion that has not been reached and in that case you could say that the what so obviously you see this picture I think you can tell that it's a courtroom and there are different parts of a courtroom what I was trying to find and track down is a picture of the jury box the jury are your your peers who would listen to the evidence listen to the lawyers make a decision. But when the jury has not made a decision and the conclusion hasn't been reached, I you guys got it. You could say, I feel like I'm I'm just uh rambling at this point. The jury is still out. So, this is a great phrase that you can use when you want to say, well, we we don't know. The decision has not been made or we don't know what the conclusion is. Here are some examples using it in context uh just to give you a better idea. will if somebody is asking questions and basically the response is well the jury is still out because often you may end up using this as a standalone statement just to say well we don't know will Bitcoin ever reach uh a million dollars well the jury is still out some people think it will others think it's worthless but the jury is still out we don't know will imposing tariffs make the US a stronger economy if you're following current events especially politics uh a lot of economic changes with all these tariffs and uh if some people would trying to argue that oh yeah it's going to make the economy better and the US stronger is this going to happen well the jury is still out uh we don't know exactly the the effects that this is going to have and then the last one are you going to hit the like button this is something that I would ask you say look are you going to hit the like button what do you think it's right there it's right in front of you go ahead and do it. And maybe you say, "Well, I don't know. I haven't made up my mind just yet. The jury is still out." So, whenever you want to tell someone, they ask you a question and you want to just say, "Well, I haven't reached a conclusion or we don't know." You could use this phrase, say, "Well, the jury is still out." I hope that the jury is not still out and that you've gone ahead and hit the like button. I'd appreciate it. What do you think? This next phrase, the meaning is to create a situation that causes a lot of problems when it starts to be dealt with. And you can use the picture. It's not the most it's not the most pleasant picture to to look at. It's kind of disgusting. But there is part of this picture is it's a key word as far as using uh or or trying to figure out this phrase. Uh the phrase that means to create a situation that causes a lot of problems when it starts to be dealt with. And if you're okay, I think you guys got it. So the picture you can see I tried to blur it out a little bit to make it a little more challenging. That's a hook. Somebody put a worm on the end of the hook. They're getting ready to go fishing. And worm is the key word that's part of this phrase phrase. So, what we're talking about is opening a can of worms. The meaning of this phrase, just what I just said, you're talking about creating a situation that causes a lot of problems when it starts to be dealt with. Here is a fun comic just to give you some context with this phrase. Um, these two birds. It says there's a can of worms and these birds are saying, "Yeah, I'm hungry, too, but are you uh are you sure you want to do this?" Like, "Open this can of worms. Open this problem." One thing I'll say about this phrase is people may use this uh because it creates problems. They may use it in the negative and say, "Look, I don't want to open this can of worms. I don't want to deal with this problem or this this situation is going to create a problem. Let's not open this can of worms." And you may hear people use this phrase in the negative to say that you don't want to deal with it and you don't because you know it's going to create uh a lot of problems and it's not a good situation. Let's not open this can of worms. How about this one? The meaning is uh to make a bad situation worse. This is a phrase that in my opinion I I think many of you know you've heard this before. I think it's commonly used especially nowadays in with social media and basically people expressing every thought that comes across their mind and it just it really makes a bad situation worse. And in that case, you could say that something does what? Once again, this picture, you can see a picture of a fire, which is part of this phrase. So, whenever you make a bad situation worse, you can say that you or maybe somebody else is doing this and they are adding fuel to the fire. And if you're adding fuel to the fire, it it basically means what it says. you're going to make the fire bigger, possibly out of control. And in this case, we're talking about making a a bad situation worse and adding fuel to the fire. Well done, U Julia Talal. Excellent, Lai. Uh to add fuel to the fire, here are some news headlines. Now, just to to give you more context, and I told you I think this one's common, even though this is a bit idiomatic, it is still used. It you're going to read a newspaper article, you may come across it. So, these headlines, don't add fuel to the fire. Europe tries to play it cool as uh Storm Trump approaches. I think this was back before like as soon as he got elected and people in Europe are trying to figure out, okay, how are we gonna deal with this and saying, "Hey, don't add fuel to the fire." The next one, Nike, it may seem like it, it may seem like it, but uh the draw down isn't over. Tariffs add fuel to the fire. We just mentioned uh tariffs. What kind of effect are they going to have? The jury is still out. However, I think with some companies, depending on their business, like Nike, it's going to probably be worse is what uh this article is saying. And it's going to add fuel to the fire. They were having problems already. This is going to make a bad situation worse. And then finally, Prince Harry's dinner with Brook um Brooklyn Beckham, not even sure who Brooklyn Beckham is, I don't know, maybe you guys do, will add fuel to the fire of family feud. So, Prince Harry has dinner with this person, and it's going to add fuel to the fire. When it comes to their family situation, which if you're thinking about the royals, yes, it's not a good situation. And something happens, it makes it worse. It adds fuel to the fire. How about uh this one? Maybe uh well, I don't want to I don't want to give it away. So in this case, we're referring to something that has both positive and negative effects. You're talking about a situation, some issue has both positive and negative effects. And if you want to instead of saying, well, you know, this has some really positive effects and it could really help, but on the other hand, yeah, it's going to create some real problems and have some negative effects. You could refer to this situation as what? This is a noun phrase. You can look at the picture to give you a hint. Once again, I think just looking at the picture and you know what this item is, it's part of the phrase, which makes it a little bit easier. So, you can see this picture of a sword. So, if we're talking about some situation, positive, negative effects, you could refer to it as a double-edged sword. A double-edged sword, it is going to have Yeah. P good things, bad things. So, here are some examples to give you more context. Hopefully, these sentences make it a little easier to understand. Fame is a double-edged sword because it brings attention, but also uh loss of privacy. So, there's a good thing about it. You get a lot of attention, but then you have no privacy. It's a double-edged sword. Social media is a double-edged sword. It connects us instantly, but it can also fuel anxiety and misinformation. I think that's a great example. Social media, um, I'm still, again, I try to think about whether or not the pros outweigh the cons. It's a great example of a double-edged sword. And part of me feels like it's more negative than positive, but I have not made up my final decisions. The juryy's still out. And then the last sentence, automation is a double-edged sword. It boosts productivity, but can lead to massive job losses. This is also part of the conversation now with AI automation. Great example of a double-edged sword. And once again, we don't know what's going to happen. The jury is still out. One thing I want to say about this phrase is when when I teach these noun phrases from time to time, keep in mind that it is a noun. And you would say something is a double-edged sword. Often I'll hear small speaking mistakes because people will try to use this as an adjective and they'll say, "Oh, this is a double-edged sword situation." And in that case, as soon as I hear that, it sounds really awkward to my ears. So, you're not going to use this as an adjective phrase. It is a noun phrase. And you'll always say that something is a double-edged sword. Keep in mind, it's a noun. How about this one? We're talking about postponing or even deprioritizing something. And in that case, what are you going to do? I've given you I've given you a real closeup of this picture. I really wanted to throw it at you. So hopefully uh you you looking at the picture, you know what this is and it's the word is part of the phrase. So if we are talking about something, you bring up an issue, doesn't really matter what it is. Maybe I I don't want to deal with it right now. I uh I say, "Look, I don't want to open that can of worms. Let's postpone it. Let's not This is not a priority. Let's what what are we going to do with this?" So the picture is uh a stove that is a burner and that is the word that is part of the phrase. And I saw some great answers. Um, well done. We're talking about to put something on the back burner. So, if I don't want to maybe again, if it's opening up a can of worms, I don't want to do it. Let's postpone this. Let's put it on the back burner to or we're talking about deprioritizing something. So, in a sense, the way that you're going to use this is you you're basically saying, I don't want to deal with something now. We're going to deal with it later. because it's not important right now. It's not a priority. And you might say, "Okay, you bring up a good point, but let's put it on the back burner. We'll deal with that later." So, think about cooking. When you're preparing food, the thing that you're focusing on now is in front of you. It's on one of the front burners because it should be closest to you. When you're cooking and something is ready, you're going to deal with it later. then you may move that food to the back burner because it's not a priority at that moment. You're you're cooking something else. So really again, the the phrase means what it says if you want to think of it in the context of cooking, which is where it comes from. And you put something on the back burner. You're not going to deal with it now. Okay, I forgot about this uh idiom. Uh this uh this this cat uh just falling asleep on the stove here, kind of joking like it's a a neglective uh kitten uh has been put on the back burner and it's not a not a priority in this case. So, how about uh how about this one? You say something exactly right. Look at the picture. I I'm kind of I feel like I'm giving it away with the picture. This is a If you watch a lot of movies, TV shows, I am confident that you've definitely heard this phrase. But if you want to say to another person, well, you what you're saying is exactly right. The you know, you you are absolutely right. You what? So, in this picture, I maybe I'm maybe I'm getting a little too close with these pictures because that is a picture of a nail. And when talking about saying or doing something right, and we're talking about a nail, the phrase that you could use is to hit the nail on the head. Well done. Um, pitcher KB uh Lai Kevin, well done. Well played. Here are some examples. And basically, when you would use this phrase, you're kind of confirming that what somebody has said is exactly right. Her um here are some sentences for context. Her analysis hit the nail on the head. Or during the debate, the candidate hit the nail on the head when discussing the root causes of inflation. And what you're saying is right, you hit the nail on the head. or when she said the project failed due to poor communication, she really hit the nail on the head. So, what she was saying was exact, it was correct, she hit the nail on the head. So, this is a useful idiom. Uh, it is again it's idiomatic a phrase that you can use when you want to say that something was exactly right. Uh, another phrase I see people putting like you mentioned, um, yeah, you nailed it. That would be another way of saying the same thing. I do think maybe that's a little more informal, but still even this because it's idiomatic, it's also quite informal. Uh but to tell somebody, yes, what you said is right. You nailed it. Uh that would be another way of of saying it. Perfect. So here are a list. This is a little bit of review. Remember, you can get these lesson notes. Uh join uh our community. Actually, did I even maybe maybe I didn't even make that announcement. Maybe it slipped my mind. I can't believe I forgot. I apologize. That mistake is beyond the pale. So, if you want to get these lesson notes, maybe I did mention this. I don't know. Um I haven't gotten much sleep lately. Click on the link down below in the description. You can join uh my community. If you're already a part of it, then check your inbox and I have sent them to you. So, just as a little bit of a review, uh, right here, these are all of the phrases that we talked about today. Keep in mind, they are more advanced. So, they they're very useful if you want to be a little more precise because you could use them in specific situations. If you want to say, well, this is hard to accept. It's a really uh, you know, this lesson is coming to an end. I apologize. It's hard to accept. I know it's a tough pill to swallow, but I am going to continue doing more vocabulary lessons like this. They're similar. They're not going to be exactly the same, but they'll be in the same vein. And I'm just trying to use these as we go through this. And I hope that you continue to watch my video lessons and learn new things. This is something you should do continuously. Please do not put it on the back burner and postpone it for later because building your vocabulary is incredibly important when it comes to reaching your fluency goals. And hopefully you think that I hit the nail on the head uh when I said that. And maybe if you disagree and you want to argue another point, perhaps you're just playing devil's advocate. So again, thank you guys so much for joining me. Um uh thank you again, Cinderella, for the the super chat. Great to see so many familiar faces. Teao, Julia, Angela, um Kevin, Lai, thank you so much for being here, Manuel. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your --- ## 187. Advanced Verbs (C2) to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `dOM4D9nUt0k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOM4D9nUt0k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:59:42 | --- I'm sure you relish learning new vocabulary and in today's lesson I want to teach you some Advanced C2 verbs and because I just mentioned it let's begin with the verb to relish what this means is to like or enjoy something and really you're just adding a bit of emphasis so as I just said I'm sure you relish learning new vocabulary you enjoy it and and you know that you're enjoying it and you can follow this verb with either a gerund or a noun so to give you a couple of examples with gerunds I could say I relish traveling to Exotic locations or I relish eating ice cream on a hot summer day and then if you're gonna follow it with a noun there are some common collocations and these are words that are frequently used together so you may relish the thought thought Prospect or idea of doing something or you may relish the chance or the opportunity to do something and those are some useful collocations when it comes to pronouncing the verb it has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable relish she won't survive I don't relish hurting anyone Stephen well Victoria relishes her status is Queen B right pathologically and if you are someone who relishes learning new vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and as we go through the lesson and I talk to you about these different Advanced verbs I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the pronunciation as well because I tried to choose words that that may be a little tricky to pronounce like this next verb coincide so this verb has two meanings the first one is to happen at or near the same time and often you're going to follow the verb with the preposition with so you would say that something coincides with something else and you're not really talking about everyday activities like going to the coffee shop coincides with this you're talking talking about events that may not occur regularly so I could say look I'm sorry I can't go to your birthday party because it coincides with a business trip that I have to take it's happening at the same time it also means to be the same or similar so I could say if our schedules coincide then we can plan to travel together we'll we'll take the train if our schedules coincide and they're the same for pronunciation the verb has three syllables the stress is on that third syllable coincide and just keep in mind the c-o-i-n it's not pronounced as coin two different syllables Co win coincide to coincide with something and then we have the verb squander I like this verb even though it it has a negative connotation because it means to waste money or supplies or to waste opportunities by not taking advantage of so in the United States which is where I am from I could say many people feel that the government squanders taxpayer money and they just waste that money you may also hear people use this in a statement and say hey don't squander this opportunity that is a collocation to squander an opportunity for pronunciation the verb has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable squander and keep in mind that squa has that sound to squander something screw you wanted your gift I honored my gift made 68 albums did I want to be made manager sure a great opportunity squandered absolutely a crushing blow yes right now I want to take a moment to thank the sponsor of today's lesson which is Elsa speak and there are many Learners who relish using Elsa speak to fine-tune their pronunciation so if you are unfamiliar with it then let me show you how it works you just download the app create an account and there's so much that you can do practice daily lessons improve pronunciation let's say that we want to study by topic and there are a variety of different topics to choose from so I would like to practice small talk and as you can see there are many different lessons to help you practice and improve but I think the best part of the app is to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so let's say that we put in the phrase don't squander this opportunity and then you can listen to it don't squander this up opportunity and in practice don't squander this opportunity and let me show you what it looks like if a mistake is made and I mispronounce that verb don't squander this opportunity [Music] instant feedback which then allows you to try to make adjustments and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership for free but you can also use my discount to get 85 percent off a lifetime membership or 40 percent off a one-year membership as I said don't squander this opportunity check out the links and discounts in the description if you'd like to practice and improve your pronunciation and before you know it you'll sound just like a native speaker now let's get back to our Advanced C2 verbs and you may be wondering see two what does that mean well this is just cambridge's highest level and really means that you are a proficient speaker of English and the next C2 verb that I have for you is commemorate and this means to remember officially and give respect to a great person or event especially by some public ceremony or by by making a statue or a special building and I thought that I would show you some different news headlines so that you can see how this verb is used in context events to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr or Tulane to host campus celebration to commemorate historic Cotton Bowl win that's talking about American football Museum to commemorate 70th anniversary of 1953 floods Democrats commemorate January 6 attack with tears in silence at U.S Capitol so these are just some random news headlines that I found on the day that I created this lesson and it's just using the verb in context so hopefully that gives you a better understanding when pronouncing this verb it has four syllables the stress is on that second syllable commemorate commemorate and just keep in mind that first and third syllable have that schwa sound that unstressed vowel sound which sounds like commemorate commemorate and the next verb that's that's your hint what verb is that oh and the verb that I'm talking about is gasp gasp and it has two different meanings and it's really a difference between talking about well one breath or many breaths so the first meaning is to take a short quick breath through the mouth because of shock pain or surprise it's just that one breath oh gasp and people may use this as an interjection and saying something surprising like and he never returned home and saw his family again gasp or it's used in storytelling with those dialogue tags to describe speaking help me he gasped it also means to breathe loudly and with difficulty really trying to get more air and in this case it's several breaths and often people may end up using it in the continuous tense gasping I could say that the wave knocked me over and I was gasping for air that is a common collocation with this verb to say that someone is gasping for air when it comes to pronunciation I think the most challenging thing about this verb would be saying it in the past tense gasp it's a regular verb so in the past it's going to end with Ed and because that final sound is voiceless the Ed is going to take on a t sound so we have the sound followed by the T sound which can be a little difficult it's going to sound like gasped gasped give it a try gasped excellent the next verb is intervene and this means to intentionally become involved in a situation in order to improve it or just prevent it from getting worse so if there is an argument or a fight someone may intervene I could say that the referee intervened to stop the fight they just did not want it to get worse I could also say the Federal Reserve has intervened in financial markets in order to stop inflation and they're getting involved in the situation to try to improve it now for pronunciation the verb has three syllables the stress is on that third syllable intervene one thing I want to point out when it comes to the American accent because I'm from the United States is when the T follows an n Sound especially in unstressed syllables it may allide and people may drop bit so instead of intervene you may hear someone say intervene so just keep that in mind in the United States you may hear both pronunciations one with the teeth intervene go ahead go ahead and intervene I'm just afraid you might be interfering while we're intervening and one without I want to say something terrible to someone I love I got [Music] there's two label this refers to a word or phrase that's used to describe the characteristics or qualities of a person event or thing and really in a way that's unfair so you may label someone as something that is a common phrase to label someone as something in my lifetime I have been labeled as a troublemaker uh at school when I was younger I've also been labeled as a slacker which is a noun that means someone who does not work very hard and of course I would disagree with this but it happens if we get the wrong impression of someone or something and we may label them as this thing which is usually negative now for pronunciation the word has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable label the other thing I'd like to point out is the second syllable it ends with that dark L which is that all sound and then if we're following it with the word as I told you that's a common phrase well then we can link that dark L with the beginning vowel sound in as label as label as they impose struggle in hachipanus the label this as criminals for pushing back the mortgage officer had messed up Miranda's application they had inadvertently labeled her as separated the next verb is imply and this is a very useful verb it means to communicate an idea or feeling without directly saying it and because you're not directly saying it people may use this verb when asking a question and they would ask what are you implying so I'm going to give you an example I'm going to imply something without directly saying it and I just want you to think about what it is that I'm implying so if I said gosh I really hope that you like this video Lesson and when I say like I'm talking about enjoy that you relish learning new vocabulary and if only there were some way for you to commemorate this lesson so that it gets labeled as a great vocabulary lesson and now I'm using it in a positive way it gets labeled as a great lesson if there was just something that that you could do to commemorate this video and I'm just pointing to that thumbs up because I'm implying that you should hit the like button and I think that you were probably able to guess that so when it comes to pronouncing this verb it has two syllables the stress is on the second syllable imply now I don't think the pronunciation is too challenging what I think is difficult about this verb is that it's sometimes confused with another verb which is infer and that's the next C2 verb that I want to talk to you about to infer something this means to form an opinion or guess that something is true based on the information that you have so if you see me and I'm just soaking wet what might you infer about the weather I imagine that you would infer that it's raining outside or maybe you see me and I'm really happy and I'm smiling grinning from ear to ear what might you infer I really don't know you can you can let me know down in the comments the verb it has two syllables and once again the stress is on the second syllable infer and I don't think the pronunciation is too challenging just try not to confuse those two verbs to imply to infer if by me you are inferring that I have BL Michael he wasn't inferring he was implying was I I see you guys are inferring that I'm stupid that's correct we were implying it you then inferred it the next verb is to speculate and I think this is a very useful verb because it's pretty common people do this all the time to speculate it means to guess possible answers to a question when when we don't have enough information to be certain so we do this quite often because well I think people just like speculating about different things when trying to explain something that happened and we don't have all the answers and we may speculate or we're trying to guess what will happen in the future and we can only speculate to give you an example I could say journalists are speculating what the president may say in his upcoming announcement and I think in general it's well it's not always good to speculate or at least we should tell people that that is what we're doing because sometimes people will speculate and then others will just take that as the truth and it can cause some problems now the verb has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable speculate and I really think this verb is well pronounced the way it's spelled it's pretty straightforward to speculate succumb so to succumb has two different meanings and once again I'll show you some news headlines so that you can see how this verb is used in context so the first meaning is to lose the determination to oppose something and really you're just accepting defeat visit these popular tourist traps before they succumb to climate change this is how Israel's economy could succumb to populism Samsung is first to succumb to a slowing economy that is crushing semiconductors the next meaning is to die or suffer badly from an illness or injury battling Morocco eventually succumbed to injuries and in this case they're talking about their football team two succumb to injuries sustained after falling from mobile Tower when pronouncing this verb it has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable succumb and just keep in mind there is a silent B at the end of the verb to succumb and then there's the verb trudge to trudge means to walk slowly with a lot of effort especially over a difficult surface or when carrying something heavy and often you may follow this verb with a preposition trudge up trudge down trudge over trudge through maybe you had to trudge up a mountain or perhaps you had to trudge through the snow and in both situations you're walking slowly with a lot of effort for pronunciation it's just one syllable that d g has that J sound similar to the word judge these are rhyming words trudge judge the other other thing I'd point out is that if the verb is followed by a preposition that begins with a vowel sound then linking may occur trudge up trajover right something to keep in mind let's do a little review now I am not going to speculate as to whether or not you will watch another video Lesson I'm sure that you relish building your vocabulary and because you're still here right now then I'm just going to infer that you will watch another video Lesson because I don't think you want to squander this amazing opportunity to continue improving your overall English fluency and I really don't want you to succumb to any feelings of inadequacy when it comes to your language abilities I want you to stay positive I want you to stay motivated and I want you to continue learning new things all right that's a little review using these verbs in context if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 188. Advanced Verbs to Describe the Way Things Move | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7b-jv9235aQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b-jv9235aQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:59:27 | --- hey everyone today I want to teach you some new verbs and they are well they're kind of advanced verbs but they are all about movement these are verbs that you can use to describe different types of movement and what I've done is that I've put them in categories to help you better understand the meaning of the verb but also give you an idea as to when you might use these verbs so let's begin with walking and running if you're talking about that movement walking and running there are different verbs that you can use you can use strut and if somebody is strutting it's talking about the way somebody is walking and it is more of a a very confident walk perhaps even an arrogant walk as well and you could say that that they are strutting the next one is stagger and to stagger means to walk with great difficulty almost as if you are about to fall over and often I think you would use this verb in the the present tense like you're talking about something that's happening right now and you would say he is staggering or she is staggering and also I think it's commonly used when referring to somebody who who maybe has had too much to drink they've had a lot to drink they don't really have a lot of control over what they're doing and they're walking with great difficulty then you could say that this person is staggering then we have the verb to bolt and this is just to move really fast almost like a run and you might bolt to get somewhere for example I I often would use this if I'm talking about trying to get to an airplane and I'm late and I might say wow I bolted to the airplane I was running behind and I had to run I bolted to that airplane the next verb is slip and this is talking about moving that you're you're moving quietly so that somebody doesn't notice you and often you're going to follow this verb with a preposition so you might slip by someone or slip past someone both of those mean the same thing you're just trying to get by this person without being noticed you could also slip inside or slip outside of some place maybe you forgot something at work and you don't want your boss to see you you might slip inside the office and get whatever you need to get and then you're gonna need to slip outside because you don't want anybody to see you and then we have the verb to drag one's feet now this is an idiom and it means that you are moving reluctantly you're moving slowly but you really don't want to be moving forward and you could say well you know you're you're dragging your feet so for example let's say that well maybe you and I we're traveling somewhere and we're late we need to get to the gate and I'm like okay we need we need to go we need to bolt to that airplane plan but you just want to take your time a little bit maybe you're like hey let's go let's go get a snack before we get on the airplane maybe I'll say Hey you know stop dragging your feet we need to go we need to bolt now this idiom can also be used in other situations as well it doesn't always have to be talking about movement it could be referring to progress as well so if you have some work that you need to do but you're trying to avoid doing it you are procrastinating you could also say then that you're dragging your feet that you're trying to avoid working on some project you don't want to do it I think we've all been there before but maybe your your colleague your co-worker or even your boss might come over and tell you look you need to finish this project stop dragging your feet now let's talk about some verbs that you can use if you're driving or flying you're in the car you're in the plane and well one thing we could say is hitchhike to hitchhike and this means that you get a free ride with someone in in a vehicle so typically you're talking about driving you're you're on the road you're standing on the road you got your thumb out and you are trying to hitchhike to some location and perhaps somebody would stop and pick you up to hitchhike now I think it I don't think it's as common nowadays in some places people might even say it's dangerous but just so you know in case you see somebody doing it on the side of the road they are trying to hitchhike another verb which I think is very common nowadays is carpool to carpool with someone or carpool with others because it refers to traveling by car in a small group either to protect the environment or just to save money perhaps save on using gas and and people will carpool to work or they will carpool to school and they'll ride together in a small group to carpool then we have the verb LeapFrog and this just means to take turns moving ahead of each other so I think you would use this to describe a situation in which you're driving maybe on the interstate one person is passing the other and then they pass you back and then you pass them again and back and forth you go and you could refer to this situation and you are leap frogging each other to Leap Frog and I think this this happens uh when people perhaps are driving on an interstate and you want to pass a car and you go in front and then you're like okay I'm in front now and then next thing you know they pass you they just LeapFrog you and then you want to pass them again that is the situation in which you might use this verb or or hear somebody talking about it to LeapFrog then there's the verb swerve to swerve and you could use this if talking about driving or flying and what it means is it's a sudden change in Direction especially if somebody has been moving in a straight line and then they suddenly change directions and swerve to the left or swerve to the right to swerve and finally we have the verb sore which is really for flying because it just means that you were flying high and you could describe a plane and say that the plane is soaring through the air it is flying high it is soaring now let's talk about some verbs that you could use to describe the way perhaps certain animals might move and as I tell you these verbs I I will well I'll tell you an animal that I think of and just to give you something to associate the word with so you could use the verb Glide to Glide and this just means a continuous motion and what I think of is perhaps a bird Birds might glide through the air or maybe you're talking about like a swan or a duck the way it moves across the water and you could say that it is gliding it is just just a smooth continuous motion now we could also say Slither and this is talking about moving by by sliding and twisting and I almost always I would think of a snake and you would say that the snake slithers that is how snakes move they they twist they slide and they Slither or you could use the word wobble I think of well I think of a penguin because it's talking about like moving you're like going back and forth from side to side and you're walking with uh you're walking in a way that shows that there is poor balance because when Penguins walk they they do they kind of shake and they almost look like they're about to fall over they don't have very good balance and you could then say that they look like they are wobbling they're just wobbling along and that is just that's how they move then we have the verb Gallop which I think is often used to to describe the way a horse moves because it refers to an animal who is running and all four feet are off the ground at the same time they're running the the horse is Galloping and then there is the verb wiggle and I've included this verb because I think you could use it with if you're holding an animal and you're holding the animal and maybe the animal does not want to be held so it's going to start wiggling it's going to move back and forth from side to side up and down and they're just these really small quick movements because maybe the animal is trying to escape perhaps you're holding a puppy and the puppy wants to get down and it just starts wiggling to wiggle now let's talk about some verbs that you can use to well talk about situations so in this case it's not really always going to be a physical movement that you're referring to but we're talking about a situation that you may need to move in one way or another let me give you some examples about what I'm talking about so the first one I have for you is approach to approach and this just means to get nearer and nearer to someone or something now we could use this verb to describe some actual physical distance some situation I could say well hey we are approaching our final destination we are getting nearer and nearer to this destination but you could also use it if there is some problem or situation that you don't know how to solve and you could say something like okay how are we going to approach this issue how are we going to get closer to it and in that case you could use the word approach how are we going to approach this issue how are we going to approach this problem what is our plan what are we going to do because we need to we'll get closer to it in order to solve it or or remedy some situation how are you going to approach this then we have the verb circumvent and what it means to circumvent something is to basically avoid something usually in a clever way you're trying to go around some type of obstacle for example maybe well a situation that all of us have is well we have to pay taxes and perhaps there is some type of tax we we want to avoid we want to we want to get around this and you might try to circumvent the tax law and I could say well we discovered this new way to circumvent the tax laws and and we don't have to pay this tax so if you want to circumvent something you you're just trying to avoid it you're trying to go around it in some clever way and then we have the verb smuggle to smuggle something is to to move something secretly and often I think you're we're talking about something illegal so you might hear it being used in the context of drugs people might smuggle drugs you could also smuggle other people but in either case you're talking about moving something secretly and yes it's often illegal to smuggle next is lag and this just means that well you're making slow progress and it's usually behind some other people so in that case it's quite often that you would follow this verb with the preposition behind to lag behind someone or or you're lagging behind you're making slow progress and well you're behind everyone else you are lagging and then we have the verb spiral which it means that something some situation it's getting worse and worse and it's becoming more difficult to control and quite often you would probably hear that entire phrase and you'd say that some situation it is spiraling out of control that's that's not a good thing you don't want any situation to spiral out of control so I hope this lesson was easy to follow I hope it was easy to understand these verbs by by breaking them into these different categories because that is the way I wanted to approach this lesson that that is how I wanted to approach this situation because the next time that you see someone moving I hope you'll be able to identify that if if you see somebody strutting or maybe you see them staggering or perhaps you see somebody on the road hitchhiking you'll be able to associate that movement with the correct verb so that you can more accurately express your thoughts opinions and ideas as always I would encourage you to listen for these verbs try to identify them if you're reading something or even use them in conversation if you happen to be talking about the way something moves that's all for right now I will see you next --- ## 189. Advanced Vocabulary (slang) that You Should Know for 2023 | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `f7ndk0xhEFk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ndk0xhEFk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:13:10 | --- hello and welcome to another live lesson in which I am going to teach you some Advanced vocabulary for 2023 and you can see down there I said useful slang words and phrases so I want to take a quick moment to tell you well why I chose these words so there were really three things that I was trying to keep in mind I was trying to think of some words that are probably new for you so that you'll learn some new words today I also wanted to keep in mind words that I think are relevant for the upcoming year words that you're likely going to hear if you're listening to well a YouTube video or a podcast or you may even read about some of these words um in online articles and the last thing that I the reason why I chose these words is I also wanted to present words that I think are a little more informal conversational which is why I say some of them may even be considered slang and I will I will talk about about that a little bit as we go through this because I'm from the United States and if I present a word that's slang just be aware it it's probably not used across all English varieties and also I think more likely younger Generations May tend to use those words so just those are the three reasons why I I chose them and as we go through this of course I want you to participate in the lesson I am going to be giving you this in the form of of a mini quiz that way you can write your answers in the chat uh if you know what word I'm talking about or even if you're watching this later just write your write the words in the comments I just love hearing from you and just want to make these lessons uh more interactive so here's the first one and this is this word is a form of psychological abuse in which you trick or control someone by making them believe things that are not true especially by suggesting that they may be mentally ill so this is not a good word it's not word that people are using it in a positive way but I do think this is a word that is more commonly you are becoming more commonly used and I'll talk about the context in just a moment I do want to say a quick hello to Vicky Gustav Svetlana great to have you here Lolly Rafaela Angela Takaya welcome welcome so the word that I'm talking about right now I see somebody gave the correct answer it's a form of psychological abuse you're you're kind of control trying to control someone's emotions by suggesting that they may be mentally ill and yes I see some correct answers the the word that we're looking for is gaslighting now I will say that this is a verb to Gaslight however I'm giving you that ing word so I'm using it either in the continuous tense or as a gerund and I'll read these down here so I've uh as you can see a great way if you want to ever see how a word is used in context just go do a Google search put the words in quotes and then I would click on news and then you see all these news articles either using the word in the headlines or just using it in the article in general and just reading that information Nation gives you a better sense of how the word is used so gaslighting here are the the the headlines that they're using this word the first one says 18 signs of gaslighting and examples of how it plays out in abusive relationships the next one 10 signs of gaslighting and then that final one says stop gaslighting your kids so this is a word that I think I think everybody can relate to in one way or another even though it's not a positive word whether you're talking to somebody who you're in a relationship with or a family member or a friend and we want to maybe control them in some way what other control something that they're they're doing or the way that they think and here are some examples um right here just some phrases that somebody might throw out if they're having a heated discussion or even an argument that could be examples of gaslighting if somebody says oh you're way too emotional um or somebody that next example like oh you're crazy and just imagining things again just suggesting that the other person is mentally ill in some way or that last one you're being too dramatic because I was just joking so these are are sentences that could be examples of gaslighting someone the other context in which I think you may hear this word probably more often this year in 2023 is you you start to hear it more socially and politically people trying to control and manipulate others for example you could say that in the United States when it comes to guns there are people who are always gaslighting and trying to control um the way people think when it comes to that social issue or even education the things that are being taught in the classroom and people might say something that's really provocative and it could be oh they're just they're gaslighting um so again this is a word that you know just listen for this upcoming year it's not a good word but one that I think you will um you will hear so the next uh the next thing that I want to say if I want to give you another example and I just want to make a quick announcement if I were to say oh if you're looking to practice and improve your speaking you're crazy if you don't sign up for my speaking course and that's just a little segue of me gaslighting uh just to let you know that yes if you would like to practice and improve your speaking you can check out my speaking course and up there not on this side up there you can use the code speak20 to get twenty dollars off so this is the course page I'll put a link right there in the chat if you want to check that out find out more information about the course such as the the price the class times there's a lot of information so yeah if you would like to practice and improve your English with me then yeah check that out the next one we're going to just move right in to the next question and this is a word that I think you'll hear this next year as well as subsequent years possibly for quite some time this is a word related to technology and we're talking about the internet considered as an imaginary area Without Limits where people can meet other people in virtual reality all right what would you call that imaginary space and there are actually I was quite a few different definitions for this word and I was trying to come up with one and and research one that I think was a little more accurate um so this is actually a word that there's a there's a very well-known company Lolly because you mentioned it that has now changed their name basically to this word because this is what they are hoping to achieve someday uh excellent Rafaela Eleonora um Manuel Rose Mina so to answer your question because I the first comment I saw was about Facebook and Facebook recently changed their name to meta which is short for the metaverse so I I like if when I do a Google search this is probably the simplest uh explanation for the metaverse if you this is the first time you're hearing this word is a fictional universe and there are video games uh games that have to deal do with the metaverse I've never played any of these games but again just to associate it with something like Roblox and fortnite there are also books that have to do with the metaverse uh so those are some other examples down there but as I mentioned before this is a word you're going to hear this this year and and in the future as well there was a lot of coverage talking about the metaverse in 2022 and it's something that I think people are going to continue talking about because it's really I think it's really kind of toward the beginning stages of developing this virtual reality but it's a good word to know a good technology word to know metaverse then the next word in and I think this one's a little more difficult it's talking about an influencer who gives advice on financial investments and this is something you would find these people on YouTube they start these Financial finance channels talking about stocks real estate and they're giving Financial advice what would you call these people and this is actually uh the word is a portmentu I'll give you that hint and I'll also tell you in just a moment what a port meant to is um so what what would you what would you say uh is this word all right so now I see some like as financial analysis so this is a new word and like I said I think it's probably more slang and that's how I've labeled it but we're talking about a finfluencer so it's a port meant to a port mantu is just when you're talking about the blending of things in this case we're blending two words finance and influencer and we get influencer and I pointed it out down in the bottom probably this is a word that younger people are more likely to use because I think some of these people are more likely to be following and watching these YouTube videos these influencers talking about trading and stocks but the word that you could use for them which is a little more slang thin fluencer all right finfluencer so maybe maybe this is a new one it has not made it into the dictionaries just yet which is why once again I'm classifying it as slang then this is a this is a good word um and I think you've I think many of you have probably heard of this word it's talking about a holiday that you take it home or near your home rather than traveling to another place so you're going to you have vacation you're good you have holiday but you're not going to get on a plane or or get on a train and travel to some other place you're going to stay at home or you're going to stay near home what would you call uh what would you call this there is a word it is also a portmentu all right we're going to follow up on that because we just talked about a finfluencer so what uh what other Port men to would describe this meaning right here uh great job yes Julia Angela um is it not we're talking about a staycation so once again we're blending the word stay and vacation to refer to a situation in which you know you're not going to be working but you're also not going to travel to some other place you're going to stay home and you could tell somebody yeah I'm just going to take a I'm going to take a staycation and just relax a little bit and unwind and then I'm gonna go back to work so it's a it's a staycation so again this is a fun word that has been around for I think well several years now and it's becoming a little bit uh more and more popular all right so if you're just joining us again I'm kind of quizzing you on some new and advanced words for 2023 and they are a little they're more informal and some of them are definitely slang I don't think this one not this one this is a phrase okay I'll tell you it's a phrase referring to a person who does temporary or freelance work especially as an independent contractor engaged on an informal and on-demand basis so you're not hiring this person as an employee you just need some work done from time to time um what would you call this there are a couple of different words that you could use there there's only there's well I'm going to give you one and I want to kind of follow up on that um so what what do you think any guesses as to the phrase that I'm talking about now you could say again two freelance is a verb the noun is somebody who is a freelancer and I think people that um are describing themselves in this way they would probably use the word freelancer that's not the word that I'm about to give you all right so can you think of another word another word that has the same meaning as a freelancer contractor is a little similar okay let me let me show you the answer and um again I want to follow up so we're talking about a gig worker and you could say gig worker I just mentioned I think freelancer is probably more common the reason why I chose this is because I wanted to talk a little bit about the word gig another collocation that you may find with this word is this one right here people talking about the gig economy that is a collocation referring to all of these people that are not necessarily employed by companies as actual employees but really just a bunch of Freelancers here are some companies that would be a part of the gig economy if this is a new collocation for you like uber um anybody can you have a car you could you know sign up and try to start working and giving rides for Uber or if you have a place you could start using Airbnb all right though that would be also a part of the gig economy or Fiverr is a a site where you can find different gig workers or Freelancers to to help you out with different projects so I gig worker gig economy those are a couple of phrases that I think are you're more likely to hear in the future because I think there are more people that are just starting to work for themselves and instead of finding a job at a company they may work on different projects and they're part of the gig economy before a long time ago I would say before the internet if I would hear the word gig as a noun I would think of somebody like playing music somebody in a band and they would say yeah this weekend I have a gig downtown and they're going to work and play music but nowadays the internet has really democratized uh jobs and in this case we have the gig economy full of gig workers the next one that I have for you so this it's another portmanteau okay I'll go ahead and give you that hint the the meaning of this word is to explain something to someone in a way that suggests that they are stupid used especially when a man explains something to a woman that she already understands what would you what what is this word and this is a little I tried to give you this visual right here to to reference what's going on all right I mentioned it's another portmentu what is the word that has this meaning this is a word that has become uh a lot more popular in the last few years so excellent um I can't read the name sorry and then Peter yes so the word that I'm talking about and this is a verb and this is if this is new for you again this is good for building your vocabulary your comprehension I I would never say that okay you're learning these words that you have to go out and use them but again these are words that I think are relevant to the upcoming year and this is one uh that like I said it's become a lot more popular to mansplain so the reason why I think this is become more popular and out there is just part of you know the women's rights the movement uh equality and it's now referencing something that I think has happened for a long time but we're now able to label it kind of to call it out okay this is what's going on uh some guy is talking about something whether it's work related or something else some other topic the woman already knows about it but the guys oh let me explain let me tell you how this is done and you could say they're mansplaining so I added that like she's trying to say look there's no need to mansplain this is something that um even jokingly my wife would say to me like if I'm want to tell her about something that she already knows a bit about it and she could say look just you know stop mansplaining you don't need to mansplain it to me um and and this is what's going on you're it you're explaining something that she already knows I have had people in the the past ask me if it could go the other way like to woman's plane as far as I know I have not heard uh a a verb used like that but this is one that you can keep an eye out for then we have let's see this next one this one is a word that is more relevant to social media and one that I think was used or talked about quite a bit in 2022 and I can imagine that it's also going to be used quite a bit this next year and in the years to follow because I don't think social media is is going away anytime soon so we're talking about to refuse someone an opportunity to make their ideas or beliefs known publicly because you think those beliefs are dangerous or unacceptable what would happen to this person so for example if we're talking about a platform like YouTube If I say something that is incredibly controversial I might worry about YouTube refusing me the opportunity to keep sharing my ideas my thoughts and opinions so they would do this to me what what word can you think about it it has to it's related to cancel culture but it's not the the precise word that I'm thinking about um and I do wow thank you Vicky Gustav's but Lana I really appreciate the the super chat um send it send and send in love in 2023. so I have I haven't haven't seen the word and again I think when I show when I show you this word I think many of you are going oh yes I've heard this before so the word that I'm talking about is 2D platform someone so you're using it as a verb when thinking about social media it's like everybody is given a platform and you have to be responsible I have uh this platform on YouTube right now this channel in which I am using to to teach English but if somebody is very controversial or they're saying things that people think are dangerous then the company May de-platform that person so YouTube could ban someone or Twitter could ban someone or any social media company could ban someone and they are de-platforming that person so a lot of you were kind of talking about other words related to this when mentioning ban or cancel culture censorship it's all part of the same conversation to kind of put a finer point on it I've given you some people here that this last year you could say whether you like them or not they were de-platform because of their ideas because of the stuff that they were saying um I don't if you're unfamiliar with them you have Andrew Tate right there who was recently arrested Kanye West I'm sure you've heard about why he's been in the media a lot lately and of course the guy at the bottom I don't think needs any introduction Donald Trump but yes that was something after the January 6 Insurrection or I think actually after the election and he was talking about all this fraud and stuff he was de-platformed he was taken off of Twitter so again when it comes to social media this is a word that you might hear people talking about if somebody is removed or maybe you want to say oh they should they should de-platform this person because their ideas are dangerous then I have another I have some more for you hopefully hopefully some of these are new and again I'm trying to talk a little bit about the context and explain why I think they're relevant uh for this year as well as in the future so the next one is um this one it's a little it's not slang it's something that I think has been used a lot more in the last five years it's talking about the practice of answering a criticism or difficult question by making a similar criticism uh or asking a different but related question typically starting with the words what about okay that's your big hint down there at the bottom uh this person they it's a way of deflecting and saying like somebody is criticizing um something you said or something you did and you're saying well this is not bad because of this over here and you would start out with saying well what about this or what about when this happened or what about when this person said this thing this um this situation now has a name and people will talk about it and you would probably hear this more often probably in the context of news um covering different people and situations people trying to deflect and they would they would do this and I'm actually I'm a little surprised oh there it is excellent you gotta answer great job uh Paul thank you saving the day so we're talking I'm talking about what about ism so if you want to talk about this situation somebody is doing this you would refer to it as what about ISM there we are excellent Rafaela perfect so uh before I start with this one let me skip over there because this is the last example of what about ISM that I could think about and the headline of this article was FIFA president defends Qatar World Cup by criticizing Europe so I don't know if any of you watched the World Cup or if you saw this interview um it went it was it was pretty bad but this was a textbook example of what about ISM because there were legitimate criticisms about having the World Cup in um Qatar or Qatar I know there people use different pronunciations um criticizing you know the reasons for having it there that it was in Winter the stadiums and the labor that they use the laws the practices and instead of him addressing those he was just he started talking about well Europe and you know oh Europe has a bad history when it comes to the treatment of other people and the wars and he he wasn't answering the question at all but just saying well what about this well what about this or like the U.S has a a terrible history and it's like yeah well that's true but that does not mean that you can't criticize other things that are happening right now so again this is a way of deflecting and if somebody's doing this you could use this word to talk about that situation like oh this is a form of what about ISM now going back to this list right here this is a uh an article that I had found and it was talking about eight examples of what aboutism when people typically use this um talking about these different situations so if you're talking about like Finance uh you there might be a lot of what about ISM human rights which is related to the the FIFA example that I just gave you and it was a a textbook what about ISM uh or talking about performance or politics family disaster risk status quo uh there are a variety of situations in which somebody may do this and I think again it's just getting labeled nowadays people trying to say well what about this what about this and you say well that's just you know what about ism so again good word I think to know for the future uh and again not saying that you necessarily have to go out and like oh you need to use this word right away but really just listen for it because building vocabulary is not just about you using the words in conversation but also your comprehension as well really goes hand in hand the next one um is this right here someone who is extremely rich and Powerful especially a person from Russia who became Rich after the end of the former Soviet Union and you can see I put the Russian flag behind there and this you know after Russia invaded Ukraine this is a word that I think you started reading about or hearing about a lot more in the news and I think we're going to continue hearing about this in uh 2023. so this is a word to describe a person so this is a noun they're very rich and Powerful especially from Russia um and we're talking about somebody who is an what all right seeing some answers so again I think yeah many of you um you've heard this word you've probably read about it uh or heard it if you're watching the news and we're talking about an oligarch so I've given you some examples again just uh so you can see how the word is used in context often you're going to hear it used as the color a collocation a Russian oligarch even though in oligarch it doesn't have to be someone from Russia but typically uh you're often going to hear it in that way so just I'll read these headlines real quickly Russian oligarch seizes 400 000 Acres of Ukrainian farmland reported by The Wall Street Journal or next one Russian oligarchs yacht seized and Sardinia has disappeared from Port Russian Diplomat Indian politician Spar over oligarch's death and the final one Canada moves to seize 26 million from Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich so again this is a word that I think you will continue to hear this year which is why I have included it in this lesson the next one uh this one's a little more difficult I think at least in my opinion because I also would say it's a bit more slang and it's referring to content deemed humiliating on account of a Poster's looks and when I say poster like the content creator the person who's posting content the the posters looks Behavior or talent and the lack of apparent self-awareness about those things so this is a word it's an adjective that you could use to describe it you watch this video and you think it's rather you know humiliating it's embarrassing it's difficult to watch and you could use this word to describe it um again I would say it's a little more maybe I think it's a little more like slang I don't typically use it that much but I see somebody answered it down the comics excellent uh great job Satya rafella yeah we're talking about uh describing something that is cringe so the one thing I want to say which is why I say I think people will use it as slang um because you could also say the adjective cringy often with cringe you would use it as a verb to cringe and the adjective would be oh that's so cringy but nowadays people are using just cringe as the adjective and they're going to use it as a predicate adjective following the verb to be so I gave you this example you watch something online it just doesn't make you feel it's a little awkward and embarrassing to watch and you could say oh that video is just so cringe and you're not using cringy but you're going to use cringe as an adjective and I I added it down there that I think maybe more likely you might hear younger people using this and talking about it and saying something is cringe or it's so cringe then have some more hopefully again obviously you guys got some of that um this is another I think this is a good word uh used to refer or describe the person who has performed better than anybody anyone else especially in a sport it does not have to be in a sport but just somebody who is the absolute best at this activity or this thing or this sport what would you call this person and to give you a little bit of a hint this is an it is a type it's an acronym and you would say this person is the what and I feel like uh you know I think many of you will get this because this is a word that I think um you you definitely hear and I think you keep hearing more and more about it talking about some of these athletes so great job Lolly um such as not Angela Manuel Mina uh Alex Alexander we're talking about goat and you would say someone is the goat you're going to use it with the article the because again in this case you're you're talking about one person you're being specific and to give you some examples of people like we it was I said it's especially used when in sports and referring to the goat um we have Pele there famous footballer or is uh they would say in the United States soccer and again I was debating whether to put Messi in there or Pele I decided to put Pele recently passed away rest in peace um you know three-time World Cup champion amazing career the next one the middle picture Michael Jordan six-time NBA championship Champion uh they would consider him the goat when it comes to basketball and then in the final picture yeah because I'm from the United States I included somebody who's part of American football you have Tom Brady uh famous quarterback there who he continues to play the game the guys like 90 years old and he just keeps playing and you'd say yeah he's the goat so I said this is an acronym technically you would say it's initialism but goat just stands for greatest of all time and you'd say someone is the goat all right excellent I like the Emoji too the goat so uh let me let's let's let's move on to the next one um I think I have a couple more this is a word um that means aware especially of social problems such as race racism and inequality it's a word that I think has been a lot more commonly used in the last few years I think people will continue to use it this year you'll probably hear it a lot if you watch news and I would say you hear this word related to politics but really referring to like social uh especially like a lot of these wedge issues um and you would say somebody is what all right so again I feel like when people really start throwing out the words quickly it makes me think okay yes it's like I said it's pretty common you've heard about it before um excellent Dr Miro uh yagmore Angela um Muna rafella so I'm talking I put those eyes back there again talking about becoming socially aware the word that I'm referring to is woke now one thing I will say about this word is when if I just talk about oh somebody becoming socially aware and you would say oh that's that's a good thing if somebody is woke but just be careful with this word if you're not not necessarily when if you're using it I don't know if you'll find yourself in a position to use it but if you're reading about it or listening to someone else use this sometimes they'll use it in a like negative way and they're basically trying to say that in that context like something's gone too far so it's a word that you may hear people use and in either a positive as a like in a positive way or a negative way so just keep that in mind I put these uh article headlines in there so you could see how it's used in context talking about the US government's woke training so in this case I I think they're using it in a negative way saying that oh the government's going to woke um especially coming from the Wall Street Journal the next one also same way New York Post more conservative newspaper and they're talking about the woke University implosion and what comes next and that's another criticism that people will talk about like oh universities are becoming too well Oak the Chattanooga Times Free Press opinion yes I'm woke and proud of it uh the next one James Cameron learns the hard lesson you're never woke enough I don't know if that's referring to Avatar 2 I have not seen the movie so I don't know and then the final one uh why do anti-woke free thinkers have the same opinions so this is a word that I think it's it's really emotionally charged because people are either using it in a positive way talking about we need to become more woke or others trying to really I I guess say that that things don't gone too far and they're really talking about it in a negative way so again it's a word that you're going to hear a lot about and just you know you'd have to just put that in context is somebody talking about it in a positive way or a negative way um just keep that in mind but again good word for 2023. then we have this word which I think I think this one's going to be tough to guess even though I think you've probably have heard this word before but the meaning is something that's very impressive spectacular awesome there are many different synonyms when it comes to these words right here but this is a word that I think has also become a little bit more slang and because especially in the United States and I would also say you're probably more likely to find younger people using this word I feel like if I use it it may maybe it'll sound a little awkward I don't know I'll try to use it in just a moment and you can tell me if it sounds natural or it's like ah Wes I think you're too old for this word so I told you it'd be tough to guess because there are so many synonyms when talking about something impressive or spectacular or awesome so I will go ahead and tell you the word that I'm talking about and that is epic saying something is epic now I'll point out that this is an adjective I think often before people would use this adjective before the noun and talk about well an epic tale but using it more nowadays like is a little bit of slang people might use it as a predicate adjective following the verb to be like well the waves were epic or his skills are Epic or the trip was epic and you're basically saying that yeah it was amazing it was spectacular and I mentioned down here that a lot of younger people may likely use this word I hope that you find these lessons to be epic and if you do please hit that like button let that's how that's how you can let me know if you think my lessons are epic all right so um again just a fun word that I wanted to include and oh here's a good one um that I think you you would definitely hear this in the United States it's you know has a negative connotation you can see right there an insulting way of referring to someone who is considered by some people to be too easily upset and offended so I'll give you a hint that I think often you may people who are talking about things related to politics might use this word to insult a group of people and they are going to call them what and oh another hint I guess you could say I didn't even I totally forgot that I put it in there just look at the picture all right what is that a picture of and that's your answer right there so excellent um Dr Miro uh Manuel thank you Eleanor the lesson is epic glad I'm glad to hear that uh so we're talking about well Karen's a good one that that would typically again only be talking about a woman if saying somebody's a Karen in this case uh we're talking about a snowflake so and and I said that people might use this more politically and you hear words like like a collocation people say oh these liberal snowflakes like referring to the group of people that they get too easily upset or offended or like in this example right here um this news broadcast is talking about younger people that maybe they're too they get too easily upset and they they have that screen up there it says generation Snowflake and it says the word snowflake has become the norm to describe Generation Z but what does it mean to you so again this could also be an example of like this news channel is just gaslighting and just trying to provoke that emotional response by calling these younger Generations a bunch this younger generation Generation Z just a bunch of snowflakes so again this is a word that you may not necessarily need to go out and use uh and that you're going to need to use in your conversations with people but again it's relevant to this year because if you're watching um the news or reading the news or or listening to others you you may hear people use this word again in a derogatory way to to say that somebody just gets too easily upset they're they're a snowflake so the next one where is it right here okay this again this is slang a person who is silly or not intelligent this is not a word that I use I I feel like I don't know maybe I feel like I'm too old to use this word I told you it's I think it's more slang and I couldn't find an example um I put Homer Simpson in there and I think it will make sense when I tell you the word but of course you can see that this meaning right here a person who's silly not intelligent I think that applies to Homer Simpson hmm excuse me so I'm getting I like some of the answers that uh you guys are putting in their dumb nerd dork okay those are those are great words it's not the one that I'm thinking of uh because once again those I think words are those are more well-known people have been using them um wow okay Rafaela you're very close all right simpleton except we're going to take simpleton and we're going to reduce it to just simp so if you say somebody is a simp it's slang for again somebody who's just not intelligent and I put right down there like simp is short for simpleton so I I don't think even simpleton is not a word that I feel like I've used in a long time it's an insulting word but I feel like younger Generations oh and I forgot to put that down below I meant to add that that younger Generations May more often use this word in talking about somebody in a negative way and say oh there's such a simp or this person's a simp and they're just saying that they're not intelligent a bit silly once again I think Homer Simpson is a great great example uh and you could say he's a simp but you don't want to again it's not a good word um you know to say that to someone of course you guys know that but here again just to give you a little bit of review these are the words that we just talked about in this lesson and I I do think that they are relevant for 20 23. I hope some of these are new for you um helping you build your vocabulary improve your your listening and reading comprehension and perhaps your find yourself in a position that you could even talk about these in conversation if there's somebody who's saying all this crazy things online you're like oh yeah they should get this person should be de-platformed or talking about that happening to someone else or again people using those that situation well what about this well what about this oh yeah that's you know that's what about ISM and of course you're probably if you you're interested in technology you probably see Mark Zuckerberg give interviews talking about the metaverse and how it's coming but other ones again you could you could definitely use goat is a good one that I think is pretty Universal talking about somebody who's the best at something so let me know in the chat if you learn some new words I'd like to I'm I'm curious to know which of these words were new for you but I thought this would be a good way to start out the New Year building your vocabulary talking about some Advanced words that I think are relevant to this upcoming year words that I think you will hear about watching videos listening to podcasts or even reading something online you may come across them so thank you thank you thank you for for joining me um great seeing you takayo um Lolly good to see you again Rafaela Mina violet sorry I need to drink some water just give some few shout outs at the end Christina uh Angela I hope that you have a wonderful day uh Vicky Gustav Svetlana Crystal Jorge Mina okay I should wrap things up um yeah because I need to drink some water I hope you have a wonderful day I wish you all the best in 2023 a lot of cool stuff coming out this year a lot of fun lessons that I'm really excited to share with you guys and I will see you very soon oh Frank too uh --- ## 190. Advanced Vocabulary (slang) that You Should Know for 2024 | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `sTelk0ROFNE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTelk0ROFNE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:06:19 | --- Let's learn some new English words. And I I say new because these are words that have been added to the dictionary this year, but I I think some of them you may be familiar with and others you won't be because they they are considered slang. I'll be perfectly honest, some of these words I did not even know. And that is why I said this is advanced vocabulary for 2024. So these as I just mentioned are words that were recently added to dictionary.com. Now of course there are many different online dictionaries. In some you will find certain words and phrases that you may not find in others. So specifically these are ones that have been added to dictionary.com. I am going to quiz you. So I want you to participate in the lesson. Write your answers in the chat or even in the comments because again this is interactive English. I want you to participate and make this really an active learning exercise. Let's go ahead and start with our first question right here. And as we go through this, I'm I'm going to start out a little easier or at least I think I am because I'm going to give you one word that's part of this phrase and I'm giving you the meaning as well. So for this one, this noun phrase is the practice of spending many hours in bed during the day, often with snacks or an electronic device, as a voluntary retreat from activity or stress. And I I will say this is one that I was not really familiar with before I put this lesson together, but I I think it's more common among younger generations as far as trying to alleviate stress. You've had a busy day or you feel frustrated. So, you're going to engage in this activity in which you're just sitting in bed with your phone or whatever it is trying to unwind. And you might call this bed. So, I'll give you a moment to think about it, see some answers. If I see an answer in the chat, I'll I'll let you know. Uh you guys are close thinking about what what would happen. Uh, but the answer is bedrotting. So, bedrotting is this idea, this practice. I I imagine it's some it's something I've I've done. I didn't know what it was called, but I'm going to spend some time in bed with my phone. Maybe I I don't really eat um I don't really eat any food in bed, but maybe that's just me. But that that's what this is called. It it is the idea of bed rotting. to give you some examples because again I don't don't want you to think I'm just making this all up. Um here are some news headlines using this phrase. So is bedrotting good or bad for your sleep. What is bedrotting? Gen Z's newest self-care trend explained. I told you I think it's a kind of a new thing among younger generations. And the final one, what is bedrotting rotting and is the Tik Tok trend even good for you? I I think that's something I also came across that it became more popularized on Tik Tok and it's kind of taken off from there. This idea of bedrotting. Something fun that I like to do when I come across new words and phrases. I would encourage you to do the same is you could put it into Google and look at images and see what comes up. It's good to get a I'm a visual learner, so I think this helps. This is what came up when I put in bedrotting. Now, it seems like the activity is supposed to be viewed as a positive, like to unwind and relax, but just looking at some of these images, it doesn't look like it may be a very healthy thing to do, just the the images that they're portraying when they show bed rotting. But now you know what this activity is called. This next one is for all of you. If you happen to drive an electric vehicle, perhaps you may know this phrase. Again, it's one that I was not familiar with before putting this lesson together. I think it makes sense. And perhaps even if you don't know it, you can maybe piece it together. M anxiety. And this is the apprehension or fear that an electronic an electric vehicle's battery will run out of power before reaching one's intended destination or a charging station. So often the the word that's missing is a word that I think is associated with electric vehicles when talking about the distance that they can travel. So this this really makes sense. If you have an electric vehicle, you want to get from point A to point B or or to some other charging station and you don't know if you're going to make it and you feel like you have m anxiety. I again I think that that makes sense, power anxiety, but that is not the the phrase that we're looking for. The one that was added recently to the the the dictionary we're talking about. I I mentioned this is a word that you might use when talking about electric vehicles. And you might say, okay, what is what is the range? If if the battery is fully charged, what is the range that I that I can go the distance that you can travel? And therefore, we're talking about having range anxiety, that fear that you do not have enough power to get to the next charging station or reach your final destination. and you're driving in the car and maybe you just you're starting to get a little range anxiety. Am I going to make it or is the is the car just gonna to die right there on the side of the road? Again, these are these are new words. I I tried to choose some that I think are somewhat relevant that may continue to be used in the future and may even gain in popularity. So, I I keep that in mind. I've tried to choose ones that I think are more relevant. This is one I chose because uh well for any um dog lover out there um this is a M cough. It's a highly contagious but usually mild respiratory infection in dogs characterized by a dry hacking or gagging cough and caused by a number of bacteria um and viruses. And again, this is not one that I' I'm familiar with. Um, my family had a dog uh a long time ago, but uh not one recently, and you may refer to as m cough. The word that is missing is a word that I I will explain and talk about, but it's a word that I think is a um if if somebody owns a dog, it's more relevant. You may use it, you may hear it. Uh, it's not. That's a good guess. Not canine cough. Uh, that's a good guess. We're We're talking about this. It's contagious. So, where might a dog be that they're exposed to other dogs and therefore something is very contagious and that's when they might pick up the that's where they might pick up this cough. It's a little bit of a hint, but in case you're wondering, the place where a dog might be is a kennel. So, it's referred to as kennel cough. Now, just that word alone, a kennel is a place that uh they they may do several things. You could bring your dog there for boarding. If you're going to go on vacation and there's no one to look after your dog and you can't bring your dog on vacation, you may bring your dog there for training. And this is it's a place that when um when I was younger, we had a dog. If our little dog, nobody could take care of it, we couldn't travel with her. We brought her to this kennel and she might stay there for a week. They had a space and they would feed her, take her out. There was also um a vet that was attached to the kennel. So other people might bring the dog there just to or their cat to go to the vet. But yes, you would say it is a kennel cough. So, for anybody who uh owns a dog out there, this may be a good phrase to keep in mind. Here's the next one. I'm I'm trying to make it a little more challenging because now I'm I'm giving you one letter. I'm giving you the first letter of the word. I I know that those those first uh few were a little challenging. Um so now, actually, it's getting more difficult. So, hopefully you can put this together. This is referring to a rise in prices, rents or the like that is not due to market pressure or any other factor organic to the economy, but it is caused by corporate executives or boards or directors, owners properties, etc. solely to increased profits that are already healthy or excessive. I gave you that image, that picture there of Scrooge McDuck swimming around in uh his money to as a little bit of a hint. So, when you think of Scrooge McDuck, what is a word that that comes to mind, an adjective, and then you could put it together with this meaning as far as an increase in prices, uh, and and you're combining it with this other word, uh, it's a portmanto, which would describe Scrooge McDuck. And I think this is a one that I I had heard about this before. I had read about it um in news articles and I think some uh you of you as well. I see the answers. Excellent. Manuel Talog, we're talking about uh Angela, good job. English fluency, greedflation. So, we have the words, you know, greed and inflation. We put them together and you could describe greedflation in which companies may be continuing to raise their prices not because they need to. It's almost like they're using inflation and they're just to make more money, to make some extra money. And it I think when this happens, companies will then blame inflation and they'll say, "Oh, it's because of inflation. We're raising prices." And really in the end, it's just to increase uh their profits. to give you an example and this is u when when I had uh uh heard about this or because I had heard about this talking about uh McDonald's not specifically this article but McDonald's has been accused of greedflation so for for example McDonald's revenue shoots up to 6.69 billion thanks to strategic menu price increases after chain was accused of greedflation. So if you follow any news related to the economy, especially nowadays where there there is inflation, you may certainly hear this noun and come across it. Greedflation. Good one. Good one to keep in mind. Here's another one that's uh more of a pop culture word that has been added. I'm giving you maybe a little bit of a hint. It is a proper noun. starts with B. An aesthetic or style featuring playful pink outfits, accessories, decor. This is another one that I was not really familiar with. Uh, I I I don't want to give it away, but I think the pink and talking about a proper noun, what do you think of something that uh was very popular? I I think even now, but especially last year with the release of a new movie. And I probably now I'm giving you hints. movie, pink, a capital B, and you're probably thinking of Barbie. All right, excellent. Uh, all right. You're on the You're on the right track. That That is not the Barbie, yes, is the the the movie, the toy, but the word is actually called Barbie. And again, I had no idea, but this idea of these pink uh playful pink outfits, I I think because of the movie, you could say, "Oh, Barbie core. Barbie core is a new thing. This is an example of famous celebrities who I guess are engaging in Barbie core and wearing these these pink outfits." So, I think many of you got the Barbie aspect of that. uh pelagoya vidia Julia. But as far as this noun uh the one that was added to the dictionary, barb again, it's a proper noun. I had to check that because I want to make sure. So if you are going to use it or you see this, it's a capital B. I've never seen these words. Yes, some many of them. So far, the only one that I knew before was greedflation. So, the next one, this is another one that I did not know. My wife was making fun of me because I had not heard about this. And I think it shows you that I just I'm not one who stays on top of fashion or I I don't do uh a lot of shopping um in clothing stores. But I was actually surprised when I started looking into it. I was seeing this word all over the place. We're talking about a jacket in the style of a button-down shirt made of a thicker fabric and usually worn over other shirts. What would you call this clothing, I guess? And I I'll give you a hint. It's another portmanto. It starts with the letter S. And this one maybe perhaps you can can piece it together. What do you think you would call this? A what? You're talking about two different things, a shirt and a jacket, and we put them together and you get a jacket. Again, I I had never heard about this, but when I started looking into it and just going online, if you were to look at H&M or Zara, um any clothing store, they have a section with jackets. And this is an example of Amazon. I did a search and you see these um uh jean jackets for women fashion oversized button-d down denim jacket uh western fall shacket jacket or this women's fashion crop shacket button and you just the list would go on and on with these different uh advertisement or promotions for these shets. And again, my wife was making fun of me cuz it seems like it's a a popular thing or a common thing that if you shop or looking for different clothes, uh you may come across a shet. Nice. All right. Saw some good answers. Good. Um uh Ravi unleash. So it seems like some of you you're familiar with this. Uh you're you're more on top of it than I am. Now, maybe this is a little more challenging. I'm just giving you the meaning and I want you to complete the the this is a phrase. Don't overthink this one. This is the study of fire with specific disciplines that include the composition of fire, acceleration and suppression of fire, prevention of fire, control of wildfires and fire related consequences of climate change. There there are two words and I'll go ahead and tell you one of them is fire. So I I said don't overthink it when you're talking uh the key word in there the the study of fire. So, the study of something you might refer to it as fire. What? And yeah, I if this was added to the dictionary in to dictionary.com this year, we're talking about the study of fire. And even if you didn't know, maybe you could kind of piece it together. The study of something would be the science. Fire science. Nice job, English fluency. So, fire science, it would just be the study of fire in all of these different forms. This is a phrase that was added to the dictionary. I like that. Fireology. Maybe that could also that that may also work. But nice job. Um, who else? Julia Angela Lai. Excellent. Fire science. Here is a word and this is slang, but again, it was added to the dictionary this year, dictionary.com. It's the shortening of the word delusional and it's used in a specific context which I will explain but I think probably you could maybe put it together. You're shortening the word delusional and you are going to describe someone as being what in in using this word I think it's more used in the context of pop culture and especially music and you could say oh these people are what we're taking delusional we're shortening it to this slang term which has become I more and more popular because again it was just added to the dictionary. Uh in case you're wondering, the answer is dulu. So dulu is a slang uh is a slang shortening of the word delusional. Well done uh Miranda Julia uh Ravi. So here's the the this is the information that they gave that they provide in dictionary.com. I'm not going to read all of it. I said um it's but it's especially used to describe super fans or dating partners who display extreme or odd behavior. I I think this kind of started with like these super fans in K-pop that they would they were so obsessed and they would have this really extreme behavior and people started using this term dulu. So dulu is used as an exaggerated synonym for delusional especially online. And the slang dulu is often used to describe people who act strangely or obsessively because of a perceived delusional mindset in uh it's generally used to describe obsessed fans or dating partners who act erratically. So you could describe these erratic people if they're so obsessed as wow these people are dulu. Most of the time it says uh it's used as an adjective, but it does seem like you could use it as a noun as well. They gave that example sentence at the very end. Some dulus were waiting outside his dressing room. One to keep in mind, personally, again, I think many of these words were they were new for me, but they're new for you as well. Keep in mind, many of them are slang, so you're not going to probably you're going to hear these more often in spoken English. You may not see them as much in writing, uh, except if you're reading maybe a news article about the word. So, most of the time you're going to hear this in spoken English, being used in spoken English. So this is a word again I believe it's slang referring to um mediocre unimpressive or disappointing that is the meaning again it would it's an adjective so you would say that something is it's mediocre it's unimpressive it's disappointing it's what it's a very short word and this is one that I had I I've heard before. I have not used it. I don't I don't use many of these words. Probably the only one that I probably have used is uh that we've talked about so far is greedflation. But if something is mediocre, unimpressive, or disappointing, you may say that it is mid. Mid mediocre, unimpressive, disappointing, mid. I like the answer. Meh. That's also uh that that's also another um I guess word. It's kind of uh considered just like a like a h like meh. I don't know. What do you think about it? It was okay. It's meh. So that that would work as well. I like that. But in this case, MIDI was the is the word that uh has been added to the dictionary this year. Here to give you some examples. This time I I if you want to see slang words in a written form, an informal casual, you could check out Twitter or in this case X. And I went on there, put in the word mid, took some screenshots of people using it. So this person that first person says the problem with um getting good at cooking is that uh you recognize how mid most standard restaurants are and can then only enjoy dinners and super select at uh and super selective places. So talking about you become good at cooking and then you realize well these other restaurants they're just mid. Or this person says, "Calling Anna Dearmmas, who's an actress, mid is crazy in response to somebody saying Anna Dearmmas is uh synonyms to mid." And then finally that bottom one, fivestar team performance and Muduk is still looking mid. So in each of these tweets or I don't know what you would call them now on X someone is using this and that is again you could use these in writing informally like that or you may see them written in song lyrics but in general for any type of professional writing whatsoever I would not encourage you to use any of these words. This is a food one and it's kind of near and dear to my heart, so I wanted to include it in there. It was added to dictionary.com. This is a colorless, clear, distilled alcoholic beverage from Korea, often made from a mixture of rice and other starches such as sweet potatoes, wheat, barley, tapioca, etc. I say this is close to my heart. I used to live and teach in South Korea. And this is a this is an alcoholic drink that I am familiar with, but I I not sure what the criteria is for adding words one year and not another year. Of course, this has been around in Korea for a long time, but it was added to dictionary.com this year. If you are, if you've traveled to Korea or maybe you enjoy Korean food and you go out to Korean restaurants, this uh is a beverage that you will see on the menu. And of course, if you travel to Korea, you're you may get offered to some of this th those green bottles right there. And we're talking about I figured many of you would probably get this uh Soju. We're talking about Soju. Great job, Lai Angela. Uh, English fluency. And I honest personally, I've had it on many occasions, especially when I was living there. It's not my favorite drink in the world, but it is very common in South Korea. Soju. This is one that I heard of before. It's I I was surprised that it was added. I think this word I'd been using it over the years. And this is the practice of purchasing an airline ticket for a flight with a layover at one's cruise destination, getting off at the at the layover point and skipping the last leg of a flight. So if you fly often, perhaps you've come across this word. Let let me explain it. It's almost like if I am traveling from New York City to Denver and I look at flights New York to Denver and it's really expensive. But then I find a flight to Los Angeles, it connects through Denver, so it goes New York, Denver, Los Angeles, and it's a much cheaper flight. I really don't know how this happens and the these airlines and the way they price things, but I think, well, this is a cheaper flight. I'm going to purchase this flight. Once we uh arrive in Denver, I'm just going to get off and uh then the plane's going to go on to Los Angeles without me. This is something that airlines don't like. They I feel like they try to even charge people or punish people for doing this. But this is the this practice has a name and in again if you travel a lot you may come across it. You may read about it um in the news because it is something that airlines I think are trying to crack down on. They're trying to crack down on this and stop people from engaging in this practice, which if you're not familiar with it is, good job, English fluency, Angela, skip lagging. So skip lagging is this practice of just getting off at the the layover destination, which is your final destination, and not going on. And and you do this in order to save money. to give you some examples. Again, if you put this into Google, there are a a variety of ways that you can see how it's used in context. I I mentioned showing some images if you're a visual learner and to see how it's used. In this case, I put it and then just put some videos. There are videos talking about skip lagging. So, these are some video titles. Skip lagging. Great way to save money or illegal booking. Uh the next title, clever but risky. What to know about skip lagging? Travelers turn to skip lagging to save money on flights. And then the final one, why airlines hate skip lagging. So this idea of skip lagging. You're getting off at the layover point instead of uh what the tickets final destination says. And again, if you fly a lot, this is a word that yeah, you may come across. And then finally, another phrase that I feel like I've heard before, but again, this was recently added to dictionary.com. Refers to cash reserves, liquid assets, or easily liquidated assets such as stocks and bonds held by a corporation or an individual in order to cover current or future obligations, make new purchases, or take advantage of unforeseen opportunities. the image in the back. I tried to give you a little bit of a hint. I'm not sure if you're really going to be able to make out what that picture is, but if you can, that's uh well, it's part of the word, but if we're it's really just referring to money that is liquid that you can use however you want. So, if you follow um finance and some of these TV shows or programs that will talk about stocks and investing, then this is a phrase that you may come across uh if you're reading the news or or watching any of those programs. In the that picture in the back, in case you were wondering, it does. I I kind of zoomed in so it probably looks a little weird. Uh but it is a picture of powder. So powder is part of this phrase. And if you're talking about cash reserves, you would say that you really need to have some dry powder. It's important to keep some dry powder uh in case you need it for some type of emergency and you need to make sure that you you always have some dry powder or um and and in that case again they're just referring to cash reserves mostly. You may hear this phrase being used in that context of investing or people who talk about money or finance. So, it's a phrase that I think is more specific to that that topic. Again, I just want to show you some of the a lot of them were new for me. I I said they're advanced and because some of it's slang, you these are not words and phrases that you're just going to go out and use every day or you're going to hear them being used. But I again I tried to choose ones that I think because of the meaning they may have a bit of longevity as far as their usage is concerned and you may hear them more often. Like for example I think people are just going to continue using electric vehicles more and more. They're going to become more popular. So this idea of range anxiety I think is always going to be around. Um or again if you have a dog talking about kennel cough of course soju I don't think is going anywhere if you travel to Korea and I think investing is something that's important if you if you have some money you want to invest it you want to try to use it to make more money and in that case if you're going to read uh some news you may come across that phrase dry powder and if you're into fashion then maybe yeah you've probably have heard the word shacket I am not somebody who is into fashion. So, uh that that was new for me. If you I'm kind of curious because again, I always like to quiz you and see how well you did. I feel like before putting together this lesson, if I were to take this quiz, I don't think I would have done very well. But I want you to tell me how did you do on the quiz? And I I don't I'd be very impressed if you got all of them. I'll say I got most of them correct. Uh is one um I knew about half of them. And the third option I'll give you I knew about as much as Wes which would then be uh that that you knew very little that most of these were new and you you didn't do very well on the quiz which before putting this lesson together that's the category that um I would have fallen into. But it's always good to build your vocabulary in different ways. And in this case, we're talking about words that are are new. They've become popular in some way, shape, or form. And because of that, they're added to the dictionary. And we'll see if their usage continues over time. But because we're in 2024 right now, these words are relevant and you could try to listen for them and see if you come across them in the future. So, um, only one word. Uh yeah, I I I'm the same way. I feel like before this I had only heard of a handful of them being used. I knew greedflation, but I'd heard words like mid. I Oh, I knew soju, of course, uh and skip lagging, but uh I I've heard words like mid and dulu being used. Uh and some of the other ones were were definitely new. So, let me know how you did in the comments. I always love hearing from you. If you enjoyed this lesson and you learned something new, please hit that like button. It tells me that, okay, I should do more of these lessons in the future. Teach you vocabulary that is not as common. It's a bit more informal, but again, it's it's just good to to continue building your vocabulary in different ways and also have a little more have a little fun while learning the language as well. So, it seems like most of you are like me that yeah, you weren't familiar with many of these words, but that's okay. I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day and I will see --- ## 191. Advanced Vocabulary About the Housing Crisis | Read & Put Words in Context | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Y51AiUfBmDc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y51AiUfBmDc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:25:31 | --- hey everyone welcome to another interactive english live lesson my name is wes and if this is your first time here please write to me in the chat write to me in the comments i love hearing from new people but what this channel is all about just just about helping people practice and improve their english skills and today's lesson is related to both reading vocabulary and a little bit of current events so we're doing this a little bit of a different style with some of these lessons so the way that this is going to work today is that i've chosen a topic which is housing and we're going to look at different articles that are online news articles which i will leave links down in the description and we're going to look at those and try to understand the topic a little better and then identify certain vocabulary words to that will help you better understand this topic if you want to continue reading about it or perhaps you're listening to the news and you hear these words being used so it's really going to help improve your comprehension in that way so right here we have i have my vocabulary list which we will be going through and i will put the meaning of these words down and i'll write them down and i will include these also down in the description below uh we have the website which we are going to be reading some of these articles um so that's the way that this lesson is going to work and i just first want to thank you guys for joining me today good to see so many familiar faces lolly sleepwalker angela alex um learning with tiktik hi how are you guys i hope that you are having a wonderful weekend so the topic that i want to discuss today is about housing now it's not something i'm going we're going to look at housing as a result of things that are happening because of the covid19 virus and the effects that it's having economically and what's that doing so this is not going to be it's information that's very important it's stuff that you may hear people talking about on the news in your country because it's affecting everyone but it's not something that's overly it's not very positive but it is something that's important and i think we need to discuss it so all of these articles are related to housing connected to what's going on with the virus and the economy and how this is affecting certain people so let's go ahead and begin with our first article all right and the name of that article is uh it's the next pandemic threat to the economy a wave of evictions so i'm gonna read through the article and then we'll go back and look at some of the words we're not going to read the whole thing but just kind of uh just the beginning the first part and then we'll look at some of the vocabulary words that will help you better understand what this article is all about um a wave of evictions and that is a word that we will come back to so let's look down here again i told you these are all articles this is current events these are articles from the past couple of weeks so it says the first of the month had come and gone and now in early july the man with the clipboard arrived at the apartments on north hopkins street a plane two-story brick building where grass and weeds grow scraggly along the street and broken furniture lies abandoned around the dumpster outback the tenants he was to figure the tenants to tenants he was a figure of doom on the second floor he stuck a folded eviction notice in the door of apartment 14. her worries are increasingly shared by runners across the nation for several months during the coronavirus pandemic a combination of tenet grint grit landlord landlord forbearance and federal aid has helped people stay in their homes state and local bans on evictions have in many cases offered new reprieve now those eviction bans are phasing out along with key government support for unemployed workers with the economy far from recovered some of the steepest declines in income have been faced by low-income renters like miss appling by some estimates the united states could see more than 11 million households evicted in the next month so again this is an article about something that's happening in the united states but i think this is happening around the world as well so i want to look at the first word um right there it's kind of in the title it's talking about the new wave of eviction and what that word means so if you're talking about um where is it let's go talk about these two words right here a tenant when it was saying that the tenants are worried about this man with the clipboard a tenant is just a person who lives um typically their their renting rents um a place to live such such as an apartment so most of the time when people talk about tenants i think they're referring to people who are renting in a in an apartment building and you just call those people the tenants an eviction notice um they talked about those where somebody gets an eviction notice eviction is when people are forced to leave the uh apartment all right and in this case they're talking about people being forced to leave because they're not able to pay their rent because uh due to the pandemic people have lost their job and therefore they're not making any money they're not able to pay some bills so they're they're worried about this and they could get evicted from the apartment so you can use this an eviction would be a noun to get evicted um would be well it's a participle adjective and the meaning is the same where you are forced to leave and you have to leave and then the other one the the landlord um so the tenant is the person who rents the place the landlord is the person who owns um the property where a tenant lives so the tenant would rent the apartment and they each month they would pay the landlord all right so let's see okay so each month they would pay this landlord and therefore that those are that's their relationship you have the tenant and then you have the landlord now i want to continue on because basically right here it was saying um that so far after this people had gotten wait a second uh keep gotta switch back through many of these all right let's go back to the site so people that their worries are increasing her worries are increasing um shared by renters across the nation for several months during the coronavirus pandemic uh a combination of tenant grit landlord forbearance and federal aid has helped people stay in their home so basically you've had this situation hit and part of the reason they've been able to stay in them is landlord forbearance so the landlord is the person you pay forbearance uh which is the other word that i wanted to talk to you guys about so let's go back over to our vocabulary list um where is it so forbearance is when you um you do not have to pay uh for something or the payment is delayed so when you have forbearance it's often talking about money and because of some situation you don't have to pay then you can pay later and they say we'll give you forbearance another example i think in the united states it's very common that people have student loans so for example people have student loans and um therefore they they might get forbearance right now and that means they don't have to pay um they don't have to pay right now the money for the student loan they're getting forbearance and they don't have to pay at this point so again a couple more that i want to talk about ban and reprieve so let's go over back to the website and find those words um okay so it says now those eviction bans are phasing out uh which means if something is phasing out it's going away and a ban is just talking about you can't do it so when this happened basically the landlords were told you cannot evict anybody there is a ban you cannot evict anybody but that's going away so they're phasing that out and people are really worried about that because they say where is it um i wonder look at that number some of the stupid declines uh have been fading and these people may get evicted this is saying that they offered these people some reprieve let's look at those words that i want to talk about uh right here boom okay so a ban is when you are not allowed to do something so in this case they banned landlords from evicting the tenants and this for the tenants this was a reprieve a reprieve is talking about help or assistance to make a situation i'd say easier or easier easier to deal with easier to handle so you have this difficult situation as a tenant and they give you this there was this uh forbearance they didn't have to pay and that was a reprieve all right so these are good words that um i think that you can use that you will hear if you're talking about if you're reading an article about housing um when talking about eviction landlord forbearance these are words that may you may come across if you're reading uh some other articles so let me let's look at another article right here and then we are we're going to end on a positive note i promise you all right and the next article titled right here again it's uh this is more this is outside of the united states but something that's happening um around the world all right uh i probably i i i'm sorry i'm not able to get into the chat as much and look at some of the the comments and stuff uh i have removed some people like because uh they're just not here to learn so i am looking at it in that regard and just getting those people out of here uh because this again it's all about learning english that is why you guys are here so let's look at the next article um which is titled wait a second let me go over here uh one billion people fear losing uh their home according to a new poll so a lot of people because of this are worried about losing their home uh or maybe they're renting they're worried about evictions like we just talked about so again i'm going to read some of it and then we'll go back and look at a few words and identify their meaning which i hope will help with your comprehension so let's look it says i'm going to start with almost almost 1 billion people around the world fear losing their home or land within five years with owners and tenants and burkina faso fossau and the philippines the most concerned a survey of 140 nations showed on wednesday about one in five adults 19 worry that their housing fields and other land could be taken away from them in the near future hampering their ability to invest or plan according to the prindex global poverty rights index i'm going to move down land and housing insecurity is a huge issue hiding in plain sight said malcolm childress executive director of the global land alliance a washington-based think tank that compiles the index with the british overseas development institute ten-year security is important for individual decision making and has knock-on effects on what people do with their assets whether they send their kids to school or invest in better crops he told the thomas routers foundation a lack of formal documentation and poor implementation of land laws threatened tenure in many countries experts say with more than 5 billion people lacking proof of ownership according to the lima based institute for liberty and democracy people in the philippines in bukkina burkina faso um reported the highest levels of concern with nearly half the respondents 48 to 44 percent fear the um fearing their homes could be taken away that compared with singapore and rwanda which had the lowest rate of concern in the same two regions with four percent and eight percent respectively it's not surprising giving the unrest both burkina and the philippines that expressed levels of insecurity are rising said carol bordeaux chief program officer of land rights charity land sea violent conflict displaces many people and those left as well as powerful actors take advantage to seize properties she said in email comments so this is again i will leave a link to these articles down below this is one talking about a concern happening um all around the world specifically in those two uh countries uh burkina faso and the philippines that are concerned with um this situation of losing their land so the where is it um right here so the vocabulary words that i want to talk to you were about hamper to hamper something tenure land rights and seas so in the article let's look at where's that first one um hamper all right so if we go back to the article it's talking about uh people are they fear losing their homes and land within five years they're talking about owners and tenants we just talked about tenants like people that would be renting um and they feel that their land is taken away that that might hamper their ability to plan or invest so if you if you're talking about hampering something it's refers to let's go over here and we'll write that down to hamper means to i'd say to make it more difficult for something to happen or occur i'm giving you my definition pretty much off the top of my head i typically i will use cambridge online dictionary if i want to look up one of these words which i would encourage you to do as well but to hamper something it means you're making it more difficult for somebody to have the ability to do something and you might hamper their ability often you might follow it you might use that as a collocation to hamper the ability of someone if we're talking about tenure um all right just to kind of show you guys we can go back to um the website because i do i always leave cambridge open here uh and i do this is probably my website of choice tenure and i throw that in there it's easy to look up the meaning of these words it says being the legal owner of land a job or an official public position of a period of time of which you own it so in this case we're talking about land so it's like being the legal owner of land and they're talking about somebody's tenure so uh i'll go back over here to our vocabulary document and target tenure the legal um ownership of land all right and i think they're talking more referring to like the period of time all right that this is uh able to happen land rights it says this was um definitely a concern with land rights and when you're talking about land rights it's basically talking about um land ownership all right land rights and you may hear the one the reason why i identified this one because you may hear people talk about land rights who is the owner of the land or water rights who is the owner of this river or this lake who owns this property now don't confuse that with the other meaning of rights if people talk about women's rights because that refers to right in that sense is talking about some sense of social equality that you want equality you want things to be fair so when you talk about women's rights or the rights of a certain group of people the rights of minorities they're talking in that case they're talking about social equality but in this case land rights water rights it refers to ownership and at the end of the article they said they're worried about this the property being seized and to seize something means to take something by force all right when property is seized um i'm going to whoop sorry i'll remove this down here when property is seized it means that somebody is taking it by force they're just taking it from somebody and they seize the property all right so this is again another article i'll link it down below but it refers to the situation that's happening at this time now let's look at the i have one more article for you all right the last article and i wanted to end on a more positive note all right because even in times when people are you know having experiencing difficult situations they're having trouble i often like to think others try to step up and work hard to make things better so i wanted to highlight an organization that i have worked with in the past and there was an article about them written right here so let's look at this article it's talking about uh boom habitat for humanity joined by major partners to launch homes communities hope plus you a global campaign to help communities build back from covid19 and this is what i want to talk about habitat for humanity so let's look at the article and again i'm going gonna try and um boom let me zoom in for you uh to hopefully make it a little easier to see okay i'll read some of it we're just gonna read a little bit of it and then uh we'll pick out some words and go over the the vocabulary so it says as people around the world continue to grapple with the public health crisis and the economic impact of kova 19 the importance of a safe and decent place to call home has rarely been more pronounced all right down here since 1976 habitat for humanity has helped families around the world secure safe affordable and decent housing build community and forge a path toward greater stability now in challenging times habitat is confronting the global housing need that has grown exponentially over the past months through its first of its kind homes communities hope plus you global campaign um the multi the multi-million dollar campaign led by atlanta-based habitat for humanity international and executed by hundreds and of federated habitat organizations across the united states and around the world will raise funds to address housing issues that have been exposed and exacerbated by the covid 19 pandemic the housing crisis is not new but the economic fallout caused by the covid19 pandemic has made it much worse jonathan reckford ceo of habitat for humanity international millions of people in unhealthy and overcrowded living conditions are more susceptible to the virus and millions of others are now facing impossible decisions between paying their housing or keeping food on the table we know the impacts of coven 19 are being felt most by those who can afford it least we know the disparate impact the pandemic has on communities of color communities already suffering as a result of systematic systemic racism that has often too often played out in housing policy homes communica uh communities hope you plus will enable habitat can continue critical work that you uh that we do best enabling families and communities to become stronger through safe affordable and decent housing so again this is a good organization i've worked with them in the past therefore i did i wanted to highlight it so let's go back and look at um some of the vocabulary words from the very beginning and it's talking about people around the world uh i want to highlight these first two they're trying it says can the world continue to grapple with the public health crisis so grapple they're trying to grapple with this crisis um which means that they're trying to they're dealing with it as best as they can so when you are grappling with something you're trying to handle or manage it and you're usually talking about a situation that is difficult that is challenging and you're you're trying to make the best out of this bad situation and you're trying to grapple with it and it says that the importance of safe and decent pla the importance of a safe and decent place to call home has rarely been more pronounced i want to talk about this word because if you say that something is pronounced it means that it is it is very important at this point it is it's very important that we need to acknowledge it because typically when people think about pronouncing something like they think of pronunciation the way you speak the way you say certain words or phrases but if you say something is pronounced it means that it is definitely noticeable it's easy to see that something is pronounced and typically in this case they're talking about a big problem so i want to go over here because just to make sure perhaps there's a little easier meaning to grapple with to grapple with something um yeah so it means to hold on um to hold on to someone and fight with them in this case um try and think if they gave another mean because you could grapple with like something that kind of is talking about physically you're grappling with somebody in this case they're talking about grappling with a problem in which case again i'll go back to my meaning of you're trying to deal with you're trying to fight this situation and deal with it the best way that you can so let's go over here uh sorry i got all these windows open today which is why uh it's so to grapple with something um is to to deal uh to handle something um something or fight against something in the best way that one can all right so you're trying to fight with it in the best way that you can it's a bad situation and they're trying to grapple with this situation again i said something uh if we're talking about something that is pronounced again if something is more pronounced it is easily seen or noticed and in this case they're talking about this housing problem it's very pronounced it's very easy to see it's very easy to notice so let's look at the next two funds and exacerbated um if we go back over to our site and the article down here um where is it those two words okay so habitat free humanity um what they're trying to do is they will try to raise funds to address housing issues that have been exposed and exacerbated by the covid19 pandemic if they're raising funds and often businesses will do this you talk about this is an organization they will raise funds funds is talking about money you want to raise funds you want to raise money and the issues have been exposed and exacerbated if you say that something is exacerbated you're talking about making it worse so let's add those two words to the list um funds and exacerbated so they're trying again in the article said habitats trying to raise funds they're trying to raise money and if something this situation has been exacerbated it's talking about um a situation that has become worse all right something is getting worse and worse you could you could say that it is exacerbated it has exacerbated this situation it's getting worse it's become worse um the next letter is fallout susceptible disparate let's go back over to our article and find where those words are so i said right here it said millions of people in an unhealthy and overcrowded living conditions are more susceptible to the virus all right so if somebody is susceptible to something it means they can easily get it so they are more susceptible to getting the virus but also to feeling the effects of the virus because oh i missed that first part it said the economic fallout if we're talking in this case you might hear these two words used together so instead fallout is basically talking about that the economy has gone down very quickly very fast there has been a fallout something has gotten worse and it's happened over a short period of time so the economic fallout has made the pandemic much worse people are more susceptible to the virus and then the other word it said we know the disparate disparate impact uh the virus has on communities of color communities also suffering from systemic racism that have often um that have alt that have that has all too often played out in housing policy so if we're talking about disparate um let me give you make sure i give you the best uh meaning of this it's really just talking about um differences kind of well it's just saying okay this says different in every way so they're talking about that the impact between different groups of people so in that case they're talking about the disparate impact between perhaps rich and poor all right the impact has been different in every way that's what their the article is trying to say so if we're talking about the fallout um fallout somebody said nard yes collapse that's another good synonym for it um i would say that uh well i'll use your word collapse and collapse or i'd say fast downturn so often i think like i said you might use it with economic the economic fallout and in this case they're talking about like the money the success of something and if there's a fallout then you have a very fast downturn and things get really bad collapse is another good synonym um if somebody is susceptible to something it means that they may easily um get something all right and often i think that something that you're talking about that you are susceptible it's referring to something that's not good something that's bad like somebody is susceptible to uh catching this virus that they can easily get it we're talking about a virus it's something that's unpleasant and disparate we said is something that is different in every way according to cambridge so let's see can you guys see these excellent so i will again i will leave these uh vocabulary words uh down in the the com description section in case you want to review um again i will leave links to these articles and the last thing one thing we do want we're starting to do with some of these lessons is to again try to use our platform to highlight some good things and highlight some positivity because there's so much negativity out there so we have this bad situation with the virus the economy and housing habitat is an organization that's trying to do good things so we wanted to highlight this and i told you this is an organization i don't know okay so i don't know if uh hopefully we'll see i'll find out later i i think things got disconnected and reconnected we'll see if it's still uh working the same i don't know um so that is a picture of me in asuncion paraguay doing a habitat build and you get together and people work on building a house houses for a family the other picture in the middle is a picture of me i volunteered i worked with habitat when i was in costa rica i lived i spent about a year and a half in san jose costa rica um so that is a picture of me at an office and i was giving my first presentation in another language so i was actually i was speaking spanish i learned spanish and i was giving a presentation in spanish and i was so nervous um doing that and then the final picture is another picture of me in costa rica at a site doing a build with a bunch of volunteers so i would encourage you uh we're gonna make a donation to habitat for humanity international i'm leaving a link down in the description if you want to find out more information um about habitat for humanity international i will also throw a link here in the chat as well um and even if you can't make a donation that's okay i think it's always good to read about organizations like this especially if you're reading about it in english it's going to help you improve your language skills and it's nice to read about organizations or people that are doing good things and positive things because there's often so much negativity out there i think it's good so please check out habitat links are down in the description thank you guys uh for joining me for this lesson sorry that the kind of went in and out i hopefully hope that did not affect the lesson too much um but uh i will be back next week for another live lesson um so thank you guys uh marianna lally yasmina um pachu angela just give some quick shout outs at the end luciana sorry i couldn't make a little more conversation with this lesson i have so many screens open right now going back and forth between the websites and the vocabulary page um but this is something i want to do from time to time is talk about some current events uh build your vocabulary uh it's good for your comprehension but also try to highlight some organization that's doing good work um because i think we need more of that in the world today um uh ms izzy mary sleepwalker i hope you guys have a wonderful weekend and i will see you next time so long --- ## 192. Advanced Vocabulary Lesson | Take the Quiz & Learn New Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `r797xj-suuM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r797xj-suuM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:33:37 | --- so today is all about building your vocabulary and I will make this promise to you you are going to learn some new words today I promise you you will learn something new so what's up my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I have a vocabulary quiz that we're going to go through and these are all advanced vocabulary words so I expect this this this will be a bit challenging this advanced vocabulary quiz is going to challenge you but again I told you I made you that promise that you will learn something new now I'll just go ahead and say that that all of the words that we're going to talk about in today's quiz they are all words that we've already talked about these are words that we've had lessons from we we've don't we do lessons about advanced adjectives advanced nouns advanced verbs and those are linked down below in the description so even after this lesson if you want to learn more and build your vocabulary go check out those lessons they're listed down below in the description so I just want to give a quick shout out thank you guys hello Giselle Alberto atavistic Spartan Mohammed Jose Huang Valentino Allah ticktick hello hello hello thank you guys for joining me today I hope you guys are ready so the way that we're gonna do this is that I'm gonna give you some questions and I'm gonna throw in some vocabulary tips here and there that that's gonna help you build and improve your vocabulary because it's so important for your English fluency the more the more words that you learn and you can use that precise language then you can better express your thoughts your opinions and your ideas so let's just begin with the first vocabulary tip that I have for you and that is that this when people build their vocabulary I think it's normal to you you look you learn the word you look at the meaning and oftentimes that's as far as it goes you're like oh what does this word mean oh okay I guess that's it I would say don't just learn the meaning try to learn how to use the words in the correct context and this is key because so many times learners will you'll learn a new vocabulary word and I always encourage people to try and use it and practice and practice in practice but sometimes they may use it in the wrong context use it with the wrong situation or they try to make it they think of a synonym and they try to - interchange them and it doesn't always work out and it doesn't always make sense so the best way to do this and try to use it in the correct context is just to get more and more exposure to the language now if you're looking for something specific when you learn a new word you can use resources like Google and you can put the word into Google and click on news and what that will do is it'll bring up a bunch of news articles that use that word and they're all using the word in the correct context and when you read that information you'll be able to see how it's used correctly so that you can try and use it correctly as well the other way to do that is to do exactly what we're doing today I am going in this quiz I'm not going to give you the meaning of the words all of these are sentences and and you need to try to put the word into context all right so let's just begin and I'll show you what I mean so the first question that I have for you is right here I want you to answer the question in the chat even if you're watching this later write your answer in the comments I want you to interact I want you to engage I want you to participate in the lesson alright everyone was so surprised that he retired at the of his career what do you think which of those words best completes the sentence all right those I've given you a Zenith B epitome C credence I'll read them all out for you in case you have trouble seeing some of them all right what what do you think everyone was so surprised that he retired at the mm of his career what do you think a B or C all right see some good answers yes Michelangelo Donna Shahin the correct answer is a Zenith all right we are talking about the zenith of his career and what this word is it is a noun that's talking about the the top well the top the peak the highest point all right so if you're talking about somebody who's an athlete and they are at the top of their career and they decide to retire then yes that would be surprising so you could say everyone's so surprised that he retired at the zenith of his career so it could be talking about something that is actually physical you're talking about the the top point of something or something abstract like you're talking about one's abilities one skills the zenith the highest point in their career or of their abilities all right so that that's the way that we're going to do this you need to put these words in context all right the next one he's so hmm he thinks he's always right okay this is something I think my wife you wanted would tell me which is why I think the picture of me down there is appropriate what word do you think best completes that and I'm again I'm giving you some information with that second sentence he thinks he's always right he's so hmm he thinks he's always right what which of those words describes a person like that is it a cynical be cocky or C belligerent what do you guys think again this is we're taking an advanced vocabulary quiz if you're just joining us and I want you guys to participate in this lesson so excellent I just gave some quick shout out yes yes Simone why boo second one yes Shawn the answer is be cocky so if somebody says you know that's it's an adjective that if somebody is cocky it means that they are showing confidence often in it like an arrogant and unpleasant way and somebody's like yeah I'm the best I know everything I can do anything so this can apply to somebody at work they think that they are smarter than all of their colleagues that they do the best job and you could say they have a cocky attitude I think it's also applicable to sports if somebody is talking about their athletic ability and they say I'm gonna beat you I'm number one nobody is better than me you can say wow that person that person is cocky and again if somebody thinks they're always right then that's that's that is a bit of a cocky cocky attitude that they have I will confess yes sometimes I do like to think that I am right but don't we all don't we all like to think that we're right okay the next one all right I got a bunch of these bunch of these vocabulary words for you the students were mmm for skipping class all right so what do you think which word best completes that sentence and another thing that you can think about as you're going through these if there are words that you don't know like I don't know skipping class or you're trying to think well what goes into that blank think about the part of speech as well are we talking about an adjective are we talking about a verb a noun all right so the students were hmm for skipping class is it a admonished be placated see the moaned what do you think we're talking about students skipping class and I am very happy that you guys did not skip this class today and that you guys are all here yes Wow overwhelmingly less thank you Angela Dean Conchie Martin and CeCe and Natasha Lally the answer is a so if you skip class if you don't know what that means that is an expression that means that you do not go to class you do not attend class which is not a good thing so if students don't skip class then they would be a admonished and if somebody is admonish they are that should say warn not warm with an M that is a typo to warn or reprimand firmly you're basically scolding somebody or if I were admonishing you then I'm you're scolding somebody hey don't do this that's wrong the students were admonished for skipping class and that is the only that is the image that I could find for a student he looks very very happy for being admonished by a teacher so it's not a good thing to be admonished if you're admonished you're basically scolded for do it so you did something wrong all right you can be admonished at school you could be admonished by a family member they're disappointed they're upset with you and they might admonish you okay you ready let's continue let's keep this ball rolling all right more I like I try to make some of these a bit self-deprecating all right I like to make fun of myself he broke another mug I can't believe it he's such a mmm what do you think he broke another mug I can't believe it he's such a what do you think the answer would be a Acrobat be clown see klutz somebody I tried to make them kind of similar but there is only one answer all right so what do you think would best complete that sentence again put this is what it means when you're talking about put this in context if you don't know what those words mean you understand that first part somebody broke a mug all right that's not a good thing so it's like I can't believe it which means it's probably it happens more than once it's not the first time and you would say yes the answer is C klutz thank you English fives Bassam IRA who else the Dare lanser perfect thank you guys the answer C klutz is a noun and that's just talking about some who is a little clumsy they're awkward they're foolish I think it's most closely related to that first word talking about somebody who's clumsy perhaps they are they fall down a lot or in this case I think it's commonly used to talk about somebody who drops things that they they drop things regularly like a mug and they would break a mug all right he broke another mug I can't believe it he's such a klutz and that is a picture of a mug that's supposed to be a crack in that mug all right but I haven't it's been a while since I've dropped a mug this was just an example all right I have not broken any of our mugs well last year I did all right it's been it's been some time but yes it has happened before but I think it's happened to everybody at one point or another I think we've all been a bit of a klutz it's okay it's normal its life the next one all right perhaps you I almost said the answer all right I didn't all right I perhaps you mmm remember some of these words perhaps you remember some of these words a utterly be vaguely C unabashedly which which word completes that sentence and again this kind of you know is is talking to you I would be talking to you when I say this we're going through this quiz these are all advanced words you may know some of them you may not know others so what would you say how would you complete that sentence what what what word best completes it again these are all ly words which should tell you okay these are adverbs they are describing the verb remember and you should have said B vaguely alright so yes babe live lolly Alberto Paul perfect be vaguely remember that is an adverb which means that it things aren't very clear it's not clearly expressed or stated or it's just something in your memory that like you you kind of remember it but you don't really and and this is what happens especially with vocabulary when you learn a word and then some time passes and you you forget about it and then you see it again maybe you read it or you come across it like in this lesson you're like oh I do remember seeing that word I've learned this before you could say I vaguely I vaguely remember it alright you vaguely remember something that is a good collocation those words are frequently used together vaguely remember alright it's not clear so lets me give you I want to just give you the next vocabulary tip so the first tip that I gave you was talking about you know be able to use the words in the correct context learn the meaning but then also try to look up how the word is used look up example sentences so that you know how to use the word correctly the other tip that I have for you which also it's what we're doing today and that is just practice practice and then practice some more and I tried to illustrate that with these lightbulbs down here and and talking about vaguely remember when you practice and you get that exposure that is when you start to actively know you you move these words into your active memory and you remember these words alright so at the beginning you you kind of vaguely remember the word and then you see it again you're like huh okay wait I've seen this before and then you see it again and again and finally that light bulb clicks on and you know that word you know what it means and you can use it and you're comfortable using it as well so just always keep practicing which is why we do these lessons to help you guys practice your vocabulary and continue learning new words all right so let's look at the next one all right I'm back I'm back in my own picture so he is the mmm superhero I'm I'm gonna I'm finally decided to to give myself a good one all right and stop making fun of myself let me you let me let me say give a good sentence about me all right what do you think he is the mmm superhero there's not much information given in this sentence you just need to know what these words are to think about okay which which one appropriately completes the sentence a quintessential be nascent see austere and like somebody mentioned these are advanced words we've done lessons with all of them before check out that description I've listed all of those lessons and I encourage you to check them out so yes Malik Rajan II vet English vibes name perfect the answer is a quintessential all right he is the quintessential superhero it is an adjective and it's talking about something is representing the most perfect or typical example of something so I don't again I don't think I am even though I am look at check it out I am wearing my Batman shirt so I could be the cuentas and the quintessential superhero it is the superhero that I identify with but it is the perfect example of something the quintessential you could say quintessential superhero the anything you could follow it with any noun when you're talking about that perfect example of something you could say it is the quintessential mmm something all right whatever that noun is all right he is the quintessential father all right so somebody could again be the quintessential chef any anything let's look at the next one okay the executive got caught trying to money from the company okay so what would this is you know the executive got caught trying to money from the company is the answer a embezzle be repudiate see counterfeit okay what do you think Bess completes that sentence and again if you're just joining we are building our vocabulary by practicing and practicing and practicing some more with this advanced vocabulary quiz and I want you guys to participate okay I want you guys to write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments that is the best way to remember is to get involved in the lesson which is what interactive English is all about so I'm talking about an executive you get caught which again implies that this is something bad it's not something that's good so what would you try to do and many of you yes you got the answer correct which is a embezzle so great job Rubick Tiger lover CIA SATA Phyllis excellent Michaelangelo a embezzle it's a verb and if you're embezzling money I I think pretty much you're talking about money when you're when when this word is used I think almost always you're talking about some kind of money you're embezzling you're taking money fradulent Lea you're doing it you're stealing it and the executive got caught trying to embezzle money from the company now that is that image right there that's more of a thief that is not a picture of somebody embezzling money now this is again this is where you can try and get a little more specific so if somebody can steal money and that you could have a person just actually take somebody's money physically or you could steal money from a company but when you're talking about embezzling you are stealing money but it's almost like it's it's done secretly it's done secretly and oftentimes nowadays I think it's done digitally that you would use the computer to take money from one account and you put it over here you move it to a different place and eventually that money goes into your account and it becomes yours and you steal it so there is a difference between just actually seeing some money and physically stealing the money and embezzling the money where you're kind of secretly moving it around and oftentimes that's why I think it's used when talking about banks or orgas organizations or businesses and somebody may embezzle money so again this is a great word to learn so that you can be more specific when you're talking about a situation and speaking about stealing here's another one for you you think I stole your wallet that's mmm so I'm trying to read this one and provide you with the the intonation as well to kind of give you a little more information you think I stole your wallet that's mmm what would it be what would somebody say is it a preposterous be perfunctory or C pernicious what do you guys think and again I'll read it again in case you're having a difficult time seeing this the fonts are a little light on this one you think I stole your wallet that's hmm a preposterous be perfunctory or C pernicious and again if you see some of these other words and you're like what does that mean go check out the other lessons in the description and we talked all about these advanced vocabulary words so many of you yes perfect Syria serious Beheshti active istic tuba Luke great job the answer is a preposterous and if you say something is preposterous it is an adjective that means contrary to reason another word that's a synonym would be like ridiculous saying uh that's ridiculous that's preposterous absurd so those are other synonyms for this word ridiculous absurd you think I stole your wallet that's preposterous I would never do that that's crazy all right it is a great word to know great adjectives to know especially when you want to respond to something that somebody might accuse you of doing something wrong you're like that that's preposterous that's ridiculous and it is a very expressive adjective let's look at the next one more okay going back to the self-deprecating example he doesn't know what he's talking about he's not a professional he's just uh and just so you know these are actually these are pictures from thumbnails I we have a whole bunch of them and I just thought it would be fun to throw in these pictures of me doing all of these kind of crazy gestures and emotions so he doesn't know what he's talking about he's not a professional he's just a is it a sycophant be dilettante or see smartass all right for this one for this one I will accept two different answers okay this one this one could be there there is only one answer but I guess you could say and many of you are choosing that second answer all right you there are two answers thank you guys for choosing C I guess but the answer I was going for was be a dilettante so yes Allah Kareem Angela be dilettante the the the hint that I tried to give you as somebody who's not a professional because a dilettante is a noun it describes a person who they cultivate an interest in something that they're very interested in a topic so that they they learn a little bit about it but they haven't learned in depth information and you could say you know he doesn't know what he's talking about he's not a professional he's a dilettante oftentimes it makes me think of somebody who they watch a documentary about something and then they've learned they're interested in it and they've learned a little bit about it because they've watched one documentary but then they'll go and talk about it as and they sound like they are an authority and a professional even though they've only seen one movie about it which may or may not have been very biased they haven't done a lot of research about the topic so you could say well they're a dilettante I think in our lives all of us when it comes to certain areas because many of us have interest we may not be professionals but maybe we just have some knowledge a little bit of knowledge and could say they are we're a dilettante may be a political dilettante would be an example that somebody who's interested in politics but they're not you know they don't have a lot of in-depth information so that is another great word the next question all right the companies mmm influence is felt around the world what do you think the companies mmm influence is felt around the world would it be a esoteric be uncanny or see ubiquitous you're you're describing the influence and I've given you a hint because in that picture yes that is a that is a Starbucks cup of coffee and no this video this quiz is not sponsored by Starbucks all right but it was just for as an example so we're talking about Starbucks that's the company that companies mmm influence is felt around the world and many of you said yes Paul Lally another gentleman a Kent or a woman I can't pronounce the name that's okay the answer is C ubiquitous and if something if you're talking about something that is ubiquitous it is an adjective and it means that it is existing or it is everywhere something is located everywhere something that you see everywhere and again this is a good word that I think people might use they may use in the incorrectly so this would be a good word to go to Google News put this word in there surrounded by the the quotes and it'll just bring up a bunch of news articles using this word so that you can read it and see how it's used correctly because it's not something that you can just throw in there anywhere but we talk about the company's ubiquitous influence their influences everywhere is felt around the world because just about anywhere you go there is a Starbucks all right even though and this that's more my style of coffee over there just a cup it says coffee that's from a local that's from a local business right there all right so just want to give let you guys know if you guys enjoy what we do if you guys enjoy these quiz if you enjoy our lessons if you want to show us some love show us some support check out our patreon page we offer some cool rewards it's just another great way to connect with us and and support what we do here at interactive English and support our English lessons check that out I'll throw a link right there boom in case you're interested there's also a link in the description down below so let's continue alright we got more and more more questions for you alright during the trial they tried to mmm her character during the trial they tried to mmm her character so that's a keyword right there her character they tried to a compel be obfuscate or see impugn what do you think alright what what word goes in that blank right there what are we talking about alright during the trial they try to in her character compel Optus gate or impugn what do you think write your answer in the chat or again watching this later write your answer in the comments participate engage with the lesson that is what we want to see alright so excellent and even if you don't know some of these answers just throw them down there I I always want to see I love it when people try to answer that's the best part just try to practice so yes Angela IRA Lucia mopped Mamta excellent sorry if i mispronounce names Conchi the correct answer is C impune you're talking about impugning a person's character that is a collocation because you will find those words frequently used together and that is impune is a verb which means to cause people to doubt someone's character or reputation by criticizing them so in this case it happens we're talking about a court that you don't want the jury to believe this person so they will impune her character and say well she's a liar she's a bad person so that they don't believe her testimony and you would impune someone's carrot I think if you watch any kind of law and order type show that deals with trials and courtrooms you may hear this word so it's a good word let's look at the next one it's very it's very annoying he always changes his mind because that should say because he's so what alright again talking about myself I'm just laughing at that picture I look like such a goofball anyway it's very annoying sorry about this situation it's very annoying he always changes his mind because he's so hmm what goes in that blank he's so a truculent he's so be facetious or he's so C capricious so what do you think it's very annoying somebody's very bothered by this always changes his mind because he's so I forgot he's but that's okay I'm letting you know now he's so what truculent facetious capricious and yes perfect Rocio WOD Irene excellent thank you Akram thank you for your answers the correct answer is C capricious so if somebody is capricious it is an adjective and it means that you are subject to sudden or unpredictable change and I think it can describe somebody's character their personality if somebody's always changing their mind and this happens to everybody but some people are more it it's just the way they are I don't really think I'm a capricious person I think that's just an example usually I'm the opposite if I decide to do something I hate changing it I hate changing it and it bothers me when we do have to change it but the other end would be somebody who's capricious like let's do this no no Kay no no let's do this now I'm changed my mind let's do this another example which I tried to give you guys down here is love whether that it's like it's sunny and then all of a sudden it becomes cloudy and then the next thing you know it's raining and you say well it's just unpredictable the weather has been really you know it's capricious and we have not been a we cannot do follow through with plans is capricious alright so that is a good word to know a good adjective capricious the next question the team worked hmm around the clock that's another good expression the team works hmm around the clock is it a fervently be vicariously or si candidly it's describing how the team worked you see those ly words which should tell you this is an adverb so I again put it in context I think most of you many of you should know what it means to work around the clock all right and if somebody's working around the clock then what do you think what does that mean somebody's working around the clock why would they be doing that how would they be working all right so I see okay all right getting some good answers you guys are rocking this excellent yes and a touch Phyllis Paul Luciana Syed if somebody is working around the clock then they're probably they're working very hard they're working diligently they're also working a fervently which is an adverb and if you are working fervently then you are showing great enthusiasm or in this case I think it would be more intensity you're like oh gosh we really we got to work too in order to finish we better work fervently with a lot of intensity so if somebody's doing something fervently it is with great intensity or with great enthusiasm the team worked fervently around the clock here we go [Laughter] you can't you can't just take food out of our fridge that's mmm you can't just take food out of our fridge that's mmm what do you think no I it was late last night when I was putting these pictures together okay so again think of the sentence forget about the picture I don't know why I'm holding a taco you wouldn't really put a taco in a fridge I get you could if you sure if you wanted to keep it and save it but what what word would complete that sentence a presumptuous be defamatory or C arduous so think about that context you can't just take food out of our fridge somebody is going they open your refrigerator and they just grab some food and if somebody does that you can describe that situation and say that that behavior that's hmm what do you think all right how would you describe that situation yes lolly Zion a leak a presumptuous so if somebody just does something and you're like wow what makes you think that you can do that it's not really polite it's not appropriate and you could say well yeah that's presumptuous it's it's an adjective that means showing a lack of respect by doing something that you shouldn't so if I am visiting if I'm visiting your house which would be great if I could visit you guys and and get to know you and if I visit your house if I want something to drink or something to eat you know the thing you should do you should ask the person who lives there you wouldn't just go in and you open their cabinets and start taking their food or open their fridge and in this case I guess I would be taking tacos I could just be going and taking people's tacos so in this say you you you can't take you can't just take food out of our fridge that's presumptuous it's presumptuous to do something like that all right we must we must be mmm down to the last detail and I've given you these pictures trying to help you a little bit and and because they match up with the question except for the whole thing except for the one of me holding a taco that really didn't do that really didn't convey that message we must be mmm down to the last detail what completes that scent it's a meticulous be cumbersome see conscientious and again I'd say there's just one correct answer if you can't see the words I'll read it again we must be mmm down to the last detail meticulous cumbersome conscientious and excellent yes the answer is a meticulous great job Naima Avani Oh serious Ladon perfect thank you guys great job so the answer would be a meticulous you're talking about the key word in there I think is a detail you've got to be down to the last detail means you're looking at something closely and this is an adjective that means you're showing great attention to detail all right we must be meticulous down to the last detail so when somebody does their work if they are if they show you know a lot of attention to detail and it makes me think somebody who works with numbers could be somebody who is a designer somebody who is an architect and they somebody who's doing construction they need to be meticulous down to the last detail that is a very important adjective to describe that that type of work when you're talking about these details all right so that was excellent all right if you enjoyed learning some new words if you learned something new let me know by hitting that like button and if you got some of these right which I know you guys did please go ahead hit that like button right now that tells me that you enjoyed this lesson and that in the future I should do more vocabulary lessons and more vocabulary quizzes like this to help you guys build and improve your vocabulary especially with these advanced words that are going to help you be more accurate when you want to perfectly describe a situation or or talk about something and express your opinions all right so please hit that like button and thank you guys so much for checking out today's lesson please share it also with other people that you know who want to build their vocabulary and are trying to improve their English skills as always we love hearing from you so write to us in the comments and check us out on social media we're active on Facebook Twitter and Instagram and we post questions we we we are active on social media again to help people practice their language skills so check that out thank you guys just some quick shout outs thank you serious excellent glad you learned some new words Priscilla thank you thank you new she thank you fairy Nashua lolli Zion Rossiya Bethesda do alum new n Simone Angela thank you guys I tried to give as many shout outs as I can and say as many names CPU era Henry thank you thank you thank you I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 193. Advanced Vocabulary Talking About University Life | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `dsq9254Ef_k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsq9254Ef_k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:29:06 | --- so we are asked you can't switch this around which means today we're going to talk to you about some important and useful university words that's coming up [Music] we are visiting and kind of doing a little tour around the University of California so we thought it'd be a good time to not only show you a little bit of the campus but talk to you about some words that you might encounter if you're going to attend University or if you're having a conversation about education in general they're very useful words that are related to University so they don't have to be like oh I'm going to university and you know these words are the general knowledge [Music] in the distance there see the Golden Gate Bridge [Music] the one thing that I think is crazy about universities here is just the cost over the tuition cost the cost is insane yeah yeah and that's a good word to know yes the tuition if you're if you're wondering when tuition means it is the cost of your education your classes your your but it's really just your classes and and it doesn't include books or it doesn't include yeah and you're talking you're talking about the cost for one year typically so the cost of one year the tuition it's this much and they're talking about one year but another you know a great thing that is sometimes available would be a scholarship and a scholarship is another great word to know that is it's kind of you get some benefits some financial benefit to to help cover some of the cost of tuition or even cover yeah the entire cost I've never benefited in receiving a scholarship but it wasn't enough what was your favorite thing about University oh my goodness so I'm a little bit of a dork I like learning about what universities for I know but I loved it I loved learning because here you could choose so I don't I know it's not in every country but in the u.s. too the the classes the books reading to him [Music] [Music] do you remember which one was your favorite year was it freshman sophomore junior senior I'd say I think I had the most fun freshman year no just a new experience we're living in the you know you're living with a bunch of people in the dorms which that's another good word or more dormitory is just the student housing where a lot of the students would live together so yeah freshman year first year in the university probably make my most memorable then it seems like as each year went by I tried to get a little more serious being mine was the junior year because which is the junior year it's a third third year university here in the u.s. you have four years on first at the freshmen second is sophomore and then you have junior as the third and then seniors the last one yeah a lot of times I think people would just say that they wouldn't say this is my third year they just say I'm a junior yeah so if they say I'm a junior then you know it's their third year senior in its fourth year sophomore is the second year in freshman first so I think I think a lot of people usually say oh like the senior years are favorite because it's your finishing but it's actually a very stressful year cuz you have to figure out what you're gonna do your life that's one yeah so that's why I like the junior year more where you have like you already know what life is like you already have like expectations and you know your classes and things are more familiar but at the same time you still can chill a little bit and you don't have to worry about your life for another year which is nice it's nice so if you're in college take advantage of it another important word for university very important word is major and wasn't gonna tell you what yes so the major is basically your focus of study at university so some people might major in engineering they may major in business or history there's all different types of majors at universities but it's your main focus of study it's your major and when you take when you enter your major you might have to take some prerequisite so there might be some prerequisites which do you want too so prerequisites are classes that you have to take before being able to take another class for example if you can just sign up for advanced chemistry because the materials that are going to be covered in that class they're going to be too difficult if you've never taken chemistry before so you have to take you know like elementary chemistry and intermediate chemistry and then and those would be the prerequisites to advanced camera and it can also be used outside of university too that there in order to do something there is a prerequisite something you have to do for yeah you never tell us what your major was my major was business management business behind me yeah my major and undergrad was business management and then I majored I got my hand too so I don't know if that counts as major them I think is just in university mastercards yeah if you could go back to college with the mind you have today would you choose a different major which is the same one why are you yawning at my question very it's a very boring question I don't know I think I would want to be maybe I definitely want to study languages or now I don't know if I would do that as a major or a minor which is another good one a minor would be like a major is your primary focus a minor would be like your secondary focus you have to take a certain level of number of classes yeah of course is to get the minor but I think I would have liked to have studied more yeah language languages and I don't know I liked having a business focus to it I think I would have done something else at business maybe like finance or entrepreneurship be like business yeah why what about you well I've had one major and two minor since we talked about minors my major at the time was Christine oh my god yeah it was history but I don't find that interesting the one of them was art history and the other one was essential in Eastern European studies they're all connected really but today if I could major in two if I could go back to University today I don't know I feel like I do something totally different like I do like psychology or something what about teaching maybe I don't know why they call you thank you just because we saw the building back there we've been psychology psychology psychology building no I don't know I loved history so it's very hard to meet the truth anything else I think that's the other thing I mean there's so much focus and in university and if you're a student people like oh you know what major you gonna choose and then once you get out of school I think so many people just don't do anything related to what they studied yeah we're teachers although as we grow this channel and do this business is so is history develop a business just cook you mystery history relevant to my knowledge every day as a person [Music] are we going we're gonna look at the oldest buildings in campus you filming me again so I was gonna say that for for America this is a really old building [Music] so behind me you can see one of the most iconic images of UC Berkeley which is the save there gave it like a another one of the entrances it's just just a gate the gate I don't know but if you look up you see both clear Google Images you'll see that image right there when I would go back and if I'm walking around a university just seeing how young everybody looks I don't know what they think I don't think they think we're students maybe we're faculty that is a good word yeah faculty and I feel like faculty looks a little bit more serious like we dressed up we don't look professional what so faculty what it is is just another word that's obviously used around the University campus and just then these kinds of circles it just means professors so any kind of professors teaching to something teachers but in university you don't see teachers you say professors are faculty another position which if you're a student you might here in the classroom is a TA if somebody's talking about a TA that just stands for teaching assistant and they're the ones in the classroom that are helping the professors and teaching sometimes and they're usually graduate students for doing their PhDs grading papers yeah and it's part of their training so you're probably gonna have a TA at some point well in America having 100 student classes they're so big so many times they have TAS to help with greetings helpless and that's another good word I'll lecture yeah so if you're having a lecture class then yeah it's just with a large large number of students and they gather together for the class and the professor would just give a presentation they would give a lecture right it's not like interactive most of the time it's not like oh they could very rarely they ask questions to the students and so on you just like go up there bla bla bla bla bla and the lecture is over I think another good word when thinking about university a lot of people you'll hear the word academia and when talking about academia it's like how would you describe it like just the lifestyle higher education schools academics I had to find it on the paper there you go that's it when people think of university kind of maybe live in a bubble a little bit because you're so focused on everything that's happening around the university or that's where your life is so involved that yeah you are just in academia you are part of academia some people spend their whole life as part of every meal like if they go to university then they go through their PhDs sorry what were we talking about I hope you guys enjoyed our tour of UC Berkeley yeah learned some new words along the way maybe maybe we convinced you to come here and now we want to hear from you guys so just in the comments just say hello tell us about your university experience anything that you want to say we just love hearing from you thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time so what do you think of the University of California you may think that we're like the parents were just wrong --- ## 194. Advanced Vocabulary for Talking About Babies | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eL_PvVT1bfY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL_PvVT1bfY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:31:41 | --- today I want to talk to you about vocabulary that well it's all about when you have a baby hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I have a collaboration lesson for you because I am going to do today's lesson with our little daughter Emmie she's gonna help me out and teach you all of these different words related to having a baby so if you are thinking about having a baby or maybe you know somebody who does have a baby or is going to have a baby then these are some vocabulary words that you need to know so we're gonna start at the very beginning and then we're gonna move through this as the baby would get older so let's start at the absolute beginning before the baby is born and talk about the word conceive so if we're talking about this word conceived it is talking about the the point at which the woman becomes pregnant that point in time when she becomes pregnant you would say that that the child was conceived it's not a word that you would just use in conversation like oh well when was the baby conceived you may hear people use it informally maybe even joking around like oh I think our our child was conceived when we were on vacation can also use this word as a noun which is conception the point of conception so the next word which is actually a phrase which I think is much more common yes it's much more common and that is maternity leave so if we're talking about just the word maternity it's talking about the period of time just before the child is born what are you doing and and right after the child is born just grabbing my ear and that is maternity and you may hear it used with other nouns like like maternity maternity clothes that's a common phrase that you may hear but what's going on what not am i not am i not teaching it correctly you get back over here you get back over here you get back over here so maternity leave is talking about the the time period that a woman the mother can take off from work the time before she gives birth as well as the time after that time period is called maternity leave and this is something that I think people just talk about in general about how much maternity leave the mother will get maybe she might talk about it or somebody might ask like oh how much maternity leave or are you going to take or how much can you take because this is something that will be different depending on the country that you live in or the job that you have now another word that is closely associated with maternity leave is paternity leave this is the time in which a man is allowed away from work what like once the child is born usually that that is when some a guy would take paternity leave it's not I don't think this phrase is as commonly used as maternity leave that is a phrase that you will hear I think much more often than paternity leave but if you want to talk about how much time the father is allowed to take off from work then that would be paternity leave another phrase that you may also hear people mention is due date and if you hear somebody talking about the due date that is the date at which the the couple expects the baby to be born the due date now once it gets close to the due date or maybe if it's on the due date the woman may go into labor and to go into labor means the process of of giving birth has begun and you would say well she's gone into labor and we need to go to the hospital once the woman goes into labor then you need to get to the hospital and at the hospital that is the doctor would deliver the baby so that is the verb that you would use deliver the baby and this is something that the doctor would do because to deliver the baby it refers to the help that someone receives in order to give birth to the child to deliver the baby the doctor would help deliver the baby now let's talk about once the baby is born and talk us about some words that you could use or you may hear after the the baby has been born and the first one is pediatrician now a pediatrician is a type of doctor it is a doctor that specializes in treating infants or children so once the baby is born and the baby is delivered then people will need to visit a pediatrician to make sure that the baby is healthy another word that you may hear which is related to health and in babies and children is bless you is that funny and and that word is a vaccination and a vaccination is just referring to the the substance that somebody is given typically a shot which will help protect them from disease a vaccination or you could use it as a verb and you'd say to vaccinate a child which is - to give them those shots which will help protect them from disease when it comes to feeding the baby then you would use the word nursing nursing is the word you would use when talking about feeding the baby breast milk now babies can either have breast milk or they could have formula that is the the next word that I wanted to teach you and there are many different types of formula but formula is just talking about artificial food that babies can have so for example if there is some reason that the the baby is not able to have breast milk then the the parents would want to give the baby formula is this talk of food making you hungry the next word that I want to teach you is teething and this is something that that she started pretty early and this is when the teeth start to come in and when the teeth start to come in babies they like to chew on things and we call that teething the the baby is teething or you could somebody might ask like oh has the baby started teething yet have those teeth started to come in another word uh which I think it deals more with sleeping when babies need to sleep yeah that is swaddle to swaddle this is a verb and it has to do with the baby sleeping typically and that is when you just wrap the baby tightly in a blanket and you really you have such strong feelings about swaddling you would say to swaddle the baby to wrap them tightly so when when talking about a baby there are many different items that you might hear somebody talk about and I want to highlight some of the differences between American English and British English because it's quite often that we use different words to describe the same thing for example the first one that I have for you is stroller in the United States people overwhelmingly say stroller and this is the what this is what you use to push the baby around in a stroller when you go outside you put the baby in the stroller and you go push them around you may also hear people say baby carriage but I don't think that's as common I think overwhelmingly people would say stroller but you could also use baby carriage in the UK people will either say a pushchair pram or buggy I don't really know which one is more popular than the other but you could use any of those push chair pram or buggy something else when talking about babies is a diaper hey this is what the babies wear underneath their clothes because they will pee or poop in the diaper and that is what they say in the US it's called a diaper in the UK people may call it a nappy so diaper or nappy another difference would be well the outfit she is wearing right now in the United States you would call this a onesie it's an outfit that covers the whole body sometimes it does cover the arms and the legs other times it doesn't but it is just referred to as a onesie in the UK this may be called a baby grow now interestingly enough both of those names actually come from very I guess very well-known companies that make them so in the United States Gerber is the company that trademark the name onesie and in the UK baby grow trademark the name baby growth and those words have have just become the name for this this type of clothing right here a onesie or baby grow something else that babies tend to do is drool quite often to drool is when the the saliva and that liquid just comes out of their mouth in the UK people might say dribble instead drool versus dribble another word that is different is well this right here in the US this is called a pacifier it is what babies will suck on and they're very young in the UK people may call this a dummy so a pacifier or a dummy and if you are in Canada it may be called a binky or a soother so there are many many different names for this this right here all right another difference because babies well I think they're often tired which is what people say in the u.s. people may also say that in the UK as well but another way to say that in British English is neck 'red so if you're in the US you'd say the baby's tired if you're in the UK then you could say the baby's tired or the baby's neck 'red then there's a crib which is a a small bed for infants or young children and that well in the US that's what people say they call it a crib that small bed in the UK people would call it a cut a crib versus a cut so we hope you learn some new words in today's lesson there are so many words when it comes to babies and infants and if you think of some others that I did not include in this lesson then write them in the comments share with everyone that is a great way to continue building your vocabulary if you enjoyed our collaboration please hit that like button down below and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time all right we'll see you next time yeah can you say bye [Music] [Music] --- ## 195. Advanced Vocabulary in 30 Minutes (Descriptive words you should know) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `LjjyzKItKNk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjjyzKItKNk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:03:00 | --- you can use to talk about movement places and people this is also a quiz lesson so I would like you to participate and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and building your vocabulary is incredibly important especially if if you want to become a more proficient speaker so let's start out with movement these are all words that you can use when talking about movement and to start out you see the word those question marks up up there I'm giving you the meaning of the word and I just want you to tell me what what what word am I talking about in this case that we're talking about a verb because we're talking about movement and actions so so these are verbs move with a smooth smooth quiet continuous motion what do you think what word has this meaning and then I'll I'll give you a moment to think about it tell you the answer and then I have some uh videos that I want to show you so that you can actually see see the word in in progress so I I kind of tried to give you a little bit of a hint with this picture of a swan right here and thinking about how a swan might move through the water with that smooth quiet continuous motion to M through the water so the word that we're talking about in this case is Glide to glide through the water excellent uh Vicki gusta uh great to see you Rafel L too I just want to give some shout outs so glad SL it has that meaning to move with a smooth quiet continuous motion and a great Association is a swan so I want you to check this uh check this out now this Swan right here is coming in for a landing it is a little bit rough right now to begin with but now we're starting that Glide and you can see that gliding through the water and just continuing that smooth motion as it it moves through the water to Glide here is the next one what do you think jump or dive energetically and really I think this verb is often used when talking about your your you know into the water so you can see this picture right here this diver this person who I almost gave it away jumped into the pool but you could say to M into the water you're you're jumping you're diving quickly energetically I think you will always well not always but mostly hear this verb when talking about something dropping into the water so the verb that we're looking for in case you're maybe in case you're unfamiliar with it or this is new is plunge to plunge into the water often you may follow this verb with that preposition into to plunge into something to plunge into the pool to plunge into the water to plunge into the lake here is a great example of plunge and you see this guy right here let's watch it again and off the boat and plunging into the water one more time just for good measure plunge into the water so I want to make a quick announcement because if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary and especially would like more speaking practice you can check out the link down below if you'd like to en roll and join my speaking course the course is for Upper Intermediate to Advanced speakers and it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally check out that link Down Below in the description go to the course page you can learn more about class times and availability and just improve your speaking skills in 2025 let's look at the next one this is this is a verb for for for any of for those of you who are are in the chat right now who have taken take that we have certainly talked about it means to walk slowly with well exhaustion or harsh harsh conditions so think about the picture this person is walking through the snow now it's not easy to walk through through the snow they're probably walking slowly with di these are harsh conditions what verb can we use it's very descriptive it's a lot more precise if you are telling a story or talking about your experience and you really want to capture this idea that you are moving slowly in difficulty because of something and in this case again we're talking about the snow so the verb that we're looking for uh is trudge excellent Rafaela VI uh Victoria Tom too to trudge through the snow this is another verb that you can follow with different prepositions you could trudge through the snow trudge through the mud trudge up a hill trudge down a hill and again something is really causing you to to walk slowly in this case let me give you an example you see this guy who I mean I could say walking through the snow but if I want to be a little more precise I guess yeah he was trudging through the snow and you can see he's moving slowly with difficulty because of these harsh this harsh conditions and trying to move through the snow and trudging through the snow what do you think about this the you could think about the picture you have this deer and headlight so there's a car and well what is the car what's what's the car going to have to do change or cause to change direction abruptly and often I think you may hear this verb used when talking about uh somebody driving and they have to change direction abruptly and they're going to M into the other lane or M to avoid hitting something in the road so of course you we see this deer we don't want to hit the deer and if this is at the very last minute what are you going to have to do with the car Voom change direction abruptly and in that case the verb that we're going to use is to Swerve to Swerve is to change or cause to change direction abruptly so this is actually from a TV show but you can see what's going on here let's uh we can check that out again and he's driving along not paying attention swerves the car to avoid hitting the other one and then ends up hitting this trash can let's watch it one more time and then he swerves the car hits the trash can and again this is a word that you may use when talking about driving and in a car so here is the other one with movement and then we're going to talk about places and people so what verb means to move slowly and carefully in order to avoid being heard or noticed now there there may be other words out there that have a similar meaning but there's one in particular that uh I want to highlight so again don't just feel like there's only one uh word out there that you can use but in general we're talking about moving slowly carefully you're trying to avoid being noticed or heard what verb could you use now I see some good answers as far as like to sneak that again that works that is like being careful you don't want somebody to notice you to tiptoe that's another one so again I told you there are other words that would fit this meaning but the word that uh I was looking for is to creep so creep s tick tiptoe sneak these are are generally synonyms so I don't want to tell you that those are wrong answers but again there this is another great way to build your vocabulary and learn some of these different synonyms here's an example with the cat you can see this cat who is just creeping up on this bird this pigeon maybe I think the cat thinks the bird's going to fly away but uh decides not to we can check that out again and if we're going to use that verb to creep notice when I gave you that example to creep up on someone the cat is creeping up on the bird and just trying not to be noticed moving slowly and the bird just sits there like just H I don't really care I'm not going to fly away I'm not going to move hopefully some of those words were new for you again this is all about trying to build your vocabulary not just to go out and use them but also to improve your listening reading comprehension because these are words that you will come across from time to time let's now move on and talk about places so I'm going to switch it up a little bit I'm giving you an example sentence as well as the first letter of the word so this sentence the bare trees stood tall in the M Landscape so I'm giving you the first letter of our missing word and then I'll tell you the word and give you the meaning it begins with the letter d and I will say that I do think this is a common collocation with this adjective talking about a M Landscape so the word that uh is missing desolate empty and not attractive or with no people or nothing Pleasant in it desolate a desolate landscape excellent anj L um raphaela Naja perfect so think about that word you might use it to describe a landscape a desert or just some empty area and refer to it as desolate here I I just mentioned when talking about creep tiptoe sneak and thinking about synonyms a great way to build your vocabulary this these are some synonyms for the word desolate and you could use thesaurus.com this is just just to provide you with an example and you can see some of the other words down there um bare Bleak derel uh empty isolated again this is another way to build your vocabulary make some associations because these are maybe some of these words you already know and it's another something else to keep in mind uh when building your vocabulary and just learning more synonyms here's this one maybe uh this is a a bit more challenging the Four Seasons is an M Hotel the missing word the adjective begins with an O and I think you know the vowel sound because you see the article n NM Hotel the Four Seasons a very well-known luxurious hotel I have never stayed in a Four Seasons Hotel probably never will that's okay I don't mind but if you want to be descriptive and talk about this type of hotel and you want to say again it's luxurious it's I again I don't want to give it away but you can use this adjective an M Hotel so the word that uh I'm thinking of is opulent opulent means expensive and luxurious an opulent Hotel an opulent building an opulent um uh Lobby and you just want to say that wow this is impressive it's very luxurious it's very fancy it's very expensive it's opulent what do you think over the weekend we took a trip to the m Countryside this is another adjective that it's very descriptive it's one that you're not probably going to come across every day but if you're reading a book if you're someone who likes to read stories this is when I think authors definitely use more descriptive words so you could come across this adjective especially when talking about the countryside over the weekend we took a trip to the m Countryside the missing word our adjective begins with the letter V so you have this picture of the country side and I chose this picture specifically because it's very green and I'll I'll get to that in just a moment now I see some like vibrant I don't I wouldn't use vibrant in this case because vibrant makes me think of really energetic colorful and the first word when I think of vibrant I think of the city of Miami the way it looks and the different colors and the architecture so I'm looking for a different adjective and I mention the word green because the word that I'm thinking of is verdant verdant means covered with healthy green plants and grass another collocation verdant Countryside The Verdant Forest The Verdant jungle Le so you're talking about a place that's probably well green with plants and grass and to highlight this I just want to really Hammer this home this is another something else you can keep in mind when building your vocabulary you want to make associations you could go to Google Images put the words in quotes and then just see what pops up and I'm sure the first thing that you notice there all of those images they have one now whether showing um a tropical rainforest or just a forest or the the countryside you can see that color when talking about like well The Verdant landscape and in that case you know okay there are plants it's very green if something is verdant here is the next one I think this is a probably an adjective that's more commonly used you may be familiar with it my office is a mess but her office is always M this word begins with the letter P so already in the example sentence you can see that we're making a comparison and this is a contrast we're we're contrasting these two offices mine is a mess but her office is the opposite you could say is always M which word begin that begins with the letter P that you could use to describe something in this case a place which would be a room or an office that is not messy that is very clean and the word which I saw a lot of excellent pristine if something is pristine it is immaculately clean or has never been used my office is a messed but her office is always pristine excellent uh Arno lff Isaac Hugo um great job saw a lot of perfect uh great answers in there well done how about this next one this is a little more challenging and maybe that hopefully the image perhaps helps a little bit within the impoverished City there is a wealthy with opulent homes I wanted to bring that word back up remember if something is opulent it's very luxurious expensive so let's say that uh you have this city that is generally impoverished and that is this side right here but then within the city over there on the other side you see those opulent homes very wealthy this is not a real picture by the way I believe it's AI generated but you could say within this city there is a wealthy M with opulent home so the missing word begins with an E so this is another very precise word when referring to something within so we're talking about within this impoverished City there is this again you I guess I could say a neighborhood but we're not talking about a neighborhood even though a neighborhood would be within I want to use this other word that begins with an E that describes this situation so the word that we're looking for well done uh Loi an enclave a separate space or group within a larger one so in the example within this the impoverished City there is a wealthy Enclave with opulent homes now I realize maybe this is a a more advanced word most of these I think are fairly Advanced so again you're not going to come across them every day but even if these are difficult hopefully some are new and that it's going to help your comprehension listening reading you may come across them to give you a little more context with this word because like I said maybe it's one that is new for you here are some news headlines so that you can get a better feel as to how it's used Bridgewater's Bob Prince buys 12 I guess million dooll home in wealthy Hong Kong Enclave so we're talking about an a area within the city of Hong Kong this couple transform a Birmingham Ballroom into a lush Garden Enclave on their big day okay moscow-backed Enclave in malova feels pain from lack of Russian gas talking about the country of mdova and in this country there is an area within it that is a Moscow backed onclave and then finally up to 1500 migrants swim to Spain's quenta Enclave from Morocco all of these headlines are very recent so again it is a word that you may come across you're reading a news article just like this and you find the word enclave now you know now you know what it means let's move on to the next topic because I divided this into different parts and talk about a person's appearance and the way that they look again I'm switching it up a little bit because now I'm giving you the meaning and an example sentence but I'm not giving you any hint as to the word that I'm I'm talking about I'm not giving you the first letter so this word the meaning when talking about well of hair clothes or somebody's General parents it just means very untidy he's been drinking all night now he looks a bit you can see this picture of this gentleman here holding the bottle and I I I will say say I think often it does refer to somebody's appearance like the way that their hair looks it's very untidy like if I were to screw up my hair like I didn't get a lot of sleep and you say oh Wes you look a little not hung over I mean if you've been drinking yes that that would work uh but this is a very descriptive word it's an adjective that you may not be familiar with it's one that talked about uh when we did the member video for this month Hadi uh Hua rafhaela well done disheveled so if you say somebody looks a bit disheveled then you're referring to well their appearance but I think generally like the way their hair looks and maybe their clothes and something has happened and as to why they look a little disheveled lack of sleep um in this case somebody's been out drinking all night and they look a bit disheveled I see some there unkempt is good one that's another one I think uh is a synonym I love it uh horrible sure that's that is a common adjective that that you could use all right love seeing these uh um emojis good tells me yeah you're you're learning some new words which is perfect that is the goal so here is uh the next one showing great happiness love or health I know this is a bit more difficult when I'm not giving you too much because there are there are other adjectives that kind of fit this meaning all of these words definitely have synonyms but this word means showing great happiness love or health her m smile lit up the room and I do think this is used as a collocation talking about someone's smile and it's you're really giving them a compliment and I could say her m smile lit up the room refers to showing that that happiness love health and you could say that someone looks radiant that is the word that uh that I'm going for her radiant smile lit up the room now of course there are many adjective collocations with smile that ad Ive noun collocation a radiant smile a brilliant smile um so again there there don't always think of this as like oh a wrong answer right answer the goal is if you didn't get it it's okay it's just building your vocabulary perhaps this is a word that you didn't think of but you've heard it before when talking about the way somebody looks and they look radiant here is a word that is maybe not as commonly used it is very precise it refers to slightly sad because you are thinking about something you cannot have she listen to sorry there should be an article in there she listened to a sad and M song about a lost love so which word which adjective could you use that that has this meaning I've I told you already it is a definitely more advanced word so it may not be one that you're it's going to be difficult to think of off the top of your head slightly sad because you are thinking about something that you cannot have and in this case I'm using this adjective to modify the word song A M song uh see like some frustrated again that that is a more common word so that's not the one that uh that's not the adjective I'm looking for in this case and again this may be new if it is that's awesome because I do think you may come across this in stories I told you authors they like to use this very precise and descriptive words wistful if somebody is wistful it means they are slightly sad because you are thinking about something you cannot have I see a couple people mentioned nostalgic I think that also is pretty close because if you're nostalgic you are thinking about something that happened or that you can't have and I think generally it does imply that maybe somebody is sad because well it's uh th this thing this experience is over however I I do think in this case if you really want to capture this emotion of sadness then I think wistful is a good one to use um here's the next one I think this one maybe a little easy because it I I believe it's one You' may come AC you may have come across and perhaps you you already use which is great I tried to mix it up a little bit but definitely I would still say these are all advanced words calm peaceful untroubled and tranquil right so I'm I'm on I'm giving you all these synonyms right here she looked peaceful and M as she watched the sunset so so of course you could say again using these words peaceful and calm peaceful and tranquil that yeah that would work but what is another word that that we could use that is a synonym for calm peaceful tranquil she looked peaceful and as she watched the sun set the word that I'm looking for see some of you you got it like I said perfect we're talking about Serene so the these are synonyms calm peaceful untroubled and tranquil she looks peaceful and Serene I think when it comes to some of these words and you want to be a little more descriptive if you're telling a story or like I said you're reading a book you come across it you you may use more than one even though they're synonyms people may still use it just to add emphasis calm and Serene peaceful and Serene Serene and tranquil and you may end up using more than one adjective this one means physically weak or unhealthy and the sentence he lay in bed looking particularly now this I don't know if you can see it too well in the picture this is an older man laying in bed trying to say that somebody is physically weak or unhealthy generally speaking I think you would use this adjective to talk about older people somebody who may be in their 70s or 80s and you want to say that they are you know physically weak or unhealthy and you could refer to them as uh so and there are other words that you could use uh feeble uh good example that's not the one I'm looking for I will tell you it does start with an F so the word that I'm going for not feeble but if somebody looks well physically weak or unhealthy I could also say that he or she is frail he lay in bed looking particularly frail now if I want to check the frequency because I just gave you five different words to talk about someone's appearance and I told you these are descriptive words they're Advanced so they're not ones that you're going to come across every day but even if I want to compare the ones that we just learned and just talked about I can use enr and put in these phrases looks disheveled looks radiant looks whiskful looks Serene looks frail and then if I zoom in I get a better idea as to which ones are more commonly used so you can see it puts it on a graph for us and you can see some saying somebody looks radiant or frail is a little more common than using words like wistful or disheveled so just something to keep in mind if you have different words or phrases and you want to know well which one is more commonly used what do most people say in this situation you can use engram viewer to check that out and again this is a perfect example with the words that we just used right now radiant frail Serene wistful and disheveled the one thing I'd like to point out though because again it puts it on a graph is that you can see that the frequency of these words since the year 2000 has been on the rise that you're people are using them more either in well this is a taken from a written Corpus so they're definitely using them more in writing but I do think you would also hear them more in conversation watching a movie listening to the news or a podcast so here are all of the words that we talked about um when thinking about movement places people I hope some of these words were new for you and if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new you can let me know by hitting that like button because this is something that I try to focus on every year but I want to focus on it this year as well and really focus on helping you build your vocabulary Lear learn new words whether you're learning them passively or actively it's all about you know just building slowly that process and making these words a part of your active memory so these are the words you can review them uh but I hope you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new and of course I will see you very soon in the future for another lesson so long --- ## 196. Advanced Vocabulary in 60 Minutes (Precise words you need to know!) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `uLN6IdRtDhg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLN6IdRtDhg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:06:41 | --- Today is all about one thing, building your vocabulary. I'm going to teach you a lot of different words, mostly advanced words, to help you be more precise so that you can say exactly what you want to say. I've taken some of my very best vocabulary lessons and put them right here in this video. So, if you are interested in building your vocabulary, I recommend that you subscribe, turn on notifications, so that you'll learn about future lessons, like future vocabulary lessons, and I can become your teacher. My name is Wes, and really Interactive English, it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. phrases in context, and do so while having a conversation, then I suggest you check out my speaking course. And when you click on the link down in the description, you will find a special discount just for you. The course is all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Each week there is a different speaking topic. You will learn useful vocabulary. We do engaging speaking activities, and we warm up each lesson with something related to pronunciation or connected speech. There are also pronunciation video lessons included, and I'm going to teach you some of the language nuances, like when to use certain words and phrases. So, click on the link down below if you'd like to sign up or learn more about the course, and I hope to speak to you soon. Now, let's start this vocabulary marathon, and I am sure that you are going to learn some new words and phrases. Would you like to sound smarter when you're speaking in English? Of course you do. So, that's why today I'm going to tell you 10 different adjectives to help you sound smarter. So, the adjectives that I'm going to talk to you about today are a little more academic, and they're great adjectives because they're very descriptive, very precise. And that is a great way to improve your fluency because you're better able to express your thoughts, your opinions, your ideas, and they just so happen to be 10 of my favorite adjectives that I like to use because I want to sound smart. So, I'm going to give you the pronunciation of these adjectives. I'm going to tell you what they mean and how they're commonly used. So, let's begin. The first word is ubiquitous. And ubiquitous has four syllables. That first syllable is is just like you're saying the letter U. Ubiquitous. And the stress is going to be on that second syllable. Ubiquitous. Ubiquitous. Ubiquitous. Ubiquitous means existing or being everywhere. It is something that you see everywhere you go. It could be a shop, a store, and you find it all over the world. For example, you have companies that you see everywhere, like Starbucks, McDonald's. Wherever you go, whether you like it or not, you see these places. They are ubiquitous. It could also be used to talk about maybe a word, phrase, or expression that you might commonly hear that is ubiquitous. You hear it all the time. You wouldn't really use it to talk about a person that you see all the time because again, there is only one person. Ubiquitous is talking about something where there is a lot. It is a lot more than just one. It's everywhere. It's ubiquitous. Local coffee shops are ubiquitous in my hometown. The next word is cumbersome. The word cumbersome has three syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable. Cumbersome. Cumbersome. And something that is cumbersome is something that is difficult, something that is burdensome, and usually it's often talking about something that is physical, that is difficult to move or carry, maybe because it has an awkward shape, or maybe it's really heavy, and it is cumbersome to move something from one place to another. It's not always used to talk about an object. It can be used to talk about a situation as well, something that is difficult, problematic. We could say that it is cumbersome. It's a cumbersome situation, a cumbersome challenge, a cumbersome life. Moving the furniture outside was really cumbersome. The next adjective, and it's one of my favorites because, well, it kind of describes me, is facetious. Facetious has three syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. It's like you're just saying the letter C. Facetious. And that first syllable has that schwa, that uh sound. Facetious. Facetious. Facetious means not to be taken literal or serious. And I would say it's kind of in between a joke and a lie. And you're you're almost kind of teasing somebody when you're being facetious. You're saying something that is so ridiculous, it's so outlandish, that the other person or people, they shouldn't take you seriously because what you're saying is so ridiculous. You are being facetious. Don't listen to him. He's being facetious. Next is arduous. And arduous has three syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable. Arduous. Now, you don't hear that D sound that much. It's not very strong. It almost sounds a little like a J. Arduous. Arduous. And something that is arduous is difficult because it requires a lot of exertion, a lot of thought, a lot of energy. And it's often used to describe something that you have to do, like a task, an arduous task, an arduous problem, an arduous chore. It requires a lot of exertion, and it's because of that, it's just really difficult. It's arduous. Building the sandcastle was an arduous task. Next is presumptuous. And presumptuous has four syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. And the S almost sounds a little more like a Z. Presumptuous. Presumptuous. And if somebody is being presumptuous, then that just means that they're showing little or no respect for others by doing something that that they shouldn't be doing. They're being presumptuous, thinking that they can do this or that when they shouldn't do it. It's presumptuous. For example, if you go over to a friend's place, most of us don't just walk inside their home or apartment. You knock on the door because it's polite, it's respectful. If you just walk inside like you own the place, then you would be presumptuous. It was presumptuous of him to think that this was a date. She just thought they were friends. Next is pensive. And the pronunciation, very easy, just two syllables, and the stress is on that first syllable. Pensive. Pensive. Now, if somebody is pensive, that just means that they are in deep thought. They're really thinking about or reflecting on something. It's almost like a dream-like state. You're in such deep thought, you you've just tuned out the rest of the world. You would say that this person is pensive, or somebody might look pensive. And usually, if somebody is pensive, it's it's because something requires that deep thought. It could be something serious. It could be something bad or unfortunate that that makes somebody pensive and really have to think about something. She's thinking about her friend in the hospital. She looks pensive. The next adjective, which is another one that I really like, is circuitous. And circuitous has four syllables, and there's a few things going on with the pronunciation. In the first syllable, that C is going to have more of an S sound. Circuitous. The stress is going to be on that second syllable, and that C U is it's kind of like you're saying the letter Q. Circuitous. Circuitous. And circuitous is talking about a very roundabout way to get somewhere, where you you're just not taking the most direct route. And I think we've all probably tried to go somewhere, and maybe we got a little lost, and we went way out of our way, and we ended up taking a circuitous route. And frequently, it's used with this word when talking about the direction that you go, a circuitous route, a circuitous path. And it is just this windy, roundabout way that you try to go and get somewhere. Circuitous. We took a circuitous route to reach our destination. Next is conscientious. And this is a great adjective to describe maybe yourself or someone else. And I think the pronunciation is what makes many learners avoid this word because they look at it and think what what's going on there. So, conscientious has four syllables. And the stress is on that third syllable, that n n, conscientious. Conscientious. That second syllable it is what really confuses people because that s c i almost sounds like you're saying she. Conscientious. Conscientious. And someone who is conscientious just means that they have a moral responsibility to to do their work carefully and also, you know, treat others with respect and be fair to others. Someone who's conscientious is really able to put themselves in another person's shoes and really see how they feel and empathize with them. They are aware of their surroundings and because of that we would say they are conscientious. Great word. She's very conscientious of her health. The next word is meticulous. And this word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, meticulous. Meticulous. That first syllable also has that schwa, that uh sound, that reduced vowel sound, meticulous. This is another word that that I like because I think it does describe me in in many situations. If someone is meticulous, that means that they try to pay really close attention to the details. They're meticulous in their work. They're focused on the details and they want to make sure every little thing is in order. Someone is meticulous. Now, it it's usually I think it is a good thing when you're talking about somebody's work that you want to pay close attention to the details so you don't miss anything and be very meticulous. He's meticulous with his designs. The final adjective that I have for you is convoluted. Convoluted also has four syllables and the stress is on the first syllable, convoluted. That second syllable again has that schwa sound, that reduced vowel sound, uh. Convoluted. Convoluted. If something is convoluted, it means that it is extremely difficult to follow because things are connected and intertwined and mixed around in a way that's difficult to understand. That means that something is convoluted. It can be used to describe a story or an argument or maybe even a sentence that is hard to follow and it doesn't make much sense. It's convoluted. The story was convoluted because there were so many different people involved. So, those are 10 super awesome adjectives that will help you sound smarter when you're having a conversation in English. It will also help you be more descriptive when you're expressing your thoughts, your ideas, your opinions. So, please use those adjectives. Welcome to today's lesson, which is more of a vocabulary lesson because I'm going to talk to you about 10 amazing adjectives that you can use to sound more academic, more professional, and more competent when you're speaking English. And these are not words that you're going to hear every day on the street. Instead, you're more likely to hear these adjectives in presentations, debates, or in-depth conversations that are a bit more serious because these are words that sound more professional, more convincing, and they they give us a bit more authority when we're speaking about a topic. Are you ready? Let's begin. Now, this is two syllables and the stress is on the second syllable, germane. And it means that something is relevant, that it is closely related to something else. And we could use it in a sentence and say Your statements are not germane to the central argument. The next word, and it's one that I really like, is preposterous. And this adjective has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, preposterous. And remember that o u s has that schwa, that uh sound. And this means that that something is contrary to reason, it's just ridiculous, it's absurd. And the way it's used is somebody would usually say something and it's ridiculous, it's absurd, and the other person would say That's preposterous. That's absurd. That's preposterous. You're not going to like this video? That that's preposterous. Next is a very cool word and that is perfunctory. And perfunctory has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, that funk, perfunctory. That third syllable has the schwa and it's going to end with that long e sound, perfunctory. Perfunctory. And if something is perfunctory, it means that that you're doing something out of routine. You're doing it with without even thinking about it. It's habit, it's a ritual. You just do it in haste without giving it much thought and we would say that that it is perfunctory. When she saw us, she gave us a perfunctory smile. The next adjective is truculent. And this word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Keep in mind that that c u is pronounced it's like you're saying the letter q, truculent. That last syllable has the schwa, truculent. And if somebody is being truculent, then that means that they're being fierce, a little cruel, kind of very aggressive, aggressively hostile if someone's being truculent. So, it's not not a good word. It kind of means that that this person is upset with you maybe because of something you said and and they're just being a bit cruel. They're truculent. They're stand-offish. Sometimes when I've had a really bad day and and I don't want to talk to people and I'm just upset, I can be kind of truculent with others if if they're trying to approach me and I don't want to deal with anybody, I can be truculent. A great example would be in politics. People maybe they do something wrong and the media wants to talk to them about it and they're they're angry, they don't want to speak to the media and they might be truculent. So, we could say Politicians are sometimes truculent with the media. Another great word is this one right here, austere. And this has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable with that long e sound, austere. And if somebody or something is austere, it means that they're very severe in their manner, they're very strict or even without excess, austere. Her austere manner intimidated the students. The next adjective, which is one of my favorites, is capricious. And this word has three syllables and the stress is on the second syllable. And keep in mind that first syllable has that schwa sound, that k k pricious. Capricious. And if someone or something is capricious, then that just means that they are subject to sudden or even unpredictable change, capricious. So, you could say a person is capricious. Perhaps the weather is capricious or maybe even your plans are capricious. They're subject to change. And I could use it in an example sentence and say I can never get her to commit to a time because she's so capricious. Next is the word defamatory. And this word has five syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, defamatory. Defamatory. It's not a good adjective because if something is defamatory, we're talking about false or unjustified harm caused to one's reputation. And we could use it in an example sentence and say The president's defamatory remarks startled everyone. The next word, which is another one of my favorite adjectives, is esoteric. And this word has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable, esoteric. And when we describe something as esoteric, we're talking about something that's really understood by a small group of people because they have knowledge or interest in that thing. Usually it's somebody that has direct experience with it. So, we say that it is esoteric. For example, somebody could have esoteric knowledge about something. Maybe they have an esoteric experience because there's just a few people that really understand and and know what it's like. I spent 6 months in the woods hiking the Appalachian Trail. It was an esoteric experience. Another great adjective is nascent. And this word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. It has the long a sound, nascent. That second syllable has that schwa, nascent. And if something is nascent, then that just means it's beginning to exist or beginning to develop. It's at the early stages. It is nascent. And we can use it in a sentence and say The project is at a nascent stage of development. Another very cool adjective is quintessential. And this word has four syllables and the stress is on the third syllable. Quintessential. And when we say that something is quintessential, it means that it is representing just the most perfect example. It's quintessential. Now, let me give you the quintessential example sentence. Interactive English is the quintessential channel to learn, practice, and improve your English skills. If you agree with that last sentence, please please please show us some love and hit that like button down below. Welcome to today's lesson. It is a super awesome amazing vocabulary lesson because I'm going to teach you 10 different verbs to help you sound smarter. And I say that they help you sound smarter because these are more advanced verbs. These are advanced vocabulary words that are very specific, very precise, that you can use in certain situations so that you can perfectly express your ideas, thoughts, and opinions, and say exactly what you want to say. These verbs are going to help you do just that. Now, I'm not only going to tell you the verb and the meaning, but I'm also going to give you the pronunciation as well as an example sentence so that you can see how these words are used in context. That's very important. So, without further ado, let's begin. admonish. And admonish has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, mon. Admonish. And this is a verb that we use with a direct object to admonish someone, usually for doing something wrong because what it means is to to counsel or advise against something. It's kind of like you're scolding somebody in a way, but not because you are super angry and they did something really terrible, but but they just did something wrong and it's not correct. Maybe it was a little rude. interrupted me again while I was admonishing you for interrupting me. Have you ever been admonished for doing something? I definitely have been admonished for many things in my life. The parents admonished their child for telling a lie. The next wonderful verb is to advocate. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, advocate. And to advocate means to show strong support for something. It could be a support for a policy. It could be support for an issue. And you advocate for it. We often use it with the preposition for. You advocate for something when you are really passionate about something. You really really really believe in it and you want to advocate for this thing. The teachers advocated for better pay. The next verb is to bemoan. And this verb has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, moan. Bemoan. You may also notice that that word in that second syllable, which kind of shares a similar meaning to the verb to bemoan, which means you are basically expressing that you are upset, you are distressed about something. It's kind of like you're complaining and you might bemoan a situation that you are in. You might bemoan someone's decision if you disagree with it and you don't like it. You're not very happy with something that happened and you bemoan the situation. She bemoaned having to look for another flight. The next verb is compel. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, compel. And what it means is to to force or drive or maybe even encourage somebody to to do something, some course of action, to do something that that you want them to do. You you really want to convince them to do something. Sometimes it can be done by force. You compel someone to do something because maybe you're threatening them in some way, shape, or form and you are compelling them to do what you want them to do. The power of Christ compels you. But you're really just trying to get somebody to to do this thing, to compel someone to do something. The police compelled him to tell the truth. The next verb is good one, embezzle. To embezzle. This verb has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, embezzle. Embezzle. And what it means is to take money or maybe even property, but most of the time we're talking about money, and to do it in a fraudulent way. People are creating some false records, some false receipts, and they are taking that extra money and stealing it and they are embezzling the money. You can embezzle money from a company. You can embezzle money from a bank. Lloyd Gross is a fictional salesman we invented to, how do I put this, steal from the company, embezzle, to commit fraud. I just got fired from Sweetums. Because you were embezzling. Now, if you do this, it's a crime. So, it is not a good verb. It's not a verb that you want to be associated with. The accountant embezzled millions of dollars from the company. The next verb is extol. To extol. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, extol. And what it means is to praise highly, to to give a lot of high praise to someone or to something. Often times you might extol someone during a eulogy. If there is a funeral and a person is giving a eulogy and talking about the person that has passed away, you you want to talk about all the good things that this person did. You want to give them a lot of praise and and you would extol this person. You can also use it talking about places or things if you really just want to speak highly of it, extol. She extolled the beauty of modern art. Next is the verb impugn. To impugn. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, impugn. And what it means is to to claim that something is false, to to say that, to challenge it and say that it's not true, and kind of cast doubt upon this situation or or even this person. So, because of a few bad apples, you impugn an entire continent? I'm impugning a continent. A lot of times you might hear it with the word character, to impugn someone's character. Basically saying that this person should not be believed, that they say things that are false, they're dishonest, and and you're trying to cast doubt over the things that this person is talking about when you impugn someone's character. Mr. Chairman, if she's going to impugn his character while he's speaking, It's not a good verb. It's not something that we should try to do, but this is a situation that happens and it's a great way to describe it, to impugn someone or something. They tried to impugn her character with false accusations. Another great verb, which is one of my favorites, is obfuscate. This verb has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, obfuscate. And what it means to obfuscate something is to confuse or bewilder and just try to create a confusing situation so that it's really difficult to understand. So, you might hear it being used. They they want to obfuscate a situation. They want to obfuscate an issue. They want to obfuscate a policy. It happens a lot I think in politics when you're trying to get people to believe one thing or another thing and some people try to obfuscate certain issues. The oil companies tried to obfuscate the benefits of wind energy. The next verb is placate. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, placate. And what it means is to appease by by giving something up. You're you're giving up some concession in order to try and get something that you want, to placate someone. For example, if somebody is upset with you, you did something wrong, you will do something for this person. You'll give something up. You are trying to placate them in order for this person to forgive you, to to be okay with it, and and just to move on, to placate someone. Nothing she could say or do would placate him. Another great verb, repudiate. This verb has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, repudiate. And this means to reject something, to to reject it with disapproval because there's no authority in this thing that people are trying to to say or do. To repudiate someone or you could repudiate something. So, for example, at work, if if you are the manager and you have employees and and they make a request and you could reject it and say no, I don't like it. This is a terrible idea. You would repudiate this. Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, does it bother you at all your son repudiates so many of your more controversial policies? No. It was refused, rejected, rebuffed, repudiated. It's kind of a confrontational word because if you repudiate something, then you're you're really letting the other person know that that you're a bit unhappy, that that you don't like this and you are rejecting it. You repudiated. The professor repudiated the students' request to postpone the exam. So, right now, I would like to advocate for you to write us a comment and let us know a English word that you have recently learned. It can be any word, a noun, an adjective, a verb. Just let us know. We love hearing from you in the comments. If you don't write us a comment, I'm not going to bemoan the situation. I'm not even going to admonish you, but we would really appreciate it and if you do, I will placate you by coming out with another lesson next week. If you would like to sound smarter and be smarter than this lesson is for you because I'm going to tell you 10 nouns to help you do just that. Many of you out there have said you would like to learn more advanced vocabulary words and that's what these 10 nouns are. They're not only going to help you sound smarter, but they're going to help you more accurately express your your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. They also happen to be 10 of my favorite nouns. So, as I go over these nouns, I'm going to give you the pronunciation, tell you the meaning, as well as talk to you about how they're used in context. show on the road. The first noun is this one right here, quid pro quo. And it is three words. Each word is only one syllable and if if you're saying it together, the stress is is kind of on that first word and that last word. Quid pro quo. And what this means is it is something that that is given or or even taken in return for something else. So, it's kind of like you're you're you're doing a favor for someone in exchange for something else and that would be considered quid pro quo. Often, we hear this when when talking about politics. Somebody gives a politician money and then that politician does something in return for them and they would refer to it as quid pro quo. Quid pro quo, Mr. Powers. I need some quid pro quo from you. Quid pro quo. I I do things, you tell me things. Maybe you're negotiating with somebody and you're like, you know, I'm going to need a little quid pro quo if I do whatever favor it is for you. If you want us to donate to your campaign, we'll need some quid pro quo. The next noun, which is one of my favorites, is catch-22. This is two words. It's a compound noun. The word catch is just one syllable and then 22 is three syllables and the stress is on that final syllable. Catch-22. The word comes from a famous book by Joseph Heller, which is titled Catch-22. And the meaning of a catch-22, see if you can follow me, is it is a problem that cannot be solved because the solution to the problem is inherent in the problem itself. Now, you may be thinking, what the heck are you talking about? And it's often referred to situations where, again, you can't solve the problem because the solution is within the problem itself and it's just like this circular loop. So, this is a a great noun to describe this type of situation and again, it's just like a standalone statement. are tough, they resent you and when you are cool, they walk all over you. Catch-22. There's no unspoken thing. Well, it's a catch-22 because if you said it, then it would be spoken. Part of their paroles that they're required to have a job, the catch-22 of it is not that many people are that excited to hire a felon. We don't really use this noun with any adjectives. It's just really that standalone statement and you would describe something and say, it's a catch-22. Next is epitome. And this noun has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Epitome. This is a word that when you see it, many times people may mispronounce it because the third syllable has that schwa and the last syllable is that long e. Epitome. Epitome. And what it means is a a person or thing that is that is typical of a a class or group as a whole. Something that possesses to to the highest degree what what this whole group is all about. And therefore, we we say that something is the epitome of something else. Kind of giving an example, saying that this thing best represents this whole group. It's the epitome of something. Interactive English is the epitome of English teaching excellence. And if you agree with that statement, then go ahead and and hit that like button down below. It's it's kind of like a quid pro quo. I teach you new nouns, you hit that like button. It's a fair exchange. Another great noun is dichotomy. This word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Dichotomy. And that third syllable it has that schwa, that uh sound. Dichotomy. What it means is the division or or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different. So, let me give you a couple examples of a dichotomy. You could have science and religion. Two things that you can compare and they're kind of opposed to each other in some ways. Also, city life and country life. Completely different, but we can still compare them. And when using this noun, you you say the two things that that you're comparing. Dichotomy of good and evil. The tired dichotomy of jock, artist. Often, we use it with the preposition between. You talk about the dichotomy between two things. For example, we could say, we're studying the dichotomy between economic development and environmental protection. The next noun is myriad. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. That m y r sounds like a mir. Myriad. And a myriad is a very great or indefinitely great number of things. Often, it can be used as a synonym for various. You talk about a myriad of something. There's a lot of variety. There's a great number of these things. There's a myriad. There is a myriad of trees in the forest. The next noun is credence. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. Credence. And what it means is the belief as as to the truth of something that you're kind of that there's a belief and it's showing that that belief is true. I never gave these stories much credence. He's a criminal or a terrorist. People aren't going to give him credence. And uh though we we give them no credence at all, Larry. And often, you may find this noun with the verb give. Something gives a belief credence. It makes it seem a little more true. For example, the email they discovered gave credence to his unethical behavior. Next is malaise. This word has two syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. Malaise. And this is not a great noun. The reason I say this is because its meaning is a a vague feeling of physical discomfort or uneasiness as an early sign of an illness. So, if somebody is is just starting to feel ill, then it's very possible that they might experience malaise. I experienced bad headaches and malaise before deciding to go to the doctor. The next noun is sycophant. And this noun has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. The spelling may throw people off to the pronunciation, but that s y c is just pronounced sick. Sycophant. And the meaning of a sycophant is a person that that tries to gain attention by flattering wealthy or influential people. So, this is not a good noun. You don't want somebody to call you a sycophant because basically means you're sucking up to somebody else for no real reason. It's pathetic. Yeah, it's not good. Some sycophants in the media refuse to acknowledge the political corruption. Another great noun, which is another one of my favorites, is a dilettante. And this word has three syllables and there's kind of like a a stress on that first and last syllable. Dilettante. The reason I say it's one of my favorites is because I guess, you know, I could be considered a dilettante. Many of us can be considered dilettantes because its meaning is a person that that cultivates an interest in something without really learning in-depth information. And I think this just happens with people all the time. We become interested in a topic and we learn a little bit about it so that we can converse with our friends and have discussions. But we we have difficulty really debating this topic with facts and information because we just don't know enough. They will remain dilettantes in war and tourists in Vietnam. What's your point? Your knowledge is a mile wide and an inch deep. Do you know what that makes you? A dilettante. But if somebody calls you a dilettante, then it's probably not in a good sense because they're they're probably referring to you saying that well, you're a person that you think you know a lot, but you really don't. You want to think she knows a lot about health and nutrition, but she's really a dilettante. The next noun is zenith. Has two syllables and the stress is on the first syllable, zenith. And when talking about the zenith, you are talking about the top, the peak, the highest point or state of something or someone's condition. So, if you are at the top, the highest point, then you are at the zenith. It basically implies that you're not going to go any higher. So, it's like saying you you've reached the top, you're not going to go any higher, and things are are just going to start going downhill from here. His athletic career has reached its zenith. So, I hope some of these nouns were were new for you and now that you've learned them, you can go out and practice using them so that you can improve your overall English fluency. Today, I have a vocabulary lesson for you and these words are all adverbs. They are advanced adverbs and every single one of them ends in l y. And these are great adverbs to know because they're really going to help you accurately express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. And throughout the lesson, I'm going to do a few things for you. I am going to show you the adverb. I will then tell you the correct pronunciation. I'll give you the meaning and then I will also give you some example sentences so that you can see how the adverb is used in context and that is really useful because it's just going to reinforce the meaning. So, let's begin. The first adverb is annually. This word has four syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. The second syllable, it's like you're just saying that letter u. And the third syllable has that schwa, annually. Annually. And this adverb means that that something is occurring once a year. every year. It happens annually. US Marshal Service annually flies 155,000 prisoners around the country. Evidence suggests it sheds its skin annually. Extended annually. 12 million a year. It's also quite commonly used with numbers. For example, when you're talking about banking and maybe you earn interest on the money that's in the bank and you will earn interest annually. We could also use it and say, everyone should file their taxes annually. The next word is reluctantly. This word has four syllables and the stress is on that second syllable. That third syllable also has that schwa, reluctantly. Reluctantly. And what it means is that just unwillingness to do something. That you are not inclined to to do this thing. Reluctantly, I am asking for your help. But all he gives his loser son is grief. And a place to live. Reluctantly. He gives that reluctantly. Each year we we have to pay our taxes annually, but I think most of us reluctantly file our taxes. It's not something we want to do, but we have to do it and many of us do it reluctantly. The employees reluctantly came in to work over the weekend. Then we have unabashedly. This adverb has five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable, that bash, unabashedly. That second syllable has that schwa, that uh sound, unabashedly. And what it means is just that you are not apologetic, you are not embarrassed, you are very certain about your position. You do something unabashedly or maybe you say something unabashedly. She unabashedly told her boss that she wanted a raise. Then we have an adverb that that I like to use and that is vaguely. It has two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, vaguely. And vaguely means that something is not clearly expressed or something is not clearly stated. Does smell vaguely poisonous. Who are exposing me to information and ideas that seem vaguely familiar. If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the time stone still attached, you'll vaguely irritating person. Kramer, remember that whole deal with you selling Peter in your stories for his book and then he came back to you? Vaguely. We often use it with the word remember. I vaguely remember What do I vaguely remember? I vaguely remember the example. I vaguely remember you telling me to pick this up at the grocery store. The next adverb is one of my favorites, fervently. It has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, fervently. And what it means is that you are just showing great enthusiasm, great intensity to to do something. For example, right now I'm fervently trying to explain the meaning of these new adverbs. They fervently worked around the clock in order to finish the project on time. Next, we have diligently. This adverb has four syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, diligently. And it just means that that you are working very hard to accomplish something. You are very focused on the task at hand and often it's used with the verb work. We have been working diligently on this problem. Preston shares your concerns and is working diligently to find a solution. Senator Gates had a series of mini strokes a few months ago, but we are working diligently to get him through his final term. I'm sure all of you are working diligently to build your vocabulary and learn new words, which is why you're here. The police diligently collected evidence in order to find the criminal. Then we have another great adverb, which is vicariously. This adverb has five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable. Is it on the third syllable? I vaguely remember. Second syllable, my bad. The stress is on that second syllable. Well, yes, it is on the second syllable. That third syllable, it's like that that letter i just has that e sound and the fourth syllable has the schwa, vicariously. And what this adverb means is imagining a situation through the eyes of another person. Okay? And it's often heard over and over again in the same way. You live vicariously through another person. So, if somebody else has this exciting life going on and you're trying to imagine it and you might tell them, wow, I am going to live vicariously through you. Yes. I live vicariously through you, remember? So, I can live vicariously through you guys, can't I? Marry me. Uh-huh. I need to live vicariously through you. Just give me a couple of details. No. Wow, I'm I'm just going to live live vicariously through you because you're doing all these cool and amazing things and you're going to tell me about it and I will imagine it. She lived vicariously through her children. The next adverb is hastily. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, hastily. And what it means is just excessive speed. That you are doing something quickly, rapidly, and with great urgency. And because you're working so fast, you're you're not going to be able to put the the same amount of care into it that you normally would, which means that you might be more likely to make mistakes if you are working hastily. Just to these hastily passed, untested, pandering laws. Perhaps I spoke hastily. Oh. A last minute gift hastily bought on the way to the party. Often I think of a situation where you're running out of time and that's a problem. So, you have to work hastily in order to get it done. They hastily completed the final report in order to meet the deadline. Then we have another great adverb, utterly. This word has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, utterly. It means completely, totally, absolutely. Those are all synonyms for utterly. And he was brilliant. Utterly. Utterly brilliant. She's insane. Utterly mad. Completely and utterly alone. I prefer to use utterly because I I think it adds a nice little emphasis to to the verb or the adjective that you're describing. For example, his outfit is utterly ridiculous. Next is intently. This adverb has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, intently. So, this word means that you're you're just giving all of your attention to something, that you are you are sharply focused on this thing. I'm sure he's pressing his ear up against it and listening intently. Why is he watching us so intently? And you are intently listening to someone. Maybe you are intently watching something. Are you guys intently watching this video? I hope so. I hope you listen intently to our lessons. So, we work diligently to to come up and create new English lessons for you guys each week, and I completely and utterly hope that that you find them useful and that they're easy to follow. So, if they are if you were listening intently to this lesson, let me know in the comments. Tell me and just write, "I intently listened to this lesson." That way I know that you were focused, you paid attention, and you understood all of these adverbs. Let me know in the comments. Thank you guys so much for watching. Don't forget to hit that like button. Actually, you can fervently hit that like button. Do it with some energy, some enthusiasm. I want to teach you 15 irregular verbs that I think will help you improve your overall English fluency. Now, these irregular verbs in particular are not as common as verbs like go or have, but they are very useful especially in specific situations, which is why they are a bit more advanced. So, I'm going to give you the verb in three different forms. The present, the past, and the past participle. I will also tell you the meaning of the verb and then give you an example sentence so that you can see how it's used in context. arisen. That is the present, the past, and the past participle. And this just means to become apparent, to notice something. So, to give you an example, I could use it in the past and say, "New problems arose last week, which delayed the project." If you were working on something and problems arose, then that may delay the work that you're doing. Problems arose. Then we have the verb bear, bore, born. Notice that with the past participle you may find it with the e or without the e. And this verb has it has a few different meanings. It can mean to turn slightly in one direction. It can also mean to accept something that is unpleasant or to give birth or produce. So, let me give you a few example sentences. I could say, "Uh if I'm giving directions, you need to bear to the left, or you need to bear to the right." This is a common way in which this verb is used in the present tense. Or perhaps I could say, "He was the leader and bore the responsibility of his team." It was his team, so he bore the responsibility and had to accept maybe something unpleasant. And finally, I could use it in the present perfect and say, "The apple trees have borne plenty of fruit this season." They have produced plenty of fruit, have borne. The next verb I have for you is behold, beheld, beheld. So, the past and the past participle are the same. And this verb just means to see or observe something. And often I think you may hear it being used in the context of like showing somebody something that you want them to see, and you'd say, "Behold, um behold my water bottle." Now, you'd want to show somebody something a little more exciting than a water bottle, but you get the idea as to how somebody might use this verb, "Behold." And then they would show somebody something that is important or maybe even a little surprising. The next verb is creep, crept, crept. Now, this verb means to move slowly and carefully in order to avoid being heard. You don't want anybody to notice you, you don't want anybody to hear you, so you might creep through a room, and that that's kind of that's how I was going to use it in my example, and I was going to say, "Last night I crept into the kitchen and took a cookie." And that's actually a true story. Yes, last night I did I crept into the kitchen. And the reason that I crept into the kitchen is that well, I felt a little guilty. So, I just I didn't want anybody to hear me, and I crept into the kitchen. Notice how many times I say these verbs. I do that for a reason, so you will hear it again and again and again because this works. This will help you remember. Then we have deal, dealt, dealt. And this verb has a couple of different meanings. It can mean to distribute cards, or that you have some kind of business in commercial trading and you are buying and selling things. I think most often you would use it in the context of a a card game and playing cards, and somebody would deal the cards. I can give you an example sentence in which you could actually use all three forms of this verb. I could say, "She deals the cards" in the present tense. Or in the past, "She dealt the cards." Or if I want to use the past participle, I could give you a sentence in the present perfect, "She has dealt the cards." Then we have forsake, forsook, forsaken. verb means to abandon or to give up. For example, I I think of usually some kind of promise or commitment was abandoned. People take vows. So, somebody could say, "He has forsaken his vows. He has abandoned his commitment, his promises. He has forsaken his vows." Now, the next two verbs cause a lot of confusion, and I hope to clear up some of that confusion right now. So, let's just start with lie, lay, lain. And this verb means to assume a resting position or to be kept in a specific state. That that's where you are. So, let let me give you an example. I will use it in the past, and I'd say, "Well, I didn't feel well, I lay in bed all day." That this happened in the past, I assumed that resting position in my bed, and I lay in bed. Don't confuse this with the other meaning of the verb, which is to say something that's not true. That is actually a regular verb and ends in ed. But still, this irregular verb, lie, lay, lain, is confused with another irregular verb, which is lay, laid, laid. And this verb means to put something down or to prepare something. Lay, laid, laid. So, let me give you an example, and we'll we'll start with putting something down. Again, I can use one sentence and and use all three forms. For example, I could say, "We lay the baby on the bed" in the present tense. Or in the past, "We laid the baby on the bed." Or using the past participle, "We have laid the baby on the bed." We have put the baby down. Then to give you an example with its other meaning, to prepare something, I think you may hear somebody say, "We've already laid the groundwork for this project." Laid the groundwork. They have prepared for the start of this project, to lay the groundwork. So, please don't confuse these verbs. Lie, which is to assume a resting position, lie in bed, or lay, which is to put something down. I'm going to lay I'm going to lay my head down on the pillow. Then we have mean, meant, meant. And this I think is actually a very common verb, but the meaning can be a little challenging. And what this verb means is to to intend to refer to something. Often I think it's used when we're talking about questions. Well, what does this mean? I might ask students, "Well, what does this word mean?" Or if I want to use it in the past and say, "Well, that is not what I was referring to." You may hear somebody say, "Well, no, no, that's not what I meant. That's not what I meant. I didn't want to refer to this thing. That's not what I meant." Then we have the verb overtake, overtook, overtaken. And this verb means to come from behind and move in front of. Often I think you would hear this verb used in the context of driving because cars pass each other all the time, and you might want to overtake a car that is in front of you. I can give you an example and say, "Well, we overtook the bus because it was driving so slow." So, we came from behind and went in front of the bus. We overtook the bus. Then we have the verb rise, rose, risen. This verb has a couple of different meanings. The first one is to move from a lower position to a higher position. And the next meaning is just to to get up. So, let's start with the first meaning, and I'll give you an example, and I could give you a simple sentence and use all three forms. the past, "The sun rose." Or using the past participle, "The sun has risen." And if I want to say get up, I often think of the expression rise and shine. And somebody would say this just telling somebody else to get up, "It's time to start your day. Rise and shine." Next is the verb swear, swore, sworn. And this verb means that you are making a promise to do something. Swear, swore, sworn. And let me give you another example in which you could use all three forms in this one sentence. I could say, he swears to tell the truth. Or in the past, he swore to tell the truth. Or he has sworn to tell the truth. Often I think it's used in in that context of you're you're making a promise in which you are going to tell the truth. I think it's also used as a question and somebody would just ask, you know, do you swear? Do you promise? Or they might say, do you swear on something that is important which in that case it's kind of an expression which means, well, you really have to be serious about this promise to swear on something. Then we have shake, shook, shaken. And this verb means to move something up and down or from side to side or or even to tremble. And I could use it and give you an example and just say, you know, when we met we shook hands. I often think of this verb being used talking about introductions and people shaking hands. Or to give you an example about trembling, I think well, in that case I think somebody is very cold and not only that but I think it would often be used in the continuous tense. So, I could say, well, you know, last night was very cold and I was shaking. I I was shaking as I lay in bed. Next is weep, wept, wept. And this verb means just well, to cry or to shed tears. And often I think it would be used in a context that is a little more serious, a little more severe in which you would say that you wept. You were crying a lot. For example, uh I could say that after the breakup he wept for days. He was so sad, he wept for days. Then we have withdraw, withdrew, withdrawn. And this verb means to remove something or to to take something back. So, when I think of this verb, I think it's often used in the context of money and you could say, well, she has withdrawn all her money from the bank account. She has removed it from her account. Or maybe you want to apply for a job and then you decide that you don't want it. And I can give you an example and use all three forms and say, I withdraw my name from consideration. Or I withdrew my name from consideration or I have withdrawn my name from consideration. Wow, I'm impressed that you have made it all the way to the end. Congratulations. I'm sure that you have learned some new vocabulary and I'm sure that a lot of that was also review and it's good to get that review. But try to listen for these words or if you're reading, try to identify them and also practice them if you're having a conversation. So, if you enjoyed the lesson, please hit that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 197. Advanced Vocabulary that will BLOW YOUR MIND ๐Ÿคฏ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8jzR_O9V6wo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jzR_O9V6wo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:46:50 | --- I want to help you build your vocabulary by teaching you some super Advanced words and phrases that are going to help you be more descriptive and precise and if you'd like to get the lesson notes click on the link down in the description join our email community and you can access these notes if you're already a part of our community then I have sent them to you so let's begin with some super Advanced verbs and for each one I'm going to talk a little bit about the meaning and give you different examples as to how they're used in context so the first one is to bamboozle someone I really like this verb it means to trick or deceive someone Often by confusing them and you might say well I was Bamboozled into doing something or buying something or someone Bamboozled me I just really like saying the word bamboozle here are some news headlines so you can see how this verb is used in context why smartphones bamboozle politicians holiday firms trying to bamboozle customers with long tnc's including jet tw's 23732 words tnc's in this case refers to terms and conditions so again that is a way that perhaps a a company is trying to bamboozle its customers and then watch GAA star bamboozle Australian foe with gaic football skill that leaves AFL crowd stunned the next verb is to dwindle this means to become smaller in size or amount or fewer in number so you could say that something is starting to dwindle in order to help you better understand this verb I wanted to show you some different synonyms that have a similar meaning they may not all be direct synonyms so I'm not going to go over all of them I'm just going to mention a few that I think are a little more common like decline instead of saying something is declining you could say it start to dwindle or diminish or drop fade lessen these are all verbs that have a similar meaning to dwindle every year our numbers dwindle well our membership has been dwindling over the past 5 years his business is twindle down to almost nothing then there's to jeopardize this means to put someone or something in a situation in which there is a danger of loss harm or failure and this is a verb that's a little more descriptive and to help you better understand this verb I wanted to share some common cations with you these are words that are frequently used together so you could say that something jeopardizes your chances or your health or something may jeopardize progress or jeopardize a group of people like passengers or citizens or even jeopardize your chances of winning something I'm not going to go through all of these collocations but this this is a great way to build your vocabulary instead of learning just one word you're learning other words that are often used with it the next verb that I want to look at is to entertain now this is a verb that has multiple meanings and I'm not talking about the the one that most people are familiar with which is just to feel enjoyment from watching something in this case I'm talking about giving attention or consideration to some idea or feeling or perhaps even a suggestion so here are some example sentences using the verb entertain in this context he refused to entertain my offer or I will not entertain such accusations or she wouldn't entertain his outlandish suggestions in each of these examples I'm using it with the negative saying somebody did not entertain the offer or did not entertain these accusations it doesn't have to be used with the negative but I do think in this context that that is how you may hear it that you're not going to consider something and you're not going to entertain this thought or idea then we have to articulate this is a great verb especially I think when when talking about learning other languages because it means expressing oneself readily clearly and effectively so one thing I want to point out with this verb is the pronunciation because you can use it as a verb or an adjective however the pronunciation is different with the verb the stress is on the second syllable but the final syllable has that long a sound articulate to articulate something he articulated the new policy changes if we're going to use it as an adjective the stress is still on the second syllable but that final syllable has more of a short eye sound articulate someone is articulate he is very articulate it's difficult to articulate ability to articulate never ceases to amaze many of them cannot even articulate the fo let's move on and talk about some Advanced adjectives and for these words I wanted to give you some synonyms as well as an example sentence so if you say that someone is sanctimonious this is really a word that you would use to describe a person it has a similar meaning if you were saying that someone is self-righteous or insincere hypocritical Pious or smug this person is sanctimonious he gave a self-serving and sanctimonious speech the next adjective is preposterous this is another word that I just enjoy saying but some synonyms include ridiculous strange bizarre foolish excessive that cow won't be able to climb over the style that's preposterous and I think you may hear it used in that statement and someone would just say look that's preposterous that's preposterous that's preposterous that's preposterous no that is preposterous the next word is levelheaded I think this is a great adjective to describe someone especially in the context of work and you want to talk about your colleague or a boss who is levelheaded some other synonyms for this word include practical balanced composed reasonable cool-headed these are all words that have a positive connotation my colleague works well under pressure she's very levelheaded the next adjective is daunting now this has more of a negative connotation and you can see that just by looking at those synonyms alarming awful dire disheartening Dreadful and you could describe something as daunting he faces the daunting Prospect of up to three different exams in one day yes that sounds daunting then there's agous this is another adjective that has a negative connotation some synonyms atrocious deplorable extreme flagrant glaring he made an egregious mistake so this is a great dis descriptive adjective anytime you want to add emphasis and talk about well how bad something really is and you could say that it's egregious to give you an example as to how often these words are used we can use engram viewer which allows us to compare the frequency of different words and phrases I have put in our five Super Advanced adjectives right there and you can see which ones are more commonly used like daunting egregious and then the other three are not as commonly used sanctimonious levelheaded Preposterous but again it's all about building your vocabulary so these words are good to know now speaking of great words let's have a look at some Advanced nouns and the first one is superiority this means the fact that one person or thing is better stronger than another here's an example sentence he boasted about his accomplishments and walked around the stage with an air of superior ority now I highlighted that entire phrase because this is a common cocation with this noun and I want to share with you some other collocations with the word superiority so you might hear it used if somebody's talking about an air of superiority or technological superiority or perhaps military superiority or moral superiority the next noun is custody this refers to the legal right or Duty to care for someone or something especially a child the court awarded custody to the mother and that is another collocation so let's have a look at some more verb noun collocations with the word custody to award custody or to get custody to share custody to Grant custody or you could use it when talking about gaining custody or losing custody these are all great phrases with this now is this Court's decision to award full custody to Mrs Hillary I lost custody with my daughter so that's why we've agreed to share custody next is the word novelty this refers to the quality of being new and unusual so here's an example sentence I still love scuba diving but after several Dives the novelty started to wear off that is a common cocation if you say that the novelty is wearing off or it's starting to wear off or the novelty has worn off here's another funny little example using this this is supposed to be a joke the novelty of your lazy eye has yet to wear off yes that is a a very strange and unusual statement to say to someone and I'd probably say look that's that's preposterous that statement is preposterous next is the word comeback this refers to a situation in which someone or something becomes popular famous or successful again after a period of being much less popular and in that case you would say that something is making a comeback like my example sentence socks and sandals are making a comeback I will admit I I wear socks and sandals occasionally I would like to think that it's making a comeback but it probably not but we could use it with the verb make you could also use it with those other verbs to mount a comeback or even to Stage a comeback my guest today are mounting a comeback I'm trying to Stage a comeback here apparently syphilis is making a comeback so you could use it when talking about popularity but I think it's also commonly used when referring to sports a team is losing and then all of a sudden they make a comeback or mount a comeback or stage a comeback then we have the word scene this is an expression of great anger or or a similar feeling often between two people or an occasion when this happens so I I could say please don't raise your voice you're making a scene so again this is a common cocation with this noun it is a noun that has multiple meanings but I'm not talking about the the scene of a movie I'm talking about somebody making a scene and they're raising their voice they're attracting ing attention and you could use it with the verb make or you might say that someone is causing a scene or you're commenting on somebody else arguing or fighting in public and then you could say well that was quite a scene let's now have a look at some Advanced adverbs and the first one that I want to teach you is blindly this means not thinking about or understanding what you're doing I really think this picture sums up this word nicely with Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers they blindly follow orders without questioning Authority and I I think that is another collocation with this adverb to blindly follow orders to give you some more context I have some news headlines for you China asks Banks not to blindly withdraw loans to developers and then painful experience rational contemplation lead Europe to reflect on blindly following the us and finally we must not blindly follow the science so again hopefully this gives you a better idea as to how this adverb is used in context then we have sparsely this means with only a small number or amount of people or things I could say the town is remote and sparsely populated there's just a a very small number once again here are some more news headlines so you can see how it's used in context get to know the sparsely populated area where you can work without the need for documents or Bard say man dies on sparsely populated island of GED I know I'm mispronouncing that but one thing I want you to keep in mind just looking at those first two headlines sparsely populated that is a common collocation and then finally withdrawn covid-19 vaccine sparsely used in Bermuda the next word is Expedition iously this means with speed and efficiency they worked expeditiously in order to fix the mistake before the deadline here are some more news headlines using this adverb bipartisan lawmakers urge doj to act expeditiously on Tik Tock complaint or Pakistan Iran agree to expeditiously finalize trade agreement and then finance ministry asked Banks to expeditiously resolve issues of exporters but I shut that down expeditiously expeditiously man I need to quit right here what's up the next adverb is auspiciously this means in a way that suggests a positive and successful future our vacation didn't start auspiciously the flight was delayed for 12 hours so in this case I'm saying well it didn't start in a positive and successful way and it didn't start auspiciously once again here are a few more news headlines so you can get a better idea as to how it's used in context start the month auspiciously what the stars have predicted for the signs during August or auspiciously awesome eat it and like it and then we have unlocking luck how to travel auspiciously this Lunar New Year 2024 with Jennifer 2 let's have a look at our next word which is blly this means happy and without worry really a a casual and cheerful indifference so it's like you're just not thinking about something or you're trying not to think about something because you just you don't want to worry about it and you're you're happy you're indifferent I could say they blly ignored any evidence that did not support their Theory here are a few more examples Yellowstone tourist blly wanders into the middle of a herd of two 2,000 lb bison that is a big mistake or us companies push guns as blly and murderously as they once did tobacco and finally you are blly unaware of how educational research impacts you so those are some adverbs to help you be a little more descriptive and accurate and here is a review of all of the words so let's let's practice them right now I know that you are not going to to memorize all of these words that seems like a daunting task but I believe that you are a levelheaded person and that if you study them you're going to be able to learn them over time and I'm I'm not trying to trick you I'm not trying to bamboozle you I hope that you will entertain my suggestion and continue to learn them and review them and of course if you would like to keep building your vocabulary you can watch a another video Lesson because I would also like to think that the novelty of learning new vocabulary has not worn off and you would like to learn more new words and phrases so uh again you don't have to blindly follow my suggestions that's just what I think I'm going to wrap things up and I'm not going to make a scene I'm just going to say goodbye but if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please let me know by hitting that like Button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 198. Advanced Vocabulary to Describe People (like politicians) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Ihm-v09oAWA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihm-v09oAWA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:04:57 | --- let's talk about some Advanced vocabulary words that you can use to describe politicians now it is an election year in the US which is where I'm from and I'm sure you're aware that it is an election year so I wanted to focus on this topic because these are words that you may likely come across in the the coming months but I will say these are very descriptive words that you can really use to talk about friends family members colleagues not necessarily all of them but for the most part you can use them like this so the other thing I want to say if you would like to get the lesson notes just click on the link Down Below in the description if you are already a part of our community then please check your inbox I have sent them to you let's go ahead and begin this is a quiz lesson so I would love it if you participate and I because we're talking about politics we're you know there there's a lot of negative things that you can say I think most of us probably have a negative association if I ask you to think about politicians I'm going to try to balance it and I'm going to give you some negative words and positive words we'll start with the negative ones and I'm also going to try to balance it between Democrats and Republicans the two main parties in the US and then once we get to the end I'll tell you a little bit about my um what where you know where I'm coming from when it comes to uh Democrats and Republicans but of course you can find good and bad things to say about people on both sides so unfortunately there are many unethical and politicians I'm giving you the first few first few letters or I will give you the first letter to see if you can come up with the word now this is a this is definitely a more advanced word so it's a little more challenging unfortunately there are many unethical and politicians what do you think and as we go through I may try to give some shout outs so un and then you have the word that begins with an S I'll tell you right now that we're we're talking about the prefix un un politicians and I think this is definitely true I have blurred out the picture only because I there is a politician behind there and then I will tell you who I think is an M politician I almost said it so unfortunately there are many unethical and M politicians this is really kind of a synonym for unethical and the word the answer is unscrupulous so if you say someone is unscrupulous it means that they're behaving in a way that is just dishonest unfair they just want to get what they want probably looking at that meaning you think wow that definitely describes a politician and in that case you could say they are unscrupulous an unscrupulous politician and if this is a new word for you that's great I think this one is definitely one you may hear when talking about politicians and to give you an example of an unscrupulous politician our winner is Senator Bob Menendez who is a Democrat and this is recent too Senator I've given you an example down there Senator Bob Mendez found guilty in bribery scheme and this happened very recently and even years ago people they were investigating him because of accusations so this this is not a uh a a very ethical person Bob Mendez I think they are getting rid of him at this point and I say good riddens we don't need any more unscrupulous politicians in Washington so hopefully that that may be a new word great job oh excellent r F good job nice one thing I want to point out with this because we're using the prefix un unscrupulous so if you wanted to say that someone is scrupulous it has the opposite meaning that they behave in a way that is more ethical honest the reason why I'm giving you this is because this is one of those rare instances when the negative is actually more often used than the positive so you're more likely to hear somebody describe another person as unss scrupulous instead of just saying scrupulous and that's just one thing I wanted to point out using engram viewer which allows us to check out the frequency of different words and phrases so I'm sure if I ask you to think of an unscrupulous politician you probably have someone in mind what do you think about this her remarks during the committing meeting were uncalled for and the missing word uh begins with the letter V and because V is you know it's not the most commonly used letter in the English alphabet perhaps you can think of uh an adjective that would fit this description talking about someone's remarks and I think that is a little bit of a a collocation her M remarks during the committee meeting were uncalled for what do you think that in this case again it's negative we're talking about negative words what would you use to describe someone the way they talk is just really it's you know it's off-putting you don't like it and you say oh this person is just really what the answer that we're looking for the the adjective that we're looking for is vulgar her vulgar remarks during the committing meeting were uncalled for if you describe someone as vulgar which is one that you could use to talk about about anyone who maybe speaks in a certain way just really not showing good manners good taste politeness and you could say this person is vulgar or in this case someone's vulgar remarks and the winner of not that it's a good thing of uh someone a politician who I definitely think is vulgar would be margorie Taylor green she is a congresswoman of the great state of Georgia which is where for the most part I I grew up and even right here in the news headline you can see that they're using this word Marjorie Taylor green draws criticism over vulgar controversial conspiracies during vaccine hearing now this is not the first time she has been associated with the word vulgar because of her attacks and the way she talks about people and treats people you know some of her supporters I think they they enjoy this about her but I think you got to own it that even if you do like her yes she is someone that you could describe as vulgar how about this next this next negative word right here he will say or do anything to remain relevant he is a complete M starts with s and you can see that I'm using the article a complete what so basically I'm trying to tell you that this is a noun it's not an ad adjective you can use nouns to describe people as well but someone who will just say or do anything they're really I don't know sucking up to another person just like a cheerleader and it doesn't matter they just want to be relevant they want to have power and you could say this person is a what I think it's often used in politics but even I think in business to some extent you have certain Business Leaders that are very powerful influential and then down people who suck up to them or you could describe them using this noun as well he will say or do anything to remain relevant he is a complete what what do you think I oh wow excellent wellplayed Kurt we're talking about someone and Julia somebody who is a siopen and this is I'm giving you the meaning somebody who's praising people in Authority in a way that is not sincere usually in order to get some advantage from them but also I feel like I mentioned somebody who's kind of like cheerleading for this person and whatever they say or do that oh it's okay it doesn't bother there's nothing wrong with it and you could describe someone as a sycophant this is one that you will hear in politics because you those are people in positions of authority but as I said before in business as well you could maybe describe someone who treats the business leader this way as a sycophant somebody is a sycophant and when I think of the word sycophant as far as politicians go especially in the US I think of Lindsey Graham of course he is a senator from uh South Carolina he is a Republican and here's an example a news headline for you Trump sycophant Lindsey Graham will do everything I can he says I will do everything I can to make impeachment die quickly in in the Senate some of these people you I don't know if you follow us politics you may have heard about these people you may have seen them on TV and I'm trying to mix it up between whether it's a governor a senator Congress person uh we you'll see there there's well I I wanted to blur out the pictures kind of leave it as a real surprise until the end but Lindsey Graham is a sycophant and he is a republican sycophant how about uh this word right here nobody was convinced by his M explanation and that is a cocation with this adjective a m explanation starts with the G and you may also use it uh other collocations to say somebody as an M speaker as well kind of the way that they talk I know there are probably some other some words that may fit this description but there is one word in particular it's an advanced word so it's not one that you're going to use every day again this is more related to politics if you follow us politics read the news or listen to the news you you are more like you are likely going to come across them at some point so the word that I'm thinking of and I'm using this well I don't want to give it away nobody was convinced by his glib explanation so the word glib means that someone is well speaking or like something is spoken in a confident way but without really careful thought or honesty so if you think somebody's just being dishonest they're insincere and really the way they're talking so that's why I said that you may use it as a collocation to say that well it was a glib explanation or someone is a glib speaker and we're going to use the word glib and to give you a hint the winner uh when I think of somebody who gave a glib explanation when they said I did not have sexual relations with that woman then hopefully you hear that you think of this man right here Bill Clinton so Clinton was a you know he's not a politician now still somebody who comes up in conversation the the president a while back uh even before uh well right before uh George Bush and uh he he is somebody who I again in that definitely in that s in that sense when he was claiming that look I did not know this person this is a lie he was being insincere that was a glib explanation and this is it's not a news headline this was actually from another headline about the a documentary that has recently come out about the the Bill Clinton and this was like his explanation is so horrible when he says oh Bill Clinton blames presidential stress for Monica Lewinsky scandal did to manage my anxieties and it's like yeah come on come on dude so he is somebody you could say that was a glib explanation a glib speaker but I think this one is a good word to know because I feel like in general politicians in general are glib speakers that you really don't know if you can trust exactly what they're saying because it you know they they're saying it for their own self-interest and they are glib speakers or maybe they give a glib explanation I hope some of these words are new if they are you can let me know hit that like button uh or let me know some of those hearts in the chat tells me that okay you're building your vocabulary and that's that's what the goal is how about this question right here at this point I don't trust his rulings this is my personal opinion right now this is what I would say at this point I don't trust his rulings I think he is a a m there are two words I'm giving you the first letter of each word a m basically because we're talking about I don't trust his rulings probably you can put it into context and know that I'm talking about somebody who is a part of the judicial system now technically speaking so you may argue well you know these aren't really polit Ians yeah kind of I don't know in a sense yes but at the end of the day the way that these people are appointed it's extremely political and they may as well be politicians and that's kind of the point that I'm I'm trying to make so what do you think at this point I don't trust his rulings I think he's a what and I think this this phrase is definitely one that is more associated with politics some of these other words uh when we talked about somebody like vulgar or glib you could use them to talk about colleagues and others but this one is definitely a little more specific when talking about politics I don't trust his rulings I think he is a partisan hack so the meaning of this in G the the meaning of this phrase is someone who cares more about supporting a particular party or ideology than supporting what is morally right or factually true I said that you're going to hear this phrase specifically when talking about politics that somebody is very partisan that they only support their party and I'm using the word hack if you want to say somebody is a hack it's more of a derogatory term that they are unprofessional like they don't know what they're talking about they don't know what they're doing and this person is hack you may use that noun in other contexts but because we're talking about partisan that makes it very political in nature and the winner of the partisan hack award which uh which Supreme Court Justice do you think I'm talking about perhaps you know if you follow some if you've been watching the news I'm talking about Clarence Thomas and uh this was a great article headline I found there is no doubt anymore the US Supreme Court is run by partisan hacks specifically Clarence Thomas has been in the news a lot over the in the course of the last year for taking money from uh billionaires going on these lavish vacations and the way that he well his rulings nowaday it's I I feel comfortable even though maybe you disagree and that's okay I feel comfortable in my opinion saying that yeah he he is a partisan hack he he may as well be out there campaigning with the Republicans I've labeled him as a republican I'm sure he votes Republican and he is Republican through and through and even you know changes his mind and argues it against himself I don't want to go into details about you know the ins and outs of what's been going on with the Supreme Court but in my view I think Clarence Thomas is a partisan hack how about this uh this one he's such a m and really has a way with words this is another phrase I'm giving you the first letter s and t this is a phrase that I think that you may have heard of before especially if some of this other vocabulary is new and you could use this phrase to talk about people outside of Politics as well really anyone who has a way with words they are a in you know if you don't know that for phrase it's saying that someone is a convincing speaker they're very persuasive but maybe not always persuasive in a sincere and honest way and in that case you could say someone is a what any guesses I haven't seen it in the chat that's why I kind of prolong these explanations but the phrase that I'm talking about is a smooth talker he's such a smooth talker and really has a way with words it uh means that somebody talks in a very confident way and is really likely to persuade people but in this case it may not always be honest and sincere one thing I want to point out with this phrase is that generally speaking I think it does have more of a negative connotation if you say this person's a smooth talker kind really in more of a negative way that it doesn't mean it's always going to be negative it could just be somebody is very persuasive the way they argue and the the way they present information and say wow this person is definitely a smooth talker so it it could be a little more neutral in that sense but I do think it's negative and the person when I think of someone who is a smooth talker I think of Governor Gavin Nome he's the governor of California and uh here's a little headline to santis who was the governor of Florida should um be of nome's smooth talking used car salesman Persona which may appeal to viewers during the debate a while back he had a debate uh the two Governors Gavin Nome and Ron de santis and he is like I'll to he is a smooth talker even when presented with things that are very problematic with California again I think even if you're you like Gavin Nome you just got to own it California has many problems I used to live there and I think one of the things that they try to press him on is the the issues when it comes to homelessness and crime and when he answers these questions he's very smooth he's a he's a politician that he's able to talk about it and frame it in a way and kind of go around to where you're like oh okay maybe yeah maybe they're doing a good job but really at the end of the day these are serious problems that uh the state of California is facing but Gavin Nome is a like I said he is a very effective politician because of the way he talks because of the way he communicates and you could say he's a smooth talker now we we talked about some negative words let's let's move on to some positive words or words with a positive connotation because I think there are probably so many different negative words that we could talk about but I don't want to I don't want to uh just focus on uh the the bad let's let's move on to the good so the first one many people support them because they are very what now I have blanked out the word not giving you any letters but I'm giving you the meaning down below so these people are very what word means that it will is used to describe people who have an outgoing energetic and likable personality that seems to naturally draw other people to them you would say some someone is what and I feel like this is a word that you may be familiar with you've heard perhaps you already use it actively and it's part of your active memory right now and you know this this adjective but I think it is one that you definitely hear when talking about certain politicians not all of them but but some of them they have this ability to draw people in and we're talking about someone who is well done Angela charismatic if someone is charismatic they just have this energy or personality that that really draws people in Well Done excellent uh raphaela um again hopefully again some of these words if they're new that's great so I don't know if you know the two people in this picture that that uh that I put in there so what well the people that were talking about Trump and Obama I know that people on either side you know they a lot of people don't like Trump a lot of people don't like Obama still even if you do not like these individuals you have to admit they are charismatic that the way they speak and talk to other people it draws them in and I think what's very fascinating about both Trump and Obama they are charismatic in different ways because they are not like they they are totally different when they are speaking in front of an audience but they're still charismatic and this news headline just says so much from Obama to Trump America now defers to charismatic leaders and I don't think that's anything new I think in many countries around the world many politicians if somebody is very charismatic I think think it helps their career they're more likely to succeed in the world of politics if someone is charismatic the the last thing I want to point out is because you say someone's charismatic it does have a more of a positive connotation but it does not mean that the this is a good person so just because you give someone a compliment say they're charismatic you're really talking about their energy and uh you know the way they talk the way they draw people in and people tend to like them but it's not necessarily commenting on whether somebody is good or moral or ethical I just want you to keep that in mind how about this people in California have always known she is a m and calculated politician the word that's missing means good at judging what other people or situations are really like I actually found quite a few different meanings for this one um but I I thought this one would work somebody again who's good at judging like the situation and they're able to then make a decision as to well what is the best course of action and you could say someone is a politician this is an adjective that is often used when talking about politics what do you think any any any guesses I know I feel like this is this is a little bit more of a challenging quiz and I think that's good if some of this vocabulary is new again let me know hitting that like button um that tells me that oh okay you're you're learning some new words the the word that are thinking of somebody who can judge these situations and that's often used when talking about politicians shrewd someone is a shrewd politician people in California have always known she is a shrewd and calculated politician I also want to point out that with this word if you say somebody is shrewd more or less it does have a positive connotation that they you can see the situation you can make a decision that's going to help you or or at least what you want to do however sometimes it does have this kind of uh it implies a level of like callousness that you don't care you just want to get your way you want to win and you are a shrewd politician and if it hurts somebody else then well that's that's the way it is so overall I think it's more of a positive if you say somebody is a shrewd politician but it could also come off as meaning like a little careless that you just want to win at at the end of the day that is the most important thing if you say somebody is shrewd uh well done nice Julia Kurt rafhaela excellent some uh uh Roman some of you got that one and again that that's a good one to know oh I wanted to I gave it away um I was gonna see if you could guess because we're talking about California uh probably the most one of the most you know maybe well the most well-known congresswoman uh at this point is Nancy Pelosi she's been uh representative of California for a long time uh and uh you can see in the article Nancy Pelosi shrewd tactician who conf fronted Trump she is a Democrat and I definitely think she is a definitely a shrewd politician there are others that also you fit into this uh category as well if someone is shrewd what do you think he has been able to work across the aisle because he is skilled in negotiating especially between states or people this is an adjective that is often used in politics but you could use it in the world of business as well if somebody needs to solve problems disputes disagreements you could say this let's get advice from this person because he or she is very what do you think what what adjective has this meaning I think this is a word you are probably familiar with I'd I'd still say it's an advanced word it's a descriptive word that you could use to talk about someone in that specific situation great at problem solving um settling arguments and in this case negotiating between states or people and you could say someone is very diplomatic and uh yeah in politics this is a well positive word you want politicians representatives to be diplomatic and be able ble to negotiate between different groups of people in this case in the US different parties Democrat Republican and it's important for somebody to be diplomatic and when I think of somebody who's diplomatic there are I know there are some of you may disagree that's okay when it comes to politics we can disagree I think that is important because I think nowadays so many people think no no you can only have you know one Viewpoint when it comes to politics but when I think of somebody who's diplomatic I do do think Biden was rather diplomatic I think the fact that he was a senator for a very long time and knew or when he became president he already knew so many other Republicans and had worked with them I think that allowed him to get legislation passed whether it was the uh I'm going to just say St I don't know if you guys are following this but like the the infrastructure Bill the chips act he helped avert u a government shutdown which was important so I think Biden was able to to be rather diplomatic here's an example brisk trip to Asia highlights Biden's diplomatic strengths and uh he hopes uh and he hopes his Vigor as well well Vigor is another thing the other thing that we're speaking of American politics that as I've shown you all these pictures something else you've probably noticed is that many of these people are quite old that is another issue that uh I have always had when it comes to politicians that you have these people that have been around for such a long time and they have trouble letting go and uh Biden of course uh is also very old looks a little confused in this picture and uh hanging out with Mitch McConnell who is another shrewd politician yet again very old what do you think he's because he always did what he felt was right the meaning the word that we're looking for showing strong beliefs about what is right and wrong and you could say somebody is what I know this since we get getting toward the end I think this is a little more difficult me just you know giving you a sentence and the meaning of the word because I know there are other words that are synonyms that you could probably also use but there's just one word that I'm thinking of if somebody has you know very strong beliefs about what is right and what is wrong you could say this person is very what I think you could use it in a variety of contexts but often it is used when talking about uh a politician and politics and saying that and I think this is definitely a positive word saying that someone is principled he's principled because he always did what he felt was right so if you talk about somebody whether it's a politician or someone else who is principled that they have their beliefs and I also think of somebody who's also consistent in their beliefs and they think this is what's right and wrong and I'm not going to change even no matter how much pressure someone gets and when I think of someone who is principled trying to balance it out between Democrats and Republicans I I think of uh the the late John McCain John McCain was a senator of Arizona he was the Republican Presidential nominee when uh went up against Barack Oba uh Barack Obama and lost and he he passed away uh here you can see in the article John McCain honored as a principled politician beloved father uh uh at Washington Funeral so this is what someone I think again even if you don't like John McCain that's okay but I still think you got to own it that yeah he is someone who is principled he had his beliefs and he wasn't going to change I think it was very uh iconic when they were trying to replace the Affordable Care Act uh in the Senate and he gave that thumbs down I'm voting against it in which case it was not going to pass even though he he was getting a lot of pressure because of that so that's someone I think of when I think of the word principled or a principled politician his argument are persuasive because he's such an speaker in this case we're talking about a positive word expressing yourself readily clearly and effectively I think this is something that many of you aspire to be I the same way I would like to be this kind of speaker as well we've already talked about a cocation that is more negative in saying someone is a glib speaker in which case they're more insincere Dishon honest but this is a positive collocation again you could use it with the noun speaker and saying somebody is such a well I've given you a little bit of a hint n speaker because we're using the article n then you know that the word begins with a vowel sound that's a little bit of a hint right there and I think you've heard this cocation before if you follow the news um or you get a lot of exposure to English this is I think a common adjective when talking about someone's speaking ability and if you are someone who gives a lot of speeches or presentations it is very useful if you are an eloquent speaker well done Karina Faith uh Ravi Julia nice uh rafhaela good I think again this is a more common adjective I think you've you've heard it before but if you want to be descriptive and talk about someone who's very persuasive they can talk easily and I like I said smooth talker has a little bit of a negative connotation but if you want to just make it pos positive you could say someone is an eloquent speaker again maybe you don't like him but I think you got to own it an eloquent speaker is Pete Buddha judge he um is the Commerce transport a secretary in the Biden Administration he is a Democrat young guy which surprisingly I've shown you all these older people he is actually pretty young he's in his uh late 30s I believe so he I think he's going to be somebody he's going to be around for some time but he goes on TV does interviews from you know all sorts of networks and he makes compelling arguments and I think he is definitely an eloquent speaker someone you could describe as an eloquent speaker the example Pete Buddha judge masterclass Fox news interview takes off online this is a recent article uh an interview that he did online or not online uh on Fox News and it's one of those the clips went viral how about uh this question right here she was m in her convictions and it ended up costing her the job if you follow politics you may be able to guess these people that I'm revealing after I I show you the answer but the meaning of this word is determined in character action or ideas determined in character action or ideas you could say someone is what she was m in her convictions and it ended up costing her uh the job I think this is a word that is a little similar to principled they are not direct synonyms but someone who's very determined any guesses I'm going to show you because I I think there are other words that may fit this as well but the word that I'm talking about which I think often gets used when talking about politicians is someone who is Resolute she was Resolute in her convictions what she believed and it ended up costing her the job so if someone is resolute they are determined uh you know why're we're talking about their character the actions or ideas and the person when I think of someone who's Resolute talking about a republican Liz Cheney so she voted to impeach Donald Trump she was on the January 6 commission a lot of Republicans hated that but I again I think you got to own it even if you don't like her and you you got to admit she is someone who is Resolute she didn't change she felt a lot of pressure and at the end of the day she lost her re-election and it ended up costing her the job lose Cheney so these are just some words I didn't want to overwhelm you some negative and positive words that you may likely hear when people are talking about politicians so what I what I'd like to know is of course how you did on the quiz but because again we're getting to the end I'll tell you where I stand I know we're talking about politics and I tried to mix it up between Democrats and Republicans but if you if you want to know because I want you you can tell me your your political stance as well when it comes to us politics are you you know more supportive of the Democrat agenda or the Republican agenda are you a trump fan do you like uh support Camala Harris let me know in the comments of course I'd love hearing from you even if even if we disagree it's okay for where I come from I am more somebody who is fiscally conservative but socially liberal so fiscally conservative I say that because that's how I live my life I am Frugal I don't want to spend more money than I make my wife probably would say she would use another word that's a little more know derogatory and probably say that I'm cheap but that's okay I'd say yeah I'm fiscally conservative the problem is I don't think either party Democrats or Republicans are fiscally conservative I know Republicans say they are but then when they have control they spend spend spend spend that it that's just a fact and then when it comes to uh you know being socially liberal when I think of some of the main things that people might talk about um whether it is climate change um guns abortion immigration I am more in line with the Democrat Democrats Viewpoint so that's that's where I'm coming from so I will be voting for the Democrat uh candidate kamla Harris in the upcoming election and that's okay if we disagree and you can let me know in the chat uh what you think about politics in your country or uh in the US I just love hearing from you guys I hope you enjoyed the lesson if you did you can let me know by hitting that like button and of course I will be back very soon for another lesson in the future and maybe maybe we'll do another political lesson too uh before the election we'll see but I want to thank you all for joining me have a great day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 199. Advanced Vocabulary to Talk About the ECONOMY ๐Ÿ’ต | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vf5-01rcPwA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf5-01rcPwA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:04:21 | --- Let's build your vocabulary by learning some very, very, very useful words and phrases when talking about the economy. Now, I'll go ahead and say yes, the topic is the economy. It may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but I I will say that I do think this is incredibly important because this is something the economy, it affects all of us. And I think nowadays you will come across a lot of this vocabulary if you're watching the news or uh you're reading a newspaper because it's important because it's impactful and again even in your work life and your business your career. So, although the topic may not sound super exciting, I think it is incredibly useful and I want to teach you some advanced words and phrases that I think are going to help you navigate these conversations as well so that you can talk about this topic. If you would like to get the lesson notes, just click on the link down below in the description. Join our email community. If you're already a part of it, check your inbox. I've sent them to you, but I might as well go ahead and introduce myself as well in case this is your first time here. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And I want to help you build your vocabulary and learn some important words and phrases. So, let's start with collocations. These are words that are frequently used together. And I say economic collocations because these are all collocations with the word economic. So, let's begin. I want you to participate in the lesson. Write your answers in the chat in the comments. I always love it when you participate in these lessons. It is interactive English after all. So as consumers cut back on spending, economists fear that it might result in an economic what? So think about the situation and this is a phrase that you will often hear. An economic would be the result of consumers. They cut back on spending. If you're unfamiliar with that phrasal verb, to cut back on something just means to reduce. So you reduce your spending. You you cut back on your spending and then that may result in an economic what this uh some of them there may be maybe more than one word that can be used. This one I do think it is more specific. There's just one word and I do see a correct answer. Good job, Julia. An economic downturn. So, this I'll give you the meaning down here. It refers to a significant decline in economic activity um spread across the economy lasting more than a few months and you would talk about an economic downturn. Thing things are slowing down and that's when people cut back on spending. So, one a good good phrase to keep in mind because I think this is more common that you might hear people talk about an economic downturn than you would other words like a depression which is uh a real catastrophe or a crisis, things like that. The next uh question, these are important other important words. All of these words in this lesson are incredibly important. unemployment, inflation, which is a word we've heard about, we've heard a lot of uh the last couple of years, and GDP are examples of economic what? Unemployment, inflation, and GDP are examples of economic. We're going to come back to well some of this in just a little bit, but um what do you think? These are certain parts of the economy that they'll measure and you could say that like individually, you know, we look at each one and those are different economic indicators. So if you hear somebody, they're talking about economic indicators. Uh there's the meaning they are leading uh coincident or lagging figures that indicate broad conditions and they tell us well what's going on with the economy. Economic indicators. How about this? According to most forecasters, the economic for the next quarter is slow growth at best. Now these are not I'm just these are example sentences. This is not actually uh not talking uh about the state of any particular economy but uh according to most forecasters the economic m for the next quarter is slow growth at best. One thing to keep in mind when you're trying to think about what word best fits that we're talking about the next quarter which is the future. So what word would also imply the future the economic m for the next quarter? And you may hear it when talking about the next quarter, the next year. So in this case, nice zs the economic outlook. So if you're talking about the economic outlook, we're referring to a future time. What is the economy going to be like in the future? What is the economic outlook? And you might use certain economic indicators to try to determine the economic outlook, the expected future state of an economy, encompassing factors such as growth rates, unemployment levels, and inflation rates. Again, we just talked about some of those economic indicators. How about this? The this one I think is very common. It's a little more broad. The economic m of the strike was severe. The economic of the strike was severe. So if there is a group of people and they go on strike, they're they refuse, they're not working, maybe they're trying to negotiate that that's going to cause problems and it could have a severe economic what this is a pretty common word that I think you could use it uh with other adjectives. One key thing to think of would be that preposition of the economic of something. So in this case, we're talking about the economic m of the strike. I saw a couple. Nice. Good job. Correct answer. Again, I think it's a maybe a little easier because this is incredibly common. The economic impact. Well played everyone. So when you refer to something as having an economic impact, we're talking about a financial effect that something, especially something new, has on a situation or person. And you know, people may ask questions like, well, what will the economic impact of this thing be? or it's going to have a positive economic impact or in this case something negative a severe economic impact in countries like Thailand. Tourism has a strong economic impact. I'm using it again. Tourism does have a strong economic impact on the overall economic. Now I wanted to use economic impact. It does, the sentence does sound a little redundant uh using the word economic more than once, but I just wanted to to keep bringing these collocations up. We're talking about countries like Thailand, tourism. It's very important. It has a strong economic impact on the overall economic what? And a key word for this one, a little bit of a hint would be overall. So overall we're talking about uh you know everything which could be uh businesses, the restaurants, employment, how many people are coming. So there there are maybe again maybe there is another like different words you could use but the collocation that I I wanted to get you thinking about was the economic environment. So if we're talking about the economic environment, it is the condition of a country's economy and the way that it influences how effectively businesses can work, how much profit they can make, etc. I think I saw some of it people some responses like the overall economic development sure that that would work as well. So in this one I do think there are other nouns that you could put in there that would also work. But the collocation that I wanted to highlight was economic environment. Like what is the economic environment? Is there a favorable economic environment? Is it good for businesses or maybe um maybe the economic environment is struggling? Here is another one. This is my last set of collocations and then we're going to look at some useful vocabulary. I put two in there and I think both of them are pretty common. They're pretty broad and I think these may be a little easier. The economic m coming the economic m coming in suggest that there will be strong economic m in the second half of the year. Again there are a couple of words and phrases that I think will help you figure out what word is missing. So the economic m coming in something is coming in. you are receiving this information. So what type of economic information might you receive? And then there will be a strong econ there will be strong economic m in the second half of the year and a key word there would be strong because I feel like this is another um word that's often used as part of these collocations. So there's two blanks in there. The economic m coming in. So we're talking about information that's coming in which would in this case refer to the economic data. The economic data or data either one coming in suggests there will be strong economic in the second half of the year. In that case, I'm I was trying to get you thinking about growth, strong growth, strong economic growth. So those are the two collocations for this sentence. Economic data is describing was just the data describing an actual economy, past or present. And then the economic growth just refers to an increase in the production of economic goods and services in one period of time compared with a previous period. I feel that I'm giving you the meaning of these, but I feel like if you you see these, you know these meanings. If somebody's talking about economic growth and you understand that, I really just want to highlight these collocations because these are the phrases that you will likely come across again and again and again. And then I even though I think a lot of this is a part of your passive vocabulary, the goal is then to try to to make it a part of your active vocabulary. you come across it enough, you'll feel comfortable using it. You're having a conversation and you won't have any trouble talking about certain economic indicators and how they are influencing the economic outlook and hopefully there's going to be economic growth and it's just going to be a natural part of your speaking vocabulary. So, this is a an acronym that I've already mentioned. GDP is the standard measure of value uh of the value added created through the production of goods and services in a country during a certain period. So this is the the technical definition for GDP. My question for you is what does GDP stand for? So, if you watch certain shows or uh you know, you're watching the news and an economist is out there or they're talking about the economy, you're going to hear GDP a lot and they'll talk about GDP, GDP, GDP. And they're not really often going to say the entire phrase. They're just going to use the acronym, which is well, good. Good. I feel like uh um this one you're probably familiar with. Gross domestic product. So gross domestic product is the standard measure of value added created through the production of goods and services in a country during a certain period. GDP gross domestic product. How about uh this question? Governments use policy. I've highlighted policy because I think this is another common collocation when talking about the economy. Governments use policy to control the amount of money in an economy and how easily available it is. So when thinking about this situation in trying to control the amount of money that is in the economy that's available or trying to you know take money out the policy has a specific name and I don't well I don't want to give it away but you would hear people talk about policy and a key word would be money thinking about something that is related to money. It is not a money policy. It's not a not a currency policy. It is referred to as a monetary policy. So a central bank will establish uh the monetary policy for a government for a nation and that is how they're going to try to control the amount of money in the economy and they will pursue a certain monetary policy. Monetary policy. Excellent. Here are just some examples just to show you how common. I didn't really have to to look very hard. I just took some news headlines that would are using this phrase just to give you some examples. Bank of Japan reverses gear on monetary policy back to managing inflation uh inflation. Oil up 1% of head of Fed's monetary policy decision. How quickly do prices respond to monetary policy? The impact of artificial intelligence on the macroeconomy and monetary policy. And then finally, the strength of monetary policy in emerging markets. Again, just looking at these headlines, I don't know if you're like, "Okay, these articles do not sound like that fascinating that you want to uh read them. Perhaps you you do enjoy this content." Uh again, it's not uh a topic that I think most people would say is incredibly exciting. However, it is incredibly important because this affects all of us. Here's something else that can affect you. And I'm kind of, you know, building on top of some of the things we we've been uh discussing so far. QE is a monetary policy strategy. We just talked about monetary policy. QE is a monetary policy strategy used by central banks. With QE, a central bank purchases securities in an attempt to reduce interest rates, increase the supply of money, and drive more lending to consumers and businesses. So again, this with this acronym, because most of the time you hear economist or people talking, they they're just they're going to talk about QE and it's just a lot easier. It's a lot faster just to say the two letters QE. But what does QE stand for? It is a monetary policy strategy. Basically, when we talk about QE, they're, you know, purchasing securities. We're just putting money into the the system. We're increasing the supply of money is what is referred to like QE. So if you are somebody who reads articles uh about the economy, about business, what's going on, how is this affecting the the world or your country, then this is an acronym maybe you've heard of before and in that case you know that QE stands for quantitative easing. Excellent. Well done, Lai Zs. All right, uh Manuel, good. So quant quantitative easing QE that this is the monetary policy that central banks use if they want to try to increase the supply of money drive more lending uh reduce interest rates and it's known as QE quantitative easing. How about this? There are two blanks missing in this sentence. And again one of them is a collocation and that's what I tried to highlight. The US economy lost trillions of dollars due to the tech in the in uh I should say in the 1990s I apologize which resulted in the stock market of 2001. So there are two things that I want you to think about. These are other words and phrases when talking about the economy. They lost trillions of dollars in the tech in the 1990s which resulted in the stock market of 2001. I don't know depends on how old you were at that time. You may very well remember what happened and in that case it'll be a little bit easier to think of the the words that I'm referring to the tech. This is something that absolutely happened in the 1990s. It's a word that I feel like is often used when talking about stocks and the stock market. And people might say there's a m or to give you another example later on fast forward in the early 2000s especially in the US there was a housing. This is the first blank that I'm talking about the tech or if you want to talk about the early 2000s there was a housing. So what what I'm referring to the first one because the next one it resulted in a market crash. I think that is pretty common. You can kind of see the picture with the arrow going down a market crash. But before the crash, typically what ends up leading to that is people are very enthusiastic and they're just buying, buying, buying, buying and it ultimately leads to a bubble. So in this case are talking about the tech bubble. The value of these companies were really inflated in the late 1990s especially and it just got to a point where it just wasn't sustainable. And then that bubble burst and that led to the stock market crash. So a bubble is used to refer to a significant usually rapid increase in asset prices that is soon followed by a collapse in prices. And that market crash would be like the collapse the sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across the stock market. So not really just with one but many. So I had mentioned before in the early 2000s in the US there was a housing bubble in which case the the value of homes was just inflated and that led to the housing crisis. So these are just some words to to keep in mind even now I I if I watch some finance news people might talk about within the stock market an AI bubble. Everybody's investing in all these companies that are using in a AI or talking about using AI and the prices have been inflated and some people are like, "Oh, okay. I think there's a little bit of a bubble and it could pop and then the prices come back down." And others say, "No, it's not a bubble that these prices are justified." Here is uh one that I think these words are important and I wanted to present them to you together. So number one and two and I'm just giving you the meaning. The m is the cumulative amount of money the government has borrowed throughout our nation's history. All right key word throughout the history of the nation. The the other word that's missing is the difference between the money the government takes in and what the government spends each year. And I wanted to highlight these because I think these words are commonly confused. So the first one we're talking about the history and then the next one we're just focused on that year. How much is the government taking in and receiving and how much is the government spending. So in number two, we're talking about that one year and that amount is referred to as the what I think when I show you these words, these are words, you know, these are words that you've heard before, but I just want to make sure that the meaning is very clear because as I said, these are words that may be commonly confused mostly because they sound pretty similar. So when talking about the amount of money that has been borrowed throughout a nation's history, the amount of money that needs to be paid back, we're referring to the debt. The debt that a country uh or government has versus one year in which case we're then referring to the deficit. Debt deficit. So, I think especially now that it's an election year, I feel like politicians will creatively use these words to make their point. And mostly, I think it's done disingenuously, maybe to confuse voters, but the debt is the overall amount that is owed throughout the history versus the deficit, which would just be uh typically over a year or I just mentioned the elections. Um you could say that during any administration especially in the US because there's always a deficit each year whether it's going back to you know Obama had you know deficits throughout the Trump administration from 2016 to 20 there were deficits and then throughout the Biden administration there were more deficits and then all of that is just being added to the debt and of course now with it an election Everybody has an idea of how we're we're suddenly we're not going to have any more deficits. We're going to have a surplus and then that's going to help us reduce the debt. I'm skeptical. But here is a funny little uh picture that maybe helps put it into context a little bit. So basically the debt is always going to be much larger than the deficit because the deficit is just really like that calendar year. So you have the deficit which most people can see and this is what I think a lot of people talk about because it's a smaller number and then you have the debt which is underneath that iceberg which is massive which people don't really see which stays hidden and I think because at least in the US because it's so large I think a lot of people want to try to ignore it and pretend it doesn't exist. So you have the deficit versus the debt. I hope that's uh I hope that's clear. How about this right here? A M is a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced generally identified by a fall in GTP in two successive quarters. This is the I guess one of the more technical definitions for this word even though the word in general is used loosely and I saw I think some people tried to use it as an answer before and a question mark but uh this is a the the definition for this economic decline over a period of time technically speaking would be when GDP GDP growth domestic product um would fall in two successive quarters. This would be the technical definition for identifying what would be referred to as a recession. If well the economy has entered a recession and you we have had two quarters of GDP or two quarters in which GDP has fallen and you could say that uh we are in a recession or there is an economic recession if you want to use a collocation but this is a word that you will hear a lot recession recession recession you're going to hear it a lot more this the the more severe one would be uh a depression But this is more common that a an economy will enter into a recession and then they're going to try to get out of that and resume and have more economic growth. Just to use that collocation. So keep in mind this is the technical meaning of a recession, but in general this is when the economy is declining. Which verb which verb best completes this sentence? our house by 20% in two years. This is a verb that is used in finance. It's used when talking about the economy, such as this. We're talk about buying and selling homes. When we're referring to the economy, our house by 20% in two years. what word really kind of captures this uh this meaning and there are other ways that you could use this verb. What do you think? Any guesses? So we're saying that in this case I want to say that the value has increased and I maybe I could have given you that context that we're talking about increasing because you could use it the other way as well. So what I was trying to say is it increases in which case our house has appreciated by 20% in two years. To appreciate is to increase in value. But of course, if it if I were to talk about it in the other way, you could say our house depreciated by 20% in two years. That could also is h happen in which case there it is to decrease in value. But the one that I wanted to talk about was when you're saying something increases in value because I want to stay positive. That's what we all hope will happen, that uh the assets that we buy, especially if it's like a home, that it's going to appreciate over time. Some other collocations, if we're going to use this verb to appreciate, uh you could use it with several different adverbs, to appreciate significantly or uh appreciate considerably or appreciate dramatically. Or when talking about currency, you may come across this collocation to appreciate against something. If I say, oh, the US dollar has appreciated against the euro and it has gone up in value. But the to go up in value, keep in mind, is to appreciate. To go down in value, to decrease is to depreciate. What do you think? This is a word that I feel like is you you you're coming across it more often in the US because it's been in the news recently, but this is a a noun. It just refers to the exclusive control of a market supply of a product or service is referred to as a what and I think a key word is exclusive control. You control the supply of a product or service. Then you could say that you are your business has a what? Or your business is a what? It is also the name of a very well-known board game that has been around for a long time which also deals with I think is a good game teaching people about you know money and finances and you know how it's used. So, exclusive control of a market supply of a uh of the market supply of a product or service is referred to as a monopoly. Excellent. I think this is a word that you all know, you've heard it before. I say it's been in the news a lot especially in the US because you do have the I think it's the uh the FCC um or the the FTC going after certain companies as a being a monopoly whether it's Google is now in court whether or not they are a monopoly Microsoft I maybe I think Apple recently there was a a suit filed against them probably three or four months ago again claiming that okay I think that uh this company is operating as a monopoly what do you think this is another this is I'll tell you this is a phrase but this is a phrase that you have heard of that you know and I'm basically giving you the meaning of this phrase the level of wealth and comfort people have in a particular society is referred to as the what and I I think this is a very useful phrase even in conversations when you're talking about different countries, different places you may or may not want to live. And you might wonder like, well, what is the what? And then you could use this phrase, the level of wealth and comfort people have in a particular society. I was going to give you a word in there, but I thought it would make it too easy. And the word that I was going to give you is of the m of. So there are three words and I'm talking about excellent the standard of living. This refers to the wealth and comfort people have in a particular society and you would talk about the standard of living. I think this is a common phrase that you see it, you hear it, you know what it means, and hopefully if you're having a conversation, you'll feel comfortably actively using it and talking about well, you know, what's the the the standard of living in this place and referring to the the wealth and comfort people have in a society. So, to give you some more examples, here are some news headlines. Again, this is incredibly common. government's government's policy settings have caused the collapse in Australian standard of living. That's not good. Millions will struggle with a minimum standard of living if state pensions uh if state pension age rises. I just took these at random. Canadian standard of living continues decline. And then finally, New Zealand's standard of living going backwards report. Well, as far as the news, there's not much positive when well, at least when I looked yesterday and just got the first few articles I saw it, yeah, it seems to be pretty negative as far as standard of living goes. I don't know if you live in these countries or have been there, if you feel like this is true, but these are ones that uh these are recent articles that I found uh just yesterday when talking about standard of living. But hopefully it gives you again a better idea as to how you're going to use this phrase in context. Here is a review of all of the the vocabulary I wanted to go over. Of course, my goal is that you always learn something new. And if you did, I would have love it and appreciate it if you hit that like button. And again, if you want to get a copy of these lesson notes, check out that link down below in the description. The last thing I always do, I always want to know how you did on this uh economic quiz on this this quiz on the economy. So, I'm going to put a poll in there and you can tell me how you did on the quiz. Uh how did you do on uh the quiz on the economy? Again, there are many other words and phrases. I just chose ones that I think are useful, ones that you're going to come across, which is why I really wanted to highlight some of those collocations. I rocked it. Um, maybe 100%. Um, let's see. Not bad would be 75%. I'll add some options. Okay, let's say that's 50%. And I need to read more articles about the I need to read more I'll say economic articles. Um there we go. What do you think? Let me know how you did. I'm always interested in getting your feedback, hearing from you whether this was too easy, too difficult. But this is a topic that I think is incredibly important, even if it's one that you don't find the most interesting because when you look at the meaning of some of these words and phrases, yes, they don't sound too exciting, but they are very useful in conversations. You're talking about the future of the the country you live in, the economy, the state of the economy. And you can hopefully use some of these phrases if you're referring to well the economic outlook or maybe the the economy is heading into an economic downturn or if there's a bubble and just knowing the difference between debt and deficit I think can be incredibly useful. So it seems like seems like it was a bit challenging which again hopefully uh um you guys learn something new in that case which makes me happy. But uh if you enjoyed the lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and being here. Let me give some quick shoutouts. Lai, Manuel, Chile, Julia, um Zs, Dio, Julio, thank you guys for being here and participating in this lesson. And I will see you very soon for another lesson in the future. --- ## 200. Advanced Vocabulary to Understand American Politics ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IpSm0EQc9h4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpSm0EQc9h4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:46:37 | --- Today, I want to teach you some advanced vocabulary words related to politics. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today is a vocabulary lesson about politics and I know that some of you may be very excited about this because you love talking about politics. Other people may be like, Oh no, I don't like talking about politics, but still this is very important because even if you don't like to to talk about politics, you are going to hear other people talk about it. Maybe your friends or even if you're listening to the news or your where you may read about it. So this is very important for your comprehension. I want to let you know that that these words specifically refer to American politics. Now you may also be able to use them when talking about other countries and their politics. It really just depends and you can also use some of these words and phrases even when you're talking about things outside of politics. The other thing that I want to warn you about is that many of these words and phrases, uh, have a bit of a negative connotation. When people think of government, when they think about politics, many people have a negative view. Oftentimes they may view it as a necessary evil and that's the first expression and phrase that I want to talk to you about when talking about government. People may say that it's a necessary evil and it kind of means exactly what it says. People don't like governments. Maybe they don't agree with everything. All of the laws that are being passed and they, they might just describe it in the extreme case as evil, but it's a necessary evil. It's important you must have it because if you don't have government, then the alternative is much worse. So people might describe it and say, you know, you know it's a necessary evil. You can also use this expression to describe other things as well. If there is some situation could be at work in a business environment, you don't like it, you don't agree with it, but it's important. You must have it. You could say, well it's a necessary evil. The next word is impeachment and this word means a a serious charge against a public official for some misconduct and that misconduct, it may be criminal, it may not be criminal and it could just be some unethical behavior, something that's just wrong and others within the government may try to impeach this public official and you can use it as a verb to impeach someone or as the noun impeachment. And again it's a serious charge because if someone is impeached then they may be removed from public office. So this is a word that that does apply to American politics but it's also a word that may apply to other countries. Their political system as well. Impeachment, it is a serious charge against the public official for misconduct. Then we have quid pro quo and quid pro quo means the that you are giving something in exchange for something else. And when I say something I'm talking about something of value so it could be giving something in an exchange for money perhaps in exchange for information there. There is some kind of transaction there and it is a quid pro quo. We use this when when talking about politicians in government, they do favors for businesses or other individuals and they get something in return. We'd say that is a quid pro quo. Again, this is another expression that you can use outside of politics. If you're talking about something in exchange for something else. Let me give you an example, okay? I am willing to teach you some more advanced vocabulary words, but you need to do something for me. All right? This is going to be a quid pro quo. I want you to hit that like button. You do that for me and I will continue teaching you some vocabulary words. It's a quid pro quo. Then I have a word that I think many of you may already know, but when thinking about politics and government, it is something that is so important and that is compromise. And what it means is to work together in order to reach an agreement. So for example, if somebody has this position right here, this is what they want. The other person has this position. You kind of need to work together and you need to meet in the middle so that work can get done. People need to compromise, politicians need to compromise and unfortunately, especially in American politics, it seems like fewer and fewer politicians are willing to compromise and work with other people. They just say, Hey, this is what I want. If you don't give it to me, well then nothing will get done and this is one example as to why people might refer to government as being a bit evil because people don't compromise, they don't get things done, but still it's a necessary evil and again, this is a word that you can use in so many different situations at home or at work. If you have people who disagree about some issue or some situation, then they need to compromise, they need to reach some sort of agreement, then we have leak and often it's used as a verb to leak something and that something is referring to secret information and you make it known public. It's generally known among everyone. You are leaking this information. It happens in politics, but it can also happen perhaps in business. If a company has some secret information they don't want the public to know about that information may be leaked by somebody inside. Generally speaking, leaking information may be criminal. It's not something that I think many people want to happen because they want to believe that governments and businesses are acting appropriately, but if somebody inside feels that, okay, this is wrong, they may leak information. Another word which kind of relates to that is that if they decide not to leak information because it's illegal, they may try to become a whistleblower. And that's the next word I want to talk to you about because a whistleblower is a person that tries to expose a government for some wrong doing and what they do is that they would tell a person in authority that that something is happening and this is wrong and oftentimes it's used in politics and it's talking about something in government that is wrong and somebody becomes a whistleblower. And in this case there are channels that you can use so that it is legal, that it is appropriate and somebody becomes a whistleblower. The next word that I have for you or or words, because it's a phrase, two words and that is big brother and this is just a, an expression that's used to refer to a government that has complete control and they limit people's freedom, even their freedom of thought. And, and this expression comes from George Orwell's amazing book, 1984 and it's talking about, you know, this government that just has complete control over every aspect of a person's life. Nowadays, I think it's used a little more informally when talking about a part of government and politics. Something that may be happening that you don't think is right. You could refer to it and say, ah, you know, big brother, big brother's watching you. You gotta be careful. I think there was even a TV show out there called big brother in which they just put these cameras up all over a home and people live there. They had no privacy and it was like, you know, big brother was watching. Then we have a verb which is to lobby, and this is a word that is very common in American politics to lobby a public official, and when you lobby somebody, it means that you are trying to persuade or influence this public official to take a particular action or maybe even to change a law to lobby someone and you're doing it for pretty much your own personal gain or or somebody else's interests. You may also hear this word used as a noun when referring to a group of people like and they refer to it as a lobby or as a person who does this for a living, and this is their job. They may be called a lobbyist, so a lobbyist would lobby a politician in order to influence them so that they do something that they want. They might change some law or they may vote a certain way to lobby someone. This is something that I really don't like about American politics. There is way too much lobbying going on and people looking out for their own interests, companies, individuals instead of the country as a whole. If you have a lot of money, if you are a company or a very wealthy person, you can pay a lobbyist to represent your interests and they would lobby the politicians to do what you want. And there's kind of that quid pro quo because if the politician votes a certain way or tries to change a certain law, then that that individual, that company will donate to their campaign, they will try to help them get reelected and donate to their campaign. Which in a way is a quid pro quo. And campaign is actually the next word that I wanted to talk to you about it campaign is a group of people working together to achieve a certain goal and usually that goal is to get someone elected. So a politician, if they want to get elected, they need a campaign, they need to get a group of people working for them to to get donations to do advertising. And these people work together. And that is a campaign, and this is a word that you will hear often in American politics because all politicians, when they want to get elected, they have a campaign. They have people working for them that are trying to get them elected to office. We can also use it as a verb to campaign and say that a politician, a public official is campaigning. They're out there, they're traveling the country, they're talking to people. They are campaigning because they want to get elected. They want people to vote for them. Then we have the word pundant and this is referring to a person. It is a person who knows a lot about a particular topic and they're usually asked to give their opinions about this topic. Mostly because they, they sound smart. They sound like they know what they're talking about and you would say that that person is abundant. Often, I think you could refer to people in the media who talk a lot about politics. People refer to them as political pundits. They talk about politics, they share their opinions. They are political pundits. Next is red tape and this refers to rules or processes that seem unnecessary and just often caused delay. So if you want to do something, uh, in the community, you may need permission from the government. You may need to go talk to your local politicians and they may tell you, well, you have to do this and this and this and this, and you think, wow, there is a lot of red tape. There are things that I have to do. It's completely unnecessary. I don't why I'm doing it. And that is what you would call red tape. It's often used when talking about government politics. When you want to do something, you know, you'd say, well, I want to, I want to throw a parade, but there's just, there's a lot of red tape. I want to open a business, but in order to do so that there's a lot of red tape that I have to go through. Next is a word that is, it is more informal, maybe even a little bit of slang and that is shady. It is an adjective that you can use to describe someone who is just dishonest and they do unethical things. Perhaps illegal things. You could say, well you know this person is a bit shady. Politics and the U S you know it can be a bit shady. Some politicians may be very shady so when we describe somebody as shady, it's just somebody who is dishonest and can't be trusted. We can use this not only when talking about politics but other situations as well. Just people in our everyday lives. You could say that that somebody is shady or maybe even somebody looks shady, they look like they can't be trusted shady. Then we have cynic and this is just describing a person. Somebody is a cynic and if a person is a cynic it means that that they believe that other people are only looking out for their own self interest and that that just the common good can not be done that that things are not going to get better because most people involved or just trying to get ahead and trying to work for themselves. You could say that that person is a cynic and it's often used as an adjective as well to describe a person and say that somebody is cynical and if somebody is cynical then then they believe that very thing people are motivated by their own self interest. To be perfectly honest, I can be cynical when it comes to politics and politicians because I might see the way that that somebody is voting or what they're doing and I might think to myself, how, how can they possibly be doing that? They're not looking out for the interest of the country. They're looking out for their own self interest and perhaps, I don't know, perhaps there's some quid pro quo that they are getting something from a lobbyist. Somebody who's lobbying them to do something that that's not in the best interest of a country and that just goes back to, you know, thinking that you know, perhaps government perhaps it is, it's a necessary evil and I'm trying to use these words and phrases in just a regular context, but also to show you that they are very common. We use them all the time. Then we have a word, which is a very serious word, but it's used when talking about politics and that is treason. And if we're talking about treason, we're, we're saying that somebody is working with the enemy, with the enemies of a government to try and often illegally overthrow the current government. And you would say that somebody trees, and we use it with that verb to commit treason. And if somebody commits treason, it is very serious. If that person could be punished very severely, but it means they're just working with an enemy government to undermine or overthrow the, the current government to commit treason. So there you have it. These are some advanced words and phrases that you can use the next time you want to talk about politics, especially American politics. Or you may even hear this vocabulary. If you are listening to the news or reading a newspaper about politics, I hope you enjoy this lesson and learn something new. If you did, hit that like button down below. As always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 201. Advice to achieve your fluency goals in 2021 | Interactive Q&A with Wes | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QMe5Ti5U7oA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMe5Ti5U7oA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:21:59 | --- hello hello hello hello hello and welcome to today's lesson uh thank you guys so much for joining me my name is wes and this is interactive english and this channel it's all about just trying to help you guys practice and improve your english skills and i know i say that i say that every lesson but it's really just for those of you who may be new here and joining me today uh let me know write your name in the chat or in the comments love hearing from new people and of course i love seeing so many familiar faces um i'll give some shout outs in just a moment but i wanted to quickly talk to you a little bit about what i want to do in this q a so this is going to be a question and answer lesson and because it's a new year it's 2021 i know i've already talked about it a little bit getting you thinking about your goals for this year some of your learning goals when it comes to learning english and that's what i want to focus on in this question and answer session is just really trying to help give you some advice if you have your learning goals for this year or you know of some things that you would like to do and you want to ask me about it i can try give you some suggestions some advice as to how you can best achieve those goals and make it come true make it happen because i want all of you to improve as much as you can this year in 2021 so i just want to give some shout outs and say hello to some people uh great to see so many so many members and patrons here lolly hello welcome uh katrudis good to see you maggie good morning um who else we have here takayo i saw you uh hello liliana mina suhana mehmet welcome uh jamal ismail trying to make sure i get as many angela trying to get as many names as or not as i can um and what i want to do is again just take some of your questions so i'm not going to be able to answer everybody's question i'm sure some of you will have some goals that might be similar like vocabulary or pronunciation so i hope that in having just this conversation for the next half hour or so that i will kind of talk about some of the things that you might be interested but before we jump into it and get started i do want to tell you there is still some time remaining if you would like to enroll in my speaking course called speak up it's getting ready to start this next week tomorrow is the last day that you can enroll in the course so here's a just a little picture of the course page uh it's a little weird looking at myself uh on this but the the course is just about helping you practice and improve your speaking skills it is a 10 week course classes are 50 minutes it is it is for mostly intermediate to advanced english speakers intermediate to advanced we do these lessons on zoom once a week there are there are also weekly pronunciation video lessons that i've also included in this course uh so you can check that out there is a link down in the description i will throw a link in the chat in case you're interested some of the classes have um have filled up already but there are still a few more that are open and again please if you do so decide to enroll or you're interested and you want to sign up use um the voucher code speak 10 to get a 10 discount all right i'm throwing this in there as well as a reminder okay so what i would like to do is well yes without further ado let's start the q a if you guys have some questions think about some of your goals for 2021 when it comes to learning english all right that that is my field of expertise uh so if you have other goals about exercise whatever i don't know if i would be much help with that but if you have some goals for learning english write them in the chat right now i'll have a look at some and what i'll do is the ones that i'm going to answer i will copy that question or statement or whatever topic i'm discussing at that moment and i will also write it in the chat so that it's easier for you to follow along and you can see my post in case you're wondering wait what what is this guy talking about right now um okay well quick question because uh musa asked about the price of the course good question the price of the course uh is 149 149 for uh 10 weeks lessons are once a week uh you get those do preview lessons as well as pronunciation lessons but again use that voucher code speak 10 to get a 10 discount so uh let me say i'll just write it in price of the course is uh 149 what not a thousand for it but use speak 10. i saw some questions in there i'll get to in just a moment to get uh a 10 discount all right so lolly asked this uh i think pronunciation is more important than accent am i right okay excellent question i'm gonna highlight this so you guys know what i'm talking about right here okay so i do want to make a distinction between the two because pronunciation and accent i think sometimes even when uh with among teachers english teachers um teachers on youtube sometimes they get conflated and when i say like what that means get conflated is that people will tend to talk about them as being the same thing and they're not and what i would all what i always tell people is i i think there are many people out there who would like to maybe reduce their accent or lose their accent and they want to speak with um like a british accent uh and they're really trying to learn more british english or like i have i'm from the united states so i have an american accent and again everybody has their own goals if that's something that you would like to do and you want to reduce your accent i'm that's that's great all right fantastic i know when i was speaking spanish i wanted to i had a very and i still do i have a very strong gringo accent all right where people like oh okay this guy he's from he's from the us and i wanted to lose it i was like ah i don't i don't want this um i think over time that went away i stopped caring about it as much but when i think of accent again it's really referring to the way people in a certain country uh region the way they talk pronunciation i think you're you're right la la you would ask like you know pronunciation more important in short yes because when i think of pronunciation i think of you're you're creating the sounds you're trying to get the sounds correct so that people understand what you're saying because there there are certain words that you can clearly mispronounce and it doesn't really matter whether you're speaking with somebody from australia canada uh the uk they may not understand what you're saying so when i think of pronunciation it's really creating the sounds the correct sounds so that you have mutual intelligibility i think i i maybe have mentioned this before in a video lesson mutual intelligibility means that two people who speak a different languages can understand each other so if you are from france and you travel to thailand probably english may be that common your common language that you're going to use english to communicate and if you can use english to communicate even though english may not be the the person's native language then you have mutual intelligibility that's what i mean and that's when i think pronunciation is is great for that to make sure you're pronouncing the sounds correctly saying words uh correctly and again pronunciation is different among certain accents and i think it's good to be aware of that that maybe um the us people from the united states pronounce a word one way in british in the uk they may pronounce it slightly different so i definitely think pronunciation accent they are different um i do think uh it's good if you're trying to like focus maybe more on pronunciation uh if you want to just start like speaking clearly to make sure everybody understands you but if you are more focused because i've met learners who are living in the uk and because they're living there they would like to speak more with a british accent i completely understand that so just be aware i'm sorry that was a kind of a long roundabout answer to that um so uh uh i do not ask wes i'm from ghana how can i take part i i did leave i if you're talking about the speak up course there's a link in the description um i'll i'll throw a link in the chat a little bit later on uh as well so uh somebody asked um my goal is to improve listening excellent okay so here is what i want to talk about for for a moment if you're looking to improve your listening skills i i think in that case you just need more exposure to the language you need more listening practice uh whether it's music or like even right now you're you're watching this lesson even if uh i'm not talking about a specific topic like teaching you grammar or new vocabulary you're still listening to me speak english and you are getting some listening practice then to follow up on that because i think 10 people may say oh i'm going to listen to music the the challenge with music is that it it's hard to control the speed and most people speak very quickly there's a lot of music in english that i don't even understand i'm like wait what are they what are they talking about what did they say the thing with listening that i would encourage you to do is try to listen at your level or even slightly above your level so when i when i'm using music as the example because you're not able to really slow it down otherwise the song is going to sound a little weird it it can you may be listening to speech that's just too fast and sometimes i think if uh you're listening to something and it's too difficult to understand that can cause people to get a little frustrated a little disappointed and that's why i would say try to listen at your level if something is too fast slow it down a little bit for example on youtube youtube gives you the ability to slow down the videos a little bit i think there are only a few options but still it could help if you're watching some streaming networks i think they also give you the the ability to slow down the speed of speech so that it's easier to understand so i think that's the most useful thing for improving your listening really try to listen at your level and or even just a little beyond your level and think about it like right now you're probably of so many people tell me and i think a lot of other english teachers on youtube and they say well i i understand what you're saying i can understand you clearly uh and and part of it is because yeah naturally over time i then i i i well since i started teaching english i've slowed down my speech a little bit it's just this is the way i speak now um but i because of that i i've been teaching i do try to speak very clearly i enunciate um my my words my speech so i think i i am somebody who would be a little bit easier to understand but if you're listening to me right now and you understand 90 of everything i'm saying perfect that's great um maybe you could even listen like uh a little faster but listen at your level or a little above your level all right so yes the baby uh our little girl i mean she just woke up from her nap so you may hear her chime in uh from time to time uh i'm trying to get to the let's see and i'll come back um oh you're welcome lolly uh takayo she is a patron uh anna answer her question right now and i'll come back to some of the others um reading materials uh what do you recommend for intermediate learners that's a good question and i'll follow it's a good follow-up on the what we just talked about with listening because listening and reading those are two inputs where you are receiving information and just like i told you with listening to listen at your level readings the same way i would always encourage you to read at your level don't try to read something that is just way too difficult so read at your level but also read something you're interested in and that kind of becomes challenging for me sometimes to recommend things because what i'm interested in you may not care about and i i wouldn't tell you to read that if that's not something you're interested in so think about your interest if you like i don't know fantasy stories or uh then maybe try harry potter or i think if you like certain activities maybe gardening or stuff like that you could find things online one thing i would say there is an english resources maybe i'll check it out if you want this is for learning um this is a learning resource and teachers may use it in the classroom it's called breaking news english so let me i did it put the website here so let's boom all right so this is the site breaking news english i'll put a link down in there if you want to check that out and what it is it's like uh it's just a bunch of news articles uh pretty much current events things that have been taking place uh let me see where did i hold on a second um okay all right so here they are like this there's a article here taxi driver offers uh free rides for singing karaoke man crosses rough sea on jet ski for love so there's just news articles that you can read the good thing about breaking news english is that if you you see down here it says level zero one two three you can control the level of difficulty so if i click on level zero uh no that's an ad let's skip it you can see right here the this is the article all right it's a lot shorter the language they use is going to be a little bit easier if i go back and i click on uh that same article for level three let's have a look at it here is the level three article so this is a good resource because it allows you to control the difficulty because i think when i say try to read at your level that can be really challenging because you uh the question uh takayo asked about intermediate learners and that that can be challenging to think of okay what are specific books that are intermediate i did create another lesson in which i gave a few suggestions for intermediate stories i'd have to go back and think about see if i can link it but just off the top of my head this is a good resource breaking news english it's free it's all online let me write it here news english in the chat boom if you guys want to check that out so it's a great question and i think this is a very useful resource if you want to find things that you can read and be able to control the level that you're reading at let's see um mag yes as you mentioned in the previous course ready is very important hence my small goal this year is try and read at least 30 minutes every day and memorize vocabulary perfect that's that's excellent um so that is a great goal to have i i think just try to read 30 minutes every day because i i'm a very um i'm very pro reading i would say i think it's great because maggie and you mentioned reading it and and learning new vocabulary because i think reading is an excellent way to learn new vocabulary because when you're reading you kind of use space repetition throughout because you're learning a new word and chances are that as you continue to read you may come across that word again later on especially if you're reading about the same topic maybe you come across it a few days after that and you know oh okay yeah i remember what this means and then you come across it again the following week as you're doing that and you continue to come across these words you're then able to put it up here in your active memory and then put it in your long-term memory over time it's the same thing i kind of talk about when i do those reading lessons some of those fundraisers and we look at different articles about the same topic and as we look at those different articles we we come across the same vocabulary so reading is excellent for building your vocabulary great goal to have let's see um let me look at a question um uh let's see oh something got uh taken away uh angela ask this uh let me copy and paste it down below right here um boom okay so this is what i'm talking about uh right now angela asks about i can understand journalists politicians but i'm not able to understand movies yet i mean 80 percent and i'm watching how can i improve this so i i think again you're referring to a couple of different things probably speed of speech because in movies it's more conversational the way people talk out on the street a little more informal so people are naturally going to speak faster and then like a politician or like i told you like i'm talking right now i tend to speak a bit slower people that are politicians or journalists or news anchors they are also going to try to speak very clearly and articulate so that it's easier to understand so if you're having trouble more maybe with movies it could be about the speed and also i think perhaps the type of language that people might be using because you're going to hear a lot more idioms uh watching movies than you would listening to a politician or a journalist you're going to hear more just informal expressions you're going to hear more slang when you're listening to tv show or movies compared to politicians or news journalists so that would also be related to a little bit more vocabulary if perhaps you want to add on to a goal or something for this year to try to build your vocabulary and learn more informal vocabulary some of those idioms because that may help a little bit more when it comes to your comprehension of tv shows and movies i i noticed too when i'm in class just kind of free-flowing and rifting i tend to use a lot of idioms in my speech uh i and now that i've been teaching english i'll tend to catch myself when i do it and so whoop i just used an idiom let's see um abdi nasir ask this one uh like a lot of copy and pastes saw that question excellent um i'll come back to em and zine in just a second uh asking how can i speak fluently i'll get this question now so uh until 2022 so again if you're just looking in in general to improve your overall english fluency i i'd say just practice practice and more practice try to practice with all four language skills reading writing listening speaking i think i talked in a previous lesson that three of those skills you're able to easily do on your own especially if you have access to the internet reading um writing even i tell people like right now you guys are writing to me in the chat i hope even if you're watching this later write to me in the comments listening you're listening to me right now the only thing that uh you can't get possibly might be more speaking practice and again that would entail either finding a speaking partner somebody in your town or city somebody else who would like to practice their speaking skills just doing individual exercises on your own like um for speaking in front of a camera recording yourself posting it online put yourself out there pretend like you're giving a presentation and speak out loud that's something else you can do or it would go back to taking uh maybe a class online such as the speak up class uh to throw another plug in there so let's uh i said i'd look at this um somebody uh n m z about improving i would like to improve my writing how should i do i passed the c2 exam um but with a c1 mark on writing will you give me any particular advice yes so just as i i think i mentioned um we talked a little bit i i think where is it i want to say reading and listening are both inputs you're receiving information speaking and writing are outputs now i think they they do complement each other but also i think when you're talking about like an input output i think of listening and speaking typically go together because you're having a conversation you're speaking to somebody the other person is listening in that same way i do think reading and writing really complement each other as well the one great way to improve your writing i believe is just to do it passively and when i say you're doing it passively it means that you are learning something without directly studying this thing so reading is going to help you improve your writing because when you're reading you are seeing the correct grammar structure you are learning new words but you're also seeing how they're used in the correct context so as you're doing this and you're reading a story you're still get putting that information up here and you're learning it passively even though you're not trying to focus on this one thing and then when you come when it comes time for you to write and you're trying to put together your sentence structure you're trying to use a word in the correct way or even an idiom i think you're more likely to do that because you got the appropriate exposure to the language you were reading more so i definitely think reading is a great way to improve your writing and also i think i've done some other lessons before maybe you could search for some of the writing live lessons i've done about finding your own mistakes and practicing your writing and then going through it and try to look for try to identify mistakes but look for one mistake at a time and when i've done this in lessons i've talked about start with um maybe just things like uh uh articles a and and the and try to go through just look for that see if you find any mistakes spelling go read through what you wrote only look for spelling and prepositions you can do that with your writing and the reason why i say just look for one thing at a time because then you're focused on that that one thing and as you're able to do this over time if you do it a few times then you're more likely to identify the things that you have trouble with because we all make writing mistakes but somebody may have problems with it when it comes to punctuation another person may have problems with with spelling and if you're able to keep a running list it's a way for you to discover what are some of the things that are most challenging for you so that that is one thing um that i would say let's see um oh just mean i want to talk about this question because i mentioned it um so josephine asked this which books would you recommend uh me as a as a beginner honestly i think one thing i i would say and would be kind of like dr seuss nursery rhymes i know it sounds like real just go all out children's books i'm i'm serious and i know as uh as adult learners that can be a little shocking or like i don't want to read a children's book i think it's absolutely the best thing you can do and if you think about it when people say well children learn languages faster than adults i think in part that there is a definitely a strong argument to make that yes they do but also i think you need to consider how they're learning the language the things they're listening to the things they're reading the people would read nursery rhymes where you really can get the flow of speech and there's a lot more rhyming and it's a little sing song the words that they use are very simple so i think when children are learning that way they're learning definitely at their level and it really gives them a starting point for something to build on i think one thing that is challenging for adults when it comes to we've already talked about reading and listening and i i was talking about reading at your level and listening at your level people tend to just go way uh too far to advance too fast and i think it's good to challenge yourself from time to time but it can also be i think a little overwhelming when and a little discouraging uh when i was um learning i started learning spanish i was probably an intermediate learner and i wanted to read a hundred years of solitude um and that was a that was a bad idea i got the book in spanish i started i got to page three and i was like oh my goodness this is way too difficult it was giving me a headache i was a little frustrated and upset with myself because it made me feel like oh my my spanish is just not that great i need to improve uh so i definitely again listen at your level read at your level even if you're a beginner that's what i would say uh let's see um what is it somebody asked what does it mean quid pro quo quid pro quo means something in exchange for something else kind of like a favor i think of politics people will do quid pro quo like you do me a favor i'll do you a favor people ask um how do you pronounce this word pronunciation for this word i'm just going to write the word in here so you guys can see it fortification fortification so fortification i'll say it one more time let's see lally asks a great question is it necessary to go to an english-speaking country to learn english uh no i i in my view no i especially nowadays where everybody's so well connected with the internet where we talked i just showed you that resource for reading breaking news english if you want reading practice you can find it you want listening practice you can find it on youtube uh speaking is something that could be a little more challenging but there are courses online like the one i'm getting ready to run there are other options out there as well if you want to find a teacher somebody that you can speak with a lot of that is paid like like even the course that i have but it is possible to i absolutely think it's possible to learn a language without going into the the country um living in a certain country the only thing that i would say and this is just my opinion that if you are living in an english-speaking country say that you're living in the united states the one thing i do think that might provide is kind of a maybe a little more motivation a little more incentive because as you go out and just start doing your daily activities shopping at a grocery store going to the post office whatever uh and everybody's speaking english then you might have a little more motivation incentive to like okay i really need to do this um and i really need to get on and stay on top of it so that that is one perk that i think might come from being in an english-speaking country is really being able to motivate yourself a little more because i motivation is something that that's that's something else that can be very challenging i i have trouble with it with things that i want to do every year every year my goal is like going to get more exercise i'm going to eat right this year and uh it's like it's difficult to stay motivated to do these things and i know all of you would like to improve your english and as you're just going on with your lives it can it's probably at times it's difficult to stay motivated so uh let's see let's be available for others um purchase i think somebody i mentioned about um yes you finally caught me live yes i am well i'm both i am alive and this is live excellent yes glad you made it uh mazzier asks is it possible to improve your english skills alone i would say yes that's something else absolutely it's possible to do it alone i think uh again i think it's related to what i just talked about if you have to be in an english-speaking country if you're learning with somebody else the same way uh if you are like if i want to do more exercise if i'm doing it with another person i think that does provide a little more incentive a little more motivation accountability that you okay i gotta keep doing this so but other than that if you are self-motivated absolutely you can you can learn it on your own and improve your skills uh let's see what else um oh you're welcome wally uh ladon hi from iran um let's see breon says 100 years it is a great book it is a great book i did read the book but in english after after my failed attempt in spanish uh i went back i think it was probably like a year later i i read the book in english uh it is a great book let's see what else do we have um i'm gonna maybe i'm mispronouncing names sorry um all right ask about an intermediate level how long can it be before i take the ielts you could honestly you can take the ielts whenever you want i know that if you are going to take the ielts there's probably a certain score that you feel like you need to get whether you're trying to go study abroad or uh in your own country but i think you can take it at any time the one thing i would say when it comes to exams like the ielts or the toefl i don't when it comes to learning language i'm not typically a a fan of telling people like oh just study the test just study the test i always think getting a well-rounded approach um learning a language is the absolute best thing you can do but in this case if it's like well i i have to do well on this i think it is it can be helpful to study the test and learn and what i say by that like learn about what is on the test you're going to do these exercises with reading do some examples so you're familiar with what what you're going to encounter when you take the exam same with listening you're going to listen to things they're going to ask you questions it's good to familiarize yourself with the structure of the exam so that you're a little more prepared you're a little more familiar and when you go take the exam you feel a little more comfortable and there are so many resources online like you could just do aisles practice tests just google it and take a lot of these uh practice and and really get a little more comfortable and if who knows if you do feel like you didn't perform well on those practice tests then maybe give yourself a little more time if you need it uh let's see esther ask a good question about phrasal verbs so i said i'm just going to cut and paste it here boom there are a hundred phrasal verbs in english but is it necessary to most of them to sound more english or can we replace them with other words phrasal verbs yeah can be really tricky i think that is something else when it comes to learning phrasal verbs which is a part of really building your vocabulary it's just good to do over time the more you're learning the more you're reading and listening you're naturally going to pick up some of these phrasal verbs like i just used that one right there you're going to pick up the phrasal verbs pick up really in that context in that sense it means to learn something but pick up is another example of a phrasal verb that has so many different meanings because right now i can pick up this bottle of water if i go to a restaurant i can pick up the check and means i'm paying for it or i can go pick up my friend at their house like i'm driving over there and i'm collecting them so it can be really confusing because you can have one phrasal verb that has so many different meanings um or that preposition after the verb can sometimes confuse people so yeah if you want to replace it with um just another word like i used pickup to mean the same as to learn if you just want to say learn yeah that's perfectly fine i think it's excellent um i i just when i don't let phrasal verbs stress you out too much i think they can be very stressful because you you see how many there are and it's like oh my goodness this is gonna take forever to learn and just step by step over time i think that's the the best thing to do so all right let's see um mary i'm going to go back oh you're always listening to the lectures excellent that's great i i appreciate that and hopefully like i said i i hope that you guys find my speech easy to follow it's easy to listen to you understand most of it that's perfect i'll take a couple more questions because then uh i'm gonna run out uh i was asked how to improve our speaking skills if we aren't living in an english-speaking country so i briefly mentioned that before and i think this would this is where motivation comes into play because if you are motivated probably in your town or city there is another person out there you just have to find them who would like to practice speaking english and you could create your own speaking club locally and get together have different speaking topics practice speaking with one another and this goes back if you want you absolutely do not have to speak to a native english speaker it's very useful to just speak to anybody just that you're practicing your speaking skills is the most important thing so you could find somebody locally in your town your city or a group of people to try to practice with uh you could try to find that online sometimes there are language exchanges if you maybe are a little shy and you don't want to search for another person that's when i think you could set things up like i've talked to a couple people who decided they want to practice speaking and they started a youtube channel i don't know if they've posted their videos live but what they would do is they would videotape themselves talking about just any old topic maybe they're giving their thoughts and opinions about politics or maybe they're talking about their family and they would just talk to the camera like i'm talking to you guys right now and that would be practicing your speaking anytime the words are coming out of your mouth you are practicing your speaking skills even if so giving a presentation or pretending like you're going to give a presentation you're still practicing um your speaking skills uh i would send sometimes like i would when like in spanish i would try to i would think in spanish i would try to do that and you could do the same in english because when you're thinking like using your inner voice it's still kind of like having a conversation because you're trying to think of things quickly you're trying to think of like okay what is the word i want to use what word how do i want to say this express my ideas so you could practice just thinking to yourself and that was an exercise i would do when i moved back to the u.s and i wanted to kind of try to keep spanish fresh in my mind any when i was walking uh home from work i had like a 10 minute walk until i got to the bus stop and during those 10 minutes i would say okay i'm going to spend the next 10 minutes thinking to myself in uh thinking to myself in spanish all right so i would just do that and just look around and try to see well what am i looking at and just have my thoughts in spanish or pretend like if i were having a conversation with somebody in spanish like what how would that conversation go so i know that can that's probably my only suggestion um uh at this point well a few suggestions if you want to practice uh your speaking so let's see um russell and i started to speak with aaron then i forgot everything uh arlinda i have participated in english conversation club so that way i can develop my listening and speaking excellent that's a great idea um if you were able to find this conversation club and uh if it's working for you perfect that's awesome so let's see um after this here i told you that link's down in the description if you guys want to check out the speak up course uh i threw it in the chat i will throw it in there one more time right now because i'm getting ready to wrap this up um the speak up course uh with wes which is me all right there's another link to it if you want to learn more about the course uh learn more about the class and the times uh as well as the price and everything remember use that uh voucher code speak 10. let me write that too i don't want voucher voucher code speak 10 to get a 10 whoops sorry 10 discount that's what i meant to say oh there it is uh which channel hello from thailand hello to you too how are you uh but translating says is not good rosalind i don't know if you're following up on what i'm taught what i was talking about about thinking or translating language translation i i feel like that's another topic i think because some people asked about um translating words and phrases or even just doing direct translation in my view my my just personal view like even if you're let's take reading for example i i i think as you're starting out learning the language i think it's fine to use some translations to like oh what does this word mean what does that mean you're building your vocabulary with basic words like mother father house and i i think that can kind of get the ball rolling as you improve your english skills i do i think you should try to avoid direct translating or just doing too much relying too much on translation for example if you're trying to learn if you come across a new english word instead of putting that word into a translator and then oh okay this is what it means i would recommend you go online use an online dictionary look up the word find out what the meaning of the word is in english to help you better understand this word this new vocabulary word and just to show you guys um this is the course my preferred site this is just also my opinion i like using cambridge dictionary if you want to look up a word um somebody if somebody wants they can give me a word and i'll look it up if you want to look up a word i think cambridge uses easy language which so that people can easily understand the meaning of the word they give example sentences the pronunciation like many of the other sites i choose this one i think basically i feel like the the way that they describe the meaning of a word i think is useful um i i think is the best which is why i'm recommending it right now so and choose a word let's see um [Music] if i were to write down okay this is a word i was listening to the news this morning and i heard like uh they were talking about somebody being pollyannish um whoops wait a second what do i do uh and i was like oh yeah that's a good word uh oh mary where is it well i'll use you siferous there we go all right pollyannish means somebody who is always optimistic in case you were wondering um i think i spelled it wrong which white didn't come up but mary asked vociferous so again vociferous it says vociferous people express their opinions and complaints loudly and repeatedly in speech and vociferous demands uh etc are made repeatedly and loudly so again if you're describing somebody as vociferous you're typically talking about their speech and they're just being very loud typically complaining about something so i i think this is a good resource if you are building your vocabulary instead of just doing a direct translation but again if you're beginner learner i i think it's fine um that's just my opinion so thank you guys again for joining me um i know it's uh it's been about 45 minutes now i hope that i was able to answer some of your questions and i hope that if you well i hope you're able to achieve your fluency goals for this year and if you're thinking well i don't have any right now maybe spend a little more time thinking about what you would like to improve with your english this year if it's vocabulary related or related to pronunciation or maybe you just want to read more spend a little time thinking about it and again just try to go out there achieve those goals in 2021 which i am also i'm gonna try to achieve my goals as well get more exercise eat better all right always so thank you guys so much for joining me thank you um let's see maziar glad the lessons are useful angela rosalinda uh lolly great to see you hilda uh should write a book actually do i have actually written a couple of books i don't know if i could throw those links in there and show you it's it was about my teaching they're teaching memoirs um about my experience teaching in both south korea and i had another one in namibia amazon uh let me show you it's kind of funny uh this these are books that i wrote kind of a while ago um so here is boom this is the book from my teaching time in korea it's called happy time go fast it's kind of a play on konglish it's i talk about konglish in the book anybody from south korea knows what i'm talking about so that was uh the reason for the title this is about teaching in south korea and then here another one watermelon is life uh if you can get an ebook they're on amazon and this is about my time teaching in namibia but i have not written a book just about teaching english in general maybe sometime uh in the future uh thank you uh mary assan um soli esther uh linda glad you guys could join me fernando uh let you like our my video lessons anita there's a lot more to come uh karina excellent if if and even i remember i talked about the course earlier even if you're not able to join now perhaps the time doesn't work out whatever i am going to run this course again in the future probably in march or april and then i'll even run it later on in the fall so there will be more opportunities to join if it's not uh if you're not able to right now so thank you guys again for joining me hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and --- ## 202. Amazing Vocabulary Vlog in the Big Apple (New York City) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FWQ20NdK7h0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWQ20NdK7h0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:52:00 | --- Now you're in New York... So a couple of months ago, Ioana and I traveled to New York City. The Big Apple! And we'd like to show you a little bit about our trip and some of the things we did as well as show you some new vocabulary words. Enjoy! There are just so many different places to see in New York City. So this building right here is called a skyscraper. And a skyscraper is just a really, really, really tall building. And New York City has a lot of them. Typically they say a skyscraper is building that has 40 to 50 floors or more. And this building right here is the Empire State Building. One of the most famous buildings in New York City. Here in New York City you meet some very, very cool people. So there's a lot of jaywalking in New York. And jaywalking means when people cross the street when they're not supposed to. So if the light is red and people cross, they're jaywalking. There is a lot of jaywalking in New York. Basically, nobody respects the rules and everyone jaywalks. Should we jaywalk? Run, run, run, run, run... NO! Ioana is not jaywalking. Neither am I. Because...we're allowed to now. This is the Stardust diner. Home of the singing waitstaff. We're going to eat here tonight. That's Danny...our server. Welcome to Central Park. It's cold. It is cold. Right now the temperature is about I'd say about freezing. It's a little colder actually. But it's windy as Central Park has a lot of ponds. And a pond is a body of water that is surrounded by land. The difference between a pond and a lake is that a pond is much smaller than a lake. Like this one! Right now, it's drizzling outside. And drizzling means when there is rain but it's very, very light rain. So light that you can't really even see it. But you can kind of still see it on your clothes. So right now we are on a ferry. And a ferry is just a boat that's used for public transportation and takes people from one place to another. And this ferry goes from Staten Island to Manhattan. This ferry is preparing to depart. Thank you for riding the Staten Island Ferry. We hope you enjoyed our trip around New York. And what we'd like you to do is in the comments below please let us know of a city that you would like to travel to and visit sometime in the future. And who knows! Maybe we'll make a video out of it some day. Please remember to subscribe to our channel for more videos lessons on how you can practice and improve your English skills. Thanks for watching! And we'll see you next time. --- ## 203. American Accent Workout ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Repeat These Sentences Every Day! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YLQs4n1grAQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLQs4n1grAQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:38:00 | --- Let's learn and practice. That is the most important thing, the American accent. And we're going to practice with a lot of different sentences in order to help you fine-tune your fluency and speak smoothly. And if you're interested in developing your English fluency, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is West, the channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, we're really going to dive in to each sentence. And I have quite a few of them that we're going to practice together. And I want you to repeat after me, and then I want you to shadow and try to say the sentences with me and try to say it at the same time. Now, one thing I want to say right at the very beginning is that you should never feel like you have to speak with any particular English accent. There are many varieties out there, and I think we can appreciate all of them. But, I know that many people live in the US or work with people who are in the US, or maybe you're just fascinated by the American accent because you hear it quite often, movies, TV shows, podcasts, or even music. So, this is to help give you a better understanding as to why people from the US, like me, speak the way that we do. And I want to begin with kind of the fundamentals, some words and phrases that are commonly used. And I think that's a good starting point if you are someone who wishes to emulate the American accent. And we'll begin with the phrase go to the. Except I'm not going to pronounce it like that, and we're just going to build on top of it with other words that are commonly reduced. So, what's going on with the phrase go to the? The first thing that I want to mention is that the word to, as a function word, it's not often stressed. When it's stressed, it sounds like I'm saying the number two. When it's unstressed, the vowel sound is going to change slightly and it's going to sound more like the schwa sound, which is an unstressed vowel sound, and it will it'll sound more like ta. It's a much softer sound. Go to the. The other thing, which is a very distinct part of the American accent, is the T. I am going to pronounce it as a flat T. It's going to sound like a soft D. And this often occurs when the T comes between two vowel sounds. So, it instead of go to the, it's going to sound more like go to the. And hopefully you can kind of hear how it's a softer sound, go to the. I want you to repeat just this phrase. Repeat this after me. Go to the. Go to the. Go to the. And we're going to be saying this phrase a lot as we go through these sentences because I think that is probably the best thing that you can do right now. It's just keep practicing and practicing and practicing some more with these individual words and phrases so that you can learn more and understand the American accent. And I'm going to use this phrase with some very common reductions like gonna, have to, wanna, gotta. And as I already mentioned, we're going to keep building on top of this. Let's start with our first sentence. I'm going to go to the store. The way that I want to practice is I'm going to say it two times slowly and I want you to repeat after me, and then I will say it two times at a normal speed, and I want you to repeat after me again, and then I want you to shadow and we're going to practice saying it together. And that's really going to help you work on your pacing and develop a nice rhythm and flow. And when it comes to rhythm and flow, you need to remember that English is a stress-timed language. If you're unfamiliar with that, essentially it means that when you're speaking English, the stressed words or syllables are said at approximately regular intervals. And everything else really gets reduced in order to fit that pattern. That is the reason why some of these reductions occur. So with our first sentence, I'm going to go to the store. Every time I clap, that is a stressed syllable. And it also you as you can tell, it kind of makes the language sound a little sing-song. Keep that in mind as we go through this. All of the sentences follow that same pattern. I'm going to go to the store. The other thing that I want you to be aware of is I am going to give you the phonetic spelling of some of these reductions as we do the listen and repeat. When you shadow, I'm going to take it away. This is because I I don't want you to focus too much on the phonetic spelling and the way that I'm pronouncing these reductions. I really want you to focus more on how I'm saying it. Let your ears do all the work. And I just want you to practice and say these sentences with me and try to maintain that same speed. I know this is an incredibly long explanation just to get to our first sentence. I apologize. So let's practice this and and talk about what's going on. I'm going to. Going to is going to get reduced to going to. Very common reduction. Following it with our phrase go to the. Go to the. Go to the store. I'm going to go to the store. Let's say this. I want you to repeat after me. I'll say it twice slowly. I'm going to go to the store. I'm going to go to the store. Now I want you to repeat after me at more of a normal speed. I'm going to go to the store. I'm going to go to the store. Let's now say it together, and I want you to shadow and say it with me three times. Ready? I'm going to go to the store. I'm going to go to the store. I'm going to go to the store. All right, great. I trust I trust that you are practicing your speaking skills and saying this with me. The more that you do this, and really kind of making it more of a drill exercise, the more likely that you're just going to make this a part of your speaking fluency. Whenever you're having a conversation, you will just use these reductions and say them the the same way that I do. Here is our next sentence. You got to go to the pharmacy. In this case, got to, I'm going to reduce it. It's going to sound like gotta. Once again, you're going to hear me pronounce that flat T, gotta. And then there is our phrase, go to the. Gotta go to the pharmacy. You got to go to the pharmacy. That same stress timing. So, I'll say it slowly, just repeat after me. You got to go to the pharmacy. You got to go to the pharmacy. Now repeat after me at a normal speed. You got to go to the pharmacy. You got to go to the pharmacy. Let's say it together three times. You got to go to the pharmacy. You got to go to the pharmacy. You got to go to the pharmacy. And then our next sentence, she's going to go to the bank. Once again, we're using that reduction, gonna, followed by go to the. She's going to go to the bank. Let's say it slowly. She's going to go to the bank. She's going to go to the bank. At a normal speed, repeat after me. She's going to go to the bank. She's going to go to the bank. Now let's say it together three times. Ready? She's going to go to the bank. She's going to go to the bank. She's going to go to the bank. Just as a reminder that that softer go to the, it's not emphasized go to the. Let's have a look at the next sentence. He's got to go to the gym. Using those flat T's, got to go to the. Let's say it two times slowly. He's got to go to the gym. He's got to go to the gym. At a normal speed, he's got to go to the gym. He's got to go to the gym. Now let's shadow. Say it together three times. He's got to go to the gym. He's got to go to the gym. He's got to go to the gym. Good job. Let's move on to our next sentence. We want to go to the mall. This time want to is going to get reduced to wanna. This is another incredibly common reduction that I think you should be using in just casual conversation. Wanna go to the mall. We want to go to the mall. Let's say it slowly. We want to go to the mall. We want to go to the mall. Two times at a normal speed, we want to go to the mall. We want to go to the mall. Now, let's shadow. Say it together three times. We want to go to the mall. We want to go to the mall. We want to go to the mall. Our next sentence, they're going to go to the airport. One thing I want you to keep in mind, we talked about the phrase go to the in this case, airport begins with a vowel sound, so instead of the, you're going to hear me say the the airport. Go to the airport. Just something to keep in mind as we say this one. Let's say it twice slowly. They're going to go to the airport. They're going to go to the airport. Now, at a normal speed they're going to go to the airport. They're going to go to the airport. Now, let's say it together three times. They're going to go to the airport. They're going to go to the airport. They're going to go to the airport. And then our next sentence, I have to go to the doctor. In this case, have to, I'm going to reduce it to just have to. Another very common reduction. Let's say it slowly. I have to go to the doctor. I have to go to the doctor. Now, at a normal speed I have to go to the doctor. I have to go to the doctor. Shadow, say it with me three times. I have to go to the doctor. I have to go to the doctor. I have to go to the doctor. All right, as you can tell, these are simple sentences. They're not very difficult to understand, but just trying to say these simple sentences with me using these different reductions. Here's our next sentence. We got to go to the office. Once again, we have go to the office because office begins with a vowel sound. Let's say it twice slowly. We got to go to the office. We got to go to the office. At a normal speed, we got to go to the office. We got to go to the office. And now shadow and say it with me. We got to go to the office. We got to go to the office. We got to go to the office. Let's keep going. Here is the next sentence. They're going to go to the theater. Twice slowly. They're going to go to the theater. They're going to go to the theater. At a normal speed, they're going to go to the theater. They're going to go to the theater. Say it with me. They're going to go to the theater. They're going to go to the theater. They're going to go to the theater. Now let's do one more sentence and then we're going to build on top of these with some more reductions. But here is the next sentence. I want to go to the museum. Let's say it slowly. I want to go to the museum. I want to go to the museum. At a normal speed, I want to go to the museum. I want to go to the museum. Say it with me. I want to go to the museum. I want to go to the museum. I want to go to the museum. Now, let's add to these same sentences using some more very common reductions, especially when talking about the American accent, and we're going to add phrases using the words and, to, and for. Except, I'm not going to pronounce them that way. They're going to get reduced. When and is reduced, it's going to sound more like n. We've already practiced to and talked about that. When reduced, it's going to sound more like t. And for, when reduced, will sound more like f. Keep in mind, these are softer sounds. n, t, f. When I say them individually and you hear them right now, probably sounds a little strange, but when we put them in these sentences, you're going to understand, and this is something that you hear all the time. So, let's go back to our very first sentence. I'm going to go to the store, and we're going to add these different phrases to this sentence using those reductions. And we'll start with I'm going to go to the store and get a few groceries. Just looking at that that final phrase, and get a few groceries. And I'm going to reduce it to n. Get a. I can link that phrase together. Linking is when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. Keep in mind that final t in get, you hear me pronounce that flat t. Get a. Get a. And get a few groceries. Just say that final phrase. Repeat that after me. And get a few groceries. Let's say the whole sentence. I'll say it once slowly. Repeat after me. I'm going to go to the store and get a few groceries. Now, repeat after me at a normal speed. I'm going to go to the store and get a few groceries. Let's shadow. Let's say it three times together. Ready? I'm going to go to the store and get a few groceries. I'm going to go to the store and get a few groceries. I'm going to go to the store and get a few groceries. Now let's add our next phrase, to pick up a few things. You can hear that weaker to, and then pick up a We can link that phrase together, to pick up a few things. I'm going to go to the store to pick up a few things. I'll say it slowly. Repeat after me. I'm going to go to the store to pick up a few things. Now at a normal speed, I'm going to go to the store to pick up a few things. Now let's say it together, three times. Ready? I'm going to go to the store to pick up a few things. I'm going to go to the store to pick up a few things. I'm going to go to the store to pick up a few things. And then our last phrase, for some essentials. For, you can hear that for, for some essentials. I'm going to go to the store for some essentials. Let's say it slowly. I'm going to go to the store for some essentials. Now repeat after me at a normal speed. I'm going to go to the store for some essentials. And let's shadow and say it together three times. I'm going to go to the store for some essentials. I'm going to go to the store for some essentials. I'm going to go to the store for some essentials. Our next sentence, you got to go to the pharmacy. And then I'm going to add the phrase and get some medication. You got to go to the pharmacy and get some medication. Remember and we're going to reduce it to and. Let's say it one time slowly. You got to go to the pharmacy and get some medication. At a normal speed, you got to go to the pharmacy and get some medication. Let's say it together three times. Ready? You got to go to the pharmacy and get some medication. You got to go to the pharmacy and get some medication. You got to go to the pharmacy and get some medication. You're doing great. Let's keep at it. Just drill, drill, drill, drill and we'll add the phrase to pick up the prescription. That weaker to and then pick up we can link it together. You got to go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. Let's say it slowly. You got to go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. Repeat after me at a normal speed. You got to go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. Now let's shadow. Say it three times. Ready? You got to go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. You got to go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. You got to go to the pharmacy to pick up the prescription. And then our final phrase for some cough syrup. That weaker for for some cough syrup. You got to go to the pharmacy for some cough syrup. Let's say it slowly. You got to go to the pharmacy for some cough syrup. Now at a normal speed, you got to go to the pharmacy for some cough syrup. Three times together. Ready? You got to go to the pharmacy for some cough syrup. You got to go to the pharmacy for some cough syrup. You got to go to the pharmacy for some cough syrup. Moving right along with our next sentence, she's going to go to the bank. And we'll add the phrase and take out some money. And take out, we can link that together, and take out some money. She's going to go to the bank and take out some money. Let's say it slowly. She's going to go to the bank and take out some money. Repeat after me at a normal speed. She's going to go to the bank and take out some money. Now let's say it three times. She's going to go to the bank and take out some money. She's going to go to the bank and take out some money. She's going to go to the bank and take out some money. Then we'll add the phrase to make a deposit. That weaker ta and then make a, we can link that together, to make a deposit. She's going to go to the bank to make a deposit. Let's say it slowly. She's going to go to the bank to make a deposit. Now at a normal speed. She's going to go to the bank to make a deposit. Shadow and say it with me. She's going to go to the bank to make a deposit. She's going to go to the bank to make a deposit. She's going to go to the bank to make a deposit. And then we'll add the phrase for an account issue. Four will reduce to fer and then we can actually link the whole phrase for an account, for an account issue. She's going to go to the bank for an account issue. Let's say it slowly. She's going to go to the bank for an account issue. Now at a regular speed. She's going to go to the bank for an account issue. Say it with me three times. She's going to go to the bank for an account issue. She's going to go to the bank for an account issue. She's going to go to the bank for an account issue. Then our next sentence, he's got to go to the gym. And then we'll add the phrase and meet his friend. And we'll reduce to and meet his. So that H, you don't really hear it, it elides. And then the T and meet, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flat T, and then I can link it over. Meet his, meet his friend, and meet his friend. He's got to go to the gym and meet his friend. Let's say it slowly. He's got to go to the gym and meet his friend. At a normal speed, he's got to go to the gym and meet his friend. Three times together. He's got to go to the gym and meet his friend. He's got to go to the gym and meet his friend. He's got to go to the gym and meet his friend. Let's add the phrase to work out. To work out. That weaker tuh, and then we can link work out. He's got to go to the gym to work out. Let's say it slowly. He's got to go to the gym to work out. Now at a normal speed. He's got to go to the gym to work out. Say it with me. He's got to go to the gym to work out. He's got to go to the gym to work out. He's got to go to the gym to work out. And then we'll add for cycling class. We're just reducing for to fer. He's got to go to the gym for cycling class. Let's say it slowly. He's got to go to the gym for cycling class. At a normal speed, repeat after me. He's got to go to the gym for cycling class. Three times together. He's got to go to the gym for cycling class. He's got to go to the gym for cycling class. He's got to go to the gym for cycling class. And then there's we want to go to the mall. We'll add the phrase and do some shopping. We want to go to the mall and do some shopping. Let's say it slowly. We want to go to the mall and do some shopping. At a normal speed. We want to go to the mall and do some shopping. Let's say it together. We want to go to the mall and do some shopping. We want to go to the mall and do some shopping. We want to go to the mall and do some shopping. And then we'll add to look for new clothes. So that weaker to look for new clothes. We're going to reduce for as well. To look for new clothes. We want to go to the mall to look for new clothes. Let's say it slowly. We want to go to the mall to look for new clothes. At a normal speed. We want to go to the mall to look for new clothes. Three times together. We want to go to the mall to look for new clothes. We want to go to the mall to look for new clothes. We want to go to the mall to look for new clothes. And then we'll add the phrase for a couple of hours. We'll reduce for to fur and then we can link it with that article for a and then also link couple of hours. We want to go to the mall for a couple of hours. Let's say it We want to go to the mall for a couple of hours. At a normal speed. We want to go to the mall for a couple of hours. Shadow and say it with me. We want to go to the mall for a couple of hours. We want to go to the mall for a couple of hours. We want to go to the mall for a couple of hours. The next sentence. They're going to go to the airport and we'll add and pick up a friend. And pick up a We can link it together. And pick up a friend. They're going to go to the airport and pick up a friend. Let's say it slowly. They're going to go to the airport and pick up a friend. At a normal speed. They're going to go to the airport and pick up a friend. Say it with me. They're going to go to the airport and pick up a friend. They're going to go to the airport and pick up a friend. They're going to go to the airport and pick up a friend. Now let's add to catch a flight to the US. In this case, there are two twos that we're going to reduce. To catch a We can link catch a together. To catch a flight to the US. Another weaker to sound. To catch a flight to the US. They're going to go to the airport to catch a flight to the US. Let's say it slowly. They're going to go to the airport to catch a flight to the US. At a normal speed. They're going to go to the airport to catch a flight to the US. Three times together. They're going to go to the airport to catch a flight to to US. They're going to go to the airport to catch a flight to the US. They're going to go to the airport to catch a flight to the US. Hopefully you're able to to maintain that same speed as we're saying this together. Our next sentence, I have to go to the doctor and then we'll add and get this checked out. Not really a sentence you would want to say, but just in case. And keep in mind we can link checked out. And get this checked out. So let's say this slowly. I have to go to the doctor and get this checked out. At a normal speed, I have to go to the doctor and get this checked out. Three times together. I have to go to the doctor and get this checked out. I have to go to the doctor and get this checked out. I have to go to the doctor and get this checked out. The next one, to get a referral. To get a I can link that together. You hear that flap T, get a to get a referral. I have to go to the doctor to get a referral. Let's say it slowly. I have to go to the doctor to get a referral. Now at a normal speed. I have to go to the doctor to get a referral. Let's say it together three times. I have to go to the doctor to get a referral. I have to go to the doctor to get a referral. I have to go to the doctor to get a referral. And then let's add for an annual checkup. For an annual, we can link it together. For an annual checkup. I have to go to the doctor for an annual checkup. Let's say it slowly. I have to go to the doctor for an annual checkup. At a normal speed, I have to go to the doctor for an annual checkup. Let's say it three times. I have to go to the doctor for an annual checkup. I have to go to the doctor for an annual checkup. I have to go to the doctor for an annual checkup. The next sentence, we got to go to the office and let's add and prepare for the presentation. And prepare for the presentation. We're reducing both and and for and prepare for the presentation. Let's say it slowly. We got to go to the office and prepare for the presentation. At a normal speed, we got to go to the office and prepare for the presentation. Now together. We got to go to the office and prepare for the presentation. We got to go to the office and prepare for the presentation. We got to go to the office and prepare for the presentation. Now let's add to finish the report. You hear that weaker t sound, to finish the report. Let's say it slowly. We got to go to the office to finish the report. At a normal speed, we got to go to the office to finish the report. Shadow and say it with me. We got to go to the office to finish the report. We got to go to the office to finish the report. We got to go to the office to finish the report. And then we'll add for an important meeting. We can link some of those words together for an important meeting. We got to go to the office for an important meeting. Let's say it slowly. We got to go to the office for an important meeting. At a normal speed, we got to go to the office for an important meeting. Let's say it together. We got to go to the office for an important meeting. We got to go to the office for an important meeting. We got to go to the office for an important meeting. Here's the next sentence. They're going to go to the theater. We'll add and watch a movie. And watch a, we can link it together, and watch a movie. They're going to go to the theater and watch a movie. Let's say it slowly. They're going to go to the theater and watch a movie. At a normal speed, they're going to go to the theater and watch a movie. Three times together. They're going to go to the theater and watch a movie. They're going to go to the theater and watch a movie. They're going to go to the theater and watch a movie. Now let's add to meet up with some friends. To meet up, we can link it together. You hear that flat T, meet up. To meet up with some friends. They're going to go to the theater to meet up with some friends. Let's say it slowly. They're going to go to the theater to meet up with some friends. At a normal speed, they're going to go to the theater to meet up with some friends. Shadow and say it with me. They're going to go to the theater to meet up with some friends. They're going to go to the theater to meet up with some friends. They're going to go to the theater to meet up with some friends. And then we'll add for the next couple of hours. For the next couple of, we can link it together, for the next couple of hours. Let's say it slowly. They're going to go to the theater for the next couple of hours. At a normal speed. They're going to go to the theater for the next couple of hours. Now let's say it together. They're going to go to the theater for the next couple of hours. They're going to go to the theater for the next couple of hours. They're going to go to the theater for the next couple of hours. And then we have our sentence, I want to go to the museum and we'll add and walk around for a little while. We'll reduce and to n, walk around, we can link it together, and then there there's that weaker fur, for a little while. We can also link it with the article a, for a. And walk around for a little while. I want to go to the museum and walk around for a little while. Let's say it slowly. I want to go to the museum and walk around for a little while. Now at a normal speed. I want to go to the museum and walk around for a little while. Three times together. I want to go to the museum and walk around for a little while. I want to go to the museum and walk around for a little while. I want to go to the museum and walk around for a little while. Now let's add to see the artwork. To see the artwork, keep in mind I'm using the instead of the because of the vowel sound in artwork. To see the artwork. Let's say it slowly. I want to go to the museum to see the artwork. At a normal speed. I want to go to the museum to see the artwork. Let's shadow and me it three times. I want to go to the museum to see the artwork. I want to go to the museum to see the artwork. I want to go to the museum to see the artwork. And then we'll add for the new exhibit. I want to go to the museum for the new exhibit. Let's say it slowly. I want to go to the museum for the new exhibit. At a normal speed, I want to go to the museum for the new exhibit. Three times together. I want to go to the museum for the new exhibit. I want to go to the museum for the new exhibit. I want to go to the museum for the new exhibit. You did great and and this is something that you can keep practicing on your own cuz kind of drilling these different sounds into your brain so that the next time you're just having a conversation, you're going to say it just like me if you are someone who is interested in emulating the American accent, but again, do not feel like you need to speak with any particular English accent. But in the US, you're going to hear people use reductions like gonna, wanna, have to. They're going to pronounce common phrases like go to the, go to the gym, go to the mall, go to the store, and then reducing those other common words like and to and for will sound like and to for and they are much softer sounds. If you enjoyed this lesson and enjoyed practicing your speaking skills, let me know by hitting that like button and if you did talk to me and I wasn't talking to myself, you can write the word speaking down in the comments. Thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 204. American Accent Workout ๐Ÿ’ช Linking, Reductions & Real Dialogues ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4l3m0_xDOuo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l3m0_xDOuo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:38:33 | --- This lesson is all about the American accent. And I know it can sound very fast if you're on the street or watching a movie or TV show, which is why I titled this American fast speech. And if you are someone who enjoys learning more about the American accent, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And this is a practice lesson and I want you to actually practice your speaking skills. Say these sentences with me and and see if you can copy my accent. Now, I will say that you should never feel like you need to speak with any particular English accent. But I do know that some of you may be visiting the US or you live in the US, which is why this may be of interest to you. And if you would like to get the lesson notes, click on that link down below in the description, join my email community, and if you're already a part of it, check your inbox. I have sent them to you. So, the way that I would like to practice is with several dialogues. And I want to go through each sentence. We're going to do a deep dive and talk about what's going on, different parts of connected speech, intonation, and we're going to practice saying these sentences together as a group. We're going to practice saying the phrases instead of pronouncing the individual word. So, let's look at our first dialogue. And I'm just going to go ahead and say the dialogue so you can hear it. And then we're going to go through this one at a time and just keep practicing and practicing and practicing. And hopefully by the end of the lesson, you will feel more comfortable using some of these different parts of connected speech. And also, you may develop your listening comprehension skills as well, which is why I think this is an important lesson for just about anyone. So, let me say this first dialogue and then we'll jump into it. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? I should have seen this coming from a mile away. What do you think we ought to do now? As I was saying that, you know, it was pretty fast, but I think you were probably able to listen and and understand what I was saying. Now, let's talk about what's happening as I was saying these individual sentences and we will start with this question right here. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? Did you know we're not going to finish on time? What is happening? The first thing I want to point out is assimilation may occur with those first two words. Did you? So in this case, it's kind of like these sounds are blending together. That's the simplest way I I can put it. In this case, think of the D and Y. If they were to blend together, you get more of a J sound. It is not something you have to force as you go from one sound to the next. It's just going to occur naturally. Did you? Did you? This does not mean that you are always going to hear this. You may hear people ask the question and they say, "Did you?" and you hear those individual words. But I think often, especially if people are speaking a little faster, maybe they're in a hurry, then assimilation may occur. Did you? Did you? Say it. Say it after me. Did you? Did you? Did you know? We're not going to. This is a very common reduction. We're gonna reduce that to gonna. I think you probably have heard this before. Maybe you already use this as part of your speaking fluency. and then finish on time. Linking may occur. This is when we're going to link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. And it's almost like we're just moving that consonant sound over to the next word or syllable. And then finally that n and t. There's a co-articulation. This is again in its simplest form. Think of it as more overlapping sounds. Often it's when your tongue ends up in the same position. So for example, that N sound, your tongue is going to be up behind your top front teeth and you're just going to release and move right in to that T in time. This does help smoothen out one speech because sometimes what I hear is people will pronounce an individual word and then inside their mouth they kind of reset and then say the next word. So really what we're looking to do is transition from one word to the next and do this smoothly and naturally. So here is the phonetic spelling that I've highlighted. If it's easier for you to look at the phonetic spelling as you're trying to say this, then that's great. Or you can just look at the sentence, look at those words and listen to the way that I'm saying it. And then I want we're going to say it together. So, we're going to do some shadowing as well. So, let's practice this a few times. I am going to say the sentence and I just want you to repeat after me. I'll say it slowly and then at a normal speed and then we'll do a little shadowing. So, just repeat after me. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? Now, let's repeat after me. Say it more at a normal speed. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? Now, let's say it three times together. And I want you to shadow me and basically try to say it at the same time. And when you do this, you're working on several things. Pronunciation, intonation, emphasis, pacing, which I think is very important and also a bit challenging when it comes to shadowing. So, let's say this question a few times and I want you to say it with me. Ready? Did you know we're not going to finish on time? One more time. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? Let's say it one last time for good measure. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? All right. Good. Excellent. Perfect. I trust that you are speaking and saying these sentences with me. So, the response is, I should have seen this coming from a mile away. [snorts] Now, to give you a little vocabulary, to see something coming from a mile away, this is an expression. And it really just means to foresee and prepare for something that is completely obvious. You're like, "Oh, yeah, of course it was obvious. I should have seen this coming from a mile away." Now, when you're saying it and pronouncing this just like me, here's what's going on. I should have. Should have is a reduction. We can reduce that. Once again, there's co-articulation with that n and this time with that voiceless th and this coming I'm going to drop that G. Now, this is not a fixed rule, but this is something that often happens. People do this all the time in the US when we're talking about verbs in the continuous tense. You can hear if I say the ing coming and you hear that ing sound, it's just easier to say in than. So, instead of coming, coming from a mile away, we can link that whole phrase from a mile away. Repeat after me just that phrase from a mile away. It is a little bit of a tongue twister with that from a mile. And you hear those m sounds one more time. From a mile away. All right, are you ready? Let's let's put it all together and say this sentence. Let me just say it one time and then we'll go through it slowly. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. I'm going to say it slowly and I want you to repeat after me. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. All right. Now, let's say it more at a normal speed. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Let's now shadow. Say it three times. All right. Are you ready? I want you to say it with me and see if you can maintain that same speed. Are you ready? I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Again, I should have seen this coming from a mile away. And one more time. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. All right. Good. Good. We're practicing all these different parts. And essentially, it is it is a little bit of a drill exercise. The more you say these different phrases again and again and again, when you're having a conversation, you're just going to say them naturally. Well, just like me with an American accent. Here is the next question. And if you notice, I've just been putting up random pictures that in the US, this is Grand Central Station in New York. But the question, what do you think we ought to do now? What do you think we ought to do now? So, what's happening with this question? What do there is co-articulation, but there's also I mean, there's several ways that you could look at this. So, for example, the T and the D sound, your tongue is in the same position. So, they are overlapping, but really what happens is that that T sound, you're not really going to hear it. So, really, you don't hear any type of T, even though it would be a stop T, it's just going to sound like what. What do you think we ought to do now? You hear me say u. You don't hear a T sound. You hear more of a soft D. When the T comes between two vowel sounds, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. This is a distinct part of the American accent. And this is really something if if you are interested in emulating the American accent, sounding like you have more of an American accent, which of course if you're living in the US, I think you know is perfectly fine. The flap T is very useful. It's very important. Americans, we love it. We use it all the time. And in this case, u you hear that soft d. So let's look at what everything that's going on. What do you What do you What do you Now I I forgot to mention you is a word that is often reduced because it's in this case it's not emphasized. And when that happens, the vowel sound is going to change slightly. So it may sound more like it has a schwa sound. Now this is not something that's going to always happen. It may come anywhere between a U and a Y. But if I were saying this quickly, what do you think? What do you think? What do you think? Just say that phrase. Repeat that after me. What do you think? What do you think? And hopefully you can pick it out. Let me say it slowly. What do you think? What do you think? What do you think we ought to do? Now there I I've kind of spelled it phonetically as a reduction. Even though I already said those that T, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. Otter. What do you think we ought to do now? I'll say it slowly. Repeat after me and then we'll we'll say it more at a normal speed. What do you think we ought to do now? Say it again. More at a normal speed. What do you think we ought to do now? Now, I want you to say it with me three times. Are you ready? Here we go. What do you think we ought to do now? What do you think we ought to do now? What do you think we ought to do now? All right, good. The last part of this dialogue, we're going to have to go back to square one. And in case you're unfamiliar with uh what what is being said in the sentence to go back to square one, it really just means you're starting over from the beginning because a previous attempt failed. It's really the same as to go back to the drawing board, which is another common idiom in in English. We're going to go back to square one. What is happening? Going to you're going to see this a lot. We're going to talk about this a lot. is going to get reduced to going to. We're going to have to is another reduction. Instead of have to, it's going to sound like have to go back to square one. This is another I I mentioned how you when it's unstressed may sound a little more like yah. This is even more common. The preposition to when you hear me say it now to it sounds just like the number two because I'm stressing it often. I should say very often it's reduced. These function words are not really stressed. And in that case, it's going to sound like a much softer, weaker to to square one. To square one. Can you hear that weaker sound? To square one. Just say that last phrase with me. To square one. Back to square one. All right. Now, let's put it all together. We're going to have to go back to square one. Let's say it. I'll say it slowly. Just repeat after me. We're gonna have to go back to square one. Now, at a normal speed, repeat after me. We're going to have to go back to square one. Now, let's say it together three times. We're going to have to go back to square one. We're going to have to go back to square one. We're going to have to go back to square one. Now that we've gone through each sentence and really went deep into what was happening and why it sounds the way it does, let's practice this dialogue. I'll I'll say the whole thing and then we're going to take turns and just keep saying this using these different parts of connected speech. So, let me say the whole thing. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? I should have seen this coming from a mile away. What do you think we ought to do now? We're going to have to go back to square one. So, I will start out and I will say A. I want you to say part B and then we'll switch. Are you ready? Let's begin. Did you know we're not going to finish on time? What do you think we ought to do now? Good. I trust that you're saying it with me and I'm not just talking to myself. So, let's switch. I want you to say A and I will say B. You can begin. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. We're going to have to go back to square one. Excellent. All right, let's keep moving right along. Let's do dialogue number two. And we're just going to keep practicing and practicing and practicing and then we're going to practice some more. How about that? Here is the next dialogue. And let's start out. I will say the whole thing and then we will go through this one step at a time. Don't you want to get out of the pool? What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. I'm going to do a few more laps and then I'm done. Let's begin with that first question. Don't you want to get out of the pool? Don't you want to get out of the pool? That looks like a nice pool. I don't know if I'd want to get out of that. So, don't you? Of course, you may hear people pronounce those individual words, but once again, assimilation may occur. This time, if the T and Y blend together, you get more of a ch sound. Don't you? Don't you want to is another very common reduction. Wanna. Don't you wanna get out of the pool. We're going to link that entire phrase. Get out of. But not only that, you're going to hear me with my American accent pronounce those T's as a flap T because they come between two vowel sounds. So this not only happens in individual words, but with phrases as well, which is why I said it is incredibly common. Get out of. Get out of. Just say that phrase after me. Get out of. Get out of. One more time. Get out of. The reason why I I'm really focused on this phrase right now is because you will end up using this quite often in a variety of different contexts. Get out of the pool. Get out of the car. Get out of bed. Get out of trouble. And this is a great phrase to just go ahead and really think about and practice together because you're going to use it. Get out of, get out of, get out of. And the last thing I would say about this question, because it is a yes no question, you really do have a rising intonation at the end. Don't you want to get out of the pool? Maybe I'm emphasizing it a little bit that don't you want to get out of the pool? So, let's practice this one time slowly and then repeat after me and then at a regular speed and then we're going to do some shadowing. Are you ready? Don't you want to get out of the pool? I'm laughing at myself with that pool. Let me say it again. Repeat after me. Normal speed. Don't you want to get out of the pool? Now, let's shadow. Say it three times together. Ready? Don't you want to get out of the pool? Don't you want to get out of the pool? Don't you want to get out of the pool? Okay, perfect. I'm just imagining. I'm actually saying this question to you. Don't you want to get out of the pool? And the reply, look, what's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. So, we have a question and then a statement. What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. You can see this theme of assimilation. And it often happens with questions. And this is another perfect example. Whature? So that ts that s plus the y and we get a shh sound. Whature? What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. Elision. This is when sounds or syllables get removed. It happens in individual words like the the syllable, the schwa sound may get removed, but it also happens when the t or d the t or duh comes between two consonants. Now, this is a phrase, but that just that t comes between two consonants. You don't hear it. just taken. Just taken I'm just taking we You hear that? Gd dropping. I'm not saying taking taking it easy. And I can link that phrase together with those flap T's. So, a lot going on in that statement. I'm just taking it easy. But maybe it's a little easier if you see what's going on. And you can see me dropping that T and just and then that taking it easy. Taking it easy. Taking it easy. Let's practice both the question and the statement. I'm I'll say it slowly. Repeat after me. What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. Let's speed it up. Repeat after me. What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. Shadowing time. Three times. See if you can maintain the same pace and say it just like me. Ready? What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. I'm just I'm trying to get into character as I'm as I'm saying these sentences and I hope that you are too because I think it'll make it a little easier to shadow and say it just like me. The next sentence, let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. So go to the I also want you to focus on this phrase as well. I already talked about the importance of like get out of go to the is another useful one I I I really think when it comes to the American accent because we use this quite often. So what's happening that two it's going to get reduced. So, it's that softer t- sound, but it also comes between two vowel sounds, that t. So, instead of a t, it's going to sound like a duh. Go to the go to the. And just to give you some more examples, I said that you will use this often. Go to the something. Go to the restaurant, go to the gym, go to the mall, go to the store, go to the go to the go to the. So, this is a phrase that you could just keep practicing over and over and over and it's going to sound distinctly American. Anytime you want to say go to the someplace, go to the go to the go to the go to the. And is another word that's often reduced. So, we've we've talked about three of them right now so far with and, to, and what was the other one? You. And that vowel sound changes. So instead of and you're going to hear n get a I can link that together with the flap t bite to eat. I'm going to you you see those t sounds and just we're going to that's how what's going to allow us to connect them together. Bite to eat. Bite to eat. And I'm also going to say that weaker t. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Say it slowly after me. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Now at a faster speed. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. And now here comes the challenging part. See if you can keep up with me as we say this three times. Are you ready? Here we go. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Okay. And then the final response is I'm going to do a few more laps. I should not few more laps. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. I'm going to We've already talked about going to getting reduced to gonna. Extremely common reduction. However, if we're saying I'm gonna, you can reduce this even further. Now, this may get you outside of your comfort zone a little bit. It is not something that you have to do. As we say this sentence, I'm just going to go ahead and reduce it. It's going to sound like amina. And then do a intrusion. And intrusion, it's the opposite of elision essentially because in this case, we are adding sounds. And we're going to add either a slight y or w sounds. In this case, dw. You can hear hear the sound that we're adding. Dw. That w slight w sound. This is what allows us to link these vowel sounds together. I'm going to do a few laps and is of course going to get reduced to n. At least when I do it right now, then I'm done. I can link that phrase. Then I'm then I'm then I'm So it's going to sound like this. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. Before we say the whole sentence, give it a try with that. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna try it again. I'm going to And maybe I don't know if it helps to look at the phonetic spelling. Once again, it's not something you have to do. However, I told you that a lot of this is great for your listening comprehension. This is something you will certainly hear if you're out on the streets and somebody else is talking to you or you're listening to a podcast or watching a movie or TV show and you're going to hear this. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. Now, at a normal speed, I'm gonna do a few laps and then I'm done. Now, let's say it three times together. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. I think you're ready. I think you're ready for the entire dialogue. Before we begin, I'll say the entire thing and then we're gonna switch. Don't you want to get out of the pool? What's your hurry? I'm just taking it easy. Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. I told you it helps to maybe try to get into character. Imagine you and I were we're out at the pool having a good time and then I am going to say A and you say B. Ready? [snorts] Don't you want to get out of the pool? Let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat. Okay, that sounds good. I'll wait right here. All right, now let's switch. I want you to say A. I will say B. You can begin. What's your hurry? I I'm just taking it easy. I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done. Great job. As you as you can tell, there is a little repetition, and that's good. We're going to keep using some of these common reductions like gonna, and it's good to just keep going back and practicing and practicing and practicing some more. So, let's keep practicing with dialogue number three. And here it is. I will say the whole thing, and then we're going to dive deep into each sentence and talk about what's going on. Did you remember to go to the meeting? I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. You're going to get an earful for this. I'm going to have to come up with an excuse. Maybe you heard it at the very end with that. I'm gonna I'm going to have to come up with an excuse. So, let's start at the beginning and we'll begin with that question. Did you remember to go to the meeting? In this case, it's a conversation perhaps between two colleagues and somebody says, "Hey, did you remember to go to the meeting? Did you?" that D and Y, they blend together. You get more of a J sound. Did you? Did you? Did you? Did you remember to go to the meeting? So once again, to it's going to sound a little softer. T. But remember, I am going to use a flap T. So instead of the T, it's going to sound like a duh because it's following an sound. I gave you another example of a T following an R and the T sounds like a flap T. Started. Started. Started. Started. Remember to started. Remember to remember to. There. There it is. The go to the go to the meeting. Go to the Let's We're just going to keep practicing that we talked about. Hey, go to the restaurant, go to the meeting, go to the gym, go to the mall, go to the store. So, let's say this question one time slowly. You repeat after me. Ready? Did you remember to go to the gym? Or Okay, never mind. Never mind. I got that. Go to the gym on nine. Um, let's let's start from the beginning. All right. Repeat after me. Did you remember to go to the meeting? Now, let's say it faster. Did you remember to go to the meeting? Shadow, three times. Say it with me this question. Did you remember to go to the meeting? Did you remember to go to the meeting? Did you remember to go to the meeting? Feel like a I don't know why I was thinking like I feel like a parrot just keeps saying repeating repeating repeating as we're shadowing. But that's okay. This is all about getting practice practicing your speaking skills. I was going to go but it slipped my mind. A little vocabulary for you. If something slips your mind, it just means that you forgot it. All right, somebody forgot to do something or they forgot something and you could say, "Yeah, it slipped my mind." So, what is happening? I was going to go. Of course, gonna. Common reduction, but I I can link that together. And that t that final t but it's going to sound like a flap t when I say it. But I or not, sorry, but I but it. But it but it slip my mind. So slipped. Slipped. You hear me emphasizing that t which is the ed d sound. The ed d in slipped because it's the p is voiceless. It really would sound like a t. Slipped. Slipped. However, we talked about elision. When like a t comes between two consonants, it elides. You're not really going to hear it. And that's what I was trying to really I guess kind of create a little bit of a chart down there and saying basically slip my slip my you you're not really going to hear that ed and you some people may say well how do you know that we're talking about the past tense? You really just need to put it everything into context as you're listening to somebody else because it's going to elide when they say it. Slip my mind. Slip my mind. It slipped my mind. Let's just practice that that uh last clause right there. So, just repeat after me. But it slipped my mind. But it slipped my mind. But it slipped my mind. Let's say the whole sentence now one time slowly and then we're just going to speed things up and do some shadowing. I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. Now faster. I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. Now, let's say it three times. Ready? I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. All right, great. Hopefully, even if this is a new phrase for you if something slips your mind, great phrase instead of saying that you forgot. And hopefully you can even build your vocabulary a little bit with this lesson. And here's some more vocabulary for you. If the other person responds and says, "Oh, you're going to get an earful for this. You're going to get an earful for this." This is more of an idiom. If you say that uh in this case, somebody gets an earful. you what they think. So, just keep in mind the to get an earful. If I am getting an earful, somebody is speaking angrily to me and nobody likes to get an earful. If it's the other way, if you are speaking angrily to somebody else, then you could change get to give. You are giving someone an earful. So, just keep that in mind. If I'm giving you an earful, I am speaking angrily to you. If I'm getting an earful, you are speaking angrily to me. Hopefully that makes sense. So, of course, think about this context. Somebody didn't go to the meeting, slipped their mind, and they say, "Oh, you're going to get an earful for this. You somebody else is going to get angry with you, perhaps the boss, the supervisor." But let's talk about what's happening. You're going to you're going to get an earful. We can link that phrase together. And of course, that final T and get, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. Now, for is another one of those beautiful words in English that is not often emphasized, not going to sound like the number four. And that vowel sound is going to change slightly. And in this case, it's going to sound a little more like for. It's a softer sound. For this, for this, for this. Hopefully, it's easy to hear as I was just saying it. Then, let's practice this. You're going to get an earful for this. I'll say it slowly and then we're going to speed things up. You're going to get an earful for this. Let's speed it up. You're going to get an earful for this. Now, I want you to say it with me. Shadow three times. Ready? You're going to get an earful for this. You're going to get an earful for this. You're going to get an earful for this. Now, the response is, well, I'm going to have to come up with an excuse, which I think is a it's a great idea. Nobody likes to get an earful uh for for something that maybe well, they made a mistake. So, once again, I'm you could say I'm gonna There is nothing wrong with it. It is incredibly common. But if I were to reduce it further, I'm going to I'm going to try to get you outside of your comfort zone. And I'm using it even then as I say that I'm going to I'm going to try to get you outside of your comfort zone and we're going to use that full reduction. I'm going to have to another quite common reduction come up. I can link that together as well as that final phrase with an excuse. With an excuse we can link that together. I'm going to have to come up with an excuse. Let me well I'll say it again slowly and you can repeat after me. Ready? I'm going to have to come up with an excuse. Let's speed things up. I'm going to have to come up with an excuse. Now, I want you to shadow. Say it with me three times. Are you ready? I'm going to have to come up with an excuse. I'm gonna have to come up with an excuse. I'm gonna have to come up with an excuse. Great job. I think you're doing an amazing an amazing job. So, I think you're ready to practice and let's say this dialogue together. I'll say the whole thing and then we'll we'll take turns. Did you remember to go to the meeting? I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. You're going to get an earful for this. I'm going to have to come up with an excuse. Simple enough. Straightforward. I will start with A. You and I are colleagues, so I will begin and then you uh will say B. Ready? Did you remember to go to the meeting? You're going to get an earful for this. Very nice. Let's switch. I want you to say A and I will say B. So, you can begin. I was going to go, but it slipped my mind. I'm gonna have to come up with an excuse. From one colleague to another. Well done. All right. Well done. I love it. Let's practice a little bit more with dialogue number four. And again, these are simple sentences. I think that you understand them even if you were to hear them in a movie, TV show, podcast, whatever it may be. But again, this is more about developing your speaking fluency. If you are interested in the American accent and really understanding why people like me from the US sound the way that we do, let's look at this one. I will say the whole thing and we're going to dive deeper into each sentence. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. Okay, let's look at what's happening with each sentence. As I was saying this, I think you recognize some of the things we've already talked about. And that is awesome. To give you a little vocabulary down here, if somebody says, well, in this case, what's up with the bus or what's up with this or what's up with that? It is a little more informal. If you were to say what's up with something, you could even use it when talking about um a person. You know, what's up with Wes? What's what's wrong? What's his problem? because you're going to use this to say that you don't understand something or you you you're just wanting an explanation like why like why is this happening? So in this context, of course, it's like the expectation is that the bus should be there and it has not arrived and somebody says, you know, what's up with the bus? What what's up with that? All right, I don't know. Should we keep waiting around? What's up? I can link that together. You can hear me moving that consonant sound over. What's up? What's up? with the with the. Of course, these this is pretty simple as far as these overlapping th's with the bus. And we're going to end with that with the with the and just move right into that voiced th and the what's up with the bus? What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? Now, this is a little trickier. Let me let's let me dive deeper. Even dive deeper right here. Waiting you is a verb. I've already said that often people in the US will drop that G. So instead of waiting, if I drop the G, it then becomes waiting. Now you may have heard something strange going on there. I'll let me say both of those. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. So waiting. When I'm when I say the ing, that T is a flat T. It's going to sound like a soft D. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. If I drop the G, it's going to change to a glottle stop. It's like I'm swallowing the tea. The sound is coming from the throat. Wait. Wait. To give you uh some more examples with this. And this occurs when you have the the t followed by an N sound. And there are other words. Think of think of these words. kitten, [clears throat] mitten, mountain, certain, and you have a t followed by an N sound. And with each of those words, kitten, mitten, mountain, certain, you hear me pronouncing that glottle stop to hone in on that glottle T, glottle stop. If you if somebody makes a mistake, they say uhoh, just say that right now. Uhoh. Uhoh. Hopefully you can feel that sound in your throat because in between the uo that is a glottle stop. Uh oh. Uh oh. And then you can try to say those words like kitten, mitten, mountain. And in this case with a verb that ends with a t. If we drop the g, wait. There are other verbs too. If I were to drop the G in sitting, sitting or drop the G in meeting and you hear those glottle stops. What makes it even a little trickier is then I'm going to say wait and around. And then I can link the that phrase together. Waiting around. Waiting around. Hopefully that makes sense. And this is when I feel like wow the language is fascinating. It changes from a flap T to a glottle T. a glottle stop when you're talking about waiting versus waiting. I know it's a long explanation, but I really wanted to to let you know what was going on uh with this uh you know gdropping glottle t plus linking. So let's let's practice this sentence and and let's just try that phrase. Waiting around. Say repeat after me. Waiting around. Waiting around. If you feel like you're having trouble making that glottle stop, of course you with the American accent, just use a flap t and say the waiting waiting around waiting around. It is also very common. This is not a fixed rule, but I just wanted to to talk a little bit about how people may say the same thing, but it's going to sound different. So, if you are more comfortable pronouncing a flap t like waiting, just stick with that. But as I go through this, I'm going to use that glottle stop. Waiting around. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? I'll say it slowly. Repeat after me. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? Let's speed it up. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? Three times. Say it with me. Ready? What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? [sighs] What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? Well done. Well done. You know, it's like you you and I. We're we're here. We're at the bus stop and it has not showed up. And this was the question. And then the other person says, you know, it's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. It's your call. If somebody, it is again a little more informal, but I think in general, the US people in the United States, they speak rather informally, even at places like work. But if somebody says it's your call, they're going to to use this to say that um you know, someone should be the one to make the decision. All right? It's not I don't I don't I'm not going to make the decision. It's up to you. It's your call. So, this person was asking, you know, should we keep waiting around? And they say, well, look, it's your call. You decide. All right. It's your call, but I think we might want to consider other options. It's your call. It's your It's sure you hear that those sounds blending. It's your call. It's your call. But I I can link that together along with that flap t, but I think me way uh we may want to consider other options. want to I'm going to reduce that to wanna and then consider other options. I can link that phrase together. Repeat after me. Consider other options. Consider other options. One more time. Consider other options. Great. Let's say this sentence slowly and then at a faster speed. Repeat after me. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. Now faster. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. Now together three times. You ready? It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. It's your call, but I think we may Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm like losing my own uh uh speaking ability as we we go through this. Sorry. Let's do the shadowing part again. Three times. Ready? I think I'm I'm fumbling between uh I think we may want to consider other options. Okay. Three times. Ready? Say it with me. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. All right. a lot of speaking going on in this lesson and you know it's okay. We all kind of trip up from time to time. It happens to the best of us. It happens to me quite often. Um and that's all right. And then the next sentence, we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. So in this situation, apparently these you and I, we have to go somewhere. All right? And we're gonna have to get an Uber if uh we want to make it on time. Going to we reduce that to gonna have to to have to gonna have to. It can be a little tricky to say one reduction right after the other. Gonna have to get an Uber. that entire phrase, that final T in the get. I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T. If we wanna another common reduction, make it on time. You you see a lot of these flap T's. I told you it is a very distinct part of the American accent. People use this quite often pretty much almost almost in every sentence. So, let's practice this sentence right here slowly at a normal speed and then saying it three times together. So, repeat after me. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. And then more at a normal speed, we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. Three times. Ready? together. Keep up try to keep up with the the the same pace. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. And I don't know, you you can tell me. I personally think one of the more difficult parts of shadowing is trying to maintain that same speed. And the difficulty in that is just transitioning from one sound to the next as you are saying these words not individually but together as a phrase. Then finally the other person says um I'm going to have to see if I can find one on the app. I'm going to have to see if we could find if I can find one on the app. Of course that I'm gonna get you outside your comfort zone. You're going to hear me say that. I'm gonna if you want to say I'm gonna again very common perfectly fine. I'm going to see if I I can link that together can find one on the app. Find one elision is going to occur. I mentioned maybe the the T or the D. It's going to elide in this case one. It does begin with a consonant sound even though it begins with a a vowel one. It begins with a consonant sound. That www. fine one. Fine one. You don't hear that duh in find. Find one on the app. The other thing of course one on we can link that together. The app you I'm saying the stronger the most of the time people are going to say the the the and you're going to use that schwa sound. In this case when the next word begins with a vowel sound that is um a time when you would use the stronger the. So, the app. The app. Let's put it all together. Uh, I'm gonna have to see if I can find one on the app. I'll say it slowly and then we're going to speed things up. I'm going to have to see if I can find one on the app. Say it faster. Repeat after me. I'm going to have to see if I can find one on the app. Now, three times. Let's say it together. I'm gonna have to see if I can find one on the app. I'm gonna have to see if I can find one on the app. I'm gonna have to see if I can find one on the app. Excellent. Excellent. Love it. Let's Let's do it. Let's We're ready. All right. We're We're at the bus stop. Let's get into character. I I'll say the whole thing and then we'll we'll take turns. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. I'll start out. A, I want you to save B. Ready? What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. Great. Let me know if you find something and and we'll we'll find another way to get there. All right, let's switch. You say A, uh, we're at the bus stop, and I will say B, you can begin. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. I love it. You and I, I, you know, we're at the bus stop. I really felt like we were at the bus stop having this conversation. I hope you did, too, and you could really get into it. I think it makes it a little easier to just say these sentences using these different parts of connected speech. So, we just practice four different dialogues, different sentences, even though we reviewed several phrases over and over, and I think that's a good thing. Of course, you notice reductions like gonna were pretty common. We use that all the time. As well as me talking to you about a phrase like get out of, get out of, and using those flap T's and linking that together as well as go to the that's one of my favorites. Go to the gym, go to the mall, go to the restaurant, go to the store. people sound the way they do. I really do think even if this is not one of your goals, this will help with your listening comprehension because this is the way that you are going to hear people speak, including uh myself included. But I enjoyed practicing with you if you actually spoke to me and I wasn't just talking to myself. Let me know in the comments, write speaking so that I know that you are practicing your speaking skills, which is what this lesson is all about. And if you enjoyed this lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 205. American Culture Quiz ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (ONLY 3% CAN PASS THIS TEST) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TffOC4_lqMU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TffOC4_lqMU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:15:59 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson this is uh i've been looking forward to this lesson for a while because we are going to talk well a little bit about american culture so i have a quiz uh for you about american culture this is an interactive lesson so i hope that you participate write your answers in the chat or even if you're watching later write your answers in the comments now i i am from the united states the quiz of course i do not represent everything about uh american culture some of this is going to be through my own perspective but i feel that uh people from the united states would would do quite well with this and i think many of you because we have people in our community from all over the world that are familiar with u.s culture because of movies or songs or tv shows um and and just just knowing about it and reading about it so this is a little bit of test many of you maybe have traveled there and i know many people um that watch these video lessons actually live in the us so it'll be a little bit interesting to get your take and to hear your answers with uh these uh questions so i i do want to say uh quick hello um ah vicky gustav uh glad you're glad to see you good glad you made it um hello lolly sleepwalker angela yashar good to see you and i i'm gonna get through some more shout outs as we go through this um and the first thing that i want to say real quickly quick little announcement is that i am getting ready to start uh well i'm going to start an uh speaking course in january in case you're interested the the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally we talk about a variety of topics trying to build speaking confidence we do different speaking activities so the the course includes uh eight weekly lessons with me so you get to speak directly with me if you would like more information about this i'm gonna throw it you can check out the link down in the description i'm also going to throw something in the chat right here and last thing i just reminded me um because it is 2022 is around the corner you can use the code speak 22 to get 22 off so if you're interested in the course maybe you want to improve your speaking fluency in 2022 check that out link is in the description so let's go ahead and begin with the first question that i have for you and that is this one right here okay so we're going to start out uh i i think this is some of these my hair's all all messed up some i think are going to be much easier than the others when is thanksgiving in the united states okay and i think if you if you really follow my video lessons i just did one very recently about thanksgiving and talked specifically about this like when is it and it is not like there are several many countries celebrate thanksgiving it's at a different time but in the united states when when do we celebrate thanksgiving let me know um in the chat in the comments uh hi bemini how are you good to see you again uh i got some well answered wait mustafa jan eight january no no no no no not january yuri not in october um i thought people no lolli not the 28th of november not for don't think about this year just in general what is kind of like the rule in general jen you're close you're close like the the the last thursday of november you're getting close uh zodiac yes it is the correct answer um yes in november yes the it is in november specifically and this is what i mentioned in in the united states it's going to be on the fourth thursday of november so somebody had mentioned like the last thursday in general it typically is the last thursday depending on how the the year is it quite possibly um i'm trying to think i guess you could have uh no you wouldn't be able to have five thursdays so then you could say maybe last thursday in general the fourth the fourth thursday in november um is when thanksgiving is celebrated so i saw like a couple different months out there uh january is that okay let's let's move on see how well we do this next one this is a little more pop culture right here who is considered the queen of pop okay and maybe maybe i don't know it's because of my my age um what do you think so for those of you you're sure you're familiar with michael jackson the king of pop who is considered the queen of pop who do you think any any guesses it is i'll go ahead and tell you it is another musician another singer who is also um you know not not from today but a while back um the queen of pop yeah all right excellent uh stacy ashar virginia michelle leonardo rita all right excellent if you guys got that right just hit that like button alright hit that like button share the lesson help us spread the word getting a lot of good answers in here so madonna is the queen of pop and i don't know who uh if she gave herself that title i really don't know but michael jackson is considered the king of pop uh madonna is the queen of pop the next question we're just gonna keep rolling through these this is uh maybe if you've been to the u.s perhaps you've been to the city in which city can you visit both the coca-cola museum and the birth home of martin luther king jr so you have a little bit of um well a little bit of history in there with uh mlk as well as some corporate american corporate trivia with coca-cola so what do you think hi takayam good to see you um mustafa asks what's pop pop is just a genre of music when you talk about like pop music so what what city what do you think you said georgia you're getting close but what city georgia's the state um wow you guys uh some of you rock this out pretty quickly maybe you've been there maybe to the coca-cola museum or the mlk so the correct answer is the city of atlanta now atlanta's the city atlanta is the capital of georgia georgia is the state some of you had were writing georgia but atlanta is the capital of georgia it is where you will find the birthplace of martin luther king jr as well as coca-cola coca-cola's headquartered in atlanta and they have this coca-cola museum and you can drink a bunch of coca-cola all right some people put alabama you're close you're in the south the next question all right so i i tried my best to kind of mix it up between some history and pop culture um just some travel stuff so we'll we'll see uh we'll see what you think again this is just i made this quiz so it's really through my perspective but people on the west coast especially in california and this is true what i've learned about people in california they are crazy about this fast food chain there is a particular fast food chain that people are crazy about they think it's the best one oh this one's the best it's so much better than all the others so not saying like it's the best restaurant but in thinking of like your your fast food options people think this one is by far the best and i say it's the west coast because this chain is mostly on the west coast you're not really gonna i don't know if they have any on the east coast so this is a very this is a good one if you've traveled to california or on the west coast maybe you've talked to other americans and they mention this fast food and i keep talking right now a little bit of rambling because i have not seen the correct answer just yet it's not mcdonald's it's not taco bell it's not burger king it's not a food truck uh that's good on alex yes alex you must have been to uh california because it is correct the correct answer is in and out uh in and out burger it's a chain that i don't know maybe i don't know if it started in california i think it might have because there are many of them in california but they're all they're along the west uh the west coast it is still a private company so it is not a public company like mcdonald's which is maybe another reason why it's a little uh it's a little smaller but you find them mostly on the west coast and people who live out there they think like oh it's the best fast food in the world that some people don't even consider it fast food i would disagree with that but um just in case if you're ever in california go yeah check out in and out burger you can see for yourself this video is not sponsored by in-n-out burger all right so just a just a heads up though um the next question that i have for you okay a little bit of a little bit of civics for you going uh talking about the government right now so let me know what you think again just write your answers in the chat in the comments um and tell me the answer to this question uh in government how many u.s senators are there what do you think how many senators are there so the the legislative branch you have you know congress and the senate so i'm not talking about congress people we're talking about the senators the senators all right so this is a i think this is a government question that i thought was it's a good one i don't think it's probably too difficult uh if you follow us politics then um it's a question that i think you could you could definitely get so i do see the correct answers in there and i'll let people know i'm kind of just giving people a little time to answer so yes uh locomotive virginia john uh anawat stacy uh the correct answer sleepwalker great job gloria the correct answer is 100. so there are two senators per state uh the congress people there are hundreds and hundreds of i think there's almost like there's over 400 congress people and there are congress people in each state depending on the population so a populated state with like california will have more representatives in congress than a state with a smaller population but as for senators they both get the same whether it's california or montana they have the same number of senators and there are a lot of people out there that that don't like this setup and they don't think it's very fair but there are two per state all right excellent um got more answers yes vicky gustav um perfect all right angela nice next question um i i think this one again is a little easier uh because this is probably a character that many of you are familiar with even being outside living outside the united states so this character their famous catchphrase is what's up doc okay which character am i talking about i'm sure many of you know this this is a character who's been around for a very very long time so which character's catchphrase is what's up doc okay let me know if you're if you feel like you're learning something new about uh about american culture you can let me know go ahead hit that like button uh it tells me that okay you're learning some new things so this character yeah okay starting to see some correct answers the famous characters catch phrase what's up doc we're talking about uh it is it is a rabbit all right bugs money so this is an older this is an old cartoon like when i was growing up i think it's a kind of a famous character i don't know if kids really watch bugs bunny nowadays or how popular it is but definitely a long time ago and i think this was a i feel like this was maybe a cartoon that did get exported and you might would see this in other countries as well and say what's up doc what's up doc that is bugs bunnies catchphrase the next question is right here okay so what do you think and you guys i rocked that one that was good uh stacey mustafa lolly great job excellent uh good aware i'm glad yes i'm glad you're learning some new things so who was the famous host of the american television show jeopardy so jeopardy a very popular game show in the united states there was a host of jeopardy for many many years i believe he was the host well i'm kind of giving it away a little bit i just told you it's a guy he was the host for i think around 28 years do you know the name of this person and this is a game show that you maybe they would show it in other countries as well i'm not really sure but it was a very popular one in the united states and i want to know if you can think of the host of jeopardy who who was the host of jeopardy the very famous host of jeopardy i i thought this one would be a little more difficult and i will be impressed if uh if any of you get this correct uh maybe you saw it uh it is not jennifer aniston no she is not the the host of jeopardy uh merv griffin no he's not him ario you i you don't know that's okay uh that's okay i'll tell you in just a moment um and yes angela comes through with the correct question same with uh stacy so we're talking about alex trebek um i say well was he was is no longer the host alex trebek sadly passed away in 2020 um as he was still the host at that point i think i think he was on there for about 28 years but it's like when people would think of jeopardy alex trebek is somebody that that they would think of because he hosted it uh for so long alex trebek is the answer that we were looking for the next one and actually trebek um he was actually he was canadian-american i think he had he had dual citizenship so he was canadian-american okay this one um not a little bit pop culture but also a little political um i don't know if you know who lin manuel miranda is but if not then maybe this will be a more difficult question so lin-manuel miranda created a famous musical about which well-known american politician so even if you're you know not into politics you could still get this um get this correct because this musical was very very famous and well known i mean i think it still is famous and the the original cast is not doing it anymore but i think even then like this is like going back four five six uh years so this is still in the grand scheme of things this is still fairly recent okay so lin-manuel can't talk this is what happens toward the end of the year lin-manuel miranda created the famous musical about which well-known american politician and the other thing i would add he is kind of this is somebody who is a founding father this is somebody who was never president um i don't i think they were really the first u.s treasurer they didn't really hold they were not a senator they didn't really hold uh political office but they were one of the founding fathers uh we did get one correct answer in there um yashar yashar excellent um yes vicky gustav excellent two corrector three correct answers lolli stacy four there the the correct answers are rolling in now excellent so yes the the correct answer is alexander hamilton the the musical is just called hamilton and it is about the life of alexander hamilton who is one of the founding fathers um of the the united states and that's kind of the the musical logos right there and they do a lot of like raps it's very cool i would sing it for you but i'm such a terrible singer i'm not even gonna i'm not even gonna bother you with that so the next question are you ready so that one you guys did pretty well on that this one's also going to be more difficult because it's just more specific to the united states and you would really probably would need to really watch a lot of movies and tv shows perhaps to come across it um or just live there and you might know the answer to this so which university has the motto roll tide roll tide so that that is the university's motto and this is something that i think is a little different about the united states um as opposed to like other countries that i've lived in university not not university like like that's so important but people do identify with their university and it is a it's a topic of conversation like oh where did you go what university did you attend so it is something that i think in the united states people will maybe talk about a little more and they know about other universities mainly through sports and this is another reason why you may have heard about this one because of the sports team and wow you guys excellent uh jardel angela fly yeshar lolli um the correct answer yes busta we're talking about the university of alabama so university of alabama is the alabama crimson tide and their their motto is just saying roll tide roll tide wow you guys got that one good excellent so here's uh this one may be a little tricky i'll go ahead and tell you that even if you think like oh i definitely know the answer to this it will be a little tricky i got tripped up by this um and i well there's a reason for that but i'll tell you in just a second i need to get some water so in the u.s you can buy alcohol at 21. how old do you have to be to buy cigarettes what do you think just a number throw it in the chat throw it in the comments what do you think so really there's probably just a few different numbers that i imagine you you would choose from or probably just two different numbers that you might choose from so we're getting a variety of responses many of you are correct because i feel like people would when i said a few different numbers i feel like people might say like 16 or 18 or 21 some people have mentioned 17. the correct answer and i said this one tripped me up a little bit is 21. all right it used to be 18 and i added this down there because i told you like i i've been outside of the country so i wasn't too familiar with this change but in 2019 so it changed recently they passed legislation raising the the federal minimum age for selling tobacco products from 18 to 21. so it as of you know not too long ago it was 18 and for the for the a long time it was 18 and they've recently raised it to 21. so now you have to be 21 to buy alcohol or tobacco products all right let's stick with some agents okay one more age question uh for you in the u.s you can vote at 18. how old do you have to be to drive a car all right what do you think you can vote at 18 how old does someone have to be to drive okay so again this is each country can be a little different on some of these between buying alcohol or cigarettes or driving and voting and the city is 42 wow 42 to buy cigarettes wow that's that's interesting they're really really trying to stop the sale so this one i think most of you yeah you guys got this one all right and i feel like this is something that i just through a lot of movies tv show pop pop culture that other people might see outside of the us then you would come across that yes you in in the you uh in the u.s 16 and i think in general maybe some states it's can be a little different like people do like learners permits that could be like 15 in which case you can drive but there needs to be somebody else in the car that has a license so this may vary state by state but in general i think for the most part 16 and i personally feel like maybe that kid looks too young to be driving it is a very young driving age i think compared to a lot of other countries um this one also i think probably a little bit easier i tried to word it in a way that might be a little more challenging but the fourth okay i'm talking about a day the fourth is an important day in which month okay so which month would uh the fourth be a significant day and i'm sure if you know the answer you probably even know why it is an important day so like i i was i wanted to ask this question and i was thinking how could i ask it in a way that might be a little more challenging for people but just how quickly all of you are responding uh it makes me think yes it was pretty easy so we're talking about the 4th of july which is independence day in the united states so when you think of you know july july 4th is a very well-known popular holiday in the u.s um the next one oh this is a fun one uh i'm i'm very curious to see if you guys know this one what is the name of the following snack i'm gonna show you a picture of it and i just want you to tell me the name so what is the name of this snack right here okay and i i don't know i don't know if this is anything that's distinctly american per se i think these snacks um are are common in the us uh but well i'll explain a little bit afterward and i i you could say i said snack even though maybe people would think of it as like a dessert possibly but i think probably a snack would be a better category to put this in and they're delicious they're absolutely delicious it's been years and years and years since i have had one of these but what would you call these snacks all right so i'll give you a moment and then i'll tell you how it's made it's not they're not it's not a very complex food so some of you yes angela mustafa um mariana those uh you can probably tell in the picture those are rice rice krispies is a cereal so i put the picture of the cereal up there rice krispies and maybe they have a few different names i think commonly people would just call them rice krispies treats and what it is it's rice krispies with basically butter and marshmallows it's kind of just fused together rice krispies butter and marshmallows you put it in a pan and you can make uh you heat it up and you get rice krispies treats and they are they are delicious they are quite yummy and typically if you were to buy like the cereal like on the back you might find like a recipe for making it um so it's it's kind of well known all right so this is a the next one people um i think he thinks they're awful no oh rice krispie treats i miss them i really wanna i maybe i try it today and i might not uh it might be a little nostalgic but i and i wouldn't enjoy it as much but oh it was a delicious part of my childhood um what do you think people may watch this sporting event specifically to see the commercials all right i think i watch it for the sport but trying to kind of give it as a this is a quiz um people will watch this sporting event there are people that watch it mainly for the commercials they're interested in watching the commercials which may sound i think a little strange because most of the time nobody likes watching advertisements or wants to see um advertisements even though in this case we're surrounded by them it's kind of unavoidable and you guys answered uh answered that pretty quickly except there's one little typo and it made me wonder if somebody uh somebody put super ball the the first one and then other people started writing super bowl um but adriana yes that's correct it's not the super ball um you're close if you just if it's a if it's a word you hear and you haven't actually seen the spelling i could understand where you're coming from but not super ball um adriana yes uh stacy gian talking about the the super bowl so b-o-w-l uh two words it's the super bowl the super bowl is the championship for american football again i know uh the rest of the world football in the united states they say soccer but american football probably the most popular sport in the country um and the championship is the super bowl and the reason why i think some people when i said many people will watch it for the commercials is because it's such a big event that advertisers they do new commercials just for the super bowl so when you when the super bowl goes to commercials they're typically all new commercials that nobody's ever seen before and it's kind of become a thing about like oh which one is the best which one's the funniest and it's another part of uh another part of this so the the next one is more i just curious to see what your opinion is there's really no right or wrong answer what what what do you think as far as how you you think of american culture um like i said this is a subjective question what do you think how would you complete that sentence americans love what what what would you say like i said there's there's no wrong answer for this one i just wanted to to kind of see uh what you think how how would you complete uh this this sentence right here uh americans love uh mustafa people okay sure yeah it's good love people uh fast food yeah all right that makes sense we talked about in and out before it's donuts okay i like donuts yeah william freedom aria americans love japan sure i also like japan americans love america yeah i i definitely uh i definitely could see that one uh mariana hamburgers virginia americans love their flag yeah you do find the american flag out there a lot uh americans love gustav work and money yes i definitely see that as well uh traveling pizza burgers pizza again so a lot of uh food things coming out i feel like many countries probably would kind of have an association with food uh cecilia baseball okay flag americans mustafa americans love egypt sure uh felix happy hour yeah i i like happy hour as well it's always good to get that discount on uh on some drinks uh all right so wow that was uh that was great i that was the quiz again like i said this is not representative representative of all american culture i i put it together so it was really just through my perspective but i think it's more of a it's a fun little quiz because i'm from the u.s and it's also it is it's not directly related to language learning pretty much everything we do on this channel is all about you know practicing helping you practice and improve your english skills so this one i i from time to time i like doing these cultural lessons i think they can uh be a little helpful give you a little insight especially if some of you are living in the u.s or maybe you're planning to to travel there soon so thank you guys so much for for joining me on this saturday um i hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend again if you are interested in joining my speaking course in 2022 you can check out the link down below in the description right there it'll take you to this page uh where you can enroll if you're interested in signing up so check that out link is down in the description and you can use the code speak22 to get 22 off so thank you so much for being here um quick little goodbyes sleepwalker alex uh mira ezra manuel um angela michelle leonardo sarah fly to cayo good to see you yuri vikki gustav good to see you glad you're here yashar nice to see you again manuel uh john angela lolly so have a wonderful rest of the weekend and i'm sure that i will see you guys soon for another lesson so long --- ## 206. American English Pronunciation for Intermediate to Advanced Learners | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `l2QMvJ51CXo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2QMvJ51CXo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:20:00 | --- hello welcome to today's lesson my name is wes in case this is your first time here the channel is interactive english and the channel's all about trying to help you practice and improve your your grammar your pronunciation vocabulary just anything related to learning english and today i i have it's a it's a pronunciation lesson and we're going to be doing it's a little bit of a pronunciation quiz but really i'm going to talk about um quite a few different parts of pronunciation and i know i've titled it uh and it's an american pronunciation lesson for intermediate to advanced learners i am from the united states i would say that i have more of a standard american accent i've lived all over the u.s and some of the things that i'm going to talk to you today about in this lesson are really related to well would be more my accent um the way i pronounce different words and phrases and i will get into that in just a little bit and i do think the the things that we're going to be going over would be more for intermediate to advanced learners even though i think even beginner learners would be able to follow along and kind of understand the different ideas because i'm not going to be talking about any real advanced vocabulary or anything like that so i do want to give uh a couple shout outs to those of you who are with me great to see so many familiar names hello uh lolly good to be back sleepwalker leo hiwa uh ten critica oleg how are you moon roy uh great to see you guys thank you so much for joining me i will give some more shout outs as i go through the lesson i know i've had a little bit i think it's been a little bit of a live stream uh hiatus for a little bit so it's good to be back and i just want to begin with the way we're going to do this is i'm going to walk you through some different questions and to give you a chance to participate uh i'll ask you guys to answer the questions let's see what you already know and then i'll tell you the answer and talk a little bit about it so let's begin with our first uh the first question that i have for you related to pronunciation is what is the most common sound in english and i've given you you if you're with me right now you could just type in a b c or d the symbols that i'm giving you right here this is the international phonetic alphabet the ipa some of you may be familiar with the ipa others of you may not be that's okay don't worry about it if you're not sure um what it is the ipa i said it right there it's an alphabet developed in the 19th century to accurately represent the pronunciation of languages so it's not just used in english but i think if you are perhaps you're using an online english dictionary and you look up a word and you see the pronunciation of that word they may give you these symbols and that is the international phonetic alphabet the ipa so many of you let me just go ahead and tell you yes uh excellent lolly oleg yasmin sleepwalker let's learn uh and practice english um gosh neil all right takayo good to see you hello uh angela samuel hello the correct answer is b and i'll go through and say i meant to say these sounds for you but i think if i said the sound it would make it a little too easy so a that is a the symbol for a ch sound b that is the schwa sound that is the answer that's the most common sound and it sounds more like an uh um c even though it's an i it's more of a long e sound e like in uh sheep and d is just the consonant s sound like s snake and of course b that is the most common sound in english and that leads me to this right here it is the schwa sound this is definitely a sound that you should become familiar with because you are going to find the schwa sound in so many different words and what the schwa is it is an unstressed vowel sound so i've given you two examples right here just random words that i chose um banana and i right here if you're looking at the ipa those symbols you can see that it's like an upside down e that is the schwa so in the word banana three syllables the schwa is in the first and the second syllable so you see it twice that sound twice in there banana or even the word we talked about the international phonetic alphabet alphabet all right that second syllable has that schwa sound you see that upside down e and the reason i said that if you don't know the symbols that's okay this is definitely a symbol that i think it's it's useful to know because when you if you look up a word you want to know the meaning often these online dictionaries will give you the pronunciation and they'll they'll show you the ipa it's useful to know the other thing i would say that's related to like i like the english accent i think all english accents but in particular in the united states is that i think people will use the schwa and reduce words all the time for example if you just want to one way to kind of just improve your fluency sound a little more natural think of the word to i'm going um i'm going to the mall all right it's a simple sentence and instead of pronouncing it too overwhelmingly in the united states people will pronounce it that schwa sound so instead of saying to say it's a very soft sound i'm going to the mall all right so i hope you're listen for it when i say it you can repeat after me if you want i'm going to the mall and you hear that schwa and obviously 2 is a very common preposition but that's just a simple way to to improve your fluency speak a little more naturally say that schwa instead of saying two i'm going to the mall i'm going to the mall i'm going to the park i'm going to the doctor all right i hope that you can hear that when that when i'm saying the word to so that i think is useful and i think it's very common in places like the united states again that's where i'm from that's my uh the english accent that you are hearing right now and i want to say quickly speaking of uh speaking naturally i wanted to let you know if you guys if you are interested in practicing your speaking uh i have enrollment is now open for my speaking course which is called speak up you the classes are going to begin uh the first week of may so you have until may 2nd to sign up here's just a little information about it the whole of course is really to help you speak confidently build your confidence speak clearly speak naturally it's a 10 week course enrollments open classes are 60 minutes along you get you'll speak with me as well as other classmates and we do the lessons through zoom that's the platform it's free to use uh the price some of you i know have asked about that it's uh 179 you can use the voucher code speak 10 to get a 10 discount and that is for the 10 lessons one lesson a week there are also weekly pronunciation video lessons to help you work on some things like like the schwa sound there's a lesson about the schwa and we practice that classes are available monday wednesdays and fridays all right so i will put a link right down here in the chat in case you want to check that out you have until may 2nd to sign up if you would like to speak with me um and really work on your speaking skills right there boom okay so i'll come back to this and and remind you at the end but i want to continue um with our pronunciation lesson and i think it ties in because i we do work on pronunciation in the speak up course that's something that uh we try to work on this question okay how many syllables does this word have the word is humanitarian and this is really kind of going back to the basics of pronunciation this would probably be a question more for i think beginner intermediates because a syllable is talking about one unit of sound and it's important to be able to look at a word and if you can break down the word into syllables then that's just going to help you pronounce the word correctly so this is really focusing on more individual words when we're talking about syllables so the word humanitarian how many syllables do you think uh do you think this word has what do you guys think and then of course uh i will let you know and then i want to tell you there's something else i want to tell you about this so we have some people says six mary says five olex six tessie five um dev three so again you really would need one way to kind of determine how many syllables a word has i do like the the chin rule you put your hand below there you say the word and however many times your chin would touch your hand that's like one syllable me six syllables the word humanitarian has six syllables uh i think some of you got that excellent uh good job the one thing i wanted to show you about this because i just showed you the ipa the international phonetic alphabet this is the phonetic spelling and either one it's it's the same thing you're trying to basically show the pronunciation to someone the difference is phonetic spelling it's a way of spelling the words exactly like they sound and when i do pronunciation lessons sometimes i'll do both often i use phonetic spelling because i think like i said not some of you may not be familiar with the ipa symbols but i think when you look at the phonetic spelling you kind of get the idea because many of you are familiar with the english alphabet and pronouncing the different letters a and the b makes the ba sound and you can look at that and kind of sound it out human humanitarian six syllables and the stress is on that four syllable that tear humanitarian humanitarian so hopefully that's a good little tip if you want to know just do the the chin test and however many times your chin touches your hand that is one syllable all right let's look at the next one and this is this is something that's definitely more related to my accent my pronunciation from the united states which of these words am i pronouncing with the flap t and if you don't know what the flap t is i will tell you don't worry about it um but just to see if some of you know which of these words am i pronouncing with the flap t i'll say the words a time b mountain c water or d pronunciation and the reason why i ask this question is because the flap t is really it is something that is the very common in the american accent um and i say this all the time uh and i'll show you some other words so excellent uh good job oleg cesar um hiwa leo uh mary black uh tessie nice uh the correct answer is c water so just i'll show you the next i'll talk a little bit about that but just to um talk about these other ones like t time that would be like the true t sound time mountain that is more of a stop t because it's like you're getting ready to say the t and then you're stopping right before mount mountain it's like your tongue is getting ready to hit the top of your mouth and say that t but then you stop mountain water that is the flap t sound i'll talk about that in just a second in pronunciation that that t sound that ti gets blended together and you get the sh sound pronunciation but water is a word that i would say with the flap t and what this is it really sounds more like a a soft d sound and in general not always it it comes between two vowels so i gave you some examples like italy all right between two vowels again when i say the word listen for that d sound italy or metal metal it has like a d the other words uh they're not between two vowels but sometimes you also hear it this is when when the t is followed by i believe it's like a dark l and words like little little again you hear that flap t or when an r comes before the t 40 40. and you're not really hearing a t sound it's more like that softy the one thing that again to when you talk about speaking naturally and this also happens not just within a word but also between like when you say phrases so i bought a car in this case the g that gh it's silent so it's kind of it's also that t is between two vowel sounds because that a again i'll say it with the schwa that's another great way to reduce uh reduce your accent so it's like between the ah and the uh sound i bought a car and i would say it with that d that t at the end of bot it sounds like if i were to say it just quickly and naturally i bought a car i bought a car yesterday i bought a car but that's not true i don't have a car maybe someday i um i i'll be able to say i bought a car and that's true but i just wanted to give you another example of how people would use the flap t when it's not it doesn't have to be in the middle of a word when you have like a phrase like this i bought a car people would pronounce it so even and i'm not saying that this is something that you guys have to do it's good to be aware of because i think whether you uh you're somebody who wants to learn more about accents and pronunciation i think many people like to watch tv shows movies so if anything it's good for your comprehension it's good to know so the flap t it is something that's very common in the united states which is where i am from so yes this is something that's very specific to uh like my my english accent the next question uh that i have for you i think uh you guys probably would get this which of these words has a silent letter and talk about uh pronouncing silent letters or actually these are letters that you should not be saying which of these has a sign letter i'm talking about a consonant too typically when when you think about silent letters you're overwhelmingly referring to consonants you could have there is like a silent e at the end of some words that's also very common um but what about these words right here uh has a silent letter i'll uh i'll say the words um i thought maybe that'd make it a little too easy if i said the words but a hippopotamus b dictionary c television or d rendezvous and all of you excellent uh jayanika adriana gokan uh who is here oleg lali perfect um rendezvous takayo angela great job rendezvous is the word with the silent letter i think before i did a lesson on advanced words with silent letters this was one of them and i chose this word because it has a silent z you don't really find many words that have a silent z um but this again i think this is a borrowed word from french so you do not hear that z sound uh when somebody says rendezvous right here i've given you both the phonetic spelling as well as the ipa so that you can see the difference and again i think it's it's definitely in my opinion easy for everyone to kind of look at the phonetic spelling and try to sound it out especially if you're not familiar with some of those symbols in the ipa this is a very useful um this is something very useful to know and i've done video lessons about this in the past talking about the past tense of regular verbs which are going to end with ed so the past tense of help is well i don't want to pronounce it for you not yet because i don't want to give the answer away the the ed is pronounced with uh which sound is it pronounced that ed the past tense i'm talking about help it's a regular verb is it that e.d going to be pronounced with a t sound or d or an id and i've told you this is very useful because i think there are many regular verbs often times you're having a conversation you're talking about something in the past and you would use uh this so we gotta get a little bit more of a mix in here yes excellent uh hola oleg israel uh sleepwalker helene to cayo lolly silvio augusto junior welcome good to see you good to see so many members and patrons awesome leo mary the answer is t and the answer is a that which is that t helped helped and i this is the the kind of the rule if you want to follow so the ed and hel well helped is pronounced with a t so in general there's three rules that you can follow pronounce the t if the final consonant sound is voiceless which means that there's no you wouldn't feel a vibration in your vocal cords so help ends with the it's a voiceless sound helped helped like watched watched watched i watched uh a netflix movie last night true story i watched the movie i saw it was the gentleman um number two pronounce it as d a d if the final consonant sound is voiced like in played the y sound you should feel that vibration in your vocal chords played and you pronounce it as id as a separate syllable if the final consonant sound is t or d waited blended and then you hear that the reason why i said this is useful is because i think this is when learners will make just small mistakes because when you're having a conversation you're you're just going to speak and that's what you should do you're not really going to be thinking about well wait i'm getting ready to say this regular verb in the past tense is it a t or a d or an id this is where i think it's just useful to get exposure to the language it's useful to understand that there are rules that you can actually follow and the more you listen to the language and then actually speak and say the words correctly then you're just going to be able to do it naturally and effortlessly whenever you want to uh people gave some more examples right there excellent helene needed that's another good one with the ed um osmelli wanted to be honest that's where i feel like i hear people make the most mistakes is that they're adding an id to a word where it should just be like a t or a d sound and they're adding that extra syllable i think that's often when i would hear somebody make a mistake you still understand what people are talking about but it is something that uh you can i could easily hear so something to keep in mind uh then the next question i like to talk about minimal pairs which is one reason which is why i've given you this question which set of words is a minimal pair all right is it right light a is it b profession obsession or is it c 8 8 which one of these is a minimal pair i don't necessarily know if you've if you've been in an english classroom this is something you've probably heard of when we do the speak up course in a lot of the speaking videos that i mentioned the weekly speaking lesson the pronunciation video lessons i'll talk about minimal pairs and it's very it's a great way to practice your pronunciation but also great for your listening to really make sure you're able to identify sounds and i hope i'm not giving it away wow okay so most of you actually uh have gotten this incorrect all right so that's good i told you it's not something you may have heard of before maybe you're just guessing but yes um andrea you got it uh who else said a a is the correct answer um andrea somebody else takayo excellent i think you know takayo uh has been in the speak up course so i told you that's something that that we talk about in speak up um the answer is a right and light that is the minimal pair profession obsession that's those are just really rhyming words because they end in the the same final sound eight and eight that's a homonym uh so i'm sure you may have be familiar with homonyms these are words that that sound the same they have a different meaning eight and eight the they sound the same different spelling different meaning that is a homonym a is a minimal pair and what a minimal pair is it's words that are pronounced the same except for one sound and that sound could come at the beginning of a word like uh right light it could come in the middle of a word and then that the r and the l that's the minimal pair and i said that people would practice this so for example when i i used to teach english in korea and many of the korean students would have some difficulty with the r and the l sound and this would be a good way to practice we'd practice with words we'd practice with sentences also really to make sure that they can identify if i were saying the word right with the r or light with the l sheep ship that's another minimal pair the difference between the e and the e or fan van the f and the v think sync another minimal pair coffee copy again that's at the middle of the word so the only difference is that one sound and it could also be at the end of the word bus buzz that s z minimal pair and i told you i i think this is very useful for really practicing if you are able to identify a sound that you have trouble with and you know oh like i have trouble with the the th sound and then you can practice that in relation with some other minimal pairs because there are minimal pairs for so many different um sounds out there and it's a good way to practice for your speaking but also very useful for your comprehension as well um you asked do you speak karel um [Music] that's i speak very little korean my korean is very basic i used to speak i would say maybe a long time ago i was more of an intermediate speaker but now it's been so long because i taught in korea gosh that was uh about oh wow about over 10 years ago 12 years ago wow um so this is a minimal pair this is very useful for practicing your pronunciation again something that we do in the the speak up course this is another well we'll again we'll walk into this which syllable is stressed talking about syllable stress now in the following word i've highlighted the word for you it's a simple sentence you can just say it to yourself right now if you want to and then you can listen to me but it's a two-syllable word of course those are the only choices i've given you is the first syllable stressed or the second syllable he's going to present at the conference he's going to present at the conference which uh which of those syllables is stressed and then i'm gonna well i told you we'll kind of walk into this uh slowly so which syllable is stressed it's a two-syllable word is it the first syllable or the second syllable he's going to present at the conference and excellent um so yes uh andre john julio ten kritika hadil takayo the answer is b it's the second syllable he's going to present at the conference i've given you i've bolded the the stressed syllable the second syllable he's going to present at the conference he's going to present at the conference and it doesn't have to be as like a super strong stress the reason why i'm giving you because now my next question is which syllable is stressed in this word right here all right it's the same word but are we going to stress the same syllable the second one or are we going to stress the first syllable it's a simple sentence practice saying it out loud think about the word she got a lot of presents for her birthday she got a lot of presents for her birthday what do you guys think the first syllable the second syllable um i think probably basically because i've kind of been walking through this question i'm guessing most of you can probably just tell what uh what the answer should be even if you're a little unsure the answer is a it is the first syllable um the first syllable is stressed she um she got a lot of presents for her birthday and i kind of wanted to go lead you into this pronunciation rule that in general if you have a two-syllable word that's both a noun and a verb there are many words like that um in general you're going to stress the first syllable with nouns and the second syllable with the verbs so i have given you like the noun present the verb to present so see if you can listen for them as i say these words the noun object an object the verb to object to object and then the last one the noun conduct conduct like somebody's behavior or the verb to conduct to conduct so hopefully as i said those words you can you can listen for it and tell a difference because pronunciation it's not it's not always just about speaking and saying these words correctly but also your listening skills as well so that you're able to identify the words that people are saying and like i mentioned before with uh talking about the schwa and people like in the us will overwhelmingly say and they use they say to with the schwa sound i'm going to the doctor i'm going to the mall it's very useful for your listening comprehension so that you understand oh this is exactly what the that person is talking about uh all right so i hope i hope that you found uh this useful again i kind of just chose a few different things to talk to you guys to share with you today um about pronunciation if you want to improve your pronunciation again you can check out uh check out the speak up course it's getting ready to start next next week alright the first week of the first week of may you have until may 2nd to sign up it's all about getting you more and more speaking practice we talk about a variety of topics we do different speaking activities there is a link in the description it's all about helping you speak confidently clearly naturally enrollments open these are it's a 10-week course and it's for intermediate to advanced speakers that's what i've been saying intermediate to advanced speakers if you're interested and would like more information just go check out that link i'll go ahead and throw it in the chat one more time just for good measure um but i appreciate you guys being here with me uh oh yeah don't remember if you want to you can use that voucher code speak 10 get a 10 discount uh thank you guys sir for being uh here with me i hope that you learned something new especially maybe about um my accent from the united states the way i tend to pronounce things with that flap t sound and uh i just want to give some last shout outs leonardo sleepwalker julia cesar oleg kiwa leo andrea nyan uh yasin ricardo thank you guys so much for being here um tonya sorry if i couldn't get shout outs to everyone and try to get as many as i can while going through these lessons lolly good to see you again uh takayo juliana francisco dori if you're late you can watch the video on replay i will do another lesson next saturday so i will be back then uh i may do a little bit of a q a so i will make an announcement um about that shortly hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you next time so long --- ## 207. American Idioms & Expressions | English Quiz Lesson ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `06euY-_OcUs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06euY-_OcUs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:28:01 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English and if this is your first time here I just want to say welcome please write to me in the comments tell me your name tell me where you're from because I love hearing from you especially new people who are new to our channel because what the what this channel is all about is just helping you trying to practice and improve your English skills and these lessons in particular these live lessons it's a great way to practice your English skills because if you are with me right now in the chat of course I want you to participate in today's lesson I want you to write your answers in the chat and even if you're watching this later I want you guys to participate I want you to again this interactive English I want you to write your answers in the comments try to use it like it's a like it's a piece of paper and participate so today today's lesson we're talking about idioms and expressions but specifically we're talking about idioms and expressions that are more commonly used in the United States because I am from the United States so these are idioms and expressions that you might hear me use or other people that are from the US I tried to choose more the idioms and expressions that I thought were very common that are more universal and that even if you are not from the United States or you're not that you're not traveling to the United States you could still use these and other people could put them into context and they would understand what you're saying so I want to give a quick shout out to some people who are joining me today hello Ann hi how are you great to see you again Angela Lally Abdul Rahman Hong sleepwalker Heidi Hong Danny welcome aw do you wanna thank you guys for joining me today so as we go through this again I want to see if you can try to guess the different idioms and expressions and of course I will tell you the answer and then I will tell you what they mean as well and before you guess I'll try to give you some hints to help you along so the first one is kind of like it's like a game of hangman I don't know if you've played hangman before but I will give you some of the letters and I want you to see if you can tell me what the idiom or expression is and I'll give you some hints so let's just do the first one as an example so here we go now I've given you some of the this this is two words alright one of the words is up top well it's up top one the second word is down here and the the little lines those are letters that are missing all right so what two words is this this is something it's an expression that somebody would tell someone after you say oh thank you are thank you for doing this I really appreciate it thank you so much and somebody might respond with this phrase instead of saying you're welcome they'll just say this it's very casual it's very informal yes exactly you guys got it you're rocking it out already no worries great job Aidan Lally you want a sleepwalker yes it it's an informal way of saying you're welcome or no problem you just say you know no worries don't worry about it no worries I like using this one so this is why I put this one as the very first one for today's lesson I say this quite often and I'll just say you know just in friendly informal way yeah no worries don't worry about it the next one this is more difficult and this is actually from I think a previous lesson that we did so if you are a super fan and you have watched many of our lessons then maybe you'll remember this one so it's three words and the situation that that somebody would use this in is I'll just tell you what the meaning is you would say this when you do not want to tell the truth because you're afraid that you will incriminate yourself so this is a phrase and expression that somebody would use if they are in a courtroom and the the lawyer is asking them questions and you're like well I don't want to tell the truth because I'll admit that I'm also guilty so they would say this I want to mmm what what do you think this is a very this is a very American expression because it again it has to do with laws and yes excellent great job Luka Amer perfect you would plead the fifth so again in that context if somebody is in a courtroom and the lawyers asking questions and you say you refuse to answer the questions because you don't want to incriminate yourself then you say I plead the fifth you could use this in other situations as well outside if for example like just kind of joking with your friends and your friends like hey where were you laughing where were you last night I want you to tell me where you were and you're like uh you were doing you were you were somewhere where you shouldn't be and like it I plead the fifth I don't want to say I don't want to tell you all right the next one now this is well just looking at it I will be very impressed if if you get this answer but as soon as I tell you the hint I think you'll know what it means it's three words you will mmm-hmm so this is three words in case you don't know write your answer in the chat this is something that you would say to someone when you want to wish them good luck all right now all of a sudden I think it's become much easier instead of telling somebody good luck you're gonna say this instead it's very I think it's a very common expression you will hear this watching TV shows or movies it's it's a very common expression and instead of saying good luck you are going to tell somebody what all right what do you guys think write your answer in the chat in the comments again even if you're watching this later I want you participate in these lessons excellent perfect Luca Wang Dominic you wanna yes break a leg you would tell somebody to break a leg when they are getting ready to do some type of performance all right not so much like a sports competition but more of a performance if it's like a play theater some kind of musical performance and you could sell somebody break a leg the next one that I have for you is this one again if you're just joining us just to let you know we are talking about common and useful American idioms and expressions and I'm just giving you I'm kind of quizzing you on these so this one is talking about if you you learn about some event and it's going to alter your plans so you learn about something and they're like oh okay this this is a mmm we have to do something different what would you say again this is from I believe this may be from a previous lesson that we did and you'd say this is a mmm some event and it's going to change your opinion or change the way that you're doing things in that case you would say it is a game changer if something is a game changer again it's an event that shifts the way of doing something so you learn some type of new information and you say well now that I know this this is a game changer we need to change our ways we need to do things differently all right so let's do a couple more all right this one has its three words this is an idiom that is talking about a person's primary income their primary source of money it's three words and instead of saying like you're trying to say well this is my primary source of income you would say it is my what so for example I could say that well teaching English teaching all of you guys running this YouTube channel we are in the process of creating this school so I could say this is my what all right excellent yes sir isha natasha i closed bread and cheese closed isaiah bread and butter if something is your your bread and butter it is your primary source of income and usually you would say this about your job and you'd say well you know I am a I'm a taxi driver it's my bread and butter or I am a teacher it's my bread and butter so again it's talking about your primary source of income now this one I thought we'd end on a little bit of an easier one so this is just one word okay what do you think oh hello sue right excellent great to see you bread and butter last one your source of income this one is talking about if somebody's just I almost gave away the answer alright so if you are having a sleep and it's during the day you say that you are taking a what we often use it with that verb take somebody will take a what alright you have a sleep in the middle of the day the middle of the day you would take a this what do you think it is so I hope I hope that you guys said a catnap somebody takes a catnap it is a short little sleep during the day it means the same thing as a nap actually I would say a catnap is possibly even shorter than a regular nap so a catnap might just be like 5 minutes or 10 minutes or 15 minutes but really it's kind of the same thing as a nap and you would say it is a catnap all right so now we're going to change it up so those I did a little bit more like hangman where I just took out some letters now I'm going to give you a picture and the picture is actually the idiom or expression that I want you to try and guess alright so let's just do the first one so you know exactly what I'm talking about and if you're just joining us again we're we're practicing different idioms and expressions that are very common in the US so look at this first one what do you guys think this picture this picture represents an English idiom and this one is it's very easy all right I'm gonna it's so easy I think all of you should know this one this is so easy and that is actually your hint me telling you that this is so easy what idiom or expression does this picture show what do you guys think I hope yes excellent the answer is a piece of cake that is a picture of somebody holding up a piece of cake which is a way of saying that something is very easy and you would just say something is a piece of cake that question I think that question was a piece of cake so excellent great job Ladon Angela said to try to get in some some different names thank you sir I really appreciate that all right the next one that I have for you is this what what expression do you think that is what what what idiom it is a picture of what what do you see this some of you if you follow our our Facebook page I actually posted this a few days ago I posted this picture and asked this same question what do you think it's a picture of somebody and you see you see those two horses there what do you think it is so this is an idiom where somebody would say they're telling somebody to wait all right they're trying send me hey slow down wait you need to stop excellent yes Christian sure in just one minute perfect you would tell somebody to hold your horses so if you're telling somebody to hold their horses it's I would say it's a little impolite instead of saying like hey just wait a moment please wait if you're a little more stressed you tell somebody look hold your horses just wait hold your horses you're telling them to stop what they're doing to wait a moment to hold hold your horses all right so the next picture that I have for you is this one right here this I think is a little more challenging because well you see it's a picture of well it's a picture of a cake and think about what that person is doing on top of the cake so I'll tell you what the idiom or expression means and hopefully that will maybe that'll help you understand the the the phrase that I'm looking for so what it means is that you are referring to something that makes something else better that it makes it even better and you say this is the mm what so if you have some situation where wow things are good but something happens it makes it even better and you say wow this is just the what clothes I see somebody like he had sherry YES on the cake you would say the cherry on top which would be another expression but yes Angela Vicki close Aden yes the icing on the cake if you're talking about the icing on the cake you're talking about something that makes another thing even better and the hint they were trying to give you as that person is ice skating so if you think about that picture you have cake which is great everybody loves cake but then if we put icing on top of the cake which is that frosting that vanilla I sing it makes it even better so in that case that's where it comes from the icing on the cake so for example maybe I say that I get a promotion at work I think wow this is a great day and then later on the in the day I discover that I win the lottery and you say that is just the icing on the cake it makes the day even better the next picture all right mm-hmm this one I think this one might be a little bit more challenging so think about what this person is doing they are playing basketball it looks like and what are they doing if they're playing basketball they are what are they doing what's that that verb that you would use and of course you can see the fan is in the air so what does a fan it gives a what now the meaning of this this phrase is to have a casual conversation if you are having a casual or informal conversation with someone you could say we are just hmm what do you think and this is the idiom or expression you're having a casual conversation and you are just doing this so think about it now I know somebody people are thinking like throwing alright not throwing think of what you would do with a basketball you would shoot you would shoot the ball but in this case you're shooting what not the fan but what are you shooting the the idiom or expression is to shoot the breeze this is we did this in a lesson a long time ago I think over two years ago so think about it a fan it gives off like air wind a breeze to make people cooler to shoot the breeze is a way of saying that you are just having an informal or casual conversation so maybe you would ask somebody like oh you saw this person yesterday what were you guys doing you know we were just shooting the breeze we were just having a casual conversation we're not really talking about anything we're just shooting the breeze the next one that was a little more challenging all right is I think maybe this one might be a little easier to figure out even if you don't know what it means think about what this picture is the the expression or the idiom is really it's just like the picture what do you think it is all right write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments participate in the lesson what do you think it's a picture of a person's what and it is where alright those those two things and what this expression means is it's talking about somebody who is being unrealistic they're not being realistic they're saying these kind of crazy things that maybe are not going to become true and you'd say this person has their what yes excellent gertrudis Natasha perfect you would say they have their head in the clouds so that is a picture of somebody's head it's in the clouds and if you describe somebody in this way you like oh you got your head in the clouds it means that they are not being realistic they're saying something that is probably not going to come true and say you know they just they got their head in the clouds they're not they're not really saying things that reflect reality you got your head in the clouds I think you know sometimes all of us we we say things and somebody could say you know oh you got your head in the clouds you're not being realistic think about what's true so the next one this is this is another difficult one I'm gonna try and help you through this I'm gonna walk you through this so the first thing I would say is look at that chair alright think about the chair that you see there alright that is part of this expression now what happened to the person who was in that chair are now on the floor now what the picture represents is possibly you see those two doctors there and the person who's on the floor maybe they're a bit crazy and that is what this idiom or expression means it means that somebody is kind of going crazy they're saying things that are ridiculous or crazy and you would say that somebody is what what do you think all right again I said start with that chair what kind of chair is it just to give you a hint it is a rocking chair it's a rocking chair you know that kind that goes it rocks back and forth and if somebody you wouldn't say they they fall off the chair but they fall off their rocker to to to fall off your rocker or you could say that somebody is off their rocker and what it means is you're describing this person as you know that being a little crazy they're going crazy and you could say that wow this person they're off their rocker they're crazy or you could say somebody fell off their rocker they've kind of gone crazy to be off your rocker so off your rocker is just a an informal way of saying that somebody has kind of gone crazy gone a bit mad alright so now we're gonna do some more I got some more for you and gonna make this I don't know if it's more challenging but what I've done is I've given you a sentence a situation and I want you to try to complete the sentence using one of these idioms okay or expressions so let's do the first one and this one I actually did a lesson a while ago talking about when you're very busy that's a hint for you different ways to say that you're really busy right now so in this situation somebody might say you know I can't help you right now I've got a lot on my mmm so how would you complete that sentence how would you complete the expression because if you say that you you got a lot on your hmm it just means you're very busy right now and I think this is a very well I think it's a common expression that somebody might use I use it from time to time instead of saying well I'm very busy I'd say I got a lot on my what all right excellent wow you guys rock that one yes Mary Syd Angeles or Hayden excellent perfect yes you got a lot on your plate so if somebody has a lot on your plate or a lot on their plate it just means that they're very busy all right to have a lot on your plate I've got a lot on my plate right now so now you know what we're doing the next one that I have for you is this so somebody could say I've done my part the mm is in your mmm I'll wait for your answer so think about that situation somebody they've done their part they've finished they need to wait for the other person to do something so they say the mmm is in your I've done my part the mmm is in your mmm I'll wait for your answer all right you need to do something now the mmm is in your mmm all right I'm gonna stop saying that so what do you think this is it's more of a sport idiom and think about tennis okay the tennis would be the sport where this this comes from and yes actually excellent Ladon Chris Lally Vicki perfect you would say the ball is in your court so some situation happens and you are waiting for the other person to react you're waiting for the other person to make a decision you are waiting for this person to make the next move and you would say the ball is in your court now it's your turn to act the ball is in your excellent let's look at the next one this is true this is true for me and I think it may be a little easier I've taken out the entire expression and I'd say I like to eat a little chocolate at night before I go to sleep before I go to bed I do it's my guilty pleasure I do eat a little chocolate and I could say it's because I have a what alright how would you complete that that sentence I like to eat a little chocolate at night before I go to sleep and I'd say it's because I have a what what do you think if somebody likes to eat well like me they like to have a little chocolate you could say that they have a hey what what do you guys think excellent yes Galina just one minute Kevin yes you would have a sweet tooth and if you have a sweet tooth it's not only talking about chocolate it could be talking about any kind of food that is sweet and you'd say this person they have a sweet tooth I don't think I'm alone I imagine many of you out there you also have a sweet tooth some of you maybe not the next one think about this situation before I loan you any money you need to create a business plan you need to get all your hmm na hmm I'm gonna I'll give you some hints because this one may be a little more challenging so the situation is somebody wants to borrow money and I say well wait before I loan you any money I want to see a business plan you need to create a business plan you need to get prepared you need to get ready you need to get organized you need to get all your mmm in a so this is an expression that means just that you're telling somebody to get organized to get prepared and you would tell that person you need to get all your mmm in a mmm and if you need another additional hint think about an animal right there isn't talking about an animal in this idiom or expression yes I say one correct answer sorry I have no idea how to pronounce your name I apologize but the correct answer is you need to get all your ducks in a row so if you tell somebody to get their ducks in a row it means like I said to be prepared or be organized for something that's going to happen so you need to think about it this when you when you see ducks walking if you see a family of ducks you usually they're walking in a straight line they're walking in a row and they look they look very organized and that's where it comes from you'd say you need to get your ducks in a row so if you're telling somebody you need to get organized this you could say this and you could say this instead get your ducks in a row the next one all right in March of 2017 my wife and I got mmm in New York City now this is an expression that you can use it means the same thing as well this you can see the ring on my finger the answer is not married we did get married but instead of saying we got married my wife and I got married we could say this instead what is another more informal expression that you can used that you can use instead of saying I got married or we got married in March of 2017 my wife and I got mmm in New York City now you could say married sure but what it what else can you use this is an informal this is an informal expression for married all right what do you think well you would say not you you could say tie the knot that does mean marriage but think about this sentence in particular you wouldn't say we get tied the knot you would say we tied the knot in New York City but in this case I'm using that verb got alright yes mister sure Syd excellent you would say that we got hitched all right to get hitched is another way to say that you get married so again there are there are many different expressions you can use you could say we got hitched we tied the knot we got married those are well those of course that last one those are all different ways to say you get married and this is definitely just more informal more casual yeah we got hitched we got hitched last year we got hitched in 2017 the next one what do you guys think oh there's yeah I've included there's a picture of us right there back in 2017 in New York City do you guys know where that is that is Rockefeller square all right we're in Rockefeller square very famous landmark in New York City check it out if you guys ever visit New York City so then I could say this one I'd love to meet you for lunch but I can't this weekend I'll have to take uh what what do you think Oh Thank You Isaiah hey I appreciate that that congratulations so what do you think I'd love to meet you for lunch but I can't this weekend I'll have to take a what so you're telling someone that you can't do this all right you want to but you can't do it so you're going to have to take a mmm how would you complete that sentence and it again what it means is that you're basically saying that yeah you're gonna have to do it another time you'll do this some other time I don't know when but you'll have to do it later in the future ah Sorrell thank you I appreciate it yes I tried to find tried to find a cute photo of us in New York so what do you guys think you can't do something this weekend I love to meet for lunch I can't do it this weekend I'll have to take a what yes you wanna louisa sleepwalker you would take a raincheck to take a raincheck it's it's all so polite I think if I think it's used especially if you don't really want to do something maybe you want to be polite and you refuse an offer you say look let's just let's take a rain check and the reason why I say it kind of it makes me think the person doesn't want to do it is because when you take a rain check quite often you're not planning the exact time you will do it again you'll just say let's do it in the future you know we'll take a rain check it's not like you're saying oh we'll do it next weekend or we'll do it tomorrow if you take a rain check I think often you are not going to make a specific plan now that doesn't mean that it won't happen I think you could say you know let's take a rain check and then in the future you actually do you meet this other person but I think this is a polite way to say okay let's not do it now I gotta take a rain check all right so I hope I hope that you learn some new idioms and expressions today once this lesson gets post I will put all of them down in the description if you would like to review the the idioms and expressions that we've gone over today so that that hopefully again you can learn them listen for these if you're watching a TV show or movie and I still would encourage you try to practice them you may make mistakes that's perfectly okay but again just practice that's the best way to learn if if you find yourself in a situation where you can tell somebody look I can't do it right now let's let's take a rain check or maybe you want to maybe you're just having a conversation with somebody and you're just shooting the breeze or if you're being a little rude maybe you tell somebody hey you know just just wait a moment hold your horses okay so I hope you found this useful again if you guys like what we do love you guys what their I am you can connect with us support and sponsor our channel you get a youtube membership our or connect with us on patreon there are links to those in the description down below I do see some members and patrons who are with us today in this live lesson like Sree Aiden Vicki thank you guys for being here thank thank all of you guys for joining me for these lessons I really appreciate it it's also I hope that it is a great way for you guys to practice your skills because you guys are writing in the chat as we're doing this and you're practicing your writing skills and I think that's always great so we're just gonna give some quick shout outs Thank You dagestan Angela dubs Gertrudis you wanna marry app lolli Darwin Alex thank you guys so much I said Louisa sleepwalker I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you guys next time so long Ayden Sorrell Vicki bye-bye --- ## 208. American Slang vs. Informal Vocab vs. Formal Vocab | English Class #Shorts ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿซ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KRvlJNw6GGg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRvlJNw6GGg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:59:52 | --- class today we're going to learn how to say things in a formal way an informal way and using slang if you have not eaten for a long time you would say that you are formal famished okay informal what do you think hungry and slang hangry isn't that just hungry and angry combined and why do you have sunglasses on we're inside okay no never mind what adjective would you use to describe a person who is immature formal infantile that's a good one and informal childish well done and slang little okay slang that's enough now what would you say if you want to say goodbye to someone formal good day to you sir or good day to you Ma'am wow that that is formal and how about you informal see you later slang what would you say bye Felicia isn't that from the movie Friday --- ## 209. Americans Try to Guess British Idioms ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DO71UlCkrTA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO71UlCkrTA) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:32:59 | --- - Today we are going to challenge each other with some British idioms. Today's lesson is going to be a very difficult lesson for us because we have some different British idioms that we are going to ask each other and see if we can figure out what they mean, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do bad. - Yeah, me too. We're gonna try to do our best to guess them. - Alright, so do you wanna ask me one of yours first? - Yes. It's a kerfuffle. - A kerfuffle. - A kerfuffle. - I would say that's, isn't that kind of like a commotion or like a kind of a fight or a dispute about something, that they're a kerfuffle? - I thought you said you were gonna be bad at this. - I think I've heard of kerfuffle. - Oh, yeah you're right. - (laughs) Yes. - Yeah it is. - It's like I'm British. - It's a really good word though, kerfuffle, I really like it. - A kerfuffle? What does it say? - It says, a skirmish or fight caused by different views. - Okay, yeah. Nailed it. (laughs) Alright, your first one is maybe you'll get it if you work through it. All mouth and no trousers. If you're saying somebody's oh, you know, he's all mouth and no trousers. - Is this similar to like if somebody's bark is louder than their bite, something like that? - Kind of, like yeah. - So does it mean-- - It's similar. - Somebody's like, just all talk, but they're not really? (chuckles) - Yeah, no that's exactly what it says, all talk, no action. Are you all mouth no trousers? - Oh yeah, like I think many times like I'll say things, but. Okay, I like this one. Knees up. - Knees up. Can you give me a sentence? - This party is knees up. (laughs) - Knees up? Is it, it's really cool, it's great, it's happenin'? It's knees up? - Yeah, kind of. - This lesson is knees up? - Yeah, I hope we're using that the right way, it just says adjective for liveliness. Like, dancing, like your knees are up when you're dancing, maybe. - I guess that makes sense, yeah. Okay, your next one, blinding. - Like if something's very bright or something? (chuckles) What's a sentence? - Okay, the Prime Minister gave a blinding inauguration speech. - So this could either be very good or very bad I feel. - I mean, or you could say like, I'm trying to think of something more recent. The royal wedding was blinding? - Yeah, it's not making it any easier. Well I'm guessing it means like amazing or something really cool? - Maybe I'm using it wrong. - Excellence, it says. - Oh. An adjective for excellence. - Interactive english is a blinding channel. - We're very modest today. We're so blinding. - We're so blinding. - We're so freakin' blinding. - This one I really like. I gotta say, I think British idioms are better than American idioms. - The ones we've done thus far, yes. - Yes. Okay, so one is to know your onions or to know one's onions. - To know your onions? I'd just say, is it like to know your stuff, to be informed and you're aware of what's goin' on? Like, hey, you know, this guy doesn't know his onions. - Yep. - Really? - That's exactly what it is. - Alright, well that was pretty easy based on the context. - But how much better is to know your onions than to know your stuff? - That is much better. - It's so much better. - Yeah. Okay, the next one I think you'll get the next one 'cause this is, this is a little bit a review, for you, alright? And it is-- - Oh gosh. - Chuffed. - (laughs) I remember this one - Chuffed. 'cause we did this one with Allie. - Yeah. - But do I remember the meaning is the question. - We did another idiom challenge with Allie, from Papa Teach Me, long time ago, we'll link it. - He said chuffed to bits. - I think the idiom he gave, chuffed to bits, yeah. - I think it means, like like excited or happy or delighted? - Yeah. - Oh okay, thank god. - Yeah. - I was like is my memory that bad? (laughs) - No, yeah to be very pleased about something. - Okay. - The sentence was, I just, it's like, Reginald was chuffed about the football match and I just thought like-- - Very British and simple. - Reginald, yeah, is such a, seems like such a stereotypical British name. - Reginald. - Reginald was chuffed. - This one I think you should know because I've heard it around, at least I know it. - Okay. - But I still really like it. - I might surprise you and be very wrong. - Lets hope so 'cause it's funnier that way. It's miffed. - Miffed? - Miffed. - If you're miffed, you're a little upset, pissed off about something, you know you're miffed. - Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry I'm laughing, I'm laughing because, because the example is, he got all miffed about the football match. - Sure people in the UK get miffed. - Reginald, stop getting-- - About the football match. Miffed about the football match. - I imagine people were very miffed at the last World Cup. They were not chuffed at all. - Reginald is miffed. - People were not chuffed. Reginald especially, super miffed. - Okay, we need to stop with this name okay. - This, go away. - How can you see? It's so small. - Yeah, well I don't want you to see, 'cause you're trying-- - Well I can't. To cheat here. - I am-- - You're trying to cheat. Okay, corker. - What? - Corker. - Like, like does he have to something he would like put a cork in it or something? - No. - Oh, a corker. - Corker, I, this I don't think you'll get it, do you, would you like a sentence? - Yes. - You're probably still not gonna get it, but it's a good sentence. - What is it? - Great job, Jim. You're a real corker. Maybe you will get it. - Like a good person or a good sport or something good? - Yeah, I mean, kinda, it's, this says-- - Good lad? - Unless, unless this source is wrong. Someone or something that is outstanding, a stand out. Yeah, that Reginald, he's a real corker. There's like a Reginald watching this right now, like, screw you guys. - I'm sorry, we're not picking on you. - Sorry, you know. - We actually do like the name, it's really-- - I am somebody who should not be making fun of anybody's name. - I mean, to be fair-- - Yeah. - Me neither, because nobody's heard of my name. - So we're with you, Reginald. - We understand. - We know (chuckles). - Names are hard. Numpty. - A numpty? - Yes, it's an adjective. - Okay. - I think. - Well let me take a guess and then you give me a sentence. A numpty, I'd say somebody who is lazy, kind of like a bum, sloth, they're not working hard, they're a numpty. - You are-- - Stupid numpties. - You are kind of wrong, but also kind of, I mean you're right on the connotation of the word. - Why wouldn't, okay, alright. It's not a good word. - Not a numpty, it's an adjective, so-- - Oh, if somebody's a numpty? Okay, so-- - Well no-- - Can you give me a sentence? - That's somebody's a numpty, somebody's-- - Somebody's numpty. - We're still struggling with the concept of adjectives today. - Numpty. - You and your numpty friend should apologize. - You and your stupid-- - That is such a good one. - You and your stupid friend should apologize? - Yeah. - Is it? - Yeah. (laughs) - We're gonna bring some of these idioms back to America and start saying, hey numpty, what are you doin'? Numpty friend, that numpty shirt. (laughs) This is another, this is a good one. I like this one too. British idioms are much better. - They're much better. - Doofer. - A doofer? - A doofer. - Is it like a doofus? - D-O-O-F-E-R, doofer. - Like a doofus? - No. - Can you? - I'll give you the saying, it's to say like, you know, what is that doofer? - What? That made it harder. - What is that doofer? - Is it a thing? A doofer is a thing? - Kind of, but there's a little more to it. What do you call that doofer over there? - Thing? (laughs) - Or could be a thing. - Thingy? - It says, it's an unnamed object, so if you don't-- - Oh, so like a thing? - Yeah, a thing, like if you don't know the name of something, like, oh, what's, what's that doofer? Thingamajig, whatchamacallit. I think a lot of people in the US would say a thingamajig, or a thingy. Whatchamacallit, I think of the, the candy bar. โ™ช How's it go โ™ช โ™ช Whatchamacallit โ™ช - What is that? - It's the song that was like the old commercial. โ™ช Ahh ahh โ™ช โ™ช Thingamabob, gobbledygook โ™ช โ™ช Whatsitsface โ™ช โ™ช Whatchamacallit โ™ช - You don't know your onions, apparently. - Apparently about Whatchamacallits. Okay, oh I think you know this one. Odds and sods. - No, I'm like, odds and sods, can I have a sentence? - Okay, You lot got first picks and left with nothing but odds and sods. - That you like, odds and sods, like empty handed? I got all a bunch of of rubbish. - See, that's why I think this particular sentence wasn't the best. - Did you wanna give me another sentence? - Like at the flea market, you, you, you could find a bunch of odds and sods. - Doofers? Is it a doofer? - Unnamed. - It's an unnamed thing. It's just a bunch of, like a bunch of knickknacks? - Yeah, miscellaneous things. - Okay. - But what I didn't want it to think, it's like it's not something that's not valuable, it's just like, yeah, miscellaneous things. - Okay. Another good one, I thought, an earwig. - What? - An earwig. - Earwig? - Yeah an earwig. - An earwig. - I think it's a verb. Earwig. - To earwig? - Earwig. If, do you want a sentence? - Yes. - I think you'll, you might be able to get it based on the context. Don't earwig on my personal phone calls. - Oh, is it like to eavesdrop? - Don't earwig. Yeah, it says to eavesdrop. I don't know, it's like, like kind of like wiggling your ear, like kind of like an earwig or something instead of like a wig you put on your head. - That's how I imagined it. - That's what I first thought of when I heard it. - A little wig for your ear. Okay, the next one from me is spawny. - Spawny. Somebody who thin and lanky and gangly, like they're spawny. - No. - Spawny, I don't know, can you give me a sentence? - It's an adjective. That was a spawny outcome for you. - Okay, a positive, great, unexpected? - That's a good connotation-- - That's, that was-- - It's the right kind of connotation. - You know, that was a spawny outcome, that was surprising? - Getting closer. - Should I keep guessing? I don't know. - Lucky. It means lucky. - Oh, okay. Maybe you'll get this one. Well I don't wanna give you a hint. Eating irons. - What? - Do you want me to give you a hint before I give you the sentence? - Yeah. - Eating irons, it's basically exactly what it sounds like. - No it can't be. Eating iron? - Eating irons. - I don't know, eating spinach? - Eating irons, like no. - Spinach is iron. - Somebody would ask or something like, don't we have any clean eating irons? - Oh, is it like utensils? - Uh huh, yeah, cutlery, eating utensils. - I wonder how common this one is. - Eating irons. - I just assume somebody is eating iron, so that's why I was like, what? Like is it vitamin deficiency thing? Okay, the next one is steaming. - Steaming if you're steaming? - Steaming. - Steaming? If you're steaming, then you're really mad, you're angry, you're upset? - No, but that's a good guess. - Okay, can you use a sentence? - Steaming, the drunk Reginald hobbled out of the pub. - Is that really the sentence? (laughs) - Yes. - Reginald, he's everywhere. In that case, it'd be like an adverb of degree, like a very, very, a very drunk Reginald? - I think you were right, even in the beginning, now I see the second part of the definition. So it says, the state of extreme drunkenness or extreme anger, so maybe you were right in the beginning, but steaming I think does add excessiveness to whatever is that you're doing. - Okay. - This one I think you will get, some of you may even know about it. The fuzz. - I have no idea. - Really? - Yeah, how would I know the fuzz? - Because there was a movie called Hot Fuzz. - Oh, I haven't seen it. - Don't let the fuzz catch you. There's any problem, call the fuzz. - The police? - Yeah. - Oh. - You've never heard that? I think that's been used, I've heard that quite a bit. - I mean I may have heard it. - In like movies and shows, like people thought the fuzz, the cops. - Now I'll know. - Now you know your onions. - Mmhm. Wag, wag off. - Okay, I'm gonna say to wag off is to like, just gonna go out there and say it, talk back to somebody, to talk a lot? - No. - Talk trash? - No. (laughs) Maybe it is connected, but it means something else. - To wag off. Wag off? Like get outta here? Go away? - No. I'll give an example, I had nothing to do, but wag off at work. - Just do nothing of importance? I don't know, you're bored, you wag off, you screw around, you don't do much? - Kind of. - Wag off? What are you doing? - To waste time. - What are you doing? - It kind of means to waste time. - To waste time? Okay, I kinda got that. To waste time. Wag off. Georgie, you waggin' off? - Oh, always. - You just wag off all day. The next one, honk. It's a verb, honk. It's not a car. - Oh, I was like, that's easy, that's a real word. I have no idea, what, what, I mean, can you like give me some kind of hint? - I can give you an example sentence. This is good. - Reginald. - Reginald coughed so hard, he honked all over the pub. - Ew. Does it mean to throw up? Ew. - Uh huh, to vomit. - Ew ew ew. - I'm gonna check where we got these, 'cause we got these off of, like a site, just to challenge each other. - Wait, sorry. The cat honked. She drooled. - I wonder if, yeah, I wonder if the person who kind of wrote that like, blog post. - If their name is Reginald. - With all of these, it was Reginald. - You should know this one, I believe because I've heard it before, but this one goes, warts and all. - Just, you're not feeling good about your appearance, like warts and all, or like just-- - You don't know this? I've heard it in the US too, I thought. - I've never heard of warts and all. Sentence? - Alright, I'll keep the cat, warts and all. - Like you'll keep, you'll, for something for better or for worse? Like, you'll keep it with all the defects and problems that something might have, warts and all? I've never heard warts and all. - Really? - No. I think you'll get it, I think people have said it in the US before. An idiot box, (giggles) or the idiot box. - I don't think I've heard it, but it's good, it sounds good. - Most homes have an idiot box. - Oh, like a panic room? No. - What? Why would that be an idiot box? - Well you're acting like I'm supposed to know, is that, am I the idiot box? - Alright, no. I think I'll spend the night in front of the idiot box. - Oh, a TV. - Uh huh, yeah. - Oh. - It's the idiot box. So if you learn some new idioms, just like we did, we want you to do two things: please hit that like button down below, also, write to us in the comments and tell us which one was your favorite or if you know of some other British idioms, we'd love to hear em', because yeah, we think they're just better than the American idioms. - They're way funnier. - Thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you next time. - Bye. --- ## 210. Answering ALL Your Questions about English | Q&A w/ Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `98nbIeKHYjk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98nbIeKHYjk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:20:36 | --- hello everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and this channel in case this happens to be your first time joining uh me is just it's all about trying to help you practice and improve your english and today it's going to be a bit more interactive because what i want to do is i want to take some of your questions that you may have if it's related to vocabulary or pronunciation uh grammar anything and of course i will try to do my very best to give you the answer and and help you out the only thing i will say is teaching is it is a humbling experience because you do get many questions and the more questions that i get the more i realize that i just don't know um and there's so many things about the english language um that i'm still learning each and every day which is also something that i enjoy about it that i'm continuously learning new things so i just want to give a quick little hello to some of the some of you who are with me right now uh sleepwalker angela takaya hello teresa great to see you again um who else we have be happy lolly excellent um thank you guys uh claudia i appreciate you guys um being here uh let's see let's all right uh okay so what i want to do and before i i jump into taking your questions um right now what what i want to do is start with uh some questions that are from some of our members uh some patrons some members i asked if they had any questions and i'm going to answer a couple of those first and then i'll get to questions that are basically from the broader group and i'll try to answer as many as i can and give this very precise short precise and pithy responses pithy means kind of quick uh hello dorcas hello valerie great to see you so the first question um the first question that i had was from lolly who asked this um he's talking about learning english uh by myself on the internet with different teachers because there are many different teachers on youtube and you hear a lot of different accents the american accent british canadian and just asking if it's a good idea um especially if you're learning english to travel and i say that is an excellent idea i am a big advocate for when you get exposure to the english language to try to get as much exposure as possible but to get exposure to different varieties as well um whether it's uh american english like my accent i'm from the united states and i think i kind of have a bit of a standard u.s accent or i think it's great to listen to british english as well canada australia and i would even go a step further i think it's very useful to if you can listen to other accents from people uh that are may not be native english speakers that speak english as a second language so i think it would be great to hear people um speaking english from france and people would speak it as a second language or china or um people who live in india the the india the indian english accent i think all of that is very useful and the reason why i say that's helpful is and i know people they may not get exposure to those um english accents as a second language and but i think it's useful because especially if you're talking about traveling and you want to go somewhere else so if somebody is from france and they're traveling to thailand chances are that they will be communicating in english so you are going to be communicating with somebody in english who may have a slight accent depending on the country that they're from so i think it's very useful to get exposure to those accents as well because it's just going to improve your comprehension the more the different the more variety you can get i think the more it's going to help your overall comprehension that is just uh that is just my view i've heard somebody said that the uh oh if the the audio it's a weird echo okay let me see if uh let me see if i can change that right now um hold on one moment [Music] settings sometimes they change some of these settings midway and i have to see if i can kind of go through and switch some of them around so this is default disable disable disabled um okay let me let me see i don't know if that makes it any better you guys can tell me in the chat if it's the same or if it's different um and and let me know because i definitely don't want to go through the entire lesson with this this weird echo typically i have the same setup and that's what i try to follow each and every time so i did change i did disable like one of the microphones so hopefully that may have been the the cause of the problem just let me know let me know in the chat um you guys there it's better now awesome excellent so uh hello oh hi maggie good to see you um audio great to see so many familiar faces so i hope that helps and and kind of like again this is just my opinion that it's always good to get exposure to as many different english accents as you can as many different english varieties not only are you going to learn it's going to improve your comprehension but many people might use different words as well so it's also a great way to build and expand your vocabulary so that is a great question lali and i hope that helps definitely keep trying to get listen to a lot of different people that's i know that was a very long answer to that question and i told you that i would keep it simple uh i lied sorry the next question uh was from vicki and vicki asked we were wondering uh if we know if i know of any sites for intermediate learners to practice their grammar or listening skills so this is another i think it's a great question because i think this is something that a lot of people will may be wondering and there are so many different sites out there and resources that you might find on the internet but i understand that people would want to find resources specific to their level if you are a beginner learner or intermediate or advanced and that can be a little challenging because you might find different websites that have quizzes or they talk about vocabulary or grammar but it may not be structured uh by level so i did want to share a couple of sites with you that that i thought are useful that can help and sites that do have things based on level and i will leave these sites i will leave links down in the description below so let's go over here the first one that well not here i'm not here yet this one okay is it's breaking news english and this i think for for those of you who are english instructors english teachers you may be familiar with this site right here i used to use it sometimes when i was in the classroom breaking news english gives they're just these short little articles about current events and things that are happening in the world the reason why i'm bringing this up is because many of these articles they have levels down here i don't know if you can see it says level 0 1 2 and 3. and level 0 would be the the beginner level so if i were to click on this article pigs are intelligent pigs are intelligent enough to play video games this would take me to the article written in its most simple form this is the easiest level so just look at that first sentence it says pigs may be more oh no this is the level three uh i wanted to go to the level zero to show you that first and then i was gonna go to the level three so let's go to level zero here it is so you can see it's already shorter and it says pigs are intelligent and can play video games it's a simple sentence it's straightforward i think many of you uh would understand that if you read this and you think okay i i understand this this is too easy then you could go back and make it a little more challenging um and i'll just skip ahead to level three where that first sentence now it's changed to pigs maybe more intelligent than we thought so it's a similar idea but it's it's a little more difficult the language that they're using uh is a little more challenging than just saying pigs are intelligent so i think breaking news english is a good site if you well for reading and it also says where is it down here it said um it says for reading and listening i can't find if there was like a listening audio file attached to this so that you can just listen to the article you may be able to do that i actually haven't used breaking news english in some time but it is a site that i think is useful if you're looking to understand okay what what level should i be trying to do the next site um i think the british council gives a lot of uh different information this is just vocabulary and as you can see it talks about pre-pre beginner to pre-intermediate vocabulary intermediate to upper intermediate so in that case it does separate the vocabulary based on level i think that might be useful for some of you who are trying to build your vocabulary and then another site which i will use from time to time and check out is english club english club has a lot uh you can see right here showing grammar lessons vocabulary lessons pronunciation listening uh lessons speaking a little bit of everything this i don't believe may have it if i go into listening it may not have it by level i think they just have a lot on here which i think is helpful and useful if you want to give it a try there's just so much on here i just wanted to share this one with you as a as a resource in general so those are some sites that i would recommend if we're we're talking about uh trying to find what level is appropriate breaking news english uh british council and english club again i will link those uh down in the description i have one more question from a member and then i'm gonna open it up uh to everybody i know some of you guys uh are asking questions already and i will come back and try to answer as many as i can the last one uh was from takaya who asked i cannot tell the difference between particularly and especially and this again is a great question i know it can be a little confusing because many of these words have more than one meaning and i think one of the one thing that can be confusing is that sometimes the meaning is the same and the words can be used interchangeably but for another meaning it really can't be used interchangeably so the reason i say that and i'm going to show you this because uh showing you how the word is defined using cambridge so let's go back over to the website and look at the meaning for okay especially so the first one that they list right here is that especially means let me scroll down for you a little bit it means very much more than usual or more than like other people or things then if we look at particularly it's an adverb in this case particularly is also an adverb and again you see what it means especially more than usual in that case especially and particularly are these are adverbs that have the same meaning more than usual and i'll give you an example so i could say and this is true uh we've been in we live in budapest hungary right now i could say that this winter has been uh particularly warm it's been a particularly warm winter season and in that case i'm saying well it's it's warmer than usual i could also use especially and it means the same thing i could say um this has been an especially warm winter so i can use those interchangeably a particularly warm winter or an especially warm winter either one is fine they mean the same thing it's more than usual and i i think i feel like i probably just in my opinion use especially more than particularly that's just me but one reason i think especially is often used also to talk about down here um it's used to emphasize like one important thing you're really emphasizing one over uh the other so it's like if i were to give you a sentence that saying that everyone needs to study for the exam but especially this person needs to study i'm emphasizing and saying well highlighting picking out that one person especially this one thing or one person so i think especially is often used with that meaning where you're highlighting that one important thing um and and again that's how i think some of these words can be a little confusing is because they have different meanings and you can see when you look on the like cambridge or any site and it's going to give like the probably like the main meaning up top the most common one and then as you scroll down you see all these other meanings and ways that the word can be used so those were some of the questions from some our patrons our members appreciate guys um being a part of our community i will also go ahead and just say if you guys links are down in the description if you want to join the family be a sponsor uh they have some cool rewards for members patrons links are down below so let me now open it up to uh just in general some questions if you guys want to write to me in the chat in the comments um i'm just going to go through uh maddie asked teacher to use the holo app no i haven't i've i know those guys um who have put together that app i've talked to them and we've been in communication it's something that i've thought about trying out my biggest challenge right now is just time trying to find the time to do all these things try out new platforms find other ways to communicate with people but it is something that i've considered but i haven't uh i haven't been on hollow and actually teaching maggie asks i always get stuck when i write i was concerned about my grammar and sentence structure when i write i think that i think that's normal and common to worry about those mistakes two things i would say i think writing is good it is a reflective skill and i say it's reflective is because when you're writing of course you can stop you can go back you can look at it you can try to find your mistakes and correct your mistakes so i think it's useful if you use it as a reflective process i know sometimes people would just write something send it away um and then that that's that's it it depends on how much of a hurry you are in i think if you're looking to improve your language skills i think it's so useful to go back reread review try to find your mistakes correct them um it's gonna help you even when you when it comes time to speak the second thing i would say is that i think if grammar is something that you are especially worried about or particularly worried about more than other things then what i would say is that i think reading is a great way to complement that and the reason i would say reading is a great way to complement your writing because i think all of the language skills are connected in different ways when you're reading you are actually you're seeing the correct grammar structure being used you're seeing how vocabulary words are used in context and even though you're not you may not actively be looking for that you're still learning passively so it's a great way for passive learning and i think your brain takes that information in so you read and you see how the grammar is used correctly the next time you're writing i think you're more likely to start using that same grammar correctly and and then you know hopefully you're not worrying too much about uh mistakes i know that's something that's so much it's easier said than done like oh don't worry about mistakes um but again it's always something that i try to encourage people not to get like too hung up on like oh this is a mistake um mari oh remember excellent thank you marty awesome welcome aboard uh lorena i love your classes my first time live session from venezuela welcome rorina great to hear from you um cindy actually i'm actually nine years old and your help with english yes uh if you have a question uh cindy you can write it my arsenal sure um i'm gonna keep going on uh vitali what's up wes give you props thank you vitaly give you props as well uh maria teresa hello how are you how and to improve listening skills um with movies and natural speakings it's really hard for me to understand um yeah so what i would say and i think i did like a lesson a while back i'm gonna give an example with reading um when it comes to language learning i think i've talked about it before this concept of i plus one and what this is is um stephen krashen very well known in like linguistics and language learning came up with this uh his his idea that the the most beneficial way to improve is to take whatever your level is that's your input level that's the i and then you're gonna go one step beyond that like i plus one and i'll give you an example with reading if you are maybe an intermediate learner and you're reading something that is way too difficult then that's not going to really help you that much you're not going to understand what you're reading you're going to have to keep running to a dictionary so if you're going way beyond then it's just too challenging and the best thing that you can do is just to read like at your level or slightly beyond and i would say the same for listening because that was your question and i think the challenge for listening is that when you're talking about a movie or tv show you're already at an advanced level of listening because you're going to be listening to um if i don't know if it's a tv show from the united states you're just going to be listening to native speakers from the u.s just having a conversation talking about some topic or whatever the the tv show is about but as far as listening is concerned that is uh an advanced level um and i think that's what's challenging when it comes to improving your listening and i'm saying well try to listen slightly beyond your level it's harder to find resources that you can do that with because you need to take some things and try to be able to slow down the speech and i know that's not always possible youtube videos i think they allow i speak pretty i think slow in general so i think many of you probably can understand what i'm saying i've heard many of you tell me that i understand everything you say but then when i'm watching a movie it's it's it's a different ball game it's a lot more challenging and i think you can find some ways that that you can slow down the speech so that you are listening at your level and just a little beyond that you could do that i believe with like audio books um youtube videos you can slow down some videos i think to like 75 and i think that's a great way to really practice your listening comprehension if you're able to kind of find that spot where you're listening at your level or slightly beyond and get more practice doing that and then when you go to like a movie or tv show i think it's going to make it that much easier i'd also say like in this case subtitles can also help i know subtitles would also be a bit more of a reading exercise but at the same time as you're reading the words and phrases you're listening to the pronunciation um it you're gonna kind of you will understand more because that's when you're going to catch on to some of those other parts of pronunciation when it comes to connected speech like linking words and phrases or assimilation and you'll be able to put that together so i would say try to listen at your level i know again that's easier said than done or and also um you know practice using subtitles from time to time and it i think it just takes a while listening is my most difficult skill i i don't know why but i know everybody has different challenges but for me when i was learning spanish it's still the my most challenging it's it's i think it's the most challenging it's the skill that i have the least amount of confidence in i'll let you i'll tell you that uh let's see i'm gonna keep going um i hope that helps uh marie teresa let's see sleeper ass is there any difference between vanish and disappear uh specific cases for each of these words so vanish and disappear no i think you could use them um interchangeably for the most part i'm trying to think of an instance or some situation in which you wouldn't i think it's more common to use disappear when i think of vanished i think it's typically used in a context of like i don't know like a scary story with ghosts or something and it just vanished or um a situation like a magic show something like that and the magician would make something vanish but in all those cases you could also use disappear in general i think it's just more common to say something disappeared when you can no longer see it i just think it's more common to use that if i'll come back if i think of something sleepwalker i'll i'll circle back to that one but i can't think of anything right now in which a situation in which you would you would only use one of those and not the others um let's see like so we let me know if there's any grammar structure error of the sentence below um let's see i can see any time during i'll read the sentence as i would say it and then you could look at this during the time of the pandemic um kids are experiencing widespread mental health distress on the impact of socialization on the impact of social isolation on mental and emotional well-being sure that looks good um yeah that that that works um just the the article the the pandemic um let me see i got lost a little bit um let's see so yes they're synonyms we're talking about disappear and vanish claudia asks uh i'm confused with gotta wanna gonna uh i used to want to so gotta wanna gonna those we were just talking i was just talking about connected speech those are reductions they're very common reductions instead of saying um going to many people are going to uh reduce that and just say gonna especially when you're following it with a base verb i'm gonna go i'm gonna watch i'm gonna play i'm gonna travel and the same with want to something you want to do you want to do and that that's again i think when you're if you're using subtitles and you see that and then you're connecting the pronunciation with those words you take all of that information in and i think it makes it a little easier if you want to start speaking and using those reductions and and practicing like that um i hope that kind of answered your question your ans answers your question uh angelos to to trash talk or trash talking which one is more correct um try to think uh because that's an informal if you guys don't know what to what it means to uh to talk trash either one it means the same it'd really just be uh i guess the part of speech he likes to because again in that to talk trash then you're using it as a a verb somebody is talking trash and when somebody's talking trash it means they're kind of if you haven't heard this informal expression before it means they're saying mean and rude things to you mostly to kind of cause a distraction and make you like unfocused and i think this happens a lot in sports during a competition you're playing against some other team and people are are talking trash um he well he's he's trash talking trying to say no because that's trash talk no it's the same it's also a verb they're really the same i don't think there's one is more correct than the other i couldn't say uh i'm trying to think which one i would use probably more i think i would say talking trash more just me if i were in a situation and i'm going to use this uh this verb off the top of my head i would probably just use talking trash um but you could say trash talking same thing there are also synonyms uh let's see we have uh asandra asks are you american yes i am i'm from the united states but i don't live in the united states right now i live in uh budapest hungary mafias i can't distinguish tenses can you give me a tip if you're talking about distinguishing between the verb tenses yeah i think that would just be making sure you learn the different verb tenses how they're formed how they're constructed when to use them i did an old lesson a live lesson it's almost an hour talking about the 12 verb tenses that uh maybe you could probably uh maybe you'd find that useful if i can track it down i'll throw a link in the description but i go through all of the different verb tenses and show you how they're formed talk about how they're used and just trying to give as much information about those verb tenses as possible so let me i think i can track it down real quick and just throw a link in the chat if you wanted to go uh check that out after this lesson and wait a second where did it go i don't think it was that old from that long ago all right so the 12 verb tenses it was a long lesson too um tried to it took a lot longer than i thought but i think it was very useful as far as live lessons are concerns it's probably one of the more popular lessons that uh i've done so yes here it is uh i'll write it in the trap 12 verb tenses boom there's a link if you guys want to check that out a little later so that's what i would recommend that's the short answer to that um let's see how to use i'm skipping around sorry guys how to use bummer correctly you'd say something is a bummer in this case it's a noun so a bummer is something that's like uh well it's just saying that something is not good you're referring to some situation as not good a little sad a little depressing yeah it's a bummer people might also say a downer as a synonym it's the same thing something's a downer or something's a bummer um when when this audio my audio at the beginning was kind of screwed up that was a bummer and then i was able to fix it so i was happy about that let's see why we use have and had together ten critique i don't know if you can give me an example um of what you mean like we're using have um and had together i are you saying like i have had to do something in that case you're talking about the the past perfect so when you're uh or no no you're talking about the present perfect where you're using have is the helping verb and then have is also the main verb but because you're going to use the past participle you have that construction right there have had all right i have had to to do something so that that's really the reason why is when you have have as the main verb you're going to use the present perfect which means has the helping verb plus the past participle have had and i know that can be a little confusing especially because i think there are many languages that don't really have the the perfect tense let's see i'm kind of uh moving around sorry um lolly asked what do you do when you reach a plateau in language learning ooh interesting question that i would say gosh i don't think i have like an excellent answer for that because i think it's different for for each person whereas i know people you know as a learner i always want to believe that you can continuously like improve your skills and i think that's true but i do think that you know it could be possible that somebody would plateau as far as maybe that it may not improve that much more you might learn new words you might learn new phrases but then at the same time you might forget some things um because you haven't used it in a while and in that case you might not feel like your skills are necessarily getting better if you get to a point where you're learning new things but maybe you feel like oh you've forgotten a word or two here or maybe um about how to use a verb tense correctly again mostly it happens because you haven't used this uh in some time like they say if you have don't use things you don't if you don't use it you lose it that's a phrase um so i i don't i think when you hit that point if you're saying that you have plateaued and you think that okay you're satisfied with where your skills are at you're happy with your english proficiency then i think the goal would be to kind of make sure that you can stay at that level and continuously practice from time to time so that you remain at the level that you hope to that you hope to keep that you hope to maintain if you feel like well i've plateaued and i want to get more then of course i would say like try to keep striving to improve keep keep working at it to to get better and improve your language skills and then hopefully over time it'll happen and that you can move up incrementally i know that when people do become more proficient they become more advanced learners you don't end up seeing progress like you did when you first started learning a language and in that case it does sometimes feel like oh i'm not improving i'm not getting much better um so yeah hopefully i don't know hopefully that helps i don't know if that answered your question uh let's see somebody asked i lost a motivation to learn english what would you recommend i talked about uh recommendation gosh in a video a long time ago about intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation i think intrinsic motivation um which is kind of like your personal reasons for learning the language like what what do you hope to achieve that i think is more useful when it comes to trying to get the motivation to continue learning to set aside some time to study vocabulary or watch video lessons like this if you can really use your intrinsic motivation and think about okay why am i doing this um the one of the very first questions uh i answered was lali talking about listening to different english accents for the purposes of travel so travel would be like an intrinsic motivation that you want to visit other places you know that if you travel there you're going to need to communicate in english and therefore you want to practice and improve your language skills so that would be an example of an intrinsic motivation or maybe i don't it could be anything like work if you want to if you think it's going to help you get a better job that could be an intrinsic motivation so if you're able to kind of think about that like what are the reasons why you personally feel like you should um continue improving your english and then just try to start using that as your motivation okay if it's for work let me let me put some time aside for myself so that will aside for for learning english and dedicate more uh time put more effort into it and then hopefully you can just make it a routine so that you're you're constantly doing that uh but yeah that's i think motivation is something that's challenging i think we all go through it from time to time especially if we've been studying uh over a longer period of time i know it's tough to kind of maintain that uh motivation uh hilda asked when did when did you buy can i use bought or buy with did do we use did with past tense um yeah so if you're talking about did you're again that is your helping verb and that is going to be um the pe you're talking about the past like so yeah when did you buy something you would not use uh bought in that case uh bought is just the simple past so it asks like oh when did you buy a new car um or when did you buy uh this phone so i'm asking about when this action happened in the past you would say when did uh somebody buy you'd use buy uh let's see oh you're welcome lolly excellent uh who what else do we have mansour a good question i think um is is shadowing i can kind of combine it with the question before that emma the chopstick says i speak en i speak an american accent but i feel like i don't sound native following up with mansour's question is shadowing a useful way to improve speaking so i would say yes i think it is and this if for those of you who are unfamiliar with what shadowing is it's when you are repeating some sentences or a phrase but you're doing you're saying it in the exact same way which is a little different than listen and repeat because if i say uh listen and repeat after me today is a beautiful day you might just repeat those words but you're gonna say it maybe however you want to when you're shadowing you really need to say it in the exact same way so if i i mentioned reduced speech earlier like gonna if i say i'm gonna take a trip and i tell you to repeat you might say i'm going to take a trip but shadowing you're not going to say i'm going to you would need to use gonna you're going to say it in the exact same way and you're also really trying to capture intonation and emphasis so it's not just the way you pronounce the words but it's really capturing the emotion as well and i think it can be a fun way to practice i know that i've tried to do this in class with some videos i would show learners a video of somebody kind of yelling something or somebody who's very angry and then try to get people to say it the exact same way you're capturing that emotion and i think that you know emotion is a big part of language um and i i think it's very useful so connecting on what uh the other person asked about trying to sound more like a native speaker i think shadowing is a good way to do that because if you are shadowing and you hear the way somebody's saying a sentence you are supposed to try to say it in the exact same way that that other person would say it if that is a somebody who's a native speaker then it's just going to help you try to sound more like uh more like that person in which you might be using you're reducing your words you're linking words together um using assimilation and all of these are different parts of connected speech which i think are very useful for not just pronunciation but really you're just overall fluency so i think shadowing can be very useful it's just finding kind of the some of the sentences and phrases that you want to practice with and i think there are some sites out there i'm not too familiar with any right off of it right off the top of my head but i would stick with kind of simple sentences things that are common that people might ask more often than other questions or just answers people might give if they're talking about whatever the weather or something like that and and really just fine tune some of those common uh phrases let's see so yeah check that out shadowing um for those of you who may not be too familiar with it let's see um nano asks can you explain how to make your writing make writing more clearly like kind of improve your writing i think i had mentioned earlier when uh maggie had asked a question um about i and i connected it to reading i think again reading is a great complement to writing you're seeing the grammar you're seeing how the grammar is structured you're able to even see small things like i talk a lot about um like i've mentioned prepositions before prepositions those small little function words i think is learners often make simple mistakes with prepositions not only in writing but also with speaking but when you're reading you're seeing those prepositions being used used correctly and i think over time the more you see that the more exposure you get to that then you will just start using it correctly the next time you're writing or speaking and that's why i say when it comes to prepositions if you're not sure do what feels right because when i when i say do what feels right it's almost like i'm trying to ask you try to to kind of really look think deep inside of what you've maybe seen before and you've just forgot about but you just have that feeling that maybe oh this is right so yeah i'd say definitely reading really connected to writing to help make it better and just keep practicing and always review make it a reflective practice try to find your mistakes correct your mistakes and if you can keep a journal about that and really identify where you're having the most trouble that's even better uh let's see mattel do you have a podcast on spotify no i don't i've thought about doing this i haven't again i think my biggest challenge right now is just finding time to set things up um and do all these different things i've thought about it it's on the list i just just haven't done it yet um pedro's do you actually understand the lyrics on every song you hear absolutely not i think there are many songs where i have no idea what the person is talking about so i before um maria theresa asked a question about how to improve listening for like tv show and movies so music is it's great to get some listening exposure it's difficult to practice because i think when we're talking about uh singing people will really they they blend words and phrases together they're they're singing these words and phrases and they don't always sound like they would in just natural conversation so it's good to get like just some passive practice listening to music is always enjoyable so i think it's a good thing but uh as far as if you don't understand something that you hear in a song definitely don't worry about it um i think i again i have problems uh with that all the time depending on what the song is and what uh and what they're talking about but yeah there's some things that i'm like wait what what are they talking about um how could we eventually remember difficult vocabulary and even use it so the first thing again is just trying to get to learn the word and then try to implement some spaced repetition where if you learn a new word hopefully you have some kind of method or that you use for new vocabulary you write it in a word document you post it put it on a piece of it post it put it around your home hopefully you do something with it so that later on maybe a week later you can try to review it again and then even a month after that hopefully you'll come across that word again the more times you come across something the more likely you are to remember it this is why i would do some of those reading those and i'm going to do one next week it's those reading vocabulary lessons where i'll take a topic and i'll find like maybe four or five articles about the same topic and i'll look for words that i think are useful you know to that topic and what happens and what we we see over time is that a lot of these articles use the same words so you get that repetition and if you end up reading an article about a topic that you find interesting cars travel fashion whatever it is then i would encourage you to read more about that same topic you're going to come across similar vocabulary and again as you get that exposure again and again and again you're more likely to remember it uh let's see um all right i know i know it's it's it's getting a little late uh this has gone on i i will do some more lessons like this in the future i'm sorry if uh i haven't been able to get to your question today what i want you to do please write to me in the chat if you have not the chat write me write a question in the comment section and i try to answer as many as i can if i can't answer the question it's very helpful because that gives me ideas for future lessons that i might take your question and then make a video out of it later on because i think okay this is uh this is a great question it's something that i think many other learners may have problems with or perhaps they may be confused with this thing so whatever your question is please write me questions in the comments if anything to help give me more ideas for future video lessons which will ultimately hopefully help all of you so thank you guys so much uh for joining me today i appreciate you guys being here uh give a few more shout outs um boomi um thank you guys for joining me all day ahmed uh fingers crossed fingers crossed means like you're you're hoping for the best you're you know uh wishing wishing for luck fingers crossed uh thank you guys hope you enjoy the rest of your week or the upcoming week and next week i i am going to try to do like one of those reading vocabulary lessons in case you were wondering what i was talking about it's a great way to build your vocabulary as well as learn about a new topic so i don't know what topic i'm gonna do next week but that will be uh the next lesson uh great to see you sleepwalker uh lucky luke takayo thank you thanks for being here luisa um mahdi thank you you are awesome thanks for joining the family uh our newest member again if you if you guys want to want to join the family links are down in the description below to sponsor or support what uh what we do here at interactive english it really goes a long way um amnesty mavia tim uh sleepwalker uh batul mare teresa great to see you again i hope to see you again in the future um but all right i'm gonna end it wrap it up so long uh and i will see you guys soon --- ## 211. Are You Making These Common GRAMMAR MISTAKES? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `9w0B3eIGJcI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w0B3eIGJcI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:05:20 | --- Let's talk about some confusing grammar and I promise you will learn something new. And if you enjoy learning new things and improving your skills, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And today I would like to clear up some confusion specifically when it comes to different grammar concepts and as well as some certain grammatical phrases. Now, if you would like to get the lesson notes right next to me, you can click on the link down below in the description. Join our email community and you will then have these notes in order to review. If you're already a part of our community, don't worry. I've emailed them to you. you can check your inbox. So, let's go ahead and jump into it. This is a quiz lesson. I want you to participate. Write your answers in the chat in the comments. I didn't m wake up this early. So, th this is going to be multiple choice perhaps make it a little easier and then I'm going to go into why this is the correct answer. Talk about some of the slight nuances between these different phrases and the the grammatical concept. So, I didn't m wake up this early. Are you going to say a used to or b used to? They both sound the same. Used to and used to. This is it's a little bit of a trick question because we're we're talking about the verb used to, which can be either a or b. But in this case the correct answer is a used to I didn't used to wake up uh I didn't used to wake up this early. Okay. I didn't used to do it. Now let's let me give you a little more detail between used to as a verb and used to the adjective. Now used to as the verb often it's going to be used in the past because of the meaning. It is an ed verb in the past. So, it's going to be spelled us d used to because it means that you are referring to something that existed or repeatedly happened in the past but does not exist anymore. Look at these sentences right down here. I used to wake up early. Okay? I used to do this thing in the past. So often you're going to use this verb in the past. In this case, because I'm talking about the negative and the conjugation is with did. That is my past. I did not used to wake up this early. And in this case, I'm just using the base verb. The other thing I want to point out which makes this very confusing grammatically is that used to us d can also be used as an adjective. And that means that it it refers to something that you're maybe not familiar with or accustomed to, like I'm used to running in hot weather or I'm not used to running in hot weather. Either way, whether it's the affirmative or the negative, when you're using it as an adjective, you're going to spell it us d. So, something to keep in mind when talking, especially when talking about that verb used to. Here's the next one. Your voice is soothing. Can you read this story? Are you going to say, "Can you read this story to me or can you read this story for me?" This to me and for me, these are phrases that I think are often confused and I completely understand why they're confusing. So, think about this specific situation. Your voice is soothing. Can you read this story? What do you think? A to me or B for me. The key here is I think somebody's saying like can you your voice is soothing. So that's a compliment. They like listening and hearing someone else's voice. So in this context I would say wow your voice is soothing. can you read this story to me? And A would be the correct answer. Now, let's let's get into the weeds and talk a little bit about to me versus for me. Now, this is a quick uh example. Again, if you want these notes, check out that link down below in the description. Some of these may overlap one another. Let me let's go through them one at a time because I I think this is important to me. We use this to emphasize how something is perceived like that's news to me. You can also use this to express an opinion. To me, your plan is not going to work. In this case, you could also think of the uh expression it seems to me your plan is not going to work. Movement bring it to me and something that impacts you personally. That's how I'm labeling it. If it can happen to you, it can happen to me. for me when this is something that is done for your benefit can you do the homework for me and this is why I think if you're asking somebody can you read the book for me I don't know if I would use it in the context like oh it's for your benefit and that's why I tried to give you that hint of somebody thinking well your voice is soothing please read the story to me something you could also use for me to satisfy your needs it's really helpful in order for me to get ahead. All right, it's going to help me and then affects you personally. This is too spicy for me. Now, let me give you some examples as to when they you could use either one. And these are some subtle differences, some slight nuances. So, I'm comparing your perceived opinion versus how something affects you. And that's the key word. So if you say this problem is diff this problem sounds difficult to me I don't know how to solve it again your opinion it sounds difficult to me you could also say this problem is too difficult for me I can't solve it again for me is really referring to you as an individual and not really your opinion well it sounds difficult to me how about this one this is important to me you must help you could tell somebody look this is important for me you must help when using for me the emphasis really like on the individual like I really need this all right it's important for me and then finally down below this is something I hear a lot of people that they take my course and we talk about vocabulary and somebody says well this vocabulary is new to me versus this vocabulary is new for me again both of them are correct it really just depends on what you're you're trying to say in this case I think it's more common to use to me this is new to me to give you an example when it comes to usage of to me and for me let's just take that phrase and we can use engram viewer to compare the frequency it's new to me versus it's new for me as you can see it's more common for somebody to say look it's new to me something is new to me but once again this is an instance when I think people can commonly confuse these two and a lot of times they are interchangeable. It's not like there's one wrong answer. It really just depends on what you're trying to say. How about this one? I started learning English m an early age. Are you going to complete this sentence with a since or be from? I started learning English m an early age. since or from. Once again, when I'm working with people and coaching them, uh, when it comes to their English, this is something that I I hear people make a slight mistake. So, in this case, what I would say is you're going to use be from. I started learning English from an early age. I think I think most of you you guys rock that one. I'll throw out some some shout outs to Kaio. Good job. Good to see you. Uh Joanne, Ava, Mr. Bianca. Perfect. Uh so let's talk about why the difference between since and from. So we're going to use from to refer to like the starting point of an event, an action or journey. you know, something is going to continue versus since, in which case we're talking really about a specific point in time. Look at these examples. If someone were to say, "The doctor will be here from 10:00 a.m. tomorrow." So, starting at this point onward from 10:00 a.m. versus the doctor has been here since 10:00 a.m. In that case, I'm using the present perfect to refer to this point in the past. Or down below, the exhibition runs from March to May. It's running from this month to this month. All right, that is the action, the journey if you will, versus the exhibition has been running since March, that point in time. Again, I think these words are sometimes confused and when people are having a conversation, a discussion, and then they just end up using the wrong one. The next question I have for you is, we decided to go out m the rain. Now, I'm giving you three different choices. A in spite of, B despite, or C. Both are correct. What do you think? We decided to go out m the rain. How would you best complete that sentence with what do you think? Well, I I guess I don't want to give it away. Technically, every answer is correct in this case because well, the real answer would be C. Both are correct. You could say we decided to go out in spite of the rain or we decided to go out despite the rain. But if you said A or B, technically you are also correct. You can use that to complete this sentence. The difference between these I I pulled this from Cambridge. I thought they gave a really uh a really concise explanation and I provided some example sentence down below. In spite of and despite are prepositional expressions. In spite of and despite have a similar meaning to although or even though. They expressed a contrast between two things. They are both more common in writing than speaking. Despite is a little more formal than in spite of. And we usually use in spite of and despite with a noun. So again, I could say they arrived to the airport late despite leaving in plenty of time. And I'm following it with that gerand. They arrived to the airport late in spite of leaving in plenty of time. Both of those work in this example. Here is your next question. She's m New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. talking about the difference between been to and gone to. Just looking at those, you know that we're, you know, in this case, I'm referring to the present perfect based on the the conjugation. Those are past participles. She's m New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. What do you think? A been to or B gone to? The key here is the the second sentence when I give you that extra information that she'll be back tomorrow because out of context just with that first sentence, it really could be either one. We don't know. But the fact that I'm saying that she'll be back tomorrow means that the correct answer is B. Gone to. She's gone to New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. Excellent. Uh, Julia TJ Leaf. Uh, mett. Perfect. All right. I love it. Love all these answers. Just keep them coming. Keep practicing. So, what's the difference between been to and gone to you? You're going to use been to to describe a completed visit. Something that it's happened. It's over. I have already been to the store and now I'm back. It's complete. We have been to India twice in the last year. All right. You went there. you came back. When talking about travel, I think it's very common for somebody to use been to because you're having a conversation and you say, "Oh, yeah. I've I've been to New York City or I've been to Argentina or I've I've been to Italy." And at that moment, you're not there. You've you've already come back. It's complete. Versus gone to, you're describing a visit that you have not returned from yet. And that is the key part when it comes to gone to. In our example sentence, I said in this case, she'll be back tomorrow. She's not there yet. She's still in New York. Therefore, you would say gone to. Or again, think of these other examples. He's gone to the toilet. He'll be back soon. He's still there. Or you just missed her. She's already gone to bed. So, she's gone to bed. Has not come back yet. In those situations, you're going to use gone to. I think it's very common saying, "Oh, yeah, somebody's gone to the toilet or they've gone to bed." Hopefully, again, that really clears up any confusion, especially if you were thinking that the answer was been to. How about uh with these prepositions? Always a little tricky. Did you watch my new lesson m YouTube? Are you going to complete this with in, on, at? These are very common prepositions. We use them all the time every day when speaking. I think I would it would be challenging to have a conversation and not use in, honor, at. Did you watch my lesson? My new lesson YouTube technically this is my new lesson, but there was one last week if you want to go check that out. So, we're talking about YouTube and when we're refer referring to YouTube TV, in that case, you're going to use on. Did you watch my new lesson on YouTube? Great job, Serg Angela. Um, Gopal, perfect. Let's look at I'm I'm not going to go through all of this which again if you want to have this information you can you can uh download the get these lesson notes and join the community. I'm I'm just let's just look at the first one of each one. So generally speaking in with enclosed with an enclosed space. So you're you're really surrounded on all sides like it's used to talk about uh locations within a larger area. If I told you I live in the city, in the city. The city would be that surrounding area and I'm enclosed in the city. I would say I live in the city. If we're moving to on, we're talking about a surfaced uh attached to or touching something. The these are really with uh you know, I realize like preposition of place um refers to a position of any surface. the cup is on the table and you use it with all those other ones down at the very bottom on with media that you are watching something on TV or in this case you watch my new video on YouTube. So at the very bottom you see on with media and then at generally speaking you're talking about a point a specific location or a position used to refer to a position or location. Um, if I said I work at the library, right? That is the location where I work in, on, at. There are so again, these are general rules that you can follow as to when you should use these different prepositions. What do you think? There is a bear in our neighborhood. Right? We're using in because the neighborhood that is the enclosed area. There's a bear in our neighborhood. M sometimes rummages through our garbage can. If you're unfamiliar with the verb to rummage, it's a fun verb to use. It means to look through something typically like carelessly without much thought and you are rumaging through it. What do you think? A that, B, which or C who? And wow. All right. upcom I am incredibly grateful for that super chat. Awesome. You you made my day. You helped make all of this possible. That is that is in amazing. So we're we're talking about relative clauses that which who there again it can be tricky because technically there is more than one answer. However, I am going to go ahead and tell you that the answer is that and let let me explain because I know many I can see that many people put which in there or you're answering which. I I would say there is a bear in our neighborhood that sometimes rummages through our garbage cans. Now, which is okay if you use which. I will say that I think it's more common in British English than especially in the US and I'm from the United States. The way that you you would often come across with these relative clauses is the general use right here. That when referring to people, animals, or things. All right? In this case, we're uh referring to the bear, which when referring to animals or things, and who referring to people. So, because we're talking about an animal, you're not really going to use who. That is often preferred when we're talking about a restrictive clause. This means that the information is needed and often you're going to use that or who I say it's preferred. If we go back to our sentence, there is a bear in our neighborhood. All right, that kind of sets it up that rummage that sometimes rummages through our garbage can in order to for me to express the full idea. We need that information because I want to express that the bear does this and maybe is causing problems that rummages through our garbage can. If we're talking about non-restrictive clauses, information that is not needed, and typically it's going to come between those commas, you'll use which or who. These are general rules. Again, if we're talking about a little more formal, which I think British English is compared to the US, I I would say that uh which is also correct. That is preferred especially in the US. And I would almost say that even in British English, I think a lot of people would still say that in this context, but you would you would hear people use which as well. I know that a lot of people, especially those that I teach, have more of a background in British English, which is why a lot of people think of of that or which in this case. But again, good information to know. These are just slight nuances when it comes to those relative clauses. What do you think about this question at the store? We need to pick up some fruit. Uh, now I'm putting them in the U parenthesis. M, apples, bananas, and watermelon. Am I going to use eg or iie. Eie. This is more I mean, this is more writing because if I'm uh having a conversation, I'm not really going to say eg or iie. So this is specifically when it comes to writing. But again, these are commonly confused. Egie, E. So in this in this context, what do you think? At the store, we need to pick up some fruit. M apples, bananas, or watermelon, which one would you use? Excellent. Uh Liam Marak, Angela, um Ti, we're talking about eg. So, eg in this con context we're really just giving uh examples because it means for example. It stands for exemplia. These are again I think really from Latin. It means for example. So if I were having a conversation that is what I would use. I wouldn't say eg. I'd say for example apples, bananas and watermelon. For here's another example. I love eating exotic fruits. If I were writing, eg a durian, passion fruit, hornmelon, guava, and jackf fruit. These are all would be considered exotic fruits. I've had most of them, not all of them. I'm not a big fan of a durian. Has a very powerful smell. Whereas down below, I is an abbreviation for it est. So, the fact that they came up with something like I'm going to mess this word up. This is actually a real word. Hippopotamus sequoia phobia. Okay, I really botched that. I.e. the fear of words shows that psychiatrists do have a sense of humor. So there is an actual phobia of fear of long words. And when people were coming up with this name, they just jokingly gave it this ridiculously long name. I kind of again showing that they have a sense of humor. This is an actual word. It's not one that you're going to use in conversation. You might just say you have a fear of long words. To follow up on this joke, I I thought I'd show you this little uh comic. I'm afraid of spiders. That's called arachnophobia. That's true in case you didn't know that. What are you afraid of? And the person says long words. And he says, oh, that's called hippomstrasa squid. I Yeah, I'm not even going to try to pronounce it. And then the other person because they're afraid of long words is like, "Oh, make it stop. Please uh help." So again, that is more for writing when thinking about those uh abbreviations. Eg versus I. How about this next question? All applicants submit their resumes by the first of the month. Again, this is a slight nuance. Are you going to complete this sentence with must or have to? I you I don't I don't want to get into it. Uh obviously I will get into it and talk about the slight differences, but think about the situation. Which one do you think is more appropriate? And I'm going to say more appropriate because technically there's not a wrong answer. It's just in this context, which one would be a better choice? All applicants submit their resumes by the first of the month. Excellent. Alvatina Tayo uh Atus Atusa, sorry. Well, glad you like. Nice. That's a good example of that word must. So, let if you said have to, you you could hear people use that. Again, I don't want to say it's it's incorrect. It's not. I think in this context, which would be a little more formal, if a company is saying this, they're probably going to use the word must. So, let's talk about some of the slight differences between must and have to. We're going to use must when uh something is required. You must report to training camp by the end of the week. It's really like an obligation. You could use must to express a conclusion or deduction. If I told you like, "Wow, you must be thirsty after that intense workout." Or finally, a strong recommendation. You must go see the movie. Now, have to if you want to express necessity, something that you have to do throughout the day. It's very casual conversation. I have to make a dentist appointment. That is something I have to do. It's just a necessity. Or a past obligation. She had to wait in line for over an hour. If I'm talking about a future obligation, I'll still use have to in the future. I will have to excuse you or you will have to excuse his poor behavior. And finally, when making another recommendation, you have to go see the movie. really strong recommendation, you must do this thing, you must go see the movie. So again, these are some slight differences in this context because I'm really talking about something that's more required and that's why I would say that if a company were saying this, they'd say all applicants must submit their resumes by the first of the month. If you and I are having a conversation, in which case it's a little more casual and I'm just telling you this information, then I might use have to and say, "Yeah, you know, they said that all applicants have to submit their resumes by the first of the month." So, just something to keep in mind when it comes to that formality and what you're trying to express. We are going where no man has gone before. This is a well it's a TV quote that I stole and perhaps some of you may recognize it. We are going where no man has gone before. A to go boldly versus or or B to boldly go. How would you complete this statement? Again, if you're really into uh you know older TV shows or this specific TV series, then you probably have heard this before. and you know the answer now. Oh, wow. A lot of people are really going for a to to go boldly because all right if if you're going to hear this again I took this from the quote and the correct answer would be b to boldly go. We are going to boldly go where no man has gone before. This was first came about from uh Star Trek I believe in like 1966 and it's a longunning TV series. There have been some movies and this is something a statement that that comes up to boldly go where no one has gone before. So a lot of times people over the I think many years people have been taught like look this is this is not accurate. We cannot split infinitives. But that is exactly what we're talking about, split infinitives. I I took this first part from Marian Webster. That's why I put their little logo there. A split infinitive is an English phrase in which an adverb or other word is placed between to and a verb, as in to really start or to finally start. If you really dig into the research, technically there's not anything grammatically wrong with split infinitives. Even though I think in the context of a classroom, many instructors would be, "Oh, yeah, you shouldn't split infinitives." So once again, the thing that I like to clarify is preferred or what is correct or how many people would use it. So preferred, I decided, she decided to quit her job immediately. You see, we're putting that adverb at the end. I think that's very common. However, in just casual conversation, colloquial, it's you still could hear somebody say, "She decided to immediately quit her job." I almost think when you split the infinitive, it's adding a little emphasis because you're really highlighting immediately. She decided to immediately quit her job. It's still correct. Or the preferred, "The doctor told me to check my blood pressure regularly, but also correct. The doctor told me to regularly check my blood pressure. I'm splitting those infinitives. Something to to keep in mind. Did you catch fish today? How would you complete that question? Did you catch some some fish today? Or did you catch any fish today? What do you think? A some versus B any. these words. Again, I think when you're looking at it, you're probably going to be able to think about it, pick out the correct answer. However, I I notice when I'm in the middle of a conversation, somebody's talking and then they end up just using the wrong word. They'll use any instead of using some or they'll use some when they should use any. So, in this case, excellent tal aa da uh mama, perfect. We're talking about be any. Did you catch any fish today? Let's dig in to some of those nuances. In general, you're going to use some when making affirmative statements. I gave you I'm giving you a couple right there. I have some extra pizza. We have some questions. In general, you're going to use any when making negative statements or asking questions such as the one that we just looked at. Did you catch any fish today? or a negative statement, I don't want any pizza. Or somebody asking, oh, are there any questions? And then somebody responding, yes, we have some questions. Of course, with English, there are always exceptions. And this is what makes it very confusing. exception would be like you're offering something. Instead of using any, you're going to use some. Would you like some tea? Would you like some coffee? I'm asking a question, but in this case, I'm going to use some. And then there are just some common phrases, useful phrases like that some plus a noun. You're trying to say that something is impressive. That some pig. This is a a famous statement from the the book um uh Charlotte uh what is it? Yeah, Charlotte's Web. Um and then and then some is another expression that you may hear. They paid us $1,000 and then some referring to extra things. some exceptions with any when with conjunctions like if or whether it's an affirmative statement but you would use any. Please tell me if you have any questions. So again, are there any questions? But if you use a statement, we have some questions or do you h or I'm making a statement. Please tell me if you have any questions. And then again, this useful phrase, I think there was another one. I didn't really have room, but uh by any means necessary. We must win. By any means necessary, that you're going to do everything you possibly can in order to win. By any means necessary. What do you think? Which question is grammatically correct? I don't. Well, we'll see. A, who do you believe? B, whom do you believe? Which one is grammatically correct? And notice I'm emphasizing grammatically when I say that. So, that is a bit of a hint. Grammatically correct. Who do you believe or whom do you believe? The fact that I'm probably emphasizing it tells you uh which answer would I'm going for in this case the well somebody put both I guess yeah that that would work grammatically correct that because I'm saying like grammatically correct not just which one is correct you would say be whom whom do you believe why is this well you're going to use who referring to the subject of a sentence For example, who who would you like um or who would like something to drink? If I can just take who a a quick little thing to say if you're trying to figure out which one to use who or whom. If I replace it with a subject like he, she, he would like something to drink. She would like something to drink. That tells me, okay, the subject I should use who or my dog uh who is very friendly. Again, this is a non-restrictive clause. Uh, my dog um who is very friendly plays with children. He is very friendly. She is very friendly. I'm going to use who. Whom refers to the object of a verb or preposition. To whom is the letter addressed? It does it does sound very formal, a little Shakespearean, but once again, if I replace it with an object, the the letter is addressed to him. The letter is addressed to her. I'm gonna use whom. My dog whom children like to pet is very friendly. Children like to pet him. Children like to pet her. We use whom now overwhelmingly when somebody is just having a conversation, people are going to use who. I would say it's even becoming more common in writing. And it's one of those things that you'd have that argument. Not that it's like wrong or right, but is it acceptable or unacceptable to point this out or to give you an example because when we go to engram viewer, this is actually taken from written English, not even spoken English. And we compare these two. Who do you believe versus whom do you believe? You're more likely going to come across who do you believe? And I think especially if you're having a conversation, you're going to hear people say, "Who do you believe?" instead of, "Whom do you believe?" Whom sounds a little more formal. It even sounds a little more old-fashioned. But again, I would say it's still something that would be more common in British English than American English, even though I feel like in the UK you're going to hear a lot of people say, "Who do you believe?" So, I know I I just went through a lot. These are 12 different grammatical phrases or even grammatical concepts that I want you to keep in mind. If you want to get these notes, please join our community. You can access them and download them. If you're already a part of the community, check your inbox. I've sent them to you. And of course, now is the moment of truth. I don't want you to go away just yet. I want to know how you did on the quiz. So, I'm going to put this question in there. How did you do on the quiz? And I'll give you a few choices. I rocked it and that would be like maybe 100%. Or I did well would be 75% let's say. And well, maybe I'll give you four choices. Okay. would just be 50%. And I learned a lot of new things with all these lessons. I always just hope that you um learn something new. That is always my goal. And for that, I'd say 25% or less. Let me start the poll. Let me know how you did. I'm always interested to kind of gauge and see where everyone's at. But even if you got all of them right as we dug in to some of those slight nuances, again, my my hope is that you always learn something new. And once again, I want to give a huge shout out to Gabam uh Gabcam for uh that that very generous super chat. Love it. Um going to go ahead and heart it right there. But let me know what what you think. Let's see what some of the the results are. It seems that for the most part you you guys did pretty well and you knew most of these. If you enjoyed this lesson or you enjoy some of these grammar quizzes, please hit that like button. That tells me that I should do more lessons like this in the future because they're helpful because they're helping you fine-tune your English skills and improving your overall English fluency. a few of well quite a few of you rocked it. I'm uh I don't want to say I'm surprised. I think uh many of you are very proficient in English. So uh but I'm I'm glad to see that for the most part people did well. You learned something new or you did okay. So, thank you so much for joining me, being with me --- ## 212. As Soon As You Learn Adverb Clauses, Your English Will Instantly Improve! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rIzMFnJWl18` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIzMFnJWl18) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:43:07 | --- I'm going to teach you everything that you need to know about adverb clauses. And if you are someone who enjoys improving your grammar skills, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, right now, we're going to talk about one of the coolest parts of grammar, adverb clauses. And I really mean that. I say that they're cool because they help you add more details whenever speaking or writing, allowing you to describe how, where, when, or why something happens. So, these adverb clauses, they're good to keep in your back pocket to be able to use at a moment's notice. So, let's break this down step by step. What are adverb clauses? First things first, let's define an adverb clause. This is a group of words that functions like an adverb in a sentence, which means they modify verbs, adjectives, or even other adverbs and give extra information about things like time, reason, condition, or place. But an adverb clause is different than a regular adverb because it has both a subject and a verb. However, an adverb clause is a dependent clause. You need a main clause as well, which means an adverb clause on its own is not a full sentence. I went home because it was raining. Because it was raining, this is our adverb clause. It is not a complete sentence. We need the independent clause. I went home. Now, at the beginning of our adverb clause, we have a subordinating conjunction because. Subordinating conjunctions are words that connect independent and dependent clauses. So, the word because, this is our subordinating conjunction. And this adverb clause in particular, because it was raining, gives us information and tells us why. And this leads me into the next thing that I want to talk about, the functions of adverb clauses. Let's explore what adverb clauses do. They answer questions like when, why, where, and how. And I want to break this down into six different categories. And we will begin with time. Adverb clauses of time tell us when something happens. They often begin with certain words, those subordinating conjunctions like when, before, after, while, until, as soon as, or by the time. As soon as I get to work, I check my email. This tells us when I'm checking my email or I will call you when I get home. I brushed my teeth before I went to bed. By the time I arrived at the restaurant, everyone had finished eating. These dependent clauses tell us when something happens. And I want you to keep in mind that the subordinating conjunction by the time. This tells us that the main verb in our independent clause is either the future perfect or the past perfect. By the time I left, they'd rebuilt so much of it. I came as soon as I got word. Evan's mom used to read this to him every night before he went to bed. I know it's a lot to take in right now, but this is when people make small mistakes, especially when writing. So, let's turn our attention to condition. Adverb clauses of condition show us the condition under which something happens. You can go out if you finish your homework. That is the condition for going out. Or I could say, "I usually sleep with the window open unless it's really cold outside." Or, "Provided that I eat a big breakfast, I can skip lunch. My unpopularity is going to follow me to college, unless you help." She seemed like the best candidate, provided we weren't thinking about her in that moment. So, condition, simple enough. Let's talk about reason. Adverb clauses of reason explain why something happens. And these usually begin with because, since, or as. She studied hard because she wanted to pass the test. So passing the test is the reason why she was studying. Or they canled the marathon since it was raining. Or I didn't go to the party as I was feeling tired. You got your job because you're hot. Today we are going to team up for sales calls. Andy, since this was your idea, you get to pick first. In these examples, you can really use these subordinating conjunctions interchangeably, but of course, because is by far the most commonly used word. Now, let's continue with purpose, which is a little similar to reason, and sometimes they're lumped together. However, there is a slight difference. So adverb clauses of purpose explain the reason for taking a specific action and often they begin with so that in case in order to or in order that he woke up early so that he would not be late for work or I'm going to write myself a note in case I forget. She studied hard in order to pass the exam or I could say she studied hard in order that she passed the exam. I made you children feel small, confused about your own powers so that I could control you. In case of emergency, please contact Amy Farah Fowler. Just know that in order to and in order that they really have the same meaning, but the sentence structure is slightly different. In order to, you're going to follow that with a base verb and in order that you'll follow that with a subject. Now, in order that it is more formal and maybe you would end up using it more in academic writing and to be honest in spoken English it does sound a little awkward to my ears but that's maybe just me. Anyway, just something to keep in mind. Moving right along. Contrast. Adverb clauses of contrast show how two actions, ideas, or situations are different and they often begin with although, though, even though, or whereas. Although it was raining, we went for a walk. This introduces a contrast between the rain and going for a walk. I enjoyed the movie, though the ending was a bit predictable. Or I could say, even though we didn't win the competition, we tried our best. I prefer reading novels, whereas my friend prefers watching movies. No, John, you've got enough on your plate. Oh, whereas I have nothing but free time. I remember it as if it were yesterday. Although it was only a few hours ago. Don't worry. Even though we just met you, we think you're right and he's wrong. Because we're talking about grammar, I want you to know that although, though, and even though are really interchangeable, maybe you will use even though if you just want to add some more emphasis. And now that brings us to place. Adverb clauses of place talk about where something happens. And they typically begin with where or wherever. This is the house where I live. Talking about where this happens or wherever you go, that's where you are. It's very philosophical but true. Because wherever you go, Robert's Roth will follow you. You know, when I used to get really sad in the place where I used to live, I would smile and jump up and down and say, "I'm not really here." So, now that we've covered all these different functions, answering where, when, why, and how, let's talk about the position of an adverb clause in a sentence. You should know that adverb clauses are pretty flexible. You can put them at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a sentence. But there is a small catch because there is a difference when it comes to writing. If an adverb clause starts a sentence, don't forget to use a comma. When the rain stopped, comma, we went outside. If an adverb clause comes at the end of a sentence, you do not need a comma. We went outside when the rain stopped. To be honest, most of the time adverb clauses are going to come at the beginning or the end of a sentence, but sometimes you can stick them in the middle, especially if you want to add some more details. We went outside when the rain stopped to play. In this case, we're using the adverb clause as a nonrestrictive clause, which means that it can be omitted. We're just adding some more information. Just be mindful that simple mistakes are often made when writing when it comes to the placement of commas. So, the three main takeaways when it comes to adverb clauses, they modify verbs, adjectives, or even other adverbs. They answer questions like when, why, where, and how. And they can also be used and placed at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence. I know I just gave you a lot of information about adverb clauses, and I'm sure that you were familiar with some of it already, but still, I hope that you learned something new. And if you did learn something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 213. Ask me ANYTHING about learning English | Q&A w/ Wes | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NR3D8fomJxI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR3D8fomJxI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:18:00 | --- all right hello everyone i think that that we are live so first off i just want to say welcome to this this special lesson i say it's a special lesson because i'm as you can probably tell for people who have watched my videos before i'm not at home right now but i'm this is going to be a q a lesson i want to answer some of your questions any questions that you have related to learning english and the first thing i want to say because this is a bit of a new setup please let me know if everything is is working okay if the audio is okay i apologize because i'm not using the same camera that i usually use so that i think it may look a little more grainy and the audio might not be as good as it usually is but that again is because uh because i'm traveling but please say hello to me uh in the chat or even if you're watching this later write to me in the comments i love hearing from from new people but i also enjoy hearing from those that have seen from time and time again so i want to give a quick shout out uh say hello to some of you some very familiar faces hello lali gatrudus vicky and gustav um takayao udit sleepwalker glad you guys can join me um everything's okay excellent perfect thank you thank you guys for letting me know so the first question i'm gonna jump right into it um i will i'm gonna take some like member questions i'll go through those first and then i'll try to get through as many as i possibly can and i'll try to go through them quickly the one thing i would ask if you have some questions try to try to make your questions as precise as possible as specific as possible because when they're very broad it's a lot it's a lot more time consuming to try and answer and i want to try to get through as many as possible the first question that i want to answer is actually um vicky gustav gustav had written to me in when i posted that i'm going to do a live lesson and the first question that he asked was about the word advice and wondering about if there is a plural form for this noun and it's a great question because i think it can be very confusing because you have other words like suggestion that has somewhat of a similar meaning and that is it is countable so there is a difference in that advice is considered it's it's an abstract noun because it's not something that you can really picture in your mind and it's a mass noun so it is a non-count noun and when you have a non-count noun you are not going to use it in the plural form so you you cannot say that you would say there are i gave him three pieces of advice and the first thing i would say about this if you're talking about a piece of advice that would be a quantifier and you're typically going to use quantifiers with non-count nouns like a piece of advice or like somebody might say like a a slice of pizza a glass of water and you use those quantifiers with those non-count nouns but the the to go back to what i was saying before above advice and suggestion suggestion is account an accountable noun and you could say i have three suggestions for you and you add that s at the end there is no real relationship i think between those those two words even though they have somewhat of a similar meaning when you learn them it's just a matter of like just learning that vocabulary that okay advice i know the meaning of this it is a non-count noun i'm not going to you there is no plural form suggestion it is a count noun and i can use it in a plural form so it's not i i know it's not probably the best explanation besides just saying that yes advice is non-count suggestion is a count noun but it's just having to learn that and i think over time you'll get a little more familiar with it so um somebody along those lines because this is kind of related to that sing kong asks how do you pronounce um advice and advise so advice the noun uh that c is gonna sound like an s advice advise that's the verb to advise someone and in this case that s is gonna have more of a z sound that voiced z advise i advise you guys to well write me some questions in the chat i advise you to watch some of the other video lessons because i think it'll uh it'll help you so that's related to that so that's why i kind of wanted to to go through that let me go back a little bit to the beginning um uh phil son faraxan has i want to ask how to learn english by watching movies and what i do when i watch movies so i think watching movies or listening to music tv those are great ways to passively learn the language and what i mean by it's uh you're learning passively is that you're not really doing anything you're just watching it but i think to make it more meaningful if you could try to turn it into some active exercise which means that you really have to focus and that you have to do something at the end so if you want to like to give you an example like watching a movie to make it an active exercise is watch a movie and then once it's done write like a short summary what is the movie about and then you're trying to remember what the movie's about you're trying to think of the vocabulary that you would use to to write this summary to so that somebody else would understand what this movie is about and in doing that you're making it an active exercise so that would be my suggestion about like if you're doing some passive learning try to make it active um so let's see um what is it yours truly asked what is the difference between i had a car and i have a uh i have had a car so you're talking about the difference between the past and the present perfect it it really depends on the situation the grammar often times those could be used interchangeably and people say them and it has the same meaning i had a car in the past um again you're talking about it's finished present perfect like i've i've had a car and then you're really referencing it to something else that might be going on in the present um like i've had a car like that um years ago but then uh maybe now you have a different type of car i think i would really in in this case um if you wanted to finish the sentence maybe i could give you a bit more clarity as to what but in that case i think it really depends on the context of the situation but probably you might be able to use them um interchangeably let's see tatiana's how to get advanced inc level of english i'm intermediate and very frustrated yes um i think that this is a common um challenge that i think many learners go through is that and i think it's normal when you start out learning a language it's normal to feel like you're making a lot of progress because it's new because there's so much that you can learn new words for you to learn and then as your skills start to improve i think it really starts to level out perhaps even go down a little where you feel like you're not learning as much and then it goes up kind of slowly the more uh the more advanced your language skills become so i i think if one thing if you're frustrated i think it's good to try to kind of find your motivation again to to find ways to get motivated so you can continue learning whether it's trying to stay motivated because you're going to go traveling or you're trying to stay motivated because you're you're getting ready to take some classes so if you can find that motivation to keep it going but yeah i think um i i think it's normal that as your skills really start to improve it is going to level out a little bit um let's see let's go back um it's because i want to get some members lolly ass i always confuse effective and efficient could you give me some examples please so i to me i think if something is very effective i would say it's very useful it's very meaningful so i could say that talking about building vocabulary and people might talk about the method of chunking and i know i'm going off tangent chunking is when you're you're building your vocabulary but you're really learning phrases instead of focusing on a word you're learning um phrases now i could say that well if you use chunking to build your vocabulary it's very effective and i when i say it's effective i mean it would be meaningful and that it's really going to to help you to help you improve when i think of the word efficient i think it's more so not about it's meaningful and important but efficient i always think that time is related to that that it's a faster way to do something and you could say well that that is very efficient you're getting the job done and you're really doing it in the the quickest way possible so i think in terms of like uh i think business is a situation a context in which you might hear people use the word efficient like we need to do things efficiently we need to get the job done so that it's done correctly but we need to do it in the shortest amount of time possible so that's one distinction that i'd make between effective and efficient in terms of effective being really meaningful and important and really helpful in what you're doing efficient would be really also time is related to that and you're doing it in the quickest way possible um khan asks what's the difference between jail prison and penitentiary they're really just i really think they're really just synonyms uh i don't know if i guess you could say prison to me is um like really kind of the the building like the institution of prison where people would spend longer periods of time there jail i think just refers to if somebody's in prison they're also in jail but jail refers to the action of being i think you are contained so often times at um a police station a police station may have a jail where they can detain somebody and they keep them there and maybe they are behind some bars but it's not prison prison would be where somebody would permanently be for a longer period of time and i think penitentiary penitentiary unless i might be incorrect but i feel like that's more of a synonym for a prison um vicious ass what is the best way to improve my writing i i think with anything and like the four main skills is just to practice um first off like to try to write as much as you can emails um summaries like i mentioned you could take watching a movie make it an active exercise the other thing that i would mention with writing which i come back to a lot reading reading really helps i think those the same way like listening and speaking i think really complement each other as language skills reading and writing they also complement each other when you're reading you are actually seeing the correct grammar structure being used you might be identifying new vocabulary and you're getting to you get a feel for how they're using that word in context so i think reading is also very important that's going to help you improve your writing skills in the long run even with little things like prepositions because i know prepositions are mistakes simple mistakes that people might make they use the wrong preposition but when you're reading you really you get to see that um let's see i want to go back to sorry i'm kind of going back uh vicky gustav um oh god excited with those german movies uh yes that could be challenging if it's uh from another country um let's see i'm kind of gonna go back through um sorry i know i'm getting a lot um joe brown asks this is a question i think a lot of people have um could you be fluent in english without moving to an english-speaking country to the us or the uk absolutely um i think nowadays i think of course if you live somewhere for many people i'll include myself i think it's mentally it might feel easier to learn the language because you're there and you have that motivation as soon as you walk out the door you know that you need to speak that language which is a great motivation to continue like okay i need to practice i need to read i need to listen and you're really more motivated to continue learning i think though when you live in another country one of the value the one of the great values which i think was more relevant a long time ago was the amount of exposure you can get because you go somewhere you're listening to the language you have to speak it you're getting a lot of exposure to the language but nowadays with like right now you guys we could we could not do this 30 years ago but right now you guys are watching me from somewhere else in the world you're listening to me speak english you're writing to me in the chat those are using two language skills right there it's easy to get a lot of exposure to the language without having to go live in the us or live in the uk the real question would be then be um like somebody else had asked before about them and i i said motivation talking about moving from intermediate to advanced is having that motivation so if you are disciplined and motivated then you could take time surround yourself with the language as much as possible even from like your your own country and you're constantly listening to english reading in english the only other challenge that might be a little more difficult could be the the speaking part of it and maybe you're having trouble trying to find somebody to practice speaking um with but that would be the only other suggestion which actually could be a good segue i did want to tell you guys that there is still one week left if you would like to get a little more speaking practice you could still enroll in my speaking course which is called speak up it's all about helping you speak confidently clearly naturally enrollment is open enrollment is going to close i think on august 9th there's a link in the description i'll throw a link in the chat here as well um i thought it'd be a good segue somebody was talking about like to get more speaking practice it is an online class you can also use the code let me write this code speak 10 to get a 10 percent discount all right if you have any questions also email me interactive info at interactiveenglishvideos.com um but we do classes once a week for an hour long you're speaking with me and your other classmates there are weekly lesson previews pronunciation video lessons there's also a lot included i'll mention this a little bit later on but i thought it was a good segue into talking about that we're talking about practicing your speaking skills let's see we have some other questions gosh we're getting a lot sorry if i can't go through these as quickly as i would like simple guys said we should create an english niche for ourselves to improve our english skills yeah like i i don't know if your suggestion would be like an english niche like finding something a topic something you are as far as motivation is concerned to help continue your learning and do that i know that i i'm a big proponent of like um finding a topic focusing in on that which is again what we do in the speaking course we're just doing one topic a week learning some vocabulary related about it related to it talking about that topic and i do the same with some of those other video lessons i don't know for those of you who have followed the channel for a while and i haven't done them recently and i need to do another one because i always attach it to like some fundraising event but i would do like reading and we would i would choose a topic could be about education and we'd look at different articles related to education and i would just pick out words and highlight words and vocabulary and the idea that as we go through those articles typically we find the same words like that you again and again and again within like different articles about the same topic and that's a great way to build your vocabulary which is i know a long way a long explanation getting back to like finding like your niche um let's see uh scar this clarissa s is the is there a word called thrice or three times like twice um i think the short answer yes but it's not used i would tell you to use um uh just say three times thrice i think it's old english i feel like people might use it nowadays to kind of be funny or charming um but it's i think it's more old english and it's not something you're really gonna hear i would just say stick with three times you're not going to confuse people that way um so he says uh i'm on deep course i usually make more mistakes in writing how could i improve that what i would do when i would teach writing and i know it can be a little more challenging on your own would be to to kind of take keep a writing journal and it's like a journal of mistakes and what i would suggest is um you'd write a paragraph about a topic and then go back through your writing and try to self-correct and what i mean by that is instead of just reading and looking for all the different mistakes take one thing at a time like spelling and go through just look for spelling mistakes nothing else and see if you can find any and then go back to the beginning and then look for um well maybe like capitalization and punctuation and did you make any mistakes did you remember to capitalize all the the first letter of the first word of each new sentence go back look for mistakes with articles a and and the did you use them correctly and see if you can self-correct and find those mistakes and then make a chart and write how many mistakes you have for each one and then do the same thing for the next writing and then the next one and the next one and over time you should see kind of where you're making more mistakes and this is what i would do with my classes and it would show some learners that oh okay one student is making a lot of spelling mistakes so that's what they need to focus on to improve their writing this other student over here is making a lot of mistakes with subject-verb agreement um like uh i do he she doesn't and that's what they need to focus on so it's a good way to really try to self-correct but kind of understand what are some of your writing weaknesses at the same time um takayo asks should i not mix up pronunciations of words in american english and british english in one sentence does uh yeah i think i had mentioned before i i think in conversation i if you're pronouncing words using um british english american english i i don't think it really matters both are accepted both are okay i i'm not sure if you're having i don't think one there's nothing that's incorrect about it i i don't know if it would cause some kind of confusion um or somebody might notice that if you say especially in the same sentence if you i'm trying to think um okay i just recently had a lesson talking about that and i'll just give you an example with the word i i would say in the u.s advertisement in british english you would say advertisement same with in the us people would say tomatoes in the uk tomato so if you said something like i just saw an advertisement for tomatoes then maybe that might cause somebody to to kind of think about that for a second it's not wrong um if you're using if you're pronouncing them in the same sentence um but i would not say it's not incorrect or anything but somebody might notice it or or pick up on that and that it's a little unique um but i really don't think i would i don't want to to say that you you kind of need to choose one or the other and that's what you need to go for i think it's good to learn and understand that there are different pronunciations but among different varieties i'll give you an example it's very interesting because i'm traveling right now with my family and in that same lesson i talked about um aluminum in the u.s and aluminium in the rest of the world pretty much english-speaking world and we're in italy right now and they had asked they said um to my parents if they would like um an aluminium uh aluminium box to take it away to take some food to go my parents were very confused by this and i had to explain to him that um you know they thought it might have been uh you know the the italian english accent and i was saying no no no this is aluminium it's it's the same word it's just in british english um but i thought that was interesting because i had just done a lesson about that recently uh let's see here's an answer uh again um oh yeah you say if you start learning american english should you only keep learning american english no i don't think so i i think i personally i think it's great to get exposure to as many different english varieties as possible and i would even include like english as a second language i think it's good to learn like there you know there is a um a french english accent i think it's good for for other learners in other countries to kind of understand that to know to get exposure to that um i i just that's just my opinion but i think it's good uh sorry if i mispronounced names i'd have a deeper voice when spanking more confidently like you i really uh i really don't know i didn't know if you think i have a deep voice maybe um but uh possibly i feel like maybe people do relate the the tone or intonation as a confidence thing possibly a deeper voice maybe you would just need to speak more from your chest uh but i don't know if that's really necessary for for building your confidence i think if you're looking about uh talking about building your confidence when speaking i i think just it goes back to building your vocabulary having discussions and conversations before having getting that practice because when you have practice if you're talking about something like um i don't know even like climate change and that's a that can be a more specific topic but when you have that discussion with somebody else maybe a month passes by and you have another discussion another conversation about climate change you've already practiced it once before even though it's a different conversation you had that practice before and you're going to feel a little more confident when it comes to expressing your thoughts and opinions and ideas and that's where i say like i do think speaking practice it is important especially when it's related to confidence let's see not ask what is the difference between cut down and cut back so those are both phrasal verbs to cut down um i would say i would typically think people might often use it as a three-word phrasal verb like i i for me i need to cut down on chocolate and my my chocolate intake i think i eat too much i need to cut down on it like reduce the amount and that says like cut back i would say i need to cut back on yeah i think cut back has a similar meaning you would say like i need to cut back on this you need to reduce them out i also think like yeah to lessen would be to lessen something so i think in that context even the one i just gave you now that i'm thinking about it off the top of my head i could use them it has the same meaning i need to cut down on chocolate i need to cut back on chocolate same meaning like you need to consume less of it you need to reduce the amount so in that case you could use them interchangeably i can't think of any reason thing off the top of my head um that would be okay this is a completely two different context um if i do think of one um i'll i'll come back to this um annie asks can you give us a lesson about funny phrases in english i don't understand when i'm watching english sitcom so maybe i'll think about that as funny i'm not sure what phrases somebody might consider funny i did a lesson before about some strange idioms and i think that could count as like um funny phrases because they are a bit unusual for example like the idiom and i think most of the time probably you might be referring to idioms like somebody saying hold your horses and if you tell somebody hold your horses it just means to like you know wait a moment give me a moment hold your horses somebody's being impatient you tell them to hold your horses um all right let's go back i'm going to move back a little bit um and see if you guys oh gosh maybe i'm getting a little behind in the questions all right so sleep rs what's the difference between like not real versus not realistic so real and realistic i mean they are both um they're both adjectives but i would say that again real means to me like something really exists like if i'm talking about like um like ghost and you maybe don't believe in them and you would say ghosts are just they're not real like this thing just does not exist if you're talking about realistic i think realistic more it's not about whether something exists it's whether or not something is practical and maybe it can be done so in that case maybe you have some idea that you're going to do something and you tell me that you are i don't know going to swim across the the english channel like very something that is incredibly difficult to do and i would say well that's just not very realistic like it's not practical um so i wouldn't say it could it couldn't exist that it's not real because of course anybody could jump into the english channel try to swim across it whether they made it or not but you would say that well that idea is just not realistic so i think more if you're talking about realistic it's used in that sense about whether or not something is practical or not um let's see trying to think uh oh ola alej says would you do you can entirely make an entire video about academic writing how to do introduction development conclusions yeah i i thought about that i did um a lesson before um about academic writing and it proved to be pretty popular and i think a lot of people enjoyed it and it made me realize okay i should probably go back to that talk a little bit more about writing if let's see if you guys are looking for this um improve your academic writing if you haven't seen it i'll link it right there um somebody else was asking about like those funny phrases and i said i did like strange and weird idioms um i'll throw that in the chat as well so i think these could be considered some funny phrases let's see um what else do we have kind of moving backwards uh mike says instead i feel like you have a very clear voice um well thank you i appreciate it i'm glad i'm glad that again the lessons uh if you understand my uh my pronunciation the way i explain things that makes me well makes me feel happy first of all because yes i hope that the lessons are easy to follow and understand um as like a lot of the explanations um cristina says hi it's great to to be here great to have you here um out of the blue you've turned up on my screen it's the first live class well welcome christina i like the i like that expression too out of the blue uh if you're not familiar for those of you if you're not familiar with that phrase if something happens like out of the blue it's just like all of a sudden or suddenly um and it was like all of a sudden and it's also something that wasn't expected and it's like i just showed up out of the blue that it was not expected and then i'm here um so yanika asks what is the best way to learn idioms i i think again idioms are probably it's going to be something you're probably going to hear more in conversation because i think the issue with idioms is not so much learning the meaning but then like you mentioned to use them naturally and use them speaking because i think sometimes you learn the meaning but that does not mean that you can just substitute it and then use it just like that other like maybe like another word if you say something is similar so i think that's the that can be the real challenge about trying to use them in context and i think the best way to get used to that would just be more listening i think if you could find uh i did a lesson a while back talking about books um and one of the books that uh i mentioned was speak english like uh and speak english like an american that was the title of the book but the book was all about american idioms and the way they taught idioms was all in dialogue so they were kind of giving you that in writing that dialogue you could see how they're using the idiom in context and i thought that was very helpful for for trying to teach somebody idioms because you're actually able to see it in writing i think that really helps so i think again more practice we do do that i do do that do do in the speaking course we talk about some idioms and that's kind of one thing we practice using them in conversation in discussion and trying to get that speaking practice uh let's see um let's see what do we use expression what ripple effects felipe asks what is the like ripple effects so if you're talking about the the ripple effects it's another similarity i mean like kind of like the the side effects so you have like your cause and effect and like your the the main effect the ripple effects would be like what are some of the other things that happened because of this thing and you would say well it kind of just continued and then you have those ripple effects uh trying to think of a another context or example so it's like the the the continuing of like results based on some action and it has these ripple effects so maybe you do something and it affects somebody else but maybe it continues affecting other people and you could say those are some of the ripple effects let's see what else do we have uh i think are we still in milan yes i actually currently am still in milan at this very moment but we will be we will be leaving shortly which is sad it's not going to be a very long vacation um emanuela is such a flirt what is the opposite of flirt in this sentence um so if you say somebody is a flirt they're again it means they're flirtatious they're attracted to somebody they're trying to make some suggestions romantically to show that they're they like this person um i don't know like uh what would be the opposite if you say somebody is a flirt i would just think of like saying somebody's cold because if somebody's a flirt i think that's like they're friendly but they're overly friendly and maybe in like a little bit of romantic way but if somebody's cold yeah it means they're unfriendly and there's maybe nothing romantic about it um that would just be the word that that comes to my mind um let's see what else i'm gonna use how to use when all is said and done so i think this is a good example i had mentioned chunking before about learning a phrase when all is said and done you could think about that phrase and it has the same most the time you're going to use this to start a statement or a sentence and when all said and done it's basically means the same thing well when everything is finished or when everything is in order when all is said and done then we're going to do this so it's really just a phrase that um means like kind of starting out well when when we're finished doing things when everything's finished then we're going to move on to the next thing so maybe you might use it at work if you're having to do something and your boss says look when all is said and done then we're going to start immediately on the next project but first we have to finish this one when all said and done so again don't focus too much on those individual words but think about it as one phrase one chunk and that's a great way to then build your vocabulary let's see um do you elaborate do you recommend grammarly apps tools for correcting sentence construction uh yeah i think i think it can be useful um it just depends on how you use it if you want to try to i guess use it to understand some of your mistakes i think it might help um but i notice uh yeah i think those apps i i have not personally used grammarly i'm very well aware of it and i know what it can do i've heard other people say great things about it that they've it's really helped them especially if they're having to write in a more like professional setting situation and they don't want to make mistakes but i've even noticed on like emails like gmail when you're doing it it'll make some notations of some grammar mistakes and i've always thought that was decent as well so yeah i think it can be good for practicing writing something and then seeing what mistakes uh come up so i think yeah i i would recommend you know any any of those apps i don't know if it's something like you'd have to pay for or not so um just keep that in mind let's see i do i know it is getting a little a little late and i kind of did want to circle back again and just mention to you guys if you do want to practice your speaking if you want to get more speaking practice and work on you know developing your speaking fluency i'm getting ready to start the next course of speak up there's still one week left if you'd like to enroll um there's the little well my little ad for it right there i need to change that picture i've used it quite a bit but that is what the course is all about each week we talk about a different topic we're going to focus in on discussion about one topic we do a lot of different speaking activities we're going to build your vocabulary because we look at vocabulary that's related to the topic trying to use some of the words and phrases idioms use them in context correctly that's what it's all about so there's it's a weekly lesson each week this one is eight weeks long for more information please check out uh the speak up course page it's down below in the description i'll also link it right here in the chat and if you want to sign up you can use there's a voucher code which is speak 10 to get a 10 percent discount alright so check that out if you have um if you have any questions i'll write down questions email me at info at interactive english videos dot that is the email i spelled at because i don't know if it'll let me write the actual email in this chat i'm not sure so um check that out if you would like to join um i personally would like to join myself but i honestly don't have any credit cards for drawing yeah it is you would need to make an online payment so if you don't have any credit cards i know somebody else had the same issue as well and they contacted me and i can accept the payment through paypal as well if you have access to that but it would be an online payment yes um but otherwise i know you guys asked a lot of questions sorry if i did not get to some of your questions i'm going to do this again in the future i'll try to answer as many as possible what i would suggest is that please write the questions in the comments because that always it gives me ideas for future video lessons and i'll try to if it's if i can write a quick comment and answer the question i'll try to do that as well so if i didn't get to your question please write it down in the comments but i really appreciate um well felipe if you guys have any questions about the course you can write them now what subjects can we chat in the course so the the the topics are predetermined like they think the first week the topic we're talking about food another week um the next week we're talking about being descriptive using the vocabulary that you already know and building vocabulary that's kind of what the topic there's another like a guided speaking practice we do talking about relationships work is one of the topic so some of the topics are a little broad but again i think that's okay because these are topics that come up in everyday conversation and we will focus in on vocabulary um takayo great to see you takayah takayo is a student at uh speak up thank you thank you sleepwalker give some shout outs rosa linda thank you guys for joining me joe brown maggie um great to see you if you feel like your writing is stagnant again just keep keep practicing try to find some active writing activities i know that can be a little challenging it'd be like you're giving yourself homework but i think it can help if you kind of want to jump start things and get things going um let's see all right so thank you uh rahel good to see you guys hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will i'll see you next week i'll be back for another lesson kareem loli um all right i'm going to get going and i will see you next time --- ## 214. Athletic Words about Sports & the Olympics that You Need to Know ๐Ÿ… | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Ug4FOM6LWYk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug4FOM6LWYk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:45:37 | --- all right hello what is up guys welcome to another awesome lesson because today I have a lesson for you that is very relevant to what's happening now because we're going to talk about the Olympics the Winter Olympics in Korea have been going on for about two weeks now and I believe they end tomorrow so what I wanted to do was talk to you about some important words that we use when we're discussing the Olympics that we always use when the Olympics come up every two years so please please please in the comments let me know let me know where you're joining us from we love it when you guys participate and get involved in these lessons so in the comments write your name and tell me where you're from because when we're talking about the Olympics it's something it's an event that includes so many countries from all over the world people from all over the world just like you so please write to us in the comments let me know your name and where you're from now today we are going to talk about Olympic vocabulary and not just vocabulary that is for the Winter Olympics but any Olympics vocabulary that words that you would hear if we're talking about the Summer Olympics the Winter Olympics and and this is good to know because every two years the Olympics come up and many of us watch it and it's good to be able to have conversation we hear these words when we're listening to the TV we read about these words when we're reading articles online about the Olympics so these are some very useful vocabulary words that you can use now for the rest of your life because you will always hear these you always hear these words especially every two years when the Olympics come around so again please in the comments let me know where you're joining us from if I don't see everybody I'm sorry Michael Billy draw Marco thanks for joining us glad to have you guys with us today so today I'm gonna give you these words I'm gonna tell you the part of speech I'm gonna give you the pronunciation of the word as well as the meaning and and then we'll talk about it a little bit more and I might have some questions for you guys as well that I want you to write the answers and practice using these words in the comments so let's just jump right into it the first word that I want to talk to you about is this one right here and that is anthem so this is a noun it's two syllables and the stress is on that first syllable and thumb anthem and an anthem is is just a song but it's a song that is identified by a group or nation mostly especially when we're talking about the Olympics you always hear something as the national anthem each country would have a national anthem it is your country's song and you hear the national anthem at sporting events definitely like the Olympics you might hear them in school when you went to school they might play the national anthem so please in the chat in the comments let me know what is your country's national anthem tell us the name it's always great to learn about other countries and other places for example in the United States which is where I am from the national anthem is called the star-spangled banner' I am NOT going to sing it for you because I am a horrible singer but that is the name of our national anthem in the United States the star-spangled banner and you hear this especially at sporting events if you go to baseball or basketball games they always play the national anthem before it begins and I tried to find as many different flags down there to represent the different countries I apologize if your flag is not on there that was the best image I could find that that showed a lot of different countries on there so again an anthem is it is the uplifting song and I want you to tell me what is your country's national anthem the next word that I have for you and these words are just in alphabetical order they're not in order of importance the next word is this one amateur which I just realize em comes before n so this word is not in alphabetical order but an amateur is a person who does an activity for pleasure and not as a professional this is a noun because we're talking about a person it's three syllables and the stress again is on that first syllable and that second syllable has that schwa sound that I am sure amateur the other thing I will say about the pronunciation of this word is most Americans would say it like this most Americans like me would say sure they don't pronounce that T in there and mature some I think maybe more in British English you might hear the the T amateur that is also another pronunciation for this word both are acceptable so again an amateur is somebody who does an activity for pleasure and not as a professional so for example in the winter skiing is always a popular activity and you might say these people are skiing for fun and they are just amateurs now the one thing I would say about this is that when I think of the word amateur I think about somebody who is trying to become a professional the people in the Olympics they are all professionals they are not amateurs but amateurs are usually they're still very talented at an activity and I think they're they're trying to become professionals so it's not like I have never been surfing before and it's not like I would surf for one time and then say oh yeah yeah I'm an amateur no I I would be horrible it's because I've never done it but so an amateur is somebody who's not a professional they just do it for fun but I also think maybe they're trying they would like to become a professional maybe one day in the future now when we're talking about sports this next word is very popular it's very common and it's something that happens in the Olympics and it's often discussed and that is if somebody is banned so it can be used as either a verb the Olympics the the Olympic Committee banned the athletes it could also be used as an adjective to say that someone is banned and this means that they are prohibited or they the people forbid this person to take place in the competition they cannot participate in the competition they cannot be a part of the competition because they have been banned now the reason that somebody might become banned from an activity is because they were doping and this is again a little more controversial when we talk about sports in general as well as the Olympics so doping is a noun two syllables that stress is on the first syllable doping and it became very popular in the news because of that guy down there who is Lance Armstrong who was caught doping and then it really got a lot of attention and this is something that also happens in the Olympics as well and it is using drugs to increase performance and that's why a lot of these games like the Olympics they will test people they will give them drug tests because they want to make sure that they are not doping and that they are not using drugs so that they can perform better and they can do better at their athletic competition so if somebody is doping they shouldn't because then they might get banned from the sport so you don't want to be banned so people shouldn't be doping another word when a very common word that I think we all many of us know when you think about the Olympics is this one right here and it is a medal now it's a noun it's two syllables metal and a metal is like that picture right down there it's a reward it is a piece of metal given to honor a person action or event now when I was putting this together I thought it would be useful to talk about the pronunciation because the word metal meed al it sounds very similar in American English to metal M et al so a metal is a piece of metal and you might be listening to me and being like wait wait what are you what are you talking about they sound you're saying the same word and yes they they would be homonyms because in American English this is definitely in American English when the T sound is in the middle of a two syllable word they might call it though they would call it the flap T and that flap T sound is more like a D sound so M et al the T sound is in the middle and it sounds like metal in American English another example would be water wate are again if I say it because I'm from the United States and I speak with an American accent I would just say water it sounds like that D sound so that is a little bit of a pronunciation a little bit of a pronunciation explanation for you between these but a metal again is something that people win and the people that we in metals during the Olympics our participants and a participant it is a person and it's a noun and it is four syllables participant and the stress is going to be on that second syllable participant participant if you guys want if you're at home I think it always helps when I say the words repeat after me all right it's a good way to imitate the accent and practice your pronunciation participant and a participant as you can see right here is a person that takes place in something so the people that are the athletes that are taking part in the Olympics they are participants so it's it's for any athletic competition so these people right here they are running a marathon and they are all participants because they are taking place they are taking part of this race they are participants now my question for you is have you been a participant in some event or athletic competition or an activity I think most of us have been participants so I want to hear from you guys so in the comments let me know what what are some what what have you been a participant in what have you done and you're like okay yeah I'm participating I want to participate in this activity or in this sport now when we're talking about the Olympics another word that you may you probably see this at the Olympics but maybe you're like I did not know what this was and it is this word right here which is a podium and a podium it is a noun and it's three syllables the stress is on that first syllable po podium podium podium and this is a platform for people to receive their met and this happens at the end of the Olympic competitions they would have a podium and the people that finished first second and third will get up on the podium like this little picture down there so now that when I was putting this lesson together I was thinking about have I ever been on a podium and the answer to that I can say unfortunately is no I have never stood on a podium and I think this is definitely something that you see in the Olympics because they would have a podium but when you're just doing other competitions especially team sports sometimes many times they won't just have a podium they'll give out medals or they'll have some ceremony but there might not be a podium but yeah I've never I've done many athletic competitions but I've never been on one I've never done one with a podium where somebody was up on a podium another Olympic word another great Olympic word that I have for you is this one right here preliminaries and it is a noun it's a longer word it has five syllables preliminary preliminary preliminary the stresses on that second syllable but it's not that it's not a very strong emphasis preliminary and this is a contest to determine the finalists of a competition so if you guys have been watching the Olympics I don't have you been watching the Olympics I've been I've been watching it a little bit but not a lot I've been getting updates about it but you have different competitions and you don't just have one competition you'd have one competition and these are the preliminaries and the winners of those races or competitions they go on to the next one and they keep doing that until they have the final competition and that is when they determine who gets first second or third place so the events that lead up to the final one we would say those are the preliminaries you would also could use it as an adjective if you're talking about the preliminary round so for example like in the World Cup they have the preliminary rounds and then you have the tournament so again it could be used as an adjective to describe like around preliminary round but most of the time we could refer to it as the preliminaries and it's a noun and these are the competitions now with each Olympics you have all of those athletes country athletes from all over the world and we could say that those athletes are representatives representatives it is a noun and this is a person who represents a country a person who represents the the country and the Olympic competition it has five syllables and the stress is on that third syllable that Zen that s has it more of a Z sound representative representative representative and again every every time the Olympics is held the athletes are representatives of that country now I think it's also important when we're talking about representatives you in the Olympics the athletes are representatives of the country but you could have a representative of just about anything somebody who represents something else so you could have a representative for a company you could have a representative for a school so it's somebody that represents this business this group and in the case of the Olympics it is the people the athletes that represent the the countries in competition another word that I have for you another Olympic word which is also relevant to many many sports that people would play or they would watch would be spectator and a spectator is a person so it's a noun it has three syllables and the stress is on the first syllable spec teh - spectator and these are people that watch these athletic competitions so if you have ever gone to a basketball game or you went to a soccer match a football match any type of athletic competition if you were watching then you were a spectator of that competition so for example the people that are watching they are spectators they are not participants in the competition they are watching and they are spectators so I want to know tell me in the comments what what sport do you like to watch you can tell me use it in a sentence I am a spectator of what which sport what's what's your favorite sport what are some sports that you guys like to watch I am a spectator of for me I'm a spectator of football I'm also a spectator of basketball I enjoy watching basketball some of you guys sharing with us hello if you guys are joining us we're talking about Olympic vocabulary so hello Patricia Michael Amano Ciro James great to have you guys so a spectator again is a person that watches an athletic competition another word when we talk about sports and athletics would be sponsor so this is a noun two syllables and the stress is on the first syllable sponsor and a sponsor many times after the Olympics these athletes can they're very well known they can become famous and then a company will sponsor the athlete they will say hey we will be your sponsor we are going to pay you money to promote our products so I tried to give that find the picture down there of maybe this this this this woman down there she is a athlete in the Olympics and she wins a medal and then coca-cola asked her say hey we want to be your sponsor we will be your sponsor we will pay you to drink coke and this is something that I think you see a lot after the Olympics Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics right afterwards you see some of these athletes in commercials you see them promoting different products because they have a sponsor for that product another great great word when we're talking about the Olympics and sports and competition is sportsmanship and this is a noun that's three syllables the stress is on the first syllable sportsmanship sportsmanship and whenever you play a sport that you would hope that everybody has there is always sportsmanship that there is fairness there is honesty when you are having these different competitions sportsmanship and a lot of times people will show their sportsmanship by shaking hands after the competition because it was a good competition and you know it was fair and somebody wins somebody loses but it's always good to show sportsmanship another great word when we talk about the Olympics is standings now when you think of standings this is something that is relevant to all pretty much all sports because it is the ranking of teams or individuals in a order in the order of ability or achievement so basically the standings tell us at this moment at this time who is first second third fourth fifth those are the standings and as the competition goes on maybe the standings will change but when you talk about the list of teams or individuals when they put them in order those those are standings you would say oh what are the standings so I have a question for you and I don't know how much you have been watching these Winter Olympics but I want you to tell me which country is leading the Winter Olympics if you look at the standings right now which country has the most medals in the Olympics I want you to write that in the write that in the comments I want to see how how much how much you guys have been paying attention to these Olympics another Olympic word that you would hear at the beginning of the Olympics is this one right here and that is a torch so before the Olympics they always light the Olympic flame and that's basically what starts the Olympics the Winter Olympics as well as the Summer Olympics and they have this relay race where people are carrying the torch and they get there and then they light the Olympic flame and the Olympics begins so a torch is just a simply put it's right there it's a large flame on a stick so when you're talking about a torch you're talking in the Olympics you're talking about a stick with a with a flame on top of it now a torch can also be used to talk about like a flashlight some people might refer to a flashlight as a torch that is also a torch but when we're talking about Olympic vocabulary this is what people would refer to when they're talking about a torch another word is this is a good word when again talking about the Olympics or any kind of sports is venue it is a noun it's two syllables and the stress is on the first syllable then you Venu Venu and this is the place where an event is held now when we're talking about a venue you could be you could say something like oh you know well what's the venue for the Winter Olympics well the venue is South Korea maybe you're referring to a country I think most the time people are referring to a more specific place because they're talking about an actual event that is happening so they're talking about a certain competition they may say well where is the venue and the venue might be in a stadium you're going to have the competition in a stadium this is the venue or maybe the venue is on a field and you are going to have the competition on a field and this is the venue but a venue is just again it is the place where the event is held so I am going to review those words with you guys one more time quickly for those of you who are just joining us or joining us a little later yes yes yes I see your comment yes you guys are right about those standings Norway is leading right now they have the most they have the most medals in the Olympic competition right now so let's review these words quickly and these are words that you hear with the Olympics whether you're talking about the Winter Olympics or the Summer Olympics and they they're also very relevant to sports in general so we talked about this word right here and anthem I asked you guys about your country's national anthem which is the song the uplifting song of a country if we if somebody is does a sport for an activity for pleasure or maybe they want to become professional in the future future we would say that they are amateurs they are amateur athletes and if somebody is prohibited from participating in a sport or activity you would be banned that person is banned they to prohibit or forbid somebody from participating and maybe they were banned I told you because they were doing what do you remember they were doping maybe so if somebody's doping and they're using drugs to enhance their performance then they might get banned from participating in the activity and when we think of the Olympics very common thing we just talked about were medals that you win medals for your country and these are pieces of metal usually you'd have either gold or silver or bronze and they're given to somebody to honor their participation for winning an event or a competition the people that take part in something in these competitions they are participants and I asked you guys if you have ever been a participant of an activity last year I did a marathon and I was a participant we also have a podium which in the Olympics is a platform where people can get their medals podiums and the competitions that lead to the final competition those are preliminaries they are their contest to determine the finalists of a competition I told you that athletes in the Olympics they are representatives of their country they represent their country but again representative you could have a representative of a government a representative of accompanying a representative of school there are many types of representatives the people that watch the sport competitions they are spectators and I had asked you guys about which sport are you a spectator of I am a spectator of basketball and American football and who many of you might be like what American football but yes I am a spectator I like watching those competitions and also the people that are the best athletes in the world they usually have a sponsor some company pays this person to promote their products so the most famous athletes in the world LeBron James Cristiano Ronaldo they all have a sponsor they have companies paying them a lot of money to promote their products so this is something that we see all the time in in in our countries no matter which country you're in because most countries have certain sports that they play and they have athletes that are really good and they have a sponsor and when we're playing these sports we should always be fair and we should have good sportsmanship and after the competition has ended doesn't matter if you won it doesn't matter if you lost you should show good sportsmanship and usually congratulate the other person shake hands and then you know just try to try to just move on with your life I don't know but have good sportsmanship I had asked you about who is who has the most medals in this Olympics and most of you all of you said Norway does because in the standings right now it is the ranking of teams but in this case with a ranking of countries in the order of their achievement in the order of who has won the most medals and right now yes Norway is winning the Winter Olympics they have the most medals they are number one in the standings at the beginning of Olympics they light the Olympic flame using a torch which is a flame on a stick and then I told you that depending on the event it has a venue it is a place where an event is held so if you're talking about sports the venue might be a stadium the venue might be a field the venue might be a gym but you you could also use this talking about any any event so for example like a concert if there's going to be a music performance somewhere you might ask somebody be like huh where's the venue where is this event taking place and then somebody could tell you the you where is the venue so I hope that you learn some new words today again these are great words when you're talking about sports and the Olympics especially the Olympics doesn't matter if it's the Summer Olympics or the Winter Olympics you can always use these words and I thank you thank you thank you guys so much for joining me today thank you Rosa James Franco Khalid jr. thank you guys for being here please please please if you enjoyed this lesson like and share it and I want to hear from you guys all as always you know write to us in the comments I want to know which is your favorite Olympics do you like the Summer Olympics or do you like the Winter Olympics and why which do you prefer or maybe you don't like the Olympics that's okay to write to us in the comments let us know we love hearing from you guys and as always try to join our social media classes right down there we are active on all of those sites it's a great way to practice and improve your English skills so thank you Cesar Luis long Ronin sama thank you guys so much for joining us please hit that like button if you enjoyed this lesson and I will see you guys next time have a great day --- ## 215. Avoid Saying "I disagree." | Use these phrases to build your vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `yBV3La0cNiM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBV3La0cNiM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:50:35 | --- hey how's it going you know I'm doing pretty well how are you not bad you know it's a beautiful day out I'm thinking about going for a walk it's always good to get outside right I disagree okay you know not an outdoors person I understand but what are you going to do for lunch I'm thinking Pizza everyone loves pizza I disagree huh how about uh music music is good yeah but I I Just Disagree look I I understand understand that you don't like any of those things but you you should try to add a little flavor to your vocabulary and learn different ways to disagree with someone I disagree oh my God okay I am going to help you so let's learn some common and useful ways to disagree with someone and these are phrases that you can use in everyday conversation but I think the one thing that we can all agree on is that you should subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so one thing that you can say when you want to disagree is I beg to differ and this is a polite way to disagree so let's say that you don't know someone you don't want to seem too aggressive and say oh no I I disagree with you so this is a great phrase that you can use I beg to differ you were a colossal ass hat oh no I beg to differ oh the three of us I was by far the most supportive I got to be honest with you there's nothing here too spectacular oh I beg the diffa my father took great pride in his appearance he doesn't buy happiness I beg to differ who bring me the Wall Street Journal to fight to the death now I have had people ask me if it's okay to say I beg to disagree and it's just not as common used we can check out engram viewer which allows us to see how frequently different words and phrases are used and as you can see it's much more common to just say I beg to differ now if you were to tell me that improving your speaking skills is not that important I would say I beg to differ I think it's very important that you practice and improve your speaking skills and if that's the way you feel you should check out my speaking course click on the link down Below in the description the course is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn vocabulary related to that topic we warm up each lesson with pronunciation or connected speech we do a variety of engaging speaking activities and I'll teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases so check out that link down below if you'd like to to sign up or learn more about the course and I just hope to speak to you soon let's continue with more useful ways to say I disagree and another polite and more friendly way to tell someone this is just to say I don't see it that way or that's not the way I see it you are letting this person know that you disagree and just see things differently again it's polite it's not rude and you can say this to anyone so I I always tell you that you should hit the like button and I hope that you agree and go ahead and do that but let let's say that you disagree you can tell me that's not the way I see it and I would say that's okay I'm still going to help you build your vocabulary and give you some more examples using these phrases which makes you the biggest liar of History see it that way but I hear the chatter people saying there's something wrong with us not the way I see it grow me up why because everybody else is that's not the way I see it you could also say I have a different perspective or I have a different point of view in this case perspective and point of view they're really synonyms you're talking about the way that you view something this is another way to politely tell someone that you disagree and have a different opinion and personally I think these are great phrases if you're having a debate or a discussion with a friend a colleague a family member because you're you want to respect someone else's opinion while at the same time Express disagreement let's think of a topic so I can give you some examples uh like climate change if one person says we need to have many more regulations to address climate change a person might say well I have a different point of view or if someone says well we can't have too many regulations because it's going to hurt economic growth and another person responds well I have a different perspective so these are great phrases to use in that context to express disagreement now on the flip side if someone you know makes a comment like this pizza is the best you're not really going to use one of these phrases you're not really going to say well I have a different perspective it's going to sound out of place in that context so think about using these phrases with more meaningful discussions when you're talking about the way you view some topic the second sons are foreign soldiers brought here by a foreign Queen to destroy our city and our history I understand I have a different perspective of course you like him cuz he was the good guy me I got a different perspective I think I'm making a jumpsuit okay I have a different point of view I represent someone who's been living a regular everyday mom life and I have looked at this thing like 100 different ways from my point of view from their point of view 98 others and no bottom line I'm in the wrong then we have with all due respect this is a very polite and formal way to disagree with someone and often you would use this when disagreeing with a person of authority and if you watch law shows I'm sure that you have heard this phrase the judge is a person of authority and if someone disagrees with the judge they may say you with all due respect we ask you to enforce the subpoena with all due respect your honor Chloe Decker is not on trial uh all due respect your honor but the witness is not just one small element of the state's C but you could also use this in business if you want to disagree with your boss or even with family members in-laws you disagree you want to be a little more polite maybe a little more formal you could say with all due respect and then tell them what it is that you disagree with he's in position for the drop pull him out now all doe respect my team specializes in these situations with all due respect since you don't speak for all of us we should put it to a vote and then see where we stand Sir with all due respect the first thing that you taught me when you came to the 99 is that we're a team I see your point but that's a good point but where I see where you're coming from but and notice how I'm emphasizing the word but because there are different ways that you can introduce this phrase and really you're acknowledging what someone says and then using the word but to express disagreement it's polite it's not too confrontational and you don't have to say but I disagree you can say but and then give your counter argument so maybe you tell me that you don't think it's very important to learn the different phrases I might say I understand where you're coming from but learning these different phrases will help you improve your speaking fluency by allowing you to be more accurate in certain situations I see your point but I I kind of value the sleeping pill that's a good point but no you're getting Dr no like I can't go I'm super hung over right now you could also say I don't think that's quite right this is a great way to disagree with someone because you think what they're saying is wrong or incorrect however it's not necessarily rude so here are some incorrect things that someone might say and you can respond with this phrase I think the Earth is flat I don't think that's quite right or American English and British English are exactly the same I don't think that's quite right and then this is what I look like when I take my shirt off and you could say with all due respect I don't think that's quite right and you are absolutely right that this is not what my stomach looks like honey we invented lacrosse I don't think that's right every single snowflake is exactly alike I don't think that's right no it's true just like fingerprints NBC News has the problem Oh I don't think that's right and then if you want to get a little more aggressive you could say I'd say the exact opposite or it's the exact opposite so now we're starting to get a little more confrontational because not only are you telling someone that you disagree you're saying the opposite is true and this is a common collocation with the word opposite the exact opposite so in this case you are certainly letting someone know that you disagree don't think I'm hot enough to go out with a guy like Glenn no no I'm saying exactly the opposite it's a malfunction a bug it's exactly to the opposite don't escalate rules are meant to be broken it's the exact opposite of what they're meant for put animal on my picturing a horse o the exact opposite actually what was the opposite of a horse seahorse I completely disagree so this again is a little more confrontational because we're just taking our original phrase and we're emphasizing our disagreement using an adverb and there are some common adverb verb col ations you can tell someone I absolutely disagree or I totally disagree or I strongly disagree or I vehemently disagree and vehemently is a great adverb that just means in a strong and emotional way now there are many others but these are some common cations whenever you want to emphasize just how much you disagree everything is a fight I completely disagree you had it popping tonight I totally disagree I didn't know what Anna was trying to say with this look I completely disagree she said vehemently that's a big word so I have to believe her now for a little review and if you think that review is not important well I beg to differ because this is what's going to really help you build your vocabulary and perhaps you believe that you're not going to remember all of these different phrases and in that case with all due respect I see your point but using two in a row but the more you get exposure to these phases the more you practice using them and come back and watch this lesson again you're going to make these phrases a part of your active memory because you you don't just learn vocabulary one time and then you're done it's the exact opposite you need to review new words and phrases multiple times in order to make it stick now I would recommend that you continue building your vocabulary by watching another video Lesson and if you are not going to do that well I vehemently disagree okay I'm just kidding you can do whatever you want but in all seriousness I hope you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new and if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 216. Avoid Saying ...UM...ER...UH ๐Ÿšซ #interactiveenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xkqtBMN6dMA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkqtBMN6dMA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:00:34 | --- guys I think it's important that you try to avoid using some of those nasty filler words like uh um now these utterances are natural when you're having a conversation but you don't want to use them too much and maybe try to minimize their use so instead of using those Crush words and try to buy yourself a little more time to come up with that word or sentence you could say how can I say this or just tell someone directly I need a moment to think about this or you could even just go ahead and introduce your thought by saying and what I was going to say is and then if you just can't think of that word or phrase you could tell someone I'm drawing a blank or you could say oh it's it's on the tip of my tongue and if you completely forgot whatever it is that you were talking about just let them know yeah I I just lost my train of thought and what was it that I was teaching you --- ## 217. Awesome Listening & Speaking Practice | Transportation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `r13bhCmpZoM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r13bhCmpZoM) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:53:16 | --- Hi there and welcome! Today we're going to do your favorite speaking practice: describing nouns Today's topic is transportation and this is a listening and speaking activity. These nouns are at a beginner-high beginner level. However, we encourage learners of all ages to participate because it's a great way opportunity to listen, speak, and to practice your fluency. In this activity, Wes will describe six different nouns to you. Each of these nouns is on the topic of transportation. You have ten seconds to say the answer. Please speak up, and say the answer out loud. Don't be shy, this is how you improve your speaking! Before we begin, let's see an example: Wes will describe a word to me, and I will guess the answer. Here's the word: Are you ready? Ready! This is a very popular form of transportation. A lot of people have this, they use it to drive, You see these on the road. Ioana, you have one: It's a 2001 Toyota Camry. I think you're describing a car! Good job, you got it! Ok, so now that you know how the activity works, let's begin. Wes will choose a noun and describe it to you. You will try to guess that noun. Remember to speak up and say your answers loud and proud. After we finish all six words, I will go over the answers with you. Ready? Let's get the clock going! This is transportation that people use to fly. When you go to the airport, you get on one of these, There are many people that travel, you fly through the air. This is a type of car used for public transportation. They're very popular in cities. These cars are usually yellow and they'll take you wherever you want to go - for a price. If you're in a building and you don't want to take the stairs, you might use this to go to the second, or third, or fourth floor You get on with other people, you push the button To get to this transportation you get down under the ground It's an underground train. And it picks people up and then it takes people to different parts of the city. This is something you can go very fast in, it only has two wheels It's kind of like a bicycle but much, much faster. It makes a sound like vroom, vroom, vroom. It's like a motorized bicycle. It's called a ________. This is something you see in a city or a town. It's a very very big vehicle. You go to a certain stop, and you wait, and you get on it and you can take it to different places People get on and off... So how did it go? I hope you were able to give an answer for all of those. If you would like to do the activity again before I tell you the answers, you can stop the video and go back to the beginning of the activity. Before I reveal the answers to you, I will replay some of the key words that Wes used to describe those nouns. So here are the answers: you go to the airport, you get on one of these When you go to the airport, you see a lot of planes. Plane is the answer. They're very popular in cities, these cars are usually yellow A yellow car used for transportation is a taxi. You might use this to go to the second, or third, or fourth floor The answer is elevator. You go down under the ground, it's an underground train. An underground train is a subway or metro. That's the answer. It's like a motorized bicycle. The answer is a motorcycle. It's a very very big vehicle, and you get on it, and you can take it to different places. The answer we're looking for is a bus. great job everyone! Now, it's your turn. I'll show you two nouns and you will need to describe them to Wes. Wes will then try to guess the words you are describing. Make sure to speak out loud and try to use complete sentences. Be creative, and try to describe the words using the vocabulary that you already know. Ready? Here's your first word: You're describing a train. Ready for the second word? Here it is: Are you describing a boat? Great work! We hope you enjoyed this activity! Let us know what you think. Please give us your feedback in the comments below. See you next time! --- ## 218. BEACH or BITCH? | How to Pronounce These Words Correctly | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NGRdOZexP3I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGRdOZexP3I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:28:30 | --- today I'm gonna teach you how to correctly pronounce these two words right here Beach and [ย __ย ] that's coming up hey man what's up good to see you I haven't seen you know what I'd give you a hug but you know the whole social distancing thing right you know yeah I want to be careful I don't know where you've been so what do you been up to well honestly I've mostly been at the [ย __ย ] wait are you are you talking about the beach yeah I've just been laying out on the [ย __ย ] and you know what I'm thinking about laying out on a different [ย __ย ] tomorrow yeah that's not really social distancing if you're around many different people no I just want to get some Sun that's the only reason I go to the [ย __ย ] okay you're talking about the beach yeah man that's what I said the [ย __ย ] no no that long e sound yeah beach beach beach [ย __ย ] [ย __ย ] [ย __ย ] [ย __ย ] the [ย __ย ] okay try smiling when you say a beach whoa yeah what the hell is wrong with you you try smiling you son of a beach that's it you you just said it but then you you still said the wrong word I'm done with you okay yeah nice talking to you too have fun at the beach hey everyone my name is Wes this is Interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I have a pronunciation lesson for you because I'm going to teach you how to correctly pronounce these two words now you're probably thinking why did you choose these two words why are Beach and [ย __ย ] so important well the first reason is that this is a minimal pair and if you don't know what a minimal pair is this is when you have two words and the only thing different about their pronunciation is just one single sound so in this case the difference is that long e sound that e and the short I sound that and there are many other different minimal pairs with that long e and short I sound so it's good to practice that it's going to help your listening comprehension and it will also help you improve your speaking skills the reason I chose these two words specifically is because I have had learners tell me that they try to avoid use the word Beach because they're worried that it's going to sound like [ย __ย ] and these two words are very different the beach is a place that you will go and you will visit there's lots of sand the ocean and you would maybe go relax at the beach the word [ย __ย ] it is also a noun it is a a derogatory term it's it's something just mean and nasty that you would say to someone else when well you just don't want to be nice to them and you would call them this name and yeah people could get very offended by this word so I understand why you would not want to confuse these two words but at the same time I really don't think you should try to avoid saying certain words especially words that I think are pretty common like the word Beach because people use this quite often if they're maybe they're planning a vacation and they're going to the beach or they're talking about their weekend plans and they're gonna go to the beach with their friends so this is not a word that you should try to avoid because you're worried about mispronouncing it so that's why today I want to practice this I want to make sure that you are able to listen for the difference in these sounds and be able to identify them and then practice actually speaking and saying different words and sentences so that you can build up a little more confidence and the next time you are having a conversation about your weekend plans you are just going to say that hey you know you're going to the beach you're gonna have a great time at the beach and you are not ashamed to say that you are going to the beach first let's begin with the long e sound and I want to tell you how you make this sound and how you form this in your mouth and I'm gonna tell you well there's five I have different little tips for you to keep in mind in order to make this sound and pronounce it correctly the first thing that you need to know is that your mouth is going to be slightly open your teeth are not going to touch but your mouth will be slightly open the tip of your tongue is going to be just behind your bottom teeth and the middle of your tongue think of it like the body of your tongue is going to be arched up close to the roof of your mouth now when you're making a vowel sound this sound the long e your tongue is actually going to be at the highest position for a vowel sound and whenever whatever vowel sound you're making this sound is when your tongue will be at the highest position and now you are going to drop your jaw you're going to drop your jaw just like you're going to smile so all I want you to do right now is just smile and often people smile when they're having their picture taken and in English it's very common to tell people to say cheese so I want you to pretend lower alright I'm gonna take your picture right now and I just want you to say cheese cheese that is the long e sound that we're making right now when you think of that long e think of it you are you are actively trying to to smile you are having to do something you're having to smile and you could say cheese you could also say P anything it doesn't really matter as long as it ends with that long e sound then you are going to create that smile and and your mouth is going to form that position say say cheese like like I'm taking a picture cheese cheese cheese cheese she is she jeez I did it let's go celebrate let's go to the [ย __ย ] we'll keep at it we'll keep at it now when you're making that short I sound at first I just want you to relax alright relax your mouth a little bit relax your jaw relax your lips just take a deep breath and relax the position of your tongue in the mouth it's going to be this just about the same as that long e sound and that's why I think these two sounds can be confusing because the tip of your tongue will also be behind your bottom teeth the tongue is also going to be arched up toward the roof of your mouth but not as high as that long e sound so your tongue is going to have a very similar position but the key word here is just relaxed and the reason I say that is because this is an unstressed vowel sound so let's practice with a few words that have that short I sound I'm just going to say the word and I want you to repeat after me ready gift mix six big all of those words have that short I sound and I hope that just listening to me say these different words that you can hear the difference between the long e and the short I sound so let's practice the long e and short I with several different words and sentences and again I want you to repeat after me say this out loud that is going to help you practice your speaking skills and improve your pronunciation we're going to start with the long e and then go into that short I sound and the reason that we're doing this is because I think it will be easier for you to listen to and identify the difference between these two sounds it's also going to be easier for you when you are making these sounds to go from that active smile to just that relaxing short I sound that active long e sound with a smile and then relaxing into the short I sound are you ready we're going to begin with this minimal pair right here sheep and ship first let's let's practice saying together sheep that long e sound you can smile sheep and that relaxed short I ship ship right now I just want you to try to identify each sound so I'm going to say one of these words and I want you to point to the word that you hear and and then I'll tell you the answer are you ready sheep sheep ship sheep okay I hope that was pretty easy now let's make it a little more challenging with a sentence and this time we're going to use the minimal pair piece piss so the sentence we're going to use is I'm taking a piece and I'm taking a piss all right these these sentences have very different meanings so you would not want to confuse these I'm taking a piece think of it like you're excited you're happy you're smiling that you're getting something and then when you're you're taking a piss I think most of the time people like to relax when they pee so I think this sentence also it makes a lot of sense if you're saying oh you know you're relaxed I'm taking a piss okay so let's practice these a little bit together I want you to repeat after me and again if it helps you can smile for that long II I'm taking a piece I'm taking a piece and now relax with that short I sound I'm taking a piss I'm taking a piss okay again I'm going to say one of these sentences I just want you to point to it and then I'll show you the answer are you ready I'm taking a piss all right I'm taking a piece I'm taking a piss all right that last one I was trying to confuse you a little bit by smiling when I said this I I guess somebody might be very happy that they're taking a piss especially if they've had to go for a while but again I hope you were able to identify the sound that I was whether it was the long e or the short I sound I need to take a piece o a piece of chocolate sure I got this Milka I'll sure know I need to take a piece I'm offering you a toilet that's what I need I need to take a piece oh I see you you need to take a piss oh okay toilets over there now let's go back to the original words from this lesson Beach and [ย __ย ] and we're going to practice these and we're going to move into this slowly with several different minimal pairs and again we're gonna practice I want you to say these sentences out loud and actually practice your pronunciation let's begin with these two words right here beat and bit I chose these two because they begin with that B that bus sound B and bit when we practice these I'm going to say some sentences and I again I want you to say them out loud and repeat after me to practice your pronunciation but also keep in mind think about that long e sound that smile remember that if that helps you and that short I sound just relax so a beat like the the the plant the food that people can eat and you could say I just want a little beat I just want a little beat or somebody might be talking about how much of something they want I just want a little bit I just want a little bit now let's look at these two words right here each and H I chose these because they end with that that CH that chew sound each that smile and itch relax so here are the sentences repeat after me I got to each one I got to each one and the short I I got to each one like you're itching something I got to each one all right now let's let's put it together and look at the two main words from this lesson Beach and [ย __ย ] and let's just practice saying them individually so I want you to repeat after me Beach that smile beach and then the relax [ย __ย ] [ย __ย ] Beach [ย __ย ] okay so we're going to practice with some sentences using the word beach and we're only going to use that long e sound because I think that this is the word that most of you want to use when you're having a conversation and you're not trying to say the word [ย __ย ] at least I hope that you're not trying to practice and use this word because it's not a nice thing to tell somebody so let's look at some sentences and again I want you to repeat after me and if it helps you think about that smile when you say that long e sound are you ready just repeat after me let's go lay out on the beach let's go lay out on the beach for our next vacation we're going to the beach for our next vacation we're going to the beach I could also say mm-hmm isn't that a beautiful beach isn't that a beautiful beach it's thinking if you confuse that sentence right there yeah it means something very different and the last one let's say ah this is something that I like to do if I'm at the beach and I'd say well I saw the sunset from the beach I saw the sunset from the beach excellent you guys did amazing and if you were practicing your speaking skills and practicing your pronunciation let me know right the word speaking in comments that way I know that you were actually participating in the lesson because that's that's what I want I want you guys to interact with these lessons well because this is interactive English right so if you enjoy this lesson and you feel a little more confident that you can go out and have a conversation about the beach and not worry about mispronouncing it and the other person getting a little confused about what you're saying then hit that like button down below thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 219. BEAUTIFUL IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS ABOUT ART ๐ŸŽจ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `6lOk2cb1xII` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lOk2cb1xII) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:37:51 | --- We are in Paris! The city of lights or the city of arts and culture. So today we're going to talk to you about some idioms and expressions that are related to art. And culture. That's coming up. It is a gorgeous day out. Perfect day to see all the sights of Paris. That is the Louvre. One of the most famous museums in the world. Check out this view. Right here. We're at the Eiffel Tower. Or kind of. It's right there. So since we are in Paris, which is a city very well known for its art and culture we're going to talk to you about some expressions and idioms that that have words related to art in them. Of course. The first expression I want to talk to you about is to paint yourself into a corner. And when somebody paints themselves into a corner, that just means that they are put into a situation where there is no or there are very few good outcomes. And they are painted into a corner. It's not a good place to be. So there's a famous saying that goes a picture is worth a thousand words. And what this means is that you can have a complex idea that can be expressed in just one single picture. Better expressed in fact than a description. So there's so much more that a picture says than words can say. A picture's worth a thousand words. Another expression is to paint the town red. And when you go out and you paint the town red that just means that you are going out and you are partying and you are celebrating in a very lively way. As an example, you would say "You know, let's go out tonight. Let's paint the town red." Another expression is to see the big picture or to look at the big picture. And this just means to see the situation as a whole. Because sometimes it's very important to instead of like looking in little details, to look at the situation as a whole. And that means to look at the bigger picture or to see the bigger picture. Or the big picture. So we're just chilling on a bench. As you can see behind us...oh, where did it go? It's the other way. I can't show you. There we go. It's the Eiffel Tower. So we're going to...we're going to share our favorite things about Paris right now. What is your favorite thing about Paris? The food. Hands down. That was going to be mine. Everything. All the food is just like the ingredients are simple, high-quality, and just well put together. I like the croissants or here the croissants. Why is your nose so red? Because we were out in the sun all day yesterday. Somebody got sunburned. What's your favorite site? I like Versailles. The gardens. I thought they were really, really impressive. Wes tell me your favorite French word? French word? I've been saying "Merci." Merci. Okay. I've been using that. Okay, what about... It's my only word. Favorite French word? Amour. What? Amour. I don't know how to pronounce it. Favorite English channel. Interactive English. Obviously. Alright. Let's keep moving. Another expression that I say quite often is...you just say, "What's wrong with, this picture?" And when you're asking somebody what's wrong with this picture, it means that you're asking this person or a group of people to identify what is wrong with this situation. And seeing if they can identify it. So you're kind of asking them in a sarcastic way. What's wrong with this picture? So this is an expression that's also a question. And it goes "Do I have to paint you a picture?" And it's not...it's kind of like when you're trying to explain something to somebody, and they just don't get it at all. This is kind of asking like, "What else can i do to make you understand this?" You're trying to make it more clear for them. You're a little bit frustrated that they don't get it. And you're just asking them "Do I have to paint you a picture?" So you're just kind of trying to see like... I've tried all these ways to explain It. What else can I do to make you understand this? Another idiom is saying that something is like watching the paint dry. This is a simile because we're comparing two things. And you're saying that something is like watching the paint dry. So you're talking about something that is very boring. It's dull. It's tedious. And it takes a long time. So therefore, it's like watching the paint dry. So another expression is to paint a ___ picture. And why I made that mmm sound because you can change the adjective. So something can paint a terrible picture. It can paint a bleak picture. It can paint a rosy picture. And what this means is to describe something in a certain way. And many times it's used in a negative way. So when you... if something paints a terrible picture, it means that things appear to be pretty bad. Hope you guys enjoyed learning these expressions. And getting a glimpse of our trip to Paris. So now we want to hear from you guys. In the comments...what are we going to? We're going to ask you...we have a question for you that we wanted to hear the answer to. And our question is "Have you ever been to Paris?" And if yes, "What did you think about it?" What was your favorite thing? And if you haven't been, we'd like to know if you'd like to go. Thank you guys so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 220. BECOME FLUENT IN 2020 | 7 Things You Need to Do ๐ŸŽ‰ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hdAtrT8jWM4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdAtrT8jWM4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:44:42 | --- Let's talk about how you can improve your English in 2020 that's coming up. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And a new year is upon us. It is 2020 so if you're thinking, you know, this year I would really like to improve my English skills. I want to tell you seven different ways that will help you do just that. So I want you to think about this as like a checklist, seven different things that I want you to do to help you improve your English. So I do, I want you to go through these seven things one at a time. Just check them off as you go through them. And this is going to help you improve your English. So number one, the very first thing that I want you to do this year is to identify a mistake. And it can be any type of mistake. It could be a grammar mistake, it could be a pronunciation mistake. I just want you to identify one mistake and truly focus on fixing it. Now you may be thinking, well, how am I supposed to identify one of my mistakes? Well, if you're thinking about pronunciation, listening is a great way to do that because you might be listening to a TV show, a song or anything and you'll hear it and you think, well, okay, that's not exactly the way that I'm saying this word, or I'm saying this phrase, and you can find something that you might be pronouncing incorrectly or grammar For example, reading is a great way to do that because you are reading how the grammar is used correctly and you might see something that you have not really been doing and you'll be able to identify one of your mistakes that way. Now, I don't just want you to identify the mistake and think, Oh, okay, I've been making this mistake. I now know what I should do, and then you forget about it. That's not what I want you to do. Once you have identified your mistake, I want you to wait one week and then go back and revisit it and try to learn it again, practice using it again, and then I want you to wait another month and then go back to it again. Learn it, practice it. And the reason I want you to do this is because that is the best way to correct it up here and truly correct the mistakes. So once you've identified it, then go back a week later, practice it, and then go back a month later and practice it again because that is going to help you the most and you really just need to identify one mistake. If you can identify more and get into the habit of doing that, then that's perfect. But for right now, let's just stick with one. The first thing I want you to do, identify a mistake and then really focus on correcting it. The next thing that I want you to do, number two, is to commit to reading. Truly commit to reading. And when I say that I'm talking about a book. Often I tell learners all the time, you should try to read a little bit each day and you can do something very easy like reading something online. However, what I want you to do is to commit to reading a book, make a larger reading, and truly improve your skills, and I know some of you may be thinking, well that's, that's going to be easy to do, but this can actually be quite challenging. The reason that that many people don't end up reading books is because, well, maybe they don't find time for it. Everybody has a busy life and they say, well, there's this book, it's 500 pages long, when am I ever going to finish it? But that's what I want you to do. I want you to find a book, especially a longer book, and try to commit to reading it and you don't have to read it within one month. That's why I want you to start earlier in the year because even if you just read a few pages each day. Give yourself more time to read. But that is going to make it a habit throughout the entire year. Now, if you're trying to figure out, well, what kind of books should I read? I have two suggestions for you. First read something you're interested in because that's going to help you continue reading throughout the year. If you're not interested in it, you're going to get bored and you're going to, you're just going to stop reading and that's not what we want. Number two, if you're worried that you might not understand everything that you're reading, perhaps you're worried that you won't understand all of the vocabulary in the book. In that case, I would suggest that you read something that you are already familiar with. For example, maybe you have seen the movie Harry Potter, but you haven't read the book. We'll start reading the book and even if you don't understand everything that you're reading, well, you've seen the movie. You are already a little familiar with the story so that way if you come across words and phrases that you don't know, you can still follow along because you already have an idea as to what the story is about. So this year, 2020 commit to reading. I want you to choose one book, commit to reading it, cover to cover, try to choose something a little longer and then spend a little time each day just reading that book. Give yourself plenty of time so that you can finish the book this year. Number three, I want you to complete an active learning exercise. So if you don't know what I mean when I say active learning, many times people may not have somebody to practice their English with. Perhaps they're not taking lessons. So they'll do things like listen to music or read books or watch TV shows. Those are all examples of passive learning in which you are just listening or reading and you actually don't have to do anything afterwards. Now, if you're completing an active learning exercise, then you are either listening or reading or speaking and you actually have to do something. You have to respond in some way. So I want you to find some type of active learning exercise that you can complete and it can be anything. So maybe you want to practice your grammar, the present, perfect tense, go online, do a search. You will find all sorts of online exercises using that grammar or you could also do a listening comprehension exercise where you will listen to something and then you have to answer questions. You can even participate in our online lessons. We do interactive quizzes all the time in which you watch the video and I ask you to write your answers in the comments and to actually participate in the lesson. That is an active learning exercise and that's what I want you to do. Many of you may already be doing these and that's great. If you are, then I want you to choose something else, choose something different and add one active learning activity in 2020 the next The next thing that I want you to do, number four, is to add one more form of exposure to the language specifically add one more form of listening exposure. So when it comes to listening, I think many of us think of, well watching a TV show or a movie or listening to music that is very common. Maybe you can add listening to a podcast. Maybe you can add listening to an audio book. Maybe you can add listening to more YouTube videos. So think about the variety of things that you do when you're listening and try to add one more thing to that list, whether it's a podcast or an audio book, and get one more form of listening exposure. Number five is that I want you to add a little bit more time to your learning and try to make it a routine. So during the day we're, we're all pretty busy, but throughout the day there, there are these tiny little moments that we have. See if you can take that time and actually practice learning English. Perhaps you'll listen to something like we just talked about a podcast and audio book, but I want you to think about your day, think about your schedule and try to find a little bit more time to get some more English and then make that a routine. Start a new routine. So you could do this during your commute, during a walk, outside your lunch break, or even cooking at home. Find one of those moments. Find that time, even if it is just a very short amount of time. Use it to practice your English skills and this is a great way to improve in 2020 number six is start a diary. I think writing is an underestimated language skill because when you're writing you are using a variety of other skills. You're trying to think of new vocabulary. You're trying to use the correct grammar structure. So this is great practice, which will help improve your overall fluency. So take a notebook, start a diary, and you can write about anything you want. You can write about events in your life, you can write about your goals, things that you wish to accomplish, you can write about how you feel. Try to write as much as you can, but it doesn't have to be a lot. Even if you just write a few sentences, every bit helps. So start writing a diary. That is something I really hope that you can do in 2020. Number seven, and this is my favorite one, is that I want you to have a conversation. I want you to speak to me. And the way that you are going to do that because so many of you out there say, well, I want to practice speaking, but I don't have anybody to talk to. And I understand. So what I would like you to do is I would like you to record a video introducing yourself. I want you to record a video talking about well where you live. Tell me about your family. Tell me about your job. Do you do, tell me about your goals, things that you want to accomplish. Send me a link to the video in the comments of this lesson so that I can watch it and I will write you a comment so that you know that I got your message. I know some of you may be shy. Perhaps you don't want to talk in front of a video camera. That's okay. If that's the case, record yourself like it's a podcast. Put it online, send me a link to that audio and I will still listen to it. I just want to hear from you and know that you are practicing your speaking skills. So these are the seven things that I want you to do. This is your checklist and go through them one at a time and just check them off in 2020 because this is going to help you improve your English fluency. If you enjoy this lesson, please hit that like button and as always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 221. BINOMIAL PAIRS QUIZ | Useful & Important Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `uEs_Vby87kc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEs_Vby87kc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:19:07 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes the channel is interactive english and in case this happens to be your first time here please say hello in the comments in the chat i just love hearing from you guys tell me where you're from but the channel is all about just trying to help you improve your english skills and today i have well it's a vocabulary lesson we're going to be talking about some very common and useful phrases that i think you hear in just everyday english and we're going to be doing a little bit of a quiz that's what i've turned this into so that you can participate this is after all interactive english so i want you guys you can write your answer in the comments in the chat and as we go through this i'll try to give some some shout outs as you as well so today's topic we're going to be talking about binomial pairs that's what we're going to be focused on what i will do is i will link up here um some a playlist to some lessons that i've already done on binomial pairs all of the phrases that we're going to look at from today's quiz are are taken from some of those lessons right now i think i've done three different lessons on binomial pairs so you can check those out it's good to kind of practice reinforce what you've already learned and that's really what this is all about hopefully maybe you've seen those lessons and this is a good refresher to see how much you remember and if some of these are new if this is the first time that you're going to be practicing and learning some of these phrases that's also great the more exposure you get the better that you're just going to build your vocabulary learn new phrases and improve your skills so i think it's important the first thing that we talk about if we're talking about binomial pairs is just understanding what what is a binomial pair we're talking about an expression that contains two words that are joined by a conjunction and the conjunction is usually and or or those are the two conjunctions that are often going to combine the two words that is not always the case but most of the time it is and or or that's going to connect these two words and that is what we call a binomial pair and i'm i i know that when we go through this and you see some of the phrases i'm pretty sure you're going to recognize some of them and be like oh okay yes i've heard of this phrase before i've i've i've seen it you maybe you know it as well then that's great um but these like i said these are kind of common phrases that you can use in in everyday conversation so let's begin with this we're going to start a little easier it's going to start well i think it's going to be a little easier and then it'll get more and more difficult as we go through it so the first part uh that i have is just a multiple choice so here is the binomial pair loud and clear so you see those two words loud clear it's joined by the conjunction and and we get the phrase loud and clear what do you think it means write your write your answers in the chat if you're watching this later write your answers in the comments it's good use it like it's a piece of paper and if you want to if you want to practice even a little more write a sentence using this uh this binomial pair and if i see a sentence that i like i i will read that uh out loud if you want to to practice a little more so loud and clear is it a easily understandable b too noisy or c able to know what will happen overwhelmingly all right you guys are rocking this uh excellent um lolly gotrudas great to see some members takayo good job also some some speak up students juliana perfect so rose said yes it's a piece of cake excellent yes this one i think is a little easy this first part is going to be a little easier um the answer is a it means that something is clear and easily understandable so this is a little bit of an introduction to binomial pairs giving you the multiple choice and i i think just to give you some context for this it would be like i'm giving you some instructions telling you what we're going to do oh we're doing a quiz the first part is binomial pairs and this is what we're going to do do you understand you could just say loud and clear that tells me yes i understand what you're saying loud and clear or maybe people would um ask if you if you can hear somebody like oh can you hear me do you understand what i'm saying and you could respond loud and clear so i'll also try to give you some examples as to how you may use some of these phrases the next binomial pair give or take so here again we have those two words give take they're going to be combined using that conjunction or and we get the phrase give or take all right what do you think uh the answers getting some good sentences uh um from me like abdul rasheed your lessons are loud and clear excellent um i understand you loud and clear thank you lolly those are great examples for loud and clear so give or take is it does it mean a undetermined b usually c approximately and i as i was doing this i felt like ah this is going to be too easy because i think giving you the meaning uh it was actually hard to try to think of other answers to include that might be a little tricky so everyone yes was overwhelmingly saying the correct answer um the answer is c all right if you're talking about give or take it means approximately so in this case you're you're going to be talking about like typically a number or an amount and if you're trying to say approximately you would say give or take plus or minus some unknown amount often i think people are going to maybe use this at the end of a sentence and i might say um how many uh like how many people live in your city or live in your town you might well maybe you know a hundred thousand give or take so when you when you put give or take at the end of it it's telling the other person that oh you're you're kind of you're just approximating you're you're guessing as to how much so again we're talking about an amount uh or some number and if you say that and then follow it with give or take then we know okay you're just saying approximately that's just kind of a close guess the next binomial pair not not all of these are going to be multiple choice as well um all or nothing right again we got two words connected by that conjunction or what do you think uh it means um hadia-san has a good sentence i live five kilometers away from the subway give or take um yeah all right excellent that works that you're it's approximately five kilometers um what do you think all or nothing a do completely be leave unfinished or c non-negotiable and i think often to again give you a little context for this because um maybe it's not the full meaning that i'm giving you i will show it to you it's when you're kind of talking about something people will most use most often use it as just the sentence like it's all or nothing all right it's all or nothing and typically you're talking to somebody about something that you might well you're you're maybe planning to do and you say well we're either it's it's all or nothing why they're going to do all of it or we're not going to do any of it so in that case all right the answer would really be a all right you're talking about doing something completely um so i i know i thought maybe some of you put c like maybe thrown off like non-negotiable i guess again depending on the context maybe that would work i told you i had some trouble trying to think of some other uh possible answers that might be a little tricky but the most important thing is that you understand the meaning of it you're either doing something completely or not at all and then you would say like oh it's all or nothing why they're going to do all of it or none of it and people could say it's all or nothing so again this is the most important part a or c i guess again in a context you could say maybe non-negotiable it's all or nothing um the next one and this is the last multiple choice that i have for you um ins and outs what does that this mean and are we talking about the detailed facts of something are we talking about an ever-changing situation or just saying something from a different point of view if you haven't noticed i think before i pinned a comment in the chat from yesterday and well maybe i don't want to give it away but you guys can see it right there i said i'm going to teach you the ins and outs of these different binomial pairs and i think that kind of is a bit of a hint it kind of gives it away i think this is a binomial pair you may often use with the verb like teach or learn something teach learn or know you know the ins and outs of something or you're going to learn the ins and outs or i'm going to teach you the ins and outs which all of you most of you said a yes we're talking about the the detailed or complicated facts of some situation or something and you know the ins and outs um so yeah i hope i want to teach you the ins and outs of these binomial pairs i want to teach you the details the complicated facts the different ways that you can use them or that you may hear them being used um so this is the first part uh which i think you guys did pretty well it was multiple choice now i want to switch it on you and what i'm doing is for the next part i'm going to give you a sentence with part of the binomial pair and i want you to complete it complete the binomial pair with the unknown word so let's look at the first one and again you could write the word in the chat or the comments and then i'll i'll tell you what the meaning is and probably you might you could probably guess what the meaning is based on the context so here is the first sentence right here the team didn't cheat they won the match fair and so this is a binomial pair what word would you use to complete this sentence what do you think doing this quiz lesson complete this sentence with a the binomial pair and then i'm going to tell you the binomial pair and i will also give you the meaning just as a review reminder of what it is uh great job excellent uh sleepwalker anastasia zanat lali the the binomial pair is fair and square so if you say that something is fair and square it means that it is done honestly according to the rules and often i think that you would talk about you might use it in the context of winning and you would say that oh we won fair and square that there was no cheating that you won honestly you won fair and square i think that is a common sentence that people might use this binomial pair with if you're saying that well we won fair and square or it was fair and square the match was fair and square it was done honestly then there's uh the next phrase excellent great job awesome gertrudis uh vicky awesome uh yeah lolli grave a great example i beat you fair and square i won fair and square excellent great example this one there's no uh there's no real damage to the furniture just imagine there's some furniture and i'm telling you there's no real damage to the furniture there's just a little um and tear so maybe this is also pretty easy since i'm kind of giving you giving you part of the binomial pair so there's no um and tear this is another expression that i think is yeah i think it's pretty useful especially depending on the context if you're talking about well especially in this situation uh excellent uh gertrudis lolly uh mary dennis wear and tear that is the binomial pair wear and tear refers to damage or depreciation resulting from ordinary use the situation in which i think this would be commonly used is if you perhaps rent an apartment and you're signing some type of agreement and typically in the contract it would say like you know you cannot break or destroy the property but normal wear and tear is acceptable because this is talking about just ordinary use and over time things kind of well maybe they don't get damaged but they depreciate and you could say that's just normal wear and tear or if you're going to sell a car and somebody asks you oh is there anything wrong with the car and you say no there's just normal wear and tear just normal depreciation from use over time normal wear and tear great job on that one here's the next one that i have for you it was dangerous driving back home in that storm i'm just glad we're back home safe and what expression what binomial pair am i talking about in this so you know the situation it was dangerous some dangerous situation uh about there was some storm outside and i could say i'm just glad we're back home safe and what do you what do you think so i think and i told you uh these expressions are very common so i think you probably have heard of them before and perhaps maybe i hope to be jogging your memory a little bit or or you've just seen these previous lessons about binomial pairs and you just remember the information because you guys are awesome so excellent um lolli gettrudis uh saya ambil the the binomial pair is safe and sound so really instead of saying safe because it kind of means the same thing you're safe from danger or and free from any kind of injury or harm and you would just kind of just use the expression safe and sound and i don't know why i tend to think people associate home as being safe and sound and that's why i used it in that example saying well we're back home safe and sound or i just want to know that you made it back safe and sound i think i hope that all of you guys right now are safe and sound uh we have of course this the pandemic that's going on and i hope that all of you are safe and sound that is a way that i could use this so one more i have one more um i have more questions but one more like this where i want you to complete the binomial pair and here is the next one i hope that all of you have been improving your english by leaps and what what word would can finish that one um leaps and all right what do you think uh and this is true i i think i mentioned this in the last video lesson that uh uh i've talked to you about i hope that you all improve your english by leaps and what all right um okay so excellent all right you guys did a great job doing a great job on this one too mary flavio uh sohana sleepwalker getrudis the the binomial pair is leaps and bounds and i'm going to throw by before that and what this means is just very uh very quickly i think i'm gonna add to that instead of just saying uh like quickly because leaps and bounds does not also it doesn't just have to mean quickly it could just mean like to a great degree so if i say like i hope you're improving your english by leaps and bounds i'm saying like to a great degree basically saying that i hope you're improving your english a lot so it doesn't always just have to be about speed like very quickly but by leaps and bounds like quick but by a great degree as well i think i should have added that in there which is why i'm telling you now so yes they're not we're improving by leaps and bounds i'm happy to hear that remember uh to include buy so that's why i put it here typically i'd say that that you could also just think of this as part of the binomial pair by leaps and bounds all right now what i want to do and we'll see i think this part is going to be more difficult but who knows you guys have been rocking this quiz so far uh what i'm going to do is i'm going to give you the meaning i'm not going to tell you the binomial pair i want you to tell me the phrase tell me the phrase that that matches this meaning because now you're familiar with what a binomial pair is you understand it two words connected that are often connected by and or or so hopefully that uh that makes it easier so the first one we're talking about the advantages and disadvantages of something what that is the meaning that is the meaning of which binomial pair what phrase has this meaning and this is one that i feel like i've i don't know i tend to use a lot especially in the the speak up class that i have we talk about different topics and maybe i present a situation and i would use this uh this binomial pair uh quite often so i think this one is one that well i feel like i say like you probably see it a lot i know i see it a lot because i just told you i use it quite often and yes excellent uh lolly maria uh gertrudis jacqueline takayo kim pros and cons so if you're referring to the pros and cons the advantages would be the pros the disadvantages would be the cons and i told you as a teacher i think if we're if i'm trying to present a situation and especially for discussion and have other people share their thoughts and opinions i would ask like what do you think what here's the situation what are some of the pros and cons and then we would talk about these advantages and disadvantages the pros and cons the next one is maybe i don't know if this would be easy or difficult but the the meaning is when you are at a point you reach a point that you will not tolerate the situation anymore and you might get angry and lose your patience and you would say that you are okay you are and that well here's the meaning you're just you can't tolerate anymore and you would use this binomial pair and to give you in case uh i feel like one person would get it and then everybody's oh yes i was i was gonna say to give you a little hint this binomial pair is often followed by the preposition of so you are um of something and excellent the the answer is sick and tired all right great job lali katrudas sid saya hadi when you're sick and tired of something because i told you you're you're often going to follow it with of when you're sick and tired of something it's like when you're you're like i said you're at that point you can't tolerate it anymore um i'm sick and tired of my boss telling us to work late i'm sick and tired of it so i think you could probably always think of things at work that you are sick and tired of um so this is this is a good phrase because i think there are many things that apply to this where you're just like i can't take it anymore um juliana full to the head uh yeah so uh uh natalia says fed up with yeah it's very similar to that that phrasal word if you're fed up with something you're at that point i can't take it anymore you're sick and tired of it the next one i'll give you a little hint for this one as well if you can't think of it um we're talking about a small amount at a time and gradual what would you say um a small amount at a time something that's gradual and you would say and i'll give you a moment to think about it before i give you that hint and then we'll see again i think you guys could probably uh get this think of a situation uh if i instead of saying like well you i'm improving you're improving your english gradually or you're improving a small amount at a time what would you say all right okay uh excellent uh on got the one yeah they're actually now that you guys throw some in there uh there are some other ones that you could use the one that uh yes lolli not the the one that i'm thinking of and then i'll address some of the others that you had mentioned little by little the hint that i was gonna give you which i now realize i forgot was going to say that this binomial pair uses by so we're not using and or or that's not always the case with some binomial pairs there will be other words so we're connecting little by little we're talking about one like just gradually it's it's slowly um improving and you could say little by little let me some of you put um a few others let me address some of that slow and steady slow and steady is another binomial pair and i think that one would also uh that fits that context if you're talking about gradually you could say slow and steady there's a famous expression when you think of the the tortoise and the hair that story slow and steady wins the race that you keep moving forward uh slow and steady another one that people had talked about was step by step i think that one could also apply as well that you're doing something step by step i think step by step to me means more like one at a time that you're focusing you're doing one thing before moving on to the next thing so in a way um you could it has somewhat of a similar meaning but if i think of like the situation the example that i gave you like you're improving little by little you could i think step by step um you could use that but at the same time i think step by step mostly think is like more instructions kind of that you know what you need to be doing we're doing it step by step um i think of like um some situation in which maybe you need to kind of follow one order and you're just doing it one at a time you're doing it step by step um or like even in a relationship people might say like um how are things going in your relationship and you say yeah we're taking it step by step we're just moving along one thing at a time step by step uh then there's this one right here i'm i'm hoping i'm hoping one will be a little more difficult for you guys these are we're talking about instructions and warnings about what you should and should not do in a particular situation i say situation or time i forgot to put that word in there that little that bottom part right there that's a slight typo uh so we're talking instructions and warnings about what you should and should not do in a particular time in a particular situation or time what uh what binomial pair has this meaning okay so you guys got that um all right yes great job lali namrata anpan flavio dipan uh dipanjan oh mary thank you uh thank you so much for the super chat awesome i jumped in awesome i really appreciate that uh the answer we're talking about do's and don'ts okay so do's and don'ts if you're telling somebody okay instructions this is what you should do this is what you shouldn't do you would describe this these are the do's and don'ts and i think you would often hear people use like the do's and don'ts perhaps like at um some situation at work or or even in a classroom like i might be telling new students about well these are the rules of the classroom like these you know the do's and the don'ts so in some context some situation where you're trying to tell somebody about the things they should do or the things they should not do you're basically giving that person the do's and don'ts you're providing them with the do's and don'ts which is very important a very useful uh binomial pair um one that i think is could be used in a variety of situations so i hope that again this was review from some of those previous lessons i will uh link that up here if you'd like to go through and actually watch those lessons as well as learn more binomial pairs i suggest that you go guys go check that out but you guys did overwhelmingly uh incredible today i'm very impressed round of applause great job uh but i appreciate you joining me i hope that maybe you learned some new expressions these are rather informal expressions that you could use in just casual english also want to mention if you guys like what we do want to show us some love you can sponsor support our channel there are links in the description down below if you'd like to become a member or a patron uh so many i've seen some members in here today lolly gettrudis patrons like takayo um or uh even with those super chats like mary mary docma big shout out to you thank you so much uh i really appreciate it all of it kind of helps uh keep this going uh also saw vicky in here today another member uh really appreciate your guys love and support so i again this is good practice these quizzes it's also a good way for it to be a little more interactive that i can talk to you guys a little bit say your names if you're giving the correct answer sorry if i if i couldn't get to everyone um kind of scrolls through quickly but i hope that you all enjoy um the rest of your weekend thank you guys so much for joining me and i hope that you all have a wonderful week thanks uh good to see you uh just give some quick more shout outs uh hello nuria zanat thank you lolly good to see you as always shwana glad you enjoyed the lesson hi esther gatrudes juliana another speak up student excellent thanks for joining us juliana uh sleepwalker kim abu namrata hope uh thank you guys and --- ## 222. BORROW vs LEND | Confusing English Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4Yx4ZVpj7-A` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Yx4ZVpj7-A) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:55:14 | --- Can you please borrow me some money? I just need to lend a little money. I'm so confused. Today, we're going to talk about two words that are commonly confused. These are the words "borrow" and "lend." Now I want you to be honest with yourself. If you have confused these two words before, I want you to go ahead and "like" our video because we're going to help you understand what these words mean so you won't confuse them again. Let's start with the word "borrow." This means to take or accept something usually for a short period of time and then you give it back. So "borrow" means "to take." This is important. I want you to do the action with me. I promise it will help you remember. Borrow. Borrow. You should also say the word while doing the action. I don't care if you're on a bus, you're at home, you're at school... Just do the action. Borrow. Borrow. Okay, I think that's good. You should know this now. When you borrow, you take. When I borrow, I take. When she borrows, she takes. Now, let's look at the word "lend." Lend is pretty much the opposite. To lend something is to give something. Usually for a short period of time and then you get it back. So when you "lend," you "give." Once again, I want you to do the action with me. This is to help you remember the meaning. Lend. Lend. Borrow. Ah-ha. I tried to trick you just then. Did you get it? Now that we know the meaning of "borrow" and "lend," let's see some examples. This is a common question you might hear when somebody is asking somebody else for money. And if you really want to lend us money, you can send it here. Next example. In this situation, I am borrowing. I am taking the book. So in this example I am taking the book. Borrow. I think you're ready for the practice. Let's do it! For this part, it's going to easy. I'm just going to say the word, and I want you to do the action. Ioana is going to help you out, and she is going to do the actions with you. We can do this. Are you ready? Yep! Lend. Good. Borrow. Nice. Borrow - Lend Lend - Borrow - Lend Lend - Borrow - Lend - Lend Lend - Borrow - Lend - Borrow - Borrow - Lend - Borrow. Just kidding! Okay. Let's make it a little more challenging. For this next part, I am going to say a sentence with a word missing. The missing word is either "borrow" or "lend." Listen carefully. And then point to the word you think is correct. Hey...hey, how's it going? Look...I'm going to get right to the point. I was wondering if I could _____ your car. What do you mean you didn't hear me? I was wondering if I could _____ your car. I hope you pointed to the word "borrow." because in this sentence I want to take the car. Borrow is the answer. Here's another. You know, we're just a couple of poor English teachers. I'd really appreciate it if you could _____ us some money. Just _____ us a little money. Seriously! _____ us some money! You should have pointed to the word "lend." because I was asking you to "lend" us some money, or give us some money. But you really don't have to lend us some money, just subscribe to our channel. Guys, all I've got to say is great job! Just...that's it. Remember to "like" and share! --- ## 223. BRITISH ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง and AMERICAN ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Idioms to Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gRsCOwRS83g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRsCOwRS83g) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:53:02 | --- Here we clap! Do I? Welcome! Today we have a very special lesson for you today because we have a special guest. This is Aly from Papa Teach Me. So we recommend you check out his channel. We will leave a link in the description below. So today we're going to ask Aly if he knows some American idioms that we put together for him. He has to guess them. And then we're going to try to guess his. I have some British idioms. Maybe she knows them. Maybe they don't. Who knows! Let's find out! Okay. So..."Shoot the Breeze"! Shoot the Breeze! Oh...um. Ah...it's like when we're talking, but it's nothing. We're not talking about anything serious. Right? We're just shooting the breeze. Yeah! That's right. Is that right? Awesome! Feel like shooting the breeze? Okay. How about "Take a Rain Check"? Oh, I know this one. Um...okay, no I don't know it fully. So if we make plans, and I'm like I'll take a rain check. That means I don't want to meet with you, but it's like a polite way to say, "Let's do it later." or "Not today." That's right! Does that just basically mean I don't really want to do it, but that's... It means like "Let's do it next time." Oh...piggyback. No, you know what. I'll talk a rain check this time. Okay. The next one is "On the John." On the toilet. That's right! And pooping? Yeah! But if I'm on...and the John is the... ...toilet? Toilet. Yeah. Right. If I'm on the john, I'm pooping. Yes. And who doesn't like pooping. If anything is guaranteed to constipate an introvert for six months, is talking on the john. No, but it is to "Flip a Bitch." Flip a bitch? Yep. To flip a bitch? Yep. To ac?...to flip? ...a bitch. ...a girl? Ah...nope. What does it mean to flip a bitch? This is the first one. Okay, so to flip a bitch means to do a U-turn. When you drive...to turn around and do a U-turn. So like how would you say it? You know. I made a wrong turn and I had to flip a bitch. I'm going to start using that one. That's brilliant. I'll turn the car around. I'll flip a bitch, and I'll go pork somebody right now. So the first British one is "Chin Wag." Oh my gosh. Chin wag? Chin wag. Can you use it in a sentence? My mom and her friends were sitting in the living room having a chin wag. Chit chat. Kind of. It's a chit chat. Oh..great! Literally your chin is wagging. Wow! Okay. That's awesome. But it's kind of... Is it like gossiping? Or just like... Kind of gossiping. Hello and welcome to celebrity chin wag. Okay. The next word is "Skive." What does it mean to skive? Man this is good. I don't know why I keep thinking of sky diving. So like you're skiving.... ...two together, so you sky divie? Probably not. You want a sentence? Yes. Okay. I don't want to go to work today. I think I'm going to skive. Ooo...like skip? Skip work. Skip work or skip school. Okay. So like ditch? Like ditch. Well that'll teach you to stop skiving on the cleaning then A word that could get lost in translation is the world "Thick." If I said to you, "Oh that guy is really thick." Oh I think I know this one. Is it like "stupid" or "he doesn't get it"? Yeah. Yeah. He's really thick. I like this one. So stupid. Sometimes you can be really thick. So do you want to go first? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. "Jonesing." Jonesing? Jonesing. So now I need a...I need a... You want a sentence? I want a sentence. This morning I woke up, and I was really jonesing for some coffee. Oh! So it's like "crave." Like I really want something. Exactly. I'm jonesing for a coffee, which is usually true. So if you're really jonesing for that chocolate, it's probably just because your brain remembers that it feels good to eat it. Um...okay. The next one is "A Hail Mary." A hail mary? Yeah, hail mary. So...so like a religious thing? Or a... Nah... I've never heard of this. What does it mean? It's from...they use it in American football. So a hail mary would be like at the... you know time is running out. It's at the end of the game. They have to throw the ball very far and try and score. So chances of them scoring are very slim, so it's a hail mary. It's the first quarter of the big game and you want to toss up a hail mary. Another one..."Put up Your Dukes." Oh, I know this one. Queensberry rules. Let's fight! Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Put up your dukes. From like... Put up your dukes! Okay. The other one that we had for you..."John Hancock." He's a political guy, wasn't he? It does come from the Declaration of Independence. Oh, is this where you ask someone for their John Hancock? So you're asking for their.... Their signature. Yeah. Exactly. Can I have your John Hancock on this please? Mr. Callahan, I need your John Hancock on these reports. Good job! Nice. Wow. That's impressive. But see... He's good at this! Okay. So a British idiom for you is to "Get a Bollocking." Get a bollocking? Like to get your butt kicked. Like really get a beating. You're kind of close. You're on the right wave length. Do you want a sentence? Sure. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So... I got home really late last night and I got such a bollocking from my mom. Oh, you got yelled at. You got in trouble. Somebody was screaming at you. I got in trouble. Okay. Exactly. You get in trouble you get a bollocking. He knows his British idioms. And I remember my grandmother being the first person out at Balmoral running across the lawn in her kilt. She came charging over and gave us the most mighty bollocking. So you next one is if I say I'm "Chuffed to Bits." Chuffed? I'm chuffed to bits. Can I get a sentence? Being with you and Ioana, I'm chuffed to bits to be with you guys. You're excited. You're happy to do something. Exactly. I'm very very happy. I'm chuffed. It's to be really pleased. To be really pleased about, to be thrilled by something. I'm chuffed to bits. The next one is a "Cock up." A cock up? Cock up? Like a...like a screw up? Exactly. It's the same. Yeah...screw up! It's a noun, so we just say "It's a cock up." Or as a verb, "You cocked up." Don't cock it up. Okay. And this one "Bugger All." Bugger all? Could you use it in a sentence? Can I borrow some money? Sorry, I've got bugger all on me. I have nothing. Nothing. I've heard that one. What did you do today? Bugger all! He's British already. And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space because there's bugger all down here on earth. Thanks for watching! We hope that you guys learned some of these new idioms so the next time you are talking with somebody from America or Britain try to see if you can use some of these. Or if you're traveling there...even better. We'll see you next time! --- ## 224. BUSINESS ENGLISH | Quiz for Working Professionals | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fYusw4dgvaU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYusw4dgvaU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:17:24 | --- Welcome to today's lesson. Thank you so much for joining me. This channel, Interactive English, it's all about trying to help you improve your English skills. And today, this is I it's a quiz lesson. And we're going to be talking about business English, which is something that I I have some other lessons, but I haven't done really a quiz lesson on business English just yet. So, that's what we're going to be focusing on in this lesson. So, I'm I'm really excited about it. And just because we're talking about business English, I know people would think, well, it's a lot more formal and there are some things we're going to talk about because it is a more it's an environment in which people would be more professional. However, that being said, I do have some some phrases for you that are a little more casual, a little more informal, which you would also more likely hear in a a type of work setting. So, I want to say hello to some of you who are with me. Hello, lovely. Good to see you as always. Uh, CT, Cindy, Mary, um, Chris, uh, Chris Kenny, uh, Harat. Thank you guys. I I'll be able to give some more shoutouts as we go through the lesson because, um, because this is a quiz lesson, I want you guys to interact. I want you to write your answers in the chat. Even if you're watching this later, write your answers in the comment. And even again, if you're watching this later, please write to me in the comments. Tell me your name. Tell me where you're from. I just love hearing from you and I always I always try to reply to as many comments as I possibly can. So again, this is an interactive quiz. I want you guys to participate. That is the best way to continue to practice and improve your skills. I also want to say I am going to I'm going to try to do more live lessons for uh like they're probably they're going to be more member only live lessons lessons. Keep a keep an eye out for that. I'll make some posts like Q&As's. So, that's something I want to try to do for the the member community, which I'll I'll come back to a little bit later on. Let's just go ahead and start. Here's the first question that I have for you um related to business. So, here's at work, your boss asks you to go the extra mile. And the the simple question is, well, what does this mean? So, we're talking about the phrase to to go the extra mile. What what would they mean if you're in this situation at work and your boss says, "You know, I think really uh we need you to just go the extra mile." All right. I' I'd really like you to go the extra mile. All right? [laughter] And he's saying that he or she is telling you this and what what would you think? All right. What what are they possibly talking about when they tell you to go the extra mile? All right. So the answer. All right. Excellent. Uh just random English. Uh uh Jane. Perfect. I I'll I'll tell you what the the meaning that I got from well my meaning plus like some of the English online dictionaries. Um excellent. Perfect. Abraham Lai. So they're talking about wasam. Yeah. They're really referring it's an idiom. So I told you this is a more probably informal phrase but you would use it at work or a situation in which somebody needs to do more work more work than is required of them. So many of you said like to work harder do extra work that's that's perfect. If somebody's asking you to go the extra mile. So again this is an idiom that you're more likely to hear or use when you're you're talking about work. Maybe they you're telling somebody you you're going to go the extra mile or maybe they ask you to go the extra mile. Exactly. Excellent. Uh Jose Vicky Gustaf. Perfect. The the next question um that I have for you is this one. And this is more I I I don't know. I I think many people are familiar with this uh this quote that you see here, but I think it is very fairly well known in the United States. It may be a little more common there. But if this the situation is before ending the meeting, your manager reminds everyone the customer is always what. All right. What what word or you could maybe a phrase. Uh it's a word or a phrase. I'm not going to tell you, but what word would complete this right here? Um the customer is excellent. The customer is always right. Um, perfect. Uh, wasam Angela Lai, the customer is always God. on. Yes. I thought some people might joke around say the customer is always wrong. Uh, lady, the customer is always the king. So, this is a a a motto or slogan that I I'll just read this down here. It's basically saying that you should prioritize customer service, customer satisfaction. It's something that was popularized um o over a hundred years ago by certain people um certain entrepreneurs that worked in retail um Selfridge, Womaker, Marshall Field. Those were actually the names of some pretty uh well-known department stores. I don't think they're you find as many today. I don't know if they're still operating nowadays. People think of like Macy's or J C Penney. Um, but this is kind of a slogan or motto. I I enjoy uh I enjoy asking about this because again people are familiar with it, but everybody has a different opinion of it. I have worked with customers before I started teaching in my other job and I did not think that the customer was always right. They were they were wrong quite often, but that was just my experience. The next question right here is do again another fill in the blank. Due to the economic crisis, many companies have been m bankruptcy. And for this one, I'm I'm kind of looking for a collocation. Collocations are words that are frequently used together. But if you're again talking about um in the context of of work business, this happens and you well I don't want to give it away but what word would complete this that due to the economic crisis many companies have been m bankruptcy. Um all right what do you what do you guys think? what uh what word would best co complete this uh this sentence and one of the the keys there is um bankruptcy. All right, bankruptcy is a noun and it's a collocation with that. All right, Sam. Perfect. Um, so let me let me uh put a finer point on this for you because a lot of getting some different answers here. Abraham, excellent. The what I was looking for is declaring banks bankruptcy to declare bankruptcy. So there are some phrases that I think some of you were trying to to to get connect with. So let I'm going to like I said, I'll put a finer point on it. So to declare bankruptcy, this is a collocation. These words are used together and bankruptcy is just a process in which maybe a person um cannot pay off their debts and they would declare bankruptcy. You could also say um like Gustav you said excellent. You can file for bankruptcy. That is another phrase that you can use to declare bankruptcy. To file for bankruptcy some of you use the word going. In that case, if you're talking about the situation because bankruptcy, it's a process and you could say that the company is going through bankruptcy. So again, there are different ways that you can talk about this depending on the situation. In this question right here, I think that the most the most acceptable answers would be like declaring bankruptcy or filing for bankruptcy. But once you start like that process, then you could say, well, the company is going through bankruptcy. So, I hope that makes it a little uh easier to to understand. I put declare up there. It's another it's a very common verb that you might hear people use when talking about uh bankruptcy. Um Rod just joined us. Hello, Rod. Uh good to see you. Li asked like go to bankrupt. You would say that you could say that a business is going bankrupt and in that case like going bankrupt would be that well they're losing money and they're probably getting close to declaring bankruptcy or filing for bankruptcy. Um either one. So I hope that helps. But again, this is something this is a good these are good phrases when talking about business because this is something I know with the the pandemic, the economic crisis um has been happening all over the world. Let's look at the next question. Um and I think this one um I I was I think you guys probably know this one, but I sometimes I feel like when I say that then that's when people maybe they don't know the answer. So just as an example, you arrive for your first day of work and you are told to go to HR. So what does HR stand for? If this is an acronym, um, and I think this would really apply to larger businesses or companies. Um, and you might hear people talking about HR. And in this situation, I think it is uh applicable. Your first day of work and they say, "Yep, first thing you need to do, go do go see HR. Go to HR." Um, excellent. Uh, Jane Hottie, Learn English UK, Shayes. Um, Hina, it is an acronym. Um, human resources. All right. HR stands for human resources. And again, this would be like if uh a company has different departments, human resources would be one of those departments. They're in charge of um finding, screening, recruiting, d job training, um administering employee benefits. They would do a lot of different things, which is why typically there would be a number of people who would work in human resources. And some of you maybe that might be your job. If somebody says, "What do you do for a living?" You could maybe say, "I work in human resources." And then they know, okay, these are some of your responsibilities. Uh the next question, are you ready? Here we go. And this one, I'm I'm curious to see what what you all have to say. Um there there's no right or wrong answer. I guess I'm going to tell you what when I would teach business English, I'm going to I'm going to tell you the answer that I would would tell somebody and then I've also I think if you look online, then you're also going to find the similar information of what you should do in this situation. If you're you're having a job interview, there are some common questions that people ask like um where do you see yourself in five years? What are some of your strengths? position? And then another question somebody could ask is, "What is one of your greatest weaknesses?" All right. What What do you think you should say in this situation? You're in an interview and somebody asks, "Well, what do you think is one of your greatest weaknesses?" Or, "What is, you know, one of your weaknesses?" Maybe not um a tough one uh or maybe not the the greatest one. So, I know that uh [laughter] wait I think a lot of you are giving like the actual answer. That's that's fine. But I I guess what I'm trying to think of like how how should you answer this? Like what is uh what would be the best way to answer this so that you don't look bad? Because if you're talking about a weakness, typically a weakness is something that is it's not positive. It's not not good. like some of you had mentioned like uh Shia said easily distractive uh Changi overthinking um Shan eye contact um and Alaz lack of patience um who says that there's a right way in Germany uh so yeah I I think that the the consensus and I'll say consensus which means that many people would agree that what well like what I would tell people is that um you should be honest You should be humble, which many of you I think you were listing like actual weaknesses, but instead of just like telling a weakness and then leaving it at that, you always you want to try to like end it in a positive way. So, what I would always tell um learners to do if we're practicing job interviews is like I said, be honest, be humble, talk about a real um like weakness that that you may have, but then talk about how you're changing and what you're doing to improve on it. So that way it's like you're being honest and talking about a real weakness, but then you're reassuring the the employer that look I am trying to do things so that this is no longer a weakness or that in the future it will not be a weakness. Here is um the answer that I have and this is again this is not this is not from me. So you can see that again other people are giving similar information the and I highlight it like put your weakness in a positive light and they say things like you know emphasize the positive avoiding negative words failure inept that's not something like again I've never really gone into that part um again this is from Robert half talent group talk about how you've transformed your weakness into a strength you could do that but again then that's not to me that's not possibly answering the the actual question. Give an honest answer, but then again, I would recommend then talk about, well, what are you doing to improve? How are you trying to make it so that this is no longer a weakness? [snorts] Okay, I know that was a kind of a longer question. So, uh this next one is much shorter. Which signature? If you're writing a letter or an email, um at the end there is a closing. You could say signature or closing. Um not sure why I use signature in this case. I'd probably say closing. signature makes me think of the you're writing your name. Either way, what which closing do you think is the most formal at the end of an email? You're going to use one of these right here, but you want to be professional. You would like to stay make it a little more formal. Maybe it's somebody that you you don't really know very well. Which one do you think is probably the the best one that would be formal in the context of business? Okay. So, uh remember I think it's interesting uh getting some different answers. Um let's see. Okay. So the answer and I'll tell you that again to keep it more formal when I say when I say formal in this case formal would apply to something professional but somebody you either know or you don't know. So in that case I think overwhelmingly it's very common to just use regards or best regards. Regards best regards it it you can't go wrong with it. It's formal. It's professional. If somebody maybe you you're writing to another person at a company and you don't really know them, this would be the professional closing. The other ones I would say that like um just to go back uh this one that they say again um I took this off of a I forgot to put the source down there. It says the ideal ending for conveying a business letter conveys thanks and respect without eccentricity or an overly familiar tone. That those are not my words. um comes from I forget where I should have uh I meant to site the source. Now I want to go back because many of you were putting uh something else down. Uh best wishes again that's really not in the in business. Um that probably context is not going to apply. Best wishes makes me think like you know somebody's getting ready to to do something or some event and you're wishing them well. Um again regards very standard throughout business. Take it easy. That's informal, something you would probably more likely say in spoken English. I've never really seen that um written as like a closing or a signature. Yours faithfully, it to me that makes me think that there is more of a personal relationship between these people. And in business, like I said, you may not always have a familiar or personal relationship with somebody. So, yours faithfully is kind of like uh it's a little over the top. And when I say over the top, it's like kind of like too much of like if somebody wrote that to me, I'd be like, "Wait a second. I don't I don't really know this person." Like that's that's a little interesting that they they chose that. Um so, I would say again, regards formal. You can use it whether you know somebody well or you don't know somebody um at all and just say regards. Um so, I thought it was interesting. people were were choosing different ones for that. Uh the next one that I have for you uh is your your boss asks why your team is falling behind schedule. You say not everyone is pulling their weight. What does this mean? Again, here's a phrase. It is a little informal. Not everyone's pulling their weight. What What is that talking about? Um, while you guys think about that, I need to get the cable to charge this before the whole thing my computer just dies. So, let me know what do you think this phrase is talking about right here. I'm back. Okay. So again, I mentioned that not all of these when you think of business, most people tend to think of statements or phrases that are more formal, professional, but there are many of them that I think are casual in just spoken English such as this one. All right. Your boss asks why the team is falling behind and you say, "Well, not everyone is pulling their weight." What does it mean to when when you say not everyone is pulling their weight? Okay. Um I'm curious. So, uh I'm trying to think. Not good. Angela. All right. Uh talking about not ever. Uh Abdu Wahed. Okay. Shidan. Yeah. Uh all right. So, let me let me show you what uh [clears throat and cough] what I have for you. And I think some of you are you're on the right track. So if you were to tell this um talk about your team and you say this to pull one's weight it it's an idiom and it basically means that well to do one's fair share of work and often times I think you may hear people use it in a couple of different ways to say that well not everyone is pulling their weight and you would use it with the negative to to basically imply that well the people you're working with they're not doing their fair share of work. Um, as Gustaf said, yes, some people are lazy. Uh, they're not pulling their weight. You So, you might you would use it with a negative and say, well, they're not pulling their weight. Or you may hear people use it as like more of a command or a statement and tell somebody, look, you need to start pulling your weight. You you need to start pulling your weight and start doing your fair share of work. So those are two different context in which you may hear somebody use this phrase. So again, it's it's related to business. We're talking about work um to pull someone's weight. Then let's let's continue on this same uh on this same track. And we could say, well, because some people on the team are not pulling their weight, your boss says, well, you're going to need to pick up the slack. What does this mean? So, it's kind of a two-part conversation. Your boss says, "What what's happening?" You say, "Well, you know, not everyone's pulling their weight." And then your boss says, "Okay, well, then you're going to need to pick up the slack." [snorts] It's not something that you you want to hear in this situation, but again, this is a phrase that um you you could use. It's talking about work. It's related to work. You're going to need to pick up the slack. So, close. I think again, uh remember to if you're not pulling your weight, it means you're not doing your fair share of work. Um, and you're in this in this situation, you're saying that the other people on the team are lazy. They're not doing their fair share of work. So, in that case, the boss says you're going to need to pick up the slack. All right. Um, I haven't seen I think some of you are kind of close um on the right track, but this again is another informal uh phrase. If you say that you need to pick up the slack, it's again it's another idiom. Um like Angela, excellent. You said like work harder. It basically means that you need to improve the situation by doing the work in this case doing the work that somebody else has not done or has not completed. So in that case you're do when when you pick up the slack you're doing somebody else's work. They haven't done it. they have not finished. You're going to do extra work to make the situation better or to make it correct or right. So, you're going to pick up the slack. All right? So, again, it's a good phrase to use, I think, in at work. I'm sure if all of you if you think of your job, think about whether or not this has happened to you that you got extra work, you had to go the extra mile because somebody else was uh they were not pulling their weight and then you had to do the work and you had to pick up the slack. So, if you can relate some of these phrases to your own experience and try to put it in that context, um I think it's going to help you better remember the meaning as well as understand like how it's used. So, um to pull one's weight, not do your fair share of work. To pick up the slack is when you actually need to do somebody else's work. All right. So, then I have this one right here. [laughter] This is Ca. What does it mean? It's uh it is very informal. It's something that I I think mostly is used in a business context. It's not something it's obviously it's an acronym, but it's not an acronym that you're going to hear um all the time. But what do you what do you think it stands for? Those those three letters right there, C YA. And again, it is like I said, it's related to work. I want to see how uh maybe creative and imaginative um you some of these uh some of these phrases are some of the what do you what do you think? All right. Any any guesses for cya? Uh marketing, call your assistant. No, it's not that. Um, it's a lot more informal. Jane, copy your attachment. No, [laughter] I told you it's very informal. It's not something you're you're probably going to hear or use, but again, you you might come across it in a work context. So, let me just go ahead and tell you because if I don't see too many answers, maybe people don't even have many [crying] guesses. Um, so C YA. Yes, Abraham. Excellent. All right. It stands for cover your ass. So in that case, what we're talking about in the business context is like you're there's a difficult situation. You're trying to protect yourself. And in that case, you're like c ya, you need to cover your ass. You need to make sure that you are protected. So for example, maybe again think about the team. not everybody is pulling their weight and you have to pick up the slack. Perhaps your boss says, "Look, somebody somebody's going to get fired because the team is not being the team it's not successful. You know, there's problems." So then you would say, "Okay, you know, CA, you need to cover your ass and make sure that it's not you that's getting fired because somebody else was not they you had to pick up the slack. somebody else was not pulling their weight. So, it's kind of like you need to make sure you're protected in some situation. It's very it is specific, but like I said, it is usually like a work-related situation where you're trying to protect yourself because obviously, as you all know, at work, it's not like everybody is friends and everything's so joyous and amazing. There is politics involved with work. You need to protect yourself sometimes. and they may say c ya cover your ass. All right. Um, so maybe maybe that one is a new new one for you. Uh, I I hope that you guys I hope you learn some new expressions from this. Um, is it r Oh yeah. Is it rude to say that? No. I I would say it's mostly said in more of an informative way. So, if you're talking to somebody who's in that situation and you're trying to tell them like, you know, yeah, you should protect yourself, like, you know, CA, um, you know, just letting them know that, yeah, it's a difficult situation. You should protect yourself. You should cover your ass. Um, so yeah, I don't think it's really like rude. Um, again, I think anything in business, whether it's rude or not, it would really depend on maybe who who you're talking to as well. um if it's somebody that you should try to be a little more formal with, a little more respectful. But again, it's an acronym that you may come across uh in business. So, I hope you learned some new uh phrases. Again, um I am going to try, as I mentioned at the beginning, try to do some more just member only uh live streams. Um and I'm going to try to do a Q&A next week, which I'll put that up. Um, Fixie said, "My my my boss says cover your assets." Yeah, that that that that also works. Um, I haven't heard it used as cover your assets, but again, it it means the same thing. It also would apply with that cya. Maybe your boss is trying to not be uh like use that that word. So, they're talking about assets. But again, it's the same same idea. Protect those assets. Protect yourself. So, if you uh again, if you like what I do, if you want to support the channel, check out those links down below in the description, become a member, become a patron. Um I am going to try and do some more member only live streams um every now and then like Q&As's, other little quizzes, uh just to interact and engage with that that part of the community. So, thank you guys. I appreciate as always. I appreciate you being here. I really hope you learned something new. If you did learn something new, please hit that like button. It helps feed the algorithm gods and and spread uh spread things. So, please hit that like button uh down below. If you did not learn anything new, well, then you don't need to hit the like button. Don't worry about it. Okay. [laughter] So, thank you guys uh for joining me. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. I hope you can go out maybe use some of these phrases at work and try to apply them. Some of them, I said they're very casual, but I think they're very useful when talking about work, like picking up the slack, going the extra mile, pulling one's weight. Um, very useful. So, thank you uh Lai, Angela, Vicki, Gustav, uh Rod, um Farat, Esther, Neckla, um Miwe, uh Aiti, just round of English, Jane, Eduardo, um Abraham, Manuel, Sharon. Just trying to get in some last minute shout outs um as much as I can. So, thank you guys. Enjoy uh the rest of your weekend and um I will see you guys next time. Thank you Mary for hitting that like button. --- ## 225. Become Fluent in English | You MUST do these 3 things... | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fIZ0ehicy3k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIZ0ehicy3k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:31:15 | --- In today's lesson, I want to talk to you about three important keys to helping you achieve English fluency. That's coming up. [music] Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today, I want to talk to you about fluency. Because many of you out there would would like to become fluent in English. You constantly want to improve your skills. So, I want to talk to you about three useful keys to help you do that. And the first one that I want to talk to you about is exposure. So, think about this expression. Sometimes people might say, well, too much of a good thing that that's bad. That's not good. In this case, when it comes to learning English, that is the good thing. So, in in my opinion, you can never get enough English. So too much of a good thing that is great. That means that you are getting a lot of exposure and you are surrounding yourself with the language. I like to say that you you need to create an English bubble. You need to create a bubble around yourself that is just full of the English language and get as much exposure as you can throughout the day. So that means that you are getting daily reading in English, daily listening in English. You are taking in the English language with your eyes as well as with your ears. And maybe you can even do both at the same time if you are watching a video and reading subtitles. But remember, don't let exposure to the language stop there. Listening to English or reading in English, it should not stop when the video ends or when the story ends or when the song ends. You need to continuously get exposure to the language and surround yourself with English as much as possible for as long as possible. English when you wake up in the morning and English when you go to bed at night. But in order to do this, you need to think about your environment and you need to make sure that your environment encourages you to continuously learn English. mean by that? Let's say that you are reading a book in English. I think you should keep that book as close to you as possible. That book should stay on your nightstand or maybe your desk. You should always be able to see that book and and remind yourself, okay, I need to keep reading. If you put that book in a bookshelf surrounded by hundreds of other books, then you are less likely to pick it up again and continue reading. So whether you are listening to English or you are reading a book or taking some online classes, you need to make sure that these things are close by and they are easily accessible. So that's what I mean when I say think about your environment. What are you surrounded by? What is close to you? And if you can keep English as close to you as possible, then that is just going to make that bubble stronger. you are going to get more exposure to the language and you are going to get one step closer to achieving English fluency. The next key to English fluency is practice. That's it. It's just you just need to continuously practice but you need to do the right kind of practice. So there is a famous quote which I believe is from a golfer and the quote is practice puts brains in your muscles. And what this means is that well when you are an athlete you are doing a sport and you are practicing and practicing and practicing and your muscles become used to that activity and that repetition and you are able to respond without even thinking. And this is where the idea of muscle memory comes from. I think we could say that the opposite is also true when it comes to learning a language. That the more you practice, it's like your brain is developing muscles to help you understand easily if you are reading or listening as well as respond quickly if you are speaking and having a conversation or even writing. So practice will make your brain strong enough to listen to and understand a native speaker. Practice will make your brain strong enough to write using the correct grammar. And the reason why practice is so useful is because you are consistently using the language that you already know. And what I would tell you to do, and I I'll summarize it like this, get a variety of the same review. Now, you may think, well, that that sounds a little strange because a variety is talking about different things, but you just said the same review. Let me tell you what I mean by that. So, I think that when when learners think about review, nobody gets really excited because they think it's just the same thing, the same, the same, the same. And everybody wants to learn new things. I think quite often learners tend to focus too much on learning new things instead of reviewing what they already know. So, what I would do in in my classroom with my students is that I would try and give them a variety of the same review. that we're using when talking about animals and our grammar is maybe we're just using the past tense. And I would tell somebody, okay, you know, turn to your classmate. We're going to have a conversation. I want you to talk about an animal that you saw in nature. And they would have a conversation for a minute or two. And then I'd say, "Okay, now I want you to have another conversation and talk to your partner about uh a trip, about a time that you went to the zoo." They [snorts] would have another conversation for about a minute. And then finally, we would have a third conversation, and I'd say, "Turn to your partner and and talk about a pet that you had a long time ago, or maybe a pet that you wanted to have a long time ago if you didn't have one." So once this is finished, the learners have had three conversations and they have used the same grammar throughout those conversations. They were talking in the past tense. And it's very likely because the topic is animals that they used the same vocabulary, the same words and phrases in each of those conversations. Now, it may not have been exactly the same, but that's what I mean by variety. they were having a variety of conversations about the same topic, that same review, using that same vocabulary, and using that same grammar. Another example would be perhaps you want to learn more about politics and you want to learn some words and phrases that are often used when talking about politics. Well, if that's the case, you can go out and find a newspaper article about the the leader of your country and then maybe go find another article about the leader of another country. So, you are reading about two different people, but it's likely that you may find some of the same words and phrases in both of those articles. So, again, you are getting a variety of the same review. And you can connect this to getting the right exposure to the language because I would always encourage you to read something that you're interested in. The way this is going to be a little different because we're talking about practice is that you need to engage in active learning. And what that means is that when you are engaging in active learning, you actually have to do something. You have to respond in some way, shape, or form. you actually are involved in what you are doing. So for example, if you are reading an article then after you read then perhaps you have to answer some questions to make sure that you understood what it is that you were reading. Same goes for listening. If you listen to something, if you are doing an active listening exercise, then you will probably have to answer some questions. And there is so much out there for you to get engaged in active learning. taking a quiz. That is one way to do it. There are many different reading and listening quizzes online. All you have to do is do a search for reading quiz or listening quiz. adding a topic that you are interested in. So you could say reading quiz politics or listening quiz cars. Now, you may not find a quiz that is specific to English learners, but you can also add that information in there as well and do a search for learn English reading quiz photography and you will find some type of active learning exercise that you can do and complete and that is a great way to get practice. Now, if you're able to speak and have a conversation with another person, then that is a great way to engage in active learning because you just have to respond to someone immediately. And don't forget about writing. Whether you are writing a an email, an essay, a comment, writing comments, when you guys write comments, that is a great way to practice and engage in active learning because quite often you are responding to something that I have asked you to do. So, the more you practice, the faster you will achieve English fluency. It's that simple. The third key to English fluency is mental toughness. And I don't know if you've ever heard somebody say when talking about a sport and they'd say, "It's a mental game." And when somebody says this, they're often referring to a sport that somebody would do by themselves, like golf or tennis or swimming. And even though they they practice, they have that muscle memory. People say it's a mental game because if an athlete if they lose it up here, then that becomes a problem. And you could say the same thing about learning a language. It's a mental game because you are really the one responsible for improving your skills and trying to achieve fluency. It really is up to you because you might you might get a lot of exposure to the language and surround yourself with English and you practice all the time with these active learning exercises. You still need to have mental toughness that key to English fluency because you need to stay focused. You need to stay motivated. You need to stay confident and you need to stay on your toes and just keep moving forward. That is how you are going to become fluent in English. Let's talk about staying focused and and you need to understand what are your goals. Are you trying to build your vocabulary? Are you trying to improve your pronunciation? understand that, then that's going to help you focus on what you need to do. It'll help you focus on the kind of exposure that you need to get as well as the kind of practice that you need to get. Because when you're learning a language, I I don't need to tell you this. I know it happens to me. It's very easy to get distracted. And I think quite often learners will they will start learning and then they stop and then they start again and then they stop and then at some point they may stop altogether. So you need to stay focused when you are learning English and not get distracted by all these other things which is going to help you achieve fluency. and well the thing that you need to understand with that is well why are you learning English? Are you learning it for your job? Are you learning it for school? Are you learning it maybe for for dating and you want to meet somebody who is a native English speaker? Whatever your reason, you need to understand that because that's going to help you stay motivated, get exposure to the language, practice the language, and keep working toward fluency. I also said you need to stay confident because when you are practicing your language skills, I if you make a mistake, you may lose a little bit of confidence and you need you need to overcome that and not worry about making mistakes and just keep moving forward. you end up making them because you want to continue in one direction and that is forward. And finally, I told you you need to stay on your toes and keep moving forward. And to stay on your toes, this is an English idiom and it just means that you need to be ready to respond or react to some situation. You need to be ready for a change to occur because well, our lives are constantly changing. Our environment is constantly going to change. So, you need to stay on your toes and be ready for that. When you are practicing your skills like you're having a conversation, you need to stay on your toes and be ready to react, ready to respond, ready to answer somebody's questions. Stay on your toes, keep moving forward, and that's going to help you move closer and closer to English fluency. So, what I want to do right now is actually practice your English skills. I want you to write to me in the comments. Write to me in the comments. Practice your English because then I'll know that you are truly serious about achieving English fluency. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. And as always, thanks for watching and I'll see you next --- ## 226. Brilliant Business Phrases You Should Know for Work | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bUANRgeON-Q` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUANRgeON-Q) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:12:58 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. I have a vocabulary lesson for you and specifically I want to help you improve your business vocabulary and I have some I I've I'm saying they're brilliant business phrases. Brilliant in the sense that they are useful, they're important, they're and I think they're fairly common. Now, some of these phrases are rather informal. Some of them are idioms, but it really depends on the workplace because I'm from the United States. In the US, work can be pretty casual, the way you speak with your colleagues and even your boss. So, I think a lot of these phrases are very common in the workplace and hopefully some of them are are new for you. Now, I've gone ahead and pinned in the chat if you would like to get a copy of the lesson notes. And there's also uh you can also look down in the description. There is a link that you can use there if you are already a part of our email community. I'm just going to go ahead and send them to you. Now I I want to present this to you as a little bit of a quiz because I would like you to participate in the lesson uh as we go through these different phrases. So, the first question that I have for you is right here. And we're going to start out with just a fill-in-thelank. So, you see the sentence, and I just want you to think, well, how how would you complete this sentence right here? Everyone on the team needs to know what the other person is doing. It's very important that we're all on the M. So, how do you think that person is going to end this sentence? Let me know down in the comments down in the chat. Um, so what do you what do you think? Everyone on the team needs to know what the other person is doing. It's very important that we're all on the M. All right. So this is actually I think uh an expression that is quite common. So the answer is let me show it to you. Same page. You want to make sure that we're all on the same page. Great job. Uh Valentina Lai um Vinra I I was having some trouble with the chat. I didn't see these messages coming up. But I if you say that you want to make sure you're all on the same page, what this means is that you are just agreeing about something specifically how something should be done. So this is a great phrase that you would use if you're working with another person or even in a on a team and you want to make sure that okay, I know what this person's doing. I know what they're doing. I know when this needs to be finished and we're all on the same page. So, it's really a matter of being able to work efficiently and effectively, and you want to make sure that we're on the same page. All right, the next one that I have for you is right here. So, again, think about the context in which I'm I'm giving you this sentence. I'm going to arrive late. I'll need you to get me to M so I know where we are at in the negotiation. So, there are two blanks there. And once again, this is a pretty common phrase that someone would use in a a business and work context. And think about the keyword like even that first sentence. I'm going to arrive late. I'm going to arrive late. I'll need you to get me to so I know where we are at in the negotiation. So they're they're basically telling this to someone else like, "Hey, I'm going to arrive late." So there's information that I'm not going to have and they're asking that person, I I I need you to get me to what would you say? And this is a good uh like I said often used in work business, but just because these I'm I'm saying that they're business phrases, you could use them in other context and situations as well. So the correct answer, yes. Excellent. Vicki Gustaf Satlana, good to see you. Up to speed. To get someone up to speed. So hopefully maybe this is a phrase that's new for some of you. Uh I'm going to arrive late. I'll need you to get me up to speed so I know where we're at in the negotiation. To get someone up to speed means that they have all the latest information about something. So, that was the key in there when I was talking about somebody's arriving late. So, maybe they don't know where things are at in the negotiation and therefore they need that other person to get them up to speed. I need you to get me up to speed so I know where we're at and I know what's going on to get someone up to speed. All right. Then we have right here, we made a major mistake. So, we need to go back to the M. And I think this is a phrase that you've probably have heard of before. So, I think maybe you guys may know this one. We made a major mistake. So, we need to go back to the M. So, think about if you're working on some project and yeah, uh, a major mistake is made, what might you have to do? And one of the key words in this is back. We made a major mistake. So, we need to go back to the what? What do you think? How would you best complete this sentence? The answer is drawing board. All right. Excellent. Great job. Uh, Julia Safihi. Um, maybe I'm sorry if I mispronounced some names. You want to go back to the drawing board. So, this is just another way of saying we need to to start over again. And of course, it's common that if a mistake is made and you can't continue, you could say, "Yeah, oh, we're gonna we're gonna have to start over. We need to start over." So, once again, this is a way to get a little bit of variety. Uh, if you're in this conversation and you're telling somebody, "Look, we just we need to go back to the the drawing board. We need to go back to the beginning of the process and start it again because it's not working." Now, that doesn't mean every time you make a mistake, you're going to have to go back to the drawing board because you can m sometimes just fix that mistake and continue. But when you're going back to the drawing board, you're you're going back to the very beginning and you're basically starting over and you go back to the drawing board. Then I have this question right here or this is a the statement and I want you again to to uh fill it in. Uh, and this one I think is a little more uh challenging. So, think about the situation. Um, she's not working hard, so someone else will need to pick up the M. There's one word missing at the end of that sentence. Once again, this is an idiom very common in the workplace, in this environment in which you are working with other people. So if I were to say, look, yeah, she's not working hard. So someone else will need to pick up the M. So again, just one word in that blank. And I think you can kind of piece together what the idiom is to pick up the What do you think? So pick up the pace. No, pick up the pace. That would actually make sense in this context. Like pick up the pace. We need to go faster. We need to work harder. Sure, that that would also work. But the word that I was going for and the idiom, and again, hopefully this is maybe new for some of you, pick up the slack. Someone else will need to pick up the slack. So, if you're not familiar with the meaning of this idiom, what it means if somebody has to pick up the slack, you're trying to improve a situation by doing something, in this case, work that someone else has not done or not completed. So, there are different situations in which you could use this. So for example, in the situation that I gave you, if somebody's not working hard, then there are there's things that need to get done still, which means if another person has to do those things, then they need to pick up the slack. Now, it's not always because someone's not working hard. There could be other situations as well. Somebody may call in sick. It happens. People get ill, they call in sick. that work. If somebody else has to do it for that day, then they have to pick up the slack. Or maybe somebody goes on holiday, they take a vacation. Well, while they're away, another person, a colleague, a team member may have to pick up the slack. So, if somebody's picking up the slack, they're just doing the work that needs to to be done so that you don't get behind and that everything is done, it's completed, and you pick up the slack. But again, this is a a great phrase to use when you're talking about working with other people. The next one, it's kind of office. So, I I gave you an example in which somebody's not working hard and then somebody else has to pick up the slack. In this case, um, well, I don't want to give it away. She's been working hard all night and burning the what. So, in this case, we're talking about she's working really hard or she's been working really hard all night and burning the what. I I don't know if you can see those blanks. There are two blanks right there. So, there are two words missing in the phrase to complete this sentence. She's been working hard all night and burning the And a I I guess a hint would be the word burning because you hear these words often used together. It's part of the phrase burning the Yes. midnight oil. So great job uh Lai Mina. Uh excellent Julia. If somebody's burning the midnight oil, what that means is they're just working late and into the night. So you might say this to your colleague if you're they're still at the office, it's really late at night and you can say, "Wow, you're you know, you're burning the midnight oil. You're working late into the night." The other thing I would say about this phrase is that you would often hear it in the continuous tense and someone is burning the midnight oil. They're talking about an action that is in progress at that moment. Somebody is working. It's really late. They're burning the midnight oil. So, just something to keep in mind grammatically that you would often find this in the continuous tense. All right, we're going to switch gears because that's something I like to do with these with these quiz lessons. So, before I gave you a sentence and a blank and I asked you to complete the phrase. Now, I am just going to give you a picture. I'm going to give you a picture that is a hint as to what business phrase I'm talking about and I want you to guess that business phrase. So, the first one, it'll make a little more sense uh when I show you this this picture right here. And I'll tell you what she's saying, which is also a part of a hint. But what phrase does this picture right here represent? And you can see like looks like she's getting ready to run and she's saying, "I don't need to, but I'm going to go one more mile." All right. I don't need to, but I'm going to go one more mile. What do you think? And I would say that this is a phrase that's pretty common. It's an idiom. It's used frequently when talking about work. And I would also say that it's probably more commonly used in the United States that this is an idiom that's more closely associated with American English but also very common. All right. So the picture and especially what she said the key word there is mile is to go the extra mile. Give some shout outs. Great job, uh, Lai, Mina, Rose, Vivien. To go the extra mile means you're going to make more, uh, more effort than is expected of you. And I've given you an example sentence down here. The boss always appreciates it when our team goes the extra mile. You do more than expected, you're going to go the extra mile. And the reason why I said it's more of an American idiom, we're talking about distance to go a mile. uh in most of the world uses uh kilometers in that case, but in the US we talk about miles and you're going to go the extra mile. So once again, this is a very common idiom that you would use in an office at work talking about the somebody's doing more than expected and they're going to go the extra mile. Then this one. All right. What do you think? Hopefully uh you can kind of tell. I'm not giving you any kind of dialogue or anything like that. Just the picture. What phrase is this talking about? So you see this building right there and this this guy holding that axe and think about what what is he doing and where is he at? That would be the hint that I would give you for this picture. What's he doing and where's he at? Well, he's using the axe to cut the corner of the building. So, the phrase that we're talking about is to cut corners. Great job, Rose. Uh, Manuel, perfect. Cut. To cut corners means to do something quickly by doing it in a less thorough way than you should. So, think about there's another phrase that you could use if you're talking about traveling and you're going from point A to point B. In that case, you would say a shortcut. So, if you're talking about distance and going from one place to another, you could say we're going to take a shortcut. If you're talking about work that you need to do and you need to do it quickly and quality is not that important to you or you don't care about the quality, in that case then you could say you're going to cut corners. People will often cut corners when they're trying to save time. But the problem because you're doing it in a less thorough way is that the quality is just not there. So, in the example sentence I gave you down there, we can save some time if we cut a few corners. In general, it's not a good thing, but it is something that happens uh at work if people are working on a project and they may try to save time and cut corners. The next one, what do you think? Okay, so this one I think is maybe maybe it's going to be a little more challenging. So you can see in the picture two people and the one person is just handing that little note which says responsibility to the other person. What do you think? I think once I give you the answer and show you the phrase, it's possibly one that you've heard of before and you'll be like, "Oh yes, it makes sense with this picture." So this picture is talking about what phrase when it comes to business or again you could use this in other context and situations as well. This is something that um people will do and I'm sure we could probably all relate to it in one way or another. And Jack saves the day with the answer. Great job to pass the buck. So, when you're passing the buck, and this is where that word responsibility comes into play, you're failing to take responsibility for a problem and you just expect someone else to deal with it. So, instead of you being responsible for a mistake or something that happened, you're trying to have someone else deal with it and you want to pass the buck. So again, if you're at work and a mistake is made, it's not a good thing. Sometimes I'm sure you could think of a colleague that you've had in the past who did not want to own up to the mistake that they made. Maybe they blamed you or someone else and they tried to pass the buck, saying, "Hey, it wasn't my fault. I was doing what I needed to do." And there's just no accountability. Now I said you could use this in other context outside of work and to just give you one point of reference would be thinking about u politics. That's that is a situation in which people always pass the buck and that was the example that I gave you down here. Nowadays it's common for politicians to not accept responsibility and always try to pass the buck. Hey, it's not my fault this happened. I'm not the one who's responsible. It was the person before me or it was this person over here. And they're always trying to pass the buck. So once again, I'd say this one is an expression that's more closely related uh to American English. Buck is an informal word for a dollar trying to pass the buck. Um, then here's this next one. Okay, so let me I'll I'll give you a hint or I'll try to give you some hints even though I think the picture does a good job representing this phrase. So you can see that in the picture there's this giant ball and these two people. What are they what are they trying to do? What do they want to do? What business phrase is this referring to? I'll give you a moment to think about it and then of course I'll I'll tell you the phrase. So the the one word that I want you to keep in mind would be the word ball. All right, these two people, they're pushing this ball and they're trying to get the ball rolling. All right. It's uh it's a little difficult, but uh yes, great job, Rose Julia. To get the ball rolling means to begin or make something happen. And you may hear people use this just as a statement saying, "Hey, let's get the ball rolling. Let's start. Let's make this happen." Or, "We need to get the ball rolling. We need to start this process and begin uh whatever it is that we need to do." So again, if you're in a some situation at work, you're starting a new project or something that just needs to begin, then somebody might say, "Look, we need to get the ball rolling or you need to get the ball rolling. You need to start this." Come Monday morning, we really need to get the ball rolling and start planning the conference. All right, in this context, we're talking about planning something, but we need to get the ball rolling. I got one more picture uh and then we're going to switch gears again. All right. What uh what what is this talking about right here? So, think about the the picture in the middle right there. You see that clock? And then what are the arrows doing? That would be the the next hint uh or what I would want you to focus on in order to get you thinking about the business phrase that I'm talking about. So, we have the clock and the arrows and we're talking about working around the clock. Great job, Lai. Perfect. Uh Venraj, nice. So, working around the clock, you're just working all day and night without stopping. So my example sentence, we've been working around the clock in order to meet the deadline. And this is something I think we can relate to at when with our job. If there's a deadline and you have to work really hard, you're burning the midnight oil. And if you stay at the office all day, all night, you're working around the clock. The other thing that I would like to point out, the same um like I did before, is that often you're going to hear this phrase being used in the continuous tense. And you may even hear it being used in with as the present perfect continuous. We've been working around the clock. You're explaining to your boss or someone else that you you started in the past, you're still going now, and it's been going on. we've been working around the clock in order to get this done in order to meet the deadline. So once again, grammatically something to keep in mind that often you may end up using this phrase in the continuous tense. So the the final part of this little quiz that I have for you and this is uh a little more difficult. I tried to start out easy and then get a little more challenging as we go through this. I am just going to give you well the blank actually no I'm going to give you the meaning and I want you to tell me what business phrase is this referring to and I'll I'll give you a little hint as we go through. So the first one and I do think this one's a little more difficult but the meaning of this phrase to work as hard as other people in a group. So, you're going to use this business phrase specifically when you're working uh in a group, you're on a team, you're working with at least one other person. That is when you're going to use this phrase. But the meaning of it is to work as hard as other people in a group. All right? So, because I I told you it's kind of difficult just getting the meaning, let me give you a hint. All right? So there is the phrase and I'm just blanking out one word in there to m your weight. Which verb are you going to use? Which verb is a part of that phrase to complete it? And the meaning of it is to work as hard as other people in the group. I hope that the verb that you're thinking of is pull. to pull your weight. And you don't have to say pull your weight. You could uh put another pronoun in there. Pull his weight, to pull her weight. Uh everyone has to pull their weight. And what this means is that you're saying that everybody needs to do their job. They need to do the things that they're responsible for. And everybody, yeah, you just need to work as hard as everyone else in the group in order to get something done. A lot of times you may hear people use this in the negative, saying that someone is not working as hard as others in the group. And you'd say, "This person, oh, they're not pulling their weight. He's not pulling his weight or she's not pulling her weight." And you're saying that they're not working as hard as everyone else. So, you may often hear this one used in the negative, the example sentence. Uh, I tried to combine it with that other phrase because if if you don't pull your weight, then someone will have to pick up the slack. So, think about the the meaning again of both of those phrases. If someone is not pulling their weight, they're not working as hard as others. Well, now there's some extra work that needs to be done. Somebody's going to have to do that, in which case they're going to have to pick up the slack. All right? So, think about both of them being used in that context. If you don't pull your weight, then someone's going to have to pick up the slack. Then, uh, how about this one? All right. The meaning is to make sure someone knows what is happening, especially in a situation that is quickly changing. to make sure that someone knows what's happening, especially in a situation that that is constantly changing. What do you think? All right, let me let me know in the chat if you can think of the the meaning of this uh this idiom right here or this phrase. So, to give you a hint again, because I know it can be a little challenging, but uh yeah, so I think you guys got it. Again, you're you're aware of what's going on and you're telling someone to keep me posted. So, you you could use a word like I saw some people like um like updated. Sure, there there are different words that you could put in there, but I think commonly people are going to use the word posted and use the phrase, hey, look, keep me posted. All right, I want to know what's happening. The situation is changing. Just please keep me posted. So, the sentence that I gave you down there, I want to know what happens during the meeting. Please keep me posted. Just just know that this is different than somebody saying, you know, get me up to speed. If you're getting someone up to speed, it's basically like you're telling them what's happening happened in the past so that they have all the information. Now, keeping someone posted is like keeping someone is you're you're updating them as the situation changes. You're letting them know what's happening and you're keeping them posted. And a lot of times I think people will use this statement more as a request and somebody would tell you, "Look, keep me posted. Let me know what's going on. Just keep me posted. The next one. All right. Refers to a lot of you guys did good on that. You You got that last one. Good. I'm glad this. How about this one? What do you think? This refers to something that is uncertain often because other matters have to be decided first. So, it's not like you can I don't want to give it away. you can you can't really make a plan. Something's uncertain and you other things need to be decided before you can make a final decision. And I mentioned the word already. So that's kind of a hint. I think a lot of times you may use this when talking about plans or discussing plans or you're trying to talk about when something should be done. But again, it's uncertain because other matters have to be decided first. To give you a little bit of a hint, the phrase begins with the word up. What would you say if somebody is asking like, hey, you know, what are your plans? And somebody might, well, right now I things are uncertain because I have to make some other decisions. So, my plans are up. Okay. And there are a few words missing which are in the air. Up in the air. Great job. Uh Rose, Jack, Lai, Sevier. Perfect. So again, I I gave you an example sentence down there. Also using plans like right now our plans are up in the air. So, basically, when you're telling someone that your plans are up in the air or something's up in the air, you're letting them know that a decision has not been made and that things are uncertain. Uh, it's it's up in the air. And you could use this at work because people talk about trying to make plans or even travel is another time when somebody may use this phrase like, "Hey, what are your travel plans?" Well, you know, right now our our plans are up in the air because I don't know if I have to work or if they're going to let me take vacation. So, right now things are just up in the air. Uh, great phrase. Good phrase to to use. The next one, what do you think? The meaning is ready to work immediately on a new activity. You're ready to work immediately on a new activity. You are going to do what? And perhaps this one may be new for some of you, which is good because again, in all these lessons, my my real goal is that you learn something new. The key word in this, I think, is immediately. You're ready to work immediately on a new activity. You're going to do what? And I'll give you a little bit of a hint right there. There are three missing words. You're going to m running. And the final word of this business phrase is running. And it means that you're you're you're just ready to work immediately and start this new activity. You're going to running. All right. So, the phrase that I'm talking about is to hit the ground running. And if you say that you're going to hit the ground running or you need to hit the ground running, it means you just need to start immediately and you're going to begin this new activity. It's almost like there's there's no time for real training or orientation. You just need to begin and start immediately, which is the key word there. And you're going to say, we're going to we're going to hit the ground running. So, for example, in this sentence, if you accept this new position, you're going to have to hit the ground running. There's not going to be a lot of time to learn and become familiar with the new position and your responsibilities. You got to start immediately quickly and hit the ground running. So then uh all right so I think maybe maybe some of you knew that one. What do you think about this one? This phrase right here. So the meaning is talking about the investigation or exercise of care that a responsible business or person is normally expected to take before entering into an agreement or contract with another party. So this is well again I don't want to give it away. Just think about the the meaning and I know this is a rather longer meaning. I actually shortened this because I wanted to fit it on one page, but it was much longer. But this is an investigation or the the act of investigating or this exercise of care that a business or person is expected to take. This is something that they should do before entering into an agreement or contract with another party perhaps like before um buying a company or before you of course like sign a contract. You should trying to uh I have to stop myself before I give it away make it too easy. Uh see some a correct answer. There is the one of the words. There's two words and the verb that I was going to use is often used with the verb do. You should do your do what? And this is a pretty common phrase now that uh that you're thinking about it. Yes, you guys know it. Excellent. Alejandra uh Hamdi Manuel Bugoski, you're we're talking about due diligence. And as I mentioned, it's often used with the verb do. Someone needs to do their due diligence. And that's referring to that exercise of care to understand what it is that they're getting involved in. Uh, and you should always do your due diligence. So, the example, you should do your due diligence before signing the contract. Read through it, understand what it's saying, and really do your due diligence. This is a common phrase that I think is used in the business world, doing one's due diligence. So, here again, if you would like to get a copy of these lesson notes, I've pinned the the link in the chat. There's also a link down below in the description. If you are already a part of our email community, I'm going to go ahead and email them to you so you can check your inbox. But these are phrases that I think are fairly common in a a work environment. So, here's a review of all 15 phrases that we talked about today. And just to to give you a little bit of a quick review and use some of these because I know that when it comes to building your vocabulary, learning new words and phrases, I feel like a lot of you uh are always willing to go the extra mile. You're joining these lessons. you're reviewing the lesson notes and I think that's really going to help you because when you're building vocabulary the you there's no need to cut corners be taking learning a language and building your vocabulary it is a longer process and I I think that as long as you start this process and say look I'm going to try to learn so many words a day I'm going to get the ball rolling and really try to learn a lot of new words and phrases this year, then I I think that's the most important thing. And if you haven't started, then what I would suggest is that you just, you know, you begin and you hit the ground running and just start learning these words and phrases immediately, trying to pra practice using them because like I said, it's a long process building your vocabulary. You may forget some things, but there's no reason to go back to the drawing board. You don't have to go back to the beginning. You can just review and try to remember the word, the meaning, how it's used. And yeah, I think you you you guys know this stuff. I'm trying to think of other words that I can throw in there. Uh other phrases before we wrap things up. Uh but once again, it takes time. There's no it's not something you have to just work around the clock. Uh you take your time. Try to learn a little bit each day. And of course, I would love it if you keep me posted. Let me know down in the comments how things are coming. Are you able to have you been learning new words? Have you been improving your English? Let me know. Keep me posted down in the comments. I love hearing from you. So, that's the way that we'll we'll wrap this up right now. Uh I hope you guys enjoyed the lesson. I hope you learned something new. And uh as always, yeah, thanks so much for watching and I --- ## 227. Build Academic Vocabulary and Practice: SIGNIFICANT | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `2TGlQyxDfMg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TGlQyxDfMg) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:55:26 | --- Hello and welcome to our global classroom. Today we're going to teach you a very very very significant word. The word significant means something that's important. For example, a significant event. a wedding, having a baby, graduation, a promotion at work. These are all significant events. Significant also means fairly large, especially large enough to be noticed. Do you have any more examples? mmmm... yes. Are you going to be bringing your significant other person thing? Are you kidding? That's very significant! But of all these anomalies, the most significant is this I have significant doubts about your... significant shrinkage! We just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives. But what is significant is I felt the touch of God This could be the most significant conflict. a goatee... I'm guessing that's significant. Let's see how it's used in a sentence: Significant is an adjective describing the word "event". Here's another example: Now that you know the meaning of the word and how it's used, let's check your pronunciation. The word "significant" has four syllables, and the stress is on the second syllable. I want you to repeat after me. I'll say it, and then you say it. Guys, I can't hear you. You're gonna have to yell! Whoa, calm down. Alright, that's good. You sound just like a native speaker. Let's expand our vocabulary and look at two other words in the word family. If you want to say the opposite of the word "siginificant", you just add the prefix "in" in front of it, and then you have "insignificant". Ioana, do you have an example for us? Sports are an insignificant part of life. Whoa, how can you say that? Sports are very significant! Ummm, no. Insignificant. Here're some more examples: a tiny insignificant detail insignificant to you, maybe I'm just a toy... a stupid, little, insignificant toy The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant. Another word related to significant is the noun "significance". It means something has importance. And often you might hear people use it in the form of a question when they want to know why something is important, and they'll ask: What's the significance? I don't understand the significance What's the significance of this John Chimpo? What's the significance? I don't know! Let's practice what we've learned. We're going to give you three questions, and for the first two questions, we want you to point to the word that correctly completes the sentence. We'll give you a few seconds, and then we'll tell you what the answer is. Here's your first question: The answer is significant. The birthday is called the quinceanera, and it is a very important day that young girls celebrate. The answer is insignificant because there wasn't much of a change in temperature between yesterday and today. Now, we have one more question for you, but we want you to do two things for us first. Number 1: Please like the video if you think you've learned something today. Number 2: We want you to practice using the word, so in the comments below, we want you to write a sentence telling us what is significant to you. If you need some time, just pause the video. Did you write your comment? Ok, I trust you. If you did, let's go to the last question. For this last one, we want you to click on the answer that you think is correct. If you get it right, we'll let you know. If it's incorrect, it'll take you back to the beginning of this video and we recommend that you watch this video again. Think about it as extra practice because building your vocabulary is a significant part of learning English. Ok, here's the final question: --- ## 228. Build Your English Vocabulary ๐Ÿ‘‰ PROCESS (Word of the Day) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HtidNuBkDok` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtidNuBkDok) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:51:05 | --- Welcome, welcome, welcome to our global classroom! Today we have a special lesson for you because I'm going to show you the process that goes into making these videos. And it's a very cool process, which happens to be today's word. Before we begin today's lesson, I'd like to remind you to please subscribe to our channel if you enjoy practicing and improving your English skills. Also, you can join one of our social media classes. We're active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. So the word process means So let's start out by looking at a simple process, making a sandwich. You got your bread, your lettuce, your cheese, your ham. And then you put them all together... and you got a sandwich! We can then use the word in the following sentence: Notice the adjective that I used with the word "process". And there are other adjectives that are commonly used with this word as well: I'm not even wearing a watch... but let me give you an example and show you the different steps in a time consuming process: making these videos. First, we have to write a lesson plan so that we know what we're going to teach. The next part of the process is filming the video, and we have to set up all of the equipment. the camera the lights the green screen Then we start filming the lesson, just like we're doing right now. It's all part of the process. Finally, we need to edit the video, which helps give the video a nice white background, like this And then we can take out those edges, like this Pretty cool stuff! The process goes on to include creating a description, uploading the video, writing a transcript, and then marketing on social media. There you have it. That is a "behind the scenes" look at our process. Here are some other examples of how the word is used in context. It's a process, it's a process, it's a process. Actually, she's in the process of .... the grieving process begins the contamination process is not complete the unfreezing process The screening process was extremely difficult Quickens the aging process. Is that right? Learning's always a painful process. It's all part of the recruiting process. Now that you know the meaning of the word, let's look at the pronunciation. The word "process" has two syllables, and the stress is on the first syllable. However, it's important to know there is a difference between the British and American pronunciation of this word. - Oh, were we in the process, John? Yes we were! Well, the primary process, or process, as we say this side of the pond, Well, process. We invented words, we'll tell you how they are supposed to sound. The British, they say process... process and in American English it's process... process Now if we want to expand our vocabulary, we can just look at the word family. If we'd like to use this word as a verb, it's essentially the same: to process. However, it does have a slightly different meaning. processing, processing To process means to ... However, it's still going through a series of steps. So for example, we could say: And to give you another example, like when it would be a chemical operation, we could say: It's happening up here. And the result, when you process this information, is that you are learning what this word means. We can also use this word as an adjective: processed. This just means ... And because the process is finished, it's commonly used as an -ed adjective. Mostly, we hear this adjective when talking about processed food. So there is processed cheese, processed cereal, processed snacks. There's a lot of processed food out there. Let's practice what we've learned today. This is going to be a listening comprehension activity. .... because I'm going to say a few sentences, and I want you to: You can either say the letter or the meaning, whichever you like. I'm going to say each sentence twice, and then I'll give you the answer. You ready? Game on! Completing the school project is an ongoing process that will take months. Completing the school project is an ongoing process that will take months. If you answered a, then you are correct. We're talking about a series of steps taken to reach a particular end; and the key word in this sentence is completing, because we're talking about finishing something. Here's the next one: If you don't know the answer to a multiple choice question, use the process of elimination. If you don't know the answer to a multiple choice question, use the process of elimination. The answer to this one is also a. And this is something that your teachers might tell you: use the process of elimination. So if you know that this is not the answer and that is not the answer, then this must be the answer. The process of elimination. Here's the next question. In order to stay healthy, you should avoid eating processed foods. In order to stay healthy, you should avoid eating processed foods. The answer is c : artificial or unnatural. Again, you commonly hear this when talking about foods. Here's another one: I was so shocked that I wasn't able to process what was happening. I was so shocked that I wasn't able to process what was happening. Here the answer is b. We are talking about a chemical operation... up here. Hopefully, you got all of those right. Now, for the last bit of practice: I want you to use one of the words that we talked about today and write a sentence in the comments below. I'd also encourage you to read other people's sentences to see how they're using the word. And finally, please like the video if you feel like you've learned something new. And I suppose you can dislike the video if you feel like you haven't learned anything new and you're still watching this video. So that's it! Thanks for joining today's lesson and we'll see you next time! --- ## 229. CAT'S OUT OF THE BAG | Simple & Easy English Idiom | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `r1S2_wgMSs4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1S2_wgMSs4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:47:54 | --- Today, I'm going to teach you a new idiom with the help of my little furry friend, Georgie here. The idiom is to let the cat out of the bag. and to let the cat out of the bag means to reveal a secret. To reveal a secret. So when you let the cat out of the bag, you tell that secret or you reveal that secret. Gentlemen...cats out of the bag. When the cat is in the bag the secret is inside. Nobody knows about it. But when the cat gets out of the bag, the secret is out. So we can pretend that the cat is the secret. And if the cat gets out then there is no more secret. Georgey! Georgey! Georgey! Come here baby. Yeah, good job. So when the cat is out of the bag like she is now, it means that the secret is out. Jim! Why didn't you tell me that you had a crush on Pam? Well, the cat's out of the bag. Alright...alright...alright...so you know the name now. The cat is out of the bag. The cats out of the bag, doctor. No more secrets. For example if somebody tells me a secret and I tell someone else that secret, that means that I've let the cat out of the bag. So don't be that person. Don't let the cat out of the bag Uh. I'm covered in cat hair So let's practice the idiom. In the comments below tell us about a time when you let the cat out of the bag. Thank you so much for watching. If you like cats and you like idioms, don't forget to give this video a thumbs up. Thank you. We'll see you next time. --- ## 230. CAUSATIVE VERBS - Have, Get, Make, Let, Help | Super Important Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xF0votPJOAE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF0votPJOAE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:03:54 | --- I have a question for you and just tell me which one you think is correct I help my friends make dinner or I help my friends to make dinner so th this can be a bit tricky for a couple of reasons the first has to do with the verb help which I will come back to in just a little bit the second reason which is really the main reason is because when you learn verbs and I'm sure you've noticed that when you have the verb followed by an object it's often Then followed by the infinitive which is to plus the base verb so consider the following sentences I taught her to swim they asked me to stay we told him to help in each of these sentences we have the verb followed by an object followed by the infinitive something else I could tell you is that I always ask you to subscribe to the channel if you would like to improve your English skills and that way I can become your English teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals so in this lesson we're going to talk about positive verbs which are different than the ones I just showed you and it's important to understand how to form sentences with these verbs and use the causitive structure so that you don't make simple mistakes because these verbs are very common common and they're very useful so in today's lesson I am going to talk to you about the verbs have get make let and help so what exactly are causitive verbs well these are verbs that we use to indicate that someone or something causes something to happen so I'm going to use the word cause a lot so it's also important to understand what this word means and that is just the reason why something is happening let let me give you an example and then we'll go into more detail I could tell you my wife made me take out the garbage okay giving you a real life example so basically my wife is causing me to do something which is take out the garbage she is the reason why this is happening so the subject is causing the action now even though she's not doing the action of taking out the garbage she is in control of the situation so the subject may not do the action but controls the situation causing something to happen and notice that I'm not going to follow the object with to I'm not going to say to take now I'm trying to help you understand just the basic idea because the way that someone or something controls a situation and causes something to happen is either by paying asking convincing forcing or permitting someone want to do something right now I want to switch gears and talk to you about the causitive structure but I will come back to these ideas throughout the lesson so let's begin with have normally people think of the verb have meaning possession like uh I have a phone but in this case the meaning is different it means causing something to happen either by paying asking or convincing someone but mostly it's by paying and there are two different structures depending on whether the object object is a person or thing so you have someone plus the base verb you have someone do something or you have something plus the past participle you have something done let me walk you through a situation if I give you the sentence my brother painted my house we know what happened but we don't know what caused this to happen now if I said I had my brother paint my house I had someone do something now we know that I caused this to happen I I didn't do the action I didn't paint my house my brother did and and we can infer that I either asked him or convinced him or or maybe even paid him some money now if I said I had my house painted I had something done and I'm using that past participle again I am the one who caused the house to get painted but we we don't know who did the action and in this case the structure is similar to the passive and that's because the focus is not really on well who's doing the action because we don't know the most important thing is the result that that the house got painted and in this case we can infer that I paid someone to do this here are some more examples but when you think about these sentences keep in mind that the subject is causing something to happen but not doing the action so with have someone plus the base verb I could say I'll have my friend give us a ride or the teacher had the students learn positive verbs and with have something plus the past participle I could tell you they had their home remodeled or we had the event catered let's now have a look at the verb get which once again has two different structures depending on whether the object is a person or thing so you get someone plus two plus the base verb you get someone to do something or you get something plus the past participle you get something done to be honest it has the same meaning as have in that someone or something is causing something to happen either by asking convincing or paying like Mo mostly pay paying so as causitive verbs have and get may be used interchangeably the the only real difference is that have is a bit more formal than get once again though I have some sentences and we we'll just walk through a situation a mechanic fixed her car I'm just stating a fact and I'm not talking about who caused this to happen but if I say she got a mechanic to fix her car she got someone to do something so now we know that she caused this to happen and we can infer that she paid this person to do this so you could use this form if someone asks did she find someone to fix her car I'm asking if she caused the fixing to happen and then you could respond uh yeah she got a mechanic to fix her car and then if I said she got her car fixed she got something done again we're using the past partis simple and this is similar to the passive we don't know who did the action because that's not important the focus is on the result that the car is fixed and yes we can infer that she paid someone to do this so maybe somebody is asking can she give us a ride I I thought her car was in the shop in this case all that matters is the result that the car is now working so you could say yeah she can give us a ride she got her car fixed here are some more examples with get someone plus two plus the base verb I could say when my daughter gets older I'll get her to do her homework okay that's that's probably not true but an example with get or I could say we got our neighbors to give us a hand and then a couple of examples with get something plus the past participle um he's going to get his haircut this week or she got her nails painted yesterday then the the next three make let and help are a little easier because they share the same structure you have the verb plus the object plus the base verb and and really the object is going to be someone or something now when someone or something makes something happen generally it's by force or or just causing this thing to happen I could say my boss made me work late all right that's force or the Wind made my bike fall over once again for course or the movie made me cry it it just caused this to happen when someone or something lets something happen it's because of permission my boss let me leave work early she let me borrow her car the P lets us enter all of the museums and then we have the verb help which I told you at the beginning of the lesson is a little tricky because with the verb help you're not necessarily causing something to happen you're really assisting someone but still it's considered a positive verb because we use the same structure I could say my wife always helps me do the dishes or the article will help me understand the situation or my experience help me get the promotion now with help I should tell you it is possible to follow the object with two plus the base verb so we can use to help with all of these sentences and the meaning stays the same but because we're adding an additional word which is two most of the time people won't use it because it's just more efficient to say or write fewer words but you don't have to take my word for it you can check out engram viewer and compare these phrases on a graph so that you can visually see which of the phrases is more commonly used and as you can see using help plus the object plus the base verb is more frequently used but let's go back to my original question I help my friends make dinner or I help my friends to make dinner both of them are correct but it's more common for someone to just say I help my friends make dinner now let's test your knowledge with a mini quiz I will give you a moment to think of the answer and then I will tell you the correct answer are you ready here's your first question I M my toilet what do you think so the correct answer is C I had a plumber fix my toilet I had someone do something here's the next one she M her jacket the answer is she let her friend borrow her jacket she let someone do something here's another question the bad weather M are PL land what do you think the answer is the bad weather made us alter our plans it forced us to do this and then there's we M the contract the correct answer is we got a lawyer to look over the contract we got someone to do something let me know how you did down in the comments because I love hearing from you and of course I always try to get you to hit the like button just know I'm never going to make you hit the like button and I'm really just trying to review some of these causitive verbs but if you learn something new please hit that like button I hope you enjoyed the lesson thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time Soo --- ## 231. CHALLENGING RIDDLES IN ENGLISH | Critical Thinking Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `mi1Zd6Ku2tA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi1Zd6Ku2tA) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:41:33 | --- So I have a riddle for you. What has two hands but cannot clap? I'll tell you the answer to that in just a moment. So in case you're wondering what has two hands but cannot clap. That is a riddle. And the answer to that riddle is a clock. Because a clock has two hands that move around and tell us the time. But it cannot clap like that. Today, we have a super-fun video. At least, I think it's fun. I think it's fun too Yeah. Because it's an activity that you can do as a teacher. You can do it in the classroom with your students as an icebreaker. But it's also something that stimulates your mind. It's also a very good listening activity. And a great way to practice your creative thinking skills. To expand your vocabulary and just to improve your speaking. So what we're going to do is ask each other some riddles. So we would like you to play along. And we will ask you the riddles. And we will put them up there so you can see them in writing. And then after a few moments, we will give you the answer. Because we are going to try and guess what each other's riddles are. I am very worried because I think I am very bad at riddles. No, I am too. I'm not very good. We'll see how we do. Are you ready? Yep. Definitely ready. Do you want to go first or do you want to... We always have this question. Yeah, I'll ask you first okay. Okay, number one. What kind of dog never bites? What kind of dog never bites? So this is the point where you guys try guess as well. Don't Google it. I think I know that one. I would have to say a hot dog You're right. Is that right? Yeah, that's right. And now I'm a little hungry. I have one for you. Actually, now that I...okay, all right. This is a this is a good one. What word in the English language is pronounced poorly even by academic scholars? So what word in the English language is pronounced poorly even by academic scholars. It doesn't matter if it's an academic scholar. Smartest people in the world. Best students. Best teachers. This word is pronounced poorly. Do you want me to read it again? Oh, no. I know it. I know it. What? Poorly. Yes. Yes. Good job! Well done. Okay, this...do you want an easier one or harder one? You choose. It just...doesn't matter. Okay, I'll give you an easy one. How many months have 28 days? How many months have 28 days? It'd just be one month, which is February. Is that your final answer? So one? Is that your final answer? Yeah. Boom. No. All of them have 28 days. I thought it was easy. Oh, that's really funny. I love this game. Oh gosh. Alright, so this one...are you ready? Yes. Okay. Okay. How many didn't? What? What? What? Alright, I'll read it again. Wait. Ah, 20 ate chickens. Okay. So I'm guessing 10 didn't. Yeah, you got it. Twenty ate chickens. A little bit of a play on words. Okay, so the score, if anyone is keeping this score, is two to one. Oh gosh. Some of these are a little difficult now that I look at them. That's fine. What do tigers have that no other animals have? What do tigers have that no other animals have? Do you guys know? There's a trick. It's tricky. That's why, you know, I'm trying to think of like...what do Tigers have that no other animals have I don't know. A cereal. Tony the Tiger. He has his own cereal. Frosted Flakes. Who's Tony the Tiger? Frosted Flakes. What about Cheerios? No, it has nothing to do with cereal or any kind of food product. Should I tell you the answer? Yeah. What is it? Could you guys guess it? What do you think? Do they have...that no other animals have...baby tigers. They have baby tigers. Okay. Alright. Okay. Are you ready? I'm scared. I'm going to think of a hard one now. Yeah. If you have me you want to share me, if you share me then you don't have me. I don't know. If you have me you want to share me, if you share me then you don't have me. Other than me. That would be my only guess. But I don't...I don't think that's the right answer. Do you want a hint? Well think about what do people have that they really want to share with other people. But they can't. Or they shouldn't. Love. No, you're close. It's something...it's not like something... Patience. It's not something physical that you can give to somebody else. What do you share with other people? You share something. You have it. You want to share it. You shouldn't share it most of the time. Information. What? Is it called information? No, no, no. That's not the answer. It is information that you're sharing. News. No. A secret. If you have a secret, you want to share a secret. But once you share the secret, it's no longer a secret Fine, I'll give you a harder one too, then. Okay. Maybe it's not hard. Let's see. Let's see. What can you hold in your left hand, but not in your right hand? What can you hold in your left hand, but not in your right hand? Your...I don't know. I'm thinking like...what your...? Your left palm. But you can't hold that with your right hand? Your left...I guess you could. Your your left fingers. Your left... You can't hold...oh, you can't hold your right hand. There we go! Good job! Had to think about that one. It took a while. Are you guys getting these? Are you guessing them? Are you guessing them right? Alright you ready for the next one? Yes, yes, I am. What loses its head in the morning and gets it back at night? What? What what loses its head in the morning, but gets it back at night? Loses its head? Do you want a hint? Something about the sun or something. Do you want a hint? Yeah. It's not like a person or an animal. No, I figured it was the sun or something. Where's your head in the morning, and where's your head at night? Oh, a pillow! So as you can see that we had some fun. We both did about the same. Yeah. Some of those were challenging. Yeah, we didn't do very well, but... But we hope that you can see how these can be useful when you're teaching, when you're learning, when you're trying to challenge your brain. But also practice your English. Yeah, you really have to...you really have to think. It's fun. Now we have a riddle for you. So we will ask you this riddle. If you want to know what the answer is, you can go check out our Facebook page. We will leave a link in the description. So you can check and see if you got the answer right. So your riddle is... Do you know? What is it? If you want to know, go check out our Facebook post. And you can find out the answer there. Thank you guys so much for watching. We hope you enjoyed our little riddle challenge. And we will see you next time. Bye. --- ## 232. CLEAR THE AIR | Advanced (C2) #Idiom to Build Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ช | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BeFdbcBUjDk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeFdbcBUjDk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:56:51 | --- okay let's clear the air so to clear the air means to remove the bad feelings between people and you might use this if you have a couple of friends who are unhappy with each other or maybe some family members and there are just some bad feelings and then someone else the person who wants to get those feelings removed that's the person who's going to use this phrase make me join the Army okay I'll cut off a toe what okay okay we are just going to clear the air so if I have a couple of friends that are have been arguing and there are some bad feelings and I am the one who wants them to make up then I might tell them you know it's time to clear the air we we really need to clear the air and we need to just remove these bad feelings --- ## 233. COLLECTIVE NOUN QUIZ ๐Ÿ“ Can you name these groups of people? ๐Ÿค” #interactiveenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8cGzl_BRTxM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cGzl_BRTxM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:59:06 | --- do you know the names of these groups of people let's find out what would you call a group of students it's a class how about a group of singers this would be a choir now it's a little different than a group of musicians what would you call that group a band what if there are many people gathered around you could say it's a crowd and sailors this group you'd refer to as a crew how about uh players if you have that group you would refer to that as a team and a group of employees would be your staff and a group of rioters what would you call this group a mob --- ## 234. COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS IN ENGLSH | Prefixes Un- vs Dis- | Build English Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PraVZaXHpYI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PraVZaXHpYI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:29:07 | --- today I want to help you build your vocabulary by talking about some commonly confused words that's coming up hi everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today it's more of a vocabulary lesson even though there is a little bit of grammar to it because I want to talk to you about some commonly confused words with the prefixes on and dis now if you don't know what a prefix is it is a group of letters that is added before a base word and it changes the meaning so for example you could have well dress and undress agree disagree when you add those prefixes to the front of those base words it's going to change the meaning so let's start with the meaning of those prefixes unn and dis and in general they both pretty much mean not however there are some slight differences unn can mean not as in well unlock you know the door is unlocked it's not locked it can also mean the opposite of some action for example undress instead of getting dressed I you know I at night I got undressed and I put on my pajamas dis can also mean not as in disobey you do not obey someone it also can mean a lack of something for example honesty dishonesty this person lacks honesty or it can mean the opposite of some action disappear instead of appearing it's gonna it's gonna be the opposite it's gonna go away it's going to disappear now the reason why I say that that these prefixes can create a bunch of different commonly confused words is because there are some base words in which you can add either on or dis and when you do that you're going to have different meanings so let's begin by talking about our first set of words unqualified and disqualified so let's start with unqualified the base word qualified it's an adjective it may that you have some knowledge some skill some experience in order to do something this person is qualified if they are unqualified then then it's just like putting not in front of it this person does not have the skills the knowledge or the experience to do something they are unqualified I think of like a job position you apply for a job maybe you are qualified or you are unqualified for that position oh man I can't believe you fail oh I'm gonna lose my job just because I'm dangerously unqualified now disqualified this actually comes from the verb to qualify which means that you have if there's a competition that you have met the standards in order to participate or continue to qualify but if you are disqualified you may be disqualified from a competition or from an event which means that you have violated or broken those standards or you maybe have cheated in some way which now it prohibits you from participating in this event and in this case it would be an adjective you could say I was disqualified from the competition I did something wrong so I was disqualified or the team was disqualified because they were caught cheating you pull that crap one more time disqualified so with both of these words unqualified and disqualified they are both adjectives but the the meaning is completely different unqualified you have no skill or experience disqualified you have violated some some rule and you cannot participate in some activity next I want to talk to you about unable vs. disabled now both words have that base word able which means that you have the the skill or knowledge in order to do something if we add the prefix on unable it's also an adjective and it's like we're adding not in front of that that meaning that you are that you do not have the skill or the strength or the opportunity to to do something you are unable to do it Charlotte was a bit freaked out as well unable to sleep and unable to unpack I'm unable to have children disabled means that this this is actually a verb to disable something and when you disable something it means that you are you are ruining it so that it's not able to work that you are destroying something so that it does not work correctly this is actually the opposite of the verb enable so in that case you have another prefix there and able to enable something it means that you are you were doing something to get it working to disable something that you are doing something so that it's not working for example if there maybe there's an alarm and the alarm is broken you want to disable the alarm so that it stops going off please disable the field system in this case there are two different parts of speech you are unable to do something an adjective you can't do it or you want to disable something a verb you want to stop it from working correctly then we have unarmed versus disarmed and the difference between these two is really just the part of speech even though the meaning is a little similar so let's start with that base word again armed now this can be an adjective which you're describing someone who has weapons so if somebody is unarmed then you are it's also an adjective you are describing somebody who does not have weapons I often think you might hear this in a movie or TV show somebody walks out there hands are up and they say I'm unarmed don't shoot I'm unarmed you're unarmed indeed we are sir Tatum may I address you and your deputy but arm can also be a verb to arm someone which means to give them weapons and in that case to disarm means to give up weapons and in our original example unarmed versus disarmed we're talking about the past it is a regular verb armed disarmed the don't last long here gentlemen you will now be disarmed you can try you refuse to obey our laws so unarmed means you don't have weapons it's an adjective disarmed is the past tense verb means that you you are giving up your weapons disarmed now let's look at two words that I think are are commonly confused and that is uninterested versus disinterested so let's begin with interested which is an adjective that means that you that you are showing that you want to learn more about something or or be involved in it uninterested it's also an adjective which means that you that you do not want to learn more about it and I I think it maybe shows that somebody is bored or indifferent along with your station down the planet dr. unbiased let me give you an example if there is a competition and there's going to be a referee you want to have a disinterested referee somebody who is unbiased and they are going to call the game fairly you want a disinterested referee it can also mean that you you're not really feeling engaged in something for example you could say that somebody says something in a disinterested voice that there they have a disinterested voice they're not really engaged in what's happening it can also mean that you just don't care about the outcome that you are disinterested in somebody's progress that you you don't care about the outcome of this thing you are disinterested only time I have taken one the driver will not stop talking to me no matter how disinterested I say if you just give you yakking away now I think to be perfectly honest one reason why it can be very confusing is that over the years people have used this interchangeably even native speakers but I want you to keep that in mind I'm trying to teach you the traditional meaning of these two words so if somebody is uninterested I want you to think of those two words bored or indifferent if somebody is disinterested then I would describe them as being unbiased or impartial or they just they just don't care about the outcome now I want to talk to you about the difference between unlike versus dislike and the difference between these two words really depends on the part of speech of like so the word like can be a preposition which means that that something is similar to something else for example I could say I am just like my father I am very similar to my father if we're talking about like as a preposition then you want to use the prefix on to to just say not someone or something is unlike something or someone else I could say she is unlike her mother she is not similar to her mother she doesn't react to disappointment very well unlike me if like is a verb which often I think most of the times we use it as a verb it can have two different meanings the most common meaning is that that something is enjoyable I like playing basketball if I want to say the opposite that I don't like playing basketball then I would use the prefix dis I dislike playing basketball so to dislike something means that you do not find it enjoyable I don't think you dislike cop talk I think you dislike cops the other meaning of like as a verb which I think has become more and more popular since since the Internet has come about is it just means to show support or approval for something it oftentimes I would ask you guys I'd say hey please please like our video lessons now if we're talking about using like to show support then you could not show support and you would unlike thing too unlike something means that you are withdrawing your support or approval for this thing so whether you use dislike or unlike when we're talking about a verb it really just depends on the meaning if something is not enjoyable then you dislike something if you are withdrawing your support then you would unlike something then we have ungraceful versus disgraceful let's begin with graceful which is an adjective and if you describe something as graceful it means that it is beautiful or elegant and typically you're talking about the way something moves that the the dancers were very graceful if you want to say that that they are not beautiful typically in the way that they move then you would say that something or someone is ungraceful it is also an adjective the for an example I would say I am I am a nun graceful dancer if you see me dancing you that's probably the word that you would think of like you've ungraceful now if we're talking about disgraceful it is also an adjective but it has a different meaning the reason it has a different meaning is because this is connected to the verb to disgrace which means to bring shame on someone so disgraceful if something is disgraceful then you are describing it as being just shameful that it's something you don't like and you're like wow this is this is just disgraceful I think it is shameful it is disgraceful that's disgraceful you're disgraceful so I hope I was able to clear up a little bit of confusion among these words because depending on the prefix you use it's going to change the meaning completely and because of that I think these words are commonly confused and I'm I want to do a little review with you right now and try to repeat some of these words but having a tough time doing it because they all have this this negative connotation with not so I could say I I hope that you did not dislike the lesson I hope that you liked it and right now well I did not disable the comments I did not disable the comments so you can feel free to write me a comment and what else could I use I'm I'm just gonna leave you with the word ungraceful because I'm gonna start dancing right now so I suggest that you you go watch another lesson get out of here before you have to watch my ungraceful dancing I I'm a nun graceful dancer what can you do --- ## 235. COMMON ACRONYMS IN AMERICAN ENGLISH ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `aKI90pOtMqY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKI90pOtMqY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:30:58 | --- Hey everyone, happy 2020. Hope you all had a wonderful New Year and we are back. Back for more lessons. And today, this this is a great English lesson because this lesson is all about, as you can see from the picture right there, acronyms. I am going to talk to you about over 30 different acronyms that are common in American English. Now, some of these acronyms are universal. They are well known across all English varieties, if you're talking about American English or British English, Australian, Canada, but other acronyms are specific to the United States and as we go through the lesson, I will tell you which acronyms are really just used in the United States because they refer to they refer to things happening in the US. So, first I want to tell you that there are a couple of different types of acronyms and that's where I think we should begin because there are two types of acronyms. One type is an acronym that you say just like it's a word. You say it as though it's one word. The other type of acronym are those in which you say each individual letter. And that's what these acronyms in this lesson that's what this lesson's all about. Acronymism acronyms where you say each individual letter and that is called initialism. So, initialism is when the phrase is abbreviated using the first letter of each word and then you're going to pronounce each letter individually. For example, look at these two acronyms right here, LOL and i d k. Now, some of these acronyms may be very familiar to you, others may not be. I think this one is l o l, it stands for laugh out loud. And i d k stands for I don't know. These are common acronyms that people use when you are sending a text message or chatting. So, I've divided this lesson up into different categories. We're going to talk about acronyms based on different categories and the first category that I have for you because I use l o l and i d k are acronyms that are all about text acronyms, these text abbreviations. So, I've given you a list of acronyms right here. I will tell you what what each one means, but the reason why I'm giving you the list is that I want to see if you can identify some of these acronyms on your own. If you are looking at this list and thinking, "Okay, some of them sound familiar or some of them I know what they mean." Now, when we're talking about text acronyms, like you're on your phone, you're sending a a text message. Often usually acronyms are capitalized. If you see them in a newspaper, they're going to use capital letters. When we're talking about texting, some people you can use either capital letters or lower case. Texting is very informal, it's very casual, and that's why some people may use lower-case letters. But, for if you're thinking about you're writing a paper, something more formal in business or in school, and you want to use an acronym, you should use capital letters, okay? But, that's why I put both of them up here because we're talking about text acronyms, all right? So, some of them some of you already see, you you know some of these and that's great. So, let's look at these right now. BRB, that just stands for be right back. If somebody text you that, that means they'll be right back. IMHO, in my humble opinion. People often write this before they state their opinion about some topic. You may also see IMO, in which people say in my opinion. Uh NVM is never mind. BTW, by the way. THX, thanks. And B and the letter and the number four is just before. So, I I don't know about you. I am not I'm not a big person when it comes to writing text messages. So, I really don't use these acronyms. There are many many different text acronyms, and this has become I I think so much more popular in the past decade as more and more people are using cell phones and sending text messages, and they want to write faster, and they want to say things as quickly as they can. People tend to use these acronyms a bit more. Now, I will say also when you're writing, this is specific to text messaging. not avoid using these acronyms in any kind of formal writing. If you are writing a serious email, or if you are in business, these are just for texting, sending text messages. All right? So, these are some common text acronyms. Now, I have a question for you, and I want to see if you can identify some of the different acronyms because, again, this is interactive. I want you guys to write your answers in the chat or in the comments, uh and practice practice your English skills. So, here's an example of a a sample text message. I want you to try it try to read it out loud to yourself. Read it to yourself and say the acronym, the full form. Don't just say the letters. See if you can interpret this text and say the full form, all right? So, I want you to read this to yourself right now and see if you can just not only identify those acronyms, but actually you know what they mean. So, here are more acronyms. There are a total I've highlighted them for you. There are a total of four acronyms in this text message, all right? So, if you don't know what these acronyms mean, some of them I think are a little easier than others. Um but, these are the meanings. So, the number two plus night just stands for tonight. Like you're practicing, you're saying it. STBY, sucks to be you. This is something that people might say kind of jokingly when you want to sympathize with somebody and you're jokingly you're you're saying it among friends, you know, oh, that sucks to be you. JK I think is one of the more common text acronyms, just kidding. And TTYL means talk to you later. So, before I asked you to read this text message in the full form, you would say, "I heard you have to work tonight. Sucks to be you. Just kidding. Don't worry, won't watch the movie without you. Talk to you later." That is how you would say this message in its full form. Again, I think some people, especially I think younger people nowadays, they use acronyms all the time. They use them quite often. Um for me, I don't really use them that much, especially when uh I'm texting. So, the first set that I wanted to talk to you about were text acronyms. Now, I want to look at some information acronyms. These are acronyms that were will give you some more specific information about something. And I think these are pretty common right here. So, looking at these acronyms, again, see if you can identify these acronyms, all right? What do they mean? If you know what they mean, go ahead, write it in the chat, share with us. I will tell you what these acronyms mean, but this is to give a little more specific information. So, the meaning of these four acronyms, all right? F A Q. This is an acronym that I think you will often see if you're, you know, online and you're searching for information on the internet, and you may see on a website it says FAQ, frequently asked questions. If you have a question about something, this is where This is where you want to go. You want to go to this section and see what questions people have. Frequently asked questions. S U V. Sport utility vehicle. We're talking about a car. Now, SUVs, you can see these vehicles all over the world, but again, I think this is somewhat specific uh to America. In the United States, there are so many SUVs. If you are in the US and you're driving on the on the interstate, you will see SUVs everywhere. SUV, SUV, SUV. I was just back in the United States. I was surprised at how many SUVs I saw. But when you're talking about a vehicle, this is a common acronym. They would refer to it as an SUV, a sport utility vehicle. D O A. This is more It's probably not as common, but it's more of a medical term. It stands for dead on arrival. And this is a an acronym that you may hear if you're watching maybe a TV show, like a medical drama, and you might hear D O A. Speaking of medicine, MD. This is another very common acronym that you might find at the end of a person's name, and it just means that they are a medical doctor, all right? MD, medical doctor. This would be found in the title of somebody's name, okay? So, again, let's let's practice a little bit, all right? I want to practice, and I want you to tell me, what does this acronym stand for? So, I've given you the sentence, "For any online business, SEO is so important for success." What does this acronym stand for? I think you can identify it because the acronym is capitalized, but what do you think it means? And I think often times with acronyms, some of them are so common. Like, I think SEO is very popular. You may hear people talking about it, you may see it if you're reading a newspaper article. I think sometimes people know what it means, but they don't know the meaning of the individual letters. So, try to tell me, what do you think that those individual letters mean? The S, the E, and the O. Do you guys have any idea what that stands for? So, if we're talking about an online business, we're talking about SEO, which is search engine optimization. For any online business, search engine optimization is so important for success that you want to have SEO on your web for your website, so that if somebody's searching for information, your website will get ranked near the top. So, that is SEO, search engine optimization, okay? And this is one I think is more common. You're going to hear this, people just using the acronym SEO, especially if you work online or you work in an online business, people often talk about SEO. Now, the next one I have I want to do a question, okay? So, I'm just going to tell you the question. I want you to listen to the acronym and tell me what you think it means, okay? So, the question that I have for you is if somebody ask you, "Hey, what's your DOB?" All right? I need you to I need you to tell me your DOB. What is that? What's your DOB? So, again, this is just listening for the acronym and then trying to understand, "Well, what is this person asking me? What are What information are they trying to get? What's your DOB?" Of course, if somebody's asking for your DOB, they are asking for your date of birth. What's your DOB? Now, this one, I think maybe it was a little tricky because I I think often you would see this in writing. Not many people might ask you in speaking DOB, but if you are filling out an application, if you're filling out a document, you may see this DOB and it's asking for your date of birth, DOB, date of birth. Okay, so, we've gone through some some acronyms already. We've gone through some texting acronyms. We've gone through some information acronyms and we're doing this by category. So, if you're joining us If you're joining me today, we're we're building vocabulary and teaching many different common acronyms in the United States. But, first, because it is the new year, I want to give a special thank you, a special shout-out to all of our patrons out there who are helping support Interactive English and really make this possible. I want to give all of our current patrons a shout-out and just a a warm thank you to Vicky, Gustav, Aiden, Ann, Chung, Danny, Jerry, Joanne, Pavel, Pipi, Prof, Juhander, Richard, Serge, Sim, Lee, Jandron, Will, Peggy. Thank you guys so much for supporting what we do. If you guys are interested in becoming a patron, there is a link in the description down below. You can check that out. We have some cool rewards. Now, let's continue with the the next part, all right? The next category that I have for you is business acronyms. Okay? So, here are some I I think common business acronyms that you may you may find if you are reading an email, a business email to a colleague. If you're sending information to a colleague or just in business in general, you're going to find these acronyms, all right? So, what do you think they mean? Just looking at them, hopefully you can see some of them and you identify them immediately, right away. So, let's let me tell you. I'll tell you what these acronyms mean and then I have some more questions for you. All right, yes, Aiden, how are you? Excellent, good to see you. And so, the first one, CTA, stands for call to action. This is a a common business acronym. This is an acronym that I see a lot when talking about YouTube. And they talk about videos and like, oh, you need to do a call to action. You need to tell somebody to do something. For example, often in our video lessons, I would tell you guys like, oh, go ahead, hit the like button. That is a call to action. Me asking you to do something, whether it's hit the like button or write us a comment down below, those are all call to actions that I'm asking you to do something. So, that would be an example. CTA, call to action. MBA, this is Uh another one if you're talking about somebody's education and say this person has an MBA, it stands for a Master of Business Administration, an MBA. EST This is specific to the United States because it's talking about a time zone. So, you may see this when somebody's referring to a time like the meeting is going to begin at 3:00 p.m. EST. Eastern Standard Time and this is a common time zone because it includes New York City. So, New York City is EST, it is Eastern Standard Time. So, the US has many different time zones. You have EST, Eastern Standard Time, CST, Central Standard Time, uh Mountain Time as well as PST, Pacific Standard Time. So, those are all acronyms that are related to time and there are many, many common There are many acronyms that are related to time all across the world. So, the last one, which is again a great business one. I think many of us like like that that we enjoy this acronym right here because maybe we make a little more money. OT is talking about overtime, all right? I'm trying to collect some OT or I'm going to work some OT this next week. I'm going to work overtime. All right, are you ready for some questions? Um business acronyms. I want you to write your answer in the chat. All right? Um somebody asked Melissa, is EST only for New EST is for any any place within that time zone. So, all those states, uh New York, Florida, uh Georgia, there are many places that would be in Eastern Standard Time. So, what do you think about this question? I'm supposed to submit my application to HR. All right? You see the acronym HR. What does HR stand for? This is a very common business acronym when people if you work for a big company and they're talking about HR. All right? What do you think? HR. HR stands for yes, Holly, excellent. If you're talking about HR, you're talking about human resources. Often in a big company, there is a department which is human resources which deals with people hiring people or if you have something, you know, you have a problem with a boss or another employee, you might go talk to people in human resources or they just shorten it and they just call it HR. HR. Um The next one, again, this is a listening one. So, I'm just going to tell you a question. I want you to tell me what does the acronym acronym mean. So, if I say, you know, "We can't start the meeting without you. What's your ETA?" All right? We can't start the meeting without you. What's your ETA? And I think this is a common question. I use this question quite often if I'm talking to somebody else and I say, "Hey, you know, you know, can you tell me what's your ETA?" Or if I'm writing an email to somebody and I want to to know this information, I might ask, you know, "Hey, what's your ETA?" What do you think it stands for? ETA. I hope I hope that you wrote or that you know that ETA stands for estimated time of arrival. So, if somebody's asking, you know, for your ETA, they're asking what time will you arrive? What time will you get there? We can't start the meeting without you. What's your ETA? And again, this is one something that, you know, I might ask to a friend if we're meeting out and they're running late, I'd say, "Hey, you know, what's your ETA? When are you going to get here?" The next one, the next set of acronyms are government acronyms. And again, some of these are definitely more specific to the United States because we're talking about the US government. So, looking at these acronyms, I'm sure some of them may be a little familiar to you, others may not be. What do you think they mean? All right? Um, do you have any idea what these acronyms right here mean? So, I hope the first one is CIA. This stands for the Central Intelligence Agency. If you watch TV, especially some drama shows, action, this is an acronym that you may hear quite often. Somebody works for the CIA. They work for the Central Intelligence Agency. The next one, DNC stands for Democratic National Committee. This is an acronym that I think you will hear more of this next year or this year because in the United States, it is an election year. We're going to uh have a vote for the president, and right now they're going through the Democratic primary. So, this is an acronym that you may hear if or you may see if you're reading a newspaper or if you're watching a TV broadcast, they might talk about a news broadcast. They might say the DNC, the Democratic National Committee. MIA is more of a military acronym. It stands for missing in action. If somebody is MIA, they are missing in action. It basically means when when soldiers would go off to war, if they could not find the soldier, if they don't know what happened to them, this person, if this person is alive or dead, they would say that the person is MIA. They are missing in action. Nowadays, I think you could use this casually and um just talking about everyday life. If somebody is missing, if they are not there, you could just say, "Hey, this person, they're MIA. I don't know where they are. They're gone. They're missing. They're MIA." POW, this is definitely specific to military and war, prisoner of war. If somebody is a POW, it means they are a prisoner of war. All right, so here's a couple more questions to test your knowledge of these government acronyms. What does it mean if somebody says, "Well, hey, we work for the FBI." Again, this is a common acronym that if you watch a any kind of action show that has to do with the US government, then this is an acronym that you may hear. FBI, what does it mean? We work for the FBI. I think I think this is another acronym, maybe you you've probably heard it, but perhaps you don't know what the individual letters stand for. So, I hope if you're talking about the FBI that you guys said, "We work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation." FBI stands for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, another common one. All right, so here is another listening one for you. So, again, talking about the TV dramas, I might say I could say this. I could say, "Ooh, CSI uncovered some new evidence to solve the mystery." CSI uncovered some new evidence to solve the mystery. What do you think that acronym stands for? And it is actually it was the it's the name of a TV show. So, some of you may have even seen this TV show. CSI uncovered some new evidence to solve the mystery. There are many different shows for CSI. I think you had CSI Las Vegas, CSI New York, CSI Miami. And if you're saying if you're talking about CSI, it just stands for crime scene investigators. Crime scene investigate investigators uncovered some new evidence to solve the mystery. So, CSI crime scene investigators, like I said, there is there are many different TV shows that are CSI. It is about these crime scene investigators going around and trying to solve these mysteries, these murders. Uh the next one the next set of acronyms. Um let's say I don't know any of these. That's okay. And again, the the whole idea is just to practice more of these acronyms. Try to get more exposure to learn them because these are these are acronyms that you may read about in a newspaper. You may hear people talking about them in conversation or when watching the news. So, this is this is useful information. And I know I know that I'm giving you a lot of acronyms right now, but the idea is I I thought some of them you may be familiar with. Now, these are identifying acronyms right here. Again, some of them are very specific to the United States, which is why I said that this lesson is about common acronyms in the United States. Some of that some may be more easy than others. So, these are all identifying acronyms. If you don't know what they mean, CDC stands for Center for Disease Control. Again, this is an organization in the United States that would talk about places that are oh, it's it's not safe to travel there because there's an outbreak of this disease. Or they talk about certain illnesses, even diseases that are happening, things that are happening in the United States. And you might hear when they're Anything health-related, you might hear talk people talk about CDC, the Center for Disease Control. NBA, okay? National Basketball Association. Any sport that you're talking, especially those in the United States all of them use acronyms. NBA, National Basketball Association. NFL, National Football Association. PGA, Professional Golf Association. There are so many professional sports and they use these acronyms. MLA, this is for I'd say students. If you are in school and you're writing an essay and you have to you have to cite your sources. And they say, "Oh, what style should I use? APA or MLA?" That is where this come from. MLA, this is more for really academic If somebody's getting their masters or PhD, they may come across this acronym. Stands for Modern Language Association. Modern Language Association, MLA. And the last one, NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This was an organization, again, specific to the United States. It was created in the early 1900s. It's a civil rights organization and that is exactly what they they do exactly what they say they do. It is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. So, again, this is an acronym that you may read about in a newspaper or you may hear if you're listening to some news broadcast and they talk about the NAACP. All right, are you ready for another couple of acronyms? If I I give you this one this sentence and say, "Well, he has an AA meeting later this week." What does it mean? AA. If we're talking about AA, what do you think? He has an AA meeting this week. This picture, it's not a very great picture um to represent this meeting, but again, this is an acronym that yeah, again, you may hear if you're watching a TV show or a movie, AA. He has an AA meeting this week. So, if you hear this acronym, AA, it's talking about Alcoholics Anonymous. Yes, somebody has it just came in here. Excellent. He has an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting this week. AA is talking about it's uh it's an organization for people that maybe they have a problem drinking and they're trying to get help. And they would go to these meetings, an AA meeting to get help with their drinking problem so that they can ultimately so that they can quit drinking alcohol altogether. So, AA stands for Alcoholics Anonymous. The next one, all right? The next one is again, it's a listening one. So, what if I told you that okay, when I grow up, I want to be a WWE Superstar. What does that mean? When I grow up, I want to be a WWE Superstar. That is another acronym um I guess you could say it's related to sport. WWE. Maybe you're familiar with it, maybe you're not, but I'd say when I grow up, I want to be a WWE Superstar and that would just mean you want to be World Wrestling Entertainment Superstar. So, this is something that's very popular uh especially in the United States. WWE stands for World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE. All right. So, again, that was I think in total those were 37 different acronyms that I taught you today. I hope that you are possibly familiar with some of them already. If you're not, um then that's great because I hope you learn some new acronyms. That the goal is not just really that you're going to go out and just use these in general conversation. I think even more important than that is that you are able to comprehend these acronyms if you are reading about them in a newspaper article or you're just listening and you hear these acronyms in listening if you're listening to the news or a podcast. These are common acronyms that that you are going to hear and use. So, please if you learned something new here, here is my call to action, my CTA. If you learned some new acronyms, please hit that like button down below. I know many of you before had been requesting a lesson on acronyms because well, I think they can be a little confusing and also they are very common. You see these acronyms all the time. So, it it's good to go through them and you know, try to understand a little bit more about what they mean. And when you understand the entire acronym and you actually see the words, I think that will help you understand the meaning a bit better. So, please again, hit that like button, share this lesson if you know others who are trying to practice and improve your English. You can always write to us below down in the comments because we love hearing from you and you can check us out on social media. We are active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and anything else? Nope, just right here on YouTube. So, thank you guys so much for joining me today. Again, hope you had a a I I I you have a wonderful 2020. There is so much going on this year and there is much much more to come and I'll let you know. So, thank you. Dennis, thanks. Antonio, Olivia, Melissa, Aiden, Eloisa, thank you guys for joining me today. I appreciate it. Um Putri, Lolly, Donna, Donnie, Yorback, Donnie Yorback, woo. Sorry if I mispronounced names. Yana, Lusacorn, thank you. Maple strip, Myra, thank you guys. Hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 236. COMMON TONGUE TWISTERS | Practice Your English Pronunciation ๐Ÿ˜œ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZCGnT25PZA4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCGnT25PZA4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:39:52 | --- Today we're talking about tongue twisters! We will twist your tongue. That's coming up! Welcome to today's lesson. It's a pronunciation practice lesson because we're going to do tongue twisters, and show you some different tongue twisters We're going to practice reading them together, saying them together, and then you can hear us try it to say them, and we'll look kind of silly and foolish. You're supposed to make mistakes. Nobody says these perfectly. This will be a good speaking exercise, also good for listening. And if you'd like more listening practice, you can check out Audible and sign up for a free trial and get yourself an audiobook. So we'll leave a link to audible in the description below, and you can go check that out. It's a shameless, shameless pitch for Audible. The way we're going to do this is we're going to read one of the tongue twisters to you. You can just listen to it, and then we will show you the tongue twister, read it again, And then we can all read it together. And we want you to practice with us. So you can look silly too. You can also practice these as well at home. It's fun. How much wood could a wood chuck... would a woodchuck chuck? Okay, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? So remember, with the W sound, you've got to keep those lips rounded. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood Alright, so let's Let's try and say this together, and you guys can say it with us. So now, let's practice saying this quickly. Ready, let's see what you got. Yea, it's hard to remember that part. This is like the only tongue twister that I can do quickly. Other than that, I'm a failure. That's good. I'm done. I said like, 7 times. The next one that we want to practice with you is She sells seashells by the seashore. So you have the s sound and that "sh" sound They're both voiceless sounds and your tongue is just right behind your front teeth for that s sound, And "Shh" it's like you're saying, telling somebody to be quiet. The tongue is in the center of your mouth, and the air is kind of flowing right over the top. So let's have a look and I'll say it one more time. So let's let's say it together. Ready? And we want you to say with us. Yes, please. All right, so simple enough. Let's See you say it quickly. and Ioana would like to go first. Oh Gosh. Ok So hopefully you guys could do the whole "She seashells" stuff that was ...That was difficult for me. We will also leave these tongue twisters in the description if you would like to read them. Ok. numero 3. I'm sorry. This is English. The "w" sound again. I'm exercising my tongue. If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch? That makes sense! It does make sense. It''s not a sentence you're going to use in every day English. Are you ready to read that together? So we'll say this one together. Ready? Easy! Alright, so now let's let's practice saying this one quickly. Ladies first! Oh gosh, why is always me first? Yes Well played. So the next one is a very short one, but I think for me, I think it's the most difficult to say. It's only three words, and it is: Unique New Yok. So it's like saying... you're saying the city. and it's unique. Wait, that's the hardest one for you? It is, yea! Why are you laughing? I think it's the way that your mouth is moving forward So (U) your mouth's coming forward (nique)and then your jaw is dropping backwards and then it's coming forward again (York). It's just... I don't know, I have a tough time saying it. Again, it's just three words: And this one, you're just supposed to really try and say as quickly as you can. So, ready? You guys can say it with us And then we try to say it as quickly as possible. I completely screw the whole thing up Different sounds are more difficult for different people. I'm stretching. Are you just warming up your tongue? OK. So this is our fifth one. The sounds to practice here are the "ch" sound and the "sh" sound. And I know some some some people really have trouble differentiating between these two sounds. "CH" and "SH". The "ch"- your tongue is gonna touch the top part of your mouth. And then "sh"- that tongue is a little lower. The tongue is in the center and the air just flows out. So they're different What's the what's the tongue twister? If Stu chews shoes, should Stu chew the shoes he chews? Ah, this is hard for me. It's hard because it switches between the "s" sound, the "sh" sound and the "ch" sound. Ok, so I'm going to read it. Alright, let's try and read it together. Ready? All right. Let's see what you got. I can't do it fast, I can't! That was wrong Wow, this one is difficult! But we can't say it fast... He shouldn't choose those shoes. He shouldn't chew the shoes, but he could choose the shoes he doesn't chew. My tongue really does hurt! It's a good pronunciation exercise. Yea. We hope that you could say those tongue twisters with us. And now you can practice them on your own and practice your pronunciation. In the comments, let us know which one do you think is the most difficult to say. Which one was the most challenging for you? I'd be very curious to know what you guys thought and which one you thought was the most difficult. Was it "Unique New York"? like Wes, or Everybody's going to be like: "that was so easy!" So if you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. We always appreciate when you let us know that you enjoy practicing speaking and practicing your pronunciation. Thank you guys so much for watching, and we will see you next time. --- ## 237. CONFUSING ENGLISH WORDS....EVEN FOR NATIVE-SPEAKERS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bpFVLHCzI1o` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpFVLHCzI1o) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:40:11 | --- what is up guys welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place you want to be to practice and improve your English skills and we are going to improve our English skills today because I have a vocabulary lesson for you and it's a very useful lesson because we all need to build our vocabulary and make sure that we're using the right words correctly because a lot of times you might get confused about when to use certain words especially words that have a very similar meaning and that's what we're gonna talk to you about today we are going to go over commonly confused words some confusing words in English and I'm gonna tell you the difference between some of these words show you how to use them when to use them give you some examples and then at the end we're gonna test your knowledge and we're gonna do some practice and and you guys are gonna need to answer some questions using the the words that we talked about today so I promise you I'm going to make you a guarantee that watching this lesson you are going to learn something new even if you're a native speaker I bet you will learn something new because these are not only words that are difficult for English learners these are words that can confuse native speakers sometimes I am even guilty of misusing some of these words at one point or another so it's always it's always good practice it's always great so I just want to say hello to what's up Lally Krista how are you I'm Jean thank you guys for joining us if you are watching please say what's up in the comments we love hearing from you guys and and we just want to hear from you so if you're watching this later say what's up to us in the comments Ahmir Anna pay that o me thank you thank you guys for joining us sorry if I miss some Soumya as we go through this lesson I'm gonna ask you guys to write some some sentences and participate in the lesson so again that's useful for those even if you're watching it later you get to see how some of these words are used so let's begin alright the first the first set of confusing words that I have for you right here see watch and look and the reason why these are confusing is because they have a very similar meaning and sometimes they can be used interchangeably and sometimes they cannot so for example let's just talk about I'm gonna talk to you about one at a time so si si means to notice something using your eyes that you see something with your eyes I could say you know I see a TV something that you notice with your eyes so right now in the comments I want you to tell me what do you see besides me look around whatever wherever you are the room that you're in wherever and write that in the comments what do you see I see what so see is to notice something using your eyes watch is when you observe what is happening or being done so it's almost like the something is happening that's continuous and you would say therefore I watch TV because you're watching a show or a movie and it's continuous so that's a little different so you could for example I could say I see a bird but if I do an activity like oh I'm gonna go watch the birds I'm going to go bird-watching and you're actually going to observe the birds for a longer period of time now one time that you can use these the same would be like it as a question if you're asking a question oh did you see the movie you're asking this person if they have watched the movie you could also say did you watch the movie so in that case they may be interchangeable and finally look so look is basically you are directing your eyes in a particular direction often followed by the preposition at you look at something so I could say I'm looking at the TV in this case look at and see have a very similar meaning if you say oh I see a TV I'm looking at the TV and often we talk about look at it's often referred to things that are like right now it's used in the continuous tense quite often you are looking at something or as a command I think of schools and teachers would tell our parents would tell their kids look at me look at me when I'm talking to you so these are great words that we use all the time so it's important to know the difference and just acknowledge that there is a difference in how we use them and a great way to learn them is just again reading and listening and exposing yourself to the language so let's read something that I see a lion ma Wow all right interesting excellent I'm looking at you yes thank you I'm looking at you guys what else do we have I'm looking at your face and excellent I'm looking at your eyes perfect all right so those are some great examples we are watching you right now yes you guys are watching this lesson you're watching what is being done the next set of words borrow and lend these are words that have almost the the opposite meaning but that they can be commonly confused because I think in many languages and some languages you use the same word it's not two different words so one thing we we did a lesson on these words which if once with this lesson gets posted we will link it up above I highly recommend you check that lesson out borrow versus lend because we give so many examples about how and when to use it and practice but in short to borrow is to take something all right I am taking so I would say can I borrow some money I am asking to take the money now to say the opposite to lend is to give alright notice my actions take give all right so to lend is to give something and I would say can you lend me some money I'm asking you to give some money so again these are words that that can be commonly confused alright I borrow you would lend alright so again pay close attention and and try I think most people would understand if you confuse these words it's okay but check out that lesson we will link it later on the next set of words this is these are words that I think native speakers even confuse empathy and sympathy and they have different meanings so it's it's good to be aware of what they each mean and also be aware that we often use them as verbs to empathize or to sympathize and you would empathize with someone or sympathize with someone when you empathize with someone empathy it means that you know what another person is experiencing because you have also had the same experience you have been through this so you know what it's like you know what that feeling is like and usually we're talking about this people that are experiencing hardships or problems or having issues it's not a good feeling and you you you have experienced the feelings of another so if somebody says oh like I feel your pain it's like I have had the same experience so I know what what you're going through I know how it feels you can empathize with that person sympathy is different because you may not have had that experience but you you feel for that person you want to show them that you know you you're sad for them or you you feel bad and your heart is with them so you can show sympathy which is more understanding that person is suffering or they're going through a bad experience in that case you might say I'm sorry for I'm sorry that you're in pain so empathize and sympathize very different empathize you've done that you've had the experience sympathize you're just showing that you you understand what this person is going through another great set of words right here imply and infer again these words have completely different meanings and it's again something that I think many native English speakers have trouble with once in a while so to imply is to express something indirectly and this is common I think in the United States because many people tend to be indirect and you can express it indirectly with the words that you use you can also express it indirectly by the tone of your voice and I apologize the example I couldn't think of a better example off the top of my head so if we have that sentence and I use it and I say it in a way like you know it's just another rainy day thinking about my tone and the way I'm saying it you can imply that I'm not happy about rainy days I don't really like them it's kind of like oh no it's raining again if somebody says yeah it's just another rainy day you can imply that they don't like rainy days I'm not saying it directly I'm implying it this is different from to infer to infer something means that you are looking at a situation you see all the evidence around you and because you see these things that you can conclude something from that you can conclude some evidence or reasoning for example it could say you know sticking with our rain theme somebody's oh he's wet it must be raining outside if somebody enters a room and they are soaking wet then you're probably going to think oh okay it's outside you you don't know if it's raining but because of that I can infer that it's raining so again we are going I'm going to quiz you guys on these words so thank you guys for commenting and sharing these sympathy sentences these this is perfect so Samara I sympathize with the poor yes you want to you can feel that your heart goes out for them I have sympathy for your brother exactly could you lend me some money not right now I'm not in a position that right now but great use of the word so again these are commonly confused words let's look at the next part but before we do quick announcement wanted to let you guys know that we are on patreon so please check us out on patreon we have some very cool rewards if you guys want to help support free English education that we are doing here on our channel check out patreon we will leave a link in the description so the next set of words I think again this is not I don't think this is too difficult but this is when this is mostly for writing because these are homonyms who's and who's so if you have who's with the apostrophe WH o apostrophe s that is the contracted form for who is and I could say okay who is going to make coffee who's going to make coffee that sounds exactly the same as whose WH o s e which is the possessive form of who and if I have some coffee or there's some coffee on the table I might say whose coffee is that it's not mine I want to know whose coffee that belongs to which is the possessive form of who so whose and whose it's important to know the difference especially in writing if you're sending a text message or even writing an email one is the contracted form one is showing the possession the next one and this is a this is one that I think native speakers commonly confused eg and ie so these are both Latin roots and what it means is so eg I wrote it exempli gratia I'm probably mispronouncing that but if you say eg it basic it means for example you are saying something and then you're giving examples eg so I said my sentence there I always eat out for lunch ok I always eat out for lunch and then I give some examples maybe I go to fast food or something I just wanted to give examples people know of so I'd say I always eat out for lunch eg for example KFC McDonald's chick-fil-a alright if you are in the United States or if you visit the United States and you're going to eat fast food check out chick-fil-a that's what I would recommend and this video is not sponsored by chick-fil-a by the way so check each e is giving an example so right now in in the comments in the chat give me an example say something that you do and then give some examples eg and then list a few things so remember if you are using eg you're providing a list because you're more more likely you're going to give more than one example so ie which is different it stands for a desk in Latin it means in other words so in this case you're you're mostly making a statement about something and then you would specify what that something is ie and then you would give it the name so for example I ate lunch at that new restaurant I didn't say what restaurant it is but then I will later so I ate I ate lunch at that new restaurant ie in other words good burger that's the name of the restaurant good burger and I use that because we are actually eating good burger tonight and if you ever find yourself in Budapest Hungary and are looking for a burger I'd recommend good burger also not sponsored by good burger but a good place so in that case I mentioned this new restaurant and then in other words you say what the restaurants name is so again eg for example ie means in other words all right so excellent I want of you I want to be rich in other words good life lolly thank you for the example excellent let's look at the next set of words we have resign to resign and to re-sign again one difference between these would be the the syllable stress so resign the stresses on that second syllable resign which means to voluntarily give up a job or position and doing it in a formal way that people know that you are going to stop working and you are resigning you are resigning from your job I resigned from the company last year remember that stress is on that second syllable to re-sign to resign is to sign something again alright I had to resign the documents that that prefix that re I think most of you know redo reread resign it means to do something again so let's look at the next set this is another group of words that I think it's commonly confused not only by English learners but also by native speakers sometimes uninterested uninterested and disinterested so if you are uninterested it means that you are not interested in something alright you're uninterested it's boring you don't care about it say yeah I'm uninterested in their discussion I don't care what they're talking about disinterested means that you are impartial that you are not in favor of this or you are not in favor of that you are neutral you are disinterested about the situation that is happening so if somebody's having a debate and they're having an argument I could say well I'm disinterested in their debate it doesn't mean that I'm not interested it means that I do I don't agree with this or I don't agree with that I'm impartial I'm disinterested one thing I will say is that one reason I think these two words are can be really confusing I noticed that I think nowadays I saw I've seen it in some dictionaries they do give disinterested also a meaning as not having interest because I think it's just it ends up being misused so much so they did that I noticed in some online dictionaries they gave that as a second meaning in which case they would be synonyms but if you really want to know if you want to say that you are not interested stick with uninterested you are uninterested in something disinterested means that you are are impartial so I hope that you guys I hope you guys got all of that because now we are going to practice what we have learned so I'm gonna give you guys some questions and I will list the the words for you and it's just it's just a gap fill because you didn't fill it in with the correct word the only other thing I would tell you is pay pay attention to the grammar see if you can write the whole sentence that's great or just write the correct word which word are you going to use so we just we talked about sixteen different words now so it can be a little challenging let's let's see how you guys do alright so this first one okay I mmm her yesterday at the grocery store okay I mmm her yesterday at the grocery store remember I said pay close attention to the grammar so what first you need to decide okay which of those words are you going to use to complete the sentence and then again you know I told you to pay attention to the grammar how would you say this and if you want to I think a good way to practice no matter where you are say the sentence out loud just go ahead and say it out loud practice your speaking right now so what do you guys think alright I mmm her yesterday at the or excellent Connells attained Paulo I'm said excellent perfect you guys well it's going to get more difficult alright I saw her yesterday at the store alright that you're talking about somebody that you you met with your eyes alright oh I saw that person yesterday or I saw them at at this other place and again yesterday that's what I meant use that past tense I saw her yesterday at the grocery store next question alright so he was able to express hmm because he knows what it's like to go through a breakup alright he was able to express hmm because he knows what it's like to go through a breakup which which set of words am I talking about which commonly confused words right that in the comments I think this one I hope I don't think it should be too difficult again even if you are writing even if you're watching this later please I encourage all of you participate in the lesson make it an active learning lesson and go ahead and write your answers in the comments all right so what would you say he was able to hmm he was able to express mmm because he knows what it's like to go through a breakup all right I think many of you excellent got this remember we're talking about the two words that we're thinking about would be empathy or sympathy and remember I said he knows what it's like to go through a breakup if you've experienced this before if you've experienced this thing you are able to express empathy because you know what this experience is like again you know that that's the difference between empathy and sympathy empathy you have gone through the experience sympathy you are just saying you know your heart is with somebody that you feel sorry next okay this is uh this is like a dialogue alright a and B so the first person would say you I know you owe people a lot of money and then suddenly money is missing from the cash register then be the other person would say are you hmm that I stole the money so again this is a conversation between two people the first person I know you owe people a lot of money and then suddenly money is missing from the cash register all right and then the other person are you hmm that I stole the money what set of words again there's only one answer for these so what do you guys think how would you how would you fill that one in all right if you just join us we are practicing with these confusing words that we just talked about all right then this is a dialogue I know you owe people a lot of money and then suddenly money is missing from the cash register hmm and then the other person are you hmm that I stole the money in this case again and make sure should be using that correct grammar you guys are rocking this excellent perfect we are the correcting it yes are you implying that I stole the money the person is not saying it directly they're just giving a situation all right well wait you owe people money suddenly the some money is gone and then they'd say you know are you implying that I stole the money implying you are not saying something directly and that's different than infer because infer would be using them some situation to come to a conclusion all right so let's look at another one this is a double all right a double one he mmm money from his friends in order to buy tickets to one of the most amazing sporting events in the world mmm the World Cup all right so this is this is a double one write the words in the in the chat or in the comments if you're watching this later what do you guys think he money from his friends in order to buy tickets to one of the most amazing sporting events in the world hmm the World Cup alright so what we have for for this alright we're talking about I think you guys got the the first part alright again we're talking about money alright so you'd have to think is it borrow or lend remember borrow is if you borrow money you're taking it lending would be giving it so in this case he what he borrowed money from his friends in order to buy tickets to one of the most amazing sporting events in the world what is that amazing what is that amazing sporting event in other words the World Cup so in that case borrowed and ie which means in other words remember ie in other words eg is for example and you tend to list these different examples in this case I'm just talking about one sporting event in other words the World Cup alright so what if I I hope again I guaranteed that you guys learn something new so if you did learn something new promise me right now if you guys are with us hit that hit that like button go ahead and hit the like button if you've learned something about these confusing words and these are words that are used a lot so I think it's good that we can practice and and know the difference between these words because that is just it's just going to help you guys improve your overall English fluency and if you really really want to improve your fluency check out our secret lesson okay once the video is posted it's going to be in the description secret lesson it's so secret we're gonna email it to you and we will also you know it's just a great way for us to connect with you to be able to share other updates events and things that are happening and check it out yeah it's it's gonna be down there so you guys check that out again please like and share this lesson if you guys enjoy learning with us and write us a comment if there are other words that you find confusing write those in the comments and maybe we will do another lesson in the future and use those words we just love hearing from you guys and if you can't think of any words just say what's up say hello we just want to hear from you guys and remember you can check us out here at these other social medias Facebook Twitter Instagram we're always posting stuff to help you guys practice and improve your English skills so thank you thank you thank you let me hit let me hit you guys up with some thank yous here so deep a la alums ear golf on snake venom hello what's up Royal Hawk Jose Long Sunita sorry if I missed names Benny Karen thank you guys for joining us harsh Benny ma ma Li Shu Shu here Meza thank you guys thank you thank you thank you for being a part of our community we are so glad to be able to share these lessons with you guys and we will be back for another lesson in the near future so enjoy the rest of your weekend see you next time --- ## 238. CONFUSING GRAMMAR IN ENGLISH | Advanced Quiz Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_d3zNlATCDQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d3zNlATCDQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:31:23 | --- If you want to improve your grammar skills, then this lesson is for you because I am going to talk to you about some confusing grammar in English. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English. And if this is your first time here, I want to hear from you. I want you to write your name in the comments because we always love hearing from from new people. And today is all about helping you practice and improve your grammar because this this is important. You know grammar is is basically talking about the structure of language. We need to use the appropriate grammar to communicate clearly so that we all understand each other. But the problem with grammar is that there are always exceptions. There are things that may be confusing. And that's what I want to focus on today. I want to talk to you about some of those confusing grammar problems especially that that that English learners have and that may be a little bit of a challenge. that we're going to do this is that I am going to introduce some of these grammar topics, some of these grammar challenges with a question. So this is an interactive lesson where I want all of you to participate in the lesson. If you're in the chat, I want you to write your answers in the chat. And even if you're watching this later, I want you to participate. That is what interactive English is all about. It's about participating in the lessons. And I want you to use those comment sections as a piece of paper and write your answers there to practice your English skills because that is the best way that that you are going to improve is just practice, practice, and practice. And as we go through these questions, I'm going to teach you some some different grammar that people can find a a little confusing. So, let's just go ahead and begin with the first question that I have for you, which is this one right here. They're all multiplechoice. And if you're just joining us, we're talking about just confusing grammar. Grammar that everybody kinds just a little confusing. answer. Which word best completes that sentence? Are you going to say a frustrated or b frustrating? I get so when I get the wrong answer. I think many of us I think you can relate to this that we when when we get the wrong answer you know it's not something that makes us happy and somebody might be like oh I get so what what do you think I'll give you just a a moment and then I want you and then we'll I'll go over the answer and tell you which one is correct all right excellent I want to give some shoutouts for people that have given the right answer um yes excellent uh Lai Michelle Oh, Fredo. Uh, Mikima. Uh, who else we have? Uh, again, uh, Muhamad. Johnny, oh, Johnny Hernandez. Hi. It's going very fast. Leadon. Um, Angela, the correct answer is A. I get so frustrated when I get the wrong answer. Now, the reason this is confusing grammar. Many times learners may confuse E, D, and G adjectives. So, right down here, I gave you a little bit of an explanation. We use ed adjectives when we describe a feeling or an emotion. When you describe the way you feel about something, I'm frustrated. I'm confused. I'm bored. I'm tired. Those are ed adjectives that describe our feeling. We use ing adjectives when you are describing a person's character, a thing, or a situation. So, for example, you'd say, well, I am excited. That's the way I feel. The movie is exciting. And we use that ing adjective. Now, I think the one the one way this really confuses people is when you're talking about a person's character because oftent times a student I might hear somebody say and they say, "Well, I'm boring." And they really want to say that they're bored, that they have nothing to do. and nothing is exciting and they say ah I'm bored but if they say I'm boring they are describing their character and they are calling themselves a boring person which is not what people often want to do. So that is the one part that really I think confuses people when you're talking about describing a person's character because if you say he's boring or she's boring then that just means well you probably don't want to spend time with that person. So keep that in mind. All right, eding adjectives. This is something that can confuse people. The next question I have for you is this one. What do you think? Which which best completes the sentence? The phone is ringing. Answer it. All right. I'm giving that that's my blank space. Uh um so what would you say? The phone is ringing. Answer it. Would you say a I'll which is the contraction of I will or B I'm going to I'm going to I am going to which one because we can use either of those to you know talk about something that that will happen in the future. What do you think would best complain? And again I I think some of this can be tricky for you. The phone is ringing. Answer it. All right. So I'm going to try and give a few more shoutouts to people as people are writing their answers. Yes. Uh, Facil, excellent. IELTS writing, Lai. Um, who else we got? Uh, Lana, perfect. Um, yeah. So, I think a lot of say, great. A lot of you may have been tricky tricked by this one. The phone is ringing. I'll answer it. I will answer it. Now, you might be wondering, well, this this is a slight difference between I will and I'm going to. Now, oftentimes they can be used interchangeably, especially if you're talking about future plans. If you say like, "Oh, tonight I I'll go out for dinner." Uh, or tonight I'm going out for dinner. We can use those. It means the same thing. But when you're talking about a quick decision, something where there's not much time, you're going to use I will. I'll. So, for example, if you think about the situation, the phone rings, it happens suddenly and somebody says, "Okay, I'll get it." Or maybe there is a knock on the door. It was unexpected. It happened suddenly. I'll get the door. I'll answer it. So, in that case, it's more common to use I will instead of I'm going to because when you use going to, it makes me think that there was kind of a plan to do this. Um, or if somebody says, "I'm going to," it makes me think the phone has been ringing for a long, long time. Or if you say, "I'm going to answer it." Maybe you'll answer it 5 minutes from now. It just doesn't make much sense. It's a slight difference. You would say, "I will." All right. So, excellent. That is a slight difference between using will and going to. That's good to know because often I think people just think that they are interchangeable no matter what context. Let's look at this one. All right. The next question is, I plan to go to school to muc. And for this one, maybe I think some of these are a little easier right now because they are multiple choice. I'm giving you an option. I plan to go to school to m my education. Is it a farther or b further? Farther or further? Which one best completes that sentence? You're talking about getting an education. I plan to go to school to mucation. And excellent. I think we have a lot of great answers. Yes. Uh Mahmud, yours truly. Um Abdul Wahab. Uh Vicki, trying to give different names, say everybody's name. Get as many as I can. Natasha, yes, the answer is B. I plan to go to school to further my education. Now, when you think about the difference between farther and further, think of it this way. All right? Both refer to some kind of distance. We're talking about a distance. Farther refers to a physical distance like maybe you're traveling in a plane or a car. That is a physical difference in which you can use a number to say how far it is. In that case, you would use farther while further refers to a figurative distance. And in this case, you're talking about your education. You are going to go ahead. You are going to become more informed. You're going to get smarter. and you are going to move a distance, but you really don't know how far. There is no number that you're going to be able to assign to that distance. So, it is a figurative distance and you would use further. Now, I will say that further with a u is also sometimes used to refer to physical distances as well. So, for physical distances, you may hear somebody say farther or further, but in this sense, you would want to use further. All right? It is a metaphor, a a figurative distance. The next question, and again, if you guys, if you're just joining us, we are just practicing our grammar skills and learning all these different types of grammar concepts that I think can be very confusing. Now, this none of How would you complete this sentence? All right. None of the bananas m ripe. All right. How what do you think? Is it a is or b are? Which verb to be are you going to use to complete that sentence? None of the bananas m ripe. Are you going to say is ripe or are ripe? What do you think? All right. This question, this is all about subjectverb agreement. Now, the the question that I the other question that I would have for you, see, again, this is great because I see a lot of different answers. All right? So, yes, I want to give some more shout outs. Uh, this one really tricked you. Um, Han Kung Chong, Hong Kong Chong. Uh, actually, wait, wait. Oh, no. I just wanted to say your name in Korean. I used to live in Korea, but no, that actually that is not the right answer. Um, Ira, yes, Muhammad. Uh, Mostie, this one tricked you guys up. All right, I got you. I got you guys. Excellent. So yes, Maria, perfect. The answer is BR. None of the bananas are ripe. All right. The reason is because you're talking about none. It is an indefinite pronoun. But with this indefinite pronoun, it can be used with either a singular or plural verb. It depends on the noun to which it's to which it refers. So, for example, in this case, you're talking about bananas. None of the bananas. Bananas is a plural noun. So, this is going to take a plural verb. None of the bananas are ripe. Now, if I gave you a situation in which I say none of the and I say a singular noun, then I would use is. So, keep that in mind. This is an indefinite pronoun in which you can use either a singular or plural verb. It really just depends on the noun. All right, in this case, none of the bananas are ripe. Okay, so good thing to know. Keep that in mind. Um, there are other words, too. For example, um, some is another one. Some is another indefinite pronoun you can use with either a singular or plural verb. Uh, let's look at the next question. All right. So, here we go. I had to throw out my I'm giving three three blanks. Jersey and get another one. I had to throw out my jersey and get another one. I've given you three words here, three different adjectives. I want you to put them in order. So, I gave you blue, basketball, and raggedy. All right. I want you to take those adjectives, put them in order so that the sentence makes uh so that the sentence makes sense. All right, this is all about adjective word order, which is another which is another thing part of grammar that can be a little confusing. Adjective word order. What do you guys think? All right, so put that in order. Again, if you guys are just joining us, we're talking about uh different gram confusing grammar that is challenging for for many English learners. And like I said, you can see this question which is all about adjective which word order. Put those words in order. Which adjectives would you use? All right, I'll give you another second uh and then I will tell you the answer. All right, let's see. Um, I wanted to find something for you. All right. So, let's see. Let's see. Do we have any See, you're just putting guys the numbers. Um, all right. Uh, I'm trying to think. I don't see any correct answers so far. Somebody asked, Muhammad asked, "What's raggedy?" So, that is a good question. If something is raggedy, it's an adjective that's often used to describe clothes that is old and torn. Maybe there's holes in it and it just looks worn down. And most of the time, yeah, you would have to throw it away if you say, "Oh, that shirt looks raggedy." So that sorry if I didn't explain that before. Raggedy means something that is old and torn. And sometimes things have sentimental value and you don't want to get rid of them. Um, excellent. Uh yes uh Ramad Carlos thank you for those answers. So we would say uh Nel three if you want to do the order raggedy blue basketball jersey which would be 312. All right you're talking about I had to throw out my raggedy blue basketball jersey and get another one. Adjective word order can be confusing because right down there I I put it um I put that together. Usually I think you're going to find maybe just two or three adjectives used in a row. I think very rarely you're going to have four or more adjectives come before a noun. But if we're talking about order, this may vary depending on the site you're going to use. But most of this is pretty standard. I think you're going to do opinion, size, shape, condition, age, color, pattern, origin, material, purpose. So in this case, I'm talking about the condition first. Something is raggedy. The condition and then the color, which is blue, and then it's basically the purpose. It is a basketball jersey. That's what it is. Raggedy blue basketball jersey. So, adjective word order is something that can be a little confusing. Even if you guys get these wrong, I appreciate all of your answers. That is the best way to practice. Just go ahead and answer. Even if you don't know the answer, write it down. Give it a try. If you haven't seen, we have done a lesson on adjective word order before. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I am going to throw a link to it in the chat. That is what I was trying to open up. There it is. Here it is. this lesson. This is a live lesson we did a while back. Um, which I think is very useful. where is it about adjective word order? Wait, why? Hold on. Bear with me for one second. Um, I feel like I am able to move faster than the internet and I have to wait. There it is. So, if you're looking for more information about adjective word order, check out that lesson. It is very useful. But again, that that is great. I want you guys to answer and participate. And I I do want to let you know, we love having you guys here. Uh if you want to connect with us, if you want to support what we do here at Interactive English, we always appreciate your support. You can connect with us on Patreon. We are active on Patreon. We have a whole family of patrons that really help make this possible. I will put a link. There's a link in the description down below. And here is another link in the chat if you want to check out our Patreon page. And we offer some cool different rewards. And again, it's another way for you to join the family, connect with us, uh, and support what we do. If you don't, it's okay. No worries. We're still going to come out and do these lessons each and every week to help you guys practice and improve your skills. So, let's continue with the grammar. All right, let's look at some more confusing grammar. The next one that I have for you is this, which which is grammatically correct. Now, we're getting into a little bit of punctuation. So, we're talking about um a dialogue, something that somebody says. All right, so you have four different sentences to choose from. Sentence number one. I'll I'll read the sentences, but I can't really explain the the punctuation that they're looking at. I know some people like to listen to our lessons, which is why I don't know if you notice this. I actually try to read everything out loud. So, in case somebody is listening in their car, they'll still be able to follow along because they don't see it. But in this case, uh, sentence number one, she said, "I took the photo." Number two, the photo was taken by me. he said. Number three, I took the photo, he said. Or number four, the photo she said was taken by me. Which one is correct? But for this one, you really need to look at look at those sentences and determine the correct punctuation. All right, what do you guys think? Um, which uh sentence is correct? And if you guys are just joining us, that's okay. Um, don't worry if you're late. Just jump right in, start answering questions. We are doing a a little bit of a interactive quiz on confusing grammar. All right. Now I will tell you there is only one answer for this and have some correct answers. Yes. Uh Marco Mary Jane. Perfect. Um Mikey uh N Mahades. Excellent. So again this is Wow. This is a little tricky. The correct answer is sentence number four. So that is our winner. Sentence number four. So let's go ahead. I kind of I've highlighted sentence number four, but I will go ahead and tell you why each one. So some of you put sentence number one. She said, "I took the photo." The problem is remember if we're talking about what somebody says, you need to use quotes. And when you're using quotes like this, we're talking about two. All right? There are those two lines around that. In that sentence, I just put the one which means it is not correct. That is the not that is not the correct way to say these quotes. next one, number two, the photo was taken by me. He said this is an example of the passive voice. All right, in that case, you're using the verb to be followed by the past participle. Instead of was taking, it should be was taken. All right, so was taking that is incorrect. Number three, the f the I took the photo, he said. In this one, number three is incorrect because the quotes are around the wrong part of the sentence. You don't want to put the quotes around he said. You want to put the quotes around I took the photo. So, number three is incorrect. And number four, this is an example of a divided quote. It's not something that you you will see this if you're reading. People will take quotes and they will divide it. And the reason it's a divided quote because I said quote the photo he said was taken by me. And again this is written in the passive voice. The photo was taken by me. But I've divided the quote and said he said. So again you would have quotes on the first part the photo and you need that comma there. You need that comma. She said, comma and in quotes was taken by me. All right. So again, this is a little tricky. This was a punctuation question. And I think the best way to be able to learn this and identify this is just to read. The more you read, you will see that that the grammar is written correctly. Reading is such a great way to improve your grammar skills without actually actively practicing your grammar skills. Today, we're really practicing our grammar skills because I want you to answer these questions. But reading is a great way to get exposure to the correct grammar and you guys can just keep practicing, practicing, and practicing. All right, let's look at the next one. So, we for the bus for over 20 minutes. Hopefully, it'll arrive soon. All right. Now, I want to again I'm going to just tell you which one best completes the sentence. Which one best completes the sentence? We m for the bus for over 20 minutes. Hopefully, it'll arrive soon. Is it a waited, b have waited, or c have been waiting? Which one best co um uh completes the sentence? We m for the bus for over 20 minutes. Hopefully, it'll arrive soon. Write your answer in the chat. And if you're watching this later, write your answers in the comments. Uh because again, it's good. Practice, practice, practice. Practice makes perfect. So, excellent. I think. Wow, everybody was really knocking this one out. Yes. Uh, Kiko, yours truly. Um, Ji, um, Shel Leonardo, Natasha, excellent. Trinrong, uh, Aziza, sorry if I mispronounced names. Uh, Derry, I'm trying to say as many new names as possible. The answer is C. That is the That is the one that will best complete the sentence. We have been waiting for the bus for over 20 minutes. Hopefully, it'll arrive soon. You use the present perfect continuous to talk about a continuous action started in the past. It has continued to the present and will likely continue into the future. That is the situation in which you would use this verb tense. I think it's sometimes it's confused with the present perfect. And you could say for example, we've waited for the bus for over 20 minutes. However, I added that last part. Hopefully, it'll arrive soon. Which basically means that you will still be waiting. You are still waiting right now. So, it's talking about something that is happening a an action that is continuous right now. So, that is why the present perfect continuous. That is the correct answer for this question. The next one, are you ready? And this is something that I I feel like learners confuse a lot uh especially in their writing. If I I would see learners write stories or write essays um and or just practice their grammar and they would really confuse this. I wonder where m eat dinner tonight. I wonder will where m eat dinner tonight. Is it a they will or b will they? All right. Which one completes that sent? There's only one right answer. All right. So would you say I wonder where they will eat dinner tonight? That is A. Or B, I wonder where will they eat dinner tonight. Which one do you think best completes uh this sentence? A or B? Write your answers. Uh and I will give you just a moment and then I will tell you the correct answer. Wow, you guys are actually most of you are really uh you're rocking this one. Excellent. So perfect. Uh Andre, excellent. Um, Ariana, perfect. Uh, Chandima, excellent. Uh, Aman, yes. Uh, the answer is A. They will. I wonder where they will eat dinner tonight. Now, the question that I would have for you if if you answered A and you answered correctly, I would then say why. Why is that the case? Why do we say they will instead of will they? And if you can explain that, then that is great. That means that you have that advanced level of grammar that you can talk about. What this is because the reason that we use they, they will is because this is a noun clause. Where they will eat for dinner, where they will eat dinner tonight, that is a noun clause. And a noun clause. All right. So, if you don't know, it is a dependent clause. It acts as a noun. So, where they will eat dinner tonight, that is my whole noun clause. It acts as a noun. It has a subject which is they. It has a verb which is will. And often these clauses if you want to identify them, they often begin with words such as how, that, what, where, why. There there's many wherever, um, whatever. There's many different words that you can use. Now, when you're writing this and you're writing the clause, remember a sentence follows the a pattern. It's not a question. This is not a question. So you need to have the subject and then follow it with the verb. They will eat. All right? So you are going to follow it with the verb. Um and not the other way around. I think often times when students might see this they they they have where and they think question and then they want to switch the subject and the verb. But not in this case. The same way if said, I wonder where they will eat for dinner tonight, I can follow that with another noun clause and say, I don't know what they will eat for dinner tonight. What they will eat for dinner is another noun clause again. What they will eat. All right, you're going to have subject and then the verb. Excellent. Let's look at the next one. Yes, somebody said that one, that last one, that was not a question. All right, it's just something that somebody's thinking. They're wondering um what do you think? I suggest that everyone our Saturday lessons which word completes that this is confusing grammar. All right. I've seen this uh this is a mistake that yes many learners tend to make this is a little more advanced uh grammar. So let's look at where is it? So write your answer in the chat. What do you think best completes that sentence? I suggest that everyone m our Saturday lessons. A join, B joins, or C will join. All right. So I have some good answers. I'm trying to find um if you bear with me, I'm trying to find another video for you, another video lesson to share with you that's going to help you better understand uh the answer if you want more information about these. Uh that is very useful. So let's look. All right, found it. So the correct answer, yes. Um I want to give some shoutouts to Yes. Uh excellent Muhammad Eloisa. Perfect. Um, Kiko, yes. Uh, do we have any others? The correct answer is a. I suggest that everyone join our Saturday lessons. Now, you may be looking at this and be like, "Wait a second. Subjectverb agreement. Everyone joins." But in this case, I suggest that is talking about the subjunctive mood, a suggestion that somebody has. So in that case, I suggest that everyone join our Saturday live lessons. The subjunctive mood, it refers to a hypothetical situation in which you use the base form of the verb in the noun clause. So right there, we just talked about noun clauses. It's another noun clause. I suggest and then that everyone joins our Saturday lessons. That is our noun clause. It starts with that and then we have our subject everyone and our verb join. But it is the subjunctive. So we're going to say everyone join. All right. There are many verbs out there that when you see that that identify like oh it is the subjunctive um the subjunctive mood. For example, I recommend, I demand, I insist. So those are some other verbs that you would use um with the subjunctive mood. And for more information on that, I suggest you can check out we did another uh lesson in the past about grammar mistakes that even advanced learners often make. And if you'd like to check out that lesson, I'm throwing it right there in the chat. You can check that out a little later. All right. So, let is the subjunctive mood. Let's look at the next one. Okay. So, this one, this is I'm sorry you're looking at this like, oh goodness. I want you to first read this and tell me how many mistakes do you see? How many mistakes? And I'm just going to go ahead and tell you that they are all mistakes with prepositions because I can't you can't do a confusing grammar lesson without talking about prepositions. So, this is a great way to practice this. I've have this little reading for you. I want you to think how many mistakes with prepositions do you see? First, let's identify the mistakes. That's the first step in this process. So, I'll just go ahead and read it for you. Um, it says, okay, read I'm going to read it as is. A long time ago, I had a terrible flight experience leaving to New York. First, the flight was delayed from 3 hours. Many people complained over waiting was so long. A few hours later, everyone was told the plane was incapable at taking off. I had to wait until the next morning to leave. That was a long time ago. So now I can look back and laugh on it. All right. So if you're just listening to me read it, probably some of it sounds a bit awkward. So there are there's actually quite a few mistakes with the prepositions. So the first thing I want you to do is just look at it. Look at those prepositions and find well how many mistakes do you see? And then we're going to go through and and identify them and talk about well which ones how do we change these? All right. So, this is a longer question all about prepositions. All right. So, all right. See, uh some some different answers in there. Excellent. Um going to go back. Yes. All right. Let's give I'm going to give some shoutouts for people that have found all of them. Yes. IELTS writing. Nice job. Um who else do we have? Anybody else? Uh no. Gosh, most people say five. Okay, there's more than five. All right, I'll go ahead and tell you. All right, there are in this. All right, there are six mistakes with prepositions. There are six mistakes. I have highlighted those mistakes for you right here. All right, so now you can see the mistakes. Leaving to New York, it's a mistake. Delayed from 3 hours, mistake. Complained over waiting, mistake. Waiting with so long. Mistake. Incapable at taking off. Mistake. And laugh on it. Mistake. Now what I want you to do is go through. All right. See if you can ident change it which which is the correct preposition you should use. I'm not going to go through each of these individually. Uh try to write them out. So write the preposition and then maybe write New York and then write the next one. So, I will tell you why it was a mistake and the correct pre preposition that you should use, but I want you to go through and think about what should you change those prepositions to. For example, my flight was experience leaving to New York. That is a problem. All right. The key word there is leaving. All right. You're talking about leaving some someplace. And if you're talking about flying. All right. Uh all right. We see some de. Yes. Say excellent. Uh that's what we're looking for. Um delayed. Yes. All right. Lata. Perfect. Delayed for um Krishna. Excellent. Yes. Uh Han Chong Chong. Uh perfect. Allison. Yes. So those are some great. Let's let's look through this together. Okay. So, a long time ago, I had a terrible flight experience leaving from New York. Remember, you would travel to some place, but if you're leaving, you're going to leave from there. So, you're leaving from New York first. The flight was delayed by 3 hours. So, something might be delayed by a certain amount of time. delayed by because in this situation there are there are verbs that are usually followed by certain prepositions as well as some adjectives that are often followed by prepositions and that's what I tried to throw in there. So the flight was delayed by 3 hours. Many people complained about waiting for so long. So you would complain about something. Now, you could complain to someone if you're talking to a person, but in this case, we're not talking to a person. You're talking about you're complaining about the delay and you are complaining about waiting. Well, you're complaining about waiting for so long. You wait for a period of time. After a few hours, everyone was told the plane was incapable of taking off. You are incapable of doing something. I had to wait until the next morning to leave. That was a long time ago. Now I can look back and laugh about it. I often think you could say um you could laugh at it. I I think that might be acceptable as well, but I think more appropriately like if you're talking about thinking about something in the past, more often people would say, well, they laugh about mistakes in the past. I can look back and laugh about it now um because it's already happened. All right. So, I hope that you guys did well. If you got all of those correct, then write to me in the chat. Write perfect. Write the word perfect so I know that you knew the answer to all of those because this prepositions, those are tricky little function words that again they are difficult to learn. You just have to practice them like in this exercise right here. Or again, reading, reading, reading, reading really helps you because you are seeing the verbs followed by the correct preposition. And over time, you just start you take that information in. grammar quiz, this little interactive quiz was helpful for you. That is what it's all about in order to practice your skills and actually talk about why the grammar is the way it is. So, if you learned something new, if you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. Let me know. That is the way that you can let me know that, okay, in the future, we should do more grammar lessons. We should do more grammar quizzes like this because it helps you. It helps you improve your skills and it helps you understand grammar a bit more. Hit that like button. Let me know. And as always, you guys can write us questions in the comments. We love hearing from you. And be sure to check out our social media. We are active on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Facebook. You can find us there. Um, Lolly says, "Oh, wrong." Oh, no. That's not good. Um, we will definitely we will definitely have more practice like this in the future because it is it's a great way for you guys to participate in these lessons. That is what it's all about. That is a great way to improve your skills. Um, so thank you guys so much for joining me. Thank you, Andre. Uh, Neckla, perfect. Aziza. Um, can we say leaving New York? You could say leaving and take that preposition out. Yes, that would be fine. Um, Swati, Angela, thank you guys. Uh, Lat Tom, perfect. Uh, Andre Rosny, hope you guys I hope you guys enjoy the run rest of your weekend. Have a wonderful day and I will see you guys next time. And so long. --- ## 239. CONFUSING WORDS FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS ๐Ÿค” | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gQsMwLUVNUo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQsMwLUVNUo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:47:32 | --- hello what's up I hope that you're having a great day whenever you might be watching this I have a super super cool lesson that we are going to do today and that lesson is I want to talk to you about some confusing words for English learners but I'd say that they're not just confusing for English learners it can also be confusing for native speakers the one thing I like about this lesson is that when I was putting it together I was actually learning some new things and that's the great thing about English is you know no matter whether you're a native speaker or a language learner or however long you've been studying English or even teaching English you're always learning new things so I want to talk about a few things that can be a bit confusing for learners so we're gonna go over those today and at the end we are going to practice what we've learned so if you're joining us thanks for joining us say what's up in the chat and let me know where you're joining us from who do you have from India Tomica village from India also autocratic Stan Aman oh hey what's up thank you guys for joining me yes men honey yeah awesome great to have you guys here again a very special lesson we're gonna talk about some things that confuse English learners and I am going to ask for your participation I want you guys to write a lot in the comments comments and also even if you're watching this later write to us in the comments participate we really want to involve you in these lessons so let's begin with talking about well why do some words end up confusing English learners what why are these words confusing to begin with well there are there can be many different reasons for that I've just written down three of them the first one I have is some grammar rules maybe there's just a subtle grammar rule that people tend to confuse and mix up and again this is where you practice practice practice you're always improving and your fluency will then improve so it could be grammar rules the next one that I have are different words with similar meaning so you might have two different words that have different meanings but the meanings are very close to each other they're very similar and because they're so similar people might tend to confuse them now if you have joined us if you are with us right now I want you to write hey what's up Carlos sorry I mispronounce names out of suit from Thailand great to have you here in the chat I want you to write down what are some words what are some English words that confuse you it could be two words or maybe if there's just one word that that confuses you I want you to share with everybody share with us it's a great way to again understand where each other is coming from so write down what are some words that confuse you the last one that I wrote down a common reason why words why some words confused learners is right there homonyms now a broad definition of homonyms are words that either have the same spelling or different spelling that have the same spelling but same pronunciation but they have different meanings they have molted words with multiple meanings or it could be words that have the same pronunciation different spelling multiple meanings but that's a very broad definition of homonyms I I put that little graph down there for you because there are in layers to it and if you really want to get specific and learn the difference between you know a homonym or a Hedren 'm or a hydrograph you can study that a little later but these are reasons why some learner some some words might confuse people all right so we got some good ones Oh excellent excellent you know lay light L say effect effect yes these are all differences so this is good because I actually I have some of these words today let's begin let the games begin so the first one hmm because we talked about some grammar rules all right so let's look at a little small grammar nuance and this one I don't think is as bad because there is a rule to it a versus and okay a versus and these are both indefinite articles that introduce a noun phrase so when you think of articles people will think of a and or the I'm just talking about the indefinite ones a or an now when we learn these people some people might say like Oh pay attention to the letter the first letter of the word that comes before the article and that's and that that can confuse people because it's not the first letter that determines whether you use a or n it's the first sound so we use a is used with words that start with a consonant sound right there alright a kangaroo a banana a house a university all right now you notice that University starts with the letter U but we use a because of the first sound you you you yeah it almost has that Y sound so we say a university alright so again it's clean heed to pay attention to that first sound for an alright we use that with words that start with a vowel sound okay words that start with a vowel sound like those examples I have an answer an old car all right it comes before it well the adjective old an hour all right again the word starts hour begins with the letter H but you don't have there is no H sound all right our it's also it sounds like oh you are again it has that short o sound so we're going to use an an hour all right same with mp3 alright so for anybody who's downloaded music you know that those are mp3 files now we say the letter M alright and when we say it M it almost it starts with that short e sound M an mp3 all right an hour and mp3 and I think it's when you hit those words where the it goes against what you want to think and people might make those mistakes and they might say uh mp3 and no it's an mp3 so those are some of the differences between a and an now speaking of mp3s alright this is the next part that I want to talk to you about abbreviations and acronyms okay so in the chat what I want you guys to do is because I think all of us we have cell phones and we use shorthand I want you to write your favorite texting or SMS acronym that you like to use you know OMG BTW write it in the chat let me know what is your favorite acronym to use now this is where this is something that I learned today and this is where you get really nitpicky as to what the meaning is and again some of these rules you don't have to follow it strictly it's up to you so let's look at the meaning of these words so an abbreviation is just a shortened form of a word it's an abbreviation an acronym think of an acronym is a type of an abbreviation so it is kind of a subcategory of an abbreviation so for an abbreviation I think some many of us are familiar with like dr. all right it gets shortened to the dr our dr. so-and-so same with st. before like a Cathedral st. James alright you see that s T that becomes an abbreviation now you're probably looking at FBI and lol thinking well wait a second those are acronyms and again this is where it gets nitpicky if you know you refer to him as acronyms I would refer to them as acronyms that's fine I don't think anybody is going to challenge you on it but the difference is is that when you shorten some words and you take that first letter FBI stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation lol laugh out loud when you actually say the letters it's technically an abbreviation alright an acronym is an abbreviation that's formed by the initial letters of words but it's pronounced as one word that's a subtle difference between an abbreviation and an acronym so FBI we actually say the letters so it's an abbreviation lol same thing but an acronym like NASA alright for those of you unfamiliar with NASA it stands for oh goodness national astrological space association it is an organization part of the government of the United States and we just call it NASA all right for space yolo okay that's another texting acronym you only live once but we don't say y Olo alright it's just we say it as one word yolo alright so those are technically speaking those are acronyms when we say it as one word same with nato the the northern Atlantic Treaty Organization a wall which I don't know if you're with that that's kind of a military term it means oh gosh what does it mean absent without official leave it's a military term that somebody basically they didn't get permission they left they went AWOL so those are acronyms when we say them as one word get some good ones in there lol all right favorite is OMG yes we use it Karlos WTF yes that is a very popular and effective acronym to use but again technically those aren't acronyms they would be abbreviations but I don't think anybody is is gonna you know again this is not nobody gonna challenge you on it this is something that just just for you guys to know fun facts I learned this new today Otto said rip alright rest in peace all right that would be an acronym people say rip rest in peace so those are her abbreviations and acronyms next somebody had mentioned this before the difference between effect and effect okay so the pronunciation is very similar I'd say the big difference and this goes back to grammar mostly is that effect is going to be a verb and effect is the noun the pronunciation is very similar effect the verb has that schwa at the beginning that a sound effect and effect the noun it's more of a shortened e but it's very slight effect effect often I think I'm guilty of this I'll kind of just pronounce them very much the same mostly with that schwa and instead of effect I might say effect so that's why that's another reason I think it can be confusing is because of the pronunciation but in order to really know the difference and learn the difference realize that affect is a verb and effect with an e that is a noun so again right to me in the chat or the comments even if you're watching this later tell me something what is something that affects your mood I'm using it as a verb there because effect as a verb it means to influence to influence something what is something that affects your mood I want you to write a sentence using effect as the verb okay what's something that affects your mood I gave you an example sentence right there the bad weather affected our travel plans all right it affected our travel plans it influenced those plans now effect the noun it's the meaning is a little similar but it's mostly if you want to get precise it's talking about an impact or a change all right something has an effect all right the the hurricane had a devastating effect on the area all right it had a huge impact or change it had an effect so we got a great good excellent sentence politicians affect my mood in a bad way Laura I completely agree with you yes they definitely affect everybody's mood again hi Barbara said us if you're just joining us we are talking about confusing words in English and I have 10 of them for you and then at the end we're going to practice so if you're just joining us again say what's up in the chat and let's continue oh this is another one speaking of politicians okay this is a topic that's come up a lot lately and it's frustrating to me so these are two words to emigrate and to emigrate and there is a difference between them so they're both verbs in to emigrate is your when you're leaving one country in order to live in another now the difference I think part of a big difference when you think of when you're immigrating to somewhere else it does have a more legal context to it that you have permission for our work or maybe your spouse your husband and wife is from that country and you have all your documents and papers and order and you emigrate to another country and you plan to live there so like for example I have that sentence they emigrated from Brazil to France all right this is a little different than emigrate which is also can be used as a verb as a noun we talk about immigration but it's entering a new country to live there and sometimes when you when people immigrate to a new country they may not be doing it legally they may be going there and living there and working and that we would say they emigrate to so they immigrated to Brazil from France all right the key here when you're talking about the difference between these two is the preposition that follows so you immigrated from somewhere you are leaving this place in going somewhere else you emigrate from somewhere and you immigrate to somewhere so in those sentences like I have they immigrated from Brazil all right they left Brazil and the other one they immigrated to Brazil all right that's where they were going and this is where I think not to get all political it's been a very big topic of conversation immigration I know in Europe and in the United States and I think one thing that gets challenging when you talk about the person which we would refer to somebody as an immigrant whether you emigrated or immigrated you're still often referred to as an immigrant which is just a person who is from another country and they are living in you know this country and it gets muddled and confused and people do a very big disservice to the conversation about what's going on one of them being the president of I'm from who is an absolute but anyway I don't want to turn this into a political discussion let's move on to the next one so next we have these right here okay let's talk about this every day versus every day all right people might think it's the same word and this is where I think it's mostly in writing because when you're speaking I don't think it's as much of an issue but when you're writing people will tend to confuse these two now every day two words is an adverb phrase okay that means how often you do something a lot of times it answers the question how often alright so in the comments in the chat I want you to write okay tell me something what is something that you do every day all right write your answer because again this is good you're practicing writing and I'm asking for the to word every day all right what is something you do every day so for example I could say I exercise every day is it true no I do wish it were true though I I want to exercise every day but unfortunately I do not but it is something it's talking about how often something happens I exercise every day now every day one word that is an adjective and it's talking about something that is it's part of a daily routine so for example my sentence right down there jumping jacks are part of my everyday exercises it's part of my everyday exercises it's an adjective and it's modifying exercises it's talking about which type of exercises now in case you're wondering that picture right there that is not that is not a picture of somebody doing jumping jacks it's just a funny little picture I saw however we did do a video on workout vocabulary where we talk about jumping jacks so if you're not sure what those are I highly suggest you check out that lesson it was a great lesson we had a lot of fun so let's see um everybody some practice all right I practice English lessons every day remember it's two words two words every day I practice I practice learning English every day excellent I do I try to learn English every day perfect alright I study every day so when you're talking about something you do every day two words okay that's what we're using so let's continue again if you're joining us we are talking today about confusing words confusing English words okay the next one this would be another hominem complement and complement okay they sound exactly the same they're spelled differently and they have different meanings so a compliment with an AI all right it can be a noun or a verb but those are just nice words or gestures if I do like okay that you know is gesture good job that's a compliment so right now in the chat because again this is we know that it's always good to be positive on the internet there's so many bad things out there I want you to give everyone a compliment okay some nice words say some nice words about everybody who's joining us today practice using it say a compliment and my compliment to all of you is you guys are awesome all right you're awesome you guys are doing really well you like you're hanging out so it's great that is my compliment to you you're awesome all right that is a compliment those are nice words now complement with an e all right it can also be a noun or a verb but that means that you are adding something to enhance something else you're adding something to make something else better so I'm American yes stereotypically we eat hot dogs so I could say that and this is true I believe spicy mustard really complements the hot dog alright so if I have a hot dog I'm going to use spicy mustard because I think it complements the taste it makes it better alright it improves it enhances something so that is complement within II don't confuse those all right some other examples oh I sing in the shower every day excellent use every day of two words perfect so again in the chat you know throw out a compliment oh you are a great teacher thank you thank you so much that is an excellent compliment I really appreciate that the next two words that can confuse people are these two we have exacerbate and exaggerate so these especially especially exacerbate it's not a I'd say it's commonly used but it's good maybe for a more academic sense and being more precise with your descriptions I always think it's it's good to build your vocabulary so these are two words that can confuse people mostly because well the spelling is a little similar and same with the the pronunciation so we have exacerbate which is a verb and that means to make a situation worse and I just noticed that I misspelled situation so that's fine I'm telling you it's to make a situation worse alright so for example you could say that my sentence they're the rainy weather exacerbated the playing condition so maybe you're playing I don't know football and you're playing on a field the grass is all torn up the field is in bad condition and before you start to play it starts raining so it makes it muddy it makes it worse all right it exhausts where it's it exacerbated the playing conditions it made worse that is very different than exaggerated which is again I noticed another mistake it's a verb it's not a noun okay so just to ignore that right there exaggerate to exaggerate is a verb and it means to stretch the truth all right he always exaggerates when telling stories now I put that fish there because it's it's like a common joke when you're talking about somebody exaggerating something when they go fishing and they say wait a second okay I caught a fish this big when the fish was really that big all right people tend to exaggerate the the truth because well a lot of times people find say that it's more interesting all right so another common that you're doing a great job thank you excellent um thank you guys for I cornucopia of knowledge excellent that was a word from a few weeks ago thank you a lotta so yes those are great great compliments we appreciate it very much it's always good to give people compliments and I'll say that is your homework assignment for today when you are done I want you to give somebody a compliment say something they have a nice smile you do a really good job thanks for your help all right give a compliment that's your homework assignment for today so that is the difference between exacerbate and exaggerate let's look at this one this is an easy one I think okay it is easier criminal and thief okay this can be confused though because a lot of times people think they're synonyms and they're not necessarily synonyms alright again think of it as you have a criminal which is a broad word a thief is a type of criminal okay so a criminal is it's a noun it's a person it's somebody who breaks the law alright so in the chat give me what are what are some examples of criminals give me some time of criminals all right whoo what could we say make it more specific so a criminal is just in general somebody who breaks the law for example I'd say the criminal ran from the police we know that they broke the law but we don't know exactly what they did why are they running we don't know now a thief is also a noun because it's a person and it's someone who takes or steal something so if I say the thief ran from the police then I know okay they're running from the police because they stole something all right that is the difference between criminal and thief they are not synonyms all right remember that drug you'd say drug drug dealers yes drug dealers that that is a criminal that is a type of criminal perfect Charles Manson yes he was a criminal perfect good example let's look at the next one okay so this is another one that I think people commonly confuse even you know native speakers they commonly confuse these the difference between farther and further okay so both of them are adverbs but when we are saying when we're talking about farther with an a we're talking about a physical distance a real physical distance that you know we can we can think about whether it's one kilometer or 50 kilometers or a thousand kilometers okay it is a physical distance farther so for example I could say now we live farther away from the airport maybe you moved apartments or you moved homes and you are now farther away from the airport it is a physical distance that is different than further because when you're talking about further technically it's it's to a greater distance or degree but you can also think of it like a a figurative distance all right not something that you know you can say how many kilometers it is so for example if this is a common sentence that you might hear when you're talking about something and somebody says well you know it's the furthest thing from my mind all right I'm not thinking about this thing I have a lot of other things I'm thinking about more other priorities and something is the furthest thing from your mind I don't know actually the distance about how far it is it's a figurative way of talking about distance all right it is you know something is further from your mind so example like maybe you could say another example like your skills go maybe you're a talented athlete all right you're a good athlete but you're also a good singer and you could say you know your skills go further than the basketball court all right you know your your skills go further you know they go beyond that it is a figurative distance now one reason why these get confused regularly and this was according to the Cambridge dictionary is that when you're using it as a comparative and superlative so for example for farther you would say farther than or further than it is common to use further for both of them all right that is a common usage for both and that that is one reason I think that it can be very confusing because people will use farther in a comparative sense but they're talking about further alright so maybe they say like oh the road you know many times in a comparative or superlative sense when you are making these comparisons people 10 a lot of times to use further so that's just you know food for thought something that you guys should know the next one we got one more and then we're going to practice all right so so get ready to to type in the chat this one somebody had mentioned this at the beginning and this lay versus lie it is confused all the time it doesn't matter whether you are learning English or whether you're a native speaker I am guilty of this as well and you use these interchangeably and I don't think again people nobody's gonna call you out on it really I think everybody's gonna understand what you're trying to say as long as you're you know speaking using it grammatically correct I would actually say sometimes if you use it correct and I'll give you an example in a minute people might do a little like strange like what what what are you talking about because of the way we use it today and how it spoke how it's spoken mostly so lay both of these are verbs lay and lie now lay is a verb and it means to put or place okay so another way to think about this is that it is a transitive verb it's often followed by a it's followed by a direct object okay so you you lay something somewhere all right you lay something somewhere you're putting it in a certain place so for example I gave these examples in the past tense I laid the cup on the table okay I laid the cup on the table I also gave you the conjugation of this so for the verb lay you have lay laying I am laying or laid or laid and laid okay so lay it is the past tense laid would be the past participle all right I have laid the cup on the table okay so that is for lay it is putting or placing something and remember it's used it's Trent its transitive so it's going to be with a direct object now lie okay is to rest or recline all right and the reason it's confusing I think one of the reasons because again I put these sentences in the past tense yesterday I lay in bed all day now you might be looking at that and be like wait wait what the heck all right we're talking about lie here not lay and that is the issue is that the past tense of lie is lay okay so you can see down there the conjugation lie I lie in bed I am lying in bed yesterday I lay in bed and the past participle which I don't think this is where I said if you use it correctly people might be like what I don't think many people use this at all yesterday are not yesterday are like I have lain in bed alright that is not common at all what is common however when you conjugate this is the other meaning of lie now lie is it's again it's a homonym it has to it has multiple meanings it means to rest or recline or it means to say something that's not true alright so for example we say ah he lied to me somebody lied they say something that's not true all right you guys are using them okay come great yeah I lied yesterday after well again lying is cursed yes alright so what I wanted to show you here when I'm talking about saying something that's not true the conjugation lie I lie to somebody I am lying to somebody I lied in the past tense and I have lied to somebody okay that is the conjugation now what's very common is that for the verb lie to rest or recline they people will use the conjugation for the other meaning alright so you might hear instead of somebody say like yesterday I lay in bed all day you might hear somebody say yesterday I lied in bed all day okay they use that other conjugation and that is you know I don't want to say if it's becoming accepted or not obviously that is debatable but it is something that people end up using and especially when they're talking about the present perfect and they're using that past participle most people will say you know I've lied in bed all day I have lied here all day they don't really use lain okay so that's why I put that other meaning up there and again this is something I just wanted to go over with you as I said people misuse this all the time so you it's good to practice this and to understand and study the differences but if you misuse these then you know don't don't stress out about it okay so it's some examples yes while lying in while lying in bed I laid a book on the pillow okay excellent could a great example sentence all right I don't know why you put a book on a pillow but I guess so you know if somebody says oh yeah I'm lying yes okay perfect all right those are good lying as a curse yes you know lying is bad so these are you know good it's good to know the differences between these now I hope you're ready because I want to practice what we've learned today so I'm gonna give you some questions and I want you to write the answers in the chat all right even if you're watching this later a year from now it doesn't matter practice you know writing with us use the comment section write your answers in the comments okay you ready so let's practice this is your first question all right it's truly honor to meet you okay this was the first one we went over what are we going to use which article a or n all right it's truly honor to meet you I want you to write your answers in the chat what do you guys think all right we're talking about the difference between a and and okay I'll give you a hint all right remember keep in mind what though the one thing that is important is the first sound that you hear all right it's truly honor to meet you okay what do you guys think a or and alright getting some mixed roll all right in this case honor alright is the key word what's the first sound you hear honor all right there is no H sound we don't you're not hearing haha honor all right honor it's that short o sound so we would say it's truly it's truly an honor to meet you ok it's truly an honor to meet you excellent let's do another one ready let's see if you guys write your answers in the chat or in the comments ok what do you think the exam had a profound on my grade which one are we going to use effect or effect hey it sounds similar I'm trying to having a tough time pronouncing them differently now so the exam had a profound effect or effect on my grade which one are we going to use effect or effect which one do you think okay write your answers in the chat ok so getting some good answers yes we're talking about in this case a noun and the noun that we should use is effect all right the exam had a profound effect on my grade all right excellent good job next one alright give this one a try let's see here we go and I want you to tell me I mean shorten this there we go which one is it Minoo is it a compliment or a compliment again the pronunciation is the same if if I were to say you know you're such a beautiful person alright you're such a beautiful person which compliment am i talking about which one I want you to write your answer in the chat again this is a word these two words are confused a lot alright which one am i talking about if I tell you you're such a beautiful person alright and it's true I think you guys are beautiful people and giving some good answers excellent and it's true alright if I tell you you're such a beautiful person that means that is a compliment with the eye alright compliment with an eye because complement with an e means you're adding to something you're trying to enhance it make it better okay here's another one let's see if you can answer this one alright so you can see it alright we from Russia to Jamaica okay not sure there's anybody out there who's actually done this we from Russia to Jamaica or are you going to use emigrated or emigrated which one do you think all right write your answer in the chat or in the comments participate with us okay we from Russia to Jamaica Russia maybe it's very cold so this person wanted nicer weather and they went to Jamaica alright the key here as I was talking about before is keep an eye on that preposition from alright so because we're talking about from we would say we emigrated from Russia to Jamaica alright you emigrate from somewhere you emigrate to somewhere alright that is one little difference between those confusing words alright here's another one okay boom try this one alright if you're not feeling well you should go in bed which one do you think alright lay or lie and again with this one you might hear somebody use either one okay and you know that that's just the way it is people interchange these two a lot I'm not saying it that it's right or wrong that you should but it's just something that happens okay what do you think if you're not feeling well you should go in bed alright so I think one reason that this can be confusing yes all right you guys you guys Rock all right give them some good answers if you're not feeling well you should go lie in bed remember lie is talking about you should go rest you should go recline and relax and you can you can substitute that in if you're not feeling well you should go rest in bed alright lay is to place something remember it's followed it's a transitive verb so it's followed by a direct object okay in is not a direct object it's a preposition okay so in bed would be a prepositional phrase so you should go lie in bed alright so that is our practice thank you guys so much for joining us today I hope that maybe if you thought some of these words were confusing before maybe they are less confusing now but as always it's good to practice these things and to learn more about it I know I learned a lot in doing this lesson some of the differences between these words so it's always great to learn more thank you guys for joining us remember please if you had a good time like this video and also share it with other people you know trying to practice and improve their skills so again thank you guys so much for joining us lotsa Francisco hanya thank you guys patricia lara glad you guys were here blue thank you guys for joining us again as always you can find us down here join our social media classes Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat YouTube okay I'm done advertising us for right now have a great day and we'll see you next time --- ## 240. CONFUSING WORDS IN ENGLISH (Even for native speakers!) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-oqw8FdcL94` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oqw8FdcL94) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:27:59 | --- do you ever get confused by certain English words honestly I do it does it happens to me and I want to teach you the difference between some commonly confused words and I hope that I have now persuaded you to watch this lesson or convinced you persuaded you or convinced you everyone my name is Wes from interactive English videos comm and this channel is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and today I want to help you build your vocabulary but also improve your overall English fluency because ah we're going to look at specific words that may commonly confused learners or maybe even some native speakers so let's begin with these two words right here achieve and accomplish now these words are similar but they're also slightly different so you could say that you want to achieve your goals or you want to accomplish your goals in this case both really mean that you have success but if you're talking about achieve it makes me think that you were really working hard and you wanted to to really reach this level you wanted to get there you put a lot of time and energy into it and therefore you can be proud of the work that you've done and you have achieved your goals I often talk to you guys about perhaps you want to achieve English fluency you want to work hard you want to to reach that goal achieve English fluency and you could be very proud of that you could also if you do a lot of tests or experiments maybe you achieve positive results or perhaps you want to achieve financial security that later on in life you you hope that you don't have to worry too much about money and you have financial security but you need to work hard to get there to achieve financial security now if we're talking about accomplish and you want to accomplish your goals that's also talking about success but in this case it makes me think that well this this thing is finished it's completed and you can move on to the next thing you have accomplished your goal or something else you might accomplish would be a mission the mission it was a success and it is it's done it's finished mission accomplished or perhaps you want to accomplish things in a period of time this is a way that it's used if for example I could say well I had a lot of work to do this weekend so so I just stayed at home and I accomplished a lot that there were many things that I finished in this period of time I accomplished a lot now I'll continue to use these words as I tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingo de and lingo de is an online language school where you can study english business english spanish german or french it is a great way to learn a language and taking classes online is an excellent way to achieve english fluency so there are many advantages learning with lingo de they have their own proven curriculum you get to study with a native speaking teacher and these are small group classes with usually three to four students which means you'll have plenty of opportunities to speak plus because you are learning online you don't have to travel you can stay at home where it's a little more comfortable and you can also take classes 24/7 and really organize the lessons around your schedule and the prices are also very affordable as low as 8 euro per group class I also studied with lingo de I took some classes in Spanish and I was able to practice a variety of different things because we discuss different topics and I could build my vocabulary we did a bit of grammar and the teacher really helps with my pronunciation because yes I have some trouble pronouncing different words and it really helped so when I started out I wanted to achieve different learning goals and in the end I was able to accomplish those goals and I am confident that you can accomplish your learning goals as well so if you're interested in taking some classes with lingo des just click on the link in the description and you can use the voucher code interactive 11 to get a 20 euro discount on all monthly subscription packages and finally I have some great news for those who really want to challenge themselves and take their english to the next level entries for the lingo to language sprint have reopened you now have until June 26 to sign up so you can sign up for the language sprint take three months of classes and if you successfully complete it then you may be eligible to get 100 percent cashback I will leave a link down below in the description to another lesson that I did giving a little bit more information about the language sprint so you can check that out so let's get back to our lesson on commonly confused English words and the next set of words that I have for you is borrow and lend so a long time ago about ten years ago I used to teach at a high school in rural Namibia shoutout to engage o senior secondary school miss you guys because you can go check it out google it anyway when when I arrived there and I started teaching and I met many of the students sometimes they would confuse these two words and they might ask me a question like Oh could you please borrow me a pencil instead of saying could you please lend me a pencil now I think an easy way to remember the meaning of these two words is to think of it like this when when you borrow something you take it when you lend something you give it so borrow is take lend is give and I think these words can be confusing because you can use them to say the same thing like I just did could I borrow a pencil is basically the same as could you lend me a pencil it's just when I borrow I take you give you lend so you just got to keep that in mind and if I want to practice using these words again I could say the student borrowed a pencil from me to borrow something from someone you may follow this verb with that preposition from borrow from or I could say I lent a pencil to the student you can follow that verb with the preposition to you lend something to someone so borrow is to take land is to give then we have the words convince and persuade now these these words they're very similar they can often be used interchangeably because they both mean to to get someone to do something at the very beginning of this lesson I said something like I I hope that I persuaded you to watch this lesson which is very similar to to me saying I hope that I convinced you to watch this lesson there is a slight difference and that slight difference is well well why why did you - why did I get you to do this thing so if I convinced you then it's really talking about the that I got you to firmly believe that something is true that you will watch this lesson you believe you believe it's true that it will help you and I convinced you to watch this lesson or you could perhaps convince someone of another person's innocence you believe that they're innocent it is true you convince them of their innocence or you might a very common way that it's use is that you could convince someone to change their mind because before they thought one way and now they they think what you're saying is true and you convince them to change their mind if we're talking about persuade it means you're you're getting somebody to do something based on reasoning and argument you're you're telling them all these things so that they start thinking okay maybe this person is right you are persuading this person and perhaps I I gave some really great reasons why you should watch this lesson you can build your vocabulary improve your fluency and because of that I persuaded you to watch this lesson or maybe you who want you want to borrow my car you want to borrow it and you try to persuade me to lend you my car I'm gonna throw these other words in here just to review now if you give me a lot of good reasons and and arguments then you could say yes that you persuaded me to lend you my car you persuaded me but I don't think you will persuade me not because I don't want to lend you my car I just don't have a car you can borrow a bike if you want then we have the words among and between and these prepositions can be very confusing but if you're talking about between it refers to things that are separate that are clearly separate from one another usually you're talking about two things but but not always so for example I could say for a dinner I was trying to decide between pizza or pasta or if I want to give you an example with more than two things perhaps I have a secret and I say this secret is between you and me and everyone else watching this video lesson so I listed three different things they were clearly separate you me and everyone else watching this video lesson but I was able to use between because they were clearly separated now if we're talking about among then we're talking about things that are not clearly separated because they're part of a group so for example I think of a statement that maybe you would hear in a TV show or movie somebody would say there is a traitor among us that in this group of people there is a traitor there's one person who's a traitor there is a traitor among us or perhaps I'm teaching a class and and then I have to leave the classroom and I tell the students talk amongst yourselves that you as a group you can turn to each other and and talk amongst yourselves now you may be looking at this and thinking wait what's the difference between among and amongst just the spelling the meaning there is no difference in meaning it's the same thing except I think among is it's more common amongst is a bit older but I think that you may often hear it when you use this statement right here talk amongst yourselves that you you have to leave and you're telling this group of people well just just talk to each other talk amongst yourselves or I could give you another example and say I teach English among other things and that phrase right there among other things means as well as other things that's another common usage of of this preposition among I teach English among other things I'm not going to tell you those things but I do I do teach English among other things then we have the words figuratively and literally now these words well I'll tell you in a little bit why they can be confusing but let's let's first talk about what they mean if you say something figuratively then you are you're using words and phrases in a very imaginative way in order to really like emphasize a feeling and emotion and event you're basically using metaphors it's not real it's not what happened so let me give you an example if I have a difficult day I like to go out for a run and when I go out for a run the stress just washes away does the stress really wash away and just fall off my body no I am speaking figuratively or another example I could say that well some some situation this is going to create a tidal wave of problems is it really a giant wave of problems that's gonna come and hit me no again I'm speaking figuratively but the reason why we do this is to really emphasize something it makes our our conversations or our writing a little more colorful a bit more interesting and I think it really helps you put a picture in your mind so I think it's great if people are speaking and they use figurative language now if we're talking about literally this this refers to something that actually happens this is this is the truth this is what really happened it's realistic it it it's the exact speech so for example maybe I'm talking with my friend about someone else and I saw that person yesterday and I said oh you know I literally saw her yesterday I'm then saying that this actually happened another example every lesson I always ask you guys I say oh please go ahead hit the like button so I I could then say every lesson I literally asked you guys to hit the like button this this is what actually happens now the one thing I want you to take notice of is that in those examples that I gave you I used the word literally and people will say this in order to to emphasize what that something actually happened but that's also the reason why these these words are commonly confused is because people will use literally when talking about figurative examples so let me let me tell you what I'm talking about I could say something like oh yeah I saw the movie I literally died of laughter oh if you die of laughter that is speaking figuratively I did not die from laughing but it's a little confusing because I said I literally died of laughing as though it actually happened but it really didn't or perhaps somebody could say he was literally thrown under the bus now to throw someone under the bus that is an idiom that means to betray someone so again we're using literally to talk about something that did not actually happen this person did not actually get thrown under this bus they're talking about being betrayed so in those examples I used literally more as a discourse marker to help organize ideas or express an emotion the same way somebody would use words like or anyway well or like so that is why these two words can be a bit confusing it is because of that people will use the word literally when they talk about something that is figurative so listen for that because that is something you may hear people say from time to time so I hope you are now convinced that this lesson was actually worth your time and that you understand the difference between these different sets of words all right I'm gonna go now I am literally going to end the lesson thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 241. CONFUSING WORDS IN ENGLISH ๐Ÿ“ | Vocabulary Quiz Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `2HhESbmc4VQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HhESbmc4VQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:21:00 | --- Hey everyone, welcome to today's lesson. My name is Wes. This channel is called Interactive English and it's really just all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. We try to do a little bit of everything. And if this is your first time, please write to me in the comments. Tell me your name. Tell me where you're from. Love hearing from new people. And even now, if you're joining me live, you can write your name uh where you're from in the chat. It's also great to see so many familiar faces. Um, today uh because I will give some shoutouts as we go through the lesson. Today is more of a vocabulary lesson because what we're going to talk about uh we're going to talk about confusing words in English. And as you can see, it says it is a quiz lesson. So, I'm going to give you some different sentences um with some confusing words. And I'm just going to have you choose which word best completes the sentence. So, it's really testing your knowledge on the vocabulary that you may already know, which is great practice. But before we jump in uh and begin, just want to say quick hello Angela. Yes sir. Uh welcome Lai. Great to see you again. Teao, hi, how are you? Um Suana Amit, uh Nun Kushnik, hello from India. Excellent, Maria Teresa. Good to see you again. Excellent. Um, and I keep saying it. Excellent. Excellent. I'm so happy uh to see all of you guys today. So, we're going to go through this and I I'll give you an opportunity to practice and tell me which word you think uh best completes the sentence. Of course, I will then tell you what the answer is and talk to you about a little bit about the difference between these words. So this is it's a good way to build your vocabulary but also your overall fluency because these are words that learners may confuse from time to time. To be quite honest, I think uh there are even uh native speakers that confuse these words as well. So let's go ahead and begin with the first question that I have for you. Uh we're talking about these two words borrow and lend. And if you are an avid fan of interactive English, you should recognize many of these words because I've actually done lessons in the past talking about some of these words. I actually did an entire lesson, I think, on borrow and lend uh a long time ago. So, the sentence, he refused to m some money because I didn't pay him back last time. Which of those words would you use to complete that sentence? Uh trying to think about the difference between borrow and lend. Excellent. Uh yes. Uh Jerry Aayam, uh Amit, Teao, Sarah, uh Lai, great job. Ja, Gahad, the correct answer is lend. So, a quick way just to think about the difference. When you borrow something, you're taking it. When you lend it, you're giving it. And notice those actions I try to associate it with. Borrow, you're taking. Lending, you are giving. So, in this case, we're talking about somebody else refused to give me lend me some money because I didn't pay him back last time. And yes, if uh if if you don't pay somebody back, probably that person may not lend you money in the future. That is true. So hopefully that one uh probably was a little easier. I think difference between borrow and lend. Um but great job. So many correct answers. Uh excellent. Uh Gustav, good to see you. Uh good to see you. Welcome. Let's look at the next one. All right. So some of them will be easier, some of them will be a little more difficult. So here we're talking about the phrase every day, two words versus the single word every day. So again, the pronunciation is exactly the same. The only difference is that uh one is the phrase two words every day and then the other one every day. And this is something that I think people will really confuse mostly with writing because the pronunciation's the same if you're saying it, you're speaking. No, you're not going to know whether you're talking about the one with two words or just the one word. So, this is really useful, I think, for your writing. If you're writing an email or even something for work or school, this is something I always say to you guys. what do you think? Uh which which one would you use to complete the the sentence? Uh awesome. Excellent. So many answers. You guys are boom just on this today. Right. Very quick. Uh yes. Uh Sevde, Yasher, Adriana, um Lai, Angela, Levvenia, we're we're talking uh Gustav. Perfect. We're talking about the phrase every day, two words. Try to study English a little bit each and every day. So to hopefully it makes sense. The phrase every day, two words, it really just means each day. It's something that's going to happen uh every day. Every day is one word. It's an adjective and typically it's going to come before um a noun like um we have to do some everyday chores. All right, those are chores. You have to do every day. But when we put it in front of the noun everyday chores then and use it as an adjective, then we're going to use every day one word. Most of the time I think people use it, they're talking about the phrase um every day. And notice each and every that is a binomial pair. Those are phrases that um are used informally but they're connected with that conjunction like short and sweet. Um something is wine and dine. Each and every is another binomial pair. In this case, each and every day. So I think hopefully I think you guys rock that one. So maybe that was a little easier. This one I suspect may be a little more difficult because well first off because I think these words are sometime they're used interchangeably. There is a slight difference between them but they you may be used interchangeably. A lot of times I think people will use sympathize. I think that word is more commonly used. So in the example sentence that I gave you, she couldn't m with my situation because she had never been in my shoes before. Okay, which word best completes that sentence? Sympathize or empathize? And again, I will tell you the the difference between these even though I think um they they are often sometimes used interchangeably. If you're just joining us, we are doing it's kind of a vocabulary quiz with these confusing words. So, she couldn't with my situation because she had never been in my shoes. I tried to kind of give you a hint with that last part, which is an idiom to to be in one's shoes. It's almost like then you're saying that you understand what their situation is like, what their what their life is like. Um, and people might say something like, "Well, try to put yourself in in my shoes." And then they're telling somebody like, "Look, try to understand my situation." So, I wow, you guys really did well. Uh, Musa, Raha, uh, Maria, Teresa, excellent. Um, Angela, Sajad, Diana, uh, Rita, we're talking about the empathize. All right. And that's really the last part of that was the the clue. She couldn't empathize with my situation because she had never been in my shoes. So I told you that I think some people will use them interchangeably. The slight difference is to sympathize. Both of them are verbs. Um you could use them as nouns as well, sympathy and empathy. But to sympathize is you you understand the feelings of another. that you understand like oh they're upset like I feel I feel bad for this person um and you sympathize with them to empathize it's you have experienced this thing so if you're able to empathize um with somebody that you understand because you have gone through the same thing you have gone through the same experience and you can empathize with somebody's situation so in this case I said she couldn't empathize with my situation. She had never been in my shoes that she had never experienced the same thing. So that is a slight difference between uh these two words. But uh Lai, it's okay. Don't worry. I know you got it wrong. It's okay. It happens from time to time. Uh but that's a slight difference. So, it's good to know the subtle differences between some of these two words that you sympathize, you understand the that this person may be struggling, going through a difficult time, empathize. It's when you um you have experienced this same thing. The let's look at this next one. Okay, also maybe this one might be a little more challenging. Uh imply versus infer. In this case again both of them are verbs to imply or to infer. Which one would best complete this sentence right here? So it says based on the latest statistics we can that the new policy is working. All right. Based on the latest statistics we can that the new policy is working. which uh which of those words again they're commonly confused mostly because uh well they have well they're not really spelled the same but wow you guys you guys are on top of your your game today I I will tell you that maybe maybe I told you because I've talked about all of these confusing words before in previous lessons maybe you guys are just such avid fans that uh you remember all of this information. But yes, excellent. Um Ricardo, Ricardo, Mr. Tomorrow. Um let's see. Uh Gustav Lai, perfect. Angela, uh just try to give some more shout outs. Uh Flybore, the answer is the uh Eku Eco from Japan. Excellent. The answer is infer. So let's let me show you the what they mean uh and try to explain it a little bit. So I'll just read the sentences. Based on this the latest statistics we can infer that the new policy is working. So to imply is to express something in an indirect way. To infer is you're forming an opinion based on evidence or fact. They're very two different meanings. Let me give you an example for imply. So, I don't know if you saw um the lesson I did a couple of weeks ago about innuendos and I talked about some sexual innuendos that people will say things and they are implying or suggesting something else in an indirect way. I gave you an example like uh at work and I say, "Wow, um Kim and Steve are spending a lot of time together. They're spending a lot of time together outside of the office. All right. When you say that, I'm implying that maybe they're having some type of relationship that maybe they're romantically involved. I'm implying that indirectly. To infer is with like you're making an inference. You see something and it's like, oh, you can decide something else. Like if somebody walks in your room and they're just wet, then you could in you could infer what the weather is like. You could infer that, well, it's probably raining outside, which is why this person is wet. Uh so again, two different meanings. In this case, um you're looking at these statistics and like, oh, okay, because of the statistics, we can infer, we can form the opinion that the policy is working. Uh all right. So, let's look at the next one. Again, if you guys happen to be joining us, we're talking about the the difference between some commonly confused words or some confusing words in English. We have the difference between fun and funny. I think maybe this one might be a little easier in the past. I also did another lesson. Uh maybe I'll include some of those down in the description if you guys would like to review um and check out some of these other video lessons where I talk about them with more examples in greater detail. So fun and funny. We had a really m time at the comedy show. We laughed for hours. All right. Which one? And I tried to I tried to trick you with this sentence. All right. We had a really m time at the comedy show. We laughed for hours. All right. So, I like I'm trying to trick you with that second part of the sentence. Let me just give some shout outs to uh those of you with the correct answer. Yes. Uh Sid, uh Diana, Lai, excellent. Uh Suana, Angela, Anowit, Levvenia are Wait, no, that was funny. The the correct answer is fun. All right. And I'll tell you why in just a moment. Louise Limey. Um, okay. Maria Teresa. Excellent. Good job. The correct answer I told you is fun. We're talking about a fun time. So if you overwhelmingly if you're talking about some time period and you want to describe it, you say, "Oh, we had a fun time at the concert. We had a fun time at the party. I I hope you guys are having a fun time uh in this class right now learning this vocabulary. So fun refers to enjoyment. You're having a good time. The reason why I tried to maybe trick you is because we're talking about a comedy show where you're watching some comedian and you're laughing. So funny is an adjective that really refers to either a situation like I said um and it was a funny situation and you're describing it or you could describe a person and say well this person is funny. So if you're talking about a time in general that's not really you're not going to describe that um using the word funny and say oh it was a funny time. uh you would just say that something is funny and that's it. So most of the time you're going to use it as a predicate adjective if I want to be very specific and it's going to follow the verb to be and you'd say a situation is funny or maybe a person is funny. I like to think I am funny but well I have my moments not always. Uh so in that case we're talking about time. You would describe you would describe the time that you had as fun. We had a fun time. Um and that would be the adjective. That would be the correct answer. Um all right. So let's look at the next one. Thank you, Maria Terisa. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Uh an excellent teaser. Yashar. Wait, I said I said your name at the very beginning, I think, uh, in one of the like during the hellos. I'll try to try to get as many as I can. U, Dorcas, yes. Excellent. Fun is the correct answer. Uh, let's see. This one is more difficult. Um I I will explain it and I think probably you'll be able to guess the answer but this is uh these are phrasal verbs and trying to think well what's the difference between burn up and burn down. Okay so the sentence that I gave you is talking about well I had a collection of old books sadly many of them in the fire. Okay. How which of those phrasal verbs would you use to complete um this sentence? And they're really there's only one correct answer. So, are you going to use burn up or burn down? If you wanted to really get technical because I know you guys are just typing this quickly uh in the chat, this would be remember I had a collection. We're talking about the past. So, something happened in the past. So, if we want to get really technical, um, you would be using burned. It's a regular verb. Burn in the past. Burned up or burned down. Which one do you think, uh, you're going to use? I did, again, I talked about this in a previous lesson. I had a collection of old books. Sadly, many of them in the fire. Uh, excellent, Gustav. Perfect. Uh, let's give some shout outs. Venry. Uh, Veni. Nice. Lewis. Uh, who else do we have? Benny, good job. Mr. Tomorrow, excellent. Um, Lolly, sorry. Uhuh. Um, the correct answer the correct answer is burn up. And I will I'll explain why. So, both burn up and burn down. Something is being destroyed by fire and it's destroying something. The difference I would say is that if something burns down, it's it's talking about a larger structure. So I think of like uh a house or a bridge or some building, some larger structure that is destroyed by the fire and it would like burn to the ground and it would burn down and possibly collapse. If something burns up, it's also destroyed by the fire. But I would say that it's like something is really consumed by it. Something maybe like a smaller object. So in this case, if there was a house fire and a home was on fire, the things in the home, the home itself would burn down, but the things inside the home might burn up. Like if you have a book, books are made of paper. They would burn up in the fire. Another um situation in which you may hear um burn up. Think about um asteroids entering the earth's atmosph atmosphere. They never make it into the earth. They burn up in the atmosphere is another uh example of when you might say something burns up. So I hope that makes um sense between burn up, burn down, burn down. Think of like a larger structure like a building, a home, a bridge, and like oh it burned down, fell to the ground. um burn up just something like items that you might have. So in this case, we're talking about the home was on fire. The books were inside there. They burned up. I know I'm talking about this a lot right now. Uh so let's just move on to the next one. All right, it's okay. We got more. There's more left. Um more questions for you. Here is uh the next set of confusing words. the difference between persuade and convince. Again, they're very similar in some instances. You could even say they're interchangeable, but there there there is a slight difference between these two, especially when you think about, well, when in what situation are are you going to use them? So, think about this situation right here. Try to put a picture in your mind about what is happening. the lawyer was able to m the jury that the defendant was not guilty. So, we're talking about a situation that is in a courtroom. You have a lawyer, you have a defendant, there's a jury who's going to make a decision and the lawyer was able to m the jury that the defendant was not guilty. I told you. I'm trying to think in this case. I guess you could use them interchangeably. Again, I will tell you why. I'm going to give you the answer that I am because yes, there is there can be a slight difference. So, yes. Um, excellent. Uh, let me just show you guys. It's it's moving really fast right now through the chat. The correct answer is convince. Okay. So, the reason for that, because I saw some people put persuade, and if you said persuade, I wouldn't say like, oh no, like it's not like if you had mentioned this to me in a conversation, I would not stop and think, hm, that was the wrong word. Persuade is like you're you're c to cause someone to do something by reason or an argument. So, you're giving them your opinion, you're giving them an argument, and you want them to do something, perhaps take some action. Convince is more about you, you want someone to believe something. You want them to believe something is true. So, in this case, the lawyer was able to convince the jury, the convince these people to believe the defendant was not guilty. So, you're talking about that these the jury now believes that this is true. They believe the defendant is not guilty. Think about it another way. If I wanted to use um persuade and you're trying to get someone to do something, then I might think um you could say the lawyer was able to persuade the jury to um for uh to pres to persuade the jury to vote not guilty. So in that case, it's like you're trying to get them to take some action like their vote, in which case maybe um you would then in that case use persuade. So again, it's a very slight difference. Persuade, it makes me think, you know, you're trying to get somebody to do something, take some sort of action. Uh convince is more so just believing something is true. So let's look at the next one. Again, that's a little more difficult because the meaning persuade and convince, often people might use them uh interchangeably as synonyms. These two words are certainly different. Um well, slight they're they're slightly different. I'll say that. Um this is more it's not just vocabulary, but also more of a grammar question. trying to think about the difference, making sure you know the difference between less and fewer. So, my sentence that I want you guys to complete, there were m people on the metro today than there were yesterday. Which one are you going to use to complete this sentence? Are you going to use less or fewer? And I think you guys are mostly overwhelmingly getting this correct. Excellent. Just some shout outs. Yes, good job. Um, Jari, Gahab, Yasher, uh, Angela, Takaya, Lai, excellent. You got that one correct. The correct answer is fewer. Okay. And this is where I think in spoken English you people will make this mistake I I think quite often and they will confuse these especially when we're talking about an irregular plural noun which is what I used trying to confuse you a little bit but we use less. I told you it was more of a grammar question. We use less. It means not as much for non-count nouns. So we use less for non-count nouns like less water um or less I don't milk we're talk we use fewer for count nouns so people it is a count noun it is an irregular uh plural noun but in that case you would use fewer there were fewer people on the metro today than there were yesterday but I would say that just in spoken in English people um whether they're learners or even native speakers uh they will confuse them and they may say yeah there were less people on the metro today than there were yesterday to be quite honest I do this too I I will confuse these from time to time um and sometime I'll catch myself too and I'll I'll use less and and most of the time when people make a mistake they're using less instead of fewer and that's when people often make the mistake I've done it do and I'll catch myself and I'll realize hm I said less when I should have used fewer but just good it's good to be aware of the next question uh or the next set of words that I have for you the difference between reserve and book these are both uh verbs to reserve to reserve something or to book something and I want you guys to think about well what what is the difference between these two it's it's very subtle. It's very slight, but in the example that I gave you, um, we should go ahead and m a hotel room for this weekend. Okay. What do you think uh would best complete that sentence? We should go ahead and m a hotel room for this weekend. Uh, excellent. All right. Give some quick shout outs here. Uh, yes, Metate. Um, Tom Tom Zang. Nice. Kerasidarees. Uh Sarah, uh Daniel, Adris, uh Bangun, trying to give some new shoutouts. Uh say some new names. I apologize if I haven't been able to to say your name today. Gustav, excellent. Book is what I would use. And the slight difference I'd say to reserve something is you're you're keeping something. you're saving it for a particular purpose. Booking, you're doing the same thing, but when you book something, you're you're going ahead and paying for it. Reserving, you may not you may not be paying for it. So, in this case, we're talking about a hotel room. You you need to pay for a hotel room in order to keep it for yourself. So, you would book a hotel room. Some people, again, they may be used interchangeably. You may hear like, "Oh, we need to reserve a hotel room." I think of reserve more often would be used with talking about like a table at a restaurant and you're going to a restaurant. You want to make sure that you have a table because you're with a group of people and you would reserve a table. You're not going to use book because it's not something you're going to pay for uh if you're talking about a restaurant. Um so there is a difference between uh these two reserve and book and I hope that explanation made sense. Then we have these two words which I also very uh similar uh say versus tell. Again, this is another set of words that I did a lesson on a while back, and I will go back through and try to throw those down in the description in case you'd like to uh watch more video lessons, which I hope I hope you like to do. So, I'm going to you a secret. Please do not m anything to anyone. And if you're not sure exactly why, like why you should use which one, just do what what which one feels right. Just your your feeling as to what do you think? Okay, I I feel this is the way uh that this is the correct answer. And in this case, I I want you uh I'm having you use both of them. Um I'm going to m you a secret. Please do not m anything to anyone. All right. Excellent. A lot of lot of answers to this one. Perfect. So, you're using both of them, but you're going to use uh the first one, tell, and then you're going to use say. So, all of you who wrote tell, say, that is the correct answer. I'm going to tell you a secret. Please do not say anything to anyone. That is uh the correct answer. So, think about it this way. You say something to someone. All right? you say something to someone and you would tell someone something. Uh, so in this case, it fits right in there. The way that I had this sentence, I'm going to tell uh you a secret. I'm going to tell someone something. Tell you a secret. Please do not say anything to anyone. To say something to someone, say anything to anyone. All right, so that is the difference between those two. I think you guys overwhelmingly got that one correct. Great job. Uh I hope that again this is just good practice for you not only to build your vocabulary but to understand some of the slight differences between these words which is just going to help you improve your overall English fluency. Uh just want to I want to thank you guys so many great members. uh saw members today uh Dorcas, Valerie, Gustav, uh Tyel, Lai. Uh always great to see so many members uh participating in these lessons. If you guys want to show us a little bit of love, support our channel. Uh there are links down in the description below for uh YouTube membership, joining me on Patreon. I really appreciate it. Really kind of helps uh help keep all of this going and and the engine running. Uh, I hope again that you guys learned uh some maybe some new words or if they weren't new words that you were able to understand the difference between some of those words because again they are they are commonly confused. Thank you guys so much for joining me. Give a few more quick shoutouts. Olivia, uh, Roxanna, um, to the the members and patrons here, uh, Teao, Maria, Teresa, uh, Lai, Dorcas, um, Valerie, thank you guys. Gustav, um, Suana, uh, Hugs for Drugs, thank you for being here. Uh, Limey. All right, I am going to have to end it there. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend. And of course, I will be back for another live lesson in the --- ## 242. COOKING PHRASAL VERBS ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿณ Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Qp8iBKtgcrQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp8iBKtgcrQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:10:13 | --- today i want to talk to you about phrasal verbs that are all related to food and cooking because well this is something that we do every day all of us like to eat and i think many of you out there probably like to cook as well so these are very useful phrasal verbs that you will use in everyday english some of these phrasal verbs i will teach you in pairs either because they are very similar in their meaning or they are exact opposites so for example the first phrasal verbs that i want to teach you it is a pair and that is heat up and warm up and they both have a they have a similar meaning and it just means to make something warmer or hotter i would think that to heat something up i would think it's mostly about you're you're heating it up you're making it hotter and to warm it up you are making it warmer the only difference that i think is mostly the speed if i think of heating something up you're making it hotter but doing it uh quickly so for example you might heat something up in the microwave when you're talking about using the microwave i think it's common to say that you're going to heat something up to warm up you are making it warmer but i think there might be a longer period of time there that you are going to warm something up in it it might take several minutes and you might use it when you're cooking something on the stove and you want to warm something up you want to warm up the food so that you can eat it or if you want to do it much quicker then you could just heat it up in the microwave but in general they they have a similar meaning you are just making food hotter or warmer so put it in one of those tupperware containers and i'll heat it up in the microwave when i get home they could warm up to soup if you want the next set of phrasal verbs that i want to teach you turn up and turn down now these two phrasal verbs are exact opposites and we're talking about using the stove and you would turn it up or you might turn it down so to turn something up it just means that you are increasing the amount of heat and to turn something down you are decreasing the amount of heat and again often you are referring to the stove and you want to increase the amount of heat so you're going to turn it up but if it gets too hot then you may need to turn the stove down turn up turn down next is the phrasal verb pass up and this just means to not take advantage of something now this phrasal verb can be used in a variety of contexts for example you might pass up on a new job opportunity you just didn't take it you didn't want it but since we're talking about food and cooking i think it might be used that you are not taking advantage of perhaps a meal maybe you are passing up on dinner with these people because you're too busy or i think somebody might use it in the context they're surprised that you decided not to eat something you're not taking advantage of it and be like wow i can't believe you're passing up on these cookies they taste amazing you should give them a try i can't believe you're passing up on them next is the phrasal verb eat up and this phrasal verb has two different meanings so it can mean to eat all of something that if something was so good you just ate it all up for example i could say well i i ate up all of those cookies they were so delicious you passed up on them i told you not to so i ate all of them up it can also refer to like a command that you're telling somebody to to start eating and you might just say hey you know eat up don't wait for me just go ahead eat up start eating begin eating eat up eat up yup eat up guys there on the table i saw a pair of over easy eggs that honey had left from me i made him up i passed out with a plate on my chest i ate up her snacks and now the basket is empty so speaking of eating the next phrasal verb is pig out and what it means is to eat excessively you're eating a large amount of something and you're you're eating it rather quickly too you just want to eat as much as you can as fast as you can you want to pig out it's not a nice phrasal verb you don't want to tell somebody oh wow you're really pigging out it's not going to make them feel good but it is something that you might use when talking about yourself if you are so hungry perhaps you've been traveling all day and you have not eaten you say oh i just can't i can't wait to have dinner i'm so hungry i'm just going to pig out i'm going to eat as much as i can as fast as i can i just i just want to pick out i say we buy 26 worth of ice cream and just pig out extra large bucket of popcorn half butter half salt normally just be out here picking out then we have chop up now this is a cooking phrasal verb because when you're in the kitchen and you need to cut things up into small pieces you are going to chop them up so if you are maybe somebody's helping you cook and you might ask them and you might tell them hey can you chop up those onions can you chop up some carrots can you cut them into small pieces chop up now let's start chopping up these onions please tell me you're going to start chopping up lettuce and tomatoes you take the egg and the green pepper and chop the green pepper up in big chunks don't even dices big chunks of green peppers and onions next is thaw out and when you thaw something out you are taking something that is frozen and you are setting it out so that it becomes softer over time and then it's ready to use you need to thaw it out so think of things in your freezer maybe you have some chicken in your freezer and you are ready to eat it and you want to cook it you're not going to start cooking a frozen chicken you need to thaw it out so people might take it and move it from the freezer to the refrigerator to let it thaw to let it thaw out or perhaps they just set it out on the counter in the kitchen in room temperature and it thaws out over time to thaw out next is boil over again it's a cooking phrasal verb and when you are heating up some water and it starts to boil if it is boiling too much it might boil over and the water just comes over the side and you'd say wow you know the the water it's boiling over we need to turn down the heat so that it stops boiling so intensely and it doesn't boil over so as you can see when you are explaining something about cooking or eating then it's quite possible you are going to use multiple phrasal verbs to describe what's happening next i have another pair of phrasal verbs for you and that is eat out and eat in so i i like to eat out i'll admit that it's one of my favorite phrasal verbs this is when you eat outside of the home and you're really referring to a restaurant or some place in which you are ordering food and paying for it you are eating out at a restaurant eat in it just means the opposite it means that you are going to eat at home you are going to cook something you are going to stay at home now this phrasal verb i don't think it's as common because well most of the time people like to say that they're going to eat out they like to tell others their plans and say well you know i'm going to this restaurant i'm going to eat out tonight but people don't regularly talk about eating in as much mostly because well it's i think people sometimes think it's uneventful but you could still use it in conversation if somebody says you know what are your plans for dinner tonight you could just say well i'm not gonna go anywhere i'm gonna eat in i'm gonna cook something at home i'm going to eat it and then liz rang about the two of you eating out tonight how come you wanted to eat in tonight so if you're gonna eat in then you might use this next phrasal verb which is whip up and this just means to make some food quickly and i think it really refers to people who are they they have something they have to do they need to eat quickly they don't have a lot of time so they need to whip something up eat it and then leave and and go do whatever it is they need to do to whip up some food how about whipping up some buffalo sausage okay i'll but whip up some food please wait i'll whip up some chicken wing then we have cut down on and you would cut down on something and when you cut down on you know it could be any food it refers to a food that you need to reduce the amount that you're eating pretty much because it's not good for you so you're telling somebody that you need to cut down on this food for example i would say that you know i should probably cut down on chocolate because i eat it quite often especially at night before i go to bed just because it tastes good chocolate and milk it's my it's my it's my one pleasure and i love to eat it but i should probably cut down on it because every night it's too much it's a little excessive so i need to cut down on it you can also use it when talking about nutrition as well like you want to cut down on the amount of calories that you are taking in during the day you want to cut down on the amount of processed foods any any type of food that you might think is it's not really good for you you want to reduce the amount of it you want to cut down on this food is there anything you want to cut down on brian like the dickens to cut down on my snacking maybe we should cut down on your sweets you're starting to get a little buddha belly then we have the phrasal verb pick at and it refers to an action that somebody's doing and it means that somebody is eating just a very very small amount usually because they're not hungry and it's it's almost like they're kind of just playing with their food a little bit and say oh you know you're picking at your food i think of families maybe the parents would say this to the kids if they're they're not eating and they're just sitting there they might say hey you know stop picking at your food i want you to eat it we didn't whip up this food quickly stop picking at your food i want you to eat up and yes i i will confess i i need to stop picking at my vegetables i need to go ahead and eat them they're good for me then we have water down this is a cooking phrasal verb that refers to adding water to something in order to make it less strong you need to water it down so when you're preparing a meal maybe could be a soup and you think that there is too much of something it's a little too strong you might want to water it down a little so that it's a little less intense and it has a better taste to water something down or you could even use it to describe a meal to describe something the way it tastes and say well you know it tastes it's a little watered down probably you shouldn't say that to the person who prepared the food you always want to be polite but if you're talking to somebody else and you could say yeah you know i i tried this i ate it it was a little watered down maybe it'll be better next time go ahead water it down some more my god man i've watered her down as far as she'll go i cannot water no more then we have washed down and this just means to drink something after you eat mostly because you want to make it easier to swallow you want to wash it down so if somebody is just pigging out and they're eating really fast then they may need to drink some water to wash everything down i need to wash it down it's also used in a situation where you eat something and it just tastes terrible and you try it and you're like oh that's awful i need something to wash it down please give me something to drink i need to wash it down let me slice this swiss cheese then you can wash it down with a cup of swiss miss instant cocoa then we have another pair of phrasal verbs and that is drink two or toast two now for either of these phrasal verbs you would drink to someone or you could drink to something as well as toast too you could toast to someone or toast to something and in that case you are just wishing health and happiness and success to someone or something so you might drink to your friend who is getting married and you're celebrating this event or you could toast to somebody's happiness because they they just got a new job or maybe they just had a new baby and you want to toast to this person but when you use these phrasal verbs keep in mind that you will need to have some kind of drink in your hand usually it would be a drink that's in a glass and you would toast to someone and wish them happiness or you would drink to something and acknowledge the the success and then everybody around would take a drink for example i want to toast to all of you for building your vocabulary and working really hard to learn these different phrasal verbs and then go out and use them and just keep practicing and practicing and practicing i want to toast to all of you ah yeah it's it's just water yeah let's drink to their happiness huh come there are streets in their memory let's drink to peace i'd like to make a toast to pop i'd like to make a toast to the groom to be adrien pimento we would like to make a toast to you guys to my friends i would like to make a toast to my wife so the next time that you are cooking in the kitchen or you are out at a restaurant try to think about what's going on think about which phrasal verbs you would use to describe certain situations because when you connect it to your experience that's going to help you remember their meaning all this talk about food and cooking makes me a little hungry so i'm gonna head to the kitchen i'm gonna whip something up hopefully it'll taste good if it doesn't not worried about it i'll just wash it down with some water and then i'll go eat out no problem and i hope all of you have a wonderful meal the next time you eat whether it's breakfast lunch or dinner and i will see you next time --- ## 243. COPY MY AMERICAN ACCENT! ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (How to 100% Improve Your Speaking Fluency) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hssDaafb2wM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hssDaafb2wM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:42:32 | --- I'm going to teach you all about the American accent, which is my English accent because I am from the United States. And this is a practice lesson. So, I want you to participate and actually say these words and sentences with me. And if you are someone who wants to improve and develop your speaking fluency, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, we're going to do this step by step. And really, we're we're just going to build on top of things as we go along. And again, I want you to practice. So, let's start with a couple of super common reductions. And these are reductions that you absolutely need to learn because you will hear them all the time and you will also use them all the time. And I'm talking about probably the two most common reductions, going to and wanna. to when those phrases are followed by a base verb we can reduce them and going to is going to get reduced to going to and want to will get reduced to wanna. Now you may already be familiar with these reductions and you may already be using them as well and that's great. It's all about developing a nice rhythm and flow. So I'm going to give you some sentences and I just want you to repeat after me. Say these reductions out loud but I'm not going to spell the reduction. I really want you to to get in the habit even when you're reading and you see going to followed by a verb that you're you're just going to change it already and in your mind you're going to say going to or w to. Now keep in mind these are reductions. You're not going to emphasize these words. So just repeat after me. We're going to be late. We're going to be late. Are you going to go? Are you going to go? I'm not going to eat that. I'm not going to eat that. He's going to start a new job. He's going to start a new job. It's going to rain tomorrow. It's going to rain tomorrow. Excellent. Easy enough. And you really just move right through the sentence using these reductions. So, let's practice a few more sentences. this time with the reduction. Wanna. I want to go home. I want to go home. What do you want to do? What do you want to do? I don't want to be late. I don't want to be late. Do you want to play a game? Do you want to play a game? We just want to relax. We just want to relax. All right. Well done. I trust that you are saying these out loud and practicing your speaking skills because just saying them out loud, even with simple sentences, it's really going to help you get more comfortable so that you can start using them naturally. Now, speaking of reductions, let's continue and talk about some single word reductions. And I'm talking about the words to, for, and so these words are commonly used, but they're not really content words. They're not words that you're going to emphasize. And when they get reduced, the vowel sound can change slightly. So each of these words has two different pronunciations. So like the word, it may sound like the number, but when it's reduced, it may sound much softer. T. And you're really going to hear more of a schwah sound, that unstressed vowel sound. The word for is going to sound like fur. And and we're just going to reduce that. That d is going to go away and it's going to sound like n. I really want to emphasize the idea that these words are unstressed because I want to practice them. And typically when people end up focusing on them, they they emphasize the word and and that is not the case. The whole idea is that these words are unstressed and that is why that vowel sound is going to change. Let's look at this first sentence. But there's something I want to mention before we practice. I'm going to the dentist. Now, this does not mean you're always going to reduce this word. There may be situations depending on the tone and the conversation that you're having. It may sound like two. Maybe you're not paying attention and I'm trying to emphasize that this is something I'm doing. I'm going to the dentist and you hear to. But quite often you're just going to say this casually without giving it too much thought. And to is going to get reduced and it's going to sound like a softer t. I'm going to the dentist. I want you to say this after me. Let's say it slowly. I'm going to the dentist. Now, let's say it at a normal speed. I'm going to the dentist. I'm going to the dentist. And then this one slowly. She's planning to travel to France. She's planning to travel to France. She's planning to travel to France. Now, let's practice with some sentences using for, but we're going to reduce it to for. Once again, we'll say it slowly and then at a normal speed. I went for a walk in the park. I went for a walk in the park. I went for a walk in the park. And then this last sentence, I'm going to throw in a reduction. What are you going to do for lunch? What are you going to do for lunch? What are you going to do for lunch? And finally, let's practice reducing and to n. She's healthy and fit. She's healthy and fit. She's healthy and fit. We're having chicken and rice for dinner. We're having chicken and rice for dinner. We're having chicken and rice for dinner. You're doing great. And I hope that as I was saying those sentences, you can hear the reduction that it's a much softer sound. And I also hope that when you were saying them, you're keeping that in mind that it's a softer sound. It gets reduced. And this is really important. Like I said, it's about developing a nice rhythm and flow. And we're going to talk about that in just a moment. But the next thing that I want to tell you about is something that is a distinct part of the American accent. And I'm talking about the flap T. So the flap T, it really sounds like a soft D. And they say flap because your tongue really is just coming up and and flapping against the top part of your mouth. So there are three times when this occurs, and you should be aware of all three. The first one, which I think is the most common, and that is when the T comes between two vowel sounds. And there are many words that that you would use a flap T. Just repeat after me. water city better. I also want you to keep in mind that when you have a phrase and the t comes at the end of the word, but it's between two vowel sounds, you're also going to pronounce that as a flap t. I want you to repeat these phrases after me. Put up, get over, start out. You hear those flap t's, you're also going to use a flap t when the t comes before or after a dark l. So once again, repeat these words after me. Little bottle, battle, and finally, you're going to pronounce the t as a flap t when it comes before or after a controlled r. Say these words after me. Daughter. Party. turtle. One way that I love practicing the flap t is with a tongue twister. Betty bought. Now, most of these t's, they come between two vowel sounds. And I want I want you to repeat after me. Let's do this line by line. So, just repeat after me. Betty bought bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. Again, you're pronouncing all those flap T's. Let's say it one more time. Let's say the whole thing. And I want you to shadow. So, in this case, I want you to say it with me. Try to maintain that same speed and really use that flap T. Are you ready? Betty Bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. So, this is a great way to practice the flap t because there's so many of them and you're just saying that soft d sound. Now, another distinct part of the American accent, which is a sound, and I want you to master it, and that is the American R. So, let's talk about how to pronounce the American R. We'll we'll just call it that. and I'll tell you how to position the tongue in your mouth. So, your tongue is going to be pulled back a little bit and the sides of your tongue are going to be touching the insides of your upper teeth. The tip of your tongue is it's going to be pointed up and it's really going to be fixed in a fixed position. Your your lips are going to be a little rounded. So, this is what it sounds like. It It reminds me of a Frosted Flakes commercial. Tony the Tiger would say the word great, but really emphasizing that R sound. Good. There. Give it a try and really emphasize that sound. Great. Let's practice with some individual words. And this is really important because it's it's all about fine-tuning your pronunciation because the R sound in other English varieties is it's not always the same. So I want you to say these words after me and I'm going to emphasize that R and I want you to do the same. Are you ready? Red, right? Around car star, and you're really going to pronounce that R, that R sound. The next thing that I want to share with you is incredibly important when talking about rhythm and flow. You've heard me mention this several times already, but you need to keep in mind that English is a stress time language. And this is what's going to help you develop that rhythm and flow in a more natural way of speaking. So what does it mean when we talk about stress timing? It means that the stress syllables or words are said at approximately regular intervals and then the other words or syllables may get reduced in order to fit that pattern and because of this the English language may sound maleifluous which is a great adjective which means something is pleasing or soothing to hear. So because English is a stress time language it can sound a little musical. You could take any sentence and really create a melody. And that's what I want to do right now. And I want to say these sentences with a melody. And I'm I'm going to throw a lot at you right now. So, let's just look at this first one. He's going to go to the gym. Every time I clap, that is the stressed syllable or word. He's gonna go to the gym. Think about what else is going on in the sentence. going to I'm going to reduce that to going to to the gym to it's reduced so that that vowel sound is going to change to the gym. However, that t it comes between two vowel sounds. So I'm going to pronounce it as a flap t. So to the gym, it's actually going to sound like to the gym. Go tothe. You hear that flap t along with that reduced sound. Go to the Go to the. And you will hear this all the time with the American accent. Go to the gym. Go to the mall. Go to the store. So I told you I'm going to throw a lot at you right now. So think about that melody. He's going to go to the gym. And I want you to say it just like that. So repeat after me. He's gonna go to the gym. One more time with that melody. He's going to go to the gym. And even if I'm just saying this casually at a normal speed, you can still pick up on that stress timing. He's going to go to the gym. He's going to go to the gym. Let's practice the next sentence. Where do you want us to put this? Again, every time I clap, that's that stress timing. That's the rhythm. Where do you want us to put this? At the end of the sentence, we have that reduced to. To put this to put this. Where do you want us to put this? I want you to repeat after me. Think about that melody. Where do you want us to put this? One more time. Where do you want us to put this? And now let's just say it at a regular speed, but still using that stress timing. Where do you want us to put this? And now let's practice this last sentence. I'm gonna get an Uber and go home. Again, there's several things going on. We're going to reduce going to to gonna and and to n. I'm gonna get an Uber and go home. I want you to repeat after me. I'm going to get an Uber and go home. I'm going to get an Uber and go home. And now let's say it at more of a normal speed. I'm going to get an Uber and go home. I would really encourage you to practice this and you can practice on your own. What I would suggest is that you read something out loud and I think it would be more beneficial to read some poetry. Probably even better read a children's book. In that way, you can really create that melody because the way that you read to a child, it's going to be different than just reading any old book or article out loud. And you're trying to create that melody, make it sound a little more like a song, and you're using that stress timing. So this is something that I think is really going to help you to create a more natural rhythm and flow. Let's move on to the next thing which is well also very common and that is linking your words. And really this is a part of connected speech and Americans will often link words together because it helps make our speech faster and smoother. And when you think about it, uh, many languages use linking. And the first time that you start learning a language, you you hear it and it just sounds like one long word. This is really because of linking. So specifically, linking is when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. I want to practice with some simple sentences and we are going to link two or more words together. Let's look at our first sentence. And the way I would say this is, "Can you give us an update?" And we're going to link several words together. I'm not going to pronounce the words individually. Can you give us an update? When thinking about linking and connected speech, the idea is that you're not pronouncing the individual words, but you're pronouncing them together as a phrase. So, the phrase that we're going to link is give us an update. So, let's say this slowly, and I want you to repeat after me, and I'm gonna emphasize that consonant sound that gets moved over. Give us an update. Say it again. Give us an update. Now, let's say the question. Repeat after me. Can you give us an update? Can you give us an update? Here's the next one. I'm going to take it away. So, I'm going to reduce going to to gonna take it away. That is the phrase that I'm going to link. And that final T in it, I'm gonna I'm gonna pronounce it as a flap T. Take it away. Repeat after me. Take it away. Take it away. Now, let's say the sentence. I'm going to take it away. And you can even hear that melody. I'm going to take it away. One more time just for good measure. I'm gonna take it away. Let's try this one. I just got out of the meeting. The phrase that I'm going to link got out of. You hear those flap T's? There are two of them. And then I'm going to link them over with that vowel sound. Got out of. Got out of. I I really want you to think about this phrase because we use this quite often. And I think if you're not really familiar with linking, this is a good starting point because we will use this phrase in a variety of contexts. Get out of, got out of, I get out of bed, you get out of the car, you can get out of trouble. So quite often you can use this phrase and just practice this and and say it with a variety of sentences. So let's let's say our sentence right here. I just got out of the meeting. One more time. I just got out of the meeting. Some other common phrases that I want to highlight. And if and will get reduced to N. And then we can link it. And if. But I. But that T I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T. And then when I link it, it's going to sound like but I. And if. But I. One thing I would encourage you to do is just listen to the way that native speakers are are talking and then try to say things in the same way. And I'm going to talk about that in just a little bit. But really try to let your ears do all the work. Don't think about the individual words, but think more about the sounds. I it'll make things easier for your mouth. Something else I want you to do is focus on common sound changes. And really I'm talking about assimilation. So sounds may change when two words meet. And assimilation occurs when two sounds really sound more like each other because they're spoken consecutively. And there are some common phrases specifically when asking questions. And you can use assimilation. So let's talk about them right now. First we'll begin with the T and Y. When those two sounds assimilate, you get a bit of a ch sound. Think about the phrase, don't you? That t and y, if they blend together, you get a ch. We can practice this question. Why don't you give me a hand? Can you hear? It's like that slight ch sound. We're putting it between the two words, and that is what really allows us to connect them together. Don't you Why don't you give me a hand? I want you to say it after me. Why don't you give me a hand? Why don't you give me a hand? Here's another question. Don't you want to get out of the pool? So, don't you? You hear me say don't you? I'm going to reduce want to to wanna. And then there's our linked phrase, get out of. And once again, you can hear that melody. Don't you want to get out of the pool? So, I want you to repeat after me. Don't you want to get out of the pool? One more time. Don't you want to get out of the pool? Another common sound change is with the D and Y. So when these two sounds assimilate, you get more of a J sound. Think about the phrase did you? When I pronounce this, I'm going to say did you. You can hear that slight J sound. Did you? So we have our question. What did you eat for breakfast? Once again, for let's let's reduce it to for. So repeat after me. What did you eat for breakfast? What did you eat for breakfast? And again, I hope you can hear that stress timing. Here's another question. Where did you go last night? Where did you go last night? So, when it comes to common sound changes, this is a great place to start. And notice that these were all questions. And quite often you're at talking to somebody and you're asking them a question. Consider that last phrase, did you? So instead of pronouncing the individual words, you could say, "What did you? Where did you? Why did you? How did you?" Now, it's going to allow you to ask a question just more easily and naturally. But that doesn't mean assimilation is always going to occur. You may hear somebody say, "What did you?" But if you want to connect them and and really just move right through the question, what did you, where did you, why did you, how did you, this is a great way to practice. Something else I want you to work on and practice is American intonation. And really, this is more about tone and the way that you're expressing your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. It's it's just more natural. So, in its simplest terms, let's just talk about statements and yes no questions. So statements really going to have a falling intonation at the end and yes no questions you're going to have a rising intonation. And I think a great way to practice this right now is by changing some statements to questions. So let's have a look at our first one. He's looking for a job. Now this is a statement. So you have that falling intonation at the end. He's looking for a job. I want you to repeat after me. He's looking for a job. Now, if I change this statement to a question, which is really a yes no question, now I'm going to have a rising intonation at the end. He's looking for a job. Can you hear that? He's looking for a job. I want you to give it a try. He's looking for a job. One more time. He's looking for a job. Here's our next sentence as a statement. Repeat after me. She's 25 years old. She's 25 years old. And now as a question, she's 25 years old. She's 25 years old. And then one more as a statement. Repeat after me. They live in this building. They live in this building. Now, as a question with a rising intonation, they live in this building. They live in this building. Now, I know when you heard me say these sentences, you could really tell a difference between falling and rising intonation, but I I really hope that as you were saying them, you could also feel that difference between rising and falling intonation. I also want you to make your speech more dynamic if possible. Now, now this can be a little more challenging and may even get you outside your comfort zone, but I'm talking about using pauses, emphasis, changing the speed of your speech to make it more dynamic and captivating for the listener. And not all native speakers are able to do this, especially in a pressure situation like you're giving a presentation. But more casually, I I think a lot of people are able to do this and really expressing emotions and you can tell if somebody's happy, sad, or frustrated because they're using dynamic speech. And sometimes I will hear second language speakers using a more monotone voice. So this is an ad for Goldfish Crackers, but it's an ad that would play on the radio. And because of that, there's no visual. So, the delivery really matters. And you you don't want to say this in just a monotone voice. Keeping an eye on the trans fat in your family's diet. Goldfish crackers have zero grams per serving. The snack that smiles back. Okay, you're you're probably falling asleep right now. It's not very dynamic, but you I want to practice this and say it in a more dynamic way, and I want you to try to say it with me, but you can just listen to the way I'm going to say it right now. Keeping an eye on the trans fat in your family's diet. Goldfish crackers have zero grams per serving. The snack that smiles back, right? That that sounds a little more lively, more dynamic. So, let let's practice this. I would like you to shadow and say it with me in a dynamic way. Are you ready? Keeping an eye on the trans fat in your family's diet. Goldfish crackers have zero grams per serving. The snack that smiles back. All right, good. I hope I hope you felt comfortable doing that. Like I said, maybe it gets you outside of your comfort zone, but developing a more dynamic way of speaking is, I think, incredibly important, especially when you want to convey all of these different emotions. Now, if you really want to practice the American accent, then you need to mimic native speakers. And you can do this with shadowing. We actually just did this with that radio ad. I asked you to say it with me. That's what shadowing is. You're saying something at the same time using the same intonation, the same emphasis, the same speed. You are linking words together using the flap t. So, you've probably already done this and maybe you didn't know that you were shadowing. Think about singing a song. You're not just saying the words, you're trying to say it in the exact same way. And there is so much content out there that you can use for to practice shadowing. You could use a short video clip. You can practice with an American TV show like Friends or The Office. You can practice with presentations, TED talks, and you're just trying to mimic native speakers use the American accent and say things in the exact same way. I've had people tell me that they've used my videos and they try to shadow and say things with me in the exact same way. So yeah, feel free to use my video lessons if you want. If you enjoyed this lesson and you learned something new about the American accent, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 244. CORRECTING GRAMMAR MISTAKES ๐Ÿšซ (Lesson Notes Included) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `B8GK6Ug3xpo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8GK6Ug3xpo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:14:29 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. This time I have a grammar lesson for you in which well many of you have participated in this lesson. So what we're going to be talking about is this right here. We're going to be talking about correcting grammar mistakes. And I there's a variety of grammar that we're going to be going over and discussing in this lesson, but in general, I think all of this will help give you a better understanding as to how the language is structured as well as how it's used. And really, when you're able to improve your knowledge in grammar, it really helps out your writing skills. because I know I hear from many of you out there, you would like to practice and improve your writing, which is in part what this was all about because I asked some of you, many of you to write me a sentence. And I do want to thank uh everyone out there who participated. So, I had made a post on our community page asking for some sentences that I would then go through and and correct in this lesson. I did not get to all of them. So, a couple of days ago, I just I compiled I think like 13 or 14 of them. Um, but I do want to thank everybody who uh wrote a sentence and um messaged me on this thread. I really do appreciate it. And we're going to just try and go through just go through the ones that I have. If I did not get to you, I apologize. And depending if you like this lesson, uh, I'll do more like this in the future and I will correct some of your mistakes. And you can let me know if you like these types of lessons by hitting that like button. Kind of just gives me a a sense of where things are at and what everybody out there is looking for. So, I will I'll give some shoutouts toward the end. I'm really just going to go through um the sentences that I have and then at the end uh I may give a few shoutouts. But let's start with this right here. So what I've done is I've I've up here you can see I screenshot the the question uh or the inquiry and then I've made my notes down here and I'll talk to you a little bit about what's going on. So um this person John had mentioned difficulty using um verbs like open and gave an example like the door was open or the door was opened. So really this is a difference between passive and active. So right there the door was opened. The subject which is the door in this case a passive sentence is receiving the action. So then we're going to use the verb to be and then follow it with the past participle. Now in this sentence again you would say the door was opened by someone. We can omit that information. You don't need it or again just uh use it like that. And the one thing I would say about this especially in this context when talking about well somebody opening a door overwhelmingly I think people will use active sentences. There are certain times in which it's appropriate to use a passive sentence, but for the most part, when you're writing a story or you're writing something, you're likely to use a lot more active sentences. So, even in this case, like I said, in this context, typically, you would want to know who is doing the action. And I could say, "John opened the door." So, we have the subject, the verb open, uh, and then the door receiving the action in this case, uh, the object. So that is the active sentence and just a difference between active and passive. The next one that I have for you uh is this one. This was uh interesting and this is a little tricky and I will I I am going to be sharing part of my opinion throughout this lesson. So the question was like, well, which sentence um would be better? Uh, I accompanied my mother to the hospital as a chaperone or I accompanied my mother as a chaperone to the hospital. So I highlighted two different parts of this sentence. So to the hospital, that is a prepositional phrase. As a chaperone, we have that as an adverb phrase talking about well how. And in this case, because with those adverbs, they're well, you can move them around in sentences. They're very useful. You could even put this at the beginning and I could say as a chaperone, I accompanied my mother to the hospital. Or in this case, um, it was asked like, I accompanied my mother as a chaperone and then to the hospital and using the prepositional phrase at the end. So, grammatically all of them are correct. And this is where I feel like my opinion comes into play because I wrote the sentence like this. And that is how I think that people would overwhelmingly use this. They would use the prepositional phrase first and talk about well where um where were were you going and then follow it with that adverb phrase. So, I accompanied my mother to the hospital as a chaperone. And the reason why I specifically move this one to the end is that phrase as a chapron because when you have those phrases and I gave another example down here like oh I went with him to the dance as a friend when people use that phrase as a friend as a chapron it's often going to come at the end of a sentence and that is a phrase like uh that you might hear in like a TV show or movie people accompany someone else uh to a party, an event, a wedding, and like, "Oh, no, we just went to the wedding uh as friends." Um or I I went with him as a friend. So, that is the primary reason why I move this one to the back. That does not mean that you're going to put all of these phrases, adverb phrases at the end, but that is my take when it comes to this one in particular, using that phrase like as a chapron and talking about how So once again, I feel like uh even as we go through the rest of this, I want you and I tell this to all my students, try not to think of grammar as like right or wrong. Instead, try to think of it as like acceptable and unacceptable. And there's just that spectrum in between because there are things that I feel like, well, it would be more acceptable in the United States in American English, but probably would not be viewed as acceptable in British English. British English. Sorry, my pronunciation's off today. But again, it helps, I think, people better understand grammar and kind of leave it a little more open. I think too often people want to think of it as right and wrong. So instead I would say think of it as acceptable or unacceptable. Um and this is another example of that. So Ali asked like me and my friend uh is this sentence correct? So I had changed it around. So my friend and I okay we're talking about the subject of the sentence. So you're going to use a subject pronoun I and not me. My friend and I are working together. This was just uh an example. And then the next sentence, they invited my friend and me. We're now using it as an object. So, you're going to use an object pronoun to the party. So, it really just depends on whether we're talking about a subject pronoun or an object pronoun. Subject pronoun, use I. Object pronoun, use me. In just colloquial English, you may hear somebody in spoken English say like, oh, like, you know, you and me, uh, we need to have a talk. And they may phrase it like that, you and me. But definitely, I would not recommend doing it in writing. Again, f like writing is more formal. So you want in that case to try to follow um the rules that have been established especially when it comes like I said the the more accepted forms. And the other thing I'd want to point out um that some people have asked me when it comes to like listing groups of people and I put that down below as little like uh like a footnote. When you're listing people that includes yourself it's considered polite. In this case, I said more accepted to list yourself last. So that is why I again different people have very strong opinions about this. If you put yourself first or in the middle technically yes it would be grammatically fine but again it's more accepted to list yourself last. My friend and I or they know they invited my friend and me to the party. So, that's something to keep in mind when you're listing people because I know that's something that it it's pretty common when you're writing and you're talking about groups. Then, let's see. We're going making good time. All right. So, this is another one um giving you uh like going to give you a little bit of my opinion. So, the sentence that um Rosa asked about uh was I recommended that Susie do her homework herself or I recommended Susie to do her homework herself. So, I made that little notation up there, McMillan dictionary, which is where I got some of this information. Um especially like this part. So, they talk about phrases that people used with recommend or recommended. So you would recommend that someone do something or you could say someone is recommended to do something. So in this case, I chose the sentence here that I would this is what I would encourage somebody to write. I recommend that Suzy do her homework by herself. I put that in uh parentheses because in this case it is optional. You do not have to include it. Uh, it's really up to you. The other thing that I wanted to point out, um, is that this is an example of the subjunctive. Some of you may be looking at this sentence and thinking, well, wait, Suzy, why not Susie does? But in this case, with verbs like recommend, um, suggests, the subjunctive mood, you're you're not going to follow just what that typical grammar rule that you would think when it comes to subjectverb conjugation. So, you would say Suzy do I recommend that Suzie do her homework by herself. Now, moving down here, um, you could say and Suzy is recommended to do her homework by herself. Grammatically, it's correct. But I was saying that in this context, I feel that it's awkward when you're using this form right here, like someone is re like is recommended to do something. I I feel like uh I said it's impersonal because in this context, I would think of a teacher writing to maybe a parent or somebody, a guardian saying, "Look, I recommend Susie do her homework by herself." Okay. It's more personal writing it that way. This I said it's more impersonal because you're again you're not listing well like who's doing the the action like who's making the recommendation. So I feel like you would find this form in a context that somebody's kind of like giving you instructions like as a command. So let me this is an example that you could think about. Um, if you go to a restaurant and then you go into the bathroom, you might see like a sign that says employees are recommended to wash their hands. Something like that. So, we don't really need to say who's recommending it. We know it's the restaurant. It's society in general that yes, we go used to we go to the restroom, we go to the toilet, we should wash our hands. But you might see a sign like that in which case they would use this form. And that's why I said it's like a little more impersonal um and kind of just like making that recommendation more as like okay this is something you should probably do. So in this context talking about like homework or like hey I recommend that you do this I I would follow this one to go back to the other example. Um there's a lot to say about this one. I would also say that I think it is accepted to say I recommend Susie to do her homework herself. Now, that may be more accepted um in British English. Uh I would still encourage people to use this sentence right here. To give you another point of reference, uh previously I did a lesson on causitive verbs and you have the verb help. So, you could help someone do something, but it's also okay to help someone to do something. For the most part, it's just common to use it without to because something else to think about when it comes to writing is that, and I tell this to many learners, is that it's it's good to be you want to be concise. You want to be short and clear. You don't want to use too many words, especially if you don't have to. So, in that example, if you don't need to use the word to, then let's just take it out. And I would say the same goes for this. Um, it's you don't need it. Let's just use this sentence right here. I recommend that Susie do her homework by herself. All right. So, this is my recommendation, this sentence. Then, um, we have this one uh question. Cortez asking about today is a holiday. Today is holidays. So this really has to do with whether it's a singular subject or a plural subject. And I tried to um provide some examples here. So you would say today is a holiday. You have a singular subject which is today and then that singular noun a holiday. Now if I were to change this so that the it's a plural subject and I'm talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving and Christmas plural subject are holidays. Okay, we'll use that plural noun in this case. And of course, you can see that the verb is going to change as well. You have to conjugate um the the the subject and the verb just have to agree. Today is Thanksgiving and Christmas are. All right, then let's keep moving. This one. Okay, this is um this was an interesting one. Uh Raj asks, I had started uh playing cricket at the age of five or six or I started playing cricket when I was five or six. So there's a couple of things that I wanted to comment on which I thought was a little um to help clear things up a little. And again, I I gave that point of reference. Some of this information I took from the British Council uh especially those uh the information in red. So uh this first one I just changed this um to the past uh well I started playing cricket when I was around five or six. So in this case like we're using the past tense to talk about something that happened once in the past. Okay, it happened like this is you know it happened at that point in time. I started playing kind of when I was around five or six. The reason why I added that adverb in there around or about because when you're saying five or six, you're not being specific. So, that was a a part of the sentence that was a little awkward. So, I included those adverbs in there to to clear things up a a bit. I started playing cricket uh when I was around five or six. This is a sentence that um yeah that you would say to someone if you're just having a conversation. past perfect. So I I wrote down here that you use the past perfect which is had plus the past participle to talk about a time up to a certain point in the past and that point in the past that is important. Um so in this case you could say I had started playing cricket by the age of five. So when you're saying by the age of five that is my point in time now I I took out that whole five or six and it's like you're saying that this happened all right probably like just before you turned five. So right when you turn five by the age of five you had started playing cricket. So again, you're going to use the past perfect when you're talking about like two points in the past. All right? And one thing happened before this point. So in this case, you you had started playing cricket by the age of five. Okay? So uh again, there's different ways that you can phrase these sentences, but it's important to know like well well why like what is exactly what are you saying um when you're using one verb tense over the other? So this was another um a question that I think a lot of people find a little confusing. So um Vatamas like I'm confused about using the ing or the infinitive after like. So the verb like now like is a very common verb. I think it's very useful and hopefully it makes it uh a little easier if you to know that you can use either one. You can say I like playing soccer and I'm following it with the jarn that ing playing or I like to play soccer and then in that case you're following it with the infinitive to play. Now again my personal preference I don't know why I I think I tend to use the jarn more often than I use the infinitive. But both forms are correct. They are both accepted I think across all English varieties. And the other thing that I included down here because there are certain verbs that you want to follow with the jiren. There are certain verbs that you want to follow with the infinitive. And there are also certain verbs like these right here that you can follow it with the garand or the infinitive. So like begin, can't bear, can't stand, continue, hate, like, love, prefer, propose or start. So sometimes the verb um you can follow it with a gerand or infinitive and it may change the meaning. I think with these down here, the meaning is similar and it's not really going to change like uh like like our example right here. I like playing soccer. I like to play soccer. Both of them uh are okay. The next uh the next one that I have is I I mentioned again about it's important to know the the verb tense that you're using. Sometimes they can be different, but sometimes they they're rather interchangeable and there might just be like a slight nuance um that makes them a little difference different uh as in this example. So Nora asked about the difference between saying like I have lived um somewhere for three years or I have been living somewhere for three years. So I just completed the sentence and said I have lived in Spain for 3 years. Okay, this sentence is in the present perfect talking about something that started in the past um and it has continued to the present or I have been living in Spain for 3 years. again started in the past continued to the present. So I I mentioned that down here that both forms indicate the same thing. The one slight difference and just to add a finer point to this um for for the most part you could use either one and they mean the same thing. But one thing I would say is that if you're using the present perfect, it makes me think that okay, well perhaps this person is going to keep stay there and continue to live there or perhaps they're they're going to go somewhere else. If you're using the present perfect continuous, then I think it's more likely that you're going to stay. So, if I were to give a little more context um with each one, if I said, "Oh, I've lived in Spain for three years, but now I think it's time to to move on." Okay. So, in that case, I'm suggesting that okay, I'm probably going to leave. And in that case, I think it's um you know, it's more appropriate to use the present perfect. or if I were to indicate that I'm not leaving, like, oh, I've been living in Spain for 3 years and I don't think I'm ever going to leave. So again, now I'm telling you that I'm going to stay. And in that case, I think the the present perfect continuous would get my vote as to which one to use. So that's a slight slight difference between these two, but really they both indicate the same thing. Something started in the past, it's continued up until the present. Uh then we have okay a couple of things with this sentence. Um Shenzhen was asking like I used to go for a jogging in the morning and I guess like that was the next part of the sentence. Did you did you used to jog? And the real the key here is talking about used to and I told you down here like used to refers to something in the past that is no longer true. So in this case there was a slight little um uh mistake. I used to go for a jog in the morning. So in this case you want to use the noun a jog for a jog in the morning. If you want to use that garand in that case you would just say I used to go jogging in the morning. Um, so again, you could word the sentence either way, but if you want to keep for a you'd want to follow it with just the noun jog. And then the next part, that question, did you used to jog? So, we're using used to without the ed. And this is really the only exception because of the meaning of this verb that you're you're talking about something um in the past that is no longer true. overwhelmingly you're going to use it as an ed verb like I used to do this or I used to do that. But when you're asking a question, all right, you have that did that is going to take the past tense which means that you're going to then use the base verb. Did you used to jog? And you do not need that ed in this case. Um, so I think maybe that was part the second part to that question that they were asking about. Let's look at the next one. Um, I took some of this information from the thesaurus.com. Um, a lot of useful a lot of useful stuff online. Uh, but they asked, uh, my opinion is different than yours. So, my opinion is different from yours. This is using from is more accepted. This is the more accepted form. Um, and especially when we're talking about writing, that is certainly what I would recommend. And I included this little note that says in formal writing, different from is generally preferred over different than. This preference has to do in part with the historical usage of the word than. So I would I would suggest that you use from. However, um it is true that I think in places like the United States in spoken English, you could hear people say, "Hey, you know, my opinion is different than yours or my opinion is different than his or different than hers." So, in spoken English, I think it is something that you will hear, but again, um when talking about grammar, I it works both ways. It's useful for obviously both speaking and writing, but I think it is helpful to make a distinction between the two, especially in a case like this that if you're writing, I would say, you know, use from when you're having a conversation, I'm a pretty casual person, uh, you know, somebody says different than, I'm not really thinking about it. Uh, I think it's fine. The next one is this sentence right here. And again, this one I think requires a little more explanation, a little more context. So the sentence is, I've got the money. Thank you. I've never been paid so quickly as this time. So the first thing that stood out to me um when reading this sentence, and perhaps you too, is as this time. So I I know what you mean, what you're trying to say. But in this case, if you're talking about like, you know, comparing to the past, I you could just say before, like I've never been paid so quickly before. In this case, you're basically referring to all the other times in the past that this has happened. And the reason why I put um parentheses around it is because honestly, you really you don't even have to use that if you don't want to. I think that might give the sentence a little more emphasis that wow, I've never been paid so quickly before. But the fact that you're using the the have never to talk about this, well, that tells us just that alone, I have never been paid so quickly. That alone tells us that this has not happened at any time in the past. So before I would say is optional. you can use it or you don't have to use it. Now, to kind of move back up to the first part of the sentence, uh I I took out the present perfect there um and just use the past simple. I got pay I got the money. Thank you. And the reason that I did this is because well, the fact that somebody's saying thank you, it makes me think that this is a context in which you're you're having a conversation with someone else. You're talking to somebody, they asked you a question, and then you're giving them an answer. So, if that is the situation, well, then this would be the present perfect. If somebody is asking like, hey, uh, you know, do you have the money now? Is it with you? Is it in your pocket? And then you say, yes, I've got the money. All right, I've got the money. I have it on me right now. But because someone's saying thank you, I don't really think that's the context or the situation. Instead, I would infer that somebody is asking like, did you receive the money? Did you get paid? Did you receive the money in the past? It would have happened yes at one point in the past. And that's why I would say it's more appropriate to use the past simple and just say, I got the money. Thank you. and then follow that with just that, you know, commentary, that extra information saying, "Well, wow, I've never been paid so quickly." And just letting the other person know that before, well, it's never it's never happened. Uh, I got the money. Thank you. I've never been paid so quickly. So hopefully that makes a little uh that makes sense as to how well I was interpreting this situation and the context and why I chose one verb tense over the other. Then we have this right here. Uh a couple of things going on. The sentence from MG uh says, "If I had been if I had been you, I would have um if I had been you, I would have liked to know if he had done it or not." Okay, so they were trying to add that information talking about look, I want to talk about something in the past. It pertains to the past. The first thing if I'm going to be a stickler for grammar and a stickler would be like uh it's an informal word saying somebody who's just really being strict for the rules. remember to capitalize um those pronouns. I it's it's a proper noun. Just remember when you're writing uh make sure you capitalize it. The the next thing I did I don't you know the the phrasing if I had been you that would be um you're using the third conditional. You're trying to use a condition in the third conditional but in this in this context you don't really use it. It sounds awkward. I would use the second conditional which is again it's a hypothetical situation. You're saying and you would say if I were you. If I were you. And that's a very common phrasing. If people are having a conversation and you want to give advice, you want to talk to the other person, you would say, "Oh, if I were you." Um, so because of that, we're going to end up having a mixed conditional. and I made that note there. So, you're going to use the the hypothetical condition, which is the second, if I were you, and then follow that with that imaginary result in the third condition, which is would have plus uh the past participle. I would have liked to know if he had done it or not. And then, yeah, that's the way the sentence would be. If I were you, I would have liked to know if he had done it or not. And sometimes I know people might be thinking um if you're thinking about this like I would have liked to have known and then you're adding that have known in there. In this case, I think it would rake make the sentence really awkward. Um having all of those have have have and and even now I tried to simplify it down here. I I guess in this case I'm not uh really a big fan of using the word like. Uh and I changed it down here to the microphone's blocking it. Sorry. Right down here. To something that I think would be perhaps more commonly used or commonly said uh if I were you, I would have wanted to know if he had done it or not. And use the verb want instead of like. I think it just, you know, clean cleans things up a little bit. It's a little more concise. And I also think again in my opinion I think this is uh how people would more commonly state this. Um but just keep in mind it's going to be a mixed conditional. You have that hypothetical condition the second conditional with the imaginary result which is the third conditional. And then there's this one. I thought this was just an interesting question. um more of a a religious one saying like why uh say like who who art in heaven. So this would become this would come from the Bible and the the sentence would be like our God who art in heaven. And the person was asking um Sama was asking whether or not like well why who is like uh a singular pronoun why not conjugate it with arts does like and say arts. The first thing I would say is that this is this is archaic English. All right. You would find it in scriptures, in books like the Bible. So, I don't even know if I would try to think about, you know, subjectverb agreement and conjugating verbs when you're talking about that archaic language. But the one thing I would like to point out if you're talking about who who is singular, um, but art is actually used with singular subjects. And to point to this reference right here, uh, think of thou. Thou is also old language. All right? You're not going to you're not going to hear it nowadays, and I don't think it's really something that you you have to learn. Um, but you might hear something, especially in like a Shakespeare play, like it it gives it gives the example down there, thou art fair or Romeo, Romeo, where art thou? Something like that. and they're using thou um as like you as a singular subject of the verb, but also you're going to use it with art. So like you singular, you're you're talking to somebody, somebody is present. Um but art ends up being a singular verb. So hopefully that explanation makes sense, but I wouldn't stress out too much over it again, especially when we're talking about older, more archaic uh forms of English. So, the other thing I want to tell you guys, if you want um to get the lesson notes, these lesson notes, uh I will leave a link down in the description and you can check that out if you're already part of our community, email community. I'll send those out to you already and put them up for our members, patrons, and yeah, just try to trying to share as much information as possible. So now I do I like I said I kind of went through this um and didn't have as much conversation or engagement with the chat. I apologize for that. But I do want to thank you guys for joining me. I hope this makes sense. If you enjoyed the lesson um you know let me know. Hit that like button and in the future I think this would be uh something this is good to continue. Um, and it really it it keeps me on my toes because there's a fair bit of research that goes into some of this, especially when trying to explain like, well, you know, why would I use this over the other? Um, but, uh, again, thank you. It's good to see you, Vicki and Gustaf. Thanks for being here. Uh, Lai, always good to see you. Tayo, um, Angela, Araf, Alvaldo, uh, John. Um, let's see. Yak Yakbin, uh, Edvaldo Christian. All right. Maybe that's all right. I haven't seen you in a while. Uh, Elsa and Sores, thank you guys so much. Um, Eloa. So, next time hopefully I'll I can maybe I'll do a quiz lesson. Um, and that way everybody can participate in this type of lesson. I don't think it was as um uh you know, it wouldn't have worked the same way to try and get everybody to throw sentences down there and try to correct them. So, I just wanted to go through this, but help uh also make you a part of it by asking you for those sentences. And again, thank you guys for writing some of those sentences um for everybody to look at because I think often a lot of you know a lot of times we have the same question when it comes to grammar, vocabulary and so many pronunciation and so many other things. --- ## 245. CORRECT YOUR GRAMMAR MISTAKES ๐Ÿšซ (Lesson Notes Included) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hJBes6ueDy8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJBes6ueDy8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:10:52 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. We're going to be talking about correcting your mistakes. And what I've done is a couple of weeks ago I asked the community for some sentences. You all responded and we're going to go through them today and correct some of those mistakes. And of course I want you to participate in the lesson. So with some of these I am going to ask you for well your opinion. What do you think? How would you correct some of these sentences? So, let's look at the first one. This is uh well, the the sentence is this is a highly flammable or inflammable material. That was really the question. Should we use flammable or inflammable? Please be careful. What I've done is I've added a third one down there right here. This is highly nonflammable material. So, one of these sentences has a different meaning than the other two. And I'm guessing that you probably know that the one that I've added is the sentence that's different. And I wanted to add this just so you know and there's no confusion at all. So, let's look at the meaning of these sentences. So, both flammable and inflammable have the same meaning. you're referring to something that catches fire and burns easily. If you want to say that it does not catch fire and burn easily, then you're going to use that prefix non and you're saying something is nonflammable. It's nonflammable material. Now, the question then becomes, well, which one should I use? Really, you could use either one. However, when I go through these lessons or I'm talking in my SpeakUp course, I really try to provide a little nuance and let people know, well, I think this is probably the more common word or phrase that you could use. So, there's a great resource out there, which is what I wanted to share with you. It's called Google Engram Viewer. And what it does is on a graph you can put in words or phrases and then it graphs out which how the frequency that these words are used. Now this is taken from written English talking about blog post academic text like just written English and it plots it on that graph. So in this case, you can see that inflammable used to be a lot more common, but over the years, flammable has become a little more commonly used. So even though you could use either one, it's perfectly okay. I would always tell people, well, maybe just go with the one that's more often used. In this case, flammable. This is highly flammable material, but it is not incorrect to say inflammable. All right, the next one. I hope all of that makes sense. The next sentence, I have done my workshop for improving my consulting skills. So, I've corrected the first mistake right right at the beginning like that my I'm going to change it to uh and the reason for that is because in this context I imagine that it's not it's not my workshop that I'm running this workshop. I get the feeling that in the sentence they were trying to say they were participating in a workshop. So I changed that pronoun my to a. It's a workshop. And the next part I want you to tell me what you think. How would you change this? Instead of for improving what do you think? I have done a workshop my consulting skills. And there again are a couple of different ways that you could rewrite this sentence depending on what you want to say. But whatever you think, let me know. Let me know. Write your answers in the comments, in the chats. It's interactive English. It's all about participating in these lessons. Now, [snorts] one thing I'll say is when we're talking about a workshop, you may follow it with different prepositions. And let me show you right here. Um workshop. [sighs] Okay. So if you do a workshop for typically you're going to follow that with someone for a person like I recently did a workshop for new teachers and that is who the workshop is for. [clears throat] Excuse me. uh if you do a workshop on something then that really is talking about well what is the workshop about what's the content I recently did a workshop on web design so the thing that you could put in there the thing that changes this I think is my my consulting skills what would you do I have done a workshop my consulting skills many put uh to improve that works That works. Excellent. Uh, great job, Lai. Um, English and Satav. Yes, you I think you you got it to cool. Perfect. I had actually written again in order to to put that in there. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with saying I've done a workshop to improve my consulting skills. That's perfectly fine. So again, there are there's more than one way to write these sentences and capture that idea. In order to it's the same thing in this case you use that phrase in order to do something you're it expresses the purpose of something and that is what I think this person was trying to express the purpose of this workshop. Great job. Excellent job everyone. Then we have this one uh from uh a a member a beloved member Raphaela. Nice. Excellent. Actually, I've always had a hard time with causitive verbs. Every time uh I've to use them, I roll the dice. Once again, I've gone ahead and just made some minor corrections with some of the punctuation there because in this case, you you don't really need quotation marks around causitive verbs. You can just say, "I've had a hard time with causitive verbs." And the other thing that instead of using a colon, I you'll see on the next slide, but I'm just going to use a full stop or a period. Now, a colon typically is used when you want to emphasize something or maybe you're you're creating a list. It's not generally in writing. It's not something that you're going to see all the time if you're reading something, but also probably use as well. So I think we could just keep it simple, put a full stop in there. In that case, you know that every is going to have a capital E. But what about IV? What do you think? Every time I've to use them, I roll the dice. So, the thing that I wanted to point out with this is when we're talking about contractions, there are times when you can use contractions, which are very common in spoken English, and other times when you cannot. Generally speaking, I know some people would say, "Look, writing, it's a more formal way of communication. Try to avoid contractions." And that's fair. I end up using them. It just really depends. If I'm writing something, even a message to all of you, I would use contractions because I feel like it's a little more casual. There's not really a need to be very formal. But, excellent. You guys got it. Perfect. Um, uh, Julia, Fabio, nice. So, we we need to Well, just right. I have to and we're not going to contract that. And I've given you the well I guess the the rule that you can follow down below that you can contract have has had when they are an auxiliary verb. So in this case think about the present tense or the perfect tense I'm sorry where it's just an it's a helping verb. So instead of I have gone I've gone. We have bought we've bought. she had uh been she or uh she'd been. So there are different things. If I'm using it as the main verb, like if I say I have a pen and I'm talking about possession, in that case, you're not going to contract it when it's the main verb. But I really appreciate you sharing a sentence with us. Excellent. Uh the next one. Okay. So, there are a few things that I wanted to point out with this. This is a this I think this is a good example. I must be in bed before 900 p.m. Okay. Grammatically, there's nothing wrong, but there are a couple things that I would maybe change or make I would suggest that you know consider these changes. So, let's not let's not go in order. Let's start with before. instead of before, what other word could you use that in this context when let's say you're talking about well going to bed, what other word could you use instead of before? And I think in this situation uh in my opinion, I think it's uh a little more commonly used um than uh than the other. I realized I I think uh okay, it's fine. I'll correct it. I realized I think I made it quite a little typo, but uh I'll I'll I'll I'll let you know. So again, if you're thinking about a time, great job, Lai, Tayo, uh Hana, we're talking about by and the mistake that I made is that I didn't change it. So for example, uh I've I re I redid these slides and I've given you the meaning, but again, I kept before. So that is mistake. This one is I must be in bed by 9:00 p.m. So if we're talking about before, we're talking about in advance, right? sometime before this by I'd say is commonly used in this situation because it's like a deadline that it could be you know 1 minute before 2 minute before but you just want to be in bed by this time you're setting a deadline so in this situation I think it's more common to use by recently I rented a car and I was returning the car the place was going to close at 6:00 p.m. And I talked to the person about, hey, I'm going to bring it back a little late. And they told me just bring it before 6:00 p.m. And in that situation, I think it's perfectly fine. They don't want me showing up at the very, very end because they're getting ready to close. So they said, "Come before 6 p.m. But in this situation, you're talking about getting in bed by." Now, the other word that I highlighted is must. Instead of must, what else could you use? I think it's very common. Again, we're talking about an obligation. There are different modal verbs that you could use. I apologize. I have a little bit of a cough today, so that might not be the last time. Different modal verbs you could use when talking about an obligation, something you must do or something you to do. All right. So, the the phrase that I'm thinking of, it's a little more informal. I know some of you put like need to. I get you could use need to expressing that need. I think more commonly people are just going to say have to. And this one I actually did have by there. So, this is the the sentence that I would go with. I have to be in bed by 9:00 p.m. I have to be in bed by 9:00. It's more informal. The other thing I would say is typically if you're going to use must, like I must do something, one slight difference is that when you're using must, sometimes it's like you're making yourself do this. Oh, I must uh do this. I must buy this. I must do this. And it's like you're telling yourself. If you're using have to, it's like something else is making you do this. So for example, I have to be in bed by 9:00. Why? Because I have to get up early in the morning. So that thing is making me do this. The fact that I have to get up early is making me get up. Or if it's for work, it's making me do something. So you're you you may more often use must when it's something that you're making yourself do. But you're going to use have to when something or someone else is kind of encouraging you or pushing you or making you do something. And generally speaking, if you have a time when you have to be in bed, yeah, there's something else that's causing this, whether it's work or some other personal commitment. So, just something to keep in mind. But again, that original sentence, nothing wrong. Let's look at this one right here. And there was nothing grammatically incorrect. Learning English has always been a satisfying journey. But the bumpy learning experience sometimes stunts my growth. [gasps] I highlighted stunts or I bolded stunts because I want to change this word and I'll again I'll pass it off to you. What word could you use instead of stunts? And then I'll get into the difference as to why maybe why I bolded this word and said, "Okay, let's let's change it." So instead of using stunts, what are some other word? What's another word or words that you could use? There may be others. There's just one in particular that that I chose. Got to get that water for that cough. [snorts] So, the word that I'm thinking of and I see some other good answers. Um, sometimes what there's still something I would say keep it simple. Keep it very simple. It's a very simple word that I think again you're talking about the bumping experience and somebody you know their skills and abilities are growing [clears throat] but what does it mean are you going to grow very fast maybe not in that case I would use the word nice vija slows [cough] excuse me So, [clears throat] language learning, yes, it's a bumpy experience. There are highs. Where is it? Ah, I made sure my hands in the frame. And there are lows. In this case, you have that bumpy experience. It's not just a straight shot. There are periods that are possibly going to slow your growth. So, I I think another Yeah. Hinders your growth. That would be that would also work. something hinders um stops is it depends on the person. It could happen and it could completely stop. I feel like in this context uh probably what this person was trying to talk about was just that they are continuing to grow but just not as fast as maybe they would like to. And what I want to point out down here is when talking about like stunts like it is a verb to stunt. It means to prevent someone or something from reaching its full potential. And the reason why I said I would change this is because when it comes to learning a language, you you have that again difficult times and times when you're learning a lot, it's not really something that's going to stop you or prevent you from reaching your full potential. In that case, it's just going to slow you down. And to give you another example sentence with stunts, think of uh I don't know, just any sentence like smoking cigarettes at a young age may stunt your growth. So again, if you do something at a young age, maybe it's unhealthy, it's going to prevent your your you from reaching your full potential as you grow and it's going to stunt your growth. Now, that is a collocation. you will hear to stunt someone's growth or to stunt your growth. [cough and clears throat] So in this case again we're talking about just you know not going as fast but there are other words that you could use besides this. I just thought it would be a good idea to change the word stunts. [gasps] Excuse me. Let me get some more water. So, for this one, we'll do a little at a time, and I've just underlined the things that I want to change. The weather is nasty because of the typhoon, and me and my son are kind of under the weather, which means the best day [cough and laughter] to veg out. Got to do something about this. So, let's just start with um I I think you can see with some of those underlines, the small ones, there are some punctuation things, but let me let's start with this. Me and my son. What What do you think? What would you change that to? As well as kind of. What? Let's start with those two. Me and my son are kind of under the weather. And just so you know, under the weather is an idiom that just means that you are sick. Not severely sick, but you're sick. [cough] [clears throat] Again, it's actually sadly it's actually gotten better in the last couple of days. Great job, uh, Manuel Fabio. So, the first thing instead of me and my son, this is going to be um a compound sentence because I told you that one that first little red line, it's missing a comma. So, this is a compound sentence. Compound sentence. You're going to have a subject and a verb. So, as a subject, you're going to say, "My son and I." My son and I. And the reason why [cough] [clears throat] you're going to say that instead of I and my son is that when you're writing grammatically they're both the same. It's okay. But it is preferred to put yourself last. So if you're listing a group of people, my friend, my father and I, my cat, my dog, my whatever, and I, you're going to put yourself at the end. That is what's preferred in writing. So my son and I, and you could say kind of. Again, what I would say is that when it comes to writing, just avoid some of these reductions. I know what you mean. If you're writing a text message, sure, kind of. it's fine. But as you know, if you're if this is your second language and you're writing something, I would probably just avoid reductions all the at least writing the reduction kind of or I would I would avoid going to want to have to all of those reductions. However, I actually want to change kind of. And the reason I want to do that is because I think it's more common as a collocation instead of saying kind of under the weather to say a little under the weather. And I almost said that I almost said it when I was talking about the meaning of under the weather. I think it's pretty you you would hear it pretty often if somebody is a little sick. Instead of saying that, they'll say, "Yeah, I'm a little under the weather." You could say, "I'm kind of under the weather." Sure. But I don't think it's as common as saying, "I'm a little under the weather." Let's look at the last two parts. means again that comma, I'll just go ahead and tell you we're going to get rid of it. So, I want to change the best and then something else with that last word, which we'll get into. So, we're talking about this typhoon and my son and I are a little under the weather. So, what's the result? Which means we still need uh a subject. And what I would say is in this context, I don't know if it's like the best like the best of all others. I had switched this around to just say like it's a great day to veg out. The problem with the was the spelling. If you're talking about veging out, it's just an informal phrase which means to relax or take it easy. So, instead of like the best day, um I I would go with something a little more like it's a great day or it's a good day to veg out instead of using that superlative. Um or you could say, "Yes, Sylvia, it's like the the perfect day to to veg out in that case." But instead of using a superlative, I think it's a little too strong in saying like this day when there's a typhoon and you're sick is the best of all others. Um, so again, there's different ways that you could reword that second part of the sentence. Let's look at another one. Keep rolling along. And I've done the same thing with this one. I've just underlined the things that I ended up changing. And we're just going to look at that first part together. So, let let's really just look at that first line. I put So, this I'll read the sentence. I put short-term goal settings in the next few years that distinguish between academic and formal in English sentences. So, let's just look at that first line. I put short-term goal settings in. What would you change that to? And again, I changed this around just interpreting what I think this person was trying to say. So, somebody had written in there, okay, we're talking about shortterm goals. Yes. When when referring to goals, you wouldn't really say short goals or long goals, you're you need that period of time term shortterm goals, long-term goals. The other thing I would say when you're talking about short-term goals or long-term goals, what verb would you use when talking about those? And it's actually part of the sentence. I just moved it and just changed it to a verb. And I think that's what was a little confusing. Uh, excellent, Julia, Sylvia, English, and Saratov. Yes, we're talking about setting short-term goals. The other thing that I would say, and this again [sighs] there's no definite period. When I think of a short-term goal, I think of maybe I don't know couple of weeks, a month, two months, three months, maybe four months. But that next part, we're talking about the next few years. So I just changed from shortterm. I'm just going to change this to long-term. And I'm also going to change that preposition into for. So I set a long-term goal for the next few years. The other thing I did was change goals to goal because it seems like in that that second part of the sentence really just talking about one thing. So I set a long-term goal for the next few years. Okay, that's that's the period of time. It's I think a few years is a long time. I don't know if I would consider that a short-term goal. That's just my opinion. The next part uh so I set short-term goals for the next few years. What what would we do the goal instead of that? Because again I put that comma there. You could tell like okay we're going to change that to which. Okay, it's going to be that clause which and then we're going to need a verb. So, we're going to need to extend this sentence out. And the other thing that I would say, academic and formal are adjectives in this case. So, there needs to be a noun that follows. So, that's why I'm going to kind of shuffle around some of these words. I set a long-term goal for the next few years, which is to distinguish between academic and formal sentences in English. I believe that's maybe what this person was trying to say. But I think there are some things in here that are certainly relevant and I think uh could be very useful when talking about some of these collocations like you're setting long-term goals or you're setting short-term goals and again you would set a goal for a period of time for a few years for a couple of weeks for a few months. So I set a long-term goal for the next few years which is to distinguish between academic and formal sentences in English. Excellent. Then [sighs] I've done the same thing again. I've just uh given you the things that I would change and I'm going to put the question off to you. What do you think? So again, I've those small little lines right there. Those are punctuation. So I have an important exam next Tuesday. Full stop or period. Either one. So, I'll go ahead and tell you that because just generally, I'll read the sentence as is. I have an important exam next Tuesday. I'm kind of nervous, but I truly believe that everything is going to be will because I really did my best. It's a long sentence. It's a run-on sentence. So, that's why I would put a period or full stop after Tuesday. So, I have an important exam on Tuesday. Full stop. I'm kind of There it is. that that kind of again. So, as I just said before, I would not recommend using these reductions when you're writing. And instead of you could say, "I'm kind of nervous." That's perfectly fine. I think it's a little more informal in that you may hear somebody say in spoken English. I think it's more common to use another phrase instead of kind of. What else could you say? What do you think there? And again, there's another I see I'm a bit nervous. That works as well. What I had put to make sure I don't get ahead of myself. All right. Is I'm a little nervous, but I'm a bit nervous. I'm a little nervous. You could say somebody says I'm somewhat nervous. Sure. I don't know why I like to use a little when I just mentioned I changed the other kind of to a little under the weather in this I would say I'm a little nervous because this is going to be a compound sentence but I truly believe that instead of everything when you're talking about all individual things in this context you you're going to use that pronoun everything one word just referring to all the things together. So, I truly believe that everything is going to be Oh gosh, I think uh I didn't move that line over. That red line should be under will. Instead of will, what would you change it to? And then that other part of the sentence again, how would you reward that part of the sentence? And I would ask you to keep in mind the verb tense. So, I I'm rather nervous. That works. I would say instead of everything's going to be well because in this situation, well is an adverb, you probably want to use um an adjective. How is everything going to be? And I think there are two common words when somebody says everything's going to be what what are some words? What are a couple of words that people would use? I think you hear this in songs quite often when they talk about everything's going to be what. And that that's what I was trying to use. So, I'll tell you that instead of well, I think you could say everything's going to be okay or everything's going to be all right. There are probably other words that you could also use, but I think those are common ones that you would hear when somebody's sitting there telling you or maybe you're telling someone else like don't worry, everything's going to be okay or don't worry, everything's going to be all right. And there are many songs out there, everything is going to be all right that you could find. So everything's going to be all right because so this is where I again I was a little confused. We're talking about the future. I have an important exam next Tuesday. Okay. I'm a little nervous, but I truly believe everything's going to be all right. So, in this case, it said because I did my best. I I guess I was a little confused because now it's talking about the past. So, in this situation, I would still think that you are going to study for the exam. You're going to prepare for the exam between now and Tuesday. So in that case I would still keep it the future uh and say everything is going to be all right because I will do my best or I will try my best and just keep it in the future. But that was the part um that I was confused with uh at the end there as far as those verb tenses go. But I think you guys did a really great job correcting some of these sentences and going through providing your answers. That's what it's all about. Just kind of getting that practice. If you enjoyed this lesson, uh, hit me, let me know. Hit that like button. I'll continue doing more. Also, if you would like the lesson notes, if you want to get the lesson notes, join our email community. uh you can click on the link down in the description and I will send them to you or again if you're already a part of the email community check your email I have already sent them and you will find them in your inbox but just to put them in the chat right now if you'd like to get a PDF copy of the lesson you can click that link right there join our email community access these notes and Again, there this is some of this is out of context. So, these are the ways that I interpreted what these people were trying to say and kind of what they were going to express. But, thank you so much uh for joining me. Gopal, excellent. I love seeing some members in here. Vicki Gustav, great to see you guys. Uh Lai, great to see you. Also, people from Speak Up. Sylvia Teao, thank you guys for being here. Uh Sylvia, I'll talk to you real soon. and Falco Julia Konchi just trying to get some last minute shoutouts in here. Manuel, thank you. Hope you guys uh have a wonderful, wonderful day and you will well I will be back before you know it with another lesson. --- ## 246. Can I say "I'M Lโค๏ธVING IT"? | Stative verbs in the continuous tense? (Advanced Grammar) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Z2Fu_sVbXbs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Fu_sVbXbs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:17:31 | --- i love this or i'm loving this are these sentences the same are they different is one of them even correct let's find out [Music] hey everyone my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about helping you improve your english skills and today i want to focus a little bit on grammar and really talk about how in my opinion the english language is even changing a little bit and well it has to do with those sentences that i showed you at the very beginning i love this and i'm loving this so really this is a difference between the present simple and the present continuous now grammar books are going to tell you that i'm loving this it's just wrong and one thing i'll say quickly about this is that even though you may hear people maybe they say this it's not something that you're really going to see in writing but if somebody were to write it probably they would drop that g add an apostrophe which would make it seem a little more informal but let's go back to why grammar books would say well this is wrong and the reason for that is because love is a stative verb and well you should use the present continuous to talk about a continuous action that's happening right now i'm doing laundry i'm sweeping the floor i am reading a book i'm taking a nap i am eating a banana and you know what i am loving this banana that doesn't sound right where have i heard that before [Music] thanks for the bad grammar lesson mcdonald's and and this has actually been their slogan for over a decade and i think this is the reason why they chose this is because it's bad grammar and it just it just catches people's attention but i think one could argue that over time it's become more and more accepted which is why i say this is an example as to how the english language may be changing a little bit especially in spoken english like i said before it's not really something that you're going to see in writing but let's talk about the grammar because in general you should not use stative verbs in the continuous tense and people may refer to stated verbs as non-action verbs and dynamic verbs as action verbs in this lesson i'm just going to be talking about these verbs as stative verbs because they describe a state which is a condition of something at a particular time so if i am happy then i am in a state of happiness that is my condition and i'm truthfully i'm always in a state of happiness when i'm making video lessons for you guys but let's talk about some of these verbs and do you see the butterfly i'm asking if you notice something using your eyes and and that is the meaning of c it's talking about a state and not an action so i could not use this in the present continuous if i wanted to use the present continuous i could ask you a question like are you watching the butterfly which means you are looking at something over a period of time i'm talking about an action so i can use the present continuous but i hope you're watching me and not the butterfly so let's just get it out of here now there are many different stative verbs and i'm showing them to you right here and i've put them into different categories i'm not going to talk to you about each of these verbs i just wanted to show them to you because again you should not use these stative verbs in the continuous tense but all right and i'm sure you were expecting that there was going to be a but and then i'm going to tell you something different and that is people will use some of these verbs in the continuous tense and they may do this for two reasons first people use some of these verbs in the continuous tense because the verb has more than one meaning and those meanings may be actions which would then make them dynamic so i i realize this can be very confusing for english learners but let's go back to the verb c if we're talking about the meaning like it's your perception that you notice something with your eyes then it's a stative verb i can't use it in the continuous tense and i think quite often people would use the verb with this meaning but you could hear somebody ask a question like are you currently seeing anyone and i just asked you a question in the present continuous are you currently seeing anyone and the reason that it's correct is because c it has a different meaning in this case it means dating which is an action so i can use it in the continuous tense now not all of the stative verbs that i showed you have more than one meaning but many of them do when you have something you own it i have a book if you take a mouse to school all right it's not my book actually it's it's my little girl's book she owns it but right now i i have it i possess this book and in that case i'm talking about a state not an action i i can't say i'm having this book that just sounds really awkward but have it it actually has different meanings you could you could use have to talk about something you experience i'm having a bad day or you could use have to mean like to receive or accept we're having some friends over later so it's important to know that some verbs may have more than one meaning which is why several verbs on that list that list of stative verbs they may be used in the continuous tense because that meaning that other meaning is really an action but let's go back to those first two sentences i love this and i'm loving this because in this case love does not have a different meaning which brings me to the second reason as to why people may use stated verbs in the continuous tense and that is because well people just like to break the rules it's kind of a gray area and and that's a great phrase if you don't know what it means a gray area is talking about an area or situation in which it's difficult to tell what is right and what is wrong and i told you that in my opinion this is a good example as to how english is starting to change a little bit especially in spoken english because people are breaking the rules they're using these stated verbs in the continuous tense and you you could say that over time it's becoming more and more accepted but just just know that this is a very informal use of the language some may consider it slang others consider it idioms but there there's really two verbs that come to mind when when talking about people breaking these rules like is one of those verbs little women you liking it huh oh yeah amy just burned joe's manuscript how you liking retirement it's fine just all the rebels they put up i'm not liking it and i hope you are liking this video lesson and what i'm really asking you to do is just go ahead and hit the like button of course love is another stative verb that people may use in the continuous tense when speaking i've already given you that example with the mcdonald's commercial but but here are some more examples i am loving this called the holy spirit or the passion of the christ i'm loving these people i am loving our life i'm in a really dark space people are loving our list of springfield's top 99 afghan restaurants i hired the guy the one time and you know what you were just loving all the work i was doing just remember that this is very informal and really it's it's only used in spoken english i'm not saying that you need to go out and start breaking these rules and using stated verbs in the continuous tense i just want you to be aware of it because i think it can be useful for your comprehension and if you are loving this video lesson remember hit that like button let me know down in the comments just write i'm loving this all right thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 247. Can You Say These Words Right? ๐Ÿ˜ฌ Identical Spelling, Different Sounds! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `UhAbAPUJ4iI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhAbAPUJ4iI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:52:24 | --- Can you correctly pronounce these five words right here? Now, you'll notice that all of these words end with o u g h and you would think that they probably have the same pronunciation, but that is not the case and this is why English can be a bit crazy. So, let's start with dough. That o u g h has an o sound. Dough referring to that mixture of flour and water used for baking. Now, this pronunciation is very different than tough. Now, it has an powerful. Are you tough enough to learn to correctly pronounce all of these words? Then there's plow. Plow. You hear that ow sound this time when referring to the large farming equipment. Now, I will say that in places such as the US, you may see people spell this p l o w, but this is also an acceptable form of spelling. Plow. Next is cough. >> [cough] >> That is a cough and the pronunciation of the o u g h is now off. If someone is coughing, very common word. And then through. This is a preposition and now you hear that ooh sound. Moving in one side and out the other. We are moving through the pronunciation of these five words and I hope this I hope this makes sense and that you can go out and use these words and say them correctly, all of them with that o u g h ending. --- ## 248. Can you become fluent in 3 months? | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DnOQubqyDpk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnOQubqyDpk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:48:31 | --- is it possible to achieve English fluency in three months that's a good question and we are going to talk about that today hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today we have a bit of a discussion for you as well as some vocabulary words that I want to teach you before you listen to the discussion and we are going to talk about whether or not it's possible to achieve fluency in just a few months but before I teach you the vocabulary I want to talk to you about a special opportunity that will really help you achieve English fluency and that is the lingo to marathon now the lingo to marathon this is a huge event and not only that this will be your last opportunity to participate in a marathon like this but but I'll get into details of the marathon in just a moment if you don't know about lingo de lingo de is an online language school where you can take classes in English business English German Spanish or French and no matter what you're studying you will learn with qualified native speaking teachers I've even taken some classes in Spanish with lingo de it was a great experience the classes were small and I had a lot of opportunities to speak so let's get back to the marathon when you participate in the marathon you will take classes every day for 90 days and the best part of all is that if you successfully complete the marathon then you will be eligible for a 100% refund and lingo de has some flexibility because you can take either the full marathon or the half marathon and for more information I encourage you to click on the link in the description now it's very important for you to know that this marathon will begin on September 23rd 2019 and you must sign up for the marathon before September 9th so the way it works is that you will pay a 49 year old deposit and this deposit is to secure your spot in the marathon but this 49 euro will be taken off your first month's payment again click on that link in the description to learn more about cost as well as how to qualify for that 100% refund and for all of you at interactive English lingo des is offering a ten euro discount on the deposit so when you click on the link in the description and you sign up for the marathon just use the voucher code seven so if you are absolutely serious about taking your English to the next level and you are willing to study every day for 90 days then this marathon is for you click on the link in the description sign up for the marathon use the voucher code talk seven and put yourself in a position to achieve your fluency goals so now let's talk about the vocabulary that you will find in our conversation the first word I have for you is foundation this word is a noun and what it means is the structure that is below the surface of the ground and supports of building it could also support a house as well so if you lay the foundation you are going to build on top of that when you're learning a language you need to start with a foundation and then you will build on top of that vocabulary grammar and and all of that supports your fluency the next word is Plateau and this can either be a verb or a noun and the meaning is pretty much the same it's talking about reaching a state where there is little or no change especially after a period where there is a lot of growth and activity so in language learning you may be learning a lot and you're really growing and developing and you think everything is great and then things might start to Plateau and there's not as much change as before then we have an adjective which is well rounded and if we say that somebody is well rounded it means that they are capable or knowledgeable in many different things they have a variety of skills which makes them well-rounded then we have dramatically this word is an adverb and it just means a large amount a large extent a synonym would be greatly so you could say that somebody skills are are growing dramatically by a large amount next is a phrase and that is at the end of the day and this usually comes at the beginning of a sentence somebody would start it and say at the end of the day and this phrase is something you say before you give the most important fact about a situation so before you reveal the most important information you might start the sentence and say well at the end of the day and then say what's important at the end of the day I hope that all of you learn a lot from our English lessons next is a phrasal verb and that phrasal verb is pay off so if something pays off it just brings you some some kind of benefit something is successful there is some value added and you could say that this thing pays off then there's an expression which is no pain no gain and people would say this as a standalone statement and what it means is that you have to work really hard if you truly want to achieve your goals nothing in life comes easy you really have to work for it no pain no gain so those are the vocabulary words that I will highlight for you and I want you to really pay attention as to how those words and phrases are used in context are you ready here is our conversation about whether or not it's possible to achieve fluency in just a few months so I think to to bring this back to what we were talking about can somebody achieve fluency in just a few months part of the reason why we chose this is because we used to teach students all the time and that was actually a common question people would be like you know I'm just here I'm just gonna study for a few months will I be fluent afterwards and it was a hard question to answer because so much of it depends on the individual there are certain things that I think if people would need to do to really achieve a high level proficiency in a short period of time and I guess one thing that I would say about fluency fluency means different things for different people like what I consider fluency in a language might be different than what you consider fluency because we've met people and they're like oh I want to become fluent in English and they have a very high proficiency and I'm thinking well like you are fluent in English already but I think if you do want to achieve a high level of fluency there are definitely things that that you can do every single day which will help you achieve those goals good habit and kind of being consistent about your practice because if you're not then you're not it's like you just kind of plateau and you don't a your language isn't going anywhere it kind of stays the same but be like you're not creating a good habit for yourself and you're not setting yourself up to practice and you have to take the time to do you have to be motivated insistency is key you know like oh I saw he's he's full of sayings but it's it's you know it's it's it's the marathon not a sprint learning a language is a marathon it's not a sprint yeah yeah exactly so what would you suggest then that people what skills should they study every day um it's just a couple of things a one would be like whatever first like what they're more comfortable with maybe because it's more fun and easier to get into like don't if you hate reading like don't start making yourself like I'm gonna read for an hour because it's not gonna go good reading is very important thing you would need you should read every day I think I know but I mean like if you if you haven't done it in a while and you're about to start in your leg breaks you know kind of nervous and like about you know like this is a big challenge so you start a little bit each day you build up to it that's what I mean I would say you definitely needed to be well-rounded so even if you don't like reading then I still think you should try to make that a habit as well as you know speaking every single day writing every single day I mean I was gonna say that no matter what if you study and dedicate your time to learning a language every single day and put in the effort you're going to get whatever level you're at you're going to she's going on a continuum you will dramatically improve yes that's true which so regardless of whatever you consider yourself fluent and what your the fluency is it's going to you're going to improve your yeah and at the end of the day that's I think that is the key thing that's the most important thing well yeah is that you're you're you put yourself on a path to where you were continuously improving and getting better until again you reach those you know that fluency goal or where you feel comfortable with the language because that's what fluency I think means to me you guys are awesome because because that's important and that just yeah it helps you also get a better attitude which helps it yeah because I was gonna say like to me I think fluency when when people are trying to define it is when you are comfortable with the language or you're comfortable speaking about a variety of topics you can respond quickly you can read a variety of you know books or articles without always running to the dictionary and yeah you can communicate you can listen and understand and follow a conversation follow a TV show to me that's what fluency means and when I reached that point and I feel comfortable that I would consider myself to be fluent and it does pay off it really does like just like with everything else and you know it's worth it what have we work hard for it's worth it's actually I think that was like leading into some other saying I thought you were gonna go into but but yeah I think no no I thought you were heading into some saying or expression but it is possible you know if you put in the the energy the dedication you're practicing all the language skills and then again you're you're putting yourself in a position to where you as a learner are learning as fast as you possibly can yeah don't you agree so I hope you enjoy this this conversation this discussion about fluency and whether or not you can achieve it in a few months which again I think it's possible you put in the work you would be you would be surprised at how much you will improve and study yeah if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button and and write to us in the comments let us know what what are you doing right now to improve your fluency what are your fluency goals what do you need to do to get better and achieve the the level of fluency that you're looking for let us know in the comments and as always thanks for watching and we'll see you next time alright done --- ## 249. Can you correctly pronounce these 3 words? (mischievous, choir, veterinarian) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `1rICTkhzaEk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rICTkhzaEk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:00:59 | --- here are three difficult words to pronounce and I want you to repeat after me here's the first one mischievous sometimes people mispronounce it say it with four syllables it's not mischievous it has three syllables stresses on that first syllable mischievous here's the next word choir so this is where spelling and pronunciation do not match there is no CH sound instead that CH is a k sound choir and then veterinarian so this this one's a mouth fully you're going to pronounce all six of those syllables I'm going to pronounce that t with a flat T because I'm from the U.S so it'll sound like a soft D veterinarian stress is on that third to last syllable veterinarian --- ## 250. Can you solve these RIDDLES? ๐Ÿค” | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7xGW_ZCALlg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xGW_ZCALlg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:01:22 | --- here are some riddles to test your mental language skills I'll give you five seconds to think of the answer and then I'll tell you you ready what has to be broken before you can use it the answer is an egg an egg has to be broken before you can use it the next one what month of the year has 28 days think about it so I know instinctively you probably want to say February however I said what month has 28 days really all of them have 28 days where does today come before yesterday this sounds a little weird where where would you find today before yesterday and of course you would find that in a dictionary if you got any of those right you can let me know by hitting that like button that tells me that you are awesome --- ## 251. Casual WORK EXPRESSIONS to Sound More Natural & Professional | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PKnGy5kAH24` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKnGy5kAH24) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:45:14 | --- I'm going to teach you some useful work Expressions that you can use to sound more natural and professional and I'm not talking about very formal Expressions but ones that you can use and are likely to come across in just everyday conversation when at work and I think that it's going to become clear and obvious as to how to use the expression and that you'll be able to put two and two together so let's begin with that expression right there to put two and two together it means to draw an obvious conclusion from what is known or evident so perhaps there's some problem or situation or issue and you were just able to look at the information and come up with a sensible conclusion perhaps I say well how did you know that she was not at home and you tell me Well her car is not in the driveway so I just put two and two together or well how did you know that he was stealing from the company well he was acting a bit strange I put two and two together and maybe you're wondering how I know that you are going to hit the like button this is because I'm I'm teaching you these amazing expressions and I I'm just putting two and two together that you will go ahead and do this and that is a sensible conclusion at least I hope so when pronouncing this phrase and this is very important especially to sound natural often the word and is reduced and it's just going to sound like n put two and two together this happens when people are speaking a little faster it gets reduced and they just say the phrase as one group to put two and two together I want you to listen for it how do you know that Mary is Charlotte's mom CeCe Drake Mary Drake and I just puted you together and when he saw me with you he could have put two and two together we were getting kind of close he was around a lot you put two and two together and figured it out now I know that you are someone who would like to build your vocabulary improve your overall English fluency and I I can help with that so let's put two and two together please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I I promise if you subscribe and you watch these video lessons you're going to improve and you're definitely going to make some Headway and let's continue with that expression right there to make some Headway it means to make progress towards achieving something so this is a good thing if you are making Headway and it really does have a positive connotation so perhaps your boss ask you hey can you give me an update on the project and you say I'm really making some Headway that's a good thing or if uh your supervisor says hey you know how's the report coming along and you say well unfortunately I I haven't made much Headway in that case it's not so good because you're not making much progress for pronunciation it's pretty simple and straightforward you're just going to say one word right after the other to make Headway see why you're timeing to rush the process good now we can make some Headway I'm making Headway with the Republican on the committee yes yes Cooper is making a lot of Headway in the VC world now if you would like to make some Headway when it comes to your pronunciation and speaking skills I know of a great app that can help so let me quickly tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson Elsa speak this is an amazing app to help you fine-tune your pron pronunciation as well as get some speaking practice and I want to show you a really cool feature when you join Elsa premium because you can have an in-depth conversation using their AI feature as you can see there are different AI conversations but let's create our own roleplay something work related what kind of roleplay scenario would you like to do I want to have a conversation with my supervisor at the office and my supervisor is asking me to give an update on a project that I have been working on hi there how's the project coming along it's going well and I think my team right now we're making some serious Headway that's great to hear can you share some specific progress you've made recently well we have come up with a few different marketing campaigns that I think are very Innovative and we will present them to our client at the end of the month good job on developing Innovative marketing campaigns I'm looking forward to seeing the final presentation to the client thanks I appreciate it I will definitely give you an update at the end of the month once the project is starting to wrap up I got to head to another meeting right now but I appreciate your support role playay completed we are Computing your feedback and then after the role play you get a full assessment of your conversation giving you meaningful feedback when it comes to pronunciation vocabulary and grammar so join Elsa premium today by clicking on the link in the description and you can get 50% off a one-year membership if you want to improve your speaking skills this is a great way to make some serious Headway so check out my special link get an Elsa premium membership and take your speaking skills to the next level let's get back to our lesson and continue with the expression in a nutshell this means very briefly or giving only the main point now this is a pretty casual expression you can use it in a variety of contexts but you could also use it at work as well of course if if you are in a very formal situation maybe giving a presentation you could use other phrases that have the same meaning in brief in short to sum up but work doesn't always have to be very formal perhaps someone asks you how did you land the new client you could say in a nutshell I I just showed them how they can expand their business or maybe someone asked hey what what went wrong and you say in a nutshell everything everything went wrong when pronouncing this phrasee there is some linking that may occur this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so we can link the final consonant sound in in with the vowel sound in the article uh in it's like we're moving that consonant sound over in a nutshell in a nutshell and you're asking me not to tell your wife in a nutshell I've heard very little about you rich kid new promotion well that's uh that's me in a nutshell then we have the expression to Circle back to something I like this one perhaps because I feel like I use it quite often this means to return to a conversation or discussion at a later time so maybe you're in a situation in which you can't or don't want to answer something and then you could just circle back to it later now I I feel like I use this when I'm teaching a lesson and if someone asks me a question question that's unrelated to the lesson I might say let's just continue and then at the end I'll answer your question and we'll Circle back to it later now I'll be honest sometimes people may use this expression to procrastinate and just maybe push something off to later and they say okay we we'll Circle back to it later and I have some funny memes to capture that when you realize it's time to Circle back after the holiday break and she does not look happy about this or let me Circle back to you on that and in this case it's like uh this person is saying I have no intention of actually answering your question this is the a picture of the White House Press Secretary and whoever has this position they they would use this quite often they don't want to answer the question and they'll say okay let me Circle back to you on that and then me waiting for all those Circle backs I love it for pronunciation again I think this expression is pretty straightforward to Circle back to something here are some more examples okay this seems like a whole sidebar so we're going to circle back to that let me talk to him I'll Circle back the left engine was lost in the crash due to excessive damage but we can Circle back to that later then we have in light of something this just means because of and there are some common cations with this expression in light of recent events or in light of recent developments now in a work context someone may use this to introduce some type of change and it is a little more formal and perhaps they're using it because something bad happened so I could say in light of recent events employees are asked to take care of their belongings maybe something was stolen or in light of recent developments the CEO decided to step down perhaps there was a scandal for pronunciation there are two things that I want to point out the first is the flap te this is a distinct part of the American accent and yes I am from the US so the final te in light it comes between two vowel sounds so you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D and then I can link the flap t with the vow sound in of light of in light of recent events or in light of recent developments just listen for those two things in light of recent events I'd say your position is untenable I'm sorry but in light of recent events I feel more safe with it in my office now B in light of your recent services the school and decided to be lenient next is to put One's best foot forward this means to make a good impression or to try One's best so at work you might use this if you're starting a new job or a new position maybe you're working with new people and you want to make a good impression so you want to put your best foot forward here are some great quotes using this expression putting your best foot forward at least keeps it out of your mouth all right I just I thought this was funny if you put your best foot forward and over come your fears you will surely attain the heights of success very inspirational I I can certainly see this on some company wall and finally when we put our best foot forward the other one had better be good enough to stand on very philosophical but still true for pronunciation I just want to point out that Aion may occur this is when sounds or syllables get removed now often this may happen with either the t or d sounds when they come between two consonants so the final fin te in best it comes between two consonants so it's going to alide and you're not really going to hear it to put your best foot forward you can listen to these other examples this is our time to soar we need to put our best foot forward so if we're going to be putting our best foot forward should we just be sending our worst employees home I just want to make sure we put our best foot forward only launch once the next expression is definitely one that I can relate to and that is to jump the gun this means to do something too soon or before the appropriate time so the origin of this expression comes from well racing at the start of the race the official starter will fire a gun now if you start running before you hear the gun then you're running too soon you jump the gun like I said we can all relate to this expression and it's certainly one that you can use in a work context I could say yeah I jumped the gun and started working on the project before getting approval to give you a little more context as to how this expression is used here are some news headlines did Seattle jump the gun on World Cup bid wait and see ground transportation operators won't jump the gun over rate rise demands and don't jump the gun we may not need a new law to Shield us from AI harms for pronunciation it's pretty straightforward so let's go ahead and listen to some video examples Paramount is already planning a sequel to The Godfather we job what if one of us gets the job over the other how are we going to handle it aren't we jumping the gun here I mean maybe they'll pick somebody else some people may say that bringing in these contractors this early is jumping the gun a little bit then there's to hit the ground running this means to immediately work hard and successfully at a new activity it's a great work expression it has a positive connotation I could say I was assigned to a project that starts next week and I plan to hit the ground running or I started my new position last month and I really hit the ground running for pronunciation there's more alision remember sounds are getting removed This Time It's the final D in the word ground it comes between two consonants so that D is going to alide to hit the ground running we want to start retraining people ASAP so we can hit the ground running with the new system you hit the ground running you don't look back H thank you the rest of you stop crying and figure out how we're going to hit the ground running in three weeks with new work the next expression is to put something on the back burner this refers to something that is temporarily not being dealt with or considered especially because it's not very urgent or important now this fun expression comes from multiple burners on a stove and if something is on the back burner then it's not the primary focus it's not something that you have to deal with right now you can see that pot right there it is on the back burner now often but not always the something may be it so it's like you're you're talking about some topic and then you want to deal with it later and you say well let's just put it on the back burner at work maybe you want to ask your boss for a raise you've been there for a while you say look it's time and especially if your boss does not want to deal with it at that moment they may say well let's let's put it on the back burner when pronouncing this phrase specifically put it on the back burner you're going to hear me pronounce the final T in put and the final t in it as a flap T because those t's come between two vowel sounds and then we can link the entire phrase put it on say it with me put it on put it on the back burner excellent look it it all comes down to one word you are you ready to put your own dreams on the back burner we will put this on the back burner but underneath I want you to know I am fuming maybe I get involved in a great nonprofit and I just put journalism on the back bur for a little while that's a great idea then there's the Pros outweigh the cons simply put this means there is more good than there is bad now this expression is the combination of the verb outweigh meaning to be greater or more important than something else along with the binomial pair pros and cons referring to the advantages and disadvantages so you might use this when you're evaluating something the advantages and disadvantages and you come to the conclusion and say well the pros outweigh the cons I could say I'm in favor of this new applicant because his Pros outweigh the cons or I think the new work policy will be beneficial to the company because the pros outweigh the cons now you could say the opposite the cons outweigh the pros but I don't think it's as commonly used we can see right here using engram viewer that it's more common to use the Expression the pros outweigh the cons for pronunciation more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in Pros with the vowel sound in outweigh the pros outweigh the cons let's weigh the pros and cons together Linda laid out all the pros and they clearly outweigh the cons okay not perfect but the pros outweigh the cons agreed then there's to make up for lost time this means to do something faster or more often to compensate for not having done it quickly or often enough before when it comes to work there may be a variety of reasons as to why you may need to make up for lost time you may need to make up for lost time if you extend your vacation by another day or you may need to make up for lost time if you fall behind schedule and you need to meet a deadline or you may need to make up for a lost time if you tell a lot of people that you will Circle back to them and then you need to actually start circling back for pronunciation two things we can link the final consonant sound in make with the beginning vow sound in up make up and then the word for is often reduced and it's just going to sound like it's a much softer sound to make up for lost time once again I want you to listen for those two things I basically missed out on six years of Hazel growing up just making up for lost time this year she's making up for lost time honey she is talking about everybody else and getting all in the mix I told myself I was going to make up for L time but I've just pushed her further and further away from me the next expression to come up short this means to fall short of expectations so this really does have a negative connotation because well the result is not what you wanted you had some goal that you wanted to achieve but in the end you came up short now I'll be honest often you will use this expression in the context of sports if a team does not win then you could say well they just came up a little short however in business this regularly happen so it is an important expression I could say this quarter we didn't meet our quota we came up short or our goal was to increase sales by 20% but we came up a little short let's look at some more news headlines to give you a bit more context Amazon sales come up short profit nearly doubles Le Auto slashes Sales Target as deliveries come up short and Fred Meyer workers's paychecks come up short due to software glitch not a good situation for pronunciation we can link the final consonant sound in come with the beginning vowel sound in up come up to come up short we going to sit tight let mcnalty take his best shot and hope like hell he comes up short we've had some bookkeeping problems lately checks coming up short yeah um you know we are trying our best over here but we just keep coming up short so I really think we made some Headway in this lesson and of course if you would like to review you can always Circle back to it later I think that's a good idea now I don't want to jump the gun but if you would like to continue building your vocabulary I recommend that you watch another video Lesson don't tell me that you're going to put it on the back burner I I think you should do it right now the pros definitely outweigh the cons if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new you can let me know by hitting that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 252. Collective Nouns to Describe People | Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JkQQm97gmmw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkQQm97gmmw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:23:58 | --- hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel it's just about trying to help you guys uh practice and improve your english skills when it comes to vocabulary pronunciation grammar a little bit of everything and i really want to really focus on that practice part and i try to make these lessons a little more interactive so that you guys can participate especially in these live lessons when we do these and i know i do i want you guys to participate in today's lesson i want to give a quick uh some quick shout outs uh hey uh putri uh lolly gatrudes um awesome great good it's great to see so many members i'm glad you guys can can join me um hey uh rita um erahem uh phuket sorry if i mispronounce names and as we go through this i'll try to try to give some more shout outs as you answer some of the questions that i give you though they're not really questions today's lesson is about building your vocabulary and we're going to be talking about groups of people because if you're talking about people it is a plural noun and if you're referring to specific groups then those groups have names and what i'm talking about what i'm referring to are collective nouns so you will use collective nouns when you're referring to different groups of people so this lesson i really hope it's going to allow you to build your vocabulary so that you can be a little more specific if you want to refer to one of these groups and you want to talk about one of these groups so i have well quite a few for you and what i'm going to do is i'm going to show you a picture and then talk about what what the group is and then i want you to think about the name so to give you a very quick example of a collective noun think about um you know like family that is a collective noun you're talking about a specific group of people um but and you could call it a family so there are many many many different collective nouns i've just chosen um just some of them that i thought were maybe a little more common that i thought you should know so probably you're going to be familiar with some of them and that's great it's always good to review and hopefully you will learn some new words as well so let's go into it uh and the first one okay so this one uh as you can see i'm talking about uh musicians okay these guys they they play music and as a group and look at the picture because there's obviously there are different types of musicians what would you call this um if you're talking about this group right here this group of musicians is called it is excellent it is called a band all right excellent uh gertrudis yingo um we're talking about a band of musicians but again there are different types of musicians but if you're talking about a band i think more of people that will perform it's very lively it's very entertaining and i think typically a lot of younger people might do this when they're younger they form a band or they want to play in a band i had lali asked a great question if you're talking about collective nouns you're going to use the singular so even though we're talking about a group of people it's one group so for example like this band right here banned in the band there are many different people but you could have like different bands if you go to a concert you might listen to 10 different bands play uh play music so if you're talking about like one band like a band then you're going to use a singular noun so that is an excellent question if you're talking about the collective noun just using it once then it's singular but you could again you could use these collective nouns in the plural as well because you could be talking about more than one band the bands all right so that was a good question clear that up uh because that is very very important very useful so in this let me give you some context with this picture i tried i couldn't find a better picture but i'm talking about um think of a business and maybe these people are the directors all right so i'll give you it'd be like the um of directors kind of the people at the top of a business or a company they would come together and they would make decisions about who's going to lead the company what direction the company is going to go and if i tell you that these these are directors what would you call that group if you're talking about a company and again i know the picture is probably not the best one at that representative um but the answer that i'm looking for is a board a board of directors excellent uh be happy um phuket so yes if we're talking about um people kind of at the top of an organization that would make decisions about like who's going to run the company and this would be a larger company if you're talking somebody might just mention the board and if they mention the board they're talking about that group of people the board of directors uh so that is a good that's a good um i think collocation as well you might often hear that together the board of directors let's look at the next one okay so as you can see this is um these are it's actors and actresses all right so i want you to think about actors and actresses the these people are in a play right here all right uh but i want you to think about tv too in tv there is there are actors there are actresses and together as a group what would you call that the um of actors and actresses if you're talking about tv movies all right excellent you guys rock that one i'm talking about a cast all right great job uh angela uh yingo um perfect lolly so the cast of uh i think this one is very common if you're talking about tv and you want to know about a specific actor or actress and you will try to find well the list the cast like who is in the show perfect so what about uh here we have a group of people and they are singers and again i i would say that um these people are singers and really use that picture because you could have different types of singers what would you say all right we're talking about a group of singers what do you think uh and again i think this is definitely a good picture because in this context in this setting you're talking about this group of singers you're talking about the choir all right a choir of singers and often i think people are just going to use this collective noun somebody might say i sing in a choir all right or i'm part of the choir or i want to join a choir so some of them i told you you might use the entire um phrase like a board of directors i think that's a very common phrase that people would use together in this case you're just more likely just going to use that collective noun and talk about a choir so excellent um keith love uh lolly esther um rose claire gabard jasmine great job let's keep going all right and i put these in alphabetical order too uh not to give you too much of a hint uh all right so this one i think you should know this is a group of students all right i forget about the uh this guy um teaching but think about the group of students what would you call a group of students and i i feel like this uh right now like you guys you are my group of students and i could say you are my of students all right so if we're talking about education we're talking about school i think you guys are familiar with class all right a class of students it's a collective noun you're talking about a specific group a class then we have these guys right here um and if you don't know what the word is in english their job their profession these guys are sailors they're sailors they work on a boat and if you're talking about them sailors as a group you would you would use this collective noun to talk about the group so think about the person who's typically in charge on a boat is the captain and the captain would have his what he would talk about the group of sailors and that would be his excellent it is his crew all right so if you're talking about a group of sailors it's your crew the people that work work on a boat all right uh the next one okay so the the they're dancers all right and i think more again dancers in this context like uh like theater they travel around and you're talking about a group of dancers what word would you use to talk about this group as a collective noun and i again i tried to use pictures that would be more relevant to what i'm i'm trying to convey that collective noun because again when you have when you talk about some groups you could use more than one so this is a um of dancers okay so this one is a little more challenging i think of like a group of dancers that would go around they would perform you would talk about the company it is a company of dancers so maybe this one was new for some of you a company is a group of dancers let's uh the next one some of you many you said troop i'm curious um maybe i this this one let me give you context for this one and then i'll go back to that so here you just see um this is just a lot of people all right there's a lot of people you would say you would call this group together just a lot of random people it is a what what would you guys say all right what do you think so some of you had asked about a the troop of dancers yes that does work it's a collective noun i think troop though could also refer to singers and like really performers in general but i think if you're specifically focused on a group of dancers you would maybe use a company uh this one you guys rocked it out yes we're talking i was trying to get to a crowd i think you know this uh word if you talk about many people in one area you would say there's a crowd or you could use it as an adjective and you say that a place is crowded all right then we have all right this right here again let me give you some context i'm talking about um this person if i say that he this person this guy right here teaching is an academic all right what would you call a group of academics so think about a university and you would have the academics the the people that are teaching they're giving instruction but as a group they would be referred to as this collective noun so i i want you to think about university okay um specifically about university and hopefully that will give you somewhat of a hint all right this guy right here is an academic and he is part of a what okay and if you guys are just joining us we're talking about collective nouns and building your vocabulary so that you can be more specific when you want to talk about a specific group of people all right so yes i'm talking about a faculty so at university if you're if somebody's referring to the faculty they're talking about the group of instructors and academics who teach uh many of the students there excellent uh language learner ams a few people got that one uh leticia who else yingo perfect so the next one that i have for you again let me give you some context because the picture may not be clear this is all right let's imagine that these guys right here they're a bunch of troublemakers they go around and they maybe they they steal from people they maybe they hurt people and this group of troublemakers might be referred to as what so again i'm trying to give you a little context if the picture doesn't help i want you to imagine that those guys right there bunch of bunch of troublemakers all right they're up to no good maybe they're gonna steal or they're gonna they're gonna do something um bad but you would call this group a what all right what collective noun would you use excellent the answer is a gang all right if you're talking uh and i think this is a very common um word to refer to this and you would just use it alone talking about somebody is part of a gang or they joined a gang and it's a collective noun refers to again people that are part of a group that typically causes problems they're not they're not doing anything good then we have again let me give you some some context this is a group of people all right there are two different groups right here the the red group and the blue group now if i want to talk about the blue group think about them all together but i would say the blue group is the what what would i what what collective noun would specifically refer to the blue group in this situation so you're looking at all of them together but i'd say the blue group those people that is the what word what word am i looking for do you have any guesses write it in the chat i always want you guys to participate in these lessons all right so what i was what i'm looking for is the word majority so in this case if you're talking about the collective noun the majority you're talking about the larger number of something and often you are going to um your if you use it alone then basically they know the context that you're talking about but you might follow it with of people the majority of people believe something or the majority of people own something and you're talking about the larger number the majority so if the blue group is the majority then the red group is what it's the opposite the red group would be the minority so the majority and the minority if you want to get into talking about numbers all right which one is more more people are in the majority fewer people are in the minority so then we have okay i think this is i'm not positive you guys can correct me i thought maybe this looks like it could be from the running of running of the bulls in pamplona but if you have this this group and you could say it's a crowd but i want you to think of another word um instead of a crowd if it's almost it's just it's so crowded and people are packed in there they're doing different things and you might use this to refer to a a group of people that maybe you don't want to be in it's very energized very energetic they and what what word do you think i'm looking for um so i i chose this for a reason because i thought it was like the running of the bulls and when people are doing that they're it's it's a bit crazy and what i would call that is if we're talking about a group of people that's a little crazy it's very chaotic it's very hectic then i would you would refer to it as a mob a mob of people so this is a good word if you want to describe a situation in which it's crowded and it's just chaotic so maybe you go shopping uh and there are so many people there and you could tell somebody oh i went to the mall and there was there was just a mob there it was crazy there were too many people and you could refer to it as a mob a lot of times people would use it in a negative connotation if you're talking about a mob of people because it's a place you don't want to be you don't want to be around a mob of people next is again we're going back to um musicians but i told you there are different types of musicians we've already talked about the first one which was a band and again this is a picture that i think is more specific so think about these musicians right here what collective noun would you guys use to refer to these musicians so i think um some of them very uh specific and i think they're a little easier than the other so hopefully this picture really tells you uh okay these musicians right here they are part of the orchestra all right excellent uh gertrudis jingo abraham uh gay angela bruna baltek lali you guys you got that one excellent so like i said i think some of these pictures are easier than others and i think this this is a collective noun you're probably familiar with these people who play in like more classical music they would be part of an orchestra all right this one you need some context so let's imagine that this this man and woman right here they are experts they are considered experts and they have come together and they're having a discussion about something so if you have this group this group of experts they come together what would you call the group and they may be experts uh they could be experts in different fields it doesn't really matter they could be experts in the same field but in this situation where they're sitting next to each other they're having this conversation you have a group of experts and you would call this group of experts what what collective noun would you use to describe this group the answer is a panel we're talking about a panel of experts and in this case i think it's quite common to use that phrase and you're referring to the panel of experts or you could say that we're going to listen to a discussion there's going to be a panel of experts on climate change and you would go uh listen to this discussion and then once you're at the discussion and you're looking at these people people may then just say the panel because then you know what they're talking about but often uh i think you would hear panel of experts great job everyone uh great job great job jasmine uh let's look at the next one this one um this one could be challenging and i this is honestly something that i didn't know before i i use it in a different way and i'll explain what i mean so you're talking about a group of police what do you call a group of police or even a group of sheriffs so a sheriff is like a police officer but if it's a group a sheriff a group of police what word would you use and i maybe i it's an older word this is more of a historical word i don't think it's as commonly used today so what i'm talking about um is a posse and like i said i didn't i didn't know this when i was looking up collective nouns that historically if you're talking about uh a group of police or sheriffs it's called a posse all right i like big small pigs yes that is another that is another term uh used for police um but what i wanted to get to is that this word posse i think it is used today as a collective noun to refer to in my mind it's like a group of friends your friends who will they're loyal to you they will help you if you get in problems they they'll fight for you and you could say this is this is your posse this is your group right here and i think it is a little more informal in that use usage when you're talking about somebody's loyal group of friends who are willing to fight for them um it's your posse so this is a word that again i i really never used it to talk about police but i have heard it used in the context of just informally somebody's group of loyal friends they'll fight for them it's your posse um this again let me give you context so that you know what i'm talking about and i think uh hopefully you'll understand this is talking about uh candidates so in the picture it's like they're selecting one of the candidates perhaps this is these are candidates for a job interview they're they're applying for a job but if you're talking about the group of candidates what collective noun would you use to refer to the group what do you think and this is uh this one's definitely a little more uh challenging all right so hopefully this word is new for you if you're talking if you have for some whatever you're doing you have a list of candidates and you're talking about the group as a whole you would call them a slate a slate of candidates so i think that it may not be as commonly used because it's a very specific situation that you're trying to hire people and you have your list and i say yes we have our slate of candidates and we're gonna start the interviews next week but we have our slate of candidates and again i would say in this case you're going to use that entire phrase like a collocation slate of candidates all right so yes as vicky point out pigs is not a friendly name to refer to the police yes uh the next one uh so a slate of candidates hopefully this this one's uh that might be new for you guys for these people this this should be a little easier these people right here they're employees so think about it that they work for a company the company could do anything but if you're talking about the group of employees it is called what and this is a more common word that you will hear people use in the work environment you're going to hear this tv shows movies what would you call a group of employees excellent yes uh a group of employees i think many of you may know this it's called your staff your staff of employees so no matter what kind of uh business you have company you're going to have your employees and that is your staff now this is a collective noun that people may just say it individually that you don't need to say your staff of employees you can but typically people will just say the staff you need to hire a new staff or um you you there is a shortage of people on your staff your group of employees excellent uh all right here this is a little more cultural for you this is american football all right but no matter what sport uh you may be talking about you're talking about the players okay the group of players is called what all right the collective noun as a group the players are i don't wanna you i think you guys know this word they're part of the what the group of players if you you could be talking about football players soccer players basketball players any sport but the group of players is referred to as the team all right the team of players and again most people will just say the team all right excellent uh give some shout outs um a mitni brando abraham uh gertrudis esther angela so we're talking about the team the team of players then we have this one this one could be a little more challenging and maybe it's also a little more relevant to the united states um because i i would say just to tell you what these people are i try to find a picture i don't know if it's accurate but what i'm going for is they are boy scouts and girl scouts right and maybe you might you may maybe you don't even know what boy scouts and girl scouts are this is talking about a group of a group that younger children will join and what they do boy scouts and girl scouts they may learn new skills they do activities together perhaps camping they might go around and sell things and raise money for a good cause and we're talking about them as a group so boy scouts and girl scouts the group would be called a what you're going to use this collective noun when talking about the group as a whole so they this is a picture i was trying to find a picture of boy scouts and girl scouts but if we're talking about a group of scouts and maybe this was difficult this i'm talking about a troop a troop if you're referring to a group of boy scouts or a group of girl scouts they belong to a troop and that is the collective noun referring to this group okay so i i really hope that some of these some of these collective nouns were new for you here oh let me show you this just to review so this is a review this is all of the ones that we talked about and again i told you that some of them i think you would just use them as just as the collective noun like uh the band or if you're talking about a choir or a team they're very common they're very well known but if you're talking about some of the other ones you might use the entire phrase like i said board of directors that's uh it's common that you would say the board of directors or the slate of candidates and remember uh we had that question before if you're talking about collective nouns all right like the band the board you're going to use it with a singular verb the band is playing tomorrow night the board makes decisions for the companies i'm using it with that singular verb so that is very useful to know a little bit of grammar for you so i hope you learn some new words again it's all about practicing building your vocabulary if you like what we do here at interactive english and you want to show us some love sponsor and support our channel uh we have youtube memberships patreon saws a lot of members today some patrons as well always great to see you guys links are down below in the description again it's all about building your vocabulary this lesson so that you can be a little more specific whenever you want to express your thoughts and opinions and really just be more accurate with what you want to say thank you guys so much for joining me i hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and just to give some quick shout outs here at the end uh lolly jingo uh anna ameni from south korea annyeonghaseyo uh abraham nekla ho ho glad gatrudes thank you guys for joining me i'm glad that some of this was new for you it's always good to practice practice practice practice that's a great way to build your vocabulary have a wonderful weekend i will see you next time so long --- ## 253. Collocations to Emphatically Build Your Vocabulary (B2 + C1 + C2) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7ZWPkvnT9Eo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZWPkvnT9Eo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:06:42 | --- In this lesson, I am going to help you emphatically build your vocabulary. And I just trying to emphasize it emphatically, uh, immensely, greatly build your vocabulary. And learning collocations is a an amazing way to do that because these are phrases. These are words that are frequently used together. So, you're not just learning one word and what it means, but you're you learning other words that go along with it. So, not only is this going to help you build your vocabulary, but it's going to help you sound more natural when you're having a conversation because these are the phrases that native speakers often use. And I I'm going to bring that up. You'll see what I mean as we go through this because you may use some words together that it's not incorrect. It just may not be commonly used. And I I like to point that out in my classes when I'm I'm running the course and tell people, hey, it's a little more common if you use it like this. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications so I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. That is what interactive English is all about. And if you would like to get a copy of these lesson notes, you can join my email community. There is a link down below in the description. I will go ahead and throw it down there out there in the chat as well. If you are already a part of my email community, I check your inbox. I I've sent them to you already and you will or you will receive them soon. So, just want to get that out of the way and begin with our first question. And because of course this is interactive English, I want you to participate. answer the question, write it in the chat, write it in the comments, and I'll I'll give you a moment to think about it, and then we'll talk about uh the correct answer. So, it's a m chilly outside. And really, the collocation is to say, uh m chilly. We're talking about the weather. What are what what word would you use to complete this sentence? Again, there there's more than one answer. And that that's the the beauty of building your vocabulary because you could use different words that have the same meaning and there are maybe several collocations. I actually have two that I would like to point out. So what do you think? It's uh m chilly outside as we go through. I'll try to give some some shout outs. Great job. Uh fly uh nu uh lolli vija. Perfect. So, I would say it's a little chilly outside or it's a bit chilly outside. In this context, we're talking about the weather and you just want to use one of those words, a little bit uh or a little chilly or a bit chilly. In this case, I have heard what I what I wanted to to talk about. I've heard people say something like it's a little bit chilly outside. In that case, I would say it's a little um redundant. Just choose one. It's a little chilly outside. It's a bit chilly outside. Now, to give you a point of reference when I said sometimes the it's not grammatically incorrect, but one may be more commonly used as than another and that's going to help you sound natural. So, a great resource is to use engram viewer. This is um uh basically mostly taken from written English and it graphs how frequently certain words or phrases are used. So that this allows us to compare the two and I can put that in there. A little chilly, a bit chilly, and it just graphs it for us. And you can see which one is a little more common. If I zoom in, you can see that it's a it's a little more common to say, oh, it's a little chilly outside. But there is nothing wrong with saying it's a bit chilly outside. So this is just a good resource if you have well two different phrases and you're thinking well which one is more often used. You can check engram viewer and I'm going to come back to this throughout the lesson. So the next question that I have and yeah this is uh I I'm sure you know the answer because I ask you this all the time. You probably hear this uh in other videos. People would say yes. I would love it if you m the like button. Which in this case, which verb would you use to complete this sentence? We're talking about uh the like button. What are you going to say? And of course, there there's more than one verb that you could use. And generally speaking, what what I would say to to go ahead and kind of lead you into this is think about uh again you you listen you watch my videos like what what are you going to say? Now when talking about a button I think it's normal you would press a button. That is a common collocation. Oh just you know just press the button. However, in this context, when talking about social media, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, whatever it is, and people talk about the like button, generally speaking, they they try to add a little flavor and really emphasize it. So, in that case, what I would say that again, there's more than one answer. I would say you could hit the like button, smash the like button, you can crush the like button, what whatever it is. So I I saw some answers in there as far as people putting press that is a common collocation press the button. However, in this context when talking about YouTube for example right now in my video lessons and you can listen for it. I always say oh please I'd love it if you just hit that like button and it just helps out the channel and the video. And yes that's true. If you enjoy building your vocabulary please hit that like button. Go ahead and smash that like button. The reason why I don't think I would say press is because it sounds a little passive uh whereas in this case you want to be sound more oh it's more exciting it's more adventurous you want to hit something instead of me just like politely asking you but I could hey please just please just press that like button. I would love it if you press the like button anyway. Either you press it, hit it, smash it, it's it's all good. Um as long as you do one of them that would be perfect. But hopefully that makes a little more sense as far as walking through those different examples because all of them are correct. The next one, take your time and do not try to mm corners. So, this is actually an idiom and I have a couple of idioms in here because I want to help you build your vocabulary. And in this case, there would be a specific word missing. And I already see so many answers in there. Excellent. Um, Lai, Miranda, Vija, Angela, we're talking about cutting corners. To cut corners, this is you could say it's a collocation. It is an idiom. And I'm going I'm giving you the meaning right there. You're doing something in the quickest way possible, maybe in the cheapest way. And often when you cut corners, it may harm the quality of your work. And that's why I think somebody would say, h, you know, don't don't cut any corners. You want to do quality work. Try not to cut corners. Good phrase, good idiom to know. Let's keep moving right through these. So here is your next sentence. If I'm talking about agism, agism, you know, judging people based on their age is a m of discrimination. So, we're talking about the noun discrimination. What word would would you use in this context? And there's more than one answer. And I'll I'll point out what I mean. It is a m of discrimination. I I would say in general there is a I don't want to say a more a correct answer, but a preferred answer. And I say preferred because it's just more commonly used. And I'm going to kind of keep talking because I haven't seen the answer. Uh so the the answer that we're looking for, excellent, nice. Um just a random person. You nailed it. uh talking about a form of discrimination. Something is a form of discrimination. To give you some examples, I have some news headlines for you. This is a a a way that I like to present different well vocabulary in this case collocations so you can see how the phrase is used in context. Uh it says the negation of diversity is also a form of discrimination. Hate crime laws are a form of discrimination. And that last one down there talking about well agism, age discrimination, most widespread form of discrimination in Latafia says ministry report. So in all of those examples that those news headlines were using a form of discrimination. Now I saw other words in there like kind or sort. Then that those would work as well. But if we go back and I want to refer to engram viewer in this case. So I'm comparing form of discrimination with a kind of discrimination. And again there's nothing wrong with saying oh this is a kind of discrimination. You will hear this. You can use it in this context. But just using engramer you can see that it's a bit more common. It's more often used to say that something is a form of discrimin discrimination and that is why again I don't want to say things are um in this case like oh this is correct this is incorrect both of them are correct but being able to understand and know which one is more commonly used this is what I mean when I say that learning collocations is going to help you speak in a lot more more of a natural way because these are the phrases that that native speakers end up using in talking about well oh this is a form of discrimination. Here's the next one. And I I wanted to include this because I hear people still make uh this mistake from time to time um in my my speaking course. So, we're talking about sharing an opinion, my point of view, and this is this is me. I'm not being humble or modest at all. Uh, I'm kind of bragging sometimes. Uh, I try to be modest, but just for um for this example, my point of view, this is the best channel to learn and fine-tune my English skills. So I'm I'm pretending that this is something that maybe you believe that you think that that you would be saying. So if this is your opinion, how are you going to introduce this opinion? What word is missing? And I know that uh these words are commonly confused. I in this case I would say there is a correct answer. So, great job Zoe Tayo uh Lai from from my point of view. This is the best channel to learn and fine-tune my English skills. I hope that you think that uh I don't know for sure. Uh you can hit that like button that would tell me like oh yes uh from your point of view you think is the best to fine-tune your English skills. So there are a variety of ways to introduce your opinion. And what I think gets commonly confused is from my point of view and in my view. So just keep that in mind. If we're talking about point of view, you want to use from from my point of view. You could also say from my perspective. Or if you're going to use in, then the phrase that you would want to use this other collocation in my view or often it's very common to say in my opinion. But these are not in in this case from and in are not really interchangeable. People are going to know what you're you're saying. They're going to know that you're expressing your opinion, but it could just sound a little awkward. So just keep these phrases in mind. from my point of view, from my perspective, in my view, in my opinion. Those are great phrases whenever you want to share your opinion. So, even just going back to the the last example where I said, "Oh, from my point of view, this is the best place to learn and fine-tune your English skills." I would say, "I hope that you believe me." You know, that's what I'm telling you. I hope that you believe me and are willing to me the benefit of the doubt. This is a in this case I would say it's a fixed expression m benefit of the doubt. There is a missing verb in there. Which verb is going to complete this expression? And I think that probably you may know this because it's pretty common. You watch movies, TV shows, you will hear this phrase. I hope that you believe me and are willing to me the benefit of the doubt. I see. All right. Excellent. As people just jumping on this one. Perfect. Uh Rose, Angela, Tal, Pamela, we're talking about give to give someone the benefit of the doubt. In this case, I hope that you give me the benefit of the doubt, which is to believe what I'm saying, even though you you're not really sure that there may be other people out there who disagree, but if you give me the benefit of the doubt, you you trust what I'm saying, you trust what I'm doing, even though what I'm saying may not be true. So, that is the meaning of to give someone the benefit of the doubt. And often you would use this in a context in which you are skeptical of what someone is telling you and you're not really sure to believe them, but you're like, "Okay, I'll trust you. I'll I'll give you the benefit of the doubt." So, another great expression to learn and know and use. And again, this is that you're going to use it with that verb to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Here is the next one. In order to be eligible, you need to the following conditions. So let's say that you want to participate in some event or competition, but there are certain conditions and somebody tells you this, well, you know, you would like to take part in this competition. In order to be eligible, you need to m the following conditions. So we have that blank and the collocation is really the verb that you might use with conditions. M the following conditions I will tell you there there is more than one verb that you could use. So in this case I would say there's not a correct answer but I could use a word like preferred. There may be a preferred answer. And in this case of I'm going to show you uh some comparisons using engram viewer. So we're talking about trying to be eligible. And in this case to when talking about conditions I would say I haven't seen it yet. So there's another verb in there that I haven't seen. I I see people like using meat there. There's nothing wrong with meat. Um, but there's another verb. You could you a fulfill that works. I I would have to put that in there. See how um often it would be used. I'm going to go ahead and tell you. And I think once I tell you, of course, you'll be, "Oh, yes. I I've maybe heard this phrase." So, I would say you need to satisfy the following conditions. Now, many of you put meet in there to meet the following conditions. That is correct. That is okay. But if we want to compare these two and talking about satisfy the following conditions versus meet the following conditions, both of them are correct. And that's why I said one may be in this case slightly preferred over the other because you can see that it's a little more common to say to satisfy the following conditions. Now, if I want to change the word conditions and put another word in there, this is how it it's again, I find it fascinating how the language changes. So, closest to me right here, you can I zoomed in on it to satisfy the following conditions versus to meet the following conditions. It's a little more uh you know, it's more commonly used to to use the verb satisfy. If I change the word conditions to criteria, now it it just flips around. In this case, you would use the verb meet. You need to meet the following criteria. So, if we're talking about criteria, I I would definitely recommend that you use the verb meet. Oh, well, I don't meet the criteria or um she participated because she met the criteria. And once again, I would say satisfy is not incorrect. it's just not often used. So in that context, I would definitely go with meet to meet the following criteria. But if we're talking about conditions, you could use satisfy to satisfy the following conditions. So language, it's going to things get changed all around. Again, one thing I think is great about collocations, you're building your vocabulary. And in this case, because we're talking about the frequency of words used together, there's not like, oh, this is right, this is wrong. Sometimes that may be the case, but often it's just a matter of learning which one is more often used and understanding that and then being able to use that as part of your speaking fluency. Let's go. M a bite to eat. This is a phrase that I think is pretty common and maybe I maybe I think that because I say it quite often talking to a friend, a family member. Hey, would you like to go I almost said it. Would you like to go a bite to eat? And I see a lot of answers in there. Excellent. Li Tayo Curious Ghost Netherlands. I like some of these names. Manuel uh Tal. We're talking about to grab a bite to eat. Of course, if you use the verb get, that also works as well. Um, I I didn't compare these two, but I think both of them are are often used. Let's go get a bite to eat. Let's go grab a bite to eat. I feel like if you were in a cont a situation in which you were in more of a hurry, so you only have a certain amount of time for lunch. In that case, I think you would use the verb grab. Grab would imply like some quickness and you need to hurry. Okay, let's just go grab a bite to eat and then we'll come back. But either one, grab, get, both of them work. Uh, excellent. Good job. Have you guys nailed that? Um, Tr SSI SSI, good to see you. Perfect. Here's the next one. I would appreciate it if you could summarize the policy in layman's For this one, there is a specific answer that I think I I I guess you could say is correct. And this is another idiom, another expression that I just wanted to teach you, but these are words that are often used together. There is another word that I think you could use in this context, but overwhelmingly you're going to end this sentence with this specific word layman's. So that's the phrase we're talking about in layman's. There's something that I want you to explain to me and say, "Look, give it to me in layman's." Tell me in layman's. So what do you think? I've uh seen some uh good answers in there. Yes. Um tal Rhan Angela uh we're talking about layman's terms. In layman's terms. The other word that I feel like you could use. You may hear in layman's words. That also works. However, I think it's just much more common to say in layman's terms. In this case, terms and words. It really means the same thing. I saw some other people put language in there. I I again my recommendation in this case if you want to use this expression I would say in layman's terms to refer to simple language that anyone can understand. If someone's trying to explain something very complicated and maybe you don't have a professional background like look just tell me in layman's terms. Give it to me in layman's terms. It's a I think a great phrase to know uh because sometimes I think it's better to have things explained in just using the simplest language and you just have it in layman's terms. How about uh this one? This is a question and again I feel like just thinking about it you probably would know the answer. Would you be willing to m more responsibility? What is missing right here? There is a missing verb. And the collocation would be when you're talking about responsibility. And think about the question. Think about the context. What is what is this person asking? Would you be willing to more responsibility? There are different verbs that you could put in there, but I'll go ahead and give you a hint. The one that I'm looking for is a phrasal verb because I think that would be the verb that's most commonly used in this situation. So, think about a phrasal verb. Which phrasal verb is going to complete this question. Would you be willing to more responsibility? Uh, excellent. Good job, Tayo. Manuel uh Rose to take on more responsibility. I saw some answers with take in this case. Again, I would say use that phrasal verb to take on would be more like okay to accept. You're going to accept more responsibility. You're going to take on more responsibility. This collocation is often used in the context of work. you have a job and a colleague asks you or your supervisor, boss, whoever asks you, look, could would you be able to take on a little more responsibility? And when you're talking about responsibility, you'd often use this phrasal verb to take on responsibility. And I would say it's even common to use the word more in there, to take on more responsibility. Not really, not often somebody's going to ask you, hey, would you would you consider taking on less responsibility? I think most of us would jump at that opportunity. Yes, I would love it. But typically, people are going to want you to take on more responsibility. Then I have this sentence right here for this one. There, of course, there's more than one answer, but there is a collocation that I wanted to point out because I think it may be new for some of you. There is a m difference between British, American and Australian English. Of course, there are many similarities between these different varieties. However, I could say there is a difference between British, American, and Australian English. There are there are a lot of different words that you could use to complete this sentence. Like, I see a subtle difference. There's a huge difference there. Those work. But there's one collocation the this adjective that I would like to use that would mean clear and obvious which are other words that you could use. There's a clear difference between British English. There's an obvious difference between British English um there's a slight difference. you guys are putting in uh a lot of great words in there that you could absolutely use in this situation. But the collocation that I wanted to to teach you or talk about is there is a stark difference between British American and Australian English. Now, this is a collocation, even though there are probably other phrases, other adjectives that you would use with difference that may be more commonly used, but I wanted to point this one out in case this is new. If you're talking about a stark difference between two things, you're basically saying that there is a very distinct difference. It is clear. It is obvious. There is a stark difference between British, American, and Australian English. Once again, uh I just want to give you some news headlines so you can see how this is used in context. And for when talking about a difference like you have just seen, there are a lot of different words that you can use that are correct and would work. So, new study reveals a stark difference of asthma rates in poorer and richer enricher suburbs. The next article, the stark difference between Trump and Biden's response to Navali's death. And finally, why is there such a stark difference between Rexom's home and away form? I think they're talking about the Rexom football team in this case. So even though there are many words that you can use, if this is new and you want to emphasize uh that there is a clear difference, you can use this word instead. There is a stark difference between whatever things that you want to talk about. Then I have this uh sentence for you. We're going to go uh in a legal direction now. Tomorrow morning, my attorney plans to m an appeal. If you're not a lawyer, then this you may not need to use this phrase. However, you're going to hear it in movies, TV shows, the news. The you always might read in a newspaper something about some lawsuit that's happening and you may come across this phrase right here. We're talking about an appeal. So this is the the verb that may get often used with this noun to m and appeal in a legal context. Which verb are you going to use tomorrow morning? My attorney plans to m an appeal. See some correct answers. Yes. Sai. Great job. Talal Angela to file an appeal. Tomorrow morning, my attorney plans to file an appeal. If I'm trying to think if there are other verbs that you could use in this context to um yeah, I I off the top of my head, I can't think. I would just go with file in this case. you're going to file an appeal um to fight um a decision that was made that you disagree with and you a lawyer would file an appeal and then I did not know they were dating. I'm totally m of the loop. This is an idiom. So in this case I would say there's just there is a correct answer. How would you complete this idiom? But it is a collocation. These words are frequently used together. I'm totally m of the loop. I did not know they were dating. I'm totally of the loop. Typically, I am not up to date with I think a lot of things that are going on uh especially in like other people's personal lives. And I would use this I am always of the loop. I believe this is probably uh an idiom that I've talked about already in a lesson at some point. Excellent. Teao n uh lolatal zoey ssi out of the loop. If somebody is out of the loop, you just do not have knowledge or information about a particular matter. So, here are the phrases that we talked about just to get a little bit of a a review and just to to go ahead and use some of these. Now, if I'm just talking to you and say, I think this is a great way to build your vocabulary. When it comes to building your vocabulary, I definitely don't think you should try to cut corners. You should really try to learn these phrases, practice them, go out there and use them. people use collocations generally they're not that complex and difficult and people would use them and you could say that using collocations you are putting things in layman's terms which I think is very helpful uh because what else could I use um there is a stark difference between learning your vocabulary this way and just learning a word and translating it into your native language. I I think this is a better way to go to practice the word and see how it's used in context in English in these other sentences. So, if you enjoyed the lesson, again, please hit that like button, smash that like button, or if you don't feel too aggressive, just press the like button. It's perfectly fine. And of course, um, from my point of view, I hope that you continue, um, to watch more video lessons because, well, to from my point of view, I think it's really going to help you build your vocabulary. I'm just trying to keep using some of these different ones. And yeah, if you're a little hungry, uh, because it's lunchtime for me right now. So, I'm going to go get a bite to eat. And it's a little chilly outside, so I'm just going to make sure I wear my jacket. All right. So, I I think I went through most of them in that case. Now, uh, I want to thank you for joining me today. And also, I'm always curious, how did you do on the the quiz? Let me know down in the chat. I'm going to throw a little quiz in there right now. And you can tell me and let me throw this in there. Let's see. Start a poll. How How did you do on the quiz? And if I say I really know my collocations. All right, I knew about half of them and I really need to uh study more. Okay, those are your three choices right there. if you want to participate in my little poll and let me know if you did 90 100% you really know your collocations or maybe you got about 50% you knew half of them or a lot of this was new for you learned a lot of new phrases and which is also great and you could say I really need to study more and that's why I'm here because you can join me all these lessons and study along with me because I want to help you build your vocabulary and keep improving your English skills. That is what it's all about. So, thank you guys so much for being here. I hope that you have a wonderful day. I've had about uh okay, quite a few votes. And it seems like it's a little bit of a mix between people knowing most of these or knowing about half of them as well as just a lot of it being new. So, it's always good to get that perspective. I feel like I did a I feel like this was a good lesson then as far as the uh the different levels and people who are taking it. If it's a bit of a mix, then I I take that as a positive. So, have a wonderful day. Um and keep up the good work. And of course, I will see you in the future with another lesson real soon. So long. --- ## 254. Collocations to Quickly & Effectively Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pr16hC82ET8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr16hC82ET8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:02:15 | --- let's build your vocabulary with collocations and these are words that are frequently used together and that is why I say that they are super common phrases in just spoken English and you're going to come across them all the time I have a lot of different collocations that I want to go over with you and this is a quiz lesson so of course I would love it if you participate write your answers in the chat in the comments I just love hearing from you so here is the first question and then I'm going to highlight the cocation and I want to follow up and we'll give you some more as well because there for many of these questions there there's going to be more than one answer so a m percentage of the population spends more than one hour um on their phone each day what do you think how would you complete that sentence a m percentage of the population spends more than one hour on their phone each day so there we're talking about words that are frequently used together in this case there's an adjective that is missing and of course there there are many different adjectives that you can use I'm just going to highlight one and then I want to give you some more phrases that you can use and then compare them as well so I see some some great answers again whether you you know High certain vast huge the the word that I was thinking of and again like I said there's more than one answer to these questions so just keep that in mind I was just saying a high percentage of the population spends more than one hour on their phone each day here are some other useful cations when we're talking about a a adjective percentage of something a high percentage of something a large percentage of something or a great percentage of something there were other answers in there a certain percentage a vast percentage those would those work as well but if we're just taking these high large and great just to give you a little more context when it comes to well which phrase should I use if you can use different phrases when explaining something you know there there's not necessarily a correct or incorrect way but one thing I like to point out when it comes to these collocations is the frequency in which they're used because I think many of you would like to use the phrase that more is more commonly used when somebody is speaking English so just comparing these you can see that more often you're going to use and come across the phrase high percentage when comparing those collocations so again this is a great way to build your vocabulary and and learn a lot of different phrases at one time I want to make a very quick announcement because if you are interested in practicing and improving your speaking skills you can check out my speaking course there is a link Down Below in the description the course is for Upper Intermediate to Advanced speakers it's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally check out that link Down Below in the description and you can also use uh a code to get a discount but this is something that I talk about in the course if we come across some examples I try to provide information about well this is a more commonly used collocation you're going to use this verb with this noun or this adjective with the um this noun so like the next one here's the next question if you would like to see the doctor I recommend that you m an appointment for next week once again there is more than one word that you could use to complete this sentence and then trying to understand which one is more commonly used so if you would like to see the doctor I recommend that you m an appointment for next week I I think uh I think you could say schedule I think overwhelmingly and I see this in the comments schedule works but you would make an appointment in this context you're going to make an appointment for the next day the next week the one thing I wanted to point out the difference uh because it's you could use another verb to make an appointment versus to have an appointment so you would use make an appointment when referring to scheduling an appointment and in that case you could use schedule as well if you have an appointment then that means that it has already been scheduled so just something to keep in mind because with some of these phrases there are differences what do you think how do I get people to respect my personal so we're talking about respecting someone's personal what What word could you put in there it is a common collocation these words are frequently used together and I've basically highlighted the the collocation for you to respect someone's personal what there again I think a couple of common words that you could use in this context uh you can use that picture to to give you a little bit of a hint I think it does help so what I would say is how do I get people to respect my personal space we're talking about someone's personal space like they just they they need a little more more room here are some other useful cations I told you I'm kind of throwing a lot of phrases at you but the idea is that you're probably familiar with most of these already uh and hopefully you're even able to use them as well to respect personal space to respect personal boundaries or to respect personal privacy those are commonly used phrases one thing I will say is that in this case we are using that possessive adjective like my personal space when we're using that like respect someone personal I think in that case you're overwhelmingly going to follow it with space to respect someone's personal space but once again um this is uh I I I thought this was a funny meme so I wanted to share it with you again try to bring a little humor into these lessons I think it's a fun way to uh you know learn the language so in this case it says dude you're in my personal space and yeah that is a great example of somebody you know not respecting uh another's personal space or those personal boundaries what do you think about this one um I'm sure many of you are familiar with this picture right here uh this scene was in the news very recently and there was a meeting of course between Trump and zilinski and I could say that the meeting ended what how would the meaning end in this case I'm I'm using an ad verb so I'll go ahead and tell you the part of speech sure there are other you know there are different answers you can give but uh I I wanted to share a few different collocations and then once again we're going to compare the the frequency the meeting ended badly yeah that that definitely works it did end badly um abruptly good answer uh this is a a good way to kind of exercise those vocabulary muscles because like I said it's not just one answer that you could uh use the meeting ended uh terribly uh that also works uh badly perfect so the well the one the word that I was thinking of and that I wanted to highlight because I think uh you know badley of course works well I think that is a very you know a common adverb if you wanted to be a little more precise um you could use a word like abruptly so abruptly means in a sunned unexpected and sometimes unpleasant way so I think it's a great adverb to describe you know how that meeting went it ended abruptly to give you a little more context I I shared some news headlines with you uh and it I didn't I came up with this sentence before I even found that news headline top moments from the Trump zalinsky meeting that ended abruptly yes um Kroger CEO abruptly resigns after probe into personal conduct and then finally China abruptly replaces techar behind Ai and Chip push so just keep that in mind this is a great adverb I don't think it's too advanced but if you're saying something happens abruptly or it ends abruptly it it's just a great precise word I told you that we're going to make some comparisons and once again I'm going back to engram viewer I don't know if I I mentioned that before I can you can use this site if you to compare phrases and see how frequently they're used so I have ended abruptly um ended suddenly and ended unexpectedly because that is that is the meaning of abruptly and as you can see using ended abruptly is more commonly used than those other phrases so it is a great adverb to know well done all right I like uh I like these lessons when there's more than one response and you can kind of just think of different words that can go in there so what about this one this is a little more challenging because there is a specific word that I'm thinking of you won't get it it's an M joke so two things that I want you to keep in mind as you're trying to think of this collocation and it is a collocation with the word joke the first thing is that somebody's saying look you you won't get it you're not going to understand this and then they say it's an joke you see that uh article and so you know then that the next word is going to begin with a vowel sound so if we're keeping those two hints in mind you would say you won't get it it's an inside joke all right well done excellent saw a lot of great answers so if we're talking about an inside joke I've given you some other collocations that you would not put in this sentence but other collocations with joke as well as the meaning so an inside joke is one that is only understood by people with specific knowledge and hence that first part of the sentence look you won't get it it's an inside joke now another collocation a running joke is just a a joke that's repeated many times you could say something is a bad joke a joke that's not funny I am infamous on this channel for telling uh sharing some bad jokes with you uh and then if you say oh look it's a little joke it's a joke that is intended to be harmless so sometimes maybe you make a joke and somebody if they're getting upset you're like look it's just a little joke all right you're trying to say okay it's not supposed to be very harmful so hopefully again that if if you're not familiar with these phrases that they make sense because you are going to come across them movies TV shows and just casual conversation they're useful what about this one right here this is a place that I I need to go uh very soon uh the dentist and the dentist you go into the dentist you sit down I'm sure you all are familiar with that chair right there and the dentist would say let me m a look at your teeth let me m a look at your teeth I think this is uh this is almost like a a kind of a standard sentence when you go into the dentist maybe they even uh maybe they even teach this at a dental school who knows but you would tell the person let me a look at your teeth there are two words that I think would commonly be used in this situation a look at something so that is our colle ation in this case it's say let me take a look at your teeth and you're going to take a look at something now of course you could say take a look or have a look that that also works either one let me have a look at your teeth let me take a look at your teeth and you would have a look at something or take a look at it but again we can compare them using engram viewer and you can see that it's more common to hear people say and use to take a look at something look let me let's take a look at this or let's take a look at that or let me take a look at your teeth so listen for this the next time you go to the dentist see if uh well I don't know if they'll be speaking English to you maybe if they are then try to to listen for that let me take a look at your teeth all right excellent uh moving right along love it seeing these uh these hearts and emojis love it gets me going how about this this is something else I try to make uh these questions relevant I guess to my own personal experience like I said I need to go into the dentist this is something else that I need to uh I almost I don't want to give it away I almost actually end up saying the the word that's missing we're talking about taxes now is the time of year when I have to M my taxes once again there are you know several verbs that you could use in this context I'm going to point out one and then we'll we'll talk about some others so uh just looking at what some of you said uh yeah to do uh my taxes to file my taxes to pay my taxes all right so all of those are what I'm seeing in the chat everything these are collocations the one thing that I'd point out or the distinction that I want to make what what I said as far as like if I'm saying this to you I me personally I'd probably use dude like yeah now it's the time I got to do my taxes I'm not really looking forward to doing my taxes I just don't like doing my taxes I think it is changeable with file you could say I have to file my taxes in in my opinion it sounds maybe a little more formal to say to file your taxes I think this is more casual and just conversation to do uh my taxes the one thing that uh I wanted to point out with pay because you can pay your taxes but I feel like do and file would be a little more precise in this context because you're really preparing these documents you're doing your taxes sometimes you do have to pay other times you might get a refund so I when I think of to pay taxes I think of just uh talking about oh you know you have to maybe pay a sales tax or you have to pay an import tax or you have to pay income taxes so in that case I feel like you would often use pay in those situations but just as far as like this time of year annually you got to do your taxes you got to file your taxes once again in this case you can see it's a little more common to say to do my taxes than file but either one of those would would work well in that situation again I know I'm giving you a lot of phrases hopefully some of these are new or even as I talk about them do your taxes file your taxes you think okay I've heard these before I have come across both of those verbs in that context it's all about building your vocabulary it's going to uh it's going to take a amount of effort to finish the project What word could you put in there a m amount of effort to finish the project so you can kind of probably put the collocation together an M amount of I mean we're talking about effer but it'd be an M amount of something again there are gosh there are in this case probably this one there are many different words that you could use to correctly complete this sentence I think once again when trying to come up with these words this is a great way to be more descriptive because you're adding instead of just saying hey it's going to take effort to finish this project you're adding another word that is going to be give gives the other person a little more information so just to read it somebody uh it's going to take an enormous amount of effort that that works a tremendous amount of effort eort a massive amount of effort uh yes um a large amount of effort uh there there are many great answers so one that I I have not seen that I'm going to highlight right now which again you can keep in mind this is one that I like to use and when we're talking about an amount of something this is a word that's often used a considerable amount of effort so a considerable amount of something it really just means the same as these other ones so I've already mentioned uh a few of them already a considerable amount of a tremendous amount of an enormous amount of a massive amount of or even to give you another one a substantial amount of all of these phrases would work in this context and one thing that I I talk about even uh as I would go through my speaking course is getting a little bit of language variety you don't want to just say okay every time I want to use this I'm only going to use tremendous amount of there's a tremendous amount of effort or I owe a tremendous amount of money or there's going to be a tremendous amount of rain you want to vary your sentences from time to time just to it it just is more captivating in that regard so all of these collocations work you could even use some of the others again the idea for this lesson is just to get the vocabulary juices flowing what I I want to explain something um what do you think our employees seem a little down we need to find a way to M morale so a couple of things I want to point out you say the employees seem a little down this is a phrase to say they're sad now the picture they do not look down all right this is uh kind of after after the fact then the employees look very helpful uh uh they look very happy so our employees seem a little down we need to find a way to M morale keep in mind that final word morale the pronunciation the stress is on that second syllable morale there are again there's a couple of phrases that I'm primarily going to highlight when you're talking about um morale whether it's employee morale or some other type of morale so the word uh excellent you could say yeah to uh boost morale to increase morale um to what else would uh lift up improve morale uh you could also use a phrasal verb bring up as well but the word that I had in there is to boost morale boost employee morale I I like this verb when talking about morale this is a common cocation it's not like you're going to use the the word boost in a lot of other circumstances but in this case it's it's a good one um some of them would work raise morale I don't think is commonly used I see upgrade I don't think I would use upgrade in this context as well I would stick with Boost uh bring up improve um what else did we see uh increase I don't I think somebody said uplift I don't even I wouldn't use uplift either in this context so I'm um comparing a few like right here to boost morale to lift morale that was another one that I had um I forgot to mention as well as to raise morale so if we're comparing those three phrases with those verbs boost lift raise you can see it's more commonly it's more commonly used to say boost morale because if you were just to look at those three verbs boost lift raise you're going to use verbs like lift and raise you're going to come across those verbs a lot more often than boost but like I said when we're talking about moral that is a that is a noun that is often used this verb noun col to boost morale something to keep in mind and again hopefully uh that makes sense and yeah you can go on to use it if you are I don't know a manager or you own your own company and you need to find a way to boost employee morale what do you think you can a good living as a computer programmer you can a good living as a computer programmer so we have this collocation uh we're missing a verb there are I think a couple of them well there two that primarily that I want to focus on and we're talking about I'll give you the cocation a living so we have to somebody said to earn a living lot many of you make a living and you got it you guys nailed it so again some of these phrases they they're very commonly used you've heard them before I hope I hope that you are able to use them if you're having a conversation you can make a good living as a computer programmer so that is the collocation but I told you to earn a good living as well I feel like to make a living or to earn a living or are common if we're going to use good in there I would use make and that is another part of this collocation to make a good living doing something otherwise you could just say to make a living to earn a living both of those are commonly used once again if I were just to compare those two make a living versus earn a living it is more common to use make a living and I don't know if you've noticed the the answers that I've been giving you when I make these comparisons those are the um the ones that I'm putting in there as the answer the one that is more commonly used because that that is the one that I want to highlight if you got that correct let me know you can uh uh hit that emoji the 100 the the like thumbs up whatever that tells me that yes you you you're you're you're getting most of these and that uh you understand them and you're able to use them perfect uh again I wanted to throw in this little joke here just to keep it Loose uh this is uh this picture of Santa Claus with the reindeer what is that on your back hey deer's got to make a living and it's like he has this uh version of like door Dash uh that he's delivering food while they're delivering these presents uh love it how about this one don't work too hard this is just the beginning M your strength now this is a cocation that I think is often used as a standalone sentence M your strength so try to think about the first part in order to come up with that missing word don't work too hard this is just the beginning your strength which word would you put in there that would really fit this context and and complete this sentence and like I said I think you often would use this as a standalone sentence that you would be telling to someone else kind of like giving them a command and saying look M your strength there is a one word that I think is probably more commonly used than than some of the others write your answers in the chat in the comments I just love it when you all are participating in these lessons so the word that I think is definitely more commonly used in this context telling somebody to save your strength so once again I'm I'm going to give you some other collocations with save as well as the meaning down here because there are many collocations with these individual words so if somebody tells you look save your strength they're just saying don't waste your energy this is a common statement in this context I don't think uh I didn't compare them but I saw a keep in there like keep your strength I don't think it would work as well I would in this case in my opinion I would encourage you to use Save the if you're telling someone look save your strength uh you you you're going to need it later on save your strength you could also save someone a seat in that case you're reserving or you're keeping a seat for another person you might save yourself the trouble by you basically avoid involving someone in a useless effort like you don't need to get involved look just save yourself the trouble and then finally save the best for last you're going to keep something appealing until the very end these are some common collocations with the word save I know I'm giving you a lot here hopefully you're familiar with uh many of these already this is a well I'll tell you where I'm going with this in just a moment I'm very curious to see what uh responses people put in here this is taking too long you need to m a decision this is taking too long you need to a decision and I'm kind of curious because this is a word uh I there is one that I think is more common than the others but it the the other way which I don't want to say it's not incorrect but it's one that I often hear and I I to generally tell people like hey I think I would use this verb instead um so overwhelmingly it seems like uh seeing make uh which is right that is that is the answer that uh I I have for you you need when talking about a decision you need to make a decision however what I often hear when like throughout the course I'm talking with people and they uh are explaining something a lot of times I hear people say take a decision and I I would say in the US you know overwhelmingly people are going to make a decision and I to be honest I always thought maybe take a decision was more common ly used in British English but however just based on you know more reading into it more I actually don't think that's incorrect so um the first thing I want to point out is if we're comparing those two to make a decision versus take a decision as you can see it's much more commonly used to say make a decision now like I said I thought it was something that might be more common in British English but just looking into it it's actually not this is an article from Grammar Girl which is a great resource great website where they really break down some of these things and in this case they were breaking down like take a decision or make a decision and it says some people say that take a decision is British and lots of British speakers deny using the phrase so it's like what's the story and I've only taken this one piece right here um but the article goes on to say based on different polls that uh most British people even say make a decision but as far as a reason why I hear foreigners say this second language speakers one thing is in many other languages in in their in your native language maybe it is take instead of make and it's just maybe a language translation thing than anything else so just something to keep in mind but in this case I would encourage you to just say like look I you know I've already made my decision or you need to make a decision and use make when talking about that noun here is is uh a little review these are all of the cations that we talked about in this lesson as well as uh many others that I I wanted to share with you but once again this is a great little exercise to build your vocabulary but again just get those vocabulary juices flowing this is something that we talk about in my speaking course again if you're interested in joining you can check out the link Down Below in the description and use that discount code um if uh if you would like like to speak with me and practice and improve your skills so I would recommend that you continue thinking about collocations or building your vocabulary using collocations because this is a great way to learn the phrases that are commonly used in just everyday conversation if you did learn something new you can hit that like button it always helps subscribe to the channel uh and and just continue building your VOC vocabulary so that uh you can be a little more descriptive and precise when you're having a conversation telling a story all of it really helps so thank you again for being here I hope you learn something new and I will see you really soon in the future for --- ## 255. Collocations to Supercharge Your Vocabulary (B2 + C1 + C2) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NG44swIzykA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG44swIzykA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:56:58 | --- today I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary by learning many different collocations which are words that are frequently used together and when you use them in conversation it's just going to help you sound more natural so in this lesson I'm going to teach you over 50 different collocations ranging from levels B2 to C2 so the phrases that we're going to look at are more Upper Intermediate to advance now I'm not going to lie to you building your vocabulary is something that may take a considerable amount of time but learning collocations can be somewhat of a shortcut so let's begin with some B2 collocations and with a word that I've already mentioned considerable this is an adjective that means very large or much and there are some great adjective noun collocations such as a considerable amount of something previously I mentioned a considerable amount of time or you could say that you're making a considerable difference or you're making considerable progress or you have considerable influence over someone and this collocation you may follow it with that preposition over besides we have to do a considerable amount of paperwork but you might go back and use your considerable influence and ask your cabinet colleagues if they might reconsider and I am confident that learning collocations will make a considerable difference in building your vocabulary and if that is what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if you follow my video lessons I think that you will make considerable progress okay see how just natural that sounds let's continue with our next set of collocations that have the noun feedback so this is information or statements of opinion about something such as a product and saying whether it's successful or liked so you may give feedback or provide feedback or even offer feedback and give provide an offer those are really synonyms you may also get feedback as well as receive feedback and once again get and receive those are synonyms and this may seem simple but this is when I hear people make mistakes and they may say tell feedback instead of give feedback so these are some great verb noun collocations there are also some very common adjective noun collocations because I think overwhelmingly people may talk about positive feedback or negative feedback of course getting feedback is extremely important when it comes to improving your English skills and a great way to receive feedback is to take lessons and that's why I want to talk to you about cambly who is the sponsor of today's lesson cambly is an online platform for English Learners and they just launched new group lessons and I was selected to test out the launch and I really enjoyed the class because all of the lessons have a specific curriculum to help guide students through the conversation the agenda of group lesson is so the group lessons are one hour long classes with a native tutor you and a couple of other students which is a great opportunity to connect with students from other countries and have real life conversations so this is the topic it can be a recent or favorite holiday celebrating birthdays in a new year I will start with you how we go for recent or favorite holiday these are daily conversations that you might have with a friend a colleague or even a family member but you get to have fun and share things about your country your culture or even your community is there like a stigma on that if somebody has a sandwich or is it it's not a big deal or people every mom every every mom and Aunt would be like ah shame on you you didn't prepare your lunch what's going on right now with the launch of group lessons cambly is offering an exclusive price just for you but it's only valid for one week so click on the link in the description to take some group lessons and improve your English fluency the discount is also valid for one-on-one cambly lessons and after one week you can still use the link to get a free trial if you'd like to test out cambly in order to practice and improve your English which is what it's all about let's continue with many more collocations the next word that I want to look at is deeply we're going to mix it up with an adverb so deeply means extremely or strongly and it is a great way to add emphasis so there are some adverb adjective collocations that will may have a positive connotation or a negative connotation let's start with a negative you may say that you are deeply worried about something or deeply concerned about something so either of those colleague you may follow with that preposition about you could also refer to something or someone as deeply flawed so in this case you may be talking about a deeply flawed plan or maybe a deeply flawed individual I'm deeply worried about aging the US is deeply concerned about escalating conflict that will not end well for either side he's deeply flawed and somehow somehow some way we raised a child for those that may be a bit more positive if you're apologizing you could say that you are deeply sorry or maybe you were deeply moved by something and it just affected you emotionally and you're going to follow this with by or you could say that you are deeply in love he is deeply sorry I told him that I was deeply moved by a statement I was in love with her and she was in love with me we were so deeply in love then we have the word controversial and I have two different sets of collocations with this noun which means causing disagreement or discussion so let's start with some adjective noun collocations maybe you're going to debate a controversial issue or say that someone made a controversial decision or if you're talking about a person you could say well this person is a controversial figure and I'm sure right now you can think of someone who you would refer to as a controversial figure and they're really causing disagreement and then there are some common adverb adjective collocations if you want to say someone or something is extremely controversial or highly controversial and we can build on top of this and say that someone is a highly controversial figure and now we're using them all together can you think of someone who you would consider a high really controversial figure let me know down in the comments then we have the word wisdom which means using knowledge or experience to make good decisions and there are only two collocations that I want to look at the first one is an adjective noun collocation which is conventional wisdom and in this case the meaning changes slightly so if we're talking about conventional wisdom it refers to opinions or theories that have existed for a long time and that most people agree with and this is a common collocation conventional wisdom conventional wisdom suggests that our next move is to resume hostilities to fight well conventional wisdom says good fleeing will always be good chasing but the stats say put your money on the guy with the gun I have another adjective noun collocation except this time wisdom is the adjective and I'm talking about a wisdom tooth or wisdom teeth so this is the last tooth to come in at the back of each side of your upper and lower jaw and often you may have to get well this tooth or even the teeth remove your wisdom tooth or wisdom teeth dental emergency I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled all of the extra painkillers that I had left over from my wisdom let's move on to some C1 words and some of those common collocations and we'll begin with the verb call so this is a verb that has well multiple meanings but in this case we're talking about arranging for something to happen such as a particular event and usually Something official and there are some great verb noun collocations such as to call a meeting or more specifically to call an emergency meeting and you could also call for something and we're going to follow the verb with four and I have a few different examples you could call for a strike or call for an election or call for a halt to something those are some great collocations with this verb next is the word tedious it's a word that I don't really like the meaning of it but I like using it because it's very descriptive it's an adjective that means boring or uninteresting so we can use this to describe some specific nouns and those are the collocations you might talk about a tedious job or tedious work or even a tedious task so once again job work task they're similar they're synonyms but great nouns to use with this adjective very selection is tedious work it's the only way to get through yet another tedious and useless task and then let's throw in a phrasal verb why not bubble over and we're going to follow the phrasal verb with the word with to Bubble over with something it means to be very excited or enthusiastic and there are some great phrasal verb noun collocations such as to Bubble over with excitement or to Bubble over with enthusiasm or even to Bubble over with emotion and hopefully it makes it a little easier to grasp these collocations because excitement enthusiasm emotion once again they're really synonyms I am bubbling over with excitement to continue teaching you more collocation with the next word which is burning and no I'm not talking about fire this word has a couple of different meanings and I want to talk to you about collocations with each so the first meaning would refer to something that is very strong and there are some great adjective noun collocations like a burning desire or a burning ambition so it's a great way to add emphasis firefighters have a passion for their work arsonists just have a burning desire is that even a joke it's a word player parody the next meaning is a subject or question that must be dealt with or answered quickly and there are also a couple adjective noun collocations with this meaning maybe you're talking about a burning issue or even a burning question so again we're really adding emphasis because we're not talking about a normal question we're talking about a burning question you look like a boy with a burning question one that my tarot cards can answer better than any book then we have the verb capture and the meaning that we're going to talk about is to feel interested or excited by something and there are a few different verb noun collocations such as to capture the imagination or to capture the attention or to capture the interest and you could follow each of these collocations with the word of to capture the imagination of someone we could also put a pronoun between the verb and the noun I could say that well someone's trying to capture the audience's attention or something captured my imagination and I hope that this lesson has captured your interest and if it has and you've learned something new you can let me know by hitting that like button let's continue with some C2 Words which are a little more advanced and we'll talk about some of those call locations and we'll begin with the word underlying this means that something is real but it's not immediately obvious I have several adjective noun collocations like an underlying cause or an underlying condition and these you may hear somebody use medically perhaps a doctor May talk about an underlying condition or the underlying cause of some illness as of right now the mortality rate is flucturing between 25 and 30 percent depending upon underlying medical conditions you could also say that something is the underlying principle or perhaps an underlying motivation maybe you want to improve your English for more work opportunities but perhaps you also maybe want to date someone and have the relationship in English and you could say that maybe that is an underlying motivation it's real but it's not obvious next is the word framework we're talking about a system of rules ideas or beliefs that is used to decide something and you may hear people use this word with a few different adjective noun collocations talking about a legal framework or a regulatory framework or even a theoretical framework then there's the word expenditure which refers to the total amount of money a government organization or even a person spends and a few different adjective noun collocations include government expenditure or annual expenditure or even personal expenditure we also have a couple of verb noun collocations such as to cut expenditure or even to reduce expenditure something that I think many businesses try to do with current and projected deficits we need to cut expenditures by 32 percent then we have the word literal it refers to a words original or basic meaning and there are a few different adjective noun collocations that I want to share with you you may talk about the literal meaning of something or perhaps the literal interpretation or even use it in the phrase in a literal sense what's an and the 7g677 the black hole and what sounds in a literal sense and then finite I don't know why I said it like that finite this adjective means having a limit or end and a few different adjective noun collocations with this word include finite resources or a finite number or a finite amount those are some great phrases with this word we just learned a lot of different collocations and I do not expect you to remember all of these I think you're probably already familiar with many of these words but it's all about recognizing which words are frequently used together that's what collocations are and your brain is going to start recognizing that pattern so that when you're having a conversation you're just going to end up using the words together and you'll sound a lot more natural if you enjoyed the lesson and learn something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so --- ## 256. Collocations w/ Make, Have, Take, Give | Supercharge Your Vocab ๐Ÿ’ช | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `kEr50Srvnnw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEr50Srvnnw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:56:47 | --- Let's really build your vocabulary. And I know I say that a lot, but this time I really mean it. I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary with some common and useful collocations. You notice these verbs: make, have, take, give. We use them all the time. And collocations, it's an excellent way to build your vocabulary, really take it to the next level. And if you would like to get these lesson notes next to me, click on the link down in the description, join my email community, you'll have access to the notes, and then in the future I will send notes to you. So, if you're already a part of uh check your inbox, I have messaged them or I've sent them out. Let's just begin with the the main question, which possibly is review. What are collocations? These are This is when you have a word or phrase that is often used with another word or phrase in a way that sounds correct to people who have been speaking the language for their entire lives. So, when I just to give you an example, make a mistake. Have fun. Take a bath. Give advice. You may be looking at this like, "Okay, I know these phrases." And that's great. This is not necessarily about learning a bunch of new words and phrases and vocabulary that people may not use. This is about reinforcing the vocabulary that you're going to come across in everyday conversation. So, my hope is that you're familiar, especially with these, as well as some of the other ones that I'm going to use with make, have, take, and give. I already mentioned these are incredibly common verbs, but I I tried to choose some phrases that were a little more advanced and may maybe you learn something new. At least that's my hope. But, I will still say that I often hear people make small mistakes. For example, instead of saying make a mistake, I might hear somebody say do a mistake. So, this is really important when it comes to speaking accuracy. Let's begin, because this is a quiz lesson, and I I want you to participate. Write your answer in the chat. Basically, which verb are you going to choose? Make, have, take, or give? For bonus points, see if you can use the correct conjugation of the verb as well as the verb tense. So, the the first sentence, her keynote speech mm a lasting impression on the audience. Which verb completes this sentence so that this is, you know, what I would say. And I feel like hopefully again, this is a little easier than some of the other vocabulary lessons, because these are phrases. These are collocations you're going to come across regularly. Her keynote speech mm a lasting impression on the audience. In this case, when you're talking about an impression, a lasting impression, you're going to use make, to make a lasting impression. I'm giving you the meaning up top here, which means to be remembered for a long time. Her keynote speech made a lasting impression on the audience. So, this is it's a good thing if you are able to make a lasting impression on someone. And there are other collocations to make a good impression on someone. And in that case, they remember you and they think favorably of you whenever you make a good impression on someone. I hope that I make a good impression on you. And if that's the case, please go ahead, subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is West, the channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. I thought I'd I I forgot about that introduction part right there. So, you like I just slipped that in there using that phrase, to make a lasting impression. Here is the next sentence. He was going to quit, but he mm a change of heart after the meeting. You I'm I'm giving you your options right now with either make, have, take, give. Of course, the the verb tense uh you may need to change it to the past or the conjugation. So, just keep that in mind if you want to be incredibly precise as we go through and uh complete these sentences. He was going to quit, but he mm a change of heart after the meeting. Of course, in this case, the expression or our part of the collocation is a change of heart. So, which verb are you going to use? See some great answers in there as far as using yes, the verb have. And in this case, we'll use it in the past. He was going to quit, but he had a change of heart after the meeting. This is to change your opinion or decision. Now, I will say that it's not always interchangeable with you change your opinion, because to to give you a little more nuance, whenever you have a change of heart, it's often something that is meaningful or more important to you. So, I if we're talking about what to eat for dinner, are you going to have the pizza or the pasta? I'm not going to say, "Well, I was going to get the pizza, but then I had a change of heart, and I'm going to have pasta." That's I would just say I changed my mind or I'm going to get something else. Whenever you have a change of heart. Here is the next sentence. resignation. This one I think is a little more advanced, this collocation, but still one that you may come across if you're listening to a podcast or reading the newspaper. His comments rise to rumors about a potential resignation. Are we going to use make, have, take, or give? Of course, the collocation is to rise to something. So, all [laughter] right. Well done. Well done. To give rise to something. His comments gave rise to rumors about a potential resignation. Whenever you say something gives rise to something else, it refers to to cause or result in something. And you would say something gives rise to this thing. And that that is referring to the the cause or result. Um Good phrase to know, maybe a little more advanced, but every time I say that, everybody seems to get the correct answer. Well played, everyone. Let's just move right along. I'm going to I'm going to run through these uh today. She tried to make amends by apologizing to him. She tried to make amends by apologizing to him. The collocation we're This is a verb noun collocation, amends. And basically, if you're not familiar with this word, I think you can kind of figure it out based on the context. But, which verb are we going to use with amends? Make, have, take, or give? I You guys are are rocking this, but this is good. This is a good thing. This is what I wanted, because this is reinforcing vocabulary that is commonly used. To make amends. Whenever you make amends, you do something to correct a mistake or injury. So, I could say, "Oh, I made a mistake. Look like I'm trying to make amends." I'm trying to make up for this mistake. They're really interchangeable, but instead of saying like, "Oh, I'm trying to make up for a mistake," I want to make amends, especially when talking about another person. You're trying to make amends with someone and make everything right because of a mistake or or injury in this case. I'm too busy tonight, but I can I almost [snorts] said the verb, so I stopped myself. Hopefully, you didn't catch the first sound. But, I can mm a rain check on that dinner. Too busy tonight, but I can mm a rain check on that dinner. This is an idiom, really, but I could say it's a collocation, because these are words that are frequently used together. When talking about a rain check, I just said that is an idiom, which verb are you going to use? And this is I I think this is more of an American idiom. And I don't think you'll come across it or use it as much in British English. Just something to know. And uh well done. Excellent uh Lolly, Rachel, Julia, Miranda. Well done. Just give couple quick shout-outs to take a rain check. Whenever you take a rain check, you decline an invitation now, but suggest doing it later. So, I'm too busy, but I can take a rain check on that dinner. To give you some nuance, I feel like and and maybe this is more my opinion, but I'll share it with you anyways. Sometimes you might hear people use take a rain check, and deep down they really don't want to do this. And instead of saying like, "Look, I just I don't want to meet you for coffee," you kind of put it off and postpone it. So, you say, "Look, I'll take a rain check." So, we can't meet you right now, but let's take a rain check, and then we'll see if we can figure things out later. But, I feel like often when people use this, maybe their intention is not to do the thing later, but they'll they'll still use this idiom. Here is your next question. She her boss a wide birth whenever he's in a bad mood. This is an a phrase that is a little more advanced, but which verb are you going to complete this sentence with? Make, have, take, or give. The collocation is to someone a wide birth. So, that that is the collocation. Which verb will you use in that context? And of course, I'll I'll tell you the meaning of the the collocation. She gave. Or she gives her In this case, whenever he's in a bad mood, we'll use the the present simple. She gives her boss a a wide birth whenever he's in a bad mood. If you give someone a wide birth, or to give a wide birth, it just means to keep distance from someone or something. Maybe I think it often implies that there's a lot of there's some negativity that you want to keep your distance from, and therefore you give someone a wide birth if they're in a bad mood, or there's some other situation that you kind of you just want to keep your distance from. So, you'll give someone or something a wide birth and just stay away in that case. Well done. Excellent. Here is your next question, because I do have quite a few of these collocations for you this afternoon. The incumbent usually the upper hand in local elections. I think this is commonly used, and I'm sure you've heard this collocation before, especially if you are someone who likes getting exposure to English movies, books, music. You will hear this uh this collocation. I'm using it in the context of an election. The incumbent, the person who is already in power, usually the upper hand in local elections. When talking about the upper hand, we're going to use the verb have. I'm kind of speaking slowly just kind of d- dragging it out dragging it out. is the upper hand in local elections. Whenever you have the upper hand, it means and somebody or some group may have the upper hand, and they are in an advantageous position whenever you or someone else has the upper hand. Great phrase, great collocation to know, and and listen for as well. I told you you will come across it. >> [snorts] >> How about this one? This is I this is a phrase that I've taught in I probably several lessons before. So, those of you who've uh been been faithful followers for some time, this may be review. She a knack for finding the best deals at the market. The phrase, and we're talking about this idiom, to a knack for something. So, she a knack for finding the best deals at the market. Which verb are you going to use to complete this phrase that I have talked before in maybe even a a few lessons. I I don't know. But it's one that I I like to use because instead of saying like, "Oh, you're you know, you're really talented. You're good at something. You have this natural ability to do something." Instead, I would say, "You really have a knack for whatever it may be." If you have a knack for something, it means that you have a natural skill or talent. She has a knack for finding the best deals at the market. And you could use that phrase I don't want to say it's informal, but it's a fun one because I think we can relate to it. We're talking about somebody's skill or ability, and you know, he or she has a knack for whatever activity we may be referring to. Here's the next one. The stress of the move is a toll on her health. What do you think? Are we going to use make, have, take, or give with this collocation to a toll on someone or something? The stress of the move is a toll on her health. If I'm going to be super strict and a bit of a stickler, think about the conjugation. You know, think of how how are you see you see the verb to be there. So, if there was just one correct answer, then in this case, you should use the verb taking. This is in the continuous tense. The stress of the move is taking a toll on her health. If something takes a toll on your health, it just refers to this really bad effect on something or someone over a period of time. And I think that is a collocation, you know, take a toll on someone, but also even adding health. Saying something It's just not it's had a bad effect on my health. Something is taking a toll on my health, or something has taken a toll on my mental health. So, even adding health in there as part of the collocation is uh is a phrase that you will come across, especially when talking talking about your health, because I think there are many things that we do that may take a toll on your health. I felt like the rest of the group was me the cold sho- shoulder. This is an idiom. Are we going to use make, have, take, or give in order to complete this idiom? This collocation, when you're in this situation, it's not good if this is how you feel. I felt like the rest of the group was me the cold shoulder. In this example, you're going to use the verb give. To give someone the cold shoulder, but in this specific sentence, then you see that verb to be, giving. Was giving me the cold shoulder. To give someone the cold shoulder is to intentionally ignore someone or be unfriendly. It's not a good thing. It has a negative connotation. If someone is giving you the cold shoulder, and it's also not nice if you are giving someone else the cold shoulder. Well done. I see a lot of correct answers in there. You guys are rocking this. The next question, don't a snap decision when buying a house. Don't a snap decision when buying a house. Which verb is going to complete that collocation? And this is another one that I I really I would hear people make small mistakes, especially with this noun that I'm going to talk about in in just a second. Don't a snap decision when buying a house. So, we're talking about a collocation with the noun decision. Now, you could add more information to it when talking about a snap decision, but you're still going to use the verb make. To make a snap decision. Don't make a snap decision when buying a new house. So, you would make a decision, but if we're being a little more precise, making a snap decision means to decide very quickly without much thought. And you just you make a snap decision. The mistake that I sometimes hear, especially when talking about a decision, is using take. Now, I think take is more accepted in British English, but still I think overwhelmingly when talking about the noun decision, even in the UK, people are more often going to use the verb make. To make a decision, or in this case, to make a snap decision. And we're just saying you decide on something very very quickly. Here's my next sentence. He's late often, but I'll him the benefit of the doubt. This is a I I think I've taught this before. This is one that I've taught in my speaking course. For for those of you who have have joined my speaking course, you should remember this phrase. He's often late, but I'll him the benefit of the doubt. Which verb are you going to use with that collocation? Make, have, take, or give. In this case, we're talking about the phrase Well done. Well played, everyone. To give someone the benefit of the doubt, or to give the benefit of the doubt. You believe someone even if you aren't certain they're telling the truth. So, you're a little skeptical, but you're like, "Okay, I'll believe this person. I will give him or her the benefit of the doubt." He's late often, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe something happened this morning that caused him to be late, and it's not as it's not what you think. It's not because this person's lazy. Maybe they had a they hit a lot of traffic, and you will give give him the benefit of the doubt. Family obligations often mm precedence over social events. I think this is true. I think many of us, you know, we agree with this. So, which verb? Which verb? Can we agree on the verb that you're going to use to complete this useful collocation? Family all of obligations often mm precedence over social events. Make, have, take, or give when we're talking about precedence. That is the the noun that I want you to keep in mind when you're completing this sentence. So, family obligations often I don't see I don't see any answers for this one. Uh What do you think? It's not give. Not have. Oh, maybe this one is a little trickier. You're going to say that something often takes precedence over something else. Family obligations often take precedence over social events. So, to take precedence over something is to be more important than something else. And therefore, you would say, "Well, yeah, this really takes precedence over this other thing." Here is the next one. Now I now I see all these takes in there. All right, well done. Well done. Maybe it was a delayed uh in the with the chat. Uh Their lack of preparation mm a mockery of the entire prepa- uh presentation. Their lack of preparation mm a mockery of the entire presentation. So, we're talking about a mockery. That is the what verb are we going to use to complete that collocation? In this case, we're going to use I'm speaking slowly just to see if we can elicit some responses, but it's okay. Their lack of preparation made a mockery of the entire presentation. So, it's already happened. It's a finished action. We're going to use the verb in the past tense, and it made a mockery of something. To make a mockery of means to make something just seem ridiculous or useless. And in this situation, you're supposed to prepare for a presentation, be ready, but if you don't then if you're not ready and you didn't prepare, then you I kind of made a mockery. They didn't take it seriously. The whole thing just seemed ridiculous. Whenever you or someone else makes a mockery of something. Great phrase. Here is the next one. Don't mm your friends for granted. Tell them you appreciate them. This is true, and I do not mm you for granted. I really appreciate all of your support. I really appreciate when you hit that like button. I appreciate when you subscribe and write to me in the comments, and I certainly don't mm you for granted. Giving you another context, and of course, you can pick out the collocation mm someone for granted, and we're going to use like many of you said the verb take. To take for granted means to fail to appreciate something because it is always there. That is if you take something for granted, but often I think you might use it like in this uh example right here or like I was talking about you and saying that you uh the opposite. You know, I don't take you for granted or don't take this for granted in order to say that you appreciate it or that you should appreciate it, and we could use it with the negative. Here we go. What do you think? I can sleep well because I mm a clear conscience about my decision. Are we going to complete this sentence with make, have, take, or give? I can sleep well because I mm a clear conscience. That's the collocation. So, which verb are you going to use with that noun, a clear conscience? So, you are going to use What? >> [laughter] >> What do you think? All right. Yes, we're going to use the verb have. To have a clear conscience. I can sleep well because I have a clear conscience about my decision. Whenever you have a clear conscience, you feel that you've done nothing wrong. You feel like you did the right thing, and therefore, you can say, "I have a clear conscience. I think everything was fine was fine. It was okay. I did things correctly." And therefore, you have a clear conscience. Here are all of the collocations from the lesson. I think you all did exceptionally well, and that was my hope because these are verbs that you're going to use all the time, make, have, take, give, and try to listen for these phrases. I told you that I I wanted to make them a little more advanced. Probably some of them a lot of them were more intermediate, and I really hope that this lesson makes a lasting impression on you, and I also hope that you go on to watch another video lesson. Even if you want to make a snap decision, that's okay. Please don't tell me like, "Look, I'll take a rain check." Because that might make me think, "Okay, you're not really going to do this later." Because learning English should take precedence over everything else in your life. Of course, that's not true. I just want to use the phrase. And uh yeah, I I know that you have a knack for building your vocabulary, learning new words, going out and using them, and um yeah, I believe you. I will give you the benefit of the doubt. So, that just trying to give you a little review. Use these phrases in context as I wrap things up. But if you enjoyed this lesson and you learned something new or you just feel like you got some good review, let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching, and I will see you soon. --- ## 257. Common Expressions Using the Word BABY ๐Ÿ‘ถ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hZqXoGRhTCA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZqXoGRhTCA) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:45:25 | --- So today I want to teach you English expressions that are all related to babies. You're not looking at the camera. Hey everyone. My name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I am doing a collaboration. It is a daddy daughter collaboration because I have our little girl Emi and she's going to do this lesson with us because the lesson is all about babies and different expressions in English that are, well they have to do with babies and they're related to babies. So the first thing that I want to talk to you about are different similes. Now if you don't know what a simile is, it is a comparison. You're comparing two things and you're using the words like or as in order to make that comparison. So as you can probably guess, the similes that I'm going to talk to you about have to do with babies and you are comparing something or someone to a baby. So the first simile that I want to talk to you about is to cry like a baby. And if you say that somebody is crying like a baby, then that that just means that they are crying and I often think we use it in the context that somebody is complaining about something. Usually you would refer to an adult. Are you?...What are you?... Are you complaining? What are you complaining about? They're complaining about something they probably shouldn't complain about and say, wow, you're crying like a baby. Stop crying like a baby. You shouldn't be complaining about this thing. You were huddled in a corner crying like a baby. Do you want to say a grown man cry like a baby? It's funny how a man reacts when his heart gets broken. Some break down and cry like a baby. I remember just crying like a baby. Crying like a baby or crying like someone in college. Then there is also the simile as helpless as a baby. So when you think of babies, you think about, well okay, what are some things they do? They do cry a lot and they are well, they are pretty helpless as well. So if you want to describe somebody who is very helpless, they can't do anything on their own, you can say, wow, you're, you're as helpless as a baby. Are you? Are you pretty helpless? You're not that helpless are you? What do you think? Who stood by helpless as a baby. He was totally helpless baby when we met. Just like our relationship. Healthiest little baby in need of tender loving care. So she is getting a little tired of sitting here. So we're going to keep moving. We're going to get going and I'll continue the lesson and just one second. Ready? You always got to stay on the move with these little ones. So I want to continue talking to about another similarly, which is one that I think is very common and that is to sleep like a baby. And what it means is just to sleep really. So for example, maybe you're, you're traveling and the next day somebody asks you, you know, Oh, so how did you sleep if you slept well you could say, wow, I slept great, I slept like a baby. So again, babies, they like to sleep. I think it's very normal right now. Um, yeah, you're not asleep. It's about time for her nap, so hopefully soon she will sleep like a baby and sleep really well. At least that's what I'm hoping for. She's got a fever. Okay. Give her two white ones and one blue one. She'll sleep like a baby. Yeah, when it's done. I'm going to sleep like a baby. So did you guys get much sleep because I wouldn't have. I don't know about Emily, but I slept like a baby. Drove all night. And you slept like a baby. Do you want to stay here?. Where do you want to keep going? What do you, what do you want to do? What? What do you want to do? What do you want to do little bear, huh? All right, let's keep going. So we are back home after a nice walk outside. What do you think? And we're ready to continue the lesson. Let's see. What does this look like? Is that framed up really nice? What do you think? All right. You ready to continue the lesson? Yeah. Yeah. I can't do it without you. You're a very important part of this lesson. So I want to do one more simile. that has to do with babies and that is as soft as a baby's bottom. You could also use this Emily, as smooth as a baby's bottom. And again, this would just be referring to, well a baby's bottom that it's soft or smooth. And in this, I think you would be comparing something you're talking about perhaps some clothing, maybe some type of fabric, and you just want to say that something is very smooth. The way it feels know like, ah, it's as smooth as a baby's bottom, Oh so smooth. It's like a baby's bottom. Smooth as a baby's behind. Or perhaps it's just very soft, like a cushion or a pillow. It's as soft as a baby's bottom. I have very sensitive skin. Soft as a baby's bottom. Do they make my skin soft as a baby? You decide. And I think this simile, yeah, it makes sense because baby's bottoms there, they're pretty soft. They're pretty smooth. And if you've never touched a baby's bottom, you're just going to have to take my word for it. Yeah, it's pretty soft. It's pretty smooth. The next expression that I want to teach you. We're going to move away from similes right now and that is to have a food baby, and what this means is that when somebody eats a lot of food, they eat a very big meal too much. Perhaps their stomach hurts a little bit and it's really, they feel like their stomach is really large. They might say, Oh, I have a food baby. Often I think it's used jokingly that if someone does have a big meal and perhaps they've, they're just too full, they might say this. They might say, Oh, I have a food baby right now. They might say this because, yeah, it's like they a baby in their stomach except it's food instead of food baby. Oh Marge. I'm giving birth to a food baby. It's probably just a food baby. Did you have a big lunch? This is not a food baby. Then we have an idiom which is to throw the baby out with the bath water. Now, this idiom I think, in my opinion, is a little more old fashioned. You may hear it from time to time if you're watching a movie or a TV show, uh, but what it means or where are you going, where are you going? You don't want to be a part of the lesson anymore. And what this means is to throw something out that is valuable, that is important and you do so accidentally because you think that you're getting rid of something that's worthless, that's not important, and you throw it out and then you realize that there was something valuable. There was something important in there and you could say, well, I just, I threw the baby out with the bath water often I think it's used to talk about...perhaps an idea. Something that is first disregarded as well. This is useless. And then they come to realize that, wow, it was a great idea. And you could say, well, if they decided, they threw the baby out with the bath water. I didn't buy a single second of that, but let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. I think there's something here. All I'm saying is I don't want to throw the baby out with the water because you'll get a wet, critically injured baby. We're not gonna throw you out with the bath water. Don't worry. Don't worry. We're not going to. Then we have the expression to be one's baby because, well, a baby babies, they're very important. They're very special. Everybody. Well, everybody loves their baby and if you save that something is one's baby, you're referring to perhaps a project and or or even a business, it just means that something is very, very important to that person, that sometimes for people it becomes so important. It's very meaningful for them to make it successful, to realize their dreams. Another person might refer to it as their baby because it's important to them. It's very valuable. You could say, yeah, you know, it's like, it's your baby. This is your car? No, it's my baby. I feel real weird about tonight. You hear that folks, okay, this one's for Frank. This is his baby. Sleeping with your fanny pack? Golden jab. Yeah, it's my baby. And you. You are my baby. Yeah, yeah. Then we have the expression to leave one holding the baby and this is actually an expression that is more common in the U K so you would hear this more often in British English. And what it means is to leave someone and have them take the blame for something that happens and you would leave someone holding the baby. So for example, maybe there is a business. Yeah, you don't want to leave someone holding the baby, do you? For example, maybe there is a business and the boss is doing something illegal. The employees know about it and before they get caught the boss just leaves and leaves the other one's holding the baby that they will take the blame for for any wrongdoing and you leave someone holding the baby. Where do you want to go? So we hope you learned some new expressions today and if you did hit that like button and I just want to give a special thanks to Emi for collaborating with me on this lesson. Thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye. Can you say bye bye. We've been working on this. --- ## 258. Common Expressions to Sound More American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gorqc0RBOf8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gorqc0RBOf8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:53:38 | --- Today, I am going to teach you some very American expressions that's coming up. What's up everyone? Welcome to interactive English, which is the place you want to be to practice and improve your English skills. And the way we're going to do that today is I am going to teach you some expressions that are very common in the US and these expressions may be used in other English speaking countries as well, but some of them are very specific to the US and as we go through them, I will let you know which ones those are. So let's begin with our first expression. And that is it's, it's one of my favorite expressions. It's very easy. It's just one word. And that is whatever. Now, as a pronoun, we can use this word to mean well, a lack of restriction or limitations. And people might say something like, well, you can do whatever you want. You can say whatever you want in those comments down below, you can write whatever you want. No, I mean you're in good shape and you can eat whatever you want. Take whatever you want. Tell you what. You play whatever you want. But we can also use this word as an informal exclamation to show a reluctance to continue talking or to, to continue having a discussion. And it kind of just shows a bit of indifference. Like, you know, I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. So when I think about the word being used like this, I think about people having an emotional conversation, maybe even an argument and one person just doesn't want to talk about it anymore. They may just say, you know what, whatever I'm done talking, whatever, Believe what would you want to believe? I don't even care. Whatever. You want to mount it on the left or the right or the middle? Whatever. The next expression is one that I use a lot. I like using this expression and it is informal and it's just my bad. And when somebody says my bad, they are acknowledging that that they made a mistake, they did something wrong and it's not really a really, really horrible mistake because then I think you want to be a little more apologetic. But if it's just something small and you're know, oh, okay, I did something wrong. My bad. Often I think it's used quite frequently in sports. When you're having a competition and you play on a team and somebody makes a mistake and they'll just say, oh, okay, my bad. You will see this in basketball, soccer, football, and any team sport, somebody makes a mistake. They may, they may point to themselves and say, you know, Oh yeah, my bad. Sorry. My bad. Then we have an expression which, which is more of an idiom and that is to lose touch with someone and when you lose touch with somebody, it means that you just, you stop communicating with them. And I think common, it happens especially over a long period of time that we, we have friends, but then we lose touch as the years go on and on and on and you just, you're just not communicating with people. I hope that we never lose touch and that you are constantly writing to me and communicating with me and, and we always stay in touch, which would be the opposite. That means you keep communicating. There's an extra one there for you, but if you don't want to stay in touch with me, whatever, I'm just kidding. My bad. I, I really, I don't want to lose touch with all of you. You know, after high school you just kind of lose touch Then we have an expression, which is, is definitely very American. It's part of the United States and that is to plead the fifth. Now when somebody says, you know, Oh, I plead the fifth, then they may say it informally and you might hear this on TV and movies, but what it really means is that it's talking about the Fifth Amendment and in the u s constitution, the Fifth Amendment means that you, you don't have to talk about something because you don't want to incriminate yourself. Let me explain that in case it doesn't make sense that say that you are witness to something wrong, but you yourself also did something a bit wrong and they call you to testify against this other person. They say, oh, can I, I want you to tell us what happened, but you don't want to talk about it because you also did something a little wrong. You might say, you know, I plead the fifth. I don't want to talk about this situation because basically I'm going to be admitting to a crime as well that I committed, so I'm going to plead the fifth. That's a little civics lesson for you, but this expression, it can also be used in situations outside of that context said, even if you're talking to your husband or wife about something and you, you don't want to be completely honest about a situation because maybe you did something wrong. You can say, ah, you know, I, I plead the fifth. Could I plead the fifth? The fifth is just used to protect yourself. I'm pleading the fifth. Just try to keep your secrets. I dare you. Please tell me that you haven't planned anything big tonight. On your birthday. Sorry, but I plead the fifth. Then we have an expression which is commonly confused. And that expression is, I couldn't care less. So if somebody says, you know, I, I couldn't care less. It just means that the, the amount of concern that they have about something could not be less. This is the least thing that they could possibly be concerned about. I couldn't care less. Now often, I think this is used in kind of the heat of the moment when you're, you're talking about uh, something and you want to tell this person, look, I don't care. I couldn't care less, but people will confuse it and they say, well, I could care less. And that means kind of, you know, the opposite that you're, there are many other things that you could care less about and that's not what you want to say. So keep that in mind. Don't confuse it with, I could care less. I couldn't care less. That's the one you want. Stick with that. You just want more money for yourself. Don't you? Couldn't care less. I couldn't care less about the commendation. Amy, thank you for sticking up for me. Oh, I honestly couldn't care less. Then we have another, I guess it's just one word and that is like, now I want to, I'm putting this in there just for your, your comprehension. Not for you to go out and use it. This is something that you might hear young teenagers use and they use it as a meaningless interjection when they're having a conversation just during their, their informal speech. It just may be riddled with like, like, like, like life and people get into these bad habits and it just takes time to grow out of them. So if you're watching a a TV show or movie that is about high school, then you might hear it a bit more so it's more for your comprehension, not for you to try and just go out and use and start using this. It's just for you to be aware of it. So let me try to give you an example. So I like wanted to go to the movies this weekend with my friend, but she was like, I can't because I have to do my homework and we can like hang out that night, which meant I didn't do anything, which was like totally boring. Okay. All right. That, that sounded ridiculous, especially hearing me say that. But I'm going to say it again and now I'm just going to take out all of those likes and you tell me if you think it makes more sense. So I wanted to go to the movies this weekend with my friend, but she said she can't because she had to do homework and we couldn't hang out that night, which meant that I didn't do anything, which was very boring. So as you can see, I think it's much easier to understand when we, when we take those likes out. But again, if you are listening to a teenager talk in the United States, especially, I think if you're in places like California, then you may hear this word used quite often in China on this deck. Chandler let it slip that process in love with Rachel. He was like, oh my God, The next expression is to give someone props. And this is actually a bit of slang. It may be more regional and it depends on your age that that you might say this or maybe you might hear this expression, but to give someone props means that you are recognizing them. You are acknowledging them for for some reason something that they did. Again, it's very informal so think of it maybe in the [inaudible] just to give you an example at at work you're like, yeah my, my boss really gave me props for all the hard work I did. I want to give all of you guys props for watching our video lessons. You guys are like the best. It's just, it just sounds awkward and unnatural. When I say like, like, like, like, like, Some people give you props for challenging the ghoulies to a race and beating them. I had to pop a cop because he wasn't giving me my props in Oaktown. You and your friends have accomplished the impossible. For that. I give you mad props. Then we have John Hancock. This is another one. It's very American. It's really just used in the United States. And you would talk about it in the context of, well, I need to get your John Hancock, or I need you to give me your John Hancock. And when they're talking about your John Hancock, they're talking about your signature. So if somebody were to say, hey, you know, I just need to get your John Hancock right here. They're telling you, well, you need to sign right there. So where does this come from? Well, John Hancock supposedly was the first person to sign the declaration of independence, and when he signed his name, he signed it abnormally large. It's the largest signature on the Declaration of Independence. And people say that the reason that he did this is because the king didn't have very good eyesight and he wanted to make sure that, that he could see John Hancock's signature. So now that name has now become a reference to somebody's signature. I need to get your John Hancock. Mr. Callahan, I need your John Hancock on these reports. If I could just get your John Hancock. Oh sergeant. So we'll just need your John Hancock right here. And now the old John Hancock. The next expression is, is it's also an idiom and that is to get ahead of oneself. And this just means that you are planning prematurely or maybe you're being a bit overconfident. So for example, if you are going to take a trip, but that trip is a long ways off. You don't really need to start planning now, but if you do plan now, somebody might say, look, okay, wait, you're getting ahead of yourself. We don't need to start planning for this now. Or as far as overconfidence goes, perhaps you have an idea and you start thinking of this idea and all of the amazing things that can come out of it and you're like, oh, I'm going to do this and then we can do this. And then you start thinking about it and you're like, oh, maybe I'm starting to get ahead of myself and I just need to take it one step at a time. So if you're planning prematurely, if you're a bit over confident, then you might be getting ahead of yourself. Well, I told you that would learn better if I had a study buddy. Don't get ahead of yourself. Maybe I'll call him pappy. Look at me. I'm getting ahead of myself. Might be a cause for celebration. Wow. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The next expression is another one of my favorites. It's a very short, very simple three words. It's all good. And if somebody says, hey, it's all good, it just means that everything is fine. Often I think people might say it kind of in the context of, of telling somebody else to relax. All right, don't worry about this. Relax. It's all good. Perhaps somebody who's trying to plan prematurely and they're really getting ahead of themselves and they're like, oh, well, well you need to do this, you need to do that. And you would just tell him, hey, it's all good. Don't worry about it. I got it taken care of. It's all good. It's all good baby. So what I want you to do now because I don't want to lose touch, is I want you to join our community and subscribe to our email list because we will send you some useful and free resources. We will give you access to the secret fluency lesson. All you've got to do is write your email and give us your John Hancock. So check out the link in the description. If you don't want to, it's all good, don't worry about it. You can just write to me in the comments, we can communicate there and I will give you some prompts. I will recognize you, I will acknowledge you and I will just keep using as many of these expressions as I can. So the, so that you have a better understanding of them and that you are more likely to remember. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you did hit that like button, like, like really hit it, hit, hit it like hit it really hard. All right and okay, enough of that. I will see you next time. So I like one [inaudible] so I like wanting to go to the front. So I like wanting to go to the movies with my friend, and he was like, well, I have to do my homework. So I had to like stay home and it was like so boring and I can't even, I can't even get through this. --- ## 259. Common Grammar Problems | Tricky Prepositions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Kfni3VsYGvI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kfni3VsYGvI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:50:35 | --- all right think this is about started so hello and welcome whether you're watching this live or whether you are watching this later I hope you are having a wonderful day wherever you are in the world so today I want to talk to you about something that is very very important and that is prepositions little words that can create a big problem and trust me you know come here this is important because many people have these mistakes and we can correct them so let's start boom okay so I want to talk to you about these tricky prepositions specifically the prepositions and the verbs that they follow and when it comes to prepositions you know there is a lot um oh again if you're just joining us please uh say hello in the comments tell us your name where are you joining from would' love to hear from you we have one message uh KOB sorry if I'm mispronouncing names hey how's it going um hope you're having a great Saturday so today we're going to talk about these prepositions and the verbs that they follow we're going to do these four prepositions right here about with four and two because when it comes to prepositions this is a big topic you have prepositions of time prepositions of place prepositions of movement today I want to just focus on certain verbs and the prepositions that they go with because again these are mistakes that Learners make it doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or whether you are an advanced learner people have uh trouble with prepositions and that's perfectly normal because they can be difficult to learn and they go pretty easily unnoticed So today we're going to talk about these prepositions and then at the end we are going to practice what we've learned so again stick with us get ready to do some interactive practice um again hello a job from Afghanistan um living in Sweden great to have you thanks for joining us um again if you've entered let us know say hello what's um you know where you're from love to hear from you guys so let's first start with answering the question as to why are prepositions so so hard to get right okay so the first thing you need to understand that there are two types of words prepositions are function words so we have function words and content words now your content words are going to be your nouns your verbs your adjectives like things that we can visualize in our mind and they really give meaning to the sentence function words which are prepositions are those little words that connect them they don't give much meaning to the sentence but they sometimes might tell us the relationship between um different words so even though they don't give much meaning they are very important because they connect them which means they are necessary for grammar again if you're just joining us we're going to talk about prepositions so again say hello say something in the chat tell us your name where you're from and if you really want to be a super student then you can share this video and help us spread the word to more so that nobody is having any trouble with prepositions so as I was saying prepositions are function words and because of that they are not stressed they're not emphasized when you're speaking and that really means again like I said they go unnoticed which means people tend to make some very simple and easy mistakes with them and it's one of those those things it's a mistake that most of the time people are still they're going to be able to understand what you're trying to say the message that you are trying to get across but if you're speaking with a native speaker people will pick up on this and of course if you're an English learner out there trying to improve your English all of us would like to improve and correct our mistakes so I want to talk to you about four prepositions and the verb they follow those four prepositions at the bottom there about with four and two and as we go along I'm going to be asking you guys to write sentences uh to practice using these prepositions and then at the end we'll do a bit of a practice so first let's look at about okay so I've given you the preposition about and the verbs that it follows okay yeah I'm from Iraq I really want to talk like a native speaker awesome if you want to talk like a native speaker that's great this is going to help you because prepositions like I said there there little tricky words that become very difficult and confusing and easy to make mistakes so again these are verbs that are followed by about okay you can be anxious about something okay uh you can argue about something I wrote that sentence down below they argued about the bad service maybe you go to a restaurant you get bad service and you argue about it you also care about something you can be uh also again in that sentence we care about each other all of us care about different things and you can also be excited about something this is a very common verb that people use excited what are you excited about in the comments right now if you're in this uh if you're watching us write a sentence practice using the preposition with the verb what are you excited about okay I'm going to write that question in there what are you excited about and I want you to use the verb and the preposition this is how we improve our language skills so that you start using it correctly okay tell me what you're excited about Wes is excited about the road trip all right I love to travel I love taking road trips I'm excited about it you can also be upset about something you know maybe you're upset about um not being able to attend this live lesson I have no idea or you can be serious about something um you can also be sorry about something or you can worry about it we said parents worry about their children um awesome example sentence sobody just wrote I'm excited about my trip to Ukraine perfect excellent use of thee of the verb and the preposition that is perfect so again these are verbs followed by about now these are not all the verbs again I'm just taking bits and pieces because again this is a very difficult and large topic but these are good to keep familiarizing ourselves with the verbs and the prepositions that follow them so these are some verbs that are followed by about again in the comments tell me what you are excited about and keep practicing and practicing and practicing because practice makes perfect okay let's continue again if you're just joining us today let us know your name where you're joining us from practice write some stuff in the chat use these prepositions because it's going to help you learn all right let's look at the next one is with okay so here are some verbs that are followed by with all right first we have agree you can agree age with someone um I don't agree with you I tried to write some sentences that are kind of common that you might hear in TV movies or that you would use in conversation if you say yeah I just don't agree with you you agree with someone or you don't agree with them angry okay I've put a little Aster next to angry and bored and this is where prepositions get tricky and confusing and frustrated um be frustrating because you can use more than one preposition with some verbs so you can be angry with someone you can also be angry at someone so this is something um that's a little difficult typically I would say you're more angry at a situation you can also be angry about a situation but for right now just focus on with you're angry with someone all right so we has some more s I'm EXC exced about writing every word you are saying excellent perfect um hello Raymond hi hello from Brazil excellent we're getting people from all over the world this is great so angry you know you're angry with someone you also bored with something okay what are you bored with all right I want you um well not yet we'll do it and just a second you can be bored with something I put an asterisk there cuz you can also be bored of something so with or of those are two different prepositions that you can use now you're probably sitting there wondering like well okay how do we figure this out how do we keep doing this are there any rules I I don't like to say try to learn a rule to to figure out these little grammar nuances the best way to do it is to practice like we're doing now where you're actually learning directly about it or even just reading when you're reading you see how it's used in context and you start to internalize that information next we have busy you are busy with something they are so busy with their work and family maybe they don't have time to do anything um so again in the comments let's practice this tell me what you are busy with these days what are you busy with are you busy with work are you busy with travel are you busy with your husband your wife your boyfriend your girlfriend are you busy with children tell me what you are busy with with these days again recommend write the comments read each other's comments because this is going to keep this is going to help you learn this is how you get better um here wrote someone here I'm bored of doing boring things perfect sentence that is perfect structure perfect use of the preposition you're bored of doing something um you can also say I'm bored with doing boring things same meaning this is why they're tricky um I'm excited about my weekend here in in Brazil somebody wrote excellent all right uh I'm excited about my weekend too and I'm excited about teaching you guys about prepositions um let's continue with our list so fed up if you are fed up it means that you are you are tired of something you're frustrated you can't deal with it anymore you are fed up with something or fed up with someone so I wrote in the sentence you might hear something like I'm fed up with this crap all right you're just tired of it you could also take crap and write another word in there some profanity starts with an s ends with a T is also something common that you might hear especially in movies in music um but again that's what it means you are fed up with something all right what are you um somebody oh uh I'm busy running long dist with running long distances okay great um I'm also running long distances cuz Yana and I are training for a marathon later this fall though so we still have time I'm busy with my cat Perfect all right excellent again if you're joining us practice using these write it in the comments in the chat what are you busy with that was my question for you let's continue with our list presented um you can be presented with something so in this case if you are presented with something then you are getting something somebody is giving something to you all right you are presented with a present the next two pleased and satisfied they're pretty much synonyms you are pleased with something or someone or you're satisfied with something um the boss was satisfied with my work okay so again these are verbs followed by the preposition with all right there are more out there but we're just looking at these for right now let's continue and talk about four okay here we we go so these are verbs followed by four okay and the first one you apologize for something all right so I wrote I'm fed up with prepositions yes I completely understand that um I think many Learners out there are fed up with prepositions as well as some other grammar nuances um so you apologize for something you apologize for doing something um he apologized for his mistake again I put asteris there CU you can use other prepositions with this you apologize to someone so again think of the difference you apologize to someone but you apologize for something you know whatever the mistake was that is what you are apologizing for you also can apply for something in this case it's pretty much talking about a job the job um that that you're looking for you are looking for a job you are applying for a job again you can also use two if you're talking about something a little more specific maybe you're applying to University I'm applying to this University I'm applying to that University but if you're applying for something you're talking about maybe a position that you hope to get that you hope to obtain you also can be blamed for something as well as famous for something me famous for interactive English not really famous because there will only be hundreds of people that might watch this lesson but hey that's great I hope all of you learn a little something about these Tri tricky prepositions so uh another example sentence great I apologized um for my I apologize you would want to say I apologize to my boss for coming late um at at my job all right I apologize to my boss or I apologized for coming in late excellent you can also prepare for something all right you want to prepare I was trying to prepare for this lesson this morning that's what I was doing also you ready you can be ready for something this is a common question you're going to hear are you ready for this okay are you ready for this um as well as responsible you know you are responsible for something for doing something uh in that picture somebody spilled some wine that is not good and you might ask who is responsible for this okay and then the last one stand you stand for something things something you believe in something you are passionate about all right what do you stand for all right these are common verbs that are followed by the preposition four all right let's take a look at the last one and then we will do the practice okay again if you're joining us practice using these write some sentences in the the chat I will comment on them uh so let's look at the last one two all right so here we have all right um have another example set I'm preparing my mind for a camping activity okay I'm preparing maybe a little better say I'm preparing myself for something I'm preparing myself myself for a camping activity I'm preparing myself for a trip um two verbs that are followed by to all right remember you can apologize for something but you also apologize to someone Wes apologize to yuana for his mistake now this is probably something I probably don't apologize enough and Yana might agree with that but I apologize to Yana for my mistake whatever that is um or whatever that may be you apologize to someone again I said you also apply to something maybe you apply to a university um you apply for a job you apply to a university okay accustomed you are accustomed to something you're accustomed to doing something we we're accustomed to cold weather we are comfortable with it we are used to it you are accustomed to something addicted this is something you you hear all the time my question for you again is I'm going to write it in the chat what are you addicted to all right what are you addicted to yes you can be addicted to doing something or you can just be addicted to something all right people are addicted to YouTube I'm addicted to YouTube I don't know if you are addicted to YouTube we are on YouTube right now um but people can be addicted to things if you're just joining us we're talking about prepositions and the verbs they follow try using these in the sentence that is what I would encourage you to do write it in the chat produce the language that is how we all learn um now shortly we're just going to do a practice all right so tell me again what are you addicted to the other four verbs is attached you know attached to something we have uh that example sentence the note is attached to the message board all right that example sentence right down there all right and it says follow us on Facebook again check it out uh it's another great way to practice English look us up interactive English another okay another great example s I'm addicted to cycling and running awesome all right something that you really really love doing you are addicted to it it refer again you refer to something all right they're asking you to look at it to consult it to check something out you refer to it please refer to this please refer to that okay you can also respond to someone all right you are responding to um a comment all right we always try to respond to your comments so again even if you're not live and you're watching this later write questions write sentences in the comments write us questions in the comments and we will respond to you okay and last you can have something can be similar to something else okay so these are verbs that are followed by the prep uh preposition to again there are more verbs out there but we just want to stick with a few we don't want to make it too overwhelming okay I'm addicted to I'm addicted to using social media okay excellent um please share our videos on social media that would be awesome um so you're addicted to using uh social media that's perfect um again sh we had a question um should we use a noun after addicted to you can it's it's up to you you can be addicted to um coffee for example or you can use the Jaren after it I'm addicted to drinking coffee I'm Addicted to You said I'm addicted to cycling okay you're using the Jaren in that case so you can use just a noun or the Jaren again a Jaren technically is a noun so either one you can be addicted to something or you can be addicted to doing something either one all right are you ready so hopefully you hopefully you guys remember this all right I'm going to give you some sentences now and we are going to practice what we've learned okay so here I have given you a sentence with a blank and I want you to use one of those prepositions about with four or two to complete the sentence okay again even when you have these situations with prepositions because they're function words um and you're not sure which one to use I I would again say just do do go with what feels right just try it and then again the more you practice the more you will internalize this information and you will start using it correctly so this is good practice right now please refer the safety manual for more information okay so which one which preposition should you use in this sentence all right you refer something okay this is a sentence that you will probably hear um on uh if you're flying if you're traveling on a plane uh they go over a safety manual and they'll ask you to refer the safety manual so in the chat in the comments write which preposition you would use with this question all right please refer um the safety manual for more information and if you're not sure um oh I just shared your video with my friend awesome thank you um if you're not sure which preposition to use just write I don't know okay it's perfectly fine this is how we practice practice practice again if you're just joining us we're are doing a preposition practice so I'm giving you a little mini quiz right now um and I want you to write your answer in the chat okay if you're watching this video later years from now write the sentence in the comments okay again it helps to produce the language make it interactive make it more active learning not passive learning so we have some answers in there excellent all right so please refer if you're talking about the verb refer it is followed by two okay please refer to the safety manual for more information okay so the next one I just have six of these okay so it'll go quickly the next question I have for you boom right here the team is upset losing the match okay the team is upset losing the match what are you going to use what preposition follows the verb upset are we going to use about with for or to okay again this is stuff that uh you know these are common sentences that you might hear and and we use that verb upset all the time all right but what preposition follows that verb write your answer in the chat okay are you going to use about with for to two the team is upset losing the match okay so we got some answers remember if you're talking about upset I the the complete one is the best answer about okay you are upset about are losing the match we had somebody answer said upset with okay let me make a quick distinction now so you are again you can use with after upset you're usually upset about something or you would be upset with someone so if you're talking about a person like yeah I'm upset with her I'm upset with him I'm upset with my children I'm upset with my parents you would talk about people all right if you're using with upset with someone but if you're talking about something a situation all right you're going to use about I'm upset about losing the match all right so that is a quick distinction let's do another one ready here is the question I want you to write in the preposition okay we stand Justice and equality all right which preposition follows the verb stand okay write it in the chat we stand Justice and equality okay remember uh I said like a common question people might ask um they would say what do you stand all right they're asking you about your beliefs what do you think okay you stand Justice and equality okay which one do you think are we going to use about with for or two okay so again I if if you're not sure just write it in there take a guess again it doesn't matter if it's wrong or right this is all to practice okay and I'm going to make some comments because these are tricky especially because depending on the context you can use more than one preposition all right so if we are talking about stand remember I said you stand for something okay what do you believe in okay I Stand For Justice and equality that's what I believe in that's what I want that's what I'm passionate about um we had one person answer stand with again you can use that I would say you stand with someone all right if you're saying like Okay I'm on your side I stand with her I stand with him all right in that case you can also similar meaning you stand by someone okay you you are with them you believe believe in them you support them you stand by someone you stand with someone okay but if you're talking about their beliefs kind of like um and it's mostly talking about you in this context when you say stand for what do you stand for I stand for this I stand for that okay let's do another one okay this is a good one how about this question what are we going to put in there which preposition boom okay I'm fed up these tricky prepositions okay when we're talking about Fed Up what are we going to use are we going to use about with for or two I'm fed up these Tri tricky prepositions remember I said Fed Up it means you're kind of you're you're tired of this you you don't want to deal with it anymore you are just fed up something okay which preposition are we going to use okay if you are fed up if you are fed up we would want to use with remember you are fed up with these tricky prepositions it's pretty much also a three-word phrasal verb because you're fed up with something okay you are tired of it um you are fed up with with all right so excellent let's keep going all right I have all right two more questions two more let's do two more um here we go so try this one all right this is uh a common sentence that you would hear TV movies in conversation if you're talking about um the verb worry all right I'm really worried you all right I'm really worried you you know what what's the most technically you might be able to use more than one but what is the most appropriate one that that people would use you know I'm really worried you okay which one uh are we going to use everybody's answering excellent excellent excellent correct you worry about someone I really worry about you okay what are you worried about I'm worried about this situation I'm worried about that situation I'm worried about this person that person um you worry about someone or something next one let's look at this okay here we go [Music] and Bam I need to prepare my job interview which preposition is going to follow prepare I need to prepare m my job interview again if you're watching this later on write the answers in the comments produce the language it's going to help you if you have any questions write them in the comments as well we will answer we will respond to you so which verb which preposition are we going to use with prepare I need to prepare my job interview um Estella hi how's it going welcome um again we're doing some prepositions I I want you to write your answer in the chat okay what are we going to use with prepare all right we got some answers in there excellent so I need to prepare for my job interview okay remember you prepare for something all right so again we talked about these prepositions and the verbs that they follow this is a great way to practice reading is another great way to practice if you're watching TVs or movies using subtitles is a great way to practice because again A lot of times um especially if you're just listening that's why reading is so important because you're seeing the preposition when you're just listening a lot of times it's difficult to pick up on those prepositions because we're emphasizing the content words not those function words and they're easily um they go unnoticed for the the most part so I want to thank all of you guys for joining us um I really appreciate it if you are watching this now or watching it later if you're watching this now please give it a like if you're watching it later please give it a like and if you have any questions just write them in the comments and we will respond to you um and always practice you can practice these questions and again write the sentences in the comments if you just joined us now sorry um that the the lesson is wrapping up we will keep we're going to try and do live lessons every Saturday we haven't been very consistent with our times just yet we're trying to work on that because we have a lot of different things going on right now but I hope you guys are able were able to follow this lesson um and uh again if you have any questions just write them in the comments uh one question somebody asked can we say I need to get prepare for my job interview um you could say I need to get PR I need to get prepared um but again I I think it's just unnecessary to say I need to prepare for my job interview um it it kind of means the same thing uh you one say get prepar it'd be get prepared for my job interview um you are very welcome I know so you thank you thank you guys for joining us this has been great again um if you really want to help share this video share our other videos we're trying to spread the word and build a larger classroom and we will keep doing these lessons live lessons and releasing videos which we are doing every Tuesday right now so I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and we will see you next time all right so long --- ## 260. Common Idioms & Expressions with the Word OUTSIDE | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xMt4YfQFV_0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMt4YfQFV_0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:22:35 | --- today i want to teach you some very useful expressions that all have the word outside that's coming up hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel that is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i as you can see i am outside it's a beautiful day so i i wanted to take this opportunity to teach you some very important expressions in english that all have the word outside and because you know what it means to be outside i want you to keep that in mind because i i think that will help you more easily understand the meaning of these expressions so let's begin with one that i think is very common this is something as a teacher i would tell students quite often and i would say i would tell them think outside the box and what this means is to think in a way that is different and in a thinking in a way that is creative and innovative because if you think about a box inside the box that's the way everybody else thinks it's very it's normal it's expected you want to be creative you want to come up with some new ideas you want to be innovative you want to think outside the box you have to think outside the box think outside the box i might be able to do that i'll drum up some business we just got to think outside the box like the makers of dreyer's ice cream if we're gonna stop them we have to think outside the box then we have an expression which is to color outside the lines and i think think about a coloring book if you are trying to color this picture a lot of people would say oh you need to color in you need to color inside the lines in this case you're saying the opposite to color outside the lines because what it means is to act and behave in a way that is well it's not expected and you're kind of breaking the rules in that sense so if you're talking about somebody who who likes to color outside the lines then you're referring to somebody that may like to break or bend the rules a little bit they just don't like to follow the the traditional expectations to color outside the lines we must remember bart that sometimes it is okay to color outside the lines giving up the money i got what i could you lost the money trail lester when you decided to start coloring outside of the lines why are you out here i colored outside the lines seems like a harsh punishment then there's an expression uh it's it's more of a statement which i think is one that you might hear if you're watching a tv show or movie and people are pretty angry with each other and somebody says you want to step outside let's step outside in this case if if somebody is saying this to another person they're referring to fighting they're basically saying let's let's go outside and let's fight and that's the way we're going to try and solve this problem and they would say let's let's step outside it's not something that i would want to say i don't like fighting but and i hope it's something that you don't have to say but in this case it's good for your comprehension because if somebody asks you and they say hey let's step outside you say no no no no i want to stay inside you want to step outside yeah i'll step outside i'm not married to the biggest horse's ass in three counties all right do you want to step outside another expression that is kind of related to that uh it is just take it outside and this is like it's it's a command that somebody would say to perhaps another group of people who are arguing and and they would say look take it outside and it's not really saying that oh you have to go fight outside it could be it's really just saying take your argument and and leave you need to exit you need to get out of here because it's causing a problem maybe it's a distraction it's disruptive and somebody would tell this group who's arguing they'd say take take it outside we don't we don't want this in here take it outside take it outside never start anything inside the bar unless it's absolutely necessary but my friend here has hypothermia hypothermia all right guys take it outside [Applause] you guys please take it outside then there is the expression an outside chance and if somebody's talking about uh they're talking about a situation and if they say there's an outside chance it refers to an unlikely possibility so if somebody mentions um for example they say uh there's an outside chance that the game will get cancelled in this case they're saying there there is a an unlikely possibility that the game will get cancelled but it could happen there's an outside chance if you even want to have an outside chance of reaching someone nowadays you damn sure better speak from your heart wasting my time listening to singers that don't sing all i can say is that she might stand an outside chance as a mime act of course there is one outside chance for a cure i think of it as a shock treatment then we have the expression on the outside looking in and this is talking about well a person might use it to describe themselves and what they're referring to is a situation in which they are excluded from a group or some some other situation that they would like to be a part of but because they're excluded they could describe this and say that look i'm i'm on the outside looking in i've been excluded from the group i don't know what's going on i'm on the outside looking in it's obvious you're on the outside looking in take the opportunity to elect new officers or the us attorney will padlock the door and you'll be outside looking in the system is dead dad the system's not dead it's just that for the first time in your life you're on the outside looking in then we have a phrase which is sorry i forgot when i'm outside i kind of just uh i get a little distracted uh oh i remember it is to be detached from the outside world you could you could say detached from the world but i think in this case you're going to use outside do somebody is detached from the outside world and what this means is that somebody is kind of they're they're really away from society they're they're not participating in it so i think of somebody who might go and just live in the woods they want to get away from everything that's happening in the city or a town and they they want to get detached from the outside world i think all of us can can relate to this expression because you could also think about it when perhaps you take a vacation and people might turn off their cell phones they don't want to be bothered by work or or anything else they just want to relax and they want to be a little detached from the outside world so that is another example as to how you can use this expression then we have an expression which i i think is very easy it's it means exactly what it says and that is it's cold outside and i think people would use this really to give it a little bit of emphasis because you're really you're saying that it's the world the weather's cold the temperatures are cold but instead of just saying it's cold people will add outside um and it's it's a pretty common expression if somebody wants to tell others and they they come in and they say wow it's it's cold outside it's it's just really cold out there so it's cold outside why does everyone in this state have to be such a wimp about it why it's cold outside huh oh there's new york with this it's cold outside you'll need a sweater a sweater and then there's an expression outside the law and what this refers to is somebody who is not abiding by the law or really they're breaking the law and they you could say that they are working outside the law or they are doing something and operating outside the law they're not following the laws they're outside the law they operate outside the law and they are dangerous tell monica are gonna tell joey no because then you have to tell them what we did we are desert steelers we are living outside the law so i hope you learned some new expressions and that you can even use them if you find yourself in the appropriate situation if you enjoyed the lesson and you learned something new please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 261. Common Work Expressions That You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bl0uIYs6-NI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl0uIYs6-NI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:46:49 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about some useful business expressions that you need to know. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is where you want to be to practice and improve your English skills. And today I have a business English lesson for you because we are going to talk about some common and useful expressions that you will hear or that you can use in the work environment. But you can also use some of these expressions in a variety of other contexts as well, which I will explain throughout the lesson. So let, let's just get down to business. And the first expression that I want to talk to you about is let's get down to business. And this just means that that you want to start something, you are ready to begin. And often you're, you're being serious when you say this. So you might be talking about a meeting or a negotiation and you could say, you know, let, let's get down to business. Let's begin this thing. Let's get down to business. Why don't you tell me why you think you deserve a raise? Gentlemen, let's get down to business. We've got a lot of work to do. The next expression is to be on the up and up and it's often used with that verb to be and you may hear somebody ask the question is everything on the up and up? And when somebody asks this, they are asking if, if everything is honest, sincere, is it legitimate? You can use this when describing something like a contract and you might want to know, you know, is this, is this on the up and up, is this honest, is it sincere or even if you're describing a person, you could ask if he is on the up and up or is she on the up and up? Is this person sincere? Are they honest? Can they be trusted? And I hope that you know that I am on the up and up when I tell you that I want you to practice and improve your English skills. And if you believe me, if you believe that I'm honest, please go ahead. Hit that LIKE button. Steven, you're a trustworthy young man. Is your cousin on the up and up? Basically I look at the financial books. Make sure everything's on the up and up. I want to take a moment and talk to you about a great opportunity if you would like to improve your English skills as well as your knowledge of business English. And if that's the case, I recommend that you check out Lingoda who was kind enough to sponsor today's lesson. So let's get down to business Lingoda. Goda is an online language school where you can take classes in English as well as business English and learn with qualified native speaking teachers from the U S and the UK. I've also taken classes with Lingoda. I studied Spanish so I know that they are on the up and up. So there are several advantages to taking classes with Lingoda. First flexibility. You can take classes any day, any time, whatever best fits your schedule. Second class size. The average class size is about three students, which means that you will have plenty of opportunities to practice your skills and third cost. These classes are very affordable from as low as eight Euro per group class. Now let's talk about business. English Lingoda has made some changes so that these classes are more flexible and more affordable from as low as 79 Euro per month. There are three different speeds that you can choose from depending on how fast you want to learn. Plus you can take a trial and get three free group classes to see if this is the right fit for you. Now, if you don't take the trial and you already know that you want to study with Lingoda, in either their English classes or business English, then you can use the voucher code Interactive5 and get 25 euro off your first month. So click on the link in the description to sign up for some classes. Remember to use the voucher code Interactive5 and just make that commitment to improve your English skills. The next expression that I have for you? Well, it's actually a question and that is what's the game plan? And when somebody asks, what's the game plan? It's just asking, well, what is the strategy moving forward? What is our plan of action? And you can use this in sports, business politics, anytime where you need to have a strategy. You might ask somebody, you know, okay, what's the game plan? Would somebody please let me know what the game plan is. We have it handled. What's the strategy? What's the game plan? Don't tell me you're flying blind. Awfully hot in that court room, wasn't it? What's the game plan, Kevin? Unfortunately, doctor for both of us, you're the last man. we have. What's the game plan doc? What is your game plan for improving your English skills? Let me know in the comments. Then we have the expression, my hands are tied. And the expression means pretty much the way it sounds. You know, if somebody whose hands are tied, it means that they are not free to act in the way that they would want to because there's some rule or maybe some law that prevents them from doing so. For example, in a business setting, you may want your colleague or even your boss to do something for you, but they can't because they have to follow the rules. And they may tell you, you know, look, I, I'd love to help you out, but I can't, my hands are tied. This can be used in many other situations as well. Even in your daily life, if your friend wants you to do something, perhaps your friend wants to go out and party, but you have a young baby at home like me. And I would just have to say, look, I'd love to go out with you, but I just can't. I have other responsibilities. My hands are tied. I'm not free to act as I would want to go into you behind my back. You can't reward her for that. My hands are tied. I'd love to help you out, Benny. But Garvy is going to be in there to check on her soon. My hands are tied. My hands are tied. He's just a kid chasing a goofy dream. I'm sorry, my hands are tied. I'm to leave with no reference. After working here for 10 years. I'm afraid my hands are tied. Then we have a great expression, which I think is very common in business, especially when you're speaking informally about getting a job and that is to get your in the door and if somebody says, you know, I'm just trying to get my foot in the door, that just means that they want to achieve success in the first stage of some process or the initial stage. And if we're talking about business, often I think it's used when somebody wants to be a part of a business or they want to be a part of a company and they say, you know, I just want to get my foot in the door. I just want to get an interview. If there is a job available. Sometimes it's tough to get an interview for that job and you might say, you know, I just want to get my foot in the door. I'm trying to get my foot in the door so that I can be considered for this job. It'll likely be an internship. No pay. You get your foot in the door. So you can't perform without me. And you can't get your foot in the door with us. I have an idea. Why don't I introduce you around? You know you can kind of get your foot in the door and meet potential clientele. Then we have belly up. Now this is not well, it's not a very good expression because you're talking about a business and organization or an institution that just no longer exist. They have gone bankrupt. They have spent too much money. They've gone out of business and you'd say, well, there, they've gone belly up. They no longer exist. It's no longer around. The business has gone belly up. You need to check out that stretch of Liberty Street. The stores went belly up. Lumpies the one left. Some bank has gone belly up. The boss has made it abundantly clear that he would love nothing more than to the whole project go belly up. 90% of all new restaurants go belly up within a year. You know what doesn't go belly up? Food trucks. The next expression is to get the short end of the stick. And if somebody says that that they are getting the short end of the stick, then it just means that they are getting unfair or unfavorable treatment. So in business you might be comparing yourself with your colleagues and you could think, well, you know, I'm getting the short end of the stick. I'm not being treated the same way others are treated. It's a little unfair. So I'm getting the short end of the stick. You can also use this expression, uh, outside of a business context. You know at home or even among your friends, if you feel you're getting unfavorable treatment compared to others, you could say you're getting the short end of the stick or if you feel you're getting unfair treatment compared to the treatment, you should be getting that you should be getting treated better, but you're not. You're getting the short end of the stick. That guy orders me around too much. Yeah, you're getting the short end of the stick all right. You don't think we want to be there for him? Of course we do. So once again, Jackson gets the short end of the stick. Alison gets the short end of the attention stick around here. In what way? Then we have an expression. Well it's also not a another expression that any business would want to hear and that is in the red. And if you say that a business or a company is in the red, it just means that they have spent more money than they have in their account. Often times in that case, they would owe the bank money and you would say that the business is in the red. Well, she's got $10 in here and it cost me, $900 for six weeks, a unicycle lessons. So we're a little in the red right now. Too bad we're not making any profit. Between the repairs, the gas and that we are still in the red. Another great expression is under the table and when you say that something is under the table, it just means that it's done secretly such as making a payment. Often times, I think it's used in that context that you are employing somebody, but you know it's, it may not be legal and you're not paying them through the company. Perhaps you're giving them cash. You would say that you are paying them under the table, or if you're the person getting paid, then you would say, well, you know, I'm getting paid under the table. I'm not technically an employee, but I'm still working. I'm getting paid, but it's under the table. It's secret. This is something that, again, I think it is illegal in most countries, but it's pretty common. Perhaps there is some legal requirement that prohibits people from being able to work So a company may hire some people and just pay them under the table. It happens. It's undocumented labor from Canada. They think that maybe over the years have hired some of these guys, paid them cash under the table. But you haven't been getting paid? I'm used to getting paid under the table. How much does he make? How much do they paying him? Believe they're paying him cash into the table, sir. You're going to work for us. Okay, but could you pay me under the table? So I want to tell you one more expression. I was actually going to end the lesson, but I don't want to give you the short end of the stick. I want to teach you another expression. This is just for you because I want to help you practice and improve your English skills. And, and truly I'm, I'm trying to be on the up and up and, and the expression that I have for you is there's no I in team and this is often just a statement that somebody would say there is no I in team. And what it means is that teamwork is a group thing that it's not about working individually. You have to work with your teammates. And when they say there's no I and team, they're talking about the spelling, the letter. I if you want to spell the word team, T E a M. well there is no letter I but I also refers to the subject pronoun talking about yourself, the individual eye. So if you're working with other teammates in a group and somebody is being selfish, you could tell that person there's no I in team. I think this expression is used regularly when talking about sports. If you're playing sports on a team, but also in business because it's quite common that you would work with a group of individuals. So if somebody is being selfish, just tell them, you know, Hey there's no ion team. You'd better not be working on our project because we're a team. Leonard. There is no I in team. How do you feel about losing a medal for your teammates? There's no I in team by team, I don't mean you. I always say there's no I in team, so I hope you can go out and get some use out of these business expressions and if you learn something new, let me know by hitting that like button down below. Thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 262. Common verbs followed by GERUNDS or INFINITIVES | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `o9oDb0EYvk4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9oDb0EYvk4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:13:47 | --- hello and welcome to another amazing and exciting this is a grammar but also a vocabulary lesson that's going to help you build your vocabulary but also like I said it's going to help you improve your grammar when it comes to writing but also speaking because this is when I notice people will make small mistakes and what we're going to be talking about are jirens and infinitives notice I said jiren or infinitive because in this lesson specifically we're going to talk about which one comes after some very common English verbs common verbs that you'll use in everyday conversation so are you going to follow it with a Jaren or an infinitive or maybe you could follow it with either one of them so let's uh let's begin by talking about well what is a Jaren and what is an infinitive as we go through this I do have a a little bit of a quiz for you to allow you to to participate in this lesson because I I want I want you to be able to practice so a Jaren is a word ending in ing that is made from a verb and and used like a noun so you could have a jiren at the beginning of a sentence but once again I'm talking uh in this lesson we're going to talk about jirens that come after some common verbs so here is a list of just common verbs that are followed by ajared and I used a resource that was provided by Hunter College and it's a it's a useful resource resource I will link a PDF uh copy a link to the PDF down in the description if you'd like to check it out download it review it and and yeah this is uh this is one of the resources I used when creating this lesson so I don't expect you to memor ize all of these verbs I think the best way to learn this is over time getting exposure to the language reading listening and then practicing like we're going to do in just a moment so these are different jirens that these are different verbs that are followed by a Jaren right here and now let's moving on moving on to the meaning of an infinitive so this is talking about the basic form of a verb verb that usually follows to I say usually because there are different types of infinitives like you could have the the bare infinitive in which case there is no two in this lesson though I'm going to be talking about when I say the infinitive I'm referring to using to plus the base verb to play to walk to dance to run so those are the infinitives that I'm referring to in this lesson and of course again I have another nice long list of common verbs that are followed by an infinitive all right so all of these verbs right here you when you're using these in conversation when you're writing you're going to want to follow them with an infinitive so again I I told you that you know you don't need to memorize them I think as you're reading you you see how these words are used together your brain is great at recognizing patterns but also practice practice is important so let let me give you some questions and I just want you to complete the sentence how what would you use the jiren or the infinitive you can write your answer down in the chat or if you're watching this later write it in the comments I just want you to participate and actually be able to to practice this uh as we go through them so the first sentence I regret you that the show has been cancelled so I'm giving giving you the um the verb there or at least the base verb and are you going to turn that into a Jaren or are you going to use the infinitive I regret you that the show has been cancelled so the key here is thinking about well that verb regret when you're using the verb regret what are you going to follow it with and I see some great uh good answers so I I think you guys know this excellent um Jean Marco luminus uh or a hell we're talking about the infinitive all right whoops that's the next one I regret to inform you that the show has been canceled so if we're using the verb regret you're going to follow that with the infinitive the next one right here um I waited what would happen so the verb in uh that you know either the Jaren or the infinitive C which one are you going to to turn it into but the the verb that it's following is wait to wait so waited I waited what what would happen so when you're talking about the verb waight are you going to follow it with a Jaren or an infinitive and if this is this is one of those situations where I feel like you might not stop in the middle of a conversation to think about try to just think about what Come What would natural all right what do you think so the excellent good job uh exie um Leila so you're going to follow weight with the infinitive I waited to see what would happen all right I saw in the before some of you were mentioning the Jaren so again it's my goal each of these lessons is that you learn something new so I waited to see see I waited to um I I waited to to learn what would happen I waited to again any anytime you're going to follow this with the infinitive so I tried to choose a a sentence maybe that you might hear from somebody saying yeah just I'm going to wait to see what happens uh I want to wait to see what happens next then we have this one we considered M the train so so we're talking about take are you going to say taking or to take the Jaren or the infinitive when it follows the verb consider so when this is our verb again considered what we follow it with the Jaren or infinitive what do you think and again just just practice what do you think let me know and I I feel like this one if you think about other times you might hear it the context then you could kind of piece it together what what someone might say so the correct answer excellent John Carlos uh sdb uh Savar we're talking about the Jaren in this case we considered taking the bus when the verb is consider you consider doing something the next one right here he managed his nose clean now this is an idiom which uh I'll tell you what it means uh if we're talking about you know his nose clean I'll I'll tell you once I I give you the answer but again the the verb is manage in this case we're we're talking about it in the past but we're going to follow that with what uh the Jaren keeping or the infinitive to keep he managed M his nose clean so I hope that many of you uh said just like yes uh reesh and um winter yes to keep he managed to keep his nose clean so you manag to do something and again this uh to keep someone's nose clean this is an idiom this phrase means to to stay out of trouble to avoid problems and you could say yeah they manag to keep uh someone's nose clean it's an informal casual phrase to stay out of trouble then I have this one for you and this one um it it's it can be a little tricky the dentist advised after every meal and I'm sure you go to the dentist this is something that they um you know would advise so we're talking about either the jiren flossing or the infinitive to floss and I'll tell you why I think this one could be uh a little uh tricky and so the dentist advise M after every meal when we're talking about the verb advise uh you're going to follow that with the jiren the dentist advised flossing after every meal the one thing I said that this this could be a little tricky because if we add in there the the object the dentist advised us in that case then you're going to follow it with to do something the dentist advised us or the dentist advised me to floss after every meal so if we're talking about directly following the verb advise you're going to use a jiren but often times people would talk about well who they're advising this person advised me they advised him or her and then you would follow it with that too to floss to go to play so that this one's a little uh little tricky but again we're talking about just the the verbs and what would come directly after would it be a Jaren or an infinitive the next one let's postpone M for let's postpone for the marathon until next week all right this is something that um this is something that I feel like I would say all right so the verb is is postpone and what are we going to follow that with uh are we going to follow that with the Jaren or the infinitive let's postpone M let's postpone M for the for the marathon until next week we're talking about like well train so training or to train so postpone you're going to follow that with the jiren training let's postpone training for the Marathon until next week we're going to postpone doing something excellent uh good job uh Muhammad mes nice so you would postpone doing something here's here's another one um he didn't expect the shot so you can see he's taking a a shot playing basketball he didn't expect the shot so the verb expect is it going to be followed with the jiren missing or the infinitive to miss he didn't expect M the shot when talking about the when talking about the verb expect you're going to follow this one with the infinitive to miss he didn't expect to miss the shot all right he didn't expect uh you know to to find something or didn't expect to discover this thing so you're going to follow this verb with the infinitive I have one more for you okay and again this one is it's a little tricky and I'll explain why in just a moment but again we're talking about the verb in this case admitted would be followed by what the jiren or the infinitive the students admitted M on the exam the students admitted M on the exam talking about the word cheat so cheating or to cheat which one of those do you think would you know really uh correctly completes that uh example so in this case we're talking about the verb admit you're going to follow this verb with the jiren the students admitted cheating on the exam the other reason why I said this can be uh a little tricky often admit you would admit to doing something so you might follow it with to but also again then follow it with the jiren so you could say the students admitted to cheating on the exam and really the the meaning is the same I try as to which one would be more common I often feel like that two would follow it two doing something you admit to doing something but as far as directly following it with a Jaren or an infinitive you're going to follow admit with the jiren okay so those are common verbs that you're either going to follow with that Jaren or with that infinitive so now we're going to switch gears and I have some other verbs for you um that you could follow with either one and I want to really dive a little deeper into these uh to explore well how are they different are there any differences between them so these are some common verbs may be followed by a Jaren or infinitive there are 12 verbs down here so let's uh let let's start with this question all right if I give you these two sentences I like to watch YouTube I like watching YouTube which one do you think you would use if you were talking uh to someone you're having a conversation would you use the infinitive when you're following like hey I like to watch YouTube or would you do you think you would use the jiren I like watching YouTu do you think there's a difference between these sentences okay so again we're talking about the verb like it is a very common verb that um you're going to use quite often so either one of them is is correct and both of them these sentences mean the same thing so I want to begin talking about verbs that you can follow with a Jaren or an infinitive and there's no change in the meaning so I have I I had that list of 12 now um I'm giving you these five right here and there are other verbs out there as well but I just chose these I think like these are a little more common so we have like love prefer hate can't stand all right notice that all of these are stative verbs all right which means that you're not going to really use them in the continuous tense conversationally I'm sure probably you've heard maybe somebody using like or love in the continuous tense but in general like grammatically speaking these are stative verbs you would not use them in the continuous tense there's a reason why I'm telling you this and we'll come back to it uh in just a little bit so let's I give you just different examples like like I like to watch YouTube I like watching YouTube means the same thing she loves eating she loves to eat seafood uh she loves eating Seafood either one's fine he prefers to take the bus he prefers taking the bus you could use either one uh I hate to do laundry I hate doing laundry either is okay and I they can't stand to lose and they can't stand losing again no change in meaning I will say that there there are instances in which one may be more commonly used than the other and that's uh always a a question that I get and it's a little uh it's a little difficult to determine which one but I have a reference that uh uh a resource that I would like to share with you I've also included this link down in the description it is a link to Google engram viewer and what they've done with engram viewer is taken just this Corpus of writing which is from books uh websites I think blogs and what it does it is it allows us to compare how frequently words are used in this corpus now bear in mind that this is talking about writing but we can get a general idea as to which are which ones which phrases or words are used more often so for example and uh took these screenshots just to show you like so we have like to watch versus like uh watching you can see it's pretty close but according to engram viewer it's a little more common to use the infinitive you like to watch when we're talking uh about following it with watch if we go down here same thing with play what's more common like to play or like playing it it seems like it's more common that someone's going to use like to play either way they're both they're both fine the meaning is the same now if we switch it with the verb love and we're going to keep using like watch and to play well then it changes slightly if we're comparing love watching versus love to watch in this case it's a little more common to use the jiren uh same with play when you're comparing love to play versus love playing it's very close but according to engram viewer it's a little more common uh it's love playing occurs more frequently than love to play now personally I feel like and this is just me um when I'm having a conversation I don't know why I probably end up using a Jaren more often but that's just the that's just me the next uh the next thing that I want to look at so we we talked about four or no five verbs in which the meaning stays the same all right so now I want to look at um a few verbs well where there's maybe a slight difference and I want you to think about this uh sentence right here what what do you think what would use we have only just begun to understand the human brain or we have only just begun understanding the human brain which one uh do you think is uh correct which one do you would you use if you were talking to someone and you say one of you're going to say this sentence would you use to understand or understanding and of course I'm going to I'll I'll let you know uh in just a moment we'll come back to this so so we're talking about these three verbs uh right here begin start and continue now in this case you could follow either one with a Jaren or infinitive and there's really little change in meaning and I really shouldn't use meaning I'm I I added the word usage instead I think a lot of sites they'll talk about well there's just a slight change in meaning but I would say usage would be a better way of putting it and I'll explain why in just a moment so number one all right when the verb is not continuous use either a Jaren or an infinitive all right either one is okay so like begin suddenly she began to sing a song suddenly she began singing I could say I either one of them is okay just to give you again little insert my opinion here I feel like if I were going to end the sentence probably I would use the jiren like oh suddenly she began singing she began dancing she began writing if I'm going to follow that with more information then maybe I would use the infinitive like she began to sing a song she began to write a letter but again you could say she began writing a letter she began singing a song either one of them is okay uh same with start all right you could use either one uh like that first one he then started to run even faster or a month ago I started running I feel like in the first sentence I either one would be okay in the next one a month ago I started running I feel like probably it would and I keep saying I feel like this is my opinion all right these are not rules I feel like it'd be more common to use the jiren like referring to this activity like a month ago I started running a month ago I started meditating a month ago I started doing something uh but you could still say like a month ago I started to run that's perfectly fine and then continue please continue to hit the like button all right or please continue hitting the like button either one is okay and yes I hope you please continue to hit or hitting the like button I will say that with continue when I looked around um and played around with engram viewer it does seem that continue is it's more likely to follow it with uh the jiren um continue doing something all right so so the next one uh number two okay so that was when it's not continuous when one when these verbs are continuous you're going to use the infinitive all right so remember I talked about like those other verbs like love prefer those are stative verbs so you're not going to use them in the continuous tense well begin start and continue we can use them with that ing so like like our first one he's beginning to believe he's beginning to believe all right what movie is that from all right that's a bonus question for you can you think of that movie he's beginning to believe and I put that picture there for you uh as a little bit of a hint let's see if anybody it's an older movie uh same start if somebody were to say hey I'm starting to feel left out again you're going to follow it with the uh infinitive and then again continue we're continuing to monitor the situation think of a a a doctor's office all right they're monitoring uh a patient and they would come out and say hey we're we're continuing to monitor the situation it's ongoing it's continuous and we're going to use it um with that verb in the continuous tense so just that's something to keep in mind when the verb is continuous you're going to follow it with the infinitive and this is when I go back to talking about like usage um instead of meaning necessarily so in case you're wondering that um the the the movie that I was talking about is the Matrix when uh at the end he's saying oh he's beginning to believe um so then the third one okay in some situations the infinitive May mean that you did not complete or continue the action so in this case once again I think it's more common to use the infinitive we have only just begun to un understand the human brain all right that was that first uh that that sentence those two sentences I showed you so in this case to understand again it tells us that okay this is this is not complete yet all right we're still doing this we've only just begun to understand same with start if I were to say I started to learn Korean but I ended up dropping the class so it you started to do something but this action was not complete you could use a in this context but once again all right it the infinitive really it tells us okay this this thing was not completed yet that's why added that but statement yeah I started to do this but something happened and it didn't work out and continue um even though we haven't discovered other intelligent beings we continue to look for life on other planets it's ongoing it's not complete we continue to look so the something to keep in mind when we're talking about these three verbs right here begin start and continue and there are still some verbs that we have not covered just yet and uh I wanted to open it up with this question uh or this these two sentences right here what do you think which one would you use I stop to use the toilet or I stop using the toilet okay what what do you think uh is is one that you might use from time to time okay so the the final four verbs that uh we're going to look at are right here and with these verbs there actually is a change in meaning so I've I've just given you the um the infinitive and the Jaren over there like you stop to do something you stop doing something you remember to do something or you remember doing something with all of these there is going to be a change in the meaning so let's begin with like stop okay so you have Stop Plus the infinitive it means that well to interrupt an activity in order to do something else so you're doing something you're driving and then oh I stopped to use the toilet or maybe you're walking I stopped to use the toilet you stopped what you were doing and then you did did something else I stopped to use the toilet if we're talking about Stop Plus the Jaren in this case we're indicating that an action is just we we don't do it any longer all right we no longer uh continues I stopped using the toilet in this case this is not a sentence that you're probably going to use I guess it is possible if somebody maybe moved out into the Wilderness um and and then they yeah I stopped using the toilet but in this case this would mean that you just don't use the toilet any longer which is not um the the case for most of us so just be careful with this verb stop because it could you could use either the jiren or the infinitive but it does have a different meaning the same goes with uh remember so remember plus the infinitive you remember that you need to do something I remembered to turn off the light all right you remembered ah I have to do this a I I remembered that I I I have to turn off the light I remember to turn off the light uh remember plus the jiren this would be like you're remembering something that it's already complete you've you've done this maybe it was a long time ago in your past like I remember visiting the lake as a child like you're thinking back a long time ago it's been done uh for some time and you're going to use the jiren so just keep that in mind you either remember to do something all right something that you need to do or remember doing something it's already complete in that context and and the same goes when we're talking about forget so if you forget uh forget plus the infinitive you forget that you need to do something if I were to say he forgot to pay the bill in this case he did not pay the bill if we're following it with the jiren then it means that you just forgot how that you that you have done something so it means that you did it you just forgot that it happened so there's 's a difference again he forgot to pay the bill or in the next sentence I said he forgot paying the bill so he ended up paying it twice in this context I'm saying well he he paid the bill and then he forgot that this thing already happened so perhaps he tried to pay it again a second time so because he forgot paying the bill he ended up paying it twice two times so again keep that in mind there is a difference uh in the meaning and then the same goes for try right here you try to do something it refers to an attempt that really is not successful like we tried to wake him up so if somebody were to tell me like we tried to wake him up well then probably I think that well okay he's still sleeping you know they they tried to do it wasn't successful they tried to wake him up if you follow try with the jiren then it's talking about experimenting with different things to see if something works so let's let's go back to that example like uh oh we tried to wake him up what are some different methods we use we tried playing music we tried shaking him we tried uh you know taking away the pillow you try doing these different things but in the end maybe he's still sleeping and then again it was not successful so then you would say we we tried to wake him up but he's still sleeping okay so hopefully that that makes sense this one it's a little a little bit of a a slight difference um but again still a difference in meaning so again my my goal is that I hope that you learn something new from this lesson if you did then I would really appreciate it if you go ahead and hit that like button these uh check out that resour those resources Down Below in the links I really do think they help and the more you keep reading the more you listen the more you practice like we were doing in this lesson the next time you're having a conversation or even you're you're writing a letter or an email you're just going to use the correct one because these are not rules that I would say okay let go through and memorize them just learn them naturally over time and it's it's going to stick with you and you'll put it up there in your you'll make it a part of your active memory so thank you guys for joining me uh today thank you Elena Loi good to see you um Vicky Gustav social Vibe thanks for being here uh I will be back again with another lesson shortly uh hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you next time --- ## 263. Confusing Grammar in English | Lesson for Advanced Learners | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4kQDswQLXRs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kQDswQLXRs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:18:15 | --- today i have an advanced grammar quiz lesson for you my name is wes this is interactive english the channel's all about trying to help you practice and improve your english and today i want to work on your grammar skills and this is actually a previous live lesson that i did a while ago and all i've done is i've just shortened it and so for some of you this may be review and it's always good to review for others uh if this is new then that's perfect you get to really work on your grammar i'm going to ask you some different questions and i will give you a moment to think about the answer and then of course i will explain the answer to you and really give you a bit more detail as to why it is correct so let's well let's just go ahead and start the quiz with the first question that i have for you which is this one right here i get so um when i get the wrong answer which word best completes that sentence are you going to say a frustrated or be frustrating the correct answer is a i get so frustrated when i get the wrong answer now the reason this is confusing grammar many times learners may confuse e d and ing adjectives so right down here i gave you a little bit of an explanation we use ed adjectives when we describe a feeling or an emotion when you describe the way you feel about something i'm frustrated i'm confused i'm bored i'm tired those are edie adjectives that describe our feeling we use ing adjectives when you are describing a person's character a thing or a situation so for example you'd say well i am excited that's the way i feel the movie is exciting and we use that ing adjective the next question i have for you is this one what do you think which which best completes the sentence the phone is ringing um answer it would you say a i'll which is the contraction of i will or b i'm going to the phone is ringing i'll answer it i will answer it now you might be wondering well this this is a slight difference between i will and i'm going to when you're talking about a quick decision something where there's not much time you're going to use i will because when you use going to it makes me think that there was kind of a plan to do this but the truth is you never know when the phone is going to ring that is a slight difference between using will and going to the next question is i plan to go to school to um my education is it a farther or b further the answer is b i plan to go to school to further my education now when you think about the difference between farther and further think of it this way all right both refer to some kind of distance we're talking about a distance farther refers to a physical distance while further refers to a figurative distance and in this case you're talking about your education you're going to go ahead you're going to become more informed you're going to get smarter and you're going to move a distance but you really don't know how far there is no number that you're going to be able to assign to that distance so it is a figurative distance and you would use further the next question none of the bananas um ripe which verb to be are you going to use to complete that sentence none of the bananas um ripe are you going to say is ripe or are ripe the answer is b r none of the bananas are ripe all right the reason is because you're talking about none it is an indefinite pronoun but with this indefinite pronoun it can be used with either a singular or plural verb it depends on the noun to which it's to which it refers so for example in this case you're talking about bananas none of the bananas bananas is a plural noun so this is going to take a plural verb let's look at the next question alright so here we go i had to throw out my i'm giving three three blanks jersey and get another one i had to throw out my um jersey and get another one i've given you three words here three different adjectives i want you to put them in order so i gave you blue basketball and raggedy raggedy means something that is old and torn and sometimes things have sentimental value and you don't want to get rid of them this is all about adjective word order which is another which is another part of grammar that can be a little confusing raggedy blue basketball jersey which would be three one two all right you're talking about i had to throw out my raggedy blue basketball jersey and get another one usually i think you're gonna find maybe just two or three adjectives used in a row i think very rarely you're going to have four or more adjectives come before a noun but if we're talking about order this may vary depending on the site you're going to use but most of this is pretty standard i think you're going to do opinion size shape condition age color pattern origin material purpose so in this case i'm talking about the condition first something is raggedy the condition and then the color which is blue and then it's basically the purpose it is a basketball jersey that's what it is raggedy blue basketball jersey which which is grammatically correct now we're getting into a little bit of punctuation so we're talking about um a dialogue something that somebody says all right so you have four different sentences to choose from sentence number one she said i took the photo number two the photo was taken by me he said number three i took the photo he said or number four the photo she said was taken by me which one is correct but for this one you really need to look at look at those sentences and determine the correct punctuation the correct answer is sentence number four that is our winner sentence number four this is an example of a divided quote it's not something that you you will see this if you're reading people will take quotes and they will divide it and the reason it's a divided quote because i said quote the photo he said was taken by me and again this is written in the passive voice the photo was taken by me but i've divided the quote you would have quotes on the first part the photo and you need that comma there you need that comma she said comma and then quotes was taken by me all right let's look at the next one so which one best completes the sentence which one best completes the sentence we um for the bus for over 20 minutes hopefully it'll arrive soon is it a waited b have waited or c have been waiting the answer is c that is the that is the one that will best complete the sentence we have been waiting for the bus for over 20 minutes hopefully it'll arrive soon you use the present perfect continuous to talk about a continuous action started in the past it has continued to the present and will likely continue into the future i added that last part hopefully it'll arrive soon which basically means that you will still be waiting you are still waiting right now so it's talking about something that is happening an action that is continuous right now so that is why the present perfect continuous that is the correct answer for this question the next one are you ready and this is something that i i feel like learners confuse a lot uh especially in their writing i wonder where um eat dinner tonight is it a they will or b will they the answer is a they will i wonder where they will eat dinner tonight now the question that i would have for you if if you answered a and you answered correctly i would then say why why do we say they will instead of will they the reason that we use they they will is because this is a noun clause and a noun clause all right so if you don't know it is a dependent clause it acts as a noun it has a subject which is they it has a verb which is will and often these clauses if you want to identify them they often begin with words such as how that what so you need to have the subject and then follow it with the verb they will eat i think oftentimes when students might see this they they they have where and they think question and then they want to switch the subject and the verb but not in this case let's look at the next one i suggest that everyone um are saturday lessons which word completes that this is confusing grammar a join b joins or c will join the correct answer is a i suggest that everyone join our saturday lessons now you may be looking at this and be like wait a second subject verb agreement everyone joins but in this case i suggest that is talking about the subjunctive mood a suggestion that somebody has so in that case i suggest that everyone join our saturday live lessons the subjunctive mood it refers to a hypothetical situation in which you use the base form of the verb in the noun clause so right there we just talked about noun clauses it's another noun clause i suggest and then that everyone joins our saturday lessons that is our noun clause it starts with that and then we have our subject everyone in our verb join but it is the subjunctive so we're going to say everyone join let's look at the next one okay so this one this is i'm sorry you're looking at this like oh goodness i want you to first read this and tell me how many mistakes do you see how many mistakes and i'm just going to go ahead and tell you that they are all mistakes with prepositions because i can't you can't do a great confusing grammar lesson without talking about prepositions so this is a great way to practice this i've had this little reading for you i want you to say how many mistakes with prepositions do you see first let's identify the mistakes that's the first step in this process so i'll just go ahead and read it for you i'm gonna read it as is a long time ago i had a terrible flight experience leaving to new york first the flight was delayed from three hours many people complained over waiting with so long a few hours later everyone was told the plane was incapable of taking off i had to wait until the next morning to leave that was a long time ago now i can look back and laugh on it if you're just listening to me read it probably some of it sounds a bit awkward so there are there's actually quite a few mistakes with the preposition so the first thing i want you to do is just look at it look at those prepositions and find well how many mistakes do you see there are six mistakes with prepositions i have highlighted those mistakes for you right here all right so now you can see the mistakes leaving to new york it's a mistake delayed from three hours mistake complained over waiting mistake waiting with so long mistake incapable at taking off mistake and laugh on it mistake now what i want you to do is go through all right which is the correct preposition you should use i want you to go through and think about what should you change those prepositions to let's look through this together okay so a long time ago i had a terrible flight experience leaving from new york remember you would travel to some place but if you're leaving you're going to leave from there so you're leaving from new york first the flight was delayed by three hours so something might be delayed by a certain amount of time delayed by many people complained about waiting for so long so you would complain about something now you could complain to someone if you're talking to a person but in this case we're not talking to a person you're talking about you're complaining about the delay and you're complaining about waiting or you're complaining about waiting for so long you wait for a period of time after a few hours everyone was told the plane was incapable of taking off you are incapable of doing something i had to wait until the next morning to leave that was a long time ago now i can look back and laugh about it i hope that this grammar quiz this little interactive quiz was helpful for you that is what it's all about in order to practice your skills and actually talk about why the grammar is the way it is so if you learn something new if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button let me know that is the way that you can let me know that okay in the future we should do more grammar lessons --- ## 264. Confusing Phrasal Verbs with Similar Meanings | Improve English Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `E6kikSWsBbM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6kikSWsBbM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:24:30 | --- we need to have a talk about phrasal verbs okay so phrasal verbs can be very confusing they can be very annoying but they're very important to learn because we use them quite often especially when speaking now today i want to look at some phrasal verbs that well they these can be very confusing because their meaning is similar nevertheless there are some slight differences which i want to teach you and this is really going to help with your comprehension and your overall english fluency so all of that is coming right up hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com the channel that's all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today we're talking about phrasal verbs and well we're going to be talking about why some of them are so confusing so let's just go ahead and start with these two phrasal verbs right here burn up and burn down now when i first started teaching english and you know i was having to learn a lot about the english language and one of the things that i came across was just trying to show how crazy the english language could be and somebody was asking a question and they said how is it possible that a house can burn down at the same time it's burning up that just doesn't make any sense but it it's true that can happen because if we have this sentence and somebody says oh my god my house is burning down all right it means the same thing and somebody could say oh my god my house is burning up so both of these phrasal verbs mean that something is destroyed by fire and in the example that i just gave you you could use either phrasal verb you could say my house is burning down or my house is burning up either one of them it's okay they mean the same thing but there are there there is a slight difference between these two phrasal verbs because if you say that something is burning down what that makes me think of is some type of structure like a home or a building or a bridge and when it burns down that structure is just destroyed and often it may just collapse if we're talking about something that burns up it makes me think of something that is perhaps smaller like an individual item not always because you could say that a home is burning up but i think uh you you will typically use this with smaller individual items paper a book or perhaps photo albums let's use that as an example so if you have this home and your home is burning down inside the home maybe you have some photo albums it's a smaller item and if it's destroyed by the fire then you would say my photo albums burned up in the fire they were destroyed by the fire but another word that i want to give you to help you probably better understand it would be that it was consumed by this fire i think that that word may help you make a distinction between burn down and burn up so if something burns up it's really consumed you could also use the phrasal verb when you you get rid of energy when you consume energy you can burn up calories and the other thing that i would say about burn up i think there is a level of intensity that this is happening uh right in front of you it's intense it's really hot it's getting hotter and hotter and in that case think of the same way if somebody has a fever they might say wow your forehead is burning up you're really burning up it's intense it's getting hot and and that is another way in which you could use this phrasal verb so in my original example of saying that my house is burning down or my house is burning up i think they are interchangeable you could use either one but i think it's because you are talking about something that is happening right at that moment you are watching this structure getting destroyed by the fire my house is burning down you are watching the the home getting consumed and it's very intense my house is burning up if we're going to talk about this in the past and it's already happened i think in that case most people would use burn down and you could say last year my home burned down all right you're probably not going to use burn up if you're talking about something that that's larger like a home you may use it if you are looking at it at that moment and you see that the fire is consuming it it's very intense you you could say oh no my house is burning up so again even though these phrasal verbs have a very similar meaning there are some slight differences between the two now let's look at the phrasal verbs walk up and walk down so let me give you an example perhaps you are looking for a restaurant and you ask somebody on the street hey do you know where this restaurant is and they say oh it's it's just right over there just just walk down the street and you'll see it or maybe they say just walk up the street and you'll see it in this case that both are correct you can use either one because walk down and walk up it means that you are just walking to some place i would say that there can be some subtle differences because you can take geography into consideration so for example if a person is going to be walking uphill then i'm more likely to use walk up just just walk up the street and you'll see it if the person's going to be walking downhill then i'm probably going to use down just walk down the street and you'll see it and if it's flat well then you can use either one i would say that i i think that in spoken english people are more likely going to use walk down now one way we can check this is using a great resource like google's engram viewer which pretty much shows you how common different words and phrases are and you can compare the two so i can compare walk up and walk down and when i looked it up lo and behold i saw that their usage is very similar one is not that much more common than the other and then i was thinking wait maybe am i wrong is it just me that i would use walk down and a lot of other people would use walk up perhaps that is the case but we can look at it a little closer in depth because if you use walk up it can also mean something that's a little different so walk up can mean to uh to uh to walk to a person or place with a level of confidence that you are feeling very confident you have something you want to say and you might walk right up to some person or you walk up to some place let me give you some examples i could say she walked up to her boss and said i quit all right she walked up to her boss she was very confident and and really had something important to say another example uh would be he walked up to her and asked her out on a date again in that situation you are walking to someone but it really there really is a level of confidence that you have when you are going to this person or or this place so when i went back to google engram viewer i was a little more specific with my uh with my phrase and i put in walk down the street and walk up the street and yes in that case uh you can see that walk down the street is more more common than walk up the street and this also applies to drive if you want to say drive up or drive down perhaps you're looking for a grocery store and you ask somebody and they say oh it's it's just just drive down the road and you'll see it in about 10 minutes or just drive up the road and you'll see it in 10 minutes again they're interchangeable they mean the same thing you are driving to some place but i think it also applies if somebody's going to be driving uphill you could use drive up if they're driving downhill drive down and if it's flat either one but once again i think drive down is going to be used more often in spoken english now let's look at these phrasal verbs take off and lift off so i could say the helicopter is taking off or the helicopter is lifting off both of them are correct and both of them kind of mean the same thing in this case but these phrasal verbs do have a bit of a difference so for example take off refers to an aircraft or a bird or an insect that leaves the ground and begins to fly liftoff refers to the action of some aircraft or spacecraft that is leaving the ground and typically with liftoff i i kind of think of going straight up you are going straight up from a particular point so i could you could say that a rocket could lift off the ground or a helicopter could lift off the ground a hot air balloon could lift off the ground a drone could lift off the ground so if we're talking about takeoff i could use takeoff with all of those as well i could say the rocket took off the helicopter took off the hot air balloon it also took off even the drone it took off because i can use takeoff with with all of those as well as many more if we're talking about well like birds insects and planes take off is used much more often than lift off the reason why i think somebody would use liftoff would be if they they just want to be a little more specific and precise when whenever they're speaking or perhaps writing and they want to say that that this aircraft is leaving the ground and it's kind of moving straight up so you think of a rocket a helicopter a hot air balloon a drone those are things that can lift off but they could also take off as well i hope that you have a little bit of a better understanding about the differences between these phrasal verbs even though in certain instances they are interchangeable and you could use either one and finally i hope that i hope that you learned something new and if you did learn something new please hit that like button thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 265. Confusing Words You Need to Know | Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `6_6xVRcQ66g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_6xVRcQ66g) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:44:20 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson my name's Wes this is Interactive English the perfect place for you guys to practice and improve your English skills so today's lesson is super cool because I am going to talk to you about some confusing words for English learners and go over eight different words that might be very confusing for you so we're gonna talk about that today now our reason why this is important is because in English there are so many different vocabulary words there's so many different words to learn some of them are very similar so it's easy for people to get confused so I'm gonna talk to you about eight different commonly confused words that might be troubling English learners so Before we jump into that I want to hear from all of you guys I want you guys whether you're watching this now or even later tell me your name say what's up write it in the comments we just love hearing from you guys so hi junior Ivy autist mauriello a lot excellent great to have you guys here with me today sorry if I missed some names but I will try to say what's up to everybody as I can so thank you guys for joining me today again we're talking about some confusing words in English and this is a great way if you know these words if you know how to use them correctly this is a great way to improve your overall English fluency as well as your comprehension because you'll know the meaning of what people are trying to say so let's first talk quickly about well why why do people confuse some of these words and I've given you three different reasons why it might be a grammar rule whether a word is a noun and word is a verb so it could just be the part of speech which confuses people the words could be you could have two different words that have a very similar meaning but the meaning might be slightly different and because of that learners might use the incorrect word and the last reason would be homonyms so you may have seen this graph before we had it in a previous lesson when I talked to you about some confusing words and if you want to check that lesson out later on I'll throw up a card so you guys can see that lesson as well I'm not gonna get into all the details of this if you want to check that graph out later you can look at it pause the video it really is useful but homonyms when you have words that are spelled differently but they sound the same or maybe sometimes they're even spelled the same it can really be confusing as to not only which word you should use but if you're listening to somebody else thinking like okay well wait a second what which word are they talking about I'm not I'm not really sure what they're trying to say right now so there are many reasons why you should try to learn these words and I'm gonna tell you about these eight words I'm gonna give you the part of speech as well as talk to you about their meaning and we're gonna go over some example sentences and then at the end we're gonna do a quick little practice and I'm gonna test your skills and see just how much you guys remember so if you guys are with me right now one thing I would recommend even if you're watching this later as we go through some of these words I am such a big advocate of practice practice practice practice all right take some of those words and write an example sentence give us an example sentence so that way that if people are watching this right in the chat now or you're watching this later you can see these other examples and see how these words are used in context and it's great to practice because that's the best way to learn so let's first look at these two words right here now they may look very similar because they're spelled either spelling is a little similar but the pronunciation is very different so the first one is the verb lose okay lose is the verb LOSC and it means to misplace something or it could be not to win a game or a contest so this is a word that has a multiple meaning the example sentence I don't want to lose my keys and again we're talking about winning a match like oh I don't want to lose the match now again this is in the present simple because the past is lost and that's not really going to confuse people but in the present simple it might confuse people so lose LOSC don't confuse it with this word right here loose now if you hear loose then you're talking about the adjective and that means that something doesn't fit correctly so I I found that image and that sentence like oh she likes wearing loose shirts I am also somebody who likes wearing loose clothes some people I think the style now is to ver wear very tight shirts and tight jeans I like to wear loose clothes so again don't confuse lose with loose and again if you're with us now practice write write some sentence alright so you can su you can practice using those remember lose misplace you don't have it or you don't win the match loose is talking about the way something fits so when you think loose LOSC think about clothes alright that's probably what they're talking about the next one which i think is commonly confused is this right here so we have the the difference is maybe is one word it's an adverb and you're talking about perhaps possibility one word maybe oftentimes you see this at the beginning of a sentence maybe I'll go that way maybe I'll go this way maybe two words is it's a verb it's a helping verb may plus the main verb to be because when you're talking about helping verbs we are using the base verb afterwards may be and the thing that makes the reason this is confusing and I gave you that example sentence she may be in her office the reason this is confusing is because the meanings are similar one is an adverb one is a verb the adverb means again possibility in the maybe two words we are talking about a modal of possibility you don't know it's possible so for example she may be in her office it's possible we don't know if we could we could also say same meaning but using the adverb maybe she's in her office it means the same thing but again you want to be very careful with these words right here because I think most people would would confuse this in spelling if you are having to write something an email or a paper this is where people get in trouble because the pronunciation is the same maybe maybe so just be careful especially when you are writing these words right here next let's look at this hominem right here stationery versus stationery so this is a word that just has a multiple meaning you can talk about it as an adjective when it's saying something is stationary it's not moving she's using the stationary bike you can see her exercising up there not moving she's stationary it's an adjective as a noun stationary is talking about things that you you write on little pieces of paper that you would find in somebody's office and I gave you that example sentence he just bought new ooh stationary he just bought some new stationery so let's look at next we have these two words right here and again the spelling is a little different and the pronunciation is going to be very different because as the verb all right which is breathe to breathe you are basically taking air in and out breathe he's learning to breathe fire the little dragon right there is learning to breathe this is different than the noun which the meaning is similar but again the the pronunciation is different breath right here BR EA th breath you're talking about when you the you're taking air n it could also be again just the the the air in and out so it's it's very similar but one's a one's a verb one is a noun she took his breath away so let me try and give you another example of this so if I'm talking about the verb again it's an action breathe I'm basically breathing now if we're here maybe you yet maybe you're you're in front of me and you'd be like oh wait what did what did you have for lunch I don't know I don't like the smell of your breath then you're using it as a noun alright so somebody can have bad breath I try not to brush my teeth use gum but as an example you can people are breathing the action but breath is the noun alright you are you're holding your breath okay so there are many different examples for that the next one moving right along these two words right here again the big difference is a part of speech and this is advice versus advise so again the the meaning is very similar the spelling is going to be different and the part of speech is going to be different so if we're talking about the noun we're talking about advice recommend recommendation guidance that somebody's given you they give you advice the noun the cookie gave me some great advice those fortune cookies right there gave me some great advice and that was to eat more cookies that was some good advice now in the chat what I want to do or in the comments since we're talking about advice I want you to tell me what advice do you have for everyone else on how to improve your English skills we all want to improve our skills we want to get better what's some advice that you have for everybody else here write it in the chat write it in the comments and let us know what's something that worked for you what what some advice that you have now if we're talking about the verb the action of giving those suggestions those recommendations then we are advising someone to advise the spelling is different all right so be careful especially when you are writing these as well as saying this because advice with a C all right that C is gonna sound like an s advice advise that S is going to sound like a Z advise and this is something this is my advice to you to all students I advise students to study a little bit each day I always advise people to study a little bit each day it's very important it really really helps that is my advice to everyone so example sentence perfect Kyra I advise English learners to study vocabulary and grammar rules in context perfect excellent thank you for sharing with us next we have this right here less versus fewer now both less and fewer they are determiners and if you're wondering well what the heck is a determiner a determiner is a word that comes before a noun that kind it gives the noun a little context it gives us some more information often when we think of determiners you might think of articles those are also determiners a and the fewer and less they are also determiners because it's basically giving us information talking about an amount so we use less basically saying not as much fewer not as many so the difference between less and fewer is less is non count non count nouns we use fewer with count nouns so notice I didn't give you any example sentences because right now since we're we're moving along I want you guys to write the example sentences write them in the chat or if you're even if you're watching this later write it in the comments it's always good to practice practice practice don't worry about making mistakes just just write us a sentence share with us we want to hear from you guys so remember we use less with non count nouns less candy less water less rice thinking of a lot of food right now from probably gonna get some to eat after this fewer we're going to use it with things that we can count and again a way of telling that if a noun is plural and you can add an S to it then it's probably a count noun apples plural we can add an S so we're going to use fewer fewer apples fewer students fewer chairs now this is fewer and less this is one that really can confuse people I think even native speakers as well because I wanted to tell you that if you go to America and you go to a grocery store you might see this used incorrectly because I think in most grocery stores or many around the world if you have if you don't shop a lot and maybe you'd only get 10 things or you or you have or you or you have fewer than 10 items you can go to a special line which which is faster and a lot of those times you'll see a sign at the top there and it might say something 10 items or less and this is grammatically speaking it is incorrect but this is something that you will see in grocery stores all across America 10 items or less and it brings back that other conversation well is it okay what if what if people in America or Britain are using the language incorrectly what does that mean and and that is a separate debate but again I'm just trying to show you that there are many instances where whether you are an English Learner or you are a native English speaker people will use words incorrectly all the time I use them incorrectly as well some of them and you just got to keep studying and studying and learning but so that you know that this is how they should be used the correct way we use less with non-count nouns and we use fewer with count nouns if you're in the store it should say ten items or fewer so next what I want to show you is oh somebody have a great example sentence yeah we should consume less sugar if we want to be healthy perfect perfect next let's look at these two words right here another hominem all right but they're spelled differently or are they story versus story the pronunciation is the same we're talking about two words here they're both nouns most commonly we're gonna talk about the word here which is talking about a tail and account you're talking about something that that people might tell they tell a story or you're maybe you're reading a story it's it's something events that are happening it is a story it's a noun and we're talking about here you could talk about a terrifying story so right now I want you guys practice again see practice using these words and give me a sentence if you can in the chat in the comments now story down here is talking about a a level of a building now it can be used as so for example I have this a two-story building alright it's a building that has two floors alright a story is basically again a way of saying floor if they're synonyms three floors three stories ten floors ten stories now one thing that's confusing is story sto re y that is how most English varieties British English that's how they will spell it Americans like me since we're a little weird and we're a little crazy we don't spell it this way we spell it like this one talking about events people will spell it sto ry so that is one another little difference between British English and American English would be the spelling of this word right here but if you're talking about a story again you're talking about how many levels something has how many floors does it have how many stories next we have these two words desert and desert okay so let's let's start with the first one because again some of these words have multiple meanings and they have different pronunciations as well so if we're talking about the now the the desert the desert you think of the sand think about dry weather it's the noun it is a place the verb desert to desert means to abandon something to desert desert desert the difference would be the emphasis where that stress is so the noun desert the stress is on the first syllable the verb desert the stress is on the second syllable as when it's an adjective it's also talking about an abandoned place nobody's there so for example right here you have the desert a desert island and basically they're not talking about an island that's full of sand or hot it's basically an island that would be abandoned all right it is deserted don't confuse that with this different spelling remember double s to s is something that probably many of us love including myself and that is desert so this is a noun that's just talking about something sweets a meal that we all like to have desert desert versus desert I can't even say the desert like think of a place the noun versus desert so again this is the the pronunciations gonna be a little different spelling is definitely different and just make sure that you are eyes you're trying to use these correctly so let's look at thank you for example sentence Giselle my favorite dessert is ice cream excellent I love ice cream as well my favorite ice cream is vanilla I love it so you know I know some of you may think oh that's such a boring flavor but you know like I said Americans were a little a little weird a little crazy so now that we've talked about the some of these words let's let's practice them I'm gonna give you some questions and I want you to write the answers in the chat and even if you're watching this later I want you to interact this is interactive English in practice write your answers in the comments all right write to us write to us write to us we want to hear from you guys so let's look at number one all right write your answers in the comments here is your question all right here's my mmm join our social media classes are you going to use advise or advice remember the difference between these the part of speech one's a noun one is a verb here's my mmm join our social media classes what would you guys say are you are you going to use advice or advise alright so yes excellent I see many people I V lotta Ana Ani Patricia excellent the answer is we're talking about the noun alright we're talking about the noun advice that you would give something here's my advice join our social media classes and yes if you have not joined us Facebook Twitter Instagram please join our social media classes we love posting questions interacting with you guys helping you practice your English skills join them next we have this question right here write your answer in the chat in the comments how would you complete this sentence take a deep and relaxed are you going to use remember remember the difference alright breath breathe which one would complete that sentence again we're talking about one's a verb one's a noun in this case take a deep and relaxed what would you say breath or breathe alright remember so if I'm saying take deep alright the key word in there think of because that means we're talking about the noun and the noun is breath all right take a deep breath and relax take a deep breath and relax perfect alright next let's look at this one now this is a double one remember what's the difference between loose and lose this is something that many many many people will confuse if your pants are too hmm you might hmm your pants and this is this has happened to me before actually if your pants are too hmm you might hmm your pants how would you complete that sentence what do you guys think remember the difference one is talking one is a verb the other is an adjective alright remember I said loose all right loose LOSC is talking about clothing okay it's all so it's just it's an adjective describing clothing if your pants are too loose you might verb the base verb you might lose your pants if your pants are too loose you might lose your pants excellent Rosi Annie Patricia Sam excellent Ivy thank you guys for answering you guys rock this so remember just to recap in case you joined us a little late these are the words that we were talking about the difference between lose and loose we just discussed this loose lose is the verb you're talking about losing something or maybe not winning a contest loose think clothing alright loose something is loose maybe versus maybe both of them are talking about possibility one is an adverb the one word maybe is an adverb maybe maybe I'll get something to eat after this and maybe is talking about the verb you're talking about you're helping verb and the mae-mae verb the main verb so for example she may be in the office today so remember when you're writing remember the difference between these two stationery this is a homonym and multiple multiple meaning word stationery versus stationery it either means not moving or little little piece of paper cute little pieces of paper that you would write on this was another question breathe versus breath breathe is the action breathing in and out and breath is the noun is just talking about the air itself all right maybe you hold your breath maybe somebody has bad breath maybe they have wonderful breath who knows the next one we talked about advice the noun versus advise so again we're talking about recommendations suggestions one is a noun advice the other is a verb advise this one I told you is commonly confused even among native speakers less and fewer it's a matter of count versus non count we use less with non count words less candy fewer with count words fewer apples we discuss story and story versus story another hominem story is talking about a tale a bunch of events that are happening and this story down here it can mean like floors of a home floors of a building how many stories does the building have and desert and desert versus desert desert can be the noun about a dry place it can also be talking about the as a verb and an adjective it's abandoned all right a deserted area and then you could have dessert which is the noun talking about sweets so I hope that you guys I hope you enjoyed this lesson please if you did like it give us a thumbs up we really appreciate it if you have other questions once this video gets posted write to us in the comments we want to hear from you guys and if you know of other words that you think are confusing share those with us as well write them in the comments it's always good to share with everybody so we can learn more and more and more and more that is the goal thank you guys so much for watching for being here again as I recommended before join our social media classes it's a great way to practice and improve your English skills Vivian jr. any to sell a lot Raymond thank you guys for being here again sorry sorry sorry Mattia sorry if I miss some of your names I'm glad that you guys made the time and joined us for this lesson and again we will be back next Saturday we will have another lesson out on Tuesday another live lesson next Saturday hope you guys can join us then and we'll see you next time have a great day --- ## 266. Correct Your Grammar Mistakes | Lesson for Beginner, Intermediate, & Advanced Learners | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BBVsrdwuLeE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBVsrdwuLeE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:26:29 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson thank you guys so much for joining me my name is Wes and here on our channel at interactive English it's all about just trying to help you guys practice and improve your English skills and today it's a grammar lesson and it's about trying to help you well there's a lot of different grammar that we're going to talk about in today's lesson because it is all about correcting your grammar correcting your grammar mistakes and this is very I think it's very important especially in writing if you are writing an important email or some important message in English and you want to make sure that it's correct the first thing you need to do is just go back and reread it and see if you can identify those mistakes and that's what we're going to practice in this lesson is trying not only to identify different grammar mistakes but then see if you can correct them as well as well and and say okay here is the mistake this is how we need to correct it now so I have a bunch of different questions for you and I'll give you the the sentence we'll see if you can identify where the there's a problem with the grammar and then I'll tell you the answer and also after every answer if you want more information about this specific grammar I will give you a link to a previous lesson that I did talking all about the grammar if that's something you would like to learn a little bit more about and I've mentioned that this lesson is for I tried to make it for everyone for beginner learners intermediate learners as well as advanced learners and we're going to start with a little bit easier grammar and then as we go through these it's going to get a little more difficult and at the end those will definitely be advanced grammar questions so we'll say I hope I'm very confident that you guys are going to do very well on this on this practice so I do just want to give quick shout out to some people who are with me right now hello Vincent Lally 8in great to see you guys Shivani Lally Dan Edward thank you guys I will try to mention some more names as as we go through the lesson but let's just begin all right so here is the first question that I have for you all right and this is something that I might say but there is a mistake okay before we begin please go ahead and hit a like button alright now in this sentence in this statement there's a problem there is a a grammar problem see if you can identify it if you can write it in the chat let me know what you think the problem is and also see if you can correct it so what do you think all right what do you think is the problem with this sentence all right which well I don't want to give you too much - too many hints or clues before we begin please go ahead and hit a like button all right all right I see yes Leanne Shivani excellent so the problem is with the article like button all right in this case we're talking about a we're talking about a specific count noun so you should say before we begin please go ahead and hit the like button and I give you a little more information here we use the article the when referring to specific count nouns so in this case where the word button is a count noun you can have more than one button so for example right now in front of you there are two buttons there's a a like button and a dislike button and if I'm being specific I'm talking about the like button the same way that if somebody you go somewhere and somebody says oh here why don't you sit in a chair they're not specific talking about any chair but if I'm specific and say sit in the blue chair that is when you would want to use the article the the definite article and if you want to learn more about the definite article the I'm gonna throw this I'll put these links down in the description below once the lesson is over then I'm also gonna put them in the chat right here so this is a lesson that I did all about the rules for of when you should use this definite article so this was the mistake in here it's just talking about the article a n or the all right the next question are the next statement that I have for you is this one all right this weekend I bought a blue brand new shirt all right what's the problem with this sentence and again with grammar I think if you you know that there's a problem first of all because I've told you that there is a problem even if you you're not sure about it I think I hope that you can at least read the sentence and think okay this just does not sound right this doesn't sound natural somebody would say oh this weekend I bought a blue brand-new shirt all right what do you think is the problem with this sentence alright and these are these are different they're they're all gonna be different so it's not about the article all right alright so again Claudia yes you kind of got it the the order maybe this is challenging Aden excellent Luisa the the problem is with those adjectives when you're talking about I bought a blue brand-new shirt all right there there are two different adjectives as you know blue and brand-new and those are not in the right order because when you're talking about adjective order you would say this weekend I bought a brand new blue shirt you're going to put the condition of something if it's brand new if it's old you're going to put that before the color and those are those are pretty common adjectives that people would use when describing something they're gonna use the condition and the color like I Drive an old red truck all right I put old before the condition before the color and the old red truck so in this case we're talking about a brand new blue shirt adjective word order if this is something again if you want to learn more about adjectives word order I did a live lesson a while back and I talked about it in much greater detail again I will throw this in the chat so I hope this this helps you that if you are not able to get something correct and you think oh I didn't know that then you can go look at these other lessons and hopefully that will help you learn a bit more about this specific grammar all right so let's go for the next one see if you can identify the mistake here all right now this is it's a conversation between different people person a person B and it starts out person a saying did you enjoy the meal and then for somebody said Wes ate everything but the broccoli oh really why you just don't like it okay so this is a conversation between two people person a and person B did you enjoy the meal Wes ate everything but the broccoli oh really why he just don't like it okay so I hope that maybe this one it stands out a little bit more this mistake this grammar mistake and yes I if some of you if you've been following many of our lessons I have an ongoing rivalry with broccoli all right I've mentioned that several times before so yes excellent NAT Daniel Luisa so the problem is subject-verb at the end he just don't like it he we don't say he don't he doesn't all right he doesn't he just doesn't like it excellent hello Oh rod excellent perfect Gustav Vicki welcome so subject verb agreement he doesn't and the reason why I chose this is because when this is one of the times where I definitely hear learners make a mistake not just with writing but with speaking as well because you say if you want to say the negative do not I do not we do not you do not but if the subject is he she or it then you're going to use he doesn't she doesn't it doesn't so in this case it's just subject verb agreement and this is something again I think you you may hear it people even people in the US you may hear them break this rule if you're watching a movie or TV show so I understand why it might confuse people if they hear other people breaking this rule but just just be careful especially with your writing because writing is a bit more formal you want to make sure that the subject agrees with the verb and if you want to learn more about subject verb agreement all right all right they're right there in the chat I put that link to a lesson we did on subject verb agreement the next one uh let's look at the next question let's just move right along and say this is true not this this is there's a mistake with this but I could say to tell you the truth I'm really exciting about this lesson all right to tell you the truth I'm really exciting about this lesson what is the mistake in this sentence what I'll give you a hint what word is the problem and if even if you're not able to identify exactly what the problem is I hope that you can at least read it and think something is not right this just does not sound normal natural for somebody to say a sentence like this alright so I think many of you were able to identify it yes Bush Rob's a Nam go see ax the word exciting that is the problem instead of using the ing adjective I should use the IDI adjective to tell you the truth I'm really excited about this lesson and there are many different adjectives that are EDI ng for example bored or boring excited exciting tired tiring exhausted exhausting and it's it's important to know the difference because we use those IDI adjectives in general to describe like a feeling the way a person feels like I'm excited ing adjectives are often used to describe a situation if you're describing a movie oh the movie I saw last week it was so exciting the movie was exciting so keep that in mind those IDI and ing adjectives and again if you want to know a little bit more and do some more practice here is a link to a lesson that I did quite a long time ago on Edie and ing adjectives and I will again I will put all of these links down in the description after the lesson so in case you want to go back and and learn a little bit more about this specific grammar let's continue so we're starting it's gonna continue getting a little more difficult slowly little by little so this one a question have you ever went to Thailand all right what do you think have you ever went to Thailand so this is a the grammar that we're talking about it's called the present perfect it's a question in the present perfect so I'm telling you right now it should be the present perfect it's a very common question if you're talking about places that you you you want to travel or places you have traveled in the past and somebody might say hey have you ever have you they wouldn't say have you ever went to Thailand instead yes I think excellent you guys Rock that one where say Martha Rita Rose perfect um have you ever you could say a few different things and I gave you some different examples you you really need to use the past participle because when we're talking about the present perfect you're going to have the helping verb which is have plus the past participle so in this case I actually changed the verb I said have you ever been to Thailand the reason why I change the verb is because I think this is a little more common that somebody would use the verb to be have you ever been to Thailand have you ever been to China have you ever been to Brazil however you could still use that verb go and go went gone gone is the past participle and it's perfectly fine you could say have you ever gone to Thailand that is a question in the present perfect or maybe you want us to use travel have you ever traveled to Thailand all of those are correct you just need to make sure that you are using the the verb have plus the past participle but just in case you're wondering what the difference is I think commonly more common people would ask this using the verb to be have you ever been have you ever been to someplace alright excellent you guys you guys rock that one let's look at the next one all right we have a conditional scent oh wait I forgot to throw in again if you want to learn a little bit more about the present perfect here mm-hmm here's a lesson another that I did quite quite a long time ago all right so we're moving into a conditional sentence all right if it will rain tomorrow we'll we'll plan a picnic for next weekend all right I told you it is a conditional sentence but there is a mistake there is a grammar mistake and what what do you guys think can you identify the mistake if it will rain tomorrow we'll plan a picnic for next weekend all right so let's see excellent I'm the tea sireesha dairy star I've mispronounced names excellent when you're talking about the first conditional you're talking about something that is well true but likely it's something in the future so in this case you're going to have the if if clause which is going to be your your condition and then the result is going to be your main clause and the reason I'm using these words like your if clause and your main clause because your main clause that is where the main verb should be and when I say main verb that is the verb that really determines if something is in the present if it's in the past or if it's in the future so our main clause which is will plan a picnic for tomorrow that is going to be our future tense verb so in the if clause which is our condition if it rains tomorrow you will use the present simple so that is just a rule if you're talking about the first conditional that in the condition you're going to use the present simple and the the main in the result you're going to use the future tense if it rains tomorrow we'll plan a picnic for next weekend okay so this I know this is something that I think can confuse learners when you talk about conditional sentences because they might think oh I'm talking about the future why can't I why can't I say if it will rain but you got to remember that that is not the main clause all right that is your that is your if statement and that is not going to determine the time that something happens so just remember present simple and then the future and if you want to learn more about the first conditional again you're in luck because I have this whole entire lesson that I've done on the first conditional I've actually done lessons on all the conditionals if you want more information about them so let's continue and see just practice practice identifying these different grammar mistakes I think some of this maybe maybe some of it's a little challenging for you guys perhaps some of it is easy for you again I tried to make this lesson for as many learners as possible and started with some a little bit easier grammar and now it is it's starting to get a little more difficult and hopefully again if you see something that well I just did not know this grammar that you can go watch the other lesson and that'll help you understand it a little bit better so this one my bike my bike was stolen it-- again even if you don't know the reason why it's wrong hopefully you can look at it and be like yes this just does not this just does not sound right whatsoever my bike was stolen it-- and I already see everybody right there's just too many people to acknowledge at this point yes my bike was stolen so in this case stolen is the past participle there's that word again because we use the past participle in different instances so if we're talking about the verb steal is the present tense stole is the past tense stolen is the past participle and the reason we're using the past participle is because this is in the passive voice and we've done I've done a whole other lesson between active voice and passive voice and when you're talking about the passive voice you're going to have your subject plus the verb to be which in this case was and it's the past tense plus the past participle my bike was stolen last night I could say like but my bike was stolen last night by someone but in this case I really don't need to say bye someone because well it's just not necessary now hopefully it maybe if I want to change it to the active voice in that case the same meaning would be someone stole my bike all right so both of those sentences they have the same pretty much the same meaning it's just one is the active voice one is the passive voice and if that is a topic that you would like to learn a little bit more about again throwing that down in the chat let's look at the next one number eight I try to avoid to eat too much junk food all right it's getting maybe again in my opinion I think it's a little more difficult I try to avoid to eat too much junk food what do you think is the problem with this sentence what what word or words do we need to change in order to make this sentence grammatically correct all right I tried to avoid to eat too much junk food I think some of the a lot of you see it yes excellent sleep Walker Mike Tyson eating all right I try to avoid eating too much junk food in this case we're talking about the difference between gerunds and infinitives so a gerund is that you have that that word which is typically a verb with the ing ending eating running dancing singing or the infinitive is you have to plus the base verb and in English there are certain verbs that sometimes they are going to be followed by the gerund and other verbs will be followed by the infinitive some verbs you can use with both for example the verb like if I say I like dancing all right dancing is the jaren ing I like dancing I could also use it with the infinitive I like to dance the verb like you can use with both if we're talking about avoid you're going to follow that with the jaren I avoid traveling to dangerous places I avoid avoid I don't avoid eating junk food I probably should avoid eating junk food but I don't always so again if you're talking about verbs like avoid enjoy regret you will follow it with the jaren other examples that I gave you over there hope learn need you will follow that with the infinitive so I you know I hope to I hope to run another marathon someday all right to run that is the infinitive and if you want to learn more gerunds and infinitives here we go there is a nice long lesson nice long live lesson for you the next one is it's a question ok so this is it's definitely a question all right you're going to watch another video lesson are you alright you're going to watch another video lesson are you this is a question that I have for you right after right after this lesson right here I'm not going to ask you this question because it's wrong but what do you think is the mistake what what's wrong with this sentence you're going to watch another video lesson are you so again I hope even if you're not sure what the mistake is that you can just listen to be like wait a second there's something there's a problem with this this question and the problem is yes like many of you have just pointed out aren't you excellent in an Abu Jameel a-- we're talking about tag questions so if you don't know what tag questions are it's a way of you're asking a question but you're using a statement first so for example my statement is like you're going to watch another video lesson and then I follow that with my tag which is my tag question you're going to watch another video lesson aren't you now the rule with tag questions is that if you have a positive statement you're going to have a negative tag so in this case you're going to watch another lesson it's a positive statement so I use that negative tag aren't you kind of saying like or are you not going to do this aren't you now if it's a negative statement then you're going to use a positive tag let me give you a quick example so I'm going to change this to a negative and I'd say oh you're you're not going to watch another video lesson are you so in that case that was a negative statement followed by a positive tag you're not going to watch another video lesson are you but that's not the question I want I want to convey to you guys I'd want to ask you oh you're going to watch another video lesson aren't you and if you want to learn more about tag questions then you might want to watch this lesson right here and I hope I hope that you guys have seen some of these other lessons before and maybe that has made it easier for you to answer these questions right now so let's look at this one by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone was already ordered all right by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone was already ordered so again I hope that it's a little easier just having just this one sentence I know when you're talking about if you're if you're looking at helping somebody correct an essay or a message and you're having to read many different sentences it becomes a little more difficult to to identify different grammar mistakes but again practice practice and more practice is just a excellent way to get better at doing this so by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone was already ordered so the problem that I think some of you many of you are pointing out is the the verb was alright that is the problem we don't want to say was ordered because this is not this is not that's not a passive statement what we're talking about in this case is a different verb tense which is the past perfect by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone had already ordered this is a great example of when you would use the past perfect and I'll link the lesson in just a second but this is what it means the past perfect because we use this verb tense to refer to to an action in the past that happened before some other action in the past so you're talking about two actions in the past or two events and you're basically saying that will one happen before this one but both of them happened in the past because I say by the time I arrived at the restaurant all right that is something that happened in the past what happened before that everyone had already ordered all right that happened even further back in the past so again this is a as far as a verb tense past perfect is a little trickier and it's one that learners tend to learn later on is the past perfect tense it's great to know good to use there is a lesson that we did talking all about the past perfect if you want to learn more about this verb tense then we have this one I hope that I hope that you guys get this one because this was I think a more popular lesson that we did the doctor recommends she gets some sleep alright the doctor recommends she gets some sleep what do you think all right what would you say is the problem is the problem with this sentence write your answer write it in the chat and even if you're watching again this later on I would always encourage you write your answers in the comments it's a great way to again you're practicing your writing skills and you are actually getting a little bit more practice so the doctor recommends she gets some sleep all right now all right I see some people you you got it now the what what this sentence is it's talking about the subjunctive mood and we did a lesson before about the subjunctive mood so the the problem with this the grammar would be gets all right Oh future Cydia thank you thank you guys for joining thanks for becoming a member excellent so gets is the problem with this and let me show you what the the sentence should read the doctor recommends that she gets some sleep now the one thing I didn't have before is that word that in this case it's optional all right you don't have to say that if you want to you can use it if you don't want to that's perfectly fine it does not change it does not make the sentence correct or incorrect I could say the doctor recommends she gets some sleep that's perfectly fine the doctor recommends that she gets some sleep that's also perfectly fine now the question would be she get because many of you might be wondering we'll wait you just talked about subject verb agreement the subject has to agree with the verb she gets now when we're talking about the subjunctive mood this is an instance when you are not going to conjugate that verb with the subject you're just going to use the base verb the doctor recommends she gets some and it's not we don't use it with many verbs but there are some verbs that you may commonly use the subjunctive mood I've listed them down there verbs like recommend suggests proposed insist demand those are verbs that that grammatically to be grammatically correct you would use the subjunctive mood and just say she yet this is a rule that I think you may hear a lot of people breaking especially in spoken English but just to be grammatically precise this would be an example of the subjunctive mood and I did another lesson talking about three common grammar makes a while back and one of them was discussing the subjunctive mood so there is a link to that lesson right there in the chat let's do let's do another one all right now this one I feel like is definitely this is more advanced grammar and hopefully hopefully you can just because it's one sentence hopefully you can get it and think oh okay I understand this if I will take some medicine this morning I wouldn't feel sick right now so you see that if then that just tells you right there this is a conditional sentence it's another conditional sentence so what do you think is the problem with this or what might be the problem if I will take some medicine this morning I wouldn't feel sick right now okay so what I would go ahead and tell you remember I told you that in the the result our main Clause that is where your main verb is such as I wouldn't feel sick right now all right so would not feel that is our main verb and it's talking about the present okay the problem is in the condition if I will take some medicine this morning all right I don't want to use the future tense that is incorrect the reason why this is challenging is because it is a next conditional alright if I had taken some medicine this morning I wouldn't feel sick right now I say it's a mixed conditional because the first part the condition is the third conditional if I had taken some medicine this morning the third conditional is used to talk about things that are well kind of impossible and it's mostly it's impossible because it already happened you cannot change this so in that case you're going to use that past perfect if I had taken medicine this morning and this next one the result is a present result which is going to be the the second conditional all right I would not if I would not feel sick right now so you're mixing the second and the third conditional which is why it's called a mixed conditional and this is definitely this is definitely something that can be very confusing and I did a rather long lesson before about mixed conditionals and I really tried to break it down and give you a lot of different examples hopefully to make it easier so if you want to learn more about mixed conditionals you can go check out that lesson right there and once again I will link all of these down in the description below so I I really hope that you guys enjoyed this lesson and if you like what we do here at interactive English and you want to sponsor support our channel you can check out our youtube membership there is a button on our page or you can join us on patreon we have some cool rewards there are links down below - to both of them in the description and I said we had a new member today Petri said ASR if I mispronounce your name but thank you so much for becoming a member and again I would encourage you if you saw some grammar today in one of these questions that you thought was confusing that you don't really understand I would encourage you to go watch that the other lesson that I posted and hopefully that'll help you give that'll give you a clearer understanding about how the grammar is used so thank you guys so much for for joining me today so disha the Cardo Aiden now Mike Tyson Sajid yoga Vivek Alisa Angela Lalique OCA just trying to run through some names as as quickly as possible lolli Rose Gustav Vicki Daniel Gertrudis thank you guys so much I hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend NAT yes thank you Father's Day Father's Day is tomorrow is my second my second Father's Day that I am celebrating hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 267. Correcting Celebrity Twitter Mistakes | Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IW6RISoG1Bc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW6RISoG1Bc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:54:00 | --- everyone makes mistakes even celebrities and today I want to correct those mistakes together that's coming up [Music] what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and the way that we're going to practice our English skills today is by trying to identify different mistakes and see if we can correct those mistakes and these are mistakes that are on Twitter now I know what you're thinking Twitter it is not the best place for somebody to learn English if you are reading through tweets then you are going to encounter a variety of spelling mistakes grammar mistakes so we're gonna take these mistakes turn it into a positive and make it a teachable moment if you are on Twitter and you want to really get some value then check out our Twitter that is a good place to learn English and that is also a very shameless plug for our Twitter account so what we're going to do is I am going to show you some tweets tweets from famous celebrities and each tweet has a mistake maybe it has more than one mistake and I'll show you the tweet and I'll give you a moment to see if you can identify what that mistake is and afterwards we will correct it together and I will tell you what's wrong with it okay are you ready for the first celebrity tweet it comes from Lana Del Rey this is the only legitimate account I have don't follow any other account that says it's run by me what's the mistake I'll give you a moment all right technically there are two mistakes the first one is it's hopefully you spotted that one she uses the possessive it's when she really meant to use that apostrophe to make it the contraction it is don't follow any other account that says it is run by me it's run by me also there should be a period at the end but we will excuse that this is Twitter the next tweet is from Jamie Oliver the famous cooking show guy I really don't know how else to say it but he tweeted the following another true story a massive amount of UK farmers use human waste as fertilizer on their land do any other countries do this is this normal what do you think is the mistake or mess stakes okay so let's let's unpack this tweet obviously the first thing you may have noticed is just some capitalization mistakes always start a new sentence with a capital letter capital A and another capital D and do and capital I in is also UK is a proper noun so that is capitalized as well UK this is also missing the preposition about because it sounds a little awkward as it's written right now another true story about a massive amount there are also a couple of spelling mistakes he spells waste incorrectly human waste it should be spelled W a ste human waste it was the wrong hominem finally countries the plural form is spelled Co UN TR i es I understand people do this often when they just want to shorten words they want to write really fast that's what Twitter is all about but in this case you're not saving yourself a ton of time because it's really just one letter instead of YS it's just IES again these are just pet peeves I know people like ah Twitter who cares it's not serious but again it's just good practice good practice for us the next tweet is yes you guessed it the Donald all right we there's there's actually quite a bit to choose from with with his tweets but he tweeted the following Hillary Clinton should not be given national security briefings and that she is a loose cannon with extraordinarily bad judgment and instincts what's the mistake what's what's the big mistake that stands out so Donal made a simple mistake confusing the words loose and lose because the expression is a loose canon l oo.s and if you don't know what a loose canon is it's an expression that means that somebody is unpredictable uncontrollable but he should have written loose loose cannon loose versus loose there's also a spelling mistake at the end instincts is spelled I and STI ncts he forgot that n Oh Donald Donald Donald Donald the next tweet is from Justin Bieber probably somebody many of you may be familiar with pretty famous singer if you have Bieber fever is that even a thing or maybe it's a belieber people are gonna think I'm a believer just because I know that anyway he tweeted the following some video games some old movies that was a long bus ride but we here sleep what's the mistake what's what stands out to you right away what do you think so in the first part he's kind of just listing something so we'll excuse that you know some video games some old movies but that last sentence again simple sentences you need a subject and a verb but we are here but we're here I don't I guess maybe it's a little catchy R to say things like that and their fans like it but for all of you out there remember subject verb subject verb the next tweet is from Miley Cyrus another famous musician and she tweeted the following all right I don't even know what the hell that is we're not even gonna talk about this one get out of here Miley all right we're done with this let's just move on to the next week and the next one is from Khloe Kardashian famous as a reality TV star and she tweeted the following morning went for a run now I have to get my day going my legs are so sore from yesterday I kind of love being sore I know it worked do you see a mistake I see too and it's actually the same mistake so the mistake Khloe made is with just the homonym sore so you can have sore s po AR which is kind of like to fly the bird was soaring through the air but what she meant to say was that her muscles were sore which has spelled SOR e again these are homonyms the pronunciation is the exact same sore sore just be careful of the spelling I guess if we're gonna get technical I was kind of hard on Bieber for doing the subject-verb she should have a subject in that sentence I went for a run and period at the end of that last sentence but again this is Twitter you're gonna find this all the time except on interactive English where we are super nerdy and we write in complete sentences let's go to the next tweet which is from mary j blige another singer and I think she also does acting nowadays so a lot of people are very versatile in their singing and acting but she tweeted the following why is it that people always try to understand estimate my intelligence they should never do that I haven't been on continued what's the mistake what stands out to you immediately so the big thing here would be the word intelligence again the spelling for intelligence i n te ll IG e NCE intelligence once again Twitter is rife with spelling mistakes but teachable moment we can use the correct spelling intelligence she's also missing a word to make this question sound less awkward why is it that people always try to and and this is where it gets a little weird understand estimate I think what she wanted to say was underestimate my intelligence and this may be because of autocorrect but I'm pretty sure she wanted to say why is it that people always try to underestimate my intelligence the next tweet is from Rita Ora and she tweeted the following drop in my new song Monday if this get 100,000 retweets what do you see what's the problem okay in in this tweet two things stand out immediately Monday again it is a proper noun capital M also you'd say this gets subject verb agreement if this gets 100 thousand retweets period I don't know maybe that song didn't drop because seemed pretty far from those 100 thousand retweets and you know let's just do a bonus one for good measure alright I got another tweet for you and again it's from the Donald just can't get enough of this guy alright so Donald Trump tweeted another mistake can you believe it he tweeted the following looks to me like the Bernie people will fight if not their blood sweat and tears was a total waste of time cane stands for opposite what do you think what what what mistakes do you see I'll go ahead and give you that the plural mistakes and that there there's there's I'd say three big ones can you find them so in going through this tweet the first one would be there alright we're talking about the possessive their blood th e IR again this is a hominem that that I think a lot of English learners might confuse not not really sure what his excuse is though so there th e IR also we're talking about their blood sweat and tears which is a plural subject so we need a plural verb their blood sweat and tears were a total waste of time and yes waste is also it's it's misspelled or just confused it should be W a ste it is a waste of time it is not important you should not be involved in this maybe correcting this tweet is a waste of time I don't know and cane stands for opposite I you know I'm not really sure what he was going for here but probably the opposite missing that article duh so how did you guys do were you able to identify most of those mistakes if you were let me know just write to me in the comments and just say write the words Twitter champ if you are a Twitter champ and you were able to identify those comments celebrity Twitter mistakes write to me in the comments and say Twitter champ so that I know I know that you were a Twitter champ if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button and and don't forget to follow us on Twitter we are not going to make mistakes at least I hope not we probably will alright and you can point them out to us I hope you do ok thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 268. DESCRIBING GRAPHS IN ENGLISH ๐Ÿ“Š | Great for IELTS, TOEFL, or Business Presentations | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `tApPdt_Y8jE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tApPdt_Y8jE) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:33:59 | --- - You know what's more exciting than a graph? Describing it. Just kidding, they are not very exciting. But they are very useful. A graph looks like this. It's a great visual way to show us data and variables. And we see graphs everywhere. We see them at school. We see them at work. We see them in newspapers. So why do you need to know how to describe a graph? We use data graphs and analytics to talk about everything in our lives, from our gas bill, to politics, to crime rates. It's very, very, very, very important that if you are a learner of English, you need to know how to describe, what you see in a graph. We need more than just, oh the numbers are going up, or the numbers are going down. Because it's very important that your specific. And that is why your here today, to talk about, how we can describe these in English. So what I've done for this lesson, I've split it up in a few different categories. And these categories are related to the trends and how the numbers are going. How the lines are pointing. So, I'm going to talk about words that you can use to describe when the lines are going up. Words that you can use to describe when the lines go down, when they remain the same, and then of course, we'll have a practice. So what can when use if we see the numbers going up? Well first of all, we can use rise. So you can say, that the numbers are rising, or the numbers rose. So this can be like, going steady, little by little, or they could go a lot. Gas prices rose significantly in the last quarter. Another word is increased. And this is again, it's just like rise, they're synonyms. You can say the numbers are rising or the numbers are increasing. You can use either. Another word for going up is, soared or soaring. This is little different because it implies going up significantly and fast, it's a sudden increase. You have to use it if the numbers kind of just shot up. The use of electricity soared last month as temperatures dropped. Okay, so now lets talk about how to describe numbers that are going down. Of course, if you want to use a general term for numbers going down you can always say decreased. And this is very general. If you want to be safe, and your not exactly sure of the trend, of the numbers, you can always say decreased. Well how about if the numbers are kind of steadily going down. well for that you can use decline. Because a decline implies, kind of, a change in numbers going down over time. Another kind of general term, would be drop. This like just decrease, can be suddenly or it can be a little more steadily, but one thing is for sure, they're going down. The crime rate dropped last year. Now to get a little more dramatic, we can say fall. The numbers, or the sales or whatever, they fell. This is more of a sudden decrease when the numbers are falling. It's a little bit more than just slight decrease. You see a very sudden decrease, you can say that the numbers plummeted. It means that they went down far and quick. The company's stock plummeted after the CEO resigned. Now be careful when you use these words, because while some can be very general, like decreased or dropped, a words like plummeted can only, only be used, when you see a very big change in the graphs. It's very, very good word to know, especially when your describing graphs. Okay now, there's another category that I want to talk to you about and this category is, if the numbers kinda go, up and down, and up and down, and up and down. So if you see the numbers go like that, you have two choices. The first is fluctuated. And the next one is zigzag. So fluctuated really means, when the numbers are going up and down. The difference is that, they don't have to go up and down a lot. It just means that they are doing this back and forth. So they could go up and down a lot or they could go up and down a little. So we say that they are fluctuating or they fluctuated. Now zigzag is a little bit different because when you see numbers that zigzag, they have that (makes zigzagging sounds) zigzag pattern, which means that the fluctuations are really, really big. There's a really big difference between the high and low points. So because of the nature of this graph, just going like that, I wouldn't say it's very common but if you see a graph that goes exactly like that, you can say that it zigzags. You don't hear it very often because mostly fluctuations are not that high. Her blood pressure fluctuated wildly before she became ill. Okay, so how to we describe a graph, that looks kind of like a line. If we want to more specific, when numbers kind of remain the same, because this is also very important to be able to do. So, for example, if the number stay the same, we say that the numbers remain constant, stay the same, or leveled off, or we can say that the numbers or the sales or whatever stabilized. And this one, the last one, stabilize, you can only really use it when the numbers before where fluctuating, they're going up and down and then eventually they kind of became constant. So, it has an implication of, before they weren't stable but now they stabilized. The economy finally stabilized after years of fluctuation. So now that I've given you a lot of different verbs, to use in describing these graphs, how can we be even more specific? Of course we can use adverbs. So adverbs help us be even more specific, or describe a trend even more closely. We can use adverbs such as, gradually, or dramatically, or steadily, or even significantly, next to our verbs to kind of give us a little bit more of an accurate description. So I've given you so many different kinds of words that you can use because I want you to be more specific when you write or when you express what you're seeing but also because it's a little bit redundant if you keep using the same word. So please, please, please, don't keep saying, oh the numbers are rising, the numbers are rising. I want you to be able to be more specific and be able to use a lot of different ways, which is why I've given you this vocabulary. Now, I've given you a lot of great information. It's time to put it to use and practice. Look at this graph right here. What I want you to do is write a sentence in the comments describing a part of it. Be as specific as you can. Just make sure that you use the vocabulary, in our video today. I hope you enjoy this lesson and had as much fun with graphs as I did. I love graphs. So exciting. Well if you did. If you had fun and if you leaned something, please share this video with all of your friends. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time, bye. So we can use at so, blah, Yanna. Graphs looks like, oh okay. You know it's more exciting, oh okay, I need to stop. Moving on, moving on, I don't have time for this. --- ## 269. DIFFERENT WAYS TO SAY "GO AWAY!" ๐Ÿ˜ก | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8bf26hGXZsU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bf26hGXZsU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:11:45 | --- - Have you ever wanted to tell someone to go away? If so, I am going to teach you several useful ways that you can do just that. What's up, everyone? My name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills. And what I want to talk to you about today is something that is actually very useful. I want to talk to you about different ways that you can tell somebody to go away. You don't want this person around, you don't want to talk to this person anymore, so you just want them to go away, and I'm going to talk to you about several polite ways to do that, and then some impolite ways to do that as well. I'll also give you some examples so you can see how the expression is used in context. So let's begin with polite; it's better just to start with polite, and then we'll work our way to being rude and mean. But if you want to be polite and tell someone to go away, and this applies to anyone; it doesn't matter who, you can just ask them, "would you please leave?" So you're asking them a question, you're using "please" to be a little nice and say you know, would you please leave? You want this person -- (laughing) you just want them to go away! You don't want them around anymore, so it's polite; you could say, "would you please leave?" - Would you please leave? (dramatic music) - Would you please leave this room right now? - You know what? I'm not even gonna talk to you. Would you please leave? - Another polite way to tell someone to go away is just to say, "you know, I think it's time for you to go." And this is something that you might hear at a party. Say somebody's getting out of hand, and you don't want this person around anymore, you want them to go away, but you don't want to be very rude, so you might tell them, "I think it's time for you to go." That way, this person will get the hint; they will understand, alright, yeah, this person wants me to go away. - Chris, I... I think it's time for you to go. - I think it's time for you to go. - Alright, now I think it's time for you to go. - Might be time for you to go. - It's definitely not time for you to go because I have some more great expressions, and the next two that I want to talk to you about are more so for family and friends. So these are for people that you're a little closer to. And then you could say to them, "could you please give me some space?" Maybe you're having a fight, and you don't want to talk to them anymore, and you want them to go away, you could just ask them, "could you please give me some space?" This is something I think couples might say to each other all the time, especially after a fight, and (laughing) you don't want to be around the other person, and you would ask them, "could you please give me some space?" - Can you give me some space, okay? - Yeah, as Bernadette would say, give me some space. - Will wanted me to give him some space. - Something else that you could tell them, again, it's for family and friends, you might just say, "I just need to be alone." I need to be alone right now. And when somebody hears that, then they say okay, they need to be alone; that means that I need to go away. So you could tell your family, your friends, I just need to be alone right now, and that is a polite way of telling this person to go away. - I think I just need to be alone. - I think right now, I just need to be alone for a while. - I just need to be alone right now. - I need to be alone for a while. - So, you can be polite and just tell them, I just need a moment alone. Could you please give me some space? Now if we want to start moving towards being more impolite, there are two ways that you could be condescending. And if you don't know what condescending means, it's a way of talking to somebody that you feel superior to this person. You are above this person, and you're talking down to them, and when you're doing this, you are being condescending. And a way that you can be condescending and tell somebody to go away is, "run along". If somebody says run along, they're telling you to go away, and yeah, it's just rude. It's condescending, it's what adults might say to other kids, they don't want them around. They want them to go away, and they might just say, okay, run along; run along. We don't need you here anymore; run along. - Run along, now. - Okay, run along now, you impossible child. Run along. - You could also say this to other adults, but it's offensive; if somebody told me, okay, we don't need you; run along, I would be pissed off! - Run along, Cedric. - Run along; go make yourself interesting. - Run along and play with your little toys, hmmm? - Another condescending way to tell somebody to go away is just skidaddle. It's just an expression, and it means the same as run along, and again, I think more of adults talking to children when they say skidaddle. It's not as common as telling somebody to run along, and because of that, I don't think it's as offensive, either, but still, those are two condescending ways to tell somebody to go away. - You know, Mom and Dad, why don't you skidaddle for a sec, and let us hipsters talk in privo? - So now, for the moment you've probably been waiting for, (laughs) which are the rude expressions. The impolite ways to tell someone to go away. These are, I think they're pretty common. These are phrases that you would hear when watching TV or movies, probably even gonna hear them on the street. Hopefully, people aren't talking to you when they say this, but just so you know what they are, and what they mean, and you know, in case you need to use them, it's useful. So the first one is, just get lost! I think this is a very common one. If you want someone to go away, you can just look at them and say, get lost! Perhaps this person's bothering you. They're up in your face, and you say you know, get lost! Go away! I don't want to look at you. I don't want you here anymore; get lost! - Get lost! - Get lost! - I didn't steal anything from you! - Get lost (mumbles). - [Man] Get lost! - [Woman] Get lost? - [Man] Yes! - Nice try. - Get lost! - The next expression is beat it! Alright, you don't need to be here. I want you to go away, beat it! (laughing) And maybe you might even think of the famous song by Michael Jackson, "Beat It". โ™ช Beat it, beat it, โ™ช โ™ช Beat it, beat it, โ™ช โ™ช No one wants to be defeated. โ™ช - Alright, exactly! Yeah, Michael Jackson had it right. He wanted those people to go away. He wanted them to beat it! - Beat it! - Beat it! - Beat it. - Another great way to tell somebody to go away is just one word, and that is scram! Doesn't matter if it's somebody you know, or if it's somebody you don't know, if you want them to go away, you can just say, scram! You could even start throwing some of these together. Scram; beat it, get lost! Then they'll really get the hint that you want them to go away. - Now scram! - Scram! - Ew, who are you? Scram, scram! - Let's scram! - Another expression is take a hike! You can just tell the person, hey, you know, take a hike! Really try to capture that emphasis and intonation; take a hike! Because it just doesn't mean the same if you're like, hey, you know, take a hike. That person might just laugh at you, so you want to be mean; take a hike! - Take a hike! - Here; take a hike, toots! - Take a hike, tiny. - We can also tell someone to get the hell out of here! I don't want you around; go away! Get the hell out of here! (laughing) This is, yeah, that's probably one of my favorites; I probably use this maybe a little more than some of the other ones, probably get lost and you know, get the hell out of here! Get the hell out of here; I don't want you around! Get the hell out of here! Notice you end up adding "the hell", because you could just say get out of here; that's perfectly fine, but no, no, no, no, no; you want to be a little more impolite about it. You want to say, "get the hell out of here!" - Get the hell out of here. - Get the hell out of here. - Get the hell out of here! - Get the hell out of here! - Then, we have another expression which we can lace with a little profanity, and you could just tell somebody, you know, leave me the (beep) alone. I don't want, I don't want you around. I want you to go away, and I want you to leave me the (beep) alone. This is also a common one that you might hear people say, and they add that profanity, they add it to give emphasis, to make it even that much stronger, that much more impolite. Leave me the (beep) alone. - Leave me the (beep) alone! - Leave me the (beep) alone! - That's it; now leave me the (beep) alone. - And those expressions, those are all perfect for American English, but if we want to throw in some British English, you could also tell somebody to bugger off. That is British English, telling somebody to go away, just say bugger off! So if you're traveling in the UK, and you want somebody to go away, just tell them, bugger off! - Bugger off! - Bugger off! - Now, bugger off! - If you say this when you're in the US, I don't know if they'll understand you, maybe they will, based on the context, but it's better to tell somebody in the US to scram, beat it, get the hell out of here, leave me the (beep) alone! So there you have it. Those are all excellent ways that you can tell somebody to go away. So depending on whether you want to be polite or impolite, you can use those expressions, and I hope you use them wisely. If you enjoyed this lesson, and feel that you've learned something new, please hit that like button down below, and if you're interested in joining our community and having even closer contact with us, subscribe to our newsletter; a link is in the description. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. Okay, yeah; that's it. It's time for you to go. What are you... Would you please leave? I... look, please, will you just give me some space? Alright, you... you know, run along! What are you... What are you still doing here? Alright, you're starting to, you're starting to piss me off now, alright? Get out of here! Did -- did you hear me? Get the hell out of here! What -- get lost! Scram! Leave me the (beep) -- (static) You know I didn't mean any of that! I love you guys; it's just always good to review. --- ## 270. DON'T SAY THIS! You Should Say This Instead. | Upgrade Your Small Talk | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `yNmuF0LskdM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNmuF0LskdM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:57:24 | --- Don't say this. I'm going to tell you what to say instead. Now, of of course you can say anything you want. I really just want to help you upgrade your small talk. So, really this is about developing your fluency skills, developing your communication skills, and what I want to do is I want you to participate, and we're going to think of different questions and statements that you can ask whenever you're engaging in small talk. So, if you are interested in getting these lesson notes, click on the link down below in the description. Join my community. You'll have access to them. If you're already a part of it, then I have sent them to you. So, what I'd like to do is that well, let me tell you what I mean when I talk when I say small talk. This is just casual conversation that is often about, you know, unimportant topics, nothing too serious, that you're really going to have, at least in my mind, with someone that you either don't know, and you met them for the first time, or maybe somebody who's an acquaintance. You've You've met them before, but it's not like you know this person really well. Generally, when you talk about small talk with another person, I don't think about talking with close friends or family members. So, what I want to do is look at some specific questions and statements that I think are often used. Many of them are clichรฉ, and I want to share with you other things that you can use to make the conversation more vibrant, to open more doors to topics that you can then discuss and keep the conversation going. That is what's important. That's what I want you to do. I don't want to shut down conversations. I want to keep them going. So, with that in mind, I want you, when you're participating, and I want you to share your thoughts and opinions, I want you to write open-ended questions, because we're we're going to avoid these yes-no questions, and I'll tell you that right off the bat. So, if this is something that you're interested in as far as communication and and talking with others, please subscribe, turn on notifications, then that way I can become your teacher. My name is West. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. Believe it or not, I've done many many lessons. For those of you who have been following me for some time, I haven't really talked much about small talk. So, let's look at the first the first set of questions. So, these are questions that I think are I guess you could say they're cliche. That they're so commonly used, or you hear them all the time, that try to think of better questions to ask in these cases. And this is something that I'm guilty of as well, and other native speakers. So, if you feel like you are you're like, "Oh, I ask these questions." That is okay. I'm also guilty of asking these same questions, and this is something that, you know, native speakers are trying to learn and improve and work on their communication skills. It's perfectly normal. So, here is the first one. I want you to upgrade this. So, what do you do? Now, I told you again, I'm I'm guilty. I've asked this before. But, what's the issue with this? Now, as I'm going through and talking about this, I will share with you some other questions that I think are better. In the chat right now, or in the comments, what do you think? What are some better questions to ask that you think would be more engaging than just asking somebody, "So, so what do you do?" This is I said it's cliche. It's one of the most common questions, and it's fine, honestly, if you, you know, you want to talk about work. But, the the issue, at least that I'm that I'm highlighting, is it's very predictable. I I told you it's one of the most commonly asked questions. You meet someone. I I I've asked this before. I probably will end up asking this in the future. But it it can maybe, depending on the other person, it can feel a little bit like a job interview. Like, "Well, you know, tell me about your work. What What do you do? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses?" But also, I think the other important thing is that some people enjoy talking about their work. I I'm one of them. If somebody asks me about it. Other people, they may not like talking about their job. Or maybe you're in a situation where you're like, "Well, the last thing I want to talk about right now is work." I understand when you meet someone or you don't know them well, this is a common icebreaker. Let's talk about work. That's something we can both discuss. But I feel like there are other engaging questions that you can ask. So, uh keep keep those questions coming. And what samples? Again, there's no right or wrong answer in this case. what would be some relevant questions in this case? So, here are some examples. What's keeping you busy these days? In that way, you can talk about work. You could talk about something else. It doesn't matter. You're letting the other person decide. Uh what do you do for fun when you're not working? All right, we're automatically talking about something that the other person likes and enjoys. Those are things that people would would care talking about. They want to share the things that they're passionate about. And speaking of passion, what passion projects are you working on? That's a little more specific, but I think you could use this. Again, a lot of it depends on the context and and who you're talking to and where. But generally, these questions allow people to talk about more than just work. Of course, they you can talk about work. Maybe that's how they respond. What What's what's keeping you busy these days? Well, you know, work has been crazy lately because of this, that, and the other. But maybe they want to talk about a new hobby, or perhaps their family, their kids. And this just gives you more hooks to follow up on. You're talking about this time, okay, now I can ask more questions related to this other person's interest. And some people ask you you said you know, what do you do for a living? You you you could again, it's a work-related question that works. What are your interests? Um Uh what's your profession? Good, excellent. So, these are just different things that you can ask that go beyond just work. Of course, it is incredibly common for people to talk about work and that's fine, but I just want to get these, you know, the fluency juices flowing as far as what are what are some other things you can say. Here's the next one. I have a I have a little anecdote about this. So, I want you to upgrade this. Can you believe this weather? All right, it this is it it is it is cliche. And I I I want you to again, think of other things that you can ask that besides talking about the weather. Of course, there's many things that you can discuss. Uh you know, how how would you upgrade this and then I'll give you my opinion. Now, the anecdote that I want to share with you is well, first I want to say like why this is an issue. Like the ultimate I don't know what to say. We're in this, you know, I just met you. I'm not sure I can we can talk about the weather. It's a shared experience. Maybe it's there's it's been snowing a lot. It's incredibly hot. So, it is, you know, a topic that people can discuss. But because I said it's cliche, it is like the ultimate lay the ultimate okay, I don't know what I should say. Let's go to the weather. And because of that, it yeah, the conversation may not go anywhere. So, my personal experience with this I did a long time ago one of these first lessons like it was, you know, don't say this, say this kind of again trying to that's my hook to capture you into it. And one of the things I talked about was the weather. And I did not explain it as well as I'm trying to explain it right now and saying it's cliche. There are other things that you can discuss. And because I didn't do that in the comments people were so upset and they're like, I'm from this place. We always talk about the weather. We talk about the rain. We talk about the snow. And again, it was partly my fault because I didn't explain I'm like, okay, I'm not I'm not saying you can't talk about the weather, but because it's so common try to think of other ways to engage with another person that that you just met. So, let me give you my examples, but yeah, people in the comments people were not happy. The video performed quite well and maybe that was why. Maybe it was triggering for some people. you want to, you know, make a more local observation, you know, hey, I was reading about this something going on. What's your take on that? Especially if it's something that's well-known. Again, we're, you know, apart from just the weather um what are your plans this weekend? Then you're talking about, okay, what is this person actually going to do? There's a lot that you can say. Maybe you want to instead of going into the future you want to go into the past. Like, hey, what did you do this this past weekend? How did you spend your weekend? So, of course there are other things that you can discuss as opposed to the weather. If you want to talk the the weather, if you love talking about the weather, feel free to do so. All I'm pointing out is that it it can be cliche and depending on the situation it can come off as like, oh, maybe this this person doesn't know you know, how to begin the conversation like what do we talk about? So, asking these how and why questions I I think show it is a signal that you care about somebody's perspective. You care about the things that they've been doing or that they plan to do or want to do which is another, you know, good way to uh to engage in small talk. Um, somebody said never talked about the weather. Uh, the weather needs to pick up. I'm under the weather. Yeah, if you're under the weather, sure. Uh, so I'm not saying that you can never talk about the weather. All right? And I just be mindful of the situation, what's going on. If you're struggling to think about some topic, then okay, then you could always comment about the weather and, you know, get somebody's opinion, ask what they think. The next one and this one uh I you know, I'm kind of curious to hear what you all think. And this this can be a conversation killer, all right? And this has happened to me uh specifically. So, I want you to upgrade this. Do you like Biden? Do you like Trump? And I'll share you my I'll share my examples. The problem that I would say is casual small talk is it's not suited for direct political questions. Again, we're assuming when I think of small talk, this is somebody you're you're meeting for the first time or maybe they're just an acquaintance. You don't know them really well. Politics, of course, can be polarizing and therefore, especially if you are uh you know, using English as a second language, I think you could avoid it or you can try to ease your way into it. And that's what I want you to think about right now. I'm going to put you on the spot. If do want to talk about politics, what are some other questions that you could ask to ease your way into the topic instead of just coming out and saying like, "Oh, do you like this person? Do you like that person?" And the reason I put this is this has happened to me. And I was This was a few years ago on the metro. This gentleman they heard me speaking English to my wife. And right away he just said like, you know, "Oh, you know, oh I see you're speaking English. You're from America, right?" And I said, "Yeah." He's like, "Oh, do you like Biden?" And I was kind of like you know, I I enjoy talking about politics. I I think that's great. But even just right at the beginning, like even if like even if it's somebody I support and I think, "Yes, this politician is so amazing." Not that I really think that about any politician. The first thing that went off in my mind is like, "That is a really strange question." I don't even know this person. The first thing they said is like, "Oh, do you like Biden?" I was traveling in in Austria with my family and I was talking to my girl and same thing. Somebody else came up to me. They heard us speaking English. "Oh, you're from the US. All right, yeah, you know, I've never been there. What do you think of Trump?" And that was the first thing they said. And again, whether or not you like the person or hate the person, the first thing that I think is like, "That's a strange question." Even if even if I agree with you politically, just being that direct like, "Do you What do you think of this person? Do you like this person? Do you not like them?" In my mind it's like, "Okay, this is like strange. Like why why are we just jumping right into this?" So what I wanted to what I wanted to get into is if you want to talk about politics, if you really want to kind of ease your way into talking about, "Oh, do you like this person? Do you like that?" There are some other questions that I think are probably more relevant. Uh again, I I think depending on who you are, maybe it's best to avoid this. But if you wanted to kind of ease into a political discussion, you could talk about like something local. Like, "What do you think is the most important local issue in the community right now?" Uh like, "Where are you from?" If I said, "Well, you know, I've lived up and down the East Coast. My parents are in Florida." "Oh, you know, what what's like something that's happening? What's an issue that that Florida is facing right now?" All right? That that would be relevant. "What are some of the biggest biggest political or social issues going on in your country?" And you can kind of again, listen to the other person. And then And then maybe ask about uh whether it's Biden or Trump or some political candidate. Or even like, "What is What's one thing about politics that makes you worried about the future?" You're not asking the person to immediately take a stance of, "This is, you know, who I am." Or, "This is who I agree with. This is who I disagree with." You're You're letting this person then express their opinion without worrying like, "Okay, is this going to be confrontational?" And again, you can focus on shared experiences. You know, discussing the the feeling in the air rather than supporting a specific candidate. That feeling in the air goes back to like, "What are some of the challenges? What issues are being like do you face right now?" So something to keep in mind. Because again, if somebody asked me, "You know, do you like Trump? Do you like Biden?" The first thing I think, "Okay, that's a weird question." And then I'm wondering, "Okay, is this going to be like a an argument? Is this person wanting to debate me? Like, what what's going on?" And that does kind of shut down the conversation. So if you want to talk about politics, these are some better ways to ease in to the conversation. The next one, are you having a good time? I told you these these questions are cliche. I'm guilty of asking this depending on the event that you're in um you go up to some hey, you know, what do you think? Are you having a good time? Uh the issue. Try to avoid these closed-ended yes-no questions. I think that's a good rule of thumb if you want to keep the conversation going and really engage with someone else. Avoid the yes-no questions because in this case somebody said, are you having a good time? No. All right, that's kind of like uh shutting the conversation down a little right there, maybe a little awkward. Or even if somebody says, are you having a good time? Like, yes. Well, now it's almost like you're back at square one. And then you need to come up with something else. So, you're not really able to then continuing you're not going to you're not able to continue talking uh about I mean, for example, like, oh, are you having a good time? Yes. It's like, okay, that's great. How about the weather? And then you end up going into that. So, just try to think of more closed and or open-ended questions. What's been the highlight of the event so far? If you're at a wedding or you're at a conference, you know, ask about that highlight. That's good. What do you know Do you How do you know the host? Or you know, what's your connection to this organization? So, again, depends on the context, the situation that you're in. I think it's relevant or what's your take on, you know, again, it's a shared experience. The venue, the music, the atmosphere. All right, what's your take on that? By highlighting or by asking for a highlight or a recommendation, you're inviting the other person to share their preferences and you're avoiding that yes, no thing. So, let's look at the next one. I love again, we get into to politics and you know, it it it amps up the conversation as far as like looking at the comments. This is one again, I'm guilty. I've asked this before and it's okay. I also there are many ways that I need to upgrade my own small talk. I think we can always improve our communication skills. Have you traveled anywhere lately? Now, what's the problem with this? The question is quite useless if the other person just says no. And depending on the situation, maybe it could make the other person feel bad. Maybe thinking like well, their their life is boring or something's going on they haven't been able to travel and it could put the other person in an awkward situation and again, that couldn't that could influence the conversation moving forward. So, instead of asking, you know, have you traveled anywhere? What do you think? What are some other better questions that you can ask even if it is about travel. So, here's here's my thought and then again, you can share what you think. I've I wanted to highlight the down here like why it's better, which is why I've included all of these if if situations. So, like instead oh, if you could vacation anywhere right now, where would you go? You know, where would it be? If you could revisit a place, where would it be? Again, so talking about a place you would like to go and versus oh, where would you revisit? A place you've already been or if we want to talk about living somewhere, if you could live anywhere, anywhere in the world, where would it be? When you ask these if questions, you're you're allowing them to use the imagination and you're able to evaluate their taste, their personality, the things that they may like to do, depending on the location. If they say, "Well, if I could go anywhere, I'd love to go to Thailand." Then I think, "Oh, maybe this person likes the water, they like the beach." Uh and it doesn't really require any sort of travel budget as far as like, "Oh, where have you been lately?" Well, I've been nowhere um because times are tough and I haven't been able to travel with my family. Then it's like, okay, now, you know, where's this conversation going now? It could become uh a little awkward. So, keep that in mind. Again, these are common questions that are clichรฉ and they I told you, I'm just going to reiterate. Yes, I've asked these questions before. Now, this one definitely definitely be careful. Why why are you still single? Questions like this are intrusive. And it could be a sensible a sensitive or even a painful topic. So, it it does not lend itself to having a productive conversation if you're just trying to engage with someone casually. Why are you still single? When are you getting married? Why don't you have kids? These are questions that I would definitely say, yeah, you you don't need to ask these things, especially when it comes to small talk and you're you just met this person or you don't know them very well. I think you might be surprised how often it does happen because, you know, different countries, different cultures, some things are accepted, others are not. Here is what I would say instead, "What's something you're really looking forward to next month?" Uh or how do you usually like to decompress after a a particularly long and busy weekend? Thinking about those activities that somebody enjoys or they like to do. Or what's a book, podcast, or show that, you know, that's completely changed your perspective? Or or what is something that you're listening to lately if it's a podcast? You're allowing people to discuss and talk about the things that they're engaged in where there's some a level of enthusiasm because they're interested in this and they're able to talk about some of the things maybe that they're looking forward to doing instead of these personal questions that are intrusive and it's like you're digging into their personal life. Something to keep in mind, but again, I think you'd be surprised how often some of these questions end up or come up. Let's look at some responses. So, those are questions that you meet someone and you want to start a conversation with them and those are just some ways to upgrade that com- the the the questions to to create a more engaging conversation. And here I want to look at some responses. "That sounds expensive." Okay, be careful with this one. Let's upgrade it. Let's think of some other statements. What are some other things that you could say instead of, "Wow, that sounds expensive." Because I just mentioned about money. In the US, I think depending on, you know, the person you're talking to, it could be more of a private matter. But if you're talking if you say, "That sounds expensive." Somebody says, "Well, I you know, I just went traveled to this place. It was amazing." You say, "Well, that sounds expensive." You're you're highlighting the cost and then you're putting the other person in a position to either defend the the spending that yes, okay, it's okay, it's not that expensive, it's fine, you know, I have the budget for it. Or in that case, maybe it's going to sound like they're bragging about how much money they have, their wealth, or how much money they make. So, this is a statement that again, I think we can make it better and upgrade. And the way that I would do this or some ideas, uh if somebody if you don't even want to make it about money, somebody's talking about, you know, oh I went to this place even if I think, wow, I could never afford that. I wouldn't say that. I would say, wow, that, you know, that sounds like a unique experience. Or that sounds like an incredible investment in your happiness, that's something that you enjoy. Maybe it's something that you would spend money on, but I'm not going to. A lot of people love concerts and they're willing to spend two, three hundred uh dollars on a concert ticket, that's that's not who I am. But I wouldn't say, wow, that sounds expensive. I wow, that's uh that's a great investment to make you happy, you know, tell me about it. Or again, if you just want to compliment like, wow, you clearly have good taste. you know, you're giving a compliment more than anything else. Because small talk, you're trying to build a connection. You want to keep a a positive energy. You want to make it inclusive. Instead of like, well, it's something you can do, but I can't. Or, you know, oh you're lucky, but a lot of people can't do this, it's very expensive, that was a waste of money. Just be mindful of the way some of these things are are phrased, especially when it comes to money. This is something for for all of you again, uh second language speakers, my English is not that good. I hear this quite often. When I'm traveling, even people they they don't even know that I'm an English instructor and we're talking about uh if I'm traveling somewhere else, and they'll say, "Look, my English is not that good." The problem with this is that you're you're undermining your own authority. You're starting with this disclaimer, which means that the other person could end up focusing more on the mistakes than than the message. What I would say is the issue with this, because if you again, if you want to make this disclaimer, it's fine. The problem that I hear is that people say this too soon. And then it really is a disclaimer. If it's like, "Hi, I'm Wes. Nice to meet you. Where are you from? Oh, you're from Vietnam." And then they say, "My English is not that good." I think it's a little too soon. If you want to get in, you know, start the conversation, and you're talking about your weekend plans or things you want to do, places you want to visit, and we're having this conversation, and then you want to use this to be a little more self-deprecating, because you people want to be humble, and you don't and you don't say, "Well, you know, sorry, like, you know, my English not that great." Especially if it comes to a certain topic, then I then I understand. Just don't don't use it too soon. When you first meet someone and you start the conversation, "My English is not that good," then it really does become a disclaimer. Some things that I I think would be better to say, especially if you're in this conversation and you you don't understand everything, "Oh, could you say that again? Maybe a bit more slowly. I I want to make sure I catch everything." Or just be direct, like, "Hey, could you explain what you mean by this?" If you don't understand a specific word or phrase. "I haven't heard that before." Or it again, throwing out another type of disclaimer, um but I think it is more positive, like, "I'm better at understanding than speaking. Please bear with me." So, in that case, you're not just putting yourself down, but you are talking about like a value. "Oh, you're you know, you're better at understanding than than speaking. You know, you're working on your communication skills. These statements, they help you shift shift the dynamic from an apology to like, well, you know, my English is not that great, to you know, collaboration. You know, using these alternatives, it's giving the other person more instructions so that the conversation can succeed. Can you explain this word or phrase? Or maybe I don't Could you speak a little more slowly? I might not catch it. So, again, if you want to say, look, my English is not that good, I feel like that would be more relevant as you get into the conversation, but not right at the very beginning. All right? Some Keep that in mind. I don't care. Okay. I think, you know, yeah, you you know why this could be problematic. You're talking to someone, you ask them something, I don't care. Uh it sounds dismissive. To a native speaker, I don't care could it could even sound like I'm bored by this topic. If you If I were to say, "What do you think about AI and the implications it might have on the workforce in the future?" Maybe maybe, you know, there's there are things you could say. But if you just tell me, like, look, I don't care, then I think, okay, they, you know, they don't want to talk about this. Maybe I'll go speak with someone else. Or I commonly, again, if somebody's giving you a preference and you want to say I don't care, I do understand that. That's fine. Uh if you did want to upgrade that, if somebody say, "Hey, would you like uh um you know, would you like a glass of water or a lemonade?" All right? You could say, "Look, I don't have a strong feeling either way, you know, what's your take?" Uh and then even if you want to get into politics and you're asking about that, then, you know, you could uh say this, "Or both options sound great to me. Which one are you leaning towards?" Again, if we're talking about options. Um "I'm easy. I'm happy to go with whatever you prefer." Talking about options. This first one would be more like my example of somebody asking about AI and of you saying I don't care. that's when you can say, "Well, I just don't have a strong feeling about that." And then ask the other person, "What do you think? this can be a conversation dead end. Even though it might be true, it is an honest response, but it could signal to the other person that you're not really engaged, you're not really excited, you maybe you just don't want to talk with someone. So, if you're in a situation where you're like, "I want to avoid people, I don't want to talk to anybody." Then maybe this response is for you. But if you are actually trying to keep a conversation going, have some small talk, I think these are some better statements that you can use instead of saying tired or I'm just tired. Like, "Look, I've had a lot on my plate, but I'm hoping to get a second wind." Using some idioms. If you have a lot on your plate, you're very busy. If you get your second wind, then you're just getting energized after a period of being tired, then you're having, you know, more energy whenever you get your second wind. Great phrase. "I'm a little low on caffeine today, but I'm I'm hanging in there." Uh instead indicating that yeah, the the energy's low, but you're going to keep going. You're going to keep going. "It's been one of those whirlwind weeks, you know how it is." So, it's you you want to maintain this warmth even if your physical energy is low. You don't want to make the other person feel like they're just sucking the energy right out of you. Like, "Yeah, I'm just tired." Um I I don't care. I'm bored by this conversation. How about uh "That's not true." Again, it's very direct, I understand it, but it can be very blunt for small talk. And the other person, if I meet someone, they're I say something and like, "Look, that's not true." I would interpret it that's kind of confrontational. It's disagreeable. We don't need to uh start arguing about politics immediately. So, some other things that I think you could say, which would be better. Like, look, I'm not sure that's always the case. You know, you're softening it. But, I see where you're coming from. You're acknowledging the other person's point of view. Or maybe really, my experience with this has been quite the opposite. Softening it. Oh, I had a different impression of that. It's much softer. I keep saying that word soften because it is very useful whenever you want to disagree with someone and not be too blunt, not be confrontational. You could just soften it with some of these phrases and then add your own perspective without dismissing theirs. All right? Small talk, it's like a dance. If you stop abruptly to point out a mistake, you know, the dance ends. All right? Something to keep in mind. This place is pretty crowded. Okay? I Yeah, I've I say this, too. I've said it before. This can be perceived as a complaint. This is the issue. Complaint rather than a conversation starter. You know, it may be factually true, but it can come off in more like a negative. All right? Yeah, you don't like it. And this is something that I would say because I don't like crowds. Uh but, instead of coming off like just starting out with a complaint, you know, you could try to keep it a little more positive. Wow, this is the place to be. I had no idea this restaurant would be so popular. Or I'm amazed to see such a big turnout at this event. Or just say, look, it's a busy one today. A lot of people here. It's a busy one. So, you're still commenting on the size of the crowd without letting the other person know that you just Yeah, you don't like crowds or you wish there were not that many people here. So, you're pivoting from a complaint to an observation. And this is another It's a type of reframing because you're turning a possibility You're You're turning a possibly stressful stimulus, which would be the crowd, into signs of a a thriving environment. That things are good. Things are They're more positive. And if you're trying to engage in small talk, I think it's good good to be positive or at least be more positive. trying to get you thinking about other things that you can say in order to be more engaging and in order to have in my mind a more successful conversation, which is really what it's all about. If you enjoyed this lesson and you learned something new or you find this topic interesting, let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 271. Descriptive (C2) Verbs that will Supercharge Your Vocabulary! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KOPMqIVbGEA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOPMqIVbGEA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:43:20 | --- verbs. I love them because they give us a lot of information. And instead of using a boring verb like walk, you can use a descriptive verb like stagger. And that is the first advanced C2 verb that I want to teach you, to stagger. This means to walk or move with difficulty as if you were going to fall. And it's really like something causes this to happen. So I could say he staggered out of the bar at midnight. somebody's been drinking and yeah, it causes someone to stagger. Or after he was attacked, he staggered to the police station, probably because of an injury. So, it's a much more descriptive verb than just saying walk. Here are some more examples. And staggers back. We heard them staggering down the road 2 in the mornings. Yeah. For some reason, when he staggered toward the lift, I just kept thinking that he was faking it. Now, if you are someone who likes building your vocabulary so that you can be more descriptive when having a conversation or when writing, please subscribe to the channel. Turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. Let's continue with our next advanced verb which is to cling. This means to stick onto or to hold tightly or to refuse to stop holding on to something or someone. Keep in mind this is an irregular verb. So in the present I can say I cling to the sock or in the past I clung to the sock. Or the present perfect I have clung onto the sock. And this is my daughter's by the way. But you may have noticed that you're often going to follow this verb with either the preposition to or onto. I could say, "She clung onto the railing as the boat rocked." Or, "This wet shirt is clinging to my skin." And yeah, that is a feeling that I don't really like. You could also use this metaphorically and I I may say that someone is going to cling to power or they are clinging onto their wealth. Just to give you another word that's part of the same word family because I like helping you build your vocabulary. We can use this as an informal adjective clingy to describe a person that is emotionally dependent on someone else. And really it does have a negative connotation if you say someone's clingy. Unless you're talking about a pet like a dog, they are very clingy. But let's look at some more examples with our verb to cling. Cling on to what you have and what you know. For hours he clung to my arms. Every one of you wrapping yourselves up in the flag and clinging to your guns. When you cling to these things, you cling to the past and you don't leave room for new experiences. Sorry to interrupt. I just want to quickly tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson, me. So, if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, you can join my speaking course. It's all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. The course is for intermediate to advanced speakers. We go over things like connected speech. You learn vocabulary related to a variety of different topics, and we do some engaging speaking activities. So, check out the link down below if you'd like to enroll or learn more about the course. And I just hope to speak to you soon. Now, let's get back to our lesson. Then, we have merge. This means to combine or join together or to cause this to happen. And really it it's like we just have these two things and they can merge or merge together. Now there are two situations in which you will often hear or be able to use this verb. I'm talking about driving and business. Now when it comes to driving, I think you will certainly hear this in the United States because the US really does have a driving culture. So, I could say the two lanes will merge into one or cars will merge as they enter the interstate. Or maybe the two highways will merge together. Now, when it comes to business, to help give you a little more context as to how this verb is used, I have some news headlines for you. Honda Nissan aim to merge by 2026 in historic pivot. Getty Images and Shuttertock to merge to form $3.7 billion stock photo giant. Trump says Canada should merge with the US trolling Trudeau as he steps down. Now, I I know this is not a business example. I just wanted to give you another context. And yeah, I think these shenanigans are going to continue. But here are some other examples with our verb to merge. Please stand on a blind spot. Merging. Merging. Sorry. These storms, they're going to merge. And when they do, it's going to destroy everything. They're meeting up with leaders of another gang to possibly merge organizations. Next is the verb shutudder. I was going to try to act out this verb, but I thought uh it probably is not going to help you because I'm not a very good actor. But this means to shake suddenly with very small movements because of an unpleasant thought or feeling. But to give you some visuals because I am a visual learner, here are some images of famous actors shuddering like Ryan Reynolds. Not bad. Or Jerry Seinfeld. Very convincing. But Homer Simpson is the master. Doesn't get any better than that. But people really associate this verb with that action. However, you can still use it in conversation or you may even hear it. So, here are some video examples so you can get a better feel as to how the verb is used in context. And it was discovered that you helped the Starks come to that conclusion. To think a simple word to the queen. One shudders at the thoughts. Why did you shutter just now, Mom? I don't know. No. No. He's shuttering. He's shuddering. Is he fetal? Yeah, he curled up. Look at that. He's fetal. Then we have another descriptive action which is spit. And and don't worry, I'm not going to do the action, but it means to force out the contents from your mouth, especially saliva. Now, I I was a little surprised that this is actually a C2 verb because I thought it was fairly wellnown, but it is an advanced verb. Now, it depends on the context, but this verb may be a little unpleasant to say or hear because of that descriptive action, even though it's something that we've all done before. Maybe you eat something unpleasant and and then you got to spit it out. Now, keep in mind that this verb is often used as a phrasal verb to spit something out. Let's look at some examples. Spit it out. Robbie, spit it out. Spit it out. When you were talking, a little bit of your spit hit my lip. Then we have giggle. Great verb because it's more descriptive than just saying laugh. Because to giggle means to laugh repeatedly in a quiet but uncontrolled way. Maybe because of something silly or rude or perhaps because you're a little nervous. Like I said, it's more descriptive because it's like a smaller laugh. Perhaps you're you're in some situation when you're trying not to laugh and the end result is that you are giggling and you just can't control it. I want to give you some examples. Maybe you laugh, maybe you giggle. These are all headlines from The Onion, which is a fake newspaper. It's just trying to be funny. Like this headline right here. Donut pillow for smothering. And yes, that that is very true. Or at least child laborer not staring at iPad all day. You can uh do with that one what you will. And finally, area loser declared patient zero and loneliness epidemic. All right. I saw this picture and I thought he looked a little bit like a chubby Jon Snow from Game of Thrones. But maybe maybe that's just me. Here are some other examples. What are you giggling at, silly goose? Why are you giggling? I saw seaman inside you. More importantly, you've stopped giggling at the word seaman. Glare. It is a a long angry look. I'm trying to do it right now, but I told you I'm I'm not a very good actor. But that's what's happening if someone is glaring at you. Now, I have some great pictures demonstrating this verb. Here are some babies glaring at someone, and you can really you you can really pick up on the anger and frustration in their eyes. It's a very authentic glare. Now, let's listen to some examples using this verb. That icy glare is why I left the old country. No one would talk to me in the halls. They just glared at me. It's like high school all over again. You think that disapproving glare works on me after all the times I've seen it? Then we have to carve. This means to cut a hard material, especially wood or stone, in order to produce an object, design, or inscription. And there are some useful phrases with this verb like carve on. I carved my name on the tree like this inscription. Or carve out of the statue is carved out of stone and I I create this design or carve into. I carve the wood into a bowl and now it's an object. But when I think of this verb, I think of Thanksgiving and a turkey because yes, you can certainly carve a turkey. What else can we carve? They left a message right here. Actually carved into the rock. Proof read it for me before they carve it on the headstone. Okay. Most fantastic clocks you ever laid your eyes on and all carved out of wood. Then there's intervene. This means to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation to improve it or prevent it from getting worse. And often this may be done by a person of authority, but not always. So perhaps two students are fighting, a teacher may intervene. or if if two colleagues are arguing then the boss may intervene. And to give you a little more context, let's have a look at some more news headlines. Tik Tok says it will go dark in ban if US government does not intervene. State board of education to intervene in Bridgeport schools. And finally, police not liable for failure to intervene against counterprotesters. Now, I want to make sure that you have a perfect understanding of this verb. So, here are some more examples. Oh, intervene. Go ahead. Intervene all you want. I'm just afraid you might be interfering while we're intervening. Do something. Don't just stand there. I need you to intervene. You want me to intervene? some people pushing each other and he intervened. Revolt. This refers to a large number of people who refuse to be controlled or ruled. They take action against authority, often violent action. And just know, you may often follow this verb with against, to revolt against someone or something. Of course, you may hear this verb when talking about government. I could say the people revolted against their authoritarian government. But really, you could use this verb when there's really any type of authority figure. Maybe after the policy change, the employees revolted against management. Let's have a look at some more examples. They'll be receiving a $45 million endowment next week. Voters will still revolt. The midterms are going to be ugly. When the people rose and revolt against him, your father set their castles a flame. Now listen, I don't want anyone to revolt cuz I know you're all excited for your long weekend. Stifled the cry of liberty. We must rouse the peasants to revolt. Next is to sniff. This is a very descriptive verb. It means to smell something by taking in air through the nose. And I I say it's descriptive because it really describes the action. There is a difference between let me find my sock. Me saying I smelled the sock versus I sniffed the sock. If I just tell you I smelled the sock, you you may not know exactly where I am in relation to the sock. But if I say I sniff the sock, okay, you know that my nose is right next to this item of clothing. And something else that people might sniff would be flowers. But often when people use this verb, they may be talking about dogs because dogs sniff everything. Let's have a look at some other examples. Cookies, stop that sniffing. It's not for you. Why won't he stop sniffing my hair? Well, you sniff. You got to sniff for people. Uh, sniff, you know, stick your nose in the air and suck. And then we have blow. This means to make a sound by forcing air out of your mouth and through an instrument or just making a sound when someone does this. Keep in mind this verb has multiple meanings. I'm not talking about the wind blowing. In this case, I'm talking about the sound. Here are some common collocations with this verb and this specific meaning. You may blow a whistle perhaps during a match or a competition. You could blow out some candles like on a birthday cake or you could even blow on coffee or soup perhaps to cool it. These are common phrases that you should know and I'm sure that I am blowing your mind. Now that is an idiom with a different meaning but it is a C2 idiom. So, I'll go ahead and tell you what it means to blow someone's mind refers to something that is exciting, surprising, or interesting. And let me let me give you some more examples though with our verb to blow and and just force that air out. Blow it out for him. Blow out that lamp. I'll take off my Victorian undergarments. Blow a whistle. Blow whistle. Blow the horn. He just hesitated. I was blowing on the coffee. Now, I'm going to wrap things up, and you do not need to revolt. Or perhaps you're you're angry and you're glaring at me right now, but that's not necessary because you can continue building your vocabulary and watch another video lesson. I guarantee that it is going to blow your mind. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. Solo. --- ## 272. Descriptive Collocations to Give Your Vocabulary a BOOST | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FzD3NHyP9ek` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzD3NHyP9ek) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:03:54 | --- I want to teach you some descriptive collocations that you can use for everyday conversation. Now, collocations are incredibly helpful when building your vocabulary because these are words that are often used together. So, you will hear them in everyday conversation. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. In case this is your first time here, my name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And if you would like to access these lesson notes, click on the link down below in the description, join our email community, and you can access them. You can review these collocations. If you're already a part of our community, check your inbox. I I have sent them to you. So when I do these lessons, as many of you know, I like to make them a quiz lesson so that you can participate, answer questions. This is after all interactive English. So I'm giving you a sentence and I've bolded and italicized the collocation to begin with. I'll make it a little easier. I'm giving you the first letter of the missing word. So it has become m difficult to work for him. In this case the missing word begins with the letter I. Now that is the collocation become. These are words that are frequently used together. I'll give you a moment to answer. Think of an answer. You can write your answer in the chat even if you're watching this later. So, the missing word in there, and with some of these, I I'll be honest, there may be more than one word that you could use. So, you could I'm seeing words like incredible. The the collocation that I'm going for is increasingly something is becoming increasingly difficult. You could even think of that as a collocation as well. when you say something is becoming increasingly difficult uh to do something else in this case it has become increasingly difficult to work for him now to to follow up on what some people have said I've seen answers like it has become immensely uh difficult to work with him that would work it's become incredibly difficult to work him that would also work so with some of these I don't want to say there is a wrong answer but there is a specific collocation that I am trying to highlight in this case saying something has become increasingly difficult. Now the one thing I will say is that you would follow this with an adverb one of those ly words. So the next one again this is great uh well before to give you a little more context with this one I I have some news headlines that I want to share with you. It says vacant homes become increasingly scarce in Switzerland. US dollar has become increasingly toxic and weaponized uh from a Russian economist. And then the last one, the big read, it's become increasingly difficult to smoke outdoors, but some way um but some way yet before Singapore is smoke free. I guess Singapore wants to be smoke-free, which means that yeah, it's becoming increasingly difficult for anyone who who wishes to smoke. But this is a useful collocation. How about How about this one? When he came home, I caught or got a m of alcohol on his breath. Which word is missing? And I don't know, you may recognize that incredibly handsome person in the picture, but the the word that's missing, it's going to begin with the letter W. And hopefully because of that, it it'll narrow down your options. So, I'm giving you the verbs caught or got. Remember, those are in the past tense, but with this phrase, you could use either one. Both of them are collocations. And I see some excellent answers. Um, great job, Tal, Joanne, Raphaela, Julia. We're talking about with. when he came home, I caught a whiff of his alcohol on his breath or I got a whiff of alcohol on his breath. So, a whiff is another word for like a smell, a scent, and you can catch a whiff of something or you get a whiff of something. And in case you're familiar, this I said incredibly handsome drunk young man. I don't know if I was too drunk in this picture when this was taken. That is me. That's from about 15 years ago. So though my party days are are long gone at this point. I'm I'm a family man. So the next one well to to I wanted to share this other thing with you because I just thought it's funny. So this this is a meme when thinking about using that word with in case the word with is new. So this dog if nice balls bro can I get a whiff? thinking about dogs will come up and especially they'll they'll sniff your crotch. And I just thought this was funny, the way that the picture was taken with this dog's long nose. Can I get a whiff? All right. And just trying to smell someone's crotch. So, think about remember that collocation to get a whiff or to catch a whiff. Either verb uh is it works. How about this one? I think you'll know it. I want to see a lot of answers in that chat because I I feel like this one's a little more common, probably a little easier. Despite recent challenges, the company is not planning to change its business. There is a noun that's missing. It begins with the letter M and that is the collocation business. Which word is going to complete this sentence? And I feel like this is well I say all of them are common. They are common. Some are a little more difficult or advanced than others. I think this is a definitely a common phrase when talking about business uh starting a company entrepreneurship. Despite recent challenges, the company is not planning to change its business model. That is the missing word. talking about a business model, the way that a company is running or it plans to run, how it's going to operate. Well done. Um, Lai Raphaela, uh, good to see the both of you. Uh, to me, Manuel, perfect. Again, I'll try to give some shout outs as we go through this, but how about the next one? Because you guys are rocking this. And if you are learning some new words and phrases, you can let me know by hitting that like button or even right now hitting the the heart button or whatever. I like seeing I like I just like seeing them fly up and down uh in the chat. The only way to m your influence on the upcoming election is to go out and vote. This is true. This is my plug to encourage people to go vote. Uh I'm from the United States. There is an election coming up very soon, early November. And I think everybody should vote, should participate. And this is my sentence. The only way to m your influence on the upcoming election is to go out and vote. There is a missing word that you may use with influence. It begins with the letter E. I have not seen the correct answer yet. Now, there may be there may be one uh a couple of options. I'm trying to remember. There's one specifically that I'm looking for, but when talking about trying to influence someone or something, which verb are you going to use that begins with the letter E? I have not seen the correct answer. That's okay. So, hopefully maybe this this phrase might be new for some of you. The word that I was looking for was to exert. To exert your influence is basically to actually well to do something to have some influence on the outcome. And you are going to exert your influence on something. In this case, you're going to exert your influence on the upcoming election or I I plan to exert my influence and I am going to vote. If you're in the US, you're a US citizen, I hope that you go out and vote and you exert your influence over the upcoming election. The one thing I wanted to point out with this one now I remember is talking about that preposition at the end because you might hear people say to exert your influence on something or to exert your influence over. either one of them works, but to point out a quick resource that you can use whenever you have some of these phrases and you want to know at least get an idea which one is more commonly used, engram viewer is a great resource, I put the two phrases in there, exert influence over versus exert influence on. In this case, you get a it puts it on a graph. you get a quick snapshot and you can see that it's a little more common for people to use exert influence on. But I know prepositions can be a little tricky. This is when people make very slight speaking mistakes. But if we're talking about exerting your influence, you can exert influence on something or exert influence over something. I don't want you to interrupt the meeting unless it is m necessary. There is a word that's missing that begins with the letter a. And I think that this is a phrase, a collocation that you have certainly heard before if you watch TV shows or movies in English. If you listen to podcast in English, this is a phrase that is often used with the noun necessary. I don't want you to interrupt the meeting unless it is m necessary. I've given you the letter a and I think that probably makes it a little easier to identify the adverb. And that is another hint because I see a lot of great answers in there. We're talking about the phrase absolutely necessary. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I do not want you to interrupt this meeting. So those are two words that are often used together in many different context. If somebody says, oh, you know, do I have to do this? You're like, yes, it is absolutely necessary. You certainly have to do it. It's absolutely necessary. Words that are often used together. It's a very useful collocation to give you some more context as well as to inspire you. Here are some inspirational quotes that use this phrase. The first one, goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us, they are essential to really keep us alive. So keep in mind, we're using that not only. They're not only absolutely necessary to motiv us but to motivate us but they are essential to keeping us alive. The next one, this is something that I would say to you when it comes to building your vocabulary and improving your English fluency. Practice is absolutely necessary. You are practicing right now with this interactive quiz. You may sit down and listen to me by the hour every day, but if you do not practice, you will not get one step further. It all depends on practice. Practice, practice, practice. In my opinion, in my view, it is absolutely necessary. Just to reinforce that that collocation, what do you think about this word in some or this phrase? In some instances, the threat of taking legal action is nothing more than a scare. Which word is missing? It begins with the letter T. In some instances, the threat of taking legal action is nothing more than a scare. So, this is a phrase that again you will hear from time to time. It may it's not as commonly used as absolutely necessary, but these words are frequently used together, which is what makes it a collocation. Scare, the missing noun in this case, great job. Nice. Uh Joan, Julia, Reggie, we're talking about a scare tactic. In some instances, the threat of taking legal action is nothing more than a scare tactic. You want to scare someone. You say something to make them afraid and fearful and you could say that is a scare tactic. To give you a little bit of a joke to uh give you a little context with this collocation, if you can't read that, I'll I'll read it for you. It says, "The patient is ready for his stress test doctor." And the doctor is dressing up like the grim reaper and really essentially a stress test. This is nothing more than a scare tactic. And that is why it's funny. The doctor is engaging in a scare tactic, pretending like, yes, this person is going to die. And that is the stress test. I want to make it a little more challenging at least. Well, I think the the way that I'm going to do that is because I've taken away the letter, which is more of a hint. So, how would you complete this sentence? And I've bolden and italicized the collocation. Our seats were mlocated near the exit. We were able to leave quickly when the show ended. In this case, uh I I'll go ahead and tell you it's like the person is very happy about this. They're very glad and they got to leave the when quickly when the show ended. And this is maybe what they're saying. Oh, our seats were located near the exit. We were able to leave quickly when the show ended. Which word would you often use with located in this context? And this is one that I think you've probably heard before. Whether you recognized that the words are often used together, there is an adverb that is used quite often when talking about something where it's located in a positive in a positive way. You're saying this is great. Our seats were conveniently located. So if you say something is conveniently located especially in this context that well the it's it's really wonderful that this happens to be the situation because there is some other value there is some other benefit that we're getting from this location and you would say that something is conveniently located somewhere because I appreciate good humor and like to to entertain you as well as inform for you and educate you when it comes to vocabulary. Here is another fun little comic. Uh again, I'll read it down below in case you you're having trouble seeing it. It says, "You know what they say. It's location, location, location." As you can see, this charming little one-bedroom is conveniently located right next to the local tennis club. So, it's like this one dog is a real estate agent trying to sell this dog house to another dog and saying it is conveniently located right next to this tennis club and there are many tennis balls inside the doghouse like the dog was able to go get them, retrieve them, bring them back to the doghouse and it is yeah conveniently located next to the tennis club. What do you think about this collocation right here? My boss told me that I'd get a raise at the end of the year. I don't know if I believe him. It may just be an M promise. There are definitely certain words that you can use with the noun promise, which are collocations. But I feel like in this context, I'm trying to make it a little more specific when somebody's saying, "Well, I don't know if I I I believe this person. I don't know if I believe him." It may just be an M promise. Another key word in there is the article an because you see that article, you then should you should know that the next word is going to begin with a vowel sound. And the vowel sound would be in the word empty. An empty promise. Well done, uh, Tyel, Lai, Raphaela. Uh, perfect. An empty promise. Uh, my boss told me that I get a raise at the end of the year. I don't know if I believed him. It may just be an empty promise. Here is a a good visual talking about an empty promise. Somebody who is lying. They're not going to keep their promise. and they're trying to get someone to do something that maybe they normally wouldn't do. In this case, these people are trying to get that carrot and they're just falling off the side. And it's a good visual representation of an empty promise. Then we have this collocation right here. I will say that there are two words that you could use to complete this sentence and I'll talk about them in just a second. The vet performed a successful surgery and my dog is my dog is expected to make a m recovery. Which word are you going to use with the word recovery? It is a common collocation. And I told you I think they're they're probably maybe more than two in this case, but uh and I'll I'll talk about the well the two that I'm thinking of. And you said the my my the vet performed a successful surgery and my dog is expected to make a m recovery. Now that I think about it and see some of your answers that uh yes, there are certainly some collocations, different ones that you can use. So, one thing I will say, and this is not the the answer that I'm thinking of. You could say a um a fast recovery. Sure. A quick recovery, speedy recovery. I actually like that one, and I feel like it's probably more commonly used. None of those are the answers that I'm thinking of. There are other words that you can use when talking about a recovery, but I feel like speedy recovery is another useful collocation, especially when you emphasize how fast something is. But none of those are the answers that I'm looking for. But this is why I also love these lessons because you really are trying to get the vocabulary juices flowing and thinking of other words that also work. You know, the these are not incorrect. You guys are giving some great responses. I still haven't seen the ones that I'm thinking of. What does that say? So the ones the collocations that I'm thinking of well in this case I was thinking of a full recovery. recovery back to 100%. Now, another word that you could use, a full recovery, but also a complete recovery. Either one would be okay. Like I said, you could also use the word speedy or quick. Those are perfectly fine as well if you wanted to emphasize more of the like how fast it's going to be. But if I wanted to compare those two collocations, a full recovery and complete recovery, as you can see, it's a little more common for someone to use the phrase full recovery. Great answers. Great job. How about uh this next one? It took years to grow a successful business and when we had to uh and we had to m many obstacles along the way. The collocation there is a word that would go with obstacles. You have you had to many obstacles along the way. There is a specific verb that I think is often used with this noun and I once again I feel like it's uh this is a common one that I think you you can probably get just based off of the context we had to many obstacles. Yes, you guys rocked it. Uh we're talking about to overcome different obstacles or overcome many obstacles. Excellent, Stephanie. Great job. Um, Lai, Teayo, um, Julia, perfect. Let's see. Here are some news headlines. I just want to give you a little more context as to how it's used, even though I think this one is incredibly common. So, I'll just read these headlines for you. International Women's Day, girl, uh, give girls role models to overcome obstacles. The next article, seven ways to overcome obstacles to using AI in healthcare. And then finally, blue zone. I'm not really sure what that is. Collaborations help the denim denim industry overcome obstacles. So, this is another useful collocation. What do you think? I have never spoken in front of such a large audience. I'm a I almost uh I almost said the word there. I'm a m wreck which I don't want to give it away. So I'll give you a moment and then I'll tell you. I've never spoken in front of such a large audience. I'm a m wreck. In this context, I think this is a common collocation. And hopefully, even though it's not the most common word in the world when you're talking about wreck, hopefully that'll jog your memory and think, "Oh, okay. I know which adjective I can use." As some of you have correctly pointed out to say that you are a nervous wreck. Once again, there are other words that you could put in there. If somebody says, "Oh, I'm a complete wreck or I'm a total wreck." That also works. That's fine. I do think that probably this collocation is a little more commonly used to say that someone is a nervous wreck. Public speaking, a lot of people uh have that fear. And if they have to do it, you might say, "Ah, I'm just a nervous wreck." We should really keep an M on the weather in case we need to change our plans. Which word is missing in that phrase? Keep an M on the weather. I feel like you know this one. It's a little easier, but that's okay. If it's easy, I think that's good. That means it's more common, more commonly used. And this is when you definitely want to make sure that you know this phrase, you know how to use it, and you're comfortable using it if you're having a conversation. One of the hints in there is that article an because then you know that the next word begins with a vowel sound. And just seeing all the responses just roll right in. Excellent. Always love it when you guys are participating. We should really keep an eye on the weather in case we need to change our plans. Perfect. This is another if you do some Google searches with like keep an eye there the as far as like jokes or memes there are some funny ones with kids like parents would say things like in this case look keep an eye on the ball and they take it literally and then they have pictures of these kids like literally putting their eye right on the ball and you say when you say look keep an eye on the ball as meaning like watch it just focus on it look at it keep an eye on the ball and then they just take that literally early. This happened with my own little girl. I think it was uh a couple of years ago. I said, "Look, we need to jump in the shower." And she literally jumped into the shower. I was like, "Oh, wait, wait. That's a little that's a little dangerous. She want she thought I wanted her to jump in the shower. So, this is a um a fun way to think about some of these phrases. Here is a little bit of review. All of the different collocations that that I went over right here, these are incredibly common, very useful in just casual conversation. My goal with all of these lessons is that I just hope that you learned something new and can go out, try to use these or even listen for them because you will definitely hear them. Movies, TV shows, listening to a podcast, they are often used together. If you enjoyed this lesson, you can let me know by hitting the like button. As always, I really appreciate you being here with me today, watching the lesson, participating in the lesson. That's what it's all about. I'm going to keep doing these quiz lessons in order to not just test your vocabulary, but to help you continue building your vocabulary, fine-tuning your vocabulary. Thank you so much. And --- ## 273. Descriptive Nouns to Talk about Profession, Personality, or Characteristics | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8ehzGi-lQPY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ehzGi-lQPY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:58:33 | --- today I want to teach you 20 different nouns to help you describe people and these nouns would describe somebody's well their profession or their personality or even their characteristics so as I go through and we talk about these nouns again I want you to try to associate these words with a person that you know which person do you think of when when I tell you the meaning of these nouns try to do that because that is going to help you better remember the meaning so let's begin with with profession maybe somebody's somebody's job what they do for work or maybe even a position that they have for their work and we will begin with the noun amateur and if you say that someone is an amateur it means that they they do some type of hobby or activity for fun they are not a professional this is not how they make a living they don't typically get paid for it and you could say that he or she she is an amateur the next noun is a tutor now this noun it's talking about education because it's a person who will help a child uh study outside of school in order to give them extra help and you would say that that this person is a tutor maybe in math in science even in English anybody could have a tutor mostly we're talking about children but it could be a high school student a university student even an adult could have a tutor if they want extra help now let's stick with education and the next noun is a scholar this is talking about a person who studies a subject in great detail especially in University and if they they study it for a long time and they know it very well you could say that they are a scholar Amy is a decorated scholar she forged a successful career in journalism Jimmy's made a new young lady Brenda she's really something Road scholar impressive [Music] scholar I see Kitty a man of matters the next noun is well it's actually two nouns that mean the same thing and that is big fish or you could say a big wig and in in either case it's talking about a person who is powerful and important and it usually refers to a position within a company and maybe you're talking about the boss and they are the big wig or perhaps somebody else in the company and say wow you know this person they're they're a big fish all right they're a very important influential and powerful person a big fish or a big wig well I wish I'm off to my first day as a corporate bigwig and we have information that uh mobster by the name of Marco Ocho move to Paris he's the one he's a big fish then we have the noun one's right hand and if you're talking about well one's right hand you're not you're not really talking about the hand you're talking about a person who supports someone else usually at work and you could say well you know uh he's my right hand or she's my right hand she's always helping me get stuff done and she supports my work one's right hand you may also use this as uh well another noun and people might say a right-hand man and if somebody is like the right hand man then that is the person who would help somebody else especially at their work or right hand man then we have the word valedict why am I having such trouble with this word then we have the word valedictorian and this is talking about the the person really the student who has the highest grades at the end of high school so when high school finishes the person with the highest grades that person is the valedictorian and typically they will give a speech at the the graduating ceremony when school finishes now I I don't know if this is the same for all high schools all over the world but especially in the United States the the person with the highest grades they are called the valedictorian and they would give a speech when when at the graduating ceremony valedictorian and of having very tough times saying that I was not the valedictorian that is okay but it's a word that you may hear if you're watching a TV show or movie and they're talking about somebody who was very smart in high school they did very well and he or she was the valedictorian valedictorian yes yes right now I'm the best student I'm gonna be the Velociraptor you're trying to say valedictorian now let's talk about nouns that are related to someone's personality kind of the talking about the type of person that that they are so you could say that somebody is a dilettante and this is talking about a person who is very interested in a subject but doesn't really have a deep understanding of it and I think all of us can relate to this that we might be interested in some area of study or or something in general whether it's cars fashion computers and we know about it because we're interested in it but we don't really have a deep understanding because well maybe it's not uh our job and you could say that that you know we are just still a tons in that regard so for example maybe somebody they're very interested in politics and you could say they are a political dilettant they're interested in learning about it but it's not their job and you know they don't have a very deep understanding of it dilettante then we have of the noun Aficionado and this is actually a a Spanish word that means fan but an Aficionado is a person who is very interested and enthusiastic uh in in learning about some topic and you say wow you know I am really a soccer Aficionado I love it or I am a Cigar Aficionado there's actually a magazine about cigars called Aficionado and I could say that all of you are vocabulary aficionados because you are interested and enthusiastic about learning new words and phrases and you are not dilettants because you have a deeper understanding of these words you're an aficionado then we have the word Confidant and if you say that somebody is a confidant it is a person that you really trust and you are willing to share your feelings and secrets with that person you could say that that he is my Confidant that he is the person that I will tell secrets to or uh for well for me I'd really say my wife she is my Confidant if I have some problems some secrets and I just need to tell somebody I need some help she is my Confidant and I will tell her maybe not all the secrets but but most of them you need to choose her to be your vice presidential candidate no I chose you as a trusted Confidant Confidant of mine has told me that when he goes to Sansa Stark goes with him [Music] then we have the noun proponent and this is talking about a person who speaks publicly in support of some plan or action and you might often follow this word with the preposition of the that he is a proponent of some issue she is a proponent of saving the dolphins that she wants to publicly support it and talk to others about it she's a proponent of saving the Dolphins I think all of us are are probably a proponent of something if you think about something that you believe in that you want to support then you could say you are a proponent of this thing the next noun I have for you is a guru and a guru is it's more of a spiritual leader if you're thinking about like Hinduism but it's also somebody who is kind of a teacher as well and you may hear this word used in that context it makes me think of somebody who is wise and very spiritual and they want to help others and teach others and you could say that they are a guru then we have the noun Gourmet and if somebody is a gourmet then it means that they know a lot about food they're very knowledgeable about food and they typically like to eat fancy and expensive food and this person is a gourmet I like it better than tuna helper myself don't you Clark you're the Gourmet around here Ed Frozen Lance tell you about me there's no real Gourmet oh yeah these sandwiches are delicious Mrs Elton you really are a gourmet next is the noun humanitarian and if you say that somebody is a humanitarian it means that they are interested in helping other people especially people who may be suffering in some way and they may be donating money donating clothes they they are involved in some type of activity and you could say well you know this person they're a great person they're a humanitarian personally I think all of us should be humanitarians and and we should try to give back and help others who are in need now let's talk about nouns that pretty much refer to people's characteristics their their emotions their behaviors and you could say that somebody is well a coward and this is well it's not good to be called a coward because it's talking about a person who is typically afraid of a lot of things they're they're very scared somebody who is not brave you could say that this person is a coward we could also say that someone is an introvert and if somebody is an introvert it means that they are not very social they're often quiet a bit reserved they typically may like to be left alone and have time to themselves you could say that this person is an introvert now the opposite of an introvert is an extrovert and this is somebody who well is very social they like to go out a lot they like to meet all different types of people and typically they're very talkative and you would say that they are an extrovert I think if you were to think of yourself like for example I I think I can be both sometimes I am more of an introvert and other times I might be more of an extrovert and I like to to go out and try to meet people and I'm a little more social introvert and extrovert Zelda was the sunny fun-loving extrovert look at my pumpkin Mr Peanut Butter whereas Zoe the smart cynical introvert my pumpkin's throwing up because Halloween encourages excessive consumption of refined sugar at a time when obesity rates are sky High then we have the noun perfectionist and if you say that somebody is a perfectionist it means that that this person thinks that well everything needs to be perfect that they will not stop until they believe everything is perfect and you would say that that he or she is a perfectionist now a word a noun that is a little similar to that but it's still different would be someone who is a purist and if you describe someone as a purist it means that that this person believes that things should be done in the traditional way that we should follow the rules we shouldn't do them in some other way follow tradition and you could describe this person and say that they are a purist oh yeah triple twist nice work you sure this is done by hand yeah she's a real purist hate those guys as a Sesame Street purist I don't think Alamo usually tells of passing women that they have a repeat this traveling soda tourists getting off on the undiluted experience and then we have the noun whiz and if you describe somebody and say that well this person they are a whiz it means that they are highly intelligent and very smart in some area or or some expertise for example you could say that somebody is a math whiz they're very good at math they're very intelligent when it comes to math they're a math whiz I could say that you know all of you you are a vocabulary whiz you are watching these lessons you're learning new words and phrases and it's going to help you improve your overall English fluency you are a vocabulary whiz so again the best way to remember the meaning of these different nouns is to think of somebody you know when I say the noun humanitarian which person in your life do you think of if I say introvert who do you know who's an introvert or who do you know who is an extrovert and when you're able to to think of that person because you you know their their position you know their personality you know their characteristic that is going to help you remember the meaning of these words so I'm going to end it right there I I really hope you learn some new nouns and I will see you next --- ## 274. Different Ways to Say "I'm Busy" โœ‹Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `zizryBoEk3c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zizryBoEk3c) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:06:12 | --- Are you a busy person? If so, then this lesson is for you because I'm going to teach you some different ways in which you can tell someone "I'm busy." That's coming up. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And the way that we're going to do that today is I am going to teach you some useful expressions. These are expressions that mean the same thing as "I'm busy," but instead of just telling somebody, you know, oh, I can't do that. I'm busy. It's good to develop your speaking fluency by learning other phrases that mean the same thing. We all have busy lives, so it's great to learn different ways in which you can tell someone "I'm busy." The first one that I have for you is - I'm preoccupied at the moment. Or You could just say, you know, I'm preoccupied and preoccupied. This is just a synonym for busy. You are occupied, you are busy doing something else. So if you want to be polite to someone, if you want to just say that you know you can't do something right now because you are doing something else, you can just say, you know I'm preoccupied, I'm preoccupied at the moment. I can't really help you out with that. I'm preoccupied. I want to talk to you. I'm a bit preoccupied. Scrap seems very preoccupied at the moment. What do you mean I'm a little preoccupied. What means preoccupied? I'm sorry, I'm just preoccupied. Then we have another one which I think is common, especially in business because you might want to tell somebody, you know my schedule is full. I don't have any time right now because my schedule, if you look at it, it's completely full, which means that I am busy doing other things. So if you want to tell someone you're busy and you don't want to be rude or impolite, you can just tell them, you know, my schedule is full. That sounds like a real ranger. But my schedule already chunked full home from Henry's already. Henry has a fall schedule today. I've got a full schedule. Those boys. Another great way to tell someone I'm busy is just to say I've got too much going on. If you have too much going on, then you're just telling somebody that they're, there are other things that are happening in your life. You're not telling them exactly what it is that you're busy with. You don't know if it's work or if it's personal, but it's a nice way of just telling somebody, look, I, you know, I don't have any free time right now because I've got too much going on. Yeah. It's so much going on right now. Too much stuff going on to bother with people like us means when you're overwhelmed, when we got too much going on yet another way of saying that, which is very, very similar. It's just to tell someone, I've got a lot to do. I'm busy. I've got a lot to do. I don't have any time available to do whatever it is you're asking me to do. I can't help you out right now. I'm preoccupied. My schedule is full because I've got a lot to do. I've got a lot to do. Think of. Maybe taking work a little too seriously. I've got a lot to go. Huh? Lunch, but since she's not here, do you have plans? Oh No, actually I got a lot of things to do around here. Then we have, and this one is one of my favorites. I've got a lot on my plate. Again, this is another way of saying that that you've got too much going on. You've got a lot to do, but you can say, I've got a lot on my plate, and again, just, just think about it. You have food on a plate. If there's a lot on it then then that. Yeah, that's pretty full. That's pretty busy. So you can just say, yeah, right now I've got a lot on my plate as a doctor. I have a lot on my plate. Unfortunately. I have a lot on my plate today, so I'm going to have to hand this off to my number two. Oh, well, um, I've kind of got a lot on my plate right now. Not that I wouldn't love a weekend in the country with a strange man. Then we have an idiom. Well, it's actually a simile and you could just say, I'm busy as a bee now. This one is it. It's probably, it's not as common. It was just fun. I thought I'd throw it in there. There is an idiom saying somebody is a busy bee, but if you want to use a simile and compare yourself to something else, you could say I'm busy as a bee because bees, they're working hard. They're doing a lot. They're always busy, so you could tell someone I'm busy as well. Okay, come on, let's do a little bit. You're going to tell my father and I'm busy to be wrapping boxes with the John. Just the barrel now. Myspace. Yes. I'm still here. I'm busy as a bee. Then we have the sentence. I'm tied up right now, so again, think about it. If, if you're tied up, then that means, well, you can't move. You can't help someone do this thing or that thing. You just have to tell him, look, I can't help you. I'm tied right now. I'm busy. I think I have your letter too. We'll see right now I'm a bit tied up. Actually, Maggie, I'm a bit tied up at the moment. I'm supposed to be meeting with Ron Swan. I understand that he's tied up right now. What a shocker. I've been trying to meet with him three months. Next is another one of my favorite ones and that's just to tell someone I'm swamped that you have so many different things going on right now almost to the point where it will, it's just too much. This is another good one that you can use just in everyday conversation. You can also use it at work if, if you were just super busy with so many different things, you could tell someone, look, I'm swamped boss. I can't help you out right now. I'm swamped because I can't. I'm already covering for Doug. He's on a his and her spa day with his mom. What dawn asked. The point is I'm swamped. What I'd like to hang out. I'm sorry, I'm swamped. Yeah, I'm swamped enough with schoolwork and kind of swamped here. You think you could give me a hand with some of the catalog? I'm sorry. What kind of swamped. Then we have another one which means the same as I'm swamped and that's just to tell someone I'm overwhelmed. I have way too much going on right now. I'm just overwhelmed and again, this is a good one because people might even, you know, they may feel a little sympathetic towards you and if somebody is asking you to do something and look, look, look, I'm just, I'm overwhelmed. Then maybe the, okay, don't worry about it. I don't want to stress you out. I'll, I'll find somebody else. I will ask somebody else to help me. You're too busy. You're overwhelmed. Nothing. I'm just really overwhelmed. I'm just a little overwhelmed right now. Could use a drink or overwhelmed with work then we have, I'm buried in work and in this case you can replace work with something else. I'm buried in something and whatever something is that is the thing that you were very busy with and oftentimes you would use it with work because work is what it consumes much of our lives. You could say, yeah, you know, I'm, I'm buried in work. I'm buried in research. I'm buried in comments. And, but that's a good thing. We love getting buried in comments because we love hearing from you. They're trying to bury you in paperwork. Huge Corporation. Oh, here's some paperwork for the next 15 years. This next one is, uh, another one of my favorites and that is I'm knee deep in work. Again, in this case you could just say I'm knee deep in something and that something is what you were very busy with. And uh, I think about it. If you are knee deep in something, then that means that you are consumed by it. It's surrounding you. You were very busy with this thing. For example, I could say I'm knee deep in work or I could get more specific and say, you know, I'm knee deep in editing videos. I spend a lot of time doing that. Or I'm knee deep in creating lesson plans for these videos. So whatever it is that you're busy with, you can it and just say that you are knee deep in this thing. What do you need deep in, I really want to know I no straps. Then again, I'm knee deep in research. Most people would agree that I'm knee deep in a pretty rank crash, can not meet their need. Deep Fungus, this guy knows fungus. Another great one which I really like and I do use from time to time is just to tell someone I'm up to my ears in something and again, something is is just the thing that you're busy with so it allows you to be specific when you want to tell somebody exactly what it is that that you're busy doing. That can be up to our ears and I have work up to my ears. I'm busy, busy, busy, busy, can't step away. I just wanted to check in. Okay. Am Up to my ears in work. I'm up to my ears in answering comments and that is something that I want to be busy with. I want to be up to my ears in common so help me out with that. Right to me in the comments I want to hear from you and if you understood all of these expressions, if you think you can now go out and use some of these expressions, then let me know in the comments and just write to me and say I'm knee deep in interactive English. That way I know, yes, this person gets it. This person understands because they are knee deep in interactive English. If you enjoyed this lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button down below. As always, --- ## 275. Different Ways to Say "Sorry!" | Useful English Expressions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `G-dled4vOqo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-dled4vOqo) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:35:37 | --- Do you keep saying sorry but no one forgives you? Find out why in this lesson because today I'm going to teach you about different ways to say "Sorry." Okay, so listen. Sometimes saying "I'm sorry," it's just...it's not enough. Or maybe it's just not appropriate. And in English this is also the case. There are different ways to say I'm sorry for different instances. But how do you properly express yourself in English if you truly are sorry about something you did? Let's find out. So first I want to look at how do you say you're sorry when you've made a small mistake. So these are things like maybe you spilled a coffee on someone's paper. Or maybe you've stepped on someone's shoe. So these are smaller mistakes. They are not horrible, life-changing kind of mistakes. So just use them on small, small, tiny mistakes. Number one is the simple "Sorry," or "Sorry about that." So if you just say "Sorry about that," it's kind of an apology you do in passing. So that is when you use this one for small mistakes Number two..."My bad." My bad is a very informal way to apologize. It's almost like a non-apology. It's kind of like saying "Yeah, I've made a little mistake. But I don't care enough about it to apologize." So you just say, "My bad." The cat is mischievous. He didn't carry he peed on the couch. Number three..."My mistake." And this one kind of means like a breakdown in communication. Again, it's not a very heartfelt or deep apology. It doesn't apply to a very, very, very big mistake that you've made. It's just something small. This can definitely be used in work context. So you can say "Oh. My mistake I forgot to call you." Or "I didn't give you the the right number." or something. It has to do with smaller mistakes that you do. But that you're still kind of taking responsibility for. Okay, so the next set of apologies is for more serious mistakes. These are mistakes that definitely impact someone's life. Or really impact your life. Maybe you've done something really bad at work. Or maybe you've messed up something in your life or someone else's life. These mistakes carry a little bit more weight. So this is when it becomes important to make sure that you use the right kind of apology. Number four is kind of a simpler one, and it's just really "I'm so sorry." Just adding that SO there in the middle, it just expresses that you care a little bit more. That you've done something, and then it's just it comes off as a lot more genuine than "I'm sorry." Generally speaking, "I'm so sorry" conveys a lot more emotion that "I'm sorry." It's also not as strong as some of the other ones we'll see down this list. So it's kind of for like a medium-sized mistake. Number five is "I'd like to apologize." Now this one can be safely used in a work context. If you make a mistake you can always say "I'd like to apologize." It's sincere, it's professional, and it gets the message across. I'd like to apologize. Number six..."I take full responsibility." This is probably as professional as it comes. It's definitely work approved, so you can use this at work when you've made a mistake. And many times you can continue it with... I take full responsibility for my actions. I take full responsibility for my behavior. I take full responsibility for any damage I may have caused. The reason why I'm adding all of these is because this is probably one of the more formal ways you can apologize. You are being honest. You are being serious. You are willing to admit your mistake. And you are doing it in a professional way. Something I have also wanted to mention, especially if we're talking about work. This is a very appropriate way to apologize even in a writing context. So this being a more formal apology, you can use it in writing like in work emails or letters. This is appropriate. I take full responsibility. Number seven..."It's all my fault." Now this one is definitely about a serious mistake. It's just not as formal as the previous ones. So you might not see it in writing, but just speaking. You can use "It's all my fault" in different kinds of relationships usually in close relationships. Like a relationship you may have with your spouse, your husband or wife. Or maybe relationships you have with your family or close friends. If you want to express how you feel, and if you want to truly apologize from the heart, this is a good way to say it. It's all my fault. Number eight is "I regret." Regret means feeling sad and repentant and kind of wishing you'd never ever done this mistake. So you've done something so wrong that you just regret all of the events that led to it and the event itself. And you just kind of wish it never existed. Now this we hear all the time in connection with romantic relationships. It's one of those words that just comes with it. I regret. But it can also be a reflection, like things that you've done in your life that you regret. That you wish you hadn't done. Number nine..."Forgive me." Now again, this is usually said after making a bigger mistake. We hear this a lot in the context of family or the context of a romantic relationship where there's potential for many, many mistakes. Many serious mistakes of that. Sometimes we can find it as "I hope you can forgive me," or "I beg you to forgive me." Okay, so now that you know how to apologize for different situations I want to practice what we've learned. I'm going to give you a situation, and in the comments I want you to respond with the appropriate apology. Okay. Any one of the nine we discussed in this lesson. Here is the situation. You borrow your friends expensive new iPhone, and you dropped it on the ground and it broke. How would you respond? What would you tell your friend? Use one of the apologies that we talked about in this lesson to properly express how sorry you are for destroying your friend's new expensive phone. And this is good practice for everyone reading. If you're wondering hmm...What can I say? Just check out everyone's answers and see what you think. Well that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this lesson. And if you did, please like and share this video. I hope that now you can finally express yourself properly and apologize in the right way. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 276. Different Ways to Say "Thank You!" | Useful English Expressions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cufWcpdmT6Q` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cufWcpdmT6Q) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:43:03 | --- I'm so thankful to have you join our class today. Stick around to find out more ways to say, "Thank you." The holidays are here. This is a by far, for me at least, the best time of the year because people get a little bit more introspective, a little bit more generous, happier. So, we want to make sure that we can properly thank the people in our lives. Now. keep in mind that you can use these words any time of the year. In fact, we encourage you to do so. I think everyone becomes happier and it benefits everyone when people are a little bit more thankful. Are you ready to be thankful? Let's hear the words. The first one is grateful. And grateful means showing appreciation for something done or received. Grateful is often times used with "for." Many times we say that we are grateful for something or for someone. For example, we are very grateful for our community of students. Or, I'm grateful for someone's help. Number two is gratitude. And gratitude is the state of being thankful. And often times we see gratitude together with show or express. So we show or express gratitude. Number three is appreciate. And appreciate me is to recognize the full worth of something or understand a situation fully. Number four is appreciation. And this means to recognize and enjoy the good qualities in someone or something. And many times we see appreciation with show. So we show appreciation. The following words and expressions are all interchangeable. Meaning they're all different ways to say thank you. Number five...I'm forever in your debt Now, this one you can find with or without the forever. So we can say I'm in your debt or I'm forever in your debt. And they mean the same thing. For example, if somebody gives you a ride home, you can say I'm forever in your debt. It's a nice way to say thank you. Number six...cheers. This is a simple one, just one word. Cheers. It's used a lot in British English. But you can often hear it in American English as well. For example, if you're at a restaurant and the server brings you the sandwich, you can just thank them I'm by saying, "Cheers." Number seven...I owe you one. Here's another nice way to say thank you. If for example somebody buys you a drink, you might reply with, "Thanks a lot. I owe you one." Or just, "I owe you one." All it means is thank you. And the last one, number eight, is thanks a million. To express gratitude for your friends help you might say, "I don't know what I would have done without you. Thanks a million." So now we'd like to hear from you. Now that you've learned different ways to say thank you in English, we'd like to hear how you say, thank you in your language. Thanks a million for watching our lesson. If you're thankful and you feel like you've learned something new, you can show your gratitude by sharing this video with all of your friends. Thanks again for watching, and we'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 277. Different Ways to Say "Yes" & "No" | Useful English Expressions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FWg3SAacJQU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWg3SAacJQU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:41:59 | --- Want to have a fun listen today? Don't answer with "Yes" or "No." Use these words instead. Let's be honest. It's a little boring to always answer questions with "Yes" or "No." Did you go to dinner? - Yes. Did you do this? - Yes. Did you do that? - No. In this lesson, we're going to teach you five different ways to say "Yes," and five to say "No." Are you ready? Let's begin with "Yes." The first one is okey-dokey . This one's a little bit more informal, but it's a lot of fun to say. Try with me. Okey-dokey. Okey-dokey. Okey-dokey. Okey-dokey. You can also do like a hand gesture with it like this. Okey-dokey. I'm just kidding. I'm just going to take that part out. Okey-dokey is an informal way to say "Okay." Okey-dokey. Number two is by all means. And by all means means... By all means means... This expression means "of course" or "certainly." By all means. Number three...very well. Very well means "okay" or "alright" or something that somebody agrees to. Number four is absolutely or totally. Now, I'm giving you two words here because you can use them interchangeably. They both mean the same thing, which is "to a complete degree" or "okay." Number five is sure. And sure...it means "yes." But this one's a little tricky because it depends how long you take to say the answer. So for example, if you take your time to say sure after a question, it means that maybe it's not a hundred percent "yes." For example, if somebody asked me "Would you like to go to a movie?" And I say...s-u-r-e. That means that it's a "yes," but not a hundred percent "yes." That I had to think about it. But if you answer right away, it's definitely a "yes." For example... That's a hundred percent "yes." Okay, are you ready for the next part? Here are a few ways to say "No." Number one...out of the question. Out of the question means "impossible." It doesn't even warrant a discussion. It is just completely not possible. Number two...no way. Or sometimes you'll see it as "No way, Jose." It really just means "not at all." Number three...under no circumstances. This one just means "never." Whatever the situation may be, the answer will always be "No." Under no circumstances. With this one, there's a little bit of grammar involved. And what you have to know is that right after the expression, the verb and the subject switch. So you say the expression "under no circumstances," then the verb, then the subject. under no Under no circumstances am I drinking wine tonight. Under no circumstances am I not having chocolate. Under no circumstances is he coming to our party. Number four...fat chance. This one's a little bit more informal. And when you say "fat chance" it means that you think something is certainly not going to happen. Fat chance. Number five is not likely. And this one means "certainly not." Okay, time to practice what we've learned. Answer the question about this picture using one of the words we learned today. That's it for today. Hopefully you enjoyed our lesson and learned a few different ways to express yourself when someone asks you questions. If you like your lesson, please share this video with your friends. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 278. Different Ways to Say "You're Welcome" | Useful English Expressions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HPRcV4Y0t8s` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPRcV4Y0t8s) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:37:29 | --- Oh, sure. No problem. Don't mention it. You are welcome for this lesson because today we are talking about different ways to say... Here is your coffee. Thanks for the coffee. You're quite welcome. Is there sugar in this? No, no I'll get some for you. Here you go. Thanks so much. Don't mention it. Oh is there coconut milk in here? Here you go. Thanks a bunch. No worries. Oh, you know what. Can I have some gingerbread spice? Yes. Here we are. Oh, yum. Thank you. No problem. Oh, you know what? It would be great if you could use my favorite cup. Oh. Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure. Coffee in your favorite cup. Thank you. Sure. You know what goes great with coffee? What? Avocado toast. Yeah, yeah. I can make you some. Here is your avocado toast. Thank you. It's my pleasure. You know what I need? What? A fork and knife. Oh, yeah. Let me get that. Here you are. Knife and fork. Thanks. Happy to help. You're so amazing. Thank you. Can I get a refill on the coffee? Yeah. Here is a refill on your coffee. Is there sugar in this? I hope you guys enjoyed their little skit. Please understand that this is just for comedic value. Just for the sake of learning English. Not that I didn't enjoy it. But what I want to do is to look at each way Wes said, "You are welcome." We're going to analyze it and explain it. So "You're quite welcome," or "You're very welcome," is used when you want to be really polite and respectful. We add the adverb very or quite just to show a little bit more respect. That means you really put in some work. And you really enjoyed helping this person. It's just a really nice way to respond to "Thank you." You're quite welcome. You're very welcome. It's really nice. "Don't mention it" is pretty informal. So this is not something that you necessarily say to your boss. It's something that you use with friends or colleagues. It also makes you seem a little bit more humble. Like you really don't need to thank me. Don't mention it. It's okay. Don't mention it. No worries. Don't worry about it. It's something that we use all the time, especially with our friends and colleagues and just people who are our peers. it's not something that may be used with your grandmother, or a professor, or boss. So it's just something that you use in an informal level. And it's just it's kind of short for "Don't worry about it." "No problem" or a "No problemo," as Americans say it sometimes. It just...it's also used informally. It's kind of used interchangeably with "No worries." No problem Kind of short for implying that there was no problem in helping this other person. That you really had no issue with it. No need for things because this task was not a hassle. No problem. "Sure." This one is even shorter. And I would say it's a little bit more informal. And sometimes followed by another expression of "You're welcome." So for example, you can say... Many times you will see it together with another expression for "You're welcome." But sometimes it can stand on its own. So "It was my pleasure" or "My pleasure" it is a little bit more polite than the ones before. And it's just saying that you enjoyed helping this person. It was my pleasure. Or my pleasure. Happy to help. Well this one means exactly what it says it does. It just means that you were happy to be able to help this person. And you can use it formally and informally. It's okay on all levels. Happy to help. Okay. Well now that we've learned these different ways to say "You're welcome." It's time to practice. For this practice, I'm going to give you a situation and I want you to write down one of these different ways to say "You're welcome." So here it is. Imagine that your friend's car broke down in the middle of the night. And he or she called you on the phone. And you went to pick them up. And they are very, very thankful. What do you say in response? Use one of the ways to say "You're welcome" that we learned in this lesson. That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this lesson. And if you did, please like and share this lesson with all of your friends, so that from now on when you thank each other, you can say "You're welcome" in so many different ways. Thank you for watching, and we'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 279. Difficult Words to Pronounce in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `0m_wS6p2Tyo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0m_wS6p2Tyo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:13:21 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. This it's going to be a a pronunciation lesson because I I first want to thank you uh all of you for participating and actually helping to make this lesson happen. So, uh, a few days ago, I made a post right here asking for some help, uh, that I was going to do a pronunciation lesson and if there are any words in English that you find difficult to pronounce. And I really thought that I was just going to get maybe like 20 or so responses. And I was just floored as to the number of people who participated in today's lesson. So, the first thing I want to do is thank you. And I am going to try to go through as many as I can. I'm not going to be able to do all of them, but as you as you'll see, um I'll I'll put the person's name up on top who asked um about the word. I'm going to say it a few times. So, please feel free to practice your pronunciation skills, fine-tune your pronunciation skills, say the word after me. You could listen and repeat, or even just say the word with me, which is part uh shadowing. And with some of them, I'll try to dig a little deeper as to why they may be cu uh confusing or challenging a as well as point out some of the differences between American uh English and British English. to do Hello. Hello everybody. [gasps] Uh is start with this word and the reason why I chose this word to begin with is because I think there are it's a good word to point out some differences between American English and British English. And of course there are so many there are different English varieties uh across the world but I think often um the two most common ones in the United States which is where I am from as well as in the UK. So this word I would pronounce it as daughter. It has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. The first thing that I would like to point out is that with the American accent, I am going to pronounce this with that T. I'm gonna pronounce the T as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. And it's because it becomes it comes between two vowel sounds. Daughter. So, can you hear that soft D when I say daughter? Daughter. In uh British English, you'll hear more of a true T sound. daughter and and it's aspirated to daughter. The other thing that I want to point out is the eer at the end because again another difference between the two in with the American accent people will pronounce that eer daughter mother father and again I'm emphasizing it right now remember with this word stress is on the first syllable in in British English it it may get dropped a little bit or it just takes on that schwa sound daughter. daughter. Okay, so those are two differences but a very common word, very useful. Um, and I thank you Alisal for for bringing this up and uh asking about this word. The next one, thank you user is obvious. The there there are three syllables stresses on that first syllable obvious. Okay, this is a very useful adjective obvious. That that o us has that us sound. You have that schwa sound which is an h sound. It's an unstressed vowel sound. Obvious. Obvious. And I know many of you would like to practice and improve your pronunciation as well as as well as practice your speaking skills. And if if I am describing you right now, well then I think that it is obvious that you should check out my speaking course. I wanted to let you know quickly that enrollment just opened. Uh if you would like to practice and improve your speaking, the class the course is going to begin mid January. So you can find more information out here if you check out the course page. the it's an 8-week course with uh lessons that are 1 hour and 15 minutes each week, total of 10 instructional hours. You can also use the code, the cost is $1.99, but you can use the code speak 20 to get $20 off. And you can find the class times that it's offered down here. And again, if you are someone who would like to start off the new year practicing and improving your speaking, then this this may fit in. And I there's only one way that I could describe that is just serendipity. All right? And that is the next word that I wanted to just segue right into serendipity. So I I've included the meaning for this one because it is a it's a more advanced word. It's not a word that you're probably going to use in just everyday conversation, but it's talking about the development of events or something that just by chance. It's like a happy happy coincidence. And you This is a noun. Serendipity. So it has five syllables. The stress is on that third syllable, that dip. Serendipity. Say it with me. Serendipity. And I've provided a little syllable stress rule down there. If uh just just something to keep in mind. When a word ends in I ty, the stress will be on the third to last syllable. And this is where I think in English, especially when you get uh longer words that have four, five, six syllables, sometimes this makes a big difference because I will hear people, they'll stress the wrong syllable and it's just a minor adjustment that needs to be made. But if a word ends in it, it ty the stress is on that third to last syllable. Serendipity. serendipity. All right, let's look at the next word that I have for you right here. Okay, so this is a word that I think um I I get quite often that people have trouble with. Uh again, it's a pretty common word. The one thing that I really want to point out with this one is that there are two accepted forms of pronunciation. One with three syllables, jewelry. jewelry and then the other with just two syllables. Jewelry. Jewelry. So, in both instances, the stress is going to be on that first syllable. And I think it's probably a little more challenging to to say it with three syllables. Jewelry. Jewelry. So, I I think in the American accent, I think saying it with two syllables is pretty common. Jewelry. I feel like I probably end up saying it like this most of the time. And what happens is that second syllable uh with the one with that schwah that uh sound it's going to elide. All right. An elision uh is part of connected speech. This is when certain sounds or syllables they get removed when speaking. And this is you know people do this to it. It it gives the language that rhythm and flow. It allows us to say things faster. So again, there are two different pronunciations. You could you could use whichever one uh I think you find easiest, jewelry, jewelry. But I think for most people uh myself included, it's easier just to say it with two syllables. All right, so that was another good question. Great word. Thank you for um sharing this one. The next one, another by a user. All right, is literally. Okay. So, once again, that T with my uh American accent, I'll say it with a flap T and it had there are four syllables. I didn't I didn't highlight the I forgot to bold the syllable stress. The stress is on that first syllable. Literally. Literally. Okay. Literally. We just talked about elision. Remember sounds getting removed. This is another word in which you may hear people remove that schwa sound which is in the third syllable that uh and they'll just say literally. Literally. So again, this is one that you may hear with four syllables literally or with three syllables literally. And yes, I'll say it with that flap t. But again, great word um great word to know and use because I think it is it is very useful. So the next one, sorry I haven't been able to chat too much in the comments because I'm just kind of going right through these and then we'll practice. But I hope uh that you are practicing right now, saying these words with me, practicing your skills. This is interactive English. That's what it's all about. So here is another word that whether you're talking about uh has a different pronunciation. So in the US what I would say is schedule. Schedule that uh ch is going to have a c-c like a k sound. Stress is on that first syllable. Schedule. Hey, what's your schedule like? Um, I haven't uh I need to look at my schedule. Now, in British English, that ch is going to have uh the sh it's like the the cides and it's just going to have more of a sh schedule. All right, schedule. So, this one actually sounds quite different between uh American English and British English, but I would pronounce it with that C- sound schedule. All right. Both of them are perfectly fine. Both of them are okay. I know everybody has different learning goals when it comes to pronunciation. Some people uh enjoy and find the American accent easier and and would like to practice that. Others would like to practice the British accent. Either one um of those pronunciations is fine. The next one uh you this user asks uh was talking about the stress and the the syllable stress in these three words right here. So these are words that are all in the same word family. Distribute. All right. To distribute something. Uh it's a verb has three syllables. Stress is on that second syllable. Distribute. Distribute. Distributed. Okay. So in this case again the stress is on that second syllable. that e d because the final sound if it's a t or a d, if it's a t or a duh, then we're going to add that extra syllable it to the end. So in this case, distributed has four syllables, but once again the stress is on that second syllable. And then we come to the noun distribution. Distribution. Now the syllable stress changes. It's on that second to last syllable. And the reason I say second to last is because this is another syllable stress rule. And there again, this is generally speaking, but when the word ends with t i o n or even s i o n, the stress is going to be on the second to last syllable. Distribution. All right, you hear that stress pronunciation. Okay. Again, second to last syllable. So, it's good to again be aware of some of these syllable stress rules. It's not something that if you're having a conversation that you're going to be well thinking about what's the rule, but especially if you're reading. I know when you're reading, people are pronouncing the words sometimes reading out loud or reading up here in their head. And if you question, if you're wondering, oh wait, am I saying this word right? That is when these rules can come in handy. And you can think, okay, it ends with a tio n. The stress is on that second to last syllable. Make sure you're giving it a little more emphasis. Distribution. The next one that we have is, okay, this is a good one. This is uh a great example in which spelling and pronunciation just do not match. All right. Choir. C H O I R. this uh I didn't put the meaning down, but it's referring to the singing group, a choir. So, a group of people generally um at maybe uh school or church, there may be a choir and people are singing together. But that ch all right, it's a quq- sound. Uh and it has that long i sound. Choir. Choir. All right, say this one with me. Choir. So again, maybe I don't know if you sing in the choir, but this is a word you may hear from time to time. I I mentioned that you might find a choir typically in certain organizations, institutions, uh school, church, and this is a um those are times when you may come across this word choir. The next one, thank you Gustavo for asking me. That's a this is a good word again that I think is very challenging for some people. Then we have another great uh this is a good adverb and it has that ly ending particularly. Particularly. So once again I said when they these words are a little longer. This one has five syllables. The stress is on that second syllable that tick particularly. But this is when people may slightly stress the wrong syllable or they end up stressing them all the same and it just it it it modifies the pronunciation of the words slightly. Uh and people may pick up on this, but just keep in mind stress is on that second second syllable. Particularly. All right, say it with me. Particularly. All right, this is a particularly challenging word to pronounce. Okay, the next one. Let's keep moving. And this one, this word has been a thorn in my side. All right, I will confess. And I don't know. Okay, so again, we're talking about learning English. This is a part of speech. An adjective. Adjective. All right, three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. That D is going to elide. We don't hear it. It becomes more of a silent letter. Adjective. All right. Adjective. The The thing that I I feel like I have even, you know, mispronounced this word in the past is that if I'm speaking quickly, I may even make that C a lot and I'll just say adjective. Adjective. Um, which again, you you would need that adjective. All right. Adjective. So I think one reason why I end up aliding in this word is in some words like if we ch take out that a d all right and change it to objective. All right now the stress is going to be on that second syllable in which ina case it's very it's a lot more pronounced objective. But in this case with this part of speech the stress is on that first syllable adjective. So you hear that slight iick iick iick Iick in there. Adjective. All right. Thank you, Jacel, uh, for bringing this one up because, yeah, this is one that that I have mispronounced from time to time and you are you're going to hear um, just because somebody's a native speaker, people will pronounce things the wrong way. Uh, and they're, you know, you learn it over time, some of it's regional, other times it's just a a pronunciation mistake and we all misspeak and it's perfectly fine. This is I included the meaning of this because this is a more advanced word. It is a verb to obfuscate. Obfuscate. It means to make something harder to understand. Especially when it and it's done intentionally like somebody is intentionally trying to make it more difficult for others to understand. Um, so you could say like somebody is trying to obfuscate the truth and make the truth harder to understand. They don't want people to know the truth. So the stress there are three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable that obfuscate. Obfuscate. Obfiscate. Um, so after obfiscate we have okay a food word. All right, from Vicki Goo Gustavs Vetana. Uh, again, if you don't know, if you're unfamiliar with this food, quinoa, it's referring to the seeds of a South American plant. It's cooked. It's eaten. Uh, it has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. That keen quinoa. All right. So, say say it with me. Quinoa. Now, again, if you are not somebody who eats quinoa, it may not be a word that that you're going to use all the time, but you may come across it if you're at a restaurant or somewhere else and maybe people are talking about food and they mention quinoa. All right, so now you know. Again, the spelling, pronunciation don't really match up. Um, but it's quinoa. All right, here we go. Let's keep rolling right along with this word which I think is very useful because it is it's quite common. Receipt. Receipt. So in this case we have a silent p. It's going to elide that second syllable. Not only is it stressed but it has that long e sound. Receipt. Receipt. So if you go out and you buy something then you are going to get the receipt or maybe you lose your receipt. All right. So again this is an important word. Um and and I think with some of these common words that's when it becomes even more important that yes you kind of really nail the pronunciation so that it makes it easier for others to understand what you're talking about. But um great question uh Sangi. Thank you. Then Luis Miguel asked about these two words right here, bear and beard. So I put the pictures down there. Again, I think you know what these words mean. Um, but this is a great example because in both words you have that ea uh letter combination, but the vowel sound is different. So right here, the animal bear sounds like you're saying the word air. And then in the other word over there, talking about the facial hair, the ea has a long e sound. Beard. Bear. Beard. And what is so crazy about English pronunciation and this is something that I just think you need to uh you know see the word see how it's spelled understand what it means and just just know the pronunciation so that it doesn't uh confuse you. If we remove those B's and we replace it with the letter H, well now the vowel sound it changes again. So if we take the the B in bear and change it to an H then it becomes a long e sound here like to hear something. Now the past participle of that heard h e a r d. Now it changes again to a relative vowel sound. So, I understand um that this is when English pronunciation can get a little crazy because you have these words that more or less are spelled the same, but in each case, the vowel sound, it's going to sound a little different. Bear, beard. Okay, so let's look at the next one. This is a good one. Oil. Oil. And I say it's a good one because this is a great example of that dark L. There are many words of course that have a dark L. Oil. Oil. And even the other word that he that he was asking about rural. Again, you have that R sound, an L. It's a dark L. And when I say dark L, I know it's small down there. So I'll tell you what it says. Dark L's will come at the end of a word. So like in the word ball or at the end of a syllable like pillow. [snorts] Now I will say that when it comes to these dark L's, they may have like an sound. Oil. All right. Hopefully you can hear that sound. Oil. Oil. Oil. Say it with me. Oil. All right. Then then we have this word right here. Again, I think uh very useful adjective. All right, want to make sure I hit that adjective. Subtle. And this is a C2 word. It's more advanced. So, I I included the meaning. It's talking about if something is subtle, it's not loud. It's not bright. It's not obvious in any way. It's subtle. So, it has two se two syllables. Stresses on that first syllable. The B is is just a silent letter. It's going to elide. Subtle. Once again, that L, it's a dark L. You can kind of hear that in as we transition into the second syllable. Subtle. Subtle. [snorts] And with this one, I would pronounce it with a flap T. It's going to sound like that soft D. Subtle. All right. Wow. It's very Somebody they gave me a subtle hint. Subtle. Then we have months. Well, this was not the word that was asked about uh Ronnie. I know Ronnie because he has he has taken uh he has joined our course before. Good to see you, Ronnie. Uh but was asking more about the the words that end with ths. So I just chose this word mostly because it's a you know it's common. We're talking about months. So the ths in this case it is going to be a voiceless th. So in words the you have a voice th uh in words like the and you hear that feel that vibration that they or voiceless th words like um throne um or in this case at the end of the word months. So, it's the And what makes it challenging is with the th sound, that voiceless th your your teeth, um, your tongue is just behind your your front teeth, which are slightly closed and you're just pushing the air through the I'm going to really get into the microphone here. that. And when you go into the S sound, you're just bringing your tongue back and and that's going to move it move us right into the S. Months. Months. Months. Now, I will say that when speak people are speaking quickly, uh they may end up dropping that H and it might just sound like months. So, it's just like a ts final ending. months, months, six months, seven months, eight months. So, just keep that in mind. Um, with that ths sound. All right. Then, anonymity. Okay. This is a noun. It's talking about, again, this is a word that I just went ahead and provided the meaning, a situation in which someone's name is not given or known. anonymity. It has five syllables. The stress is on that third to last syllable. Remember, we've already talked about when that syllable stress rule. When a word ends in iy, the stress is going to be on the third to last syllable. Anonymity. Anonymity. Anonymity. So, hopefully you can hear that stress on that nim. It's a little louder. Anonymity. The next word that I have for you, I have some more. Uh, keep going through these, metastasize. So, this is a word that's related to one's health because the meaning of this, this is a verb to metastasize. It's talking about when cancer cells spread to other parts of the body. So, cancer is something that I think affects um many of our lives. Uh, whether it's someone in our family or we know someone else. So, this is a verb that you may hear if you go and talk to the doctor and they're talking about cancer and they you might use this verb metastasize. It has four syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Metasticize. So, that third syllable has thatwah and the first syllable as well. Metastasize. Metastasize. So again, this is a word that may not come up in everyday conversation, but it's important. It's related to your health to metastasize. The next word is one that was borrowed from French. And that is again why the spelling and the pronunciation don't necessarily match up. Rendevu. It has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable and down there. So I put the word loan word because this is an example of a lone word. It's a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification. So in this case we we've adopted this word spelling has stayed the same. The pronunciation maybe more or less the same. Rendevu, right? We're going to rendevous at this place around at this time and then we're going to meet there. We're going to rendevous. So, let's continue with some more French loan words with the next one. Um, Sergey asks about lingerie. So, lingerie, once again, the spelling and the pronunciation don't match. This is another word that we have adopted from French [snorts] has three syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. Lingerie. Lingerie. So, you can say this one with me. Lingerie. This is women's underwear. Uh, and the night clothes, lingerie. Then I have another French word. All right, we're gonna we're gonna follow this theme for just a moment. Genre. It has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. That G has a sound. Genre. Genre. So if you're talking about books, movies, TV shows, you might ask somebody, hey, what you know what genre is this? Is it comedy? Is it suspense? What genre? So good word to know and know the pronunciation genre. So if you're wondering why it's pronounced this way, again, it is a lone word from French. All right. Then uh I have sophomore. Now once uh same with the word we talked about uh jewel jewelry and jewelry. This word has two accepted pronunciations. One with three syllables sophomore. Sophomore or two syllables sophomore. In both cases the stress is on that first syllable. And what this is in case you're unfamiliar with it. I didn't include the meaning. We're talking about the the year that you are where you are in school. So in English you have freshman the four four years freshman sophomore junior senior freshman sophomore junior senior. So so if somebody says that they are a sophomore then they're basically saying that they're in their second year uh of school their second year of university. And you probably notice when I say this word, I end up pronouncing it with two syllables. Sophomore. Sophomore. The next word, uh, Tana Tana ask about these two words, photography. Photographer. So, we're talking about these words are in part of the same word family. The first thing I'd point out is that ph. It has an F sound, which you'll find in other words like elephant. Also has a ph that's more of an F. Uh, photography has four syllables. Stress is on that second syllable. And you see those schwa sounds. Photography. Photography. Photographer also has four syllables. Stress is still on that second syllable. So again, photography like you're talking about the activity, something you enjoy doing. Oh, I really love photography. And er, when we add that er, we can create a noun referring to the person. Someone is a photographer. The next word, totally. All right, I definitely get it. Totally. So this is a word that has three syllables. Stresses on that first syllable. A couple other things going on with my accent. I'm going to pronounce that T as a flap T because it comes between those two vowel sounds. Totally. So, you can hear that soft D. And we've already talked about the dark L. I've still included that information down there. That L is a dark L. Totally. And you hear that? Totally. Say it with me. Totally. All right. So hopefully this is hopefully you've learned something new because I've tried to choose words that are a little different. Some of them I think are very common. Others are definitely more specific such as this one, [gasps] pheasant. So it has two syllables. The stress is on that first syllable. We've just talked about with uh many words in English that ph is going to have an f sound just like in this word pheasant. pheasant. So a pheasant this is referring to the bird. And I it's a large bird that I think is rather colorful. And I've just included a picture down there because I thought that would just be the easiest way to uh just illustrate this word in case you were unfamiliar with it. Feasant. Then we have this word persuade. This is a verb, two syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Persuade. And you can hopefully again you can hear that it's a little louder. And with these two syllable words, I think it is important to really get that syllable stress down to make it that much easier to understand. Persuade. To persuade someone. Persuade. Then I have a word that I've I've talked about previously and again just as a reminder, it's a good word to know. Mischievous. It's an adjective. It has three syllables. The problem with this word is that you will hear people, even native speakers, they end up pronouncing it with four syllables. Mischievous. And I've had people ask me like, "Well, you hear it quite often. Does that make it incorrect?" Um, again, language changes over time. It evolves. In any of the online dictionaries, uh, the dictionaries that I've looked at, they all list it as three syllables. So it has not changed um at least in that regard to where at least uh people are saying that it's an accepted form. So because of that I just I'm putting the three down there. The stress is on that first syllable. I would recommend uh that you also pronounce it with three syllables. Mischievous. Mischievous. Talking about somebody kind of being sneaky or naughty. Mischievous. I think this often gets used when talking about children as well. I have a couple more words. This is a minimal pair. Um, Aberta [laughter] asked about it. Okay. Doll. Dull. So, the only difference I say it's a minimal pair. You have two words that are pretty much the same except for one sound. And in this case, we're talking about the vowel sound doll. All right. You hear that? A a sound like you go to the doctor and they want to look in uh your mouth. They say say a doll dull. So those are different. They're distinct short vowel sounds. Doll dull. But I think when it comes to these minimal pairs, this is great practice. It's practice just fine-tuning your pronunciation. So say the minimal pair with me and see if you feel like you're making that uh distinction. Doll. Doll. Doll. Doll. So I again I've included some pictures. Doll is uh you see the the little toy down there. If you say something is dull, it's just not exciting. It's a little boring. So that's why that person tries to look bored like something's dull. And then we have another longer word uh an adjective. Conscientious. Conscientious has four syllables. Stress is on that N. Conscientious. So when I say it slowly, hopefully you can hear that. Conscientious. Conscientious. That that it is louder. Conscientious. Conscientious. All right. So, what I want to do now, okay, I want to I want to practice some. I I think in the future I will do more lessons like this. If you enjoy it, let me know. The best way to do that, just hit that like button. That tells me, okay, these lessons are helpful. It helps um you being able to ask directly like, "Hey, how do you pronounce this word? Let's talk about it. Let's practice it." But I do want to I want to do a little more practice right now. And the way that I want to practice is with some sentences. So please, I want you to participate. Say these sentences out loud. It doesn't matter. I don't care where you are. Just practice your speaking skills. And I've included some sentences. Well, these are sentences that have some of the words that we've talked about. And I bolded those words that we went through. So here's the first sentence. It's obvious that my daughter didn't follow the schedule. It's obvious that my daughter didn't follow the schedule. So, the words that we have obvious daughter daughter schedule. It's obvious my do it's obvious that my daughter didn't follow the schedule. The next one right here, he tried to obfiscate the truth about his subtle but mischievous plans. All right, I want you to say it. Say it with me. Practice. Say it out loud. He tried to offiscate the truth about his subtle but mischievous plans. Once again, like this is like shadowing. It helps like just trying to say it in the exact same way. All right, let's say it ready one more time together. Ready? One, two, three. He tried to offiscate the truth about his subtle but mischievous plans. Well done. And the next one. Okay. We asked for anonymity when we met at the rendevous to exchange the lingerie. So those are the three words I told you. Rendevu and lingerie. Those are loan words from French. So hopefully I'm sure some of you from France right now maybe it makes it a little easier. You're familiar with these words. We asked for anonymity when we when we met at the rendevous to exchange the lingerie. And if I were exchanging the lingerie at the rendevous, I also would want anonymity. And then at choir practice, I lost the receipt to my jewelry and it was particularly frustrating. Put four of them in there. All right, just say it right after me. At choir practice, I lost the receipt to my jewelry and it was particularly frustrating. So once again, I that I'm end up pronouncing jewelry. I'm saying it with two syllables. Uh let's say this sentence one more time together. Ready? Here we go. At choir practice, I lost the receipt to my jewelry and it was particularly frustrating. All right, well done. So I appreciate you participating in the lesson. And once again, if you are someone who would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, improve your pronunciation, um please check out my speaking course. There is a link down below in the description and you can learn more about it. Um and yeah, that that's what it's all about. Each week we warm up with something related to pronunciation, connected speech. Uh it's all about helping you fine-tune your skills as well as learn uh a little bit of vocabulary related to the different topics. So I want to say a big thank you. Now I can give some uh shoutouts because I wanted to go right through the lesson and just talk about these words. I want to say thank you for joining me today. Um Lai, Sleepwalker, Felix, Christina, George. Um thank Alex Rosalinda. Thank you so much to all of those who submitted questions and were asking about, well, how do you pronounce this word? This is something that I would like to continue doing in the future, especially if you find this useful. So, I hope that you have a wonderful day. I hope that you have a wonderful rest of the year and I will see you next time. --- ## 280. Do You Make These English Mistakes When Speaking? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `S5QQfkIag-I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5QQfkIag-I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:40:58 | --- Let's correct your grammar mistakes. Specifically, I want to focus on mistakes that you might be making when you're having a conversation. So, really, this is about fine-tuning your speaking fluency by avoiding or even just eliminating simple grammar mistakes. And if you are someone who would like to improve your speaking fluency, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, the way that I want to approach this is telling you a story. So, I'm going to be speaking. I just want you to listen and see if you can identify the mistake. See if you hear anything that's incorrect or maybe even just sounds a bit awkward. And then we'll talk about the mistake and I'll tell you how to correct it. So, let's start with our first mistake and I'll begin with a story. So, I just want you to listen carefully. Are you ready? Let's begin. My friend called me up and asked me if I wanted to do anything. So yesterday we go to this big park and walked around for about an hour. At one point a dog approached us and we don't see the owner. We hung out with the dog for about an hour and eventually the owner showed up looking for him. Did you hear the mistake? If I were to show you what I just said and you can read it, I think it's a little easier to identify the problem. So here is the story, this very short story that I just said to you. Now this is a story that happened yesterday in the past. It's finished. In that case, I should be using past tense verbs. And as you can see, so yesterday, we go to this big park and a present tense verb slipped in there. So yesterday is a time expression which indicates clearly that I should be using the past. So yesterday we went to this big park. As I continued the story, at one point a dog approached us and we didn't see the owner. This is a little trickier because there's no time expression, but still I should be using the past tense. We didn't see the owner. Generally, when telling a story, just choose one tense and stick to it. For the most part, you're going to be using the past tense when talking about traditional narratives. You could use the present tense when telling a story if you want to create maybe a sense of urgency. So I I could tell you the same thing and say, "My friend calls me up and asks if I want to do something." So we go to this big park and we walk around. At one point, a dog approaches us and we don't see the owner. So again, it I'm saying the same thing, but I'm using the present tense and and maybe it gives you this sense that you are there with me and and it's happening. However, like I just said, most of the time when you're talking about things that happened in the past, which most stories happen in the past, you're going to use the past tense. So how do you correct this? The one thing you really need to do is identify if you're accidentally using present tense verbs when talking about the past. And there I I think there are two ways to do this. The first is to record yourself telling the story. And then you can go back, listen to it, and see if you hear yourself using any present tense verbs. The next way, which I think is perhaps more useful, is to write the story down. go back over the story, see if you find any present tense verbs because you know that you're talking about the past. Writing is more reflective. So, it's easier to go back, look at what you've written, and identify those mistakes because if you're making the mistake when you're writing, you're likely making the same mistake as you're speaking and telling the story. So, try those two things. See which one works best for you. And that's a great way to remove those present tense verbs when talking about a story in the past. Let's continue with our next mistake. And once again, I want to share a story with you. And I just want you to listen and see if you hear anything that maybe sounds a bit strange. Are you ready? The other day, I had a job interview. It was at an office that was in this big building, and I was having trouble finding it. So, I told the person at the reception desk, "I don't know where should I go." Thankfully, she pointed me in the right direction. Did you hear it? mistake that I hear quite often. Let me show you what I said. And what I want you to really think about is the noun clause when I say, "I don't know. Where should I go?" This is incorrect. the word order is incorrect because what I should say is I don't know where I should go. So, let's first talk about noun clauses. A noun clause is a dependent clause that functions like a noun in a sentence. And often they're introduced with subordinating words such as that, what, whether, if. The problem is that when you have words like what, how, why, your brain is probably thinking question, in which case the subject and the auxiliary verb are inverted. So I understand why people make this mistake. So instead of saying I don't know where should I go, I'm not going to use that question pattern. You should say I don't know where I should go. And I'm using the normal sentence pattern subject verb. I don't know where I should go. So, how do you correct this? Often this mistake is made when you start a sentence with I know or I don't know and then follow it with a noun clause. And I I think you could really just drill some of these sentences into your brain and drill drill drill drill drill. And that's what I want to do right now. So, I am going to say some sentences. I just want you to repeat after me. This is a drill exercise. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know where I'm going. I know who you are. I know who you are. I don't know what I should do. I don't know what I should do. I know how you can fix it. I know how you can fix it. The more you do this and just say these sentences out loud, even if they're just simple sentences, over time, your brain is going to recognize that there are actually two different patterns. One for asking questions, and then the other for using noun clauses. Let's take a look at our next grammar mistake when speaking English. So, here is your next story. And just listen carefully. I was in such a rush this morning, I just ran out the door. I didn't eat something for breakfast. I was hungry the entire morning and I had trouble focusing on my work. Did you hear it? If not, let me show you what I said and you can read it. And in that case, it's probably a little easier to identify. So, the mistake, I didn't have something for breakfast. Instead of something, I should have said anything. I didn't have anything for breakfast. So, a mistake that I often hear is people confusing something and anything or even someone and anyone and even some or any. So, something and anything, these are indefinite pronouns, but you're going to use them in different grammatical context. In general, you're going to use something with affirmative statements and you're going to use anything with negative statements or questions. And the same goes for the other indefinite pronouns, someone or some with affirmative statements and anyone or any with negative statements or questions. But I hope that as you were listening to this and you heard me say, "I didn't eat something for breakfast," maybe it sounded a little strange because I'm using a negative statement. I did not. Therefore, I should use anything. I did not eat anything for breakfast. In my opinion, I think the best way to correct mistakes such as this is just to read, read, read, read as much as you can. Get exposure to the language. But when you're reading, you're passively learning the language and you're seeing the words that are used together. So, my recommendation to you, uh, whether it's this mistake or many of the others, is just to keep reading. But in general, just remember you're going to use some, something, someone with affirmative statements and any, anything, any anyone with negative statements or questions. Here is our next grammar mistake and your next story. Recently, I got a promotion because my boss told me I was making a good job and I should keep up the good work. I just hope I don't do a mistake in my new position because I really want to impress my boss. Perhaps this time you could just listen to the story and you notice that. Okay. Yes, this sounds a bit strange. But let me show you what I said and what I want to highlight the two mistakes. Making a good job and do a mistake. I'm using these verbs incorrectly. I should say doing a good job and make a mistake. And often I will hear people confuse these two verbs, make and do, especially when they're using them in some common collocations. And collocations are words that are frequently used together. And because I'm talking about frequently used words and phrases, if a mistake is made, it does stand out a bit more if somebody uses make instead of do or or vice versa. I understand why people make some of these mistakes and generally it has to do with language translation that in one's native language you would use the verb do or you would use the verb make. So let me give you some common collocations with the verbs make and do. Let's start with do. You do the laundry. You do the shopping. You do the cooking. You do chores. You do housework. You do your homework. You do research. You do a project. You do work. You do your job. You do business. You do your best. You do someone a favor. You do harm. You do damage. Now, let's have a look at collocations with the verb make. You make a decision. You make a plan. You make an effort. You make a mistake. You make a suggestion. You make an announcement. You make a promise. You make an excuse. You make money. Make a deal. Make an investment. You make friends. You make an impression on someone. You make dinner. You make a mess. So, there are many, many, many collocations with the verbs make and do. I'm just giving you some examples, but there are a lot of them out there and they are commonly used in everyday English. So, let's talk about how to correct these mistakes because I do not expect you to memorize all of these collocations. But what I would recommend is that you passively learn this information through reading and listening. Our brains are trained to recognize patterns. So, the more you see these words being used together or hear these words being used together, you're going to absorb that information. And the next time you're talking about a mistake, you're just going to naturally use the verb make. And in that case, you will no longer make the same mistake. Here is the next grammar mistake. So, let's listen to the story. My little girl loves to sing. I encourage her to sing. She sings beautiful. I hope that in the coming years she will pursue this activity if it's something she's passionate about. So maybe you were able to identify the mistake. But let me show you what I said. And the phrase that I want to highlight is sings beautiful. She sings beautiful. I am using the wrong word. Instead of beautiful, I should say beautifully and use the adverb. She sings beautifully. This is something I hear in casual conversation when people are telling a story or they're describing something and they confuse adverbs and adjectives. And generally what happens is people will use an adjective when they should be using an adverb. Like in the mistake that that I just made, instead of she sings beautiful, I should say she sings beautifully. and use that ly adverb. Another common example would be me saying something like I do something good instead of I do something well. Good and well are often confused. In this case, you want to use the adverb well. You sing well. You dance well. You speak English really well. Adverbs can be a little tricky because they can modify verbs, adjectives, even other adverbs. So, they're very versatile. If you want to correct this, in my opinion, and I know I'm going to sound like a broken record, you should read, read, and read some more. When you read, you're going to see the adverbs that modify the verbs, the adjectives, even other adverbs. You're going to see the adjectives that modify the nouns. And ultimately, this is just going to reinforce proper use of the language. Let's have a look at our next grammar mistake. So, here is your next story. I had an argument with my brother and lately we haven't spoken much. My birthday is next week and I'm having a party. I invited my brother and he said he is coming. However, I have doubts as to whether or not he will actually show up. So, this one it's a little trickier. It's a slight mistake, but let me show you what I said and I want to highlight he said he is coming because this is reported speech, but I'm using the wrong verb tense. I should have said, I invited my brother and he said he was coming. So, you have direct speech and reported speech. Most of the time when you're having a conversation telling a story, you're going to use reported speech, but you need to be aware of the verb tense changes. Here is a simple chart. And if we go back to what I said in direct speech, it's like my brother would say, "I am coming." If I change that to reported speech, I'm going to use the past tense. He said he was coming. To give you another example, in direct speech, uh maybe I say, "She is looking for her keys." If I change that to reported speech, then I'm going to change the verb tense. I said she was looking for her keys. To be perfectly honest, in spoken English, people are not going to pick up on a mistake like this as readily as some of the other mistakes, like confusing the verbs make and do. However, this is about fine-tuning your fluency. So, you want to make sure that you're using the correct grammar. When it comes to correcting slight speaking mistakes like this, I think writing can really help. So, I would encourage you to write a story, write dialogue. In that case, you're going to be using both direct speech and reported speech. As I've already mentioned, writing is more reflective. You can go back, reread, try to identify any mistakes that you might be making. Make sure that you're using the correct verb tense because if you're able to correct these mistakes in your writing, I think it's going to have a positive impact on your speaking. Let's continue with our next grammar mistake in spoken English. And I I really want you to think about this one because I hear these mistakes all the time. So, let's first listen to the story. My cousin and I play in a basketball league. We have a game this weekend and my cousin plays in the opposing team. the entire family is excited for the game and everyone is going to be there. This is a slight speaking mistake that sometimes it just goes unnoticed. I don't know if you picked up on it. Here is what I said and I'm going to highlight the phrase in the opposing team. So, the mistake is the preposition. Instead of in the opposing team, I should use on on the opposing team. When it comes to prepositions, I often hear in just casual conversation people using the wrong preposition. And again, this can be very confusing because there are many, many, many prepositions in, on, at, around, over. The good news is that when you use the wrong preposition, it doesn't take away from the meaning. People still understand exactly what you're trying to say. But in this case, it's really about speaking accuracy. You want to make sure you're using the correct preposition for clarity. Now, the the example I gave you is especially tricky because in and on when talking about teams, either one may be used. It depends on the context. So, when talking about sports, you're going to use on. She's on the tennis team. My cousin is on the opposing basketball team. When talking about work, you may hear people use in. They work in a team. So, what I'm really trying to get at is that prepositions can be especially confusing because there are instances when you could use more than one and both of them are correct. Now, sometimes there are rules that you can follow if talking about times of the day, in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. Other times you just need to familiarize yourself with the preposition that may follow certain nouns, verbs or adjectives or that may be used in certain phrases. You're afraid of something. So how do you correct this so that you are using the right preposition and speaking accurately? ready to tell you one word. You probably know what word that it is. And yes, it is read. I want you to read more because this is the best way to passively learn the language, especially when we're talking about preposition, these small function words that people don't necessarily give much thought to. And I don't expect you to try to memorize a bunch of phrases, but as you read and learn this information passively, I think that is the best thing you can do. Because even though listening, reading, writing, speaking these are different skill sets but there is a lot of overlap and one skill may complement the others. So reading is going to help you passively learn this information which is then going to allow you to speak more accurately. So if you take away anything from today's lesson, it is that you should read more. Let's have a look at our next grammar mistake. And I want you to listen carefully to this next story. Yesterday I went to the grocery store. I was standing in line to pay and there were two persons behind me. One person said the other cut in front of them and they started to argue. Eventually everyone calmed down but it was a little awkward. Did you hear the mistake? I think this one perhaps uh you were able to catch because it does sound a little awkward. So let me show you what I said and I want to highlight the phrase two persons. So now that you can clearly see this instead of persons I should have said people. There were two people behind me. So the word people is an irregular plural noun. It's not like other nouns in which you just add an s to the end to make it plural. But this is very important because it it is a word that is commonly used. And most of the time when I hear a mistake like this, it's when people are using the word people with a number. Accidentally, they use the singular person and try to make it plural. Two persons, three persons, four persons when we should be talking about one person. And then if it's more than one, two people, three people, four people, five people. And there are other irregular plural nouns in which I hear the same mistake. People try to add an s to the singular noun instead of using the irregular plural noun. Some other common examples would be child, children, tooth, teeth, foot, feet, woman, women, man, men. These are commonly used words and this is when a slight speaking mistake is made. Now, even though this is just a simple mistake, it really stands out. So just be mindful of these irregular plural nouns and try to correct these mistakes. So let's talk about how you can correct them. The first thing to do would be to identify if you are making any mistakes with these irregular plural nouns. I would suggest that you write a story and intentionally use some of the nouns that we just talked about. Those common words, person, people, child, children. Go through, see if you can identify any mistakes. The other thing I would say is that the list of irregular plural nouns, it it's not that long. I think you could go through and just memorize it and familiarize yourself with this vocabulary, the singular noun as well as the irregular plural noun and just drill it into your brain so the next time you're having a conversation, you're using the correct word. Let's have a look at our next grammar mistake. So, listen carefully to the story. I thought the playground would be crowded because it was a holiday, but when we arrived, there were less children than I expected. It was nice and relaxing. The family had a great time. This is actually a story that I might tell someone because I have two children. I don't know if you heard anything that was a little strange, but let me show you what I said. And I want to highlight the phrase less children. mentioned that children, this is an irregular plural noun. It is plural which means that it is countable. So instead of using the word less, I should have used the word fewer. There were fewer children than I expected. So you're going to use fewer with count nouns. Fewer children, fewer items, fewer opportunities. You're going to use the word less when talking about non-count nouns. Less money, less water, less time. Now, the vast majority of times people end up using the word less when they should use the word fewer. And often, but not always, it happens with these irregular plural nouns like children, people. Now, I will say that I think this is a slight speaking mistake because you will also hear native speakers make this mistake from time to time. I've even caught myself making this mistake and using less when I should use the word fewer. To give you another example, in the US, if you walk into a grocery store, you may see a sign like this that says 10 items or less. Items is clearly countable. So, grammatically speaking, the sign should read 10 items or fewer. It's gotten to the point where I think this is becoming more and more acceptable. But still, it really is all about accuracy. And that is why I want to teach you the correct grammar. As far as correcting this mistake, just be conscious of these two words. We're only talking about two words, less and fewer. So, when you're having a conversation, just be aware of the noun that follows. Is it a non-count noun or is it a count noun? because if you're aware of it, I think you're more likely to be able to self-correct if you end up using the word less instead of fewer. So, I hope you're able to keep these things in mind and avoid any of these simple or even glaring grammar mistakes the next time you're speaking English. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 281. Do You Want to Reduce Your English Accent? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hb2w-rMrmHc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb2w-rMrmHc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:43:12 | --- Today, I am going to tell you three different ways that you can reduce your English accent. Today's lesson is all about pronunciation, and I am going to talk to you about three different ways that you can reduce your English accent. Now, I want to say something very important right here at the beginning. And that is it's okay to have an accent. When you are learning another language, it is perfectly normal to have an accent, and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. It is fine. The primary goal when you are learning a language and speaking and communicating with others is that other people understand what you're saying. It doesn't matter if you have an accent. However, I understand if people out there would like to reduce their accent. Maybe they are a little more self-conscious. Or they're a little reluctant to speak and have a conversation with others because of their accent. I've also been told that maybe if you're going for a job interview, learners have said that they might be a little worried that the person interviewing them might judge them because of their accent if it's really thick. So those are reasons why you might want to reduce your English accent. And if that is the case, then this lesson is for you. All of the tips that I am about to tell you are very simple and straightforward. If you keep these in mind when you are learning and practicing your English skills, it will help you over the long-term. And you'll be able to reduce your accent. And become a little more proficient in English. So the first way to reduce your accent is to listen to the accent that you wish to imitate. So if you would like to speak and sound more like an American, then you should listen to an American accent. You can listen to movies, TV, music, and constantly try to hear that accent. The same goes if you would like to more like a British speaker. If you want to sound like an Australian speaker or a South African speaker. Find the accent that you wish to imitate and expose yourself to it. Listen to that accent because listening is a very important part of pronunciation. Because when you're listening, you're not only hearing the pronunciation, you're hearing the rhythm and the flow of speech. You're hearing the intonation and the emphasis of certain words. So listening is the first step because we need to listen before we can speak. And once you listen to the way an accent sounds, then you can try to speak and imitate the same pronunciation. How are you? How are you? I'm good. Are you happy? Are you happy birdie? And this is something that actors and actresses do all the time when they would like to use a certain accent. I've heard you've claimed that you can do an accent any town in the world. Minsk. In Russia...Minsk. Minsk is very tight. Tight Russia. Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg. Ya, naturlich. So in Germany... Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo. Yeah Fargo, it's not like you think it is. It's not because...it's not like, it's not like the show. Did you do voices? Yes. Always. You'd imitate people? Everyone. Give me a little Apu. What would you like to talk about Larry? May I say, it's an honor, true honor to sit across from... And Moe you gave us. Moe you had a little bit there. Don't get greedy Larry. All right. How about Chief Wiggum? How about him? You don't have any...you don't have any legal problems that I should know about do you Larry? No, there are several different resources that you can use to find different sentences and words that are being said in American English or British English or Australian English. We did a video lesson on different pronunciation resources that you can check out. And these are some great online resources that are free. That you can use to practice and improve your pronunciation. The next tip that I have for you and it's basically the next step in order to reduce your accent is to record yourself. And actually practice your pronunciation. So first you listen to the accent, and then you need to try to practice it. And if you record yourself and listen to yourself, then you'll be able to identify areas of pronunciation that you need to improve. And find out what you need to do in order to reduce your accent. Because maybe you are having difficulty with a certain sound or maybe you are having trouble with word stress. If you're able to record yourself saying different words or sentences, and then compare that with the way a native English speaker says it, you'll be able to identify the areas of pronunciation you need to work on. And you can record yourself using a phone. You can record yourself with the computer using an online voice recorder. There are many different ways that you can record your own pronunciation and then listen to that so that you can understand...Okay, "What do I need to work on in order to reduce my accent?" Another great way to identify some of the pronunciation issues that you might have is to do some research and find out what other pronunciation issues exist from speakers of your language. Many times, speakers from the same language will face similar pronunciation issues. For example, I lived and taught in Korea and one thing that gave many Koreans trouble with English pronunciation is the R and L sound. And this was something that people had trouble not only pronouncing, but also listening for. So you can do some research and find out and look up maybe..."What are some of the pronunciation issues that many Spanish speakers have or Arabic speakers? Not all of it will be the same, but you might find one or two things that you can identify with. That you feel that you need to work on. And this will be a good starting point. And all of this ties right in with the last tip that I have for you and that is to become a student of pronunciation. And in order to become a student of pronunciation you just need to study it and learn more about it. Learn more about the individual sounds in English. Learn more about the combinations that different letters make and the sounds that they make. For example, the -tion at the end of the word has the /shun/ sound. The PH will have the F sound. The WR at the beginning of the word has the R sound and W is a silent letter. So if you are able to become a student of pronunciation, then you'll be able to reduce your accent because you're going to learn more about it. And when you speak, you are going to be saying the correct pronunciation. And then it'll just become a part of your overall fluency. And you won't even have to think about it anymore. There are also many different resources that you can use to improve your pronunciation. Like books. There are pronunciation books that you can use. You can also use the Internet and just look up different online, pronunciation resources, and you will find a variety of sites that will help you practice and improve your pronunciation. And give you all sorts of information and tips that will help you reduce your accent. So I hope that you found some of these tips useful. And that you can use them in order to reduce your accent. If you did find them helpful, please give this video a thumbs up. And in the comments below, why don't you tell us about some sounds or words that you've had difficulty pronouncing. And perhaps tell us what you did in order to improve your pronunciation. So write to us in the comments. We love hearing from you guys. And, as always, thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. --- ## 282. Does having an accent matter? | Natural English Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `1WTqYDgKmig` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WTqYDgKmig) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:34:26 | --- today you are going to do two things you are going to listen to a natural English conversation as well as learn some new vocabulary that's coming up what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and the way we're going to do that today is that we have a conversation that we want you to listen to but not only that we want to teach you some new vocabulary that you are going to hear when listening to this conversation and that is a great way to learn some new words as well as see how they're used in context and I will highlight those for you so you will know exactly where to find them so today's topic is all about accents many learners ask us about this all the time and they ask if it's necessary to reduce their accent or eliminate their accent or many people ask us you know does it even matter if we have an accent does is that even important so we are going to discuss this topic with you share some of our thoughts opinions and ideas and teach you some new vocabulary along the way so first let's go over the vocabulary that you are going to hear in our conversation the first word that I have for you is slight and this is an adjective which means small in degree so you often find it before a noun in this case we're talking about a slight accent so that that's a very common way it might be used when discussing languages and if you have a slight accent you really wouldn't hear much of an accent and all because it is slight then we have an expression which is I just thought it was a fun expression spoiler alert and if somebody says spoiler alert then they're talking about that some future information is about to be revealed often it's used in the context of maybe a TV show or a movie and you're about to reveal some information and you say okay this is a spoiler alert sometimes it's even used sarcastically when something is very obvious and they state the obvious and then another person might say whoa spoiler alert so it depends on the context but it can be used sarcastically as well spoiler alert at the end of this lesson we will asked you to write to us in the comments then we have a verb which is to impede and this just means to to make something more difficult to happen often you might hear it being used with the word progress you know you're trying to make progress but something impedes your progress it makes it a little more difficult to to move forward to MP then we have crucial this is an adjective which just means of great importance something is important then you could say that it is crucial for example it is crucial that you hit that like button we really want you to hit that like button right down below it's crucial and nothing nothing is impeding you from doing that right now just just just hit it just hit it right now right down below it's crucial next is exposure and this is a noun that means that you are experiencing something in an environment that is going to affect you let me give you an example we use this word a lot when talking about learning languages because we always tell you to try and get as much exposure as you can to the English language and that just means that you are experiencing English you are listening to English you are reading English it is a part of your environment you are surrounded by it and it is affecting you it is affecting you because you are learning you are learning the language because you are getting a lot of exposure next is an expression to get people down or you could say to get someone down and that just means to to make someone feel a little depressed or demoralized that you know if something gets people down then it just makes people a bit sad it's not a good thing or if something gets you down then it's something that that maybe demoralizes you and it's just harder to keep moving and keep learning and and and keep going forward but as long as you get that good exposure that is what is so crucial to to developing your language skills and hopefully nothing is impeding you from from your progress and you see how I'm doing that just using all these words so that you'll remember them then we have an idiom which is to to put a spin on something and often we that something is just it to put a spin on it and this just means to interpret and event in either a favorable or unfavorable way so for example if we're going to interpret something in a favorable way then you would hear somebody put a positive spin on it or if it was interpreted in an unfavorable way then they might put a negative spin on it so to put a spin on something is is just a way of interpreting it can be good it can be bad it could be positive negative to put a spin on it so those are the vocabulary words that I want you to keep an eye out for as you're listening to this conversation and and I will highlight them for you so you will see exactly where they are and how they're being used in context all right so you're ready to listen to the conversation it is crucial that you listen carefully all right here's the conversation all right so we have a speaking topic that we want to discuss and share with you guys today and just talk about our opinions our thoughts and we are going to talk about whether how important is it for you to reduce your accent or try to lose your accent many we get many comments that people talking about like how can I reduce my accent or I want to sound like in a like a native English speaker from the US or I want to sound like I'm British and whether or not that's necessary and important yeah so what do you think maybe Barry so I mean technically speaking native speakers everybody has everybody has an active spoiler alert not my first language but I'll say this it isn't it isn't important it is in in the it's very important when it impedes communication in this is that if you're trying to say something like I've heard people say instead of recipe receipt or something like that where you have such a strong accent where you're saying the words infliction is wrong and then people just don't understand where you're trying to say it causes confusion that's what is so important because obviously the point of language the point of language learning is effective communication when you want to get across what you're trying to say people to understand what you're saying that's when accident is crucial but most of the time your accent is not going to to mess with that not too much I think it's rare yeah that that happens I mean I I do understand as well I know we've taught some learners that would say you know I want to you know I want to reduce my accent because it's for work or maybe they're applied they're applying for jobs and they're worried that whoever is interviewing them that that person might judge them or something on their proficiency that could happen yes I understand in that context that people would be like okay I want to sound as fluent as possible and therefore they want to reduce their accents or are worried about your accent there are things you can do to improve it slightly even though it's anxious well like when I was learning I kept saying cookies instead of cookies and every everyone thought oh I'll take you it the way you see cookies like it's like you would say like with like teaching little kids or something yeah be playing people in stir well cuz I said you know you know but in the teens I heard a lot of native speakers take cookies cookies cookies and I just learned that one sound and then like once you learn one side or like instead of before saying before those little things when you put them when you use them a lot everyday it reduces your action by quite a lot actually I think you sound a lot more native so you don't have to like reduce it completely in order to yeah and I think again it goes back to if you have a lot of exposure to the language and you're listening a lot then I think people can naturally reduce their accent on their own instead of trying to study specific things and specific information because you start to realize that if you hear a word being spoken people say it and kind of try to imitate that because many times native speakers do not say the correct way or the way they're true very true it's especially like in music yeah in what speaking in conversation because people don't to link their words together and sometimes the way that's being spoken you don't fully pronounce the word like you don't think I'm going to the beach yeah you don't say you don't see the final G sound is what I meant to say oh okay yeah kind of dropped that G in the continuous especially if you link it anyway so I would say just pay attention to what's going on around you and try to stay that way but realize and keep in the mind of you're in the back of your mind that it's not going to be perfect you will make mistakes and that it's okay because it's been my experience in the english-speaking world that people you know we have so many speakers from so many different countries and it's it's so accepted it's like the one language where it's so accepted to have an and it's really welcome and it's kind of a conversation piece and that's another way for you to practice your language it's just to just talk to other people and tell them all your story tell them where you're from and it's perfect it's perfectly like like you wanted to set perfectly okay to have an accent I've been studying Spanish for years I've lived in three different spanish-speaking countries and I still I think a strong accent I don't eat strong anything entonces usted is case Tommy Rondo este video he support our espanol they may look at the answers is escriba man comentario que piensa so brainy acento in espanol people can read and be like oh yeah that guy sounds like he's from maybe maybe but yeah it's okay and I think like you just just go with it go with it I I think again we all have our personal reasons why you may want to reduce it and that's perfectly fine and again I would encourage you guys practice you know try to practice that especially if you can identify where you're having some trouble with certain sounds but again I don't think it's something to stress out yeah you know and again I think it really gets people down like you said if they make the mistake if somebody says hey I don't understand what you're saying or like can you repeat that I understand that makes people feel maybe a little bad sometimes they're a little down like oh gosh I need to yeah but that gets better and I wanted to say like don't don't it I don't know for me it's been a positive thing having an accident living in the u.s. because it's always been a conversation piece because you are you from and yeah and I think if you keep it as part of your identity what's right I mean it's up to you if you want to keep it forever that's fine if you want to improve it that's also okay but it can be something that's interesting about you that's unique to you you vegetable language it means your you know you have this other background story and you could put a positive spin on it and I I think it is a positive thing that we all have these different things to share yeah yeah I think in the u.s. far away from so okay yeah it in the comments like let us know we just want to hear from what what what should we write to us something about about accents if it's something you're interested in reducing it is something I feel you need to do and why you might need to do it because again we want to people to share information that everybody might enjoy reading about and that's useful and insightful because again that's it just helps people she's over there right over there right over there with Grandma and Grandpa so alright so write to us in the comments we love hearing from you guys and as always thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time --- ## 283. Don't Always Say 'I THINK' | Useful Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jyp1aRx832g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyp1aRx832g) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:53:24 | --- useful phrases take one action I think you are going to love this lesson cut cut cut take two action I'm of the opinion that you are going to love this lesson cut take three action it goes without saying that you are going to love this lesson but let's just start from the very beginning action to think it means to believe something or have an opinion or idea and this is the most common verb whenever you want to express an opinion or talk about what you believe and it even ranks in the top 10 of the most common verbs in English now there is nothing wrong with using the verb think whenever you want to talk about something you believe or Express an opinion however as your teacher I want you to feel comfortable using a variety of phrases in different situations and I want to help you be a little more precise and just add a little more flavor to your conversations and discussions and if you are someone who likes building your vocabulary and learning new phrases Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so let's begin with that very common verb think and if you are going to use this verb and say I think I would recommend that you include an adverb that gives it a little more flavor a little more emphasis and there are some common adverb verb collocations so you could say I really think or I definitely think or I certainly think these are very common and useful in just casual conversation and if you're wondering which of these phrases is more often used among native speakers then we can check out engram viewer to see just how often they are used and as you can see the phrase way I really think is just crushing it I really think you should use an adverb if you are in fact going to use this phrase now let's continue with another verb that is also very common and that is feel I think I feel on the surface these phrases really have the same meaning but specifically when you say I feel it refers to having a particular opinion about something or just a particular attitude toward toward something so this slight Nuance is probably what you think it is you think with your brain and you feel with your heart and I want to give you a little mini quiz and I want you to fill in the blank which verb are you going to use think or feel I you made a mistake I think that you made a mistake this is your belief I that I could have done more to help I feel that I could have done more to help this is again your your opinion in this case you could say think but in this context I feel like there's a little more feeling from the heart so I would go with feel I that I let you down I feel that I let you down all right expressing my attitude towards this and I that this ice cream is the best I think think that this ice cream is the best if you were to use feel in this sentence it may just sound a little awkward because in this case it's an opinion coming from up here in your brain so with these sentences I don't want to say that they're always interchangeable think and feel because it really just depends on the opinion you want to express or the attitude you wish to convey I mean Rachel and I think you you are great with Emma just feel you you I just feel that chemistry isn't right you can also use the phrases it seems that or it seems to me and the meaning of seem is to appear in a particular way so when using these phrases it's like you're saying that well in your mind something appears to be true and these phrases really have the same meaning as long as you're following it seems with a that Clause it's seems that you've been living two lives of course you can omit the word that when using this Clause it seems you've been a bit irresponsible and adding to me just makes it a little more personal it's more about your opinion and what's true for you therefore it seems to me that our best course of action would be chemical disincorporation I could say it seems that you enjoy building your vocab otherwise you wouldn't be here or it seems to me you enjoy building your vocabulary either one works now it seems to me that you are also someone who likes to practice and improve your speaking skills and if that's the case I strongly feel and I'm adding emphasis this is is from the heart I strongly feel you should check out my speaking course and I definitely think you should click on the link Down Below in the description and when you do you will find a special discount just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn vocabulary related to that topic we do engaging speaking activities we warm up each lesson with pronunciation or connected speech I'll also teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases and there are pronunciation video lessons in included in the course so check out the link down below if you'd like to sign up or learn more about the course and I just hope to speak to you soon let's continue with some more precise phrases to help you talk about what you believe or Express an opinion instead of saying I think and the next phrase that I have for you is as far as I know or you could say so far as I know it's used to say what you think is true although you do not have all the facts so you're expressing a little uncertainty it's like based on the information this is what you think is true but you're not entirely sure often this phrase will come at the beginning of a sentence or clause and is used to introduce your thought and again this is usually in response to someone asking what you think or just inquiring about something so if I were to ask do you think it's important to learn English and the response might be as far as I know learning English is becoming increasingly important happen she wouldn't tell me I said what happened and she said it's not it's not important interesting what as far as I know there's only two ways you can injure your neck now the phrase is as far as I know and so far as I know are really interchangeable but as you can see it's more common for people to use as far as I know as far as I can tell it's more often used in casual conversation and personally this is the the phrase that I would use as far as I know now let's continue with another phrase that I just mentioned as far as I can tell or you could say so far as I can tell these phrases are used to say what you have noticed or understood as far as I can tell your English is great and this is just what I have noticed communicating with you in the comments and because you're here building your vocabulary so far as I can tell you are a diligent learner and that's just what I have understood I just used both of them these phrases are interchangeable and once again they're really going to come at the beginning of a sentence or Clause I can't show you which of these phrases is more commonly used because they're too long for engram viewer but I have no doubt that people more often use the phrase as far as I can tell and I'm just leading you into the next phrase that I want to talk talk about which is I have no doubt this is used to emphasize that what you are saying is true and is likely going to happen and you're really expressing confidence I have no doubt that their lives and the lives of their families have been threatened but other times it could sound a little arrogant and cocky I have done nothing more than my duty my lady I have no doubt that on my return Robin's skills will have improved immeasurably ah that little finger he was just so SMU and in Game of Thrones I had no doubt he was a bad person I was under the impression this is the next phrase that I want to talk to you about it means to think or believe that something is true especially when it is not so you're often going to use the verb to be in the past tense it's like you're saying I thought this was true but it turns out not to be the case can I see your cap table business plan or any other relevant paperwork I just was under the impression that uh we would just be coming by and saying hi you know uh to pick up the check I was under the impression that you would hit the like button I hope it's true it may not be true and I guess I will never know unless you want to tell me down in the comments then we have the phrase it goes without saying this is used to say that something is obviously true and you're going to follow this phrase with the word that it goes without saying that fast food is not very healthy it goes without saying that some flights will get cancelled over the holidays I just hope it's not one of ours it goes without saying that this video Lesson must come to an end and that's what happens with all great things but let's get a little review I have no doubt that you can learn these phrases and go out and practice using them because as far as I can tell these phrases will help you you develop your overall speaking fluency and it seems to me that you will come across them in just everyday conversation now I feel that this is the appropriate time to end the lesson and I was under the impression that you would go on to watch another video Lesson and I think it goes without saying that I will have another new lesson for you in the future so if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 284. EMOJI SENTENCE GUESSING GAME ๐Ÿ˜‰ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fqz4LRnpglw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqz4LRnpglw) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:40:56 | --- Today we are going to do the emoji challenge. So basically for this challenge you have to act out as many emojis as you can. Go! This is one. This is one. Is that coffee you're drinking, or is that something else? I'm just kidding. That's not the emoji challenge. So basically for this challenge Wes and I have written some sentences in emojis. Or a combination of emojis and words. And the other person has to guess the sentence we have put together. It's also challenge for you because you can try to guess the sentences we wrote as well. So here is Ioana's first sentence. The cat must not lick the dog. What kind of weird sentence... Try it again. The cat shouldn't play with it with the dog. Winky face a dog. That's a winky face emoji? Or what emoji is that? The tongue is out. The cat is not a dog. You're kind of close. The dog does not look delicious to the cat. There's so many you can go with this. Close. That was the closest one. Really? Cats don't eat dogs. Well, I said something like that. That was...that's the answer. Why is that your sentence. I don't know why this is the sentence. That's such a weird sentence. This is Wes' first. My first one. Okay, I would say... She doesn't know what to eat for dinner. Tacos, salad, pizza, or soup. She doesn't know what to eat. Tacos, salad, pizza, or soup. Yeah, that's correct. I didn't know that this was supposed to be tricky. I didn't know that we're like... Yes. Excellent. This is...this one...I think it should make sense. These look weird. Well think of...what would the sentence...think of a sentence. Celebrate at the Statue of Liberty with a haircut. You celebrate New York with a haircut. Wes got a haircut in New York, and he also celebrated. That's close. But why...that's not an emoji of me. The guy... Yeah. got a haircut... Yeah. to celebrate New York. Okay. Close. I was going for... The guy/the man/the boy...whatever... got a haircut for a party in New York City. Okay, that makes more sense. Got a haircut for a party in New York City. How do you come up with these sentences? These are just...I'm inspired. That's your second one. This is the next one? Okay, so... Okay, I'd say... The teacher is teaching science to the children. Or you could say... The teacher...she is teaching students about dinosaurs. Is that kind of right? Yeah. I was thinking the teacher took the students to the museum. To the museum...the Natural History Museum where they can see the dinosaurs. Okay. Wow. That was pretty elaborate. Yeah, it was close. I would have accepted the teacher is teaching the students about the dinosaurs. Are you ready for my last one? Yeah. Does it involve animals eating each other? It does have animals in it. Of course. All right. You ready? So just try to sound it out one emoji at a time. Turtle, bus, bank, money, bicycle. Okay. Exactly. Go! The turtle took the bus to go to the bank to take money out, so he can buy a bicycle. Really? Yeah. Yeah. That was it. The turtle took a bus to the bank, so he could buy a bicycle. Because he's a turtle. He's slow, so he wants to move faster. To buy a bicycle. That's really cute. That was...wow! I thought that would be the most difficult one. Not the cat is trying to eat the dog. Because it's so abnormal. Cats don't eat dogs. The third one from me. My last one. Okay. He ... He doesn't know what present to look for for the dance party. He doesn't see any presents at the dance party. He can't see ... What party has gifts? He doesn't see any birthday presents at the dance party? Why dance party? What kind of party... Because they're dancing. I didn't realize this would be that hard. Yeah, what is it? He doesn't know about his surprise birthday dance party. Why dance? They're dancing because they're at a party. Oh, okay. I hope you're able to successfully complete our emoji challenge. I hope you guys enjoyed our challenge. I hope you're able to answer all of them. And now we have one for you. See if you guys can get this. In the comments wants you to write this sentence. And see if you can guess what this sentence, right here, means. Write it in the comments. And also give this video a thumbs up if you had fun today. Thank you guys so much for watching and joining us. And we will see you next time. See you! Bye. --- ## 285. ENGLISH SPEAKERS USE THESE EXPRESSIONS ALL THE TIME | Binomial Pairs | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `wIqGS268Rck` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIqGS268Rck) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:20:43 | --- - Are you sick and tired of boring English lessons? I am gonna teach you some very very fun expressions. More or less. What's up, everyone? My name's Wes, this is Interactive English, which is where you want to be to practice and improve your English skills. In today's lesson, I am going to teach you about binomial pairs. Now, you might be thinking, what the heck are binomial pairs, and that is a great question. A binomial pair is an expression with two words that's combined with a conjunction, and most of the time, the conjunction that combines these words is either the word and or the word or, and, or, and, or. These are expressions that you will often hear in everyday English, everyday conversation. We like to throw out these expressions, especially when speaking, because they're a great way to express how we feel and really give that extra little bit of information that can really capture a situation. As we go through these expressions, these binomials, I'll give you the meaning, and I'll throw in some video clips, so that you can see how these expressions are used in context. Let's begin. The first binomial that I have for you is pros and cons. When we use pros and cons, we're talking about a situation, and the pros would be the advantages, and the cons are just the disadvantages. A lot of times when people are trying to make a decision and decide what to do, they might make a list, or they might just think about what, what are the pros and cons, what are the good things, what are the bad things, and that can help us make a decision. Pros and con. - I think there are pros and cons to every candidate. - Let's look at the pros and cons. - Pro, we can fill in the pit and build a park. - Con, we might be filling it in with dirty money. - There's pros and cons. - Yeah yeah, I know, this would be good, but it would be the same, go someplace else, it would be different, but it might not be as good. - For example, what are the pros and cons of watching Interactive English? The pros would be that you're learning so much about the English language, you're getting to practice and improve your skills, and the cons, you know, there are no cons. The next one is sick and tired. You're sick and tired of something, or some situation. If you're sick and tired of something, it means that you are really annoyed, and you've kinda hit your breaking point to where you are about to get really angry, you're about to lose your patience. You're talking about a bad situation, something that you don't like, because it's something that you find annoying. You are sick and tired of, something. Like at the beginning, I asked you if you were sick and tired of watching boring English lessons, which is not what we do here. Not boring. - I'm sick and tired of having nobody. - I am sick and tired of talking about yo-yo's. โ™ช I was sick and tired of everything โ™ช - Some examples with sick and tired, people might be like, I'm sick and tired of the rain, or, I'm sick and tired of having to stay late after work, or, I'm sick and tired of eating the same thing all the time. You get tired and fed up with something, you're sick and tired of it. Another great binomial, give or take. This means approximately. If you're talking to somebody, and you give them a number, you say a number, but it's not exact, it may be more, it may be less, you could say the number and then give or take. For example, if somebody asks, what's the distance from here to there, and you might say, it's 100 kilometers give or take. That's just an estimate, you're not exactly sure, but it's somewhere around there, give or take. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less, but it's approximately that distance, give or take. - Two weeks, give or take. - Eight days, 11 hours, give or take. - In which case, $49, give or take. - How many people live here? - A million, give or take. - You're up 38 pins, give or take. - Then, we have short and sweet. This means that something is done very quickly, right to the point, you don't waste any time. It's short and sweet. For example, maybe you're going to give a presentation at work, and you say the information, you get right to the point, you don't waste any time, and it's short and sweet. - When they interrogate us, which they like to do, all your answers, short and sweet. - Okay, guys, let's keep it short and sweet today. Anybody got anything new? - Thank you, Butters, very nice, short and sweet. - If something is to the point, it's direct, doesn't waste time, it's short and sweet. For example, I am not making this explanation short and sweet, I'm dragging this out, and now I'm talking slower. It's not short and sweet, even though you're probably ready to move on to the next one, so we'll move on to the next one. Then, we have, and this is a good one, odds and ends. If you say odds and ends, then you're talking about something that is unimportant, something that might be inexpensive. Often, the way I would use it, when people ask, oh, what are you doing today, I'd be like, well, I have some odds and ends to tie up around the house. I have some things that I have to do, they're not super important, but I should still do 'em, these are just some odds and ends that I have to take care of. We all have odds and ends that we have to do. It's just part of life. - Just tying up a few odds and ends. - I know you have things to do. - What do you mean? - Packing last minute odds and ends. - [Character] What did you do back then? - Odds and ends. - The next binomial, and it's another great one, hustle and bustle. This means to work very hard, to be very active, and to do something with a lot of effort and a lot of energy. You are hustling and bustling. Oftentimes, I think you hear it in the continuous tense. If you're describing a person and say, you know, he or she has really been hustling and bustling lately. They've been really working hard and getting a lot done. Hustle and bustle. - [Character] I've never seen this. I hear there's so much hustle and bustle. - Ask me, Reverend, how can you live in such a small town, so far away from the hustle and bustle of the 20th century? - Do you like to hustle and bustle? Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, sometimes I get sick and tired of hustling and bustling. The next expression, and this is a really common one, back and forth, and it means moving in one direction and then moving back in the other. You're moving back and forth, back and forth. We often use this to describe some situation that we see, or something that's happening that is actually moving from one direction to another, it's moving back and forth. - A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth. - [Buck] I hung on to that sucker, and I swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. - You can also use it in other contexts, like, such as, people having a back and forth exchange, they're having a conversation, they're having a discussion, and it's back and forth. - We started texting back and forth. - The next binomial is by and large. This is an expression that means the same thing as saying, in general. It would just replace those two words. By and large, overall is another way of saying it. You'd often find it maybe at the beginning of a sentence, because you could say, by and large, this neighborhood, it's a really safe area. By and large, in general. - Yeah, by and large, they are still made of steel and plastic, and that consumes a huge amount of energy. - It was, by and large, a pleasant assignment, except for one thing. - By and large, there are many great channels to learn English, but again, nobody has the hustle and bustle like Interactive English. We keep our lessons short and sweet. There are many pros, and very few cons, about learning with us, and ya see, I like to keep using 'em again, so that you can try to remember. Another great binomial, more or less. It means, approximately, mostly, almost, you know, more or less. More or less is a little bit similar to give or take. The only thing is, I think give or take is often used with a quantity, it's often used with a number; whereas, more or less, you would hear it often with things that are a little more abstract, so if somebody said, oh, did you have fun at the party? You're like, yeah, you know, I had fun, more or less, or maybe, oh, was he telling the truth? Yeah, he told the truth, more or less. - Did you find what you were looking for, Logan? - More or less. - Are we hit? - More or less. - A boys home, like a reform school? - Yeah, more or less. - And I can sound like I'm speaking Italian, so it's more or less the same thing. - Then, we have loud and clear. This is talking about something that is easy to understand, easy to follow, confirming that, yes, you understand. You understand the directions loud and clear. You understand the instructions loud and clear. It can even be an answer, if somebody asks you, do you understand, you say, loud and clear. That's just a simple response. Yes, I understand exactly what you're telling me loud and clear. - Do you read me, Vice President Jetson? - Loud and clear, sir, loud and clear. - You guys said that prison was better than this place, and I heard ya, loud and clear. - This isn't over yet, buster, do you read me? - Loud and clear, Mister Peterson. - I hope you learned some new expressions, because, again, binomials, they're fun to learn. We use them often when we're speaking informally. If you understood all of these binomials, let me know in the comments. I want you to write loud and clear. Did you understand this lesson? If you did, loud and clear. That way, I know that, okay, this person, this person gets it. Right now, I gotta head out. I have some odds and ends to do before tomorrow. It's gonna be a very busy day tomorrow. I'm gonna be hustling and bustling and making new lessons for you guys to make this channel the best, because, by and large, I do. I think it's the best place out there to learn English. If you think so, too, please hit that like button down below. As always, thanks so much for watching, and we'll see ya next time. --- ## 286. ENGLISH WORDS THAT ARE ACTUALLY ITALIAN ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น #interactiveenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `J3Ac4LZUSq0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Ac4LZUSq0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:00:02 | --- ciao so we are in Milan Italy and I want to quiz you on some English words that are actually Italian and the first one is talking about singing without musical instruments what would you call that do you know you would say acapella I graduated in four years I was drunk the whole time and I sang in the acapella group Here Comes Treble this is a word it's talking about power or influence that you may use to get maybe give an advantage to a family member is called what hypotism Luke is my nephew Michael that's nepotism Luke is getting special treatment because he's your nephew yes exactly then if we're talking about a spectacular amazing expensive event or entertainment this is called what do you have any guesses an extravaganza an extravaganza so I understand how important these extravaganzas are sure you'll have a Who --- ## 287. EPONYMOUS ADJECTIVES | Advanced Vocabulary You Probably Don't Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ptYd0IO1AEk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptYd0IO1AEk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:19:11 | --- in today's lesson i guarantee that you will learn something new just keep watching hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel interactive english it's all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you build your vocabulary because i want to teach you some different eponymous adjectives and this is it's a little more advanced vocabulary and before we begin i want to say that i i love lessons such as this one uh and the reason why i love this lesson is because i learn something new about the english language and i love it when i love it when that happens i'm always trying to learn new things about english just just like many of you and the reason why i learned something new is because when i discovered this i had no idea what the word eponymous meant so let's just start with the word eponymous the word itself is an adjective and what it means is that a name is given to something else so for example uh you could have an eponymous book title which means that the title of the book is taken from the name of perhaps a character or the main character harry potter is a great example of that that is that is an eponymous book title because the title comes from the main character who is harry potter you could also have an eponymous city name washington dc that is the capital of the united states which is where i am from and the name of the city comes from the george washington who was the first president of the united states so all of these adjectives come from the name of either a real person or it could be a fictional character but they all come from uh the name of a person and you can use them to describe different situations and we'll we'll get into this as we go through the lesson because some of these words can be used as collocations and they're frequently used with other words which i will tell you or they may be commonly used as a phrase as a very common phrase in english which again is going to help you build your vocabulary now there are many adjectives like this you can take the name of well perhaps just about anyone turn it into an adjective and and use it to describe something so like william shakespeare okay william shakespeare very famous writer you can turn shakespeare into an adjective and say that something is shakespearean you want to describe another person's writing and say that it's amazing it's incredible and you could say wow your writing is shakespearean i myself have done some writing i have written a couple different travel memoirs and i would go ahead and tell you that they they are not shakespearean or at least they're probably not i will go ahead and link them down in the description below in case you want to check those out but that is an example of an eponymous adjective so let's uh let's start with the first one that i want to teach you now this is a pretty common word it is still an advanced vocabulary word but it's pretty common and i did not even know that this uh this was an eponymous adjective that this word came from the name of a person and the word is chauvinistic so chauvinistic actually has two different meanings it has an older meaning which is more the original one and then the meaning as to how it's more commonly used today so the original meaning of this word is that somebody is showing an unreasonable love for their country or race and they think it's just so much better than than everything else and that is the original meaning today however i think it's more commonly used to refer to men that believe that women are are not as capable that they are maybe not as intelligent that they are less than in some way and you would use this word chauvinistic to perhaps describe another man or perhaps maybe they say something a chauvinistic comment or remark and the word comes from a fictional french character a french soldier named nicholas chauvin who was extremely nationalistic in in the story and that that is where the meaning that original meaning comes from that excessive uh patriotic love and you think that your country is just so much better but again nowadays it's really used to refer to a form of bigotry and bias against women and you would say that that somebody is chauvinistic uh this word is not going to be capitalized and it has different parts of speech because as an adjective you could say that someone is chauvinistic oh jesse you look great what i look like is not as important as what i am bubba of course not what a chauvinistic fool i am but it's also pretty common to use it as a noun as well you could describe another man and say that he is a chauvinist and referring to that bias and bigotry against women mr compton is a galloping male chauvinist every single store in his chain has a man for a manager or it could be another noun chauvinism and you may hear it used as a collocation male chauvinism the meaning is still the same referring to that bigotry and bias against women so chauvinistic i learned when putting this lesson together actually comes from that fictional french character nicholas chauvin but again this is a common adjective and you do not need to capitalize it if you are writing which is unlike the other adjectives that i'm going to teach you in this lesson like the next one which is darwinian so you could describe something as being darwinian which comes from the theories of charles darwin who really looked into how plants and animals evolve over millions of years and basically saying that the ones that are best suited for that environment are the ones that are going to succeed and survive and the plants and animals that are not really well suited for an environment they are no longer going to exist so that's kind of the ideas behind charles darwin and we can use it as an adjective and perhaps describe something as darwinian another phrase that you could use to kind of talk about this situation is survival of the fittest that's another pretty common phrase that you could say which is describes this situation a lot of competition survival of the fittest and in this case we're talking about using darwinian as an adjective and again this is more it would be a proper adjective you are going to capitalize this word and you could refer to perhaps like business that would be a common way uh because business you have that competition and you could talk about darwinian capitalism raise you another two centuries this is merely darwinian capitalism or maybe you're just trying to explain something come up with some type of explanation and you could have a darwinian explanation this really weird gangly awkward organism and you think why are all these parts where they are yeah there's probably some darwinian explanation for it all or even in science you could have some sort of experiment where you want to know well what's going to succeed and survive and what's not going to survive and you could describe it as a darwinian experiment work together put on your darwinian experiment then we have this adjective right here faustian and this comes from the medieval legend of faust a very famous legend who made that contract with the devil to exchange their soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly possessions now this adjective again it is a proper adjective you are going to capitalize it but it's most often going to be used as a phrase and you are going to perhaps refer to something as a faustian bargain that's commonly how you are going to use this word as that phrase a faustian bargain which you're describing a situation in which somebody is willing to make a sacrifice perhaps one that they shouldn't make in order to get more power typically or even more knowledge and you could say that somebody is making this immoral sacrifice immoral exchange and you could say it's a faustian bargain uh yeah i'll pay any price you realize i'm the devil and and you're making what is called a faustian bargain right yeah sure sure according to the gloomanic angarat made a faustian in exchange for his magnificent sorcery he cursed his soul perhaps i think uh i think politicians might do this uh you could refer to somebody in that situation who they are maybe trying to get more power and they're willing to sacrifice some of their values their ideals and they make that faustian bargain in order to get more power and have more influence then we have herculean now i'm sure probably many of you know where this uh this word comes from which is the the greek mythology we're talking about hercules even though uh hercules is more the the roman name for the the greek myth but it you know hercules refers to is just this person with extraordinary strength so you can use herculean to describe something that really needs a lot of strength and determination and mostly i think this adjective is going to be used as a collocation with certain nouns you might describe something as a herculean task or you might even say that somebody needs to put forth a herculean effort in order to do something so this is a well it's a great adjective that you can use with those words if you want to refer to an extraordinary extraordinary amount of strength and determination that a person will need to do some sort of task or effort a herculean task or herculean effort physical therapy rehab talk therapy it's going to take a herculean effort for billy i'm going to need him to give me everything that he's got maintaining five friendships supposed to be a herculean task so i'm going to have to let one of you go then we have freudian which is related to sigmund freud who is a real person and it it really relates to his ideas on how a a person's hidden thoughts and feelings will influence their behavior and you could use this to well really just refer directly to sigmund freud and you could say that some method or approach is freudian why don't we just talk oh the talking to classical freudian good choice but i think even more common than that this adjective is used with a certain phrase which is freudian slip and you would say that someone makes a freudian slip in which they they unintentionally reveal their hidden thoughts and feelings uh when they say or do something and you would say that somebody makes a freudian slip oh hey captain did you get my report on the finley murder oh yeah i looked it over nice work good thanks dad why is everyone staring at me you just called captain holt dad no i didn't i said thanks man do you see me as a father figure peralta so this is a great example when you call someone a name by accident and it's kind of like you're you're revealing your hidden feelings i think it happens to all of us from time to time and we unintentionally reveal our our thoughts and feelings and we make a freudian slip so i made you a promise at the beginning of the lesson i told you that i i guaranteed that you would learn something new and if you did i want you to let me know by hitting that like button down below and if well if you didn't learn anything new then yeah okay you're free to hit the dislike button and let me know that way but i really hope that you learn some new words and phrases and i hope that these this vocabulary will also be easier to remember because you can associate these words with those people they're very famous well-known people and i hope it makes it a little easier the next time you hear some of these collocations or you hear these phrases that have these eponymous adjectives thank you guys so much for watching hope you enjoyed the lesson and i will see you next time --- ## 288. EXERCISE PHRASAL VERBS ๐Ÿ’ช Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `mxpsHUUWRxw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxpsHUUWRxw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:18:27 | --- Today, I want to work out your English muscles, and the way we're going to do that is I'm going to teach you some different phrasal verbs that are related to fitness and exercise. And I know phrasal verbs can be very confusing because you have the verb followed by the preposition, and if that preposition changes, then you have a an entirely new phrasal verb. The other thing that I know makes them a little confusing is that many phrasal verbs have multiple meanings. The good news is that in today's lesson, I just want to talk to you about one meaning of these phrasal verbs that's related to fitness and exercise. So, in case this is your first time here, my name is Wes. I am going to be your fitness phrasal verb instructor for today's lesson. This is Interactive English, and the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your English skills. So, let's let's just let's just start our workout, and the first place I think we need to go is just right to the gym. All right, so here we are. We're at We're at my gym. This is where I like to go to work out. And that is the first phrasal verb that I wanted to talk to you about because it's so common. And what it means is just to do some exercise, especially to improve your health. And you're going to work out. And there are so many different ways that a person can work out. But before But before we work out, I think it's it's very important that we warm up, which is the next phrasal verb that I want to teach you. Warm up means that you're going to do some light exercise or stretches in order to prepare for that physical activity. So, before you really start a sport or or something, a really intense workout, I think it's very important that that you warm up first. And this is a phrasal verb that I think you could also use in the context of education and learning. Maybe you have heard it before in an English classroom, and the teacher says, "Before we start the lesson, let's just warm up quickly with this activity." And you could warm up and prepare the students before really starting the activity. But I think it's very useful when talking about health and fitness and exercise. You're going to warm up. And before we really get into our workout with this lesson, I think I think it's important that we stretch. So, let's just head on over to my yoga class. Welcome to my yoga class. Don't worry, we're not we're not bothering anyone. I checked with them. I told them that we're we're going to be talking about phrasal verbs today. So, this is a place where I would stretch out. And that is the next phrasal verb that I want to teach you. Stretch out, it means to to strain your muscle by overextending it. And I think it really is kind of talking about the act of stretching. So, in this case, stretch out has a very similar, almost interchangeable meaning with the verb stretch. So, then you may be wondering, "Well, if they mean the same thing, why should we even use stretch out?" That's a good question. I think people may use stretch out because this phrasal verb is separable when they want to put either a pronoun or a noun between the verb and the preposition. So, perhaps I might say, "Well, after my run, I'm going to stretch my legs out." And I use the noun between the verb and the preposition, stretch my legs out. Think about an airplane. I think this is another another example of when you want to stretch your legs out. I know I get very tired of just sitting there. I kind of want to stand up. And yes, I need to stretch my legs out. That's another context in which you may use the the same meaning of this phrasal verb. But while I'm doing yoga, I always have to try to like bend over and and get into these different positions. And for me, that's very difficult. But bend over is talking about really just moving downward at one's waist because bend means to curve something so that it's no longer straight. So, it makes sense that if you're just standing up and you bend over, you're moving downward at your waist. But bending over, touching my toes, it's it can be very challenging for me because I have some issues with my back. And speaking of back, there is a great idiom to bend over backwards. And to bend over backwards means that you are trying really hard to do something helpful or useful. And somebody might use it in a context like, "I've just been I've been bending over backwards trying to help this person and solve their problem." So, it's a great idiom, bend over backwards, something that I physically cannot even come close to doing. However, I'm always up to trying out new things because when when I'm doing yoga, I have to try out some new positions. And try out is another great phrasal verb that means to to test something to see how useful and effective it is. And you would try something out. I think this is a great phrasal verb when talking about fitness and exercise because I I think often people need to try out new things, to try out new exercises. And it can be really challenging because, well, if you're like me, I'm always worried that I'm going to do something wrong. When I see somebody using a workout machine and I want to try it out, I'm a little nervous sometimes that I'm going to make a mistake. I'm not going to use it correctly. But I think it's very important when talking about exercise that we always try out new things. Now, let's switch things up. We'll head back to the gym and continue working out. This is a place that I I try to work on different muscle groups. And when you work on something, it means you are spending time trying to produce or improve something. And if we're talking about fitness and exercise, you might say that, well, you know, tomorrow I'm going to work on my arms. And I want to make them stronger. And then the next day, I'm going to work on my legs. So, people would use this phrasal verb in that context talking about, well, things they need to work on in order to improve. And you could also use that in a variety of other ways. For example, when talking about language, I would like to improve my Spanish. So, I would say, "Yeah, I really need to work on my Spanish. I need to practice it a little bit more. I need to continue studying. Something that I really need to work on." But while while we're here at the gym, if we're working on our arms and working on our legs, I I might really try to bulk up a little bit because that's why I'm working on these different muscle groups so I could bulk up. And that's the next phrasal verb, which means to get to get bigger and heavier. And you you're really you're really just trying to bulk up. This guy right here behind me, he's doing that intense workout, really trying to bulk up and build those muscles. Another phrasal verb that I think is useful if we're talking about like weight is lift up. Once again, this phrasal verb, it really has a similar meaning as lift. But people may use the phrasal verb when they want to put that pronoun or noun in between the verb or the preposition. And also, I think perhaps you're talking about maybe a specific time. So, perhaps I'm when I was lifting weights, I had some trouble and I'd say, "Well, I just couldn't lift it up. I could not bring it to a higher position. I couldn't lift it up." And I just can't help but think about that guy back there who's just He's just working out constantly. You would think eventually he's going to tire out. And tire out is another phrasal verb that means that you just get very tired and exhausted, and you would tire out. And because I I don't want you guys to tire out, let's let's do something that's a little less intense. And and maybe maybe let's let's go on the treadmill. So, walking on the treadmill like like my friends behind me, this is a great way to cool down. And this phrasal verb means that you are allowing your body activity to return to normal after doing strenuous exercise by doing less strenuous exercise. So, you have you know, you're working out, you're you're working out very hard, you're working on all these different muscles. It's very intense. You need to cool down after that and try to let your body just just return to normal. It's it's a little different than cool off, which I think is another great phrasal verb when talking about exercise because when when you're working out, I think people they tend to get pretty hot. And cool off means to become cooler after being hot. And I think at a gym, somebody if they're very hot, maybe there's a fan. And they go over to the fan in order to cool off and and just become a little cooler. And when people are exercising, I think it's common if they are working out very hard and then they cool down for a little bit, they may pick up the pace right after that and and continue working out very hard. And pick up means that you are increasing or becoming stronger. I think when you're talking about fitness, it's often related to speed. And people will use that phrase that I just said, "Pick up the pace. We need to pick up the pace. We need to go faster. We need you to be stronger. Pick up the pace." And if somebody picks up the pace, that's a good way to burn off some unwanted calories. And burn off means to get rid of fat from your body by doing some physical activity. And yes, when when I'm working out, I think I probably need to try to burn off some more calories. But sometimes I have trouble with that. In in that case, if I can't burn off those calories, I should probably try to to cut down on some of my some of my unhealthy habits. And cut down on, this is a three-word phrasal verb, and it just it just means to consume less of something, to reduce the amount. And yeah, I think I my guilty pleasure, I I like to eat chocolate and drink some milk. And I I do that at night time. It's something that I I should cut down on. Woo. All of that exercise just really did me in. And do in is the next phrasal verb that I wanted to teach you, and means to make someone feel extremely tired. And often I I think people would use this phrasal verb in the past tense. You're referring to an action, an activity that's finished. It's already happened, and if you feel extremely tired afterwards, you could say it just just really really did me in. I hope that this lesson did not do you in, and that you are motivated, and you want to continue working on your English. And you can do so by watching some of these other video lessons to help you improve your language skills. And I just hope you learned something new from from today's workout. If you did, please hit that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 289. Easy & Important Word Stress Rules for Better Pronunciation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oaFezPi2gkk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaFezPi2gkk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:45:15 | --- What's up everyone? How's it going? Thanks for joining us today. I have a super fun lesson for you today because I'm going to talk to you about ways that you can communicate more clearly. So, this is really going to help your speaking because we're going to talk about pronunciation and that's going to help us again communicate more clearly so that we understand each other. And the way that we're going to do that is that today I'm going to talk to you about word stress. So this is very important. Like I said that we we really need to be able to understand each other when we're talking. So it it doesn't matter if you have an accent. The most important thing is that we understand each other. And this goes it connects with word stress because we need to pronounce and we need to say words correctly so that everybody understands what what we're trying to say when we want to express our thoughts our opinions and have just a conversation because if we make sometimes when we make these little small mistakes it it does change the meaning. So, what I want to talk to you about today are six different word stress rules that you can keep in mind that's going to help you improve your pronunciation. So, hello Mitchum Long. Great to see you guys. Sorry if I missed some names. Thanks for joining me. And no matter when you are watching this, please write your name in the comments. Tell me where you're from because we love hearing from you guys. So, today we're talking about word stress and the rules behind word stress. I have six rules for you and I have this little quote right here. First, learn the rules, then break them. So, I I don't want to encourage you say, "Hey, just break the rules." I just thought it was a nice image. And it is important to learn rules especially when the rules actually exist to understand them and then once we understand them sometimes you know as always in any language rules are broken maybe you want to make a point or be funny but again it is important to learn the rules. So today I'm going to talk to you about six rules when it comes to word stress so that we can improve our pronunciation and communicate clearly and we can all understand each other. So let's first look at well why why learn word stress? Why why should we do this? I had already mentioned that yes it it helps us communicate clearly and it makes it easy for for everyone to understand what you're saying. So if we are I no matter which word we're talking about if we are using word stress correctly then it's going to be that much easier to understand each other. And that is the most important thing. Again it it doesn't matter if you have an accent. The most important thing is that we understand each other. Mutual intelligibility that we know what everyone is talking about and that way we can communicate easily and communicate clearly. So in order to understand word stress we we need to take the word and really break it down into its different parts. And when we do that we are talking about syllables. Okay? And a syllable, as I said, is just one unit of sound. So, every word has one or more syllables. And a syllable is just one unit of sound and it has one vowel sound. That's very important that it is always going to have one vowel sound. And it may also be surrounded by consonants. it come at the beginning or at the end or maybe it it's just the vowel sound and there are no consonants. So when we break words down we break them down into syllables. And when we know how many syllables a word has then we can think about well which syllable is going to get the word stress. Uh hello Gia, Eduardo, John Hanade, Brandon, thanks for joining me. Glad you guys are here again. No matter when you're watching this, write your name, say what's up in the comments. We like to hear from you guys. And in today's lesson, I again, as with all of our lessons, we want you guys to participate. I am going to be asking you guys questions throughout this lesson. I want you to write your answers in the comments. I would also recommend that you you practice your speaking and and we're going to say some sentences and practice word stress. So once we have a word, we can break it down into its parts into syllables and then start thinking about well which word is going to get that stress because word stress basically is when one of those syllables gets a little bit more emphasis than the others. We are going to say it a little louder. We're going to have it say it with a higher pitch and that is actually going to help us say the word correctly and say it clearly so that everyone can understand. So I'm going to give you some words. All right? And I want you to tell me how many syllables the word has and which syllable do you think gets the stress. So, if you're trying to think of a word, one way to tell how many syllables a word has is that if we take our hand and we put it below our chin and we say the word, the number of times that our chin hits our hand is the number of syllables. So, for example, let's look at this word right here. And I think you guys know what what is this word. All right, that's pretty easy. I want you to tell me how many syllables this word has. Okay? How many syllables in this word? All right. And again, if we want to use this technique right here and say the word, the word is banana. All right. Banana. You can see, could you see how many times my chin hit my hand? All right. I'll say it again. Bna. You should have counted three. There are three syllables in the word banana. And the stress is on that second syllable. Banana. And again, when we're talking about syllable stress, you don't want to overemphasize it. So it's not banana. No, it's just banana. And I think when you're listening, you should be able to hear that second syllable get a little more emphasis. Banana. And you can repeat these words after me. All right. Banana. Banana. Let's look at the next word. So the next word right here, it it's not a flag. I'm going for the country. Which country is this? And if you're not sure which country it is, I will tell you. It is Germany. So in the comments, how many syllables does the word the country Germany, how many syllables does it have? Germany. And which syllable is getting the stress? So we can count the syllables again. Germany. Germany. Three syllables. Germany. So which syllable is getting the stress? Is it the first, the second, or the third syllable? Germany. Germany. Germany. What do you guys think? So again, yes, it has three syllables and that stress. You should have said, tada, the first syllable. So the first syllable is going to get that emphasis. Germany. If you got that right, hit that like button. Let me know so I know. Like, yes. All right, you guys are rocking this. Let's do one more. And this is this is a longer word. So you have that person there opening the refrigerator. So that's our word refrigerator. How many syllables does the word refrigerator have? How many syllables does it have? Write it in the comments. I want to know. And again, it's good to practice. You can use this technique right here if you want to count the syllables. and no. And this is a good way again for trying to understand a word and be able to break it down into its parts into the number of syllables. So let's say this one together and you guys can count. All right. So refrigerator. How many times did it hit refrigerator? Five times. So, the word refrigerator has five syllables. Which one do you think has the stress? Refrigerator. I hope that you said that second syllable. So, you you can hear this again. Refrigerator. Refrigerator. Can you hear that second syllable get a little more a little more emphasis? Refrigerator. Now, if you're if you're trying to think of, oh, okay, like I I'm not sure what to use, what source, if I want to find out how many syllables it has, a good resource that we I like to use is dictionary.com. I will leave a link in the description. You can go check it out. You put the word in there and it it breaks down the word just just like this into its syllables and it highlights which one gets the stress. So refrigerator has five syllables and the stress is on the second syllable. So now that we've talked about breaking words down into their parts and we know that each that words have one or more syllables, let's talk about some word stress rules when it comes to pronouncing and saying these words correctly. So, the first rule that I have for you is this one right here. We are talking about most two syllable nouns. And again, pay close. I said most. It is not all two-cllable nouns. It is most two-cllable nouns. And in the comments, I want you to write think of a two-cllable noun and write it in the comments and share with us. All right. Garden. Rocket. Rocket. Ocean. Ocean. And then finally, chicken. Chicken. So, with each of those words, you should have been able to hear that that first syllable has a little bit more stress. There's a little more emphasis on that first syllable. So again, in the comments, in the chat, write some words, some nouns, people, places, or things that have uh that have two syllables. All right, so you can share with us. Um, yeah. So said, yes, object. All right, two syllables, stresses on the first one. Breakfast. Excellent. Friday, perfect. the days of the week, Friday, stress is on that first syllable. So most two-cllable nouns, the stress is on the first syllable. This is also the case if we're talking about two syllable adjectives. And again, most is the key word, not all. Most two-cllable adjectives, it's the same. The stress is going to be on that first syllable. So if we have these words right here again I will say the word and I want you guys to repeat. Repeat after me. Say these words out loud so that we can get a little speaking practice going. Ready? So the first one is easy, clever, anxious, splendid. So again this is easy. These are some easy word stress rules that you can follow. So if you come across a two-cllable adjective, all right, probably the stress is going to be on the first syllable. Easy, clever, anxious, splendid. So keep this in mind. These are good rules to follow when we're trying to learn the correct pronunciation. All right. If you guys are speaking, I want to know if you're actually practicing. Write that in the chat. Write the word speaking so I know like, okay, you guys are actually doing this. You are participating in these lessons because that's what we want. We want you to interact. This is after all interactive English. Let's look at another rule. So, we know that with most two syllable nouns and two syllable adjectives, the stress is going to be on the first syllable. Le how about two syllable verbs? If we're talking about two-cllable verbs, most of the time with most words, the stress is on the second syllable. Now, I think most verbs out there, many of them, especially the most common ones, only have one syllable. So you don't need to worry about this as much, but if the verb has two syllables, for most of the time, it's going to be on that second syllable. So again, I want you to say these words. Repeat them after me. The first one, enjoy. Enjoy. Relax. Everybody loves to relax. Suggest. Suggest. And then finally, become. Become. You should, as I'm saying these and you guys are listening and practicing your listening skills, you should be able to hear the stress on that second syllable. Enjoy, relax, suggest, and become. An exception would be, again, I'm thinking of an exception because again, it's not with all of them. Think of the verb open. All right? open to open something has two syllables but in that case the stress is on that first syllable that o open. So there are always going to be exceptions to these rules, but these are good ones to follow if you guys are trying to figure out, okay, you know, how do I say this word correctly? And I want to say that this isn't something that this is good practice right now. So we're going through this and you're learning these rules because this isn't when when you're having a conversation, you're not going to stop and think like, okay, wait a second. How many syllables does this word have? Where's the stress? That's not the case. This is more for if you hear a word and you use it all the time and maybe you're listening for it and you hear like, hm, I don't know if I'm saying this correctly. Then that's the time that you can look up this information and know, okay, well, where is the stress in this word? How does how do I pronounce this correctly and clearly? So, that is when you can really use that. And these are some good rules to follow because again, if if you're talking about a verb and you learn a new verb and it has two syllables, then you probably know, okay, the stress is probably going to come on that second syllable. these. All right. When we're talking about nouns and verbs, sometimes a word can be either a noun or a verb. And I want to talk about some of those words right now. And these words follow those same rules that we discussed before. So if the word is a noun, the stress is going to come on that first syllable. If the word is a verb, the stress is going to be on the second syllable. So again, I want you guys to say these. I'm going to say these words. I I suggest you guys practice and practice with me. So, I'm so good to see some of the speak. Patricia, it looks like Oh, you got you're speaking. Excellent. Thank you. Um, again, somebody said, "Speak." Junior, you're practicing. Perfect. All right, Vivian. Excellent. Keep practicing. Say these words out loud. It helps. Um, I know that I can't hear you, but still you can hear me, and it's good practice. All right, so let's say these words. These are words that are both nouns and verbs. Let's look at these nouns first right here. So, the stress is on the first syllable. Present. Present. Object. Object. Conduct. Conduct. So, you should be able to hear the stress on that first syllable. Now, if we are using these words as verbs, as we are down here, listen and repeat after me how I say this. So, present. Present. Object. Object. Conduct. Conduct. We are going to practice these more later because I have some sentences for you that I want you to repeat and practice. And that's really going to help you have a better idea again when when to switch back. Because this some this is something common right here that learners might make a a bit of a mistake. and instead of saying the noun they they might say it like the verb and most people will be able to understand but it might cause a a little bit of confusion. So this is a good rule to follow. If you are looking um there there is a list u I will leave a link in the description to you can click on it and see more words that are like this a list of words two syllable words that are both nouns and verbs and you can see the words that they have listed for you because there's many of them there's a lot of them out there. So this is a good rule to follow. Another rule is that words that end in t io n and s io n and there are many of these words out there. The stress is on the second to last syllable. The stress is on the second to last syllable. So these are some examples that I've given you. And for for the sake of consistency, I chose words that all have three syllables. So in all of these, because they have three syllables, the words end with t iio n or s io n, the stress is on the second to last syllable. So it's going to be on that middle syllable. So let's say these words again together. Ambition. Ambition. Position. Position. Decision. Decision. And collision. Collision. So, if you are listening to me say these words, you should be able to hear that second syllable has a little more emphasis. All right? Ambition, position, decision, collision. Now, as I said, there are words that also end with tio n. Whoops, there it is. With ty, tio n or s io n. And the stress is going to be on that second to last syllable. For example, what about the word pronunciation? Pronunciation ends in t io n. How many syllables does it have? Pronuniation. Five syllables. All right. Pronunciation. And the second to last syllable is that a a sound. Pron pronunation. Pron wh pronunciation. You should hear it on that fourth syllable because it's the second to last syllable and that is going to have the stress. All right. So, this is a good rule to follow the final the sixth rule before we do our practice that that you guys can follow. And in the comments, I want you to think if you know of any words that end words that end in cy, ty, phy, g y, or a l, the stress is on the third to last syllable. So in the in the in the comments, I want you to write write some words that end in either c y, t y, phy, g y, or a l. Because again, it it's good to have a list so that if people look at the comments and look through it, they they can see the word that you have written and then try to say it to themselves and see if they can identify the stress on that third to last syllable. So, let's say these words right here. Again, I've chosen all words that have four syllables so that it it's easier to visualize because I'm using these dots right here. And in this case, I I've highlighted I I've circled the the end of the word. So that c y, the phy, the gy, the c. Um, and you can see that the stress is on the third to last syllable, which means for these words, it's on the second syllable. So let's say these words together. Ready? Democracy. Democracy. Geography. Geography. Technology. technology and illogical. illogical. I hope it helps to be able to see this right here and the words being broken down into their syllables and then being able to see the stress. I I've capitalized those letters so that you guys can see it a little more clearly and a little more easily. So, we have some great examples of words um that end in the a typical um uh what else? Digital. Exactly. Uh psychology, another great one. Geology, magical. These are all great words. And again, it's going to follow this rule. The stress is on the third to last syllable. And again, a great resource if you're looking to say, "Oh, okay. I have a word. I want to know where the syllable stress is." Dictionary.com is what I like to use. And there is a link in the description if you guys want to check it out. And you can put in a word and it'll show you how many syllables and it'll highlight where the stress is. So, are you ready? Are you ready to start speaking? Are you ready to practice? Because this is what I want you to do. I'm going to give you a sentence, okay? And I want you to read the sentence. You can read it to yourself. I would recommend saying it out loud. And then I'm going to tell you the sentence and say it. And then we're going to break it down into its parts. And I'm going to show you where the emphasis is, where the stress is for each word in the sentence. Again, I recommend say this out loud. It doesn't matter when you're watching this. if you're watching it now or later, this is good practice. It's good speaking practice. So, the first sentence that I have for you is right here. Okay? Look at uh this sentence. Say it to yourself. Say it out loud. All right? Don't don't you don't have to think about, okay, well, where's the stress? Where's the stress? Just try and say it and see what comes naturally. Because again, when you're having a conversation, when you're communicating with others, you're not going to stop and think about, wait a second, where's the stress? Um, you're just going to try and say it naturally. And again, this is how we improve because we just start using it correctly. A and then that's going to it's just going to become embedded in our minds and we're just going to start using the words correctly and saying them correctly. So the sentence right here, all right, let's let's say this sentence together. You can repeat it after me. My philosophy teacher presented me with this awesome present. My philosophy teacher presented me with this awesome present. So, let's look and see how this sentence is broken down. So, I've rewritten the sentence and I've capitalized the letters that stress that's going to have a little more emphasis. And I will say it again. I'll say it a little slower and I'll try to to to emphasize it a bit more so you can hear it. So, my philosophy, remember, it ends with the the phy, that third to last syllable. Philosophy. My philosophy teacher, that's a noun. The stress two-cllable noun stress is on the first syllable syllable presented. Presented. So this is the verb. The stress is on that second syllable. Again, this is in the past tense. So the ed is like going to have a third syllable, but we're only talking about the main verb here. That stress is still on that second syllable. Presented me with this awesome. It's a twocllable adjective. Stress is on the first syllable. Present. That is again a noun. The stress is on the first syllable. So we use present two times in this sentence. Once as a verb and once as a noun. Let's say it again. My philosophy teacher presented me with this awesome present. If you said this correctly, let me know. Hit that like button so I know like, oh, okay. You guys you guys are getting it. Um, also let's let's look at the next one. Okay, ready? Easy peasy. Here we go. Think of this sentence. How would you say it? Think about say it in your mind or say it out loud. Practice your speaking. Okay, just just say what comes naturally. Are you ready? So you can repeat it after me. Society objects to organizations that use people as objects. Society objects to organizations that use people as objects. Let's look at this sentence now with its individual parts. So the first one, society, all right, ends with that ty. Um, society objects. The verb stress is on the second syllable. Objects to organizations ends in the tio n syllable. The the second to last syllable that z. Organizations that use. Now use is a verb, but it's just one syllable. So again, that's going to have that stress that use people as a noun. Stress is on the first syllable as objects. So in this sentence, I used objects twice. Once as a verb and once as a noun. Society objects to organizations that use people as objects. If you are practicing your speaking, let me know. Write it in the comments. Whether you're here with us now or watching it later, just write speaking because then I'm going to give you huge props for actually interacting and participating and and learning with us. So, write that in the comments. Speaking. Let's look at another one. Okay, here is another sentence. How would you say it? Think about how you would say this sentence. Say it out loud. Practice your speaking and then we can we can say it together. All right. Okay. So for this sentence we would say she conducted the communications meeting with such professional conduct. She conducted the communications meeting with such professional conduct. I hope that you said it just like that. If you did, hit that like button. Let me know. So, this is how we would break it down into parts. All right. She conducted the verb stress on the second syllable. She conducted the communications. Remember communications. She conducted the communications meeting which is a noun with such professional conduct. It ends professional ends in the a that third to last syllable. That profession fesh professional conduct. She conducted the communications meeting with such professional conduct. Okay. So again you guys this is a great way John Lao uh Rosa excellent thank you guys for speaking. If you are doing this write that in the chat let me know that you guys are actually practicing saying these words and I would recommend you know you go back and do it again and practice saying these sentences or even again this is something that people can do on your own. You could write your own sentence if you learn a word and you found out, oh, I'm pronouncing this incorrectly. You know, write a sentence with it. Find how it's used in context and just practice saying that sentence and and saying it with the correct word emphasis because again, this is going to help you speak clearly and we can communicate easily with each other and everybody can understand. So let's quickly I want to quickly review to you with you the six rules that I talked about in this lesson. So the first rule that uh we discussed was for most two syllable nouns. Remember the stress is on that first syllable. Garden, rocket, ocean, chicken. If we're talking about most two syllable adjectives, again the stress is on that first syllable. easy, clever, anxious, splendid. Now, if we're talking about most two syllable verbs, the stress is on that second syllable. Enjoy, relax, suggest, become. Those were the first three rules. The fourth rule that I was telling you about, which can be a little tricky, is if the verb um if the word is both a noun and a verb. In this case, you really need to pay attention to the part of speech. Is the word used as a verb or is it used as a noun? Because if it's used as a noun, the stress is on the first syllable. Present, object, conduct. If it's a verb, the stress is on the second syllable. Present, object, conduct. The fifth rule is this one right here. If the word words that end in tio n or s io n, the stress is on that second to last syllable. And it doesn't matter how many syllables the word has three four five six seven that stress is going to be on the second to last one. So ambition, position, decision, collision. All right. Communication, pronunciation. And I'm overemphasizing right now so you can really listen for it. But that that's again, you don't want to overemphasize. It's just kind of a little little bit of a small um emphasis. And the last rule that we talked about was words that end in either cy, ty, phy, gy, or a l. The stresses on that third to last syllable. Democracy, geography, technology, and eological. Those were the six word stress rules that you guys can practice to really help you improve your pronunciation and help you speak more effectively and communicate easily with other people. So again, thank you guys so much for for being here. Safe, Rosa, Whale, Fabio, Abby, um Nita, Freddy, Long, thank you guys. Excellent. Um, Abby has one quick question about ah, address. So, address is another one that can be either a verb or a noun. As a noun, it would be address, but as a noun, some people might also uh pronounce it address. So, that's a little bit of a tricky one because as a noun, it could go either way. But, as a verb, it's definitely the the stress is going to be on that second syllable. Address. to address someone. Thank you guys again. Patricia Jr., thank you guys for being here. Please, if you enjoyed this lesson, like and share it with others. Help us spread the word and grow our classroom. You guys can follow us down here on our social media and join those classes. We're always posting questions to help learners practice and improve their English skills. And if you have any other questions, this video is going to get posted. Write it in the comments. Write to us. We love hearing from you guys and we try to answer as many comments as we can. All right. Thank you guys so much for joining me today. Hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you next time. --- ## 290. English Idioms That Will Blow Your Mind ๐Ÿ’ฅ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `I13lZlLLdkQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I13lZlLLdkQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:55:16 | --- I want to hit the ground running. And we'll begin with that idiom right there, to hit the ground running. This means to immediately work hard and successfully at a new activity. And it really has a positive connotation. So, this is a great idiom that you can use when talking about work or just any activity that you're really excited to do. The project begins next week. We really need to focus so that we can hit the ground running. So, whenever you want to stress that you're going to work hard and right away, this is a great idiom that you can use. >> I hope you don't mind me starting on these documents. I just wanted you to hit the ground running >> first. When he does become eligible next year, I want him to hit the ground running. >> Then we have under the radar. And this is a great idiom because I think we can all relate to it. Sometimes, well, many of us are in a situation and we try to fly under the radar. She was not a well-known musician and for the most part her music went under the radar. There are some common collocations, some verb idiom collocations and often you will use this with verbs like to be under the radar or to fly under the radar or to go under the radar or even to stay under the radar. >> Nobody around here knows me. We can fly under the radar >> because of the news. We need to stay under the radar. >> Then we have the idiom to rain on someone's parade. This just means to spoil someone's enjoyment. Right after I got a promotion, I received some bad news. It really rained on my parade. And I I'm sure that you can think of a time when someone rained on your parade and they just spoiled and ruined this good time. >> The last thing I want to do is uh rain on your parade. >> Sorry, I don't mean to rain on the parade. I find parades to be impotent displays of authoritarianism. --- ## 291. English Phrases They Never Taught You in School ๐Ÿ˜ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `m2qOyaOyb1s` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2qOyaOyb1s) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:54:53 | --- throw shade. Now, I'll be honest. This is an idiom that I don't really use. It is more informal and probably used mostly in the United States, but what it means is to subtly disrespect or criticize someone. So, it really does have a negative connotation. Jason Kid throws shade at the Celtics. Our group was ready to go. They were ready to celebrate. And in a way, he is slightly criticizing the other team, basically saying they weren't prepared, which is why they lost. >> So, what' you just stop by to throw shade? >> We're having fun doing sister stuff. Today, I learned to throw shade. >> Breaking the internet. This is a phrase whose popularity has really skyrocketed because it means causing a major viral sensation online. Did you hear about the latest political controversy? It's breaking the internet. This is a phrase that really has become popular due to social media. And social media is not going away anytime soon. So, this phrase probably won't either. >> He's all over my Instagram now. >> You're about to break the internet. >> Good. I hate the internet. >> It's working. We're going to break the internet. >> The new normal. I don't know why I feel like I hear this phrase every other day now, but it refers to a state of things that is accepted as usual. According to a recent poll, many Americans believe that remote work is the new normal. Maybe I hear it more and more often because there are a lot of things that are different than before. Some of them a little weird, but they're becoming accepted and you could say it's the new normal. >> Over the past several days, there has been increased ico chatter, but that is the new normal. >> 21st century family coming through. This is the new normal. --- ## 292. English spelling is crazy! Let me tell you why ... | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `03-PPyVTcDI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03-PPyVTcDI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:37:38 | --- Today I'm going to try and help you answer this very popular question: Why don't we pronounce English words the way they're spelled? Over the years I've had many many many students tell me: Why is it that we don't say these English words the way they're spelled? It doesn't make any sense, it's very confusing, And that's what I want to talk to you about today. English has crazy spelling and weird pronunciation that goes with it. Keep in mind I'll be giving you the American pronunciation of these words Because well, I'm American. I don't think British English is that different, So what I'm going to talk to you about today is pretty relevant for just about all English varieties. So let's just jump right into it. The first letter combination that I want to talk to you about is the GH. So let's start at the beginning of the word. If you see these two letters at the beginning of the word It's just going to have a simple /g/ sound. The H is going to be silent. For example: It's also a simple /g/ sound when you find it in the middle of a word sometimes. Now if we're talking about some compound nouns, you might pronounce the G and the H. So for example, somebody might call somebody else a pig head. Not a nice thing to say, but in this case you would say the G and the H. Or bighorn. G and H are both pronounced. And finally when the GH comes at the end of the word, I think this is where it probably becomes the most confusing. Because often times it just has an /f/ sound. As in: Now, there are some exceptions to this rule. And I know, English and all the exceptions... I hate it, but we just got to deal with it. So for example: In this case the gh is just completely silent. But remember, most of the time when you see the GH at the end of a word, it'll have that /f/ sound. You get the point. Next, let's talk about these two letters right here: the P and the H. I think this is a little easier because pretty much wherever you find it, at the beginning, the middle, or the end - It's going to have an /f/ sound. So for example at the beginning of the word. In the middle. And at the end of a word. The PH will have the /f/ sound. Sticking with Ps: If you have a P and S together, basically the P is silent. So when you see it, oftentimes at the beginning of a word, you're not going to say the P. In these words the P is silent. Now, let's look at a vowel sound. And you might see these two letters, the double O, together. And most often it's either going to have one of two sounds. It's either going to have an... So for example, an /uu/ sound in: Or an /uuh/ sound in: These aren't the only sounds that these two letters make, and that can cause a lot of confusion. Unfortunately, there is no rule for this. You just have to learn these words. Learn the pronunciation and practice and practice and practice. The double O may also make an... And it can have more of an... Again, there's no rule, you just have to read these words. Listen to the way people say them correctly and practice and practice and practice and practice. Keep in mind I think a wonderful way to learn spelling and pronunciation and to match them up is to use subtitles when you are watching TV or movies. Because you are hearing the pronunciation, as well as reading the words, and you're able to match the sounds to the spelling. A good way to practice: Use subtitles. You can even use subtitles for this lesson right now if you want to listen to my pronunciation of the words. Next I want to talk to you about four letters that you often see at the end of words. And those letters could be -tion or -sion. The pronunciation is the same. -tion is pronounced /shun/. -sion also pronounced /shun/. When you see the -tion or the -sion the stress of this word, the syllable stress, is going to come on the syllable before. So for example, the word pronunciation. The stress is going to come on the syllable before the -tion. So it's... Same with the word comprehension. The stress is going to come on the syllable before -sion, which in this case... Comprehension. Let's stay with word endings for right now because other letters you might see at the end of a word are these five right here. -ology And this is pronounced /ol-uh-jee/. And what makes this I think a little challenging is that you have these two Os right here. That first one is a short O sound, and the second o is more of a schwa sound. So we see this at the end of words like... Another popular word ending is -ture. And when you see these four letters at the end of a word it's pronounced /cher/. We say -ture as /cher/. There's just so many words out there that the and in -ture. Just remember /cher/. Now these two letters right here, this is a very, very difficult one. And it is the RL blend. Because the R sound and L sound on their own those are difficult sounds to make. Now I'm not going to go over those individual sounds. We did a video lesson about that before. And if you want to check that out, it'll help you make those individual sounds. Now since both of those sounds are very difficult, you can imagine that when you find these two letters right next to each other in some words it's very challenging for many English language learners. For example: You have to make that transition from the R to the L. Where the R sound, your tongue is in the middle of your mouth, and you transition to the L where your tongue is going to touch the top part right behind your front teeth. Again, I encourage you watch the RL lesson. This will really help you with these two sounds. Now, I really, really, really want to hear from all of you. Because if there are any other difficult words or letter combinations that you think are challenging to pronounce, please write them in the comments. Share with us. Maybe we'll do another lesson in the future talking about this. Because there are so many different crazy English spellings and their weird pronunciation. If you enjoyed this lesson and feel like you learned something new, please hit that like button down below. And if you love learning and practicing your English skills, we'd love it if you subscribe to our channel. Thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you next time. --- ## 293. English words that are actually German ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช #interactiveenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eNOowk8cTQ8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNOowk8cTQ8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:00:15 | --- right now I am in Germany so I thought I'd teach you some wool loan words that the English language has now taken from German and let's see if you know these so the first one is this is somebody who is your double what would you call this person they look exactly like you would say it is your doppelganger so sometimes people will tell me that I look like uh well Ed Helms or Mr Beast those of you that I get we finally found Barney's doppelganger the next one is early childhood education the the translation would be a Children's Garden and this is kindergarten right so you go to kindergarten and then Elementary School realize that the real action is in kindergarten and then the last one that I have for you means well like a a fast and quick attack like lightning what word do you think of the answer is blitz so in the United States you may hear this word when talking about uh American football here comes the Blitz and no one's blocking --- ## 294. Euphemisms That Native Speakers Use All the Time | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `iaT6OphtS9o` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaT6OphtS9o) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:46:26 | --- Today I am going to talk to you about, wait, wait, I'll be right back. I just got to go number one. Hey everyone. My name is Wes and yes, yes, I'm back. I've returned. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I have a great lesson because I want to talk to you about euphemisms in English and you might be wondering, you might be thinking, well what is a euphemism? That is a great question. A euphemism is a phrase or or an expression in English that is a little more pleasant. It's not offensive, and we use them because they take the place of of something else that is perhaps offensive or unpleasant or that's just not, it's maybe it's embarrassing. It's something that you don't want to hear. So instead of being direct and saying things that people might find rude, you would use a euphemism in its place so that you would sound more polite or you know, they're also a bit amusing as well. You can have some fun with these phrases, which is why they are great to learn and native speakers use them all the time. So this is perfect for developing your English fluency. So let's begin with business. And the first euphemism that I have for you is to let someone go. And if you let someone go, it's just another way of saying to fire someone. And when, when you talk about firing someone that that's a strong word. Nobody wants to hear that they're getting fired. So an employer might tell someone, you know, sorry, but um, we're going to have to let you go. I don't want to tell you that you're fired because that's just going to sound a bit mean. So instead, I'm just going to say, going to have to let you go. You may also hear the person who was fired use this expression as well. If you're having a conversation with your friends or your family and you don't want to tell them that you were fired, you would just say, you know, I was let go. And personally I, I think it's a bit more professional because when you say that, that someone's fired, it makes me think perhaps, well they were doing something wrong. They were stealing. Perhaps they were fighting. But if you say that, you know, I was let go, then it makes me think, well it's just, it's business. It happens. Uh, it's a fact of life. From time to time, companies will let their employees go. So in that case, it makes me think that it's not really something that, that you did wrong. It's just, it just happened. But company had to let you go. We're going through....little tough time, financially. And um, we're gonna have to let you go. And we are going to have to let you go. Hank, would you come up here please? Hank is our security guard. He will be ushering you out. And if a company lets you go, then another thing that you could tell people is that you are between jobs, which is the next euphemism that I want to talk to you about. So when somebody is between jobs, it's just, it's another way of saying that are unemployed that they're not working right now. They are looking for another job. So you'd tell somebody, well I'm between jobs at the moment. I'm not working with my old employer, I have not found my new employer. So I am just between jobs. So in my opinion, I think it's better to say you're in between jobs because the word unemployed may have a negative connotation. People might think you're a little lazy or perhaps you don't want a job and you're not looking for one. And if that's not the case and you are looking for work, but you haven't found it yet, it's just better to say, Hey, no, I'm between jobs, not working at my old job. I haven't found my new job. So right now I'm between, between those jobs, I'm between jobs. Um, Randall's in between jobs. And court appearances. Since Mitchell is between jobs, I've taken a part time job at a greeting card store Now just BizPro to BizPro. If you wait too long between jobs, you get stale. Now let's switch from business to the bathroom, which is a natural transition to make. And the first euphemism that I have for you is I have to go number one and if somebody says that they have to go number one, they're just, they're talking about PA, they have to P. so if number one means to pee, you can probably guess that number two is talking about pooping. And these are euphemisms you might use just to, to have fun that you can have fun with these euphemisms. Somebody may even ask if somebody says, Oh, I got to go to the bathroom. And the other person says, you know, number one or number two, I don't know why many people might be asking that question. Perhaps they want to know how long it's going to take. And obviously I think for the vast majority of us takes longer to go. Number two. So if somebody is like, well, you know, the train is leaving but I gotta run to the bathroom real quick, the person you're traveling with might ask, well wait, number one or number two, you better hurry up because we don't, we don't want to miss the train. Not sure if you caught onto that euphemism. At the very beginning when I said, well, I have to go number one and I left and then I came back. If you're going number one, you've got 10 more seconds. I'm gonna go use the ladies room. Number one or number two? Number none of your business. To use the restroom. I'm only asking is for your safety. Is it a number one or number two? Your silence indicates number two. When I get out of that bathroom, you better be gone. Is it number one or number two? I just want to know how much time I have. Now instead of saying number two, you could also say, do your business to do your business. That means to poop. And I think this might be a little more of a polite way to say it. Uh, maybe I dare say a more professional way to say that you have to poop. So if you are in a professional setting and you have to go to the bathroom and you actually for some reason you have to tell the other person what it is you have to do. Instead of saying, I got a poop, I'll be right back. Which is a little more embarrassing even though it's very direct. Just just say, you know I gotta do my business now. If you are a woman and you need to go to the bathroom or go to the toilet, you can tell someone, I have to go powder my nose. This is a euphemism that that you might hear if you're watching a TV show or a movie and the woman is at a restaurant maybe on a date and they'd say, well, you know I, I'll be right back. I got to go powder my nose. It means that they are going to the toilet now. It doesn't tell us what they're going to do in the bathroom. Doesn't give any information about number one. Number two, it's just another way of saying that that you need to go to the toilet. Even if it's just to wash your hands. You might say, well, I need to powder my nose. I don't know if this expression is still commonly used today. I would have to ask my wife, but it is something that you will hear when you're watching a movie or TV show, so try to listen for that next time. If a woman is out, especially like at a restaurant and they need to go to the toilet, They might say, I need to powder my nose. Drink up Tom. I'm going to go out of my nose. Now play nice boys while I go powder my nose. I'm going to go to the bathroom and powder my nose. You sit here and think of something to say. Now let's talk a little bit about appearance. You may or may not know this, but the word fat in English, it is a bit offensive and I would hear learners describe people from time to time or even they may even talk about themselves and they would say, well, I'm fat or he's fat or she's fat. And again, it, it's not a very polite word in English. And I think there are many learners who are unaware of this, so keep that in mind. Don't describe somebody as being fat. One way you could do it if you want to use a euphemism is to say somebody is big boned. He's big boned, she's big bone. And again, I think it's more commonly used when you were describing other people. I think even more appropriately, somebody would use the word overweight, but you may hear this euphemism from time to time and somebody says, well, he's big boned or she's big bone. And that is just another way of of saying fat, but not nearly as rude. My whole family is big-boned. It's genetic. I'm just big-boned. No such thing. I'm not fat, I'm big-boned. Why are you punishing yourself? Face it. You're a big-boned girl. Bones don't giggle mom. Keeping with appearances, the next euphemism I have for you is love handles. And if somebody is talking about another person's love handles or maybe they're talking about their own love handles, they're referring to the excess fat that they have around their waistline. So it's just something that happens naturally. Especially I think as people tend to get older, they start to develop these, you know, these love handles on the side right here. Uh, yes, I, I do have some love handles. And again, it's just, it's more of a fun way to talk about it and less offensive. Instead of saying, Hey, you know, you're, you're getting fat around the waistline, you could just say, well, they're their love handles. It's just, it sounds a lot nicer. It's like love handle alert. What he likes most about me is probably my love handles. Don't you worry about cholesterol, lung cancer, love handles. I don't worry about anything. The next euphemism is make love. And I think this is probably a euphemism that many of you might already be familiar with, but if you're talking about making love to somebody, then you're just, you're talking about sex instead of saying have sex. You would say make love. And the reason that I think you would want to use make love instead is because it's more romantic. It's a little more meaningful because if you just say like have sex, it could just be something that's a little more carefree. It's not something that may be, you know, as romantic or if you're out on a date, you may want to think about that. And not be too direct and say, Hey, you know, let's have sex. You know, you try to make it a little more meaningful, make it more important, make it a little more romantic and you'd tell something, Hey, I just want to make love to you. I want to make love. And, and who knows, perhaps that will work or it may not work. And she'll look at you and say, you know, I, I've got to go powder my nose and then she'll leave and never come back. So I, you know, in all seriousness, I think this is a euphemism that you would use with somebody that you have been involved with for some time already. Maybe they're married, perhaps they're engaged, but they, they have a more intimate and romantic relationship. They may use this euphemism, make love, instead of just saying, have sex. It is not sex. You must not call it that. Then what do I call it. Making love. Steve insists we turn the light off when we make love. If you're doing it, I think you should be able to say it. Make love. The next euphemism is to lose your lunch. And if somebody loses their lunch, then that is just another way of saying that they are vomiting, they are throwing up, they're losing their lunch. And it just occurred to me, I don't know how we went from making love to losing losing one's lunch. I know it's a weird transition, but just, just bear with me. Just go with it. Okay. So if somebody is feeling sick and they think that they may vomit, then you know, you could just say, Oh, I think I'm going to lose my lunch. I might lose my lunch, I might vomit, I might get sick. Then we have a great euphemism, which is not the sharpest tool in the shed. And this euphemism is used to describe a person who is, who is not smart. Maybe this person is a bit of an idiot, but you don't want to say that because that's just mean. So you may refer to this and say, yeah, you know, well he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. So it's kind of a, a fun way of putting it. And I don't think it's really more or less polite. It's just kind of having fun with it and it just doesn't sound as mean either. If you want to describe somebody in this way, and again, I don't think you still wouldn't, you would not want to say this to the person you're talking about, that is still going to be mean, but if you were just describing another person, then you, you could refer to them and say, yeah, you know he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. He's not that smart. He's an idiot. And Craig, you saw him. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Sure. He may not be the sharpest tool in the shed. Please God, please open my heart. Send me a sign. We both know I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. Now let's talk about dying. And again, the word die. It's a strong word. It, it brings out these strong feelings and emotions. So instead of saying that that somebody died, he died or she died. I think overwhelmingly it's more common and a bit more polite to say someone passed away and often you are going to use this in the past tense because it is something that already happened. He passed away last year. She passed away a few years ago. Somebody died, someone passed away. My best friend, even though he wasn't so friendly. What happened to him? Passed away. I'm sorry. Aunt Sylvia passed away. He passed away recently. Run over by an ice cream truck. Now if you want to be very informal, you can say that someone kicked the bucket. It means the same thing that someone died, but this is it. It's very informal. You want to be very careful when you use it. You don't want to use it when you're having any sort of serious conversation about someone dying. But to say someone kicked the bucket, it means they died. So you might hear it used in the context of somebody died a long time ago. The feelings, the emotions are not as fresh and they might informally say, you know, well yeah, this person, they, they kick the bucket many years ago. Or maybe if they're talking about a pet or an animal, you may hear somebody say, you know that that their dog, their cat kick the bucket. They died. Guess who just kicked a bucket. And what happened when he finally kicked the bucket? I was so upset when he kicked the bucket. I had no choice but the drown my sorrows when I woke up in the morning it was gone. If this is what they send when mom goes to jail, just imagine what happens when you kick the bucket. All right, so I...I'm going to go powder my nose right now. Actually. Well I wouldn't say that because I'm not a woman but I am going to go to the toilet number one, not number two. And I know that's probably not a pleasant picture to put in your mind. I don't want to make you lose your lunch. I actually just want to practice using these euphemisms so you can hear it as a bit of a refresher because that's just going to help you understand their meaning. And I don't think it's problem for you guys because I, I think you are the sharpest tools in the shed. You guys are smart, you're very intelligent. So I'm gonna head out. I'm gonna take my love handles with me, and if you enjoyed today's lesson, please hit that like button down below. As always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 295. Euphemisms in English that You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vUTv3uhn_ds` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUTv3uhn_ds) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:07:12 | --- hey everyone today I want to talk to you about euphemisms in English now if you're wondering to yourself well what is a euphemism that's a great question a euphemism is a a phrase or expression that is uh polite it's Pleasant and what it does is that it is substituted for another phrase or expression that may be considered a little too direct perhaps mean or maybe it's even embarrassing so instead of saying something that a person might get offended by or or that's just not a very nice thing to say or like I said it could be embarrassing people will use a euphemism instead in its place so that they can sound a bit more polite or you could even just have some fun with these phrases and expressions and and kind of joke around with them so I want to talk to you about some common euphemisms in English because that's going to help your comprehension and it's also going to help you improve your English fluency as well so let's begin with people and talk about euphemisms that you can use to describe different people and the first one that I have for you is over the hill and if you say that somebody is over the hill all all that you're saying is that this person is old this person is maybe I there's no specific age in mind but instead of saying well somebody you know they're old you could say well you know they're they're a little over the hill they're getting up there in age they're over the hill so perhaps they may not be able to participate in some activity or maybe you're trying to talk about how what the state of their mind and you want to say Well they're getting a little more forgetful be because not because they're getting old but because they're over the hill I am too young to be over the hill I don't remember saying she was over the hill Happy Birthday Grandma it's better to be over the hill and buried under it then we have the euphemism better half and I think this is a common euphemism used among married couples because if uh for example me I am married but if I'm talking about my better half then I'm talking about my wife she is my better half and you say that because you're you're trying to give them a compliment and say well they they are a better person than you are so either a husband or wife could use this euphemism if they want to refer to their spouse and they could say that they are the better half I was just explaining to your better half here when we were tell out we happen to hit the main sewer line that is one impressive wife you've got there well I don't call her my better half for nothing I'm a married man buddy you want to say hello to my better ass come here next is the euphemism hearing impaired and if you say that somebody is hearing impaired it just means that they are deaf they cannot hear I don't consider that this is a more polite way of saying somebody is deaf but I think it's more of a politically correct way of saying it it's just a little more appropriate to say that that a person may be hearing imp preped this is something you may notice when watching a TV show or movie that they have captions subtitles that people can use and follow along if they are hearing impaired he said my favorite aunt is hearing impaired he just said you complete me my brother's hearing impaired and your goon took his hearing aids now let's keep with hearing and if somebody is is not deaf but they just have well really bad hearing and they're starting to lose it then you could say that somebody is hard of hearing they're not deaf but they're well they just they just don't hear very well perhaps they need to get a hearing aid because they are hard of hearing you would say something to this person and they would just respond like what what what did you say I can't I can't hear you say it again I don't think anybody wants to hear that they are hard of hearing but it may be a little more polite than just saying hey your hearing sucks your hearing is terrible you need to get hearing aids you could refer to somebody and say Well they're a little hard of hearing sorry what you're hard of hearing Mr Bachman really I was speaking at normal volume sorry man I'm just a little hard at hearing now let's talk about business and the first euphemism that I want to teach you is downsizing so this is something that you might hear a company or a business say they say okay you know in the coming months we are going to be downsizing or we're going to experience some downsizing and it just means that they are going to have to eliminate jobs and and let people go and fire them from their jobs this is a way that that a company or business could say it without probably offending a bunch of people or people just getting really really angry because a company is not going to come out and say hey we're going to fire a bunch of people instead they try to make it sound a little more pleasant I guess and they may say that that they're going to be downsizing downsizing I have no problem with that I've been recommending downsizing since I first got here so what we're all screwed that's what they're going to downsize an ATT I had to downsize the payroll department to one guy and an envelope stuffing machine next is the euphemism early retirement and when you talk about an early retirement it means that somebody was fired and perhaps they are a little older and they're deciding not to go back to work so they may say well I I decided to take an early retirement and in that case then I might think well they might they may have been fired from their job I I don't know what happened and they just decided to go ahead and retire watch your mouth maybe you ought to just take early retirement right now and get some Ren aop night security job looks like he was uh forced into early retirement now I want to switch gears and go from business to talking about sex as well as pregnancy and the first euphemism I have for you is the birds and the bees and this is an expression that refers to sex education that you are going to talk to somebody and maybe teach them about sexual intercourse and I think it's common that adults will use this when they're talking about teaching their their child or their children about sex education and they'd say you know I'm going to teach my my son or I'm going to teach my daughter about the birds and the bees I'm going to talk to them about sexual intercourse so that they can learn all about that the birds and the bees and it's just a more pleasant way of putting it and when you're talking to a child to say let's let's talk a little little bit about the birds and the bees instead of just saying very directly you know today you know we're going to talk about sex did you tell us about the birds and the bees I don't think I'm really the right person to it but it says in the manual that the scout leader is supposed to tell us about that kind of stuff biology as in reproduction there's no need to be embarrassed about it it happens to the birds and the bees the birds and the beeses are not Vulcans Captain there Comes A Time in the life of all human when uh well as they put it the birds and the bees speaking of sexual intercourse the next euphemism is carnal knowledge and if you say that you have carnal knowledge of somebody else then that just means that you've had a sexual relationship with this person often I I think it's been used in law when maybe the the police or detectives are talking about some situation and they might say well the suspect had carnal knowledge of the victim that they were in a sexual relationship together you may also hear it used maybe just casually as well but probably not as often if somebody wants to kind of uh talk about the relationship they've had with somebody especially if it was a a casual relationship they may say oh yeah you know I've I have had I I have carnal knowledge of this person which implies that they had a sexual history together okay I guess it's my turn isn't it all right the bet is $20 $20 you have to have carnal knowledge of a lady this time senior year who told Jessica fank that you were sick in bed when in fact you were having carnal knowledge of her sister in our treeh housee now continuing our our discussion on the birds and the bees I want to talk to you about pregnancy and a way that you could say that somebody is pregnant there are a couple euphemisms that you can use I think overwhelmingly the most common one is just to say that that she is expect that the woman is pregnant She is expecting and basically it's kind of short for saying she's expecting a baby in the future so a man and a woman could use this instead of just telling people their friends and family hey you know guess what we're pregnant they could say oh we're expecting we're we're we're going to have a baby and somebody could also use it and ask the question um are you expecting are you pregnant when are you expecting wanting to know when is the baby due if you hear it being used then you know that expecting means somebody's pregnant you're married that's Christine we're expecting our first kid any day now spoke with Jennifer crane she's expecting that's impossible Carrie didn't tell me anything your wife's expecting a child soon isn't she she gave bir to a son 3 weeks ago now if you want to use a very informal and Casual euphemism which is almost I it's a little humorous I think you could say that that someone has a bun in the oven and if you're saying that there's a bun in the oven it means well yes there there's a baby in there that she is pregnant She is expecting there's a bun in the oven see you got a bun in the oven yeah she's right Sky why you lay down a while in PR shake you got a bun in the oven I would still care for you both you won't be able to care for anyone if you abandons you with a bun in the oven now I think it's only natural that we we were just talking about somebody who is a expecting when there's a bun in the oven which is the beginning of Life let's transition to the end of life and and talk about death and dying and a euphemism that you may hear from time to time or you could even use is to put down and what it means is to euthanize and to kill so often when I think of this euphemism being used I think about perhaps pets that there's a pet a dog or a cat and they're in very old age and it's better to go ahead and put them down perhaps their quality of life is not very good at all so the owner may decide to put them down I have two cats but then I moved to this place with hardwood floors so had to put them down I'm joking what happened to your lip oh mod bit me ah should put her down that's my daughter ma'am it was a cute story we're playing in the backyard now if you've had to put down you your pet and then you're talking about it to some friends or family you could then use a euphemism and say that that they're in a better place and when somebody says that someone is in a better place it means that they have died and you're kind of referring that they they have moved on into the Afterlife they've gone to heaven they are in a better place now this doesn't just refer to animals you can use this when talking about people and somebody may be offering their condolences to you and saying you know I'm sorry that that this person passed away I know they were important to you and that then you may respond and say well you know they're in a better place we all have to move on Grandma's in a better place now what measure of Despair compels one to commit such an act we can only take comfort in the fact that she is in a better place now so those are some very common and very useful euphemisms that you can use if you happen to find yourself in this situation but just keep in mind that that these euphemisms are used when you just don't want to say something directly that might be offensive and rude or even embarrassing you can use these euphemisms instead thanks for watching I will see you guys next time --- ## 296. Everyday Words & Phrases You REALLY Must Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ioSplfcmbgQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioSplfcmbgQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:46:30 | --- I want to teach you some everyday words and phrases that you can use to build your vocabulary in a very practical way because we use this vocabulary quite often and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary and improving your English fluency subscribe to the channel turn on notifications so that I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so I have divided this lesson into three different categories idioms phrasal verbs and useful phrases so let's begin with some idioms and the first idiom that I want to teach you is off the beaten path or off the Beaten Track this means not known or popular with many people and there are three things that I'd like to say about this idiom the first thing is that you can use either path or track and say that some place is off the beaten path or off the Beaten Track I don't know why but I tend to use path and say that I went someplace that was off the beaten path the second thing is that often you may use this idiom when talking about travel and the third thing is that generally especially if someone's talking about travel it has more of a positive connotation that there were not many people around it wasn't crowded and you visited someplace that was off the beaten path now that's not always the case you could use this to just say that some place is remote my grandfather's cabin is really remote and it is off the beaten path or when talking about travel last year I went to Thailand and I discovered a beach that was really off the Beaten Track so if you're like me and you like to avoid the crowds then this is an idiom that you can use because I often ask people where can I go that is off the beaten path he writes all about the best eats stays and attractions off the beat path you got off the Beaten Track where are you from a small town at West sort of off the beaten path next is through thick and thin and often you may use this with the past participle Ben and I'll talk about the grammar in just a moment but this refers to someone who has supported you when times have been good as well as when times have been tough and really you're going to use this when talking about a relationship typically one that you had over a longer period of time with a family member a friend a colleague so of course I could say my wife and I have been through thick and thin here is another cute example of some friends who have been through thick and thin now going back to the grammar often you're going to use this idiom with that past participle and you're going to use the present perfect because you're talking about a relationship that started in the past and has continued to the present and you want to say that you and someone else have been through thick and thin this next song goes out to a very special person who's been with me through thick and thin people who have been with you through thick and thin who you thought would never fail you friends stick together through thick and thin always then there's get or have your ducks in a row and this just means to be well prepared or very well organized for something that may happen in the future so I I think this idiom makes sense just just look at this picture these ducks they look very well prepared they look organized they they have their ducks in a row so you can use this with either verb get or have and say that someone needs to get their ducks in a row and they need to get prepared or maybe say that someone has their ducks in a row that they are prepared and they are organized so because of that I I think it's a great idiom especially in the context of work if you want to give someone a compliment and say that this person really has their ducks in a row nobody make any noise nobody go in that office I have all my ducks in a row I would appreciate it if you would please use discretion until we get our ducks in a row I know you're mad too bad you didn't get your ducks in a row cuz tonight would have been perfect looks like our ducks are finally in a row dealership's back on its feet off the hook I like this idiom it just means that you are free from from blame or you are free from some annoying obligation so sometimes when I put together these lessons there may be a typo here or there and I I find it really annoying because I can't change it and I I hope that you don't blame me for just these minor simple mistakes I hope that you are willing to let me off the hook and I will be free from blame to give you an example with obligation maybe I say well look you don't have to come with me to the football match and I'm talking about American football maybe you don't like watching football and I say you don't have to come with me you're off the hook and you are free from this annoying obligation here are some more examples pretend this whole thing never happened oh I'm not letting you off the hook you'll get me off the hook yeah I get you off the hook we would to let you off the hook what makes you think I want to be L off the H the next idiom is the home stretch this refers to the last part of something that is being done that last period of some activity now to give you a little more context this is an idiom that comes from horse racing so at the end of the race you may hear the announcer say the horses are coming down the home stretch the last part of the race so if uh you are doing some sort of activity maybe you're working on a project and it's getting ready to end perhaps there's a little belief that it's coming to an end this is when you may use this idiom and you tell someone yeah the Project's going to end next week so right now I'm in the home stretch it's going to end soon so I'm in the home stretch you're in the home stretch now how are you feeling let's not lose focus come on we're in the home stretch hey hey grab a brush we're in the home stretch ain't tough you're in the home stretch now I want to switch gears and teach you some descriptive phrasal verbs and I say descriptive because these are phrasal verbs that you can use in specific situations and because of that I'm not going to lie they are a bit more advanced some of them you may not be familiar with and that's okay I think that's a good thing because I want you to keep building your vocabulary so for this next part of the lesson I want you to get serious I really want you to focus and I want you to buckle down you got to buckle down Okay so let's just go ahead and begin with that phrasal verb buckle down this means to get serious about your work and to focus diligently on the task at hand now often when I think about this phrasal verb I think about school maybe parents telling their child you need to buckle down and perhaps I think about that because my parents would often tell me you got to buckle down work hard focus on your studies and you should really buckle down something else I want you to keep in mind is that this phrase verb is not separable and and generally people are going to use it like you're you're giving somebody a command and telling them what they should do you have to buckle down you really need to buckle down I just buckled down and study sir do we joke around sometimes yes but when it's time to buckle down we're seasoned professionals we're going to make this work you need to buckle down and focus I'll do what I can then we have the phrasal verb fall through this is used when talking about well something that has been plan does not happen so I could say well my plans for the weekend fell through they did not happen and generally you may use this phrasal verb when talking about plans that you have that is a very common collocation and collocations are words that are frequently used together and this is a an excellent way of building your vocabulary so your plans can fall through some other collocations with this phrasal verb Maybe you say that the sale falls through or the deal falls through or even maybe the project falls through and it just does not happen well truthfully our dinner plans fell through so we Brave the stor his plans fell through the deal fell through honey sorry the deal fell through the next phrasal verb that I want to teach you is mull over this means to think carefully about something for a long time so it it is really similar to someone saying well I'll think about it instead of saying I'll think about it you could say I'll mull it over but one slight difference is that you are thinking carefully you're really taking something into consideration when you are going to mull something over and I want to point out that this phrasal verb is separable like I just mentioned you can mull something over let's have some fun here is a meme a joke this is a play on words I must ask you a question but I will give you time to mull it over so I don't think I need to explain it to you mustache sounds like must ask as well as mullet over well just sounds like mull it over and you're going to think carefully about it here are some more examples all I ask is that you just take some time to really consider it mull it over okay if it's still a no no hard feelings oh Mr Simpson shouldn't We Begin by securing the strut let me mold that over and did he say why he's reluctant didn't give a reason just want to mull it over then there's eek out this means to obtain or win something really with great difficulty or through great effort so it's like you're saying that you just barely obtain this thing or you just barely want to give you some more examples as to how this phrasal verb is used in context I have some news headlines for you Dao NASDAQ eek out gains despite Middle East tensions Eagles eek out victory over wul Browns in week six that is an American football example for you and the team eeks out a victory us apartment rents eek out annual growth in September I want to give you some more examples so here are some videos using this phras overb Jake eak out a feeble Victory and last year I let the captain win because he's old and sad because of you I spent half the game in the Box yeah but you still eat dat a win it was great next is hash out this phrasal verb means to talk about something with someone else in order to reach some sort of agreement so let's say that you and someone else are having a disagreement and I want you to well solve your problem I might tell you look you need to Hash things out so in this case it is rather similar to saying that someone needs to work something out now I'll be completely honest saying hash things out it is not as commonly used as telling someone you need to work things out but it is good to get a little variety add some flavor to your speaking skills and and this phrasal verb it is a little more informal but that's also why it's useful everyday English you need to Hash things out yeah well you should be sorry maybe we can hash things out can't we at least just sit down and eat a piece of pizza together just hash things out like adults frankly I hoped it would be like dealing with you people with strong opinions hashing it out respectfully now I want to teach you some useful phrases my plans are going to continue I do not want them to fall through and I still would like you to buckle down so the first useful phrase that I'd like to teach you is pick up the tab this just means to pay a bill such as for a meal or drinks at a bar now I will say that I think this is more of an American phrase and often you may hear people using this phrase when talking about drinks at a bar so pick up means to pay for something in this context to pick up the tab now if you're at a restaurant you could say pick up the tab but I think also it's very common to say pick up the check now the tab specifically refers to a tally of items and that's why I said maybe you would use this at a bar talking about drinks over a period of time and they just keep adding drinks to the tab so let's say that that you and I go to a bar and I say I am going to start a tab and we get some drinks and then maybe you want another one and I say put it on my tab and then at the end of the night I'm going to close my tab which is the drinking Bill and because uh we are friends I tell you I am going to pick up the tab don't worry about it drinks are on me I'm picking up the tab now uh who's going to be picking up the T he paid for everything I pick up our B tab all the time he's picking up our tab excellent at a loss for words this means that you are unable to think of anything to say you are speechless and if you're looking for a one-word synonym for this phrase it is speechless now often you're going to use this with the verb to be and say that someone is at a loss for words and and this is really a great phrase to to add emphasis and and it covers a range of emotions so I can say that I was at a loss for words when my daughter took her first steps and that was a very happy moment or I was at a loss for words when my grandfather passed away and that was really sad or I I was at a loss for words when my friends told me they were getting married and that was more surprising and exciting but in each of those examples I I could use this phrase and say that I was at a loss for words here are some more examples you know I'm always at a loss for words in these moments well if you're at a loss for words I can use to our youngest member this reporter is at a loss for words right now moot point I like this phrase perhaps cuz I just like saying the word moot but in general it refers to a claim that someone makes about a topic that is no longer relevant or it can no longer be questioned or debated it just doesn't matter it's a moot point maybe you think that I would have been a great doctor and it really doesn't matter because I decided to become a teacher it's a moot point so in this context it it really does have a similar meaning to irrelevant or pointless let's have a look at some other moot points if I were to talk about the nutritional value of eggs but you are allergic to eggs it's irrelevant it's a moot point or maybe I say there's a new update for the iPhone but you don't have an iPhone why why am I telling you this it's a moot point here are some more examples but Mary's George's Guardian surely that gives her some sort of say it's a move point I'm starting to understand what you see in her but regardless it's a mood point then there's full of oneself this is an informal adjective phrase that means well you think that you're very important but in a way that really annoys others so it it's kind of similar to arrogant or proud so it really does have a negative connotation often it's used as a standalone statement to describe an indiv ual and if you want to add emphasis you can use it with the word so so full of oneself now be mindful of the grammar because you're going to use a subject pronoun with a reflexive pronoun as in well you are so full of yourself he is so full of himself she is so full of herself and I'll be honest yeah at times I am so full of myself I have to go cuz oh hell I don't need a reason someone's a little full of himself don't be full of yourself girl be quiet you know who we are just so full of our then there's short and sweet this means pleasantly brief and relevant now this phrase is a binomial pair this is when you have two words that are joined together by a conjunction and often that conjunction is and or or in this case we're using and to say that something is short and sweet these are phrases that I think are often used in just everyday conversation now I am going to keep this explanation short and sweet so I will go ahead and show you some video examples I'll keep it short and sweet family religion friendship these are the three demons you must slay if you wish to Succeed in Business now we don't want to take up much of your time let's make this short and sweet I hope that you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new and if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 297. Exercise Vocabulary | Important Words for Working Out | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `OeNQbxbtPOU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeNQbxbtPOU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:43:31 | --- So today, we're going to teach you guys some vocabulary words. And showing you guys words that you can use when you're working out next. As you can see, I'm working out really hard. I'm very strong. Whoa. Let's go. Let's go. And I am killing it. Today we're out and about. And we are about to do a fun workout. So today we're going to teach you guys some new vocabulary words related to working out and exercising. First, the types of exercises we're going to do today... It's mostly just some calisthenics. And those are general exercises that are kind of like gymnastics that you do on your own. So we're going to do some of those too because they're pretty simple and easy, and you can do them outside. And it's a nice day, so that's what we want to do. But, before we start our exercises, we need to stretch. Are you going to stretch for us? Huh? Yea, yea, yea, yea. I'm going to try What is that? I don't know, but it looks cool. This is...this is funny. They're so far away. Now, we're going to warm up with some jumping jacks. So first we're going to start out with a little run. But there are different types of runs depending on how fast you want to go. So the first type of run we're going to do is jogging. And jogging is running kind of at a slower pace. An exercise that most people do when they go out running. They usually go out jogging. A little bit slower than like a fast run. But it's still a run nonetheless. Is that 5 miles? Uhh...sure. The next one is a sprint. And the sprint is a really, really, really fast run. Like as fast as you can go. And it is not meant for longer distances. It's just meant for really short distances. But going as fast as you can. As if somebody was maybe chasing you. So super, super, super fast. Sprint. One thing we've been trying to do lately is get more exercise, and get outside, and be more active. So that's part of the reason why we are doing this lesson. It's some good exercise. Feeling healthier already. I'm just here for the show. For the entertainment. I should be doing fitness videos and not teaching English. I think you should stick with teaching English. So sometimes people do a series of workouts of the same exercises. And that's called the circuit. So they just do the same exercises in the same order. Multiple times. And many times they use these... these kinds of machines like I have behind me. This one is nice because it tells you how to do the exercises. These machines are a little strange. But... Circuit. Exercises in a row. And then you repeat them a few times. And then that's your workout. Only ten more. One. One and a half. Two. That's not one and a half. It was two. Just a few more minutes. A few more minutes? It's tough. Ioana is going to complete the circuit. So one of the more standard exercises would just be the pushup. So let me demonstrate. Forty-eight. Forty-nine. Fifty. That was three. Ioana was not happy with my sit-up. So she's going to demonstrate. Do you always laugh when you do sit-ups? No, it's just harder than I thought. I'm done. You're done? So what's a crunch, Wes? It's a little similar to a sit-up. You're working out the abs. Okay, so Wes is going to drop it like it's hot now, and show us how to do a squat. Alright. Let's see Work that booty. A squat. Now 30 more. No? There you go. Professionally done. Nope. What? Tuck your tailbone in. Like that? I think so. I think that's straight. And lift your abs. Am I straight? Take your belly button towards your spine. That's what the yoga person says. There we go. This is a plank that Wes is holding. Trying to hold. Trying to hold. It's a very good ab exercise. You have 20 more seconds. What? Is that the plank or a pushup? It's a plank. I thought you had to be on your elbows. No, this is a different way to do it. Try to push up while you're down there. Just try one. Yes. What was that? What exercise is this? It's...I don't know. This is uh...this is a lunge. Well doesn't it feel tiring? It looks something like this. It kind of hurts my knees which makes me think I'm doing it wrong. So Wes is going to us how to do a burpee. And a burpees is like... It's a mini-mini-workout because you do... It's a series of moves that you do in one exercise, I guess. Ready? So it's a jump, and a push-up, and something else. Go. Yea, I'm ready. It's pretty cool. Do you feel... Was it amazing? You did three. I'm done. So you pull yourself up on the bar. So show us how it's done Wes. You've got to... Forty-nine. You've got to smile. You've got to get to fifty. So a chin up is when you just reverse your hands and you pull yourself up from this side. Which one's harder? Is this the harder one? They're both.... They're both pretty easy. That was a chin-up. Do it again. Do it again. For the camera, of course. For stock footage. Good job. So that is your workout vocabulary. We hope you learned a few new words and maybe some new exercises. Or maybe you had a good laugh. And in the comments below, why don't you let us know what type of exercise you like to do in order to stay healthy. And please, if you enjoyed this video, both like and share it. And, as always, thanks for watching and we will see you next time. Bye. --- ## 298. Expressions Native Speakers Use ALL THE TIME | Binomial Pairs | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bSH7Uk1a2NU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSH7Uk1a2NU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:06:25 | --- - If you wanna learn expressions that you can use in everyday conversation, then you need to learn binomial pairs. That's coming up. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today, I have a great lesson, because this is very practical for everyday conversation. We're going to talk about binomial pairs. If you're wondering what the heck are binomial pairs, that's a good question. These are phrases that contain two words that are connected by a conjunction. And that conjunction is either and or or. (laughs) And, or, and, or, and, or. Those are the two conjunctions that are often used to connect these two words, and these phrases are called binomial pairs. And we use them all the time. You can use them in formal conversations, if you're giving a presentation, and you can also use them informally, if you're just talking to someone on the street. So, I'm gonna teach you some common expressions. I will tell you the meaning and give you some examples, so that way you can see how they're used in context. Let's begin. The first expression is bits and pieces, and this just means an assortment of small things. For example, maybe you drop a cup on the floor, and you say wow, it shattered into bits and pieces. Or maybe you're talking about somebody giving you information. They don't tell you everything, they give you a little bit at a time, and they say, yeah, they told us the truth in bits and pieces. - Well, I had a few spare parts I found over the years. - And I had some bits and pieces at my work. - This box contains over 217 bits and pieces of information. - How's that coming, memory? - Bits and pieces here and there. - The next expression, and this is a good one, I really like this one, wine and dine. And this binomial pair means to take somebody out and really entertain them. And usually you would entertain them with fine dining, maybe a fancy restaurant, and you wine and dine someone. And perhaps it's a special occasion, or perhaps you're really trying to impress someone. - He has spent the last month wining and dining these guys, getting 'em laid. - Being wined and dined by a rich guy might be nice. - How is wining and dining state senators not campaigning? - Because I have a room full of lawyers. - Often it's associated with a restaurant, and you are eating somewhere. It does not mean that you have to be drinking wine. You're celebrating, I don't know, your anniversary, and you wanna take your wife out and wine and dine her and treat her to a nice, fancy restaurant. The next binomial pair, safe and sound, and this just means that there is nothing to worry about. There is no danger. You are free from harm or injury, and often you would use it to describe a situation and say that you are safe and sound or everyone is safe and sound. Perhaps there was a natural disaster, and you are okay, and you are letting somebody know, hey, I'm safe and sound. Don't worry about me. I am free from danger. Safe and sound. If you wanna study English with us, you're safe and sound. THere's nothing to worry about. You're not gonna get hurt watching our lessons. (laughs) I don't know why you would. - I wanna make sure it gets to my daughter safe and sound. - We're safe and sound and the future never looked brighter. - All here together safe and sound. - Then we have sooner or later. This is a expression that means that something will happen. It's definitely going to happen. We just don't know when it's going to happen. It may happen sooner, it may happen later. So, if you're describing something, like yeah I'll do that. I'll do it sooner or later. Then, you're basically telling someone or you're not telling them, when you are going to do this thing. It'll happen sooner or later. - Sooner or later that fire that I love about you, Rose, that fire's gonna burn out. - Sooner or later, Cersei always gets what she wants. โ™ช Sooner or later, love is gonna get ya โ™ช โ™ช Sooner or later, girl you got to give in โ™ช - Sooner or later, you guys are going to be fluent in English. If you keep watching our lessons, I promise you, sooner or later you will achieve English fluency. If you don't, then maybe I'll take you out. I'll wine and dine you. How does that sound? The next binomial pair, and I really love this one, because I use it all the time, ups and downs. So, when you're talking about something having ups and downs, you're basically saying that there are periods when things are going really well, and then there are some periods where things aren't going so well after all. You have ups and downs. The reason I say that I use this quite often is because I talk a lot about language learning, especially learning English, and whenever you're learning a language, there are always ups and downs. You have periods when you think you're learning so much, and then other times where you feel like you just forget everything, and you think your skills are not improving. And you could say, I have ups and downs. - With my ups and downs. - It's rehab for his oxy addiction, lotta ups and downs. - I wouldn't miss the semis, how's that been going? - Oh you know, strikes and gutters, ups and downs. - Another great binomial pair is wear and tear. And this is talking about damage or depreciation that may occur due to just ordinary use. So, for example, say that you buy a car. You buy a car, you use it, and then you want to sell it. You're gonna have to sell it for a lesser price, because there is depreciation. And you go to sell it, and you might tell the person, there's just a little wear and tear on the car, no big problems whatsoever, just normal wear and tear. - During the course of business, a copier goes through something called normal wear and tear. - That takes care of the normal wear and tear. - Well the shift knob is loose, you know about that? - No, I hadn't noticed. - Have you been picking at it? - No, you know, it's just wear and tear. - We can sometimes get image artifacts related to normal wear and tear. - The next expression is little by little, little by little, and it just means a small amount of time. And we often use it when we're talking about trying to achieve some goal. You're not going to do everything all at once. You have to do things one step at a time, and you are going to get there little by little. You guys will improve your English skills little by little. Even though there are many ups and downs, keep at it, because sooner or later, you will achieve fluency. The next binomial pair, which is another really, really great one is dos and don'ts. So, what this means is just warnings or advice about things that you should do or things you should not do. And often, it's used when maybe you're giving suggestions to somebody, or you're giving them advice about okay, be careful of this, don't do this, do this. You're giving them the dos and don't. So, perhaps you start a new job, and another employee might tell you the dos and don'ts, or maybe you go to a new school, and you get in the classroom and another student tells you the dos and don'ts. When I'm teaching, usually in the first class, I'll go over the dos and don'ts. - The dos and don'ts of diaper rash. This is fascinating. - Now, underneath each one of your chairs, you'll find a pamphlet with a simple list of animal rights dos and don'ts. - Well, just a few dos and don'ts. You don't have to read it though. - The next one, rock and roll. So, you have probably heard this before. It is just a genre of music. You're talking about rock and roll. There are many different music groups out there that this what they play. They play rock and roll. We also use it to say, let's begin, let's do something. So, if I tell you, let's rock and roll, let's do it, let's start, let's begin, let's rock and roll. - Rock and roll. - Rock and roll. - Now, let's rock and roll. - Right, let's rock and roll. - Another useful binomial pair, live and learn, and we say live and learn when we want to talk about an experience in life that usually teaches us a lesson. We learn something from this experience, and usually it's something that is not good, and we need to learn from it, so that we don't repeat it again, and you might describe that situation and just say, you know, live and learn. I learned from this experience, and I will try not to repeat it, live and learn. So, for example, say that you buy a car from somebody else, and you did not do a test drive, because this person told you, there's just some normal wear and tear, there's no big problems. However, once you buy the car and you leave, there are many problems and you have to pay for a lot of repairs, and you'd say that this is what happened, it's a crappy situation, but live and learn. - So, how much is this thing gonna cost you now, like 5, 6000? Well, live and learn. (audience laughs) - But I see pity has its rewards, live and learn. - As long as you're not driving a car or nursing a baby. (audience laughs) Live and learn. - Then we have peace and quiet, which is complete freedom from noise, stress and anything that's bothering you in life, and often people would just say, (sighs) I need some peace and quiet. I just wanna rest, I don't wanna hear anything. I just need some peace and quiet. For example, if you're listening to rock and roll, you're probably not getting much peace and quiet. - I'm enjoying the peace and quiet. - It's peace and quiet on Sunday. - Right now he just needs peace and quiet. - You get all that peace and quiet that you've always wanted. - Now that you all of those binomial pairs that I've taught you in bits and pieces, I wanna hear from you. If this lesson was easy to understand, easy to follow, and you know all of those binomial pairs, let me know in the comments, and I want you to write the phrase, live and learn. That just tells me that you understood the lesson, and you learned something new, live and learn. I know that usually talks about experiences, which are not that good. I hope this lesson was a good experience for you, but I still want you to write that in the comments, live and learn. Now, for some quick dos and don'ts. Please do hit that like button and share this lesson with others who are trying to learn English, and the don'ts, don't what? What do I not want you to do? Well, I don't want you to leave. Please, go watch another video lesson. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time. --- ## 299. FAKE NEWS! | True Misconceptions about Learning English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JMh5Cb6yFLg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMh5Cb6yFLg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:45:27 | --- hello everyone and welcome to our wonderful lesson today I have something super special for you so if you just start if you just started joining us right down I'd like to see where you're from and what's your name so please write it in the comments what is your name and where are you joining us from it's a beautiful Saturday afternoon so I'd like to see if you're joining what's your name where you're from hello hello hello with some good evening hello different timezones welcome to our lesson welcome Patricia welcome everyone thank you so much for joining I have a wonderful lesson for you that I'm very excited to teach because these are things that I hear all the time and I've heard throughout many years of teaching and I want to address them because I think it's very important when it comes to language teaching okay so oh wow we have such a beautiful group today thank you guys for joining thank you thank you and if you are joining us later please also write your name and where you're writing from because we have such a wonderful group of students from all over the world and hopefully it can keep getting bigger and we can get to know each other okay so here's our little lesson it's about misconceptions misconceptions is kind of a it's a long word and it's a very important word but it's a very very very good one to know misconceptions about language learning so I want to ask you right now if to write in the comments what do you think misconception means do you know this word have you heard it what context have you heard it on in what is this word mean misconceptions what thing I want to see if if you guys if you guys know thank you again for joining if you're just joining and you're wondering what's going on what we're doing we are writing about what we think misconceptions are but we are also sharing what our names are who we are where we're writing from because it's wonderful to share in this beautiful community ok so we see some answers wrong understanding or I have no idea yes you are right dosia it is it is understanding something in in the wrong way so a misconception is an opinion or a view that is not correct that is wrong so you are correct in that sense it's usually because we think we know something but we we don't know it we we think we're right but maybe we're not completely correct so it's something that's common that people many many people believe but it's just it's usually just false and sometimes there's some truth to it but it's just it's not completely true so I want you to look right now on my screen where it says mistakes are bad so a lot of people I think when they learn a new language they're always scared oh no I don't want to make mistakes it's so bad to make mistakes well that's actually a misconception that you have right here because mistakes are good I know you guys think I'm crazy probably but it is good it they're good because if you make mistakes you have the opportunity to learn from them you have the opportunity to become better to change those mistakes and if you hadn't made it maybe you couldn't correct it so that is a misconception that's an example right here so that is what a misconception is so are you ready to discuss some common misconceptions what I want to ask you right now before I show you the first one let me switch here is okay what do you think the first one is related to time how long does it take to learn a language so in the comments please please please please write how long do you think it takes too long to take how long do you think it takes to learn a language how much time what do you think I'm so curious to see what everyone answers okay how much time do you think maybe what one year one months ten months three years four years five years how long do you think it takes okay so and I will show you what I have in my other question which we can talk about a little bit later is are you too busy to learn because I know we're all very busy we all have work or children or opportunities and school and a lot of other things and sometimes we feel like maybe we are a little bit too busy to learn a language so let's see somebody says 600 hours that's a that's an interesting estimate okay so see some people say it depends on the way you learn it it depends how much is yeah I think you guys have some really really good answers exactly I also it definitely depends on how much time you're spending and you're putting in it I also happen to think and this is because this is valid for everyone that it it can take a lifetime so let me let me share what I why I put this slide here I've had numerous students ask me even when I was in California teaching or in other places and I've had students come and they said you know teacher how long will it take me to learn English all the English and it was kind of a funny question because you can't they'll be like oh in two years will I speak will I be fluent will I speak all the English and it was kind of funny because I you know the answer is no because you're never going to be a hundred percent you'll still make mistakes and I think that's fine I for me it seems like you even with English or with other languages were constantly learning even native English speakers they're always learning for about new words they're learning about new concepts new idioms everyone is always learning so if we're thinking like okay I'm going to master this language in 1 year or so I think that's a very difficult goal to accomplish and if you have that goal for yourself you might be disappointed if you don't reach it so instead of thinking that way it might be easier to just say I'm starting to learn and just focus on progress instead of I will finish this language because it's it's not really possible to finish a language in a certain amount of time and of course some people make progress faster than others and different kind of skills so some people's listening may advance further than others people listening but maybe somebody else might be good better at speaking so it's it really is it really does depend from person to person and now my second question was are you too busy to learn this is something that of course as adults we face a lot we have so many obligations we have so many things that we're doing and sometimes if we want to learn a language that keeps getting put on hold and we say oh I didn't have time let's do it tomorrow let's do it next week I'll do it next semester I'll practice next month so I wanted to address this because it's all about motivation in my opinion and in my experience of course because some of you may know that I had to learn English as well you have time trust me you have 10 minutes you have 15 minutes a day if you make that a priority you I think it's much much better than not doing it at all so you can spend that time by writing in your journal or you can spend that time by speaking to your yes you heard me correctly to yourself or you can use that time by watching a youtube video or like interactive English whoa or or doing just a little bit for yourself to progress in that language so you you do have the time I think it's just hard for us because we think I have to spend two hours three hours just only studying English and it's just it's just not the case exactly we must find the time no excuses great good go see ya thank you so you have it you just have to make sure you dedicate it okay now my second question for you is about accent okay this is my second misconception this is an important one because I hear so many split opinions but I'd like to see and please write it in the comments whether you're watching now or later write down how important do you think accent is do you think having an accent is important is it a problem what do you think about it how important do you find it because I want to see your opinions and then I'll sure I'll share mine and then you can tell me what do you think - did how important is accent I will say this I've been asked many times is accent important like is it important and I would say yeah yes it is but not in the way you think accent is important just like we learn a language to be able to communicate with other people if accent stands in the way of that then we're not communicating effectively in the language we're trying to communicate so if people don't understand what you're saying then it's important but if they do and you just it sounds a little bit different then I don't think it's that important but it's of course it's very very very important if people don't understand you you should try to correct yourself because maybe your your stressing the word wrong and this is where I wanted to discuss that many people think that oh my accent is a problem if you're learning a different language pronunciation is about more than accent it's about intonation the way you end a word or the way like you could have rising intonation or falling intonation or it's the rhythm of the language or it's a word stress or there's so many aspects that come with pronunciation it's not just the accent so keep that in mind because if somebody thinks oh my accent is so strong it's so bad it may be the way you are speaking that is also that might be a problem more than your accent so keep that in mind okay that's that's that's very very important it might not be the accent but like I said it is important if people can't understand you of course and in that case if you see that somebody doesn't notice what you're saying can't understand can grasp it maybe try to correct that mistake other than that there's so many people in the world that have different accents speak they learn English in different countries it doesn't matter where you learn it as long as you can speak and everyone can understand to us you know most of the time okay so I have a more controversial I have even another controversial question for you guys and my question is about grammar okay so I want to see what do you guys think about grammar is grammar important what do we think about it is it not linguists can't even decide on this one so it is controversial some people say this some people believe that and I want to see what you guys think because your students and of course we care so please write it in the comments what do you think about grammar how important is grammar when you are learning English let's see how important is grammar so I'm going to talk to you about two schools of thoughts while you guys write your answers the first one is that some linguists talk about which has to do with language immersion and they say you know what grammar is not that important people should just go to a country where where the language is spoken and kind of start speaking and eventually they will learn the language perfectly and they don't even need to study grammar now the problem with that is that if if you make an error and it never gets corrected you always say nobody corrects you and you don't know the grammar rule you will end up making you can end up making the mistake forever and that's called error fossilization and it is a problem right because you're not using the language correctly so if if you don't focus on grammar at all that can be a problem so let's see some people here say of course as I expected I have some answers where grammar is very important grammar is not that important it's important so I I completely understand why we have two camps because like I said even linguists don't agree who study um second language acquisition so they don't completely agree on this but I will tell you my take in a second now I want to talk about the other camp of people and especially this is this is taught in schools in many places in other countries or in the US or I don't know about the UK but I know about the US and the system and how its taught there and in other countries because I've had students who have told me how they learned and I know that there's so much focus on grammar there's so much that it comes at a detriment to speaking to developing your skills like like listening like writing and reading up many many teachers just like to focus only on grammar and gram only and I understand it because people like rules especially as adults I think when we're learning a language we want to be able to say it correctly right we want to speak correctly you want to say okay I want to say this sentence I want to say right I think the issue that comes with that is that when we do that we don't focus on what we're supposed to be focusing on I think a language is about speaking it's about communication it's not about a hundred percent about saying it right it's about actually being being able to say it and I think many teachers especially in schools they focus only on grammar and in my opinion grammar should complement the other skills so for example it should it should instead of only focusing on grammar you should focus on grammar when you're speaking try to say it correctly or when you're writing and when you're listening add it as a compliment not as a focus okay so grammar should complement the way you're using the language but it shouldn't be the primary focus in a nutshell we need a balance you can't just focus on grammar and I will tell you this when I was in university and it was my I think I was yeah my senior year my last year of university at UCLA where I studied I took a language I took Hungarian and high I took it because I was doing some research and I took it for a whole year a full year of Hungarian and I my teacher at the time only focused on grammar we did almost no vocabulary no conversation nothing just grammar grammar grammar grammar so I knew how to conjugate verbs I think and do plurals and things like that ooh I'm a good learner I was focused but at the end of the year I couldn't speak almost any hunger and I could right and translate but I couldn't really speak almost any Hungarian it was just from that was my experience for me so I think if you only focus on grammar it is not it's it's not a good way to learn a language but I will say this grammar is important you do have to know the structure you do have to know the structure of the language you do have to focus on some of the rules but don't just look at the rules make it as use it as a compliment so I know you guys are are sharing and thank you so much for sharing you know it's important in any language yes it's it's very important I agree but I would say that in some cases especially in universities or schools maybe there is a little bit too much focus on grammar as opposed to speaking and we see it all the time we've had students from different countries that can write something really well maybe but they can't speak because they've never been able to practice that in school grammar is just a part of the language let the point is not to only focus on it okay so my next misconception that I'm talking about is let's see here it is about children okay so before I show you before I show you I want to know this is something that I find it again controversial what do you think about children and learning languages is it easy for them to learn is it not what do you think about children and language learning so please write that in the comments because I hear this one all the time ah sorry okay so children so what do you think the children learn their first language language in general or languages effortlessly is it easy for them what do you think and I will tell you what the research is kind of so everyone's yeah because they're distractions yeah so I think I think the consensus in in many cases that I hear is it's easy for children to learn English and I understand um I will say children learn languages really well but the research indicates that it's not effortless in fact it takes children many years to learn a language if you learn a language acquisition they don't just learn it like that children have to listen first and then only after they can produce the language they can speak it and even after that they end up making a lot of mistakes so it's not effortless it is it takes them a long time and even when they're older they'll make mistakes and this is how they learn so the conception is okay children they're they're so quick they learn everything but it's not effortless that's something that's important it's it's not that easy they also take time but we don't see that because we it's all happening in their brains but they do spend many years learning their first language and the second language depending on what they grow up with so it does take time and they do make mistakes for example I was reading that even at seven years old children have difficulties creating passive voice sentences so that's in obviously in English in their native language even at seven years old so that's after years of practicing their language so this should make you feel good even children have a little bit of a hard time learning the language right because we always think oh it's so easy for them well this should make you feel good because it seems like they have a hard time what I do want to say about children and this is so important the reason why children are so successful is because children have fun they have fun with a language they experiment with the language they don't care about mistake they they keep trying they you know they they we as adults we need that willingness the children have we need that willingness to experiment we need fearlessness right we need to be fearless and just speak and we need the willingness to make mistakes and I know this is hard I know it's hard to try to speak with somebody knowing that you might make a mistake and you try not to do it but that's what we need to learn from children right is to to take that there to take their way of learning and apply it because guess what it can help us as adults we have some advantages over children we have a broader vocabulary we have more of a structure we have more motivation possibly so we can have an advantage a little bit of course when it comes to pronunciation I didn't put it on here but children are better at pronunciation than adults and that is true that has to do with the biology and the brain and but we can still learn a language even as adults okay so I think I think the underlying message of this lesson is no excuses because everything I've been going through time accent grammar so far these are none of these are real excuses for why you can't learn English okay so that that was my let's see what you guys are saying yes so it does have to do something with the brain but I think you guys are also right in mentioning that children really don't focus on mistakes and it's they they make it fun they make it easy which if we apply that to our method of learning then that can benefit us as well but it is a misconception saying that children have it easy they don't even have to think about it that's not true if they do think about it it takes them a long time and they do make mistakes okay my next question we can just talk about this it's about talent or a gift some people say some people are gifted it just means they have a natural talent for it and I do hear this a lot some people say oh this person is so gifted with languages they speak seven languages they speak three languages oh you're so talented um maybe but not really the reason is many people in different parts of the world they speak more than one language and they learn it at different stages of their life and they're not gifted they're not all gifted it's not it's impossible for everyone to be gifted like I'm thinking about you know like Switzerland where they speak three languages immediately just like that in in northern Europe in Africa people speak oftentimes more than one language and it's not because they're gifted it's because they learn it and they grow up with it or they have neighbors that speak other languages or it's an official language it's really not about being able to it's not about capacity it's it's not about anything like that it's about willingness to learn so I put here a little note for everyone it's about attitude not aptitude so you have to want to learn a language and I think if you really really want to learn a language and you're invested then you can definitely definitely do really well so this is another yes there we go 1% inspiration 99% perspiration exactly so it's um that's that's exactly what it is so this is another no excuses situation maybe some people may be a little bit more talented but most people are not and it's they can still do it everyone can do it if you're willing to put in the time and motivation okay and my next question is again a little bit controversial and I want oh gosh I hear this all the time and it is do you have to speak with a native speaker with an with a native speaker to improve your you're speaking to improve your language is that necessary to your language development so please write down what you think yes or no maybe what do you think do you have to speak with a native English speaker to improve your English because I have heard I have heard this from many many many many people and everyone I'll share my answer in a second dip dip dip okay so if you're just joining we are talking about misconceptions and language learning and we are sharing if we think that you have to speak with a native English speaker to improve your language skills if you're watching this later please also write in the comments where you think because we read everything and we love to hear your answers so I'll say this um no that's my answer it's a short answer but it's it's no not to improve of course it helps but you don't have to speak to a native English speaker to improve your language English skills in fact many native speakers make mistakes and they depending on the area where they're from they might not know the right answers and just because they speak English and they're they they've always been speaking English doesn't mean they can help you with your mistakes or can correct your mistakes or many times they end up speaking a lot more and you don't have I mean it's just like speaking with anyone you have to you don't necessarily have a chance to practice so I don't think it's necessary of course if you have the opportunity it can help you but to improve to practice you do not need this okay you can practice by yourself it's really possible you can speak in the mirror you can speak to yourself you can speak to friends and they don't have to be native English speakers to be able to practice in fact I know so many people from other countries we right now we live in a country that is its first English is not it's not English and the first language is not English and so many people here speak flawless English and most of them haven't had the opportunity to speak to native English speakers we live in a world where you can Skype with people you can there's so many different ways to practice that it just really doesn't have to be with a native English speaker and some of them some people just sound completely flawless you can hear an accent you can there's so many ways you can correct yourself so another no excuse okay so no excuse not to learn so far I've given you quite a few okay the next question is connected and it has to do with living okay so where were to live and this is kind of a fantastic thing about being alive in the world that we live in today and about the internet because my question was do you have to live where the language is spoken and I know that maybe many years ago we didn't have the same opportunities and we had to go to a place so for example if I wanted to learn Spanish I would have to go to Spain or to Argentina or to try to perfect my Spanish but now we have the internet and we have some really wonderful opportunities and as an example just like I said before so many people who live in other countries are fluent in English completely and they've never maybe traveled - they've never traveled to an english-speaking country and they still can speak really really well now I want to talk about the website of the coin and because we've experienced I've experienced this as a teacher I've had students who this was back in the US which is obviously an english-speaking country and who you know they traveled all the way from other countries and they came to to the US and they thought okay this is how I'm going to improve my English and of course they spent a lot of money doing this they're traveling they're there they're taking English classes the problem was they weren't practicing outside of class and they were just coming to class doing whatever they could do and then outside of class they would speak their language make friends with people who spoke their language from their country and all of the time they just spent using their language so and they were living in the u.s. this has happened for like a year to three it if you live in a place it doesn't mean that you will be fluent okay so just living doesn't mean fluency this is very very important because I think many people think that oh you have to just go to a country and it will you know you're you you'll be fluent it will be great what's not so okay it's like I said before about excuses it's really about you and practice and how much practice you are willing to put in if you try if you give your best effort if you practice every day if you are motivated if you're dedicated more than anything you will improve but you have to make sure to to give that effort no matter where you live so if you're in Iran if you're from let's see where you guys are from if you guys wrote if you're from India if you're from Thailand if you're from Italy it doesn't matter where you are it really doesn't matter Russia France if you practice at home if you practice in Brazil if you practice and in Portugal if you practice in Spain your English will improve so another no excuses okay Sudan yes it doesn't matter you can practice any where you are and like I said that's a beautiful thing about the world we live in today okay so my last misconception has to do with classroom teaching and this one may be different you may have a different opinion on this depending depending on maybe your your personality or it may be depending on how old you are and my question is is classroom education so going to a classroom taking a class with a teacher with other students is it the most efficient way to learn a language I'd like to know what you think so please if you're watching right now write down do you think it is it the most efficient way to learn a language if you're watching later please write it in the comments is it the most efficient way do you think this is the best way the easiest just what will help your language development the most what do you think okay and if you're just joining thank you for joining we are talking about misconceptions things that we believe to be true about language learning but that actually aren't let's see I will tell you some pros and cons like I did with other subjects so first of all there are some wonderful things about classroom teaching as a person who teaches in the classroom I love it I love the interaction as it as a as a teacher and when I was studying languages I loved going to class I will tell you why first of all if you have a good teacher this is very important you have to have a good teacher if you don't have a good teacher the experience won't be the same but if you have a good teacher who is willing to help you give you the tools and they have a good structure I think that's very important you have a structure and you know kind of which way to go so that's a pro that's a good thing another another really nice thing is you know you have there's a social element you can talk to other students maybe you can practice that's not so those are good things now bad some bad things is that not all teachers are good and this is very important I've had some really really bad teachers I just went into class they just started speaking and I wasn't able I wasn't able to speak at all in the language and it was more of a lecture and it just wasn't it wasn't great I wasn't really learning even though I was there I was trying to it wasn't really great and some some some of these can be very expensive and there are some problems with classroom teaching some of they can just focus on grammar so I think it really really depends on your teacher but I think it also depends on yourself what I mean by this is this quote I found here languages cannot be taught you can't teach a language but you have to learn a language so it's one of those things that you have to do yourself like I said before it's something that is important if you're motivated if you're dedicated if you want to learn you have to do it yourself your teacher can only give you the tools but you have to use those tools to develop your language learning so that's that's really important let's see what you guys are saying yeah sometimes it's not an advantage so it really depends some teachers are just they don't have maybe experience or they don't know what they're doing and maybe they're not helping others do but they I mean there are pros and cons but I would say that it ultimately depends on you okay so I'm just going to go over very quickly about what we talked about the misconceptions we talked about time and how long it takes to learn a language about accent and how important accent is we talked about grammar we talked about if you have to be gifted to learn a language about children and is it easy for them to learn about if you need to speak to a native speaker where to do you have to live in a country where the language is spoken about how important is classroom teaching and yeah I just wanted to thank you guys I I think I think if you take one thing from this whole lesson it should be that it it really depends on you know if you are dedicated and willing to learn then you can you can just avoid all of these things you don't have to worry about speaking with a native speaker you don't have to worry about living in another country you just have to be really focused and you have to do your best and I truly truly truly believe and I promise you that you will succeed and I wanted to thank you so much for joining and if you like this lesson please share it with anyone you'd like anyone you think this would be useful to write questions in the comments and please join our social media classes thank you guys as always for watching us and I will see you next time --- ## 300. FAMOUS MOVIE QUOTES EXPLAINED | Improve Your English Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IhjT9UhFu6I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhjT9UhFu6I) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:46:03 | --- If you like, movies, love learning English, and you also want to understand a little more about American pop culture. Well then this lesson is for you. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I want to talk to you about some famous movie one liners, some movie quotes that have gone beyond the films from, from which they have come to become embedded in American pop culture. So these are movie quotes that are easily recognizable, especially in the United States, but I think that they're pretty well known throughout the world because the movies that I'm going to talk to you about are, are pretty famous. So you can use these quotes in everyday conversation if you happen to find yourself in a particular situation and the quote is relevant or you can use them just for fun to see if other people can recognize the quote and the movie that it came from, which again is part of your cultural understanding of the language, but it also adds value to your overall English fluency. So the first quote that I have for you is we're not in Kansas anymore and this quote comes from the famous movie, the Wizard of Oz. Now the Wizard of Oz was originally a book, which was also pretty famous, but I think the quote really became popular after the movie, and Dorothy says this too, to Todo once they arrive in Oz and she says, well, we're not in Kansas anymore. We are in a strange and unknown place. So you can actually use this quote. If you find yourself in a strange and unknown place and you're with another person who also thinks the place is strange and you can say, you know, Hey, we're not in Kansas anymore. I don't know about this place. It's strange. It's unknown. We're not in Kansas anymore. Then there is another famous quote from this movie and that is there is no place like home. There's no place like home. This quote comes from the end of the movie. When Dorothy is clicking those slippers together and she wants to return home and she really misses home and says, there's no place like home. There's no place like home. Once again, this is a quote that you can use in an everyday conversation if you want to express that same feeling and capture that emotion. If you are away from your home, maybe you've been traveling for a long time and you really miss it and you were thinking about it, you could say, you know, yeah, there's no place like that. Then we have this quote right here. Go ahead, make my day. Now that was a terrible Clint Eastwood impression. I'm sorry about that, but this quote comes from the movie Dirty Harry and Clint Eastwood says this, Go ahead. Make my day. It's like he's asking them to react so that he can react and that's what this quote means, that you are you. You hope that another person continues with the action that they're doing so that you can react and do something else that might give you pleasure. This is a quote that you may hear in other TV shows or movies, and they may say it to reference this movie, this particular quote, but again, you can use it if you find yourself in that situation and it's like you want to dare the person to continue doing whatever it is they're doing and you'd say, go ahead, make my day. Next is the quote. Say hello to my little friend and this maybe you don't recognize it by the way that I just said it there, but it comes from the movie Scarface. And this was a a popular gangster movie from a long time ago and he says, say hello to my little friend when he's getting ready to fire a missile launcher and actually kill some people. This is a quote that probably you're not going to, you're not going to say it. At least I hope you wouldn't say it and be firing some kind of gun or weapon at somebody else, but it is something that you may come across in other TV shows or movies. So if you do hear it, then you know where it came from. It came from the movie Scarface. Now this is a movie that I have actually never seen, but I, just growing up in the United States, I was very familiar with this quote because you just hear it from time to time. It's just a part of pop culture. Then we have, and this is one of my favorite quotes, and it is I'll be back. I'll be back. This is my, my Terminator impression and it, it's a very bad Arnold Schwartzenegger impression. I apologize. But this quote comes from the movie Terminator and he says, I'll be back saying, you know, he's going to return. So when you think about these quotes and one liners and about how you can use them as a learner this is a great way to practice shadowing and and practice your pronunciation, your intonation, your emphasis, and try to capture that emotion by repeating the phrase the the exact same way that you hear it in the movie. And the reason I say that you could try it with this one is because this is a popular quote that people will try to say mostly because it's recognizable. So if you find yourself in that situation where you are going to return to some place and you're just letting the people know, you can have a little fun with it and say, you know, I'll be back, I will return, I will come back. But again, you have to say it like that. I'll be back. Another popular quote is you can't handle the truth. And this comes from the movie. A few Good Men. This is another good one. When you think about shadowing and you people would try to say it the same way Jack Nicholson did in the movie. You can't handle the truth. So if somebody is trying to get you to confess, to tell the truth, you can just tell them you can't handle the truth and do your best. Jack Nicholson impression. And again, this is great for shadowing. It is a wonderful way to actually practice your spoken English. You can't handle the truth. Now how about you? You, you give it a try right now. Say it just like that. You can't handle the truth. I'll wait. Okay. Alright. That wasn't bad. Shadowing is a great way to practice your speaking skills and if you did this, if you participated, let me know in the comments. Just write. You can't handle the truth. That way I know that you are actually practicing your speaking skills, which is what Interactive English is all about. Then we have the quote Houston. We have a problem. Now this quote comes from the movie Apollo 13 which was actually based off of the real life event, the real life space mission Apollo 13 which which went wrong up in space in and that is what was said. They called down to NASA, which is located in Houston and they said, Houston, we have a problem. The movie was made many years later. It was very popular but I really think it was like a resurgence of this quote and it really brought it back into the mainstream and it is something that's very common in American pop culture. Now this is a quote that can be used to talk about a variety of problems or issues. If you have to tell somebody, and even if they're not in Houston, it really doesn't matter. You could just say, you know Houston, we have a problem. Next is...it's another one of my favorite quotes probably because I really enjoy this movie and that is, Oh captain, my captain. And this quote comes from the movie Dead Poets Society. If you haven't seen it, it's a great movie. I highly recommend you check it out. But the quote itself comes from a poem by Walt Whitman and that is a bit of an analogy referencing, uh, the death of Abraham Lincoln., Now I think the meaning, Oh, captain, my captain is kind of showing respect and reverence to the leader. And in this case, Maybe the reason I like the movie so much is because it talks about teaching. It's about a teacher and his students and the students would stand up on the desk. Oh captain, my captain, kind of showing that respect, their admiration for the teacher. And I think it's every teacher's dream, especially if they have seen this movie to think that, Oh one day I, I hope the students are all standing on their desk saying, Oh captain my captain and really showing that respect. But unfortunately it's never happened to me. The students have never said to me, Oh captain, my captain. They have said some other things to me and sometimes, yeah, it hasn't been very nice and then that's when I would tell those students, yeah, come on, keep it up. Go ahead make my day. But this movie quote, it's become a part of American pop culture but it's not something that may get thrown around in everyday conversation unless you are really referencing a leader and you're trying to reference the movie while showing respect and admiration. It's a Oh captain, my captain. We will follow you. We will listen to you. Then there is another quote from this movie and that is carpe diem. Now this is a Latin phrase, but the movie I think really made it a lot more popular and it taught many people like me. It taught me what this phrase meant because before I saw the movie, I did not know that carpe diem meant seize the day. Take advantage of of every moment and really try to seize the day and live life to the fullest. Carpe diem. So this phrase is a big part of the movie. Talks a lot about that. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Next is the quote It's alive. It's alive. And maybe you recognize it. This quote is from the movie Frankenstein. When Dr Frankenstein has his creation come to life, he's yelling, It's alive! So this is a...it's another quote that is easily recognizable and you could use it also to reference the movie, but you could use it in a situation in which maybe you're, you're trying to build something and create something and you're testing to see if it works and if it works then you could say it's alive in reference to the movie, but also acknowledging that yes, your creation works. Good job. Then we have the quote, I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse. And that...that is my Marlon Brando impression. And that quote comes from the movie The Godfather. Now there are so many great quotes that come from the the movie series that The Godfather, if you haven't seen it, I suggest you check it out. So this quote has become very well known in American pop culture and you could use it depending on the situation that you find yourself in. If you want somebody to to do something for you and you're going to make them an offer so that they'll do it. You could say, you know I'm, I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse or I'm going to make them an offer they can't refuse and reference this Godfather quote. Another popular quote I told you, there are so many from The Godfather is this one. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer. Now this is a quote that did not originate with The Godfather. Many people credit it to Sun Tzu who is a famous Chinese military general and that, that was a long time ago. So this, this quote, this expression has been around for a long time, but The Godfather really put it into the mainstream. And I think it's easily recognizable because of The Godfather. The movie is so well known. People will, will think of the movie when they hear this quote. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Then we have the quote. May the force be with you. And I'm sure for many of you, as soon as you heard the word force, you may know that I'm talking about Star Wars. This is a movie quote that is said many times throughout Star Wars. Well, there's many different Star Wars movies and I think it's repeated in many of them. May the force be with you. That's a fun one. I think many people get that because Star Wars is just so well known throughout the world. Then we have you talking to me. You talking to me. This quote comes from the movie Taxi Driver and Robert de Niro really, really made this quote what it is, it's a part of American pop culture and I, People associate this quote with the movie Taxi Driver. Again, this is another movie that I haven't seen. It's a very well known and popular movie, but I, I've always been very familiar with this quote because I've heard it in other TV shows other movies and people may say a jokingly when they want to reference that, that movie and that character. You talking to me? It's a quote that is kind of confrontational, so it's not one that I would say, Hey, go out and use this one. If somebody is saying something to you that, that that's not nice. That's mean maybe they're calling you a name. You could, aAe you talking to me? You talking to me? Next is the quote. Nobody puts baby in the corner. And this quote comes from the movie Dirty Dancing. It's a, it's another quote that's become pretty well known in American pop culture. And it refers to somebody being, you know, kind of cast aside, forgotten about. That they've been put in the corner. And he says it in reference to the main character who's been put in the corner and he says, nobody puts Baby in the corner and he takes her out of the corner and then they do this, this big dance at the end. Now this is a quote that you may hear a that references the movie, but people will take out Baby and they will substitute another person's name in there instead. A person who has been kind of cast aside, forgotten about and you want to say no, we need to acknowledge this person. We need to recognize them. Nobody puts him in the corner. Nobody puts her in the corner. Nobody puts Wes in the corner. At least I hope they don't. So now I want to make you an offer that you can't refuse. All right. I will continue to create new and exciting English lessons, but you got to hit that like button. Go ahead and hit that like button if you learned some new movie quotes because if you don't hit the like button, I'll feel like you're putting me in the corner and nobody puts Wes in the corner. All right. Thank you guys so much for watching. May the force be with you and I will see you next time. So long. I'll be back. That's true. I will be back very soon with another lesson. --- ## 301. FAST SPEECH in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Speak smoothly & naturally) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8qWn9rj8KiA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qWn9rj8KiA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:10:15 | --- welcome to today's lesson in which we are going to be talking about fast speech in the United States so one question that I often get from Learners or a comment rather is well I easily understand what you're saying and when I listen to your lessons it's easy to follow but when I travel to the US or maybe if you live in the US and you're just outside listening to casual conversation it's a lot more difficult to follow and understand that people are talking so fast so that's why today I want to talk about fast speech and take some just simple sentences and really analyze them and talk about what's going on so that you have a better understanding of why people sound the way they do and especially if they're you feel like they're speaking really fast so there are two different parts to this I want you to practice with me when we go through these sentences I want you to say them out loud this is after all interactive English I want you to participate but I I want you to keep in mind that I think this is really useful for your listening comprehension be because when we go through these sentences and talk about some of the things such as connected speech it's it's related to pronunciation but it's also about like related to Accent reduction and I want to say at the very beginning that you should never feel like you need to reduce your accent or speak with any sort of accent I know that people have different goals when it comes to their speaking fluency so I just want you to keep that in mind never feel like you need to speak with any specific specific accent but I do believe that understanding some of these different concepts will help you improve your listening comprehension because you'll you'll be able to pick this out and you'll be able to hear it as we go through so my name is Wes let me introduce myself the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher so let's jump right into it and we'll start out with the dialogue so this is the dialogue that we're going to look at and practice today and we'll come back to this at the very end so for right now you can just listen to me say the dialogue you have it there written right in front of you and then we're going to go through each one and talk about what's going on and practice them individually and then you and I we are going to practice them at the very end as well so we start out with this question and I'm just going to read both or say both A and B what did you do last night did you go to the movie yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again let's do it I'm up for watching it again so just listening to me say these sentences you can see the the words written right there I imagine it's probably a lot easier to follow along and you can pick out the the words and phrases that you just heard but let's really take a deep dive into these sentences and we're going to practice so let's start at the very beginning you can see all the images that I'm showing you are one way or another pictures from the United States that's where I'm from so again this is more this lesson is definitely closely related to the American accent so what did you do last night did you go to the movie all right the first two questions we'll break it down one at a time let's start with that first phrase what did you you hear me pronounce those three words individually often you're not going to hear people say them like that that clearly they're going to say what did you so a couple of things happening so that first T that final T in what in the beginning D and did T and D the position of the tongue in your mouth it's really the same it's the tip of your tongue is up behind your top front teeth so you really have overlapping sounds so you're not going to hear both of them you're really just going to hear one and I'll come back to that in just a moment the final DN did and the beginning sound in you those sounds May blend together and that is called assimilation The Sounds blend together to create a new sound in this case it's a slight J J sound and one way to think about it is that we're taking that J sound and we're putting it between the two words which then allows us to connect them so instead of what did you what did you what did you you can hear that slight J it's not really something that you have to force but I think as you say it if you're just saying this quickly it's going to come out naturally what did you what did you and this is common with this question this construction the first three words and you can really replace what with any of those question words if you're following it with did you so what did you why did you how did you when did you and you can hear that slight J sound so the first part is I put it up there and I've given you the phonetic spelling that what did you now that first part that were okay I told you that t and D are going to overlap so there are different ways to think about it it's almost like that you could say that well the T alides which we'll talk about a lesion that sound goes away we're left with the dip now even if we were to say well the D alides and we're left with the T it comes between two vowel sounds so with the American accent I'm still going to pronounce it as a flap T which I will talk about a little later as well so just keep in mind that the sounds that what did you it's going to sound like what did you what did you what did you now the rest of that question due last night this is pretty simple and straightforward I just mentioned the lesion so a lesion is another part of connected speech this is when sounds may get removed and it occurs on several different occasions one time is with the t or d and the t or d may get removed it may get dropped when they come between two consonant sounds so last night again I'm not really you're gonna you're not gonna hear a aspirated sound and last it comes between those two consonant sounds so it gets dropped it aligns and it's just going to sound like last night last night you're not really going to hear that t and whether you're talking about the phrase last night last week last year again it's going to Allied with any of those phrases I appreciate the hearts thank you so here's the first question again what did you do last night say with me what did you do last night one more time what did you do last night the second part of the question did you once again we have that final D indeed in the beginning why Y sound and you they blend together and you get that J did you did you then the rest of that question go to the movie one thing that I want to point out and this is really common I think with the American accent in the United States people will take certain words and they're kind of reduced and that vowel sound is changed and this often happens with function words for example two so instead of two like I'm saying it right now like the number if I'm just saying it quickly it's not a word that gets emphasized or stressed that vowel sound may get reduced to sound more like the schwa ta go to the it's also a week the which again the is you hear that schwa sound because the the next word begins with a consonant sound the movie go to the movie The other thing I want to point out before you before we practice this question is you can see I put flap T there so in the United States people love the flap T it occurs when that t comes between two vowel sounds so even though it go it's a separate word but it still ends with a vowel sound and then that t comes between the two vowel sounds so it's going to sound more like a soft D so that whole phrase go to the go to the go to the when I say it with my accent go to the and hopefully you can hear that soft D go to the movie go to the movie say it with me just that last phrase go to the movie and then if we combine it with that did you did you go to the movie did you go to the movie and and the other thing I I want to say about this question did did you go to the movie it's a yes no question a lot of times with these yes no questions you'll have a rising intonation at the end did you go to the movie did you go to the movie say with me did you go to the movie now let's practice uh all of this together right here and I just want you to repeat after me see if you can use these same things that we just talked about assimilation illusion the flap t what did you do last night did you go to the movie say it one more time what did you do last night did you go to the movie okay good all right keep that in mind we're going to come back to these questions all right if you if you are practicing and you're saying this out loud let me know I want to know in the comments just write the word speaking that way I know that you're participating and you are actually practicing your speaking skills which is what this lesson is all about and well speaking of speaking skills one thing I wanted to let you know and mention is that I am getting ready to start another speaking course the course is for intermediate to Advanced speakers it's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally we warm up with something related to pronunciation connected speech similar to the things that we're talking about in this lesson so click on the link down in the description I've also pinned a comment there in the chat you can use the code speak20 to get twenty dollars off but if you click on that link you can find out more information about the course as well as the available class times so check that out if you would like to practice and improve your speaking okay let's look at the next part all right great job excellent Kaio you're speaking nice Lali understand yeah it this can be definitely a bit challenging and difficult because I know that when many of you you learn English you start learning the language and you're learning the individual words and I know some people tell me that they try to pronounce the individual words because they just want to make sure that somebody understands what they're saying and that's perfectly Fair that's okay like I said this is not something you should feel like you have to do I do think it will help you improve your listening comprehension because if you're watching a movie or TV show this is you know you're going to hear people speak like this and it's good to be able to identify it so the answer to the questions uh yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work few things going on here so the first thing that I want to mention is linking this is extremely common in spoken English not just in the United States but really across all English varieties in the UK in Australia Canada South Africa it happens all the time and what linking is it's when you one word ends with a final consonant sound it may get linked with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so got uh in this case the final consonant sound got we can then link that with the vowel sound which in this case that article is just pronounced with the schwa uh gotta gotta once again that t comes between two vowel sounds so you'll hear me say this with a flap T gotta gotta it it really sounds the same as the reduction got to would also sound like gotta or in this case got uh with the article gotta yes I got a ticket and I mentioned before how certain words are commonly reduced this is one of them often and is going to get reduced and sounds will get removed and it's really just going to sound like n so that first part yes I got a ticket and then yes I got a ticket and then called in we can link that phrase once again that final de and called because that Ed has a D sound because that final o that l sound is voiced and we can link that D with the vowel sound in in a lot of times linking occurs with those prepositions many prepositions uh begin with a vowel sound in on at over if the word before it ends with a consonant sound well that may tell you okay linking may occur called in called in sick to work so instead of two work which if you say two work it's perfectly fine but it's just easier and I do think again helps give the language that Rhythm and flow just sounds natural when instead of two t it's going to sound more like ta don't think of this as either one or the other think of it more like a spectrum and that you may hear more of the two or kind of sliding towards that to work to work called in sick to work called in sick to work if you're unfamiliar with that phrase to call in sick it refers to well somebody who cannot come to work and they just call their office their employer and say look I'm sick I'm not coming in today so in this situation the person asked about well did you go to the movie and they said yes they got a ticket they got their movie ticket and well they couldn't work so instead of going to work they called in sick and then they went to the movie yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work so let's practice this right here I want I'll say it slowly I want you to repeat and then I'll say it a little faster so first time slowly and you repeat yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work all right let's say it let's speed it up a little yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work one more time yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work good all right again let me know if you're if you're practicing write speaking down in those down in the chat or in the comments if you're watching this later the next one uh the the other person responds instead of again pronouncing the individual words I'm going to go this weekend if you want to see it again I I would say I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again let's have a look at what's going on so I'm going to there are two different ways that we can reduce this phrase again reductions sounds are getting removed very common so going to may get reduced to gonna something that I'm sure you've heard I imagine you many of you may be using this already I'm gonna she's gonna he's gonna we're gonna they're gonna you're gonna but if we're starting out the sentence with I am and we'll contract that to I'm we can reduce it even further and it may sound like I'm gonna I'm gonna Amina so I'm gonna or if you wanna say it even a little faster I'm gonna and typically what I notice especially when I uh I teach these classes and and talk about this I know some people don't feel as comfortable saying I'm gonna which I I completely understand but I notice how often I end up saying it when I say okay I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do that all right right now I'm gonna do this and I just start catching myself saying it quite often so I'm gonna go this weekend if you instead of want to another very common reduction wanna I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again it again we can link that final consonant sound with that beginning vowel sound in again starts with that schwa sound but that t comes between the two vowel sounds so it I'm going to pronounce it as a flat T it again it again just say that phrase with me it again if you want to see it again one more time if you want to see it again now let's practice the entire sentence and the first time I'm I'm going to say I'm gonna I'm gonna say I'm gonna and I still I want you to repeat after me I'm gonna go to I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again now what I'd like you to do try that Amina just see how it feels again if it doesn't feel comfortable it's not something that you have to do but definitely listen for it so again just repeat after me I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again one more time I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again okay good and then we're going to wrap things up with this conversation right here and you can see this beautiful picture if anybody can tell me the name of that Park bonus points for you I'll tell you in just a moment let's instead of the individual words let's do it I'm up for watching it again when I say it like that to me I feel like I'm I sound a little bit like a robot but if I were just to say this naturally yeah let's do it I'm up for watching it again let's do it I'm up for watching it again let's have a look what's going on in case you're wondering this is a picture of the Great Smoky Mountains the Smoky Mountains National Park beautiful beautiful Park in the well it's yeah really the southeast so the first thing that I want to talk about we've talked about different parts of connected speech I think most of the time what happens is linking linking is something that happens a lot we've talked about assimilation The Sounds blend together you get a new sound like what did you what did you Elysian is another part of connected speech we drop some sounds and the opposite of Illusion would be intrusion in this case we're adding sounds and what we're going to add is a slight w a slight sound between these two vowels which then allows us to link them together so instead of do it you can add that slight sound do it do it and I think people hopefully you can really grasp this example because like the Nike ex the slogan just do it just do it you hear that a lot and you can hear that slight sound in between there we're going to add that in between that is intrusion do it do it put it up there and then that the rest of that uh the next sentence we have linking and a reduction I'm up we can link that for is an is another word we can reduce that vowel sound is going to slightly change so instead of four it's going to sound a little more like fur it's a function word it's not a word that's stressed so when I say it often it's just gonna it's gonna sound like fur I'm up fur I'm up for I've added this down here if you're unfamiliar with this phrase to be if you say you're up for something it means that you're just willing to do something so in this case I'm up for watching it again this person is yeah they're willing to see the movie again so I'm up fur and then watching sometimes not always that g will get dropped I think most of the time this happens with verbs in the continuous tense you drop that G and the reason this occurs is because when the next word begins with a vowel sound it's easier to link that final sound instead of the ing you can still link the ing if you want to but it's just a little easier so people will drop that G and then we can link that um sound with the beginning vowel sound of the next word which in this case is it the other thing I'd point out I said it mostly occurs with verbs in the continuous tense in this case it's a gerund which again it it may still happen so we're going to drop that G and then we're going to link that final phrase watching knit again and that t and it comes between two vowel sounds so you're going to hear me say it as a flat T so check out this again this part that I've written giving you the phonetic spelling so you can actually see how I'm pronouncing it let's do it I'm up for watching it again and you can hear me as I say that watching it again it's almost like I'm taking that consonant sound moving it over to the next word watching nid again watching it again let's do it I'm up for watching it again I want you to repeat after me we'll do this slowly and then faster so slowly let's do it sorry let's do it I'm up for watching it again and then we speed it up let's do it I'm up for watching it again and then if I want to speed it up a little more let's do it I'm up for watching it again so now that we've gone through these I think rather simple sentences it's this conversation this dialogue is easy to understand it's easy to follow but once again it's all about helping you have a better understanding of why people sound the way they do and I would encourage you to listen for some of this stuff like that first part the first thing that we talked about the assimilation what did you listen for that slight just sound what did you how did you when did you why did you where did you it's pretty common and trust me you will hear it so I'll read I'll say the dialogue again out loud so you can just listen to it one more time and then I want you to practice with me I'll say one you say the other and then we'll switch so I'll just say all of it right now so you can once again hear the way that I'm saying it with all of those I know we talked about a lot it's a lot to keep in mind but really just think about well again just listening to the way I'm saying it and trying to emulate those sounds so I'll say the whole thing right now what did you do last night did you go to the movie yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again let's do it I'm up for watching it again okay I want you to say it just like that if you can so let's start out I will say a and I want you to say B I want you to say this out loud doesn't matter where you are if you're at home or you're on the bus so let's just practice your speaking skills right now I'll say A you say B and then we'll switch are you ready what did you do last night did you go to the movie I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again excellent all right so let's switch this time I want you to say a I will say B ready you can begin yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work let's do it I'm up for watching it again great job if you were participating and practicing and I just wasn't and I wasn't speaking to myself let me know write the word speaking in the chat or in the comments if you're watching this later this is a lesson that's all about just well not only helping you prove improve your listening comprehension but it depends on what some of your goals are when it comes to speaking fluency if you want to start using some of these different elements you want to start using reductions like Gonna Wanna Have to gotta they're very common in spoken English or if you want to take it a step further and use some of the assimilation I said a great starting point would be with those questions what did you why did you how did you when did you and some of those other things like linking I think it just takes time but the more you keep doing this the more you practice just like we did today I think you're going to feel a little more comfortable and you start using it in just casual conversation well a lot of people practicing nice Zach Julia uh Ulysses Sammy excellent love hearing that Lolly ouch right good good little good little practice but again overall I think this is great for your listening comprehension and once again just to give one last uh mention about my speaking course if you would like to join check out that link down in the description you can find out more about the available class times and use that code speak20 to get 20 off uh nice work all right Alexander uh talal hopefully you enjoyed the lesson and you learn something new this is really getting you know going deep into some of those different parts of connected speech assimilation linking illusion intrusion but hopefully you have a better understanding again of why people speak the way they do a better understanding of the American accent for example those flap T's you saw many of them people in the US we love the flap t I really appreciate you joining me today uh great job thank you Ed Waldo Fernando takayo good to see you I look forward to seeing you next month uh takayo uh good scene Lolly I really appreciate all of you being here with me today practicing your speaking skills and if you enjoy lessons like this just let me know hit that like button that tells me okay all right people are getting uh use out of these speaking lessons they enjoy practicing their speaking skills having a little bit of a dialogue with me and we can continue to do this in the future uh thank you ramella modicier Sammy I could keep going but I want to wrap things up there have a wonderful day and I --- ## 302. FIND YOUR MISTAKES ๐Ÿšซ Learn How to Correct Yourself | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `alsWWfTuQto` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alsWWfTuQto) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:24:34 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson this is interactive english for those of you who if this is your first time here my name is wes and the channel it's just it's all about helping you trying to practice your english skills improve your english skills for those who are who would like to achieve english fluency now today's lesson i think is a very useful one because it's talking about correcting mistakes so that's what we're going to work on in today's lesson is we're going to work on finding your mistakes as well as trying to correct those mistakes and i think many of you out there would like to do this because that's part of the process of working toward achieving english fluency so you you want to eliminate mistakes especially if they're just simple ones now uh before we jump into the lesson i do want to to tell you quickly and let you know that uh enrollment for our speaking class is coming down to the wire which that's a great expression down to the wire means that it's it's getting ready it's getting ready to end so if you want to practice and improve speaking then check out our speaking course it is a 10-week course in which we will meet uh once a week for 50 minutes and the course is on zoom so you will i will send you a link to the classroom you'll click on the link you'll go into the classroom and we will have class with me and some of your other classmates and this is it's it's all about speaking we're going to speak and talk about a bunch of a variety of topics we're going to look at a lot of different questions and then you'll go into smaller groups to talk about those questions with your classmates and with me so this is a class that's mostly for intermediate to advanced learners and it's all about just trying to help you gain more confidence overcome anxiety help you improve vocabulary listening a little bit of everything the course it does some of you have asked it's 97 for this 10 week course and right now we in the future we're gonna offer more class times but right now there are four different times there are two classes on thursdays and two classes on fridays um both are at two and four o'clock european time zone so make sure you check to uh your time zone to see when the classes uh would be available so if you're interested in uh if you're if you're one of those people out there who's just like ah i want more speaking practice check out the course i will leave a link down in the description if you want to check it out i'll also throw one right here boom in the chat if you want to look at it and if you have any questions just send me an email at info interactiveenglishvideos.com so enough okay enough for the the self uh the self promotion just wanted to let you know because it's coming down to the wire let's get back to our topic which is um correcting finding and correcting your mistakes so let's do a little bit of a warm-up with this i'm going to show you uh well these are mistakes on twitter and i want to just practice see if you can identify the mistake and we will correct these together so this is on twitter people make mistakes all the time i think people are just typing quickly so but it's a good it's a good way to try to practice this skill so this one have the courage to speak to me face to face no fighting let's be adults and talk about it or bury the hatchet all right what do you think is the mistake with this tweet all right there's one real big mistake that hopefully you can identify and you know it's actually uh this is actually an idiom an english idiom so i hope that you were looking at that spelling that r b-a-r-r-y that is the mistake bury the hatchet it's so this is really just the the wrong word the word choice instead of uh or just a spelling mistake b-a-r-r-y to bury something b-u-r-y to bury the hatchet and if you don't know what that means to bury the hatchet it's a great idiom it means that you are going to stop fighting and you're going to make up and kind of forget about it so if you're fighting with somebody you're arguing about something you disagree you might say let's bury the hatchet and let's move on let's forget about the disagreement we'll bury the hatchet and we'll move on so that is the first one what about this next one right here um what mistake do you see with this one this third well i'll go ahead and tell you there technically there's kind of two mistakes don't you wish your girlfriend was grammatically cr correct like me all right do you uh what what mistakes do you see i said there's two there's definitely one and i'll explain that in in just a moment don't you wish your girlfriend was grammatically correct like me all right so there's definitely one mistake and there is kind of another one and i would say this because we're talking about writing so the first one would be look at that you're all right she she uses the contraction um instead of the possessive pronoun so that's the first one uh would just be using the wrong word instead of you are you're excellent this is some of you got that don't you wish your girlfriend and i said the other one is a mistake because it's it's like a hypothetical in this case you would use the subjunctive um your girlfriend were grammatically correct like me it'd be the same way if i said um he wishes he were taller all right you would use the subjunctive in that case i said that it's kind of it's kind of a mistake because to be completely honest people will still they may not use the subjunctive so in this case um i you could cut her some slack and you you may hear people say and write girlfriend was but because we're talking about writing which is a little more formal uh i would just try to follow the the more the the stricter rules and use the subjunctive your girlfriend were the next one um what do you think the seizure salad i can't it's hard to read it because i want to read it correctly the seizure salad from mcdonald's is so good all right i don't know if this is perhaps a i don't know if they were trying to make a joke or if this is legitimately incorrect um but uh hopefully you can see that there is definitely a big mistake at the very beginning of the sentence they've just used the wrong word um yes excellent um lolly you're right so instead of seizure which if you don't know what uh a seizure is it's talking about a medical condition but in this case they don't want to say um seizure they want to say caesar the caesar salad is a type of salad the caesar salad um from mcdonald's uh or you could say at mcdonald's either one mcdonald's it is a proper noun so should have a a capital m capital d is so good and there should be a period at the end but again this is it's twitter people make mistakes all the time but you guys caught some of these mistakes excellent let's do one more one last little warm-up before we get into something that's a little more challenging all right so this person wrote i smell like men's colon all right well that's i know what i know what they wanted to write but that's specifically the way that you would pronounce it i smell like men's colon all right what's there there are several mistakes with this statement see if you can identify the different ones and there are well one two three three big mistakes that this person has made if you're just again looking at uh the way it's written if you're writing a sentence the first word of a sentence should always be capitalized capital i um and then yes if you get the other ones men's all right should be it is a plural possessive all right m-e-n apostrophe s i smell like men's cologne not not colon um that's that's very different so cologne i can understand why people might make this mistake because the spelling is very different than the pronunciation but cologne would be what what men might wear if they want to smell nice so women would wear perfume men would wear cologne c-o-l-o-g-n-e i smell like men's cologne and of course there should be a period at the end there so that's a little bit of a warm-up to see if you guys can try to just like start identifying different mistakes now this lesson is specifically about for you to identify your mistakes and the way that i would suggest you go about it is to use writing because the when you're listening and reading that's when you're like you're taking the language in and you are absorbing the language when you are speaking and writing you are using the language that is your output so i want you to try to use writing in order to identify some of your mistakes so that you know what you need to work on what you need to practice and what you need to correct because if you are making a mistake in writing there's a good chance you are also when you want to speak and you want to say something there's a good chance that you may make those same mistakes when you're speaking if you're using the wrong preposition or you're using the wrong verb tense you may make those same mistakes but your i want you to use writing for three main reasons and we're gonna practice this the first one is that writing is it's more reflective and i say that it's reflective is because when you write something down you can look at it speaking you're not always going to remember exactly what you said but when you write it down you can look at it you can think about it and that and then you can reflect on it so it is a more reflective practice a a form uh when you're writing the other thing i would say is always reread i think when when i would teach writing uh when i would teach writing class this is something you always tell to tell people and many people don't do it i try to do this myself whenever i write to you in a comment and i answer your comments i always try to reread even if it's a very short comment i just like to get in that habit of always rereading and even still when you reread this is when you're going to spot different mistakes but even after you reread and you do it again and again you may still make some mistakes it happens but you always want to reread and the next thing that i would tell you is to look for one mistake at a time this is something that i don't think people do they would typically read something and as they see a mistake that's when they correct it and then they're done but i think if you want to make it reflective and really not just identify some of the mistakes you make but really understand where you have a problem that you are always making a mistake with prepositions that's just an example look for one mistake at a time and i want you to keep track of it because when i taught writing class that is what we we would do so each day the students would write something in their notebook and then i would look at it and i would mark that there was a mistake i didn't tell them what it was the the mistake and they would go back and they need to identify the mistake and then they keep track of it so for example if there were two mistakes with articles they used that incorrectly in the first one they'd write that okay two mistakes and then for the next writing maybe oh they made three mistakes with articles and then the next one they made three more mistakes after you write about 10 things you can look at that list and you see that okay this is how many spelling mistakes i made this is how many mistakes i made with prepositions this is how many mistakes i made with verb tense and you can see that all right i i definitely made more mistakes with articles than anything else and then you know that is what you need to focus on so that's what i mean when i say try to identify one mistake at a time and let's do that right now so i'm going to show you um a writing there are many mistakes with this i just want you to read it and um we're gonna we're gonna do this we're gonna take one mistake at a time we're gonna make this a reflective practice and we're gonna take one mistake at a time and correct it and i want you guys to correct it with me and go through this so here here is the paragraph all i want you to do right now is read it and just at the very beginning just tell me how many mistakes you find just reading it quickly and how many mistakes you think there are in this one paragraph and write that write that down tell me in the chat how many mistakes you have found in this paragraph and then we're gonna go through it and look for one at a time so i'm just gonna read this and that's all i want you to do is just tell me how many mistakes do you think there are in this paragraph so it says today was my unlucky day i must have woken up in the wrong side of the bed first i missed the bus which meant i was late at work my boss will be so angry then i spilled my starbucks coffee i had to give an important presentation with a giant with a brown giant starbucks coffee stain on my pants to add insult to to add injury to insult i step through some dog poop right after i leave work i was so frustrating i wanted to forget about the day so i went to bed as soon as i got home all right so again as some of you you naturally you want to identify the mistake first just write down a number all right how many mistakes do you think there are total in this paragraph and then we're just going to take one at a time and we're going to identify those mistakes and correct them and then i'll show you how many there are uh in total for this one just this one paragraph all right um so somebody said maybe three mistakes all right that's the only it's the only that's the only person eloise six okay um all right those are the only two that have uh answered me about that how many mistakes total there are so let's look at um we're gonna do one one thing at a time and this is the list that we're gonna follow so the first thing we're gonna do is just look at spelling and capitalization then we're going to look at verb tense and then word order prepositions redundancies and word choices those five things and if you don't know what a redundancy is it means when you say the same thing again and again and you just say it too much it could be just one word that you keep repeating that is a redundancy and a word choice is you're just you you've used the wrong word so now i want you just to look for look at this again and tell me how many spelling and capitalization mistakes that you made just one thing at a time if you see other mistakes just we'll come back to that don't worry about those just specifically look for spelling and capitalization all right how many mistakes can you find in this one paragraph that there's either a spelling mistake or there is a mistake with uh capitalization and typically like you could add punctuation as well um in this case uh there it's not a punctuation we're just looking at capitalization those capital letters all right so with when it comes to spelling and capitalization um i'm gonna head go ahead and tell you there are i believe there are four mistakes uh no no i think there are five mistakes with spelling and capitalization alone just those five so let me identify those for you and hopefully you were able to see some of the same mistakes all right here they are so the first one is i spilled my starbucks coffee the sea and coffee this is a common noun it's not a proper noun starbucks is the name of uh the name of a company so you're going to capitalize the name of the company coffee though the name is not starbucks coffee like it's not the name of some special coffee that starbucks has so coffee in this case it is a common noun so there are actually two mistakes with that because in both cases i had a capital c before it should be a lowercase c the word important was misspelled it should be spelled i-m-p-o-r-t-a-n-t that is the so that was a spelling mistake um the other spelling mistake was add to add um injury to insult i spelled it a d an ad a d is like advertisement or in british english people would say advertisement add a dd is like something additional something extra so that was also a spelling mistake add and then finally so this this is a compound sentence uh so we do not need to capitalize uh the letter s in so it should be a lowercase letter so those are five mistakes right there with just spelling and capitalization now that we've corrected those let's move on i want you to look at verb tense all right how many mistakes do you see with verbs forget about the other mistakes just look at the verbs in each sentence and this is what this is what you do this is the process that you can follow with your own writing because if you just reread and you look for just uh any mistake you see you're going to probably miss some mistakes but if you take uh something specific each time and look for that and each time you reread it you're looking for this one thing that is the best way that you're going to identify the mistakes so how many mistakes with uh verb tenses do you see and i'll go ahead and tell you typically the first sentence is what's going to set the tone for the story like you're telling a story so really that first sentence is going to set the tone as to whether it is the past the present or the future all right so i hope that you as you've been looking through this i hope that you were able to spot some of these mistakes and in total there are three mistakes so the very first sentence i said today was my unlucky day all right i'm talking about today but i'm talking about it like it's in the past tense like the day is already over so we know that this story that i'm telling you is in the past tense all right so the first one is miss all right i use that in the present it should be in the past all right m-i-s-s-e-d it is a regular verb the next mistake uh i said was my boss will be all right i use the future that should have been um probably an easier one to spot because the future just sounded a little awkward in this story so my boss was so angry we keep with the past and same with that last part um i stepped through some dog poop right after i left work all right left we're using the past tense so there were three mistakes with verb tenses we just corrected those now let's look at the next part all right word order looking at this paragraph can you identify any words that are in they're in the wrong order all right so if you're just joining us we are practicing we are correcting finding and correcting mistakes so we've corrected several mistakes and now i just want you to look at the word order do you see any mistakes with word order they are like okay this this needs to be switched all right um i hope that if you're reading this and looking at it there are i'm just gonna tell you there's two there are two different mistakes when it comes to word order the first one is with adjective word order so hopefully if you spotted two mistakes or even just one these are the ones that we're talking about so instead of a brown giant all right when you're talking about adjective word order size is gonna come for color all right i just bought um a big blue car i don't know uh so you're going to put size before color in this case uh i gave an important presentation with a giant brown starbucks coffee stain on my pants giant brown the next one word order is just this expression i don't know if you've heard this expression before and this is a good way to build your vocabulary to add insult to injury when i was reading this i actually i said it correctly as i was reading it and then i had to correct myself because it's just unnatural so instead of saying to add injury to insult the expression should be to add insult to injury you should switch those words and if you add insult to injury it's an expression that means that you are making some situation worse that something that's already bad if it becomes worse then you could say well that it just added insult to injury to add insult to injury is when something becomes worse so this person already had a very bad day and then they they they stepped in that poop and it just added insult to injury all right so that that is the phrase that you should be using that right there to add insult to injury all right let's look at this next part right here all right all i want you to do now is look for prepositions do you see any mistake with prepositions and there are several mistakes in which um the wrong preposition is used all right so i just told you right now there are several um and all right so so it says three okay uh so there are several mistakes with prepositions and those mistakes are as follows we're just looking at prepositions right here there are three mistakes so you would say again there's another expression about people waking up on the wrong side of the bed not in the wrong side of the bed on the wrong side of the bed and then the next one was first i missed the bus which meant that i was late you wouldn't say you were late at work but you could be late for work or you could say that you were late to work either one of those prepositions is okay i was late for work or i was late to work either one works and then finally we just talked about adding insult to injury to add insult to injury i stepped in some dog poop you would not really use through in that case it kind of sounds a little awkward when when people step in poop they're going to use the preposition in and they would always say oh i just stepped in some poop or watch out don't step in that poop you're going to use the preposition in all right now we're looking at the last part um which is we've corrected a lot of it i want you to look for some redundancies and word choice and remember redundancy is when you're using a word too much and this could be more a little bit like of an opinion but if i'm just looking at this as a teacher there are two corrections i would make with redundancies and one correction that i would make with a word choice and you're just they're just using the wrong word all right so the first redundancy i think is let's just look through it there's three mistakes the first one is with starbucks you say that it's a starbucks coffee you don't need to say it again there's no point in saying that the coffee is from starbucks again so i just get rid of it and you say that you had to give an important presentation with a giant brown coffee stain on my pants you could even maybe get rid of coffee too because you've already said you spilled your coffee people should know that the stain is from the coffee but just to reiterate you could use coffee you don't need to use starbucks again the next one is um so because i've already used that as an adverb of degree when i said my boss was so angry i don't need to say that i was so frustrated because when people use words like that so very really those are some common words that people tend to overuse so i think you can use it but because we used it at the beginning my boss was so angry i'm gonna change that in the next one and instead of saying something like very or really it's always good to use something that's more precise and like i used the adverb incredibly i was incredibly frustrated and frustrated was the word choice instead i i said frustrating at the beginning but we're talking about the way that someone feels and that's when you use the ed adjective i feel frustrated if you're talking about some situation that can be frustrating so in that case you'd say i was incredibly frustrated three mistakes which means in total all right there were 16 mistakes in this paragraph now if you were to reread it just one time you probably would correct some of those mistakes but when you go through it and actually look for one thing at a time that is the best way to really be careful and identify as many mistakes as possible and then like i said a way to practice that would be to go back and and say okay how many mistakes did i make for each one so for example uh i think with this one um all right spelling and capitalization i made five mistakes with verb tense i made three mistakes with word order two mistakes uh prepositions there were three mistakes and then word choice there and redundancies three mistakes as you do this over time and you start making a list that's going to help you understand okay my big problem is with prepositions and i really need to focus on that or my big problem is with verb tense i keep using the wrong verb tense that's what i need to focus on so that is how you can make it more individual for you as to what you need to focus on so use writing to help you identify and correct your mistakes because it is reflective it is a great way to do that and now i want to just do a few more corrections just for fun sometimes you guys write comments and some people sometimes people make mistakes i want to look at some of those mistakes and correct them i'm not going to write the person's name but i just took a little bit and again this is a good way to try to identify mistakes these are all um these are all comments that that you guys had written at one point or another so what do you think about that first one my english is dramatically improved thank to your channel all right in this comment um there they're actually there are two mistakes with this sentence can you identify what those mistakes are alright i hope that you said that there's one with a verb tense and then one where there's just uh there's a letter missing so the two mistakes um you would say my english has dramatically improved something has improved thanks to your channel so you just need to add thanks to exactly excellent so those were the two mistakes what about this one um somebody says and i appreciate i really appreciate this comment you are a good and hard work teacher teach it that last one i i think that was just a typo instead of teaching i know they meant to say teacher the the t and the r are right next to each other on the keyboard so that's just a typo but what other mistake do you see um you are a good and hard work teach it i know that should be teacher but the other mistake i think that if you're going to use the adjective the adjective is hard working so you are a good and hard working teacher somebody is hard-working that is the adjective and that's just it's a way of saying that this person works hard and i really appreciate that um the next one uh this is what some this was a question somebody wrote um and it's a question and they want to change it to the passive okay what does your best friend drive in the past the passive voice how would you change that to the passive what does your best friend drive and i'm going to change it for you though we've done lessons before on active and passive voice most of the time you're going to use the active voice there are some situations when you might want to use the passive voice like if the subject is unknown or if you want to omit some information in this case it's not necessary but just for fun if you want to change it to the passive what is driven driven we're going to use the past participle of the verb uh what is driven by your best friend which is the subject but i you wouldn't want to write this it sounds awkward so in this case you would always i don't i can't think of a situation in which you would rather use the passive you just use the active and say hey what is your friend drive or what is your best friend drive and you're talking about the car but if you you could change it grammatically to the passive but it just sounds awkward so i wouldn't recommend it and finally this is some question that somebody had wrote in the comment i don't know i don't know if the question was for me or if the question was for other people who were in the comments um ram lives um the bus stand what do you think are you going to use the preposition by or a cross so i hope if you're just looking at that then you know yes buy would be the correct answer ram lives by the bus stand or if you're going to use a cross it'd be across from the bus stand really depends on where ram lives so uh that was a quick little little quiz with some of your comments but i hope that this will give you some ideas about what you need to do to if you want to try to correct your own mistakes use writing it's a reflective process use those steps that i talk to you about reread and when you look for mistakes just look for one thing at a time articles prepositions spelling verb tense and go through and see what you can identify it's a good way to practice and improve on your own and remember it's coming down to the wire if you guys if you want to join our speaking course enrollment is going to end tuesday there is a link down in the description for that and even if you can't join our speaking course that's okay but you want to show us some love support what we do at interactive english you can become a sponsor you can become a member there are links down in the description for that as well so i hope you guys found this useful um it's a good way to practice and we were able to do this together and uh yeah i just hope you have a wonderful day so thank you guys so much for joining me thank you uh lolly sarah louisa um a mint name morton sleepwalker great to see so many familiar faces rosalinda misreluctant hope you guys enjoy well i was going to say enjoy the rest of your weekend but it's about over i hope you have a wonderful week in the future i think we've kind of gotten off schedule i think i will go back to the normal schedule at some point of two new lessons out on tuesday and then doing live lessons on saturday but as things change i'll be sure to let you know um thank you guys for joining me julie um dhoni you're back sorry if i mispronounced names kareem uh davica um i hope you guys got some use out of the lesson fabiola all right i gotta end this have a wonderful week i will see you next time so long --- ## 303. FRANKENWORDS: They're alive! (blended words quiz) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WVY3jlHizGk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVY3jlHizGk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:09:02 | --- Franken words. They're alive. And yeah, you may be wondering, what the heck are you talking about? What are Franken words? So, this is I I think it's a fun vocabulary lesson. And if you are someone who likes building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals and I think vocabulary and learning new words and phrases is a big part of that. So, we're going to talk about well Franken words which are really port mentos. So, I I've put the the phonetic spelling down there so you can see how this word is pronounced because I've look guilty. I've mispronounced this word before. Portmanto. And what this is talking about is the blending of two or more words or parts of words that expresses the combined meaning of those words. And very quickly, if you would like to get a copy of the lesson notes that are right here next to me, you can join our email community. There is a link down in the description. I will go ahead and put that in the chat as well. if you would like to access a copy of these notes. So, I told you we're talking about Port Manttos. Let's go backwards for a second. And an example of that would be talking about Franken words. It's the word Frankenstein plus words. We blend them together to create this new word that refers to well vocabulary that's kind of crazy, out of control. And the words that we're going to look at today, some of them are new words that they're used and become popular in the last 5 to 10 years. Other words are actually a little older. However, they were created by blending two words together and you create this new word. So, let me give you some examples of what I'm talking about. Metaverse. This is a word that you may have heard within the last couple of years. We have the word meta plus universe and that gives us metaverse, a virtual environment meant for social connection [snorts] or romcom. This is the you have the words romantic plus comedy, a show or movie plot that blends these two things together and you have a romcom. I don't know if you can see it back there. A good example is the movie Love Actually. Great movie. I I recommend you check it out, especially as we head toward the holiday season. And of course, there are many, many, many of these words, and I want to quiz you on some of them today. Here is one last example before we start the quiz. And I see and we see just how much you know when it comes to these blended words. Frennemy. So this is one that I think is relatively new. Friend plus enemy. You get friendnemy. Someone who acts like or pretends to be a friend despite an underlying rivalry. And that's a good example. Think of a you have a rivalry with someone else. It's like you're com competing. You're enemies, but there's still like this respect. So, you could say that you are fremies. So, as we go through this, I told you I'm going to quiz you on some different uh port mentos. As we go through this, I want you to participate. Write your answer in the comments, in the chats. This is interactive English. That's what that's what this is all about. And I we'll start out I think a little easier and I'll try to make it more difficult as we go through this. I'm already seeing a lot of great examples uh people putting down different port mentos in the chat. Motel station bromance podcast. Perfect. So you guys got the idea. So let's see how many of these other Franken words you know. So, we have the word brain and maniac. So, with this first part of the quiz, I'm going to give you the two words and you tell me, just write it in the chat or the the comments which word is being created when we blend these together. What do you guys think? Brain and maniac. And this is a word that I think has has been around for some time. And the word that we're looking for, I haven't seen it just yet, so maybe people are trying to think of this. Excellent. Yes, I see some of the answers. Kate Learen. Perfect. Brainiac. So, an exceptionally intelligent person. You could refer to someone as a brainiac. Keep in mind, this is a noun. It's a way to describe a person. Somebody's a brainiac. Excellent. The next one, electronic and biology. Now, I don't want to give it away. This is a maybe a little trickier, but we're going to blend these two words together. And which new word are we going to create? Once again, I don't think this is new as in the last 5 10 years. It's been around for some time, but it's new once we blend these words together. When they somebody blended them together and you get the word what? Electronic and biology. Now, the reason I said it's a little trickier is because I I don't want you just to take this word and try to blend it with this one. I I've switched them around. So, I was trying to trick you in a way. But the word that we're looking for Wow. Okay. Maybe this is this is new bionic. So bionic is the blending of these two words. We're talking about an artificial body part enhanced by technology. Bionic. And I told you I tricky. I switched them around so that you're not thinking, okay, this is the first one that I have to use. All right, I'm being a little sneaky here. But bionic is the port mantto of electronic biology. And again, with all these lessons, my hope is that you learn at least one thing new. At least one learn one or two new words. That's what I hope. Here's the next one. Chuckle and snort. What word do you get when we blend these together? This is actually an old word. And I'll tell you kind of where it it came from um before, but what do you get when you combine chuckle and snort? So I think you know the the individual maybe you know the meaning of these two words and then when we combine them together we're going to keep that same meaning and we get what this is we're talking about. Yeah. Laughter. When somebody's laughing and they're kind of can't breathe, you guys, I haven't seen the answer yet, but if we're talking about combining chuckle and snort, we get the word chroal. Chortal. This is to laugh in a noisy, gleeful way. I told you that this word has been around for a while because I think this word was first used uh used by Lewis Carol like a long time ago over a hundred years ago. He's the one who came up with Alice in Wonderland and he's actually credited with creating a variety of new words uh throughout through his writing and poetry such as this one chortal. When somebody chuckles and snorts together, they chortal. To challe, this is a verb. Then we have this right here. Explain and man, we can blend these words together. And you have a verb that my wife actually used this word yesterday. And I would say this is a word that is new as in the last 5 10 years. It's become more common. You may hear it movies, TV shows or people talking about it. Okay. Excellent. Uh SD Angela. Uh perfect. We're talking about uh Whoops. Where'd it go? To mansplain. So, this is when uh you explain something usually to a woman in a condescending or patronizing manner. And I mentioned that yes, my wife I I forget what we were talking about, but she kind of sarcastically made the comment, "Wow, thanks for mansplaining that to me in the the way that I was talking to her." [snorts] So, mansplain is uh yeah, it does again, it has a negative connotation because it's not uh a good thing, but excellent. Well done. Let's uh let's continue. And now I I'd say maybe this makes it a little more difficult, but I think it's also easier because I've chosen words that I think are a little more common. Because now I just want you to look at the picture and tell me which word we're talking about. I've also given you the meaning down here. So this is a meal eaten in the late morning. And I feel like this one uh is is pretty easy. I imagine most or all of you have heard of this before. Maybe you like to have this meal in the late morning. And this is uh of course there are many different pictures that I could go for, but this is just the one that I came across. And we're talking about this meal which you would call brunch, breakfast and lunch. Well done, Ava. Fala, Angela, uh, Julia, great job. So, brunch is that combination of breakfast and lunch. And I think this is something that I I don't know, in my opinion, I feel like it's becoming increasingly popular. There are restaurants that really cater to this and they're they're for brunch and that's why you would go to these places. Nice. Well done. Uh, Lai, excellent, Zuma. Perfect. [snorts] Okay, the next one. just just look at the picture. I was going to just give you the picture and see if okay, what word do you think of, but I felt like that's probably a little too difficult. So, once again, the meaning down below. If you're having trouble seeing it, I will read it to you right now. It says the the term for viruses, spyw wear, worms, browser hijackers, etc., etc., etc. It really includes like just a variety of things and you would refer to this in general as what what Franken word would you use? Uh one I think that again with technology it's it's been around for some time but again new as in well since computers came out. Of course you can see the picture of that computer there. Uh, well done Tana Piwa Maro. We're talking about malware. Malware is the combination of malicious software and that is a perfect example of a port mento a franken word. Malicious software we'll just call it all malware. These viruses, spyware, worms, uh, anything we could just refer to it as malware. All right, here is another one. And this is one that ah this is one I like. I think it's a fun word. So you see that drink there. Now you know we're talking about a drink, a non-alcoholic drink consisting of a mixture of fruit juices and other soft drinks. This is the meaning that I found uh online. Perhaps there are other ways to define this word. But again, this is a portmanto between two words that have been blended together to create this word which okay I think yes you guys are getting it. It's a mocktail. The combination of mock and cocktail. So the key word here es especially in the meaning would be a non-alcoholic drink because if you think of a cocktail those would be these uh drinks that have fruit juice and they would have alcohol in there some type of liquor. But this is non-alcoholic. So you could call it a mocktail like it's trying it's trying to pretend to be a cocktail but it's really not. It's a mocktail. All right. Here is another one which I think this word is very useful. I think that's a great great picture of uh yes this little boy right here. You're badteered as a result of not eating. this word, it's an adjective and you could say that well I am or he is what you have that that bad temper because you haven't eaten anything. I've changed the words a little bit because I feel like in the meaning it it was using one of those words and I told you I think this is a useful one because I think we can all relate to it and I'm sure you have heard it. the fact that you guys are really going through this one. Excellent. And I'm talking about the word, yes, hangry. The combination of hungry and angry. It's a fun word because I feel like probably all of us get a little hangry from time to time. And if you ever get a little hangry, you can let me know. Hit that like button or those hearts or smileys. I really, it's kind of fun to see them pop up. So again, this is I think probably a word that I would say is probably a little more useful because you would use it more often than talking about computers and malware or mocktails. But I think this is a good one that I think we can all assoc connect with because we've experienced this before. All right. [snorts] So now I told you as we went through this I was trying to make it a little more difficult. I feel like some of these you definitely knew. And now I have a little bit of a fill in the blank. And again, I just want you to think about which word would best complete the sentence. I'm giving you the meaning down here, but then I will give you a hint in just a moment. I'll give you part of the the word combination. So I could say she was utterly. Now there are many adjectives that you could fill in this blank confused amazed like but in this case I'm s we're looking for a clear and obvious portmanto greatly astonished and amazed. Let me give you the hint to make it a little easier. One of the words is confound. So you have a word plus confound and then you get this new word which means greatly astonished or amazed and you would say someone was utterly what I think when I show you the word it's going to ring a bell and oh okay yes I've heard this word before but we're talking about a word plus the word confound found and you get what? All right, I see one answer in there. Well done, motto. We're talking about dumb plus confound, which gives us dumbfounded. If somebody's dumbfounded, they're kind of Yeah, they're astonished, speechless, amazed, like what's going on? I was utterly dumbfounded. Well done. Nice. So, now again, this is maybe a little more challenging as we go through these. The next one. [sighs] I wasn't sure how much to add, so I made a what? I wasn't sure how much to add. So I made a and I it gave you that picture thinking about I don't know maybe you're cooking something you're following a recipe you I wasn't sure so how much to add so I made a what and we're talking about a projection based on a hunch rather than data and if you're unfamiliar with the word hunch talking about if a hunch is well actually I was going to tell you I don't want to tell you I feel like that may may give it away a little bit. [snorts] So a projection based on a hunch rather than data is a what the hint that I'll give you even though I feel like you guys uh got it. So it's a word plus the word estimate. Estimate. And I was going to say and I didn't want to give it away. A hunch refers to a guess. I would say to be a little more spec specific. A hunch is kind of like the way you feel about something, just your your gut feeling. But it does mean guess. And if we add the word guess to estimate, we get guesstimate. I made a guesstimate. This is just uh you know, you make a guess based on the way you feel rather than following the instructions or the data and you make a guesstimate. Excellent. Um where is it? Let me get some Angela. Angela uh learin uh Alexuma. Well done. Nice. So, here's another one which I think uh this is a word that's been around for some time. We're talking about the the weather. So, there is way too much m in the city. Just looking at that picture, what what port mantto could we use? There was way too much m in the city. It means hazy and polluted air. And like I said, I think this word's been around for a longer time. It's a well-known port mantto that you've probably not only know but maybe it's a part of your uh you know your active vocabulary that you pull from and talk about when you're having a conversation about the weather and you say wow there is way too much m in the city. Excellent. Li um Manuel, we're talking about well I actually I didn't give you your hint. So smoke plus something else. Even though I see all these wonderful answers in the chat. So if we have the word smoke and then we add the word fog, we get the word smog. There's way too much smog in the city. So smog is not a good thing because there's that polluted part of that's the polluted part of this sentence that you have that smoke. It's not natural, but we combine it with the fog and then you get this smog which is it's kind of an unpleasant it's yeah it's an unpleasant environment to be in when it's you know there's a lot of smog outside. Again, my hope is that just some of these words are new and I will ask you about it in just a moment. This is a political word which I think is one that [sighs] I if you follow US politics, you will definitely hear this word more and more as we head into 2024 with the election coming up. So, if you're following American politics, this is definitely a useful word to know and try to understand just how weird our our uh election process is. So, political parties tend to engage in and I I will tell you where this word comes from because it's a little strange. it. It's talking about the manipulation of political boundaries to favor one party. I believe that this is the I think the original picture of well what was going on and then this is kind of what what came about. So this is a port mento that is actually part of the word is the name of a person. It's the name of a person. And [sighs] I'll give you, let's see, I told you I'd give you a hint. The second part is salamander. So, we're combining the name of a person with the word salamander. And you're it's when they manipulate the boundaries to favor one party. And you could use this, it's often used as a verb and it could be used uh often as a gerand as well. But if you're reading any type of article about American politics, you may come across this word. And if this is a new one, that's that's great. I do see some correct answers in there. Um, migoon shotty. So hottie. Nice. [snorts] We're talking about the words Jerry plus salamander gives us gerrymandering. They engage in gerrymandering or like I said, you may use it as a verb to gerrymander. So just sticking with American politics to make it a little more clear because this actually does come from American politics. Jerry is the name of um the Governor Elbridge Jerry of Massachusetts. Okay, the Elbridge Jerry. Most Americans aren't going to know who this person is. I I don't really even know either. It's just from looking this up when uh talking about this word. I knew it was a port manto and that there was a person uh the name Jerry. But this is was a governor of Massachusetts a long time ago. I think over a hundred years ago and what they do is they will take some of the boundaries within the state and they change them so that it's going to favor a party. So for example within the state a state will get um based on the population they will get a number of representatives in Congress. So a state like California will have uh many members of Cong Congress representing the state much more than a smaller state like Massachusetts that has a smaller population. But it's still important because each party wants to have more, you know, congressmen, congresswomen representing their political party. So to give you an example, in California, which is mostly Democrats, they may gerrymander and try to draw the districts in a way that they're going to get more Congress people who are Democrats. And Republicans do the same thing. They're doing it in North Carolina, Florida. Uh it's it's happening all over the country. And you may come across this word to gerrymander or gerrymandering. [snorts] So, if you follow American politics, it's good word to know. Here are the words that uh I quizzed you on and that we went through. Again, my my hope is that you learned one, two, three new words. And of course, I really want to know how you did on the quiz. You can let me know in the comments or let me put this down. I am going to put a poll in there right now. I always like to do this and just so I get a feel for how you did on the quiz. How How did you do on the quiz? All right. Whoops. And I will give you the choices because I like to make them a little more fun. Rocked it. Let's see. And 100. Um, let's do pretty well. Add another option. Not too bad. Not Not good. And then I'll just add oh boy with a sad emoji. [snorts] Okay. So, there are your choices to so I can get a better idea as to whether or not this was well, was it too easy? Was it too difficult? Again, my goal is not to overwhelm you with new words and phrases, but hopefully, you know, given my fe like my feeling as to uh the audience and the knowledge that people have, I think most people are definitely more intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced, or even highly proficient. I imagine you knew many of these words, which is great. That is the goal is to kind of try to remind you of them because again these are words that you may not use all the time, but they are useful if you're having a conversation and you're using talking about computers and that you have some malware that you need to remove or you're talking about that you feel uh you're a little hangry right now and you need to eat or you're going to make a guesstimate or again if you're talking about politics and you want to talk about the word gerrymandering as Well, and of course there are many many many others. I gave you those examples at the beginning like metaverse, romcom, friendnemy, and even many of you were writing other port mentos in the chat, which is perfect. So, let's see. It seems like uh everybody did pretty well, which again, that's kind of what I'm going for because that tells me that probably you learned at least one, two, three new words. I really appreciate you being here with me today, participating in this quiz, which is what it's all about. If you enjoyed the lesson, of course, I would really appreciate it if you hit that like button or write to me in the comments because I love hearing from you. But thank you so much for watching, being here. Uh, and just quick thank you. Good to see you, Li. Always good to see members. Uh, Suma, nice to see you. Manuel, Angela, Ava, Miguel, Gia. Again, sorry if I mispronounced names. Snowflakes Wonderland. Nice. Hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you in the very near future. I need to get something to eat because I'm getting I'm --- ## 304. FUN vs FUNNY | Confusing Words in English ๐Ÿค” | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YsTanVSWsak` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsTanVSWsak) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:44:45 | --- Today, I'm going to talk to you about two English words that learners commonly confuse. These are the words fun and funny. So stick around because we're about to have some fun. Welcome to today's lesson, which is kind of a vocabulary and grammar lesson because I'm going to talk to you about these two words right here, and tell you how they are different and how to use them. But before we begin, I want to remind you to join our social media classes because you will learn new things and have fun. So the words fun and funny are commonly confused. Mostly, I think because they look very similar apart from two letters. But it is very important that we know the difference between them. So let's begin with fun because I think this is... well, it's just more fun to start with that word. And I think is more commonly used. So first we need to know what the word means. And fun means enjoying something. Maybe you're enjoying it because it is amusing...maybe because it is entertaining. But if you are enjoying something, then you are having fun. So fun can be either an adjective or a noun. As an adjective, it's going to describe a noun. Maybe we're talking about a fun time, or a fun party, or a fun English lesson like this one. So for example, we could use it in the following sentences. We had a fun time last night. Why? Because we went to a fun party. What were we doing at the fun party? We were watching a fun English lesson. I'm sure that's what you do at your parties, right? Yea, I didn't think so. More often, fun is used as a non-count noun, and we can use it with the verb (to be). Would you like some examples? Yea, I think you do. Here are some examples. It's also used with the verb (to have), as in "have fun." For example... There are also some common phrases that we use with this word, such as "for fun," which is talking about an activity or something you do for enjoyment. So for example, you could ask someone "What do you do for fun?" What do you do for fun? You can also make fun of someone or something. This means to joke with someone or something, usually in a way that's not very nice. Oh, I know. It's fine. I look ridiculous in those pink gloves. But it's okay. I can make fun of myself and I can laugh at it because it's funny You like what I did there with the transition from one word to the next? Yea. Okay. Never mind. So funny is an adjective that means causing laughter. Now, it could be a situation that is causing laughter But the key word here is laughter. Funny = Laughter So here are some common things that people might describe as funny. Jokes are funny. Movies can be funny. Animals are definitely funny. See this cat wearing a handkerchief. How about this bird landing on seal. And then there's this cute little dog climbing into a refrigerator. So as you can see, the main difference between fun and funny is that they have two completely different meanings. So, when you think of fun think of enjoyment. When you think of funny, think of laughter. That's going to help you so that you use these words correctly. So now that you have a better understanding about the difference between fun and funny, let's practice using them. In the comments below, I want you to answer one of the following questions. Where are they? Where are the questions? There they are. Tell us... When you answer these questions, I want you to write the words fun and funny, and make sure you practice using them. And if you want to be a super-duper awesome student, Answer both questions, and use both of the words. Be creative. Write these nice long sentences. And most importantly have fun. Finally, please give this video a thumbs up if you feel like you've learned something new. And check out some of our other video lessons, so you can continue practicing and improving your English skills. I promise you. It'll be fun. Thanks for watching, and we will see you next time. --- ## 305. Fall Idioms to Help Build Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FpjqN_qixvg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpjqN_qixvg) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:46:13 | --- Today, I want to talk to you about some fall idioms that you can use in everyday conversation. Hey everyone. My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is where you want to be to practice and improve your English skills. And today since it is fall I wanted to talk to you about some common idioms and expressions that you can use in everyday conversation and this will really help improve your, your comprehension and overall English fluency. So the first idiom that I want to talk to you about is to turn over a new leaf and this just means to start fresh. To start new. You really want to to change your attitude or your circumstances. So for example, maybe somebody might lose their job and they say, okay, I need to turn over a new leaf. I need to start fresh and I need to change these circumstances. I need to start looking for another job, start anew, start fresh. Maybe a road trip is exactly what I need right now. I'm turning over a new leaf. Starting tomorrow, I am turning over a new leaf. Time with you is my number one priority. I'm turning over a new leaf and my good luck starts now. The next idiom is the autumn years and well, autumn is another word for fall and if somebody is referring to the autumn years, they're talking about the later point in someone's life. They would refer to it as the autumn years. When somebody gets older and yes, this, this is not your autumn years, it's our little girl Emmy. She is just a little baby, but when you're talking about later on in somebody's life, you may hear, you may hear them refer to it and say the autumn years. You're getting a little philosophical for me. I suppose so. They say it happens in the autumn years. I make teach. I may write a book whenever the hell one does, when one approaches autumn of one years. Then we have the idiom to drive someone nuts and this is relevant. I think of fall. I often think of nuts. You can find them on the ground and nuts is also an informal word, a kind of slang. That means the same as crazy. So if you drive someone nuts, it just means that you are making them crazy. Perhaps a person could be driving you nuts or maybe a situation is just driving you nuts. It's making you crazy. Hey, I'm not go ing to mince words Mitchell. You're kid is driving me nuts. You better thank your lucky stars. I'm not in this competition because I would eat you from breakfast. Your'e driving me nuts. Babe, your mother drives you nuts. Then we have one of my favorite idioms cause I like, I like using it from time to time when especially when I feel sick and that idiom is under the weather and you say that somebody maybe feels a little bit under the weather and what it means is that person is kind of starting to feel a little sick so it's not like they're really sick. It's just maybe they're a little sick or they're starting to feel sick and say, yeah, I'm feeling, I'm feeling a little bit under the weather right now. Yeah...heard you were under the weather. Oh, I didn't think I was going to get to see you until tomorrow. Yeah. Well, Bernadette is a little under the weather. Anubis, you sound unwell. Well, I've been feeling a little under the weather, but I'm feeling much better now. Next is neck of the woods. And if you hear somebody talking about like, Oh, for example, what are you doing in my neck of the woods? They're talking about a particular area or maybe even a particular neighborhood. So that's what it means, neck of the woods. And oftentimes yet people might ask a question like I just did. And they say, Hey, you know, you see somebody in your neighborhood and you say, Hey, what? What are you doing in my neck of the woods? Or perhaps in the office that you work at, somebody in another department comes and visits you in your department and you'd say, yeah, what are you doing in my neck of the woods? What are you doing in, in this particular area? So what brings you to my neck of the woods? Just a few errands, I'm going to be in your neck of the woods soon. And, um, it would be very nice to see you. Well, if you ever get down to my neck of the woods, you got a place to stay. Another idiom with woods is not out of the woods because when I think of the fall, I often think of the woods and if you say that you are not out of the woods, it just means that you are not out of danger. So out of the woods is talking about out of danger. And I think most of the time you hear it with the word not. Somebody is trying to say that they are not safe. They are still in a dangerous area. They are not out of the woods just yet. I think you might hear this in like TV shows and movies. If somebody is being chased by another person or a group of people and they, they haven't lost that group, they're still being chased. They say, you know, We're not, we're not in the woods just yet. We need to keep running. Mike's going to be okay. Can we see him? He's not out of the woods yet? I guess one of you could go in for just a minute. Heartbeat is stronger, but we're not out of the woods. You need to get things going now. The cord is wrapped around the neck. The next idiom is shaking like a leaf and if somebody is shaking like a leaf, it's a way to describe somebody who is trembling. This person is shaking the trembling mostly because of fear. You can say, Oh, they shaking like a leaf. The same way that an autumn leaves, they tremble, they shake, and then they fall to the ground. And again, if somebody is trembling, then you could say they are shaking like a leaf. I'm setting your chair, dearie. You're shaking like a leaf. He's going to be on muscle. Muscle? He's shaking like a leaf. How's he gonna do anything? He wanted to talk about his father's symptoms. He Skyped and there he was shaking like a leaf. Then we have to get wind of something and if you get wind of something, it just means that you hear some rumor about something. It could be a rumor about something or a rumor about someone and you get wind. Of this information, you learn about it, you hear about it, you could say, yeah, you know I got, I got wind of that, I heard about that rumor or I heard that piece of information to get wind of something. Thought the publicity would really helps ZipCouch. Once the press gets wind of this. Bolivians get wind of this. You know what they're to say. They're going to say you wear pissy pants. If the pervert community gets wind of morning jogging, Oh God, help us. Then we have the Apple of someone's eye. And if, if you're talking about the Apple of someone's eye, it just refers to a person who is love the most by someone else. So for, for example, yes, I could say that that Emmy right here, you are the Apple of my eye. That yes, she is loved the most by me. She is the Apple of my eye. Um, as well as you want to send things, the Harpo, they are the apples of my eyes. So if you described someone as the Apple of your eye, it just means that they are loved the most by you. What are you doing? She wants to get a kiss. Aw, look who it is, my husband, the apple of my eye. Hello. Oh apple of my eye. Love of my life. I mean his household was a joyous place. And his wife Dolly, well she was the apple of his eye. Then we have the idiom cold turkey. And you just got to include this because turkey...Thanksgiving...it is a very, very popular word around around fall. So if somebody, you might talk about quitting cold Turkey and what that means cold Turkey is that somebody stops a bad habit immediately and, and maybe suddenly as well. And you would quit something cold Turkey often I think of smokers. Somebody is a smoker. They've been smoking for years and then they just suddenly quit. They would say I quit cold turkey. So any kind of bad habit that somebody might have, whether it's smoking or drinking, and then they suddenly stop, you could say that they quit cold turkey. So no, it's not your fault. It's partly my fault because I made you quit cold turkey. You're right Lisa. Love isn't about fixing someone. I'm just going to give her up cold turkey. You need to prove to Tara that you can be trusted. I'm cold turkey Jacks. No booze, no weed. I'm serious. The world just can't quit on oil and nuclear power cold turkey. You'll dismantle our entire economy overnight. So there you have it. Those are some great idioms that you can use in everyday conversation. They are all related to the fall, but you can use them in a variety of different situations and context. If you enjoyed this lesson and you've learned something new, please hit that like button down below. And as always, thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye bye. Say bye bye. --- ## 306. Famous Movie Quotes that Americans LOVE to Use ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `73SWECvS2BM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73SWECvS2BM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:09:50 | --- famous movie quotes so this is going to be more of a cultural lesson a casual fun lesson which is why i have not shaved i'm rocking the stubble right now but i want to teach you some very famous movie quotes that americans love to use and these are quotes that have become very popular over the years that they will be referenced in other movies and tv shows and people may even use them in just general conversation if it's the appropriate context so i will talk to you a little bit about that let's begin with our first quote which is show me the money show me the money and this is a quote from the movie jerry maguire it is a famous football movie american football movie from 1996 and he says show me the money meaning like how much will i be paid am i going to get paid for this and how much you need to show me the money you had me at hello this is another famous quote from the same movie jerry maguire and she says it to tom cruise the main character at the end of the movie he comes in and says hello and then starts talking about why he loves her and then eventually she says hey just stop you had me at hello meaning you don't need to to say all of those things as soon as you came in here and said hello then yes i i want to be with you you had me at hello you had me at hello so the interesting thing about this quote is that people you can get a little creative with it so if somebody's talking about something and then they're trying to sell you on it uh something or some idea you could stop them and say hey you know you don't have to say anymore you had me at excuse me everyone sex now that i have your attention you don't have our attention money i'm listening you had me at sex and i must warn you this is no ordinary habit it's webbing it's a mesh of comfort and you had me at comfort a lot of times i i ask you guys please subscribe to the channel and i hope that you might be thinking like wes you don't need to say anymore you had me at subscribe okay you're gonna go ahead subscribe turn on notifications so that i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel is interactive english and that's what it's all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills the next quote that i have for you is a very famous one it's from an older movie and that is here's looking at you kid this quote is from a movie classic casablanca and this is humphrey bogart's line he says here's looking at you kid meaning like i'll never forget you and he actually says it uh quite a few times throughout the film is looking at you kid he's looking at you kid he's looking at you kid then we have fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy night and this quote is originally from the movie all about eve from 1950. fasten your seatbelts it's going to be a bumpy night and what's really curious about this is that the quote it's often misquoted and instead of saying night people will say ride fasten your seat belts it's going to be a bumpy ride and what they're referring to is ride like could be you're getting into a car or even using ride talking about like a situation that you have to endure and it's going to be difficult and somebody could say fasten your seat belts it's going to be a bumpy ride fasten your seatbelt it's going to be a bumpy ride fasten your seatbelt it's going to be a bumpy ride why so serious i really can't do a good job uh definitely not as good as heath ledger did turns to me and he says why so serious it was an amazing performance uh in the movie the dark knight when he played that role of the joker uh an incredible actor and i think he did such a a wonderful job like really getting into that character that people really remember that line it was a little disturbing a little creepy yeah why so serious and then there's this quote let's see if you recognize it all right all right all right all right this is trying to do my southern accent a little bit so this quote comes from the movie dazed and confused i love this movie the movie came out in 1993 but it's about high school kids in the 70s and matthew mcconaughey very famous actor is the one who says this line all right all right all right and even though he's been in so many different movies this this quote is probably what he's most famous for this is what people remember him saying all right all right all right whatever it is we look up to whatever it is we look forward to and whoever it is we're chasing to that i say amen to that i say all right all right all right and then we have just keep swimming all right and i say it like that with that that fist pump because it means never give up you have to keep going just keep swimming this quote comes from the film finding nemo uh came out in 2003 and it's about a clownfish who is searching for his lost son nemo and he has to to keep looking just keep swimming i don't wanna know what you gotta do just keep swimming just keep swimming just keep swimming swimming swimming and this is actually one of the most famous movie quotes of the 21st century because i it has that that really important message never give up just keep swimming just keep swimming you're doing great are you not entertained i'm trying to to imitate russell crowe are you not entertained it's from the movie gladiator it came out in the year 2000 and he says this uh are you not entertained like trying to shame the audience because this film gladiator it's loosely based on true events that happen within the roman empire and he he would fight for the audience's entertainment and he's a little he's a little upset when he says this are you not entertained are you not entertained and to follow up on that one way i think this lesson it can be useful if you want to practice and say these quotes in the exact same way shadowing i think can really help your speaking fluency because you're trying to say it in the exact same way same speed same intonation same emphasis and really capture that rhythm and flow and i think shadowing can be very useful and with these movie quotes it can be a lot of fun as well here's a good quote if you want to practice shadowing and say it my precious you have to say it like that my precious this quote is from the movie lord of the rings and the the first movie it's a trilogy came out in 2001 and it was actually it's actually based on the the fantasy books by jrr tolkien but the movies brought the story to life in a new and unique way and people really remember this quote my precious [Applause] and it's become so popular that it's often referenced in other movies and tv shows my precious my awesome cool movie precious here is another famous quote from lord of the rings you shall not pass again i'm trying to say it in the same way but i probably don't sound exactly like gandalf shall not pass and once again i i don't know what it is about lord of the rings but this is another quote that is often referenced in other movies and tv shows you shall not pass you shall not pass you ain't heard nothing yet this is the popular catchphrase from the 1927 musical drama the jazz singer wait a minute wait a minute you ain't heard nothing yet wait a minute said it you ain't heard nothing and over the years it kind of changed a little bit and i think more commonly today people will say you ain't seen nothing yet and this actually comes from the 1970 song by bachmann turner overdrive that's the title of the song you ain't seen nothing yet i think if people are going to say one of these they they will use scene you ain't seen nothing yet it means however impressive something may seem it's going to be overshadowed by what will come so i could say like wow you you think these video lessons are impressive and amazing well you ain't seen nothing yet just wait for what is to come that's another reason why you should subscribe i'll have what she's having this is a quote from the movie when harry met sally from 1989 and well to give you some context the the two main characters are sitting in the restaurant uh meg ryan and billy crystal and she's pretending to to fake an orgasm oh god oh and then some other person in the restaurant it's not even a main character says i'll have what she's having as though it's the food at the restaurant or the meal that's making her feel this way i'll have what she's having and and even though this quote is said by like some real secondary character it's become so popular and it's still referenced in movies and tv shows today um i'll have what she's having i love what she's having i'll have what she's having if you build it he will come all right and i say it like this because it's really like a voice that the main character is hearing in the movie field of dreams which is also from 1989 so kevin costner he hears this voice it's a great example of the first conditional that you have this condition if you build it and then the result in the future he will come and spoiler it's talking about building a baseball field and then the players will come like maybe your father will return all right sorry if i spoiled it for you the movie it's it's it's old you've had plenty of time to watch it if you build it he will come all right that's it hopefully you have learned some new quotes that you can now listen for if you're watching a tv show or movie i told you these quotes are so popular they will be referenced from time to time now what i'd like you to do because i love hearing from you write to me in the comments and tell me what is your favorite movie quote in english and and what movie is it from i'd love to hear from you if you write it he will come all right i can you can even change these quotes and have a little fun with them all right if you write it then yes i will come back in the future with a new video lesson all right thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 307. Favorite Words of the Holiday Season | Year in Review | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Vse1hvmCRCw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vse1hvmCRCw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:38:45 | --- hello what's up everyone thank you for joining me this is our last live lesson of the year so I wanted to do things a little different today and just talk to you and just kind of have more of an informal chat conversation and talk to you about some vocabulary words words you may know or words you may not know but first if you are joining us please let me know I want you to say hi in the chat where are you from let me give a quick a little shout out to lolly as a you Alyssa Ahmed thanks for joining us Bella Jana Omar Giselle sorry if i mispronounce names that's that's just part of it just hello hello hello welcome you guys it's me thanks for joining me today on this special it's a special time of year and that kind of has to do with what we're talking about today because I'm going to teach you some of my favorite these are just my personal favorite favorite holiday vocabulary these are words that when it gets time this time of year around Christmas time New Year's the year is coming to an end these are just words that come to my mind so these are not words specific holiday words that you are going to use around the holidays these are just words again that that I think of I I feel like I these words come up in my mind so I want to talk to you about those words today and share those with you and as we're doing this always practice practice practice I want you guys to try try to use these words in a sentence I have some questions for you to help you practice using them so write these write the sentences in the chat and even if you're watching this later we want to interact with you guys write these questions right right some of these answers in the comments practice using these words please please please that's what interactive English is all about so let's just let's get into it the first word that I want to talk to you about and I want to share with you is a good one some of you might think it's a little cheesy but it's this one right here this adjectives sentimental so at the end of the year I always get a bit sentimental we you can use it and say that something is sentimental a common way that we use this word is saying that something has sentimental value it's important to you so if something has sentimental value it doesn't mean that it's very expensive and you say oh I got this new iPhone it has sentimental value no no no no no something that has sentimental value again it's personal it's important to you because it produces emotions such as happiness love sadness it could be any emotion but but it's something that you would say has sentimental value so right now let's practice using this tell me something that has sentimental value to you all right what's something that has sentimental value to you write it in the chat write it in the comments and just tell me blah blah blah blah has sentimental value now the reason I like this word at the end of the year when when you have the holidays and Christmas and New Year's you know I kind of get you get a bit sentimental you it brings about all of these emotions whether they are happy emotions because you're with family or maybe they're just sad emotions because the year is ending and you are maybe a little worried about the future so people tend to get a bit sentimental around the holidays and they're just thinking of those things so again as you guys write this stuff I'll share some of these sentences with you throw for example um tuba excellent great sentence my diary has sentimental value to me that is a perfect example because it's your diary it's something that you wrote it is important to you perfect learning English is sentimental I guess it could be sentimental it could produce some emotions but again think of things that are important to you that maybe somebody else might not care about something that you have for example like a picture pictures are often they have sentimental value because I look at old pictures and they're there they're meaningful to me and you would say it has sentimental value so something that is important to you and it's usually an object so like you listen my son has sentimental value sure I wouldn't really use it with a person it's more so some kind of objects something that that produces these emotions when you have it like a photo a diary a book maybe an old t-shirt like this is actually this is one thing that I always have this this shirt is probably about 10 years old and you wanna always tells me you need to get rid of these clothes but they have sentimental value to me they remind me of things in my past and and it's sentimental so that's the first word that I wanted to share with you around the holidays next one alright this is another one that I think describes my personality a little bit optimistic it's another adjective and if somebody is optimistic it's a great word that you can use to describe another person you could even describe yourself this way if you are somebody who is optimistic and when you went when you are optimistic it means that you are taking a favorable view of events that will happen in the future or that you're just expecting a positive outcome and you would say yes I am optimistic about the future or you are optimistic about some event you just think that there are good things that are going to happen so my question to you again write it in the chat write it in the comments because I just want to hear from you guys is this alright what are you optimistic about in 2019 so give me a sentence and tell me something you are optimistic about and notice that preposition that follows the adjectives you are optimistic about something all right something that's going to happen in 2019 you are optimistic about it you have a favorable view of this thing all right life is good you are very optimistic about it give me give me uh give me a sentence all right so Mart says I'm optimistic about 2019 I am also optimistic about 2019 it's going to be a great year our daughter is on although on the way she is going to be born in 2019 we have a lot of great things happening with interactive English we are very optimistic about this year and the reason I chose this word again it's not like oh this is a specific holiday word this is just a word that once you get to the end of the year you start thinking about the past and you're also thinking about the future you're thinking about all the things that are going to happen in the next year and you realize wow this year is already finished and it's good to be optimistic so okay yes excellent sentence I'm optimistic about the Erasmus exam I think that you are going to rock that exam Adi I'm always optimistic to become general manager yes it's good to be optimistic you will become general manager perfect I'm optimistic about playing an instrument if it's something you want to learn that you are going to improve and get better you are optimistic I am optimistic that you guys are going to continue studying with us and learning with us here at interactive English so optimistic just just be positive stay positive be optimistic now one of my favorite expressions when when thinking about the holidays especially this time it's the end of the year all right this is an expression that you're probably you may be familiar with there might be a similar expression in your native language and that is just time flies when you think about the year is getting ready to change and you think oh my goodness what happened the year just started and then suddenly it's over and you think time flies so it just is to express that time passes quickly that suddenly boom it's gone often you might hear it when talking about a vacation you go on vacation you're excited for it and then suddenly it's over and you have to go back to work and you say you know time flies it's often used as a standalone expression and you just say you know time flies it doesn't have to be used with any other words or phrases my parents were just out here visiting and we had ten days with my family and then they left two days ago and I remember well just before they left we were talking about it and we we said this expression we said yeah you know time flies it just it just keeps going by it doesn't stop time flies so this is a great expression to use when you're having a conversation with somebody and you're talking about a certain situation and you can just throw that out there that time flies it goes fast and yes it doesn't stop so yes Juan Carlos I'm 25 years old the time flies suddenly yes you're 24 it's like me each year that I turn one year older it's like oh my goodness time flies I remember when I used to be 24 that was oh man that was 16 years ago I'm not gonna do the math tell you how old I am you guys can figure that out so the next word that this is a good word especially for Christmas all right but you can use it outside of Christmas as well it's a noun and that is Grinch okay so you could say someone is a Grinch and you you can use it around Christmas time but you could use it any time of year if there's an event or a party going on and there's a person who spoils or dampens the pleasure and happiness of others they just ruin the party they ruin the experience they bring the happiness level from here down to here and you say yeah that person they're just a Grinch they're not fun to be around and if you're wondering you're like well who is this guy right here the Grinch is a famous character from dr. Seuss there's a book about it you guys should check it out dr. Seuss those those are some great stories great books to read so again the reason I chose this one is because you want to told this to me a few days ago she loves watching Christmas movies to be honest I'm not a huge fan I'm not big into the Christmas movies and whenever were like oh let's watch a movie and she's like how about a Christmas movie oh my okay let's let's let's think of something else and she says oh you're such a Grinch you're always a Grinch that I don't want to watch a Christmas movie and have that experience and I'm bringing the happiness level down so this is a great word grid noun to use a Grinch all right Brian says yes my boss is a Grinch great example sure if your bruss brings to home that happiness of others then yes he is a Grinch but two of my younger brother is a Grinch is a pain in the neck that's another great expression pain in the neck great job excellent yes life is short let's be optimistic it's true time flies life is short be optimistic that's a great message so I just wanted to give you guys another quick reminder that if you like what we do check us out on patreon we have some cool rewards will leave a link in the description it is another great way to connect with us and support what we try to do these lessons that we make for you guys here at interactive English and we're just gonna keep making these lessons as we roll on into 2019 we got a lot of stuff like I said I'm very very very optimistic about this next year because we have a lot of things planned and as we go through this lesson today I'm just going to keep recycling and reusing these words so that you'll start to identify them and and know okay I'll start to remember them yes Nikita my best friend is a Grinch my roommate is a Grinch so yes exactly what about Scrooge somebody said yes that's another term that you could use the difference is I think a Grinch is somebody who makes you feel like just brings down the happiness Scrooge could also be that but also Scrooge was a very greedy person so it could also be used to refer to somebody who's very greedy who's very selfish like oh you're such a Scrooge but it could also be used to bring down like the happiness level but I think Grinch is more common and that's a little more fun to use I think so let's look at the next one so when I think of the holidays or you know there's just so much going on this is another expression that I think you'll understand just by the meaning and maybe hopefully you can go on and use it and say that something you know talking about an experience and you say you know it's an emotional roller coaster that is how you use it with that statement you're having a conversation you're talking about an event you're talking about an experience and you would describe it and say it's an emotional roller coaster around the holidays this is what I think of a holidays because it's not always fun it's not always relaxing it can be to me it can be an emotional roller coaster again like I said these are my favorite words these are personal to me and when something is an emotional rollercoaster it's a situation where you alternate between feeling happy feeling excited to you know feeling sad or disappointed or lonely it's an emotional roller coaster you're going you have the highs and then you have the lows and you just keep going up and down and up and down and I think for a lot of people that's how the holidays work it can be an emotional roller coaster that you're happy about some things you're sad about other things and you experience a wide range of emotions and you could just say you know it's an emotional roller coaster so this is a good expression all right another word that I think of when I think of the holidays is this one and it's not you know you you think of it as like a miracle all right something that happens like the holidays are here the new year is coming and you think about all the great things that are gonna happen and it's like yes it's what's something that might be a miracle it's great it's a lucky thing that happens that you did not expect or think was possible another reason I'm telling you about this word is because I've been talking about this with some students we were reading a book the miraculous journey of Edward Tulane which is a good book if you're interested it's a quick read the miraculous journey of Edward Tulane and that is how you're using it as an adjective something is miraculous so if something is miraculous as an adjective as a noun something is a miracle now what I want you to do is complete this sentence all right if you're thinking about this year and you're trying to be optimistic okay what would you say how would you complete this sentence it would be a miracle if what what would happen this next year that would be a miracle it would be great you're being optimistic what is something that you would really want to happen but you know it's not likely to happen you'd say yes it'd be a miracle if this thing happened all right so yeah Kikki a great example sentence yeah meeting my boyfriend is a miracle maybe think yes it's a miracle I met the person who I was meant to be with and depending on how you met you could say oh it was a miracle all right ruse car that's a great use of the adjective her recovery was miraculous so yeah again if you're talking about somebody who is sick and they got better and they say well it was a miracle or it was miraculous as an adjective perfect all right Haram yes exactly great that's so true life itself is a miracle all right we're getting ready to have our baby girl and just thinking about that again that's another reason I put this word in here because of the things that are going on in my life getting ready to have a daughter and thinking about how you know how my life is going to change and just how life in general yes it is a miracle all right um so it would be a miracle if I traveled to the u.s. excellent even though I really hope I hope it does become possible and that you get to travel to the u.s. it would be a miracle if I spoke speak English all right just just keep practicing keep watching keep commenting and that miracle will become true we're gonna help you guys get there another word around this time that I think of is you know even if you don't drink it's fine like it's a noun champagne all right and the reason I chose this one is because when you're talking about New Year's Christmas any big event any event where you're celebrating something this is a drink that you might hear champagne it is French sparkling white wine one with bubbles that is drunk on special occasions and the reason it's important because again even if you don't drink you might watch movies you might be watching TV where there's an event going on some kind of social gathering and you will hear this word they'll talk about they're serving champagne at this event because this is a drink that people use when they drink it when they're celebrating something and oftentimes again around the New Year celebrating New Year's people might drink champagne but again I wanted to choose it's a French word because the pronunciation does not line up with the spelling so the way it's spelled is not the way it's pronounced again it's because it is a French word and you would pronounce it even in English champagne champagne alright so if you guys are celebrating maybe maybe you might drink some champagne or you know honestly I don't I'm not a fan of champagne I don't I don't really like it and slang people could call it the bubbly alright because it has bubbles people might informally call it bubbly alright so let's look at another expression alright this is again thinking of my life just showing you guys everything that's going on how I would describe the end of the year and you could this is a great expression not just for the holidays not just for the end of the year but any time in your life where you just think there is just so much going on you could say there is a whirlwind of activity alright you know it was just a whirlwind of an act of activity it's a great way to describe a situation in which you experience a lot of different emotions because a lot of things are happening so I would use it right now and say you know lately a you know everything it's just been a whirlwind of activity that's how I would describe it to you guys because we are celebrating the holidays with family because we just moved into a new apartment because we have a lot of doctor's appointments because we're preparing for the baby and because we're trying to work and do these lessons and teach English it's just a world wind of activity that's happening right now but this is a great expression not only to describe the holidays but to describe any period or time in your life any situation where you just have a lot of different things going on and you could say it's a whirlwind of activity and there's that world went down there to give you that visual reference all right so let's look at the next one and this one I do I'm gonna have another question for you because when we're talking about the New Year people also talk about this word resolution it's a noun and you can either you you make a resolution is the verb that it's commonly used with and when you make a resolution you are making a firm decision to do or not to do something often you might find it with people talk about New Year's resolutions all right what are your new year's resolutions would be a list of things the a list of decisions that you plan to do or some things you plan not to do during this year so my question to you which I want you guys to write in the chat or even in the comments if you're watching this later we always want you to practice practice using these words is what's one of your new year's resolutions for 2019 again it can be general it can also be specific it just depends alright these are some things like the resolutions what what decision are you trying to make for this next year thinking okay I am going to do this or maybe you think you know I am NOT going to do this for example one of my new year's resolutions is I want to I want to get outside more I want to exercise specifically though I want I need to do more stretching I really need to make that a part of my everyday life is not just exercise but definitely stretching maybe even do some more yoga and and learn yoga because it's something I've I've always been interested in but I haven't really tried it out yet and I have some back problems I think it will help so this is one of my resolutions all right I want to do some more stretching do some more exercise and make that a part of my life so whatever what's what are some of your resolutions what's one thing that you want to do for this next year it can be something you want to learn it can be a place that you want to go it can be just anything you want to accomplish and do and whoops let me this is where I wanted to go back here because show you that picture again 2019 new year's resolutions and people would just write things down all right the decisions they want to do and the things that they don't want to do let me look at some of your examples alright so Holly I never keep resolutions yeah you know a lot of people don't do them because I think what happens is when we when we look back on the year and we get all sentimental and you think oh maybe makes you sad you're like I did it I did not do these resolutions and then you can try to be optimistic for your future resolutions one of my new year's resolutions is that I want to read more and more that is a great New Year's resolution I hope you're talking about reading in English because that is a great way to practice and improve your skills hey West Fabio from Brazil what's up Fabio resolutions resolution is to lose weight sure my resolution is to walk more excellent that's a good one you Lissa Henry hits the gym yes I know what you mean I think many people have that resolutions they want to exercise they want to be healthier one of my users Resta is to crack one of those tough examen all right yeah maybe your new year's resolution is to pass an exam if you're still studying or you're in school excellent all right working harder than today is one of my new year's resolutions excellent shot perfect all right thank you guys for sharing with me this it's a good one so when you think talk about New Year's you might hear this if you're watching a TV show and this is what's happening or a movie around this they might mention New Year's resolutions things decisions that you plan to do now that the now it's a new year and and what you plan and what you want from this new year so another word that I want to talk to you about is it's a little similar to sentimental but not really it's an adjective nostalgic alright so the pronunciation it is nostalgic and it's having or bringing a feeling of you know sadness mixed with pleasure when you think about the past so when you again I I use this because every time at the end of the year I always get nostalgic and it's often used with that verb as well you get nostalgic and the reason you get nostalgic around this time is because it's the end of the year and I always kind of I start thinking back about at the beginning of the year I always start at the beginning of the year and I think about the different things that have happened throughout the year the good things and the bad things which is why it's a mix it's a mix of sadness it's a mix of pleasure because usually throughout the year the year can be an emotional roller coaster you're going up you're going down so towards the end of the year or when something is getting ready to end you always get nostalgic for example maybe you are changing jobs and you worked at some place for 10 years you might get nostalgic at the end because you're thinking about all the experiences you've had there or maybe you've lived in a country for one or two years and it's been an incredible experience and before you get before you leave you might get nostalgic and start thinking about the past and the different experiences that you've had so this is a great word again it's just one of my favorites around this time period once it gets to the end of the year around the holidays I always tend to get nostalgic alright that's that's just me so these are just some of my personal favorite words around the holidays around this time around Christmas and New Year's I always just start thinking about these words so hopefully you learn some new words today and that you can go on and try and use them because again they're they're pretty Universal it's not just holiday specific if you're talking about being optimistic all right you can use that anytime life again is an emotional roller coaster and you can talk about things that are important to you and say it has sentimental value so these are words that you can use in many different context in many different situations so thank you guys so much for joining me today for our last live lesson of the year we will have more coming at you next year please if you enjoyed this lesson like and share it hit that like button lets us know that we're doing a good job that you guys enjoy what we're doing and that you are learning new things always please also write questions in the comments we love hearing from you guys and you can join us if you want to follow us more join us on social media right up here we're on Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course right here on YouTube and be sure to check out our patreon link in the description if you want to connect with us there there are some cool rewards so thank you guys so much Molly Fabio IQ okie honest and kita i met olivia i'm just trying to go through these learn english with songs yoursel shot a tuba pretty on shoe Aleman thank you thank you thank you M's avala it's so great to be here with all of you guys we got so much more planned for this next year I am so optimistic and I hope you are too thank you guys so much for joining me and I will see you next time so long --- ## 308. Fine-Tune Your Pronunciation - 25 Advanced Words with Silent Letters | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RgSuqRZuJSk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgSuqRZuJSk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:23:45 | --- let's talk about some silent letters that you will not pronounce when you say these advanced words [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and the channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your english and today i it's a pronunciation lesson but also a little bit of vocabulary because i want to talk to you about 25 words and i think these are more advanced words and i want to teach you how to pronounce them and all of them have a silent letter so in this lesson we are going to look at words that have silent letters at the beginning in the middle as well as at the end and i am going to show you both the phonetic spelling as well as the ipa so that you can see the pronunciation and i will also put the meaning of the word up there in case you want to build your vocabulary and the word is new for you i'm going to say the word twice so you can hear my pronunciation and feel free to repeat after me and actually practice your pronunciation so let's begin with the letter w because well my name's wes let's just let's just start with the letter w and often w may be a silent letter at the beginning of a word especially when it's followed by the letter r that w r combination for example we have the word wrangle wrangle to wrangle sometimes if if i put on a little weight i may wrangle with my belt then we have wrench wrench if you have tools in your home there's a good possibility that you have a wrench and then there's the word wretched this is an adjective wretched keep in mind this word has two syllables because that e d at the end is the second syllable that id wretched now let's look at the silent k which is another letter that will often be silent at the beginning of a word especially when it's followed by the letter n so let's look at these three words the first one is knuckle knuckle right here your knuckles then we have the word not not same as like you're you're saying the negative in this case though we're talking about a noun and you may hear it being used with the verb tie to tie a knot then we have the word need need this is a verb to need especially if you want to talk about clay or dough to need dough now let's look at a couple of words that begin with a silent p and both of these words have three syllables so the first one is pneumonia pneumonia that stress is on that second syllable pneumonia then we have pseudonym pseudonym the stress is on the first syllable this time pseudonym and sometimes yeah if people write books instead of using their real name they will use a pseudonym okay now let's let's move to the middle of uh the word and let's begin with uh the letter c because often you may find words that have a silent c in the middle of the word especially when it it comes after the letter s so all of these words you're going to see that s c combination so let's begin with crescent crescent it's a shape i often i think of the moon when i hear the word crescent next is fluorescent fluorescent stress is on that second syllable fluorescent if you work in an office chances are those may be fluorescent lights next is the word obscene obscene stress is on that second syllable obscene then we have resuscitate resuscitate stress is on that second syllable and this is a four syllable word resuscitate and if you well for example if you give someone mouth to mouth you are trying to resuscitate this person let's move on to the letter t a silent t that you will find in the middle of some words now i'm gonna go over four words all of them have two syllables and the stress is on the first syllable so let's begin with mortgage mortgage if you think if you are thinking about buying a home this is a word that that you will probably need to know mortgage next is nestle nestle to nestle cuddle close together sometimes people animals they like to nestle then we have hasten hasten this is a verb to hasten and finally we have moisten moisten it's another verb if you have a cloth or a napkin and you want to get it wet then you may moisten the cloth or moisten the paper towel now let's talk about some words that have a silent letter at the end and i'm talking about the letter b and often this this letter will be silent when it comes after the letter m that mb combination so let's start with this first word which is catacomb catacomb three syllables stresses on the first syllable catacomb when i travel to to paris france i visited the catacombs next is the word crumb crumb when i eat cookies sometimes i might get some crumbs on my shirt all right then we have limb limb i hope that you never break any of your limbs stay safe and finally the word womb womb keep in mind that that o it really has that ooh sound womb we're going to talk about a silent t that you will find at the end of some words so the first word that i want to pronounce for you is debut debut i made my debut on this channel in i think 2017. wow it's been it's been a while then we have the word gourmet gourmet this is an adjective that you will find before some nouns like gourmet coffee next is the word rapport rapport and you will hear people use this word and they may say someone has a good rapport with someone else a good rapport and finally there's the word ricochet ricochet three syllables stress is on that third syllable ricochet and i know we're talking about silent letters at the end but i i now want to go to the end of the alphabet and we're going to look at the letter z a silent z which comes in the middle of this word right here rendezvous it has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable rendezvous and if people ever want to get together they may rendezvous at a certain place so i hope that this was helpful with your pronunciation if you want to say and pronounce any of these advanced words and i also hope that you learn some new words as well and remember you can find this information down below in the description if you would like to review if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 309. Fluency Hack: Using Comparatives & Superlatives to Sound More Native | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `b7VoWnANjvk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7VoWnANjvk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:58:04 | --- I want to help you sound more fluent using comparatives and superlatives. That is what we're talking about today. And yeah, I I do think this is going to help you sound more natural if you are using the the correct one or even the one that is more commonly used. And you're going to hear me talk about that uh quite a bit, especially toward the end because in that case, you want to start thinking about, okay, what do most people use in this situation? If you're somebody who is interested in developing your fluency, subscribe to the channel. Uh turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. and to continue helping you reach your fluency goals. If you would like to get the lesson notes, click on that link down below in the description. Join my community. If you're already a part of it, check the inbox. I have sent them to you. So, the first thing that I want to say because this is more grammar, but also I think is going to help with your both your speaking and writing and the way that you're using the language. >> [snorts] >> Very quickly, just so you know, comparatives and superlatives, comparative adjectives compare one person or thing with another. And they really enable us to say whether that person or thing is more or less of a particular quality. Like look at the example. My brother is taller than me. Taller. This is the comparative adjective in this case. Comparing my brother and me. The superlative superlative adjectives describe one person or thing is having more of a quality than than basically all others in a group. My brother is the tallest in our family. So the tallest that is the superlative that my brother is the tallest among everyone in the family. So these are adjectives comparative superlatives we use them all the time in just casual conversation. So, I think grammar-wise it's I think it's pretty simple, pretty straightforward. The thing that becomes trickier would be the actual adjective that we're discussing and how you're going to use that in certain situations. And that's why I said this is more like a a bit of a fluency hack to help you sound more like a native speaker, more natural. So, if you want to follow up on like what are comparatives and superlatives, what are the rules that you should follow, I wanted to give a shout out to Woodwardenglish, woodward.com. I think it's uh woodwardenglish.com. If you were to go on their website, you do find a lot of great graphics like this. They have resources for students and teachers. This is just one of them. And uh like I said, just wanted to give them a quick shout out if you're interested in figuring out, okay, comparatives and superlatives. When you have smaller, shorter words, comparative, you're going to add that eer. With the superlative, you're going to add est. When general in gen, generally with these two syllable or longer words, you're going to add more for the comparative and most for the superlative. There are exceptions to these rules. And we are going to talk about some of those exceptions, but I just wanted to put this up there. to form them, and make sure that you're actually using them correctly when you're speaking, but also writing because there are some different uh rules when it comes to writing and the way you're spelling the word. But I don't want to spend too much time on this. This is a quiz lesson, so I want you to participate. I'm going to ask you some questions and yeah, I'd want you to write them in the chat in the comments. This is interactive English. So, let's begin with our first one, our first sentence. When we started the project, failure was the m thing from our mind. So, the adjective that we're talking about is far. Now, again, I'll go ahead and tell you that we're what form are you going to use? Comparative, superlative. The one thing that would give this away is the the article 'the'. When we're talking about 'the', it's very specific. So, in this case, you're going to use the superlative was the m thing from our mind. The the the reason why this is tricky and I'll I'll tell you in a moment once I see I'll give you a moment to try to think of some of these the answers. So, we're talking about the superlative and it is a it is a small word. So, you are going to add the est. All right? I'm giving you part of the answer, but I want you to try to recognize what is the correct word because this this is an irregular this is an irregular com uh superlative in this case. So, what what do you think? We're using far the superlative, but [laughter] there's a I see I see some different answers in the chat. And this is exactly what what I wanted to talk about. So, you really have two choices. You could say farthest or furthest. Farthest or furthest. Those are both actually um the the forms that you could use with this. But I I do think there is a distinction. And let me let me go ahead and give you the answer. So in this case, especially with this phrase, I would say furthest the furthest thing from our mind. When we started the project, failure was the furthest thing from our mind. Here are some other collocations with furthest. Saying that something is the furthest away or apart or the furthest point, end, corner, furthest north, west, east, uh, south, furthest from, or in this expression, furthest thing from one's mind. Now, some some people were answering farthest to follow up on that. This [clears throat] is taken directly from Cambridge as far as the superlative forms between farther farthest or further furthest. So this is what I wanted to highlight. F farthest and furthest are superlative adjectives or adverbs. They are the irregular superlative form of far. We use them to talk about distance. So you could use either one to talk about distance. There is no difference in meaning between them. Furthest is more common than farthest. And that is the the part of the lesson when I say trying to help you sound more natural. Like what are most people going to say in this instance if you said farthest? It is it is correct. You you can use that. It's fine. However, I think most of the time, and myself included, especially with this this uh this phrase, I'm going to use uh furthest. That is the superlative I would use. I would say this is this is the furthest thing from my mind. Here are some other example sentences that they give you. But to emphasize this even further, this is I I've mentioned this resource from time to time talking about engram viewer as a way of checking how frequent certain words and phrases are used and if you want to know okay both of them are correct both of them are accepted in both you know American English, British English, Canadian English, Australian English doesn't doesn't matter all English varieties but what do most people use in this instance? So you can compare the phrases furthest thing from my mind with farthest thing from my mind. And as you can see, furthest thing from my mind is more commonly used because it is a little more I I would say abstract because you're talking about your mental state. I definitely think you would use furthest. If we're talking about a physical actual distance, like an actual like physical distance that you can measure, that is when I think people may use farthest in spelling f F A R T H E S T. But when talking about things that are more abstract, I definitely think further is used. In this case, the furthest thing from my mind. So, I just want to point that out that both of them are well correct. They're both acceptable when talking about accepted when talking about distance. But just as the I pointed out right here, furthest is more common. It's more commonly used. So, keep that in mind. And that's going back to the whole point of trying to help you sound a little more natural and what makes this a a bit more of an advanced lesson. Now, I know that I'm trying to I was trying to think of a plug to hit the like button and trying to use furthest thing from and maybe that that is not the furthest thing from your mind. You're thinking about that right now. If you enjoy these lessons, go ahead, hit that like button. Really helps us subscribe to the channel. Really uh just promotes promotes the channel in general and helps me. Like I said, I was trying to think of a shameless plug for the channel using furthest furthest thing from someone's mind. Here is the next question that I have for you. I have well the the word much in general. I I want you to think about the um well in this case the comparative form. I have much work than I did yesterday. So when you hear when you see that than now you know that we're talking about a comparative we're comparing two things or two people and that is a a key when it comes to identifying is it a comparative or a superlative. The same way I said when you ever see the definite article 'the' then you know okay that that's a superlative. So what is the comparative form for much? Once again, this is irregular and I think this one is a little maybe a little easier, but there is still something there's still something that I wanted to share with you uh about this. So, the answer some of you said the comparative form even if you were to take much out of there and I didn't put anything. I think you could put it into context and say, "Oh, okay. Yes, I have more work than I did yesterday." The one thing I wanted to point out with this is that phrase much more. if you want to add emphasis because this is when I feel like people might make a small mistake when they're trying to use much more. But you can use the phrase much more. It's a very common structure when you want to emphasize a significant difference between two things. But it's always going to be followed by an uncountable noun. In this case, we're talking about work. It is a non-count noun. Much more work than I did yesterday. Great job. Excellent. Manuel, Lai, Teo, um Vicki, Gustav, great to see you. Jing, great to see so many members here. Perfect. Let's look at the next one. This is another one that I think is easy that you're going to be able to to u identify the correct answer. However, th this is when people often make mistakes. That's why I'm I'm giving you this one because I hear a lot of mistakes. Even native speakers, I catch myself making these mistakes from time to time. And I'm I'm an English instructor and I'll just be talking and I'll say it. I'll be like, "Oh, wait. That was that was wrong." This curry is m then before. So you see then I will go ahead and tell you, okay, yes, it is the comparative form. What is the comparative of spicy? That is our adjective. this curry is m then before write your answer in the comments in the chats but I I will talk about why this mistake is commonly made and most of it most of the time it's when you're speaking when people are writing it's more reflective I think it's easier to catch the mistake and say okay this is not right but when you're speaking and you're just saying words then that's when small mistakes are made so you have two choices really the choice is either more spicy or spicier. What do you think? What are you going to use? Spicier or more spicy? So, the correct answer because I do I see I see uh uh both of them uh below is spicier. When we have that Y like spicy, the comparative form is spicier. Now, I I say this is a common mistake. Uh this is my note here, my personal note. Often people make a simple mistake using more with comparative adjectives that end in Y. So these are all two syllable words that end in Y. But the comparative form, I mentioned some of those rules before, is always going to be eer. Spicy, spicier, busy, busier, happy, happier, sunny, sunnier, pretty, prettier, silly, sillier. That is the comparative form. But I often hear and like I told you this is not some this is a small small small small mistake and I say that because I hear native speakers make mistakes like this. I told you I will catch myself making mistakes like this and I might say more spicy and then I'll be like oh wait that was uh grammatically incorrect. The reason why I think people use uh a phrase like more spicy is because it actually is a phrase that you could use but not in the comparative. So for example, this is uh I've taken this from Oxford dictionary I believe and it's giving you the different meanings for more and this is the one that I want you to to keep in mind right here is more as a determiner and in that case we're talking about a greater or additional amount. And you may hear more used with those adjectives that I just mentioned when you're talking about additional. So, for example, here are some headlines. I don't know if you can see it, so I'll just read them to you. Uh, the first one says, "Do colder or warmer places eat more spicy or bland food?" So, you see this headline and your brain is automatically thinking, "Oh, more spicy." But it's not a comparative state statement. It's just talking about additional a greater amount of spicy food. Or the next headline, it says one more sunny day before rainier weather returns. One more sunny day. An additional sunny day. So these sentences or these headlines, this is this is different than a comparative statement uh that that I was showing you in this previous example. The courier is spicier than before. But when our brain reads and you listen and you hear these phrases used together, I think that is where the confusion sets in. not only among second language speakers, native speakers as well because you do hear these words used together from time to time, but not as comparatives, more busy, more spicy, more sunny. And that is why when you end up, you know, using it in the comparative form, your brain just reaches for that. And it happens. But just to reiterate because I want to drill this home. Uh if we're talking about words that end in Y, two-cllable words, spicy, busy, happy, you're going to add that ei spicier, busier, happier, sunnier, prettier, sillier. So, let's uh move to the next one. Which sentence is correct? What do you think? This was the most imp. I apologize. This was the most impossible mission. Number two, her project was more perfect than mine. Number three, this is I I should say that was a typo. Should say this is the emptiest bottle I've ever seen. Of course, the way it's written right there, it's incorrect, but it should say this is the emptiest bottle I've ever seen. And finally, gosh, man, what is with these typos? H I I got to get more sleep. Number four, it should say this battery is more dead than the others. Of course, battery is misspelled, but you know what I'm talking about. Uh if you've been here before, yes, I am prone to uh typos. But that's neither here nor there. We're mostly focused on these comparatives uh and these superlatives. Which one is correct? This uh [laughter] which one is grammatically correct that that you could actually use? And I'll go ahead and tell you it is a trick question because as I was saying these sentences, this was the most impossible mission. Her project was more perfect than mine. This is the emptiest bottle I've ever seen or this battery is more dead than the others. Hopefully as I said those sentences, you're thinking like they they all sound a bit awkward. And that is because they are all awkward sentences that you're not going to hear. And the reason, the thing that I want to point out is with these particular adjectives, impossible, perfect, empty, uh, dead. These are all absolute adjectives. And you could say non-gradeable, absolute adjectives. But basically, some adjectives are non-gradeable. They describe absolute qualities. To make them stronger, we have to use modifiers like absolutely, totally, or completely. So if you say something, for example, a battery, it's dead. It's it's it's empty or a bottle, it's empty. You can't really compare that uh to something else. Something cannot be more dead than something else or more empty. It's either empty or it's not empty. It's either the battery is dead or it's not dead. And that's why I'm talking about absolute. It does, you know, there is a little more ambiguity and confusion around like perfect because people may end up using that one, but once again, it it really should be more of an absolute. It's either perfect or it's not perfect. It's impossible or it's not impossible. So, in this case, when we're talking about these absolute adjectives, I've rephraseed the sentences so that yeah, they're understandable. This is a common statement. You would say, "This mission was utterly impossible. her project was absolutely perfect. The bottle was totally empty or the battery is completely dead. And we're using those adverbs to really emphasize this uh this adjective. [snorts] Something to keep in mind, but hopefully as I was saying those sentences, they all sounded a bit strange. The next one, he is certainly then he lets on. The adjective is clever. It's a comparative because you see then so he is certainly then he lets on. I just told you that uh we're talking about the adjective clever as a comparative. So what are we going to use more clever or cleverer? [laughter] What do you think? Write your answer in the chat in the comments. I'll give you a moment and then we'll look at I I have a few like this. So clever is one of those where well we'll get into it in just a so clever the comparative form is cleverer. However, it is one of those adjectives and there are others which I'm getting ready to share with you that you could use either one. Both of them are considered acceptable. And I'm using a word like acceptable because sometimes I want to avoid like right or wrong. uh acceptable is more just do people use it? So you could say clever or more clever are both grammatically acceptable. He is uh certainly cleverer than he lets on or he is certainly more clever than he lets on. This is another time where we can go back to engram viewer and see okay we have clever or more cle more more clever which is which is commonly used and as you can see you are going to come across clever more than you would come across more clever I'll give you my personal opinion because when we're talking about engram viewer this is taking everything from written English and as you know speaking and writing are two different things personally I feel like I would end up using more clever and I think it's just because it's easier to say. Cleverer is a is a little challenging even for me. You have the eer er so it's a little tricky grammatically. Yeah. I think especially in writing you're going to find that er comparative but I feel like if I'm speaking and I'm just using clever I'd probably oh you know I think he's more clever than I am and I would use more. So following up on some of those words that are both of both of the forms are accepted are are okay. They're accepted. My question to you is which is more commonly used? And this I just keep saying the same thing over and over. This is what I'm talking about when I say helping you sound more natural, helping you sound more like a native speaker. because both of these forms are acceptable but one of them is more commonly used than the other. So what what would you say? How would you complete this sentence even though both of them are co okay he is the gentlest person I know or he is the most gentle person I know which one I don't I guess I could say go with your gut which one sounds better to you and then of course we're going to reference this I'm going to share with you engram viewers so that you know okay even though both of them are correct this form is the one that I'm going to come across most of the time when I'm listening to a movie, a TV show, podcast, or I just I'm in engaged in a conversation. He is the person I know, the gentlest person I know or the most gentle person I know. I I see some mixed responses in here. So, what which one is more common? In this case, we're going to use gentlest. He is the gentlest person. I know this is also probably what I would use. Um, of course, if somebody's gentle, they're just, you know, easygoing. They're they're uh very caring when you might uh, you know, taking care of somebody or something. And just comparing gentlest with more gentle. Again, if if you use either one, nobody's going to think, "Wait a second, that sounds awkward." You could use either one in conversation. It's fine. But just so you know, it's more you're more likely to come across gentlest. And just wanting to reiterate that and kind of hammer it home. I've given you some sentences and I'm just going to say the gentlest over and over again so you start to internalize it. He is the gentlest person I know. Or she used the gentlest tone to calm the nervous child. Of all the trainers, he takes the gentlest approach with beginners and this soap is made for the gentlest skin types. Those are just some sentences using gentlest. How about the next one? Which is more commonly used? My former boss was humbler than my current one or my former boss was more humble than my current one. If somebody is humble, if you're unfamiliar with this adjective, it's it has the same meaning as modest. Somebody who does not brag or like, oh, I'm the best. I'm the greatest. So, which comparative form do you think is more commonly used? humbler or more humble. This is another one that again maybe you could do some research and you might find a source that says no no no this is the correct answer. I I try to avoid some of those. I I do think that especially spoken English you really think of it in terms of acceptable or not acceptable. So what do you think? Which one are you going to use? More humble or humbler? I see a lot of people. Wow. Everybody's kind of going with more humble. All right. Well, let's find out. So, if we check out engram viewer as to which one is more commonly used humbler, you're going to come across that er comparative a lot of times. I know it's a two-cllable word. Um, but uh yeah, you're going to end up coming across that more often. This is another one I'm trying to think more per like and he is the he is humbler than Yeah, I think I would use humbler. Uh, again, there might be a day. You never know, maybe I might use more humble. Uh, again, you could switch it up from time to time. Both of them are okay, but keep in mind, you're more likely to come across humbler whenever you're using it as a comparative adjective. My boss was more was humbler than my current one. He chose a humbler lifestyle despite his success. Living abroad made her humbler than many of her peers. And the second apology sounded humbler than the first one. Here is the next one. I have a a couple more for you. Which is more commonly used? Remote work is commoner than it was a decade ago or more common than it was a decade ago. Which comparative form are you going to use? Now, this one I I I'm going to I'm going to refrain from giving you my opinion before allowing you to answer which one you think is the better choice between commoner or more common. Remote work is m than it was a decade ago. I think this statement is true. Many of you, it looks like you're going with more common as the the more commonly used form. There's kind of a giveaway just in the question as I'm asking it to you. So, yes, you're going to use more common. I do think this one is uh I was going to say I again coming across sites that I was actually surprised that more that commoner is even found that much. To me, it does sound slightly awkward. Uh I can't really say if in other English varieties people may use it, but I would always go with like more common. something is more common than something else. Remote work is more common than it was a decade ago. Or mistakes are more common than people often admit. Anxiety has become more common than many experts anticipated. And electric cars are more common than traditional gas vehicles in some cities. More common. More common. Just keep think of that. More common. All right. The next one, which is more commonly used of all the changes, the color adjustment was the subtlest or more subtle. If you're unfamiliar with the word subtle, it just means like it's not really not readily noticeable, that it's not like a major change. It's very small. It's very slight. It's subtle in case you're unfamiliar with the meaning of that adjective. So in this case, I'm saying that it wasn't a big adjustment, but the color the color adjustment was the what subtlest or was it the most subtle? We're talking about the superlative form in this case. This is not I feel like like commoner and more common. I do think uh both of these are are used. just a matter of preference and really a matter of which one is more commonly used to help you sound to help you sound more natural when you're having a conversation. [snorts] So I I do think uh a lot of people saying subtlest. Okay. All right. See another uh uh one most subtle in there. So for this one it's really a tie. [laughter] All right. When you put in most subtle or subtlest this is another one I was really thinking about it when I I'm speaking. I probably would use both of them. It depends. Um I probably would lean more towards most subtle. Uh I don't know why, but that's why I'm just giving you in the examples here of all the changes. I'd say the color adjustment was the most subtle. The chef is known for making the most subtle improvements to classic dishes. Her facial expression was the most subtle sign that something was wrong. The soundtrack provided the most subtle emotional impact in the film. You could use subtlest in all of those sentences. I think both of these are really uh you know, you're going to find them at about the same frequency, but me personally, I probably feel like I use the most subtle when talking about the superlative form. [snorts] So, I hope that I hope this was insightful because we use comparatives and superlatives quite often in casual conversation, comparing two things or talking about the most of something among a group. And when it comes to these adjectives, they can be tricky because as I just went through those those last few, some of them are are both of them are correct. They're acceptable, and it's just a matter of which one is more commonly used. So, check out the link in the description. If you would like to get the lesson notes, join my community. If you enjoyed this lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button. Thank you guys so much for joining me today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you next time for another lesson. Uh, just give some quick shoutouts. Thank you, Manuel, Lai, uh, Takayo, Talal. Great to see you all. Um, hope you guys have a great one and --- ## 310. Fun Animal Idioms to Improve Your English ๐Ÿถ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xaUrIX57C6o` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaUrIX57C6o) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:44:21 | --- Today, I'm going to teach you ten amazing, incredible, super, awesome idioms. And they're all about animals. Today, we're talking about animal idioms So if you like animals, keep watching. Just so you know, you can use these idioms at any time and with anyone. But something to keep in mind is that generally idioms are a little bit more informal. So just don't use them on your job application or on formal essays. Otherwise, just keep it fun and let's learn some idioms. Are you ready to learn? Let's go! Number one - busy bee. A busy bee is someone who is always running around busy doing things. They're always busy. They're always trying to get a million things done, and they're never finished. They're running around doing things like a little bee. BZZ - BZZ - BZZ...everywhere doing stuff. Number two is open a can of worms. Now, let me ask you a question. Do you like worms? Do you think they're cute, or friendly, or just look adorable? Yeah, I didn't think so. Not a lot of people do. They're not very pretty to look at. So when you open up a can of worms you are creating trouble or causing a situation that is unpleasant. So this idiom sounds unpleasant and it is unpleasant. Number three - wild goose chase. A wild goose chase is a long and chaotic search for something that is difficult to find often because it does not exist. Number four - get your ducks in a row. And this idiom means to get organized or to get in order. I really like this idiom because I really like ducks. I think they're very cute, especially when they're babies. They're so yellow, and cute, and fluffy, and I just want to hug them all. They're just much, much better than geese which I hate. They're just evil. But anyway, I'm digressing. I need to get my ducks in a row and get back to teaching you some idioms. Number five - one-trick pony. This idiom refers to someone or something is that has only one talent or only one area of expertise. One thing that they're good at. Something or someone that is only good at one thing. A one-trick pony. Number six - the elephant in the room. I also like this one because I think elephants are very cute. I don't think this matters for this video, so I need to stop talking about it. This refers to an obvious problem that is usually very controversial. That everyone is aware of but nobody wants to talk about. The elephant in the room. Number seven - to weasel out of something. I really like this one because I think weasels are cute and funny and very weasily. To weasel out of something means to avoid doing something by being dishonest or tricky. Or by persuading someone in a clever way. Many times children try to weasel their way out of telling the truth if they've done something bad. Or students will try to weasel their way out of doing their work. Number eight - hold your horses. Hold them. Hold your horses. It means to wait a moment. I like this idiom. It reminds me of a time when we use horses for transportation and we had to hold them when we had to stop. Number nine - pig-headed. Pig-headed means very stubborn or stupidly obstinate. And I think it's safe to say that we can all be pig-headed at times. And the last one for today, number 10 - to quit cold turkey. And to quit cold turkey means to abruptly and suddenly stop doing something that has an addictive property. If you have something that you want to quit immediately and suddenly, you can quit it cold turkey. For example, I used to bite my nails, and then one day I said, "You know what. This is enough. No more bad nails. I will quit cold turkey." So I stopped biting them and now they look...okay. Better than they used to, for sure. I quit cold turkey. Now let's do a quick practice. In the comments below, I want you to write about one of the following. Tell us about a time when you went on the wild goose chase, or when you tried to weasel out of something, or perhaps when you quit something cold turkey. So you have three options to choose from and I look forward to reading your responses. And remember, the more you write, the more you practice. That's it for this lesson. Please give this video a thumbs up if you've learned some new idioms. And for extra practice, don't forget to join our social media classes. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 311. Fun Halloween Vocabulary...Don't be afraid. Watch & learn. | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7MiuAFzpUcE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MiuAFzpUcE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:48:32 | --- and I think we are live hello and welcome everyone to our live lesson today so today Saturday October 21st and there is a holiday coming up a fun holiday for many so I thought that today we're going to talk about some Halloween vocabulary so I'd like to welcome everyone who's watching if you've ever wondered about Halloween or want to know more about it or love Halloween or just want to improve your English today you're welcome to our lesson everyone who's interested and thank you so much for for joining us today hi Marco wes is hiding it's true he has somewhere in there so again if you if you're interested in Halloween this is I think will be a fun lesson and I have a few questions for you first my first question is what do you know about Halloween if all the information if you know something that's interesting that you'd like to share please write it in the comments another question I have is what Halloween words or expressions do you know or what would you like to know about okay so those are my questions write them at any time in the meantime let us know your name and where you writing from we always always always always love to hear from everyone who's watching so let us know what's your name and for your writing from and also if you have any knowledge about Halloween what do you know about it what words or expressions do you know and what other words or expressions you want to know about okay welcome thank you from Norway Marco wonderful so today we're talking about Halloween vocabulary it's super exciting to do this lesson because Halloween especially for children is a very fun holiday but also for adults so it's one of those things that I think a lot of people get very excited about so today I have thirteen vocabulary words for you guys thirteen expressions thirteen symbols of Halloween and this is because 13 is a good Halloween number and I want to ask you if you know why why do you think I have 13 vocabulary words for you today so if you know please write it in the comments um and I'm curious to read my first one is of course Halloween oh my god I was looking at the history of Halloween and let me tell you it is long it's a very long and interesting history so I would definitely recommend reading up more about it I haven't memorized all of it but I will tell you some of the things that I found it is it used to be a pagan holiday kind of got mixed up it's it's very interesting so I would definitely recommend reading it there are two major holidays that kind of seem to have merged into this holiday the first one is All Hallows Eve which is another term for saints or All Saint's Eve because in Europe as well as in Latin America now November 1st is the day of the dead or the Saints Day so the eve of course if you know what it means Eve is the day before or the night before so Halloween would have been the night before the Saints Day so that was a celebration that was a and then another one it's kind of that seems to impact at Halloween with Samhain and that was a Gaelic festival that was at the end of the harvest season because and kind of a midpoint between autumn and winter so it has so many interesting origin so I definitely recommend reading about it but the costumes people started wearing costumes initially toured off evil spirits so that's kind of those are kind of the beginnings and it turned into something completely different today but it's interesting to know about it because today it is many people's favorite fall holiday I know so many friends back in the US and Canada and their favorite favorite holiday ever is Halloween so it's a really really big holiday especially in North America but also celebrated in the UK Ireland and now it's kind of spreading everywhere so again if you're just joining us please write us where you're coming where you're writing from but also I'd like to know if there are any words or Halloween words or expressions that you know and what do you know about Halloween I'm kind of gonna go through these because it will be exciting to see what you guys think about it okay so this was my first one was Halloween my second is trick-or-treat again if you don't know about trick-or-treating this is a practice that is done mostly by children where children dress up in costumes and they ask for candy or money depending on what part of the world they're in and again it's spread in North America and UK and Ireland but basically a trick it's it's kind of a it's it's cute but it's also a little creepy because a trick can be some kind of damage that you're doing on someone's house so it can be anything from putting toothpaste on their their doorknob to destroying property to who just really really bad things you can do to someone's house or and the treat is of course money or it's in the form of candy and now it's very very popular so it's even become a noun so many children say they go trick-or-treating it's very rare when children actually play tricks I think most of the time they just go say trick-or-treat look very cute in costumes and they receive a lot of candy it is a lot of candy to the point where I think parents have to ration these things out and it's very very popular especially in the US and Canada you know speaking of trick-or-treating my next word for you is candy and this one is of course everyone knows a candy is but I put it on here because of the grammar around candy so the candy related to Halloween is children receive this candy when they go trick-or-treating but something that I always hear English language learners say wrong is many people say Oh children eat many candies or they say like oh the candies are great actually that is not candies is the plural of candy but it's used as a non-count noun so we say that children got a lot of candy so it's it's like coffee or like rice just like any other non-count noun so don't see candies it will sound a little awkward just say candy when you are talking about the plural a lot of candy ok are you guys ready for the next one if you are just joining us you can tell us what do you know about Halloween what you'd like to know also if you have ever gone trick-or-treating maybe it's something that is done in your country maybe it's not let us know if you've ever done it and if so did you get a lot of candy ok this is my next term this is a very useful one related to Halloween so if you ever watch a movie if you ever about a turn is a carved pumpkin that has that is glowing because it has a light in it and initially it started because it was meant to ward off evil spirits because remember Halloween was supposed to be the night before All Saints Day when he did not want them and next to them so this is a jack-o'-lantern now why a pumpkin honestly I've always wondered this so I put it on here because I'm sure you have also initially so the these holidays came from Ireland but in Ireland there were no pumpkins come pumpkins actually come from North America so what people used to carve before it used to be turnips so they carved all kinds of vegetables and put embers in them toward of these spirits but it's not actually known when they started carving pumpkins but what is known is that the u.s. North America had a lot of pumpkins this time of year so it only seems to make sense that pumpkins would be used as some of the the the vegetables now now I don't know if you know this but these pumpkins in the image here there's especially grown to be carved so companies started growing and selling us specific kinds of pop needs to be carp so these are not the best kinds of pumpkins for eating so they're just especially made to be carved and it's such a huge tradition in the United States huge children do this with their parents many people use them for decorations so it's really really really big so if you're wondering what a jack-o'-lantern is if you've ever wanted to carve one have you ever carved one let us know in the comments I'm very curious I have personally because I didn't grow up in the US I've haven't carve it when I was a child but I did it with some of my students later on and it is a lot of fun but it's also difficult because you have to get these designs and it's a lot of fun okay so are you guys ready for the next one a costume okay now a costume it is not a custom so please don't pronounce it like custom because a custom is is like a tradition it's it's a it's a it's a different it's a different word it's a traditional common practice but I wanted to ask you if you have ever worn a Halloween costume now this is one of those things that I think has spread throughout the world faster than the other Halloween traditions faster than you know decorating with a jack-o'-lantern or faster than maybe trick-or-treating so please let me know if you have ever worn a Halloween costume and if yes well was it and are you dressing up this year I don't think Wes and I are dressing up this year for Halloween I don't think we're wearing costumes we actually met at the school where we were working together and because it was an office I've always wanted to go as Jim and Pam from the office but he has not he has not one to this so we're not dressing up this year sadly but if you guys want to tell him please do so maybe he'll listen but yeah so if you guys have worn any Halloween costumes please write it down in the comments it will be nice to see what people have worn I've worn many Halloween costumes throughout the years okay another big thing that you should know about costumes is that now a days everyone is obsessed with sexy costumes so it's kind of become funny because people do anything sexy like any costume you can make sexy it can be a sexy police officer sexy nurse and it's definitely some people take this opportunity for Halloween to dress up as sexy as they can so if you ever watch movies and hear about sexy costumes around this time of year it is a thing a lot of people dress up and different costumes and they're trying to disguise themselves into into just a completely different person originally like I said the point of these the point of these costumes was to ward off evil spirits now it's it's changed into just kind of a reason to party okay so my next word that you should know for this holiday is decorations decorations so many people I've seen it a lot in the u.s. decorate their homes which means that they put different Halloween connected items on display to enhance the feeling of this holiday so Halloween decorations include spider webs tombstones pumpkins and people go crazy I've seen so many graveyards in people's front yards so people really really really decorate so if you guys are just joining us again welcome hi Sameer hi hi everyone if you're just joining us we are talking about Halloween vocabulary and things you should know about Halloween and how its celebrated kind of throughout the world so we also have a few questions for you if you were to dress up for Halloween which costume would you wear what would you like to wear have you ever gone trick-or-treating and what was my first question is what what do you know about Halloween okay so please in the comments answer some of these questions it would be really fun to see what you guys have to say so again decorations are just things we put up around the house to enhance the feeling of a holiday it is really people really really really love Halloween decorations okay my next is a haunted house now a haunted house is the mean the general meaning of a haunted house hi forgot welcome the meaning of a haunted house is a house with ghosts or spirits in it but during Halloween time this becomes it takes on a whole new meaning because it is a symbol and it is a huge attraction so what do I mean by that some people decorate either they they they decorate their homes or houses very with a lot of decorations that are really really terrifying they make it is scary as possible and they even dress up or hire other actors who dress up and like these scary costumes to scare people who go through the house now many of these haunted houses you actually pay an admission fee for and it's a form of entertainment but it is a really big deal I know in the u.s. many amusement parks they they turn them into like really scary haunted houses like very extended forms of them so initially like I said it's a house with ghosts but it becomes a huge huge attraction for Halloween now I had another question which I forgot to ask but I want to ask is for any of other holiday not necessarily Halloween do you decorate your home for the holidays for any holidays that are in your country I'd like to know what you do what holiday is important and if you decorate or or not not just for like I said not just for Halloween but any other holiday that you have okay so my next word is superstitions superstitions a superstition is a belief it's a it's so it's not something that is has any kind of rational route or anything but it's a belief that if you do something or if you have something or hold something that will bring you good luck or bad luck so it makes absolutely no sense but some people truly and fully believe in in superstition so some superstitions related to Halloween are black cats and this is really sad because it is believed that black cats bring bad luck so if you walk on the street and there's a black cat crossing your path you're supposed to have bad luck and in some countries they really really fully believe this so much that black cats are you know nobody wants to adopt them because it's believed to have bad luck and it's just picking you're crazy the number 13 is another unlucky number which is why today we have 13 words for you not unlucky but a number very symbolic of Halloween it's a little spooky Friday the 13th which we have had this month it's supposed to be an even more an even crazier day when anything can happen and one that I wrote here and again related to Halloween a Bloody Mary which it's a little scary a few our night and the mirror and say Bloody Mary three times you're supposed to have this crazy woman appear and I don't know what she does it feel like I don't know if she kills you or tells your fortune or something just nothing good nothing good but that's another superstition and there's so many other superstitions so I wanted to ask you what superstitions do you have in your country do you have anything that you've actually believe in there are things even like walking under ladders looking into a broken mirror salt like spilling soul spilling milk there's so many different kinds of superstitions but I want to know and I'm curious if you believe any of them do you follow any and what are some that you have in your country in my country for example this is something that I believe in actually and it's again it doesn't make any sense but I believe it it has to do with flowers so when somebody receives flowers they in my country you're not supposed to give an even number of flowers so you can never give somebody two four six eight ten twelve flowers you're only supposed to give an odd number of flowers so it's only one three five and so on because because you only give an even number of flowers when somebody dies so it's it's just a superstition it's a silly superstition it doesn't make any sense but to this day especially in the US if I receive a bouquet of flowers it's very popular in the US to give a dozen flowers which is twelve so I always take one out so I have eleven or add one so I have thirteen and it's just something that I've done over the years even though I don't think I don't consider myself superstitious but just that part I just don't like yeah so yeah long I'm not I don't think I'm superstitious but there are a couple of superstitions that I follow if that makes sense are you guys superstitious let us know oh this one I like spooky you hear spooky at Halloween more than any other time of the year just like you hear jolly around Christmas it's just a word that goes with a holiday and some synonyms for spooky or sinister ghostly easily frightened scary but I would say it's not as strong as scary so it's just slightly under like you're not actually terrified you're just a little a little bit scared so an example sentence would be you know if a place is spooky late at night you're a little bit like a park you know it's gonna be a little spooky but you're not completely terrified so that is spooky but again it really really really really goes with Halloween okay another one that again doesn't make much sense is scarecrows so why scarecrows became a symbol of Halloween I have no idea some people think maybe because it's around harvest time so these are used by farmers and they're used to scarecrows so the whole autumn thing kind of you know it just kind of became a thing I don't know but scarecrows are definitely definitely a symbol of Halloween and many times they're used as decorations in people's yards and sometimes they're used as costumes so some people dress up as scarecrows like this kid right here on the left so scarecrows are a big a big part of Halloween and again they're just they're just these things stuffed with hate meant to scare meant to scare crows I used to live long thanks for asking I used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area but I don't live there any longer okay this was one of my favorites hocus pocus and I included it because of if you've been on the Internet at all these days you can see this everywhere it's a huge huge huge symbol of Halloween it's mostly it refers to this movie that I'm gonna talk to you about in a second but hocus-pocus it's originally a magical term and it's something that magicians say or it's something that witches or wizards say when they're about to do a charm or a spell it's or this is what it's believed that witches or wizards would say of course hocus pocus it's kind of like a decocker Dabra or you know those kinds of things it also means it's just some meaningless talk it doesn't really mean much so my example and for hocus pocus is dealing with politicians so much of what politicians say is just hocus-pocus so it doesn't really mean that much um it okay now the movie it's a famous Halloween dinner movie I think it was in the nineties like early 90s 92 93 and it has these three witch sisters I just recently watched it I made worse watch it he didn't think it was that great I loved it it's it's a very it's a classic Halloween movie so if you'd like to watch and learn about trick-or-treating and the history of well not history but um you know if you want to have a cultural experience about Halloween I would definitely recommend this movie because it's a huge part of the Halloween history so go ahead watch it it's a Disney movie it's not too scary um it's it's not meant to be too scary but it's it's it's I think it's cute okay I'll stop um okay I just have a few words more a few more words it's late um my next one is monsters so we can't have Halloween without monsters monsters are scary and natural creatures not you know like not people and on Halloween you see things like werewolves vampires demons zombies and a bunch more but these are some that are very very popular around Halloween people dress up as them people watch movies with them so if you see them there are monsters in my last one my 13th word I have not been to Norway long I would love to come to Norway or to go to Norway hopefully soon hopefully soon I would love to a witch so which we all know I'm sure we've all seen this picture is a woman with magical powers but what some people may not have known is that it's commonly believed that witches could turn into cats so again you have all of these symbols of Halloween like black cats so witches they can mean you know they can be witches and and monsters and and scarecrows and what else do we have haunted houses and skeletons and zombies and so many things that are related to Halloween and witches are among them so that is it for that is it for today Oh an example of a zombie a zombie I didn't include here maybe I should have a zombie is supposedly a person who used to be alive and now it's not so it's a corpse who has risen from the dead and depending on the legends or depending on the movie or horror book or whatever you're reading they can either be very slow or they can be very fast but there are usually monsters that are trying to kill you so those are zombies people who used to be alive another dead and they have risen from their graves okay so I wanted to let you know so we actually have a few more Halloween lessons coming up that I'm very excited about on Tuesday we have 13 scary words this is a really fun lesson with some really useful vocabulary a lot of it is academic vocabulary so I think it will be very very helpful if you're trying to expand your vocabulary in English you don't you don't just use them at Halloween you can use them at anytime they're just there to help you improve and expand your knowledge and on Halloween Day which is October 31st we have some Halloween idioms and again I think it's gonna be a fun less and I think you guys will enjoy it oh it's a very good question for cut what is the difference between witch and wizard I was actually just reading up on on it today because witch has this negative connotation and wizard it doesn't they're actually the same thing a wizard is a male who has magical powers and the witch is a female who has magical powers now of course you can have a good witch and a bad witch but usually witches have bad connotations okay well thank you guys so much if you like Halloween if you guys would like to share this lesson with your friends or you find it interesting please go ahead and share it write any questions you have for us and join our social media classes thank you again for joining us and I'll see you guys next time happy Halloween thank you guys thank you for joining --- ## 312. Future of Work Vocabulary You MUST Know in the Age of AI! ๐Ÿฆพ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_CbosWQu-50` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CbosWQu-50) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:59:30 | --- I have an incredibly incredibly important vocabulary lesson for you. And I know I I say this every week, but this time I really mean it. I want to talk to you about the the future of vocabulary, covering a topic that is likely to change many people's lives. And I'm talking about AI. So, if you are someone who's interested in building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. And I should probably introduce myself. My name is Wes. This is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, I want to talk to you about vocabulary that I think is relevant that you will likely hear and actually use if you're having a conversation about AI or or just technology in general. But I do have some very AI specific words and phrases that we'll get to uh a little bit at the end. Now, this is a quiz lesson, so I want you to participate. And if you would like to get these lesson notes that you see right next to me, uh, click on the link down in the description. You can join my email community if you're already a part of it. Uh, check your inbox. I've sent them to you. So, let's go ahead and just jump right into it with the first question. I'm giving you the meaning and you can see the word that is missing. New regulations are needed to combat the malicious use of m technology in political campaigns. So the meaning of this word I'll go ahead and tell you it is just a word a video or sound recording that replaces someone's face or voice with that of someone else in a way that appears real. So what would you call this? And in case you're wondering, the word malicious means that you have basically, you know, an evil intent that you want to trick, confuse, or even just lie to people and you have uh in this case the malicious use I almost said it, but I stopped myself. Of of what? Technology. I think this is a word that quite likely you've heard of before. I don't know if you use it, but this is all about expanding your vocabulary. I think some of these words you will you absolutely are familiar with, and that's good. It's always good to get a little bit of review. So, the word that we're talking about, excellent, uh, Julia, deep value, Joanna, deep fake. A deep fake is a video or sound recording. It just looks real even though it's completely it's all AI generated. And this is something that I think it can be very very dangerous. So I imagine that maybe you have seen a deep fake video before. It's not real. It's just an AI, but it looks like the real person that I mean they're trying to to imitate and they're using both video and sound. This technology is getting better and better and better and it's actually I think it's quite scary. So, we're talking about deep fake technology in political campaigns. So, let me I'm going to give you a political example. All right. Now, I want to go ahead and say uh that of course, you know, I'm not a big fan of Trump. I don't really like the guy. And it's okay if we disagree. If you like him, that's perfectly fine. I get and nowadays it seems like nobody can disagree about politics, which is a little weird. But this is, you know, I don't care for him. This is an example. This would be a criticism as to why, you know, I don't care for him. But again, it's okay if we disagree. So the the reason why I chose this, this is a very recent example. This was a deep fake video that he put out there maybe gosh, you can see uh a couple of weeks ago. And basically the whole video is fake. It was saying that he's going to give people access to some medbed technology, which I don't they're not even real. It's just the supposedly they heal and cure all illnesses and disease and that only really really rich people have access to them. Anyway, he put this video out there completely fake. Ended up deleting it maybe I think you know 12 hours later because people were probably like what the hell are you doing? Uh but this would be an example of why this technology is very scary because people don't know what's real and what's not. especially when we're talking about video. And as far as my criticism, it's just like again, it's like, what the hell are you doing, dude? Why are you why are you putting this out there? Uh, I don't know. It's like he's not taking it very seriously. That's that's my opinion, but again, it's okay if we disagree. So, let's look at the next one. Again, if you if you're not familiar with the word deep fake, try to put that into your at least passive vocabulary because you're going to come across this in the future and hopefully, you know, you can be able to use it actively if you see a video and say, "Well, I think that's a deep fake." All right, it's a fake video. So, how about this one? This one is a little more challenging, I think, as far as trying to guess the word. The long-term of deep fake technology, I'm trying to follow up and get you a little review as we go through this for political stability are a cause for concern. So, deep fakes probably are going to create political instability. And the the sentence is talking about the long-term what the meaning of this word right down there a complex or unwelcome consequence of an action or event. And this would be you could say the the word effect is not what I'm looking for, but you could use it in this context. You know, talking about the long-term effects of something. This is a more advanced word. it's more specific uh in this case that I again I think it's a good one to know especially when talking about the AI and the technology consequences not that's another good one but that's that's not the word that I'm looking for. So bonus points though I couldn't find a good picture to kind of follow up on this sentence. Bonus points if you can tell me uh what this picture uh is from. Um repercussion. That's better. We're getting there. We're getting close. Uh, so again, some of these words, they work in this context. So I don't want to tell you that that it's wrong, that it's incorrect. You want to talk about long-term effects, long-term consequences. Those are some common collocations. Um, but Dit, you nailed it. We're talking about the ramification of something. So ramification is referring to complex or unwelcome consequences of an action or event. And you might ask like the question, well, what are the ramifications of doing this thing? What might be some of the unwelcome consequences for this action? And I'm sure that we're talking about AI and you know, nobody knows what the hell is going to happen, what the world is going to look like 5 years, 10 years from now. So right now we can only speculate as to the ramifications of AI, deep fake technology and some of the other things that are going on. So another uh another good word to kind of just put in your bank uh so that you have it and know it and understand it because you're listening to a podcast, you're reading an article. I think this is absolutely a word that you'll come across when people are talking about AI. What are the long-term ramifications of deep fake technology? That is a good question and we'll we'll find out soon enough. If you I didn't see any uh answers to my quiz there right there as far as uh what are the ramifications of AI. This is a picture you can kind of see it of the the Terminator a little bit. You can see the Arnold Schwarzenegger in there. Uh, and I hope I hope that that is these are not the ramifications of AI and it turns into some dystopian type of Terminator world. Let's let's just hope. What do you think? Next question or next sentence and I want you to, you know, write your answers in the chat. Write them write them in the the comments. This is interactive English. I want you to participate. And I love it seeing all these uh seeing everybody uh try to guess even if you get it wrong or it's not the word I'm thinking of that's okay. So the firm helps companies to m their HR and payroll operations. All right. What this company helps them the payroll operations. So they're the use of machines or computers instead of people to do a job especially in a factory or office. This is another word that I think you I I'm pretty sure you've heard this word and you maybe even actively use it if you're having a conversation about technology or some of the changes that are happening nowadays and many companies are trying to do this. They're using machines or computers instead of people doing the job. And in that case, they are trying to automate. Automate or automation. So you guys, you you kind of you beat me to it because I wanted to give you both of these words because they're in the same word family. In this sentence, we're going to use the verb to automate. So the firm helps companies to automate their HR and payroll. uh option operations. So you do not have to search very hard in order to find whether it's a news article or a report talking about automation that is occurring right now or companies are trying to automate and basically use uh a computer instead of having a person do it. It's easier, it's efficient, it's cheaper, and they're trying to automate the process. So, both of these words, whether you're using it as the verb or the noun, the meaning is really the same. But I wanted to give you both of them because I think you will hear people use both the verb to automate something as well as the noun automation. To to really put a finer point on this, I told you you don't have to search very hard. I do I put in the words AI and automate in quotes. go to news and these are all articles from the last like day or two and just to give you a little more context uh let's just read them. It says Google Cloud CEO says he doesn't buy into the hype that AI is going to automate everyone's jobs. That's that's probably true. Not everyone's jobs, but probably still many many jobs. And that is that should still be a concern for people in my non-expert opinion. The next one it says almost 100 million jobs could be lost to AI automation. Uh Senate report this a Senate report talking about again automation and it may cause people to lose their job. Companies don't need uh as many employees. And then finally at the bottom a hacker used AI to automate an unprecedented cyber cyber crime spree. Anthropic says, and if you're unfamiliar with the word spree, it just means u a lot of something in a short period of time. So if we're talking about a cyber crime, this person used automation to have this, you know, do many, many, many cyber crimes in a short period of time. And that's why they call it a cyber crime spree. And it was unprecedented. So let's uh All right. Um, let Okay, I don't want to give it away, right? I maybe I just did. We'll see. So, let's go ahead and look at the next word that I want you to know that I think is relevant when talking about AI and technology. So, I think, you know, AI is like the larger conversation, but I think these words, you're going to hear them used in a variety of context when talking about technology and the changes that are coming. And that's why I said this vocabulary is important for the future. The speed of AI advancement in the past year has been in technological history. The meaning of this word it means never having happened or existed in the past. The reason why Okay, I was gonna I I said the word just like a moment ago and I I I did this on purpose, but I think I kind of gave it away as I was leading into this. Uh because the word that we're talking about is unprecedented. And I was going to say, well, speaking of unprecedented, let's look at our next example. Kind of forgetting that I'm giving you a quiz right now. So unprecedented. The speed of AI advancement in the past year has been unprecedented in technological history. This is a word that I think is becoming more commonly used not just when talking about AI but things that are happening I don't know politically and say oh this is you know this has not happened before in our lifetimes. It's unprecedented. So, this is a way to add emphasis when you want to talk about something that has never happened before and you're kind of just saying that it's it's unimaginable. You can't believe it. It's just kind it's crazy. It's unprecedented. I feel like it's get a word that's starting to become overused nowadays because all of a sudden everything is unprecedented. But this is certainly a word that you are going to hear. Which is why I want you to understand it, learn the meaning, and in case if you want to ever add emphasis to to something that has not happened in your lifetime or you didn't think could happen, say, "Wow, this is unprecedented. It's unprecedented." Here are some common collocations because I think this is a great way to continue building your vocabulary and really understand a little bit more about the word. In this case, unprecedented. So, you're going to hear people talk about um an unprecedented event. And yes, this this is uh an adjective or saying, well, this is an unprecedented action. Or if we're talking about uh legally in the judicial context, I said you could use this word in a variety of contexts. You might hear somebody talk about an unprecedented ruling by the Supreme Court or talking about AI or company, unprecedented growth or unprecedented opportunity or there has been an unprecedented increase or decrease in something. So again, these are some common phrases using this adjective. This is I think often you're going to hear people use it with one of these nouns. It's unprecedented. So, uh um here's the next one. The move from search engines to generative AI represents a major shift in how we access information. I think this is this is certainly a more advanced word. It's it is related to AI but I think technology in general and the meaning is uh it's talking about a typical example pattern or model of something generally in my opinion when I think of this word I probably would lean more towards model that the way something the the model of how something works or looks or operates and we're talking about a m shift this is a little more challenging because based on well because of the sentence I'm not really giving you too much information to help lead you to this word. So I'm going to give you a hint. Starts with the letter P. All right. What do you think? Starts with the letter P. And I do think this is also a collocation a M shift. And you're going to hear these two words used together. And I don't know if I gave you guys that hint before everybody started writing paradigm paradigm paradigm but great job Li Charlotte uh deep value tal a paradigm shift I mentioned is a collocation with uh this word but if you're talking about a paradigm you're referring to the an example pattern model of something and in this case yeah I think it is going to change the the normal way of doing things the normal the the models as to how things work and the way we do business and there is going to be a paradigm shift for better or for worse we'll find out what do you think as I as I've given you these example sentences I'm trying to put in you know some words we've already talked about just to get a little bit of review automation threatens to m millions of workers in logistics and customer service roles. I think more than that, but this is just an example. The meaning is to take over the place, position or role of something. I think this is another word that has become much more commonly used when talking about AI specifically, even though you can use the verb or the noun in other context as well. It doesn't have to be you don't have to use it to talk about AI or technology. But in this case, what are we what are we saying? Automation, we've already talked about that. Using computers or machines to replace people threatens to millions of workers. Now, of course, you could say replace that works. That is not the word that I'm looking for. I think there is another word that is often used in this context and it's going to what what do you think love it love seeing all these answers uh again don't be shy write your answers in the chat doesn't matter if you get it wrong it's okay and as I told you there are other words that you could replace would work but that's not the word uh I have for you so great job well done I Katarina um Rachel besides replace to displace or as the noun displacement you might hear people when talking about AI to displace workers or the displacement of the workforce. So automations threatens to displace millions of workers in logistics or customer service. it does have a very similar meaning. Uh I mean a little bit to replace uh but you could use displace in other context as well. So once again I think this is a word you may know or maybe you've heard of it but I think it's useful to be able to actively use it. Make it a part of your active memory so that you when you're having a conversation talking about what's happening in the future or something you read in the news and your concern or worry that workers are going to get displaced by AI or because of automation. It's just really useful vocabulary to have. So let's look at the next one. If you've learned something new, just let me know. You can hit the hit that like button. That tells me that you're getting some value out of these lessons and that it's helping you better understand how to use some of these words even if you've heard of it and you're already familiar with some of them. Like I said, it's always good to get a little bit of review. Here is this was a comic. Uh it's not the most like optimistic as far as like saying lost my job to a better robot. I don't know. Maybe this is the world in which uh that we're heading into where automation is going to or AI is going to displace people in certain roles and then those robots or that those uh th that software or whatever it is is going to then get replaced by even better AI. So it's just trying to make light of the situation even though I think in some ways it like I said it can be a little scary. What do you think? AI is expected to m traditional business models across the banking and insurance sectors. What this is another word that I think you know and that you're familiar with. I don't know if you'll get it based on the context maybe. But the meaning is to prevent something especially a system essentially a system process or event from continuing as usual or as expected. What word in this case it's a verb. So the verb it's a missing verb. What what is the meaning uh or what is the word the verb that has that meaning? And I think the meaning is I I liked it. It's very specific, very precise. you're preventing something especially a system process or event from continuing. So AI is expected to m traditional business models. I think traditional business models in you know whether it's banking, insurance or whatever sector I think this is what's going to happen. It's going to many different business models. I I told you already there's going to be a paradigm shift and things are going to move. So let's see the the word that I'm looking for again some of them like reform. Sure. Um replace but upend I think that's a better word. I don't think you would use like reform really in this context. Uh especially with this meaning we're talking about you're preventing it from continuing to exist. So the word that we're looking for is to disrupt. Well done, Charlotte Manuel. Good to see you. Uh, Julia, to disrupt the verb or disruption, the noun. I wanted to give you both words because I think both of them are useful. They're both important, both parts of speech when talking about new technology. Uh, that, you know, this is the result. and there is a disruption and it's going to prevent things continuing as usual because there's a paradigm shift. I feel like the more the more I say paradigm shift the more likely you are to Okay, I'm going to I'm going to take that away from today's lesson. So AI is expected to disrupt traditional business models, which is true across the banking and insurance sectors. I'm not in those sectors, so I don't really know. I can just assume that probably yes, there is going to be some some disruption taking place. So, just using it both as a verb and a noun. Great words to know. Once again, I wanted to give you some examples, some news headlines using the word, and you do not have to look very hard. If you read the news, these are words that people are going to use just in the heading right there when talking about AI or technology. So let's go through these. AI is poised to disrupt the job market. Some roles could radically transform or AI will disrupt equity research from the bottom up. And then finally, it doesn't have the word disrupt or disruption, but it says, will artificial intelligent be the end of teachers? Uh maybe. I don't know you guys. Maybe you're not going to need me. You're just going to find some AI deep fake Wes or some other English instructor and it's just going to completely disrupt the online teaching industry and YouTube and social media as we know it. Who knows? Who knows how much longer uh I'll be around. We'll see. If you want me to stick around, hit that like button. Let me know. Let me know. Uh I'm just trying to get you to hit the like button. This is just my way to to trick you into hitting the like button. What do you think? The debate centers on how much should be granted to military drone systems. Once again, and I keep repeating myself, but that's okay. The more I repeat myself, the more likely you are to just take in this information. This is a word that you need to know, that you should know, but I think many of you know it already, which is a good thing because you read the news, because you listen to other YouTube channels talking about a variety of topics. This is a word that that comes up quite often, especially nowadays. All of these words, I would say within the last 10, 20 years, the the usage has increased tenfold and people are using them much more often because of technology and specifically now because of AI. So the debate centers on how much should be granted to military drone systems. Again, don't worry too much about connecting it to the sentence like drones. Think about the meaning. This describes something that functions separately or independently. That is th you know those are key words right there. Functions separately or independently. Now that I'm stressing those two words perhaps you're thinking oh okay I know what he's talking about right now. So the word or words because there are two that once actually three that I want to share with you all three words in the word family that I think you're likely to come across is autonomous autonomy or autonomously in the sentence down here. We're just using the noun autonomy. The debate centers on how much autonomy should be granted to military drone systems and, you know, whether they should operate independently or if humans and people should control what they're doing or uh or where they're going. But you may hear it used as an adjective and talk about autonomous vehicles, I think, is probably one of the more common phrases that people use with autonomous or autonomously. Cars are now driving autonomously and we're going to use it as an adverb to modify that verb. So know all three of these. Be able to use all three of these as an adjective, a noun, an adverb, autonomous, autonomy, autonomously. Can be a little tricky to say them one right after the other, but still great words to know. All right, let's look at the next one. The M in the e-commerce site recommends products based on your past purchases and browsing history. I think we can all relate to this sentence that you're doing something I don't know whether you're you see uh you're doing something on the computer somewhere else and then you go get on another computer and an ad comes up and you're thinking like how the hell do they know that I was thinking about buying this or enrolling in this? How how the hell do they know? It's scary. They know. They know. And when I say they, I'm talking about the the robots, the software, the the the internet in general. But in this case, we're talking about the mathematical instructions as I've been rambling on. You guys have just been writing the answer, which is fine. That rule that rules uh mathematical instructions are rules that especially if given to a computer will help calculate the answer to a problem problem. And of course, we are talking about an algorithm. Once again, a word that you are going to hear and that you should be able to use if you're talking about new technology, AI, or things that are AI adjacent or other types of technology. You're going to hear this word a lot. Social media. All of these companies right now, they use an algorithm basically in order to make more money. In the case of social media or e-commerce, they want to sell you more products, sell you things. So, they have a specific algorithm to track you down and just put things right in front of you that they think you're you're going to buy. And they're going to use an algorithm. How about this one? Regulators must the training data of new facial recognition systems for signs of demographic bias. This is well it it's a word that you can use in a variety of context but I I think this is also very important when talking about I'd say AI specifically or the things that AI is going to do and we should examine or inspect it closely and thoroughly. That is the meaning of this word to examine or inspect closely and thoroughly. And regulators must the training data of new facial recognition recognition systems uh for signs of bi for signs of demographic bias. And you know, I think you're all familiar with facial recognition systems. And then basically it's saying that, you know, it should not have any demographic bias, whether you're uh a man or woman, old or young, whatever demographic it may be. So the word that we're looking for, which many of you have, um, perfect is to scrutinize. Scrutinize. Hi Flowers, Manuel, Julia, Mahmud, uh, Ava, well done. To scrutinize is the verb or scrutiny is the noun. And with the American, you're going to hear me pronounce that. It's more that t is more of a glottle stop. You could say scrutinize or scrutiny. That's perfectly fine. But yeah, you you hear me when I say scrutinize or scrutiny, you hear that glottle stop instead. Little pronunciation when it comes to this word. So regulators must scrutinize the training data of new facial recognition systems for signs of demographic bias. whatever I think type of new software uh or even you know they're trying to automate the business I think all of it should be scrutinized and examine it closely carefully for well to make sure that things are functioning correctly and some of it can I think is more important than others especially when talking about things like the facial rec recognition system to give you a little more context I mentioned before that These words are becoming more and more commonly used. Engram viewer is a great resource. So I just put some of them up there so you can kind of see the trend with all of these. Of course you see AI just boom just take off like a rocket as far as people using it, writing about it. Uh this is from the written corpus, but people are talking about it more as well. But all of these words are on the uptrend. uh whether it's displacement, autonomous, unprecedented, these words are I I think the trend is going to continue which is why I wanted to share them with you and which is why I encourage you to not just understand it if you're listening to a conversation but be able to actively use these words as well. Try to practice using them. I think that's also very important. So a lot of these words that I've been giving you so far I think are talking about AI in a broader sense. I want to give you some words that are definitely more AI specific and I think these are more challenging but uh I I still think it's worth knowing uh because you're going to come across them. The first one, this is um this is an acronym that you may hear people use. LLM, the meaning is software tool capable of corpus-based linguistic analysis. That's a mouthful and prediction, particularly an artificial intelligence system. And you you hear people talking about chat GPT or Gemini, these AI uh systems that people are using. And LLM is an acronym that you may also hear people use. What does this acronym stand for? And I'm not going to give you too much time. I think people kind of get it. Nice. Milan deep value large language model. So if somebody refers to an LLM, they're referring to a large language model that basically it's going through the corpus, which is every basically everything written in English, whether it's an academic text, a news article, a blog, and it basically combs through all of it to better understand the the words and how they're used. So it can help you find better information and kind of again, I don't know exactly too well how it works. uh but you hear that these different models as they get better that it can predict so many words into the future which is going to help uh give a more accurate response a more precise response which is helpful but again it's this is why it can be a little scary as well people want companies wanting to automate and it could then displace people uh which is going to be another challenge another issue AGI what does it stand for the these are not all acronyms. This is your last acronym right here. But if somebody's talking about AGI, this is a hypothetical type of AI that could perform any intellectual task a human can, demonstrating humanlike cognitive abilities such as understanding, learning, reasoning, and creativity across various domains. I think this is starting to sound more and more like the terminator when uh when I read the the meaning of AGI. So AGI I think a you know what AI stands for. So you kind of piece it piece it together. But what do you think the G G stands for? AGI stands for artificial general intelligence. Artificial general intelligence. Excellent, Mosh. Uh, Lai, well done. So, here's an example sentence. Oh, and I gave an example sentence for um large language model. I forgot to to tell you, but it says, "AGI remains the holy grail of AI research, but experts disagree on its timeline for arrival." So it's like this is what everybody this is what we're trying to reach or all of these big companies whether it's Alphabet, Apple, Meta, uh Nvidia, this is the race that it seems like a lot of these companies are in the race for artificial general intelligence and this is you know people are speculating okay what is the world going to look like if we have artificial general intelligence? Uh, are there going to be a lot of problems? Uh, are a lot of workers going to get displaced? Is the internet going to run rampant with deep deep fake videos? What are the ramifications? All right, just keep getting that review. What are the ramifications of artificial general intelligence? So, this is the holy grail. This is what everybody's kind of going for. To give you that example sentence with LLM, let me just move back really quickly. Uh, the new chatbot is powered by an advanced LLM with over a trillion parameters. I don't know if that really helps give you a little more context, but I had given you I had had the example sentence. I felt like I might as well share it. Uh, LLM large language model. How about this? Here is another fill in the blank. Not fill or just a missing word. Scientists are developing new encryption methods to secure data against potential attacks from future machines. This is this is not a word that you're often going to use just in general conversation. This is more AI specific, techspecific, but it's talking about a new approach to calculation that uses principles or fundamental physics to solve extremely complex complex problems very quickly. I'm having a tough time just spitting out the sentences today. I apologize for that. Maybe I don't know, maybe an AI maybe an AI West wouldn't make these same mistakes, but then it wouldn't be real. What's the fun in that? So scientists are developing new encryption methods to secure data against potential hacks from a future what I'm just going to go ahead and give you the phrase. We're talking about quantum computing. If you follow the the stock market, uh this is something that companies have been gaining steam and people are speculating on companies that are involved with quantum computing that it is the next big thing. And this is something again that people are um working on, but it's more specific. It's not one that like displace or autonomy or disruption that you're going to use as casually. Uh if you're talking about AI or technology in general, what do you think? Companies are investing in tools that create an not replace people. So this is what they give us to say hey you know don't worry we're not going to completely replace everybody we're just trying to create an what the meaning is a workforce supported and enhanced by AI and automation and I do think this is again my non-expert opinion not that this is where we're going but I think we're kind of in part we're there already and uh we're talking about what there's two words and it's very specific. It is a workforce supported and enhanced by AI and automation. And the second word is workforce. We're talking about a different type of workforce. What what adjective are we going to use to modify the word workforce? So in this case when it's supported by AI and automation and it's like well look we're not uh displacement of the workforce is not our goal right now and I say right now right now we're just trying to create an augmented workforce. So, if you hear people uh or you read something and it's talking about an augmented workforce, then it's just this workforce that's using AI that there there is a level of automation that exists, but people still have jobs. Maybe not as many people because they don't need as many people whereas before you needed 10 and maybe the augmented workforce is now four or something like that. So, it it's still again, maybe maybe I'm a pessimist. I don't know. I don't know how you feel. You can let me know in the comments how you feel about uh AI and how everything's going and and shaking out so far. Here is one that once again, this is a little more difficult, more specific when very specific when talking about AI. Some scientists predict the M could occur within this century, a theoretical point in the future when AI surpasses human intelligence. I mentioned already that the one of the goals is artificial general intelligent. Now there is another word that captures this this theoretical point when AI surpasses human intelligence and maybe at that point it gets a little scary. So this is a word that you're not going to use every day. Maybe you haven't come across it but maybe you will because I told you you're just going to get more and more exposure to people talking about AI to people reporting on AI more conversations discussing it. And that's why I think this vocabulary is relevant. It's important. Maybe not this word, uh, you'll need right away. But I'm talking about the singularity. So the singularity, if you hear anybody mention this, it is that point in the future when AI surpasses human intelligence. And some scientists predict the singularity could occur within this century. to follow up on this. And even though it's scary, I'm gonna go ahead and make light of the situation with another comic. Uh this guy, the scientist says, "Should I be worried about uh Singularity?" And this robot says, "Don't be silly. By the way, you no longer have a house or a bank account." Kind of just representing the uh well, I don't know what what could happen. We'll see. We don't know exactly uh you know we don't know what the ramifications of AI or even AGI will be in the future. Still trying to sift through it. But I am going to be here to help you navigate that as far as the vocabulary and you know as far as being a part of your English learning journey until you no longer need me and I am just displaced because there has been a paradigm shift and the internet is just replaced by all these deep fake fakes and maybe an AI version of Wes and uh yeah I don't know maybe I can just license myself in some way and still continue to try to make a living. I'm not sure. Here are the words and phrases from today's lesson. Uh again, some of them, those ones at the end were really more AI specific. Some of these others I I think you could use in a broader uh sense, but I I think they're incredibly important. Knowing what a deep fake is or the word ramification or an algorithm especially, and some of those verbs and nouns automate, displace, disrupt, very important. If you enjoyed the lesson today and learned something new, let me know. Hit that like button, subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications. It just helps us, you know, promote the message and helps others in their English learning journey, build their vocabulary, learn new things. And I think, yeah, this is very important vocabulary. Vocabulary for the future. --- ## 313. GO OUT Has 8 Different Meanings ๐Ÿ˜ฑ Phrasal Verb Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `AibICZquK6A` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AibICZquK6A) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:53:51 | --- today I'm going to talk to you about a phrasal verb which is really going to help you improve your listening and speaking fluency [Music] what's up everyone my name is Wes this is Interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills in today's lesson we are talking about phrasal verbs but we're really just going to talk about one phrasal verb and that phrasal verb is there we go go out that is the phrasal verb that we want to look at today and I'm going to teach you eight different meanings for this phrasal verb you heard me correctly this phrasal verb has eight different meanings and that is one thing that is really challenging about phrasal verbs is that they can have multiple meanings not just two three or four but even more than that so it's important that you know how this phrasal verb is used especially in everyday conversation because that's going to help you improve your listening and speaking I'm going to tell you the meaning I'll give you some example sentences I'll also show you some videos so that you can see how the phrasal verb is used in context you ready let's begin the first meaning of go out and probably one of the more common uses is just to leave the house and induce something usually you're doing something for enjoyment oftentimes you might hear people say you know what are you doing tonight well I'm going out with my friends so get all dressed up to go out with friends go out with some friends later if you want to come or they might just say I'm going out tonight we're going out tonight let's go out tonight you're going out it's not what are you guys doing tonight are you going out are you staying in let me know tell me in the comments I'm gonna be staying in tonight a bit of a homebody no not gonna be going out are you going out tonight yeah I'm going to a club hey you hate me who a second would be Casey we're going out tonight another meaning of go out is to have a relationship with somebody that you are dating another person it doesn't really give us specific information as to how serious the relationship is but it just tells us that okay these people are together they're they're in a relationship so you might hear somebody say like well I've been going out with her for six months or I've been going out with him for three years that just tells us that these people are in a relationship and it could be something that's long-term or even if you just started dating somebody and you could say yeah you know we haven't been going out for very long I'm going out over a month Wow so how long did you go out with your phone alright about six months once you're married you wouldn't use this phrasal verb to say you're in a relationship with with your husband or wife you wouldn't say we're going out but it's it's more so just dating you're in a relationship before you're married already been going out for years won't come here I think that we should stop going out on dates a respectable well born young woman going out with a married man guys girls go out with the three months have the time of their lives until they grow up meet the man that married another meaning of go out is to stop burning it can also be used when talking about lights in the case of a fire you're just waiting for the fire to stop burning and waiting until it goes out can be used when talking about lights as well a flashlight or even the lights in your home there was a strong storm and the lights went out or if you're using a flashlight and the battery dies you could say yeah you know the light went out so in this case it's often used in the past tense because you had light and then you don't have it anymore and you'd say it went out these lights went out one by one if you said the lights went out immediately after the killing I can't believe she told me to put trees on that drawing no no honey my light went out the next meeting of go out is when you're talking about the sea you can say that that the tide goes out that the water is moving away from the land the tide comes in the tide out the water is moving away from the land it goes out every time the tide goes out I'm sinking goes out takes the sand within say another meaning for go out and I think this is the fifth one is to send a message by post often when I think about this one I'm thinking about an invitation perhaps a wedding invitation and you might say well the the wedding invitations they haven't gone out just yet so in this case it means the same as to send to go out well I'll certainly try sir actually the wedding invitations go out this week another meaning go out and this is British English is just to be broadcast so if you're talking about a TV or a radio program you can say that it goes out at 8 a.m. on Mondays this is when it is broadcasted and it goes out it went out on the radio is that right well we ain't got radio then we can use this phrasal verb when we're talking about sports and and just use it to say that you leave a competition especially if you're competing in a tournament and you might hear somebody say yeah you know our team we went out in the first round and often you would hear it being used in the past tense because the team has already lost so they would say yeah we we went out last round and we're no longer competing we can also use this phrasal verb when talking about fashion there are so many different uses for go out and you would use it to say that something is no longer fashionable in this case I think people would often use it and say that something goes out of style it's no longer fashionable people don't don't wear these clothes anymore it's gone out of style for example my clothes never go out of style I'm so I can't I can't even get through that sentence without without laughing because it's so yeah it's just not true this baby never went out of style [Music] it went out of style in the 50s and trust me honey it making a comeback so those are the many different meanings for go out do you remember all of them let's review really quickly so you can go out and leave the house for enjoyment you can date somebody and have a relationship and go out with them a fire can go out and no longer burn or lights can go out and they're just no longer on if talking about the sea level the tides can go out what was the other one messages by post invitations can go out in British English a radio or TV program can go out and be broadcasted in sports you can go out of a competition because you are no longer participating and in fashion something can go out of style I hope you enjoyed this lesson and if you learn something new please hit that like button also I'd recommend that you subscribe to our newsletter it's another great way to connect with us we send out all these cool messages with useful and free resources and all of this information will go out to you link is in the description thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 314. GRAMMAR QUIZ | 15 Questions for Intermediate to Advanced Learners | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xYQmzafwaFc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYQmzafwaFc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:07:02 | --- let's just go ahead and start the quiz this is a grammar quiz for beginner to intermediate english learners and i will give you the question and then i will give you a moment to think of the answer and then we will talk about it so here is your first question you have less than um hour to complete this quiz which article are you going to use a an or the you have less than um hour to complete this quiz the correct answer which i'm sure you chose is an an hour so we're going to use an indefinite article because we're talking about any hour it's not specific and we're going to use an because it comes before a word that begins with a vowel sound so remember we will use a before words that begin with a consonant sound and and before words that begin with a vowel sound like hour an hour and throughout the quiz i i want you to keep watching i want you to participate and this leads us into the next question i will try to keep it um okay which adjective are you going to use i'll try to keep it we're talking about the difference between ed adjectives and ing adjectives i hope that you chose interesting i'll try to keep it interesting so you're going to use 80 adjectives to describe the way a person feels bored confused interested you're going to use ing adjectives to describe a thing a situation or even a person's characteristic boring confusing interesting so in this case i'm talking about the quiz it i'll try to keep it interesting and i like to think that all of my lessons are interesting and if you would like to continue learning with me please subscribe turn on notifications so that i can become your english teacher my name is wes and interactive english it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals you can also get a pdf copy of this grammar quiz along with the answers when you click on the link down below and yes it will be yours and i will also send you some other cool stuff from time to time here is the next question i went to the store a few days um which word are you going to use to complete this sentence i went to the store a few days so these words are commonly confused especially in spoken english the answer is a go i went to the store a few days ago and we're going to use a go when we're talking about an unknown time before the present and you'll often find it like with that expression a few days ago a few months ago a few years ago so it's not exact and it is unknown we use before with the time expressions that count back from a past moment if i were to say before i brush my teeth all right brushing my teeth that might be the past moment but then something happened before so just remember the the difference between these two a go we use with unknown times before the present and the next one i get up 7 30 a.m which preposition are you going to use in on at the correct answer is at so i get up at 7 30 a.m if we're talking about time then you're gonna use at when talking about a specific time at 7 30 a.m at 5 00 p.m at midnight you will use in with expressions of time like in the morning in the evening in the afternoon and you will use on if you're just talking about like a day on monday on tuesday on wednesday so there are rules when it comes to using these different prepositions they're good to know and then i have well this sentence for you i have been here um a while i have been here um a while will you complete this sentence with for or since and these words are commonly used when using the present perfect and the correct answer is 4. i have been here for a while the reason for that is because 4 refers to a period of time whereas since refers to a specific point in time in this case i'm talking about a while a period of time so we'll use four i have been here for a while and for the next one i'm just gonna let my daughter tell it to you [Music] all right so which word completes this sentence i would like um juice please these words can be a little confusing the correct answer is some i would like some juice please because well you can use some or any with both count nouns and non-count nouns but you're going to use some with the affirmative and you will use any with the negative like i don't want any juice or with questions do you have any juice in this case she's using it in the affirmative so she would say [Music] okay all right the next one that i have for you there um a lot of children at the playground when we go to the playground this is yeah this is what i would say there um a lot of children at the playground are you going to use is or are the correct answer is r there are a lot of children at the playground so when trying to decide between there is there are it still really depends on the noun is it a singular noun or a plural noun in this case the noun that the sentence is referring to we're talking about children children is an irregular plural noun so we will use are there are a lot of children at the playground and then i want to give you an idiom how would you complete this sentence you need to pull um together so well it's part of the idiom to pull um together means to recover control over your emotions so i'm not giving you any choices hopefully you're able to just look at it and think about it maybe say it out loud and you know that the answer is yourself we're going to use a reflexive pronoun you need to pull yourself together to pull oneself together and we use reflexive pronouns to refer to a proceeding noun or pronoun so in this case in this sentence that that is you i'm talking to you you need to pull yourself together so i i'm not telling you that i'm sure you have complete control over your emotions but hopefully maybe you've learned a new idiom you need to pull yourself together and then we have this sentence the money was stolen and i just want you to tell me is this an active sentence or a passive sentence i hope that you said passive the money was stolen is a passive sentence and you really just need to know the difference between active sentences and passive sentences in general active sentences it's when the subject is performing the action if i were to say i stole the money in that case i am performing the action stealing the money it's an active sentence with passive sentences the subject is receiving the action in this case the money the money was stolen and then you could add by someone to the end of that the money was stolen by wes it's just an example i'm not going to steal your money and then i could tell you this you speak english really which word are you going to use good or well you speak english really well okay so the the difference between good and well is really their part of speech good is an adjective so i could say something like wow you're you're really good at speaking english in that case it's an adjective like you are good uh if i say you speak english really well well that is an adverb it modifies the verb speak you do something well you speak english well here is the next one and it's a little tricky i'm late because i stopped you a present which one are you going to use to buy or buying and i say it's tricky because well you can follow the verb stop with either the gerund or the infinitive but they have different meanings with this sentence you should follow it with the infinitive i'm late because i stopped to buy you a present so if we follow it with the infinitive stop to do something it's like you well it's like you stop what you're doing in order to do something in this case in order to buy you a present if i were to follow it with the gerund stop doing something in that case i'm talking about something i i just not going to do anymore so if i say yeah last year i stopped exercising i'm just no longer doing it so just be careful with this verb you can follow it with either the gerund or the infinitive but it has a different meaning and then i have a conditional sentence for you if i were you i um ask for help should you use will or would the correct answer is would because this this sentence is in the second conditional the second conditional it's refers to an unlikely or hypothetical situation if i were you i would ask for help so you're going to use the past simple in the condition that if statement if i were you and then you'll use would plus the base verb in the result i would ask for help and then there's this sentence my mother um me to talk to him which word are you gonna use i'm really asking you if you know the past tense of the verb forbid my mother um me to talk to him so this is an irregular verb so the answer is forbade my mother forbade me to talk to him if we're talking about the past simple and i i will say it's not a verb that you're going to use every day i just wanted to to test your knowledge a little bit of irregular verbs in the past tense so remember with this verb you have forbid forbade which is the past simple and forbidden is the past participle here's the next one al also a little tricky this checkout line is for people with 10 items or um are you going to use fewer or less these words are commonly confused so the correct answer is fewer this checkout line is for people with 10 items or fewer so fewer and less are are commonly confused but you're going to use fewer when talking about count nouns and you will use less when talking about non-count nouns so in this sentence items it's plural it's a count noun so you should use fewer the the the thing that makes it difficult is that in many stores especially in the united states you will see signs like this 10 items or less i don't know why they they're just breaking this this grammar rule but just just be aware of it use fewer when talking about count nouns here's the next one also i think a little tricky i now have a um picture than before are you going to say clearer or more clear the answer is clearer i now have a clearer picture than before so so the general rule that you should follow when we're talking about comparatives you're going to add er when we're talking about short one syllable words like clear clearer and you're going to use more when with words that have two or more syllables like more famous or more fascinating and i i say that well this can be a little tricky because you you may hear people use more clear in spoken english not the majority of the time but it will happen i know some even say it's acceptable so just be aware of that but even if you were to look at the frequency in which these words are used of course you see that it's much more common to say clearer the reason why i think that people end up saying more clear is because you have this adjective that ends with an r and it's a little more challenging to say that r at the end clearer so i think people just sometimes find it just easier to use more in that case but just just be aware the answer is clearer so in the comments let me know how you did there were 15 questions in total let me know down in the comments i'd love to hear from you and i hope that if some of this was a little confusing you now have a clearer picture than before and i'm sure this was easy for you to follow and understand because you know english grammar really well so if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 315. GRASPING AT STRAWS | Advanced #Idiom | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `wcVEOKVyIQQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcVEOKVyIQQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:58:15 | --- look at him grasping at straws grasp at straws it means that you're trying to find a way to succeed but whatever you choose it's probably not going to help you fine and successful their syn grasping at straws for straws think about the situation you are holding tightly or grasping something weak like a straw and because of that it's not likely to save you I appreciate you trying to make me feel better but we both know you're grasping at straws --- ## 316. Gerunds vs Infinitives | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `U8OG1qWCqeE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8OG1qWCqeE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:50:46 | --- all right this should be uh turning on soon if it hasn't turned on already okay so welcome welcome welcome hope everyone is having a nice weekend a nice Saturday if you are watching this and it's not the weekend I still hope you're having a nice day so today um this week we are going to do our live stream lesson it is a grammar lesson talking about jarn and infinitives now I don't want to lose you just yet I know a lot of you are thinking oh gosh grammar um sometimes it's not the most exciting stuff but it is so so so so important um especially what we're talking about today so I guarantee you that if if you stick with us you are going to learn something new so if you are joining us right now please say hello to us in the chat tell us your name tell us where you are watching from um and and just say hello um we'd like to hear from as many people as possible and again it's always good to keep practicing your English and writing is a part of that and honestly even if you are watching this after afterwards sell us hello write in the comments your name where you from n hello from Vietnam awesome uh hope you're having a great weekend so today as I said I mentioned we're going to talk about boom all right let me see make sure you can see me uh jirens there we go we're going to talk about jirens and infinitive so the Jaren is just the Ing and the the infinitive is to plus the vase BB specifically we are going to be talking about verbs that are followed by the jiren and infinitive um Marco hello how's it going uh hope you're having a great weekend so that's great again if you guys are just joining us say hello tell us your name where you're from and we have an exciting lesson for you plan today jirens and infinitives and at the end we are going to do a little practice and during the practice you will need to write in the comments because we want you guys to keep practicing and practicing and practicing because practice makes perfect so we're going to talk about jirens in infinitives today and the verbs um that are followed by a jarn and infinitive and this is something that can be very tricky um it it can confuse English Learners sometimes and this is how people make these small small small mistakes where we understand what everybody is trying to say but at the same time it kind of impedes fluency and sometimes it does confuse the meaning of of what you're trying to express so first let's look at um in where are we here we go let's look at verbs that are followed by by a Jaren right here okay so here we have um or actually no wait wait this the first page I want to look at ah this one sorry sorry sorry this is the one that I wanted to look at um right here ah here we go it is just our overview of what jirens and infinitives are so again we're talking about um oh you're doing well I can't complain either I'm also doing excellent um thank you for asking Marco um we're talking about verbs that are followed by jirens or infinitives and I gave you a couple examples so the verb followed by a jiren is in blue I recommend studying with interactive English okay so if we're talking about the verb recommend it's going to be followed by a Jaren the ing the next one which I've I've highlighted the verb in red is plan I plan to study with interactive English um again this one is followed by the infinitive which is to plus the base verb to study okay both of them kind of have you know similar meanings I recommend studying with interactive English you recommend that somebody does something and the other one I plan to study with interactive English um so again one is followed by the jiren the other is followed by the infinitive uh let's again let's move right along because I want to show you that page that I had up there before which is Boom this one now these are verbs that are followed by Jaren okay and what I've done here is there there are more verbs that are followed by injn I've just listed the ones that I personally feel are a little more common than others and that are commonly used um with jirens and are used in everyday English again I'd like you to know if you're just joining us say hello say what's up in the chat um let us know where you're from what your name is so again these are verbs avoid consider dread enjoy finish feel like quit Miss postpone recommend you're all going to be followed by jarn and what I'd like you to do is ah n great question what does dread mean dread means that something you don't want to do it means that you are not looking forward to doing it you are kind of like uh I really don't want to do this that is what dread means so again if you have any questions just let us know what I'd like to ask you to do is always practice practice practice just take one of these verbs and try to write a sentence write a sentence in the comments um using a Jaren after these verbs so again these are some of the more common verbs that I feel um that are followed by a jarand I've gave you some examples down below and these are examples that are kind of you know personal that that are about me and I've highlighted the verb and the jarand in blue so it says I feel like eating pizza tonight that's true I woke up today I was like H all right I'd feel like uh eating some pizza tonight so again eating is the Ing and it follows that verb feel like okay you feel like doing something and the next sentence he avoids going to the dentist that is also something that describes me because I do not like the dentist so I avoid going there you avoid doing something okay so again these are verbs that are followed by the jarand again if you guys are just joining us hello what's up let us know your name tell us where you are joining us from write to us in the comments we are talking about jiren and infinitives today we're going to do a quick grammar lesson so again these are verbs that are followed by the jirens one thing I will say about this is when you're learning these um some people might say okay like there's not really a hard- fast rule all right this is something you just need to memorize you need to practice because some people might say okay yeah verbs that are followed by in jarand it's something usually something that is real it is something that is fixed it is something that you know is already completed so you could say for example I quit watching TV all right that is something that is completed all right I quit watching is the jiren TV but I think again me personally I feel like the best way to learn these is just to memorize them just to keep reading keep listening keep practicing like we're doing in this lesson right now because when you're in having a conversation you're not going to stop and think about the verb and think like well wait a second is this completed okay I'm going to use a jiren it just needs to come naturally so Natalia hello from Brazil how are you um hope everybody's doing well this weekend so again this is just something that I would recommend if you're trying to learn the difference between these the JN and infinitives just just learn study the verbs find the list and just keep practicing try to practice them when you're reading you're going to come across them and eventually you are going to internalize this information so Mar an example sentence with Dread okay so for example we could say that one sentence he avoids going to the dentist I can write I dread going to the dentist okay so that could be something like you dread you don't want to do something you dread going to the dentist you can um dread um meeting uh somebody for that you don't want to meet you can dread going to work in the morning there are many things that you can dread um but again in this case dread I've chose it because it's typically you it when you use it it's going to be followed by jiren more often than not in whatever sentence you're saying so these are verbs that are followed by jirens now let's have a look at verbs followed by infinitives okay so here we have another list of verbs um again hello if you're joining us uh Roger morning how are you um again say hello to us in the chat um tell us where you're joining us from Marco had a question um what is different like to do and like doing something we are going to get to that in just a moment you're you're reading our minds right now so we talked about verbs followed by jirens these are verbs that are commonly followed by infinitives but Roger we will get to your question in just a moment in the next uh slide that I'm going to show you so again we have a list of verbs that I would just recommend that you become comfortable uh familiarizing yourself with uh because you're not going to learn all the the different nuances but again you can learn like okay agree you you practice using that with the infinitive then at some point it's going to you're going to internalize it and you're just going to start using it correctly so again if you want to practice one of these choose one of these verbs write a sentence in the comments so I gave you some example sentences down below he promised to take her to dinner all right this is something that I've promised youan so maybe tonight we will go out to dinner and because I said I feel like eating pizza maybe we'll go out for Italian food he promised to take her to dinner the next one like that picture I have down there for you I learned to ride a bike again to ride is the infinitive and it is following the verb to learn you learn to do something you promise to do something these are followed by the infinitive all right again hello if you're joining us hello from y I didn't see that Cel hello from Yemen awesome got a people from all over the world with us this morning so I hope you guys are having a great weekend again in the comments just say hello let us know where you're joining us from we're talking about jirens and infinitives so these are all verbs that are followed by infinitives now we've talked about the ones followed by jiren followed by infinitive and now to kind of go to um Roger's question there are also verbs that are followed by either a Jaren or an infinitive such as the one you just asked in your question like like so these are verbs um again these are not all of them I'm just choosing the ones that I personally think are more common all right so verbs like begin continue hate like love start you can use either a Jaren or an infinitive to to say whatever it is you want to say and the one thing that you want that you need to keep in mind is that the meaning does not change it it's it's the same meaning so for example I gave you two sentences down there the Jaren is in blue the infinitive is in red we really like studying English we really like to study English it means the same thing it has the same meaning so you can use either one with these verbs personally and this is just my opinion I kind of prefer using the jiren I think it's a little more common nowadays um in the way that people use English like in spoken English in more colloquial English I think jirens are just a little more common and that also might be an American thing I'm not sure but that's just my opinion so again you can use either a Jaren or an infinitive with these verbs and the meaning is not going to change okay now for some of these other verbs let's see for example let's we have another list okay so with these other verbs right here they can also be used with a Jaren and an infinitive but the meaning changes all right and these are the ones that I think can really confuse Learners a little bit because depending if we use the jiren and if we use the infinitive it has a different meaning so forget remember stop there's not that many of them but with these verbs you can use either a Jaren or an infinitive but there's a difference in the meaning so let's look at these examples she remembers buying a birthday present all right remembers is followed by the jiren she remembers buying a birthday present it's kind of just talking about um a memory she's thinking back of like oh like she remembers doing this thing in the past it's a Memory it's finished she remembers buying this present all right so if we said she remembered to buy a birthday present all right that means that she didn't forget she has not bought the present yet all right she's going to do this in the future so remembers buying is a memory it's already done you know she's already bought the present and remembers to buy she hasn't bought the present she remembers like oh wait I still need to do this thing so again very different meanings all right one's talking about the memory the other one's basically saying like oh you didn't forget to do this so again we'll practice with these a little bit but these three verbs definitely remember um forget remember and stop these are verbs where the meaning will change a little bit and I think this is the more difficult part of this again if you guys are just joining us we're talking about jirens and infinitives you can say what's up in the comments let us know where you're joining us from um so before we do a quick little practice all right I just want to go review what we've talked about Okay so we've gone over let's see we've now talked about the verbs that are followed by a Jaren again these are some common verbs that we would just use with jirens all right and I recommend afterwards you can rewatch this video and again use the comment section just write sentences write random sentences I'll have a look at them you wantana we'll have a look at them and we'll give you some feedback there are these other verbs here that we talked about these are followed by infinitives which is two plus the base verb again I'd recommend practice using them because practice makes perfect we also then have another set of verbs like we had that question um about like doing something or like to do something these are verbs that can be followed by either a Jaren or infinitive you can use both and they have the same meaning the meaning doesn't change okay and some of these verbs are very common such as like uh we use it all the time talking about things we like to do um and then we also have these other verbs where the meaning does change forget remember and stop and you want to make sure you using them correctly and if you want some more information about jirens and infinitives I'm telling you what you can do is you could even just do um a Google search jirens versus infinitives and you're going to find a lot of information talking about the verbs that are followed by these and even some practices that you can do online so what I would like to do now uh or actually I don't know if you saw that I don't think I switched it over aha so I wanted to show you here again you can do a Google search jarn versus infinitives and you're going to find a lot of different information and you know some of them will help you even practice using these so what I'd like to do now is I want to practice um what we've learned all right now I ask can we do some more examples yes we're going to do some examples right now um so I'm going to give you a question all right and the for these first few I just want you to write is it are we going to use the Jaren or are we going to use the infinitive okay so the first question that I have for you where's my question page right here okay is this so Jaren versus infinitive we talked about this one dread is something you don't want to do I dread to the dentist are we going to use the Jaren I dread going to the dentist or the infinitive I dread to go to the dentist so in the comments all right just practice I want you to write going or to go are we going to use with this sentence are we going to use going or to go we just talked about this one um in our lesson if you're just joining us we're doing a practice with JNS in infinitive so what I'd like you to do is write the answer in the comments okay we got one all right I dread going to the dentist which one are we going to use going or to go I'll get again dread is something if you're not sure what it means it means something that you don't want to do okay so again in the comments just write which one all right so for this one where is my aha for this one again we are going to use dread is followed by the Jaren okay so we're going to say I dread going to the dentist all right the next one that I want to talk to you about let's do another question all right let's do this one right here boom okay here's the next one write either the jiren or the infinitive he hopes an English teacher all right becoming or to become right either the Jaren or the infinitive which one are we going to use with the verb hope okay and this is like this is a sentence for me all right he hopes an English teacher something I've always wanted to do ever since I was a little kid not really I wanted to be an athlete but unfortunately uh that didn't work out too well so um what do you think are we going to say use hope becoming or to become what do we use with hope is it followed by a Jaren or is it followed by the infinitive again if you just joined us we're doing a practice with jarn and infinitives even if you're watching this later on which many of people watch this afterwards write the sentences in the comments do the practice even though it's already the video is finished do the practice and keep writing them um practice writing sentences and we will comment on them all right so which one do you think are we going to use the Jaren becoming or to become all right with the verb hope is it followed by a Jaren or is it followed by the infinitive okay so with this one we got some more answers awesome for this one again it is going to be followed by the infinitive you hope to do something all right good job awesome n uh s Moto awesome to become Roger to become excellent all right so again for this one we are going to use the infinitive um to complete the sentence all right next one let's do another one of these and then we'll do bam okay what about this one I decide in tonight are we going to use staying or to stay so with the verb decide are we going to use the Jaren or are we going to use the infinitive okay which one do you think I decided in tonight uh this is something um hello M hello hello all right welcome welcome all right if you guys are just joining us again um we're doing a little practice with jirens in infinitive so again write your answers in the comments okay practice using it practice what we've just learned so what is the answer I decided in tonight so if we're talking about the verb decide again you decide to do something okay so for this this one I decided to stay in tonight okay you decide to do something I decided to go to work today I decided to play soccer this afternoon all right you decide to do something let's try another one um this one boom okay this is something uh about you know school learning homework um if we don't have homework now I'm sure we did at some point in our lives so what would we say how would we complete this sentence all right she finished her homework she finished her homework are we going to use the Jaren doing or the infinitive to do all right what do you guys think all right excellent getting more answers in there awesome all right so this one again you finish doing something okay so for this one we are going to use the Jaren there it is she finished doing her homework all right and often times again you again we're talking about you finish doing something it's almost a cocation that you're going to find these two words together frequently you finish doing this you finish doing that okay then next one um let's do one more and then we're going to switch it up a little bit and see if this works so one more sentence with the jarn's infinitive so how about this one they promised with the project okay so the verb promise are we going to use a jiren or are we going to use an infinitive write it in the comments okay which one are we going to use and if you're just joining us again we're doing a practice with jirens and infinitives because grammar is important um and if you I would recommend again watching the presentation again to learn this even better because this is something that you need to know so which one um getting some answers here n sndi getting answers excellent all right so again what do you think they they promise with the pr Jaren or infinitive so if we are talking about promise okay promise is followed by the infinitive you promise to do something all right they promise to help with the project okay I promised to take Yana out to dinner tonight okay so you promise to do something it's followed with the infinitive again um you know this is good practice practice practice so let's do a different one so with these okay I'm going to give you some sentences and I want you to tell me if the meaning changes or there is no change so let me show you what I'm talking about so here we have two sentences boom all right in the comments I want you to write if there is a change or no change so now these verbs are verbs that you can follow with a Jaren or infinitive you can use either one the difference is does the meaning of the sentence change or does the meaning not change we talked about this um so again we have two sentences we love studying English we love to study English does that meaning change are those uh is the meaning of those sentences is it the same um or does it not change all right does the meaning change or is there no change if there is no change then they are exactly the same so in the comments just write change or no change and again if you're watching this even a week later a month later a year later later write the answers in the comments just practice as we're doing this it will help you so again if we are talking about the verb love we can follow love with either a Jaren or infinitive but the meaning does not change okay with this let's see I can get this bam there is no ch change both of these mean the same thing we had a question earlier about what's the difference between um you like to do something or you like doing something it's the same with that we like studying English we like to study English there is absolutely no change in those so what about um this one okay again I'm just trying to choose verbs that we use fairly um regularly common verbs okay here's another one change or no change I hate watching horror films all right I hate watching horror films all right or I hate to watch horror films all right is there no change in the meaning these are the same all right the meaning is the same or does the meaning change is it different I hate watching horror films or I hate to watch horror films okay what do you think remember hate we can use either a Jaren or infinitive the question is you know does the meaning change or does it stay the same which one do you think all right what do you guys think change or no change okay write your answer in the comments okay what do you guys think we're getting some answers in here excellent excellent so with this one again when we're talking about hate it can be followed by a Jaren um or infinitive but there is no change in the meaning the meaning of both of these is essentially the same the difference is and I will tell this um tell you this and this is again this is my opinion English is no absolute I feel like when you're using the verb hate you can use either ajared or infinitive but I think in this case I think it's much more common that people will often use a Jaren all right you hate doing something you could say I hate to do something that is perfectly fine but I think in this case slightly in my opinion I feel like jiren is a bit more frequently used with this verb but essentially there is no change between these two meanings all right I hate watching horror films or I hate to watch horror films like I I don't like doing it there is no change in the meaning the last one okay let's do one more and then we'll talk about this so how about right here what do you think I forgot setting the timer okay I forgot to set the timer okay what do you think change or no change again this is a verb that can be followed with either the Jaren or the infinitive is there a change or no change when using the verb forget all right I forgot setting the timer all right I forgot to set the timer okay what do you guys think we're getting some answers awesome awesome awesome all right getting answers from everybody Nom Sylvia excellent Roger um what do you guys think is there change or no change write it in the comments so if we're talking about this one the verb is forget we talked about this um I forgot setting the timer I forgot to set the timer in this case all right there is a change okay there is a difference in the meaning between these two okay so let's look at them a little closer because again this is something that that can be a little confusing so I want to make a little more space down here um so again this meaning changes so for example I forgot setting the timer all right all right in this case you did set the timer you just forgot doing it you forgot about doing it all right I forgot setting the timer the timer is on you just forgot about it all right in the other situation I forgot to set the timer all right okay I'm going to make this a little smaller so let's see so this can all be up here there we go all right I forgot to set the timer you did not set the timer you completely forgot about it okay so in this case there are different meanings between you know you forget setting something or you forget to set something all right I forget I forgot setting the timer um I forgot to set the timer so remember the three verbs that we talked about where the meaning changes remember forget and stop those change so let me give you an example too I think somebody had asked about stop okay um I'm going to give you an example with stop real quick so you can see how the meaning changes um okay so we have this sentence I stop smoking so in these two sentences again the ones followed smoking is the jiren to smoke is the infinitive completely different meanings okay and the difference between these is I stopped smoking it basically means that again you quit smoking all right you do not smoke anymore you quit smoking it's not part of your life you stopped doing this activity you stopped smoking if you said I stopped to smoke then basically what that means is you smoke okay you stopped somewhere you stopped somewhere outside you're going somewhere and you stopped to smoke you stopped to do something okay so again very different meanings depending on whether you're using the Jaren or infinitive you stopped to do some you stopped doing something all right you no longer do it or you stopped to do something it was an interruption in your daily life in your activity because you wanted to do it all right so I hope you guys enjoyed this little lesson this lesson on um jirens and infinitives again I'd recommend check out our social media if you haven't already join us connect with us we put up a bunch of questions for you guys to answer to help you practice and improve your English skills again um if you want a little more practice I'd rewatch the presentation part so you can see those verbs that are used with either a Geren or infinitive and and I would just practice using them you know as you read as you study more as you listen more you are just going to understand when and when not to use it and how it's used and you're just going to improve your English and you you won't even probably realize it at the time so thank you thank you thank you for joining us um hope you guys learn something new and we will continue with more lessons next Saturday um not really sure what time and we will see you then all right thank you guys so much have a wonderful rest of the weekend and keep studying --- ## 317. Ghostly Halloween Idioms That Will Scare You Stiff ๐ŸŽƒ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `h7gDtiU92aI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7gDtiU92aI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:44:59 | --- Today I'm going to teach you 11 spooky, scary Halloween idioms. I'm sure you're wondering, "Why 11?" Because 11 is an odd number and we are all about odd things around Halloween time. Today we're talking about Halloween idioms. So if you're ready for some spooky fun, keep watching. You can use these idioms anytime, anywhere, not just on Halloween. But keep in mind that idioms are more of an informal way of communicating. So don't go putting them on job applications, or essays, or things like that. Are you ready for some spooky idioms? Let's go! Number one... Are you scared? You should be because this idiom is scared stiff. And scared stiff means very badly, badly, badly, badly, frightened. So frightened that you can't really move. You're stiff. You can't move. Badly frightened. Scared stiff. Number two - something that comes back to haunt. This idiom refers to a mistake from the past that affects someone later. So if something has come back to haunt you, it's not usually good. It's something that you've done a long time ago, and you see the consequences of that action now. It's not good, and it's very, very terrifying. Number three - a stab in the back. Ouch...that is painful. Now from the get-go you can tell that this is not good. Nobody wants to get stabbed in the back. But what it really means is if somebody betrays you. This idiom could be a stab in the back or it could be to stab someone in the back. This idiom usually does refer to people who are close to you. They are usually the ones who can stab you in the back. So if you have any friends, please don't stab them in the back. It's not nice. It's painful. Number four - witch hunt. A witch hunt is an investigation usually used to harass a particular person or a group of people. So it's not good. It's like you're targeting a specific person or group of people to harass them. Not good. Number five - skeleton in the closet. Whoo...did it get cold in here? This one refers to an embarrassing or incriminating secret from your past. It references having a corpse hidden inside your closet. You wouldn't want anyone to find out about that. Number six - blind as a bat. I love this idiom. And you know why? Because I am kind of blind as a bat. It just means a person who cannot see very well. So without my contacts or my glasses I am definitely blind as a bat. I would run into things, hit things, fall. Not good. Number seven - night owl. This is a person who is awake during the night. They are very comfortable staying up at night. Maybe they're working or they're studying. Or maybe they're watching movies or other things. They're just very comfortable being up and awake in the middle of the night. I am NOT a night owl. I love to go to bed early. In fact, it one of my favorite things. So...not a night owl. Number eight - in cold blood. Now we're really getting somewhere scary. This idiom means to do something without mercy or emotion. And it usually refers to killing. So it's an idiom that I hope you don't use very often at all. Hopefully maybe never because it's just not a good situation to have. Number nine - a death trap. A death trap is a place that is potentially very dangerous. I challenge you to say death trap ten times. Go! Death trap, death trap, death trap, death trap, death....five times even is hard. Number ten - ghost town. I love ghosts. No, sorry ghosts. If you hear me, I don't love you. I was joking. It's not as scary as it sounds though because a ghost town is a place that is empty. So it doesn't have to be an actual town full of ghosts. Although, how scary would that be? But I'm a wuss so I'd get scared and run. And number 11, the oddest one of all, to give someone the heebie-jeebies. I love this idiom. The first time I learned this idiom, I was actually watching Madagascar. Out of all things...yes the animated cartoon movie. Yes, that's the one. Does anyone else have the heebie-jeebies? It sounds really funny, the heebie-jeebies, but it doesn't have a good or funny meaning. If somebody is giving you the heebie-jeebies, it means they're making you very, very scared. So scared that you're trembling. Ohhh. Gives me the heebie-jeebies. Now are you ready for spooky practice? In the comments, tell us about a time when someone scared you stiff or gave you the heebie-jeebies. Go! That's it for this lesson. Please give this video a thumbs up if you feel like you've learned something new and had some spooky fun. Thank you for joining us and we'll see you next time. Bye! --- ## 318. Grammar Quiz - prepositions, verb tenses, adverbs, & more | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FvnOdQ6MmcY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvnOdQ6MmcY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:00:52 | --- this is a comprehensive grammar quiz and if you enjoy practicing and improving your grammar skills then please subscribe turn on notifications because I would like to become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you improve your skills and reach your fluency goals so what I've done is I've taken some of my favorite grammar quizzes and I've put them together in this nice long comprehensive quiz and I think it's only appropriate that we begin with prepositions because they can be a bit confusing so I think that's a good place to start I'm going to give you the sentence and I just want you to tell me which preposition best completes the sentence okay so the first one that I have for you is this right here all right the first one is they were convicted um a crime they didn't commit what do you think convicted on convicted by convicted with convicted of which one do you think it is convicted of here's the next question I have for you he's accustomed driving in snowy weather which preposition best completes that sentence he's a custom driving in snowy weather and the answer yes is two he's accustomed to driving in snowy weather the team is devoted winning the championship all right what do you think the team is devoted winning the championship is it devoted to devoted at devoted in or devoted on which one do you think which one of these sounds right to you when you're talking about these prepositions so I hope that you said the answer again is two the team is devoted to winning the championship many believe the iPhone is superior all others Superior Superior at Superior with Superior 2 or Superior of I don't really have a strong opinion this was just the only example I could think of but the answer is two many believe the iPhone is superior to all others the next one uh that I have for you another uh multiple choice question parents want to keep their children safe um danger and some of you again maybe you know these without even looking at some of the choices that I gave you would you say safe to safe from safe around or safe over we're talking about keeping somebody safe I think this is very true I definitely want to keep our little girl safe and I would want to keep her safe from danger parents want to keep their children safe from something else something dangerous I could say I really hope you are engaged in these lessons Okay if someone is engaged that is a way to describe a person that is an adjective and you would often follow it with a certain preposition so what do you think I hope you're really engaged these lessons the answer is in I really hope you are engaged in these lessons so if you are engaged in something it just means that you are you are paying attention you want to learn and you are engaged in a certain activity and you're very engaged that's a good thing the next one is I'm grateful um your offer what do you think if two people there they come to an agreement somebody might say this I'm grateful um your offer which preposition best completes that and you would say that they are grateful four I'm grateful for your offer and if you are grateful for something it's the same as saying that you are thankful for this thing and again that is another uh adjective that you'd follow with that same preposition grateful for thankful for the next one that I have for you is their marriage is devoid um laughter so this one uh this adjective may be a little trickier a little more advanced devoid um something devoid of their marriage is devoid of laughter and if we're talking about uh if you are devoid of something it means that they lack something that there it that it doesn't exist there is none there is no laughter in their marriage it is devoid of laughter devoid of something the next one I could say are you concerned um your health and I tried to make this question relevant to I have the picture of these Donuts back there uh Donuts that you know they're not very healthy it's not the healthiest of foods so somebody uh could ask like hey are you concerned your health concerned about so if you are concerned about something then it just means you're worried about it so again even in that case you're concerned about you're worried about they mean the same thing and we use that preposition about concerned about something the next one she is very well acquainted the facts of the case so there in the background you kind of have this picture of a woman and the idea would be perhaps she's a lawyer and we're talking about a case she's trying a case and you could say well she is very well acquainted the facts of the case the answer is with she is very well acquainted with the facts of the case if you are acquainted with it it means that you are you know about it that you are familiar with this thing now I'm going to try and make it a little more challenging because this time I am going to give you a sentence and there are two there are two missing prepositions all right so the first one I could say that is this if you're addicted our Channel then that means you're pleased our lessons okay so which prepositions follow those two adjectives so we're talking about addicted something or you're pleased something so the correct answer is to end with if you are addicted to our Channel then that means you are pleased with our lessons if you are addicted to something it means that you must have it if you're addicted to our Channel then and then that means you're pleased with something you are happy with it pleased with I just like this picture that's why I chose it the dog is notorious destroying my shoes and I'm fed up it all right those are the two adjectives notorious and fed up so the notorious and fed up those are the two adjectives in the sentences which prepositions which prepositions are going to follow those the dog is notorious for destroying my shoes and I'm fed up with it he's notorious for destroying my shoes if you are uh if you are notorious for something all right if you're notorious for something it means that you are known for this thing and if you are fed up with something you are tired of it you are not going to take it anymore and say I'm fed up with this let's look at the next one the store was crowded um people who were eligible um the grand prize so those are the two adjectives you're talking about crowded many people and the other one eligible eligible um something the store was crowded with people who were eligible for the grand prize so if you say a place is crowded with something it means there are many things and if you are eligible for something it means that you have met the requirements to get something the next one that I have for you is and this is how I feel so this is what uh this is why I chose this sentence I don't know if you can see the picture it's a picture of an airplane and there are seats on the airplane and I would say I'm incapable getting comfortable this seat you would say that I'm incapable of getting comfortable in this seat so if you're talking about you are capable of doing something that that you can do it if we want to say the opposite you would say incapable of doing something since we're talking about a seat and somebody would sit in a seat you would say comfortable in this seat because we're sitting the next one if you're Keen this is what I would would tell you guys or I try to tell you guys all the time if you're Keen improving your English join our community and you'll be amazed all the cool stuff we'll send you you are Keen doing something and you are amazed hmm something if you are keen on doing something it means that you want to do it you desire to do it if you're keen on improving your English if you want to do it then I would say join our community and you'll be amazed by all the cool stuff will will send you it's amazed by you are amazed by something I'm sure that you rock that part of the quiz you can let me know down in the comments but right now I want to switch gears to something that's very important and what I'm talking about are verb tenses and I say this is very important because this is going to tell us the time when something happens so let's begin and good luck let's just look at our very first question and again this is all about verb tenses I'm going to give you a sentence with a blank I want you to to write the correct verb tense I'm also go I'll tell you the verb as well and I'll give you a little bit of a hint so so here's the first one it's gonna get more difficult as we go along so here is our first sentence all right and I want you to complete that sentence and this maybe this is a little tricky so I've given you a hint that this is uh well there is a modal in this sentence the main verb is no all right so how would you complete this sentence he ought better what do you think the answer is to no so I told you that it's a little tricky because you're not only writing the verb you need to put the preposition 2 in there so ought is your modal verb many people really consider ought to as the modal and then when you have like a modal verb you're going to follow that with the base verb no so he ought to know better the next one right here um this is going to be again maybe it's a little tricky so the plane um your main verb is arrive at 8 pm your clue is scheduled time you might be thinking schedule time wait what does that have to do with anything I will explain when I give you the answer the reason I said I thought it would be tricky is because I thought many people might say will arrive which you could say but schedule time it's more common that people are going to use the present simple even if you're talking about something in the future so if we have to go to the airport I would tell you like oh we we need to leave now we need to drive to the airport because the plane arrives at 8 pm how about this one again um your clue unspecified time all right the main verb is the verb to be so how would you complete this sentence I um to China twice in this case unspecified time we're talking about the present perfect tense I have been to China twice I didn't tell you the time so in that case it's it's common people are going to use the present perfect tense I have been to China twice here we go and this is true actually uh this is a true sentence for me and my family I'd say last year last year at this time we um a trip to Romania your clue is I'm talking about an action at a point in time so hopefully these clues that I'm giving you will help remind you of the verb tense that you should be using because when you're learning verb tenses this is what this is the way people would teach them this is how I would talk about them and I would tell people oh think about think about it's an action at a point in time you're going to use this verb tense we're talking about the past continuous last year at this time we were planning a trip to Romania I I said it's an action so if you think about an action it's like something that's happening at a point in time which means it's going to continue because we were talking about an action typically it's something that will continue along and in this case it's the past continuous let's look uh at the next one okay the main verb is get I um the door in this case I want you to think about the situation and you're saying this sentence like it's a quick and sudden decision and if you're talking about a sudden decision I'll get so you're going to use will with quick and sudden decisions something that would happen immediately and I think most of the time in conversation people are going to use the contracted form I will I'll I'll get the door I'll answer it the next one right here so this I'm telling you there's an adverb clause in this sentence and the adverb clause is before my alarm went off the hint is really a like think about that adverb clause and that's going to help you determine the the verb tense that main verb which is here so before my alarm went off I um a loud boom the answer that I have for you just think about is just heard before my alarm went off I heard a loud boom in this case you're saying before my alarm went off all right that that has not happened yet you're just talking about in general something that happened before this other thing that that had not happened before my alarm went off I heard a loud boom let's look at the next one the main verb is learn all right we're talking about a continuing action I um English for four years and I will continue to do so in the future another key word there is for f-o-r the preposition not the number so I um English for four years and I will continue to do so in the future we're talking about the present perfect continuous I have been learning English for four years and I will continue to do so in the future let me tell you why it's the present perfect continuous so that first part um that first independent clause I've been learning English for four years something that started in the past it's continued to the present so that really tells you you're going to use the perfect tense but in this case it's better to use the present perfect continuous because the next part is saying that you will continue learning English in the future so that is one difference between the present perfect and present perfect continuous I think of uh an action that will continue in the future you're going to use the present perfect continuous I have been learning so here's the the situation there's two sentences your key is that there's like just some evidence so think of the situation there's only one minute left in the match our team win so when is the verb that I want you to use how are you going to use that what verb tense in order to complete that sentence so that it really that the situation makes sense in this case remember how I told you before that sudden uh sudden quick actions like something that happens immediately you're going to use will in this case you're going to use going to when there's evidence or even there's a sign that something will come in the future you're going to use going to there's only one minute left in the match our team is going to win this is great let's look at the the next question or the next sentence that I have for you this is an example of the subjunctive technically the subjunctive mood so here's my sentence the doctor recommends that she some sleep recommends is your really that's your that is the main verb the that she um some sleep that is a clause but a clause it still has a verb in it you would say she get the doctor recommends that she get some rest did I say sleep in that first sentence No Rest sorry maybe I misspoke when I was talking about it the doctor recommends that she gets some rest now I will say that again I'm writing this down so in writing I think it's very common people use the subjunctive mood now if we're talking about spoken English I think that people will say gets and this is sometimes when um the way people speak does not always match the way somebody would write something that is grammatically accepted or correct here's another one are you guys ready what do you think two past events all right and now I'm giving you two blanks so think about the situation by the time I um at the restaurant that is actually an adverb clause the main Clause everyone and I want you to use already order so how would you complete that sentence there's two different blanks in this one by the time I um at the restaurant everyone so the first part by the time I um at the restaurant that is my adverb clause and with the adverb clause you're going to use the simple past the next part it's appropriate especially because you see the word already that to tell you okay the perfect tense and because we're talking about the past then you would use the past perfect so it's almost like you're talking about these two events that happened in the past by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone had already eaten so I this is a good example as to when you would use the past perfect tense okay now we're going to talk about some extremely common words in English and this can be difficult because in some languages these words don't exist and I'm talking about articles a and the or no article so after I tell you the answer I will explain why you would use this article here we go I'm talking about the Articles a and the and no article as well often I I think in grammar books you may see people use this Sim symbol this Theta symbol when they want to represent that no article is used so I'm going to give you a bunch of different sentences and I just want you to complete the sentence with the correct article let's begin with this question right here and that Blank Spot um and I'd say that's great this is something I might tell you I'd say that's great you want to learn um English so what are you going to use in that blank which article are you going to use a and the or no article the answer is no article so when you're talking about languages we do not use articles before languages if you're talking about English French German Russian Japanese you are not going to use an article the next question is and I I want you to put yourself in this situation pretend that you are at a restaurant and you are asking this question and you say excuse me can you tell me where um toilet is which article would you use to complete that sentence the answer is the excuse me can you tell me where the toilet is and in this situation specifically I'm talking about a restaurant you use the when you assume there is only one of something so if you're at a restaurant you assume there's probably just one toilet for men there's one toilet for women and you would ask the question and use the the next one is this woman uh right here I would say just talking about her job she works as University Professor all right she works as University Professor I told you to think about the noun but you're also in this case you need to consider that adjective the word university because it's describing which type of Professor and the reason why that you need to consider that adjective is because of the sound that comes after the article so what do I mean by that the correct answer is a she is a university Professor or you could say she is a university Professor either pronunciation is correct I tend to use uh and just say that schwa sound she's a university professor and we use a before non-specific nouns it's Professor it could be any Professor that begin with a consonant sound I told you you have to think about University because that is the next sound that you hear when you think about the rule with A and N many people think oh look at the letter is it a consonant letter or a vowel and that's going to tell you the answer it's re it really depends on the sound if it's a consonant sound that follows the article you're going to use a u is a vowel the letter it's a it's a consonant sound that yeah yeah University um all right the next one this is true this is something that I think I've said before and I would say one day I hope to climb um Mount Kilimanjaro okay so what are you going to use to complete that sentence a and the or no article we're talking about a mountain Mount Kilimanjaro it is a proper noun if we're talking about mountains we are not going to use an article before the names of mountains so when you are giving the name and using the proper noun Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount Everest you are not going to use an article before that name this is one of those rules that again you don't need to memorize the rule but just the more you see sentences like this and you say to yourself okay one day I hope to climb Mount Kilimanjaro the next time you are talking about a mountain and you say the name you're just going to naturally you're not going to use an article let's look at the next one which is this this is a little uh trivia question for you too all right what is um most northern capital city in the world and I'm gonna give you the real answer to this so what is um most northern capital city in the world the key word in there I think is most the answer is the the key word is most because when you're talking about superlatives you're going to use the article the the most um the most beautiful the most incredible or even if you're talking about like those shorter uh superlatives the fastest um the the smelliest the dirtiest and the answer this is true the the most northern capital city in the world is Reykjavik Iceland the next question that I have for you is this one right here um and this is where uh this is where I used to live would you like to visit um Golden Gate Bridge okay so um I'm talking about uh another name it is a proper noun would you like to visit um Golden Gate Bridge so again when you're thinking about those rules I'm talking about the name of a bridge what do you think you're going to use the correct answer is the when you're talking about the names of bridges uh you're going to use the article the the Golden Gate Bridge the Brooklyn Bridge so these are rules that the more you practice the more you read the more you listen you're just gonna start to remember this information so this one now I'm gonna throw a few at you with uh two two of the two options in there lake in North America is um Lake Superior which article a and the or no article again that first one we've talked about the answer is the and no article so we talked about that first one when we're saying the superlatives the largest the largest lake in North America is Lake Superior you you will not use an article before the names of lakes let's look at the next one right here um again there's two two different ones that I want you to complete and this is something like you're you're telling a story think of this as like uh storytelling and in this case this is not an exciting story it's kind of just starting out I say here is a man standing next to um plant there is a ladybug on um plant it's kind of a boring story but I'll I'll tell you why this is useful in just a moment so what uh what two articles would you use to complete this story these sentences so that it's correct the way you would say is here is a man standing next to a plant there is a ladybug on the plant if you're talking about a story and that's why I wanted to reference this in relation to storytelling because you have the the rule of first mention you use a or uh the first time that something is mentioned so when you're talking about a store and you mentioned something for the first time you're going to use uh or a the next time that you mention it the second mention you're going to use the and the reason for that is because the first time you say something it could be just non-specific and you could be talking about any plan the second time you mention that same thing it then becomes specific he's learning how to play um tennis okay so the noun I told you guys to think about the noun that follows so we're talking about tennis it's a sport he's learning how to play tennis when we're talking about the names of sports or games even if we're talking about games you are not going to use an article he's learning how to play tennis or I play soccer or I love um to play Monopoly the name of a game there's no article before that then we have uh this is an extra Russian what do you think apple a day keeps um doctor away so if you've heard this expression you probably know which articles um go in there or maybe no article so we're talking about Apple it is uh it starts with a vowel sound so you're going to use n the expression goes an apple a day keeps the doctor away all right so and before non-specific count nouns that start with a vowel sound the before specific nouns the reason why I say specific is because when you're when you're saying this expression I think typically well people have a specific doctor and that's what they're referring to when they say the expression because if you say a doctor again you'd be talking about any doctor but people in general they they may have a doctor that they will regularly go see so I think that's why in this case Doctor would be specific an apple a day keeps the doctor away I guess it's true apples are good for us the next one Manny Pacquiao I hope I believe I'm pronouncing that correctly maybe not if you're from the Philippines you can correct me Manny Pacquiao who is um famous boxer is not from Malaysia he's from um Philippines fill in the blank with either a and the or no article but Manny Pacquiao who is a famous boxer all right just in general like I said at the very um um beginning we talked about someone who was a professor who is a famous boxer is not from Malaysia no article when we talk about the names of countries and this this is a rule that applies to most countries countries with plural names you're going to use um the and I think Philippines is probably one of the more famous uh well-known countries with a plural name I think there are um two or three more maybe you guys can think of some but for most countries you're going to use no article but you use the before countries with plural names or if you're talking about countries where it like names the type of state it is or it's like a collective a group for example the United States or the United Kingdom or the Republic of China then you will also use the as well as before plural names and this one if you enjoyed the lesson please hit like button how would you complete how would you complete this sentence talking about something it's specific there's only one so the answer is yes the if you enjoyed this lesson please hit the like button how are you doing so far all right I'm gonna try to make it a little more difficult because well the next thing that we're going to talk about I think this may be the most difficult part of the quiz and we're going to talk about conditional sentences and we're going to go over all of them so without further Ado let's practice using conditionals it's a bit of a conditional quiz I'm not going to go deep into the the grammar of these different conditionals we're just going to practice uh writing sentences and practice our skills um just some Basics okay so what are conditional statements this is when you have a condition and a result so the condition is going to be that if statement the result is just your main Clause so you can see this sentence right down here if you don't pay attention that is a condition if you don't pay attention you won't understand conditionals the next part is just let's look at the types of conditionals okay so I've listed uh five different kinds of conditionals and I've given you an example sentence so the zero conditional if you touch fire you get burned this is just like a general truth the first conditional we're talking about a result that happens in the future if I go to the party I'll call you the second conditional those are your hypothetical situations okay those are kind of imaginary if I could fly I would travel the world all right can I fly no it's imaginary the third conditional okay is unreal and the reason I say it's unreal is because we're talking about a condition that happened in the past it's already happened we cannot change the past so that's why I say well it's unreal you can't change the past if I had gone I would have told you so maybe you're talking about that party that you're supposed to go to well if I had gone to the party I would have told you and then the final one the mixed conditional this this one can be really challenging because you're taking oftentimes you're taking a condition that it happened in the past and then you're talking about a present result as in as in this example sentence right here if I had eaten all right I wouldn't be hungry now if I had eaten earlier in the day I didn't eat but if I had eaten then I would not be hungry right now so we're gonna start out we're going to start a little easier and then it's just going to get a little more difficult the first part is what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you the condition or the result and I just want you to complete the sentence let's just do the first one so for example let's talk let's look at the zero conditional okay this is the one I want you to write a sentence in the zero conditional if you commit a crime what what's the result so I've given you the condition the if statement if you commit a crime okay tell me the result remember to keep it in the zero conditional this is talking about a general truth keeping it in the zero conditional you go to jail so a general truth okay if you commit a crime present simple you go to jail present simple let's look at the first conditional okay so I I've tried to make this a little more challenging okay those are the pictures all right you see study tests all right I'll fail you're talking about a condition and a result they're not always in that order sometimes the result can come before the condition the meaning is the same so I've given you the result I want you to complete the sentence tell me what the condition is and use those pictures I'll fail what's the condition if I don't study for the test the result is going to have the future tense I'll fail the condition present simple I'll fail if I don't study for the test and usually yes that that's that's true statement um let's look at the next one okay the second conditional hypothetical situation okay if you're just maybe you're just thinking something to yourself if I had five dollars okay if I had five dollars what the condition is in the past simple if I had five dollars I would say I would buy you a coffee the result would plus the base verb I would buy you a coffee I would go I would sing I would dance so again this is the second conditional now let's look at the third conditional are you ready in in this case again I'm giving you the result first all right I'm giving you the result we would have hit the like button and again you you could you might say something a little different it's fine you can have different answers I just want to make sure you guys have an idea as to how you should use these conditionals and then make sure you know the the grammar isn't confusing you too much all right so again you're talking about something that happened in the past all right we can't change the past I would say again we would have hit the like button if you had asked us I didn't ask you I didn't ask you in the past it's already happened so then again think about the grammar the condition if you had asked is the past perfect had asked and then the result we have would Plus have plus the past participle would have hit okay so if you haven't hit the like button I am asking you now please go ahead hit that like button if you like practicing your English skills and practicing using conditionals okay now let's do a mixed one and I just realized all right this is this is very similar to that example uh okay I don't want to tell you we've already we've already kind of talked about this so this is a mixed conditional if I had eaten breakfast that is the condition I want you to give me a result from the present all right so think about this situation think about your real life you didn't eat breakfast how would you feel if I had eaten breakfast again I wouldn't be so hungry right now I'm talking about the I said right now just to emphasize that I'm talking about the present okay this is an example of a mixed conditional and a common one that people might say well if I had eaten earlier I wouldn't be so hungry that is a common example Okay so what I want to do now all right we're going to switch it up a little now I have a few more questions for you and this is just going to be a gap fill it's multiple choice so let's look at the first question if I um it was going to rain I would have brought my umbrella okay what what do you think best completes that that conditional statement if I um it was going to rain I would have brought my umbrella so the correct answer is B all right we're talking about uh the third conditional if I had known it was going to rain I would have brought my umbrella third conditional all right excellent the next one but this one I think you can see clearly I um you to dinner if you help me move what do you think what what best completes that sentence I um you to dinner if you help me move what will happen in the future we're talking about the first conditional all right so the correct answer wait a second the correct answer is C yes I'd want to know make sure that I got the right letter I will take you to dinner if you help me move let's do another one here we go um if you if okay if I um you I join our email list what what uh uh what would you what would you say if I um you I join our email list so the correct answer is B I put if I were you I join our email list it's the second conditional when you're talking about the second conditional it is grammatically appropriate to use the subjunctive if I were you writing is more formal so I think if you're writing something I would stick with the subjunctive and use were so just something if you said a then I would say okay you're not really wrong I told you so I would accept both of them so just keep that in mind this is the subjunctive so now what I want to do is I'm going to give you a situation this is kind of talking about Transformations I'm going to give you a situation I want you to write a conditional sentence so let's look at the first one right now so again I will read it in case you're you can't see it very well because of the the colors and the picture so it says I didn't take the bus so I didn't arrive on time okay what is a conditional sentence that you could use that that would mean the same thing that would capture that same meaning taking one sentence and using uh saying it in a different way but having the same meanings if I had taken the bus past perfect I would have arrived on time so basically like I put the sentence down there so you can reference it I didn't take the bus so I didn't arrive on time if I had taken the bus I would have arrived on time so we can use the third conditional to say to have that same meaning and it's a little more challenging because you have to think it through a bit more with that grammar let's do another one so I don't live in New York City because I didn't get the job I don't live in New York City because I didn't get the job what conditional sentence could you write that has the same meaning remember how I said typically you'll find like a condition your if statement and then the result you can put the result first and then the condition that's a hint so if we're going to put the result first I would say the following all right I would live in New York City you're talking about right now I would live there right now if I had gotten the job and I would say again when you're talking about the the past perfect had gotten had got you can use either one either one of those is correct one more good good practice right now so I'm shy I didn't go over and talk to her okay I'm shy I didn't go over and talk to her what conditional would would capture that okay so again think about uh a the condition and the result so in this one I switched it around all right I know I said it's it's still it's still best to use the subjunctive but I wanted to give you this example because again somebody might say this and they might not use the subjunctive and this is this is how it is in English but I would say again just even though I didn't do it here if you're writing I would I would set recommend stick with the subjunctive if I weren't so shy I would have gone over and talked to her but again somebody might just be having a conversation they say wow if I wasn't so shy I would have gone over and talked to her okay right now I want to practice some useful words and phrases to help you be more descriptive and they're going to help you be more descriptive when talking about time manner or place do you see where I'm going with this so I want to quiz you on adverbs and if you know this it's going to help you dramatically improve your English skills let's begin we're going to start with some adverbs of frequency and I think this is a little hopefully this is a little easier your familiar with many of these adverbs and all I want you to do and there's more than one you see those percentages there so we're talking about frequency which word would you use to talk about something that is one hundred percent of the time and then which word would you use for 75 percent of the time and then fifty percent of the time 25 and then zero saying that okay this I don't want to give the adverb the word away but that is how frequent this is zero percent the first one 100 we're talking about always something that you always do I always brush my teeth before I go to bed but 75 percent I think uh most of the time people are going to use usually usually you could also use the word often and fifty percent of the time sometimes you know it sometimes rains in the in Spring 25 percent of the time rarely I think this one is commonly used I would even say rarely I think you could go less than 25 and then I think zero percent at the at the end never if you say I never do something then you really zero percent I think you will always use these words in conversation talking about how frequently you do something now let's move into some um well some other things that I think are kind of well similar different ways you could say this so here is an expression if I say we like to eat sushi um and it equals it's the same as sometimes so I'm talking about like 50 what is an expression that I can use that means the same as sometimes there's more than one answer but what I was going for was this one every now and then so every now and then means kind of the same as sometimes I've also put another one down there from time to time is another phrase expression that you could use there are many different adverbs of frequency this this next one is an idiom and I've given you a hint down here so and this is kind of true um especially we live in Hungary it's a landlocked country we eat seafood um what what would uh what would I complete that with it's the same as rarely actually I would even go like like lower than that and say it's probably closer to like hardly ever so I tried to give you a little bit of a hint to tell you what this idiom is um the answer is once in a blue moon I told I put two moons down there with a calendar because that is a blue moon a blue moon is when you have two full moons in the same month they call that a blue moon and it is something that happens rarely it does not happen that often which is where this came from this expression that oh you do something once in a blue moon you just you do it rarely you don't often do it but now I want to switch to kind of another group adverbs of degree so the first question that I have for you thinking about like a degree like to the extent of something this is a question that somebody would ask kind of like jokingly trying to be humorous if it's like very hot outside and you're talking to somebody else and you know that that person feels like wow it is hot you know this person thinks it's very hot outside you could ask this question jokingly is it hot um for you the answer is enough that is the that is the adverb that I'm looking for it's an adverb of degree is it hot enough for you so that's a good phrase to know as well this is more like vocabulary so now I've given you the adverb these are all adverbs talking about like a degree and I I want you to think of which word may follow there are different words that might often follow these adverbs and I just want you to think of some right now this is a great way for um you know to build your vocabulary collocations are when you have two words that are frequently used together so if you were to think of the adverb like fully what's the next word that just comes to mind not really a quiz question but really trying to get you to think of different words so uh the ones that I was that I chose and again there's no right or wrong answer fully aware yes you are fully aware of something that you know that something is happening deeply sorry about something a situation like sorry or regret deeply is one that you would that you would use you're deeply sorry about something or you deeply regret something and then utterly I I think this one because utterly kind of means the same as extremely there are many different words that you could use utterly insane is just the first one that came to my mind uh but you could say something is utterly ridiculous I think is another common collocation now I want to look at some adverbs of manner and the first question I think is I I think you guys will know it I think it's not too difficult uh is this one it's just to fill in the blank I think you speak English very which adverb would you use to complete that sentence there are many words that you could actually use depending on what what somebody's trying to say what I was going for um is well I think you speak English very well fluently slowly clearly I told you there are many adverbs of uh adverbs of manner that you could use to complete this I want you to do a sentence transformation so sentence transformation is when you're you're saying the same thing but you're just using another sentence so right here I I give you the original sentence I want you to be careful when you take the test what I want you to do change one of those words to an adverb of manner and just rewrite the sentence what would you say you're you're transforming the sentence you're saying the same thing but you're just saying it in a different way you would say I want you to take the test carefully we're saying it's the same thing it has the same meaning if we're talking about those adverbs of manner it's it's often it's those l y adverbs not all of them end in an l y but many of them do now I want to kind of combine degree and manner with this uh this is a question and the reason why I'm giving you this question it's kind of a play on words as a teacher I would say this to students sometimes kind of just joking around being funny I told you it's a play on words are you working or um working hard and hardly so are you working hard or hardly working and it's a play on words because we're using that that adverb you have hard as an adverb and then hardly as an adverb and the reason why it's funny it's a play on words because working hard and hardly working are opposites if somebody is working hard in that case we're talking about that adverb of degree like you're working with a lot of intensity hardly as an adverb of uh manner means kind of like well uh slightly very little so that's why I said it's kind of a play on words working hard hardly working their opposites and this is a good example of that using these adverbs are you working hard or hardly working so we talked about adverbs of frequency some manner some degree these are all uh some adverbs of time which again I think many of these these are very very common adverbs and this is one that I don't think I don't think it's too difficult the reason why I'm putting this up there maybe it's challenging because I do often hear people make mistakes when it comes to using this adverb of time the package arrived and then what how would you complete that sentence and I've given you the calendar down there to kind of really put it in context I know that calendar it does not have seven days that's okay just pretend like it's a it's a four day week so you see that the blue that's when the package that's today um and then then you can count backwards the days when the package arrived the answer I was looking for you could say yes earlier not not yesterday again because again count backwards all right it said not yesterday not not two days ago but three days ago sometimes I hear Learners make mistakes and they'll say things like two days before or three days before um or like five days before instead of using like five days ago or one week ago or three years ago something we have not talked about so far are questions and I want to test your knowledge when it comes to tag questions and and I think this is more relevant when it comes to spoken English because we use these in just casual conversation so it's helpful to know how to use them correctly do you have an episode about Tag questions and I had to respond and say no but that's a great great idea so today we are going to talk about Tag questions or question tags so the first thing you might be thinking is well Tag questions question tags what's the difference and the answer to that is absolutely nothing so you have two types of statements you have a positive statement and negative statements positive statements are followed by a negative tag he finished the report didn't he now a negative statement negative statements are followed by a positive tag he didn't finish the report did he did he is the positive tag after let's the tag begins with shell let's eat shall we so this is a fundamental rule that you can follow the other one is right here use aren't I in tags to mean I am not I'm the favorite to win aren't I use won't for polite request so somebody would say you'll help won't you we're going to use will or would with imperative sentences and remember imperative sentences those are commands write to us in the comments would you or write to us in the comments will you use didn't in a question tag when the verb is used to all right you used to watch our lessons didn't you there are two endings possible when have is the main verb one of them is more common in American English that first example if somebody says oh she has friends doesn't she but in British English many people might say she has friends hasn't she this is good because if we're we're using you're gonna use it in the question tag that includes this or that so when you're using this or that in your statement this is it isn't it and again same down here if we're talking about these or those these are your shoes aren't they we are going to do a practice and what we are going to do for this practice is I'm going to give you the statement and all you have to do is write the tag are you ready are you sure all right I'll give you one second to prepare one all right here we go so the first question uh is this all right he's always studying so I want you guys you know what what is the tag that we're going to use to make this a question he's always studying he's always studying isn't he okay remember positive statement negative tag next one let's try this one okay give me a hand hmm how are you going to this this is a common question that you would ask somebody give me a hand if it's an imperative sentence you're going to use will or would so oftentimes even if you're watching TV or a movie you might hear somebody hey you know give me a hand will you or give me a hand would you next uh next one next one here we go what do you guys think I told you what happened I told you what happened how would you complete that question and this is again this is just think of it as a conversation this is people are talking and somebody is like wait a second I I told you what happened didn't I I told you what happened didn't I let's do another one all right this isn't the last question um so we we talked about this think about that statement we talked about it when I when I went through those tips and tricks this isn't the last question is it all right if we're using this then remember you're going to use it this isn't the last question is it no it is not the last question here is another one there is yes you want an eye from several years ago they used to live in San Francisco how would you complete that question the picture brings back some memories ah San Francisco if we're talking about used to what do we use in the tag they used to live in San Francisco didn't they all right and the answer is yes yes we did we used to live in San Francisco how did you do on the quiz you can let me know down in the comments was it easy was it difficult I I just love hearing from you and if you enjoy practicing and improving your grammar skills please hit that like button that is all I have for you today I know it was a long quiz but as always I just hope that you learned something new thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 319. Grammar Quiz on English Articles | A - An - The - No Article | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ntXFE_loTHM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntXFE_loTHM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:24:11 | --- hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and our channel it's all about just helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you improve your grammar well not not really just grammar but also i think speaking and writing because this lesson is going to be a quiz lesson it's going to be a grammar quiz but it's going to be a quiz about articles in english so i'm talking about the articles a and the and no article as well often i i think in grammar books you may see people use this symbol this theta symbol when they want to represent that no article is used so what we're going to do i said this is a quiz lesson so i'm going to give you a bunch of different sentences and i just want you to complete the sentence with the correct article you're going to use either a and the or no article and if you can just say no article instead of trying to use that theta symbol but i i said that this is grammar but it's good for your speaking and writing fluency as well because it's really about being more accurate and using the language correctly now i'll give you a few moments i'll give you a moment to answer the question and then afterwards i'll tell you what the rule is because when you're talking about articles often there are rules that you should follow now i will say that i don't think it's necessary to memorize the rules because well i think the best way to learn articles is more reading more listening and more practice which is exactly what we're going to do today and the more you do that you're just going to start using these articles correctly and naturally you're not really going to have to think about well what is the rule so that's why i would say that even if you're unsure about one of these uh questions about well which article should i use try to do what feels right just take a guess think about what feels right and often i think that is the correct answer so let's begin with this question right here and that blank spot um and i'd say that's great this is something i might tell you i'd say that's great you want to learn english so what are you going to use in that blank which article are you going to use a and the or no article what do you think and i will say that when you're trying to think about well which is the correct article look at the noun that follows the article because our articles are essentially adjectives they modify those nouns so look at that noun and i think that's going to help you all right excellent um great job paulo anna lolly angela excellent um you guys seems it makes me think maybe you've seen this before this question all right the answer is no article so when you're talking about languages we do not use articles before languages if you're talking about english french german uh russian japanese you are not going to use an article and again i've used that theta symbol that theta symbol represents no article the next question is and i want you to put yourself in this situation pretend that you are at a restaurant and you are asking this question and you say excuse me can you tell me where um toilet is all right which article would you use to complete that sentence a and the or no article and again the hint is think about you are in this situation you're at a restaurant and you ask this question excuse me can you tell me where um toilet is all right uh excellent uh perfect davika angela uh neilma lolly estella give some quick shout outs the answer is the excuse me can you tell me where the toilet is and in this situation specifically i'm talking about a restaurant you use the when you assume there is only one of something so if you're at a restaurant you assume there's probably just one toilet for men there's one toilet for women and you would ask the question and use the now if for example you are in like a large building or a shopping mall and there is probably more than one toilet then you are going to use um the the article a a toilet or um you could say a toilet either pronunciation is correct but when you assume there's only one you're going to use the the next one is this woman uh right here i would say just talking about her job she works as um university professor all right she works as um university professor all right what are you going to use to complete that sentence a and the or no article okay so think about again i told you to think about the noun but you're also in this case you need to consider that adjective the word university because it's describing which type of professor and the reason why that you need to consider that adjective is because of the sound that comes after the article so what do i mean by that the correct answer is a she is a university professor or you could say she is a university professor either pronunciation is correct i tend to use uh and just say that schwa sound she's a university professor and we use a before non-specific nouns it's professor it could be any professor that begin with a consonant sound okay so i told you you have to think about university because that is the next sound that you hear when you think about the rule with a and n many people think oh look at the letter is it a consonant letter or a vowel and that's going to tell you the answer it's re it really depends on the sound if it's a consonant sound that follows the article you're going to use a uh if it's a vowel sound you're gonna use uh so even though it is a uh you is a vowel the letter it's a it's a consonant sound that yeah yeah university um all right the next one all right and if you just if you're joining us we are doing a grammar quiz on english articles i want you to complete the sentence with either a and the or no article so this this is true this is something that i think i've said before and i would say one day i hope to climb um mount kilimanjaro okay so what are you going to use to complete that sentence a and the or no article we're talking about uh a mountain mount kilimanjaro it is a proper noun so if we're talking about mountains yes excellent uh lolly angela sleepwalker we are not going to use an article before the names of mountains so when you are giving the name and using the proper noun mount kilimanjaro or mount everest you are not going to use an article before that name this is one of those rules um that again you don't need to memorize the rule but just the more you see sentences like this and you say to yourself okay one day i hope to climb mount kilimanjaro the next time you are talking about a mountain and you say the name you're just going to naturally you're not going to use an article all right so no article before the names of mountains let's look at the next one which is this this is a little uh trivia question for you too all right what is um most northern capital city in the world and i'm going to give you the real answer to this so what is um most northern capital city in the world which article or no article are you going to use to complete that sentence a and the or no article okay so the key word in there i think is most all right excellent um bobby estella lolly davika uh farat the answer is the all right and i said the key word is um where is it whoops wait a second what's going on oh here we are sorry i'll show you the next one the key word is most because when you're talking about superlatives you're going to use the article the the most um the most beautiful the most incredible or even if you're talking about like those shorter uh superlatives the fastest um the the smelliest the dirtiest all right and the answer this is true the the most northern capital city in the world is rykovic iceland all right so that's a little uh trivia question for you so when you're talking about superlatives you are going to use the all right the next question that i have for you is this one right here um and this is where uh this is where i used to live all right um would you like to visit mmm golden gate bridge okay so um i'm talking about uh another name it is a proper noun would you like to visit um golden gate bridge so again when you're thinking about those rules i'm talking about the name of a bridge what do you think you're going to use what article a and the or no article all right um excellent uh paolo sleepwalker luisa be happy the correct answer is the when you're talking about the names of bridges uh you're going to use the article the the golden gate bridge the brooklyn bridge um where i live in um in budapest in hungary the the most famous bridge there's that superlative the most famous bridge is the chain bridge and you're going to use the before the names of bridges so again these are rules like the before bridge names you're going to use well no article before the names of mountains so these are rules that the more you practice the more you read the more you listen you're just gonna start to remember this information so this one now i'm gonna throw a few at you with uh two two of two options in there so there are two blanks what do you think uh a and the or no article um largest lake in north america is um lake superior all right which article a and the or no article would you use correctly to correctly complete this sentence all right so write your answers write your answers in the chat i want you guys to participate so there are two uh there are two that you need to um complete for this one so yes excellent uh zanat farat uh rosie lolly close so again that first one we've talked about the answer is the and no article so we talked about that first one when we're saying superlatives the largest the largest lake in north america is lake superior you you will not use an article before the names of lakes lake superior if you're talking about lake malawi um which i think is the largest lake in the world but again when you're talking about the names of lakes no article all right so let's look at the next one right here um again there's two two different ones that i want you to complete and this is something like you're telling a story think of this as like uh storytelling and this is something we do in everyday conversation if we're talking to a friend a family member a colleague and we may be telling a story about something that happened during the day and in this case this is not an exciting story it's kind of just starting out i say here is a man standing next to um plant there is a ladybug on um plant all right it's kind of a boring story but i'll tell you why this is useful in just a moment so what uh what two articles would you use to complete this story these sentences so that it's correct all right here is a man standing next to um plant there is a ladybug on um plant excellent uh perfect mahmud uh anawat uh zinnat so yeah sleepwalker the the way you would say is here is a man standing next to a plant there is a ladybug on the i know that in the picture you can only see there's only one plant so maybe you think oh that's specific but if if you're talking about a story and that's why i wanted to reference this in relation to storytelling because you have the the rule of first mention is what it's called or you could just say you use a or uh the first time that something is mentioned so when you're talking about a story and you mention something for the first time you're going to use uh or a uh that like here is a plan the next time that you mention it the second mention you're going to use the and the reason for that is because the first time you say something it could be just non-specific and you could be talking about any plan the second time you mention that same thing it then becomes specific so you could think of it as the rule of first mention you're going to use a or a but when you mention it the second time you're going to use the article the so this is useful uh i think especially when you're talking about uh telling a story and talking about something that happened during uh your day like oh i was out walking and i saw a dog and you wouldn't believe what the dog did so even if you just listened to me right there i used both a when i first mentioned the dog and then the dog when i mentioned it the second time so very useful very useful rule to follow then we have okay this one i'm sorry i couldn't think of i wanted to use a name and i just use myself um it's a little weird looking at myself i guess i feel a little vain right now could putting all these pictures of uh myself up there but i i wanted to use a name which is why i said this sentence so um wes always tries to create interesting lessons okay typically i try to be a little self-deprecating in these lessons and make fun of myself but i do i try to create some interesting lessons uh so what do you think again there's two blanks so what are you going to use a and the or no article um wes always tries to create interesting lessons okay so i think if we're talking in this situation we're talking about a name all right let me give you uh the rule so we're going to use no articles before names and this is something this is a mistake that i hear learners make from time to time they're talking about a specific person and people may want to use the but when we're talking about the name of a person we there's no article so i'd say wes always tries to create interesting lessons because when you're talking about lessons it is a plural count noun and it's non-specific as well you're not going to use um article uh you're not going to use um an article so no article and no article okay so it again it'd be like saying a plural count noun that's non-specific if i say for example basketball players are tall all right i'm just referring to basketball players it's a non-specific plural count noun no article i just say basketball players are tall just making a statement uh the next question that i have for you is this one he's learning how to play um tennis okay so the noun i told you guys to think about the noun that follows so we're talking about tennis it's a sport so when you're thinking about sports what do you think are are you going to use an article a and the or maybe no article all right how would you best complete that sentence he's learning how to play um tennis all right i think yes excellent uh sleepwalker anna god uh ricardo be happy you guys i think you nailed this one he's learning how to play tennis when we're talking about the names of sports or games even if we're talking about games you're not going to use an article he's learning how to play tennis or i play soccer or i love um to play monopoly the name of a game there's no article before that then we have uh this is an expression a very i think well a well-known expression in english it's something that i think um parents might say to children um what do you think um apple a day keeps um doctor away so if you've heard this expression you probably know which articles um go in there or maybe no article what do you think a and the or no article apple a day keeps dr away all right so again i think you guys well uh actually wow i think i maybe uh tricked some of you with this one excellent angela eloisa so we're talking about apple it is uh it starts with a vowel sound so you're going to use n the expression goes an apple a day keeps the doctor away all right so and before non-specific count nouns that start with a vowel sound the before specific nouns the reason why i say specific is because when you're when you're saying this expression i think typically will people have a specific doctor and that's what they're referring to when they say the expression because if you say a doctor again you'd be talking about any doctor but people in general they they may have a doctor that they will regularly go see so i think that's why in this case doctor would be specific an apple a day keeps the doctor away uh good expression good expression to know and i i guess it's true apples are good for us all right so what about this one i used to listen to mmm mp3 player when exercising all right i used to listen to mp3 player when exercising we're talking about uh i don't want to get i almost said the answer mp3 player what are you going to use which article will you use before that a and the or no article this is another one uh i would say it's a little tricky uh because again you people tend to look at that letter that consonant uh that m before there but yes uh well okay well somebody different all right now this one's a little trickier the correct answer is an we're talking about an mp3 player because again we're it's use and before non-specific nouns that begin with a vowel sound so if i'm just talking about somebody is just to somebody in general like oh i used to listen to an mp3 player when exercising it's really could be any mp3 player if i wanted to be specific then i'd say my mp3 player and there would be no article but in general if it's non-specific i'm going to use n because it it begins with a vowel sound when you say mp3 you're saying the individual letters m all right so m starts with a vowel sound an mp3 player let me give you another word to show you if i talk and say i'm going to um i need to go to an embassy embassy starts with that same sound an embassy or i work at an embassy i'm going to use an all right so i think that one maybe was a little trickier all right um because again it trying to get you thinking is it a vowel sound or is it a consonant sound the next one um this is another one two all right are actually three and some of it's a little review manny pacquiao i hope i believe i'm pronouncing that correctly maybe not if you're from the philippines you can correct me manny pacquiao who is um famous boxer is not from malaysia he's from um philippines okay what uh what articles will you use to complete those that sentence um are those sentences fill in the blank with either a and the or no article all right manny pacquiao who is um famous boxer is not from malaysia he's from um philippines all right uh excellent uh anna rosie so the correct answer i think subby you can get that is it takes uh it's a little longer but manny pacquiao who is a famous boxer all right just in general like i said at the very um uh beginning we talked about someone who is a professor who is a famous boxer is not from malaysia no article when we talk about the names of countries and this this is a rule that applies to most countries but he's from uh oh wait wait i made a mistake i see it it should be the philippines i forgot to add the in there but it should be the philippines all right i put it down there but we use the before plural name so countries with plural names you're going to use um the and i think philippines is probably one of the more famous uh well-known countries with a plural name i think there are uh two or three more maybe you guys can think of some but for most countries you're going to use no article but you use the before countries with plural names or if you're talking about countries where it like names the type of state it is or it's like a collective a group for example the united states or the united kingdom or the republic of china then you will also use the as well as before plural name so i forgot over there i forgot to write the when i said the philippines so yes that is a mistake all right and this one if you enjoyed the lesson please hit um like button what do you think all right how would you complete how would you complete this sentence all right yes there are there are many rules but like i said don't don't worry too much about the rules just the more you read and listen and practice like in this lesson you're just going to learn them naturally i wanted to give you a reminder about the rules but this is the best way to learn them so if you enjoyed the lesson please hit um like button talking about something it's specific there's only one so the answer is yes the if you enjoyed this lesson please hit the like button and yes if you guys enjoyed learning uh practicing your grammar then please hit the like button let me know so that in the future i will continue i'll do some more of these quiz lessons and it's always a good way to review grammar and i think of more it's a fun way to review grammar as well so i hope that i hope that you enjoyed the lesson i hope that you learned something new and we're able to practice and just let you know again if you guys like what we do here at interactive english want to show us some love support our channel you can do so through youtube memberships uh patreon saw some members who were in here uh today lolly um uh putri was here before so see some people coming in and out uh patreon is also optioned there are links down in the description so thank you guys for for being here and joining me today finally we got through the lesson this was the third time the third time that i tried today's lesson i'm happy that it's worked out and uh i just hope that you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend thanks so much for being here uh and i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 320. Greet People Like a Native Speaker | Pronunciation Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rPwrg1G-52E` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPwrg1G-52E) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:49:46 | --- What's up everyone! How are you doing? That right there is actually today's lesson. I'm going to show you how to say different greetings just like a native English speaker. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you to please subscribe to our channel for more videos on how you can practice and improve your English. Also, you can join our social media classes. It's another great way to practice your English skills. And it's FREE! I'm sure just about all of you are familiar with some greetings in English like "Hello" and "Hi". I don't want to talk to you about those today. Instead, I want to talk to you about other greetings and focus on their pronunciation. Because this is going to help you improve your overall English fluency. Now, when people start learning English a common phrase that they learn for greetings is Hello! How are you? I'm fine, thank you. And you? This is perfectly acceptable. It's grammatically correct. But the pronunciation sounds robotic. And you don't really hear native English speakers talking this way. So let's look at a few different greetings that people often say, and we'll practice saying them together. The first greeting I want to talk to you about is simple. This is a very common greeting that people use to say hello. Culturally speaking, however, it's important to note that when people say, "How are you?" They're not really looking to start a conversation. And this is especially true in the U.S. It's just a way of acknowledging somebody and recognizing them, and just saying hello even in passing. When pronouncing this greeting, native speakers will kind of link the first two words together. So the final sound in "How" and the initial sound in "are" will get blended to sound like /hou-ahr/. Then, the word "you" may have but not always, the reduced schwa sound. And it'll sound like /yuh/. As I mentioned before, this is not always the case. It's perfectly find to say "you" but sometimes native English speakers will reduce it with the schwa, and it'll sound like /yuh/. Now we have a whole video about the schwa sound and I strongly recommend that you check it out. So then, when we put all of this together We have /hou-ahr yuh/. In case you're wondering, I'm using phonetic spelling which means that I'm spelling the words just like they sound. Some of you may be familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet. Others of you may not be familiar with it. But I think everybody can follow and understand the phonetic spelling. Let's listen to this greeting a few times before we practice. Let's practice saying this together a few times. So I'll say it, and then you repeat. Good job! Now, here's a slight nuance to this greeting. If two people say it to each other, the second person is NOT going to reduce the word "you" with the schwa sound. /yuh/ Instead, they will actually say "you." Let's look at this example. The next greeting I want to talk to you about is very similar to the last one. We're just going to add one more word..."doing." Again, when greeting somebody, you won't really hear native English speakers say... To me, when somebody says this, it's more in a consoling manner. And they will say, "How are you doing?" when somebody is sad, and they really want to know how that person is doing. But when it's used as a greeting, just to kind of say hi. Then it'll get reduced. Now, there are different ways to reduce this greeting. Almost always the "g" in "doing" will get dropped. And then it'll sound like, "How are you /doo-in/?" Then, it can get reduced even further with "How are you?" "How are you doing?" You give it a try! Nice! Finally, the most reduced form of this greeting would be to eliminate the word "are" altogether. You try! The last greeting that I want to talk to you about is a very informal one, and one that I use all the time. I used it at the very beginning of this video and that greeting is... Again, this is a very informal greeting. So, it's probably not something you would say to your grandparents, or professor, or even your boss. It's mostly used among friends. Sometimes I hear learners respond with "Good." Or they ask if it's okay to say "Good." NO! "What's up?" --> "Good." This is because even though "What's up?" is a greeting like saying "Hi." It's more similar to someone asking "What's happening?" or "What's going on?" And you wouldn't really respond with "Good" to either of those questions. The appropriate response to "What's up?" is either "Not much." Or "Nothing." Or you really don't need to respond at all. Just say "Hey" back. You should also know that "What's up?" has different meanings as well. So, for example, when you approach somebody and they look upset, you could say "What's up?" As in - you want to know what the problem is or what's wrong. Also, when somebody comes up to you and you know that they want to ask you a question, you could just say "What's up?" as in "What do you need?" So let's look at the pronunciation. "What's" is always going to be contracted. You don't really hear people say "What is up?" So after we contract "What's," the final -s sound gets blended with the vowel sound in "up." You give it a try! If you want to be super informal and reduce it even more, you can drop the "What" and just say "Sup?" Okay, so now you know how to pronounce three different greetings just like a native English speaker. So what we'd like you to do now is to say "Hello!" to us and everyone else in our global classroom in the comments below. You can use a greeting from this lesson or any other greeting in English. You can even use a greeting in your native language. Just write it in the comments below! Please "Like" this video if you enjoy learning about and practicing English pronunciation. We'll see you next time. Bye! --- ## 321. HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY & IDIOMS QUIZ ๐Ÿ‘ป | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `82Y6QWUvhMA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Y6QWUvhMA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:32:19 | --- hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills that's what we're doing so we have so many different lessons for you and today I have an interactive quiz for you we are going to do a quiz which is all about Halloween it is a Halloween quiz and I am going to be testing you on your knowledge of Halloween vocabulary Halloween idioms Halloween expressions and even some information about Halloween in general so if this is your first time here I want you to write your name in the comments in the chat tell me where you're from because I just want to hear from you guys I'm so happy to have many of you with me here today to take this quiz just want to give some shout outs hello IRA Lally go see Moses violet Angela Manny hello welcome thank you for joining me for today's Halloween quiz all right so we're just gonna jump right into it and and begin the quiz and I hope that by doing this you you probably know some of these answers already but I hope that maybe you will learn a new word a new idiom something maybe even something about Halloween in general because the reason that we're doing this is because well Halloween it's right around the corner and if you say that something that's an expression if something is right around the corner it means that it's very close and this has to do with my first question and it's this is an easier question it's a bit of a softball all right I'm full of these expressions today because if you say something is more of a softball it's an easier question it's an easier task and this is a softball question for you and then they're going to get more difficult Halloween is celebrated on em which day is it eh October 28th be October 29 see October 30 or D October 31st all right when when do you when do people celebrate Halloween all right on the 28th the 29th of the 30th of the 31st write your answer in the comments if you're watching this later I encourage you to participate and write your answers in the chat because that's what this is all about it is about interaction and interacting which is why we're interactive English yes everybody thank you for your answers room azide Luna Deena ro thank you the answer is D of course Halloween is celebrated on October 31st it is a fun holiday where everybody they dress up the kids especially they would go around and they would get candy so it is a it is a holiday that most people I think most of us enjoy so October is celebrated on October 31st and again it's I'm from the United States if you didn't know that it is a very popular holiday in the United States people celebrate Halloween I think there are a few other countries out there that that celebrate Halloween as well the next question alright is this one it's a vocabulary question for you and an apparition is another word for M what an apparition it's it's basically a synonym for this word is it a which B ghost C zombie or D wizard all right the reason why I'm reading them out I'd some people have mentioned that they like to listen to these lessons kind of like a podcast so I'm just gonna go ahead and read it out for you all so what do you guys think all right write your answer in the chat let me know all right a which C goes B ghost C zombie or D wizard which is another word for an apparition all right excellent you guys are rocking it out yes alchemy IRA Sarah lolly English vibes Angela Omar you're correct the correct answer is B ghost so an apparition this is just another word for a ghost and obviously I think overwhelmingly people would just use the word ghost but I I think if maybe if you're trying to get like more scientific or something people might use the word a Napper they saw an apparition or they heard that there was an apparition living in this haunted house it is another word for ghost all right so this is another fun Halloween question when children visit a home what do they say they say what do they say a trick and treat B trick-or-treat or C trick-or-treat what do you think all right I think these questions at the beginning they're a little easier and they will get a little more challenging what do you think is the correct answer a trick and treat be trick or treat or C trick for treat children they go to their home they knock on the door and then they say this and then they would get some candy all right so yes you guys are rocking it out yes ghosa money UN MELAS warty sada what I saw sorry if I mispronounced reims rumah try and get as many shout outs as I can the correct answer is B trick-or-treat when children they knock on the door they say trick-or-treat and people give them candy so in this case basically the trick refers to like a ret of mischief that they're going to do something to this person's home or property or they can give them a treat which is referred to as candy so this is kind of a little more information about the expression trick-or-treat we will play a trick on you or you can give us a treat and parents will her families will give kids the treat because that is what Halloween is all about it's about collecting a bunch of candy then the next question all right so this is an idiom all right if you can't read it again I will say it if you're having trouble reading that if someone has embarrassing or shameful secrets we can say that they have skeletons in the mmm what do we what do they have if they have embarrassing or shameful secrets they have skeletons in the mmm and that is the idiom right there we talk about skeletons in the is it a closet be grave or see tomb which which one of those words best completes that idiom right there again we're talking about Halloween people have secrets maybe they're embarrassing and yes excellent perfect MELAS French girl violet Angela perfect you guys all answered a all right we're talking about skeletons in the closet so if you say that somebody has skeletons in the closet it means that they have some kind of dark or embarrassing secrets that that they don't want to let out and I think again you can use this in casual everyday conversation because I think in general all of us have some skeletons in the closet there is some information about us that we don't want other people to know and you know obviously some secrets may be much worse than others but in general I think all of us have as you know some skeletons in the closet so that is the idiom skeletons in the closet a dark secret now when someone dies this is the next question when someone dies the letters are IP stand for what all right you hear people say rip our IP what do those letters they're all capitalized it's an acronym what do those letters stand for okay because again when you think about Halloween you think about ghosts you think about you know death dying people dying so I thought this question would be relevant when someone dies the letters are IP stand for what write that in the chat and write that in the comments again we just want you to interact answer these questions the best way to not only learn English but remember what you already know and retain the information is to practice practice practice and practice some more all right so excellent yes Katarina ghosa Lali Ricardo ciao knock on door I began mispronounced jana Thep the correct answer our IP stands for rest in peace so this is a common acronym that when when somebody's having maybe a conversation about death or perhaps you might be listening to a TV show you might be watching a TV show or a movie and you will see this rip r.i.p it stands for rest in peace rest in peace so I just want to let you guys know again we've talked about this before if you guys enjoy what we do if you like what we do and want to show us some love and support what we do please check out our patreon page I will put a link right here in the chat as well there is also a link in the description down below we offer some cool rewards if you want to connect with us and join with us on patreon much love and shout outs to our patrons out there all of you guys you guys really helped make all of this possible thank you so much but again it's just you don't have to do it again we do these English lessons for you guys all the time every week it's just what we enjoy doing we're firm believer in building bridges and connecting people that that is one thing we love to do so the next question all right so which of these people or creatures might cackle so that is the word that you you want you to try and understand cackle what does it mean what's a cackle so which people are creatures might cackle is it a a werewolf be a demon see a witch or D of vampire which of those people or creatures would cackle this word cackle is associated with I think is it is more commonly associated with a a certain person or creature what do you guys think it is werewolf demon witch or vampire all right this one I'm seeing I'm seeing some different answers all right so I just want to give some shoutouts yes Kareem yes cow milk on perfect what other answers most of you said a werewolf but no no that is not correct a cackle would be most associated with a wish it is a loud harsh laughter and it would sound something like think of a witch and they have that laughter like something like that is my cackle right there if you think of a werewolf it would be more like a howl so I think of a wolf or a werewolf would howl especially at the moon but a which would cackle they have that loud harsh laugh that I was trying to download a cackle that would sound better than mine but I wasn't able to get it ready in time so yes see cackle see which is is something that you might hear a witch do that loud harsh laughter excellent all right glad to find one that maybe most of you didn't get overwhelmingly you guys were rocking that so the next question that I have for you this is a little bit of a dialogue okay so person a would say hey I'm taking your car person B says no you're not person a says yes I am and then person B would say mmm my dead body this is an idiom it's an expression that that somebody might use so they would say I'm taking your car no you're not yes I am and then that person would say hmm my dead body would they say under a under my dead body B over my dead body C from my dead body or D without my dead body which of those words under over from without would best complete that idiom so this is an idiom an expression that people would say again in that context and that guy I tried I just used a picture of that guy because II let's look very angry all right so yes thank you yes Sarah or Lena Omar it's going so fast on Tron french girl perfect the answer is B over so if somebody says over my dead body it's used this idiom this expression is used to emphasize that you are opposed to something you are against somebody doing it and it's used often I think in that context when somebody would say I'm going to do this and the other person says over my dead body you are not going to do it I am opposed to it and they would say over my dead body so this is a good expression that you can use again in a variety of context and situations if you want to emphasize that you are opposed to something you are against it you would say over my dead body all right the next question I have for you is this one it's a little bit different it's not multiple choice some people believe that black cats are bad luck this is an example of a mmm which word it's an example of what all right I've given you some choices there that you can try to figure out the answer that's the word has 12 letters all right it starts with an S and you can kind of try and fill in the blanks there those blank spaces what do you think I think I probably could have given this to you without any of the letters but I wanted to make it a little bit easier all right so this is an example of what people believe that you know black cats might be bad luck all right so excellent um perfect who haven't I said other names tsamina perfect fool eeeh excellent IRA Romeo Lopez perfect all right thank you guys for all your answers it's an example of a superstition so again many of you may know this word already a superstition is a belief that a person or even a group of people has that that's not really based on scientific evidence it's just something people believe and they would call it a superstition for example Halloween I think of superstitions with bad luck and some people believe that maybe black cats if they walk in front of you that that would be an example of bad luck and of course definitely not that cat I chose like the cutest black cat in the world I don't think that little guy right there is bad luck but another example of a superstition I think a lot of it has to do with good luck and bad luck for example if somebody sees a shooting star they will make a wish and they will wish on a shooting star and that wish will come true that is a superstition people believe that that you know these things happen and sometimes I think they're just a bit fun I think of birthdays people blow out candles and you make a wish it's a superstition all right this one I think may be a little more difficult this is a vocabulary question and the word I think is related to Halloween all right so the forest evoked a mmm feeling of fear so we're talking about the forest evoked a mmm feeling of fear is it a truculent is it be macabre or see Lagoo be lugubrious all right a truculent be macabre or see lugubrious which of those you know again we're talking about a feeling of fear and that picture of forest it looks dark it looks a little scary so I'd say this forest a vocht it brought on this feeling of fear this mmm feeling of fear truculent macabre or lugubrious and the this is more advanced vocabulary so again let's see yes nor add on Robin one two three four English fives say drew yes the correct answer is B macabre so macabre is an adjective and it just means something that is gruesome something horrifying pertaining to death that macabre feeling of fear all right that deathly feeling when I think of this word I think of there's a famous poet Edgar Allan Poe and he would write these scary poems these scary stories and it makes me think of his writing these stories macabre they were all like horrifying death so that is a word if you don't know those other words lugubrious maybe could use lugubrious means a feeling of sadness it talks about like a sad feeling and if somebody is truculent that just means that they kind of are easy to anger and they're standoffish and that you know you don't want to be around somebody who's truculent they're just gonna kind of be a bit of a nasty person so those are all adjectives good words to know more advanced adjectives that probably are not as common the next question that I have for you and if you guys are guys are just joining us we're doing a quiz it is a Halloween quiz all about different idioms and vocabulary that deals with Halloween so here is the next question I just want you to complete the blank fill in the blank and this is another idiom that's relevant idiom that has to do with Halloween he plans to betray his friend and mmm him in the back he plans to betray his friend and mmm him in the back is the answer a stab B hit C kill all right what do you do are they gonna stab him in the back are they gonna hit him in the back are they gonna kill him in the back this I think is I think this is a pretty common idiom that you will you know you're gonna hear this from time to time whether you're watching a TV show or a movie or in just everyday life if you're talking about this situation excellent thank you guys yes Lally Aziza Angela Sarah rose Clark or the correct answer is a to stab him in the back because to stab someone in the back it just means to betray someone and I kind of I gave you that answer more towards the beginning he plans to betray his friend so if he's going to betray his friend then he will stab him in the back you stab someone in the back you betray them like I said you can you this in a in a variety of ways there are many different situations in which somebody may betray another person and you can use that idiom to stab someone in the back the next question that I have for you is this one it's a vocabulary question which is not a name for this type of box so I've shown you this is that's that box over there it's a brother big box and there is hey basically a dead body would go in this box so which is not a name for this type of box is it a casket B coffin C tomb or D funeral box alright what do you guys think what's what is the correct answer and this one I well i it's not really tricky but again you just got to read it carefully because again I'm asking which is not a name for this type of box excellent Pusa Korn Amina thank you perfect IRA talk do too thank you guys for your answers the correct answer is C a tomb so this is not a tomb you can refer to this as it could be a casket it could be a coffin or a funeral box what I would say is that in general you could say that this is a funeral box in a casket and coffin those are types of funeral boxes most of the time I don't think people would say a funeral box they would either say a casket or a coffin those words are very similar the only difference and I'm sorry I don't know this I think the only difference between a casket and a coffin is just the design of a funeral box and I'm not actually positive the difference in the design but I think in general most people again you could just say a casket or a coffin that would be a best way to refer to that type of box a tomb is more like it's something that's underground and it is where you might put a a casket or a coffin in the tomb is more like a wider room where somebody is buried it makes me think again of ancient Egypt so the next one a vocabulary question there's this scary house right here I'm just gonna premise it and say yes that is a scary house and as if you can't read it I'll read it for you this house gives me a a or n it gives me a mmm feeling or you could say it gives me an mmm feeling all right which kind of feeling does that house give is it a an ambiguous feeling be a convivial feeling or see an eerie feeling what do you guys think what it what word best completes that sentence if you're looking at that house and I say ooh this house gives me um mmm feeling all right the answer yes excellent ricardo shetty shekhar perfect um Lolich gosh it's moving so fast trying to give some names Ladon who's Ava Samina Sarah Lally yes the correct answer Zi Shan C eerie so if you're talking about that house most appropriately you would say it gives an eerie feeling because something that is eerie it is an adjective that means strange or frightening so you and I think often times it's used with that word with a feeling you want to describe the feeling you'd say ooh I have an eerie feeling about this I have a strange feeling I have a frightening theory a feeling so often I think that is a good collocation to learn those two words are commonly used together an eerie feeling if something is ambiguous it kind of means it's just it's unknown it's a little vague you're not really sure about it so you wouldn't really say it's an ambiguous feeling and convivial is kind of the opposite it's just a pleasurable it is a happy feeling and that house definitely does not give me a happy feeling so it is an eerie feeling alright the next question just something again fun for you guys alright what do you think Halloween it's all about a time for for dressing up and just going out and costume it's mostly for children but many adults would do this as well adults might have a Halloween party or they go out with their friends and they dress up in a costume so I want to know if you were to dress up for Halloween I would be mmm what what would you guys be if you're gonna dress up for Halloween maybe maybe some of you are going to dress up for Halloween and I want you to let me know what what would you bet what would you be what would you be a character would you be two so all I said is Wonder Woman excellent go saw a vampire perfect run a witch a monster a vampire let's see I said Judy said ha it's Halloween good for children well it's it's a fun holiday but yeah I mean it's not healthy because children are going around and they're collecting candy so I would not say it's a very healthy event for children IRA a Wonder cat cool Sarah Smiths you're gonna go is Trump okay sure why not Alex MacEwan all right Rose Claire Harry Potter you know who I am you're gonna go with me you're gonna be Wes excellent a wizard perfect so I just wanted to kind of get that information from you if you're watching this later please definitely write that in the chat or write that in the comments let me know what you would dress up for for Halloween so this is you know like I said Halloween is right around the corner it's it's coming up in a few days on October 31st so I thought this would be a fun time to kind of acknowledge the holiday try to teach you some vocabulary and idioms that are useful for this time of year but of course you can use those idioms you can use that vocabulary in a variety of situations not just talking about Halloween so I just want to thank you guys so much for joining me for this lesson if you if you learn something new if you enjoy these live lessons please hit that like button before you head out please hit hit that like button be sure to hit that write to us in the comments questions we'd love to hear from you guys and you can check us out on our social media classes we are active on Facebook Twitter and Instagram so just let you guys know um so thank you guys some more shout outs I do my thang Pizza I like that I would love to see a pizza costume thank you guys rawan Sarah ever Antonio Nerio Black Panther very cool outfit Judi rumah a Lopez sir it's moving so class Rose Claire thank you guys so much for joining me today I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I will be back later on for another live lesson which I hope you will join me then have a wonderful weekend I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 322. HAVE YOUR WORK CUT OUT FOR YOU | Advanced #Idiom to SUPERCHARGE Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ช | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qx2wB333V_E` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2wB333V_E) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:55:52 | --- to have your work cut out for you this means to have something very difficult to do and it's really a way of adding emphasis so instead of saying well that's going to be difficult for you I can just use this idiom you have your work cut out for you guess you got your work cut out for you Hey listen just so you know you might have your work cut out for you sounds like you have your work cut out for you the other thing I want you to think about is the grammar because if I were to use he she or they it's going to change a little bit because you have a subject pronoun a possessive adjective as well as an object pronoun he has his work cut out for him she has her work cut out for her they have their work cut out for them just something to keep in mind he knows he has his work cut out for him well I guess Babs has her work cut out for her they've got their work cut out for them --- ## 323. HOW TO EXPRESS THAT YOU'RE ANGRY ๐Ÿ˜ก | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `1QP2wlidRsU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QP2wlidRsU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:29:27 | --- - Have you ever felt angry? Of course you have and after this lesson, you'll know many different ways to say just how angry you are. What's up, everyone? Today, we are talking about the word, angry. I'm going to teach you some different words that have the same meaning or a similar meaning. This is great because learning synonyms is an excellent way to build and expand your vocabulary because you already know what one word means. You already know what the word angry means. (booing) We've all felt it, we've all expressed it and now you will be able to express it in different ways. When we talk about anger, it's usually on a scale. You can be just a little angry or you can be very angry. We're gonna start with just words that mean you're a little angry, you're not happy about something and then we're gonna work our way up to being extremely angry. And what I'll do is I'll give you the word as well as some examples and also tell you some prepositions that commonly follow these words. So let's start out with just a little angry. If you're a little angry and something's wrong, there's a problem, you might say that you are upset. - Upset? I'm not upset. What makes you think I'm upset? - So you could be upset with someone or something and you could also be upset about some situation. Another great synonym, which is interchangeable, it has the exact same meaning is annoyed. If you're a little angry, you might be annoyed. So if you are annoyed, you could be annoyed with someone or something or you could also be annoyed at or by some situation. It really just depends. You could be annoyed with him or annoyed with her. Or you could be annoyed at somebody's bad behavior, annoyed at the traffic jam. Those are all great reasons why you might be annoyed. - I'm not hostile, I'm annoyed. - Hi, how are you? - I'm annoyed, that's how I am. - And sometimes when you're dealing with people and you're trying to resolve some problem and people don't really wanna talk or open up, then I might say... Another synonym that means you are a little angry about something is bothered. When we use bothered, it's often followed by the preposition by. You can be bothered by someone or something or just some situation. Bothered by. (laughs) Say something that you don't like? Are you bothered by that? I don't know. Some people get really bothered by other people's comments or remarks. Yeah, you could get bothered by that. Now, another great word which has a little bit of a different meaning and we use it in a different context is exasperated. If you are exasperated, you are angry but you're angry because you're trying to do something and it's not working and you do it again and again and again and you just get angrier and angrier and at then end, you could say, I am exasperated. Georgie! Stop, Georgie. Or perhaps, there's just some bad situation that just continues and continues and continues until you are exasperated. And you might say that you are exasperated by some situation. What are you doing back there? Are you looking over my shoulder? Now let's talk about some words that you're starting to get really angry and if you're really starting to get angry, then you could say that you are irate. And if you are irate, then you are beyond angry. You wanna show the person just how angry you are. You're not just angry, you are irate. โ™ช And when you hate โ™ช โ™ช Then you're bound to get irate โ™ช And typically you would be irate about some situation or maybe you are irate with some situation. It doesn't really matter. You're just really angry, you're irate. Notice the theme with my examples. It's about flying. Sometimes I get angry when I'm flying. Another synonym to show that you are very angry is enraged. You are really angry, you're irate, you are enraged. And you might be enraged by something or someone or some situation. Another synonym for very angry, furious. So, if you are super angry about something, you could say that you are furious. For example, when I see that somebody dislikes our lessons, I am furious. (laughs) I'm just kidding. I don't get furious. It's okay. That doesn't make me furious, but there are many other things that do make me furious. And you might be furious at someone or some situation. It's true, I'm tall and it can be very uncomfortable and when that seat goes down, I'm furious. Another word or actually this is a phrase which is slang and probably one that I would use the most is if you are very angry then you could say that you are pissed off. I say that a lot. Instead of saying I'm really angry, I just say I'm pissed off. That's usually how I say it, too, with that intonation. - Tell Clay I'm pissed off. - I swear, I'm so pissed off at my mom. - I lied because I'm pissed off. - So if you're pissed off, then you're really angry, but again this is more slang. It may just be American slang. I'm not really sure if British people also say it, but pissed off is a great expression to say that you were very angry. Truth be told, it's just an example. Our camera thankfully did not break, otherwise, I would be pissed off. So I hope some of these words may be new for you and you can go out and use them and practice them especially the next time that you are angry about something. Try to switch it up and use some synonyms. It's a great way to build your vocabulary and improve your overall English fluency. And if you're looking to improve your fluency even more, check out the secret lesson which is linked in the description. I hope this lesson didn't make you angry, but rather perhaps happy because you've learned some new words. However, what I want you to do to express a little bit of anger, I want you to hit that dislike button. Go ahead, show me that you were paying attention. Hit the dislike button. This is the only time I'll probably ever tell you to do this. Be a little angry, hit that dislike button. I hope you learned some new words today and remember go out and use them, go out and practice them. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 324. HOW TO GIVE A GREAT PRESENTATION ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CyrpA2MeR48` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyrpA2MeR48) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:37:47 | --- what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which of course it's the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills so today I have it's a very cool lesson because I say I say it's a cool lesson because I think it's very useful if you are a learner of English it's actually going to be very helpful even if you are a native English speaker because I am going to talk to you about today how to give a great presentation what's the best way to give a fantastic moving and really impactful presentation and we're going to talk about some tips and suggestions that that you guys can do in order to give that great presentation that you're looking for so if you're joining us please say hello what's up in the comments love hearing from you guys just want to give a couple quick shout outs to hi Sarah Richard Luciano um AMOM loii oth Katie hello Ira nopan um Faith Ronaldo mam hello thank you guys so much for joining me as we go through this lesson um I'm going to ask you guys some questions so you will have some opportunities to to interact and answer some questions about how to give a a great presentation so before we start there are a couple of things that that I want to talk to you about at the very beginning and that is first I I want you to to understand that there are many different ways to give a great presentation you don't just have to follow all of the suggestions in this lesson there there's many different ways to go about it the next thing I want you to understand is that this is something that I had to learn and I learned it a few years ago because I actually taught a presentation course at the school uh that I used to work for and part of the students were visiting Scholars that were traveling to the US and most of them were going to present their research and there were people from all over the world and what I learned is that presentations mean different things in different countries and cultures so a great presentation in the United States and in the US that doesn't mean it might be a great presentation in France or a great presentation in China or a great presentation in Brazil so people of different countries and cultures have different expectations so today when I talk about giving a great presentation I'm giving you the American perspective and in that case you can think of it like I'm telling you how to give a great presentation to an American audience to an English-speaking audience I think it's okay to say that because a lot of the tips and suggestions I'm going to give you I I think are relevant for most people that are native English speakers if they're from the United States Canada the UK Australia I I think if that is your audience this is going to help help you these are great tips and suggestions and another reason why it's going to be so useful is because we all give presentations you might be giving a presentation for work you might give one for school and and you're going to be talking about things you're you're sharing your ideas your thoughts and opinions so this is useful information especially because I think a lot of people some people are are a little worried and nervous about giving presentations so let's begin I want to start out by showing you like well what exactly are we going to talk about today today it it's broken into three parts I'm first going to talk to you about the visual and when I say the visual I'm not just talking about pictures and images I'm talking about anything that people will see during the presentation it could be pictures maybe you have a PowerPoint slideshow and on that slideshow you are going to have words that is also a visual it's anything that somebody will see during your presentation the next part of this lesson will be talking about the content exactly what is in your presentation what are you saying what are you telling people what are you presenting and the last part is going to be about you while you're giving the presentation what should you be doing in order to make it a great presentation in order to make it an effective presentation so let's start out I I love starting out with questions so I'm going to give you a question I want you guys to write your answer in the chat and that question is this all right many great presenters follow a simple rule and that is this rule no more than M slides no more than M minutes no less than M font size and this is called the M rule so what what number goes in those blanks right there how many slides minutes and a font size is it the 51020 rule five slides 10 minutes 20 font size is it B the 10203 rule or is it C the 15 2540 rule I want you guys write your answer in the chat what what do you guys think this is a a nice rule of thumb that's why I put that thumbs up there so it's something that you don't have to follow but I think it's useful and and it is good practice if you're going to follow these what do you guys think all right is it a b or c I want you to write your answer in the chat and then I will tell you what what what many great presenters try to follow and and what they say all right I see some answers in here most people wow all right people think uh most people think it might be a all right the answer is B it's talking about the 10230 rule that if you're giving a presentation it should be no more than 10 slid it should be no more than 20 minutes and you should have no less than 30 font size so let's let's touch on each of these quickly so when you're giving a presentation no more than 10 slides think about it where do you want people to focus if if you're giving a presentation you want people to be looking at you you don't want them watching some slideshow if you have 60 slides and you're just flipping through those slides people are not going to be looking at you they should be looking at you and listening to what you're saying so that's why you're saying no more than 10 slides if you have less than 10 slides that's perfectly okay I actually try and do many of my presentations with as few slides as possible because again I want people focused on me so you should have no more than 10 slides that's a good rule to follow no more than 20 minutes because if you go over 20 minutes that's the difference of something becoming from a presentation to becoming a lecture so when you go over 20 minutes it gets to be a little too long and when you think about it think about some of the most common forms of presentations if you go online and and you are looking for people giving presentations what is a popular famous website for that most people think of TED Talks Ted Talk stands for technology uh wait what is the E not education uh technology something and design and when we think of those TED Talks you guys can write it in the chat or in the comments if you know those are actually presentations that people give they're sharing their ideas they're sharing their research and most of those talks are anywhere from about 10 to 20 minutes you don't really find them longer than 20 minutes so that's an actual one resource to think about so no more than 20 minutes and even when we do these lessons these are actual lessons where we're teaching you we've talked about this and we've decided that if we can make our lessons anywhere from 25 to 35 minutes we we think that is a nice amount of time to have a lesson that too long it kind of drags on but we also want to make it long enough so people can can enter the lesson and we can interact and talk with them and engage so that's kind of what we try to do but no more than 20 minutes if you're giving a presentation that's a good rule to follow and no less than 30 font size I don't think I need to explain this one because if your font size is really small if somebody's looking at your Visual and they cannot see the words that are on there then it it's pretty useless there's no point in having that information on the screen if you can't read it Judy entertainment exactly thank you perfect technology entertainment and design thank you Judy very much excellent so this is something to keep in mind again it's not something you have to follow you don't have to follow this rule exactly again it's just something to keep in mind that this is what many great presenters will try to do another rule of thumb is this one right here it is the 6x6 Rule and that just means no more than six words words per line and no more than six points per slide and that's what I mean they're talking at bullet points so again I think this is useful because when you're you're writing no more than six words they just need to be short statements you really shouldn't even be writing sentences up there you should just be writing a short little statement that that say that kind of captures what you're talking about and then there's no more than six bullet points per slide because again when you just start listing all these things it's just there's just too much clutter and people start focusing on the slide instead of focusing on you which is where they need to be focused so let me give you some examples of some good slides and bad slides here so check out these examples below uh these are just some a couple that I pulled off uh off of the internet by just doing a search on Google Images so this good example I thought is you know it's just a picture there's just a few words on there and you can put that slide up there and just talk about this issue or talk about say whatever it is that you're going to say and talk for about five or 10 minutes give some examples tell a story but this image it's a good image and again there's not that many words on there you're just talking about one point and I guess that point is to reframe the issue I actually think that uh the picture might be a little too good because it can maybe be distracting because people might tend to focus on that but this this is an example it's a pretty good slide now this wait no no no this one over here this is not a good example again there's just way too much information and you would be amazed that even when I was doing my ma and it was for teaching English to speakers of other languages so these are people that we are teachers we are standing in front of other people people we are presenting all the time like I am presenting you information right now and I was amazed at how many slides I would see like this these people would get up there and they would show a slide and they would have like 500 words on one slide and again nobody is going to read all of that information the only thing that I would see off of this this slide right here is how rivers are formed all of that other stuff it's just too long long it's unnecessary so again keep this in mind when you guys if you're putting together a visual remember don't have have very very very few words on there all right that's very important so why also why do we use visuals why is it good to have visuals when we're giving a presentation well the first thing is it it just complements the presentation it's the difference between you know I'm giving you this I'm telling you this lesson right now I'm talking about to you guys about how to give a great presentation I don't have to show you any slides or anything I could just turn it on like this and I could sit here and talk to you guys for 30 minutes about giving a great presentation the information is still useful because you guys can listen to what I'm saying you understand what I'm saying and and you can think about that and and keep that in mind when you're giving a good how to give a great presentation but I think it's very important when we have these visuals when we have these slides it it just adds a nice compliment to the overall presentation the other thing it does and this is really helps me is that it helps you stay focused because when I'm giving this presentation right now I can put this slide up here and kind of see the information and it reminds me what I should be talking about it reminds me if I want to add some more information to this point or that point and it also helps me stay organized as I go through this presentation so it really helps me stay focused and it would help you stay focus to have some sort of visual that that you can talk about during your presentation the next thing would be it it just helps the audience you guys or whoever it is that you are presenting to it helps them remember what the information is all about it helps them remember what you presented and what you talked about so again this these are the different reasons why that that you would want to use a visual during your presentation so going to just let you guys know quickly if you like what we do all right remember check us out on patreon there's a link in the description it's another great way to connect with us and support our lessons and support what we do here at interactive English so let's look at the next part okay so the next part of the presentation is the content what is the presentation all about what is in your presentation I have another question for you and I want you to write your answers in the chat okay here it is the m is something that grabs your audience's attention and makes them want to hear more this would be the first thing that you guys are presenting what what what is that called what's what's it called the very first thing you would say to get the audience's attention and that makes them want to hear more about what it is you are presenting about what do you call that the hook do you call it the snare or is it called the Trap write your answers in the chat in the chat and even even if you're watching this later write your answers in the comments we like hearing you guys when when you share answers with us in the comments so yes we got some excellent answers great job yes if this is the first thing you know that you would say it's part of your introduction and that is the hook the hook is the thing that you would say whatever information you're sharing to get people's attention and grab their attention and there are many different ways that that you can do this you can do this by asking a question start out with a simple question and then go into your introduction you can State an interesting fact about the topic or whatever it is you're presenting about you could tell a story that's relevant to your presentation you can use a quote to start out with or even reference an event something that happened in history that is Meaningful to the information that that you're going to present so I think it's always useful to to have some kind of hook and usually they're very short unless you're telling a story it's something that's very quick and then you go into your introduction and we actually we try to do it with all of our lessons and we try to give a quick little hook about what the lesson is about and usually we'll ask a question or try and say something funny and then the introduction would come on and then we'll go into explaining what the lesson is about so the next time you see one of our videos think about that think see if you can identify the hook or many of the videos that you might watch on YouTube especially some of the great ones they will always start out with some type of hook to grab your attention so keep that in mind and now let's look at the part s of the content so when we talk about the parts of the presentation at this point I'm talking about the content like what it is you're saying and there's only three parts to the presentation you have an introduction you have a body and you have a conclusion it's the same if you were writing an essay you're going to have an introduction you're going to have a body and you're going to have a conclusion I wanted to give you some of this information up here because it's kind of a guideline as to how much time you should spend on each part so the introduction could spend anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes uh not 10 15 minutes 10 to 15% of your presentation talking about the introduction and the hook is part of the introduction the body that is the main that is the main part of your presentation it is what you are actually really trying to tell people about if you're trying to inform them if you're trying to convince them persuade them or even entertain them it should talk take up about 75% of your presentation and then the conclus clusion at the end to wrap up the presentation would only be about 10% again this is not a hard set rule this is just some information that you can follow to help you give a great presentation so let's look at this next part when you are giving your presentation and when you're giving the content of your presentation it is so so so I'm going to add one more so important that you make your presentation easy to follow and especially if you're talking about giving a presentation in English English is a very linear language you go from one point and you go down right to the end so you need to make it easy to follow and to have some sort of logical order and that logical order could be you know your your time it could be chronological order you're talking about order in the you're talking about the events in the order that they happen it could be order of importance there are many different orders that you could follow but make sure it's logical and the other thing is right here use signpost to transition between your ideas make sure you use the signpost because that makes it easy to follow and when I say signpost I'm talking about those key words that tell us where the presentation is going so those can be sequence words like first then next finally or you could have those coord ating conjunctions like however in addition if you want to add more some more information or if you get to the end of your presentation just say in conclusion as soon as I hear somebody say the words in conclusion I know that they have gotten to the end of the presentation and they are going to be wrapping it up and ending it so those signposts make it so much more they make it so much easier to follow so I encourage that encourage you to use signpost and we did a lesson all about signpost that I will link up above for you guys to check out and the last part and this one is also important is to take a breath every now and then and the reason I say this is because when people give a presentation some people they don't like public speaking maybe they get a little nervous and when people get a little nervous they tend to speak a little too fast and they just start talking fast because they want to get the presentation over with and they just start saying everything really quickly and then it becomes harder to follow because people don't know what they're saying because they're speaking really fast so again take a breath every now and then slow down use take pauses so that it it again it just helps make the presentation more meaningful it helps make it easier to follow so I have one more part that we're going to talk about all right and that is this that is you all right what should you be doing when you are giving a presentation all right this is this is very important because again most people people should be looking at you so the first thing I want to ask you again start with a question and this is just to get your opinion in order to give an effective and Powerful presentation you should practice at least M times and and this is again there's no right or wrong answer I just want to know what you guys think how many times should you practice a Pres presentation before you give it to your classmates or your colleagues at work if you have an important presentation and you want to make it very meaningful and you want to give a great presentation how many times do you think you should practice practice that at home or anywhere before you start giving it all right what what do you guys think just write a number in the chat or even if you're watching this later write write it in the comments I'm curious this is just your opinion what what do you guys think how many times should you practice a presentation all right I see some answers three times okay uh in the mirror 25 times all right wow two times 10 times again this is this is just up to you guys because everybody has a different style the one thing I would tell you is that I think it it goes without saying the more you practice the more likely you will give a better presentation because you know what you want to say maybe you think of something that you want to add to it maybe you want to throw a joke in there make it a little entertaining at some point the more you practice the more you do it when I was looking up this information I saw anywhere people would say at least five times some people said at least 15 times another person who was talking about giving Ted Talks would say that they would practice their presentation over a hundred times before they would go and give the Ted talk so the more you practice the better when I would give presentations often when I would do it when I was getting my ma I would probably practice about 10 to 15 times and I would have my presentation and usually I would walk to work I would walk to work and I would walk home from work and during my walk my walk was about 45 minutes I would practice my presentation in my head during this time so 45 minutes my presentation was 10 to 15 minutes I could practice three times each way so again the more you practice the better that's the only thing you need to keep in mind so when you're giving a presentation and people are looking at you what should you be doing in order to speak effectively there are some simple things that that you can do the first one is eye contact make sure that you make eye contact with the audience with the people who are watching your presentation many times I I seen people give presentations and they have their slides up on the board and then they just look at their slides they look at their slides they read their slides and they rarely look at the audience but it is more meaningful uh to make a connection with those people who are in your audience if you are making eye contact the next thing would be to use gestures and you could use gestures with your arms to to emphasize a certain point and use gestures or it could be something as simple as just walking around this is like teaching 101 when you're becoming a teacher and if that you want to learn okay what's something that I can do in the classroom to give an effective lesson and something that's very simple is just to walk around the classroom when you walk around the classroom your students are having to move their eyes and it's something very small but it does help keep their attention just a little bit more so you can use your hands or just walk around it is very useful the uh the next thing oh we talked about it yes walk around very I kind of jumped the gun and got ahead of myself there another thing you can do is smile and again I think I mentioned before that this is more uh an American specific uh if you're giving it to an American audience or even if if you know the American point of view of giving a presentation and that doesn't mean you have to smile the whole time you're giving a presentation like this and it looks a little awkward just just smile when it's like you know you're giving your presentation you should be happy to be sharing this information you should be happy to be there and and you want people to know that that you are you are proud to be giving them this information so it's a little difficult to think okay well do I smile at a certain points again it should just be natural when you say something that maybe is a little humorous you can smile then but just keep that in mind and then the last thing we told you is practice again and then again and then again the more you practice the better that is that is for sure all right so these are the three parts of the presentation that I want you to keep in mind that we discuss throughout this Les lesson the visual the content and you and if you keep all of this in mind the next time that you are giving a presentation at school or if you are giving a presentation at work especially if you're giving a presentation in English to an English-speaking audience these tips will come in help these tips will be very useful and I hope that you can use them and Implement them the last thing I want to mention is if you want to connect with us cool information and updates about what we are doing here at interactive English because we have a lot planned for this year so thank you guys so much for joining me for this lovely lesson if you like this lesson and you think you learn something new please hit that like button down below share this lesson uh with your friends your colleagues anybody that you know who is going to give a presentation please follow the follow these suggestions as always you can write us questions in the comments because we love hearing from you guys and join our social media classes which are up here all right we're active on Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube so thank you so much uh Mr ven cut LLY LLY yes practice makes perfect Carla Katie thank you guys for being here um ABD Rashad uh zos I'm just trying to give some shout outs real quick sorry marari uh Raj Clancy y yogendra thank you guys for joining me today I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and we'll be back next time I will see you guys later so long --- ## 325. HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH IN 2019 | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hQELaCaScPM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQELaCaScPM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:38:26 | --- all right what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which again it's the place that you guys want to be to practice and improve your English skills we love doing these lessons with you especially these live lessons cuz it gives us an opportunity to really interact with all of you today we have a very very very special lesson because we just switched over to the New Year it's 2019 so a lot of us we we have we have New Year's resolutions and I hope that maybe one of your resolutions is to take your English to the next level that you really really really want to improve your English so that's why today I'm going to be talking to you about six ways to improve your English in 2019 and really take your English to the next level so if you're joining us today just want you to say hello in the chat tell me where you're from see a lot of familiar faces which is great uh Leandro Milton Jonathan kava uh Ronaldo welcome thank you guys for joining me L goia great to have you guys here um Asik uh you know Steve uh Jalel what's up welcome welcome welcome thank you guys I'll try and give a shout out to some other people here and there as the lesson continues because again I want you guys to write stuff I want you guys to interact as we go through this lesson even if you're watching this lesson later on write your name in the comments tell me where you're from because I just want to hear from you we try to respond to each and every comment that we can we really do and it's a lot of work because we get a lot of comments but that's what but that's what this is all about about we really like hearing from you guys so again if you're just joining us we're going to be talking about six ways that you can improve your English in 2019 I'm going to talk about six different ways and I think a lot of this is is common sense I don't think anything is going to shock you or surprise you but hopefully it it'll give you some ideas and and start that creative thinking because that's something that we're going to continue talking about throughout this lesson uh because youd have to be creative and the first way that you can be creative and that you should be creative is this I want you to use technology to your advantage that is the first way that you can take your English to the next level in 2019 use technology to your advantage and it's it's a very broad statement so right now what I want you guys to do is tell me what technology do you like to use when it comes to learning English what's your favorite technology whether it's learning English or learning something else do you prefer to use like it could be anything do you prefer to use your cell phone do you prefer to use the your your your computer the uh online do you prefer to use you know TV movies that's also technology it can be anything I just want you to get some ideas out there so people can see well what what types of Technology uh is everybody using and how we can use it to your advantage so these are just a few suggestions about using technology to your advantage what I always tell people because so many people ask like what do I need to do to become fluent in English and I always say well immersion immerse yourself in the language now it's not easy for some of us to pick up and move to the United States or the United Kingdom and Surround themselves with the language but because of technology I tell students try to create this little English bubble that you're surrounded with the language and it can be simple things even just like that first one you know change your change the language settings on your phone or your computer so that it's in English so that anytime you're you're doing something with your phone if it's personal even if it's not language related the settings are in English you're constantly reading English and you are exposed to it that's just a small thing another thing that you can do is many students will ask us about like well you know I learn this new word can you give me some example sentences and part of what we want to do is again teaching you on your own how how you can do all this on your own and and how you can improve your English by yourself because many of you out there you you you're not taking a class you're not surrounded with other English Learners and you might feel like okay this is difficult because I'm doing it by myself but if you have a new word for example use technology use the internet Google News if you have a word you can search it using quotation marks and you can find words used in context so for example this is my example if you learn the word jubilant and you're like well okay it means happiness it means you know extreme happiness but how do people use it I I would like to see how people use it in different sentences you can go to Google News put jubilant in quotes and then a bunch of news articles are going to come out and you'll see how the word is being used in context and how it's related to the story you don't have to read the whole article it will just give you a short little few sentences and highlight where the word jubilant is used so again you can take this with any word any new word that you're using and search for it and see how it's used with in context another great thing is you can connect with people online you can try to meet people in person there's a great site called meetup.com and and you can it's about people that share the same interest in something and you can go and hopefully practice your language skills you can try to connect with people through Facebook groups you can connect with people in our community right here I love seeing like as as we start these lessons and you guys are in there and you're waiting and you're talking to each other and saying hey what's up how's it going that's great you are connecting with other people and the last thing I'd say again discover what you like you know you need to be creative I would say as a teacher I would say try to do many different things use apps on your phone podcast read ebooks social media is another great way to practice and as you use these you might think well this doesn't work for me so then you don't need to do it but maybe podcast you're like I really enjoy it I'm getting a lot of value and improving my listening skills so discover the things you like and then that's what you can focus on that's how you can use technology to your advantage so just want to look at see what you guys have said um uh Mega the best way is to your channel is the best way to improve English thank you thank you thank you we hope so we try to come out out with all these lessons interact with you guys I think that's the best part justel cell phones um Loi computer TV yes those are great way ways to to use technology to your advantage um uh lock read The Washington Post excellent uh Gabrielle I listen to NPR radio again these are these are great resources many of them are free too you don't really have to pay the the internet is such a great place to find free resources that you can practice your reading skills your listening skills uh and even try to find a speaking partner many people are trying to find a speaking partner so that they can practice their speaking skills Olivia prefer watching movies excellent all right these are all great suggestions to to use technology to your advantage the next one that I have for you and you know this is this may be difficult to track down but again just it's something to keep in mind mind when you think about well how do I want to learn English all right I would say this all right try to find fun ways to learn the language all right find fun ways to learn English now the reason I'm telling you this is because it doesn't language learning it doesn't have to be boring all right I think when when we study languages in school and they give you a grammar book and you're doing the grammar book and you're thinking H H this is so boring it's the same thing over it's not interesting you can find fun ways to learn the language it's going to keep your interest and it's going to it's going to help you stay engaged with the language engaged with English and it's going to make learning that much easier if you can find some fun ways to do it now I'm going to give you an example and it's not something maybe you can do on your own maybe you can um I always would start out with riddles in class sometimes it's just a warmup to to loosen people up to help them feel relaxed uh to to make them a little more interested in what we're going to do that day I would warm up and start up with a riddle so I'm going to give you guys a riddle all right and these are riddles uh in English that and I want you to write your answer in the chat or even if you're watching this later write your answer in the comment uh because we want you guys to participate in these lessons so the first riddle and maybe you've heard this before I don't know I want you to listen carefully all right write your answer in the chat okay listen carefully to the riddle ready okay here is the riddle ready it is let me find it um okay there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't okay you're probably thinking to yourself what listen very carefully I'll say it again because this is just practicing you know you're listening your creative thinking all right there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't that's my question okay it's a it's a sentence and a question the sentence there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens my question how many didn't if you don't know you can just write it in the chat just say I don't know or just put question mark question mark question mark question mark and I'll say like oh okay that's uh that's difficult so again if you guys don't know riddles are just like kind of uh fun questions that you ask to somebody that that gets them thinking and they're tricky questions they're tricky questions so again there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't all right some of you giving 10 58 25 100 I told you to listen carefully because now it's going to make sense all right there are 30 cows in a field and 20 20 cows that's the number 28 chickens we're using eight the past tense of eat how how many didn't so if 30 if there's 30 cows and 20 of them ate chickens then yes that means 10 of them didn't we had an answer I think yes goia got it 10 excellent so again it's a bit of a puzzle it's a little challenging because when I say 28 I think many of you were thinking of the number 28 so this is a bit of a play on words it's a riddle all right your next riddle your next riddle is this one I think it's a little easier what has a face and two hands but no arms or legs so what has a face two hands but no arms or no legs all right so again these are good ways that like I said I would start out a class with a riddle just to try and get people thinking all right and have some fun it only takes a couple of minutes so if you are an English teacher out there and you are watching this lesson it's a great idea to to go into class and warm up with just a fun riddle loosens people up to people people enjoy it the students are engaged in the lesson so write your answer in the comments all right somebody said cows don't eat chickens yes you're right they don't eat chickens for the riddle they do I guess so what do you think what has my next riddle what has a face and two hands but no arms or legs can you think of the word all right have some uh some some guesses uh for yeah the body table okay gloves all right so what has whoops that's not the one here it is what has a face and two hands but no arms or legs that is a clock the face of a clock we could say is the front of the clock it has two hands the hour hand and the minutes hand but there are no arms and there are no legs so again it's just something to think about but these are these are fun ways that you can practice and learn the language but there are many other fun ways as well especially if you're using technology to your advantage the next the next way that I want to talk to you guys about the next thing that you can do to to really improve your English and this is it's easy and it's difficult the reason it's easy is because anybody can do this the reason it's difficult is because not many people actually do it and I'd be curious to know if you do it I want you to let me know in the chat but what you should do is set a schedule set a schedule as to when you are going to learn English so here I've just put down some benefits to setting a schedule so if you set a schedule and you're you're right now with us in the chat let me know all right tell me tell me whether you set a schedule or say whether you don't so if you set a schedule just write the word yes so I know okay you're you set a schedule and try to plan out your learning if you don't then write the word no okay just write yes or no so that way I know and it'll be interesting to see well how many people are doing this and how many people don't do it like I said it's easy because anybody can do it you just write it on your schedule but it's difficult because I I think a lot of Learners don't end up doing this they study on their own time but they don't really have a schedule but a reason a great reason why you should set a schedule is because it promotes consistency that even and and I don't mean that you have to study every single day even if it's just once a week week and you say hey every Saturday I am going to attend these live lessons that's part of your schedule that is setting a schedule even if it's once a week and if you have that consistency and you do it over the course of a year or two years or three years you are going to see your skills they are going to go up the next reason why it's important is because it helps you organize your learning needs so for example if you're writing down your schedule and you think okay well this week uh you know I'm I'm going to work on my reading skills and I'm going to start reading this book the next time I'm going to I want to practice my listening skills so I'm going to listen to this podcast and it gets you thinking about what you need to do and what you should be practicing because you're writing it down you're organizing you're organizing your learning needs and you're putting it down on a schedule so it helps you it's very beneficial and helping you realize what you need to do to get to improve your English and then the last part is it just it has a sense of accomplishment because you can look back on your schedule for the past month and if you did you know this this one or two things each week that you put on your schedule then you think okay I I completed this task I completed this I completed this and it just makes you feel good about what you're doing it makes you feel good about your learning so I have a lot there's a lot of people exactly thank you guys so much for sharing because and thanks for being honest all right so it's great if you are setting a schedule uh maab goia Olivia um Ros rossclair all right that that that is excellent that's awesome all right it it really is going to help you if you can sit down and do this for those that aren't doing it um uh ali mayin uh L Kai uh Johnny Khan thank you guys waffy thank you guys for sharing with us I understand what you're going through because I do the same thing I even though I'm a teacher all right and I'm telling you set a schedule I'm trying to learn uh I'm learning Romanian right now that's a language that I'm trying to learn I had a schedule before and then I kind of lost it and now this year that's something that I've told myself that I'm going to do I'm going to set a schedule and once a week or twice a week I I'm going to do this I'm going to practice my speaking skills I'm going to watch a video I'm going to read uh a page in this book and it's something that I need to do so I understand what you guys are going through if you're like no I haven't done this yet it's good to do it I if you if you can but you have to make yourself do it and I have to make myself do it as well so again thank you guys for sharing with us so before we move on to the next one again I just want to let you guys know if you want to connect with us more if you want to connect with us again we have some cool rewards you can do that on patreon check us out on patreon I will leave a link in the description and you can check us out and again make that make that connection with interactive English the next thing that I want to talk to you about about taking your English to the next level is this reason right here is what you need to do and I think you know this practice all the language skills Skills Practice all of them and what I mean by all the language skills in short I'm talking about the four primary language skills Reading Writing listening speaking practice all four and I you know I I've I've asked you guys before when you're talking about like what language skills do you want to improve overwhelmingly everybody says speaking and I think it's because many are studying on their own or they they they that is that is the number one way in which we communicate so everybody obviously wants to practice speaking I understand that and I also understand that because of Technology it's easier to practice the other skills it's easier to go read an article um on the Internet it's easy to go buy a book it's easy to listen to music and and you can practice those skills try to practice all of them even if you're what I worry is that so many people they're so focused on speaking or something that they forget about some of these other language skills for example I think reading is a skill that is often neglected I think that many people don't read as much or they're just reading very short amounts because of you know technology they're just reading headlines or because of things like Twitter they're just reading very very short little statements but I think it's important to keep reading because the reason I say study all of them is because the four language skills even though they might be different they are all connected they are intricately connected to one another so if you're doing one skill it will help you with another skill for example when you're reading you are seeing the grammar used correctly you are seeing punctuation used correctly you're seeing words used in context you're you're seeing prepositions those tiny little function words and and the verbs the adjectives they're used with and if you're you're taking that information in and the next time it comes to speak and you you have to speak and produce the language you will start using it correctly you'll start using the grammar correctly you'll use those vocabulary words correctly and a lot of it might be due to reading it is a value it's a benefit so again try to and this is where it goes back to set a schedule you know set a schedule try to use all the language skills and I know that many of you you're saying okay well I want to I need to practice speaking how do I do that you got to try to be creative think about ways that you can find a speaking partner and it doesn't just have to be well okay I need to speak English and just practice English use your interest to your advantage if you can find maybe in your town a book club and it's maybe with if expats or whoever and you can you know create a book club where you're you're reading books in English and then you get together with other people to talk about those books in English and talk about the stories so again you just need to try and get creative as I mentioned before and use all of those language skills so let's see another one that I have that I think is very important when you're thinking about okay this year in 2019 what do I need to do what I would say is to set shortterm goals all right set short-term goals and set specific goals all right you know don't don't just say like I'm going to take my English from this level to this level you need to identify how you're going to do that what specifically are you going to do what are you going to accomplish and and it doesn't you know set a short-term goal so instead of saying I was talking to somebody recently and said oh okay what's one of your New Year's resolutions what's one of your goals for learning English and they told me they said I want to read 50 books I was thinking well you know okay that that's a good goal but it it's a long-term goal and it's too much and I think when we set long-term goals and if they're big goals and you don't accomplish them then you know it brings down your confidence and that's the reason why these are reasons why you should set short-term goals is because if it's just a short goal and you complete it then you have that sense of accomplishment it boosts your self-confidence and helps you maintain your motivation and desire to learn and that is so important because when you start to lose your motivation that's when you know you stop setting a schedule that's when you stop studying and practicing your skills and then all of a sudden you notice your English or you feel like your English is just going down down down down so set short-term goals things that are realistic and be specific and this is what I I mean when you can set short-term goals and put those in your schedule the other reason is again you get quick feedback about your progress you get that accomplishment okay I did this all right and if it's a short-term goal like I'm going to take this vocabulary quiz all right we did a lesson a live lesson a while back about a vocabulary quiz you can go check that out I'll I'll link it above take that quiz and you get that feedback about okay well how did I do on this quiz all right what words did I learn and and what learn words should I practice and it's a great way to get that feedback so I of course I I wanted to give you examples when I say oh be specific here here are some examples about like a short-term goal you know maybe you say that for one month you're going to try and learn one new word a day all right just one new word and if that's too much just do you know for one month learn one word a week and you learn that word and you practice that word you search for it on Google News so you can see how it's used in context that's a shortterm goal one month you're going to learn one word a day or one word a week or again even just for one week you learn one word a day and see if you can maintain that goal all right if you say well I'm going to do this for an entire year then you're going to have days where it's just not possible we have things going on in life we're too busy and we can't accomplish that goal so just make it short term do it for one month or less even one week is another good one uh again number two like you could say for one week I'm going to read five minutes a day or if you can't do it each day say for one week I am going to take you know two days and I'm going to read for 10 minutes you just find an article somebody mentioned the Washington Post uh you can find articles uh online New York Times USA Today a bunch of different articles and newspapers that you can read and just read one article find something that interests you and read it all right um another one and and as you guys want what what's one of your short-term goals okay I want you to write that to me in the chat share with each other because again that's a good way to give each other ideas about well what is a short-term goal so write a short-term goal in the comments all right Ahad said yes please give us some examples of a short-term goal perfect so these right here these are the examples that I would I would suggest but it's just something for you to start thinking about so right now I as you guys are thinking about well what is one of my short-term goals write that in the chat or write that in the comments if you're watching this later because it's great for other people to be able to read it and think okay you know that's a great idea I'm also going to to do that uh another short-term goal would be like okay I'm going to watch a TV show or a movie using subtitles and the reason you're going to use subtitles is because then you're practicing your reading skills and you're also listening to the pronunciation and see how it's matched up with the words or the phrases so again using subtitles I know most people think well if I'm watching a show or a movie it's just practicing my listening skills I'd say you can add to that you're practicing your listening skills you're you're identifying the pronunciation and you're practicing your reading skills and that is a very short-term goal because a TV show is maybe just an hour a movie is going to be a couple hours and then you accomplish it it's done it's something that you can do and it's very easy to accomplish so again these are some examples of shortterm goals that that you can do so again some short-term goals uh people writing in the comments all right yeah uh you know says I'm going to watch an American movie each week perfect okay that is a great example of a short-term goal um Roxanne says watching Vlogs help a lot and again that's a great thing if you are interest if you know somebody that you enjoy their Vlogs and those are just like five or 10 minute videos you watch those Vlogs that is great listening practice and you're also learning a little bit about culture as well depending on where the vlogger is from um what else do we got uh says all right learning 10 words a day reading 20 minutes watching a lot of TV yep those are all great things um you know great goals and the things that you can accomplish that's perfect all right so again set short-term goals it it's really going to help you this year the next thing that I tell you to do and you can do this today is subscribe to our email list this is something that we've been doing the past few months and we've switched over to another platform so if some of you are already subscribed we we're putting the wheels are in motion all right it's taken us a while to to get things up and running the reason that we would ask you to subscribe is that again you'll get updates on the latest news things that are going on in our lives and again we're writing you emails we're not going to we're not going to write you emails every single day and it just becomes spam and you're like okay it's just too much too much but again we'll we'll send you emails from time to time maybe once or twice a month you'll get this email from us you're able you're you're reading in English and plus we're going to give you some free resources we'll we'll provide you with free resources from time to time not every email will have something but some emails will talk to you about resources that are available some will have resources that we made specifically for you plus you'll also be able to access the secret fluency lesson um which we have hidden on our YouTube channel so if you want to access that lesson subscribe to our email list I will leave a link in the description it'll just say secret fluency lesson you can click on it subscribe and the most important thing of all right there will be your best friend all right so it's a great way it's another great way to connect with us again if you've already subscribed just just hold on we're we're getting that put together so that these emails will start getting sent out and and again it's another great way to connect with us so in 2019 because the year has just started so these are all great ways to to do it I'll just go through them again real quickly the things you want to do are to use technology to your advantage find fun ways to learn the language all right not just boring old grammar books remember to set a schedule for your learning it's very important that you schedule the things that you want to do practice all the language skills listening reading speaking writing try to practice all of them set short-term goals things that you can do things that you can accomplish because it's really going to boost your motivation and and and keep you engaged in learning English and the final thing is subscribe to our email list you can stay in touch with us and we will point you in the direction of a lot of different free and useful resources so those are all great ways to improve your English in 2019 and of course another great way is check us out whoops uh there right there on social media Facebook Twitter Instagram you know it's another great way to connect with us we post questions all the time it it's a very short and easy way to practice your your English skills if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button and as always we really appreciate it if you share it with with other people you know who are learning English especially if you are in a class of other Learners share these lessons hopefully they'll also join these live lessons write us questions in the comments we love hearing from you guys and you know just yeah thank you thank you thank you for joining me um just want to give some shoutouts for people who are here thank you um uh let's see ly Marcelo thank you Judy um anaga Olivia gelle uh nurman Sergio thank you thank you roseclair thank you guys for joining us I appreciate you being here with me today again like this like the video spread the word and don't forget there are links in the description uh to help you guys out links to our patreon links to the secret lesson thank you thank you thank you Ronaldo uh Sergio no oev Edison Muhammad go just's so many of you this is such a great Community I really appreciate it and join us join me next week uh hope you can join me next week for another live lesson Mildred kala Kinsey um goia thank you thank you um Kim Kim Chan chel Kim Chan chel thank you thank you for joining me all right you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend have a wonderful week and I'll see you guys next time all right I'm kind of just dragging this thing on right now so I'll see you next time --- ## 326. HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING SKILLS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `E-CLHF7zSOA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-CLHF7zSOA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:49:32 | --- all right so hello hello welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes from interactive English I hope that you having a having a wonderful day we're a bit jet-lagged right now so we just finished traveling a long way so feeling jet lag which if you don't know what that means it basically means that after traveling a long distance changing time zones you feel really tired and sluggish and a bit out of sorts but that is neither here nor there I don't want to talk to you about that today instead I want to talk to you about something that is very very important I want to talk to you about perhaps the most important language skill and that is listening so I want to discuss with you how to enhance your listening skills and more specifically I want to give you five tips where is it there we go five tips on how you can enhance your listening so if you are just joining us in the chat please tell us your name where you're from tell us how you're doing but I want to talk to you about listening today and this is a good practice because right now you are listening to me and practicing your skills so I'm going to tell you about five different tips about how you can improve your listening skills and I'm gonna put some of those quotes down there that I like to heat that I like like this one says don't just hear the words listen to them so listening is a very very very important skill so let's first talk about why listening is so important just a moment ago I told you that it is perhaps the most important language skill and this is true and the reason I think this is true is because it is the one skill that we get a lot of exposure to alright we here listening all the time alright we hear it when we're in conversation we hear it on the radio we hear it when we are watching TV or movies all the time we are listening and listening and listening we are doing that much more than any of the other major language skills and that's why it's so important and for me I personally think it's the most difficult skill I think a lot of people out there they find like speaking or reading might be the most difficult but for me for some reason listening has always been the most challenging so I speak some Spanish I'm comfortable with Spanish I've lived a couple of years in spanish-speaking countries but still to this day when I'm having a conversation in Spanish it's very easy for me to tune out and stop paying attention and then all of a sudden I rejoined the conversation and I'm thinking oh my gosh what what are we talking about what's going on so I don't know if you also have challenge listening but it is very important so hopefully these tips will help you if you do find it challenging and even if listening is one of your stronger skills these tips are still relevant they are still very important excellent we got a lot of people joining us Nate hello from Lao awesome purl India we got a lot of people here Tong from Vietnam Barbara from Poland excellent thank you guys for joining us today we're going to talk about ways to enhance your listening skills and again like right now you're practicing your listening skills because you are watching this video and hopefully this will help the other reason why listening is important is because it is a very effective way of learning a language and a lot of people who study languages you know agree or disagree about what's the most effective way the people that think that listening is the most important usually do this by observing you know children young children all of us as we're growing up you know the first skill that young children or babies are exposed to is listening that's all they're doing for those first couple of years is listening listening listening and then they start to speak and it's usually a little slurred noncoherent and then speaking is the next skill but listening is the one skill that people use to learn the language and then they can start to speak it so it is very very important Ricardo great to see you again Jose from Colombia awesome so if you're in the chat let me know again I just told you for me listening is the most difficult language skill what it what do you think is the most difficult language skill between the major ones listening speaking reading or writing which is the most difficult for you we are all different today I'm going to tell you five tips to enhance your listening and this is relevant it is important whether listening is one of the easier skills or whether like me it is one of the more difficult skills for you and this is one of my favorite quotes down there at the bottom if you are not listening you're not learning and that's pretty obvious and it is very true that in order to learn listening is very important alright so the first tip that I have for you to enhance your listening skills is be attentive and be engaged as I just told you for me listening is the most difficult even when I'm having a conversation in another language it's easy for me to lose focus and then all of a sudden I try to rejoin the conversation and it's more difficult to follow along and understand what that person was saying and then I often have to ask them could you please repeat yourself so it is very important to focus on the conversation and one good way to do that is to maintain good eye contact when you're using good eye contact and looking at the other person or you are looking at the other people who you are speaking to or who are speaking to you then it is very easy to pay attention to what they're saying and show that you are engaged in the conversation again if you're just joining us let us know in the chat where are you from what's your name tell us how your weekend is going some of you are showing up it seems like for me speaking is the most difficult again other people speaking so yeah I know speaking is definitely a challenge I think this is cuz most of us would like more opportunities to speak that is the one good thing about listening and trying to practice and improve your listening is that there are so many good resources out there and like I said you're practicing your listening skills right now because you're listening to me you are able to communicate with me in the chat and write but I know that speaking is a challenge for many of you the other thing about listening in order to be attentive and engaged is you're not just listening to the words and following the conversation there are other things that you should listen for as well for example listen to the tone of the person who is speaking do they sound happy do they sound sad do they sound excited this will help give more meaning to the topic that you are discussing or that the other person is telling you about also listen for intonation again this will help you distinguish whether it is a statement or a question is it a falling intonation when they're just making a statement or is it a rising intonation are they asking you a question rising intonation this is going to help if you can identify these little things then it's going to help your listening skills in understanding what the person is telling you and again I know some of you speaking and they talked about that quote down there if speaking is silver then listening is gold for me listening is gold which is why I really really really want to improve my listening skills so if you're just joining us today we're talking about five listening skills five tips to enhance your listening skills Antonio from Costa Rica excellent welcome pura vida' that is actually one of the spanish-speaking countries I used to live in so it's great to have you let's look at the next tip number two is picture what the person is saying now when you're reading this is exactly what we're doing you're reading a story you're reading an article and you are creating the pictures in your mind because it helps you to follow what you're reading try to do the same thing when you are listening to somebody it's a little more challenging because listening it goes much faster we can all read at whatever pace we want to and then we can go back and reread to help us understand when you're listening typically it could go very quickly and you really have to try to follow it which is why the first part of being attentive is very important now the next part like I said number two picture what you're saying the way you can do this is by focusing on key words so if somebody says some key words something that is like an adjective which is very descriptive try to put that pick in your mind because when you create these pictures it's going to help you concentrate and follow the conversation and as they say another very very famous quote a picture is worth a thousand words so let's look at tip number three the next tip that I have for you guys is right here put the conversation in context this is something that I would tell students all the time and I know a lot of you who are following us some of you are joining us are also English teachers and I imagine you may be telling this to your students all the time is to put things in into context and context basically means that you understand the words or the meaning before and after a certain word or phrase that maybe you don't understand but because you understand the words at the beginning and at the end you can kind of understand the entire meaning of everything because when you are having a conversation and you are listening to somebody they may say a word or a phrase that maybe you're unfamiliar with maybe it's a phrasal verb or it could be an idiom but because you understand the entirety of the conversation you can kind of guess what that meaning is so try to put things into context Patricia from France hello welcome glad to have you guys joining us again if you just joined us we're talking about different five tips to help enhance your listening and let us know your name and where you're from in the context in the comments talking about context it's in my mind so how can we put things into context well listen for you know those key question markers those that who the what the where the when the why the how if you can kind of follow along with that it's going to help you put the entire conversation into context and you'll be able to understand what the person is talking about now this is probably more important or very important when you're not having a direct conversation when you're maybe listening to or the radio or maybe you're listening to a podcast because you're not able to see someone it becomes a little more challenging and that's why it's more important to put these things that you hear into context another good way to put things into context is to ask yourself what might happen next this is a good way to check your own comprehension so as somebody is telling you a story or as you're listening to somebody speak maybe ask yourself like where are they going with this what do you think they're going to talk about next what's going to happen next and even if you are right even if you if you are wrong if you are able to think about something that they may talk about next then that means that you've pretty much understood what has already been said that you were able to effectively listen to what that person was saying and you're able to kind of think well what might happen next so this is a good comprehension check that you can do on your own while you are listening to a conversation or again if you're listening to the radio or a podcast and really check your comprehension mohamad hi how are you great to hear from you this is great hello from Hong Kong awesome we have people from all over the world this is wonderful the next tip the next listening tip that I want to talk to you about is this one right here where it where is it let's see number three whoops I'm missing number four let's be fun number four oh gosh I don't have number four up here so let me add it real quickly so again this is let's remove this using this platform I can add something what was it called I want to talk to you about some pronunciation resources that you can use and again I went through this before making sure everything was perfect and then realized come game time it's like oh wait it's missing so listening resources in the chat if you're in here I want you to tell me what pronunciation are what listening resources do you like to use what do you think is helpful while I add this and get this up here all right so [Music] okay so and there we go you can tell we're live because again this was not planned all right so hopefully you can see you should be able to see this again I want to ask you what's listening resources you use because the other tip that I wanted to talk to you about is this right here is about using a variety of listening materials as I said before that this is listening is something that I don't think many people or as many people have trouble with again I have trouble with it but a reason that they may feel this way is because there are so many resources out there for people to use so let me know in the comments which resources which listening resources do you like to use because my suggestion would be to use a variety of them again if you're having a conversation you're going to be using your listening skills if you are listening to the radio or podcast you're using your listening skills video TV movies YouTube right now you were using your listening skills music is another big one I think a lot of us listen to music in English if you listen to music in English let me know write it in the comments write in in the chat who is your favorite music artist who do you listen to and then online resources there are a lot of them out there you can just go on to google and type in I put it in quotes just type in online listening comprehension practice if you put that in there and look at the results it's going to give you a list of different sites that you can go to that you can use to practice your listening skills to practice your comprehension skills so I would recommend in order to improve your listening use a variety of skills and again I think a lot of us are using you know TV movies YouTube of course but try to make it a little more difficult try to make it a little more challenging go find a podcast and listen to that because you are then you're not going to get those visual cues and actually have a picture of what's happening you are then gonna have to put that picture in your mind which is going to help you practice and and really try to identify the different material that you are listening to so again people are talking about I think YouTube is a great resources prefer to watch sitcoms so again anything that you like to watch and enjoy it is a great way to practice your listening and again this is often a fun way of practicing English because we want to watch these TV shows we want to watch these movies and we want to listen to music so it really really really helps so again use a variety of resources when you want to improve your listening skills the last one the last tip I have for you which you probably already saw it was up there before is this one is to ask questions again this is good to show that you understood or you comprehend what you just heard a lot of times when I would teach business English and I would have students talk to me about their getting ready to do a job interview and I would tell them that in the job interview you should always ask questions at the end if you're asking questions then that means that you're interested you were engaged in what was happening and what you were talking about in the interview process so always ask questions because it really shows the other person that you are engaged in the conversation and that you are listening and it's also a good way again to check your own comprehension that you are asking a follow-up question about you know what you're talking about to get more information and it shows engagement the last thing I want to tell you is and I know this is something that none of us like to do is that it's okay to ask somebody to repeat I would do this all the time and especially if you are maybe an intermediate learner or even more of an a high beginner you're going to have to ask people to repeat if you don't understand and there's nothing wrong with that it is perfectly fine and it's just going to help you in the long run because it's going to help your listening comprehension if they repeat it again and then you understand then you're going to retain that information the next time you are having a similar conversation so I would do it all the time even if you're an advanced learner you know don't worry it's okay just ask somebody can you please repeat that it's no problem what does comprehension mean comprehension just means understanding all right show comprehension of what you just heard show understanding of what you just heard so again somebody said there are subtitles - yeah subtitles ebooks with transcripts questionings not easy exactly you guys are sharing great stuff the last question I had for you is in there that picture that image you see FAQ that is an acronym can you tell me what does it mean what does FAQ stand for we're talking about asking questions what do you think it means FAQ so again today we're just talking about five tips to help you enhance and improve your listening okay so in case you don't know FAQ stands for this is something you will see on the internet a lot because there are websites you will go to and it'll say FAQ it stands for frequently asked questions all right I'll write that in the chat for you so you guys know frequently asked questions alright excellent got it if you guys have any questions if you have any frequently asked questions for us what I would tell you to do in this video go to the comment section once it gets published and write a question ask us a question about anything related to listening skills or anything related to English please let us know ask away but just write them in the comments so that is all for today's quick lesson talking about five tips to enhance your listening skills I hope you guys are able to use these tips and practice them because in general it is going to help you improve your overall English fluency I promise you alright so thank you guys so much for watching please please please like and share this lesson with others if you have questions again I told you just write them in the comments and the very last thing I would tell you to do is to join our social media classes we're on facebook Instagram snapchat and Twitter it's another good way to practice and improve your English skills thank you guys for watching I hope you have a wonderful weekend and if you are watching this it's in the future sometime I just hope you have a wonderful day all right we will see you guys next time --- ## 327. HOW TO PRACTICE SPEAKING ENGLISH ON YOUR OWN | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QZSZevPTygo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZSZevPTygo) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:40:47 | --- The one thing that learners tell us all the time is: "I want to practice my speaking skills" "I want to speak. Speak Speak Speak Speak". We hear it every day. Now, I understand that it's difficult for many of you because you might not have the opportunity So that's why I'm gonna tell you three ways that you can practice your speaking skills on your own. That's coming up. So I think that just about everybody out there would like to improve their speaking skills because when we're practicing our speaking skills, we're kind of taking everything that we've learned And trying to put it together, and think quickly, and have that natural free-flowing conversation. And it really makes us feel like: Yeah, we're making some progress. We're improving our language skills. So I understand why everybody out there would love to practice their speaking skills. But I also realized that it's not possible for many of you because you don't have a language partner or maybe you're not taking English lessons and getting that opportunity or the opportunity you would like to have a conversation and practice speaking That's why I want to talk to you about three ways that you can practice your speaking skills on your own and try to improve, so that way the next time you DO get the opportunity to speak with somebody else, you'll maybe feel a little more confident and ready to have that conversation. Now, before I talk to you about these three amazing ways to study on your own, I want to address one thing- because many of you might be thinking: Well, I don't know how valuable this could be because nobody is able to correct my mistakes. And that's true. Nobody is going to correct your mistakes, but I want to say that that should not be your primary focus, especially when you're talking about your own self-study. The idea is just to get that practice and to start using and speaking the language. Don't worry about making mistakes, Don't worry about trying to correct all of your errors. The goal is just to use the language and practice and practice and practice because practice makes perfect. The first way to practice your speaking skills, (and I know you might think: "Well this is just ridiculous", but it's not) is to talk to yourself. Have a conversation with yourself. I do this when I'm learning other languages. I try to create a conversation in my head and maybe I ask myself a question about a certain situation and then think: well how am I going to respond to that question? What words or phrases do I need to use? and then you're having this conversation in your head And then all of a sudden: Wow, I'm actually thinking in another language! That's one of the first steps to start thinking in another language is to actually start using the language on your own, in your mind, in your head. So have a conversation with yourself! It doesn't have to be a conversation that you wouldn't have in real life. Think about: how would I talk to somebody about their job? How would I talk to somebody when I first meet them? What are some things I would ask? What would I say? How might this other person respond? and then keep the conversation going. Or maybe you think about the things that you need to do in your daily life: things that you are doing at that moment If you're preparing some food for dinner, think about the steps you're taking What do you need to do? What other food do you wish you had in order to make the meal better? Have that conversation with yourself. First because at some point you will have that conversation with somebody else for real, And then you'll be a little more familiar with this topic and the words or phrases that you might want to use to express your ideas and opinions. So talking to yourself is a valuable way to practice on your own. The next way to practice speaking on your own is to read out loud. I used to have an instructor who told me that reading out loud: it is not a reading skill, it is a speaking skill. mostly because you're listening for people's pronunciation And it is true. This is a speaking skill. Reading out loud, pronouncing the words, using the language correctly is an important way to practice those skills Also, when you're reading out loud, you're really practicing the rhythm and flow of speech. You're able to practice your cadence, which is the inflection in your voice because you are following the punctuation that you see. For example, if there's a comma, you're taking a short pause. If there's a period at the end of the sentence, then you'll take a breath. And because you're able to follow the punctuation, It's going to sound like a more natural conversation. And I would suggest reading out loud books that have dialogue in them that actually have conversation and you're speaking. You're actually saying that conversation out loud, as well as maybe capturing the mood of what's going on in the story. So reading out loud can be a very valuable way of practicing your speaking skills. The final way to practice your speaking skills is to speak to a video. And that is actually your practice for today. We are going to have a very short conversation And I want you to respond to my questions speaking out loud. As crazy as this may seem, people actually do this. For example, a lot of language exams: They can't always have somebody speaking to you, so you have to record your answers on the computer And you're basically speaking to the computer. So, we're going to try that and this is our practice for today: I'm going to ask you a question and then a follow-up question, and I want you to give me your answers out loud. All right, this is just a very simple short conversation. Are you ready? Here's your first question. So where did you go yesterday? Okay, well why did you do that? So I hope you gave an answer out loud. Again, just a short sentence answering that question. Now, to check if maybe what you said is correct, think about the question that I asked you: Where did you go yesterday? I'm talking about the past, so you should have answered using the past tense; using that past simple because we're talking about something that happened yesterday. Are you ready for another question? All right, here we go: What will you do tomorrow? Well, do you think that'll be fun? For these answers, you should have used the future tense because again we're talking about tomorrow I was asking you: What will you do tomorrow? So you should have responded using "will" or "be going to" because those are the two ways that we talk about the future. So you can go back and practice again and practice giving different responses and pretend like we're having a conversation and think about: Well, what do you want to say? How can you describe these things? It's all good practice. Also, if you actually did practice and say your answers out loud I want to know, so: If you did, I want you to write the word SPEAKING in the comments below So that way I know that you were actually speaking and using the language and giving your answers out loud. I hope that you're able to use my suggestions to practice your speaking skills and be prepared for the next time you really do have a conversation. If you enjoyed this lesson, please give this video a thumbs up and share it with anybody else - you know- who's trying to practice and improve their English skills. Thank you guys so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. --- ## 328. HOW TO SPEAK WITH A STANDARD AMERICAN ACCENT ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FMWnR5ubIb4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMWnR5ubIb4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:54:54 | --- let's talk about the American accent but in this lesson we're going to talk about the standard American accent and I really just want to break it down and talk about what are some of the different parts that make the accent what it is today now the first thing I want to say is that if you are an English learner you should not feel like you have to speak with any sort of accent the most important thing is mutual intelligibility that we understand each other that being said I do think this will help with your listening comprehension if you're watching a movie or TV show and really just get a better understanding of why people speak the way they do and of course we are going to practice throughout the lesson and if you enjoy practicing your English skills Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if you would like to practice your speaking fluency check out my speaking course click on the link down in the description if you're interested in improving your pronunciation practicing connected speech as well as building your vocabulary I will come back to that at the end of the lesson but right now let's talk about the standard American accent and the first thing that I want you to keep in mind is that you need to pronounce those RS especially at the end of words so this is a pretty clear distinction between British English and American English because in British English those RS may get dropped but not with the American accent father car water you hear that R sound at the end of those words I am your father car for car car for car there are some Regional Accents in the United States uh for example New England in which you may hear people drop those RS but when talking about the standard American accent you're going to pronounce them at the end of words so I want you to repeat these after me and I'm going to really emphasize that r at the end father car water good we're going to build on top of this as we go through the lesson but I want you to think about that last word water because this brings me to the next part of the American accent which I think is very common and I'm talking about the flap T so the flap T it sounds more like a soft D and it often occurs when the t comes between two vow sounds like in the word water you don't hear a true T you hear a flap T when I say it water and this is why these two words right here with the American accent they sound like homonyms metal metal a flap te may also occur when the t comes before a dark L such as in the words little bottle rattle you hear that slight D sound bottle of water I want you to repeat after me bottle of water now if you were saying it in the exact same way as I was then you were linking a couple of different words and that's the next thing that I want to talk to you about linking this is part of connected speech and it's when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word and it's almost like you're just taking that consonant sound and just moving it over to the next word or syllable now linking is not specific to the American accent other English varieties use linking as well as other languages but I do think it helps give the accent part of its rhythm and flow so bottle of water we can link that dark l in bottle with the beginning vowel sound in of bottle love now let's add to this phrase get a bottle of water so I've added the words get uh except I didn't pronounce it like that I said get a bottle of water now that final T and get because it comes between two vowel sounds I am going to pronounce it as you guessed it a flap T and then can link that soft D sound with the article a and it's going to sound like geta get a bottle of water and then we can turn this into a question I want you to repeat after me can I get a bottle of water excuse me can I get a bottle of water can I get a bottle of water can I get a bottle of water please many Learners often ask me how can I practice linking and this is something that I think you can easily do on your own just take any article really any paragraph go through the paragraph and identify all of those indefinite articles uh as well as any preposition that begins with a vowel sound in on at if the word before ends with a consonant well then linking May likely occur and then just go through the paragraph read it out loud and focus on those phrases and make sure that you are linking that final consonant sound with the beginning vowel sound so let's look at well the very first sentence of The Hobbit right very well-known famous story in a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit just with this first sentence linking occurs three different times it occurs with the very first two words Ina it occurs with the next two words H in and then it also occurs with the words Liva in a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit I cannot stress enough how common linking is in just everyday conversation and it's really going to smooth out your speech so let's build on that phrase that we were practicing before and we'll create a question do you want to get a bottle of water repeat after me do you want to get a bottle of water and right now I W to focus on Wana and I'm emphasizing it because I want to talk about reductions which is also very common in spoken English especially in the UN United States this is when speakers shorten change or remove particular sounds and there are many different reductions but I I think going to want to have to those are some of the more common ones now even though you see them written right now I would avoid using them in writing I know sometimes you may see people use them in writing like in a text message but in general I I would just avoid them but when it comes to spoken English I think they're great to use because I I think they'll help you develop a nice Rhythm and flow there's one thing in particular that I want you to keep in mind and that is reductions are not really emphasized and when I've taught them in the past sometimes Learners have trouble with this because when focusing on the reduction people may have a tendency to stress or emphasize them but they're not emphasized I just want you to listen as I say the following sentences what are you going to do tomorrow I want to take a vacation I have to work in the morning so I'm not emphasizing these reductions if anything they're really deemphasized and they're just going to help you run right through the sentence now there's one word that I really want to highlight because we often use it and you're probably not even thinking about it and I'm talking about the word for so this word is often reduced and that vowel sound changes to fur it's very soft and subtle but see if you can hear the difference wait here for for a moment wait here for a moment and it's actually much easier when pronouncing that vowel sound just to say that f for a moment again we can reduce that word and just move quicker through the sentence wait here for a moment let's keep adding to that question and now we have do you want to get a bottle of water for your father I want you to say it with me do you want to get a bottle of water for your father one more time do you want to get a bottle of water for your father the next thing that I want to talk about when it comes to the American accent that I really think that you need to master is the schwas sound people in the United States love the schwas sound this is just an unstressed vowel sound and it really is just going to sound like uh and you hear it all the time in so many different words and phrases even those reductions that we already talked about that second syllable would have the schah sound GNA wna have to when it comes to the schwas sound it's important to know which vowel sounds in a word may be unstressed because those unstressed vowels may be pronounced with the schwas sound and at times this is when I hear English Learners make a slight mistake and they'll end up stressing a syllable with a vowel that should be unstressed and pronounced with the schwas sound so have a listen to these words right here a IAL pencil address syringe all of these words have the schw sound and they're all different letters and that's what I wanted to point out is that any vowel when it's unstressed it may get pronounced with the schwas sound it's unstressed and another way to think about it is that it's just a weak sound and that's where I want to go next and talk about weak unstressed function words so there are two common words that may have different pronun iations depending on whether the word is stressed or unstressed and I'm talking about the words U and two so when unstressed youu may sound more like Y and to may sound more like T and you hear that schw sound my suggestion is that you don't think about these words that you're always going to hear one or the other either U or Y think about it more like a spectrum and you may hear anywhere in between because the fact that you're not stressing these words and you're using a weaker vowel sound that's what's changing it to more of a schwas sound listen to this phrase right here at the start of a question when stressed do you w to when unstressed do you wna do you wna or this phrase when stressed to the airport when weak and unstressed to the airport to the airport let's add these phrases to the question there's that t to create a pretty long sentence that has everything that we just talked about do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport now that we have this long question we just need to practice and that is the next thing that I wanted to talk to you about practice because it is so important and if you have been practicing with me throughout the lesson I want to know write the word speaking in the comments that tells me you've been practicing your speaking skills so when it comes to practice there are several things that you can do listen to native speakers and try to imitate their pronunciation pay close attention to the way people articulate sounds and then try to replicate them even if we're talking about well slight and subtle weak sounds we just talked about those words to U for being pronounced as says t y and fur this is what can help you develop a more authentic standard American accent if that happens to be one of your speaking goals so let's practice and because this question is so long I am going to break it up into two different groups and I'm going to put a slight pause between the groups so I'll say the question try to listen for that pause do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport hopefully you heard that slight pause after the word father which is before that dependent clause and I do this in order to really control the pacing so let's practice I am going to say that first group and I want you to repeat after me and then I'll say the second group and I want you to repeat again are you ready do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport now let's say the whole question I'll say it you repeat after me and try it again control that pacing with that pause do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport good now let's say it together and this is more like shadowing I want you to say it in the exact same way that I am and really what's challenging would be to see if you can keep that same speed so let's say the question together we'll do this three times are you ready let's begin do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport one more time do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport again do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport excellent now if you were able to say that question just like me well then you're using a lot of the things that we talked about in this lesson you're pronouncing those final RS you're pronouncing ounc in that flap T using reductions linking as well as some of those weak sounds like t y and F and remember the most important thing is to continue practicing and really try to make time for it because exercises like the one that we did in this lesson are really going to help you in Daily conversations and speaking of conversations let's now talk a little bit about my speaking course if you are an English learner who would like to practi practice and improve your speaking skills check out the link down in the description and when you do you will find a special discount just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic we warm up with pronunciation or connected speech similar to some of the things we were doing in this lesson you will learn vocabulary related to each topic there are engaging speaking activities I'll teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases and there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course so check out the link down in the description if you'd like to practice and improve your speaking fluency if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 329. Halloween English Lesson | Pronunciation + Culture + Vocabulary ๐ŸŽƒ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hW2Z-3w17ek` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW2Z-3w17ek) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:23:46 | --- hey everyone welcome to interactive english in case this is the first time your first time here the channel it's all about just helping you practice and improve your english and today i i think it's a fun lesson we're gonna do a little bit of everything we're gonna do some discussion uh about vocabulary a little bit of cultural information as well as some pronunciation and the topic how we're going to connect all of these different things is we're going to talk about halloween so halloween is is coming up it is the 31st of october which i think is uh next saturday so this whole lesson is going to revolve around halloween when we do pronunciation culture we'll learn a little bit about the holiday as well as some vocabulary that i think some of the vocabulary is easy and then some of it can be pretty difficult so i want to give a few shout outs uh to some of you who join me right now hello uh rose lolly uh kyo angela good to see you thank you guys for for being here today i hope all of you have a wonderful and happy halloween even if you don't celebrate it so the the reason why i'm doing this is because it's it's leading into halloween and i think this is just this is more of a fun lesson so let's begin with uh some pronunciation okay and oh here's the this is our schedule for today's lesson uh we're gonna do this order so we're gonna do pronunciation first and then i have some questions which is more of a i guess you say it's a cultural quiz because this is about the the holiday itself then we'll do some vocabulary uh with synonyms in which i am going to ask for your help in thinking of words and and your vocabulary so this is a great way for you to participate then we'll talk a little bit about halloween food and then some advanced vocabulary words that are related to halloween so let's begin with pronunciation the pronunciation part and the first thing i want to do to lead into this is talking about the w sound and how to make this sound so this is a voiced sound which means there's a vibration in your vocal chords if you were to make this sound and put your fingers right here over your vocal cords you'll you should feel that and you can feel that vibration and to form this uh to to form your mouth to the correct position you're going to have your lips around it in a small circle think about it like you're like you're gonna give a kiss alright so you you round your lips even if you're gonna blow a kiss if you want to know where your mouth needs to be positioned um you would like blow a kiss and that is that w uh that's the w sound when you're uh trying to form your mouth to make that sound and you could say words like which and watch so even if you were to look at my lips as i'm saying those words you can see how small and round it is which watch now the reason why i chose those two words is because it leads in to our little pronunciation activity which is a tongue twister all right i want to practice this tongue twister and i would like you to practice with me so i would like you to try and say this out loud let's read it we'll read it slowly so this first time ah i'll read it you can listen to me and then you can uh repeat it so if two witches were watching two watches which which would watch which watch give it a try all right and i'm just gonna i'm gonna take your word that you're actually uh you're participating and speaking and practicing your pronunciation all right so again i've had some practice with this tongue twister um and trying to form the those w sounds like with witches and watches now let's practice again this time i want to do it uh like shadowing and what shadowing is is when you say it immediately after i do kind of like we're saying it at the same time so very close so it's almost like you're saying it with me so i'm gonna read it slow i'll read it one more time and then i want you to read it with me like you're shadowing and practice your pronunciation so this is the speed that i will read it at i'll say if two witches were watching two watches which which would watch which watch all right so let's say it together all right i want you to say this out loud practice your speaking practice your pronunciation are you ready and let's begin if two witches were watching two watches which which would watch which watch all right so again and then you could try this as fast as you can if two witches were watching two watches which witch would watch which watch okay so this is just a little a fun tongue twisters it's a fun way to practice pronunciation i will leave this tongue twister down in the description if you'd like to read it again practice on your own it's just a fun way to get a little bit of speaking practice the next thing that i want to do um if we go back uh is just a little this is a little bit of a cultural quiz so again i want you to participate write your answer in the chat let me know what you think so halloween whether you celebrate this holiday or not i'm sure most of you have heard about it and it has it has different names and one of them is one of these what do you think so halloween may also be known as what which of these names also refers to halloween overwhelmingly people say halloween but it like i said it can't it may have different names and one of them is one of these uh excellent lolly angela anvar um the answer is b all hallows eve all hallows eve uh is another name for halloween but again most people you're gonna say uh halloween when you're talking about the 31st of october then we have uh this which is a little bit vocabulary but again it's part of the tradition of halloween it's what people do it's a little more difficult because i'm not giving you any choices no multiple choice i just want you to think of the word that will complete this sentence a is often carved and placed outside of the home now one thing i will say i'm not looking this is a pumpkin all right you could say pumpkin but i'm talking about what do you call the pumpkin what is that called and it has a specific name when you're talking about halloween and you carve out this pumpkin and you put it outside the home and that's just part of the tradition the way people celebrate halloween so uh most of you i think yes saying pumpkin you do carve a pumpkin but the pumpkin has a specific name lolly you you rock that one uh the name that you would call it it's called yes mean it close it's a jack-o-lantern so when you carve this pumpkin you you put a picture in it you put a face on there it's called a jack-o-lantern and you take your jack-o-lantern you you put a candle down inside or some other light you put it outside your home and that's just part of the tradition of celebrating halloween all right so if you didn't know that that's a good word to know good way to build your halloween vocabulary then the the next question uh this is again i'm going back to multiple choice and maybe this is a little too easy we'll see so part of the tradition when people are celebrating halloween it involves going around and you knock on doors and when children visit a home the the door opens and they say what what do they say uh is it a trick and treat b trick-or-treat or c trick for treat all right what what would a child say they they go they see this home there's the jack-o'-lantern it's outside and they walk up there they knock on the door the door opens and they say all right excellent i think everybody uh you guys are very familiar i'm sure there's a lot of tv shows movies related to halloween the answer is be trick or treat all right so the in case you didn't know the trick this is refers to like uh historically it's like you're threatening to do some type of mischief to if they don't give you something which would be the candy the treat refers to candy then you're going to do something that's mischievous and really it's it's just playful but this is what a child would say when they knock on the door trick or treat and they would get some candy all right so that's a little bit of a a very quick cultural quiz for you learning a little bit about halloween culture now i want uh you guys to really focus on your vocabulary and think about words you already know because we're going to put together a list and we're going to see how many different words you can come up with and the real question that i have for you is how many halloween monsters or creatures can you name and what i want you to do is just write one at a time don't write a whole list out but write one at a time and as i see them i'm going to add them to our vocabulary list so together we are going to create a list of creatures or monsters anything that's really related to halloween so i want you to think about the words some of the words that you know the creatures the monsters that might be related to this very scary holiday alright so i have my list right here and let's do it okay so uh we got ghoul good one ghost i'm gonna write them down as a get it vampire bat spider uh i see goblins um reaper wow okay reaper banshee witches uh we'll just say witch singular uh devil zombie that's a good one uh mummy perfect scary bat werewolf excellent um a hot dog okay uh i didn't i i don't know about that one maybe i'm not sure uh dracula perfect uh skeleton some of them are repeats so i may not be including them but we got 15 so far just take my word that i've already written some of these down um i got a wolf man i guess you could say i i would say that's close to werewolf we do have werewolf down there uh cemetery is a place but i'm thinking of specifically like creatures and monsters that you might uh relate to halloween i'll do okay pixie like uh or you could say fairy trump all right sometimes he is a bit of a character yes um let's see spooky would be more of an adjective to describe uh halloween let me see uh somebody said spray i think you mean spirit a spirit like another form like a ghost the devil i'll write that one down sure um frankenstein yes that is a popular uh character that people would dress up as frankenstein a cow may i get i don't know if that would really be like a monster or something goosebumps goosebumps is a famous i thought that was more of a story um biden why is everybody's throwing in these these presidential candidates for for creatures and monsters uh chucky is another okay i'll give it in case you guys don't know what chucky is that is a from uh a movie um so again let me know what do you guys think we have our list i'm looking for some new ones here uh skull i'm thinking more skeleton i have skeleton can you guys think of any more a pumpkin maybe um the dead okay i'll i'll do that one we could do that the dead i guess it's kind of like uh could be refers to like a zombie um freddy all right from a nightmare on elm street can you guys think of any more all right jason we'll do all the movie characters uh michael myers from the movie halloween sure let's see so we have 23 different words uh creatures or monsters that people walking dead okay um can you guys think of any others any more words a ripper i think we have like a reaper i put that one down somebody who would come and like collect the souls i believe that's the job of like a reaper the grim reaper uh a dinosaur okay we'll put it down we'll throw it down on the list um i know some of you putting down like uh like catwoman you could say batman i think those are like costumes that people would typically wear um but when i think of uh just a sleepy hollow um i'm trying to think of the character that was one of the characters from the legend of sleepy hollow let's see any others scream mask okay so i think we have a good list of different uh creatures or monsters from this can you guys see okay you can see all of them that we have down there all right so i thought this would be a fun little activity that all of you could participate in so let's do the next part all right so i want to go back now and talk a little bit about some of the food associated with halloween i think this this is going to be a little easier so this vocabulary this food vocabulary i think will be a little easier and then we'll get into some more advanced vocabulary uh afterwards so just a quick little warm-up um with this food vocabulary food that's related to halloween which is also i think part of culture looking at this picture come on you guys know what this is all right this is what uh the kids would say trick or treat and they would hold out this big bowl like this and the kids would grab some candy yes all right i think you guys knew um that this this treat candy it's not very healthy i try to avoid it but halloween this is a time when uh kids would want to get a lot of candy what about this right here do you guys know what this would be called this is another type of food um snack that people might make around halloween time i feel like in in places like the us they might do these projects at school and they might make some at school or they make them at home with the with the family what would you call this right here this this snack right here do you guys have any guesses write it in the chat always love it when you guys participate in these lessons so you would call this excellent or linda this you could there's a few different names all right i i'm used to calling it a candy apple so a candy apple but it's also it also may be called a toffee apple or a caramel apple either one it means the same thing it's when you put that um like typically caramel around the apple sometimes people will sprinkle some nuts on there as well and i'm just when i grew up i was used to calling it a candy apple all right and then the final finally um right here what are we looking at here this is well you can see in the picture it's pie all right i'm showing you a piece of pie but what kind of pie is it i think that because you know we're talking about halloween and uh we've already talked about a jack-o-lantern when you carve out that pumpkin this is pumpkin pie probably another well i think a famous and popular dessert that somebody might make around halloween or maybe somebody would go to the store and they would buy a pumpkin pie excellent uh rayon takayo mary esmina firdos excellent lolly i i think so i think this food you guys know it you're familiar with it let me challenge you a little bit more with some i'd say advanced vocabulary that's related to halloween so we've already put together our list um and on the list i did write some of somebody had put ghost but what do you think and um is another word for a ghost so if you're wanting to build your vocabulary learning synonyms is a great way to build your vocabulary it's great for your comprehension and it's great to um use different words to describe a situation most of the time people will they'll they'll say ghost there's probably a few other things the one key that i will give you notice the article that i'm using before the word i'm using the article n which should tell you that the word the noun that i'm looking for is going to start with a vowel sound so that's a little bit of a hint because i know people are putting phantom or spirit yeah i think you could uh you could use those words but that's not the one i'm looking for that's not the advanced word that i'm looking for and um is another word for a ghost and i would say i don't want to say this is more of a scientific word but i think of when i see those tv shows of people really trying to find ghosts and track them down they might use this word and the word i'm talking about because i haven't seen it yet is an apparition an apparition is another word for a ghost an apparition all right so maybe that that's a new word for some of you out there in apparition the next one is uh this a witch's laugh may be more precisely called a which is a which is a loud harsh laughter or a loud harsh laugh so what do you think again i i often talk to learners when it comes to building your vocabulary you want to use more precise language because when you use more precise language you know exactly what the person is talking about it's great for everyone's understanding so i'm not just talking it's it is a laugh but is a certain type of laugh so this type of laugh is more precisely called a which is a lard uh which is a loud harsh laughter all right uh i see correct answer julio excellent uh the word that i'm talking about a witch if i'm sure if you've seen a tv show or movie you've heard this laugh it's very specific you would call it more of a cackle uh is what you would refer to this laugh and i really do think um typically people when they laugh they're not cackling i guess some people might but i really do think of a witch and it's that laugh that that kind of cackling uh sound that large harsh laughter is what you would call a cackle all right excellent um then this i think maybe this one you guys can get some people believe that a black cat crossing in front of you is bad luck but it's really just a what so this idea of a black cat you see a black cat um it crosses in front of you what wha what is that that that's that is a um all right i can't give you any more hints than that somebody else isn't only a noun a cackle you could refer uh no cackle could be a verb too too cackle like somebody is cackling um or as a noun like i heard a cackle uh which is that type of laugh so the the idea behind this the black cat cross in front of you it's bad luck i think yes excellent give some shout outs uh yes lolly uh yes mina braison julio may kyra funny uh where is it's going fast now uh linda we're talking about a superstition so a superstition is an idea or belief that people may have but there's no real evidence that this is true there's no scientific evidence and i think in all cultures there are different types of superstitions for example i know in uh american culture people might believe this superstition other things that are bad luck would be like the number 13 or if you break a mirror it's seven years bad luck and then you also have superstitions that would be good luck that if there's like a water fountain you throw a coin into the water fountain or a four-leaf clover you make a wish on a shooting star these are all examples of superstitions so that's a good word to know it's a good word um because you can really have some different conversations about that because so many there's so many different superstitions out there so what i want you to do for this one here's your sentence he betrayed his friend i want you to rewrite the sentence but i want you to use an idiom instead okay so instead of saying he betrayed his friend you're going to write another sentence that has the same meaning but i want you to use an idiom that you could say is related to halloween i think of of of death and it's scary so what's what idiom could you use um in this sentence right here so that again the sentence it's going to have the same meaning he betrayed his friend so instead of saying he betrayed his friend what idiom would you use uh all right do we have any what do you guys think so i think if you obviously you know that the main verb in this sentence is betray so you're looking for an idiom that has that same meaning to betray uh excellent um fatima yes you guys got it uh fatimah weirdos perfect may yes to stab someone in the back now if i want to rewrite this sentence the same way all right he betrayed his friend the sentence would be he stabbed his friend in the back so both of those sentence it's really just a kind of sentence formation practice that you are transformation you're changing the sentence but it really has the same meaning he betrayed his friend he stabbed his friend in the back to stab someone in the back it is an idiom and it just means to betray someone so this is one that you'll hear not just around halloween but i think in any type of situation could be at work or wherever if somebody betrays you at work one of your colleagues and you'd say oh they stabbed me in the back they betrayed me then we have this one what i want you to do so i have i have a strange and frightening feeling about this place we're gonna do the same thing i've highlighted strange and frightening because so instead of strange and frightening i want you to use a different word instead all right a different adjective so instead so you're we're looking for an adjective that means strange and frightening and i think this is a word that i guess i would relate to halloween because i think of things that are scary and i think it's often used with uh the noun feeling if you have a feeling about some place you may use this adjective to describe that feeling i have a um feeling about this place so instead of saying strange and frightening what word could you use and again this is uh this is a little more uh advanced vocabulary so hopefully maybe for some of you this might be new for others of you maybe it's not i see two correct answers up there excellent uh fatima the word that i'm looking for was eerie i have an eerie feeling about this place so eerie is an adjective that just means strange and frightening but like i said i think this could be used as a collocation because you if you have that type of feeling about some area someplace you're walking whether it's in a city or you're talking about a house or maybe you're walking in the forest it doesn't matter but you could say wow i have an eerie feeling about uh i have an eerie feeling about this place and you would just say it's a little scary or it's straightening or it's frightening or again you could say maybe you're describing some situation you have a bad feeling about it you could say i have a i have an eerie feeling about something okay so i think that's a common collocation erie means uh strange and frightening so again hopefully that may be a new word uh then we have one that this is just for all of you guys just for fun i know that some of you um you maybe where you live your country you don't celebrate halloween but it's a it's a it's a tradition that people would dress up uh typically children and they go around and they say trick-or-treat but sometimes i think adults would do this too and they would have a halloween party and they would they would put on an outfit and they would dress up for halloween so if if you i'm asking this question to you i know i said if i were to dress up for halloween um i would be what what i want to know what you would be if you were to dress up for halloween what would you go as what what character would you want to be i feel like if i were to dress up for halloween this year i don't know maybe i'd go trying to think hmm that's a good question i can't i'm having trouble even thinking of an answer what do you think all right excellence uh curtis said uh harry potter was linda you'd be a vampire angela a vampire uh fierce a cheetah nice arlinda an angel aveda werewolf uh brown adam sandler good good one yes you can dress up as anybody um venom okay interesting you know you could dress up as venom i guess you could uh leticia female devil julio skeleton chucky um all right so again this is a good way to to wrap things up because we've talked about well i told you we talked about a little bit of everything we did some pronunciation i had some questions for you teaching you a little bit about the culture the tradition behind this holiday we worked on vocabulary talking about different animals creatures some advanced vocabulary so i hope i really hope that you learned something new in everything that we have done today i also want to say if you guys do if you like what we do and want to show us some love support interactive english um saw some members here with us uh today like lolly uh and you wanna sponsor you can find links in the description uh for a youtube membership or also on patreon um either one and we have some cool rewards as well so i hope again i hope that you learned something new that's what i hope from all lessons that i put out there that even if you just learn one new thing that's a success but i thank you guys so much for being here with me i even if you don't celebrate halloween next saturday on the 31st i hope you have a happy halloween i hope you have a wonderful day but i wanted to do this lesson now kind of leading up to halloween because i know it's getting ready to happen it's coming soon i can't even believe that it's already that october is is coming to an end that this year is getting closer to coming to an end so thank you guys for being here lolly uh dolly miguel quirasi dad uh biggie smalls all right myself excellent sunflower mary cece rose chin just give some quick shout outs for us uh zanat yes mina i hope that you guys have a wonderful day a wonderful week and i will see you next time so long --- ## 330. Help Support Free English Education | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fkStsgVPcOg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkStsgVPcOg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:33:24 | --- what's up everyone thanks for joining us today we just wanted to make this quick video to let you guys know that we are now on patreon so yes you might be asking yourself well what is patreon well if you're wondering patreon is a place where you can support your favorite creators and there's some really cool ones to support you make a contribution and there are some really cool rewards that you can get in return for your contributions and what we're doing with these contributions is that we we're using them to to help grow our channel we're using them for subtitles for a website to to buy new equipment we'll leave a link in the description and we hope you guys go check it out because we have some cool rewards every month we're going to do a video of the month in which we'll highlight a certain word or phrasal verb or idiom there's a patron I only feed where you only see and have access to it if you're a people a little behind-the-scenes look at what we're doing for slightly larger donations we're offering access to our lesson notes so you can get this very cool ebook it's it's a book that I wrote about my teaching experience in Namibia so you know it's very meaningful to me these rewards may change over time we'll see we also might add some more levels and tiers this is something that's brand new so we just want to let you guys know that it's out there that it exists and and you can check that out it's just another way to connect with us exactly we'd really want to thank you guys for being a part of our community for watching our videos and writing us comments we love hearing from you guys and if you like what we're doing and you're interested in what you know our our journey and what we're doing with teaching English check us out like I said it's a great way to connect with us and just continue to practice and improve your English even more thank you guys so much for watching thanks for being you and for being a part of our community and we will see you next time bye --- ## 331. Helpful Dating Phrasal Verbs about Love & Relationships ๐Ÿ’– | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZOfXwSYVk04` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOfXwSYVk04) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:39:27 | --- Have I got a fun lesson for you today. Because we're talking about dating and phrasal verbs. Two of your favorite things, right, right, right, right? Phrasal verbs...yay! So much learning. So much fun. Yay, English. Sorry. I'm done. Today we're talking about dating and phrasal verbs. And the reason I chose this category is because... Well, first it's fun. Who doesn't want to talk about dating? But second is because one of the best ways to learn phrasal verbs is by putting them in categories. Otherwise, phrasal verbs can get a little bit confusing. And if you're finding them difficult, don't worry. You are not the only one. And they're difficult because we have to memorize them. And the meaning can change depending on what preposition we're using. Putting them in a category like dating makes it a lot easier to remember. So we're going to learn about these, and we're going to practice them together. Are you ready to have some wonderful English fun with some beautiful phrasal verbs? Let's go. Number one...AKS OUT. And usually we ask someone out. To ask someone out means to invite someone for drinks or for a movie or for dinner. Because you are interested in them. You want to have a relationship with this person, so you ask them out. Number two...to GO OUT. Now to go out nice to date someone and have a romantic relationship with them. To spend a lot of time with this person. Basically, when you're going out with someone. It means you are dating this person. You are boyfriend/girlfriend kind of...situation. Number three...HOOK UP. Now this one's a little bit more informal. Because if two people hook up, it's usually when they're just starting a relationship. Or they're in that stage before a relationship. And they're just kind of...getting together. I don't know how to say this without sounding sexual. When two people hook up, it's very open. It's very casual. They're starting a new relationship, or maybe it's the beginning of a sexual encounter. Number four...MAKE OUT. Oh gosh. Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me? Just me? Okay. Okay. I'll come down. To make out means to kiss and touch in a sensual, sexual way. That's what it means to make out. I'm such a child. I'm always laughing at these. Number five...COME ON TO. Come on to is to behave in a certain way that shows that you are attracted to someone. And you'd like to have some kind of relationship, romantic relationship with this person. If you're coming on to someone, it just means you're showing them that you're interested. When Wes was coming on to me when we first started dating, I thought he was the biggest dork ever. Because he kept talking about his socks and sandals. And like that was supposed to impress me. I don't get it. Number six to FLIRT WITH SOMEONE. To flirt with someone means to behave in such a way that you are showing that you are romantically interested in this person. This one's a lot of fun because it requires two people It's about fun and engaging with a person. So your kind of going back and forth in this fun cute banter. You flirt to this person, the other person flirts with you. To flirt with someone. Number seven is to BREAK UP WITH SOMEONE. And this one's a little bit sadder because it means at the end of a relationship. And this could also be found as SPLIT UP WITH SOMEONE. So if you're trying to break up with someone, it means that you are done. This is the end. You are trying to end this relationship. You want to break up with a person. Number eight to GET OVER SOMEONE. This one is a good one. And it just means to start to feel happy again after a relationship has ended. When you break up with someone, you are not the happiest person. You're probably sad and a little depressed. But as you get over someone, those feelings of happiness start coming back. To get over someone. I hope you enjoyed learning these new phrasal verbs. And now it's time to practice them. Choose one of the phrasal verbs that we talked about today and write a sentence in the comments. If you're feeling adventurous, write two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, sentences. As many as it takes because the more you practice the better you will be. And this is especially true for phrasal verbs. Well, that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this lesson. And if you did, please give this video a thumbs up. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 332. Helpful Study Tips to Improve Your English Skills | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `kYMJbcfXIaU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYMJbcfXIaU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:49:18 | --- I think I am live hello and welcome to our live lesson today it's a beautiful Saturday afternoon where I am in Budapest kind of beautiful it's not raining so it's been raining a little bit I would like to welcome our students who are watching us today welcome from interactive English my name is you wonna and I have an extraordinary lesson for you today something very exciting I think hi Cynthia welcome welcome welcome so today we have a some wonderful things to talk about hi hi Christian ah hi Patricia hi I'm Ann hi I'm ed welcome welcome welcome oh we have some wonderful people here from Chile Mexico France so wonderful to see you all and welcome and yes hello hello everyone I am speaking like I said here from Budapest and we are very happy to have people from all over the world join us today so I am going to show you how I'm going to talk about today about the useful study practices and the reason I started this lesson now it's it's September many places have started school already and I think especially for some of us who are seeing the seasons change and where there's fall many times we get introspective and we think about the things we can change the things we can add the things we can improve so this is one of the things where we're always trying to get better at which is studying English and just getting better at it or if we've been thinking about this the whole time then even better but it's a good time to bring it back up so I would like to ask you everyone who's joining us today if you are joining us please tell us where you're joining from and what's your name it would be really really nice to see where everyone is from well thank you Steven okay so let's talk about some useful study practices and what I mean by study practice is so the word practice is of course comes from the verb to practice but I'm not here to talk about the verb today because I think we're all very used to it practice English learn English it's to keep to do something until we get better and better but practice as a noun is the habitual way to do something so what I mean by habitual is I really like the word because it comes from habit so when you when you build a habit you'll get yourself used to a kind of learning and a kind of practice that you do all the time so it's something that I'm that I'm going to introduce that I think you may have heard before or if you haven't it may be and you look at it but I think it will help you with your practice in English and also because I think all of these things that I'm going to talk about today work together wonderful Patricia welcome I think you're going to have fun it's it's it's a good lesson we're building a wonderful community here and welcome the same from amano welcome from Egypt wonderful so if you're just joining please write what's your name and where you're from okay so let me tell you about some of the practices that I thought about that have helped me in in learning first learning English and then in learning a lot of other things but I think these have also helped me teach and a lot of my students have been very happy using these practices okay so the first one I'm sure you've seen before and it's not new to you but I have a twist for you so I call it practice what you learn but don't stop there of course of course we all know this when you first learn something make sure to use it immediately like if you weren't if you learn a new word make sure to use it right then and there and and make sure you understand it and use it in a sentence and use it in a dialogue and and use it all the time I know we all know it but the problem is I've seen so many students who have these long vocabulary lists and they learn them and an hour later they don't know them anymore so make sure that you actually practice them don't just learn the word it's not going to help anyone if you just learn the word and then move on so the first the first little practice is to use the word so make sure every time you learn a new word write it out use a sentence use two sentences three sentences and so on to remember it and but that's not it and I wanted to talk to you I don't know if you've heard about spaced repetition if you've heard about this practice it's it's a method of learning especially vocabulary it's very useful for that and it's a practice where when you first learn a word you practice it a lot immediately like right then and there a lot a lot a lot but then you practice it the next day and then maybe three days later and then you come back to it maybe a week later and then you don't give it up you come back to it maybe a month later so you you space out how many times you practice a word so that you can keep coming back and to it and it's been proven to really really help improve our retention of words and of course what is language if not vocabulary right so we want to make sure that we retain as many new vocabulary words thank you added as for for writing about the what space repetition is very good wonderful so I definitely suggest trying it I've used it a lot with my students and every time I've used it the students have not forgotten any of the words that we learned together not one single word and I might add don't try to do it with too many words at once it's it's not beneficial but we'll we'll talk about that a little later so don't learn like 80 words mm-hmm it's not gonna help you okay by the way if you're just joining us hello and thank you we are talking about different study practices that you can do and you can do these all at once to improve your English of course speaking of practices I am a huge proponent of building a daily practice now I've been I've been doing a little research on this topic on the internet and I found some crazy advice some people saying like what did I find people are talking about you know study a lot make sure you study like seven hours a day or something like that sure you can do that if you have the time but I think most of us don't have that kind of time to dedicate to the language now of course if you travel to a country and do some intensive study that will work for you but what's realistic is that most of us have a limited amount of time when we want to perfect the skill so if you want to improve I think even ten or twenty minutes every day will help will definitely help and what's important is not how much time you put in it but the actual practice that you sit down with your book and pencil and notebook or with your computer and you know there are many social media lessons now that you can take there are different ways where you can integrate those few minutes throughout the day that I think if you make yourself sit down at the same time every day you'll be it this will be very beneficial for you so thank you thank you nice to see you from Senegal from Malaysia from Egypt to welcome to our class today we are talking about useful study practices that I think anyone will benefit from but especially if you don't know how to how to practice your English this is a good way to start so just a little bit now the other point with having doing something for 10 to 20 minutes every day is that it's doable you can you we have 10 minutes you know we can sit down because oh I've done this especially with things like exercise where I said I'm going to start working out five days a week two hours every day it didn't happen so but when I said you know I'm going to try to do like 10 minutes every day much better much easier the point of that is what I wrote here is if you don't use it you lose it that cannot be more true with language I'm not sure if you've noticed if you've ever been at a certain level in English or another language where you were maybe very proficient and then you know things happened life happened maybe you didn't have time anymore and you stopped practicing and then you were trying to pick up and you just you forgot a lot this has certainly happened to me when my study I used to be very good at Italian and then I haven't spoken it in years now and I completely most forgot it so if you don't speak the language every day you are going to forget and you know this is applicable to many other parts of our lives like I'm sure you've noticed with exercise or or playing a sport or something like that very nice to meet you from Korea again thank you guys for joining us we are talking about useful useful study practices and I was talking so far about practicing what you learn with spaced repetition making sure you come back to the word again and again and again and by building a daily practice starting small but doing it often so that we don't forget because we don't want to forget ok this one is my fate one of my favorites I wanted to ask you if you know what your learning style is so if you've ever heard of a learning style I'm going to talk about it in one second but if you know what your learning style is I wanted to ask you to write it down in the comments in the chat because I'm really curious to see how we all learn okay so for me I will tell you now that I'll explain what it is my learning style I have I'm a combination of visual and kinesthetic so that's my learning style those are it's a combination of the two but I wanted to see if you guys knew ok so learning styles generally speaking in education we say that students learn with three different learning styles some of us learn by you know some of us are visual learners so we learn by looking at pictures colors we're very good so if you've ever caught yourself like highlighting or organizing things a lot by color if if you're very if that stimulates you and you understand better then you might be a visual learner or it might be part of how you learn there's actually a test that you can take their mini test if you go on Google and just type in find your learning style there can be there are a lot of really good tests out there that can help you figure out what kind of learner you are but I'll talk to you about why this is important in a second now an auditory learner is a person that learns a lot by hearing listening to things so maybe if you notice that you are you catch more words by listening to people or by listening to the radio or by listening to podcasts you might be auditory and kinesthetic learners are learners who learn by doing things by movement it's that's why that's where it comes from is moving movement so for example if you've noticed and children many times are taught with kinesthetic methods so they have to they they move things a lot in the classroom they build things they have to make things it's too bad that later teachers don't use this method so much in the classroom anymore because it's actually very very useful let's see thank you guys for sharing it's so nice to see see we have visual visual and auditory I think a lot of us are visual and auditory those are very very useful like I said I'm can aesthetically for me it helps when I do something like it's good great to see great to hear but when I do it I really understand it so if you're kinesthetic maybe if you hold flashcards and you move things around that can help you learn better if you write things down the action of writing helps you remember things so it's actually it's very good to know what you are but thank you guys so much for sharing now the reason I said that you need to find your learning style is because then can apply it to your knowledge so if you know that you are a good your visual learner then you can look at pictures instead of trying to listen to definitions look at the pictures and if you know your for example an auditory learner you can make yourself listen to podcasts or the radio to have some really good practice so there are ways to be able to to to learn according to your learning style so it's really cool okay now the other question I had for you guys was when do you learn best is there a time that you've noticed that you are better at learning than other times during the day so I was wondering if you guys can write down what time of the day you are most active you think your mind is focused and you learn the best for me it's usually in the morning and I have done this in university where I try to stay up because everyone else was staying up and studying at night and it was a disaster I could not do it I had to read a paragraph like seven times I could not do it it always had to be in the morning so I've learned that for me the best time to learn is in the morning which meant that now I know that if I want to improve my English not my English but if I'm learning trying to learn another language the best time for me to study is the morning or the best time to work so it really really helps if you guys find out when the best time of practice is for you and use it because you will learn much faster when you're most active and your brain is like I want to absorb all the information okay welcome everyone I thank you guys for writing see some of some of us are doing evening some of us are mornings early mornings nights we're all over the place for example Wes and I are completely different I like to study in the morning and he is what we call a night owl so he is up late at night while I'm asleep so everyone is different thank you again for for joining us if you're just joining us it would be lovely to see to let us know what is your name and where you're writing to us from and we have two questions so far the first one is if you know your learning style please write it down it's nice to see it and the second question is when do you plan it when are you best what is your gosh the best time of day for you to practice because some people we all have different times okay wonderful my I have a little footnote to this kind of advice so it's good to follow what you're good at but if you want to challenge yourself I would suggest to practice what you're not good at for example I told you guys I'm a visual and kinesthetic learner I am NOT an auditory learner I have a really hard time listening so for me when I try to challenge myself in Spanish for example I don't watch something and I just try to listen so I'll listen to music and try to understand all the lyrics I'll listen to people speaking on the radio when it's on so in that way I am making it more difficult for myself so I'm creating a challenge and thus improving it's the same for example if you're a visual learner and you're maybe used to using subtitles on the TV I've noticed a lot of people do this who are very advanced learners they'll use subtitles well if you want to make it a little bit more difficult and challenge yourself and become better I would say turn off those subtitles and listen and watch so you're making it a little bit more difficult for yourself and you can do this as a practice like I said everyday if it's too difficult and to never have the subtitles remember what I said about the daily practices do it for 10 minutes if you're watching an English will be just for 10 minutes turn off the subtitles and try to understand okay very nice welcome everyone Oh from India from Vietnam so wonderful to see you guys thank you for joining in I'm just gonna go over very quickly about what we've been talking about which are some useful study practices so the first one is practicing what you've learned and spaced repetition which means to not to come back to a word again and again even a month after you've learned it the second one is to just do a little bit every day like even 10 minutes if you have them and the third one is to find your learning style use it your advantage but also challenge yourself and make sure that you don't stay with the same style what is the moderator yes thank you okay this is I said the other one was my favorite maybe it's a tie with this one because this one is to act like a child it's such good advice sometimes you know we're so busy with our days with everything we do every day they were so serious we become very serious and we forget to to act like children and to be open and to learn and be curious so what do I mean by act like a child children the way they learn languages is first when they're babies of course they just listen so they don't start speaking immediately obviously because of physiological the way of biology works but they learn by listening first and then they're speaking so when you're first starting to to learn a language wherever you are in your practice please listen make sure you listen as much as possible and of course you can listen to anything you want anything that's interesting to you but also you can choose what to listen to if things are more difficult or easy depending on what level you're trying to listen I would suggest for people who are intermediate and higher TED Talks are very useful to listen to there's a variety on different subjects so many YouTube videos a lot of our YouTube videos or even doing a lesson like right now when we are talking to you it's a live lesson there's no transcript but you can listen and then of course practice by speaking speaking in the mirror it's a great way to do it if you don't have who to talk to and I know many of our students maybe are not enrolled in a classroom so they don't have who to speak with speak with your friends who also who are also trying to speak English but speaking alone in the mirror thinking out loud is a great way to practice and I'm never going to stop saying this one I know I've said it in like maybe two other lessons we have a whole video about this and then I'm never going to stop saying it it's okay to make mistakes don't be afraid of it okay listen listen you are going to make mistakes you are going to sound silly people might not understand you it's okay I think I think the thing that is important here for me is the children do this a lot they make mistakes sometimes they make bad mistakes but you know what they forget about them really quickly they just get over them that's how we should be you know you make a mistake who cares so what let's move on we're trying to become better learners right so in that sense we should never stop learning and like I said in a previous video when you realize that you never stop learning it doesn't bother you as much when you make mistakes because you realize oh you you're gonna keep learning so it's okay okay the best advice is to have fun with it so please if you hate sports just came on top of my head if you hate sports don't make yourself read sports articles okay so you're not going to have fun if you hate you know I've read articles like you know about like chemistry or just things I I'm not really familiar with or physics or something you're not going to have fun so find things that are fun for you play games speak laughs watch comedies like watch things that make you that that help you have a good time I didn't put it in this in this video but there is this thing called effective filter and the way we learn is when whenever our filter which means like our were like we're scared the information we receive is usually filtered right so whenever we are a little scared or nervous or afraid to make mistakes it's very hard for us to to put out the information that one that we want but when we lower that filter when we relax when we're happy it's so much easier easier for us to to be able to speak to actually engage with someone else in the language so have fun don't worry about it make mistakes be a child you're learning the language it's new it's okay people are going to be understanding and it's fun it's something new that we're learning so why not enjoy it okay I'm almost to my last one I just wanted to welcome everyone again for joining us if you're just if you're new here I wanted to thank you for joining us if you could leave your name and tell us where you're from and also to answer if you know what your learning style to know what it is and what time of day do you learn best so far we've been talking about different useful daily practices that you can learn and that you can practice so we have practicing what you learn building a daily practice finding your learning style acting like a child and the last one is to be a turtle and what do I mean by be a turtle okay my other question is do you guys know what is the name of the cartoon rabbit in this picture if you guys know please write it down I'm curious to see if you know him so if you write if you know his name please write it down okay so what do I mean might be the turtle I don't know if you know this this little fable it's the story of the turtle or and in the rabbit and it's this little kids story about the turtle and the rabbit have a race and the rabbit is of course faster than the turtle and they both start at the same time but the rabbit the rabbit is really fast so he halfway through his his course Heath goes and falls asleep and he'll think like I'll wake up before the turtle comes but the problem is of the turtle the the rabbit stays asleep and the turtle passes him and in the end the turtle wins the race sorry if I spoiled it for you um it's a it's a really good story because it has a really good moral so again if you're just joining us and you're seeing this this picture this cartoon please write if you know the name of the cartoon character the bunny cartoon character the rabbit cartoon character who is he do you know him is he famous I'm curious if you guys know okay so what do I mean by being the turtle the turtle is slow but it's steady the turtle so the turtle goes let me see how the turtle moves slow but it moves as a steady pace and what I mean by that is if you're going to always if you're going to keep learning take it slow it kind of goes with building small practices go slow and steady so don't try to take on too much too quickly because you might get burned out and fall asleep like them pour a little rabbit in the picture so you know keep keep studying take it little by little and you will see improvement but don't stop because the turtle never stop the turtle always kept going and of course my question here is what is the point of learning something fast if you're going to forget it that's a stupid rabbit yes so what is the point I've I've been there I've had to and I think we all have when you're trying to learn something the night before an exam and you're learning everything and you may know it for the exam but then I don't know two days later you've forgotten all the information I think that's basically a waste of time all the time you wasted learning all of this if you're not going to repeat it and really make sure that you know yeah don't feel disappoint if you feel like a turtle it's a good thing as long as you keep as you keep practicing you are progressing and progress is what we want we don't want perfection you can't be perfect at the language please believe me it's impossible everyone makes mistakes you know native speakers native English speakers make mistakes all the time so don't worry about being perfect it's not going to happen so you might as well just enjoy your progress okay so this was my last useful practice so thank you guys so much for joining us I'm so happy I'm so happy that you guys were able to join us I hope that the learning practices that I've talked to you about today have been useful I love them I try to use them every day in different things that I learn not just language because I think they're very useful and I think they really help so I'd like to please like and share our lesson if you found it useful write any questions that you may have in the comments and we'll answer them that maybe if I couldn't answer them today and join our social media classes we teach on Facebook we teach on Twitter on Instagram and snapchat and we'd love to have you as our students it's another way to practice every day so if you want to improve there's so many different resources but if you want to use them just follow us and we'll help guide you thank you so much you guys we love to hear from our students we hope you have a wonderful Saturday and again it was lovely talking to everyone and thank you and that's all see you next time goodbye --- ## 333. Heteronyms to Build Your Vocabulary & Improve Speaking Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZrcskGfbjAU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrcskGfbjAU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:33:46 | --- hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills so if that is what you're looking to do please subscribe to our Channel and join our community and take your English to the next level so today I have a it is both a vocabulary lesson as well as a speaking lesson because we're going to practice your pronunciation and try to improve your speaking fluency by talking about hetero names and those two pictures that that is an example and we will get back to that in just a second so the way that we are going to to learn hetero names and I'm gonna help you build your vocabulary and practice your speaking it is by actually practicing and doing some exercises too to help you learn these would your vocabulary and you want to improve your speaking let me know by hitting that like button go ahead and hit that like button so that way I know okay then we need to do more vocabulary more speaking lessons so the way I thought that I would introduce this topic is with just a simple question alright and that question is this I want you to try and think of a word that changes pronunciation when it's capitalized alright so this is the way we're going to introduce the topic and this is going to be a bit challenging so we're talking about a word that that when it's capitalized the pronunciation changes so if it's being capitalized we're talking about a proper noun it is the specific name of a person a place or a thing and if you can think of any words I want you to write that word in the chat or in the comments I want you to interact with this lesson that is what this channel is all about interactive English we want you guys to participate in these lessons all right so which word all right think of a word when it's capitalized the pronunciation changes all right so I got some okay there's some answers again this is going to be a very challenging lesson yes lolly great great answer that was my first example so you have the word polish which can be just a noun talking like about shoe polish we can also say it's a verb all right to polish something to clean it to shine it now once we capitalize that word the pronunciation changes from polish to polish and in that case we're talking we're referring to the country we're referring to the people of Poland or even the language of Poland polish and I put the IPA up there in case that helps you with the pronunciation so you know how these words are pronounced there are more so we can also have nice this is a very common adjective you could say something or someone is nice if we capitalize that n then suddenly it becomes the name of a city in France and the pronunciation changes from nice to nice we also have this right here reading it is used it's a verb to read in the continuous tense I am reading a book if we change that and we capitalize that letter then it becomes the name of a town in the UK reading reading changes to reading so those are examples of Hedren um's and if you're wanting to if you want to know well please just tell us what exactly is a Hedren m well this is a hetero name it is when you have two or more words that have the same spelling but different pronunciation and meaning same spelling different pronunciation and meaning usually I would say Hedren M's you're just gonna have two words there are some three word Hedren M's but that it's not common at all so this is different than a homonym when you're talking about a homonym you're talking about two words that have that have maybe they might have the same spelling or pronunciation but a different meaning so the difference between a homonym and a Hedren 'm is that pronunciation homonyms will have the they may have the same pronunciation Hedren UM's are going to have a different pronunciation like those two words right there those two pictures you have douve which is the past tense of the verb dive I dove in the pool yesterday or if we're talking about the bird it's pronounced dove dove dove those are Hedren UM's and the reason why it's so important to learn Hedren um's is first for your speaking fluency so that you can actually pronounce these words correctly so that the other person understands you but also so that you understand other people when you are listening to a conversation or even watching a TV show or movie you are able to identify these words and you know exactly what is being said because Dovan dove are two very they're spelled the same but they are two very different words now let's let's look at this when we're talking about pronouncing Hedren um's there are two rules of thumb and if you're wondering what a rule of thumb is it's just talking about a a general rule there are always some exceptions to these rules but in general you can follow this rule that if we're talking about a word that has two syllables or more the noun is stressed in the first syllable the verb is stressed in the second or in the last syllable most of the time I think you'll come you'll find these nouns and verbs as two syllable words so let's look at the noun those examples that I gave you right there in dark blue so you have the noun conflict there was a conflict between the the two colleagues the two colleagues had a conflict all right they had some kind of some kind of fight that they had to work out or if it's the verb the stress is on the second syllable conflict all right there were can selecting arguments about what we should do what what whatever the issue is you might have conflicting opinions or conflicting arguments all right so conflict conflict now if we're talking about S&Z this next part right here rule of thumb noun is pronounced with s and the verb is pronounced with a Z so the noun a house which is where people live people live in a house or if it's used as a verb we pronounce it with a Z house so I could say that the the city is attempting to house its homeless population they want to help out the homeless in the area so they're going to house them in different government apartments so that would be an example house house now again like I said the best way to learn and and try to understand this is to practice we're gonna start with things that are a bit easier and then it's going to work up and become more difficult and I promise you these are they will get more difficult and I want you guys to write your answers in the chat or in the comments even if you're watching this later so the first part is a speaking practice and I want you guys to speak wherever you are if you're at home if you're on a bus it doesn't matter actually try to say these sentences out loud and practice your speaking practice your pronunciation so I'm just gonna give you a sentence all I want you to do is say it out loud and then I will I will pronounce it for you and show you where the header in M is okay so just take a moment say this sentence alright okay so now you can listen to me say the sentence and I would say drug abuse is a serious issue and nowadays people abuse opioids and if you're wondering what opioids are that is a it's a drug a pharmaceutical drug that might contain opium which is heroin they can be very addictive there is a big problem in the United States right now with opioids so that that's partly why it's relevant so drug a let's let's look at this so I hope this is what you said drug abuse again we're talking about that s abuse because it's a it is a noun drug abuse is a serious issue and nowadays people abuse with a-z opioids so abuse the noun abuse the verb alright if you guys if you said that out loud right that in the chat or comments just write the word speaking so I know that you are participating in the lesson are you ready here is the next one okay drug abuse and abuse abuse is when you somebody asks abuse is talking about when you to abuse means that you have a problem with something usually it's talking about an addiction you're too much of it and abuse has a similar meaning it's the verb to abuse a drug is you are hurting yourself you're taking too much of it alright so yes excellent we am Hoffy thank you for participating missus reluctant excellent all right the next sentence I just want you to say it out loud practice your speaking skills and then I will say it are you ready all right so in this sentence I hope that you said listen to me we get a lot of use out of our boat we use it every weekend again I'm talking about that noun verb that s and Z we get a lot of use out of our boat that's the noun use we use it every weekend the verb use so again these are very common words that you're going to use in everyday English all right you get a lot of use out of our boat out of something we use it every weekend you use it every day excellent all right so again thank you some shoutouts knock you foo Fatima thank you guys Lucia for participating in this activity all right so let's look at the next one again more speaking practice I want you to say this sentence out loud all right now listen to me say the sentence uh all right I took the lead and led the group through a dark tunnel where people were mining for lead all right there are there there's two different words one's a verb 1 one is a noun but the pronunciation is going to be different all right I took the lead all right to lead someone or in this case it is used as a noun the lead all right you were ahead of the group I took the lead and lead which is the past tense of lead I lead a group I led a group I took the lead and led the group through a dark tunnel where people were mining for lead which is a noun and that is just the material that people would excavate from a mine lead all right so this is a head random I don't think this would be considered a a three-word Hedren M because again the first one lead and lead it's the same it's it's the same verb one is the present one is the past it's the same as the verb read read I read every day I read a book yesterday that's also an example of a Hedren M and the next one are you ready another more speaking practice I want you to say it out loud don't be shy all right you're standing too close to the door close it and these are two words that I would often practice with learners close and close one has that s sound the other the Z sound you're standing too close to the door close it now this is a little different because we're not talking about a noun and a verb in this case too close we're talking about an adjective in a verb so the adjective has that s close and the verb to close something has that Z sound all right so let's look at oh I wanted to let you guys know if you guys want to show us some love you can get our patreon page we have some some cool rewards and I will throw up a link in the description alright if you guys want to check that out boom right there alright check that out if you guys want to show us some love support what we do we will thoroughly appreciate that excellent alright let's look at somebody just pointing out actually yes I just realized in that two examples ago when I was talking about lead and lead I made a mistake the spelling is different for the past tense all right it is led so that is a mistake I apologize for it I think I just need to get some sleep we have a little baby and I don't sleep very much but that's not gonna stop us thank you thank you for pointing that out good eye all right so the next the next way that I want to practice these hetero names is this is the challenging part I want to see if you guys can identify these Hedren em so I've given you a sentence now the words are different the pronunciation is different but the spelling is the same so see if you can put the sentence in context there's going to be two blanks and in those blanks would go the Hedren um's alright so let's look at the first one we'll start out a little easy and we'll start out easier and we'll start out easy and then it will get more and more difficult ready so let's see how well do you know your Hedren um's so I'll read the first one so a a mmm was about to attack me so I hmm into the pool hopefully you're able to identify at least one of those blanks and then you can get the other one alright so I want you to see if you can write your answer in the chat or in the comments and also try to say it out loud so that you're practicing you're speaking practicing your pronunciation because again with Hedren um's that is the key there is a different pronunciation that's what it's all about alright a mmm was about to attack me so I mmm into the pool all right hey yes excellent uh-huh feed English pies mr. lakhtin lolly Alberta misses FA excellent so what I'm talking about I think that last part into the pool hopefully that kinda gave it away and you could say a dove was about to attack me so I dove into the pool all right I know that a dove would not likely attack someone but in this case it's just it's just for practice all right so a dove was about to attack me that's the noun it's white bird so I dove into the pool which is the past tense of dive all right excellent are you ready the next one okay when I saw the mmm in my new jeans uh oh that should be this another mistake it should be I I got uh mmm in my eye not a that should be I when I saw the mm in my in my new jeans I got em in my eye what what Hedren em goes in those two blanks it's the two two different words of the same spelling different pronunciation and different meaning and hopefully you can kind of put it into context a little bit so you can identify and you know these words all right what do you guys think what do you think yes all right so seeing some good answers yes lolly we um yes ooh aleem step hood josh is okay if I'm mispronouncing names so when I saw when I saw the tear in my new jeans it's a noun it's talking about a split or a rip in something usually talking about clothing there is a tear in my shorts or my dress or something maybe not my dress but somebody else's dress and I again that was a mistake I got a tear in my eye I thought maybe that would help you that was a clue that you would have something in your eye a tear which is a drop of liquid from your eye tear tear now tear can also be a verb to tear something you rip it alright so again it has multiple meanings excellent are you ready here's another one there they're going to get more difficult I'm gonna be very impressed if any of you get this one alright and you might if you just think of the right word the business is hmm a lot of mmm which word which Hedren M could appropriately complete that sentence and again if you're just joining us we are practicing our our Hedren M's alright and and this is a great way to learn to build our vocabulary and improve our speaking fluency because the pronunciation is different all right what do you guys think Dee can you think of any words any Hedren m that could complete that sentence the businesses mmm a lot of mmm what do you think all right this one is more challenging because there's not there's just not that much information all right yes I do see answer lolly yes excellent so I was going to give you a hint and say you know think of like vegetables or something like that if you go to the store and what I would say the Hedren M is talking about the businesses produce a lot of produce so again this is one of those that that rule that I told you about before remember that general rule of thumb when we're talking about a verb and a noun in case some of you missed it I want to just show you where is it right here all right when we're talking about the noun is stressed in the first syllable the verb is stressed in that second syllable okay so I've lost my place sorry about that all right so the business is produce again that stresses on the second syllable produce a lot of produce the stress is on that first syllable and we're talking about produced to create something to make something produce is agriculture or talking about natural products my hint was gonna be like vegetables if you go into the grocery store and you look in the the produce section of the grocery store you might find you know different vegetables so that is that is the answer produce and produce the next one we need to mmm the people into - mmm teams we need to mmm the people into - mmm teams what do you think what what what Hedren in best completes that sentence and I know like I said this is this is challenging you guys really you need to think outside the box a little bit because again you're looking for two words that have the same spelling different pronunciation and a different meaning what do you think we need to mmm the people into - mmm groups all right I'm saying yes a couple of good answers yes we um miss reductant we're talking about the word separate or separate we need to separate the people into two separate teams we're talking about separating the people the verb to divide some people or something into parts separate the people into two separate teams that is the adjective that you're not sharing something with another whatever it is it is separate alright two separate teams excellent uh here's another one all right this one I keep saying that it's difficult it's gonna be challenging but you guys keep getting correct the correct answers all right if what what do you think all right he has many great hmm which he hmm to his success again I I think this one this this is probably I think it's challenging maybe maybe you guys are easily going to get the answer I hope so so what what Hedren m best completes this sentence what do you guys think write your answer in the comments write your answer in the chat okay so we're talking about - same spelling different pronunciation alright he has many great hmm which he hmm to his success ah ideas made alternate no uses I kinda sounds like the word that I'm looking for alright is this one attributes so he has many great attributes it's a noun we're talking about somebody's characteristics which he attributes to his success so attributes we're talking about their characteristics the now the verb attributes which is talking about you you're you know you regard something it's caused by something else all right it attributes to his success so those attributes he attributes those to his success alright that because of those attributes he has become very successful alright he has many great attributes which he attributes to his success that is another example of a Hedren M attributes attributes okay so I wanted to show you where is it these are a of the Hedren um's that we went through in today's lesson I've outlined them here for you the the capitalization changes at the beginning when you capitalize the word the pronunciation changes the pronunciation one right here this is the difference if it's talking about if it's a noun the stress is on that first syllable if we're talking about the verb the stress is on the second syllable think about that word right there the noun conflict the verb conflict the other rule of thumb is we're talking about the noun it's going to have the S sound if it's the verb the Z for example house a house or two house and then those are the other ones we identified some more Hedren M's just practicing trying to expand your vocabulary as well as improve your pronunciation because I think a lot of these words the these are common words that I think many of you know most of them you may not have known the Hedren 'm that went along with it so hopefully you were able to learn something new and build your vocabulary as well as improve your speaking skills and your speaking fluency so this is a list of Hedren M's from the lesson and if you guys did all right if you guys learn something new from this lesson please hit that like button show us some love as always you can write to us in the comments because we just love hearing from you share this lesson with other English learners anybody you know who's trying to practice and improve their English skills and if you want to practice with us more follow us on social media we post a lot of questions on our Facebook page Instagram well Instagram is mostly just pictures of our family but Twitter we also post questions to help people actually practice their their English skills which is what interactive English is all about thank you guys so much for joining me thank you Rasha adam fatima miss reductant hans in Mahesh thank you thank you thank you Maria glad you guys could join me today I really appreciate it I hope that you have a wonderful wonderful day and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 334. Homonyms & Homophones to Build Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `woQMvu-ITqY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woQMvu-ITqY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:33:57 | --- what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills so if you want to improve your English you're in the right place so I hope that you subscribe turn on that Bell so that you will get notified when we put out our new lessons so today I have a fun lesson for you and in this lesson is to help you build your vocabulary with words that you probably already know as well as improve your comprehension if you are reading these words or you hear them in everyday conversation and the words that I am talking about in today's lesson are homonyms this is what we're going to discuss today and we are going to practice and practice and practice and by practicing I hope that reinforces the meaning of these words so that you better understand them and can use them so let's let's just start out with something that's a very simple question just look at like what is a homonym so a homonym is when you have two or more words that have the same spelling or pronunciation but different meaning okay so maybe the spelling is the same but the meaning is different perhaps the pronoun the pronunciation is also the same and the meaning is different okay so I'm gonna explain this a bit more later on as we go through the lesson but you can see those two visuals right there and you could probably guess those word that word because it's just one word and that is bat so the way that I really want to open this up is with a riddle okay so if you don't know what riddles are those are just kind of these fun little games where you really have to think about what what is being asked so this is really all about listening okay and and what I want you to do because we have a lot of people here which is great I want you to try and write your answer in the comments so I'm gonna give you a riddle I want you to listen to what I'm saying and listen carefully and then write your answer in the chat or if you're watching this later write your answer in the comments because we just want want you guys to interact with the lesson alright so here is the riddle and I will say it a few times maybe you've heard this before okay here we go so the riddle is this there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't okay so I'm saying this slowly so that hopefully you can try and piece it together listen carefully I will say it again there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't so I'm asking I'm giving you some information and then I'm asking you the question okay there are there are 30 cows in a field just like that picture shows you there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't that's that's the question that I want you guys to answer alright what do you think alright write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments I don't see any answers just yet maybe this is difficult I'll say it one more time okay there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't okay so I think one answer no all right now let me let me show you all right let me show you this and when I show you then it I think that that light bulbs gonna turn on you're gonna be like oh okay I see some guesses the answer is 10 the answer is 10 so now let me let's read this again together there were 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens that's what I'm saying and then I asked you how many didn't so what most of you are hearing is that as soon as you hear a number you hear that number 30 the next time you hear we're talking about chickens automatically everybody thinks of the number 28 and then if you're thinking of that then the question just does not make but in this case eight as in the past tense of eat and the number eight those are homonyms specifically those are homophones and we will be working with those as well today so this is a fun riddle obviously cows don't eat chicken so it's just kind of an activity but this is a good exercise you can you know try if you have an English class tell your tell the other students tell your English teacher see if they can figure out this riddle because yes I think a lot of native speakers also have trouble with this which is why which is why it's a riddle there were thirty cows in a field and twenty-eight chickens how many did it okay so that's a good little introduction about what we're talking about today and that is hominem so when you think of homonyms I think of it homonyms it's kind of like an umbrella term and there are different parts underneath homophones are one part so typically homophones are a type of hominem but specifically if you want to know the difference between a homophone and a hominem a homophone has the same pronunciation but different spelling and meaning so like the one we did before ate and ate the past tense of eat and ate the number eight those are homophones they have a different spelling and different meaning the same with those two images right there I don't know if you can see them like meat and eeet to meet someone and meat as in the food me-80 those are homophones homonyms specifically would be the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning so you really just have the the one one word that has two different meanings like that like for baseball and a bat as in the the flying creature that you will see at night alright so keep that in mind we're going to work with both of those today so I have some activities that we're going to do working with homonyms and working homophones so the way that I want to approach this lesson is by teaching you these homonyms through practice so we're going to do some different instead of me just throwing out some homonyms we're going to practice them I'm going to have you try to identify some homonym homonyms then we are going to listen for them and then we're just gonna see how much you know just just how many of these words you already have which are a part of your vocabulary okay so I have a lot of questions for you guys today let's start out with something that's going to be a little easier all right which is just we're gonna start out with identifying homonyms so these are all words that they have the same spelling the same pronunciation but there are two different meanings all right sometimes there might be even three different meanings so the first one I'm gonna go through these quickly alright so and and then we'll do some practice so we have right as in like the test I got the right answer it was correct or the direction if somebody says you know you need to go left or you need to go right the next one we've already talked about that a baseball bat and a bat that you might see flying at night then we have well as in somebody I think of somebody's health like oh I'm feeling well or maybe a well that you would use to try and get water from a water well you also have bark on that side like the bark which is kind of the skin of a tree or a bark that the sound dog makes dogs bark down here we have bright as in something as shining the Sun is bright or I tried to put it in that picture right there bright like an idea alright somebody that light bulb comes on and like oh so if somebody is bright it just means they're smart they are intelligent they are bright all of you guys I think you guys are so bright because I think I'm gonna ask you these questions I think you would do very well and then the last one you have rock which is a style of music rock and roll and a rock which is just the object that hit that hard a hard rock okay so now it you you've seen these homophones the first step which to practice them would be just trying to identify them in sentences which one are we talking about so I will go through this quickly if you if you want I want you to try write your answers in the chat write them in the comments participate in the lesson so the first question all right that I have for you is this it's just a sentence all you need to write is just just put a or B which one and which one am i talking about which meaning if somebody says you know you don't look so well would you like a drink which well am I talking about A or B just being able to identify the meaning of that hominem alright and I this is a little easier and as we go through these it's going to get a little more difficult alright you don't look so well would you like a drink yes I'm talking about a as in somebody's health the way they feel you don't look so well would you like a drink perfect alright alright I knew I knew that you would get that right alright I'm just gonna just keep using homonyms the next question that I have for you is this alright this is this is an idiom and you could say I think you're barking up the wrong tree okay and this in this idiom I think you're barking up the wrong tree which which bark what am I talking about alright and if you are unfamiliar with the idiom barked up the wrong tree what it means is that you're trying to do something in a way that it's not gonna work okay you're trying to do something and it's not going to work you're barking up the wrong tree alright you so for example you're trying to do something and it's not gonna work that hey you know you're barking up the wrong tree you need to do something else in this case alright to bark up the wrong tree yes excellent is B hey you're talking about somebody barking like a dog is barking it's a verb which means it can be used in the continuous tense if you're talking about the bark of a tree that is a noun so this one I tried to trick you a little bit because again it has tree in the idiom and the next one let's see if you can identify this one all right we saw some big bats at the baseball game last night what do you think okay which which meaning do you think okay I don't want to give you any more hints but just just think about that we saw some big bats at the baseball game last night all right what do you think write your answer in the chat in the comments if you guys are just joining us now we are talking about homophones we are learning homophone homonyms we also do homophones we're learning homonyms we're gonna practice them and to help you build your vocabulary so this one is where I think homonyms can confuse people at times because to be quite honest we saw some big bats at the baseball game last night well at a bit in baseball people use bats and there is an expression talking about big bats alright the the bats that the players were swinging they were big they were they were hitting the ball far but last night you could also be talking about bats that you might see so depending on the context this is a this is an example where we need more information we need to know well what is the person what did they say before this sentence what did they say afterwards because depending on the conversation both of them could be correct all right if I'm telling my friends like yeah you know oh we saw some big bats at the baseball game last night there were about 10 homeruns alright then you could say eh or if I said wow you wouldn't believe we saw some big bats at the game last night these bats were huge they were flying everywhere in that case it would be B so again yes it depends on the context I saw that Paul excellent all right so what I want to do is quickly just to let you guys know if you guys enjoy our lesson if you like what we do you can check us out on patreon and help support us there we have some useful and and cool rewards that you guys can find on patreon so that first part was all about just trying to identify the meaning of these homonyms the next part what I want you to do is testing your listening skills okay so we I want you to listen for the homonyms I am going to tell you a a sentence and I just want you to hold up your fingers I know that I can't see you I just trust that you're doing the activity okay and before we move on I just want to throw in that link alright there's our patreon link if you guys want to go check that out there's also a link in the description okay so let's look at this right here so these are very very common words again I said listen for homonyms even though technically these are homophones I told you that homophones is kind of it is a type of hominem so we have number one listen for my pronunciation number one is there number two there and number three the pronunciation is there all right you probably noticed you can hear that all three of those sound the exact same so what I want you to do for this activity is more of a listening this is comprehension I am going to say a sentence and all I want you to do is hold up your finger all right am i saying number one or am i saying number two or number three okay all right ready so the first sentence the first sentence that I have for you as if I said okay look over there hold up which one one two or three look over there I hope that all of you are holding up number one look over there alright we're talking about a a location all right we did an X we did a live lesson just a weeks ago no no that was a different one I'm conflating I'm confusing my own live lessons right you know so look over there all right the next one are you ready just hold up hold up your fingers if somebody asks you know hey you know what's their problem you know these these people what what's their problem what do you think what's what's their problem all right I hope again in this case what's their problem all right we're talking about number three you should be holding up number three what's their problem I meant to go over these before remember number one if you're talking about number one they're it's it's an adverb and it's talking about a place number two there is the contraction form of they are and number three is the possessive okay so just a quick review but like I said I think most of you know the meaning of these words because they are very common this is all just practicing your comprehension all right the next one sense I have for you is this one alright just hold up one two or three if I said that that that joke it went over their head that joke went over their head again I'm using another idiom I'll tell you what it means in just a moment if I say if somebody said yeah that joke went over their head which one am I using I hope that you are holding up number three again the possessive their head that joke went over their head if something goes over someone's head it means that they don't understand it so I say oh the joke went over their head they didn't understand the joke alright the next one if I said I think they're watching us I think they're watching us what do you guys think I hope that you were holding up to do what no all right two two two fingers I think they're watching us okay two fingers now let's make it a little more challenging I am going to say a sentence with two of them in there okay so then you could tell me is it am I talking about one two or is it three two okay so here is your next one and just hold up the fingers you guys writing them in the chat that's perfect okay so the next sentence is this um there are two deer in their yard there are two deer in their yard there are two deer in their yard which ones do you guys think there are two deer in their yard there's two of them you should be holding up two fingers two different ones all right so the first one there are two deer in their yard they're number one are two deer in their yard number three the possessive so that was one three the next one that I have for you testing your listening comprehension they're trying to help on their own terms they're trying to help on their own terms they're trying to help on their own terms what to do you think in that one they're trying to help on their own terms all right I hope that you are holding up two and three they're trying to help they're trying to help on their possessive own terms they're trying to help on their own terms let's do another one this says this has all three of them okay what they're doing in there is their business what they're doing in there is their business what they're doing in there is their business what do you guys think all right that's all three of them right there what they're doing in there is their business all right what they're doing in there is their business okay so two one three what they're doing in there wait wait what they're doing in there they are in there that's one is their business all right so again this is I think a lot of this is just your comprehension you need to put this into context and really understand okay which meaning that they're going for and some of this this can even this can easily confuse native speakers as well as I mentioned I gave you that riddle I think most native speakers would be very confused at that riddle so I encourage you to go try it let's try three more different homonyms okay so we have rain as in the water is falling from the sky it's raining outside to rain as in like a a king or a queen a ruler over a certain area a certain country which is there the time that they rule would be there rain and then rain number three like the reins of a horse what what you would use to control the horse the reins alright so again hold up one two or three depending on what you hear so the first sentence I have for you is you need to grab hold of the reins you need to grab hold of the reins alright so and you need to grab hold of the reins you should be holding up number three alright we're talking about a horse's rein so grab hold of the reins the next one if I said oh it's raining it's pouring the old man is snoring what do you think this is actually this is a nursery rhyme it's raining it's pouring the old man is snoring he went to bed he went he bumped his head went to bed didn't wake up in the morning alright it's raining it's pouring the old man is snoring we're talking about number one all right you should be holding up one it's raining alright excellent the next one said Oh what are we going to do during her reign what are we going to do during her reign what are we going to do during her reign maybe you're talking about I don't know Game of Thrones and we thought everybody thought Daenerys was gonna get on to the Iron Throne people they oh no what are we going to do during her reign if you're talking about a king or queen reign you should be holding up number two Rey all right let's do one more this one has two two of them I lost the reins because of the rain I lost the reins because of the rain I lost the reins because of the rain and and again this is a sentence that depending on the context you could hear it sounds a little weird because of the the homonyms I lost the reins alright because of the rain three one I lost the reins because of the rain maybe they slipped out of your hands okay so this is good listening practice it's all about improving your comprehension to see if you can listen for these different homonyms homophones and identify them okay let's let's do let's do some more practice all right if you guys if you rocked that listening practice let me know hit that like button down below so I know okay you understand these homonyms and you are able to identify them correctly hit that like button if you were able to get most of those correct so the next part is I am going to test your knowledge and - and just see which of these words you know okay and what I want you to do for these is yes try write them in the chat write them in the comments I want to see how many of these homonyms you know and the way out well I'm just going to go ahead and give you the first one I think you'll see how it's done okay so the first one that I have for you is this this is all about knowing your homonyms so something a dog wags and another word for story okay what do you think write those words whoops kind of just told you it's two different words write it in the chat write it in the comments we want you to interact to participate in this lesson so what what am I talking about something a dog wags and another word for story okay this is just seeing how many like just is testing your vocabulary to see if you already know some of these homonyms okay so what I hope all right I let's see what do we got here yes Riza Marina Sarada excellent imran fatima so something a dog wags is a tail all right ta IL another word for a story is like a tail we're talking about Oh a tall tale of something something happens it's the word for a story perfect the next one is right here think about this someone with a sword okay and then when it's dark outside do you know what what am I talking about there I'm not gonna try it not gonna try and give you any hints or accidentally give it away all right someone with a sword and when it's dark outside what do you think okay if you guys again if if you're just joining us we are practicing homonyms and and just helping you build your vocabulary and improve your comprehension so excellent yes Jacob marina we um it is a wonderland Nisha perfect someone with a sword is a knight k and IG HT and when it's dark outside it's just it's nighttime it is night out all right those are homonyms again technically those are homophones which are a type of hominem but I think people will use them interchangeably but again they have same spot same pronunciation different spelling same pronunciation different meaning the next one if we're talking about a pair of items and a stick for lighting a fire what do you think that is talking about a pair of items a stick for lighting a fire right your answer in in the chat in the comments the best way to practice and and to actually help you try to remember and retain this information is to practice is to interact is to participate that's what we want all right so what do you think a pair of items a stick for lighting a fire okay what do you think alright so yes this one is actually this is a pure hominem because it is talking about the same spelling same pronunciation different meaning all right a pair of items you could say is a match and a stick for lighting a fire is also a match excellent Salaam Lali a full moon Cristina Anna yes you could say again some of you wrote a stick for lighting a fire matches that would be fine as well but we're talking about yes a match pair of items match for lighting a fire so now it's gonna get a little more challenging okay I'm trying to make these a little more difficult to avoid work or you could also say it's an engine running slowly so this word that word has kind of two different meanings avoid work or an engine running slowly and the next one is an object that is representation of a god okay these again which it's I don't want okay I don't want to give any any more hints or information what do you get what do you think that is alright avoiding work and an engine running slowly that's kind of together and the different meanings but they are together with the same word and an object that is a representation of a god alright excellent yuk yuk bionaire perfect free 99 English excellent so what I'm talking about is if you say idle IDL e you're avoiding work there's an expression in English that says idle hands are the devil's workshop if you are avoiding work if you're not using your hands it's the devil's workshop you should be doing something is basically what the expression means or you could say that the engine is idling the car engine is idling the boat engine is idling or an object that is representation of a god idle I do L so again these are homophones different spelling different meaning the next warrant so I hope again I hope if you didn't know that hopefully you're learning some new words you're learning some new vocabulary two units of liquid a hard colorless mineral alright so as I said it's getting you know it's getting a little more difficult two units of liquid a hard colorless mineral what do you guys think and and there are again I'm just choosing some at random there are so many different homonyms out there but what what do you think two units of liquid a hard colorless mineral yes rockman air I'm probably pronouncing your name wrong but if we're talking about two units of liquid Lalli excellent perfect we're talking about quartz okay two units of liquid would be a quart quar TS and a hard colorless mineral quartz quar TZ so again I said two units because you one want just one quart you need that s two quarts three quarts so the plural form courts and courts they are they are homophones are technically yes Hama they are homonyms but again we could say they are homophones if we want to be a little more specific it is a type of hominem they have different spelling different meaning but the same pronunciation so what I want you guys to do okay this is a list of the homonyms and the homophones that that we've talked about in this lesson and like I said there are so many different ones out there I think it's always good to practice because it's good to practice first to build your vocabulary so that you're able to identify these different types of homonyms also for your comprehension because if you're reading them in a story or you're listening to them in conversation you'll be able to identify the correct meaning so it's always good to practice and what I want you guys to do is help each other build build our build our vocabulary and I want you to in the comments to write another pair of homonyms you can write another pair of homonyms or write another pair or a pair of homophones either or there are so many out there but share with us share with the community that is the best way for us to help each other build our vocabulary and if you learn one of these new words if somebody writes it in the comments and you've learned it new hit that like button like their comment so that we know okay what which words are important which words are people learning thing new things because then when I do a future lesson perhaps I will choose those words so please share with us write some homonyms in the comments and if you learn some new ones hit the like button on their comments so so that everybody can help each so that we can help each other build our own vocabulary all right thank you guys so much for joining me today for this homonym lesson if you enjoyed it again please like and share our lessons help us spread the word you can write to us in the comments we always love hearing from you and check us out on social media we are active on Facebook Twitter and Instagram and of course right here on YouTube you can always find us so thank you neasha foo via live a santosh marina Salaam Camila 3 3 lei lolly thank you thank you thank you trying to give some quick shout outs Jacob K Lane Morgana toga Dean thank you guys so much for joining me I hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 335. Hot Summer Idioms to Burn Into Your Vocabulary โ˜€๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8exxv6AckcQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8exxv6AckcQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:02:43 | --- so it is very hot outside right now and that's why in today's lesson i wanted to teach you some different idioms and expressions that all have the word hot or heat in it and i i want to switch things up a little bit today because what i want to do is kind of i want to present these to you in the form of a quiz and i'll give you a moment to think of your answer and then of course i will tell you the answer talk a little bit about what the idiom means and how people generally use it and i think learning these is useful because it's going to help you improve your overall comprehension but i tried to choose more common idioms that you may find yourself in a situation that you might be able to use them in just casual conversation and help you develop a more natural way of speaking your first question your first idiom is right here how would you complete this idiom in the heat of the and i'll go ahead and tell you the meaning it means that you do or say something without thinking because you you get really angry suddenly you get angry or upset and you do or say something in the heat of the so as i was talking about the meaning i think an important word a key word would be suddenly so it just really it's like you're reacting all of a sudden when you get angry and you do something in that well that instance or that moment in the heat of the moment so this is an idiom that i think we can all relate to because if you're arguing with someone and you really get upset and you get angry because again heat has to has to do with anger and you may say something or do something in the heat of the moment and often when this happens it's like you would either say or do something that you generally would regret you you regret doing this thing so you may hear somebody even apologize and say yeah i'm sorry for saying this i i just i said it in the heat of the moment or you're talking about an instance in which you did something like you got really angry and yeah i just i got so upset i threw the chair in the heat of the moment and again these are actions that you would typically regret and you would say that it just happens in the heat of the moment what was she thinking i guess in the heat of the moment she just forgot that she doesn't really like matthew that way honey let me just tell you what i think sometimes in the heat of the moment things happen the next idiom that i have for you and i'm really really starting to sweat it is very hot out here is to be in hot water and i'm going ahead and giving you the idiom and i want you to think about what does it mean does it mean to be in danger does it mean to be rewarded for something or does it mean to be in trouble now if you were to think about well literally being in hot water it's not a good situation so i'm sure you know it's not to be rewarded for doing something what this means is to be in trouble and it's like you you do something and then you somebody could say wow you're you're in hot water all right you're in trouble someone else is upset with you or they're they're angry and then you would be in hot water again this is another idiom that i think we can all relate to if somebody was angry with you um because you did something and say yeah you know right now i'm in a little bit of hot water with my boss because i missed the deadline and yeah she's just really angry with me and i'm in hot water and if you do not hit that like button then yeah you're going to be in hot water and i also think if you don't subscribe then you're again you're going to be in hot water i'm going to be very angry and of course i don't mean that i just i just set it in the heat of the moment i'm sorry i didn't mean to do that careful with that gun oh yes sir we're fine but i really would appreciate it if you go ahead and subscribe turn on notifications that way i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals then we have this idiom right here to m the heat so what it means is to well you are the one who's going to get blamed or you're going to accept the criticism and you are going to um the heat i need to be careful with the words that i use when when giving you the meaning because i'm i'm really asking for the verb in this situation what is the verb in this idiom to um the heat and i hope that you said take to take the heat so when someone takes the heat yes they are they're taking the blame they are accepting the criticism so you could uh use this in a situation where maybe i i made a mistake but i want you to take the blame for it and say hey can you can you tell them that you were the one that made the mistake and you might say to me look i'm not going to take the heat for your mistake all right you need you need to take the heat because you are the one who made the mistake or if i wanted to talk about criticism i could say some of the company executives took a lot of heat for their inappropriate comments and they were criticized for this now you could also slightly change this idiom and say you're going to take the heat off someone and this just means to reduce criticism so to follow up on that sentence that i just said i could say when the company when some of the company executives resigned because of their inappropriate comments that took some of the heat off of the ceo so perhaps the the company was getting a lot of criticism the ceo the executives and then those executives resigned and that reduced the criticism and took some of the heat off the ceo your mom is wrong i'm gonna tell her you said that that's okay you tell her i'll take the heat then i have this expression for you okay if you can't take the heat get out of the okay and that blank space is referring to well a room in your home all right i'll give you that hint if you can't take the heat get out of the so think about um what room in your home might be well a little hotter than some of the other rooms so the answer is kitchen if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen and really you could think it is an expression people might end up using it like a proverb and what it is when you say this to someone you're telling them look if you cannot handle or deal with this difficult situation this pressure situation then you need to remove yourself you know you need to get out of the way you need to get out of the kitchen and this is an expression that is actually widely attributed to former president harry truman and this goes back to the 1940s and at that time he was actually a senator and he was on some committee leading an investigation and the person that they were investigating was angry they were objecting to this and he said something along these lines like look uh if you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen we are going to continue our investigation welcome to the big leagues right come on now get up let's take the heat get out of the kitchen rook you have nothing to fear but feed itself if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen and i think that you can absolutely take the heat of learning new vocabulary and learning these idioms so you you don't need to get out of the kitchen in fact i think you can actually step up your game and improve your speaking fluency when you join my speaking course and you can click on the link down below in the description to learn more and when you do you will find a special discount just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn new vocabulary as well as some idioms related to that topic we do engaging speaking activities we start each lesson with pronunciation or connected speech there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course and in addition i will teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases the same way i'm doing in this lesson so if you'd like to sign up click on that link down below in the description there's not much time left the heat is on and that is the next idiom that i want to talk to you about the heat is on and i realize in in trying to use it as i was kind of ending that announcement i've just gone ahead and given you the answer i'm sorry about that but when somebody says the heat is on what this refers to is a situation in which there is pressure to do something or to achieve something and it's a you know it's a high pressure situation so typically you may use this idiom at the end of a statement maybe you talk about the pressure situation and then you would follow that with well the heat is on i have two weeks until the deadline so the heat is on all right i really need to work hard and there's even a famous song by glenn frye from 1984 that goes that was i don't know if that's going to look ridiculous or not anyway hey freeze the heat is on and then there's this idiom in the hot okay what word completes this and i'll tell you the meaning it refers to well someone who's in a position where they're responsible for difficult or important things and again this is more of a pressure situation and you could say someone is in the hot seat okay in the hot seat and often i think people may use this when a person is well responsible for answering some difficult questions and you could say they're in the hot seat think about a game show someone participates in a game show they they come up and they're going to answer questions in order to win money so that is a pressure situation you could say they're sitting in the hot seat sometimes i would even use this in the classroom if we're doing an activity in which one person would have to come up to the front of the class and sit down and all of the pressure was on this person and i would say yes they're sitting in the hot seat you're so bad how about you let's put you in the hot seat huh you see yourself in ten years okay it's really hot let's continue the next one is hot under the and what this means is well when someone easily gets angry especially with things that are not that important you could say this person is a little hot under the um trying to give you a hint right right here so the answer is collar hot under the collar so again we as i've mentioned before like you can think of hot is associated with anger and your collar is just the this piece of clothing that goes around your neck your collar and if you say someone's hot under the collar that's what it means they easily get angry and often i think you may use this with the verb get to get hot under the collar i can get a little hot under the collar when you don't write to me in the comments okay i just it makes i get easily angry about these things that aren't important i get hot under the collar and of course that's not true i'm sorry i just i just said that in the heat of the moment okay just trying to review some of these your owner nurses manukin has no next of kin well you seem hot under the collar or is that the sweater and then there's a hot shot okay this is talking about a person but what do you think is the correct meaning does this refer to a person who is too self-confident too angry or too greedy which is the correct meaning and i i hope that you said too self-confident so if you say that someone's a hot shot it means well this person is just overly confident in their ability to do something and it i guess it would be more derogatory if you say someone's a hot shot but you may also use this playfully among family and friends if somebody's just being really self-confident in their abilities you could refer to them as a hot shot so in a more well derogatory sense if i talk about one of my colleagues and say yeah you know he thinks he's a real hot shot at the office all right i'm saying my colleague is just way too self-confident or just more like playful if you got all of these questions correct and you knew all of these idioms and you're like yes i have a perfect score i'm the best i know all of this and i might say okay well well here's another question for you hotshot and i would call you a hotshot if if you were acting very self-confident and that's just more playful because yeah we're friends try a round kick is this supposed to be hard all right hot shot show me a hook kick unfortunately i don't have another question for you that was all of them so if you got all of them correct then yes you would definitely be a hot shot so with all these lessons i really just hope that you learned something new and if you did please go ahead hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching i'm gonna go jump in this pool because it's so hot and i will see you next time so long --- ## 336. How I Became FLUENT in English... | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BJM8hRuBqv4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJM8hRuBqv4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:52:22 | --- How I became fluent in English, and how you can, too! Full disclosure: I was born and raised in Romania, so my first language is Romanian. I was there until I was 15 years old, and after that, I moved to the US, to California. I lived in LA and San Francisco for about 14 years, so at this point, I'm probably half American. But I do know people that have lived in the US for much longer than I have, and have much stronger accents and a harder time communicating in English. Why? They don't immerse themselves in the language. So what is immersion? Immersing yourself in a language means getting completely involved in that language by watching movies, by listening to music, by reading, by speaking with everyone... basically completely surrounding yourself with that language. Not too long ago, I came across an article that talked about how language is rooted in culture. The author, a Hungarian CEO who speaks seven languages, talked about how the English language is rooted in the Anglo-Saxon culture. He mentions how positive thinking is embedded in the English language. For example, using a word like "challenge" instead of "problem". He also mentions how English uses a more indirect approach than other languages... ...how the Brits and Americans do not always directly state something. They might say That's interesting. That means it's not interesting. Hey, let's get together the next time I'm in town. You're not going to get together. Well the main takeaway from the article is that it praises language immersion in order to fully become fluent in that language. If you're interested in reading the article, I'll leave a link to it down in the description. I think there's so much truth in this article. As an English teacher, I've observed the progress of so many students who have immersed themselves in the language, versus the stagnation of students who were translating, and only practicing English inside the classroom, and not outside. And so, I got inspired to tell you about my experience with learning English. Here's what I've learned: Number 1: When you immerse yourself in a language, you open yourself up to learn something new. You leave your character and your personality at the door, and you embrace a whole new one Honestly, it's part of experiencing the world at a new level. You should try it! And don't worry: your identity is not going anywhere! You don't lose yourself when you're immersed in a new language. So what's the result of immersion? You learn new idioms, phrasal verbs, local expressions, which automatically make you sound a lot more like a native English speaker. People also have an easier time understanding you. In addition, you are able to comprehend and use colloquial English. ... because it is NOT the same as academic English or the English we learn from books. So, the second thing I've learned is that learning English is not easy... and it takes time. But, it can be a lot of fun, especially because most of it does not happen in the classroom. Once I had a student ask me: "Teacher, do you think in two years I'll know ALL the English?" I smiled and told him:"No! But you know what? You'll be so much more proficient than you are now!" I'm proud to say that even after 20+ years of learning English, I'm still learning, because a true learner never stops. It also makes me a better English teacher. Let me tell you: Once you realize you're always learning, you're not stressed anymore. You just focus on the things you can change, and actively work to change those things, one at a time. So where's the fun part you ask? Well, I learned a lot of English from movies, books, parties, friends, and boyfriends. I always paid attention to how people spoke, and every time I heard a new idiom or expression, I took a mental note of it, and made sure to use it the next time I had the opportunity. For example, I remember when I heard one of my friends saying the word "to". And they meant "to"- like you go to the beach. But I noticed that this person used "uh", like :"tuh" I made a note of that little syllable because it wasn't "to", like "ooo", that sound that I used to make. And I started using too, so I'd stay stuff like: I'm going "tuh" the doctor, I'm going "tuh" school. Well, let me tell you: That one simple vowel made such a huge difference in my fluency, and how people understood my spoken English. And don't worry: As you learn, you can still communicate in English, and it does not have to be perfect! Which brings me to my last point: It's OK to make mistakes. In some countries, people might judge for grammatical errors or pronunciation mistakes. I don't think it's the same with English. In today's world, there are many different versions of English: different accents, different grammar... English is a world language! So people in general may be kinder and more forgiving of your mistakes than you think. They certainly were in my case! In fact, if you listen carefully, you can hear native speakers make mistakes as well. I think I make less mistakes than Ioana. Fewer mistakes. See? You get the point. So here's my advice: Maybe you think it's crazy, but: Strive to make mistakes. If you make mistakes, you're using the language more, which means you're improving. What WON'T help you is taking time to think of one perfect sentence. Having a conversation, with mistakes and all, will be a lot more helpful. Remember, the best way to learn English is to always practice. So follow us on social media. It's a great way to connect and interact with us. You can get the American perspective! Wes is very American. Wait a second... is that a compliment? Sure! I hope you enjoyed my thoughts and confessions as an English teacher whose first language is not English. As you can see and hear, it is possible to become fluent in English. You just need to continue practicing. Keep practicing with us! And give a thumbs up if you found this video helpful. --- ## 337. How Important is Grammar to Becoming Fluent | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `2ffWhF2gQB4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ffWhF2gQB4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:32:42 | --- how important do you think it is to study grammar that is what today's conversation is all about what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I have a conversation lesson for you because we're going to have a discussion about how important it is to learn grammar how much time and energy should you be focusing on grammar in order to improve your English skills but before you listen to our conversation I want to go over some vocabulary with you that you are going to hear during our discussion because this is a great way to build your vocabulary you learn the meaning of the word and then you get to listen to it being used in context so let's begin the first word that I have for you is subjective and this is an adjective and what it means is that that something is based on or influenced by your own personal opinions your feelings your taste and you would say that something is subjective for example if we're talking about an exam if the exam is multiple-choice then it is not subjective you either get the answer right or you get it wrong but if let's say I were evaluating your speaking skills well then that may be partly based on my opinion my view of your speaking competency so you could say well that that type of exam is a bit subjective then we have reinforce and this is a verb to reinforce something and this just means to strengthen an idea a feeling a habit that already exists so for example you already have some some language skills like reading listening speaking and you want to reinforce those skills the skills that already exist you want to strengthen them you want to reinforce them next is a phrase in conjunction and what this means is well simply together you often do something in conjunction with something else so you are doing something together at the same time that you are doing another thing and you say well we are doing these things in conjunction or you'd say I'm doing something in conjunction with this other thing next is a word that when it comes to language learning many of you probably do not want to and that is exception it is a noun and what it means is that it just it just does not follow the rules and you would refer to something that doesn't follow the rules as an exception and when it comes to learning English as well as many other languages there there are always exceptions and that that can make learning a bit frustrating the next word is bash and this is a verb to bash and you can bash something or you can bash someone and it just means to criticize and this is more of an informal word that you would hear mostly in spoken English and it's a bit casual to bash to criticize then we have the verb nag to nag someone about something and what this means is to continuously annoy or irritate someone so for example maybe someone in your family they Edition want you to take out the trash and they keep telling you again and again and again you could say well they are nagging me to take out the trash they're nagging me about this the next word is impede and this is another verb to impede and what it means is to delay someone or something by obstructing and you often hear it when talking about progress to impede someone's progress which means you're just not able to move or learn as fast as you would like because well something is obstructing your progress it is impeding your progress then we have takeaway and this is just a word that means a final key point or fact or piece of information that should be remembered you're talking about well the final takeaway from this lesson is that well I hope that you remember these vocabulary words and and we are going to try and reinforce the meaning of these words because right now you are going to listen to our conversation and our discussion about whether or not you should really focus on grammar to improve your language skills so keep an eye out for these words because that's just gonna help you build your vocabulary here's the conversation that's recording there's the camera alright so we wanted to have a conversation about a topic that I think is pretty common when it comes to learning English as a second language in public schools academies and we want to talk about grammar and how important it is to study grammar and the reason why we wanted to discuss this is because I think especially in some countries their public education there is a strong focus on grammar along yeah a lot of it can be you know grammar grammar grammar grammar and and less focus on some of the other skills like speaking and listening and reading and I think we used to work at a school that had a strong focus on grammar almost maybe too much of a focus I think I think that its grammar is easy to test so I think that that's why I like how do you test speaking how do you think I mean if there are ways of course but it is much it's more subjective and of course you know you can test a whole group of people very very quickly and I think that many people like to measure their progress in the language and how do you measure it oh you get correct answers however I think progress in the language is a lot more complex it's a lot harder to measure than just the grammar test I actually took a year a year a whole year of Hungarian when I went to UCLA many years ago like 10 and now we live in Hungary and I don't speak it but the point is where I'm bringing the spouses because that whole year I just wanna grab her it was the only grammar only grammar I don't think it was any vocabulary so I couldn't really put a sentence together but I could like conjugate verbs or like translate a tag randomly so it didn't mean oh good I think but I mean I'm not trying to knock down the grammar because it is important and will come no I was gonna say like to that point I remember when I was living in Korea and I was taking some classes in Korean and the focus was grammar grammar grammar and I almost think maybe at the the onset of studying a language it does make sense to try and learn the structure and which is what grammar is important but I think what's interesting it seems to stay with people even as they become much more advanced and they're really focusing on grammar when personally I think as the more advanced you become I think there are other ways to reinforce your knowledge of grammar and even learn grammar like reading that's what I was gonna say so I feel like studying grammar is not the entire picture like if you're going to it's an important part of the language when you should not do it by itself like you have to do it especially if you get more advanced you have to do in conjunction with speaking with reading with writing yeah it has to go together otherwise your skills are not going to be well-rounded yeah the other thing I thought was interesting because I know like as adults when you think about adults learning a language and children learning a language whereas I think children will play around with the language a lot more and adults are more like we you know what's the rule we want to know what the rule is so that this makes sense and I think grammar kind of provides that structure of like okay what is the grammar rule okay let me try and learn this and let me try to follow it they tend to want those rules and to understand those rules which can even write it's like nice to be able to solve it but in some ways I think it can almost make the language a little more confusing because I always think it's great to know the rules but oftentimes especially when you think about learning more just casual English that might be spoken just everyday outside on the streets just among friends often some of these grammar rules are broken it does become a bit more of a puzzle that way trying to understand why certain rules might might be broken just in casual speech plus not to mention that English has a million exceptions to articles like everything you learn so that's why I said that if you try to learn grammar you're going to drive yourself nuts but just following all the rules but I think that's a much better and easier way to do it would be to just do it in context of everything else so like reading would be a great way to notice how the because then when you're reading you're seeing the correct grammar structure being used even if you're not specifically studying a certain grammar structure or trying to learn a certain verb tense you're at least you know exposing yourself to the information to the grammar used in its correct form I don't want to sound like we're bashing grammar at all like because I think there is a value in it I think it's always good to learn review especially what you've learned I think now it just makes as English instructors it just makes us wonder is there too much emphasis on grammar in certain educational settings and I think that is true trying to practice your your English and you have that little nagging voice in your in your head like oh like what work should I put in here like what not worth work well like what tense should I say and then you're trying to speak and it's impeding your communication then yeah that's they don't focus on the grammar because yes it's important but at the point of speaking two languages that you communicate so focus on them what's more important I guess no I think that that's a very good point that when you get fixed in and focused on these grammar rules and then you need to do something else like writing or speaking it's adult and produce yeah typically but then they're thinking like oh wait I don't want to make a grammar mistake so they end up you know their speeches a bit slower it's a little more thought-out instead of that you know that natural fluency and again as I think as instructors we always you know I would always encourage learners like don't worry you know don't worry about making mistakes we say that thousands and thousands of times like if you make a grammar mistake it's okay just so much brighter just keep saying it it's so much it's so much better for your language progress if you say it and say it wrong then if you don't yeah cuz I just like no because I know that I we used to be scared to say and it's just like well then you're not making any progress yeah because as you continue your studies you are going to find out like if you are made mistake in your spoken English if it's a grammar mistake you find that out and then work on correcting it instead of like I don't want to say it at all if you know that you're making a mistake and you know you've done don't just keep making that same mistake if you're aware of it corrected because otherwise explain fossilisation happens when somebody learns a language and they make a mistake and then they have used and they have made that mistake so many times that they end up it becomes part of their permanent vocabulary so they just use it all the time and it becomes much harder to try and correct it again because it's basically just stuck in their mind and it's fossilized but yeah for us it's like the main takeaway from this conversation is that grammar is important but it should be used smartly in in in conjunction with the other yeah so what I'd like to know from all of you is how important do you think grammar is and is it something that you are trying to improve and to work on and what is it about grammar that you feel like you you would like to know more about if that is something that you wish to improve but I'm really curious to know what all of you guys think because you are out there learning the language or trying to improve your skills how important is it to you if you enjoyed our little conversation please hit that like button whoops I want to cover you with my thumb and if you want to connect with us subscribe to our community there is a link in the description to get emails and updates and some useful resources check that out thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you next time --- ## 338. How good are your listening skills? | Comprehension Quiz | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IXF6FgitbZc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXF6FgitbZc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:35:19 | --- what's up everyone welcome to today's listening challenge if this is your first time here my name is Wes and this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and the way we're going to practice our English skills today is by doing a listening quiz those are always fun it's good to really practice our skills so I want to give a quick shout out to some of you who are with me right now IRA Mustafa Jason mano onus um Jeffrey cocea Anwar Luiz so many amazing people thank you for joining me even if you're watching this later this is going to be very useful because I also I want you to practice your listening skills okay so this is really an active listening exercise because you're not just going to listen to me talk or like like people would do in another English lesson I actually want you to participate in this lesson if you guys are in the chat I have some questions for you I want you to listen and then I want you to try and answer the questions even if you're unsure of the answer even if you don't know take a guess we just want you I just want you to participate and if you're watching this later use the comments section use it like it's it's a it's a piece of paper and write your answers in the comments so before we begin I want to give you a couple of tips when it comes to listening comprehension and those tips are as follows so the first thing to do especially if you are listening for key details is to listen to that specific information listen for the names of people or places listen to dates when did things happen or numbers as well when you're talking about quantities those are some things that that should stand out that really are are listening for those key details the next thing which would really have to do with your overall comprehension and understanding the main idea of a story or a conversation would be to use context context words to put pictures in your mind and when I say contact content words sorry content words when I'm talking about content words I'm talking about the nouns the adjectives the adverbs the the words that you can really put a picture to the the colors the smells the tastes that are going to help us like again you put a picture in your mind as though you're watching a TV show or watching a movie and you're just following the story or following the conversation as it moves along so keep these things in mind as you are listening and in practicing and you know okay we're gonna do this mount before we begin I want to give a quick shout out and let you guys know if you want to connect with us even more than I suggest check out our email list there will be a link in the description I will also throw a link in the chat right now and we just send you all this cool stuff from time to time resources to help you guys practice and improve your skills you can access the secret fluency lesson so so check that out if you have not signed up already so today the way that we're going to do this all right I have three different listening selections for you I am going to read each one I'll read it twice and then I will ask you some questions okay so that's how we're gonna do it and all of them are a little different um so I'll give you a little more information about that as we go through and I get ready to to read these different ones well I'm gonna read it you guys are just going to listen okay so again this is a way to practice your skills and your listening skills and making an active listening exercise so that you can actually improve so are you guys ready are you ready are you ready to practice your listening skills let's take the quiz so the first listening that I have for you is about Game of Thrones all right I'm gonna read you some information or I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you some information about Game of Thrones I just want you to listen to it and I'm going to read this at a normal speed I'm not going to speak very slow like I am right now I'm just gonna read it to you at a normal speed but if especially if you're watching this later because some people might ask like hey can you slow it down youtube allows you to change the speed of speech so just go to the settings you can slow it down if you want to you know take a little more time to hear this information okay here we go so all I want you to do is listen and I will read it twice ready here we go here is the listening alright so here is it okay here we go Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and DB Weiss for HBO it is adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire George RR Martin's series of fantasy novels the first of which is a game of Thrones the show was both produced and filmed in the United Kingdom filming locations also included Canada Croatia Iceland Malta Morocco and Spain the series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17 2011 and concluded on May 19 2009 teen with 73 episodes broadcast over eight seasons okay did you get all that I will read it again so most of you many of you are probably familiar with Game of Thrones so some of this information you may already know which is great so all of it all it is is about just listening trying to comprehend as much as you can and then answer the questions after at the end I'm gonna read it to you one more time and then I will ask you the questions I have two questions about this if you're just joining us we are practicing our listening skills and and I am going to ask you some questions based on this listening ready I'll read it again here we go Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and DB Weiss for HBO is it it is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire George RR Martin's series of fantasy novels the first of which is a game of Thrones the show is both produced and filmed in the United Kingdom filming locations also included Canada Croatia Iceland Malta Morocco and Spain the series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17 2011 and concluded on May 19 2009 teen with 73 episodes broadcast over eight seasons all right now I'm gonna say it's hard it's hard to memorize don't worry about memorizing it okay just just try and take it all in absorb the information III know it's a little challenging but my first question that I have for you and I want you to write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments I'm not gonna put it up on the screen the question I'm just going to ask you because again this lesson is all about practicing your listening skills so the first question I have for you is in how many different countries was Game of Thrones filmed okay Game of Thrones the the the TV series for HBO was filmed in how many different countries okay I listed the countries see see if you can kind of remember and again this is information some of you may already you may already know some of this so if you don't remember exactly try to take a guess all right again youyou I would always encourage you to take your best educated guess okay how many different countries was the show filmed now I don't know if people that I got this this is all from Wikipedia so I'm guilty as charged for using Wikipedia but it's all from Wikipedia that's what I'm reading so if there may be some other place now the correct answer okay is wait one two three four five six seven okay seven different countries so I'll show you the answer of what I said I said the show was both produced and filmed in the United Kingdom filming locations also included Canada whoops Croatia Iceland elta Morocco there we go and Spain all right there are seven different filming locations for the show I know most of you said six did anybody say seven did we get a seven in here I'm trying to go through seven seven anybody anybody most people said oh maybe five most if you were close Game of Thrones devika seven excellent perfect yes how would he carry yes seven excellent okay we've got a few people the next question that I have for you and even if you can't get all of this that's okay all right this is asking for some of those numbers all right and this was at the end I want you to tell me a few different things can you tell me the year in which Game of Thrones began when it was aired the TV show went the year that it began and the year that it ended I also want you to tell me how many episodes were there over how many seasons so I'm asking for four different numbers here the years that the show was running all right it went from this year to this year how many episodes were there over how many seasons okay so those are four that's all in one question okay because if it all came at the very end I gave you those years I then I gave you the told you the number of episodes and how many seasons so some people Wow some people getting the months in there Aiden excellent so yes as far as it when it began okay excellent bassam onus sim Ramez go SIA excellent so the show began I think all the use it in 2011 okay the show began in 2011 you Lissa perfect and it ended in 2019 there were 73 episodes yes Abdo Dubrovnik ah yes perfect over eight seasons better bluh perfect yes so I said the series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17 2011 and concluded on May 19th 2019 with 73 episodes broadcasted over a season so again those are those numbers those key details if you forgot them it's it's it's okay it's okay all right don't worry about it this is all just just practicing now this this was a little more challenging I know we've done these before and I think some of them were a bit easier I tried to make this one a little more difficult so the next listening that I have for you all right is it's a conversation so just pretend like you are listening to a conversation this is a conversation that takes place at a hotel and it's a conversation between the employee at the front desk the person at the front desk and some customer at the hotel all right it's just a quick little conversation I want you guys to listen to it and then I will ask you a few questions okay so this is just trying to do a natural conversation again if you guys are just joining us we are we are just practicing our listening skills I'm reading I'm reading you something I want you to listen and then answer some questions okay so hopefully this will be a little easier that's conversation are you ready so here we go and you'll just put it into context as to who is who the the hotel employee and the customer are you ready so here we go let's see all right so it's about asking directions so the front desk begins hello how may I help you hi I'm looking for a place to eat somewhere I can go on foot well there's a great place called the ladle when you go outside head to the right and go three blocks hang a right and go another block then go left for two more blocks and you'll see the sign awesome III really appreciate your help no problem would you like me to call you a cab oh oh never mind sorry silly question enjoy your dinner okay that's it that's it that was the conversation so hopefully again this is when try to listen to those content words and and put a picture in your mind of actually watching these people two people have this conversation let me I'll read the conversation to you again are you ready all I want you to do is listen and then I have three different questions for you all right so I'll read the conversation again between the hotel employee and the customer hello how may I help you hi I'm looking for a place to eat somewhere I can go on foot there's a great place called the ladle when you go outside head to the right and go three blocks hang a right and go another block then go left for two more blocks and you'll see the sign awesome I really appreciate your help no problem would you like me to call you a cab oh whoa oh never never mind sorry silly question enjoy your dinner okay all right so this is about asking directions at a hotel you're probably wondering well why didn't the person just put it into their their phone and figure it out that's a good question but for the sake of listening it's just the activity all right so the first question that I have for you is this alright how far is it from the hotel to the restaurant how many blocks away is it again if you're talking about a block it's just one one street length how far is it from the hotel to the restaurant remember we were giving those directions what what do you think is it a four blocks be five blocks see six blocks or D seven blocks how do you think remember he told the person where to go all right all right so what do you guys think some answers okay all right maja said ah yes the broth sorry if i mispronounce names aramas krista go SIA yes the answer is C six blocks remember I said when you go outside head to the right and go three blocks hang a right you turn right again and go another block so if somebody just says oh yeah I go another block you're just talking about one and then go left for two more blocks when you total that all up three one and two all right we get six blocks the answer is six the next question that I have for you and hopefully you guys kind of remember this this is a good one all right when you get to the restaurant he says you'll see a sign which of these utensils do you think you'll see on the sign a B or C okay if which of these utensils will be on the restaurant sign all right what do you guys think take a guess now this again is you had to hear some specific information in order to understand this question and probably and get this answer so what what do you guys think well maybe it's not as difficult as I thought some people are doing pretty well yes so honest um keep going yes Krista vb7 k2 excellent IRA yes you would C be the reason that you would see B is because I said there's a great place called the ladle all right so this is what you as a utensil a cooking utensil this is called a ladle now if you don't know what the other ones are a is a grater you know it like a cheese grater and C is just a spatula so the name of this restaurant was called the ladle all right excellent good job that was awesome I'm very impressed you guys got that then next one okay the question I have for you so when the person you know they left the the the haut the person at the front desk all right when the person at the front desk asked the customer asked if the customer would like a cab why did he then say oh it's a silly question never mind what do you right at the very end he said Oh would you like a cab he said oh no never mind silly question enjoy your dinner why did he stop and say that was a silly question I'm not giving you any options for this I want you to think through again put put the entire conversation you know try to put it in your mind okay what is the situation what was the person asking okay I want to see if you you caught this so this is something from the end of the conversation that you know information that you had at the beginning okay uh perfect yes Bassam keep going Maha Menotti perfect I said remember at the very beginning of the conversation the the customer asked you know I'm looking for a place to eat somewhere where I can go on foot if you go somewhere on foot then you're just talking about walking you want to walk somewhere preferably someplace that's close by and you would go on foot so again that's another good expression if you didn't if you're not familiar with it that maybe you're learned if you say Oh like how are you going to this place oh we're gonna go on foot you're just walking it just means that you're walking okay so excellent I have another one for you guys another listening challenge so again even if you're just joining us we are just practicing our active listening skills because I want you guys to write your answers in the chat and if you're watching this later use the comments like it's a piece of paper make it an active listening exercise that's what it's all about it's about practice now the last listening that I have for you it's this is from an article ok so I took that that other conversation I just made up myself but this is from an article from the Architectural Digest it is about the most expensive home in India do we have people from India with us right now watching this so this is about the most expensive home in India I'm gonna read you the information try to again don't think like oh I need to memorize every single little thing just try and get the main idea first of all try and understand the main idea try to pick out some of those key details those numbers and that will help you answer the questions okay so I'm gonna read this it's a little it's a little longer okay so this is about the most expensive home in India and then I have a few questions for you are you ready here we go so the most expensive home in India owned by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani the four hundred thousand square-foot Antilia on Mumbai Kumba la Hills is situated in one of the world's most expensive addresses all to Mount Road designed by chicago-based architects Perkins and will with the Australian based construction company Leighton Holdings taking charge of its construction the building comes with 27 floors replete with ha extra high ceilings every floor is equivalent to an average two-story buildings floor in fact Antilia can survive an earthquake of magnitude eight on the Richter scale India's most expensive house also has six dedicated floors for cars including a bomb Bonnie's INR five crore Mercedes Maybach okay so like I said that was a lot of information to go through but I want you to listen to it one more time okay defend from India excellent what's up Arcana perfect we have some people with us from India all right sorry if my pronunciation may be a little off if I'm mispronouncing these names I will read it to you one more time again listen to it I have a few questions for you are you ready here we go owned by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani Ambani the four hundred thousand-square-foot Antilia on Mumbai zkn Bala Hills is situated in one of the world's most expensive addresses Alta Mount Road designed by chicago-based architects Perkins and will with the australian-based construction company Leighton Holdings taking charge of its construction the building comes with 27 floors replete with extra high ceilings every floor is equivalent to an average two-story buildings floor in fact Antilia can survive an earthquake of magnitude eight on the Richter scale India's most expensive house has also has six dedicated floors for cars including Ambani's INR five crore Mercedes Maybach alright whoo here we go so let's let's hear some questions for you all right and I since this was longer I tried to make it a little easier okay so the first question I have for you is this in which country were the architects from okay maybe it's not maybe it's not - maybe it's not so easy all right think about it we're talking about I was giving you all that information talking about the home who built who designed the home who built the home and I threw some different places in there and this one could this one may be difficult all right in which country are the in which country were the architects from all right so the architects of this home are from which country is it a Australia be United States see India D Austria all right so excellent perfect getting some good answers on assume you know who I am perfect keep going Wonderland ATL perfect so the answer is B the United States now in this text I did not say the United States but I did say a city in the United States it was not California it was Chicago so I said designed by Chicago based architects Perkins and will so Perkins and will there Chicago based architects there from the United States Chicago is in the US with Australian based construction company Leighton Holdings taking charge of its at construction so the construction company was Australian alright the next question I have for you is it in this in this reading I am asking about the word replete so I'm gonna say this one sentence for you and I want you to tell me so it says where is it okay the building comes with 27 floors replete with extra high ceilings what does the word replete mean so think about it try and put it in context what does them word replete mean what do you think I'll read it to you one more time it says the building comes with 27 floors replete with extra high ceilings so again this is just taking a word and trying to put it in context what does the meaning of this word mean it's actually I think we had a vocabulary quiz maybe about a month ago and I talked about this word I don't know if you remember it so in the story again I say the building comes with 27 floors replete with extra high ceilings does it mean a supplied with be constructed from C limited by D Austria oh okay that was a mistake all right see actually I forgot I forgot to change D that is from the last one so who you you know nobody put D that's good all right so I think you can bathe you can understand it based on the context that the word replete all right means supplied with all right a supplied with the building comes with 27 floors replete it means it's supplied with or it's full of extra high ceilings ok so again it's just taking that word and see if you can put the meaning in context the last question all right ready is this one okay well here here is actually a picture of the building of the home if if you haven't seen it okay and the question that I have for you is so this again think about it all right in this home how many floors are for living space how many floors are just for general living space what do you think okay so think about the you know I threw out some numbers there when I was talking about this home I kind of want I want to say a building because it is a building but it is just one person how many floors okay are for living space what do you think okay alright so yeah this one I think you guys you got it alright yes honest em Donna V pin Bassam perfect maja yes so I said in the story okay there are 27 floors but 6 floors are dedicated to four just cars alright so it's just dedicated for all the cars which would mean that 21 floors are probably just dedicated to general living space bedrooms living rooms who knows probably a swimming pool in there so 27 floors are are the entire building six of them are just for the car space okay excellent perfect so yes alright that that is our listening challenge again this this exercise was all about helping you guys practice and improve your listening skills cuz that's what it's all about alright what I want you to do all right what before before you head out in the comments okay especially if you're watching this later I want to I want to I have a question for you what is it that you like to listen to how do you practice your English listening skills because I think this would be something that information that many people would like to read so I want you to write that to me in the comments tell me what you like to listen to do you like to listen to music do you prefer to watch TV shows or movies do you listen to potty podcasts audiobooks there's many different ways that we can practice our listening skills I want you to tell me how you like to practice your skills in the comments and please be specific tell me exactly what you use because what I want to do is I want others to be able to look in the comments and see exactly what other people are doing because that will give people ideas about oh I can practice listening to this song or I can practice listening to this podcast so share with us sharing sharing is caring how do you like to practice and be specific give us some specific information in the comments about how you practice your skills because I think many people would like to read about it if you watch TV shows tell us which TV shows you are watching to practice your skills the more information the better write that to us in the comments so thank you guys for for joining me today less Knar give some shoutouts less Knar you know who I am Poonam Jeffrey Bassam Jorge long thank you guys for being with me please if you guys like what we do like and share our lessons with others who are trying to practice and improve their English skills as always we love hearing from you so write to us in the comments and you can check us out on social media we're active on Twitter Instagram Facebook and of course here at YouTube so thank you guys for being with me I hope you I hope you enjoyed practicing your listening skills and I will see you next time so long --- ## 339. How long does it take to learn English? | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RAQORlJEjRk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAQORlJEjRk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:10:06 | --- Today I want you guys to listen to a natural English conversation. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is Interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And the way we're going to do that today is by listening to a natural English conversation. We are going to have a discussion about a topic that that many learners ask us about and it's just a common question which is how long does it take to learn English. So we are going to discuss this question a and give our thoughts and opinions about how long it takes to learn English. And before you listen to the conversation, I'm going to go over some vocabulary words with you that you will hear when you are listening to this conversation so that you can identify these words. So, it's also a great way to build your vocabulary. So, now let's go over some of the vocabulary that you are going to listen to in this conversation. And this is a great way to learn some new words as well as hear these words being used in context. So the first word that I have for you is an adjective modest. worth. So what does that mean? For example, maybe you speak a language and you speak it fairly well. You don't want to tell people like, "Oh yeah, I'm the best. I speak the language perfectly." It's better to be modest and maybe say, "Yeah, you know, I speak that language, but I I'm still learning things." It's always good to be modest and and not brag and tell people you're the best. Next is legitimate. This is also an adjective that means reasonable or acceptable. So, you might hear it being used before a noun, and you might be talking about a legitimate reason, an acceptable reason. Or maybe something was a legitimate excuse, a reasonable excuse. You can also say that someone or more common something is legitimate. It is acceptable. Next, we have an expression which is to take the edge off. And this just means to reduce the intensity or the effect of something. So, for example, you often do something in order to take the edge off. If you are full of stress, you want to reduce your stress level. So you might exercise in order to take the edge off. Then we have credentials. And this is a noun that's just talking about somebody's qualifications or their achievements. For example, if you are going to apply for a job, you will give them your CV, your resume, and it's going to list your credentials. It's going to list your achievements. It's going to list your qualifications. It will list your credentials. Then we have a saying which I thought was just fun to include. And that saying is it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. And what this means is that if you have a goal, it's not about that final outcome. That's so important. It's about how you got there. What did you do? What was what was the experience that you had in order to reach that goal? That experience is what is unique. For example, many of you want to learn English and maybe your goal is to be fluent and and that's a good goal. But if we're using this saying and talking about well it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. So it's not about that final outcome of being fluent. It's about well how did you get there? Maybe you lived abroad for several years and you had that experience. In that case, it it's not just about that final outcome of becoming fluent. It's about the experience that you had along the way. It's not about the destination. It's about the journey. Then we have a verb to allocate. And to allocate means to set aside something for a specific purpose. So if you have a task that you are doing, you might allocate certain resources in order to complete this task. or maybe you might even allocate more time in order to complete the task. So you are setting things aside for a specific purpose. Next is an expression which is to fall into this camp. So if you hear this expression and somebody says, "Yeah, you know, I fall into this camp." That just means that that this person is a part of a group of people that that share some similarities. For example, for me, the most difficult language skill is listening. And if I'm telling this to another person and listening is also the most difficult skill for them then they may say yeah you know I also fall into that camp which means that for both of us we are a part of that group in which listening is the most difficult language skill. So if you fall into this camp then it means that you are a part of of that group of people. Then we have a verb which is to atrify and this just means to to decline in effectiveness and gradually diminish. So again for example language skills if you don't use your language skills then they may atrify over time. They start to diminish. Maybe you forget some vocabulary words and you could say oh yeah you know my skills are beginning to atrify. This goes for anything. Whether you play a sport or even a musical instrument, you need to continually practice so that your skills don't atrophy. Then we have a phrasal verb which is to wrap up. Often we wrap something up. And this just means to to come to a conclusion, to come to an end. And you might hear somebody say, you know, we really we really need to wrap it up. Okay? We need to bring this to a conclusion. We need to bring it to an end. We need to wrap it up. So, I am going to wrap up these vocabulary words right now and I want you to try and listen for them in the conversation and I will highlight them so that you can see perfectly how they're being used in context. So, here is our conversation talking about how long it takes to learn English. All right. that we get My hair looks great. [laughter] So, I'm very modest. Yes. So, we we get a question quite often, people asking us about, you know, can I learn English in 3 months or how long does it take to learn English? And I think that's something when you're learning a language, many people, it's a legitimate question, I think. Yeah. People want to know. So, we kind of wanted to just talk about that uh with you guys and share with our share our opinions about what we think. Um, so what what what do you think? What what what is your response? to me the answer is like it just takes a lifetime forever [laughter] if you are talking about becoming proficient in a language but but to me that's not a problem but most people are just like they want to achieve a certain level of fluency I mean I think when people say that you know what they mean like what what would you tell them as a Obviously, even for native speakers, you can always learn new things. But, but the reason I was saying that and why that it doesn't bother me that it takes a long time to learn a language is because once you realize that it can take a really long time and then you the pressure is kind of off. You stop worrying about it cuz you're like, okay, I'm always going to keep learning. It's just I want to improve in this language. Takes the edge off. That's why I don't I don't have like a time stamp that I would put on it. Okay, that's a good idea cuz I would say I I felt the same way when I first decided like okay, I want to learn Spanish. I remember asking um a friend because I was going to study in Spain and I said, "Do you think if I study really hard for two months that I'll be able to come back and I'll be very I'll be very proficient in Spanish." And they kind of looked at me and was like, "Yeah, I don't think that's the way it's going to happen." But anyway, I did that. I went to Spain and I studied for two months. And I can honestly say after two months, I wasn't even close to being proficient. my my my Spanish had improved but there was still there was a lot to learn and there's even a lot to learn now after many years. So what I tell students again is just to you know again don't worry about the time but try to put yourself in the best position possible to improve your language skills and actively do it. Yeah. Do a little bit at a time. Like try to study a little bit each day. try to get a a variety uh of of study whether you're you know practicing your listening skills one time speaking reading try to get as much exposure to the language as possible I feel like as long as you just improve like that's that's a success and we shouldn't look at at achieving the lang like you know achieving I don't know A1 B1 C1 those kinds of levels like just just look at just because so much of of knowledge of language knowledge cannot be measured by these these things. It can just I I don't know. I think it's but I think that's where it comes into it. So many people are learning English or any other language for school or maybe they're learning it for work and they're asking for those types of credentials like oh you need this level and that's why you need for work then it's a little different cuz cuz that's you you have to measure yourself against that. But to be honest if you just needed to speak to communicate uh language is so much more than that. If you're doing it just for your own personal enrichment, then again, there's a lot that you can do without having to worry about like, okay, I I only have this amount of time, some progress. Yeah, I would say the the the the best answer would be like, yeah, don't. I think there are some people that can achieve fluency in languages in a very short period of time because they're naturally gifted or talented like the same way somebody would be very talented at a musical instrument and it it's going to be different for each person. I know for me it takes takes a long time. It's not about destination, it's about the journey. That's true. Exactly. I'll follow that up with another uh quote. It's not a sprint. It just takes time. full of quotes today. Yeah. Full of great great resourceful, insightful quotes. So, I think that's, you know, hopefully um that may answer your question a little bit. If you're wondering like, okay, how long it's going to take. Um the short answer is it's going to depend. Yeah, it doesn't really matter. It's going to depend on the person. It's also going to depend on how much time you can allocate to learning and again the type of exposure that you're going to get. if you're living in uh like an English-speaking country or if you're, you know, living in your own country and only able to study a little bit. I do want to say something though because I tend to fall into this camp where you feel like, okay, I will say it doesn't matter how long it takes. Don't get lazy though. keep in order to see improvement, especially with language learning, you have to keep on top of it because if if you if oh my god, I'm going to do another quote. If you don't lose it, you if you don't use it, you lose it. Now I have to think of a quote. Okay. No, but but what I mean is with language learning, if you don't use it consistently, you forget. I think it's like anything. I think I always think of it like your language learning skills are like muscles and you have to keep working them out. And if you don't, it's going if you're serious about it, keep pract uh vocabulary or forget the way certain grammar structures. So yeah, you it's it's important to stay active and and keep refreshing uh you know, learning new skills and refreshing your old skills. Always focus on progress. Yes. All right. Any more quotes? No, no more [laughter] for today. So I think we'll wrap this up. So hopefully again, let us know in the comments. Um cuz all many of you, you're out, you're watching this channel trying to improve your English skills. What do you think it takes? like how long has it taken you to achieve a certain level of proficiency that you are happy with or how long do you think it will take you uh in order to reach that that level of fluency that you're looking for? So, it'll be useful to read through the different responses and see what others say about this. All right, so thank you guys so much for watching. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it inspiring with those quotes, please hit that like button. And as always, we will see you next time. See you next time. inside. --- ## 340. How to Be MORE Polite in English | Common Phrases to Navigate the Culture | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Fv9SXfCJO4k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv9SXfCJO4k) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:48:49 | --- Today were going to teach you about how to be more polite when speaking in English. Hi, and welcome to our global classroom. Before we begin our lesson on politeness today, I'd like to ask you to please share this video with anyone you think might need a little lesson on how to be more polite. So today, Wes and I are going to teach you 15 different ways to be more polite when speaking in English. And remember being polite gets you very far. So Wes is going to tell you what not to say and I will tell you what you should say to be more polite. Are you ready to be more polite? Let's begin. Okay, hopefully you can use these sentences from now on to be more polite with your friends, your family, your teachers, anyone...when you're speaking English. And now we're going to put your politeness to the test. Are you ready? Are you polite? Are you feeling polite? So here's the situation. Let's say it's morning, and you're running a little late. And you get to the coffee shop and you really need some coffee. In the comments below, please write what you would say to order the coffee. Like exactly the words you would use. Okay, so please make sure it's the most polite way you would ask for some coffee. And, also please tell us what kind of coffee you'd order. It's just fun to know. So that's it. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for learning about politeness. Thank you for joining today's lesson. And we'll see you next time. --- ## 341. How to Describe Yourself in a Job Interview | 20 Awesome Adjectives | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qrHrQc5AWPk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrHrQc5AWPk) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:38:23 | --- Today i have an awesome lesson to help you build your vocabulary, because i'm going to tell you 20 great adjectives to describe yourself. That's coming up. In today's lesson, I'm going to talk to you about 20 amazing adjectives that you can use to describe people. And these are really action words that stand out in a conversation. Which, means, they are perfect for a job interview. You can also use them in presentations, and you could use them on a resume as well. These words really stand out and people notice these words. They also happen to be 20 of my favorite adjectives. So let's begin. First adjective that i have for you is diligent. And this is a great adjective because it really shows that you care about your work, your duties, the things that you have to do, and that you are also a hard worker as well. You are diligent. Next is motivated. It shows that you are determined to do something. So if you're in the job interview, you could tell somebody that you are motivated to succeed. You are motivated to finish the job. You are motivated to learn new things. Another adjective that you could use instead of motivated, which is interchangeable, is driven. You are driven, you are determined to do something as well. So for example, I could say: I hope you are motivated to learn english with us. Also, i hope you are driven to hit that like button if you enjoy learning new adjectives. Another great adjective to use in a job interview is ambitious. because this word just means that you have a strong motivation to succeed. You don't just want to succeed. You really, really want to succeed. ... because you're ambitious. Now, if we want to talk about our ability to work with others, we could use collaborative. ... because this just means involving two or more people working together to achieve a certain purpose. So for example we could use it and talk about a collaborative effort. Or maybe we'll have a collaborative meeting. And of course we'd all want to work in a collaborative work environment. One of my favorite adjectives because this describes me is punctual. And punctual means arriving at the expected or correct time. So if there's a meeting, it's important to be punctual so that you are always there on time and people aren't waiting on you. Or maybe you have a deadline that you have to meet. You could say that you are always punctual and you finish things on time. Next, we have efficient. ... and this just means working quickly and effectively in an organized way. So in business, it's very important to be efficient. Great word. Another great adjective to describe yourself is detail-oriented. And this just means someone who pays close attention to the details. And jobs that I think this would apply to somebody who is a doctor. They should be detail-oriented. An architect, an accountant (you're working with numbers). You need to be detail-oriented One of my favorite adjectives: personable. And this is just talking about somebody's manner, their appearance, somebody who is easy to approach and easy to talk to. They're very personable. They're great communicators, and they enjoy talking to other people, meeting other people. We all want to work with people who are personable. A wonderful adjective to describe someone's energy is enthusiastic. ... and this just means showing a lot of excitement and interest in something. that you are enthusiastic about the work that you do. Another important adjective is adaptable. And this is just talking about your ability to easily change depending on the condition or situation. Instead of adaptable you could also use flexible. Same meaning: you're adaptable, you're flexible, you can easily change. If you'd like to really impress people, a great adjective to do that is innovative. because if you are innovative, that means that you are able to create new methods and come up with original ideas to solve a variety of problems. You are innovative. Another adjective that I like to think describes me is organized. And this means that you have arranged things in a systematic way that makes sense. So if you're talking about your workspace, you want it to be organized. Or your schedule: you should have an organized schedule. Or maybe you're discussing different projects that you're going to do. You should be organized. Another great adjective, especially in a job interview, is experienced. And if you are experienced that means that you have a lot of knowledge and information about something. Perhaps you've worked in the industry for a long time. Maybe you have family history in this business, or you just grew up practicing this skill or ability. You are someone who is experienced. Next is methodical. And this means doing things according to an established procedure. And you're basically putting a lot of thought into every step that you're taking. You are being methodical. Another great adjective, which I think is very very very common, is responsible. And this just means that you have to answer for something that you have control over. You are responsible for something. So you can think: how are you responsible? What is something you have control over and you have to answer for that? You have to make sure that it gets done, and that everything is right. You must be responsible. Another very common adjective is reliable. And this just means that you can be trusted to get the job done. They can count on you because you are reliable. and businesses - they are always looking for reliable people. Next is insightful. And if somebody is insightful that just means they're showing a deep understanding of something, and because they have a deep understanding of it, they can really express their their thoughts and opinions really well; and give insight because they're insightful. Now if you want to use an adjective to describe your speaking ability, you could say that you are articulate. And this just means that you can speak intelligently, and you are good at expressing yourself, easy to understand, and you can explain things very well. You are articulate. And it's very important to be articulate during presentations, in meetings, and job interviews. Another one of my favorite adjectives is resourceful. And if somebody is resourceful that just means that they are skilled at making Decisions and working on their own, and that they can easily overcome any problems that they may encounter - because they're resourceful. Finally, we have proactive. And this is a great adjective because it's talking about somebody who takes action to control a situation, instead of just reacting to it. So if somebody's proactive, they go ahead and they make a decision, and they take control of the situation in order to solve the problem. So now, let's practice using some of these adjectives, and we're going to pretend like we're in a job interview. So, I'm going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer using some of these adjectives. And I want you to try and speak. So you can pause the video as you give your answer. My question for you is simple: How would you describe yourself? Now, if you were a little too shy to speak, that's okay. I want you also to write it in the comments below. Practice using these adjectives and tell me: Why are you resourceful? Why are you proactive? Why are you responsible? This is great practice for the next time you are in a job interview, or even if you're just describing yourself to somebody else. I hope that you learned some new adjectives today, and you'll be a little better prepared the next time that you go in for your job interview. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye! --- ## 342. How to Dramatically Improve Your Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `P9V-z-KyJQo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9V-z-KyJQo) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:35:27 | --- So today I want to talk to you about some common sense ways that you can improve your grammar. That's coming up. So grammar is basically what ties is language together. It gives us rules. It gives language structure. And because of that I think many adults out there really want to focus on grammar and and learn grammar. Because they think it gives them a "yes" or "no" answer to many things. In my opinion, I think people end up emphasizing grammar maybe a little too much, and focusing on structure and rules without realizing that we're... we practice our grammar skills all the time when we are listening, when we are reading, as well as when we're practicing speaking and writing. So today I want to talk to you about some common sense ways that you can practice your grammar skills. And these are things that we should all know and we should all be doing. And it's that doing part that is a little difficult because I think many people tend to overlook some of these tips and suggestions, and therefore don't end up continuously practicing and improving their grammar skills. The first suggestion I have for you is to get more language exposure. And the easiest way to do this, and the most accessible way to do this is by listening and reading. You can listen to a podcast, listen to music, listen to TV, movies. And that's going to provide you with some additional exposure because you're not only hearing what people say, but you're hearing correct grammatical structures. And that's the same with reading. When you're reading a story or when you're reading an article online, you are reading the way that grammar is correctly used. And that's going to help reinforce your overall skills as well as your knowledge of grammar. So exposure is so, so, so important for improving not just your grammar skills, but your overall English fluency. Get more exposure with more listening and more reading. Next, it is very important that you use the grammar. And when I say use the grammar, I think especially in speaking. If many of you are out there and you're studying grammar, perhaps you have a book and you learn something new and you have these written exercises, continue practicing and try to actually speak the grammar. And you can do this by talking yourself, thinking of questions and trying to actually use it because that's the best way that you're going to remember it. And also just end up using it correctly. So really try to practice the grammar and use it, especially with speaking. You can also practice identifying grammar when reading. And you can do this and make it an exercise all on your own. So say that you're learning new grammar, you're learning either gerunds, or verb tenses, or phrasal verbs. you can read an online article and try to identify the different grammar. And go through the article and see what you can find. Because again, that is going to help reinforce your understanding of the grammar, and you'll be able to get that exposure and see how it's used correctly. The next suggestion that I have for you, and it's something that I tell students all the time, is don't try to think of grammar as being right or wrong. Think of it more in terms of being acceptable or unacceptable. Because often when people are learning grammar, they want a clear answer. Is this correct or is this correct? And again, there's not always going to be one clear-cut answer. It's better to look at it as acceptable or unacceptable So for example, we use the subjunctive with the second conditional. And you would say "If I were..." / "If he were..." However, in informal colloquial speech it's pretty common that you might hear somebody say "If I was..." Now if you want to be really strict with grammar, then you'd say "No, you should use the subjunctive." But the issue is so many people don't end up using it. So instead of looking at it as...well this is wrong and this is right, look at it as something that's either acceptable or unacceptable. With other grammar you might find that something is not as acceptable. And if something's not acceptable, then you should try to avoid using that. So try to be comfortable with not always having a Yes/No answer. That something is right. That something is wrong. Think about it as acceptable or unacceptable. Another common sense suggestion, which I think a lot of people don't end up doing, is review old grammar concepts. When it comes to learning grammar, I think so many people out there just...you know, I want to learn something new. I've already studied this. I want to learn something new. You should constantly be reviewing old grammar concepts because that's just going to help you improve your overall English fluency. So it's great to learn new things. It's great to practice new things. But also don't overlook reviewing old grammar concepts. So for example, we have a lot of grammar lessons on this channel, and even if you have studied this grammar and you think you're familiar with it, probably helps to go back and watch it. And practice using that grammar. Next...and this kind of ties in to grammar being acceptable and unacceptable, keep in mind that rules are meant to be broken. You're going to encounter some grammar rules and you're going to say, "Okay. This is what I need to do." This is how I'm going to use it. But you may then see that those rules are broken when you're listening to a song or maybe you're watching a TV show. For example, I think it's much more common nowadays for people to end up using the verb LOVE in the continuous tense. And they say, "You know, I'm really loving this song. Or this...you know, I'm absolutely loving this. I'm loving these odds. I'm loving this. And I'm loving it. I'm loving you too. And as a stative verb, it should not be used in the continuous tense. But these are some of the rules that people might break. Also, if you're traveling in the US and you go into a grocery store, you might see a sign that says, "10 Items or Less." Instead of saying, "10 Items or Fewer." Those two words are commonly confused, and people will use "less" instead of "fewer." And they will end up breaking those grammar rules. So again, my recommendation would be that you should always try to learn the rules and try to follow them. But don't get too frustrated or hung up if you discover that some rules are being broken. The next common sense suggestion, well This is more of a reminder for you, is that grammar is evolving. That it is going to be constantly changing. Now, it's not really going to change too quickly. But the grammar from 500 years ago is different from the grammar today. And that's going to be different from the grammar 500 years from now. So just remember that it's constantly evolving and that there will be some changes along the way. And you can either decide to embrace those changes if you feel that this is acceptable or or you may decide not to use them if you think it is something that's unacceptable. Another very useful suggestion, which I think many of you know, but many of you may not always do, is don't worry about making mistakes. Don't let grammar or your knowledge of grammar get in the way of you speaking or writing. And trying to actually use the language. Because I've seen students that they're worried about saying something incorrectly. And because of that if they make it a little anxious. And that anxiety keeps them from actually practicing the language. And if you're not practicing the language, it becomes more difficult to improve your language skills. Don't let anxiety get in the way. And don't worry too much about making grammar mistakes. We did a lesson on how you can overcome your anxiety and I will link that up above. Here at interactive English, we love doing grammar lessons so now we want to hear from you. And in the comments tell us what kind of grammar lesson you would like to learn. What kind of grammar are you studying? Or what would you like to learn more about? Let us know in the comments. And as always, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 343. How to Find & Correct Your Grammar Mistakes | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oqcSzzyG0Wo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqcSzzyG0Wo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:30:47 | --- now we all make mistakes whenever we're learning other languages and to be perfectly honest I think many of us make mistakes even in our native languages as well but when you are learning a language and many of you out there you are here because you are learning English I think it's important to what once you're able to identify your mistakes try to actively fix them and correct them so that you are no longer making this mistake in the future and that's what today's lesson is all about it is about finding and identifying your mistakes so what before we get to this just to reinforce that this is a great practice lesson because what we're going to do is I am going to walk you through the process about how to identify your mistakes and then just work on practicing and practicing and practicing so that you can avoid those mistakes in the future and when you're able to do that it's just going to help you improve your overall English fluency so this is very important but it's also something that I think is overlooked and what I mean by that is I think many of us want to correct our mistakes but we're not really sure how to do it and even if we know how to do it I think sometimes it's difficult to actually set time apart in order to do this identify your mistakes and then practice correcting them I think most of the time for many people get get caught up in learning a language that's all about let's learn something new let's new new new new new new vocabulary new grammar and you know when it comes to correcting your mistakes you're actually talking we're talking about correcting things that you have already learned that you already know so I want you to keep that in mind because this is a it is a process like I said and I'm going to walk you through the process the same way I did with my students in the past when we're in the classroom because right now we in this is our online classroom so if you are in the chat again I want you to participate try to practice your skills answer the questions and even if you're watching this later I would encourage you to engage and answer these questions because that's what interactive English is all about so let's do a little warm-up all right you've you've heard my long introduction to this let's go ahead and start with a warm-up of you know just see if you can identify the mistake so I've taken some tweets alright and on Twitter you will find a plethora of grammar mistakes that people will make so this one is from Donald Trump of course can you spot the mistake I want you to write it in a chat write it and write it in the comment section if you're watching this later and then I will show you the answer so he said Wow every poll said I won the debate last night great honor all right what do you think what is the mistake now I hope that you can you know just read this quickly and again something really stands out and right away it should just be that spelling mistake okay honor if something is an honor it means that well you are proud of something that happened it is spelled H o n our great honor all right the next one are you ready so this is from somebody named Jennifer I have no idea who this is but she said hate when people try to sugarcoat it okay again there is a I think again a glaring mistake that if you read this and you would see it oh okay this is clearly the mistake what do you think is the mistake hate when people try to sugarcoat it all right you may be able to hear the the correction by just listening to what I said but in this case in this tweet she's just using the wrong word in order to convey the meaning that she wants to all right so I hope you said yes hate when people try to sugar coat it all right her coat and if you don't know what it means to sugarcoat this is a good way to build your vocabulary it's when you try to make something usually sound better than it really is so really think about what it means that you are if you are coding something with sugar you're putting sugar on something usually because people might think well this tastes better all right people can be you can get addicted to sugar it tastes better so when you say this and you're talking about what something somebody is saying when they're talking and if they sugarcoat something if they sugarcoat an explanation then it means that they're trying to make it sound better than it really is to sugarcoat something often if you don't want to hear bad news somebody may sugarcoat it for you and they make it sound like well it's not so bad after all all right so that's what it means to sugarcoat something it means when you are talking it's talking about what people are saying all right it's about spoken English the next one and this one has several different mistakes all right so says I want to visit the Eiffel Tower in France one day that's what it says I read it like that but it should be you know I want to visit the Eiffel Tower in France one day but there are you know several big mistakes just right off the bat if you're looking at this I hope that you can read this quickly and know that yes okay France it's the name of a country it is a proper noun it should be capitalized Eiffel is misspelled so you could say I want to visit the Eiffel Tower in France one day so Eiffel Tower again that is a proper noun it should be capitalized and again when you're talking about writing I know he wrote wanna as the reduction like most people would speak it waa and na on Twitter and if you're just writing an SMS text message okay whatever I I would not encourage you to write actual reductions like that always spell them out especially if it's more formal writing for school or work just keep that in mind so the reason why again we're doing this just a quick little warm-up to see if you can spot the mistake now one thing I want to mention is we're talking about many of the mistakes that involve grammar I know that many of you are thinking well I really want to improve my spoken English and identify my mistakes in spoken English and that can be a little challenging but what I would recommend I want to tell you my recommendation because both writing and speaking are productive language skills you are producing the language in order for well in writing for somebody else to read and speaking for somebody to listen to you so in that in that sense if if the things that you can write many of the times those are also things that you can say that's not always true but there are similarities in that regard so what I would say even if you want to correct your spoke in English I think the best way to practice that all right is with writing all right so because the the reason I say that is for this so steps to identifying your mistakes the first one like I said is just to write more so whether you want to identify your mistakes in writing or even speaking I think writing is the way to go and the reason I say that is because it is reflective and what I mean by that is when you write okay you are writing something down on paper you can look at it and then actually take some time to think about it think about okay is this what I want to say is what I'm saying correct am I making any mistakes and oftentimes if you find some mistakes in writing if you are using the wrong word or maybe it could be something a mistake with a preposition often you may be making the same mistake when you're speaking so if you are able to correct these mistakes in writing I think that will help reinforce correct speaking whenever you want to have a conversation so the first thing I would say especially if you are trying to do this on your own is to start writing take a little time and write about a topic and this would be an activity that you are really trying to identify your mistakes so the first thing you need to do is write something it can you can be writing in a journal you could write in a diary you could just write something it could be an email that you have written or even you know the comment a comment that you would write to me on this YouTube channel that is practicing your writing and the next thing you need to do is always reread and this is something again I think is overlooked people tend to write something and then they don't reread it and actually try to look for mistakes and correct their mistakes I always try to make this a personal habit of mine whatever it is that that I'm writing if it's an email even if I'm responding to one of your comments I always tried to reread it make sure that there are no mistakes and then I will post it and then the last suggestion that I have for you because I said this is a process that you are going to write something you're going to reread it and you're going to look for one mistake at a time now when most people reread if I write something I'm going to reread it I usually just look at the whole thing altogether and see if I any mistakes pop to my mind now if you are actually trying to identify one of your mistakes that you are making because you're an English Learner I think a great way to do that is to go one step at a time and look for one mistake at a time and that's what we're going to practice right now we're gonna practice I'm gonna give you a writing I want you to look at it and we're gonna go through it and correct one mistake at a time so that you know exactly what I'm talking about alright so the first thing I want you to do let's just I want you to well hold on wait there's one more nope there's the paragraph okay what I want you to do is I want you to read this paragraph all I want you to do is read it okay and just see if you understand it it's not very difficult I'm only gonna give you about maybe 15 seconds to read the article all right are you ready so all I want you to do is read it right now here we go I'll give you 15 seconds ready begin okay okay so I hope by now you have read this paragraph alright now I'm gonna go back over here so you read the paragraph great you understand it perfect what I want you to do right now you're in the chat how many how many mistakes do you did you see how many mistakes did you see in that paragraph I want you to let me know write that in the chat write the number and again even if you're not sure exactly how many mistakes there were take a guess how many do you think that you read because I'm sure that when you read that you came across some definite mistakes how many do you think they've you found write that in the chat I see some different ones lolly says five Mary seven English vibes four okay so four five okay we're around there four or five now Samuel found eight okay so what we're gonna do is we're gonna go back through that same paragraph together we're going to correct it and we're gonna do one thing at a time so I told you this is what I would do in a classroom with a group of students and this is what we would do I'd say okay this is what we're gonna look for the first thing we're gonna look for is just punctuation all right I don't want you looking for any other mistake even if you find it that's fine you can see the mistake I don't want you to think about that one just yet all I want you to look for is just punctuation the next one that we're gonna look for is just spelling and capitalization and then we're gonna go through it again and look for subject verb agreement and verb tense and then we're going to look for articles and then prepositions the last one now you can make a long list of of different things this is just a list that I put together for practicing this reading right now so now that you have this list alright you know that we are going to we're basically going to reread that paragraph five times looking for each one of those and trying to correct it and again the more you reread something the more likely you are to find some mistakes so if you're just joining us I know some people come in here and they're we are working on correcting your mistakes so this is what we're gonna do we're going to go through it one at a time and look for these different things now notice that these two first things right here number one in number two punctuation spelling and capitalization that is strictly about writing because when you're doing that you're talking about you know your writing skills because when you're speaking that it doesn't apply because people may say some word wrong for example I showed you that Trump tweet that is you know he just misspelled it you would probably say it correctly even though you're misspelling it so 1 & 2 are strictly for writing 3 4 & 5 that would also apply to speaking as well that is good for both writing and speaking finding those so let's go through this here we go the first one that I want to do is this alright so now let's read it all I want you to do is look for punctuation and if you don't know what I mean when I say punctuation I'm talking about periods full stops question marks you know commas should there be a comma anywhere apostrophes just the the punctuation that you would need to use for correct writing okay so look for the writing what do you guys see how many mistakes that you can find if you find a mistake I want you write it in the chat and this one this one is a little I think this one's a little more challenging all right punctuation all right look for those periods those apostrophes those commas do you see any problems all right now let me show you so there are two punctuation mistakes and maybe these are a little more difficult and I've underlined both of them so the first one is talking about a bird's eye view this is an idiom which means that you have an overview of some area kind of like the view that a bird would have and you'd say wow it was a bird's eye view so birds is possessive all right which means you need an apostrophe there birds bee IRD apostrophe s the next one right here is just this whole sentence after eating a quick snack I begun walking down back down this is an example where after eating a quick snack this is a dependent clause it is an adverb phrase so when you have a dependent clause that comes before an independent clause I begun walking back down you need a comma to separate the two so after eating a quick snack comma I begun walking back down so those are two mistakes just for for punctuation two right there all right now what we're gonna do let's read it again now this time I want you I've left those I've left those Corrections in there so all of the corrections are left in red I want you to look just for spelling and capitalization do you see any spelling mistakes or are there any capitalization mistakes as well are there any proper nouns that should have a capital letter or perhaps maybe there's a capital letter that that is not Kappa that that should not be capitalized all right so do you see any spelling or capitalization mistakes those that's what I want you to look for right now all right and and then again just look through it quickly see if you find anything and then I'm going to identify it for you all right yes Yousef persik English fives excellent okay so go say yes so those those are the three the people I just mentioned they found those mistakes all right the first one yesterday I went for our hike bin Diamondback mountain all right it is the name of a place this is a proper noun you should have a capital M Diamondback mountain cloudy it was a cloudy day CLO you dy before I had it spelled with the W cloudy and the last one afternoon I don't know if you noticed but I snuck a u in there before but it should be a te RN oon afternoon so those that is to to spelling mistakes and one capitalization mistake right there because Diamondback mountain is a proper noun so those are three more mistakes so right now we're at five five total now I want you to go through and look for subject verb or verb tense so when I say subject verb I mean does the subject does it agree with the verb a plural subject should have a plural verb a singular subject should have a singular verb and verb tense what I mean by that is well verb tense tells us when something happens is it the past is it the present or is it the future so make sure that the verb tense is correct should we have the past tense should we have the present tense so can you find any mistakes with subject verb agreement or verb tense what do you think all right yes excellent sleepwalker very nice so I think when you're looking through this you probably notice there are there are a few different mistakes so let's go through this so the very first word is yesterday so yesterday is a time word that tells us okay this everything happened in the past all right so all of these verbs that this should be talking about the past so instead of I walk for hours I walked for hours it should be in the past that one sentence where we have the comma after eating a quick snack I began walking instead of begun begun is the past participle I began walking back down and then that last sentence that is subject verb agreement I would not say it were that is a mistake it was it was a nice way to spend the afternoon three more mistakes okay so now that we've looked for subject verb and verb tense now I want you to look at the articles articles I'm talking about a and and the you can also have the omission of an article and when I say omission maybe it means that you do not need to use an article so those are possible mistakes there a and the or no article alright do you see any mistakes when it comes to articles can you find any there definitely are some because if there weren't I would not show it to you so now we're going back through it and looking just for mistakes with articles yes I think many of you see the when talking about top perfect so there there are actually two mistakes all right it's right here yesterday I went for a hike at in I winter a hike in Diamondback mountain now when it comes to articles there are rules that you can follow for example if you're talking about the name of a bridge you're going to use the the Golden Gate Bridge the Brooklyn Bridge when we're talking about mountains no article alright so before the name of a mountain Mountain you that is when there is no article so you do not need to say the so if you're talking about oh you know I really want to climb Mount Everest I'm not using an article before Mount Everest uh I what's another thing of a famous mountain going just four highest mountains ah one day I want to hike up Mount Kilimanjaro again we're talking about the name of a mountain there is no article and then I think some many of you spotted that other one I walked for hours before reaching the top we're talking about a specific location specific point before reaching the top two more mistakes all right the last one that we're going to I want you to look for prepositions do you see any prepositions that are incorrect what do you think write those in the chat and let me know if you find those mistakes this is all about trying to identify five different mistakes what do you think write those in the chat so if you haven't found any I'll show you there are two mistakes when it comes to this right here and we have this okay so yesterday I went for a hike you wouldn't go for a hike in a mountain you would hike up a mountain or you could hike down it but because later on I talked about going back down which means at the beginning of our story that I should say I went for a hike up Diamondback mountain and then the next mistake was a it was a cloudy day so I didn't get much of a bird's-eye view much of a bird's-eye view this is a great phrase if somebody says well I didn't get much of something I didn't get much of a view I didn't get much of an explanation from somebody about something so you didn't get much of something so those are two mistakes with prepositions and now we have our corrected paragraph which if you add them up in total there are 12 mistakes so what we did is we just corrected this paragraph we talked about all 12 mistakes and we went by through this one at a time one at a time this is how I would recommend that you try to identify any mistakes that you're making and the reason why I think you can do this as writing again I said it's reflective that you're able to look at it and try to think about okay is this right or is this wrong and if you if you're not sure about it that is when you can use the Internet and try to look up and find the right answer and then go back and correct it now what I would typically do with students when I would go through I would make these curl I would try to help them identify where the mistakes were made and then they would have to write down what kind of mistake it was is it a spelling mistake is it a punctuation mistake an article mistake and then I would have them count up how many must they made with prepositions how many mistakes did they make with subject-verb and over the course of time when you start counting how many mistakes you made then that allows you to see where your biggest problem is because if you are writing and you are actually keeping track of how many mistakes you're making and what type of mistakes you're making you may see that oh my goodness I am making so many mistakes when it comes to articles and that way now you know what you need to focus on what you need to study in order to improve your skills so this is what I would recommend to try to identify your mistakes use writing reread and try to look for one mistake at a time now if you're just looking and thinking well I just want to really try to practice and like how can I improve my grammar I think reading is a great way to do that because when you're reading it's something you're doing just for your own enjoyment but you are actually seeing how the correct grammar is used even if you're not studying it you are seeing how the correct articles are being used correctly you're seeing how words are being spelled correctly and even if you're not thinking about it at the time that information is still going up here so reading is a great way to improve your grammar skills if you guys before I have a few more Corrections that I want to go through with go through with you but if you guys enjoy what we do again you can check us out on patreon we are active there it's just another way to connect with us we have some cool rewards you can check that out I'll throw a link in the chat there's also a link down below right there and check us out on patreon and just connect with us if you guys want to support what we do here at interactive English so now I want I have one more last section of Corrections that I want to make and these are Corrections that this is writing that I've gotten from all of you so what I've done is I've gone through some comments where people have asked me and they said hey is this correct can you correct this for me and I've identified some of those and now I want to correct them with you so these are a little more challenging so can you find the mistake the first one I'll read it it says if you don't respect grammar rules you'll miserably fail what do you think is the mistake what what can you identify that mistake I'll give you a few moments and then I'll tell you what the mistake is because again there are all sorts of mistakes that people can make when it comes to correcting your writing and improving your English skills so what do you think if you don't respect grammar rules you'll miserably fail alright what I would say there are different ways that you could go about and try to correct this sentence but what I would say is that the the words the word order is incorrect because miserably is an adverb and adverbs can be confusing because you can use them all throughout the sentence but when you're talking about this expression like you want to say that you would say you'll fail miserably this is commonly how this phrase would be used and this I would also say is a collocation because these are two common words that are found together if you don't respect grammar rules you'll fail miserably excellent I think some of you many of you got that one perfect the next one so somebody asked me they say good morning sir can you correct me thank you this is the sentence I captured on the video how they were fighting how would you correct this sentence if you're justyou're you're reading it now what would you say what is the mistake how would you correct this sentence again in this this is a little this can be a little confusing I'm sure because when it comes to correcting mistakes there is a lot of different grammar that we could be talking about so what do you think I captured on video how they were fighting if somebody told me this I understand what what they mean that sentence but it's still little awkward now the reason that I would say it's a little awkward is because when you think of a normal simple sentence the sentence is going to have a subject a verb and oftentimes it's going to have an object as well subject verb object so the way the sentence I think to make it less awkward would be I captured how they were fighting on video because how they were fighting that is a noun phrase that is the object of the sentence I captured what I captured how they were fighting on video that is going to be my prepositional phrase and that will go at the end of the sentence again there are different ways that you can correct this I know some of you are writing that in the chat this is just what I would do if you want to keep the original words and the meaning you'd say I captured how they were fighting on video next all right I think many of you should probably be able to get this one I am very happy with this classes because it gives me knowledge what do you think is the mistake I am very happy with this classes because it gives me knowledge again if somebody I understand what they want to say if somebody said this to me and spoke in English I understand still I would know I would be able to know reading it there's a mistake even if I were listening to it I wouldn't I would hear this mistake and know that something is wrong so the mistake yes is this classes alright when you're talking about this and these all right there you could use it in one of two ways you could say I am very happy with this class because it gives me knowledge remember you we use this with singular nouns or I'm very happy with these classes because well in this case then you would need to say because they give me knowledge so to use the sentence I'd say this class would be the best way to complete this sentence but you could say these you can use that with plural nouns I am very happy with these classes because they give me knowledge we would need to use they in the next part of the sentence so that it corresponds with classes all right then we have alright this message right here I had hi teacher you were great hi Wesley you're a great teacher I have a question he's elder to me he's elder than me what would you say how would you correct this sentence or why do you think you know it's a bit strange again this is incorrect it's a word though there is a word that is incorrect so what do you think I'm sure if you're reading this like I read it I know what the person wants to say I know what they're trying to say but can you identify the mistake what do you think so yes I think many of you think like that you know older should be the word now the difference between older and elder older is an adjective elder is a noun so we're gonna have some options you could say he's my elder in that case elder we're using it as a noun which is you're telling somebody well this person is older than me which is the other way of saying it he's older than me so if we want to use the word elder you'd say he is my elder he's my elder she's my elder or he's older than me she's older than me that is the correct way to use it the last one all right my father spends a lot of time in the church is that correct I hope you can answer me soon well it may be correct it depends however I think there is a better way of saying this sentence that is a little more natural and this would be just a matter of fluency because technically speaking you could say that sentence it is grammatically correct but I think the message what they really wanted to say I think there's something we could change to make it better and that is the preposition in so you when when you use in to describe a place then it becomes a little more specific that this person is inside this building so if some this person says my father spends a lot of time in the church I think of okay they are inside the church now what I think that they wanted to say that they could make it a little more just for just for you their overall fluency to make it a little more natural a little more fluent my father spends a lot of time at the church now when we're talking about at we're talking about a general location it could be inside it could be outside it's just saying that this is where this person spends time which is what I think they really wanted to say I think my father spends a lot of time at the church and I would say that church if it is specific in which I know what church you're talking about if I don't know what church it is then I think it would be better to say you know if you're just saying a general statement you're trying to give some information about your father you just say my father spends a lot of time at church so at church would just be something that he does that is something he enjoys doing if I say at the church then it makes me think that the other person knows the church that I'm talking about so again when you use the then it becomes a little more specific so again that is another that is another grammar nuance about whether you should use the or no article all right so I hope that this is something I know that I think in 2020 I I think I mentioned in a previous lesson to try to identify one of your mistakes that is a good goal for 2020 and if you're wondering okay well how can I do this writing is a great way to attempt to identify a mistake that you're making write something down reread it and if you think that something is not correct or you're not confident about some then that's when you're able to look it up and see if you can find the right answer and then correct that mistakes or you'll probably if you reread something that you wrote you're probably just going to find a mistake I know I find mistakes in my writing all the time and that's what I'd like all of you to do right now is that in the comments I want you to write to me and tell me a mistake that you have been able to identify in the past that you were able to learn that okay this is something that I was doing wrong and this is what I learned is the correct way to write something or is the correct way to say something please share that with me in the comments I think it will also be very useful for other people to read when when other people are able to learn about mistakes that others have made perhaps they're making the same mistake so this is very useful information and I hope you share that with me write that in the the comments what is a mistake that you were able to identify in your past and how did you correct it so thank you guys so much for joining me I know I didn't give many shoutouts today so I'm gonna give them right now thank you ghost Seraphina Sophie Syed sleepwalker Mahmood Michelle English vibes lolly Angela Mary Wickham thank you guys for joining me today Muhammad I really appreciate it if you enjoyed this lesson please like and share it write to me in the comments let me know of a mistake that you were able to correct in in the past in your that which has helped you become a little more fluent in English you can always join our social media classes we are active on Facebook Instagram Twitter and right here at YouTube so just a few more shout outs Thank You Leila Putri Daniel Eloisa you Lisa Alexander Farhat Goldie and Valdo Yousef thank you thank you thank you I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend merry Brit I think I I think I got most of you I hope Kareem just throwing them out there now I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend thank you and I will see you guys next week with another live lessons --- ## 344. How to Improve Your Reading Skills | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Sq4rysS2Oqs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq4rysS2Oqs) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:52:48 | --- Because good reading skills will improve your overall English language skills! So let me tell you how you can improve your reading! After spending many years in school, we think we're good at reading. But what if I tell you we're not? And that reading greatly affects our ability to learn a language? Let me explain: First, reading can improve your vocabulary. Studies show that reading significantly improves people's receptive vocabulary. These are words that you might not necessarily be able to produce, but you can recognize them and understand them when you read them in a text. Studies have also shown that vocabulary is most important when learning a new language. Second, by actively observing the text, you can improve your grammar. Basically, your grammar improves when you're paying attention to what you're reading and follow the patterns of the text. This will enhance other skills, such as writing, or speaking, and it's especially important if you're trying to learn English for academic or business purposes. Here are four ways to improve your reading. Number one Read, and read as much as possible! There're so many things you can read in English: books, magazines, articles, newspapers, and of course our Interactive English lessons! Our advice to you? Read something you like! If you like history, read about history. If you like sports, read about sports. Just choose something that will keep you reading, and remember: practice makes perfect. Whatever it is you're reading, read it more than once. The second way to improve your reading is to check your comprehension. Sure, you read something, but how do you know you understand it? Well, for example, if you're reading an academic article, you can write down the main idea of each paragraph. Then, when you're done reading, you have a summary of the entire article. Or, if you're reading a storybook, check your comprehension by paraphrasing what you've read. You can either write it or say it in your own words. If you have difficulty paraphrasing what you've read, then this will show you that you probably need to reread the story. And of course, you can check your comprehension by practicing with us! In our videos, we ask you comprehension questions and we'll help you find the right answer if you make a mistake. The third way to improve your reading? Read at the right speed! Let your hand be your guide. Put your finger on the text and move it along as you read. This will help you find the right speed for you that will maximize your comprehension. If you're looking for a challenge, there are many speed reading exercises online. Or you can also practice with us! In many of our reading videos, we show you texts that move at the speed of a native English speaker. Look, this may be challenging, but it will train your mind to start reading faster. The fourth and final way to improve your reading is to interact and engage with the text. Ask questions about what you are reading, just like you would ask to another person. For example, before you read, you might ask: Then look for the answers while you read.If you're an advanced English learner, think of questions with more substance. When you interact with the text, you will become a better, more efficient reader. And you will have a lot more fun reading, as well! We hope you find these suggestions helpful. Be sure to check out our video lessons in order to learn and practice your reading skills. We love to hear from our students. In the comments below, let us know what you enjoy reading! We'll see you next time! Bye! --- ## 345. How to Improve Your Speaking Fluency | Q&A w/ Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4oUzRumjB7c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oUzRumjB7c) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:19:50 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english the channel if in case this is your first time here i know for some of you it might be the channel's all about trying to help you just improve your english skills because we have there's so many lessons uh that we have across our channel related to vocabulary grammar pronunciation and today i want to take your questions related a little bit to all of those um and i want to talk to you about improving your speaking fluency because that's a very common question that i get uh in the comments people send me messages about they want to improve their speaking skills or what should they do and it's a very it's a very broad question which is why i think it's useful there's many different things we can talk about because vocabulary is it's related to speaking grammar it's related to speaking pronunciation of course it's related to speaking so i want to take some of your questions anything that that you are well curious about or you want to know when it comes to improving your speaking fluency and i will answer it to the best of my abilities the first thing though i quickly um and i may come back to this because uh talking about speaking fluency this is the last call i'm getting ready to start another speak up course it is a 10 10-week course that is all about trying to help you improve your speaking skills to help you speak confidently to help you speak clearly and to help you speak naturally so there once a week you have an hour lesson with me it's a small group class and there are weekly pronunciation video lessons i do um there are resource guides to help you practice on your own there's also you get a weekly pdf the lesson as well as a video preview to help you better understand what the lesson's going to be about there there's a link in the description you can check that out if you want to know the times of the course just scroll down to the bottom and throughout the class i'll i'll take questions here and there if you guys do have some questions uh about the course i'll throw some information in there right there as well oh also you can use the voucher code speak to get a 10 discount as well that's also one other thing so i want to say hello uh thank you hello lolly good to see you uh welcome hiwa hello hadil angela jasmine uh sleepwalker uh sajad esther anastasia ladan awesome thank you guys for joining me so you if you have uh questions about improving your speaking or just trying to like achieve fluency then let me know write them i'll try to get through as many as i can but uh sometimes if i'm not able to get to it leave me the question in the comments once the video is posted and i'll try to get back to that later but it also it gives me ideas as to what i should talk about in future video lessons as well uh so hi maria teresa hello good to see you i will see you i will see you next week next saturday uh kareem hello um i think hell's asking me well not really related to speaking fluency that's okay about my beard yes i think now though if you want a new uh word in english i for some of you this i wouldn't really call a beard i would say this is more stubble so stubble is when you're kind of a little lazy like me and you just have not shaved in a few days and that's that's really what this is it's stubble so you could say yeah what's up with your stubble you need a shave so that's a new word in case some of you have not uh have not heard of it then that that's good maybe hopefully you learned something new um let's see he will ask how do i know if i'm fluent or not because sometimes i feel like i am and sometimes i feel like my english sucks okay that that is a good question and it's very i would also say it's subjective and i know that that's not probably the best answer you might want to hear and when i say subjective it really depends on you as the individual of course there are tests out there that people will take to kind of evaluate their english proficiency like the ielts or the toefl but even with those they're really specific to university to say that that's the goal of those tests is somebody capable of studying at the university level in english that's the purpose of those tests as to whether you are fluent i feel that that would really depend on you know where you feel like you're at with your goals and i know it's probably something that for most people like me i always even with english i always feel like i can be a little bit better that i can learn some new words that i can fine-tune my grammar so in that case i you might not ever feel like oh i'm perfectly fluent because to be per to be honest i have seen um people that say like that they are fluent or they say yes i'm fluent in this language and this other language and i may because i i can speak spanish i don't know i don't i'm comfortable with my level i don't know if i would say that i'm fluent but i've heard people speak spanish and there it's it's probably not as good as mine yet they're very confident like yes i am fluent in this language even though i might disagree with that and i've heard other people especially many learners in english say like no no i'm not fluent and uh i would disagree but i think in general some just to give you some uh like metrics i'd say that if you are comfortable having just a natural free-flowing conversation that's one thing that i would say that okay that is a good thing for fluency that you might be fluent if you feel comfortable talking about a variety of topics and even if you don't know stuff about this topic you can ask questions and you can understand what somebody's telling you that would be another thing uh about fluency if you can just have your conversation and you're not always stopping to think of a word or having many awkward pauses i would say that also is a mark of fluency so i think there are certain things that you could go by and maybe that'd be a good idea for a future lesson i could kind of create like a fluency checklist and kind of go down but again even as i would be giving this to you it would still be a bit subjective based on my experience teaching english studying the language studying learning about teaching learners the the language but um that that's a good idea that's a great question um you're looking forward to class me too excellent i am i'm also looking forward to it uh let's see we have some other questions um oh what is the spelling of stubble vivek asked ladan yes that is the correct spelling thank you for the assist nice double thank you we're supposed to talk about fluency we're just talking about my stubble that's okay um what is the best um the most effective way to learn new words books movies or books and the as far as learning new vocabulary that is going to vary by person because all of us are different learners some people are you know kinesthetic learners it helps them to move around and they're more involved in what they're doing other people are visual learners and you really need to see what's happening um others um so i don't think there would be one way of like this is the best way to to learn if you're just comparing movies and books i'll give you my opinion i would say books would be better for building your vocabulary because it is more of a reflective process and what i mean by that is that if you're you're listening to me speak right now so all of you you are practicing your listening skills five minutes from now you're not going to remember every single word that i've said or what i've been talking about in this lesson but if it's a book you have the ability to go back and try to put things in context if it's a word that you don't understand you can do that in listening but it just goes really fast so if you're talking about a movie and you're just listening to it you might hear a new word but if you're trying to follow and keep up with the story then you may forget about it or if you focus too much on it then maybe you're not going to be listening to um everything else that's being said so what i would say i in my opinion i think reading is probably better than watching a movie or tv show but you could also use subtitles i think that that helps um quite quite a bit uh also you hear the pronunciation while you're reading that's also very useful so i'm i'm a big advocate of reading because not just you're you're able to learn new words reflect on it but you're also seeing the the correct grammar and you're learning these other small things that i think can confuse learners for example prepositions people may use the wrong preposition or maybe they put the preposition in the wrong place but when you're reading you just see that even though you're not studying it you're taking that information in and then the next time you're in a conversation you're speaking you're more likely to use the correct preposition or use the correct grammar and then that's when it's like oh i'm just gonna do what feels right uh let's see to be fluent on my bucket list said shadazad excellent awesome it's always good it's always good to have a bucket list and if you guys don't know what a bucket list it's just the list of things that you want to do things you hope to accomplish before you die um that is an idiom in english uh edward asks can i improve how can i improve my english with newsletters yeah i think there are so many different ways that you can improve it if newsletters i think that's useful because you're probably reading about or if you're listening to it um a variety of different topics you're getting a lot of different exposure so uh i think you can do that the only thing i would say when it comes to reading or if you're looking for movies or tv shows definitely do something that interests you because if you're not interested in the story whether you're reading it or listening to it you're less likely to continue with it you're not going to have the motivation and then if you stop that's that's not what you want at all so definitely just find something that interests you um says hello hello how are you um thank you pooja thank you i appreciate it uh i'm natasha my question is why do i usually avoid using vocab i've recently learned um and use vocab i think that's perfectly normal that when you learn a new word you might not feel that that has to do with confidence that you don't feel confident that you're going to use it correctly maybe it gives you a little anxiety to try to to use those words and that's why i think it's very important to be comfortable in the environment that you're in comfortable with the person you're speaking to comfortable in the place that you're in so that you can try to kind of explore a little more with the vocabulary and if you make a mistake who cares it doesn't matter and that's what speak up that's what i try to do in the class i try to make it a very comfortable environment so that again if people make mistakes it's not a big deal we learn new vocabulary we try to practice in conversation using the vocabulary and i think that that's also part of the exercise in the course when i do that and we look at new words because some people might know the word others don't and it's really just as people get a little more comfortable maybe using a very a brand new word when they learn another new word i think then they'll try to use it again whether they're speaking with me in class or just in another conversation in general so i really think that would be more related to your confidence um in feeling like you can do this uh let's see um west can you spell the word instead of beard please i couldn't get it uh so the word we were talking about before uh was stubble um just the short facial hair i'm going to write the definition too when someone is too lazy to shave all right that's my definition even though that's not the real definition some people um some people like stubble i think they they try to have it usually i i don't care one way or another but yes i just don't i'm not a big fan of shaving every day um miguel says try to cite euglish uh i don't know if that was a uh sammy ass about improving pronunciation yes there are a lot of different videos um out there i don't know miguel if you were answering that question um they're saying how do i prove my pronunciation youglish uh yes actually i saw you tag that person yes euglish is a great site where what it does is you just put the keywords in there and it searches youtube for all these videos using those words and phrases and you can listen to it find it i think in the american accent uk british accent as well as australia and that is a that's a site that i reference when i talk about shadowing if you want to practice speaking practice your pronunciation not just pronunciation but your intonation your emphasis because you're trying to say things in the exact same way it's like if you were just going to shadow me just then you would say it with that emphasis on exact you're trying to say it in the exact same way that is something else we we practice um in the course and we work on i have a new shadowing video lesson so meri teresa you'll you'll you'll get to see that lesson and i've also put up an audio resource on the speak up so as i i keep running the speak up course and i keep adding new stuff to it more video lessons i'm starting to add these audio lessons in which you're basically like listening to me i'll say some some sentences some phrases a paragraph and it's kind of like sometimes listen repeat other times i'm asking you to shadow and typically we're focused on something specific maybe related to connected speech like reductions so again like a lot of some of the stuff we do in the course is really just trying to help you practice and work on your pronunciation on your own so you can speak naturally and clearly i keep reiterating all of that because it's part of the it's part of our our slogan right there naturally and clearly and for those of you who have been i'm sure following me for a while i'm sure you've seen me teach lessons in that shirt i really need to get a new wardrobe um it's something i am in desperate need of uh let's see so we have um mr corleone says suggest some vocabulary some books with simple vocabulary i always say read at your level so simple books it really depends i would start go easier there there's a site called um breaking news english and the reason why i'm talking about that site is because it allows you to choose like a level it it's a current event article and they'll give you like some not all of the articles but like level one level two level three level four level five and the level five article is much longer um but it really that at the beginning level it uses simple language and you can kind of work your way up from there but as far as books i mean that you have shorter books like the little prince you could use um i read my little girl like dr seuss those are actually entertaining books but uh it really it's harder to find i think books that might be more interesting to you especially as an adult um if you're looking for very simple books because a lot of them are geared toward uh children but i think it's important find something at your level uh cos2 says how can i improve my grammar this is another example where i think reading um reading is something that's going to help you improve your grammar and develop it because you're going to see the grammar being used correctly otherwise i think there are so many grammar books out there if you can find something that you want to specifically work on whether it's articles or prepositions or the verb tenses and i think just again the more you practice the more you keep doing it and then you keep getting that practice which is why i'm talking about speaking fluency because the two ways that you can practice and actually produce the language would be speaking and writing and and if you can do that and get that practice that's just going to reinforce what you've already learned so that's really the main thing of like trying to talk about speaking uh let's see uh deal i like to study english i love it awesome vivek says why don't we organize a speaking class on zoom well that's what speakup is all of the classes uh we speak up they are on zoom um and i'll send you the link so yes we we do hold those classes um through zoom uh let's see yes he yes how can uh site that says you're the best thank you i appreciate it um you're the best how about that yes he says how uh how can we improve intonation that's when i think it i mentioned shadowing because the goal of shadowing is not just you know um listen to me say the sentence and repeat i have a bottle shadowing would be like you're trying to say it in the exact same way using the intonation and emphasis so if i were to say like i have a bottle all right and then you have that rising intonation at the end which would make it a question that's like what you're practicing it's like a question statement i have a bottle like i'm a little confused about it um but that's just as an example as to how shadowing can be beneficial because you're you're having to use the intonation the emphasis that's the goal of shadowing um let's see do you know i can truly say thank you marie teresa for for sharing your experience and and and talking about it i appreciate it um let's see we're back to stubble does double have other meanings or just talking about beard now as far as i know stubble is just like just the short facial hair um i can't think of another meaning that it has off the top of my head so yeah uh let's see um divya says i'm new here welcome always great to to hear from new people and guys if you're new let me know uh tell me your name where you're from or even again if you're watching this later write it in the the comments i do read the comments uh some people those of you who have been following the channel and you write comments i try to respond to as many of them as i can uh let's see charles dickens great expectations like how is that for reading i that really depends again on your level as well as your interest um like if it's something that that topic interests you that type of writing uh i would say that's definitely more advanced um but hey you know uh lolly says practice practice practice the only way absolutely like they say there's that expression practice makes perfect um it's true the best way to improve your skills and really fine-tune them practice speaking writing that that's the best way to do it um vivek says are there demo classes available so the one thing i'll come back and say about this because a lot of people have uh people have asked about like how does it work can you do a free trial class i the way because we i do this through teachable so let me just explain you would sign up through this platform called teachable and that's kind of where you would find like the lesson pdfs the weekly video lessons i will send you the zoom link via email and then each week you would just click on that link and then you'd enter the classroom but teachable is where you would find the the instructional um like the the videos the the lesson pdf the resource guides all of that stuff i'm not able to run like a trial class um using uh teachable but what i've told people before anybody uh is that if you because i think people might be unsure of like uh this this class is for intermediate to advanced speakers and i've had people ask like oh i don't know what level i am and of course like i said at the beginning i want everybody to feel comfortable that is like one of the most important things to me that everybody feels comfortable in class so that they're not afraid to just say what's on their mind and they can enjoy it and have fun and just have a natural conversation what i would tell what i've told people is that you just sign up um you pay for the course give it a try if uh because there's a 14-day money-back guarantee if after like a week or two weeks that you're like look this is not for me it's too advanced or like this is not what i thought it was you can send me an email i'll refund the money um that's the only way i can work it right now if i were like some big fancy company then and i had the option of doing some system with a free trial class i totally would uh but it's just it's just it's just me i'm kind of a one-man show uh with all of this but yeah if you're kind of on the fence which is a good phrase if somebody's on the fence it means that they're unsure of what to do so if you're unsure of what to do with speak up if you if you're interested and you're available at that class time and you want to give it a try i'd say yeah sign up in if after like yeah the first week you're like look this this doesn't work for me just let me know um and i can refund the money uh let's see i say is anybody else um should i stop telling you um eve says should i stop talking with my non-english friends to speed up my fluency like honestly i don't know your situation i'm guessing maybe you i think again what i would say is the more exposure you get to the language uh the better so if you are constantly exposed to english among your friend group at home if you're watching tv or listening to music or you're watching lessons like this and you're constantly getting english english english that that's the best thing i don't know if i would like say like recommend to stop like talking to a friend uh because of that uh i don't again everybody has different goals i think it's great to just i don't know just have friends no matter what language but i i assume that you're saying that you have some friends that you want you want to speak english but maybe you're speaking your native language i'd say try to get as much exposure to english as you can but i'm not going to tell you to don't be friends with that person or anything like that um so lydia says yes i always respond it makes us feel very special thank you i appreciate yes i really i i always uh i make a point to really get into those comments to feel so i kind of understand like what you guys are saying what your needs are what you guys want um because that helps me for the future let's see uh raul says i appreciate enjoy your lessons thank you raul uh i appreciate it um [Music] uh was all right all right thank you um thank you angie excellent a lot of it so so living on it says how many speaking sessions a week it's it's a 10-week course lessons are once a week so it's not really it's not it's not intensive in the way like there's five classes each week it's once a week for 10 weeks and i put a lot of the other resources on teachable like those pronunciation video lessons those resource guides i'm starting to create like some audio practice things so that again during those other days if you're looking for something to practice get exposure to the language then you can keep doing that um who says summer approaching how's the weather where you live the weather here in budapest today is a really nice day it's about 22 degrees outside sunny so i think it's heating up quickly and i think summer will be here before we know it somebody asked about covid here things i think hungary just went through like their i think their big peak about a month ago so things are improving here as far as the covid cases and the hospitalizations um and they are continuing to vaccinate and as they're doing this i think today some other businesses were able to open up so things are improving um albeit slowly is what i'd say about that um let's see if we're just talking to more with different people that's a good way absolutely i and then like i said the more exposure you get to the language is the best thing and whether it's exposure like you're listening to me i'm from the united states or even if you're listening to somebody else from another country speak english and you're hearing them speak all of it's useful all of it's great and that's what i would recommend you've said where's a link for the class there is a link in the description i'll throw one here in the chat the other thing because i've been talking a little bit about the course i want to make sure that you guys hear this part if you are um if you're interested you can use the code speak 10 to get a 10 discount so the cost of the course is uh 179 for the 10 weeks which includes the the 10 week lessons with me the lesson pdfs the lesson preview videos the weekly pronunciation videos the resource guides and use that voucher code get you can get 10 so if you go to the the page and go to the bottom you'll see the class times hopefully that'll help again i if you guys are joining i know people are probably coming and going i'm trying to take your questions on speaking fluency improving your speaking fluency and everything's kind of on the table because so much is related to speaking vocabulary grammar pronunciation so i'm kind of answering as many questions as i can um mafia says for ielts speaking can you give any advice is it the same as normal speaking i would say no and the only thing i'd say about the ielts i mentioned those tests before it's really trying to gauge about the idea is that the test is meant to determine whether somebody can succeed in a university environment and that's why universities require international universities in the u.s many of them would require international students to take either the ielts or the toefl to see their level because that's supposed to determine whether they can succeed keep saying that at university so it is different than just like normal conversational stuff what i would say for the ielts or any of those tests and i hate saying this but when is like study to the test learn the structure and how the test is going to be laid out so that you feel more comfortable you feel a little more confident that you're ready for it because the way the speaking is set up on an ielts it's pretty specific you're going to sit with somebody i don't know how it is nowadays they may ask you some general questions that are more just conversational like tell me about your family what do you like to do in your free time and then they'll start moving into some more difficult questions that would be more like you're giving a presentation or it's like you know what are some things you think that we can make what are some changes we can make today in order to address the problems of climate change something like that and and that in that case you would kind of talk about it and then present your points and those are the things they're listening for so it's not necessarily like oh it's just going to be like normal conversation i just say study for the test and prepare yourself there are again questions that are just rather normal though um alex says i learn songs through lyrics and try to sing it helps very much awesome if that helps you perfect um i think again singing it's another thing you're practicing uh like shadowing that intonation that emphasis let's see says um uh see it asks or am i done with the actually no i have not uh gotten the vaccination just yet i because i'm a foreigner here in hungary they just opened it up to foreigners living actually i think my wife was saying like no not yet uh the site is not up so yes i have not had access to it uh yes please play for india yes i know uh india is definitely in my thoughts it's a lot of uh it's a very difficult situation going on there now um jane says can you make more live videos yes i i i mean typically every tuesday there's a new video lesson on the channel and then saturdays this is the time that i try to do live interactive lessons with all of you sometimes i'll have a grammar lesson other times it'll be like a vocabulary quiz or we'll talk about idioms but this is yeah this is a general q a get to talk and interact with you guys directly and if anything this is good i hope for your listening you're getting some listening practice uh let's see sleeper yes we need to use different uh get used to different options absolutely i always say that if for example you're traveling um chances are if you are you know you're from france and you travel to thailand you're probably going to be speaking to people in thailand english will likely be the common language so it's useful to get exposure to um other english accents even from places that are learning english as a second language which there's many countries out there now uh hi from new york hello hello how are you uh hi from serbia hi um okay how is raymond murphy's books i'm not too familiar with him i might be familiar with some of the books but i'm not too familiar with him as an author um have you michelle said or have you been practicing your spanish no no i need to i want to i'm trying to work on more romanian at this point that's like the language but uh yeah i need to i keep i need to keep working on my spanish um and it's difficult because i've lived in a a couple of different spanish-speaking countries so at different times somebody had mentioned at the beginning um i think hiwa said like it feels like good sometimes he feels he's fluent and then other times it feels it sucks um and i feel like i can relate to that i think after living when living in a country and like i'm constantly surrounded by the language i feel a lot more confident that i'm learning a lot i've building my vocabulary my grammar's getting a little better my pronunciation and then when you're taken out of that environment it does it it starts to diminish little by little if you don't continuously brush up on it and use those skills which i have not been doing i have not been as good as doing that as i should be um samia asks where can i get further details about the course i'll throw sorry just kind of bombarding you guys with links i'll throw another link there's a link in the description i'm going to throw one in the chat right there boom um you can click on that link it'll take you to the course page and as you go to the the bottom of that page they list the class times so classes are on mondays wednesdays and saturdays right now and i'm going to continuously keep doing the course and i'll offer different times us why hasn't your wife showed up all this while yes that's something we're kind of working on i think she's gonna kind of start getting back into the channel and doing some other videos uh with me it's been uh like i said it's been a it's been a tough year i think like even this last year with everything going on a tough year for all of us um so i think in many ways trying to get back to normal um i know you have said thank you i really appreciate that muchas gracias july i saw your first video with words to guests they were found oh glad you enjoyed that that lesson yeah some of the uh like our older and maybe i'll i'll start doing some of the some of them again some of our older videos were a lot more like i'd say interactive in a way like i'm talking to you right now and i'm expecting you to say something um but those are like practice video lessons and the those are actually lessons because again with the speaking course lessons are once a week and what i want to do is kind of keep adding more and more video lessons and actually doing more practice video lessons like that probably like one of the earlier ones you saw where you i describe something and you guess the name and then i ask you to describe a word to me and just really kind of getting you thinking um about how you would do that and it's really kind of exercising your vocabulary muscles because you're trying to think about words that you've already learned and ways that you can talk about this uh let's see um jax thanks for the backup thanks for all right no you're welcome yeah thank you guys um so yes we speak portuguese is i don't know uh yeah i don't besides um obrigado i don't really know much portuguese i would love to learn it i think there's many languages that i'd like to that are on the list that are on my bucket list right now is it mandatory to live in an english-speaking country is it mandatory to live in an english-speaking country to be fluent in english i'd say absolutely not um and the reason for that i told you i think in my opinion one of the best things the the best things that you can do for improving your language skills is just getting exposure and nowadays with the internet you can easily i think many people can easily get exposure in like their their home country um with with listening with reading with writing like even right now you guys are listening to me you are getting exposure to english um you're learning new words like the word stubble just keep bringing that word back up and uh yeah so i definitely think it's possible uh nowadays i think the one challenge that i i get from hear from many people would be when they want to practice like speaking because you guys can easily write to me in the comments you guys are writing in the chat right now you're practicing your writing skills but i understand when it comes to speaking that it can be a little more difficult um if you're not in an english-speaking country but not impossible i think they're because chances are whatever town or city you live in you're probably not the only person who wants to practice and improve their english and maybe there is a group out there that you can join and practice with others or maybe you can even form your own group or of course there are online classes that you can take like like mine i've been talking about throughout this lesson speak up um is again it's a way you can learn online practice your speaking that is what um that's what it's all about um you know any arabic words i know like um like things like uh inshallah uh stuff like that and there was another one that i had i forget what it is but i had some students teach me uh in edible because i had some other students they were from a couple of like brothers from like saudi arabia and they wouldn't sometimes do their work or something or like in class and i i had the other students teach me the expression like guys you're killing me you're killing me um and they taught me how to say that in arabic but i forgot i forgot i haven't used it in such a long time so um eloise says your videos are so well prepared thank you i really appreciate that uh louisa thank you um miguel says question when you're speaking here on the video class use normal rhythm or a bit slower like the way i'm speaking right now i think this is kind of my normal speech sometimes i think now when i get in front of a video a camera maybe i tend to speak slightly slower but at this point after so many years of teaching my the speed of my speech has naturally slowed down and sometimes when i go back to the us and i talk to friends um they may even say something to me they're like why are you why are you speaking so slow um so it really again it just depends on the individual but i i think it i hope that it helps again i hope it makes it easier for people to understand everything that i'm saying because that's that's the most important thing that your comprehension that you can understand listen at your level that's another thing i would always say um sir holly what's the words okay jacqueline's asked between bathroom and bedroom so that is a minimal pair between the the bathroom that's a voiceless th sound and bedroom bedroom bedroom that voice sound uh let's see that inshallah means if god will yes awesome you guys are teaching me a little bit uh let's see it says how can we automate our grammar for speaking a lot of readings from azerbaijan um i don't know you mean like in terms of using grammar when speaking i think that's i don't know if that's kind of what your question is i think that's something that goes overlooked because people study grammar mostly in books and they don't really take it then into a speaking component and sometimes i would always do that when i was teaching grammar like we're learning new grammar now let's use it in conversation and let's let's start us let's use a situation in which we're going to use um some of the grammar so i think that if that's kind of what you were asking for how do i learn the grammar and then utilize it when speaking again practice would be the best way to do it online classes find a classroom that may be in that they're using that method because yeah i think overwhelmingly people tend to just study grammar out of a book and even just practice grammar in a book and even though that is related um i still think it helps anything helps but i think it's useful not just to do learn something like grammar and then only practice it with writing it's useful to practice with speaking as well uh all right so i shall ask how do you pronounce uh those words so i'll just say those real quickly baked dressed blessed so those e d uh endings all have that t sound because the the consonant before is voiceless baked dressed blessed and i was actually emphasizing it a little too much there just so you guys could hear it uh all right so again if you there's still a little time left this is the last call though um if you're interested in signing up in my speaking course called speak up the enrollment ends tomorrow so tomorrow's it um because then we start classes this next week on monday wednesday saturday so you have less than 48 hours if you're interested there's a link in the description i'm going to throw one more uh the link again in the chat one more time in case some of you just recently joined and remember you can use that voucher code speak 10 to get a 10 discount if you have any questions about the course once this video gets posted write them in the comments if i haven't already answered them send me an email at info interactiveenglishvideos.com um let me i don't know if let me see email me at info inner active english videos.com okay you can that that's my email if you have a question about the course and i'll try to get back to you as soon as i can again it's a 10 week course it's all about like the like the poster says trying to help you speak confidently clearly naturally lessons are each week one hour long with me it's a small group class and we talk about a variety of topics in order to get like just a lot of different practice to help you feel a little more confident speaking about a variety of topics we'll do some vocabulary idioms expressions their different speaking activities weekly pronunciation video lessons um try to build it out as much as i can and it is for intermediate to advanced speakers that's the last thing i will say about it uh so um i hope that you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend i hope that you and uh join me next week for another live lesson and i don't know i have to figure out what uh what we're gonna do but enjoy the weekend thank you guys so much uh sleepwalker lolly always great to see you um there jane uh oj asked what time usually uh i go live saturdays around 3 30 p.m um central european time is kind of around when it is if you go to the channel home page um typically you'd see some notification and then you could uh ask to get notified once the live lesson begins uh thank you guys angela kritika kareem arya audio has had to speak confidently again i think the more the more practice you get speaking the more comfortable you're gonna feel talking about well a variety of different things and you're just gonna feel more confident in general and as you continue practicing while doing those other things building vocabulary learning new grammar it's just going to reinforce your level of confidence that you're saying things correctly but again also i'd say the the it's very important too like just not to worry about making mistakes that's very important because you don't want to lose confidence when you enter a conversation um great to see you uh vish sorry if i mispronounced names cecilia um cassia ario michelle leonardo uh la fianista luisa giovanni trying to give ewa good to see you felipe trying to give as many shout outs as i can at the very end but i am gonna try to go outside right now and maybe go for a walk with the family enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you next time --- ## 346. How to Listen for Details & Improve Your Skills | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JqBRd_gL_oo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqBRd_gL_oo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:44:08 | --- hello and welcome to our live lesson today we're having a gorgeous Saturday and a super super useful lesson this lesson is going to be useful for everyone and I think we always always need to improve our listening skills so it's going to be a great we're going to have a great time if you are just joining I'd like to welcome you to our class to our global classroom please write down your name where are you writing from welcome Kira welcome ahead you're welcome Ozma thank you for for joining us today on this wonderful Saturday so yes please hi Diego welcome welcome welcome if I don't see all of you please forgive me sometimes things don't sync up the way they're supposed to but I would like to welcome you so listening for details this is such an important skill listening is on more than one account I've heard from students that listening is one of the most difficult difficult language skills and it is so because many times when we just have to listen we can't see the person who's talking or we can't read their body language and sometimes things get muffled people speak too fast and it can be very very difficult so in the comments please write down is listening difficult for you do you have trouble with listening and if you're just joining hello and welcome and thank you so please write down do you find listening difficult what do you think could your listening skills improve and [Music] listening for details I put here details are just one of the skills that we can improve we can listen for more than just details we can listen for things like main ideas or for to try to infer what's happening and there's so many different skills but details are some of the most important skills and why what are details okay is my question for you guys today if you didn't know now it's a good time to listen and pay attention it is very specific information that you hear and many times this information is important to communicate to pass on to other people so good morning everyone or evening or whatever so in listening can be again very very important for for those details because it's it's important information now why why should we want to improve our listening for details why is this important how can it be useful well for all of these reasons that I've listed here that I'm going to talk about plus more first of all communication right if if we can't understand especially if you've noticed if you've traveled into an english-speaking country and you've heard people speak very very fast sometimes you can say you're having trouble understanding and that's where this is very useful if we listen for details we can understand what's happening not just in other countries but even on TV or we can hear on the radio music lyrics movies all of those things it's so important to be able to catch to understand to see what's going on now even for people who are having to take some exams oh my goodness yeah there's always a listening component in English we have exams like IELTS and TOEFL and I know that a lot of our students are interested in these listening is a huge part and I've prepared with my students with these four over the years and they this is kind of a hard it's a hard one for them they don't always catch all the details and of course in everyday conversation so it's one those things that the more you practice the easier it becomes so you just have to keep keep at it it's very very I think it's a very useful skill but it can be very difficult and I'd say if you think watching TV or something is easy for you make it more challenging by just listening don't watch don't look for somebody's body language just listen no subtitles and see how much you can understand that way okay because that will really really help so it's great to see your answers yeah it is difficult because some people sometimes speak too too too fast and I think that that can be very difficult and also because maybe we don't catch the same words or we don't have all the vocabulary so it can definitely be be a little bit harder now I have a little tip for you if you can't catch all the details how can you do this so here's here are a couple tips that I would like to share with you the first one is to focus make sure you're not your mind is not kind of going all over the place I just try to focus on the conversation imagine it in your mind put a picture and just see what is happening try to envision and make your make sure that you are focused on what is happening and catch as much as possible try that and make sure that that you do it so this is a little bit of a tip yeah see so and and you know what it's it if in the beginning you don't understand a hundred percent it is not too bad don't worry about it keep doing it because maybe next time you'll understand because I saw somebody wrote I understand only like 30 percent maybe next time you'll understand thirty five percent maybe next time time after that forty percent and so on we are focusing on progress here it's a good thing so details what should we listen for this is very important usually when in in in listening exercise there are some very important cues as to what you're supposed to listen for and those are names dates places very important because these tells us you know who and why colors age feelings sounds very specific either now's or adjectives but that are descriptive when something is descriptive it really that's the time to pay attention because it's communicating very important information any date is typically going to be important okay a name a place those are details that you should you really should pay attention to so pay attention to that very important okay now what I'm going to do without further ado we're going to do a listening exercise together and what I am asking from you is to pay close attention to these details that I'm going to read but I'm not going to make it easy on you because this is this is learning we're trying to make it a little challenging so you cannot see you won't be able to see me you'll just hear what I'm going to read we're going to do a practice and I want you to focus on these things I want you to focus on the names the dates and the places colors age feelings anything that you see that that you here sorry that you think is going to be important focus on those okay and I'm going to read a text to you I'm going to read the text to you two times and then I will ask you some questions so please please please please pay close attention are you guys ready is everyone ready you guys excited I'm so excited hello welcome everyone who's joining us okay ready for some great listening practice here it goes so I'm going to read it twice Nelson Mandela was a famous politician and to vist in South Africa he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and he was elected as South Africa's first president in 1994 he is regarded as a hero and champion of hope he died in 1999 at the age of 95 okay I will read it again Nelson Mandela was a famous politician and activist in South Africa he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and he was elected at South South Africa's first president in 1994 he is regarded as a hero and champion of hope he died in 1999 at the age of 95 okay now let's see how much you remember here are my questions this is my first question and if you know the answer please write it down in the comments remember I told you to focus on those names I told you to focus on the dates and the years those are important that's very very important information so my question to you and please write it down in the comments in what year did Nelson Mandela become president if you know the answer write it down I want to check your comprehension okay and what here okay so we have some years here a lot of responses for 1994 some for 1993 are you ready to see the answer okay so 1994 is the answer and I did throw a 1993 over there too to throw you off a little bit because it's good to pay attention to the details in connection to the context so you have to pay attention to both but great job you guys are you guys are giving some great answers good job good job are you ready for the next one here it is how old was he when he passed away please write it down in the comments now notice that I asked the question in a different way and this is because we have I have to make sure that you understand the main idea how old was he when he passed away so this expression was not in the in the listening but I want to see if you guys got it so I'm getting some different numbers but mostly people say 95 95 95 let's see if you guys are right that is correct you guys are you guys are great no hurry oh who knew jr. Vivian Aziz great job Wang wonderful yes so he passed away so the reason I put passed away over there and I didn't say died is because you should expect these kinds of questions many times we don't use the same phrasing in the question that we use in the text okay so that's something that you need to get used to but it's the same main idea he passed away at the age of 95 in 1999 okay so please keep that in mind you guys are doing amazing amazing amazing ok now that we've gone all warmed up I'm going to give you a more difficult one are you ready for something more difficult and if you're just joining what we are doing right now is we are doing a listening practice and I am not showing you the text okay I am just reading it to you and you have to answer okay so the second one is one of my favorite subjects I could talk about this all day but I won't I promise just for the listening purpose here it goes I will read it two times Nutella is a famous chocolate hazelnut spread created by an italian company called Ferrero Nutella has five main ingredients sugar and palm oil make up over 50% the spread is 13% hazelnut followed by cocoa solids and skimmed milk approximately 50 hazelnuts can be found in each jar of Nutella although delicious it's not very healthy a 2 tablespoon serving contains 200 calories and 21 grams of sugar ok I will read it again Nutella is a famous chocolate hazelnut spread created by an italian company called Ferrero Nutella has 5 main ingredients sugar and palm oil make up over 50% the spread is 13% hazelnut followed by cocoa solids and skimmed milk approximately 50 hazelnuts can be found in each jar of Nutella although delicious it's not very healthy a 2 tablespoon serving contains 200 calories and 21 grams of sugar who's hungry no just me ok after ok so I am going to show you my questions right now and then see if you guys can write the answers in the comments please please do so my first question is around how many hazelnuts are in each jar and if you've noticed this one was a little bit more difficult I tried to read it a little faster and it has more details so I'm very curious if you guys got the answer ok so some people are writing let's see I'm seeing some 50s Mahmoud says 50 Vivian's is 50 KS is 50 let's see if you guys are right tada yes good job 50 hazelnuts approx so again here in the text I use approximately but I asked you in the question around how many that is again emphasizing that sometimes the wording will be different in the question and this is specially important in a question exams like the IELTS or the TOEFL they will ask you in different wording ok ready for the next one you guys are amazing ok not 50% so if you guys answer 50% that is not correct the answer is 50 hazelnuts the number is right but the percent is not correct ok my second question is what are the two main ingredients in Nutella what are the two main ingredients in Nutella let's see what you guys are answering the two main ingredients see if you guys remember [Music] somebody said sugar sugar and palm oil palm oil yeah that's let's see let's see yeah so you who you guys are correct sugar and palm oil are them two main ingredients of in Nutella now these are the most the first mention and and the most prominent and the third question how many tablespoons contain 200 calories how many tablespoons contain 200 calories let's yeah you guys are killing this wow great job yeah sugar palm oh no sugar not chocolate but good thank you for answering yes um yeah great hmm yeah mark oh yeah exactly so everyone so how many the question is let's see how many tablespoons contain 200 calories let's find what you guys are saying I'm seeing some mixed answers some people say 21 22 the correct answer is 2 so 2 tablespoons contain 200 calories and 21 grams of sugar but the correct answer was 2 so great job to everyone to everyone and um well that's you know you guys you guys are doing amazing this was actually a little bit difficult because of all the numbers I threw at you I actually want to do kind of a bonus one do you remember the percentage of hazelnut and Nutella I'm very curious percentage of hazelnut and Nutella let's see who gets this right it's not on my thing but I'm just curious if you guys remember let's see well while you guys are writing that I do want to tell you of a little tip and that I have to improve your listening and this is if you want more listening practice you could join for a free trial on audible and here you can find things like podcasts or audiobooks just a lot of resources that can really really really help you with your listening skills and they're doing a free trial right now and we're going to leave a link in the description so you can sign up it's it's actually very very useful because like I mentioned before there is a special skill that we develop when we listen without being able to see somebody so you can check for details so you can improve just the the the your oral skills without the context of what's happening without seeing what is going on so let me look to see if you guys have answered some people said 30 30 30 30 and unit was asking 13 yeah so that's one it's it's hard to hear it was 13% hazelnut 13 so not 30 but 13 but great job for a lot of you catching those numbers um okay well thank you guys very very much this was a really fun lesson yeah a petition now yes it is it is there's a free trial that you can join for so we're going to leave the the link in the in the description well thank you guys so much for watching you can do a lot of these just make sure that every time that you practice to do it to do it often try to do it if if you can't do it every day maybe do it every other day but make sure to make a habit out of it because that's the only way that I think you can improve again if you thought this lesson was useful please share it and like it any questions that you have that maybe I missed today we're going to answer later so make sure to leave them in the comments thank you again and I would like to thank all of you who are here Thank You Patricia thank you for a Thank You jr. thanks for answering and for practicing with us today Thank You Giselle Mahmoud thank you Luke and again if you have questions please please please write them down and we will answer thanks and have a great day --- ## 347. How to Listen for Inferences | Improve Your Listening Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CJk_v6dhjX0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJk_v6dhjX0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:43:14 | --- okay hello and welcome to our super awesome super super cool live lesson I hope you're doing well I hope you're having a wonderful day my name is you wana from interactive English and today I'm going to blow your mind hopefully because I am talking about something that's very important but it's not often taught and I think it should be taught more often and it is how to make inferences so right now I would like you in the comment I in the comment section I would like you to write down if you think you know what inferences are so please write those down so welcome welcome welcome if you're just joining we're talking about making inferences today so what what does it mean what does it mean to make inferences so if you were wondering why I'm talking about the subject well it's very important because inferences are making inferences what they are is clues kind of that we get it's just an idea or conclusion that we get from clues or evidence around us or it's really just an educated guess based on what you hear or what you see so those put together will lead you to make an inference okay so let's see I'm just hello Shanna welcome welcome welcome if you are just joining us write down where what's your name and where you're from [Music] so yeah just write that down let us know it's always fun to read but welcome if you're just joining so okay so talking about inferences and my question to you is why we should make inferences of course you need to know why is this important it's important because it really is a way to understand or to understand what your what you were it's it's a further way to understand what you are being presented with the information you're being presented so really it's it's you know this information it's there in front of you and you're just trying to kind of guess it a little bit more it's not really evident and that's what's very interesting about inferences and they're very very important part of learning a language of course so ok there you guys are I was wondering where everyone is welcome Giselle welcome Shanna Oh welcome welcome thank you and of course please write down where you're writing from so again we are talking about inferences and I want to talk about when when do we have the occasion to make these inferences or to make inferences in general well we do this when we receive information right so how do we receive information on any language really it's when we read something right or when we listen to something when we hear things that is when we receive information and this is also when we make inferences so there are two ways and we're going to practice making inferences in both of these ways today so I think it's going to be a lot of fun if you guys are ready we're going to start in one second we're gonna have some practice super fun super super cool okay welcome to Lisa welcome Jeanette I hope I'm saying it right welcome Casilla are you guys ready if you know about inferences and want to learn about interested inferences write it write it down and want to see it okay now I want to talk to you about a super fun tip I don't know why I keep saying super fun I think to me all English is super funds but this is a fun tip because this making emphasis is really a great pre reading activity and what I mean about pre reading is something to do before you read something so for example when you look at titles or you're looking at headlines and an article or a newspaper that's a really good way to determine what if this is going to be about whether it's a book or whether it's a book or a story or whatever it is that you're trying to read looking at the title is such a good way to infer what is it that you're going to read about and it's also a fun way to actually engage with what you're going to read it's fun to assume something and then when you read it you want to see oh was i right so it's it's really it's it makes things a little bit more interesting and a very good way to train your brain for these inferences also okay so that being said we're going to do a practice and I'm going to give you a title to look at and see if you can write down some of the emphases what do you think the story is going to be about so here it is David arrives home that's the title of the story we're going to read together so write down in the in the comments write down what what do you think this story is going to be about what what could it be about David arrives home David arrives home and then as I read it you can also always check yourself and see oh were you right was I right was I was I wrong what could it be about okay so let's let's see David enter the building soaking wet because he forgot his umbrella as he walked down the hallway he heard crying from his neighbor's apartment he could not understand how difficult it must be for Jim and Pam David had no idea what it was like to be first-time parent okay so this is a reading and then I have some questions based on these I'm gonna read it one more time David enter the building soaking wet because he forgot his umbrella as he walked down the hallway he heard crying from his neighbor's apartment he could not understand how difficult it must be for Jim and Pam David had no idea what it was like to be first-time parents okay so hopefully you guys were reading this with me now I'm going to show you the questions and hopefully you can you can infer some information there's a lot to actually infer from this and I'll show you what I mean so here's the first question that I have what was the weather like outside so if you are paying attention I haven't been specific I didn't specify how the weather was like outside but I gave you some clues in the text that should tell you that information that is an inference so if you know the answer write it down in the comments right now okay so if you are unsure I'm going to help you and give you a clue here are some of the words I have made them bold so first of all we know he was soaking wet because he forgot his umbrella he forgot his umbrella so those are your clues okay so that means that that you should probably have guessed that it was rainy right so he was wet because it was raining outside and also he forgot his umbrella when do we use an umbrella oh when it's raining so those were the clues I should have told you what what the information was about yeah so very good yeah you guys are doing really really great and even using idioms good you hug those raining cats and dogs exactly very very good perfect now my second question is who was crying who was crying I want to see if you can remember who was crying so right now it's time for you to write down that answer who was crying and if you can't remember I will give you another clue of course in bold so he heard crying something about Jim and Pam and then something about first-time parents he had no idea what it was like to be first-time parents those are my clues so he heard crying Jim and Pam a couple and first-time parents okay so I hope I'm not giving it to making this too easy maybe I don't know you guys should write down okay you guys are doing amazing doing amazing but yes if you want your baby that was correct yes so so of course because they were parents and they were first-time parents their baby that was he was he or she was crying so that was the crying that David heard now this is a little bit more difficult but I think you guys can do it since you're doing so amazing and making inferences I want you to answer tell me what can we infer about David what is what information can we base what educated guess can we make based off of what we know from the story so far what what what what can we infer about David I'll give you a clue if you don't know David had no idea what it was like to be first-time parents so what kind of information do we have about David that is not written here let's see if you guys are answering so again the clue here is David had no idea what it was like to be first-time parents and of course what you could infer is that he was either maybe he was single but that definitely he had no children right because he didn't know what it was like to be a parent which means he doesn't have children okay so that is the inference that we can make about David so if you guys answer that you guys are getting the hang of this it's very important like I said before I think the reason why inferences are so important is because communication happens not just through words right so when you talk to somebody when you have to listen when you have to read there is so much more that is being said in the way that the conversation is written or said that or or with visual cues or other information that is not specifically written so this is a very important skill that we need to master in order to fully understand the language so also if you were paying attention to the reading I was just I was just reading you there are some clues here like for example the Jim and Pam it really helps to know like Oh Jim and Pam like they're a couple Jim is a male named Pam is a female name these are cultural things that come up in a conversation that are important to know so you can make that inference so another fun tip is if you are having a hard time with this but in general it really really helps to make an image in your head so create this image in your head and it will help you kind of understand and determine why these things happen it helps you create a little bit of a sequence and it's just really a great way to to to help you make inferences so that's another tip but I think you guys are doing really really good oh the names are confusing they're there they're very typical American names actually so it's good for you to learn them okay so now I have another inference practice and this practice is a listening one so I'm now going to show you the reading you just have to listen so you have to listen very carefully but first I'm going to show you the title just like I did last time so you could guess what this could be about and please write it in the comments here it is a day in the life of Wesson you wanna so here's our story see if you guys can guess what could this be about what could it be about a day in the life of us in your honor so if you guessed like oh it could be about you wanna in West's life that's a good yes right so it's going it's going to be related to Wes and I obviously so so okay let's see I'm going to are you guys ready I'm going to read you to read you a little bit of our story it's kind of funny it's a funny little story okay so it's going to be listening I will not show you the text today okay make sure you pay attention I will read the text two times you wanna walked into the house holding two heavy bags full of food Wes can you help me she said there was no response Wes his eyes were glued to the TV can you help me you wanna repeat it still no response Wes you want to repeat it louder oh let me do my West voice oh hey I didn't know you were back was said you wanna roll her eyes Wes got up and began walking toward the kitchen there was a faint sound from the TV go was quickly turned around to see what happened during the match really so you can hear that you want to ask still talking to herself okay so I'm going to read it one more time okay I know this was a little bit difficult maybe it was a little fast I'm going to read it one more time to make sure that you catch all of the details you want to walked into the house holding two heavy bags full of food Wes can you help me she said there was no response Wes his eyes were glued to the TV can you help me you want to repeat it still no response Wes you want a repeated louder oh hey I didn't know you were back Wes said you Anna rolled her eyes Wes got up and began walking toward the kitchen there was a faint sound from the TV go was quickly turned around to see what happened during the match really so you can hear that you wanna asked still talking to herself okay so so that was that was our listening I'm not going to show you the text but I'm going to share the question so the first question I have for you is where was you honor before arriving home what was I if you know the answer write it down okay let's see if you guys can can can get an idea where could I have been and if you don't know I'll give you a clue I'll read you the sentence again that I was talking about really it says you wanna walked into the house holding two heavy bags full of food two heavy bags full of food so why would I have come holding two heavy bags full of food where was I if you answered the grocery store the supermarket you are correct of course where would I come from of course I would come from the grocery store very good no question number two is what was on TV what could have been on TV that was so fascinating to us okay what was on TV there was a there was a very good clue in there it's actually a one-word clue and I will tell you right now it really is the word go so what what could have been the West was watching what was was watching write it down in the comments I'm curious to see if you guys are guessing it right or answering correctly that's right it was a soccer match or a football match however you want to call it that is whenever there's a goal there's goal and of course West loves soccer so that is what was on TV and question number three is what can we infer about wases listening skills so this can be maybe a little bit more broader a little bit trickier but I will give you a clue so what can we guess about wes's listening skills let's see how you guys do I will read you a clue sofirst says oh hey I didn't know you were back after I kept asking him to help me and then another time when there was a faint sound from the TV a faint sound that a loud sound he heard goal and he quickly turned around to see what happened and he heard that so what do we know about his listening skills let's see what you guys are inferring even though I spoke three times and the second time there was a faint sound from the TV and he heard it very quickly okay so those are my clues so hopefully you answered something along the lines if you don't know what this means I the answer is like he has selective hearing and selective hearing just really means that he listens to what he wants to listen or he hears only what he wants to hear so this is a true story by the way well this is not a true story but this is how our life this is how our life goes many times I'll talk to us and he just doesn't hear me because he's so focused and something else that means you have selective hearing but of course when you hear what you want to hear that means there's nothing wrong with your hearing you just you're just not listening properly so if you hazzard anywhere anywhere anything like that you guys are doing you guys did amazing so I just wanted to say like this the reason why this is so important is because like I said there's so much more that's being said that's being communicated in written speech when we hear somebody or when we see something so it's very important to pay attention to these clues again thank you so much for joining us you guys are doing amazing yes exactly he uh-huh he is a bad boy yeah sure um what's emphasized that this story's not true well it's true sometimes and was of course loved sports so again thank you for joining us thank you so much thank you know T thank you go see I think you Lube not aha along Gisele or gazelle I don't know if I'm saying that's right Salwa jr. beshal Keira thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you I hope you have an amazing Saturday I hope your English just keeps getting better and better and thank you for watching us if you found this lesson interesting please like it and share it any questions that you have always write them we always answer and for more practice during our social media classes because it's always better to just keep practicing thank you guys so much have a great day bye --- ## 348. How to Listen to New Vocabulary & Understand the Meaning | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bLLtzWWqEVU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLLtzWWqEVU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:32:09 | --- Today is all about helping you practice and improve your listening skills. And you're going to do that to help you understand and build your vocabulary. So, this is very, very useful. And if this is your first time here, my name is Wes and this is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And as I said, today is going to be a little bit of a listening quiz, but it's a listening quiz. Whoops. I I messed up that slide, but it said to understand and new vocabulary. That's what it's all about. And I just love that picture. I thought it was pretty funny, so I put that in there. So, we're going to practice your listening skills today to help you understand new vocabulary. And I just want to give a quick shout out. Thank you. Hello, uh, Lai, Mary, Ira, Angela, um, Sia, Ernest. It's great to see you guys. I'm happy you were joining me for today's lesson. I did have I don't know if you noticed I had a little small minor surgery a couple days ago, but that's not stopping me from doing this lesson. I wanted to help you guys practice your listening skills. So, it's we hear quite often people say like, you know, I I can I I have difficulty understanding TV, movies, perhaps fast conversations. And one of the problems is that you may come across a word that perhaps you don't know what this word means at all. Or maybe you just recognize it and you're a little bit familiar with it, but you you still don't know it that well. And when you start coming across those words in the middle of a conversation, it makes it a little more challenging to follow what is happening in the overall conversation. So today I wanted to practice trying to identify words that you may not know at all and and really try to understand what they mean based on everything that you're hearing. So specifically what we're talking about is this. When listening, it's important to be able to understand words that you don't know and you need to put these words in context. This is something that teachers, English teachers will tell students all the time. If you're listening, if you're reading a story and a student's like, "Well, I don't know this word." The teacher will say, "Try to put it in context." And context is talking about all all the words that are around this one word. Because if you understand the situation and you understand all of the other words, then probably you will be able to put the unknown word in context and understand the meaning. So that's what we're going to do today is I am going to have you listen to different sentences and I'm going to take one word and I want you to put that word in context. Now the words that I've chosen some of them are advanced words other words are they are not common words. The the reason is just the the reason I chose the word is just to practice this exercise. So I've chosen some words that I I would say you don't need to learn these vocabulary words. It's just to practice to see if you understand the meaning. So let's just go ahead and get into it. And of course, if you guys are with me right now, I want you to write the meaning of the word in the chat. Even if you're watching this later, it's interactive English. It's all about interaction. And I want you to use the comment section. Use it like it's a piece of paper and write your answers in the comments. So, I'm going to tell you a sentence. All right? I just want you to listen carefully. That's all you need to do. Okay? Are you ready? All right. I'm going to say the sentence twice and then I will show you the word. All right, so here is the sentence. Just listen carefully. All right, here it is. Dark clouds surrounded us. It was a perilous journey and few survived. I'll read that again. Dark clouds surrounded us. It was a perilous journey and few survived. All right. So what I want to know is what does the word perilous mean? All right, maybe you know this word. All right, because this is a word you you might hear from time to time or maybe you might read it. So perhaps you already know. But just listening to what I said, what do you think is the meaning of this word? I will read it one more time for you. Ready? Dark clouds surrounded us. It was a perilous journey and few survived. Okay. So, what does this word mean? What do you think? Write it in the chat. Write the meaning of the word and and try to think about it. So, again, the the first steps I would take when you're listening to something is I I talked about a perilous journey. So, right then, you know, it's an adjective. It's describing this journey, this trip. So, then you need to understand everything around it. I start out talking about dark clouds. Okay. Dark clouds. Is that a friendly picture or is that maybe like okay it doesn't look good. And then at the end I say few survived. people survived the journey then yes. All right. It's probably talking about something that is full of danger or risk. Excellent. Had some great answers in there. Thank you. Yes. Albert uh Gatrudus Leadan Juan Carlos. Um uh Rolan. Excellent. That's fine. Bad is also great. Lai. Uh, so yes, if if you listen to that, all right, that statement and you're you're listening to a conversation and you don't know the word perilous, you can put it into context and and you know, okay, it means danger. All right, full of danger or risk. Now, when you do this, you don't have to have an exact meaning. All right? As long as you kind of understand and get an idea as to what the meaning of the word is, you can still understand the overall main idea. the overall conversation and that is the most important thing when we're talking about your listening skills. Are you ready? All right. The next the next one is I want you to listen carefully. All right. I'll read it twice and then I'll show you the word. Are you ready? Um the next one is she's banned from the library because she's a biblio and she cannot be trusted. I'll read that again. She's banned from the library because she's a biblio and she cannot be trusted. All right, you're probably hearing this and you you probably know the word that I'm going to show you. And whoops, no, that's not the word. The word that I want to show you is biblio. So after listening to that, what do you think it means? What is a bibliopppt? Okay, I'll read it one more time and then I want you to write your answer. What do you think is the meaning of this word? She's banned from the library because she's a biblio and she cannot be trusted. All right. So, yes, I think one thing that that I think you know if you know different um prefixes and suffixes, some of you might see that word klept and you think, "Oh, I know what it means." A klep. So, klept is again if somebody's banned from the library, it just means they're banned. They cannot come to the library. They can't be trusted. Well, why? Because if somebody is klept, then it it has to do with stealing. So, a biblio is someone who steals books. Excellent. Uh uh Katarina. Um Adravisic Albert. Uh perfect. Uh getting some great answers. Hhabib. Yes, a thief is worked. But again, uh think about it in general. If you want to be more specific, a clipplept, a bibliolept, someone who steals books. All right. Excellent. So, this is what I want to practice today is just listening for something and then I will take one of the words and I want you to to see if you can identify the meaning. All right. So, today, if you're just joining us, we are practicing listening skills and trying to identify new vocabulary. Are you ready? The next one is the following. Are you ready? Here, I want you to listen carefully. All right. Um, the baby defecated again. Whose turn is it? All right. If I said, "Oh, the baby defecated again. Whose turn is it?" All right. So, just thinking of that example. All right. The baby defecated again. Whose turn is it? What do you think that word means? defecated. And again, I'm using this because my wife and I, yes, that is our baby girl. Um, Amelia, she is she is the love of our life. But if somebody were to say that, okay, oh, the baby defecated again. Whose turn is it? What do you guys think? Uh, I'm talking about this is a word that some of you may be familiar with already. All right. Um, Artm, my turn. Yes, I will. We will absolutely let you have a turn. So if somebody if is talking about oh the baby defecated again to defecate because we're talking about a baby is just to poop or you could say to relieve oneself. There are many different phrases or words that you can use when talking about pooping and one of those is defecating. Um so perfect. Yes. Lolli Ulysa Junior. Um Manola. I'm eating bro. Sorry about that. Sorry if you're having uh some food. Uh Amakar. Yes, great answers. Thank you guys for answering. But to defecate means to poop. So, let's just move right along. All right, the next one I want you again listen carefully. All right, so the next one that I have for you is, you know, I have taught some recalcitrant students in my time. Some of them I tried to work through the issues and others I just didn't have the patient for patience for. All right, this is a little more challenging. I'll read that again. I have taught some recalcitrant students in my time. Some of them I tried to work through the issues and others I just didn't have the patience for. So what what does it mean if I'm talking about the word recalcitrant? All right. What do you think that means? Uh I'll read it one more time. And this one I I do think is a little more challenging. All right. I want you to listen for it again. I have taught some recalcitrant students in my time. Some of them I tried to work through the issues and others I just didn't have the patience for. So if we're talking about somebody who is recalcitrant I think more or less all right um you can kind of get an idea that it's not a good thing. All right because you're talking about a teacher working through the issues and maybe some of them like yeah I don't want to deal with it. So we're talking about you could say a bad student a stubborn student. you could put it into context and you know that it's something that is negative. Now again if you wanted to take this word and say well this is a new word for me I know it's a bad word I know it doesn't mean something good that if somebody if you refer to them as recalcitrant but it means that somebody is defiant of authority it is a difficult person so this is a situation when you have a person in authority like in a classroom a teacher or perhaps at work a boss and you might have a recalcitrant employee somebody who defies authority and they are therefore difficult to deal with. So I've saw some great answers. Um Ahmad like disobedient. That's a good one. Angela rude. Chris rude. Perfect. Um you could say fia stubborn. Perfect. I think many of you said um so you said like rude. Uh bad. Exactly. So I think all of those I it it if you hear this then you would understand the meaning. Oh okay you're talking about a student that you know is not good. They have problems. But specifically again this is what the meaning of the word is. Boom right there is somebody who is defiant of authority recalcitrant. All right. So um that I I want to just let you guys know if you guys like what we do, if you enjoy our lessons, you can check out our Patreon page. We have some cool rewards there. It's just another great way to connect with us, to show us some love for for what we do here at Interactive English. I just threw a link there in the chat um if you want to go check that out. All right, so let's let's continue as we go through these. They're going to become a little more difficult. All right, so the next one that I have for you, again, I want you to listen carefully. All right, listen carefully to this statement. Many of you compliment me for my lumphony. You can understand me, but you may have difficulty with TV shows or movies. All right, I'll read that again. Many of you compliment me for my limpony. You can understand me, but you may have difficulty with TV shows or movies. All right, I think you probably know. All right, the word that I want to know is what does it mean? Lamprophanany. Now, this is not a common word. This is not a word that uh I'd say, "Oh, go out and learn this word and try to use it." This is this is specifically for this exercise to see if you can put this word in context. I will read it one more time. And this is true. A lot of you would would say this to me and you'd say, "Well, you don't say lampany, but you say many of you, you compliment me for my Lamprophanany. You can understand me, but you may have difficulty with TV shows or movies. So what do you think it means if I'm talking about lamprphanany? You compliment me for the on this on my lampany. But some of you may say, "Ah, but I have difficulty with TV shows or movies." So this is this is very uh I think very applicable because today we're practicing our listening skills. All right. So um I think excellent. All right. See this is great practice for for some of the what you guys are putting down. I love some of these answers. Um like Yousef said eloquence uh hopu pronunciation coding is talking about articulating um gerous pronunciation. So yeah you you guys are on the right track. So if somebody is talking I'm talking about my lamprphanany it's talking about well two things loudness and clarity of voice. So I would say that all of those answers if you talked about enunciation the clarity of voice it does have to do with pronunciation the way that I speak and the way that I pronounce my words. So this is ex specifically what it is because I am kind of loud especially when I'm talking and giving these lessons. Loudness and clarity of voice is lampany. But many of you you're able to put it in context because of this situation. you compliment me and say, "Oh, Wes, I understand you, but when I'm listening to a TV show or movie, it may be a little more difficult." All right, excellent. Let's go to the next one. Are you ready? So, listen for the next one. Here it is. I want you to listen carefully. All right, if you're just joining us, we are practicing our listening skills and putting words into context to try and understand new vocabulary. So, listen carefully. And here we go. So, I'd say we could hear the halaloo in the third grade classroom next door. Perhaps the teacher was out of the room. I'll say it again. We could hear the halaloo in the third grade classroom next door. Perhaps the teacher was out of the room. So, if somebody's saying this to you, all right, I I want to know what does it mean? Uh oh, wait, not this one. Here we go. Halaloo. All right. So, you heard that sentence. This is the word I came to over here. This is the word that I want you to identify. Halaloo. I will read it one more time. See if you can listen for that word. Put it into context of what's around the word. We could hear the halaloo in the third grade classroom next door. Perhaps the teacher was out of the room. All right. What do you think it means? Halaloo. Excellent. uh seeing some great answers. So if again you could put it into context, a third grade classroom, if the teacher's out of the room, well probably the students are going to be noisy. So a halaloo is referring to a loud noise, a lot of commotion. All right, the teacher's not there, so there is a lot of noise. Excellent. But I like the answers. Lucky lucky noise. Perfect. Um yeah, Rodrigo, a racket, which is also a loud noise. Excellent. Um, Angela, Sarah, a fuss. Sure. So, all of those words are applicable. You can hear that and you understand the meaning of halaloo. Now, the next one. Are you ready? We're going to keep going. Listen carefully. What do you think? Um, this is a conversation between two people. All right. The first person says, "Why do you look so wobigon?" And the other person says, "Well, I just returned from my grandmother's funeral." Why do you look so wobagon? I just returned from my grandmother's funeral. What do you think it means if somebody is wobagon? All right, you you can I think the context is a little easy. So, I tried to choose words that I don't think you know, and this is not a common word whatsoever, but I tried to give you a little bit of an easier context to follow so you can say, "Oh, yes." I can listen to it and identify it. I'll read it again one more time. Why do you look so wobigon? Ah, I just returned from my grandmother's funeral. What do you think it means? Somebody is wobagon. Okay, so uh yes, excellent, you guys. You guys are rocking this. Putting these words into context. And again, this is great practice for your listening skills. So again, if we're talking about somebody who is wobagon, it's an adjective and it just means yeah, somebody is sad that they appear they look sad. All right? They they appear wobagon. Somebody who just returned from a funeral, they're going to look very sad. Their appearance, they're going to, oh, you know, it's not a good event. So I think if you said you know sama Ahmad dismal um you know El Mustafa sad perfect loi um melon uh you said a little distraught. Yes all of that works. All right somebody looks wobigon. All right they sad in appearance. Let's do another one. Are you ready? I want you to listen carefully to the following to this one. Um oh oh I should tell you. All right, with this one, um, with this one, it's a little longer. I'm going to choose two words. Okay, I'm choosing two words that I want you to identify and I will show you um, both of those words as well. All right, are you ready? I want you to Which one did we just do? Uh, halaloo. No, we did wobagon. Okay, let's do the next one. All right, listen carefully. We're on number 20. My boss is a real kermagin. I felt I prepared adequately for my presentation, but my boss said I was a bunch I was saying a bunch of gobblelygy He yelled at me because he claimed I didn't make any sense. All right, I'm going to read it again. My boss is a real kerogen. I felt I prepared adequately for my presentation, but my boss said I was saying a bunch of gobbledygook. He yelled at me because he claimed I didn't make any sense. All right. So, there are two words that I want you to think about. All right. What do you think it means? What is a kermagen? gobblelygook? What do you think? I will read that again because those are two words that again they're not very common words. It's not something these are not words that you're going to use every day, but it's good to listen for and see if you can put them into context. All right, I'll read it again. My boss is a real kerogen. I felt I prepared adequately for my presentation, but my boss said I was saying a bunch of gobbledygook. He yelled at me because he claimed I didn't make any sense. So, in this one, I'm trying to make it a little more challenging to see if you can identify two meanings. All right. What do those words re mean right there? What is a kermagin? And what is gobbledygook? So, uh seeing some ideas like no idea. All right. Exactly. um picky. Okay, maybe so I I think you can say like some of it uh I think some of you are answering some and not the others. If we're saying my boss is a real kermagin, all right, he yelled at this person really kind of just you know maybe they got angry for no reason. So if somebody is a kermagin, they are a badtempered person and the they said that they didn't make any sense. He was saying a bunch of gobbledygook. This is more like almost a bit of slang. If somebody's like if you're listening to somebody and it's just a bunch of gobbledygook. Yes, it is unintelligible nonsense. It doesn't make any sense. Um a kermagin is the son of a bee. Sure. Yeah. Uh many people might think yes that is a kmagin as well. Lai cranky is somebody who's bad temper. That works as well. Perfect. So again, somebody is a kermagin. They are badtempered. They easily lose their temper. And gobbledygook is when you're talking about you're listening to somebody speak. If you're hearing something and it's like, I don't understand this. It's just a bunch of gobbledygook. Yes, Albert. Like babbling. All right. Somebody's babbling. You can't you don't understand it. You could say it's just it's a bunch of gobbledgook. Are you ready? All right. The next one. Again, I want you to listen. I'm going to take two words out of this and you need to try to identify those two words. Are you ready? Listen carefully. Here we go. Even after observing the mayflies for hours, he was still flumxed by their behavior and their effiral lives meant he wouldn't have much longer to study this group. I'll say it one more time. Even after observing the mayflies for hours, he was still flumxed by their behavior and their effiral lives meant he wouldn't have much longer to study this group. Okay, so this I think it's a little more challenging. Can you identify the meaning of those two words? All right, flumixed and efferyl. All right, if you listen to that, what do you think is the meaning of those words? Let me I'm going to read it again. Are you ready? Listen carefully for those words. Um, I'd say even after observing the mayflies for hours, he was still flumxed by their behavior and their effeural lives meant he wouldn't have much longer to study this group. All right, so I chose that picture that that is a picture of a mayfly if you don't know. To be honest, I did not know what a mayfly was either. All right. So, if you're talking about um somebody, he was flumxed by their behavior. Excellent. See some good answers. Yes. Um Divianga Junior. Junior, you just rocked both of those. Excellent. So, he their effir he was flumxed by their behavior. He's like, hm, I'm a little flumxed by that. I just gave you a hint if somebody's flummixed. And the last part was their effiral lives meant he wouldn't have long to study the group. So in that case all right flumxed if somebody is flumxed they are confused they are perplexed all right so you might be flumxed by some situation you don't understand what's happening or why it's happening and if something is ephemeural it just means that it is lasting a short time very short-lived all right so we talk about their ephemeural lives because if you didn't know a mayfly it only a mayfly only lives for I I think a few days. So they have a very very short lifespan. So in that case that the person wouldn't have much time to study um what's happening with these mayflies. So I hope that again I put that reading up there so you can kind of read it and try to get idea as to the context the meaning of those words. All right let's uh let's do uh let's do another one. All right. Again just want you guys listen listen carefully. Here is the next one. All right. What are you doing? I want you to stop lolly gagging and finish your chores. Then make sure you wash your hands before our repast. All right. I will read that one more time. All right. What are you doing? I want you to stop lolly gagging and finish your chores. Then make sure you wash your hands before our repast. All right. What do you think these two words mean right here? Um, lolly gagging and repasted. Uh, again, I would say um, lolly gagging is more I think it's kind of a bit of a slang um, term that's more popular in the US. People might say lolly gagging. It's not super common. Um, but you somebody may hear it. You may hear it watching a movie. Repast is a word that I don't think is very common as well. So again, let me read it one more time. And now you know the words that I want you to identify. See if you can put them in context. Somebody would say, "What are you doing? I want you to stop lolly gagging and finish your chores. Then make sure you wash your hands before our repast." All right. So, I think the first one is you can kind of understand that. Um, what are you doing? I want you to stop lolly gagging and finish your chores. If you know that chores are things that you have to do around the home, then that's work you have to do. So if somebody's lolly gagging, yes, Mr. Reluctant, they're wasting time. Um, Ibrahim, yeah, you could say they're fooling around. Alberto, waste time. Um, on acting goofy. Sure, they're lolly gagging. They're I I like to say the phrase dragging their feet. If somebody's dragging their feet, it means they are wasting time because they don't want to do something that they need to do. And they'd say, "Ah, you know, I'm really dragging my feet." But you could say more informal lolly gagging. And the next one I wanted to put in context. Make sure you wash your hands before our repast. When would people tell you to wash your hands? They would say to wash hands before you eat. So yes. Excellent. So to w to repast is talking about amhmad. Yes. A feast. It is talking about a meal. Some of you uh got that one as well. Uh adeistic. Perfect. So again, you guys were able to listen to those words. What are you doing? I want you to stop lolly gagging, wasting time, and finish your chores. Then make sure you wash your hands before our repast, which is our meal, which is dinner. I think most of the time repast is used to refer to dinner. And I think it's more of a I'm not positive. I think it's more of a religious word, maybe a religious context. I'm not sure about that. But again, it's it's not a very common word. People would just say dinner, supper, a meal, a feast. There are many words that somebody would use. But the whole idea behind this is that if you are uh listening to a conversation, the next time you're watching a TV show or movie and you hear a word that maybe you are a little familiar with or maybe you don't know it all, just try to put it into context. Try to understand all the words that are around there. Put a picture in your head so that you know, okay, this is what the word means. Now, this is this is what I this is great practice for trying to continue doing this for actually improving your listening skills as well as maybe learning some new words along the way. So, I hope you guys enjoyed this listening practice uh and trying to identify new vocabulary words and put them in the context. If you like this lesson, please I would really appreciate it if you hit that like button down below. Stop lolly gagging. Stop lolly gagging and go ahead and and hit that like button. And of course, I hope all of you enjoy your your repass tonight. I know that uh you know, I'm I'm trying to make sense. I'm I'm not trying to be I'm trying to remember the words that I I had from from this lesson. Um I'm trying not to speak a bunch of gobbledygook. All right. So I I'm I again I'm really glad that you guys hopefully you understand uh what I'm saying because of my lamp prophety. All right, my annunciation, my voice. All right, that was a quick little review uh of some of the words from this lesson. Thank you guys. Thank you. Um Ira, uh Tactic, um Canana, sorry if I mispronounced names. Judith, uh, Saz, Rosal, Linda, Ulysa, Fulia, Mary, Junior, Artum, uh, Miss Reluctant. Thank you guys so much for joining me today. I hope you have a wonderful day. And also check out our social media classes. We're active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. We try to be everywhere. All right? And we try to create a halaloo wherever we go and help you guys practice and improve your English skills. And as always, just write to us in the comments. We love hearing from you. Have a wonderful, wonderful day. And okay, that's enough. I've I'm I'm dragging this on. I will see you guys next time. --- ## 349. How to Overcome Your Anxiety and Fear of Speaking | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VS-MwImS3N0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS-MwImS3N0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:50:35 | --- Does alcohol help you speak a foreign language better? Yes! No! Maybe? I'll tell you the answer to that question in today's video. So let me tell you a little story about the first semester I taught at a university in Korea. So this was about my very first week, and the main class that we have is a speaking class. It's kind of like your homeroom class. These are the students that you teach every day and you really get to know them. So, at the end of that first week I had gone out to the convenient store to get something and when I was walking back, I noticed my speaking class was at a restaurant next to the convenient store. So I saw them. They saw me. They were waving at me, so I went in to say hello. Now, these are university students so the table was just covered in these green Soju bottles. And Soju is...just the...probably the most popular alcoholic drink in Korea. I sat down and we started talking and... You know...they were a little more chatty. I think most of them had a little bit to drink. But the one person that really stood out was the girl to my left whose English name was Ellen. So Ellen was very shy and reserved. She really didn't speak that much in class. She only spoke when spoken to. So that night, I learned something. I learned that Ellen was by far the most competent speaker in the class. She just kept talking. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. In fact, she wouldn't stop talking. She was asking me about travel, what I thought about Korea, and even the other students were asking her questions about how to say things in English. But the thing is that night Ellen was pumped up on the liquid courage of Soju. That it had lowered her inhibitions...she did not care about making mistakes. She just wanted to speak. So one could probably come to the conclusion that alcohol helped her speaking. And yes. One could make that argument. However, it's not entirely true. The answer of really what was going on is a little more complex. And that's what I want to talk to you about. First, in order to understand what was happening that night. We need to take a little more in-depth look at the speaking process. So within the circles of language learning, there is this theory called the Affective Filter Hypothesis, which was developed by this guy named Stephen Krashen. When you're learning a new language, you are receiving the information, and then you're producing what you know. But according to Krashen, there is this filter that we put up that can make this process a little more difficult. Because there are emotional factors that can affect our ability to learn. These are all negative factors that affect our ability to learn a language. Essentially, these factors raise our filter and can block out the information we're trying to take in. And it can also block the language that we're trying to produce. Therefore, we need to lower our filters so that the message get through. That way we can learn more about a language and then we can produce more of it as well. So what do teachers do to lower a student's filter? Well, you hear all sorts of ideas. I'm sure a lot of students like that last one. Basically, we need a low stress environment like this one... Nice. But what if we can't all learn a language while at the beach? So how else can we lower our anxiety? I got an idea. Alcohol! So now you should have a better idea about how this is connected. Drinking alcohol lowers people's anxiety. This lowers our filter, and we become more relaxed and comfortable when it comes to speaking. Even if we're speaking a foreign language. However, there are some serious drawbacks to drinking and learning. Let me give you three. Number one - any positive effects you feel alcohol is giving you from speaking is only temporary. And the last thing you want to do is to rely on alcohol to speak. Number two - grammar and pronunciation mistakes that you make while drinking may become ingrained bad habits that you might continue to make when you become sober. Number three - drinking is just...it's not a very healthy activity. And the bottom line is that the seemingly positive effects that you think you might get from drinking alcohol are not due to alcohol whatsoever. They're due to the confidence in your own speaking ability. That means that everything that you need is already inside you. You just got to let it out. Here are four ways that you can lower your anxiety to help make you a more confident speaker. Number one - don't expect perfection from yourself. You need to realize that you're going to make mistakes and that is perfectly okay. It's part of the language learning process. If you're speaking to somebody and they correct you, then try to keep that in mind and you move on. And if you're speaking to somebody and they don't understand you, then...you know, that's okay as well. It's going to happen. Just try to express your thoughts or your ideas in a different way. Number two - don't let your nervousness make you even more nervous. Try to channel any nervousness into another emotion like excitement. Because every time that you speak you're getting to practice. You're getting to use the language because that's how you improve and continue learning. Number three - avoid translating all of your thoughts. Don't try to think of every single little word that you want to say before you actually speak. Just think of the idea of what you want to say, that's perfectly fine, but then just try and say it. And let it come out naturally and unrehearsed. Number four - identify what you think makes you anxious. Because when you have a clear understanding of what makes you anxious, then you have a better chance of reducing anxiety. So what you can do is just take a journal, you can write this information down, and then go back and reflect on why it's making you anxious and then it will help you in the future reduce that anxiety. Okay, I hope some of this information helps. And I hope it helps you become a better speaker. And become a better speaker without having to drink alcohol. In the comments below, let us know what challenges you face when it comes to speaking. This will help us understand where everybody is coming from, and it should also be interesting to read what challenges other people are going through. Thanks for joining us today. We'll see you next time. --- ## 350. How to Pronounce -ED Words Correctly | Speak English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ltvpVuVThSw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltvpVuVThSw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:10:43 | --- today I am going to help you perfect your pronunciation by teaching you about IDI endings [Music] what's up everyone my name's Wes this is Interactive English which is where you want to be to practice and improve your English skills and today I'm gonna help you practice and improve your pronunciation by teaching you all about IDI endings now when you think about words with IDI endings for the most part we are talking about regular verbs in the past tense that's the majority of words that have these IDI endings however there are also adjectives that have IDI endings as well as past participles that have IDI endings as well but as we go through the lesson and I give you some examples and when we do the practice we're just gonna be using regular verbs in the simple past now you may be thinking to yourself why should I care about edie endings why does this matter why is this important the reason it's important is because it can be very confusing for non-native English speakers simply because there are three different pronunciations for edie ending words it can have a pronunciation like a T sound or a pronunciation like a D sound or an eID pronunciation those three you just need to know the rules and I'm gonna go over those rules with you today and you'll just start saying these words correctly because you'll know the rules and you've practice them again and again and again which is exactly what we're going to do today the first thing you need to be aware of is that the pronunciation that you use is going to be determined by the final consonant sound that comes before the II D that final consonant sound that comes before the e D that is going to determine whether you use the to or it once you know the final consonant sound you'll know which one to use don't worry we're gonna go over this in much greater detail it's also very very very important that you know the difference between voiceless and voiced sounds because in short if the final consonant sound is voiceless then the e D is going to have a sound that T sound if the final consonant sound is voiced then the e D is going to have to sound like that D sound and if the final consonant sound has that two or sound then you are going to pronounce the e D as it and you're going to add an extra syllable that it will be another syllable sorry I'm emphasizing these this too and did and it but but you you'll get the idea when we say these words you're going to hear them but only slightly not not as pronounced as I'm giving them to you right now first let's just start with the difference between voiceless and voiced sounds that's a good starting point now voiceless sound those are just sounds in which there is no vibration in the vocal cords voice sounds that means that there is a vibration in the vocal cords let's let's do an example and the way that you can tell if there's a vibration or not is just to take two of your fingers and put them right here put them on your vocal cords on your throat and you'll be able to feel that vibration so let's take two sounds the P sound and the B sound so the P sound that is voiceless and if you say that sound you are not going to feel a vibration the B sound that is a voiced sound when you say that sound you should feel a vibration but but but now let's say the sounds together and I want you to say them with me and and put your fingers there so that you can feel this vibration so you should feel that vibration when saying the B sound because it's voiced but there is no vibration with the P sound because it's voiceless so let's get into the rules when we're talking about voiceless sounds when that final consonant sound is voiceless then the IDI is going to be pronounced as alright that T sound when it's voiceless it's pronounced as two let's look at some voiceless sounds and as I say the words I want you to repeat after me so that you can prep as well and I'll try to emphasize that that edy sound a little bit so you can hear it more clearly so the first one is that P sound which we just practice hoped hoped we also have the F sound that is voiceless laughed laughed then there's the s sound that's kissed kissed danced danced fixed fixed notice the spelling because even though dance is spelled with a see that final consonant sound is still that's even with fixed it's spelled with an X but that final consonant sound X it still has that s sound fixed then there's the SH sound like washed washed and the Chu sound as in watched watched finally there is the Kuh sound like liked like liked liked liked at the end of this lesson I will probably ask you if you liked the video so if the voiceless sounds have an e D with a 2 then the voiced sounds have an IDI with the so when you feel that vibration in your vocal chords then you know that e d should have a sound and this goes for all the other consonant sounds besides the ones that I just mentioned all the other consonant sounds are voiced so you are going to use a for the e d endings for example played played borrowed borrowed begged begged these sounds are going to have that sound that brings me to the final rule so if voiceless sounds have a 2 and voice sounds have a then you might be thinking well what if the final consonant sound has a sound in this case this when you will use the ED for an IDI ending and you're basically just going to add another syllable for example weighted it has that sound that's the final consonant sound to weighted blended blended has the dip as a final consonant sound so again we add that it and it becomes another syllable weighted blended weighted blended wanted ended it it it it so now you know those rules that that's what you need to do you identify the final consonant sound and if it's voiceless you're gonna use the tip if it's voiced you're gonna use the dip and if it ends with a to order then that's when you'll use it a great question when thinking about IDI endings is what's the best way to practice that's that's a great question when it comes to practicing anything now if I just gave you a a single individual word I think it should be a bit easy for you especially after going over those rules you should be able to look at the word and identify that final consonant sound so that you know whether you should use the or it for the IDI ending but let's just practice quickly I'm going to give you a word I want you to say the word out loud then I will say it and then even give you an example sentence so that you can hear how it's used in context are you ready let's begin called I called you yesterday needed I needed you yesterday where were you watched I watched all of the interactive English video lessons and that's what I called you about because I needed you to watch them with me that's a very modest example of using these IDI endings I think this probably was pretty easy for you I think you could identify that final consonant sound but I want to make it a little more challenging and this is where I think many learners make mistakes and that is just with with natural free-flowing conversations because when you're having a conversation you're not stopping to think about that final consonant sound and think well should I use it or it you're just going to say the word and just keep going with the conversation a great way to practice this is with reading now you can do this by just reading to yourself because you're saying the words in your head but I think a great way to practice is by reading out loud so that you're actually having to sound out each word and actually you can hear yourself saying these words so we are going to do that right now we are going to read a dialogue I am going to read a and I want you to read B however I don't want you just to read it I want you to speak out loud and actually practice your pronunciation and say these words because there are many many many IDI words in this dialogue are you ready I will say a and you will say B and we're just gonna go through this together we're gonna speak out loud let's begin you said you needed to talk to your boss about taking a vacation right well it rained hard yesterday maybe she worked from home you must be frustrated I wanted to take a vacation as well but I couldn't because my boss opened a new store great job I hope you said those IDI words correctly the goal is just to pretend like we're having a natural conversation and and not think too much about these IDI word endings but also save them correctly let's do it again and this time we're gonna switch I want you to read a and I am going to read B let's begin yeah I tried I waited for her after work but she never showed up true but the company changed its policy and I learned it's more difficult to take time off that's too bad I really enjoyed my last vacation and I had hoped I could take another before the year ended excellent well done well done I hope you enjoyed our dialogue I hope you were able to practice and try to just have a conversation and say those IDI endings correctly if you did if you participated in this lesson I want to know about it in the comments right the word speaking if you write that word just right speaking then I know that you were practicing your pronunciation that you were trying to improve your English skills that is what I want to see so write that in the comments if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button down below and be sure to check us out on patreon it's another great way to connect with us the link is in the description thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 351. How to Pronounce -ed Endings | Improve Your Pronunciation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `39gthPv9iSg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39gthPv9iSg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:51:21 | --- hey all right hello and welcome good morning good afternoon or good evening good night I don't know whatever time of the day it is wherever you're at but today my name is Wes from interactive English and today I want to go over a fun pronunciation lesson with you about edie endings most specifically talking about verbs regular verbs that are ending with the e D so if you have any questions or comments write them in the chat and we will try to answer them alright so the first thing that you might be wondering is why the heck should I care about these two little letters well let me tell you the first reason is because well we you know we think you guys are really cool we want you to stay looking cool when you're speaking English and we don't want you to make these simple little mistakes where people are going to be like wait what what what did they just say and this is something that is applicable to all English learners whether you are a beginner learner an intermediate learner or an advanced learner this is when it comes to e d endings these are mistakes that I hear people make all the time and they're not like you know they're not like huge mistakes that look people are like well I just don't understand you it's more just small things that impede people's fluency and I know that people want to improve their pronunciation they might want to reduce their accent a little but the most important thing is that we communicate and communicate clearly and learning these edie endings and knowing how to use them and what the correct pronunciation is is just going to help you become a more capable and confident speaker and improve your overall fluency so again if you're just joining us right now please write any questions comments in the chat I'm going to go over a few different slides with you if you will I want to talk to you about the rules for edy endings because you know we must have rules and then I'm going to do show you some sentences we'll read those and then we're going to do it practice and you will need to engage and write your answers in the comments and then at the final at the end of the video or the end of the lesson I'm going to show you a couple of different ways that you can take what we've learned here today and continue practicing on your own so we're going to talk about the pronunciation of these IDI endings and because let's see let me go over again tell you give you an example of why this is important so for example I remember like like I said it's important for all students I remember teaching a level of advanced students and when you go over this information we would go over this information together and it you know talk about it practice it and everybody would do a really good job because we're focusing on the pronunciation the challenge is when you're just having a normal natural free-flowing conversation and you're not trying to think about the rules of pronunciation and you might make small mistakes so for example I remember speaking to somebody and they would say you know last night I walk it to the store and I understood what they were saying but again you kind of did that double take we're like wait a second did they just say walk it it's just mispronouncing that IDI ending which impedes fluency so let's get the ball rolling and begin again I know I'm going to reiterate if you're just joining us you know stick around we're talking about edie endings right any questions you have in the comments and if you guys haven't already and you're here and you found us please subscribe to our Channel and also a huge favor if you guys will you can share this video with your friends your family your boyfriend your girlfriend your grandparents you know who knows maybe they are your grandparents or on YouTube who knows so let's start out and talk about the rules of these edy endings okay so here we have a list of rules about how to determine and decide you know what type of edy ending you should use as well as the different sounds they should make so when you're talking about these regular verbs in the simple pass because they all end with Edie Edie Edie Edie you need to think about the final sound of the word more specifically the final consonant sound of the word forget about spelling it has nothing to do with spelling it's more about that final sound and that's going to help you determine the sound of the Edie alright is it going to have that T sound that to the D sound the DA or the ED sound the and if you're wondering again you can look right here to find all that information that I am talking about so it is all about the final sound of that word and then once you identify the final sound you'll know okay the Edie is going to have the T the D or the it'd so the first thing that we need to do is determine if that final sound is voiceless or if it's voiced now a lot of you some of you may be asking yourselves well what does it mean voiceless and voice and that is a good question so let's start and look at voiceless so voiceless means that there is no no vibration in the vocal cords and your vocal cords are right here okay that the sound is coming you know through your your vocal cords and then out your mouth and there is no vibration back and forth so one way to determine about whether there's a vibration or not is just to take you know your two fingers put them right here on your vocal cords and then if you're just talking maybe you're reading out loud saying anything you'll be able to feel a difference between some of the sounds you're making and the other sounds whether they're voiceless and you can't feel anything or they are voiced and you can feel that vibration so voiceless means there's no vibration some of the letters that that make this sound are the ones that I have again right there the letters P if you did that put plus sound you can put your fingers there and make the sound puh puh puh and you're not going to feel a vibration the letters K ku ku ku F s and X the six that sound those are all voiceless sounds that do not vibrate in your vocal cords so if you know that that is the final sound of the word and it is voiceless then that IDI is going to have the T sound okay the IDI is going to have the T sound so for example I gave you some words down there below as well as that beautiful lovely drawing right there showing that the sound is traveling up right through your mouth no vibration so looks look at like help alright the last sound the final sound is that P sound help so we know it's going to have the T and we can pronounce it helped helped alright I'm going to emphasize it a little and exaggerate it so you guys can hear helped the next one walk cook cook that K sound voiceless walked all right walked next one laugh that G H has the F sound again which is voiceless left left left and then the last one ooh kiss all right s voiceless kissed all right kissed so we know that these these verbs that I just show you helped walked laughed kissed they are all the final sound is voiceless so the IDI has that T sound all right so now again if you're just joining us or you're kind of tuning in hanging out you know we are working on voiced and voiceless sounds so if you have any questions write them in the chat and then we're going to do a practice so we just talked about voiceless sounds and that again has the T sound the IDI is going to have that T sound now if we're talking about voiced sounds right here it's basically it's just the opposite all right in the vocal chords right here you're going to feel that vibration with these sounds again look at that beautiful lovely picture that I put together down on the bottom there you can see the sound vibrating back and forth and this vibration in the vocal cords you can feel it if you put your fingers right here and we're going to look at those letters right here and make those sounds and you'll feel it so B is a voiced sound if you had buh-buh-buh g googa googa l so you can feel the difference if you have like the the L sound ooh you can feel that vibration and you compare it to the S which is voiceless whoo sounds a little crazy but you can really feel the difference these other letters n M those are also sounds that are voiced alright are V alright V and Z these are voice sounds which means if their voice then the e D is going to have the D sound okay so voiceless the T sound voiced the D sound so let's look at these examples so that first verb is you know rub rubbed all right B is the but it's voiced rubbed alright call called alright L is a voice sound so we use the D for the Edie called cleaned loved all right I'll say this again it rubbed called cleaned loved again we're talking about Edie sounds another thing that will help you guys practice if you want to turn this into another interactive activity you can just repeat the words that I'm saying so this becomes more shadowing you're listening to my pronunciation and then trying to say it exactly as I do all right rubbed called cleaned loved all right you should hear that D sound at the end of those regular verbs okay so we've talked about you know voiceless which has the T sound at the end and voiced which has the D sound okay there is one more sound that it can make alright and that is this one which is the it'd sound and this makes perfect sense as to why we have another final sound all right because when the final sound is a T or D it's going to have this eed sound all right and the reason is because we're already using that T and D sound for voiceless and voiced verbs all right so if we have we can't have two T sounds in a row so for example want ends with a T so the T sound so we're going to have it's going to have that it wanted we can't have the want to titta to alright because T is a voiceless sound same with need its voice you can't have those 2d sounds in a row that needed it alright so that is why if it ends with a T or D sound it's going to have the it'd which is basically going to add one more syllable to the word and a syllable is just a unit of sound so all of these like want alright it's one syllable and we know this we can put our finger we want however many times your tin touches your hand that's a syllable that's a unit of sound so want Ted it adds an additional syllable that it wanted and this is actually a common thing this is where I would hear a lot of learners make a mistake they'll add an it to either a voiceless or voice sound when it's not needed and it's only necessary with the T or the D so we have these sounds again you can repeat after me wanted needed waited blended and ended I could say them faster wanted needed waited blended ended all right you can hear that it it it it wanted needed blend though want it needed waited blend it ended all right all of those that did final sound because the verbs final sound is either a T or ad so we are just to review because we're talking about the IDI endings mostly with these are all simple past regular verbs we have the voiceless which is the T sound all right helped walked laughed kissed all right if the final sound is voiced where the IDI will have the D sound called cleaned loved and if the final sound ends with either T or D then it's going to have the ED sound wanted needed waited blended and did okay so those are the rules for determining the IDI pronunciation and I think they're pretty kind of straightforward it's really just knowing the difference between voiced and voiceless and we can use our vocal chords to decide that so let's look at some sentences because this is like I said before this is where I think a lot of learners have difficulty whereas we can do a practice and you're learning this and you know oh okay I understand the rules that makes sense it's fine I can listen for it and then I can say it the difficulty comes when you are actually again just having that normal conversation and you're not even thinking about pronunciation rules so I wanted to practice a little with these sentences so I have four sentences for you about that picture right here the beautiful sunset all right so these sentences are about the picture and I want you to look at the first one which is up there okay and there are three IDI words that I've highlighted in blue I want you to think about their ending and then I'm going to read the sentence and you can listen for it and then we'll kind of dissect each one and and talk about them a little bit so think about the final sound of those words after the rules that we just went over and think about the sounds alright and again if you're just joining us that's okay we're talking about edie endings and you can listen for that final sound it's either going to have a T sound a D sound or an eID sound okay so the first verbs alright I'll read the sentence so you can hear me we waited and watched a as the Sun descended we waited and watched as the Sun descended so the first one wait it has that T sound so we know that it's going to the e D is going to be an it waited we waited and watched cha-cha-cha it's voice list so the e D is going to sound like a T watched we waited and watched as the Sun descended again the D is the final sound so it's going to have the it at the end descended all right we waited and watched as the Sun descended the next sentence what do you guys think all right there are three more words I want you to just think about the final sound and then you know what what is the you know what's the e D sound what sound is it going to make all right let me read it I'll read it for you then you can listen alright make sure you you've identified them correctly we marveled as it splashed into the ocean and then disappeared we marveled as it splashed into the ocean and then disappeared so the first word marvel little it's voiced the L sound so we use it D marveled we marveled as it splashed splashed that Shh is voiceless so we use the T sound we marveled as it splashed into the ocean and then disappeared disappeared with the D because R is the final sound and that is I can't hear you so yeah voiced it's a voice sound alright and then disappeared alright next sentence right here is where we are at we're talking about this sentence two words one of them is a verb the other is an adjective it's an e d adjective follows the same rules with adjectives there are a few exceptions which we will not get into right now but look at those words alright and think what is the ending alright listen to me say we enjoyed the V and we were utterly amazed we enjoyed the view and we were utterly amazed so the first word enjoy and this is something that I didn't mention before oi oi is an actual it's a vowel sound so if the word ends in a vowel sound then we're going to Edie is going to have a D sound enjoyed we enjoyed the view and were utterly amazed the Z is voiced so it is the D sound we enjoyed the view and we were utterly amazed again if you guys have any questions just write them in the comments part of it alright and if you're just joining us welcome welcome we're going to do a practice here in a second with E D adjectives are adjectives herbs actually so let's look at the last sentence alright right here last sentence how would you say those two verbs alright how are you going to pronounce the e D alright the day ended and we traveled home okay and it ends with the D sound so we're going to have the it'd ended ended the day ended and we traveled l Lu is voiced we travelled home so again that's going to have the d traveled alright so that's a quick practice with those sentences and you know it's a good way to continue practicing to identify they not only identify the sounds but just keep practice saying them alright so before we do our practice I'm going to give you some words just to review it really depends on whether it's voiced or voiceless that final sound if it's voiceless it's going to have the T sound and remember we how do we determine that if there's vibration in the vocal cords no vibration its voiceless and the T sound if we're there is a vibration back and forth the but mmm those sounds we're going to use the D for the IDI and if it if the final sound is a T or a D sound then we're going to add that extra syllable that it wanted needed weight tip blended and did okay so what I want to do right now is I'm going to give you a word okay and what I want you to do is you are going I'm going to give you a word I'm going to say it so this is a listening activity and I want you to listen for the final sound and in the comments I want you to write is it 80 ad or an e d downed which sound are you hearing with these words okay so the first one let's do is this okay I'll say the word and then I want you to write the answer in the comment exercised all right I'll say it again a few times exercised yesterday we exercised and we went running alongside the river we exercised okay listen to that last sound alright is it TD or it exercised write them in the comments okay which sound do you hear exercised all right hopefully remember exercise even though it's spelled with an S it's the Z sound that it's voiced so because of that exercise you should have said D D is the answer all right exercised all right let's look at another one another one that we have for you right here let's see this word alright accepted what sound do you hear when I say this word accepted is that Edie does it have the T the D or the ED sound remember you want to identify the words final sound except what's the final sound it is a T so again if it's a T sound then the Edie accepted accepted will have that ed sound that is what you should write in the comments this is the answer accepted alright let's look at another one all right how about this word all right what is the final sound danced okay danced what is the final sound danced that you hear danced all right the Edie sound because again dance it ends at that S sound that's its voiceless so danced can you hear it it ends with this sound that T alright danced all right last night we danced all night you want and I danced at the club not true we watched a movie again with the T sound watched all right the next word let's go let's try this one how about hoped all right hoped what is the final sound you hear T D or it remember again the rules for this you have to think of the final sound don't worry about spelling don't you see that you know hoped all right it ends with the P sound which is voiceless so the P sound is voiceless which means you should in the comments write T hoped all right hoped again it'll help if you're you're somewhere and you want to practice just repeat the words after me hoped hoped all right it's going to help you remember this stuff next time you're speaking or reading and you'll start to you know become more proficient so next one all right I'm going to try and give you a more difficult one so look at this word all right what is the final sound tried tried remember I told you that try that I is the long I sound it's a vowel sound if it's a vowel sound alright the IDI is going to sound like tried alright tried whoops not the e the D alright tried alright this one this this regular verb in the simple past has the D sound at the end tried okay let's do another one how about um this word all right in the comments I want you to write is it TD or it visited visited in the comments right what is the final Esau visited do you hear that is the IDI do you hear the T sound the D sound or the it visited visited alright visited the final sound of the word is the T visit remember if it ends with the T or D sound we're going to use the it so boom visit did okay hmm visit tid has that extra syllable at the end alright next one let's do this one okay we spurred whispered what is the final sound that you hear write it in the comments because we want you to make this interactive get some practice in there so this is good listening practice for you guys you want good speaking practice say the words after me say I'm out loud I don't care where you're at whispered whispered so again whisper or ends with the it's voiced so it's going to end whispered you should write D whispered alright the IDI has that D sound whispered heard whispered okay next one how about this one there we go switch it up don't let that Y fool you say the word alright say it without the e D and then that'll help you identify that final sound stay now how do you say it in the past does the e d have the t the D or the it'd write it in the comments stayed I'll say it stayed stayed stayed yesterday we stayed over at a friend's house we stayed it ends with a vowel sound that a that long a and remember that's a rule if it ends with that vowel sound it's going to have the e D is going to have the D sound stayed okay stayed next one let's do some more um next one I'm going to give you hmm so this word land alright you know if you're flying in an airplane room you're having a conversation you're using it in the past you're going to say this word landed mmm landed landed we landed at five o'clock we landed yesterday at five o'clock that's when our plane landed is it the t the D or the it don't be shy write them in the comments if you're just joining us we're doing a little practice right here with the e d the final II D sound I want you to write is do you hear that is that final sound is it a TD or it landed okay landed for this word you should write the it land did land ends with the D sound so we're going to add that it at the end land did landed our plane landed at five o'clock next one and this is like one I don't know why what it is about this one I commonly hear it mispronounced this is one this is a verb that people like to throw the wrong end on it walked all right walked it's not walk kid no no no no no no no no no walked all right we walked to the store we walked to the mall we walked downtown we walked to the movies what is the final sound you hear write it in the comments walked all right you should write final sound T sound walked all right walked walked walked you try saying it walked walked walked walked walked walked walked all right you're going to say that T sound at the end um let's do a few more how about let's do dried dried which sound you hear at the end write it in the comments do it do it again you can even practice if you're watching this video later on still write the answers in the comments just keep comment and use it like it's a your own chalkboard or something and just keep writing the answers and practicing because again the idea for this is for not only for you to listen to what I'm saying is to try to produce the language and actually become engaged in what's happening so to ride what is the final sound is it t d or e d all right dry to remember it ends with I that I sound dry which is a vowel sound which means that the final sound is a D sound all right again we're not it's not that eed we're not adding an additional syllable it's still one syllable dried dried all right it's just that D sound at the end next um let's try this one alright worried worried I was worried about you what sound do you hear at the end write it in the comments I was worried about you I don't know why that just was okay worried you should write for this one worried whoops sorry the D sound at the end worried worried all right next one let's do one more and I'll give you guys some tips how about okay oh this one right here dropped all right I dropped the pen dropped what's the sound dropped all right do you hear the T the D or the it dropped okay you should write for this one the T sound dropped okay does that make sense so remember again there are three rules that you just need to remember and again if you're joining us a little late I'll go over those rules really quickly right now and then I want to tell you how you guys can do some self study on your own to continue practicing this so remember if if the final sound we need to identify the final sound of the word if it's voiceless all right we're going to add the T dropped all right P is voiceless put put put dropped okay if it's a voice sound which means there is vibration in the vocal cords we're going to add a D sound okay call call the alright and then finally if the final sound is that T or D sound then we're going to add an eID to it you can look at those words again those are good examples and they're very common verbs wanted needed waited blended and did okay so those are the rules on and then you just need to internalize the information and what I mean by that is you really do need to practice on your own because that is going to help you alright you practice on your own and the more you do that the more you're listening to it the more you're saying it especially correctly you will internalize that information because the goal is to not think about these pronunciation rules the goal is just to speak and when you're having a conversation that you're pronouncing these words that end with Edie and you're using the correct pronunciation so the first way I would say that you guys could practice at home one easy way is just to listen to it alright and you could listen to a story whether it's a podcast in the simple past or even songs so for example here this website right here I kind of just did a google search and it says seven songs for teaching past simple it gives you the song alright even tells you some of the verbs that are in the past simple so this one expected alright closed and these are all pretty I think they're they're common songs I don't popular songs pop music not sure what you'd like to listen to but these are ways that you can continue to expose yourself to the correct pronunciation sing along with them here's a Katy Perry song planned all right this is another song wow this is pretty old from a while back torn but it has a lot of good ones you know showed all right adored changed crawled because when you're doing this you're just listening to it whether it's music whether it's TV whether it's movies it'll you're receiving the information all right and you're listening to it here's another song somebody that I used to know happened all right so this is one way that I would say that you guys can do it is just listening to a variety of things hopefully many of you already watching a lot of movies and English TV shows listening to music I think subtitles also help so again you can try to then identify those IDI words with the sounds that you're hearing and then once you start to internalize it practice practice practice you'll just start speaking correctly and saying the words correctly without even thinking about it another thing that you guys can do is okay reading all right read outloud this is a good way to practice actually speaking and trying to say these words correctly so I just did again google search for English paragraph simple past okay first one that came up here story is written in the past tense for ESL learners all right these are probably for some of you depending on your level they might be very basic stories but but that's okay because the idea the goal is to practice the simple past so what you can do is if you have a story such as this they've highlighted some of these verbs all right you can then look at the word think of the rule think of the pronunciation that you're going to reuse miss all right is voiceless so it's going to have the T sound missed all right and then just start reading I only missed the train by a few minutes I was annoyed if I had walked a bit further again now we're practicing the T sound and there's other stories down here below again some of these verbs are irregular but others are regular verbs in the simple past watched and this is just one source there's a bunch of different stories that you guys could probably find and come up with that is going to help you practice speaking when you read out loud then you are actually saying these words and you're saying them correctly so that when you're just having that informal conversation you're not thinking about pronunciation rules you're just speaking and because you've internalized all this information you're saying the words correctly so those are a couple different exercises and activities that you can do for self-study that will help you perfect this IDI pronunciation and again this is something that no matter what level you are that people tend to make sometimes very very very simple mistakes so even if you've already studied this even if all you've already learned these rules it's still good practice to review so that you don't make mistakes in the future so again if you have any questions thoughts ideas please write them in the comments and we will try to answer your questions if you haven't already subscribed to our channel you can also check us out on social media we're pretty active on Facebook Instagram Twitter and snapchat and thank you guys for for tuning in I really had a lot of fun hope you enjoyed the lesson hope you learned something new and if you did share it with everybody you know please we'll do more of these lessons a little later on and we'll probably announce them when we'll do it so you guys will have an idea but again thanks for watching and we will see you next time you --- ## 352. How to Pronounce 25 Famous Brand Names in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `45BL1Gono94` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45BL1Gono94) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:49:13 | --- Today we're going to talk about brands names and how to pronounce them. So, before we begin today's lesson, we'd like to remind you to subscribe to our channel for more video lessons on how you can practice and improve your English. So a while back we received a comment from somebody who asked I hope you guys can create a video that will teach us how to say some brands correctly. And that is exactly what we're going to do today. YAY! As always, we appreciate your feedback. And if you have any questions, we'll do our best to answer them. Hopefully with a video. So, what we're going to do today is we're going to go over 25 words. 25 brands that we're going to pronounce for you. But this pronunciation that we're doing is the American or English pronunciation of the brands. It's how native English speakers would say it. Keep in mind that a lot of these brands are not from English speaking countries. And that means that Americans like me will take the name and the pronunciation that it is intended to be and we will bastardize it and mispronounce it. And then it just becomes mainstream. It's important to note that even though we might not say the pronunciation the way it is intended to be said, people need to be able to understand and hear you and recognize what you're saying. So that's why this is valuable. So we'll explain a little more as we go along. But right now, let's begin. Number 1 - IKEA I think that anybody who is not from Sweden possibly pronounces this wrong. Because in Sweden they say....if I... /Ikea/ Maybe I still might be mispronouncing it. But if you're in the US or Britain I think most people pronounce it IKEA and that's what they understand. IKEA Yea, get you some end tables and some of them five-dollar lamps, man. So if you were to say I'm going shopping today, I got this new stuff from... /Ikea/ People in America would be like... Where is that? Okay Number 2 - Nutella Correctly, it's Nutella and that's how I say it. Because I love it and it's my favorite. But Americans like Wes will say... Nutella. It's similar, but... there's a little... Nutella is my favorite brand so far because of all the chocolate, of course. She even has a shirt. Number 3 - Coke Now this is perhaps one of the most famous brands in the world. And most of us, I think, know how to pronounce it. But make sure you are saying it with the long /o/ sound. Coke. We had a student a while back who pronounced it with the short /o/. And kept saying"Cock." Alright. That means something different. It is slang in English for... I remember he was telling us a story that he went out to a restaurant and the waitress asked him, "What would you like to drink?" And he said, "I would like some cock." And...it just...yea... In the end, he eventually did get his Coke. So everything worked out and I'm pretty sure he's pronouncing it correctly now. This is...you know, it's a very innocent mistake. But... And this is how pronunciation can cause a lot of confusion among different people. Give me cock. Please give me cock. I want a cock. It's a... Coke. Number 4 - Tommy Hilfiger Because this is a name I think people may mispronounce the last... the last name. The first name I think is easy. Tommy. Everyone knows that. But Hilfiger might be a little more confusing. So that's how you pronounce it. Tommy Hilfiger. Number 5 - Hyundai Or as I think a lot of Americans say /Hundye/ And this one, it's... Hyundai or Honda. Hyundai. This is a Korean brand. So again, it takes on a very different pronunciation. I'm not really sure why but That's just the way it is. Number 6 - Nike Now I've heard people say /nike/ before. They drop the /e/ which kind of makes sense if you think about it. It's what it looks like. It looks like. But it's not. It's actually Nike. From the old Greek goddess actually. Nike. And because it's an American company I guess this is the correct pronunciation. Looks like /nike/. But we say Nike. Number 7 - Adidas This is a German company. And it's actually a portmanteau which is the combination of two words. So you have Adi, which is the nickname of Adolf and Das from Dassler. Adolf Dassler. Who is the person who started all of this. Adidas. So if you're looking for this shoe, it's Adidas. Number 8 - Sephora With this word just make sure you know that the PH makes an /f/ sound. Sephora. This is one of Ioana's favorite brands. Oh yea, I could live there. Number 9 - Porsche So in the US, a lot of people either say Porsche or even shorten it and say Porsch. But apparently, the company even made a video as to how to pronounce this a while back. Porsche. Porsche. Porsche. Porsche. Porsche. Porsche. I think in the US if you said you want to buy a Porsche, people would probably ask you what that is. So again, I think a lot of native English speakers would say Porsche or Porsch. We don't drive a Porsche. ...or a Porsch...or a Porsche. Number 10 - Louis Vuitton And in French it's Louis Vuitton. I don't...I said it wrong. How is it? How does that go again? I don't know. Say it again. Vuitton. Okay. Louis Vuitton. But I would say Louis Vuitton. Because... But...I don't know French. American. I'm not French either so... Louis Vuitton. Anyway, it's Louis Vuitton. Yea. Many native English speakers would say Louis Vuitton. My very own Louis Vuitton. Number 11 - Samsung It's a Korean company so I think the correct pronunciation technically would be Samsung. But a lot of people...native English speakers would say...pronounce it Sam and not Sam. So, they'd say Samsung. But if you did say Samsung, people will still know what you're talking about. What kind of phone do you have? I have a Samsung. What kind of phone do you have? I have an iPhone. Number 12 - Versace Now, the correct pronunciation in Italian is Versace. But if you're talking to somebody who is a native English speaker and you want them to understand you, you'd say Versace. There you go. You got the /e/ at the end, Versace. Do you have a Versace? No. Too expensive. Number 13 is a car company and it is pronounced Chevrolet. I'm not really sure the history behind this word. The spelling is not necessarily like it sounds. Especially the T at the end. It's not pronounced, so we just say Chevrolet. Or a Chevy. Yea, or you could say Chevy for short. Not Chevrolet. In my broken down Chevrolet. Number 14 - Stella Artois BEER! Or you could just... Yea, it's pretty good. You could just say Stella. But...I mean I think that's pretty close to the actual French pronunciation. Stella Artois. Yea, so Stella. Stella Artois. I'll have a Stella. So if you want a beer, it's a Stella Artois or a Stella. Stella Artois. Number 15 - Adobe So, this is a word that many of you might know from computers. And it's pronounced Adobe. So that first A is the schwa, that /uh/ sound. And the E at the end is the long /e/ sound. It's not /A/dobe. It's not /A/dobe. It's Adobe. Or Ado/bey/. Ado/bey/. Not /bey/, just Adobe. I can see people saying that. Please don't ignore me like I was just some update from Adobe. Number 16 - Abercrombie & Fitch Now this is a really long name, so it's mispronounced many time. But that's the correct pronunciation. Actually, Wes I think says "Finch." But it's Abercrombie & Fitch. I used to but from now on... No more? The T is silent, so keep that in mind. In Fitch...Abercrombie & Fitch. Number 17 - Volkswagen This is a German car company so I think in German they would pronounce it Volkswagen. Is that pretty good? I think so. In the US, a lot of native English speakers would say Volkswagen. So you would here that W sound in there. Volkswagen. Volkswagen. That's how they say it. What like the back of a Volkswagen? Volkswagen! Have you ever had one? No. I like the buggies...the old like...sixties. Number 18 - Anthropologie Now, this is French sounding so I've heard people say Anthropologie. But it's Anthropologie. It's an American company. So it's Anthropologie. It just looks fancy. Do you shop there? No, it's so expensive. Like one thing is like $400. Number 19 - Huwawei This is a company from China. Whose pronunciation again... not like it sounds. I think a lot of people would say Huwawei. They would pronounce the H. Even though I think it might just be Huwawei. And I should probably know this because BOOM! I have a Huwawei. He's very proud of it. I am very proud of my Huwawei. Now let's see if they'll be able to pronounce it. How would you pronounce this word? /How-wee/ /Hu-way/ /Hu-wi-wee/.../Hu-wi/ Yea this...this was okay...this was...it was... It...it does the job. Most of the time. Number 20 - Levi's This is actually another one of my favorite brands. Because they're classic jeans. And it just...they...fit really well. But it's not Levi or Levi Strauss. It's just Levi's. Girl you got to be right, killin' in your Levi's. High on your lovin's got me buzzin' like a streetlight. Number 21 - for all you beer lover's out there - Budweiser. You can find it all over the world. But the correct pronunciation is Budweiser. Or I guess you could shorten and say Bud. Can I help you? Yes. I'd like a Budweiser please. Number 22 - H & M Now H & M is different in each country I think. So I know in Romania for example some people say H & M. Because... Do they? Yea. Yea. H & M in English, so if you want to find this store, and we all know we love H & M, because it's cheap and trendy. There you go. That's where you go. H & M. Just pronouncing the two letters as they are in the English alphabet. Yep. Number 23 - Jack Daniel's This is a whiskey brand. So if you're out and you want to get some whiskey, it is pronounced Jack Daniel's. I know I've heard some people, depending on where they are, like... in East Asia...Daniel. But Daniel. Jack Daniel's. Or you could just say Jack. Yea, Jack and Coke. Jack and Coke. Or if you would like... Jack and Cock. No, you don't want to say Jack and Cock. Or if you'd like ice in the drink, you could say I'd like some Jack on the rocks. That's another expression for you. Ice...on the rocks. Two Jack Daniel's, one on the rocks, and a Heineken. Number 24 - Nestle Now this is another European company. and I think correctly it's Nestle. But Americans will pronounce it Nestle. Nestle. Yea. Nestle. Again, you don't pronounce the T. Nestle. Nestle. Nestle. Good...good chocolates though. Win this one and there's Nestle Quick for everyone. Quick? Nestle Quick? I got to have you Nestle Quick. Number 25 - Corona This is a beer from Mexico. So, the pronunciation...Corona. A lot of native English speakers would just say Corona. Corona. Corona. Corona. So if you'd like to try a Mexican beer, you can order a Corona. More of a Corona man myself. Now what we'd like you to do is write and tell us your favorite brand in the comments below. Tell us why you like it. How often you use it... Try to write as much as possible because that's another way of practicing your English. Also, we'd like you to share this video especially if you have heard others mispronounce any of these brands. Let's discuss and share. Thanks for watching, and we will see you next time. Bye! --- ## 353. How to Pronounce the R & L Sounds Like a Native Speaker | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_WMvPDYqnSk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WMvPDYqnSk) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:51:15 | --- Let's get ready to rumble! Today, we're going to talk to you about how to make the R and L sounds. As well as practicing your listening and pronunciation. Welcome to our global classroom. Today, we have a pronunciation lesson for you. So pelase like the video if you enjoy learning about English pronunciation. Also, for additional practice you can join our social media classes, and there are links to them in the description below. Now, I know a lot of learners have trouble with the R and L sounds. Keep in mind that I'll be going over the American pronunciation, and that's what we'll be talking about today. So let's start out by talking about how to make these sounds. But first, it would be useful if you did have a little mirror like this. And this is a helpful pronunciation tool when you want because you can look and see what's going on inside your mouth. Now, if you don't have one, don't worry about it. That's okay. You are still going to be able to practice. Let's begin with the /r/ sound. In order ot make this sound, we need to make sure that your tongue is in the right position. Number 1 - The tip of your tongue needs to be turned up. And it should not be touching the roof of your mouth. If your tongue is touching the roof of your mouth, then it's in the wrong position. So remember, the tongue is turned up, but not touching the roof of your mouth. Number 2 - Your tongue needs to be in the back of your mouth. One way to do this is to smile when you're trying to make the sound because when you smile, it makes your tongue move slightly towards the back. So just smile when you make the sound. I know it looks crazy, but it helps. Number 3 - The sides of your tongue should be next to or in between your back teeth. So when you're making the sound, if you were to bite down slightly, you should be able to feel your teeth touching or hitting the sides of your tongue. Number 4 - The final way to check and make sure your tongue is in the right position is to breathe in. When you have your tongue in the position for the /r/ sound and you breathe in you should feel the air rushing over or along the top part of your mouth. Yeah, I feel it. Let's practice with a few common words the have the /r/ sound. Now all of these words have the sound in the first or initial position. So I'm going to say the word and then all I want you to do is repeat. Excellent! You're doing great! Now, let's have a look at the /l/ sound. To make this sound, your tongue needs to be up against the back of your teeth. Now the exact spot to put your tongue is on the bump or ridge that is behind your front teeth. I'd show you, but I'm not going to put the camera in my mouth. Number 2 - As you make the sound allow air to flow around your tongue and through your mouth. So as you're making the /l/ sound if you were to put your hand up to the front of your mouth, and make the sound. You should feel the warm air of your breath. It's hot. Number 3 - The final way to check and make sure your tongue is in the right position is to breathe in. When you breathe in, you should feel cool air along the sides of your tongue. It's cool. Again, it helps if you have one of these mirrors so you can see what's going on. So let's practice saying some words with the /l/ sound in the first or initial position. Again, I will say the words and I just want you to repeat. Here we go! Hopefully, you have a better idea about how to make the R and L sounds. For more information about these two sounds as well as information about how to make any sound in American English, I'd recommend that you check out the University of Iowa's phonetic webpage. This is a great pronunciation resource. It shows you what's going on inside your mouth and gives you a great visual. I will leave a link to the webpage in the description below. Okay, I think you're ready for some more practice with the R and L. What I'd like to practice first is your listening skills. And I want you to identify the sound that you hear. Is it the /r/ sound? Or is it the /l/ sound? And for this exercise, we're going to be using minimal pairs. These are two words that sound very similar except for one sound. So in this case, the different sound is going to be either the R or the L. Let me show you what I'm talking about. Here we have two words, and I want you to point to the word that you hear me say. So, if say "Right," Then you will point here. I'll say each word twice, and then reveal the answer. So, let's get some new words up there. Okay. How did you do? For more practice, I'd recommend doing the exercise again and listening carefully to how I pronounce each word. Now that you've identified the sounds, let's practice your pronunciation. So for this next activity, I want to do an imitation exercise. So I'm going to say a sentence, and then I want you to repeat it exactly how I say it. Let's begin! Great job saying those sentences! If you'd like more pronunciation practice, I'd recommend doing the activity again. And I will also put some more sentences in the description below that will help you practice the R and L sound. Please remember to subscribe to our channel if you'd like more lessons on how you can practice and improve your English skills. We'll see you next time! --- ## 354. How to Quickly & Effectively Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `UIT0knqhmQ8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIT0knqhmQ8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:49:45 | --- all right so welcome welcome welcome if you are joining us in this live lesson or even if you are watching this in the future welcome we're glad to have you here we have an amazing incredible super fantastic trying to think of how many more adjectives I can use to describe this lesson we just have a really great lesson for you if you're joining us please write your name and tell us where you're from in the chat also like I said if you are watching this later again use the comment section write your name tell us where you're from we want to hear from you because we want you to interact this is interactive English and my name is Wes from interactive English awesome hello pearl from India excellent welcome and again we have a great lesson so let's just get right into it today we are going to talk about building vocabulary alright and how to build how to effectively build your vocabulary and do it quickly and this is something that I think many of us are working on we all would like to expand our vocabulary and improve our vocabulary because that just helps with fluency so again if you're just joining us in the chat write your name tell us where you're from Russia from Iraq welcome Brazil is here Frances here awesome excellent we're glad to have you Jordan living in Jordan and Mongolia we got people from everywhere that's awesome so as I said we are going to talk about how to effectively build your vocabulary and do this quickly all right and the reason I say quickly is not that you're going to do it faster but the key here is remember what you learn I think too often we learn new words and we learn 10 words and we forget six of them the next week so then really we've only learned four words but if we're able to remember everything that we are learning all of those words then that is going to help us build our vocabulary much quicker than most and the way we're gonna do this is right there we are going to learn phrases and not words okay I know we all study vocabulary we do it differently but today I want to focus on learning phrases and three things that you can do to effectively build your vocabulary so let's go ahead and take a look at different ways to enhance your vocabulary so if you are in the chat right now what I want you to do is tell me a vocabulary word or a phrase that you have recently learned okay I want you to tell me one that you've recently learned because if you're here if you're with us that means that you are studying English you are trying to improve your English so I imagine that within the last week or within the last month you've learned some new word or phrase so write it in the chat let us know again if you're watching this later write it in the comment section tell us what what word or words you have learned recently so here first before we talk about how to enhance our vocabulary we need to really understand well what is vocabulary vocabulary is all of the words that are known and used in a particular language I think one of the things that is difficult is that when we think of vocabulary I think a lot of times we think of just these single individual words and I think that makes sense why people think that way because when you learn a new word most of the times we go to the dictionary we want to know what that word means and it's a vocabulary word but vocabulary is not just a single word it is a collection of all the words so again in the chat hi new people are joining us right a word that you have learned recently what's a new vocabulary word or what's a new phrase or expression something that you've learned yesterday we have somebody yesterday I heard the new phrase take part take something apart yeah to disassemble something to take something apart excellent thank you Russia again right some other words in there what are some new things that you're learning I think again other people would like to know the new vocabulary that people are learning so the ways that we are going to enhance our vocabulary your vocabulary today how we're going to handset and you are going to learn new words and you are going to learn them quickly I want to talk about three things and they're right here in front of you collocation z' expressions and then this idea which I want to toe it tell you about is called chunking and this is more of a way of studying vocabulary that I think will help you in the future especially if you are at an intermediate to advanced level this will be very useful in other words somebody wrote repercussion excellent awesome so we are learning all these new words and I want to start with collocation okay and I want to talk to you about that this is something that I think is becoming more popular in language learning okay so collocations are words that are frequently used together and I think people are using this more often in the classroom or studying a language because again it makes sense if words are frequently used together why would you just want to learn one individual word why not learn the words that usually go before it or why not learn the words that usually go after it so here a lot of times the collocation czar used with common verbs so here I have an example I have four very common verbs in English take have make and do and words that are frequently used with them so again if you're joining us in the chat just tell us tell us your name where you're from also what I want you to do right now is we're looking at these collocation z' okay can you think of any others with these verbs take have make or do okay what are some other collocation z' words that we frequently use with these verbs so for example I gave you let's look at take right now so we can say you know take a rest you can take a shower you could also take a bath and you could take a chance so these are words that are frequently used with take and there's a whole bunch of them it's not just these I've just chosen three as an example so if you could think of any other collocation z' with take just write them in the chat let's see how many that we can come up with what are other things that people take and how do we use that verb let's look at half okay again you can have fun you can have breakfast you can have lunch you can have dinner you can also have a drink so the reason this is important is because nowadays instead of just teaching people one word of o Cabul a word like breakfast it's more important it's more helpful to teach the teach learners the words that go with that okay you have breakfast so that you're building your vocabulary you're learning two words instead of just one and they're associating breakfast with the verb have okay what did you have for breakfast all right other ones that we use make okay you can make a mistake you can make some noise you can also make a wish all right and do what are some things that you do you can do homework you can do business you can even do nothing or you could do your laundry all right there's a lot of different things that you can use with do so again if you have any if you can think of any right now just write them in the chat what are some things more things that you take what are some things that you have what are some things that you make and do and again if you're watching this later on write it in the comments we want you to be active active in our community in our classroom so please the more you write the better it's going to help you so okay we got an example tomorrow we will have a meeting please take note it exactly you can also have a meeting collocation or very important could also say get some rest excellent perfect great examples that you guys are giving so these are important because these are words that we use together and we use regularly we use them frequently all right so they are very useful when we're talking about building your vocabulary expanding your vocabulary and if you want you know collocations if you want to learn more about them just go into go to google and type collocation z' into the search English collocation z' and you will find a bunch of different webpages that list a lot of common ones in English and these are one good ones to study they're good ones to make flashcards out of again if you're just joining us we are talking about ways to improve and build your vocabulary and do it quickly so you can say hi say what's up in the chat and where you're joining us from let's look at the next one that I want to talk to you about which is OK expressions this is another good way to build your vocabulary alright so in the chat again I'm going to give you guys a little assignment with each one I want you to write what is your favorite English expression and an expression could be many different things it could be a saying it could be a proverb it could be an idiom those are all different types of expressions because what are we doing with expressions well we are expressing our thoughts and our opinions about something we are making them known so common expressions what your favorite expression somebody wrote what's up exactly that is one of my favorite expressions the way to say hello what's up everyone what's up if you're joining us in today the lesson right now write your name tell us where you're from in the chat so let's look at some of these expressions okay and again if you learn these expressions without focusing on the individual words it's going to help you with your fluency so again let's look at the first one it is just a saying When in Rome the the entire saying goes when in Rome do as the Romans do and this just basically means that if you are traveling somewhere for example if anybody some of you may be I think somebody's from Brazil all right if I go to Brazil all right then I should kind of try to do what other people in Brazil do I should eat at the same time that those people are eating I should eat the same things I should use the same form of Transportation okay you kind of try to do this not only to be polite but also to learn about different cultures so again I know one of you mentioned you're from Mongolia so if I go to Mongolia again I should learn about how people live and what they do and I should do this and if somebody asks like well why are you doing this yeah When in Rome you know When in Rome you need to do things the way that you should and this is a popular expression somebody's joining it excellent from I can't even pronounce that it kha'zix is that Calle Kazakhstan excellent awesome so my favorite idiom is struggle to get what you really deserve excellent awesome make sure take care you guys are writing some great examples of different idioms that people use so when in Rome is a popular saying the next one we're running late that's an idiom again I think many of you are studying idioms you're learning idioms because we use this in everyday English I think idioms are mostly important not really that you feeling like oh I need to use them it's more for your comprehension so if you're watching TV or movies or listening to a conversation then you understand what people are talking about the Rees I chose this one we're running late is because we posted on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter a question using this idiom about we're running late and mostly everybody didn't know it they got it incorrect so when if you're running late it means that you are running behind schedule so we were supposed to meet our friends at 7 o'clock but we were really going to get there at 7:30 so we were running late a lot of people in our question they thought it was getting late that just means it's getting later and the day the time this means you are actually behind schedule you're running late but if you learn these phrases and idioms again it's going to help you build your vocabulary running late another idiom so you're once in a blue moon that's another good one to know that you can use when something does not happen that often you could say hey it happens once in a blue moon the last one that I have there for you where there's smoke there's fire and this is more of a like a proverb there's many different types of proverbs the grass is always greener on the other side where there's smoke there's fire and the reason I think it's good to learn these proverbs again because you're learning a group of words you're not just focusing on one word in the grammar of like okay here's my subject here's my verb here's the noun you're kind of learning all the words together and you know what the meaning is so where there's smoke there's fire it basically means that if there is a issue a problem but the problem is kind of concealed it's hidden but you know it's there you could kind of say hey I see the smoke alright and if I see the smoke then there's probably a fire there there's probably a major problem that is taking place another one of mine another favorite one of mine is think outside the box you can see the picture there think outside the box means to be more creative to try to think in a new way and do different things to think outside the box this is a good expression that you can use and again you don't want to you don't want to just learn one word you want to learn the whole sentence the whole phrase the whole idiom the entire expression so that you can use this and not only that you will remember it we have somebody else mentioned another favorite clue love yourself first then everything will kind of everything is taking its correct place exactly everything will fall into place there are so many good idioms phrases expressions proverbs that are going to help you learn context and nuance and learn more about the culture as well so expressions are very very very I'm gonna add one more very important the last thing that I want to show you right now is this idea about how you can learn these vocabulary words how you can learn them and a good approach to do that and it is called chunking so here we have our next slide so what is chunking all right chunking is when you learn groups of words as one unit so you are taking a group of words and you are learning okay what does this group of words mean and then how can I use it with other words it's kind of similar to collocation z' all right we're collocations you're looking at words that are frequently used together this is kind of just expanding on that so look at the example look at the example that I have for you right here okay if you have a moment I was wondering if you'd like to grab some coffee if you have a moment I was wondering if you'd like to grab some coffee okay so some of you may be able to read that now okay I know what that means if I have time available this person wants to know if we can go get coffee okay instead of looking at this and trying to think of all right where what what are these exact words let's look at moment and look it up and find out that a moment means okay a short period of time instead of just looking for that one word we can look at the entire a phrase a unit of words for example I have if you have a moment so we can learn all of that together and know that okay when we're when we want to ask somebody do you have some time do you have a little time we could say if you have a moment all right if you have a moment could you help me with my homework if you have a moment I'd like you to go to a movie with me if you have a moment you know asking somebody do you have some time available all right and learning that one set because once you learn if you have a moment there are so many ways to complete that sentence if you have a moment then we can break the next chunk so that is one chunk if you have a moment now let's take the next chunk I was wondering all right I was wondering a great example if you have a moment can we catch up yes perfect all right I was wondering it means that you were thinking about something that you wanted to know all right this is often a polite way of asking a question if you want to be a little more polite like you know I was wondering could we go out for dinner tonight yeah wondering what was your plan for tomorrow alright I was wondering is a way of saying you know I was thinking about something and you're asking so again we can know we know that phrase if we know that phrase as one unit I was wondering we can then add a lot more onto it so instead of just won't learning one of the words we can learn the entire phrase as a unit and then we can add to it and this is what chunking is and if you you've seen it probably in phrase books so if you travel abroad they sell these books that you can learn quick phrases and that's typically what they do is use chunking they give you the first part of the phrase and then you need to learn the words that you can complete the phrase so for example if you're out at a restaurant you always would say hey I would like I would like Mvula I would like a drink I would like the steak I would like a hamburger okay but you learned that one phrase I would like then you can learn a lot you could there's so much more that you can add to it and then the last one in my example I said again like to grab some all right this means to grab some means that you want to go get something and usually that's something is a drink or some food all right would you like to grab some coffee would you like to grab something to eat all right if you want to grab something it's talking about this is a this is an idiom that you're talking about you want to get something okay so we can chunk these sentences we can take these long sentences and break them into different units and then we can add to that so this is the idea of chunking and it is a great way to study new vocabulary a great way to learn new sentences because if you learn a sentence you can take parts of it and then use that for other things so if you've joined us a little late we were talking about ways to enhance your vocabulary so to review again the ways that we discussed in this lesson that you should try to study in the future and use if you want to build your vocabulary effectively and quickly you can use collocations again this is a lot of words that we frequently use together with verbs like I said you can take a shower you can take a bath you can take a meeting expressions which would include idioms or proverbs or any sayings and then this idea the way that you can study these words is with chunking where you are not trying to learn too much at one time you are taking these individual units and you are learning those and then you can add to that as you go along so these are all very useful and effective ways to build and expand your vocabulary so the last thing I want to do is to thank you guys for watching and joining us we have some great comments like yeah I'd like to grab some ice cream yeah I'd like to grab some ice cream too it's hot here it's summertime I'm sure everybody would like to grab some ice cream excellent great use of that expression all right so thank you guys for joining us again please like and share the video if you feel like you've learned something new if you enjoy learning new vocabulary the other thing I want you to do is if you have any questions write them in the comments the video will be published soon or if you're watching this later at a later date write your questions in the comments we like to interact with you we like to hear what questions you have and this is this is very important I think for for interaction the other thing you can join our social media class on Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat we are posting new questions every day I saw one question that somebody had Romania asking about hey Marco what's up some vocabulary books out there honestly I feel like probably one of the best of resources for vocabulary at this point would be the internet because I don't know if you need to spend money on an actual vocabulary book I think a book that would tell you tips and ideas like what we're talking about today how to study vocabulary I think that would be useful but as for actually learning vocabulary I would just use resources online like I said you can go into Google right now and type in English idioms and you're gonna have a lot of different sites come up that you could then make flashcards and write those down you could type in English proverbs and it's going to give you a list of proverbs and what they mean you could also go to collocation English collocations and it will tell you a lot of different collocation z' that you should probably focus on and can study and also one thing that I wanted to mention go use the images if you go type in this and you go to images it it's much better I think because it's going to give you color it's going to break it down it's easier to read it's more fun too so that would be my recommendation if you're trying to study and learn more vocabulary use the free resource which is the internet and and just type that stuff into Google so again thank you guys for joining us if you join a little late sorry we're gonna publish the video soon again please like and share help us spread the word all across the world we love interacting with you guys and we appreciate you being here with us thank you very much I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and if you're watching this later I hope you have a wonderful day thank you thank you thank you and we will see you next time --- ## 355. How to Read New Vocabulary & Understand the Meaning ๐Ÿ“– | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fqkUFlRPOsQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqkUFlRPOsQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:23:36 | --- so in this lesson i want to talk to you about how you can use reading to build your vocabulary and build your vocabulary effectively that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel that is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills so that you can reach your fluency goals and today i want to talk to you about well two very important things and that is reading and vocabulary and in this case it's kind of like one hand washes the other because what i want to talk to you about is telling you how you can use reading to build your vocabulary because to be perfectly honest i think reading is possibly one of the best ways that a learner can build their vocabulary learn new words and not only that remember the meaning of these words so i want to teach you how you can effectively use reading to build your vocabulary so i i think if you really consider what's going on it makes perfect sense that you can use reading to learn new words and phrases because well when you're reading you're just constantly looking at words and i think no matter what it is that you are reading if you are reading a newspaper or you're reading something online or you're reading a book i think it's very common that people are going to find words and phrases that they either don't know or maybe you're a little bit familiar with the meaning but maybe you've forgotten it so it's something you've seen before and you maybe just don't remember exactly what it means so when you find or come across a word that well you've never seen before or maybe you kind of know it i want to talk to you about what you need to do in order to understand the meaning as well as learn the meaning so that the next time you're reading and you come across that same word or phrase you feel comfortable you know what it means and you can just continue reading so let's begin with that idea which is when you're reading and you come across a new vocabulary word how do you understand the meaning and i want you to do three very simple things the first one is just well find a new word or phrase some word or phrase that you just don't know the next thing i want you to do is look for context clues and then the third thing very simple you're going to use those context clues to guess the meaning and if you don't know what context clues are they are hints that the author may give you to help you better understand an unknown or unusual word or phrase now these hints these context clues may be in the same sentence as the unknown vocabulary word or these clues may come in the sentence before or in the sentence after you may need to reread the sentence before the sentence after because that's going to help you better understand the situation it's going to help you better understand the context and when you understand the context then you can you can make a an appropriate guess as to what the meaning of this vocabulary word is let's practice let me give you some examples and i'm going to show you a sentence with an unknown word and i want you to look for some context clues and look for these clues to help you make a guess and educated guess about what the meaning of the unknown word is so let's look at the first one he tried to catch his breath for a moment before attempting the arduous climb up the peak of the mountain so let's just say that arduous is a word that you you don't know you're not familiar with this word and you don't know what it means but you can use some context clues to help you to help you take a guess as to what the meaning is so do you see any context clues in there i i see two of them the first one that i would say is that you're somebody's trying to catch their breath and what that means is somebody's breathing heavily and they're probably breathing heavily they're trying to catch their breath because they've been climbing up a steep mountain which makes me think that this is okay this is challenging and then they're getting ready to go up the peak of the mountain they're going to climb the peak of the mountain which is the very top so probably it's not going to get any easier when you go up to the top of the mountain so i can use these context clues to to take a guess that the meaning of arduous is something that's difficult so you're saying that the climb up the mountain is a difficult one it's challenging it's arduous here's another example i'm always so busy with work taking care of the kids and running errands throughout the day whenever i have some down time i just like to relax with a good book so perhaps you don't know what the word downtime means and this is more of an informal expression but you can use some context clues to help you determine the meaning so there is a context clue in the sentence before and i would say that context clue is so busy somebody is talking about all these things that they have to do during the day work taking care of the kids running errands and then there's another context clue after the word which is relax it's talking about the way that this person relax so in that case since you understand the context you can guess that downtime is talking about a time when someone just relaxes and they are not active and not really trying to do much of anything and i think we all we all need to get a little downtime every now and then it's good in my down time i kind of like to just watch well maybe some tv i watch some shows on netflix that's what i do in my downtime and let's do one more okay and i could say the woman was flabbergasted how did her bed end up in the pool in this case perhaps you don't know what flabbergasted means so you can use some context clues to help you to help you understand the meaning and take a guess so the context clue would be her bed is in the pool all right so i want you to put that picture in your mind and picture that a bed is in the pool and you're probably thinking well that's a little strange that's not normal i would be very surprised if i found my bed in the pool so i can guess that the word flabbergasted means surprise somebody is surprised they're flabbergasted by something they see or perhaps by something that a person says now that we you've just read those sentences we've talked about the context clues and you now know the meaning of arduous downtime and flabbergasted hopefully the next time that you come across one of those words you you will remember the meaning and you have a better understanding because chances are the more that you read you will come across the same word again and again and that is a good thing repetition is your friend the more the more you get exposed to a word or phrase the more times that you see it the more likely you are to remember the meaning and that's what i want to talk to you about now is how can you effectively learn the meaning of these words so that the next time you you read them you just know the meaning and you can continue on reading my first suggestion is to start a vocabulary list you can use a notebook or you can use uh your computer you can use a document and when you come across a new vocabulary word write it down on your list and then write down the meaning as well because it's always good to review if you want to effectively build your vocabulary repetition is your friend the more that you are exposed to a word the more likely you are to remember the meaning so so start a vocabulary list that is going to help you remember all the new words and phrases that you find when you're reading the next suggestion that i have for you is to to read books read stories and the reason why i would tell you to read stories is because you are more likely to come across the same word again and again throughout the story let me give you a couple examples uh before i read the harry potter series i had an english learner ask me they said what what does it mean if someone is non-plussed and this is an adjective that means somebody is well they're surprised they're confused they're unsure how to react and the reason why they were asking me this is because they they kept coming across that word throughout the story then a couple of years go by and i end up reading the harry potter series i read all the books and and yes i noticed that i noticed every time that jk rowling used the word none plus that is a good example of finding a word that you don't know you could write that in your vocabulary list but then as you continue reading the story you come across it again and again and again and as i told you repetition is your friend and by the end of the harry potter series i guarantee you are going to remember what it means if someone is nonplussed another example would be well in my own experience learning spanish because when i was learning spanish i was constantly reading because i was using it to build my vocabulary and one of the stories that i read was by isabel allende who is a famous author from chile and she wrote these stories for kind of teenagers and young adults but one of the stories um called city of the beast la ciudad de las vegas it was about it took place in the amazon rainforest and as i started the story i came across the word cascada and i at first i wasn't sure i had never seen this word before because when i was studying or taking classes it just never came up so i i put the word in context and i kind of guessed that okay it had something to do with water and based on the situation i guess that it was a waterfall i came across the word again and this time i did i looked it up because i wanted to make sure that my guess was correct and yes cascada means waterfall and then i continued reading and because the story takes place in the amazon rainforest i kept reading this word again and again and again and she used it throughout the story but by the end i had read this word so many times i i was very familiar with it it was i was comfortable with it and i was then able to put this word in my active memory and then over even a longer period of time i put it in my long-term memory so that whenever i'm reading and i come across this word i i just easily understand it or even when i hear it in conversation i know the meaning of this word so i hope that i have encouraged you to read more in english and use reading in order to build your vocabulary and let's let's put this into practice right now if you feel like sharing in the comments below let me know of a word that you have learned when you were reading i always love to hear from you guys sharing is caring let me know when you have used reading to build your vocabulary if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 356. How to Say Useful and Difficult Numbers in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hVSIpMqoS78` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVSIpMqoS78) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:42:12 | --- today I am going to talk to you about how to say difficult numbers in English [Music] welcome to today's lesson my name is West this is Interactive English which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills so in today's lesson I'm gonna talk to you about difficult numbers but I'm actually gonna talk about how to say these difficult numbers so if anything this this is more of a speaking lessons because it's speaking and using numbers so we're gonna look about a variety of different numbers and we are going to look at how to say these numbers how can you speak these numbers when you're having a conversation or if you're giving a presentation how should you say these numbers in English and when we do this I'm actually I actually want you guys to practice with me I'm going to ask you to participate and practice and actually try to say these numbers out loud but before we do that I want to hear from you guys so tell me your name in the chat if you're watching this later write your name tell me where you're from we just want to hear from you guys so Bassam Kiara Maureen Perri go see a junior bene Mildred welcome thank you guys for joining me today I hope your guys I hope you're ready to practice because like I said we're not only gonna look at the these different numbers but I actually want you guys to speak I want you to try to say these numbers and you know what they say practice makes perfect so before we start jumping into the numbers let's look at the types of numbers because there are two types of numbers that we need to be familiar with and those numbers are cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers now cardinal numbers which I think just about it many of you are familiar with are those are natural numbers used to to measure size maybe distance and they are they are so common and we use them all the time one two three four five six seven eight nine ten we use cardinal numbers regularly ordinal numbers are it we use them to tell us the the position of something in in order or in a list so something in order we use ordinal numbers now we did a lesson before on ordinal numbers which I will link for you down in the description and I will also put it up above and I highly recommend you check that out that whole lesson is about ordinal numbers so when we're talking about ordinal numbers we're talking about 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th so those are the two types of numbers that we're gonna be dealing with today cardinal numbers and or no numbers now let's start out let's start out a little easy and first we're going to look at dates day and month so when we're talking about dates we use ordinal numbers we use ordinal numbers to say the date so for example I have that calendar right there we do not say march 21 in English you're going to use an ordinal number so we say March 21st that's very common in American English and in British English I think it's common to say 21st of March now I'm just giving you this as an example it's not a steady steadfast rule in American English people commonly say the month and then the ordinal number you might hear it the other way around again depending on the context it depends on the conversation but in American English it's a little more comment to say March 21st March 22nd March 23rd March 24th and I think in British English it's slightly more common to say the ordinal number first of and then the month 21st of March 22nd of March 23rd of March 24th of March many people always some of the differences between British and American English this is just a slight difference but again you could use either one and people are going to understand you as long as you use the ordinal number now if we're talking about years this is it gets a little more tricky then because so many times when I've been teaching students and we're talking about something or even if they're if reading or discussing something and people get two a year you can always tell sometimes there's this quite there's this quick pause about oh wait wait wait how do I say this again how do I say this correctly so just to tell you to kind of talk about this if it's a three digit year all right there's two different ways you can say this you can say the first as a single digit and then the next two digits so in my example 786 we'd say the year 786 and I put an asterisk by this number because I think that's a little more common you say a single digit and then the next two digits I think that's a little more common the way of expressing a three-digit year but you can also say it as a whole number 912 you could say it as a whole number and that's absolutely fine so there's two different ways to say a three-digit number now if we're talking about a four digit year which i think is you know very common look right here we save them by two digits so the first two digits we say together and the second two digits we say together 1492 again I put an asterisk there because I think that's that's the most common way of saying this and right here 2012 now there are other this is where it gets a little more challenging and confusing because you could save the year 2012 but also when you're talking about the first hundred years of a new millennia you would say it regularly as a whole number and that's why I said instead of 2012 we can say it as a whole number because we're in that first hundred years of an millennia and we would just say 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 and right now we're in 2018 so again very common the first hundred years of a new millennia you can you would use the whole number now if we get to down here so this is gonna go all the way up to 2099 and after two thousand ninety nine we get to 2100 and when we're talking about new centuries it's usually said the the whole number of hundreds so twenty one hundred and that sign of down here like we have 1700 we save the hundreds for new centuries 1819 hundred twenty two thousand because that's the new millennia and then we go to twenty one hundred and then after that we would go again back to the two digits 21:01 21:02 2103 2104 now you might be wondering Wes why are we talking about some of this because honestly twenty the year 2100 you know I can do the math I'm probably not going to make it to that year because it it's it's it's still it's still 72 years away it's a long way off but again it's always good to know how to express these numbers especially in the past because we often talk about history and we talk about dates and it's important to know how to say these so again definitely keep in mind those first two with the asterisks right there if it's a four-digit year again two-digit two-digit 1492 now what I want to do we are now going to practice okay so I am going to give you some dates in some years and I want you to actually say these out loud if you want you can say them in your mind it's perfectly fine but I will give you a moment you can say the number and then I will say it and you can listen and and see if it's the same okay so let's practice saying some of these ready number one I want you look at number one how would you say number one okay how would you say this say it out loud all right most of us maybe maybe you're at home doesn't matter where you are just you can whisper it if you don't want people to hear you even if you're watching this later practice saying these numbers out loud that's the best way so number one July fourteenth two thousand eighteen again July 14th the ordinal number two thousand eighteen we'd say it as a whole number you could also if you want you could say July 14 2018 but I don't think that's his comment to say 2018 most of the time within that first hundred years of a new millennia we're trying to say the whole number July 14 2018 now number two how would you say number two all right I would say March 20th 1800 March 20th 1800 remember new centuries its wits of hundreds 1800 1900 all right 2100 2200 number three how would you say number three okay all right November 12 1978 November 12 1978 this is an amazing day in history okay this is in case you're wondering this is when I was born this is my birthday if you want to know how old I am you guys can do the math now number four how would you say number four okay go for it January 1st 999 January 1st 999 you could also say January 1st 999 and say it as a whole number that's okay as well January 1st 999 January 1st 999 okay so if you were actually speaking all right I want you to write in the chat just write dates okay write dates and that way I know you speaking and actually practicing and participating in these lessons and even if you're watching this later in the comment right dates so I know that you guys are you're following along and participating in these lessons now I'm not going to get so much into time because we did a whole other lesson talking about time expressions which I think you guys should definitely check out if you haven't already seen it I will link it up here as well as put it in the description so we're not going to discuss too much with time now let's look at decimals okay so if we're talking about decimals and you see this a lot if you're you're discussing math something like that and you would say the numbers individually as cardinal numbers and the decimal point is just called point we just say point so first one four point eight using those cardinal numbers four point eight the next one 2.0 now this is a little different because you could also say two point zero but when you're talking about decimals if you have a zero you could also say oh that's actually very common I actually use Oh probably more than I say zero but that's just me so you could say 2.0 a lot of times when you hear versions or updates people will talk about oh this version 2.0 3.0 4.0 and they keep updating it so 2.0 the next one right here five point six five and then three point one one one we're just using those cardinal numbers that's for decimals if we're talking about fractions okay we're going to use cardinal numbers for the numerator which is where that X is up top and ordinal numbers for the denominator so cardinal numbers for the numerator and/or no ordinal numbers for the denominator all right so for that first one look at that one I could say one third or again if if there's a one in the then I could just say a third remember the the three in since that's the denominator an ordinal number one third or a third now if we're talking about there there is not a one in the numerator three-fifths the the ordinal number it needs to be plural because there's more than one in the numerator three-fifths now down here a fourth or you could set one fourth or you could say a fourth you could also say 1/4 1/4 1/4 for 1/4 and right here down here again this is very common you could say 1/2 you could say 1/2 or you could just say 1/2 and if it is more than if there's more than 1 in the numerator for example maybe it's 3 over 2 then we'd say three-halves because it would need to be plural so again let's practice speaking and actually saying some of these so let's practice speaking some decimals and fractions okay I'll give you a chance to say it and then I will say it and you can see if you did it right all right so number one how would you say number one say it out loud okay number one 4/5 4/5 remember there should be that S on the end because it is plural that or no number 4/5 number two how would you say it six point oh seven six point oh seven you could also say six point zero seven that's fine but I would tend to say six point oh seven number three all right say number three one eighth one eighth you could say an eighth if you want to just say it without the one one eighth or an eighth number four how would you say number four okay nine point eight four five seven we're just listing the cardinal numbers nine point eight four five seven and the last one number five how would you say five there's a there's there's different ways you could say it you could say three-fourths all right if is again it needs to be plural three-fourths or you could say three-quarters again 3/4 3/4 all right if you got all of those correct all right I want you to hit that like button alright or write in the comments right like alright so I know that you got all of those right you were speaking and you were saying those numbers okay right write that in the chat the comments just say like alright so now I want to take a look at this is gonna be a little more fun I want to take a look at some confusing numbers and this is more of a pronunciation exercise so before we jump in Oh excellent I see you Farhat nods Maya bassam Ogden excellent thank you guys for participating in the lesson so confusing numbers it's more I think has to do with pronunciation because saying the numbers but often when you're talking about these cardinal numbers and people are saying them if they're talking about in amount or they're talking about a time they can get a little confusing so I want to look at some of these and we're gonna practice them as well I got a fun practice for you guys so the first one it's mostly dealing with actually teens and the tens of numbers so for example thirteen thirty thirteen thirty now one thing to listen for if these numbers might be confusing for you is in the thirty all right especially in American English we tend to use that flap T which sounds more like a D sound like a soft D sound so I'd say thirteen thirty all right I'm kind of emphasizing that so you can hear it a little better thirteen thirty same with the next one four forty fourteen forty fifteen fifty all right this one you don't hear that flap T really at all in fifty so you really need to listen for that in that long e sound fifteen fifty fifteen fifty and the last one 1990 1990 but when people are speaking I you know notice that I'm really emphasizing these numbers but when people are speaking especially maybe you're on the phone and somebody's throwing out these numbers and you can't hear them really well it's it's it can be confusing and trying to figure out wait a second did they say 19 or did they say 90 so we're gonna practice some of these right now and the way we're going to do this is I am going to say one of the numbers alright you are either going to move this way or you're going to move that way and then I will say another one and you will move again this way that way and then I'll say another one and ultimately you are going to end up in a city and then I want you to write down which city that you ended up in so let's look at the board this will make a little more sense okay so here you see different numbers 1330 so I'm gonna say the the red one I'm gonna say start with red and you're either going to move this way or you're gonna move that way depending on what you hear and then we'll be at the blue and I'll say another number and then also you're gonna move this way or this way and then down here at the green alright so I'm gonna say one number red and then a blue and then a green and each time you're gonna move to the left or the right and at the end you can see down here a list of cities you're gonna end up in a city and then I want you to write down which city did you end up in because you're supposed to just this is a listening exercise listen to which number I'm saying and then see where you ended up so for example if I if I say 30 and the next one 30 and then again I say 30 you're gonna be moving this a each time 30 30 30 and we'll end up in Cairo so that's where we'd end up and I wouldn't mind that because I really want to go to Egypt so are you ready here we go all right so we're we'll start really slow and then we'll go I'll get a little quicker so the first one all right red all right 13 13 now blue 30 30 now green 30 30 I'll say those again 13 30 30 right where which city where did you guys end up write that in the chat 13 30 30 okay what what do you which what are you guys hearing okay I'll say it one more time starting with the red 13 and then blue 30 green 30 which city did you guys end up in I see some different ones New York City but most of us it's Bangkok exactly if you ended up in Bangkok you are in the right place we're all there together I said 13 30 30 you should have ended up in Bangkok all right let's do it again ready um now let's do we're gonna start with the red 30 blue 13 green 13 all right thirty thirteen thirteen thirty 13 13 where did you guys end up all right 1330 no sorry 30 13 13 all right what you should have where the place you should have ended up in is London all right I see many of you there with me yes 30 13 13 okay now that you know how to play this we're gonna do another one but this time I'm gonna say the three numbers and I'm gonna say them quickly all right I'm just gonna say them the three numbers quickly and you're gonna need to move to the left or the right except this time we're using either nineteen or we're using ninety okay so I'm just gonna say the three numbers consecutively listen and then tell me where did you guys end up all right ready the three numbers are nineteen nineteen ninety all right I'm saying try and say them a little quicker nineteen nineteen ninety all right where where did you guys end up which city are you in I'll say it one more time nineteen nineteen ninety let me know where did you guys end up some of you yes David fraud yeah I pass um Geronimo New York City excellent alright one more ok so again I'll say these numbers consecutively ninety nineteen ninety ninety nineteen ninety where did you end up I'll say it one more time ninety nineteen ninety I hope I hope that all of you ended up in Tokyo with me and Laura and David for at the Somme excellent so this is good way to practice again those listening skills and try to see if you can identify those confusing numbers because again it's always good practice because they're gonna be points where like I said you're on the phone or you're in some situation somebody's telling you a price and maybe you're like oh oh did they say 19 or did they say 90 because if you're talking about how much something cost that's a pretty big difference so let's now look at some big numbers and how we say big numbers and my first question to you and we're gonna practice speaking and listening is how would you say this number alright if I show you this number how would you say this number alright so let's look at we just need to break it down to say this number and you're talking about big numbers we use commas to separate the big numbers into smaller pieces and if you can think about it this way and think about okay if there's the comma this is what I'm talking about it helps us separate the numbers so let's let's start down far at the end there with our number 123 okay that first comma is talking about the thousand all right so we have seven hundred eighty nine thousand 123 okay now let's move to the next one million 456 million seven hundred eighty nine thousand one hundred twenty-three the next comma billion 123 billion 456 million seven hundred eighty nine thousand 123 that is how you would say this number where you use the commas to identify okay are we talking billions millions thousands and then just say the the whole number 123 billion 456 million seven hundred eighty nine thousand 123 you can try it say it really fast if you want to so what I want to do now is again we're gonna practice speaking some of these numbers and I want you to say these numbers right here so practice your speaking skills how would you say this number up here and then I'll say it okay that number is 115,000 forty-five now one thing that's a little different about this number is when you see that zero in there alright you're not going to say zero or uh or anything you kind of just you know kind of ignore it and skip over it 115,000 forty-five how about this next number right here I want you guys say this number here practice speaking what would you say so this number again they have those two commas in there 46 million 519 thousand 890 46 million five hundred nineteen thousand eight hundred ninety all right and this last one this bigger number here how would you say this one ready go so that number right there is seven hundred twelve billion thirty six million one hundred twelve thousand five hundred sixty-three seven hundred twelve billion thirty-six million one hundred twelve thousand five hundred sixty-three all right so if you were actually speaking I want you to write big numbers in the chat so I know oh okay you were speaking participating in the lesson alright so now that we were practicing some speaking alright I want to test your listening so in this next next part I'm gonna actually I'm gonna say the number and I want you to write down the number that you hear I'm gonna say a big number and I want you to write down what you guys hear okay so that's what I want to do for the next part practice your listening skills doing a lot of listening and speaking practice okay so the first number that I have for you is this one and I want you to write down in the chat or write it down in the comments if you're watching this later alright and that is four hundred thirteen thousand three hundred thirty four hundred thirteen thousand three hundred thirty four hundred thirteen thousand three hundred thirty okay when we're saying these big numbers we're just saying these are all these are all cardinal numbers alright four hundred all right excellent all right we got some good answers remember a difference 1330 all right so what you should answered is right here because whoops let me get up on the screen there four hundred thirteen thousand three hundred thirty excellent alright the next one alright write this in the chat all right this is good listening practice ready the next number next big number I have for you is 996 million five hundred fifty five thousand nine 996 million five hundred fifty five thousand nine alright remember I told you to kind of skip over those zeros in there keep that in mind nine hundred ninety-six million five hundred fifty-five thousand nine alright excellent glad all right perfect all right you getting some answers excellent what you guys thank you guys for answering what you should have written is this right whoops right here nine hundred ninety-six million five hundred fifty-five thousand nine all right or you can say n nine nine hundred nine hundred ninety-six million five hundred fifty five thousand and nine all right the next big number are you ready write it in the chat this is a big one it's biggie two hundred and eight billion ninety nine million one hundred thousand five hundred and seventeen two hundred and eight billion ninety nine million one hundred thousand five hundred and seventeen what what write that write that number down write this see if you guys can write that big number down two hundred and eight billion ninety nine million one hundred thousand five hundred and seventeen what do you guys think that is that is the biggest number of all of them that we've done alright excellent so what I hope you guys wrote what you should write is this 208 billion 99 million 100,000 517 okay so that is some good practice again listening for these big numbers and it's not often that you're gonna have you're gonna be talking about numbers and the billions but it's always good to practice and practice and practice alright so thank you guys so much for joining if you actually did this practice all right even now or later on in the comments I want you to write speaking so I know that you were actually participating and practicing your language skills and saying these numbers because that's what this lesson was all about is speaking and saying these difficult numbers when you are having a conversation or you know talking about numbers so thank you guys so much for your whoops joining me today please like and share this video tirana Bassam Geronimo Eduardo honest sim Miriam sumaya Rosa's thank you thank you thank you Junior Bogdan sorry if I'm missing people please again like and share write us comments we love hearing from you guys and as always thank you thank you thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 357. How to Speak Fast & Sound Natural โ€“ Copy My American Accent ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gxJZoOxj_2s` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJZoOxj_2s) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:01:29 | --- teach you how to master connected speech so that you can speak fast and sound natural. Now, of course, the objective is not necessarily to speak fast, but if you're able to use some of the different parts of connected speech that we're going to go over, I think you'll be able to smoothly and seamlessly transition from one word to the next, from one sound to the next, and you will be able to speak a little faster, but it's also going to help you develop a nice rhythm and flow. And that is something else you're going to hear me talk about quite a bit as we go through the lesson. Now, this is a practice lesson. I want you to participate. I want you to say the sentences, the words out loud and just really try to develop those speaking skills as well as the your pronunciation skills. Now, one thing that people tell me quite often is that they listen to me, you can easily understand what I'm saying, but if you turn on a movie or a TV show, it becomes a little more difficult. So, not only is this going to help your speaking skills and developing a more natural way of speaking, but it's also going to help your listening comprehension skills as well. And you'll be able to understand, well, really why people sound the way they do. So, we're going to look at this dialogue. These are some simple sentences. We're going to go through them one at a time. We're going to do a deep dive and I'm going to talk about everything that's going on and I want you to practice and you're going to say it with me and then we're we're going to say this dialogue together at the end. just I just want you to listen to me say this dialogue and then we'll get into it. So, this is how I this is how we're going to practice it. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. Did you buy something off of Amazon? I got a new phone because my old phone crapped out. I'm gonna have to get a new phone as well. So, simple enough. You hear me say it and it's like, okay, I understand what's happening. And that's good. I want to make this easy because when you practice, I don't want you to read it. I want you to actually say it and and think about as though you're speaking because reading and speaking are two different things. Now, I mentioned that I'm going to talk about rhythm and flow and one key element of that is stress timing. So, in case you're unfamiliar with this, English is a stress time language, which means that the stress syllables or words are said at approximately regular intervals. So, you have a simple question. What did you do last night? And I've broken it into those three different intervals. And I'm going to just go like, what did you do last night? this, you know that this is a stressed word or syllable. But you you can also hear that melody if I wanted to emphasize this. What did you do last night? What did you do last night? What did you do last night? I want you to say this with me. What did you do last night? One more time. What did you do last night? So, this is what I mean by stress timing. It is going to help you develop a more natural way of speaking because what often happens is people they're asking a question or they're they're speaking and you have these pauses in between words. It throws things off a little and you want to be able to move through it in a in a smooth way and this is going to help with that. What did you do last night? So, you're going to see me do this. It's like I'm a conductor in an orchestra. Uh I normally I would clap but I'm holding this microphone right here. But I I am going to bring this back up. Stress timing. It's very useful. Now, I do want to say real quickly, if you are someone who would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, you can join my speaking course. Check out the link down below in the description. This is for intermediate to advanced English speakers. And it's all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. what we do in the course. We warm up with connected speech pronunciation and then we move into our speaking topic, learn new vocabulary related to that topic, do different speaking activities. So, this is only one element to that, but we do spend a fair amount of time at the beginning, like 15 minutes or so, talking about connected speech, some of the very same things we're going to look at in today's lesson. So, let's begin with our first sentence. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. What is going on? Let's break this down. So, I've been waiting around. Now, when I say waiting around, that T with the American accent, because I haven't mentioned I'm from the US, and when the T comes between two vowel sounds, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. Very common. And if you're trying to emulate the American accent, this is incredibly important, using the flap T. Words like water, you hear that soft D. And in this case that verb waiting. Now something that happens with verbs in the continuous tense is gdropping. So I've kind of l numbered basically how we're going to go through this. The first thing is gd dropping. In the continuous tense you can drop that g. Again it just helps people you know say it a little easier. The the ing sound can be a little more challenging than the n sound. So instead of waiting, waiting. Waiting. So instead of I'm taking a break, I'm taking a break. And you can hear that. Hopefully it's easy to hear that G getting dropped. I'm taking a break versus I'm taking a break. So once I drop that G, if if we are going to drop it, again, this is not something you have to do. We're going to spend a little bit of time on this. that T will change or may change from a flap T to a glottle T. It's going to be a glottle stop. And if you're unfamiliar with a glottle stop, this is when your glauus closes. It blocks the flow of air. So instead of waiting, it may sound like waiting. Waiting. Waiting. This often occurs when you have the t followed by an N sound. So, I'm just going to say some words and uh I'm going to say them with a glottle stop. I just want you to repeat after me. Mountain, kitten, button, waiting. If you want a more example with that glottle stop, if you think of somebody saying uhoh, uhoh. Simple enough. That is a glottle stop. You can hear it closing. Uhoh. Uhoh. Wait in wait in. So this is a sound that is a little more difficult to make, but it is part uh you will hear it with the American accent. So when that t if the G gets dropped, I've um I've been uh I've been sitting around all day. I've been waiting for the bus. We're meeting at a cafe. So again, meeting, waiting, sitting. There are quite a few verbs that that end with a t sound. So in this case, waiting waiting and then I can link that final N sound with the vowel sound in a round. Linking often occurs. This is the most common part of connected speech and I think one of the most important parts as well if you want to smoothly transition from one sound to the next. Waiting around. Waiting around. Repeat after me. Waiting around. One more time. Waiting around. Now that final D in around I could link that with all waiting around all day. So this is very subtle. It's very soft and it is very slight. So again linking is we're going to end with that N D. Your tongue is going to be up top and then we're just going to release into the vowel sound in all waiting around all day. Now the next part for the male. Simple enough. For is a word that often gets reduced. Instead of for like the number for you may hear people pronounce it for. That vowel sound gets uh that vowel sound is going to change. The as I'm saying it right now. You could say the or 'the'. There are two different pronunciations, one strong, one weak. In this case, because the next word ends in a consonant sound, I'm going to use the weak form. The mail, the car, the book. This is something I think you know, we're going to use that schwa sound instead of the. So, this is what it's going to sound like. And I've put the the linking and the the phonetic spelling up top there. Hopefully, it makes it a little easier. I want to say it two times slowly, and I want you to repeat after me. Again, this is all about practicing your speaking skills. And then we're going to say it one more time at a regular speed. Now, if you want to think about that stress timing, I've been waiting around for the I've been waiting around all day for the mail. And you can hear that rhythm and flow. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. And again, you don't have to emphasize it like that, but just be aware that the melody it exists. It is there even if it's very slight. So, let's say this two times slowly. Repeat after me or if you want a shadow, try to say it with me. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. Let's say it again. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. And I am emphasizing that melody, but let's speed it up again. That that rhythm and flow that those intervals are still there. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. I didn't tell you, but I wanted you to repeat after me one more time. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. All right, try to say it with me. Ready? I've been waiting around all day for the mail. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. I think shadowing really helps especially if you're trying to maintain that same speed which is very useful because again we're talking about again not that you have to speak fast that is not necessarily the goal but if you're using these different parts of connected speech it's just going to make it that much easier. So, if you were practicing, let me know in the comments, in the chat. Just write the word speaking because I just love knowing that I'm not talking to myself and other people even though I can't hear you. You're practicing and saying these sentences with me. So, just let me know in the chat in the comments if you are participating. So, the next uh sentence is a question. Did you buy something off of Amazon? Did you buy something off of Amazon? The first thing I want to point out, off of, this is a non-standard form that just means the same as off or from. Did you buy something off Amazon? Did you buy something from Amazon? I say non-standard because I wanted to practice more linking. But if you're talking about purchasing something from a website, you may hear people use off of off of Amazon. I bought something off of eBay. I bought something off of the internet. So, we're going to use off of because I wanted to point that out, but also it allows us to practice more linking. So, let's look at what's going on with this sentence. Thank you guys for participating. Love it. So, did you I want to point out that assimilation may occur. This is another part of connected speech. It does not mean that it's always going to happen. You may hear somebody pronounce the two individual words. Did you? But the DNY uh assimilation these two sounds uh they become similar to one another. Now this is a specific part of assimila assimilation uh palletization and basically it's like those sounds are blending together and you're going to get more of a ch sound, but we'll have a look at that in just a minute. So did you buy something? Now even if we're talking about words that end in an ing, you could still drop the G. It may happen, but it doesn't always. So you might say something, but again, you could hear somebody say something and then off of Amazon. I can link that phrase together. This is a yes no question. So you're going to have a rising intonation at the end. Did you buy something off of Amazon? Did you buy something off of Amazon? So you can see that did you. This is how I'm trying to spell it to represent that something. But if you want to say something, it's fine. Again, I think it is a little more challenging to say the ing sound than just the N. And then off of am off of Amazon. We can link that phrase together. Off of Amazon. I want you to say that after me. Off of Amazon. That linking is very slight, but this is why when you first uh probably started learning English and and you heard it, I think this goes uh this is the same way it is for every language. The first time you hear it, it just sounds like one long continuous word because you're unsure of where those breaks are. And linking is what makes it challenging to identify those breaks because the sounds are running together. So, let's practice this question two times slowly and then two times faster. Again, if I wanted to emphasize that melody, that rhythm and flow. Did you buy something off of Amazon? Did you buy something off of Amazon? And you can hear those intervals. Hopefully, it's easy to to understand. Uh so, let's say it two times slowly. You can repeat after me or just shadow and try to say it with me. Ready? Did you buy something off of Amazon? One more time. Did you buy something off of Amazon? Now, let's say it faster. And in this in this time you're going to hear that rising intonation. It is a yes no question. Ready? Did you buy something off of Amazon? Did you buy something off of Amazon? I think everybody's familiar with Amazon uh as far as uh purchasing things online. Did you buy something off of Amazon? Okay. So again, there's different things going on. It's a pretty simple and straightforward question, but let's continue. Let me know again if you're practicing. Just write speaking in the comments in the chat so that I know that you are practicing your speaking skills. This is what it's all about. I don't want this just to be passive learning. I want to make it active learning as well. After all, this is interactive English. That way I can become your teacher. My name's Wes. for those of you who this this if this is your first time here and the channel's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So that's a quick little quick little plug that I forgot to mention at the beginning. So the next sentence, somebody asks that question, did you buy something off of Amazon? And the person responds and says, I got a new phone because my old phone crapped out. Now crapped out, this is more American slang. And if some if you say that something crapped out, often it's used in the past because it's already happened, you're referring to some type of machine that basically either it's malfunction or it's broken altogether. So if you say your phone crapped out, it's not working. Yeah, my car crapped out, it's not working. Yeah, last week uh unfortunately our AC crapped out. So this is more American English saying something crapped out. I'm trying to throw a little vocabulary in there as we go through this. All right. Excellent. Love to see everybody participating. Keep it up. Keep it up. Just two more sentences to go through. So, I got a Now, I mentioned when the T comes between two vowel sounds with the American accent, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. I think a word that I always come back to is water. Water. Water. That really, really empas. you can really grasp that flat t. Uh, so gota I'm going to link this phrase together. So I'm linking the flap t with the vowel sound uh gota. I got a new phone because can often I can reduce this. You don't have to. I think a lot of people when when I talk about reductions with because I know a lot of people are comfortable just saying because there's nothing wrong with it. It's perfectly fine. But for your listening comprehension, you may hear somebody reduce it and they'll just say cuz. So instead of because my old phone. Now elision is when sounds or syllables get removed. Often this may happen with the T or D. So when the T or D comes between a two two consonant sounds, they may collide. So instead of old phone and you distinctly hear those two words that dalides old phone my old phone crapped out crapped out I can link it together the ed and crapped because the p sound is voiceless so the ed is more of a t and then I can link it without crapped out. Crapped out again it's very subtle very soft but hopefully you can hear it. Just repeat after me. Crapped out. crapped out. Okay. So, once again, we're gonna practice this and I've given you the phonetic spelling, everything that's going on. Uh, and if I wanted to show you that melody, I got a new phone because my old phone crapped out. I got a new phone because my old phone cropped out. And I'm trying to This is This is the stress right here. if I wanted to really emphasize I got a new phone because my old phone cropped out. And you could turn any sentence into basically a song. So let's say this twice slowly and then two times at a faster speed. Whether you want to repeat after me or shadow, either one. I just want you to participate. That's what I want. That's all I want today. Okay. So let's say it twice slowly. I got a new phone because my old phone crapped out. One more time. I got a new phone because my old phone crapped out. Now, let's say it faster at more of a normal speed. Ready? I got a new phone cuz my old phone crapped out. One more time. I got a new phone cuz my old phone crapped out. Hopefully, as I'm saying this, it's easy to hear all of those different things going on, whether it's linking, reductions, elision in this case. So, let me know if you're participating. Once again, each part I'm just going to go ahead ask you to write speaking. And Curtis, thank you for joining our community. Love it. Welcome. Uh like seeing so many other members like Lai. Uh great to have you. Great to have you on board. So, the the final sentence that we're going to look at, if I were to say this, the individual words, which is not how you're going to hear me say it, I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. And as I'm saying this, it sounds a little robotic. I sound kind of like uh the AI. Uh, it's getting better, but still it does sound, depending on the one you're using, it may sound a little robotic. I would just say, I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. And I'm just smoothly moving right through that sentence. I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. Again, you hear me say it. I think it's easy to understand. It's just a matter of whether or not uh you can try to say it in the same way. That is really what shadowing is. You're trying to say the words, the sentences, the phrases in the exact same way, kind of like you're singing a song. So, I'm going to. So, going to the the first thing I want to mention is going to is often reduced to gonna. It is probably the most common reduction in English. You probably use it in just your everyday conversation because you hear it all the time. I'm going to go. I'm going to play. I'm going to walk. I'm going to exercise. Now, I will say if we have I'm gonna, you may hear people reduce it even further. This is something that I do, especially when I'm uh teaching and going through the course. Sometimes there's so much that I'm trying to cover. And I will reduce this even further. And it's going to sound like I'mma have to. I can reduce that to have to get a once again that t is going to become a flap t. And then I can link it with that vowel sound. Get a new phone as well. Phone as you can hear me like moving that final consonant sound over to the vowel sound in as phone as. So this is what this is what it's going to sound like. And I will say let's just look at that first part. And I want you to practice and and tell me what you think because I know a lot of people tell me it feels a little unnatural to say I'm gonna. I think people are very comfortable with I'm going to. It is commonly used. If you I I think you should stay within your comfort zone because I'm gonna is very common. But just right now, for the sake of this lesson and participating in this activity, I want you to give it a try and just say, "I'm I'm" And then speed it up. gonna I'm so you what you might hear somebody in a movie, TV show, and this is why I think some people will say, "Oh, it's difficult to understand." They might say, "Look, I'm going to go to the store. I'm going to go to the park. I'm gonna go to the gym. I'm gonna go to the shop. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna eat dinner. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna So, what I'd like you just in the chat, let me know. Just say uh you know, give me you can give me a thumbs up if you feel like it was comfortable and it was okay saying I'm going to or a thumbs down if it felt like a little awkward and you just didn't feel comfortable. So, even though I'm I'm giving you this now because this is just the way that you're going to hear me say it in uh in this dialogue. It's not something you have to do. I'm going to is very commonly used and it's perfectly fine. But you may hear somebody reduce it even further. I'm going to. So, give me a thumbs up if it's comfortable, thumbs down if you're like, h that's just weird and awkward and I don't want to do it. Um, have to have to. I mentioned get a new phone as well. So th this is the way I would say it slowly. I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. And you can hear that rhythm and flow. I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. Now, of course, I I added have to in there just to have one reduction right after the other. Of of course, somebody could say, "I'm going to get a new phone as well." And you don't even need to use have to. In this case, maybe you're just trying to emphasize that, oh yeah, you too. This is something that you also have to do. But I just put it in there to make it a little more challenging as we go through. Say this sentence. One reduction right after the other can be a little bit of a little difficult. All right, I'm impressed you guys. I see all these thumbs up. Okay, that's that's good. I'm glad that uh it does feel comfortable. This is something that if you've been following the channel and watched some different videos, you when I talk about the American accent or connected speech or even do lessons like this, this is something that I've mentioned before. So, you're familiar with it. So, let's say this twice slowly and then more at a normal speed. So, slowly I'm going to have I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. Sorry, I kind of botched that. I'm gonna have to get a new phone as well. Once again, I'm gonna have to get a new phone as well. Now, let's speed it up. Maybe try to shadow. Say it with me at the same time. Uh, I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. And now I'm trying to say it like I'm getting into character because we're going to start that dialogue. I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. So, now that we've gone through each sentence and talked about everything that's going on, let's practice this together. And again, I want you to say this out loud. I will start out uh as A. I want you to start out as B. But one last time, I just want you to listen to the way that uh we're going to practice saying this dialogue. I'll just say all of it right now. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. Did you buy something off of Amazon? I got a new phone cuz my old phone cropped out. I'm going to have to get a new one as well. It does not take long to say. I just went right through it. Takes about six seconds. So, let's begin. I'm going to say A. I'll give you a moment to say your line, get into character, and then uh I just want you to say B. And then we're going to switch. Now again, I know that reading and speaking are two different things. Of course, you don't have this memorized, even though they are simple sentences, and that's okay. But try to think about it. Think of it like as though you're saying it like we're actually having this conversation. So, you're not just reading it, but trying to say it out loud. So, let's begin. Ready? I'm going to A. I'm A. You're B. I've been waiting around all day for the mail. I got a new phone because my old phone cropped out. All right, good. And I realized in that case I did I did not end up reducing because to because so it depends on what you're comfortable with. It's not something that you'll you'll hear all the time. But yes, uh I I should have said like uh I got a new phone because my old phone crapped out. So now let's switch. I want you to say A. I am going to say B. I trust that you are saying this with me. So, you can go ahead and begin right now. Did you buy something off of Amazon? I'm going to have to get a new phone as well. Okay, simple enough. This is a dialogue that you see these sentences, you hear them. It's easy to understand. All I wanted to do was really go through this and like I said, we're doing a deep dive talking about all the different things going on. So, when we isolate it in these different sentences, I think it's e it's easier, but to like as far as people saying like, well, movies, TV shows, it's more difficult to understand. Part of that is because it's just continuous. We're not you're not breaking it down sentence by sentence and taking time to see what's happening so that your comprehension is perfect. You're just listening to people blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and they're just moving right through the dialogue or telling the story and then it does become a little more difficult for your your ears to process everything. But just being aware of some of this some of these things like did you people might say did you or I'm going to may sound more like I'm going to in general I think that is going to slowly help you improve your listening comprehension skills. So hopefully you enjoyed this master class and have a much better understanding of a connected speech and the different parts and what's going on. There is more to this and I promise in the future I I will do more lessons like this because well mostly because I like them. I think they're fun. I enjoy doing like these activities and having this dialogue. And then once again if you are interested well not stress timing. This is also interesting and it helps develop that rhythm and flow. What I wanted to throw in real quickly at the end this last plug if you want to practice and improve your speaking skills check out that link down below in the description. and you can join my speaking course and the link will just take you to the course page so you can check out the class times and availability if this is something that that you would like to do. So I hope you enjoyed this lesson. is something that you would like to do be able to speak in a more natural way using that rhythm and flow and ultimately it is you're just going to be able to move right through the sentence a little faster and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just all about developing your overall fluency. So if you enjoyed the lesson let me know by hitting that like button. Uh, as always, I appreciate you being here and I will see you next time, well, very soon for another lesson. --- ## 358. How to Speak with Different American Accents ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `mXpW_WyZpmQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpW_WyZpmQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:06:06 | --- i want to talk to you about some different and well-known accents in the united states and as i present these accents i'm really going to be demonstrating the the stereotypical accent it's going to be very thick and that's just so you can easily hear the difference between a standard american accent and a regional accent i am actually an english teacher and i teach a lot about the american accent but i've had many learners ask me about specific accents so i thought this would be a good opportunity to talk a little bit about some of the accents you may hear if you are visiting the united states or even living in the united states and if you enjoy learning about the american accent please subscribe turn on notifications so that i can become your teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english is all about just trying to help you reach your fluency goals and i i also have a speaking course available which i'll tell you a little bit about at the end of the lesson if you are an english learner who would like to practice and improve your speaking fluency i would highly recommend checking that out but i'll talk to you about that in just a little bit let's just go ahead and begin with the first accent that i want to talk to you about which is the new york accent or as some people might say in new york new york so the first thing that i want to tell you about this accent is that it's common people may drop the r's in some words especially when the r comes at the end of a word so just listen to the difference between a standard american accent and then a new york accent dropping the r before before here here water water so i'm dropping the r at the end of those words and you will also drop the r when it doesn't really come at the end but maybe the middle of a single syllable word like like the word park people might say park and even the word new york as you heard me pronounce it already new york something else i want to tell you about the new york accent is that when you have the a-l letter combination it may sound like awe and and this is very slight with some words so if i say the word talk in the new york accent talk and and it just gets stressed a little bit and it may be easier to to listen for if i were to give you a question so instead of saying what are you talking about with the accent what are you talking about what are you talking about something else i would say is that when it comes to accents in general i think reductions of all kinds are very common so in this sentence i'm reducing you to ya i'm using the the schwa sound that a sound so that it's not stressed and it would just sound like yeah which is pretty common in spoken english when you comes in the middle of a sentence or the middle of a clause so it would sound like what are you talking about what are you talking about this al combination is also true in words like call so with this one you can really tell the difference between where your tongue is at in your mouth because generally when you say call the tongue is going to come up to the top part of your mouth at the end of the word because it's a dark l and you'd hear that all sound at the end call but with the new york accent it would sound like call and your tongue is actually laying flat at the bottom of your mouth so again to to give you an example with the sentence i'll call you later i'll call you later once again i'm reducing you to yeah and then i'm dropping that r in later i'll call you later i'll call you later let's move a little further to the north and we'll talk about the boston accent this is another well-known accent that you may hear in well movies tv shows like uh the movie the departed great movie one kid with your old man one kid with your mother you're up a middle class during the weeks then you're dropping your eyes and you're hanging in the big bad salty projects and the boston accent actually shares some similarities with the the new york accent you're also gonna drop the r in in many words like the well the word car i think this is a word that's often used when talking about the boston accent and it's going to sound like car so what kind of car you drive did you find your car keys and when if somebody were to say the phrase cockeys and you are an english learner yeah it can be difficult to catch that that the r is getting dropped and somebody is talking about their car keys did you find your car keys with the boston accent that al people may also pronounce it more like an awe but i think with the boston accent often there's there's going to be an upward inflection at the end of sentences so if i were to say yeah i was talking with my friends we were talking about star wars and i tried to end those sentences with that upward inflection i like that phrase star wars dropping the r's in both of those words something else with the boston accent is the o r combination may also sound like awe and this is true even if you're talking about the conjunction or like chicken or beef chicken or beef cocoa pepsi and hopefully you can easily hear that and this is true when the or combination is in individual words like divorce divorce force false may the foss be with you okay we're talking about star wars so i'm just just imagining luke skywalker with a thick boston accent may the foss be with you you know me and the other jedi's we're gonna go down to the and grab some beers all right the that's that's more dialect the is uh it's short for package store which is just a liquor store where where people would buy alcohol the so let's uh let's go in a different direction and head down south and i want to talk to you about the southern drawl one of the main characteristics of the southern drawl is that it's going to sound a little slower and that's because people might drag out those vowel sounds and previously i did another lesson talking about the southern drawl i'll leave that up here in case you're interested but one reason why those vowel sounds are going to get dragged out is because people will take short vowel sounds and turn them into a diphthong in which you are combining two vowel sounds and the vowel sounds that people will combine are short vowel sounds with an off-glide schwa sound which is that uh so you have the verb have and it might sound like have so it sounds a little longer you can kind of hear that that schwa that uh sound on it have have y'all have a pen i need to write something down so hopefully you can hear that schwa sound half but i also said have a pen and that's another characteristic of the southern drawl is the mixing of vowel sounds especially the e and the so instead of saying pen it may sound like pin you all have a pin i need somebody to get me a pin okay so even get might sound like git but while we're in the south i also want to talk to you about the southern twang it's a little different than that southern drawl so with the southern twang i might think of places more like the florida panhandle or louisiana and it is going to be a little different than the southern drawl even though they share some of the same characteristics people are going to take short vowel sounds and turn it into a diphthong they're going to mix some of those same vowel sounds like get and get but i i would say that the southern drawl it's going to sound slower it's more rounded and like it's coming from the back of your your throat whereas the twang it's gonna sound more at a normal speed perhaps a bit sharper and really come through the nose it's going to sound more nasally so let me give you a sentence with the southern drawl and the southern twang just try to listen for the difference if i were to say with the southern drawl i can't wait to get me one of those and then with the twang i can't wait to get me one of those okay i was trying to say it more through my nose please if you're from the south please feel free to give me some notes down in the comments below but just trying to make a slight distinction between the southern drawl and the southern twang because if you're spending any time in the south you may hear a little bit of both and now let's move well let's go to the upper midwest because i want to talk to you about minnesota okay and even when i say the name of the state you should notice that long o sound minnesota and this is something that's distinct about the accent if i were just to say it with a standard uh american accent minnesota but with the minnesotan accent minnesota and you really have this pure o sound in many words so instead of boat boat soap soap and it's really it sounds a little like you're just stressing that o a little bit but you really have that pure o sound another thing about this accent if somebody were to have a very thick minnesota accent they may pronounce words that have a g as like egg so words the like flag may sound like flag or bag beg instead of saying put the soda in the bag you might hear put the soda in the bag all right now let's go let's go all the way out west to california and i want to talk to you about well this is more of a stereotypical californian valley accent again something you might hear in movies or tv shows and when it comes to this accent i actually think it's more about well the the way people are stress timing the language and what i would say is that people end up over stressing words that might have a slight stress and then de-stressing other words that that generally get reduced so let me let me give you an example just listen to the way i'm talking when i when i say the following today we're gonna go to the mall and i'm gonna go shopping with my friends and it's gonna be hella cool because everybody is going to be talking like me okay so i was really trying to over stress some of those words and then de-emphasize the words that are commonly reduced which is why you would really hear certain words and then everything else just gets run together and it sounds really fast uh something else about this accent which is more dialect would be the use of fillers such as the word like i was like and he was like and she was like i i used to live in california in the bay area and in the morning i would ride the bus to work and there would be high school students who would also take the same bus going to to school in the morning and i would hear some of their conversations and it was difficult for me to follow every other word was the word like and i like told him that i couldn't like come over and help him with his homework and he was like why you like promise me that that you'd like help me with this it's a very important project and after listening to this i was thinking what what are you guys talking about now to follow up on that this is i think a stereotypical accent that you might find among younger generations perhaps kids in high school might talk more like this but again this is uh the stereotypical valley accent hopefully you have a better understanding of these accents i know that i went through them rather quickly but i just wanted to to give you a sense of of what they sound like and why and now i want to tell you about my speaking course because if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills you can check out my course click on the link down below and when you do you will find a special discount just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn new vocabulary related to each topic we do engaging speaking activities we start out each lesson with something related to pronunciation or connected speech there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course and i'll teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases so if you'd like to to sign up or learn more about the course just click on that link down below in the description and i just hope to speak to you soon so yeah y'all have a great day may the foss be with you okay i'm gonna i'm gonna stop doing these accents now i will see you next time so long --- ## 359. How to Speak with a Southern Accent | American English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CB_nhquynN0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB_nhquynN0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:12:20 | --- welcome to today's lesson we're talking about the southern accent so the first thing that i want to say is that this is a very well-known and distinct accent i'm sure you may have heard it before my mom always said life was like a box of chocolates now before we begin i'd like to ask you please hit that like button subscribe to the channel turn on notifications so that i get to be your teacher throughout the lesson i i'm gonna try to break down the southern accent a little bit at a time and not all southern accents are the same most notably i think the south is known for either the southern drawl that that deep south accent there's also a southern twang which is a bit more nasally but i'm going to be talking more about that that deep south that southern drawl and it's not like you either have the accent or you don't there is a sliding scale the first thing that i think people think of when they think of that southern accent that southern drawl is how slow it is that it's a bit slower because that drawl is kind of when you drag out some of those sounds especially those vowel sounds all right there's really two things that are going on you're taking a pure vowel sound and you're turning it into a diphthong and you you may also be prolonging some of those stressed syllables so let's first talk about diphthongs because i think this is very important in understanding why the southern accent is a bit slower if you do not know what a diphthong is it is a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable so i do not want to go into the weeds talking to you about diphthongs but here is an example of a diphthong and it's going to create that ow sound so you might see it with the combination of vowels like oh you in sound now in the south it's common to create diphthongs with the short vowel sounds and you're going to follow it with an off glide schwa sound so schwa is that a sound if we start with a and we have the word hat in the south i would say hayat i'm going to follow it with that off-glide schwa if i have the word pet pay it sit sit so again listen for that diphthong that short vowel sound followed by that that slight schwa sound hat pant sit so i i think this becomes well really noticeable when you hear people say like some very common words let's let's take the verb have it's a verb that you're going to use quite often just in everyday conversation but instead of saying have i would say have and you might hear somebody say y'all have a great day and it's part of southern hospitality and notice that i used y'all which is the contracted form of you all which is kind of like saying like you guys you're talking to a group of people now this is more southern dialect as opposed to accent and throughout the lesson i am going to throw in some southern dialect because i i think it'll help give you a better overall understanding of the southern accent now let's go back to talking about diphthongs because not all diphthongs in the south are going to be followed by that off-glide schwa sound so let's have a look at this word right here dog instead we're going to have a diphthong that that's going to sound more like ah dog dog dog all right you can you can kind of hear it stretching out a little bit with that diphthong dog dog in georgia there is a famous university the university of georgia their mascot is the bulldog and when talking about the university especially like the sports teams the they'll refer to them as the dogs and they'll even spell it d-a-w-g kind of capturing that southern accent that southern drawl dog so let's use some of these diphthongs in a sentence if i were to say i can't believe you guys have a dog i'll use that off-glide schwa in words like can't and have i'm going to change you guys to y'all and dog to dog and it's gonna sound like i can't believe y'all have a dog i can't believe y'all have a dog the other thing that you may have noticed is that when i said believe i'm kind of prolonging that stressed syllable that second syllable believe this is not something that's going to happen with every word i think it may happen more often with like two syllable words when the stress is on that first syllable you're gonna prolong it and then you're even going to weaken the unstressed syllable if you have the word like mama all right the stress is on the first syllable but if i were to say this with the southern accent prolong that first syllable mama mama all right it's much stronger than that second syllable now i think something that's even more important when talking about syllable stress which really doesn't have to do with making it sound slower but this is just something that that people do with the southern accent is that they will switch the stress to the first syllable i think there are some words that are fairly well known that people do this with but if you were to spend time there and just listen to the accent i think this is something you might pick up on so let's let's talk about some of those words that i think are a bit more well known so instead of july people say july you want to see my daddy for the first time ever on july 14th insurance insurance umbrella umbrella police police guitar guitar halloween halloween and then to give you a sentence halloween ain't in july and i use the contraction ain't which is another part of southern dialect this is something that you will hear and it's a contracted form of well has a lot of forms is not are not am not has not have not it could be any of those halloween ain't in july something else that changes with the southern accent is the mixing of vowel sounds and i think this especially happens with e so instead of saying get people would say get instead of pen pin 10 10 i have 10 dogs 10 dogs can you believe it and i ain't got one guitar but i plan to get a guitar maybe i'll get a guitar for halloween now that that doesn't make much sense but you get the idea you could hear those diphthongs you could hear the syllable stress change to the first syllable and you could hear the mixing of some of those vowel sounds something else which you may have heard which is also very common with the southern accent is the way i was pronouncing i so when you're pronouncing words like i and my you're not really going to use the long i sound it's going to sound more like ah i have an umbrella but my umbrella ain't opening so of course i and my are very common words so this might be something that's a little more easily noticeable another difference with the southern accent is the soft r that you might find at the end of some words especially when it follows a vowel sound like the word fire becomes fire last night my house was on fire thankfully we have insurance then i want to talk to you about words that end with llow there are not a lot of words out there but when you do have words like this instead of pronouncing it low you're going to hear people say la so yellow becomes yellow fellow becomes fella and and fellow is an informal word talking about like a man or a boy the fella that plays a guitar but it is a little more common in the south and people would pronounce it fella that fella's got a yellow hat that fella's got a yellow hat another thing i want to point out is i've used that reduction gotta instead of got a i just said gotta this is something else that i think is is pretty common throughout the south gonna wanna have to gotta let me otta people are going to use reductions in spoken english and it's something that's pretty common throughout the united states in general but just yeah keep that in mind you're definitely going to hear this in the south and then i want to talk to you about something else that i think is it's well known in the south the way people speak part of that accent and that is they're going to drop the g at the end of ing words like those words in the continuous tense i'm just dusting above miss daisy again this is something that i think is pretty common throughout the united states in all u.s accents but uh in the south it is definitely something that people will do so uh i could say i was pitching a fit when the police came i was pitching a fit when the police came now to pitch a fit is a phrase that means to complain this is actually something that i use and i still use it i didn't even realize it was part of southern dialect but i guess it is i was pitching a fit when the police came i realized some of these example sentences are quite ridiculous i really just wanted you to hear the different parts of the southern accent so you can better understand why it is the way it is and i hope you could hear the difference when i would say the sentence more with a standard american accent and versus the southern accent that southern drawl so i thank you all for watching please hit that like button write to me down in the comments below i'd love to hear from you and i gotta get going so i'll see you next time so long --- ## 360. How to Start a Conversation | 3 Things You Need to Remember ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oM_SKD-tQZc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM_SKD-tQZc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:45:37 | --- If you want to have a meaningful conversation in English, then all you need to do is... Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I want to talk to you about starting conversations in English and how to start a meaningful conversation. We get questions from learners all the time about, you know, what, what's the best way to start a conversation? What should I talk about? What should I ask? For example, I know many English learners, if they can't think of anything to say and they don't know what to talk about, then they may revert to a question like, well, well, how's the weather? Let's talk about the weather because I can't think of anything else right now. And again, you can have a conversation and talk about the weather. Both of you know what it's like, but it may not be what you really want to discuss. And that's what I want to talk to you about in this lesson. How you can get to that point where you can have a meaningful conversation and you feel confident, you feel comfortable and you can keep the conversation going. So I'm going to give you three main suggestions throughout the lesson that's going to help you approach someone when you want to begin a conversation. So the first suggestion that I have for you is to put the conversation on the other person. Too often I think learners enter into a conversation, even native speakers do this and they worry too much about what they're going to say. They're worried that they're going to say the wrong thing or perhaps they think that, well, what if I don't know enough information about this topic? So what I'm suggesting is just don't worry about all that. Just put the conversation on the other person so that they're doing most of the talking, especially at the beginning. And that will allow you a little more time to get comfortable, to get confident and then you can share your thoughts and opinions. I think this is actually a pretty easy thing to do because, well, let's be honest, many people like talking about themselves. If somebody is asking me questions then yeah I am going to share information with them because I do. I want to talk about the places I've been. I want to talk about the things that I've done. So as you enter the conversation, try to keep that mindset that you are going to put the conversation on them. You're trying to get them to share more information with you and in doing so you will need to ask more questions. Make sure that you're going to ask open ended questions because that's going to allow people to share more about their thoughts, their opinions, their ideas. Because if you just ask close ended questions and they say yes or no, that's not going to help you keep the conversation going. Now one thing you may be thinking is, okay, well where do I begin? What question could I ask to just about anybody to really get the ball rolling and start that conversation. So I think a general simple question that you can ask somebody is, well, what do you do after you introduce yourself? Hi, my name's Wes, nice to meet you. They introduce themselves. Then you can ask them, so what do you do? What do you do for a living? And that allows people to open up a little and that is a great starting point, especially if you just don't know person at all. So this is a great way to break the ice to start a conversation with somebody you don't know and it is a little meaningful because you are learning some important information about that person. You are learning what they do for a living. Another way to put the conversation on another person is just to ask for some help or advice and two questions that you could use is do you know how to or would you happen to know? Those are questions that that you can use and are common when you want to ask for some help. And this really depends on the situation that you're in. Maybe you're at some event and you don't know where to go. This actually happened to me recently. I was attending a conference. There was going to be a meeting, but I didn't know how to get there. I didn't know what room I should be in. I saw somebody else and because they had a name tag and I knew that she was also going to be at this meeting, so I just went up and I asked her some advice. I said, Hey, would you know how to get to this, this room? Where should we be? Unfortunately she didn't know either, but we were able to look for the meeting together and during this time we were having a conversation. I introduced myself, she introduced herself and we were able to talk a little bit about what we do, so it was an easy way to start that conversation. I needed help. I needed advice. Another way to put the conversation on somebody else is to give a little information about yourself and then ask a question. For example, you could say, wow, I really love something. How about you? What do you think about this? Again, ask those open ended questions. Give the other person more time to respond and share information and put the conversation on them. The next suggestion that I have for you is to find shared experiences. Find things that you have in common with this other person because that's going to give you more to talk about, but it's also more meaningful if you can find some different experiences that you have in common that you have shared, that will give you a lot to talk about. And it's also going to really help you connect with that other person. So for example, when you're trying to find a shared experience, consider your surroundings. Where are you? Because if you are at a party, a festival, an event, then that is an experience right there that you have in common with everyone else. So you could walk up to somebody and start the conversation and ask them, you know, I've never been to one of these things before. How about you? Or maybe you could ask a question, say, you know, so what brings you here? Why are you at this party? Why are you at this event? Who do you know that is a simple and easy way to start a conversation. You can also consider the time of year what is happening around this time. Are there any holidays, festivals, because we all share those experiences. For example, if somebody is in the United States, then I could ask them, you know, do you have any plans for the 4th of July? Do you have any plans for Thanksgiving? Do you have any plans for New Year's? And this could easily be a shared experience that you have with another person if you also have plans for a time of year or if you're going to celebrate a certain holiday. So try to find some shared experiences because it's a way to have a more meaningful conversation, but it also gives you a lot more to talk about. The next suggestion is to keep the conversation going. And this may actually be a challenging thing to do because if you start a conversation and you're talking to another person and you're asking questions and you're sharing your thoughts and opinions, but as time goes on, you may think, wow, I'm, I'm running out of things to say, I don't know what to talk about next. The one thing I will tell you is that you need to feel comfortable and confident when it comes to transitioning to a new topic because silence can be the killer of a conversation and you don't want that to happen. So try to keep the conversation going. Try to perhaps find another shared experience and transition to a new topic. And there are a number of questions that you can use to do that. So let me give you some examples about how you could possibly transition to another topic. You could ask general questions about a person's life. What are you doing this weekend? What have you been up to lately? Or what have you been watching lately? People are watching something on Netflix or HBO. So this is another way to try and ask some questions and search for those shared experiences. You could go back to asking for advice. If there's something that you want to know that you need help with, you could just say, could you recommend, Hmm, could you recommend something and tell them why. Tell them why you want some advice. Tell them why you want some help. Because in general, I think people like to give advice, they like to share their expertise and offer help when they can. It is a great way to transition to a new topic. One more way to keep the conversation going and transition to a new topic is think about what's happening in the world. Think of some things that you know about that's part of considering your surrounding. This is a great way to transition to another topic, but make sure that you are transitioning to topics that, that you know about, that you feel comfortable talking about and try to transition to that topic, that event, and continue finding shared experiences so you can keep the conversation going and make it meaningful. So let's practice this and we're going to do a role play. I am going to introduce myself. I then want you to introduce yourself and then I'll ask you a question and I'll put a timer up there. So you know how long you have to speak. Are you ready? All right, let's begin with the introduction. Hey, how's it going? My name's Wes. It's very nice to meet you. So what do you do? Wow, I've always been so interested in learning more about that. What are some of the things that you like or even some of the things that you don't like about it. Really that, that's amazing. So did you hear what's going on with American politics? That's crazy. What do you think? All right, so at the end there, I was just trying to transition to another topic and keep the conversation going, but you get the idea. So I hope these suggestions help you the next time you want to go in and start a meaningful conversation with another person. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button down below and write to us in the comments. Start a conversation with me with other people who are writing comments. That is a great way to practice your English. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 361. How to Use Everyday Idioms | Bird's Eye View | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MvlZxPgB0X4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvlZxPgB0X4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:52:12 | --- We have an amazing view! And today, I'm going to talk to you about... So today I want to talk to you about an idiom and that idiom is a bird's eye view. So the meaning of this idiom is just a view of the surrounding area from an elevated position kind of like the perspective of a bird. Got to get a bird's eye view. So this is one of those English idioms whose meaning is pretty much exactly like it sounds. Now, there are a couple different verbs that we commonly use with this idiom. For example, the verb "to be." So we could say that there "is a bird's eye view." So at the top of the mountain, there is a bird's eye view. We can also use it with the verb "have" when something "has a bird's eye view". And I could say that "Right now I have a bird's eye view of Budapest." We can also use it with "get". You hear this from time to time that when you go up to a certain building or mountain that you hope to "get a bird's eye view". So what I want you to do now is practice using the idiom "bird's eye view". And I want you to write a sentence using this idiom in the comments below. And if you'd like some suggestions, you can write about a place in your city or country that has a "bird's eye view". If you like learning about English idioms please go ahead and "like" this video. Also, remember to subscribe to our channel if you want more videos on how you can practice and improve your English skills. We'll see you next time! --- ## 362. How to Use Mixed Conditionals | Advanced English Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xB5oEk-PmZg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB5oEk-PmZg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:42:23 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson and today we are going to have a very very useful lesson because we're going to talk about mixed conditionals that's coming up [Music] welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place that you want to be if you're looking to practice and improve your English skills and today it is a more of an advanced grammar lesson because we are going to be talking about mixed conditionals and I know that that this is something that that can be a challenge for for many learners who are trying to improve their English skills and really understand these conditional sentences and especially mixed conditionals can be very very confusing so we're really gonna have a look at them today and some of the different types of mixed conditionals but before we begin if you are joining us I want you to say what's up in the chat write your name tell me where you're joining us from and even if you're watching this later please just write your name in the chat say what's up we just love hearing from you guys so Christo saw ago SIA the myth Mandy Bruno welcome welcome welcome Thank You Andre hi welcome thank you guys for joining me today for this very about what mix conditionals are and show you the different types it's good to review and really understand well what are conditional sentences and how are they used and we did several lessons on conditional sentences on the zero conditional the first the second and the third and I will link those in the description and if you are watching this later I will put a card up there and I highly highly recommend that you you check out those lessons because we give you more examples and really talk about how those sentences are used and talk a little more about the grammar in this lesson I'm going to quickly review those conditionals and then we're really gonna focus and talk more about the mixed conditionals and of course at the end all right I want you guys to get ready because we will practice using these conditionals we are going to practice using conditionals and I will want you to write to us in the comments and in the chat so again jr. Astana Fez Morocco Malcolm Patricia hello welcome thank you for joining me and now let's let's begin let's start talking about conditionals so let's first just quickly look well what are conditional sentences conditional sentences you have two parts all right you have an if clause when you think of conditional sentences we always think of them as if statements so you have an if clause which is the condition if you subscribe to our channel this is a dependent clause because it's not a complete sentence it's not a complete thought so if you subscribe to our channel well what what's the result what what happens because of that that is going to be our main Clause and that is if you subscribe to our channel you will learn English okay I'm really trying to promote promote ourselves right now so if you subscribe to our Channel that's our condition you will learn English that is going to be the result so that is a basic simple conditional sentence you have an if clause in the condition and your main clause in the result now one thing I want to tell you guys when we look through and and review these conditions the the 0 conditional the first the second and the third I think it's useful when when you're learning these I tell you you know pay attention to the grammar these conditionals are relatively rule-based so if you learn these rules then and and learned how they're used with the grammar you can use that to create more sentences so keep that in mind and I have put the grammar up there so you know how to create these sentences so you can use the grammar I know that when many people are learning English they want to learn rules they want to try to learn the rule because it's like okay now I understand this so with these conditionals it's okay you can you can they're fairly rule-based think about the grammar all right that's all I'm gonna say all right so let's look at the zero conditional and as we go through these you know practice writing some sentences go for it so first off I want to ask you do you guys know can you tell me how do you use the zero conditional the first conditional the second conditional and the third conditional can you tell me what are the situations in which we use those conditional sentences if you guys know write those in the chat I want to hear from you guys so let's talk about them right now so the zero conditional is used to talk about a general truth a scientific fact if you guys and have an example sentence please write them all right so my sentence which is a general truth it's for me it might not be for everybody but I might say you know if I read in the car I get sick I could even throw an adverb a frequency in there and say if I read in the car I always get sick this is true this is it stressin simple for the result okay so yes but no you said zero conditional these are real situations these are truths these things really happen okay so that is the zero conditional now let's look at the first conditional again rule based I don't think it's going to be too difficult so we use the first conditional all right to talk about a possible or likely situation in the future so we're talking about something we're talking about the future with the first conditional and my condition here's my sentence if it rains we'll get wet so if it rains that's my condition simple present will get wet that's the result my main clause and that's where I'm using the future if it rains we will get wet okay excellent so let's look at I think that's again you can follow it simple present future it makes sense first conditional now now let's see a little more tricky with the second conditional so the second conditional is used to talk about a hypothetical or an unlikely situation hypothetical or unlikely situation that ok it's it cannot happen it's not going to happen or there's it's it's really really unlikely that it's going to happen so often times when you hear a sentence with the second conditional somebody's maybe giving you advice and they would say they'd start out and say this if I were you okay if I were you all right I would you had use would plus the verb base verb if I were you I would hit that like button all right again I'm in English because it's not often alright if I were all right we're using the subjunctive in this case if I were you I would hit that like button okay it's a hypothetical situation because well I'm I'm not you okay I am not you so this is hypothetical alright so again oh somebody pointed out yes thank you for going out mistake this is a typo right here I just noticed that yes not if I were are you it should say if I were you ignore that article a in there again it's interesting I go through these slides again and again and again and I find some typos but sometimes I still miss them but thank you for pointing that out to me yes it should say if I were you I would hit that like button again all right think that keep that in mind that's what I would do if I were you second conditional now let's look at the third conditional it's used to talk about an imaginary or unreal situation in the past okay you should know okay with the third conditional both the condition and the result these both both of these things they happen in the past it's in the past and that's why you say it's imaginary it's unreal it's not possible because we can't change the past it's already happened so in the condition in my in my if clause I'm going to use the past perfect if I had studied okay if I had studied the result I'm going to use would have plus the past participle if I had studied I would have passed the exam okay if I had studied I would have passed the exam okay I didn't study in the past I didn't pass the exam in the past both of these things happen in the past it's imaginary it's unreal it didn't happen okay because I did not study which means I did not pass the exam so if I had studied I would have passed the exam so this is that is a quick review of the 0 the first the second and the third conditional and I would recommend again if you haven't seen our other video lessons on these conditionals you can check them out we go into a little more detail we give some more examples and I think it would really help and even if you feel comfortable with them it's always good to review so the way I would say now let's get into the mixed conditionals and I have 4 different types that I'm gonna go over sometimes people say oh there's more than four mixed conditionals other people say oh there's only two mix you know again don't don't get caught up with oh how many there are I'm gonna give you four examples all right and we're gonna go through these different ones now the reason why it's difficult and it's different is because when before we talked about the other conditionals I told you I said pay attention to the grammar you with those conditionals you can pay attention to the grammar you can see what's being used and and then try to make some more sentences and practice those with the mixed conditionals I would say it's the opposite do not focus on the grammar do not pay attention to the grammar and try to understand mixed conditionals based on the grammar okay I'm still gonna give it to you but I would say try not try not to think about it that way you have to kind of change the way that you're thinking about mixed conditionals in order to really understand so the tip that I have for you the two things that what I want you guys to focus on are these two things all right you need to try to imagine the situation and when things are happening imagine the sitchin situation and imagine when they are happening those are the two things that I think are really going to help you understand mix conditionals so don't focus so much on the grammar focus on the situation which is more like the main idea and focus on what when when is it happening is it happening in the past is it happening in the present or is it happening in the future okay so those that's my that's my tip for you as we go through these I'm gonna give you a couple different examples with this and I'm gonna try and show you what what I mean and we're gonna work backwards a little bit and when we do the practice then again that's gonna be good practice because I'm gonna give you a situation and you will need to write the sentence you will need to write the mix conditional all right so let's look at the first one for you so the mix conditional number one is this one is we're using mm-hmm it's used to talk about the present result of a past condition so in all of my examples here I'm always putting the condition first and then the result and I've color-coded these two so if it's red it's talking about the past if it's green present and purple which you will see in a moment we're talking about the future okay so these are color coded as well Reds the past green is the present so we're talking about a past condition if I had gotten the job all right we're using the past perfect if I had gotten the job what's the present result I would live in New York City we're using wood plus the base verb all right if I had gotten the job I would live in New York City so again when I say think about the situation did I get the job no do I live in New York City now no okay but if I had gotten the job I would live in New York City so let me give you another example and like I said we're gonna work our way back okay so with this conditional mix conditional number one if he had taken care of himself he wouldn't be sick okay so now let's let's look at the situation here and then we're gonna go back to the conditional because basically these two are the same the mixed conditional is just another way of saying this situation right here so I'm gonna sit so the situation is this he did not take care of himself he's sick now that is our situation so another way we can say that and I want you just to listen to me and hopefully this will make a little more sense okay he did not take care of himself he's sick now but if he had taken care of himself he wouldn't be sick so again the mix conditional is just another way of stating this situation right here if he had taken care of himself he wouldn't be sick all right I hope that makes sense if it does make sense boom hit that like button alright and feel free guys go feel free to practice you some sentences as you're going along and somebody that way if somebody's watching this if you're watching this later you can try to read some of these sentences but we will practice in just a moment the next mix conditional I want to show you is this one right here okay so this mix conditional is used to talk about the future result of a past condition so again it's color coded my condition in the past my result it's in the future so I'm going and this is where I say some people might combine they say oh you know you mix conditional one and two they're kind of the same thing well you know again I wanted to separate them because we're talking about this is a definite result in the future so my past condition if I had gotten the job my future result that's the past perfect my future result again plus the base verb I'd be moving to New York City next month okay now when we're talking about a knight give you a time indicator they might tell you okay that's the future next month that tells us the future if I say tomorrow or next week or next year or tonight that's going to tell you the future so that's one thing to keep in mind if I had gotten the job I'd be moving to New York City next month now if I were to ask you about the situation okay did I get the job no all right am I going to move to New York City next month no again that's not going to happen but if I had gotten the job I'd be moving to New York City let's look at another example past condition future result right here so and and this is this is not true by the way but my past condition okay if Wes hadn't squandered all of his money he'd traveled to Brazil for his birthday okay my birthday it's in November keep that in mind it's in November it's in the future okay so we're talking about a future result if Wes hadn't squandered all his money he traveled to Brazil for his birthday and any of you who are out there if you're from Brazil I haven't been you want an I we we have not been we want to go we really want to visit Brazil I've heard a lot of many great things about Brazil and many other countries as well that we want to travel to but let's look at our situation down here so if I said Wes lost all his money in Vegas okay again it happened in the past I lost it Wes lost all his money in Vegas he cannot go to Brazil for his birthday which is in November it's in the future so Wes lost all his money in Vegas he cannot go to Brazil for his birthday but if Wes hadn't squandered all of his money he'd travel to Brazil for his birthday so again think about the situation and then you could ask it you could say but and then reword it using the mix conditional okay Wes lost all his money Vegas he cannot go to Brazil for his birthday but if Wes hadn't squandered all of his money he'd traveled to Brazil for his birthday this is mixed conditional number 2 let's look at another one so I hope this one makes sense and then again it's going to be good to practice because I'm gonna give you the situation and then you guys need to think of the mix conditional the third one that I want to look at is this one it's used to talk about a past the past result of a present condition the the conditions in the present right now the result is in the past okay so let's look at our sentence right would have plus the past participle if I didn't have a bike I would have taken the bus so let me give you a situation to help you think about this maybe you're going to work and you ride you ride your bike and you get to work in the present and somebody says you know oh you know what you you rode your bike to work today why did why did you ride your bike you know and you could say well if I didn't have a bike I would have taken the bus if I didn't have a bike I would have taken us a ride so in the present she didn't have to work the past something that happened in the past she would have given us a ride so here's our situation and that's gonna help us understand the mix conditional she is working now all right in the present she's there right now she's working she's at work and because she's at work she could not give us a ride she couldn't give us a ride in the past it's already happened but if she didn't have to work she would have given us a ride okay so I hope that makes sense she's working now she could not give us a ride but if she didn't have to work she would have given us a ride it's the present condition it's the it's the past result of a present condition okay so let's look at the fourth one all right and again we will practice in just a moment this is always good practice and I know if you're joining us a little late you can you can go back through and and watch some of these I will review real quickly so the fourth one used to talk about the past result of a future condition okay so our condition it's in the future the result is in the past okay if he wasn't going to come to the wedding all right we would have invited someone else now right here you might be wondering you're like wait a second I thought you said the subjunctive we can if you really really want to be grammatically correct you can use the subjunctive but just so you know many people as think when when people are talking in colloquial speech oftentimes they break this rule and they don't use the subjunctive I would say if you want to get really formal then yes you could say that use the subjunctive if he weren't going to come to the wedding but I wanted to give you that example of both so we could say again in the simple past either way whether use the subjunctive or not we're using the simple past if he wasn't going to come to the wedding the wedding is not now the wedding is in the future all right we would have invited someone else that's in the past the invitations they have already been sent out so I'm saying a future condition if he wasn't going to come to the wedding something a past result because the invitations are already out we would have invited someone else let's look at another example using this one future condition if they weren't going to bring food tonight we would have made a reservation at the restaurant so in this case it's a future condition if we weren't going to if they weren't going to bring food tonight we would have made a reservation at the restaurant here's our situation they will bring food we didn't make a reservation that's what happened they will bring food and that means in the past we didn't make a reservation but if they weren't going to bring food tonight we would have made a reservation at the restaurant so I hope in looking at these situations that it's it's you can kind of work your way backwards you can look at the situation and that's going to help you reword it and use a mix conditional to basically express this same thing so let's let's we're going to practice but before we practice all right I want to review that do a quick review of some of these mixed conditionals for those that may be joining and again it's always good to review so the first one that I talked about and we're going to I'm just gonna give you the situation and and show you this so again we're talking about the the present result of a past condition okay he did not take care of himself so he's sick now but our past condition if he had taken care of himself the present result he wouldn't be sick okay so this is the mixed conditional number one number two we could say the situation again Wes lost all his money in Vegas he cannot go to Brazil for his birthday the past condition if Wes hadn't squandered all of his money squandered his to lose and to lose it unwisely and to do something stupid if Wes hadn't squandered all of his money the future result he'd traveled to Brazil for his birthday so we have a past condition and a future result mix conditional number three here's my situation she is working hast result alright it happened in the past mix conditional number four with the situation they will bring food we didn't make a reservation but if they if they weren't going to bring food tonight we would have made a reservation at the restaurant okay so that is a quick review of all of these and I know I know it's a lot to try and take in this information it's a lot to take in so it's good to practice them and learn them and and do it slowly it doesn't have to be very rushed so now let's practice what we've learned today so what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a situation and I'm going to tell you whether the the condition is if it's a past condition if it's a present and if it's a future condition I'll also tell you the result if it's past present or future but I'm gonna give you the situation and I'll tell you the the condition the result later write it in the comments it's always great to practice and try to use the language okay so here's the first situation I have for you and I'm also I'm gonna give you a hint I will give you the grammar as we do this so the situation is I'm not a billionaire I did not stop working I want you to use we're talking about a present condition and a past result present condition and a pressed result okay what would you say I'm not a billionaire I did not stop working all right write the sentence I want you to write the sentence in the chat okay try and and again even if you're a little unsure just practice writing practice practice your skills it's always good so let me let me give you a little hint all right all right this this would be the grammar if you're confused like I'm not sure which grammar to use again the present condition use the simple past the past result we're going to use would have plus plus the past participle I'm not a billionaire I did not stop working but and then write our mix conditional so again we're just basically saying but and rewording this using a mix conditional in the simple past and would have plus the base verb okay okay close I think all right a lot of people thank you guys for the answers yes excellent so I think most of us got it remember that past result would be would have plus the base the would have plus the past participle here's the answer if I were a billionaire simple past all right I'm not a billionaire but if I were a billionaire past result I would have stopped working okay so basically I'm not a billionaire I did not stop working but if I were a billionaire I would have stopped working I would have stopped working in the past but not a billionaire I didn't stop working and even if I were I would not stop working I enjoy working with you guys I enjoy this too much okay so I hope that makes sense that we can use these situations to try and write the mix conditional let's look at the next one so here is our situation he ate breakfast alright happened in the past that's our past condition he ate breakfast so the present result he is not hungry now alright he ate breakfast he is not hungry now can you try try to change that or not yeah try to take that situation and write a mix conditional sentence okay write it in the chat or again even if you're watching this later interact with us participate write these sentences in the comments so here is your hint okay again pass condition the the condition we're gonna use the past perfect the present result we're gonna use would and the verb okay he ate breakfast he is not hungry now but what would you say what what conditional sentence what mix conditional could we use to represent that getting some good answers excellent thank you guys for writing answers I didn't Kiera Otto Annie thank you guys for participating Morello let's look at our answer all right he ate breakfast he is not hungry now but if he had not eaten breakfast he would be hungry now if he had not eaten breakfast we're using the past perfect he would be hungry now we're using wood plus the base verb all right he would be I just added really in there but you could just say he would he would be hungry now or he he would be really hungry now or you can take out now he ate breakfast he is not hungry but if he had not eaten breakfast he would be really hungry alright that would be the past condition and the present result let's practice another one are you ready here is the situation okay this time it's a future condition and a past result she is not able to play in tomorrow's tournament I found a replacement she's not able to play in tomorrow's tournament so I found a replacement but how can we right how can we use this mix conditional to to express this situation how can we say that write your answers write it in the chat write it in the comments all right what would you guys say she is not able to play in tomorrow's tournament I found a replacement let me give you what there it is there's your there's your grammar hint if you guys are looking for the grammar of what you would want to use remember the future condition you're going to use the simple past the past result would have plus the past participle okay what what would you say how would you express this situation using this mixed conditional she is not able to play in tomorrow's tournament I found a replacement what do you guys think alright see if you can write that sentence if you are unsure and want to know the answers remember future conditions simple pass press result would have plus the past participle so she's not able to play in the tomorrow's tournament I found a replacement but if she were able to play in tomorrow's tournament and again I went back I'm using that I used the subjunctive if she were able to play in tomorrow's tournament I would not have found a replacement okay we just reworded it we reworded this situation using the mix conditional she is not able to play in tomorrow's tournament so I found a replacement but if she were not able to play in tomorrow's tournament I would not found a replacement so again these mix conditionals I understand I know that they can be very challenging very confusing I would suggest go back rewatch it and think about the two things when you're trying to understand mix conditionals don't focus as much on the grammar focus more on the situation and when these things are happening alright are these things happening in the past are they happening in the present are they happening in the future I think that is the best way to understand these mixed conditionals this Gela Jawad arora ani mustafa a mono judy go xie thank you thank you thank you da da sorry if i miss some names i hope that you enjoyed the lesson I hope you found it may be a little easier let make it I hope I made it a little more easier to follow along and understand these mixed conditionals because like I said when you're talking about general conditionals they're rule-based you can kind of follow the grammar but mixed conditionals don't focus on the grammar focus on the situation focus on when they're happening if you have any questions please write them in the comments once this is this video is posted also please like and share this lesson with your friends and your classmates anybody you know who's trying to practice and improve their English because again this is definitely a more advanced grammar concept when we're talking about mixed conditionals and as always you can join our social media classes we always post questions to help you guys practice and improve your English skills thank you thank you thank you so much for being here and I will see you guys next time --- ## 363. How to Use Modal Verbs | Should - Could - Would | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Y91wz9h0xLI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y91wz9h0xLI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:46:20 | --- all right hello hello hello glad happy to be back hope you guys are having a wonderful day whenever you're watching this if you're watching this now as a live stream or even even if you're watching it later so what I'd like to do again just say hello in the comments let me know your name where are you joining us from and again even if you're watching this later write to us in the comments say what's up we love hearing from you guys so my name is Wes and from interactive English and every week we come out with new and different English lessons to help you guys practice and improve your skills and this week right now this lesson it's a fun lesson because I'm going to talk to you about modal verbs and this is actually a lesson that I think some any one of you asked me about it about a month or two ago about doing a lesson on modal verbs and I'm gonna talk to you about how to use them and when we use them and specifically I'm gonna focus on those right there should could and would so stay with us because I promise you will learn something new I got a bunch of questions for you and we're gonna practice using these modal verbs so what's up I julissa Vika sort of Gerry Oh Fred Marco hello hello how are you guys long good to see so many familiar faces today thanks for joining me hope you guys are having a wonderful day and again sorry if I don't if I miss some names sometimes not everything it just Scrolls so fast in the feed but I will try to say what's up to you guys I appreciate you being here so let's just let's just jump into it so we're gonna talk about modal verbs specifically these three right here should and would there's all types of modal verbs but I specifically for this lesson just want to look at those three and then we're gonna practice using them a little bit so let's start out with a basic and simple question answering this well what are modal verbs the reason I wanted to talk to you about modal verbs is because we use them all the time it is these are very these are words that are very common we use them a lot but we don't tend to focus on these words they don't they're not given a lot of emphasis and we use them for the mostly these four reasons right here to show likelihood about whether something is going to happen or it's not going to happen we can use it to show ability whether we are capable of doing something we also use it for permission whether it's okay to do something or an obligation which is basically saying that it's something that we must do that we should do it is important for us to do something and if you really want to think about it modal's really just give us more information about the main verb now look at I'm I'm very proud of that picture that I found right down there because I saw it and I was like wow this will be a great way to show how modal's work in a sentence and kind of how it's connected and kind of turns things forward in our heads so we understand what is being talked about so you basically have your subject followed by the modal verb followed by the main verb and it really takes us through that process of the sentence and the modal verb again it's just really giving more information about that main verb in the main verb you can see is that biggest part of the the biggest gear because it is it's probably the most important part of a sentence because it really gives meaning to the sentence and what we're trying to to convey the message the thought the idea that we're trying to tell so modal verbs really help out the main verbs in that way now there are certain characteristics about modal verbs that we should be aware of which is more of the the grammar to show us how to use these modal verbs so let's look at the characteristics of a modal verb so first off is modal's they never never never never never never I'll say it one more time never change their form so we don't add we don't we don't conjugate a modal verb we don't add s we don't add an e D for the past we don't add an ING for the continuous so you can look down there typically the subject and verb have to agree for example I want he wants we add an S but if we're using a modal verb and we say like I should you just say he should the modal verb does not change a form we do not add an S to the modal verb I tried to put it down there in that example and basically put the S in red to show you don't use it along with an X so yes do not change the form of the modal verb the second thing to be aware of is that modal's are followed by the bare infinitive and you might be wondering well what is the bare infinitive so an infinitive verb is is just 2 plus the base verb to go to dance to run to learn if it's the bare infinitive you're just it's without - there is no - so for example again you would just have the subject the modal and then the bare infinitive just the base verb he should go alright now this is something that I think would be more common that learners might make mistakes in their writing I think speaking people use it correctly but sometimes I think in writing people might make these small mistakes and they might use the infinitive and when they should just use the bare infinitive you would just say he should go there is no - in between the modal and the base verb so those are the characteristics of modal verbs so let's start talking about that first modal verb should let's have a look at it should so we use should for this first part to talk about to show an obligation a recommendation or a polite request so I'm sorry if hopefully you can read these I try to make the text as large as I can I know some of you might be watching this on a mobile device and it's harder to read but if it if not it's okay I will say the sentences for you so we're showing an obligation a recommendation or a request and my request I might ask you guys mmm you should give this lesson a thumbs up you should give this lesson a thumbs up so it's it's basically in this case it's a polite request now it's not something it's not something that you absolutely have to do if you're using should it's maybe like mmm 75% to 90% of saying okay this is you know this is something that you probably should do it will benefit you you should exercise you should eat healthier all right it's also polite because if I just tell you do some exercise it's a little it comes off as a little rude it's a little strong so you can use that modal verb to make it a little more polite by just giving you know a recommendation you should do this you should do that so what I want you to do right now is share with us and tell us what do you think what should you do to improve your English skills I want to hear from you guys right now me what should you do to improve your English skills and I want you to give me give me a full sentence right down there in the chat and if you are watching this later again practice with us use the comments section like like it's a whiteboard and write the sentences in there and practice writing with us tell me what do you think what should you do to improve your English skills have some other people joining us maaan deep hello Ahmed how's it going hope you guys mohammad sorry if i mispronounce some names sue-shaun good to have you guys here with us great thank you so much for joining us junior Marco whereas you wanna you wanna is actually out right now so she's she's not in the chat it's it's just us right now maybe she'll be back next time so Aman oh hello Helen great to have you guys with us thanks for joining us we are talking if you're just joining us we are talking about modal verbs and how we use them and why we use them and we're talking about should could and would so right now I want you to tell me what should you do to improve your English skills this is good advice that we can all read and learn from each other and and hear what each other is doing to practice and improve our English skills so in the chat tell me what should you do to improve your skills we can also you should to ask a question all right so I say you know should we watch another lesson maybe that's something that you're thinking after this lesson should I watch another lesson or should I cook dinner or should I watch some TV we can use it to ask questions but in my opinion I think it's used commonly to ask rhetorical questions and rhetorical questions are questions that are not meant to be answered and the reason I say this is because think it's commonly used when people are talking to themselves when people are thinking to themselves I do this all the time when I'm thinking to myself should I do this should I do that I'm not really expecting anybody to respond and give me an answer it's just something I asked myself so I think commonly we would you should in this context when we're thinking to ourselves about what we should do or maybe something we should not do we can use it to ask questions the other thing down at the bottom we can you should to express things that are likely to happen for example he should be here by now where you're waiting for somebody to show up to arrive and you might say well he should be here by now it's likely going to happen last week we talked about time expressions and I will I'll leave a link to it I'll put a card up in case you missed last week's live lesson and would like to check out and learn more about some time expressions but I told you how we could use the simple present to talk about something that will happen in the immediate future like the the plane arrives Monday or the plane arrives at night it's the simple present we can also you should like this to talk about something that will happen the plane should arrive tomorrow now if you're using should it means like well maybe maybe it's not going to arrive it should arrive but maybe it won't but you're talking about something that's likely going to happen the movie should start the party should start at 9 o'clock that is a great example and a way that it's commonly used because people will schedule a party but sometimes they well most of the time they start later than people tell you so but somebody might say well yeah it should start at 9:00 and that way you know like okay it's probably not going to start at that time I should show up a little later so I don't get there too early so that is again how we can use shoulds let's see what you guys told us what are some things you should do I should wake up early you're late class it's okay that's a good example Anibal thanks for sharing with us yes I should follow you to improve my learning skills perfect excellent use of should and yes I think you should follow us follow us on social media too you can join our classes we're always putting up new information and posting questions for you guys to answer and practice so I should watch you more than one hour to learn some ahmed thank you for sharing a sentence with us you guys are very flattering right now thank you I really appreciate it Rocio said we should practice listening listening and talking by watching by watching English movies in order to improve our English yes that is something that everyone should do to improve their skills practice their listening practice speaking you can watch movies read books I think is another great thing great way to improve your skills and it is something that you should do now let's look at the next modal verb which is good so the first part I want to tell you about is we use could to suggest a possibility alright you could do this or you could do that and the sentence that I had for you is well we could eat Italian or Thai food you have two choices and you're basically saying you could do this or you could do that so it's used to talk about a possibility something that you you have the choice to do so I want you to use it again let's let's practice using it in this way I want you to tell me what you know what could you eat tomorrow what is it possible for you to eat tomorrow give me some choices you you could eat this or you could eat that alright let me let me I'd like to hear from you because it's interesting to know what foods everybody is eating from all around the world and plus I'm kind of as you can tell I'm getting a little hungry right now so food food is on my mind so in the comments in the chat tell me what could you eat what could you eat tomorrow for lunch for dinner you could give me a sentence I could eat this or that alright you're talking about a possibility something that is it possible for you to eat the next thing you can also we use could quite often to ask questions and to make a request when you're asking somebody to do something and we you would say for example I'd say Oh could you please write to us in the comments we always ask you guys to write to us in the comments you can make it a request and could you you could also say can but again I think could is just it's a little more polite to use the modal it just sounds a little softer it's a little more polite a little more genuine you say could you please write to us in the comments and yes that's something we always want you guys to do is yes could you please write to us in the comments could you please join our classes could you please you know help us share the videos help us spread the word and make this class as large as possible so you can use could to make a request a polite request something you want somebody to do so if you guys have questions for us if you would like to request something that is something that's a good way to practice it you guys could say could you please do this for example I know in some of our lessons especially at the beginning the music that we would add to the lessons it was a little too loud but and that would be a request some people have written to us and said you know for the future could you turn down the music a little bit because it's a bit too loud and that would be a polite request the last thing that we use could for is when we want to use the past tense of can and in this sense we're talking about inability something that you can do so for example maybe I would say oh I can run fast I was I can run fast and then I get older like I am right now and I could use this sentence and I'd say when I was younger I'm talking about a time in the past when I was younger I could run much faster alright I could run much faster I had that ability in the past alright I could run much faster excellent so let's see how we're practicing could and some sentences you Lisa said I could eat a sandwich at lunchtime yes that is a possibility Vivian I could eat mashed potatoes poached egg and a glass of apple juice as my breakfast that sounds like a very nice breakfast that is something you could do it is a possibility could you please mention my name Alamgir yes Almaguer Hussein all right sorry if I mispronounced your name but yes I I will mention your name that you asked you asked very politely and that's very nice Aziz I could eat potatoes and rice excellent I could eat jr. I could eat lasagna all right I could eat lasagna Amano I could eat chicken or meat again you have a choice so that's a possibility so perfect you guys using that perfectly Maalik yes could you please speak slowly I will try I will keep that in mind thank you you asked very nicely and I think when I get excited about something I tend to speak faster and faster so that's actually an interesting request because some people it's very interesting you usually I talk slower naturally that's just my speech and a lot of times people comment about that in on our video lessons and they're like you speak way too slow you speak you sound like a robot and then other people are like oh you're too fast so I'm trying to find that balance what's beneficial for everybody what would help you guys the best what's the best speed and it's always gonna change so again this is how we use could and let's look at the last one would alright we use wood when we're asking questions and using who what where when why how we we you commonly hear wood used with these W questions who what where when why how even though how is not a w but we use it all the time with these questions so for example I would ask you maybe a question what would you like to do today what would you like to do today that would be a question what would what would you like to do today and my question to you I have a question are well I didn't put today in there I said what would you like to do my question to you is what would you like to do what would you like to do tomorrow tomorrow is Sunday what would you like to do tomorrow let me know in the chat or if again if you're watching this later write to us in the comments right there it is write to us in the comments what would you like to do on Sunday what would you like to do tomorrow let us know give me an answer and again you're gonna respond I would like what I would like to go swimming I would like to read a book I would like to study more English with interactive English so let me know let's practice using it what would you like to do tomorrow on Sunday answer that question please could you please answer that question and in the chat we also use wood as you can tell same with these other modal verbs to ask questions we use wood to ask questions and again it's it's polite would you please help me I think this is a great phrase to learn would you please would you please any time that you want to be polite and it's very important if you're at school or for a job for work to use this phrase would you please and then you could ask somebody you know what what do you want them to do you're making your request you're asking a question would you please do this would you please do that it is a great great great great phrase to learn the last part down there this last one is a hypothetical situation if I were you I would do the practice at the end of the lesson that's what we are getting ready to do if I were you I would do the practice at the end of the lesson now you might be it's a hypothetical situation and you might be looking at that and you know that oh okay that is a conditional sentence so we you we do use would with conditionals with the second conditional and the third conditional truth be told we have some very very very super awesome lessons on conditionals and again I will put a card up so that if you haven't seen them you can check those out if we're talking about the second conditional like this one a hypothetical situation or even the third conditional which would be an unreal possibility you would use would so an example using the third conditional again the condition would be the past perfect okay if I had gotten up earlier today I would have started this live lesson sooner if I had gotten up earlier today I would have started this lesson sooner so again we're using wood Plus have plus the past participle but again I don't want to get into the grammar you guys can check out that lesson a little later next there are two other instances that we used would you would use it to make a polite request because instead of saying I want I would like I think I would ask you guys to take I want and almost just get rid of it all right it's it's so much more polite it's it's so much better to just say I would like I would like and I think it you know even if you're talking to your friends your family your teachers at work it's so universal it's good just to say you know I would like I would like I would like of glass of water you're making a polite request and the last one is to show a wish or desire what would you like all right what what is your wish what is your desire I gave you that example sentence kind of comparing two things I would rather I would rather go on vacation than go to work I think most of us would most of you would agree with that sentence I would rather go on vacation than go to work it's showing a wish showing a desire in your answers because I want to read them to you would basically you telling me your desire I asked you what would you like to do tomorrow what would you like to do and your answers would be telling me a desire I would like to go swimming I would like to read a book I would like to travel to another city so let's see what you guys put what would you like to do tomorrow my said I would like to go shopping perfect again that's expressing a desire Zarqa said I would like to hang out with my friends tomorrow perfect Doni tomorrow I would like to go to church search excellent Apple I would like to I would say I would like to thank you for your great videos you are very welcome thank you for joining us we're glad to have you so let's see IMed would have to work in the morning okay I would say well again your especially your desire what would you like to do tomorrow you then say if you don't want to work I I would not like to work tomorrow because it's very boring okay Dalia I would like to go clothes shopping to buy a new red dress for my relative's wedding excellent perfect thank you for sharing with us and have fun at the wedding Frank if I were you I would cook lunch at home instead of going to the restaurant that is a great example of the second conditional and using would perfect so let's now have a look and do the practice so I'm gonna give you a sentence and if you can try to write the whole sentence and you are just going to fill in are you going to use should are you going to use could or are you going to use would how are you going to complete the sentence alright so I will read the sentence and I just want you to write your answer in the comments and if you're watching this later make it more interactive write to us write to us in those comments all right don't don't be shy so this is your first one right here and with this first one okay I want you to pay attention to how I'm saying this pay attention to my intonation and my tone okay so I would say you try to study a little bit each day you try to study a little bit each day how would you complete that sentence I want you to write your answers in the chat are you going to use should could or would you try to study a little bit each day and I asked you again think about how I'm saying that think about my tone and that's kind of a hint so everybody you guys perfect excellent excellent so yes it is a suggestion so I said you should try to study a little bit each day that is something that we suggest to you guys all the time to improve your skills if you can find five minutes a day ten minutes a day 20 minutes a day a little bit each day even if it's three days a week four days a week five days a week you should try to study a little bit each day it really helps now what if I changed my intonation and said mmm you two try to study a little bit each day so what would you think in that went if I change my intonation and I say well you mM try to study a little bit each day what what would I what could we use in that case alright if if I set it with that tone and with that intonation so this is where you see a little bit of a difference if I said you mM try to study a little bit each day some of you you wrote it in there perfect excellent look at you guys in that case yes we would change it we would use could because it's talking about a possibility and my tone changed a little bit and I would say yeah you could try to study a little bit each day as though I'm I'm offering you a suggestion but something that's possible for you to do maybe you will do it maybe you won't but you could use could in that case so either should or could we could use that in this sentence but it changes the meaning depending on which one we want to say so I'm gonna just put should could and see does that fit alright so yes I could say a recommendation you should try to study a little bit each day as a possibility I'd say you could try to study what could you do you could try to study a little bit each day so that is a rather long explanation for this first question let's just move on so the next one I have for you is this question right here what do you guys think how would you complete boom this sentence make it there we go alright where hmm you like to go for dinner where mmm you like to go for dinner how are we going to complete that question what do you guys think Oh dosa hello hi you're just joining us we're practicing using these modal verbs should could and would if you guys just joined us hi Eduardo what's up glad to have you here so again write your answers in the chat how would you complete this question where mmm you like to go for dinner remember I told you that if we're talking about those questions who what where when why how we would use that with wood we often use it with wood where would you like to go for dinner so for this one we would put wood where would you like to go for dinner it's a common question that you might ask your friends your family members your husband your wife your boyfriend your girlfriend whoever where would you like to go for dinner let's look at this next question how about this one how would you guys say this oh if you got that last one right if you if you're getting these correct hit that hit that thumbs up button let me know that you guys are getting these correct and that you're able to follow this and it's pretty easy to follow so how would you complete this next sentence we get going we get going we get going we get going what would you use should could would to complete that sentence and everybody excellent yes you would say and this is a common phrase that if if you're leaving somewhere many people would say you know we should get going and again you're talking about in this case you're talking about something that is likely to happen something that's likely to happen we should we should get going it's getting late we should get going we should leave it's time to go we should get going it's a kind of a polite way to suggest that you know that it's time all right time to end the evening I should get going we should get going again you you could say it I guess as a possibility like hey you know well we could get going it's not it's not going to be you're not going to hear that too often I'm trying to think of a context that you might use that in but it's not something you would hear it's mostly yes we should get going what about this one right here how would you complete boom this sentence all right when I was a student I set my own schedule when I was a student I mmm set my own schedule are you going to use should could or would what do you guys think hi honey thanks for joining us excellent now nobody's ever nobody's ever late to class it is all good because this is going to get posted later and people you guys can watch this anytime you and even if you're out there now watching this later I want you to answer these questions write your answers in the comments it doesn't just have to be passive learning we want you to interact with us we want you to be engaged and it's a really good way to to practice you can use the comments section use it as a whiteboard so what would you say to complete this sentence when I was a student I mmm set my own schedule excellent everybody again you're talking about the past tense of can and that first part is that that's your big hint when I was a student you're talking about a point in the past what did you have the ability to do I could set my own schedule that is an ability I had in the past so we're using it like can in the past tense let's try this one have a couple more for you boom how would you how would you complete this sentence I mmm like you to ask one more question I mmm like you to ask one more question should could or would which modal are you going to use to complete that sentence should could or would hi Carlos what's up thanks for joining us thanks for saying hello I hope you're having a good day so here is my question we're doing a practice with modal's and I just want you guys to write your answers in the chat and everybody is rocking this practice so yes you're basically it is a desire or a wish something that you're asking and you would say I would like remember I told you that's a great this is a great phrase to remember instead of I want I want I want I want no I would like I would like it is so much better to get in the habit of using this especially if you're just meeting people you want to be polite if you at work you want to be polite if you're at school you want to be polite so I would like and to meet that request yes I will give you another another question all right so how would you fill out what about this one um BAM okay after this lesson alright after this lesson you mM share this video or join our social media classes what would you use you like how I'm I'm dropping all these subtle hints for everybody throughout the lesson it's a good way to practice so after this lesson you mmm share this video or join our social media classes which are right down here down there Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat or of course right here on YouTube how would you guys complete that sentence after this lesson you hmm share this video or join our social media classes so this one Wow okay yeah what I was going for many of you put should I guess you say I I guess you could say that because I'm giving you a thing I was actually I was actually going for more of a possibility of saying well you don't have to do this but you could so maybe my tone was incorrect when I was saying those but yeah you could say after this lesson you should share this video or join our social media classes but I wanted to actually go for after this lesson you hmm you could share this video or join our social media classes so either one of those is correct maybe I didn't give you the right intonation but I was going for could suggesting a possibility of something that could happen so again if you just joined us late I just want to review the modal verbs that we talked about we went over and should and the times that we you should to talk about an obligation or request something you should do we can use it to ask questions and I said it was mostly I mostly use it to ask rhetorical questions when I'm thinking to myself should I do this should I do that should I ask another question should I not and finally like that last one down there to express something that's likely going to happen he should be here by now next we talked about could and could express a possibility like that last one I was going for you could share this lesson or join our social media classes it's just to suggest a possibility you can make questions and make a request you can ask questions and make a request could you please do something could you please a great way another great phrase to remember to be very very polite and finally to use it in the past of can when I was younger I could run much faster and finally we talked about wood with those questions who what where when why how what would you like to do what would you like to do where would you like to go why would you like to learn English and with questions just directly using the modal would you what would you please help me again that's another great way to be polite would you please anything do something would you please help me would you please write to us in the comments and a hypothetical situation if we're talking about conditionals if I were you I would mm I would watch another lesson all right we can also use wood to make a request I would like a glass of water or to show a wish or desire something that you would like to do tomorrow I would like to relax and rest and just kick back and have a day and just chill out and do nothing that's what I would like to do so again thank you guys so much for joining us I hope that you learned something new if you did boom please hit that like button or share the video with others help us spread the word if you have any other questions or comments related to could should or would please write them in the comments and even if you're watching this later just tell us your name tell us where you're from answer these questions and interact with us again because this is it's interactive English and finally you can join our social media classes we're active on Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat and YouTube so again excellent junior Carlos Frank long Rosa thank you guys Marco Amano Donny Annabelle Dahlia sorry if I'm missing some names thank you guys thank you thank you thank you so much for joining us and as always you know we will see you very shortly we will see you next time have a great day enjoy the rest of your weekend and we'll see you later so long --- ## 364. How to Use Social Media to Learn English (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WHzAqb-fkM8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHzAqb-fkM8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:47:25 | --- just about all of us have it and pretty much all of us use it I'm talking about social media and what I want to tell you today is how you can use it to improve your English [Music] skills before we begin today's lesson I'd like to remind you to hit that subscribe button if you would like more lessons on how you can practice and improve your English when it comes to learning languages one thing that most teachers will tell students is to try and expose themselves to the language and there's a lot of different ways that students can get exposure usually I would tell students to watch TV movies listen to music read books classroom instruction is always very useful as well as using apps on a phone so there's so many different ways that students can get exposure to the language and another way that students can get a little more exposure is with social media and the reason that this is so important is because it's something that we're already using anyway so why not use that to complement our language instruction or basically anything else that we would like to learn more about there are so many resources out there on Facebook Instagram Twitter Snapchat and YouTube which is what we're watching right now that will help you learn and improve your English skills another reason that social media can be very useful is that we don't have to go very far to access it pretty much all of us are usually surrounded by either a computer or we have our phones on us and we are accessing social media it doesn't matter if we're on a bus or maybe waiting at the doctor's office or just sitting in bed people are on it all the time so why not use it to help complement your language skills so quickly I want to talk about three benefits of using social media to learn English the first benefit is time and flexibility because you get to choose when you want to do this I know some of us have very busy lives with work and family and there's not always time to go to class or even sit down and watch a movie or read a book so social media is something that is very quick and very useful that you can just take a few minutes out of your day to practice your English skills and that doesn't mean that every time you go on social media you have to use it to learn English it's a matter of exposure you can use it for rest and relaxation but there is value in following teachers there's value in following groups or accounts that are out there in using social media to help people practice and improve improve their English because that way you'll get a little exposure each and every day another benefit of using social media is that you actually get to produce the language it's not just passive language learning and what I mean by that is when you're watching TV or movies you are just sitting there you're just watching something and you're listening and you're receiving the information but with social media you can use comments you can write and actually produce the language you can write answers to questions you can write comments you can give feedback you can even ask questions so it's not just passive language learning you can turn it into something more and make it more of an active language learning environment a final reason why social media is useful is because it is primarily learner directed A learner directed approach is when Learners have ownership over the learning process in which they are more accountable and they're more active in what is going on and because of that there is value in what they're learning because they have more control over the process and as far as social media is concerned it is completely learner directed because you get to decide when you want to use it you get to decide how you want to use it whether it's on Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram it doesn't matter you have complete control of this process and because you have more control of this process it might be good motivation because the motivation to do this is coming from within you so to sum things up social media is a great resource that is available to most of us I'm not telling you that you have to use it I'm just suggesting that it's useful if you're really looking to practice and improve your English skills now I should tell you it's not something that if you are at a beginner level that you can say well I'm going to use social media and then soon I'm going to be perfectly proficient in English that's not the case social media is really a way to complement the knowledge that you already have the skills that you already have it will complement the the English that you're learning in the classroom it'll complement the English that you are learning through self-study and in the end you'll just become more proficient and you will improve your language skills and if you're looking for some people to follow you could follow us if you want to we are active on these social media sites Facebook Instagram Twitter and Snapchat and typically we'll post a lot of information and questions to try and help you practice and improve your English now even if you don't want to follow us there are so many other teachers and accounts and groups out there that you can follow and we highly recommend that you do because this will help you get a little more exposure and it will all help you practice and improve your skills in the comments below we want you to write Which social media sites you like using and why and if you have any suggestions of teachers or groups or any accounts out there that would help other Learners practice their English skills this is very useful information and the more information we all have the better thanks for watching hope you enjoyed this video go use some social media and we'll see you next time become an active learner don't just rely on a lot of this passive learning yeah you want to use it for active or passive or blah blah blah blah blah I don't know what I'm talking about I don't know where I'm going with this --- ## 365. How to Use the 1st Conditional | Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `1f57PKKwClc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f57PKKwClc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:45:13 | --- If you watch this lesson, you will learn how to use the first conditional. Just like that. Welcome. Today, I'm going to talk to you about the first conditional. Okay. Whoa, whoa. whoa. Save your applause for later. First, I want to run you to join our social media classes. Right there. Because it's just another great way to continue practicing your English skills. Okay. Now, on to business. So conditional sentences are "if: statements. And they're made up of two parts. The first part is the condition, and the second part is the result. So let's look at the first sentence that I said to you. If you watch this lesson, you will learn how to use the first conditional. So the condition is also known as the "if" clause. It has a subject, and it has a verb. But it is not a complete sentence. We need a main clause in order to complete the sentence, and that is our result. Now, the result also has a subject and a verb. And it is also a complete sentence. And we put those together and then we have our "if" statement. See, you're learning already. Now, we use the first conditional to talk about real or possible situations that are likely going to happen. So here's another example of a sentence in the first conditional. So we have the condition, "If you study with us." That is the possible situation. Followed by the result, "you will learn English." That's the likely outcome. And I think it's true. Now, keep in mind that in the result the subject will sometimes get contracted with the helping verb "will." So then we would have... Also, be mindful of the punctuation. Because if the condition comes before the result then we need a comma to separate the two clauses. Now, if we switch those around and the result comes before the condition, then we don't need a comma. Now I'm going to get all grammar-ly - grammar - grammatical...I'm just making stuff up. But we're going to look at the grammar. So in the condition, which is our "if" clause, we are going to use the present simple. And with the result, the main clause, it is going to be in the future tense. This is a rule. Make sure you follow it. The "if" clause is in the present simple. The main clause is your future. I also think that we use "will" most of the time when we're talking about our result in the future. Now, you can use "be going to," that's perfectly fine. I just don't think it's as common. But I think it's more common for people to use "will" because you're talking about a likely outcome in the future. Let's look at a couple of other examples using the first conditional. So here our condition, "If you win the match," is the possible situation. And our result, "I'll give you ten dollars," is a possible future outcome. Now did you notice the punctuation in this sentence? The result, which is the main clause, comes before the condition, which is our "if" clause. So again when the result comes before the condition, there is no comma. Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to go out in that. So as you can see, there are many different uses for the first conditional. And it is so important because we use it all the time. So let's look at a few more examples of the first conditional being used in different situations. If it takes forever, then I'll walk forever. If you stop, I'll autograph those. I'll go if you go. He'll get hurt if we don't find him. Eddie if he drinks the water out of there, the tree is going to dry up. He'll die if he stays here. Now, let's practice using the first conditional. So, I'm going to show you a picture and I want you to think of a sentence describing this picture using the first conditional. I'll give you a few moments, and then I will tell you some of the sentences that I came up with to describe this picture. Now, if you really want to go to the extra mile you can write your sentence in the comments, and then you get to practice writing the first conditional. All right. Here's the picture. Okay, so here are some of the sentences that I came up with. Or maybe said... We could also say... We could also say... Or... Or maybe you thought of this sentence. Perhaps you thought of another sentence, and that's perfectly fine. But let's do the activity again. I'm going to show you another picture, and this time I do want you to write your sentence in the comments and practice using the first conditional. If you need some examples, we just did that other activity. You can go back and check out how I wrote those sentences. So I'm going to show you a different picture, and I want you to write your sentence using the first conditional. And write them in the comments, and I'm going to check them. If you need additional time to think of a sentence and write it, just pause the video. Now, before I show you the picture, please give this video a thumbs up if you feel like you've learned something new or enjoy practicing the first conditional with us. Also, once this video ends and you write your sentence, maybe you should go on and watch another lesson or two or three or four. So, are you ready to write the first conditional? Here's the picture. --- ## 366. How to Use the 2nd Conditional | Useful Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IGhR1EP0OxY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGhR1EP0OxY) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:43:54 | --- If I were you, I would watch this lesson. Because we're going to talk about the second conditional. And I am going to tell you how to use it, when to use it, why to use it. And...yeah, that's coming up. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Today, we are going to talk about the second conditional. But before we begin, I want to remind you to check out our social media classes because it is a great way to practice your English skills. If I were you, I'd check it out. See...we're using the second conditional already. So first of, let's talk a little bit about conditionals in general. And they're made up of two parts, which is a condition and a result. So let's look back at that first sentence I said. Now, the condition is going to have a subject and a verb, but it's not a complete sentence. If I were you... That that doesn't mean anything. And that is why we need our results to complete the sentence. And this is our main clause. It also has a subject and a verb, and it could stand alone as an independent sentence. I would watch this lesson. And when we put this all together, the condition and the result, we have our second conditional. Now, the reason it's the second conditional is because The second conditional talks about a hypothetical or an unreal situation. And it's the condition that tells us about this hypothetical or unreal situation. So let's get a little help from our friend Beyonce because she has an example. So this is our condition, and it is an unreal situation. Why? Because Beyonce...she's not a boy. At least I don't think she is. No, no she's not. It's not real. Here's another example of a hypothetical condition. So this condition is hypothetical. Do I have a million dollars? No Will I ever have a million dollars? Probably not. So it is hypothetical. It's probably not going to happen. Now the result is going to tell us about the probable outcome from whatever hypothetical or unreal condition. So let's go back to Beyonce's example and have her complete the sentence. So she's talking about the outcome - what she would do if she were a boy. Now, what if we had a million dollars? How are we going to complete that sentence? Of course, there is a lot that I would do if I had a million dollars. So let's go back to that first sentence. Now, when we're using the second conditional the condition is going to be in the simple past. With the result, we're going to use WOULD + BASE VERB. And this is a rule. The condition is going to be in the simple past, and the result we're going to use would plus the base verb. If I were you - in the simple past - I would watch this lesson. WOULD WATCH. Now you're probably looking at the condition and thinking wait, wait, wait, wait. This is a little strange. Why are we using "were" with the subject "I"? This is because the second conditional is one of those times when we use the subjunctive in English. The challenge with this is that you often hear people speaking, especially native speakers, using, "If I was..." And they don't use the subjunctive. You might hear this in movies. You might hear it when you're watching TV. This is one of those grammar situations in which even a lot of native English speakers say it incorrectly. So if you want to use the correct grammar, use the subjunctive. If I were... Now you only have to worry about the subjunctive when we're using the verb TO BE. All the other verbs in the simple past will not be affected. The challenge is that when we use the second conditional, were often using the verb TO BE. Also, keep in mind the punctuation. When the condition comes before the result, we need a comma to separate our "if" clause and our main clause. Now if we switch these around, and the result comes before the condition, then we don't need a comma. The last thing that I want you to know about the second conditional is that in the result, we can use could instead of would if we're talking about a present or future outcome. For example... So let's see some other examples of the second conditional being used in different situations. If I were you, I would think about climbing on board. I wouldn't be your girl even if, even if you had a million dollars. If I jump, would I survive? What would you say if I took those words away? Now, let's practice what we've learned. So in the comments, I want you to complete the following sentence. What? What would you do? Let us know. Write it in the comments. I look forward to reading about this hypothetical situation because... Let's face it. We're probably not going to win the lottery. Sorry. But you could still tell us what you would do. I hope that you enjoyed this lesson on the second conditional, and if you did please give this video a thumbs up. And you can go on check out some of our other video lessons so you can continue practicing your English. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time. --- ## 367. How to Use the Definite Article (THE) & Zero Article (X) | Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `mXyXuNdGx1k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXyXuNdGx1k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:50:15 | --- All right, I think uh we are getting this show on the road. So, welcome. I hope uh you guys are having a great weekend. If you're watching this later in the future at some point, I just hope that you're having a good today. Let's just get right into it and show you what we will be talking about. So before we begin, as you join uh this live lesson, again, tell us your name, let us know, let us know where you're from. And also, if you're watching this later on in the future, again, use the comments, write your name, write a question, say hello, tell us where you are watching from, and just join the community because it's always good to continue practicing uh your writing, and it's a great way to communicate. So, today, as you can see, we are going to do a grammar lesson. Yes. Um, we're going to be doing a grammar lesson. Um, talking about articles. So, again, some people are joining us. Hello. Uh, Hajer from Malaysia. Awesome. Um, Estella Muhamad. Excellent. Awesome to have you. Glad you guys are with us. So as I said today we are going to talk about articles and I promise if you stick with us I will you will learn something that you did not know before because again this is something that articles we learn at probably a beginner level and we're constantly using them throughout English and there are some tricky rules to articles. Now there are three things that you should know about articles. So there are the definite article 'the'. There is also the indefinite article which is a and n. We are not going to talk about those today. And then there is the zero article in which case we don't use anything at all. So today I'm just going to focus on the definite and zero article and when to use them and show you the difference between the two. And then at the end we are going to do a practice and I am going to see just how much you were paying attention. So again if you're just joining us say hello Eduardo from Brazil. Hope everything hope your summer's going well. Actually no wait in Brazil it's winter there. Getting my north and southern hemispheres mixed up. But anyway I hope everything's well. Hi from Sri Lanka. Excellent. Um, also if you guys want to be super super super helpful, you can share this video and tell others and bring more to our classroom so everybody can learn about articles. So again, today I'm going to talk to you about the difference between the definite article 'the' and the zero article, in which case we're not using anything. So, let's get into it and talk about when to use the definite article 'the'. Okay, so as you can see right here, we're talking about when to use the definite article 'the'. If you have any questions about this lesson in particular, write them in the comments. Just, you know, I'll I'll get to them. If it's not, if it's a separate question related to maybe pronunciation or something else, still write it and we will try to I will get to it at the end of the lesson. But right now, I want to focus on articles. So, when to use the. So, here's a fun little fact for you that according to the Oxford English corpus, 'the' is the most common word in English. That's probably not surprising or it shouldn't be surprising. Um, we use this word all the time and the Oxford English corpus is just a collection of basically the English language. It's a collection of English in books, in speeches, in writing. And 'the' is the most common word. So, you can see just how important it is. Now, we use the before singular and plural nouns. And this is the key thing when we want to talk about something specific. So the articles, we use them before nouns and it kind of shows the relationship uh of this noun and kind of gives us more information about the noun. So we're using 'the' when we're talking about something specific. So for example, let's look at this uh conversation down below. These two people talking and kind of these random sentences. The first one says the car is in the shop. So if I say the car, we basically know which car is being talked about. It could be my car, it could be my family's car, it could be my friend's car. But if I say the car, then basically we know which car is being discussed. It is specific. Now, if we look at the other use of the definite article, the car is in the shop. All right? Again, this is specific. We know what kind of shop we're talking about. Now, are we talking about a grocery store? No. Are we talking about a flower shop? No. If you're talking about a car that is in the shop, you should know that we're talking about the mechanic. The car is broken. Something is wrong with it. So, we took it to the shop. The next one is don't. Then the other person just responds out of nowhere and says, "Hey, don't buy the new iPhone." Um, again, you know, Yana has an iPhone. Many of us like iPhones. I have some Apple products. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy the new iPhone. If you want to, feel free. This is just an example. So, don't buy the new iPhone. There are many different iPhones, but we are talking specifically about the new one. The other thing to keep in mind here is new is an adjective that is modifying iPhone. We're talking about new a new iPhone and the comes before the adjective. The new iPhone, the big house, the purple cat. I don't know. All right. So, the will always come before the adjective. Again, if you're just joining us, say hello to us in the comments. Tell us your name, where you're from. Uh we are doing a lesson today on articles and then I am going to do a practice at the end. So it is very important that you guys practice what you learn and we will try to make this as active as possible. So please write to us in the comments um and let us know. So these are all ways that you are using the. So let's look at the zero article. All right. Uh let's switch here. So here we go. All right. The zero article is right here. we use it before plural or non-count nouns that are not specific. Okay? So, plural nouns, you know, that things that typically get an s added to the end of it. A non-count noun are nouns that that you can't count. basically like any liquid uh water, soda, tea, um or hair is also a non-count noun. So, uh let's see. For example, I want you to try to use this in a sentence. Uh in one of them, I will ask you a question and I want you to answer it. Um what do you like to drink? All right. I want you to tell me what you like to drink. It is a non-count noun. Write it in the comments. Do not use an article. Okay? So, look at these examples. We here have again another weird little conversation here. Apples are good for your teeth. Apples is plural. All right. But we are talking is it specific? No. We are talking about it in a general sense. Do we know which apples we are talking about? No. All right, just apples in general could be red apples, could be green apples, any apple, they're good for your teeth. So, we do not use an article before the noun apples. All right, this is when the zero article comes into play. And then the next one, all right, I like to drink water. Again, water is a non-count noun. So again, we do not use an article in front of the noun water. Excellent. Uh, example sentence. Perfect. Uh, Eduardo, I like to drink coffee. I also like to drink coffee. I've probably had a little too much coffee today, but hey, you know, that's okay. It is what it is. Uh, another great sentence. I like to drink juice. Again, these are non-count nouns. Do not use an article. And this is the thing as as simple as this is right now, these are the common mistakes that whether you are a beginner learner or whether you are an advanced learner that you you would hear people make from time to time and they might use an article in front of a non-count noun because when you're having a conversation and when you're talking, you're not really thinking about, okay, wait, is this a is this a non-count noun? Should I use an article? Should I not use an article? You're just going to say it. So these are good ways to just continuously practice and it's easy and then when you continue to use English in speaking and writing you will just be using it correctly because you've practiced these simple little things that we're doing today. All right. So let's look at the next part. I want to compare the two. I want to show you basically a little the difference between them. Let's compare these. Okay. So here we have two sentences. One has the definite article 'the'. The other sentence has the zero article and there is nothing. So again it's a difference between whether something is specific or whether it is not specific. So let's look at these two sentences. The boys play soccer. Okay, it is specific. We know which boys we are talking about. We are talking about those boys right there. Okay, the boys play soccer. We know them or we can see them or we know about these boys and therefore it is specific and we use the definite article 'the'. Now, in the next sentence, we're using the zero article and we're just making a statement saying, "Well, boys play soccer." All right? We don't know which boys we're talking about. We just know that some boys play soccer. So, this is the difference between the definite and the zero article. All right? The definite is going to be specific. The zero article is just in general. And because of that, this picture down here, you can see we we can't really see the boys. We don't know them. And actually, the picture looks a bit funny because I don't know. Uh, nobody really wears a hat like that when they play soccer. But you get the idea. Okay. Again, if you're just joining us, say hello to us in the chat. We are talking about articles, the definite article and the zero article. Now, what I want to do is go over some of the rules. All right. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Gosh, I don't like rules because it's just more things that we have to memorize, that we have to think about." So, rules, yeah, they can be problematic because it's just more information you have to learn. The good thing is however is that because there are certain rules to follow then you know what is correct and what is incorrect. It's just a matter of using them um correctly when you are speaking or when you are writing. Now, some of these rules, these are not all of the rules when it comes to the definite article and the zero article, but these are some of them that maybe you knew, maybe that you didn't know. So, we use the when we are talking about rivers. All right? Anytime you're talking about a river, we should use an article the. The Nile River, the Ganges River. All right? So, with rivers, we use the. We also use the the definite article when talking about oceans. The Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean. So, actually right now in the comments, let's do it. I want you to tell me a the name of a river in your country. Okay? Tell me the name of a river in your country and use the definite article 'the'. All right? It'll maybe I'll learn some new names of rivers. Uh, and if you are watching this later on, again, don't just sit there watching the video. Write, use the comments section. It's basically the same as a chat. Write the name of the river in there. Say hello, say what's up, write a question, and we will get back to you. It doesn't matter whether it's tomorrow or a year from now. Just use the comments section. the chat, write the name of a river in your country. A famous river, a local river, it doesn't matter. All right? Just write the name and use the definite article 'the'. Okay? We also use the when we are talking about bridges. Um, perfect, Marcela. The river Amazonas. All right. Uh, excellent. Uh, we use the when we're talking about bridges. For example, this is where we used to live in San Francisco. And you have the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Um, the Amazon River. Excellent. Awesome. Uh, one of the most probably the most famous river in the world. Excellent. So, we use it with bridges. Um, also with regions. Okay. So, we're talking about you just gave some examples with the Amazon River. The Amazon is a region. Okay. You can say it is an area that is defined. Um, so we can use the with the region. Um, the Everglades, which is in Florida, is another region. You can also use it when you're talking about regions such as on the coast, um the west coast, the east coast, maybe you're talking about a region in the southeast part of a country. So, anytime you are identifying a region, you would want to use the the definite article 'the'. Okay? The west coast, the east coast, the northwest, the northeast, the southwest. Use the with regions. If you're just joining us again, welcome. We're talking about articles. I know some of you probably join, you're like, "Articles? Oh, I'm out of here." No. Um, giving you some quick rules and tips of when to use the and when to use no article because again, some of these things, these little rules can be tricky. Um, the G the Ganga is the biggest river in India. Excellent. Thank you. Um, again, this is all good practice. So finally we use the when we are talking about buildings. Okay, buildings or sites. All right. So for example in New York City, one of the most famous buildings in New York City is the Empire State Building. Also a very well-known landmark um in Paris is the Eiffel Tower. So you we use it with buildings, we use it um with landmarks. That is when we use the definite article 'the'. Now, no article. All right. I think I think learning 'the' is a little more easier. I think the no article becomes tricky because people just have a natural tendency to use the um instead of using no article. Hey, Ricardo, how's it going? Uh happy to have you with us again today. Excellent. So, we're talking about rules for articles. Now, we use no article with names. Okay. I think when you become when you're more more advanced learners, I don't think they have an issue with this, but definitely when for more beginner and intermediate learners, I will often hear the with names all the time. Um, not so much with people like friends when they're talking about him, but when you're talking about somebody, for example, like in history, King George. All right. No article. It is the name of a person. Um or somebody famous uh the late Michael Jackson. Everybody mostly everybody knows who Michael Jackson is but again we would not use an article with the name of a person. The next one which is also confusing streets. Street names. We do not use the with street names. So, for example, Park Avenue um is a famous street that you would find in the US. Main Street is a common name of a street that you will find. Again, let's you know, you do not use the with the names of streets. So, I want you again in the comments again, let's just practice. What is the name of a famous street in your city or town? What's the name of a famous street or a popular street in the downtown area? Um, you can just write a famous street is blah blah blah. All right. And remember, do not use an article. This is easy, but this is all good practice. Um, another great location. Exactly. We just said somebody said the Taj Mahal. Again, that is a landmark. We use the definite article 'the'. So, continuing with no articles, we don't use articles with names. We don't use articles with the names of streets, okay? We just say the street names. We also don't use it with languages, okay? We just say English or um I'm learning English. I'm learning Spanish. I'm learning Japanese. I'm learning Swahili. We do not use the with the languages. Okay. Also lakes. All right. So for example um Lake Tittikaka is a famous lake in Bolivia. No article with that. Lake Malawi uh famous lake in the country of Malawi. And again there is no article with lakes. Now there's little exception here. If you are talking about a group of lakes all right then you would use it uh an article. So for example you could say the great lakes. All right, lakes is plural and it's talking about a collection of lakes. In that case, you would use an article, but again, that is a a rare exception. Typically, with the names of lakes, we are not using an article. If you're just joining us, say what's up. Say hello to us in the comments. What's your name? Where are you joining us from? And stay with us. We are getting ready to do a quick practice. We're talking about articles, the definite article 'the' and the zero article. So finally we use no article with the names of mountains. All right. So think of famous mountains that around the world probably first one mount Everest. Okay. Uh everybody knows of Mount Everest and we don't use an article with Mount Everest. Also mount Mount Arangagwa uh which is the highest mountain in South America. Again no article with that. We have people joining us. Ah Turkey. Excellent. Welcome. Glad to have you. So, these are not all the rules, but again, these are rules that you should be aware of. They exist when it comes to using articles. And again, with speaking, you you're just going to talk. You're probably not going to think about the rules. Um, with writing, you might be a little more conscious of it. But this this is a very simple lesson because I think all of you right watching this right now, you understand this like, oh, okay, we use art, we use the with the name of a river. Okay, we use no article with a name. The difference is once you get into that conversation, it becomes a whole new thing. And this is where people make small mistakes. So, it's good to just do a quick little practice, a quick little refresher, a little reminder as to when you should and should not use these. are the rules. And now I would like to practice. Stephen, ah, could you speak a little slower? Yes, I will try. All right. Um, so let's practice again these rules. I want to go over quickly just to review in case you are now joining us that we use here is the again when to use the definite article. We use it with singular and plural nouns when we want to be specific. When you know what the noun that is being talked about, use the definite article 'the'. So, if I say, "Hey, let's go to the park." Then you should know which park I'm talking about because it is specific the park. If we're talking about zero articles, again, to review, we use those with plural and non-count nouns when we are not being specific. We are talking about things in general. Okay, I gave you those two example sentence. Um, apples are good for your health. We don't need the article. And I like to drink water. I just asked all of you a while back, what do you like to drink? It's a liquid. It's a non-count noun. It is not specific. So, you'd say, yes, I like to drink tea. I like to drink juice. I like to drink soda. I like to drink water. Okay. So now let's do our little practice. So I am going to give you all right a sentence right here. All right. And what I want you to do is I want you to write in the comments the answer. All right. I want you to write the or for no article you can just put an X. Now if you want to be uh you know go above and beyond and do a bit more practice then you can write the full sentence in the comments. Okay. Are you using no article or are you using the definite article 'the'? So this first sentence the first sentence we have is this. All right. Uh, look at m cats over there. Look at m cats over there. We are talking about the plural noun cats. Are we going to use the definite article the or the zero article? In which case, just write uh x and just put it in the chat. Again, if you are watching this later on, next week, in the future, next year, 10 years from now, you can still do this practice. Use the comment section that you see and just write the answer. Again, it's always good to produce the language and actually use it instead of just watching. All right, so we're getting some comments. Um, all right. All right. So, again, we're talking about cats. Let me see. Um, in this situation, all right, I'm saying look at cats over there. All right, so putting this into context, you would think, well, we are looking at the cats. We can see the cats that we are talking about. In that case, it is specific. All right, so we would want to say this. Look at the cats over there. Look at the cats over there. It's specific. We know which cats we are talking about. All right, let's do another one. Okay, so the next one that I have for you guys and we'll see if we can make this fit is this question right here. All right, let me change this around a little. So in this next sentence, all right, there are two that you need to fill in. All right, going to make them a little try to make them a little more difficult, a little more tricky as we go along. All right, so it is m doctors say drinking m soda is unhealthy. So there are two nouns. The first one is the plural noun doctors. Okay, the next one um is soda. All right, so before doctors, are we going to use the definite article 'the' or no article? All right, and then before the next one, soda, are we going to use again? Is it the or is it no article? All right, I'll give you just a moment. Again, write your answers in the comments if you're a quick typer. All right, go ahead and write the whole sentence if you can. Um, it makes it, you know, that's even better. If not, then just write either 'the' or an X. The for definite and X for no article. So, let's see. What do you guys think? XX. It depends. Yes, it does depend. Yeah. Again, try to put it put it into context. See what you think about, you know, what if you're having this conversation. Again, I put all of it in quotes. So, it's kind of like, you know, we're having a conversation here. Um, if somebody was saying this to you, what what would it mostly be? All right. What are we talking about? What do you think? Doctor Doctors say drinking soda is unhealthy. All right. So, without further ado, let me tell you what it is. All right. So in this situation again we're talking about probably you know doctors in general because not often are you going to be talking about doctors in a specific sense of that oh you know the doctors you you um you see the group of doctors. Typically you might talk about the doctor as in one person. So in this case we would be saying it would be the no article. Bam. Doctors say drinking. Again, no article. Soda is unhealthy. Soda is a non-count noun. It's just talking about in general what? Something that doctors would tell you. All right. Doctors say drinking soda is unhealthy. We do not use an article before either of those nouns. Next one. Let's do this one. Let's see. Change it up on you a little bit. Or maybe not right here. What do you think? Okay. So, let me make sure this fits into There we go. That's a little better. So, we have Washington Boulevard is named after George Washington. All right. Again, there's two nouns. Washington Boulevard. I'll give you a hint. It is a boulevard is a type of street. Okay. A boulevard. It's kind of a a synonym again for for talking about a street. And George Washington. All right. A little American history question for you. George Washington is a person. He was a general during the Revolutionary War and the first president of the United States. So, what do you think? Again, we're talking Are you going to use again there's two nouns we're talking about? Washington Boulevard street and George Washington person. All right. M Washington Boulevard is named after M George Washington. Again, if you just joined us, we're doing a little practice with the definite article 'the' and the no article. All right, so just warm up those fingers and write the answers in the chat. Okay, what do you guys think? All right, so we are getting some answers. All right, we had a one question. Somebody said I said the people or people. Which is correct? Again, it depends on the context. Um, both of them can be correct. If you're talking about people specifically, all right, the people are marching, then we know which people that we're talking about. We can see them or we know them personally. Um, if we say, you know, people like to travel, no article, we're just talking about people in general. All right, so this is where it can kind of be a little confusing. So, this next one. All right, let's go over this. Washington Boulevard. It is, like I said, it is a street. Do we use articles with street names? All right. No. All right. We just say there is no article in front of Washington Boulevard. It is just Washington Boulevard is named after George Washington is a person. Do we use articles with people? No. All right. So this one again, Washington Boulevard is named after George Washington. All right. I think again this is where it becomes a little tricky. I think when to use the no article. I think oftent times uh even advanced learners will you'll sometimes hear they'll throw an article in there um before a street name or um before maybe a mountain or something. And again, it's not going people will still understand what you're talking about, but these are little little um small mistakes that we can always correct. So, let's do another one. All right, I got a couple more for you. Um, here's one. All right. If you're just joining us, we're doing a little practice with the definite article 'the' and the zero article. All right. Let me make this a little bigger. Voila. All right. So, we have Danube River flows into Black Sea. All right. So, we're talking about a river, a river in Europe. I'm using this because we we live right next to uh this river. So, I almost gave you the answer. Um, and we're talking about uh C. All right. What do you think? We didn't necessarily talk. We talked about some bodies of water, whether we should use the definite article or no article. What do you think? All right. Danube River flows into Black Sea. All right. What are we going to use with this one? What do you think? Again, if you're just joining us, don't be shy. Write your answers in the chat. Um, if you can write the whole sentence if there's time. So, we are talking about two nouns. The river. I just told you the river and we're talking about I'll just tell you the Black Sea. Okay. So again with these with rivers again we are going to use the definite article 'the'. The the Danube river flows into. Again when you're talking about oceans, we use the definite article 'the'. And when you're talking about seas, we also use the bodies of water, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea. All right, we are going to use the definite article the. The Danube River flows into the Black Sea. Let's do another one. This one I think we can all relate to. How about this question right here? What do you guys think? Um, okay. Boom. All right. Let me make this a little bigger. All right. So we have m YouTube is great for learning m English. All right. Again in this sentence we have two nouns. Are we going to use the definite article the or we going to use no article? All right. Two nouns. We are talking uh we have the first noun YouTube um and the next noun English. It's a language. All right, we are all I'm teaching English. Some many of you some of you also teach English and some of you are learning English. All right, but that's why we're all here. So, what do you think again about um this one? YouTube is great for learning m English. All right, this one's a little tricky. Uh, I went over those rules, but I didn't probably get specific enough to to also make this an example, but this is again this is good practice. What do you think? Um, are we going to use definite article the or no article? So, we are talking about YouTube. Again, this is a name. All right. It's like it's like the name of uh thing I said with names we don't uh use an article. All right. That includes you know the names of people. All right. The names of companies, the names of cities and the names of countries. All right. So with names we use no article. We would just say YouTube is great for learning again uh languages. No article is great for learning English. Okay. YouTube is great for learning English. I hope all of you feel that way because we're on YouTube right now. All right. Let's do one more. All right. One more right here. Uh the last one is this. And let me resize this a little bit for you. Uhhuh. Okay. So, we have M Mount Everest is m tallest mountain in world. All right. There are three nouns in this sentence. Mount Everest. We're talking about mountain and world. All right. What are we going to use? Are we which are we going to use the definite article 'the' or the no article? And you can just write an X. All right. What do you guys think for this one? All right. Again, I'll give you a moment. Um, we're talking about there are three three nouns in this one. Mount Everest, mountain, and world. Okay. What do you think? M Mount Everest is m tallest mountain in m world. All right, getting some answers in here, which is great. Excellent. Excellent. Um all right, so uh let me go over this. Let's do this one at a time. Again, if you're if you're watching this, if you if you're not live in the chat and you happen to be watching this later, again, use the comment section. Write these sentences in the comments. It's good to use the language and keep practicing. That is the best way to learn because then you're not only listening, you are actually producing and doing something. So, let's look at these one at a time. We're talking about Mount Everest. It is the name. It is a mountain. All right? With mountains, we do not use an article. All right? So, we just say Mount Everest. This one um I meant to point this out to you before we talking about tallest mountain. It is the superlative. Okay? So when you're talking about superlatives, we would use the. You always use the with the superlative. The reason for this is because you are being specific. You are identifying something, one thing among all other things. All right? talking about Mount Everest. Among all the other mountains, it is the tallest. We're saying something specific about the mountain. So, the tallest mountain. All right. And finally, the last one. Again, we're talking about um the the noun world. How many worlds are out there that that you guys, you know, know about? How many? We we there's really just one. There's one Earth. There's one world that we are referring to. So it is the world. All right. Um because there's Mount Everest is here. So Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. So I want to practice one more thing with the superlative. So again, I'm going to ask you guys a question. Um all right. Which type of pizza is the best? All right, I'm asking you a question. Just practicing using the superlative. Which type of pizza is the best? Write it in the chat. All right, or if you're watching this later, again, write it in the comments. Let us know which is the best. It's always good to practice using um these articles again with the superlative. You want to use the definite article the the best, the greatest, the fastest, the smartest, um the tallest. All right, so let's see. Um again, to review, the last thing I'd want to say is remember these are some of the rules that we went over. These are not all of the rules. There are more but it is good to keep these things in mind when you're talking about articles. Okay. So again that is basically that is all for our lesson today on the definite article 'the' and the zero article which is just no article. We will continue some of these uh lessons in the future and I might uh probably do another lesson on the indefinite article. Um a and an save that for another time. But these are it's great practice. These are small things that learners no matter which level you're at sometimes can confuse people and make some of these simple mistakes. All right. So again, thank you guys so much for joining for joining us. Um, hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you're watching it later, please give us a thumbs up, write to us in the comments, write a question, write a comment, and we will respond and get back to you, okay? And if you want to be very helpful to us, share the video on Facebook, Twitter, um, whatever type of social media you might be using so we can spread the word and help others who are trying to practice and improve their English. All right, so thank you guys so much for joining us. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. Um, so I will say Arena Eduardo, uh, FCAT, you said I am late. I'm sorry. We're getting ready to wrap things up. Um, and again, just for food for thought, wrap things up means it is ending. But you will be able to watch the video um because it will be on uh our video list on our YouTube channel. So, thank you guys for joining us. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and we will see you next week. Next Saturday, we will do another live lesson. Not really sure what time just yet. Probably early afternoon. I will make a post on Facebook and Twitter. All right, Marcela, thank you. Um, Damoth, uh, I don't know the name. Target English spoken club. Awesome. Thanks for being here. Have a great weekend. We will see you guys next time. So long. --- ## 368. How to Use the Past Perfect | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Jnw9SYABhJU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnw9SYABhJU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:43:40 | --- hello and welcome oh I sounded like a newscaster um welcome everyone to listen today I hope everyone's doing really really well if you're just joining us I would like to welcome you from interactive English I hope you're having a wonderful day I'm having a really really nice day so today we are talking about something that's very useful as you may know we have twelve tenses 12 verb tenses in English and the past perfect is one of them and it's one of the more difficult ones because of all of these these different rules so that's what we're talking about today so if you've ever had any problems with it stick around because we are going to get it right so welcome welcome Bassam welcome Olga me welcome jaleesa Kira Lali Christian a lot hi everyone if you're just joining write down your name are you writing from so we get to know each other and get friendly because this is going to be a fun friendly lesson and we're going to learn and we'll know everything there is to know about the past perfect okay so I want to talk to you if if you haven't studied a lot of grammar or if you have and you just don't remember what is up with this tense I have a very very quick reminder of what is the past perfect so your brain can be enlightened and happy just like the little cartoon brain I have here in my picture so the past perfect we usually use of course it's a past tense so everything that we talked about in the past perfect has to do with the past and what it is is it really relates to a relationship that we have between two actions that happened in the past and the action that happened before the second action is the action in the past perfect so it's it means an activity that was completed before another one in the past and they're both done so right now we're in the present both activities are done completed finished what it is it really it's just a way a really specific way in English to show the relationship between these tenses so whenever we end up using the past perfect it means that that is the event that happened first so when you're using it in a sentence it's like saying look this is what happened first and then this other thing happened it's it just helps us be more specific so that's why I think this is a very very useful very useful lesson because English is kind of cool like that sometimes it allows you to convey a lot of information in just a little teeny-tiny tense if you get it right you will also sound a little I think you sound a little smarter too a little bit more fluent I think it's a it's it's kind of a very useful tense like that okay so when do we use this tense there's kind of two main times when we use it first when we're talking about a completed action before something that happened in the past like I mentioned or we can use it when we're talking about a duration something that kind of kept going but not continuous not not using the continuous tense just something that happened from like this time to this time and then it ended and then there was another event in the past that we are relating that to so please don't be confused I'm going to come back to this later I'm just kind of giving you an overview right now so what are we waiting for let's see what our tense looks like okay so I hope you guys like my timeline I'm very proud of it hi I love colors that I'm a very visual person and I or two because I think this really really helps with the past perfect so first of all as you can see my two exes what they represent is two events that happened in the past now we don't the events are not happening now okay so that as you can see my blue line is now these events already happened they're already completed they are finished they're done it's the first one the purple one is the one that happened first the green one is the one that happened after it as you can see the one that's closer to the present and the purple one is always going to be the past perfect always always always always it's the event that happened first that's when we use this tense so I have two sentences I'll read the first one he had studied English before he moved to London okay so we have this random person let's call him Jim because I've been watching The Office and it's in my mind so Jim Jim studied English first first event then he moved to London second event and now maybe he lives in London maybe he doesn't it doesn't matter it means that first he studied English and then he moved to London two events and we are learning about that relationship between the two of them he had studied English before he moved to London now I want to talk to you about how we are constructing it what how do we use it first of course you need a subject like he or Jim or whatever you want to say you wanna was a subject and then we need had had regardless of the the subject it's going to stay the same so whether I say I or he or you it's always going to be had and then we add the past participle in this case it's studied he had studied she had seen I had complained it's always going to have that past participle and then that's it that's the past that's the past perfect that's how we use it that's how we constructed okay and then of course the event in green is going to be simple past because it happened after so the it's it's like a past in the past kind of thing the sorry but my hands okay so another example is the second one right here I had never run a marathon before 2015 so as you can see the past perfect is marked in purple again that means that I it never happened I'd never run a marathon and then 2015 happened of course now it's 2018 so 2015 was before okay so I had never run a marathon before 2015 that is my example there okay so I hope that makes sense it's really it's not a very difficult test once you get the hang of it I think people because there's so many perfect tenses in English and people get confused I think I think that's part of why this says can be difficult but once you understand what it is and that it just shows the relationship between two tenses and one that happens earlier then we'll get to go then it makes sense okay let's see how let's see oh just one thing so I mentioned a few past participles before and here we have had studied head run or had never run now I want to actually do a very very quick quiz so I hope you guys are paying attention because past participle is so important in this lesson I'm going to quiz you on it so I hope you are ready and know your past participles they're super important okay so here's my quiz going to be longer but I want to explain it first I'm going to give you some verbs and then you have to actually write down the past participle so as an example I gave you here go and the past participle with the past perfect is had gone go had gone got it now I need you to write what is the past perfect of do let's see past perf perfect of do today had done had done good job so if you've written could had done then you are correct the next one is come let's see who gets it right come tada had come okay so if you guys insert head com great job wonderful work how about give we're getting a little bit more difficult maybe give let's see had given had given so if you answered had given you are you guys are doing great wonderful great job oops and the know it was on my screen I flashed it accidentally so I hope you know it but it was had known had known but you guys are doing amazing I see all these beautiful answers this is a great quiz now what I wanted to tell you is that if you didn't get these right or if you were thinking about them and you weren't sure about the answer I have some good / bad news the good news is that once you memorize these verbs then they're going to stay in your brain forever and the bad news is that you actually have to memorize them because the most common verbs in English are irregular so you just have to memorize them you have to memorize the the past and the past participle of these verbs and just kind of drill just say them again and again and again and make it a habit to just know them by heart so like I said this can be I think it's it's a good thing but also yeah it's just practice them and you'll know them so that's my not so fun tip but good good job you guys are doing great okay so coming back to when are we using the past perfect like I said it's a completed action before something in the past and here I have two sentences the first sentence is the movie had already started started when she got there just like I mentioned before first the movie started then she got there so you have that sequence of events and the press the past perfect is the one in purple just like before right head started when she got there now my second example I put it so that you see that it's not always going to be in a sentence you're not always going to have the past perfect show up before the other one sometimes it doesn't matter how what their order is in a sentence because the order of the events will be explained to you by the use of the past perfect so for example here we have she understood the movie because she had read the book so even though in our sentence we have genders to the movie first really the first event was she had read the book so obviously first she read the book then she saw the movie and she understood it and that's the order of the events so that's where the past perfect is going to be with the first event she had read the book okay so you you really have to pay attention and think about these but I think it's such a wonderful tool that you have your disposal is to use this past perfect and convey a lot of information in just one one tense it's kind of it's kind of wonderful okay and then another way to use it is like I mentioned before the duration before something in the past so if something happened happened happened happened for a long time and then another event happened that's when you can also use it so I'm giving them an example for me I had lived in California for 15 years before I moved back to Europe so the event that was continuous could like I had lived was a duration a period of time I lived in California I lived at the deadlift and then I moved to Europe and now I am here but I I don't have to be here because again these are completed actions okay so keep that in mind they have to be they're not related to the present they're in the past and my second sentence which is also it's also true which I'm sad about too is my grandmother was sad about selling the house because she had owned it for 17 years so that means that my grandmother owned the house for 70 years then she sold it and now it doesn't matter what happens now but those are the events she had owned it for seven years and then she was sad the past tense as you can see here shows up as a second action okay now very quickly I want to go over some adverbs because adverbs can be very very important with this test and I'm going to go over some common adverbs so you see them placed in the sentence so I have four that I'm going to talk to you about these are super common we see them all the time and they are the following the first one is just and just me is when something happened a short period of time before the other event so for example I have a sentence here I had just finished the project when the boss called me into his office which means I was working on my project I finished it and maybe like two minutes later my boss was like hey come into my office I have to talk to you about something so I just finished the project and you see this with this tense a lot I had just finished had just finished now another good one is yet and yet this means that something is expected to happen for example at the time of the deadline I hadn't finished my report yet I was expecting to finish it but I hadn't yet okay I hadn't finished my report yet already I think this one is probably the most common to be honest with all of these adverbs already is probably the most common something happened earlier so I had already eaten dinner by the time I Fred arrived so I II I ate dinner and then my friend arrived I already did it it's already completed so it happened early and still it means that something was not finished when we left for Paris we still hadn't booked a hotel room that means that when we left that action was not finished of booking a hotel room okay when we left for Paris we still hadn't booked a hotel room so just yet already and still are very very very common adverbs that come with this tense we see them all the time okay now now you've kind of learned when to use this tense I will say this in if you hear people speaking and you'll try to listen for the past tense when especially when we're telling stories I think then it's a good time to listen for this tense sometimes you hear people not use it and let me explain why this is and they'll just replace it with the with the past with a simple past instead and let me explain why that is because especially when we're referring to time and we're a frank like storytelling or something we use before or after which are probably by far the most used time markers so if you have before or after if you use before after when you are relating to two events you kind of don't need to use the past perfect because you know which event happens first and which one happens later that's the whole point of the past perfect is to determine this relationship between these two events so you don't really need to use it can you use it yes you can and it's correct but you don't have to so if you look at my two sentences right here Wes had left before you wanna got home like we talked about earlier had left because it's our past perfect tense it is correct to use it he had left that action is finished and then I got home so he had left it's fine but we can also say Wes left before you wanna got home because we are already informing our listener we are informing them of the sequence of events we're telling them look he left before this other event before I got home so keep that in mind that you especially if you're just learning this if you're listening for it and you you don't hear people use it and you might wonder like why isn't this person using the past perfect well it may be because it's before or after and they've already specified it so keep that in mind okay now that you know everything there is to know about the past perfect are you ready for a practice of course you are you guys are super students and you are going to do amazing so here is my practice okay so what I wanted to do in the comments right now I'm giving you two events and this is the order that the events are happening number one the first event is I left for work the second event is that the mailman knocked on the door what I want you to do is combine these sentences put them together using already and when okay put these sentences in one sentence put these events in one sentence together using already and when and obviously the past perfect okay so let's see how you guys are doing I want you to do it right now in the comments this is really good practice so the first event is I left for work the second event is the mailman knocked on the door let's see let's see how you guys are doing I love for work even number one which where is the past perfect go does it go with the first event or does it go with the second event did you guys pay attention do you remember what do you think okay so hopefully you answered I had already left for work when the mailman knocked on the door so let's talk about this if you if you were confused the first event like I told you was I left for work so that's where we use the past perfect I had already left I had already left for work and then the second we just used the the simple past when the mailman knocked on the door I had already left for work when the mailman knocked on the door so yeah you guys are doing really good exactly and you can even reverse it so I like what what some of you did when you wrote when the mailman knocked on the door I had already left for work that is also correct they can be reversed very good as long as you keep the past tense word the past perfect where it belongs okay ready for another one here he goes so you have two the same thing combine the two sentences and the events are in this order the first event everyone left the stadium the second event the soccer match ended so the first one what happen first is that everyone left the stadium what happened after is that the soccer match ended okay so keep that in mind when you combine your sentences and don't forget to use already and when okay so keep keep keep these events in mind I know a lot of you're probably thinking oh the the match ended and then everyone left no this is the other way first everyone left and then the soccer match ended so let's see how you guys are doing okay if you are still writing don't worry I'm sure you'll do great here is the correct sentence everyone had already left the stadium when the soccer match ended again we put the past perfect with the first event everyone had already left because that's the event that happened first maybe it was a bad game maybe the team was losing everyone was like we're out of here okay they had already left they went home they were I don't know where they were going but they had left the stadium when the soccer match ended there we go I have seeing some wonderful wonderful answers you guys are doing freaking amazing I am so proud of you you're killing this great job okay now we're going to make it I think a little bit more fun okay and the reason I say fun is because what I want you to do is complete the following sentence but use your own words your own experience your own whatever so I'm giving you here a way to complete a sentence so it says I had never mmm before I mmm so in a way I'm making it easier because I'm giving you the past perfect but I want you to think and it doesn't have to be true it will practicing whatever you think so what had you never done before hmm okay let's see what you guys have to say I had never before I mmm keep in mind to use the past participle correctly okay so let's see okay I hope you guys are doing well this is this is a lot of fun and of course now we're doing an isolated exercise you may seem easy keep practicing it's I think the difficulties with this tense come up when you're kind of in a conversation it's hard to remember wait where do I use the past perfect the more you practice the easier it becomes so tell us something that's true for you I had never done the past four feet before I got this class sure I had never traveled abroad before I learned English exactly so those are very very good good sentences you guys are doing great now I'll give you an example sentence of why you could say this is just my example obviously your examples are going to be different because we have different experiences for me I had never had Ethiopian food before I moved to LA okay I had never had Ethiopian food okay I if you know me you know that I love you Theo pian food is my favorite food in the world and I had never had it I the first time I had it was in LA so that is my example sentence you're obviously going to have different ones you guys are doing amazing I love looking at all of these examples sentences great now another practice you also have to complete the sentence with your own words when I hmm someone else had already hmm okay so again if you can't think of something that actually happened to you make it up I don't mind I just I'm just here for the practice so make sure you practice it when I mmm someone else had already hmm okay keep in mind to use the correct past participle and there's an already in there so pay attention that should be a clue when I someone else had already what I'll show you mine and then my example sentence and while you guys are writing or what you think about it for example again I don't even think this is true I just I just this is just something I thought about when I called the restaurant someone else had already made a reservation maybe was a birthday party who knows but when I called the restaurant someone else had already made a reservation so they made a reservation first that was the first event and the second event is that I called a restaurant make sense you guys are doing you guys are doing great when I came home someone else had already been there exactly yes so you guys that that is amazing so you're doing I think you're doing really well I think something to keep in mind like I said with this tense is that is that it can get tricky when you're kind of telling a story and you don't remember but the more you practice the easier it will come to you I promise it's again like like I said before it's a test that when you use it correctly you sound more fluent you sound more professional I would say I think it just sounds a little better I've always thought oh this person really knows how to use their tenses when you when you use the past perfect correctly so please don't be afraid of it use it it's very very it just it's a good tense and it it gives us all this information in just one one tense so don't be afraid of it now that you're rock stars at it so I wanted to thank you everyone for watching thank you for participating you guys did a great job Giselle Christiana QRF Francisco jr. guys who think you thank you thank you for joining us today I hope you have a wonderful Saturday or just a great day in general if you found this lesson useful please like it and share join our social media classes we have a lot of really great questions a really great content out there and thank you see you guys next time --- ## 369. How to Use the Present Perfect | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `IQ190KHbgPQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ190KHbgPQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:45:50 | --- hello hello hello welcome to another lesson have a very very very cool lesson for you today because it is something that is so so so important because we use it all the time and what I'm talking about is this right here the present perfect so today I'm going to give you a lot of information about the present perfect and this is a really great lesson if you are a beginner learner or an advanced learner because I'm going to talk to you about some of the basics when it comes to the present perfect and so gonna go over how to use it and how to make the present perfect but if you're an advanced learner I'm also gonna go over some of the subtle nuances of the present perfect and and giving a more precise meaning because I'm gonna talk about a few of the differences between the present perfect and the simple past because I know many learners get confused about well when should I use the simple past and when should I use the present perfect so have a lot of information to go over with you guys about the present perfect and if you are joining us again just say hello what's up in the chat let me know where you are joining us from we got a lot of people in there already and even if you are watching this lesson later just say hello write it in the comments tell me your name tell me where you are from because we are also going to practice using the present perfect and you guys are gonna have to write your answers in the comments and again even if you're watching this next week next year practice practice with us use the present perfect use the comments section as like a whiteboard and write your sentences write your answers the common so Rosario jr. Adrian Vivian hello hello hello welcome thank you guys for joining us sorry if I miss some names it's just rolling through so let's first talk about when to use the present perfect because that's a good place to start so when do we use the present perfect what what are we talking about when we use this this grammar tense so we're talking about something that's happened in the past that's very important to know so the present perfect is talking about the past it's something that happened in the past but again the time is not always specified we don't know when this event happened in many cases and you know it doesn't matter the time is not that important and then the other thing this one right there that I always like to say is that the present perfect another thing that makes it a little unique is because it has a relationship with the present and that's how I was relationship a connection with something that is happening in the present and it could be based on you know that you're having a conversation in the present or it could be what you're actually talking about is relevant to the present so it's something in the past that has a relationship with the present so I have a question for you and then I'm gonna talk about some of these and I want you again to use the present perfect my question for you is that last one down there on the bottom what have you done lately okay what have you done lately write me a sentence a full sentence not just one word using the present perfect and answer that question what have you done lately again we're gonna practice all throughout the lesson and I want you guys to use the present perfect so here are these are a couple example sentences again using the present perfect and we're going to talk about like well how they relate to when we use it so the first one they finished the project okay so they have finished the project it's something that happened in the past we don't know when they finished the project because the time is not important and it has a relationship to the present because basically as of now in the present the project it's finished they finished it in the past and it's finished right now that's the relationship it has let's look at the next one she has bought a car okay so something that happened in the past the buying of the car and there is again there's no time we don't know when it happened and it has a relationship with the present because basically we're saying okay this information tells us that oh right now she still has a car she has a car she bought it in the past we don't know when and she still has it now she has bought a car so again we want you to practice using these we're gonna practice all throughout the lesson and write a sentence using the present perfect alright I've gone to the supermarket excellent I have finished reading a book perfect alright those are great examples of the present perfect so now let's let's again these are the times we use it alright this is kind of what it means to use the present perfect we're talking about the past times not important has a relationship with the present now here are some of the basics which I think many of you might already know but it's still important and that is how to construct the present perfect so when we are making the present perfect what is what what grammar are we using we have our subject and then the verb have and that is our helping verb it is our auxiliary verb our helping verb have or has it depends on the subject because this helping verb is going to be conjugated with the subject I have he has she has okay that is very important that is what we are going to conjugate so we have the subject our helping verb however has and then the past participle and some of you might be wondering what what the heck is the past participle well the past participle is just another verb form and in this case in the present perfect it is still it is our main verb it is the main verb in the sentence because this is the main action that is taking place so subject have have plus the past participle now when it comes to learning the past participles I think often people just try to memorize these you memorize memorize memorize many times I've seen so many different verb charts that have the simple tense the past tense and then the past participle so let's look at that first one I have been we're talking about the verb to be so in the present we'd have is are in the past was were past participle been so the past participle of the verb to be is been the next one gone simple pass go past went no that simple putt present sorry present is go past went past participle gone go went gone these are common just verb charts that people will make and they will study these and memorize the past participle if it is a regular verb like play pass the the past tense played Edie the past participle is also going to be Edie so for all those regular verbs that wear the past tense ends with an e d the past participle it is the same the only ones you really need to memorize are the e regular verbs and what makes this difficult especially because of English is that pretty much the most common verbs that we use are always irregular so like the verb to be like go like this one that one C all right present simple is C the past tense saw the past participle seen see saw seen okay so you just have to know that you have to memorize and study and learn those past participles and then you can start to construct the present perfect and again if you're just joining us we are talking about how to use the present perfect and when to use it and we are going to practice all throughout this lesson so if you're just joining us perfect timing so let's continue and let's let's actually write some sentences using the present perfect so remember this is how we are going to form our sentences the subject the helping verb and the main verb and the main verb is our past participle so I'm going to tell you four instances for four times that when we use the present perfect and again this is it's a bit of a brief overview of the present perfect because there's really just so much that we can talk about with the present perfect you we could do about ten lessons on it so I want to give you a brief overview and an important overview as to when we use it so first one we use the present perfect when we're talking about unfinished actions actions that that started in the past and they continue up until the present so these are things that have started in the past and they've continued that continue they continue and it's still happening today and that is the relationship with the present that we talked about before and when we are talking about this case right here number one we use we often use the words for and since because we're talking about a time period here something that started in the past continued to the present and to talk about that time period we use for and since so for example let's look at that first sentence well first I have a question for you which is right down there I want you to answer in the chat and tell me how long have you studied English how long have you studied English right a a full sentence using the present perfect answer that question how long have you studied English and even again if you're watching this later write it in the comments I have a lot of questions for you you can write all of them in the comments and then once it's all done just hit comment enter so we can see and share those comments with us so tell us how long have you studied English and in your answer I want you to use for or since okay I want you to tell me the time period using for or since so let's talk about foreign cents so that first example sentence we have lived in Europe for almost two years when we use for we're talking about a duration of time for two years when I think of two years I can think of okay this is the starting point and this is the ending point it is a duration of time for two years for ten minutes for two weeks for 20 days these are all durations of time and we would use for with the present perfect I have lived and we have lived in Europe for almost two years and this is true we've lived in Europe for almost two years the next one which is also true and using since because when we use since we are talking about a point in time you're taking that point in time and saying ok since this point this has been this is something that has happened this is something that's been happening so I could say I have taught English since 2006 I've taught English since 2006 this is something that I could say to somebody else if they want to know about my job and my career and they're interested in my teaching career and I could tell them yeah I've taught English since 2006 this tells them that since that time since that point in time that year 2006 I have taught English so it's been Wow it's been 12 years 12 years and it's continued so this has been quite a you know quite a career at this so I could say I have taught English since 2006 so again you guys have written some great example sentence I have Vivian I have studied English for four months excellent I've studied English vallini I have studied English for two years Abu I've learned English let's say I have studied English for about 10 years perfect excellent so again we use for remember to talk about a duration of time if I give you a time frame and you can think okay I know how long this takes two weeks three weeks two years six months all right four is a duration of time since is a point in time since 2006 since last year since yesterday those are all points in time but when we use four and since with we use them with the present perfect to talk about this this is the meaning it's an unfinished action started in the past and has continued to the present now the next time we use the present perfect when we are talking about finished actions that have a result in the present and again that is the connection that relationship with the present the action is finished but it has a result that is still you know it's happening right now it is important now based on our conversation based on what we're talking about so to give you an example I want you guys to give me an example and answer that question right there in my speech bubble like I'm asking you have you bought anything all right have you bought anything and I want you to write a sentence using the present perfect answering that question have you bought anything so basically you'd be telling me again to construct it I plus the helping verb have plus the past participle bought what have you bought anything all right write your answer in the comments let me know so we're talking about these finished actions that again the result is in the present so for example this is well I hope this hasn't happened I hope many of you haven't had to say this I've lost my phone it's happened to us before and you might tell somebody I have lost my phone the action happened in the past it's finished it has a result in the present because basically right now you are saying you still don't have your phone it's lost it's gone I've lost my phone it happened in the past and in the present you still don't have it it's gone that is the result that we're talking about in the present the other thing I want you to notice with this one which again if we're talking about the subject and the helping verb have we can contract those and combine those for example I have I've we have we've he has keys so we can contract the helping verb with the subject when we are using the present perfect so I've lost my phone again happen in the past result in the present same with that next sentence nobody is home they must have gone shopping so you're wondering well where are these people what's going on they must have gone shopping the action they left in the past and the result is in the present because well maybe they're still shopping they're obviously not at home so they must have gone shopping they are still out they are away the result in the present again they are not there so again we would use gone have gone they must have gone shopping so the next one that well just it's an animal I've bought a new phone excellent I have bought a purse Kuang thank you for sharing with us Dominic I've bought a tablet perfect excellent great example sentence thank you guys for sharing and again if you're watching this later I want you to write a sentence in the comments I still want you to participate in this lesson the next one number three we use the present perfect when we're talking about a place that we have gone and we've returned and this is one of the most common times that we use the present perfect and remember I put the verb to be there because this is when we we use this verb when we're talking about this the the present the past participle of the verb to be is been I have been we have been they have been you have been you're talking when you when you use this then you're talking about about this very thing a place that you've gone and then you've returned from that place and my question for you again in the chat in the comments I want you to just answer the question where have you been where have you been talk about a place that you have gone and then you've returned so in my example question right there again we're using it as a question so the helping verb comes before the subject has she been to what anywhere you could fill anywhere in that blank has she been to Italy has she been to Brazil has she been to China has she been to Vietnam you're talking about places that you go and then return and maybe my answer is she's been to Spain and again I have contracted the subject with the helping verb has she has she's she's been to Spain so this is like I said one of the most common ways that we use the present perfect when we're talking about places you've been and returned and and this is a very common question you would hear it all the time TV shows movies you you would say it use it if you're having a conversation and you want to know if somebody has visited and returned from this place have you been to what have you been to what and then you could tell them uh tell me about it I want to know more so with this with the with this use we are using the verb to be and the past participle is been have you been - hmm I have been - where I've been to Argentina I've been to the United States I have been to the Netherlands Mario thank you excellent I've been to the UK excellent sentence perfect I have been to Vietnam for Tet holiday perfect excellent thank you guys for sharing those sentences what else I've been to Australia many years ago and again if you're watching this later write those sentences in the comments practise using these these are such common ways that we use the present perfect now the last one that I'm gonna talk to you about number four all right when we use it and then afterwards I have some practice and this it's a little more advanced but I will explain it so we use the present perfect often when we use it with these adverbs of time and these adverbs of time that talk about a a recent past or some a time period that is not very far away so it's something that is recent and there there are more than just these three I chose these three because I think that they are probably a little more common than some of the other ones so let's talk about these the first one is already so when we use already we're talking about something that happened sooner than you expected something happened sooner and again if you're watching this give throw some practice sentences down there in the chat so people can see how how we use these try to use these sentences and use the present perfect so already is talking about something happened sooner than expected I've seen it already we don't know what it is maybe I'm talking about a movie or a TV show or a concert I've seen it already it happened in in the past we don't know when maybe it wasn't expected and then you're just telling somebody in the present that will hey hey I've already seen it it happened I didn't plan for it to happen maybe it wasn't expected but it did so it already happened I've seen it already the other thing I wants to tell you about this one is when we're talking about the adverb already adverbs can be tricky because you people always wonder about well where does it go does it go at the beginning of the sentence does it go in the middle does it go at the end and depending on the adverb some of them can go in different places some of them should only go in one when we're talking about already we can use already at the end of the sentence I've seen it already I've done it already I've been there already or we can use it between the helping verb and the main verb I've already seen it I've already done that I've already learned about the present perfect and now you're just reviewing which is perfect it's a great example so with already you can use it at the end or between the helping verb and the main verb and it's talking about something happens sooner than expected the next one right here just just is talking about something that happened a short time ago so it's in the very recent past it just happened a very short time has passed and basically you would have to put it into context just could be talking about a short time ago as in a few minutes it could be talking about a few hours it could even be talking about a few days it depends on the context but it is something that is the recent future you're not going to be are the recent past you're not going to use just for something that happened 10 years ago it's a short time ago and my example sentence we have just bought a kitten unfortunately that is not true it's just an example I know that you want to very much wants it to be true and we are thinking about it it is something that that we have talked about so I thought it'd be a good example we have just bought a kitten so if somebody says this then you know okay it's something recent maybe it's that same day maybe they're talking about the past week but you know that they have not had a kitten for a very long time we have just bought a kitten and just is one of those that we need to use it between the helping verb and the main verb that is where it belongs you can't put it at the end of the sentence you can't put it at the beginning of the sentence it needs to go there I have just bought I have just been I have just seen I have just played it goes between the helping verb and the past participle the next one down there the last one on the bottom yet so if you have this adverb of time yet you're talking about something that is expected to happen we use it a lot with questions and we use it with negative statements when you're talking about something that expected to happen but you're saying well it has not happened yet so I could say I haven't finished yet maybe I'm talking about a lesson an exam project something that you're telling someone else I haven't finished yet I have not finished yet and yet would go at the end of the sentence it yeah you and you can't use it anywhere else it must be at the end of the sentence I haven't been there yet I haven't seen it yet I haven't done it yet I haven't finished yet so these are three adverbs of time that we often use with the present perfect okay so let's look at this next part now what I want to talk to you about is compare the present perfect a little bit with the past simple and show you some of the small differences and this is a little more advanced but I think it will give you a little more context and understanding about how to be more precise in English and again with your overall comprehension so you can comprehend what the other person is saying so I've given you two sentences and I want you we're gonna look at these sentences and then I'm gonna tell you how they're different and one sentence is in the present perfect the other one is in the past simple so I could say I have lived in California since 2015 I have lived in California since 2015 if we say it in the past simple you're just saying I lived in California in 2015 now I want you to think right now what what's different what in the meaning what is different between these two sentences if somebody says this what what is clicking inside your head that gives you okay this is this means this and this means that so if we're talking about these two sentences all right I have lived in California since 2015 and I lived in California in 2015 here's the difference right here when we're talking remember when we use for and since with the present perfect we're talking about an action that started in the past and continues to the present so in that in that sentence with the present perfect I have lived in California since 2015 you still live there it means that you you move there in 2015 and you still live there now it is not finished you did not leave if we say it with the past simple I lived in California in 2015 if somebody tells me that then I think okay it's something that happened in the past it's finished I don't know where the person lives now but they don't live in California they don't live in this place anymore so that would be the difference between in this example between the present perfect and the past simple if somebody says I lived in California in 2015 they don't live there now let's look at another one in this these two sentences right now right here I haven't written the email maybe I put yet there maybe you want to use yet maybe you don't use yet it really doesn't matter all right I haven't written the email using the present perfect or I did not write the email one of them is present perfect the other one is the past simple so I want you to think to yourself again what is the difference in the meaning of these sentences I haven't written the email I did not write the email sometimes they may be used interchangeably and you may use them to mean the same thing but they have a subtle difference between them and that's really what we're getting at when I go over these with you and the difference between these is the following okay if we're using the present perfect especially if we say yet it gives you the the the idea it's telling you that okay you're probably going to do this thing soon if I say I haven't written the email it means okay it's not finished but you will do it at some point maybe you'll do it later that same day maybe you'll do it tomorrow and especially if you say yet if you put yet on the end it definitely means that you plan to do it it is expected that this will happen if we use this in the past simple I did not write the email again it tells me that all right this action it hasn't happened yet it's unfinished it's in the past but I don't know if if you're going to do it in the future if somebody just says yeah I did not write the email I'd be thinking okay I know it's not done but I'm wondering are you going to do it are you not going to do it maybe it's not your responsibility to do it so this is a slight difference about showing what your intention is between the present perfect and the past simple if you're talking about something that you plan to do that you will likely do then it's better to use the present perfect I haven't done this and if you really want to tell them that you will do it then you put yet on the end there I haven't done this yet I haven't written the email yet something that you plan to do let's look at another example this one so this is a common one because again we're talking about a place places that we travel what is the difference between we we have been to Thailand and we went to Thailand now with these two sentences I think it is ok they are interchangeable if you're having a conversation people might use they might use the present perfect they might use the past simple we have been to Thailand we went to Thailand however there is a small small small small subtle difference between these two and I want to know think think to yourself right now I want you to think ok if somebody says this to you is there really some some deeper meaning to it we have been to Thailand we went to Thailand often it is interchangeable but the difference is this alright if you use the present perfect we have been to Thailand it makes me think ok in all likely you may return someday in the future we don't know when you may go back you may go back to Thailand someday we have been to Thailand I have been to the dentist I've been to New York City and I think ok probably in the future I may return back when you use the past simple it doesn't tell us that it doesn't give us that indication so we don't know it basically means maybe maybe you will maybe you won't you may not return if you say we went to Thailand and one thing I'll give you I'll give you something to think about and I didn't notice this until I started teaching about people that get older and I noticed this more with my grandparents as my grandparents when when I would talk to them they would always speak using the past simple and I don't think they knew this was going on it's just a small subtle change that happens in your mind and they would always talk using the past simple about places they had been they would say yeah we went there we went there because as you know they got older they were in their 80s and and even in their 90s at one point it was one of those things where they knew okay they were not going to go back they were not going to return so think about this if you are if you're ever around native English speakers that happen to be in their 80s or 90s try to try to pay attention to how they're using their sentences how they're constructing them and I noticed this with my grandparents that they would talk more and more using the past simple because they're talking about things that you know it weren't it wasn't going to happen again maybe because of their age especially if you're talking about long big trips or something like that so this is a small subtle difference between the press and in this case between the present perfect and the past simple another one look at these two sentences right here and think about this this is something maybe that your boss might tell you and they could ask you what either one of these what have you done today what did you do today what have you done today what did you do what have you done today question in the present perfect what did you do today question in the past simple they might depending on your meaning they might be interchangeable depending on how you want the person to answer but one difference between the two that you would think of is this if you ask somebody you know like what what have you done today basically I feel like you're what you're asking them to tell you about their accomplishments their results what are things that you have accomplished today what are some things that you got done if somebody asked you what did you do today then they're more talking about maybe activities activities that you completed in the past so again this is a small sub difference between the present perfect and the past perfect now let's practice a few of these right now I'm going to give you some questions and I just want you to write your answers in the chat or if you're watching this later write all these answers in the comments and it's like you're submitting those answers so let's look at that first one all right I'm gonna start out easy all right he has all the food I'm giving you the verb what is what is the what how would you complete that sentence basically I'm asking I've given you the main verb what is the past participle what is the past participle of eat eat ate mmm past participle write your answer in the chat I want you to know what what is how would you complete this sentence and again if you're watching this later write the sentence in the comments write a full sentence so I think many of you I saw many of you perfect excellent so the past participle of eat is eaten he has eaten all the food in this case we're talking about a finished action that has a result that's relevant in the present because the food is gone it's gone we don't there is no more he has eaten all the food let's look at another one similar to this one and try this on for size right here boom okay again I've given you the main verb I want you to tell me well what is the past participle how would you complete this sentence we have mmm construction on the house begin is the main verb what is the past participle of begin again these are irregular verbs so it is difficult it's a little more challenging you just have to memorize these how would you complete this sentence we have mmm construction on the house what is the past participle of begin alright so this is good this is good practice I noticed some of you remember the the the present simple begin the past simple began all right work began yesterday the past participle begun all right we have begun construction on the house have begun I have begun you have begun they have begun that is the past participle of the verb begin alright let's look at let's try this next one see how see how watch you guys how much you remember from this lesson boom alright let me shrink that down to you so you can so you can see it in this in this case I've given you a sentence in the present perfect which one are you going to use for or since I have worked at this company mmm five years remember I told you that the present perfect we use it when we're talking about something that has started in the past and it continues up until the present we use the present perfect and we often use it with either for or since but it's that time period that you have to think about which would tell you whether you should use for or since which one are you going to use to complete this sentence five years saw some your answers excellent and again if you're watching this later right the answers in the comment I have worked I've worked at this company for five years five years is talking about a duration of time you know exactly okay how long this time period is so we're going to use for let's try this next one right here so I am going to give you a situation and I want you to tell me are you going to use which one's better the present perfect or the past simple so again let me shrink this down so you guys can see it there we go all right which which meaning which meaning would be the the correct one the present perfect or the past simple so I'm giving the situation basically you don't drive the car all right you don't drive the car would you say in the present perfect I've driven this car since last year or would you use it in the past simple I drove this car last year again we went through those differences between the present perfect and the past simple so the the situation the meaning that I want to that I want to tell you is you don't drive the car all right which one are you going to use are you going to use the present perfect or are you going to use the past simple in this case all right excellent perfect so most of your answers yes before talking about that you don't drive the car it is finished it's finished you don't drive it anymore you're going to use the simple past I drove this car last year if you use the present perfect I said since last year it would mean that you're still driving it now let's try another one this one right here what do you think would you use boom present perfect or the simple past which one conveys the meaning all right he may call soon that is the situation that is the meaning that I want to convey he may call soon would you use would you would would it be more appropriate to use the present perfect he hasn't called her or the simple past he did not call her but I want the meaning to convey I really want to convey well he may call soon what would you say to somebody he hasn't called her he did not call her and remember the meaning that we want to convey is again he may call soon write your answers in the chat and if you're watching this later write them in the comments I do I go through I check all the I check I check everybody's work all the time so remember I talking about he may call soon I'm talking about something that that will that will likely happen again in the future and if we put yet on there then we really know and that means that we are going to use the present perfect all right if I say he did not call her it tells me that he didn't call but it also tells me it gives me no indication if he's going to call or not the pet the present perfect maybe tells me okay he hasn't called me I should maybe be expecting a call some other time all right and if I put yet on the end of that sentence then again we're definitely saying that yes it is something that he plans to do he hasn't called her yet let's do another one ooh with travel what about this one what do you guys think boom alright you will probably go again what do you think it's based on what what you've learned today if this is the meaning you will probably go again would you use the present perfect I've been to New York City or would you use the simple past I went to New York City if you want to kind of convey that meaning to somebody else that hey you know you you'll probably do it again you'll probably go again you'll likely do this again someday in the future what would you use alright I think everybody I've been in New York City alright yes if we're talking again too if you want to show that you will probably do something again in the future then again you want to use the present perfect I have been to New York City in this case you could say if you're just having a conversation I went to New York City again these are pretty interchangeable the only slight difference is yeah it gives you a little more information saying that you will probably you may do this again in the future and the example that I gave you was thinking of people that are much older invariably they just start using the simple past more and more so to go back over we talked about today's lesson we were talking about just to review the present perfect and when to use the present perfect remember it is something that happens in the past time is not important and it has that relationship with the future that is the present perfect we construct the present perfect by using our subject the helping verb have so we're going to use have or has depending on the subject and then the past participle which is our main verb been gone played seen bought eaten those are all past participles and for the irregular ones again you just got to study them try to memorize them and we talked about four different times when we use the present perfect for unfinished actions started in the past continued to the present and we use for and since quite regularly in this situation you're talking about for is a duration of time we've lived in Europe for almost two years since you're giving that point in time I have taught English since 2006 the next one we've talked about actions that are finished but the result is in the present I've lost my phone the phone is gone it happened in the past the the result in the present you still don't have it same with that other example nobody is home they must have gone shopping the the the finished action you know they've gone shopping they're not there the result well they're still not there and I asked you guys have you bought anything you would be answering that sentence using that that type of use for the present perfect and the other one talking about regularly we use this all the time a place that you go and return I have been to she has been to he has been to and we use the verb to be and the past participle is been the other common use is with those adverbs of time I gave you three of them that I thought were very common already just and yet and again depending on the adverb it depends where in the sentence we can use it so you can practice those and again watch it again it'll help you learn and understand things just a little bit more so thank you guys so much for joining me to get it today thank you guys for watching if you're watching now or even if you're watching later please like this lesson if you have questions the video is going to be published write those questions to us in the comments we try to answer as many questions as we can because we love hearing from you guys and please write to us in the comments with questions statements anything you want to say and finally you can join our social media classes right down there I say their classes because we post a lot of in information a lot of questions to help you guys practice and improve your English skills we're on Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat and of course right here on YouTube so thank you guys for joining us junior Annabelle okay Louise Rosa valdon a thank you thank you guys so much I appreciate you being here with me again if you have questions just write those in the chat and please please please please like and share this video help us spread the word and create a large the largest English class that we possibly can on YouTube so I will see you guys next time Alan Ivy Patricia thank you guys for joining us we'll see you next time --- ## 370. How to Use the Word LIKE in English ๐Ÿ‘ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `OC_EQtPnjig` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC_EQtPnjig) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:32:42 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson which is both a grammar and vocabulary lesson and I'm gonna talk to you all about the word like alright so like like like like like this is a word that you will be seeing a lot of today so if u s-- is your first time here I want you to write your name in the comments say hello say hello in the chat I just want to hear from you because my name is Wes this is Interactive English and what we are all about if this channel is just trying to help you practice and improve your English skills and the reason that we're doing this the reason that we're talking about this word right here is because it is so important in in English this is a word that we use all the time whether you like it or not we use this word pretty much any time we're having a conversation you are going to hear this word being used and even though I think this you know many of you are already familiar with this word this is going to be a deep dive into how you use this word when you use this word and really trying to understand the different parts of speech because it is a very even though it's a simple word and that you can identify it it's good to know the subtle nuances and differences between whether it's used as a noun or whether it's used as a verb okay so let's just start out with with some fun facts about this word so the word like this word is used as seven different parts of speech that's right seven different parts of speech and I am going to talk to you about each one of them today and I'm going to ask you some questions as well so that you can kind you can practice along and interact with this lesson and practice with me that's what I want you guys to do the word is also according to the OEC which if you're not familiar with that that is the Oxford English corpus the word like is ranked number 54 as the most common word in English so that that just reinforces what I said a little while ago that this is a word that you are going to hear all the time so it's really important to know the difference is about when and how to use this word so let's just let's begin alright let's start with a question I'm gonna give you guys some questions throughout the lesson and I just want you to write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments as well as participate in and write some sentences so that you can actually practice that's what these lessons are all about is actually practicing your English skill so how would you complete this sentence I really mmm eating pizza what do you think which word could possibly finish and complete that sentence I hope that all of you are thinking like exactly I really like eating pizza surprise could you believe it so let's talk about using like as a verb as as in that example that I just gave you now the question that I have for you which I would which I would like you to answer I feel like as I go through this lesson I'm going to notice every time that I say the word like what I would like you to do is to answer the question try to use a full sentence and just practice using the word like so I would ask you the question what do you like to do on the weekends what do you like to do in that case in that question I'm asking about things that you take pleasure in because the first meaning of the word like as a verb is to take pleasure in something like that that question that I just gave you she really likes eating pizza all right this is probably one of the most common uses of like as a verb it's talking about the things you enjoy that you take pleasure in doing now notice that in that sentence she likes she really likes eating that is a gerund you like doing something now what makes this verb so special is that we can also follow it with the infinitive as well like as a verb that you can follow it with a gerund or you can follow it with the infinitive the meaning is the same she really likes eating pizza she really likes to eat pizza so this is one of those verbs you can use either the gerund or the infinitive the next one is talking about something you want but it's being polite and that's the key word and and it's often it's used as would like and I like I asked you guys I wanted to be like I said I would like you to write a sentence I would like you to answer that question right there so you want to be polite instead of saying want it's just more polite to say would like this is more this is partly cultural so this is a good thing to know if you are talking with a friend or something and you want something like oh I would like a glass of water or if you're out at a restaurant you might say like my example right there I would like oh my gosh and I made a mistake I would like the filet mignon not to alright there is not a preposition that should go there that should say that I would like the filet mignon so again if you're out at a restaurant or even a coffee shop I think it's a little more polite instead of saying want just say you know you know I would like I would like this thing it's very polite it's the right thing to do and the another use in the verb is saying to do well in now this in this case you're kind of talking about two things like I'd say look at let's just look at my example my shoes do not like the rain alright most people would think that either you're talking about enjoying something but in this case you're talking about how they perform my shoes do not like the rain perhaps your shoes are are made of leather and they should not be outside in the rain maybe there's no tread on the bottom of your shoes and you're gonna you worry about slipping and falling or even maybe another example you could say oh my car my car does not like the snow which means that okay in cold weather and snowy weather maybe the car won't start maybe the car just has you have trouble getting through the snow and in that case you can say that if something doesn't perform well you'd say well it does not like this thing so that is another use like all right let's there are a few more things with the verb and then I'll read through them some of your examples the fourth one is this is more of a this is probably the newest meaning the latest meaning for a verb is to electronically register approval all right to like a video for example all right and I my example sentence I like it when I enjoy it I take pleasure I like it when people like our lessons when they hit the like button and they register their approval so again this is a meaning that 20 or 30 years ago before YouTube before Facebook we didn't use the word in this context but nowadays it's very common especially when you're talking about social media and liking a video or liking a comment and you are just saying yes I approve of this I agree with it and I do I hope you guys like my lessons I hope you enjoy our lessons and find them useful so please hit that like button like the videos yes and the last one again this is it's just a verb but it has five different meanings wait let me get in front there so you can leave anytime you like and in that phrase we're talking about like I'm using like again your preference what do you prefer you can leave anytime you like I could tell you that but I don't want you to leave I'm just giving you an example or I could say you know you can eat anything you like you can go any place you like so in this in this case it's often at the end you would find it at the end of a sentence and it's talking about like anywhere you like anything you like any place you like it's it's referring to your preference okay so let's let's look at some examples I I was asking you guys what do you like to do on the weekends alright yes Angela said I like watching soccer on TV perfect excellent Zaki said my brother likes shopping perfect my brother likes shopping the Jaron my brother likes to shop you can use either one let us what else sometimes my cellphone doesn't like working yes my cellphone also it doesn't like working either especially in cold weather it just doesn't turn on it's a there's a problem with that IRA I was always like video lessons us teacher thank you thank you I appreciate it I I'm happy I'm so glad to see a lot of the same names that are always back here writing comments love hearing from you guys it really makes me I don't know miss makes me I really like the community that we have been developing together Maria I like hanging out perfect let's see I like listening room I like listening to my favorite songs excellent so those are all great examples things that you enjoy doing that you take pleasure in probably the most common use of the verb now the last thing that I want to talk to you about when it comes to verbs that in most cases especially when you're talking about things that you enjoy like is considered a stative verb now stative verb is talking about just like a state some kind of feeling it's not an action and when we think about stative verbs if you look in most grammar books it would say that stative verbs are not used in the continuous tense with that like with that ing but alright there's always a but then you talk about exceptions you may hear this in just informal casual and colloquial speech and this is a way that the language is changing because in grammar books if you talk about something that you like to do or you like doing it wouldn't it they would say don't use it in the continuous tense but you might hear people use this if you're watching a TV show or a movie and I gave you some examples somebody would say you know oh you know I'm liking my odds instead of saying I like my odds and spoke in English somebody might be like I'm liking my odds all right there this is happening now or you could say and so example like enjoy like instead of how how do you enjoy your classes how are you liking your classes somebody might ask that question in the continuous tense even though it is a stative verb so that's just one thing I wanted to point out and this is similar with the verb love also it follows those same rules it should not be used in the continuous tense but you may hear people say oh you know I'm loving this and they would use it in the continuous tense the only time where it's a verb where I'd say that it is appropriate is if you talk about when it's you're registering your approval like there I said like again you could say you are liking many comments alright you are registering your approval for many comments in that case it is an action that is talking about an action so you could use that so I hope that makes sense that in most cases it's a state of verb you shouldn't use it in the continuous tense but you will hear people say this in spoken English from time to time alright so let's look at lake now as a noun and my question for you I want you guys to tell me so I can learn a little bit more about you what are some of your likes and dislikes so if somebody were to ask you what are some of your likes they're using it as a noun and it just means again something that one likes something that a person enjoys so for example I would say and this is true I'd say my likes include hiking watching documentaries and outdoor hot tubs in the winter those are my likes those are the things that I enjoy so you could also tell me I want to know what are some of your likes the other way that it's used as a noun is again this is a a newer meaning because we're talking about social media and the internet and the online community it is the act of liking and online comments so if somebody might say like this they say the video received 1000 likes and you know that if you hear that like oh there were a thousand likes that they're talking about those people's approval that they hit the like button and they say yes I enjoyed this video I enjoy what this person's doing so those are two different meanings for this noun what are your likes and talking about like video approval that the video received 1000 likes 1 million likes I hope that that you guys I hope that this video hopefully maybe it will get to 1000 likes that would be amazing I would love that so let me see if you guys have some examples for me talking about your likes and dislikes what are your likes so Kylie says on the weekend I like to hang out with my friends but in that case again it would be used as a verb and you'd say my likes are hanging out with my friends and family all right that is something that I enjoy lolly my likes include learning English swimming and watching TV perfect excellent as my my greatest like is interactive English thank you and hello from the Dominican Republic excellent love hearing people I used to live in the Dominican Republic just I lived in San Pedro democrates for a year and taught in an orphanage it was great experience beautiful country thank you for sharing that sentence Phu Liam I likes include and dipping nothing special okay that works Angela my likes include watching your videos and making some cookies ooh cookies that just sounds very good right now vada my likes include studying learning English and listening to music so in this case again you would often hear people refer to them as like my likes or your likes or his likes or her likes and they include these activities often I again on a side note I think of like people when they're you know maybe they sign up for some kind of dating online site or dating app and you're trying to match up with somebody and it's asking well what are the things that you like what are the things you dislike and you'd say oh my likes include these different activities perfect okay so let's do well a quick little thing lets you guys know if you guys do enjoy our content and you guys enjoy what we are doing you can check out our patreon page I will throw a link in the description we have some cool rewards up there and it's just another way to to kind of connect with us to show us some love I will put a link right there in the chat as well you can check that out let's go ahead and and do another question alright see if you can complete this sentence alright here it is how would you complete this question what does this look mmm which word could possibly complete that question so that it makes sense alright what does this look hmm alright if you're having trouble let me help you out the word I hope that all of you would say what does this look like surprise like is the answer to the question what does this look like and I don't know can you guys tell me what does that look like to you do you have any guesses alright so in this case we're talking about like being used as a preposition and there are again there are many different uses for like when we're talking about prepositions and my question for you that you can describe if I were to ask you okay who do you look like what do you think is and you could tell me you look like I look like my brother I look like my father I look like my mother or maybe there's some famous person out there some famous actor or actress that you look like so I want you to answer the question tell me who you look like and again practice using the word as a conjunction so in that case the first meaning is to resemble resembling something and I'd say wess looks like Dennis the Menace alright somebody it's a few people have told me this actually before Dennis the Menace is a cartoon character that you can see the image over there and they say oh yes you know you really you look a little like Dennis the Menace so I could say West resembles West looks like Dennis the Menace that's who I look like I don't know if you agree or disagree you can tell me I always like like to think I look like Ryan Ryan Gosling I don't know if you'd know the famous actor but you can also use it as a as a preposition talking about similar characteristics he is sly like a fox this is an example of a simile when you're comparing two things that are are basically not the same you're comparing a person and a fox he is slide like a fox he is fast like a car he is strong like an ox so there are many different ways that we can use similes when we want to describe something and give a little more information also if we're talking about semanas you can use like or as those are the two common types of similes he is as sly as a fox or he is sly like a fox either way they mean the same thing but if you're using like it is a preposition the next one is if you're willing to do something and often I think we use it in the question and somebody might ask you know okay do you feel like watching a movie what do you feel like doing this weekend do you feel like doing this thing are you willing to do this activity and people would ask I think it's very common in in the United States and many Americans would say feel like doing something do you feel like doing this would you feel like doing that how do you feel would you feel like doing this thing so let's see this this is great use for prepositions all right there are four other ones all right so you can also use it as a preposition if you're talking about it approximately something I'd say well it cost like $50 all right approximately $50 it costs like that much you can use it to say like such as or for example I asked about you know do you feel like watching a movie if I say oh do you feel like watching Netflix what would you like to watch and I'd say well I would like to watch shows like peaky blinders I I just finished the season last night it just came out last week so I kind of binge watched it but I'd say ah I watched shows like peaky blinders I eat fruits like apples and bananas so whenever you're talking about some subject and then you're gonna give examples you would use like as a preposition to provide more information I watch movies like and then you name the list of movies that the ones that you enjoy and as it could be used to say as though there would be alright and in this case I give you the sentence like it looks like it's going to rain it looks like it's gonna rain and it looks as though it's going to rain and this is when you're kind of making a prediction about something well it looks like the the weather is going to do this it looks like the sports competition is going to end in this way something that you think will happen as though it we're going to happen you say well it looks like alright let's see some of your examples who do you look like Zakia says I look like an energetic person perfect Olivia like my like my mother my actress oh okay Simon Says my daughter looks like me perfect dual um new Yin my daughter looks like moku two people all right their daughter looks like them perfect um so so I look like myself sure exactly yeah you do look like yourself um what else any famous people in here anybody look like any celebrities or anything don't see too many and don't see any okay so again when you're talking about like who do you look like these are all examples of like being used as a preposition all right let's look at the next part of speech and that is like use as an adjective now this is probably a this is less common this usage and my question would be like which clothes of like color do you have so if you're saying that something is of like something you're talking about something that's similar or much the same so I'm talking about of light color of the same color in that case the usage again is not as common but it is something that you may hear and I could say the company responded in like fashion they responded the same way something happened and I'd say well they responded in like fashion they did the same thing that is a phrase in like fashion in the same way you may hear good to know good to learn always good for improving your fluency like oh you know they responded in like fashion they did the same thing corresponding if to things like course if multiple things correspond I could say the class will study astronomy physics and like sciences again it's used as an adjective to modify Sciences and we're talking about things that are corresponding to those other subjects the class will study astronomy physics and like Sciences other sciences that correspond with astronomy and physics so this would be like used as an adjective so let's see do you guys have any examples of cloves of light color do you have I think I I have clothes I guess my clothes of I guess I have meant a lot of blue clothes a lot of Navy my whole wardrobe is mostly Navy is pretty much what the colors that I I deal with let's see it's trying to see if we have any examples romasaa I like blue that is also one of my favorite colors about you I like red tie similar to this shirt okay perfect excellent so again you might hear it being used as an adjective talking about of like something alright of like color of like style this way something looks it's used as an adjective alright are you ready for another question Oh how would you complete this sentence which word should go in that blank stop acting mmm a spoiled brat does anybody have any idea which word could possibly go in there I think I've tried to make this as easy as possible and it should come to no surprise that the word that goes in there is like stop acting like a spoiled brat and the reason I wanted to give this is because this is an example of like being used as a conjunction so we've already talked about wow we've already gone through quite a few already like being used as a conjunction so I could ask you what did you feel like the last time you were sick now I want you to try and write a sentence using like as in conjunction and tell me what you felt like maybe you felt like somebody stepped on your head I don't know maybe you felt like somebody punched you in the stomach maybe you felt like you got hit by a car alright this there's there's a lot of different ways that it can be used but in that case it would be used as a conjunction what did you feel like the last time you were sick and in this case it means like would just mean like as if all right and you can use it in that sentence he acted like he was afraid of a little ray he acted as if he was afraid of a little rain maybe it started raining outside and somebody is gonna trying to run inside and like oh he acted like he was afraid of a little rain and maybe that person would say well it's because my shoes don't like rain I was I acted like I was afraid because my shoes don't like rain they don't perform well in the rain so again there's many different ways that you can use this word let's look at in in this other one in the same way if we're talking about it and that way as a conjunction the movie ended like you would expect in that case it is a conjunction you're talking about basically will in the same way that that you would anticipate that it would end that you would expect it ended like you you would expect or it ended like you would think and and that's a common collocation phrase that he would it it something ended like you expect you would expect alright the whether it's a movie a TV show sports match and it would end like you expect perfect so let's see how did you guys feel she eventually I felt as if under the rain I felt but you say I felt like like I was under the rain okay that would work Jessica I feel like I felt how did you feel si I felt like I was falling from an airplane ouch that that sounds like you were really sick then um Angela I felt like I was I felt like but remember you wouldn't even say like in this case I felt like I was you would need to say that that other phrase I felt like something you need that other clause there I felt like I was hmm something I felt like I was under a train I felt like I was falling from a plane let's see I felt like I felt like I was living dead okay alright those are good examples again you're using like as a conjunction now here comes like as an adverb alright in this case it's going to modify either the verb or even maybe an adjective and I could ask for example how long does it take you to get to the airport and I want you to try and use it like this nearly or approximately all right we're using it as an adverb and I'd say for me I'd say well the airport yeah it's more like 15 minutes away don't tell me in exact number just give me an approximation and use like the airport is a you know if somebody were to ask you hey is the airport an hour away and say well it's more like this far does it cost this much and say well it's more like this so often you would use it is more like in response to a question if somebody's asking about an amount a number and you say no no no it's more like this number so in this case I'm talking about time well it's more like 15 minutes you can also use it as an adverb to talk about a degree and in this case I don't think it's it's as common but you may still hear it I'd say well the boy was pretending to be very tough like and I would say in this case it's often more common in spoken English as opposed to written English when you want to describe somebody you know he he he entered the room all you know he entered the room all like nonchalantly like and you're you're describing somebody as with an adjective saying tough and then adding like to the end saying that they were like this thing to a certain degree all right he was acting all tough like she was being all you know silly like we there's so many different examples that you could go through but again this is not probably one of the more common uses as an advert alright let's look at some of the trends at the airport is like IRA so the airport is like 10 minutes away okay perfect site nearly approximately is more like two hours for me all right it's more like two hours let's see oh yeah it's more like one hour away due to traffic perfect so when you say something is more like and you give like a number in responding to a question then you're using like as an adverb the next one that I want to talk to you about is interjection and in this case it could be it's the part of speech could be also like an adverb but I wanted to separate it an interjection because this is something that people use quite often in spoken English I catch myself doing it from time to time and I could ask you a question which is kind of silly do you like use like like this and if I'm saying that do you like it's used as a filler alright it's just kind of a pause in the sentence a pause in the conversation it's it's meaningless it doesn't really have a meaning but to break down my question do you like I'd say do you like use like like this so do you like use like I'm talking about the word in that case so it's a noun and then I'd say well like this that should be the preposition do you use like like this so again it is as an interjection it's a meaningless filler to express maybe uncertainty a pause in the conversation or maybe to even to intensify an adjective so for example somebody's maybe telling a story and say oh and I was like oh my god I couldn't believe this or I could say well your comments are like amazing alright they're so amazing they're like amazing again I think it's more common depending on maybe even a certain age group I think younger people are more likely to use like as an interjection but if you guys are watching a TV show try to listen for this and see if you can identify like being used as an interjection and it's just a filler it's I think it's common when people are telling a story and they're talking about something and maybe they're just getting excited and it's just this pause this discourse marker and they use like as they use like as that filler as that interjection and I do I really do think your comments are like amazing and that's what I want you guys to do if you write to me in the comments because I I just love hearing from you guys I hope that this kind of shed some light on this word and the different ways in which it's used please if you enjoy our lesson again hit the like button I hope you I would like alright I'm just gonna do a little review I would like using it as a verb to be polite for you to like alright in the infinitive to register your approval this video because I hope the video receives 1,000 likes alright that is being used as a noun alright so write to us questions in the comments thank you guys for joining me check out our social media classes as well and yeah alright thank you guys once again hope you have a wonderful weekend just want to give some shout outs Thank You IRA Vlad Syed one perfect Mille um thank you for being here with me today enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 371. How to Use the Word SO | Everything You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cZOn7dPtXu8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZOn7dPtXu8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:38:13 | --- All right, what's up everyone? Thank you so much for joining me. My name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which of course is the place that you guys want to be to practice and improve your English skills. So today I just I can't help but laugh because throughout this lesson I am going to be saying one word a lot. And I mean I will say it a lot a lot a lot. And I I want to quickly tell you about how this lesson came about. So I just said it again. I was trying to figure out, okay, what what can I do for a lesson? So I asked our patrons, well, what what do you guys want to learn? What lesson would you guys like to have? The first person who responds, that is the lesson that we will do this week. And I asked, well, tell us what what to do for today's live lesson. And Catherine responded and said, would she'd like to learn more about like, as, so, because, and then uses uh usage of so in general. And I started looking through it and I I told her that there are so many different ways to use the word so. And I thought that would be a good place to start and I wanted to talk to you about the different ways about how you can use the tiny word so. It is such an important word and that is what we're going to do today. I'm going to talk to you about all of the different ways that that you can use so. I wanted to give a quick shout out to everybody who's here joining me. Um hello Diva, Lolly, uh Brian, uh Bonnie, Ronaldo, Rosalinda. Welcome, welcome Bora. Olivia, Andre, Olivia, excellent. Um Money Coxlin, thank you so much for the super chat. Awesome. Uh really appreciate it. And as we go through today's lesson, I'm going to talk to you about the different uses of so. I'm going to ask you guys to share some sentences so that you can practice using it and that other people when they're watching this, they can see other examples about how the word is used in context. And as I mentioned, we use this word a lot. I use it all the time. And that's why it's important to understand, well, what are the different ways that we can use it? Because some of these tiny little function words like so, it they they can be difficult and confusing because you hear them used in so many different context. As we go through this, I want you to listen to how many times I say it because as I was putting this lesson together, I began to realize just how often I use this word and in all the different context. And I also have some some questions for you. I'm going to quiz you guys a bit test your knowledge about this word. So, this is going to be fun. Are you ready? The first one I'm I'm I'm going to start out with uh probably things that are a little more easier and then get into a little more challenging ways in which we use so. And the first ones are probably going to be names that are ways that you're a little more familiar with. So, the first one is just so plus an adjective and or or we can use so plus an adverb. There there are two different ways that I wanted to distinguish. However, I I think they're very similar. I I I think they're just about interchangeable, but I just wanted to put them out there so you can see these. I just I said it again so that you so that you can see these. We can use it to as a degree as a degree adverb meaning to to such a great extent. All right? And and this one I'm going to explain this first sentence. All right? You're walking so slow. Now, you might see that and be like, well, wait a second. Shouldn't it be you're walking so slowly? Grammatically speaking, yes, we should use slowly as an adverb. The reason I put this is because this is more common in colloquial speech. This is what most people would actually say. If you're writing, you want to be a little more formal and you'd say you're walking slow slowly, but in everyday speech somebody would just be like, oh, you're walking so slow. You're doing something so slow. And that is more more so how they would use it to such a great extent. Um what I want you guys to do as you're as you're doing these, I want you guys to practice. Give me a sentence. Write something in the chat or if you're watching this later, write something in the comments. Use so plus an adjective or so plus an adverb. The next sentence I have for you is I always tell you guys, I'm so happy to see you. Happy again is an adjective so we're we're modifying I'm so happy. And again, like we use it as an intensifier for very. In this case, in my opinion, they're they're almost interchangeable as to like to such a great extent and very. They they almost mean the exact same thing. But uh we can use it down here. The test was so easy. You're saying something was so easy or maybe something was so difficult. You're using it as a degree to say basically, yeah, you're saying very. And we always use it like this. Uh this is another great example. Instead of saying thank you very much, you might just say, "Oh, thank you so much." I always tell you guys, I think, uh, when you guys write us comments, because I love hearing from you, I'd say, "Thanks so much for your comment." I use that a lot. Thanks so much. All right. So, again, these are very common ways in which you will use so, and you will also hear it being used. So, plus an adjective, or so plus an adverb. So happy, so tired, so easy, so exciting. All right. Um, All right, Catherine, great example. I'm so pleased, uh, if the connection doesn't fail. Giselle, you are so intelligent. Thank you, uh, Giselle. You are so awesome. All right. You guys are all, uh, so awesome. Uh, Shweta said, "I'm so excited." Rosalinda, "I'm so excited to be here." Exactly. Those are all some great examples. And very common examples of how we use so. So, so this is the first example I wanted to give you. So plus adjective, so plus adverb. The next one is so much and so many. Uh, I added a couple here. Uh, we use so before much and many, as well as little and few. Now, much and many, you know, the difference there is, remember we use many with countable items, we use much with non-countable. I also, for all you grammar nerds out there, to I wanted to explain the difference between these first two sentences as to what as to what it is, much and many. And if, again, if you guys give me some practice sentences, give me some examples out there. Use so much or so many in a sentence. What do you guys think? I would say, in my example sentence, the puppy has so much energy. Energy is non-countable, so we're going to use so much. In this case, much is a determiner. Like I said, for all you grammar nerds out there, much is a determiner because it comes before the noun energy. So much energy. In this case, there are not so many. Many would be considered a pronoun because we don't know we based on the context, we know the noun. I didn't give you enough information, but somebody might just respond, "Well, there there are not so many." For example, maybe I asked like, "Oh, you know, how how many chairs are in the room?" Chairs is countable, and I'd say, "Well, you know, there there's not so many." In that case, many is a pronoun because it's taking the place of chairs. We don't need to say chairs again. There are not so many. So again, in this case, much or many it would either be a determiner if it comes before the noun or it would be a pronoun if it's just substituting for something that was previously discussed. So, that's a short quick little explanation about much or many, but we often use it with so much, so many. And again, in that case, it it's almost again it's about a degree of extent. You're talking about very to such a great extent, so much, so many. We also I wanted to throw that in there with little or few. I don't think it's as common to use it with little or few. We use it regularly with much or many, so much, so many, but you can also use it with little or few. Often, I might give students an assignment, all right, and say, "I want you guys to write a paper." And after 30 minutes pass, I would walk around and maybe they don't write anything. I'd be like, "Oh my gosh, you've written so little. You've written so little." And again, in this case, it would be a pronoun because we're probably just talking about the words, how many words, right? They've written so little. Or you could say the store carries so few products. Remember, few we use with countable items, few products. There are The store carries so few products, all right? Um excellent. Here's a Buddha, he earns so much money making these videos. Well, I don't know if you're talking about me, maybe some other people. Um But Trisha, great There's so much money in my pocket. Great example, all right? Um Perfect, all right? You have so many students. Yes, we do have so many amazing, wonderful students and we hope you guys will share these videos with others so that we can build our global class classroom and keep expanding and get so many more students to join us. All right. Now let's let's switch it up, all right? I'm going to continue telling you more ways to use so, but first I have a question for you, a little bit of a quiz. I want you to write your answer in the chat or in the comments. Are you ready? It's a fill-in-the-blank. You are all amazing, all right? This is This is difficult. It's not multiple choice. So what what would you say? What word should go in that blank? You are all amazing. Okay? How how would you complete that sentence? We We We just talked about it. What What would you use, all right? So again, amazing, this is an adjective. So what would you use before that adjective, all right, to say like to to such a great extent, all right? Yes, yes, yes, you guys Oh my gosh, you guys are so amazing, you're so intelligent. Everybody got the answer correct and that answer is so. You are all so amazing, all right? That happens to be our topic, too. And I wanted to again like give you a heads-up about this. If you want to check us out on Patreon, if you like what we do and want to connect with us more, check us out on Patreon. I will leave a link in the description because probably in the future if I can't think of lessons to do, I'm just going to ask our patrons and say, "What do you guys want to learn?" And we will do a lesson about that, like today's lesson about so. So, let's continue. I want to talk about now. I want to talk about so as a conjunction, all right? And there are two different conjunctions. This is the most common. We we learn this, uh, I think at beginner levels of English when you want to combine two sentences to form a compound sentence, and you would use a conjunction and or but or so. And when we use so, it's used to say that something is why something else is happening. You have a cause, and then there's a result. It's raining outside, so we will reschedule the match. We combine those two independent clauses to create a compound sentence using the conjunction so. And I want you guys again, let's let's practice, all right? Give me you use it as a conjunction and give me a compound sentence using so to talk about why something else happens. It's raining outside, so we will reschedule the match. It's a very common way that we use so. This is another one which I use all the time. It's also considered a conjunction. It's used at the start of a sentence to connect with something that has previously happened. Again, it it's it's like you're you're you're connecting it with another idea. In this case, I gave you this example. So, we're not going to play soccer. If somebody were to say that first example sentence, it's raining outside, so we will reschedule the match. The other person might respond here and say, So, we're not going to play soccer? It's not necessary to say so, but we we often use it like that at the front of a sentence to connect with something that was previously said or something that previously happened. And I want to give you guys a challenge right now because this is I use it like this quite often. I use so at the beginning of a sentence to connect it with an idea or talking point that was previously mentioned. And as you guys if you guys watch our videos, I I want you to think think about how many times you hear me say so at the beginning of a sentence or even if you're watching a TV show or movie, see if you can catch on to that. How many times so is used at the beginning of the sentence. And when it is used like that, it's used as a discourse marker. Now, you might be thinking, well, what the heck is a discourse marker? I'm going to talk to you about that right now. So, as a discourse marker. But a discourse marker is a word or phrase that goes at the beginning of a sentence and the purpose, the reason of it is just to organize discourse. It's to organize the communication that's happening. And other examples of a discourse marker would be words like um uh-huh, okay, there there are many different examples of discourse markers that people would use at the beginning of a sentence to help organize it. For example, we used to have a student. They learned the word actually. And what they would do is he would put it at the beginning of so many sentences. He would use it as a discourse marker. And it was a little strange because we don't we don't usually use the word actually as a discourse marker. And we'd have a conversation I'd be like, "Oh, you know, what are you having for lunch?" And they'd be like, "Actually, I'm going to have tuna fish." And I would think it's a little strange. I was like, "Why are you using actually?" But in this case, they used it as a discourse marker. So again, it's used as a conjunction at the start of a sentence to connect with something previously happened. Often you might find it with questions. Uh for example, somebody might say, "Well, so what are we going to do now?" All right? So, what are we going to do now? It's not necessary, but it just helps organize the communication. And you would hear so at the beginning. Or somebody might say, instead of saying, "Let's meet tomorrow morning." they'd be like, "You know, so let's meet tomorrow morning." So, let's meet tomorrow morning is a common example of how you would use so. I use it a lot like this. And I don't even know about it. I'm not even aware about it. And keep in mind, all right? It's important to note this is This is with spoken English. You're not going to use so as a discourse marker in your writing. It's going to sound strange. It's going to look weird. You You're not going to write down, "So, what are we going to do tomorrow?" You would just write the question, "What are we going to do tomorrow?" But this Keep in mind, this is mostly for spoken English when you're going to hear so at the beginning of a sentence uh used as a discourse marker. Um let's look at some of those other examples you guys wrote. I asked for some uh compound sentences. And we have Dimitar wrote, "The weather was so clear and so nice. I went home to learn English." Okay, yes, great use uh with the adjectives. Um it's cold outside, so we will stay home. Perfect, good example, Olivia. Uh I'm not feeling so well today, so I'll stay home. Laura, excellent, thank you. Uh perfect, all right. The weather is bad, so I will go to the theater instead of walking. Excellent, perfect, great example. So again, we often use it as a conjunction to combine those ideas. As a discourse marker, it's still considered a conjunction, but again, this is mostly with spoken English, and that's my challenge to you guys. The next time you're watching a movie or listening um to a podcast or whatever it is, see if you can identify when somebody uses so as a discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence. All right, are you Are you ready for your next question? All right. It's a very very very difficult question, all right? I don't know if you guys are going to get this answer, all right? The question is this again, "Mm, are you going to like this lesson?" It's a question that I would ask you. My questions are very uh you know, I I like to insinuate things. I like to throw out suggestions in these questions. How would you complete that sentence, that question? How would you complete the question? What word would I use at the beginning of this sentence if I were going to ask you, and I'd say, "Mm, mm, are you going to like this lesson?" What what word What what word could possibly go at the beginning of that sentence? Yes. All right, thank you. Yes, Lolly Olivia, Breanna, Giselle. Sun ra- Sunrisey Sun, perfect. Yes. So, are you going to like this lesson? It'd be something I would ask you probably at the end and I'm trying to say, "Oh, you know, you know, hit that hit that like button, all right?" So, are you are you going to like this lesson? It's used as a discourse marker at the beginning of a question in this case, all right? Let's talk about another one. And this is again, this technically it's it's another conjunction, but I wanted to talk about it give it its own slide, so with that clause, all right? When we use so with the that clause, that's a little difficult to say the that clause. It's used to show the purpose of something or say something will be happen or say something will happen or will be possible, all right? The when we use so that, so that. For example, I this is true I wear glasses so that I can see long distances. The purpose I wear the purpose of wearing glasses is so that I can see long distances. All right, I want you again practice. Give us some example sentences. Use so that in the comments, all right? Even if you're watching this later, write some example sentences. Give me an example sentence with so that. I wear glasses so that I can see long distances. Um the other example, again, he worked late so that he wouldn't have to come in over the weekend. He worked late um so that he wouldn't have to come in over the weekend. So, that is what will be possible. He's working late so that he wouldn't have to come in over the weekend. That is now possible. So we There it is, that discourse marker. So we use so with the that clause to show the purpose of something will happen. Again, it's technically it's a conjunction so that. And we talked about that clauses before and oftentimes you can just eliminate that all together. You don't even have to say it. So in that first example, I wear glasses so that I can see long distances, I could just get rid of that and say, I wear glasses so I can see long distances. That is perfectly acceptable, all right? Perfect. Um So try again. Give me Give me some of those example sentences in the comments, in the chat, if you guys can think of something, all right? Um I Yes, awesome. I I practice so that I can perform well. You practice English so that you can perform well. You can practice anything so that you perform well. Perfect, all right? Um I'm watching this lesson so that I can improve my English. Excellent. Perfect. Great example, Jessel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sharing with us. So so that And I'm just Every time I say so now, I stop and I think about it because I've just I'm saying it a lot. The next one I want to talk about is using so instead of object clauses. And in this case, there are some verbs that we use it with. It's used with some verbs instead of repeating object clauses. And these are the main verbs that we would use it with. When you're talking about the verbs think, believe, or hope. And I gave you some examples down there. For So So for example, somebody might ask the question, is that the right time? Is that the right time? And you just say, "I think so." I think so. You don't have to repeat the object clause. You don't have to say, "I think that's the right time." You could say that, it's perfectly fine. But if you want to make it easier, simpler, faster, and be more proficient and fluent, most people would just say, "Yeah, I think so." Is that the right time? I think so. What about this? Is that the Is this the correct answer? I believe so. Again, you don't have to say, "I believe this is the correct answer." You can just say, "I believe so." Will she win the match? I hope so. It's very common to use it with these verbs: think, believe, hope. I think so, I believe so, I hope so. We can use so instead of the object clauses. Again, this is something that I would challenge you to listen for. Instead of thinking, "Well, I have to go out and start using this right away." You can, I always encourage you to practice, but see first if you can identify it when you're listening to TV show or a movie or listening to a podcast. See See if you can identify these different ways that so is used, but it's used instead of object clauses. I also want to ask. Yes, you can also use it in the negative, like Henry just did. I don't think so. All right? If you want to say, "No, I don't think so." Um let's look at some so phrases. All right? These are four different phrases or yeah, words that you would use so with. For example, so am I, so do I. It's basically you're saying like as well, too. Um I'm learning English. So am I. All right? You don't have to say I'm learning English too, I'm learning English as well. You just say, "Yeah, so am I." Or if somebody, you know, says like, "Well, we have a cat." So do we. All right, these are other common ways that in everyday conversation when you are discussing something with a person and you're talking about like, "Oh, you know, I'm going to watch this movie." You're like, "Oh, yeah, so am I." Or I have uh I have this thing. So do we. All right, we use this a lot. So am I, so do uh so do I. And again, we can switch out I with any subject pronoun. So So so are you, so are we, so are they, so do they. Um we use it, but it's often I think used with I because you're typically just having a conversation with another person talking about yourself. Uh the next one in this I'll tell you I I I am not a fan of this word. I don't like this word, but so-so. If somebody says so-so, it just means it's not good, it's not bad. The reason I don't like it as a teacher is because students will learn this word. And often when, you know, teacher you're asking student question questions, you want them to give nice long detailed answers. I always tell students give details, details, details to practice your English skills and to be thinking of different words that you can use, more dynamic words. So-so is one of the most boring words that or phrases that I can think of. But often I would ask students about, you know, "How was lunch?" And they'd say, "You know, today's lunch, it was so-so." "How was the movie?" "It was so-so." "What do you think of the lesson?" "The lesson's so-so." All right, and everybody would just say everything becomes so-so because they don't really want to think of different words and it's easy just to say, "Well, so-so. It wasn't good. It wasn't bad." This is just for you to know, but again, I don't encourage you to use this. I would rather you guys use different words that are more dynamic, more interesting instead of just saying, "So-so." This is another good phrase, so far. And what I'd want you guys to do, give me an example sentence right now. And often it's going to go at the beginning. You're going to say, "So far, something has happened. So far, you've answered the questions correctly. So far, up until now." I want you to give me an example sentence in the chat, in the comments using so far. All right? And again, the other thing, we often would use it with the present perfect because you're talking about something that maybe started in the past and it has a relationship with now. So far, we have what? Okay? Up until now. So, give us give me some example sentences. Try to use that in the chat because, you know, I want you guys to interact with us. This is interactive English. And the other phrase, that last phrase down there, that I wanted to tell you is just is that so. I didn't give an example because you'd have to put it into context, but all you need to know is that somebody, if they ask, if they say, "Wow, is that so?" It's just an expression of surprise or amazement or disbelief. Or again, you're kind of acknowledging that you are a little surprised. It doesn't mean that you were just like, "Wow, that is very surprising." It's just kind of like a little bit of acknowledging where like like wow, really? Is that so? Um So, you might tell me like wow, you know, I speak five languages. I say, "Wow, is that so?" All right. So, if somebody says, "Is that so?" it's just a way of expressing surprise. All right. Uh let's look at some sentences. So far, I have You could say to do it so far, I have been learning English up until now. So far, I've been watching this. Yes, exactly. Um So, what el- There it is again. So, what else do we have here? Um Uh so far, you have arrived to class. All right. So far, you say like So far, I have attended all of these live lessons. You could say that up until now, I have attended. So far, I have attended all of these live lessons. Again, we often use so far with the present perfect. All right. Are you ready for another question? Another quiz question. This one, I promise you, is so difficult. All right. I'll be so amazed if you get this this one. All right. You ready? Here's your next one. Whoops. Wait, let me move it out of the way here. There we go. Whoop. All right. I would say this, we want you to subscribe to our email list that we can interact with you. We can send you some emails. And again, I like to make all these suggestions during these lessons because if you want to subscribe to our email list, you can check out There is a link in the comments. Uh in the description, and you can access the secret fluency lesson. Subscribe to our email list. We'll send you some emails, updates, interact with you. And you can also complete this sentence. We want you to subscribe to our email list that we can interact with you. Yes, everybody, great great job, uh Alaviv, Asif, Molly, Dimenson, Gertrudis, Rosalinda, yes. So that, all right? We want you to subscribe to our email list so that we can interact with you. Again, we're using it with a that clause, all right? I want to take a quick moment, all right? Just in case In case some of you join late or again, it's always good to review what we've learned because in this case, there are so many different ways that we can use the word so. And there are actually a few more ways that we can use it. I wanted to cover these are the ones that I thought were the most important and the most common, because the lesson I didn't want the lesson to go on for hours and hours. All right, remember, the first way we talked about we use so with an adjective or so with an adverb, and this is to express degree, to such a great extent or like just as interchangeable with the word very. For example, I am so happy that you guys joined me for this lesson today. We also use it with the words much and many. It's very common to say so much or so many, all right? For example, we have so many different students from all over the world who join us for these lessons. So many. We also use so as a conjunction, commonly to combine two independent clauses to make a compound sentence. It's raining outside, so we will reschedule the match. It's saying, you know, why something else will happen. I also mentioned that here, again, even though it's a conjunction, it's used as a discourse marker and we put so at the beginning of a sentence to connect with something else that that previously happened that that we're talking about, we're having a conversation and we would use it that way. And again, as you're watching future lessons, see if you can identify how often I say it. I use it a lot and this is mostly with spoken English. We put that so at the beginning. And be careful if you want to go out and use this. You I don't want you to say it in front of every single sentence that you say. It's not necessary, but as you're able to identify it, you're going to see how people naturally use it in conversation and then you'll start to be able to do that as well. We also use so as that that clause to say that the purpose of something or something that will be possible. I told you guys that I wear glasses so that I can see long distances. I wanted you asked you guys subscribe to our email list so that we can interact with you guys more often via email. We also use so instead of saying the object clauses and I told you, remember these three verbs, keep those verbs in mind. I think so. I believe so. I hope so. Those are very common responses to different questions. And then we talked about these different so phrases. So am I, so do I. I told you to avoid so-so and yes, I still think that. We practice using so far, which means up until now. And then again, you could just say, "Is that so?" when you want to express a surprise. I know that this was a lot of information to go through and if you ever want, please, you can always review, watch these lessons again. I always encourage you guys to rewatch things, even that even if you've already learned it because it's it just benefits you, your overall fluency, and you'll probably maybe you'll probably learn something new that you didn't know already. So, I hope that you enjoyed this lesson. I hope that you found it useful. I would ask you guys, please hit that like button if you feel like you've learned something new about the word so, and also share it with with anybody that you know who's trying to improve their English skills. We would really appreciate it. We want you to share these lessons so that we can grow our classroom with even more and more students. And remember, you can join our social media classes, which are up here, right here. All right? We're active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You can join our classes so that you can learn more English. We post a lot of questions all the time for you guys to answer. So, I want to So, I want to give you guys a big, big thank you. I thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you, Ronaldo, Olivia, Rosalinda, Franco, um Molly, Alavi, thank you guys so much for joining this me. I really appreciate you guys being here, and please write to us in the comments if you have any questions or just to say hello, and I will probably say, "Thank you so much for your comment." because I just like to say so a lot, and I use it a lot, and I realized that after doing this lesson. So, Sanja Bec, Kim, thank you thank you thank you. Diva, hope you guys have a wonderful day and I will see you next time. So long. So long. That's another great expression. --- ## 372. How to Use the Word โšก๏ธOF โšก๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bdN5xSIE9Tk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdN5xSIE9Tk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:27:16 | --- hey everyone what's up welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English and if this is your first time here the channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and especially if this is your first time here please let me know say hello write your name tell me where you're from in the chat or in the comments if if you happen to be watching this later so thank you guys so much for joining me today I have I guess it's more of a grammar lesson that we're gonna talk about because I am going this lesson well it's all about one word and that word is of alright of is it's a preposition and according to Oxford English corpus it is the fourth most common word in the English language so this is a word that you are going to read all of the time you are going to hear it all the time and if you're having a conversation you are probably going to be using this word quite often so it is a very important word which is part of the reason why I put the little crown on top of it is one of the the kings of English or maybe you could say of is the queen of English either one so hello I just want to give some shout outs hello to Gibson Louisa Aiden good to see you lolli welcome Mary Alana Turin Michelle Leonardo thank you guys for joining me so today's lesson it's I it is very important because like I told you this is a very common word it's a very common preposition now before we start talking about this I want you to know that I'm gonna go through and talk about specific times when you would use this preposition and I give you some examples now you could think of these as rules but instead I think that if you really want to learn prepositions and improve your English I think this is a good way to practice and kind of familiarize yourself with certain times when you should use this word but overall I think the absolute best way to learn prepositions is to do more reading more listening and get more exposure to the language and try to learn them naturally because you will start to absorb this information the more you read the more you listen and then the next time you have a conversation you are going to start using these prepositions correctly I of course I think it's okay if you want to learn some rules like you use the preposition in when talking about certain parts of the day in the morning in the evening in the afternoon I think that's perfectly fine that's perfectly okay but in general more reading more listening I think that helps and again you're gonna get that today because I'm gonna talk all about these different times when you should use of and I would encourage you to participate as we go through these certain well rules if you will I try to write some sentences write them in the chat practice your English skills I always encourage you guys to practice as much as you can so let's start with the first one so you would you would use of if you are showing possession or origin an origin is basically just saying where something comes from for example if somebody were to say a friend of mine all right that's more a possession a friend of mine or like origin the colors of the rainbow the colors of the rainbow now let's get a little more advanced all right and talk about that first one a friend of mine because you might be thinking why why not say my friend so you could say wes is my friend or wes is a friend of mine both of them have the same meaning it means the exact same thing now one slight difference and this is this is my well I think it's my opinion as to how it might be slightly different is that I think when you say my friend and you put that adjective pronoun before friend my friend that possessive pronoun sorry I think it shows that you have a real really a closer relationship if you say a friend of mine it might be a little bit of a looser relationship but again either one is okay but to give you an example I think this is where somebody might ask a question maybe they would say hey is is is he a friend of yours maybe they're mad at this person they're like wait is this your friend is he a friend of yours or is she a friend of yours and in that case they're using of I think in part because you're you're leaving it open to have a looser relationship but that's one little one little difference between saying my friend or a friend of mine but in general both of them are perfectly okay now you would also use of if you are using it afterwards expressing an amount or a number so I want to start with that last one 20 20 20 kilos of Nutella my wife she loves Nutella and I'm sure she wishes she could have 20 kilos of Nutella I also enjoy it so I would ask you what would you like to have 20 kilos of or what would you like to have any amount of and just write that in the chat or write that in the comments and practice using of when talking about an amount 20 kilos of Nutella 20 pounds of something so it depends whether you're using the metric system or not but after any amount or number you would use of 20 kilos of something or if you're talking about just expressing that number thousands of people or even when we're using words like most or many most of us that is a common expression that you may hear and I'm trying to as examples I will try to use some more calm in expressions that you're going to hear with of like Oh most of us so excellent lolly would like 20 kilos of pizza I would also enjoy 20 kilos of pizza especially pepperoni pizza sleep Walker 23 kilos of ice cream excellent I told you that thousands of times yes I try I try to tell you guys things as much as I can and repeat them often again and again and again it's a good way to remember things repetition is important so let's look at 20 kilos of sushi excellent four cups of coffee great example Gladys that's another one and I'm actually getting to that one right now because we use of when talking about like quantifiers like that example that I just read four cups of coffee when you have certain nouns that are non count you cannot count these 1 2 3 4 5 like rice that first one you would use a quantifier or a container either one so you could say a bag of rice or a box of chocolates I could say that this this is my class of learners you guys are all learning English so you could use a quantifier or container when talking about these non count nouns and that is another common that is a very common example as when you would use of like a bag of rice a cup a cup of coffee a liter of milk perfect excellent thank you guys for for providing these examples so I hope that even if you're watching this later I hope people continue to read the chat because this is a great way for you guys to help teach each other and give some examples so we also use of when talking about well expressions that are showing the position of something so if you're if you're trying to point something out and say well where something is and say oh it's the the top of his head or you might say something is something is on the back of your shirt you don't know what it is it's on the back of your shirt that is the position or like a very common one if you're talking about the line and you you need to get to the front of the line or maybe if you arrive late and somebody could tell you like oh you got to go to the back of the line the position of where something is and you're talking about the position in relation to this other thing like the the top of your head or the back of your shirt that is what you're talking about so excellent yes this is the class of interactive English you could say yes I'm right in front of you yeah that is that's very true right now you guys are in front of me and I am in front of all of you so when you're talking about position another example of when you use of you are also going to use of to describe a characteristic so in this case let me just and then you could give me an example the look of a criminal the sound of an angel the personality of a tree so instead of telling somebody you could say you have the look of a criminal you're describing this the way they look their characteristic you could also say you look like a criminal and again if you are the difference between those if somebody says oh you look like a criminal I think in that case the verb is one of the the main parts of that statement that look is what you're focusing on in this case if you saying if you change it to a noun and talk about the look you have the look of a criminal in that case I think you're highlighting criminal a little bit more like oh you have the look of a criminal arm instead of saying you sound like an angel you have the sound of an angel you you your song your your music oh it's the sound of an angel you're kind of highlighting that noun the angel so again you can tell me what do I have I have the look of what practice write it down the the look of something and the last one which somebody was asking personality of a tree so in this case if you I think when people use it in this sense they often use it to say something negative about another person and it's kind of a way of insulting somebody they and you don't have to say tree you could say that off you know this person they have the personality of a tree kind of like trying to say that that this person is boring that they're not very active and they're not fun to be around but you might hear somebody say this that oh they if they want to make fun or say something bad about this person though they have the personality of something else that they think is very boring so in that last example it's kind of a way to kind of insult somebody and say something bad about them in case in case you're wondering if somebody said Wes you sound like an angel I have the sound of an angel thank you I appreciate that let's see I have the look of an officer okay all right I have the look of a doctor really uh okay I guess I'll take that as a compliment I hope doctors they look friendly they look nice so again in this case to describe a characteristic you would use of you're also going to use it if you refer to a particular date and this is a very common example as to when you would use this preposition so for the first one the 12th of November that is a very important date that is what is a very important date can you guess guess what day that is the 12th of November but we're referring to that particular date you're going to use of the fourth of July that is a holiday in the United States that is when they celebrate Independence Day it is the fourth of July or if you're referring to a part of the month for example like that last one when I talked about the end of the month or the beginning of the month the middle of the month that is a more of a time period but you are also going to refer to this moment so yes you could say today is the the 20 23rd remember the the ordinal number 23rd of May that is today's date excellent great example the 23rd of May but I am a little more partial I really like the 12th of November that's that's a that's a great day yes Oh somebody get the 12th of November that's my birthday obviously Kira is your birthday today happy birthday Kieran excellent so if you're just joining us we're talking about different times when you would use the preposition of because of it is a very common word and I again I would say join it try not to think of these these are examples that hopefully you they're easy to follow and you can see this like oh yes when talking about dates I know that I understand it so try not to think like you have to memorize these different rules but just read follow along listen that I think is by far the best way to learn these prepositions so let's see when you you would also use of when talking about saying that something is made of something or having something for example you'd say oh like my my necklace is made of gold it's made of this this this thing this metal or I don't know I just put that in there I thought of the story that you I can't even think of Lord of the Rings and they're talking about Mordor the Land of Fire alright it's having this thing the Land of Fire or you could say a woman of great beauty again I think probably a more common way to say this would be just to describe somebody and say oh she is a beautiful woman but this is another way I think that you can it means the same thing but it allows you I think to be a little more colorful with language and use it in a variety of ways so you could refer to somebody using of like a woman of great beauty she has great beauty let's look at the next one so we're going to use of when you would connect adjectives or verbs with certain nouns now this one is extremely common and there is no general rule except I'm just kind of making this statement again this is when I think you really just need more reading and you start to see these adjectives that are followed by the preposition for example you are tired of doing something I'm tired of running or maybe your say I'm tired of learning English I don't know I hope not but you are tired of doing something and in that case you're going to follow that adjective with the preposition of and there are many adjectives and verbs that are like this you could say again very common you are afraid of something I am I am a little afraid of spiders I have just a little bit of arachnophobia and or you could be accused of a crime or as a verb to accuse someone of some crime or maybe you could say that you are fond of something or fond of one so in this case there are many adjectives and verbs out there that you are going to follow with the preposition of and other examples will fall in this category so this is a very broad category but it's still important to know now I'm tired of this quarantine that's good example excellent um I think many people are there you are full of enjoyment alright yeah actually I got that ones coming up a little later too perfect I'm sick and tired of politics excellent example Thank You Aidan excellent the the next one let's talk about we we use them after adjectives that judge a person's behavior so this could also fall under the last one that we just talked about certain adjectives and you follow them follow these adjectives or verbs with the preposition up but in this case it's specifically talking about you are judging the way that somebody acts or the way they behave and this is a very common expression if somebody does something nice you might say wow that's that's so thoughtful of you so that is a great expression to learn if you want to thank someone and you want to show some appreciation you could say that's that's so thoughtful of you great expression using of you're judging their behavior they are thoughtful or if somebody's not very nice and you want to say that they're rude they're you could say that's rude of you it's rude of you to do something all right you're saying that this this person's behavior it's rude of it's rude of him it's rude of her so you're talking about that person or that last expression again I wanted to combine that because that adverb and adjective awfully nice that is a common collocation those words are frequently used together and you could say that it is awfully nice of you again if you're just showing appreciation you could say wow that's that's awfully nice of you you guys you enjoy these lessons you hit that like button I could say wow that's that's awfully nice of you to to hit that like button I really appreciate it I think it's very thoughtful of you okay I'm not gonna say it's rude of you if you don't it's okay that's perfectly fine but just to give you some examples of when you would use it in this way and those are some good ones the thoughtful of you awfully nice of you uh maybe throw sounds some of those examples I like that if you want to say it's awfully nice of someone to do what all right let's look about the the next one is you would use the preposition of when you're talking about the well of the word about about something or it's relating to something so let's look at these examples again I wanted to throw in a common expression so I don't know if you've ever heard of the phrase speak of the devil so what this means it's an expression that when you are talking about another person and then that person suddenly appears that's when you could use this expression and say Oh speak of the devil this person just arrived we were just talking about you or you could use it when you're talking about like about this person and you'd say well speaking of wess and then you would give some information about me or something that you know speaking of this person but I want to teach you that common expression speak of the devil speak of that I'm gonna write it down for you and throw it in the chat it's an expression so that when talking so it's kind of saying a person when talking about a person they suddenly appear excellent and the other one when you want to give an example of relating to something else like maybe you're talking about the advantage of something the the advantage that is related to learning English is this the advantage of learning English or the disadvantage of something so in that case I think those are very common expressions would use of the advantage of something or the disadvantage of something so in that case it's more of or relating to UM think of the devil or the devil is here alright yeah so again it when you say speak of the devil it's not really something mean like the devil like a bad person just a expression that somebody is here then we would use of if you kind of if you want to say that is or that are so instead of saying you're talking about the issue of something the issue that is poverty but instead of saying that is saying the issue of poverty so in this case of takes the place of that is or that far the issue of poverty the difficulty of learning English the at the age of twenty-one so in this case at the age of twenty-one I could say yeah people can drink people can drink alcohol in the United States I know we it's a little later in the US I don't know why that's just the way it is so let's look at the next part we also use of when you are saying that something is done to this other thing or group for example this is a great example at the beginning well it's not a good thing the destruction of the rainforest the destruction done to the rainforest so you would use it when to when you want to say that something is done to something else the destruction of the rainforests the oppression of minorities the firing of employees so in all of those instances you could kind of think of of as something is done to something else or someone else excellent uh REO thank you great class perfect thank you I appreciate it Maria yes you enjoy this class I'm glad I'm glad that you guys are enjoying this lesson that's all about one word it's really just this one word but it's a very important word let's continue that you would use of if you want to say something or someone is you have felt or experienced by someone else and in this case I just used the word others so you're talking about you want to earn the respect of others you want to earn the respect of your colleagues or you want to earn the respect of your boss so that's a common phrase that you would use it to earn the respect of someone else or in this case if you're talking about somebody who is feeling some something like the suffering of others the suffering of others another example when you would use of again let's keep moving along uh right here when comparing now I I think not always but I think of superlatives for the most part you're using these superlatives superlatives is when that's when you are comparing three or more things you're you're basically comparing everything in which case you're talking about the best of all the worst of all so those are some common phrases that you may hear if you want to describe something and say wow this it's the best of all or maybe it is the worst of all you're going to use of or when comparing like making a comparison of all the YouTube teachers then you could say something of all the YouTube teachers wes is the best I don't know no all right I don't I want to be a little more humble okay so there are actually many great YouTube teachers out there and I hope that you guys get a little variety go go check out everybody it's great I think I think there's so many of us that do things a little differently I don't think one person is the best I think everybody just has different styles and different lessons so let's look at the next part right here when saying time now this is very American I'm not going to say that I no if this is common in British English I don't really think so and I don't I don't think it's it's not overwhelmingly common in the US but when talking about time people might use the word of and say something like it's five of five and if you say a five a five it means it's five minutes before that the top of this hour so five of five is really 455 or maybe you might say it's ten minutes of - in which case it's 150 it's 10 minutes before - so in this case of means like before so again this is more I think comment in the United States but even even still I don't really use this when talking about time I don't I don't use it often but it's something that you may hear if you are living in the US or traveling to the US or maybe even watching a TV show or movie and somebody says the time if they say of they're talking about its before before this and typically they're going to use it when talking about just before like you'd use it with minutes of like five or ten maybe twenty but really this is just those two mostly with five or ten like oh it's it's five of three you're not going to use it with talking about like oh it's thirty minutes before this time that's a little strange so if you do you if you do hear this most often people are gonna use it when talking about five minutes or ten minutes before this time I hope that makes sense alright uh the next one next time that used one it's one minute of seven ok good example you could say that yes it's a minute of seven but it does work most most commonly people would talk about five ten minutes and it's a very informal casual expression you are also going to use of if somebody wants to express loss or they're showing some loss that they are suffering or enduring maybe you are deprived of something that you cannot have this thing and you might be deprived of TV right now many people somebody was saying they were sick and tired of this quarantine right now many people are deprived of going outside and just doing normal activities we are deprived of this we it's a way of expressing loss or you might you could use it say you were robbed of something you were robbed of money or you could use it when talking about like you were robbed of maybe like I was robbed of this new job that you didn't get the job you lost out on it and you're saying oh I was I was robbed of this new position I should have got it it was mine so it doesn't always have to refer to money in that case but those are some common expressions you are deprived of something or you were robbed of something and then we could use it with some certain idiomatic expressions as well if somebody were to say something like I'm a man of my word if somebody uses this expression it means that you are a person that does what they say you do the things that you say you will do and somebody you're basically if you're asking somebody to trust you they believe me you can trust me I'll do what I say I'm going to do I'm a man of my word I'm a man of my word there will be a new video lesson for you guys this next Tuesday I promise believe me I'm a man of my word you could use it also I think you could say a woman of my word too if you're a woman that's perfectly fine but with that a geomatic expression you would use of or in the nick of time and if somebody says if you don't know what this means in the nick of time it means that the you need to accomplish something and it's getting very close to the end and at the last minute you succeed you accomplish your goal and you could say that we made in the nick of time so perhaps you have to get to some kind of meeting or an appointment and you get there five minutes of seven o'clock right before then I made it in the nick of time right at the last minute I think a good way to think of this idiom is thinking about sports if somebody's playing a sports game and they're running out of time and then one of the team scores in the nick of time they score in the nick of time hello so ray how are you thank you good to hear from you so these are again these are all different kind of rules that you guidelines I would say that you can follow when to use this word when to use the word of because it is such an important word and I hope this helps a little bit I do want to let you guys know if you guys like what we do and want to show us some love you can there we go I'll get in the frame support interactive English we have channel memberships patreon there are some cool rewards and there are links to that down below in the description if you want to check that out so again this is a very common preposition the I hope that that this was easy to follow and understand because I don't expect you to memorize all of these different rules or that I've talked about today I just I would encourage you to get more reading more listening you're going to see this word being used a lot and then it's just you're gonna start to understand it naturally especially when talking about those adjectives that are followed by the preposition of some are very common you're tired of something you're afraid of something you're scared of something but other ones they they can be a little trickier so I hope you guys enjoyed this lesson if you did hit that like button down below always write to me in the comments because I just love hearing from you and just to give some shout outs thank you for joining me a 10 Demitri I appear in the nick of time yeah I do sometimes I get there right at the last minute and he's like ah it made it just in the nick of time a sleepwalker Mary thank you guys for being here Louisa Ramsar a great see you Poonam xialu abdul-rahman Susi I'm sorry I can't measure his sweet dough hey soos I couldn't see that name it went away but thank you REO neckla Rita Francisco Gertrudis thank you guys hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 373. How to Use the Zero Conditional | English Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DI0Z1wVgBko` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI0Z1wVgBko) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:46:05 | --- Today, I'm going to talk to you about the zero conditional. They're basically "if" statements. Now, before we begin this super, awesome, amazing, and incredible grammar lesson, I want to remind you to join our social media classes because it's another great way to practice your English. In this lesson, I want to talk to you about zero conditionals, which are basically "if" statements. Now, an "if" statement has two parts. It has a condition and a result. The condition is going to be your "if" clause. It has a subject and a verb but it is not a full sentence. It's not a complete thought. So for example, if I say... Does that mean anything to you? No. It's not a complete thought. If I say this, you'll just be like well... What? What? I need to know more. What...what happens if you use the bathroom? And that is the result. So we need the result to complete the sentence, and this is our main clause. Now the result, the main clause, it also has a subject and a verb. But the main clause could stand alone as its own sentence. So let's complete the sentence with the result. So I would say... Now, this is the zero conditional because it's talking about a general truth. And I hope you believe me when I say that. It's true. I do. I wash my hands. Now notice that with the zero conditional both the condition and the result are in the present simple. So when we use the zero conditional to talk about a general truth, we're using the present simple in both the condition and the result. And this is a rule, and it makes perfect sense. Why? Because we're talking about routines, habits, rituals that we do on a daily basis. It's a general truth. Also, pay close attention to the punctuation that we're using. So if our condition, our "if" clause comes first, then we need a comma to separate the "if" clause from the main clause. Now if we switch these around, the comma disappears. If the main clause is first, then you don't need a comma. No comma. So when we're talking about the zero conditional, if the first word of the sentence is "if," then you're going to need a comma. Let's look at a couple of other examples of some general truths. So who knows. Perhaps this is a general truth and someone is allergic to tomatoes. But remember both the condition and the result use the present simple. Here's another general truth. Now notice in this sentence, our main clause (our result) comes first. So there is no comma. We also use the zero conditional to say scientific facts. Present simple. Present simple. And a comma separating the condition from the result. In this sentence, our result (water boils) comes before the condition, so there is no comma. We can make another sentence with this video and say... Now, this is not a scientific fact. It is my opinion. But even though it is my opinion, it's still a general truth. It is a general truth for me. And yeah, it's true. If you boil broccoli, I do, I think it tastes terrible. Let's see how else the zero conditional is used in context. If someone doesn't treat you the way you deserve, then they don't deserve to have you. If it hits you, is it my point or yours? If the machine breaks down, we break down. If the water bill is too high, we all get grounded. If that boy is still walking, it's because you let him go. Now, it is time to practice. In the comments, I want you to write a sentence using the zero conditional. Now you can write something that is a general truth. Or you could write a scientific fact. Just remember the rules. Both the condition and the result need to be in the present simple. If the condition comes before the result, please don't forget the comma. I will look through your sentences, and I will give you some feedback. It's a general truth. As well as a sentence using the zero conditional Thanks for watching. Please give this video a thumbs up if you feel a little more comfortable using the zero conditional. Make sure that you practice using it, and we will see you next time. --- ## 374. How to Write Formal & Informal Messages ๐Ÿ“ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Y7iDcdJ46DA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7iDcdJ46DA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:50:05 | --- okay so should be starting momentarily so welcome welcome welcome to another super awesome live lesson that we got planned for you today so if you are joining us again just tell us your name tell me where you are from what are you doing today just tell me anything about yourself and if you happen to be watching this later then I hope that you're also having a wonderful week in again write something in the comments tell us hello talk to us so today all right what we are going to do is talk about this all right writing formal and informal emails out I said emails even though this applies to much more than emails this is going to be useful for any type of writing in English that you may be doing whether it is emails or academic writing at a university this is going to be useful all right this is also super important though because I know a lot of people see writing and they think well you know writing that's not a big deal but it is actually a huge deal so I think many people are comfortable with writing informal messages we do that all the time with our friends on the cell phone the problem is really the formal writing and this is what trips people up and this is also when I say it is so important because the formal writing is really where you need to know the information where you need to know how to use the language because when you're doing formal writing those are typically those are important times you're applying for a job you are applying for admissions to university you are asking somebody to write a letter of recommendation for you so these are important messages that you want to write so it is important that you know how to do formal writing so we're getting some people hello hello hello sorry if i mispronounce names i've a shake hello anwar from kuwait awesome from the philippines excellent fabio Brazil but in Scotland right now perfect thank you guys for joining again we're gonna talk a little bit about formal and informal writing and again this is so important because many of you are using writing to communicate maybe with school with jobs you were using it to send emails which is why I have that up there so the first thing I want to go over and talk to you about are some tips for formal writing okay so some of this you're probably looking at it and think well okay this is this is pretty obvious stuff but you would be amazed at when I was at my old school before and I would get emails from people that were applying for a teaching position and I would look through it and you would be amazed at some of the informal use of the language that they would use and it just didn't seem very professional and because of that you know people will will judge you based on that so it's very important that you know again some tips that if you want to write a formal message if you want to write a formal essay you really need to know the the language that you should be using hello from Damascus Syria is awesome Syria awesome thanks for joining us if you guys want again if you know people that maybe have trouble with their writing please share this video right now share this live stream so we can spread the word to help people become better writers so the first tip that I have for you up there is just be polite when in doubt be polite so you need to know who you're writing to and if you're not sure if you're using polite language or if you think maybe you should be more polite just go ahead and be more polite don't you know it's better to be more polite than less polite because again when you send somebody a message if you send them a formal email for example and they respond to you and a bit more of a friendly tone then then you know where you stand then you can respond back to them maybe in a little more friendly manner but if you send somebody an informal email and they respond back to you with a formal message then it could be a little awkward because then they're kind of telling you like hey this is not the relationship that we have right now Marcella hello from Brazil welcome awesome so again if you're joining us in the chat tell me your name where are you joining us from I just want to hear from you the next one and this is this is so important and this is one of my pet peeves please please please I'm going to add one more please no reductions all right we're like gonna and wanna those are not words so if you're writing a message on your phone to your friend okay whatever that that's fine I know people want to make their messages shorter and it's faster it's easier that is okay the problem is when people start using the language like that and then it comes time to write an essay or complete their cover letter for a job they sometimes they don't distinguish between the informal writing of the telephone or the cell phone with the formal writing of university for example and they will put that in their papers and again gonna and want it those are not English words so please in the chat right now I want to ask you instead of writing gonna or wanna what should you write I want you to write that in the chat write those words Stephen from Shanghai excellent it's awesome thanks for joining us so in the chat right what you should write don't write gonna don't write wanta wanna what should you write so let's go ahead and cross those out for right now we don't want to write it don't write reductions okay so in formal writing you need to it's fine speaking because when you're speaking we we speak with reductions all the time but when you're writing you do not want to use reduction so in the comments what should you write excellent all right going to and want to please so remember that no reductions the next thing that I said is your formal writing should be emoji free all right if again if you're writing something a text or an email to a friend whatever if you want to use emojis that's fine if you see our Facebook or Twitter page I use emojis all the time when I'm responding to questions or feedback because again to me that is more of an informal environment I would like this classroom to be more of an informal environment so right now also in the comments throw an emoji in there let me know how you're feeling try to capture that with an emoji there's actually a lot of interesting TED Talks out there about how people are using emojis and how it's kind of changing the way we communicate to some extent because they're used a lot but again in formal writing if you are writing to somebody about a job position or if you are writing an essay in your university class do not use an emoji and these are silly little things that you might be thinking like well of course I'm not going to use an emoji again when I was working at my old school in California I would receive I was one who was I was hiring and some of the teachers and sometimes I would still I would receive emails from other native speakers who are emailing me about jobs and they're using an emoji in and again to me it just didn't seem super professional to be doing that so again if you're you're you're not gonna write somebody about a job and say hey you know I think I would be great for the new position wink that makes no sense again that people are just might see that and then be like okay delete I don't need to read any more about this message I don't need to look at your CV so again in formal writing emoji free and don't use an emoji but if you want to again Marcel also know it's you throw an emoji in the chat that's perfectly fine that is okay the other thing the last thing is to avoid using idioms idioms again are definitely more colloquial more for speaking it's not something that you're typically going to use frequently in writing even kind of when you're doing informal writing to a friend so especially in academic writing or formal writing avoid using idioms that's all so let me give you an example of what not to do and I want to go through this with you this email right here as an example of what you should not write and again as far as I know this was a true email because I just went on Google and Google bad email etiquette and you find so many different emails of people doing things incorrectly so I want you to look at this email and I want you to tell me what do you think are some of the problems what are the problems with this email right here and write it in the chat so I am going to make a list of your suggestions let's move this down here okay what are the problems what are some of the things that you see wrong with this email hello from Mexico awesome thanks for joining us again we're we're talking about informal informal writing so take a look at this email what are some issues that you see does anything stick out of you is like okay yeah you should not write that this is an email example of somebody inquiring about a job about a position so what are some things that you see that are wrong or that they should not use in this email so again yeah a lot of the first thing exactly they're using a smiley face at the end again we just told you no emojis because in this let's see I'm gonna add that down here to our list again no emojis alright anything else if there's something else just put it down there and I'll write it on our list no emoji so Sam at the end of the email smiley face again I'm thinking no I don't care if you are smiling I am NOT going to hire you okay perfect again spelling mistakes if you're inquiring about a job or if you're writing something that's formal usually like I said formal writing you're doing something very important it's about a job it's about an application you want to make sure it's professional if you're writing your CV your resume no spelling mistakes so perfect somebody had mentioned that there is a spelling mistake wondering right here should be wondering let me know capital all right spelling mistakes make sure that the spelling is correct anything else there is another shorthand in there which I it is a big pet peeve of mine there's any Oh exactly on more said it yes thank you all right again why Oh you you is a word the letter U is not a word but these are again things that you would see all the time all right instead of the letter you write why oh you okay when I was teaching I taught about five six years ago in Namibia I was teaching at a high school and this was an issue that a lot of the students in high school had there the were very comfortable with the the SMS language and they still would use that in their writing if I were to say you know write something about their favorite topic your hometown whatever the assignment was and instead of writing y-o-u people would just write the letter U and it was an ongoing battle throughout the entire year of trying to really kind of retrain people and say look you know you can't use this in your writing you know you use it when you're writing an SMS or that's fine but whatever you want to do that's your that's your that that's your business you can do what you want to do but not in your academic writing anything else that you see that is incorrect we have another one yes another spelling mistake Fabio good a good good eye all right email is spelled wrong they also misspelled that so instead of make sure again check your spelling they spelled this all right email should be of course email all right there was I think oh another thing that you see again look at how it's written again to me this was actually one of the first things that I noticed when I saw it okay they wrote the email in all capital letters all right that that's just again it's bad etiquette that's bad form there's no reason to leave the caps lock key on when you are writing a formal message asking somebody about a job okay so I'm gonna put down here that's the last thing I'm gonna add all right do not capitalize all letters all right and the same thing goes for like writing a message with only lowercase red letters you want to write proper English so again starting a first sentence use a capital letter if you're talking about a proper noun use a capital letter but you don't need to write it for the whole email also word use that's a great somebody just mentioned clipped again it is much better I was wondering if somebody was gonna say that instead of clipped just the language that you use attached is a much more common word it's a much better word if you're talking about adding something like your resume or some other document to an email so instead of saying clipped it is attached alright and again this is something that you even see on the emails it's it's an attachment is what you are adding so these are some common mistakes and again silly mistakes that people make and not just language learners the native English speakers make these mistakes all the time and it's just something that people really need to look for and understand so also on or a good point again in formal versus formal look at how we start out he said hello all right that that's a bit informal also the closing take care if you're inquiring about a job you'd want to be a little more formal and that is what we are going to next which is alright formal versus informal greeting so in the chat if you're joining us if you're here now I want you to tell me what kind of formal greeting do you like to use now there are many different situations some of us prefer one style over the other I've listed some different styles for you so basically I've given you some formal greetings and tried to tell you when you would use those so let's go through those one at a time if you're joining us in the chat just write down what kind of formal greeting do you like to use or what kind of informal greeting do you like to use so the first one dear sir or madam we use this when we don't know the person that we're talking to that you're sending somebody a message and it may be a man it may be a woman so dear sir or madam if you do know the name of the person I would recommend using it so in the next one we have dear mr. Smith or you could say dear Miss Smith alright if you know the person's surname go ahead and write it I think that's better and also if the person has a title so professor Wright that in there dear professor Davis if somebody is a doctor use that title it is more polite it's more formal it's more respectful to the person you are writing to and the final one again is when you're writing to an unknown person or group you can say to whom it may concern now this can be interchangeable with dear sir or madam but I always I would use to whom it may concern for example if somebody wants me to write them a letter of recommendation I will I don't know if that person who's getting it is somebody in human resources or maybe it's somebody who is the hiring supervisor so sometimes I'll just write to whom it may concern also pay close attention to the the way it's written all of those words should be capitalized and it should be followed by a colon all right if you're going to use to whom it may concern today some people might say this is a little old this is a little outdated we don't really use that as much again you could use other formal greetings like dear hiring manager dear Personnel Manager if you know who that email or who that letter is going to some informal greetings we all know those hey hello what's up that is my personal favorite one I use that one all the time what's up I say that often at the beginning of our video lessons because again it's a little more informal but these are some formal ways that you can greet somebody and start the conversation again if you're just joining us in the chat let us know where your name where you're joining us from we want to hear from you so let's look at some closings right now okay so I've given this this is in two parts alright so formal ending statement and then a formal closing so an ending statement is kind of like your last sentence of the letter the last sentence of the email these are two of those two of my favorites that I like to use you could use I look forward to hearing from you especially if you want the person to respond to your request or if you're asking somebody a favor or you're asking them that you want something you could say you know thank you for your consideration all right thank you for considering my request you can also use them together thank you for your consideration I look forward to hearing from you boom closing all right since your closing we have a question somebody Fobo asked could I use hi instead of hey yeah for an informal greeting hi is perfectly fine you could just say hi how's it going that is okay and like I said when you're writing a message it's better to be formal and then if that person responds back to you and they say hi then okay and write back and then you know that you can just have a friendly informal conversation with them that's perfectly fine so some formal closings again there's a lot of different ones sincerely best regards that's kind of my go to my favorite respectfully and we use those to close it out so best regards and then write your name informal closings I think many of you are familiar with those later ciao cheers thanks some of them I think like thanks you could use informal writing I don't think people are gonna get upset or think anything about that but in my opinion I think it is still a little more informal and when in doubt always be a little more formal okay so these are just some quick tips suggestions to help you become a better writer because at some point in there where you are right now or in the future you are going to be putting together your resume or CV maybe in English you are going to be writing emails in English to somebody who might be your professor your boss a colleague somebody in another business sector and you want to be polite and you need to know how to communicate with that person so what I want you to do is for your homework that's right I'm gonna give you guys some homework I want you to write me a formal or informal message in the comments so if you're in the chat right now this video is gonna get posted on our channel a little later just go back into the comments write me a formal or informal message the best way again is always to practice what you've learned you can write me a formal message about this lesson you could write me an informal message about your day whatever you want to do but practice writing and opening a closing and again just keep it consistent so you would not want to use a formal greeting and say you know dear sir and then an informal closing and say ciao alright remember be consistent with your message so writing homework I want you to write me a message hey unless you're a little scared I don't know I don't think you are so again it's always good to practice what you are learning so thank you guys I'm I'm happy that hopefully you were able to learn a little more about it Ayana has a grammar question if you can write the grammar question in the comments and I will get back to you if you have any questions again you guys could write those in the comments and I will respond to you or you can write to us on Facebook Instagram Twitter snapchat we are all over social media and please please please if you found this video lesson useful share it with people you know okay thank you very much I hope you guys enjoy rest of your weekend and make sure you do the homework and we will see you next time all right so long --- ## 375. How to pronounce the longest word in English #interactiveenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `EkMAlnKYfb8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkMAlnKYfb8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:00:23 | --- so I don't know why people are always mispronouncing this word all right it's not that difficult pneumonoultramicroscopic silico volcanoconiosis so we're talking about the lung disease but for some reason it's people have trouble with it so I'll say it slowly pneumonoultramicroscopic silico volcanoconiosis all right that that stress is on that second to last syllable all right so now I I hope I've cleared up any confusion when it comes to pronouncing this word --- ## 376. IDENTIFY THE MAIN IDEA | Practice Your Listening Skills | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `u26Ng43ZhEY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u26Ng43ZhEY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:39:53 | --- yes okay I think we're live still trying to navigate the system hello and welcome trying to find my chat here so I can say hello to you people welcome welcome welcome to our super duper duper super awesome lesson today I love listening lessons and that's what we are doing so welcome I'd like to welcome everyone thank you for hanging out in the chat let's see who am i saying hi to lolly SDB by Shweta today we are going to have a really cool lesson about listening for main ideas listening for main ideas so again I'd like to welcome everyone Molly Junie ho jasira edita Joe Suez sorry I am mispronouncing everyone's names I sure I'm sure I am because I it's it happens I hope you guys are doing well if you're just joining us please write down what is your name and where are you joining us from because it's so fun for everyone to see where everyone else is from even if you are doing this later if you're watching it at a later time please also introduce yourself tell us where you're from and become part of our global community of students which we love wes is in the chat so if you're wondering who's writing what's going on it's him so today like I mentioned before I have a really cool lesson and I think listening lessons are they can be a little bit challenging but they're one of the best ways to improve your your your English because you don't have visual cues to help you which makes it harder which is good it challenges you makes things more difficult so we've established listening is super important but why is the main idea important what what about the main idea why why should we be even worrying about this thing well let me tell you first of all you can't get anywhere without in in general without figuring out the main idea and this is something that they teach us in school this is something that we are faced with over and over and over again all the time we have to extrapolate the main idea out of something we hear news reports we hear you know something on TV we want to explain the plot of a movie music school at work we always have to you know mention what the main idea is and we have to do this and I will tell you this as an English teacher even working with adults over the years I have seen so many students get the main idea either wrong or just go on forever and it's actually not a lot of people get it right even though we it is important and we work with these every day so please pay attention and keep practicing because it's such a useful skill the main idea also gives us the ability to understand something so when you are able to you know convey the main idea in one sentence which is usually how long it takes it doesn't take more than that that means you've understood whatever it is that you're talking about the lecture the conversation the discussion and when you're able to understand something that's a way for you to check yourself so the main idea it is uber important I can describe how important it is and we're going to practice it today okay wonderful so there we go the tip so it's going to be a lot of fun I have to just trying to learn the system sorry about that okay how once we I mean how do we figure it out right how can we identify it I think the first thing you should do is ask yourself what is the topic what is this about what am i hearing about what am I looking at here what am I trying to deal with what is it that the topic is and usually the topic is like one word and it's what is this related to what is being said about this person thing or idea that is the second part of identifying the main idea so first of all what is the topic and then what is it that it said usually a main idea of something will not just be like I don't know flowers it will say something about flowers it will say you know flowers are beautiful I don't know but there's usually a statement that goes with it I keep trying to think of the main ideas that are in this practice so I'm trying not to give you guys any hints but there's usually something being said and that's the important part and of course something that will help you that should help you even today in our practice is is there any of certain information being repeated meaning do you hear something more than once because if you do that should give you a big clue that that is the main idea many times naturally we want to emphasize what is important so we save more than once whether it's a news report like I said or or if it's some a lecture that you go to university and the professors saying it if he's saying it more than once you should pay attention okay if the information is being repeated it's a good clue now like I said before main ideas are are there you know that they can be a little bit challenging which is why I'm going to do this practice we have a few different texts today we have and what we're going to do is I have a few different practices I'm going to read to you kind of a news report and I want you to extrapolate them an idea now I will read each report twice and I for the first one there's no text on the screen so you can't follow so you have to really listen and when you do please make sure that you pay attention for these cues are you going to hear something twice are you going to what is the topic pay attention to that what is being said about that topic pay attention to that too and and listen and then I will read it to you one more time and then you will have a choice of finding the main idea okay I hope you guys are ready I'm going to be checking with you make sure you write your answer in the comments whether you write it now or later okay so there you go it's my listening cue here is the first listening women are on the rise in Spanish politics Spain's newly formed government consists of eleven women and six men the newly elected socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has put women in some of the biggest position in his cabinet including head of defense economy education and finance Spain now has the highest proportion of women in top government position than anyone else in Europe in a televised statement mr. Sanchez said his new government consisted of people who want to move to Spain forward who want to move Spain forward sorry he said all are highly qualified and bring a vocation for public service and reflect the best of Spain they are open to the world but anchored in the European Union okay how is that so I'm going to read it one more time that was our first listening I'm going to read it one more time but because I'm nice I will give you the question so I'm going to read it one more time and leave the question on the screen so you can actually see it while I read it this makes things a little bit helpful okay so here's your choice okay is it a mr. Sanchez wants a new political position is it be mr. Sanchez appointed a majority of women and some of the highest positions of his cabinet or see mr. Sanchez once Spain to leave the European Union okay I'm reading it one more time women are on the rise in Spanish politics Spain's newly formed government consists of eleven women and six men the newly elected socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has put women in some of the biggest position in his cabinet including head of defense economy education and finance Spain now has the highest proportion of women in top government position than anywhere else in Europe in a televised statement mr. Sanchez said his new government consisted of people who wanted to move Spain forward he said all are highly qualified and bring a vocation for public service and reflect the best of Spain they're open to the world but anchored in the European Union okay so those are I hope that I think this was a little bit easier because I let you guys cheat a little bit by looking at the text while I read it so right now please write down your answer you can of course obviously write a B or C it's probably the quickest way to do it and if you're watching this later write it down later but please participate write it down because it helps you it helps you figure out if you got the right answer or not which which is really really helpful so hopefully here you are paying attention to the information that was being repeated even if there were other words used and also what was the topic about okay I threw some to try to to try to throw you off track but I think you guys I see a lot of good answers so yeah you got it right I see a lot of bees of bees and that is of course the right answer oops mr. Sanchez did appoint a majority of women and some of the highest positions of his cabinet now you may have noticed that I've changed some of the wording because that is how main ideas work and also how you will see these questions on standardized tests like the IELTS or the TOEFL they will not give you the same words that they use in the text of course so you have to be able to recognize synonyms and you have to be able to say the main idea in other words okay that's very important so those of you who got it it is B he does not want a new political position that had nothing to do with it and then I did mention the European Union but he did not say that he wants Spain to leave the European Union so you have to make sure if you got it wrong no worries we have other practices okay they are coming up so oops so a new ones coming up I hope you're ready for this one I think it's a little bit more challenging since you guys are doing so well here it goes earth is losing wildlife at a faster rate than any time in history according to the New Living Planet report from the World Wildlife Fund fund the global wildlife population shrank by 60 percent between 1970 and 2014 the WWF warned that earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions researchers say that most of the decline in our animal population is because of the exploding human consumption there are more and more humans on this planet we are eating more overfishing cutting down trees for beef production consuming more and using more energy and natural resources this has resulted in a massive loss of habitat for animals so I think this one was shorter but the vocabulary was a little bit more difficult okay so um what I'm going to say because again I'm feeling nice I'm going to give you a quick tip many times the main idea is going to be especially in English this is not true for other languages but just because of the the nature of English it's a very straightforward language many times the main idea is going to be in the first sentence many times it won't and that's my hand okay now like I said I'm feeling nice so I'm going to give you the questions to look at again so you guys can follow as I read here are the questions I'm not going to read them well I will actually Oh so is it our planet is losing biodiversity at an incredibly fast rate there are too many people on the planet or humans are eating too many animals okay so while I read for the second time make sure to try to follow what is the main idea here goes earth is losing wildlife at a faster rate at any time in history according to the New Living Planet report from the World Wildlife Fund the global wildlife population shrank by 60 percent between 1970 and 2014 the WWF warned that Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate seen only during mass extinctions researchers state that most of the decline in our animal population is because of exploding human consumption there are more and more humans on this planet we are eating more overfishing cutting down trees for beef production consuming more and using more energy and natural resources this has resulted in a massive loss of habitat for animals ok now I've seen some answers there some really good answers I just wanted to while you guys are writing them again now you can do it now or later also for the people who are watching this later there might be just because some other answers are correct doesn't mean that that is the main idea so please make sure that the main eye is the most important idea even though there could be other answers that are true okay and that's another trick that they could throw at you when you take these standardized tests they're asking you pay attention to the question right what is the main idea and I see a lot of really good answers if you guys answered a our planet is losing biodiversity at an incredibly fast rate you are correct it is also talking about how human are eating too many animals it didn't say that there are too many people on the planet but it's inferred those are correct but it is they're not the main idea okay so hopefully you guys got it again I use synonyms I use synonyms biodiversity a wildlife those are some synonyms so how are you guys doing show me and show me with an emoji I show me if you guys are doing well so far are you are you enjoying this cuz it's about to get tough I'm so excited I love giving challenging questions to everyone okay so here is the third one I hope you are ready for this one by the way I will not show you the questions so you have to listen carefully each time okay scientists have revealed that air pollution may be responsible for a significant reduction in cognitive performance research conducted for the World Health Organization in China showed that the pollution the air pollution was responsible for notable Falls in the students test scores for language and arithmetic the Chinese study is called the impact of exposure to air pollution on cognitive performance the study took place over a period of four years researchers analyzed verbal and arithmetic tests taken by 20,000 people of all ages researchers discovered that the longer people were exposed to polluted air the greater was the damage to their intelligence for those aged over 60 this could be the equivalent of several years of lost education so this one was a little slightly shorter but I am making it more difficult behind not giving you the question this time okay so you gotta listen to it one more time pay attention to the cues the topic is the idea being repeated what is the first sentence a and so on listen and I will read it one more time scientists have revealed that air pollution may be responsible for a significant reduction in cognitive performance research conducted for the World Health Organization in China show that air pollution was responsible for notable Falls in student test scores for languages and arithmetic the Chinese study is called the impact of exposure to air pollution on cognitive performance the study took place over a period of four years researchers analyzed verbal and arithmetic tests taken by 20,000 people of all ages researchers discovered that the longer people were exposed to polluted air the greater was the damage to their intelligence for those aged over 60 this could be the equivalent of several years of lost education okay so here are the questions so this is when you guys would write the answers down a B or C a States is it is the main idea Chinese students took a large number of standardized tests on the drawbacks of air pollution is it B air pollution causes respiratory issues in older populations or is it C according to some studies air pollution may be responsible for a significant reduction in intelligence so which one is the main idea I've thrown in a bunch of keywords here that showed up in the text in the end listening I'm sorry so hopefully you guys are able to kind of recognize those and be able to write down what is the main idea based on those okay so we have some C's we have you guys are doing really well and if you answered C you are correct according to some studies air pollution may be responsible for a significant reduction in intelligence so you guys are obviously not affected by air pollution because you are doing amazing so good job give yourself you know a clap a pat on the back and and if you guys don't know we are now on patreon so if you like what we do please go ahead and follow us there because we have some really really cool rewards and yeah if you like what we do just click the link on in the description and the other thing I was going to say because you guys have been doing so well if you got these answers right if you're doing really well give this video a thumbs up give it a like so I know if you got the answers right okay but I see a lot of really good answers so I think I'm going to see a lot of likes and because I feel like maybe it's a little bit easy maybe this was a little too easy for you guys so for the next one I will make it even harder and what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you the listening this time but I will not give you a choice of main idea so for the next one you have to come up with the main idea so it means that you have to listen and write your own sentence that you think is most important so this is not what you get to choose you get to write or your own so of course we're going to have some different answers that's okay as long as the main idea is kind of similar so your sentences may differ but it they shouldn't differ too much because there is one main idea okay so pay attention pay close attention I'm going to read it two times but there will be nothing on the screen to help you here it goes okay black fly a new airborne vehicle was unveiled by maker opener in California on Thursday it is the brainchild of Google co-founder Larry Page and it could go on sale next year black flies designers say can travel for up to 40 kilometres at a speed of a hundred kilometers per hour it will eventually cost the same as a typical sports utility car even though it will take to the skies drivers or pilots will not need a pilot's license to get behind the controls critics say the term car is somewhat of a misnomer is it has no wheels and cannot be driven on roads a more accurate description would be a person carrying drone the vehicle can only carry one person and is powered by eight propellers for the front of the car and for the back company CEO Marcus Lang said opener is reenergize in the art of flight with a safe and affordable flying vehicle that can free its operators from the everyday restrictions of ground transportation okay so now we're getting into the future kind of so again pay attention here I I was trying to make it a little bit harder so I did take out the first sentence so if you're looking for that clue it is not there kind of but the main idea is inside the text okay so again I will read one more time and what you have to do is write down the main idea again this is going to be a full sentence write that down in the comments if you're watching us now or even later if you're looking at this later black fly a new airborne vehicle was unveiled by maker opener in California on Thursday it is the brainchild of Google co-founder Larry Page and it could go on sale next year black flies designers say that it can travel for up to 40 kilometers at a speed of a hundred kilometers per hour it will eventually cause the same as a typical sports utility car even though it will take to the skies drivers or pilots will not need a pilot's license to get behind the controls critics say the term car is somewhat of a misnomer as it has no wheels and cannot be driven on roads a more accurate description would be a person carrying drown the vehicle can only carry one person and is powered by eight propellers for the front of the car and four at the back company CEO Markus link said opener is re-energizing the art of flight with a safe and affordable flying vehicle that can free its operators from the everyday restrictions of ground transportation okay so that is that is it right now please write down your sentences which you think are the main idea we might have some differing sentences that's okay I just want to see what you guys think is the main idea of the text okay so I see some answers black flies a new invented vehicle something about the advertisement of publicity a black fly one of the new vehicles is amazing fast as a plane is very safe it's going to be something it will be neighbor on a few new years and it will swap with a car so the answer I have here again and your answers could say part of this answer or just some of it mine is kind of a broad abroad main idea and it says humanity humanity is set to enter a new era of transport as a flying car could go on sale next year so I would say the key the key words in the sentence our flying car and new different type of transportation because that was mentioned a few times in the text so yes flying car is of course important but new different type of transportation is also important because obviously we haven't really had any flying cars so far so it will it's it's more accessible so you should have mentioned I think those two things now if you mention anything about humanity or anything like that that's not that important but those two things you should have mentioned okay I like how ways yes I'm helping you guys out there yes so some yes so you guys you guys did mention some really good ideas it's like a drone again keep in mind that in the main idea you do not need to mention details so you don't need to mention any numbers or any like anything like propellers or anything like that no details just what is the main thing that somebody can get from the text in one sentence okay so as you see this got a little bit more difficult we're going to do another one now and it is similar so I'm going to read you the text and you have to give me the main idea again the answers may differ but pay attention to the information that is repeated more than once because that is your clue right there here it goes American Michele Meyers 45 said that in 2015 she went to bed with a blinding headache and woke up with a British accent the accent has remained with her ever since she said it was hard because I was really struggling I have come to terms with the fact that I might sound like this forever I realize it's part of me now for an accent syndrome or FAS is a disorder that typically occurs after strokes of or traumatic brain injuries that damage the language center of our brain it varies in the degree to which it affects someone's language and accent the condition was first documented in 1907 by French neurologist Pierre Murray it is a relatively rare condition and only about 60 cases of FAS have been documented over the past century one of these was a Japanese stroke patient who woke up sound in Korean even though he had never been to Korea okay so I'm going to read it just like like last time one more time as I am reading it I would I would maybe write down the main idea and because you know it will be fresh in your mind American Michele Meyers 45 said that in 2015 she went to bed with a blinding headache and woke up with a British accent the accent has remained with her ever since she said it was hard because I was really struggling I've come to terms with the fact that I might sound like this forever I realize it's part of me now foreign accent syndrome or FAS is a disorder that typically occurs after strokes or traumatic brain injuries the damaged the language center of the brain it varies in the degree to which it affects someone's language and accent the condition was first documented in 1907 by French neurologist Pierre Murray it is a relatively rare condition and only about 60 cases of FAS have been documented over the past century one of these was a Japanese stroke patient who woke up sounding sounding Korean even though he had never been to Korea okay so I see some answers over there that are actually there they're pretty good yeah so you guys are getting them are getting them them them right yeah so if you answered something like an American an American woman was diagnosed with a rare FAS something like that then Hugh got it right that it has something to do with that so or that American woman woke up with a British accent or anything like that those would have been correct okay so anything like that is is correct again I am reading these if you are finding these challenging don't worry this is this is what we're practicing I'm reading these at a normal speed and that's what makes it challenging of course and you don't have the text in front of you but that is part of the exercise it's a listening exercise so that's why I'm doing this but you guys are doing a great job I'm seeing some really really great great answers okay here goes the next one okay we just have we just have I think this one I don't know I think it's equally challenging so I'm going to read it and you guys can write down I would suggest maybe listen the first time just listen and then the second time I read it tried to write the sentence here it goes Alan Robert 56 was handed a 20-week prison prison sentence on Friday and was suspended for two years for scrambling up London's 201 meter heron tower mr. Robert dubbed the French spider-man was also handed a seven thousand dollar fine for disruption and for causing a large-scale emergency response hundreds of people stopped in the street to watch him climb building and the number of emergency services were called using his usual climbing method mr. Robert ascended the london tower using only his bare hands he never uses ropes or other safety equipment he has been banned from climbing any building in the UK okay he's been banned from climbing any building in the UK again this one was shorter I think it's a little bit easier actually but again while I say it try to write the main idea if you're finding this to go really fast you can always pause it and listen to it again and then try to see if you get the main idea okay here I'm going to read it one more time pay close attention Alan Robert 56 was handed a 20-week prison sentence on Friday and was suspended for two years for climbing up London's 201 meter heron tower mr. Robert dub the French spider-man was also handed a seven thousand dollar fine for disruption and for causing a large-scale emergency response hundreds of people stopped in the street to watch him climb the building and the number of emergency services were called using his usual climbing method mr. Robert ascended a London tower using only his bare hands he never uses ropes or other safety equipment he's been banned from climbing any building in the UK okay so I hope that I hope that you found this a little bit easier um I am going to give you guys a few seconds to write down the answers right now so again if you're watching it now write down your comments right now with what you think is the main idea if you're watching it later write it down later but write it down because it's a good practice again you should be paying attention to information that was repeated or a way to summarize the entire conversation the entire report so I see some good answers Robert was punished for climbing the London Tower he was banned from climbing any building in the UK some answers in French that I don't fully understand but I kind of get the gist was climbing a London with bare hands so these are these are I think you guys are getting the some of the main ideas some of the gist so hopefully your answered looked similar to mine which states that a French stuntman who specializes in scaling skyscrapers has been banned from climbing any building in the UK now again your answers could look a little bit different but they should have the information that you know this climber person has been banned and cannot scale any more buildings in in the UK and that he's French because I did mention that a couple times so you could have called him the French Spider Man you could have used that into into the description into your sorry main ideas so you could have done any of that I think overall you guys are really doing really well you came up with really good sentences remember they don't have to you look exactly like mine as long as they have those keywords that we're looking for well I hope you guys enjoyed enjoyed our lesson I hope you you found the challenging even if just a little bit because I was trying to challenge you and and I hope that you found this useful remember main ideas are very important everyone we use them all the time and listening practices are always a little bit difficult so if you found it too difficult don't worry I would say listen to these again and then it just write it down later too because this is how you practice I'd like to thank you for joining us today if you've enjoyed this lesson please like it please share it with anyone who you think needs some extra listening practice if you have any questions for us write down write them down in the comments we always answer and also join us on Facebook join us on Instagram because we have some great other activities that we post on there so thank you guys I hope you have a great Saturday and you know I will see you guys next time you guys rock by the way I've seen some wonderful answers Thank You Ian thank you wilderness thank you Anna Thank You AVI thank you des Monson um Sun - a sing Victor think you think you thank you you guys are the best and you know have a great day go enjoy yourself you've studied some English reward yourself thank you and I'll see you next time --- ## 377. IDIOMS to Express Hope & Inspiration | Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `U4OBY5n2BvM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4OBY5n2BvM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:32:06 | --- if you'd like to express hope and inspiration then this lesson is for you hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to talk to you about some idioms that you can use to to help give other people some hope and inspiration especially if they've been feeling a little down and just need that extra encouragement to get through some situation in life so the first idiom that I have for you is keep your chin up so this idiom means that you want to encourage someone to you know stay positive if they are going through a difficult situation you want them to keep their chin up and though this idiom comes from what when people feel a little sad typically their head might be down so you're telling them you're basically saying you know keep your chin up you know things are going to get better and you just want to give them that little bit of encouragement to stay positive in some difficult situation keep your chin up often I think it's use as a standalone statement it's kind of like you're giving somebody a command and saying hey you know keep your chin up alright things are gonna get better stay positive keep your chin up anyway keep your chin up you keep looking and good things will happen [Music] you work on that for you just keep your chin up the next idiom is you know hang in there and this idiom it also means to you to encourage someone to keep trying especially when they are going through some difficult situation too to keep trying don't give up just just hang in there you can do it when I think of somebody using like hang in there I think that that person is doing something that they're actually doing some kind of work or activity and they're actually they're doing something that they don't want to do and they are having to endure this thing so you may hear this used again is just a standalone statement somebody saying you know just just hang in there you can do it or they might say you know I need you to hang in there especially if they are encouraging you to finish because maybe you're working together and you're like you know I need you to hang in there or maybe you're talking about yourself and you're telling somebody and they're listening to your problems and you'd say you know I'm just having a tough time hanging in there and then the other person might tell you you know it stay positive keep your chin up so again these are very useful idioms to offer that hope and inspiration have a plan and I am going to save our jobs hang in there please just hang in there a little longer okay it's okay feel just hang in there next is the expression break a leg and this is used just to to tell somebody good luck so instead of saying good luck you can just replace it with this idiom and say break a leg so you would often hear it right before somebody is getting ready to do something such as a performance and instead of saying good luck you say break a leg they're getting ready to start the competition could be a sport competition and academic competition and before they begin you could say hey break a leg you could even use it together with good luck and say you know good luck break a leg I believe in you I want to give you that that that hope so just go out there do your best break a leg grab your scripts people we open in 20 minutes break a leg Serkis floor on a wire no wider than a human know if he's time Oh break leg then we have in the bag and if you say that something is in the bag it means that that you are sure of success or are you are sure of accomplishing something you are you're very confident in something and you might hear somebody say just a general statement like hey it's in the bag when giving somebody a little bit of hope or inspiration I think this idiom could be used to offer some reassurance to somebody who may not be confident about what's going to happen and you tell them you know don't worry I think you can do it you know that it's in the bag you're going to have success it's in the bag don't worry this is in the bag I've got him dead to rights fingerprints witnesses it's in the bag the next idiom and it's also a very popular expression and that is sky's the limit and if somebody says you know the sky's the limit then it just means that there is no limit to your success to your aspirations and this is a great way to offer someone some inspiration by telling them you know to keep going that they can continuously grow and develop and succeed and you you can express that by saying you know sky's the limit for example I could try to offer you some inspiration if you're you're having some difficulty and tell you you know just just keep going I hope you keep learning with us throughout this year there's so much that you can achieve and accomplish and grow the sky's the limit well I turn this one into a functioning boyfriend your birthday Big Dawg it's okay I'm good come on this guy's the limit dream big my boy then we have the idiom the world is your oyster and again I think this is often used as a standalone statement and somebody would just tell another person the world is your oyster and what it means is that that this person the person that you're telling this to will have many different opportunities to to do things in their life or their career there are so many choices that they will have you could tell them the world is your oyster often I think it's used when you're somebody is talking to a younger person that they have their whole life ahead of them and they can do all these different things and you can express that by telling them you know the world is your oyster you have so many options so many choices take advantage of it the world is your oyster I'm telling you kids from now on the world is your oyster I could do anything all bets are off or old is my oyster you're a beautiful young girl world is your oyster next is the idiom and this is one of my favorites and that is light at the end of the tunnel and somebody would say this when they want to express that things the situation is going to improve or it is going to end especially if it is a difficult or challenging situation it will improve or it's going to end that is the light at the end of the tunnel so think about the exact meaning of what this would say so if you are in a tunnel it's very dark it's a little scary nobody wants to be there you are looking for your way out of this tunnel and then you you see this light up ahead and you know that that it's going to end or things are going to improve that is what will basically again what it means light at the end of the tunnel and the reason why I really like this idiom is because I think you could use it in in any situation no matter how bad or horrible it is you can always try to find some sort of light at the end of the tunnel and it's a great way to offer somebody that hope the light at the end of the tunnel but I finally feel like I'm a place where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel this is just my luck finally catch a break at the office finally see some light at the end of the tunnel and when gone then we have the statement there's plenty of fish in the sea now this is a statement that's used for a specific situation because what it means is that you are basically telling somebody who has ended their relationship that they should stay positive and that things are going to be ok because there are plenty of other people out there that they can have another romantic relationship with so I think you would hear this idiom or even use this idiom often when somebody has ended their relationship and you're trying to reassure them that hey things are gonna be ok don't worry about it you will meet somebody else there's plenty of fish in the sea now you could also say just to throw in a little bit of grammar there are plenty of fish in the sea because fish can be both singular and plural so no matter what the the meaning is still the same there are plenty of fish in the sea or you're trying to reassure somebody else there's plenty of fish in the sea point is you're the best guy I know you'll get over her plenty of other fish in the sea another sign from the universe that I'll never find love hey come on there's plenty of fish in the sea then we have to look on the bright side and if somebody says this it means that you should be cheerful and positive even though some kind of bad situation has occurred and usually when somebody tells you you know look on the bright side they will then tell you something to stay positive about or something that is you know good news or cheerful even though there's been some terrible situation so let me give you an example say that somebody has lost their job alright that's terrible that's a bad situation and somebody might be you know pretty sad or down about that and you want to give them a little bit of inspiration so you tell them hey look on the bright side and when you say this to your friend you need to tell them why they should be cheerful so in this case maybe you say hey you know look on the bright side you have always wanted to move to this other place but you couldn't do that the job was keeping you here now you're free so look on the bright side you can move to this other place try to find a new job it's what you've always talked about doing look on the bright side now look on the bright side I mean this you won't have to live with this ugly chair don't cry look on the bright side we get to see our lives flash before our eyes if all our hair falls off our wives won't want us anymore but there you go look on the bright side then we have the idiom pull yourself together and this is this is an idiom that means that you need to gain control over your emotions and you need to start acting normal again and behaving normal so I think often it may be used as like a command somebody telling you you know pull yourself together you need to pull yourself together if something happens and you are angry or you are frantic and you start you know you start panicking then that is when another person could tell you hey you know pull yourself together you know start behaving normal so that you can solve this problem or you could even use it and talk about yourself and you're telling someone you know I need to I need to pull myself together I need to get it together and start behaving normal so that I can solve this problem and get my life in order I need to pull myself together situation worse drink is to pull myself together next is fingers crossed and this just means that you are telling somebody that you hope that they will achieve something that will happen in the future or something successful will come to passed and that you've got your fingers crossed so you can say this to somebody else if they are telling you the things that they want to do that they want to accomplish and you should say you know fingers crossed I believe in you I'm hoping for you or you could say that about yourself that you wish something will happen in the future that that would be good for you and you're trying to kind of express a little bit of hope in your own situation and you could say you know I've got my fingers crossed I I have now I lost my job I tried to look on the bright side I have moved to this other place I have applied for a new job and I'm waiting to hear back from them god I've got my fingers crossed good luck on your tenure of you make me proud fingers crossed I thought you were that interview fingers crossed okay well let's just say this is gonna be great fingers crossed then we have blessing in disguise and this just describes a situation that appears bad at first but actually turns out to be pretty good and often I think it's used to reflect back on a past situation because something was bad and then since then you know some good things happen so when you think back about that first bad situation you could refer to it and say you know it was a blessing in disguise let me give you an example and we'll stick with that same story all right somebody loses their job and they try to look on the bright side and they move to a place that they've always wanted to live they they applied for a new job kept their fingers crossed and and got that new job and then let you know maybe they met the love of their life and they got married and they had a family and then when they think back about that initial situation all right they lost their job and you know they could say hey it was a blessing in disguise so quite often you may use it to reflect back on a past situation or you could also use it if you're you know you're trying to give somebody hope and inspiration who is actually in a bad situation now and you try to reassure them and say hey you know hey maybe it's a blessing in disguise that even though there there's just this terrible situation now in the future there will be some good that may come out of it it's a blessing in disguise I got fired from running the sweetums foundation thanks to me sorry again hey blessing in disguise I took a job at this accounting firm so you see George the whole incident was a god blessing yeah I mean a blessing in disguise yeah I'm saying is maybe this is a blessing in disguise please I don't know what the father is what so now I want to do a quick review as I offer you an inspirational message okay so I would tell you I know that learning English can be challenging and difficult but I want you to keep your chin up because even though it may feel that you're not making any type of progress whatsoever and that you're not improving you really are you need to take comfort in the fact that your skills are getting better and better each and every day that you practice so there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is English fluency so keep doing what you're doing keep watching our video lessons keep practicing a little bit each and every day write to us in the comments I want you to just hang in there and keep working hard and don't give up because the to be perfectly honest when it comes to learning another language there is so much that it will help you with about whether it's getting a job meeting other people there's so many ways that languages can help us learn and grow sky's the limit I hope you enjoyed this lesson learn some new idioms as well as feel a little more inspired perhaps after my message all right if you did then hit that like button down below let me know thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 378. IELTS Listening Practice for Advanced Learners | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `325suNPGctM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325suNPGctM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:19:39 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson in case this happens to be your first time watching one of our videos on this channel my name is wes the channel interactive english it's all about just trying to help you improve your english skills we with vocabulary grammar pronunciation and today we're actually going to do an activity to help you practice your listening skills so even though you are practicing your listening skills right now just listening to me speak we're gonna make it uh this is going to be an active speak a listening exercise and when i say it's going to be an active listening exercise that really means that well i you are going to need to participate you will need to actually will answer some of these questions because we're going to be discussing this is going to be an ielts listening practice many of you have asked me uh about the ielts and i think even if you're not planning to take the ielts it is a test this this lesson will help you it's still going to help you practice your listening skills which is the most important thing but in case you are unfamiliar with the ielts and you don't know what it is or you have not heard of it it is an english proficiency exam that is used by academic institutions or even some professional organizations and they may ask people to present an ielts score so that they can kind of get an idea about your english proficiency so when you go and you take the ielts exam there are different sections there you take a there's a listening portion a reading a writing and a speaking part of the ielts today we're going to be working on well practicing your listening skills and what i've done is i've taken part of a listen of a ielts practice exam and we're going to look at that today and that's what we're going to practice and we're only going to do one part of it because usually each part of the ielts it it takes some time but i really wanted to do just do one part and kind of examine and then go over the answers so this is a good way to practice your listening skills and that's why i said it's going to be more of an active active listening exercise okay so the way that i what the first thing i would say about the ielts is that so many of you like what do i need to do to get a good score how do i how do i improve this is very well this is a very simple explanation of my opinion of what you can do to succeed what would help you and i would say that you would study the test and this is not something i would recommend if you just want to improve your overall english but if you are focused on getting the best score that you can on the ielts you need to study the test and what i mean by that is understand what the test is about understand what they're going to test you on and how they're going to test you because the more you know about the exam i think the more comfortable you're going to feel when you go in there and you're getting ready to take it and if you feel more comfortable you feel more confident well then chances are you're going to get a better score the other thing that i'd say number two understand the directions so when it comes to the ielts listening the one thing i told you to maybe for this uh lesson it'd be helpful if you had a pen and a paper so that you could write stuff down because we're you're only going to be able to listen to it one time and that's what we're going to do today i just want to i'm going to say the passage one time and you have to write down the answers so you need to know that it's good to know that make sure you understand that before taking the ielts before you go in there i i'm not kidding when before when i would teach the ielts and i would do some practice with the students and i would have a class of students and we would do this and i would tell them the i would read the instructions the same way that they would do when you go to take the aisles you're gonna we're gonna you're gonna hear this one time and i would play the audio for the class and almost always after it was finished somebody would raise their hand and say are we going to listen to it again we'd be like no no no no one time that's all you that's all you get when you're taking the aisle so that's all i'm going to give you guys and then the other thing just like anything else practice practice practice some more the more you practice again it's just going to help you build your confidence it's going to help you feel a little more comfortable when you go in there because i think any time somebody goes takes and takes an exam it's not it's an environment that's full of anxiety it's not like you're you're in the most comfortable place a lot of times people are nervous but the more i think you practice then the less nervous you will be and like i said that goes for anything like if you're getting ready to give a presentation the more you practice giving that presentation chances are you're going to do a better job giving it when the time has come so i told you we're going to do two parts to this let's look at the first part right here so i apologize i could not really i can't really make this bigger so what they would tell you this is just one section of the ielts this is for questions 11 to 15. so i am going to read this passage i'm going to read it just one time and as you're listening i want you to answer questions 11 to 15. and normally with the ielts they will show you this they'll give you a little bit of time to read these questions so you kind of know what you're looking for and right now i'm kind of i'm kind of dragging out this explanation in order to give you time to look at these uh look at these questions number 11 12 13 14 and 15. so what we can do just to make it very clear and very easy for everyone i'm just going to go through and i'll read these questions for you and then we'll read the passage you'll write your answers down and then we'll go through one at a time to check them check out your answers um to check your answer so number 11 it's saying the september celebration day is held what five times a year to honor the city on the park's important birthday to remember the history of the park number 12 the park was first built in you get three choices 1955 1979 or the 1990s number 13 the park still uses what a children's play area a petting zoo or two of the early rides number 14 the hurricane roller coaster is what tall and made of wood designed for smaller children very fast and exciting and number 15 the rides with a height limit are coated yellow blue or black so this is the uh practice part and that's a great question uh lavinia asked what's a roller coaster so again when you're taking this exam it's useful if you're reading through it that you know the vocabulary that may not be the case all depending on what kind of questions they ask you but a roller coaster is when if you go to an amusement park the roller coaster is the one that you get on and it'll kind of go up slowly up up up it's like you're on like a little well you're on a track and i don't want to say it's a train but kind of like similar to that and you go up up up up and then you go around and around and you're kind of going all over so you're you're on a track the same way that a train is on a track and you just go really fast and it typically takes you up and then down and then sometimes you'll spin around um very very common rides at an amusement park so now that we've read these questions we're gonna go through this i told you it's an active listening exercise i want you to participate try to write this down and then we'll go through them because i'm not gonna go through um i'm not gonna stop um and then go through each one um one at a time so are you ready so as i'm reading just follow along um the one thing i will say that with many of these listening exercises they typically go in chronological order which means that question number 11 you're gonna hear that first and then you'll hear number 12 13 14 15. that may not always be the case but more often than not um it's gonna cut just go in order so not to confuse you too much all right let's see um wait wait wait says 11 is hey how do you know i haven't started reading yet okay um so just listen to me read it i'm going to read it one time and then we'll go through um and talk about the answers so this is good little practice are you ready well even yes you're ready excellent so let's begin morning everyone we're very pleased to have you here at lunar realm for our september celebration day we have many smaller celebrations throughout the year for different events i think it was five at last count but the september celebration is a special day to honor the park's development from tiny beginnings to the huge enterprise it is today it's our most significant annual event come into the visitor center now over here you can see a picture of the original park when it was under construction the land was donated to the city in 1955 by then mayor matthew harticore it was donated in 1955 by then mayor matthew hartaker but the park itself wasn't developed until 1979. and you'll notice it wasn't very big at the time there um then there was huge growth in the 1990s and we're still growing today in the beginning there were only a few small rides in the park there were lots of other attractions in those days including an adventure playground for younger kids the kids love the petting zoo with its farm animals and in fact that's the only attraction that has survived until now we've still kept two of the original rides as an exhibit but they're not working in any working order anymore we're now one of the biggest amusement parks in the country we've got an amazing range of amusement rides here 43 in total this year i think we're the most i think we're most famous for our roller coasters aren't we i guess we'll all you all heard about the hurricane that's the oldest and our most uh famous one some of our visitors think it's not fast enough but to be truly exciting um it's not fast enough to be truly exciting but we love it because it's the highest wooden roller coaster in the country then we have the bobcat that one's a bit gentler for our younger visitors and for the truly adventurous the scream machine hurls you upside down and backwards at huge speeds it's too much for me it's important to remember that all of our rides have age guidelines and to help you there's a color system if the sign for a ride is yellow it means it's suitable for all ages although we do do recommend that parents and older siblings go with very young children blue means that children younger than 14 can ride only if an adult accompanies them and black well this means that you must be at least 110 centimeters tall to ride regardless of age we should say that no rides are really suitable for children younger than 18 months but we do have a special section for parents with babies okay i see all these like these everybody's just going through throwing them in there all right that's fine um i hope that uh you guys were able to follow along it wasn't too difficult to understand well my speech i'm sorry if i fumbled that a little bit fumbled it means that uh it wasn't completely like clear and succinct because i did um i i did miss speak on a couple of times but i apologize for that so let's go now and and look at questions 11 to 15. so let's start with 11. all right so you guys i know you're throwing in a bunch of them right now look at let's focus on 11 right now the september celebration day is held what which one is it is it a b or c all right what do you what do you guys think and again this is why i said it helps if you had like uh have a pen and paper that you can write this down and then go back um instead of trying to uh kind of right do it from your recollection all right so leonardo lost my focus during the reading yes that does happen um so we have lavinia says c um he was says c okay the the correct answer i'm going to read the part which has the answer and then i'll tell you guys what it is so number 11 when they're talking about the september celebration day is hell it says the september celebration is a special day to honor the park's development from tiny beginnings to the huge enterprise it is today that is your answer which means that it's c to uh the correct answer is c right there to remember the history of the park because they talk about from the tiny beginnings to the huge enterprise it is today and this is something that they do with these ielts exams and many other listening tests you're not going to hear the word like word for word from what you listen to to what the answer is what they'll end up doing is that they'll say the they'll say the answer but they'll they'll give it to you in a different way so what you heard me say it's similar to c but it's just worded differently and i think that's pretty common the next one this is a little more specific you need to listen for it but then understand the information they give you around it the park was first built in what i talked about um you heard me mention sorry if you guys did not get that one i know it can be a little difficult that's why you got to kind of write them down as you go along and listen to it the park was first built when all right i talked about all of those three of those years and a little bit uh around them 1955 1979 the 1990s all right so i'm seeing some answers between a one for b um the correct answer well let me read it to you the part where you and then just so you know so it's clearly i think it's easier when i actually highlight specifically uh tell you where it is so it said remember the land was donated to the city in 1955 by the then mayor matthew hardicore but the park itself wasn't developed until 1979 the answer is b 1979 that is when the park was developed so again they're talking about the difference between developed and built so in 1955 they got the land for the park but actually it was not construction did not start it was not built or developed until 1979 again they're just using different words number 13 the park still uses what did you guys hear that one which there are different things uh that it mentioned about the park but they said that one thing is still in use today do you remember what that one thing uh what that was let me read you that part and uh what does it mean develop to develop this means like to to build to construct something so in this case when you're talking about like uh like a home or a building develop build construct they're all uh synonyms so number 13 let's uh let me read it and then tell you i think you guys probably got that one so said the kids love the petting zoo with its farm animals and in fact that's the only attraction to have survived until now so the petting zoo has survived which means they still use it the answer is b number 14 we mentioned uh talked a little bit about roller coasters they're on those tracks i think they're a lot of fun if we go to an amusement park the hurricane roller coaster is what which what did you hear uh i mentioned the names of a few different roller coasters but you should have been really listening for um the hurricane and got that information about it let me read you the part about the hurricane and then again once you hear me read it say it again and you're listening for it i think it becomes a little more evident the hurricane that's our oldest and most famous one some of the visitors think it's not fast enough to be truly exciting but we love it because it's the highest wooden roller coaster in the country so it's the highest wooden roller coaster in the country that means that a it is tall and made of wood and then number 15 we i talked about those three different colors and gave some information about them the ride with a height limit are the rides with the height limit are coated with what uh which of those colors yellow blue or black if you're unsure or you didn't hear that i'll read um let me read or let me tell you that part you can listen for this well and i'm just giving you the answer it said um when i was telling you this and black well that means that you must be at least 110 centimeters tall to ride regardless of age so that is the only one that has a height restriction the answer to that one is c black alright i think you guys got that one excellent excellent good job good job um so let's look at the next part again i chose this because i was hoping that it would be a little easier um to follow along some of the other ones are like a dialogue a discussion conversation between two people and that would have been a little stranger for me to read to do different voices i wasn't gonna try that um this is also kind of a continuation of talking about this um this this park and you have questions 16 to 20 again what they would tell you is that the the test would give you time to look at this right here so that you're a little familiar with what you're trying to listen for so it's talking about food options chinese etc at the food court hamburger sandwiches etc at what so you see that at and then you should know that you're listening for some type of place or location special events parade starts at noon on the um what and then it's run by the final year high school students so it's like they're giving you just this list of information about the parade the concert there's going to be information about that it's at the amphitheater the theme what's the theme of the concert starts at seven o'clock and safety and security there are ten centers in the park children ask uh any staff member for help ask the security team at the what so again you can kind of focus on that if you hopefully you have like a pen or a paper or something that you can write down 16 17 18 19 20 as you're listening to me tell you the information so i'm going to tell you i'm going to say it one time and then we're going to look at it each one individually all right are you ready here we go so here we are all right now listen and answer the question 16 to 20. now i'll tell you about the many options for food around the park you can get a range of different cuisines italian chinese and so on and if that's in and all of that's in the food court in the center of the park but there are lots of other places as well if you want hamburgers sandwiches that sort of thing you can find healthy you can find food stands everywhere we pride ourselves on the quality of our food and all of our vendors use fresh healthy ingredients from local farms don't forget the special events we've planned for the anniversary celebration there are two main events today and they're both free the first is the afternoon parade it kicks off at noon so arrive a bit early if you want a good view the best place to see it is along the main street it's all organized by final year high school students by final year school students you'll see the gymnastics and acrobatics hear music from the from a marching band and see some fantastic floats the parade has become one of our feature events of the year the second big event today is an evening concert which takes place at our main amphitheater the concert features singing and dancing costumes and lights and there's a different theme each year this year the theme is hollywood and it's all about classic style and old films the concert starts at 7 pm but try to arrive by 6 45 now i know you're all eager to get out there and have fun but before you go i'm just going to tell you some information about safety and security if anyone needs medical attention we have help available you can see on the map that next to the visitor center which is where we are now of course uh you can see this red dot yes so that is so that is one of our 10 first aid centers if you get hurt all you need to do is ask a member of staff to direct you towards the nearest one and kids remember if something happens you get lost and you can't find your parents please tell someone who works at the park just look for someone dressed in the lunar realm colors and they will assist you and for anyone who's uh who has a problem of any sort you can come and talk to a member of our security team at any one of the main guard stations those are the blue dots here on the map don't forget to take a copy of the map so this was a little more difficult because you actually had to to this is where you would have to write things it's not just answering a b c so let's look at uh the food options all right number 16 okay so we know that italian chinese uh that food is available at the food court hamburgers and sandwiches can you guys tell me where were those available let me read it back to you what you heard and then i think oh okay you'll know what the answer is so remember i said if you want hamburgers sandwiches that sort of thing you can find food stands everywhere so we're talking about um a place like a location the food court has italian and chinese the other place uh the answer to 16 the only thing food stands it says if you want that sort of thing food stands everywhere so in this case i know so uh sleep are you put everywhere i think technically they want to hear those food stands that's where um that's specifically where those hamburgers and sandwiches are located special events we talked about the parade i gave you some information it starts at noon and on the what so where is it that the the parade is um i think in this uh when i was telling you i was talking about where you could you could get a good view the first is the afternoon parade it kicks off at noon so arrive a bit early if you want a good view the best place to see it is along the main street so the answer to number 7 uh 17 you hear that phrase yes exactly lolly on the main street um right here they when when i was looking at this i think they would accept like if it's capital letters like it's a it's a the name of the street or even if it's lowercase uh it seems like they would accept either one but the answer is main street and the concert number 18. i gave you some information it was at the amphitheater and then we talked uh i mentioned the theme too hopefully you caught that when you were listening to it so let me read the part in the um well in the information where it is so talking about the concert says the concert features singing and dancing costumes and lights and there's a different theme each year this year the theme is hollywood and it's all about classic style and old films so the answer to that excellent you guys you guys got that one hollywood um talking about the film industry it's assuming that well you'd be able to listen to it but that most people would probably be familiar with this word anyway and they might know a little bit about it that hollywood is related to movies and films and then finally the safety and security ten centers in the park so what kind of uh centers are in the park and there are 10 of them so hopefully you heard that and you would have been able to write it down so again it gets a little it does get more challenging as you go through this we did that first part that was a b and c and now you're actually having to listen for it and then write in the missing information so let me read the part and then i'll give you the answer i see some of you got it already it says uh can you can you see this red dot yes so that is one of our 10 first aid centers if you get hurt all you need to do is ask a member of staff to direct you toward the nearest one so at the park there are 10 first aid centers you guys rock that one i don't think whether you used a hyphen um in between i don't think they would count uh count off for that typically uh this i would say it's most the time you would hyphenate it because it's a in this case it's like a compound adjective it's an adjective before uh centers so it's describing the center as a first aid center um i think quite often you would find it hyphenated but anyway first aid that's the correct answer and then whoops i almost just gave you the answer to the last one it said ask the security team at the what because it said children can ask staff members for help um ask the security team at the do you remember do you remember um the last one let me kind of read it for you it said okay said it for anyone who has a problem of any sort you can come and talk to a member of our security team at any one of the many guard stations those are the blue dots here on the map so the last answer to number 20 was at the guard stations so this again it's this is um it's not an official one this is taken from the official ielts site which i've linked down in the description if you happen to be taking the ielts i would definitely go check out that link they do have a practice exam up there this is where this information comes from we just looked at a small part right now just to kind of uh well to to let you get a little familiar with what is on the test especially the the listening portion of this so you guys i i don't know whether you thought that was easy or difficult looking at what they had up there i think this was probably i think i gave you some of the easier parts of the listening because it was multiple choice you're listening specific information and you're just listening to me talk about some information instead of this back and forth dialogue which i think may be a little more challenging for some people so i hope that again you found it useful even if you're not taking the ielts it's always good to get listening practice it's always good to make it like an active listening practice such as the one that we're doing today this is interactive english it's all about being interactive and actually having you guys participate and and try to answer these questions i i know some of you said uh it's pretty difficult i i think you know that that makes sense this is a challenging exam it is very difficult the reason i told you that people would take the ielts is if they want to maybe go to university in well the united states many of those universities if you are coming from another country they might ask you for like the ielts exam or the toefl and that allows them to make a judgment about your english proficiency to know whether or not you could survive uh academically i think that most i think commonly it's mostly used for academic institutions like universities so i hope you guys enjoyed the lesson just wanted to let you guys know if you love what we do want to show us some love sponsor support the channel with a membership or on patreon uh i saw some members and patrons here with me today takayau lali iwa um so good to see you guys thank you guys uh and next week i will as always be back for another another saturday live lesson with you guys here i hope you have uh well enjoy the rest of your weekend thank you guys for joining just to give some shout outs because i haven't really said many names today um sleepwalker danica julio ragad stellamares um cassius tessie i'm glad it was useful ten kretika uh good to see you again la coselli uh it's a kyle thanks for joining yes yeah it is the ielts is definitely uh i'd say well it's a difficult exam and there's a range of scores it is very difficult i think to get a very very high score on the ielts um michelle leonardo lucy marikash uh juliana good to see you uh all right i'm gonna i'm gonna wrap things up enjoy the rest of your weekend i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 379. IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING | Check out these summer songs... ๐ŸŽต | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Lyn2NLH-3tI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyn2NLH-3tI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:27:34 | --- today i want to talk to you about music that is all related to the summer that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and this channel is all about helping you practice and improve your english and today is a lesson to help you improve your listening skills because many of you out there will ask me questions like oh i need to improve my listening and i i really enjoy listening to music so what are some different songs that that i should listen to and that is a really difficult question to answer because it's different for everyone so what i want to do in this lesson is really get a little more specific to help you with your comprehension because i want to talk to you about some songs that you can listen to that are all uh related to summer and i think because of that it will be helpful in that you don't need to listen to the song and then try to figure out what's it about what's the main idea i'm already giving that to you i'm telling you that these songs are about summer and the things you do during the summer the activities the people that you're with and because you already know that then when you listen to these songs you can just try to listen for key details and try to identify the important information so that you can easily follow along in what the song is saying so these are all songs that are i tried to find some that are a bit different uh in their style but i also wanted to try and find some that i think might be a little easier for you to comprehend and finally before we begin i want to let you know that i will put links to all of these songs down in the description below i will put a link to the to the official video if you just want to listen to the song and i will also put a link to the karaoke version so that you can listen and read along read the lyrics for even better comprehension so check those out they will be down in the description the first song that i have for you is summer of 69 by brian adams and this is a little bit more of a rock song and just looking at the title summer of 69 they're talking about the year 1969 now this this song is not from 1969 it is from it's from later than that it's a song from the 80s and what it is is this person is looking back on this summer from 1969 when they were younger and the things that they like to do for example in the song he says uh me me and some guys from school we we had a band and we tried real hard so in that case he's talking about well they played in a band they just enjoyed the summer and as you're listening to the song see if you can try to identify some of the different things that he's talking about some of those activities from this summer in 69. [Applause] then we have and this is probably one of my favorite songs from the list and that is schools out by alice cooper so this is well the the song is about just what the title title is school is out because i think many especially when you're younger i think many of us associate summer with well no school and the song is about just how excited and happy students are on that very last day and then school is out and summer vacation begins and even in in the song you can hear they hear them talking about no more pencils no more books no more teachers dirty looks so school is out uh yeah it's it's a great song i i remember it very well when when school would end and this is a song that my friends and i would listen to because we were also we were excited that school was out and summer vacation was about to begin then we have summer nights by olivia newton-john now this is a song that's more about a summer fling and if you don't know what a fling is it's talking about a temporary romance mostly that would happen during the summertime so i think some of you may also be familiar with this song because it is part of the movie grease which which was very popular so summer nights is also uh it's it's a little different because you are getting two different perspectives so olivia newton john is singing the perspective of the girls the way that she viewed the summer and uh john travolta would sing from the perspective of the boys and how how they viewed the summer so there is that back and forth as you're listening to the song where she is singing and then he is singing but that it's basically talking about their their summer fling and the time that they spent together during the summer summer nights [Music] next is summertime by dj jazzy jeff and the fresh prince and this is it's more of a like a rap hip-hop song it is from i think back in the 80s and you may notice the fresh prince because that is will smith who who was uh singing before he became a very famous actor and what this song is about is they are just reminiscing about the the summer and how much fun it was and the different activities they would do from playing basketball to having barbecues and just spending time with friends so this song is going to be maybe a little faster so it might be more suited for advanced listeners but i do think they speak clearly throughout the song and it is possible to follow along with with what they're saying so as you're listening to it again try to see if you can follow along the story that they're telling about summer and the different things that they did summertime [Music] then we have summer breeze by seals and crofts and this is uh more of a like easy listening it's an older song from the 70s but i think it in this case it's i think it'd be easier to follow because they don't speak very fast and i think there's a lot of repetition in this for example like the title summer breeze a breeze is like a very light wind and i think when well when i hear this word i do i think about the summer because even right now you can see the the leaves are blowing around there is a slight breeze some parts are maybe a little confusing because part of the chorus is they say summer breeze makes me feel fine blowing through the jasmine of my mind i'm not really sure what what that's talking about blowing through the jasmine of my mind i think it's more just talking about how it just summer uh this summer breeze it makes people feel a little more calm a little more relaxed their worries kind of just just get blown away by the summer breeze but listen to it identify some of those details and then see what how you would interpret this song and what they're talking about that summer breeze [Music] then we have long hot summer by keith urban and i chose this song it's it's a different style it's more of a country song and it's also i think he he speaks a little slower so i think it would be easy to follow now this song is another romance song talking about a summer relationship but also about travel because i think many of us associate summer with with traveling and in the song he's talking about going on uh road trips and and really just just traveling anywhere and being a little bit carefree possibly because of that summer breeze so well in the song he even says it's going to be a long hot summer we should be together with your feet up on the dashboard now and your feet up on the dashboard he's talking about the the dashboard of the car and they just you just get in the car you go you start traveling because it's summer and just have some fun it's gonna be a long hot summer so check that song out again they're all down in the description and i think that when you listen to these songs now that you know they're all about the summer and the activities and the people that you spend time with i think that should make it a little easier for you to follow so if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching enjoy the summer and i will see you next time --- ## 380. IN / ON / AT - How do I use prepositions of place? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `P3WXMvwCfto` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3WXMvwCfto) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:05:21 | --- hmm which preposition should we use to complete this sentence in on or at actually you could use any of them all of them are correct it really just depends on the context and that's what i want to do in today's lesson i want to break it down for you so that you easily understand how to use each of these prepositions when talking about place and i'm also going to give you a little bit of a mini quiz at the end to see how much you've learned my name is wes the channel is interactive english and this is the place that you want to be if you'd like to improve your english fluency so if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that way i can become your teacher also if you'd like to get a pdf copy of today's lesson just click on the link down below in the description so let's begin with in and when you're thinking about n think about an enclosed space that you are surrounded on all sides and i want to give you some more general ideas as to when you would use this preposition so you will use in to talk about locations within a larger area how many people live in this town you'll use in with a car taxi or van if i were to say hey we're waiting in the car it's used to talk about workplaces or industries if someone asks where do you work i work in human resources or i work in fashion and if if you've seen many of my video lessons you you know i absolutely do not work in fashion it's my yeah my fashion's pretty bad you would use in with water let's all get in the pool or the expression there's plenty of fish in the sea so again we're talking about the sea we're talking about water and you would use this expression to say that well if somebody's single and they're looking to have a relationship and find a partner you're saying this to to encourage them to keep looking that there's somebody out there for them don't give up hope there's plenty of fish in the sea we use this preposition with class i'm having trouble paying attention in class i'm enclosed in this space and we also use it with printed materials if you don't know the meaning of a word you can look it up in the dictionary and you can think about it that well that word it's surrounded by other pages so it's in the dictionary so just keep these in mind when you're thinking about in and now let's talk about on and when you will use this preposition and when it comes to on i want you to think about a surface that something is attached to or touching something else so we use on to refer to the position of something on any surface your coffee is on the table i found some money on the sidewalk it's used to talk about a floor in a building i work on the seventh floor it also describes the position along a road or river or by the sea or a lake i could say the car is on the road the boat is on the river again it's on that surface or or i could even say i grew up on the east coast so i'm talking about the coast where i grew up on that surface and i would say on the east coast so when you're talking about the coast east west use on now the next few are technically not on the surface but i i still want you to use on so we're going to use it when talking about being on public transit like a bus or a plane i'm on a bus heading downtown or i'm on a plane to chicago and i know this can be a little tricky because we use in with a car like you're surrounded you're enclosed so one way to think about it is that you're going to use in with with smaller vehicles and you'll use on with larger modes of transportation but again there's always exceptions because you're still going to use on with a bike or motorcycle on a bike or on a motorcycle we use the preposition on with left or right my house is on the left oh no no sorry it's on the right and we'll use this preposition with media as well did you see the new show on netflix or you may be watching this lesson on youtube so just just keep all of this in mind when it comes to using on so now let's talk about at and when to use this preposition and and when you think about at i want you to think of a point a specific location or position so of course we're going to use at when we're referring to the position or location as a point i could say there's a package at the front door we use it to refer to an address i live at 44 main street and and this can be a little confusing because if we're just talking about the street then we'll use on i live on main street on that surface but if i give the specific location 44 main street well now we're talking about a point so we're going to use at we use this preposition to refer to most shops or public places and and in this case i want you to think about a larger point so i i could say i'm shopping at the mall and you would use at even if you are in the mall because if somebody were to ask you like hey where are you they're they're typically asking about your location so that's why you would use at and say i'm shopping at the mall we use it to refer to group activities i could ask you how many people were at your party we also use it with school or university i studied at a top-notch university and that's not really true i studied at a party school but you get the point with either of those we're going to use at and we use this preposition with work or home i could really say that right now i'm working at home so this should give you a better idea as to when you would use at now let's go back to our original sentence and i told you that all three prepositions are correct it really just depends on the context so if i say i'm in the lake well that just means that i'm physically in the water i'm surrounded by the water if i were to say i'm on the lake well now i'm talking about the surface so it really implies that i'm probably on a boat and i'm out on the water and i'm on the lake and if i were to say i'm at the lake well now i'm talking about a specific location even though it's a larger area if somebody were to ask where are you then i would say i'm at the lake because we're talking about location and right now i want to test your knowledge i have a little mini quiz for you i'm going to give you a sentence and i want you to think well which preposition best completes it in on or at i'll give you a moment to think about it and then i'll tell you the answer so your first sentence is i found a mistake the first page which preposition would you use the answer is on so in this case we're talking about the surface of the page on the first page i found a mistake on the first page so so just keep this in mind if we're talking about a page we're going to use on and that is a little tricky because remember we're going to use in when talking about printed materials like a book so something is on a page but in a book here's your next sentence she felt proud um the end of her month-long journey what do you think the correct answer is at she felt proud at the end of her month-long journey because we're talking about that that point that location she's at the end of her journey and these are really common phrases with at if we're talking about well at the beginning of something or at the end of something then there's this sentence there are no public toilets um the city center the correct answer is in there are no public toilets in the city center we're going to use in because we're talking about a location within a larger area here's a question for you do you have anything um your pockets i i think you know this the correct answer is in do you have anything in your pockets we're talking about an enclosed area here's another one we wanted to sit the front of the plane i'm trying to trick you a little bit but the correct answer is at we wanted to sit at the front of the plane i told you that with public transit you're going to use on on a plane but in this case we're talking about a specific location on a plane so in that case we're going to use at at the front of the plane how about this one please refer to the graph um the slide the correct answer is on please refer to the graph on the slide so once again we're talking about the surface of something on a page on a slide so how'd you do on the quiz i want you to be honest let me know down in the comments because i just love hearing from you so i really hope you have a better understanding of these prepositions and and i do not expect you to memorize all of this i just want you to understand it get a feel for it so that way the next time when when you're speaking or writing you are just naturally going to use the correct preposition if you enjoyed today's lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 381. IT DOESN'T DO IT JUSTICE. (Advanced C2 Phrase) #interactiveenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FfUptv3geec` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfUptv3geec) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:59:26 | --- the Grand Canyon is breathtaking pictures don't do it justice to do someone or something Justice and this just means to be accurate or fair by representing someone or something as that person or thing truly is it doesn't do any justice I'll tell you that you always said you like mine I love your nose it's real big up there so this phrase is often used in the negative and with the pronoun it doesn't do it justice so it's like I'm I'm talking about a situation and then saying that it's just not an accurate representation the book is so much better than the movie the movie doesn't do it justice or --- ## 382. Idioms for Casual Conversation (improve your speaking fluency) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `e0zdyA2nZbI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0zdyA2nZbI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:10:03 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson in which case we are going to talk about idioms and learning different idioms which are very common in just casual conversation especially in places like the United States which is where I am from so if you enjoy building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English in case this is your first time here and it's all about just trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if this is your first time here let me know write your name in the chat or the comments tell me where you're from because I just love to hear from you so before we get into the lesson I just want to let you know that if you want to practice and improve your speaking abilities build your confidence you can join my speaking course there is a link down in the description in you can also use the code speak20 to get twenty dollars off the course fee and actually all of the idioms that we're going to talk about in today's lesson are part of the course because each week There's a different speaking topic we learn vocabulary sometimes idioms related to that topic and then practice using them using different engaging speaking activities so check out that link below if you'd like to learn more about the course as well as class times and availability just wanted to to let you go know right at the beginning so um let's let's get into it with our first question because this is going to be a quiz lesson and I want you to participate in the lesson this is interactive English so I want you to write your answers in the comments in the chat and just practice and see how much you know when it comes to these different idioms so the first part of this is I'm giving you part of the idiom as well as the meaning so there are the blank spaces those are different words so this idiom means to try to be cheerful or think positively about a bad situation and you're going to say um side and this is actually I think a pretty common idiom you may have heard of it before I tried to choose ones that I think are pretty relevant in just casual conversation you're talking to someone a friend a family member you may end up using these idioms so the first one again there's three missing words in this I think starting out this way it may be a little easier for you which is good and then we'll get a little more difficult so I see some great answers in there uh great job uh Rafaela vincias Angela Eva I'll try to throw out some uh shout outs as we go through this to look on the bright side you're trying to be cheerful think positively look on the bright side I most of the time you're going to use this in a conversation you're talking to someone else and you're suggesting that they try to be cheerful and you're the one telling them hey look on the bright side it's not so bad try to look on the bright side I'm trying to give you some context down here the one thing that I would add is that when you use this idiom you're going to then tell the person why they should be cheerful so if we're having a conversation and I tell you hey look on the bright side I need to follow it with more information and actually tell you why you should stay positive or be cheerful so keep that in mind when you're using this idiom that you're going to then follow it with the reasons why they should stay positive and why the this other person should look on the bright side excellent I think you guys rock that one perfect the next one this it's not as much of an idiom this is a phrase a phrasal verb combined with something else I'll just I'll add that right now uh it means to pay a bill such as a meal or drinks at a bar I want to emphasize the drinks at the bar part of this so you're going to um up the um how are you going to complete this phrase there are two missing words to um up the um I will go ahead and say there are a couple of different phrases you could use the one that I'm looking for that last word it's not the check or it's not the bill okay so you could say that you could use check or Bill I chose another one that I think is a little more difficult it's not as commonly used but the key word in there would be drinks at the bar I want to emphasize that part I see a lot of people throwing in bill which again that that works but instead of using bill or check if we're talking about drinks at a bar specifically drinks at a bar we could use the word tab to pick up the tab all right saw a few correct answers in there yes uh Vidya Rafaela excellent takayo good to see you good to see so many uh uh speak up students in here excellent um and galpao how are you good to see you so again keep in mind there's nothing wrong with saying to pick up the check or to pick up the bill when you pick something up it just means you're paying for it the phrasal verb pickup has multiple meanings many of them one of them is to pay for something so in this case if you're talking about uh a meal at a restaurant I think in that case it's more common to say you're going to pick up the bill or pick up the check if we're talking about drinks at a bar you may use tab instead to pick up the tab so I wanted to give you this one because it may be new it's great to learn new phrases that have the same meaning pick up the tab pick up the check pick up the bill those are all perfect those are great ones to use and I think again everybody I saw a lot of bills and some checks in there but this is hopefully this is new then we have this next idiom right here and I want you to keep in mind the picture so the home um it's referring to the last part of something that is being done and I appreciate those Thumbs Up In Hearts as I see you flying up here I like it nice so that's the meaning the last part of something that is being done but this idiom actually comes from horse racing which is hence the picture that I'm using so think about a horse race when you're when when the horses are entering that last part of the race the announcer May use this idiom and say were the home um how would you complete a this idiom any any guesses if you know again I want you to participate in the lesson write your answers in the chat in the comments I haven't seen any we're not talking about a home run again this is not that that's more baseball this is it comes from horse racing we're I don't I was about to say it I kind of giving it away but let me go ahead and tell you we're talking about the last part of something being done you're in the home stretch so as the horses would come around the announcer might say oh we're in the home stretch we're at the end of the race but you could use this in a variety of contexts if you're talking about a work project this example sentence down here the project is almost done we're in the home stretch so really the last part of anything that you're doing if you want to say that okay we're almost finished it's near the end you could say that you're in the home stretch and you're really going to use this as a fixed phrase you're going to use that preposition in in the home stretch we're now in the home stretch so once again if this idiom is new that's great I always hope that you can learn something new from these lessons and if you did learn something new please hit that like button I'd appreciate it then I have one more like this and then we're going to switch it up a little and do things differently so this idiom is used with the verb to be so I'm going ahead and putting that out there to be for something you're unable to think of anything to say you're just speechless and typically you would use this when you are shocked you're surprised and you don't know what to say and you would tell someone I am you're using that verb to be I am um for um three missing words in here I think this one is is pretty commonly used especially if you want to emphasize that you have nothing to say and you're just show saw so shocked or surprised sorry I think I didn't uh call coming in I don't know if that appeared up here but you would say I saw a correct answer yes um Rafaela Eva uh Dimitri remelia I think first to answer whoops not that one you're at a loss for words to be at a loss for words you're unable to think of anything to say you're speechless so right down here I told you oh I can't believe it you're so surprised you're shocked I am at a loss for words you're using it with the verb to be the next one the way that I want to do this one I am going to give you a picture and I want you to see if you can guess what the idiom is and use that picture to guess the idiom so I I really tried to track down some images that perfectly fit this idiom so that you could look at it think about what's happening and then tell me what the idiom is so this one I would say is very specific so probably is not commonly used as some of the others like saying you're at a loss for words but in case you want a little bit of a hint I'll give it to you right now okay whoops no no sorry I gave you the answer and then I want you to see if you could tell me what it means all right so yeah I see some and so I don't know why it wasn't picking up great job yes Rafaela Julia um somebody takayo you're in the doghouse so that is the idiom now if you're in the doghouse it's not a good situation think about what do you think it means has a negative connotation so what this means is a bad situation because somebody is angry at you think about this example down here it hasn't happened but if I said I forgot my wife's birthday so if she is angry at me then I am in the doghouse and generally speaking you would use this idiom when talking about your partner your significant other if they if this they are upset at you then you oh you know right now I'm in the doghouse my wife my husband they're upset they're angry with me for some reason I'm in the doghouse you could use it when talking about other family members or even friends as well but I think most of the time it's used when talking about a significant other and when they're angry you then you could say well I'm in the doghouse I'm in trouble and then you have to do something in order to get out of the doghouse the next one what do you think this actually I I think is a pretty pretty good picture that again what you just guess the idiot see if you can guess it and then we'll talk about the meaning I'll give you an example sentence and I think this is a good one this is commonly used so think about that picture those two people what is happening what are they trying to do they have looks like this rope and they have I don't want to give too much of it away they have each each person has an end of the Rope what are they doing with those ends great job nice uh Vidya Tanya we're talking about the idiom to make ends meet and what this refers to is you have just enough money to live on and survive So you you're earning enough money to pay your bills to buy food but still it's a little difficult and you could say that you're making ends meet or this example my family is struggling to make ends meet I have gone ahead and highlighted the word um struggling because I think this is a common collocation that you're struggling to make ends meet or you could use it with an adverb barely making ends meet well we're just barely making ends meet or we're struggling to make ends meet this is a good uh again good idiom that you can use casual conversation talking about the basically the financial situation of another person or group of people to make ends meet the next one this one it's a little more difficult so you have this person talking and this other person is listening intently and you can see that speech bubble there and they're just hanging on to it and that's a little bit of a hint what what phrase could you use that this picture is describing right here you're listening carefully you're in you're listening intently if you have any guesses let me know write your answer in the chat in the comments because I just want you to participate and hopefully maybe this one will be new for some of you that person I I told you the word they're they're hanging on so in this case we could say that they are hanging on someone's every word your listening very carefully you could say I know see some people saying like I'm all ears like yes you're listening you're paying attention that again that's what it means in this case when you're hanging on someone's every word you're really listening carefully but the one thing that I want to add to this is that admiration and respect so the example sentence throughout the lecture I was hanging on his every word in this context this situation I admire the speaker I really respect the speaker and I am hanging on their every word I'm so captivated by what this other person is saying one thing I'll add when I've taught this idiom before and I say yes it means to listen carefully and people may give an example and they may talk about well and then an announcement at the airport and they'd say oh I was hanging on um this person's every word in that situation I would say no no in that case you're just listening carefully when you use this phrase it really it really implies like admiration respect because if you're at an airport or a train station wherever and you're listening carefully to an announcement it's just some information you need to know it's not like you admire or respect the other person who's making the announcement so in that case you would not use this phrase but if you really have a level of respect and admiration and you're captivated by what this other person is saying then you could say oh I was hanging on this person's every word I hope I hope that you are hanging on my every word as I teach you these different idioms that's what I hope but that's another example uh as to how you could use this phrase all right now we're we're switching things up uh again I'm giving you the idiom in this case there are four words and I'm giving you the meaning and I want you to tell me what what idiom you think it is so the the the meaning of this is to decide what to do when you know what is happening rather than planning in advance there are four words blanks what idiom would you use that has this meaning you're talking about planning um scheduling you know what you're going to do you're deciding what to do what has happened um when you know what's happening rather than planning in advance what do you think I see Angela all of us are hanging ones today I appreciate that thank you very much so like go with the flow yeah that that kind of works but going with the flow it really implies like look you really don't care what happens and you're just gonna kind of just you know do whatever uh maybe somebody else wants to do in this case you're you really you're thinking about okay this is what I know what's going to happen and now we're going to do this so you're not going to have that set plan and in that case excellent Takaya rafella I figured both of you would get this we've talked about this before great job Dimitri lynel Angela we're talking about um well you guys already got it I was going to give you this extra hint and give you the first letter of each word but now that you can see people writing in the chat we're talking about the idiom to play it by ear this is one that I like to use mostly because I I think this is how I like to do things especially when I'm traveling sometimes I like to have an idea of a plan but if you know depending on what happens whether it's with the weather or something else or I like to be able to change that so once I find out what's happening then we can do something else and we can decide what to do then and I would say yeah let's just play it by ear I think that's a great statement phrase that you could use if somebody's asking you hey what do you think we should do should we make a plan what do you think about this idea and you could tell somebody look I just you know let's just play it by ear let's see what happens and then we'll decide what we're going to do we don't need a set plan let's just play it by ear excellent the next one I should move through these a bit quicker to give you those hints because I think people got that one uh pretty easily and maybe this next one as well not known or popular with many people so generally speaking you're going to use this idiom when referring to a place it's not known by many people it's not visited by many people and you're talking about the place and you could use this idiom to describe it and say well this place is really um I'll go ahead and give you the words before everybody starts answering so there are four words the first letter of each word is right here now there are two different idioms they're not really different uh that may have the same meaning it's really taking that last word and you could change it to another word either one is correct and I'll tell you in just a moment I I just chose this one because if I were using this idiom this is the one that that I would say great job uh noria Whitney Amelia Rafaela see ya perfect I I said P so off the beaten path this beach is certainly off the beaten path you can see that it's a nice secluded beach it's not visited by many people it's off the beaten path some of you had mentioned off the beat in track same meaning it it's either one is okay I don't know why I think I just tend to use path if I'm referring to a place and saying wow like I can you recommend some place that's off the beaten path and there are not a lot of tourists like where where could I go but you could also say off the Beaten Track both of them are okay but I think this is a great idiom to use in the context of traveling because when I talk to people maybe they're from another country and I would say look if I come visit your country or city where would you suggest that I go and I would like to go somewhere that's uh you know a little off the beaten path that it's not known by many people but generally speaking this idiom does have a positive connotation you're referring to a place that is nice that others would want to visit but people just don't know about it's like a it's a secret all right and this next one this one may be a little more difficult I feel like when I say that that's when people everybody knows the answer so there are three words I've given you uh the words the the letters uh that each word has as well as the meaning to try extremely hard to help or please someone what is what idiom could you use that has this meaning to try extremely hard to help or please someone this is what you are doing and I think again this is a useful one you would use this conversation back and forth with someone else especially when you're trying to emphasize that you're you're trying hard to help this other person I'll give you the first letter of each each word even though I saw the correct answer in there already but I will let you know in just a moment so you're helping someone else and you generally you would use this when you're letting them know that you're helping them great job romelia uh Portos nice Nora we're talking about to bend over backwards you're bending over backwards to help someone I've been bending over backwards to help you the one thing I'd add to this is that often you're going to follow this with that preposition two and then whatever that something is I've been bending over backwards to help you do something I've been bending over backwards to teach you something I've been bending over backwards to and then you may follow it with that extra information but in this case when you're using this and you're telling this to someone else you're emphasizing that they you've just been you know trying extremely hard to help someone or please someone you're bending over backwards so there I tried to keep the number of idioms in this lesson to a reasonable amount so there were 10 of them and you can look at them right here here is a little bit of review hopefully you knew some of these already I also hope that some of them may be new or that you at least learned one new thing and if you did you can let me know by hitting that like button it also tells me that I should do some more of these lessons in the future now I would like to find out how you did so I'm going to add a quick little question for all of you to answer how did you do on the idiom quiz and I'll give you a few different choices um I rocked it let's see 100 uh um I did okay and let's add another option I really need to practice more all right so there's that pole that I put there again I'm kind of curious to gauge how difficult or easy this quiz was for you so let me know right there how did you do on the quiz just to remind you one last time if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills check out that link down in the description below you can use that code speak20 to get 20 off but this course it's for intermediate to Advanced speakers but it's all about helping you practice and improve your skills build your confidence and build your vocabulary along the way like I said these idioms are actually idioms that are taken from this course and there's a lot others as well so I also want to say a thank you to the members that I've seen in here other students from speak up rafella to Kayo good to see you other people that I always see in these chats Manuel Julia umphal nice to see you all Ava Miss thank you guys for participating in the lesson that's what these live lessons are all about giving you an opportunity to practice with me and let's just get a look quick look at the results so it seems like uh it's a little bit mixed about a quarter of you said you rocked it and then the third said they did okay and then 43 right now I need uh I really need to practice more so again that's great if you learn some new idioms again these are pretty common and just casual conversation especially in the United States I'm adding that because I'm from the US and when I started teaching English I realized then just how often I use so many different idioms just in back and forth conversation so these are not ones that you need to try to force into the conversation but if you're in a certain situation they they really work well and sound natural when you can you know tell somebody hey I want you to look on the bright side and then tell them why they should stay positive or right now before I should have used it before and saying we're in the home stretch right now we're definitely at the end or talking about travel what do you want to do let's just play it by ear these are great idioms to know so thank you again for joining me today I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and of course I will see you soon in another lesson so --- ## 383. Idioms for Everyday Conversation (develop your speaking fluency) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oekK5PZxVAk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oekK5PZxVAk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:08:36 | --- Welcome to today's lesson and we are going to learn some idioms for everyday conversation and this is a quiz lesson. So I want you to participate. Write your answers in the chat or in the comments if you're watching this later. And if you are someone who likes building your vocabulary and learning idioms to just improve your speaking fluency, please hit that subscribe button, turn on notifications. then I can become your teacher. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And the other thing before we start this little quiz, if you would like to download and get access to the lesson notes that you see right here, you can join our community. And there is a link down below in the description if that is something that you're interested in. I'll send you lesson updates, new course information, as well as just some useful resources from time to time. I'll go ahead and throw that down there in the chat. But check out that link down in the description. If you are already a part of our email community, then just check your inbox. I have already sent them to you or they should be arriving soon. Now, as we go through the lesson, I I see so many familiar faces in the chat, which is great. I am going to try to give some shout outs here and there as we go through this, but let's go ahead and start with the first one. I'm trying to to make it a little easier. So, in this case, I'm giving you part of the idiom. You can see it bolded right there, but there's just one word missing. So, I want you to complete the idiom. Which word is missing? I can't believe she said that. It was really below the M. So, you can see what's bolded there. Below the M. What word is missing? How would you complete that idiom? And then we'll talk about the meaning so that you have a better understanding. But the key word in there, I think, is like, well, that first sentence as far as trying to figure out the meaning. Something was said. This person can't believe it. They were surprised. Maybe they were offended. And you could say, "Wow, that was really below the correct answer is below the belt." Nice. Uh, Ricardo Juliet allowed. Perfect. This is a remark uh that is really insulting or unfair. And if you want to say that, you know, it was not necessary. It was uncalled for. That was an unfair remark, you could say. Yeah, that was just below the belt. It wasn't it wasn't the right thing to do. It was just too insulting. It was below the belt. Excellent. The next one, and I again, my goal is as we go through these, I think they'll get a little more difficult, but I just hope that you learn a few new idioms. That would be the goal. So, you can see this picture right here, somebody cleaning the carpet. And let's pretend that I am telling this person, hey, you know, you can get that stain out, but you may need to give it a little m grease. So, this is a phrase. It's an idiom, and we're talking about m grease. Two words. So, what adjective would come before the noun grease? And then we'll talk a little bit about the meaning. So, you can get that stain out, but you may need to give it a little m grease. And as I see you guys are rocking this. You guys are on on fire. Today, we're talking about elbow grease. Nice. Uh, Lai Angela. Perfect. yama elbow grease. It's a lot of physical effort, especially when cleaning. Now, there are other situations that you could use this and talking about elbow grease apart from cleaning. Maybe you're trying to to fix something and you really just have to give it a lot of physical effort to uh you know turn this so that you can tighten the screw. You got to give it a little elbow grease. This is a again useful phrase when talking about that you just got to work a little harder and give it a little elbow grease. I would even say that is a bit of a collocation with this phrase to give something a little elbow grease. Well done. The next one, this is uh maybe it's a little bit too much of a hint with the the picture there. If you notice or you can recognize these different people, I I think also the the sentence will also give it away. And another one gone. And another one gone. Another one bites the And I'm trying not to sing it because you may recognize those four people. They're from the the famous music group Queen. And this is a song and this is part of the song. And another one gone. And another one gone. Another one bites the what and and then we'll talk about what it means. So I think this is one that you've probably have heard. I This is a very well-known song. I imagine you've heard this song possibly in a movie or TV show. And I see some really uh great answers in there. Another one bites the dust. That is the noun we were looking for. Excellent, Suma, Ricardo. Another one bites the dust. It has different meanings. Uh I Well, I can talk about in the song, but bite the dust. It could mean to fall. So, if you fall off your bike and you say, "Yeah, I I fell off my bike yesterday and I really bit the dust." It would just mean to fall. It could mean something comes to an end. If I'm talking about somebody's career, they say something stupid and they get fired and I say, "Well, yeah, their career really bit the dust and it came to an end or it could mean to be killed." And in this sense, I imagine that in the song they're talking about bullets flying and people hit the ground and another one bites the dust. So it could be like killed or even in this case somebody's falling. But if you say something it it would be a euphemism in this case. And I would say that if you're talking about another person, another human, it would sound a bit cold and callous to say somebody bit the dust. If you're going to use this to refer to something being killed, maybe you could use it talking about an insect or a spider or something, a mosquito. You this mosquito bit you and you smacked at your arm and it bit the dust. So, I feel like if you're going to use this to talk about being killed, keep that in mind. I don't think it's often used to refer to other people um in that context. The next one, this one I think is maybe a little more difficult. At least I when I every time I say that, that's when I see all the correct answers every time. Boom, boom, boom, boom. For now, let's put a m in it will come back to your idea later. So hopefully just hearing the sentence, it can jog your memory as to okay, I think this is the idiom. I've bolded it for you. Put a m in it. And the second part of the sentence would be a little bit of a hint as far as the meaning is concerned. For now, let's put a m in it. We'll come back to your idea later on. Which noun are you going to complete this idiom? And I see some answers. No, not a table. Even though Okay, we'll I'll talk about that. Not put a sock in it. If somebody tells you put a sock in it, it's kind of like telling you, "Hey, be quiet. Uh don't don't say anything or like shut up. I haven't seen it." Again, everybody just try think about it. Throw your answers. Don't worry if you make a mistake. I would just This is all about practicing. It's interactive English. I want you to participate in the lesson. Not put a lid in it. A lid would technically go on something, but for now, let's put a m in it will come back to your idea later on. And the key part of this as far as trying to figure out the meaning would be to come back to something. So, in this case, it's not like you're upset. It's like, okay, let's we we'll we'll we're not going to talk about this now. We'll come back to it. I haven't seen it. So, all right. Maybe this is Oh, Arminda, you nailed it. Put a pin in it. For now, let's put a pin in it. We'll come back to your idea later on. So, to put a pin in it or this. Generally, what happens is you're talking about something and that's why you're going to use it or this and say, "Okay, let's put a pin in it and maybe then we'll come back to it later on." you're taking a break from discussing some topic and you're going to resume later. So, you would put a pin in it. Now, I I said I'd come back to the word table because that is another idiom to table something and you could say the same something similar like for now let's table this discussion and we'll come back to your idea later on. It would have a similar meaning. So to table something is to put it off and deal with it later. Talk about it later and to put a pin in it or put a pin in this. We're going to take a break from discussing something and then we will come back to it later on. Put a pin in it. All right. Then maybe this one's new. That's good. I love it. I like it when if if this is new, you can let me know. Now, I'm going to switch gears, and this time I'm giving you a picture, and I just want you to to try to guess the idiom, and I will give you a hint because I'll show you the meaning in just a moment, and then I'll I'll tell you the idiom. But can you use this picture, think about what's going on, and what idiom could it possibly be? You see this? This looks like it has to do with fishing. And I think once you see this is a little more challenging. I think once you see the answer then it it'll definitely make sense. But let me go ahead and give you the meaning. And we're talking about when you are free from blame or from an annoying obligation. I see some people like fish out of water. That that's a good guess. That is another expression. If somebody feels like a fish out of water though, it means they feel uncomfortable in some new or different environment. So, we're talking about a different meaning here. If you're free from blame or from an annoying obligation, you are close and some other ones. Uh, gifty. Excellent. Yes. Um, Angela, you are off the hook. to be off the hook. I saw some with get. I I wouldn't use it with get off the hook. Typically, you're going to hear people use this with the verb to be and say somebody is off the hook. If you are supposed to go with me to some party and maybe you don't want to go and I say, "Okay, look, you don't have to go with me. You're off the hook. You're free from this annoying obligation. You're off the hook." Or again, if somebody's not going to get blamed for something, it's like, okay, yeah, you're you're off the hook or you're not going to get punished uh for this thing. All right, let's let's keep going. Here we go. The next one. This is definitely, I think, a little more challenging looking at this picture. What do you think? Can you guess what idiom what's happening? You see this foot these people standing on this white line. What would you say? I will give you the meaning and hopefully it may make it a little easier to do what you are expected to do without causing trouble for anyone. To do what you're expected to do without causing trouble for anyone. That is the meaning of this idiom. And in this case, you are trying to do what? And now I think again people are you're able to look at the picture and come up with the correct answer, which is to tow the line. Well done, uh, Yama Suma. Nice. To tow the line means that you're you're doing what you're expected to do without causing trouble for anyone. I think of situations like somebody might be in at work and you're trying to follow orders even though maybe you don't disagree with what you're supposed to do and you're just like, "Okay, look, I'm just I'm just trying to tow the line. I'm going to do what's expected of me. I don't want to cause any trouble. I I'm just trying to tow the line." Then we have I I'm may need to give you a little more context with this. I just love the picture. It's a giraffe obviously, but the word giraffe is not a part of the idiom. However, there is a body part that is part of the idiom which is very relevant when talking about a giraffe like this one. And I tried to find a picture that I don't know really makes it easier possibly to identify that body part. And let me give you the meaning because yeah, it's a it's a little more difficult just looking at that picture. I just thought it was funny to bravely say or do something that might be criticized or might turn out to be wrong. to bravely say or do something that might be criticized or might turn out to be wrong. What are you doing? And this is something you may do for another person. Trying to help another person even though you might be criticized. You're trying to help another person even though you might be wrong. And the key word uh the word that I was talking about the body part is neck because I see that as a like couple of answers. But what what idiom that has the word neck has this meaning? So if somebody I see like is breathing down your neck. No, it's more like somebody's like looking over you making sure you're doing what you you're supposed to be doing. Excellent. Lai, you nailed it. We're talking about the idiom to stick your neck out. And if you're sticking your neck out, you're basically putting yourself out there to be criticized and you might be wrong. And you may stick your neck out for another person, trying to help them. You're trying to stick up for this person, and you stick your neck out. And think about it as far as the meaning of what's what's going on. You stick your neck out. It's kind of a dangerous situation that you you could have problems. You could get in trouble when you stick your neck out. The next one, another fun animal one, which maybe this one is a little easier than the giraffe one in sticking your neck out. There's definitely uh a body part that I think you can identify with this picture and then try to think about what idiom it is, especially when it means to be waiting eagerly to hear about something. So if you're waiting eagerly to hear about something, you could say this idiom. Often I feel like this idiom is used in response to someone who wants to tell you something like, "Oh, guess what happened? You couldn't believe what happened." Really, I want you to listen closely. And then you could tell this person what and say this statement. Nice. Well done. Uh Helen Eloa, we're talking about to be all ears. And the statement that that you would then say is I'm all ears. If I have something really important to tell you, I say, "Oh, just listen. Just hear what I have to say." Okay, I'm all ears. Tell me what's going on. I'm all ears. This part is going to be a little more challenging because now I'm giving you the meaning and I want you to tell me the idiom. And we're going to again walk through this slowly because I'll give you the meaning and then I'll show you the picture which is kind of related to the idiom and then I'll tell you what the answer is. So I've blurred out this first picture even though maybe you can guess what it is. Perhaps I think it's easy because I know what the picture is before I blurred it out. But this idiom means to be wellprepared or well organized for something that is going to happen. And those of you who have taken my speak up course, this is one that we've talked about before previously, I feel like in the last couple of courses, I see some uh some names, some people, Raphaela or Melinda, Pressures on what what idiom is this. well prepared or well organized for something that is going to happen. And a key word here I believe would be organized. So here is the picture and I think now it probably would become a little easier. I already see a couple of answers in the comments there. Uh nice. Yes, Sid. Uh, there's another name. I can't pronounce it, but yeah, you you guys got it. Neil, we're talking about the idiom to get your ducks in a row. Or you could use it with the verb have. Either one. To ha to get your ducks in a row or have your ducks in a row refers to being really well organized, well planned, and you have everything in order, and you're just ready for what's going to happen in the future, and you're you're going to get your ducks in a row. Here's the next one. And I do think this one is a a little more challenging. I think probably it's more common to hear an idiom like to get your ducks in a row because we often have conversations about the need to be organized. This one's rather specific. We're talking about changing the rules while someone is trying to do something in order to make it more difficult for them. So if you have these rules or conditions that you're trying to follow and then all of a sudden those rules or conditions are changed in order to make it more difficult to complete your task or do whatever it is that you need to do. You could say that this person or organization or institution keeps what? And that is the idiom. They're changing the rules or conditions. Here is the picture. I know it's blurred out, but you can see this like a soccer goal. And the word that would be a part of this is not necessarily the goal in its entirety, but what about what the sides? What would you call those? Those would be the goalposts. And if you are going to move the goalpost, then that means you're changing the rules while someone is trying to do something in order to make it more difficult. So, it's a little bit more of a descriptive idiom if you want to say, "Hey, I'm trying to do this, but this, you know, my my boss or my supervisor just keeps moving the goalpost and they're changing the requirements or rules and making it a little more difficult. They're moving the goalpost, which is true. If you're trying to score and somebody's moving the goalpost, it's going to make it more difficult to score as well." Here's this one. I think this is also a bit more challenging. I think this is maybe one that you've I I would guess maybe it's one you've heard if you watch a lot of movies or TV shows in English. But once again, I'd say it's rather specific. And if it's new, then that's great. You're we're talking about to do something without worrying about the risk or negative results. You're doing something without worrying about the risk. You're not worrying about the negative results. What idiom uh am I talking about? And your hint, you see that sign right there and it says caution high winds. So thinking about that sign, thinking about what it says, I think maybe now it possibly will become a little bit easier, especially if this is a phrase that you've heard. You're doing or to do something without worrying about the risk or negative results. I see some answers. Yes, great job. Uh Julia Ava, we're talking about to throw caution to the wind. When you throw caution to the wind, you're going to do something without worrying about the risk or negative results. Now, as far as the way you may have heard this being used, this is just my opinion. I feel like a lot of times it might be used kind of in the negative when you're telling someone, "Hey, don't take a risk. you should worry about the outcome and the results. Don't throw caution to the win. So, in that case, I'm kind of using it to say the opposite with the negative. Don't throw caution to the win. Don't do anything without uh you know, you should worry about the risk or the negative results in in that context. All right. Here is another one that I think I even though I tried to blur it out. I probably you can kind of see the picture talk about what it is to be directly involved in or affected by something especially financially. You're involved in it. You're affected by this. You you have some financial interest in this thing. You could say that you have what. And I gave you a little bit of a hint there by using the verb have. And here is the picture in case you're wondering. Maybe this picture is not going to help you too much, but there's a word, a specific word in there that is part of this idiom. And I'll go ahead and tell you the word. You can see this picture. We're talking about skin. This is a picture somebody uh their back you can see their skin and they're you're directly involved in or affected by something especially financially and you could say that you have skin in the game to have skin in the game. It's an informal way of saying you are really involved in whatever it is that you're going to be affected by this outcome. And like I said, financially would be like investing in some company and you have skin in the game. If the company does well, then you're going to make money. If the company goes out of business, you're going to lose everything and you have skin in the game. All right. So, this is a review of the idioms. There are 12 idioms that we talked about in this lesson. You can see all of them right here. This is a way to build your vocabulary, improve your speaking fluency. Right now, let's just quickly go through and do a little bit of review just to to remind you of the meaning one more time. So, if we say that something is below the belt, it's referring to something that was said. It was insulting. It was unfair. It was below the belt. If we talk about giving something a little elbow grease, we're talking about physical effort. And generally, you would use this in the context of cleaning something. And you need to give it a little bit of elbow grease. To bite the dust, it has a few different meanings, but if you say someone or something bites the dust or bit the dust in the past tense, to fall or come to an end or to be killed. Then we have this one. We talked about putting a pin in it. Maybe this is a this one was a little more challenging. If you put a pin in it, you're basically saying, "Well, like this would be more in the context of a conversation with another person or a group of people. You're sharing ideas. You're talking about something. Look, we'll come back to that later. For now, let's just put a pin in it and then we'll resume discussing this later on." Off the hook means that you are free from blame or some annoying obligation. I gave you that example. You don't have to go to the party with me. I know you're busy. You don't want to go. You're off the hook. We also have this one to tow the line, which again, I think is rather specific. You're just basically saying that you're trying to just do what's expected of you. You don't want to cause any trouble. You're trying to tow the line. The next one we talked about was to stick your neck out. To bravely say or do something in which you might be criticized or even you might be wrong and you're sticking your neck out possibly to help someone else out and you're sticking your neck out. Then we have to be all ears. I told you that mostly you might hear this sentence if somebody's asking you, hey, oh listen, I got to tell you something. And you just want to say, look, I'm all ears. I'm I'm eagerly waiting to hear about what you have to say. I'm all ears. to have or get your ducks in a row. You just want to be prepared and well organized for something that may happen in the future. I think this one's useful and common to have your ducks in a row. to move the goalpost when you're changing the rules or conditions just to make something a little more difficult and you're moving the goalpost. And I know we just looked at these recently to throw caution to the wind. You're just doing something without worrying about the risk or negative results. I mentioned that often you may end up using this in like the negative saying, "Hey, don't throw caution to the wind. You should be careful. Don't throw caution to the wind." and the one that we just looked at to have skin in the game. You're directly involved or affected by something, especially financially. So hopefully one or more of these idioms is new and you learn something new and you can listen for them. If you're watching a TV show or movie, of course, I want to know how you did and I'm going to write this in the chat. You can tell me how you did on the quiz. I'm always interested. How did you do on the quiz? And you could say, I rocked it. And we'll do like a little emoji. 100. Okay. With a smile or I really need to do my homework. And uh we'll did some books there. Okay. So, what do you think? Um All right. What do you How did I How do I start the poll? Um not allowing me. Oh, maybe I have to I didn't not get any correct. Maybe that is why. and then I can start it. No, it's not letting me start this poll for some reason. Okay, I apologize about that. Well, you can let me know in the comments how you did uh on this quiz lesson. And remember, if you want to get the lesson notes, check out the description down below. Once again, I'll go ahead and throw that in the chat right there. Thanks so much for joining me today. Raphaela Lai, great to see you. Suma, Sid, everybody, thank you for joining and participating in the lesson. And I will be back soon for another lesson in the future. Have a great day. --- ## 384. If I Had Known Thisโ€ฆ I Would Sound Fluent in English! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-Au3spuzM44` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Au3spuzM44) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:52:39 | --- mixed conditionals this is Advanced grammar and these sentences can be a little tricky so I'm going to go through them slowly give you a lot of different examples and hopefully by the end of the lesson you're going to have a much better understanding as to how you can use these useful sentences and if you would like to get the lesson notes click on the link down in the description that way you can review and you'll have them and you can just continue to improve your grammar skills so what conditional sentences simply put this is when we have an if clause which is our condition and a main clause which is our result if you subscribe to the channel you will reach your fluency goals this is a conditional sentence and yes I I think it's true I hope that you subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English and yeah that's what it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so before we get into the mixed conditionals I I want to go over all of the conditional forms so let's start with the zero conditional this is used to talk about General truths the condition we're going to use the present simple and the result we're also going to use the present simple if you touch fire you get burned if I drink coffee at night I can't sleep this is true for me or I could say meet me here if we get separated in this case notice that I'm putting the result before the condition and I'm not using a comma Now the first conditional is used to talk about a possible or likely situation in the future with the condition we're going to use the present simple and the result we're going to use the future if we work hard we will finish on time if you build it he will come this is a famous line from the movie Field of Dreams if you build it you will come and what was that if you teach it they will hit the like button I I hope that's true that if I teach this lesson you will hit the like button I could also say the ship will sink if we don't fix the hole again in this case I'm putting the result before the condition now with the second conditional we're going to use this to talk about a hypothetical or unlikely situation with the condition we're using the past simple and the result we're going to use would plus the verb if I were you I would hit the like button that is another suggestive hint using the second conditional or if I were a boy I would listen to her you may recognize this sentence because this is one of the lines from Beyonce's song If I Were a Boy If I Were a Boy if you want to listen to the second conditional check out this song it is full of sentences using the second conditional now I I could also say I would buy a new car if I won the lottery and yes I think I would buy a new car if I won the lottery the third conditional we're going to use this to talk about an imaginary or unreal situation in the past so for the condition we're going to use the past perfect the result we're going to use would have plus the past participle here are some example sentences if I had studied I would have passed the exam I I could also say if I had known I would have told you and then if we put the result before the condition I could say he would have come if you had invited him so let's get into the main event mixed conditionals these are a combination of two types of conditional patterns I just went over all of the different patterns but usually this is a combination of the second and third conditionals so there there are two main types of mixed conditionals but wi within each type there is some another version that's closely related mix conditional number one we're going to use this to talk about an unreal past condition and its probable result in the present so the past condition we're going to use the past perfect this is like the past condition in the third conditional plus the present result in which case we're going to use would plus the verb this is the result in the second conditional so here's an example if you had checked the map we would not be lost now I added a little more information hoping that that may give you a better sense of not only what's happening but when it's happening so I I could say say if you had checked the map when we stopped for gas we would not be lost right now so I'm adding right now to emphasize that this is the present and I provided you a little timeline down below again to try to to help you get a better understanding not only of what's going on but when it's going on so our unreal past condition would be that well you check the map and then the present result would be like well we wouldn't be lost and I can capture that with that sentence if you had checked the map we would not be lost let's look at some more example sentences I could say if you had taken the train you would be here past condition present result or if I had eaten dinner I wouldn't be hungry and yeah generally that's true if I had eaten dinner I wouldn't be hungry right now in the present and I could also take that present result and put it before the past condition when I say I would have a new car if I had won the lottery and yes I would have a new car if I had won the lottery but I did not win the lottery so of course I do not have a new car I want to quiz you real quickly because it's just fun I want you to participate in the lesson you can write this down on your own think about it in your head or even write it in the comments section I always love seeing people participate in these lessons because yeah after all this is interactive English so how would you complete this sentence right here using this mixed conditional you wouldn't feel sick and I want you to use the word medicine so the first thing you need to decide is whether or not the first part of that sent sentence is our past condition or present result just looking at the grammar I'm sure you know that the first part is talking about the present result you wouldn't feel sick right now so we need to come up with our past condition and you're going to use the past perfect so to complete this sentence I would say you wouldn't feel sick if you had taken the medicine we're talking about an unreal past condition and the probable result in the present you wouldn't feel sick if you had taken the medicine I want to move into the next part of this mix conditional and I'm calling it mixed conditional 1B because it has some similarities and really what we're talking about is an unreal past condition and its probable result in the future so we're still going to use the past condition with the past perfect but this time we're going to talk about a future result and we're going to use would Plus plus b plus the verb and ing so as an example I could say if I had taken the job I'd be moving to New York next month I'm talking about a result in the future and again you can check out that timeline down below hopefully it'll give you a better sense of what's going on let's compare the two because you could use the same grammar when talking about either a present or future result it really just depends on the verb because you're going to use the continuous tense with action verbs not sta of verbs so look at the sentence with a present result uh if I said if I had finished high school I would be a college student now I'm not really going to change this sentence right here and provide a future result because the verb to be is a stative verb now the other sentence that could have a present or future result I'm using would plus be plus the verb and ing if she had said yes that is my past condition I would be getting married now I could say I would be getting married right now to talk about this specific point in time or I could say I would be getting married next month and talk about that future result so in this case I could use that grammar to either talk about a present result or a future result so they are a little similar which is why I labeled them mixed conditional one and mix conditional 1B now let's have a look at mixed conditional number two and we're going to use this to talk about a hypothetical situation and it's probable but unreal past result so the hypothetical condition I'm going to use the past simple this is the condition in the second conditional plus the past unreal result in which case I'm using would have Plus the past participle which is the result in the third conditional let's look at the sentence if I were afraid of snakes I would not have gone camping you can look at the Timeline to give you a better understanding that hypothetical condition if I were afraid of snakes what is the past but unreal result I would not have gone camping in this case you know that the speaker is not afraid of snakes therefore this person did go camping they were just commenting on this hypothetical situation and what would be the past result let's look at some more examples if she weren't injured she would have played it's a hypothetical situation because we know that she is injured or I could say if they were Slackers they wouldn't have finished the project slacker is an informal noun referring to a lazy person once again hypothetical condition past unreal result and if I take the result and put it before the condition in that case I could say I would have answered the phone if I wasn't in an important meeting once again I want to quiz you on this mixed conditional and I want you to complete the sentence using the phrase so busy and then follow that with I would have gone with you to the movie you can think about it or write it in the comments how would you complete this Miss conditional the first thing you should do is identify whether or not that second part of the sentence is talking about the condition or the result just based on the grammar you know that we're talking about that past unreal result I would have gone with you to the movie so you know that the first part of the sentence is our hypothetical condition and we're going to use the past simple to say if I wasn't so busy I would have gone with you to the movie now let's have a look at mixed conditional 2B again there are some similarities this is used to talk about a hypothetical future situation and it's probable but unreal past result so we're using a hypothetical condition in the future we're going to use the past continuous plus that past unreal result in which case we're using would have plus the past participle look at this sentence right here if my friend wasn't preparing a big dinner for tonight I would have cooked something for myself so the hypothetical future condition would be that my friend is not preparing dinner if my friend wasn't preparing a big dinner for tonight and then that unreal past result is that well I would have cooked something for myself if my friend wasn't preparing a big dinner for tonight I would have cooked something for myself let's compare the two so that you have a better understanding of the difference which is a hypothetical condition in the present using the past simple and a hypothetical condition in the future using the past continuous and keep in mind we're going to use the continuous tense with those action verbs not state of verbs so look at that sentence that hypothetical condition in the present if she wasn't afraid of flying she wouldn't have traveled by train that condition in the present to be afraid of something it's a sta of verb I'm not going to change this and provide a hypothetical future condition it would just seem really awkward but that next one with the hypothetical condition in the future if my parents weren't coming this weekend I would have plann something special so I'm using that past continuous to talk about a future condition now I know I've given you a lot of information to to take in but I want to see how much you remember I have a little mini quiz for you and I'm going to give you a situation and I want you to give me a mixed conditional that basically has the same meaning so here's your first one I do not trust him therefore I did not hire him for the job take this situation and give me a sentence that is a mixed conditional and it has the same meaning so with this situation there are two parts there is a hypothetical condition and a past unreal result so the hypothetical condition if I trusted him plus my past unreal result I would have hired him for the job if I had trusted him I would have hired him for the job try the next one here is your situation he did not take care of himself therefore he is sick right now how can we change this situation to a mixed conditional that has the same meaning if we break this into two parts we have a past condition and a present result if he had taken care of himself he would not be sick right now here's the next one he will not go to Mexico with us next month because he wasted his bonus gambling in Las Vegas change this sentence to a mixed conditional in this case we have a pass condition if he hadn't wasted his bonus gambling in Las Vegas followed by a future result he would be going to Mexico with us next month I have another one for you here is the situation I am not going on a business trip next week therefore I accepted a new assignment at work change this situation to a mix conditional sentence that has the same meaning here we have a hypothetical future condition followed by a past unreal result if I were going on a business trip next week I would not have accepted a new assignment at work well done I hope you did well on this mini quiz you can let me know how you did down in the comments and I know mixed conditionals can be a little tricky but I think the more you look at some of these sentences think about what's happening and when it's happening it'll make more and more sense if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 385. If You ACE This Quiz, Your English is Excellent! ๐Ÿ’ฏ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JmaPX-jyE9o` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmaPX-jyE9o) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:01:06 | --- and ace this quiz, then your English is excellent. And this is something I I really do believe that if you're able to ace this, then okay, you are well on your way to fluency. You have a high level of proficiency. And the first thing I want to mention is that if you would like to get these lesson notes that you see right next to me, click on the link down in the description, join my email community. If you're already a part of it, then I have sent them to you because if you are someone who enjoys, you know, improving your overall English fluency skills, then check out uh that link down below. Also, please subscribe to the channel. Uh my name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English, and that's what it's all about, trying to help you develop and reach those fluency goals. So, let's just go ahead and jump into it. This is a quiz lesson, so of course, I want you to participate. I don't want you I don't want you to just sit there and look along. I mean, that's okay, but I want you to write your answers in the chat, in the comments. I That's what I want to see. I want to see this is active learning. So, I'm giving you two sentences right here. The first one, I haven't seen such a beautiful sunset in years. I want you to use the word ever and complete this sentence down here, which is going to have a very similar meaning to the first one. So, these two sentences are going to have a similar meaning. And I want you to figure out, okay, how can I complete this sentence using the word ever so that it really just has the same meaning as, well, I haven't seen such a beautiful sunset in years. I'll give you a moment to to think about it and then I'll tell you. And really what we're doing here, I love these exercises because you're exercising your vocabulary muscles, but also thinking about the grammar because you want to make sure that well if the first sentence is, for example, if it's in the past, then the next one's going to be in the past. So you really do have to think about the grammar involved when you make these changes. So the first sentence, I haven't seen such a beautiful sunset in years. You're admiring this sunset. And I'm starting out the sentence. It's the So, think about a superlative. All right, a superlative, which in that case, we're using the word most. And what is the adjective in the first sentence? Beautiful. It's the most beautiful what? What are we talking about? Well, we're talking about a sunset. So, it's the most beautiful sunset that I've ever seen in years. I mean, you could put in years if you want to be specific. I think in general, uh, people might say, "Well, it's the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen, but this is what we call a transformation." And you find these type of these types of activities on proficiency exams all the time. And you need to rewrite the sentence so that it has a very similar meaning. And the reason why that you find them on these proficiency exams is because, like I said, it's testing both your vocabulary and grammar. You need to think about the grammar. I said we're using a superlative. The most beautiful sunset. In this case, we're using the pre the present perfect. So, we're going to use it down here. I've ever seen. It's the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in years. So, again, this is the exercise that I want to do. I want you to change these sentences and they would call them keyword transformations because I'm going to give you the key word. I'm going to give you the word that I want you to use when you change these sentences. And as we go through this, I'll try to give some shout outs here and there. It's going to be a little more challenging because you're you you'd have to write a bit more, but also there may be more than one answer. I'll go ahead and tell you that right now. Just because I have a response, that doesn't mean it it's the only one. There may be multiple ways of completing the sentence. So, what do you think about this right here? We couldn't understand what he was trying to say. We couldn't understand what he was trying to say. There's your key word sense. I want you to use that word and complete this sentence right here. We couldn't what he was trying to say. I I'm we're starting out at I think maybe this is a little more intermediate uh at this point and I will try to make them a little more difficult. Uh I don't want to make them crazy difficult but I want to make it a little more challenging as we go through this. So I mentioned the vocabulary and in this case thinking you you see that word sense then you would really need to understand a phrase or collocation in this case to make sense saying that something makes sense or it doesn't make sense or in this case we couldn't make sense but this is when the grammar comes into play because we're going to follow that with a preposition. So I see a lot of you know great answers people say make sense but specifically if I want to get technical and a lot of you also put this you follow that preposition to make sense of something. So it it is important to have that of in order to correctly complete the sentence so so that the sentence actually makes sense. So you would say we couldn't make sense of what of what he was trying to say. and you're you're talking about making sense of something. So, that is the phrase that you need to be aware of in in when it comes to this question. So, great job. I saw a lot of uh excellent answers there. Well done. Um Ava, Julia, nice. So, she regrets not speaking up during the meeting. Simple sentence. I think you understand it. Easy to follow. I want you to change that sentence so that it has a similar meaning and I want you to use wishes. Use that word in this sentence down here. She m during the meeting. So it's like I feel like the more that I talk the more I end up giving it away. Uh when I would like to give you some time to think about okay, how is the sentence structured? what what words am I going to use to correctly complete the sentence? Is the verb changing? Uh so again, you got to keep in mind the grammar plus that vocabulary. So using the word wishes, I I think that just thinking about this second sentence that you understand. Okay, that's going to follow our subject. She wishes. She wishes. You know what? You could follow it with a that clause. A lot of times that may be omitted. So, she wishes she during the meeting. So, we're talking about not speaking up. In this case, when we're changing that, the grammar is going to change a little bit. She wishes she in this case had done something. So, it's a conditional sentence where you're expressing like, okay, this didn't happen. I wish that it did happen, but she wishes she had spoken up during the meeting. To speak up, in case you're unfamiliar with that phrasal verb, it means to just say something out loud, uh, expressing your thoughts, your opinion, idea, and you're not going to be shy, and you're going to speak up. So, when we change this sentence, you want to use that the the past perfect. She wishes she had spoken up during the meeting. Great job. I saw a lot of uh other great answers. Nice Lai, good to see you. Um here we go. Mama, excellent. Good to see you here. Awesome. Here we go. Let's keep moving along because I actually have quite a few that uh I want to get through. The results were completely different from what we expected. Once again, this is a sentence. just you you understand the meaning and I want you to use the word turned and rewrite the sentence or come up with a new sentence essentially that has a similar meaning. The results m completely different from what we expected. So these first few I'm only you know you only have to think of a few words maybe and then like I said it's going to get a little more challenging or at least I think it will as we go through this. So, how would you rewrite this? You know, rewrite the sentence down here using the our keyword turned. The the vocabulary that you would need to know is actually a phrasal verb and it is a phrasal verb with the main verb would be turn. And it refers to the end result. something turns out to be some way. In that case, we're we're using that phrasal verb I just told you, turned out. So, the results turned out because we're talking about the past. And then there is still something missing in there. All right, we need an infinitive. And in this case, our infinitive, the results turned out to be completely different from what we expected. Trying to think the results turned out completely different. I you could actually if you did not use that infinitive the results turned out completely different from what we expected actually that that would also work as well. So like I like I mentioned there may be more than one way to complete these sentences which is why again I love these transformations because it really gets you thinking about the grammar and the vocabulary. But for for my response right here, the results turned out to be completely different from what we expected. Let's keep uh let's keep challenging you with some more of these transformations. I love I love seeing everybody participate. Again, if you're if you're sitting there just watching this, I don't want you to watch it passively, you know, just try try to write some of these. Put them in the chat and uh write them in the comments if you're watching this later. I I love it when people are participating. The manager said it was her assistant who made the mistake. The manager said it was her assistant who made the mistake. I want you to use the word blamed and come up with a new sentence that has a similar meaning. The manager the mistake. I think that you in looking at this, I think you can kind of start piecing it together, the verb that you're going to use and then the uh indirect object. But there there are some, you know, some small function words in there that you need to keep in mind because part of this exercise is all about accuracy. You want to make sure that you're using all the the words necessary to actually make a complete sentence. So, the manager said it was her assistant who made the mistake. The manager, we're going to follow it with basically giving you the verb blamed. So, you blame someone. So, in this case, the manager blamed her assistant, but then we need you would blame someone for something. The manager blamed her assistant for the mistake. And what I was getting at when I was giving you that rather long explanation was was keeping in mind that word for and instead of omitting it. So these are the small tricky things when it comes to these exercises that people may not think about in the moment, but then once I show you the sentence and the answer, I think everybody's like, "Oh, yes, of course. The manager blamed her assistant for the mistake." All right. Well done. Um, Angela, John. All right. Again, giving out some shout outs. Uh, as I see trying to to give out some new shoutouts as we go through this. How about this? And and if you if you if you're if you feel like you're getting these correct and you're at least even if you make a small mistake, but you understand, you know, let me know by hitting that like button. Again, let's just drive this so that uh we can get more people involved to help even more people improve their overall English fluency. So, let me know. Hit that like button or you can hit some of these emojis if you're in the chat uh right now. Uh love always love hearing from you guys. So, what do you think? Yeah, like this that little hundred would do. So, he is too young to understand the situation. You you understand you understand the sentence. I want you to use the word enough in this sentence down here. He to understand the situation. This again is I I feel like again once you see it it it's easy but trying to think of these is is challen it's a thinking exercise and I I've already told you several times already. I love these exercises cuz it gets you thinking. That's what it's all about. He's too young to understand the situation. He to understand the situation. The tricky thing here is that we're kind of saying the opposite. So, someone's too young. And in that case, the opposite would say would be saying that someone is not old enough. So again, we're we're talking about the saying somebody's too young, but now it's going to be the negative. He isn't old enough to understand the situation. And you've said is not old enough. That works. Well done. Uh Anisha, uh Rachel, perfect. So again, think about that that distinction with these two phrases. if somebody is too young versus not old enough. Very they're similar, two different ways, simple sentences that are easy to understand. And hopefully that it it clicks now that you see the two sentences. He is he's too young to understand the situation. He isn't old enough to understand the situation. What do you think now? I feel like it's getting a little more difficult or starting to get a little more difficult or tricky. He broke his leg, so he didn't take part in the race. He broke his leg, so he didn't take part in the race. I want you to come up with a new sentence that begins with the word breaking and using the word prevented. So that once again, the two sentences have a similar meaning. What do you think? He broke his leg, so he didn't take part in the race. We're starting the sentence out with a jarn. You see that? Uh, ing breaking. So, what are we talking about? Breaking what? Not I don't know why I just thought about the show breaking bad. But of course, that's not even part of it. Breaking his leg. Then what was the situation? All right. What was the result from that? That's when our key word comes into play. Breaking his leg prevented. Who are we talking about? This is a This is a man because you can see we're talking about he, but we're not going to use he. It prevented him from doing something. Whoops. Sorry about that. Kind of went back the wrong way. Uh, breaking his leg prevented him from taking part in the race. The other thing that I I want you to keep in mind when you use that verb to prevent, you're often going to follow it with from. To prevent someone from plus the jarn, to prevent someone from doing something. Um my um wife prevented me from making a mistake. So, prevent someone from doing breaking his leg prevented him from taking part in the race. So, we're going to use take part, but we need to use the garant taking part in the race. Again, now that we're discussing it and kind of breaking it down, I just hope that it makes uh a little more sense. And if it does, you know, hit that hit that hundred right there so I know, okay, you guys, you're getting it. Um, what do you think about this one? I'm sure she didn't mean to offend you. So, this is our sentence. I want you to use the word intention. And how would you fill in the next sentence? I'm sure she m And then we're going to end it with the word you. So, I I told you that it's going to get a little more challenging. For the most part, I think it's getting more challenging because you have to think of more words that are involved in completing the sentence down here that I'm giving you. I'm sure she didn't mean to offend you. So, when using intention, there is a verb that's often used with this. I guess you could say um it is a verb noun collocation. I'm sure she had no intention. So you may have intention to do something or have no intention to do something especially when talking about the negative. So I'm giving you that first part now. I'm sure she had no intention. And then what are we going to follow intention with? There is another uh we wouldn't say I'm sure she had no intention. You of course we're still missing some words in there. She had no intention. I'll go ahead and mention of doing something. So, we're going to follow it with of plus the gerant. I see some answers of no intention to do something. Um, in that case, again, you have no intention of offending you because like I said, we're using the jiren. Like, I have no intention of working this weekend. I have no intention of buying a new car. So keep that in mind if you want to express that. Well, you're not going to do something. You could do that using that phrase, no intention of doing something. I I was trying to think of an example uh with you, but I want you I was going to say, oh, maybe you have no intention of answering the next question, but I want you to answer the next question. But that would be another example. you have no intention of doing something. Keep that phrase in mind. It's very useful. It's helpful. One that you can use just casually when expressing the this idea that okay, I have no plans to do this. I have no intention of doing it. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the concert so much. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the concert so much. I want you to use the word surprised and complete the sentence down below. I love it. Mind blown. Perfect. Love it. Love blowing those minds. I I enjoyed the concert. So I I think again because of the keyword, you can start piecing the the first part of the sentence. you know that the sentence above we're talking about the the past. This has already happened. So in that case, you know, you're going to use the verb to be in the past. I was surprised. What? I was surprised. We're talking about uh enjoy the again. I just end up giving it away. So, if we want to use our keyword, complete this sentence down below, uh you would say,"I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the concert." Now, of course, if you really wanted to give a short sentence, I see everybody's like, "I I was surprised that I enjoyed the concert." That would work as well. Again, it means it means the same thing. Uh, but you could say you were surprised at how much I enjoyed the concert. I feel like this is a little more descriptive because you're really expressing the fact that okay, you you really enjoyed it and it really exceeded your expectations when you add that well at how much I enjoyed the concert. Again, it's not necessary in order to write a complete sentence that has a similar meaning. Uh, but just something to keep in mind. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the concert. Good job. Great job, everyone. We postponed the meeting because the director was away. I want you to use the word do. And this this may be a well again I don't want to give it away. So Satish you love the teaching grant. I'm I'm happy to hear that. Thank you very much. I appreciate I appreciate the compliment. I have no intention of quitting uh this this these video lessons and I'm always going to come out uh with new lessons each week because I just love uh I love help being here with you guys helping you practice and improve your English. We postponed the meeting because the director was away. So, we're really changing the well the structure a bit. So, the meeting again, we're talking about the past. This has already happened. Our main verb up here, postponed. It's already in the past. So, the meeting was postponed. And then now think about why. And this is where our key word comes in. The meeting was postponed. I I think I see everybody uh I think you guys rock that. Due to is yeah the other phrase due to something. So the meeting was postponed due to you would need to put in in in this case the first sentence who who are we talking about? We're talking about the director. So the meeting was postponed due to the director's absence. So keep that in mind. due to something happened due to something else. Uh, another great phrase to use. Uh, Scotty, welcome. Thank you for becoming a member, joining our community. Love it. So, both of these sentences very similar. We postponed the meeting because the director was away and the meeting was postponed due to the director's absence. Uh, again, I think a lot of you you you guys rock that one. That was good. I found out about the change because you told me. I I only found out about the change because you told me. I want you to use the word have down here in this sentence right here. Had m found out about the change. This is a little This is definitely a little trickier and I feel like every time I say that everybody just you you all know the answer and I I get all these answers that are correct. So think about the conditional. That's a little bit of a hint as well as inversion. And I don't want to go too much into the weeds, but that is why we're starting out the sentence right now. had had the what? I'm waiting to see if I uh get get any responses before I start giving hints. So, I only found out about the change because you told me. So, you told me something. But if I were reflecting on this as a conditional and then saying, "Well, had you all right, now I'm giving you a little bit of a clue. Had you what? Now you told me about this. But had you not then is it making a little more sense now? Had had you not told me something then I what? And now we're able to use have when we're talking about the the result in this case. So I mentioned that that word in inversion. Had you not told me, I wouldn't have found out about the change. Would not have found out. And that is referring to the result. We're using uh would plus have plus the past participle. And with with that inversion again, I could say if you uh if you had not told me, I I wouldn't have found out about the change, but we're we're just um inverting it. So, we're starting out with the verb. Had you not told me this, it is a little more, I guess you could say. It's a little more formal. It's not a structure that you're going to come across uh all the time or use all the time in spoken English, but I think it's good when, you know, for emphasis, for effect. Had you not told me, I wouldn't have found out about the change. They they say the new CEO has transformed the business. I want you to use the word credited and I'm only giving you two words with the with the new sentence that you're going to create the business. So if somebody is just commenting, oh they say the new CEO has transformed the business. What sentence can we create down here new sentence using the word credited that has a very similar meaning? I want you to write your answers in the comments in the chat. I want you to participate. Okay? That's what that's what this is all about. That's what interactive English is all about. So, we're talking about what's our subject in this case? If you're trying to think of our our new sentence, we're talking about the CEO. So, the CEO, we're talking about someone may be credited again, credited with something. So, this is when you're talking about credited and we're going to follow that with with plus the the garand. So the new the or I guess you could say yeah the CEO or the new CEO is credited with something happening credited with plus that Jiren transforming the business. The new CEO is credited with transforming the business has very similar meaning to our first sentence up there. They say the new CEO has transformed the business. As we've gone, as we go through these, my my hope is that even if you did not get every single word that I put up there, that once you see the sentence, that it makes sense that both of them are very similar. um and and you understand the grammar and the structure as well as the vocabulary and how things may change like the preposition that you may follow it with or ajarn. So, what I would like to do, and this is complete, this is unofficial. Okay? Completely unofficial. I want you to let me know how you did. You can let me know how you did in the comments. Um, I if I were to put people in terms levels, I said if you ace it, then your English is excellent. I think that's true. I feel like if you got most of them, then yeah, your English is excellent. You have a high level of proficiency. So, of course, these are Cambridge's levels. A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. And this is very unofficial. Like I said, depending on how many you got. If you got 11 or 12, then okay, C2, uh, 9, 10, C1. What do you think? How did you do on the quiz? How many of them did you get correct? Let me know in the comments. I just love hearing from you guys. And, uh, of course, I'm going to continue uh, coming out with new lessons each week. I have no intention of giving up. and quitting. All right, I have no intention of doing something. So, I feel like I've mentioned that phrase several times already. So, hopefully that one's definitely going to stick. So, you can let me know how you did in the comments in the chat. I love hearing from you guys. And I I I just hope that you learn something new because this is a great exercise to practice grammar vocabulary and continue improving your overall fluency skills, which is what I I would like you to do. So, if you enjoyed the lesson, let me know. Hit that like button. Uh that tells me that I could continue doing these lessons, especially these quizzes like this, that it really helps you. And of course, if you would like to get the lesson notes, check out that link down below in the description. Thank you all for being here today. Um, Marama, it's great to see you. Uh, again, Julia, Lai, um, Alexander, trying to just give some quick shoutouts. Ava, Angela, um, Aperna, hope you, uh, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the day. And of course, I will see you very soon for another lesson in the future. --- ## 386. If You Want to Succeed at Work, Learn These English Idioms | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `scjyfE6daeo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scjyfE6daeo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:57:13 | --- I want to help you develop your vocabulary skills and teach you some useful idioms that can help you grow your career. These are These are phrases that you will absolutely hear and can use in a work context, especially because in places like the United States, I think business and the work environment, it is a little more casual, which means that idioms are still commonplace when people communicate. So, this is a It's a quiz lesson. Of course, I want you to participate. Write your answers in the chat, in the comments, just so I know that you're you're actively thinking about this vocabulary and hopefully learning new things. I guarantee, I know I say this a lot, but I guarantee that you're going to learn something new. And if you enjoy building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is West. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, let's start with our first question. All right, let's just jump right into it. phrase that I want to highlight and teach you, and I've given you the meaning down below. For those of you who have seen these lessons, you're familiar with the process. Uh you you know what to do. She didn't tell me she was leaving, but when I saw her packing her desk, I started to what? To piece together separate bits of information to see a larger pattern or reach a logical conclusion. What are you doing in in that sense? She didn't tell me she was leaving, but when I saw her packing her desk, I started to what? Now, I see it. Put two and two together. That is a great idiom, and that actually that works. That's not the one That's not the one that I'm looking for, though, in case some of you are thinking, "Okay, uh I I like that idiom. I've taught it before. You put two and two together. You see something and then you're like, "Oh, I know what happened." happened. Um it will work in this context. So, that's a great response, but can you think of a different a different idiom that has this meaning? Love those hearts. Thank you. Keep them coming. I love it. I love it. Um start to well, I guess if you know, you could be pissed off or upset if somebody's leaving and you're not if you don't like your job. So, we're we're piecing these bits of information together. And I think this is a common idiom that probably I don't know. I'm going to say probably you're familiar with it. So, in this case, what you could say is you are start you started to connect the dots. And you have this information like, "Okay, I I think I know what's going on." You are connecting the dots. Very similar to the idiom to put two and two together. So, when you connect the dots, again, here's the meaning to piece together separate bits of information to see the larger pattern or to reach a a logical conclusion. And you are connecting the dots. There are because I like to help you supercharge your vocabulary, not just build your vocabulary, we're going to supercharge it. Here are some common collocations with this idiom. And these are some verb idiom collocations. If like we just used in our example, you started to connect the dots. And you Okay, I think I know what's happening. Or you begin to connect the dots. Perhaps you're trying to connect the dots and you're trying to understand what what to do with the information you're given. Um or you're helping someone connect the dots. Or maybe you fail to connect the dots and understand and see exactly what is happening. These are some useful verb idiom collocations with the phrase connect the dots. Now, if you are wanting to improve your speaking skills and you're not sure how to do it and you're trying to figure out how to connect the dots so that that that can be possible. I want to give a quick mention and let you know you can join my speaking course. This is a course for intermediate to advanced speakers. It's all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, speak naturally. Check out the link down below in the description if you want to learn more about the course or just check out class times and availability. So, if you want to speak with me, you can check out that link down below. Always see some students in here as well like Takayo, great to see you. Let's just keep going. Move on to our next question. The board of directors finally what? for the merger to proceed. So, in this case, the board of directors is giving formal permission for a project or action to begin. What What idiom are you going to use in this case? And I really do think this is very common in a work context when you're giving that formal permission for somebody to do something especially if you're like waiting around like you know, can can we can this happen? Can we proceed? And then you are finally given the the what? Any any guesses? Write your answers in the comments in the chat. I always love hearing from you, seeing everybody participate in these lessons is is always what I want to what I want to see. So, in this case, yeah, excellent. Perfect. Well done. Well played. Juliet, we're talking about giving someone the green light. If you are given the green light to to do something, uh start on a project, go somewhere, start working on something, then you're given formal permission for that project or action to begin. So, in this case, the board of directors are giving the green light for something to happen or transpire in this case. So, often, generally this is happening from a a position of authority. You're waiting for somebody who is above you, whether it's your boss, the CEO, or the board of directors to give that permission, and you are given the green light. Excellent, Takayo, Lolly, great answers. Uh so, I I've I just kind of mentioned this nuance right here. It's coming from a position of authority, but it can also be used as a noun or a verb phrase. So, like in this example as a noun, the city council has given the green light to the new um to the new shopping center. All right? And you're given the green light. If we're using it as a verb phrase, my boss is going to green-light the project any day now. Same meaning, just different parts of speech, so it's always good to kind of get a feel for how some of these idioms are used in context, but how we can play around with them as far as parts of speech go. Here is the next one. What do you think? I'd love to something about how you managed to transition from law into tech. We're making a transition from one thing into another thing. This means to talk to someone in order to get their expert advice, opinions, or information about a subject they know well. What do you think? Write your answers in the chat, in the comments. And of course, I'm going to try to give you some extra information. And I know I said this for the last one, but you could also use this in other situations as well. You will use this casually with another person when you want to get their advice or know what they think about something. Generally, you would say this to somebody who maybe they know more than you do. They maybe they know more than you do. It doesn't have to be an expert, but maybe they have experience. this is when I I feel like you probably have heard of many of these. I don't know if you actively use them. That's the goal over time, but it's always good to to get review. But I imagine, especially if you get a lot of exposure to the English language, you've come across this before to pick someone's brain. To pick your brain means to talk to someone in order to get their advice, opinion, information about a subject that they know well. So, if I want to ask for your advice about I don't know. You're something this is your career, this is your job. I might say, "Look, you know, I'm I'm trying to get some information. I'd love to pick your brain." Or can I just pick your brain and and ask you a few questions about whatever topic it is. So, when you want to pick someone's brain, you are implying that this other person actually knows quite a a lot about whatever it is you're going to be asking about. That they are, you know, someone who is informed when you are picking someone's brain. Here, you know, I like to share these fun little comics with you. I need to pick your brain, Wilkins, and pass off your ideas as my own. Something that might happen in a work situation. Your colleague wants to pick your brain, and then they're going to steal your thunder and take your ideas and present it as their own. To pick your brain. If you're not familiar with this idiom, it's a good one to keep in mind because I think there are a variety of situations in which you can actually use it. Instead of telling someone, "Look, can I get your advice?" You could say to them, "Look, can I pick your brain? I'd like to know and understand more about something. I just want to pick your brain." Here is the next question. I need to the contractors to make sure the renovation is finished by Friday. What are you doing in this situation? The the meaning is to remain fully informed, organized, and in control of a situation or a person's progress. And you are making sure that things are getting done, that things are on schedule, and you're trying to control and manage the situation. What phrase can we use? I need to I almost said the first verb. Maybe I'll give you the verb in just a moment. But, I need to the contractors to make sure the renovation is finished by Friday. I was about to say stay. So, that is the first That is the verb. That's a little hint as far as this expression goes. I need to what? So, the meaning it is similar to kind of like supervise. It's not always interchangeable, but it's kind of on the right track. So, instead of supervising them, which is more like you are fully in control. In this case, it's not like you're fully in control, but maybe you're the one paying for it, and you want to make sure the work is getting done. And in that case, you are going to stay on top of the contractors to make sure the renovation is finished by Friday. Are we on schedule? Is everything, you know, going well? What do What else do you need to do? Are we going to finish by Friday? And you're just staying on top of the contractors. So, this is a great idiom that you can use in this context so you can stay on top of something or stay on top of someone. I wanted to to make that clear. So, the nuance, it implies this proactive, vigilant attitude. So, it really has, I think, more of a positive connotation. If you stay on top of someone, uh it could be more negative in that context because it's like you're you're on that verge of micromanagement. And micromanaging someone, nobody likes that. That does have more of a a negative connotation. So, here are a couple of examples. If you stay on top of something, you need to stay on top of this merger to make sure there is a smooth transition. You're staying on top of this activity. And you want to make sure it gets done. Staying on top of someone, right here, parents stay on top of their kids to make sure they do their homework. It has a positive connotation. I think if you were staying on top of your children, making sure they are doing, you know, what they need to do, and they're you know, they are responsible for that, and you're staying on top of them. So, you could stay on top of something or someone. Here's the next one. She's a great candidate. She over 10 years of international experience to This means I I've separated the the phrase. So maybe that it's probably going to make it a little more challenging. You have the verb she um something to and then the rest of the the idiom. You're providing useful skills, attributes, or resources to a group, negotiation, or relationship. And I'm separating it here because often the idiom you would say you're going to something to what? And I'll go ahead and give you the first verb. She's going She brings in this case. She brings over 10 years of international experience to what? Where is she bringing this experience to if we're talking about an idiom? I'll give you another hint right now. I don't know if you can actually hear that knocking through the microphone. I'm talking about a table. You bring something to the table. She's a great candidate. She brings over 10 years of international experience to the table. So when you bring something to the table, then you are providing skills, attributes, resources to a group. You could use it in a work context. So you can use it in other contexts outside of work, but this is an idiom. I think more American American idiom bringing something to the table. All right, let's continue with the next Well, here's a again just a fun little joke. What do you bring to the table? And he puts his gut up there. I don't know why. I thought it was funny. So I thought I'd share it with you. But that's that's what this person brings to the table. Here is the next one. Before quitting my job to start a business, I had to mhm for several months. I think this is another I guess it is it it's an idiom. It's a binomial pair if I want to be precise. And another one that I feel like you would use at work, but also in other context as well. When you are carefully considering the advantages, the pros, and okay, never mind. Um, and disadvantages, the cons of a decision. I'm laughing because I've kind of given you part of the answer in the meaning, and I don't know if I realized that as I was putting it together, but it's okay. Before quitting my job start a business, I had to mhm for several months. What are you doing in this case when you're considering advantages and disadvantages? Um, Miranda, excellent. You are of course, we're going to use the verb weigh in case you're unfamiliar. Pros and cons, that is the binomial pair, and you can use it with the verb weigh. When you are weighing the pros and cons, you are considering the advantages and disadvantages of a decision. So, any whether it's work related or anything in life, if there's an important decision, you need to weigh the pros and the cons, and think okay, is this the right thing to do? Is it not the right thing to do? And when you weigh the pros and the cons, then hopefully it's going to help you make the right decision. I don't need the details, just give me the what? We're talking about the most important point or the fundamental reality of a situation. What What idiom are we going to use in that context? This one might be It might be a little trickier, and perhaps there's more than one that you could use in this context. I don't know if you hear like Luca in the background, but that's actually why I had to start the lesson. I'm I got to go on babysitting duty, my my afternoon commitment. Anyway, I don't need the details, just give me the mhm. Now, there are actually two different meanings for this idiom. I'll go ahead and give you the answer, the bottom line. So, the bottom line can refer to this one, which this one certainly work work related when talking about the final total of an account or balance, and you're talking about the bottom line. What is the company's bottom line? How will this new regulation affect our bottom line? This is a work idiom when talking about a company's bottom line. We're talking about the money. But you could use it in this case talking about the most important point or reality of a situation. What is the bottom line? I need I need the details. I don't need the details, just give me the bottom line. You could use it in that context as well. Here is the next question. While the director is away, the assistant manager will be what? We're referring to the person in a position of authority who makes the important decisions. Which person are we referring to in this case? Or what is this person They're They're going to be doing what? Because I'm leading into it with the verb to be. The manager will be doing what? They're going to be making the decisions because they are now in the position of authority in this case I I'm not I like that idiom and that would work holding down the fort if somebody's going to hold down the fort then they are going to be in charge that works in this context. That's not the one that I'm thinking of though. But this is why I like these activities it's getting the vocabulary juices flowing and thinking about okay what are some that work? Think about that when talking about decisions. Who when somebody's making the decisions they're going to be doing what? Maybe this is a new idiom for you maybe not but in this case you could say the person who is going to be calling the shots. To call the shots refers to the person who well is in a position authority and is going to be making the decisions. I was trying to put emphasis on decisions because that that's really like shots in this case you're calling the shots. Shots would be like decisions. You are you know making the decisions calling the shots and deciding what to do based on whatever situation. So whoever is in charge whether in a work situation somebody's calling the shots or even at home within the family and somebody's going to take control and you know whatever whatever activity this person's going to be calling the shots. Uh one to give you a little nuance this is often used when there is a question of power or who is really in charge and you might ask this question who is calling the shots? Who is is person that is in control and making the actual final decisions. And maybe you want to know and you can use this question right here, who is calling the shots? I want to know who's in charge ultimately and who is calling the shots. A good leader needs to be able to see the mhm while their team handles the specifics. Common idiom. I think you've probably have heard it before. We're talking about the entire perspective on a situation or issue rather than just the small details. So, I I think the meaning it really explains what it is. Not the details, but the entire perspective. And instead of saying the entire perspective, you could just use this idiom which I think is more commonly used uh and you're talking about a good leader needs to be able to see the the big picture. I think this is often used in work. You hear it movies, TV shows. So, there are a variety of different situations in which you could talk about the big picture. Especially if somebody has a problem or there's an issue and like like we need to we need to look at the big picture or we need to try to see the big picture in order to figure out what to do next and then you can maybe weigh the pros and the cons in order to make the right decision because you are ultimately the person who is calling the shots. And this going to keep using some of these different idioms and review them. Uh hopefully that makes it a little easier to understand them. So, here are some common collocations with the the big picture. You are going to look at the big picture or maybe you see the big picture. Those are very common verbs with this idiom. You could also lose sight of the big picture. And in that case, you're maybe too focused on the details and you lose sight of the big picture. Or maybe you just tell somebody or a group of people, we really need to focus on the big picture and make sure we see the entire perspective. Uh I know you said the entire picture, you could say the entire picture as well. I I feel like just as colloquially, I think people are more often going to use big picture when when talking about the entire perspective and you need to see the big picture. The contract was rejected and now we are at mhm in the negotiations. You're at the very beginning of a process usually because a previous attempt failed. So, there are probably there may be a couple of different idioms that you could use in this context, but you're talking about the beginning of a process because some previous attempt failed. So, now we are at what? What what idiom are you going to use to complete uh this sentence with? So, one keyword in there is at. Uh I'd say uh because there are some other expressions idioms that you could use like for example to go back to the drawing board. That would work, but it's not the one we're looking for because I would say now we have to go back to the drawing board in the negotiation. Sorry. In this case, a keyword is at. So, go back to the drawing board works, but it's not going to be able to you're not going to fit that into this blank. The idiom that I'm talking about is square one. You could go back to square one or if you say you are at square one, you're just saying we're at the beginning. And now we're at square one and in the negotiations. We are right back at the beginning. So, when you're at square one, you're at the beginning typically because some other process failed and then you have to go back to the beginning. You're back at square one or you have to go back to the drawing board, another idiom that has the the same meaning and you have to start all over. Um we have to go back to square one and in this case, if you're using back, you could also go back to the drawing board. So, this usually the one I would say, I'm trying to think if I would make the distinction with go back to the drawing board, probably both of them. I think carry this tone of frustration or dismay because you're just having to start over again. You tried once already, it didn't work and then you're like, "Okay, now we got to go back to the drawing board." or now we're back at square one. And the there is this sense of frustration because you have to start over. Just keep that in mind. You have to of the company's press release to see that they are actually worried. And that that's a key part of this in trying to figure out this idiom. You want to see that they are actually worried. And maybe you wouldn't notice if you just read through it quickly. So, in this case we're talking about finding a meaning in something said or written that is not explicitly stated. It's not stated directly like, "Hey, we're really worried." You really have to do what? So, that you can see that oh, they're actually worried. This is maybe not a good situation. And in that case, you are having to All right, excellent. I see one answer. Yes. To read between the lines. Whenever you are doing this, you have some information and you're able to understand what is not directly stated. And that's I know they say in the meaning like a hidden meaning, but basically you're they're not stating it explicitly and you're able to read between the lines to understand, okay, this is the actual situation that's going on whenever you're talking about reading between the lines. Great idiom. I like this one. I don't know why. I just like it. Here is a fun little This was like a joke. I feel like it's very juvenile. I feel like when I was in middle school, people would you go up to you know, your friend and joke around and say, "Hey, can you read between the lines?" As far as the three fingers, you take two of them down and then the one in between is the middle finger and it's like yeah, one juvenile joke that reminded me of middle school. So, I thought I thought child childishly I would share it with all of you. Here is the next one. We tried social media ads, but they didn't really mm on our sales numbers. So, you're trying something, trying to use these ads, but they didn't what? They didn't make a noticeable or significant difference. So, we're talking sales number like I'm going to give you a hint. Try to move the social We tried social media ads, but they really didn't what? This is This is my hint, believe it or not. Me doing this with my hand. We're talking about what? You're making a noticeable or significant difference. In this case, we're saying it did not happen. And and it I'll go ahead and tell you what it is because you're probably wondering what what is he doing? Uh we're talking about moving the needle. To move the needle and I again I think often in a business context something that makes a difference. So, you try something and you say, "Wow, that really moved the needle. It really made a difference in the situation." Or like in the example saying, "It didn't make a difference. It did not move the needle." And we're basically right where we were. We're right at square one. And nothing has changed. But this is a great idiom when you want to talk about making some type of difference. And I feel like even if you think about moving a needle it really kind of I don't know. In my mind maybe it means what it says to some extent. So this to give you a little nuance very common this is very common in corporate business speak because we're really talking about a measurable impact. Some policy or some new features or you try a new approach. Uh and you can say, "Oh, is it is it going to move the needle? Is it going to make an impact? Is it going to move the needle?" Great use of it with a question if you're in a meeting and you want to know somebody has an idea and you say, "Well, is it going to work? Do you think that's really going to move the needle? It's going to make us more money?" So, good one to keep in mind. Here are the there are 12 of them that we went through today. Hopefully as we went through some of these different ones and you were able to figure them out. You're able to connect the dots between the example sentence and the meaning and figure it out. And I trust that you're going to keep building your vocabulary and that you're really going to stay on top of this because you want to develop your fluency goals and bottom line is that these these idi- they are important as far as your listening comprehension goes cuz you'll hear them, but it's always fun to be able to use them in conversation, too. They're very descriptive. They're very precise. And you're going to be able to keep developing your skills. You're not going to go back to square one because I think you're able to see the value. You're able to see the big picture when it comes to developing your overall English skills. And I hope I hope that you feel I bring a lot to the table to help you along with your journey. I'm just keep you trying to use them in context just to give you a little bit of review, but if you enjoyed the lesson and you learned something new you can let me know hitting that like button, uh subscribing to the channel. It always helps. Spreads the message so that other people can continue to develop their skills as well. So, check out the link down below if you're interested in joining my speaking course. Thank you for joining me and participating in the lesson. I hope that you have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you soon for another lesson in the future. So long. --- ## 387. Important Christmas Vocabulary | English Cultural Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `dTRSyhwgrzk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTRSyhwgrzk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:47:18 | --- hello and welcome welcome to our super holiday extravaganza listen at least that's how I like to look at it because this is a super fun lesson about the holidays that are coming up so again welcome to our two-hour lesson and this is a beautiful afternoon and I am here today to do a mix between a culture lesson and also vocabulary / idiom lesson so we're putting it all in one and we're talking about one of my favorite holidays of the year a super super super love Christmas and the holidays around this time of year it's December everyone is joyful their lights outside everywhere and my birthday is coming up too so I love love love this time of year so thank you again for joining my name is you wanna how are you guys doing today why are you writing from please let me know and also can you please write now tell me what is your favorite holiday midnight in Indonesia wow you are up late thank you thank you for staying up with us Afghanistan Japan India Turkey a beautiful beautiful community we have here I am very thankful for you guys and oh thank you thank you for my birthday thank you Lata so thank you guys for joining and today we are talking about the holidays and about Christmas now this lesson is like I said it's a mix between culture and vocabulary and idioms so I think we could all share about our own cultures and I can talk about Christmas and the holidays and I love to hear about your own cultures so please let me know in the comments what are is your favorite holiday if it's from if it's Christmas if it's not it doesn't matter I really really would like to know so please write it in the comments and also if you are just just joining write down where you're from it's really nice to see where everyone is coming from so again we have india brazil afghanistan christmas is coming o Durga Puja very nice so please write down what your favourite holiday is and what you do for this holiday wonderful so I'm going to start one of my favorite holidays if we're sharing like I said it's Christmas and everyone keeps talking about how magical this time of year is and we say this for different reasons because Christmas is a mix of so many different holidays and it's changed throughout the years okay so we have Diwali Christmas yeah it's just it's many many people like Christmas for the reason for so many reasons so let me tell you a little bit about what Christmas the definition kind of what it is today and how it got here so Christmas originally is supposed to celebrate the birth of Christ so it's a Christian holiday however I think it's also a cultural holiday which means the many people who maybe are not Christian celebrated every year and I think throughout the world more and more people celebrate Christmas regardless of their religious belief simply because this time of year a lot of people tend to get together with their families and it's it's more it's more than just a religious holiday so if you celebrate Christmas let me know I'm very curious to see how many of us here celebrated my favorite holiday is my birthday Marcos I am just and I love my birthday I was telling Wes my husband that this year for my birthday I want to have a birthday week not a birthday day so we'll see how that works so I definitely understand yes oh please right yes I ate we had a lot of students before who celebrated aid it's a lovely holiday from what I was told it's so great to see how how many different holidays we have here okay wonderful so like I said Christmas was supposed to to celebrate the birth of Christ but it kind of is a lot more than that in the sense that over the years the timing of it which is at the end of the year it coincided with all these other holidays so all of these celebrations kind of got together in this in Christmas so there was the winter solstice the Yule the koleida which is where the Christmas Carol custom came from so there the Christmas tree I think is it's a whole other different tradition so out of these different celebrations throughout the world we have kind of appropriated Christmas and we have now we have things like decorations and we have a tree and we have carols and lights and so many things that we do with Christmas so it's it's a so about so much more ok so if you're just joining us thank you so much for joining oh my gosh I'm making sad mother yes um I might we'll see we'll see either that's all try hold we'll see if we can do that that's a Romanian it's a Romanian food and it's delicious for the holidays okay so why do I keep saying the holidays now I I really want to address this because when you are watching movies or when you are hearing things in the radio or in the news many many times people will refer to this time of the year as the holidays now this is not a holiday that you take like if you go on vacation to the beach or something or to Greece or some some something like that the holidays is a specific time of the year and you see it a lot expressed especially in the US and Canada because of the different holidays that are celebrated again the some of the years so we don't just have Christmas we have Hanukkah there's New Year's there's Kwanzaa which is another holiday celebrated around this time of the year so people started to try to be a little bit more inclusive because maybe some people don't celebrate Christmas but they still have the time off and they want to join with their families so we just say the holidays so you will see it interchangeable with with Christmas it's important because again it did it doesn't mean a vacation it just means this time of the year many people will ask what are you doing for the holidays are you going home for the holidays and they just mean this time of the year and again of course you see happy holidays which kind of encompasses all of them it's a nice wish so again if you guys are just joining please write down what is your favorite holiday my favorite holiday I think it is Christmas probably if I were to choose it would be Christmas I love it I love everything about it I do decorations every year and I completely I love the food and the drinks and the lights and everything that is about Christmas so if you guys have a favorite holiday and what you are doing for this holiday please write it down it's so much fun to share ok so my next expression is a white Kris so if you ever hear about a white Christmas it means a Christmas with snow when there is snow on the ground everything is covered in snow there's a song about it which I will not sing because my singing voice will scare most of you away and I don't want that so I will not sing so I'm just going to tell you about it there's a there's a song and many many people want a white Christmas and other people try to stay as far away as possible from my white Christmas um so my question to you is do you like snow this time of year and if you would if you celebrate Christmas do you like a white Christmas and why do you like the cold or maybe do you just want to go somewhere on the beach so please write that down Thanksgiving yeah very nice carols yeah there's so many there's so many different ways to celebrate and they're all fun Thanksgiving is another really really good one because of all the food okay this is something that I think is very useful to know many people see this arrangement of flowers and they don't know what to call it it's on our doors many people put it on on the on their doors around this time of the year it usually has things like like flowers or leaves or stems or things like that but we call it a wreath okay it's a wreath that is the name of it so if you if you guys did not know this is the name of it they're very beautiful I've seen so many wonderful wreaths and they're just make your house very very festive ready for the holidays very typical Oh wonderful lights and Lantern Diwali is so nice it's so great to hear about how what other people do on on different holidays it's really wonderful so thank you guys for mentioning it right so the southern hemisphere doesn't have a white Christmas and I'm curious if they would like a white Christmas or if they're happy without it okay now the holiday spirit the holiday spirit we talked about the holiday spirit when we try to talk about the general feeling of the holidays of gosh you see it in movies you hear it on TV you practically cannot go into a store without listening to music around this time and it's just supposedly it's a good feeling about the holidays it's a warm feeling that you have people tend to be more thankful people think to appreciate hopefully the people in their lives more so we kind of get a little bit more cheery and happy like this little snowman that I have here so for example for me I love I love love love buying Christmas gifts for my family and my friends so shopping for tips Christmas gifts puts me in the holiday spirit it makes me very very happy so if you guys are joining please write down right now we're talking about if you like snow this time of the year and if you like a white Christmas so that's what I would really like to know personally I love snow I was born in the winter so I think that it's the best time of the year like I said and I would love if there was snow however right now it's a little bit of a warm winter where we are so I am I don't think that we are probably going to get snow sadly but I would love if we had snow some people hate snow my mother for example who hates snow so she's very happy that she doesn't have snow okay now we're getting somewhere okay so actually this is something that not a lot of people know even in the u.s. if you ask them Holly about Holly and mistletoe people will think it's the same plant and they will kind of probably refer to the second plant right here they will think that is holly or mistletoe and it's they would think it's interchangeable but it's not these are two different Christmas plans and mistletoe I remember reading became a symbol of Christmas because it's an evergreen plant and stays alive throughout all the seasons so it was a very special plant and Holly it just looks very very festive so mistletoe I want to see if you guys know about the mistletoe it has a special tradition and you can definitely see it a lot in movies they always talk about doing something under the mistletoe do you guys know what you are supposed to do if you are under a plant of mistletoe let's see does anyone know if you if you know please write it down in the comments and I will I will show you okay so mistletoe is actually associated with kissing so if you sit under the if you're under the mistletoe with someone you should kiss them so it's this is a it has a romantic connotation so if you are under mistletoe with somebody you love or you like that's a really good time to let them know or to just kiss them so a good expression you can tell someone is you know met me meet me under the mistletoe so my question to you guys is if you could kiss a famous person under the mistletoe who would it be if you could kiss a famous person under the mistletoe who would it be so think of all the famous people that you know and like if you could kiss them okay just one person just choose one who would it be I think I will choose I think I'll choose my husband West who is not famous but but still I think he would be my choice okay and if he's not available than probably Ryan Gosling okay moving on moving on um-hmm Santa Claus okay so please guys write write down who you yeah I want to see nobody's answering who would you choose so please let us know if you could kiss a famous person under the mistletoe who who would it be okay now let's talk about Santa Claus if you guys know my bonus question for you is do you know where the name Santa Claus comes from do you know where the name Santa Claus comes from kids love him he brings gifts he his narrative changed a lot he this this mythical character oh maybe it's not mythical if you believe in Santa Claus I'm sorry it's not mythical he brings gifts to good children he has a list that he checks twice and he knows what everyone would like for Christmas he lives in the North Pole he makes toys and he has a sleigh pulled by reindeer he arrives on Christmas Eve which is 24th of December at night and delivers all of these gifts there we go I think I've covered it but my question to you guys was if you know where the name Santa Claus comes from let's see the name of San Nicolas yes that's that's exactly right you are correct it is st. Nicholas and he also goes by he different derivations like Saint Nick or father Christmas I think in like Dodger was Sinterklaas or something so it was a combination of these different figures in Christian Christian history so it is a bunch of very important historical figures that kind of got put together or some of them were made up and it became one and he is now Santa Claus but yes good good good good good good answer okay okay now before I tell you about eggnog I want to know if you have a special holiday drink in your country so for whatever holiday that you love that you like to celebrate with your family with your friends do you have a special drink and if yes please write it down because it is so much fun to read about it oh yes Baba well yes and that's that reminds me of the French which is poppin oils so there's so many different and of course that translates to father Christmas so there's so many different names that I think Santa goes by and it's so funny to to to look at all of them okay so if you guys have a special drink for the holidays for your favorite holiday in your country please write it down it's I'm very curious to know I wrote here about eggnog there are other special drinks like mold wine which is warm wine with spices depending where what country you're from but eggnog is a very it's it's I think you find it a lot in Canada and the United States it's this drink made with milk and cream and sugar and eggs and then at the end not always but most of the time they add like brandy or rum or bourbon some kind of alcohol and you drink it I think it's drank its drank like hot and cold yeah but when it's really cold outside you're drinking warm and when it's I don't know when it's not like when I was living in LA everyone was drinking cold eggnog um so I wanted to see if you guys have a special drink or if you've ever tried eggnog okay if you've ever tried it and if you have if you like it or not I haven't tried it for the longest time and I didn't know how to feel about it it's um a lot of people are split because it's very rich so some people think it's a little too rich when I tried it I loved it I loved it so much I love eggnog but I'm curious if you like it if you've ever tried it red wine very nice so we have tea Irish cream yeah so we have there are a lot of different special drinks for different holidays and eggnog is of one that I don't think people drink outside of the Christmas holiday or maybe New Year's in Canada or the US now they put it in lattes cut up like you know they have gingerbread lattes they definitely have eggnog latte is or they make desserts of different kinds okay so my next question because I'm about to talk about gifts okay my next question to you guys is what kind of gift do you like to receive now I mentioned it to you guys that I love giving gifts which is very true but I also like to receive gift so if you're like me you know let us know what kind of gifts would you like to receive and if you are wondering why on earth by putting socks up on the screen and how is this related to gift well let me tell you this is a stocking it's not a sock or a glove or anything like that it's called a stocking and it's an empty sock like a big sock maybe like this and it's hung by the fireplace and it is filled with little gifts and I read a few legends about it on how this this became a Christmas tradition but basically it has something to do with some balls of gold and for little girls or something there is no such a set story there's a few different ones circulating but the idea is that if you were a good boy or girl or an adult of course if you are a good person you get some little gifts in your stocking and if you are not good if you didn't behave you will get a lump of coal okay so nobody ever ever ever ever ever wants to get a lump of coal in their stocking and it actually doesn't really happen I don't think parents ever really put coals in in their in their kids talking I think it's it's regarded as a little bit cruel so nobody really does it so most people put little gifts in the stockings so let's see if you guys answered why are you hanging stockings on it's by the fireplace it's up it's a very good place to put the stockings so let's see I'm kinda going through your through your answers right now to see what kind of gift you like to receive let's see money money is a great gift you can use it to buy anything you want so very good iPhone 10 yeah that's a very good one so it's pricey but it's also it's very nice yes chocolates yes chocolates are never a that idea you could always get chocolates yeah candy chocolates perfect Lady Godiva yes so a lot of really really good gift ideas you guys Wes I know you're watching so you could take some notes so just just again repeating so chocolate is the main one yeah okay drop the knife hands okay stocking stuffers this is an expression it's an idiom what's not an idiom it's an expression and stocking stuffers or gifts that you put in the stockings but it you don't just refer to them you don't have to put a stocking stuffer in a stocking it's just a small small gift so for example small toys you can put in a stocking chocolate little candies things like that you can always put them in in a stocking so we can say the small toys for example make great stocking stockings stuffers stuffers for your kids or for your nieces and nephews and things like that so please if you have bitcoins yeah if you guys are writing if you guys are watching thank you for watching and please let us know what kind of gifts do you like to receive this is a lot of fun because it gives me ideas for the gifts this year and also I think it gives everyone else ideas like English books yes Mentos that's right English books are great gifts okay so yes please share the ps4 there's a lot of stuff that I don't know about but yeah those are great great ideas for gifts thank you for sharing that okay now an ornament is a decoration it's these little things that we hang and that we put up in the tree those are decoration those are ornaments we put you they're usually made from glass or wood or metal or ceramics many times they're very nicely decorated very ornamental we call them ornaments so that this is what we call them they're sometimes they're easily breakable but they're very very pretty and we I forgive their history but this is again they're used for the tree mostly traveling to USA yeah that's a good Christmas gift nice you guys have great ideas for gifts I love it traveling chocolates diamonds there we go yes diamonds do fit well in stockings great ideas PS for English books you we should all go shopping together this is great we could all use bitcoins or the money that we receive okay so my next my next topic is Christmas bells and of course you all know what bells are but if you've ever I mean of course a very famous song is jingle bells and there's other songs about Christmas that involve bells and if you're ever wondering like why are Christmas and bells associated it's because the whole concept was associated with the church bells so whenever you had Christmas service on the day of Christmas and the day the Christmas Eve the day before Christmas the bells would would have a specials would ring a special sound and they were just different and also I think in doing Victorian times they were used to play carols they became very fashionable as an instrument so now we see them on wreaths we see them as ornaments we see them kind of everywhere there will be Christmas bells so they are tied together but the reason I'm telling you about Christmas bells is because I want to tell you about this very nice expression - it's called with bells on and it just means very enthusiastically so usually it's an answer so if somebody makes you an invitation to go somewhere you will say that you're going somewhere with bells on like you will very very happily go that you're very excited about this opportunity and you cannot wait to go okay so my example here is if it's a child asks mom will you come to my Christmas play at school and the mom says of course I will be there with bells on so anything that you're very excited to say - to go - you can say with bells on so I'll be there with bells on and that's a good sentence to remember if somebody invites you to their party or if somebody asks you to go under the mistletoe with them you can say yes I'll be there with bells on to show that you're very excited very good Christmas bells yes they're beautiful thank you exactly so that is that is the the bells okay let's see okay my next question for you guys thank you so much for answering all of these it's great that you guys are thoughts on giving me all of these ideas for gifts they're amazing Oh somebody was asking about bells and whistles yes so bells and whistles means with with everything so it means like a very decked out very ornate or just very put together or but just very great or some very big or something that's definitely not simple or or I don't know modest if something has all the bells and whistles like a car it has the newest technology it has everything you want a card to do and maybe some things you didn't think a car could do like oh gosh I haven't had a car in a while but you know like warming seat up and I don't know surround sound and all of that so it's just something that is not simple that is just very extravagant maybe a little bit those are bells and whistles okay my next question for you guys is what activities what activities do you like to do with groups of people okay so for example with your family and friends what are some activities that you like to do with your family what are some things you like to do with your friends do you like to go to the movies do you like to some active play games like board games those are just different things that we do with our families or friends so what activities do you like to do with groups of people sumika the expression with bells on is not only suitable for Christmas you can use it at any time and you can say I'll be there with bells on and people will understand that you are just excited to be there okay so the reason I was telling you about so about about the activities you like to do with people is because we're going to talk about the more the merrier in a second but what does merry mean merry means cheerful now if you could use bells on any time of the year this one I guess you can use any time of the year but you really just use it or you really just hear it around Christmas it just means cheerful happy but I just don't see people say I feel merry like it doesn't really it's not it's not really used outside of the Christmas context not too much so and of course we can say Merry Christmas and it means happy Christmas it's just cheerful and that is the meaning of this word but you have to be careful because it's usually just used around Christmas now the expression the more the merrier means if you the more people you have the better time you will have so that's what that means let's see what do you guys do with your families and friends visiting grandfather their homes yeah very good talking to my friends for a long time yes it's really nice to just very good to shoot the breeze with family just hang out watching TV talking so in that case maybe you can save them more the merrier the more family members you have over the merrier time you will have right so it's it will be it will be great and many times you will just give this answer like somebody asks can I invite my friend to dinner you will just say sure the more the merrier it's an expression that you can use any time of the year and like of any party any event any kind of invitation you could always say the more the merrier it doesn't it it doesn't have to be only used around Christmastime let's see thank you guys again for joining we are talking about things that we are doing things that we like to do activities with our family or friends with groups of people okay now if you read a Christmas carol you might know about a benissa Scrooge if you don't know about him you might have heard the expression don't be a Scrooge it it's not something that we want to be Scrooge he was he was a selfish person he he hated spending any kind of money so a Scrooge Scrooge because now we use it as a Scrooge is just a person who just hates giving spending they just hate being nice to people so but it mainly has to do with spending money or giving money okay so if somebody is telling you to not be a Scrooge they mean don't don't like try to save all your money and not give him away and those kinds of things so I wanted to ask you what is the opposite of being a Scrooge if being screwed is selfish and somebody who doesn't like spending money and they just like holding all of their money and maybe counting it see how I'm doing like creepily if this is what a being of Scrooge's then what is the opposite of a Scrooge so what let's talk about a synonym yes spendthrift yeah maybe so what is the opposite of a scrooge somebody maybe who is very giving or who likes to give and likes to help and yeah very good extravagant sure what is the opposite of a Scrooge so that is my question first question and second is our us crew um okay um again around the holidays we hear don't be a Scrooge this holiday season and please don't be a Scrooge you know get presents for your family donate there's so many charities we hear this advice a lot yes you are right generous kind those are very very good opposite of being a Scrooge very good okay now something you may have heard is the holiday blues or the post holiday blues and this is a good idiom to know in English when we talk about getting the blues we're talking about being sad so why would somebody feel sad around the holidays what do you guys think why would somebody feel sad about the holidays I just talked about mmm you go outside there's lights everywhere there's music in the stores there there are ornaments everyone's giving gifts so why would somebody be sad why do you guys think somebody could be sad this time of the year because it is a thing the holiday blues so if while what you guys are typing that I'm going to tell you about what to beat the holiday blues is and it just means to try to find a way around being sad so find ways to to not be sad and so let's see okay sickness yeah is this a very good reason many people get sick this time of the year so so yes exactly another reason that I found it seems like a lot of people may be oh gosh the weather has a lot to do with it I was just talking to my husband earlier today like sometimes it seems like it's always cloudy so it can get it can mess with your mood the time change a lot of maybe an increased alcohol consumption eating too much eating things that are not very good for you like cookies or a lot of sugar lack of sleep because we go to maybe more events and parties and meet up with family and there's a lot of stuff to do no exercise because of time or because of the weather stress who do I buy this for and what do I give my grandmother what do I get my mother and what if they're hated and oh my god I have to fly and I have to catch my flight so it can be very very stressful so a lot of people sometimes get very sad so I wanted to see if you guys know other reasons where somebody may be sad right they're living exactly very goodly reasons if you live away from from your loved ones it's a wonderful it's it's it's a really sad situation but it's a great reason why somebody would get the holiday blues or they they miss their loved ones or their homesick very very good points you guys are giving wonderful answers thank you so much so that's let's see now I'm talking about another expression this is one of my favorites because it's so cute good things come in small packages good things come in small packages and it just means that something doesn't need to be big in order to be good this reminds me of another English expression which says you know don't judge a book by it's cover and again these expressions always mean don't just look at the surface level but something can be good even if it's small and of course it's related to gift-giving so I love including it here so for example I have a little conversation here between a child and his grandma and the child says oh I hate being so short and the grandma says you shouldn't good things come in small packages so it's one of its it's a really good expression they I think you should know when you could always use when it comes to anything really it doesn't just have to do with crisp with Christmas or gifts or things like that it can be with personality it can be with achievements it can be with anything that emphasizes quality over quantity okay so that is the main idea of this of this one oh my gosh okay so I'm just going to review very very quickly because we're nearing the end I'm going to review some of the expressions that we talked about today we talked about Christmas and we talked about the holidays and we shared what are some of our favorite holidays so thank you for that we talked about the white Christmas and if we prefer snow or not we talked about a wreath and what it is and we only see this around Christmastime we talked about how we feel and what is holiday spirit then we talked about who we'd like to kiss under the mistletoe and the difference between Holly and mistletoe there to decorate a decorative plans that we see around these holidays and they're different and we want to kiss someone under the mistletoe so if you guys want to add there we go you would kiss Jimmy Fallon nice thank you thank you for sharing so my question was yes if you if you would like if you could kiss any famous person under the mistletoe who would you choose who would you kiss okay it's a good question I'm very curious and okay so there's Santa Claus sure if you wanted to kiss Santa you can but we talked about him and where he lives and he that he was father Christmas and his name is a combination of so many different figures we talked about the drinks we like to drink like tea in this case it's eggnog and it's a very creamy rich drink with many times with rum or brandy or bourbon added to it about our favorite gifts and what we like to receive in our stockings and stocking stuffers that are tiny tiny gifts ornaments that we put in our tree Christmas bells and to be somewhere with bells on which is you're very happy to be there we talked about merry and when you have a lot of people over and you like a lot of people you say the more the merrier and again this is not just a Christmas expression you can say this at any time and the advice is to not be a Scrooge although some people are Scrooge's but during the holiday season the advice is always not to be a Scrooge we talked about beating the holiday blues so to beat the holiday blues is to find ways to not be sad during the holidays so let's see and then we talked about how good things come in small packages which means that you can have something good that is very very small it doesn't have to be big okay so I found this picture of a squirrel wearing like Christmasy hat and a little scarf and holding a gift and I just thought it was too cute not to share it with you guys so that's the only reason for this picture I just love it I think it's so cute and of course I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas Happy Holidays thank you so much for learning with us I hope that you get all the gifts that you would like to get if you don't it's okay remember the best gift that we can get is the love from our family and friends and the loved ones so at least that's what I believe although I still want the gifts but anyway we're moving on so thank you guys Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays thank you for watching our video if you thought it was fun or interesting or if you loved Christmas please like please share this lesson write questions in the comments even if I haven't seen them we'll answer them later and join our social media classes we have a lot of fun putting questions together for you guys so please join thank you so so much again and I hope you have a wonderful holidays and have a good weekend have a good Saturday thank you so much for joining us --- ## 388. Important Phrasal Verbs for When You Get Sick ๐Ÿ˜ท | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `zbzWuSkUHCQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbzWuSkUHCQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:30:31 | --- I want to teach you some phrasal verbs that you need to know if you get sick that's coming up hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I have a very important lesson for you because I think just about all of us we like to travel and if you are traveling in another country it's a there's a pretty good chance you may be speaking English and if you get sick and you go to the doctor then you you will need to explain to them in English what is happening so I'm going to teach you some common phrasal verbs that you can use if you are talking to a doctor a friend a family member and you're trying to explain to them how you feel if you're sick or maybe you think that you're getting sick so the first phrasal verb that I have for you is a three word phrasal verb and it is come down with and you'd say that you are coming down with something and this means that you are are starting to become ill usually with a particular disease that is not too serious so overwhelmingly I think you would use this phrasal verb when perhaps talking about a cold and you'd say that I think I'm starting to come down with a cold or maybe you you feel really sick and you go to the doctor and you say I think I think I came down with the flu or maybe you just don't know why you were sick or you don't know what you have and you could say well I I'm just I'm coming down with something I don't know what it is but I'm going to go to the doctor and I'm going to tell them look I think I'm coming down with something I need your help so to come down with means that you are starting to get ill and again it's usually something that is not too serious to come down with coming down with a cold yeah Peters come down with something thinks they've caught it from the rats then we have the phrasal verb burn-up and when you're talking about sickness burn-up means that you are just you you're very hot and typically this is because you have a fever so perhaps somebody comes to you and they say wow you know I'm you know I think I might have a fever this is when you might you could put your hand on their forehead and feel it and if they if it feels very hot you would tell them you'd say well you're you're burning up you definitely have a fever because you're burning up you're burning up let's stick with the preposition up right now and this next phrasal verb I I think is very common it's something that happens to all of us and I don't think anybody likes it and that is to throw up and when someone throws up it just means that they vomit so if you go to the doctor and you want to tell them that you are sick and that you vomited you could just say yeah you know last night I threw up I don't know what's wrong I I definitely think I'm coming down with something but if you throw up then then you just vomit another phrasal verb that is somewhat related but it is definitely different and that is cough up and when you cough something up it's talking about well liquid that maybe in your lungs and and you're just coughing and you might cough something up so wait if you have a severe cold I think it's quite possible that you would cough some of that stuff up in your lungs and it's not a very pleasant feeling and then you'd want to spit it out if you are coughing up something like mucus if you are coughing up something like blood then that may be very serious and you would definitely want to go to the doctor and tell them you know I'm coughing up blood what what do you think the problem is cough up I think I'm going to call up a furball No you should quit that's bad for you you hear what I just said I saw you cuff of one another phrasal verb with up is puff and this just means that that you're describing something that is starting to swell or enlarge and you could say that it is puffing up maybe if you are like me and you get bad allergies then you might maybe your cheeks would start to puff up or your your eyes could puff up a little bit and they can start to swell and this phrasal verb I really do think if you have allergies and you have a reaction to something there is a possibility that something will start to puff up so if you want to describe it and say that something is swelling it is enlarging you can say that it's puffing up my old face could pop up ankles will swirl eyes will puff up I look just like the Pillsbury Doughboy then we have another phrasal four herp using the preposition up and that is flare up and if you say that something flares up or it is flaring up then you're talking about a condition that has returned and usually if somebody has a condition it may go away over time but then it returns it comes back and you could then say well it's starting to flare up and especially if it's noticeable if you can see this and maybe you're talking about your skin you could say well you know something happens I have this condition and it's starting to flare up again and perhaps you need to go to the doctor and get some medication because your your condition it's starting to flare up I mean I think my symptoms are flaring up yeah but most of the time it won't even be an issue it only really flares up during periods of great stress would you rather me say hey guys my irritable bowel syndrome is flaring up the next phrasal verb is break out and this just means to start suddenly and often I think again you probably would be furring - something that that's going on with your skin that you can actually see but maybe you don't know what it is and you would go to the doctor and just tell them like look i i'm just i just started to break out i don't know what's going on i I don't know how to describe it I don't know what it is it happens suddenly I just started breaking out and perhaps it could be an allergic reaction to something maybe maybe it was something you ate and then suddenly you just started breaking up next is actually well this this is a good frizzle verb when you think about sickness and and that is fight off because this is something that we all want to do we want to fight off a cold because we want to stay healthy so to fight something off just means that you are trying to resist this this disease this illness and you are fighting it off maybe you are eating really healthy you're getting a lot of vitamin C and because of that you can say well I'm just I'm trying to fight trying to fight something off so I think most of the time people would use this phrasal verb if they are starting to feel a little sick and that's when people kind of spring into action and then they try to fight off the illness but why do you need the meds if you're not sick to fight off the cold symptoms that my healthy body is exhibiting I can fight off whatever stupid illness this pizza may or may not have had all right I'm in perfect control of my body we usual brain to fight off rabies then we have get over which well this one - this is a another positive phrasal verb when you think about sickness because when you get over something it means that you have recovered from this illness or disease and you got over it so when you get over something then you you are starting to feel healthy again because you have recovered from this sickness and I think it's quite common to use this when talking about well a cold and you could say I was starting to come down with a cold but I was really trying to fight it off and I got a little sick but because I was fighting it off over it really quickly and that is good news if you get over a cold or any illness for that matter Sheldon you don't get over the flu in half an hour I'm just getting over a cold I finally got over my seasickness next is the phrasal verb pass out and if somebody passes out then it just means that they lose consciousness and they're well there are many reasons why a person might pass out but it could happen if you are severely sick and you are just you have a really bad fever your your head is burning up you can't fight it off any longer and you're so tired and you might just pass out and you become unconscious so to pass out is to become unconscious I'm get sick and God's I'd pass out I'm fine just pass out sometimes did you not listen to my messages I told you I got locked in a storage room I know I got sick and passed out then if we want to say the opposite of pass out we can use well one of three phrasal verbs come to come around or come round and all of them they mean the same thing it just means to regain consciousness so if you are really sick you're burning up and then you pass out a little later on you you might come to and regain consciousness and hopefully whatever sickness you have you will get over it quickly and as always I will just try to continue using these phrasal verbs again and again because I think that will just help you better understand their meaning then we have put on and this just means to receive some medical treatment but I think there is more of a specific use because you would talk about it when you go to the doctor and they tell you they say ok you this is what you need to take and then later on you might tell somebody else well the doctor put me on this medication the doctor put me on whatever it is they tell you that you need to take so they would put you on some medication and in that case they are giving you medical treatment to put on but my doctor put me right on a new round of chemo which is why I have been seen tired lately doctors put me on medication to stop the seizures did they put you on medication better medical marijuana it's genius now I know sickness it is a very serious topic but I I want to end it on a lighter note so I could say that I hope that all of you learn some new phrasal verbs and that they may help you now or in the future if you have to go to the doctor and try to explain what's going on if you enjoyed this lesson and you did learn something new please hit that like button and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 389. Important Phrasal Verbs for Work and School | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `GoRG-xy8ss0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoRG-xy8ss0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:55:41 | --- in today's lesson I am going to be teaching you different phrasal verbs now phrasal verbs are are challenging for a couple of different reasons first it's usually that preposition that follows the verb that can confuse people and trip them up from time to time they're also challenging because phrasal verbs can have more than one meaning but what I want to do we found that the best way to teach phrasal verbs is to learn phrasal verbs related to a topic so in today's lesson I'm going to teach you phrasal verbs that are related to work or school so I'm going to tell you the phrasal verb I'll give you the meaning as well as some example sentences and then I'll show you some video clips so that you can see how these phrasal verbs are used in context are you ready the first phrasal verb that I want to talk to you about that is related to work or school is hand in and when you hand something in it just means that you are or giving something to a person of authority another phrasal verb that has the same same meaning is turn in you can hand in a paper or you can turn in a paper or if we're talking about work maybe you have a a really important assignment that you have to do and you're going to hand in the assignment to your boss or supervisor or you could turn it into them as well these reports you handed in it's almost as if you have no business training at all anyone failing to turn in any homework assignment will be penalized one point off their final grade I would love to do that thank you so much except I've already turned in my report the next phrasal verb is hand out and when you hand something out you you are giving it to different people in a group so for example maybe a teacher will hand out the homework or maybe if you're in a meeting at work the person conducting the meeting will hand out the report so that everybody can follow along you are handing something out now you can hand in something you can also hand out something but if you're talking about giving something to different people in a group we would only use hand out you hand something out they should hand out candy at Thanksgiving I am handing out pieces of paper on which you will draw one human butt the next phrasal verb is look through and when you look through something that you are just looking at a a paper a document a report you're looking at it quickly mostly to find information that you need to look through something so I could ask a friend or a colleague if I want them to check an email or a report to see if they can find any mistakes I'd say hey you know can you look through this and tell me if you find any mistakes can you look through this and and tell me if I need to change anything look through look through the um was looking through the Panama papers I looked for your stupid book and then we have a phrasal verb with with a pretty similar meaning and that is look over and when you look something over you are just examining it and you're usually doing this quickly and often you might hear it with work and you might look over someone's work you're kind of reading the document or report in its entirety you are looking it over perhaps to familiarize yourself you need to understand this information but you don't have a lot of time so you're just you're going to look it over one difference I think between look through and look over is when you look through something you're really talking about reading something whereas look over it could be talking about reading something it could be talking about something that you've created something that you've made and you just want to examine it so that is one difference between those two phrasal verbs I was just looking over the paperwork I found a little hiccup listen do you get a chance to look over that contract for me listen Marty needs me to look over this work then we have lay off and to lay someone off because you're talking about a person is to end someone's employment usually because there's just not enough work for them to do you lay people off you're not going to lay off stuff I'll have to lay off about 100 people you don't understand it laid me off another great work phrasal verb is to take on and when I think about this to to take on means to to get more work or more responsibility and I think it's often used with that word responsibility people take on more responsibility so whether you're talking about school or work if you are going to perhaps help out your teacher or your boss or supervisor and say yes yes I can do more I can take on more responsibility take on just us to talk about me taking on more creative assignments I can't take on any more social issues right now Ezra is taking on these big responsibilities then we have knockoff now this phrasal verb I'll go ahead and tell you it's a bit more informal it's more casual and you you may not hear it as often so to knock off just means to stop working there's another phrasal verb with a very similar meaning it means the same thing and that is to clock out now when you're talking about knocking off work or or clocking out I I think about work or jobs that that are hourly that you get paid by the hour then those are types of jobs where you could say yeah you know I I'd knock off at five o'clock or at five o'clock I'm going to clock out and specifically when you're talking about clocking out I think of an actual like some kind of time card or a card that you have that you have to to enter into the computer so that they know that you stop working and you clock out knock off clock out you stop working another great work phrasal verb actually it's not a good thing to happen and it's also relevant to school as well and that is burn out and I think this is a phrasal verb that that you might hear more often people burn out and when you burn out it just means that you are unable to continue working because you you have just work too much you are completely exhausted you can't continue you can't do more and you could tell someone you know I I'm I just burned out I couldn't work anymore I burned out I couldn't study anymore I burned out I hope that you are not working too hard and get burned out higher patient load parents got divorced I'm really burned out sooner or later you want to know your problem America you work too hard you get burned down now let's go over a few phrasal verbs that that have the word work in it and the first one that I have for you is work on and when you work on something it just means that you are spending time creating or improving something so for example at school you might work on an essay you need to finish the essay so you're going to spend some time working on it or maybe at work you're going to work on a project you're working with a group of people and you guys are working on it because you need to improve it or maybe it's something you need to create to work on something just to point out real quickly uh some of these phrasal verbs can be used in other contexts if you're talking about improving something for example in sports somebody might say you know I really need to work on my game I need to improve my skills at this sport so again it's great to learn the me meaning related to a specific category that it's commonly used in but then you can also use it in other situations as well your mother thinks I'm working on the car why don't you have everybody work on their expense reports more homework we're just working on this map then we have work out to work something out this phrasal verb has several different meanings that that are relevant to work or school so so I'm going to go over all of them with you the first meaning is is to solve a problem and you could say you know we need to work this out we need to solve this problem and find a resolution to work something out it can also mean to to be successful or or to have a particular end so for example you might hear the phrase well if things don't work out if things don't end the way we want them to if things don't work out then we have to do something else or maybe somebody might tell you that something was successful and they'd be like you know in the end everything worked out the last few weeks at work have been very stressful I've been working on a major project but in the end everything worked out everything will work out for us so I missed the old place but I'll tell you what it's good to be back yeah it all worked out in the end everything's back to normal the next meaning would be to to deal with a problem but but to agree on something so you you need to agree on the details you need to agree on some kind of an arrangement and people might use it like well let's we need to work out the details before we proceed we really need to work out the details or maybe at your job you have to work on a project work on with some some colleagues that maybe you know they're not nice people you're not friends with them but you need to work out your differences in order to proceed you need to come to some sort of agreement and solve the problem work out your differences in order to be successful finally this phrasal verb has another meaning which which can be related to to work I suppose and that just means to add up to a certain amount so maybe as far as work goes you're comparing two different services and you're thinking okay this is how much this cost this is how much this costs and in the end this one works out to be more expensive so we're gonna go with the other one I think it's time that we work out our differences yeah the next work phrasal verb is to work through and this just means to deal with a problem an issue a challenge by thinking about it or by talking about it so if there is a problem that you're presented with and you might say okay we we need to work this through we need to to work this through and think about this problem so that we can solve it it's a little similar to work out in the sense of solving a problem and you work out your differences you could also work through your differences and in that case it has the same meaning but work through is something that you can do on your own you can work through a problem on your own and try to solve it and work through it we can either talk about our issues or work through our problems you see Bonnie helped me work through my issues now this phrasal verb also has another meaning which would just be to to continue working you were just working continuously from this time till until you finish or well you just have to work you have so much of it and you would say you know I just had to work through the evening or maybe you had to work through the weekend and you had to keep working because you had so much work and hopefully you won't get burned out thanks for working through lunch so when I have to work through a weekend she switches with me then we have fall off and when you call something off you are you're deciding that hey this is n't going to happen I am going to put a stop to this or maybe there is some problem or some issue with the timing and and something has to be canceled for example a meeting that is something that that might be called off because people can't attend or or just the timing doesn't work out and they might say yeah you know well the meeting got called off it got canceled or if I'm thinking about work maybe two companies would like to merge and they want to come together but there was problems and the merger it got called off the next phrasal verb and this this is one of my favorites even though it's still it's not not a good thing especially if this is something that you're doing and that is to slack off and and when you slack off you're just you're just not working very hard you're not trying to do the work that you need to do and you could say that oh this person is just slacking off and you can use this at school you know obviously there are students that don't work very hard and you could say you know the these students like to slack off or at work there are probably colleagues that you work with who you think slack off they don't really work hard and even though it's not a good thing I think in all honesty we've all we've all slacked off from time to time it's happened there are times when we haven't wanted to work very hard and and maybe we slack off maybe I've been slacking off a little bit but Tessa took two weeks off when Jon Snow died in Game of Thrones you can't afford to be late again I know see out here has been giving Wilhelm the impression that I've been slacking off next we have a three-word phrasal verb and that is fill in for and when you fill in for someone you are just taking their place and taking on their responsibilities while this person is away you are filling in for them so as far as school goes a a teacher might fill in for another teacher and they may teach the class or work you may fill in for your colleague and help out on this project and fill in for this person and because they're away on vacation or you know hopefully you don't have to fill in for them because they got laid off or maybe they got burned out and and you really you'd have to fill in for them if that's the case either way I think you'll be able to work through it even if you have to work through the weekend because I believe in you and in the end things will work out and I'm just going to keep using these phrasal verbs again and again and again because that's the best way for you to remember them thanks for filling in for Kirsten shows up soon this is Joe Corelli filling in for Catherine Duke I'm filling for him as food Chelsea reporter next we have run by and that is just to to tell someone your ideas so that they can give you their opinion you run something by someone so perhaps your teacher might say hey before you turn this in I want you to run it by one of the other students so they can look it over and see if they find any mistakes or if there's anything you want to change or maybe your boss might say hey before you submit the report run it by one of your colleagues run it by them first get their opinion and then you can turn it into me I will go craft an apology run it by me first let me run this by it because you're sharp guy then we have Branch out and and this is a a great phrasal verb especially related to work because it's talking about doing something that that is related to something you've done in the past but then doing things new or different or or heading in a different direction so for example I mentioned this phrasal verb at the beginning I'm trying to teach you these phrasal verbs related to school and related to work but you can use them in other situations and I hope that after you learn the meaning you can Branch out and use them in a different way and take this in a different direction so as far as work goes companies might have some product or or some service but they may want to go in another Direction they may want to Branch out and try something new Branch out you seem to want to Branch out what's stopping you you know I'm just at a place where I want to Branch out and explore new opportunities the next phrasal verb is sort out and this phrasal verb has two meanings the first one is to do whatever it is necessary to solve a problem disagreement or or some situation we need to sort things out in this case it has the same meaning as work out to solve a problem we have to work out our differences we have to sort out our differences we have to solve this problem the phrasal verb also means to to organize things just to become more organized and this I I'm I'm guilty of this if I have a desk sometimes it gets pretty chaotic so I have to sort things out from time to time I need to sort out my desk and just organize things oh it's a fight well with that sorted out I'm happy to answer your question Bernadette so there you have it we we've covered quite a few different phrasal verbs today hopefully some of them you are already familiar with and it was a bit of review for you and I hope you learned some new phrasal verbs as well that's it for today but please feel free to look over these phrasal verbs one more time and keep reviewing them and examine them closely and that's just going to help you work on building your vocabulary and that was a needless emphasis but I just want to tell you that's how common these phrasal verbs are we use them all the time but I don't want you to get burned out don't get burned out keep working hard but don't get burnt out all right I'll see you next --- ## 390. Important Travel Idioms So You Don't Miss the Boat | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gy1Nl4KPoSc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy1Nl4KPoSc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:29:41 | --- - Today we're talking about travel idioms. That's coming up. Today's lesson's particularly useful and fun because it involves traveling, and if you like traveling, I think you're going to really enjoy these idioms. Now a lot of these idioms have to do with traveling. They're related to traveling, or things that are connected to traveling, but you can use them in everyday situations, which makes it even better. In today's lesson I'm going to give you some new idioms. I will explain to you what they mean and how they're used, and I'll give you an example sentence. So stick around, and let's learn something new. Our first idiom is bad news travels fast. And sadly, this is not a great idiom because it has kind of a bad connotation. We are talking about bad news, and it really means what it sounds like, that bad news circulates quickly. - I guess bad news travels fast. - Bad news travels fast with us demons. We all like a good laugh. - So when something bad happens, a lot of people hear about it very, very quickly, and that is when we use this idiom, bad news travels fast. When Pam failed art school, everyone knew about it the next day. I guess bad news travels fast. Our next idiom is mile a minute, or a mile a minute. You could hear it both ways. This idiom means that something is happening at a very rapid pace, or just very, very quickly. I hear this idiom a lot with talking or thinking, so when we're talking about somebody doing something a mile a minute, it has to do usually like, oh your mind is going a mile a minute, or she's talking or he's talking a mile a minute. - My mind was racing a mile a minute. - These are very, very common situations where you will find that idiom. When I found out I got accepted into UCLA, my mind was going a mile a minute. The next idiom is off the beaten track, and this refers to a little-known location or a place that not a lot of people know about. It's off the beaten track. The beaten track refers to a pathway that people have made by walking on it consistently, so if something is off the beaten track, it means that it is away. It's not something that a lot of people know about, or it's not a place that a lot of people go to. My favorite restaurant is a tiny Indian place down the street. It's really off the beaten track. Our next travel idiom is hit the road, and this one just means to set out on a journey, so basically to begin your journey or your trip, to hit the road. It's 10:00 a.m., we're all packed, let's hit the road. The next travel idiom is jump on the bandwagon. And if you've never heard this idiom before, you might be a little confused. What could this mean? Jump, bandwagon? What is going on? And it means to join an activity that has become popular. So it's like you're also joining with everyone else. - No I'm not. I'm hopping on the bandwagon. - You could jump on the bandwagon when you're you know joining a new fashion trend, or maybe if you're buying the newest phone, or shoes, or whatever it is, you can always say you're jumping on the bandwagon. After the keto diet became popular, many jumped on the bandwagon. I personally don't like the keto diet because you don't get to eat sweets. What kind of life is that? The next idiom is in the same boat. And don't worry if you don't like the sea or being in a boat, this has nothing to do with that. It means to be in the same circumstances or situation as others. And many times I feel like when we're talking about being in the same boat, we're talking about kind of like a, kind of a difficult situation. So that's the context that it's usually used in. So you're talking, oh I'm in the same boat as you. It kinda has to do with a difficult circumstance. I'm so tired, I only slept two hours last night. I'm in the same boat. I stayed up all night to study for the physics exam. Our next idiom is to travel light. And this actually has a similar meaning to what it sounds like because when you travel light, you travel without a lot of luggage. It's light, it's not heavy. Not the light that you get from the sun, but the light when you lift something it's not heavy. So you travel light, you travel without carrying a lot of heavy stuff. As much as I like to travel light, I always end up with a suitcase that's too full. The next idiom is missed the boat. I know, another boat idiom, but again, it has nothing to do with a boat, or sea, or anything like that. To miss the boat means to miss an opportunity. And it also many times has the implication of that maybe you might not get another one like this one. - You're just a little bit worried that you may have missed the boat. - I call you miss because you seem to have missed the boat completely on this one. - So if you miss the boat on something, or you miss the boat, it just means you missed it, it's gone, your opportunity is bye-bye. He missed the boat when he didn't apply for the job in time. The next idiom is train of thought and the train of thought refers to the sequence of thoughts in your mind, especially if it's something that's long or complicated. - Sorry, I lost my train of thought. Isn't he dreamy? (guitar thrums) - [Man] You're talking to one of the three men in the western hemisphere following that train of thought. (audience laughs) - Now many times when we talk about a train of thought, we talk about it being interrupted. And it has to do with losing your train of thought, so when you lose it, it's usually because you were interrupted by someone or something. I completely lost my train of thought when the doorbell rang. The next idiom is right up my alley, or right up your alley, or right up someone's alley. And we use this idiom to describe something that is exactly how we want it or that is exactly the way we like it, or that's something that we're passionate about. So it's a good idiom, because if something is right up your alley, it means that it aligns with your interests and your passions and something that you really, really enjoy. So for me, anything that has to do with like cats, or chocolate, that would be right up my alley. The cat cafe has Nutella cappuccinos and kittens. That's right up my alley. Okay, well now that you've heard the idioms, it is time to practice them. So I have some questions for you that I want answered in the comments. So tell me, what's something that's right up your alley? Or, have you ever missed the boat on something? Something big, I hope not. Or do you have a favorite place that's off the beaten track? I'd love to know. Make sure that when you answer these questions, answer in full sentences, and I'd love to read your answers. As you know, idioms are an amazing way to improve your English fluency, and if you're serious about it, check out our secret lesson. The link is in the description. And if you enjoyed this lesson, please like it and share it with all of your friends. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. Bye. Bye. Okay, I'm done. --- ## 391. Impressive B2 Vocab That Makes You Stand Out ๐Ÿคฉ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `V4H8gbf0PP4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4H8gbf0PP4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:51:47 | --- Let's learn some B2 vocabulary to help you supercharge your fluency. And now let's turn our attention to some useful B2 adverbs like simultaneously. This refers to something that is happening or being done at exactly the same time. It really has the same meaning as the phrase at the same time. Perhaps it's a little more formal, maybe even more precise, if you say something is happening simultaneously. >> And this little bastard hacks into anything that's on the digital network. That means every cell phone, satellite, ATM machine, and computer. >> Simultaneously. >> Then there's the adverb preferably. This is used to indicate that one choice or way of doing something is more desired or liked than others. And often you're going to use this at the beginning of a phrase and then add a condition. And there are some common prepositions that follow this adverb. Maybe you uh want to do something preferably in some location or you're asked to submit something preferably by some deadline or maybe you you want something preferably with certain features. >> You're one of those millennials that thinks they can get whatever they want whenever they want. Preferably with free shipping. >> All I want is to clear this furniture. Preferably in silence. >> Then there's eagerly. This means that you are doing something with a lot of excitement, interest, and enthusiasm because you just want you want this thing to happen. And there are some common adverb verb collocations like to eagerly await or to eagerly anticipate or maybe even to eagerly accept something. >> All his adoring subjects equally awaiting his return. >> Willingly. I like this adverb. It means that you are doing something because you want to do it and you're happy to do it and not forced to do it. >> You see, master, every man has a price he willingly accept. >> He lives right here in Greendale. >> Willingly? Why? >> Next is patiently. It is an incredibly important word. It means you are able to wait for a long time and accept difficulties without getting angry or upset. And a very common collocation with this adverb is to wait patiently. >> Day after day she hung from her web and waited patiently for an idea to come to her. And so, after waiting patiently to be relevant again, our heroic narrator steps back into his leading role. >> These are incredibly useful words. Try to listen for them. Preferably, try to actively use them. They're really going to help you get your point across as well as sound more natural. --- ## 392. Improve Your Listening Skills to Effectively Learn English | Live-Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `XjcfroceOQs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjcfroceOQs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:24:57 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes and this is interactive english the channel that is all about just trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today we're going to work on your listening because when when you're learning a language listening is very important so we're going to practice our listening skills and i'm going to have you listen to a couple of different sentences a couple of stories and we're going to use that to help you improve just your overall language skills which is why i titled listen and learn but i don't know why i chose uh just like a stream there i think of nature you can listen to the sounds of the water and i i think it's a bit relaxing and i think when you're listening you want to you want to be relaxed you want to be able to concentrate on what you hear the other person saying so that you can identify different things which is what we're going to talk about in this lesson we're going to work on identifying well learning new vocabulary and just when you hear a word that you don't know and trying to put that word in context and understand the meaning of that word we're also going to practice just identifying the main idea making sure you comprehend most of the most of what you hear we're going to talk about key details as well as making inferences and if you don't know what uh inferences are it's when you're using the information that you know in order to infer other information for example if i say that my wife just walked in and she's carrying an umbrella that's wet then you when you hear that an umbrella that's wet you can infer that it's probably raining outside so when you listen to information you want to be able to infer other information which it just goes back to your overall comprehension so before we start i just want to give some shout outs uh hello saw some members with me lolly good to see you rod vip um glad glad that you guys are here uh monica steve alyssa uh yamila alana salam great heba sees so many familiar names i love it so let's start we're going to start with something that is a little easier and then it'll get more difficult actually it'll get much more difficult which uh i i just hope that you are ready to listen so if you're with me right now in the chat i'd encourage you to try and write you listen to uh what i tell you try to write your answers in the chat even if you're watching this later just listen try to write your answers in the comment participate in the lesson that that's what interactive english is all about so let's start with um let's start with trying to if you have if you encounter a new vocabulary word and you want to be able to put that word in context so i'm just going to give you um a simple sentence and i want you to listen to it and then i want you to tell me what this word means okay so for example i want you to listen uh right now okay the teacher chided me for texting in class that is the sentence the teacher chided me for texting in class and i want you to tell me what does it mean to chide to chide someone so the sentence that i gave you and maybe you know this word um maybe you don't and this is what this is when listening helps that you can think about this word and hopefully the more you listen to it and read it and you encounter this word you'll be able to use it and make it part of your uh vocabulary the teacher chided me for texting in class all right excellent so yes uh sarah lali great so here is the sentence and i'll give you the meaning so the teacher chided me for texting in class to chide someone it means to scold or reprimand angrily so in this case uh if you are i know some people some of you out there are teachers um we love hearing from other uh teachers other english teachers if someone if a student is texting in class it doesn't make me feel good it probably doesn't make most teachers feel good and you might say something to that student and tell them to put their phone away so in this case if you chide someone they probably did something wrong and you're speaking a little angrily to them so now that you know that if if you are chiding someone that you are talking them to them in a way that you are a little angry you're upset with this person and you're like no no don't do that don't do that now that you know the meaning of that word let's use it and we'll make an inference okay so i'm going to give you another sentence and i i'll well let me tell you the sentence and then i'll tell you what i want you to do so again just listen to what i'm going to say say mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house my question to you is well why why would why might she do that why might the mother chide the children for playing baseball inside the house and in this case i'm asking you to to make an inference what do you think i'm giving you that situation and i want you to think about the other things that are going on or things that could happen so you know the situation mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house okay you know what the word chide means we just uh we we just talked about that so you know that the mother is doing this but why that is my question why do you think this is happening what are some inferences that you can make because you know this situation and that's where there is no wrong or right answer it's kind of just trying to get you thinking in a different way um because you're not only when you're listening you're listening to the information but you want to be able to comprehend more than just directly what somebody is saying um so yeah maybe excellent there's a lot of great answers um the house is small maybe you break some glass playing these games are not inside so here is the sentence i said mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house i told you there are many different there are many things that you can infer about this for me when i would think about this i would think well something could break maybe a window or perhaps maybe the maybe they did break a window and that is why they are being chided or perhaps it happened in the past but uh playing baseball inside the house yes something could definitely break so now i those are really that's kind of just like a warm-up that i wanted to give you that you hear me say these simple sentences and just you're maybe trying to learn a new word and try to figure out the meaning by putting it in context and then we use that word to make an inference about some of the other information that that you hear so now we're going to get into we're going to go from easy to definitely more difficult what i'm going to do now is i am going to give you a story i'm going to tell you a story and i just want you to listen to it just relax and just think about what i'm saying and it may help to put a picture in your mind if you are if you're able to put a picture in your mind that does help follow along with the story especially when you need to recall the information because we're gonna we're i'm gonna read this to you and then we're gonna practice uh key details the main idea um new vocabulary we're gonna do a little bit of everything so this is a longer story i'm gonna read it i'll read it twice and then i have five questions for you about this story all right so again if you uh are just joining us right now we are practicing uh our listening skills and i'm gonna you're gonna listen to me tell you a story and then i'm gonna i'm gonna ask you some questions about what you heard so this is really just practicing seeing how much information you remember how much you understood you comprehended and then how much you can retain so let's go over here and again uh i'll read it to you i just want you to listen carefully okay so here is the the story my friend dave traveled to the big apple for the weekend to attend his friend's bachelor party he promised that he would write me a postcard i never got one i saw a day five days after he returned from his trip i noticed his hand was in a cast when i asked what happened he said he fell down the day before he flew out and he hadn't been able to use his hand jokingly i asked about the postcard he told me that he wrote one but it must have gotten lost in the mail i suspected that dave was not telling the truth after all he is a southpaw okay all right that was uh a lot of information that i just threw at you um i don't think the story may be too difficult to follow along but i will read it one more time and then we're gonna go through and uh um i will ask you five questions about this story right here are you ready all right listen carefully i'll read it again my friend dave traveled to the big apple for the weekend to attend his friend's bachelor party he promised that he would write me a postcard i never got one i saw dave five days after he returned from his trip i noticed his hand was in a cast when i asked what happened he said he fell down the day before he flew out and he hadn't been able to use his hand jokingly i asked about the postcard he told me he wrote one but it must have gotten lost in the mail i suspected that dave was not telling the truth after all he is a southpaw okay so let's start out um with uh maybe as more of a simple question that i i hope that you would be able to get so the first question that i have for you and again i'm i'm not going to show you the question just listen to it and see if you can an answer all right so the first question i have from you for you is what city did dave visit so this was at the very start of the story um i talked about my my friend dave uh was going on this trip and what city did dave visit and this is definitely a little more challenging because not only i did not say the specific name of the city it's more of a nickname and you really have to know that nickname and then you can identify the city so yes i i said the big apple you're right the big apple is another name it's a nickname for new york city so this is where my friend dave traveled all right what city did dave visit dave went to the big apple which is new york city so really technically you would say that the answer is new york city okay the next question that i have for you is what event may dave attend in the future so we're talking again about uh my friend dave i gave you some information about this situation he's in new york city the big apple based on what you know what you listen to what event may he go to in the future dave may go to this it's it's a big event that somebody would have and it's going to happen in the future all right he didn't do it now i gave you the information that you could infer okay this is probably what he's going to do all right so this is again this is a good example because i think many of you uh are saying bachelor party bachelor party is what i want you to use to infer what event he will go to in the future so we're talking about the future from now um dave's come back from the bachelor party if somebody goes to a bachelor party if you know what that is what event might they go to in the future uh yes exactly uh fulia rahel i think now that uh hopefully now that i explained that a little bit more it makes sense i told you he was in new york for a bachelor party so if that's the situation in the future dave is likely to go to his friend's wedding so if you don't in this case you need to know what a bachelor party is and if you don't know what a bachelor party is um and i don't know if it's in um if all countries have it but in like the united states before someone gets married um the bride or the groom maybe the groom would have a bachelor party and his close friends will get together and they go have this party maybe in another place and perhaps the wife might have a bachelorette party so because of that you know that it's a bachelor party in the future dave will likely go to his friend's wedding all right so we know he's in new york he's at a bachelor party um and dave was supposed to do something uh while he was there now i told you that dave hurt his hand so this is definitely more detail when dave and i met so i'm telling you this story about dave and i when dave and i met after his trip how many days had it been since he hurt his hand all right how many days had it been so dave hurt his hand and then some of these things happen i saw dave when he got back from his trip how many days had it been since he hurt his hand so in this case you really need to think about uh there was some specific information that i gave you but then you need to think about the situation like the the bachelor party all right i'll tell you right now five five is not the answer all right remember i'm saying how many days had it been since he hurt his hand when he first hurt his hand and then how many days is it so the correct answer would see i'd say about seven or eight okay and the reason why i say that is because remember in the story we're talking about he said he hurt his hand the day before leaving for a weekend bachelor trip all right um so for example wait a second i want to make sure all right so i said that he he's gone for the weekend which is two days and i said i saw dave five days after he got back so he returned from the trip and then five days passed and then that's when i saw him so you could say five plus two seven works if you want to count the same day that he hurt his hand then you could say eight so i'd say seven or eight days would be the correct answer and this was difficult because you had to remember the five days after he got back it's a weekend bachelor trip bachelor party our trip so that's two days and then he hurt his hand the day before so that was definitely um a little more difficult all right the next question um i apologize if some of these are a little difficult but again this is this is good practice all right now my next question very simple straightforward dave was going to send me a postcard he didn't send it all right was i angry about the postcard was i angry about that that i didn't get a postcard and which word did you hear that tells you the answer to this all right so first like do you think was was i angry that my friend dave did not send me a postcard on his trip to new york city the big apple and what word did you hear that tells you either yes or no all right and this is when i want you to i'm trying to think if you can identify the specific word that you um that you heard and maybe again this is a lot to take in but oh okay so most of you know that yes no the answer is no i was not angry about this um uh jennifer it was a very close guess excellent um shaya yes the key word that i want you to focus on was that i don't know if you remember specifically the sentence said jokingly i asked about the postcard so jokingly was the word it's an adverb it means you're kind of you're just joking around i'm teasing like hey why didn't you send me my postcard um that was the word that kind of tells you that i was not upset it's it's not serious i was not angry about that i didn't get a postcard jokingly was the key word all right and then the last one which i think is certainly going to be maybe a little more challenging and i didn't say this which hand did dave injure and how do you know so i talk about dave's dave's hand well i didn't say which hand was in a cast a cast if you didn't if you don't know what a cast is if you perhaps hurt your arm and you break it and they put that uh mold around your arm so you can't move it in this case if it's a hand maybe if somebody maybe they break their wrist maybe they would the doctor would put a cast around your hand and you just can't move it um and that's what a cast is so which which hand which handed did dave break and how do you know this how do you know that it was either the left or the right hand and maybe you're just taking a guess you have a 50 50 chance and i see some people putting left hand some people putting right hand but but wait if why why are you coming up with these answers are you just guessing that that's okay if you are um the answer that the key word is the word southpaw and if you don't know what a southpaw is the what it means originally was talking about somebody who boxes left-handed or in baseball somebody who throws left-handed but you could use it as an informal term to talk about somebody who just does something left-handed so i said that uh i knew dave was lying or i suspected he was lying um after all he is a southpaw so dave is left-handed all right dave if dave hurt his left hand and his his hands in a cast which means he can't write he's not able to write a postcard which is why i said i suspected that he is lying because he's a southpaw he's not able to write he broke his left hand all right yes so southpaw is an informal word that means um that just somebody's left-handed and in case you didn't know something fun fact about me is that i i am a southpaw i am actually uh i'm left-handed i write left-handed i throw left-handed um if i guess if i were to box i would i would box left-handed even though i don't throw punches at all um so this is again it's good listening practice i have another story for you and if you thought that was difficult i apologize this is definitely more advanced this is going to be a lot more challenging and the reason why this is more difficult is because it's a speech this is a short speech that i'm going to read to you and then i'm going to ask you some questions and i think it it it's a good speech because it learns it's a little bit about a little culture and history i don't want to give you too many uh hints before we're doing it but also a speech is um a speech is challenging because people tend to be more formal they use more advanced vocabulary and because of that i think it makes listening more of a challenge so this i'm gonna read this speech and then i have five more questions for you okay um and this is going to be difficult i'll just go ahead and tell you that right now uh but listen carefully and then we'll talk about these questions again i will read it twice so right now i just want you to take a deep breath relax and listen to this speech okay ready here we go i am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us the blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common the rich inheritance of justice liberty prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you not by me the sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me this fourth of july is yours not mine you may rejoice i must mourn to drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty and call upon him to joy join you in joyous anthems were inhumane inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony do you mean citizens to mock me by asking me to speak today all right so again that is a speech it was from uh it was from a long time ago and i will read it again and just try to listen and if it is very difficult try to try to get the main idea don't think that you need to try and listen to all every single word and catch all of the details try to get the main idea i'm going to read it one more time this is a speech and later on i'll tell you more about this speech and where it came from so it says i'm not included within this within the pale of this glorious anniversary your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us the blessings in which you this day rejoice are not enjoyed in common the rich inheritance of justice liberty prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you not by me the sunlight that brought life and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me this fourth of july is yours not mine you may rejoice i must mourn to drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty and call upon him to join in this in the joyous anthems where inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony do you mean citizens to mock me by asking me to speak today so uh like i said this is definitely this is definitely challenging all right the first question that i have for you is hopefully maybe is a little easier hopefully you can get it is which holiday is being celebrated so in this speech this person is giving he's talking about a holiday uh that's being celebrated what holiday is it uh let's start out and see if you can identify that there was um i mentioned a date in there that would hopefully tell you a little bit more about um what i'm talking about what holiday i'm talking about there are some key words in there such as anniversary i give you the date i actually did a whole uh lesson on this day uh not too long ago i did it last month uh maybe that gives you so uh excellent uh lolly reuben uh jennifer yamila uh dairy naima the fourth of july is the the holiday that this person is referring to so in in this i mentioned the fourth of july this celebration remember they said that this celebration it's yours it's not mine so the next question after listening to that um i want you to think about the main idea and in this speech this person says the immeasurable distance between us all right he's talking about this holiday it shows the immeasurable distance between us who is us what two groups of people is he referring to what do you think this is talking about the fourth of july it's independence day and this is a speech from a long time ago and in the speech and toward the beginning he talked about the immeasurable distance between us the distance between us who is us what two groups what two groups of people do you think this person is referring to and as we go through this i think it's going to help you start to comprehend the a little more about the main idea and the situation and what this speech was talking about so let me know um if you you have any guesses so we're talking about the fourth of july this is um it's a it's a holiday it's independence day celebrated in the united states so again let's start putting this uh see what you can infer i i said the speech was from a long time ago a long time ago in the united states they're celebrating independence day so it's after 1776 um but it's still a time period where they're talking about the immeasurable distance between two people you guys are some of you are getting close uh lourdes shaya excellent you got it um so what we're talking about is in this case um it's talking about the distance between white people and black people so again this is going to help you understand the speech a little bit more about what this person is talking about and trying to think about who this person is so he's talking about the the country wants to celebrate but they're still an immeasurable distance between uh white people and black people and how and why they should be celebrating so the next question that i have for you is um in this story in this speech he he says the word bequeathed and i want you to think well what does bequeath mean so i'll read the the part of it uh to help you understand it a little bit more so it's just identifying this word bequeathed and i want to ask you what do you think that word means in the story um or in the speech he says the rich inheritance of justice liberty prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you not by me so justice liberty prosperity and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you and not by me what do you think it means bequeathed and this is the reason i chose this word is because it is an older word it's not a word that you're probably going to go out and use it's not a word that you're going to hear in everyday conversation it's a very formal word and it's from a longer time ago i actually think of like kings and queens um when maybe the king would be like oh and to my son the prince i bequeath this this thing um so excellent lolly perfect so if you bequeath something all right it's talking about it's usually money or property in a will but in general you could be talking about something that's given to someone else after after they die which is why we're usually talking about a will in this case we're talking about independence bequeathed by your fathers the founding fathers of the country which is a reference back to july 4th the founding fathers um the guy the people responsible for the declaration of independence um they gave independence was bequeath was given to these people which in this case uh white people not shared by me so automatically you know that uh the person who wrote this speech is black and i will tell you who it is in just a moment i have some more a couple more questions and this might be a little easier the phrase to drag a man in fetters refers to what heinous act so he uses the phrase to drag a man in fetters what heinous act does this what is this talking about and right now you can probably guess we're talking about the united states a long time ago a distance between black and white what heinous act was taking place in the united states a long time ago and this is another again learning new words if you don't know what the word heinous means put it in context we're talking about a situation that what do you think is it a good situation or a bad situation hopefully you know okay this is this is a bad situation it's not something that's good so if i'm talking about a heinous act heinous means that it is terrible it is despicable it is something that is just awful all right so what act were are we talking about to drag a man in fetters i think is the the phrase that i think really where they're discussing this act directly uh so yes adriana eric uh we're talking about slavery and the so to drag a man in fetters fetters is talking about something that keeps you locked up and in this case i thinking of like chains somebody is chained up um and it's referring to the act of slavery and i i used an image of abraham lincoln there he was the president um during this time in which they had the civil war and slavery was uh slavery ended so in this case the heinous act we're talking about slavery now the last question that i have for you want to uh listen uh for this is this is definitely a little more difficult it says why why does this person and the person who gave the speech is frederick douglass frederick douglass just to give you a little more information about him um he escaped slavery and he became a prominent figure speaking out against slavery and he did a lot of writing too and wrote books that were just talking about why we should get rid of slavery we should abolish slavery and we don't need it so he lived through this he was a slave he escaped slavery and he became a prominent person speaking out against slavery and in this case this is his speech and my question is why is it sacrilegious irony for frederick douglass to join in the celebration why in his words he says that this is sacrilegious irony if he were to join in this celebration why does he say that why does he say that it is sacrilegious irony and again we let's put these words into context all right because maybe you're thinking well i don't know sacrilegious irony what does that mean um if you don't know what sacrilegious means if something is um sacrilegious it means that it is disrespectful so something that is sacrilegious it's something you should not do all right irony is talking about having the opposite effect so in this case why do you think he says it's sacrilegious irony if he were to celebrate so think about what's going on they're celebrating independence day in the united states and he's talking about the irony of this situation that you want everybody to celebrate independence but but black people are not free they're they're they're still slavery and this is the irony of all of this and he's basically saying well why should i celebrate there's a picture of frederick douglass why should i join this celebration what what do i have to celebrate because the slavery still exists in this country and there are so many people that are not free that do not have the same freedoms that white people are celebrating on the fourth of july so this is why i'd say you know he's being asked to celebrate the freedom which he does not have that that he does not share with everyone else and he refers to it as sacrilegious irony the name of the speech in case you want to look it up um it's frederick douglass and the name of the speech where is it i had it here it says uh the the title of the speech is what to a slave is the 4th of july so it's what to a slave is the 4th of july is this speech i told you it was definitely more advanced because speeches are more formal they're using more advanced vocabulary but hopefully you were able as we went through the questions to comprehend it a little bit better and i would encourage you afterwards go back and listen to it again and now that you know the answers to see if when you're listening to it if you can identify all of this information again so this is the way that we were listening and learning and improving your skills and again if you guys do if you like what we do here at interactive english you can sponsor and support our channel there are youtube memberships uh patreon we offer different rewards and there are links in the description saw some members uh people uh patrons here today like lolly and rod um so what i hope what i hope that again that you guys can gain from this is that you're just able to practice these skills to again learn new vocabulary and try to put it in context that you can try to remember and identify key details and recall that information as well as make inferences and take the information that you hear the information that you have and try to think about okay well what else is going on what other information can i infer based on the present situation it's always good practice i'm really happy that you guys join me today i hope you found it useful if you did please go ahead hit that like button that way i know okay you maybe you learned something today or you found that this was useful and helpful so thank you guys uh lolly uh so lee english with jerry sarah um oh it's going so fast naima alice thank you guys so much um them comigo excellent amir uh curiosities enigmatica sorry my spanish i haven't been uh i haven't been speaking thank you graciana fatima thank you guys hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you next time so --- ## 393. Improve Your Listening to Easily Understand Fast Speakers | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rkLV74BLaZA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkLV74BLaZA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:29:56 | --- So many of you out there tell me, "I want to improve my listening skills. What should I listen to?" If if that's you, raise your hand. Okay, o almost everyone. So, I want to help you discover what you should listen to in order to help you improve your skills the most so that you can easily understand native English speakers. That's coming up. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today, I want to help you improve your listening fluency. And this lesson is going to be done in three parts. We're going to go through variety, speed, and exposure. And by the end of this lesson, I hope that you have some new ideas that you can use to improve your listening. So, let's begin with variety. And I think the beauty of learning English or or any other language for that matter is that there are so many different options that are out there and available to you for you to improve your listening skills. So I I want to start out with a simple question and that is what are you listening to? For example, a long time ago when I started learning Spanish, I decided that I wanted to practice my listening skills and I was going to listen to music. I was going to do this every day. I never really stopped to think that, well, is this really the best way to do it? I put all of my eggs in that one basket and I would listen to music every day and it's good, but that it's not always relevant when you want to be able to do things like listen to other conversations or even listen to movies or TV shows. And that's what I want to talk to you about right now. I want to go through a variety of different options that are available to you to improve your listening. Let's begin with well TV and movies. There is so much out there and the real benefit to this is that you get to listen to natural conversation the way that people would talk to each other out on the street or casually with friends. Something else you can do is listen to educational videos just like this one. Right now you are learning English while listening to English. And I I think this is a really great option because when when you watch videos like this, I think people's speech, it's very clear and it's a little easier to follow and understand. Let's continue talking about different ways to practice your listening. And my next suggestion is well just have a conversation. Talk to your teacher, your friend, your classmate. And the benefit is that you you get that face-to-face interaction and it's also more active listening because you are required to listen to them and then respond. Now, so far I I've talked about TV, movies, educational videos and conversations. And with each of those you are able to see someone and you can follow visual cues which makes it easier to understand. So, my my next suggestions are going to be a little more challenging because you really just have to listen. And this is great for intermediate to advanced learners. For example, you can listen to a podcast. These have become so popular nowadays and and there are podcasts on a variety of different topics as well. But this is another great way for you to listen to natural conversations and discussions. Another thing you can do is listen to an audio book. And this is great because well books they they have a beginning, a middle, and an end. And it is a wonderful way to practice putting pictures in your mind and see if you can create that story and bring it to life. Another thing that you can do is listen to music. This is a a great way to try and understand the the rhythm and flow of speech. And it it's also very relaxing. I think anytime when you can try to learn and and feel relaxed, that is a huge benefit. And finally, you can listen to the radio. And I think this is a great option because, well, it it really has everything that we just talked about. You can listen to interviews on the radio. You can listen to different sports broadcast. And of course, you can listen to music when you're listening to the radio. And it also provides a lot of flexibility. You can just jump right in and out of it. It's not like uh uh an audio book where you need to start at the beginning. You can just turn on the radio, start listening, and then when you have to do something else, just turn it off and you have that flexibility. So, now that I've given you a variety of different options when it comes to listening, let's talk about speed. And I have another question for you. And that is when you are listening to something, is it too fast? If you're listening to a TV show or a song, do you feel like it it's just too fast for you to understand? And the reason why I I'm asking you this is because you need to consider your level as an English learner. And more specifically, I would say you need to think about your level as a listener because when you are talking about the different English skills, listening, speaking, reading, writing, you're not always going to be at the same level. For example, listening is the most challenging language skill for me. I've always had trouble with listening and my level is a bit lower. And you need to think about that because this is going to help you decide what you should listen to and how you should listen to it. My suggestion is that if you feel something is too fast, you need to slow it down. There's an expression in English that that goes slow and steady wins the race. And that is what I want you to think about when when talking about speed. You need to find the appropriate level. You need to listen to things at your level or or listen to things that are slightly above your level. I would say that if you are listening to something, you should understand at least 80% of what you hear. And nowadays, what's great is that you have that option to slow things down so that you can listen at your level. For example, there some of you out there might tell me, you know, Wes, I like your videos, but you speak so slow. Or others might say, well, you're you're speaking way too fast. YouTube allows you to control the speed. So, if you think I'm just speaking too slowly, then you can just speed things up so that you feel like you are listening at at a comfortable level. Or if you think that I'm speaking too fast, then you can slow things down. And again, you want to find a a speed that you are comfortable and that you understand at least 80%. And not only with YouTube, you can do this. There are many media players out there such as VC and they let you control the speed of a TV show or a movie, but you should really take control of that speed and and slow things down or speed things up so that you find your level. Find where you are comfortable because that is just going to help you improve the most especially over the long run. Slow and steady wins the race. Now let's talk about exposure. And another well another question that well I would ask you in general would be like how much time do you spend listening to English? How much exposure to the language do you get? Now I think many people out there myself included we we like to multitask. And uh often people may think, well, I'm going to listen to English while I do something else at the same time. I'm going to listen to an audio book while I cook dinner or I'm going to listen to a podcast in the shower. I I it's always great to get exposure to the language, but I think it's so much better if you can get quality exposure and just be able to give all of your focus and concentration to whatever it is you are listening to. And that's what you should strive for. You should strive to get more quality exposure. If you are listening to a podcast, only concentrate on that podcast. If you're listening to an audio book, only focus on that audiobook. If you are listening to a video lesson like this one, I just want you to focus on this lesson. Wait a sec. Are you Are you doing other things right now? I I hope not. I want you to stop. Stop whatever it is you're doing. And I want you to focus on what I'm about to say. You need to get more quality exposure. And the more quality time that you can make for it, the faster you're going to improve. So, now that we've talked about the variety of options that you have when it comes to practicing your listening skills, we talked about speed and and the need to consider your level as a learner. And we've also discussed the the exposure that quality exposure that you need to get. I want to offer some suggestions for all different types of learners out there. For example, if you are a beginner learner with either very little time or you have a lot of time, the most important thing that you need to focus on would be the speed. Whether you are listening to an audio book or a podcast or a video lesson, really think about controlling that speed. and you need to slow things down because slow and steady wins the race. If you are an intermediate learner and you don't have that much time throughout the day, then I think the best thing that you could do would be to listen to these video lessons because they they're very short. You it doesn't take as much time, but you also get to control that speed and really put it where you think it needs to be. And if you want to really challenge yourself, then turn on the radio. Jump into some radio broadcasts. Try to challenge yourself. You're not going to be able to control the speed, but radio it, it's a great option for somebody who may not be able to listen for a long time if you just have these short periods throughout the day. I think movies and TV shows are also good for intermediate learners with more time because you get to listen to that natural conversation which is always beneficial. If you are an advanced learner who who doesn't have a lot of time throughout the day, just a few moments here and there, then I think educational videos that's a great option. You can try to make the speed a little faster and challenge yourself. get that face-to-face interaction, that active listening practice and and respond to what other people are saying. You could also listen to music. That's a great option. But because you are an advanced learner, I would still say that you really need to focus on the music. Don't listen to music while you're doing other things. try to to get that quality exposure. Listen to the song and see if you understand well what what is it that the person is singing about. See if you understand the song completely. And then if you are an advanced learner who has more time throughout the day, then I I think you should do all of them. The more the better. But the one suggestion that I would make is try try listening to a podcast. Think about what you're interested in and find a podcast about that topic. and listen to it and try to follow along. If you want to increase the speed and challenge yourself, that's great as long as you understand at least 80%. So, I hope that you now have a better idea of of what you can listen to and how you can listen to it in order to improve your listening skills. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. And as always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next --- ## 394. Improve Your Speaking Fluency | 11 Ways to Get More Practice ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KGj5Q3OqYvA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGj5Q3OqYvA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:31:02 | --- today I want to talk to you about how to get more speaking practice that's coming up hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills today we're we're focusing on the practice part of it because I want to talk to you about eleven different ways that I think will help you practice your speaking so many of you out there ask me and you say I really want to improve my speaking skills but I don't know what to do so in this lesson I hope to give you some different ideas and suggestions that you can use to try to practice your speaking skills so you can improve your overall English fluency the first one that I have for you and I know this may not be for everyone is just to speak with your significant other speak with your husband your wife your boyfriend or girlfriend in English especially if you are married to or you are seeing somebody who is a native English speaker now again I know this may not apply to many of you but in that case I would say you know love can be a great motivator maybe you want to meet somebody from the United States or the United Kingdom or Australia or Canada and and get to know this person and you would try to develop and create a relationship in English now speaking to a significant other I understand that may not apply to many of you out there but something that you can do which I think is I think this is the best way to get speaking practice is to take some online classes and if you can do that every single day then you are really putting yourself in a position to become fluent faster and that brings me to a great opportunity that I wanted to share with you and that is the link go to language sprint in lingo des was kind enough to sponsor this lesson and it really connects well with the topic of practicing your speaking skills because when you sign up for the lingo to language sprint you will be able to practice speaking every single day first you should know that the classes they're very affordable the lessons cost less than 8 euro also if you successfully complete the language sprint then you will be ell able to get 100 percent cash back if you don't already know about lingo de it is an online language school where you can take classes in English business English Spanish German French and I've also taken classes with lingo de I took some Spanish lessons and for me it was perfect because I got to speak with a native speaker also I could take classes whenever I wanted to now if you want to practice your speaking skills as much as you possibly can that is why lingo des offers the language spread and there are two different options you can take the super sprint in which you'll take 30 classes each month for three months and if you successfully complete the super sprint then you will be eligible to get 100 percent cash back you can also take the sprint in which you would take 15 lessons a month for three months and if you successfully complete the sprint then you'll be eligible for 50 percent cash back you can start signing up for the language sprint now which will begin on April 8th and lasts until July 6th once you sign up you will pay a 49 euro deposit but you can use the voucher code join 15 and you will get 10 euro off your deposit so if you really want to practice your speaking every day just click on the link in the description you'll find out more information about the language sprint especially how to get that 100 percent cashback and remember use that voucher code join 15 to get your discount so let's get back to our list and the next suggestion that I have for you is to join a speaking community or a speaking Club so think about your city your town and there might be a group of people who come together in order to practice speaking English for example I've had learners tell me that they have joined Toastmasters and Toastmasters it is an international organization to promote public speaking so in this case you're not just speaking one-on-one with another person you would be speaking in front of a group of people which it can be challenging but it's still good practice now if you're thinking well okay there is no speaking organization in my city or town then my next suggestion would be to create one go out there and create a speaking Club because if you want to practice your speaking skills I guarantee you there is another person or group of people that live close to you who also want to practice their speaking so you can go on Facebook and create an English speaking group for people who live in your town or you can put up flyers at a coffee shop and try to find those people so that you can come together and practice your speaking skills now once you have your speaking club another great way to practice is to do a role play and the reason why I'm telling you you should try and do a role play is because this is it is a wonderful way to discover new words and phrases that you need to learn in order to have a conversation so for example you can do a role play that you're getting ready to travel and you're gonna go to the airport and you're gonna talk to somebody ask them well have you printed out the boarding pass what time does our flight leave and you start thinking about the words that you need to know in order to have this conversation in my opinion this is something that you can also do on your own I used to do this when I was learning Spanish and I didn't have somebody in front of me to talk to I would think about a situation for example like we're having a conversation about what meals we like to cook and I would actually end up talking to myself and having this back and forth conversation and in role-playing as though I were in a kitchen and I was having a conversation with somebody about well what do I like to cook what kind of food do I need and in doing that I would discover words that that I didn't know how to say in Spanish and this was actually really helpful because I felt a little more prepared for a conversation that I knew I would have in the future so doing a roleplay with yourself and speaking out loud is a great way to get some practice and actually discover some words that you still need to learn the next suggestion that I have for you is to do a language exchange just go online and google the words English language exchange and you are going to find many different sites that you can sign up and try to find a speaking partner and they will help teach you English and you will teach them your native language this is a good option if you don't have the resources to take online classes but it could be a little more challenging to try and find someone and work out the time in order to meet online but I still suggest you check it out google those words English language exchange and see what you come up with now so far everything that I have talked to you about it involves another person you need another person to actually speak with so let's now talk about some things that you can do on your own and one thing that I think is very useful it's very important and it's very simple and that is just to talk to yourself I mentioned before about hat doing a role play and kind of having a conversation with yourself that's not what I want to talk to you about right now because when I say talk to yourself I want you to think of it like you are giving a presentation because if you are going to give a presentation at school or work whether the presentation is in English or even your native language I think it's quite common for people to practice and they actually say the presentation out loud some people might like to practice in front of a mirror when I practice giving a presentation I don't know why I like to walk around a room and I just walk around and I practice saying the presentation out loud so in that case you need to think of a topic you need to think about something that you can talk about and give a nice long answer so perhaps you want to relate it to something that you do and somebody says okay I want you to tell me what you do what is your job and you can give a very detailed and specific answer talking about all the different things that you do at your job and try to speak for several minutes so I think one thing that could help would be to think of serious topics because that's going to allow you to give a longer answer as though you were giving a presentation so you could talk about a topic like well how should the world deal with climate change or maybe you could think about well what are the advantages and disadvantages to using social media and when you take those more serious topics and try to give a presentation that is another great way to practice your speaking skills see how long you can talk for and again the same way with the roleplay you are likely to discover new words and phrases that that you need to learn in order to have that conversation if you want to make it even better and this is something that that I would do is then record yourself giving this presentation and speaking in English the reason why I think it's very useful is because then you can watch it again and try to to see where your mistakes are figure out where okay you had this long awkward pause because you couldn't think of anything else to say it's also a great way to evaluate your overall fluency so that you can have a more natural discussion whenever you're you're having a conversation about this topic now my next suggestion which actually is closely related to your fluency and the way that you're speaking is to practice shadowing and if you don't know what shadowing is it is a technique that I primarily is used to help people practice their pronunciation and intonation and emphasis and what you do is you listen to somebody speak and then you say the exact same thing that they do and you try to say it in the exact same way you listen to it and then you repeat you listen and then repeat and you can do this with movies TV shows famous speeches there are many different ways that you can practice shadowing I've had learners tell me they've tried to practice shadowing with me they listen to my lessons and then they try to repeat the information and say it the exact same way that I do so shadowing is a great way to practice your speaking because you need to say this out loud and you also get to work on the those three things that I mentioned your pronunciation your intonation and your emphasis another suggestion which well it's very similar to shadowing but I'm going to put it on its own and that is singing sing to yourself so if you are singing with the song then that would be an example of shadowing you're trying to sing the song in the exact same way as the person you're listening to but you can also when you learn the words to a song you can do this on your own as well you can sing in the car you can sing in the shower and actually practice your speaking skills because I know you're not having a conversation you're not speaking to somebody else but anytime words are coming out of your mouth and you are practicing saying words and phrases and and trying to understand what it is that you were saying that is going to help your overall speaking skills another way to practice your speaking skills and I think this one is a fun one and that is well to talk to your phone on many people's phones nowadays you can ask questions and get answers and that is what I think is the most valuable thing this is a great way specifically to practice asking questions let me give you an example hey Siri hey Siri Siri Siri you're embarrassing me what's going on with you hey Siri okay Siri can you tell me what's what's the weather like right now can you tell me what is the best place to practice and improve your English skills Siri I don't see anything about interactive English on here what's going on so as you can see you can play around with this have some fun ask a bunch of different questions and I think it also is useful for practicing your pronunciation to actually see if if Siri understands what you're saying so my final suggestion and this is something I want you to do right now and that is have a conversation with me I want you to speak to me I'm going to ask you a few different questions and I want you to say your answer out loud and I will give you a little bit of time to respond are you ready so I could ask you well where do you plan to go on your next vacation oh wow what do you want to do there Wow very cool can I come alright I hope you said yes to that last one but again this it's all about practicing your speaking skills and just having the words come out of your mouth so if you did this and you actually practice speaking and had a conversation with me I want to know about it in the comments right the word speaking that way I know that you are serious about improving your speaking skills if you enjoyed this lesson and found some of these suggestions useful please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time Siri what are you doing later can you tell me what what do you think of my shirt [Music] --- ## 395. Improve your Speaking and Conversation Skills with me | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `M5TxSQ8ud90` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5TxSQ8ud90) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:08:17 | --- gonna wanna cuz gotta give me lemmy okay it may sound a little strange saying one right after the other but those are some very common reductions in spoken english and today we're gonna practice speaking using reductions and i just used one then we're gonna practice speaking because you are gonna speak with me and if you want to practice and improve your speaking skills please subscribe turn on notifications so that i can become your english teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english is all about just trying to help you improve and feel a little more confident speaking english so basically we use reductions in order to say more in a shorter amount of time and therefore phrases like going to will get reduced to gonna want to wanna because is often reduced to just cuz got to gotta give me gimme and let me let me now i want to start out by saying that this is not something you have to do you do not have to speak using reductions i do think it really does help with your listening comprehension and i also believe that as far as speaking goes it will help you develop a more natural way of speaking because these reductions are like i said they're so common in spoken english so the way i want to begin and we'll practice with just a few simple everyday sentences and this is going to be more of a listen and repeat i'm going to say a sentence two times i'll say it slowly the first time and then the second time i'll just say it at a natural speed and for both of them just listen and repeat are you ready i'm gonna get some rest i'm gonna get some rest do you wanna eat out tonight do you wanna eat out tonight i know cause i've been following the news i know cause i've been following the news i gotta go to the bathroom i gotta go to the bathroom it's a very very common and very useful statement right there could you please give me a hand could you please give me a hand let me think about it let me think about it so i hope that you were saying those sentences out loud using those reductions and now i want to practice with the dialogue i just used another one i want to practice with a dialogue but before we say this dialogue i want to make a quick announcement because if you really do want to practice and improve your speaking skills and actually use some of these reductions well then you can join my speaking course just click on the link down in the description and when you do there is a special discount just for you the course is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally to help you speak confidently each week there are different speaking topics we do engaging speaking activities i help you build your vocabulary and and all of it is to give you more confidence when you're having a conversation to help you speak clearly each lesson we warm up with pronunciation connected speech and there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course which not only helps you speak clearly but i also think it's great for your listening comprehension and when it comes to speaking naturally you will learn some of the the language nuances when to use certain words and phrases will practice using idioms as well as talk about different ways to express some very common ideas so if you want to practice and improve your speaking click on the link down below in the description if you'd like to join or learn more about the course and i just hope to speak to you soon so let's get back to our speaking practice because you and me we're gonna say a dialogue we're gonna practice a dialogue and this is something you gotta do okay i'm just you you notice how often i use these reductions we're gonna say a dialogue and you gotta do it i told you they're very common in spoken english so this first time i'm i'm just going to say the dialogue i just want you to listen and i'm gonna say it naturally so this is the speed that i want you to keep are you ready here's the dialogue i'm gonna go to the store cause we're out of a few things do you wanna go with me sure i also gotta get a few things but are you to drive or do you want to walk i think i'm going to drive because i want to get back home okay let me get ready i'll be quick no problem let me know when you're ready i'm going to wait outside just give me five minutes i've got to change my clothes so you heard me say this dialogue using those reductions and you also heard the speed that that i was speaking at and right now i want to practice together and we're going to say the dialogue i am going to say a and then you will say be and then afterwards we'll switch so i'm a you're b let's begin i'm going to go to the store because we're out of a few things do you want to go with me i think i'm going to drive because i want to get back home no problem let me know when you're ready i'm going to wait outside okay excellent so now i want to switch and this time i want you to say a and i will say b so you can begin right now sure i also got to get a few things but are you going to drive or do you want to walk okay let me get ready i'll be quick just give me five minutes i gotta change my clothes all right so i hope that you were speaking with me and if you were i i really want to know so in the comments just write speaking if you were practicing and using these reductions because like i said it's very common in spoken english and it's great practice just to feel a little more comfortable using these reductions in everyday conversation if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button and remember if you want to join my speaking course click on that link down below because i want to speak with you all right keep using these reductions because i want to speak with you yes that's true thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 396. Innuendos in English | Examples to Improve Your Comprehension | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_YSk5KWmBb4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YSk5KWmBb4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:21:23 | --- Hey everyone, welcome to Interactive English. My name is Wes. I almost forgot what I was going to say just for a second. Uh, this channel, it's all about just trying to help you practice and improve your English. If you are new here, I definitely want to hear from you. Write your name in the chat or if you're watching this later, write your name in the comments. Tell me where you're from. Always love hearing from from new people. Today's lesson is I'd say it's a little more of an advanced lesson. Uh, and we're t what we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about innuendos and trying to be able to understand them and identify innuendos. This is something that I think is more common just in general conversational English. It's not very it's pretty informal actually. So, what I want to do is we'll teach you what this means. If somebody is going to make uh an innuendo, try to think about how you can identify them. And I'm going to give you a bunch of different examples to help you understand. So, I hope that by the end of this lesson, you you'll have a better understanding of what an innuendo is and when people might be making them and when you might hear them if you're watching a TV show or a movie. Before we jump into it, I just want to give a quick hello to some of Wow, so many members uh patrons here. Hello, Lai Takayo. Uh good to see you. Yasher, uh welcome. Uh Ali, Maddi, Jacqueline, uh Amiable, language learner, AMS, Anna, great to have you guys here. Uh Neckla, how are you? Good to see so many familiar faces. the sleepwalker. Uh, as we go through this again, I'm going to maybe ask you guys some questions and you guys again can put your answers in the chat. Um, if you do have some questions, I may try to get to them uh as we go through this. But let's begin just talking about what is an innuendo. And right here, I'm giving you the the definition. This is from Cambridge dictionary. I'm going to give you a couple of them and hopefully it'll help you help you help you understand what it is. So, I'll just read this. It says uh what are innuendos? The making of u a remark or remarks that suggests something sexual or something unpleasant, but do not refer to it directly. So, you're making a remark or you're saying a comment and what you say it's not you're not speaking directly about this thing. You're saying it indirectly and it's kind of you're you're suggesting something. You're insinuating it. It could be something sexual. It could be something uh unpleasant. So, innuendos typically uh are not a good thing. Sometimes people might say them to be mean. Sometimes they might say them trying to be funny. And again, I'll give you some examples. And I'm sure that even if you don't really know what an innuendo is, I'm guessing that you have come across it. And maybe you did not know that you were coming across it, but that is when I'm going to give you some of these examples. So, let me give you another meaning of innuendo. This is from Cambridge dictionary. I like using Cambridge here. This is from Collins. I like this meaning as well, which is why uh I've put it up here. An innuendo is an indirect remark, gesture, or reference, usually implying something derogatory, an insinuation. Derogatory is just something that's not nice, something that's mean. So again, we're talking about a comment that somebody might say, or maybe they make a gesture or they do something to imply something mean or rude and they they're insinuating something. And again, sometimes uh it it can definitely be sexual. So, let me uh let me give you guys uh some let's get into the example part of this. So, one way to identify an innuendo right there, this phrase right here, sometime, not always, but sometimes people will say, "Oh, you know what I mean? You know what I mean?" And when they do this, uh, typically they'll say the innuendo and then maybe they'll say that they'll ask that question like, "Oh, you know what I mean?" And in this case, it's a rhetorical question, which a rhetorical question is it's a question you're not supposed to answer. And this way, again, they're kind of asking you, they say the innuendo, they're not saying it directly, and they're asking like, "Oh, do you understand what I'm talking about?" You know what I mean? So for example, here is this um I found a way to get some extra help on the tomorrow's exam. You know what I mean? So right now again think about that situation. What do you think the person is trying to insinuate? What are they trying to imply? Again I told you innuendos it's not typically a good thing. Uh, but maybe you and I were having this conversation and I say this to you and I say, "Wow, hey, I found a way to get some extra help on tomorrow's exam." You know what I mean? So, what what do you think? What do you think this innuendo is referring to? I'm not directly saying it. I'm saying it indirectly. What do you What do you guys think? Let me uh No. Uh, yeah. Okay. Uh, Pulk uh, Pulkit. Uh, sorry I've mispronounced names. Uh, Nil Nilma. Uh, Lai. Yeah. So, again, I put the the quotes there. Um, extra help. That should also tell you when people use those air quotes or maybe in conversation, what they'll do is they'll kind of emphasize that like, "Oh, I found a way to get some extra help on tomorrow's exam." You know what I mean? So again, that air quotes is also an identifier saying that you you know something you should focus on this. It's not what I'm trying to say. So like you guys uh like you guys just mentioned, excellent in the chat. They're talking about uh cheating. So there there would be this picture to show you what's going on. So if somebody's talking about extra help on tomorrow's exam, you know what I mean? they're really implying that they have found a way to cheat on the exam or they're again you're doing something unethical. So in this case, you're not really saying something mean, but you're saying something that well, it's wrong. You're you're going to do something wrong. You this person is going to cheat. And again, that you know what I mean is one way to identify that somebody maybe they just said an innuendo. Here's another example. Uh Dave has been spending a lot of time with Kim if you know what I mean. So remember in the first one the identifier I gave you the question like you know what I mean. Somebody might ask it as a question. They may also include it in this statement right here. If you know what I mean. Uh that's another way that people would ask this. They'll say the innuendo and then they'll add if you know what I mean. And again, that's one way to identify that that somebody is saying uh an innuendo. All right. So again, in this case, in this situation, what do you think is the innuendo? What is what if I tell you this? What am I trying to insinuate? What am I implying? Dave has been spending a lot of time with Kim, if you know what I mean. Sometimes people would say it like with a kind of a childish smi smile. Um, okay. What do you think? Um, please say my name. Faten. There you go. Uh, yes. Suana. Um, Henry Nilma Sleepwalker. Yeah, you guys get the idea. In this case, uh, Dave and Kim are spending a lot of time together. They're getting friendly perhaps. Maybe um, they like each other. They're going to get romantically involved. Excellent. I like that. Uh, David says hanky panky. Yeah, maybe there's a little hanky panky going on. Um, some romance. And yes, I'll put that I put the kiss there as something to say that you're you're implying that there is some type of romantic relationship going on with Dave or Kim or maybe the situation that Dave really loves Kim or Kim really loves Dave or they both just love each other um and they're spending a lot of time with each other if you know what I mean. [snorts] So again, this kind of leads us into the notion of sexual innuendos because I would say this is actually a collocation. When you're talking about innuendos, often people are making some type of sexual innuendo, referencing something that is ro romantic all the way to referencing something that is really lewd and inappropriate and maybe even disgusting. So sexual innuendos can can come across a wide spectrum. Uh but again typically people would use them either you could use them to be demeaning and offensive and you could also maybe use them to be funny or humorous. Sometimes uh again depending on the situation, the context like I said it could be highly inappropriate or perhaps it could be just a little bit of humorous. In this case, this is not something that I think is really scandalous or something. Perhaps people are gossiping. Oh, Dave has been spending a lot of time with Kim, if you know what I mean. [gasps] Let me give you another example. I love this example. Okay, I love this example. I've when I've taught uh innuendos before, I've used this. It's perfect. Okay, and it's an example of a sexual innuendo. So, here is an article. It's actually a real article. Um, and I'll read it and it's full of well innuendos. So, here is the article and we're going to follow up on this. So, it says, "Congratulations, George Brownidge for pleasing 15 women for an entire day. We were all exhausted and very satisfied and we look forward to next year. We all thank you." And you see a picture. There's George right there. Big smile on his face. Now, I'm sure when you read that article, like I just said, something probably comes to mind, like you're like, "Wow, that's a little uh that's a little crazy, a little interesting." This again, this is a real article. Um, and I'll show you why. I I know this that it is a real article. So, again, uh, if you're just joining us, we're talking about innuendos, identifying them, trying to understand them. Um, and this is not something that I'm telling you you should try to use inuendos in in conversation. Really depends on the the situation, but this is something that you will hear um especially on like TV or in TV shows or movies. Uh, it's something that happens. So, in this case, uh, George Brun for pleasing 15 women for an entire day. We were all exhausted and very satisfied. We look forward to next year. We all thank you. The reason why I said that, you know, this is real because this was in the newspaper and then later on the newspaper had to issue an apology and they put up this apology uh message right here, our sincere apology to George Brownidge and staff. Our intentions were to thank him for a generous holiday shopping trip which he arranged. This annual tradition is much appreciated. any inappropriate innuendos were unintentional and we take full responsibility for the ad that appeared in yesterday's paper. So, of course, when somebody read that article, the first one that I just showed you, it seems very strange, pretty inappropriate. And I think when people read that, they they maybe they were laughing. They saw that and that that's why the next day the paper had to come out with this apology saying like uhoh we we did not mean to say that we're talking about a shopping trip that this guy I guess he might be the boss of the company George Brownidge arranged for his staff of employees. Um, but again, if you look at the innuendo, let's look at the innuendos from the original article where they're talking about this is where it gets a little confusing for pleasing 15 women. So, if you're pleasing somebody, it makes somebody happy, but also pleasing somebody is also used uh sexually like uh after when talking about sex and somebody is pleased, they're happy, they're satisfied. So this is a verb to please someone that can be used in that context. So again, it's an innuendo. It makes people think of something else. Like George, wow, 15 women. And again, it does not help that somebody says, "We were all exhausted. They were very tired and they were very satisfied." Again, also words that somebody may think of something sexual was happening um and that happened for the entire day. Now, what I do think could happen, I think maybe somebody at the newspaper, perhaps it was somebody young and immature and they wrote this intentionally trying to be funny and maybe somebody got upset and because of that they had to issue an apology. So again, maybe it was an accident, maybe it was not an accident, but this is a great example of an innuendo where you're saying something, not directly, but it makes you think that something sexual was going on. Yes, it definitely makes me think, Angela, that this guy, George Brunwitch, is definitely a playboy. Uh, so again, I like this example when trying to teach innuendos. Um because typically innuendos it could be an accident but I think often they're they're not really accidents. You're trying to you say them to be funny or again maybe there people say them to be offensive and demeaning. The other examples that I want to give you to help you understand and I told you before at the beginning that you have probably if you watch TV shows or movies you have probably encountered or heard a lot of different innuendos. Maybe you were able to identify them and understand them. Maybe not. The reason why I say they're pretty popular is because you find them in movies all the time, especially children's movies. And you might think that's a little strange because you're talking, well, wait a second, children's movies, they're meant for children. Why would you put a sexual innuendo in a children's movie? And I put these companies up here like whether it's Disney or DreamWorks, Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Pixar. Um, I think the reason why they do this is because they they want to make movies entertaining for everyone. It's meant for children, but I think companies might feel comfortable putting an innuendo in there because many of the children are not going to understand. And the adults will understand the innuendo and for them maybe they think it's funny. And therefore then the movie is entertaining for everyone. It's good for children. It's good for adults. And typically these sexual innuendos that they put in there, they're not like meant to be like really offensive or demeaning. They try to put them in there maybe a little innocent, but again, an adult would pick up on this. They would understand the reference, the innuendo, and they would then enjoy the movie as well. So, let me give you some examples of innuendos that you would find in some of these movies for children. So, the first one is from the movie Aladdin. And in one part of Aladdin, uh the quote is down there. He says, "I thought the earth wasn't supposed to move until the honeymoon." All right. So, what do you think? What do you guys think that he's referring to saying, "I thought the earth wasn't supposed to move until the honeymoon." If you're not sure, so in this situation, I guess the earth is shaking and moving. Um, a honeymoon is talking about after uh a couple gets married, they get married and then they go on their honeymoon. Typically a honeymoon, people would travel to some nice location. Uh it's kind of like a vacation, but it's a vacation for newlyweds. When people get married, they go on their honeymoon. So they're talking about when when people would go on their honeymoon. Uh sometimes uh I don't know nowadays, it really just depends. That's when people would consummate the marriage and the couple would have sex. And that's what it's referring to is that this uh this newly wed couple having sex and the earth is shaking. So again, this is an example of a sexual innuendo in the movie Aladdin, which uh is a Disney movie. And again, it's a movie that's meant for children. And again, I think if a ch if a child were to hear that, they they probably wouldn't get it. Uh when they're, "Oh, I thought the earth wasn't supposed to shake and move until the honeymoon." They're trying to be funny. And adults might find this humorous. Another example, this one is from Toy Story, which I think Toy Story, I think it's Pixar. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong. So, in this situation, I've given you the situation down here. Buzz Lightyear, one of the main characters in the movie Toy Story. In in this part of the movie, I guess he sees the the cowgirl, Jesse, another main character, uh, in the movie. And when he sees her, the wings pop up on the side. And that again is another sexual innuendo. In this case, it's not something he says. Remember the Collins uh dictionary mentioned that an innuendo could be a remark like a comment, but it could also be a gesture. So, this is more of a gesture that the wings pop up. And what that's telling uh the viewer again that this that Buzz Lightyear, he's excited. He's getting aroused. He is attracted to Jesse the cowgirl that he sees her and he's like, "Oh my gosh, she's so beautiful. She's so amazing." And his wings pop up. So again, this is another example of a gesture that children probably would not pick up on, but adults when they see this, they think it's funny, they think it's humorous. Um and therefore again um maybe the the movie might be a little uh maybe more enjoyable for an adult that these movies are both for children and for adults and typically a lot of these movies yeah you can find quite a few uh sexual innuendos in these movies. So yes, they are referring to like I said Yar uh Anna Henry. Yes, like an erection that Buzz Lightyear is getting excited. He he's very much in love with Jesse the cowgirl. Then we have here's another example. So again, I hope this makes it a little easier for you to understand. And I told you if you're watching TV shows or movies, you will come across these quite often. Um not just in kids movies, but just in general, sitcoms, anything you might be watching. Uh this is from the movie Cars and the situation is Lightning McQueen gets flashed by two enthusiastic fans who beam their headlights uh at her. So I don't I haven't really I haven't seen this movie. I don't know who makes the movie Cars. Um not sure if that might be DreamWorks. Uh so but in this case again so Lightning McQueen I think is a very uh famous car and these other two cars that you see in that picture are flashing their lights. McQueen's very famous. They're flashing their lights. Uh they're fans so you know they're fans. So the innuendo is again they're flashing their lights. You would need to know what the the meaning of to flash someone is. So again, adults would see this and they would think, "Oh, this is funny." So right now, I would tell you, do you know what it means to flash? If you're saying that uh it's an informal phrase, uh flashing is when uh a woman would lift up her shirt and reveal her breast to either a group of people or maybe one other person. Some typically it might be done in a car. You're driving past the car and the woman would lift up her shirt. That is called flashing. So, if you didn't know that, maybe you learned some new expression today to flash someone. It's very informal, but in this case, again, they're making that reference, that innuendo that they're flashing their headlights. So, that's what they're going with to flash like they like again like they're lifting up their shirt and revealing their breast. in this case, the two headlights. So again, this is another example of a sexual innuendo. I don't think children are going to pick up on that, but adults would and they would maybe think it's funny or humorous. Uh let's look at the next one. Got another example from Frozen. Okay, so I think this is a very popular movie, very common movie. Um I'm going to get this wrong probably. You guys, how do you not know? Frozen. Frozen is uh Disney, I think. Frozen. Is Frozen Disney? Yes. Okay. Yes. All right. My wife just clarified. Yes. Frozen. Disney. Um and in this situation, uh you have Kristoff and Anna. That Kristoff is Anna is talking about her um her fiance Hans and they just met. And Kristoff is saying like, "Really? Do you really know this guy? you just got you just got engaged after one day. You don't really know him. So, he's quizzing her on how much she knows about him. And he's asking these questions like, "Oh, what are what's his favorite food? What color are his eyes?" And then he asks her about like uh how big uh how big are his feet? And she answers like foot size doesn't matter. That is another sexual innuendo like oh like what's what's his foot size? And she's like, "Oh, foot size doesn't matter." Again, it's a sexual innuendo in reference to the size of his you know what. All right, I don't need to to tell you, but it's referencing again the size and she's saying like, "Oh, size doesn't matter. Size is not important." So, again, it's a sexual innuendo in reference to Hans's, you know what? But again, the way that they do this in this situation where they're talking back and forth and he says, "What about foot size?" She's like, "Oh, foot size doesn't matter." Adults are going to pick up on that. And it's funny. It is humorous. If you actually go and watch this clip in the movie, I think you could type in like on YouTube um Frozen foot size and you would you'd be able to watch this clip where he's quizzing her and it is it's funny, but children are not going to pick up on this. This is a very uh it's a very subtle sexual innuendo. And that's what I would say in these movies that are meant for children. you're gonna find a lot of them, but they're very subtle. Um, [snorts] so I hope that I hope that you guys were able to follow and understand the different innuendos that we just went through because I think this is good for your comprehension. I told you in movies and TV shows, you're going to hear this a lot. One thing to keep an eye out for would be that phrase, if somebody does ask, you know what I mean? Then typically they just said some type of innuendo. Maybe it was offensive. Maybe it was inappropriate. guys enjoyed this lesson on innuendos. I want to do more on this. Maybe I will follow up and talk about innuendos in a future lesson because I think they're fun. It's very important. It's about well I don't say very important but it's more like conversational English but also a bit cultural as well because you learn about culture and typically what people might think is funny or humorous or how how people try to be funny or humorous. So if you guys did like the lesson please hit that like button while you guys are here. Please go ahead hit that like button. I really appreciate it. If you want to even go a step further, show us a little love and support. Down below in the description, there are links if you want to become a YouTube member or a patron. It was great seeing so many members uh in these live lessons. Uh Tako Li, uh so many people. good to see you. Um [clears throat] when I said Stefan was right. Excellent. Excellent. It's good able to identify these. Uh, great to see so many members and patrons here. Um, it does help support what we do if you guys want to show us a little love. But, uh, again, I think this is something I do want to follow up on in the future because I think these lessons uh, from what I hear from you guys, I think you find them interesting. And I told you if you're watching even a TV show like Friends, they are going to use innuendos when because mostly to be funny in that situation. So keep that in mind for your listening. Uh again, I don't expect you guys to try and go out and just start saying innuendos left and right. Um but it's definitely good for your comprehension. And then the more you're if you can easily identify these innuendos and you really understand them, then I think that's when you could go out and perhaps try to use them in your conversations as well. And if you want, you could follow it with that. Yeah. You know what I mean? You know what I mean? They've been spending a lot of time together if you know what I mean. All right, so thank you guys for joining me. Uh, give out some shout outs. Uh, Aitni, Regina, Lai, uh, Pulkit, good to see you guys. Suana, um, I can't pronounce your name. Giovani, uh, Yashar, Mamemed, Mi, uh, hello, Marcio, Takayo, thanks for joining us. Uh, Nissa Zenat. Um, Kon, can't pronounce it. Sorry. Aana, hope you guys learned something new. Uh, Maresa, hi. I just saw you. Excellent. [gasps] I hope you learned something new. I hope this was easy to understand and follow. And again, maybe I think in the future I'll try to follow up with another lesson talking about innuendos. Have a wonderful day. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. And I --- ## 397. Intermediate Listening & Speaking Activity | Describe Words Around the Home | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `C7L6jGWEUW4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7L6jGWEUW4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:42:10 | --- Welcome to our global classroom. Are you ready for a new lesson? It's time for describing nouns. Today, we will describe nouns around the house. This lesson is intended to practice your listening and speaking. These nouns are at an intermediate level. However, we encourage all learners to participate in this activity. Only by practicing can you improve your spoken English. For this activity, Wes will describe six different nouns to you. You will have ten seconds to guess and say the answer. Each of these nouns is something you can find around the house. Remember, this activity is meant to help you improve your listening and speaking skills. This is why we ask you to speak out loud. Don't be shy! So, let's look at an example before we start. Wes will describe a word to me, and I will get the answer. Here's the word. Are you ready for this? Bring it on. Okay. Here we go. This is something that houses have a lot of. This is something that's made of glass. And you can look through and you can see what's happening outside. What do you think this is? That's a window. Nice. Good job. Thank you. Now that you know how the activity is done, let's begin. Wes will describe a word to you, and you will try to give that noun. Remember to say your answers out loud. After we finished all the six words, I will go over the answers with you. Ready? Let's get the clock going. So this is a piece of furniture that people would sit at. It's where they would do a lot of their work. So if you have an office in the home, you would go in there and work. And you would sit at your... So this is a part of the home where you would park your car. A lot of times people would also store stuff in this area. They would have tools, maybe a ladder. It's a room where people would hang out with their family, their friends. They would play games. They would watch TV. It's a place to relax in with a sofa, a chair. What area of the home do you think I'm talking about? This is a very important item in the home. It's on the bed. It's very soft. People use it to sleep on. They rest their head on this. It is one of my favorite items. So if a home has two floors, you would walk up these to get to the second floor. You can go up them. You can go down them. Let me give you an example. Part of the home you would find in the kitchen. It's where you would put your dishes when you want to wash them. You would also find this in the bathroom when you wash your hands. What do you call this thing where there's running water? I hope you are able to give an answer to all of those. If you would like to try this exercise again before I give you the answers, you can pause the video and go back to the start of the activity. Now, before I reveal the answers to you, I'm going to replay some of the key words that Wes used in describing these nouns. So this is a piece of furniture that people would sit at. It's where they would do a lot of their work. A desk is where people do their work. So this is a part of the home where you would park your car. A garage is a place where you park your car. It's a room where people would hang out with their family, their friends. They would play games. They would watch TV. Families spend time together in a living room. That's the answer. It's very soft. People use it to sleep on. The thing that you sleep on is a pillow. Pillow is the answer. You can go up them. You can go down them. You go up and down on stairs. Stairs is the answer. It's where you would put your dishes when you want to wash them. People wash their dishes in a sink Sink is the answer we're looking for. That was fun right? Now, we're going to switch roles, and it's your turn. I'll show you two nouns and you will need to describe them to Wes. He will then try to get the words you are describing. Make sure to speak up, use complete sentences, be creative, and have fun. Are you ready? Here's your first word. I know what you're describing. It's a microwave. Ready for the second word? Here it is. I know. That's the shower. Good job today! We hope you enjoyed this activity. If you did, please give us a LIKE down below. Remember, practice makes perfect. Thank you for watching, and we'll see you later. --- ## 398. Intermediate to Advanced Grammar (B1 - C2) + Lesson Notes | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `btAQt2SKenk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btAQt2SKenk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:11:49 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson I have well I think this is a fun interactive quiz lesson and we're going to be talking about grammar all right so this I say B1 to C2 which is more intermediate to Advanced and that's what these questions are some of the grammar questions are a little easier and then some of them can be a bit trickier but as we go through the lesson I think it will get a little more difficult and of course because this is interactive English I would love it if you participate in the lesson write your answers in the chat or write your answers in the comments because yeah that's what it's all about trying to help you improve your English fluency my name is Wes and that is what the channel is all about and if you would like to get a copy of the lesson notes these slides that you see right here next to me click on the link down in the description I'll also add it right there in the chat and that again it just helps you continue to practice continue to review so let's just go ahead and jump into it with our first question which uh we're going to start out with some multiple choice questions like I said I think it'll begin a little easier and then I'll try to make it a bit more challenging so the first one is I've been studying English 10 years so you gotta well what what word goes in that blank I'm only giving you two choices a four or B sense I've been studying English um 10 years we're talking about the present perfect continuous however the real the key in this one is 10 years and if we're talking about 10 years we're talking about a duration of time you guys are rocking this I'll just give a few shout outs great job Lolly Fernando Nessie Danny the answer is a four I've been studying English for 10 years and I just mentioned that the key part of this is that phrase 10 years and the reason for that is because well when you're talking about a duration of time that is when you're going to use four when you're talking about a point in time that is when you'll use since now both of these words for and since they are indicators that you're going to use the present perfect but remember four duration of time since point in time excellent all right what do you think about this one did you remember um the door there are three choices locking to lock or lock think about the context imagine if I were asking you this question what do you think you would hear hey did you remember the door how would you best complete that sentence and this one I feel like is a little trickier and the reason for that we're talking uh really highlighting the difference between gerunds and infinitives so I'm already kind of narrowing it down for you Jaron would be locking the infinitive to lock and I see varying answers in here so that's good I get hopefully my goal for each of these lessons is that you learn something new so the answer is B to lock did you remember to lock the door now let me put this in context for you so when when talking about gerund infinitive oftentimes verbs may only be followed by one or the other there are some verbs like remember forget stop that you may follow with a gerund or infinitive but the meaning is slightly different so if we say remember plus 2 plus the base verb which is remember to lock we're referring to well not forgetting to do something you didn't forget to do this if you have remember plus the gerund well then you're just thinking about this past action so because of that you you could use either one but let's go back to the context if I were to ask you a question I would say hey did you remember to lock the door did you remember to do this thing if you were to follow it with a gerund it would sound a little like again you're thinking about this moment like oh yeah yesterday I remember locking the door it was a magical moment it was a special time and again you're thinking about that past action which is why it would seem a little again confusing in that context locking a door is very it's quick it's not something you're really going to think about or discuss with others like Hey do you remember locking the door yesterday like that was a great time so in this context you're somebody's asking you this question they're really going to use the the infinitive did you remember to lock the door did you remember to do this thing so hopefully that makes a little more sense the distinction between uh those two different meanings remember to lock or remember locking next we have this one you don't want me to quit creating English lessons hmm just keep in mind this is a question you see the question mark there at the end you don't want me to quit creating English lessons um like I I would ask you this question and what we're what we're talking about are tag questions and we'll talk well I'll show you the difference in just a moment again I see some varying answers um but great job excellent uh Fernando J Victor uh gossoren Kong uh Lolly nice you don't want me to quit creating English lessons do you so this is a tag question in which you have a statement that's going to be positive or negative followed by a tag that's also going to be positive or negative so in general here is the basic structure if you have a positive statement you're going to follow that with a negative tag you have money don't you if you have a negative statement you're going to follow that with a positive tag you don't have money do you so going back to our example you don't want me to create you don't want me to quit creating English lessons we have a negative statement therefore we'll follow that with a positive tag do you the next question the next multiple choice question that I have for you it well there is a raccoon always goes through our garbage which word is going to follow raccoon I I know with the picture there it may be a little challenging to see the the sentence and the choices there is a raccoon always goes through our garbage are you gonna follow that with who that or which of these words would you use to best complete the sentence who that or which there is a raccoon always goes through our garbage great job Rose Marco Lolly well done video the the answer is B that there is a raccoon that always goes through our garbage now let me break it down for you uh with this next part right here so in general we're talking about relative clauses and you're going to use that when referring to people animals or things which when referring to animals or things and who when referring to people now that which and who are actually those are relative pronouns so those are nouns but they're going to come at the beginning of the Clause the relative clause now the Clause can be one of these two right here you have a restrictive clause in which you need this information to understand the sentence and and what's being said a non-restrictive clause means that you have this extra information but it's not necessary if you take it out of the sentence you people would still understand what it is you're trying to say typically with those non-restrictive Clauses you know that they're they are there because the the commas so with restrictive Clauses you're going to use that or who within non-restrictive Clauses you could either use which or who so let's break it down we've talked about those relative pronouns and the restrictive or non-restrictive Clauses let's look at our sentence so there is a raccoon we're talking about an animal okay raccoons are animals that always goes through our garbage this information is necessary in order like what we're trying to say about the raccoon we need this information this is a restrictive Clause so those are the two things I want you to keep in mind animal restrictive Clause so now let's go back over here and if we're talking about animals they're at the beginning the relative pronoun that you would use okay it's that or which but then when we go down here and okay it's a restrictive Clause we can use that or who so that tells you the correct answer is that we're talking about a restrictive Clause we're referring to an animal so we're going to use that excellent uh hopefully again just looking at that that it makes a bit more sense now I again I say hopefully trying to make it a little more challenging perhaps maybe you find this part uh maybe even easier I'm not going to give you uh any options a b or c I just want you to complete the sentence and really what you're going to fill in is the missing part of speech so the first one the the first part is blank it's an interjection and Then followed with I can't believe I got all those multiple choice questions right 100 percent so which word are you going to use to complete this sentence but the missing part of speech is an interjection and they're probably I mean there could be several words that you could put in there that are interjections but there's one in particular that I'm thinking of right now and that's what I want you to try to to guess which one which word am I thinking of that really fits this context um I can't believe I got all those multiple choice questions right so actually I know maybe some of you are trying to that think about some words that you could put in there or phrases like I said there there is more than one but the the answer what I was going for is just you know that surprise like amazement like wow that is what I was thinking so great job Bella Lolly um why me gelsaren some of you again you put oh my God like that that also works if somebody is amazed and surprised and they say it and the key thing that you would see it like an interjection is that exclamation mark like wow and that tells us you're putting some emphasis on this and the emotion into the language but you could say yeah my gosh oh my god there are several of them but interjections are well these are words that are used to express emotion hence that exclamation mark that you're saying it a little louder and it's more expressive it's all it's often followed by an exclamation point and these are just some examples oh wow oops and we use these all the time I think in just general well throughout the day when things are happening yeah you make a mistake oops and it's something you hear the next one maybe this is a little trickier this weekend we're gonna go swimming the lake and the sentence is missing a preposition this weekend we're gonna go swimming the lake I think I actually use this as an example in a previous lesson in which I was talking about the prepositions in on at so right there I'm kind of giving you the multiple choice which one would you use in on or at and once again try to think about this as though I were we're having a conversation I said hey this weekend we're gonna go swimming in the lake so technically speaking you could use one of two prepositions and like I said there's a previous lesson I did maybe I'll try to put that up here um if you'd like to review and learn more about these prepositions but the one that I'm thinking of is at okay this weekend we're gonna go swimming at the lake just to give some quick shout outs um chew Arthur Vicky Gustav good to see you great job Jocelyn the reason why I I chose app because some many of you put in you think wait why not in because you can go swimming in the lake the distinction that I would make is thinking about well like where you are location so let's just look at the next part you're you're going to use in for an enclosed space you're surrounded on all sides you can go swimming in a lake you can go swimming in a pool I'll come back to this if we're talking about surfaces then you'll use on it's attached to or touching something and then you you're going to use at for a point when we're referring to a location or a position so the with this sentence I said well in or at could work but the difference would be like are you talking about will being surrounded by the water or are you referring to the location so if somebody's talking to you and just talking about hey what we're going to do this weekend you're probably not at the lake right at that moment so in that case you're you're likely referring to the location where are you going where are you going to be we're going to go swimming at the lake we're going to go swimming at the pool if you were in a situation where you and I are right next to the lake and the lake is right there you could use in and say hey we're going to go swimming in the lake and it's right in front of us we're we're already at this location so in that situation it you probably would use in but just in general when somebody says like hey this weekend it makes me think of well what are they planning to do where are they planning to go which comes back to that keyword location so like you know where are you I'm at the lake this weekend we're going to go swimming at the lake so hopefully that makes a little more sense as to why I used at as the correct answer here's the next one and let's see uh I'm confident that I'm going to win even though she me twice before it's missing a verb which verb would you use to complete the sentence but not only that which verb tense are you going to use so really two things to take into consideration the verb that you would use but also the verb tense and I'm kind of trying to give you some some hints here and I guess if you're talking about again like a a match I put the picture of Chess up there so let's let's just pretend that that this is what we're referring to I'm confident that I'm going to win even though she um me twice before what do you think I see a lot of people you got that that verb correct you guys are you you're you're on onto something with the verb but the verb tense okay all right uh excellent I see well some just some spell let me let's go ahead and look at the answer and I'll I'll walk you through my thought process so the correct answer would be has beaten I'm confident that I'm going I'm confident that I'm gonna win even though she's beaten me twice before so the other person this she has you know she has one and so beat would be the verb that that I was going for you could use other ones like maybe some other verbs but I feel like in this context in this situation the verb to beat would be the one that you would often hear or use now going back to the verb tense has beaten because I saw people using beat in a variety of different ways like beat or Beats uh you're going to use the present perfect let me tell you why because you use this tense we're talking about uh something like in the past that is related or or continue to the present in this case with the present perfect I like to say it has a relationship with the present so look at this timeline down here and I've on the other side is the present now so they will play today there's going to be another chess match today but in the past she she won the first time you can see that then she won the second time now those two events have a relationship with right now like we're having this conversation and that's why I would use the present perfect and you can see that with this sentence I'm confident that I'm gonna win right that tells us okay there's you know there's going to be a match today and then I'm following it even though now I'm referring to these things that have happened already in the past even though she's beaten me twice before confident that I'm gonna win even though she's beaten me twice before so that is why I would use the present perfect here's the next one and I do think this one is a bit more challenging but we'll see I think you guys I'm always impressed with with your grammar skills and your knowledge so there are two missing parts to this it begins with a conjunction do you hit the like button you write to me in the comments as well what words or phrases would you fill in there and that they're they're connected um do you hit the like button you write to me in the comments as well as I mentioned I definitely do think this one is a little trickier it's probably these are probably conjunctions that you do not use as often as others however it's good to know and like I said with these lessons I always hope that perhaps you you learn something new so the correct answer great job Julia we're going for not only and but not only do you hit the like button but you write to me in the comments as well you can see the how suggestive I am with some of these examples like hey yeah go ahead hit the like button I really appreciate it and of course I always love hearing uh from people in the comments and I hope you do I hope you write to me in the comments let me know how you did once the the quiz is over how did you do so we're talking about a correlative conjunction and correlative conjunctions are used to illustrate how two words are phrases within a sentence relate to each other you know they're they're correlated correlative conjunctions always come in pairs so in this case I told you the conjunctions you know they're they're related they're together not only but also in this case I didn't really have to use also because I used as well at the end of the sentence so also is something that you may include or you may not put it in there but you're going to use this really to emphasize that hey okay this is true but something else is also true and you're just giving it a little emphasis so now that you know what correlative conjunctions are let's just look at the sentence again not only do you hit the like button this is something true that you do at least I hope but you also do this other thing that's true which is writing to me in the comments again very suggestive with these examples so I now want to move into something that I think is a even more challenging but I'll try to start out with some easier sentences and then get a little more difficult and I'm talking about sentence Transformations and what we're going to do is I want you to complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first it's as simple as that we have two sentences they're different but they have the same meaning so let me show you what I mean by this in case you've you haven't done sentence Transformations before so my grandfather built the house I want you to write another sentence or think of another sentence that means the same thing except I want you to use the word by the word by is going to come in this sentence and that is like a key word uh hint or example like they're referred to as keyword Transformations where I'm giving you the one or two words that I want you to use to to put you on the right path in order to complete the write another sentence that has the same meaning so my grandfather built the house I'm asking you to use buy and really what I wanted to get you thinking about it well the difference between active and passive so this is an active sentence my grandfather built the house if we change it and make it a passive sentence well that is when we're going to use the word by and I think I think a lot of you you caught on to that so the the answer was yeah the house was built by my grandfather so with the differences again the active the subject my grandfather is doing the action my grandfather built the house if we change that and make it a passive sentence what we're doing is we're taking the object and moving it to the front then we're going to use the verb to be plus the past participle now built it's in the past tense so that's why I'm using was here was the past participle is built by the the person doing the action by my grandfather the house was built by my grandfather the next one maybe this is a again a little trickier that shirt is too small for you this is something that I feel like my wife may tell me from time to time it's like hey Wes yeah that that shirt is too small for you so I want you to write another sentence that has the same meaning except I would like you to use the word big in your sentence that shirt is too small for you what sentence could you use and include the word big that has the same meaning you're talking to someone else and say hey I think that that shirt is too small for you what would you use and there's really one phrase that I wanted to get at when we're talking about big and yeah I think you guys um got it great job Fernando uh uh anko Nguyen Jocelyn so the sentence that we could change this to is that shirt is not big enough for you so let's just start with the phrase big enough if something is big enough it means it is sufficient it it fits if we're talking about clothes it's big enough now because we said it's too small then you would want to use the negative it's not big enough so if something is not big enough it is not sufficient it does not fit it's too small that shirt is not big enough for you or that shirt is too small for you have this both have the same meaning then we have the next one right here you didn't pass the exam because you didn't study when when I was a high school student even in University I would hear this from time to time somebody would tell me that sentence you didn't pass the exam because you didn't study or I might hear this other sentence down below it would have the same meaning except I I would I'm giving you the beginning of the sentence if you I would like you to start the sentence with that phrase if you write a sentence with the same meaning you didn't pass the exam because you didn't study so just looking at the you see that first word if that should start ringing some bells that oh this is a conditional sentence and then you need to think about well which kind of conditional am I going to use the first conditional the second conditional or the third conditional and we're talking about a situation that's already happened it's you know I ca you can't change this it's already happened so it's almost like it's an imaginary situation in which case then you would use the third conditional and I see some of you wrote you got it you you guys nailed it so if you had studied you would have passed the exam that is a sentence in the third conditional we have a condition in which we're using the past perfect if you had studied followed by a result in which case we use would Plus have plus the past participle you would have passed the exam if you had studied you would have passed the exam so that I hopefully I think that that one was a little easier in terms of you know having that first part that if and get you thinking of uh conditionals here's one that again I think is maybe a little more challenging both job applicants are strong and equally good and I want you to rewrite the sentence well same meaning but use their and hardly and actually these sentences as far as the words that are being used you're going to use very different words but it's expressing the same idea and that's what the sentence Transformations are all about so you have this simple sentence that you I think it's easy to understand somebody says Hey both job applicants are strong and equally good how could we say the same thing using there and hardly all right excellent I see one good answer I can't sorry I can't pronounce the name but yeah um nice Fernando Victor I think yeah you guys are on the right track Jocelyn so maybe this wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be there is hardly any difference between the two applicants and I know some of you are writing um candidates which again is fine if we're talking about somebody applying for a job an applicant a candidate but yeah you could say yeah there's hardly any difference between the two applicants both of them are strong they're equally good there's hardly any difference so and this I I try to give you a variety of different grammar Concepts and really challenge you in different ways some of them were definitely easier than others that's why I said it def it falls within that intermediate to Advanced category so if you enjoyed the lesson please I always appreciate it if you hit that like button and of course yeah write to me in the comments I am curious to know how did you do on the quiz did you get most of them right did you find it challenging and these are lessons that I want to continue doing in the past because I think it's great to do this and really make it an interactive lesson in which you can participate and actually practice your grammar skills so thank you so much for joining me today great to see some familiar names and faces well faces I'm kind of just looking at the little avatars but Lolly um Victor Victor uh takayo good to see you um where are we at uh it's kind of lost the thing Vicky Gustav good that you you guys were able to make it um again I I really appreciate you guys joining me I hope you continue to practice and improve each week and of course I will be back for another lesson real soon because like I said you know you don't want me just to quit making these English lessons do you and I hope the answer is yes no keep going keep going that's what I plan to do so I hope you have a wonderful --- ## 399. Key Word Transformation Quiz | How to change sentences? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZKAZWfBQjtY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKAZWfBQjtY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:31:35 | --- so if you really want to improve your English fluency this lesson will help you do just that because I am really going to test your knowledge of English today because we are going to talk about sentence transformations so I want to begin by just kind of letting you know well what what does this mean so if we're talking about sentence transformations basically you're just to transform it means to change so you're taking one sentence and then you are changing it to another sentence but they have the same meaning so that's what I mean when I talk about okay we're gonna do sentence transformations and see if we can change sentences to different sentences with the same meaning so if that sounds confusing let me write it right here for you so you have to rewrite the sentence so that both sentences have the same meaning there are other words that you can use that describe this for example some people might say like key word transformations and what that means is that they give you a sentence and then they give you one word and you have to use that word to rewrite another sentence with the same meaning we're gonna practice this in a variety of different ways but the reason why I say this is a good test of your fluency because you are you are exercising so many different language muscles up there when you are trying to change the sentence to another one with the same meaning you have to think about the grammar you have to think about vocabulary and you're really putting it all together so again it is a great exercise it's a great practice and that's why I think they're using this more and more on proficiency tests such as the TOEFL or the IELTS so so in if you guys are joining me today those of you who are with me in the chat I am going to ask you some questions and we are actually going to change some sentences to different sentences with the same meaning and even if you are watching this later I want you to participate I want you to interact with this lesson and write your write your answers in the just use it like it is a piece of paper okay so let's let's begin alright this is the first one we're gonna start it's gonna be start a little easy and then it'll get more and more difficult as we go along so the first one that I have for you is this sentence right here so on the top I've given you the sentence now down here I've given you part of a sentence and I want you to complete it so that they have basically the same meanings so I'd say you know he was responsible for painting the fence all right think about what that means if it helps put it put a picture in your mind he was responsible for painting the fence now we're going to transform that we're going to change that into a new sentence with the same meaning painting the fence was his hmm what what would you put in there I'll go ahead and give you a hint we're talking about just one word it's really just one word to use to complete that sentence and just want to give some shoutouts to people that are yes participating getting it getting the correct answer thank you yes love music Jotham art perfect lolly yes so we're taking the word responsible and we're changing it to a different part of speech so instead of he was responsible for painting the fence all right we're going to say that painting the fence was his responsibility we are changing it from the adjective responsible he was responsible for doing something to the noun it is his responsibility so I hope you can see those two sentences right there they basically mean that they mean the same thing so that is what we're doing today and we're transforming we are changing sentences so that they have the same meaning all right so if you're just joining us this is this is the quiz this is how I'm going to quiz you today which is going to help you improve your fluency here is the next one all right there's nothing better than hot chocolate on a cold day I thought this because it is getting winter it's getting a little cooler outside which makes me think of hot alright there's nothing better than hot chocolate on a cold day so then I would change the sentence I've given you part of it hot chocolate on a cold day is I almost gave you the answer I almost told you what the answer is all right what do you think how would you complete the sentence so that it has the same meaning now one thing I would say there are there may be more want more than one way to do this there may be more than one way but the idea is that I'm trying to give you enough information so that you are able to track down the answer that I'm looking for all right so let's see yes excellent Aziza Savior Vanessa Kiko so we're taking it you know from the comparative there's nothing better than hot chocolate on cold that you just saying hot chocolate on a cold day is the best all right there is nothing better than it so if there's nothing better than it when then we know well this is the best hot chocolate on a cold day is the best excellent perfect the next one are you guys ready so now I think we've warmed up a little you know what I want you to do and like I said they're gonna get a little more difficult some of these can actually be very challenging all right I think this one should be okay so the first part is I asked Wes what he ate for breakfast I asked Westwood he ate for breakfast all right we're going to transform that we're gonna change that to the one down here I asked Wes all right and this is a direct quote what hmm for breakfast so this is an example we are changing it from indirect speech I asked Westwood e8 for breakfast to direct speech which is why I have it in that whoops those quotes down there I asked Wes what hmm for breakfast what do you think all right how would you transform that change that sentence so it has the same meaning and this is something that that you would do in grammar class all the time changing from direct speech to in direct speech or changing from direct to indirect and vice versa so yes you would say I asked west let's see some answers yes she'll Leonardo perfect okay there's what did remember since it is a direct quote alright it's almost like you are asking Wes so what is the question that you would say you wouldn't say you know what does he because again it is a direct quote so you'd want to say you know I asked Wes what did you eat for breakfast because the first one indirect I asked Wes what he ate for breakfast alright we're changing that direct so what is the exact question I asked Wes question what did you eat for breakfast alright so that is something that's again maybe it's a little tricky but remember keep in mind when you're changing it from direct or indirect to direct be careful be careful of that pronoun especially in that question because I'm just asking well what did you eat for breakfast alright I am talking to Wes which may be a little weird because in the example it's like I'm talking to myself alright so let's look at this one all right okay you can miss class if you have a good reason alright now the next one I that whole top line that is a blank I don't know if you can see it so you can miss class if you have a good reason we're going to change that sentence to another one which will be mmm unless you have an excuse so what would you want to say all right so in this case again this is why it really helps your fluency because you've got to think about the grammar but you also may need to make sure that you understand the vocabulary because that is that's going to influence the meaning the words that you're going to use alright so we're gonna take the first sentence you can miss class if you have a good and then the next one is the blank hmm unless you have an excuse all right so seeing some answers yes truth amarte hamza perfect allison excellent andrey so you're just going to say the opposite if we're talking about you have any an excuse then you would say well you can't miss class unless you have an excuse both of these sentences they mean the same thing so you could use either one really whichever one that you want alright so let's look at the next one now this is just like the first part alright now we're going to transform them a little differently but before we do I just want to let you guys know again if you guys like what we do if you want to connect us if you want to show us some love here at interactive English you can check out our patreon page we offer some cool rewards and again it's another way to connect with us practice your English improve your English skills there is a link down below in the description and I'm just gonna throw one right there in the chat but again if you don't want to become a patron it's okay I just want to make sure that you are here with us every Saturday to practice and improve your English so I said with this one now we're gonna change it this is going to be more of a keyword transformation because what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you the sentence and then I will give you the word a word that I want you to use to complete the next sentence are you ready so the first one again just this is a little bit of a warm-up to show you what I mean all right so she regrets not taking the job all right now I want you to change the sentence but use the word had so down here where it says she wishes mmm the job I want you to use the word had to complete that sentence this would be more of a key word transformation because I'm giving you that keyword which has had which you must use to complete the sentence what do you guys think alright so again if you guys anybody who's just joining us now we are doing sentence transformations changing sentences so that you have two sentences with the same meaning and this is a great way to practice your English alright so again be careful I'm some of you I see a lot of those answers you're missing a word alright you're missing you're missing something yes we have perfect Ricardo excellent Hamza Oscar yes so she regrets not taking the job I want you to use hat she wishes she had taken the job some of you were putting like oh she wishes she had the job in that sense um I would say again you want to be a little more accurate we're using taking she regrets not taking the job so you'd say she wishes she had taken the job she will she wanted she wants the job she's thinking back and like ah I wish I had taken that job I should have taken that job alright so now you know how this is going to work let's do the next one are you ready so I didn't stretch so I pulled a muscle all right there is the keyword or keywords that I want you to use wouldn't have alright and down here is again a little bit of a guidance so I said if I mmm and then you would end the sentence with pulled a muscle alright so like I said this is a great way to practice many different things you're practicing your vocabulary and your grammar because if you see you see that if that if statement all right now you should probably know this is a hint it's a conditional sentence alright we're talking about a conditional sentence so I want you to use that keyword wouldn't have or I wouldn't have to complete that sentence what do you guys think all right write your answers in the chat if you're watching this later write your answers in the comments just yeah participate practice see how well you do all right so I didn't stretch so I pulled the muscle and I want you to change that if I mmm and then pulled a muscle all right um all right some of you uh let's see answers if I mm no again remember we're think about this is a sentence this is the third conditional yes Armen excellent because there's there's actually quite a bit of information missing because again you have the condition which is the if statement and then the result which is where you're going to have that wouldn't have all right if I didn't stress I didn't stretch so I pulled a muscle if you want to rewrite that using the third conditional all right if I had stretched because again you didn't do that in the past if I had stretch I wouldn't have pulled a muscle all right so in that case again they didn't stretch so they did pull a muscle so again writing this in the third conditional if I had stretched I wouldn't have pulled a muscle again that condition is going to have had stretched the past perfect and then in the results you're going to have would Plus have plus the past participle all right those are just grammar rules when you're following when you're trying to write these conditional sentences so I hope that makes sense all right then next one that I have for you is this one I think this one may be a little easier all right so he can't wait to go on vacation all right the key word that I want you to use is Ford and I've given you part of the sentence he on vacation what do you think how would you I want you to use that key word to rewrite the sentence so that it has the same meaning as he can't wait to go on vacation what would you guys say I think this one yeah I think it should be I think it maybe a little bit here so again write your answers write them in the chat I want you to interact participate in the lesson even if you're watching this later so seeing some good answers yes we have Oscar let's see mmm I guess you there are a couple different ways you could say this now if I wanted to get very picky and technical alright this is the answer all right he looks forward to going on vacation remember you look forward to doing something you need to follow it with that jaren I look forward to playing I look forward to dancing to running and in this case he looks forward to going on vacation some of you put he is looking forward you could say that it means the same thing but if you're writing it like this remember you want that subject to agree with the verb he looks so make sure that S is at the end he looks forward to going on vacation something that you are excited about doing in the future all right let's do another one are you ready here we go this I will be very impressed if you get this one this one is a bit challenging so West almost always does live lessons every Saturday all right that's true I try to Wes almost always does live lessons every Saturday all right I want you to use the word ever alright and the the part of the sentence that I gave you Wes mmm a Saturday live lesson so this one is very difficult and I will give you a hint in just a moment because that is the word you need to use ever Wes hmm a Saturday live lesson so the key with this one and I so Steve are like Oh wash this is difficult yes these these sentences this is challenging like I said you really have to exercise your muscles but it's great practice a great way to test again your knowledge of fluency being able to change sentences or say things that you know have the same meaning but say them in a different way now the the hint that I'll give you for this one is think of the first part almost always that is your hint almost always what is the opposite of almost always alright and then try to go from there so again remember some of you are saying never remember ever I want you to use ever never is different that's a different word alright so instead of Wes almost always does a live lesson every Saturday remember almost always the opposite of almost always do you have any ideas yes I uh al roses are Olly roses you got it but you're missing a verb you're still missing the verb hardly ever alright so instead of West almost it almost always does a live lesson every Saturday I could change and say well Wes hardly ever misses a Saturday live lesson so again you want to use again you need to use a different verb misses in order to complete that thought so that it means the same thing Wes hardly ever misses a Saturday live lesson this one was a lot more challenging it was more difficult all right so we're gonna again continue this we're gonna try it another way so what I want to do now is I'm going to give you a a sentence and the key word and I just want you to rewrite the whole sentence I'm not gonna give you any part of the sentence whatsoever so I will give you part of it all right I will give you the key word and then I want you to see if you can rewrite the sentence so that it has the same meaning let's start with this one I think this might be a little easier so if somebody says you know when when did you start studying English what is a another question you could ask very similar that again this is something that I would ask a student just one - you know learn more about them when did you start studying English or I could ask them how long hmm that is the keyword that is your key word or words that I want you to use and and I think you know at this point again I capitalized the age so you know that that is going to go at the beginning of the sentence all right so what question would you ask somebody that pretty much means the same thing when did you start studying English I see some excellent answers yes I love music Kiko bye sue on Anna so actually where is it okay I think most of you have got it it's just going really quickly now how long have you been studying English this is a question all right in the past continuous something that started in the past and has continued to now and will continue in the future like how long have you been studying English so those are two different ways that you could ask that question and you get the same information when did you start studying English oh ten years ago how long have you been studying English I've been studying English for 10 years so you get that you get the same information two different ways to go about it are you ready the next one my father took this picture my father took this picture what do you think all right my father took this picture and I want you to use the word was this is it's a little more challenging and I will give you a hint because I'm feeling in a very generous mood right now and I want to try and lead you to the right answer so the hint that I will give you is this is an active sentence alright this is an active sentence my father took the picture all right the subject is doing the action alright my father the subject took the verb the picture is our object it is an active sentence so I think many yes excellent we Maybelle Kiko Hwan Shilpa yes so we're changing it from an active sentence to a passive sentence and remember when you change it to a passive sentence you're taking the object this picture you're moving it to the front of the sentence so you would say this picture was taken I'm going to use the verb to be plus the past participle by whoever the subject is this picture was taken by my father all right excellent are you ready are you ready for another one again another sentence transformation just see you know try to rewrite the the sentence I think III think that you should be able to get this one I don't think it's too difficult so here's the situation I arrived late to the restaurant everyone had finished eating so I wrote this that is two simple sentences all right I want you to write one sentence and use that key word those key words by the time actually that key phrase I want you to use by the time and write one sentence which is going to be a complex sentence so those two simple sentences has the same meaning I arrived late to the restaurant everyone had finished eating what would you say all right I want you to use that phrase write me one sentence that has the same meaning as that all right what do you think what would you write and I again I think I've given you enough information I think many of you couldn't get this uh exactly yes this is good I think for a lot of you who are here like a bit good good typing practice too because you guys are having to write write a little bit more than you usually do during some of these lessons but yes excellent so you're going to take that phrase by the time and let's just say you know you can put it at the beginning of the sentence or you could put it in the middle of sentence that is your dependent clause and you would say by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone had finished eating all right by the time I arrived in the simple past and your main your main clause that independent clause everyone had finished eating that is a time when you would use the past perfect by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone had finished eating all right so this is you know again the reason for doing these sentence transformations is to just to practice your overall fluency skills because you got to think about grammar you got to think about vocabulary and some of them can be tricky some of them I think are tricky even for native English speakers this can be a real challenge so I hope that you guys did well kind of ran through those a lot quicker than I thought we would today but I really appreciate you guys being here with me again if you want to join our community and subscribe to our email list I will leave a link right here in the chat there's also one down below in the description and this is when we will give you some lesson updates we'll talk to you we'll send you some information about useful resources we will give you access there is a secret fluency lesson which we will also send you so just kind of keep you updated again closer contact with us if you want to email so thank you guys so much for joining me today I appreciate you being here please hit the like button if you enjoyed the lesson and this was some good practice I hope I hope that it was I hope that it was challenging for you because I think often we do some of these lessons and I think they can be some of them are a little easier sometimes so I hope that this was a little bit of you know something for everyone that some of these sentences you could do and others were a lot more difficult and challenging so please let me know hit that like button you can write to us in the comments because we love hearing from you and check us out on Facebook Instagram Twitter again another way we ask questions you can kind of just you know just hang out with us alright so thank you guys for being here give some quick shout outs again Julio Andre Michele Angela Lally Giovanna love music I don't yet I have to say goodbye sorry Daniel thank you guys for joining me I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you guys next time because I am here almost I'm almost always here on Saturdays I hardly ever miss a live lesson so I will see you guys then so long --- ## 400. LEARN -ED & -ING ADJECTIVE ENDINGS | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Ph0HMsViBaQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph0HMsViBaQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:48:44 | --- all right what is up everybody I hope you're having a wonderful Saturday or if you are watching this at another time I hope you're having a wonderful day so as people join on to this lesson today I have a super super fun grammar lesson for you now I know what you're thinking probably like grammar really now it is you know I know it may sometimes not be the most exciting thing but it is very very important and besides we are going to do a practice today as well so I'm not only gonna tell you some information about grammar and how to use it and when to use it but then we are going to practice your skills as well so if you are just joining us please in the in the chat write your name tell us where you are joining us from I'd like to hear from you guys and see who is with us today so write your name tell us where you are joining us from and we will get this show on the road so we are going to be doing talking about this today we're going to be talking about adjectives the wonderful world of adjectives I'm going to be telling you the difference between edie adjectives and ing adjectives um great everybody's talking amir hi what's up arnold schwarzenegger is with a sweet [Music] Vishal how are you I am doing excellent how are you guys doing from India from Syria Eric on from Turkey excellent great to have you guys with us so we're gonna be talking about these adjectives and then I am gonna do a practice with you guys and test your knowledge so you guys can write those answers in the comments so we're talking about these II D and ing adjectives you can see some examples that I put up there frightened amusing boring confused these are adjectives that we use all the time hello from France how are you guys I hope you guys are having a great weekend and glad to have you here so let's start talking about first you know well first why is this important why do you all need to know this information if you're here it is because you are maybe learning English or more interested you're interested in improving your English skills so this is important because edie adjectives and ing adjectives it's something that learners can confuse and it doesn't matter which level you are if you are a beginner learner if you're an intermediate learner if you are an advanced learner I've heard mistakes made with these all the time across all levels and it still people understand what you're trying to say but it can really it can really change things that it can really change the meaning so the second reason is that these rules what I'm getting ready to tell you about the IDI adjectives and ing adjectives is that they're straightforward a lot of times with grammar that you have these rules and then they come back and say well wait there's some exceptions to the rules and it can be really annoying and confusing which are 2 ing adjectives but with this it is pretty straightforward you just need to understand basically how to use them and when we use them and then it's perfect you won't make these mistakes again so we have people from Ecuador Brazil fallen angel excellent glad to have Marco what's up I hope you're doing well good to see all of you to have you here so we're talking about these adjectives today the other reason it's important is because we use these adjectives all the time you know we use these adjectives to describe people places and things so these are very important words to learn for your overall fluency so that you can improve your English skills enhance your English skills so that you're not making these small simple mistakes because like I said right there a mistake with between an IDI and an ING adjective can really change the meaning so for example you see my emoji friend right down there at the bottom if you tell somebody I'm bored it is very very different than saying I'm boring all right those are two completely different meanings and to be honest you don't want to tell people that you're boring because then they probably won't want to hang out with you so it is very important that you understand the difference and that you use these correctly so let's move on and again just a quick little refresher because most of you that are with us that watch our lessons I think you're a more intermediate to advanced learners so you guys have studied grammar before you've learned about adjectives but this is just a quick little review about what are adjectives alright we use them to describe nouns to describe people places or things and they can be in one of two places they can come before the noun which in that example I gave you we watched an exciting movie it describes movie and it comes before the noun or we can adjectives can follow linking verbs and the most common linking verb that it will follow is the verb to be now when we're talking about Edie and ing adjectives most of the time they are following a linking verb and most of the time it is the verb to be okay so when we're using these adjectives they're following the linking verb as that example the movie is exciting okay the adjective exciting it describes movie but it follows the verb to be is so thank you guys I got some good shots Bulgaria is here has someone yes we have heard of Bulgaria and I do I want to travel to Bulgaria and India and all of those countries down there fallen angel hit that like button excellent yes do please do that so I gave you that other sentence down there don't get confused because these adjectives are not confusing alright so we're gonna talk about these right now let's look first at using IDI adjectives okay these adjectives they describe emotions they tell us how we feel about something now when you think about the feeling these IDI adjectives alright think about temporary okay so we all feel angry but it's not permanent it's temporary we all feel sad it's not temper it's not permanent it's temporary so these are feelings that we go through they're not permanent States it's used to describe how we feel in that moment okay so it's describing emotions and our feelings so what I want you to do is tell me how do you feel right now all right use an IDI adjective alright how do you feel I feel alright I am alright use an IDI adjective tell us how you feel in the chat right now and practice this you can see the examples right here again with my emoji friend she is tired alright he's exhausted they're fatigued we are exasperated okay this is all these are all meanings these IDI adjectives talking about if you're sleepy if you're low on energy okay these are all describing how we feel okay at that moment and it's all temporary all right tired exhausted fatigued exasperated these are all IDI adjectives and we use them to describe how we feel if you're just joining us again let us know your name in the comments Estela hi how are you right now your board ok your board hopefully not watching this but because maybe just the day in general I hope so so we're talking about these IDI and ing adjectives and then I am going to quiz your knowledge and we're gonna you're gonna write your answers in the chat so I feel enjoyed you just say like I feel maybe not enjoyed you would say more like you feel great you feel good trying to think of an IDI adjective you usually enjoy something or you enjoy doing something so you'd want to say like you know I feel good I feel great not in that context so again that's great though keep writing again guys this is the best way to practice alright tell me how you feel right write in the comments you know how do you feel today alright I am give me an e d adjective I'm tired I'm confused I'm bored I'm exhausted I'm excited alright so this is e d adjectives remember describing emotions and feelings that are temporary okay they're talking about people alright the way people feel alright now ing adjectives alright these adjectives can do one of two things alright and the first one is what confuses people a little bit alright it can describe the characteristic of a person alright it's not a temporary feeling you're describing their characteristics and this is what I said at the beginning when I showed you if you say I'm bored it's different than saying I'm boring alright if you say I'm boring then you're describing your characteristic as being boring that you are a boring person and you don't want to say that so ing adjectives can describe a carrot mystic or it can describe a thing or situation that can cause a feeling where you're talking about a thing like an event or a movie or situation maybe a party or something and it talks about how you feel about that so let me ask you a question in the comments all right I want you guys to write how do you feel about Saturdays today is Saturday all right how do you feel about Saturdays all right Saturdays are what give me an ing adjective to describe Saturdays okay this is good practice because again Saturday is you know it's a day so we'd say it's a thing all right how would you describe it which aing adjectives would you use to describe Saturday I personally I love Saturdays I think they are amazing that is how I would describe Saturdays but look at these other examples again right here in my lovely lovely graphic the movie how we can describe the the movie in different types of movies we could say the movie is amazing okay ing adjectives it's describing the movie the movie is frightening again an ing adjectives the movie is boring that's one that we commonly hear bored and boring all the time so these are all ing adjectives that are used to describe again characteristics things or situations Saturday is always boring like other days why Saturday is great I saw a film last night that was boring okay a lot of a lot of boring stuff going on I know I don't know why it's the fall out here I don't know if you guys have anything exciting going on in your lives because tomorrow you want an i we are going to run a marathon all right and that is very exciting but I am also I am worried all right that IDI adjective for you I'm worried Saturdays are exciting because I don't work and I do interesting things perfect okay so again write in the comments tell me how you feel about Saturdays and also if you're watching this later write these sentences practice using them in the comments we like hearing from you guys it's always good to practice what you're learning so if you're just joining us again we're talking about ing verse IDI adjectives now alright let's practice and see what you guys know alright I have seven questions for you alright and I want you to write your answers in the comments or in the chat so the first one I did for you alright sometimes I find English grammar alright what are we going to use are we going to use the IDI confused or the ing confusing how do we finish that sentence alright I want you to write the answer in the chat right now if you're in there don't be shy alright don't worry about getting it wrong alright what do you think sometimes I find English grammar are we going to use the IDI adjective or the ing confused or confusing alright we're getting some answers in there excellent Luis Ricardo I'm excited because I'm learning so much with your video classes awesome thank you very much we are happy that you are learning a lot we're really excited to build this community and have these classes so getting some answers in here alright so sometimes I find English grammar we are talking about grammar now that is a thing so we would use the ing adjectives are sometimes I find English grammar confusing alright ding-ding-ding-ding excellent alright so we use the ing ing adjectives to complete this sentence now the next one that I have for you I have a few of these and again I want you to write your answers in the comments here's the next question boom okay she's of her job so she's looking for another alright she's of her job so she is looking for another what are we going to use write your answer in the comments see who's first let's see you know get fast you use your fingers so are we going to use the e D or ing adjectives okay so for this one we got some answers in there excellent you guys I'm gonna try she try and confuse you make them a little more difficult you guys are alright so for this one we are talking about how she feels so we are going to use the e D adjective board alright she's bored of her job so she's looking for another the next question I have for you is this one how about give this one a try again write your answers in the comments or the chat some of his comments were are we going to say insulted or insulting okay Oh Luis Ricardo one thing Saturdays are excited Saturdays are exciting we want to use the ing with that one because we are talking about a thing Saturdays are exciting so what about this one some of his comments were insulted or insulting I got some good answers in there excellent excellent yes we are talking about remember in this one we're talking about comment okay comments is not a the way somebody feels it is a thing it is a noun so the comments are insulting some of his comments were insulting that is the correct the ing to complete the sentence let's do another one got a few more for you a few more practice questions for you see if I can trick you on one of these okay so I don't want to get stuck talking to him because he's so hmm what are we gonna say II D or ing bored or boring what are we talking about here write your answers in the comments would it be right say some of them felt insulted yes that is correct because you are talking about how they feel they are insulted they felt insulted yes so I don't want to get stuck stuck talking to him because he's so all right we've got some good answers in here excellent remember we are talking about a characteristic in this example it's his characteristic we're talking about a guy's characteristic and four characteristics we use the ing all right you could also put it into context because you don't want to get stuck talking to somebody which means you don't want to be around this person for a long time because they're boring and because they're boring you might get bored and that is the way you would feel so the next one um this one's gonna be a double one for you so you're gonna have to type a little more I got two more questions boom alright let me make this a little bigger all right I'm I'm that you won't think my writing is all right what are we going to use if you guys are just joining us we are talking about the difference we are practicing IDI and ing adjectives so I want you guys to write your answers in the chat I'm giving you a little quiz here to see how much you know and if you're watching this later again write the answers in the comments just use the comment section like it's a chat it's a great way to practice so I'm that you won't think my writing is okay so getting double look at you guys alright excellent so everybody is doing really well the first part of this we are talking about I'm the way I feel so it's a I'm worried okay I'm worried that you won't think my writing is now in the next one we're talking about the writing all right writing is a noun it is a thing which means we're going to use the ing that my writing is interesting I'm worried that you won't think my writing is interesting okay so this might be something people worry about alright so great job let's do another one one more and see if you guys can get this one ready here is your question right there see if you can fill let me there we go okay my exam results were so I was a bit how are we going to complete that sentence what are we going to use are we going to use the IDI or ing with each of those okay my exam results were so I was a bit alright how are we going to complete those write your answers in the comments okay so if you're joining us again welcome um kind of doing a little bit of a quiz for you guys see how much you know about Edie and ing adjectives okay so we're getting some good answers in there excellent alright thank you guys G alright so yes we're talking about the exam results alright that is a thing so we are going to use the ing my exam results were disappointing so I was a bit alright we're talking about how I felt and it's a temporary feeling it's not permanent so I felt a bit shocked alright my exam results were disappointing so I was a bit shocked excellent you guys Wow you know I can't I can't trick I can't trip you guys up today you guys did amazing so remember again this is something that is pretty straightforward that we use the IDI adjectives to describe how we feel about something and it's a temporary feeling all right we use these adjectives often after a linking verb the verb to be alright the movie was boring I am confused alright and ing adjectives again that describes either a characteristic or a thing or a situation alright so thank you guys thank you thank you for joining us today again please like and share this video lesson if you liked it if you enjoyed it if you got some good practice because that is the way again you can minimize your mistakes as you move forward if you have any questions write them in the comments this video will get published later so please please please please write us some questions we always try to respond and answer questions that you may have and again you can join us on social media were right down there on these different platforms Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat and of course YouTube right here so thank you guys so much thank you Ishmael Thank You Nancy Marco it's great to see you again pearl thanks you amano thank you guys thanks for coming Arnold Joshua Gothia and maybe I'm mispronouncing some of these names correctly so I apologize about that if you have any questions again write them in the comments for us we love hearing from you guys thanks for joining us we will be back next week for another live lesson so we hope to see you then all right enjoy the rest of the weekend --- ## 401. LEARN ALL 12 VERB TENSES IN ENGLISH ๐ŸŽŠ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `57siOIS-qEU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57siOIS-qEU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:33:13 | --- Hello. What's up everyone? My name is Wes and in case this is your first time here at Interactive English, we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today, this is a lesson that many people have requested us to do. We are going to talk about all 12 verb tenses. That's right. I am going to cover all 12 verb tenses in this lesson. But not only that, I want you guys to practice your skills, which is what this is all about. So, I want you to write sentences throughout this lesson. Write sentences in the chat and practice these verb tenses. And even if you are watching this later, I want you to use the comment section as though it were a piece of paper and write sentences there. A and always practice, practice, practice, practice. That is what these interactive lessons are all about. So, I want to give quick shout out. Hello Lai, Luna, Susanna, Min, Yelvin, Sed, Angela, welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I will give some more shoutouts throughout the lesson, especially as you guys are writing your sentences. So, let's just let's let's just begin. All right, there are 12 different verb tenses that we're going to talk about today. So, you may think, well, how did we get to 12? Well, there are four aspects in which you were talking about the simple, the progressive, the perfect or the perfect progressive. Now, you may hear some people refer to the progressive as continuous, they mean the same thing. Either one, whether you want to say the the progressive tense or continuous, either one is okay. So, we have those four aspects and then the three main tenses which I think everyone is familiar with, the past, the present, and the future. And when we multiply four * 3, we get 12. We get 12 different verb tenses. Now, I I gave you this just as a reference. I use the verb uh the base verb go to go. And I conjugated it using those four different aspects and those three main tenses. I'm not going to go over this chart with you. This is again just for you to kind of look at and and examine because we are going to talk about each and every one of these verb tenses. And what I'm going to do is I I'm going to tell you how we like when the verb tense is used. I'm going to ask you a question and then I'm going to give you some example sentences showing you again how to use this verb tense. Some common ways in which the verb tenses are used. And again, I want you guys to write in the chat so that anybody watching this, they can see all of these wonderful examples of these verb tenses being used. The other thing I would say is that I am going to try and start, it's going to start with the easiest tenses and then kind of work your way up to the more difficult ones. So these are it's almost like this is the order in which learners would learn these verb tenses. Now there are different ways I in different orders in which somebody may learn it but just in general these are the ones that I think are the most I guess the most valuable. I I've ordered them in terms of importance and priority. Okay. So here we go. Let's go. We're going to start with the present simple. Okay, which is generally used to describe actions in the present that are either habitual or factual. All right. So just keep that in mind. Present simple. And I've given you a question that I want you to answer and I want you to write a complete sentence. All right? For all of these questions, please write in complete sentences. Okay? So my question is, how often do you study English? How often do you study English? Write your answer in the chat or if you're watching it later, write that in the comments. And I'm going to keep a lookout for for some of those comments right there. Okay. Um, ready? So, how often do you study English? Here are some example sentences that that I would give you. Okay, right here. So, I I would say the following. All right. I we usually play soccer when you're talking about those adverbs of frequency. Always, usually, sometimes, rarely, never. It's often used in the present simple. Okay? We usually play soccer. We play. I could say another one like nobody stands up to her. I wanted to throw that three word that that phrasal verb in there. Um, stand up to someone. If you stand up to someone, it means you are you are kind of you're you're kind of fighting back. You're you're you're sticking up for yourself. Usually, you would stand up to a bully. So, you could say like, you know, nobody stands up to her and nobody stands. Remember, subjectverb agreement. Then I throw a question in there. A question using the present simple. Do you enjoy watching YouTube would be just again a question. Now keep in mind in this case watching. All right, this is not the continuous tense. Watching is a garand. All right, you enjoy doing something. So watching is not a verb. It's not in the it's it's actually a garand. So keep that in mind if you're wondering like, wait, why is there an ing in there? And then my final sentence, again, just I don't know, pick on myself. Uh sometimes Wes doesn't like broccoli. It's true. I know I'm sure many of you are broccoli lovers out there. I don't want to offend you, but yes, I am not a fan of broccoli. Mostly I wanted to share that image down there, which I I found as part of a meme because it looks like this piece of broccoli is is giving is giving someone the finger and the meme would be like, you know, f you too, broccoli. So again, some some examples in the using the present simple. Thank you. Um, Angela, I study English every day. All right. Uh, say, I watch your live your live lessons whenever you hold them. Perfect. Um, let's see. Angel, I enjoy watching interactive English on YouTube. Thank you, Angel. We really appreciate that. Um, Yelvin, a sentence in the the present simple. I don't like broccoli either. Excellent. All right. Great minds think alike. All right, so I Elma, I study English every day. Perfect. Okay, again, these are examples in the present simple. I think this should be pretty easy. Again, it's going to get more difficult because some of the verb tenses we don't often use. Present simple. We use all the time. So, let's continue moving right along. Let's look at the past simple. All right. This is used to describe a finish action in the past. The action is complete. The action is finished. So, here's a here's a question. So, to elicit a variety of different answers. I this is a common question somebody might ask and I would ask you, you know, well, hey, what did you do yesterday? Did is in the past tense. What did you do yesterday? Again, I'm identifying a lot of time with the past. you will have those time expressions, those time words like yesterday, last night, last year, and that will tell you, okay, the past, the past simple. So, just tell me, write to me in the chat, what did you do yesterday? Tell me. complete sentence. That's always important. I always want you guys to practice fully write a complete sentence. So, some of my example sentences would be right here. Okay? I'd say she traveled to Italy a long time ago. So again, I'm I'm referencing the past with a long time ago. If I say she traveled to Italy, it's she's already been there and she returned. She's she's already done there. It it's a finished action. She traveled to Italy. I bought some wet wipes yesterday. All right, that's a true story right there. So again, yesterday I'm indicating the time that's in the past. Bought is an irregular verb. So, I buy in the present simple. I bought I bought some wet wipes yesterday. They weren't for me. They were for our little our little baby girl, uh, Amelia. But yes, I bought some white wet wipes yesterday. The next one, um, this is a question that I I I think is great because if you did not do something, and maybe you should you should have done it in the past, but you didn't do it, like for example, call someone. Somebody might say, "Hey, why didn't you call?" In this case, somebody should have called in the past. It did not happen. So, you might say, "Why didn't you call? Why didn't you come? Why didn't you join us?" All right. So, in that case, something did not happen, but maybe it should have. Uh, and then we could say, "Wes lived in South Korea for 3 years." Another true story. There's a picture of me with some of my students at the university. Uh, and I lived in South Korea for three years. Anyango to anybody out there who is in Korea watching right now. Uh, so let's uh look at some sentences. All right. Uh, what did you do yesterday? That was my question to you, Albert. I managed to create a file that I I need to analyze the data. Excellent. All right. You managed to do something. Yesterday, Estella, yesterday I played soccer and spent time with my friends. Perfect. Um, Kia, uh, Nuen, sorry if I mispronounced names. I learned English yesterday. Past simple. Um, perfect. Lai, yesterday I didn't cook broccoli. Good, good, good on you. Awesome. So, again, past simple, you're going to either use the uh regular past, which would be that ed ending like traveled, or irregular. Um there are many many irregular verbs like bought or went. Um and those you just have to memorize. They're very common. So the next tense that I want to look at um is one that is very common, very useful, and it's also talking about the past, which is why we're going to do it next. And that is the present perfect. So even if you see that word present perfect, it it's not just talking about the present. It's really referring to something in the past, but it has a connection with the present. And that's what I would say. It talks about an action in the past at an unspecified time. We don't know when this happened, which has a connection with the present, a connection to the present. And I'll give you an example to uh show you a little bit more about that in just a moment. So my question to you in the present perfect, what incredible places have you visited? We are always trying to uh you know learn about some new and cool and amazing places. So that's what I that's really why I wanted to ask you tell me so that maybe we know where to travel on our next vacation. What incredible places have you visited? Give me uh you know again practice using the present perfect. You could say I have been. I have visited. I have gone to. There are many different ways that you could answer this question and and talk about some of these incredible places. So, let's look at some example sentences. Okay, so present perfect. All right, she has played piano for six years. Again, look at how it's constructed. You're going to use the helping verb have plus the past participle has played. She has played piano for six years. Now what this tells us when you see for and since those are are two words that are going to indicate okay I think I might use the present perfect. She has played piano for six years. She started in the past six years ago and is playing today. That is the connection to the present because she is still playing piano today. The lesson has already begun. Okay. The lesson began in the past, but it's still happening right now. It has a connection with the present. But if you're just joining us, thank you. We are talking about all 12 verb tenses. Please stick around, join, and practice your English skills. And the other question that I have, again, just to give you a question, an example of a question in the present perfect somebody might ask you, hey, where have you been? implying the more recent past it's not really in this case this question would be implying something in the recent past but not a very specified time hey where have you been and I could say Wes Wes has been to China again I didn't tell you when because it's unspecified, but Wes has been to China. All right, present perfect. There's a picture of me in front of the forbidden city with Chairman Mau staring over my shoulder. Now, one thing that I wanted to point out because a lot of times that that people get confused with these verb tenses is when to use one over the other and what is the difference? When should I use the past simple and when should I use the present perfect? Because I gave you that example. Remember I said Wes lived in South Korea for uh 3 years. And I told you when you see for and it's talking about a period of time, often we use that with the present perfect. So you might be thinking, well, why did you use the past simple then and not the present perfect? Well, one difference is that if I say Wes has Wes lived in South Korea for three years, it means it happened in the past. It's finished. I lived in South Korea, but I don't live there now. If I use the present perfect and say Wes has lived in South Korea for three years, then that means that I still live there now. So that is one difference between the past simple and the present perfect. If it's the past simple, it's finished. It's completed. Remember the present perfect, it has that connection with the present. Started in the past, but it it's still happening now. like she has played piano for six years. So keep that in mind when you're thinking about oh what's the difference between these um somebody some other places again tell me where you guys have been Maggie says I have been to Japan um this summer it was an amazing experience uh keep in mind I'd say again when you throw that time in there this summer uh oftentimes it would then be used with the past simple because you're specifying the time uh like I went to Japan this uh this past summer would be a common way. And remember have been uh when you're using the present perfect often we refer to that unspecified time. We we don't know exactly when it happened. Um somebody says I have studied English lai for two years. Perfect. Um uh Tamar, I've eaten lunch. Okay. All right. Yes, that is the present perfect. We don't know when you ate lunch, but yes. Um I have been busy with work, Alberto. Perfect. Uh somebody said where was it? Um uh let's see. I have been to Turkey. It's a wonderful country site. Great example. Present perfect. Again, it's unspecified. We don't know when. And yes, Turkey is on the list. We really want to visit Turkey. Um there are I think we could find some good flights to Istanbul. So yes, that's on the list. Good idea. Um so after the present perfect, let's move on. We're going to make it. It's going to get a little more challenging, a little more difficult. This one, I think, is pretty easy, pretty straightforward. Future simple. Okay, it describes actions that will happen in the future. And usually it expresses some kind of fact or certainty because you're talking about something that will happen that you think will happen. You are certain about it. So again, a common question I will ask you, you know, what what will you eat tomorrow? All right, I'm kind of curious. I've already told you that, you know, I don't like broccoli, but I want to know what do you guys like? What will you eat tomorrow? Tell me, you know, express certainty and use the future simple. What will you eat tomorrow? That is my question for you guys. Write it in the chat and practice using the future simple. So, here are my examples that I have for you. So, I could say again, it will rain all this week. In this case, you are expressing that certainty talking about something that will happen in the future. that we use it with that uh modal will. I will plus the base verb will rain. In the next sentence, I said, you know, more something stating a fact. If I'm saying, well, hey, the door won't open. All right, it will not open. Again, that's the negative. In this case, you're saying something won't happen in the future. it's not going open. And somebody might just express a fact and say, "Hey, the door won't open. It's stuck. The door won't open." Um, and then the next one, we will we will rock you. Okay, bonus points. Who, which group sings that song? We will. We will rock you. I'm not going to try and sing the sing it for you because I'm a terrible singer and I don't want you guys to leave, but bonus points. Who sings that? We will. We will rock you. And my last question for you right down there, will you join our community? Our email list? Our community. Will you join? If you don't already know about it, you can join our email list, access the secret fluency lesson, get some useful and free resources as well as the latest updates. Let me throw a link in there just in case. So again, that that's my question to you. Will will you join our our our community? Make that connection with us. That's what we want. If you haven't joined it already, please do so. So, let's look at again. I want to go back and read some sentences. Yes, Mimo, Geraldo, Paul, uh, Lai. Perfect. Queen. Yes, queen is my we will, we will rock you question. Perfect. Goia. Excellent. Um, so what will you eat tomorrow? Uh, Benny, Gerald said, uh, Hardo said, "I'll eat pizza." Perfect. Benny said, "I will eat a sandwich." Excellent. Perfect. What will you do? Uh, Roma said, "I will eat vegetables." That is a great way to stay healthy. I think I should eat vegetables uh tomorrow. Maybe I will. I don't know. We'll see. Uh there's a little uncertainty in that. Maybe. So, we've talked about the future. Again, I think it's common. We use it all the time. You understand it. Let's look at the present progressive. And remember I said progressive. Some people might say continuous present progressive present continuous. It means the same thing. But what it does mean is it refers to an action that is happening right now. It is not complete. It is happening now. Now, now, now. So, I would ask you, my question to you that I want you to answer, write it in the chat or write it in the comments if you're watching this later on. Where are you sitting or standing right now? You guys are at at home watching this. Maybe you're on a bus. Maybe you're standing in a metro. I That's I don't know. But that was my question. I want to know where where are you right now? Where are you sitting right now or where are you standing right now? I'm asking you about now. So, you are going to answer using the present progressive. And if you want to see the present progressive in action and know how to answer it, check this out. The phone is ringing. ringing. You see that ing on the end of ringing because that is how we express that something is happening now. And that's that's a common sentence you might hear somebody say like, hey, you know, somebody's phone is ringing. The phone is ringing. Somebody needs to answer it. Um, this is another sentence. The ants are marching one by one. Harrah, hurrah. We've been watching a lot of um just nursery rhymes lately with our little girl and that was just in my mind. The ants are marching one by one. Um but again, present progressive that is what the ants are doing right now. Or a common question that that somebody might ask you which you know is just hey what what are you doing? What are you doing? Maybe you're doing something that you should not be doing and somebody say, "What are you doing?" Or maybe you're again you're talking to somebody on the phone and they just want to know like you know what are you doing right now? What are you doing? Common question. because we used to live in the San Francisco Bay area. I would use we are standing. So again, keep in mind the the way that you form the present progressive. The helping verb to be plus the base verb plus that ing is ringing are marching are standing. Okay. Um so I had asked you guys um where you know where are you guys right now? So let me see where are you guys. Um Ricardo I'm just laying on my bed. Perfect. Um, Tintan, I'm lying on my bed right now while watching your video. Excellent. Um, was I'm having dinner and watching your live lesson. Excellent. Um, I'm Gonzalo, I'm sitting in a chair having breakfast. Awesome. This is this is so cool. Like just everybody's connected right now at this moment. Angela, I'm standing in my room right now. Perfect. Okay, again, using that present progressive, it's talking about now. Now, now, now, now, now. All right. So if the present progressive is talking about uh the present now let's look at the past progressive or the past continuous as some might call it. It refers to a continuous refers to continuous actions at a specific time in the past. That's one way we use it. Or it's talking about a continuous action that were happening when another event occurred. And I will give you some examples uh talking about those. And I would ask you my question. All right. Again, in this case, I'm asking about a specific time. What were you doing yesterday at 6:00 p.m.? So yesterday, it's talking about the past. 6 p.m. That's a specific time. What action were you doing yesterday at 6 p.m.? I want you to write a sentence, an example using the past progressive. Now, what were you doing yesterday at 6 p.m.? Remember that. Now, let's look at my examples. Again, we're going to form this the same way as the present uh progressive. The past progressive, you're using the helping verb to be plus the main verb plus ing. The only difference is is again, we're talking about the past. So, the verb to be is going to be in the past. Last week, this is true. Last week, we were visiting Slovenia. It was with my family. We were visiting Slovenia. Again, we were the subject and verb must agree visiting. I got to put that ing on there. And last week, that is the time I'm talking about that specific time. So again, you can refer to like yesterday at this specific time, you could say last week. Last year, I was doing this certain thing. Okay? You can use the past progressive. Now, if we're talking about when when we're talking about a continuous action, when another action occurs like this next example, when I started the lesson, people were talking in the chat. So, that is my other point in time. When I started the lesson, that is a point in time. What was happening at that time? People were talking in the chat. That was the continuous action as I started the lesson. People were talking in the chat. Okay. And I could say that again in this photo just like this this photo just makes me laugh. In this photo I was laughing with our baby girl. So again in in this case I'm using that photo that is my specific time. That is my moment. In this photo I was laughing with our baby girl. We put her in front of the mirror and she just likes to look at me and her her she likes to look at herself and just laugh. So makes me laugh too. So we were all laughing. Now let's look at again. I asked you what you were doing yesterday at 6:00 p.m. Okay, let's see what what kind of responses. I'm just going to read a few of them. Um Hong says or Hang Trong, I was driving um I was driving and I felt over last month. I'm not sure you could say. Yeah, I was driving yesterday at 6 p.m. Um em I was driving to my home. Perfect. Um I was in church a church meeting. Remember you in that case that's the past simple. Remember past possessive um you could say I was meeting with people from my church. In that case that's the past progressive was meeting. Um Romesa I yesterday I was studying. Perfect. Uh Lelele I was practicing English. It's 6 p.m. practicing English again. Perfect. Remember the verb to be plus that ing past progressive. Now, let's look at the future progressive. Now, we're getting into verb forms that are a little less common. You know, we talked about some of the main verb forms. Present simple, uh, past simple, present perfect, present progressive, past progressive. Those are ones that you are going to use, you know, anytime you're speaking English. They are so common. Now, we're going to get into ones that are not as common and they may be a little more difficult, the grammar. So, the future progressive, it's basically the opposite of the past progressive, but we're talking about the future. Refers to continuous actions at a specific time in the future. All right? At a specific time or actions that will be happening when another event occurs. And my question to you, I couldn't think of any other question. It's just a yes or no question. Will you be joining our community? Remember I gave you uh I I gave you our uh our link to join our community. I'm going to give it to you again. Boom. There it is. Just in case you missed it the first time. Uh and I can say, you know, hey, will you be joining our community? I also wanted to use it um because that is a question that somebody might ask using the future progressive like for dinner. Will you be joining us for dinner? Will you be joining us for this? Will you be joining us for that? That is a common question that you might hear somebody using the future progressive. So, when we're talking about the future progressive, there's a couple of different parts to it because again, we're talking about the future. So, we're going to use will. Okay? And after will, we follow it with the base verb. So, in this case, the progressive uses the helping verb to be. So, will be. You're always going to have that will be plus the main verb plus ing. Now, the first one, maybe it's a little trickier because I put it in the negative. I'd say, you know, I won't be sleeping soundly later tonight. I'm talking about a point a time in the future later tonight. And I'd say, you know, I won't be sleeping soundly later tonight. Usually because our our little girl wakes up quite often wanting, you know, wanting something to eat. She's just a little baby. But I could tell you, you know, I won't be sleeping soundly later tonight. Now, the next one, by the end of the year, this is when we're talking about that other point in time. Another by the end of the year, that is my point in time. You will be speaking fluently. I think that you guys practice you, you know, you you practice with us, you work hard, by the end of the year, you will be speaking fluently. There is that form for you will be speaking. another point I I would say with some of these, like uh even that second one, um, I could say, you know, at this time next week, again, point in the future. At this time next week, I'll be doing another live lesson. True story. All right. At this time next week, next Saturday, I'll be doing another live lesson, and I hope you can join me for that lesson. So, we you often find the future progressive with a lot of these um these time phrases. by the end of next year. At this time next week, you're specifying that time and then talking about something that will be happening. All right. At this time next week, I'll be doing another live lesson and I really hope uh I'll I'll see you guys. Um so some of you said to answer it was a yes no question. It was closed in question, but Hong said yes, I will be joining your community. Thank you. Thank you for joining our community. Um let's see some other examples. Um, Lolly, at this time next year, I'll be improving my English. Excellent. I hope you will be improving your English with us. All right, Nelly, next week I'll be watching your live lesson. Perfect. I look forward to seeing you next week. Um, so again, those are some great examples of using the future progressive. Okay, here we go. All right. Present perfect progressive refers to actions that started in the past and have continued to the present. So I think uh before the present perfect, it has that connection with the present. When we're talking about the present perfect progressive, it's a continuous action. That is the key thing. It's an action that has continued to the present and will likely continue into the future. I will add that I will add that to this meaning. So it continues to the present and will likely continue into the future. And I could ask you um again a question using the present perfect progressive. How have you been spending your free time? And in this case I'm talking about the more recent future. And you can use these words those words like lately or recently. When you see those words, often times you may you think of the perfect tense. Like, oh, I need to use the perfect tense. So, you could use that in your response. what? I've been doing what? Recently, I've been doing what? All right. Let me know in the chat. That's my question. How have you been spending your free time? All right. What have you been doing? Uh, let's look at some examples. Okay. So, I'd say, I've been waiting for hours. All right, present perfect progressive. I've been waiting for hours. And this is another case where it's like, well, how do I know when should I use the present perfect or when should I use the present perfect progressive? In some cases, it has a very similar meaning, but sometimes there's just a small little nuance, the difference. So, for example, maybe let's say you're waiting for a bus and you're telling somebody, well, in the present perfect, I've waited for hours. Okay, that's perfectly fine. I've waited for hours. I think it's a little more appropriate and specific. This is where we get into like fluency of really expressing these small nuances that that people would use the present perfect progressive more often. I have been waiting for hours because it's continued up until the present and it's an action that will likely continue into the future. It makes me think like uh you know if somebody says I've waited for hours. It makes me think well perhaps the bus has now arrived. Perhaps like you've waited for hours and now the bus is here and you're going to get on it. Again, there's not enough information. We don't know. I'm just talking about how we're you interpret some of these nuances between these verb tenses. But if you use I've been waiting for hours, that tells me, okay, if you're waiting for a bus, the bus is not here yet and you're probably going to keep waiting. If we want to use it for a question, has it been raining all day? All right. Again, has it been raining all day? You don't know if this is something that started in the past, has continued to the present, and will continue into the future. I forgot to mention mention the construction. So, remember, we're talking about the present perfect. So, we're using have. We're talking about the progressive. So, we're we're using the past participle of the verb to be. So, I have been the verb and ing. Okay. So, again, as we get into these more challenging verb tenses, the grammar does become a little trickier. So, again, you're using I have, he has, the past participle of the verb to be, which is been, have been, has been, and then the verb plus ing. I've been waiting or a question. Has it been raining? I hope uh that that that is easy to follow. And my last example, again, just using us as an example, I could say we've been teaching on YouTube for 2 and 1/2 years. That's true. We started the channel in February of 2017. So, I could say as of now, we've been teaching on YouTube for 2 and 1/2 years. And because I'm using the present progressive, it's continued up until now, and it's going to continue into the future. Um especially because I told you that we will we will do another live at this time next week. I will be doing another live lesson. So it will continue into the future. Um so let's look at some of your examples. Okay. I had asked you guys the question um you know what what have you how have you been spending your free time? Okay. And somebody said um Estella I've been spending my free time watching your videos. Thank you Estella. Excellent. Um, I've been, uh, Esther, I've been trying for months to win the race. Okay, maybe. Yeah, you're involved in some kind of race competition. I've been trying to do this for months. Um, uh, Zakiya said he has been writing a poem for five hours. Perfect. Okay. Present perfect progressive. started in the past, continues to the future, and will likely continue um into uh into the future. All right, continues to the present and will continue in the future. Em uh wait a second, I lost it. I've been teaching biology for 26 years. Again, when you see that for for and since, often times you use the perfect tense. Okay? Uh even though that's not always the case, but again when you talk about for a duration of time or since a specific time, you often use it with a perfect tense. Um he has been shafy. He has been working for eight years. Excellent. You guys are rocking these examples. Perfect. So um I also wanted to tell you guys again if you guys like what we do here at Interactive English, want to show us some love, want to show us some support, you can check out our Patreon page. I will leave a link in the description down below and I will also leave a link right here in the chat if you guys want to check that out. It's another good way to connect with us. We have some cool rewards up there. Um, and again, yeah, feel free check that out. Now, we're we're going to get into more verb tenses that are more difficult and probably, you know, less commonly used. Even though you will you may hear this uh when you're watching a TV show, watching a movie, I'm not I'm not telling you that you should not use these, but this is a little more advanced grammar um these verb tenses. So, we're talking about the past perfect. And the past perfect, again, the perfect tense, it refers to two actions in the past and shows that one happened before the other. So remember the present perfect again we're talking about an action in the past that has a connection to the present. The past perfect is an action in the past that has a connection with another action in the past. So for example uh again my question this is not a good question. I just couldn't think of anything but it said okay before you left the house this morning what had you eaten? All right, just try to practice uh use practice using the past perfect even though I think it's common that somebody would answer and respond using the the past simple but uh that I couldn't think of any other question. Um go see I already said I had eaten scrambled eggs before I I left the house. Excellent. Perfect. Thank you for that wonderful example of the past perfect. So here are some of my examples. Okay. Um, when you knocked on the door, again, that happened in the past. I had already left for work. All right. When you knocked on the door, I had already left for work. Keep in mind, often times you're using the past perfect with these um adverb clauses of time. All right? Something happened because again, we're talking about two events in the past. All right? Something happened before the other. So, when I knocked on the door, all right, well, what happened before that? I had already left for work. So the event that happened before is the one in which you will use the past perfect. And again the past perfect tense we're talking about the helping verb uh or have. All right? And the past which is had plus the past participle. So had plus the past participle had left. Um, now again, if you're talking about some of the differences between past perfect and past simple, now if we change that to the past simple and I said, when you knocked on the door, I left for work. That makes me think, well, that those two things happened at about the same time. Right when you knocked on the door, I left for work. But in this case, that's not that's not what we want to explain. You want to say that this thing happened before. I had already left for work. I could say she felt great yesterday. That is my point in the past because she had slept well the night before. Again, she felt great yesterday. What happened before that? That's my past perfect. She had slept well the night before. And then this last one. All right. I just look ridiculous. I thought I'd share that with you. When this picture was taken. All right. Uh that at that point in the past, I had not fixed my hair. I hadn't fixed my hair. You can use that contraction. Had not hadn't. I hadn't fixed my hair. Okay. Um, let's see what else. Um, do you have any others? I asked you guys about eating uh before you left the house. Anything? Uh, tomorrow I had already eaten a fried egg before my mom came home. All right, perfect. Again, you're talking about those two points in the past. And remember, the one that happened the earliest, the one that came before, that is the past perfect. That's the one that you want to use the past perfect with. Let's look at the next verb tense, which is the past perfect progressive. Okay, now we're now we're really getting into it. So remember, two events in the past, but the one continued to that other event. All right? Uh, so I could ask you a question. Had you been waiting long before this lesson started? Okay. So again, give me an answer in the past perfect using the past perfect progressive. I had been waiting for what what amount of time before the lesson started. So again, you you often find the past progressive with these other um dependent clauses. When you talk about well when, before, after, while there's usually a dependent clause which is going to tell you the that one point in the past and then you will refer to the next thing. So for example, when you interrupted our conversation, that is something that happened in the past. Interrupted. When you interrupted our conversation, again, that's the dependent clause. what had h what was happening before it and continued. I he had been talking nonstop. All right, that's just an example. Hopefully, maybe you can put a picture in your mind too thinking about some situation. You know, when you interrupted our conversation, he had been talking nonstop. Okay, he started in the past and continued up until the point when you interrupted the conversation. Past perfect progressive. When I started this lesson, people had been talking in the chat for several minutes. All right. When I when I started this lesson, that's my point. In the past, people had been talking in the chat for several minutes. They started several minutes beforehand and continued to the point that I started the lesson. So again, it's easy. Try to think about it like a timeline. Again, past, perfect, progressive. two points in the past, one continues up until the other one. Um, all right. Uh, Kareem said, "I had been waiting for a while when this lesson started." Okay. Sorry to keep you waiting, Karen. Um, Ka said, "I had been waiting for 10 minutes before the lesson started." Excellent. Excellent use of the past perfect progressive had been. Main verb ing. Now, let's look at the future perfect. Okay, the these are these are tenses that are are not as common. Um, but the future perfect refers to two actions in the future and shows that one happened before the other. So the the idea is the same as the past perfect except we're taking the two events and we're moving them to the future. So for example, um my question to you and I want you to answer using the future perfect. What will you have accomplished before this weekend is over? Right now, I think for most of you, it's Saturday. It's still Saturday, but before the weekend is over. All right, on Sunday, what will you have accomplished? Okay, so that is my point in the future is before the weekend's over. Now, I'm asking you about an action before that. What will you have accomplished before the weekend is over? That's my question. Write your answer in the chat or the comments using the future perfect. So, here are some other examples. Um, I started out with a question right here. Will you have eaten when we meet? Will you have eaten when we meet later this evening? So, perhaps we're we're having a conversation. I am going to meet you later tonight. And maybe I want to know, hey, should we go get dinner? So, I might ask you, hey, you know, will you have eaten when we meet later this evening? later this evening is the point in time in the future. And will you have eaten? That would have happened before. Uh will will you have I'm sorry, can't even speak anymore. Will you have eaten when we meet later this evening? So, um again, future perfect uh we have that we're using the future will. All right? plus that have because we're talking about the um perfect tense will have plus the past participle. If you're wondering about how this is construction, will have plus the past participle. Will have eaten, will have gone, will have danced, will have played. And my other example, by the time you go to bed tomorrow, tomorrow night, by the time you go to bed, I will have changed several diapers. Many of you know we have a little baby girl, so this is a true story. I will have changed several diapers. And that is just a goofy picture of me holding up some diapers. And those are not the diapers that we use. We we don't use those diapers, of course. That's just an illustration. Um so again, I asked you guys the question, um what will you have accomplished before the weekend is over? Um so yeah mono check check one saying I will you would say I will have read the book before my vacation um before my vacation ends. All right I will have read a book before my vacation ends. That's what uh that's the the the correct construction you want. So, Lai, I will uh I will have I will have done remember the past participle. I will have done my homework before Tuesday. Before Tuesday arrives, I will have done my homework. All right. Um I Mrs. Reluctant. I will not have accomplished much. Okay, I like I appreciate your cander. That is a great example sentence. Thank you for sharing with us. I will not have accomplished much. It's a direct answer to that question. Let's look at the the next one, the future perfect progressive. It refers to an action that will start in the future and continue to another point in the future. Again, we're talking about those two actions in the future, but one's going to continue to the other one. It has that relationship, that connection with the future action. And once again, this is definitely more advanced grammar, the future perfect progressive uh because we again we use them a lot with those those um those dependent clauses before, after, when, while, by the time like my question, by the end of the month, how long will you have been living in your place? I I want you to practice using this tense. Now, it doesn't have to be exactly the end of the month. You can talk about the end of the year, the end of the month, like I will have been living here for how long. Okay? I just want you to practice. So again, I'm talking about how long will you have been living in your place? If you live in an apartment, if you live in a home, you know, by the end of some time. All right? How long will you have been living there? All right? Try to give me a sentence in the chat in the comments using the future perfect progressive and answering that question. By the end of some time, I will have been living here for what whatever amount. All right, that would be the correct construction of that sentence. Here are some more examples. All right. that should I'm sorry, that's a typo. Once it should say once it gets to 4:30. All right. I It's almost 4:30 for me right now. Right now, it's 4:19, but once it gets to 4:30 p.m., I will have been working for 6 and a half hours. All right, 4 4:30 is in the future. We're not there yet. But the other point, I will have been working. Okay, because I'm working now. I'm going to continue working. Uh if it gets to that point and I'm still working, I would I will have been working for six and a half hours. Saturdays are kind of a busy day for me. I know many of for many of you it's the weekend for me. It's a bit of a busy day. And then the last one by 2067. All right, that is that point way in the future. All right, we will have been teaching on YouTube for 50 years. That will be our golden anniversary 2067. We will have been teaching on YouTube for 50 years. And I hope all of you will still be studying with us in 2067. Don't know if I'll make it there because in 2067 I will be 89 years old. All right. Um that's that's a that's a long ways uh from now. So let me see. Do you guys have any examples um about where you will? Diama says, "Um, by the end of the month, I will have been living where I am now for my whole life." All right. I will have been living here for my entire life. Okay. Excellent. Um, Saddam, Saddam, uh, by the end of this month, I will have been living here for two months. Excellent. Great use of the future perfect progressive. Uh, Rohan, by the end of the year, I I'll have been living here for 16 years. Excellent. Uh, Ramasa, by the end of this month, I will have been playing games for one for one hour. Okay. Uh, say, um, where is it? Where'd it go? Um, I will have been living in my place for three years by the end of this month. Excellent. Great use of the future perfect. So, whoa. That that we we covered a lot today. Those are all 12 verb tenses. I hope that the lesson was easy to follow, easy to understand. I hope you got some good practice in because that's what we want. I want you guys to interact with our lessons and practice and practice and practice especially because next week we are going to do a live lesson which is going to be a quiz. And guess what that quiz will be about? Yes, it will be about the 12 verb tenses. So now that you have learned the verb tenses, next week I am going to do a quiz live lesson using these different verb tenses. So, I hope that you will join me for that. Thank you guys so much for watching uh this lesson. I hope that you learned something new. Please, if you haven't, usually I ask you guys already, hit that like button if you enjoy learning with us and and enjoy what we do here at Interactive English. Show us some love. Hit that like button. Write to us in the comments. We love hearing from you guys. And uh again, you can check us out on social media. We are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It is another way to connect with all of us. Thank you guys so much. Thank you uh Romesa uh Oda Bet Angela Diamansan Rasa Lai Christina Saz Camila. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend. Have a wonderful day and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 402. LEARN ANIMAL VOCABULARY AT THE ZOO ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ™‰๐Ÿฎ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MEm9O65a4Qw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEm9O65a4Qw) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:51:38 | --- Today's lesson is all about animals. Yea, that's a dog. I don't know why I showed that to you, but... he was pretty cute. We're not just going to tell you about the animals, we are going to try to show them to you. And what better place to teach you about animals than going to the zoo? These guys are emus and they're quite big. Ostrich Otter Wes: Are they a couple, you think? Are they making out? Ioana: Possibly. I was just attacked by a butterfly. That is an alligator. Iguana This is an Argentine horn frog, that looks a little like a pile of poop. This is a marmoset. It's really cute. So cute, they're so cute! This kind of snake is called an anaconda. They're huge. This little guy is a clown fish. This guy who looks a little angry is an eel. Stingray Wes in the background: It thinks you have something for him These are bats. These are called children. They can be very dangerous. This guy right there is a swan. He's a black swan. This guy is a kangaroo. Look at him! Wallaby He's a peacock. Polar bears Seals Goats Penguins These guys are lemurs Lions This guy right here is a hyena. This is a gorilla. This is a giraffe. These guys are meerkats. Rhinoceros These are flamingos. They are pink and noisy, apparently. Where else can you go to find animals? The zoo cafe! He's a gecko. That's what I wanted! He has the cat, you have the gecko. This is a little turtle, a little baby turtle. He doesn't move much. Guinea pig Animals everywhere This is a parrot. I'm visibly stressed. This guy does not want to be quiet. It's a bunny. Ioana in the background: Look at the ears! Why are they so lopsided? Tea, cappuccino, lizard. Only at the Zoo Cafe I hope you enjoyed the video about the animals at the zoo. If you like the video, please give us a thumbs up. Also remember to subscribe to our channel for more videos to practice and improve your English. And finally, in the comments below, we want you to tell us about your favorite animal or you can tell us about an animal that is common where you live. We just want to hear from you. Thank you and we'll see you next time. Bye! --- ## 403. LEARN SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT | Advanced Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gpPYs_iGn00` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpPYs_iGn00) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:43:03 | --- so today I am going to talk to you about a very useful way that you can improve your grammar skills that's coming up [Music] welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place that you want to be if you are looking to practice and improve your English skills and today I'm gonna talk to you about ways that you can improve your grammar and this is relevant if you are a beginner learner of English and it is relevant if you are advanced in your English skills this is very useful and what I want to talk to you about is this we're going to discuss subject and verb agreement now the reason this is useful for everyone is because well we use this all the time if we are speaking and we are writing you have a you have a verb and they must agree with each other it is very very very important now Before we jump into this lesson I'd like to hear from all of you guys I'd like you to write your name in the chat in the comments tell me where you're from I just love hearing from all of you welcome to sell a mono lot.you lisa farhat Valentina excellent glad to have you guys with me today and let's just get right into it we're talking about subject and verb agreement so we're gonna start out a little simple and then we're gonna get a little more difficult because this is not this is not just a simple subject okay this is something that that's can be very easy it can also be very difficult and I'm gonna scatter some tips in there and then at the end we are going to practice what we've learned today so I hope you guys are ready so let's just start out with basic subject verb agreement now subject-verb agreement if we have one subject or one pronoun then we are talking about a using a singular verb so for example when you think of one subject when you think of one pronoun think of he/she/it and if the verb is go he goes she goes it goes goes would be our singular verb all right now if we're talking about a subject that is two or more nouns or pronouns then we're gonna use a plural verb and when I think of two or more subjects think of like we or they we go they go so go in the present simple that would be our plural verb now I know what you're thinking like oh okay I know this this is easy I promise you it is gonna get a little trickier because again when it comes to subjects and verbs it can get a little confusing sometimes so let's talk about I'm gonna go show you some of the different ways in which we use subject and verb agreement and then like I said we are going to practice so let's start by looking at this right here which is connected nouns or pronouns now for subjects of two or more nouns and pronouns connected by and you need to use the plural verb and this is simple this is because you have one subject and another subject that's two or more so for example I have some example sentences here for you guys Wes and Jana are awesome English teachers yes Wes is a subject and you wanna another subject so we're going to use the plural form are Wes and you want to are awesome English teachers we are also very modest too so the next sentence dogs and cats are great pets we have different subjects connected by and we use the plural form easy enough let's continue now for subjects of two or more singular nouns or pronouns connected by or or nor use the singular verb okay so here is another example sentence for you guys Wes or you wanna teaches the live lesson so each week Wes aurilla wanna teaches the live lesson not both of us we're talking about Wes a singular subject you wanna or you wanna a singular subject so we're going to use a singular verb or and it's the same with noir now the one thing I want to tell you about or and nor is that to me it sometimes is a little awkward when you have this is the subject like Wes or you wanna many times it's used with an indefinite pronoun either or neither okay so you would say like either Wes or you wanna neither Wes nor you wanna we are going to talk about those indefinite pronouns a little later but I think that's a little more common if you are writing or if you are speaking English but keep this in mind okay if you have a singular noun or pronoun and we're using or or nor it's going to be a singular verb okay let's look at compound subjects so a compound subject is talking about you know you have different subjects one of the subjects might be singular one of the subjects might be plural so when both a singular and plural noun or pronoun are joined by or or nor the verb should agree with the subject that is near to the verb I'm gonna say that again because this is when it can get tricky and more advanced and more difficult the verb should agree with the subject that is nearer the verb so here are two sentences that I've given you and all I've done is I've switched the subjects the single subject and the plural subject and it makes it a compound subject so I could say and both of them are grammatically correct Wes nor the students play video games okay Wes nor the students okay that's my compound subject Wes is singular the students is a plural subject the students is closer to the verb so I'm going to say the students play nor the students play we're going to use in that case a plural verb now we can switch that around like this sentence right here and say the students nor Wes plays video games the students nor Wes plays video games in this sentence Wes me I'm closer to the verb so it's going to be we're going to use a singular verb Wes plays okay the students Norwest plays and this is true even if you add those indefinite pronouns before it's still the same neither Wes nor the students play video games neither the students nor Wes okay neither Wes nor the students play video games I think I may have misspoken or neither the students nor Wes plays video games okay it doesn't matter you're going the verb should agree with the subject that is nearer with the subject that is closest now let me this is where it can get confusing but I want to also clear things up a little bit because I think it's useful if you are writing or even if you're speaking and you're using or or nor and you have a compound subject I think it's easier to just put the plural subject at the end put the plural subject second make that one closest to the verb and I think it just sounds more natural and you're gonna just you you will eliminate some awkwardness with whenever if you are writing or even if you're speaking if you just go ahead and put the plural subject closest to the verb because when we're talking about compound you're using or nor your listing different subjects and I think the mind when you have multiple subjects it automatically wants to gravitate towards a plural verb so I think just to eliminate awkwardness go ahead and put the plural nearest to the verb I think that is perfectly fine okay now let's continue talking about compound subjects this can also be tricky okay when it describes a single person or thing use a singular verb so sometimes when we're talking about common compound subjects we're still talking about one thing or one person and in this case you want to use the singular verb here's a perfect these are two perfect examples so spaghetti and meatballs when you think of spaghetti and meatballs you know most people don't think of them as separate things you think of it as one meal one dish spaghetti and meatballs is my favorite meal okay spaghetti and meatballs that's our compound subject now here's another one and this one I'm talking about one person all right my beautiful wife and my best friend this is Johanna my beautiful wife and my bet my beautiful wife and best friend loves to travel so this here I know this can be a little challenging because maybe you don't know the context but I'm telling you I'm talking about the same person and if I'm talking about the same person then we are going to use the singular verb my beautiful wife and best friend loves to travel now if your beautiful wife and best friend are two different people then that changes that changes the verb then you would use a plural verb but in this case I'm talking about you Anna my beautiful wife and best friend okay so let's let's let's quickly look at a tip alright a subject and verb tip that I think is is useful and very relevant to you guys and that tip is keep subject verb agreement in mind when you are speaking so when I say this I don't mean that when you're having a conversation you're probably not going to stop and think okay well here's my subject here's my verb am I saying it correctly all right what I say keep it in mind is that these are the times when people make simple mistakes with subject verb agreement even advanced learners I will hear them say something just in conversation and they'd be like oh he go or she do and I know what they're trying to say it doesn't impede my understanding of what they want to say but I still understand that is like okay that's a small mistake so you need to keep that in mind because this is when people again when speaking and they're going fast and you don't have time to stop and reflect on the grammar that you're using they make some common simple mistakes and the best way to eliminate those mistakes is again just to practice practice and practice and expose yourself to the language and the more you expose yourself to the language and you hear or you read the grammar being used correctly then you will start using that grammar correctly then when you are producing the language in speaking and writing all right so again if you're just joining us we are talking about subject verb agreement and I'm going over some of the different ways in which we use subject verb agreement so let's continue next I want to talk about this right here which is information that is between the subject and the verb so you could have a phrase or clause most likely an adjective phrase or clause between the subject and verb but that does not change the number of the subject it doesn't matter alright the subject and verb must agree doesn't matter what comes in between them so Wes who loves to eat cookies alright that that's true needs to cut back on the sweets okay so here is information between the subject Wes and the verb needs but it doesn't change the number it's still a singular subject so we're going to use the singular verb needs now let's look at what I was mentioned what I mentioned before which is singular indefinite pronouns and again this is when it can get a little trickier and this is where we just need more practice and practice and practice because these singular indefinite pronouns right here will take singular verbs each either neither no 1 anybody anyone something someone everyone everyone everything there are more of these I just didn't include all of them because I didn't want to clutter up the screen but singular indefinite pronouns they take on a singular verb so here's my example sentence we hope that everyone hits the thumbs up button all right if you know subject and verb agreement so even right now if you are watching this I want you to hit that like button hit that thumbs up button if you understand subject verb agreement and and this is easy to follow because I hope this is easy for you to follow and understand and that's going to help you in the future because like I said subject verb agreement is a lot it's not just a small simple subject there's a lot of information and it's always good to practice and practice and practice so please hit that like button so I know that mmm ok you guys are following what I'm saying you understand the information so singular indefinite pronouns they take that singular verb now if we're talking about plural indefinite pronouns then they take a plural verb and here are some of those some of the most common ones right here so several few both many if you just use these words as your pronoun they are going to take a plural verb perfect example sentence which is something you might hear and movies or on TV many have tried and few have succeeded now all I have right there is the pronoun many I don't know I you can assume it's talking about people but you don't have to say that many people have tried and few people have succeeded so when we use those plural pronouns many few we're going to use the plural verb have okay many have few have and I just love that picture down there I don't know why I just thought it was very funny okay so now let's talk about some indefinite pronouns that can be either plural or singular and again this is where it gets a little more advanced because the some of these pronouns like these five right here depending on how they're used they may be singular or they may be plural so we have five of them some any none all most often when you see these it's going to be followed by of some of hmm none of em most of em hmm and then that's going to help us determine whether we're going to use a singular verb or a plural verb because if what follows all right if it's uncountable then we are going to use a singular verb if it's followed by a countable noun then we're gonna use a plural verb so here are some examples for you and I just said some of the water is on the table okay some of the water water is uncountable so I use the singular verb is some of the plates are on the table plates are countable so we're gonna use the plural for verb are alright so this is another time where it gets a little tricky and you just have to be aware that okay is the noun uncountable or is it countable so let's look at tip number two the next tip I want to tell you is if you're looking at this if you're watching this saying well what is the best way to improve subject-verb agreement then I would tell you this right here read read and read some more reading is so so so so so important when it comes to improving your grammar skills because you are actually seeing the correct grammar you are seeing it used correctly all right and that is so important so I would always encourage you that if you are looking to improve your grammar skills especially subject verb agreement read because even like they say I'll tell you something in marketing they say that people need to see something over 10 times before it starts influencing the way they think and I think that's the same with language if you study a grammar concept or you study subject verb once you might think oh I understand this but that doesn't mean that you're going to remember it so if you read if you expose yourself to the language and you see how the grammar is used correctly if you're talking about these indefinite pronouns if you're taught if you're talking about the singular pronouns the plural pronouns it's the information is going to start seeping in your brain and then the next time you are having a conversation or the next time you are writing an email you'll just start using it correctly so read read and read some more now let's continue and talk about some other ways that we can use subject verb agreement and then we're gonna practice all right so let's talk about this right here which are inverted subjects so if we're talking about inverted subjects we're starting the sentence with there or sometimes if we're using a question you might say how many or how much and the reason I say it's inverted is because in the in this case the verb comes before the subject alright but the verb must still the the the subject must agree with the verb so let's look at and I just love that picture so I could say there is a kitten at the door all right and we're using there when we use there it's just basically saying something exists so there is a kitten at the door kitten is singular it's a singular subject so we're unit we're going to use the singular verb is is a kitten now if there's more than one I could say there are cats at the door cats plural so we use the plural verb are okay so in this case nothing changes you just need to be aware that the singular verb singular subjects go with singular nouns plural subjects go with plural nouns let's look at collective nouns so these are nouns that imply more than one person but it takes a sit takes a singular verb and these aren't all of them these are just some there are there are more collective nouns but if I'm talking about the noun group okay just the meaning of the word group you think of there it's talking about more than one however group is a collective noun that takes on a singular verb group jury crowd team okay if we can still make these collective nouns plural by adding an S and so if we said groups then we'd have a plural verb okay but just that collective noun group it's going to take on the singular verb and I gave that example sentence the team plays in the world cup so I'm talking about team that is a collective noun even though the team it consists of maybe many different people but in this case we're going to use the singular verb the team plays in the world cup and I imagine some of you right now are out there watching the world cup and cheering for your team and I don't even want to talk about the US and there old cup very disappointed not in it obviously but let's move on so the next one I want to talk to you about is when we are using number of okay so if we say you know with the number of we're going to use a singular verb and here's my example sentence the number of people has greatly decrease so remember keep in mind the number of singular verb has that is different if I say this with a number of use the plural verb a number of people have smartphones so this is a great example of what you know the number of people has greatly decreased singular verb a number of people have smartphones that's the plural verb so this is just something again a rule to remember when you're trying to use subject and verb agreement okay so again I told you these are just some of the ways in which we use subject verb agreement there there are other ways in which we do this so right now I want to practice all right we're gonna put your skills to the test and I want to practice what we've learned okay so here is my first question and I want you to write the answer in the chat or write the answer in the comments even if you're watching this lesson later on I want you to use the comment section as like your piece of paper write the answers all of them and then you can hit comment at the end so that way I know that you were participating that you were interacting with the lesson so here's the first question right here everybody hmm to answer this question okay I gave you the verb to need I gave you the infinitive form of the verb and I want you to write are we going to use the singular verb or the plural verb everybody mmm to answer this question what do you guys think all right I see a lot of great answers in there so yes you would say we would say oh all right a slight answer I had chosen the wrong one let me change this real quick so again if we're talking about this one here we go everyone everybody needs to answer this question all right I had the wrong slide up there before so this is the singular this is a singular indefinite pronoun everybody so it takes on the singular verb needs everybody needs to answer this question next all right there hmm a group of people in the elevator there hmm a group of people in the elevator all right so this is this is you know we're talking about an inverted subjects so what do you think again all right there mmm a group of people in the elevator all right I'm trying I'm starting a little easier and then it's gonna get a little little more difficult okay a little more difficult so all right there mmm a group of people in the elevator I think most of you got this again it's an inverted subject but we're also talking about that collective noun inverted subject with a singular collective noun group there is a group of people in the elevator and again we can take you could take people out of there you don't even you might not even need it there is a group in the elevator all right there is a group of people in the elevator group is a singular is a singular collective noun so we're going to use is the next question I have for you is this one peanut butter and jelly mmm the best peanut butter and jelly the best now this is I'm gonna give you a hint I want you to use that picture you know keep that picture in mind when you are answering this question okay this is kind of a cultural question as well because this right here is a very American thing so how would you say that peanut butter and jelly mmm the best keep that picture in mind when you are answering this question all right so I think this one could be a little confusing I wanted to give you that hint all right about keep that picture in mind because the reason I told you that is because I'm trying to talk about a compound subject that a compound subject peanut-butter-and-jelly that's describing a singular thing all right in America it's a very American thing we talk about peanut butter and jelly sometimes people will shorten it and say PB&J all right you'd say PB&J is the best all right it is a singular thing like spaghetti and meatballs many of you may not know that because again this is a very American thing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is what it's talking about a sandwich peanut butter and jelly is the best because usually we don't just eat peanut butter and jelly separate its together it's on a sandwich alright next question okay is this one right here the number of changes to the law mmm staggering the number of changes to the law mmm staggering okay what do you guys think the number of changes to the law mmm staggering we just talked about that at the end remember that rule we said the number of vs. a number of so hopefully you told me if you said remember the number of goes with a singular verb the number of changes to the law is staggering the number of Changez is staggering okay so again this is excellent excellent practice for you guys and that is the best way when you are practicing and learning subject verb agreement as well as any other grammar application and I think these lessons are very useful because they're they're a bit longer and we can go into a little more detail when we're talking about certain subjects like this subject verb agreement now I have a question for all of you and that is what do you think is most difficult when it comes to English grammar I want you guys to write that in the comments okay write to us in the comments we want to hear from you what do you think is most difficult when it comes to English grammar because maybe we'll make a lesson about it in the future all right so I hope you guys enjoyed this lesson I hope that you found it useful if you did please hit that like button please share this video with others that are learning and want to practice and improve their English skills and again if there are other questions that you have please write those in the comments and as always be sure to join our social media classes so thank you so much you Lissa Amano Rosa Helena Bassam it's great to have you guys I'm happy you joined us Giselle thank you thank you thank you Robson for joining us I hope that you found this lesson useful and as always we will be back next Saturday for another awesome live lesson hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time bye --- ## 404. LEARN THE FUTURE TENSE | Will + (Be) Going To | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VF9Gd8tPJeU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF9Gd8tPJeU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:46:56 | --- all right hello hello hello what's up hope you're having a good Saturday a good weekend and if you're watching this some other time just hope you're having a good day so today we have a super special lesson for you I know I say that every time but this time I really mean it because we are going to talk to you about the future so this is it's a good time for this lesson because we just started a new year and I think many of us are thinking about the future the things that we want to do the things that we're planning so it's very relevant for this time of year and if you are joining us please in the chat say hello let me know where you're joining us from one hello good to have you here Isabella Shahan Jace hello denisa from Romania excellent we have people from all over the world good to have you guys here again today we're going to talk about right here the future and I know what you might be thinking maybe you're thinking well the future I know how to talk about the future we'll be going to I guarantee you stick around we are going to talk about some things that you probably haven't learned and things that even if you have learned them maybe you're not using them as often as you should because you just need more practice with it so as we go through each of these parts each part of this lesson I am gonna have you guys practice I'm going to ask you to write sentences and talk about the future tell me about your future who else Katya Mohammed great to have you guys long hello hello if I miss some of your comments I apologize but I'm going to try and and acknowledge these as we go through so again you're just joining us we are going to talk about the future so let's begin so first I want to look at this right here which is grammar the grammar and I know you're thinking gosh oh no more grammar I'm not going to get into the nitty bitty details of the grammar I'm mostly going to talk to you about these different tenses and when we use them so if we're talking about the future forms right here you can see them right along this side there are four different forms the simple future tense the future continuous the future perfect the future perfect continuous those are the four four forms that I'm going to go through each one and kind of tell you when to use them and we'll practice using them but we can also use this is very important because we use these all the time right down here we can use the simple present and the present continuous to talk about the future and we use those all the time so let's start talking about it so hello mohit pun hunka Pankaj George excellent Nordine great to have you guys here hope you're having a wonderful day and if you're just joining us again say what's up in the chat and even if you're watching this later on just write your name tell me where you're from we like hearing from you guys so first let's let's start out with something a bit easy which I think you guys are very familiar with and that is the simple future form using will alright so when we're using will you're just going to use the subject will plus the base verb alright and we use this all the time - for example we use this like the first one to make predictions okay like maybe we'll say I think it'll rain tomorrow and usually that prediction is about you know maybe 50% alright we're not completely sure we're talking about you know a prediction what we think will happen I think it'll rain tomorrow we so use this and this is important right here right this one a spontaneous decision now I know that many times will ask questions and your choices will or be going to when it's a spontaneous decision you just want to use will will will will will so for example I gave you that example there's a knock on the door and you would say I'll get it alright I will get it because when you're using going to we'll talk about in the set that in just a moment it's more of a plan something you have decided to do alright nobody knows that that somebody's going to knock on the door or maybe they don't know that the phone is going to ring it's a spontaneous decision so we are going to use will I'll get it in the chat in the comments I have a question for you using will I want you to tell me um what will what will you do tomorrow all right let's practice using these already so give me give me a sentence a full sentence all right what will you do tomorrow all right what will you do tomorrow let let everybody know let each other know what what's going on in our lives what will you do tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow is Sunday I'll be teaching well I'll teach a class tomorrow all right I'm going I will teach a class tomorrow on Sunday yes so let us know what will you do tomorrow let us know in the chat also if you're watching this later use the comments use it as a whiteboard if participate you know answer these questions and just write your answers in the comments what will you do tomorrow it's also used will is used right here to express want or willingness willingness to do something so somebody might tell you yeah I will help you with the project all right willingness to do this I'll help you with the project I'll help you with your homework I'll help you do something so got some good comments Oh Patricia tomorrow I'll go to the beach excellent I'll clean my home thanks for sharing yes that's something we need to do as well we need to clean our home I'll go to the park to make to go jogging I'll go to the park to go jogging I'll I will go shopping tomorrow all right excellent I will go to study English education perfect all right so I think everybody kind of Congrats will you you use the subject he she it we they will plus the base verb you know I will do something the last one that I want to talk to you about it's commonly used to refuse something and this is when we use it with the negative will not all right he will not eat his vegetables and when we contract that and shrink it down will not be comes won't all right and if you want to use will not or won't it's the same it's interchangeable it's up to you usually when speaking a lot of people will just use contractions because it just makes things simpler he won't eat his vegetables and I put that sentence in there for me because that describes me that yeah I don't eat as many vegetables as I should but that is one of my new year's resolutions I'm hoping that I will eat more vegetables this year all right so those are the times that we use will making prediction spontaneous decisions you're expressing some willingness and maybe to refuse something talk about something you will not do I won't do this I won't do that okay so now let's look at B going to write here okay so we use B going to also it's the same like will you can make predictions accept would be going to a slight difference and again this is just a very slight nuance might be something that is a like prediction something that is likely to happen I think it's going to rain tomorrow maybe around you know you're 75 percent confident in that you really think it's going to rain a likely prediction but for will and B going to you can use both of them to make predictions but we also use B going to to talk about plans all right what it what are you going to do remember that with B going to the only thing that is going to be conjugated is the verb to be so with our subject I am going to he she it is going to they are going to that's the only thing we're going to conjugate is the verb to be so now let's let's practice this one okay so I want you to tell me again talk about plans something that you're planning to do it's not a spontaneous decision I want you to tell me what are you going to do next week what are you going to do next week and I want you to write that in the comments all right so tell me what are you going to do next week talk about something that's a plan all right something that you know is going to happen and one thing I would say about will and B going to that I think most when most students when most learners they they study these I think most people have a tendency to just use will because it's easier it's easier to remember and I think people tend to over rely on will but it is good to switch it up we talk about the future all the time it's good to try and use both of them especially that's why I want to go over these so you know when it's more appropriate to use will and when it's more appropriate to use be going to so be going to again they're good it's good to talk about plans I am for example I'm going to the doctor's next week that is a plan you know it's going to happen you are talking about something you are to do so again if you're just joining us we're talking about the future and how to use and discuss the future and I'm asking you guys to practice with us so if you guys are just joining us hello and welcome and write your responses in the comments so I asked you tell me what are you going to do next week and I want you to use that and write a whole sentence I'm going to go trekking next week excellent thank you thank you I'm going to study more next week all right perfect all right I'm going to visit a friend in the countryside excellent I'm going to go to the dentist nice with the negative somebody asked about the negative you would just use with not I am NOT going to and the negative I didn't put an example on there it would go in between the verb to be and going to I'm not going to do this I'm not going to the doctors next week would be the negative form the last thing I want to tell you about going to is the pronunciation tip all right when it's followed by the base verb okay it can be reduced to gonna alright so for example look at that sentence I'm going to the doctors next week we cannot reduce that going to because it's not followed by a verb you can't say I'm gonna do the doctors no no no no no no it has to be followed by a base verb if we want to reduce this when we're speaking so you could say I'm going to go to the doctors all right and then reduce it I'm gonna go the doctors okay so that is a pronunciation tip we can reduce it with gonna and remember this is a this is a pet peeve of mine something that I'm always trying to tell people to do this is for speaking alright try not to write these reductions this is just for speaking and for your listening practice it's always good just use it for speaking if you can so excellent thank you guys for writing all those sentences now let's continue and talk about getting into a little more advanced grammar and because it's a little more advanced it's not as common so we use will and be going to all the time to talk about the future but we also use some of these other forms like this the future continuous and we use the future continuous to talk about an unfinished action at some point in the future and I tried to give you this it's right down here yes right down there that little arrow so it gives you maybe a little bit of a visual that you have now and then you have that future action marked with the X and those arrows kind of showing that it that it's continuous okay it's an unfinished action and typically you're talking about you know at some point again at some point in the future so for example that first sentence alright I'll be doing my homework later this evening I'll be doing my homework later this evening in all of these examples I'm giving you a time expression so and I'm giving you these time expressions so you know how it's connected so I'll be doing my homework later this evening usually in a conversation somebody might just ask you you know what are you doing later what are you doing later this evening and then you would just respond with the future continuous you don't have to say the time Express the time expression again you would just say I'll be doing my homework okay so my question to you and I want you guys to practice the future continuous and when I mean future continuous I didn't explain the grammar I'm talking about all right you're you're using will all right plus the verb to be all right plus the base verb and the ing I will be mmm all right he is all right I'll be doing homework so for example future continuous with will I will be what all right that the verb base verb plus the ing I will be doing I will be running I will be dancing I will be singing so in the chat I have a question for you what what are you doing later this evening what are you doing later this evening that is your point in time this evening okay what action is going to be is going to happen this evening at that time all right so write your answers in the chat again sometimes I'll be keeping learning again remember you just want the base verb in the ing I'll be learning English boom alright done I'll be meeting my teacher this evening perfect excellent thank you guys so again write to it write it in the chat share with us again it's always good to practice here is another example again I'm giving you the time expression this summer so that is our point in the future this summer will be relaxing on a beach in Thailand that is our continuous action as much as I wish that were true I can't say that we will be in a be on a beach in Thailand this summer I would like to be on a beach in Thailand this summer but just as an example I could say this summer will be relaxing on a beach in Thailand and that could be a response to a question you know what what are you doing this summer well this summer will be relaxing on a beach in Thailand again if we want to use a week the same be going to with the future continuous we're using the subject the verb to be going to he he is going to and then again we need that base verb to be be and then work and the ing he is going to be working his butt off before leaving for vacation so before leaving for vacation that is our point in the future all right he is going to be working his butt off so you knew you need be going to plus the verb to be alright our helping verb plus the base verb plus ing I am going to be working I'm going to be running I am going to be dancing I am going to be teaching tomorrow night I'm going to be teaching English tomorrow night alright so again this is the future continued tenuous talking about some point in the future all right excellent so in summer it will be raining in Thailand yeah all right yes all right maybe it probably maybe it will be raining in Thailand I will be applying for a new job next week excellent all right they'll be moving into a new house this year great great great sentences thank you guys writing this is good practice to be using this so this is when we use the future continuous now let's look at the future perfect okay I'm going to start out by telling you that these next two the future perfect and the future perfect continuous they're not super common we don't use these forms all the time I'm trying to think if I had to think of the last time I used the future perfect or the future perfect continuous it may it may have been last week or last month it's not something that we use often but it is good to learn because this will help us with your fluency as well as with listening if you are listening to music or TV it gives you a better understanding of the situation and what's happening so we use the future perfect to talk about a completed action in the future all right and it is important to note right here okay it is often used with a time expression because when we're talking about the perfect tense we're talking about a some point I like to say it has a relationship with another point and that other point could be in the future the past but it's these two different time periods two different points in time that some sort of relationship so this is often used with a time expression so let's look at that first example sentence by September alright she will have been with the company for six years we're talking about a duration of time here for six years so by September that's our our point in the future what will what will she have completed she will have been with the company for six years okay so you could say again talk about some point in the future what action will you have completed all right by this time I will have done this okay I will have all right plus the past participle I will have done I will have gone I will have run there's a lot of different options so let's practice this again in the chat or even if you're watching this later write your answer in the comments write to us let us know my question to you is by next by by the end of this month alright by the end of this month tell me something you will have done okay by the end of this month I will have what okay let me know write your answer so I'm giving you your point in the future by the end of this month alright now tell me about a future action that you will have completed between now and the end of this month by the end of this month I will have bought a car or something like that okay there's a lot of different examples something that you will have completed so tell me right right an example sentence in the comments and I will look through them so what will you have done by the end of this month and that other sentence for example by the time all right we will have finished eating by the time you arrive by the time is a adverb phrase of time and when we see by the time you should think perfect tense all right we're using the perfect tense so in the future by the time you arrive that's our point in the future okay well what will have been completed we will have finished eating by the time you arrive we will have finished eating that is our finished our completed action and then last one if if like the little book says exam at the end of the week okay so that is our point in time all right what will have been completed by then I will have finished the book by then all right so if somebody says all your exams at the end of the week well I will have finished the book by then I will have finished it's going to be completed so again I'm just trying to give you those time expressions to make it a little easier to follow when we're talking about the action that will be completed in the future so let's look and see some of your examples so lots of excellent by the end of this by the end of this lesson I will have learnt the future perfect continuous condition yes okay by the end of this month I will have finished my upper intermediate level perfect by the end of this month I will have finished enjoying my vacation okay good example sentence Mike I will have done all my exams by the end of this month excellent you guys you've got it so you're talking about that point in the future what will have been finished by that time so again this is this is great practice now let's look at the next part which is something that is probably even less commonly used which is the future perfect continuous I've talked to other you know English instructors and you have this debate about oh should we even teach the future perfect continuous because we never really use it I I do think it is worth teaching I don't think people have to spend a ton of time on it because again it's not common it's not common that we use this tents but just so you know what it is we use the future perfect tense is kind of like we are projecting ourselves into the future and then we're looking back at some unfinished action alright so hopefully maybe this little timeline down there will help you out so it's like you have your future action that big X we're projecting ourselves even further into the future all right and then we're kind of looking back at this unfinished action so for example that first example sentence when it gets to midnight maybe I'm thinking to myself like gosh when it gets to midnight I will have been waiting here for two hours so in this situation I'm waiting for somebody I'm waiting a long time and I'm thinking wow when it when it gets to midnight when it reaches midnight that's the point that I'm projecting myself towards to when it gets to midnight what's the unfinished action I will have been waiting here for two hours and we're talking about an action again it's continuous it started in the past it continued to this point in the future and when it gets to that projected point it will likely continue after that so I will have been waiting another good one and this is going to be our practice so by 2019 okay which is we're going to that point in the future 2019 all right I will have been studying English for five years so my question to you is by 2019 how long how long will you have been studying English alright how long will you have been studying English okay you are you started in the past you're studying now and when it gets to 2019 hopefully many of you or all of you will still be studying and practicing and improving your English skills so in the chat try you use this one see if you can practice using the future perfect continue by 2019 how long will will you have been studying English again very easy I will have been studying English for how long how many years how many months give us a time and even if you're watching this again like I said later on practice using practice writing these sentence in the comments treat it like a piece of paper like a whiteboard and just write those comments in there and practice these sentences it is good practice so again let me know how long you will have been studying English by 2019 I want to hear from you guys we've got some good excellent you guys have been writing some awesome example sentences so by 2018 I will have been studying English for three years perfect excellent by 2018 I will have been studying English for the rest of my life okay Hey practice makes perfect it's always good to keep practicing I think we are all lifelong learners by 2019 I will have been studying my English skills for one day more because I'll be done practicing all right well maybe by 2015 I will have been calling my wife maybe it's something you're always doing I will have been studying English for three months okay so again you're talking about that duration of time maybe three months to think about years because 2019 is twelve months from now you would have been studying longer than just three months because three months would have been that would be October of this come this year so it's always good it's a little more difficult to kind of grasp the future perfect continuous but it's good to practice so let's talk about something that is more common when we're using the future tense and that is the present simple I know that when most of you think about the present simple tense you're probably thinking about daily routines habits and yes that's something that we use the presence the simple present with those things that you do all the time we also use it to talk about scheduled events all right to talk about scheduled event there should be an S on the end of event there so we use the president the simple present to talk about scheduled events these are things that there is a schedule there is a time some sort of timeframe involved and we're talking about it and we're using the simple present so for example look at that first example her plane arrives next Monday something that's very common it is a scheduled event the plane is arriving well next Monday if you want to use the future tense will or be going to it's fine you know her plane will arrive next Monday that's okay her plane is going to arrive next Monday that's fine as well but we can also and I think it's common to use the simple present when we're talking about these scheduled events you know I'm trying to think why it sky I think it's just something that you know that we we we just at least for me that I kind of grew up with and developed you get in the habit of using this her plane arrives next Monday also again the movie starts at 8 p.m. okay the movie starts at 8 the party is tomorrow night we're talking about all these points in the future but it is some sort of scheduled events so we are going to use the simple present now in the chat what I want you to do or in the comments I want you to tell me about an event that will that that is going to happen next week and I want you to use the simple present all right again you're talking about an event okay it could be a class it could be maybe a train or a bus that you're getting on or a party that you're going to use the simple present right an example sentence and talk about an event that is scheduled for sometime next week next Monday next Tuesday next Wednesday next Thursday next Friday okay so in the chat try practice using the simple present and talk about some scheduled event for next week again this is very very common we use this all the time when we're talking about these events the last thing I want to say about this is when we're talking about a scheduled event it's usually in the near term we're talking about something in the near future either later that same day either the next day or the next week could be something in the same month but you're typically talking about something in the the near future when you're talking about this scheduled event you're not going to talk about something 10 20 30 years that's going to happen so it's commonly used when we're talking about that so next Monday school begins again so exactly yeah school begins next Monday perfect excellent example sentence so again thank you guys if you're joining us we're talking about the future and different ways that we can talk about the future so school begins next Monday thank you for sharing with us Katya excellent let's look at this last one that I want to show you about which we use quite regularly as well and that is the present continuous again we're talking about a continuous action and we're talking about we use the present continuous to talk about planned arrangements all right for a future time so this is something in the future and this is a planned arrangement one thing that's different about this I would say is that when you're talking about a planned arrangement it's usually someone's planned arrangement okay something that someone has planned so again this is different from the simple present because we're talking about an event alright we're not talking about something that some of the is going to do because that would be their plans we're talking about with the simple present an event that's going to take place a party a trip or something like that with the planned arrangements with the present continuous it's more of you know something that somebody's doing so for example he is leaving work early tomorrow that is something that he has planned alright he's leaving work early tomorrow if we use the simple present in that he leaves work early that would make you think it's something he does every day if we use the present continuous alright he's leaving work early even if we don't even if we take out tomorrow and say yeah he's leaving work early it makes you think that okay it's something that hey that's going to happen but it's not something that's regular it's not something that happens all the time so he's leaving work early tomorrow the same with that other one I've given you that time expression to help you maybe make a little more sense if we're talking about a business trip that is coming up you can say yeah we're staying at a hotel alright we're staying in a hotel during next week's business trip all right usually in a conversation you already know the time that we're talking about you're talking about a business trip in the future a business trips next week and somebody might ask like oh well were you staying we're staying at a hotel you're talking about the trip that'll happen next week but you're going to use the present continuous we're staying at a hotel next we're staying in a hotel during next week's business trip and again sticking with next week maybe you're talking about your friend's wedding or something you say next week they're getting married on a beach in Thailand all right it's winter you know where my mind is right now it is on a beach in Thailand that would be nice but if somebody's asking about your friend's wedding they say Oh where's the wedding say oh they're getting married on a beach they're getting married on a beach they're getting married on a beach in Thailand again you're using the present continuous to talk about this Planned arrangement in the future okay this planned arrangement in the future some more acceptance more example sentences from you guys excellent we're leaving town we're leaving town this next year yeah that's great that's a good example sentence we're leaving town this next year you are leaving alright you are heading out of town so this is great this is great practice I appreciate all your comments let's do you know if you've joined us a little late do a quick little review of what we talked about today we talked about we started easy to talk about the when to use will alright which is to make future make predictions spontaneous decision that is the key one right there that is definitely different than be going to when you're talking about spontaneous decision use will will will will will we also use it to express want or willingness or maybe to refuse something something that we are not going to do or will not do we won't do this for B going to we use it to make we can also use it to make predictions that are more likely going to happen but we're also use it to talk about plans again to something that you plan to do in the future alright I gave you that example sentence next week I'm going to the doctor's okay future continuous we're talking about an unfinished action at some point in the future okay you're talking about some point in the future I asked you guys what you will be doing later this evening and you gave me some excellent responses the future perfect is used to talk about a completed action in the future okay so if we said again for example by the time when we see by the time we think perfect tense all right we will have we will have finished eating by the time you arrived when you get there what what action is completed you finished eating the future perfect continuous again I said this is not very common we don't use this as much because we're using it to project ourselves into the future and then look back at some unfinished action and I asked you guys by 2019 how long will you have been studying English and you could have sinned you could have said I will have been studying English for five years ten years two years three years however long and that is often used with a time expression we use the future oftentimes to talk about scheduled events things that are scheduled events in the near term we could use the simple present to talk about these future events and for the present continuous we would use that to talk about planned arrangements that somebody might have all right so I said you know he's leaving he's leaving work early tomorrow we're staying at a hotel we're using the present continuous to talk about those future arrangements I know this was a lot to go over today I'm so happy you guys were we're joining were able to join me today and participate and like I said hopefully even if you're watching this later I hope you were writing some of those sentences it's always good to to get practice and make it a more active lesson so please if you enjoyed this lesson hit that like button share it with your friends your classmates family members anybody you know who is trying to improve their English skills and as always if you have other questions or comments that I wasn't able to get to just write them write them in the comment section once the video is published and I'll try and get back to you and finally check out our social media classes do to do to do to do to do right down there Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat and right here on YouTube we're always putting up lessons to help you guys practice and improve your English skills so Katia denisa Dennis Edmund Adam thank you guys thank you thank you thank you Adrian great to have you here thanks so much for joining us Patricia long there's just so many of you in here right now it's excellent I'm so happy to see this class getting larger and larger and larger each week so I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend a great day and we will see you guys next time so long --- ## 405. LISTENING & SPEAKING ACTIVITY | Speak English on Your Own | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nGKyapPYKg8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGKyapPYKg8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:34:46 | --- Alright today, we have a super fun activity for you. It is a listening and speaking activity. That's coming up. So today's lesson, which is more of an activity, is going to help you guys practice your listening and speaking skills. So what I have for you is I have two different stories And what we'll do is I'm going to read one of the stories I will read it two times You will need to listen to the story and try to remember as many details as you can. After I read it twice, then I want you to pause the video and try to say it back and practice your speaking skills and see what you remember. In order to help you remember, I'm going to put some clues up on the screen that you can use to try to remember those details and say them out loud when you repeat it. so I'm going to say the story twice and a helpful hint is As you're listening to these stories, try to put pictures in your mind Try to to imagine what it is that you are hearing because that's just going to help you remember. So Ioana is here. She is going to do the activity with you and listen to the stories as well and then try to remember the details So after you guys practice your speaking skills, and try to remember, You can see if it's the same as Ioana and if she remembers everything about my beautiful stories. I'm nervous. Are you ready? I'm nervous because my listening skills are not the best. I'm more of a visual learner. And these stories are... Well the first one's okay, the first one's normal... The other one's maybe a little weird. Ok, I'm excited kind of. The first story is a little... it's a little longer, but I think it's It's okay. There's not as many... there's not too many details in it. Okay, so This is just the story again not about any person, but alright ready. Mm-hm. I All right, you got that Again, all right, you guys got all that ready? Here we go. I Okay, alright So I feel like this this could be a little easy for you because I feel like you can make some connections to some of the stuff that was being mentioned All right. so now what I want you guys to do is to pause the video and use these clues that you see up on the screen to Remember the story and try to repeat it And say as much as you can. Alright? Now that you have said the story and used those details, let's see how much Ioana remembers from this story. So... I feel like I forgot the middle All right the details, okay. Are you ready? Mm-hmm? So your story is about the summer time you're saying that you love the summer time And your favorite activity in the summer time is running along the beach And after that in the after that you come have a breakfast of toast and fruit and eggs whilst you read the newspaper Which is you like reading about politics Now the errands that you do ... that's the tricky part. The errands I thought were going to the Library and the farmers market, I think And something about going by the Golden Gate Park I'm very bad at this and at the end oh and then at the end you were talking about how you have a lot of free time in the summer because You are a teacher where you teach children, I mean you'll come back to your teaching job in the fall ... teaching children. Yeah, this little inference at the end is Well yea- like the I went running along the beach running alongside the beach in the morning yeah, you got it: eating eggs and toast and fruit for breakfast and Local politics Local politics in which city in San Francisco? Yeah, Golden Gate Park. Yeah And I go walk through Golden Gate Park on the way back home in the afternoon. That's what I missed. Yeah Yeah, but that was pretty good... cause that was a little bit of a longer story. So hope you guys got all of that as well. That was good. Good job. Thank you. Now here is the second story which is a lot weirder, so Hopefully try to try to follow along as best as you can, Listen for the details and again try to create a picture in your mind. That might help you remember some of this. It does help. Are you ready? Okay, so here is my second story. All right ready? What image are you gonna put for this story? I don't know. I don't know... Use those images. I try, but... I'll read it one more time. This is a true story Ready? Okay. All right, so Hopefully you can remember some of that weird crazy dream and now I want you to pause the video Use the details that are up there to try and retell the story with as many details as you can. Alright? I hope you guys were able to remember some of those details, remember some of that weird information, and now we're gonna see how much Ioana remembers using some of these clues. And the clues aren't super detailed, but hopefully... Are you ready? Yes. Here you go. Thank you. So Wes had a dream that he lived in Brazil and his job was as an uber driver and he picked up a passenger with with a purple and pink ski mask and He took him to the zoo The first animal he saw there, oh he fed he fed sushi to a polar bear and Then he helped a giraffe with algebra homework and then The last animal he saw was a gorilla- an 800-pound gorilla who wanted to go to the bank to take out money because he had surgery: a LASIK eye surgery, and before they got into the bank he woke up I think. Well done, well done, that was pretty much exactly the story. Hopefully you guys did as well as Ioana, and if you did this practice, I want to know! So in the comments, write SPEAKING which then tells me that you paused the video, and you are actually practicing your speaking skills. because I know you were practicing your listening if you're just watching this video. If you enjoyed this listening and speaking activity, please hit that like button down below and as always, thanks so much for watching and we'll see you guys next time. Bye. Bye! --- ## 406. LISTEN & LEARN | Build Vocabulary, Identify Key Details, Make Inferences | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `L-vrjdghHQM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-vrjdghHQM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:24:07 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes and this is interactive english the channel that is all about just trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today we're going to work on your listening because when when you're learning a language listening is very important so we're gonna practice our listening skills and i'm going to have you listen to a couple of different sentences a couple of stories and we're going to use that to help you improve just your overall language skills which is why i titled listen and learn and we're going to work on identifying well learning new vocabulary and just when you hear a word that you don't know and trying to put that word in context and understand the meaning of that word we're also going to practice uh just identifying the main idea making sure you comprehend most of the most of what you hear we're gonna talk about key details as well as making inferences and if you don't know what uh inferences are it's when you're using the information that you know in order to infer other information for example if i say that my wife just walked in and she's carrying an umbrella that's wet then you when you hear that an umbrella that's wet you can infer that it's probably raining outside we're going to start with something that is a little easier and then it'll get more difficult actually it'll get much more difficult which uh i i just hope that you are ready to listen let's start with trying to if you have if you encounter a new vocabulary word and you want to be able to put that word in context so i'm just going to give you a simple sentence and i want you to listen to it and then i want you to tell me what this word means the teacher chided me for texting in class that is the sentence the teacher chided me for texting in class and i want you to tell me what does it mean to chide to chide someone the more you listen to it and read it and you encounter this word you'll be able to use it and make it part of your vocabulary here is the sentence and i'll give you the meaning so the teacher chided me for texting in class to chide someone it means to scold or reprimand angrily now that you know that if if you are chiding someone that you are talking them to them in a way that you are a little angry you're upset with this person and you're like no no don't do that don't do that now that you know the meaning of that word let's use it and we'll make an inference okay so i'm going to give you another sentence and i i'll well let me tell you the sentence and then i'll tell you what i want you to do so again just listen to what i'm going to say say mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house my question to you is well why why would why might she do that why might the mother chide the children for playing baseball inside the house and in this case i'm asking you to to make an inference and i want you to think about the other things that are going on or things that could happen so you know the situation mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house but why that is my question why do you think this is happening there is no wrong or right answer it's kind of just trying to get you thinking in a different way um because you're not only when you're listening you're listening to the information but you want to be able to comprehend more than just directly what somebody is saying so here is the sentence i said mom chided us for playing baseball inside the house i told you there are many different there are many things that you can infer about this for me when i would think about this i would think well something could break maybe a window or perhaps maybe the maybe they did break a window and that is why they are being chided or perhaps it happened in the past but uh playing baseball inside the house yes something could definitely break that's kind of just like a warm-up that i wanted to give you that you hear me say these simple sentences and just you're maybe trying to learn a new word and try to figure out the meaning by putting it in context and then we use that word to make an inference uh about some of the other information that that you hear so now we're going to get into we're going to go from easy to definitely more difficult what i'm going to do now is i am going to give you a story i'm going to tell you a story and i just want you to listen to it and just think about what i'm saying and it may help to put a picture in your mind i'm going to read this to you and then we're gonna practice uh key details the main idea um new vocabulary we're gonna do a little bit of everything so this is a longer story i'm gonna read it i'll read it twice and then i have five questions for you about this story uh i'll read it to you i just want you to listen carefully okay so here is the the story my friend dave traveled to the big apple for the weekend to attend his friend's bachelor party he promised that he would write me a postcard i never got one i saw a day five days after he returned from his trip i noticed his hand was in a cast when i asked what happened he said he fell down the day before he flew out and he hadn't been able to use his hand jokingly i asked about the postcard he told me that he wrote one but it must have gotten lost in the mail i suspected that dave was not telling the truth after all he is a southpaw okay all right that was uh a lot of information that i just threw at you um i don't think the story may be too difficult to follow along but i will read it one more time and then we're gonna go through and i will ask you five questions about this story right here are you ready all right listen carefully i'll read it again my friend dave traveled to the big apple for the weekend to attend his friend's bachelor party he promised that he would write me a postcard i never got one i saw dave five days after he returned from his trip i noticed his hand was in a cast when i asked what happened he said he fell down the day before he flew out and he hadn't been able to use his hand jokingly i asked about the postcard he told me he wrote one but it must have gotten lost in the mail i suspected that dave was not telling the truth after all he is a southpaw so the first question that i have for you and again i'm i'm not going to show you the question just listen to it what city did dave visit so this was at the very start of the story um i talked about my my friend dave uh was going on this trip and what city did dave visit i did not say the specific name of the city it's more of a nickname the big apple is another name it's a nickname for new york city so this is where my friend dave traveled all right i gave you some information about this situation he's in new york city the big apple based on what you know what you listen to what event may he go to in the future dave may go to this it's it's a big event that somebody would have and it's going to happen in the future i gave you the information that you could infer okay this is probably what he's going to do bachelor party is what i want you to use to infer what event he will go to in the future dave is likely to go to his friend's wedding so if you don't you in this case you need to know what a bachelor party is and if you don't know what a bachelor party is before someone gets married um the bride or the groom maybe the groom would have a bachelor party and his close friends will get together and they go have this party maybe in another place in the future dave will likely go to his friend's wedding i told you that dave hurt his hand so this is definitely more detail when dave and i met so i'm telling you the story about dave and i when dave and i met after his trip how many days had it been since he hurt his hand so dave hurt his hand and then some of these things happen i saw dave when he got back from his trip how many days had it been since he hurt his hand so in this case you really need to think about uh there is some specific information that i gave you but then you need to think about the situation like the the bachelor party so the correct answer would see i'd say about seven or eight okay and the reason why i say that is because remember in the story we're talking about he said he hurt his hand the day before leaving i said that he he's gone for the weekend which is two days and i said i saw dave five days after he got back so he returned from the trip and then five days passed and then that's when i saw him so you could say five plus two seven works if you want to count the same day that he hurt his hand then you could say eight so that was definitely um a little more difficult all right the next question dave was going to send me a postcard he didn't send it all right was i angry about the postcard do you think was was i angry that my friend dave did not send me a postcard on his trip to new york city the big apple and what word did you hear that tells you either yes or no the key word that i want you to focus on was that i don't know if you remember specifically the sentence said jokingly i asked about the postcard so jokingly was the word it's an adverb it means you're kind of you're just joking around i'm teasing like hey why didn't you send me my postcard um that was the word that kind of tells you that i was not upset all right and then the last one which i think is certainly going to be maybe a little more challenging and i didn't say this which hand did dave injure and how do you know so i talk about dave's um dave's hand well i didn't say which hand was in a cast a cast if you didn't if you don't know what a cast is if you perhaps hurt your arm and you break it and they put that uh mold around your arm so you can't move it in this case if it's a hand maybe if somebody um maybe they break their wrist maybe they would the doctor would put a cast around your hand and you just can't move it and that's what a cast is the the key word is the word southpaw and if you don't know what a southpaw is the what it means originally was talking about somebody who boxes left-handed or in baseball somebody who throws left-handed but you could use it as an informal term to talk about somebody who just does something left-handed so i said that uh i knew dave was lying or i suspected he was lying um after all he is a southpaw so dave is left-handed all right dave if dave hurt his left hand and his his hands in a cast which means he can't write because he's a southpaw he's not able to write he broke uh his left hand and in case you didn't know something fun fact about me is that i i am a southpaw i'm actually uh i'm left-handed i write left-handed i throw left-handed so this is the way that we were listening and learning and improving your skills and again if you guys do if you like what we do here at interactive english you can sponsor and support our channel there are youtube memberships uh patreon we offer different rewards and there are links in the descriptions i'm really happy that you guys join me today i hope you found it useful if you did please go ahead hit that like button that way i know okay you maybe you learned something today or you found that this was useful and helpful so thank you guys and i will see you next time --- ## 407. LIVE ENGLISH LESSON ๐Ÿšจ | Q&A with Wes, Ioana, and Emi | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xWzEXPeDJtE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWzEXPeDJtE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:34:07 | --- hey what's up welcome to today's English lesson and if this is your first time here at interactive English we're all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and this is a great opportunity for you to ask some questions and even if you're watching this a little later it's great for your listening skills to practice those listening skills and see if you can follow along in our conversation and again even later if you want to knows the question to something in English write it in the comments write to us in the comments cuz we just love hearing from you guys so today we have a special Q&A that we are going to do and we are going to take your questions and guess who's going to join us hello hello so I just want to give a quick shout out to some of the people who are here with us Ahmad iris odd lolly Irene Joe Thoth devika sorry if I mispronounced some name's Dave Elizabeth hi hi hi hello what we want to do is this is just a general Q&A and this is kind of our introduction this is our little daughter Emmie and she is making her interactive English debut and what we want to do is just take some of your questions so if you guys have specific questions when it comes to like vocabulary pronunciation grammar even about us feel free to ask we will try to answer those questions so yeah you guys hi everyone it's nice to see everyone here this one is being so we're gonna we're gonna take your questions as long as a little Emmie will allow so one thing I do want to tell you guys if you guys are looking for ways to connect us connect with us if you haven't done so already you can join our email list we will send you some lesson updates some useful resources from time to time as well as access to the secret fluency lesson and I will just go ahead and throw a link right there in the chat but it is another it's another good way to connect with us we're trying to connect with as many of you as possible and we've been able to do that and we feel very fortunate so let's just get to some of the questions here we have time ask us how many children do you have just this one oh just little Emmie right now so that's something again we're still you know figuring things out maybe in the future who knows we may have a brother or sister we'll see but we just have the the one right near now dude let's see I mean you're so oh thank you so much Lucretia thank you I would say again if you're like some of the questions try to keep them as specific as possible if it's very broad it might be difficult to answer I know if they've said how to use a period so in English you would in American English you would say a period British English they would call it a full stop and it just goes simply put at the end of a statement you say something for example about yourself my name is Wes it's a complete thought full sentence period at the end let's see somebody was asking how he or she is I'm guessing she you guys meant how old is she oh yeah she turned six months about two weeks ago so she is up she's rolling around and just I think on the brink of starting to crawl and that's a good expression actually if you are on the brink of something it basically means that you're about to do something you're about to start doing something you are on the break let's see Lucy asked what are your plans for interactive English so I'd say right now with the channel our goal is to keep to stick we've been doing two lessons a week four since we started this channel two years ago and we want to keep doing that lessons Tuesday live lessons Saturday it's a difficult pace to keep up with but that's what we want to do with the channel and then outside of the channel do you want tell about the courses maybe yeah we're we're working on on a couple courses for you guys hopefully they'll come out soon we've had we've been working on this for a while we just had a little roadblock on the way so that slowed us down but we are working and we are going to come out with some courses we have some vocabulary yeah we're gonna start with a vocabulary course to help you build and grow your vocabulary because most of I think more vocabulary lessons are have been pretty popular and people have enjoyed learning about academic vocabulary advanced words slang expressions idioms so it's going to be it's going to encompass all of those things and that's going to be our first course and then we'll come out with others in the future about you know speaking or you know we'll figure it out let's see again trying to okay well lรฉvesque city says how how can I fluently speak English that is a good question that I think many people ask and I think it's normal again I think a big thing is just to me you practice consistently and you practice regularly I'd also say you practice all the skills reading writing listening and speaking and just get as much exposure to the language as you can and that's why I said like even a lesson like this where we're taking questions you're still practicing your listening skills and I think it's great because I think for us people will tell me like I understand what you say but then when I'm listening to a movie or something it's yeah I don't understand it and that's because it probably is too fast it may be a little above your listening level after teaching English for so many years my speech has just slowed down a little bit not only that but I think I also really try to articulate and enunciate everything that I say and really speak clearly and that's just a part of teaching English let's see you can shout out if you see a question that you see the best way to remember vocabulary oh that's a good question yes that I I think what what I would recommend would be you know you're not just learning the word and learning the meaning but then associating it to something else so for example for me I'm a visual learner I it really helps me to see things so if I learn a new word especially a noun and then I can see a picture of that that that's gonna help me put that into my active memory and and latch on to it a little more or even if it's a word that you just can't really find a picture maybe it's an advanced word if you can figure it think of a sentence a way that you would use it and and again put a picture in your mind that way or you're relating it in that case you're relating it back to your own experience when you try to put the word in context and that would be the another great way would be learning how the word is used in context not just learning the meaning of the word but trying to understand sentences that use the word so that you have a better idea of okay what what this means for example I'd say if somebody said can I see one of the words so when I was studying for the jury like I remember you you have these really long long lists of words do you have to know and one of them was pulchritude and I was like what is this word who you were to Kokura tude and it means beauty apparently and I remember thinking my association with it it's that it's the ugliest word to describe beauty so it's been I forgot most of the words and there how do you remember it yeah so if you make associations in your mind it will help and just keep using them kind of keep bringing them back definitely that's good pulchritude all right that'd be interesting because I would have be interested to know what what kind of context is used and is it often used to talk about art or structures or I think [Music] it's it's not really that all right Shenzhou I was both my girlfriend and we are loyal fans thank you excellent thank you guys we're just again we've we've developed this community and we're so grateful for it we have put out a question a while back on our community page about how many people have seen like what number of lessons and I was surprised that so many of you said you've seen more than 50 of our lessons out there which is amazing yeah we're super thankful says where do you live so we're from the United States we met when we lived in California in San Francisco right now we live in Hungary so we live in Budapest we're in Europe and we go back to the US from time to time so let's see what else [Music] I see it says how can I know whether or not the word is being used if I see it in a book do you mean I guess if you're using the word correctly or is it commonly used maybe remember that thing on Google if you google the word because I said maybe this word is not being used too often if you google the word there's a it's like a little chart when you hit more yeah definition and then it shows you like over the years how common the usage of the word yeah because some words like I said like they're from you know Shakespeare or something not all of them are being used today and if you speak like that nobody's going to understand you which is a problem I think is really useful because you mentioned Google they keep I think improving so if you were to Google a word and say meaning it will tell you the meaning and it does it gives you that graph as to know if it's if it's used a lot or if it's not used at all and even now I think it's just I think they changed this in the last few months if you google the word and right pronunciation mm-hmm it actually will come up and you can listen to the word with the American pronunciation or the British pronunciation so there are some really great you resources just googling things like google words the meaning google the pronunciation sabine because that's a good pronunciation question how do you pronounce that you can go I think in America mericans would use either or either and I think a lot of it depends on which part of the country you're from I myself I feel like which one do you use either or either either either yeah I feel like I use either more but I feel like I might say either from time to time as well so you could you could use both and I think again people are gonna understand the what you're trying to say let's see I don't know that's a good question so what is it how could I overcome my speaking problem just off so I again I think if if speaking is a challenge I think again it's easy to say well you should practice speaking I think that does help like if you don't have somebody to speak to we've talked about ideas and lessons before about even if it's just singing out loud talking to yourself in the mirror but also if the problem somebody asked us a question recently saying that when they actually try to have the conversation that's when they're having trouble speaking and it's almost like they just had so much anxiety that it was blocking them from expressing their thoughts and opinions and then it becomes a separate issue about trying to lower your anxiety so that you can more easily eunuch eight yeah I would say I think with all of that just like you know a lot of people have a fear of public speaking and they you know you can get yourself to do it but what what does help in those moments is practice and practice like a million times and the more you practice the easier is going to be and I think it applies to speaking anything even a conversation yeah the more you practice like you said even if it's in the mirror every it's about yourself even it's in the car even if it's like on your walk to school to work if you speak a little bit out loud it makes a huge difference than just thinking it yeah and I was actually just gonna say like in in I think it is yeah it's better to speak it out loud but I was gonna say I used to do that thinking about these conversations when I was learning Spanish I would kind of like put myself in a conversation and think about what somebody would ask me and what I would say and again I would probably make mistakes maybe using the wrong words but I felt like I was kind of preparing myself for when I did have that conversation and at least when somebody would ask me those words then I could at least say things immediately and respond quickly without having to think and be like what's happening and like I said I think I was probably making mistakes but I was just I was ready to start speaking and and answering and responding to this person so I think it does help to just even think about these things to yourself Linnea ask how can i improve my listening skills so listening I mean there's thankful you because we have the Internet there's so much that we can listen to I would say if you want to make it you make it as challenge and grow as easy as you want but if you want to make it challenging like you really have a problem listening to things maybe listen to podcasts or something where you don't see the person speak or if you want to make it easier on yourself and you have a hard time understanding people like when you watch anything even on YouTube you can turn on the captions and you can follow along and see the words how they correspond to the writing because that does help because when we speak we you know shove things together we say things linked all the time and we don't always enunciate like West's yeah I feel like yes I feel like I'm probably very much easier to understand and listening to some song but I was also gonna say about listening like make sure you're listening at your level to and if things are a bit too fast try to slow it down listen to something else YouTube is a great place for that because some people even have told me they're like oh you're speaking too fast try to slow it down youTube allows you to control the speed of speech so you can go down to the settings and set it to set for somebody to speak faster you can set it so that they'll speak slower and if you're listening at your level then that's just going to improve your comprehension so if you're listening to something like a YouTube video that you don't understand change the speed and see if it improves your comprehension I think I'm too late you're never too late don't worry about I won't ask your child's name yes her name is Amelia mm-hmm we can call her Amelie whatever yes there's a lot of different nicknames I've been calling her Emmy yeah Emmy for sure somebody said Oh Napoleon high from Costa Rica Pura Vida nice excellent I used to live in Costa Rica San Jose near Park a la Savannah anybody out there who's been to Costa Rica or lives there which one I missed it I think we I'll do this one Mohammad asks like how do you pronounce the before s or like is it for before a consonant R after s was the was the I again I say the like it's an unstressed word I say it with the schwa pretty much all the time so the weather was the weather how was the weather how was the weather would be how I pronounce that I know before a consonant people would say thee instead but I tend to say the in just casual English so I wanted to answer - yeah and because it's it's a she said that she has a daughter or he sorry and then to how to teach it here to your kid I what I tried to do because I wanted me to speak both Romanian and English for now and then hopefully in the future Spanish is I say a lot of the things that I just talked to her I mean she's six months old so she doesn't speak back she doesn't come back to me but I'll say it in English and Romanian all the time just what I'm doing or so I would say that a good way to do it would just be to start speaking to your baby in English if you try to even now even if they're six months old or however and just describe what you're doing that's what and there's so much good stuff out there for children to learn English too like you can yeah play things but I think though what you can do just personally just speak with that I would say yeah don't don't underestimate the power of listening I know there's a famous baby's learned person within like the the circles for a linguist learning English stephen krashen and a lot of what he talks about is just getting exposure through listening that you I think his one of his ideas is that basically you could probably learn a language just from listening I even though yeah I know most people think I have to speak I have to speak speaking is great because that's the best way that's the most common way we communicate but especially when I think you're talking about young children reading stories to them is a great way for both you to practice as well as get some listening exposure if you're talking about trying to teach another language in English to Nursery Rhymes there are so many Nursery Rhymes that she's been watching on YouTube I'll tell you a little baby bum and she loves it I think mostly because of the visuals but it's very easy to follow they say the same words over and over and over and it's very simple and basic and they do the action with so that's important too it's this TPR thing total physical response where you do what you hear so I think they can register that to where they're talking about like head shoulders knees and toes and they always point to all of these so that's those are some some some useful tips that is that is huge don't underestimate the power of listening and nursery rhymes are great I think even for adults even though it's not the the most it's not the best thing to listen to I think it's useful and I could I think it goes back to one reason as to why children learn faster than adults not just because of their age but because of the type of content they're learning which would be like Nursery Rhymes pretty good yes thank you which which accent is acceptable in TOEFL British or American um honestly I don't think as far as any of these exams I think TOEFL is so IELTS is from Cambridge which is British TOEFL comes from an organization called ETS which is an American organization but I think when they're evaluating your speaking skills I don't think that that's part of it whether they're checking as to whether you have a British accent or an American accent I really don't think that matters I think that would just be your personal preference as to which kind of accent you would like to have if that's even important to you maybe it doesn't really matter to you and that's okay so I wouldn't worry about it as far as these exams are concerned oh there's a question for you what was it I said one Carlos how many languages do you speak so I speak English and Romanian and then speak some other stuff I speak a little bit of Spanish I understand French and Italian and a little bit of Portuguese a little bit not that's all I think yeah Romanian is I think rooted in a lot of Romance languages so I think it's kind of easy you pick up languages quickly I think it's for me I think it takes a long time I have to put in a little more work let's see this is a more of a business question I like it ROM asked like how to describe educational details in an interview so I think again this is a case where if you're getting ready to go for a job interview practice practice practice go over those questions in your mind and think about your answers so that you are ready to talk about them I think if you're talking about your educational experience what I would recommend is talk about things in you could go through chronological order and which is like the time order start with your university experience then did you get some advanced degrees and then maybe you had some other supplementary education afterwards but I'd also try to make sure to always connect it to the type of job that you're applying for so for example if you're applying for an engineering job there's no reason to talk about the history classes that you took in University make sure it's related to whatever it is that you're interviewing for and really try to connect that I think that's an important thing so let's see oh it's easy to understand you guys excellent thank you let's see we're talking I'm trying to get some different questions just ha so do you speak Spanish si yo hablo Paquito de espana pero hace mucho tiempo que no habla ro y por ESO yo creo que me male or Adaro muchos palabras illa llah gramatica en este momento may imagine ok as they Ori bleh alright so it's just basically that's some that's a little Spanish out there for any of you Spanish speakers just trying to say yeah it's been a long time since I've practiced but I've lived in a few different spanish-speaking countries so I've had a lot of exposure but I think with anything whenever you're learning a language it's always important to keep practicing as much as you can to keep those skills active which one how'd you learn more than one language okay go for it yeah no I like it because I sometimes I feel like people think oh I'm sorry did you say what you're talking about that son santosh us Center just how to learn more than one language and I the reason I like it is because I hear a lot of complaints like oh I'm already struggling with English like it's so difficult how could I learn another language and I think actually a learning more than one language helps you helps you learn another so like the more languages you speak I think the easier it becomes to learn other languages and I just say just go for it just start the easiest depends on what the easiest skill for you is for me it's listening so that's why i like watching things in the language to like and you know in spanish I'll watch movies or when I was younger so novellas and whatnot but um yeah I think that's true if you listening to music like they say once you get one language once you get another second language under your belt which is another idiom expression if something's under your belt means you've learned it you know it then I think other languages it becomes easier so when he asked quick question well right what do you use more jot down or write down and why I think again both of them have the same meaning it's a phrasal verb I'd say write down is probably more common I think it's a little more formal jot down I think of something you're it's informal but it's also I think I associate there's a speed with it too that you need to write something down quickly so it's like oh why don't you jot this down real quick so I think that's also related to speed the speed in which you would write something jot down what were you trying to answer that question nice so she's kind of developing her her language skills at this moment she's really discovered her voice in the morning let's see somebody is how to improve your accent Oh how to improve your accent I always say like just quickly like listen to the accent that you want to imitate or where you wish to have if it's an American accent a British accent or Canadian accent try to get as much exposure as you can because then you are going to hear the the way that people will link words together and and reduce words and the more again the more you listen the more exposure I think that that's going to to seep in and then the next time you start speaking you'll be able to slowly make some of those changes let's see yes you are a good listener excellent Nicholas ooh what's the baby's name her name is Emmy she's a little just over six months now is this your part-time job for teaching English online yeah this is kind of a at this point yeah it is a I'd say it's maybe a part-time job financially but it is I think it's more of a full-time job in terms of the the time and energy that we've put into it and we're trying to develop and continue to grow it because at some point I think we would like this to be a full-time job and make it financially sustainable what and and that's why we're creating courses and actually maybe trying to build a school in the future and and we're still figuring out how we're gonna do that but right now yeah I think it is kind of a part-time job so let's see some English what's the difference between a quit and pardon so I'm gonna give you that answer and I would still recommend like take it with a grain of salt maybe that would be good ones to Google just to make sure but when I think if somebody is acquitted and basically that it's saying that somebody was charged with a crime and maybe they go to jail but they were acquitted because it was they weren't they weren't the ones who committed the crime so it was discovered that they didn't do the crime so they were acquitted of this crime when you're pardoned that's kind of a term again I think you hear if you pay attention to American politics somebody has done something some kind of crime or wrongdoing and you might get a pardon from the president in which case they say hey I forgive you of this crime even though you did commit it and you can get out of jail so that's kind of the two difference between a quit and pardon so let's see is there yeah somebody said is about an app to learn conversation Isaiah says hollow is an app where anybody can make conversation with native speakers I have actually I've inner I've done some interviews with those guys who have created the hollow app I haven't used it myself I know they're trying to grow and develop that app but I'm curious again if you guys have had experience was with it you know let me know put it out there I think you guys are also a great resource for each other if you have questions and somebody else knows the answer or they know of some kind of group or app or some way to improve their skills I think it's always great when people are sharing information let's see the Canadian accent pretty similar to American yeah I think the Canadian accent it's very similar I think there's a few words that are pronounced a bit differently but for the most part the the accents are fairly similar I'm in Haiti my name is a Moe's hey what's up Amos in Haiti how are you I think somebody went back and asked if we're planning on moving to the u.s. yeah that's a good question we don't everything our future plans right now are up in the air and if you don't know that expression that's an idiom if things are up in the air it basically means that things have not been decided or a plan is not made just yet so you could say yeah our plans are up in the air and that's what it is our plans are up in the air we don't know we may move back to the u.s. at some point we'll see as she gets older there's a lot of things to take into consideration at this point let's see when yes we yes we will continue doing advanced lessons especially advanced vocabulary lessons we try to mix up our lessons as much as possible by doing some like advanced vocabulary lessons and then advanced grammar and then do something that's more on the beginner intermediate scale because we want to make this channel kind of for as many people as possible so we've done some lessons that I know are a bit easier for people or talked about words that most people are familiar with for example we did like the most common academic words and so many people were coming like these words are so easy and part of what I'm thinking is like well yeah they're the most common academic words of course like more more people are gonna be familiar with them and the idea was just to let people know okay these are some of the academic words that people use most often and all of those words that we talked about I want to do more lessons like that they're taken from the academic word list and if you haven't heard of the academic word list it is a list of the most common academic words in English and this person I forget where they're from I don't know if they're from Australia or New Zealand they put this together and they put compiled a huge list of words so you guys can check that out mmm what's the meaning of I shudder to think phrase if you shudder to think of something so to shudder is kind of to be scared or afraid so if somebody shudders to think something it basically means you don't want to think about this thing that it's something that's not good so you might shudder to think about it let's see thank you is Union hitch says is our idioms important and why that really depends I think it depends on what your learning goals are if you're learning English for academic purposes if you're gonna be take go get your masters maybe idioms might be less important because you're not going to use idioms in your academic writing if you're if you're just learning English for for travel and general conversation then it might be a little more interesting for you to learn because when we're having general conversation I've even stopped myself throughout this discussion and told you a few idioms that I just said when when I just threw them out there so it really depends on what you want to learn I think if you're watching TV or movies which is more general and casual you will hear idioms being used from time to time I think the the most important thing with idioms and it's the same with slang I know people have really really enjoyed our slang lessons and I think that's great but I the the most of the biggest reason why we do that is more for your comprehension not for you to really just go out and start using those words because slang really depends on where you're from where you live your age there's so many different factors but it's more for your comprehension so that if you hear it when you're watching a TV show or movie then you just understand you know what it means and you can follow along with the conversation what is the best way to improve punctuation Paul I would say read read and read some more the more you read then you're just gonna see how punctuation is used correctly whether they're using where they're using commas whether they're using a full stop a question mark an exclamation mark the reading is the best way to improve your punctuation reading is a great way to improve your vocabulary your fluency everything your grammar read read read read I always recommend that can you teach us more idioms yes Angela we will have more idiom lessons in the future and again that's why we're putting together this vocabulary course it's going to be a huge course that we're going to teach a lot of different vocabulary words from academic English advanced words idioms slang expressions it's going to be all of them so can you please demonstrate using ain't so basically rody ain't has different meanings I think the most common one it'd be like it'd be like you're contracting am not and this is something I grew up in the southeast part of the United States in the south which is a place where you might hear ain't being used and somebody would say instead of I'm not instead of contracting I am and saying I'm not going to do this I'm not gonna do this they might say they would contract am NOT and say yeah I ain't gonna do this I ain't gonna do this they're contracting em and not so that's probably I think the more common way in which this word is used but again that's not I don't even know if ain't is technically a word I think you'd have to look up I'm sure it's in some online dictionaries now because so many people know about it but I don't know if it's considered slang or or what it is at this point I'm says what is to meet someone halfway so that is an expression if you meet somebody halfway it makes me think that you're trying to negotiate with somebody you're trying to reach an agreement and you say you want this and the other person wants this and you'd say hey let's meet halfway let's meet in the middle and then we come to an agreement we compromise and that's what it means when somebody says hey let's let's meet halfway so it's talking about different things that you you want and somebody else that wants and you're gonna meet in the middle alright so again I just want to thank you guys for for joining us on these lessons we really appreciate it if you guys do like what we do then again another way to connect check out our patreon page if you want to help support our channel support these free English lessons helped us grow we do offer some cool rewards again I'll throw a link right there in the chat so you guys can go check that out it's another great way to connect with us so thank you guys so much for joining me I'm sorry if I didn't answer some of your questions or all of them please write them in the comments those of you who have been following our channel we try to respond to everybody just about anybody so write your questions in the comments we'll try to get back to you if anything if we can't answer it sometimes we are just quickly if it's a long answer I will direct you to a site that you can read that will give you the answer so thank you guys so much for joining us today we really appreciate your comments your feedback it's just what its what makes this community so special so I hope you guys have a wonderful day and we will see you next time for another live lesson so long --- ## 408. LIVE ENGLISH Q&A ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8XNOU9OAFCA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XNOU9OAFCA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:37:03 | --- what's up everyone welcome my name is Wes this is interactive English which of course is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills thank you thank you thank you guys so much for joining me for this special Q&A so I am going to be taking some of your questions but we will do that just a little later on because we are going to do a live English Q&A with yours truly all right so if you guys have some questions I will take those but in just a little bit I have a few other things that that I'd like to go over with you but I just want to give a quick shout out and acknowledge some of you are here so thank you Loi Manipur little Little Pon Andre B abro Anna hello hello nazim Olivia vathi Luda ishana kashana sorry if I mispronounce names but thank you guys so much for joining me Rosalinda hello if you are joining just say what's up in the chat because I I just love hearing from you guys even if you're watching this Q&A later on write your name in the comments say hello say what's up we love meeting new people from all over the world and it's just been such a great community so thank you guys so much for joining us and I do have some questions for you guys too because I I do want to practice so save your questions for right now I will get to those but first I have some questions from some patrons that I want to answer because I asked them I said what do you guys what questions do you guys have and I will make some slides and answer those so the first question that I want to talk about is from Katherine she said I would like to understand better the uses of as and because to give reasons uh she felt like maybe she was overusing as so I want to discuss this all right because as because in since all three of those are conjunctions that we can use to talk connect a result and a reason so they're used to introduce a subordinate clause and they like I said they help connect results and a reason and I I tried to color code these for you so that result is that that pink pinkish color and then we have our conjunction and reason that is purple that is our subordinate clause so the result is an independent clause I watch interactive English that is a complete thought and then the subordinate clause it's giving us the reason because I want to achieve English fluency we can combine those into one sentence I watch interactive English because I want to achieve English fluency okay so the these are different conjunctions you can use and I want to talk about each one and and why they use them so I'm also going to give you an informal explanation a as to why so the most common one by far the most common one is because and think of it this way because it's the cool conjunction everybody loves because because it puts the focus on the reason all right we are we we are emphasizing and focusing that reason and that that is when that's why we use because because it's that's its only function too all right one reason why it's so much more popular is because as in since they have other functions besides being conjunctions they can be adverbs they can be prepositions but we know because all right because is our friend because it's just a conjunction right now give me some example sentences if you guys are in the chat write some sentences using because give me talk about a a result and connect it to a reason I gave you that first example here are some other examples you could say you know a question are you upset because I'm late remember because I'm late that is the focus that's our subordinating conjunction that's our subordinating clause are you upset because I'm late and then someone say well you know I'm late because I forgot to set the alarm because I forgot to set the alarm again that is our reason and then you could say you know because you're late we can start the sentence with it because you're late I'm giving giving you an extra assignment because you're late I'm giving you an extra assignment so we often overwhelmingly use because to to connect a result and a reason all right um all right thank thank you so much LLY that's such a great compliment you love my lessons because they're always interesting we try I try to make them interesting the other thing I want to tell you about because very cool pronunciation tip all right often times many native speakers will just pronounce it as cuz it just gets reduced in order to speak quicker and more efficiently and they just say cuz so I'll I'll say those sentences again and and just shorten it so I'd say you know are you upset because I'm late that would be a way that that many people would pronounce it are you upset because I'm late no I'm late because I forgot to set my alarm or you can say you know cuz you're late I'm giving you an extra assignment so again instead of because many people might just say cuz all right cuz cuz cuz um all right uh Alisa I was waiting I was waiting I was waiting for you because I wanted to learn Perfect all right um nazim I want to improve my English because it's so important exactly great great reason yes um uh I lost the job vacy because I could not speak English well yes it's it's important uh English really helps uh for your job opportunities great example perfect um I couldn't catch the train because I was late yes that happens that happens to the best of us I can't go outside because I feel sick great one excellent thank you Olivia perfect um I like playing soccer because it keeps me healthy yes those are some great examples and again this is the one that you want to use this is what I would recommend if you're ever trying to connect a result and a reason now let's look at the other ones like I said I'm going to give you an informal explanation about this so since sin is you know it's not a very cool conjunction it's a conjunction it's trying to make a name for itself sin really wants to be like because but it's failing miserably all right because I'd say but since is not doing a good job because all right there's this is my reason because because the word because is an absolute rock star everybody loves the word because and and since you know it's it's just an afterthought at times we use it in just casual conversation you might find it in conversation when people are speaking but it's mostly an afterthought this was a great question I love this question from Katherine because again I'm just I'm now going to notice every time I say because because I use since often I think I use Sy you know regularly especially if I'm writing an email and I would notice that I use it a lot even though when I was researching this and looking this up and trying to figure okay how am I going to present it I was surprised to find that okay they were like yeah since you know not many people use it it's an afterthought stick with because so just personally I I end up I use sin especially in conversation but just so you know it's not very common so here are some examples you know you could say you know since you forgot my birthday you have to sing me a song or you know let's let's be nice to each other since we have to work together you might say let's be civil since we have to work together you can take because and just plug it in there and it's fine all right and that's what most people would do most people would use because instead of those sentences so now let's get to the last one as all right so I I'm sorry if you can't see it very well I tried to color coordinate it uh with purple but that that yeah it's kind of light so as is not very popular in fact it is not popular at all all right so if if this is to give you an example this would be the conjunction that has to eat alone at lunch because you know as does not have many friends you know because is the cool kid all right as you know as just is a bit of a loner all right sometimes as it's used in formal situations in formal speech but it is just not common in spoken English now I can definitely say that about americanl English I really I don't use as at all if I'm talking about uh you know connecting it uh result and a reason now the here's some examples just so you know you know I didn't buy the painting as it was quite expensive okay again you're connecting that it's still a subordinating conjunction in this case um as it was quite expensive or you could say you know as we all know each other let's just start the meeting we don't need to introduce one another uh as we know each other let's just start the meeting but again I would avoid using as because again because it's just not very common all right just stick with because I don't know about British English maybe in some formal situations perhaps in British English it might be a little more common but I definitely know in American English we don't use as uh quite often actually when I was looking this up they they I saw some examples and most of it was in literature from like books that were over a hundred years old so it's not common especially in informal and Casual English so that's something to keep in mind all right um so let's look at so this was a review remember because or or since they conjunctions connecting result with reason use because stick with because all right so this is something that I would like to do and continue doing again um for for patrons I'm going to try and do it once a month if you guys have a question all right I will make slides and answer those questions and if you want to check us out on patreon I will leave a link in the description uh it's another great way to connect with us and we have some cool rewards kind of like this one I I'll just make some slides and answer your questions so the next question was from Dany all right Danny had a question um he was asking about giving a lesson talking about regarding concerning in terms of a and how to use these and this this can be very challenging and this can be a bit tricky so these this is what I want to talk to you about next regarding concerning in terms of with regard to so these all these all of these function as prepositions and they're often used at the beginning of a sentence and it's just used to indicate the subject that you're either speaking about or the subject that you're writing about so let me give you some examples I'm I'm going to give you some examples but I also want to show you a cool resource and this is going to help you understand if you have any questions about how often are words used or if there's a phrase and you want to use okay should I use this phrase or should I use this phrase so the uses of words and phrases you can check the Google engram viewer and I'm going to show you this in just a moment so this is an online search engine that can chart word frequency ques it charts it from printed sources between 1500 and 2008 so if anything it just gives you an idea as to what's what's what's more common than others which phrase is more commonly used so first let's look at regarding and concerning they're they're basically interchangeable as I said it's used to indicate the subject like what you're going to talk about so for example I say you know if I was somebody's boss I say you know regarding your raise we first need to complete a review of your work per uh performance so regarding we're talking about the raise that is the subject regarding your raise we first need to complete a review of your work performance and then you could say Okay use it concerning your work performance we found a few red flags that prohibit you from receiving a raise and if you don't know red flags that's a great informal expression it means basically warnings all right there are some problems so concerning your work performance we found a few problems that prohibit you from getting a raise regarding and concerning they're they're very interchangeable and let me show you just how uh interchangeable they are so let's check out let me see if this works let's look at the engram viewer all right so hopefully you guys can see this and see what I'm looking at so I just typed in uh these two phrases right here concerning your question all right and then I put a comma in there and then regarding your question and I wanted to see how Whi which one is used more often and you can see from this they're very similar all right concerning your question regarding your question the reason that I didn't just put in concerning and regarding is because concerning also has another meaning it means that you're worrying about something so I did not want to uh include that I wanted to know again that specific meaning for this you're you're talking about some subject concerning your question regarding your question um so we can also put in something like this all right uh if somebody says you know I have a question concerning or I have a question regarding let's put that in there all right so let's change this um so I'm going to put a question concerning all right comma a question regarding because you can put that in like I have a question concerning Do you have a question concerning do you have a question regarding let's see how often these are used okay again as it shows you can see it over the years all right people use uh a question concerning I have a question concerning is a is a bit more common than a question regarding but again they're very very similar I was surprised because personally I think I use regarding more often than concerning but either one they're both FES so this is again a great resource if you want to know how frequent different phrases are being used or different words but again it needs to be specific so let's check out the next one in terms of and with regard to this is basically talking about something specific but you're talking about it in relation to something else so for example check out these sentences we give our customers the absolute best in terms of quality and cost that's my specific all right we give them the absolute best in relation to this other thing in relation to Quality and cost in terms of in terms of quality and cost the these are also interchangeable with regard to we do our best with regard to customer service we do our best with regard to customer service so again if we want to look and see you know well which is more common what what do people use let's go back to our engram viewer and you can see I just put those in in terms of is right here all right this is the big one boom many people use it with regard to is not is not as common so most people if you're talking about which one to use in terms of would be much more common uh commonly used than with regard to however I I think both of them are okay they're going you're going to people will understand you it it's not a problem if you want to use one over the other it's not like using as it's not like using as as a conjunction which you rarely ever find and you Pro you may not find it so again either one of these would be okay so I wanted to answer those questions uh from our patrons and this is I want to do a Q&A every month and now I want to if you guys have questions write those to me in the chat and I will I will try to go through and answer some of them the only thing I would ask you is try to make the questions very specific if you have a specific like how do you pronounce this word or what does this mean or is this sentence correct something very specific uh so that I can do this and try to answer those questions now if I can't I'll try to find the information for you because again I do not know every single thing about the English language it's always changing it's always growing and that's something I think is is great about English I am learning something new every day and I hope you guys are learning something new as well and then you can share that with each other so um how do you pronounce the word uh sentence so sentence has two syllables sentence all right I think that stress sentence the stress would think it would be on the first syllable sentence all right so that that's a perfect question some people would ask questions like tell me the all 12 verb tenses and it's like that's just too much so if you guys have some questions um uh right now write those in the chat and I'll just run through and try to talk to you a little bit about it but I'm so happy you you guys are joining me um again like sand great that's a very general question sand please tell me how to speak English fluently that is what so many of you want to learn again I will give you my quick explanation try to get as much exposure to the language as you can and what I mean exposure is like it's like you're creating an English bubble so that you are surrounded by English you are reading English you are listening to English you are speaking in English and you have so much exposure you start thinking in English and if you are in another country that we're English is not uh the language that is being spoken try to make an effort to surround yourself uh by English and do a little bit each day try to read a little each day try to listen to some music each day start watching a TV show in in English try to make an exercise to where maybe you're cooking lunch or maybe you're making lunch or cooking dinner and say okay while I'm doing this I am going to think in English and really start training those muscles muscles and that's going to help you achieve fluency so whoa okay um let's see uh what's the difference between tall and long so again if you're talking about tall you're talking about the height all right how high is something that is a tall building long would be an adjective describing the length all right we traveled a long way you traveled a far distance um all right Jalissa how do you say Cooperative all right so again uh Cooperative I would say some people I'm trying to think of British Cooperative they might say that o sound more in that first syllable Cooperative but I'd say Cooperative that stresses on that second syllable Cooper Cooperative cooperative and again that you have like an unstressed syllable in there it's kind of like saying Wednesday you don't hear that NES Wednesday Cooperative I don't think you know people aren't going to say Cooperative uh Cooperative so good question um greetings from Toronto yes greetings Amy hello uh exactly keep uh visit on time so I can speak well yes exactly thank you for listening to our video again if you guys are listening that really if you're listening a little bit even you're listening to these lessons right now that helps you especially because so many people say I can understand your speech I've been teaching uh for about 15 years and I think I just end up speaking slower this is my natural speech I don't sometimes people are like why don't you speak faster and it's like well this is the way I talk right now and I I think it works out um what's the difference between freedom and liberty uh I think again I I think in some cases freedom and liberty they can be interchangeable I I think freedom is more all-encompassing it's it's definitely much more common all right just let's I'm I'm kind of curious now so let's go back over to our uh where is it where is it where is it where is it um I'm going to go back over to our engram viewer freedom and liberty let's put those in let's see what it says uh I imagine freedom is much more common noun than Liberty freedom and liberty uh Yes actually yeah it's it's used much more often when I think of uh Freedom you can be talking about I think a lot more things in general Liberty I think of something more related to your freedom in the country political Freedom something with governance um you want to have Li so boom all right um is there any difference between outskirts and suburbs um I I would say yes and no all right the location is the same if you're talking about the outskirts of the city uh the suburbs of the city suburbs suburbs is the outskirts okay the difference is when you say suburbs I know what you're talking about it's not the countryside it's not the same as the countryside I I think of the suburb as a residential area where there are homes maybe there's a shopping mall but you're not going to have tall buildings that are downtown in a city now if you say outskirts then I know you're talking about outside the city but I don't know exactly what the area is maybe it's the suburbs maybe it's the countryside I really don't know you're talking about the outskirts so keep that in mind they're talking about the same location but suburbs would be more specific because then I have an idea of the area that you're talking about uh let's see um how do you pronounce uh sheep and ship all right that's a good one sheep and ship uh those are two um you have that short I sound uh ship and versus the long e sound sheep all right sheep and ship and we did a another pronunciation lesson where we talked about minimal Pairs and trying to identify certain certain vowel sounds certain consonant sounds that and we did some activities I don't know if you didn't see someone I'm looking it up right now because I want to link that for you guys and I'll put that in the chat but it takes some time to load is it so again ship is that um is that the the short I sound ship uh and sheep is the long e sound so let me see where is it um I'll pull that up none iation okay and I will link that in the description in just a moment okay so you guys I I highly recommend um who asked that question I highly recommend you you check that out um it it'll really help you okay somebody said uh how can I sound like an American I think one of the great things um if you're trying to speak English with a certain accent I like an American accent or a British accent I would try and say imitate the accent that you wish to hear or listen to the accent that you wish to hear so the more you surround yourself by with an American accent then you're you're going to start picking up American pronunciation the way that we pronounce certain words tomato instead of tomato so it's just these small things but I'd say surround yourself by American English and that is the best way to to kind of start internalizing that accent all right how to pronounce uh antibiotics all right antibiotics so it him antibiotics so that stresses on that bi antibiotics all right antibiotics I don't again I think maybe British English might be a little different pronunciation um but in American English antibiotics um let's look so here is let me give this for you guys here is the minimal pair for pronunciation uh I do some activities in this lesson as well which I think I I thought it was really cool I was very proud of myself for this lesson so I'll link it right here soon as this loads copy and boom it's going in the chat right now uh you guys can check that out that pronunciation lesson uh Juan hello Wes how are you I am very good Juan thank you so much for asking um so let's see what other questions I know I'm getting behind sorry if I'm skipping around um want to talk to you uh yeah Ira linking words is very difficult yes this is something that's very common um talking about linking words connected speech and I think in the future we're trying to put together a lesson uh that talks all about that uh franccesco says yes practice every day practice makes perfect again you need to practice practice practice and I think it's good to mix it up somebody else asked about how to become fluent in in English it's good to have passive learning and active learning when it's active what I mean by that is that you have to respond right now I I tune I do lessons and I ask you guys to interact and write stuff in the chat that would be an active exercise you have to respond passive would be you're just doing this thing for for entertainment for for your own Leisure and you don't have to do anything so for example listening to music music would be just a passive exercise you don't have to summarize it you don't have to give another response you're just listening to it for your enjoyment watching TV watching a movie so I think it's good to mix it up between passive exercises and active exercises to continually practice practice practice um so actually than might and may I that's another one I want to address in an actual lesson in the future so I'm to stick with that um and but that is that is a good question all right um but I think often times again most native speakers might and may we we use them uh interchangeably uh and I don't think people are going to um say too much about it if you're you know switching them up like uh I may go outside today I might go outside today I think is fine um is it possible to speak like a native um yeah absolutely I think again some people are gifted with languages and pronunciation others are not I know that when I try to speak Spanish I think I definitely have a thick accent but again the more you're exposed to the language the more you are practicing and speaking the language and get comfortable with it I think your accent will tend to diminish it might not completely go away and that is fine that is perfectly okay but it it'll tend to diminish over time uh let's see I heard another one uh David says here and here those are homonyms all right so for example here I'm talking about I am here right now or here like you're listening to something so again homonyms are words that different meaning same pronunciation so again they're they're great to learn um so that you recognize them but the best way to do it you really have to put it into context um let's see what do we have here ah okay how do you pronounce uh it depends so close all right if you're talking about close the door c o l c l o e close the door all right that also sounds like clothes like what you're wearing so that is the same pronunciation close the door or I'm wearing clothes if you're talking about proximity somebody is close then that would be a different uh that would be a different pronunciation like oh you're standing very close all right so it's a difference between that close all right that final s sound close and close all right close the door I'm wearing clothes and you're standing close uh what else do we have all right can you suggest a good book all right I say this to Learners all the time um read at your level all right don't try to read something that that's super difficult if you can just try to read just above your level so that you don't have to run to the dictionary if you think that you are still at a beginner to intermediate level read children's books I think it's fine you can get through that you'll still learn new words and you'll maybe uh you're not going to have to go to the dictionary every time the other thing is read something that you're interested in it you know I could tell you to read about sports maybe you're not interested in that so that's not going to help you find something that you are interested in whether it's Fashion sports food and and find reading about that because that's going to keep you engaged in what you're reading you're going to want to learn more information about that uh I think it's great to always use English to learn something else so if you're interested in food watch a a TV show about food and that way you're learning something about food while you're learning English as well or when you're reading something about food you're learning while you're learning English as well so um please make a video homonyms yes uh maybe that's a that could be a good live lesson in the future what's your favorite song um it really switches I don't know if I have a favorite song as I do like a genre for example I'll go through a period where I listen to like a lot of rock and roll and I'll listen to uh more like rock like lead Zeppelin Rolling Stones and then depending on where I maybe if I go on vacation to the beach I'm listening to Ree and then I'm listening to Bob Marley so a lot of it depends on the location where I'm at and what I'm doing would be my my musical preference if I'm running I like to listen to something like upbeat I might listen to some pop uh to to really to really get me going oh that's a great reading story somebody just s The Little Prince yes that's another great story not too not at a very high level um but that's another one that that could be a good reading recommendation Little Prince um how do you pronounce whole and whole again homonyms same pronunciation whole w h o l e and whole uh h o l e whole I ate the whole I ate the whole pie all right you ate all of it or I need to dig a hole pronunciation is the same um you guys are very welcome I know some of you thank you thank you guys for joining us I I love the community that we've been creating I love before these lessons start I see all of you guys chatting like where you're from what are you doing what's your name um and and that's great because this is what we want to do and just build the community and you guys interact with each other and can communicate and ask questions and in the future when we start doing we're going to start doing some online classes that is going to be a mix of videos and live lessons and we really want to form a community when we do those classes so Olivia have you ever been um to Ukraine no unfortunately I have not and we're we're pretty close right now because we live in Budapest it's on our list it is on our list to visit um but right now especially with the little one uh little Amelia we don't have as much time to travel uh but in the future we we want to travel a lot more especially with her cuz I think travel is such a great way to get exposure and to learn about other languages to learn other cultures and it really broadens your your view of the world I think it's such a good thing and I commend you guys that you guys are here you're trying to learn English and you're learning about culture you're learning another language it really changes like again it's like creating a new personality you're really changing yourself um so what else do we have again somebody said yes there and there again those are homonyms t h re and t hir uh the possessive uh hello uh hello Ty I'm from Indonesia what's up thanks for thanks for checking out today's lesson um Sava ask uh miam how much time should I spend regularly to learn English um that's a good question I think what I would say is try to learn a little each day some people I I've met students before and they would come and ask me they say do you think I could learn English in three months if I study for 10 hours a day can I learn in three months and Studies have shown that if you there there gets to be a point where if you're studying so much a day you're not able to absorb all the information because language learning it's I I always say it's a marathon it's not a Sprint it's it's a long it's a long-term activity and I think I know everybody has a busy life people are working um you're you're in school you have other things going on in life you can't take four hours five hours to study English each day so even if you could set aside 10 minutes 10 minutes each day to try and do something I think it really helps and then then it goes back to okay how am I going to schedule those 10 minutes try to do something different spend 10 minutes one day reading spend 10 minutes another day watching videos online spend 10 minutes another day studying a grammar concept and spend 10 minutes another day just trying to think in English and you can do that from anywhere if you're riding the bus going somewhere and say okay I'm going to think I used to do this all the time when I would I after work when I lived in California I would walk home sometimes it would be it and it was like a 40-minute walk I just enjoyed walking it kind of just calmed me down it was a little like meditative but while I was walking I would try to to you know tell myself okay I'm going to spend the next 10 minutes just thinking in Spanish and everything that I was looking at I I was describing in Spanish I was trying to think about my day what do I need to do when I get home and I I was just trying to focus on thinking in Spanish and I was making mistakes because I was talking to myself but that was okay I was still practicing I was producing the lens language so there's many great things that you guys can do um when it and it doesn't take a long time too so um thank you guys did you visit India no again it's on our list um Yana's sister was just in India she was telling us all about it and it really we really really want to go uh deamen oh the cry may be crying yes I don't know if you guys could hear yes she was she was crying just a second ago um but we will we will give her a kiss from all of you thank you um maeta says how do you announce okay those are good words some math words I think you made a comment about this uh earlier um and I was going to make a note for it so we have quadrilateral all right quadrilateral and parallelogram quadrilateral and parallelogram so parallel uh then you have that schah parallelogram parallelogram five syllables par parallelogram and quadrilateral quadrilateral um wait I'm trying there we go quadrilateral five syllables again quadrilateral parallelogram so yes and if you want you can if you want to hear me say that again you could watch the review later and and just keep listening to it again because again that's the best way to do it you if you want to practice your pronunciation do shadowing listen to somebody say it and then try to repeat it and then try to say it at the exact same same time and just again mimic that voice it's called the imitation technique and you're basically mimicking what somebody else says so again thank you guys so much for joining me this is something I I hope to do every month and just answer your questions and if you want to become a patron and I'll make some slides uh for for your questions and actually uh make it a part of the lesson you can check out our patreon page the link is in the description but thank you thank you thank you uh for joining me today please if you enjoy this like and share this lesson write us questions we love hearing from you guys and I just want to give a shout out to you guys that are here still uh VJ Andre Esther thank you so much for joining at Kamar Rosalinda star night um neolin thank you guys for being here today Loi I really appreciate it little little little peon thank you Olivia ashes yeah all right I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your day wherever you are in the world whatever time it is have a wonderful day um thank you Ira jelle uh Mohit ala the list just goes on and on love you guys thank you for being here I will see you next time so long --- ## 409. LIVE: Q&A with Interactive English + Big Announcement | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YRaDzaqiJ3k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRaDzaqiJ3k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:40:55 | --- so blue it is very blue what's up everyone welcome to this live lesson which is more of a Q&A and hopefully yeah hopefully you guys can tell us if it's really if it's working or not and you can hear us because this this is the first time that actually the both of us have done a live lesson together so this this is a first of many so if you're joining us again write your name say hello in the chat we want to hear from you guys even if you're watching this later write your name tell us where you're from we we just just love hearing from all of you guys so today we're gonna do a bit of a more of a Q&A type thing and just talk to you a little bit about ourselves talk about some future plans plus a big announcement so hello we got some people Christelle sod sekime hello welcome we will probably tell you the big announcement in about what 10 15 minutes we want to give more people time to join the lesson because I know it's it's kind of growing but hello Mohammed Mildred Mustapha ah sorry sorry if we miss some of your names but we'll try to acknowledge everyone but if you guys have some questions write them in the comments especially if they're questions about us questions about English questions about us yeah but we're going to answer a lot of questions about us I think today definitely yeah probably like maybe not really specific grammar questions or anything but it's just general a general question about learning English or if you want to know about us please ask that in the the comments and we will try and get back there yes start writing them and then as you guys as you ride them we're gonna go through them and try to kind of get a a way to answer them so yeah so to to give you let's should we give an introduction kind of because I know some of you we've I've already done one lesson and we've talked about ourselves and how we met but we kind of want to give a little recap so do you want to tell us about ladies first yeah yeah yeah so I mean we're obviously our channel is called interactive English because we are English teachers if you are wondering why we're doing this is because both of us are English teachers I started teaching English in 2011 so a while back and I I'm not if you were wondering about me I've mentioned this in a few previous videos but if you're just meeting me hi my name is Jana but I'm not a native English speaker I learned English when I was very tiny you're basically a native speaker yeah I mean I mean I'm at that level but I was born in Romania and then moved to the US when I was 15 and have lived there for fifteen years so half my life there but I already spoke English before so and we met at his teachers at a at a school in in California somebody had asked we were working at the same school yeah so new yen asked what state do you guys live in that's a good question cuz right now we were from the US we're from California which is where we met but right now we actually live in Budapest Hungary so we're not living in the United States at the moment but we I'd say we are from California yeah so you you've mentioned how you got there to give you a little more information about me about myself I've been teaching for about since 2006 so it's been 12 years now he's older you guys that's a little it's a little older so I I started teaching I've taught in several different countries South Korea Namibia the Dominican Republic hello to anybody out there if you guys are from Korea the dr or namibia and then afterwards I moved to California to to get my masters and I my master's in teaching English to speakers of other languages and while I was there that's when we were working at the same language school and that very tiny language we met so I'd say we're from California but right now we live in in Budapest yeah so and and since then like what what we've been in Budapest and we've been working on this yeah so if you guys yeah if you guys know us if you guys have joined these live lessons before let us know hit that like button we like like getting those likes yeah so let's talk we want to talk about before we before we jump into the big announcement sorry I made the face because I'm holding a cat and she blob word all over me we have a visitor right now right here she's just sitting in my lap but she was drooling please somebody else okay I'm gonna address a couple of these comments where are you guys we're in Budapest Hungary right now Melissa asks I appreciate learning of course I understand you're fast speaking excellent that's good listening practice a lot yeah a lot of people I think because we're English teachers we may speak a little slower but I always think we we always hear people say I completely understand you guys but it's more difficult to understand a movie or TV and I think that's because we do maybe speak a little bit slower but I think that shows you that's a good good thing to do is to keep listening at your level and always challenge yourself with TV and movies but if you guys can understand everything that we say that's awesome yeah I also think many times in movies and TV they do tend to because it's it's they're trying to keep the the you know the person who is watching like interested sometimes they do speed up so it's not always at conversation level what you see on TV if you're wondering like why can't I hear it well sometimes like they are rushing to comes a lot of slang a lot of idioms so the comprehension is a little more too um runic mesmero he said do you guys have what's app many of you have asked us about this we currently were not on whatsapp but if we sign up for whatsapp we will let we will let everybody know but we're not using it right now we're basically we're using YouTube Instagram Twitter Facebook I don't know if we can handle using another platform even right now we're staying very very busy with this I mean I mean we love you too hello from France Giselle English is so easy to understand excellent anybody who had asked Oh Polly said the big announcement is your marriage close we actually we got married we're married we are married we've been married for about a year and a half we got married last March of 2017 we got married in New York City it was a very very small ceremony very nice but yes we we are married so yeah somebody asked me and do we speak Hungarian actually no it is a challenging language right now because I would say I'm trying to learn Romanian that's another good segue we can talk about some of the languages that we know and speak so I feel like I'm proficient in Spanish my Korean is basic it used to be better but then when I moved I stopped using it as much and now I'm really focused and learning some more Romanian and trying to improve my skills in that language so if you are learning English with us and you're trying to learn a language I understand what you're going through and the challenges and the frustrations and just the time and the dedication that it takes to improve your skills so what about I know you speak more languages well I was going to say one cool thing about you know learning a second language is that the more languages you learn the easier it becomes to learn other languages because you kind of your brain just opens up and and it's very very nice way to absorb and your language plus since it's really good a brain development so it really helps our minds so if you're wondering like oh I'm having trouble with English like why I don't want to learn another language do it do it even if it's just in the beginning stages because it's always nice to it always helps and somebody had actually commented before is when they were they were learning English in another language and they were saying they were having difficulty because they keep confusing the two and I responded and said like you know that's that's absolutely okay and that happens all the time and I actually think it's a good thing because it shows that you're trying to focus and concentrate on those two languages yeah thanking in in the other languages which is what we all want right is you want to think in English when you're speaking English you want to think in Spanish when speaking Spanish and so on yeah and you're kind of exercising that muscle to start trying to transition over to whatever target language you're trying to learn and practice and so I think it's a good thing but that happens to me a lot with Romanian we were just in Romania and I mean trying to speak Romanian I automatically sometimes I just switched to Spanish and I just start throwing words out it's like wait a second here yeah yeah so that's it's again it's natural but again try to learn as many languages as you guys can so hello just Gibson see if you just and what's up jasira hello hello thank you guys for for joining us so today we're just having a little bit of a conversation and Q&A so this is good listening practice and should we go ahead and share yeah the big news that we have that we wanted to tell all of you guys which is you can you can me yeah yeah you let it let everybody know some of you might be able to guess we got a cat no no it's not our announcement yes our big big big big big announcement it's super life-changing if you guys are following us for a while and you know we got married last year now we have another life kind of changing announcement is that we are pregnant we're having our first babies so yeah this is a big big life-changing event we're very excited we're super excited what else it just so when you're due in January yeah so our baby is going to be a January baby just like its mama um like mom I should say because it's a little girl so we're we're very excited yeah thank you guys thank you jr. thank you Gibson Mildred thank you guys so much we really appreciate it thank you all of I mean we just were thankful for all of your guys love and support whose baby I was so yeah this is it's it's really it is really life-changing I think because we you know just a lot going on now a lot that we need to think about a lot that we need to do and carry yeah it's a little bit it is it is very frightening too and a good frightening I should say but yeah and it may change a little bit about what's going on with our lessons here and how regularly we can do it but but that's okay I think that's just it's part of life I think in the future we would like to make this more of a full-time job if possible and we're gonna come out with some some courses and maybe do some classes for for listening and thinking in English we have we have a lot of things we would like to do it's just finding the time to do everything which i think which i think is everybody's problem out there is like so much that you to do that you want to accomplish and just finding the time to do it and you know now we're gonna have another a family member who's going to join us on on this adventure so that is the big news that we wanted to share with you guys and thank you guys so much for yeah for all of those wishes a little maybe a little yeah a little interactive English teacher so somebody said to it I missed who it is but to to help to make our baby speak French that's actually well not French but we do want our baby to speak well we're going to so obviously we're going to start with English and Romanian and I want Spanish to spend it like honestly we wouldn't we want our child to get exposure to as many languages olive as possible because I think there is such a value in learning another language and when you do it as a child I think it's just it's that much better to start younger somebody asked you ns is this your first baby yes this is our first child so there's going to be a big learning curve I think for us we have no idea yes we do want to teach our little girl as many different languages as possible so that is something that is a priority but was the same for us yeah we'll start with English and Romanian and and then we'll see from there depends where we end up living - I think what other language somebody we're kind of looking through more questions do you want your baby to be a girl or a boy it honestly doesn't matter I mean we know what it is but it wouldn't have mattered either way as long as it's a healthy human being I think with both you yeah really happy but I think she wanted a girl and I did want a girl um yeah so yes may ask yourself is it a girl yes yes yes she's a girl so I'm very happy I would have been happy either wage yeah yeah aurorus have you been to Brazil no we have not been to Brazil very sadly want to go always wanted to go actually I was there very shortly oh you when I traveled to foz de iguazu on the Brazilian side only there for one day but but really I haven't but we want to so when we do go to Brazil though it's gonna be the family be all events yeah be all of us do we Mildred s do we know the name yet we can't agree well no not that we can't agree we just haven't finalized yeah we haven't found the name they would've like okay we're in love with was tossing around some ideas still for the name so the name five months four months to this side yeah we still have some time but probably the next time you see this we still won't have a name and mine somebody asked which country were from Adi said are you both Marion yes we are from the United States from California somebody else asked where we live now right now we do live in Hungary I mean she has two homes yeah from Myanmar welcome to me yes we would love to visit me and Mark the food we've tried some food at different restaurants when we were in the US and the food we've tried is amazing so I definitely really really want to visit so shared with you guys that big news if you guys have any other questions or comments about us or about learning English or another thing why we have all of you guys here that we always want to know are you know what are the the types of lessons that you guys want to learn more of we try to cover a variety between like grammar and listening and pronunciation vocabulary and some are more popular than others but you know let us know to what what you guys are interested in learning more whether it's what do you feel like you're missing medium at phrasal verbs we're trying to do also more actual activities that to get you guys speaking do we have any Hungarian friends Aryan friends while we're here yeah you do a lot of suggestions actually thanks for your suggestions I'm gonna look through them and see if if it feels right I go a lot by feeling these days does it feel right mm-hmm so I want to learn daily conversation and slang okay yeah that's something that's actually kind of a new type of series we're starting with yes general conversation similar to at a normal pace yeah similar what well kind of we're doing a general conversation today but actually just choosing a topic and talking about it phrasal verbs idioms expressions thanks for letting us know little peony sorry if i mispronounce names I mean is that please introduce a book for conversation I'm not sure exactly if if what you're talking about like a conversation book if you're one book that we have which we would use for like speaking classes it was called compelling conversations so it basically just gives you a topic and a list of many many many different questions that you could practice answering so I don't know if you're a teacher and you're looking for a book that's gonna help you just for speaking or something it's called compelling conversations it's a good book a bunch of questions Jr wants to learn more vocabulary we have some more of those lessons on the way more conversations Eduardo excellent we will try to hit up on all of this but right now like I think our plan is to continue doing we have our Tuesday lessons that we always try to do and then the Saturday live lessons which we will continue we're going to be traveling some next month so probably during that time we may not do the Saturday live lessons while we're gone a few weeks but otherwise we're gonna to try and maintain that schedule doing Tuesday normal lessons and then Saturday live lessons so almost a lot of questions like maybe what a podcast somebody asked oh that's something yeah he's very excited he's recently gotten into podcasts so he listens to them on his runs yeah I I get all these ideas and see people doing it's like oh we should do that oh yes let's do that but actually she's like wait slow down there's no time yeah because we're all over the place sometimes but we did think about maybe in the future we would like to actually start a podcast and in the podcast like it may be something next year because like I said we're right now we're working on some online courses that we want to run out there for you guys we're working on some other classes that would be more live street life classes and the idea for a podcast that we might do something that is more more conversational yeah of us just talking about our lives and certain topics that you guys could get to know us a little better and would be great for listening and not necessarily a podcast about you know specifically learning English that would be more about our YouTube channel and the podcast would be kind of more about us and just talking about a lot of different topics I think so Kim asked if we enjoy our jobs yeah of course absolutely we love teaching also I believe that all teachers love teaching most most teachers because usually it's not something that's a profession that you go in it for the money yeah it's just usually you do something because you really like to do it I've always thought like especially because I know some people some of you out there are probably our English teachers as well and I've always thought that like passion is something that's so important because and what I mean by that is like passion to willingness to learn exactly passion that you're so interested in it that you want to learn more that you want to share with the students and then you want to continue learning that's super important and and you you're passionate about seeing other people learn and improve their skills because I've always thought to myself that as soon as I stopped caring about students or my job or learning then that that's the point where I need to find a different job a different profession because if you stop caring and you don't have any passion for the work then I think then that's the time to like start looking for something else to do I think Adi was asking our favorite pieces of literature so right now most of the things we're reading are are just I've been reading a lot of more like just business development books marketing like trying to think how we can grow interactive English as an actual school because we've we've kind of built this audience on on YouTube and Facebook and Twitter which if you guys have not checked us out on Instagram you to our Twitter Facebook we post questions it's a good it's another good way to practice yeah but yeah so now that we've developed all of these different you know this this audience about actually kind of putting up a school around it so that's something where you just ER asked if we have ever tasted Indian food Oh have we well I don't know I mean we haven't been to India but we've loved Indian food that you can find in other countries like here or the US and yeah it's like on my favorites Faizal asked what the relationship between you two so if you guys don't know we did an introduction at the beginning my name is Wes my name is you wanna we are we are married and we are English teachers and the big news is we are having a baby this January so just to recap yeah mister joining a little later so we're trying to sift through your through your messages Milagros were you living now right now we had mentioned we're living in Hungary me the address I love your name but even though we're from California that's where we met but we're in right now Jackie Thank You Jackie we really appreciate it thank you so Oh more unique actually Sushma to shock Ahmad more unique adjectives yes we're doing more lessons on advanced vocabulary lessons for advanced adjectives nouns verbs that's another series we definitely want to continue and keep teaching you guys Oh Nadia asked if we're going to make a video about the vocabulary of young parents and everything about babies I was actually thinking about that would that be interesting to you guys would you be interested in such a video i I think we should do I was gonna say you pray you guys probably will see some or baby related lessons or something I mean there's so much I'm learning it's like a whole new other world yeah so I think that would be useful for a lot of our our viewers to also learn like how do you call these things in English because it's it's kind of a it's a whole other language at times it seems yeah yeah of the raw man how can I improve my English using movies okay I was gonna I was just gonna say like a big way to do it first of all I mean obviously yes watch something in English maybe something at your level like don't do something that's too too difficult to understand like there's some movies that are highly conversational that and fast that can be maybe too hard or their movie that are movies that are way too easy like all these action movies and where you don't have enough conversation so you want something in the middle but also to to put on the subtitles the English subtitles and follow along I think what really helps is many times if we're not used to listening angle to English and the pronunciation of a word when you hear it said by somebody native and in a sentence because it changes is different than what you expected so it's really useful to hear it in like a long sentence or in a paragraph because people native speakers shorten these all the time and we link words differently and the intonation is different so yeah it expose yourself to as much content as you possibly can that's what I was gonna say I think like when it when you think about learning with with movies and TV or music a lot of times its passive learning and the reason I say it's passive is because the we're just watching it or listening to it for fun and for our leisure and we don't have to do anything we don't have to respond to it and it's good to get that exposure especially if it's just something you enjoy if you want to make it more active and challenge yourself then you can give yourself some type of assignment that you need to do so if you're watching for example a TV show like friends and you say okay I'm gonna watch friends for this 25-minute show and I'm gonna see if I can identify some different idioms or phrasal verbs then you make an inactive exercise and you give yourself something to do and you're giving yourself something to listen for so it depends on what you want to do with it if and I'd say try and use it for both because the more exposure the better you don't always have to make music or TV or movies and active exercise and and just use it for just pure pleasure and and just is language exposure so there's different ways you can use it if you want it to just be more passive learning or active learning and we always encourage both I was going to say if you're looking for something more challenging like if you if you're advanced and they're looking for okay like how can I train my listening if you're looking for a show to watch I recommend Gilmore Girls because it is so fast they even said that when they did that like you it's it's faster than than a regular TV show that the the characters speak really really fast so that's a really good way to train yours but that's really advanced so if you're wondering and there's a lot of pop culture I think your the office fans yes yes somebody else has about like improve listening and reading and somebody asked you listening is connected to speaking I would say yes all of those all of the language those are connected when you think listening and and speaking and reading and writing and as well as thinking because that's kind of at the center of all of this so again I think sometimes people think that oh if I want to improve my speaking skills I only I just have to speak and it's not true yeah you can improve your speaking skills if you're improving your listening skills and your reading skills and building your vocabulary it's all going to help you the next time you try to speak and have a conversation because you'll be able to use more words you'll be able to use correct grammar so all of it is connected yes thank you for saying we resemble Jim and Pam you were watching the office last night actually watch it too much I've seen we've seen this series like seven eight times we I wanted to be a Halloween costume but this guy because we met in the office we did we met at work yeah yeah so but yeah he didn't listen um sir so can you suggest some movies to increase okay honestly I think I think any when people asks for recommendations for movies or books the one thing I always suggest is do something find something that you like yeah you're interested in because I might give you a suggestion and say hey watch a documentary and some people are like gosh I really don't like documentaries so I don't think that really would help you so if you're interested and whether it's sports or fashion or thing I am or yeah anything like see if you can find something that or fantasy like Harry Potter find something that you're interested in I think that's going to help you the most because it's going to keep you engaged in what you're doing and that's that's very important so any I think any movie that as long as the topic is something you're interested in it's going to help you and then again it's up to you if you want to make it a little more active and turn on the subtitles and try to identify words you don't know or or grammar or anything like that so you teach us more advanced words yes we will continue teaching more advanced so a couple English a couple questions about fluency and I'll tell you my advice like how do I become more fluent or can you become fluent without moving to the u.s. it's very these are very good questions by the way I will say maybe to look at fluency as a process and not as an end result because it's not like okay like I hit this point and then I'm fluent it's just something that you can always work on and yeah of course absolutely Giselle you can definitely become fluent without moving to the US I know so many people in that are my friends in Romania that are that are fluent they've never stepped foot you know in in the US or or other places it's just about practice so what what you need to do is is I think a daily practice and the reason I say that is because with languages we if we if we kind of leave like I used to be almost fluent in Italian at some point and I stopped for many many years and then I kind of forgot it all so that it happens like that with languages um so I think if you if you if you challenge yourself to practice something every day or often enough I think that you can get there but give yourself time and be kind to yourself don't put that pressure like I need to know this this this I think that harms your progress sometimes I was gonna say cuz that's a common question that we get and I think it's a misconception that people think oh I need to go to the United States or the UK I think the most important thing like you said is practice and exposure is exposing your system language speed and I think that's the reason why many people go abroad is to get that exposure so that when they go to the grocery store or when they're on the bus or wherever it is they're constantly hearing like English and nowadays especially with technology I mean think about now you guys have been watching us listening to English for the last half hour and you understand it's possible to get that exposure without going to traveling to the United States or the UK I think it's always good if you can go to some places and travel and get that exposure not only for the exposure but then you get to learn about the country and the culture and I think culture is also tied into language quite a bit that's important which is important but I think in general you can absolutely learn somebody else who's taken high hopes next week some tips back yeah good luck if you guys are getting ready to take IELTS or TOEFL the one thing I'd say especially if it's getting soon just make sure that you're familiar with the the exam before I'm at exactly like because it's it's fairly specific the types of you know the the reading sections on these exams what you're gonna do and then the questions you might get the listening just make sure you're familiar with the format and I saw somebody ask I don't know if is the same person but asking about like why they can't improve their writing score because it's always 6.5 I was going to say they have a very specific formula for the IELTS they you kind of need to follow and the best way to prepare for it honestly is write as many essays as you can in the time time yourself no no no I was gonna say not only writing but reading because you guys you can go online and find like the questions that they would ask you for IELTS tests and then online they'd also give you like here is the ideal answer mm-hmm and read what those answers are because then that's gonna kind of show you the style like what they're looking for and I think if you can read those responds read those answers then that's gonna help you to when it comes time to writing because you'll be more familiar with and I'm gonna tell you what I tell all my students they don't care about what your reasons are for something they just care that you give reasons that support your argument that and and because so they don't care your position like they're logical you agree with uniforms or not or whatever they don't care they really don't care they just care like if you don't why you don't and for those reasons to make sense okay so we gonna we have to go we kind of got a jet because we are going to try and film two lessons today this afternoon right are likewise and we're starting to lose some sunlight so just to recap big news we're having a baby in January so we're very excited about that and we thank you guys for all of the congratulations thank you so much yeah being here for being a part of our community we really appreciate it if you guys like our lessons and like what we do please hit that like button write us comments because we always love hearing from you guys and we will have a lesson for you on Tuesday and then be back next Saturday for another live lesson and we'll see what the topic is so thank you guys for joining us hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and we'll see sure your day --- ## 410. LOSE YOUR HEAD | Advanced (C1) #Idiom to Build Your #Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qA-a7NqTuBE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA-a7NqTuBE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:57:00 | --- and you completely lose your head lose your head this means to lose control and not act calmly because you're upset you're angry and often you're going to use this idiom when talking about troubling situation you try new tactics this late with this much at stake and everyone loses their heads now this idiom may sound similar to another idiom lose your mind but that has a slightly different meaning if you lose your mind you become mentally ill you become crazy so I want you to be able to differentiate between those two idioms lose your head lose your mind sometimes I truly fear that time losing my mind and then you know what you're KN for a loop --- ## 411. LOVE VOCABULARY โค๏ธ | Words and phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ANN3RJw_864` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANN3RJw_864) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:07:26 | --- advanced phrases for the language of love. I think this is fitting seeing that it is Valentine's Day and I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day. But if you are someone who enjoys learning new phrases, building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English and it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. For those of you who have joined these lessons before, I think you already know that. Now, I say the less the the phrases are advanced, even though I'm sure you're familiar with some of them. They're very common, especially I think when it comes to love. That's a pretty popular topic. But my goal with all of these lessons is that you you learn something new. And I'm confident that you're going to learn something new in this lesson right here. And of course, if you want to download these notes that are right next to me, you can join our community and you will get a copy of these notes. If you've if you're already a part of our community, check your inbox there. Uh there is an email waiting for you with these lesson notes. I'll go ahead and throw it in the chat right here, but check out that link down below in the description. So, without further ado, let's jump into the lesson. And of course, I want you to participate. This is interactive English after all. Write your answer in the chat or write them in the comments if you're watching this later. I always love seeing people write their answer in the comments. Use it like a a piece of paper as you're taking this mini quiz about these advanced phrases. So, this I want you to fill in the blank. There are two missing words because we're talking about a phrase. I have a mm you. What phrase could complete this sentence? Now there there may be more than one phrase, but let me make it a little more specific. And the meaning of this phrase is it it refers to a strong but temporary feeling of liking someone. And that is the key word. I think temporary is the key word when it comes to this phrase. I have a m you I almost said the second part of this which I I think would have given it away and excellent. I see some great answers. Perfect. Uh Julia. Uh who else do we have? Keva. Nice. I have a crush on you. So if you have a crush on someone, I've given you the meaning right down there below. You have a strong but temporary feeling of liking someone. Keep in mind that you could also say that someone is your crush or his crush or her crush, which is the the a person with whom someone temporarily loves. So think about this situation. I would say I have a crush on her or she is my crush. So it could be used both ways, but this the meaning is the same. Often I feel like people are going to say that you have a crush on someone and that is a I think a common phrase when talking about dating especially when we're younger and I think we always Yeah, there are people that we have a crush on. What do you think about this one? She did not she did not know that she had a again there are two missing words. This is a common collocation. These words are frequently used together. And you I I imagine you've heard of this before watching a TV show or movie. This is something that comes up especially around Valentine's Day. Think about the picture. She's holding this. Let's say it's a letter. Even though I don't think if you look closely, it doesn't look like a letter. or it looks like some type of uh notice or announcement, but you would say that somebody has a what is the missing noun? Great job, uh Lai Julia Al. Secret admirer, Manuel. Good. So, a secret admirer, in case this is the first time you're hearing about this noun, is a person who is romantically attracted to someone else, but they they show it in a secret way. They don't want to reveal their identity. So they may do this and express their feelings by giving gifts or writing letters. And you have a secret admirer. Then we have this question. This is I think a little more challenging because it's the title of a song by John Paul Young who sang this song in 1978. Great year. It was the year I was born. So if you want to know how old I am, you just got to do the math. But the the song would you would say this phrase which is quite common everywhere I look around every side and every sound. I don't want to sing the whole song. I'm a terrible singer and I don't want to do that to you. But what what expression? I I'll say it's an expression because it's one that someone would say when they're commenting about the atmosphere or the environment. Any guesses? This is again the title of a song by John Paul Young. It's a it basically is a sentence that you would just use and you would say I don't have any guesses. Oh, there it is. Nice, Ella. Good job. Love is in the air. So when somebody says they they say this statement, love is in the air, it's this sense of romance or a loving atmosphere or this feeling of love. So it's like if you have two friends that you think are going to maybe they like each other, you think they'll start dating. You could make this comment, I think love is in the air. Something may happen between these two people. Love is in the air. I told you that this was a song by John Paul Young. If you want to check it out, if you get the lesson notes, this is a clickable link right here. You click on this image, it's going to take you to the the video on YouTube, and you could listen to the song. Again, it's an older song, but one that I feel like you may hear in in a movie or TV show. It was quite popular at the time. How about this one there? I blanked out a few different words. So, it says, "Every girl wants a night in shining armor to m her murm. A fairy tale ending can exist if you believe." I think this it seems like this was part of a kind of like a a card. Now, I've I've gone ahead and given you a a night in shining armor. This is a phrase that you could use to refer to someone who would t usually be a man who saves or helps someone else, usually a woman in this case from a difficult or dangerous situation. So you could say, "Oh, he is my knight in shining armor, like my hero, somebody who helped me uh rescued me." And again, you could use this generally today to talk about, I don't know, maybe somebody helps you with a project at work and like, "Oh my gosh, you saved me. You're my night and shining armor." But that is not the word that I want or the phrase that I want you to complete. I wanted to go ahead and give that to you. But your night and shining armor to m her m her what? Here's a hint. And maybe now this this may make it a little too easy, but this is an idiom in English that you could use to I what I don't want to give it away, but you see these two images right here. You see the the broom and then this person's feet. So you could try to piece together the idiom every girl wants a night in shining armor to anybody the answer to sweep her off her feet. So in this case, if you sweep someone off their feet, it's an idiom that means that you you make suddenly or suddenly become very attracted to someone in a romantic way to sweep someone off their feet. So that is again an idiom you may hear from time to time, especially nowadays, this time of year, Valentine's, you turn on the TV, a lot of shows are related to that, movies. So you may hear definitely some of these advanced phrases. This one bonus points if you can name that movie. I love you. Now this is not I don't expect you to you could give me the quote from the movie but the idea is insert nickname here. I want you to let's all think of different romantic nicknames that you could have that you may have for someone you love. What are some things that you could call the person, your partner, your spouse, your wife, your husband? What are some nicknames that you could give them? So, there is no wrong answer. This is just trying to get the vocabulary juices flowing. I'm going to give you some of them, but there are others that that you could use as well. And I think some are more common than others. I love you. Now, in the movie, there's a specific word that um he uses, Tom Cruz, right there. And I'm sure some of you probably recognize it. Maybe you've seen it. I see some uh good answers in there as far as sweetheart, honey, uh bae, sweetie. Nice. So, here again, there for this one, there's no wrong answer. These are just some different romantic nicknames that someone may have for their partner. In the movie, the the the thing that they kind of joke about was that he always says like, "Oh, I love you, babe. I love you, babe." And this movie, Jerry McGuire, uh, in case you haven't seen it, but again, I wrote put some down here as far as babe, darling, sweetheart, honey, sugar, boo, doll, handsome, baby. There there are many of them. Now, one thing I would say is that these are nicknames for your partner, your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, somebody who you are in a relationship with. Do not use these with a colleague or a friend. It could be very awkward. These are romantic nicknames. And again, it depends on who your partner is. Some people may not like a nickname. So just because you are seeing somebody does not mean that you are always going to use one of these nicknames. Just keep that in mind. As far as which ones are more common, I want to give you a little bit of a reference. Here is engram viewer. Comparing the frequency of darling, sweetheart, babe, and boo. Just those in particular. And as you can see, darling, I think is a little more commonly used. Now, this may not be entirely accurate because I think sweetheart, babe, boo, those are definitely nicknames. Darling could be used in other context as well. For example, I grew up in the south and it would not be uncommon if I'm at a restaurant and I don't know, a waitress comes up and says, "Hey, what can I get you, darling?" And they use this just casually with, you know, a customer. So some of the other ones I didn't include like honey for example then you would have people you would have it referring to honey as well as like the food or sugar things like that. So I didn't include those but just as a reference you can see darling is pretty popular as well as sweetheart. Now, I I wanted to kind of walk you through a situation with these fill-in- thelanks, and I was trying to think of like, okay, who could I use, and I didn't I I figured I'd just use my my my wife, and I just use myself as an example to talk about some of these different idioms and expressions and phrases. So I would say when we first met we really what there are three words in this phrase. It means to like someone and become friendly immediately. So when my wife and I first met, we really what I thought this was going to be a little more challenging, but you guys seem to have gone right through it. Well done. uh um Manuel Ava Kev Julia to hit it off. So if you're talking about two people that become friendly immediately, you could say they hit it off. Now this could be used in more of a romantic context. You go out on a date with someone. Oh, we really hit it off. Or you could use it just to talk about a friend. It doesn't even have to be a romantic relationship that you meet someone for the first time. you're out somewhere and wow, we became friends immediately. We really hit it off. So, it could be used either way. Just keep in mind, but it's a good phrase when talking about becoming close and friendly immediately. And that's the key word. You you have this quick connection. The next one, I would try to m her at work. Now, this is a verb that you're often going to follow with this preposition in this context. Now, I'm giving you the dictionary meaning down here. I would maybe I would disagree slightly with the meaning and I'll talk about that when I I give you the answer, but what would you say? So, again, I I I met her. we we work together and maybe to show that I'm maybe a little interested that we're friendly and I would try to her at work. What phrase could we use to complete this? So in this context, well done u pela flirt with to flirt with someone. So this is a little more friendly. Now I told you that this is the dictionary definition down here. The one thing that I would disagree with necessarily. It says like you're sexually attracted maybe a little bit, but really I think flirt is it can be more of an innocent word to show that you kind of like someone, you enjoy spending time with them, and maybe there could be the possibility of a romantic relationship. I think sexually is a a little bit of a strong word. And then it says, "Although not seriously, I feel like when you're talking about flirting with someone, the it's implied that you kind of, you know, you you're interested in this person. You like them, and maybe, yeah, you want to date with you want to date with them." One thing I want you to keep in mind with this, I'm using it as a verb to flirt with someone, but we could also use this as a noun and an adjective. I thought I would go ahead and give you the rest of the words in the word family. And as an example as to how they're used in context, here are some news headlines like to flirt, how to flirt using your body language, or referring to someone as a flirt. Dear Abby, would he cheat or is he just a flirt? And then as an adjective, saying that someone is flirtatious. Blind date. I got friendly, flirtatious vibes for the first for a first date. So those are some examples as to how you would use these different parts of speech in context. But this is a again a word that I think uh is is quite common. All right. Shortly after I fell in love. So we met each other at work. we would, you know, flirt with each other and then I could say shortly after I fell in love. I think part of the the a hint with this one is looking at that verb to fall and then the final part of this sentence in love. This is another idiom that again a love idiom when talking about love and relationships. And you would say someone would fall m in love. And great job. I think you guys know this. I'm sure you've heard of it. Ava Vidya Julia. To fall head over heels in love. You fall suddenly and deeply in love with someone. It's really just a way of emphasizing that you are you have fallen in love with this person. Oh, I fell head over heels in love. and you're adding that emphasis. Eventually, this is a this one's maybe a little more challenging. I'll be impressed if uh if you get this one. Eventually, I was able to m her and we got married in New York City. And this is true. This is one of the pictures from uh our uh wedding day, March 6th, 2017. The anniversary is coming up. So, this is not a phrase. It's just a there's a verb that's missing. So eventually I was able to m her and we got married in New York City. Now I see that many people when you probably think uh the the word marriage, you think of that verb to propose. But keep in mind if you're going to use the verb propose, you're going to follow that with to. You propose to someone. So in this case it wouldn't really work. So instead of propose uh again I was trying to yes I think little uh bit of a spelling but yes I think some of Taylor via the the answer is to woo someone to woo. W it basically means to you gain the love of someone especially with the view of marriage. So if you are trying to woo someone, you're trying to you know have this person fall head over heels in love with you with the idea that you will marry this person and you are trying to woo this person. It is not the most common verb in the world. Maybe it's new, which again, that's great. The idea with this lesson, these lessons, is that hopefully you always learn something new. So again, if you It's a very precise verb. Somebody's trying to woo someone else, get them to fall in love, and then you will eventually marry this person, to woo someone. And then this picture we just uh you can see we just finished that half marathon right there. So after we got married I could say now I refer to her as my what once again this is there are other sure there I think there are probably numerous words that you could use to fill in this blank right here. I'll try to give you a hint that it's an idiom that we're looking for. So again, I know I see like, you know, soulmate, life partner. Sure, that would work. That would complete the sentence, but I'm specifically referring to an idiom that you would use when talking about your partner. And you would refer to this person informally as your what. I think this is an idiom that you may have heard before. Uh again, if you're someone who watches a lot of TV or watches many movies in English, you like the the romantic comedies, those romcoms, you would say that you would refer to someone. Oh, I haven't seen the answer. I'm going to go ahead and tell you guys better half. So, if you talk about someone's better half that you're basically referring to your partner, your wife, your husband, uh, and it's like you're kind of saying that, you know, you are one half of the relationship. And it's kind of a compliment saying, well, this is the better half. This is my better half. Uh, my my partner, my wife, my husband. And you could use this informally if you're introducing, you know, if I'm introducing my wife to a group of people, I say, "Oh, I'd like you to meet my my better half." Uh, and you could then use this idiom. So, those are some that I thought I would just use giving as an example my own relationship. It's a true love story, Romeo and Juliet type of stuff. But, uh, let's look at the next part. Now, I want to go through these quickly. I am giving you a picture and I want you to tell me what phrase do you think of? What am I showing you? Again, these are phrases. Some are more difficult than others. This, I think, is a little easier, but there's one specific thing that I wanted to point out. Of course, you know that those are flowers. But if we wanted to quantify those flowers, what quantifier am I going to use? Well done, Lai Manuel. A bouquet of flowers. A small bunch of arranged flowers is a bouquet of flowers. Keep in mind this word was borrowed from French. French. So the pronunciation bouquet. A bouquet of flowers. Nice. This one maybe you'll get this, maybe you won't. So if you're familiar with the TV show Friends, you see the character Joey. That was one of the catchphrases from this show, How You Doing. And he would say this when I guess what what was he doing when he would say this catchphrase like to another uh another girl like hey you know how you doing? I tried to it was difficult to actually find a picture that I feel adequately captures this phrase. So it this one may definitely be a little more challenging. But in this case, he is saying this to show that, oh, I'm interested in you. I like you. I want to take you out on a date. So, in that case, you could say that he was hitting on someone. I again, I apologize. It's probably not the best picture to try to elicit that phrase, but to hit on someone, this is a phrasal verb that means that someone is making sexual advances towards someone and they're hitting on you. And this could be if you're out at a bar, some guy is telling you, "Oh, you're so beautiful. I really like that. You're the most, you know, you have beautiful eyes. You're the most beautiful person in this bar. Can I buy you a drink?" and this person is just hitting on you and they're making these sexual advances. So, this is a phrasal verb you can listen for and use um if you see somebody doing this thing. The next one, again, it's not a phrase, it's just one verb, but I think the picture gives it away. I think it makes sense that uh you see this person playing music for these two ladies and what verb really captures that what is happening in that case. Excellent. Good job la keva to serenade someone. If you are serenating someone, you are singing or playing music for someone, especially a man who who plays for a woman he loves. I think the stereotype of someone serenating another person would be uh at nighttime the guy is playing music and she is up looking out the window of her home or apartment and trying to serenade this person and impress her. Uh so that one I think uh you know capture captures that verb well. This is one that well I'll see what you guys come up with and then I'll I'll tell you a little bit more. So there's one thing in particular that I I want to think about like what I don't want to give it away. So just looking at the this picture what are those what are those people having? They are having a what? And I tried to, you know, put it right in the center there. They are dating. They're out on a date. Sure. But think about the the light. What kind of dinner is that? I mean, you know, it looks like the sun is setting. They have those candles. It's a romantic date. It is. But I think what I was going for was a candle lit dinner. Well done, Lilly. Great job. So this is a meal which again illuminated by a candle to create a romantic mood. Now you could say candle lit dinner or candle light dinner. Both of them are okay. But it's really trying to set this romantic mood. If you are having a candle lit dinner, a lot of times you go to a fancy like nice restaurants, it can especially ones that try to be a little more romantic. It can be a little dim, but there are candles on the table and that is the mood that they're going for that you're going to have this candle lit dinner and it's going to be romantic. This I thought was funny. If you want a good laugh, this is a candle lit dinner American style. You can see those McDonald's uh it looks like those are chicken burgers with the candle right there on the iPhone. This is the American uh candle lit dinner I think in in many households nowadays. How about uh this one? Once again, this is just one word. It's a verb. Looking at that picture, what verb comes to mind? And I think this is one that's more common. So I wouldn't say this is necessarily an advanced verb, but one that I think is descriptive and that you should know and you should be able to use when talking about someone or describing what's happening, especially if they look like this and they're doing this. So the verb that we're talking about um is Wow, nice. Good job, guys. Everybody, to blush. If someone is blushing, and you might often use it in the continuous tense to talk about right now, at this moment, someone is blushing, they just become a little pink or red in the face, either because they're shy or they're embarrassed or maybe they have a crush on someone and that person found out and they're like, "Oh, no, no." and you just get red in the face and you'd say someone is blushing. It's a useful word. So, here is a little review some of the the phrases that we talked about in this lesson. It's a mix of idioms, expressions, phrasal verbs, and I think again they're very useful in this context of love and relationships which is I think helpful um with uh Valentine's Day. These are words that you may come across. So, of course, right now, if I can if I can get this working, I want to know how you did on the quiz. So, I'm going to put this in the chat right quickly, right? Real quick, and you can tell me, well, how did you do? That's my question for you. How did you do on the quiz? Um, I love it. Let's say that would be 100%. Um, I'm flirting with the quiz would be maybe let's say that's 50%, trying to get a little review with these questions. And uh, what's another option that uh, I could use? Um, all right. If I were to say love is not in the air and that would be maybe you need a little more work on some of these 25%. Okay, so there's a poll. Let me know how you did. Which one? If you say I love it, that mean that tells me that you did a great job. You got most of them correct. Or if you were just flirting with the quiz, you know, you're getting friendly 50%. And then if you say love is not in the air, then I know, okay, you learn maybe a lot of new words and phrases, and that's good, too. You're building your vocabulary. And of course, if you enjoy these quiz lessons, if you did learn something new, I would love it. I would be, you know, head over heels in love with you all hitting the like button. That tells me that you enjoy these vocabulary lessons. You're learning new words and phrases, which is the goal after all to continue building your vocabulary. So, let's see what are the the results are, I think, a little mixed. Um, that's good after 20 votes or so. So, I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of the day. Always write to me in the comments. Uh, I love hearing from you. And of course, I will be back uh at some point in the near future with another lesson to help you reach your fluency goals. Thanks for joining me. And --- ## 412. Learn & Practice English with Listening Games | Fun Activity for Learners | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `l_NXp123Wrs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_NXp123Wrs) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:46:43 | --- Right now, we are on a road trip. Let me...oh I can't turn it around. We're on a road trip, and we are going to play a game. A road trip game. You can do this at any time if you have to practice your English with your friends, do this game. Wes, what is this game? Wes is driving. The game is...I think usually 20 questions, but we're just going to do it with 10. We're doing 10 questions. Each of us is doing a person and a place. So basically, we are thinking...one of us is thinking of a person or a place. And the other person has to guess in 10 questions. Ten...I can't do because I'm holding phone. But in 10 questions, they have to guess what the other person is thinking about by asking questions. You can only ask YES or NO questions. You can only ask yes or no questions. And if you want to do a final guess and you guess it wrong before your 10 questions, then you are out of the game, I guess. It's kind of hard to lose this game. It's not hard to lose. I've lost before. What do you mean, "if you're out of the game?" What happens then? Nothing...I guess. Do you have to get out of the car? No, you don't have to get out of the car. Okay, so I think we're ready. We both have our... We each have one person in one place that we thought about so we're going to start. So listen in and see if you can guess with us, okay Are you ready? You want to go first or... Like me too...you want me to ask me questions first. I'll ask you, sure. Okay, so Wes is asking me questions, okay. This is the person or the place? Is this your first question? No. I'm asking which one so I kind of have a better idea. This is my place. Okay. Is it...is it a place that's in Europe? No. No. Is it in North America? Yes, so that's questions...two questions so far. Is it...is it man-made? Is it a tourist attraction? It can be. Okay, how many is that? Three. Is it a city? Yes. That's four. Have we been to this city this year? No...yes. Yes? Yes, that's five. Is it...is the Statue of Liberty there? Yes. That's six. It's the Empire State Building there? Yes. That's seven. Is it called the Big Apple? Yes. That's eight. I wonder what it could be. Is it New York City? It is New York City. There we go. He got it. How do you feel? Do you feel like a champion? No, not really. Okay...okay, okay so it's your turn. So let's do the person. Okay. The person I'm thinking about. Okay. Is it somebody that we know personally? Nope. Is it somebody who's alive today? Nope. Is it like a famous historical figure? Nope. What? Is it like... Why does it have to be a historical figure? I don't know. I just thought you'd choose somebody who's a historical figure. So a dead person. Is it a singer? It was a singer. Obviously. Yes. Was he a male? Yes. Okay, was he a famous...was he American? Yes. Was he famous in like the 80s and 90s? Yes What number am I on? You're on seven. You got three more question. Okay, did he sing Thriller? Yes. What am I on? What number? Eight. Okay... Did he also sing Billie Jean? Yes. Who are you thinking of? Elvis Presley? I...no, no. Is he Michael Jackson? Yes. You got it. Yay, I got it. So then, I will guess your person. So you have to give my person, okay. Okay. Go ahead. You ready? Is this person alive? I think so. I don't know. What do you mean you don't know? I don't know. I have to check. Can I switch my person? No, I'll try and guess it. It's very bad that I don't know. That's also revealing. It's also very bad that I don't know. I...I think I should know this. Is this person.... I don't...he might not... Is this person American? No. I mean...no. I might have to choose another person. Is this...is this person... Is is this person a historical figure? No. Is this person an actor? Nope. Is this person a singer? No. What question am I on? I didn't count. Let's just say two. No...I would say four. Is this person... Oh, this is very bad. Is this person in politics? No. Maybe it's too hard. I can choose another one. Wait, wait, wait...is this person... It is a it is a real person, yeah? Yes, of course. Is this person from somewhere in Europe? No. Somewhere in South America? Yes. Not a singer. Not an actor. Not a politician. Not a historical figure. Is this person...and somebody everyone would know? Yep. Is this person a famous criminal? No. Wait, what number are you on...like eight? Like four. No. It's...no. Is this person from Brazil? No. From Argentina? Yes. Come on. Oh, it's a...it's a woman. No. Dude, you're like question number ten. Is this person an athlete? Yes. Oh, okay. Maradona? Yes...that was was like 15 questions. But is he alive or no? I think he's alive, yeah. I wasn't sure. I'm going to edit that out so it looks like... I figured. So it looks like five questions. Yeah, sure. No, I thought I...I thought I said athlete. No, you didn't. Okay, so this is your place. Yeah, yeah...location...place. Okay, so is this place... ...in Europe? Nope. Is it in North America? Yes. It's like our two continents. North America. Is it... ...in the United States? Yes. Is it in California? Nope. It's not in California? No. Is it like a small place? No. It's pretty...it's pretty big. Is it as big as a state? No. Okay. Is it as big as a city? It's in a state. Yeah, possibly. Yeah. That's like six. I don't know. So, it's a city I'm guessing. Nope. That was a question, wasn't it? No, it wasn't. You said it's as big as a city. Yeah. But not a city. Not a city. What? It's a place. Is it in New York? Nope. Is it like a body of water or something? No. I dont... I don't know. What do you think? I don't know. I'm out of questions. We're fairly close to it now. I don't know. Or we were close to it. I give up. It's pretty grand. How is the Grand Canyon as big as a city? The Grand Canyon I think is bigger than a city. The Grand Canyon is huge. What, you don't think so? We were there last year. I know. Why are you so sad that you didn't get it? I didn't get it. What does that mean? I'm pulling the car over. You've got to get out. What? Why? No. Hope you guys were better than I was at this game and were able to guess... ...to guess the places and the people correctly. Since we are on a road trip now, we want to know where you'd like to go or where you like to travel. Let us know in the comments. See you next time. Bye. And safe travels. --- ## 413. Learn All 12 Verb Tenses + Mini-quiz | Grammar You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QFvMCgbRG4I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFvMCgbRG4I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:11:41 | --- right now i want to teach you all 12 english verb tenses and then i'm going to give you a quiz to see how much you've learned and how much you remember so let's first talk about well how do we get to 12. so in english there are three main tenses that refers to time we have the past the present and the future and then there are also four aspects and that refers to the state of action and those are simple continuous perfect and perfect continuous 3 times 4 is 12 so we have 12 verb tenses now i'm going to tell you a little bit about each verb tense i'll give you an example sentence and then we'll take that quiz so let's begin with the present simple so the present simple can be used in a few different ways generally it's used to describe actions that are habitual and when we talk about these habits quite often we'll use an adverb of frequency like always usually sometimes rarely never i could say i always ask you to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel that is that's a habit that's something i always ask you to do and i really hope you do like and subscribe to the channel because that way i can become your teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english is all about it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals we use the present simple to talk about facts fire is hot that's a fact fire is hot and we use the present simple to talk about scheduled time in the future now this one can be a little trickier because we're talking about the present simple but now we're talking about something in the future and this is actually quite common when we refer to a certain time and something that is scheduled so i could say the movie starts at eight o'clock it starts in the future but i'm using the present simple the movie starts at eight o'clock now let's talk about the past simple which is used to describe a finished action in the past and often there are some key words that really indicate the past simple like yesterday or last week or last year or a long time ago if i were to ask you uh what did you do yesterday you hear yesterday and you should automatically start thinking past simple i could say a long time ago i taught in south korea that's true that's a long time ago it's finished i taught in south korea anjangaseo to anyone out there who's watching from korea the next one it's a very important verb tense we we just talked about the past simple so i want to stay in the past and talk to you about the present perfect and this one it can be challenging because not all languages have a present perfect tense but when we use the present perfect we're going to use the verb have plus the past participle so with unfinished actions you may find words like for when talking about a duration of time or since when talking about a point in time and i could say we have lived in hungary since 2017. if talking about finished actions people commonly use this when when talking about experiences uh i could say we have been to berlin it's it's in the past it's finished but we also don't know when so whenever you're talking about those experiences it's very common to use the present perfect or we could use it to talk about something that was completed in the recent past and in that case i could say we recently traveled to italy you can see us right there i like this verb tense it gives me an opportunity to share some some family photos with you now living in another country or just traveling to another country has really taught me the value of learning another language and i i know that you are here watching because you would like to improve your english and i want to follow up on that with a very important announcement and then we'll continue with these verb tenses it's something that's happening right now in the present but it's really about your future and achieving english fluency because right now lingoda is having an incredible end-of-year promotion where you can get 40 off their english courses yes i said 40 and if you don't know about lingoda it is an online language school where you can learn english business english spanish german or french and you can get 40 off all of those all you need to do is click on my exclusive link down in the description and i am very familiar with lingoda i have worked with them a long time i have even studied with lingoda you can see me right there taking a spanish class and it really helped me build my speaking confidence as well as improve my pronunciation so because i have studied with lingoda i can tell you about all the benefits these are small group classes which means you can get a lot of speaking practice they have 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improving your english skills which is the gift that keeps on giving now let's move on to the future and talk about the future simple which is used to describe an action that that happens in the future and expresses fact or certainty and when talking about the future simple you're going to use either will or be going to previously i did a lesson talking about all the differences between will and going to and i'll leave that up here for you in case you're interested but uh i could say yeah i think it'll rain tomorrow so that's that's an example with will and going to all right the united states is going to win the next world cup okay i have a tough time saying it with a straight face but i just i got to be supportive so yes the united states is going to win the next world cup just just wait the present continuous so we are going to use the present simple of the verb to be is am are plus the verb and ing and we use this verb tense when talking about actions that are happening right now and they're not yet finished so if i were to ask you what are you doing you could say that you are watching this lesson we use the present continuous to talk about temporary situations or habits so if somebody were to say well this month i'm working from home that's a temporary situation we also use this verb tense when talking about annoyances so if somebody were to say you're always asking me for help and in this case you may hear people use words like always or constantly when when expressing that annoyance and just like the present simple we can use this tense to talk about the future but not not a time an arrangement something that that you have planned uh i could say i'm leaving on a jet airplane don't know when i'll be back again and bonus points if you can tell me who sang that song let me know down in the comments and then there's the past continuous and we're going to use the past simple of the verb to be was or were plus the verb and ing so we use the past continuous to refer to continuous actions that happened at a specific time in the past or actions that were happening when some other event occurred and we used the past continuous with story backgrounds i could say the sun was shining the birds were singing it was a beautiful day so with story backgrounds you will often hear the past continuous or overlapping actions they happen at the same time she was working while he was cooking dinner both of them happening at the same time we use the past continuous we can also use this if we're talking about a change of mind we were planning a road trip but the car broke down right something we were planning but then we we changed our mind now let's go back to the future and pardon the movie pun but i want to talk to you about the future continuous so we're going to use will be plus the verb and ing and we use the future continuous to refer to a continuous action that's happening at a given time in the future or actions that will be happening when some event occurs so for a given time i could say a week from now i will be sitting on a beach it's not true i wish it were true and for an overlapping action then i could say while you are shoveling snow in your driveway i will be sitting on a beach and and notice that you have that future arrangement with the present continuous while you are shoveling snow in your driveway i will be sitting on a beach and you often hear statements like this when talking about the future while you are doing something i will be doing something else and then we have the present perfect continuous and we'll use have been plus the verb and ing and we can use this with unfinished actions to refer to an action that started in the past and continued to the present and once again you may use this with words like for and sense i could say i've been waiting for the bus for 30 minutes all right started in the past it's continued to the present and just to add one more thing about this verb tense it's likely going to continue into the future that that's another key part of the present perfect continuous we can also use this tense to talk about a past action that just finished so say that i walk outside and it's wet everywhere i could use this verb tense and say well it's been raining it's not raining now it finished in the recent past so i could use the present perfect continuous it's been raining and then there's the past perfect in which we'll use had plus the past participle and this refers to two actions in the past and really just shows that one happened before the other now the past perfect is often used with a dependent clause that's going to begin with a subordinating conjunction like when or before or by the time but just keep in mind that the past perfect is going to be used in the independent clause so i could say when i arrived at the office the meeting had already begun it's not a good situation and then there's the past perfect continuous and now we're getting into more advanced verb tenses so we're going to use had been plus the verb and ing and we use the past perfect continuous to refer to an action that started in the past and continued to another point in the past and we're going to use the past perfect continuous in that independent clause and i could say i had been working at the school for a year when i met my future wife all right i had been working there for a year it continued up until that point when i met my future wife that is a true story you can see see us right there and i like to tease her because she just started working there and observed one of my classes and i joke around and say that she saw my class and was like wow this guy can teach that's so hot i should i should probably edit this out but yeah whatever let's continue let's continue with the future perfect so we're going to use will plus have plus the past participle we use the future perfect to talk about two actions that happen in the future and it really just shows that one action happens before the other so i could say by the end of next year you will have achieved your fluency goals because you will have watched all of my video lessons so just go ahead subscribe turn on notifications so that you'll learn about all of my video lessons in the future and last but not least we have the future perfect continuous we're going to use will have been plus the verb and ing and we use this verb tense to talk about an action that happens in the future and continues to some other point in the future and i could say by 2067 i will have been teaching on youtube for 50 years and okay that's that's a long time so now you know these verb tenses you know how they're used you've seen some example sentences so let's put your knowledge to the test i am going to give you some sentences without the verb tense and i want you to think how would you best complete this sentence i'll give you a moment to think about it and then i'll tell you the answer so let's begin with our first one right here wes um broccoli okay i'm giving you the verb how would you best complete that sentence um broccoli i hope that you used the present simple to complete it and say wes doesn't like broccoli it's true broccoli and i we have a bit of a contentious relationship the next one it's a question what um around eight o'clock last night okay i'm giving you the subject and the verb it's a question what um around eight o'clock last night a couple things going on you see last night you should think past there's a specific time which is continuous so i hope you use the past continuous what were you doing around eight o'clock last night at eight o'clock last night i think i was taking a shower all right again pass continuous then we have this next one i um to india but i hope to go in the future i um to india but i hope to go in the future okay so in this case we're talking about an experience so you would use the present perfect i have not been to india but i hope to go in the future and that is true i really do i haven't been there but i hope to go in the future then we have she um to brazil a long time ago she um to brazil a long time ago the key word in this sentence a long time ago you see that you should think past simple she traveled to brazil a long time ago i'm sure you got that one right so here is the next one by the time i got to the stadium the match by the time i got to the stadium the match [Music] so i talked about that phrase by the time already that that is a key indicator of the past perfect by the time i got to the stadium the match had already finished had already finished past perfect and then i have one more question for you how long um in line think about the context in which someone would ask you this question how long in line so we're talking about something that started in the past it's continued to the present and will likely continue into the future and you would use the present perfect continuous how long have you been waiting in line so i hope that you did well on the quiz you can let me know down in the comments and i hope the lesson was easy for you to follow and that you now have a better understanding of these 12 different verb tenses if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time so long --- ## 414. Learn Awesome English Vocabulary....at IKEA! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qVfve_uYuKY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVfve_uYuKY) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:46:56 | --- So today we are going to take you on a little field trip to.. So the reason we are at IKEA is...first off we needed to buy some things. But we figured that we take you with us because we wanted to teach you some new vocabulary words that you would find in and around the home. But not only that we wanted to show you these vocabulary words. So let's go inside What is this? It's a grill, an outdoor grill but it's inside. Couch or sofa. This is an armchair It's actually really comfortable. So this right here is a coffee table. And it goes in the living room usually next to a couch or sofa. This one is pretty cool because it has drawers that pull out. So these guys are called coasters. And their purpose is to put a drinks on them. So you don't stain in the furniture whether it's hot or cold then it will keep your furnitures safe. Plus they will kind of cool. They're 195 forints. Why not? Do we need them? We're getting some. So these things are called shelving units. and they're just little parts of a shelf that you can assemble and put together. Bookshelf. It's where you put your books. So we don't need one of these quite yet because we don't have a baby. But for when we do, this is called a crib for the little baby. And this is the changing table where you change the baby. This is... the oven. So the oven is where you would bake stuff. And the stove up top is where you would heat stuff up. So this is a cupboard. This is where you keep your cups and your plates. These are boxes Nothing super special about these, but this is actually one of the things we came to buy. This guy right here in front of the chair is an ottoman. And this is for putting your feet up. Are you comfortable? Not really. I'm making myself at home here. These are some of my favorite glasses... the shot glass. TV. But technically speaking, it is a flat-screen TV. So these are some of the less known kitchen tools. This is a strainer. Mallet...oh, this side. It's a mallet. Shower curtain. Toilet. You may already know these. Got the spoon. The fork. And the knife. But together, we call them silverware. Cushions. These are bar stools. So these things are cutting boards and you use to cut up... use them to cut up fruits and vegetables and... We're going to get one today, but we need a bigger one. Refrigerator. Or you can shorten it...just say the fridge. So this is called Tupperware. It's one of those cases where the brand became the product because The main brand of these used to be Tupperware, but now all of them are called Tupperware. Swivel chair. Okay, I'm dizzy. This is a vanity mirrors. It's where you get ready. Did you know that the pillows that go on the bed are called throw pillows? Slippers. Loofa. It's for the shower. This just never seems to end. Should be we get one of these? You can't come to IKEA without trying the Swedish meatballs. You ready to keep going? Yes. We are leaving the showroom area. Into the actual store. We're going into the actual store. Finally entering the real store. Now we buy everything. These are pans. And they're called pans because their surface is shallow. It's not very deep. This is a pot. And it's different from a pan because it is much deeper. Cheese grater. Oven mitt. What's funny is that there's so much stuff in here, there's actually a few things that we're not 100% sure what you call them in English. Pitcher. Oh, it's a... It's...it's a.... I think it's a hook. What do you call it? A hook. Sure. They're so weird. This is something that we need. Hangers. This is a laundry basket for hamper. Lamp. Lamp shade. This is a welcome mat. That you put in front of your door. This is a rug. It's smaller than carpet because it's just a smaller piece. So this is a frame. It's where you put a photograph like all of these. I think we just about got everything. We still need to get the chocolate at the...at the register. How are you doing? Are you confused? Boom! So we hope you enjoyed our IKEA outing and even learned a few new vocabulary words as well. And... In the comments below write something that you need for your home, whether it's sofa or a pot or a pan just write it in there. Remember sharing is caring. And we will see you next time. Bye! --- ## 415. Learn English & Stay Motivated ๐Ÿšด | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Yeo879Yjogg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yeo879Yjogg) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:48:37 | --- Today, I want to talk to you about something that will really help you with learning English. Yeah...it's... It's this. So a little while back we got a question from somebody on Facebook who asked, "How can I keep motivated studying English every day? And that's the question that I would like to answer for you right now and talk to you about motivation. So this video lesson could be very useful for both English teachers as well as English learners. Well, first what we have to do is find out what motivates people more than anything else. So when it comes to language learning there are two types of motivation. Intrinsic Motivation & Extrinsic Motivation Now, both of these can be important to a learner success at varying stages. So let's first take a look at intrinsic motivation. There! Okay. So, intrinsic motivation is learning a language because you really want to. You have a strong desire to learn the language and everything comes from within. Some examples of intrinsic motivation might be, you're getting ready to travel or go live abroad and you really want to learn the language so you can talk and communicate with other people. Another might be a job opportunity that is available and you may need to speak or be proficient in this language or that language in order to have a chance at it. Another example might be you want to talk with girls who speak that language. So for example, when I was first learning Spanish I was getting ready to go live in another country And...and...yeah, that's...that's the reason. Okay, maybe you know... I figured it would be nice to...to be able to meet some other people...maybe some girls? Hello my love. You are my life...my heart. Your smile shines brightly like a star. Okay, to be honest. It didn't work whatsoever. But it did motivate me to learn the language and that's my point. These are all intrinsic motivations that come from within. Intrinsic motivation is very important. Because if you don't have it it's a lot more difficult to learn the language because that just means nothing from within is truly motivating you to learn more, to want to learn more, and to try to improve. I told you I can only show you the door. You have to walk through it. So, if you're not sure what type of intrinsic motivation you may have, you should try to identify it. And you can do this by by thinking about things that you are honestly interested in. Maybe you're interested in cars. Maybe you're interested in cooking. And you can use these other interests to provide some kind of intrinsic motivation for learning the language and using those language skills. Next, let's take a look at extrinsic motivation. Now, this type of motivation is when some external or outside factor is motivating you to learn the language. Maybe you're doing it for some type of external reward. Or maybe you're even doing it to avoid some sort of negative consequence. You people have not given Private Pile the proper motivation. An example of an extrinsic motivation might be a language that you have to learn at school. In my own case, when I was in high school I took German. I took four years of German. And now, I really don't know much. You...sprechen zie English? And I think a lot of other people can relate to this. That when they were younger and in school, they were required to study this language or that language. And now as they've gotten older, they don't really remember as much because they didn't have an intrinsic motivation at the time to want to learn that language. Another example of an extrinsic motivation might be preparing for exam. They're doing it just because they have to. Because it is a requirement for university or it is a requirement for work. So when you only have an extrinsic motivation, then it does become a little more challenging to try and learn another language. I would like to buy a hamburger. I would like to buy a hamburger. Hamburger. Hamburger. Hamburger. I would like to buy a hamburger. Maybe we should stop. We don't quit. We do not quit. Again! Again! Let's take a look at both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and compare the two. Because they do go hand-in-hand to some extent. Intrinsic motivation...I said it is super important because the motivation comes from within and because of that people are more likely to stay with what they're learning. They're not going to give up They're going to keep trying to reach new goals. As for extrinsic motivation a lot of times this helps us get started because we don't all try to learn something new on our own. Often there are external or outside factors that are pushing us in this direction or that direction. So extrinsic motivation can really be useful in getting the ball roll and get us moving forward. But once we start moving forward, then we need to really find what motivates us intrinsically. What are some motivations from within ? And once we find that, it's just going to help us reach our educational goals. And it's going to help us get to the level of proficiency that we would like to have. It's no surprise that a lot of times in classroom settings teachers will rely on extrinsic motivation in the form of some sort of reward. Today we have a very special treat. You just don't want rewards to become the sole driving force behind a student's motivation. The real key is to understand your students. Try to understand their interest and use that to motivate them intrinsically. Because the extrinsic motivation will only take them so far. So whether you're a teacher trying to work with other English learners, or whether you're an English learner and you just want to find it on your own, ask yourself, you know, "Why are you doing this?" Getting a job? Going to university? Traveling? Learning and understanding people of different cultures? Dating? It's not what I do...but hey... What is motivating you to learn this language? What are some things that can motivate you? What are some of the interests that you already have? And use that to help better your language skills. I hope you have a better idea as to the role motivation plays in learning another language. So now I'd like to hear from all of you. So in the comments, let us know what is motivating you to learn English? Is your motivation intrinsic or is it extrinsic? Or is it a little of both? Oh, and I want to remind you to join our social media classes. It is another great way to practice and improve your English skills. And can be used as a form of intrinsic motivation because a lot of us are using social media anyway. So thanks for watching and we'll see you next time --- ## 416. Learn English with Friends - Ross & Rachel Sex Tape | Improve Your Listening | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_iZ8ZiFrOiE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iZ8ZiFrOiE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:09:59 | --- today you're going to learn english with one of the most famous tv american sitcoms ever made and i'm talking about the show friends and we're going to watch a scene from the tv show friends and i'm going to pause it from time to time and and talk about some of the things that that you just heard we'll talk about some of the the reductions that they use it's very common in spoken english some of the informal phrases as well as connected speech such as linking and i will also talk to you about well why some of the things that they're saying why it's funny so if you would like to improve your listening comprehension then please subscribe turn on notifications so that you'll learn about future lessons and then i can become your teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english it's all about trying to help you practice and improve your skills so before we watch the scene let me let me set it up for you let me tell you a little bit about the context so the characters the the group they're talking about a sex tape because two of the main characters ross and rachel they they got together and they were unknowingly recorded and the situation the conversation they're having it's a little bit of a debate as to well who who came on to the other person first was it ross that started it or was it rachel and they're trying to decide whether or not they should watch this tape in order to learn who who was the first person that initiated this so let's uh let's go ahead and well let's let's watch it together you don't want to see this do you hell yeah i am not gonna show you this no okay so right right away you probably heard those reductions she said the very first thing she said you don't want to see this do you so instead of saying want to it's getting reduced to wanna you don't want to see this do you and of course monica responds hell yeah and this is an informal phrase it's really just emphasizing yes that this is something you want hell yeah and then rachel responds using another reduction when she says i'm not going to show you this so again instead of going to it's going to get reduced to gonna i'm not going to show you this now before i play this next part the the character phoebe she's getting ready to say something and i want you to listen for this word right here okay just listen for this one not the sex part just the stuff leading up to it forget it she's destroying it okay fine fine we'll just have to think of some other way to put the whole who came onto who thing to rest come on now think okay so i i told you to listen for for that word because this is an example of a lision and that's part of connected speech this is when a sound uh gets removed so she says just but you don't hear that t she said not the sex part just the stuff leading up to it so even when i said it right there you don't don't hear that t at the end of the word and then she even said it again when she said well just we'll just have to think of some other way to put this who came on to who thing to rest all right we'll just have to think of some other way so you don't hear that t it gets dropped and again this is something that's pretty common um in connected speech so let's continue forget it phoebe okay it's rachel's tape and she can do whatever she wants with it and she wants to destroy it so end of story i want to see it what clearly you don't want people to see this tape now i don't want people to see this tape either but you so badly don't want people to see it then it makes me want to see it do you see okay so this is kind of a play on words because you should you just heard her use the word see a lot to see something and the way she was using it especially at the beginning like clearly you don't want people to see this tape now i don't want people to see this tape either in this case c means to to look at something and then continuing but you so badly don't want people to see this that it makes me want to see it do you see and it's at the very end that the meaning of c changes because it is a multiple meaning word in asking like do you see it's then means it's like understand so think of it this way it's like if somebody were to say like oh yeah i see your point in that case it has the same meaning as understand like yes i understand what you're saying like and she's asking do you see all right let's uh let's keep watching are we watching the tape or not i don't want people to see it for your sake oh i don't believe you i think you don't want them to see you begging me rachel please oh a little preview so this is another great example as to how a word is used and it can have different meanings and in this case it makes it funny i'm talking about the word please so typically please means like you're you're asking someone for something like you want something so in this case she says i think you don't want them to see you begging me and ross says rachel please and she's oh a little preview as though he's saying please with the meaning that uh he's asking for something and she says like oh that's a little preview of what you're about to see in the video that ross is going to be asking her and saying please now it's funny because please can can have a different connotation people can use this when they're like exasperated and they just they just don't believe something and that's how he's really using it if he's saying rachel please like come on i don't believe you nobody believes it um but she interprets it as the other meaning that he's he's asking for it and that's why she says yes it's a little preview let's keep going fine fine but i want the record to show that i tried to take the high road because in about five minutes i'm gonna be saying okay here we go hello can i get you anything i'm so happy music comes on as though we're going to a commercial oh thank god you're here ross and i need you to help me are you just talking to yourself oh there i am you're going to get pregnant i screwed up so bad i told monica that i would stuff and send all these wedding invitations like weeks ago and uh you didn't do it i i know i had put them in in my desk at work and i completely forgot about them until today okay i wanna talk about the phrase forgot about them and the way that she says it this is a great example of connected speech she said i had put them in my desk at work and completely forgot about them until today so there's a couple things going on uh the first thing i want to say again this show is from the united states in the u.s people often use the flap t which is kind of like a soft d sound and we'll use this when the t comes between two vowel sounds so the t that final t and forgot and the final t in about are going to be said with more of a flat t and it's going to to sound like a d forgot about um all right the other thing that's happening there's there's also some more elision that th it's like it's getting removed so you're not going to hear that and this allows us to link these phrases together so linking often occurs when you have the final sound of one word is a consonant and the beginning sound of the next word is a vowel so we can link them together like forgot about that that's that flap t is gonna link with the vowel sound in about forgot about and then that other flap t can now link with the vowel sound like m because we got rid of that th forgot about him forgot about him forgot about him all right let's let's listen to it again just uh so you can hear her say it okay and all the wedding invitations like weeks ago and uh you didn't do it i i know i had put them in in my desk at work and i completely forgot about him until today [Laughter] sweetie okay it's okay everybody made it to the wedding i'm fine kind of hurt in my hand though i know i cannot believe that i did this especially after monaco just went on and on and on about it okay rachel here are the invitations rachel i'll be very careful rachel please drinking no liquids around the invitations rachel okay so i want to talk to you about the that phrase to go on and on and on about something so she says uh like especially after monica just went on and on and on about it so if you say that somebody is going on and on about something it means that there somebody's talking about something until it becomes just boring and tedious and you really just don't want to listen to it anymore so you notice that she says that like monica was going on and on about it and then she starts making fun of monica she's imitating the things that that she was saying to let's keep going [Laughter] [Applause] did you do it on our invitations not on the ones we sent out so just the ones he gave back to us and we had framed okay so i wanted to to well let's go back to that question that chandler asks did you do it on our invitations couple of things to do it this is again it's an informal phrase that's really just referring to to sex the other thing i want to say about this because do it um we can it's we can use it as part of connected speech because do you you hear that that w sound at the end of the word and this is what's called intrusion intrusion is when a sound is added so you hear that w which is a consonant sound and now we can link it with the vowel sound in it do it do it and this is very common you hear this all the time i'm sure you're you're familiar with the the famous nike slogan just do it do it all right you definitely hear those words linked together all the time um all right [Laughter] oh can you believe this is already happening i mean it seems like yesterday they just got engaged i know hey remember remember the night they got engaged you and i almost oh i remember that we almost do you think we would have gone through with it now if we hadn't gotten caught would you think we would have done it just to point out quickly again i don't know if you heard it like she just said you think we would have done it so again using it uh in a different tense done it but still referring to to sex i mean i i know i wanted to i just i just wasn't sure if you wanted to no i wanted to so we we both wanted to okay in about 10 seconds you're gonna see him kiss me and in about five seconds you're gonna see why ross did i ever tell you about the time that i went backpacking through western europe [Laughter] [Applause] get ready to see some begging oh you came on to ross what well i'm so happy what are you talking about you use the europe story that's the magic story you use when you want to have sex okay i wanna stop it right there um and talk about what what chandler just said because this is it's a great example of the rhythm and flow of english so he says that's the magic story you use when you want to have sex so english is a stress time language and that means that stressed syllables are said at approximately regular intervals so i'll say it again think of it this way that's the magic story you use when you want to have sex okay every time you just heard me clap that's like a stressed syllable and the words or syllables that come in between those are those are reduced in order to fit that interval so it kind of you can hear that flow when he says it you know that's the magic story you use when you want to have sex okay let's listen to it again um and you can really it's a good example of the rhythm and flow let's see what are you talking about you use the europe story that's the magic story you use when you want to have sex and i know people have asked me like how what are what's a great way to practice this because i want to improve like my rhythm and flow and to be quite honest i think shadowing is a great way to do this because when you're shadowing you're listening to something and you're trying to say it in the exact same way so you're trying to to say it with those same intervals same intonation same emphasis same stress and you're really trying to do it without having to to think about it too much so i think shadowing is a great way to practice that rhythm and flow how do you know about that story how do you know about that story i heard it from my friend irene who heard it from some guy some guy no no she told me that his name was ken adams [Laughter] [Applause] so i think this is it's a great show and i wanted to share it with you because it's very popular and i would definitely recommend it if you would like to watch something that's a little more casual you get um great exposure to the way people naturally speak using reductions connected speech as well as some of those informal phrases to help you build your vocabulary and in the comments below what i'd like you to do because i love hearing from you tell me which shows in english you like to watch in order to improve your skills let me know down in the comments if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 417. Learn Future Time Clauses Correctly | Advanced Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xxBDyxjTZbA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxBDyxjTZbA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:44:42 | --- well hello hello and welcome to our lesson today have I got a fun lesson for you today we are talking about something super cool and the reason I say super cool I think all topics in English are super cool but this one has always been among my favorites and it is because it has a simple rule to follow but that many many people don't know about this rule so today we're talking about future time clauses and I would like to welcome everyone who's joining us today so welcome ilog Mayer welcome you guys thank you if you're watching this now or later I would like to welcome you and to explain so let me start by saying that it's an this is a grammar issue and I have heard many many people make make mistakes with this even at an advanced level not many times in English we have the chance to to have such a simple rule but many people don't know about it so that's why I want to talk about it today it's actually very important and when you get the right correct rule of how to use future time clauses correctly I think it automatically makes you sound a little bit more advanced in your practice and just a little bit more fluent and better so without further ado I yes welcome thank you guys please if you're just joining in the chat or in the comments please write down your name and where you're watching from because it's so fun to have everyone here so hello Mohamed Gwang Jo Raja welcome welcome everyone and if I don't see you you're also welcome but sometimes I don't see all the comments without further ado here is our lesson today it's one of my favorite things to teach it has always been so future time clauses now you may have wondered before if you've seen this word in English what on earth are time clauses or clauses in general so clauses are groups of words but what's important about them is that they have a subject and a verb they always come with a subject and a verb they have to have the two together in English we have dependent clauses and independent clauses and this is important to know I'll start with the independent clause in a sentence an independent clause is a clause like the word independent it's free it can stand on its own it makes sense on its own so for example we have the sentence right here when he got home he turned on the TV now as you can see we have two clauses I've marked them there the first one is when he got home the second one is he turned on the TV making it wrong so one is independent and the other one is dependent and the way to kind of mark these two to kind of notice them is by just looking at whether they make sense on the on their own or not so if I talk about somebody who turned on the TV then that sentence makes sense right he turned on the TV great I get it perfect but if I say when he got home and that's it you want to find more information for me when he got home what what happened I need more information so that is why we call it the dependent clause because it's a clause that needs more it's not complete it needs another sentence to make sense but the reason I'm talking about this today is because the future time clauses are dependent clauses so that is what we'll talk about it's very important and the one I have here when he got home it is a time clause it's not a future because it's in the past when he got home happened already but it is a time clause and what do I mean by time clauses so in English we have noun clauses we have adverb clauses and we have adjective clauses and this last one the some of the other clauses include time clauses and those are the ones we're talking today but there are other other clauses too like cause and effect condition and contrast so right here for you guys I have given you some of the more really some of the most common clauses and those are the first two the time and cause and effect and of course of course they're common we always talk about time we talk about time every day and we use these super commonly so my first one is when she got home she went to bed as you can see it's a time clause because it has to do with the time when she got home and the second one she went to bed because she was sleepy it's green just like my cause and effect up here so this one is a cause and effect I'm just giving you an example we don't need to spend too much time on this I just want you to see that in English we have different types of clauses different types of adverb clauses so if you are just joining we are talking about future time clauses and I'm explaining a little bit about what clauses are and we are leading into adverb clauses and time clauses which are adverb clauses so to talk about time in English especially when we are using more complex sentences we use these time markers okay we use words like after before when Wow by the time since whenever until as soon as every time the first time all of these I call them time markers this is what I've seen them called I think they make sense to me because they marked I'm here for you I've put the most common ones these ones I hear all the time I use them like every day so many times a day so I want you to use them too so these words whenever you see these time markers I want you to think time Klaus time Klaus time Klaus because they introduced a time clause which is a dependent clause who cannot stand on its own so whenever you see after or when or before and you have a subject and a verb it's going to be a time clause okay so you guys are giving some examples very good yeah when I received notification about your video list and I stopped gardening yes that is a great example of a time clause perfect so I have two examples here and at this point well actually let me read them to you guys first the first one is after I get home I will eat dinner and as you can see in blue I've marked the time clause after I get home second one this one's my favorite because Wes and it's Wes his favorite - he loves to do dishes you guys he loves it he does him all the time it's the best Wes will do dishes Wes will do the dishes when he gets home this is my second time clause both of these time clauses are in the future and now we're getting into our role so before I show you what our rule is I want to know if you know what this special rule is I'm so curious so if you do write it in the comments right now if you know what the rule is write it down and I will check it if you're watching this now you can write it now if you're watching it later pause the video write it down and we will check it okay so if you know what the rule is I don't like this yes you do Wes you're so silly silly was okay so um if you if you know the rule write it down okay so let me show you so future time clauses so we've talked about time clauses just as a refresher they have these after before when these time record words in them but of course when we're talking about the future we're going to deal with something that hasn't happened so these time clauses are time clauses in the future now the special rule is let's see if anyone has written it no answers yet the special rule is the following if you guys look at my sentence right here when I finish my work I will go to bed I'm talking about the future I haven't finished my work yet I'm not going to sleep but so I'm not talking about the present so if you notice in my independent clause I will go to bed that is in the future but the time Clause the one with the time marker when I mark the verb there it is in the present tense that's my mind-blown expression the reason I say this is because when I first learned it I I it was crazy for me I it was just something that I didn't expect I thought if you guys have studied parallel structures in English you know they usually we follow the same verb tenses so in the past for example if you say when he got home he made dinner you're using both clauses in the same tense not in the future okay in the future you have to use the time clause in the present tense and the independent clause in the future tense very important this is the rule and it always works and it will make your life easier if you practice it okay so exactly if I watch this class I will learn more so that's that's perfect yes and you cannot use will no you cannot if you have a time marker in the in the time clause you can in the future time Clause you cannot use the future tense so as you can see here back to my two sentences we have after I get home present tense not after I will get home mmm incorrect after I get home I will eat dinner this the independent clause still has to have the future Wes will do the dishes when he gets home so get is in the present tense the other thing I wanted to mention is as you can see here these two if you start with the with the time clause you have to just like all the clauses in English if it's the dependent clause if you start with it you have to put a comma after the clause and if you start with the independent clause you don't have to put the comma so if I start to the time clause after I get home comma I will eat dinner or if I start with the other one was will do the dishes when he gets home not when he will get home when he gets home ok I think you guys I think you guys are going to I think you guys are ready to do a practice okay so that is the rules very simple simple the the the simple present in the time clause and then future in the independent clause so what I have here is a series of sentences I think I have four total and what I want you guys to do is to identify so right now in the comments if you're watching it now write it down now if you're watching it later pause the video and write it down I want to see if you can identify the time clause write down what is the time clause write it down okay so the first sentence is will be here when you arrive tomorrow you'll be will be here when you arrive tomorrow what is the time Claus will be here when you arrive tomorrow write it down just the time clause I want to see if you guys get it I'm going to eat until the tree to eat you know what I have in my mind always food I'm going to wait until the train comes I'm going to wait until the train comes what is the future time Clause write it down okay now the third one has sentences that have time clauses in it I'm going to wake up at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow after I wake up I'll do my yoga as soon as I finish working out I'll take a shower so these are the sentences let's see let's see when you arrive tomorrow you guys are geniuses you don't understand this will make you sound so much better when you apply it because it really does when I've taught students this even super advanced students they didn't know and when they speak it sounds so much better so I am very proud of it you guys are getting it yes great ok the second one let's see how you guys are doing yeah soso yeah look for the time markers exactly if you look for it words like when until as soon as after before these kinds of words okay so if let me let me show you the answers but you guys did so well so the first one like you guys said is when you arrive tomorrow yes it has the word when it has the present tense yes that's the future time clause second sentence I'm going to wait until the train comes so if you said until the train comes then give yourself a pat on the back maybe a victory dance good job you guys are doing great for the third example nothing in the first sentence but then we have after I wake up and as soon as I finish working out yes yes you guys are doing amazing so if you got these congratulate yourself you are an English master or on your way to becoming an English master doing wonderfully okay so like I said it's one of those things that has a simple rule in English but it's just even even if the rule is simple many people get this wrong so it's important to just kind of keep practicing and even if you've made a mistake even if you didn't get a right it is no problem because we have more practice so you have more of a chance to practice so here is my next practice now I'm going to give you a choice of two tenses one in the future tense and one in the present tense and I am switching things up so now you have to know which one is the time clause the future time clause and which one is the independent clause and how do you where do you put that present tense or the future tense okay so the first one is I'm going to cry when I see or will see my mother I love my mother I haven't seen her in a long time so I'm going to cry when I see or will see her write it down right now in the comments which one is it see or we'll see which one which one it's in the future okay number two as soon as the rain stops or will stop I will go to the grocery store as soon as the rain stops or will stop I will go to the grocery store now remember these are in the future you have a time marker look for the time marker and follow the rule okay and the third one he gets or will get here before we eat or we'll eat all the pizza so now with this one I'm being a little tricky I am making you choose both of them so you have to make sure that you don't confuse where they go so he gets or will get here before we eat or we'll eat all the pizza now you guys if you don't know the answer if it's too fast you can pause it pause the video think about it write down because I want you guys to practice with me okay so write down the answer whether it's now or later no problem write it down let me see what you guys have answered yes I'm going to cry when I see my mother before we eat before we eat yes good job yes umm let's see let's see I will show you my I will show you guys my answers okay let's see how you guys did you guys are doing really really well yeah I am going to cry when I see my mother write a of time the time Clause is when I see my mother it has the time marker when so you want us you don't want to see when I will see my mother uh-huh when I see my mother as soon as the rain stops time cause starts with as soon as I will go to the grocery store as soon as the rain stops I will go to the groceries yes very good he will get here before we eat all the pizza right so he'll get here it's it's more commonly used he'll he'll get here before we eat all the pizza right so before is the time marker so that is the time clause so we make sure that in the time clause we stick with the present tense you guys are doing wonderfully I'm reading all of your answer because we are talking about the future okay so keep in mind that these are future time clauses so you want to use in the independent clause you want to use the future tense but in the dependent clause in the time clause you use the present tense so you have to show the future somewhere and that is how the rule works okay now you guys we are going to do a very quick very fun actually so if you guys have followed me for a while you know I love emojis even Wes was talking about why do you love emojis so much it's I think it won't use are great I think emojis help us understand it's another way to enhance the language so I love them and that's why I'm using them right here so for this I have a series of emojis and your task is to complete the sentence so what you have to do is I'm giving you part of the sentence and the other part I've kind of written in emojis and I what you have to do is kind of try to guess to complete a sentence write out what I mean with those emojis so for example we have a plate and we have some food there so how would we complete this sentence so there's like no before we go to the cinema so before we go to the cinema if you see a time marker there that means that we already have our time clause so it means that you need an independent clause so what can we add to make this an independent clause mm-hmm before we go to the cinema okay so write down how you would complete it before we go to the cinema okay and the second one he'll go to work and then again a bunch of food I guess I'm obsessed with food but um that looks like breakfast to me just giving you ideas do you notice a time a time marker if you don't then it needs one and if it needs one it means that you're going to use a time clause to complete the sentence okay so let's see why your guys's sentences are we will eat dinner before we go to the cinema perfect exactly you use the future tense in the independent clause we will eat dinner before we go to the cinema perfect you guys are amazing this is really really good okay now how about the second one any answers for the second one so remember it doesn't have a time marker so you're going to need to add a time marker before after as soon as when once whatever you want to do it a little time marker right there and something that has to do with pancakes bacon and eggs egg okay let's see what you guys are doing he'll go to work after a good breakfast okay almost very good that's a good sentence you just need to add remember a class is a subject and a verb so you have to introduce a subject and a verb right there yeah you guys are doing amazing um he will eat something before oh no sorry that's the cinema one he'll go to work when he gets after he gets breakfast gets yeah let me show you guys some possible sentences that you could have written the first one like we talked about will I wrote will grab some dinner before we go to the cinema again your sentences are also correct as long as you used the future tense we will grab some dinner right you need to have the future tense to show the future and the second one he'll go to work after he eats his breakfast after he eats his breakfast we need the present tense because we are using the time clause right there oops okay my chat went away I lost you guys for a second but there you are okay so those are those are my sentences I hope you like my little bacon I actually don't like bacon at all but I thought it was a very very cute image so there's a bacon talking telling you guys you guys are doing the super job and you are amazing and English rock stars okay so now I'm going to do more let's see what you guys have written I lost I lost you guys so I'm trying to catch up yes after he has a healthy breakfast exactly so you would really want to make sure that you are using the present tense in the time clause okay now this is a more advanced practice because now I am not giving you anything but what I am showing you is a little bit about my day so I want you to imagine that we are writing a little bit kind of like a little story about my day and my day starts starting from after I finish this lesson so I just used a time clause there after I finished this lesson which is represented by the books so I want you to write down a sentence or two or three or four based on the pictures that you have right there using future time clauses about me about my day so I give you some hints with some pictures over there so there's a dancing girl there's a bed and then for tomorrow morning there's a Sun and then there's a coffee and an egg and like somebody walking and a dog in a park tree so I want you guys to come up with sentences using future time clauses about what will happen after this class okay so I will start kind of go and then while you guys are writing I will check while you're while you're writing and please if you're watching this later feel free to also write because we check everything so you can pause and then write your comment and then I will show you my possible sentences after that so I will start and kind of get you guys there so right now I want you to really really really think about possible sentences okay so for example so this is a story so I'll start with as soon as I finish this lesson this is a possible sign as soon as I finish this lesson so I'm using the present tense I will go dancing to do the dancing emoji right after I get home see I used again after I get home it's in the future but I'm using the present test after I get home I will go to bed let's see how you guys are doing yeah so keep writing sentences it could be if about any of those images this is about my day today so as soon as I finish this lesson I will go dancing after I come home I will go to bed let's see um when I wake up tomorrow when I wake up tomorrow I will have a cup of coffee when I wake up tomorrow I'll have a cup of coffee after I have my coffee I will eat breakfast using those time markers before so on and so forth exactly after you hana discusses the lesson she will go for a stroll with her cute pup yes exactly so don't forget to write don't forget to write down a full set full clauses so the time Clause will have a subject and a verb and the independent clause will have a subject and a verb but you guys are doing great exactly after Jana finishes the lesson she is going to take a walk exactly you guys are amazing this is beautiful so here are some of the things that I wrote down after I finish this lesson I will go dancing as soon as I get home I will go to bed after I wake up tomorrow I'll have a coffee and I'm going to have breakfast before I walk the dog I'm going to have breakfast before I walk the dog so just keep in mind that this is how we use these these clauses now what I want to ask you guys right now before we finish is to write down in the comments something I want you to write down in the comments something that you will do today after class using a future time Clause so you it could be true or it doesn't have to be true I just want you to practice so you can you know you could say I I'm it really can be anything but write it down okay so tell me about what you will do after you finish class today after I finish class after I finished watching this video I am going I don't know I'm going to go scuba diving or I I don't know whatever you want to do but write it down in a full sentence because that will help you practice so I really hope you enjoyed this lesson I really did it's like I said something that I really enjoy teaching because I think many people get this wrong oops because I think many many people get this wrong but it's one of those things that once you get it you'll just keep doing it right and it just sounds so much better so I just wanted to thank you guys for watching and please write down in the comments any any questions any practice that you have write it down will answer to you guys if you've liked this lesson and please like it and share it and I'm sorry if I didn't see everyone's comment sometimes I don't see them all but we will get to them so thank you guys yeah I'll go to sleep let's see um I will go to bed I'll go to bed yes you guys are doing great exactly thank you guys for joining and I will see you next time --- ## 418. Learn Ordinal Numbers in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jiNJG87duMc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiNJG87duMc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:50:12 | --- Today, I'm going to teach you something that is so cool. Something that you probably always wanted to learn. What is he talking about? Before we begin, I would like to remind you to check out our social media classes. Right there. Ahh...because it's a great way to practice your English skills. And it's free. And we do stuff every day. And you should just go see it. Please. Here are some numbers. These are cardinal numbers. They are commonly used in English because they are counting numbers. And perhaps the first numbers that you learn when you're learning the language. And I don't want to talk to you about these today. I want to talk to you about other numbers that can confuse learners. How to say them and when to use them. And they are ordinal numbers. So today I'm going to talk to you about the first 10 ordinal numbers. What are the first ten ordinal numbers? Great question. The first ten ordinal numbers are... Oh, I was hoping that I would get a chance to tell them to you. But that's okay. I'll review them with you right now. So the first 10 ordinal numbers are... Okay... Fine. You've heard them twice now. So I'm not going to say them again. I know TV and movies are much cooler to listen to than me. But at least I get to tell you how to use ordinal numbers. Now, when you think about "ordinal" try to think about "order." Which things should come in order? We use ordinal numbers to talk about the position of something. And usually the position when we're talking about a list. So..for example, say that we have four animals standing in a line. We can talk about their position using ordinal numbers. So the cat is in the number 1 position. We would say that the cat is FIRST. Now, the penguin is in the number 2 position. The penguin is SECOND. The turtle is a slower so it's in the number 3 position. Which means the turtle is THIRD. And finally we have the snail, the slowest of them all, is in the number 4 position. So therefore, we say the snail is FOURTH. We also use ordinal numbers when talking about specific dates. Because they come in order. March 15th. Friday the 13th. September 1st, 1885. And I just want to say, happy 4th of July! We use ordinal numbers when talking about people's names. If someone is named after their father, and grandfather, and on and on and on... John Clayton the 3rd. Henry Jones the 3rd. Louis the 3rd. Ivan the Terrible...Henry the 8th. Now keep in mind that ordinal numbers have four different suffixes. Four. And they are highlighted right here. So if a number ends in ONE, it's going to have the -st suffix. Twenty-first. Thirty-first. If the number ends in TWO, then it's going to have the -nd suffix. Forty-second. Fifty-second. If the number ends in THREE, then it'll have the -rd suffix. Sixty-third. Seventy-third. And finally for all the other numbers, it's going to have the -th suffix. Eighty-fourth. Ninety-fourth. Seventy-fifth. Eighty-seventh. Ninety-ninth. Umm...eighteenth. So remember, there are four different suffixes. ONE is the -st suffix. TWO is the -nd suffix. THREE is the -rd suffix. And FOUR to NINE, all those other numbers. have the -th suffix. I've been saying suffix a lot. As usual, with English, there are always exceptions. And...I know, this is something that will drive everybody crazy. But when it comes to ordinal numbers there are three exceptions. And those are the numbers eleven, twelve, and thirteen. Now, those numbers end with a one, two, and three...respectively. However, they all end with the -th suffix. So ELEVEN is going to be ELEVENTH. TWELVE will be TWELFTH. And THIRTEEN is THIRTEENTH. These are numbers that you'll just have to memorize. But these are the three exceptions when it comes to ordinal numbers. So now you should have a better idea about what ordinal numbers are and how we use them. And remember, the first 10 ordinal numbers are Okay, I think you're ready for some practice. So what I want to do is I'm going to think of a number. And don't worry, you'll be able to see it. And I want you to say the ordinal number. So you can practice your speaking and pronunciation. I'll give you a moment to think of the ordinal number and say it and then I will tell you the answer. Alright. Are you ready? Let's begin. Great job! I hope you got all of those correct. Now we have one more quick practice for you. And that is in the comments below we want you to write your favorite date. And tell us why it's your favorite date. Now, you can either write the number like this. Or spell it like this. We just want to make sure that you're using the ordinal numbers correctly. For example, my favorite date is March 6th. Because that's the day that Ioana and I got married. So in the comments below, tell us your favorite date. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. --- ## 419. Learn THIS - THAT - THESE - THOSE | Demonstrative Pronouns & Adjectives | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KbpnzFhSMh4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbpnzFhSMh4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:34:35 | --- what's up everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is Interactive English and if this happens to be your first time here welcome what we are all about here is is just trying to help you guys practice and improve your English skills that is what we're doing with our video lessons and we try to do that each and every week so today I have a lesson it's a grammar lesson I think that it should be easy for you to follow and to understand and we are going to talk about demonstrative pronouns and adjectives specifically we're going to talk about four important words that you will hear a lot in English you will come across these words and that is this that these and those so we're going to talk all about these demonstrative today and we are also going to practice using them but Before we jump into it I just want to give a quick shout out to some of those who are with me right now hello lollie Manu monatti Jason I T do deuce above nerd gildner de gali sorry if i mispronounce names machado johnny hello hello hello welcome i will try and give as many of you a shout out as possible because we are going to practice using these demonstrative x' a little later on in the lesson and even if you guys are watching this later i want you to use the comment section treat it like it's a piece of paper and actually participate in these lessons that's what it's all about these are supposed to be interactive lessons where which will allow you to actually practice your skill so that's what i want you guys to do write your answers in the comments write your answers in the chat if you are with us right now so let's let's just get right to it all right so first let's let's talk about what what are demonstrative so as i mentioned before we're talking about demonstrative pronouns and demonstrative adjectives i know i got a lot of information up here for you to absorb right now but just just really remember we're talking about forwards this that these those all right now one reason why it's confusing is that because we use these same words for both if we're talking about demonstrative pronouns this that these those demonstrative adjectives this that these those so we're talking about the same words so I understand why people may be confused about when to use them and how to use them the other thing that is is so so important is that it shows where things are in relation to the speaker in relation to the person who's talking about something else it talks about where you are are you close are you far away so we use this and that when we're talking about singular nouns these and those when we're talking about plural nouns let me let me give you some more specific information and we're first gonna look at some demonstrative pronouns so when we talk about demonstrative demonstrative pronouns they take the place of a noun and again they show where the noun is in relation to the speaker so for example if we're talking about something that is close to the speaker and we'll pretend like I am the speaker something that's close and it's singular the milk in our refrigerator has gone bad so the milk in our refrigerator has gone bad now maybe I am holding the milk right here just like that person in the picture over there I could just say hey this has gone bad this right here I'm right next to it I'm close to it it's singular this has gone bad so that is when you're going to use this as a demonstrative pronoun now what if we're talking about something that is close close to the speaker but it's plural there is more than one now instead of saying right here these the tacos that Westmead taste incredible these tacos right here they are right next to me I'm so close and they look so delicious the tacos Westmead taste incredible I could just say these taste incredible they're very close to me it's pleure there's more than one taco these taste incredible let's talk about something that is away from the speaker all right it's singular do you see that crazy thing way over there that crazy thing right there do you see that crazy thing flaunt crazy flying thing way over there I could just say hey do you see that we're talking about something that's away from the speaker that okay so this is singular clothes that is singular far away also we have right here we're talking about my next sentence talking a bit away from the speaker that's plural I like the green boots on the other side of the room so I say on the other side of the room you know that I'm saying I'm far away from this noun the green boots is plural so I could say I like those those is plural and it's away from me it's on the other side of the room all right so those are the demonstrative pronouns this that these those let's look at the demonstrative adjectives real quickly okay so again these they modify the nouns they come before so these are going to come before the noun that they modify and again it's going to show relation as to how close or how far away something is so I put both of them up here in this picture right here so she's just saying do you see this chair she is right next to the chair she's very close do you see this chair and it looks like a chair that you would find on an airplane I'm not really sure why is she's standing next to that but if she's far away then she would say do you see that chair do you see this chair do you see that chair again it comes before the noun it's modifying which is chair this chair that chair okay so again I told you this should be I think this should be easy to follow and understand now let's look at the the next one if we're talking about not we're talking about this is for singular close and far away for singular now let's talk about close and far away plural all right do you see these tacos all right these tacos she's right next to these tacos these are the tacos that I made I like these right here all right they are delicious I like these I made these right here and in that case I'm using it as a demonstrative pronoun I like these but she's talking about again do you see these tacos tacos is the noun these come before it she's right next to them or you could say far away I tried to give you that line to say some distance it's far away it's plural do you see those burgers okay do you see those burgers they're far away all right these are all demonstrative adjectives again they come before the noun that they modify all right so simple enough all right we've we've talked about the four words that we that we're going to practice using today and again this is something that that you will use in everyday English you're talking about this that it's it's you're directing your attention to something so these are very very important words before we start the practice I just want to give let you guys know if you guys enjoy our lessons and want to show us some love show us some support you can check out our patreon page I will leave a link in the comments so you guys can go check that out I will also leave a link to it right here in the chat if you guys want to show us some love we have some cool rewards up there that you can check out one of them being the lesson notes so we put these notes that you see you guys see right here we put them up for people as a bit of reward a way to review it so you can keep this information and always have it so let's start with the practice okay the first part of the practice is just a gap fill I am going to give you a sentence and I want you to complete the sentence with either this that these or those and I want you to write your answer in the chat or if you're watching this later make it interactive write your answer in the comments okay so the first one right here ready all right would you mind signing mmm documents okay the one thing I'll tell you is because I don't always give you the the distance think about the context of this situation if somebody is talking because we're talking about the distance in relation to the speaker so think about these sentences as though somebody is speaking somebody is saying this so what do you think would would complete that sentence do you mind signing mmm documents what would you say okay um getting some good answers all right yes give some shoutouts Oscar prey on perfect it's a Tao Michelangelo tools Paul dragon Vanessa yes we're talking about these would you mind signing these documents so again documents it shows us that it's plural so we're talking about its are there going to be these or those but again if somebody's speaking if they're talking to you probably they're holding on to these documents and they would say hey would you mind signing these documents right here okay I noticed some people put this but remember that S on the end of documents that makes it plural so in this case we're going to use these which is a demonstrative adjective all right it's coming before the noun let's look at another one are you ready here we go this is it some of these pictures I don't know where they fit this sentence I don't know if you can see that if you can't see what I have written very well I'm going to read it for you and again just put down this that these those which one best completes the the sentence so she's just saying look at mmm trees look at trees and used to use the picture to help you out which word best completes that sentence look at em trees what would you say this that these those write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments if you this later I want you I want this to be interactive I want to hear from you guys I want to hear from all of you okay so let's see we have all right have some great answer okay yes all right I give some shout outs to everybody all right yes Ally Francisco Lally perfect Enrique John Scott IRA um have that I said their name long Mustapha go SIA yes we're talking about trees in the picture they're kind of far away so trees there's more than one it's plural again it's a demonstrative adjective look at those trees look at those trees all right so these first two I think have been they've been relatively easy all right then I'm gonna try and make the practice it'll get more and more difficult as we go along the next one um what would you say hmm are really expensive all right think about that hmm are really expensive this that these those again what I would say is try to think about the context as though somebody is actually saying this somebody is saying this sentence and that should help you determine you know which one which of these you're going to use this that these those write your answer in the chat what what do you think how would you best complete this sentence all right there are some clues that I'm giving you all already right now so yes all right got some great answers ask God tools Jay Paul dragon Mullaly Claudio it's just moving so fast I take a yes that our our tells us that we're talking about something plural now you might see this and just think oh it's just one it is one set of headphones but headphones again is a plural noun so in this case you are going to use a for a demonstrative pronoun the plural and if somebody is saying that like hey it's really expensive mostly you think okay there next to us it's close which means these these are really expensive these right here that I'm telling you about are really expensive especially if you're talking about like headphones it's not like you would be very far away from the headphones you're like hey those those headphones over there that you know grammatically you could say that but it doesn't make as much sense so these is the answer that we were looking for all right so what I want to do next okay is the way the this next one that we're going to work is that I am going to give you a sentence all right and I want you to rewrite the sentence using this that these are those okay so this is kind of like some of the examples that I gave you so I want you to rewrite the sentence using this that these are those are you ready alright so the first sentence I have for you it's a question okay it's a question what's the frosty pink looking thing on your face rewrite that question using this that these those alright what what do you what do you think how would you rewrite that sentence let's see alright I'll give you guys just I'll give you guys just a moment's time to to try to rewrite that sentence don't don't don't overthink it okay what's the frosty pink looking thing on your face what question could you ask it's kind of like a transformation okay how would we rewrite this question using this that these those remember I gave you those examples at the beginning to kind of show you okay this is like your noun and then we're going to use one of the words to replace the noun all right some of you guys if you guys are with it right though right the full sentence so that I know that you kind of understand because if you're just writing the one word I I don't know where you're putting it so again if you're in the comments try to write the full sentence so that I know exactly all right we have I haven't I've seen some again one word answers but again think of the context what's the frosty pink looking thing on your face think of somebody saying this question to another another person and this is something you might hear in a TV show or a movie ok um yes but I on yes all right kind of some people I think are miss confusing it all right the answer all right you're talking about what's the frosty pink looking thing on your face you're talking to somebody else so if you're talking to somebody else you would just ask them what's that on your face something is on that person's face something is on another person's face but you're not close to it you're away from it so you'd say what's that on your face a lot of people put this all right thinking about proximity but if I'm talking about myself then I could say hey what's this on my face I am close to it it's on me but if you're talking to somebody else more likely you're gonna say hey what's that on your face hey what it what is that thing what's that on your face okay so I hope that makes sense I saw a lot of people answering this but if you're talking about yourself what's this on my face then you would use this you're close to it but if it's somebody else you'd say hey you know hey what's that thing what's that on your face what's that in your hair what's that on your arm all right the next one okay now that you know what I want you to do try this one okay um I like my red glasses that I wear every day how would you rewrite that sentence using this that these those all right rewrite the sentence using this that these those take the noun and replace it what would you say okay see somebody people like make sense now I'm glad I'm glad it's easy again to follow and understand that's that's what I want perfect so how would you rewrite this sentence using this that these those remember write the full sentence so that I know that you perfectly understand okay how to write it it's not a long sentence it shouldn't be I kind of just gave you a hint all right what would you say um okay again some of these you guys I think you're right they're not full sentences so I'm gonna go see ya I like these glasses yeah that that that works I like these glass Francisco all right again think about the noun alright the noun phrase is going to be my red glasses that I wear every day that is the whole noun phrase so if we want to take this sentence specifically and just replace it all you would have to say is hey I like these you're holding something all right I like these you if you want us be more specific I you could say glasses but again keep in mind then you're changing it because the way it is written now I like these it's a demonstrative pronoun okay I like these I'm taking my red glasses that I wear every day I'm replacing that noun with a demonstrative pronoun I like these if you say I like these glasses it has the same meaning but these then it becomes a demonstrative adjective so again you're talking about two different parts of speech the meaning is the same because of somebody saying hey I like these they're talking about the glasses but in that case that would technically that would technically be the correct answer yes Ahmed yes perfect Vanessa I like these yes so that is something to keep in mind I like these verses I like these glasses same meaning what one is a demonstrative pronoun the other would be a demonstrative adjective all right the next one all right we're gonna make this I think it is a little more difficult okay the the other practice that I want to do it's an active listening exercise so I am going to tell you a sentence and I am just going to blank out that I'm just gonna say mmm for this that these those and I want you to tell me which one goes in there so this is an active listening exercise I want you to think about the sentence try to put a picture in your mind and again think about it as though okay I am the speaker what is the context as far as how what is the relationship am i far away am i close and that's going to help you so this is an active listening exercise I want you to use this that these those are you ready so the first one that I have for you is this statement right here okay all right I would say can you come over here and check them out can you come over here and check them out all right does that sound a little weird can you come over here and check em out so again I tried to blank out that one part and what would you put in that sentence you don't have to write the whole thing just write this that these those can you come over here and check out what would best complete that sentence again you're the active listening I want you to listen and then I want you to answer that's what makes it an active listening exercise it's a great way to practice your listening skills all right see some excellent answers from Wonderland go SIA Manu asked are Paul said it a DM on Sun the whole sentence perfect can you come over here and check this out so I'm telling somebody else to come over here which basically means whatever it is I'm close to it so we know it can you come over here and check this out all right can you come over here check this out I want to show you something all right are you ready for the next one I want you to listen to it again this that these those your next one is I really enjoy music we're listening to I really enjoy music we're listening to what do you think how would you complete that sentence I really enjoy music we're listening to maybe I'm saying these a little too slow and it makes a little easier I really enjoy music we're listening to it's kind of a challenge to say it quickly when I have to throw in that mmm alright so what do you guys think I really enjoy music we're listening to all right so excellent all right I see some some good answers yes IRA sulla Millard day.you I really enjoy this music we're listening to idea I tried to trick you to this is that back to back now the reason why I'm talking about this is because again think about the context if somebody is saying that we're listening to it means that it's happening right now so you're talking about music this music that we're listening to right now now if the situation was like days later if you were talking about music that you heard in the past and it's not happening right now then you could use that and you're like oh yeah I really like that music I really like that song but if somebody's saying like oh that we're listening to it then makes it then implies that it's happening right now so you would use this I really enjoy this music we're listening to excellent all right you guys rock that one great the next one that I have for you all right I could say let's say let's go back to our main slide right here this that these those looking back on my childhood mmm were the days look back on my childhood mmm were the days what would you say what would what would you put in this that these those and that is that is I'd say a common expression in English and I'll show it to you in a second but looking back on my childhood more the days looking back on my childhood mmm were the days what do you what do you guys think all right excellent yes as god much table ghost yeah Wonderland I'm at lolly I think yes looking back on my childhood I'd say those were the days okay so we're talking about again like same with music you're talking about something that's already happened you're thinking about it it's far away from you because it's not happening now days is plural those were the days and again that is a common expression if somebody's reminiscing about something in the past they might say you know remember that those were the days yeah those were the days when life was good everything was wonderful those were the days all right if you guys you guys are rocking that again if you guys like learning these please hit that like button all right let me know that really tells me that you guys get this you understand it and and you guys are doing well with this practice all right hit that like button so that I know all right are you ready ready for the next one okay the next one again listening this is a an active listening exercise all right I'd say mmm pretzels are making me thirsty mmm pretzels are making me thirsty this is from this is a line that I got from a TV show I'll explain it in just a second but again think of the context as though somebody is speaking somebody is saying this mmm pretzels are making me thirsty all right what what do you guys think this that these all right mmm pretzels are making me thirsty well how would you complete that sentence all right yes perfect great job Dan Monson Brian Vanessa Wonderland AB disease said that uh tools yes we're talking about the plural I'd say these pretzels are making me thirsty again if somebody's actually if you're thinking that they're saying this thing if they're speaking it they're talking about probably something that they're eating right now so they're eating the pretzels and they say oh these pretzels are making me thirsty this is a line from the the TV show Seinfeld from one of the episodes a long time ago I don't know if you guys have seen Seinfeld great TV series it's good way to practice your English I recommend checking it out it's an older TV show these pretzels are making me thirsty all right ready another let's do another active listening and I would tell you this all right again think about the context what the hell is mmm all right what the hell is mmm okay think about if somebody's saying that okay there could be more than one answer but think about really the context in which somebody would would say that phrase what the hell is mmm all right what would you use this that these those and this is again I'm trying to use kind of phrases questions that that you might hear and come across in in TV shows movies that that you might come across yes all right I think you guys Rock that yes Monu at least Olivia sorry [Music] daughter son it's going so quickly right now perfect so if you're talking about this question somebody might say again you don't know what it is typically it's something that is far away from you or at least not right next to you and somebody'd say what the hell is that look at they're looking out the window or something what the hell is that or they're walking down the street what the hell is that it's something that's over there you could again complete this sentence if something is right next to you say what the hell is this it's not as common because oftentimes if you're close to something you're able to identify it but in that case again something that's far away you can't identify it somebody might say you might hear them say what the hell is that alright what what the hell is that alright so that that is the answer we were going for is that alright so again I hope you guys found this lesson easy to understand easy to follow if you did if you found it easy to understand easy to follow the best way to let me know is hitting that like button down below and as always we just love hearing from you guys in the comments so like and share this lesson write to us in the comments because we want to hear from you and you can always join our social media classes were active on Facebook Twitter and Instagram we're trying to be more active on Instagram that is a good way to connect with us so thank you guys so much for joining us thank you daughter and son thank you John Ahmed salute Mizpah kareem Michaelangelo Audion go see Atul's henry thank you thank you thank you Lally I hope you guys have a wonderful day and even if you're watching this later write to me in the comments I just want to hear from you thank you guys for joining me and I will see you next time so --- ## 420. Learn Tag Questions to Improve Your Fluency | Advanced Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QtuPSOOe-vw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtuPSOOe-vw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:39:42 | --- all right I think I think everything is working now hello and welcome to today's lesson it is good to see so many people here thank you thank you thank you for joining us today I just want to make sure that everything is working so today I have a great great great great lesson for you it's gonna be a fun lesson I promise and I promise that you will learn something new okay because we like to switch it up every now and then do some vocabulary lessons do some grammar lessons and today it's a grammar lesson because a few months back had somebody ask me a question do you have an episode about tag questions and I had to respond and say no but that's a great idea so today we are going to talk about tag questions or question tags so the first thing you might be thinking is well tag questions question tags what's the difference and the answer to that is absolutely nothing they mean the same thing whether you want to say tag questions as I think many Americans do or question tags as I think more British people do it's the same thing so it doesn't matter you can say whichever you like I end up saying both but so again it's your choice but that's what we're going to talk about today so if you are joining us please say hello in the chat I just want to hear from you guys there's a lot of people in here hello snake venom New York uh Hussein Andre welcome welcome I'm just gonna give some some names here Rafi Edgard a mano mo Co todo for long welcome thank you guys for joining me and let's just let's just jump right into it again as we go through this lesson I am going to be asking you guys some questions we're going to do a practice at the end and I want to make this interactive because again this is interactive English alright my name is Wes this is where you want to be for practicing and improving your English so let's make it interactive I want you guys to participate answer the questions practice using these create some sentences use the chat as though it's a piece of paper and you can do the same even if you're watching this lesson later use the comments section as though it's a piece of paper and we want you guys to actively participate in the lesson so let's begin and answer just the simple fundamental question what are question tags all right so question tags I think many of you are probably a little familiar with them so they I think they're pretty simple and straightforward but we will go over some things that I promise you will learn some new things because they're not there there are some little tips and tricks to them so a question tag or a tag question is just a statement followed by a short question you're saying instead of asking a question you're saying the statement and then having a short little question at the end and it's often used in spoken English you're not really going to find question tags if you're reading an article in The New York Times the only time when you might see a question tag being written is if you're reading a story and there's dialogue and the characters are talking so it's really just used in spoken English which is great because so many of you out there want to practice and improve your speaking skills so that's important to know you don't really need to write it if you're sending a text message or writing a paper or an essay it's just for spoken English and as I mentioned the rules are pretty straightforward so let's look at those basic rules but before we do actually let's talk about why we use them why do we use tag questions notice I'm switching back and forth between question tags and tag questions so we use them to ask for confirmation when we think we already know the answer so it's like we know the answer but we're just trying to get that other person to confirm and that we're correct we can also use it if we're we're asking a favor or you're just asking for some new information so let me give you an example it's always good to have an example so so everybody knows what we're talking about all right here is my example and notice my examples are always so suggestive to you guys so I would say you're going to hit that like button aren't you so again I'm asking you a question the first thing I want you to know when when we're when you're using a question tag is that the answer is just gonna be yes or no it's a closed-ended question you can answer yes or no or some variation of yes or no like I did down below and said absolutely you're going to hit that like button aren't you absolutely so again very suggestive why don't you guys if you guys like our lessons like what we do go ahead hit that like button show us some love and that way I know that you're listening and paying attention so this is kind of the form of a question tag over here you have the statement and then you have that that short little question at the end you're going to hit that like button aren't you the one thing I wanted to say about this right now is because when we're talking about questions you often have you can have most questions have a rising intonation at the end which means the other person has to respond it's a question sometimes there is a falling intonation and in this case this is what I wanted to talk to you about more pronunciation and listening in this case it's like a rhetorical question you don't really expect the person to give an answer if you're saying it with a falling intonation it becomes more of a rhetorical question and the time when you would see this when somebody uses a tag question with a falling intonation and it's rhetorical it makes me think of like like lawyers or like a law TV show or even a police show where they're they're saying something to the person and accusing them of something and they know the answer and they might use a question tag even though they don't want to response they'd say like you know you stole the money didn't you and you know it's a falling intonation it's rhetorical question you don't need answer but that's just the one little key thing again if it's the rising intonation yes or no if it's a falling intonation you're kind of like accusing somebody of something and you don't really need to respond so this is my example now let's look at these basic rules and I tried to color code them for you guys hopefully it's easier to see maybe maybe it's not but there so you have two types of statements you have a positive statement and negative statements positive statements are followed by a negative tag so the positive is in blue a positive statement he finished the report a negative tag because we have that not in there didn t he finished the report didn't he now a negative statement negative statements are followed by a positive tag so again that negative in red right here he didn't finish the report did he did he is the positive tag okay so this is what you need to really remember that's the fundamental part of question tags right they're positive statements negative tag negative statements positive tag all right this is where I think learners sometimes make a simple mistake and again if you're having a conversation and you you mix this up it can actually sound pretty confusing so remember positive statements negative tag negative statements positive tag we're going we're gonna keep going through this so let's go through where it gets a little more tricky and difficult and I'm gonna give you some tips and tricks so after let's the tag begins with shall let's eat shall we so this is a fundamental rule that you can follow and right now I want you guys give me some examples all right let's study shall we you know right right some examples using less so if if you're telling somebody you know let's do something and you want to use a question tag we're going to use shall alright this is one of the few times when you actually use shell it's not a very common word in English but you'd say you know let's let's let's do this shall we so write some examples in the chat I'd like to see what you guys have to say the other one is right here use aren't I in tags to mean I am not so instead of instead of reversing it and saying you know I'm the favorite to win aren't I alright I'm not going to say am not I aren't I instead of I am NOT so again this is another rule to follow I'm the favorite to win aren't I you're kind of asking that question wanting that confirmation great examples Judy let's go to the mall shall we let's hit the like button out exactly perfect that is a great example let's usually say let us see let's eat shall we perfect alright great examples let's go shall we perfect all right you guys got it so if you say let's then you have that shall in the tag let's look at some more so use won't for polite request so somebody would say you'll help won't you now again this is a positive a positive statement you'll help won't you you could use it in the opposite sense and then it would be will you so for example if you're saying like you don't want somebody to leave and you're at you're saying you know oh you're not going to go you're not going to go will you will you are you're not going will you and wait a second I'm kind of getting confused with my example here I'm trying to use it the other way what I'm trying to say is that often you're always going to use won't because when you're making a request of somebody it's pretty much a positive statement you'll help all right so it almost saying if she's saying you don't want somebody so you know you won't go will you it's not that common you're not gonna hear it used like a request use than the negative so again just think about won't you'll help won't you as a request now we're going to use will or would with imperative sentences and remember imperative sentences those are commands you're giving a command to somebody and you're telling them what to do for example when our videos get posted even this video this video is going to get posted later and you can write to us in the comments we always tell you you know I would say write to us in the comments would you or write to us in the comments will you I'm giving you a command I'm telling you something that you should do it's an imperative sentence so when you're giving that command use will or would alright let's look at some more shall we so we have this use didn't in a question tag when the verb is used - alright you used to watch our lessons didn't you again we use use - to talk about things that happened in the past but they don't happen in anymore but when we're using it as our our statement in our positive statement we're going to use didn't in the question tag and if you guys can't give me give me some examples all right use use - all right often again you're talking to somebody else saying you used to he used to she used to you're not really going to use I BK and then it'd be like you're asking yourself a question which is a little weird so give it a try try to use used to using you he she it we they and again you're going to use didn't in that tag also down here there are two endings possible when have is the main verb one of them's more common in American English that first example if somebody says oh she has friends doesn't she that would be more common and I think American English we're going to use doesn't doesn't she but in British many people might say she has friends hasn't she and they're just using hasn't she as the tag so again you can use either one I think this is again a slight difference between British English and American English but again both are correct you don't have to think well I only have to use this one it's it's correct alright so keep that in mind have you can use either one doesn't hasn't whichever you like let's look at some more tips and tricks alright so this is good because if we're using you're going to use it and the question tag that includes this or that so when you're using this or that in your statement this is it isn't it we're going to use it this is it isn't it so is if we're gonna use it when when it has this or that all right keep that in mind and again same down here if we're talking about these are those you're going to use they in the tag that includes these or those for example that image down there you know the shoes these are your shoes aren't they alright I'm talking about the shoes I know that I'm talking about these that's plural so I'm going to use the vais alright you guys are putting down some great examples I love reading your examples of go through a few perfect Wafi you used to play football didn't you excellent Celinda you used to eat a lot didn't you I guess you could ask somebody that what else do we have she used to be fit didn't she she used to wear braces you used to wear braces didn't you excellent example thank you guys for writing those again it's great when you're able to practice and if you're able to read these it just it just reinforces how to use this grammar correctly so I want to let you guys know again if you like what we do and want to show us some love check us out on patreon it's a good way to support what we do here link is in the description and while I'm on that I want to go ahead and give a shout out to some of our patrons Thank You Vicky Sulaimon Pedro Daisuke thank you guys you guys are truly helping make this happen and helping us come to you with with weekly live lessons and weekly lessons and making it all possible so if you guys are interested check out that link become a patron and I will officially be your best friend alright so now that we've gone through and and talked about how to form question tags I gave you some of those tips and tricks it's time to practice what we've learned and and put your knowledge to the test because again it this is where it's mostly interactive we want you guys to be engaged with these lessons because that's the best way to learn and practice what you know in order to improve your fluency so we are going to do a practice and what we are going to do for this practice is I'm going to give you the statement and all you have to do is write the tag so if you are in the chat I want you to write your answers in the chat if you are watching this later whether it is next week or next year use the comments section and just write your answers there and then hit comment we love it when we see that that people are using the comments section later on to actually participate in these videos that is what we love to see so I'm going to give you the statement and I just want you to write the tag and remember to keep in mind positive statements we use a negative tag negative statements we use that positive tag are you guys ready are you ready are you sure all right I'll give you one second to prepare one all right here we go so the first question is this all right he's always studying so I want you guys you know what what is Tagg that we're going to use to make this a question he's always studying this is again like maybe you're having a conversation we use it in spoken English all the time and you might be talking with somebody about this is this person that you know oh he's always studying mm-hmm how are you going to complete that sentence complete it correctly all right excellent seeing some great answers perfect PP Judy Nisha Alina Adolfo Richard one perfect Wafi Paula yes yes yes yes he's always studying isn't he okay remember positive statement negative tag he's always studying isn't he I'm asking that question yes or no next one let's try this one okay give me a hand mmm how are you going to this this is a common question that you would ask somebody maybe you might say this to somebody at work you might say this to somebody at school you might say this to somebody around the home to your husband your wife your parents your children and and you're you're asking this give me a hand mmm what what do you guys think what do you think the answer is write it in the chat okay I want you to write it in the chat let me know all right so again the key here the key here give me a hand all right remember it's it's an imperative sentence you are you are giving somebody you know a kind of a command telling them help me all right I want you to help me so I would say give me a hand if it's an imperative sentence you're going to use will or would so oftentimes even if you're watching TV or a movie you might hear somebody hey you know give me a hand will you or give me a hand would you this is this is commonly used in spoken English when you're you're you're giving somebody kind of it you're telling them a command you're telling them help me all right help me will ya help me would you so give me a hand will ya I think give me a hand is kind of a polite way to say you know I help me so again give me a hand will ya give me a hand would you excellent so next one next one next one here we go what do you guys think I told you what happened I told you what happened how would you complete that question all right we're looking for a question tag I'll give you guys a few seconds to to give an answer little time to think about it and then I will tell you the answer I told you what happened hmm what do you think I'm giving you the statement I just want you to give me the tag all right and this is again this is just think of it as a conversation this is people are talking and somebody is like wait a second I told you what happened yes didn't I I told you what happened didn't I excellent Karen ollie des monts on K 17 golly no rubella Carlos Evangelina orisha trying to just get as many names as here as possible thank you guys for answering a 10 thank you guys for participating in the lesson and sorry if I missed some names try to to give as many shout outs as possible so let's do another one all right this isn't the last question mm-hmm how would you guys again this is a question I'm posing this question to you all right this isn't the last question mm-hmm so we talked about this think about that statement we talked about it when I when I went through those tips and tricks because those are kind of this the slight nuances when it comes to tag questions in general positive statement negative tag negative statement positive tag but there's just some other things just to be aware of which we went over and yes all right this isn't the last question is it all right if we're using this then remember you're going to use it if it's these or those then you would say though then then you would be using they so this isn't the last question is it no it is not the last question here is another one all right so there is yes you wanna die from several years ago they used to live in San Francisco they used to live in San Francisco mm-hmm how would you complete that question all right that question brings back the picture brings back some memories San Francisco they used to live in San Francisco mmm what is the tag that that we're going to use to complete this question and remember this was again this was part of that those tips and tricks that we went through when I was talking about used to if we're talking about used to what do we use in the tag all right perfect excellent I love your answers they used to live in San Francisco didn't they all right and the answer is yes yes we did we used to live in San Francisco so that was great thank you guys again for participating and gauging in these lessons that's the best way to practice that is the best way to learn and it's the best way to improve your English skills you're just getting the best of everything right here thank you guys so much for joining me for this lesson on tag questions again I hope that you guys enjoyed it please like and share this lesson with everybody that you know especially anybody who wants to and practice and improve their English skills this video will get posted alright and what I want to do right to us in the comments write to us in the comments willya using using those questions right there write to us in the comments because we just love hearing from you guys and you can also join us on social media right up here alright Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course here on YouTube thank you you Lissa Ida and Andre Carlos Nisha love the truth Freddy Arturo hablado for each uh thank you thank you thank you so nas thank you guys for joining me love having you here hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and we will see you next time so long --- ## 421. Learn Thanksgiving Vocabulary | Fun English Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fUEUa7pfL_U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUEUa7pfL_U) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:48:08 | --- hello hello hello Happy Thanksgiving and that right there that is the reason for this lesson today's lesson I want to talk to you about Thanksgiving so today in the u.s. they're celebrating Thanksgiving and I want to talk to you about some of the vocabulary words that are associated with Thanksgiving as well as tell you a little bit about this family holiday if you don't know that much about it and kind of share with you because I am happy to be with you guys today on this Thanksgiving Day so if you are joining us again just let us know where you're coming from and what your name is and if you are watching this later again write it right to us in the comments let us know your name let us know what country you're from let us know anything about yourself we'd like hearing from everybody Patricia from France hello how are you welcome thanks for joining us so again as I was saying from okay Tunisia Francisco from Mexico Vietnam Mota from Argentina awesome great to have you guys I'm gonna talk to you today about Thanksgiving okay because this is an important American holiday so it is kind of a cultural lesson as well to learn a little more about the holiday and talk to you about some of the vocabulary words associated with this holiday and I'm gonna have some questions for you guys that you can write to us in the comments and share with us and again if you're watching this later also I encourage you to answer the questions and interact so let's start out with a very simple question which is what the heck is Thanksgiving okay so maybe you've heard of this holiday okay it is a very popular holiday in the United States which is where which is where you want and I are from we are from the US but the first thing that I think you should know about Thanksgiving it is a family holiday it's you know probably when I think of family holidays I think of Thanksgiving and Christmas those are those are the two main holidays where people want to be with their families now the reason Thanksgiving came about is it was a way of saying thanks it was a way of being thankful for the new harvest so this started a long time ago when most people were farming and every fall they would harvest new crops and they were thankful for that new harvest they were thankful for the food and everybody would come together and that is kind of how Thanksgiving began awesome we got more people Jose from Ecuador Russia welcome guys Nicaragua Happy Thanksgiving to you too Jose happy Thanksgiving to all of you I'm happy to be celebrating with you guys today right here the other thing you should know about Thanksgiving is it's not just a it's not just an American holiday all right it is also celebrated in Canada in the Korean some of the Caribbean islands not all of them and interestingly enough it's also celebrated in Liberia which is a small country in western Africa so I hope I don't get this wrong so in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November so which is which is today so we celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in Canada they celebrate Thanksgiving on the first Monday of October which you know that makes sense Canada is further north so they're gonna harvest their crops a little sooner so they celebrate it on the first Monday and Liberia celebrates Thanksgiving on the first Thursday of November so even though several countries celebrate Thanksgiving people celebrate it at different times and we're having this lesson today because as I said I'm American we're celebrating Thanksgiving today which is the fourth Thursday so if you did not know it already these are some of the other countries that Thanksgiving is celebrated in and one question that I had for you guys all right is again I said Thanksgiving it's a big family holiday what is the big family holiday in your country okay which which holiday do you guys celebrate write it in the comments that is probably maybe the most important family holiday where everybody comes together and they're visiting their relatives maybe they have a certain meal I have no idea let us know write it in the chat write it in the comments what is the big family holiday in your country I'd like to know because obviously in the u.s. Thanksgiving is a major family holiday so right now everybody is back home they're with their family they're with their friends and they are celebrating Thanksgiving so let us know which holiday in your country is a big family holiday I got some Lunar New Year Christmas of course our j'tia is very similar same in the u.s. excellent thank you guys thank you guys for sharing so the other thing is I want to say about Thanksgiving before before I tell you about the vocabulary words is when you think of Thanksgiving or at least when I think of Thanksgiving I think of food alright that is a big big part of Thanksgiving is the food because as I said it is it all started people are celebrating the harvest when people are harvesting their crops so you know Thanksgiving is all about food and I put a list together there are a lot of different types of food that people will eat around Thanksgiving but the main one the main main main one is turkey of course turkey is the big one now not every family is going to be the same and eat the same food but for the most part many of the foods that people eat you know turkey potatoes corn stuffing pies like pumpkin pie that's a big one rolls carrots mac and cheese one of my favorites so Thanksgiving is a big food holiday so if if you love food then you know you'd probably like Thanksgiving thank you guys for sharing aid in Ramadan yes excellent big family holiday Lunar New Year in Mongolia aww interesting and Christmas and Ecuador awesome thank you guys so much for sharing so this is again this is some of the food that people eat around Thanksgiving time turkey of course that is the main one Turkey so let's get into some of the Thanksgiving vocabulary okay so these are some words that are associated with Thanksgiving some of them maybe you already know because they're commonly used outside of this holiday season others maybe you haven't heard of so the first one is a feast okay so when you have a feast it is a large meal and it's typically to celebrate something so what kind of feast do people have you I asked you about the family holiday what kind of feast do people have what do people eat in your country for these holidays whether it's Lunar New Year or Thanksgiving share with us in the chat share with us in the comments I want to hear from you guys so in in Argentina salads fruits asado excellent in Algeria in Algeria City yeah yeah now yeah it is an important family holiday and I had no idea see this is what I love about these you know these classrooms is that we can learn so much from each other so in the chat in the comments let me know what kind of feast do you guys have during these holidays what kind of food are you eating because I think when people get together and they celebrate a major holiday everybody's usually eating alright they have a feast they come together there is a lot of different food that we have and we can say it is a feast alright the next one this is one of my favorites again this is another Thanksgiving very common is gravy alright gravy when I think of Thanksgiving I think of gravy alright notice you might big smile there it is a sauce with meat juices with meat juices and flour so you put gravy on turkey you would put gravy on stuffing on mashed potatoes you can put it on your veggies honestly you could put gravy on a shoe and it tastes pretty good to me probably I'd love I love gravy the last word this one that I want to talk to you about on this page at least maybe it's a word you haven't heard of cornucopia so if you're wondering well what is a cornucopia that that picture right right there all right over there that is a picture of a cornucopia and it is a symbol it is a symbol of kind of a lot of food it is a symbol of plenty and it just means that there is an ample supply of something that there's enough so it's not always used when we're talking about food so you could use it in other ways as well so for example if you go to and Mews mint park or something like that you could say oh there was a cornucopia of activities all right there was a cornucopia of something which basically means that there was plenty there was enough there was a lot of it all right there was a cornucopia of activities there was a cornucopia of food it just means there is plenty so that is a cornucopia the next set of words is this the first one is a pilgrim and a pilgrim I think many of you have possibly heard of this word because it's not just associated with Thanksgiving but a pilgrim is a person who journeys a long distance for some religious reason and in the u.s. when Thanksgiving came about they say the it started by the pilgrims so the pilgrims came to the u.s. from Europe and they looked kind of like that little cartoonish person right there that is a pilgrim and they harvested the crops and that's kind of how it began but as I said a pilgrim is also any person for any kind of long distance for a religious reason so for example also it makes me think of the Santiago Trail in Spain many people will go hike that trail and they are considered pilgrims when they do that or for example many Muslim men they will go to do the pilgrimage in the Hajj in they will go to Mecca and do that and that is a pilgrimage so pilgrim is used in a lot of different forms it's not just of course it's not just for Thanksgiving but it is a person who will travel for religious reasons the other one this is another important word right there number two is gratitude because when you talk about Thanksgiving again one thing that people do is they say what they are thankful for okay so for example I am thankful for all of you guys being here right now and joining this lesson so in the comments again let me know what do you what do you guys thankful for again let's let's kind of make this our little Thanksgiving lesson and kind of make it a part of your day so write something what are you thankful for are you thankful for you know your friends your family are you thankful for a new job maybe or you might be thankful for the new iPhone if you got that I have no idea you can be thankful for many different things so share with us in the comments what is something what what is something you guys what are you thankful for alright let let us know but to say that you're thankful is showing gratitude alright it is the quality of being thankful and it's often used as a collocation with the word show alright you show gratitude for something or you show gratitude to someone alright so remember that those are the words it's gratitude is commonly used after the word show you show gratitude again show gratitude to someone or show gratitude for something alright Patricia Thank You Patricia thank you very much thankful for this great lesson well again I am thankful for all of you guys being here with me today the last word on this page is carve and the reason I used carve is because Thanksgiving the main food is turkey and before you eat before you serve the turkey you have to carve the turkey now carve can be talking about food which is cutting meat into slices or it can just be talking about cutting something to produce it could be object or just a work of art anything so for example you could carve your name into a tree maybe you've seen that before on a tree somebody has taken a knife and they've carved their initials Hosea I'm thankful for my family my wife and daughters that is a great reason to be thankful for excellent thanks for sharing amano hi excellent thank you guys thanks for joining us we are talking about Thanksgiving vocabulary all right so even if you're watching this lesson later on practice use use it in the comments practice writing write to us let us know what are you thankful for what's something you're thankful for now the last set of vocabulary words that I'd like to go over with you or these right here now the first one is abundance and this just means that there is a large quantity of something so a lot mint often times it's used referring to could be a meal where for example at Thanksgiving there is an abundance of food all right that's pretty standard there there's usually an abundance of food there is a large quantity of food all right but it can be used to talk about other things all right we had an abundance of employees we had an abundance of people working on the project an abundance can be used in many different ways but it is talking about a large quantity of something all right and I'm a chicken and couscous is a traditional meal excellent welcome long great thanks for joining us so if you have an abundance of food which many people do at Thanksgiving then you often have our second word right there which is leftovers okay so leftovers I think in English again most the time it's talking about food when you're talking about leftovers and in general it's something again especially food that's remaining after the rest has been used so at Thanksgiving what happens because there is an abundance of food there's a large quantity of food there is almost always people don't eat all the food you eat as much as you want as much as you can and then there are leftovers you wrap up the rest of the food you put it in the refrigerator and you save it for the next day a lot of times people have food for the next week there are a lot of leftovers but again you can have leftovers if you go out to dinner if you go out to a restaurant and you don't eat your entire meal or if people don't eat everything you have leftovers and then depending on the restaurant depending on the country I know every everybody's a little different some people will take those leftovers they'll take them home and they'll microwave them and eat them later so leftovers is talking about food that is left overs so yes excellent thanks Patricia I like left it I like leftovers too because yes you don't have to cook and it's always just you know it's always just good to eat up the food it's good it's good to eat up your leftovers so the last word um right here is this one wishbone and you know it's not the most you know common Thanksgiving term but it's basically it is a forked bone just like that picture now the reason I put a wishbone on there is because in the u.s. in America I I don't know if it's the same in other countries is that you will have the wishbone and sometimes you're eating turkey Thanksgiving so there there might be a wishbone and it's called a wishbone because one person grabs one side the other person grabs the other side of the bone and you start to pull it apart and the bone it breaks now the person with the larger piece of the bone gets to make a wish all right so people - people will take the bone they'll pull it apart whoever has the larger piece gets to make a wish therefore it's called a wishbone all right again that is something that is something that people will believe in America and kind of have fun with this I don't know if it's used in many other countries or cultures maybe you can tell me if it's used in yours but those are nine important Thanksgiving vocabulary words that I wanted to talk to you about today so again thank you guys so much for joining me today on this very special Thanksgiving Day if you have any questions comments about Thanksgiving please please please please write them in the comments write us any questions that you have we always try to answer you guys and get back to you and again you can join our social media classes which are right down there we say their classes because we're always posting questions we're posting information to help you guys learn a bit more and improve your English skills so long thanks for joining us Patricia thank you so much Marie Angeles thank you very much again Jose thank you guys for being here I hope you have a wonderful day I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and hopefully after watching this you've learned a little more about Thanksgiving about the holiday of maybe a little more about American culture and yeah that's great it's always good to share I know I've learned a little more today thanks to all of you so again thank you guys so much for being with me today and we will see you very shortly all right bye Happy Thanksgiving --- ## 422. Learn Useful English Vocabulary ๐Ÿ‘‰ Ignorant ๐Ÿ‘ˆ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Rmp4Ituiu64` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmp4Ituiu64) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:54:27 | --- Dragons are real. That's ridiculous! Um...have you seen Game of Thrones? That statement...is ignorant. And that is our word for this lesson. The word "ignorant' means lacking knowledge or awareness. If somebody is not knowledgeable about a topic, or they don't know that much, then they may be a little ignorant about it. Let me start out by saying this is not a good word. Nobody likes being called ignorant. It's another way of saying somebody is stupid. Nobody likes being called stupid. But the truth is that we are all a little ignorant to some extent because we don't know everything about everything. For example, I don't know much about art history so I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to that. Also when it comes to good fashion, nutrition, design...as well as Uh...okay. I think we get the point. So since we shouldn't directly call somebody ignorant because it's not nice, we use the word to describe some things that people say or do. If people don't have much knowledge or information about something, then they may say ignorant comments or ignorant statements or even have ignorant behavior. Here are some examples of some ignorant things that a person could say. Are you serious? You really think that? Uh...yeah! It's the Internet. Anybody can put anything up there. Do you know where babies come from? I don't even know what to say to that. Three kids. Now that you know the meaning of the word, let's look at the pronunciation. The word "ignorant" has three syllables. And the stress is on the first syllable. Now keep in mind that the third syllable has the schwa or /uh/ sound. I'll say the word, and then I want you to repeat after me. Ignorant. Ignorant. That was perfect. You sound just like a native English speaker. Now let's use it in a sentence, so repeat after me. Wes can be a little ignorant when it comes to fashion. Okay. I admit it. I'm one of those guys. I like wearing socks and sandals. Now we can expand our vocabulary with a couple of other words in the word family. If we use the word as a noun with the same meaning, the word is ignorance. There's a famous saying with this word. Basically, people say this to emphasize that sometimes it's better not to know all the facts about a situation. For example, let's say that you're trying to eat healthy and somebody offers you some delicious food. You don't know if it's healthy or not, but it tastes so good that you don't want to know. Another word in the family, which I'm sure some of you already know is the the word "ignore." This is a verb whose meaning is a little different. "To ignore" is to refuse to notice or acknowledge. So, if you don't pay attention to someone, then you are ignoring them. You may have also seen this word when writing papers. Programs might underline your mistakes and then when you click on the word it will ask if you want to ignore that mistake. Can you give us some more examples with these words? Sure! Let's look at some famous quotes. Here he's saying that there are things that he doesn't know and that's okay to admit. This is saying as long as you understand there is a lot you do not know. That is another form of knowledge. So let's practice what we've learned. We're going to give you three multiple choice questions, and for the first two questions we want you to say your answers aloud. That will give you an opportunity to practice your pronunciation. We'll give you a few seconds, and then we'll show you the answer. Here's your first question. The correct answer is a) ignorant. This is an adjective, and it describes what he said yesterday. Here's the next question. The correct answer is c) ignore. The sentence is a request, and ignore is the verb. Someone would say this to you if you're not paying attention to them. Now we have one more question for you, but first we'd appreciate it if you go ahead and like our video. We also want you to practice and write a sentence using one of the words in the comments below. If you need some time, just pause the video. I'd also encourage you to read each other's comments because that helps you connect with your fellow classmates. For this last question, we want you to CLICK on the answer that you think is correct. If you get it right, we'll let you know. If it's not correct, it'll take you back to the beginning of this video. And we hope that you watch it again because the more you watch, the more you'll learn. Okay. Here's your final question. --- ## 423. Learn Vocabulary in Barcelona with Interactive English in Barcelona | Travel VLOG | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JTRy8csznco` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTRy8csznco) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:55:00 | --- We are on our way to... Welcome to the incredible city of Barcelona! On this trip we're going to teach you, and show you some new vocabulary words. These words are not in any particular order. They're just related to our trip. Enjoy! We're getting off to a little bit of a late start today, but that is okay. Just taking it nice and easy. Today's agenda... We are at the beautiful Barcelona coast. And the coast is just the land that is next to or near the sea. Other words for this might be waterfront or shoreline. But "coast" is the most common word you would hear to describe this location. How long does this take you to make? Nine hours. Nine hours? Yeah, I finished now. Very cool! So if you walk along, on the beach in Barcelona, you can see a lot of street vendors. And these are people just trying to sell you things. And they sell anything from carpets, to scarves, to glasses, sunglasses, and mojitos. These guys are everywhere. Barcelona is the city of balconies. And a "balcony" is a raised platform hanging from the side of the building, surrounded by either a railing or a piece of the wall. And we can see them around here. They're everywhere. How far did we go today? We have 28,839 steps. Nice! So today, we are going right...here. The architecture in Barcelona is insane. It is so intricate. It's so unique. And so different than anything else I've seen. Architecture is the way a building is designed and constructed. And it can be constructed in different styles. Like this one is designed by Gaudi, who is a Spanish architect. And you can find his buildings all over Barcelona. I like this too. These are really cool. Look...a little snail! A little ladybug! The interior symbolizes a forest with the columns as the trees the branches, and then the lights are the leaves. Thank you audio guide! Here's some more famous architecture by Gaudi. His work can be found all over the city. So right now we are on our way to... What? Oh...I thought we were going to do that cute couplish thing where they finish each other's sentences. Gรผell park! So this is a column. And a "column" is a vertical structure that helps hold up a building. And often you find them in historical buildings. We saw them in Temple de Sagrada Familia. And as you can see, in this park, these columns are holding up this platform above. There are a lot of columns in Gรผell park. We are at the Labyrinth Park. So this is just a maze of trees which we're going to try and get through. Uh-oh. What's happening? Well, we have hit a dead end. So a "dead end" is just...like a pathway or a street that comes to complete end and there is nowhere to go. As you can see, we have hit a dead end, and we have to turn back around. I think everybody else is lost as well. We're having a lot more trouble with this than we thought. We keep circling back around the the front, but I think we're making a little progress now... Oh-no! Oh-no! Another dead end! We're not. We've now attempted this twice and we've ended up, each time, right back here at the entrance. How does it feel? Horrible! I want to get back in there. Alright. Let's give it another go! Keep hitting dead end after dead end. I think this is the end. We made it. Success! Should we do it again? No! I'm scared. So this massive building right behind me is called a "stadium." And a stadium is typically where sporting events take place. And inside the stadium there are thousands and thousands of seats where people can watch these matches. Now, this stadium is home to FC Barcelona, which is perhaps the most famous sports team in the world. Let's take a look inside. Thanks for watching! We hope you enjoyed our trip to Barcelona. And before we go we'd like to practice what we've learned today, so we want you to choose one of the words from this lesson and write a sentence in the comments below. We'll see you next time! It's only fitting we end with some sangria and paella. --- ## 424. Learn Vocabulary in Dubrovnik with Interactive English | Travel VLOG | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `LKPbO5gJof4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKPbO5gJof4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:50:50 | --- I want to show you something. Hello, and welcome to beautiful Dubrovnik. So on this trip we're going to be teaching you some new vocabulary words . But not only that, we're also going to be showing them to you. These words are going to be pretty random because they're not going to be specifically going to be about Dubrovnik but rather about our trip in general. Enjoy! Here is a map of Dubrovnik. And part of Dubrovnik right here is a peninsula. And a peninsula is just a part of land that is surrounded by water on three different sides. Even if we looks at Old Town, it's kind of like a mini-peninsula. as it's surrounded by water on three sides as well. You have everything? Are you sure? No. Because you're infamous for forgetting stuff. You're infamous for forgetting... Now, we're going to go explore a little bit of Old Town. So Ioana is working on her career as an amateur photographer. This right here is a called an alley. So it's basically a narrow pathway, usually for people walking that is in between two buildings or even behind a building. There are so many different alleys in Dubrovnik. Like this one! It's so easy to get lost and turned around in here. But so much fun as well. These are called love locks. I guess people will write their names on them and then lock them up on these gates for their eternal love. Why do people do it? They do it to show that once they lock it their love is...that they're locked together in love. Forever. Or as long as these locks are on the fence, I guess. So what they've done is engraved their names into these locks. and "engraved" just means to write something onto a hard surface. Like a lock such as this. So this would be like something that's written on there. This is engraved. Not all of these are engraved, but a lot of them are. This one looks like it belongs a gym locker. Here's a good example of one. It's engraved. Eva and Kieran, good job! We are now getting ready to walk from here...up to there. And this right behind me is a cable car. It is a type of transportation that will take people up and down mountains, and it is attached to a cable. Now, we're in the process of walking up the mountain Perhaps foolishly we decided not to take the cable car. Krizni put walking trail. Nice! So, we made it to the top. It's a nice climb...a few hundred meters. But it was straight up. So we thought we were going to do this without the cable car, but then as we were walking up, this really nice couple gave us tickets to use the cable car to go back down. So we're going to check it out, and show you guys the view. So that worked out really well. Big thank you to the kindness of strangers. So just behind me is Old Town in Dubrovnik, and this is the most historical part of the city. And a long time ago, these walls were built that fortified the city. And fortified, it means just to protect. And you hear it as an adjective talking about like fortified fences or fortified walls, which is what these were. How else is the town fortified? Well, it includes three forts, sixteen towers, six bastions, two corner fortifications, and two citadels. So...a lot. We are really high up here. Let me show you. She's stuck. Because at some point, in like the 16th century...I think. There was an earthquake and the city almost fell to the ground. And then. They had to rebuild it. In the 16th century, it was like really big. and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We're very well informed on this...this trip. We are. It's just a really long history. I got to say, we are pretty impressed with the City Walls. It's taken us about three hours...two or three hours to walk around it. You can feel the history. Today, we are going to be going...there. So you can see behind me, it's a little cloudy this morning. So if we wanted to describe the weather, we'd say it is a bit overcast outside. And overcast just means that it is...like it is. It's cloudy. It might rain. It might not rain. But the good news is...is that it's not going to stay like this all day. But right now, it's overcast. Can we get a roundtrip? - Yes - How much is it? Thank you. Alright, we got our tickets. Here's the boat. We're on our way! We made it to the island. The weather is still a bit overcast as you can see. But...you know. That's okay. At least it's not raining. This is... I don't know what this is. We found it. We're at nineteen. The Chapel of Annunciation. So the island is full of these peacocks. So this is a peacock. It's kind of like a turkey but way more colorful. And usually males are more colorful than females. Do you really know this? Or are you just making that up? I think so. Usually males are more colorful than females in many species. So...it's the same with the peacock. They're peaceful...I guess. Well, he's getting really close though. He's so pretty. Grab him! Get him! Go! Go! Go! Go! Apparently, there is no smoking of pipes on this island. We are going to Fort Royal. We got a nice little 360 view of the island. Thanks for watching! We hope you enjoyed our trip to Durbrovnik. Hopefully you learned some new vocabulary words. Now, it's time to practice. Take one of the words from the video and use it in a sentence in the comments below. If you don't remember the meaning of the words, just rewatch the video. Goodbye! We'll see you next time. In case you didn't know, Ioana is a huge cat person. Uh oh! It's going to attack. No he won't. What's it mean...it's showing his butt to you? What does that mean when cats do that? That they like it. --- ## 425. Learn about July 4th in English | Vocabulary + American Culture | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `I9NNOd220L0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9NNOd220L0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:26:05 | --- hello everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English and if this is your first time here this channel it's just all about helping you guys practice and improve your English and today I have it's kind of a cultural lesson because we're talking about a holiday in the United States an American holiday but it's also a vocabulary lesson because I'm going to talk about different words and phrases that are associated with this holiday which I first just want to say to all of you happy 4th of July that is the holiday we're talking about July 4th happy 4th of July to especially those who are with me right now rod monatti lolli great to see so many members here excellent great to see you guys Deepa Amit nee Michelle Leonardo Adan how are you thank you guys for joining me and I do want to draw butcheries Saudia welcome thank you and I do want to take some of your questions about this holiday as I go through and tell you a little bit about the fourth of July share with you some of my thoughts and opinions and teach you some new words along the way as we go through this so if you have any questions specific to the fourth of July write those in the chat and I will try to answer them as we go through the lesson so I first want to start out when again this is more just me as somebody from the United States when I think of the fourth of July I don't know why and this may not be the same for everything everyone the first thing that I think of are fireworks okay the same way that if I think of Thanksgiving I think of Turkey for fourth of July I think of fireworks because this has become like a bit of a trademark for this holiday there are at the 4th of July there are so many different fireworks show that NGO that take place all across the country and this is something that I really associate with this holiday even though other holidays you may people may send off fireworks as well so let's do a little vocabulary because if you're thinking about fireworks then some ways some adjectives that you could use to describe fireworks like dazzling sparkling shimmering glittering those are all adjectives you could use to describe I think something that's like lighting up let's lights in the sky and then booming I think that's more one for the sound that these fireworks they explode and it's just a booming sound now you I also wonder well let's talk about some different kinds of fireworks I told you if you stick with me I guarantee you you will learn some new words because I bet many of you you may not know the words of these specific fireworks so some very common fireworks I think if we start over here okay up in the top corner there sparklers those are just those sticks they just light up and they just sparkle like I said you could describe fireworks as like sparkling now poppers I think these are the ones that I think a lot of children will play with them you throw them on the ground and it just makes that snapping sound that popping sound over here smokebomb self-explanatory it's just this you light it nothing explodes it's just a bunch of smoke down here we have these mortars now mortars are the type of fireworks that they you see it's kind of like a tower they shoot up in the air and then they explode and it's a bigger explosion such as the fireworks like right here in in this picture I'd say those come from mortars then we have down here roman candles which are those sticks that you hold out and it shoots the fireworks out and then of course over there the m-80s those are the ones that make the very loud noise so I have a question for all of you are there any holiday specific holidays in your country in which everybody sets off fireworks that fireworks are a big part of this holiday in your country let me know let me know in in the chat so again just happy fourth of July thank you guys to those who are just joining sooo right good to see you Alex Amir Orlando glad you guys can join me on e so if you have some questions all right just write them in the the chat about the fourth of July hopefully as we go through the lesson I will answer some of those questions so I've already told you that for me when I think a 4th of July I think about fireworks but that is not why the 4th of July has become a holiday so let's talk a little bit about the history the history of the the 4th of July and the the United States in general so it really all began with these gentlemen right here who I they are referred to as the founding fathers of the country so this is more cultural vocabulary specific to specific to the United States the founding fathers are the people who kind of who put together the United States in total there are I think about eight or ten founding fathers I probably should know their names but I all right there this would be a good trivia question so we have George Washington Thomas Jefferson James Madison because it's called a Madisonian democracy that's three Samuel Adams I know that one that's a very it's a popular beer in the United States who else do we have this is embarrassing Benjamin Franklin did I say him already Alexander Hamilton because think of the the play Hamilton it's a very famous play and I'm gonna come if I think of more I'll ask you what I asked was John Hancock John Hancock was there I don't think John Hancock is considered one of the founding fathers Abraham Lincoln also Abraham Lincoln is a very famous president not one of the founding fathers Abraham Lincoln comes about a hundred years later after this so the reason why is that these these gentlemen right here they the on the July 4th 1776 they wrote the Declaration of Independence this was the document that they created in which they said that that they are no longer a British colony the United States is its own country and they wrote the Declaration of Independence now speaking of John Hancock somebody was asking about that it's in here you can see that on the Declaration of Independence John Hancock wrote his name very large because supposedly at the time King George who was the king of the u England at the time supposedly he had very poor eyesight so John Hancock wrote his name very large so that it would be easy for King George to say his name now this has also become an expression in American English sometimes you could ask somebody if they say oh here's a here's a piece of paper I need can I get your John Hancock and if somebody is asking for your John Hancock it basically means signature so this is an idiom that people might use in the United States to talk about signature I need to get your signature I need to get your John Hancock all right there you go that's an English idiom for you about this so the other thing that I think of when I think of the July 4th people think of Liberty Liberty is another word to express freedom that you are people might use it in a phrase and say that you are at liberty to do something you are free to do something you're at liberty to do it I don't know why when I think of Liberty I think of somebody holding their hands up high in the sky they're free when in fact a better image probably would have been this one right here which is the Statue of Liberty some people call her Lady Liberty and this is a famous landmark in the United States located in New York City even though this this was donated wait a second it's her she's over here this was donated to the United States I believe around like 18 1886 which is well at which is over a hundred years after the deck the signing of the Declaration of Independence but again this is a famous landmark in the United States and July 4th there would be fireworks going off and over Lady Liberty for to celebrate this holiday so the other thing that I have because we were talking about fireworks some of you answered that question that like rod Oh Carnivale Christmas so yeah there's there are many different holidays I think people would set off fireworks and I know they do that in the u.s. Futurity says lunar you lunar Lunar New Year all right excellent in the u.s. there's many but I'd know I definitely think of July 4th is like the main firework holiday the other question that I had for you is in in your country does the flag have a name does anybody have a name for your flag so for example in the United States you think of the Declaration of Independence the United States was born all right this is when the country was born and you think of the flag because the flag is a symbol for a country and in the United States our flag people would just call it the red white and blue so people would refer to if they want to talk about the flag they may just say the red white and blue or an older term which is not as common people might call it Old Glory so these those are two different names for the flag in the United States you could call it the red white and blue or Old Glory so what do you what do you think what what what are some names for your flags in your country sir ass I've heard that friends help Americans to get their independence yes that is true because before it was the British and the French that were fighting in the for the u.s. territory all right the I believe the British won that it became a colony of Britain so when the United States started they signed the Declaration of Independence they fought the Revolutionary War that is probably another word that I should have added so the Revolutionary War was the war that the US was fighting against England at the time they were fighting for their independence and the French were helping the the colonists they were helping the United States to defeat the British that is absolutely true so what is saying that in Orlando in Cuba is called the solitary star very cool Union Jack excellent what else do you guys have Bolivia tricolor all right I didn't know that from Japan so interesting that that yeah flags typically have a nickname the US the red white and blue or you could say Old Glory now the other thing that I'd say is that when you think of countries and freedom like when they celebrate their their Independence Day or their National Day you think of things like the national anthem so what this means is that if you're talking about a country's national anthem it's talking about the song that is related to that country that that represents that country and again just like all countries have a flag which is their symbol pretty much all countries have a national anthem I really don't know of any country that does not have a national anthem and that would be my next question to you guys what what is the national anthem in your country and I don't know if there is a there is an English translation for that but in case you don't know what the national anthem is in the United States it is the star-spangled banner all right this is the national anthem in the United States I I'm debating whether I should sing some of it for you because I am a horrible singer but in case you I'm sure you've heard it in probably in movies or if you're watching a sporting event from the United States they all start out playing the national anthem and it begins like Oh like oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming okay I'll stop whose brats bright whose broad stripes and bright stars so it it's a song it goes on for maybe just a couple of minutes typically national anthems I don't think they they're not very long songs but again I think this is another way that countries can the countries have an identity through their Flags through their music and the national anthem so what do we have national anthem what do you guys got so life says in France ah the 14th of July Bastille the French Revolution excellent I was actually in Paris when was it maybe back in 2003 for the Bastille holiday and there were there were many fireworks going off per day the national anthem is Indonesia Araya excellent la Li says drop out Nicole or my French pronunciation I'm sure is is very is very poor I apologize for that god save the queen british national anthem excellent so yeah song countries they have a national anthem again it's part it's another identity and this is something to when I think of the flag that is somewhat Universal I think when people want to show respect to the flag they would do that salute and that is that motion in case you did not know that word people might salute the flag or if they are in the the military that is something that people will salute kind of way of showing recognition to either someone else because you could salute a person or something that is important like a flag so some questions that you somebody asked measure said how many how many stars does a US flag have so when the United States declared independence there were 13 stars on the flag and that represented the 13 colonies because at that time in 1776 there were 13 colonies today there are 50 states so the flag has 50 stars on it good question excellent I love it let's see you guys again sharing information I love this because oh so I said Cyprus does not have a national anthem okay I did not know that in Somalia national anthem oh so right for the French national is lame they marseille excellent so I love this just being able to share this information with each other not only you're learning about a little bit about US culture but you're learning about everybody else's country a little bit as well so you Ray says I'm a good thing thank you thank you really excellent so now you know what I think of when I think of the 4th of July I think of fireworks you know a little bit about the history and the signing of the Declaration in 17 in 1776 on July 4th and John Hancock wrote his big name which today stands for a kind of signature red white and blue is the flag now let's talk a little bit about I want to talk about a couple of words that people think about when you think about these holidays about independence or national days and the first one I want to start out with is patriotism and patriotic so patriotism is talking about the noun and patriotic is the adjective the reason why I'm bringing up these two words is because sometimes they are confused with these two words right here nationalism and nationalistic nationalism is a now nationalistic is an adjective so what I would say is patriotism the reason they're confused is because both of them refer to a love of one's country sometimes people might even say they're you could use them as synonyms but I do think there is a difference patriotism to me is a love of your country because you are you are proud of it you are proud of the accomplishments you are you are also proud of the way of life the way that your country has developed and the way the people are and the culture and society and you could say that you have patriotism you're proud of your country or for example if you want to use an adjective you can say you are patriotic somebody who's patriotic they're proud of their country and the way the way of life now I the reason I say it's a little different from nationalism is because nationalism also it's like you're proud of your country but I think also it has to do with power a little bit about power that you're proud of your country's power and might and it could be the power that the country has because of the military and they've I don't know winning many wars and you're you're fighting different Wars or you're taking over land or maybe even nowadays economically so and in both of those cases some people might not think that's a good thing that if a country is at war and they're taking land from another country some people may especially the those that are not from that country they may be against it but the people that are proud of their country for those things like oh the country is so powerful that's a little more nationalism and nationalistic so again be aware of that difference if somebody if you just want to be that you're proud of the country it's a good thing then I would use patriotism and say that you are patriotic if you're talking more about the power and maybe the government the power that your country has that's a little more nationalism and that's why I think some people say that patriotism is a good thing nationalism could be a little dangerous because again your your being saying that oh like power is the most important thing which I think most of us can agree that it's not it can be a little dangerous but that's why I showed these two different pictures like patriotism with the flag and you're proud of the country and nationalism you see right here they're doing this parade and it's like a it's a little bit of a military parade because that's the other thing that I wanted to talk about too because when you think of July 4th and Independence the Revolutionary War they were fighting for it the military was involved in in that and because of that people will think about this holiday and they want to pay tribute pay tribute to the founding fathers who wrote the Declaration of Independence and and wanted to be free they wanted their Liberty alright I'm reviewing some of these words they want to pay tribute for the people that fought in the war and pay tribute to the people that fought in other wars to protect freedom and to protect that Liberty and they're paying tribute basically then to veterans these these people right here veterans if you don't know this word it's talking about people who were once soldiers people who were in the military and then when they they basically you retire you're no longer in the military you were considered a veteran all right you were part of the military and because of that I think there there is a level of respect that veterans have because they were fighting in Wars or they were just part of the military and protecting the country and I think this is probably true in most countries I think people if veterans and most countries I think should be regarded with a level of respect because of their their patriotism for the country so let's look at oh the next thing I wanted to show you is again just talking about a phrase that people might use when talking about July 4th the love of country is a phrase that people might say in English and you could use it in talking about your country if you're talking about like oh I have I have a true love of country there you'd be talking about your country but it's an expression that people would say when they are proud of their country to show a love of country all right so let me let me talk a little bit more answer a few more questions some people said you were asking about if nationalism and patriotism are the opposite no they are not the opposite again they're similar and that people are you're you're proud of your country you have a lot of pride for your country but the difference is really like why because patriotism is more you're proud of the people and the way of life and some of the accomplishments nationalism is you're proud of the country in part because of its power that you feel that the country has power in or influence in some way and perhaps and we don't know maybe they use that power in a good way or perhaps they use that power in a in a bad way and that's where people will disagree about whether nationalism is a good thing or whether it could be a bad thing but generally I think if you just want to say that you're proud of your country I think it's better to say that you are patriotic that would be the adjective that I would encourage you to use so that other people aren't confused and if you just want to say that you're proud of your country so let's see some other questions so Christopher kind of like what represents the colors red white and blue that is an excellent question and to be perfectly honest with you Christopher I am not 100% sure but that again with Google at your fingertips we can just look it up I know that they represent different I'd say adjectives like meanings but now that okay I have it so let's see so the colors represent this is what I'm gonna read it says the colors of the pails the vertical stripes are those of the flag of the United States white is a representation of purity and innocence the red is representing like valor and the blue signifies vigilance and justice okay so that is what it means like so I knew that they they represented some type of adjectives some meaning it was not it like a representation of some historical event not like the Stars which represent the states so white is innocence red valor and blue is talking about vigilance and justice excellent question great I just learned something so what else as some of you guys are sharing with me some more national national anthems excellent sorry I'm trying to go through these so I said Brian severe says veterans are nationalists now I would say again because again people don't necessarily join the military because they want their country to be really powerful because the military I think in many cases are they're really too check the country and and to help out in certain ways for example so in in that regard I would think people would refer to veterans as more patriotic overwhelmingly like these people are there they they're Patriots they're patriotic they love their country and I think that is how people would really think of veterans in that case let's see English gay guys like valor what is the meaning of valor I think valor would be more thinking about a more simple word would be like bravery somebody who's brave they have bravery honor those are words that I think you could use to describe the meaning of valor all right so let's now look at the the last part we've talked about what I think of fireworks we talked about the history now we just talked a little bit about patriotism nationalism and some of the other significance of July 4th I do want to kind of start to wrap it up with the activities what are things that people do for this holiday and I think somebody had actually asked that a bit earlier so the first thing I think of would be just like a picnic you July 4th I don't necessarily I would not say that it is a family holiday some families spend it together but it's not a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas which are definitely more family holidays and you get together with your family I think July 4th could be you spend it with your friends or just spend it however you want but people might go on a picnic or perhaps this is something else this is another expression in English fire up the grill so if you're talking about the grill you can see you you guys know what a grill is which you cook you could cook meat or chicken or veggies and a way that a phrase that people would say it they'd say let's fire up the grill so instead of saying we're going to have a grill it's a let's fire up the grill and you're going to invite your friends over and you're gonna cook a lot different food fire up the grill good expression or you might have a barbecue so this setting right here this activity where you have somebody has they have fired up the grill and they say we're gonna invite all of our friends over because we're gonna have a barbecue and in that case they're kind of talking about the the event not necessarily because barbecue does refer to food but it could also in this case refer to the entire event that you guys are gonna get together you're gonna eat some food you're gonna hang out and you're going to have a barbecue or you could throw another word in there and say it's an outdoor barbecue I think those are also very common on July 4th or you could also call it a cookout I think that may not be as common but you could tell people hey let's have a cookout we're gonna create it get a bunch of food and we're gonna eat it together or perhaps who knows some people just might watch Netflix that's probably even though I'm not in the United States this is probably how my wife and I and our little girl we're gonna celebrate it later we might just watch a little bit of Netflix so I kind of want to end it on that lighter note of just some activities but mostly I think people would go outside and they would watch the different fireworks show so again just want to let you know is no saw some of you guys patrons and members today always great to see you if you guys like what we do at interactive English and you want to sponsor or support our channel you can get a youtube membership or join us on patreon there are links down below in the description and we offer some different rewards for example one level of the reward is to get access to all of these notes from the different live lessons that we do so you guys can check that out if you're interested but thank you guys so much for joining me today I hope that you've learned a little bit more about the July 4th holiday and why we celebrate it and how we celebrate it I hope you also learned some new words some of the vocabulary that we talked about whether it was about fire fireworks or veterans or patriotism or nationalism I these are words that that you will hear especially if you are in the United States and it is July 4th these are definitely words that you guys might come across so just want to say thank you Angela 8in Ahmed I'm the tea Abdullah Abdullah Rahman Esther Anderson Jose st. Mary Sue ray Hadi thank you guys so much for for joining me today I hope even if you're not celebrating 4th of July I hope you guys have a wonderful day a wonderful fourth of July and I I will see you guys next time for another live lesson goodbye bye lolly salon tree boo tree good hope you guys have a wonderful day yeah I just I don't want to go but it's it's it's time all right I have a great weekend and I will see you guys later so long --- ## 426. Learn the Difference...TOO vs ENOUGH | Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QGBetTni4hA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGBetTni4hA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:25:54 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English and if this is your first time here this channel it's all about just trying to help you practice and improve your English skills please write to me in the chat tell me your name where you're from or write to me in the comments because just it's always great to hear from new people I love it when people are able to find our channel and they just want to improve their English skills and we we try to do that in a variety of ways vocabulary pronunciation grammar which is about today's lesson so in today's lesson it is a bit of a grammar lesson I'm just gonna talk to you about two words alright and those words are the following I'm gonna talk to you about two and enough and we're gonna compare these two words we're going to practice them and I'm also going to teach you some very common and useful phrases that include these words which is a way to then help you build your vocabulary so I think that the grammar should be a little easier for you to understand I hope that it's easier for you to follow but if you're even looking for something a little more advanced I I think that some of those phrases and expressions at the end are useful that maybe you will learn some new expressions so I want to just give a quick shout out to some of you that are here with me today lolly hello great to see you neckla andre katroo de Sonia Kareem hello sleepwalker cocea thank you guys for joining me as we go through the lesson I am going to ask you guys to participate and to practice writing some sentences and if I see some good ones I will read them out so let's begin with talking about these words individually so let's first look at two and if you're going to use this word it's just it's two it's an adverb it's going to indicate a degree and basically it's saying that you have something more than what is needed all right it's like too much it's it's more than what's needed and I gave you some example sentences here which I will read to you in just a moment and these are just some to give you an idea of how it's used in context but again if you guys have some sentences using to write them in the chat or write them in the comments this is what interactive English is all about getting you guys to actually practice while you are listening to these lessons so for example I give you the let's just look at these first two sentences he can't eat at all it's too much food or the next one I said I hate driving because there are too many cars on the road so in this case we're talking about using it with too much too many all right though that is it's commonly used when you want to say that there is too much of something if you're talking about a non-count noun too much food it's more than what's needed as well as count nouns there are too many cars that we we have more cars than we need on the road and because of that it just creates a lot of traffic so that is the first point I wanted to make when with too too much too many we hear it used quite often with these count and non-count nouns or the the next one the water is too cold to go for a swim if we have an adjective that we want to intensify and say it's just it's more it's excessive too cold too hot too fast too slow or another one like this is from makes me think of the movie lethal weapon if you guys have seen it one of the famous lines in that Danny Glover keeps saying I'm too old for this you're too old for something you feel like you maybe you can't keep up you you have more years than then one needs in order to do something you're too old for it so when you're talking about to you indicate a degree now excellent I'm too young for this excellent perfect outside is too hot for running that's true and today it's pretty hot in Budapest so I could you could say yeah it's too hot to go for a run outside now I want to teach you some other meanings for - real quickly because it can also mean like in addition or like also if somebody says like this first example West likes pizza and another person says well me too basically they're saying I I also like this thing I also like pizza a West likes pizza me too so in that case it means more in addition or also it can also mean like very completely and in the context of like - pleased and I'd say that is a useful collocation so for example say she wasn't too pleased with the performance she was not very happy with this performance so in this case I think it's used more you could think as a collocation you're not you're not too pleased with something and I would also say it's used more as a negative in which case you're trying to say that you're not very happy about something like I'm not too pleased with the result or I'm not too pleased with the performance so that's a useful collocation if you want to use to to mean like very like - pleased you're not too pleased with something or I think which is even maybe less common to show surprise and let the sentence I I can't believe the puzzle was solved and by a child - and I think in this case it you're showing that surprise the same way you could say and by a child nonetheless like it's surprising that the child solved the puzzle but you could use - to indicate surprise in this in this manner so let's see some other good sentence is fun it's too late I don't know where you are but perhaps for some of you right now it is too late where what else do we got some other sentences yeah I am I am too hungry to concentrate yes if you are too hungry you it may be difficult to concentrate perfectly it's too hot in India excellent so when you're talking about to your you're saying that's more than what's needed that there is it's too you could say again too much too many of something I go back to those I think it's used quite often let's look at enough because enough also indicates a degree but in this case if you're talking about enough I think of the word sufficient you have the right amount of something that it's sufficient and there is enough so now try to think of some sentences using enough if you think of a good one write it in the chat write it in the comments always practice I think that's it's the great way it's a great way to improve so here are some of my example sentences using enough I think very common phrase somebody might say like we don't have enough time there is not a sufficient amount of time to to do something or maybe to go somewhere and somebody might just say look we don't have enough time we don't have enough time to do this or in this sentence he needs to earn enough money to buy a car so in this case you want to get a sufficient amount of money you want to get at least the the right amount of money in order to do something which in this case is to buy a car he needs to earn enough money or I could say she's smart enough to figure it out she has the right amount of intelligence in order to solve some problem or figure it out like you're smart enough to do something or this last case where we really talk about a number there are 10 sandwiches and you say well that should be enough that is sufficient for if you're going on a picnic or maybe you're having some type of party and you have 10 people and there's 10 sandwiches you say that that should be enough that is that is the right amount so let's see like we're gonna get to some phrases a little later uh so says there are enough people here I think I would say yeah you can for these live lessons I always want me I always want more and more people I would say you could never have enough people in these live lessons so Lal I said this listen excellent we're using both it's not too difficult for me it's easy enough perfect so again I think the grammar it should be a little easier to follow and that's what I want to practice a little bit right now and then we'll get into some of those expressions because I saw somebody was asking me about different expressions that people might use with too and enough so the reason why people would I think even in grammar class or at school the reason why we tend to learn these two words at the same time is because of that that they indicate a degree that two is more than what is needed and enough you have like well it's the right amount so I could say when talking about to like I hope the lesson it's not moving too fast or too slow I hope it's it's the right speed for everyone I know sometimes because these live lessons are a bit longer people might think they move a little too slow but again I like to I like to try it oh I try to move it a pace that is comfortable for maybe most people enough again you know that something it's the right amount it's sufficient and I could say I hope I'm speaking slow enough so that you easily understand what I'm saying and I I think I do I tend to talk a bit slower I hope I'm not talking too slow but I'm hope I'm I'm speaking slow enough the sufficient amount so that you can easily understand what I'm talking about so these are the reasons why I think we focus on these two words together so let's practice this a little bit what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you some sentences and I just want you to fill in the blank what is are you going to use to or enough and I've tried to make them a little tricky but I know you guys you guys are you guys are smart enough I think to figure this out so let's look at the first one um they've got way mm time on their hands all right what would you say all right what would you use to finish that they've got way mmm time on their hands is it enough or too much alright I hope that you saw this is a little easier that you knew right away that we're talking about time time is non countable it is a non-count noun so in that case you would say they've got way too much time on their hands and this again if you this is an expression that you may hear people use from time to time that you have too much time on your hands and what that means is that you have too much time available and often I think it would be used if you're describing somebody who maybe there may be there may be a little lazy or they just don't have enough to do right now it could be with work or or anything that's going on in their life and you could say they have way too much time on their hands so you can use that expression to say that somebody has too much time available the next one is I can't believe they're dating he is mmm to be her father what do you think I can't believe they're dating he is mmm to be her father he's old enough to be her father or he's too old to be her father what do you guys think so I can't believe they're dating that's I'm trying to give you a little hint they're kind of building in the context of what you'd want to say I can't believe they're dating he's mmm to be her father alright I hope that because again you understood that context of their somebody's dating I'm trying to indicate a little bit of surprise so in that case a old enough in that case if you have an older man dating a younger woman and somebody says well I can't believe they're dating he's old enough to be her father he has the a sufficient amount of years that mathematically he could be this person's father excellent so I think you guys are rocking that perfect cocea rod excellent hello what's up I'm on perfect a 10 yes so let's continue I have a couple more and then we'll talk about those expressions to help you perhaps build your vocabulary a little bit more so in this case how would you complete this sentence and it is this is also a bit like in you could consider this an expression in English somebody says oh you're mmm what would they say how would they finish that statement oh you're what oh you're kind enough or oh you're too kind what do you think and this is something that maybe you've heard probably if you're watching a TV show or movie what would you say oh you're kind enough or oh you're too kind yes so I think again this is where I feel like exposure is important when you're watching things movie TV shows yes and you would say the answer is B oh you're too kind all right and what they mean by this expression is that if you're trying to kind of flatter somebody and give them a compliment saying that oh they're so nice maybe they tell you something they give you a compliment you say oh you're too kind you're being too generous with your words what you're saying oh you're too kind because again if somebody says you're kind enough it means that you're you're just you have the a sufficient amount but in this case obviously you don't want to sell somebody that they're well they're kind enough because that that could be taken as almost a negative in which case you're saying well oftentimes you you might not be very kind but oh you're too kind it would be used when somebody is paying you a compliment and you to say thank you like this person is very generous with their words oh you're too kind the next one don't give him the keys he's to drive what do you think eh old enough or be too young don't give him the keys he's old enough to drive or he's too young to drive what would you say so again just trying to think of enough into which one are we using are we using enough which is that sufficient amount the right amount or two which is more than what's needed and in this case again that first sentence should really put it into context don't give him the keys you don't want somebody to have that well why well somebody is be too young to drive he's too young to drive would be a reason why you don't want somebody to have the car keys so excellent yes Maria ma d alene who Jose Angela Kareem ester Adan perfect you guys you guys rock that one so again just to give you a little practice between using those words to in enough and I told you that I I think the grammar should be a little easier for you to follow because - you're talking about more than what is needed and enough is that sufficient amount so now let's make it maybe a little more challenging I want to talk about some very useful phrases and expressions that use the words - and enough so let's start with - and an expression that somebody might say is too little too late and if you hear this or if you want to use it in conversation it means that there is not enough of something that should have been provided earlier so let me give you some more context and and talk about a situation in which somebody may say this so the key here is about something that should be provided earlier so for example maybe I need I need help with cleaning the home I need help cleaning the house and my my family is supposed to help me and they say oh I'll be there I'm gonna help you but they don't show up so I have to clean the entire house all on my own and then later on my family whether it's my wife my mother my father they say oh I'm so sorry I should have been here I should have helped you and I say look you know too little too late it's it's already happened it's already ended it should have been provided earlier and in that case you'd say too little too late so I think often people would use this expression if they're a little angry at someone that they wanted help earlier they didn't get it perhaps the person is apologizing and maybe you're not ready to forgive them and you say look it's too little too late you you should have been you should have been there earlier for me but it didn't happen so this is a good expression that you can use if you want to express that emotion that somebody should have helped you they didn't too little too late or if somebody would use this phrase to go too far or you could also say to take something too far the meaning is the same and what you're describing is a situation in which that you know you're behaving in a way that upsets or annoys someone and what I think of is perhaps you're you're teasing somebody and you're just joking around and you continue teasing this person and at some point it just becomes it becomes too annoying and at that point you could say that this person they they they have gone too far are they have taken the joke too far and typically like I said it happens when you you're you're you're teasing somebody or maybe you're arguing with some and then you say something that's really offensive it's really bad and then you say oh you know you've gone too far you've taken it too far and in which case they're saying that you've really upset me you've you've really annoyed me you've taken this too far so if somebody again I think of a situation in which you're probably it wouldn't be a good situation maybe you're arguing with somebody and when you argue with someone emotions they they can get the best of you and you say something that maybe you shouldn't say and in that case the other person would say look you you've gone too far you should not have said that it was inappropriate you've gone too far or mm-hmm again to take something too far perhaps like a joke you're teasing it and it becomes it turns out it becomes a problem so to go too far or to take something too far all right let's look at the next one which is if somebody says not too bad or not too shabby I think many of you you may be familiar with that phrase like oh not too bad and they both mean the same thing you're used it's used to say that something is good and I feel like you would use it in the context of maybe some work that someone has to do and they're showing you the work and they say hey look at look at what I've done and you want to say that it's good you're like wow that's you know not too bad I'm I'm impressed or you could say not too shabby so if something if you if you don't know what the word shabby means shabby means something is low-quality that it's just bad but in this case again if you say something Wow that's not too shabby it means it's it's good but I would also say it's kind of a surprising good that you're surprised that that the that this work ended up very well and you're like wow you know wow that's too bad not too bad I was not expecting this so not too bad not too shabby you use this too say this something's good another sentence which i think is very useful is just when somebody would say you can never be too careful and in this case you would say this sentence to express that you should do everything possible to avoid problems or danger so I think of somebody who might be a little more conservative and they try to avoid problems they try to avoid danger and especially if somebody is asking them why like oh why are you being so careful and you say well yeah you can never be too careful that you should always try to be extra cautious avoid problems avoid danger you can never be too careful so again I think you would use this if somebody is more questioning questioning you as to why you are being so careful you could say this you can never be too careful says your lesson is not it is not too bad thank you excellent I hope I hope it's not too bad not too shabby that you guys are learning some new things even if the grammar was a little easier maybe you're learning a new expression or two so this is a good one say you can never be too careful and I think it's true I think it's absolutely true and in pointed out yes that I think in life it's good to avoid problems be safe you can never be too careful especially like think about nowadays when you talk about the the virus and and wearing a mask somebody could say that that you know definitely when you're you you go shopping or something you're outside always wear a mask you can never be too careful so that's an example uh and then now let's talk about some expressions with enough somebody might say this tautology right here enough is enough so it really it means the same thing if you just say if you just tell somebody hey enough but you could use this expression right here enough is enough which means the same thing and base you're saying that you want someone to stop and if you want someone to stop something you could either say enough or enough is enough and I think you would use I think you wouldn't use enough is enough when something is happening and it's bothering you and it continues to bother you and finally you just want it to stop you snap and you tell them look enough is enough all right no more you need to stop what you're doing enough is enough all right so this is an expression that you you may hear from time to time see if you can listen for it another one is this one if somebody says sure enough and I think somebody may have asked about this expression earlier which which is why I didn't say anything because I knew I knew we were going to get to it so if somebody says sure enough it means as expected and I think people would use this when they're telling a story so let me give you an example and you're saying that well you expected this thing to happen so I could say that perhaps I have a dog and I left and usually I would I would let the dog go outside in case they need to go to the bathroom but I forgot they were locked inside the home and the dog was locked inside the home and I got home and sure enough the dog peed everywhere so in that case I'm telling you this story and basically I'm saying that something was expected and sure enough this thing happened so we often use it when you're talking about some result that's happening and you expected this result you can use sure enough all right so okay enough is enough I'll never tell you this Thank You lolly please please say hi to me hello surrender Yudof so let's look at another one another expression with enough is enough said and this is used to your telling someone that you you understand what they have said and there's no need to say anymore and I think the context in which you would use this is that I think of somebody perhaps apologizing for something that they're they're apologizing for doing something wrong and you you understand and you don't need them to continue apologizing you'd say hey like look enough said you you don't need to continue telling me this I understand there's no need to say anymore enough said so I think of a situation like that in which somebody's trying to explain their situation explain what they've done wrong and then once that person understands you could say look I'm upset I understand you don't need to say any more so I think these are some useful expressions just to review them which I hope that you've learned something new from this if it's like too little too late or you know to take something too far like a joke or perhaps an argument and you cross that line or to say something is good you say hey not too bad not too shabby I hope you think of these lessons you say hey Wes wow this lesson not too shabby or again you can never be too careful you want to play it safe enough is enough when you want to tell somebody to stop sure enough when you're telling that story you're talking about some result that you expected you could use sure enough or even enough said when you want to say that you understand you don't need to say anymore look enough set you don't need to tell me anymore so I again I hope you guys learn something new whether it was the grammar it's always good to practice and if you guys do if you enjoy what we do here at interactive English and you want to support what we do you can check out memberships or becoming a patron we offer some cool rewards links are down in the description it is our our member patron community which we love and some of you I see some from your faces members patrons with me today and of course I am very appreciative of that of all of you guys you guys Rock so again I hope that this may be cleared up some confusion if you were unsure about the grammar but when you're trying to use 2 or enough or it maybe help build your vocabulary little that you learn some new expressions when it comes to using those words so again thank you guys so much for for joining me it write to me in the chat write to me in the comments once this video is posted I love hearing from all of you let's see thank you so thank you 8 and sure enough it was a great class thank you excellent nice nice use of the expression Thank You Aidan Deepak can we say sure let me I'm just reading this question can we say for sure in place of sure enough no in that case if you want to say that something is expected that you'd want to use the whole phrase like sure enough something happened sure enough there was some result so you'd want to use both words sure enough good question though thank you sleepwalker Maddy Maziar lolly angela 'get Rudess and e-rod i saw you in there before yes Mina ivan thank you guys for joining me today I hope that you you know sure enough I will be back next weekend with another live lesson you you can still attend that live lesson if you want to it's not too little or light it's not too little too late to join that live lesson because it hasn't happened yet and I'm just trying to give you a little quick review all right so enough is enough I need to end this lesson I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 427. Learn the SCHWA SOUND /ษ™/ the Most Common Sound in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HaQUTdemPQ8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaQUTdemPQ8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:55:47 | --- It's not a word. It's a sound. And I know what you're thinking. What the hell is the schwa sound?!?! First, I'd like to welcome you to our global classroom. And remind you to subscribe to our channel if you enjoy learning and practicing English. And, for additional practice, check us out on social media. We won't disappoint! Now let's talk about the schwa sound. It is everywhere. Look at the sentence I just said. Everywhere. The schwa sound, which looks like an upside down "e" in the international phonetic alphabet, is an extremely important sound. Because it is the most common sound in the English language. It first came about in the early 19th century by a German linguist who used this symbol to represent the way people actually spoke. So how do English speakers feel about the schwa sound? We love it! Before we practice the schwa sound, we need to understand what it is. The schwa sound is an unstressed vowel sound that often has the /uh/ sound. Now it's important to note that you only hear the schwa sound in unstressed syllables. You probably hear this sound all the time and you don't even notice. Here are some examples. Listen to these words that have the schwa sound at the beginning. Remember, the first syllable of these words is unstressed. But the schwa can come at the end of a word as well. Listen. Some words even have it multiple times. Look at the word "banana." It has three syllables, and the first and last syllable have the unstressed schwa sound. I told you! It is everywhere. And the schwa sound is not just for the letter "a". Any unstressed vowel can be pronounced with the schwa sound. Listen. Learning and understanding the schwa can be very useful. When it comes to listening, you'll be able to better understand what people say. This is because native English speakers often reduce their words and sentences with the schwa. You wouldn't really hear a native speaker say... and emphasize each word. That's maybe how a teacher might say it in the classroom. Instead, you'd hear a native speaker say... Did you hear how many time I said the schwa sound? Listen again. I'll say it a little slower. You can't say it too slow because the whole idea about the schwa is you're reducing those unstressed sounds. The words "Why," "learn," and "English" are easy to hear. But the words in the middle... get reduced. Now the other reason why the schwa sound is important is because of pronunciation. When you learn and understand the schwa sound, you'll be able to speak more fluidly just as a native speaker would. And you may even feel like a more confident speaker as well. You'll be able to speak and have conversations without focusing on every individual word. And also when it comes to reading, you'll be able to read in the same way that people would actually speak. So what I'd like to do now is practice your pronunciation with words and sentences that have the schwa sound. First, let's start with some words. I'll show you a word and highlight the schwa sound in red. All you have to do is say it! Remember, the schwa sound has that /uh/ sound. I'll show you the word, and then Ioana will give you the pronunciation. Ready? Here we go! Alright! Now let's practice with some sentences. I'll give you a sentence and highlight the schwa sound in red. Remember, a lot of times articles and prepositions get reduced with the schwa sound. So practice saying these sentences as a native speaker would. Let's begin! Excellent job today! I'd suggest watching the video again if you'd like a little more practice. But hopefully this will help you become a more capable and confident speaker. Please give the video a thumbs up if you feel like you learned something new today about the schwa sound. And remember to subscribe to our channel if you enjoy practicing and improving your English skills. We'll see you next time! --- ## 428. Learn to Use ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8x4K9INW2Zg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x4K9INW2Zg) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:31:28 | --- Today I want to talk to you about using active and passive voice that's coming up Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills today I have a grammar lesson for you. It's all about active and passive voice. I want to tell you Well, what is the difference between active and passive how do you change sentences from active voice to passive voice? And when should you use the passive voice because I think that can confuse learners from time to time the reason why I'm doing this is because Often in the comments I get questions and people like well, hey, how do you change this sentence to the passive voice? It made me realize that okay This is valuable information for you to know about when and how to use active and passive voice So when you're thinking about okay? Like let's start with the sentences that we can change from active to passive so the first thing that I want to do is focus on the verb and The verb tense does not matter what really matters is what? Follows the verb does an object follow the verb Because if it does then we can change it to the passive voice. Let me give you some more information about that So verbs can either be transitive or intransitive if a verb is transitive It means that it has an object in order to help complete the meaning of the sentence For example the verb by we we will follow that with an object because it tells us what the person is buying I buy some food subject verb object so if a verb has an object than it is a transitive verb if A verb is intransitive then well that just means that there is no object the verb will likely be followed by a Prepositional phrase or maybe even an adverb think about the verb laugh All right, you know what, the meaning of that is and I could say the sentence She laughs at the joke subject verb prepositional phrase or I could say they laughed immediately Subject verb adverb now there are some verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive Let's look at the verb eat I could say we will eat the sandwiches talking about the future I have my subject verb and the sandwiches. That is my object now I can use that same verb and follow it with a prepositional phrase and say well we will eat in the park in That case I have subject verb Prepositional phrase it is intransitive now The reason why I'm telling you all this because you may be thinking what the heck does this have to do with? Active and passive voice if a verb is intransitive You cannot change it to the passive voice So all of those sentences that I just talked about that were intransitive she laughs at the joke they laughed Immediately we will eat in the park Those sentences cannot be changed to the passive voice in Order to change a sentence from active to passive or even just to use the passive. You need to have an object So now, you know the types of sentences that you can change to the passive voice. They must be transitive verbs let's look at the difference between active passive how to change it and when to use that passive voice so that I think just in general the main difference between Active voice and passive voice is that with active voice? The subject is performing the action when you're using the passive voice the subject is Receiving the action keep in mind that the vast majority of the time you're going to use the active voice when you're speaking you're gonna use active voice and when you're writing You're gonna be writing those active sentences. The reason for this is because Active voice. It's it's more direct and the focus is on the actor. It is on the subject That is performing the action. For example, I could say Well Wes teaches English it's direct It's easy to understand and the focus is on. Well Wes who is doing the action? The subject is doing the action. So the vast majority of the time just no all right, you are going to use the active voice there are certain instances in which it's common to use the passive voice and I want to talk to you about four different times in which you you may want to use the passive voice and why and as we go through this I'm going to give you some examples and We're going to change the sentences from active to passive So let's begin with the first one which is when you want to emphasize the action over the actor This is a great example of when you would want to use the passive voice. So let's take the sentence. I Wrote that email. This is an active sentence subject-verb-object now if we want to change this to the passive voice we are going to take the object and Move it to the front of the sentence. Then you are going to add the verb to be plus the past participle Plus the phrase by and the subject. So let's look at this change a bit closer We have our our active sentence. I wrote that email that email. That's the object I'm going to move it to the front of the sentence Then I'm going to follow it with the verb to be now One thing you need to keep in mind is the verb tense because in the active sentence wrote is in the simple past So that means I need to use the verb to be in the simple past that email was Then the past participle the main verb in the active sentence is right The past participle is written right wrote written that email was written by Me. Hey, that is the subject The subject gets moved to the end notice the subject changes from a subject pronoun to an object pronoun So in our active sentence, we're going to use the subject pronoun I I you he she it we they if we're changing it to the passive then it's going to become an object pronoun Me me you him her? Us them those are object pronouns one other thing that I think is important It is subject verb agreement because in this case I'm saying that email was written if in my active sentence I were to say well I wrote those emails and the object is plural That's going to change the subject verb agreement Then I would say those emails were Written so that that's something you need to pay close attention to when changing from active to passive is the object Singular or is the object plural? So this this is kind of a difficult example to start out with because there are many changes that are occurring You have a simple sentence like I wrote that email and you're going to change it to the passive that email was written by me and Again, I told you in this sense You might use the passive if you want to Emphasize the action over the actor another time that you may want to use the passive voice is when you want to avoid Identifying the actor you want to avoid identifying that subject So let's take let's take an active sentence. We made mistakes We have our subject verb and our object. Our object is mistakes Let's now change it to the passive and this time we're going to avoid we're going to avoid Identifying the actor so I would take mistakes I'm gonna move it to the front of the sentence mistakes were because again, We're talking about the past tense and then the past participle made mistakes were made Finished. I don't want to identify Who made the mistakes and the reason why is because well we made the mistakes so this in this example, I I think of Government and politicians because they don't want to admit when they made a mistake So instead of going up there and saying well look, sorry everyone We made mistakes they would get up there and they would use the passive voice and say well Mistakes were made. And in that case they are not Identifying themselves because people would would would hate them for it and this is a way for them to avoid responsibility So in this example, I I tend to think of politicians I know I'm rather cynical instead of saying you know, oh we made mistakes They might say mistakes were made and they avoid Identifying the actor another time in which you may want to use the passive voice is when the actor is unknown We don't know who the subject is. That is performing that action for example Let's take the sentence Someone stole my bike Subject-verb-object. Now, let's change it to the passive. We're gonna take the object move it to the front my bike Follow it with the verb to be was because it was the past tense. My bike was plus the past participle Stolen so we have my bike was stolen by well, we don't know who the person is in the active voice I just said someone I use the indefinite pronoun But if we're changing this to the passive, you don't need to say by someone. It's not necessary We don't know who it is. You just say, oh my bike was stolen So this is a great example as to when you would use the passive When you you don't know who the actor is, my bike was stolen my wallet was stolen those are examples of When I think it's pretty common that you may hear someone use the passive or maybe you want to use the passive voice as well another time in which you may want to use the passive is when you want to you want to have a firm tone you're giving A command you want to be firm, but you also want to be polite as well So this is a great example of when you may hear someone using the passive or you can use it, too So let's start with just a general command, which is no talking So if we want to change this to the passive, it can be a little tricky. So let's expand that sentence out too We do not allow talking now. We have something to work with and can change it to the passive voice So we're going to take talking. We're gonna move it to the front We're gonna follow it with the verb to be in the present tense talking is not Because we're talking about something in the negative talking is not Allowed that is the past participle and and that's basically how you would say it You don't need to identify the actor you're giving a command. It's understood so you would just say Talking is not allowed and I said it's a little more polite because if if somebody's going to tell you hey No talking. I think that can be come off as a little rude instead I think it's a little more polite to just say hey, you know talking is not allowed so these are four great examples as to when you may want to try and use the passive voice or You may likely hear somebody else using the passive voice. So let's practice a little bit I want to go back through each and every one of these instances I'm gonna give you a sentence in the active voice and I want you to change it to the passive and I want you to Say the passive sentence out loud I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I will tell you the answer and I'm gonna try and give you sentences that I think are relevant That I think people would actually say in the passive voice So let's begin with that first instance in which you may want to Emphasize the action over the actor and the sentence that I'm going to give you is this one right here my ancestors Farm this land Change it to the passive voice. I'll make it a little easier for you. Alright, I'm giving you part of the answer right here What would you say? How would you change this to the passive? I? Hope that you said in the passive voice This land was farmed by my ancestors. And this is something yeah, you may want to emphasize that Especially if maybe something is going to happen to the land. We can't we can't destroy this land This land was farmed by my ancestors It's very important to me the next sentence that I want you to change and I want you to avoid Identifying the actor is this one they will put their dog to sleep. It is it's it's a sad sentence It's a fact of life if you don't know what it means to put an animal to sleep is basically to The animal mostly because of old age or they're sick and they have a poor quality of life So you could say in the active voice they will put their dog to sleep How would you change it to the passive? Here is part of it. How would you complete that sentence? I? Hope that all of you said their dog will be put to sleep We're talking about something that will happen in the future will be put in this case You're not identifying the actor you're not saying by them if you're talking to somebody else about this Family situation and you know, it's difficult for them You're just going to tell somebody what would happen without identifying the actor and say Their dog will be put to sleep The next one is when the actor is unknown and this time I have a question for you I want you to change this question from the active to the passive And that question is has anyone fed the cat. This is a question in the active voice How would you change it to the passive and I'm not going to give you any hints this time? So what do you think? Has anyone fed the cat again? The actor is unknown. We have that indefinite pronoun anyone So if we change this to the passive, I think a very common question Someone might ask is has the cat been fed We're still using the present perfect in the question And in the grammar is going to remain the same has The cat you remember that object is going to move to the front and it will go After that, helping verb has the cat the verb to be been plus the past participle fed Has the cat been fed, we don't need to say by anyone because well It's not really relevant. We don't know so it's very common just to a say has the cat been fed And then I have a a command for you that I want you to change and that is no smoking Now we did this before I gave you that example, no talking I want you to change no smoking to the passive But I don't want you to use the word not and because of that I really want you to think about what verb should you use what verb is commonly used and This is actually I think a sign that you may see Quite often out in public. Let's stretch this out. I'll make it a little easier for you the verb you could use is prohibit. We prohibit smoking and then if I give you that I think it's much easier to change and make a passive sentence and you would say smoking is prohibited Smoking is prohibited passive voice it is a It's a firm tone, but it's also I think a little more polite than just saying. Hey, no smoking Just tell somebody smoking is prohibited. So I hope you have a perfect understanding of active voice passive voice How do you change these sentences as well as when to use the passive voice? I think that is very important because like I said most of the time you are going to use the active voice What I want you to do right now is let's do some more practice I want you to write an Active sentence in the comments and then I want you to go to someone else's comment Reply to their common and change it to the passive So what I want is just to have this Long list of comments in the active and then you can respond to those comments and change the sentence from active to passive So this is a great way to continue practicing Active voice passive voice and changing sentences from active to passive If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button as always. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 429. Learn to Use SHADOWING and Improve Your Pronunciation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-QjLmgd6zwM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QjLmgd6zwM) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:48:20 | --- So today, I want to talk to you about two online resources that you can use to improve your pronunciation. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you to subscribe to our channel for more video lessons on how you can practice and improve your English. This lesson is going to be a little bit of a learning tutorial because I'm sure many of you out there want to improve your pronunciation and one of the most common questions that we get is people asking us How can we practice our pronunciation? What resources are out there? So today I want to show you two resources that you can use to practice your pronunciation and do all of this completely on your own. So the first online resource that I'd like to show you is called Youglish. Now, Youglish is a search engine that will help you find The pronunciation of any word out there, and it searches through a lot of different videos on YouTube. So if you want to know the pronunciation of a certain word or phrase You can type it into the search, and it will show you a lot of different videos with the words or phrase that you are looking for, so you can see how people are pronouncing this in context. So let's just take a sentence for example. And the sentence is... "Where do we go from here?" So we can just type that into the search and it's going to bring up different videos with people saying that exact sentence. So you can see it just immediately goes to a video, just a random video that it found on YouTube. And it highlights the words that you just typed in. So, now we can listen to different people say that sentence in different context. ...have a soul-searching moment of like, where do we go from here? Like, what do we do now? Where do we go from here? Not only that, we can divide the search up and say that we wanted to hear the American pronunciation of it. We can click right here where it says US. So now we can hear people saying this sentence in an America accent in different context. So, where do we go from here? It's easy to point the finger at corporations and blame... ...computing. And finally, where do we go from here? And the videos will just continue playing. And you can go back and listen to them again and you can just keep listening to them over and over. To hear how people are saying it. To hear the rhythm and flow of their speech. And the intonation as well as the emphasis. And so you want to hear it in a British accent. Then we can click where it says UK and listen to a British accent. ...got here and what's happening. But where do we go from here? ...which comes out twice a year, So where do we go from here? ...final round. The eggheads lost one earlier. Where do we go from here? The answer is film and TV. Even if we want to hear it in an Australian accent, we can find videos with people saying it in an Australian accent. Now, where do we go from here? ...it's beautiful. Okay. So where do we go from here? ...very pretty area. So where do we go from here then? So Youglish is a very important tool if there is a word or sentence that you want to hear and see well, "How are people saying this word?" And also find out, well what context is it being used in. So how do we improve our pronunciation and how do we practice it. To put it in simple terms, pronunciation is just two different parts. The first part is just making sure that your mouth is in the right position in order to make individual sounds. Are you able to get your mouth in the right position and push the air in and out to make sure that that sound is coming on correctly. The next part is listening to the way that sound is said correctly. And then trying to imitate that and repeat that and say it in the same way. Because when people are talking and communicating, they are taking groups of sounds, putting them together, to make words, and putting those together to make sentences. And when we listen to them come together there is a rhythm and flow to it because of intonation, emphasis, and stress. The next pronunciation resource I want to show you is called Yarn. And Yarn is a site that it's full of short video clips from movies, television, music. And this is a great resource for actually practicing your pronunciation. And you can do this by using a technique called Shadowing. And Shadowing is when you hear something being said and you try to repeat it in exactly the same way. You're trying to use the same intonation...the emphasis. And you're really trying to shadow what you are hearing. And shadow exactly what is being said. So say that we want to know more about the word "Colossal." And see how it's being used and actually practice saying that. We can do a search on Yarn for that word and up comes a bunch of videos using the word colossal. So let's listen to some videos and then we'll repeat. It would be a colossal understatement. It would be a colossal understatement. It would be a colossal understatement. It would be a colossal understatement. It would be a colossal understatement. ...in the most colossal way. ...in the most colossal way. ...in the most colossal way. ...in the most colossal way. ...in the most colossal way. I paid for a colossal donut. I paid for a colossal donut. I paid for a colossal donut. I paid for a colossal donut. I don't have a donut. I paid for a colossal donut. I don't have done Now let's say that we want to practice a sentence and we want to use the question, "What's the matter with you?" Now this can mean two different things. It can mean, "What's the matter with you?" like "What's wrong? Are you okay?" And it also can mean, "What's the matter with you?" like, "What's your problem?" And this is a great way to listen to how it's being said so you can understand how to use it when you want to express those feelings. So again, we can do a search for "What's the matter with you?" and we find a lot of different videos using that exact question. Let's start out with some people asking that question like you know, "What's wrong? Are you okay?" What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? Wasn't matter with you What's the matter with you? That's my Nicholas Cage impression. It's really bad. What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? I sound like an owl...YOU...YOU...YOU. What's the matter with you? Now let's see how it's used in the context of "Hey. What's your problem?" What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with you? Yeah, I can't do that one very well. What's the matter with you? So as you can see, with each of those videos we're saying the same question, but we're saying it a little differently depending on the context and the meaning that we want to convey. But this is a great way to practice your pronunciation. Because these videos are short. And you can just listen to the way a word or a sentence is being said in a variety of contexts using a variety of intonation. And try to repeat and repeat and repeat and shadow what you're hearing. And for additional practice and to make it even better I would recommend recording yourself as you're doing this using your cell phone or a device on the computer. So then you can go back and listen to the way that you are saying it and then listen to the way it's said in the video. And then when you listen to yourself saying it, you can compare that with the actual video. And by doing this you'll be able to identify perhaps certain sounds that you're having trouble making because they don't match up with what you're hearing. Or perhaps you hear that your intonation is just a little off. Or maybe you are not emphasizing a word the same way. So I highly recommend recording yourself as you doing this. So if you want to improve your pronunciation use the resources that are available to you. I will put a link to both of these sites in the description below. And what I'd like you to do is in the comments, let us know what you are doing to practice your pronunciation How are you trying to improve? What resources are you using or what methods? And I think this will help everybody and maybe we can learn new ways techniques or find out new resources that we can continue to practice and improve. Sharing is caring. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. --- ## 430. Learning English On Your Own?... NO PROBLEM | How to Practice By Yourself | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nZcepj8pE-c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZcepj8pE-c) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:46:44 | --- welcome welcome everyone on this beautiful Saturday thank you for joining us today we have a super super duper fun lesson interactive English it's here it's in the house oh my god okay sorry I was trying to be cool it didn't work we are here today for a super fun list and a lesson that I think is very useful and I think it's going to be very fun for our students so if you are just joining us please please please please write down your name and where you are joining us from because I love to see how where students are from you know sharing in this sharing our knowledge and creating a wonderful community of students from everywhere so let's see hi given hi Bindu hi Rohit Yohai quad in thank you thank you thank you for joining us again write your name and where you are from my name is you wanna from interactive English and I am here to talk to you today about ways we can practice English on our own okay so if you're just joining thank you from Belgium from Stockholm from Brazil Venezuela oh this is such a wonderful crowd I am talking to you today from the beautiful city of Budapest so it's so nice to see that we are from everywhere so thank you thank you thank you for joining us greetings and welcome a welcome welcome oh god from hell no I doubt that you're in hell they don't have typewriter or not typewriters they don't have keyboards there or the internet or maybe they do I don't know but welcome like I said today we are talking about activities you can do by yourself so one of the most the questions we always always get is students asking how can I practice how can I improve my English and of course we recognize that it's sometimes it can be difficult to improve your English if you don't have a teacher or somebody to practice with where you're in luck because there are so many ways you can practice your English by yourself without someone you don't need a teacher for these activities you don't need a friend it is absolutely free if you have an internet connection on sometimes even if you don't with a little bit of preparation so let me see let me look in our chat so many people I'm so grateful to have all of you in our classroom and kind of share in our community so hi Dahlia hi from Somalia from Sri Lanka Thailand India beautiful wonderful thank you guys I'm sorry I'm just my charger um sorry just one second there we go thank you guys so much from joining oh it's so wonderful to see you okay so I have a request from you I'm going to ask you because we're going to play some of these we're going to do some of these activities together and when I ask you please give me answers so you will see that we will need words we will need sentences he will need different things and I'm going to look for you guys my students my friends my community for answers okay so please please PLEASE answer and it's going to be a lot of fun we're going to participate in this together and then you can do them by yourself so thank you guys okay let's see if you're just joining like I said please write down your name where you're from because it's so fun for everyone to see where everyone is from okay so the first one were talking about today hangman have you ever heard of hang man this is a game that I used to play as a child it's it's I think in many languages not just in English but it happens to be a wonderful wonderful wonderful help with your spelling now if you're not new to English you know that English is not a phonetic language which means that English you can't the words are not spelled the way you hear them which means that spelling can be difficult and I'm sure we've all had some problems with spelling and sometimes we make mistakes so please in the comments write down if you sometimes have problems with spelling in English let us know do you have problems because I know it can be difficult and full-disclosure even native speakers have problems with spelling in English so it is not easy okay hangman will help you with this with this problem because it's all about spelling spelling and um it's a fun way of going about it so let's see anyone has oh yeah this is Apple thank you thanks for guessing this is actually just a picture I put in there to give an example but thank you guys doing great job spelling also wonderful okay are you guys ready for a more difficult one because I have one for you okay let's do it okay so I have a series of websites here that I am using and these websites I'm going to put a link for all of them after we finish the lesson because all of these are going to be very very very useful for you but we're going to play them together and then and then we're going to to answer you them and then I'll put the links in there okay so this website I found called games to learn English calm it has a series of [Music] different categories so this particular hangman game has categories so if your kind of newer to learning English this is a really good way to review some words your vocabulary but also a very good way to like learn it by categories so for example if I click on food you see if you kind of scroll above you can see the content so you can see the kinds of words that are in there so I'm gonna click on it okay so this is possibly an easy one so I want to see what are some words for the letter words that we can guess which one should I click click on what do you guys think let's see do I have any suggestions I'm going to click until I see all your comments I'm going to click on P oh it's a real one let's see I usually find ok any suggestions what are we doing any guesses I'm going to click on a hey okay PA what could it be ah any suggestions moon maybe but remember this is food it's food it's it's the theme of food I'm gonna go with em uh-oh PU what starts with P Oh pear okay let's try oh you are right okay so there's an e there there's an e very good very good I'm gonna press on our oh you are correct good job except for the spelling okay it's not a peer it's a pair a good job good job okay so you guys can see how this this can be really really useful and like I said it's with categories so you can you can choose different categories on this website and this is again a little bit easier now if you want a bit of a challenge this is kind of a medium one and if you want to even practice the cultural aspect of of English like for example Christmas vocabulary you can click this other website that's called just hangman comm and it has different Christmas category so you can play around I'm not going to go through all of them because I really wanted to focus on the next one but this is very very helpful it's kind of a medium difficulty activity now this is the one I wanted to talk to you about because I wanted to show you the different ways that you can you can work with this one so this website is called hangman word game comm if you can't catch the word don't worry I will put it on a little later after we finish but I wanted to show you these options you can click on play with friends or random opponents so if you want something very very challenging because you have to play against time against somebody or you can click or on a single player on time so there's no time limit you can play by yourself or time and you have two minutes to solve the game so you have all of these levels and you see the game here and you have to try to figure it out so I'm just going to kind of click on it to show you guys we're not going to play this one but just to show you how it works oh so as you can see recitation was the word it's a more difficult word so again this is if you want a challenge if you want to challenge this is your this is this is the your your gota so I'm going to put all of these on the website thank you guys again for joining um hi Marcos and nice to see you again if I miss your names and I've miss if you have a question please write it down again but thank you for joining if you are just joining please tell us your name and where you're from because it's fun to see and we were just talking about activities you can do by yourself one of them being hangman now I know that a lot of people may want to practice English on your phone so if you if you don't want to do this there are so many apps do that you can look on your phone that just have the name hangman and you can do that as well okay are you guys ready for my second one this one's a little bit more difficult so I'm kind of going on difficulty level here boom crossword puzzles okay crossword puzzles are great they are kind of like hangman but so much crazier because you have to deal with words everywhere so crossword I don't know if I explained by the way hangman the whole point of a hangman is you have so many choices and if you don't if you don't get the word in so many choices you have a little man that keeps getting drawn and eventually if you don't guess it the man dies sorry if I didn't explain that so it's kind of a fun game to play because you're hoping that your man will not die well with a crossword puzzle you don't have that element of a little game but you have a lot of different words so this can be a la I see a lot of people when they travel they have crossword puzzles with them so this can be something that you do that you can take with you on a trip or on your commute to work if you're in traffic not if you're driving of course but if you're the passenger there's so many places where you can take a crossword puzzle and you can practice your English while doing it so it's kind of amazing because you don't need to speak with anyone you can just write it by yourself or you can do it on your computer so it helps with your spelling in your vocabulary now let me show you what I mean we're going to play obviously we're going to do one together so if you guys I'm going to look to see if you guys are answering so please pay attention okay so I have some suggestions my first one this one right here yep just a second did it did it did it yeah got it okay so this one is called free training tutorial and it's kind of an interactive platform where you click on it and then you see this so first of all it tells you something that is four letters and not the definition is not costing any money so what four-letter word do we know that means not costing any money let's see if you guys can guess it not costing any money let's see let's see let's see who can guess it any takers okay what nobody I'm going to guess free let's see if that's okay yeah good job Nordine good job okay good good so let's try another one right here down seven letters you wear them above your nose to see better what do we think we have also if you get stuck there's a reveal word option but let's not click on that to make sure that we can guess it so it tells you down or across what do we wear above your nose to see better I'm wearing them right now in fact if I don't wear them I am blind as a bat that's a English idiom I close so what do we hear what are these called glasses that's right okay good job glasses glasses and of course in this in this game spelling really really really really counts because um because if you misspell one word it's going to mess up another word so we're gonna try it one more this one right here to see a yellow sour fruit a yellow sour fruit five letters glasses good job thank you guys face mask maybe but no it's glasses glasses so what's a yellow sour fruit let's see who can answer it it is funny idiom Ricardo yeah okay so Yasmine says lemon let's try lemon lemon that is correct but you guys see how spelling really matters for this game because if I had written grasses for example then I would be confused and it would be hard for me to guess lemon so it's very very important to make sure that your spelling is really good on these the other thing I was going to show you was if you for example don't have access to the Internet I found this cool website called ESL games plus.com where you can print you can print some of these crossword puzzles and they're also on categories and they can be from objects or like rooms in the house like bathroom or bedroom or body parts and colors to things like adjectives or actions so you can really use some of these to really practice a specific part of English that you have issues with so if you print them out you can take them like I said on a trip you can take them on the bus and you can just fill them out without the destruction of the internet which is sometimes very very very nice so um I think I had yeah so they're very whoops not hangman crosswords okay so those are very very useful like I said it's a little bit more difficult and sometimes you can do some really difficult ones and if you're in need of a challenge I actually have to show you another one and this one is from dictionary.com it had they have a free daily crossword and it's pretty difficult so we're not going to play it right now because of time but they do have one and it's pretty lengthy so it's it's it's really good because you have the option of going from easy to challenging so I definitely recommend doing these at any level okay like I said I'll put the links before in the description once we are finished okay are you guys ready for the next one I am so excited because this is something that I used to play a lot when I was younger and now we've repurposed it we gave it an English an English application thank you guys for answering I still see a lemon and glasses yes you guys are correct those were the correct answers lemon and glasses thank you for answering the next thing I want to talk to you about it's this little game that many kids play when they're busy they look at two pictures side by side and they have to spot the difference so they have to find the differences in these pictures now before I we play this game together I want to give you some instructions on how you can play this so it can benefit your English because this can be a very beneficial game or activity okay very very beneficial what I would like you to ask to ask you to do is every time you you you do this activity is to ask yourself how are these two different images different so I want you to describe the differences make sure you write them in full sentences because of course some of them might be easy to spot but the point is not to find them as much as to talk about them that is where the English practice comes in hand so you can use adjectives actions I just want to make sure that you're being as descriptive as possible this is where it becomes very very useful let me show you what I mean with a picture that I have right here are you ready are you ready to help me spot the differences yes please please join thank you so much join everyone into our spot the difference activity okay it is about to start good good good okay so I have here there are ten differences and this on this website there's ten ten differences it's an easy picture they're not that hard but I want you to write down what are the differences they use notice okay but make sure to be descriptive I will give you an example and then while I talk please write down any differences that you notice so for example in the second picture there is a black baby chicken black little chick while in the first picture there the little chicken the little baby chicken is yellow see so you have to make sure to describe these differences of course it's easy to spot them but what I'm interested in is describing them so let's see if you guys noted anything else the cow okay what about the cow make sure to be descriptive a blue rooster moon in the sky so yeah very good but please make sure write down write down a complete sentence blue chicken yes but make sure so yeah this is like a blue rooster and so the best way to do this would would be in the second picture there is a blue rooster and in the first picture there is no rooster so if you're using complete sentences you are fully trying to develop your English skills okay so let's see any other any other differences that you've noticed a B the cow has black stains very good exactly so in the second picture the cow has black stains or spots and in the first picture the cow has brown spots perfect so this is how I want you to play this activity just explained the differences don't just say what they are an insect Oh perfect in the second picture the dog still has a little bee and the first picture dogs doesn't have a little bee perfect so exactly so the that's exactly right so this is something you can do with yourself and I'll show you how to get find some of these together but definitely definitely write in complete sentences okay so are you let's see any more differences you can see the Sun in the second picture very good exactly you can see the Sun perfect wonderful job everyone that's exactly how I want to do this let's see if you wrote any other differences um somebody thought yeah it was a hand yeah they kind of look like a hand I made it blue because I don't know what maybe to show that he is the rooster who knows any other differences that you see anything else there is a red butterfly in the first picture that is correct that is the red there is a red butterfly in the first and no red butterfly in the second perfect so you get how this game is slash activity is played how we are doing this make sure to describe these as much as you can now if you're wondering how can I find these activities a very very great way to do it an easy way is to do a google search this is what I did I wrote spot the difference up here and you can see so many differences so many pictures that come up and there's something that I think was even did a lesson on is the usefulness of Google Images it's such a useful tool for you so if you have grammar questions or things like that you can always type them in in Google Images but I love it for this activity spot the difference so you can use any of these you and do it while on your computer or you can print them out if you want to use your color printer you can print them out and you can definitely definitely do this activity by yourself okay okay are you guys ready for the next one let's see okay the next one oh gosh I'm biased because I love all of these activities but the next one is among my favorites probably my favorite because it involves emojis there are so many reasons why I love emojis there's I think they bring such a wonderful dimension to language you can express a lot more they're fun they're funny you can just play with them as much as you want but in terms of learning English they can also be very useful who knew and I'll show you how so I like them because they develop your creative thinking they help you maybe if you're kind of stuck learning English you're just learning grammar grammar grammar all the time sometimes you need a little bit of inspiration to make things fun this is a great way to do it they also help you develop your vocabulary and fluency if you do it this way so now I want you guys to put your creative hats on okay and become very very creative because I'm about to show you something fun that I do with my students thank you guys for answering by the way about the ladybug and all these other differences thank you for being so descriptive this is great this is wonderful this is exactly what we need to do you need to speak use as many words be as descriptive as possible because that makes your English great okay so are you ready this is something I do with all my students and I love it it's one of my favorite activities okay here we go so in in the comment I want you guys to in the comments I want you to do the following I want you to write a sentence one sentence or maybe two sentences but a very very short story involving these three emojis okay so we have a poodle you have a plane and we have a key so write down any sentence you can think of involving these three pictures and you can be as creative as possible so I'll give you some time while I'll tell you my short little story and see what you guys come up with okay and again I'll put the links to these websites I'll put them all in the description okay so I'll tell you my story and then you can write yours also yesterday I was driving to the airport there from using the plane driving to the airport and in the car next to me I saw a poodle a poodle and he accidentally ate a key okay so again these stories can be funny I want them to be short because the point is to give you ideas to use your English let's see what you guys came up with I don't see anything yet but maybe my maybe my live feed is not catching up but I will give you another one okay in a second and then I'll read your responses out loud as soon as I see them are you ready for the next one okay so they spin spin spin spin spin spin and then you have a snail a shower and a clock now as you can see as you can see these emojis do help you because you have to think of the word in English and then you have to put it in a complete sentence so yes you're being creative yes you are using your vocabulary and yes you're practicing your sentence structure and these are very important skills to have when we are talking about being fluent in English so if you are seeing this please write a sentence in the comments about these three pictures okay one sentence very short story of ones or two sentences snails shower clock or alarm clock snails shower and in the meantime I'll read what you guys wrote about the the puto the puto was the pilot of a plane but she couldn't start the plane because she forgot the key this is West's sentence um it's it's a pretty good one I love it a small dog was swallowed the key of the captain so he can't go in the airplane perfect thank you guys see so this is so great and you can make them simple too because then it will said you don't understand much English you can make it very simple to the snail took a shower at 8 o'clock you can make it very or whatever that's 10 o'clock so you can make it very easy to you don't have to make it complicated but if you want you can ice now I just woke up because the alarm clock was set at 11 p.m. that remind us you got to take the shower exactly so you can make this as crazy as you want or as short as you want but I suggest making it a little crazy because it's fun you're ready to do another one okay we have another snail you have a bomb and that could be according to most of my students it's a castle but it could also be the Taj Mahal maybe I don't know but you can kind of you don't have to be exact instead of bomb you can say explosion instead of the building you can say a temple or you can say a castle so let's see I keep reading um I was taking a shower when suddenly a snail but it was a gigantic one I was terrified and out of the blue my clock rang I woke up it was a bad dream perfect you guys are doing so well white snail took shower alarm went off while snail yeah exactly I have taken a shower before the clock at 7 a.m. found the snail by the door wonderful I have to take a shower because it's very hot here okay sorry Junior okay so let's see any sentences about the snail the bomb or explosion and the castle or temple or whatever you guys want to call it I'm gonna say my sentence let's see um let's see uh the snail caused an explosion at the castle boom maybe this was an explosive snail I don't know but he caused an explosion at the castle so okay so I just read West's sentence the snail wanted to visit the Taj Mahal because it's the bomb it's amazing when the snail was about to get into the building the bomb blasted sure hi I'm Anna welcome so if you guys are just joining and wondering what are we doing what is going on we are doing activities you can do by yourself this particular one stimulates your creativity while reminding you of all these vocabulary words and also making sure that you you really pay attention to your sentence structure it's a very very good one okay so we can there's a lot to do with this but I'm going to switch to another one that's equally fun but a little bit different so this one is from Bert c-calm and the difference with this one so it will it will give you different emojis but what it also does is they don't end so you can do so you have to keep adding to the story okay so are you guys ready okay let me see what else you've written the castle exploded I saw snail running away the secret agent snail with bomb attempt oh you guys are your imaginations are incredible wonderful thank you for answering everyone this is amazing okay so this one is slightly different so it all starts with a bicycle in this case but it gives you different ones every time so we can start it with one sentence yesterday I took a bike ride in the city in the park and then I saw a tram crossing crossing and then and then I saw a little boy next to the tram crying and I asked him why are you crying little boy and then he told me that he was crying because there was a train coming right at him and I asked him why don't you get out of the way and then he got so happy because of my advice and he told me that he loved me you guys see what I'm doing so I keep adding to to all of these to all of these stories I'm gonna keep going but we're going to do one together and I want to see what you guys are doing so and then what happened what do you think happens so if you listen to my story I said yesterday I went on a bike ride in a park and I saw a tram crossing and next to the tram there was a little boy crying because he was in front of a train and I had told asked him why doesn't he move away and he did and he told me he loved me so let's see if you guys can come up can continue my story so this is an angry emoji what else can we can you give me with this little with with this angry while you guys are riding I'll I'll keep I'll keep going with it let's see um and then I saw his mother the boy's mother looking very angry at me and I realized that she loved wearing a turban I don't know why but she was even angrier I don't know where the story is going but she got even angrier at me because I was looking at her turban and then I decided that this was a dream I was asleep okay so you can start over it's this big and I usually zoom in so I can see it better but every time I click on it it gives me a different emoji and I can start a different story so sure it belongs to the mother and then he said it was joking and so there's so much you can go with it as you can see this is so much fun because you can really clip keep clicking and then and then and then and it can go on forever okay so as you can see there are a lot of fun there's so much you can do and it's kind of wonderful that this resource is right there with emojis who knew that emojis could be so useful so emoji stories like I said they're a lot of fun they involve your creativity and your vocabulary now if you're doing this on your phone away something I really like to do is to look at apps I'm constantly on my phone I'm sure you are too so I found some emoji apps um that you can use I have an iPhone but my husband he has an Android so I was looking on both phones to kind of find some of these apps that I found on here so I know that I think the first one gets the emoji that I've listed I think it's on both but you can really just type in yes and emoji in your google play store or in your iTunes or Apple gosh what is it called now Apple Store I think it's an Apple store yeah so you can you can type it in and you get these games there there are word games they're actually very educational because some of them are very useful because they'll tell you compound words so like in this case we have a corn dog so a corn dog if you don't know it's kind of like a hot dog but it's it's a it's like a hot dog wrapped in like a corn batter and you eat it on a stick and you eat it with mustard it's an American fare food that you eat at a fair and it's um very I don't know if it's as popular anymore was popular when I was younger so that's a corn dog but they give you these clever ways of guessing the words so it's worth checking these apps out emoji different emoji apps you can type and guess the emoji what emoji emoji quiz there's kind of similar but they all have like they're all a little bit different so they are not all like word puns some of them are they show you an emoji and you have to write what it is some of them you have to give some movie so if you're also interested in American popular culture this is very useful like I remember seeing one with a bat and then a man and you have the answer was Batman so there are actually a lot of fun because you learn a little bit about the culture as well and not just the words you also get it's a game so you also get points and you get coins or whatever don't pay for them if you want to pay it's fine but I don't recommend paying because you can do them for free and they're fun okay so before we go today I just want to quickly go over the different activities that we talked about today we have talked about hangman and I gave you different options we can go anywhere from easy to a little bit more difficult we talked about doing crossword puzzles and this is fun because you can do it on the computer again you can go from anywhere from easy to dictionary.com which is pretty difficult but you can also print them out and some websites like the ones we were talking about have categories if you're trying to perfect a certain skill so if you're working on your verb it might be very useful for you to print out a whole crossword puzzle on actions so you can practice those in in fun and interactive way and make sure that you got that spelling right because that is important when we're dealing with English another fun way to develop our vocabulary to keep using the scripted words was to spot the differences and this one is super easy because all you have to do is go to google go to Google Images and type in spot the differences and it's right there you can just print one or work on it while on your computer and describe make sure to describe those differences very well and you guys did so amazing and I'm so impressed with our students for how well you did it's a wonderful job and my favorite one the emojis stories we were looking at different random emojis and we put them in a sentence we created funny sentence funny stories and we got very creative with the different kinds of emojis and of course we looked at the apps as well I hope I hope that this was useful I hope you enjoyed it and every time every every time we do these lessons we hope that they're very useful to you I we hope that you keep improving and we hope that you keep practicing so I hope that this gave you another way to do that if you found this lesson useful please like it please share it with your friends if you think anyone will find it useful please show it to them and never stop writing comments we read them during the lesson if I miss them I will see them after the lesson so please keep writing the comments we always answer and for more practice please join our social media classes because we teach there too so thank you guys so much you guys are amazing keep practicing your English and keep doing a wonderful wonderful job like you are doing thank you so much and we will see you next time bye --- ## 431. Level Up Your English in Under 3 Minutes (B2 Adjectives) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Zu1vmEd4I2A` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu1vmEd4I2A) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:52:15 | --- Let's learn some B2 vocabulary to help you supercharge your fluency. And I say that because these are words that you will actually hear and use when you're in a conversation. Let's move into some descriptive B2 adjectives like forthcoming. So this has a couple of different meanings. So if we're talking about an event in the future, it could refer to something happening soon. We have not heard back yet from France, but we expect their approval to be forthcoming. Or if we're talking about a person, someone who is willing to share information or help. But it's also common to say the opposite and say they are not forthcoming and they are not providing information. I'm going to be as forthcoming as I can be, Mr. Anderson. The next adjective is sharp. I like this word mostly because yeah, I like to think that I'm pretty sharp even though that that is definitely not always the case. But it refers to a person who is intelligent, notices things quickly, and just really thinks fast. And really you're just complimenting someone's mental state or mental speed. There's also an idiom that you can use if you want to add emphasis and say that someone is as sharp as a tack. And in that case you're saying they are highly intelligent. Hey, what do you guys think about this Jared? He's right? She's sharp, but she doesn't know anything. Oh, no, she's more than sharp. She's a human lie detector. >> Then there's worthwhile. This refers to something that is useful, important, or just good enough to be a suitable reward for the money or time spent. So this is stronger than just saying something is good. It really implies that there is some effort and you're receiving a benefit. >> Getting a good person out of government is a worthwhile endeavor. Then there's last-minute. I think this is an adjective that we can all relate to because it refers to happening at the latest possible time before an event. And there are some common collocations like a last-minute change or a last-minute decision or even a last-minute cancellation. This morning's budget memo reflects some last-minute changes before our hearing. Next is self-confident. This refers to feeling sure about your own ability to do things and be successful. Be careful not to confuse this with arrogant because even though the meanings may be slightly similar, arrogant definitely has a negative connotation where you think you're better than others, whereas self-confident is is more positive. That you just really are sure about your own abilities and it's generally seen as a good thing if someone is self-confident. >> They're smart, self-confident, and articulate as we've raised them to be. >> These are incredibly useful words. Try to listen for them. Preferably, try to actively use them. --- ## 432. Level Up Your English: Smart Ways to Describe Someoneโ€™s Appearance | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3oJYLxwW4Wo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oJYLxwW4Wo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:41:32 | --- Would you say that you are effervescent, voluuptuous, disheveled, or maybe you have prominent features? Let's find out because I'm going to teach you some advanced vocabulary that you can use to talk about someone's appearance. And these are incredibly descriptive words. And if you're someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, let's begin on a positive note. And I want to start with some words that really have a positive connotation. And the first word that I have for you is effervescent. This means active, positive, full of energy. So, really, you have a a very positive appearance. And of course, this is not the most commonly used adjective, but it is more advanced. And it's always good to add a little flavor to your English fluency. I could say her effervescent smile lit up the room. Or even during tough times, he remained effervescent and optimistic. And there are some useful collocations with this adjective. These are words that are frequently used together. And I'm talking about some adjective noun collocations. Perhaps you're referring to someone's effervescent personality or maybe their effervescent charm or effervescent energy or even effervescent spirit. Here are some more examples. Also, you need to find someone educated and friendly and fun. Just tell us the damn word. Effervescent. He needs to be effervescent. Something's different. You're all effervescent and glowy. Then there's dapper. I like this word. It means neat and stylish. And often you're going to use this to talk about a man. I like to think that I sometimes look dapper, but yeah, that's not always the case. But I could say he looked dapper in his tailor made suit. One thing I want to point out with this word is that it's often going to follow the verb look in saying that someone looks dapper. So, here are some fun images of animals that look quite dapper. All right. Yeah, they they definitely look neat and stylish. And of course, that cat looks dapper, but not very happy. You look very dapper like a prank Sinatra. Don't you look dapper? I thought it was right to buy something special for the occasion. Oh, that's the one. Very dapper, Dr. Shepherd. Glowing. This describes someone who is looking radiant, happy, and healthy. Now, most of the time you're going to use this word to describe a woman, but that may not always be the case. Perhaps I I say, "You look amazing. You're glowing." Now, one thing I want to point out is that often people may use this word to refer to someone's complexion. Maybe your skin is really healthy. You're well hydrated. And in this case, I am never glowing, but I could say her cheeks were glowing. And then something else to keep in mind is that you could use this adjective to refer to a pregnant woman. And this is maybe a little bit more slang. Pregnancy glow. Let me give you some more examples. God, you are glowing. Your skin is glowing. Really? Yeah. He just told me that you're pregnant. Congratulations. You're glowing. I can already tell you're not a virgin anymore. You're glowing. No. How do you look so good with all this stress? Glowing. You actually look younger. What did you do? Then there's voluuptuous. This word describes someone who is curvy and sexually attractive. Now, most of the time you're going to use this adjective when describing a woman. In general, women who have larger breast or hips, I could say, "The model's voluuptuous figure stole the show." So just remember that if you describe someone as voluuptuous, it implies that you are attracted to this person. You said she was very beautiful and voluuptuous. Artist would only paint a big voluuptuous woman. Well, the American made dog. Why must I be so voluuptuous? The next word is striking. I like this word. It's very descriptive. It means exceptionally noticeable or attractive. And quite often you're going to use this adjective when complimenting someone's eyes. And you could use it when talking about a man or a woman. His striking blue eyes caught everyone's attention. And there are some great collocations with this word. Striking beauty, striking appearance, striking features, striking eyes, or a striking resemblance. This word may also be used as an adverb with other very common and useful collocations. If you were to say that someone is strikingly beautiful or strikingly handsome, I just want to take time to say thank you for my family, my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome, striking sons. We notice the striking beauty of this gown matched by her own striking beauty. I have a daughter who runs fast and a son who runs blind. Your eyes bear a striking resemblance to both. Then we have chiseled. This refers to someone who has clear and well-defined facial features. And really, you're going to use this word when talking about a man. And it makes me realize that nobody's ever used this adjective to describe me, that I I guess I don't really have any chiseled features, but that's okay. I could say his chiseled jawline gave him a striking and timeless look like a movie star from a classic film. So once again, there are some useful collocations with this word describing someone who has a chiseled jawline or chiseled cheekbones or perhaps even a chiseled physique. You're just so hot and chiseled. Yeah, he's in the shower soaping up his incredibly chiseled physique. We have so much in common. Magnetic charm, chiseled jawline. Let's move on to some words that have more of a neutral connotation. They're just simply descriptive. When talking about someone's appearance, they don't really imply anything that may be complimentary or disparaging. So, in that case, I could describe someone as broad shouldered. And this just means having wide shoulders. Often, you may use this when talking about a man, but that's not always the case. I could say, despite his broadshouldered appearance, he had a gentle voice and warm smile. Now, it is descriptive, and I'll be honest, you may hear someone use it in a context that is a bit more positive just because of the look, because you look more confident when you have broad shoulders versus the sloping shoulders. Broad shoulders, sloping shoulders. It's always good to get a visual. Someone's going to have to go down in there. Someone with narrow shoulders. No, I have broad shoulders. I have narrow hips, but broad shoulders. I don't know. He's sweet. He's tall. Handsome. Broad shoulders. Good hair. H wonder what she sees in Leonard. The next word is stocky. This describes someone who is short and solidly built. Often you're going to use it when talking about a man. And really what you're saying is that it's not just fat. There really is some muscle there. So here's an example. Was DC's short and stocky build an advantage for his fighting style? So, as you can see, this person is stocky. They're a fighter, so of course they're strong and they have muscles, but it is a great descriptive word and very specific as well. To give you a little more context, here are some news headlines. Police want to speak with stocky man after cash and jewelry stolen from Bristol home. Surprise on the trail. Stocky puma in Patagonia shocks hikers. And in case you're wondering, well, what does this puma look like? Here is a picture of this stocky puma. And I I think it is quite accurate. What up, fat turd? Not a fat turd. I'm a stocky turd. Yeah, I have a thing for Marissa. Do she would ever go out with a a short, stocky bald man. Like that's her type. Then we have petite. This means small and delicate. Often you may use this word when talking about a woman. I could say despite her petite stature, she commanded the room with confidence. A side note, you may also hear people use this word when talking about a clothing size for smaller women. Petite. Here are some more examples. I think I had too much to drink. You are very petite. Just fun fact, the national average size is actually 12. So, you know, you're you're very petite. You know, I think if I were going to be with a woman, it'd be with someone like Michelle cuz she was so petite. Prominent, great word. This is used to describe features such as a nose or chin without judgment. So, this is an incredibly useful word because often if you are highlighting somebody's facial feature, it may have a positive or negative connotation. So in this case, you can use this word to simply say that something is noticeable. I could say he had a prominent nose that gave his face character. To give you a visual, and I think this is a fun example, if you search prominent nose animal overwhelmingly, you are going to discover the probosus monkey. This monkey has a prominent nose. Uh I'm not sure I want to eat my own face. I almost did it on the way over here. The lips are very prominent. What a beautiful ch. Prominent forehead, short arms, tiny nose. Next is the adjective slender. This is used to describe someone who is thin and graceful. And often you'll use this when talking about a woman. I could say her slender waist was accentuated by the fitted dress she wore. And there are many collocations with this word. Perhaps talking about someone's slender build or slender figure or slender waist or slender legs. Many things can be slender. Used to call me the chameleon because of my slender frame and my big wet eyes. I never realized you had such long slender legs. Then there's unassuming. This describes someone whose appearance does not draw attention. So, someone could have an unassuming look or even unassuming behavior. Just keep that in mind. Maybe I tell you she had an unassuming appearance that made her blend into the crowd. In this case, I'm talking about her look. Or despite his success, he remained unassuming and humble. Now, I'm referring to his behavior. Let's have a look at some other video examples. And here he is, this week's noble nobody. What the? A quiet, unassuming security guard who foiled a robbery at a local tavern. Look, I'm a simple, unassuming janitor who can control people's actions with his mind. But I understand he's a perfectly charming man, tremendously talented, and yet modest and unassuming. And last, but not least, let's talk about some words that have a negative connotation. And we'll start with the adjective disheveled. So, you would use this word to describe someone who has a messy or untidy appearance. And you could use it when talking about a man or woman. I could say, "After the long flight, they stepped off the plane looking tired and disheveled." And after a long flight, I certainly look disheveled. To give you some more examples, here are some animals that look disheveled. I don't know what their excuse is. I don't know why they look disheveled, but it's a great visual for this word, disheveled. I have a perfect right to be a bit disheveled. So, he shows up. He's all out of breath. He's disheveled. And he tells me that no matter what happens, whatever I decide is fine with him. Is that Gregory? Does he look like disheveled? Hello, Mindy. You're looking more disheveled than usual today. Then we have the word haggarded. This is used to describe someone who is worn out or exhausted in appearance. And I like this word even though it it has a negative connotation. I I think it's one that we can all relate to. I'm sure at some point in your life you can think of a time when you looked haggarded. I here yes. Here is me looking haggarded. I don't know why I have the handlebar mustache, but it's the best example that I could find of myself looking haggarded. To give you a sentence, I could say, "He looked haggarded after working night shifts." Here are some other examples. You look terrible. Haggarded. Thank you. I have been incredibly unwell. And doesn't Clark look a little haggarded to you? Yeah, you know, like he's been up all night bringing about something like a dog trapped in a cage. Scruffy. This describes someone who is untidy and even, you know, looks a little dirty. Now, often you're going to use this when talking about a man, referring to his hair or even his face. I could say, "The scruffy man on the bench looked like he hadn't shaved in weeks." Now, you may be wondering, what's the difference between disheveled and scruffy? So, I would say that disheveled is really referring to someone's overall appearance as being untidy, whereas scruffy to me to me it's more specific. You're referring to someone's hair or just they haven't shaved. So, that being said, I I would still say that you could use them interchangeably if you just want to say that someone needs to clean up. I would expect more from them than a scruffy face, poor hygiene, and your grotesque Simeon proportions. How older could he possibly look? A lot. He's usually a little scruffy, and then the baseball cap hides the funky hair thing. You haven't seen my mate Howard, have you? Kind of tall, scruffy. Then we have frail. This is used to describe someone who is weak or unhealthy. Now, most of the time you're going to use this adjective to talk about someone who is older or even ill. I could say the frail old woman clutched her cane as she moved slowly across the room. So, this is really a great word if you want to add emphasis. I was helpless, blind, frail, though frail and extremely thin, his fighting spirit was still intact. If dad wakes up and he's frail and he's looking at the endgame, you want to be the one who tells him his family business isn't familyun anymore. Next is the adjective tattered. This refers to wearing torn or ragged clothing. And just keep in mind that we are specifically talking about clothing. I could say the traveler's tattered clothing hinted at a long journey. Now, I I'll be honest. I think some of my clothes, you could say that my clothes are tattered. And I I don't care. I like my old clothes. Even though some people such as my wife would describe them as tattered. Oh, my tattered rags are caught on your coffee table. Because chicks want guys that wear tight pants and tattered clothing and spit blood. You will wind up wearing tattered shoes if you mess with. Then we have slouch. Now, this word is different from all the others because it has a different part of speech. All of our other words were adjectives. Whereas slouch can be either a verb or a noun. And it's very descriptive. As a verb, it means to stand, move, or sit in a lazy, drooping way. I could say the model was told not to slouch on the runway and maintain good posture. As a noun, it really has the same meaning, referring to a lazy, drooping posture or movement. His constant slouch made him appear less confident than he really was. Most often, you're going to use this as a verb, perhaps even giving someone a command and telling them, "Don't slouch or stop slouching or you shouldn't slouch." You're slouching? Is that how you've been presenting yourself to the world? Don't slouch. Would that fall under the uh stand up straight category? Now, your mom can see you work from her house. Seymour, stop slouching. Now, if you would like to see more of my effervescent smile and broad shoulders, you can check out another video lesson and keep building your vocabulary. I promise that I will not wear any tattered clothing and I promise not to slouch, but I may look a little haggarded. I don't know. It happens to the best of us. But you can also practice using these words and describe yourself down below in the comments because I love hearing from you. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 433. Listening & Speaking GAME | Advanced Vocabulary Naming People | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_WVbD3PI8iU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WVbD3PI8iU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:54:03 | --- Hello and welcome to our global classroom! Today's activity is describing nouns. Today we're going to describe nouns that are people. This will help you practice your listening and speaking. These nouns are at an advanced level. However, learners of all levels can participate. You may even learn some new vocabulary words! For this activity, Wes is going to describe six different nouns to you. Each of these nouns is about people. You will have ten seconds to guess and say the answers. Please make sure to speak out loud. Who cares if your neighbor hears you? They'll just hear you practice your amazing English skills! Let's see an example before we start. Wes will describe a word to me, and I will guess the answer. Here's the word: Are you ready for the word? Yes I am! This person mostly would work in a bar, this is the person who makes your drink. They make cocktails, they pour beer. It's not a waiter or a waitress. This person is a ________. Oh, that's easy! A bartender! Yea, you got it, well done! Thank you! Now that you see how it's done, let's begin! Wes will choose a noun and describe it to you, and then you will try to guess it. Remember to say all the answers out loud, and after we finish all six words, I will go over the answers with you. Ready? Let's get the clock up there! Number one Ok, so this is a person that you're in love with. When you get married it's your husband or wife, but before you get married, you're engaged and you call this person your ________. Number two This is somebody who rents you your home or your apartment and you pay this person every month. This is the owner of that home or an apartment. You are the tenant and they are the _________. Number three This is a pet doctor. This is a profession, people study to become this type of doctor for animals. If you have a pet like a cat or a dog, and they're sick, you take them to a ________. Number four So when you go to, for example, a nice restaurant, or a nice hotel, if there is nowhere to park the car, you would just pull up to the front, you would give them the keys, and they would park the car for you. Their job is to park cars. What do you call this person? Number five When you have a large group of people that gather for an event or function, like New Year's Eve, they're all together and it's very tight. This is what you would call the group of people. It is the ______. Number six This is a person, it's not your friend. You know who they are, but you don't really know them. You might know their name, and if you saw them on the street you might stop and say hello. If it's not your friend, they are an ________. So how did it go? I hope you were able to give an answer to all of those. If you'd like to do this activity again before I tell you the answers, you can stop the video and go back to the start of the activity. Now, onto the answers. I'll replay some of the key words that Wes used in the description before I reveal the answers to you. Number one When you get married it's your husband, or wife, but before you get married you're engaged and you call this person your _______. Fiancรฉ is the word that we're looking for. Number two This is somebody who rents you your home or your apartment, and you pay this person every month A person you rent from is your landlord. Number three If you have a pet, like a cat, or a dog, and they're sick, you take them to a ________. A doctor for your pet is a veterinarian. (Trying to say the word a few times) It's veterinarian. Veterinarian. It's a difficult word to say. Number four. you would give them the keys, and they would park the car for you. Their job is to park cars. The answer is valet. Number five When you have a large group of people that gather for an event, or function, like New Year's Eve Crowd is the answer we're looking for. Number six It's not your friend, you know who they are, but you don't really know them. This person is an acquaintance. Easy peasy, right? Now it's your turn I'll show you two nouns and you'll need to describe them to Wes. He will then try to guess the words you are describing. Make sure to speak out loud, be creative and have fun!!! This is a fun activity, you get to speak! So, speak! Ready? Here's your first word: Ah, you're describing a judge. Ready for the second word? Here it is: I think you're describing a receptionist. Great job today! We hope you enjoyed this activity. If you did, give us a like down below. We also encourage you to write to us in the comments. We'd love to hear from you. Give us your feedback, tell us about your day, whatever! Just use English! We'll see you next time, bye! --- ## 434. Listening & Speaking GAME | Intermediate Vocabulary Describing People | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `O-bDHB6BZHA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-bDHB6BZHA) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:50:22 | --- What's up everyone! Today we're going to do an activity called... The nouns we are going to describe today are people. This is a listening and speaking activity around the level of an intermediate learner. However, this is a great exercise for anybody who's looking to practice their English. In this activity, Ioana is going to describe six different nouns. Each noun is a person. You will have 10 seconds to say the answer. Please say it out loud. Talk to the computer. Talk to us. This is a speaking exercise so please SPEAK. But before we begin, let's do an example. Ioana is going to describe a word to me. And then I am going to try and think of the answer. I do not know this word. I promise you. No looking Wes! I'm not looking. Ready? I'm ready. Okay, this person is an important male figure in your life. He's one of your parents. Another name for this person is dad. And it's not your mother but your... I think the answer is father. Yay! Good job! Okay, so you get the idea. Ioana is going to describe a noun to you. You'll have 10 seconds to answer. Remember, say your answer out loud. After we finish all six of the words, then I'm going to go over the answers with you. Are you ready? This is your mother's father or your father's father. They're a member of your family who you love a lot. You always see them on holidays. And it's not your grandmother but your... This person is kind of like a doctor but for your teeth. They clean the teeth, but also they fix them if there's a problem. If you eat too much candy, you need to go see them. This is somebody who loves playing sports. He or she will play basketball or baseball. People in this category include Michael Jordan, Messi, Tiger Woods. When you need to travel somewhere, this person is the one who flies your plane. That's all I got. What else do they do? They fly your plane. This person works at a restaurant. They work in the kitchen. They make the food. They cut it up. They cook it. Many times they go to culinary school to learn how to do this. Basically, they make your food. This is a person you go to classes with...to school with. They help you when you miss a class. They give you their notes. They're the same level as you are. They're right next to you in the classroom. Hopefully, you were able to come up with an answer to those. If you would like to do the activity again before I show you the answers, pause the video. You can go back. But right now, I'm going to tell you what the answer are. This is your mother's father or your father's father. And it's not your grandmother but your... The answer is grandfather. It's your mother's father...your dad's father. This person is kind of like a doctor but for your teeth. They clean the teeth, but they also fix them if there's a problem. The answer is dentist...the doctor for your teeth. This is somebody who loves playing sports. He or she will play basketball or baseball. People who play a lot of sports, they are athletes. When you need to travel somewhere, this person is the one who flies your plane. A pilot flies the plane, so the answer is pilot. This person works at a restaurant. They work in the kitchen. They make the food. A cook is a person who makes the food, and that is the answer. This a person you go to classes with...to school with. They're right next to you in the classroom. People who are in the classroom with you, those are your classmates. So now we're going to switch roles, and it is your turn. I am going to show you two nouns, and YOU are going to describe them to Ioana. She cannot see these words. I promise. Ioana is going to try and guess what the answer is. Remember to be creative! Don't just use one word! Use complete sentences! This is a speaking exercise so... Are you ready? Let's begin! Is it an actress? Fireman! Yay! Good job! We make a great team. Okay, nice job! We hope you enjoyed this activity. We're always looking to hear from our students. Let us know what you think. Give us your feedback in the comments below. And we'll see you next time! --- ## 435. Listening and Speaking GAME | Words that Describe People (Beginner) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `iBFX0BvAqOw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBFX0BvAqOw) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:55:35 | --- Hey everyone! It's time for your favorite activity...Describing Nouns. This is a listening and speaking activity. Today we're going to describe nouns that are people. The people we will describe are around the vocabulary level of a beginner or high-beginner. However, this activity is relevant to learners of all levels And if you're an advanced learner, you should get all of these right. In this activity, Ioana is going to describe six different nouns to you. Each noun is a person, and you will have 10 seconds to guess the correct answer. And remember to say your answers out loud. But before we begin, let's see an example. Ioana is going to describe the word, and I'm going to guess the answer. Here's the word. Are you ready? I think so. Okay. So this person is a member of your family. You have the same parents as they do. It's a girl. I have one. She's not my brother, she's my.... It's your sister. Okay. So you get the idea. Let's begin. Great! Ioana will pick a noun and describe it to you. You will try to guess that noun and remember to After we finish all six words, I'll go over the answers with you. Ready? Let's get the clock up there! And begin. Okay. So this is a girl. This is a girl that you like. That you like to go on dates with or you already date her. And you have a relationship with her. Maybe give her presents. So this is a very little person, the youngest member of your family. They cry all the time. They need all of your attention. They're always hungry. A very, very, small child. Can you guess? This is somebody whose job is in music, someone famous. Somebody who maybe has a band. An example would be Beyonce or Michael Jackson. If you do something bad, this person is going to take you away...to jail. They catch criminals. Their job is to help and protect people. They drive a car that goes whooo, whooo, whooo, whooo... This is somebody who is always poor, never has money, is always reading books. This is a person who goes to school, who sits in class, takes notes, trying to study for exams. And it is you. When you go to a restaurant, this person...they bring you your drinks. They bring you your food. They take your order. If you're not nice to them, they can do stuff to your food. Hopefully, you were able to give an answer for all of those. If you would like to do the activity again before I show you the answers, You can pause the video and go back to the start of the activity. So let's look at the answers. But before I show them to you, I'm going to replay Some of the key words that Ioana used to describe the nouns. A girl that you like, that you like to go on dates with or you already date her. The answer we were looking for is girlfriend. They cry all the time. They need all of your attention. They're always hungry. Somebody who cries a lot is a baby. This is somebody whose job is in music, someone famous. An example would be Beyonce or Michael Jackson. The answer is singer. If you do something bad, this person is going to take you away...to jail. Policeman or policewoman were the answers that we're looking for. This is a person who goes to school, who sits in class, takes notes. The answer is student. They bring you your drinks. They bring your food. They take your order. The answer is waiter or waitress. Hopefully, you were able to give an answer for all of those. Now, it's your turn. I'll show you two nouns and you need to describe them to Ioana. She can't see these words. I promise. So you'll definitely need to speak. Try to use complete sentences and not just one word. Be creative. And if Ioana looks confused, then try to think of another way to explain the word. Here's your first word. Is it a father? Oh, oh that's a doctor. Okay. Good job! We hope you enjoyed this activity. Let us know what you think. Was it too easy? Was it too difficult? You can give us your feedback in the comments below. We'll see you next time. --- ## 436. Listening and Speaking Game | Guessing Transportation Words (Intermediate) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eXLta_gI5pk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXLta_gI5pk) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:54:50 | --- Welcome to our global classroom! In today's activity, we will be ... describing nouns. Today's nouns are about transportation. This is a listening and speaking activity. These nouns are at an intermediate level. Even if your transportation vocabulary is immaculate, you can still participate. For this activity, Wes will describe six different nouns to you. Each of these nouns is on the topic of transportation. You will have ten seconds to say the answer. Please speak up, and say the answers out loud. Otherwise, we won't hear you! Let's see an example before we start! Wes will describe a word to me and I will guess the answer. Here's the word: Are you ready? Yes! I'm ready! Ok, so this is a type of transportation, it's on the water, people use it to go fishing, they use it to travel if they want to go to an island... What do you think this is? I believe you are talking about a boat! Allright, you get the idea, let's begin. Wes will choose a noun, and describe it to you. You must try to guess that noun. Remember to say the answers out loud and after we finish all six words, I will go over the answers with you Ready? Let's get the clock up there. Number one This is a vehicle that people will use in a medical emergency, or if you get injured and you see these vehicles at hospitals, and they help people. They pick them up and they bring them to the hospital Number two This is something that's not just on the water, it's under the water. They belong to the military, they're really really big. The Beatles wrote a song a song about it called The Yellow _________ Number three It is a little similar to a motorcyle, but they're smaller. A lot of times they don't go very fast You see these a lot on islands, or at tourist destinations Number four So this is a type of boat, it's actually a large boat that's used for public transportation. and it will take people typically to and from an island. What do you think this is called? Number five It's like a board that's on four wheels and people will stand on it to get around town or get around their neighborhood You have to push yourself with one leg to move forward. Number six So this is a type of car, a lot of times families will have this car, it's big, it can fit many people, usually it has a sliding door on the side What kind of car do you think I'm talking about? I hope you were able to give an answer to all of those. If you would like to do the activity again before I tell you the answers, you can stop the video and go back to the beginning of the activity. Now it's time to reveal the answers... but before I do, I'll replay some of the key words that Wes used to describe the nouns. Number one You see these vehicles at hospitals, and they help people, they pick them up and they bring them to the hospital You see these at a hospital. The answer is ambulance. Number two This is something that's not just on the water, it's under the water. The answer we were looking for is submarine. Number three It is a little similar to a motorcycle, but they're smaller A scooter is like a motorcycle, but smaller. That's the answer. Number four So this is a type of boat, it's actually a large boat that's used for public transportation. A boat used for public transportation is a ferry. Number five It's like a board that's on four wheels, and people will stand on it. You have to push yourself with one leg to move forward The answer is skateboard. Number six A lot of times families will have this car, usually it has a sliding door on the side A family car with sliding door is a van. I hope you did well and got all of those correct. But now, it's your turn. I'll show you two nouns and you'll need to describe them to Wes. He will then try to guess the words you are describing. This is your moment to shine! Make sure to speak out loud, and try to use complete sentences. Be creative and most importantly, have fun! Ready? Here's your first word. I think you're talking about a helicopter. Ready for the second word? Here it is: Are you describing a limousine? Great job today! We hope you enjoyed this activity! Give us any feedback in the comments below. You can give thoughts, suggestions, or just say hello. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time. --- ## 437. Live English Lesson to Improve Your Fluency | Q&A Conversation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `x-katOrtA40` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-katOrtA40) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:36:28 | --- hello hello hello what's up my name is Wes this is interactive English in case this happens to be your first time here what we do here at this channel we are all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and today all right today we have a fun little Q&A and I am going to take some questions from from all of you all right so I first I just want to say hello to everybody who's who's in the chat right now um hello Miriam mortaza uh ashel Pedro Sandy hello hello Raheem inel uh Brian alar Oscar I'm sorry if I missed some names uh I will have some questions for you guys and I will try to give as many shoutouts as I can so so many people are like oh like you know say my name say hello we try to say hello to all of you so today I mentioned we are going to do a fun little Q&A an English lesson a live Q&A and I will take some questions from all of you guys here but first before we jump into that I do want to go over two other special special questions um this comes from our patreon community so I always ask uh some of our Pat patrons to say send us some of your questions and we will try and answer and I'll put put together some slides so I want to go over those quickly first so today's questions come from uh Dany and Danny asked the first one I kind of I mixed up the order of these questions so the first one is asking about the difference between run out and sold out if there is any difference because he says he's heard we're sold out the tickets are sold out other examples like you run out of cheese running out of cheese in the fridge so let's let's look at those first because this this is a great question because phrasal verbs can be tricky so you have run out and sellout both of them are phrasal verbs but notice notice the difference when you run out of something think of it like there's a supply of something and it's being used up so a supply you could say for example you are your battery um you know your batter is running out that's a common that's a common thing you might hear somebody say like oh you know my battery's running out it means that the supply of energy is is you're you're losing it you are using it up it's running out sellout all right so it's a supply of goods that's the key word here Goods that are being used up so run out is just something could be Goods it could be something else sellout you're talking about goods and that's why that's why I put that dollar sign there because think of it like money you're talking about something you buy or something that you purchase when you're selling out of something so let's look at some more examples okay so let's let's talk about them in the past because when we talk about ran out and sold out we're talking about they're both being used in the past tense and means it's finished all right it's done it's over there's no more now these phrasal verbs are synonyms they are interchangeable when you're talking about something it is no longer available to buy so for example the store ran out of eggs I could just say the store sold out of eggs so you're talking about something that you can buy eggs and the concert the concert sold out in record time there are no more tickets available to buy so you could say the concert sold out now I will give you that slight little Nuance down there which uh again is showing you that there might be a a little bit of a difference and that difference is to me and some people maybe disagree with this but to me run out ran out sometimes it implies that more may be available later on and that's why I would say when you're talking about tickets to an event when you're talking about an event I think it's much more common to use sellout in the present tense or sold out so when you're talking about an event with tickets I think that's more common to you soldout simply because you know there once you're done selling tickets then there's nothing there's no more to buy you can't get more but if you're talking about a store maybe some shoes and the shoe store says you know oh yeah we we ran out of these shoes then it kind of implies well maybe later on in the future they will get more and more will be be available to buy so I think that is one difference when talking about goods and products that that run out and sold out um Can differ a little but in those cases most of the time they would be inter changeable now let's look at this part right here let's let's talk about when it's happening all right something is running out something is selling out and the the difference so look at those first two sentences those would be interchangeable we're running out of inventory if you don't know what inventory is it's talking about again Goods that you would store and you have these Goods that is your inventory and you're running out the supply is getting lower all right um or you're selling out of inventory people are buying them you are using it up uh I'm trying to give you these motions with my hand but you can't see it it's cut off the next one okay so again here this is good one is good one's bad so run out the restaurant is running out of cheese so in that example like you're talking about the supply is going down all right you are using it up you would not say the restaurant is selling out of cheese it's a it's very awkward you would I'd understand that it's awkward the reason I say it's awkward is because like I said you you when you're talk you would use sellout when talking about something you buy now when you go to a restaurant you are not just buying just cheese you're not buying only the cheese usually that cheese is going to come on a sandwich or it's going to come with some meal so it's a part of the meal and therefore you would say oh we are running out of this Supply we're running out of cheese all right so selling out again think of a product some something that you would actually be able to buy or purchase time that is another good one you talk about running out of time and you're you you don't have time left you're like as I'm running out of time you cannot sell out of time because that is not something that it's not a product or a service that you would buy and pay money for so those are some of the differences between run out and sellout great question again I think run out is it's just a lot more Universal because you can say you know you're you're running out of something you buy you're running out of time you're running out of battery you're running out of patience there are many different ways that we could use run out all right and again I love these examples you guys give me all right uh alab says yes you run out of gas another great example you know oh the car is running out of gas perfect um you could say Judy yes we ran out of books all right there's no more books um and be D might be selling out of love you know you could be running out of oh I LLY I'm running out of love okay all right so again just something to keep in mind the difference between these phrasal verbs and those slight nuances the differences between them so the next question from Danny he asked uh again all right let me get out of the way so the first one is talking about the difference between finish and done all right and as well as finish doing something and how they're used and how they might be different and again finish to do you wouldn't use that one because after the verb finish you are going to use the jiren but let's look at this because this this is a good question because depending on how strict you want to be with grammar then you might think that there is a big difference so a a a true real grammar grammar person might you know there there's this kind of quote this saying when talking about finished versus done cakes are done but people are finished now you might be thinking what the heck does that mean so let me tell you what that means so done the the the true actual technical definition would be something has brought been brought to a conclusion okay um the roast is not done cooking so often times you might use it with food talking about whether food is done it's been brought to a conclusion and it is ready so that's the kind of something to think about when something is done cooking that means it's ready you could keep cooking it longer but it's not it's not something you want to do because that's not going to taste good if you if you just keep baking a cake or you keep cooking these steaks you want to cook them until they're done until they're ready until they've been brought to a conclusion now finished you're talking about something that is completed it is concluded it's finished there's no more there's no more discussion about it they finished first in the competition the competition it it's it's just done all right I just used it in that context it's there there's no more nothing more to do about it so think about that and now now I'll tell you again they are nowadays all right they are interchangeable and we use them interchangeable um interchangeably we use them interchangeably quite often especially when we're talking about a task so for example like sentences people might say you know I've done all my work I've finished all my work in that sense most of the time people will use them interchangeably and they have the same meaning that that this has been completed and there is no more however all right we get into these slight little nuances here which takes us back to the first meaning I'm done with this if somebody says you know I'm done with this all right technically speaking that means that they may not be finished all right it may not be completed so for example you might be working on a project and say that you're really frustrated and you just don't want to work anymore you're very tired you might say you know I'm done with this okay that means that like in that first sense it's been brought to a conclusion you are at a point where you're like I I'm not going to keep working but you technically did not finish the project so again it really depends on the context that you want to convey that okay you've just reached a point where you are you you don't want to work anymore I've done with this or if somebody said you know I'm finished with this then that means that yes it is completed you you have no more work left to do so again there are some tricky differences between them depending on you know what you want to say and what you're trying to express but sometimes when you're talking about tasks things that you need to do uh you can use them interchangeably I've done all my work I finished all my work now let's talk about um this one right here finish doing something like I said when you use the verb finish then you will follow it by with the Jaren you finish doing something um and it's used to talk about completing an action so an action that has recently be done been done as well think of it like uh we there are many collocations with do and in that sense you might use finish doing something for example you do the laundry and you could say yeah you know I finished doing the laundry or you might do students might do their homework so you could finish doing the homework or maybe uh somebody might do do their nails you finish doing their nails again this is something that happened recently it was in action and you might just say you know I finished doing this thing so I think in that context it's used often with those collocations you do laundry you do work you do homework you do nails and you might finish doing these things okay so all right those are the questions that I wanted to answer so if you guys would like us to answer answer some of your questions just like that you guys can check us out on patreon I will put up a link and you can join our community we have some cool rewards up there again I will leave a link in the description if you guys want to check that out so right now okay I would like to take some of your questions all right so if you have any questions just write them to me in the chat uh I will go through uh some of those and try to answer them especially if um let me put that up there boom there's that patreon link especially if they just keep them simple all right if it's something about pronunciation vocabulary grammar um just keep that in mind obviously if somebody says hey can you talk about all 12 verb tenses that's not possible um I will try to answer as many questions as I can as well as you know even if you have some personal questions things about me I know a lot of you follow follow us on social media on Facebook and Twitter and we we post pictures and some more personal stuff um so think just something to think about all right so if you have any questions write that for me you guys can write that in the chat um again some got so many other people hello I just want to give a quick shout out uh uh Delila hello um dang Wong excellent nice to have you here uh weon great to see you perfect uh jasine all right so I love it I love it when you say boom yes that is uh that would be an interjection that you're just saying an expression I always I use that one too a lot I use it in the classroom a lot especially when I want to emphasize something like here it is Boom all right that's a good one I like that too um haid asks EXC that's a good question do all Americans understand each other and I think that is a great question um because it talks about you know accent and many people out there many English Learners depending on what country you're from you might have an accent in English and I always tell Learners you know don't worry if you if you want to reduce your accent then that is up that's up to you that's your decision but don't feel like it's necessary don't feel like you have to the most important thing is that you all understand each other and even within the United States that's what I want to to say different parts of the country have different accents whether you're from the southeast or whether you're from the west coast and depending on that accent because some people have a very thick accent it it can be difficult for people to understand I remember yuana and I we were traveling through the North Carolina and in North Carolina Sometimes some people have a very thick accent and we were doing this tour and then after the tour the the guy who worked there basically said to us he's like um Y and I basically I didn't know what to say because I couldn't understand him and I just said no thank you that's okay and and we left but he had a very very thick accent and it was difficult to understand so yes people in the United States they they may not uh understand one another so um let's see let's see is my accent is your accent am American because it's yeah I think I have if I had to classify my accent um Yasmin I'd say it is a standard uh American accent I do speak uh a bit slower because I've been teaching English for about 15 years so therefore I think my my speech has just developed based on that because I've slowed down my speech when I'm in the classroom I try to speak clearly because again I want students to understand me and it also like I've taught many different levels so I have taught very very very beginners um pre-literate students which means you do have to speak very clearly you have to be speak very slowly so again I I don't think I think my have a standard American accent but I I I speak a lot slower than I think other Americans or native English speakers would speak so say my name no 2011 what's up all right um what else um what's the difference between bother and bore well to bother someone is basically to Anno annoy um someone annoy somebody so bother annoy those are synonyms to bore a person would be again think of the word boring the adjective something is boring so to bore someone means some activities happening and that you might bore them all right I hope I am not boring all of you right now you guys ask some questions uh Alexander I really like your speech thank you Alexander um let's see are oh LLY are British and American idioms the same no they they are not I think that there are some idioms that are used in both countries for example like an idiom that I think many people know about that is very Universal if you say something is a piece of cake piece of cake means it's very easy you might hear that in British English you might hear that in American English so some of them are used um by both in both American and British English but there are other ones that are not some that are just uh used in American English and then some that are just used in British English we do have some idiom lessons um we did a collaboration with Ali from Papa teach me where we were quizzing each other on different British and American idioms uh good lesson you guys check that out so what else do we have um Daniel hello from Brazil excellent um thank you L I can understand you very well excellent um isow you're a great and phenomenal teacher thank you so much I really appreciate that isow um what is the meaning uh manapur asked what's the meaning of once in a blue moon so all right that's a good one it is a again I'd say it's an idiom it's an expression once in a blue moon so basically each month think of it like this each month there is usually one full moon okay sometimes depending on the month you might have two moon two full moons within one month and in that case that's referred to as a blue moon all right where you have two full moons in one month a blue moon and it's very rare it does not happen often because usually each month there's just one full moon so something that happens once in a blue moon is something that happens rarely it does not happen often so that's the expression like oh like some situation happened you're like gosh I can't believe they called my name it happens once in a blue moon and they called my name and I have to go to jury duty it happens once in a blue moon so if something happens once in a Blue Moon then it's just rare it does not happen often good question um somebody said where is it uh I usually understand Americans uh better Americans than because we're used to Andrea said yeah we're used to more American English that is true I always tell uh students again some people want to learn more British English and others American English if what whatever English you want to learn then again it's all about exposure try to expose yourself to American English if you want to learn more American English and American idioms and the same with British if you want to learn more of the the British accent British idioms then you need to expose yourself to British English and as Andrea said I think yeah I think it's common because of movies TV and music I think more people in general no matter where you are in the world are probably exposed a bit more to American English which is why I think some many people might be a bit more comfortable with that accent um over my head B Simon what does it mean over my head so if something is over your head people might do this ex this motion right here something goes over your head it means that you don't understand it so I'd say you know oh this math problem it was over my head I didn't I I don't understand it I did not understand it it was too difficult for me to understand so if something's over your head you don't understand it often times we use it when talking about a joke somebody tells a joke and maybe another person doesn't get the joke because they don't understand it and you say ah it was over your head it was over their head um another good idiom be happy says channel is precious to me thank you excellent well we I it's it's honestly this is the community that we have here like doing these lessons with you guys is just so awesome to think that we have made this connection with all of you from you know everybody is from all over the world and it is again it's for for Yuan and it is very meaningful to get your comments to to have you guys participate in these lessons and actually you know it's like we have our our this huge English class which we love um and we're really thankful for that so let's see sorry again if I can't get to all of your questions um I'm trying to see as many as I can um is it possible to say I'm blue um I'm sad yeah I think you could so that's another way of saying sad is to say I think often people might say they're feeling blue you're like you know I'm feeling a bit blue then you're feeling a little sad I don't think it's super common but again you could use it in that context to instead of saying you know I'm sad like you know I'm feeling a bit blue I think it's more common to use it with feel feel blue um let's see what do we have um does speed matter INF fluency William Johnson I would say I guess it depends I would say yes and no if you are talking about you know just fluency and wanting to communicate efficiently and communicate effectively then I think it's more important to have you know fluency in terms of the the Rhythm and flow of your speech it doesn't necessarily mean you need to speak super fast because again I I feel like I don't know I think my fluency is pretty good but at the same time I don't speak I don't speak fast at all and other people that do speak fast I've met some you know other Americans they speak really fast it's a little more difficult to understand and to me I'm not a big fan of that I think it's like okay it's too fast why are you talking so fast you need to calm down and just and just tone it back a little bit so I think it depends on instead of thinking about speed think more about the the Rhythm and flow of speech because again language it it is it is like it's a pattern it's a flow it's a rhythm it's like music all right so again think of that um kcki says please answer me I'm sorry I didn't see where your question was oh how can I speak fluently again that's a very uh broad question we do have some fluency videos If you go to our Channel just search um fluency that you're going to find so many videos we actually have a whole playlist of videos to help you with your fluency and talking about different parts of it and all of that to help you with your fluency it would be working on all the different language skills like reading listening uh speaking all of it goes into improving your fluency so let me actually here it is all right so let me give that link to you I'll throw that in the chat right now this is our fluency playlist you guys can check that out so there's seven videos in there um that you guys can find so uh MD what does beat the socks mean okay that is a uh that is a baseball reference all right they're talking about uh the Boston Red Sox so if somebody says beat the socks the Boston Red Sox have a very good baseball team I don't think they're doing very well this year so somebody's talking about beat the socks I I believe they're talking about beat the Boston Red Sox beat the baseball team um what do you say tamisa calm down or slow down both have the same meaning I think it's to ask somebody to slow down is more polite um I know I just said calm down I think when if somebody's speaking way too fast I think it's better to say slow down um especially if they're moving too quick for you just say hey could you please slow down calm down would mean like somebody's just like so hyped up and full of energy which if somebody's speaking too fast for me then that means they probably they are just so full of energy that it's like whoa whoa whoa whoa okay um maybe maybe they had too much coffee I don't know but if you're talking just a general conversation and you want somebody to repeat themselves you could ask them to repeat or just ask them politely you know oh could you please slow down a little um what is the difference Daniel ask what's the difference between figure out and find you I'm not really sure what find you but to figure something out is just to solve something so you can figure out the problem and you can solve the problem so in that context you just want to solve it um let's see uh who do we have as well as two as well and two have the same meaning no it depends like again if you're using as an adverb like something is you know I think of two to oo mostly be talking about to a degree of something it's too hot it's too difficult if I'm talking about as well as I'm thinking as well um kind of as I don't know if you said as well as I kind of I lost it in the chat there like kind of a conjunction you know something as well as this thing um what about uh hello Lea hello how are you good to see you um so idiom and slang this is something um I think it's useful to learn idioms and slang especially when it comes to listening I don't think like when when when I've been teaching students I know we've done some slang lessons and they've been they've been overwhelmingly popular and people love those and I don't necessarily put those up we don't we don't put those up necessarily for you to go out and try to use them because that's when I think it's easy to make simple mistakes because a lot of it really depends on the context but I think it can be very useful in listening because you hear idioms and you even hear slang when you're listening to music or if you're watching a TV show or you're watching a movie so that way you can follow along and it it just really helps with your listening comprehension uh especially if you're listening to more informal English which would be like TV shows and movies so when we teach it I don't necessarily say I think it's always good to try to use these things but again keep in mind who your audience is if you're talking to somebody who also uses those same slang words um typically younger people tend to use more slang uh let's see what else do we have um again uh wow it just keeps going sorry again if I can't uh see you some of you guys um what is the second international language to learn is it French um I again I don't know that would be up to I think what where what where you guys are and where you're at wherever you live what language might be most important to you I feel like in the United States for people there um obviously uh the the native language English I think most people want to learn Spanish probably Spanish and French and even Mandarin I think are becoming more popular uh nowadays those are the big languages at least in the United States I think it probably differs from country to Country let's see um hi hi Salma how are you let's see what else do you guys have um rayan asked what's the difference between overwhelm and overcome so I think overwhelmed is that it's just too much going on and again that case you would use it as an adjective overwhelming something is overwhelming or as an ed adjective you feel overwhelmed so it's more of something that there's too much in life going on overcome would be something like takes over and it's usually followed by the preposition by you are overcome you could idy it with by or with so for example you are overcome with joy all right um You are overcome with with sadness it kind of takes over uh for temporarily and it takes over your temporarily feeling but overwhelmed is just yeah too much too much to too much going on uh let's see I like how you guys answering some of each other's questions that's always good what's the meaning of keep in touch um if somebody says keep in touch it means like let's stay in contact let's not lose contact so you can keep in touch with somebody by sending them a text message by sending them an email by writing them a letter letter by making a phone call you say you know let's let's keep in touch let's stay in contact uh do you speak other languages yes uh I speak Spanish um my Spanish proficiency has taken a hit all right and if something takes a hit that is another expression means it's probably been reduced so I've spent about three about three years in Spanish-speaking countries all right so I was basically just saying my I I've I haven't spoken in a long time so I've forgotten a lot of words and my vocabulary I think is greatly diminished I have also uh I lived in Korea for three years so um my Korean it used to be better it's a bit more basic now um for anybody Korean out there [Music] um so I was saying in Korean I was saying that I think Korean I said my name and then Korean it is a very difficult language to learn especially I think for um again I can only speak for I think native English speakers I think the grammar is very different the grammar structure so Korean is a very challenging language to learn it's not one that you can pick up quickly like uh I think many of the romance languages are a bit faster so um Mr Sam hello say hello hi to you wna I actually I will say h hello to her thank you thank you for asking um Shashi are you British or American do you know can you tell based on my accent am I British or American I think most people probably can just say like at least uh some people tell me they're like oh you just look American everybody knows you're American you just look like an American so uh yes I am American cats out of the bag all right and cats out of the bag that's another idiom that means the secret is revealed yes so uh what I guess is the hand clapping maybe for thank you for my language abilities I hope so so again right now uh I am like you guys I'm I'm trying to learn other languages too you Wana um she is American Romanian she has family in Romania so we go there from time to time I'm trying to learn Romanian right now and I'm just again try to do the same thing that I tell you guys try to practice a little bit each day try to learn you know one or two new words each day try to get different exposure whether it's listening reading and and you try to do all that and again I know that it's difficult because I'm going through it right now it's difficult to to set time aside and say yes I am going to do this each day it's easier said than done but it's great to have you know hopefully that I can be a motivator it's great to have people telling you like yes this is what you need to do keep at it you're doing the right thing this is the way that you improve your language skills so I hope that you guys keep at it and and keep a keep working at it um so uh your accent tells you're American yes um Alex Russian is difficult langu I don't know don't know any Russian but I imagine yes uh bran I'm struggling with Portuguese so yeah I think again many of you are trying to improve your English skills but I also understand there are probably other languages that you guys are trying to learn right now as well and I think that's great because I I think the more languages that you learn the I I just think the better world viw that that you're going to have and and more that you're going to understand about people and cultures and I I think it really opens up a lot of a lot of doors for different people so keep at it I I keep learning those languages I think that's wonderful uh let's see let's see have some other ones um tell us popular discourse markers wow um that's one right there um um um that's a popular one I think it depends again on the person and where they're from I used to teach a student years years ago that would say um you know right on right on you know for everything and know yeah yeah right on like oh you're going out to this restaurant right on yeah and I I was I was teaching them every day and it almost I started saying it after that I was being exposed to it so much and I didn't even know that I was picking it up until people started uh telling me they're like why are you saying right on so much so Discord markers like again if you don't know what they are they're words that people put in there which is kind of unnecessary for example the word like is another common discourse marker that people use especially like younger American High School students they would use like all the time and say oh and we were like going to go to the restaurant but it was like closed so we like had to find somewhere else to go and like like like like like and they just keep saying it um can you help me with my a exam well I could give you some suggestions I can't really personally help you but again I think that's something we want to work on more and create some more courses for test prep but again I think the most important thing if you're talking about I or or TOEFL the first thing that I would tell people to do is understand what's on the test because again those tests they try to capture English fluency but they only capture parts of it and it depends on what it is because a test like the I the idea um is to make sure that that you are ready for University I think that you can go into an academic setting where English is the spoken language and that you can survive so again just make sure you know what's on the test what are they testing what's the listening section like what's the speaking section like what's the reading section like and then again just practice practice practice practice so that you are comfortable because I I've I've talked to many students in there and they say they go in to take these exams and that the environment around there just makes them feel so uncomfortable people aren't very friendly it's just not a good atmosphere and when people don't like they feel uncomfortable and they're full of anxiety that is the worst time to take an exam so the idea would be just to get so comfortable with the exam that you feel fine when you walk in there and you have a clear head and you can just take the exam that would be my quick advice for you and also I think it's okay take it more than once because I think that's the best way to get used to it I know some students would say I just want to take it one time and be done with it well I think if you want to maximize your score I think it does help take it a second a third time even though I know that that is that is how they make their money um let's see some of you guys learning easier to let's see what do you guys all right yeah Judy thank you don't forget to hit that like button if you guys enjoy this discussion if you guys enjoy these q&as where I can take your questions and talk to you guys directly please do please hit that like button uh I really appreciate it um I this is something again that I I would like to do each each month maybe do a Q&A we'll take some direct questions from our patrons and again if you guys want to check us out please go do that um and then open it up to questions uh with all of you guys and try to answer as much as I can and just again have informal conversation so even if you're watching this right now again it's a good listen exercise too because you are getting exposure you are listening to English and you're learning new things I hope about different idiom slang vocabulary words pronunciation accent this is all uh great information it is a great way to practice the other thing I wanted to tell you guys too if you guys want to connect with us via email please subscribe right here all right check that out boom there it is to throw in another boom again so check that out uh you can access the secret fluency lesson plus we'll just send you some emails time to time let you know some updates we will send you some free resources some very cool resources so Mustafa you already did it boom oh you already liked it awesome um sign up uh again connect with us via email it it's just another way for us to to to build that connection for you to kind of be more a part of the classroom to be a stronger part of the classroom so that is it for today today I am going to sign off and again that is an expression when somebody says sign off that means they are going to end they are going to end a broad so thank you guys so much uh for for joining me today uh I'm going to give some some shoutouts to thank you Yasmin long um preo graviton uh CeCe um Mika sorry I mispronounced names Mustafa L Hamid Tamba um Pedro cookie you s Leila Alexander Camila thank you guys for for joining today's Q&A for joining today's English lesson Daniel um Milan thank you thank you thank you again I'll keep trying to give as many shoutouts as I can we'll do this another time and I will let you guys know I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 438. MANY, MUCH, A LOT OF, & LOTS OF | Grammar Deep Dive with Common Quantifiers | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `EeiYA8xz3hE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeiYA8xz3hE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:13:39 | --- many much a lot of lots of so these are very common and useful quantifiers we use them quite often in everyday conversation so in this lesson i want to talk to you about well how to use these words as well as how they're different and i think the one thing that i want you to be aware of is that they are not always interchangeable that's very important and i'll talk about that as we go through the lesson so well one thing that they have in common is that you may use these words before a noun or you could even use them without a noun and i'm going to go into a lot of detail about all of this in just a moment but if this is your first time here i want to introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals if that's what you would like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons so let's first talk about when you use these words and then follow it with a noun and i'm going to break this part into three different parts i'm going to talk about affirmative statements negative statements and then questions so let's start with affirmative statements and we'll begin with many and much so you are going to use many with plural nouns and you will use much with singular uncountable nouns so i could say well you know maybe there is much concern on your part that you're not getting enough exposure to the english language which is maybe why you're here right now and you're in luck because there are many lessons to help you improve your english skills and i i just used much with a an uncountable noun much concern and i use many with that plural noun many lessons but to be perfectly honest i would probably say great concern instead of much concern because when we're talking about affirmative statements uh you're not often going to use much before the noun it just sounds really formal but the one thing you you just need to know is whether or not the noun is countable or uncountable i know that if you are in a conversation you're not going to stop and think about well wait is this a countable noun or an uncountable noun you're just going to to say one of these and i think over time as you continue to get exposure you continue to read and listen you'll be able to use these naturally without even thinking about it but that being said if you want to make sure and not really worry about it using an affirmative statement well then you could use a lot of or lots of because you can use these quantifiers with either plural nouns or singular uncountable nouns so um do you know this is true that there are a lot of people who are trying to become fluent in english and i i really believe that in order to become fluent it takes a lot of effort so i just used it with the plural noun a lot of people and i also used it with that uncountable noun a lot of effort i could also say that i always try to give you lots of useful information to help you improve your skills and well because of that like in this video i really hope that there are lots of likes and comments so again i use lots of with information which is uncountable and i use lots of with likes and comments which are both plural nouns now again in my opinion i feel like when we're talking about these affirmative statements i probably use a lot of most of the time and i i will use many when talking about countable nouns i already mentioned that you're not really going to use much and just personally i just don't use lots of because uh it's it's pretty informal if you're going to say a lot of or lots of it is a little more informal but with these affirmative statements i probably use a lot of most of the time that's just me now let's talk about some negative statements and again when we're we're talking about negative statements you're going to use many with plural nouns you're going to use much with singular uncountable nouns and you can use a lot of or lots of with either one and i'm i am probably going to say this again because this is important information so plural nouns i could say that well i don't have many contacts in my phone um i also don't have a lot of photos either and i i i do not have lots of apps so again i use those with the the plural nouns uh many contacts a lot of photos lots of apps and i really the thing that you're learning is that my phone is a bit uh old and boring it is an iphone 6 plus i probably need a new phone as for those uncountable nouns um i could say that i i don't have much money in my wallet i also don't have a lot of change in my pocket and i don't have lots of hope that my financial situation is going to change and well that that is a joke i i am hopeful but just to give you that example of using them with those uncountable nouns much money a lot of change and lots of hope i think the same applies for the negative statements that much and many are going to sound a bit more formal and a lot of and lots of are more informal and just to throw in my opinion i think when talking about negative statements i probably use all of them equally especially like much many and a lot of when talking about negative statements i use all three of those again i i just don't really use lots of that often now with questions there is something that's a little different um and i really want to focus on how many and how much so again we're going to use many with those plural nouns and much with those singular uncountable nouns and i could say well like um how many people have watched this video um i really don't know you know you're watching it right now you can see how many people have viewed it and i could also say well you know how much time is left in this lesson i'm sure there are probably several minutes so just stick with me but the one thing that is different about this is that you cannot use a lot of or lots of instead of many and much all right so you really just need to think of those as like fixed phrases how many how much with other questions you can use them interchangeably i could say well um were there many children on the playground were there a lot of children on the playground or something like does your teacher have much patience or does your teacher have lots of patience so with other questions you can use a lot of or lots of instead of much or many but when talking about that uh that amount that quantity and you're going to use how you're just going to use that fixed phrase how many or how much there's also a difference with negative questions because with negative questions there's kind of an expectation as to what the answer might be if i were to say well was this not what happened it's almost like i i expect what the answer is so you're going to use many and much in negative questions when you're you're asking about a large quantity that you expect is probably not there and you're going to use a lot of and lots of when well maybe there should be a large quantity of something and you think well yes it might be there so if i say um are there not many coffee shops in your neighborhood it's like i'm i'm expecting that the answer is probably going to be no or if i said are there not a lot of coffee shops in your neighborhood i i'm thinking well yes probably the answer should be yes that there are a lot of coffee shops or i could say didn't you drink much water um i'm expecting that this the other person well probably didn't drink much water and that is different if i ask well didn't you drink lots of water that i'm expecting that the answer may be yes that this person did drink lots of water so so keep that in mind that is a slight difference between many and much a lot of and lots of now as i mentioned at the beginning you can use these without a noun as well and i think this often happens when you're having a conversation and the noun is obvious and and both people or the group of people know what noun they're talking about so if i asked the question like oh did you catch many fish yesterday and you say yes i caught many right i don't need to say fish because we know that the noun is obvious can i borrow some money somebody might ask well how much or perhaps um were were there many people that came to the party say yes there were a lot or you could ask was there food left over after dinner and somebody might just say lots all right so in this case you're not going to say lots of you would just respond with lots if we're if we're taking out that noun without the noun you just say lots there are also some other phrases with these quantifiers like well many of or much of and you follow it with that preposition you'll follow it with of if it comes before a possessive a demonstrative an article or a pronoun i always try to answer many of your comments all right before that that possessive or i i have studied spanish for much of my life all right that that is i think a phrase that you will hear from time to time much of someone's life we can also use much along with a comparative adjective and the reason for this is that it just makes the comparison it makes it much stronger i just used it right then much stronger so you could say like much faster much better and it's really just to emphasize that comparison we can also use so with many or much and this really just replaces very so many so much there are so many different flavors of ice cream or somebody could say i have so much work to do and we could even use so along with with much and that comparative adjective just to make even the emphasis even stronger so much better so much faster and we could also use two with many and much too many too much it just means that something is more than necessary there are too many people uh on this bus or something that i say from time to time ugh i i ate too much food more than necessary and then we could use well as many as or as much as and these well there are several different uses but the one i want to talk to you about is kind of just referring to a large quantity like some some kind of upper limit so i could say something like well you can write as many comments as you like or something well that a person might say it's pretty common you can have as much food as you want all right so those are some useful phrases so i hope that you learned a lot of information in this video and i just realized every time i use them like a lot of information i told you these are very useful words these quantifiers we use them all the time in everyday conversation so i really hope that you learned something new if you did please hit that like button write to me in the comments i always love hearing from you and i will see you next time so long --- ## 439. MASTERING QUESTIONS (everything you need to know) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `AnCOdNhqz7k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnCOdNhqz7k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:09:50 | --- mastering questions. So, I want you to participate in this lesson. I want you not only to answer questions in the comments, but actually speak out loud, practice saying these questions because that's going to help you improve your overall speaking fluency. And if that is one of your goals, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and we are going to cover a wide variety of questions. And the last thing I want to tell you is this. If this is your first time here, please let me know. Write your name. Tell me where you're from in the comments or in the chat because I love hearing from you. and I will send them to you. You'll have access to them if you are already a part of our email community. Check your inbox because I've already sent them to you or you will be getting them very shortly. So let's begin with le some simple questions because we use questions all the time in just everyday conversation and I want this is my first question for you which if you ask these different questions say them out loud I think you'll be able to tell. So do you think the following questions have a rising or falling intonation? What do you think? Let me know. And again, you can practice saying them out loud if you think that helps you determine this because when it comes to your speaking fluency, especially when we're talking about asking questions, the way you ask them is important. And intonation is also important because that's going to provide you a little bit of extra information. So, this I I'll be honest, it's a little bit of a trick question because the answer is both, but generally speaking, yes, no questions really have a rising intonation. So, let me give you some more specifics. So, if you said rising, I think yes, that that is the correct answer because you're going to use a rising intonation when the answer is unknown. You're asking a question. You don't know what the answer is, which is why you're asking the question. So, you're going to have that rising intonation. Does that make sense? You know, you're really confused. You don't know if it makes sense to the other person. Are you hungry? Do you have a pen? So, say those questions out loud with me and really try to rise that like really that higher pitch at the end and that intonation is going to be rising. Does that make sense? You kind of have to get into character for this. You're you're generally genuinely asking someone, "Are you hungry?" And you can hear that rising intonation. Do you have a pen? So this is important because yes no questions you have you you can hear that rising intonation. However, I told you it was a little bit of a trick question because these same questions may also have a falling intonation. But this would only be used when you you know the answer already or you think you know the answer. So, for example, maybe you're asking for confirmation. Does that make sense? So, in this case, I I use that a lot in the classroom. You you're saying, "Does that make that make kind of goes up and then it's going to fall with sense." Does that make sense? Does that make sense? Often, I will explain things like I just did and then I will ask students for confirmation. Did you understand uh what I'm saying? Does that make sense? So, it's not necessarily that rising intonation, but I'm asking for confirmation. The same way that that next question right there, if I know that the other person is hungry, I would say, "Are you hungry?" Sometimes I I know my little girl, she's upset, it's because she hasn't eaten anything. And I'll just ask her, "Oh, are you hungry? Are you hungry?" And same with that last question. If I know that you probably have a pen, but I want to I I need one. Do you have a pen? Do you have a pen? Not often. Not as often are you you're going to ask questions like this because again, the slight nuance would be if you know the answer or you're asking for confirmation, you'll then have that falling intonation with these yes no questions. But generally speaking, you're asking the question because you don't know the answer, in which case you're going to have that rising intonation. So the next thing I want to say about this is well, let's let's have a look at the structure very quick grammar. I know that you are familiar with this, but there's a reason why I'm presenting it to you now. So you have the verb, the subject, and other information. This is when the yes no question is the verb to be. Are you okay? If we're the main verb is any other verb, we're going to use the auxiliary verb do or does or in the past tense did. Does that make sense? Auxiliary verb followed by the subject followed by the main verb and then you have that other information. I'm going to come back to this with a question in just a little bit, but let's let's stay on yes no questions and I want to talk to you about another type of yes no question questions which are statement questions. We can use statements which are declarative sentences to ask yes no questions in in writing. You know this because you see that question mark at the end of the statement. However, when you're speaking, once again, the the context is important and you have to either listen for the intonation of the person speaking or if you are speaking, you got to use that intonation so that it's clear exactly what it is that you're asking that you are saying a statement, but you're asking it as a question. So with that rising intonation again, the answer is unknown. Like I'm uh surprised. You're from Chicago. You're from Chicago. Again, with those last two syllables, it's like we go up Chicago. And you really hear that rising intonation. You're from Chicago. Again, if the answer is known and or or I suspect that Oh, okay. You're from Chicago. and you hear that falling intonation. You're from Chicago. So once again, the the distinction is really whether or not the the answer is unknown and you're genuinely asking this person because you want to know the answer or if you think you really know what the answer is, maybe you've seen this person, you've heard that they're from this city and I say, "Oh yeah, I know I know you. You're from Chicago. The next thing that I want to look at, uh, let's let's well, is practicing. Let's practice these. I want you to say these with me. And this is a little bit of a a listen and repeat. So, I'm going to say number one. Again, I'm telling you whether it's rising and just say it uh right after me. So, number one, she's 30 years old. She's 30 years old. Number two, let's use that falling intonation. We know the answer, but we're still using this statement question. You went to my school. Like, yeah, I recognize you. You went to my school. Number three, that rising uh that rising intonation. That's your father. That's your father. And number four, again, you see someone, you think you know the answer. You live in my building. Yeah, I've seen you around here before. You live in my building. All right, so let's move on. So, we talked about those yes no questions. If you're participating, which is what this is all about, let me know in the chat, in the comments. you can just write one word speaking and that tells me you're actually practicing these sentences, these questions and trying to use the correct intonation because once again, if you're able to do this, it's about improving your fluency and just making it easier to communicate clearly. So, let's look at some open-ended questions. Very, very common questions. We use these questions because we want more than just a simple yes or no. So these are uh statements that require a longer response. My question for you is what are the six main question words? Uh and you'll once we once I show you this, you'll know what I'm talking about. But as far as these open-ended questions, what are the six main question words? Write those, write your answers in the chat or in the comments. That's what this is all about. It's about interactive English. It's about participating in the lesson. So these the question words that I'm referring to are the wh question words in general. However, there's one that does not begin with a wh. So, I'm talking about who, what, where, when, why, how. And you notice that how does not begin with a wh, but these are the most common question words and they're going to begin they're going we're going to put these at the beginning of our yes of our open-ended question. So, excellent Muhammad Lai. Excellent. Perfect. So the the next thing that I want to look at is well continuing to think about these question words. I told you the most common ones. Who, what, where, when, why, how. What if you are trying to ask someone and you want them to make a choice. Which question word are you going to use? Write your answer in the chat, in the comments. Participate. You're talking about uh a question in which someone needs to make a choice. Which which word would you use? Okay, so the answer excellent is which. I was laughing because I just asked you which word would you use? Which one should I choose? Great job. Um, Estie, Lai, Angela, Nelly. Great. The next one, again, which is often used. I I would say it's not considered part of those primary six ones. Who, what, where, when, why, how. Now, what if we're talking about possession? Which there's that which making a choice. Which question word would you use? I'm not going to give you some options, but you're talking about possession, ownership, and you want to know. I I don't want to keep talking. I I feel like I'm going to accidentally say the word, but think about possession, and you want to ask a question. Which word are you going to use at the beginning of the statement? At the beginning of the question. So the answer is who's well done SD Harry Carpenter Lai Ava S. Awesome. You guys got it. Angela, Julie, great. So we use whose when we want to know, okay, this belongs to you or him or her. Whose pen is this? And then finally, frequency. How are you going how are you going to ask about that? The one little hint that I'll give you, which I don't even really think I need to give you a hint, is that this is a phrase. There are two words that you're going to use. But if you again, you're asking about frequency, you're going to use this phrase at the beginning. And this is common. We we talk about this a lot. This is good little review, kind of testing your knowledge because we use questions all the time. And when we want to know about the frequency of something, we're going to ask how often. Well done, Katarina, Angela, Lai, Nelly, great. Ava, uh, Seda, how often do you go hiking? I'm asking you about the frequency of this activity. How often? So, there are other words out there, but again, when you're starting out, those open-ended questions, who, what, where, when, why, how, which, whose, how often, how much, how many, there are there are a lot of different ways to begin those questions. The one thing I want to point out real quickly, and again, I want you to practice practice your pronunciation. This is all about helping you speak naturally, easily. So when saying the did you, we're talking about the past in this case. Assimilation may occur in order to connect did and you because the final D sound may blend together with the beginning Y sound in you and it's going to sound a little like J. It's almost like we're taking a J and we're putting it in between those two words. It's not something you need to force. If you just say them, it's going to naturally happen. So instead of what did you, and I'm just trying to pronounce those individual words, it's going to sound like what did you, what did you, and you can hear that J sound. Say it with me. What did you, where did you, how did you, why did you? And this is a great place to start if we're if you you're trying to speak more fluently, use connected speech and take that did you construction because we often ask other people questions in the past tense. What did you do yesterday? Where did you go last night? How did you find this? Why did you do that? And you can hear that J. But just when you think focus on that did you and instead of pronouncing the words individually you can blend that duh and y together and you get that slight j something to think about. Again I want you to hopefully I hope I trust that you are saying these out loud and practicing with me uh because that's what it's all about. So let's move on to structure. I've given you some words that make up this question right here. I want you to well just write the question. Write the question in the chat. Write the question in the comments. I don't think this is too difficult, but you'll you'll see in a moment where I'm I'm going with this, where I'm trying to take you. So, we have six words. Of course, the the first word, we're going to start with that wh question word. What? And we're going to follow it with does he eat for lunch? What does he eat for lunch? Well done, Ava, Lai, SD, Harry. I again, I don't think this is too difficult right now, but you'll see where I'm going in just a moment. So, we have the question word followed by the auxiliary verb followed by the subject, then the main verb, and then the other information. Look at these questions down here. They follow that same structure. When did she leave? Where do you live? How often do you brush your teeth? So, if I wanted to give you, well, let's let's stay on structure. I want you to be careful. So, here is another sentence. I'll go ahead and say that this is not a question, but I want you to unscramble these words and see if you can create a sentence, not a question, and put them in order. So, remember the the the general question was, "Oh, what does he eat for lunch?" You're asking this to someone else. What does he eat for lunch? And this may be the response. And there's a reason why I'm telling you to be careful because this is a mistake that I commonly hear in spoken English. And I know that when you're having a back and forth conversation, it's difficult to think of these small little grammar things that are going on, but it's still important and it's necessary to practice. So, the answer well done uh is right here. I don't know what he eats for lunch. Great job, Moath. Uh Manuel, see you. Excellent, Juliana. So, what I want to point out is the wh clause. So, I I've been talking to you about structure, and the main thing when it comes to these questions is really that the subject and the verb are inverted. Typically, you think of a simple sentence in English, you have subject, verb, object. But when you're asking a question, that subject and verb are going to get switched around. But this once again is not a question. We have the subject followed by the auxiliary verb don't followed by our main verb no. We're going to follow that with a wh clause. This is really a noun clause. But when we're talking about clauses that which also have a subject and a verb, we are not going to change those around. You're going to follow the structure of a sentence. Subject, verb, object. We're going to start with our wh word, follow it with the subject, what he, followed by the main verb, eats, and then followed by that other information. And I told you, and I I I imagine you probably think about your own conversations uh that you've had if you feel like this has ever happened to you. I I think this is something that's really common because when people are speaking and they say these wh words, their brains are so connected to those questions and you're switching the subject and the verb. I would often hear something like I don't know um what uh I don't I'm trying to even switch it back now. I don't know um what what does he eat for lunch? Because again, people would then ask it as the question. So I don't know what does he eat for lunch? And I would then try to tell somebody, look, that's a wh clause. It's not going to follow the question structure in which you'll use that auxiliary verb. We're just going to follow the wh verb subject. I don't know what he eats for lunch. So this is something just to be careful of mostly I mean in your writing but also when you're having a conversation like I said it's a very common mistake and it's a little more complex because I know that many people's brains are wired for switching that subject and verb or they're thinking about those questions. Politeness very important especially culturally. I think you guys know this. Do you want something to drink? Can you rewrite that question? Or h how would you ask this question in a more polite manner? Because you especially you're you're traveling to another country, you meet people for the first time, there are so many instances in which you want to try and be more polite. And what I would always tell people is if you're unsure, always try to be a little more polite. And that's what you should use. Ollie, yes. Beer, please. I think it's about that time. So, do you want something to drink? If you want to make this a little more polite, and there's different there's different ways to do this, but the the the way I would change it is, yeah, would you like something to drink? Instead of want, we're going to change that to would. Would you like something to drink? I think you guys got it. Estie, Harry, nice. Ava, very common. You got to just know your audience. If you're just with a friend and you say, "Hey, do you want something to drink?" That's again, that's perfectly okay. But depending on the situation you're in, it it it's it's always good to be polite, especially if you're unsure. The other thing I'd like to point out, notice how I'm saying it. Would you like something to drink? That final D in would, that D sound, once again, we can blend it with that beginning Y in U. Would you? Would you? You can hear that slight J sound. Say the question. Say it right after me. Would you like something to drink? Okay. Hopefully I can you blending those sounds together using assimilation. That J. Would you? All right. Where is the toilet? Okay. Common question. You go you go out to a restaurant and you would ask somebody who works there, hey, where where's the toilet? But if you want to be a little more polite and not necessarily that you have to do this at a restaurant, but maybe you go over to a friend's house, somebody's home, and maybe you don't know the person really well. In that situation, I would suggest that you try to be a little more polite. So instead of just saying, "Hey, where's the toilet?" How could you ask this question in a more polite way? So before we had uh the word want and I said use uh would it makes it a little more polite. In this case we're talking about uh you know where something is like the ability we're instead of saying like again we could say can you tell me where the toilet is instead of can I want you to use could. So once again, there's different ways to ask this. Where's the toilet? Can you tell me where the toilet is? But you want to be more polite. Could you Could you please tell me where the toilet is? Awesome. Um, great job, Avatina, Seda, Yousef. Wow, you guys are rocking it. You guys got some good typing skills as well. So, could you please tell me where the toilet is? Could you, Again, blending it together. Notice I'm trying to follow up on these. Would you? Could you? There's nothing wrong with saying could you and saying both words. That's perfectly fine. Never. You should never feel like you have to speak a certain way. But as far as, you know, using connected speech, I I it the reason people do this is because it's actually easier over time. You develop these uh this way of speaking, it's actually going to be easier. Could you please tell me where the toilet is? The other word that I want to highlight when it comes to politeness is the word please. Very important and it's a word that I think when you're starting to learn English, it's a it's a word that I think sometimes people forget depending on the country and culture that you're coming from, it it may be used in certain context or situations that it may not be applied in places like the US or the UK, but it's always good to use. The other thing that I want to point out, again, I'm trying to build on this as we go through this. Notice that second part. Could you please tell me something, this is a wh clause? So, remember with the clause, we're going to have the subject followed by the verb. The toilet is. Could you please tell me where the toilet is? I I haven't looked. I saw a couple of answers responses in the chat where once again people would uh maintain that question structure. Could you please tell me where is the toilet? So be very careful when it comes to that. Instead of where is the toilet, this is a wh clause. So you're going to have the wh word followed by the subject followed by the verb and then any other information. Could you please tell me where the toilet is? Okay. Okay. So, again, like I'm trying to build on this and hopefully all of this makes sense, but when when it comes to politeness, basically what we're doing is we're taking a direct question, which can be less polite, like, "Hey, where's the toilet?" and turning it into an indirect question, which then allows us to make the make the question softer. It's not as demanding. It doesn't sound as aggressive. And that's really what that's really what's involved when you want to make these questions more polite. Where's the toilet? Hey, could you please tell me where the toilet is? So, essentially, that's what's going on. We're changing these direct questions to an indirect question. But when it comes to politeness, know your audience. If you're talking with a friend or a family member or you're out in public at a restaurant, again, you're at a restaurant, I think it's okay to say, "Hey, you know, where's the toilet?" But if you you want to be more more polite, you could use, "Could you?" Or if, again, you're at somebody's home and you don't really know them and you want to be more polite, uh, definitely. Yeah. Could you please tell me where the toilet is? Then I want you to since you guys are so quick writing these responses in the comments in the chat, I want you to write a tag question. And you can write a question um with either a positive tag or a negative tag. It doesn't matter. We're going to have a look at both of them. But we're kind of moving into our next type of question and talking about tag questions. So in the chat, in the comments, write any tag question either with a positive tag or negative tag. Again, it's all just get you getting you thinking about these different types of questions. We started with the easiest, the yes, no. want to follow up on that with those statement questions because you're using that rising and falling intonation and then moving into those open-ended questions which again I don't think it it it's not the most difficult or complex grammar or you know asking speaking in the world because this is just so common um but there are some slight little nuances okay so have like you like pizza don't you nice Angela she got a promotion at work didn't she? Perfect. Um, well, what a beautiful day in Madrid, isn't it? Okay. Nice. So, I you you get the I think many of you get the idea of a question tag. So, her name is Laya, isn't it? You say, "Her name is Ila, isn't it?" Okay. Are you going to be ready for the weekend? Um, uh, are you going to Are you ready for the weekend, aren't you? Um, Wes, is this American, isn't he? Okay, you don't mind, do you? Okay, good. Good. There's a lot of great answers. What I wanted to point out is I I said you could use a positive or negative tag. When you have a positive statement, again, you're you're just using uh a statement and then you're going to follow that with a negative tag. You lock the door. You're making a statement but then following it with that question. Didn't you? And that's the negative. Didn't Didn't you you lock the door? Didn't you? Your grandparents live here, don't they? If we're talking about a negative statement and the statement we're in this case, we're using don't or didn't, then we're going to use a positive tag. And that's just the thing you got to keep in mind. But once again, I feel like a lot many of you uh have have studied this, have learned this, and you're comfortable and familiar with it. But the negative statements, she didn't see the movie, did she? The jury didn't find him guilty, did they? So, positive statement, negative tag, negative statement, positive tag. And there you have those tag questions. Now my next uh question for you is to identify this type of question. What do you call a question that is asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer. There is a name for this type of question and I think it it's a pretty common type of question and it's one that you people use even in speaking and they'll use this uh you'll I'll tell you what I mean. You may hear this TV shows, movies. This is a type of question. What do you call it? You're just trying to create this dramatic effect. you're not really expecting an answer. You don't really need an answer. And that's the key part of this. So, let me give you the answer. Um, we call a questions. And I just realized my own grammar sake. There should be a question mark at the end of that question. All right. So, I'm talking about a rhetorical question. I saw some answers in there. Uh, Ava SD, nice, Angela. So, when you're asking a rhetorical question, you're saying it to someone for effect or just trying to emphasize or point something out and you really don't expect or need the other person to respond. So, sometimes like somebody's frustrated. Hey, can't you do anything right? You're not really anticipating that a person responds to that with an answer. you're just frustrated and you say uh this rhetorical question or hey, what's not to like? Who doesn't want to save the planet? Of course, you're you're not expecting somebody uh to answer that or again in a situation, hey, do you want to lose the match? You're maybe you're trying to motivate someone like keep going. Do you want to lose the match? So, we're talking about these rhetorical questions. And the reason why I said you may hear this is that sometimes in a movie or TV show, somebody would they would ask a rhetorical question and it becomes a little bit of a joke because the person's getting ready to answer and they say, "Hey, that's a rhetorical question." Okay, you don't need to answer. It's a rhetorical question. So, in a way, if you're in a movie or TV show is creating this situation, they may do be doing it for effect, for humor. Somebody's asking a rhetorical question, the other person doesn't really understand that and they try to answer it and then they're told, "Hey, that's a rhetorical question. I don't want you to answer that." So, something to keep in mind, but these these are questions that are not meant to be answered and you use it for effect. Um, a lot of times it ends up people end up using it in frustration. Like I said that first example, well, can't you do anything right now? What about this type of question right here? So, we just talked about a rhetorical question. What about this type of question? I I maybe you can't see that. So, I'll tell you what it says. It's a it's a little bit of a comic strip um about Adam and Eve. So, she says, "Be honest, Adam. Do these leaves make me look fat?" And then he says, "Just a little." So, that question that Eve is asking, be honest, Allan. Do these leaves make me look fat? What type of question would that be? How would you identify that question right there? So, it's not a uh it's not a rhetorical question. I think, you know, she's genuinely asking that question, anticipating a response, but the response can get people in trouble. That's all I'll say. So, you could say I I see a trick question. You could say it's a trick question, but there's another phrase, another term that I'm looking for instead of a trick question because sometimes trick questions will also Yeah. They get you in trouble. So, she's asking this, "Do you think these leaves make me look fat?" And it's putting him in a position to, "Well, no matter how he answers it, it's a little uncomfortable. It's a problem. It It's kind of a little bit of a trap, maybe." And when you have a question like that, you could refer to it as a loaded question. And this is a question that's containing, as I me just mentioned, a hidden trap or an implication. So, let me give you an example of an implication. If somebody said, "Hey, do you still drive that ugly car?" If you answer yes or no, that's a yes no question. You're I'm implying that the car is ugly and you're admitting that the car is ugly. So, that would be a loaded question, one that you probably don't want to answer because it's like, "Hey, my car is not ugly." But if I say, "Hey, do you do you still drive that ugly car?" I'm implying that it's ugly. And no matter how you answer it, you're also then agreeing that it's ugly. So, that would be a loaded question. Or if somebody, and this is probably one that uh you know, I've I've actually gotten before, why aren't you married yet? And it's a loaded question because the person that is asking it really is basically implying that okay, you should be married. If I'm asking you this question, hey, you you should be married and no matter what you say, it's not going to change my opinion. So even if somebody says, well, I haven't found the right person or uh you know, I've been busy or I was doing all these things over the years, it's not really going to matter. It's a trap. If somebody says, "Hey, aren't why aren't you married yet?" But this is a loaded question that I think pe many people may end up getting um especially when they're younger in their 20s, 30s, uh 40s. then the final one, do you actually believe your own lies? Once again, no matter how you answer, you're you're admitting that you tell lies. And that's a loaded question that is basically trapping you into admitting that yes, you you tell a lot of lies. Do you do you actually believe your own lies? So once I Oh Li, actually somebody pointed out uh good question, Lai. No, that's a typo. It should say why aren't you married yet? You're that is a typo. That is my mistake. Thank you for pointing that out. I go through these I go through all these slides like multiple times, but it's one of those things that when you end up looking at your own work, it your brain just doesn't catch some of these slight little uh grammar mistakes or or uh any any kind of written mistakes. Like I said, I forgot to add a question mark uh to the other question. So hopefully that makes sense. And some, this is another phrase you may hear when somebody asks you something and you may hear somebody respond like, "Wow, that's that's a loaded question. I don't want to answer that. It's a loaded question. It's a question that's a trap or it's basically getting trying to get you to admit something or concede something based on what they're implying." And then this uh last type of question that I want to ask you about, this is a a meme. Think about a a courtroom. You were forced to wear a leash. Right? We can say that question uh statement, that rising intonation. Uh if we don't know the answer, you were forced to wear a leash. Or again, you could say it with that falling like we know the answer. You were forced to wear a leash. either one. Uh it's just a different way of asking that yes no question. But the lawyer who is this this dog right here says objection m the witness. What type of question is that? And again I'm trying to use these words that I think you may come across in movies, TV shows. You could even use them in conversations talking about a rhetorical question or a loaded question or even this this is probably a little more specific to a courtroom and that environment which is why I said objection m the witness. Which word would you use to complete the sentence right there? So in this case, we're talking about leading objection, leading the witness. If you watch any type of movie or TV show that involves a courtroom and the lawyers are going back and forth, somebody's being questioned, this is uh this is a statement somebody might say, "Objection, leading the witness." And then the judge would say overruled or sustained. So listen for that next time that you may be watching any TV show or movie that is in a courtroom leading. But a leading question is basically the like the way it sounds. You're encouraging the respondent to answer in a certain way. And these are common questions when you're you're seeking agreement and you ask questions that are leading. So I mentioned times that you would hear this would be in a courtroom. other times which are a little more subtle. If you watch the news, CNN, Fox News, it doesn't matter, and they're that maybe let's say the the host or whoever the host is is interviewing someone that they agree with or someone that supports their point of view. They end up asking these leading questions because they know that this person supports their opinion on you could talk about a range of topics, climate change, abortion, um, whatever. But if you have an interviewer and they're interviewing someone who kind of necessarily agrees with the what they're trying to say, the interviewer may ask these leading questions mostly because they just they just want to agree with each other. So they lead the person into responding uh a certain way or just into agreeing with them. These are leading questions. So if you're watching any news interview, like I said, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, um BBC, doesn't matter. And somebody's interviewing someone, try to identify some of those questions. It depends on who's being interviewed, but they will ask leading questions definitely. And you de you will certainly hear that in a courtroom leading the witness. So these are the different question types that we went through today. Started out with uh the most common ones, those yes no questions, those statement questions as well as those open-ended questions. We talked about changing questions, making them more polite, very important, very useful tag questions, and then some of those other different questions types that you may actually come across in conversation. somebody a rhetorical question and if they start to answer, tell them, "Hey, that was a rhetorical question. I don't want you to answer. It was a rhetorical question." Or somebody asks you something and you don't want to answer. It's a trap to say, well, that's a loaded question. I'm not going to answer that. or even again you're you're I don't know if you work in as a lawyer or you're in a courtroom or you're watching something you will hear that word leading leading uh people are sometimes lawyers will ask people leading questions and they shouldn't be doing that so I hope that you with all these lessons I just hope that you learned something new and I'm going to keep putting these lessons together this one had a little bit of everything as far as grammar pronunciation talking about assimilation, practicing your intonation, um as well as a little bit of vocabulary because if you are not familiar with the these words like rhetorical or loaded or leading, then these are uh good words to try to put in your word bank. They're a little more advanced. They're more specific, but when talking about questions, you you may come across them or you may even use them. So, thank you guys very much for being here today. Hey, let me give some quick shoutouts. Angela, Lai, great to see you. Jackie, uh, Tez, Nelly, Harry, Angela. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Remember, if you want to get those lesson notes, check out that link in the chat. or if you're already a part of our community, I will send --- ## 440. MASTER the American Accent with 9 Simple Words ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NQRd7qb_CMg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQRd7qb_CMg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:49:38 | --- let's talk about some words to help you master the American accent now as someone who is learning English as a second language you should never feel like you need to speak with any particular accent the most important thing is that we understand each other however I know that this topic interests many people we all have different speaking goals and if one of your goals is to try to emulate the American accent and learn more about it then I think this lesson will really help so in general I'm going to talk about the pronunciation of certain words which falls under the umbrella of the American accent and pronunciation and accent they're not necessarily the same they're not always interchangeable pronunciation is how words are pronounced you're just making those sounds whereas accent is the way in which someone pronounces words and it's influenced by the country or area they come from to give you an example of what I'm talking about let's look at our first word two this is a very common and useful word and the word two actually has two different pronunciations a strong form and a weak form the strong form two sounds just like the number two the weak form is when the word is unstressed it's going to get reduced and the vowel sounds going to change and it's going to sound more like it has awah sound T it's much softer and this is what I'm talking about when changing to to T is more about accent reduction because two is really a function word these are words that are not really emphasized because function words are words that have a grammatical purpose and Americans often reduce function words in everyday speech in other words they often say function words more quietly and quickly and that is why two May often get reduced and sound like T let's look at the following in practice I'm going to the mall can you hear that weak form I'll say it slowly I'm going to the mall I'm going to the mall later no I want you to practice practice say it with me I'm going to the mall I'm going to the mall here's another one I'd like to take advantage of the situation I'd like to take advantage of the situation I'd like to take advantage of the situation now let's say it together I'd like to take advantage of the situation I'd like to take advantage of the situation so hopefully it was easy for you to identify and hear that weaker unstressed not only when I was saying it but when listening to those videos as well so I I just want you to be mindful and understand that this occurs it's not something that you have to start using you could practice this if you want to and I think shadowing is a great way to do that and trying to say something in the exact same way because this is not really something that you'll just be able to turn on and off it may take a little bit of time if you would like to reduce your accent and start using using some of these weaker unstressed words and sounds now if you would like to improve your English skills build your vocabulary improve your speaking fluency please subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals let's continue with another very common word that I'm sure you use quite often and that is four except I'm not really going to pronounce it four again when it's unstressed the word's going to get reduced that vowel sounds going to change from for to fur so for that or it's a low back vowel you can really feel it coming from the back of your mouth for to a fur it's much softer it is going to sound more like a front vowel and very similar to fur except in that case The Vow sound's going to be a little longer but let's uh practice with this question right here what are you going to do for dinner can you hear that softer sound and it does get reduced what are you going to do for dinner so uh what are you guys doing for dinner tonight so what do you think we should do for dinner this pronunciation is easy for me I hope it's easy for you again listen to how the word is unstressed easy for you easy for am not for me when you make it easy for me I'll make it easy for you and we can practice with some tricky sentences so repeat after me I have four brushes for my four cats because they have a lot of fur let's say that one more time I have four brushes for my four cats because they have a lot of fur and now give this next one a try we waited for the bus for 4 hours once again we waited for the bus for 4 hours and and yeah that that can be a little tricky especially with that for 4 hours for 4 hours but this is something you will definitely hear in spoken English and people are going to reduce for to fur the next word is one that I really enjoy water okay so there are two things that I want to focus on the flap T and the final R so the flap T is a really distinct part of the American accent this is when the t is going to sound like a soft D and it often occurs when the t comes between two vowel sounds and is part of an unstressed syllable so here here are some words and just repeat after me and try to use that flap t water City political meaning quality critical all of those words have T's that I would pronounce as a flap T now the final R is something else that Americans often pronounce when the r comes at the end of a word so again just repeat after me really pronounce that R and I I'll probably emphasize it a little bit water car weather chair now if we want to practice with other words that are just like water that have a flap T and final R we can use these words right here again repeat after me better voter later butter writer these are great words to practice both of those things the flap T and final r Mountain this word is all about the glottal te or or glottal stop so what is that this is when you stop the flow of air through the glotus in your throat so the sound is coming from down here and you can practice a glottal stop with uh-oh uh oh the glottal stop is coming after uh and before o you can really feel the tightness in your throat when you say uhoh uhoh now with the American accent when the t is followed by an n Sound it may get pronounced as a gladle t like in the word Mountain so see if you can hear the difference when I say the word with a true te and a glottal te mountain mountain versus mountain mountain one thing that I want to point out is that this is not a fixed rule that any T that's followed by an n Sound is going to be pronounced as a glal te if you are living in the US or you visit the US you may hear both so here are some examples of the word Mountain I'm going to keep pronouncing it with a glal t but here are some examples of it being pronounced with more of a TR te yeah and the mountains they're not like mountains on Earth and now I want you to listen for that glottal stop oh that sounds fun I'm mountain biking on Sunday and uh Montage Mountain but because we're talking about the American accent I I want to practice with some words and I I want you to try to use a glottal T because I I think a lot of people do this I I actually do it all the time so I'm going to do this to get you thinking about that tightness in your throat but let's say these words repeat after me Mountain kitten written gotten bitten those last three were actually the the past part participle of those verbs and whenever you know you say the past participle of well quite a few different verbs you may use a gladle t so let's practice with this sentence and there of course there are many gladle stops when saying this I have written a story about a kitten that walked up a mountain and was bitten by a spider so I want you to repeat after me and and we're going to say the sentence in chunks I have written a story about a kitten that walked up a mountain and was bitten by a spider so when saying that sentence with many of those words you should feel that tightness in your throat with those gladle stops Mountain the next word Center easy enough to pronounce but I would like to point out that when the T follows an n Sound it may a lied alision is when sounds or syllables get removed you don't really hear that t when I say Center wanted interview 20 entertain in each of those words you don't hear that t because it allies once again this is not an established rule I I'm just trying to share with you how I think most people will say this word Center you may hear somebody say it with the T Center either one just listen but we all know you put your biggest talent front and center oh I'll be there front and center I would like to point out that when the T follows an n Sound but it comes at the beginning of a stress syllable then you will pronounce it as more of a true T in words like internship or anticipate or intensive if you would like to practice then start with the words that I have already showed you and again they're pretty common and we can do so with this sentence I was watching an entertaining interview with 20 people who all wanted to be the center of attention say it with me I was watching an entertaining interview with 20 people who all wanted to be the center of attention excellent let's practice this word right here can't and I want to start with a vow sound because this is also a difference between British and American English because you're going to pronounce the vowel sound differently and I will make some comparisons between those two English varieties because I think when people are learning the language these are the two varieties that most people reference so in the US can't and in the UK can't can't can't we can't do that you can't do this I can't just do that we can't do that now so many people tell me they struggle with this word not only when listening and trying to identify the word but also when speaking and trying to say it and I think probably one of the more challenging things about this word is the NT that consonant cluster at the end the final NT consonant cluster your tongue is actually going to be curled down and the tip is going to be behind your bottom front teeth can't and we're really going to end with a glottal stop and we can practice this with the word ant which is really the last three letters in the word K so who the hell are you I'm Ant-Man Ant-Man what you haven't heard of me can't can't it's an incredibly common word and it can be a little tricky which is why I thought it deserved a little attention but let's practice and we can even review some of the other things we've talked about with this short sentence right here just repeat after me I can't find any water in town so I have to go to the mountain good job now I want to practice this word schedule I have already told you that we're going to practice some of the differences between American English and British English we did that with the previous word that vowel sound is different when pronouncing K versus K and there are many other words that are pronounced differently When comparing American English versus British English and it's important to know some of these words especially if you are trying to emulate the American accent so let's uh play a little game I'm going to give you a word I'm going to say both pronunciations and then I just want you to think about well which one is the American pronunciation so here's your first one I think you know it because I've already said the word you have schedule versus schedule and in the US people are going to say schedule here's the next one advertisement advertisement in the United States people are going to say advertisement here's another one zebra zebra I am going to say zebra how about this word dynasty Dynasty I hope that you chose Dynasty as the US pronunciation because that is correct now you get the idea there are many words that are pronounced differently between American and British English I I just want to get you thinking about some of these pronunciation differences so if this is something you want to practice just be aware of this the words that we just looked at as well as these words right here I'll give you a moment to look at them but we need to move on so let's move on to our next word entrepreneur this is one of many words that have been borrowed from French and the pronunciation is the sameish but not really the pronunciation is really an Americanized version of this French word I'll I'll let you listen to the difference entrepreneur entrepreneur they're kind of close but if you are a French speaker then you you need to be careful and understand that these words have been Americanized here are some other words that have been borrowed from French and I want you to think about what they have in common fiance conasur Cafe sorb just listening to me say those words perhaps you notice that the stress syllable is at the end and in English this is something that is not very common and perhaps even a little bit of a hint that the word has been borrowed from French but I I often hear second language speakers make a slight pronunciation mistake with some of these words that have been borrowed because they end up stressing the wrong syllable instead of that final syllable something to keep in mind whenever words are borrowed from other languages they may sound similar but not always the same just food for thought and then we have a fun and very long word which is superca fragilistic xala docious and it's silly but the reason I chose this is to get you thinking about Rhythm and flow and trying to develop that Rhythm and flow because English is a stress time language it's a language where the stress syllables are said at a proximately regular intervals and the unstress words or syllables are shortened in order to fit that Rhythm so here is a very short and simple sentence three different intervals and then as I add to the sentence those intervals are going to stay the same cats chase mice the cats chase mice the cats chase the mice the cats will chase the mice and as I'm saying this you can hear those stressed words and syllables and it does sound a little Musical and again it's really a good example of English as a stress time language now let's go back to our ridiculously long word and we can say this word keeping in mind those stressed intervals supercalifragilistic xous super fragilis in total the word has 14 syllables and I'll say it again and I want you to think about that stress super cala fragile xad does I could even clap and say it again and every time I Clap That is a stress sound super cala fragile xes so let's let's break it apart into those different intervals you can see the stress and now I want you to practice this word with me ready super cala fragilistic expad docious let's try it one more time again we're developing that Rhythm and flow it's going to sound a little bit like a song supercalifragilistic xad docious excellent this is something that you can practice because when it comes to speaking with an American accent well Rhythm and flow are a part of that and I think it's useful to practice and develop your speaking skills and you could really do this with any sentence like the very first one that we practice ice with I'm going to the mall later I'm going to the mall later and you can really hear that Rhythm and flow if I want to emphasize it just like this okay of course people aren't going to speak that way but it does help you hear that Melody and that Rhythm and flow so that's all I have for you in this lesson you can practice on your own with these different words if you enjoyed the lesson and learn something new you can let me know by hitting that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 441. MINIMAL PAIRS | Helpful Pronunciation Practice to Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `dvo2ehdbleQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvo2ehdbleQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:36:40 | --- What's up everyone? I hope you're doing well. My name is Wes and if you haven't been here before, this is Interactive English, which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills. So, see some people are here with me already today. If you are, say hello in the chat. I'd love to hear your name. And if even if you're watching this later, just write me a comment. Tell me your name. Say hi. Just love hearing from you. So, who do we have with us? Lai, King Roku, Rosalinda, um, Noricadre, Arti, Lai, uh, Satish, Jacel, uh, Seiya, Sharada, um, Shrea, excellent. All right, so Olivia Draco, hi. The list goes on and on. I will try and give everybody a shout out that I can because I do have some questions that I'm going to ask you today. So again, this is going to be a very interactive lesson which is all about minimal pairs. So you can look at those words that we're going to be talk looking at today. So you know that this is a pronunciation lesson. We are going to be talking about minimal pairs and we're also going to be practicing them as well and doing several activities along the way. So I think it's only appropriate to begin with a very very simple question and that is what are minimal pairs? So if you don't know what minimal pairs are, they are two words. It's a pair of words that have one different sound. The the words sound very very similar except for this one sound. And those are two examples right there. Desk dis. You notice that that vowel sound is the one different sound. And the reason why it's good to practice minimal pairs is because this can often cause confusion. If people if if we don't pronounce these sounds clearly, then people might misunderstand whatever it is that we're trying to say or if we're not able to identify these sounds, then we may not understand other people. So, it's very important to practice these minimal pairs because often times there are different sounds in English that are very similar and they're very easy to confuse such as this. So, desk and disc. And I tried to make that that's a floppy disc over there. By the way, some of you you might depending on how old you are, you might not be very familiar with those. There it's from a long time ago. Floppy disc. So, again, let's let's look at how do they help us. This is going to help you really fine-tune your pronunciation so that you can speak clearly and that you can speak effectively. And it's going to help you understand the difference between sounds. Because again, if you're able to speak these sounds clearly and you know the difference between them, then you're going to be able to communicate exactly what you want to say and it's going to help your listening skills because you're going to understand exactly what the other person is saying as well. So, it's very useful to practice these minimal pairs, which is what we are going to do today. And today's lesson, just to give you a bit of an overview, I have chosen three different sets of minimal pairs. The short E and the short I. And I tried to give you a little example right there where they're climbing up to perfect pronunciation, and the guy says, "Thank you." All right, this can cause a little bit of confusion, but again, if you already if you think you might be familiar with these sounds, then that's great. It's always good to practice. It's always good to review. Or maybe you are a learner out there and you're thinking, "Wow, this is something that I feel like I need to work on." Again, there are all sorts of different minimal pairs out there and and it's always good to practice and refresh, even if it's something that you think you already know. So these are the sounds that we are going to practice today. And let's just start out. What I'm going to do is I'm going to tell you how quick give you quick overview as to how you can make each of these sounds. I will tell you a set of minimal pairs which we will practice saying together. Then we'll talk about some sentences and I'll go over some sentences with you and then an activity. Okay? So we got a lot to cover. Are you guys ready? Are you ready? Let's just get into it. So the short e versus the short i sound. All right. sound. Your lips are going to be relaxed and the tongue is in the central area of your mouth. So fell. All right. E. That is very different from the i sound. All right. The lips are also relaxed, but your mouth is a little bit wider. All right. So if you look look at me when I say these the tongue is still in the central part when they say e and I e i. You notice that my mouth is just becoming slightly wider. E I So we have fell fill. And again it'll help make this an interactive activity. If you are at home wherever you are just repeat after me say these words with me. Fell. Phil. Let's look at the next one. The ones in orange. Ready? Set. Sit. And then let's say that last one, the purple one. Bless. Bliss. So the top ones, that blue, orange, and purple, those are all the short e. Fell, set, bless. And the bottom ones, that short i. Phil, sit, bliss. All right. So, let's say them one more time. Let's say them together. Fell. fill set sit bless bliss. Okay. So, now that we have these these minimal pairs, let's let's put them into practice. Let's let's step it up a little bit and put them into some sentences right now. Now, there's two ways that you can do this. I will say the sentence and then you can repeat after me. I'll give you a little time to do that. Or you can just do it as a shadowing activity. And that's another great way to practice your pronunciation because when you're shadowing somebody, you are just trying to say it exactly as they say it and and you say it along with them so that you're it it just like you're repeating it at the same time. You are shadowing that person. So you can repeat after me or you can say it with me as I read these sentences and shadow me. So let's start. Here is the first one and I'll I'll read them I'll I'll read them a little slowly to begin with. The first one ready. I went to fill the cup, but it fell on the floor. All right, I'll say it again. I'll say it a little bit quicker. Ready? I went to fill the cup, but it fell on the floor. All right, and the next sentence, the one in orange. Let's say this together. Please set your bags down and come sit over here. One more time, a little faster. Please set your bags down and come sit over here. All right. So, I'm trying to give you both one one slowly so you can hear that pronunciation and then one with that more natural conversation flow. And that last sentence right down there, the purple one. Ready? We're blessed with so much bliss. Let's say that one again. Are you ready? We're blessed with so much bliss. Okay. So, it's good to practice these sounds and pra and saying sentences. It's a good way not only to practice your pronunciation but to practice your speaking skills as well because if you are saying these these sentences out loud then you are practicing your speaking which is what many of you want to do out there and if you did if you are actually saying these sentences with me let me know write that in the chat and just say speaking so I know I know who is out there and they are actually practicing their English and making this an active speaking exercise. So write that in the chat. If you guys are speaking, just say speaking so I know that you are doing this. Now let's look at a practice. We're going to practice these right now. And what I've done, the way that we're going to do this is I I have a sentence. Okay, let's go after M. Now I have another minimal pair here. All right, the first one is a word that these are word these are common words. sex with the short e sound. Sex and six with the short i sound. These are two common words that you might hear just in everyday life. And they are also words that you don't want to confuse. You won't you don't want to confuse these words when you're speaking and you don't want to confuse them when you're listening either. So we're going to practice these. But first, let me let me give a quick shout out to some people here. Excellent to hear that you are actually speaking. Um Bashari, excellent. Thank you. Sorry if I mispronounced names. Lima, Arti, Anna, be happy. Uh, excellent. Somebody has other name. I can't really read. Uh, I guess maybe from China. Uh, Jacqueline. Excellent. Um, Johannes, who do we have? Rams, Andre, Joe, Rosalinda. Perfect. Excellent. Thank you guys for practicing and saying these sentences. So, back to the activity. I'm going to say this statement. Let's go after M. And you are either going you're going either going to hear number one sex or number two six. All I want you to do. All right? You don't have to say it with me. If you hear the short e sex, you're going to hold up number one. That is number one. One is sex. If you hear me say the short i sound, six, I want you to hold up two. So in this case, it's more of an identifying. You're trying to identify the minimal pair that you hear. sex or six. So, if you hear sex, the short e, hold up uh wh here, one. If you hear six, the short i, hold up two fingers. All right? And I trust you. I trust you that you guys are going to do this activity. All right? Are you ready? Okay. So, I'm just going to say five. You don't. And and just hold up the number of fingers. All right? And then I will show you I will put my finger up here and show you which one. The first one is um let's go after six. Wh that was two. Okay. The next one is let's go after six. Two. All right. I'll try to hold these up in the screen. Then we have uh Okay. Uh let's go after six. One. Let's go after six. That was two. Let's go after six. That was also two. Tried to fool you with the intonation. Um, you know, how how about uh how about we go go after sex? That was one. All right. Um, and one more. Let's just do um ah let's go after sex. All right. Hopefully you held up one finger. All right. So, that is just a quick exercise of trying to identify all those. If you got those right, if you could understand and identify those minimal pairs, then I will give you a digital virtual high five right there. And if you got them correct, just write that in the chat. Write high five like you're giving me a high five right back. Okay. So again, this is a great practice, a great way to uh practice minimal pairs. Many of you out there are teachers and I would encourage you, you can use these same exercises in the classroom. This is the exact kind of stuff that I would do in the classroom and and have people identify these sounds and see if they can identify the sounds. So, also want to give you a quick little little heads up. If you guys if you like what we do here at Interactive English and would like to support us putting out these interactive lessons, check us out on Patreon. interested in checking out our Patreon page, the link will be right down there. So again, let me give some shout outs to those of you who who are with me um and actually practicing. Yes, Olivia Batul, excellent job. Dian, uh Jacqueline, Johannes, high five. Uh Braareshi, high five. Suli, high five. Perfect. Excellent. All right, Lima, high five. Excellent. So again, let's let's look at the next set. And again we're going to I'm going to show you the minimal pair. We will do some sentences and then I have an activity so that we can practice these practice these minimal pairs. So the next set that we are going to look at is this one right here. All right. We are going to do the the S versus the sh. All right. So again, to make the S sound, it's like the the front tongue is close to the teeth ridge. All right? It's not going to touch. Think of it like this. If this is the mouth, it's like a snake. All right? They make that S sound. It's like you're kind of striking the front part of the teeth ridge. You're not touching it. But when you kind of strike it and leave it there, it's going to restrict the airflow. So it has that s and you could probably if you really thinking about this the way the air is flowing through your mouth you should be able to notice that yeah the tongue is kind of blocking the air when it's trying to go through s. So we have words like sock. All right or the the orange one sign and the purple said. Now when we're doing the sh again these are these can be common. These are confusing. They can be very confusing. And I have a fun little tongue twister for you coming up. And you when you do the sh your mouth is a little more rounded. Okay? Your mouth is more rounded and it the tongue is almost uh it's it's a little more arched and the air is going to flow right over the middle. All right? It's going to flow over the middle. Sh. Again, this is very common. You hear people make this sound all the time. When you want somebody to be quiet, you just say shock. All right, let's look at the orange one. Shine. Shed. Okay, so now let's say the blue ones, those minimal pairs, and see if we can say them. So you they're they're different. These are different words. The first ones, the blue ones, sock, shock. the orange sign shine and the purple said shed. Okay, you're saying those words. Let's look at the sentences. Let's practice some sentences. Are you ready? So again, uh what I would recommend you can repeat these after me or you can just say them with me. I will say the sentence twice. I will say it once very a little slower and then the next time a little more natural, quicker uh as a native English speaker would say these. So the first one, let's say this one together. I got a shock when I touched the sock. All right, let's say it one more time a little quicker this time. I got a shock when I touched the sock. All right, shock sock. The next sentence right here, the the next sentence right here, the orange one. Uh, slowly. The sign shined in the light. Say it again a little quicker. The sign shined in the light. Sign shine. And this last sentence, the purple. Let's say this one. Go to the shed, he said. Now say that a little quicker. Go to the shed, he said. So again, these are some common minimal pairs with that sh versus s sound. All right, so I hope you guys are practicing at home. Again, keep keep practicing. Practice makes perfect. So let's practice. Here's a fun practice right now. This is a tongue twister, an S and tongue twister, which I I think it's a very common tongue twister. You may have have heard of this before. You may have practiced it before, but if you haven't, we are going to practice it right now. So, the way that I would say that we can do this, let's just read it together. And what I would encourage you to do, try to shadow me this time and let's just read it together. Okay? And the first time we do it, we're going to read it slowly. So, let me kind of start out so I can set the pace and then just say it with me and we'll read it right through. All right? Ready? Let's begin right up top and begin now. She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. I'm having trouble. So if she sell So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells. All right. It's a tongue twister because it's difficult to say. I was just having trouble saying it right now, speaking slowly. Okay, so let's let's do shadowing one more time. This time I will try to say it a little quicker and I will try to say it straight through without making mistakes, but maybe I will make mistakes. It's only natural. Are you ready? Let's let's do it together. All right, here we go from the top. All right. She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So, if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure she sells seashore shells. Okay. All right. Are you guys are you saying these with me? I hope I'm the only one right now who just doesn't feel like a fool uh by by saying this uh by having trouble saying this. Okay, let's say it one more time. Again, the the the challenge with tongue twisters, and I would recommend you can go back and do this on your own, and you can find different tongue twisters in English, is to try to to say them quickly. And by by trying to say them quickly, again, you're you're practicing the position of your mouth. because I told you how to make those two sounds and you're seeing how quickly that you can change positions in your mouth a and and say them so that it's understandable so that you can hear like okay yes I am saying this correctly or am I just mixing up a bunch of sounds. So let's practice. I'm going to say this quickly and you can you can try it with me. All right I'm going to try and read this uh a little quicker. Ready? All right let's from the top. All right. She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely sea shells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure the shells shells she sells just Okay. All right. I'm gonna try that. I'm going to try that one more time. All right. pronunciation practice. It's different for everyone, but again, it's it's practicing trying to the the positioning of these sounds, okay? Okay. And this is a minimal pair that that's good practice for that s and that sh sounds because you're just mixing this sh sounds. Ready? One more time. Uh, one more time. I'll make a fool of myself again. Ready? From the top fast as you can. Ready? She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are surely seashells. So if she sells shells on the seashore, I'm sure the cells she sells are seashore shells. Okay, that's a that's still pretty bad. I like your laughing emojis. All right. Yes. So again, there we we have another tongue twister um we have another tongue twister video lesson in which we go through different tongue twisters. If you haven't seen it, I will link it up above here so you guys can check that out. It's a good lesson. Uh let's look at the next one. is the s and the th. So again, we're talking about the s sound and we're this time we're talking about the th sound. the F and this is the voiceless th because there are different th sounds but again I I will get to that in just a second. So again the s you're it's like that that strike. All right, think of it like a snake s front uh the front tongue is close to that teeth ridge but it's not actually striking it and you're restricting that air flow. Let's say those words together starting with the blue sink some symbol. All right. Sink some symbol and the th sound. The tongue is is between your teeth. Okay. When you're using that th sound. And again, this is the voiceless sound. There is no vibration when you're saying these words. All right? Then there's a way that you can check this. If you put your finger vertically between there and you say it, you should feel the hot air, but you should also feel like a little bit of spit. It should feel like your your finger is becoming a little wet uh when when you put your finger there and just say that th sound think. All right, let's say the thumb thimble. All right, I'm really emphasizing the th sound, so it's not really that that's not exactly how it's going to sound. But if we say it to again together, these th1s, think, thumb, thimble. Now, let's say the minimal pairs. Let's say these together. Let's start with the blue minimal pairs and with the sink, think. All right, the orange. Some thumb and the purple ones symbol. Thimble. Okay, the next progression would be sentences. Let's say some sentences together and I want you to repeat after me or shadow and say these along with me. Ready? The first one, I'll say them twice. I think we're going to sink. All right. And if I want to say it a little quicker, I think we're going to sink. I also reduce going to into gonna. I think we're going to sink. All right. The orange ones. Ready? There's some gum on my thumb, which makes it some thumb. All right, tried to put this in there. These are sentences again. They're a little crazy, but I'm just trying to use these minimal pairs. Let's say it again. This time a little quicker. There's some gum on my thumb, which makes it some thumb. And this last one. And again, as you go through, these are like mini tongue twisters, these sentences. Our symbol is the thimble because thimbles make great symbols. We'll say that again a little quicker. Our symbol is the thimble because thimbles make great symbols. All right, this is all about that that th and that s sound. All right, so now we're going to practice. And this is another listening exercise to see if you can identify it. And again, if you practice these sentences, I want to know in the chat, just write speaking just so I know, okay, you are actually speaking English today. you are practicing your pronunciation skills and at least attempting to. Even if I can't give you direct feedback, you are at least practicing and trying to practice these sounds because that that is the best thing. Okay? So, write that and even if you're watching this later, write that in the chat so I know or in the comments speaking so I know you are practicing your your pronunciation skills today. Let's look. Here is the activity that that we're going to do. Okay. So, let me explain this first. Okay. And before I do, again, quick shout out. Uh, Jacqueline, Arty, uh, Isatau, perfect. Olivia, great job. Jamas, Rosal, Linda, thank you. Thank you guys for actually practicing with me today. So, here is the s and the th again. I have a sentence here at the top and I am going to say a word. I am going to either say sink or no no I sorry sorry I'm either going to say sank or thank. All right. So I put that little image of a boat over there like sank. The boat sank or again somebody uh like it's kind of a praying emoji but like just saying thank you. Yes. Thank. So those are the words sank and thank. All right, I am going to say this statement three times. Notice there are three different parts. There is the red, the blue, and the green. So I'm going to say it three times the sentence. So the first time I say it, it's like the red. If I say thank you, like the s sound, then you're going to move to that s right there. If I say thank you, the th sound, then you're going to move over to the th. The next time I say it, it's the blue. So, I'll say the sentence again. If I say the s, thank you. Move to the s. If I say the th, thank you. Move to the th. And then finally, I'll say it the third time right here. And again, if I say the s, move there. If I say the th move there. And you end up in a city. And that's what I want to practice. So, I will say it three times. One, two, three. And that final time, you will end up in a city down here. And I want you to write in the chat, where did you end up? Because the goal would be that I say these and that you guys can clearly identify the minimal pair and we all end up in the same city. Okay? All right. So, let's let's say this. Uh I I'll start slowly and then I'll get quicker. We'll do this a few times. And again, this is another great activity that I love to do in the classroom. Um, which is uh perfect for minimal pairs. And then you could have students get up and they can practice their pronunciation. It's wonderful. So, the first one, I'm going to say it three times. Here's the first one. This is the red. All right. Um, so let me give you an example. Here's an example. Okay. If I say uh three times, this is just an example. Did he just say thank you? All right. The next one. Did he just say thank you? And then the next one, did he just say thank you? All right, so in that example, you should end up in London because I said, did he just say thank you? The th. All right, then I said, did he just say thank you the s? And then again, did he just say thank you the s? And you should have ended up in London right there. Okay, that was your example. Now, here, let's let's do it for real and then I'll ask you guys three times. Ready? So, I'd say uh did he just say thank you? All right, that's the next one. And the second one, did he just say thank you? Then the third time, did he just say thank you? Okay. All right. Where did you end up? All right. Which city did you end up in just now? Write that in the chat. Uh or you can also write it in the comments and really make it an interactive activity. So I'll say that one more time. The three times. All right, ready? Uh did he just say thank you? Did he just say thank you? Did he just say thank you? All right, those were the three times. So where did you guys end up? Write that in the chat. Yes. Excellent. Uh it's like okay. Yes, Rosalinda. Uh Arty. Uh, Andre, you should have ended up in London again. I was going for London. I was going to try and trick you because that was the example. So, yes, most of you ended up in London. Perfect. All right, that's where I wanted you. Let's Let's do it again. All right. If you didn't get to London, that's okay. It's all about practicing. So, okay, I'm saying here's the first one. All right. Did he just say thank you? Okay, the next one. Did he just say thank you? And the final one. Did he just say thank you? Where did you guys end up? Which city are you in right now? I just said it three times and I will say it again. All right. Ready? So I'll say it three times again. Did he just say thank you? Did he just say thank you? Did he just say thank you? All right. Which city did you guys end up just then? All right. Write that in the chat. Let me know where you ended up. Excellent. I'm seeing some great answers. Yes. Um Rams, Lai, Arty, Alexander, um Sarvara, Jacqueline, Andre, Saba, an Anis, uh Isto. Sorry, Tina. So many excellent. Perfect. You guys are Paris. Yes, Paris is where we wanted to end up. Uh that is it. I just said SSS. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, let's do it again. All right, are you guys ready? You guys are You guys are rocking this. All right, write your answer in the chat. Um, three times. The first one, um, did he just say thank you? Next one. Did he just say thank you? And then did he just say thank you? Okay, those are three ones. Which city did you guys end up in? Write it in the chat. I'll say it again. Okay. Uh, the first one. Ready? Did he just say thank you? The next one. Did he just say thank you? And then the third one. Did he just say thank you? Which city did you end up? Notice I'm trying to say these a little quicker. I'm trying to say these a little quicker to see if you can identify them. And and that's the challenge with minimal pairs. The faster you say it, the more difficult it is to identify the difference in these sounds. So, excellent. Yes. Alexander, Arty, uh, Jacqueline, Lima, um, Sarvada, Brian, Kyleson. Yes, Bangkok. That's where we where most of you ended up. You should have ended up in Bangkok. That's what we were looking for. Okay. Um, let's let's just do one more. Okay. This is fun. One more. Uh, all right. Here we go. Um, okay. Did he just say thank you? Did he just say thank you? And did he just say thank you? Those three. All right. Which which city did you just end up in? I'll say that one more time. Ready? Did he just say thank you? Did he just say thank you? Did he just say thank you? Okay. Where did you guys end up this time? Write that in the chat. Okay. What do you guys think? All right. I said it. I was trying to say it a little quicker. Maybe it's a little more challenging. Um, all right. See, maybe some different Well, no, you guys, you guys got it. Excellent. Li. Um, Alexandra, Sarat, Arty, Sava, uh, Anis, Jacqueline. Gosh, so many people. I can't I can't even keep up. Camila, perfect. Ashraf, Anna, Vegas. Yes, Viva Las Vegas. That is what we were going for. Uh, I was going for Vegas. So again, this is just all about practicing minimal pairs. This is a great way to practice your pronunciation. We will do more activities like this in the future because again, I I want to do stuff that we're not just learning new information about English, uh about pronunciation, but that we can actually practice this and you can speak and say these sentences and practice these minimal pairs with me and you can also practice identifying them with your listening because that is also very very very important. So, thank you guys so much for joining me today. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button that I know like, okay, you guys like the pronunciation lessons. We should do more practice with minimal pairs because I told you there are many, many, many different minimal pairs out there and we will continue practicing. If you have questions, write to us in the comments because we just love hearing from you guys. And you can check us out social media. We are active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. And you can also check out our Patreon page if you guys are interested in that. Here is a link. I'll throw this down here. what? Why is this not working? Boom. All right. Thank you guys for joining me. Thank you, Tina, uh Yasmin, Isatal, Olivia, Lai, um Walter, Arti. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, we have such an amazing community of learners here and you guys really just don't know how much this means. Uh, we we Yana and I just love putting these lessons together and and being able to connect with people from all over the world. Camila, um, Lin Mila, uh, Olivia Abdullahid, um, Omar, Tommy, thank you. Sorry again if I mispronounced names, but if I missed you and didn't and didn't give you a shout out. I try to get through as many names as possible, but we will be back again next week with another live lesson, and I hope you can join us then. Thank you guys so much for watching, and I will see you next time. --- ## 442. Make Sure You Learn These Useful Clothing Phrasal Verbs | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pWsytfFH-GI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWsytfFH-GI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:42:38 | --- today I am gonna talk to you about something that is very useful it can be very challenging but it's stuff that we should know and that is phrasal verbs that's coming up so today's lesson I want to focus on phrasal verbs and as I said this is something that's very important because we use phrasal verbs all the time it can be very useful to use these when you're having a conversation or even writing a message to your friend but they can be very challenging as well because we have that verb as well as that preposition at the end which can really really confuse some people so I'm not gonna just throw out some random phrasal verbs and go over those with you I want to try and make it a little easier and discuss phrasal verbs by category I think that way if you can relate these phrasal verbs to a specific category it'll make it a little easier to understand and as well as remember so today we are going to talk about this useful clothing phrasal verbs and phrasal verbs that that you can use that the relate to clothing and getting ready and this is going to help you because we we use clothes all the time and it's it's important to know how to use these in the context of of you know whether we're wearing clothes and and how we're using clothes so it can be very very useful now before we begin I want to you know just say what's up in the chat let me know your name where you're from I love hearing from you guys and even if you are watching this much much much later I want to hear from you write your name tell me where you're from in the comments we just want to hear from you guys so what's up Chris Kristiana you see a Betsey junior Alex kid of Assam Mohammed welcome thank you guys for joining me today sorry if I missed some names I will try to acknowledge as many people as I can so what we're gonna do today we're gonna talk about some useful clothing phrasal verbs and then at the end we are going to practice and using these phrasal verbs and I have some questions for you so before we jump into the actual phrasal verbs one thing that I think many of you have asked when it comes to phrasal verbs is sometimes phrasal verbs they may you we can separate them and sometimes we can't separate them they may be separable or non separable so I want to take a moment and talk about when we can separate phrasal verbs and when we can't now the one thing we really need to know is whether the verb is transitive or intransitive now you may be asking Wes what the heck is that what is transitive and intransitive verb well basically it really depends on whether the sentence has a direct object or there is no direct object so you can't think of like well one verb it's always transitive or it's always intransitive don't don't think about that way because some verbs depending on the sentence they may be transitive and they have an object or they may be intransitive and they don't so let's quickly look at this and when we're talking about transitive raised over transitive a phrasal verbs means that there is a direct object we can separate which means that we may be able to separate them this is not always the case but when there is one or more objects we may be able to separate them check out this example right here please take out the trash please take out the trash the trash is our object we can put that in between the verb and the preposition please take the trash out same meaning both are correct now this one right here if we're talking about to get on something like transportation we cannot it's a it's a transitive verb there is an object but we can't separate this one we got on the plane we cannot say we got the plane on no no no no no okay so this one right here it is inseparable we cannot separate the verb in the preposition a little later on I'm gonna give you a useful tip about how you can remember these because so that the next time you're having a conversation you're just going to be able to use it correctly whether or not you are separating the verb in the preposition or whether you're not so for transitive verbs they may be separable for intransitive verbs there is no object there is no direct object that's what makes it intransitive and when there is no direct objects they are inseparable okay so for example Wes wakes up at 9:00 a.m. at 9:00 a.m. that is a prepositional phrase that means that wakes up we cannot separate it Wes wakes at 9:00 a.m. up no no no no okay so remember if it's intransitive there is no object so we cannot put anything between the verb and the preposition so that is a little little tip for you guys when it comes to learning and understanding these phrasal verbs because I know it can be difficult I know it can be very challenging so let's talk a little bit about our phrasal verbs for today all right so the first phrasal verb that I have for you is this one right here have on when we're talking about clothes we can be taught we're talking about things that we have on you can have something on it is separable because we have that object it means to wear an item of clothes the clothing on one person you're wearing something okay for example she has on a blue and gold dress she has on a blue and gold trust that image that illustration right there it can be separable and we can take that object and put it between the verb and the preposition if we want she has a blue and gold dress on all right I have a shirt on we can separate it but when we're saying have on we're talking about just just something that we're wearing all right so in the chat you can tell it what would if I asked you you know what what do you have on right now what what do you have on what clothes do you have on I imagine most of you should be wearing clothes right no but I know who knows all right so the next phrasal verb I have is this one take in take something in again it is we can we can separate it alright it's a transitive verb so we it is separable and that just means to make clothes narrower all right we're going to make them smaller we're going to make them narrower and when you talk about taking something in I want to give you the context because often you're talking about four four men maybe a suit or some kind of formal coat and for women it might be a dress and you you you don't want to go out and buy another one because it's very expensive so you might take it to a seamstress you might take it to a tailor and just have them take it in a little so that it fits better so for example we have our sentence there the dress is a little too big I'll have the seamstress take it in all right they're gonna make it smaller so to take something in is to make it smaller you might be wondering well what if we're going to try to make something bigger and in that case we are going to let something out again it is separable you can let something out and this just means to make the clothing wider or larger again we use it in that same context you're often talking about formal clothes because they're more expensive and you're not going to buy just a new suit or maybe a new dress that's very expensive so you might have them let it out to make it a little larger so that it fits better and we can use it in this example sentence by saying the dress is a little too small I'll have the seamstress let it out so if the dress is too big they can take it in if it's too small then you can let it out so the next phrasal verbs the next set of phrasal verbs I have for you is boom to slip on you can slip something on it is separable a lot of these are separable so this is good so you know that you can put the object in between the verb and the preposition and I think many of them they're separable because again we're talking about clothes so often that that clothing that is our object right there so when we slip something on we're talking about the ability to take on or off quickly we're taking something on we're - were you know you you actually it should be put you're putting something on or you're taking it off quickly so for example I could say just just slip your shoes on and head out the door just slip them on and go so you're slipping something on a lot of times when you're talking about this you you're it's it's talking about shoes you're referencing your shoes you know slip your shoes on head out the door or I'm just gonna slip my shoes on and you know walk out and get the mail you're putting it something on quickly oftentimes we're talking about shoes now slip on is to put on quickly we can also slip something off it's separable and that just means to remove an article of clothing easily and and delicately but mostly to do it easily you slip something off again it's common to talk about like your shoes or clothing if you want to get more relaxed so I think when you're talking about you know you're gonna slip something on or slip something off one context it's used in is to you're doing this to be more relaxed so for example you could slip on your pajamas you get more comfortable or you want to slip off your shoes because when you take your shoes off you're at home you're more comfortable so that is one context in which we use slip on slip off and our example sentence she slipped off her robe and jumped into the pool you know you can slip it off you can remove the article of clothing so let's take a little intermission and I want to give you a tip and talk to you about one way in which you can how to learn and use these phrasal verbs correctly and this is a challenge because so many learners ask us about you know how do we learn phrasal verbs what is the best way to do it and unfortunately when it comes to phrasal verbs there there are no real set rules like oh you you you need to do this or this is the rule to follow a lot of it comes down to memorization a lot of it comes down to exposure and practice and I think one of the best ways to practice is to read and see how these phrasal verbs are used in context the other best way to do it is to do what you are doing right now you are watching a lesson about phrasal verbs and even if you know some of these phrasal verbs it's always good to review and see how it's used because then you'll understand well maybe I can separate this phrasal verb maybe I can't because then the next time you're having a conversation you're not gonna stop and think about the grammar and be like oh is there an object can I separate it can I not you just want to be able to say it naturally you want to be able to say it quickly and in order to do that it's always good to practice to read to expose yourself to the language and that is the best way that that it'll just start to start to click and you'll start using these phrasal verbs correctly and naturally so the best thing to do again reading is a great way the other thing to do is to do what you're doing now then and watch lessons watch different lessons on phrasal verbs that is only going to help you so let's continue with our phrasal verb list ready the next phrasal verb I have for you is this one come off it is not separable you cannot put an object between the verb and the preposition and when you're talking about come off it's basically the ability to detach or remove so for example the ring wouldn't come off if I have my ring and I'm saying okay the ring it wouldn't come off often you would hear it in something is happening maybe you're watching TV and somebody says you know oh it won't come off it won't come off and you can see this by the context of what's happening what it is maybe they're talking about shoes or something but if somebody says you know it won't come off there they don't have the ability to remove this thing so to come off to have something come off or you can't remove it you can't take it off so a lot of times it's also used with rings - if you're talking about uh-oh the ring won't come off or it's difficult it's very difficult so that is come off the next phrasal verb zip-up again this is separable and we're talking about to fasten an article of clothing that is is using a zipper and when you think of a zipper I think most of the time we all think of jackets okay a jacket you zip up a jacket it's cold out so I need to zip up my jacket it's separable so you can say you know hey zip your jacket up or if you cold zip up your jacket zip your jacket up either one both mean the same but to zip something up next is with also another one using up hang-up it is separable I think many of you probably may be familiar this one because we can take clothes we hang clothes up we put something on a hook or a hanger we put it in our closet and we hang it up in the past tense we could say she hung up her clothes as soon as she arrived at the hotel you hang something up or in the past maybe you hung something up next we have this one to kick off and again if we're talking about kick off its we're talking about shoes because you are removing shoes quickly and a lot of times again I think you're you're kicking off your shoes because you want to get comfortable because you want to relax so you could say after the party she kicked off her heels and gave a sigh of relief it was a relief to take them off she kicked him off because she wanted to be more comfortable she wanted to relax so if you're talking about you know to kick off we're talking about shoes and you want to relax many times I might say if you're out and you're like gosh I just want to get home I want to kick off my shoes and and just relax and and take it easy and you want to kick off your shoes so those are nine useful phrasal verbs but we are not done yet because I want to practice using some of these phrasal verbs and test your knowledge and again this is this is the best way to learn is to actually practice and see if you can identify the verbs if you can identify the preposition and and practice using these phrasal verbs so that the next time you're having a conversation it comes to you naturally it comes to you quickly and especially if you're talking about clothing you'll really be able to do it and understand this because you have watched this lesson now we are going to do a practice right now and I have some questions for you but it's not just these phrasal verbs I am going to test your knowledge on all of the clothing phrasal verbs we have done and you may be wondering wait what what are you talking about because before we did a clothing phrasal verbs lesson with eight other clothing phrasal verbs and I will link that lesson in the description so if you have not seen that lesson I highly recommend you go check it out because that is a lot of different phrasal verbs that you between this lesson and last lesson the those are a lot of clothing phrasal verbs that you can practice and use and it is very very very useful so I have some questions for you guys and if you are in the chat I want you to write your answers in the chat if you are watching this later on I still interact with the lesson write your answers in the comment as in the comments as we're going through these so that way I know that you participated in the lesson that is the best way to practice so for the first two questions all I want you to do is complete the sentence with the correct preposition I'm not gonna give you the list of prepositions you just have to choose which one do you think would best complete the sentence are you ready so your first question is this one right here all right this is from this is a phrasal verb from the other lesson so this is a formal event so you really need to dress mmm for the occasion this is a formal event so you really need to dress mmm for the occasion what preposition are we going to use to complete that sentence write it in the chat and if you're watching this later write it in the comments participate in the lesson this is after all it is Interactive English so again the key word there is formal that that's the key word because if you're talking about a formal event we would dress up for a formal event to dress up is to put on formal clothing this is a formal event so you really need to dress up for the occasion the next question I have is this one you wanna likes to slip her pajamas as soon as she gets home and that little illustration it kind of looks a little like a little like you wanna you wanna likes to slip her pajamas as soon as she gets home what do you guys think what preposition are you gonna use to correctly complete that sentence all right you wanna likes to slip em em her pajamas as soon as she gets home all right so the phrasal verbs that we talked about in this lesson remember we talked about slip-on and we talked about slip off so when when you get home you you put on your pajamas so we're talking about you Lana likes to slip on her pajamas as soon as she hits home if you're talking about slipping off your pajamas then you you wouldn't be wearing any clothes so slip on that is the answer we were looking for all right the next two questions that I have for you I want you to complete the sentence using the correct verb okay I just I just tested you on the preposition now I want you to fill in the blank with the correct verb so for example here's our first one I love that image right there when you go shopping you should always on new clothes before buying them what verb are we going to use to complete that sentence when you go shopping you should always on new clothes before buying them all right there there are some keys to that key words to that right there which we'll talk about so excellent I see a lot of great answers right now in the chat so we're talking about shopping that's the key word shopping so because when you go shopping you should always on new clothes before buying them you want to try something on you do this when you're shopping to see if it fits to see if it's comfortable and then you would buy it I know maybe you could say put on it just it would be it'd be correct and people would understand it it just wouldn't be the correct context because when you're talking about shopping it's better to use Tryon to test it out to see if those clothes fit all right the next question right here last year the dress was tight so I had someone mmm it out now now that now that I lost some weight I need them to mmm it in which verb are we going to use to complete these sentences last year the dress was tight so I had someone mmm it out now that I lost some weight I need them to mmm it in what do you guys think you guys are rocking this write your answers in the chat or again if you're watching the later write it in the comments don't be shy we want to hear from all of you guys alright so what do you guys think which verbs which verbs are we going to use to complete these sentences last year the dress was tight remember that's the key word tight so I had someone mmm it out now that I lost some weight maybe it's a little loose I need them to mmm it in all right so the verbs that we were looking for I see some good answers all right last year the dress was tight so I had someone let it out so if some clothes are tight you want them to be wider and larger you would let them out now that I lost some weight and the clothes are too big I need them to take it in you need to make the clothes narrower and take it in and again we're often talking about formal clothing either for men usually a suit for women a dress you take clothes in or you let them out and make them larger alright so you guys you guys rocked that practice you did excellent a great job so again this is very useful when when talking about clothing you should know these phrasal verbs if you haven't checked out the other clothing phrasal verb lessons I highly recommend you do so and if you guys enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button and always we appreciate it if you would share this lesson with other friends family members anybody that you guys know who wants to practice and improve their English skills and help us spread the word and as always in the comments write to us in the comments we love hearing from you guys tell us a some a category of phrasal verbs maybe that you want to learn what what phrasal verbs would you like to practice and learn about because when we're talking about anything you know we use specific phrasal verbs with that topic with that category so this is all about clothing I hope you guys found this lesson useful and can go on to use these phrasal verbs the next time that you are talking about clothing so thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 443. Make Your English More Impressive with These 12+ Letter Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Jby_kPBbh0k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jby_kPBbh0k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:59:43 | --- sound impressive and I impressive just like the uh northern lights that you see there. Now the the reason why I say to sound impressive is is really for two reasons. The first is these are words that are a bit more advanced and I think some many of them you might be familiar with especially if you feel like you're more of a proficient speaker and that's good because I tried to choose words that you will actually come across if you're listening to a podcast or reading the news. going to start with words that are 12 letters or more and then we're going to work our way up. So that's why I say I'm going to teach you the meaning, talk about how it's used in context as well as the pronunciation because sometimes with these longer words, they they can be a little intimidating. And I think this is when people may sometimes make a slight speaking mistake and they may stress the wrong syllable. So we're going to talk about those two things. If you would like to get the lesson notes, check out the link down in the description. Join my email community. If you're already a part of it, then check your inbox. I have sent them to you already. So, if you are someone who likes building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. As many of you know, see a lot of familiar faces uh in the chat, which is great. So, let's start with some 12letter words. told you already, we're going to then work our way up and we're going to get uh longer. We're going to look at some longer words as we go through this. So, this is a quiz lesson. Of course, I want you to participate and write your answers in the chat or even in the comments if you're watching this later because yes, this is interactive English. It's all about participating and actively well, not only that, actively participating in the lesson. So to start out I'm giving you a sentence and the the word that is missing I'm giving you the first letter of the word. So some people are proposing a m approach to healthcare. I'm also giving you the meaning down here. So the meaning of this word is having many aspects sides or parts. This one I actually think is possibly a bit challenging. I don't know. We'll see. I feel like when I always say that, everybody seems to know the word that I'm talking about. So, write your answers in the chat. Let me know what you think. For for all of these, I I would say there is one word in particular that I want to teach you. Uh again, there sometimes you may could put in another word, but we're specifically talking about these longer words. So, this is a word that has 12 letters. All right. What do you think? Some people are proposing a approach to health care. So if we're talking about things that have many aspects, many sides, many parts, then in this case, the word that I'm looking for, well done uh uh dawit tal multiaceted. So some people are proposing a multiaceted approach to health care. And if something is multiaceted that's this is what it means having many aspect sides or parts. I'm giving you the phonetic spelling because sometimes you know people may not be familiar with the IPA. So this way you can actually see the pronunciation and the stress syllable is that third syllable. Multifaceted. Multifaceted. I think even as I say it you can hear that stress. If you want to practice your pronunciation say the word with me right now. multifaceted a multiaceted approach and I really want to highlight those two words a multifaceted approach because that is a common collocation with this word you might talk about uh you know trying to have a multifaceted approach or talk about a multifaceted issue or a multifaceted career or a multifaceted person man personality those are other words that you could use with multifaceted and I feel like I'm saying multifaceted it quite a lot. So, let's just move on to the next one. This is a word that I think you even if you don't know the answer or get the answer, I I think you know the word. They suffered m pain after the accident. So, this is really a word that's going to add emphasis and describe the really the amount of pain. So, we're referring to something that is well impossible or very difficult to imagine, believe or conceive because it is so extraordinary or unusual. And you can actually use this adjective to describe many nouns other than pain. But in general, just saying something is very difficult to believe, imagine or conceive. Now if you look in the meaning of this word there is a hint there. So of course if if you wanted to in this context unbearable pain yes that works but that is not the word that we're looking for because it doesn't have 12 letters. So remember we're talking about a word that has 12 letters. Unbearable works. it would fit in this context, but that's not the word that uh this meaning is referring to. So I said to you know keep in mind the I said there's a hint in there. So it's difficult to imagine that is the the hint because the word that we're talking about the adjective is unimaginable and you you might hear it used with unimaginable pain or in another negative connotation unimaginable suffering. uh or just some situation like the result, the outcome was unimaginable. We were not expecting it. And whenever you use this word, you are really adding emphasis. So again, I imagine now that I told you the word, I feel like you've heard this, you may even use it already. So in this sentence, they suffered unimaginable pain after the accident. To go back what many of you were saying, if you said unbearable, that does that does fit within the sentence. But unimaginable has 12 letters. At least I hope it does. Maybe I miscounted some of these. And if if I do, I apologize. Just keep in mind the stress is again on that third syllable. Unimaginable. And you really do hear that stress syllable. Unimaginable. Unimaginable. Just say it with me. Unimaginable. All right. Good. Because like I said, this is when you know small speaking mistakes are made. I feel like the longer the word, the more likely somebody will just make a slight mistake. People may still make mistakes with shorter words. That does happen. But in general, when you have these really long words in any language, I think a person may be more likely to mispronounce the word. So, one thing I wanted to say about this, if you're describing intense suffering, that example sentence, other situations in which you may come across this word or use it when talking about the scale or magnitude, the level of devastation after the earthquake was unimaginable. There's our word. Or to describe something advanced, this technology would have been unimaginable five years ago. So the just to give you a little more context with this word, how about this one? Maybe I was going to say, well, I I can I think many of these words you're familiar with. I don't know if you'll be able to get the answer just based on the limited information I'm giving you, but we'll see. The museum's new exhibit proi provides an first letter begins with I journey through the history of ancient civilizations. The museum's new exhibit provides an journey through the history of ancient civilizations. So the meaning of this word is providing insight, clarity or understanding. Uh I well I don't want to I was about to say something. I stopped myself because it because it's incorrect. I'll I'll tell you what I'm talking about in just a moment as to well yes why uh I was uh incorrect. So what word is 12 letters begins with the letter I and means providing insight, clarity or understanding. And I I think it works well in this sentence as far as learning something and in well even at a museum and you're talking about this journey and we're going to be descriptive when describing it. It makes it sound uh more appealing. I feel like this is a sentence that the maybe a museum would come up with in order to promote their new exhibit. And you might say it is excellent, an illuminating journey. So if something is illuminating, it's providing insight, clarity, or understanding. The museum's new exhibit provides an illuminating journey through the history of ancient civilizations. Stress is on that second syllable. Illuminating. Illuminating. Now, one thing I will point out, even though um when they give you the phonetic spelling, overwhelmingly that T at the end, you're going to see that T. However, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T with the American accent because it comes between two vowel sounds. Illuminating. And you're going to hear that soft D, illuminating something. This illuminating journey. I hope that this is an illuminating journey through in in discovering new English vocabulary and learning more words so that you can be more precise and descriptive when you're having a conversation. Now, when going back to how I was wrong, because one thing I want to point out is this is a resource that I I share with students from time to time and I think it can be very useful if you ever have some some words or phrases and you want to know, okay, which one is more commonly used? Which what word would better fit this context or which one uh would most native speakers use in this situation? A great resource is using engram viewer and you can just put in the words and it gives you a graph and put compares them and you can see which one is more commonly used. Now I will say this is taken from written English and of course spoken English is a little bit different but still I think this does give you a good reference as to which word or phrase may be more commonly used. So, I put these words in here and what I was going to say is it I if I had to guess before I would have thought that I I would not have guessed that illuminating was, you know, is the most commonly used word, but it is more often you're going to come across it more often than multifaceted or unimaginable. I I think I would have assumed unimaginable. I don't know why, but uh in this case, that's why I said I I was wrong because I was gonna I was about to say I don't feel it's as commonly used, but then I knew that well, of course, that was incorrect. So, let's um let's look at some longer words, some 13letter words. Let's continue with the quiz. Once again, I'm going to give you the first letter of the word. And there are, this is a, you know, a political example. There are some other political examples coming up. I think it's uh well, you'll see where I'm going with this. Politicians are often m and will do whatever it takes to get ahead. And the meaning of this word exploiting immediate opportunities, especially regardless of planning or principle. So somebody who, you know, just doesn't care. I do feel like this word has a bit of a negative connotation if you're describing someone who is trying to well like it says exploit opportunities or take advantage of an opportunity even if it may be harmful to someone else which is why I said politicians I feel like they are often what and they will do whatever it takes to get ahead even if it hurts maybe their constituents I don't really like politicians I'll just go I I'll put that out there. I'm not I'm not a big fan. Uh there's this it's a very frustrating uh yeah, I think many of you probably uh agree with me. So the word that I'm talking about or that we're looking for that is 13 letters is one that I I feel like uh is an adjective that's very useful. I think it's part of the same word family as opportunity, but we're changing it to an adjective to describe a person as opportunistic. So, if you say that someone is opportunistic, then they're basically taking advantage of a situation or something that's available to them even if it it's uh you know, not not good or detrimental for someone else. So, not always, but I do feel like this word more often than not, it it has a little bit of a negative connotation if you're describing your colleague as well. They're very opport opportunistic and they're going to try to get this promotion even if they're going to maybe say bad things about me or other colleagues in order to so that they get ahead and somebody is opportunistic. So the stress is on that second to last syllable. Uh one rule when it comes to some of these longer words because that tic is a common ending and when a word ends in that the stress is generally on that second to last syllable. It's on the syllable before it. Opportunistic. Opportunistic. Just say it with me. Opportunistic. All right. So, just keep in mind does have a little bit more of a negative connotation, but I feel like this is a word. This is an adjective that I think is easy for you to remember because I I'm sure that you're familiar with the word opportunity and then this is part of the same word family more or less. Some common collocations with this word because I don't think I mentioned already collocations are words that are frequently used together. This is a great way to build your vocabulary. You might talk about a an opportunistic politician or an opportunistic investment, an opportunistic deal. Uh if we're talking more about uh disease or medicine, an opportunistic pathogen. And then just to throw in an adverb because everybody loves a good adverb if you want to describe someone as highly opportunistic. And then we're adding a bit of emphasis. Highly opportunistic. So, let's continue with some more uh 13letter words. And this is kind of a this is going to be a little bit of a well, I have quite a few words to share with you. It is m to me that anyone would knowingly take such a risk. So the meaning of this word impossible to imagine believe often referring to something so extreme or unlikely that it defies understanding. What word completes this sentence? So we've already talked about the word unimaginable. Of course you know it's not uh in this case unimaginable. That's 12 letters. And the first letter of this word begins with the letter I. This is another word that uh I'm sure you know. I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm confident that you have come across this word and it is one that maybe you've you use from time to time. It is still I still would say it's more advanced, but it's descriptive. If you want to capture this sentiment and you're like, "Wow, I'm just trying to, you know, believe or understand this because it just doesn't make sense. Defies understanding." It is to me that anyone would knowingly take such a risk. Sometimes people will use this word and then they follow it to me. that not that's not always the case, but that is a time when you may end up using it or come across it when trying to say that something is just so extreme, defies understanding. And you could say that it is inconceivable. It is inconceivable to me that anyone would take such a risk. Well done, Julia Lai. Perfect. So this means again it's impossible to imagine or believe and you could say that something is inconceivable. Now the stress is on that third syllable. Inconceivable. Once again I'm I'm saying it slowly and emphasizing it a little bit so that it's easy to hear and and if I say it even faster something is inconceivable. It's inconceivable to me that you may be watching this and not participating in the lesson and writing your answers in the chat. That is inconceivable. So, let's continue. There are many more opportunities to try to write your answers down and and try to come up with the right word. Even if you don't, you know, even if you don't think you have the right answer, just take a guess. You know, nobody's nobody's keeping track of any of this. To understand the data properly, we need to m the results in relation to previous studies. This is a word that I I think may be a little more challenging and the meaning is, you know, pretty extensive to provide the relevant background information and circumstances surrounding it to make it easier to interpret and understand. So we need to do what? It begins with the letter C. This is a longer word. I in in my view it's uh not as often used as inconceivable. I still have to go back and and check engram viewer. Hopefully I'm I'm not wrong. We'll find out in just a moment. But this word is another good one. It's a good one to be able to use from time to time. it is more advanced but you're talking about trying to understand the data properly. So we need to the results in relation to previous studies and in that case again we need to look at the relevant background information the circumstances and that's going to help us more easily understand what it is that we're looking at and what's going on. I do not see the correct answer in there. So I'm just going to go ahead and tell you contextualize. So if you're say if you say like well we need to contextualize the results you're basically saying that we need to understand basically things at like a deeper level and that's why it says like the background information the circumstances and really know everything uh and you want to contextualize the the results. What do you think? Uh, I told you I'm going to, you know, come back to engram viewer with these next three words if we put them in there. A um Oh, no. Wait a second. Did I Uh-oh. This is the one from before. My apologies. I'm going to have to go back and take a look at this. So, uh, we can just move on. But I'll I'll just go ahead and give you my opinion when talking about contextualize, inconceivable, and opportunistic. My own personal ranking would be you're going to probably use and come across inconceivable more often and describing something that is impossible to imagine. And then describing a person is opportunistic. And then finally, contextualize. Of course, I may be wrong. I was wrong about illuminating. Uh but we can we can take a look at that a bit later. Let's continue with some even longer words. We're going to just get these words are just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. These words have 14 letters. Transparency and are key to a functioning democratic government. I told you that I had some uh political examples not like overtly um political but more just general. And what this refers to because I'm still giving you the first letter A. Transparency and what that begins with the letter A and has the meaning the acceptance of responsibility for one's actions, decisions, and their consequences. I think this is a word that I know I've said this a lot. I think this is a word that you know because you your English is excellent and I am confident that even if you don't use this word actively I I imagine that you've heard it because I do think it is commonly used transparency are key to a functioning democratic government. A lot some of these words there are other words in the word family that you are probably not as advanced and you use but in this case excellent well done uh just a random person Mariana um Yasine Manuel giving out some shout outs here and there accountability accountability is the word we're looking for transparency and accountability are key to a functioning democratic government. Accountability. Well done. Uh Cindy, good to see you. So, just to quickly look at the pronunciation. Um, accountability. Accountability. This one I did come across like not all words may just have one syllable that's definitely stressed. So, I I throw in um both of them. Accountability. Accountability. You can kind of hear both of those two s syllables have a little bit more oomph than the other ones. Accountability. So this is a great word to know and use if you want to say like a sentence, oh like you know we need accountability or somebody there should be accountability for someone's actions and you need to accept that responsibility. Great word to know and it's a long word. Here are some common uh collocations. You might hear people talk about corporate accountability, which I think is is common. Personal accountability, great phrase. Or if you want to say that there is a lack of accountability and I think this is also commonly used, that's a great collocation when saying people are not taking responsibility. Well, there's a lack of accountability. If I want to give you a couple more collocations with some verbs, you may demand accountability or even avoid accountability. I think we can all relate to these. I'm sure at one point or another all of us may have avoided uh accountability in some way, shape or form. It does happen even to the best of us. What about this one? I agree with your concerns about the need for better environmental protection. Uh this I was about I don't want to give you too many hints. I want to actually give you a moment to see if you can think of the word. It begins with the letter W and the meaning is completely sincerely and enthusiastically with total commitment and without any reservation or doubt. It is a long definition that I found for this word there. To give you another collocation, I think you may hear people use it with agree. I agree. And you could even use that with as to a response to someone. They say something and your response is yes, I agree. What? And you're basically adding emphasis to the fact not that you just you just agree, you completely agree. You sincerely agree, you enthusiastically uh agree or you what? All right, you got it. Cindy, Ava, uh Ibrahim wholeheartedly. wholeheartedly agree um with someone or you agree wholeheartedly. It means completely, sincerely, enthusiastically, with total commitment. It is a nice adverb. It's a good one to know. It's not one that you you're going to come across every day, of course, which is why I said some of these words are advanced, but at the same time, it's not a word that is completely obscure. So if you want to use it like I just said with, you know, talking about agreeing with someone and emphasize it, you can agree wholeheartedly. Stress is on that first syllable. Wholeheartedly. Wholeheartedly. Uh once again, you're going to hear that T. You're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. Wholeheartedly. The next one. The book had a profound effect on his m young mind influencing his views on politics for years to come. I told you we're going to have some there's some political sentences. But this is I think a word that it definitely makes sense in this context when talking about this person's young mind. it's influenced and you could refer to this person as what when you want to say that this individual is easily influenced or impressed especially young ones who are susceptible to ideas or opinions of others. So that is a key when trying to think about the word that I'm giving you uh that second part especially young ones who are susceptible to ideas or opinions. So often you may use this to describe a younger person. Not I mean you could use it to describe a child, but I I also think it can be used when talking about a teenager or somebody who maybe a university student and they listen to basically anyone. Could be their professor or a friend or someone else. and they just start to to uh believe in what this other person says because they're impressed and they're uh you can say I'm just going to think you guys got it. Excellent. Somebody is impressionable. This is a word that I think is again commonly used, but I would still say it's a more advanced word. If you want to describe someone as impressionable, stress is on that second syllable. Four syllables total. Impression. Impressionable. impressionable. All right, I feel like that uh there there was a missing maybe syllable in the what is it the phonetic spelling right there. I apologize for that. So again, if you want to talk about a younger person, and not always, you could say some adults are still impressionable, but generally young people who look up to someone and they're impressed by this person and what they're saying, they start to believe it, you could say that this person is impressionable. So, if I were going to look up these three words and just to show you how often uh they are used, of course, accountability, you're going to come across that word much more frequently than wholeheartedly or impressionable. So, if you're taking away anything from just looking at this graph right here, you should know the word accountability. Know how to use it. I shared with you some of those colum common collocations. It's a great word to know. Let's uh let's look at some longer words. These are 15letter words. They're not, you know, nothing too scary. And the first question, she constantly found herself in m situations at work and decided it was time to look for a less stressful job. This is a word, even though it's a longer word, I think it's commonly used. And this one, I imagine, is one that you know. and possibly use in your daily interactions when talking about a situation or another individual. The meaning is tending to deal with situations in an aggressive way. So if somebody is hostile or argumentative, you could also say that this person is what those last two words are basically they're synonyms for this word that's missing. I'm not giving you the letter this time. I'm just giving you the meaning and the sentence. And I just want you to try to put it in um into context. So, if somebody is acting in an aggressive way, you wouldn't really you wouldn't really say that overwhelming. Overwhelming is just how you feel like kind of like too much is going on. Sometimes I feel like yeah, this month I uh this month has been overwhelming for me. That is not the word that we're looking for because this specifically, remember, if something is overwhelming, you're not really referring to aggression. So, the word that we're looking for has to do with somebody being argumentative. That think about a synonym for argumentative. What could you say that someone is if this is a a work situation, that's not a good situation? Because this does have a negative connotation. So, let me just go ahead and give you the answer. The word that we're looking for is confrontational. So, confrontational. She found herself uh constantly in confrontational situations at work, not a good situation, and decided it was time to look for a less stressful job. So, confrontational, it has 15 words. Some of some of the words that you guys putting in, I mean, they may work in the sentence, but just to to keep in mind that these are longer words. Uh, that's why I said I'm I'm looking for one word in particular that has 15 letters. The stress is on that third syllable. Confrontational. Confrontational. So again, you can say it with me. This is a useful word to be able to use and describe someone as confrontational. Or you could talk about a situation that is confrontationable. Confrontational. So let's go. I want to go ahead and give you some more common collocations with this word. If we're talking about a confrontational approach, not a good thing, or a confrontational style, again, negative connotation, confrontational situation, not one that you want to be in. Or if you say somebody has a confrontational attitude, or even just a confrontational stance, their opinion about something. All of these phrases have more of a negative connotation. something we I don't think any of us really want to be in confrontational situations. Some people like it, I guess, but I I am not one of them. How about this? This one may be a little more difficult. There was a general feeling of among the voters who felt the election promises had been broken. Now, this is a it's a word that has 15 letters in it, but also it is a word that you may hear people use when talking about politics, when talking about voters. People are supposed to vote, but they just feel like, h, it doesn't matter. These people are lying. They're not going to do what they say, or these promises have been broken. And you feel what? There are several words in this word family. Uh this one um I don't want to again I don't want to keep uh giving it away as far as uh the word, but I told you I think this one may be a little more challenging. So the word that we're talking about that you may hear in the context of of politics, the way that voters feel, uh that disappointment, that's a good guess. Uh, it's not the word that we're looking for. I don't know. I'd have to count them. I'm not sure. Maybe it does have 15 letters. But the word that I'm talking about that I think is a little more it's more advanced than disappointment because that is a a common word. Disillusionment. Disillusionment is that feeling of disappointment, you know, from the discovery that well, okay, something is just not as good um you know, as what you think it is. And there's just that feeling of disappointment. Did I uh Yeah. Okay. I was going to make sure. I thought maybe I was wondering if the the definitions matched up. So, I I told you that I think you might hear people say that voters feel disillusioned. So that would be another word in the word family, but it is one if you follow politics and people are specifically talking about the voters. This is a word that you may come across. Uh in this case, we're talking about disillusionment. Stress is on that thirst. I'm I'm losing can't speak my the third syllable. Disillusionment. Disillusionment. Just say it with me. Disillusionment. All right. And I trust I trust that you are practicing your pronunciation saying these words. And this is a good way good way to practice and just repeat these words after me. As I mentioned, sometimes people you have these longer words and people may not feel as comfortable or confident saying or using them in just casual conversation. The office renovation included a m of the floor plan to create more collaborative workspaces. So the word that's missing is uh well the meaning is the process of making a new or different arrangement or pattern of a group of related things. So maybe the that's a good definition for this word. But one thing I want you to think about is if you're going to you know focus on any of these words is that arrangement. you have these related things and there's this, you know, there's going to be a a a different arrangement or a new arrangement and then you could use this word that is longer. It has 15 letters. I think that's what we're on. 15 letters and you could say that you're talking about a what? Rearrangement. That's a good guess. That's not the word that I'm looking for. This is a word that I think is a a little more advanced, not as commonly used is like, oh, we're going to rearrange things. Of course, that's uh very commonly used when you're talking about let's move things around, but this is uh okay, I feel like sometimes I have to stop myself from uh from giving away more hints. So the word that we're looking for, I think a lot of you are kind of on the right track with the re that re uh prefix. The word that we're looking for is reconfiguration. So reconfiguration refers to the process of making a new or different uh arrangement or pattern when we have a group of related things. So, if we're talking about in this context, maybe I don't know if it's the best example sentence, but this floor plan you could use reconfiguration. If you're talking about moving around furniture, um rearrange it would also fit. I saw like refurbished when talking about homes or buildings or whatever that works, but this meaning is a little different um than refurbishing it and making it look nice and new. So reconfiguration, that is the word I want you to keep in mind. Stress comes on the second to last syllable. Another quick little pronunciation hint. When a word ends in t i o n, the stress syllable is going to come on the syllable before it. So reconfiguration. And you can kind of hear that stress. Reconfiguration. Repeat after me. Reconfiguration. Good. Good. Good. Let's look at the frequency. This was a close call. Again, this, you know, this is taken from written English, but if you're wondering, well, which of these words, reconfiguration, confrontational, disillusionment, which one is more commonly used, they're pretty much the same. I'm pretty surprised because I would have guessed if I were a betting person, which I sometimes am, I would say I I would have thought that uh confrontational would have been the most commonly used. And I would say probably in spoken English, I do think you're going to hear and use confrontational possibly more often as those other ones. But once again, this is taken from written English, which would include more academic texts, things that are more formal that may use the word like reconfiguration a bit more often instead of, you know, just talking about general daily uh conversation. We're not done yet. All right, you're not you're not out of the woods just yet. Let's let's, you know, let's make these words even longer. Let's talk about some 16letter words. So the first one again I'm not I'm only going to give you the meaning. I'm not giving you the letter anymore because you guys uh trying to make it a little more difficult for you. A msh share of the work was done by the new interns. I don't know if the sentence is really going to help you unravel the mystery and the word that I'm looking for. But think about the meaning too large or too small in comparison with something else. And that is the meaning of this word. So we're talking about this work that is done by the interns and you're saying we don't know the context. It was either well too much or possibly too little uh in comparison with something else. What do you think? Any guesses? A m share of the work was done by the new interns. Sometimes I would say you you may follow this with share of something in referring to like an amount but you want to say that the amount is well you know maybe I don't want to say fair or unfair because it's not really talking about fair or unfair. It's really referring to the amount too large or too small. This is another word that I think once I show you you're going to oh yeah I know that word. Of course I use that word all the time. Maybe not, but we'll see. Disproportionate a disproportionate share of the work was done by the interns. So once again, we we don't know necessarily whether or not the interns did, you know, too much work or too little. In this context, I would probably assume that uh they did, you know, more than they needed to, more than their fair share. And I'm using this to compare to the other workers and saying, well, a disproportionate share of work was done by the new interns and saying that they did a lot. The stress is on that third syllable. Disproportionate. Disproportionate. I'm really emphasizing that third syllable. Say it with me. Disproportionate. A disproportionate share of something. I mentioned that uh is a a a good collocation, but I want to share some other ones with you as well. If we're talking about a disproportionate number or a disproportionate response, that is another phrase that you may come across. Disproportionate share. I've already mentioned it. A lot of times you're then going to follow it with of disproportionate share of something. Or if we want to look at use it with some more adverbs, like I said, everybody loves a good adverb. saying that something is grossly disproportionate or vastly disproportionate or wholly disproportionate. In general, those last three phrases are really interchangeable. If you want to use any of those adverbs and add emphasis to the fact that well the scale like too large or too small and saying it was well grossly disproportionate. Let's continue. It was an mistake. for such a talented athlete. We're talking about uh well the meaning something that is not typical of a particular person or thing. Now there's another hint that you have in there whether you notice it or not. It was an mistake for such a talented athlete. You see the article an. So you know that the word that's missing begins with a vowel sound. I don't know if that's really going to help you uh determine the word, but we'll we'll see. This is another word that I feel like uh is very useful and one that you could use or hear. So, we're talking about something that is not typical of a particular person. This this word really, you know, that meaning accurately describes this word not typical. So, If we're referring to an athlete and saying, "Well, they're so talented like this is they do they do not make these mistakes. Uh it's it is uh it is uh unusual. That's a good guess, but again, it's not uh 16 letters. It's it has a similar meaning. In this case, you're saying, well, it's an unusual mistake or more this word is more specific though." So let me tell you the word and then you can tell me if you know the word you could yeah hit that like button do some emojis let me know that it's like oh yes I know the word I just wasn't able to think of it uncharacteristic. So if something is uncharacteristic uh then it means that well it's just not something that this person does. It's not typical or peculiar of a person or thing. So, it was an uncharacteristic mistake for such a talented athlete. So, keep in mind the stress, remember there's that tic, the stress comes on the syllable before uncharacteristic. Uncharacteristic, an uncharacteristic mistake. And that is a collocation that you could use if you're somebody makes a mistake whether it's at work or in some other situation and you're like surprised like wow that that's an uncharacter uncharacteristic mistake for that person. Sometimes you find typos or mistakes in these lessons. I I to be honest I guess I would not say it's an uncharacteristic mistake. I feel like I I these typos, they find their way in there or I already caught that one mistake when I forgot to change out the the frequency of those words. So, even though I would like to believe they're uncharacteristic, I I don't know. It happens. So, how about this one? And if you know what this is talking about, you can or who this is referring to, then you can put the name in the chat. I'm kind of curious. This is more following American I don't want to say pop culture. It's more American politics like this you know social things that are going on. It seems that he committed suicide in his cell impossible to understand or make sense of. So, we've already talked about a word that would also fit if somebody said, "Well, it seems inconceivable that he committed suicide in his cell." That would work. That's not the word. We're looking for another word that this time is 16 uh letters long. Deep value. Yes, you got it. Uh I And then I'll tell you what this is referring to. I told you there were some political examples mostly, you know, some of these sentences. Uh, I said not overtly political, talking about disillusionment among voters or opportunistic politicians. This is something that's current that's going on. So once again, you know, unimaginable that would also fit. That's not the word that we're looking for. We talked about it already. Doesn't have 16 letters. In this case, we're talking about well done, uh, Julia. Incomprehensible. It seems incomprehensible that he committed suicide in his cell. Impossible to understand or make sense of. You could say something is incomprehensible. As I've already mentioned, in this context, um inconceivable would work, unimaginable, that would also work. That's fine. Uh but yes uh we're this is a reference to Epstein uh Jeffrey Epstein if you're following uh not US politics or things that are going on. This is a a big topic of conversation right now. And yeah I you know I don't like to think of myself as a conspiracy theorist but yes it does it seems incomprehensible that he committed suicide in his cell. something something is uh arai in this situation. So, we'll see. We'll see if we ever find out any more information. Quite possibly not. Um unfathomable, that's another good word that you could use. There's a lot of uh um there's a lot of words that you could definitely use in this context. So, if we're just going to compare the three that we just looked at, disproportionate, incomprehensible, uncharacteristic, uh, as you can see, disproportionate comes out on top. Uh, one that you may come across more often. Once again, I I want to give you my opinion because I always for the most part, I think about English in terms of spoken English. I had that speaking course and I I understand especially in writing you may come across disproportionate more formal academic text uh things like that. I I generally feel uh that uh you you might come across uh incomprehensible or uncharacteristic more often than is represented um in this graph. All right there just wanted to give you more information. I'm trying to contextualize the situation to say that I think in spoken English maybe it's not uh there's it's not as much of a discrepancy that the the difference in usage is not that disproportionate. Right? I'm going to keep using some of these words if I can. We're not done yet. Let's go 17 letters. 17 letter words. The counterfeit bills were virtually what from the real thing. The word means not able to be identified as different or distinct. Which word has that meaning? And this once again, even though it's a even though it's a longer word, I think that you possibly know it and use it. It's not like a a very uh obscure word. Again, I don't think any of these are too obscure. Uh I thought I saw something in the chat. Somebody's saying, "Are these really advanced?" I would say yes. I I know some of you very proficient and you know them, and I think that's great. It's always good to get review, but I'd say for the most part, these are definitely more advanced, like C1 level and and above if you're using these and able to use them correctly in the correct context when having a conversation. So, we're talking about two things that you they you know, they look the same. You're not able to tell the difference. And I think this is a good example when talking about counterfeit bills, fake money. And we're going to say that. Yes. Excellent. Saw some great answers. Indistinguishable. Indistinguishable. So if something is indistinguishable, you're not able to identify the difference or understand if you know things are distinct. The stress is on that third syllable. Indistinguishable. Indistinguishable. Say it with me. We'll say it slowly and then a little faster. Indistinguishable. Now, a little faster. Indistinguishable. Indistinguishable from this or that. From is a preposition that may often follow indistinguishable. Saying something is indistinguishable from something else. So, I just mentioned that common collocational uh indistinguishable from and then you're going to use either a noun or maybe a pronoun. That would also work. Uh and then uh I'm a big fan. Love adverbs today. Let's look at some adverb collocations. Love a good adverb. Saying that something is virtually indistinguishable. Again, this is a way to just add a little more flavor. I think in any context, you don't have to use the word virtually. You could just say it's indistinguishable, but this it adds a nice flavor in emphasizing it. Well, this is virtually indistinguishable. Or you want could say something is practically indistinguishable or even almost indistinguishable. And in that case, because we're using almost, it's like maybe, oh, there is a a slight difference here. I am able to see something. Um, but it's almost indistinguishable. This the statement is unclear and open to the meaning of this word. The act of understanding or explaining something incorrectly leading to a mistaken view of a message, gesture, or event. What do you think? The picture the picture doesn't really match up with the the sentence. I was just I saw something that was unclear and I thought okay let's let's let's use this that looks like uh the weather is not very uh not very clear there. So if we're talking in this case we're talking about a statement something that somebody says and you could say it's unclear and therefore it's open to what? Now a key phrase is something is open to this. Often you might say again I don't want to give it away because saying something is open to what? That's not the word. It is similar to the word but we're going to modify it. We're going to add a prefix ahead of it. And maybe the more I talk about this possibly the more confusing it sounds. So I I'll go ahead and talk about the phrase in saying something is open to interpretation. That is a common collocation. And if you say something is open to interpretation, then it means that well you you know somebody may think this or somebody may think that. Now the the answer is not interpretation because we're talking about specifically a mistaken view that you are incorrect. Specifically saying yeah you are incorrect. And therefore we're not talking about interpretation. I wanted to talk about a misinterpretation. So generally I think more common a collocations oh it's open to interpretation. You could believe this or that. But you could also say something is open to misinterpretation. in which case somebody is based on the information they're likely to come away with uh the wrong view or wrong opinion about something either something that was said or like it says a gesture an event a message and saying something is open to misinterpretation as I said before if a word ends with that ti n the stress is going to come on the syllable before so misinterpretation misinterpret retation. It is a little bit of a mouthful if you say it. Say it with me. Misinterpretation. Misinterpretation. Open to misinterpretation. So, just keep that in mind. Hopefully, it makes sense the difference between saying something is open to interpretation, in which case you could have different views. But if we say it's open to misinterpretation, that the view that somebody's going to have is it's wrong and it's incorrect. Then uh what do you think the report looks into the m between unemployment, crime, and imprisonment? We're talking about uh the close connection between two or more things where they mutually affect or influence each other. What word specifically has that meaning? a close connection between two or more things where they mutually affect or influence each other given the sentence. Hopefully that makes sense. We have two or more things, but they are going to influence one another. They're not just completely separate and isolated. If we're talking about these factors, unemployment, crime, and imprisonment, there's going to be overlap. they influence and you could say the report looks into the what between unemployment, crime and imprisonment. Part of this word, it is a longer word. It's 17 letters. Uh the base word you all know it's a very common word, but we're going to add a prefix to it, which is what makes it 17 uh letters. Now I think in general you probably could use uh you know just the base word if you wanted uh see if okay correlation that would work but again it's not not 17 letters uh but that that that would work in this context interconnectedness sure uh that that would work. You're on the right track with that prefix at least the one that I'm trying to to get to. So I'm talking about the inter relationship where the the report looks into the inter relationships between unemployment, crime and in prison. All right. Excellent. Well done, Lai. Perfect. So in this case, it refers to the connection between two or more things uh like a relationship that may influence or affect each other. And we could use that that prefix at that interreationship between different things. A synonym would be, you know, interconnectedness that that would work as well. Or correlation. Again, these are are rather interchangeable. Just keep in mind if you are going to pronounce this word, the stress is on that four syllable. Inter. ship. Now, the one distinction because I I'm trying to talk a little bit about pronunciation that I N T uh a lot of times with the American accent when the T follows an N sound, it's going to collide. It gets removed. You don't really hear it. So, if I were have a word like center, I would just say center. Now, that that's not always the case. You may hear somebody in the US pronounce that true T, which is what is often it's often the case in British English, but just something to keep in mind. In the US, you may not always hear that TT sound when it follows an N. So, let's compare these words right here. And as you can see, indistinguishable is more commonly used in I would say also spoken English as well. uh when comparing indistinguishable misinterpretation and inter relationship. So I gave you a lot of long words today and here's just a quick uh little review all the words together the number of letters that they have as well as the phonetic spelling along with the stress syllable. I I told you that in my view I think these words are a bit more advanced but still I I tried to choose words that I think are ones that uh you may come across from time to time and I hope that you wholly agree with me and are that you wholeheartedly agree with me. I said wholly agree but uh in this case I wanted to use wholeheartedly. Um, and uh, remember if you want to get these lesson notes, just click on the link down below in the description. My hope is that you learned something new. And if you did, you can let me know by hitting that like button. If you're in the chat, hit some emojis. uh because the goal is that over time just going to help you slowly and steadily build your vocabulary so that you can be a more proficient speaker describe things in a more precise way which I think really is where these words come into play. So, I hope that you all have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see you --- ## 444. Make vs Do | How to Build Your Vocabulary with Useful Collocations | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `E0VoB140NWY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0VoB140NWY) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:41:05 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about some common words that are used with some common verbs. And those verbs are MAKE and DO. So stick around. That's coming up. In today's lesson, I'm going to talk to you about collocations. Now, you might be wondering... That's a good question. Collocations are just words that are frequently used together. And these are words that you might read in a story, or you might listen and hear these words just in everyday conversation. But these are words that you will frequently find together. And there's many different types of collocations. You can have an adjective-noun collocation. You could also have a noun-noun collocation. Two nouns that are often found together. Or you can have a verb-noun collocation. Which is what we're going to discuss today. Because I'm going to talk to you about the verbs MAKE and DO, and the words that frequently follow these verbs. And the reason why you should care is because it is a fabulous way to build your vocabulary, and become more comfortable using these words in everyday conversation. Why just learn one word when you can learn two, three, or four. And that's going to help improve your overall English fluency. Collocations is just one way to do that. Another way to improve your skills, maybe your listening skills, would be to listen to an audio book. That is a great way to improve your listening skills. And you can check out Audible because they're offering a free trial if you sign up. I'll leave a link in the description. So let's look at some common collocations, and I want to start with the verb MAKE. And generally speaking, when we use MAKE, we're talking about things that we create. Things that we might build. Keep that in mind as we go through these different categories, and I talk about these collocations. First, let's start with food. Because who doesn't love food. Now when we're thinking of things that we make, things that we create. In the morning, I usually make some coffee. It's the first thing I do in the morning. And then I make breakfast. We can also make lunch, and we can make dinner. Something else that we make...we might make a cake for dessert. Mmm. Love cake. I'm starting to get hungry now so I need to start...let's move on and talk about something else. We can also use make if we're talking about stuff that has been built like a product. It could be made of something. Maybe it's made of gold. That would be really nice, and it's probably expensive. Or it could be made from something else. If something is made from grapes. Like this bottle of wine, that's... That's already been opened by someone. What did...when did you open this? Also when talking about products, we can find out like where something is made. On tags in our shirts, things will say made in... I wonder where this one is made. Can't...what? Okay, that's not going to work. I don't know where this is made. We also use make when talking about plans. Because you can, well...you can make a plan. You can make a decision. And, well maybe if you haven't made a decision somebody might tell you "Make up your mind." Make a decision. Make up your mind. Make also helps us talk about reactions. So for example, something could make you happy. Like this lesson. And you can give it a thumbs up if it makes you happy. I hope not. Maybe it makes you sleepy. I don't know. Wake up! We're not done yet. We use make to talk about money. Yeah, make money. Make a profit. And with your job we say that's how people make a living make. Make money. Some other common expressions with make...you can make a mistake. You can also make a phone call. You can make a sound. You can make a promise. And if you end up breaking that promise, then you can just make an excuse. There are actually many, many, many, many other collocations with MAKE. These are just some of them. A few of them that I think are really common. So I recommend that you keep studying, keep learning, and help build, build, build your vocabulary. So let's have a look at DO and some of the common collocations with this verb and the nouns that follow. We use DO, generally speaking, when we're talking about some type of activity. For example, maybe performing an action. You can do the dishes You can do some exercise. You can also do the laundry. That reminds me. I need to do some laundry. We can also use do to talk about some kind of work. Like you can do your homework. Or you can do your job. Or you can even do chores around the house. Finally, we can use do to talk about nonspecific activities like do something. Or do anything. Or maybe do everything. So those are some common collocations with do. Again, there are others out there, and I think they're great to learn because it'll just help you expand and build your vocabulary. So now we're going to do a quick practice, and I'm going to quiz you on what we just learned. I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to complete the sentence with either MAKE or DO. So I want you to say out loud which verb would complete the collocation. And I'm not going to show you the sentence, so this is going to be a bit of a listening exercise. Which one? Which verb would complete this sentence? If you're not positive just try and think think of what comes naturally. And if it helps, try to repeat the whole sentence and fill in either MAKE or DO. I'll give you a few moments, and then afterwards I'll go over the answer with you. Are you ready? I hope that you do a good job. Let's begin. That was pretty cheesy. So if we're talking about hair and nails it would be more of an activity, and we would use DO. Do hair. Do nails. Let's look at the next one. If we're talking about money, money, money, money, money. We make money. I hope to make money. I don't know if we'll make a lot of money some day. Maybe. We'll see. Here's the next one. Here we are talking about some kind of work. Remember you do homework. So in this example... Do the assignment. Do work. Here's another. In this sentence we're talking about a nonspecific activity. Nothing. So you would do nothing. At the beach, I don't need to do anything. I just want to do nothing. And relax. Do nothing. Here's another. Talking about food...food that I want to eat. Make. I want to make food. Make some food. That's wasn't the sentence. That's what you would. You would make soup. Make lunch. And I need to make some lunch because I am hungry. Probably won't make soup. Maybe I'll make a sandwich. Here's another one. This is a reaction to something. A reaction that causes a smile. It's true because when you're on vacation you do nothing. I hope you enjoyed that activity, and if you did and you did a good job, let me know. Write that in the comments. Let me know how you performed. We love hearing from you guys. So I hope that you'll remember some of these collocations. And you will continue studying them because it is a great way to build your English vocabulary. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 445. Master This DIFFICULT GRAMMAR to Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WjSnivf7VII` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSnivf7VII) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:04:08 | --- Let's talk about some difficult English grammar. So, if you are someone who likes learning grammar, improving your overall English fluency skills, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And I want to look at some well difficult grammar concepts, ones that may be confusing. And these are slight mistakes that I often hear in spoken English if I'm having a conversation with someone. And if you would like to get the lesson notes right here, click on the link down below in the description. Join our email community. If you're already a part of it, check your inbox. I've sent them to you. But this is a good way to review and familiarize yourself with these uh with this difficult grammar. So, of course, this is a quiz lesson. I want you to participate. Write your answers in the chat in the comments and then I'll give you a moment to think of your answer before we talk about it together. So, think about this situation right here. We were planning a family trip over the weekend. However, when I saw the weather report, it looked like it was going to rain. The end. We decided to wait until the following weekend. So, which word best completes that phrase? And I've highlighted the entire phrase. Really, I feel like you get you have one of two choices. So, what do you think best completes that sentence? M the end. We decided to wait until the next weekend. So I mentioned that this is a mistake that I hear quite often and it makes sense as to why people may confuse these but the correct answer given this situation would be in the end we decided to wait until the following weekend. So I I see you know some both in and at as far as responses goes. Think about the situation. So you have this plan, something that you want to do, but then in the end we get to the result right down here. In the end, we decided to wait until the following weekend. Like ultimately, well, eventually this is what we decided to do. So I I say that in the end and at the end are commonly confused. I'm giving you the meaning as well as an example. So, we use in the end when we want to refer to the outcome of events or disclose a result, which is the example. In the end, we decided to wait until the next weekend. Here's another example. In the end, well, we did what was best for the kids. At the end really is used when you're referring to the like a specific point or really at the end of something. You want to indicate the specific time like what happened at the end of the story. Now, one thing that may be confusing is because you may also hear people use the phrase at the end of the day. At the end of the day is a little more similar to saying in the end as far as well ultimately, eventually. The one slight difference is that when you say at the end of the day, you're really implying that everything is being considered. But keep in mind, I often hear this when people are telling a story and instead of saying in the end, like whatever the outcome or result is, they end up using at the end. And that is a slight slight speaking mistake. So keep in mind the difference between in the end and at the end. How about this one? I don't remember my teachers so strict when I was a kid. I I'm giving you a blank there, but think about which word would correctly complete this sentence there. Maybe there is more than one. There's there's a specific word that I'm going for. And of course, I'll give you a moment. Think about how would you complete this sentence. I don't remember my teachers m so strict when I was a kid. Somebody's thinking back about their own personal situation and you would use which word to complete this. So I think uh you guys are on it. Excellent. Julia Ava uh being I don't remember my teachers being so strict when I was a kid. We're talking about strict and you are often going to use that with the verb to be. He is strict. They are strict. In this case, we're going to use the gerand being. And sometimes I hear mistakes with being. And often people end up using the infinitive and they'll say to be. So here are a couple of examples as to when you would use being in the continuous tense, in which case you're talking about actions and behaviors like, oh, I'm being silly or you're not being serious. Or you may use it as a garand like we were doing in the example. I don't remember my teacher being like so you have the verb plus being. She likes being the center of attention or an adjective plus a preposition and them being. He's tired of being wrong all the time. I feel like sometimes I'm tired of being wrong all the time, which is yeah, sometimes it's that's kind of what happens. So, just keep that in mind as far as using being. How about this one? Did he miss the meeting, but he also forgot to submit his report? Well, there there are two parts, something to think about. Did he miss the meeting, but he also forgot to submit his report? There is a specific phrase that I want to uh highlight in this case, but I want you to think about the situation and I feel like, you know, once I tell you the answer, oh yes, I got it. And I feel like you guys already have identified it when we're talking about two things that happened. Not only did he miss the meeting, but he also forgot to submit his report. And I wanted to point out that not only but also construction. So not only but also is used to say that two things are true and or two things happened especially when it's surprising or shocking. So I want you to keep in mind that you would you could use this to add emphasis and in that case we're going to when we put it at the beginning of a clause we're going to invert the subject and the verb. I then know that wasn't part of the question, but I just want you to be aware of that and I've highlighted it down here. Not only did he miss, so instead of saying he missed, I'm saying not only did he miss, we're inverting the subject and the verb. Not only did he miss the meeting, but all but he also forgot to submit his report. that not only but also when you want to emphasize that something two things that happened and they were surprising. Excellent. Again, if you if you enjoy learning grammar, let me know. You can let me know by hitting that like button. That tells me that you're learning something new or this is a good review because some of this you may already be familiar with. I I wanted to include this. I thought this was just funny. this little meme. Not only will this hurt, but your dignity will not be spared either. Uh, funny little meme that I wanted to throw in there. So, let's get let's let's stop being silly. All right. And now it's uh it's time to get serious and continue with more serious grammar. So, what do you think about this? The m you work the m likely you will have a better result. I'm stating this as pretty much this is a a fact. I think we could all agree with this. But what do you think? What are what are the two words that would really help complete this sentence and then I'll tell you where I'm going with this as far as some difficult or tricky grammar is concerned. Write your answer in the chat in the comments. I just I want you all participating in these lessons. Uh this is that's what interactive English is all about. So I see some answers. Perfect. Um as far as the you know the more you work the more likely you will be able to have a better result. That that's fine. So the first part of this more would work. I had put the word harder in there which is also work. We're we're basically just talking um about a double comparative. So in in our example, the more the the you could say the more you work, the more likely you will to have a better result. That works. Or the harder you work, the more likely you will have a better result. But double comparatives are phrases that they're really showing this cause and effect relationship. And also, I feel like it's a it's a great way to emphasize that cause and effect relationship. So, you could use it with more or less. And yeah, you could use it um with er comparatives or more and even mix those up. So, here are some examples. The less money I spend, the less I have to worry about saving. That's true. Or the faster the car is, the more dangerous it is to drive. Again, I want to emphasize that fact. or down at the bottom, the more the students study for the test, the higher the scores will be. So, these are all examples as far as double comparatives go and and comparing you that cause and effect relationship between two things. I I like this I like this question. I don't know why. Maybe I just like these sentences. I really need is a cup of coffee. Which word completes this statement right here? And this is something that I would say in the morning, I really need is a cup of coffee. Perhaps I'm just really tired. I'm having trouble waking up. Or maybe I'm a little agitated and I tell this to someone. I really need is a cup of coffee. And I maybe I use these sentences from time to time and I feel like they're great in just casual conversation whenever you want to once again emphasize something because as many of you correctly pointed out, I'm talking about the word what. What I really need is a cup of coffee. So in case this is grammar that you may not be familiar with, the sentence is a what cleft sentence. And if you're thinking cleft sentence, what the hell is that? Well, cleft sentences are well, they're complex sentences that have a meaning that can well you can express with a simple sentence. Of course, I could just say I need a cup of coffee. But I'm going to use this what cleft sentence to draw attention to the most interesting or important part. And that's where I said you're really um emphasizing this. So, in this case, I want to emphasize my need. What I really need is a cup of coffee. Of course, I could just say, "Well, I I need a cup of coffee or I really need a cup of coffee." But I can use this to really draw your attention to the most important part or the most important thing that you want to express. Here are some other examples. What they did was give us a refund. Highlighting the fact, well, this is what they did. That is the most important thing. Or what she wants is some peace and quiet. And then finally, what we need what we need to do is get some batteries. And I feel like people often use what cleft sentences in that. Well, what we need to do is this. What we need to do is that. And you're using this form right here. Great for again this back and forth casual conversation. But in case you really hadn't given much thought to the grammar that they are what cleft sentences. What do you think about this? I love the the picture in the back in case you can't really see it, but the sentence, if I had eaten earlier, I m right now. If I had eaten earlier, I right now just looking at the sentence, I I think you can tell we're talking about a conditional sentence. We have an if conditional. But these sentences can be difficult. They can be confusing because this is not your normal conditional sentence. in which case you have the zero conditional, the first conditional, the second, the third. In this case, I'm talking about a mixed conditional. If I had eaten earlier, all right, that's a past condition. Well, what's the present result? I wouldn't be hungry right now. I wouldn't be hungry. I feel like a lot of you either if you didn't know the grammar I think just thinking of the situation you could come up with those missing words. If I had eaten if I had eaten earlier I wouldn't be hungry right now. So I said this is a mixed conditional and I think this is probably there are several different mixed conditionals that people could use. I think this this is one of the more common ones in which case you're talking about a past condition. We're going to use the past perfect and then follow it with a present result, in which case we're going to use would plus the verb. If you had asked for directions, we wouldn't be lost. Now, I could say we wouldn't be lost right now, but you don't have to put right now in there. Or if they had taken the train, they would be here by now. All right. And then finally, if I had taken my medicine, I would feel better. I would feel better right now in the present. We're talking about a present result. So, something to keep in mind with these mixed conditionals. It's a great way uh in this case to accurately express your your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. He didn't realize what doing. Now, there are probably different ways that you could complete this sentence, but there is something specific that I want to point out, and I feel like probably you can uh guess the words that should go in there. He didn't realize what doing. You see that guy? He's very He's very surprised, very shocked. And of course, he didn't realize what m doing. Now, of course, I'm pointing out difficult grammar that when you're having a conversation, this is when I often hear mistakes, but being able to see the sentence perhaps makes it a little easier. And as many of you pointed out, you would say, he didn't realize what he was doing. Now, we're talking about a noun clause, what he was doing. And when it comes to these noun clauses, the one thing you need to keep in mind, you need to remember is the word order. So, within a noun clause, the subjects going to come before the verb. And even when it begins with a question word such as what, where, when, why, who, how, it doesn't really matter. But what happens I feel like when our brain starts thinking of questions, we invert the subject and the verb. So often when I'm having a conversation and somebody's talking, I hear people keep that inversion. And they would say something like, "Oh, he didn't realize what was he doing?" And it's a small speaking mistake, but one that I would continuously point out and just remind people, hey, keep in mind we're talking about a noun clause. We're going to follow that subjectverb word order. So, here are some other examples. I don't know who he is. Please tell me how you got lost. We know what we must do. In each of those sentences, I'm using a question word, who, how, what, but I'm going to follow subject verb. Again, when you see this, I think it's easy to spot or or point out, but of course, when you're having a conversation, it does become a little more difficult. Something just to to be mindful of. What do you think? Everyone left. What? All right. What would you What would you What would you say? Of course, you you can see that it's a question. So, how would you complete that question? Everyone left. I I'll give you a moment and then uh I'll tell you the answer. Everyone left. So the key part as far as well trying to make this a little easier is really pointing out the fact that this is a question. So really, I could complete this sentence and say, "Well, everyone left." Maybe I'm talking about a party or again, this empty room, didn't they? Everyone left, didn't they? Um, so we're I'm really just talking about tag questions. This is a statement uh followed by a mini question. So, we use tag questions to really ask for confirmation. you have a positive statement that's going to be followed by a negative tag. And this is when it sometimes gets confused. You have money, don't you? But if I have a negative statement, I'm going to follow that with a positive tag. So if I said a negative statement, well, you don't have any money, do you? Something to keep in mind. But these questions are once again more for spoken English. You often hear them in casual conversation. Um, everything's okay, isn't it? I hope everything is okay. What do you think? Little little subjectverb agreement quiz. So, the verb that's missing is the verb to be. And I just want you to complete it with the correct form of the verb to be. Now, whether you give me the form in the present tense or the past tense, I, you know, that really doesn't matter. But I just want you to think about which, you know, how are you going to conjugate that verb? Neither m fit to lead. She looked for a parking spot, but none m available. Everyone a suspect. I feel like you would hear that in a movie or TV show. And finally, both of them m from New York. So this is a a little mini quiz. when it comes to subjectverb agreement because sometimes when you have these words like neither or everyone or both, it becomes a little tricky. So, let's look at our answers and talk about subjectverb agreement. Neither is fit to lead. If you're using neither, like, well, neither this person nor this person, it's always singular because you're referring to still the individual. Neither is fit to lead. She looked for a parking spot, but none were available. So, none may be singular or plural. In this case, because we're talking about parking spot, which in in the the context, there is more than one parking spots. None of the parking spots were available. So, I'm going to use the plural none. None were available. Because the first clause is in the past, then in this case, technically, uh you would want to use none were instead of uh none are. Everyone is a suspect. Everyone is always singular. Everyone is a suspect. And then finally, both of them are from New York. When you refer to both, we're talking about something that is always plural. Both are both of them are from New York. Or I could just say both are from New York. So this can be a little tricky. Sometimes I I hear mistakes in spoken English or see mistakes in writing when it comes to words like this like neither or everyone or both. So those are some rules. Again, if you want to just have this information, memorize it, join our community, get these lesson notes, and that way you can you have them so that you can review them whenever you want. How about this? I recommend m a specialist. I want you to complete this sentence using talk. I recommend m a specialist. This is another common mistake that I hear in spoken English and it is, you know, a little difficult, a little confusing, but one that I hear quite often. And I would say instead of making a case as far as something being right or wrong, I would really I want to present this to you as maybe what's more commonly used. So I recommend that you talk to a specialist. So recommend can be used in different ways. In this case, I'm talking about the subjunctive mood. Now what I sometimes hear people say is I recommend you to talk to a specialist. And there are arguments online as to whether or not, oh yeah, that form is is okay. I do think that especially in places like the United States, which is where I'm from, uh it it may sound that construction may sound a little awkward. I would recommend using a that clause. And we're talking about the subjunctive mood, which may be used to express a wish, a recommendation, or a demand. So you see the form right here. verb of suggestion plus that plus the subject plus the base verb. The doctor recommends that you drink plenty of water and in this case that is optional. My friend suggested I come by sometime this weekend. So I often hear this with verbs like recommend and suggest. I think those are the two most common ones. And often I would end up having to tell someone, okay, just use a that clause. I recommend that you do this. I suggest that you do that. So to give you one other point of uh reference for this, this is actually taken from Cambridge's online dictionary where they're talking about suggest and they're identifying the typical errors. And that is exactly what I'm talking about when they say, look, we don't use suggest plus the indirect object and then the two infinitive. You would say he suggested that I should apply for uh a job in a bank or insurance company. So keep that in mind when we're using those verbs. Suggest, recommend. We use them quite often. So this is just a little bit of review. See, these are some of the grammar concepts that we talked about. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, please let me know by hitting that like button. That tells me that I should keep doing some of these grammar lessons. And if you would like to get these lesson notes, click on that link down below in the description and join uh my email community. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you, Donnie, Teao, good to see you. Uh Leona, Suma, uh Eugene, Joseph, Miranda, just give us some quick little shout outs. Sorry if I couldn't get to more people today, but I hope that you have a wonderful day and I will see you --- ## 446. Military Idioms & Expressions that YOU Can Use | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4j2-SNvecfs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j2-SNvecfs) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:47:03 | --- Hey everyone. My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to teach you some useful expressions. Specifically I want to talk to you about military and combat expressions and these are expressions that I think at one time they were, they were mostly used in that, that setting just by people in the military, but nowadays it's changed and Eh, anybody might use these phrases and expressions and everyday conversation depending on what they're talking about. So I'm going to do four things. I'll teach you the expression, I'll tell you what it means. I'll talk a little bit about how the expression came about and then tell you how people might use it in conversation today. The first expression that I have for you is boots on the ground. Now this expression is probably still mostly used in in just a military context because it's talking about troops that are on the ground, engaged in some operation and you would say that that they are going to put boots on the ground. This is an expression that became a bit more popularized after the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and they talked about more troops being sent there, more boots on the ground. Another time you might hear this expression is from politicians when they're talking about whether or not the military might be engaged in some operation and they might have to send troops to a combat zone and put boots on the ground. It may also be used to talk about the civilian police force at times that they have to go out into the city for some reason or another and they're going to put boots on the ground. There will be police in the area to combat something. The next phrase is bite the bullet. Now this is an expression that you might find more commonly used in everyday English because what it means is to endure some sort of pain or discomfort. You're going to suffer through something and basically you know that you're going to do this and you would say, you know, I'm going to bite the bullet. I am going to endear this pain. I'll bite the bullet. So for example, maybe you lie to somebody, it could be your husband or wife and something happens and you need to confess. You need to tell them the truth even though you know that you're going to experience some pain and heartache from this, but in the end you're going to do it. You're going to bite the bullet. This was a phrase that was used by soldiers during the American civil war, but I think it can actually be traced back to a British army officer who wrote a book and referred to an expression with a similar meaning. Chew the bullet. But today if you know that you're going to endure some sort of pain or suffering could be physical, it could be mental. You can just say, I'm going to bite the bullet. Next is the phrase got your six. So if somebody says got your six, then that just means that hey, I have your back. I'm watching your back and protecting you and making sure nobody's going to hurt you. So the reason somebody would say got your six is because in the military, people might often refer to a clock as to where something is located. Something is in front of you at 12 o'clock maybe it's to this side, three o'clock here's nine o'clock and then behind you would be six six o'clock that's it. Back of you. So somebody would say, Hey, I got your back, I got your six I'm going to go up to six okay, showtime Mack, I got your six I got your six this is an expression that you're not going to go out and use unless you are in the military or law enforcement. But it is an expression that you may hear if you're watching a TV show or movie that has to do with the military and people will refer to the position and say, Hey, something's at 12 o'clock something's at three o'clock or if you're talking about protecting somebody and watching their back, they might say, got your six. You may also hear somebody say, watch your six. Which is similar to saying, watch your back. Especially if the enemies behind you, they could say, watch your six. The next expression is bought the farm and this is an expression where bought wood would be used in the past tense and the reason it'd be used in the past tense is because it's talking about a person who has died. It's an informal way and saying, you know somebody, somebody bought the farm, somebody died, somebody passed away. Now we don't know exactly how this expression came about. Some people think it has to do with with jet pilots during the 50s that when they died the family would receive some money, some compensation, and then they could buy the land. They would buy the farm. Then we have an expression to catch flack and if you catch flack from someone, it just means that you are being criticized, harshly criticized by this person and we often use it with the preposition from you catch flack from someone. So if you do something wrong at home, you might catch flack from your husband or wife or if you do something wrong at work, you might catch flack from your boss. This is an expression that can be used by anyone. If they are describing that situation that they are going to get criticized by somebody else and then you could say, yeah, you know I'm going to catch some flack, or if it already happened, you could tell somebody, yeah, I caught a lot of flack for doing this thing. So where does this expression come from? Well, during World War II, flack was actually an acronym for the German air missile defense system, which they called, and I'm probably going to mispronounce this, the flieger [inaudible] if you're German, let me, let me know how bad that pronunciation is, but it's an acronym for Pfleger up Vercon and when pilots would would try to fly over, they would catch fire from these systems. They would catch flack and then over years and years, the expression change to its current meaning today, which is to get harshly criticized by someone to catch flack. Then we have some acronyms and those acronyms are Fubar Snafu and tar Fu. Now fubar is an acronym that stands for EFT up beyond all recognition. The first time that I heard this expression, I was watching the movie saving private Ryan. Even if you think the mission is food busser, what's the WHO book? It's not a word that people might use in just their, their general life. I, I'm not a military person so I don't know if this term is still used today, but this is, if anything, it's more for your comprehension because you may hear this when you're watching a TV show or a movie such as the one that I just mentioned. Now snafu stands for situation normal, all f up that that something happened, a normal situation and then it just really went completely to hell. This is an expression that personally I have heard in other contexts that if there was some situation that got screwed up and you tell somebody, yeah, we hit a bit of a Snafu, there was a problem and then we got through this problem, you might hit a snafu. Oh, good work people. Little Snafu were taken care of. There was a snafu in when we stopped combat bed and breakfast and Napa, high knees, smile food. I've already given the money to the contractor. Sorry, but the security snafu that was on you and Tofu is an acronym. Things are really EFT up. So if you're, you're describing this situation and things are really EFT up, you could just say tar Fu. This is an expression that, to be honest, I haven't heard it in a, in a movie or a TV show. I'm not in the military, so I, I can't really say how common these expressions are used today, but it's good to know these acronyms for your comprehension and in case you hear them Fubar Snafu Tartu the next phrase is in the trenches and this just means that you are, you're in a tough fight. You are in the midst of things. You, you are in the trenches and this expression, of course it applies to war, but, but people may also use it in other contexts as well, that, that they're in a fight, they're down in the trenches. Perhaps maybe in a sports competition that you are, you're in the middle of this fight. You're down in the trenches or maybe in business. If you feel like you're in the middle of this fight, you're stuck. You've got to keep fighting through. You could say that you know you're in the trenches. This expression comes from soldiers trying to protect themselves when they were taking fire from the enemy, so during a war like world war one, they would dig trenches. They would dig these trenches in the ground and when the enemy would fire, they'd get in the trenches, try to protect themselves. It was a tough situation, but it was a way for them to survive, to keep fighting. They were in the trenches. Next we have the expression, no man's land and what this expression means, it's, it's just a a dangerous area that are maybe a topic that that can't be discussed. No Man's land and where this expression comes from. It's talking about the area between two opposing armies and that area. When people would dig those trenches and they were, they were stuck there. They were fighting that area in between those two armies that was no man's land. Nobody would go in that area. That is a very dangerous place to be. No Man's land. Then we have the expression nuclear option. Now this is an expression that's used today in us politics and what it means is that you are just going to destroy everything and instead of having a debate, so just a quick little civics lesson in the United States Senate, this is where they would debate legislation, but if one party has control and they don't want to debate, they may opt for a nuclear option, which means they're not going to allow a debate. They're just going to destroy everything and do what they want. This expression refers to nuclear warfare. A nuclear bomb went in the military when people might discuss a nuclear option, they're talking about dropping a nuclear bomb, which would destroy everything, but nowadays if you hear this term [inaudible], then you're probably watching something or reading something about us. Politics. Next is the expression on the double and if somebody says on the double, it just means to to do something quickly, pretty much, double twice as quickly as you would normally do it. And this is an expression that that people could use in their daily lives. If they're asking somebody to do something quickly, they might tell them on the double getting back up here on the double [inaudible]. Well blast it all gyms, tips the double man. Yes, I wrote right away. So yeah, up and get out there on the double. So in the military, if you wanted somebody to move twice the pace, twice to speed, they might say to do it double time. And if you're talking about a task and you want them to get this task done, that's when they would say on the double. When I think of this expression, I think of people that that used to be in the military and they take some of these terms and phrases with them. For example, my grandfather who was in the military, I would hear him use this from time to time and he'd say that that something needs to be done on the double. Then we have the expression on the front lines and if somebody is on the front lines, it means that this person is really at the forefront of a battle and argument or maybe even some movement that they are out there. They are leading the charge and you could say that they are on the front line. If talking about the military then I, I think it's self explanatory that if, if there is a battle, if there is a fight and you are right in the middle of it, if you are out front than you'd say you are on the front lines. So this is an expression that may be used outside of discussing the military for example. Maybe there's a movement, there's a cause you really believe in it and you're out there trying to lead the way, trying to create change. You could say that that you are on the front lines of this issue. The next expression, and I think this is a very well known one and that is just Roger that and if somebody says Roger that it just means yes. And when I think of this expression, I think about two people communicating over the radio or maybe they're using walkie talkies and that somebody is telling somebody to do something and instead of saying yes, you just say Roger, that you may hear this expression just in general, especially somebody's giving a command and telling you to do something. Is that Okay Roger, that? Yes, yes, I'll do that. So where does this expression come from? Well, in the old NATO phonetic alphabet, the letter r was pronounced as Rodger. So if a message was properly received, they would confirm that by saying Roger, over time it evolved to the meaning of Yes. Nowadays in the NATO phonetic alphabet, they used the word Romeo in place of the letter r. But Roger is still used to say that a message has been received. But this is a phrase that I think you may hear in a TV show or movie and it's good for your comprehension. So if somebody says Roger that, then it just means yes. Now if you guys want to be on the front lines of interactive English, then I suggest you join our team. Sign up for our email list. We will send you lesson updates, useful resources, and access to the secret fluency lesson link is in the description down below. Now, my last question for you is, did you understand these expressions? And if you did, let me know in the comments and just right Roger that. So if you write that in the comments, then I know that the lesson was easy to understand and follow. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you learn something new and I'll see you next time. --- ## 447. Minimal Pairs | Useful Pronunciation Practice | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `SLBxBwE_y6U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLBxBwE_y6U) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:39:19 | --- hello hello hello welcome to today's live lesson my name's wes this is interactive english which is where you want to be to practice and improve your english skills so see a lot of people in here already if you're joining us please please please please let me know what's your name where are you joining us from it's so good to see so many people uh people you've seen before i'll just say hello go see a ramesh anna hello hello welcome thank you guys for joining me today so today we have a special special lesson it is a pronunciation lesson and specifically we are going to talk about minimal pairs yes we're going to practice our pronunciation in today's lesson using minimal pairs so we're going to go over there are many different types of minimal pairs and i've just chosen a few of them that i think are more commonly confused among learners and we are going to practice them today so i hope that you are ready to speak i hope that you are going to practice with us practice out loud and actually try you know try test your own pronunciation and actually say these words with me so that is what i expect out of all of you who are watching this today even if you're watching this later practice actually saying the words all right it doesn't matter if you're at home if you're on a bus just yeah just start speaking it's always good to practice so the first question that you may have is this one what are minimal pairs so minimal pairs this is it's a pair of words that have only one different sound and that's why they can be confusing is because the words sound very similar except for this this one sound and usually you have these two different sounds that are fairly similar so for example look at my beautiful words my beautiful examples we have the word sheep that has that long e sound and then the word ship which has that short i sound sheep ship now the the the only difference is that vowel sound that's in the middle there but again when you're when i say the words individually i think many learners can tell the difference like okay yes i understand the problem is is that when we're communicating when we're speaking when we're having a conversation we don't really just say one word we're speaking about a topic and we're speaking in full sentences and when you use some of these words in in a full sentence that's where it can be a bit more confusing because if somebody says like oh somebody stole my sheep and then then if that word gets confused and somebody thinks you said ship they're like wow you have a ship well you must have a lot of money so again these these words can get commonly confused so it's always good to understand what the difference is but also to practice that difference and that's what we're going to do today so another question which you may have is this one right here how does this help us how do how to practicing how does practicing your pronunciation with minimal pairs how is that going to help you improve your pronunciation and your speaking skills well there's two things first it's really going to help you fine tune your skills because if you're able to say all the different sounds correctly then the other person that you're speaking to is going to perfectly understand exactly what you want to say there's going to be no confusion and you can accurately express your thoughts opinions and ideas number two is that it's going to help you understand that that there is a difference between certain sounds even sounds that that that they almost seem exactly the same and i i've i've gone through this as well when i was learning spanish uh since i've been learning romanian when i was learning korean there are minimal pairs there where people will say two different words and in my mind i'm thinking wait wait wait wait wait you're saying the same word that's the same exact thing and when i've done this exercise with students and we've discussed certain minimal pairs they've told me the same thing they've said hey wait you're saying the same word and that's why it's important for us if we're able to even listen and identify that okay there is a difference in the sound even if it's a slight difference that's going to help you acknowledge the difference and then try to practice that so that you can produce these sounds accurately and you can say what you want to say so let's look at today's lesson is all about this right here so the we're going to do three different parts we're going to talk about the rl which are two consonants that are are commonly confused in certain words and we've done a whole lesson about the rl which i will link up above if you want more information about it i highly recommend you check that out we're also going to talk about this vowel sound these two vowel sounds the long e sound and the short i sound which i already gave you an example of and then this right here the bp two more consonants that may be commonly confused uh by learners so it's good to practice we're going to practice with some words and sentences so if you are ready to practice speaking and actually practicing your pronunciation write that in the comments right now just write speaking so that i know like okay this person is ready this person's going to practice their pronunciation during this lesson that's what we want so before we jump into it all right just want to let you guys know you can check us out on patreon if you like what we do if you want to show us some love and support what we do there are some cool rewards on our patreon page it's another way to connect with us and we will leave a we will leave a link to it in the description yes that's what i want to say we'll put a link in the description so you guys can check that out so let's go ahead and look at our first one all right which is the rl so we are going to do the rl first and i'm going to tell you well how do you make this sound i'm quickly going to discuss that and then we're going to look at some words that have this sound and then compare the two compare the minimal pairs all right so got some response lolly you're okay all right ready uh hudong's you're ready yes excellent thank you thank you so hope you guys are ready to actually practice speaking sana's perfect thank you let's look at uh the r sound so if you want to make the r sound you have your your tongue is up but it's toward the back of the mouth it's towards the back it's it's kind of it almost feels like it's in the center it's right in the center but the tongue is up it's turned up and it's towards the back and it always helps if you have like a handy dandy little mirror like this if you really want to see if you're looking at a picture oh this is where my tongue needs to be this is the position uh that that should be in my mouth you can use these mirrors to kind of check and it's a good way to check to see if everything that your tongue is in the right position so tongue is up it's toward the back and then you would say words you can repeat them with me right arrive rear so i'm kind of actually trying to say those r sounds uh pretty hard so you can hear those and i've put them in different positions the first position the middle position and the final position right arrive rear now for the l the l the tongue is curled up and it is placed the tip of the tongue is placed against it's placed on the ridge behind your two front teeth so you should have the tip of your tongue touching that ridge and if you put your tongue up there and we can say the words let's say them together light alive real and each time you have that l your tongue should be touching that top so now let's just look at the blue the blue that would be a minimal pair all right and again practice say them with me don't be shy right light let's look at the next one let's look at the orange ones all right say them with me arrive alive okay are you speaking i'm listening i'm trying to listen for you all right the last one in the final position rear reel rear real okay so those are some common minimal pairs this is what these are what minimal pairs are the two words they only have that one sound that is different and in this case it is that r and l sound so let's look at some sentences and again i want you guys to practice say these sentences with me all right the first one we need to take a right at the next light let's look at this one try this together the officer needs to collect the correct information the officer needs to collect the correct information i'm trying to use some uh some different ones for you so these are all rl minimal pairs and then this last one down here my favorite sentence the royal family is really loyal to the clown's crown this is it's probably not a sentence you're going to say in regular conversation but it is good practice for minimal pairs let's try that one again the royal family is really loyal to the clown's crown again try to say that rl sound and if you are actually if you are actually saying these with me write that in the comments speaking just tell me write speaking so i know oh okay this this person's practicing let's let's do some more practice with the rl and then we'll move on to the next one so i am going to say this sentence right here and i will either end it with right or light all i want you to do again this can be a pointing one just point to the word point to the correct word that i'm saying again this is more of a kinesthetic activity you're listening and then you're pointing to the screen all right and then i i'll give you just a second and then i will point to the one that i'm saying all right are you ready okay so i would first start out and say go to the right go to the light go to the light go to the light go to the right this one up here all right so that's just again that's a way to see if if somebody's talking and they're saying a full sentence that you can identify that that rl sound and understand okay this is what this person is telling me all right excellent i'm seeing some great comments in here uh excellent thank you guys for participating in the activity that's what i want we want you guys to actually speak and to actually practice your pronunciation as we do these uh different activities so let's look at the next one so we're gonna this is these are two vowel sounds that can be commonly confused that long e and that short i sound so that long e sound how do we make this this is a sound that i think many of you are probably familiar with when somebody's taking a picture and in english they would say cheese and the reason they say this is because then your mouth is wide it's kind of like you're smiling to say that long e sound your mouth is wide cheese your tongue is forward and it's a little higher too and that's how you get that long e e cheese all right i see myself now it looks a little it looks a little strange i look i'm smiling perhaps a little too much but just to show you guys e cheese alright so let's say these words together ready sheep seat beach all right i'm kind of probably widening my mouth a little too much let's say i'm again sheep seat beach okay now that short i sound right here this one is is just completely relaxed lips are relaxed the tongue is central it's in that central area of your mouth all right and it's just all right ship sit all right the reason i mean you're probably hearing that last one and yes it's not a nice word to say but this is important because the reason i've done this that ian if there i've i've met many learners over the years that that we talk about going to the beach or traveling to the beach quite often and i've met many learners who are like i avoid saying this word i try to avoid it because i'm worried that people are going to misunderstand what i'm saying and they're going to think i'm saying the short i sound in alright so it is good to understand that it's good to practice it don't shy away from it just because again it's not a nice word but let's look at the blue all right let's start uh with you look like you're about to come batman yes yes i do with my big smile joker smile um the first one let's say it let's say it together all right don't be shy ready sheep say it one more time just repeat after me sheep ship the next one let's look at those orange words right there ready seat sit one more time seat sit okay and that final one all right that long e sound let's look at those i guess it's a purple color uh purple maroonish color ready beach beach all right it is always good to practice those again these are are ways you can practice minimal pairs you can practice speaking out loud you can practice saying the individual words and and again if you're if you have a conversation partner or if you're in class practice saying them and make sure that the other person understands what you would like to say because that's very important so that that you know like okay i know the difference between these sounds and i know how to make them so let's look at some practice sentences again all right i've tried to think of sentences you might hear but again in using both of them it's it's a little difficult so let's look at this first one up here in the blue somebody might say hey are you going to eat it you have something and you you maybe you want to eat it you're like asking somebody else hey are you going to eat it all right say that with me are you gonna eat it eat it all right next one let's look at that sentence i just want to take a deep dip in the pool say it with me i just want to take a deep dip in the pool and it would be nice it's very cold out today right here in budapest so i would it'd be nice to take a deep dip in the pool especially a warm pool uh let's look at this last one all right i tried to throw in some extra ones he has a sleek bed and slick pajamas that helps him slip right to sleep all right a lot of a lot of e and a lot of s sounds too sorry about that let's say it say it with me okay he has a sleek bed and a slick wait wait sorry sorry he has a sleek bed and slick pajamas that helps him slip right to sleep all right so it's almost yeah it kind of almost sounds a little bit like a tongue twister but again if you guys are doing this let me know if you enjoy these pronunciation lessons hit the hit that like button for us let us know let me know that you guys enjoy this so this is very useful and like i said there are many different minimal pairs but these are a few that i think are are commonly confused and that's why i wanted to practice these so let's do a little game are you ready a little game time game time so this is more of a listening exercise for you to see that that you can identify the the different the different sound that you are able to actually identify the difference and practice that so you can see the game board these are a bunch of cities down below you see the cities so i'm going to say uh either the word sheep or ship all right i'm going to say it three times each time i say it i want you to move so you're going to start up here at the top i'll say a word all right and then you move to that side and then i'll say another word and then again move to that side and then i'll say it a third time and then move to that side and you end up in one of these cities down here and then i want you to write you know which city did you end up in so let's let me give you an example first because some of you might be a little confused right now so i'm going to say the word one of those words i'm going to say three times so for example let's start up here if i say sheep like the animal and then sheep the animal again ship like the boat then you're going to end up down there in new york city so you're going to move to that side sheep sheep ship and then you end up in new york city okay you guys got it you're ready all right let's let's just let's just give it a try so i'm gonna say the word i'm gonna say it three times and then i want you to write where you end up which city did you end up in are you ready okay ready ship ship sheep i'll say it again i'm kind of figuring out where i want to go as i'm saying it all right ship ship sheep okay if you guys are just joining us we're practicing our our pronunciation by using minimal pairs and we're going over these right now this is the long e and that short i so write which city which city did you end up in write that in the comments all right so i'll say it one more time ship ship sheep all right i think yes all right most of you guys you ended up in vegas perfect excellent yes that's what we're going for viva las vegas yes okay let's do another one bucharest that's not even on the list i guess it's okay maybe it's even further out all right um all right you ready for the next one uh let's do this one i'm gonna go a little faster this time sheep ship sheep sheep ship sheep those are the those are the three words i'll say it one more time right where you end up okay sheep ship sheep where did you guys end up all right write that in the comments i want to know i'll say it one more time for you guys sheep ship sheep again this is good practice to see that you can identify you can listen for it and identify these individual sounds everybody's saying rio yes that is where we ended up we were you should be in rio um with all of us if if you made a mistake along the way don't worry about it again this is just practice this is good it's good listening practice all right so i said sheep ship sheep we ended up in rio de janeiro which is a place that i would like to end up someday because i've never been there let's look at the last set of consonants right here bp okay so the b sound it is a voiced sound and what i mean by voiced is that you you have that vibration in your vocal cords and you should be able to feel it actually if you put your two fingers on your throat and if i'm just talking like this when you heat when when i make certain sounds i can actually feel that vibration when i may when the sound is voiced b is a voiced sound lips are closed to stop the air and it's aspirated that puff that puff of air it's voiced for example let's read those for us um big bye cab those b sounds big by cab okay the p sound now it is a voiceless sound that's the only difference between the b and the p because also with the p sound the lips are closed you want to stop that air and it's also aspirated that puff that however if you put your fingers down here on your throat all right you shouldn't feel that vibration it's voiceless so um let's say pig pie cap okay so let's let's look at the blue words all right that's our minimal pair right there let's say them together say just repeat them each one after me big pig that bp let's look at the orange words by pie and then that final those purple words cab cap cab cap all right so remember the b the the your your mouth is in the same position the only real difference one's voiced one's a voiceless sound so let's look at some sentences why not i have a few sentences that i want you guys to to say with me practice that that p that pb sound so the first one that blue one up there there is a pair of bears behind the tree there is a pair of bears behind the tree pear bear let's look at the orange one all right somebody might say hey let's go have a beer out on the pier let's go have a beer out on the pier beer pier and finally down here this one i tried to uh you like my lovely picture down there to to represent that sentence a big pig wearing a robe pulled a bull with a rope all right give that one a try repeat after me a big pig wearing a robe pulled a bull with a rope all right it's it's not a sentence that you're going to go out and and say this and use this with your friends because you pray i'd be very impressed if you actually saw that a big pig wearing a robe pulling a bull with a rope that'd be pretty amazing all right so now that we've practiced our sentence since i enjoyed that game so much and again if if we have a lot of teachers on our channel as well if you are a teacher of english this is a great activity for practicing minimal pairs practicing pronunciation and practicing listening skills you just do a chart like this you go in there you you model it for students and then you can actually have students come to the front they pick out what city they're in they come to the front of the class they can say it and actually practice their pronunciation and see where people end up it's a lot of fun this time okay it's going to be a little easier to follow because i actually wrote the b and the p i i wrote which way i want you to go so i'm going to say again i'm going to say the sentence three times the first time is going to be for the red up there if i say the b move to that side the p move to that one the next time i say the sentence it's going to be for the blue and then the final time would be the green it's going i i'm trying to make it a little more difficult because instead of saying just the individual word i'm actually i'm i'm saying a sentence okay so i'm either going to say with the b that's a nice butt all right like my picture up there that's a nice butt or like the golfer over there in the corner that's a nice putt all right i could say like that's a nice butt or the p that's a nice putt okay so now that you've heard it a couple of times uh let's let's do this and we'll see where somebody ends up wait somebody's already in vegas wait we haven't started yet um all right are you guys ready let's let's let's do this let's give it a try all right so i'm gonna say the sentence three times ready um that's a nice butt that's a nice putt that's a nice putt all right where did you guys end up write that in the comments i will say it again are you ready all right i just got to make sure i remember where i ended up so i can se i can tell you correctly ready that's a nice butt that's a nice putt that's a nice putt okay so where where did you guys end up which city did you end up in and don't be shy even if you think you got it incorrect just write it down it doesn't really matter this is just all practice practice practice because if you didn't end up in the right city then i know oh maybe i need to i need to work on my pronunciation and practice my minimal pairs so yes excellent bangkok that that is where i wanted to end up i said the bpp that's a nice butt that's a nice putt that's a nice putt excellent you guys ended up in bangkok let's do this again okay are you ready this time here we go i'm going to say it i'm going to say it quicker all right so hopefully maybe i'll make it a little more difficult for you all right that's a nice putt that's a nice putt that's a nice putt where do you think where did i end up all right write that in the comments write the city in the comments where did i end up i'll say it again ready that's a nice putt that's a nice putt that's a nice putt what do you guys think all right again if if you're joining us we're practicing our pronunciation practicing minimal pairs what do you guys think all right i'll say that one one more time see where uh see where people end up that's a nice putt that's a nice putt that's a nice putt all right excellent yes jackson anna christina jr joe uh love truth edison paulo perfect perfect perfect yes you ended up in cairo that is where you should be cairo i said p-p-p putt-putt putt for each of those let's do one more why not all right um let me see which way which city do i want to end up and okay i got a city are you ready one more time again i'm just gonna i'm gonna say it fast i'm gonna try and see if i can confuse you guys hopefully i don't get confused ready that's a nice putt that's a nice butt that's a nice butt i'll say it again that's a nice putt that's a nice butt that's a nice butt which city did we end up in you're listening that ready say it again that's a nice putt that's a nice butt that's a nice butt all right write the city write that in the chat again even if you're watching this later participate in in the in the lesson write your answer in the comments and hit that comment button so we know that you are actually participating in the lesson that's what we want to hear so okay interesting all right so got some different ones for this one i'll say it again i'll say it slower that's a nice putt that's a nice butt that's a nice butt so i said b p wait no no no i said p b b and you should have ended up in london the city of london that's where i was going for p b b putt butt butt some of you a lot of you ended up in london great that is the place that you need to be so again this is a great way to practice minimal pairs especially in a classroom if you have a group of people and again i hope that you guys were actually practicing with me in this lesson if you were actually speaking again write that in the chat speaking or write that in the comments write the words speaking in the comments so i know okay this person was participating they were actually practicing their pronunciation because that's what this is all about that is what interactive english is all about to have these interactive activities with all of you so thank you guys so much for joining me today if you enjoyed this lesson if you enjoyed learning about pronunciation and practicing your pronunciation please hit that like button we'd really appreciate it and you can share this lesson with your classmates friends anybody you know who's trying to practice and improve their english help us spread the word as always questions in the comments say just you know write to us we love hearing from you guys and if you practice with this lesson write the word speaking so that i know also finally a lot of a lot of outro stuff here check out us check us out on uh our social media facebook twitter instagram it's another good way to to practice and improve your skills so guys thank you thank you so much junior bruce excellent you guys were speaking um rodrigo don't go to rio okay maybe we'll i'll think about it all right olga thank you for speaking giselle thanks for being here lali uh yawendra thank you thank you abhi sorry if i missed some names too i just try and read through these uh really quickly kamal g christina love truth bellage anna thank you guys so much uh hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend uh careers yeah let's we'll drink a beer with a pear all right we can thank you guys for joining me and we will see you next time so long --- ## 448. Money Idioms & Expressions to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-mpsuWw27DY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mpsuWw27DY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:30:06 | --- today's lesson is all about money hey everyone welcome to interactive English my name is Wes and we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to talk to you about money this is a very important topic many people out there they love money everybody wants money we all need money in order to survive so I want to teach you some common idioms and expressions that are all related to money I will tell you the idiom and then talk about the meaning and I'll also try to discuss how you would use this idiom and then finally I'll show you some video clips so that you can see how the idiom or expression is used in context now keep in mind I am from the United States so some of the idioms may be specific to the u.s. buck is just talking about a dollar one buck is one dollar now you would use this word I think mostly when talking about smaller amounts of money you're not going to hear people talk about 1 billion bucks that's you know people would use dollars in that case but if you're talking about a small amount of money people may say bucks instead of dollars like hey do you have a couple of bucks or can I borrow a few bucks and that's how I think most people would use this word when when they want to say a dollar instead they're just gonna say a buck oh we gave them a few bucks I mean I only got a couple bucks I made a few bucks ok whatever look if you're hungry man I count on your buck just want a quick look-see pay you back okay then we have to cost an arm and a leg and this just means that well it just means that something is expensive so instead of saying that well this you know that car it's really expensive you could say well it cost an arm and a leg I think people would use it when they're describing something that's expensive but I in a way I think they're also saying that they don't think it's worth that much money that it costs too much it should not be that expensive so when you say well something cost an arm and a leg you're you're basically saying that it's too expensive that it should not cost this much money but in general it's just it's just really expensive these lessons they don't cost an arm and a leg they're they're free this is an advanced computer system cost a nominal Estrin get rid of the old sandwich vending machine in the lobby which costs us an arm and a leg to rent and no one use it then we have the expression pony up and if you tell someone to pony up you're you're just telling them to pay money and it's it's money that they owe that they should pay and sometimes it may be to settle a debt and you tell this other person like hey okay you need to pony up you need to pay some money so this is a very it's a very informal expression but it's one maybe you would hear somebody use this if you're watching a TV show or a movie and somebody needs to pay money for something and the other person might say hey okay you need to pony up you need to pay your money you need to pony up it's a company party and you're the CEO so pony up know if anyone should pair it should be you this thing but body goes to trial we're gonna pony up some serious upfront cash what you should do is have him sponsor you for the dance ask the manager to pony up a couple hundred bucks ten dollars a dance so if she makes it through 20 dances need to pony up $200 towards her class trip to DC then we have the expression put your money where your mouth is and this is one of my favorite expressions and it just means that that it could mean a couple of things it could mean that somebody is spending money in order to improve a bad situation that someone needs to put their money where their mouth is or you could say that that you are telling somebody that they need to spend money so that that you know that they mean what they say and they're not just talking that instead of just talking talking talking you would say okay look put your money where your mouth is you need to spend money to show me that you are being serious to to show me that what you're saying is true it is believable put your money where your mouth is and again I I guess I would say that this expression doesn't always have to be talking about money and spending money in another way it's telling somebody to basically will do what you say if you are talking and saying all these things and the other person maybe they don't believe you then they might say look okay let's see you put your money where your mouth is let's see if you do what you're saying put your money where your mouth is put your money where your mouth is that's you ten boots five against five never drink can't four drink with me and see you over laughs yeah put your money where your mouth is I would want to get the exhaust on that pretty base don't you put your money where your mouth is next is the idiom to make ends meet and this just means that you are earning enough in order to live that you're not you're not making a lot of money and you have all this extra money lying around if you make just enough in order to live then you could say that you are making ends meet or perhaps you may hear somebody say well you know we're just trying to make ends meet we're trying to make enough in order to live to make ends meet would you describe your financial circumstances I was struggling to make ends meet you're a waitress for six years and I could never make ends meet Tara and I are trying to buy a house or no struggling to make ends meet she put in the in the bushels and stop and sell it you know they had to you know make ends meet and stuff the next expression is to be loaded and loaded it's just an adjective and it's used to describe someone who has a lot of money who is very wealthy you could say this person is loaded he's loaded she's loaded I think well many of us out there we'd like to be loaded because well it's nice if you don't have to worry about money because there there are many of us out there just trying to make ends meet we just want to make enough money although it'd be nice one day to be loaded [Music] Sapperstein are the stuff we smash is worth nothing compared to that thing these guys must be loaded then we have the expression to look like a million bucks now first I I want to tell you that before I said that you don't use the word bucks when talking about a large sum of money except except with this expression to look like a million bucks or you could say to look like a million dollars it means the same thing but when you use this expression you are saying that a person looks very nice they look very elegant and you're talking about most of the time I think it's talking about the way they look the way they're dressed the way they've styled their hair and you could say wow you look like a million bucks this is a it's a way that you can give a compliment to someone so I think you would say this to somebody if there is a very formal event and everybody's getting dressed up and they they come out of the room and you see them for the first time and you could say wow you know you look like a million bucks you look like a million dollars I like I love it if somebody were to tell me hey Wes you know you look like a million bucks it would it would make me feel good and right now I want to tell all of you I have no idea what you wear right now but doesn't matter I think you you look like a million bucks you look like a million dollars I just wanted to let you know you look great okay great like a million bucks yeah million bucks I have never been able to wear that dress cuz I just couldn't pull it off and now you just look like a million bucks then I have a couple of phrases that mean the same thing and that is shell out and fork over and you can use these interchangeably and it just means to pay for something and you may hear somebody say oh you need to you need to shell out some cash if you want to buy this thing that costs an arm and a leg or you really you need to fork over some money if you want to purchase this thing again you can use these two phrases interchangeably they are very informal so I don't think you are necessarily going to use them all the time and conversational English but try to listen for them the next time you're watching a TV show or watching a movie to shell out to fork over to pay for something he's trying to get big bad Dwight to shell out for a huge repair job while lucky Jimbo gets a paid vacation yeah he most certainly is people to fork over he grabbed for that well I've been on the phone all afternoon yeah had to show up five thousand dollars to the brick house next is the expression rags to riches so if you say that somebody went from rags to riches then you are just saying that in the beginning they were very poor and then later on they became very wealthy so you're describing a person situation over time and you could say that they went from rags to riches or that they have a story that is rags to riches they were poor and then they became rich rags to riches so what is the secret of this rags to riches story it's like a true rags to riches story but I've always been the middle class to be just so much more real then we have the idiom bread and butter and if you are talking about somebody's bread and butter then you are just talking about their main source of income and that would pretty much be somebody's job and for example I could say well you know making these English lessons on YouTube it's our bread and butter this is the the primary way we are are trying to make a living right now we're making ends meet but hopefully maybe a lot in the future at some point will be loaded and it will be a story of rags to riches I just want to give you a quick little review because I think the more you hear these idioms and expressions being used the more likely you are to remember their meaning so if we're talking about bread and butter specifically you're talking about the the way what what somebody does to make their living and to make money their bread and butter restoration antiques my bread and butter I'm a scientist my ability to think is my bread and butter then we have foot the bill and to foot the bill just means to pay for something you are paying for some bill when I think of this idiom being used I think it's often used to describe a situation in which someone else might be paying for this thing someone else is footing the bill you could use it when if talking about yourself that you're trying to pay for this but I think quite often it's used when you're referring to another person paying for this thing so for example maybe if the next lesson I show up with these expensive clothes and I look like a million bucks and you think wait a second I know that these YouTube videos this is Wes's that's his bread and butter he's just making ends meet right now I wonder who's footing the bill who's paying for those clothes because they cost an arm and a leg who's footing the bill you would not have to do a thing and Philippe will foot the bill you got your money's worth what the bill well you played Mother Teresa we estimate the damage at $75 and frankly we think it's terribly unfair that other taxpayers should foot the bill next is the idiom break the bank and to break the bank means that you are you try to buy something that really it costs too much and you cannot afford it and you could say that well it's going to break the bank you will go into debt because this thing cost too much cost an arm and a leg you can't afford it and it's gonna break the bank or maybe you're trying to tell someone that well hey don't worry I can't afford this it's not going to break the bank so you may hear this idiom being used in either the affirmative or the negative so in the affirmative you'd say well it's gonna break the bank we can't afford it or if you want to reassure someone that you can't afford this thing hey hey don't worry it's not gonna break the bank but to break the bank means that you can't afford it and you will likely go into debt are you looking for a mattress that won't break your back or the bank if you want to be like me you gotta make snap decisions we're going to break the bank at the Monty burns casino then we have the word penny pincher it is a compound noun because this it's talking about a person who really tries to save all their money and they they really just don't like to spend their money and you could say well yeah this person is cheap you could say he is a penny pincher or she is a penny pincher they just really want to save all their money and they don't want to spend anything a penny pincher how can you afford a made on what I'm overpaying you Oh you see mr. penny pitch I another job on the side then we have the expression pick up the tab or pick up the check and they mean the same thing and it just means to pay for a bill to pick up the tab or pick up the check often I I think of a restaurant and perhaps at the end of the meal the bill comes and you might say hey don't worry about it I'm gonna pick up the check or I'm gonna pick up the tab I am going to pay for this bill to pick up the tab or pick up the check I'll pick up the check okay you're gonna pick up the tab that's on great pick up the check I have to pick up the check your little games so there you have it those are some great idioms and expressions that are all related to money if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new let me know in the comments I want you to write I want you to write you look like a million bucks that is a a great way to end the lesson and with a nice little compliment and just say you look like a million bucks that way I know that you learned some new idioms and expressions thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 449. Most Difficult Poem to Say in English | THE CHAOS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8j9SbnLu2ow` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j9SbnLu2ow) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:06:04 | --- if you're able to pronounce all of the words in this poem correctly then your English pronunciation is better than 99.9% of all native English speakers [Music] what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is where you want to be to practice and improve your English skills and today I have a pronunciation lesson for you it is a pronunciation poem the name of the poem is called the chaos this poem was written by Gerard noise Tran it's a and the reason he wrote this poem was just to show you how how crazy and ridiculous English spelling and pronunciation can be and as I read this poem I'm going to highlight the words that I pronounce incorrectly and I'm going to go through the entire poem with you today and and yeah it's long I haven't done this before I have never read the entire poem so I anticipate that I'm going to make quite a few mistakes the purpose of this lesson is to show you that that nobody's pronunciation is perfect everybody makes mistakes it's okay to make mistakes I am going to show you that right now alright so a quick little update if you want to listen to the entire poem and the correct pronunciation I will leave a link in the description to another video where you can do that and hear the poem in its entirety with perfect pronunciation because obviously I made a lot of mistakes sometimes I just misspoke very very easy in simple words other times they're just words that we don't really use anymore anyway enough making excuses for myself here's the poem dearest creature in creation study english pronunciation i will teach you in my verse sounds like corpse core hoarse and worse I will keep you suzy busy make your head with heat grow dizzy tear and i your dress will tear queer fair seer hear my prayer pray console your loving poet make your coat look new dear so it just compare heart here and heard dyes and diet lord and word sword and sward retain and britain mine the latter how it's written maid has not the sound of bade say said pay paid laid but plaid now I surely will not plague you with were with such words as vague and egg you but be careful how you speak say gush bush stake streak break bleak previous precious fuchsia via recipe pipe studying sale choir woven oven how and low script receipt shoe poem toe say expecting fraud and trickery daughter laughter and Terp Terp ask worry what okay branch wrench measles top sales miles missiles similes reviles Holi Holi signal signing same examining but mining scholar vicar and cigar solar micah war and far from desire desirable admirable from admire lumber plumber beer but breyer Topsham bro Brougham renowned but known knowledge done loan gone none tone one an enemy Balmoral kitchen like in laundry Laurel Gertrude German wind wind and wind bow kind kindred cue mankind tortoise turquoise Chum Chum Chum all leather reading reading heathen Heather this phonetic labyrinth gives Moss gross Brook brooch ninth plight have you ever yet endeavored to pronounce revered and severed demon lemon go ghoul fowl soul Peter petrol and patrol bill a does not billet does not rhyme does not end like ballet okay wallet mallet chalet blood and flood are not like food nor is mold like should and would banquet is not nearly parquet which exactly rhymes with khaki okay I screwed that up probably discount visca Viscount load and brewed toward Ford and reward ricocheted and crocheting croquet right your pronunciations okay rounded wounded grieve and sieve friend and friend and fiend alive and live is your are correct in higher Keats asserts the rot it rhymes Thalia huh Hugh but hug and hood but hoot buoyant minut but minute okay say abscission with precision now position and transition would it tally with my rhyme if I mentioned paradigm two pens three pens T's are easy but cease crease grease and greasy cornice nice valise revised rabies but lullabies of such puzzling words as nausea rhyming well with cautious tortious you'll envelop list I hope in a linen envelope would you like some more you'll have it affidavit David dev it to abjure to purge or Sheik does not sound like check but ache Liberty library heave and heaven rachellocke mustache eleven we say hallowed but allowed people leopard toad but vowed mark the difference moreover between mover plover Dover leeches breaches wise precise chalice but police and lice camel constable unstable principal disciple label petal Pinot canal wait surmise plate promise Pal suit sweet ruin circuit conduit rhyme with circuit and beyond it but it is not hard to tell why it's Paul why it's Pall Mall but Pall Mall but I okay muscle muscular gull iron timber climber bullion lion worm and storm chase chaos chair senator spectator mayor Ivy privy famous clamor has the has the of direct Rock'em and hammer Hussey and possess desert and desert address golf wolf continents lieutenants hoist in lieu of flags left pennants courier Kirti er tomb bomb comb cow but cowper some and home solder soldier blood is thicker couth he then liquor liquor or liquor making it sad but true in bravado much adieu stranger does not rhyme with anger neither does devour with clang er pilot pivot gaunt but on font front want want won't want grand and gaunt aren't see specific scenic relic rhetoric hygienic gooseberry goose and close foot close paradise rise rose and dose say inve nay but in vengal what make the letter rhyme with eagle ok mind meandering but mean Valentine and magazine when is this going to end and I bet you dear a penny you say money fold like many which is wrong say rapier peer tear one who ties but tear arc and our Archangel pray does earring rhyme with hearing or with steering prison by some treasure trove treason hover Cove cover Cove perseverance severance ribald rhymes but piebald doesn't with nibbled fatten pay pay on not not not na lien psychic shown bone sha don't be down my own but rough it and distinguish buffet buffett brewed strewed roof rook school wool boone Worchester boolean and impugn say in sounds correct and sterling hearse here harkin year and yearling evil devil Mose intent mind and z a gentle hint now you need to pay attention to such sounds as i don't mention sounds like pores pause pores and pause ok rhyming with the pronoun yours nor are proper names included though I often heard as you did funny rhymes to unicorn yes you know them Vaughn and Strauch in all right I guess no my maiden koi and calmly I don't want to speak of Kamala Delhi whatever okay no yet Freud Frode compared with proud is no better than MacLeod but mine trivial and vile tripod Mineo menial denial troll and trolley realm and realm and ream schedule mischief schism and scheme Argyll Gil Argyll Gil surely I probably screwed some of that up maybe made to rhyme with Raleigh but you're not supposed to say PK rhymes with so brick sobriquet had this invalid in valid and invalid and valid worthless documents how pallid how uncouth couch end looked when for Portsmouth I had booked Zeus Thebes Thales Aphrodite para para more enamored flighty episodes Antipodes acquiesce and obsequious please don't monkey with your geyser don't peel taters with my razor rather say in accents pure nature stature and mature pious impious limb climb gloomily worsted worst-hit Crumley dumbly conquer conquest vase phase fan one sedan and artisan the th were surely trouble you of course more than rch hora w say the say then these phonetic gems thomas time Teresa tames Thompson che thumb watham Streatham there are more but I forget them wait I got them Anthony lightened your anxiety the archaic word albeit does not rhyme with eight you see it with and for width one has voice one has not you make your choice shoes goes does not first say finger then say singer ginger linger real zeal mauve gaze engage marriage follow a toilet foliage Mirage age hero Haren query very Perry Terry's thus theory Barry dose lost post and dothe cloth loath job job blood blossom vaasam bosom oath saw a pug meant team a pune upon your's bowing bowing banjo tuners home you know but nose canoes boost poisoning truism used to use though the difference seems little we say actual but victual seats wet chest cast cast lay eight height put nuts granite and unite reefer does not in rhyme with deafer for fire woofer does an Zephyr hi fer dull bull Geoffrey George ain't late hint pint Senate but sedate Gaelic Arabic Pacific science conscience scientific tour but our dour secure for gas alas and Arkansas say maneuver yacht and vomit next omit which differs from bonafide alibi gyrate dowry and our II see idea Guinea area Psalm Maria but malaria youth South southern cleanse and clean doctrine turpentine marine compare alien with Italian dandelion with battalion rally with Ally yay yay aye-aye-aye aye-aye-aye whatever ok keep going keep going say a ver but ever fever neither leisure skiing receiver never guess it never guess it is not safe we say Cavs val/val valves half but Ralph starry grant granary canary crevice but device and I re face but not preface then grimace phlegm phlegmatic ass glass base or bass bass large target gin give verging aught else ah - ouch - ouch and scour but scour gee ear but urn and ear and tear do not rhyme with here but err mind the oh of off and often which may be pronounced as orphan with the sound of saw and sauce but soft lost cloth and cross pudding pudding poodle pudding pudding yes at golf it rhymes with shutting respite spite consent resent liable but Parliament 7 is right but so even - roughen nephew Stephen monkey donkey clerk and jerk ASP grasp wasp demesne Cork work a valor vapid the Vepr s of News compare newspaper G of giblet Gibbon gist I of anarchist and grist differ like diverse and givers rivers strivers shivers fevers once but nonce told oath but role polish Polish no polish Polish poll and poll Hey pronunciation think of psyche is a paling stout and spiky won't it make you lose your wits writing groats and saying grits it's a dark abyss or tunnel strewn with stones like rowlock gun WA Hill this is linked in an isle of right housewife verdict and indict don't you think to say reader rather saying lather Baffert father finally which rhymes with enough though through boho cough huff so tough hiccup has the sound of sup my advice give it up I I kind of want to give up after reading that I can't even imagine how many red marks you just saw many of those words are not common words we don't really even use them it's just an example to to show you the pronunciation and spelling don't don't always line up so what I would like is to hear from all of you and in the comments I just want you to tell me what do you think is a difficult word to pronounce we love hearing from you guys and that really helps us and gives us ideas for words to include in future pronunciation lessons if you enjoyed this lesson and enjoyed listening to me screw up many of the host words please hit that like button down below and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time I'm so glad that's over --- ## 450. NEW ENGLISH WORDS FROM 2021 | Build Your Vocabulary ๐ŸŽŠ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `y43NKBFbFXo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y43NKBFbFXo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:15:49 | --- hello welcome to the very first live lesson of 2022 um so the first thing i want to say is happy new year and because it's uh a new year i thought it would be appropriate for this first live lesson if we kind of take a just a step back and look in the rear view mirror and talk about uh some of the new words from 2021 we're going to talk about new english words that were really they they were added to some of the english dictionaries now the first thing i want to say this is just a a fun casual lesson it's not um it's not always exact because some of the words and phrases that i'm going to share with you have been added to some dictionaries and maybe they have not been added to others so these are not words that i would say oh you need to to go out and use them right away um i think it's good for your comprehension and i tried to choose words that i think will will kind of have a future and they may be continued um people will continue using them in the future that's that's kind of what i tried to do now before we start uh and i show these words to you i just want to give you one last reminder because this is this is the last call if you would like to join my speaking course there's like 48 hours left classes are going to begin this next week it's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally you can check out the link in the description it'll take you right here to this course page that gives you a lot of information about the course like what's included uh how it works as well as like right here the cost for it's an eight week course classes once a week the cost is 159 you can see right here but you can use the disk uh special code speak 22 to get a 22 discount off the course so check that out uh link is in the description down below i'll even add it right here in the chat just for quick little reference right here so this is the last call if you are interested in speaking with me and improving your skills i see some people like uh takayo hello uh also uh has participated in the speak up course uh welcome i also want to say hello uh gustav um good to see you here hope vicky is is feeling better sleepwalker uh angela lolly welcome welcome welcome i'll give more shout outs as we go through the lesson uh because i'm going to be asking you guys questions to see kind of how familiar you are with with some of these words now i i mentioned that this is kind of a just a fun casual lesson i i took these words from a couple of different sites like this one right here this is the first one um it's again it's not exact i'll link these as well down in the comments this is from uh reader's digest uh 25 new words added to the dictionary for 2021 as well as this site right here from pearson 10 new english words for 2021. again i'll leave that down in the description as well if you'd like to just see more of the words um from the list okay so let's uh let's begin all right with the we're talking about new words of 2021 if you're just joining us right now and the way i'm going to do this i'm going to give you the definition let you see if you can think of the word and then i'll tell you the answer okay so the first one that i have for you is this right here so this is the definition it's a person who shows extraordinary skill or expertise in a specified field or endeavor i believe this was added to merriam-webster dictionary the picture right there is a hint okay that is a clear hint as to what this word is so let me know in the chat if uh if you think you know what word that i'm talking about okay so i think thinking about the picture uh again very famous movie and thinking about the definition i think some of you would be able to come up with the word it's a very i mean very popular word from the movie uh i see master you're kind of you're kind of close uh that's not what we're looking for it's the name of like a type of person what would you what would you call it i'll give you a few more a few more seconds and then i'll tell you what the answer is okay so uh it's not an astronaut this this is from the movie star wars okay and yes excellent good job sam uh the answer that we're looking for it's from the movie star wars is a jedi so if you haven't seen the movie then obviously i i would not expect you to know this but if you are familiar with the movie the star wars series and they talk about the jedi the jedi masters so kind of masters a little similar but uh the jedi is the the people that have the extraordinary skills or ability so again somebody might use this casually and say like wow they're just like a jedi to to show that this person is very talented in some way so again i think it it shows you also how the language is changing and evolving and how um even like pop culture kind of gets its way in there so this is from star wars all right the next one uh let's see is this one right here here we go okay and this one i think is is probably if you watch the news a lot i think this is probably a phrase that you've heard so i'll read the definition in case it's um you're having trouble seeing it with the picture and the text so this is talking about a person who works temporary jobs typically in the service sector as an independent contractor or a freelancer and again i'm trying to give you a hint with the picture so you can see that person holding a phone and it says uber so for example uber drivers would be considered like as having this type of job so there's one word that's very common with it it's actually a phrase and we'll see i i'll explain it once i tell you the answer but again this is i think this is a little challenging it is going to be a little difficult again this is a fun lesson i'm not saying you need to go out and use these words but i think these are words that you may hear from time to time um i think i said the news for this one because i think people governments are trying to figure out well how how should these employees be treated if this is what the type of job they have how how do we pay them do they get benefits so this is it's part of the conversation all right so let's see any guesses um see some people were putting in uh jedi for that last one that was good all right that's it's good some good guesses um so interesting no sleepwalk not downshifter um it is a freelance job but that's not what you would call these people i i say uber in particular because there was a big court case in uh not court case there was a big referendum in california that they were talking about this uh close not uh jane entrepreneur contractor again remember think about it these are words that are kind of just being added to some of the dictionaries so some of the words you guys are given that would describe these type of people but those words are already in the dictionaries and we've been using them for a while so the answer that i'm looking for all right well the new word the phrase that was added is a gig worker so you might hear people talk about a gig worker as somebody who has a temporary job you might hear people talk about the gig economy which is another collocation that you have different businesses in which they hire just like these temporary jobs so like i said like uber drivers would be considered gig workers they can work whenever they want they control their hours how how how often they work and that is like uh that would be considered a gig worker typically the word gig if somebody were just to look that up um it means that you have a job and often people would use it when talking about like music and somebody who plays music and they get offered a job and they say yeah i have a gig saturday night in which case that they they are going to be doing a performance so gig i think is often associated with that but now with all of these businesses hiring temporary workers they they would be called like gig workers all right the next one uh so i'm guessing i'm guessing you guys are learning some new new words and phrases which is which is good um but again like i said this is this is really just for your comprehension you don't you can listen for these words but you don't have to go out uh and actually use them um some people said oh samithra said gig worker excellent perfect um and so as uh can it be used anywhere i would say these are words and phrases probably that are more taken from like american english in the united states even though i feel like places like the uk australia canada people would also be familiar with them this next one it's not a word i was familiar with all right i've included it because it has to do with social media and so many people use social media nowadays and they're connected through social media so i thought this would be a fun one to share with you even though like i said i was not familiar with this word i'm curious to see if any of you know it but the the meaning of this is it's reading the news on social media and expecting it to be bad so much that you become obsessed with looking at updates all right and you're just i guess you're always on like facebook and just going through there looking at updates expecting it to be bad um which i think many many times a lot of stuff on social media is rather negative but what would you call this all right i'll be very impressed if uh if any of you get this because like i said i i was unfamiliar with this i had no idea that uh this word exists um and some of you uh wow csb knocked it out of the park yes all right so this i'll just tell you the answer uh because somebody got it uh debbie downer that's a good one uh is talking about a person who i think is like always kind of down or upset and you'd say somebody is a debbie downer in this case wow you guys like young 233 excellent um wow i'm impressed i the answer is doom scrolling and i had never i was not familiar with this and i think i understand where it comes from because if you're using social media you're scrolling through those updates and if you're scrolling through them expecting to just find bad negative things then you think of the word doom like everything's bad so this is referred to as doom scrolling and some of you wow you got that i'm very uh very impressed kudos kudos to you guys um the next one uh i'll i'll tell you if i'm familiar with the words as well and this is one that i think that i'm familiar with that i think has been used again quite often nowadays especially when you're talking about like news and what's happening in um you know with different people and activities and well let's let's just look at the definition and then you try to think of the answer so this is the the practice or tendency of engaging engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure so this is a phrase okay it's two words and this is a phrase like i said that i think is has become a lot more commonly used probably in the last five years and it's become popular enough at this point that which it's being added to some of the dictionaries which i think is is appropriate because i imagine this is this is a phrase again that will be people will continue to use it uh as we move forward so what do you think this is talking about i'll give you a hint that in the definition um the the phrase uses one of those words okay the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure so i have there are some correct answers excellent um sam angela i can't read your name right below angela but that's okay uh yes that's correct uh the what i'm talking about the phrase it's referring to cancel culture and i say that you would probably hear this more if you're watching the news things that are happening with society and if somebody says something or they do something that's not acceptable people you know will get angry they'll express their disapproval and maybe try to put pressure on maybe a company so that this person loses their job and this whole idea is referring to cancel culture and some people are really against it some people are for it it really just depends on the situation but once again this is something that i think is happening more often nowadays which is is a phrase that i think you will hear people talking about um when this goes on they're referring to cancel culture excellent uh perfect uh nietzsche hello you're new to the channel welcome excellent i always love hearing new people if you're new tell me just write your name in the chat or even in the comments tell me where you're from i always love hearing from from new people so this is another one that i wanted to include because i do think it's a little more um it's a little more common something that's going been going on over the years i really i didn't know that it was not a part of the dictionary i assumed that this word was um but i think it you know some dictionaries have started to add it um as it's become more accepted and more practice so the practice is you obtain needed funding typically like for starting a business by asking for like contributions from like a large group of people mostly from an online community and what is that what's that called what is that practice called if i want to i have some idea for some product and i need money to develop the product and then um manufacture the product and then try to sell it and i'm trying to raise money online asking for people to donate and contribute what is that what's that practice called so it's not uh you know again think of it um this way uh that you're not uh what was i trying to say like again some of you are throwing down words that i think are already part of the dictionary um so wait jane says a scam i guess it could be a scam sure it just depends like donate it's kind of like donating but not really again um yes zsb excellent uh gusta vicky perfect takayo uh nichia natalia uh you guys got it so the answer we're talking about crowdfunding is what this practice um is if you are trying to raise money um typically to start a business and you're getting people to contribute and donate online i think another part of crowdfunding is like when you i've never done this or i've been a part of it but i think like when you do this and you give money it's like you will get maybe the product in return and you're it's like you're getting a not like a sample but kind of like a prototype it's just starting out so it's not like just like you're giving just a donation and you're never going to see that money back i think typically with crowdfunding you do get something for contributing um to the business the next one all right let's keep moving along this is something that i had no idea about um but i thought it was interesting um so i wanted to share it with you guys okay so we're talking about it's an informal way this is what the def this is what the the online dictionary had um an informal way of responding to challenging or disparaging uh the claim or opinion of someone usually used in the phrase don't me so from what i was reading about this is that people would use this phrase don't me that's the that's the missing word that's this new word well kind of new word that has been added to the dictionaries don't me and the other hint that i would give you i gave you a keyboard there for two reasons thinking about like what this is something you will find on the keyboard but also i think it would be more commonly used when you're referring to like um social media and you're telling somebody that you maybe you don't want to be a part of this conversation or you don't want to be a part of this uh topic that they're talking about you say don't me okay he said don't hit me no not hit um i'll give you a hint because this is challenging i told you i never heard of this before i've never heard anybody use it i just thought it was fascinating showing how the the language is changing um we're talking about a symbol okay there there's your hint right there where and that's why i gave you the keyboard in that picture it is a symbol on the keyboard so what symbol would you use that you could complete and use that phrase don't um me all right it's a new again you guess you could say word but again i just told you it's not a word it's a symbol what would go in that blank think about social media all right how what do you have to do in order to include someone in on your conversation or discussion what do you need to do on social media all right people like don't shift no point no bother me yeah i mean obviously people say yeah don't bother me uh that is in the dictionary ghost no okay maybe you'll find this interesting i did which is why i've included it at all right so i told you that if you are wanting you want to include somebody else in something that's happening like challenge or responding to somebody online you would put at and then their username and then they will receive some notification or like it's they'll be a part they'll be added to the conversation and in this case like it's like you're telling somebody i don't want to be don't at me is the way um you would use it and i think that's how it's often used again i've never heard this being used but i wanted to include it because again it's like the language is changing a little more it made me think of the the other symbol hashtag which became very popular uh with with twitter and kind of like creating like this this environment for a conversation to take place and you would add a hashtag and it's like that symbol kind of it became a word added to the dictionary and now at is the same way so uh yeah don't at me exactly that's that's the way you would put it don't at me and i guess you're telling somebody don't include me in part of this conversation okay the next one the next word that has been added i think this was also um i think many of these were added mostly to merriam-webster's dictionary something that seems true but isn't backed up by evidence i've included this well truth because it's part of the word and apparently from what i was reading about this word is that it was first it started getting traction because stephen colbert who hosts a late night show began using this word i think just playfully joking around and then over the years because he's continued using it i guess other people have started using it and it's gotten to the point where now it has been added to some dictionary and it's not a word that i have ever used but i wanted to include it just giving you that back story um and i think because of the way because of the meaning and things that are going on with misinformation i think this is a word that you might hear people continue to use in the future so something that seems to be true but it's not backed by real evidence all right what do you think um all right excellent uh some of you got you got this one um perfect uh zsb wow uh close a addl you know you got it right that's true so we're talking about um the word that he was using is truthiness truthiness and again truth is a noun truthiness would also be a noun so it's kind of like the you not really a similar meaning truth is like yes that this is fact truthiness would just be like well it seems to be fact but really there's no evidence to support it another reason why i wanted to share this word is because you have that suffix at the end and this is a way in which people are constantly modifying the language and the language is evolving so you think of um like a word like happy it's an adjective but happiness we change it into a noun so in this case truth again is a noun your truthiness it's like you're changing it into another noun that has a slightly different meaning but i i think that's uh i wanted to point that out the way people use suffixes to kind of modify the language this is something that shakespeare did quite often and a lot of those um a lot of the words that that he was using at that time became very common words nowadays the next one is uh well we're talking about words in you know added in 2021 of course the pandemic has been a large part of conversation uh the last um couple of years and there are words that have come out of that and i think this is one that's also kind of related um to the pandemic the meaning you can see um not having to physically touch or interact with people all right what would you say um what would you say if you have any guesses again this is not a word that i was familiar with it's not a word that i've used i understand it because again this one also uses a suffix to kind of modify a word that i think is pretty well known so the meaning is not having physic to physically touch or interact with people all right what would you what would you say um again remember these are all words that are being added new to the dictionary um so some of the the words i think you have the same you're on the right track but like uh words like isolation they're already a part of the dictionary um let's see we have groundless all right so no not the ghosting so this social distance again that was a phrase that i think was added last year um even remote that's another phrase facetime them um so what we're talking about is well i'll show you the word and then i think you'll understand it because i said this is another example of a suffix being added that changes it we're just saying contactless so you're taking the word contact and you're adding less which is a suffix that means without so it's really like you're saying that oh it's without contact so maybe you're saying like yeah like this we're gonna have like this concert but it's going to be contactless that you're not going to have to physically touch or interact with other people there's going to be distance between them so once again again we're using this suffix to modify a word that is already there um and i think you could do this with a lot of different words um and and you may hear people do this informally so for example just giving you an example wanting to use less again if i were to say like oh i don't have a pen i'm like a pen like this um even though i do have one if i say i don't have a pen i'm penless i'm without a pen so i think l-e-s-s is a common suffix that people will use to you know say that they're without something but in this case i guess it's become common enough that it's been added to the dictionary all right so sticking on that theme of like kind of the pandemic and the influence that it's had this is another i think example that's become um this is a phrase that it's been abbreviated and the abbreviation i guess has been added to the dictionary um i was familiar very familiar with the phrase i didn't know i had never used it as an abbreviation but again i think i'm kind of behind the times when it comes to using abbreviations so the hint is the picture so this is um an abbreviation for what is this person doing in the picture so that my question is like what is this person doing it's about the picture so what's happening in this picture all right and then maybe think of the abbreviation that could go along with that all right what do you think um any any guesses all right so hello rodrigo from brazil how are you all right excellent um so yeah i think you guys are actually doing pretty well um guessing some of these and again if you're just joining us we're talking about new words that have been added to the the dictionaries in 2021 um things that are going on and they kind of yeah we end up adding these new words so this one like what is this person doing in the picture and then see if you can kind of extrapolate the abbreviation from that okay close um like interviewing cropping f being i'm guessing like facebooking like close i think you got kind of on the the right side so the phrase yes zsb uh got it wow zsb you're kind of that's impressive you got quite a few of these googling all right that's a good guess i guess what i was trying to get with this picture this person is working but where are they they're at home so they're working from home and that's a phrase that i think has become very common um talking about especially some of the changes because of the pandemic more people are working from home and i guess instead of saying the entire phrase people have just begun to abbreviate it and they just say wfh um i like i said i'm not too familiar with the abbreviation i've heard people talk about work from home it's something that i think many of you have heard about and i guess it's become so popular that people will just say wwfh instead of having to say work from home or probably i think more in the context of maybe if you're writing an informal email or sending a text message um this is when people will typically more likely abbreviate things all right so uh i think you guys kind of got that um excellent uh who else uh zera alhatti excellent good job um some people said remote work that's also it's kind of the same a similar thing remote you can kind of do anywhere you might not be at home you could be at a coffee shop but that's also a very similar idea so this is let me give you the definition um this is a phrase that i've used in before um i didn't realize that it's something that was maybe just added to the dictionaries but we're talking about a firm refusal or rejection of something like you you offer me something and i say you know that is a um like what what what what would come at the end of that this is a phrase okay uh so you're rejecting an offer and you would say yeah that is a or i'm going to take a on that two it's it's two words all right it's a phrase and i look like i said i think this is a good phrase um it's kind of casual uh probably one that maybe you've heard of but like i i didn't realize that it's something that was just added to one of the dictionaries but because of that i did want to share it with you so okay um talk to the hand no not talk to the hand uh even though that's a good phrase denied denied again that would that's that's been in the dictionaries that is in the dictionaries turned down as a common phrasal verb okay caroline ralph you're on the right track you both use the word pass so pass is part of the phrase so if it's a firm refusal you'd say oh that is a um pass what word would go with pass it's a firm refusal all right that's i'm kind of giving you a little bit more of a hint uh a go away no close uh no way no so we're pass is part of it and if it's a firm refusal you're gonna say you know i'm gonna take a hard pass on that a hard pass would be that that firm refusal and some of you you guys are putting in again other phrases that yeah they mean the same thing you could also use a no-go um but yeah i think uh a hard pass is a phrase that i've used before and i i again it was in one of those articles i've left those links down in the description if you'd like to check those out um a refusal is like you're turning down something you're saying no and again you could just say a pass i'll take a pass but if it's a firm rejection you can say yeah that's a hard pass all right the next one this is a little more informal and this is probably maybe more slang which is why i've kind of put it at the end of the lesson it's not one that i've used or i was familiar with i think maybe more common among younger generations but the definition is an act of bragging or showing off okay and the hint that is uh the picture that is a hint that's a clear hint um hopefully and i imagine maybe some of you will get this what do you think it is if somebody's bragging they're showing off um people may say use this word and again it's not one that i'm more familiar wow you guys are rocking this one did you know it or did you know it just because of the picture uh excellent job uh sleepwalker uh zias carolee and jay are angela um yuckbenier yeah in this picture that the person is flexing so a flex flex is like the act of bragging or showing off it would be used as a noun though um when i was looking into this and they say like oh somebody could say maybe you're bragging about something and they think it's strange to say wow that's a weird flex or that's a strange flex like you're strange that you're bragging about this thing uh so i think in this context it's used as a noun even though like bragging to brag is is a verb or to show off but people will use flex to refer to the act the act of bragging all right let's continue this is another one that i was i was not familiar with um and i think flex is a it's it's definitely more informal if you're you're wondering about it um this one is the action of becoming or acting like an adult and i think this one is a little also a little more casual informal possibly like a bit of slang um weird flex but okay yeah exactly that's a weird flex that's kind of how it was used in the the article that i was reading i think they used it in that way if somebody's bragging about something so what do you think uh the action of becoming or acting like an adult and in this word this word includes one of the words in the definition so i think by giving you that hint maybe you'll be able to put it together and let's see yes sam uh got it i don't know i guess some of you i i didn't realize i don't know i don't i i don't know if any of you open some of those links uh beforehand we're checking it out as we go through this that's always that's also a possibility um but yes the the correct answer is adulting um the action of becoming or acting like an adult i think this word has been more commonly used among like younger generations who i guess are expected to maybe try to act like an adult or they they're trying to pretend like they are and they could refer to adulting the action of becoming or acting like an adult it's a new word for me it's a new word for 2021 it's been added it's been added to some of the dictionaries now that doesn't mean all of these words have been added to all the dictionaries i told you this is just a fun informal vocabulary lesson really kind of trying to well kind of show you how the language has been changing even a little bit so these are the words that we've talked about in today's lesson what i'd like you to do is tell me in the comments which one of which is your favorite which which of these words do you like or have you heard about or maybe you've even used before uh let me know down in the comments because of course i i just love hearing from you guys so i hope some of these uh i hope some of these words are new if you'd like to go see like the full list from those uh the those websites that i kind of put this together from you can check that out down in the description and also um one last reminder if you're interested it's last call if you would like to join my speaking course it's getting ready classes are going to start this next week so this is the last last last last call if you want to join and remember you can use the code speak 22 to get 22 off so there are a lot of exciting things planned for this year i i really look forward to it a lot more lessons to share with you guys and i again i just want to say thank you for being with me in 2021 thank you for letting me be a part of your english learning journey and i hope that i can be continued to be a part of it in 2022 and if you're new here please check out some of my other video lessons there's so many different lessons up there i think i have about 500 video lessons now on youtube and again subscribe to the channel so that i i can become your teacher then that would be great and uh yeah that that's kind of all i got i hope you guys have a happy new year um and i of course i wish you all the best um in 2022 so let me give some last shout outs uh say thank you guys for joining uh let's see thank you angela zera um kayla kasia speak 22 for 22 off the price yes that's correct takayo good to see you again takayo i will see you soon uh sani sam lolly i didn't know any of these words yeah i told you i i was not familiar with many of them as well i just thought uh um that it would be interesting to share uh some of these words and i think some of them will become probably continue to be popular into the into the future um sam jane uh thank you guys for being here uh let's see uh somebody from korea it's 1209 wow in korea you're with me late excellent thank you thank you a little little midnight english study i love it uh annyeonghaseyo so yeah okay i'll just end it i could keep reading goodbyes all day um thank you guys for being here --- ## 451. NEW ENGLISH WORDS TO ADD TO YOUR VOCABULARY | QUIZ LESSON ๐Ÿ“ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Qrsre17SGMY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qrsre17SGMY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:32:39 | --- so today we are going to talk about some new English words of 2018 that's coming up [Music] welcome to today's lesson which is more of a vocabulary lesson so we're gonna talk about some of the new words that have been added this year we have a list of different words that have been added we don't know each other's words and we're going to try to guess what the words mean I'm gonna test our own English vocabulary and see if we're familiar with these words these are all words that have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary so that's that is the source that we're using for this and now we're gonna quiz each other and see if we know these new words some of them are easy some are really weird so just a fun challenge don't feel like okay you need to know these words in order to use this word yeah you don't some of these are probably inconsequential or I mean they're very specific for different purposes others might be more common than others but we'll let you know alright who wants to do you want to go first sure I'm going first no I'll guess first okay I'll give you an easy one the first planet yeah start out easy the first word is even-keeled if someone's even-keeled it's kind of means like they're well balanced that somebody a person who's well balanced in their I don't know that well balanced in their manners or their demeanor and their personality kind of am i right it's just calm steady you know emotionally or mentally stable yeah yeah that's the meaning so like an example sentence like Wes is even-keeled motional rock all right you ready yeah yeah this is I I don't know if this is gonna be easier or not barbershop er a barbershop yeah it is a noun so it is a barbershop er okay thinking about a barbershop er and I could give you I'll give you a hint if some hints if I mean I'm guessing you don't have any immediate I'm guessing you see that a person works in a barber shop one who goes to a barber shop maybe one or the other mmm think about a barber shop er I'll give you one word I'll give you one word I think you get it sing Oh like a quartet like a barbershop where's a person who sings in a quartet such a weird word well there is like the the the the idea of a barbershop quartet yeah is it in a barbershop or a member of a barbershop singing group a member of a barbershop singing group is a barbershop I feel like some of these words they they've maybe been around for a while and finally the you know Oxford is just like okay we'll add the word they've been around but maybe not slang or expressions that finally get added okay this one you might guess you might not guess I I actually didn't guess it and then I had to look it up but then it makes sense so it makes sense the way it is but it just anyway it's hetero social hetero social social yeah hetero social means somebody who's very sociable with the opposite sex if you're a guy and you're wanting to always be your personable you're talkative with other females other women I was checking the definition I'm thinking of like a a heterosexual would then be somebody who is attracted to somebody the opposite sex so hetero social somebody who's very social with the opposite sex I mean you're not wrong I just don't think you're it's not it's kind of in the neighborhood of what is it so it's kind of a long definition but it's saying that somebody who's hetero social it's basically somebody who has been shaped by the social standards of expectations of their of their gender sex gender whatever you want to call it okay well I was wrong then that's not talking about being social with somebody it's the kind of your norms and your values are confined to the way society expects you to be as a man however it also says designated social interaction between men and women so that is a multiple meaning word so basically it has to do with the interaction between the genders uh uh hetero so and kind of acting within you are like what's determined to be your okay which I I actually really like this word I thought it was really cool I think it's us I call this psychology word I could see that oh oh oh you're putting your claws in me stop it we have a cat oh it hurts okay so the next word I think I think you could get this one Beerfest Oh a beer fest a beer fest yeah if I were to guess I think a beer fest it's it's um yeah let's go the beer flavor your fist of all like were you drinking a lot of beer like some kind of event that celebrates beer an organized event at which a variety of beers are served so what would be the most well known beer fest Oktoberfest exactly oh my it's my turn okay this one you should guess I'll just say it's I agree what it sounds like mm-hmm well maybe I should have given you this hint later I'm too late now sorry I don't know it's a funny seed ball seed ball a seed ball heceta ball okay it's just a seed that's a ball like or you you form a bunch of seeds into a ball yeah so you matter I mean the definition is before around this cluster of seeds or fruits is literally okay and they call it a ball of seeds all right the whiskered what the whiskered but whiskered yeah is it like a cute right it sounds so cute the whiskered so somebody who has been betrothed whiskers the whiskered it like adorned with whiskers to adorn with whiskers nothing long hair or his whiskers on the face but whiskered in a regular sentence I don't know Georgie right here this cat is Boo is curd okay we're learning so many things they love it I love it I love it hipster dim hipster dumb mm-hmm hipster dumb mm-hm so is this like is this a noun yes it is a place full of hipsters are like an area of hipsters like kind of it has to do with hipsters yes it is so it's the condition of being a hipster okay also there's not make sense with the suffix like the yeah hipster dumb yeah the state or quality of being a hipster yes or also the world of hipsters nobody really knows it's just somebody that's very does know nobody does really know I don't know I've never been called a hipster you had no surprise no even though I'm so trendy next word okay this is an easy one I think many of you would know it Facebook as a verb meaning like what you're sending a message to somebody on Facebook mm-hmm yeah okay to Facebook someone okay have you ever faced well we'd like actually use that word like hey Facebook me yeah I'm sure I have was doesn't know I don't like as a hipster that's not what we do just say send me a message on facebook I don't think yeah I don't think I've done it often but I'm sure I have okay I'll Facebook you sounds familiar okay this one you might not guess either but it's also kind of logical maybe you'll guess a Jackson night Jackson Heights a Jackson I think historical a Jackson night mm-hmm well somebody who studies Andrew Jackson close if my hint is historical I'd say whatever group of people that are studying or adhering to yeah the principals of Andrew Jackson yeah it's just the person who's who's supporting you right like the policies and principles of Andrew Johnson and okay yeah which that word may be rather irrelevant to people that are not from the United States right but if you ever fall in love with the policies of Andrew Jackson just in case you're out there I just love Andrew Jackson you know you could be a Jackson how about thinking get this one and this is a common word binge-watch okay yeah yeah I'm surprised it was it hasn't been a dictionary yes no it's added this year with these streaming services like Netflix and well it's just I'm guessing it means to watch a show like to watch many episodes of a show in a row mm-hmm like a marathon to watch them one after the other and quickly yeah to binge watch you guys ever binge watched I mean we have I don't really binge watch that much literally we do like with the office if you soon as seen it so many times yeah I guess but we put on like a lot of shows that are just kind of in the background they're not paying attention not like binge watch where I'm focused on us I have TV show for life for 20 hours or so I have I don't know my name with like 5 yeah ok Oh Mimi oh this was so easy you're gonna guess it under mental I'm judgmental not judgmental yes mental ok I'm guessing that they've just allowed that prefix to be Ani it was non-judgmental before and now it's unjust people would say not judgmental and right let's say oh well let's just make it ungentle mm-hmm so you can be uninteresting all right the next one hip hop hip hop hip hop hip hop is it like a mix between hip hop and pop music yeah yeah combines the elements of hip hop and pop okay I have no idea like I was actually looking to try and find some examples of like well who do they who do they consider hip hop oh is it like you know Eminem and Rihanna they had that song when they're like it's alright but I like the way it burns and he's like rapping OH [Music] that's alright because I like the waiter but that was wrapped doesn't M&M my game I'm too old for this I don't know I don't know I have no idea it's a new word so I imagine maybe it's a new genre that they're classifying music I'm guessing you guys think we've heard hip hop before we just didn't know what it was I think this is an again straightforward even though it's gonna seem a little difficult but just think of the most straightforward answer you can give why are you trying to cheat even if it's not the word McKee derson no ilysm evidentialism is the word evidentialism yeah the quality of something being evident and appearing too evident mm-hmm like evidence uh-huh uh-huh like having evidence to support whatever it is you're trying to say or do or evidentialism yeah kind of it says any of various theories asserting the quality and traditional person's evidence for a belief is the primary factor by which the belief is justified so basically saying that that if your belief is that you believe that you're that you have to base something off of evidence okay that's it must be rooted rooted with evidence yeah that's my take on this definition very long definition yeah I think this one is a difficult one microaggression oh I know that so I think it's been around in the political sphere a lot like talking about like maybe like political issues like feminism or racism or something when you when you do when you commit an act of microaggression I think it means like these little things that you say or do that are not like violent towards somebody but they're still kind of hostile towards somebody mm-hmm marginalizing yeah this group yeah yeah no exactly a statement action regarded as an indirect indirect subtle or unintentional to discrimination against a marginalized group bubble head a bubble head somebody whose head looks like a bubble no you need to say hey you're a bubble head no hey look at that bubble head over there but think of something that sounds like it Georgie the Chi has a little bit of a bubble head are you gonna tell us what it is or it's kind of a synonym with airhead then somebody who's not intelligent not smart unaware yeah so it's just somebody instead of a bubble head that's new for me maybe that was you are slang or something and then it became a word bubble hood I remember reading about it it was maybe that's something that kids are using now like hey this guy's a bubble head no it had something to do with like Irish etymology using that no yeah like hey you bubble head okay here's one a gadjo oh I know that I'm I was curious if you it's it's cuz it's from from Roma it's a stranger isn't it yeah yeah i gadget like I saw it's it's a it's a Romani word used to talk about a non Roman a person yeah so you used to talk about somebody who's not gypsy yeah the gaucho is it's it was added yeah this year okay the last one that I have is hippyish hippie-ish well ich is kind of means something is like or similar to something else so if somebody is hippyish they are kind of like kind of like or similar to a hippie that's right hippie-ish so again yeah if you don't know hippies a hippie is that's like a term from gosh from the 60s yeah hippie is like somebody who was you know all about freedom and love peace like very much into nature drugs whatever trees yeah trees hippies more one more I want to ask you I want to ask you this alright ready the another word zeus like oh it's an adjective like this could either mean like zeus don't overthink it it's just like being like somebody is zeus like assembling the ancient Greek god of goofs characteristics befitting of zeus for example wes is zeus like angry I didn't think Seuss was necessarily well I think all those always anything most that many of those gods were angry but I feel like Zeus I think of like strength and power and oh yeah yeah yeah lightning yeah yeah okay actually Jackson knowledge well we hope that you learned some new words today I know yeah I definitely learned some new words so in the comments why don't you tell us a new word that you have learned and share with us it doesn't have to be from this year or this lesson but any new word that you've learned that you thought was interesting which oh can I ask something here we go what which one of these words today that we've talked about do you like the most I like the ones that you told me sure I think I would go with bubble head it's so simple why which one which one do you like from yours yeah can you read them again I got you I got you gotcha okay how many words so if you guys like this lesson and you feel like you've learned some new words from this year please hit that like button and as always thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time thank you --- ## 452. NEW WORDS from 2020 | Vocabulary Year in Review | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `r3pPGuY5-UE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3pPGuY5-UE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:22:11 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english and here at this channel if this is your first time here uh we're just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i have a i guess it's a vocabulary lesson for you it's really a fun lesson and the reason why i say it's a fun lesson is because we're going to talk about new words from 2020 so the the new year has passed 2020 is in our rear-view mirror and we're i'm sure all of us are just looking ahead to 2021. we're i guess everybody i'm sure everybody's excited for this year a lot more than last year last year was just uh it was a difficult rough year not a great year uh but i want to look back at some of the words that have been added to the english language because every month pretty much there are new words that are added to the english language and they're added to online dictionaries and i want to take a look at a few of them and that's why i said it's a fun lesson because these are words that they're not going to be used in everyday conversation they're pretty casual they're pretty informal but it is stuff that you might hear from time to time and some of them are more popular than others and i'll try to to highlight that as we go through so i do want to give a quick shout out to some of you who have joined me today i love hearing from you guys please say hello to me in the comments in the chat uh welcome uh patrice happy new year uh takayo good to see you catrudus welcome happy new year angela lara tatau lavina hello wendell welcome thank you guys so much for joining me on uh on this saturday the second day of the new year so this is going to be a little bit of uh kind of maybe like a quiz lesson what i'm going to do is before i tell you the word i'm going to show you a picture that is like a hint and i'll tell you a little bit about the meaning of the word see if you can try to guess it and then i'll tell you what word i'm talking about and again these are probably words that you may not be familiar with because well because they're new words there are new words that have been added to english in 2020 and the source that i used for this was dictionary.com not all of these words will be found in all dictionaries i think over time words get added to certain dictionaries and others may not add them so i use dictionary.com as my reference for this list because if you go on to another online dictionary they may not have these words listed so disclaimer that's one thing i wanted to tell you let's start um let's start with this right here okay here's your here's your first picture as a hint for this new word from 2020 it is a burger looks very it looks pretty delicious to me kind of hungry right now uh so this is part of the new word and it's talking about something that is irrelevant is really what you're trying to say if there is like an accusation and oh this person they did this and then you try to say well this is irrelevant there nothing came out of it nobody could prove this accusation to be true it's just a big what what was this new word from 2020 uh it is a hamburger it is a yummy burger i will give you guys that the new word from 2020 is a nothing burger so i i told you that i think often people might use this in the context of an accusation oh this happened and then perhaps people look into it and they don't really find anything that was really bad that happened and say oh it was just a big nothing burger so i think this is a word that you might hear probably in talking a little bit more about politics because in politics there's a lot of accusations flying around and people might say well this is just a big nothing burger it's not that important it's a way of calling something such as an accusation you're saying it is irrelevant okay so you get the idea so i'm gonna give you a the picture is kind of a hint and we'll see all right um but uh welcome to these guys if you're just joining excellent thank you uh hello lupna karina uh gavard mahdi excellent thanks thanks for joining let's look at the next one okay here here is a picture of michael jordan uh some of you are probably familiar with michael jordan he's a he was doesn't he does not play basketball anymore but he was a very famous basketball player and this is a word that it's an acronym and this is an acronym that i think is more common which is why i've put it up on this list it was added as a well new word acronym of 2020 because i think people are just using it more and more so michael jordan he was the best some people would say he was the and it's really an acronym i'd be very impressed if some of you get this uh get this correct so michael jordan was the greatest of all time that is the acronym greatest of all time and if we just take that first letter of each of those words it is the goat so i know when many of you think of goat you think of the animal of course but if somebody's talking about uh like a professional athlete uh like football people might say oh leno messi he's the goat he is the greatest of all time michael jordan the goat the greatest of all time that is what this acronym means and i i told you i think it was added people start to use it this is more informal in conversation in speech and then it starts to as more people start to use it i think that's when words get added to the dictionary so this was a new word it's an acronym from 2020 if you say somebody's the goat the greatest of all time the next picture all right excellent angela wow did you get lavina did you guys get that excellent uh i like the i like the emoji body excellent this is the next picture this is another word that i think is has become very common and you can see in the picture this woman is having a video conference online you can see other people and it's actually the name of a company okay that is your hint it's the name of a company vu pencil i'm the goat oh thank you i really appreciate that uh it's the name of a company and it's become a word because it became so popular last year uh during the pandemic more people businesses were moving online and i say it's the name of a company similar to people use google now as a word it's the name of a company but somebody might search for something and they say oh let's let's just google it all right excellent uh gettrudis yasmin wow you guys all right i'm guessing probably you have been maybe using this platform like i have zoom that's what i'm talking about so you and notice that it's in lower case it's a lowercase letter zoom and you might just say to somebody oh let's just zoom this weekend and in that case they're talking about having a video conference to zoom it would be used as a verb to zoom and if you are going to use it especially in writing it would be very informal you would use the the lowercase letter zoom so uh that kind of brings me i actually use this platform it's just to communicate with a person or a group of people over the internet you're video chatting to zoom and i do use this we use this for uh the new course which i wanted to tell you about real quickly we have classes on zoom if you would like to improve your speaking and practice more speaking in 2020 check out uh our new speaking course that's going to start very soon it is a 10-week course classes are once a week and again this course you have classes with me this class is all about just trying to help you practice and improve your speaking skills and we do a lot of pronunciation there is so many different speaking topics that we discuss so let me put some information it's down in the description and i'm also going to put a link right here in the chat boom uh right there and if you use the voucher code speak up 10 you can get a 10 discount on the course so if you want to find out more information click on the link you can find more about class times prices but you must sign up by january 10th okay so that is our little promotion and as you can hear yes there is there is our little baby crying in the background she just woke up from her nap and she's not very happy about waking up from the nap let's let's continue okay um it's a nothing burger it's a nothing burger uh it is important to me but it right now it's irrelevant for the lesson it's nothing burger let's just move on here is the next picture right here so this is a word that i was actually not familiar with this word and you can see in the picture there's a lot of social media images and what it is talking about is parents sharing a lot of a lot of pictures a lot of things about their children on social media and it's become a word it's actually a verb and if you have any any idea take a guess so that's what it is it's parents sharing things on social media about their children and what this is called i didn't know this word before to share it so you've taken the word share and parent and you've combined them to sharant it means to frequently use social media to share photos and other details information about one's child this is a word that's probably more used for people especially families they have children i think we all know um people that do this and you see it in social media they're just constantly sharing stuff uh about their children we do it too if you guys follow us of course you see pictures of our baby girl up there i try i don't think we do it too much but again maybe maybe some people think we might i don't know here is the next word um okay let me explain this this is i couldn't find a good picture this is talking about technology all right and it's another word where it's been combined with uh something another word that means when there is when there's a problem so what the meaning of this is it's talking about when all right let me find it it is it's a negative reaction or backlash against big tech companies like facebook and google sometimes a lot of people get angry at these big tech companies there's a backlash and they would call that that situation what all right i told you the word too that you would combine it with backlash technology backlash against these companies and you could say there is a teclash this is a new word from 2020. if you guys are just joining us i'm talking about new words from 2020 that were added to the english language and again i'm referencing dictionary.com so a tech lash is talking about a strong negative reaction uh or backlash against the largest tech companies okay so uh excellent uh maybe some of you got that uh hopefully wow technox is new for you abraham excellent it was kind of new for me as well uh thank you daniel i appreciate that here is the next uh the next word that we're going to talk about here is your picture guy giving a thumbs up let me explain let me give you some context so you know what i'm talking about really the picture i couldn't find a good one but it's talking about the phrase am i right and people will use this phrase at the after they say something like they're trying to have somebody agree with them and you would say am i right like what do you think about this am i right how about this am i right and what's happened is people say that am i right and it's actually become a word now am i right and this was added to dictionary.com am i right this was new for me i had no idea what was going on uh with this word am i right i've heard about people using the phrase at the end of something when they want to they make an observation they want the other person to agree and they would say am i right and apparently it's gotten blended together into one word now am i right all right so that is another new word from 2020. let's keep going i have some more for you all right here is this is actually a word that i heard a long time ago i had some friends that would say this more is like slang you're saying that something is really great it's really cool i've given you a picture of sauce there are three different sauces in that picture and that is part of the word sauce and you'd say it's really cool it's really great it's more like i said a bit of slang i think younger people would tend to use this when i was um working a long time ago as when i first heard this word and it was it was uh i think some people that i was hanging out with they were in their early twenties and they would say something is really cool it's really great and they sauce is a part of the word so that is sauce uh it's not no well junk food i like junk food but it's a good guess but that's not the word wow angela excellent perfect the word is awesome sauce so i told you that i think a long time ago this was more just slang that people would use to say something is really cool it's really great but in 2020 this word was added to the dictionary i would still say that it is a bit of slang and it really depends on who you're talking to if you want to try to use it if you want to have a little fun so instead of saying something is awesome saying it's great you could say awesome sauce all right then we have uh okay here is the meaning awesome it's used to say something is good impressive or awesome let's keep going here is your next picture and let me explain so i've given you uh several different colors and the colors are a little similar and if i were to say well what do you think about um this color right here is that purple and you might say well it's like purple this is actually a word that i talked about in a very recent lesson about things that textbooks might not teach you and you want to say something similar it's like this and you can use a suffix and you can now you can use it as just one word and i taught you this in the video uh i think it was last week or two weeks ago and when i was putting together this lesson i realized wow it was actually added as a separate word and if you want to say well it's it's like this you can just say this one word is would if you say oh is that is that purple and you say uh or that is that purple yes i think you guys saw the lesson yes takayo uh liamur sid mzz catrudus lavina ish that is right uh i had no idea this is it's added as a suffix to the end to say well something's purplish it's kind of like that and i told you in the lesson that a lot of people will some people i shouldn't say a lot but people may just use this as a standalone word to say it's like something or similar to it but apparently it was added to the dictionary in 2020-ish then we have well i'll give you the meaning it refers to something that is similar near or about you could say approximately ish then here this is a phrase and i think by the picture because this this is a phrase that was added to the dictionary because i think we so many people talked about it in 2020 because of the pandemic so in the picture you can see the the woman is trying to stay away from that guy they want to keep somewhat i don't want to tell you the the the word that i'm thinking of because then i think you'll know it it's too much of a hint but in 2020 even now people would say we need to do what what do we need to do that's what this picture is we talk about it a lot in 2020 and i still think we do need to do it now excellent you're absolutely correct uh social distance great job gatrudus abraham suhuna uh limar rue so social distance refers to this right here a safe or appropriate distance or amount of space between two people or between people in a group this is a phrase that i think people would use even before but because of the pandemic because of coven 19 it became people were talking about it a lot so that's why this phrase was added to the dictionary in 2020. let's look at another i believe this is another phrase yes and this is another i guess you could say i think it's a kind of a problem that sometimes it happens so look at the picture it's a picture of a bubble and inside the bubble there is an eye and typically that eye would stand for what perhaps you're traveling somewhere you go to the airport and you see you might see uh an eye that looks like that and you're like oh i need to go there because i need to find out some more what so think about what the i stands for and then it's inside the bubble all right so yes katrina's the i stands for information but what are we talking about in information what an information bubble so this is a phrase that i think is used it's been used more because i think of social media and people you could say people live in their own information bubble and what it means is that the and i'll just read it the environment in which one's exposure to news entertainment social media it just represents one perspective and either does not represent the rest of it or maybe it misrepresents it and you could say that people live in their own information bubble that if i believe something i'm only going to find news that really tells me the same thing and then i'll just i just live in my own information bubble people might also refer to this as a filter bubble as well so this was a new phrase that was added to 2020 in 2020 an information bubble and i think this happens to i think this happens to all of us because we use social media for example i use youtube and if i look at something on youtube they they tip they will tend to give me more thing videos just like that so it's almost like it's confirming whatever i'm watching and i think on youtube people are able to live in different information bubbles and it's just as long as we're we realize that we can try to get out of it uh but it's a good phrase added to the dictionary in 2020. uh here again this is a word that i was not aware of but i'm giving you two dogs right here and again the names were pushed together to create a new word which is a i guess i don't want to maybe it's a new breed of dog i don't know so if you know the names of those two dogs then you could probably guess what the new word is so i'm giving you a picture of the two dogs i told you the the two the names were pushed together to form this new word in 2020. uh i'm sure the dogs existed before that if they were if people would breed them together so we have um [Music] we have a beagle and a pug all right those are the two dogs a beagle and a pug and if we put them together apparently you get a puggle so that is a new word that was added to the dictionary in 2020 i had no idea and you have a beagle and a a pug is a puggle i'm sorry i didn't i should have gotten a picture of it because i really i don't know what a puggle looks like but if you go on google you could google it again i'm using that as a verb you can google google it uh puggle and perhaps you'd see some pictures so it is a cross between a pug and a beagle let's look at another one this is another phrase so think about what this situation is and probably you might be able to figure it out it's uh it's kind of an event or activity that started to become more and more popular and i think the phrase has been around for a while and then it was added to the dictionary in 2020 and this is something that you might see on the news it started out with this people making a cake now you can see that one cake has blue inside the other cake is pink think about what that stands for and then if you can guess what that is perhaps you might know what phrase i'm talking about so typically people might do this and they would create a cake um for a baby shower uh or maybe not a baby shower this is actually kind of a different party and what they would do is the the blue cake would mean a boy and the pink would mean a girl and what people would do is they'd have this party or event and they'd have their friends over and then they were or family and then they would cut the cake and it would reveal if it's a boy or a girl and they would call this what abraham democrats or republicans close good guess uh finger no it's i'm talking about the phrase gender reveal and you would hear people talking about a gender reveal party or there was a gender reveal event where you're going to reveal the gender of the newborn baby and i said it started out i think a while ago years ago with people doing cakes and this last year i saw like it got crazier and crazier the the types of parties that people were having there was one in california where they they set off like these ridiculous fireworks shows and it actually started a fire and it started a forest fire and it was really silly because it was very dry and people were like why were they setting off fireworks at this time of year and it really became a big problem and they were like oh it was a gender reveal party so it started out i think with cakes and i think some people still might do this but there have been these other more crazy parties where people are doing all sorts of things that i think is a little too much but that's what it is it's a gender reveal party or it's a type of event so these are well i'll give you the meaning it's a public disclosure of the gender of an unborn baby by the soon-to-be parents uh parent or parents and i'm sure i'm guessing if people are having a gender reveal party probably they will start sharing at some point later on and they're just sharing all those photos on social media this is the word list that we talked about today and just to give you my opinion as to which ones i think are a little more common i think goat is something if you like sports and you listen to sports that is a an acronym that you will hear or you could probably use if you're having a conversation zoom that is another word especially in 2020 i think people were using a lot more uh i also think that depending on the people you're communicating with the age group if it if it's a younger group of people maybe they'll say that something is awesome sauce ish i do think is a prefix that again people might use to say yeah it's similar and you again you could say like uh purplish or red ish you could actually you would use it as the suffix at the end of a word but you may just use it on its own social distance of course that's very common people are we're still talking about it we're still doing it right now as we should just to be safe i hope all of you are staying safe staying healthy um and i think information bubble is a phrase that i think you will likely continue to hear in the future because this is stuff that's that's still going on and i don't know how i don't know how it's going to stop i think people just like to find out information that really supports the things they already believe in so these are some these are all new words uh from 2020 that were added to the dictionary again i referenced dictionary.com hopefully some of them were new for you this was more just a fun vocabulary lesson if you did like the lesson and you learn something new please hit that like button i would really appreciate it uh thank you guys uh so much for joining me remember if you do want to improve your speaking practice your speaking skills in 2020 check out our course you would take lessons with me yours truly uh and our speak up course i just threw another link in the chat there's links down in the description thank you guys for joining me today give some shout outs thank you lori john uh lomer thank you awesome oh i'm awesome sauce you're awesome sauce uh marty crazy dove is it a noun i don't know if you're talking about uh which word uh maybe if i was talking about ish i don't know actually if we're if you're asking about ish i'm not sure about the part of speech i'm guessing it would be maybe an adjective i'd have to look at i'd have to check that out uh almar thank you for joining me um give some shout outs thank you it was great to see so many members and patrons in here as well thank you uh thank you guys for supporting the channel i really appreciate it uh takayao glad you enjoyed the lesson nekla good to see you uh abdus here suhana sanjana uh sandre simelius uh sorry if i miss some names i try to get out in as many shout outs as i can uh esther daniel hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend i will be back next saturday for another live lesson dennis here thank you i really appreciate that i i try to do the best i can i don't know if i'm the goat uh but maybe one day i'm going to keep working at it i'm going to keep trying to improve my english teaching skills improve my craft because that's what it is so that you guys can continue to practice and improve your english skills hope you had a great start to 2021 and i hope it continued --- ## 453. NOUNS + PREPOSITIONS | Learn These Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qbPyknd3lkY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbPyknd3lkY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:27:39 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English which are channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English and today is really a true practice lesson because I want you to participate I have the will these questions that I'm going to ask you and I want you to respond either in the chat or respond in the comments even if you're watching this later because that is such a great way to improve is just to continue keep getting more and more practice now what we're going to practice today are what we're gonna practice the following nouns and prepositions so I am going to talk to you about nouns that are followed by certain prepositions and these are phrases that I think are quite common and that's what we're gonna work on today so I want to give a quick shout out to some of you who have joining me today hello Aidan banette sleepwalker Lali Alyssa Martina meri Nino Devika hello how are you thank you guys for joining me and and as we go through this again I want you to write your answers and I'll try to give some more shoutouts as we go along now the first thing that I really wanted to to get to and show you is that well just a little recap we're gonna be talking about nouns and the prepositions that follow and I thought this picture is is relevant I have used it before when talking about words that are followed by prepositions but you can think about like these big ducks these nouns these content words that really helped us put pictures in our mind followed by these prepositions that the these small words that that people tend to forget about sometimes now I think the thing with prepositions that they are difficult in that regard is that you if you make a mistake I think most of the time people will still understand what you're trying to say but this is all about improving your fluency so that you are speaking accurately you are speaking correctly or even incorrectly if that's what you're doing now the best way to learn this is you know this is not something you're going to just memorize all of these nouns and the prepositions that follow I think the best way to do it is to to read to be able to see the nouns and the prepositions that follow whether you're reading a book or the newspaper or you're even reading these questions because this is the other great way is just to practice and and just keep getting as much practice as you can because that's just gonna help you in the long run so the way we're going to do this is I am going to just give you some some statements or maybe a question and there's just going to be a blank and I want you to tell me what preposition goes in that blank look at the noun that comes before and think about what preposition follows if you're not sure I would still encourage you to go ahead answer the questions and if you if you don't know just try to do what feels right because like I said chances are you have read these nouns and prepositions before you do have it up here even if it's not something that is yet in your active memory which is the memory that you have where you have an ability to be able to recall this information so even that's why I said just do what feels right if you're unsure so let's jump into it the first one that I have for you is this okay I'd like you to give a response mmm these questions so that's true this is something I've made this the the first one for a reason because yeah this is what I would tell you right now I would say yes I'd like you to give a response mmm these questions in this in this context in this sentence you have a response response is a noun what preposition do you think follows that noun right your answer let me know because I just want to hear from you guys excellent yes I have Lally Muhammad Mary Leticia the answer is two you would give a response to something and if you give a response to something you're just you're giving an answer you're giving a reaction I would like you to give a response to these questions write your answers in the chat write your answers in the comment comments and just participate in in this activity good way to practice the next one is right here okay so I could say there was an increase mmm crime after the budget cuts so there was an increase mmm crime after the budget cuts you the noun again it's always going to come before those blanks so you know that the noun we're talking about is an increase an increase mmm crime after the budget cuts if you want to know what budget cuts are it's when you're taking the budget the amount of money you have and you're cutting it all right you're you have less money so yes excellent Monda Marcel Bonita Edelson there there was an increase in crime there was an increase in crime after the budget cuts so if you're talking about an increase in something it's just again a rise in the amount or size of something most of these meanings that I'm giving you right here it's really the meaning of the noun but I do want to put that preposition right after it because again these are these are words that are frequently used together an increase in something the next one and I think many of you maybe you could relate to this I yeah I do watch I do watch a fair bit of YouTube and they say I have an addiction mmm YouTube so we're talking about an addiction we've we've used this word before because I think a lot of times people would use this word as the adjective which is addicted you are addicted mmm something in that case - you're going to follow it with the same preposition whether it is an adjective or a noun in this case we're talking about the noun and addiction mmm something so I would tell you it just said yeah yeah you know I watch a lot of YouTube i I could say I guess you could say I have an addiction to YouTube alright so this is the preposition that would follow you would have an addiction to something excellent Luna Darby Angela who else a bead thank you guys for answering you have an addiction to something it the meaning of an addiction is just when you are physically or mentally dependent on something and that you you must have it often I think people might talk about something a bit more serious like in addiction to drugs other times like in this example it's more just a casual it's kind of just you're you're trying to say that you you you have too much of something like you have an addiction to YouTube or some people might say that they have an addiction to coffee and like oh I must have it so again if physical or mental dependence on something let's look at the next one I say the picture I like that picture this is a recipe mmm disaster a recipe disaster the noun we're talking about is a recipe so the reason I chose this one and I tried to give you a picture to kind of represent this expression this phrase because it is more of an expression but think about what preposition is going to follow that noun this is a recipe disaster this is an expression that I'm sure you would hear watching a movie or a TV show and people would use it to talk about a situation just like this one so you would say if they're looking at that picture you'd say wow this is a recipe for disaster they recipe for something excellent we coat Rudess Lalli perfect so this one may be a little bit trickier but you're talking about a recipe for something a recipe those are just instructions it's talking about how to prepare food like my grandmother has a great recipe for make it for chocolate chip cookies you have a recipe for something for food in this case I'm using it a little differently we're talking about this expression a recipe for disaster it's talking about something that is going to have a really bad outcome and you say oh goodness this is a recipe for disaster so good let's go back to that picture guys riding on the front of a car you think well this is not going to end well this is a recipe for disaster so if you're talking about a recipe for for disaster you're referring to a situation that is likely going to end badly and you can use that expression a recipe for disaster but in general if you're talking about cooking you would say a recipe for some meal some type of food a recipe for something the next one the very common word somebody would say is congratulations now if you want to give more information and really be specific about what you're talking about you could say congratulations mmm like this congratulations mmm the promotion somebody got a promotion at work they have a different position which is better maybe they get paid more money and somebody would say congratulations mmm the promotion you have to be careful I always I have a tendency to want to say the preposition and just tell you the answer so if you're talking about congratulations you would say congratulations congratulations on something congratulations on the promotion because when you say your congratulations you are expressing praise for for some type of achievement congratulations on the promotion Oh congratulations on the new baby congratulations on your marriage something that happened an achievement a great event and you would say congratulations on this thing excellent ruber congratulations Darby a10 excellent congratulations on Nastia thank you excellent great job the next one this I tried to think of an example and this is something that a lot of people in the United States some people feel this way so I could say much of the population supports a ban hmm assault weapons in the United States the little cultural things Second Amendment which is the right to bear arms which is the same as kind of like a right to own a gun but a big debate in the u.s. is like okay well what kind of guns are we talking about so these guns would be very more lethal assault weapons so much of the population supports a ban hmm assault weapons so the noun that we're talking about is a ban what preposition is going to follow that a ban mmm something so we're talking about these assault weapons what do you think what and if you're not sure because again we're talking about a ban that's a noun that may not be as commonly used as some of these other ones but what what just feels right if you're talking about yes new yen Abdul Rahman Stephen excellent you're talking about a ban on something a ban on something is when you are either officially or legally prohibiting this thing there is a ban on assault weapons or maybe somebody could say there's a ban on smoking or there is a ban on using cellphones at school so there can be a variety of reasons why somebody would want to prohibit something and you'd say there is a ban on this thing a ban on something the next one and I think this is true there is a strong bond mmm a mother and her cubs I found that cute little picture right there these polar bears a mother and her cubs and you could say yes there is a strong strong bond hmm a mother and her cubs so this one I'll talk a little bit more about we're taught there is a collocation in there too so a lot of these nouns and prepositions you could say their collocation z' which are words that are frequently used together but I'd asked I'd also add in this case that adjectives a strong bond that is another collocation if you're talking about a bond you could say there is a strong bond mm-hmm a mother and her cub so in this case yes most of you guys rock this one you're talking about a bond between someone now in this case we're talking about animals but it's the same thing a bond between two people or or groups of people so excellent great job Eddie kick back try to throw some other names in there sunshine great job mom preach so a bond between a mother and her Cubs the next one let's look at this is all right we're talking about the captain the captain has authority hmm his crew what preposition is going to follow this noun the captain has authority mmm his crew what do you think write your answer in the chat or in the comments later again I just want you participate practice using these prepositions think about that noun authority we're talking about the authority mmm his crew all right so I hope I hope that you answer the captain has authority over his crew the captain has authority over his crew so you could have authority over something some situation or you could have authority over someone like a person or a group of people and it's talking about the ability to control someone or again added some situation the captain has the authority over his crew that one may be a little tricky remember you have authority over something or someone all right the next one let's keep going if we don't change the way we do business we run the risk mmm failure all right so you see that noun I'm giving you these nouns we're talking about risk risk mmm failure if we don't change the way we do business we run we run the risk mmm failure which preposition is going to follow that noun and this is I think that is this is a common phrase that you might hear if people are talking about the risk mmm something excellent Manpreet Nino that's just going so fast you guys everything so many people participating I love it gah no Daniel you're talking about the risk of something which if we're talking about risk it means the possibility of something bad happening so you could talk in that case like I said that's a common phrase and expression you talk about the risk of failure that we don't if we don't change the way we do business we run the risk of failure I also want to highlight that talking about that expression to run the risk people might say that together if they're talking about something that bad that could happen you could say oh we run the risk of something happening we run the risk of failure we run the risk of losing our license we run the risk of something all right let's keep going we have the need mmm speed I I put this picture of this is a reference to a movie from 1919 80s 1986 I believe was the year and this is a phrase from that movie as a statement from that movie we have the need mmm speed and it was a movie about these these guys they're flying these jets so I bonus points if you can tell me what what movie I'm thinking of so if we're talking about the need excellence hellim say sod great job Sylvia nice you have the need for something when you have the need for something it's talking about you you just must have it you you must have something that you just don't have so you could have a need for more money maybe you have the need for a car you don't have one right now but it's saying you have a in this case the need for speed yes Gertrudis excellent Adan it is the movie of Marcelo Top Gun yeah starring Tom Cruise if you haven't seen it it's an entertaining movie from the 1980s they fly those jets and in one of the lines they say that we we have the need for speed then we have this next one which i think is quite common so I hope that many of you are able to guess are able to get this one correct I have a strong interest mm education that's something that's true it's that's why I put it in there for me I have a strong interest mmm education we're talking about the noun and interest so if somebody's using it as a noun and interest what preposition follows it's the same if we're talking about the adjective interested somebody says I'm interested education we're going to use the same preposition so I think many of you know this one because it's more common that you're talking about the things you like and your interests and you'd say I would say I have a strong interest in education you have an interest in something that you want to learn more about it you want to focus more on this thing you want to give more attention to it you have an interest in something excellent Angela Lewis ooh bad Shalu Vijay nice well done let's continue going because again I want to get through as many of these as possible just keep practicing and practicing and practicing the police did an investigation mmm the company's finances so if you have some situation and they they say maybe you read this in a newspaper or you are watching a TV show you're saying the police did an investigation mmm the company's finances we're talking about an investigation what preposition is going to follow that that noun an investigation mmm something Oh Thank You marina I'm interested in your lessons thank you a great example interested in something so if you're talking about in invent an investigation close excellent yes this one may be a little more challenging because it really has to do with crime if you don't watch many crime TV shows or movies you might not hear this that often great job sleepwalker monthly we're talking about an investigation into something or you could do an investigation into someone if you're trying to discover more information about this person but a lot of times you would talk about an investigation into something which is an investigation it's the act of carefully examining some crime or problem but again if you are somebody who watches movies or TV shows that have anything to do with the police then you might hear this expression talking about doing an in negation into something or an investigation into someone an investigation into then we have like that picture he lost control mmm his emotions he lost control hmm his emotions so we we know you know the now we're talking about control what preposition what preposition is going to follow that now he lost control mmm his emotions and I think that is another common collocation you're talking about control you might hear people talk about somebody losing control in this case where it's the past tense he lost control his emotions so this one excellent I think you guys rocked it yes Leticia Diego Abdul Rahman many of you putting a couple of different answers but the one thing I want to show you is you could use either one you could say control of something or control over in this case either one of them is fine and in my opinion I think control of is probably a little more common if you say he lost control of his emotions but you could use over as well means the same thing he lost control of his emotions or he lost control over his emotions and you're talking about control which is the power that one has over that could be another person or some situation control of or control over either one great job you guys you guys knew that one so let's look at this next one this one it may be a little more challenging the hotel has a loose affiliation hmm local restaurants so affiliation is a word hopefully you know what it means that it's problem it's not as common as talking about control control of something but I could say in this in this situation the hotel has a loose affiliation hmm local restaurants and again I think it's good to keep in mind that that is also a collocation you might hear talking about a loose affiliation so if you know what affiliation means and you've heard this word before hopefully you know what preposition follows it great job lolly sleepwalker those caballero you're talking about in affiliation with something an affiliation with something is a connection you with some type of organization or maybe a political party a religion you have an affiliation with something the hotel has a loose affiliation with local restaurants I told you that loose affiliation is a phrase that you may hear because that just means that there's a connection but it's not very strong so you could use it if there you could say something as someone has a strong affiliation with something there is a tight connection or a loose affiliation which is the opposite which means yeah it's not it's very casual it's not very maybe very important a loose affiliation with something then we have sometimes I'll try to take advantage hmm Black Friday sales Black Friday is it's more it's it's it's very much a thing in the United States I think it's spreading to many other parts of the world but it is the Friday after Thanksgiving which in the United States it's always the Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November and that next day Friday is called Black Friday and there are many different sales things are very cheap so you could say this segment say sometimes I'll try to take advantage mmm Black Friday sales this is a more common expression so hope that you guys know this one to take advantage mmm something excellent Roselle gertrudis Hanh under Mary you take advantage of something and you are using the good things from some situation so I could say sometimes I'll try to take advantage of Black Friday sales I hope that all of you take advantage of these lessons and really use it as an opportunity to practice practice your English and practice using these prepositions because again it's great way to just fine-tune your overall fluency so I think good also just to bring this picture back these nouns followed by prepositions and I could say I think you have a good grasp hmm these nouns and prepositions I think you have a good grasp mmm these nouns and prepositions this one may be a little more challenging because again the noun me is not as common you're talking about grasp a grasp mmm something so I would tell you yes I think this is true I think you have a good grasp hmm these nouns and prepositions so I all right great answer I see you're talking about a grasp of something or a grasp on something but many of you through those answers in there either one is correct I think I would tend to use of but when you're talking about a grasp you're in this case you're talking about you're having a you have a good understanding of something you have a grasp of something or you could have a grasp on something personally I think I would tend to use of more than on but either one of them is okay either of those prepositions is correct if you're talking about the noun grasped so just to show you a little review these are all of the nouns and the prepositions that we've talked about today and again a great way to understand these and be able to use them correctly the next time you're speaking you're having a conversation or you're writing an email is like what you did today you were practicing you see these written right here you're reading them right now and you just start to take all in and you internalize that information it goes into your active memory and and then you'll be able to use all of these the next time you need to response to increase in congratulations on investigation into so I just wanted to show you some in case you were wanted to review a little bit and think about oh wait what was that one so this is a list of the ones that we talked about today if you guys again if you enjoy what we do and you want to make another connection with us and sponsor and support interactive English we we do have memberships right here on YouTube you can click the join button or we're also active on patreon some some cool rewards for both of them check out those links down in the description but I thank you guys again this is what this is what I want I just want to do these practice lessons give you an opportunity in in real time to actually not just watch a video and listen to me speak English but really get to practice a little bit and this is a little more grammar vocabulary and it's a great way to improve so again thank you guys for joining me thank you Eddie a ten great seeing you again duska Vado sleepwalker Darby Shalu suspender Marcell sorry I tried to get in as many names as I could today but I like doing these lessons because it does give me an opportunity to acknowledge those of you who are here in the chat watching this live so I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend stay healthy stay safe and I will see you next time so long --- ## 454. NOW YOU CAN SPEAK ENGLISH DIRECTLY WITH ME | Check out Speak Up! ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `iDwC5pCfx3I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDwC5pCfx3I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:21:05 | --- hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english and today i want to talk to you about speaking and specifically how you can speak with me because i i think there are many of you out there who you always tell me that you would like more speaking practice and that you would really like to improve your speaking fluency perhaps that's one of your goals in 2021 well i want to talk to you about how you can make that happen and you can do that while you are speaking with me because you guys also ask me about that from time to time and say oh wes uh i really appreciate your videos i like your lessons i really want to speak with you so now that can come true if you would like to enroll in my speaking course called speak up but keep in mind this is this is like your last call because you have until sunday january 10th if you would like to sign up for the class there's a link down in the description that'll that'll give you a lot more information but let me tell you a little bit about the course this is a 10-week course in which uh we will have lessons once a week you will have classes with me and some of your classmates and each week we're going to talk about a different topic and we're going to do we're going to do different discussion questions different speaking activities sometimes we will do them together as a class and other times i might break you down into smaller groups and you will be talking with another one of your classmates or a couple of your classmates and then i will come around to the different groups and you will have opportunities to speak with me as well so check out that link down in the description if you would like to learn more information about the the class times if you'd like to learn more about the price and uh just other information about the course in general or if you have another specific question that you would like to ask me just send me an email you can email me at info interactiveenglishvideos.com if you have a question about the course and i will get back to you as soon as possible but remember this is your last call you have until january 10th if you would like to sign up and really try to improve your speaking fluency while you speak with me so uh check out that link down in the description and i hope to speak to you real soon so long --- ## 455. Native Speakers Will Be Impressed If You Say These ๐Ÿคฉ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `tgVpbRGKIxg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgVpbRGKIxg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:55:07 | --- It's not my first rodeo. You're going to use this to refer to a situation that someone has been in before. And really, you're going to end up using it as a standalone statement and you're reassuring the other person that you do have experience. So, the context in which you would use this idiom would be if someone's talking to you like you don't know what you're doing. You've never done this before. You don't have experience. And you want to let that person know, I do have experience. It's not my first rodeo. >> Don't Don't forget to support his head. >> I will. It's not my first rodeo. I can't wait to take him to his first rodeo. >> Let's call a spade a spade. This means to speak honestly and directly about something, even if it's unpleasant or embarrassing. So, that last part is key when trying to understand how and when to use this idiom. Let's say that there is a topic that people are trying to avoid discussing, like criticizing your boss. It could get you in trouble, but you're going to do it anyway, and you're gonna let people know that you're being honest. Our boss is incompetent. I'm just calling a spade a spade. So, you use this idiom to highlight the fact that you're being honest. You're being direct when you call a spade a spade. >> I'm all for living life, but this is the Geller's 35th anniversary. Okay, call a spade a spade. This party stinks. >> To throw down the gauntlet. I love it. This just means to issue a challenge. So instead of telling someone, I have a challenge for you, you can say, I'm throwing down the gauntlet. In case you're wondering, gauntlet. This is a really a medieval word. It's an armored glove. And people would throw it down and then they might start fighting. If you want a more recent example, Thanos had a gauntlet in the Avengers in order to hold the Infinity Stone. So, I'm going to write my own story. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. --- ## 456. Nature Idioms & Expressions for Everyday Conversation ๐Ÿƒ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Nl1tkEZxlbg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl1tkEZxlbg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:47:15 | --- today we are at this beautiful and amazing spot which is lake bled slovenia so we thought it'd be a great opportunity to talk to you about some useful expressions that are all related to nature what's up everyone my name is Wes and this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to talk to you about some useful expressions that are related to nature and what what better place to do that than right here so the first expression that I have for you is a breath of fresh air and if somebody says that that something is a breath of fresh air it just means that it is new it is different and it's a nice change oftentimes I think it's used as a simile and you say that something is like a breath of fresh air for example you could say that I hope that our English lessons are like a breath of fresh air they're they're new they're imaginative they're different and and it's something that you enjoy it is a nice change it's like a breath of fresh air tell us about yourself I must apologize for my daughter when you're a breath of fresh air oh this is a sweet noise I can't tell you how excited you guys anybody up there's like a repla fresher and ever seeing everybody's so excited the next expression is to beat around the bush and if somebody is beating around the bush it means that they want to talk about some topic some issue but they're not saying it directly and in that case you would say that somebody is beating around the bush so for example if there is a situation that you really don't want to tell somebody about and maybe it's a little sensitive you might try to tell them in an indirect way and in that case you are beating around the bush I think often that I I'm guilty of this sometimes I'm not direct with people and say exactly what's on my mind and they might tell me to stop beating around the bush and just say just say what I'm thinking around the bush we really came here because we're both worried about you your project is to sabotage my project yes don't beat around the bush Leonard you don't want me here just say the word and I'll leave could have beating around the bush a little I'm not gonna beat around the bush here got a great arm that's one of the best I've ever seen your control hasn't come around like we'd hoped it would then we have the calm before the storm and if somebody is talking about the calm before the storm there they're talking about a period in which there is relative quiet and peace just before a big problem is about to erupt and you would refer to this period as oh it's the calm before the storm you know that in the future something bad is going to happen there is going to be a major problem but before the problem there's just you know there's this peace there's this tranquility and you could say well it's the calm before the storm right now I guess you could say well I don't think this is the calm before the storm it's a beautiful day we're not gonna have any problems later so yeah today it's just like a breath of fresh air anything this is the calm before the damn store guys relax this is just the calm before the storm that's right that's right tonight we build up some strength and then tomorrow I like these continental moments before the storm the next expression is dead in the water and you would say that something is dead in the water which means that there there is no chance for something to succeed or to make progress oftentimes I think it's used when maybe talking about some kind of deal some kind of negotiation and it's you're just not gonna make any more progress than you say yeah you know this is this negotiation it's dead in the water or the deal it's dead in the water we're not going to succeed and move forward filibuster reform stalled clean jobs initiative dead in the water nope no bank will give us our is duh we're dead in the water get that proposal to dr. have greener pastures and if we're talking about greener pastures often you would say that somebody is looking for greener pastures or they're seeking greener pastures and this just refers to somebody who is trying to find a a better situation or a more promising situation and they are looking for greener pastures or seeking greener pastures and in this case is kind of exactly like it sounds when when you're talking about greener pastures you're talking about land that is just better people want to move there people want to be there and we're always looking to go to greener pastures our boys moving on to greener pastures he taught me everything I know about wearing a badge it looks like you've moved on to greener pastures but you won't be working for Sacred Heart the place that's been fortune training you only to have you take off for greener pastures the next expression is a storm is brewing and in this case we're talking about in the future there's going to be a problem there's going to be something that's usually emotionally upsetting that there is a storm a-brewing that there is going to be a fight and often you might hear it used in that as that phrase as well you could say a storm is a Bruin and if so he says again a storm is a broening then it just means there's going to be a problem in the future or you can say a storm is look he might look calm on the outside but there's a storm brewing on the inside there's a storm a-brewing down there giving that funny feeling like something gonna happen like a storm going the next expression and this is perhaps one of my favorite ones and that is the sky's the limit and if somebody says that the sky is the limit then they're just talking about that there is there is no limit to the opportunities that are afforded to someone that there is yes there's just no limit you can keep going and somebody would talk about well the sky's the limit I think that when it comes to improving your English skills the sky's the limit you can always learn new vocabulary you can always improve your grammar the sky's the limit I hope that you do not feel that that you're just dead in the water right now but if you do just keep practicing continue watching our lessons sky's the limit I told Ben he could do whatever he wants sky is the limit do you want for your birthday big dog it's okay I'm good come on this guy's the limit dream big my boy how much bigger can we get guys the limit accepted by actors and musicians everybody else will follow then we have when it rains it pours and this expression means that when something happens usually something bad that it happens in large numbers so for example something bad may happen and then shortly after that something else bad happens and then again and you could say well you know when it rains it pours with one bad thing just happens after the other now it doesn't always have to refer to a bad situation it can refer to to anything when it rains it pours for example you wanna and I recently we had a baby girl and then shortly after that my brother and his wife also had a baby boy and we could say you know when it rains it pours leg emerges everybody's having babies when it rains it pours Liz are you familiar with the phrase when it rains it pours while you just laid me off Jesus Henry Christ when it rains it pours so I hope you enjoyed learning these new expressions if you did please hit that like button and as always we love hearing from you write to us in the comments thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 457. New Year's Resolutions | Listening, Vocabulary, & MORE... | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vKRZrsZO5Gw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKRZrsZO5Gw) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:42:39 | --- Happy New Year! Wait, say that again. What? Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Today we're going to talk to you about New Year's resolutions. That's coming up. Today we're going to tell you some of our New Year's resolutions. Which are things that we hope that we can accomplish this year. And this is something that people... Not everybody does but many people do. And it's a way to set some goals for yourself and things that you want to accomplish. And this actually relates a lot to language learning because one thing we tell our students all the time is to set short-term goals for yourself. Set some learning goals for yourself so you know what you need to work on and try to accomplish so that you can practice and improve your language skills. So this lesson will be a good listening activity. And we'll also put up some vocabulary words and let you know the meaning, some words that you may not know. So without further ado, let's talk about our New Year's resolutions. My first New Year's resolution this year is to get in shape. And this is more, you know, my goal to do some more exercise to get a little more fit. Maybe I'm thinking about running a marathon later this year. We'll see how that goes. But to get outside, be a little more active, and just be healthier in general. So I'd really like to get in shape this year. So usually, many years ago, I used to have these long lists of resolutions that I used to create for myself. Things like be more organized and lose 20 pounds. Would you complete all of them? No. So that's the problem that I never did any of them And it was frustrating, so a couple years ago I told myself one or two. Just do one or two at most and then try to really accomplish those. So this year I have two. And my first one is to be more grateful. And I think this is very important for me. As the years go by I try to be grateful for the things I have in my life. And not kind of keep wanting more. So in order to do that, I have a little journal. My little gratitude journal. I know it's very small, but I can carry it in my purse. And I can put it anywhere. So from time to time, I'll open it and write things. Or people that I'm grateful for in my life. And I really want to do more of this this year because I started this last year, and I only have one page. So I really...it's a continuation for my whole life. But I want to make sure that I really write in it this year. It might not be every day, but every time I remember. Really want to write in my gratitude journal. Another resolution that I have is to learn more about cooking and nutrition. And this also goes back to health. Because I would like to have more home-cooked meals, and out eating out as much. And try to eat a little healthier...more fruits more veggies. Definitely, I need more veggies. Yeah, you do. So that's something that I think is really important for me. And trying to do that throughout the year, I know that I'm not going to just completely change all at once, but just...maybe a little at a time. Again, it's all about...I think setting short-term goals, and trying to realize those So that's definitely something that I would like to do more of. Have some more home-cooked meals and eat healthier. My second resolution this year again...kind of ties into what Wes was saying. For me, this is something that's continuous. It's every year, but I just always want to improve. But it's to take care of myself. Take better care of myself. That is to...you know, go to sleep earlier. I am an early riser, so I always wake up early in the morning. And sometimes I don't go to sleep as early as I'd like. For me to get a full night's sleep. So I'd like to make sure I do that. Take care of myself with exercise. I really enjoy doing yoga, so I want to focus on doing more of that. And also with...even healthier eating. And then just cooking and making... Enjoying it. It's a hobby of mine. I like to cook so... I'd also like to do more meditation and more breathing exercises. As an anxious person, it really helps calm me down. I should do that too. Yeah. It's very useful. It helps kind of de-stress, and it's just really, really good for... for your mind and for your body. So, that's all part of my resolution to take better care of myself. And I think it's a useful resolution for everyone. You go to sleep now at like 9 o'clock. No, at like 11pm. You want to go to sleep at 7pm? I want to go to bed at like 10pm. A couple of New Year's resolutions that we have for interactive English is... First, we'd like to continue the schedule that we've been trying to maintain, and do two lessons a week. At least two lessons a week, which can be pretty challenging with a lot of other things going on in life. But, we'd like to continue doing two lessons each week throughout the entire year. So hopefully we'll be able to make that possible and continue sharing a lot of different lessons with you guys. And the other resolution that we are kind of hoping will happen this year is... We'd like to expand our scope and our lessons. So we'd like to have a webpage. We'd like to do some courses and ebooks. That we're putting together. And we hope that we can finish and share those with you, so that you can take advantage of even more of our lessons and learn and improve. And you can grow with us. So hopefully we'll get that done as soon as possible. We're working on it. So these are some of our New Year's Resolutions. Now, we would like to hear from all of you. So in the comments, please tell us one of your New Year's Resolutions. Tell us something that you would like to do or accomplish this year. Or maybe something you want to change to improve your life. So in the comments, let us know what one of your New Year's Resolutions is. Yeah, it's...I always find it very helpful when I read other people's resolutions. I find it inspiring. Yeah, share with each other. Yeah, so you can...you can kind of get some inspiration from what you see in the comments. Also, please remember to like and share this video if you enjoy learning English with us. And, as always, thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 458. New Year's Vocabulary | Useful Words to Celebrate the New Year | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `AZNZPC_0RYU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZNZPC_0RYU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:47:05 | --- hello everyone hello and welcome to our last lesson of 2017 I can't believe this year has gone by super super fast how's everyone doing welcome welcome welcome welcome today we have a super fun lesson we're talking about new year's vocabulary so I just wanted to welcome everyone we have one day till the end of the year so if there's anything unfinished business you want to to do this year you have exactly one day to do it well one day in a few hours I'd like to welcome Prince of hardship a lot ah hello and Happy New Year thank you for joining us if you just tuned in my name is you wana from interactive English and we're doing our last lesson and I have a request for you please write down your name and where you are joining us from because we like to know our community of students hi Ally hi - Dora hi mano welcome welcome everyone hi hello Romania hello from Azerbaijan India we have such a beautiful group today thank you for joining us we have a wonderful lesson so we can finish off the New Year Strong you guys are improving your English and also celebrating with us so we're having a lot of fun here thank you thank you very much for joining today we're talking about the new year and I have some vocabulary words related to the new year for you and if you're just joining us thank you so much write to us where you're from and where you're from and what is your name so we have people from Cluj thank you for joining us we have people from Porto police in Sao Paulo Brazil thank you the lesson today is about New Year vocabulary and right now I want to ask you if you can tell me in your country what traditions or what do you do for New Year's do you have any special traditions any meals anything that you share or do with your family or friends what things do you do for the new year okay happy new year happy new year everyone we made it we survived 2017 there were times where we thought maybe we could hit I'm just kidding but we survived and 2018 is coming so in the question in the comments please write what kind of traditions do you have what things do you do on the new on the New Year's Eve eating a lot yes drinking yes I'm sure celebrating what kind of things do you do okay so my first word for today is calendar of course when we're talking about the New Year we are starting a new calendar and a calendar is of course what we all follow it's a series of pages that shows the days the week's the months of a specific year and in in the US where I was living for the longest time we follow the Gregorian calendar which starts you know in January and ends on the separate 34 31st so I was wondering if you can let me know what calendar do you follow in your country I know there are a few different active ones that people follow and there's different New Year's so I was wondering if you can write what kind of calendar do you follow in your country and if you're just joining thank you thank you so much and welcome good job for choosing to improve your English and starting strong and finishing strong so thank you guys for again for joining us and we're talking about our calendars and what kind of calendar are we following in our countries olive salad on December 31st so right now I'm reading your guys's comments champagne of course barbeque YUM salads all sleeping jr. that works too sleeping is good and a lot of people drinking and eating hi Daniel hi so welcome again welcome thank you guys for for her for joining us it was somebody asked me to speak up here maybe just is this better there my microphone is closer now okay so so that's the calendar it's a it's a word that we use a lot around this time of the year so I would I introduced it now let's talk about New Year's Eve as you might know of course the word Eve means the night before or the day before so New Year's Eve is the night before the New Year and of course of course it's a we celebrate a lot during this time people drink a lot especially champagne they eat a lot many many people go and find fireworks to watch and I'll talk about that later but there are also many traditions in in New York for example they do the famous ball drop I've been reading about other traditions in the world and I will talk about them in a second but I wanted to ask you what other traditions do you have in your country I know there are so many in different in different parts of the world and I was curious if you have any special traditions for New Year's Eve for example this sounds a cool one I think one of my students was telling me that in Spain they eat 12 grapes and that this is practice still quite a bit so and I forget why if you guys if any one is from Spain if you can tell me why the grapes or if you know why they hit the grapes in Spain I'd be curious and also if there are any special traditions that you do for New Year's in Italy I think they used to break dishes just throw them break them for good luck but I don't think this was practiced in all of Italy so just some parts and I don't think it's a very that it's practiced a lot right now but there are so many traditions one other thing that I read in Italy is about wearing red underwear for good luck so if you have any traditions please write them down they're so fun to read but to see what kind of things people do for New Year's Eve so it's a really really special day people it's sometimes it's the biggest party of the year people party quite a bit they celebrate sometimes they they sing songs of course they eat the hay they find different ways to party with their family and friends my next word for you guys is the word streamers and streamers are these little strips of material that I'm showing in my picture right here and usually these are they're just another way another fun little decoration another way to be festive or to show how excited you are so these are kind of fly into the sky together with confetti I will talk about later and they're just used as a decoration or just a party symbol streamers are a lot of fun do you guys like streamers sometimes I feel like especially confetti with streamers they can get tangled in your clothes and your hair and they can be everywhere so I feel like sometimes they're hard to clean uh-huh but but I'm just curious so if you guys are just joining us welcome and thank you for our last lesson of the year and we are talking about some new year's vocabulary so far we've talked about just a few basic ones like New Year's Eve and calendar and now we're talking about streamers okay the next one that's very very important for this time of the year is midnight and midnight is of course when the clock strikes 12:00 it's 12 o'clock at night and many many countries there's a countdown and there are also some traditions that go with what happens at midnight so I wanted to ask you guys if is there something but what do you do at midnight what do you do at midnight tomorrow what are you going to do anything special are you going to sleep are you going to be out at a party are you going to hug your family and friends wish them happy new year are you going to kiss someone in the US the tradition of a midnight kiss is kind of I think it was popularized a lot I think in the 90s where it was very very important to have somebody to kiss at midnight a special person to kiss and to start off the new year with a romantic kind of twist but but you can also kiss your family and friends of course so eating grapes is is starting off the year with some adrenaline rush and some laughs okay so yeah that's fun I feel like I would like three twelve grapes and I it sounds like a lot of fun and people in Brazil wear different colors of t-shirts before midnight interesting jr. why why do people wear different colored t-shirts is there is it for good luck or any any other reason this is so fun to read through your guyses through your comments and see what kind of things people people do for New Year's and at midnight okay my next my next word is the New Year's Day so we talked about the New Year's Eve but then there is the New Year's Day and of course this is January 1 there are specific traditions that are that are that happened on this day I put here a blank calendar page because for many of us is a chance to start new so it's a chance to start whatever things we wanted to do we can try to last year we can do them this year so it just starts from the beginning it's a lot of fun but beyond that it's also their specific traditions like New Year's parades in the US and I think the UK well the US has a lot of American football games and I think the UK has soccer if I'm not mistaken I'm not sorry I'm not that much into sports oh I'm I don't really know but I've read that they have that football is a big deal there's of course family time usually where we don't work on this day so we have time to meet with our families their concerts I know about the the New Year's Day concert in Vienna traditional meals church services so what are some traditions that are done on New Year's Day in your country if you guys could join OC joke a yeah exactly so church service is very important I think this time of the year for for many people what does it mean grapes is the grapes you eat red oh this is wonderful so ok so red means love white means peace and so on uh-huh ok so they're color coded based on the things maybe we want to have in the New Year am I am i reading am I reading this correctly I hope I am so thank you again so far we've talked about New Year's Day midnight streamers you and a calendar of course you cannot have a New Year's Eve without fireworks fireworks are incredible I think they're fascinating for kids and adults alike I found a really cool picture of fireworks here basically they're just gunpowder and gunpowder and other chemicals together and they create a reaction at where they explode and they have these wonderful wonderful decorations they're used for display so they're something some fireworks shows can be really really really elaborate like you can see in this picture and some are smaller too sometimes but I wanted to ask if you guys like to watch fireworks in your country if the celebration is really big if there are a lot of fireworks for New Year's or maybe just a few okay well thank you guys yeah okay so fireworks are for of course essential and many many times I put these together because they're different and I wanted to make the distinction between fireworks and firecrackers okay so they're not the same thing fireworks are up in the sky of course you see them there they produce this this big explosion and they kind of transform in different shapes and colors and they produce a show where as firecrackers are this cardboard container and they they're kind of on a fuse and they have explosive powder so when you set them on fire they just create this loud loud noise and also a little explosion but firecrackers are many many times about about the noise that they make and they're also important in many many cultures so okay let's see so 17 men of fireworks in Rio wonderful are they I always want to see like magical firework shows I think some of the best I've seen have been around New Year's and also in the US for fourth of July which is the the national holiday so do you have firecrackers what is more popular in your country fireworks or firecrackers is my question I guess fireworks or firecrackers and which do you like more for me I definitely prefer fireworks firecrackers scare me because you just hear they sound a little bit a little scary like something's going on you don't know what's happening you can see them as much but fireworks is something visual so which do you prefer fireworks or firecrackers to celebrate the new year yes of course it can they can cause problems so okay my next word is resolution and before I talk about what is a resolution well no let me explain a resolution is something that we decide on that we want to start doing in the new year for example many many many people I would say most people always have the resolution to lose weight or to start a new sport or - I don't know Journal more or - just start a different practice in the new year so that's a resolution it's a decision that you make on New Year's Eve a New Year's Day to stop doing something or to start doing something else so for example if you're if your wish is to stop smoking maybe you say my resolution for 2018 is to stop smoking or something like that so what I want to hear from you now is what are some of your resolutions what are some of your resolutions do you have any resolutions for the new year and if yes what are they let's see okay so Ju before fire Royce yeah I mean - I think they're more fun um hi Christina happy new year thank you for joining us so if you guys are just joining us we are talking about some new year's vocabulary hello from Thailand hello please if you are just joining let us know what is your name where you're writing from and right now we're talking about resolutions so it would be really nice if you could share some of the resolutions that you set for yourself for this year they can be simple they can be one or two or however many you have it's always nice to - to see what everyone's doing I will tell you my resolution and while I'm telling you you guys can can write yours my resolution this year is to be to spend more time to spend more time with my family so that's one of my resolutions okay so very good we have to yeah to focus more on saving rather than spending oh yeah it's such a good resolution we end up spending so much money that's a very good way very nice one stop putting off studying English good job Junior you're ahead you are doing so well because you started you're right now you're studying English - even before the new year so good job yes a resolution it'll hate you I hope I'm saying your name right it is like a goal it's like a goal or a wish that you have for yourself for the new year I used to have a lot when I was younger super long list and now I kind of just keep it to just one or two at most so they're manageable so if you guys are just joining please write down your resolutions one of my favorites a very important sorry that's the cat oh we're cat sitting and that's what's happening right there so champagne is one of my favorite drinks it's it's a white sparkling wine that comes from champagne in France and it's it's a celebration drink so it's used in four four very joyous occasions kind of a symbol of the New Year champagne to celebrate to celebrate the new year to celebrate the end and the beginning it's also used as weddings it's another which is another celebratory occasion so I wanted to see do you have any special drinks for any special kind of celebratory drinks in your country is it also champagne or do you do you do something else like cider or other kinds of of drinks or do you drink champagne or anything else so that is also if you're wondering about the pronunciation it's a word borrowed from French so the the G is silent so it's champagne okay so another important word for us is countdown so in many countries the countdown begins at 10:00 and what it is is it's just counting from 10 all the way to zero so you do them in reverse order so 10 9 8 7 I'm not gonna show you that I can count because I'm sure you guys believe me but that's a countdown and the point of a countdown is for everyone to join in it builds this momentum we are ending the year we're beginning a new era get it produces a lot of excitement and it's practiced I would say in the u.s. everyone does a countdown I don't know if it's done in every country if you guys could share I'd like to know do do people do a countdown in your country is it on TV is it on the radio if you're out in like outside watching the fireworks - people start counting down do you do a countdown do you like countdowns do you find them annoying would you rather be sleeping I don't know okay so right now we're writing a few different things in the chat if you're joining we're writing what are some of your resolutions we're also writing do you have any special drinks that you celebrate with this will be the new year with and also do you do countdowns a very nice make mama proud yeah drink coconut juice oh that's delicious as a smoothie yeah start healthy that's a good resolution especially if you like coconut juice and I really do so that sounds delicious so thank you guys for sure yeah I stopped smoking that's a it's a wonderful resolution thank you guys for for sharing these the next word a very important again the sum of the year is confetti and confetti are these little little pieces of paper many times are colored I have gold here because I think it's very celebratory gold for the new year but they don't always have to be gold they can be multicolored different colors they're very very very small and they're kind of thrown they're thrown out in the air or they come they're thrown from from somewhere above you or dropped and they're done at weddings they're done in New Year's they're done in concerts if special events so they're also a way to show a celebration okay so you do countdown on TV okay wonderful so um do you guys like confetti honestly I like the way they look but confetti they get everywhere they get in my clothes once they get in my hair so maybe when I was little I liked confetti a little bit more but now I could do with what's confetti they've really get in everywhere greetings greetings everyone again if you're just joining we are talking about New Year's vocabulary and if you are here with us I would like to wish all of you happy happy New Year and thank you for tuning for first finishing off your year with with us so before we finish I just wanted to go over all of these words very quickly in case you missed them or you didn't start at the same time as we did the words I was I was talking about today are calendar and we're following the Gregorian calendar New Year's Eve and traditions that we do for New Year's Eve streamers what happens at midnight what traditions do we have in our countries at midnight New Year's Day and the different traditions that we have on New Year's Day maybe it's it's a parade or football or church service fireworks or firecrackers in which we prefer firecrackers are louder I think and they're not as exorbitant and fireworks are just light shows out in the air and we also shared some of our resolutions and thank you thank you thank you for the ones of you who shared them with us it's so nice to see them and you know that now you that you rode them you have to do them right so I saw Ali that you want to stop smoking now that you wrote it you have to stop smoking it is a must so you have to you have to do your resolutions now that you wrote them and then we talked about champagne and special drinks that we used to celebrate I think this one is super popular it is also one of my favorites so and it's a way to celebrate champagne is mostly drank to celebrate occasions like like New Year's or even weddings and occasions like that countdown is the act of counting in Reverse from 10 to zero it doesn't have to be from 10 it can be from a million if you want but usually the the the word countdown is refers to counting from from 10 to zero especially around the new year and of course it's done at midnight in this case confetti are again small pieces of colored paper they can be gold or they can be silver any color you want they can be multicolored and they're very very small and they're usually dropped from somewhere and again well that's it um thank you guys so much thank you for joining us we hope that you have a wonderful new year we had a great 2017 preparing lessons and starting our channel this year has been amazing for us and we hope to do some great things in 2018 we are very happy with our students and we hope that we can bring you a lot more fun and interactive and incredible lessons to you guys this year this coming year and we just wish you a very very very very very very happy and amazing new year 2018 so thank you guys again for watching if you found this video helpful if you know anyone who'd like to learn about some new year's vocabulary please like share this lesson write any questions that we have in the comments we always respond and if you want to prepare even more join our social media classes we're constantly teaching on there too so thank you guys again and I hope you have a wonderful year and we'll see you next year thank you --- ## 459. Only Advanced Learners Can Score 10/10 on This Verb Tense Quiz ๐Ÿ”ฅ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `joT0WOyVzF0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joT0WOyVzF0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:56:37 | --- Can you get 10 out of 10 on this verb tense quiz? We're about to find out. And if you are someone who enjoys practicing your skills, because that's what Interactive English is all about, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel, I already mentioned, is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And today, I want to help you fine-tune your grammar skills. Now, I would like to point out that if you would like to get these notes right next to me, check out that link down below in the description. Join my email community. If you're already a part of it, check your inbox. I have sent them to you. But, it's just a good way to, you know, stay up-to-date, to remind yourself, uh in this case, of the grammar that you're going to be practicing right now. So, I have a a little quiz for you. I want you to participate. Write your answers in the chat, in the comments. I just love hearing from you. And I think it's important. I think it's important to participate in these lessons. So, this is kind of the a little bit of the topic. We're talking about the future is now. So, we're going to be really, the next few questions, talking about the future as well as right now, kind of a mix of both. So, let's just look at the first question. I've given you the verb. And of course, I want you to fill in the blank with the correct verb tense. I can't meet you on Friday afternoon because I mm with the board of directors to discuss the merger. The main verb, or the verb that I want you to, well, figure out how to use is the verb meet. So, which verb tense are you going to use in this context? I can't meet with you on Friday because I mm with the board of directors to discuss the merger. So, to to be perfectly honest, I I hope that I know many of you have an advanced level of English. So, this may be a little bit of review, and that is perfect. I love that when you're just able to review. That is what fine-tuning your skills is all about. So, I think I I see a lot of great answers in the chat. All right, so the the tense that you're going to use is the uh I am meeting. I can't we meet with you on Friday afternoon because I am meeting with the board of directors to discuss the merger. If you're wondering what this is, this is future arrangement. Now, even though it's in the future, we're talking about the continuous tense. I am meeting. It is the present continuous. I can't meet with you on Friday afternoon because what is what's going on? I'm meeting with the board of directors to discuss the merger. Why is this tricky? So, where you're going to use here because it is a confirmed future arrangement. It's not an action that is happening right now. Similar to somebody using the present tense to talk about a scheduled time in the future. But, in this case, I am meeting is correct answer. I think many of you you nailed it. All right, excellent. Good to see so many members. Lolly, good to see you. Nice. Here is the next one. Stop it. You intentionally difficult today. I almost said it. So, I'm sorry. That's that's been known to happen from time to time. I just say the answer as I read the sentence. Uh stop it. You intentionally difficult today even though you're usually quite cooperative. The the verb that I want you to use is the verb to be. Which you know, how are which verb tense are you going to use to correctly complete this sentence so that well, it just it makes sense. And I feel like I tried to give you enough context. So hopefully it's not not that difficult. You you can assume from the picture that this this woman referring to the child look stop it. You intentionally difficult today even though you're usually quite cooperative. All right. The correct answer. You guys nailed it. Nice. Lolly, Theodore, Miranda. Uh am being are are being You are being intentionally difficult today even though you are usually quite cooperative. We're talking about like the stative uh which in in typically you don't use stative verbs in the continuous tense, but this is more dynamic. Um so we are going to use the present continuous tense. While the to be is a stative verb. Uh he is like this age or whatever. Uh it is a state. Using it in the continuous form implies a temporary behavior or choice rather than a permanent personality trait. So if somebody were to say uh I don't like Wes. He is difficult. Okay, which somebody people have said that before. As far as talking about more of a permanent personality trait that I have. If you're saying, oh yeah, he's really difficult. He is annoying. And yeah, you don't want to work with him. Whereas if you say somebody is being difficult, then you're just referring to that moment. It's temporary. That is not their permanent trait, characteristic, or behavior. So you could say that when saying somebody's being annoying or somebody's being difficult or they're being what whatever it may be, but we're referring to that temporary state in this case. You're being difficult. How about this one? The keynote speech mhm at 9:00 a.m. sharp, so attendees should arrive early to get seated. I realize I feel like I mentioned I talked about this already uh just a few minutes ago. The keynote speech mhm at 9:00 a.m. sharp, so attendees should arrive early to get seated. What do you think? Like it would if somebody says, "Don't listen to those people." If I if they say I'm being difficult, I will I will try not to listen to them, but sometimes uh I would say sometimes I am being difficult. So, it is temporary in that case. So, it depends on the context. The keynote speech What are we going to use? Which verb tense? I think you all know. starts The keynote speech starts at 9:00 a.m., so attendees should arrive early uh to get seated. Fixed schedule. I I mentioned this a few moments ago. Same way when we're talking about in that future uh I can't meet with you then because I am meeting with the the board members. In this case, the keynote speech starts at 9:00 a.m. It's fixed schedule, so in general you're going to use you're going to use the present tense. So, we're going to use when we're talking about fixed schedules, trains, planes, speeches in this case, stick with the present tense. The keynote speech starts at 9:00 a.m. Let's move on to our next topic. And again, this may well don't think it's going to be too much of a hint, but we're going to talk about perspective. And I'll give you the answer and also tell you why why it's a little tricky. Here is the first question. I mhm Tokyo three times, but I still feel like I haven't seen half of what the city offers. Which verb tense are you going to use to correctly complete the sentence? Given the situation, given the context, think about perspective. I mhm Tokyo three times, but I still feel like I haven't seen half of what the city has to offer. Once again, I feel like this is I I don't I don't want to say this is uh you know, not too advanced, but if you're able to get all of them, I think that's good cuz this this can be a little tricky at times. So, if you get 10 for 10, I am impressed. Given this situation, we're talking about using the verb visit, I would say I have visited. I have visited Tokyo three times. We're going to use the present perfect. This is referring to this life experience. I have done this. I have been there. So, we're focusing on experience. And if if you do mention a specific time, then you're going to use the past simple. So, if you have a time expression like uh last year, I then would say I went to Tokyo last year. Or I went to Tokyo um in 2010. And you have that time expression, then you would use the past simple. But, when you're referring to an experience, I have visited Tokyo three times, but I still but still I haven't seen half of what the city has to offer. It's like you're asking somebody if they've tried food. You know, have you experienced this? And you say, "Well, I haven't tried that." Or, "Yes, I have I have tried this." So, when we're talking about experience, keep in mind we're referring to the present perfect. What do you think? We mhm this contract for over 6 hours. I think it's time we take a break. So, I want you to use the verb negotiate. Which which verb tense are you going to use? And there is a keyword in here that should help you in this context. I don't want to give it away. We mhm for over 6 hours. I think it's time we take a break. So, we're talking about something that started in the past. It's continued to the present. And given the context, it's likely going to continue in the future. So, basically, the way that I explained it just then, start in the past, continue to the present, will likely continue into the future, the correct verb tense would be have been negotiate, the present perfect continuous. That is what I meant to say. We have been negotiating this contract for over 6 hours. I think it's time we take a break. One of the keywords in there would be for, because that then really indicates the perfect tense. But, we're going to use the present perfect tense because you want to emphasize the ongoing nature or or the duration of this struggle. Like we've been doing this for this amount of time. All right, and I want to emphasize the time. So, think about present perfect continuous started in the past, continued to the present, and then it is something that's likely going to continue in the future. To give you another example, somebody would say I have been waiting uh for the bus for 20 minutes. I uh have been waiting, all right? Started in the past, continued, and then probably going to continue into the future. All right, let's see. What do you think about this one? By the time the CEO finally arrived, the rest of the staff mhm to move forward without her input. I want you to use the two words already and decide to complete this sentence. By the time the CEO finally arrived, the rest of the staff mhm to move forward without her input. There is a time well, there is an expression in there that I think really can help determine or help you decide which verb tense to use. It is one that I've talked about in previous lessons. So, I'll go ahead and tell you the phrase that I'm referring to is by the time. When you have that by the time, that is an indication of the verb tense that you should use, and then you just need to decide are we talking about the you know, something that happened in the past or are we referring to the future? So, in this case, by the time the CEO finally arrived, all right? Something had already happened. So, we're going to say had already decided. We're talking about the past perfect. So, you could say the past before the past. And I don't know if it helps to say the past before the past. The two time thing The two markers, the CEO arrived and the decision, both of them happened in the past. So, that is why we're going to use the past perfect. We're We're establishing this sequence of events. The decision happened before the arrival. It's indicating to, you know, the other person that you're speaking to what, you know, sequence of events. The decision was made and then the person arrived. And then we fast forward to when we're having the when we're in the past. Here is the next one. He was exhausted when he got home because he mhm on that project since 5:00 in the morning. I want you to use the verb work. How would you What What tense are you going to use in order to complete the sentence? He was exhausted when he got home because he mhm on that project since 5:00 in the morning. Once again, there is a keyword in there that I think can help you determine or decide what, you know, what is the correct verb tense in this context, in this particular context. So, he was exhausted when he got home because, again, we're talking about something in the past because it'd been happening uh since 5:00 a.m. in the morning. Since, just like for, is another indication of the perfect tense. And then you're just deciding, well, is it now it's in the past? I already mentioned that. Is the past perfect, the past perfect continuous? In this case, we're going to talk about we're going to use the past perfect continuous. He had He was exhausted when he got home because he had been working on the project since 5:00 a.m. in the morning. This duration in the past. It shows the cause of exhaustion because we're highlighting that duration in the past leading up to this point. And it also it to me it also implies that continuation. So, they they they're not done yet. All right? Probably was exhausted, been working since 5:00 a.m., probably going to need to keep working because whatever it is, they're not done. This person is not done yet. He was exhausted when he got home because he had been working on the project since 5:00 in the morning. Excellent. Um Well done. I think many of you think many of you got that and that's what I want to say. Let's Here's the the final like kind of overall topic. Let's say we're going back to the future. All right? Little nice little shout-out to the old classic movie Back to the Future. What do you think? This time next week, I on a beach in the Maldives far away from my emails. Of course, this statement is not true. I wish it were true. But if I were going to, you know, put myself in the situation, how what what would I say? What verb tense are you going to use? I want you to use the verb lie. This time next week, I mhm on a beach in the Maldives far away from my emails. Complete the sentence. So, we're talking about the future. Right? But of course, we're we're having this conversation right now, which would be you know, the present. But because we're talking about the future, we're going to use again that really that point in time. That's another key thing. N- uh we're talking about this time next week. That that you could consider it that that point in the future. So, we're going to use the future continuous. What will you be doing? I will be lying on a beach in the Maldives far away from uh far away from my emails. So, we're talking about future progress, the future continuous. We're going to use this to describe an action that will be in progress at a specific moment in the future. This time this week, that is my considered my moment. And then what will I be doing? I will be lying on the beach that ev- even though the action we're talking about lying and doing nothing, that would be the the progress, the thing that you are doing. Uh I will be lying on a beach. I wish I wish this were true. Uh but unfortunately, it's not. Here is the next question for you. I think you guys got that. Excellent, well done. Um and Well, Lolly, um Hassan, nice. Give some shout-outs. Don't worry about the report. I mhm it by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. I want you to use the verb finish. How would you complete this? Don't worry about the report. I it by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. So, keyword tomorrow, tomorrow morning. Of course, we're talking uh about the future. So, which verb tense are you going to use to accurately complete the sentence? Don't worry about the report. I mhm tomorrow when you wake up tomorrow morning. All right, in this case, we're going to use will have finished. I will have finished it by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. It is like you could think of it like the deadline tense, but we're going to use the future perfect. And you would refer to like this deadline in the future. It views the action as completed from a point in the future. So, when you wake up tomorrow morning, what what will have happened? I will have finished the report. Uh by the time you wake up in the morning, I will have gone to the gym. I will have eaten breakfast. By December, our team mhm this software for exactly 2 years. I want you to use the verb develop. And complete it with the correct verb tense. So, remember our topic back to the future. We're talking we're going we're going back. Yes, to the future. By December, I'll tell you right now that in this context is the future. By December, our team mhm this software for exactly 2 years. What do you think? This is a >> [laughter] >> little a little tricky. Uh all right, will have been developing this software for 2 years. I want you to use the future perfect continuous. Now, these verb tenses are you know, not the the ones that you're going to use all the time in conversation. That is why they're tricky. They're they are you know, to be honest, these are not the ones that are going to come up all the time. Of course, you talk about things in the past, so you're going to use the the past simple quite often. So, that 2 years we're talking about by December in that duration of time, we will have been doing something. We will have been developing this software for 2 years. I want you to let me know. You can let me know in the comments. Let me know in the chats. How did you do on the quiz? Did you get 10 for 10? Did you get eight of them right? Nine of them right? Seven, six, doesn't matter. What I hope is that you learn something new or in general, maybe it's a little bit of review because you've come across these verb tenses before, whether you're listening to something like a movie, TV show, or you've read them in an article or in a book. So, it's just about reinforcing all saying. --- ## 460. Our Favorite Places to Visit in the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Natural Conversation | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `sqk85q2PSoU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqk85q2PSoU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:29:55 | --- today we're going to talk to you about the best places to visit if you travel to the United States that's coming up [Music] in today's lesson we are going to share with you places that you should visit if you go to the United States and this is just our opinion I'm sure I'm sure other people will see this and be like no that place is terrible but this is just our opinion and and we wanted to share that with some of you if you happen to be traveling to the United States for for work or just for travel in general so what we've done is we've chosen some different categories and we've each picked a place that we think best represents that that category let's start with what's the the first category is best big city every country is known for for certain cities and those are typically the bigger city so in the United States what is the best what's your favorite big city I know this I think I mean hands down for me San Francisco and it's not even a big city really by your standards yeah I mean I mean it is kind of big but that whole area there's a few big cities yeah I think it's very different than other US cities I think it's it's so geography makes it very beautiful because it's hilly so there are a lot of really nice views plus it's on the ocean coast and you can see you have a wonderful view of the ocean and there's just a lot about it that makes it really cool you have the tram the streetcars the it's just really pretty what's the weather's amazing I was gonna say what is the other thing that everybody says about San Francisco so a lot of people complain about the weather in San Francisco and they say yeah because they say like it's too cold but if you go in the summer I think a lot of people don't expect it to be because it's California and people think oh it's warm but it's there's basically no summer and no winter it's always spring and fall which for me is ideal I love it I love it so I think it's always very nice but do be prepared if you go there to bring the sweatshirt or a sweater because or jacket because it's windy and you are going to need it even in the summer yeah but we used to live there so I knew that's what you were I would say best big city you know to no surprise it's probably the most iconic city in the United States and that is New York City yeah so if you're gonna go to the US and go visit a big city I would suggest you go to New York because there there's really there's no place like it on earth it is it is what people say it is it's a concrete jungle once you get inside the city it's just building after building after building and it's yeah it's kind of amazing there's so much to do there's so much going on it's it's really it's also a melting pot absolutely yeah different people from all over the world so there's a lot to see and do there and I would recommend yeah checking out New York City it is expensive though so San Francisco oh my god they're probably two of the most expensive places in the u.s. so be prepared to spend some money what's the next category please for nature best place for nature do you want to share first anyone I can't share sure okay so I feel like a disclaimer should be that a lot of these places that I'm gonna talk about are in California or around California so my favorite place for nature Yosemite National Park I think purely because when I went there I was in awe absolute awe of how huge those those mountains look those rocks it just made me feel so tiny and just puts everything in perspective I I it you it's it's very difficult not to feel like you're in a postcard I was completely shocked a great place for hiking or even if you just want to drive through it yeah it's really impressive for me I would recommend that you go see the Grand Canyon which is another I think very well-known landmark especially for nature in the United States largest canyon in world so we did a road trip a couple years ago and drove by the Grand Canyon and it is it's just it's such an impressive sight what I'll tell you about the Grand Canyon just to show you how impressive it is is that when you first see the Grand Canyon and you walk up there and you're overlooking the entire Canyon and it's just like wow this is amazing this is incredible you just don't see it anywhere else and then it's one of those things that when we went there you can kind of I forget we were on the South Rim I think you can walk along the side for like maybe two or three kilometers and after walking along the side you know how you kind of get used to something and you know you have that initial like wow this is amazing and then after you know spending a couple hours out there you kind of just get used to it it's like it's still impressive but it's not that initial Wow so what happened is after walking around we got back in the car and we were leaving and as we're leaving you drive by these other sections and it's like as soon as we left it took no time whatsoever for that wow factor to come back because as we're driving down the road we just left 15 minutes later we see some others like oh my gosh like turn the car like you know let's pull over and look at it even though we had just seen it like 30 minutes ago yeah and it was just that wow factor again never ending yeah yeah so it is an impressive place check it out next is best off-the-beaten-path place so if somebody talks about some place that's off the beaten path it just means it's maybe lesser-known people don't know about it or it's just maybe more difficult to get there so what about what would you recommend off the beaten path so my favorite kind of geography is seaside but like hilly cliffs and and with a view of the sea so I don't really like like flat beaches and the reason I say that is this place has so many of them is just so beautiful and it is the Pacific Northwest so it's like from what I've seen I was blown away by how beautiful the beaches were along like kind of an in the northwest of the country you know in in Oregon and Washington it's just so like everywhere you turn you stop on the coast and then you have this beautiful gorgeous view of the sea and also of the cliffs around it and it's just it's just I don't know very very nice it's just one of my favorite things to just kind of stare and look at the ocean and listen to the sounds and just kind of relax but I did want to say the reason why it's off the beaten path is because when you think of the beaches in the US and all of that you don't really you don't always think of like the Pacific Northwest people think of Florida or Southern California or yeah where the beaches are a little different they're beautiful and florescent there's sandy beaches yeah but it's it's just a different kind of experience and and if you're into nature hiking all over that you can have some gorgeous views and you see it all from like a distance from up high it's really cool my off-the-beaten-path place is a place you probably have heard of but it is just one that's more difficult to get to and it's a little out-of-the-way and that would be Alaska and the reason I say that is a long time ago I worked up in Alaska for a summer and definitely go during the summer there's so much to see there is a lot of diverse wildlife the mountains the geography it is it's it's a very it's a very cool spot and I think very unique for the United States because you don't find that in the lower 48 you don't find that same geography you definitely don't find the same wildlife so that would be my off the beaten path go to Alaska rent an RV and drive all through there visit the national parks next is the best tourist attraction so this is not really a city or a town but an actual attraction yeah that people would see what do you think best tourist attraction I invite this category I mean like something it's actually worth seeing that when you go there you're actually impressed with the way you're saying that's why I choose the Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco bias but it's so cool so like it's giant bridge but it looks so amazing you see it all over for I think it's one of the most I think it's the most instagrammed bridge in the world but not just because it's just such a beautiful view over the ocean but also and over the whole city it's just it's huge it's red it just photographs well and it's definitely worth seeing that's my best tourist attraction I would say another I don't know well-known tourist attraction even though I think they they have they have it in many countries all over the world now but I'd say if you're gonna go like check out Disneyworld it's an actual it's a little cheesier but it's another tourist attraction the reason I say Disneyworld is because if you go to Orlando it's not their army it's the one in Florida I'm not in California not Disneyland in California Disney World in Florida and the reason for that is because there are so many different theme parks in Disneyworld you have the Epcot Center MGM Studios you have there yeah Magic King there's just there's a lot of different things that you can do it doesn't matter your age there's a lot of cool stuff that you could find but I'd say again that is a very popular tourist attraction in the United States and it's not yeah it's not bad next we're gonna tell you about the best small town so if you're gonna go the US and you want to check out a small town where would you go this I really love this little town it's a it is a small small town it was super tiny it was we were going we were driving from Atlanta Georgia to Savannah right mm-hmm and somewhere in there we came across the town of Madison in Georgia and this place is gorgeous if you're interested in United States history it has some beautiful Antebellum architecture and it's actually really really hard to find because a lot of it was destroyed in in the Civil War and you know it's it's beautiful southern architecture with so much detail and I yeah it's very beautiful I definitely recommend a lot of the houses there have it and it's like worth driving these giant southern mansions and you're just like whoa look at that one oh look at that one so these beautiful house it'd be a place to go drive through because it is really small drive walk or quite weekend yeah maybe a weekend it's not a place you'd go hang out for a week it's super tiny it's very very very small my best small town is not as small as Madison but it is also in the southeast and I would recommend Asheville Asheville North Carolina is a cool town it's it's known for I think it's it's a bit of a younger town it's up in the mountains so it's a cool mountain town a lot of things to do outdoors it's also I think a big more of a big music scene too if you want to go see a lot of live music a lot of different shows check out Asheville that's yeah it's it's another good spot to go spend a weekend or spend a few days if you want to see kind of a different side to America because I think when people go to most countries they go to these big cities yeah San Francisco New York LA Chicago it's always good to kind of get outside of those bigger cities and see some other places so yeah Asheville North Carolina so I hope you guys enjoyed learning about our recommendations if you're going to travel to the United States and now we want to hear from you if you are going to go to the United States which place would you like to visit it doesn't have to be something that was on our list but someplace that you have either been to before or you've heard of let us know in the comments where would you like to go if you're going to visit the United States if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button down below and as always thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time --- ## 461. PERPLEXING GRAMMAR Mistakes That Are Holding You Back | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YwX5B8-vg_I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwX5B8-vg_I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:03:09 | --- I want to see how much you already know when it comes to some perplexing grammar because well English grammar it can be a little tricky there are many rules structures nuances so learning this and gaining a better understanding of this perplexing grammar will definitely help you reach your fluency goals my name is Wes the channel is interactive English and if you would like to improve your grammar Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teach teacher so if you would like to access and get these lesson notes right next to me check out the link Down Below in the description you can join my email Community if you are already a part of it then check your inbox I have sent them to you so this is a quiz lesson and I would like you to participate write your answers in the chat in the comments I love hearing from you this is after all it is interactive English I want you to to take part in these lesson that is what it is all about so here is your first question I want you to identify the incorrect use of the subjunctive mood so which one is used incorrectly a I wish he were here B I wish uh if you were if I were you I would talk to her or C if I was you I would talk to her what do you think you can just some of this is going to be multiple choice so it'll be very quick to respond but I'll give you just a moment to think of the answer and then of course I'll tell you and talk about why and try to give you this information so that it'll help you get a better understanding of what we're talking about so looking at this I I didn't think it was a trick question even though sometimes uh if you're taking an exam this really trips people up because I asked you to identify the incorrect use so which one is not correct and I hope that you said c if I was you I would talk to her so this one is this is not the correct use of the subjunctive mood so I think many of you rock that excellent Loi teayo Julia Perfect all right great to see so many familiar people so in this is a quick explanation right here with the subjunctive mood um were should be used instead of was in hypothetical statements like if I were you so it is the subun because as you can see the subject and the verb do not agree I were and that is what that is what makes it the subjunctive so the other two they work all right I wish he were here and if I were you I would talk to her the next question right here um choose the correct form of the word what do you think how can we M between the two so I I'm giving you the word different but I want you to choose the correct form and some of these I think are going to be a little easier than others um I I would say in general this is definitely Upper Intermediate to Advanced grammar the the different things that we're going to be talking about but how would you complete this sentence how can we M between the two I will say that a lot of the things that uh we're going to talk about even though some of them may seem simple this is when people make small minor mistakes when it comes to either speaking or writing which are the two productive skills so in this case I'm giving you different this is the adjective but in the case of our question we're missing a verb so basically I'm asking you to figure out well what other word in the word family can complete that sentence and if we want to change this to a verb then the answer would be differentiate how can we differentiate between the two so the word differentiate this is the correct verb form and I've given you other parts of the word family down below the noun difference the verb differentiate the adjective different and the adverb differently now looking at these two pictures you can see that well one is an alligator and the other is a crocodile and basically the way that I I think that you differentiate between the two is crocodiles have a a longer and thinner snout than than alligators that is one way to differentiate between the two all right you can let me know if you got that correct or or answering these questions hit that like button let me know those hearts I love seeing them that tells me that okay you are participating actively participating in the lesson what do you think choose the correct structure with parallel structure so which which of these sentence is an example of parallel structure a she likes reading books writing essays and to study history B she likes reading books writing essays and studying history and C she likes to read books to write essays and studying history what do you think now I I feel like in this case if I were just to ask you okay what is parallel structure I I think often people might say well I'm not really sure but looking at these sentences I feel like you're probably going to be able to piece it together and and choose the correct sentence that is a good example of parallel structure so as I went through and and was reading those sentences and even if you're you're looking at them right now I I feel like you're probably able to tell like okay two this the sentences are not the same so the correct answer is B she likes reading books writing essays and studying history excellent uh Ava Miranda uh Loi adelon so basically parallel structure requires all elements in a list to be in the same form so in this case we're talking about jirens Reading Writing studying we're using the Jaren and in those other two sentences there was an infinitive that that was in there like that last one um you know to read books to write essays and studying history it just if if you're not going to follow parallel structure it it's just going to make it seem sound a bit awkward uh and and really clunky if you're either writing or speaking so this is something that is very important and that you should follow the next question that I have for you I think this one may be a little trickier choose the correct form she would rather you m in here so I'm giving you the two words not smoke and I just want you to complete the sentence are you going to complete the sentence with a don't smoke B not smoke C didn't smoke and d uh not to smoke what do you think the I I say this is tricky or a little trickier and I will explain why but there is well one correct answer between those uh four choices that you have what do you think a b c d she would rather you in here so I see this one I I think it's a little trickier I see a little bit of a mix of responses but the correct answer is C didn't smoke so basically after would rather we use the past tense for hypothetical situations so the past tense did not didn't smoke is the correct form now I say it's a little tricky because in casual colloquial English sometimes people don't follow grammar rules we just talked about the subjunctive mood and somebody you saying well if I were you I would do this it is not uncommon to hear somebody break this Rule and they just say if I was you so that is a form that you will hear and in this case I I would say the same thing you may hear somebody say well she would rather you um not smoke in here and to give you an example if uh you want to compare the usage of some of these different phrases I think a great resource is engram viewer this is just a collection of written English and basically if you have a couple of different phrases and you want to know well which one is more commonly used you can put them in there and they'll they'll graph it for you so you get kind of an idea as to which one uh is more commonly used in English so I put in the three statements would rather you didn't would rather you not would rather you don't and as you can see would rather you did not ra would rather you didn't is the common response but would rather you not is also used and and it gives you an idea uh as to the difference between those and the frequency in which they are used so this is a great resource engram viewer I would check it out especially if you are writing and you're trying to think about what's the best way to word a sentence and which phrase would you like to use here is the next question choose the best verb tense to express the following I am waiting for the bus for over 20 minutes I have uh B I have waited for the bus for over 20 minutes and c I have been waiting for the bus for over 20 minutes which uh you probably see in my instruction that I I did not use correct I used the word best choose the best verb tense to express this idea right here and I I will tell you why I think this is the best verb tense in this context somebody is at a bus stop and they're waiting and then they say this sentence and I think they would accurately Express this idea when they say sentence C I have been waiting for the bus stop for over 20 minutes so in this case I would recommend that you use the present perfect progressive or present perfect continuous because it expresses an action that basically it started in the past it is continued to the present and is will likely continue into the future and the one thing that I also want to point out when it comes to the present perfect continuous is that there really is an emphasis on the duration of time that this has been going on so when I think of somebody saying this sentence they are perhaps frustrated the bus is late and you're like oh I've been waiting for the bus for 20 minutes and you want to emphasize the duration of time that is why I think that the present perfect continuous is the best answer because technically you could use the present perfect yeah I've waited for the bus for over 20 minutes but again in this case I think I think you should stick with the present perfect continuous or present perfect progressive it's the same thing what do you think about this question right here which of the following sentences uses the correct form of who and whom I know that I've we've done these grammar quizzes before and typically I will throw in a question when it comes to who and whom so this for this quiz this is your question so which of the following sentences uses the correct form a whom is going to the party B who is going to the party or C I don't know who he is what do you think a b or c the correct form of who and whom so I I think this is good if you all are doing well that is perfect again let me know hit that like button that tells me that you're learning new things and one thing I want to reiterate even if you know know many of these answers you're getting them correct that is perfect but still when you're having a conversation you're not necessarily thinking about grammar rules I'll still hear people make slight speaking mistakes but as you continue to practice this go over it again and again and again then in the future you are just less likely to make those same mistakes so the answer is B and I think many of you rock that one who is going to the party so who is used as the subject of the sentence while whom is used as the object so the correct sentence asks about the subject performing the action who is going to the party in this case who is the subject of the sentence I think that is even though these can be a little tricky I I feel like that is just a pretty simple explanation who subject whom object all right what do you think that was uh I think many of you got that be perfect uh social Vibe well done LLY uh great to see you nice uh let's see choose the sentence that uses a conditional correctly so I'm asking you to identify the correct conditional sentence is the answer a if I would have known I would have helped you B if I had known I would have helped you or C if I knew I would have helped you what do you think which of these sentences is the correct conditional sentence and for bonus points you can tell me which conditional is the sentence is it the first conditional second conditional third conditional what do you think that would be my my bonus uh bonus question for you so looking at these sentences I hope and I think many of you did choose B if I had known I would have helped you so this is the third conditional I saw some of you got that as well it's talking about a hypothetical situation in the past something has already happened it cannot be changed it is hypothetical and in that case you're going to use had plus the past participle and then you're going to that that is going to be in your if statement and then the result you're going to use would have plus the past participle so that is an example of the third conditional this I I don't think this is too tricky but still I think this is something that a Nuance in English that is important to understand choose the best question for the following statement when having a casual conversation so somebody makes this statement my friend is traveling to South America which question do you think is the the best if somebody is you're talking with someone they say well yeah my friend is traveling to South America and then you ask this question are you going to say a where are he or she going B where are they going or C where is he or she going which of these questions would you ask when having a casual conversation and notice I have I have said casual conversation several times I'm I'm trying to emphasize that so this is a little I don't want to say tricky but again I would say more of a Nuance because in this case I would say I I think you should ask B where are they going so the thing that I want to point out the Nuance is the singular they so in this case somebody says my friend is traveling to South America let's say that I have never met your friend I don't know if uh your friend is a man or a woman so I'm not really sure which pronoun to use now typically you would use he or she but if you are in a conversation it is not common you're more likely to see this Construction in writing but even when you're writing if you end up using it quite a bit it just is going to seem clunky and that is why I think it is preferred to use the singular they so you can use the singular they it it's become the pronoun of choice to replace he and she in cases where the gender of the antecedent the word um the word the pronoun refers to is unknown in this case my friend would be the unknown and in that case I'm just going to use they where are they going I I the reason why I emphasize casual conversation because you might find in more well formal circumstances they say no no no don't use the singular they use he or she however I would challenge that notion with the following because even the here this little uh exert the Associated Press settles the matter so I'll just read this quickly it says while it may seem awkward to use the singular they the Associated Press weighed in on the matter in March of 2017 it announced that the AP Style Style book will accept the plural they them in there to refer to a singular antecedent when the alternative wording is awkward or Clum clumsy I just mentioned if you keep saying you know he and she he and she he and she it is going to sound a bit awkward so I I feel like even the other more formal styles especially if you're talking about University academic writing MLA APA it is becoming more and more accepted but I would say in casual conversation that is this is something that you will definitely definitely hear I end up using it all the time and it just you know it's it's natural here is your next question which sentence uses reported speech correctly so we're talking about reported speech which one uh is using it correctly a she said that she had visited the museum yesterday B she said that she has visited the museum yesterday or C she said she visited the museum yesterday and I meant then in C there should be another quotation at the end of it is supposed to be a quotes around that she visited the museum yesterday what do you think a b or c i I feel like looking at these examples it's probably a little easier to spot when thinking about okay reported speech how is how do we structure this and as you can see many of you awesome can't get anything by you today uh a is the correct answer she said that she had visited the museum yesterday yesterday this is an example of reported speech because in reported speech the past perfect had visited is used to describe an action completed before the reporting verb said so a is the correct answer excellent well done well done everyone I'm GNA hopefully let let's see let's see if you get all of them and uh if if some of you just got all of them correct today that'll be very impressive what do you think complete the sentence with the correct verb tense by the time you arrive I my work so I'm giving you the main verb which is finish and I want you to use that verb complete the sentence so that it's correct by the time you arrive I my work and I I was about to give you a hint I don't think I need to and I feel like that would make a little too easy in that case so the one of the key words or the phrase that dependent um Clause by the time you arrive so that tells us really we're we're talking about something in the future and the correct verb form would be the future perfect tense by the time you arrive I will have finished my work so this future tense construction it is not the most common construction that you're just going to use all the time every day but conversationally this is a sentence that you might say to someone uh and when having Hey by the time you arrive look I'll finish my work you know I I'll have finished so we're going to use the present perfect uh tense it's used to express an action that will be completed before a specific time in the future so it's basically like we're we're putting that point out there or that time in the future and then saying something all right is going to uh occur before that and I've given you a list of 10 example sentences just to reinforce the future perfect tense I I'll go ahead and just read a few of them for you like number one by next Friday okay I'm establishing that point in the future by next Friday I will have finished my report will have finished or if I say in five years okay that is my point in the future in five years I will have graduated from University will have graduated one more another phrase that I think people say especially now that we're in December by the end of the year all right it's coming up by the end of the year that's my point in the future she will have saved enough money to buy a car will have saved so just something to keep in mind we're talking about the future perfect continuous and I I think just reading and going through some of these example sentences just really reinforces the grammar that is something I would definitely recommend that you do try to make it a habit read each day an article uh a book because you're just seeing the grammar uh the structure and you're really learning it passively choose the correct sentence there's only well you got a 50-50 chance two choices so I want you to choose the correct sentence a neither the teacher nor the students was aware of the change or B neither the teacher nor the students were aware of the change which one is the correct sentence perhaps I I think maybe everybody's doing a much better job today typically I don't really do many multiple choice quizzes but often it's like just a fill-in the blank so possibly giving you this multiple choice uh probably makes it a bit easier so just going through these sentences I can see well done um V Angela Teo Loi um sampa just throwing out some some quick shout outs John well done B is the correct answer neither the teacher nor the students were aware of the change so we're talking about the phrase neither nor so when the subjects are joined by neither nor the verb agrees with the subject closer to the verb so in this case we're talking about students that is the subject closer to the verb students is plural so we're going to use were students were neither the teacher nor the students were aware of the change great job everyone perfect again if you got that just let me know hit that like button it tells me all right you guys are uh perfecting and fine-tuning your Gra grar skills choose the correct option to complete the sentence and uh I don't I don't think this is too tricky we'll leave as soon as the train this is the sentence how are you going to best complete this sentence what are you going to say a arrives B will arrive C has arrived or D arrived will leave as soon as the train one thing I think that that would help especially as we go through these is to just say the sentence to yourself say it out loud and just see which of these words uh comes out so I think if you were to say this sentence we'll leave as soon as the train arrives a is the correct answer great job everyone you guys are rocking this so for the explanation we're going to use arrive when talk talking about we're talking about future events we use the present simple tense After Time expressions like as soon as so this is my time expression we're talking about in the future because you see that we will we will leave as soon as the train arrives that is our present simple so this is again the I I think you did a great job I will say this is perplexing is a little challenging difficult I do hear people make small mistakes when it comes to either speaking or writing and the more you practice reinforce this I I think it's just going to help you reduce those mistakes greatly so if you knew a lot of this it's good review again if you would like to get these lesson notes click on the link down in the description join our email Community I send out a lot of different notes resources lesson updates course information so please uh join and uh it's always it's always just great to hear from you but I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day thank you for participating and I will see you next time for another lesson so long --- ## 462. PICK UP has 20 Different Meanings | Phrasal Verb Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JZKmEbxTmiY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZKmEbxTmiY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:29:39 | --- today I'm gonna talk to you about one phrasal verb with 20 different meanings and that phrasal verb is pick up everyone my name is Wes from interactive English videos dot-com and we are all about helping you practice and improve your English so that you can achieve fluency and today I want to talk to you about a phrasal verb just one phrasal verb and that is pick up and I want to teach you 20 different meanings for this one phrasal verb and this is very useful because well especially phrasal verbs many of them have multiple meanings but what I want to do is give you specific examples as to when a person might use each of these meanings so that you have something to associate it with and the goal is not for you to memorize all of these different meanings just try to follow along and understand the examples that I give you because the more you read the more you listen over time you will learn all of these different meanings and you'll be able to use them correctly so let's get into it the first meaning is just to to lift something up or you could lift someone up and you're using your arms to to lift this thing up for example I I have a baby girl and I like to lift her up and hold her in my arms I can lift her up to lift something up pickup also means to to make someone feel better and I think often like kind of when you're getting ready to start doing something for example I could say my morning coffee really picks me up and I can just get going and start my day it picks me up it makes me feel better in the same context you could use it as a noun you may hear somebody say you know I just need I need a little pick-me-up and and this is again it's something to to make you feel better so that you can get going I just need a little pick-me-up but it's true drinking coffee in the morning you know it just it picks me up I feel a little better and then I can start my day but I like coffee it picks me up and never lets me down also gives you heartburn and flattens your dream it also means to get back up after being knocked to the ground and I I guess you could say that you could use this both literally and figuratively so literally would be if you actually fall to the ground maybe you bump into someone or perhaps you're playing a sport a physical activity and you fall to the ground and you need to pick yourself back up a figurative example would be like if you you get knocked down mentally that you are really sad or upset and then another person might tell you like you know you got to keep going you got to just pick yourself up and keep going perhaps somebody maybe loses their job and they're really sad about it and their friend might try to encourage them and say look you got to just you're gonna pick yourself up keep going go apply for other jobs just just pick yourself right back up and keep fighting but my buttons stop crying look you need to pick yourself up man up pick up also means that something is improving or developing basically it's getting better and I would tell you to think about maybe like the economy or a business you may hear it used in that context somebody could say like well when's the economy going to pick up when's it going to improve and get better or a business somebody could say well lately business it's really picking up it's improving it's developing it's picking up pick up also means to to collect someone typically by car you you have a car and then you will go pick someone up and you will collect that person and you will hear it used with this meaning all the time when are you going to pick me up where are you going to pick me up somebody needs to come pick me up still pick me up at 8:00 what time do you want to pick me up Sunday you will pick Ellie up oh brother picks me up police car then we have the meaning of well cleaning or tidying some area you just want to make it look nicer and you could say that you're going to pick up your room or maybe you're talking about your home like yeah I just I need to pick up a few things around the home I need to clean it a little bit make it look a little nicer I just to pick up around the home my mom would always tell me this when I was a kid and she would always tell me look Wes you gotta go pick up your room before you go outside and play before you do anything go pick up your room maybe we could work out some kind of a deal you pick up around a place then we have the meaning to arrest someone so you you know that with this meaning we're talking about the police that the police might pick someone up they would arrest them I could say well last night the police they picked up a suspect and we'll see we'll see if they committed the crime but they picked up a suspect last night just one unless you know the area is safe because they picked up that suspect so again listen for the this meaning especially if you're watching a a crime show or some movie that involves the police see if you can listen for this phrasal verb and try to identify it it is quite common and you might hear somebody talk about the police picking someone up two detectives are on the way from Sweden to pick up the suspect please make them feel welcome the next meeting is two to try and talk to someone in order to create some sort of relationship especially if you're talking about a sexual relationship and this is a meaning that's very informal you would maybe hear it like young men might say something like oh you know let's let's go out to the bars tonight and and we'll try to pick up some girls we'll try to talk to them and have a sexual relationship to pick someone up it's not I I mean women could use it as well if they want to try to meet a man but anytime that that a person wants to informally have some sexual relationship they might use this phrasal verb in that context to pick someone up okay just the idea of you and he and all these women no no no you can't take him away from me I got a great partner to pick up girls with finally then we have the meaning to pay for something and in this case I think about well like a bill that there is some service that you need to pay for maybe you're at a restaurant and somebody could say well who's going to pick up the bill I'm not gonna pick up the bill maybe you don't want to pick up the bill I don't know who's going to pick up the bill and in that case they're talking about paying for this this service and I think this is commonly used when you're eating out at a restaurant and somebody would pick up the bill now another meaning which is very similar is that you can also use pickup to say that you are buying something and I say it's similar because both of them involve money but it's different and that you're talking about you are you're actually buying some physical thing like I could say that you know we went to the grocery store and we picked up some great deals something was on sale and we picked up these different items we bought them or maybe I I find a really good deal on a TV and say well you know I picked up a big-screen TV that was on sale it was a good deal and I picked it up I didn't you know physically pick it up I'm saying that I bought this thing I picked it up luckily I just picked up a new bottles lavender essential oils turn around pick up also means to understand information and there's a funny little expression in English there goes are you picking up what I'm putting down I'm serious are you guys are you picking up what I'm putting down I'm basically asking are you picking up do you understand the information that I'm putting down the information that I'm telling you are you picking up what I'm putting down that that's just a fun little sentence but it really kind of highlights the meaning of well understanding information pick up picking up when I planned out all right I know what's going on here I'm picking up what you're putting down it also means to acquire some skill or talent over a period of time and I think learning languages is a great example when when using the phrasal verb like this so I could say that right now you guys you're trying to pick up English you're trying to learn the English language so we can use it when talking about languages you could use it talking about well a skill like maybe a musical instrument and I say you know I'm trying to pick up guitar at the moment it's taking some time but I'm just hopefully one day I'll pick it up I will learn the thing I will learn this skill I'll pick it up yesterday goodie promise our profiles we can also use pickup to talk about acquiring an illness or disease that if you you get sick and you got it from someone else you you might pick it up from that person or an example I could say well last week I picked up a really bad cold at work so many people were sick and I picked up this cold I picked up this illness this disease but I was visiting that bird town on business when I came down with some light-headed and I'm afraid I might have picked up swine flu if you'd like to see a doctor you'll have to fill out the paperwork we can also use pickup to talk about starting again or just to continue so if you're doing something and you stopped you are going to continue at that point you are going to pick up there you're not going to start back at the beginning and in that case you might hear somebody say let's pick up where we left off that you were doing some activity you stopped and then you're going to pick up where you left off we can pick up where we left off listen Ally maybe we could just pick up from where we left off what are you saved we pick up where we left off pick up can mean to receive or detect some kind of sound or even a signal and in this case I would tell you think about your cell phone and sometimes you you can't use your cell phone because you're not picking up a signal you're not picking anything up and and that is a great example as to when you would use this meaning to detect a sound or a signal see if I failed to pick up a signal it also means to identify something and what I would tell you to think about maybe doctors and you could say that well doctors are able to pick up early signs of a heart attack and you're able to identify some sort of sign and you would pick it up I it also means to notice something that is not obvious so this is a little similar but the the not obvious part is different so the example that I would give you would be think of a dog maybe a police dog and you could say well the dog is able to pick up the scent that if the dog is looking for the criminal you could say well the dog is able to pick up the scent because it's not obvious to everyone else but the dog can notice it the dog can pick up the scent and then hopefully if they find the criminal then the police will pick up they'll pick up the criminal they will arrest them and [Music] pick up also means to accelerate to go faster and you might hear somebody talking about picking up the pace and I could say well we were we were hiking up the mountain and we picked up our pace and we reached the top and record time because we picked up our pace we accelerated we went faster then there is another very common use of this phrasal verb this meaning which is just to to answer your phone to pick up the phone to answer it and I think you might well you might use it I use it on quite a bit if you're trying to call somebody nobody's answering you'd say well nobody's picking up why isn't anybody picking up the phone somebody needs to answer it but they're not picking up and then we have to defend an opposing player and this would be used with sports that you need to pick up some other person so whether you're talking about well basketball maybe or you're watching a game and somebody'd say you need to pick up your man you need to defend this person or even in soccer somebody could say well who's going to pick up this player right here who's going to defend this person so right now you are picking up the English language and you are doing an excellent job because you are able to learn and and pick up the different meanings of this one phrasal verb and I know that that it can be confusing I know that it can be difficult just don't let it get you down but if it does get you down you just got to pick yourself back up all right so I hope that you learn some new meanings for for this one phrasal verb and next week I'm just gonna pick up right where I left off thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 463. POLITICAL VOCABULARY ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Advanced Words & Phrases You Should Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8IVrBCZpaYY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IVrBCZpaYY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:51:13 | --- this is a bipartisan video to help you build your vocabulary with some Advanced political words and phrases and let's just start with that word right there bipartisan this means supported by or consisting of two political parties and it it really does have a positive connotation so I thought we would start and should start with something positive and there are some common collocations with this adjective and these are words that are frequently used together so you might hear somebody talk about bipartisan support or a bipartisan agreement a bipartisan Vote or even a bipartisan committee speaker Kimbell hook Strat has promised a bipartisan effort to amend the legislation and get it passed number one we need to reform but we can't do it without bipartisan support the president will announce a major bipartisan agreement in the state of the union now if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary on a variety of topics like politics and many others then please subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if you subscribe I'm not just going to treat you like any old other subscriber I'm actually going to listen to you I'm going to try to answer to you and I will treat you as though you were one of my constituents and that is the next word that I want to talk to you about constituent this is basically a voter or a person who can vote in a particular particular area of the country and the opposite of a constituent or I guess it would be the opposite would be a representative a representative represents voters or they represent their constituents and sometimes you may hear these words used in the same sentence so I could say the representatives in Washington will have to go home and answer to their constituents you're asking us to abandon a man who's inspired millions of our constituents try to repair the damage done to my beloved family and my esteemed constituents then we have incumbent this is a person who has or had a particular official position so in the United States which is where I'm from there are really two people who are running for an elected government position and that's a Democrat and a Republican and typically one person is the new candidate and the other person is the incumbent and in those situations the incumbent definitely has the advantage and when an incumbent retires then there would just be two new candidates but the incumbent is the person who is in office now breaking news out of North Carolina Democratic incumbent cam Bri getting a run for his money by newcomer Marty Huggins the next word it's a negative one and that is demagogue now you may use this word in other contexts outside of politics but I think often it is used to talk about a politician so this is a person especially a politician who really gets support by exciting the emotions of Ordinary People rather than by having good or morally right ideas so this is how weird things are in the US because each side May accuse the other of being a demagogue people on the left May accuse Trump of being a demagogue people on the right May accuse Biden of being a demagogue and this is just the time that we live in your leadership has raised the stakes of hate to a level where we can no longer separate the demagogue from the truly inspired then there's a word that is used a lot nowadays and that is the adjective polarized this word really just means divided but specifically divided into two opposing groups and you will certainly come across this adjective if you are listening to the news or reading a newsp paper because people might talk about an issue that has become polarized or just saying that people nowadays are polarized so look for it listen for it you will certainly come across this word we're more polarized now ever that's understandable we're in a tribal moment we are frequently told that American politics are polarized on the right Republicans work together with other Republicans and on the left Democrats work with other Democrats then there's filibuster this refers to a long speech in order to delay or prevent a law from being made or past and you can use this as a verb or a noun so to filibuster something I could say I plan to filibuster the proposed legislation or as a noun a filibuster I started a filibuster to stop the proposed legislation so in the US this is just a legislative technique to stall or stop voting on something and in order to give you a better idea as to how this word is used in context I have some news headlines for you state senators filibuster ahead of legislative deadline filibuster returns to Nebraska legislature over Bill targeting fentanyl crisis Senator Jeff Merkley on how to fix the filibuster because yeah it's a little screwy it's kind of broken and here are some more examples because I love giving you a Variety article 7 section 3 allows for a citizen filibuster if I stand here and refuse to yield my time you are prohibited from voting on the bill let the filibustering begin next is impeach this means to make a formal statement saying that a public official is guilty of a serious offense in connection with their job and it's a word that once again is used more and more often in the United States so you could use it as as a verb to impeach someone or as a noun impeachment or even as an adjective impeachable saying something is an impeachable offense and I I want you to keep in mind that impeachment is a political process you're you're not really going to go to jail but you may lose your job so now for a little trivia how many US presidents have been impeached uh I'll tell you the answer is three and you may be able to think of two of the three well the first one is Trump who was twice impeached once in 2019 and again in 2021 Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 and then Andrew Jackson was impeached in 1868 and of the presidents who were impeached none of them were convicted so I pretty much ran the place into the ground after 2 months and got impeached I changed my vote I vote to impeach me too I still have loyalty to my party tongue and where's their loyalty they were going to impeach you then we have referendum this is a vote in which all people in a country or area are asked to give their opinion about or decide an important political or social question and this noun may be followed by the preposition on so in the US in some states there may be a referendum on marijuana legalization or a referendum on abortion or a referendum on school boards but this year there are going to be a number of different referendums you know to some a simple Schoolhouse whiteboard but to those in the know a referendum on Democracy But ultimately this was a referendum on the leadership of George W bush the state of Nevada is trying to uh pass a referendum where uh State uh local government employees cannot have mustaches then we have ballot which is a pretty common word you may be familiar with it already but it has a couple of different meanings and there are some common collocations with this noun so the first meaning is just a system of secret voting and collocations you could say that someone was elected by Ballot or something was done by secret ballot or you could say that you're going to hold a ballot it also refers to a piece of paper on which you write your vote so I could say that the referendum is going to appear on the ballot or a collocation would be to cast your ballot a very common noun definitely one you should know the Americans are heading to the polls to cast their ballots for the next US president all 48,000 voters and who each one of them voted for I thought this was a secret ballot next is winner take all and this is really about a competition in which The Winner Takes the entire prize so it really means what it says but you may be wondering how does this word relate to politics so in the US we have this screwy system called The Electoral College and this is actually the way that we choose our president it's not by the popular vote the person has to win 270 Electoral College votes that is the magic number so each state is given a number of electors based on the size of the state and within the state whoever wins the popular vote wins them all and that's why we say win or take all because even if it's very close if one person wins by one vote they get all of the electors win or take all it's screwy to me it doesn't make any sense but this is the way it's done in just about every state so let me give you some more political examples using this phrase okay guys one match winner take all one more time winner take all last game coming up we going to take all agreed think tank this is the next phrase that I want to teach you because it refers to a group of experts that are gathered together by an organization especially a government in order to consider different problems and try to come up with ways to solve these problems so you might hear someone say that a study or or some research was done by a think tank now even though think tanks May consist of different experts they're not really without bias because some think tanks have been created to support a progressive agenda while other think tanks support a conservative agenda and here are some well-known think tanks The Brookings institution the Heritage Foundation Pew Research Center whenever you hear these names you now know that they are thinking tanks I think it's exciting Springfield is the center of the political Universe I feel like a pundit in a think tank think tanky I thought you would be a tremendous addition to this think tank this woman Simone lir is the president of a think tank called European independence league then there's to Lobby this means to try to persuade a politician or the government or some official group that something should or should not be done or that some law should be changed so someone may Lobby someone else for something and to give you a better idea as to how this verb is used in context here are some more news headlines Nebraska high school students Lobby legislators on a new program with a focus on diverse perspectives Spain set to Lobby EU Partners to recognize Palestinian State and student leaders Chancellor Lobby and DC for increased financial aid and stable research funding I should also tell you that this word is commonly used as a noun a Lobby to refer to the group that tries to persuade politicians so in this case you have the gun lobby the meat Lobby the telecon lobby there are many different lobbies our president is prepared to Lobby Congress to lift the NASA exclusion policy welcome to the grand opening of our Whatchamacallit which thanks to the lobbying of Lisa Simpson we built instead of a new baseball stadium and then we have poll this is a study in which people are asked to share their opinions about a subject or person and in an election year this is a word that you're going to hear quite often so you may hear statements like the polls show that Biden is ahead or the polls show that Trump is ahead and I'm also using this as a noun a poll but you can use this as a verb as well if I were to say we pulled a thousand people to ask their opinions on Free Speech in my personal opinion I think polls are really for reporting news and just capturing people's attention I I think in the US they've been somewhat inaccurate but what I think is more interesting are the exit polls this is the activity of asking people how they voted after they leave a polling station which is where people vote in order to discover what the results will likely be of course these polls are more reliable because people have already voted but it kind of helps you understand where people are at as far as what they think about certain topics and issues but these are words that you will hear a lot a poll or exit poll oh don't worry about the polls they're just a sampling CH don't get ahead of yourself we did a flash poll 68% of pans now believe you're lying about where you were born early exit polls are good the West Coast exit polls are looking bad and now for a little review because of course I am going to Lobby you to watch another video Lesson as my constituent that is what I would recommend and I suppose that if there were a study done by all think tanks the research would show that watching interactive English just helps you reach your fluency goals but in in all seriousness I would love it if you hit the like button and you could think of it like a secret ballot and later on I will check the results and really it's going to be a referendum on my teaching abilities so I I'm I'm not going to keep talking because then I'll just sound like I'm filibustering which is not what I want so I'm going to wrap things up but I really would appreciate it if you hit that like button if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new but as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 464. POPULAR AMERICAN SLANG ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (Millennials & Gen Z) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `AJdEpN82y0E` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJdEpN82y0E) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:56:25 | --- let's learn some American slang and the words and phrases that I'm getting ready to teach you are mostly used by Millennials and gen Z technically speaking I am Gen X so I don't personally use many of these words and phrases but it is good for your listening comprehension and it's also good to stay up to date this lesson is good for me as well because I need to stay up to date with New Slang this this may be the future of English so the first phrase that I have for you is to keep it 100. this means to be truthful to be authentic and this is actually a phrase that I learned recently from a student of mine from Brazil I appreciate it Chris keep it 100. I don't know it maybe sounds a little awkward when I say it but this is a phrase that has gone a bit more mainstream lately so you may hear it in the movie or TV show everyone knows that keep it 100 and they do seem to as they say keep it 100. I gotta keep a wine with myself too keep it in a honey another fun thing about this phrase is that people may use it when texting with the Emoji 100 so to give you some examples I have some tweets to share with you can you keep it 100 with us keep it 100 y'all try in these loyalty is rare if you find it keep it 100. the next slang word that I have for you is extra now normally this adjective means more than what is needed or usual can I have some extra sauce or let's do something extra special and people will use this as an attributive adjective that comes before the noun when we're talking about slang meaning it's slightly different so extra means something that is well just attention grabbing dramatic too much and it really has a negative connotation most of the time you're going to use it to refer to a person and in this case you may use it as a predicate adjective and it's going to follow the verb to be he is so extra she's being so extra that's so extra and I'm using so just to give it a bit of emphasis I seriously don't know how you're ever married to her shoes so extra she's a little extra yeah angry he was a pro and he brought quite a lot of fire path such an easy target yeah he was so extra right right I could take that girl out with like a fly sword he rocks up in this Urban Assault Vehicle then we have Vibe check so this is a way of well checking someone's attitude personality see how they're doing and it's really done in a friendly way this is often spontaneous and said at random times like you just want to check in with your friend and see how things are going and all of this is according to Urban Dictionary so to show you how this phrase is used in context I have some news headlines for you decoding Vibe check the word overused by gen Z so I guess this phrase is pretty common Vibe check big Tech is losing its luster for the class of 2023 amid mounting layoffs and an uncertain economy I like how Forbes is trying to be cool Vibe check and then Google Maps will now Vibe check your destination for you I suppose that's a good feature and you get to check people's Vibes before you go there and then there's rent free now normally this phrase would mean exactly what it says that you are living somewhere and not having to pay rent but when we're talking about slang it's referring to an obsession and somebody has this thought they can't stop thinking about a person in which case you could say that this person is living rent free in your head and that is a common collocation with this phrase to live rent free in someone's head think about it I live foreign nope they do not get another second free rent in our heads right then we have Stan I like this one because I think it's become more and more common this is referring to an obsessive fan and I can actually tell you where this word comes from so it originated in the year 2000 with the Eminem song Stan that's the name of the song and the song is talking about a person named Stan who is an obsessive fan I play the song for you but I don't want to get a copyright claim but often you would use this and talk about some celebrity and then follow it with the word stands if you want to say that these people are obsessive like Taylor Swift stands or BTS stands or interactive English stands I don't know if many of you out there are just obsessive fans but if you are you could say that you're a Stan and if you are an interactive English Stan let me know in the comments then we have simp now this is a noun and it refers to a person typically a man who really desires the attention and affection of another person typically a woman so you would say that someone is a simp and often I really think you're going to hear younger Generations use this word she's a fake giraffe who eats all the good leaves from the top of the tree Jake C is her little simp who just stays in a shitty relationship because he's too afraid to be alone but to give you a little more context here are some news headlines for you rapper T Payne has labeled Drake king of simp music what is simping and what does being called a simp mean this is from Men's Health I guess this is information guys need to know avoid using words like simp or Stan when talking to older Generations I think that's some good advice if you were to use these words talking to my parents they would have no idea what the hell you're talking about and then there's based this means to just be yourself without worrying what others think about you or how they perceive you and this is a word that has really gone viral on Tick Tock because according to one article the hashtag for the word has 7.1 billion views and creators often you use the tag when their videos relate to the idea of being courageous original or unaffected by Common culture so if I don't care what others think and I share my opinion and you agree with me you might respond and just say based this is the best video Lesson on slang ever made and I'm not trying to be a simp I'm just trying to keep it 100 because I'm sure if you are an interactive English Stan then you agree with me and you think that this is based okay and I feel a little ridiculous saying one right after the other but it's good to get a little bit of review alright Vibe check how are things going okay are you enjoying the lesson are you learning some new slang if so let me know by hitting that like button let's keep going with the next word which is sus and this is just short for saying something is suspect or suspicious this is an adjective that means giving the impression that someone or something is questionable or dishonest and once again I think mostly younger Generations are going to use this word at least younger than Gen X I figure out what his angle is the one thing we're calling that man is sus because that's what he is he is so sorry yeah Wyoming weird why everything so sucks then we have bougie and this is derived from the French word bourgeoisie referring to the class of owners and Merchants that were experiencing new wealth back in the 16th century but the slang meaning of bougie comes from hip-hop and it was popularized by the group Migos and I don't know who these guys are I don't listen to their music but just so you know where it comes from this word is an adjective and it just means luxurious in Lifestyle Rich special fancy so you could say my bougie friend bought a new house or she's so bougie with that Louis Vuitton bag or look at Wes with his bougie outfit and I'm sure you're thinking that well that example is sus because you can see my outfit and yeah it's not very luxurious but you get the idea and then there's basic this is an adjective that's used as an insult to say that someone or something is boring or uncool I could say look I'm Gonna Keep it 100. this party is basic and I'm leaving you may also hear people use the phrase basic which is a common phrase so you could say it is a collocation with this adjective you basic they called you a basic my back charm our family should wear uniforms with basic across the front and I'm like that is Lady Gaga oh your grandma's such a basic now for a little review and this is possibly going to sound weird but just because you're learning this slang do not feel like you have to use it this is just my advice and perhaps you think my advice is based because if you are trying to force slang into a conversation people may think that you're trying to be all extra and you're gonna sound a little strange like I may sound right now because some of you may be looking at me you see this Gen X person doing a lesson on slang and you think you know this guy is just a simp he's just trying to get a bunch of attention I don't think that's true I try to create a variety of English lessons for all of my fans especially my interactive English stands you know who you are and even though this review sounds a little weird I'm just trying to keep it 100. --- ## 465. PREPOSITIONS OF PLACE - IN, ON, AT | Quiz Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3XcmJGU-wG0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XcmJGU-wG0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:16:44 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson i think this is going to be a very fun lesson and i also think it should be insightful if you are a beginner learner intermediate advanced my my always my goal at the end is that you learn something new so i think this lesson really applies to all levels because we're going to be talking about prepositions specifically we're going to be talking about prepositions of place and really only focusing on in on and at so that's why i said i think this is relevant no matter what level you are uh where you're at because we we learn prepositions typically early on and talk about places and where things are at and but sometimes they can still be confusing i think this is often where many people no matter what level make just small small mistakes so the way that i want to do this of course i want to to test your knowledge uh toward the end i just want to talk about how we use each preposition and then i have some questions for you so first um i do want to say hello welcome uh good to see you lali takayau um muffin yashar anisa thank you guys for joining me today i will try to get some more shout outs in as we go through this because like i said i do have uh i have quite a few questions for you let me get myself in the frame here all right so let's start with in and remember we're only focusing on prepositions of place we're specifically just looking at place so the first one um i'll go through these uh quickly rather quickly it's used to talk about like locations within a larger area like in the example sentence i talk about tenants people who live in the building that is the larger area or if i say that something is in this room all right it's uh it's like it's enclosed all right within this larger area we're going to use in if we're talking about um a car a van or a taxi all right you're also going to use in okay car van or taxi and we also would use it with workplaces okay so i gave you that example sentence she works in human resources all right so i know that that is is also i'd say again you could it is a place all right where somebody um is located as far as their work is concerned like he works in marketing she works in human resources we're going to use in all right we're also going to use in if we're talking about well water all right then i gave that example this is another phrase that people may talk and use in english if they're referring to dating and um you know whether man or woman doesn't matter if you say like well i you know i'm having trouble meeting someone you could say well there are plenty of fish in the sea all right there's many people available to date out there so you would say in the sea or in the river in the ocean we would use in with water when talking about class all right he has trouble paying attention in class i hope you guys have no trouble paying attention and following along these lessons when you are in this class right now and then finally printed materials and the way this is changing a little bit so let me explain i say printed materials like um books you see something in a book or in a newspaper or in a magazine or in an article in the example i said you're looking up words in the dictionary the thing is i i even though i say printed materials a lot of things have moved online nowadays and even if you're talking about something online it's not printed you're still going to use in if you read something in an article online so just keep that in mind even if it's an online dictionary you're still going to use in even though a lot of this has become now digital all right so i know that can be a little confusing let's now all right let's move on to uh to on okay so um again focusing on prepositions of place and then i'm gonna quiz you so we use on if we're talking about the the position on any surface like um this water bottle it's on my hand right now all right it's on like that would be the surface to talk about the floor and a building like you live on the the second floor the third floor the fourth floor and it's also used to describe um a position along a road or a river or by the sea or lake um so in the example i said like i grew up on the east coast all right that that is um where where i grew up or if you say something is um on the river or like we have um we have a little home on the lake all right it's not talking about really like on the surface of the lake but just along along the lake okay and we are also going to use on and i think many of you are um familiar with this next one talking about public transit like um you're you're on the train you're on the bus you're on the plane you'll use on with left or right um you know where is it located it's on the right my office is on the right or something is on the left and then with media and this is where in and on can be a little tricky so i told you that in you would use with like printed materials but things that could also move online like um diction online dictionary or and on you could read a book online but if you're talking about media like the news um you saw something on the news or uh the example like you watch videos on youtube you are watching this lesson right now on youtube so in general with the media you're going to use on okay let's uh let's keep rolling through and talk about at okay we're going to use at to refer to the position or location as a point like i said there's a package at the front door now that would be a very small point you could use it to talk about like like a larger point that would even kind of be like a place um if you say you're at the gym um you could think of it like that as well like the gym that would kind of be the point even though it's a larger larger place um it's used to refer to an address all right remember if we're if we're just talking about streets you would say on main street but a specific address i live at at 44 main street all right we also use at when we're referring to like shops or public places um and again this is where i think you could also like i said when i talked about at the gym you could think of that as like again another public place but um you know at the store at the mall and then you would use it to refer to group activities how many people were at your party all right party involves a group of people or maybe you um something happened at the meeting all right a meeting would also involve a group of people and we use it at with school or university so remember in was with class in class but if you're talking about school you'd say something happened at school or i studied at a top-notch university top-notch is a phrase that just means excellent quality and this is actually not true okay that is just an example i didn't study i don't i wouldn't say it was a top-notch university uh university of colorado i think um they were uh they were a top-notch party school i would say probably um and then we have at with home or work so you're talking about like today at work something happened i gave an important presentation or something happened at home okay so i know that i've kind of went through those um i tried to go through them quickly because i want to get to the the meat of the lesson which are those questions that i have for you so i'm going to give you a question and i want you just to fill it in with in on or at all i'll give you a moment to think about it and then i'll tell you the answer and the other thing that i would say with these prepositions is this is um i know it's hard to learn all of those rules that i just said or trying to memorize them i don't think that that's necessarily the best way to to learn and think about okay which one do i need to use i think it's good to know the rules and kind of see some examples with them but i just think the more you read the more you practice you're just going to internalize it with these prepositions so that when you're writing or when you're speaking you'll be able to use the correct preposition okay so let's look at our first question and then i'll try to i'll look at some of the answers and try to give you guys um some some shout outs as we go through this um we stopped our car the traffic light now as we go through this it is i think it'll start it's going to be a little easier and then it'll get a little more challenging um as we go through so what do you guys think um we stopped our car um the traffic light i'll give you like five more seconds five well five four three two one and i'm counting quickly so yes you guys i think you rocked it the correct answer is at we stopped our car at the traffic light excellent lolly uh brayan adriana yashar takaya perfect okay so you guys i you guys got that one i think fairly easily perfect we'll see if i can i'll i'll try to to trip you up a little bit um so the next one if somebody were saying this okay think about that situation somebody's talking to you and they're saying this i couldn't hear you i was um the shower and like i mentioned like you know don't don't worry about like rules just think about you know what what even feels naturally which one do you think best completes this uh this sentence all right i couldn't hear you i was um the shower and then i'll try to tie it back to the rule that we just talked about okay excellent the correct answer i didn't do the countdown that time i apologize in um well done anisa vishwas pulkit um sanjeev krishna perfect i couldn't hear you i was in the shower so remember what i talked about in um well you could think of it one of two ways like you when i said it we use in with water um like you're in the ocean in this case the shower it is water but you could also think of it like you are kind of surrounded by this thing you are enclosed all right you're in the shower uh the next one okay and this one i will try to explain it uh a little bit for those of you maybe if you're unfamiliar with um a bumper sticker so somebody like again somebody might be pointing this out look at the funny bumper sticker um that van okay look at the funny bumper sticker um that van so bumper sticker i this is something that you would see more probably in the u.s all right i'm gonna show you a picture on the the next page um what it is it's not something i've seen that much of in other countries but people will have these bumper stickers and i almost gave the answer when i just was about to say what it is okay so the answer the correct answer is on all right excellent uh lolly esther um mohawk wendy angela great job okay so i look at that funny bumper sticker on the van all right so i told you like in you would use it with um like a car or a taxi or a van but that would refer to like you are inside um you know somebody would tell you to um get in the car or something happened when i was in the car like you're inside the vehicle in this case the bumper sticker is like a sticker you would put on the outside of your car typically it would go on the bumper of the car and again this is not something that um you would i don't know you might see it more in the u.s those of you who are in the u.s you may see this driving along the road people are making statements it could be political it could be about the environment or like this one i thought this was funny sometimes at like um like a high school if a student gets really they get good grades they become an honor student they would give the family like a bumper sticker and then maybe the mother or father would put it on their car and say like my son or daughter was an honor student and this one's kind of just joking around um like i was an honor student i don't know what happened like their life did not turn out the way they thought it would be even though they were an honor student um it's a fun one uh funny one the next question okay let's look all right what do you guys think um there are no firearms allowed um university property okay would it what would you which preposition should go there there are no firearms um no there are no firearms allowed um university property okay so let's uh oh wow okay i think i got you guys all right so the the correct answer again many of you said at okay so think of it this way in this case university is an adjective all right we're not using it as a noun like i mentioned in the example sentence uh somebody goes um they studied at a great university you study at university you study at school in this case we're talking about property so if you're talking about like something uh like a person would be on the property and if the person is carrying something then you would say yes there are no firearms allowed on university property so i would say talking about property like the like the land it would you would be on it if you were to talk about like a building in that case you would use in like you would say there are no firearms allowed in the building but if we're talking about property again you're like that would be the surface that you are on there are no fire alarms allowed on university property okay all right so hopefully again i told you i want i want everybody to just learn something new hopefully this one um that you it makes sense now okay remember university in this case is the adjective it is university property um okay some people are like sad or crying it's okay all right um we can keep going it makes like i said it i actually like it when there are a few mistakes because then you know we can explain something we can talk about it which i i hope then is you learn something new um so this one i think you guys um i think you guys can get this this is a pretty i think common just discussion so in any way you look so young um this picture all right you look so young this picture are we going to use in on or at okay so i told you i think you guys um would get this excellent just to show out some hottie uh lucy leah bob um [Music] are wait sue mart uh esther then the the correct answer is n um i forgot to mention that if you i mentioned like printed material and you think of like a book is something that's printed also pictures especially a long time ago that you people would print out the pictures so in that case you could you could relate it to that and think of in so there's you see something in the picture but nowadays people are using their phone it's digital you would still use in so that same um kind of rule applies uh whether it's like in a book or in a in a picture so yes you look so young in this picture okay so here's the next question we're gonna going through these trying to go through get through as many as i can so this now there's two um right now i'm m the mall you can find me the food court right now whoops let me get back in the frame i'm um the mall you can find me um the food court now i will say that for this one um there there are different answers that you you could give i'm gonna give you my opinion as to what i think the most common response would be think of it if somebody were to ask you where are you they there you talk to somebody on the phone they say hey hey where are you and you say right now i'm in the mall you can find me mmm the food court all right let's talking uh this uh i see natalie all right that was the answer i have uh hottie yes myrna um that is what i have so the the reason why i said that this this could be tricky for either one of those you could put in um in or at in or at could be used in either one of those blanks but what i would say is that if we're talking about the mall okay you're identifying that that place most commonly when somebody says where are you all right you're you're giving them that position that point um is the way i would think of it now that point doesn't have to be really small it could be a bigger place um so i would use at right now i'm at the mall and then if you want to be more specific you can find me in the food court because now we're talking about you're surrounded by this larger thing so this is good too like i said if somebody were to ask you just in general where are you most people whether you're talking about the movies the mall the gym most people are going to respond with at and the reason why when when people use at i think it's just assumed that the person is inside so when you're talking about at you're referring to that general location that that point okay hey i'm at the mall um so i think most often people will use at when somebody's just like hey where are you and then i followed it up to somebody trying to be more specific like yes you can find me in the food court but again in at you could use them with either one of those um blanks uh but again i just wanted to share my opinion as to what i think is probably more commonly used as to what what somebody would say if they're like hey where are you um sorry for that longer explanation um here's the next one okay every weekend i go swimming mmm the beach i really enjoy lying out the sand okay every weekend i go swimming the beach i really enjoy lying out um the sand what do you think which ones um what are we gonna put in those those blank spaces uh again if you guys got it wrong don't the ones before don't worry about it um i i like i said hopefully that my explanation makes sense as to how i came to the answer and maybe learn something new so in on or at what are we going to put um excellent uh let's see who do we have right uh angela lolly hottie um okay all right so we're talking about every weekend i go swimming all right um the beach the don't let swimming confuse you okay you're talking about the beach just like the mall you're talking more like a general place a general location you could think of it as more a point even though it would be like a larger point um you could also think of it somebody could think of it in regards to like maybe a group activity um a public space all right like the mall or the beach so you go swimming at the beach and you enjoy lying out on the sand so in this case the sand is the surface and you are on it you are on the sand um you wouldn't be in the sand you could be buried in the sand but if you're talking about lying out you have your um your your big uh towel that you're gonna lie out on and you're lying out on the sand and you do this at the beach all right so again i told you i mentioned before if somebody were to ask somebody oh where are you overwhelmingly people are going to use at i'm at the beach i'm at the movie i'm at the mall i'm at the gym and then that next one is a little more specific let's follow up on this all right so every weekend i go swimming at the beach i really enjoy lying out on the sand the next one is kind of connected to the same um to this these two sentences my friend has a boat and sometimes we'll take it out um the water but mostly but i i love swimming the ocean okay so again think about the the context i don't think that the the meaning of these sentences are too difficult to understand i know the prepositions can be tricky but once again think about um which which ones would you use in on or at to fill in those two blanks i told you this is a continuation of the last question we're still talking about this person is at the beach um [Music] okay so what do you what do you guys think i'll give you five more seconds five four three two one all right so the correct answer [Music] um on and in i saw a couple different on and ins to cayo mary salvade um adriana [Music] um sorry i miss a few more uh brian all right my friend has a boat and sometimes we take it out on the water again picture the boat in your mind all right um it's like the water then is the surface the boat is going to be on it all right you're out on the water but mostly i love swimming in the ocean i mentioned that you use in when talking about just water we had that question before about being in the shower or you could say that you're swimming in the pool in this case you're in the ocean and you're actually in the water swimming okay so on and in the next one um [Music] here we go and bonus points if you can tell me what the this these two sentences reference all right i'm referencing something um a movie okay what movie is it referencing i work um 1988 nakatomi plaza my office is um the 30th floor what are you going to use in on at and bonus points i told you what what movie what movie am uh am i referencing with this uh with this question so i'll give you five seconds five four three two one okay so you'd say i work at oh i don't wanna i'm giving you the answer at 1988 nakatomi plaza my office is on the 30th floor i think some of you um probably remember those two rules i said like uh an address a specific address you're going to use at all right 1988 nakatomi plaza would be the address if we're talking about floors in a building on the first floor on the second floor on the third floor all right this is not really the the movie that i was referencing was the movie die hard it's the nakatomi plaza is the famous building that is not the address the movie came out in 1988 and part of the movie does take place the christmas party is up on the 30th floor um so [Music] yes that i'm kind of dating myself uh with that old old movie reference from 1988 great movie though uh by the way i was 10 and i'll let you guys do the math i was 10 when this movie came out all right um yeah that that's a good point uh gustav talking about difference in a floor on a floor british american uh english yes this is definitely i'm from the united states for any of you who may not be familiar uh with this channel in case you're new yes i am from the us u.s you would say that on when talking about those floors on the 30th floor um the next one okay so again i have two blanks for you i first heard about this story um the radio and then i read about it um the newspaper in on at we're talking about prepositions of place okay so which prepositions would you use to complete uh these two sentences i first heard about it i first heard about this story um the radio and then i read about it um the newspaper five seconds five more seconds five four three two one okay all right uh excellent so the correct answer yes is going to be on and then in um natalie lolly yashar um let's see who else had on in marsha i'm trying to get as many shout outs as i can okay so i heard about the story on the radio um remember i said you'll use on when talking about like the media in general you see something on tv you're watching uh these videos on youtube you hear something on the radio and then you read about it in like um in the newspaper we talked about those printed materials in the newspaper um in the magazine in the book all right so again on and then in little girls uh getting a little upset uh maybe you can hear her in the background i'm gonna have to go see see what's going on so i hope again that that you guys learn something new um from this this preposition quiz i did want to mention give myself a little shout out if you enjoy the lessons if you like what we do um uh if you want to sponsor support the channel uh you can check out youtube membership patrons become a patron there are links in the description i have some uh members and patrons with me in this lesson like uh gustav and vicky and lolly and takayo um always appreciate having uh always love having the the members and uh uh sponsors uh up up here with me during these lessons and i will um i will put the notes um from this lesson up uh for for you members and patrons um in just a little bit probably did i lose you guys okay so i don't know i think it kind of disconnected and reconnected um i was just saying in case uh you guys didn't get that but yeah just practicing reading these sentences you see how they use that's the best thing that i think you can do for for your own learning so that the next time you are writing or you're having a conversation you will be able to use the correct preposition so thank you guys again for joining me today give a few more shout outs uh thank you to kyle lolly eloisa um willian i like the like that little emoji right there uh yashar lucy bob adriana joel ingrid um trying to throw in so many more so hottie all right um sumat hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend um vicky gustav mary realess this is the time when i can throw in as many uh as possible at the very end of the lesson hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you in the near future for another another interesting inspiring and educational --- ## 466. PREPOSITIONS QUIZ | Advanced English Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `o6Ssd55qaok` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Ssd55qaok) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:34:21 | --- what's up everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and if this is your first time here we are all about just helping you practice and improve your english skills and the way we are going to practice your english skills today is by learning some prepositions i am going to give you a preposition quiz to help you practice your skills and and this is very important because i think learners often make mistakes with prepositions even though you know most of these words those tiny little function words and they they usually become before they usually come before a noun but not always but i think the reason why people make mistakes is because we we often use prepositions well we use them to show the relationship between words mostly the relationship between a noun or pronoun with the other words in a sentence and just to show you how important they are of all of the of the top 25 most commonly used words in english nine of them are prepositions so these are words that that you really need to know and today i'm going to quiz you on some some common prepositions like prepositions of time and place which i think might be a little bit easier but i'm also going to quiz you on prepositions that commonly follow certain adjectives and certain verbs and i think those are the more challenging ones because when people make those mistakes i i understand what the person wants to say but i i would catch on and notice okay they use the incorrect preposition so that is that is why it's important to practice these and i think a great way to do that is just to read the more you read the more you see how these prepositions are being used with certain words and then practicing like we're doing today and what i would say is before before we take uh the quiz if you don't know the answer and this is one of the only times that i would tell learners this is is i just do what feels right and again it's not scientific but if you're not sure of which preposition to use i would encourage you to to do what feels right and the reason i would tell you this is because you have probably seen this before maybe you're worried about the a preposition that follows an adjective you may have read that before but you don't remember it right off like from memory but your brain still has that stored so that's why i said maybe try and just do what feels right and answer as many of these questions as you can so i want to give a quick shout out to everybody who's with me today hello and welcome uh jatoth kalai ma malak ahmed ira daughter and son how are you guys uh great to have you here sarah assam rob ayesha welcome i will try and give more shout outs as you go through and as you answer these questions all right and even even if you're watching this later i want you to answer the questions in the comments use it like it's a piece of paper because that's what this lesson is all about is to make it more interactive all right so are you guys ready are you ready to take the quiz let's take the quiz now here is your first question all right it's just a gap fill i've given you some some choices here but i would tell you and this is what i would actually tell you guys i really want you to concentrate um these prepositions all right i want you to concentrate um these prepositions in this case we're talking about a preposition that's followed by uh the the verb to concentrate to concentrate um all right which one would you use a b c or d what do you guys think all right already getting some great answers yes uh perfect uh lolly henry lynn um asgar i think you noticed go see a perfect thank you guys for answering you would see concentrate on something so again here i'll give you an example so if you concentrate on something i really want you to concentrate on these prepositions your talk is you're talking about focusing on something this is where you're paying attention this is another example sentence where we're using it she concentrated really hard on the lecture so that she could prepare for the exam in this case we're still using the same preposition but we can put we can put an adverb in there we can put an adjecti we can put an adverb and an adjective between the verb and the preposition so it's something to keep in mind you can concentrate really hard on something all right excellent perfect uh all right that one all right you guys did really well on that one so let's just go to the next one so my next question is this or again just fill it in i'm giving you some answers as we go through these i'm not going to give you the choices and and you're just gonna have to think of the preposition on your own but he's so um of his roommate what do you think what is the correct preposition a about b of c on d over which which preposition best completes that sentence all right he's so jealous um his roommate what do you what do you guys think abc or d and i don't know why he's jealous they're out for a run maybe one of the roommates is just really fast or or they can run for a very long time um all right this one i think maybe okay a little trickier all right so yes actually uh let's see some shout outs pratham rohan um perfect yes um who else uh anne antara krista perfect the correct answer is b of you were jealous of someone all right so you can be jealous of someone which i think is a very common uh use of this or you can be jealous of something as well all right and again jealous is an adjective that you would follow it uh with that ver or with that preposition of jealous of someone he's so jealous of his roommate or again in this expression right here i would use it as the he's jealous of the fact all right of something he's jealous of the fact that his roommate got an interview and he didn't so that might be a reason why he is jealous of his roommate okay so keep that in mind jealous of someone if you guys are just joining us we are doing a preposition quiz and i want you guys to answer these questions write your answers in the chat or in the comments if you're writing this later are you ready for the next question all right here we go this one i'm not giving you any choices i'm not giving you any choices i think you guys should be able to to try and piece this together we need to wake up early um the morning um 5 am sunday which prepositions would best complete that sentence right there what do you what do you guys think all right uh i'm so jealous of your english skill was thank you henry i appreciate that all right what do you guys think which three prepositions would best complete that sentence right there all right um i'm looking for three three different prepositions all right so all right excellent um getting some good answers yes uh we have yes gabby gabrielle uh henry pratham i'm looking for three three different prepositions all right irene excellent we need to wake up early in the morning at 5 00 a.m on sunday so those are the three deaf different prepositions we're looking for right here i wrote the sentence we need to wake up early in the morning at 5 00 a.m on sunday we're talking about prepositions of time and those are the most those are the most common prepositions of time right there in on and out now there's many different um different parts of the time that we use them with but i'm just boiling it down to those three for this specific example so we use in with with parts of the day in the morning in the afternoon in the evening we use at when we're talking about a specific time like at 5 a.m at noon at midnight and on of course we're going to use on with the days of the week on sunday on friday okay so that is a good little review of prepositions of time maybe i'll have another one for you so if you guys if you guys enjoy all right this quiz if you guys enjoy what we do here and you kind of and you want to support what we do then i would ask you again check out our patreon page it's another great way to connect with us i'll put a link right here if you haven't checked it out already we have some cool little rewards and again it's just another way to support what we do here at interactive english so we can keep bringing you guys the these free english lessons that you can participate in to practice and improve your skills check that out all right are you ready for your next question which is this right here i've given you some some more options for this one all right over the summer we have become accustomed um the hot weather all right so right now it's the summer and it's not the start of the summer it's kind of maybe the middle of the summer you could say over the summer you know we have become accustomed um the hot weather which preposition is going to to follow that which accustomed um all right is it a 2 b in c by or d with all right and the this these are examples again where where learners might make a just a small mistake all right because they maybe they haven't read it enough they haven't heard it enough but what we're talking about yes all right perfect uh i would give some shout outs too yes fernando isatau um brihania uh lynn and tara uh excellent maggie paul dragon um perfect you become accustomed to something the answer is a accustomed to so when you are accustomed to something what it means is that you are used to something that you have experienced something or you have endured something in this case you have endured the hot weather that it becomes normal and you could say oh i am accustomed to the hot weather over the summer we have become accustomed to the hot weather accustomed to something and another example sentence which i i think is also relevant um many of you may have this experience and you could say well you know it may be challenging to get accustomed to living in another country all right so keep that in mind we can also follow it with the gerund all right you're accustomed to doing something you become accustomed to it uh i hope many of you guys are accustomed to watching our video lessons it's normal you guys do it all the time at least that's what i hope all right the next question that i have for you all right uh so far so not all of them correct excellent great job uh is this one and i'm sorry i just i i have to toot my own horn and that's actually uh to to someone's own horn that's uh that's an old-fashioned expression i don't know why i just use it but it basically means to kind of brag about something to promote yourself to toot your own horn and i could say i'm addicted um interactive english i didn't give you any uh prepositions there i want you to think um which preposition would follow that which preposition would follow that adjective addicted um something what do you think all right so i could say yes i think wow uh the the responses are going so fast manolo lali um hong tran yes uh suhana uh rohan you are addicted to something you could say i'm addicted to interactive english if you guys like watching our videos our lessons and you find them very useful you could say oh i'm addicted to interactive english you are addicted to something or uh like another example sentence many you know a lot of kids out there nowadays you could say ah they're addicted to playing video games you are addicted again this is another instance where i think it would be followed by the gerund all right you are addicted to doing something i'm addicted to playing video games i'm addicted to watching tv i'm addicted to creating new lessons for you guys something we always do every week all right we are addicted to this uh so again that was two in a row two questions in a row where two was the answer two is a very very common preposition all right your next question are you ready so if you're just joining us again just jump in there start answering these questions uh and in practicing your english skills sometimes we don't agree um anything what do you think and i thought that was good picture to represent it two people they're not looking at each other they they just don't agree um anything which preposition would best complete that sentence with near at on what do you guys think let me know write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments okay sometimes we don't agree um anything now this one i think uh could be a little more confusing a little trickier because one thing i i want to say is that sometimes with some of these adjectives and some of these verbs you can use more than one preposition but that does not always mean that it is correct in that instance so this one i think is true i'm going to give some shout outs to yes uh veronica perfect isatau nisha um reena the correct answer is d on to agree on something i saw that many of you put with when you're talking about with and using it that with that preposition mostly it would be then you're talking about a person to agree with someone all right now you can use with in in some instances when talking about something to agree with something um maybe like to agree with a decision but oftentimes when you're using with you're talking about a person like i don't agree with you i don't agree with them all right but in this context all right you're saying like we don't agree on anything we don't agree on something so sometimes we don't agree on anything or in this example i could say it took quite a while for us to agree on the terms of the new contract to agree on all right excellent that one was a little trickier all right good good i i i like it when again not that they're not too easy that everybody is just getting the answer um so that's always good for me for me to see let's look at the next one and maybe i think i could have given you this one and just taken out the prepositions many restaurants prohibit people um smoking in restaurants i almost just told you the preposition right there uh because i i i want to make sure i'm i'm blanking them out all right many restaurants prohibit people um smoking in restaurants which preposition follows that verb to prohibit all right would we use with b along c two or d from all right if you don't know it's okay just again take a guess it doesn't matter if you get it wrong that that's not important uh it's okay to make mistakes we encourage that i just want you guys to participate so yes i think most of you uh you've got this one um ativistic perfect uh i'm trying to give some serious curious soul yes try to just give some say some names that i haven't i'm gonna try and save as many names as i can delight queen uh perfect uh so you're talking about the answer is d from to prohibit from and usually in this case when we're talking about this you would prohibit someone from doing something in this case again that's something i would add doing something because it's followed by that gerund prohibit someone from smoking prohibit someone from entering prohibit someone from violating the law all right so you're going to follow it with that gerund that ing so you prohibit someone from doing something uh i gave you another example the the lack of research prohibits us from determining the cause of the disease that is another uh way that this uh verb and preposition could be used to prohibit someone from doing something excellent all right here we go are you ready the next question that i have for you is this he's standing um the window wondering where she is um okay this one uh i i didn't give you any choices there there might be more than one way to answer this question but what i would tell you is i want you to try and answer it with just one preposition one preposition that you could put in both of those blank spaces all right what one preposition could we use to complete this sentence all right he's standing in the window wondering where she is um what do you think so that that's uh you know that that's the hint that i would give you is try to use a preposition try to use one um preposition that i think would complete that would fill that context all right i see so many of you already giving me kind of two prepositions um some of them again i i think you can but giving using this context i would say yes um excellent um who else do we have esther delight quina maggie isatau [Music] yes or no no actually wait that meant to say something else because the correct answer is at all right if we're going to just use one preposition i'd say at it's talking about being at a particular point a preposition a place again we use those common ones in on at for prepositions of time as well as prepositions of place and when we're talking about at we're talking about a particular point so i say he's standing at the window wondering where she is at all right where's she at at school at home at work at the door at the top at the bottom it is talking about a particular place all right um so again like just to show you that the context you know where is he he's at the window again you could say he's near the window he's by the window those also would fit that's um those are also prepositions you could use but if we're trying to find just one preposition she's standing at the window wondering where she's at and that now that i think about it the picture looks a little creepy um about this just this guy standing at that window wondering oh where is she at the reason i use this picture is because it was very easy for me it had a dark image so i could really write the question and it stands out but now that i think about it that picture looks a little creepy uh that he's standing at the one window wondering where she's at okay all right let's just go on to the the next uh the next question all right it's a little bit of home all right because uh we we used to live in the bay area and we would look at the golden gate bridge all the time and just as a sentence in case you're having trouble seeing it um because i tried to find the right font colors to use we had to drive um the bridge to get um the city in this case there are two blanks and i want you to you can use different prepositions you're not just going to use one preposition to complete this sentence we had to drive um the bridge uh to get the city what preposition would would we use all right in this context to complete this sentence you're gonna use two all right we had to drive um the bridge to get um the city what do you guys think all right um i i haven't seen the answer yet which is why i haven't said anything some of you guys writing one kind of um close uh callipica all right i'd say [Music] layla all right um the one what what i was looking for right here again you can drive on a bridge i think when you're talking about crossing a bridge you'd say we need to drive over the bridge to get into the city or you could say in the city but i think in this context into for a more broader area would be more relevant so i'd say right down here we had to drive over the bridge to get into the city and when you're talking about over in this case you're talking about movement across a surface over the road over the bridge i think often we use it when you're talking about bridges if you're giving somebody directions you would say hey you got to go over the bridge you got to drive over the bridge you could say on because we could use that preposition for movement as well but i think when specifically you're talking about bridges and crossing bridges you would tell someone to go over the bridge and into again you're talking about movement of something you could so somebody walked into the room somebody dove into the pool they drop they had to get into the city all right so we had to drive over the bridge to get into the city maybe that one was a little more challenging but again this is the best way to practice and learn them so now that you know talking about bridges you're going to say oh you guys you need to go over the bridge cross if you want to cross the bridge you got to go over the bridge and then you'll get to your destination let's look at uh again so you could say yes you have to drive across the bridge that's also fine um in that context has the same meaning i would say um we had to drive across the bridge to get into the city that's perfectly fine as well so like i said some of the times you can use more than one preposition and it has the same meaning which is another reason why you know they can be a bit confusing sometimes all right the next one the grand canyon is renowned it's natural beauty again we have this adjective renowned um if you know maybe you know what it means maybe you don't know what it means but there is a preposition that often follows this adjective all right the the grand canyon is renowned um it's natural beauty which preposition do you think best completes that sentence and and this is a more difficult because i i've taken away some of their your options all right right as i say it's more difficult all of you just you give me the correct answer so maybe it's maybe it is not that much more difficult uh yes the correct answer is for all right so if something is renowned it means that is famous it is popular and it would be renowned for something so the grand canyon is renowned for its natural beauty or maybe a person like in this other sentence could be renowned for an achievement the professor is renowned for his work in linguistics all right you are renowned for something let's keep going the next one all right everyone comes together um thanksgiving which is um the fourth thursday november now this is a a bit of a cultural statement because there are different countries that celebrate thanksgiving for example um canada canada celebrates thanksgiving but they don't celebrate it as the same time as the at the same time as the united states so this sentence is for the united states because i am from the u.s so this sentence applies to the united states and there are three prepositions i want you to write in there everyone comes together um thanksgiving which is um the fourth thursday mmm november all right which prepositions are you going to use to best complete that that sentence what do you guys think all right write write your answers in the chat write your answers in the comments i want you guys to practice practice practice practice that is what this is all about all right so [Music] again there could be more than one answer um you could come together for thanksgiving yes that is true uh so and tada i will accept that answer um let's see what else do we have uh four okay yeah many of you put four wow uh for thanksgiving you can come together for a holiday uh paul dragon that's the answer yes i was looking for um what what i was looking for was this and again there are other ways to say it just talking about those prepositions of time in on at everyone comes together at thanksgiving which is on the fourth thursday in november but again many of you put four for some holiday that is also correct as well you could say everybody comes together for thanksgiving which is on the fourth thursday in november so if you had four that is okay but i want to talk about um we we talked about at thanksgiving so when you're talking about holidays you could use at to talk about that specific time at christmas at new year's again you could also use four in those circumstances as well for christmas for new year's we use in with months in january in july in december and of course we've already talked about on with days on sunday on friday all right so uh those were the answers we were looking for are you ready all right here's the next question for you all right and again i i try to make these ques these questions for you a little suggestive or as well all right i hope you won't object um hitting the like button i hope you won't object um hitting the like button which preposition would complete that statement right there what do you guys think write your answer in the chat or write it in the comments if you're watching it later and to be suggestive yes if you guys like learning about these prepositions and practicing your skills please yes hit that like button hit it right now all right hit that like button if you enjoy learning prepositions and you find value in these lessons these practice lessons so excellent um yes rohan jaima uh ira english vibes um excellent wongtron irene let's give some more shout outs fairy xd um gabby perfect so you i hope you won't object to hitting the like button so if you object to something it means you don't want to do it all right that you're saying uh i object to this thing all right you're not going to do it and i said i hope you won't object to doing it so which means i hope you will hit that like button so again i hope you won't object to hitting that like button you object to something another example sentence right here her parents objected to her new boyfriend i don't know why i just that's just an emoji that i found it looks like a perfectly nice guy to me i don't know why her parents would object to her new boyfriend but i said yes we used it in the past as well her parents objected to her new boyfriend so when we're using that verb that the verb to object you object to something okay so keep that in mind and again if you enjoy learning these prepositions if you find them useful i hope that you guys go ahead and hit that like button also if you guys want to connect with us more um you can subscribe to our email list i'll throw a link right up there we'll send you some lesson updates we send you some useful resources free resources as well um and just more information about us and it's just another way to connect so thank you guys for for joining me today if you enjoyed the lesson like even better than that share the lesson with your friends your family members anybody that you know who's trying to improve their english skills share the lesson we really appreciate it helps us spread the word and just build our classroom uh you as always you can write to us in the comments we love hearing from you and join our social media classes we're also active on facebook instagram and twitter so thank you guys uh so much for being here um kayling uh algeria rosalinda hello um gaucia sanas krista asgar lali um syed i can't uh rohit yes fred i tried to get as many names as possible today uh i i i tried to get as many as i can if i didn't say your name i'm sorry i will try and get it next time um because that that's what this is all about thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you later so long --- ## 467. PREPOSITIONS THAT FOLLOW VERBS | Advanced Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `H-HXxGVh1b4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-HXxGVh1b4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:30:23 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson which is all about prepositions I have well it's an interactive quiz lesson for you about prepositions and I'm calling it the preposition challenge so what I want to do is I want to practice using prepositions today because those those are those tiny little function words that may follow adjectives or nouns or adverbs and and even verbs and that's what I want to talk to you about today specifically we are going to focus on the following we're going to focus on verbs and the prepositions that often follow verbs and I think that this is is great practice this is a great way to practice and understand okay which prepositions often follow which verbs I always say that one of the best ways to learn prepositions is is to read is to read as well as practice which is what we're going to do today so thank you guys so much for joining me today Michele a ten just one minute Andre Lally I'll Elizabeth Angela welcome thank you I will try and get some more shout outs as as we continue going through the lesson because like I said this is an interactive lesson I'm gonna give you a bunch of questions I want you to write your answers in the chat or if you're watching this later in the comments I want you to interact with this lesson that's what it's all about and for some of you this may be a little bit of review which it's always good it's always great to review so let's look at what I mean a little some examples about verbs and the prepositions that follow so let's let's look at these three right here the verb is highlighted in blue and the preposition is highlighted in red so you have to wait for to recover from and to grow up these are all verbs and the prepositions that follow now the one thing I want to point out is that the verb grow up that is a phrasal verb I think when many learners think of verbs and prepositions they think of phrasal verbs because that is a verb and a preposition now one thing that I want to point out is the difference between wait for and grow up because to wait for that is not a preposition now the difference between wait for and the prep is and the phrasal verb grow up is that when we're talking about a phrasal verb the meaning is different from that of the meaning of the verb let me explain so to wait for do to wait is just like you are you're spending time you are you are anticipating that something will happen wait for it has the same meaning it's just the preposition that often follows that verb to grow I think of like plants or trees or flowers or people they grow they get bigger they become taller if you're talking about the phrasal verb grow up the meaning changes because to grow up means typically you're talking about where somebody lived when they were a child and where they lived and you would ask like oh where did you grow up where did you spend your childhood I say well for example I grew up well I grew up in Atlanta Georgia that is where I spent most of my childhood so that is the difference between a phrasal verb and just a regular verb that follows the preposition in this quiz I think there are one or two phrasal verbs and I will point them out all right so are you guys ready are you ready to begin let's let's start with this the first question that I have for you I will read you the question and I will read you the options the first part is multiple choice so you can choose either a B C or D and I want you to write your answer in the chat or in the comments and actually practice your English skills so the question is I've been longing a beach vacation how would you complete that sentence I've been longing mmm Beach vacation is it a bi longing by b4 longing for sea with longing width or de n longing in which you're going to use that verb + preposition combination which one do you think I've been longing by I've been longing for I've been longing with or I've been longing in excellent great job yes Andre just one minute Adan Ximena go SIA farhat perfect the correct answer is be longing for I've been longing for a beach vacation and too long for something it means well too long is like you desire it you want something and you would follow it with that preposition like ah you know right now I could say well I I am longing for a pepperoni pizza I really I would like to eat some pizza I haven't had it in a while and I could say I'm longing for this thing the next question is this excellent no one could believe he escaped mmm prison no one could believe he escaped mmm prison so again the verb is escape which preposition is going to follow that verb escape is it a to be at see-through or D from escape to prison escaped at prison escaped through prison and escaped from prison what do you think write your answer in that chat all right so excellent seeing some good answers yes perfect Lally Julianne Michelle sandy Vijay yes the correct answer is d to escape from someplace now you could say for example you could escape to someplace in that case I think of somebody wanting to do some kind of vacation getaway and I want to escape to the Bahamas most of the time to escape means you want to get away from somewhere which which is why you're going to escape from someplace or maybe you want to escape from someone and you want to get away because to escape from something is just to break free you don't you want to get away from this place or possibly even a person you want to escape from this place the next one this is a good one and maybe it's a little tricky maybe not I've always dreamt mmm climbing Mount Kilimanjaro I've always dreamt mmm climbing Mount Kilimanjaro so which which preposition would follow the verb dream I've always dreamt over I've always dreamt about I've always dreamt of or I've always dreamt on and one thing I would tell you when it comes to prepositions I know when learners are you know usually speaking it's very quick you kind of just say it if you make a mistake I think most people still understand you but when you're writing since that's more reflective and some people may stop and they're trying to think well which one really goes there my advice it may sound a little simple but what feels right what feels right to you what sounds right and I think many of you got this yes perfect lolly Kanaan miguel sylvia trying to get some different names in there meet meek yes the correct answer is C I've always dreamt of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro now I said this is tricky because many times you might follow the verb dream with about there is a difference when you say you dream about something and you dream of something in this case I'd say like for me because this is true I've always dreamt of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro what that means is that I have like these thoughts these hopes a desire to do this in the future it's something that I wish will happen in the future like I've dreamt of buying a big house on the ocean it's something you think of your thought if you dream about something that is when you actually are describing your dream so if I could say well last night I had last night I dreamt about this live stream not working and having more technical problems which I think have been resolved thankfully so if I in that case I would say well I dreamt about having problems with the live stream and that is something that I was actually dreaming of so keep that in mind to dream of something or dream about something the next question that I have for you the doctor referred me hmm a specialist the doctor referred me hmm a specialist would you say the doctor referred me to a specialist the doctor referred me with the specialist the doctor referred me at a specialist or the doctor referred me on a specialist which preposition best completes that sentence and would follow the verb refer I almost say or almost said the answer I got it I got to try and catch myself before I just give you the answer which one do you think and again if you just joined us welcome we are just practicing prepositions and the the prepositions that follow certain verbs so excellent perfect addis Risa Simo ceci yes the correct answer is a the doctor referred me to a specialist so in this context you would refer someone to someone else or maybe you refer someone to some place like the hospital but when I think of using this verb I often think of doc or some kind of health needs and they may the doctor may refer you to a specialist so you refer someone to someone else or someplace you send that person to this place or to see someone else you refer someone to something I hope that you guys if you know anybody else who is learning English I hope that you refer them to our channel interactive English so that they can practice and improve their English skills let's look at the next one again how would you complete this sentence I don't know if you can see it the the pictures kind of I tried to put them side-by-side but I'd say the wedding coincides mmm my friend's graduation the wedding coincides mmm my friend's graduation so the verb coincide to coincide which preposition are you going to follow that verb with to coincide on to coincide for to coincide with to coincide by what do you think write your answer in the chat in the comments this is how you really learn these prepositions and you actually start to internalize them and what I mean by internalize them is that you end up learning them and you you don't even really you don't even realize it you just start using them correctly when you're speaking when you're writing when you're producing the language so perfect excellent thank you a great job Esther Dimitri names are going so fast Vanessa Alex the correct answer is C with the wedding coincides with my best friend but with my friend's graduation so in this case when you talk about some two things that coincide it basically means that they happen at the same time they occur at the same time and you would say this thing coincides with this other thing to coincide with it's when you're talking about two things happening at the same time it is a great verb to know in case you did not know the meaning of that to coincide with something next is this question right here my grandfather suffers mmm-mmm neva my grandfather suffers mmm amnesia so the verb is suffer to suffer hmm which preposition best completes this sentence my grandfather suffers by amnesia my grandfather suffers over amnesia my grandfather suffers on amnesia or my grandfather suffers from amnesia and if you don't know what amnesia amnesia is it is a condition that I think it happens more often in people when they get older and what it means is they just start to forget their memory starts to go and if it happens regularly if it happens often then a doctor may diagnose this person and say yes they suffer mmm Nisha all right excellent Thank You Ava Angela Marco uh perfect let's see Leonardo yes suffers from dee from that is the correct answer my grandfather suffers from amnesia if you suffer from something it means that you are experiencing the effects of this thing which is which is typically bad so you could suffer from some kind of condition you could suffer from a disease and you would use that preposition to suffer from excellent so we are gonna switch it up a little bit right now but I did want to let you guys know that if you like what we do here at interactive English if you want to show us some love check out our patreon page we have some cool rewards it's a way to support what we do here and keep doing these lessons for you guys each and every week I'll throw a link right there in the chat there's also a link down below in the description if you guys want to check that out if you no problem I still hope that you join me each and every week for these live lessons and watch our normal lessons on Tuesdays so we're gonna switch it up now before I gave you multiple choice and I wanted you to complete the sentence and I gave you ABCD now I'm I'm not going to give you multiple choice I'm gonna give you the sentence and I want you to think about which preposition completes the sentence write your answer in the chat or write your answer in the comments so the first one is this one I just I love this picture right here one of my favorite things to do is to track down these you know just entertaining pictures that I like so the the sentence is she winked hmm she winked mmm me from across the room she winked me from across the room so the verb is to wink which if you don't know what that is it's when you're you know giving that little motion right there she winked mmm me from across the room the cat is the cat is winking right now so what do you think which preposition best completes that sentence yes so have I can't pronounce a 2 - too old - a bold world excellent alright yes just one minute Breann perfect enough Aiden the correct answer is at you wink at someone she winked at me from across the room it is when you kind of you close your eyes - to signal something so I think in this case some people might think like you wink at somebody like oh you like them you're showing some kind of affection or maybe you wink at somebody like there there's some kind of secret between the two of you and you're sending that signal and you wink at someone the next question is right here so think of just this this context as if I'm telling you this and I say hey whatever you do don't bring mmm his recent divorce whatever you do don't bring his recent divorce which preposition completes that sentence if we are at some kind of event our party you and I are at this party and we see this person over here and I tell you hey hey whatever you do don't bring mmm his recent divorce which preposition completes that sentence I will give you a hint this is a phrasal verb so to bring hmm it is a phrasal verb what do you think all right excellent yes the dossier of Lina Lally say eat see mo the correct answer the is up to bring up his recent divorce so you could say again whatever you do don't bring up his recent divorce to bring something up it's a phrasal verb and it means you're you're introducing something into the conversation you are you're just talking about some topic you are bringing it up and I I think it may often be used in a context if somebody's saying hey don't bring this up don't talk about this topic this issue perhaps it's a little sensitive and people don't want to talk about this thing and in that case you'd say hey don't bring it up and if you did bring something up then maybe some of that's why did you bring this up why did you introduce this into the conversation to bring up to bring something up the next question the next sentence I have for you is this cheating and professional athletics stems hmm a fierce desire to win at any cost cheating and professional athletics stems mmm a fierce desire to win at any cost notice the picture that I put in there for you it's a little bit of current events I don't know if many of you are watch baseball or keep up with baseball but there have been some problems with with cheating and I could say well in these problems its stems mmm a fierce desire to win at any cost so the verb stem to stem mmm which preposition completes this sentence what do you think this is a little more challenging because I don't think this verb I don't think this verb is probably as common as some of the others but it's also a good one to know especially if you're trying to explain some situation maybe in a little more professional setting so yes the correct answer great job Aidan Shakib sandy nice Vanessa just one minute Dimitri stems from so I'd say cheating in professional athletics such as baseball it stems from a fierce desire to win at any cost and if you say to stem from its saying that something is caused by something else so the cheating instead of saying the cheating is caused by a desire to win I could just say the cheating stems from a desire to win it means the the same thing something stems from something else it originates from this thing or it is caused by this at this thing to stem from alright let's see what do we have next there's my breakfast I could say the sentence breakfast consists hmm eggs pancakes and coffee very standard quite a standard American breakfast it's not well I I do like pancakes I I don't often eat pancakes but definitely eggs and coffee so breakfast consists mmm X pancakes and coffee so the verb is consists to consist mmm what what would you say how would you complete that sentence everybody you guys were you were quick on the draw with this one and if you say if I say that expression you are quick on the draw it means that you were not waiting you did not hesitate and you just answered this question right away yes excellent sir perfect Sara Renuka Abdullah Abdullah dead Alisa thank you for a great job breakfast consists of eggs pancakes and coffee to consist of something it means that it is it is made up of specific things and often you that that is when you list those things that it consists of and then you talk about those things that are that that make this thing up eggs pancakes coffee the reason I used it in this context is I think sometimes it's it's quite commonly used to talk about food maybe at your staying at a hotel you're saying oh you know I get to eat breakfast well what what is the what what can I eat for breakfast and they might tell you well it's a set menu it consists of eggs pancakes and coffee to consist of something perfect you guys you guys rock that one let's see maybe maybe we'll make it a little more difficult for you and the way that I'm going to make it more difficult is now I'm giving you one verb but there are two prepositions two different prepositions that can follow this verb so look at this sentence she apologized mmm her friend mmm lying both of those prepositions commonly follow the verb apologize to apologize hmm so think about which prepositions you would use to complete that sentence she apologized mmm her friend mmm lying what do you think write your answer in the chat or in the comments because that's what I want you guys to do just to participate so excellent to world were bald I know I'm mispronouncing that sorry Lynn not wrong perfect yes the answer Angela Romeo the answer is she apologised to her friend for lying so those are that when you're talking about the verb to apologize you would apologize to someone a person and you would apologize for something something that happened so she apologized to her friend for lying and when you apologize you just say you're sorry so this is a great example of a verb that that can be followed or is often followed by two different prepositions it depends on what you're trying to say to apologize to someone to apologize for something something that happened the next one okay again you have one verb and I want you to tell me the two prepositions that can follow this verb he argued mmm his boss mmm having to work over the weekend he argued mm his boss mm having to work over the weekend what do you think which preposition so the verb is argue to argue hmm his boss hmm having to work over the weekend there actually I I think there may be there may be three different phrasal verbs that you're not phrasal verbs there may be three different prepositions that that you can use all right what do you think yes excellent perfect say eat Alyssa Sara Den's Mendoza nice thank you guys thanks for your answer so I'd say he argued he argued with his boss about having to work over the weekend I think you could also say he argued with his boss for having to work over the weekend I think you could use that as well but I think it's common you argue again you argue with someone when you're about a person and it's common that you would argue about something something happened and you are arguing about this topic or some sort of disagreement and when you're arguing you are just speaking angrily with this other person he argued with his boss about having to work over the weekend excellent you guys you guys did a phenomenal job thank you for participating in this lesson again this is such a great way to really understand these phrasal verbs that you can see how they are used correctly and you just start to internalize that information so that the next time you you're having a conversation and you want to use these verbs you are going to follow it with the correct preposition you're just going to know it instantly and and you'll be quick on the draw with using those prepositions because you have practice and practice and practice some more so I thank you guys so much for joining me today please if you like these quiz lessons hit that like button that tells me that that you guys enjoy this type of lesson and that I should do some more like this in the future if you have questions or comments again write to us in the comments we always love hearing from you and check us out on our social media classes Facebook Twitter Instagram and if you want to join our community you can subscribe to our e-mail list there is a link in the chat there's also a link down below in the description we'll give you access to the secret fluency lesson we'll send you lesson updates as well as some other useful and free resources to help you improve your English skills because that is what this channel is all about so thank you guys for being here today thank you lolly Julianne angel ester Michelangelo Sandee Alisa Maria Miguel just one minute up to a Michelle ninh not wrong Elina sorry if i mispronounce names i apologize perfect elizabeth oh it's okay for lay the video we'll be posted and and you guys can watch the whole thing from the beginning that is what I'd recommend Leila thank you guys for being here I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 468. PREPOSITIONS that follow ADJECTIVES | Advanced Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oEuwe6DM1sM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEuwe6DM1sM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:29:23 | --- hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English and well what this channel is all about it's about helping you practice and improve your English skills in order to kind of start reaching English fluency because it is a long path there's many different parts to it but but that's what I really want to help you do and specifically I think this is a great lesson for that because I am going to talk to you about verbs that are followed by prepositions so this can be very challenging because I think when it comes to verbs those are words that are more well known and then they're often followed by these tiny little of these prepositions these function words that I think can be easily forgotten so what I want you to do right now I want you to do something for me and that is just say hello just write your name in the comments in the chat tell me where you're from because I I just want to hear from you I love hearing from everybody and just just let me know write your name and I just want to say a quick hello to lolly ELISA Angela Carlos Aden how are you thank you guys for joining me Martha sleepwalker Vicki Gustave Stephan excellent glad that you guys can join me today for today's lesson so the way that we're going to go through this is I'm just going to give you a lot of different verbs and the prepositions that follow and it's a little bit of a quiz lesson and I will also tell you what the the verb + preposition combination what what does this mean so let's just look at it this way all right this is my visual that I want to give you so we have our verbs and they're followed by the prepositions now I've capitalized the verbs because again those are that they're arguably it's the most important word in the sentence because it tells us a lot of information it tells us what's happening it tells us when and then they're followed by these little prepositions those function words that again I think they're easily they're easily forgotten and like if you can think of it like this way you have the big the Mama and Papa duck and they're followed by all the children right behind us so the verbs you know they they describe an action or a state and the prepositions what their their purpose is is to connect different words the they are going to connect verbs with with nouns they're going to connect verbs with other phrases so I think that again practicing this is just going to help your overall English fluency because the more exposure that you get the more that you're able to read the sentences using the verbs and the prepositions correctly then you're just going to start to remember it and the next time you want to have a conversation or you're writing you will be able to use it correctly as well so let's go ahead and begin I'm going to start out with let's start out with some multiple-choice questions so I am going to give you the I'm gonna give you the verb I'm gonna give you the sentence and I just want you to tell me which preposition best completes the sentence okay so the first one that I have for you is this right here all right the first one is they were convicted mmm a crime they didn't commit what do you think they were convicted mmm a crime they didn't commit can you guys think what what preposition best completes that sentence either a on B by C width or D of convicted on convicted by convicted with convicted of which one do you think and yes all right I'm just I'll give you a few moments and then I'll just tell you the answer it is convicted of excellent a 10 Carlos in English vibes perfect you are convicted of a crime and if you are convicted of something then that just means that you are people say that you are guilty of something wrong you are going to suffer some consequences you are convicted of something it's not a good thing if somebody convicts you of something typically we're talking about a crime you are convicted of a crime here's the next question I have for you he's accustomed mmm driving in snowy weather which preposition best completes that sentence he's a custom hmm driving in snowy weather is it a with B in C 4 or D 2 he's accustomed with accustomed in a custom for or accustomed to what do you think in this situation and yeah I think that's a good example I think that is this is a verb that is typically followed by this preposition and the answer yes is to he's accustomed to driving in snowy weather perfect Ladon Jotham art Safina lin a sleepwalker I'll try and get some shoutouts every now and then so if you are accustomed to something it just means that you are used to it that you are used to this thing happening so in this example you're accustomed to driving in snowy weather then that just means that you are going to be use to driving in snowy weather I could also say for example I am accustomed to getting little sleep we have a baby girl Amelia so we you know we don't sleep regularly like we used to so I could say now I'm accustomed to getting less sleep than than I did in the past all right are you ready for the next question all right whoa well that's the answer all right the team is devoted hmm winning the championship all right what do you think the team is devoted mmm winning the championship is it devoted to devoted at devoted in or devoted on which one do you think and one thing I would tell you if you are unsure about some of these because chances are if if you have been reading or listening to English you have probably there's a good chance you have seen the verb and the preposition used together so that's why I would tell you if you're not sure what do you think feels right which one of these sounds right to you when you're talking about these prepositions so I hope that you said the answer again is to the team is devoted to winning the championship excellent what do we have we know it's going so fast now say Tsar Angela is a far yes could devote it to and if you are devoted to something it just means that you are committed to this thing that this is something you really want you are devoted like a team they are devoted to winning they really want to win so you could say they are devoted to this thing the next question that I have for you is this one many believe the iPhone is superior hmm all others superior all right that is the verb which preposition is going to follow that verb many believe the iPhone is superior superior at superior with superior to or superior of all right what do you think many believe the iPhone is superior hmm all others and again I think many people you might disagree about this I don't really have a strong opinion this was just the only example I could think of but the answer is to again I've thrown all those those prepositions those verbs at you that are followed by too many believe the iPhone is superior to all others excellent bow Khan who is a Christa perfect superior to and if you say that something is superior to something else it just means it's better it's better than this thing superior to the next one that I have for you again another another multiple-choice question parents want to keep their children safe mmm danger parents want to keep their children safe mmm danger and some of you again maybe you know these without even looking at some of the choices that I gave you would you say safe - safe from safe around or safe over what do you think parents want to keep their children safe hmm danger all right we're talking about keeping somebody safe I think this is very true I definitely want to keep our little girl safe and I would want to keep her safe from danger parents want to keep their children safe from something else something dangerous yes Safina Anna Esther excellent Aaden all right yes safe from so again I what I want to do because we're gonna keep practicing this but I want to just say that we're gonna I'm gonna take away the multiple-choice now and I really want you just to think about which preposition do you believe goes there because I think this is going to make it a little more difficult but at the same time the one thing that one thing that I don't care about with multiple-choice it's easier it's a nice warm-up activity but I don't want you to associate the the verb with the wrong preposition so now I'm just going to highlight the correct preposition but before I do I just want to say if you guys would like to make a another connection with us you can check us out on patreon I'll throw a link in the description right there there's also a link down below but it's another nice way to support what we do here at interactive English and there are there are some cool rewards as well so check that out okay so I am now just going to give you the sentence and I want you to complete this sentence with the correct preposition I'm not going to give you any options so this is a good opportunity to just say okay well what feels right in this situation what do you think so the first one Oh before I do I want to give you some these hints the best way to learn because some of you may be thinking like well how can I learn which which prepositions follow which verbs there's two simple things that I think you need to do the first one is just read reading more really helps because that way you're able to see the verb your a or you're able to this is a mistake that should say that that should say adjective no addition I'm getting confused it is adjective I have been Mis speaking I think throughout the lesson we're talking about prepositions that follow these adjectives you want to see the adjective and then see the preposition so we use these adjectives all the time to describe nouns talk about you know talk about the way things look and describe them make it more detailed and then you're going to follow it with that preposition so you want to be able to see that and the other way is just to practice like we're doing this lesson because then you're able to read you're able to see these adjectives and then see the prepositions and follow it so I had actually I want to make a mistake that that correction before because I think I wrote verbs instead of adjectives all of these that we're talking about today are adjectives followed by prepositions previously we did a lesson about verbs followed by prepositions but these are all adjectives so for example I could say I really hope you are engaged mmm these lessons okay if someone is engaged that is a way to describe a person that is an adjective and you would often follow it with a certain preposition so what do you think I hope you are really engaged mmm these lessons write your answer in the chat if you're watching this later write your answer in the comments I just like it when everybody is participating in these lessons so in this case yes Safina ate in perfect June the answer is in I really hope you are gauged in these lessons so if you are engaged in something it just means that you are you are paying attention you want to learn and you are engaged in a certain activity and you're very engaged that's a good thing the next one is I'm grateful hmm your offer so if two people I don't know if you can see that picture it is a handshake I'm grateful hmm your offer what do you think if two people there they come to an agreement somebody might say this I'm grateful hmm your offer which preposition best completes that and you're talking about somebody who is grateful that is an adjective and you would say that they are grateful for I'm grateful for your offer and if you are grateful for something it's the same as saying that you are thankful for this thing and again that is another adjective that you'd follow with that same preposition grateful for thankful for excellent Angela honey lolly rose Claire perfect for thank I'm grateful for your offer the next one that I have for you is their marriage is devoid mmm laughter so this one this adjective may be a little trickier a little more advanced d'void mmm something so look at the picture and I tried to find a picture they don't look they don't look very happy they're not smiling and in this case if I'm describing something it's a whoa their marriage is devoid mmm laughter so what do you think all right the preposition yes Mamadou Jinja smart again sorry if a house of English devoid of their marriage is devoid of laughter and if we're talking about if you are devoid of something it means that they lack something that there it it doesn't exist there there is no laughter in their marriage it is devoid of laughter devoid of something the next one I could say are you concerned mmm your health and I tried to make this question relevant to I have the picture of these Donuts back there donuts that you know they're not very healthy it's not the healthiest of foods so somebody could ask like hey are you concerned mmm your health and if this is the adjective that we're talking about concerned you are concerned hmm something what do you think concerned are you concerned mmm your health all right I hope that all of you yes you were thinking some of the us see it concerned about so if you are concerned about something then it just means you're worried about it so again even in that case you're concerned about you're worried about they mean the same thing and we use that preposition about concerned about something the next one she is very well acquainted mmm the facts of the case so there in the background you kind of have this picture of a woman and the idea would be perhaps she's a lawyer and we're talking about a case she's trying a case and you could say well she is very well acquainted mmm the facts of the case yet you are acquainted mmm something what do you think which preposition follows that adjective acquainted mmm something she's very well acquainted the facts of the case the answer is with she is very well acquainted with the facts of the case excellent sleepwalker Jacqueline Lally Aafrin perfect you are acquainted with something if you are acquainted with it it means that you are you know about it that you are familiar with this thing all right I'm familiar with the acts of the case I'm acquainted with the facts of the case again you're using that same preposition familiar with acquainted with you know about this thing so the next thing all right now I'm going to try and make it a little more challenging because this time I am going to give you a sentence and there are two there are two missing prepositions so you have two different verbs and two different prepositions and I want you to see if you can think about which ones which prepositions follow these verbs all right so the first one I could say that is this if you're addicted our channel then that means you're pleased mmm our lessons okay so which prepositions follow those two adjectives so we're talking about addicted mmm something or you're pleased mmm something all right and I keep saying hmm for those spaces so what do you think again if you're not sure just think about well which preposition if you're just reading this or if you imagine that you're listening to it which preposition do you think you would hear if you're addicted our channel then that means you're pleased our lesson our lessons so the correct answer is two and with if you are addicted to our channel then that means you are pleased with our lessons if you are addicted to something it means that you must have it that you you cannot go without this thing so you could use it for example it could be something serious if you're talking about drugs and somebody's addicted to drugs or somebody might use it in the sense of like a TV show and you'd say ah I'm addicted to this TV show so in this case I'm talking about our channel if you are addicted to our channel then and then that means you're pleased with something you are happy with it pleased with and if you are addicted to our Channel I always appreciate it if you guys just go ahead hit that like button down below if you think if you are addicted to our English lessons the next one that I have for you is this I just like this picture that's why I chose it the dog is notorious mmm destroying my shoes and I'm fed up mmm all right those are the two adjectives notorious and fed up so the notorious and fed up those are the two adjectives in the sentences which prepositions which prepositions are going to follow those write your answers in the chat or write your answers in the comments okay again it's good this is great practice because you are able to read this when I show you the correct answer you are able to read it and try to understand it so that the next time you want to use it use these adjectives you are going to follow it with the correct preposition so excellent I see some great answers yes Karem i think sam el balcรณn you the dog is notorious for destroying my shoes and I'm fed up with it he's notorious for destroying my shoes if you are if you are notorious for something all right if you're notorious for something it means that you are known for this thing the dog is notorious for destroying the shoes he's known for that and if you are fed up with something you are tired of it you are not going to take it anymore and say I'm fed up with this all right I'm fed up with all the crowds I'm fed up with the loud music you are tired of this thing you could say you are fed up with it all right excellent let's look at the next one and I could say well speaking of crafted places our next sentence the store was crowded people who were eligible mmm the grand prize so those are the two adjectives you're talking about crowded many people it was crowded hmm people which preposition follows that adjective and the other one eligible eligible mmm something what do you think it means the store was crowded people who were eligible hmm the grand prize all right so I think many of you you've got the first one if you're talking about many people you'd say it's crowded with and then the next one is for the store was crowded with people who were eligible for the grand prize so if you say a place is crowded with something it means there are many things you could say it's crowded with people perhaps it's crowded with something else and if you are eligible for something it means that you have met the requirements to get something you are eligible you are eligible for in this case you are eligible for the prize the next one that I have for you is and this is how I feel that's what this is why I chose this sentence I don't know if you can see the picture it's a picture of an airplane and there are seats on the airplane and I would say I'm incapable mmm getting comfortable mmm this seat so when I think of an airplane seat I might think about this sentence right here and use these adjectives I'm incapable hmm getting comfortable hmm this seat so what do you think if somebody is incapable or they're talking about comfortable alright so you would say that I'm incapable of getting comfortable in this seat so if you're talking about you are capable of doing something that you can do it if we want to say the opposite you would say incapable of doing something so I am not able to do this I am NOT able to get comfortable in this seat so we're talking about a seat I think depending on the situation you could say comfortable with or you might say comfortable in but in this case since we're talking about a seat and somebody would sit in a seat you would say comfortable in this seat because we're sitting so in this case I'm incapable of getting comfortable in this seat the next one if you're can mmm this is what I would would tell you guys or I try to tell you guys all the time if you're keen mmm improving your English join our community and you'll be amazed mmm all the cool stuff will send you so this is true I'm going to throw a plug for this in just a moment what do you think so the adjective the two adjectives is keen you are keen hmm doing something and you are amazed mmm something all right so I say something because you can put different words in there but in this case I'd say if you're keen mmm improving your English join our community and you'll be amazed mmm all the cool stuff will will send you so if you are keen on doing something it means that you want to do it you desire to do it if you're keen on improving your English if you want to do it then I would say join our community and you'll be amazed by all the cool stuff we'll we'll send you its amazed by you are amazed by something and if you check out if you want to join our email list I know many of you are already on it we will send you access to the secret fluency lesson and some other cool things we send messages from time to time talking about some resources that you can use to improve your skills sometimes we send lesson updates about lessons that are coming out in the future and anything else that's happening at interactive English I'll put a link right there in in the chat if you want to check it out it's also one down below so again this is a great way to practice because we use adjectives all the time and they are often followed by certain prepositions and I just want to do a little bit of a checklist so this is our checklist today of all the again I've I got this mixed up in my head because I I did verbs and prepositions before today is adjectives so forget about that word right there verbs these are all adjectives these are adjectives plus prepositions these are all the adjectives that we talked about today there are 20 of them so just read this list alright get comfortable with it it's going to help you because the next time you want to use one of these words and some of them are very common they're very there they're often used then you know what a do you know what preposition you need to follow it with like if you are concerned about something or you want to say that you are fed up with something or that you are amazed by something that these are adjectives and you're going to follow them with those prepositions I put those books down there to remind you to read and I also put that YouTube logo down there except remind you watch our lessons this is something that we practice all the time like I said before I did another lesson on verbs followed by prepositions I suggest you check that out but when I was creating this I just messed it up in my mind going back and forth about verbs and prepositions even I get confused sometimes so thank you guys so much for joining me today again if you enjoy these lessons please hit that like button check us out in those links below patreon our email list we just like to be able to make all of these connections with you so I hope you guys have a wonderful day thank you for joining thank you for participating and I will see you guys next time but I'll give some last shoutouts in the end Thank You Angela Aden merits pachoo lolly Rose Claire de xira all right so I have mispronounced that Antonio I am tied at devika and Maud hope you guys have a wonderful day and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 469. PREPOSITION QUIZ | How advanced is your grammar? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `uDhXOwXyVCg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDhXOwXyVCg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:18:52 | --- hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today is really just trying to help you improve your overall english fluency because we're going to talk about prepositions those those tiny little function words that i think can can be confusing for some english learners and i think prepositions is often where learners may make a small mistake and in that case when you make a mistake with prepositions people still understand what you're trying to say it's really just a matter of trying to help you speak accurately which again goes back to improving your overall fluency i will show you some sentences that are missing prepositions and i just want you to complete the sentence with whatever preposition you feel is correct i'll give you a moment to think of an answer and then of course i will tell you what the answer is so this is actually a live lesson that i did a while back and that means some of you may have already seen it which in that case it's always good to review and if you have not seen it then i just wish you the best of luck on the quiz let me know how you did down in the comments below and let's just begin and the first question the first sentence that i have for you is this one right here i told you we will start um with something a bit easier and then it's going to get a little more difficult as we move on so the it's just a question that somebody might ask if i'm talking to a friend or whoever if i meet a new class and talk to some students i might just say hey what time do you wake up um the morning we're going to use the preposition in in the morning and this is this is an example of i'd say if you're learning prepositions of time there are certain rules that you can follow if you have these periods of time throughout the day morning afternoon evening you're going to use in in the morning in the afternoon in the evening let's look at the next one what preposition best completes this sentence all right she wore a scarf um her neck this is an example where i think you could use one of two prepositions the one that i was looking for which i gave you in my answer is around she wore a scarf around her neck you could say she wore a scarf on her neck but i i tried to give you that picture because i think when you're talking about something like a scarf most people are going to use a round because of the meaning of the preposition you're talking about a round you're talking about something that moves along the side of something else and it kind of just goes around it so a scarf is something you would wear around your neck but again if you say on it's fine everybody understands that so let's go to the next one all right i hope you enjoy um interactive english which preposition best completes that statement so that it makes sense it's easy to understand and this is a preposition that might commonly follow learning people would learn with someone you were doing this thing together and i'd say look i hope you really enjoy learning with interactive english here this is well this is actually a true a true statement we're missing two prepositions which prepositions would complete this sentence again i think hopefully these are maybe a little easier and they will get more difficult my birthday is um november this year it's um a thursday we're talking about a month and then a day my birthday is in november this year it's on a thursday so if we're talking about some of these prepositions of time we use in with months in january in october in november and on when we're talking about days on monday on tuesday on wednesday all right next is uh this one which is well let's let's they're they're missing two it's easy for learners to get fed there's two blanks prepositions this is actually a phrasal verb it's a verb plus a preposition but in this case it's a three-word phrasal verb the answer is yes you are fed up with it is a three-word phrasal verb you have the verb plus a preposition when we talk about phrasal verbs those are those are other phrasal verbs are also um they can be confusing as well but if somebody is fed up with something it means that they are annoyed or unhappy or maybe they're just bored with some situation uh the next one is think about it there are two different people talking so that's why i've given you a and b so one person says where are you and the other person says i'm m the gym he is running on the treadmill and he is um the gym at the gym and the what i wanted to highlight here is this is where the at and in may be some prepositions that people might find a little confusing because if somebody says at the gym you're talking about the location and that location could be in or around some uh building office home you're just you're talking about that location in would refer to that you are inside or on the interior so in this case you could say like where are you oh i'm in the gym or where are you i'm at the gym either one is okay but i'd say it's more common for somebody to use at simply because when you're asking the question where are you somebody's asking about your location they want to know where you are at now the next one um we knew the plane would leave um time so we had to run and we just barely made it um time all right so you may be looking at this and thinking well wait this that's a little strange because both of these prepositions come before the word time all right but there's two separate uh two different meanings and two different situations that i'm referring to so we knew the plane would leave um time so we had to run and we just barely made it um time we knew that the plane would leave on time so we had to run and we just barely made it in time so i wanted to highlight the difference between on time and in time so if you say that something is on time it means that it is done or it happens when it should something might arrive on time when it should or perhaps it's going to leave on time when it should in time just you're referring to something that is just early enough that we finish the project in time we finished right before it was the deadline and you finished early enough you do something in time uh this one is an expression i'd say well that people can use sometimes i'm not sure what we should do i feel like we're um a rock and a hard place which preposition would complete that sentence and again i told you this is more of i think an expression that you may hear from time to time if people are referring to this specific situation which i'll talk about in just a moment we're talking about between i'm not sure what we do what what we should do i feel like we're between a rock and a hard place so i told you that this is an expression um to be in between or just between a rock and a hard place you don't really need to use in there um that you could but it's more of a typo the expression is to be between a rock and a hard place and it means that you're caught in a situation that is difficult because there's no way out you have um a problem on this side you have a problem on that side and you'd say you're stuck uh between a rock and a hard place uh so that's a good expression to know the next one uh and this is true one day i dream um hiking mount kilimanjaro i actually i think i'd use this in a previous preposition lesson a preposition quiz that i had if you saw that one maybe you remember what preposition that would be a little more appropriate in this case there are two different prepositions that you could use all right i chose of one day i dream of hiking mount kilimanjaro and the reason i chose of i think when somebody dreams of something they're talking about something they hope to do in the future that they wish they could do this it is interchangeable with a bout you could also use a belt that's perfectly fine but i wanted to make a little bit of a distinction between of dream of and dream about the next one the audience was captivated the performance the word captivated is a key because you often follow this adjective with this specific preposition you are captivated by something the audience was captivated by the performance if you are captivated by something it just it really holds your attention and you're really focused on that so in this case a performance everybody's watching it they they it's holding their attention they cannot look away they are captivated by this thing now the next one is another it's another expression that people might say from time to time kind of depending on the situation it's better to ask um forgiveness than permission what what preposition is going to complete this uh this saying that people might use it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission and i told you it's a famous saying because when it's used is like in a situation where you need to act immediately you need to make a decision but that decision could cause problems so you're going to ask for forgiveness and ask to you're going to apologize it for it later instead of trying to get approval to do it how would you complete this sentence i'm thinking a number between one and ten and this is another one where i feel like people may think that they can use a couple of different prepositions all right what do you think how would you which preposition would you use to best complete this sentence if i say hey you know i'm thinking um a number between 1 and 10. i'm thinking of something like i'm thinking of a number between one and ten but i wanted to highlight the difference between thinking of and thinking about in in this case i think you're you're overwhelmingly going to use of if you're you're telling somebody you want them to guess and you're like oh okay i'm thinking of an animal guess what it is so if you think of something it's something that you're not aware of and you have to imagine it but if you're thinking about something to me then you're taking time to consider it so in this situation where you're asking somebody to imagine something uh you're going to use of this is a it's a great way to practice prepositions because you are reading these prepositions in these sentences you are listening to me use these prepositions and talk about them and you are practicing as well the more you practice the better i think you're going to understand all of these prepositions and how to use them and i hope i hope that you learned something new thank you guys so much for watching have a great week i'm going to end it now i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 470. PRONUNCIATION & EMPHASIS LESSON | Interactive Quiz | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `n6g4BPST6pw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6g4BPST6pw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:31:09 | --- so if you are interested in practicing your pronunciation and improving your pronunciation then this lesson is for you my name is Wes and this is Interactive English which you know this channel is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and specifically today today is all about practice because I have a lesson for you which is a little bit of a quiz and we're gonna talk about pronunciation and emphasis we're gonna focus on those two things today and like I said it's a little bit of a quiz so I want you to practice I want you to participate in today's lesson I have some questions for you and I want you to write those answers I want you to write your answers in the chat or even in the comments if you're watching this later participate in the lesson write your answers in the comments so that I know that you were actually you are interacting with these lessons that is the best way to practice your skills so let's just start out we're gonna start out with something a bit easier and basic when it comes to pronunciation and then as we go through this it's going to get a little more difficult as we go through it alright so let's begin with just the basics and I have a question for you and that question is this which word has three syllables so which of those words right there has three syllables is it a subtle B coconut or C television what do you guys think I want you to write your answers in the chat or in the comments I just want to know that you are participating in these lessons so what do you think all right a B you see subtle coconut television which word has three syllables alright so I hope I hope that you answered be coconut all right this has three syllables and if you want to know what a syllable is because when you start learning pronunciation this is a good starting point you want to be able to break down these words into the smallest unit so in case you don't know I have it written right there that a syllable is a single unit of speech in English it usually contains a vowel and it consists of either the whole word or just parts in which the word is separated when it is spoken or written so let me tell you what that means that it could be the whole word if I have the word box okay it's one syllable it's also one word or a syllable can be parts of the word like coconut it's broken down into three syllables coconut alright and the reason that you need to be able to identify different syllables is because when you see a word you need to understand well how many syllables how many units of sound does this word have and if you're able to put those units together you can pronounce the word correctly and then if you put those words together then you will pronounce the sentences correctly and if you put those sentences together well then you're having a conversation and people will be able to understand your pronunciation so let's let's practice this a little more are you ready so I'm gonna give you this word I'm gonna give you a word I want you to tell me how many syllables does this word have what I want you to do maybe I want you to say the word to yourself this is another great way to practice during this lesson is that I want you to speak wherever you are if you are at home if you're on the bus doesn't matter where you're watching this actually say the words out loud try to say these words and practice your pronunciation so think about try to say that word alright and now I will say it for you I do sing cracy how many syllables do you think this word has idiosyncrasy alright so seeing some good answers a lot of people saying five all right now let me show you the answer idiosyncrasy you guys are close it has six syllables alright and I've broken them down there for you alright II do sing cross C alright six syllables if you don't know what the word means I put meaning down there and you could expand your vocabulary so an idiosyncrasy is a it's a behavior or a way of thought that is particular to an individual it's it's like an unusual feature so for example everybody has certain idiosyncrasies perhaps somebody maybe they like to sing in the shower every time they shower they're singing that is an idiosyncrasy it is particular to that person all right now let's get back to the pronunciation idiosyncrasy has six syllables now if you're wondering well how how can I tell how many syllables a word has one way to do that is to take your hand put it below your chin and then say the word and count the number of times that your chin hits the top of your hand so if I say idiosyncrasy it's going to hit by ten six times whoops six times it's going to hit my chin idiosyncrasy and that is the number of syllables okay now let's let's go to the next one ready how many syllables are in this word first I want you to say the word you say it out loud and then you can listen to me say it so the word is scrumptious Ness scrumptious Ness how many syllables can you count in that word and like I said try try to do this scrumptious Ness how many are you counting what do you think write your answer in the chat or in the comments because again this is a great way to begin with syllables it's the basic unit now I tried to trick you with this one this is a little tricky excellent yes Chun Azizah AE excellent give some shoutouts Krishna there are three syllables the reason I chose this word is because it is a long word but it has few syllables scrumptious Ness and you can see how its separated there scrumptious Ness it is a noun and it just means that something is it's something tastes great often I think it's used more as an adjective which would be two syllables and you'd say something is scrumptious it tastes scrumptious it's another way if something tastes very delicious it's not very common but the reason I chose this is because it's a longer word that only has three syllables so now that we've talked about syllables we're gonna come back to that as we move through the lesson but that is a great way just to begin when you think about pronunciation to be able to look at a word especially if you don't know how to pronounce it try to identify well how many syllables does the word have how many different units of sound does this word have and that's gonna help you try to pronounce it correctly now let's move on to the next part which is silent letters okay I've given you a sentence right here and all I want you to do is count how many different silent letters do you see now the reason why this is important is because when you are reading or or you know you are going to come across silent letters you are reading this right now and as you're reading it you're you're probably saying it in your in your head in your mind even right now I'd say go ahead and say it out loud but when you're saying it in your mind you're still pronouncing the word and if you're not able to identify those silent letters then that means the next time you try to actually speak the language you may end up mispronouncing the word so how many silent letters do you see right here I'm gonna go ahead and say it for you so I would say and you can repeat after me to practice your pronunciation my mechanic told me to fasten my seat belt in case I have a wreck alright my mechanic told me to fasten my seat belt in case I have a wreck how many silent letters do you see in that sentence um alright getting some different ones I like it when everybody has a little different some different answers yes Mahmood excellent AE Maki Mei the correct answer is three all right I tried to highlight them for you I don't know if you can see that so we have the H in mechanik the T in fasten and the W in wreck those are all silent letters I will say it again my mechanic told me to fasten my seatbelt in case I have a wreck those are all silent letters and like I said it's important because usually let's take the word mechanic in this word that CH often we think it has a Chuck sound like in cheese or chess or match but in this case that H it's silent so it has that cooker sound mechanic now of course let's make it more difficult how many silent letters can you find in this phrase right here now what I want you to do is go ahead and say it to yourself say this to yourself right now say it out loud practice your pronunciation then listen to me say it and try to count the number of silent letters there are more than three I will go ahead and tell you that but go ahead say it out loud to yourself practice your pronunciation alright and now you can listen to me say it so I would say on Wednesday the honest night planned to rendezvous with the Nome next to the castle on Wednesday the honest night planned to rendezvous with the Nome next to the castle alright now this is a sentence that you're not just going to say in everyday conversation this is just practicing these silent letters and trying to identify them because there are quite a few in here alright and I don't see anyone yes bucyk aren't perfect there are actually seven silent letters alright you can count them all right you have the D in Wednesday the H in honest the K in night the there are two silent letters in rendezvous the Z and the S rendezvous with the Nome the genome and then the T in Castle those are all silent letters as you're saying this so again just so you can listen to me on on Wednesday the honest night planned to rendezvous with the Nome next to the castle and as I think as you're reading and listening that's a great way to identify silent letters especially if you're doing something like you're reading subtitles if you're watching a movie or a TV show and you're using subtitles that's a great way that you might come across a word and you'll notice oh you know if you say Wednesday you're not going to hear that D sound that D is silent so there are seven total in that all right the we're gonna switch up again we're gonna keep moving along I have a lot of different activities that I want to do with you today but if you guys like what we do here at interactive English then I suggest you can check out our patreon page if you want to support what we do there are gonna throw a link right here in the chat you can also check us out there is a link in the description if you guys want to connect with us through patreon we really appreciate it it really helps us continue what we're doing here at interactive English so let's switch it up again alright my next question for you is this alright the most common sound in English is the MM sound that's the most common sound in English is the MM sound what do you think is it a th sound B the schwa sound or C the the e sound alright what do you think is the most common sound in English and of course if you don't know that's okay I'm getting ready to tell you what do you think is it a th B schwa or C that sound alright well I hope that all of you said I'm trying to find some information that I want to share with you the answer is yes excellent lolly and you know Molly I think many Leonardo many of you got this the most common sound in English is the schwa sound now if you don't know what the schwa sound is it's right here it is the schwa sound which looks like if you're looking at it using the IPA the international phonetic alphabet it looks like an upside-down e that is the symbol for the schwa it is a reduced vowel sound now any vowel can take on this sound and often it sounds like a it's just a reduced sound and it's just gonna sound like an up and a sound now if you want some more information on the schwa sound we did a lesson a long time ago which I'm gonna share with you right here and I will also put links to these lessons down in the description below to give you more information about this so if you're looking to learn a little bit more about the schwa sound and practice the schwa sound you can check out a lesson we did from a long time ago let me I'm getting the link for you right now and here it is so I will throw that in the chat mmm boom there it goes so check out that lesson it's all about the schwa it'll give you I'll give you a lot more information about it now I told you I wanted to come back to the syllables so what I want you to do is I want you to tell me which syllable has the schwa sound so I have given you this word I want you to first identify well how many syllables does it have and then try to determine well which one has that reduced Val sound which word has the schwa so again I would encourage you say the word say it out loud practice your speaking okay now you can listen listen to me celebrate you can listen to me say it celebrate celebrate which syllable do you think has that schwa sound celebrate now what you should have answered celebrate the syllable that has the schwa sound is that second syllable all right so the word celebrate has three syllables there you go I got to put my fingers in front of the camera three syllables that second one right there has that schwa celebrate it had you can hear that celebrate now I've given I just so you guys can reference this this is the IPA which stands for the international phonetic alphabet some of you may already be some of you may be familiar with it so you can see that it's written how it's written there and again that symbol for the schwa is that upside-down e celebrate I've also given you the phonetic spelling which is if you were going to say the word exactly how it sounds this is how you would spell it celebrate so either one you can use either of these the IPA or phonetic spelling if you would like a better understanding of how to pronounce this word alright so celebrate second syllable has the schwa let's go to the next one all right which syllable has the schwa sound this is your word say it out loud all right what do you think say the word out loud and then tell me which one has that schwa now you can I'll say the word too so you can hear me say it photography photography I'll tell you this is a little bit of a trick question this is a little bit of a trick question so the word is pronounced photography which syllable has the schwa or like I said I could say it's a trick question because I could say which syllable have the schwa sound all right so what I mean by that is yes some of you right many of you some of you said the first one some of you said the third one actually you are all correct because both the first syllable and the third syllable have the schwa sound so in this word photography it has four syllables four syllables the first syllable photography that third syllable also has that schwa you can see in the IPA how it's written that upside down e has that schwa that reduced vowel sound that sound or in the phonetic spelling you can actually see that ah that u H written photography the first and third syllable have that schwa sound all right so this is again this is good practice to take some of these individual words identify how many syllables they have and then be able to understand what the schwa sound is and actually identify okay where is it in the word because so many words have that schwa sound and in what I would encourage you to do next time you're listening to an individual word or take any individual word and actually see if you can identify the schwa sound see if that word has the schwa sound and which syllable has that sound as well now what I want to do because this lesson is about both pronunciation and emphasis okay emphasis is a part of pronunciation the way that you're saying word that's what I want to focus on right now okay so I want to take this sentence right here and we're going to do a different exercise on emphasis so the sentence is a just a simple sentence I didn't say you stole the money okay I think you can I can read that sentence you understand what it means but what we're going to do is I want you to think about how does emphasis change the meaning of the sentence because depending on which word we emphasize the meaning is going to change a little bit and what I would encourage you to do for this is I want you to practice and say these sentences out loud and practice that and this is it's a form of shadowing and what shadowing is it is a great way to practice your pronunciation your intonation your emphasis and that you are repeating something the exact same way that you hear it so you're gonna listen to me say the sentence with the different emphasis and I want you to repeat that and we did a whole other lesson that was all about shadowing I just threw a link in the chat if you want to check that out later I will also put a link in the description for the pronunciate for these lessons that I'm mentioning so let's look at this I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you the meaning I want you to think which word should you emphasize if you say this so the meaning is I didn't say you stole the money I said you stole something else which word would you emphasize if that is the meaning that you want to convey if that's the meaning of the sentence which word are you going to emphasize alright when you've tried if you're trying to decide well how do I know which word to emphasize think well first think about what the meaning is all right I said you know I didn't say you stole the money I said you stole something else so you're talking about the thing that is being stolen and in this case down here the thing that is being stolen is money that is the word that you would want to emphasize excellent I see some of you put money lolly Angela dairy Ricardo yes you want to emphasize the word money so you can listen to me say it and I want you guys to repeat this as well practice your speaking practice your pronunciation so I would say I didn't say you stole the money I didn't say you stole the money you can hear that emphasis on money and that's what the meaning is I didn't say you stole the money I said you stole the painting alright something else was stolen I didn't say you stole the money I said that you stole the computer I didn't say you stole the money I said you stole the refrigerator alright so you get the idea when you're emphasizing that word that money that's gonna change the meaning I didn't say you stole the money so again this really depends on the context that somebody is accusing somebody of something else like oh why did you say I stole the money it's like no I didn't say you stole the money I said you stole the the the clothes all right anything all right let's look at the next one so again we have our sentence here's the meaning I didn't say you stole the money I implied you stole the money which word would you emphasize to have that meaning I didn't say you stole the money I don't want to I didn't say you stole the money I implied you stole the money and if you don't know what it means to imply something it means to suggest to imply means to suggest that something happened now again if you want to identify the word all right that's the meaning you want to identify the word well if you are suggesting something in this case you're not suggesting you're saying it so the word you want to emphasize is say and that is going to tell us that meaning all right excellent so some of you got it so if I said listen to how I say it and repeat it I didn't say you stole the money so if somebody says I didn't say you stole the money then I didn't say it I did something else to imply it maybe I pointed my finger all right I didn't actually speak it out loud I didn't say you stole the money I used my eyes and said it was this person over here he stole the money right there all right I implied it I didn't say it so if somebody says well I didn't say you stole the money it means you didn't say it but you maybe did something else too imply that this was stolen let's continue because I know this is this is a little challenging this is difficult when it comes to really understanding the meaning of what somebody says now now I've given you the word that I want you to emphasize and I want you to think about well what is the meaning first I want you to say this on your own and I want you to emphasize the word you and then you can listen to me say it and then again try to repeat it practice shadowing so that you are emphasizing it the same way that I am okay so if you want to say it you're emphasizing it I would say I didn't say you stole the money I didn't say you stole the money what does that mean if somebody says well I didn't say you stole the money what do you think all right so if you're emphasizing you um alright excellent uh sandrine perfect lolly nice the 14-j ABC b20 excellent so if you're emphasizing you alright you're saying well I didn't say you stole the money I said somebody else did I said I didn't say you stole the money I said that Wes stole the money r I didn't say you stole the money I said that the the child stole the money so again when you hear when somebody's emphasizing you then that's the word that's going to change that word is going to change and it's gonna take on a new meaning what if I said let's do a couple other practice so there I don't know if you can see it the word I is highlighted that's the word that I want you to emphasize now I want you to practice saying it and then again listen to me say it and then think about well what is the meaning because this sentence this is a great sentence to use and that you can emphasize each word and it's going to give you a different mean all right what does it mean so if we're gonna emphasize if somebody says well I didn't say you stole the money I didn't say you stole the money what is that now that I emphasize I what does that mean if you're telling somebody and somebody says well wait why did you say I stole the money I said whoa whoa I didn't say you stole the money yes somebody many of you excellent got it so if you're emphasizing I what it means is well I didn't say you stole the money someone else said it I didn't say you stole the money it was this person this person said that you stole the money I didn't say you stole the money so again this is a great exercise to be able to listen to something because you're going to hear this if you're watching a movie or a TV show people are going to use emphasis quite often and depending on the word they emphasize the meaning can change a little bit let's look at another one all right I've given you this sentence this is the last live lesson of December I want you to emphasize is okay and unfortunately yes this this is actually true this is actually true this is the last live lesson of December I just gave you the example I just emphasized it for you so you can try to practice your pronunciation practice your shadowing say it with me this is the last live lesson of December okay now when I emphasize is what am I really what am I saying because we use I'll tell you this this is a sentence in the present simple we use the present simple in this case to talk about things that are facts all right I could say you know the Sun sets in the west this is the last live lesson of December if I emphasize that is then basically what I'm telling you is that this is a fact I'm emphasizing the fact that well this is a it is a fact it will definitely be the last live lesson of December I know shocker spoiler alert where we're gonna be going we're going to travel for the holiday so this will actually be the last live lesson of December but I will be back in January I'll be back before you know it don't worry about it actually our our schedule is gonna be changing a little bit for the rest of this month I will give you a little more information about that later on but this is a good example that if you are emphasizing is it's just talking about that certainty you're saying something definitely is going to happen yes like somebody mentioned you LAN this is true perfect all right honey it is a fact yes this is the last live lesson of December practice that speaking say that practice you're shadowing now let's look at this one one more um how would you I want you to emphasize the word duh okay now when people emphasize the word though you might hear this is when you might hear them say thee instead of the you might could say thee so you know personally I always just I kind of just stick with uh I don't really catch myself saying thee often but I could say it again practice it say it after me he's taking me to the dance or I could say he's taking me to the dance and we're emphasizing the or you could say thee and in this case think about it when we use that article the we are talking about we are talking about something specific so if I'm emphasizing it and I'm talking about the dance or the dance he's taking me to the dance he's taking me to the dance what does that tell you about the dance all right now if somebody is emphasizing it that you may even hear them emphasize the word that comes after the noun yes Sayyid perfect it is a dance that everybody knows about it is it is the dance or the dance it means that is either mate maybe it is the only dance or perhaps it is an important dance but whoever you're talking to that person knows about this dance you don't have to specify you can just say well it is the dance or the dance the it might be the only one or it is the most famous one and that is a way that you can emphasize and stress well like it is it is the one that everybody knows about okay so this is great practice about how you can use emphasis to to not only just change meaning but really emphasize the meaning of what you're trying to say because it like in this case you don't need to explain you don't need to give the name of the dance this is the dance everybody knows about this dance so let's do another we're gonna we're gonna practice a little bit more and what I did yesterday and this is something I may do later on in the future I asked all of you guys I said well what are some words that you would like me to pronounce and I've taken some of those words and I've put a list together and that list is right here so I'm not gonna spend a bunch of time going through this I've given you the word the meaning and I've given you both the IPA the international phonetic alphabet if you are familiar with that and you can you can you understand those symbols and you can practice pronouncing it as well as the phonetic spelling in case that helps you to be able to see how it's spelled so again I will say the word I would encourage you to say it after me all right this word is thorough thorough these are some difficult words that that all of you in our community have asked about I've got these words this is from our patron our patron community and then I got to a few words from just everybody so thorough it's just talking about extremely attentive complete I I hope all of you do thorough work I hope that your work is thorough Thoreau the next word is listened some someone in our patron community asked about that IDI ending and if you want to learn more about that again we have another lesson we talked a lot about how to pronounce those IDI words this is very important because if you're talking about those regular verbs that IDI ending it can have three different forms in this case listened alright that final sound is a voice sound that mm-hmm you can hear that feel that vibration in the throat so that IDI is going to have a D sound at the end but it is not an extra syllable so listen has one syllable listened also just one syllable it is one syllable listened listened listened alright that is a good one hope that oh wait let me post that there you go there that is the IDI lesson that I just put in the chat if you guys want to check that out again I will leave a link in the description to these lessons that I mentioned today the next one democracy democracy it's talking about government by the people many forms of governments countries have a democracy now notice that schwa in that third syllable democracy democracy personally I think if if I'm speaking I'm having a conversation I act sometimes I actually pronounce that first syllable also with a bit of a schwa sound and I say democracy democracy but again the the schwa really definitely is in that third syllable democracy democracy again say it after me repeat that this is a great time to practice your pronunciation the next word many many people are confused with that RL that especially that our LD combination world world it's talking about the earth or the globe I think you're familiar with this word world there's the IP check out the phonetic spelling in case it helps world alright that LR you can hear that Earl Earl Earl girl twirl alright world you do hear that D at the end world alright the next word is this one sixth sixth this is the ordinal number four six again use the IPA or the phonetic spelling to help you pronounce this word say it after me six I think it ends with that that that X and then you got a transition into the th six six six six all right you can feel like that air coming out the end sixth alright the next one I may do I may do a whole lesson on these words later and just ask you guys four more words the next word I have for you people were asking about this word entrepreneur again this is another loan word that English has taken from French this is a French word that English has taken it we now use it entrepreneur is a person who starts a business it has four syllables entrepreneur with no [Laughter] entrepreneur there you go entrepreneur entrepreneur person who starts a villa business entrepreneurs say it after me entrepreneur entrepreneur entrepreneur and you are going to have that schwa sound in that second and third syllable ah try pro nor entrepreneur alright the next word is somebody mentioned conscientious conscientious I think this word is difficult to pronounce because of the way it's spelled and that spelling I think can really throw people off what it means is that you're you know you are controlled by what youth is right you are going to do the things that you think is right and you might try to make a conscientious decision you're going to just make a decision based on what you think is right a conscientious decision all right it has four syllables and you have that schwa in that final syllable say it after me conscientious I am going to make a conscientious decision conscientious next is the word Q and this is just referring to a line when people are waiting instead of saying a line you could say a Q those two words are synonyms line Q again the pronunciation of the spelling and the pronunciation can throw people off a little bit you're saying it you're pronouncing it like you are saying the letter Q the name of the letter Q Synod and you just pronounce it Q Oh God yesterday I had to wait in such a long queue it was terrible I hate it or you go to someplace and you find that there is a queue there is a line you have to wait in it there is a queue the next word is Erie all right this means something is Erie it's an adjective it means there's a strange or just a weird feeling often that something is wrong Erie the the pronounciation I think if you can use the IPA or the phonetic spelling I I think that you can understand a little bit easier again Erie both of those values start with the long vowel sound in the first set of year and then it ends with that long e sound as well eerie eerie something is eerie it's strange it's confusing it's unusual it's eerie then the next word again months it's a word that I think you know you know this word it's a very common word but people have trouble pronouncing it sometimes it is a challenging word to pronounce a month it's a part of the calendar year months especially I think when you're referring to it in the plural and you're talking about more than one month and you'd say several months several months all right look at the IPA look at the phonetic spelling repeat after me months you can do you can slightly hear that th sound months months all right I am I wish I could take a vacation for several months I'm sure all of us laughter all of us would like to take a vacation for several months but it's just not possible months then we have all right literally this means in a in a strict sense word for word you you do something literally you say something literally I think again it's challenging because of that R and L R that L and R sound literally literally try to repeat it after me practice your pronunciation literally use that IPA that phonetic spelling that is a great guide in order to pronounce these words literally alright the next word hypocrisy hypocrisy has four syllables hypocrisy hypocrisy that schwa is in that third syllable now you guys you know what that schwa sound is that reduced found sounds like a hypocrisy say it after me hypocrisy hypocrisy perfect and massage this is I think some people might confuse it with the other verb message in which you it is spelled differently too with an E but this is talking about you're treating your body you know a rub giving a massage and that first syllable has that schwa ma massage massage okay massage I hope you could say it after me massage this is a great way to actually practice your speaking skills and again these notes this is something that for patrons if you're at a certain level we do put this we do put our notes up on for for those patrons because I think it's useful it's helpful we make those notes available to people so again if you're you know if you're not able to connect with us through patreon that's perfectly okay another way to connect with us is based on our email list if you want to have access to the secret fluency lesson we send different lesson updates and just talk a little bit about what we do we also share some resources with you as well there is a link in the description I'm throwing a link right there in the chat in case you want to check that out so there's a lot of a lot of links that I just gave you today I hope that you found this lesson useful if you did participate in the activity and actually spoke to me and practice your speaking skills let me know write the word speaking in the comments that way I know that you were actually participating and practicing your pronunciation practicing your emphasis if you enjoyed this lesson this little quiz about pronunciation and emphasis hit that like button that tells me well okay I should do more of this next time because there is value that you guys find it very useful to practice your pronunciation to practice your emphasis you can always write to us in the comments we love hearing from you and join us on social media we are active on Facebook Instagram and Twitter and of course here on YouTube all right excellent honey perfect speaking Moda is perfect thank you guys so much for joining remember this is the this is the last live lesson of December I will be back for more in January starting a whole new year can you believe it I think this is our 100th lesson of 2019 we have done a hundred lessons this year which is pretty incredible very happy that you guys have been with me this whole time I really appreciate it thank you guys for joining me thank you Brian Pierre Lucia just given some quick shoutouts princess mira AP a star in the sky excellent Marat Chung thank you for participating FA Daniel rush thank you thank you thank you I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend I have a strong finish to 2019 and I will see you guys back here in 2020 for another live lesson we still we will have more lessons this year this month in December there will be more lessons keep an eye out for those but I will be back for a live lesson next next year and I will see you guys then all right so long --- ## 471. PRONUNCIATION HACKS | Speak with the American accent ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PTPARnU1f-Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTPARnU1f-Y) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:15:02 | --- let's talk about how to sound more American and the the very first thing that I want to tell you is that you do not actually need to sound more American you do not have to speak with an American accent or or any other English accent for that matter the most important thing is that people understand what you're saying and you're able to communicate with others and be that as it may many of you have still asked me if there are any pronunciation tips or tricks that you can use to help your speech have a more natural flowing sound and because I'm from the United States I can help you in that regard which is why in this lesson I want to talk to you about five different pronunciation hacks that you can use to sound more American let me quickly introduce myself my name is Wes the channel is interactive English which is all about helping you improve your skills so that you can reach your fluency goals if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons let's begin with my first uh pronunciation hack which I think is well it's it's I think relatively simple which is why I wanted to begin with this and that is to use reductions and this I think is very common in spoken English not only in the United States but I think among all English varieties but I can tell you that in the US people use reductions especially common reductions quite often I'm talking about reductions like GNA wna have to Hast to and I right here you can see that I am actually spelling these reductions but just know that this is not something that you are going to use in writing here is the full form right here you you're really just going to use this in spoken English because like I said they're very common and you use them in everyday conversation I could say something like we have to go see the new Marvel movie I I really want to see it I'm going to go see it today so just listening to those sentences did you hear the different reductions that I was using let's let's rewind and and listen to those and you can even repeat after me if you want to practice saying them I could say something like we have to go see the new Marvel movie I really want to see it I'm going to go see it today all right I hope you repeated those after me because I I think yeah the more you use them and actually practice saying these reductions the more comfortable you're going to feel just just using them in in general conversation though one thing I do want you to to be aware of is that in order to reduce a phrase like going to you need to follow it with a base verb gonna play gon to watch gonna visit if you follow it with a noun you are not going to reduce this phrase so I could say something like I'm going to work work is a noun and it's like I'm talking about I'm heading into the office that's very different than I'm going to work in that case now I'm using it as the verb talking about the activity working so so keep that in mind I'm going to work versus I'm going to work if you follow it with a noun you are not going to reduce this and I I yes reductions I think is a very simple and I say simple because I think they are just so common in spoken English it's a very simple way to start practicing and actually giving your speech a more natural flowing sound in in just general conversation the next hack that I have for you is just to to go crazy with the schw sound and if you don't know what the schwas sound is it is an unstressed vowel sound it just it sounds like uh and it it we use it a lot in words but we also use it in reductions I I just talked to you about like going to becomes gunana in that second syllable GNA uh you have that schwas sound and I think that well people in the US we use the schah a lot and there are maybe two different reasons for this one is that people like to say things quickly and efficiently and then the next reason would be that people Americans are just kind of lazy when it comes to pronunciation I will like to think it's the first one even though I think a strong argument could be made for the second and really when when I talk about going crazy with the schwas sound uh I really have three words in mind and these are these three words right here very common words so instead of saying the article a you just use the schah uh it's a very weak sound and you can just like fly right through through it and continue to the next word you the pronoun also very common word has two accepted forms of pronunciation one I just said youu but you could also use the schah and say y y and then finally to the preposition in the United States uh I I do this quite often instead of actually saying to I'm just going to use the schah and say t so let's look at a sentence and I'm I'm going to say it quickly and then slowly and I really want you to listen for the schwas sound when I say these three words right here so the the sentence it's really a question I could say do you need to go see a doctor and then I'll break it down slowly saying it one syllable at a time there are nine syllables do you need to go see a doctor and then let's let's break it down into three different parts do you need to go see a doctor so I I hope that you could hear that schwas sound that uh sound when I was saying these words do you need to go see a doctor and again that that schah sound it's just kind of it's a very weak sound it's letting you fly right through the sentence and really the focus is on those other content words like need go see doctor and and that's really the main message that's the real thing that you want to take away from that question but if you're going to say it quickly and you're from the United States you might hear somebody say do you need to go see a doctor I know it can be a little confusing but I think when it when it comes to using thewwa especially with these words that I'm talking to you about right here like uh Y and T I think it really helps just to to get more listening so the schah even though it is a weak sound and and it's still it's the most common sound in English it's kind of like the magic elixir of the American accent I want to take a quick moment and tell you about how you can speak directly with me and practice your speaking improve your pronunciation and that is by enrolling in my speaking course called speak up check out the link Down Below in the description the course is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally the course includes weekly classes with me using Zoom so you'll talk to me and your other classmates and there are weekly PDFs about a variety of different topics we do different speaking activities the course also includes weekly pronunciation video lessons there are also lesson preview videos resource guides a couple of audio lessons there there's a lot so please check out that link Down Below in the description if you are interested in improving your speaking fluency and best of all you can use the code speak 10 to get a 10% discount if you have any questions please send me an email at info@ Interactive englishvideolessons.net so we have words like time versus dime you can hear that difference between the T and the D but the flap T which is very common in the United States it sounds like a soft D and well let's let's look at the word water so when I say water you probably hear that t and it's going to sound a little more like a soft D water if I were to say this with a an aspirated T sound like a true t- sound you'd hear people well many people from all over the world say it like this it would sound like water water it does take a little bit more effort than just using the flap te and saying water water and so in in that case I can understand if somebody were to make the argument that yes American pronunciation it's it's pretty lazy in this case yeah yeah we're we're kind of lazy when it comes to the flap T so you may say a t as a flap T when it comes between two vowel sounds like like water or city or beautiful you can say a t as a flap T when it comes after an r and before a vowel in words like party or dirty and you could say a t as a flap T when it comes after a Vel and before a dark l in words like bottle or little this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to words in which people will use the flap T and I I think what makes it even more challenging is that this also applies to phrases as well think of the if somebody gives you like the command and they say get in the car if I were to link get in now that T it's going to come between those two vowel sounds and I could use the flap T so instead of saying get in the car I could say get in the car get in the car and I I think subtitles can be very helpful when it comes to well understanding which words use the flap T because you're able to see the spelling and listen to the pronunciation at the same time but the flap te it's very American my next pronunciation hack and I I think this is a pretty simple one is just to pronounce certain words like Americans do and what I mean by this is that there are a variety of words in which American English and British English differ and both forms are are accepted both are fine but if you're traveling in the United States and you want to make sure that there is no misunderstanding when it comes to pronunciation it's good to be aware of of some of these differences when it comes to some of the words like like the ones that I'm about to share with you so let's start with the word advertisement I'm giving you both the IPA and the phonetic spelling so so that you can see the pronunciation so in the US I would say advertisement in the UK people would say advertisement this word I would say vitamin but in the UK people would say vitamin now to me this is a tomato but but many other people would say it's a tomato and then we have this word right here aluminum which actually in the UK and I think many other parts of the English-speaking World they even spell it differently and pronounce it differently which is aluminium so this is not something that that you need to study but really just just be aware of it because I I think over time as you are listening to people speak English who are from the United States maybe you're listening to them out on the street or or in a movie or TV show you are naturally going to become familiar with the way people pronounce individual words and my final pronunciation hack is for you to develop a rhythm and flow to your speech because well language it's like music especially English and and I don't think that this is anything that is distinctly American I think all English varieties have a rhythm in flow but the the real question then becomes well well how do you do this one way to try and do this is to speak in phrases with some slight pauses and not word for word so when I just said that I I was giving you an example so let's go back let's rewind listen to it again and and see if you can hear that that Rhythm and flow that I was just talking about one way to try and do this is to speak in phrases with some slight pauses and not word for word so I just took this one sentence and broke it into four different phrases which kind of gives it a a nice natural flow instead of well saying it word for word which may end up sounding a bit more robotic one way to try and do this is to speak in phrases with some slight pauses and not word for word okay I it it doesn't sound natural I was trying to say this sentence at the same speed but I think you can hear a difference when when I said those too now I I know that this can be challenging because when you're you're learning another language or when you're in the middle of a conversation you might be searching for the next word that you want to use or maybe you're even doing some translating in your head and when that happens I think you're you're more likely to end up speaking word for word now there's nothing wrong with that but I think over time as you get more exposure to the language and you're you're able to listen to that Rhythm and flow the more practice that you get speaking and having different conversations and feeling more comfortable talking about a variety of different topics then I I think that you're not going to need to speak word for word you'll be familiar with the conversation and you'll be able to focus on speaking in those phrases and developing that natural Rhythm and flow so I hope you enjoyed these pronunciation hacks and you can you feel like you can go out there start a conversation and sound more American but remember you don't have to if you don't want to please hit that like button if you learn something new and also write to me in the comments I always love hearing from you and remember check out that link down below if you'd like to sign up for the speaking course speak up so that you can talk directly with me thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 472. PUNS IN ENGLISH | Examples of a Play on Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `tpKQd4k0Zn0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpKQd4k0Zn0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:26:43 | --- hello everyone welcome to today's lesson so this if this is your first time here at interactive English the channels just all about trying to help you guys practice and improve your English skills and please especially if this is your first time write your name in the comments say hello tell me where you're from we love hearing from different people and even if this is your first time and you are with us live in the chat write your name tell me where you're from always love meeting new people so today's lesson is I really like today's lesson it's going to be all about puns so puns I really I say I enjoy today's lesson not only because I think it's it's a little funnier it's because I like lessons where I learn new things so even though I am an English teacher I am constantly nert learning new things about the English language and doing a topic like this and talking about puns I learned some new things and I love doing that and and then I can just go ahead and share it with all of you so I just want to give quick shout out and say hello to lolly dev Daniel Abraham Ibrahim Nisha honey hello so Maya Luisa Aden how are you guys thank you guys for joining me today and this lesson I can tell you well if you don't know what a pun is let me I'll just go ahead and tell you and give you the meaning so a pun is a humorous use of a word or phrase that has several meanings or that sounds like another word and often you would use a pun in when you when you're telling a joke many jokes would have a pun which is why they're funny and we're going to look at some of those today or you may people may just use puns when in everyday conversation sometimes it may be intentional and they tried to use a pun in order to be funny and other times it's it's just on accident and they didn't really mean to do it but it would because of the situation they used a pun so puns are meant to be funny and I can say that this lesson all right this lesson is going to be punny all right that's aya fault I apologize that's just a terrible joke but it is an example that I wanted to give you instead of punny it sounds a little like funny so this is somewhat of a pun it's more of a play on words because this is something else you you hear when talking about puns and it's a play on words or wordplay which is when you're using words in a very creative and imaginative way in order to be funny so I apologize that's a very bad joke but let's I want to get into telling you why why am I doing this so there is a book in case any of you are out there looking for new books to read especially if you love to read in English which is something that I highly recommend this is a book that I have taught English learners before it's called the Phantom Tollbooth and the reason why this book it made me think about doing a lesson like this is because when I've taught this book to other English learners it's it's pretty challenging and the reason why it's very difficult is because this book has so many different puns and wordplay and sometimes as a a person trying to learn another language it can be very difficult to identify that and try to understand well why this might be funny so if you if you really want to challenge yourself if you are interested and really challenge yourself in a way to see if you can identify some of these puns and understand what they mean and why it's funny I recommend this book alright excellent awesome thank you rod for joining the team excellent the other thing I want to point out just to give you an example in this book look at the dog it's a watch dog and that word has two different meanings in English so a watch dog in English is a dog that you may see that is protecting somebody's or its protecting their property it's called a watchdog now it has another meaning a watchdog is also an organization or could be a person that watches over another group to make sure that they are doing what they should be doing to make sure that they're doing their work that okay you're doing what they should be doing this this person or a group is considered a watchdog now in the story that that is the dogs job his job he's watching over this other group of people and making sure that they are doing their work and they are doing what they should be doing so that is a he is a watchdog his job but he is also he's also a dog that has a clock on him a watchdog so it has double meanings like that but that's what made me think of doing this lesson so let's go ahead and talk about some different types of puns now this is where I say I enjoyed learning about this topic because I learn new things because this you don't need to learn the different types of puns the reason why I'm showing it to you is that I hope that it it helps you understand the puns a little bit easier and it helps you understand well why this is funny and why is this a play on words so these are not terms like I did not know this before that there was such as a homophonic pun but it is a type of pun and what this type of pun is it uses homonyms which are words that sound the same but they have different meanings so these are words that sound the same but they have different meanings it is a type of pun let me give you an example so the first one it says frog parking only all others will be towed so I I will ask all of you right now which word do you see that is a homonym all right which of these words is a homonym and I'd use this one because I thought I saw it I thought it was funny but this is a good example of a homonym ik poem where our hominid McClung in which it's using a homonym in order to be funny it's humorous all right frog parking only all others will be towed now the hominem that you see in there is the word toad so if you're thinking about parking instead of saying like toad it would really be toad I'm writing it in there and to tow somebody is to well you you take their car and you move it to another place to tow someone's car so in this case instead of saying toad like you're moving a car it's talking about a toad which is a type of frog it's those those big frogs that is a toad so this is a good example of a hominid mcbomb where's your use a pun in which you're using a homonym and i thought it was kind of funny entertaining the next type of pun is a Hama graphic pun now this is a pun that uses words that are spelled the same but sound different okay a Hama graphic pun the words are spelled the same but they sound different all right so let me give you an example of a Hama graphic pun and I want you to see see if you can identify the word that I'm talking about which makes this a homograph ik pun alright I'm gonna I'm not gonna read it because I don't want to to give it away I want you to read this and which word makes this a homograph ik pun in which the word has two different pronunciations that you can pronounce this word two different ways depending on what you're trying to say all right and that's what makes this funny this is this is a quote it was the name I think of an album by REO Speedwagon back in the late 70s but I think this this may be taken from a quote from a book by Douglas Adams who was a famous author he wrote Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy great book great movie but I think that is where this cover now wait someone who's saying tune alright you guys are kind of right what makes this we're gonna come back to this pun to what makes this a homograph ik pun is not actually tuned and tuna its bass so look at that last word all right you can tuna fish but you can't tuna you you can tune a guitar but you can't tuna fish unless you play it could either be bass or bass so unless you play bass bass is a type of fish alright that is actually that's a picture of a bass right there it's a big fish but it's a type of fish unless you play bass but it's a Hama Hama graphic poem pun because you can also pronounce that word it has the same spelling as bass all right bass is a well it's a type of guitar the bass guitar so you can see in this picture I have a picture of a bass and the bass is playing the bass okay so what bass is a type of fish a bass the same spelling is a type of guitar so that's what makes it a homograph ik pun the first part tune tune a guitar or tuna fish remember those are that is the same pronunciation actually so we're talking about a word that spelled the same but has a different pronunciation this is a tricky one it is a tricky one n right yes so I told you we're gonna come back to this in just a moment and I'll explain it a little more in just a second so let me talk about the next kind of pun that you have is this one is a homonym ik pun now again these are words that I I had no idea that a homonym ik pun existed but hopefully it'll help you understand it a little bit more when I show you the example so this involves a word that is spelled and sounds the same but has a different meaning alright so it involves a word that is spelled and sounds the same it has a different meaning so and I would it involves a word that it doesn't have to be the exact spelling or well let me show you the example and this will obvious so a homonym ik pun and mm okay homonym ik pun words that sound the same spelled and sound the same but has a different meaning okay so here is like a little comic and you see that those in case you don't know those are bullets and it's like you have a little family of bullets and the the person's asking what happened to you and this other bullet over here came home and he says I got fired so in this case the word fired that is what makes this a homonym ik poem it's spelled the same has the same pronunciation but you have these different meanings okay so he got fired like in this case it's like you get fired from your job but also if a bullet you're talking about you you fire a bullet with a gun so the job of a bullet is well typically if you get fired the job is over so the bullet is saying I got fired and he lost his job in that case all right so that's an example of a homonym ik pun and I thought that that was funny so fired is the key word there the next type of pun is a compound pun and this is a pun that contains more than one pun and this is when I said I'm gonna go back to this example because you could say you can tune a guitar but you can't tuna fish that is also a pun that is a homograph ik pun like the first one we did because we're talking about tune something to tune a guitar is to tune it to make sure it sounds right that that the guitar is tuned and tuna fish it is something that well tuna is a type of fish but if you talk about tuna fish it's typically it's a meal it's food it's something you eat so you can tune a guitar but you can't tune a fish that would be a homophonic pun alright it's it sounds the same but these are different words unless you play bass or bass that is the hama graphic pun so because you have two puns in here it's you could also say it's a compound pun you're using more than one pun so that is an example of a compound pun let me show let's do this one a recursive pun so this is another type of pun it requires understanding the first half of the joke in order to understand the second half of the joke I'll give you an example and hopefully this makes sense that a recursive pun you need to have it's almost like you need to understand something in the beginning in order to understand why something else is funny so for example this is a good example so may 4th the date is considered international Star Wars day actually I didn't know that until yesterday until until I look that up yesterday so may May 4th is the date that's considered International Star Wars day and this is a popular this is like a slogan that they would say may the 4th be with you alright now if you have not seen the movie star wars this may not be that funny but if you have seen the movie and you understand that first part of the joke then you somebody might say this and it's funny it's entertaining because instead instead of saying may the 4th be with you in the movie yes on assume says mommy mommy yes instead of 4th in the movie they say force all throughout Star Wars all those they say this throughout I'm writing it may the force be with you all right so force sounds a lot like forth which is why this is funny but if somebody has not seen the movie this is not going to make that much sense and you may not think this is funny so this is an example of a recursive pun that in order to understand why this is funny you need to understand the first part of the joke to begin with alright so this is another type of pun now like I told you you don't need to understand oh well what is a recursive pun what's a Hama Hama Hama graphic pun the reason why I'm showing you that showing you that is that hopefully it helped you understand those jokes a little better because puns are typically something you see in writing I think it's common so let's look at some more examples but first I did want to talk about some expressions using the word pun so I think a more common one somebody might say no pun intended and when somebody says no pun intended it means that they're going to use a pun but they didn't mean to they didn't really want to but they are using one anyway so somebody could say no pun intended or they might say pardon the pun both of them have the same meaning that you're using a pun because of some situation but it's not because you it's not because you wanted to it's because you could and I'll give you an example more commonly I think you might hear people say no pun intended and they would typically say that at the beginning or actually they they would typically say that at the end so after they say the pun then they might say look no pun intended so let me show you another example this is a conversation I came up with this yesterday maybe it's a bad example but hopefully it makes sense so here the the first part would be that you have a father and a son and the son is saying to the father he says hey dad my friends and I are going camping in the graveyard I don't know why they would want to go camping in the graveyard but this is the boy is telling his father we're going camping in the graveyard and the father says over my dead body no pun intended all right now over my dead body this is an idiom which somebody could use that means that you are completely against something if you're saying no you are absolutely not going to do this over my dead body so I'm gonna go ahead and write that in case you did not know the meaning of that idiom over one's dead body is used used used to say that someone is completely and I'd emphasize completely completely against something so in this case the father is saying look you are not going camping over my dead body no pun intended so the reason why that's a pun is because again a graveyard would be full of dead bodies so this would be this would be an example of a way in which somebody could use that expression no pun intended were you you're having a conversation you use a pun but maybe you don't mean to and you could tell that look no pun intended but you're going to use it so hopefully again that makes sense in this situation so let's go ahead now and I want to show you just some different puns just because I think they're humorous they're funny and try to identify why you think again this is funny so I like this one and I got I got some of these from a website which I will link down in the description below and the website just lists I think it was like 80 of the funniest puns and this is good reading practice to go through and read and see if you can identify what the joke is so this says light travels faster than sound that's why some people appear bright and until you hear them speak all right now the reason why this is funny is because of the word bright it has two different meanings bright could be talking about light or bright could be talking about a person's intelligence if I say oh you guys you're very bright it means you're very smart so in this case it's saying light travels faster than sound because some people may look right maybe they look like they're very smart and then you hear them speak and then you think oh okay maybe this person is not very intelligent all right so light travels faster than sound that's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak all right then next one that I want to look at is this one because you might find puns in newspapers these are actually real newspaper articles they were in the cover of newspapers and they try to they use puns they may use them to be entertaining mostly I think to emphasize that something happened so look at the first one this is a picture of Luis Suarez who is a football player from Uruguay now if you don't follow football you may not you may not get this but on many several years ago I don't know if it was during the World Cup Suarez this footballer he has a problem he has a problem because during some of the football matches he tends to bite people and he has bitten several other people on the other teams and it's it's very strange it's very weird it's it's not good but after this happened this article came out and said it had to be true and instead of saying it had to be you which is a famous song by Frank Sinatra and I think other people have done follow-ups to that song they changed you to chew because they sound a little similar and he's talking about him chewing on another person it had to be true the other one is talking about utter devastation so in this case the word if you're talking about devastation a common collocation somebody could say that there was utter devastation all right this is a common collocation that these words are frequently used together if you want to say that there was devastation you could really say that there was a line say oh there was utter devastation but instead of saying utter they're using the word utter and they're probably using that word I'm just guessing I have not read the article is because there were otters that were causing a lot of problems that were destroying things the otters were causing the devastation so that is why they chose this title for the article there's otter devastation which is funny because they're saying instead of saying utter utter devastation utter devastation so puns are something that you find in not just you know jokes that friends might say but you may see it in on the cover of a newspaper or on the cutter cover of a magazine so let's look at this next one this is another good one I thought it was funny I don't know why so this is you have a lighter which is meeting a highlighter and the lighter says highlighter which a highlighter is a type of like marker that you use to highlight some information people might use them to highlight most students might use them to highlight important information in books you have that tool on the computer you have a tool that says highlighter you can you can highlight important information so the lighter says highlighter and then the highlighter says high lighter all right so they're saying the same things it's a pun it's funny no no I thought it was funny the next one is this one I thought this was good I was wondering why the ball was getting bigger then it hit me all right what do you think why why is this pun funny or why is this a pun why is it funny which phrase has two different meanings what do you think I was wondering hmm I was wondering why the ball was getting bigger and then it hit me alright so the phrase in there that has two different meanings is then it hit me so if you're thinking about the what would actually happen alright I was wondering why this ball was getting bigger and then it hit me so the ball is getting bigger because it's coming closer and closer and closer and then it hits this person it actually hits them maybe in the head I don't know but if you also say something like oh and then it hit me yes excellent I think you guys got it so if you say something oh then it hit me it means that you you finally understood something alright so I think one of the key words in there is wondering if you're wondering something like hmm why is this happening why is this happening oh and then it hit me alright so it finally means that you finally understood something you realized some situation and then you could say that so in that case then it hit me could mean like the ball actually hits this person or it means like the person they finally understand why the ball is getting bigger so it works both ways in that case so that is why this is a pun and it's a funny one let's just do one more quick one so this is another one that I think was taken out of a newspaper and it's ketchup talking to a hot dog it says it was nice to meet you and it says yes hope to see you soon so we can catch up so again this is an example of a homophonic pun because we're using words that sound the same these homonyms it was nice to meet you instead of meat is a homonym because instead of saying meat it has the same pronunciation as meat to meet somebody to greet them it's nice to meet you and again I hope to see you soon so we can catch up so the ketchup the scent which I think this one is a little easier to understand to catch and if you don't know that phrase to catch up with someone it means that you you want to get back together with a person so that you can talk and see what's going on in their lives this is something that people say I think quite often like oh you know if you say goodbye to somebody you say oh yeah let's let's catch up soon let's catch up real soon or like when are we gonna get together we really need to catch up it means that you need to meet and discuss what's happening in your life you want to catch up with someone so that is a great phrasal verb to know to catch up with someone alright so those are all different examples we've talked about these different types of puns and I told you you don't necessarily need to learn you don't need to learn that different names the types hopefully it helped you understand them a little bit better but I do I want to thank you guys for joining me and again what oh here we are if you guys like what we do and you do want to sponsor and support interactive English you can get a membership on YouTube somebody got a membership today uh it was raw was it Rob or rod excellent rod yes there's links in the description down below for either a membership on YouTube or patreon links are in the description there are some cool rewards and we are we're always thinking of different ways to engage with our members maybe I've been doing some like sneak preview lessons and I'm constantly trying to think of different ways to do that so if you guys like that you can check that out thank you guys just for joining me I hope you enjoyed the lesson I will link down below in the description that link to that website if you'd like to read through some more puns and it's good practice to see if you can identify them and why they're funny also remember I showed you that book that I was talking about this one which whoops sorry over here the Phantom Tollbooth it's it could be a little challenging but if you want if you're looking for something to read it's a very I don't wanna say it's not really a children's book but maybe more for teenagers but there's a lot of wordplay in this book so it would be very challenging if you're looking for something to read alright so thank you guys give some shoutouts Thank You katroo desk Orlando Luna Aiden good to see you Lali Martha thank you guys for joining me today Juwanna I hope you have I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and I hope you join me next weekend for another live lesson thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 473. Phrasal Verb Quiz | Advanced Grammar & Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JAOVGTNkUkc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAOVGTNkUkc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:35:43 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson my name is wes and this is interactive english and if this is your first time here with us we are all about helping you guys practice and improve your english skills and the way that we will do that today is is very fun it's very useful because i have an interactive quiz that i'm going to give you and i want all of you to participate in this quiz and take this quiz with me and this quiz is all about phrasal verbs i am going to give you a phrasal verb quiz which is perfect because so many people out there so many learners in our community want to learn more about phrasal verbs they want to practice using phrasal verbs because this is this can be pretty tricky when it comes to learning english and they're very challenging for two reasons all right so why are they difficult to learn the first reason is that you could take the phrasal verb is made up of a verb and a preposition all right and you could take one verb and change that preposition so let's take the verb take and you could put many different prepositions at the end of that take on take out take over take through take back and each of those phrasal verbs will have a different meaning but not only that the next part as to why it's so difficult is that one phrasal verb can have multiple meanings that are used in very different contexts so this is what makes phrasal verbs really challenging and that's why it's a great way it's just great to practice because i think personally probably some of the best ways to learn phrasal verbs is first is just to read all right many of you it's it's okay if you want to learn a phrasal verb and you look up the meaning it's so that's perfectly okay but you may forget it later on so it's just it's good to keep reading because the more exposure you get to the language the more likely you're going to remember the next great way is what we're going to do today which is just to practice practice practice and practice our skills and hopefully it'll just start to sink in the more you practice all right what's up gibson all right there you go so uh let's let's just jump into it right now and let's take the quiz okay so for the first part i i've started from easy to difficult all right i am going to give you the question and i will give you some multiple choices but i also give you the meaning of the phrasal verb so here is your first question some learners think it's difficult to pick um english all right what preposition completes that sentence all right so the phrasal verb is to pick um all right and i give you the meaning too it just means it means to learn okay so which which how would you complete that sentence write your answer in the chat even if you're watching this later i want you guys to participate in the lesson you have that comment section treat it like a piece of paper and write your answer in the comments so that i know you are participating you you are trying to improve your skills okay so awesome all right i see some amazing answers yes muhammad uh sorry if i mispronounced names who saw naimo suresh uh lolly perfect junior great job the answer is a up to pick up means to learn so here are some example sentences and each one has a different meaning for pickup i am not going to go through all of them i'm just going to go through some of them so again you can see how it's used in context with each different meaning the phrasal verb pick up i will tell you it has it has like over a dozen different meanings so these are just a few of them so like some learners think it's difficult to pick up english you you might think it's difficult to learn english you could also talking ab you can also use this in the context of picking up a musical instrument or maybe picking up some activity and you're trying to learn it another common way it's used right there my mom told me to pick up my room so in this case you're talking about cleaning and organizing your room to pick up the the you could pick up your bedroom you can pick up the living room you're talking about around the home you're just picking things up you're tidying up or somebody might say could you please pick me up around eight o'clock in that context they're talking about pick someone up to go get someone and maybe you're going to get them at home maybe they're out somewhere else and often you're talking about picking them up in a car so it's like hey pick me up around this time you're going in a car to get somebody you're picking them up and another meaning down there who's going to pick up the bill i think again once once you see these sentences you can try to put them in context and i hope it helps and it makes it a little easier to pick up a bill means to just pay to pay for the bill to pick up the bill so again i'm not going to go through all the meanings but just just a few of them so again you guys can see how they're used in context and i understand yeah this is what makes phrasal verbs so challenging all right your next question is right here all right so i'd say i'm tired i'm gonna go turn what what would it be how would i complete that sentence i'm tired i'm going to go turn and the meaning of that phrasal verb to turn um it's just to go to bed now okay well i'll i'll tell you in just a second i don't want to give it up just yet so again if you're just joining us for this we are taking a phrasal verb quiz in which i am asking you questions and i want you guys to write the answer write the answer in the chat or write the answers in the comments don't be shy don't worry if you're making a mistake just it's all about practice practice practice practice all right so what does it mean if you're going to go to bed take on take in take down take back all right so this one it is i think wow okay a little more confusing uh i see uh nilafar excellent all right great job we have oh so arty well done annan the answer is b in i'm going i'm tired i'm going to turn in so if you're going to turn in it means you're going to bed this one is it was a little more difficult because i i don't think that it you know it's not like people say that all the time so this was a little more challenging i'm going to try and keep making it a little challenging for you but you could hear this if you're watching a tv show or a movie and just say you know i'm going to turn in i'm going to go to bed i'm tired i'm going to turn in another way that it's used i thought this was too easy which is why i didn't want to give it to you to turn in to submit something all right you were doing something and it's often used in like a school context all right i want you to turn in your homework and this is what i want you guys to do your homework right now i want you to turn it in and i want you your homework is to hit that like button alright hit that like button right down there if you enjoy learning phrasal verbs if you enjoy taking these quizzes then then that way i know okay i need to make more quizzes about phrasal verbs because everybody has turned in their homework and they have hit that like button all right the next context would be to turn in like i gave it like okay turn in turn your toes in all right you're taking your whoops let me line up there we go you're turning in all right physically you're turning your toes in all right you're putting something making forcing it inward and then the last context i tried to i tried to find a picture of a police officer i think he looks a little like a pilot but don't get confused that is a police officer little emoji person down there he turned himself into the police so in that context when you turn yourself in you are basically admitting to some wrongdoing some kind of crime so you turn yourself into the police or again that's the most common way it's used you could say oh you know something happened at school i'm going to turn myself in i'm going to admit that i did something wrong all right um oh shadra you did the homework excellent you hit that like button that's what i like to see perfect okay all right so let's continue the quiz now i'm gonna make it a little more difficult because now i still want you to complete the phrasal verb with the preposition but this time i'm not going to give you the meaning i just want you to try and put the meaning in context based on the sentence okay so here is your next question all right and yes i can't help it uh my wife and i we just had a little baby so i like i just like throwing these examples out there i think little emmy amelia is going to take um her mother so that is the phrasal verb take um all right i'm not i'm not giving you the meaning what is it is it take over take back take after take from all right so think about this this situation if if you haven't and again even if you're unsure just take a guess all right i would always encourage you guys just to practice practice practice take a guess don't worry if if if you're getting if it's not right all right it's not about that it's all about practicing so all right yes excellent um perfect uh junior lolly mohammed uh serious lotta yes the answer is c after all right i think this one maybe maybe is a little easier i think little emmy is going to take after her mother the reason why i said maybe this is a little easier because it really just has one meaning and this this is my question for you and i want you to practice using it in the comments who do you think you take after more your mother or father who do you take after your mother or father let me know in the chat write me a sentence practice using the phrasal verb or let me know in the comments so i know yes this person is participating in the lesson so again this this phrasal verb has just one meaning which is great you can breathe a sigh of relief so that you don't have to try to remember different meanings if you take after somebody it just means that you are are like them your personality is is similar to this person and oftentimes we use it when talking about children or and their parents or or people within the family and you could say oh you know i i like to stay up late all right maybe little emmy's going to take after me and she will also stay up late we have the same characteristics similar similarities all right um what else oh lolly said uh i take after my old father all right perfect great example either naturally okay it's okay sometimes you people don't take after their mother or father all right um excellent gibson both perfect so again to take after somebody it means you have those similar characteristics next question all right is right here he's having trouble getting um the breakup okay he's having trouble getting um the breakup again if you're just joining us we are doing a phrasal verb quiz i'm asking you a bunch a bunch of different questions i just want you guys to to participate and and answer these questions in the chat or in the comments okay so this one um there's actually another phrasal verb we can use i didn't give it to you as an option uh what do you think is the correct answer he's having trouble getting by the breakup he's having trouble getting down the breakup he's having trouble getting over the breakup or he's having trouble getting up the breakup what do you guys think all right you guys are rocking this right now perfect uh hi musa how's it going uh junior yes uh hello amid uh uh dominica perfect rahul uh marzina excellent perfect all right uh the answer is c over he's getting he he's having trouble getting over the breakup and this one again this is one that has multiple meanings get over so in this context you have trouble getting over uh the breakup you're having trouble overcoming something and it's talking usually about overcoming something emotionally the other phrasal verb that i said would also make sense if you somebody said he's having trouble getting through the breakup in that case to get through means like to survive something to endure now we can also use it right here we need to get over there so in in some context maybe you need to cross a river and you're like okay i need to go from here and i need to go over there and we need to get over there to that point or uh and she needs to get over these hurdles before moving on again you're talking about you're you're getting by some challenge you need to overcome these hurdles before moving on this is something that i would say about my baby girl i can't get over how much she's changed she's four months old i can't get over how much she's changed i'm surprised in that context or he decided to go ahead and get it over with i've added one more preposition to this one and now it is a three-word phrasal verb to get over with all right to get something over with means you just want to finish it you are not excited about this thing you just want to get it over with for example some of you out there you might plan to take the ielts exam now or in the future it's not something that you're really like yeah let's do it i'm excited to take the aisles most of you probably feel like i just want to get it over with i want to take it i want it to be done i want to get it over with so those are some other great examples about how you can use this phrasal verb so next question are you ready all right let me see if she's available please hold um all right which phrasal verb if somebody you know they're having i'm giving you i'm giving you the situation with the picture so you can see what's happening in the picture let me see if she's available please hold um which which phrasal verb is going to uh which which preposition is going to complete that phrasal verb so that it makes sense what do you guys think all right yes perfect uh excellent answers uh lolly junior rohan uh stephanie uh d dino apple what's up how deep seth perfect so again i think this was maybe a little easier please hold on the correct answer is d on let me see if she's available please hold on in that context this just means please hold on please wait a moment and i think we often use this phrasal verb when on the phone you're talking about you're on the phone with somebody you said okay wait please wait a moment just say hey hold on for just one second somebody's knocking at the door please hold on or we can say you know in this case hold on to my hand you're actually holding on to somebody's hand you are holding on here's a an expression that you might hear from time to time if somebody's telling a story and it's a very scary story and they're like oh my gosh they were holding on for dear life you you were able to survive something that was very scary and you're just like oh i was holding on for dear life i was very scared that something bad was going to happen i was holding on for dear life or in the context of sports i'd say the team held on to a close victory the team survived they held on they still won so if you're saying like if somebody just says well the team held on then you know that that team won but they did not win by a lot so these last two kind of have a little bit of a similar meaning in that you are able to survive and succeed but one is talking and more about fear and the other one is talking about sports to hold on all right your next question is this right here our teacher wanted us to read um a stack of books all right and i found that picture it was perfect it's a picture of a stack of books so i'd say the teacher wanted uh wanted us to read a stack of books what is what do you think is the correct answer write it in the chat all right you guys you guys are rocking this uh is it read through read along read up read about what do you think if you're just joining us again we're taking a phrasal verb quiz to help you guys again just practice practice practice using phrasal verbs this is how you improve your skills all right um perfect okay yes excellent uh rohan bassam uh lata sirius anil yes the correct answer is through a through our teacher wanted us to read through a stack of books so if you're reading through something then you are reading it from the beginning to the end and this is a question that i have for you all right how many english books do you read through each year each year how many do you read through from the beginning to the end practice using this write your answer tell me tell me in the chat how many how many english books do you read through each year or let me know in the comments again this is one all right just one just one meaning okay which is good so you don't have to memorize or try to to think about oh okay it has many different contexts that i have to figure out this phrasal verb to read through it's just to read something from the beginning all the way till the end our teacher wanted us to read through a stack of books all right excellent uh deep chef 20. appreciate honesty i appreciate your candor and that just means i appreciate your honesty um what else uh lolly uh one book okay is he had three um someone kim a half of a book all right hey that's okay i know again it's it's time consuming to read books i would i would say all right it's it's good to read a little bit each day even if you're reading like an online article but other ways that you can use this instead of just talking about reading through books people might talk about it in business reading through uh documents or even more important make sure you read through contracts before you ever sign a contract you should always read through the contract from the beginning till the end that is another great way to use this phrasal verb when talking about contracts read through okay so now we're going to switch it up a little bit more i have some more questions for you this time i it's you don't have to identify the preposition i want you to identify the entire phrasal verb okay so i'm not going to tell you what it means i'll give you the sentence try to put it in context and see if you can identify the phrasal verb so this is there's no picture on this one it's just me as though i were talking to you so i'd say if you miss one of our lessons then you have to um the work which phrasal verb com would best complete that sentence all right it really is just uh i guess really i think just one really makes sense what would you use all right if you miss one of our lessons then you have to um the work and maybe if i were to really kind of get into character and say this i'd kind of tell you in a little bit of a scolding way oh this is this is what you you have to do you have to um the work all right do you have to pay back the work do you have to turn in the work do you have to do over the work or do you have to make up the work what do you guys think all right this one uh maybe okay a little more challenging yes now carla excellent lotta sanguan anil perfect all right the correct answer is d make up if you miss one of our lessons then you have to make up the work so the key is like you're missing something so you have to make it up and if you're making something up then that means well you still have to do it and often it's used in talking about well you have to make up the work you still have to do the work you could also maybe talk about making up time all right you you missed out on the time you have to make up the time and actually still do this thing we can also use makeup because it does have different meanings he's great at making up excuses okay and if somebody is making up excuses then they are just creating excuses you're like it's like you're making up a story you're creating a story so in that context it's like to create something often using you got to use your imagination if you want to make up stories or make up good excuses or i could say in this context women make up half of the workforce i'm talking about something as a percentage of something else or it's a part of something else so women make up half of the workforce they make up 50 of the workforce or i could say something you know makes up 10 or it makes up 50 of something else and that last one um why don't you just kiss and make up if somebody were to say this then it just means to to make things right again two people are are fighting and somebody says just just kiss and make up all right you want to make up with that person so that you're no longer fighting you're friends again that's the that's the context uh in which in which you use this make up all right so let's look at the next one all right i don't want to do it now i'll just um until later all right this is a separable phrasal verb notice i put the direct object between the verb and the preposition okay so again try to put it in context it is going to go between which phrasal verb is it put it off work it off break it off or turn it off which phrasal verb best completes that that sentence what do you think write your answer in the chat or write it in the comments because i just want to hear from you guys okay so uh yes excellent all right you guys doing great with this one yes rohan lali lata mohammed perfect you would put it off i don't want to do it now that is that's your key right there i'll just put it off until later in that case if you put something off until later you are delaying it you are doing it later i think all of us have been there we have something that we have to do but we put it off until later we don't want to do it now we put it off we can also use it in these other contexts right here if somebody says i'm really put off by their behavior if somebody is put off by somebody's behavior or they're put off by something it just means that they dislike it they they don't like it they don't um they just feel like okay this thing i don't care for it i think it's a little you know disgusting revolting i'm put off by it and i i think we could you'd often maybe find it in the context of talking about somebody's behavior the way somebody's acting i'm put off by their behavior or in this case we can put put the meeting off until next week all right you put something off you you are delaying it until later actually now i think yes maybe maybe i made a slight mistake there but it's okay give you another example again that meaning is the same you are delaying it you are doing it later you put something off so again uh the first one i don't want to do it now i'll put it off to later same as the second one the meaning is the same to delay something we put the meeting off until next week and often i think this phrasal verb right here when it's used like that is separable you you are putting whatever it is the it or the work you're talking about or the thing you're going to delay will go between the verb and the preposition okay so now this is going to make it a little more challenging i hope i think i am not going to give you any options i'm going to give you a sentence and i want you to complete it with a phrasal verb i want you to think about which phrasal verb would best complete the sentence are you ready so i i and i tried to make it i think maybe this is a little easy because again i'm not giving you options so i didn't want to make it too difficult um every day my alarm clock um at 9 00 am every day my alarm clock um at 9 00 am which phrasal verb do you think best completes this sentence all right i and again i i have an answer for you um there may be more than you know one answer maybe you think of something that i haven't thought of just yet i'll let you know all right every day my alarm clock um at 9 00 a.m all right junior perfect all right some of you okay lynn perfect all right some of you are just putting the phrasal verb other of you like those names i mentioned are actually using the correct subject verb agreement every day my alarm clock goes off at 9 00 am right there remember my alarm clock goes off at 9 00 am but yes the correct phrasal verb for for the uh for the rest of you many of you got this correct to go off when you're talking about an alarm the alarm would go off it would sound you can also use this phrasal verb in these other contexts right here they started running as soon as the gun went off all right the gun was fired so in that case something goes off like uh a bomb would go off the the gun would go off it's fired it's exploding all right and or you could say again somebody like a parent might say to their child all right stay with us don't go off on your own if somebody goes off it could just mean they wander off to a different location to a different place and again maybe a parent would say this to their child don't go off on your own i want you to stay with us or in this final example the electricity went out in the past tense during the thunderstorm in that case the the electricity when that goes out it means it's just it turns off all right there is no more power the electricity went out all right next one are you ready so this one they were um in the ocean at sunset all right i give you the picture i feel a little awkward in this picture right now because i feel like i'm next to them and it's like okay you know i feel a little uncomfortable that i'm here i'm staring over your shoulder uh they're having this private moment but i'm also here so what would what could you say all right you know they're they're romantic um they were in the ocean at sunset what phrasal verb would best complete that sentence maybe this is a little more difficult okay which what do you think all right um all right some of you some of you are kind of close close all right uh yes junior anil perfect uh serious so in the picture you see that they're they're just kissing and if we want to say somebody is kissing then we just say they are making out make out is to kiss passionately and often i'd say it's a way to describe other people you're not really unless you're like younger maybe in high school or you're a kid you would ask somebody like your your boyfriend or girlfriend say oh let's make out but usually it's used to describe other people say oh i was walking through the park and everybody was making out all right so it's just talking about kissing passionately the phrasal verb has other meanings too all right we're having a tough time making out what she's saying all right we're having a tough time understanding what she's saying we can't we can't make it out we don't know what's happening all right we can't understand we can't make it out or if i say again who should i make the check out to if you're making a check out to somebody then you are writing somebody a check you are making it out and you are signing away on this check and you are making it out to someone all right so if somebody says who should i make it out to they're asking for a name what name should they write down or this last expression if somebody says ah they made out like a bandit then that just means that they if somebody made out like a bandit the end result all right the they succeeded and they got a lot of money because a bandit is somebody who would steal money and it's like oh they made out like a bandit they succeeded and they got a lot of money or they succeeded and in some way that they earned money and maybe it might not be a very ethical way it's like oh they made out like a bandit they really maybe or it could be ethical it should be fine maybe you buy a house 10 years later you sell the house for a lot more money and you can say yeah i made out like a bandit i made a lot of money all right so if you guys if you understood most of these phrasal verbs i want you to let me know so in the comments i just want you to write i am picking up english quickly that way i know that you understood the lesson you understood the phrasal verbs and that you are picking up english quickly and improving your english skills because that's what i want from you that's what i want for you guys i want you to improve i want you to pick up the language quickly and i hope that our videos our lessons are helping you guys do that so write that in the comments uh when this video is posted or if you're watching this later i'm picking up english quickly so that i know yes this person is learning all right so i hope you guys learned some new phrasal verbs i hope you enjoyed taking this quiz because i would like to do more quiz lessons later on in the future and please if you have not done your homework already hit that like button alright do your homework hit that like button down below write to us in the comments i'm picking up up english quickly and you can also find us on social media if you want to keep practicing your english there with us on facebook twitter instagram all right so excellent thank you guys so much for joining me sandra um bushra excellent you're picking up quickly rosalinda excellent krishna thank you i really appreciate it uh be happy now uh gabby serious near new lafar thank you guys so much for for joining me um sorry if i missed your names try and get as many shout outs as i can join me next time we will be back for another live lesson and i hope to see you guys then thanks a lot for watching and i will see you i will see you soon all right so long --- ## 474. Phrasal Verbs Q&A with Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `a_OZMnh45X4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_OZMnh45X4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:26:15 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson which is a live q a all about phrasal verbs so this this is an opportunity that i just like to take in order to talk more directly with all of you answer some of your questions and the focus of this lesson is phrasal verbs so please as you are writing your questions if you have things you want to ask let's try to keep it about phrasal verbs because i like to focus these conversations in on one topic in particular and the reason why i chose phrasal verbs is because recently i've had quite a few questions um from people in the comments um asking me about different phrasal verbs uh and it just it's something where that's very challenging when it comes to learning english and there are there are different reasons for that the first one is because phrasal verbs many of them uh they can have different meanings so quite often a phrasal verb will have multiple meanings sometimes uh they can have not just more than two but three or four or five meanings i recently a while back i did a phrasal verb about um pick up and i talk about 20 different meanings for this one phrasal verb and if you haven't seen it i'm going to throw it uh right here in the chat and talk about uh this so this is a a lesson i did a while back um about the phrasal verb pick up and the 20 different meanings it has so that is one reason why phrasal verbs can be really confusing and the other one i think is because sometimes they can be separable or inseparable for example if a phrasal verb is intransitive which means that it does not take a direct object like i i get up which is similar to like when you you get out of bed i get up at six o'clock then that it does that sentence there is no direct obj direct object so you can't separate the verb in the preposition other times if the phrasal verb is transitive in which there is a direct object in the sentence then that can be either separable or inseparable so i know they can be very confusing uh so i want to just give a quick hello to some of you who are with me today uh hello aiden uh good to see you david uh what's up carmen uh black wolf jessica uh sabor jonathan um vicky hello gustav so thank you guys for joining me if you have questions just throw some of them in the chat i will try to highlight them i've also put together a vocabulary document so as we discuss individual phrasal verbs then i'm going to add that to our list and what i will do is i will take this list and once the lesson gets posted i will put all of these phrasal verbs down in the description below in case you want to review um about the meaning of these phrasal verbs uh so hello again who rod hello how's it going good to see you um so if you guys have any questions like if there is a phrasal verb that you find confusing or maybe a sentence that you know of uh throw that in there and i will put that on the put the add that to our list and then talk uh about the meaning but again they can be the these are very tricky um phrases so uh well the first question i think uh vicky gustav brought up a good question about well what what does a phrasal verb mean all right so the difference a phrasal verb is when you have it's a verb the part of speech is a verb that is made up of both a verb and a preposition but when you have those together this verb and the preposition the meaning changes that is different from the original verb okay so for example let me think of the phrasal verb um uh like let's say the phrasal verb uh i'm trying to think of a good example uh okay look after all right look after as a phrasal verb the verb look the meaning is again you're you're looking at something and looking at it with your eyes now look after is a phrasal verb and the meaning changes because look after means you're you're taking care of something or someone and that's what i mean by that when you have this verb and preposition together the meaning is going to change the the meaning is different than just the verb alone um so let's see listen uh luciano uh um get through versus go through okay excellent so if you have some of these other questions um about differences then we can write those down so to get through something what i think most commonly would be used is you're trying to you have some work that you have to do and you're trying to complete it you're trying to just complete this challenge this obstacle and you like for example you're taking a class and like ah i really hate this math class i'm just trying to get through it now to go through means it makes me think that you are looking for something that you are searching through some materials and you are going through it maybe you're going through a book looking for specific information um and in that case you're you might be going through it in order to find information perhaps to correct it and and that would be the difference between those two so uh i'm going to add that to our list and i'll fine tune these a little so to get through um i'm just gonna say is to like endure a challenge or hardship um to go through um would be like to view something um or even revise it all right so let's go back and let's see if i have uh some more questions uh let's see um we have so david tracy what's the difference between uh finish off and finish up okay those are some good ones so if they say that you are going to finish well let's see i'm gonna i need to finish off i i want to say most of the time you'd sp you use it like you're finishing something up to finish something up means to complete it that you are trying to to end this thing like i'm i i have to finish up my work before i do something else to finish off something it makes me think of a very informal phrase of like you're trying to kind of uh you know kill this thing put a stop to it and you're just trying to finish it off um but i don't think that's as commonly used but i i think a good phrasal verb would be like finish up in that case um finish up you finish something up is to uh to complete something all right um and usually you would use it in the context you're completing it and then you'll do something else i'm just trying to finish up and then i can do the next thing um to finish off i would say is to to stop maybe eliminate or i don't know destroy something and you're just trying to finish it off um because i think you could use it in the context actually of maybe you're you're drinking something um for example i have maybe this water bottle and i'm drinking some somebody wants to have some more and i can say no no no you you finish it off finish it off means you complete the rest of it all right so in that case i think when you're talking about somebody using up the rest of it then you could finish something off but to finish up i think is more off common when you're talking about work something something that you're doing in activity because i would not sell tell somebody this bottle like oh finish it up um i would say yeah people would say you know oh you can finish it off you can complete it uh let's see what else do we have trying to think uh sorry if it's going quickly um low up uh end end up could you explain for the preposition four instead of two in the sentence i'm heading back uh for new york is it correct uh yeah is it michelle leonardo uh gave the sentence i'm heading back for new york uh in this case i think heading back for something it means that you're back two would be you're returning i'm going back to new york um and back for something it makes me think you're going you're returning but in order to do something so um i'm heading back for the house uh in in i think a lot of times they would be interchangeable like if i said you have to go back to your home like oh i'm heading back to the house or i'm heading back for the house i think most people would use back two you're going somewhere you're heading back to this place if you say um back four i'm heading back for uh i'm trying to think if you want to talk about maybe you are um i'm heading back for a sh like something you're going to do like maybe you're going to go take a rest and that's the reason why you're going back like oh i'm heading back for for a quick rest i'm gonna head back for a short rest and then i will continue on with my day so back to again you're heading to this direction back four makes me think there is a purpose there is a reason for going this place so if i say i'm oh i'm heading back for new york um i think mostly i think it sounds a little awkward i would say back to new york um unless you would give a reason like oh i'm heading uh back well you'd still say i'm heading back to new york for something for a meeting or for some purpose uh aidan's ass like uh brush up so that's another good one uh i'm gonna throw it sorry maybe i forgot to add that last one so to brush up um brush up means to um i'd say almost to like review and familiarize yourself um with something you have already studied that for example like uh a language i think it's common you could use that when talking about uh learning a language sorry there's brush up and if you you you're learning english right now maybe you take a break and you stop for maybe six months and then you want to start again you might say well i really i need to brush up on my english i need to go back and review some and and get comfortable using it again so in that case i think of something that you've learned something you've studied or perhaps even an activity that you have done in the past and then you want to brush up on it you mean it means you want to do it again and do a little more practice so that you feel more comfortable with it yet again to brush up on something that is a good one excellent um let's see orlando asks what does it mean to hurry up okay uh i don't know if you're asking that or with my explanations i know my explanations are a bit slow uh but if you tell somebody again to hurry up um it just means to go you know to go faster you're telling somebody hey hurry up and and usually you're saying this and that they there is a lack of time that if you have a time commitment and you need to go somewhere you need to be somewhere you might tell somebody hey hurry up um and in this case it's one of those situations uh in which you could say we need to hurry or we need to hurry up the meaning is really the same you could use either one but i think of hurry up used in the context of time you're late for something oh we need to hurry up um let's see um what else do we have uh yes lol gave it an example i have to brush up on my phrasal verbs this is a good lesson if you want to brush up on your phrasal verbs and kind of review and get some more practice uh let's see open a little water and perp ask about open up so again this brings me um i just had a thought about uh maybe a future lesson so open up is a similar situation um in which you're just talking about to open sometimes you could just use that um interchangeably with that verb like uh you could go to a store and ask the person hey what tomorrow what time will you open up it means the same thing is what time will you open so to open up again it means to to just open for business and i think that's a very common situation in which you would use that to open up if you're talking about a store now you could again i told you phrasal verbs have multiple meanings so let me add the other meaning if you're talking about opening up um like a person so open up could be like a store to open or if you're talking about a person means to i would say to express your feelings or emotions so for example you may use it in the context like for some people you could say it's difficult for them to open up it's difficult for them to it's like they're opening themselves up and expressing their feelings their thoughts their emotions to open up so that is another good that's a good example of a phrasal verb with multiple meanings uh let's see what else do we have sorry it's moving uh quickly um where is it uh claudia asks what's the lean back so to lean back i'm trying to think if there's another multiple meaning so let's see i'll write that down uh lean back is just to recline and i think that um somebody might lean back in their chair and in that case you're just they're talking about you're describing what they're doing that they are reclining back in this chair or um maybe you want to people might lean back to get more comfortable but often i think it would be used when people are sitting down inside some type of chair and you say oh you can you can lean back think about an airplane um all of those seats they recline so you could say some people want to they want to lean their seat back they want to take the seat and recline it back and uh sometimes because i'm very tall that that kind of that can bother me sometimes if uh if the person in front of me leans their chair all the way back and then it just hits my knees um so yes that is a good example i think when you think about airplanes and flying in those chairs they lean back uh let's see where else uh ooh mustafa asked about um bail out so to bail someone out means uh i'll write that down right here in this case bail out you're talking about uh bail out i think you could kind of talk about it to save or rescue um rescue someone for example if you somebody has a problem and somebody helped them solve that problem you could say that they they bailed me out that they really they came to my rescue and they helped me they they bailed me out or if you're talking about uh in a more specific context if somebody goes to jail you could bail someone out of jail and in that case means to uh to get someone released released from jail so to bail someone out it could be either one depending on the context if they go to jail then you could say that you bailed them out of jail in a way you did come to their rescue and you saved them or you could also say in just talking about a problem like oh i i had this um i needed to go travel somewhere but my car my car was broken it was in the shop my friend they let me borrow their car they really bailed me out that they were able to help out and rescue oh excellent thank you hello lolly perfect uh new member thank you for joining uh and becoming a member uh that's something i'll typically i mention at the end if any of you guys want to get a membership support what we do uh there are some different cool rewards that we offer you can do that on youtube or patreon but i will i will let you know about that a little later on so let me see if i can find um some more phrasal verbs okay um i'm going to try to get with different people a mint me says to pass out or pass away that that is uh that's a good distinction so if you say that somebody passes out it means that they kind of they they like they faint and the faint to faint is when maybe it's really hot and you're and you pass right out and you kind of go unconscious or maybe i think it's often used if somebody's drinking they're drinking a lot of alcohol then maybe they will pass out later they fall asleep really easily and they just pass right out to pass away is more it's used to talk about somebody who who has died um that if somebody dies and i think it's a little more of i don't want to say not like necessarily a polite way but more of maybe a gentler way of saying it because the word die can sound pretty um pretty intense a little bit uh depending so i think oftentimes we'd say like oh you know my grandmother she passed away a few years ago to pass away in that case would mean that somebody dies so pass out um i'm just going to add that to our list to pass out would mean like to go unconscious um or suddenly maybe sleep like if somebody's drinking way too much and they pass out to pass away just means if somebody were to die let's see we have let's see um joe already asked about the stress of the phrasal verb uh i want to say a lot of these verbs it really depends um many verbs are just one syllable so i still think if you're i don't think between if you're talking about stressing the verb or the preposition the stress i think the emphasis would really go on the verb because that is the main part of sentence like to pass out um but i feel like even when i say it in a normal sentence like oh somebody passed away last year uh maybe there is a little more of an emphasis on that that main verb over the preposition again it really depends on the situation when it comes to intonation and emphasis of what you're trying to say who you're talking to um and how like how much you know how much how much feeling or emotion that you want to put into it uh but i feel like that if you're gonna choosing one prepositions in general those are function words they're not really gonna you're they're not really going to receive any type of stress or emphasis in general let's see what do we got um ooh uh claudia double down um that's a good one i want to talk about that because i feel like that's something that maybe you might hear um lately if somebody doubles down so you would double down on something and if you say to double down [Music] sometimes i think it might even be hyphenated to double down and in that case i don't know if it really be a phrasal verb uh maybe it's not it would just be a uh so to double down means to to reiterate and i would say to reiterate means to to say again um your same position um and basically refuse to change your um opinion let me give you an example so for if somebody takes a position about something i'll i'll just do something that's more um maybe uh innocuous and less harmful like oh school uniforms maybe some people think school uniforms are really bad and other people think that oh there's a there's a lot of value to school uniforms and i come out and i say school uniforms are terrible and then all of this information comes out saying why they're good and instead of me changing my opinion i double down and i say something no no no they're terrible and you're not changing your opinion you're restating your same position and usually you're doing this after there has been criticism or people are trying to show you like hey look in this case you're wrong in this situation you're wrong you should change your point of view you should change your stance and somebody refuses to change and they double down and they say the same thing again um let's see somebody sajad asks i'm just gonna choose one of those uh to fight off uh that's a good phrasal verb so to fight something off it makes me think of well the covid19 uh is obviously everybody's familiar with the virus that's going around so i think of to fight off means to to try and resist um something but often like a cold or maybe a virus so if you are sick and maybe you have a cold uh and you're you're just you're trying to fight it off you're taking medicine you're drinking a lot of water you're trying to get as much sleep as you can and somebody asks you they say oh how are you feeling you could then tell them look i have this really bad cold and i've i've been trying to fight it off i've been fighting it off for a few days now so to fight off means you're just trying to resist and kind of fight back this cold but it's often used in that context so let's see um lolly asks what's the difference between finish up and end up is it the same meaning no i i would say like again when we talked about um let's see am i on the vocabulary page yes so to finish up um is when you're i think you're talking about work and or you need to get something done and it's almost done and you say that you're trying to finish up or perhaps you tell somebody like look uh i can't do this thing i still have some work that i have to finish up and in that case you need to complete it when you end up somewhere i often think of um like a destination that you are traveling you are physically going somewhere and you talk about like um we decided to go for a walk and then we ended up um we ended up downtown and that is that is the point where we found themselves so to end up i think often i'll add it with somewhere because you're talking maybe about a place then you end up somewhere that that is the the destination that you um reach um destination i'll say where you find yourself because the reason why i say that uh the destination where you find yourself because i think people would use end up in the context of that maybe that wasn't the plan that you went somewhere but you you ended up somewhere else there and that was where the destination you were so that's why i said the where you find yourself because maybe you you have these plans and you talk about things where you go but you end up somewhere else so let me give you another example um maybe you go out for you go out to visit a friend and you're like oh i went out and i had dinner with my friend and the next thing the next thing you know we end up at this dance club and we are dancing all night so in that case that is where you ended up that is the location where you found yourself you ended up at a dance club so to end up again i think about uh some kind of location a place where as to finish up you're more of an activity or work uh let's see um henry says uh to pitch in all right to pitch in that's a good phrasal verb if you talk about somebody pitch in it means to help out or offer some assistance so in this case i think of somebody like i think of maybe a family and a family that has kids and perhaps they want their children to help out around the home they want them to maybe clean their room they want them to help wash dishes and you'd ask them to pitch in and say look we we i want your help we all i i need you to pitch in the other thing i'd say you're you're offering help and assistance um within when working uh as a group i often think it's really if it's just two people talking you might i think of a situation in which a group of people are working to do something maybe it's a team and everybody needs to pitch in they need to do something to help out to support they need to pitch in uh let's see what else do we have all right a couple more a few i'll i'll do several more but let me see um try anthonyis uh louise sorry if i mispronounced names to call out so oh i just realized there is a mistake there so let me see can you guys see this um okay let me move this down to call out um has a couple meanings to call out would be to i don't know to yell to yell to someone and you call out their name so um i think what you're probably uh thinking of is not just like oh you're calling out to maybe your animal uh your your dog is outside and it's away and you call out to your dog because you want your dog to come back i think there are other situations in which you might call someone out so in that case you could um call someone out uh on something and in that case if you call someone out on something you are pointing um to some mistake um they made or some maybe uh hypocrisy whoops let's see okay so if you call someone out on something it means like yeah that they they did something that was wrong and you point that out and you say oh i'm gonna call you out on this because what you're maybe this person does not do the things that they say others should do and so i'm going to call you out on that because you don't do these things why are you telling me that i should do this and you call someone out on it could be maybe that somebody tells a lie and you call them out on their lie so it basically means you are bringing you if you call someone out on their lie i'd say you are you're pointing out that mistake but you're bringing attention to it that you are acknowledging that okay look you know you shouldn't be saying that this is wrong to call someone out on something uh it's a good it's a good phrase let's see what else do we have um uh abdullah says to buckle down that is um that's a good one too all right so if you're talking about uh buckling down oh wait a second let's get to the next page so to buckle down just means to get serious about doing your work all right so maybe you have something that you need to do um i i think of parents maybe would use it to talk about children in school and that they want to tell their children that they need to be serious about their studies and my parents would say this to me all the time they'd say son you need to buckle down you need to get serious about your work you need to buckle down so when you tell somebody to buckle down i think of your you're telling them to get serious with their their work um so that they do a better job and you're just it's more so like kind of advice or maybe in my parents case perhaps a command saying look you need to buckle down you need to get serious uh stop goofing off so let's see what else do we have um mahmud says to doze off that is a another good one so to doze off means to kind of like you're you're falling asleep a little bit but i think it's like you're taking a uh like a very short nap or it could be to the point where you're getting ready to take a nap and maybe sometimes as a teacher i would see students in class they would do this uh i don't want to say they do it all the time but sometimes that you'd see them they're very tired they're like oh and and they start to doze off they're they're dozing off um yes you could hear emmy she walked through the room uh i was gonna stop her and never come by but uh they just went on into the next row uh but yes that is her uh let me write this down uh and add that to the list to doze off um oh wait you wanna you wanna say a quick hello so yes here's she's growing so quickly um [Laughter] she's growing so fast what what are you doing she's been walking a lot more so now all she wants to do is just get down and run around and run run run run um so where were we at i was getting ready to add doze off to the list uh so doze off it's like to to nap or the point at which someone starts to nap and they are dozing off but that is a good phrasal verb good phrasal verb to know to doze off and the reason again these are this is very useful because we we use phrasal verbs all the time and i understand as a learner trying to learn this vocabulary it can be challenging um mostly like i said because for many of them there might be multiple meanings it depends on the situation but i think that the more you read the more you listen you'll just start to understand these naturally so even doing this lesson you guys just us talking about these phrasal verbs and reviewing them it's going to help you in the long run the next time you're having a conversation and you want to use some of these phrasal verbs so well thank you for everybody's like emmy hello emmy she's so cute thank you guys um so let's see what else do we have ah rosalinda asked to run around um so if somebody is running around it could be used in a couple of different uh situations so to run around means to i'd say to run in well to run around um to run it could mean like it says to to run around something but i think if most commonly like oh we need to we need to run around uh and do some errands i'd say to go around to different places all right so i used that example like you might tell somebody um oh you know today uh i'm just gonna run around and do some errands which means you're traveling to these different places you could say that you're going to run around like a track or a field in which case you're talking about actually running but more informally if somebody's talking about plans things they have to do maybe they could say i've been running around all day and i'm very tired and i feel like i'm going to pass out to review that other phrasal verb and in that case if somebody's been running around all day then they've been going to these different places and doing a lot of things in which case you know that they are are very busy uh let's see aiden has to to come up with uh so to come up with means to um create or um create a new idea or plan or let's say create a new create a new idea or plan so this is a three word phrasal verb and you i think of it as uh when people are brainstorming and you have a group of people and you need to come up with different ideas you need to think of different ideas you need to create different ideas um so i'm going to add that think of or create a new plan new idea think of i'm going to say i'll think think of new ideas modifying this as i go along or create a new plan new plan of action so that's good because yes there are three word phrasal verbs um and in this case you want to come up with something you want to create it you want to think of something new to and i think people might often use it with that word ideas to come up with new ideas um let's see what else um we have so okay michelle leonardo asked the difference between um used if you use something or you use something up so in that case um i think of if you use something it's just talking about something you you need like for for example um i well you i use a broom to sweep the floor if you use something up in that case again like talking about like finish up you use something up you you finish the rest of it it's complete there's no more you use it up so in that case i want to i'm trying to think of a situation in which um you might use it wait did i okay let me add this so i added come up with so i'm trying to think you might sell somebody let's use this up so because i was talking about a broom let's think of like some some cleaning supplies that you have something and instead of it's almost done and you're thinking about buying some more you say hey before before we buy some more let's use this up and then it's finished before we get some new stuff some new product whatever it is so something that you want to use up and i would feel like it's used more when talking about a product not some type of food um you wouldn't say like let's use up uh something that you're eating but if you're talking about let's like to use up use i'll add something up because it is separable um to finish what is left um and i'll add like kind of like before um getting something new before you buy something new and i think it's often maybe used in that context of like before you buy this new before you buy something else let's use this up first let's use this up um let's see all right uh what what what time are we looking at um because i know like it goes quickly these these q and a's i think i am uh i think i'm gonna i'm gonna call it right there i i will add all of these phrasal verbs um to the description if you'd like to go back and review some of the ones that we've talked about but this is a great opportunity again i like having this interaction with you guys to be able to connect with you directly and take some of your questions and again if you find uh these lessons useful if you want to sponsor and support the interactive english our youtube channel you can check out that you can join either youtube patreon the the rewards are are the same um there are links in the description down below to that if you want to check that out so thank you guys again for joining me today i appreciate you being here if you have some other questions what i would encourage you to do write them in the comments when the video gets posted write other questions about phrasal verbs in the comments i will try to get back to you but even if i don't what i would also encourage you to do even if you're watching this later help each other out i think that is a great way again for you guys to practice if you know the meaning of a phrasal verb and somebody is asking the question go ahead answer that question write the answer in the comments help each other out i think that's a great way for all of us to learn as well as another way for you guys to practice so thank you so much for joining me today um uh let's call it a day yes abdullah we're calling it a day uh athanasius uh lolly michelle leonardo aiden i'm the sleepwalker uh rosalinda harriet thank you guys so much for joining me uh i hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 475. Phrases Native Speakers Use ALL THE TIME | Binomial Pairs | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TFtwUv4DAaQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFtwUv4DAaQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:18:04 | --- today i want to teach you some useful and common phrases that people use in everyday conversation my name is wes and in case this is your first time here at interactive english the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i really want to help you build your vocabulary because these are great phrases and i want to teach you some different binomial pairs and if you don't know what a binomial pair is i'm talking about a phrase that has two words that are combined with a conjunction and usually that conjunction is either and or or and the word order for these phrases it's most of the time it's fixed but not always and i will come back to that a little bit later on so what i'm going to do is i'm going to teach you the meaning of these different binomial pairs and then i'll talk to you a little bit about how people may use them in everyday conversation and i will also show you some different video clips so that you can hear how these phrases are used in context let's just begin with our first one which is down and out and if somebody says that they're feeling a little down and out what this means is that they're they're just really going through a difficult time they're having no luck no money no opportunities so if i maybe i recently lost my job i could say yeah i just lost my job and right now i'm feeling a little down and out [Music] you are saying when you're down and out and everybody thinks you're finished that's the time to stand on your two feet of child then we have leaps and bounds and with this binomial pair there's going to be a preposition that comes before it and that preposition is by you would say by leaps and bounds and what this means is really just very quickly and you're really going to use this phrase to talk about something that is progressing or developing or even improving very quickly i could say that well by watching these video lessons i hope that your english will improve by leaps and bounds and i hope that it's going to improve very quickly sheldon what's going on his research and it's leaps and bounds ahead of mine dr evil over the last 30 years perchikon has grown by leaps and bounds you are just progressing by leaps and bounds next is the phrase sink or swim and i really like this binomial pair and what it means is that well you're not given any more help and whether you succeed or fail it's really determined by your own efforts and well think about it this this phrase it kind of means exactly what it sounds like if you sink well then you fail if you swim then you succeed so maybe somebody is getting some training to do something and then at the end of the training they're not going to receive any more help and then whether they succeed or fail it's really up to this person and then you could say well your training's over it's time you're going to do this on your own it's sink or swim now you're just going to have to accept the fact that for now this is beyond your control francis is gonna have to sink or swim on his own and frankly i don't think that's such a bad thing i remind you mr dylan this course has no shallow end sink or swim so right now i want to take a moment and tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda because if you are feeling a little down and out maybe you think that your english is not improving as quickly as you would like then i have a recommendation that i think will really help you improve your english by leaps and bounds and that is by participating in the lingoda language sprint and the cool thing about the language sprint is that if you attend all of your classes you can get 50 cash back i can tell you lingoda is an awesome language school the people are amazing i have worked with them for several years and i have even studied with lingoda there i am taking a spanish class and the classes are great for for helping you develop your language skills because these are small group classes the curriculum is excellent because you get to do a little bit of everything and classes are also available 24 7 which is perfect if you have a busy schedule so i told you that the sprint is a great way to improve your english by leaps and bounds and that is because when you sign up for the sprint you will take 15 classes a month for three months you do not need to pay for a deposit you just pay for the classes each month but remember if you attend all of your classes you can get 50 cash back the more intensive super sprint has already sold out but there's still a little time left if you want to sign up for the sprint but you got to hurry because the sprint will begin on april 28th and you have until april 23rd to sign up so there's still a little time left if you want to join but i imagine this will also fill up quickly and if you decide to join the sprint you can use the voucher code change 115 to get a 10 euro discount off your first month's payment click on the link in the description down below for more information please read the rules carefully don't forget to use that voucher code change 115 for your 10 euro discount and then just sign up for some online classes so that you can truly improve your english by leaps and bounds now let's get back to the lesson on these useful and common phrases these binomial pairs and the next one that i have for you is fair and square and what this means is that something was done honestly and according to the rules and with this binomial pair i often think about maybe a game or a sport and when somebody's competing with others and you try to tell them that well i won the game fair and square there was no cheating i won fair and square don't tell me after that game i won that game fair and square fair and square congratulations you won fair and square this is not my responsibility i hear you but you were elected fair and square i didn't overrule you on the other i beat you fair and square then we have high and dry and with this binomial pair there's a phrase that comes before it and that is to leave someone to leave someone high and dry and what it means is that you are doing something that is not at all convenient for someone else and it really may put them in a difficult position so maybe my friend wants some help they want me to come pick them up and i say look i just can't do it right now then i am leaving them high and dry so i might ask you i'd say hey can you do me a favor please hit that like button just just please go ahead and do that don't leave me high and dry what did you do what you do sis you left me high and dry how'd you like a shortcut to the bottom of the river if it's your shortcut i'll be high and dry hey are you cool with this i mean i want to leave you high and dry out and about i i really like this binomial pair this is one that i use and what it means is that well you're just saying that someone's active or they're they're out doing normal things that they usually do and i use this informally just to to tell somebody maybe i'm i'm doing things that maybe aren't very important it's just what i usually do i'm outside of the home and i just tell somebody yeah i'm out and about or maybe you could use it if you don't want to be specific and tell the other person what you're actually doing and they ask you hey you know what are you up to and you just say yeah i'm out and about where is she oh here and there out and about i spilled his guts it'd be a big hit in prison what about morelli he's out and about well you had us worried dusty glad to see you're out and about then we have first and foremost and this binomial pair means well more importantly or more than anything else and i could say i am first and foremost a teacher this is the thing that i do more than anything else this binomial pair may also commonly be used as an introductory phrase so they would say this at the beginning of their their speech or their statement i i could say first and foremost i would like to thank all of you my audience for hitting that like button because i know that you don't want to leave me high and dry and i'm really i'm really fishing for that like but just to give you a little bit of review with high and dry first and foremost this commission worked for the good of the country first and foremost it's the face we present to the world i am first and foremost a journalist the eu bowl is first and foremost a dance then we have on and off and remember i i told you that most of these phrases are fixed you can't really move them around but this one is not fixed because you may hear somebody say off and on and it really it means the same thing it means that something is happening or existing some of the time and you could use this binomial pair to describe things that well that may sometimes happen during the day or perhaps you're describing things at work or maybe even a friendship if things are good and then they're bad you could say well you know it's off and on or on and off see your boyfriend we're on and off and she just sits there alone all the time how long has this been going on on and off since the seventh grade are you still taking your medication off or not it's really sort of helped me stay sober off and on then we have ins and outs and this is referring to the the detailed and complicated facts of something and for this binomial pair i think people may often use it with certain verbs like you're trying to learn the ins and outs of something or maybe you're telling someone that you know the ins and outs or perhaps you're trying to teach someone the ins and outs i am trying to teach all of you the ins and outs of these different phrases so that you have a better understanding as to how they're used okay i have spent the last 15 years learning the ins and outs of the paper industry you know i've done my share of ride-alongs i know the ins and outs of your profession donner taught rudolph all the ins and outs of being a reindeer null and void this binomial pair means that something is having no legal force no binding power no validity and often i think people might use it to talk about some type of agreement or maybe even a contract i could say well you didn't you didn't sign your name so this contract it's null and void this is an unenforceable contract it is null and void your friends found a loophole when they made seven human rendering all agreement null and void conrad's prenup with you is null and void then we have all or nothing and this means that you are either doing something completely or not at all there's really no in between and i i think often people would describe some situation and they're going to say that statement right there after they talk about it they'll say it's all or nothing we're going to do it completely or not at all it's all or nothing we're playing to keep this team you up for it dude i'm in all or nothing what was love like in your family it was all or nothing there's no partial credit baby with me it's all or nothing then we have step by step and notice with this one we're not connecting the words with and or or like the other binomial pairs we're using by step by step and it means to gradually and carefully move from one stage to the next i could say that i have been trying to walk you through this lesson step by step so that you easily understand the meaning of these different binomial pairs and right now i want to check i want to see how much you remember from this lesson and how much you've learned with a quick little quiz i'm going to give you a sentence and i want you to complete the sentence with one of the binomial pairs from this lesson so your first sentence is it's rained um most of the day it would stop and then start again okay something stopping and then starting again something that could usually happen during the day like rain so the answer i hope you said off and on or on and off you could use either one it's rained off and on most of the day it would stop and then start again then we have if you're feeling um you should come with us to the party it'll cheer you up okay so if someone needs to be cheered up then they're probably well they're in a difficult situation they're not very happy which means maybe they're feeling a little down and out if you're feeling down and out you should come with us to the party it'll cheer you up our agreement is um if you don't keep up your end of the deal okay so remember i talked about a binomial pair that we often use with maybe an agreement or a contract and that is null and void i'm pretty sure i'm confident that's what all of you said our agreement is null and void if you don't keep up your end of the deal then we have when you learn the um of these useful phrases i truly believe it will help you build your vocabulary by um okay there's two of them i think you know this let's look at that first one i said that we we often use this binomial pair with the verb learn when you learn the ins and outs of these useful phrases i truly believe it will help you build your vocabulary by leaps and bounds you will build your vocabulary quickly i truly do believe that and i know i i went through this quiz rather quickly but it's always good to get a little bit of review i hope that you enjoyed this lesson i hope that you learned something new and as always thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 476. Phrases for Casual Conversation (improve your speaking fluency) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `sRw8Q64FrD8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRw8Q64FrD8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:08:12 | --- welcome to today's lesson in which we are going to talk about phrases for casual conversation these are useful phrases that you can use in a variety of context and if you enjoy building your vocabulary then please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if this is your first time here let me know right your name in the chat in the comments I just love hearing from you now you'll notice that this is a quiz lesson I am going to quiz you on these phrases and I want you to participate I want you to write your answers in the chat in the comments and I'll try to give some shoutouts as we go through the lesson now the first uh little quick announcement that I would like to make is that if you are someone who would like to practice and improve and develop your your speaking skills you can check out my speaking course there is a link Down Below in the description it's for intermediate to Advanced speakers it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally you can also use the code speak 20 to get $20 off I'll go ahead and throw a little uh that little announcement in the chat right there as well and maybe Circle back to this because actually the phrases that we're going to talk about in today's lesson are from the upcoming course these are some of this is some of the vocabulary that we'll be practicing and and uh using in the upcoming speaking course so here is your first question and the way that I've done this is I've given you a picture to help you think about well what is this phrase it's a little bit of a hint and then I've given you the meaning and as we go through this I I think it'll get a little more difficult so but I I tried to include a variety of things different phrases Expressions idioms that are you know very common very useful as well as some that maybe you don't know so I tried to to give you a range uh CU some are very specific like this one to entertain someone at a restaurant with good food wine uh you know Etc I I don't want to give it away but what do you think what would you say what what is this phrase your entertaining someone at a restaurant with good food and wine it's a nice meal what is it that you are doing what do you think any any guesses let me go ahead and I'll I'll I'll tell you cuz this one is a little more challenging so you see the picture of you know pouring the wine so the answer to wine and dine excellent all Mila perfect good job so uh Alfredo uh nice wine and dine this is a verb it's a binomial pair which is a phrase that contains two words joined by a conjunction and often that conjunction is and or or it's not always the case I've given you some examples right here pros and cons more or less little by little those are all binomial Pairs and I think those are more often used you're probably familiar with those already and notice little by little we're not using and or or in that case but if you say that you are whining and dining someone you're entertaining this person at a restaurant and there there's really a reason for that you're really trying to impress someone so let me give you some examples so you can see how this binomial pair how this phrase is used in context so I I've found some news headlines so the first one calling all New York City exists tell us where you whine and dine your client ients so think about that you're whining and dining your clients you might use this in the context of work you're trying to impress and entertain some clients and you might whine and dine them or Japan Japan's first date Awards reveals the best places to whine and dine when dating in Tokyo you go out on a date maybe the first day you want to impress this person and you're going to whine and dine them and then the last one how to whine and dine your way through through Hungary this fall this is actually an article that I should probably read because I live in Budapest but hopefully that gives you a little more a better understanding how you're going to use this phrase in context and just keep in mind that yes it is a verb so let's look at the next one again I like I saw all these answers maybe uh I think you guys rock that one what do you think agreeing about something such as how things should be done so what phrase would you use and you can see the picture of the book right there you're agreeing about something such as how it should be done th this is an this is an idiom and I'll go ahead and tell you that I think this one is important with when you're talking about work especially when you're talking about working on as a team and you're working with a group of people in that case it's important that you agree about something such as how things should be done and you want to make sure that everyone is what all right it's very close I saw one seeing eye to eye yes that does mean to uh agree with someone then that that that that would work that's not the one I'm thinking of because you can see in the picture of this book what would you say excellent uh nice fatty asset eloisa hotti we're talking about to be on the same page uh so when you say that people are on the same page they know what's happening they agree about what's going on what you should do and like I said often you may use this when talking about uh working in a group and you want to make sure that everyone is on the same page I give you this example sentence in order to meet the deadline we all need to be on the same page awesome here we go here's the next one and uh here's a side note uh if you can tell me which I I don't want to give you the answer I don't want to give it away just yet uh so I'll tell you once I I give you the answer here's Emmy making a little Cameo do you want to say hi to everybody real quickly just say hi she's like what's going on not familiar with these live uh videos so I love you too I love you too so the meaning is to get to the point without wasting time what again this is it's another idiom you're getting it to the point without wasting time and you might say let's do this what do you think and when I give you the when I give you the answer then I I'll talk a little bit more about this picture but as you can see in the picture you have all those police cars following this other car so when you want to get to the point without wasting time you're going to cut to the chase when you cut to the chase that's exactly what's happening uh great job nice LLY awesome good to see you uh Jad uh Perfect all right Julia good job so I thought I would go ahead and give you the origin of this idiom this phrase it I don't think it's this should be no surprise it originated in American in the American film industry in the earlier movies that ended in like a chase scene that is the final action sequence and when you cut to something when you're talking about movies or TVs that's where you're going to move to you cut to the chase you go straight to the end to that chase scene now the the question that I had for for you that I wanted to ask you about uh was this Chase I didn't want to say the word Chase do you recognize this famous chase scene right here this is not from a movie this was uh real life I think uh I might be dating myself a little bit because I remember watching this on TV uh back when I was in uh high school so I'll I'll go ahead and uh tell you uh this is a famous Chase uh from 1994 the California Highway Patrol officers were chasing this white Ford Bronco that had Al callings who was driving an OJ Simpson in the back seat uh this was in in California 91 freeway so again this was an old trial OJ Simpson when he was alleged to U have murdered someone but that it's kind of a a well-known I think picture but that's more American culture anyway let's let's move on to the next one and I'm switching it up a little bit now I'm going to give you the meaning of the phrase as well as an example sentence in which you would fill in the blank and I I always say I think it's going to get a little more difficult but then you all generally prove me wrong when I say that so the meaning of this phrase is to confront or accept the unpleasant consequences of something you have done and and I'm giving you this sentence down here to try to help you figure out the phrase that I'm talking about I need to tell her that it was my mistake it's time [Music] to what would you say and I I think not always you might hear it like that last sentence it's time to do this it's time to what I see some anwers so really again you are confessing in something this has it's a synonym for confess but this is this phrase is another idiom and you would say it's time to face the music when you are going to accept these you know bad consequences you're going to confess and then you're going to face the music and say yes it was me I have done this and it's time to face the music nice job uh I saw some good answers just throw some new ones snowflake Angela uh Ava T perfect it's time to face the music here's one that I think is probably a little more difficult and it is a phrase that is more specific it's not one that uh you may end up using all the time it really depends on what you're talking about but you would use this to indicate that there is no practical reason to continue discussing a particular topic uh it's basically impractical to keep talking about this you know there's just not going to be a satisfactory resolution so here's the example sentence down below whether or not I would have been a good doctor is a as I have as I have decided to become a teacher so in this case it's like look it's it's irrelevant why are we talking about this it's a h and that's a little bit of a hint because this is a we're going to use this phrase as a noun and you would say it is uh what I like that it's a waste of time that is true so this also would be kind of a synonym for a waste of time but in this context it has more to do with a discussion and you're having a discussion with someone else or a group of people and basically you're saying look this is irrelevant there's not going to be an answer so why are we talking about this it is a what and always with these I hope it is maybe a little more challenging my goal is that you always learn something new with these lessons learn a new word or phrase uh just some new vocabulary so I think some you guys are kind of on the right track talking about like useless waste of time again there are different phrases that you probably could put in there in this case talking about a moot point and I'm giving you the pronunciation is around there that first word a moot point moot right you can hear my pronunciation sounds like boot or suit or Moot and when you say something is a moot point that is exactly what you mean like why are we talking about this it it doesn't matter it's a moot point so in the context hopefully it makes a little more sense if someone has decided to become a teacher the fact that you're saying oh you'd be such a great doctor this is you know you what do you think about this you say look it's a moot point I've already made a decision why why are we talking about this so here are a few synonyms maybe to to kind of help you wrap your head around this if this is the first time you're hearing this phrase so in the example I gave you it's more like pointless or irrelevant like why even discuss it it's pointless it's irrelevant it's a moot point you could also use it as a synonym for saying something is arguable or even debatable so once again if two people are having a discussion let me give you a very quick uh example if you have somebody who is very religious and somebody who is not religious and they're trying to have a discussion about I don't know what happens once we die they're going to have probably different opinions and you could say well it's arguable it's debatable and really maybe you're not going if they're not going to disagree it's like well why even have the discussion it's a moot point because at the end in the end like we we you know we don't know it's a moot point so this is a good one again when you're having a talk or a discussion with someone and you're saying look we you know why are we talking about this doesn't matter it's a moot point good phrase good phrase all right here is the next one the meaning thinking that you are very important in a way that annoys other people and there may be some other phrases in here but to put a finer point on it check out the example sentence he thinks he knows everything he's so M of and of is I guess you could say it's a key word hopefully it's a hint it's part of the phrase this is you could say that someone is M of when they think that they are just important they know everything and they do it in a way that is annoying so if you use this phrase to describe someone to describe describe a person it it it has a negative connotation it's not a good thing when you say this about uh someone excellent uh Rael you nailed it you would say that someone is full of oneself so you're going to use that reflexive pronoun full of himself full of herself uh full of yourself in this case he thinks he knows everything he's so full of himself and I tried to show you that picture right there uh that that guy looks like he's uh full of himself and you saying someone is uh like a know it all that's another good phrase that's another good guess and that that would fit this as well if you say someone's a know- at- all it also has a negative connotation saying that somebody you know they know everything and it annoys other people so I think you guys are kind of on the right track again using words like I saw one like narcissistic that works as well but if you say someone's full if you say oh you're so full of your yourself that's that's what you're saying that you know this person is just annoying you they think that what they do is amazing they're very important they know everything and you can say oh they're they're full of he's so full of himself uh here's the next one and I told you that I I'll try to make it a little more difficult and now I'm just giving you a picture so I have a few more and I'll give you a hint but just looking at this picture can you think of the phrase I I feel like uh no maybe I think you can get this you see this picture everybody's out they're looks like they're singing songs they're drinking they're having a good time they're partying but in the middle of the picture what do you see what's what's in the middle of the picture let me I don't know if I'll give you the answer the next one or if it's just a hint let's let's let's find out if I go ahead and give you the answer I apologize oh so yes so the answer is a social butterfly and I'm going to give you the meaning down there it's a person who often likes to attend parties and other social events you would say someone is a social butterfly this is a phrase that you could use to describe a person uh somebody who's very social they like talking with others and you could refer to them as a social butterfly I think it does have it it has a more of a positive connotation but it's just really a descriptive phrase when talking about someone's personality excellent seems like you guys I I think knew that one I didn't give you uh probably long enough to to answer so I apologize here is uh oh I give you an example sentence as well he he used to go to a lot of parties he was a real social butterfly in this example it'd be like you're talking about someone in the the past they used to do this thing they used to be like this and he was a real social butterfly here's the next one right just looking at the picture can you think of a phrase that that would apply to this picture you see these Footprints and I can go ahead and tell you it's like they're trying to sweep them away so that another person doesn't notice them doesn't know that they're there and it like that says at the bottom I was never here all right love those hearts if you guys are learning some new words uh new phrases let me know you when I see those hearts it makes me think okay maybe you guys are learning some new new things it's always great to build your vocabulary and again take these quiz lessons participate this is interactive English after all so I saw like to sweep something under the rug no that is another one when you're trying to hide something or conceal in this case what I'm talking about perfect pink thumb uh we're trying to I'll give you the meaning this is where I feel like I I maybe messed up and gave you the the word too soon on the last one you're trying to hide something that you have done so that other people do not find out so it's like there's some evidence that would say that okay you're there and you try to get rid of the evidence and you're trying to what excellent Julia we're trying to cover Your Tracks I didn't want anyone to know that I ate the cookie so I had to cover my tracks maybe I cleaned up the mess and I just didn't want anyone to know it was me so this is one that you may use or you may hear people use it if you're watching something related to I don't know crime or a mystery and somebody is trying to cover their tracks and conceal the evidence once again to give you a better idea as to how this phrase is used in context I have some news headlines for you and as I was looking this up I think this is also a relevant phrase when talking about the the internet and things that you do online because privacy is really important so this first head line is how to cover Your Tracks every time you go online you don't want uh other uh businesses or apps to know what sites you're using and what you're looking at and maybe you want to cover Your Tracks the next one how to cover Your Tracks when snooping on someone's phone or computer okay so that probably when you're you're snooping on someone's phone or computer that's not a good thing but I imagine if some somebody's doing that then they would want to cover their tracks so that the other person doesn't know and that last one I used someone else's debit card how do I cover my tracks so you can see that just based on these headlines we're using this phrase related to technology the internet and trying to conceal some evidence and hide it and you're trying to cover Your Tracks here's the next one and I don't know if this picture makes it easy or makes it a little more difficult but what what phrase are we talking about this is an idiom and you can see that there's money and it looks like someone is snorting the money that's not really well I guess it is kind of what the picture is trying to say but what are you doing this really has to do with let me give you another hint buying something and you're not happy about this and what do you what could you say that you had to do you had to buy it maybe you didn't have a choice and you were frustrated and you're telling someone else oh I just you know I had to so let me I hope I don't give it away again I think I maybe give you hint or the meaning and then the word but maybe I'm wrong yes so you're paying too much for something and to add a little more to that you're paying too much for something that normally it would not be this price so often you may use this phrase this idiom when talking about things where the price May fluctuate and I'll give you an example and hopefully it'll make uh a little more sense so I saw one answer before nice Tila good job Armen Angela Julia we're talking about when someone says that they had to pay through the nose for something I waited until the last minute to get my flight therefore I paid through the nose for the ticket so I just mentioned things like fluctuate airline tickets concert tickets hotels and maybe there is an event that's going on and you go to book a hotel and so many people are trying to come to the city you're going to have to pay a lot more money to book a hotel room and then you tell somebody yeah you know I I had to pay through the nose to to get this hotel room or I paid through the nose for your flight so in a way it's like you're you paid too much for something and there might be a reason for that in this example you wait until the last minute to get your flight once that happens the prices they just go up and up and up and up and then you have to pay through the nose in order to get it so hopefully that makes a little more sense adding that that slight Nuance so here are a review there were just nine phrases that I wanted to go over and I'm I'm going to go back through them one more time and I told you all of these phrases are actually part of the speaking course if you're interested in practicing and improving your skills there is there are still there is some uh availability check out the link Down Below in the description so let's go through these we talked about the first one is to whine and dine someone this is not the most commonly used binomial pair but it's very specific you're entertaining someone you're showing them a good time it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be drinking wine but it's like you're just you want to impress this person we talked about whining and dining business clients would be a good example then we talked about being on the same page I used it with the verb to be because often you will use it like we are on the same page um we need to be on the same page it doesn't mean you're always going to use it with that verb you could say we need to get on the same page and we need to agree about how things should be done and what's going on and you need to be on the same page the next one cut to the chase you're gonna go straight to the point without wasting any time let's just cut to the chase to face the music this is when you are confronting or accepting unpleasant consequences something you've done it's time to face the music then we have a moot point so we use this when you want to say that well there's no reason to continue discussing something we're not going to reach a resolution yeah it's kind of a it's it's a moot point and full of oneself thinking that you're you're very important the way you do something uh what you know what you do it annoys other people you could say somebody he's so full of himself social butterfly this is a phrase where that you could use to describe a person somebody who likes to who's very social they go to a lot of parties they go to a lot of events and they are a social butterfly then we had to cover Your Tracks your trying to hide or conceal some evidence and you want to cover your tracks and we just talked about the this one right here when you pay through the nose you're you're paying a lot for something you're paying too much and you would pay through the nose so there are many many of these uh somebody was asking I believe that are are these idioms many of them are idioms some of them uh are not really a phrase is in idioms could be one word really a phrase is just any expression that has two or more words so it's very broad but most idioms are phrases because they have more than one word and one thing again I'll just leave this up here I do want to I do want to ask you how how did you do on the quiz I'm going to put a little poll in there uh quickly and then you can let me know so so let me know what do you think if you nailed it you knew I don't know most of them you got eight out of 10 or eight out of nine there are nine that we talked about today or did you say you know not bad maybe you knew uh four or five of them and you knew about half or you didn't know many of them and you could say well I learned a lot of new phrases today and again this is not something that if you learn something new that you're you're going to remember it forever I always think it's good to go back a few days later a week later review the word uh or phrase anytime you're trying to build vocabulary get that spaced repetition I always think it's good to to keep a a document with new vocabulary so that you can go back review it I know a lot of times people like tell me they go back and watch these lessons and I think that's great that's the best way to take new vocabulary move it up here make it a part of your active memory so kind of curious just seeing where we're at right now looks like many of you you learned a lot of new phrases and that makes me happy I'm always glad when people I'm always happy when people learn something new and about 10% of you said you nailed it all right so I want to say uh well I want to thank you for joining me for today's lesson this is our first live lesson of the new year and there are going to be many many more to come throughout the year and I look forward to seeing you in those lessons and having you participate at in them as well because once again this is interactive English that's what it's all about having you be a part of these lessons and actually take part in these lessons so I'm going to end the poll I think uh uh got quite a few votes hope you all have a wonderful day um thank you just quick some shout outs Loi great to see you uh Sid Angela Julia Kevin uh sleepwalker good to see you Alfredo thank you guys so much for being --- ## 477. Phrases to Fine-Tune Your Speaking Fluency ๐ŸŽถ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CqkE6ySEMjE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqkE6ySEMjE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:06:28 | --- I want to teach you some very common and useful phrases but we're going to pay extra special attention to the preposition and that's really what I want to quiz you on I have these different phrases and I've taken out the preposition and I want to see if you can identify them because this is when people will make very small simple mistakes and they may use the incorrect preposition so that's what I mean when I say fine-tune your speaker fluency and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary learning new words and phrases please subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so the first thing I want to mention if you would like to get a copy of these lesson notes right here you can join our email Community if you are already a part of our email Community check your inbox Bo because I have sent them to you or they're on the way so let's just go ahead and begin with our first question and I would love it if you participate in the lesson write your answer in the chat in the comments even if you're watching this later this is in fact interactive English I I want you to take part this lesson I I almost I almost said it just as I was telling you this uh because yeah I thought this would be a good way to start out because I hope that you will take part in this lesson and there is a specific phrase that I want to focus on even you know that in the the the preposition is part of this and I think uh this is a pretty common phrase and I see a lot of great answers and the com the the answer is in I want you to take part in this lesson to take part in something means to participate to be involved in it and when I do these lessons I I love it when you take part in these lessons I want you to take part in these lessons because that's what I think is really going to help you be well make these phrases a part of your active memory because you're participating you are involved in the learning process you're taking part in the learning process I feel like the more I say the phrase it's just going to burn right here into your memory take paron take paron uh but excellent great answers Julia Loi Zoe uh I'll try to throw out some shout outs as we go through this here's the next one and the way that I wanted to present this question is well showing some news headlines and I've basically blocked out the missing word the preposition and these are real headlines that I've gotten U well just last week why are women more sensitive the cold than men or when talking about stocks 10 uh these 10 oil oil stocks are the most and least sensitive price swings and finally fear of the unknown are you more sensitive uncertainty than others so in each of these headlines it's the same word that's missing and again we're talking about the phrase I'll go ahead sensitive and I think when it comes to these prepositions I would always say just just go with what feels right if you're having a conversation I understand if you pause and you're trying to think of the correct verb or noun or adjective those are descriptive words but when it comes to these prepositions I would just say just say what one feels right even if you make a mistake I think most people still understand what you're trying to say but once again that's when it comes back to fine-tuning your fluency because in each of these news headlines the missing word is sensitive to and I've underlined them right there well done uh Daniel tal Ava you're sensitive to are are more sensitive to the cold than men are the most and least sensitive to price swings are you more sensitive to uncertainty than others and you might be sensitive to something now one thing that you may be thinking is well I I know the the word sensitive but but I have heard it being used with other prepositions as well and this is when I think it can be a little confusing because you might have one verb or noun that could be followed with a number of different prepositions and the meaning may change so just quickly I want to look at the difference and talk about sensitive to versus sensitive about and I I just chose these to give you an example and I took the meaning I believe this is from Collins diction so I'll I'll just read it to you if you are sensitive to other people's needs problems or feelings you show understanding and awareness of them so when I think of sensitive to something I think of that awareness and there may be some sort of change sensitive about if you are sensitive about something you are easily worried or offended when people are talking about it so just because I'm giving you a word follow by a preposition that does not mean that it's only going to be followed by this preposition and I'm going to give you an example of this later on as well so keep in mind in this context right here in these context we're talking about sensitive to something here's the next one I I think we're we're starting out a little easy and it's easy and then it's going to get a little more difficult so if I were to ask you how are you going to react this video and you see that thumbs up and thumbs down and whether you give the video a like or a dislike I I appreciate any reaction but I might be wondering this how are you going to react this video so we're talking about the verb react which word are you going to follow that with you're going to re act something in this case I'm asking you about the video so I love it I love that all these people participating love it love it love it so we're talking about to react to something great job Bianca Mohamad uh VI uh Zoe curious ghost nice so you react to something and this is a pretty common phrase so really think about this and I know that I I mentioned speaking and in in this activity it's just more reading because I'm showing you the sentence you can see it and it does change a little bit because when you're speaking again you just you're going to use one and even if you know oh react to this or react to that sometimes I I still hear these slight little speaking mistakes and when I would tell people and point it out to them and show them what they said and say okay let's change this people automatically okay re react to I know this so of course I hope that you react favorably to this video and you can hit that like button I would really appreciate it here is the next one and this is one that I I think I hear um that that people have trouble with so it I'm just asking a random question can you see something M the background and I'll I'll tell you that the phrase that I'm really focusing on is M the background because when I I do some activities in in my course in which people will describe a picture or talk about it and sometimes they will talk about the background they'll use this phrase but I often hear people use the wrong word so in this case can you see something the background and the the two that I think are kind of mixed up is either in well in on and at and I see a variety of answers in the the chat so hopefully again this is one in which some of you will learn something new when we're talking about the background you're going to use in in the background what do you see in the background can you see anything in the background or if you're describing something like oh in the background I can see this or that and I notice these things in the background so when we're talking about the background just keep that in mind and say it to yourself repeat it in the background in the background in the background and just try to keep reinforcing that now I wanted to bring this up because it's fun the you you may recognize pictures like this they're called stereograms it's you have this two-dimensional image which when viewed correctly appears three dimensional and this was popular I think when I was younger a long time ago and you had to like loosen your eyes and then you can see this image kind of comes out at you I'm not going to spend too much time on it if you want to uh pause it and see if you can the see the image but I'll I'll tell you it is a horse if you're able to kind of just relax your eyes you can see this horse will just appear in the background all right in the background keep that in mind I like this picture uh I saw this cat and I was like okay I got to figure out a way to use this cat who is going to take care my cat while I'm away I think when you see the question and again reading listening speaking these are are different skills and right now you you you're reading it you can hear me you're listening to it and that does make it a little easier but once again I'm I'm bringing this phrase up because I often hear people make speaking mistakes when they're using take care so that is the phrase that I want to focus on who is going to take care my cat while I'm away and once again I just want you to try to burn this word into your memory I'm going to give you the answer because I see so many uh so many correct answers I appreciate those hearts love it take care of you're going to take care of something or take care of someone and you may use this phrase often when talking about pets or animals who's going to take care of my cat take care of my dog can somebody take care of my plants while I'm away and traveling so you would take care of something or someone and again just say this phrase to yourself take care of take care of take care of this is a cocation these are three words that are used together to take care of something and someone and this is my This Is My Method I'm just going to keep saying it you hear me say it numerous times take care of take care of take care of because when you're having a conversation I just want you to say you know say go with your gut what feels right but if you hear it enough you get enough exposure the next time you're talking it's just going to come out you're gonna say take care of how about this one the decision is entirely M to you this is an idiomatic expression and I wanted to point that out because again it's good to build your vocabulary I do think this expression is quite common so it's a good one to know it's a good one to use and you say something is M to you and you would use this when talking about a decision or a choice so in this case awesome great job everyone you guys are you guys are rocking it today the decision is entirely up to you and if something is up to you it basically means that the choice is yours to make should we do this should we do that I say well it's it's up to you what do you think we should do it's it's up to you I really don't care it's up to you and you might even say to someone it's up to you to make the decision and saying there is a choice to be made but I am going to leave that decision up to you again up to you up to you up to you just think about it understand it and this is a common one that you can actually use I think think in Daily conversations when you're talking to someone and you want to say that something is up to that person how about this one right here um this is when I I mentioned at the beginning we talked about sensitive to and sensitive about I have three blanks but I'll go ahead and tell you that each one is different so so there are actually three different answers and I want you to think about the situation okay if I this is like let's say this is a conversation even though it's a maybe it's a bad conversation but I'll I'll just say if I oh I know that I have a limited amount of influence you because we we only know each other through these English lessons and I see you guys particip ping I love it Loi Stephanie uh you know it's great to see everybody but ultimately I still hope that I have a positive influence you and of course I would appreciate it if you write to me in the comments I always love hearing from you and everybody else and maybe you will do this unless you are under the influence um another maybe some other English coach I don't know but I that last one is I I just really tried to force it in there but there are three different words that are missing so that first one have a limited amount of influence M you the next one a positive influence M you and Under the Influence M you another so I think some of them are going to be easier than others because like that last phrase I think this is a common cocation Under the Influence something or someone but there are three different ones missing and let's talk about them right now so the answers and again I'll read it again with these prepositions so the first one I know I have a limited amount of influence over you and I've highlighted the verb have as well you have influence over over someone and if you have influence over someone it's like you can control some of their actions like what they will do in the future specifically if you have influence over someone and I think you could relate to this I'm sure you know someone in which one person whether it's a friend or a colleague has influence over you or someone else and they can kind of really control or even manipulate what's going on so to have influence over someone and I said that you know my I think I have a limited amount of influence over you because we only know each other through these English lessons But ultimately I still hope that I have a positive influence on you and that it affects you in some way and I would say these are some common collocations in talking about somebody having a good influence on someone else a bad influence on someone else a positive influence on someone and a negative influence on someone so think about it being used with those adjectives good bad positive negative and of course I hope that yeah I have a positive influence on you that uh yeah that that I have a it has a positive effect on you I would appreciate it if you write to me in the comments maybe you'll do this unless you are under the influence uence of another now under the influence of someone or something a lot of times you may hear this being used like something for example a common um usage of this phrase is under the influence of alcohol somebody was driving under the influence of alcohol so under the influence of someone or something so this is another example where you have influence but it could be f followed by a variety of prepositions and this is why they can be a bit tricky because when you're having a conversation again you're speaking it's it's a very different skill you may not be thinking exactly about it but you hear these different prepositions being used and perhaps you end up using uh of instead of over in a certain context again most people will understand what you're talking about but it goes back to fine-tuning your speaking fluency to have influence over someone to be a positive or or a good influence on someone and then maybe to be under the influence of someone or something but most of the time it's it's like a something like you are under the influence of um I mentioned alcohol is a common collocation that you may hear here's the next one so that was I know that was a lot that I just gave you as far as influence goes we need to review our health care policies the national level so when thinking about government in this in this case you may hear this phrase the national level and I think if you kind of piece it together it's going to make sense because the noun that we're talking about is level we need to review our healthc care policies the national level um well done nice uh Samuel Loi Bianca we're talking about at at the national level you read uh news article this is something that you will come up you you'll come across this phrase at the national level and just to really put a point on this at the M level there are different adjectives that you could put in there here are some examples understanding the impact of climate change at the national level we just mentioned that State play navigating immigration policy at the state level so depending on the country you live in in the US there are different states so you may use this phrase with State like something happens at the state level and finally enhancing disaster risk management at the local level so those are some words that you may hear with this phrase at the national level at the state level at the local level great job Stephanie Sarah Reza just want to give out some more more shoutouts because I see so many different answers I love it when everything just keeps going and people are participating here is the next one everyone was captivated the performance this is a a more of a grammar question and I I'll explain why in just a moment but what word is missing everyone was captivated the performance this is another one that I often hear people they make a a slight speaking mistake everyone was captivated the performance and of course I see so many excellent wonderful answers you guys are rocking it so everyone was captivated by the performance and um yep that's right Julia we're talking about the passive voice and that is why I said this is you know grammar involved because you might say you were captivated by something you were Amazed by something or you were shocked by something the passive voice in this case what you might thinking well why would you use it because often you're going to use the active voice and you could say the performance captivated everyone but you might use the passive voice in this case because it puts more emphasis on the action or the result and I think that's why when you would say something like this the passive it it's actually better I think it's better to use the passive than the active and put put the emphasis on the action or the result everyone was captivated by the performance we were Amazed by the presentation she was shocked by the news but once again you're going to talk about like the passive voice the object the verb to be um you know in this case you have those different uh participle adjectives followed by by and then the actor by something by someone and we're just going to use by and then here's another one where there are two different words missing several years ago I worked M the city a group of us were hired to work a transportation project so work you could follow this with I think a variety of words but think about the situation the context because there is a specific um there are specific words that I want you to use in this case there are two different missing words several years ago I worked M the city a group of us were hired to work m a transportation project uh so now that I see it I think a lot of people this is interesting because I guess there there could be um more than one response and I'll explain this as we go through this so what I would say what I said is the correct answer several years ago I worked for the city you work for someone you were employed by them a group of us were hired to work on a transportation project you work on something like this is what you are doing now for that first one I saw a lot of people they're putting in and in this case that I understand that I guess that would work I don't want to say that is incorrect because you could say you worked in the city as far as talking about your location this is where you worked the reason why I think I would go with for is because of the next sentence because it more aligns with what you're saying I worked for the city and what happened well a group of us were working on this project but if you say you worked in the city that is not incorrect that is okay but the meaning would still be different because in that case talking about where you worked as opposed to saying who you worked for I worked for the city so again lot of great answers that's perfect and I think many of you got that next part you worked on a transportation project you work on a project so I really hope that you learn something new let me give you a little review and I'm just going to see if I can use some of these different phrases as I'm just talking off the top of my head so I really appreciate that many of you were taking part in this lesson because I think that's the best way to learn these phrases is when you take part in these lessons and I really think that I I try to make these lessons interesting and I hope that I could say that you are captivated by these different lessons because that I want to make them interesting and really at the end of the day when it comes to improving your English skills building your vocabulary it is entirely up to you it's really the choices that you make will determine how much you're going to improve it is definitely up to you but I would say really try to learn from people maybe like myself that are going to have have a a positive um you know a positive influence that I I want to be a positive influence on you and uh really uh trying to think about others that I could say I'm just gonna I'm gonna wrap things up but I do want to ask you like I always do with these how how did you do on this quiz because I saw so many people participating in the lesson and that is what I love to see so I'm going to put a little poll in there and just say how did you do on the quiz and say I rocked it and I'll put like a a 100% Emoji there and I the next one I did pretty well would be maybe about 50% and then let's add another one uh I have some work to do which would be more like 25% kind of gives me an idea as to the difficulty of these because I I always love it when there's like a bit of a mix as far as you know if I don't want it to be too easy I also don't want it to be too difficult and of course I want this to be relevant I wanted to choose phrases that you're going to come AC AC cross listening to something or reading a newspaper as well as phrases that you would actively use when you're having a conversation and I just want to say a quick thank you to Rosanna for becoming a member and joining joining the community well thank you very much rosan Rosanna so let me know how you did you can write to me in the comments I always love hearing from you and just keep practicing keep studying keep learning review these words and phrases I told you if you want to um join our community the email Community click on the link down in the description you can access these lesson notes and if you're already a part of it I will send them to you and you can find them in your inbox so it seems like uh all right so getting a little bit of a mix right here but I I feel I'm it makes me glad that so many of you are like yes I rocked it you did well that you've heard these before you are able to identify them and I think again I will say when you're seeing it when you see it written it is a little easier the challenge would be speaking and when you're having that conversation but again throughout this lesson I just kept saying these phrases over and over and over because the more you hear them the better because then you're when you're having that conversation you're just going to use the correct one if you're talking about something that's in the background or saying that a decision is up to you or referring to something that's happening at the national level at the local level and you're just going to use that correct preposition so I'm going to wrap things up thank you guys for joining me I hope that you learn something new and I will see you soon for another lesson --- ## 478. Phrases with IN, ON, and AT to Greatly Improve Your English Accuracy | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8K7OvmxLygk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K7OvmxLygk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:02:05 | --- some very helpful phrases. And mostly what I want to do is reinforce the prepositions in, on, and at. So, I'm talking about verbs, nouns, and adjectives that you would follow with one of these prepositions. And the goal of this lesson is really to help you improve your speaking accuracy. Because this is when I notice when in speaking and writing people make small mistakes and they use the wrong preposition. And since these are very common prepositions, I want to look at some verbs, nouns, and adjectives and the preposition that follows. So, for the most part, I think you should do very well and you pro you probably know many of these already, which is what I hope. So, let's look at this first one. And in the chat, in the comments, I would love it if you participate and write your answer. Again, you only have three choices, in, on, or at. first sentence. His attempt m solving the puzzle was unsuccessful. Which of these prepositions best completes this sentence? And I say best because sometimes there is more than one answer. That does happen in English and I I know that makes it even more confusing and I will talk about that in just a just a moment. His attempt solving the puzzle was unsuccessful. So the answer I see some people putting on, not on or in. So what I would say is this. This is we're talking about an attempt at doing something. Attempt at and then you're going to follow it with a jarn that ing. So I'm giving you the meaning of an attempt. I think you know this. We're talking about it using it as a noun. an effort to achieve or complete a difficult action task or action. Here are some example sentences sentences just to reinforce this. His attempt at solving the puzzle was unsuccessful. Her attempt at baking a cake ended in disaster when the oven malfunctioned. And finally, the team's attempt at winning the championship was thwarted. Thwarted by a lastm minute goal. And thwarted means it was prevented. So again, this is just to reinforce this phrase, an attempt at something. So I feel like you know that noun, an attempt. One thing I want to point out is that when you're using it as a noun and following it with a jarn to make is the verb that we're often going to use to make an attempt at doing something. Now I will say you could say to make an attempt to do something. And if we're using it as a verb, then we are just going to follow it with to in the infinitive to attempt to do something. So again, this is when it can be a little tricky when the part of speech changes. Sometimes that preposition will change, but not always. Again, I will come back to that in just a moment. The next one, I I really hope uh I hope you get this one because I often hear mistakes with this adjective. Are you interested in joining my email community? And this is a genuine question that I have for you in case you are not already a part of it. Are you interested joining my email community? And I don't know if sometimes this is a language translation thing because when people use interested, I I often hear a variety of prepositions that that follow. But in this case again we're talking about it one preposition and then that gerand in this case joining and I see all those great answers. Excellent. Uh great job to to Kaya Julia Talal. Interested in are you interested in joining my email community. So of course you know the meaning of interested. You have that curiosity uh concern about someone or something. Here's another couple of example sentences. He's interested in finding a new job or we are interested in working with you on the project. These sentences you're going to hear me read quite a few because again this is all about reinforcing it. I think you know many of these nouns, verbs, and adjectives. We're focusing on that preposition that follows. And yeah, just in case you are interested in joining my email community and getting access to these lesson notes, you can click on the link in the description, join the community and uh you can access the notes. If you are already a part of it, don't worry, I will send them to you. How about the next one? Many companies have reliance m foreign labor. Once again, we're just talking about those three prepositions down below. In, on, at. Which one is going to complete this sentence? Many companies have reliance m foreign labor. So, what would you say? We're talking about the noun reliance, and we're going to follow it with which preposition? And the answer is to have a reliance on someone or something. In this case, a reliance, we're talking about that dependence on someone or something. Now, in this case, if we we have the noun reliance and we're going to follow it with on. If we change it to if we use it as a verb to rely, once again, we're going to follow it with on. To rely on someone or something. Here are some other example sentences besides the first one. Many companies have reliance on foreign labor. Her reliance on coffee to stay awake is starting to affect her health. Or the company's reliance on outdated technology has slowed down its progress. My goal I hope as long as I keep saying the phrase reliance on, reliance on, reliance on, it's just going to it's going to stick up here in your brain. Here we go. Our success depends teamwork. Now we're talking about a verb to depend. Are we going to follow that with in, on, or at? Our success depends. Teamwork. This is another I I told you these are common phrases. These are phrases that you're going to use in daily conversation when you're talking casually with a friend or a family member or a colleague. And you're going to say that something depends on something else. Excellent, Lai Joanna. Um, Marty, perfectly. Perfect. To depend on. Depend. I I think you know the meaning, but just in case, I'm putting it up here. To be influenced or determined by something else. Our success depends on teamwork. Our ability to finish on time may depend on the weather as we're working outdoors. And you can always depend on Sarah to help you out when you're in a bind. And if you're unfamiliar with that last phrase, in a bind, it just means that you are in a difficult situation and you could say you're in a bind. But you can depend on Sarah. So depend on, just keep that in mind. She has a wealth of experience managing projects. Once again, we're just keeping in mind that those three prepositions in, on, at, a wealth of experience, managing projects. We're we're talking about the noun experience and we're going to follow that with which one? So the answer in this case and I I would say definitely use this preposition again sometimes you may hear others but she has a wealth of experience in managing projects. So you have experience you have knowledge or skill in a particular job or activity and you know you may not always follow it with a preposition but if you do you and you're going to talk about the area of expertise or some field we're going to follow it within. She has a wealth of experience in managing projects. His experience in graphic design helped him land a job at a at the creative agency. And finally, I'm looking for someone with experience in data analysis to join our team. You have experience in something. Just to keep this a little uh, you know, casual, here's a funny little meme joke that I I found. So, I thought I would share it with you. But again, still using experience in. So, it's like this woman interviewer is asking, "You're asking for a pretty high salary for someone who has no experience in this field." And the person who's applying for the job, this guy says, "Well, this job is going to be super hard since I have no idea what the I'm doing." All right? So, it's it's kind of humorous in that he has, look, you have no idea. That means you're going to have to work very hard to learn what you should do. keep it light from from time to time. What do you think? I was skeptical first, but now I believe it's possible. And this one I I will clarify something, but think about the the expression. That's a little bit of a hint, but I feel like this is a phrase that you've heard of before. You may even use it. I was skeptical first, but now I believe it's possible. So, this is one of those situations when you're not sure. Even if you're unsure, I would say what what feels right. Often times, it's not always best to just go by feeling, but when it comes to these prepositions, I absolutely think it is. I was skeptical at first. skeptical at something. So skeptical, it just means you're not easily convinced. Maybe you're having doubts or reservations. So I said to think of it like an expression skeptical at first. So we're really talking about that phrase at first. We're going to use at. At at first I I felt this way and now I feel this way. So we're when we're talking about that entire phrase, I was skeptical at first, but now I believe it's possible. often. And the thing that I wanted to point out is that when you use the adjective skeptical, most of the time you're going to follow it with of. Now, I know we're talking about in, on, and at, and this is a specific phrase, skeptical at first, but then, you know, talking about how you're no longer skeptical, but mostly you would say that you are skeptical of someone or skeptical of something. To reinforce this, I gave you those news headlines down below. It just says why some EV researchers are skeptical of BYYD's fast charging tech. And then finally, analysts are skeptical of Apple's $1 billion deal with Nvidia. So, keep in mind if we're talking about this phrase, skeptical at first, and often it's used together like that, uh, but generally speaking, that the adjective skeptical is often going to be followed by of. you're skeptical of someone or something. I know with these prepositions they can they can be certain. They they can certainly be confusing which again is why I hear mistakes small minor mistakes. These are just very small mistakes which goes back to accuracy. This is all about accuracy speaking and writing accuracy. Their success business is impressive. Which of these prepositions are you going to use? In, on, at? We're talking about the noun success. This is a word that you know that you use. But in this case, which preposition are you going to follow it with? I hope that you said, and I see a lot of them. Excellent. Uh Joanna Tayo, John. Success in the accomplishment uh of an aim or purpose. you have success in something, success in life. Their success in business is impressive. Or here's another couple of sentences for you. Their success in the startup world is attributed to their innovative approach and teamwork. Or the company's success in launching the new product exceeded all expectations and you have success in something or excess in in doing something. This uh I this is not really humorous. I just thought it was kind of cute. Your greatest success in life may not be something you achieve, but someone you love. All that the dog with all those little puppies around there. Yeah, I just thought it was cute. Maybe a good way to reinforce success in something. And I hope that Yes, thank you. Excellent, Lilly. I hope that you read my mind. I hope that all of you have great success in learning English, improving your skills, whether it's vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation. I just want to help you reach your fluency goals. And again, I know these prepositions sound like, oh, in, on, at, I know these. I use them all the time. This can be a little tricky, and it's all about accuracy. When you say the verb, noun, adjective, I want to make sure that you're using the correct preposition. So, how about uh this one? He was insistent getting the job done his way. Which preposition are we going to follow insistent with? He was insistent getting the job done his way. So, in this case, you are going to say someone was insistent on doing something. So, if you're insistent, it just means you're you're firmly saying that uh something must be true or done. He was insistent on getting the job done his way. They were insistent on getting the best seats for the concert even though they arrived late. Or, my parents were insistent on me attending college even though I wanted to travel the world first. That sounds like me. Um, once again, we're talking about the noun insistent, and we're going to follow that with on. If we're going to use this as a verb, we're still going to use on. To insist on something. I insist on you answering, participating in these lessons. I insist on you participating and writing your answers in the chat, in the comments. This is, after all, interactive English. And yeah, I want you to participate. What do you think? This beautiful picture right here. They gazed the beautiful sunset. I feel like uh I feel like that many of these you you should know. I hope that you're doing very well on this quiz. That's the idea is that this is just reinforcing it and just trying to iron out these small mistakes. It's all about accuracy. They gla they gazed the beautiful sunset. So again, if you you know what the word gaze means, it it makes it a lot easier. Uh they gazed at the beautiful sunset. If you're gazing at someone or something, you're just it's a look steadily or intently, especially in I don't know, admiration, surprise, thought, beauty. They gazed at the beautiful sunset. I often gaze at old photos, reminiscing about the good times I've had. And finally, he couldn't help but gaze at the beautiful paintings for hours, admiring every detail. So gaze, you you see in the meaning right there, that that look whenever we're talking about that meaning, you're going to follow it with at. You gaze at something. You look at something. You stare at something. More or less. Those are synonyms. I think using gaze or stare is a little more precise. Gives more information. But in either way, you're going to follow all of those verbs with at. Gaze at, look at, stare at. What do you think? I have faith. your ability to succeed. And this is true. I would say this to you. I have faith your ability to succeed. I almost just said the preposition there. So what uh you you have faith someone or something. And I feel like this is often uh you could even think of this as a collocation using faith someone's ability when talking about uh again I'm almost the more I talk the more I actually almost accidentally give the answer but since many of you yes you wrote it down there perfect faith in so faith means you have complete trust or again confidence in someone or something you believe in someone or something. All of those again the they they sometimes can be used interchangeably. You have faith in someone. You believe in someone. You have confidence in someone. But let me give you some more example sentences just to really Yeah, I'm going to keep saying that. Reinforce faith in I have faith in your ability to succeed. That is true. His faith in humanity was renewed after seeing all kinds of uh acts of kindness during the crisis or despite the challenges they never lost faith in their vision for the company. You have faith in someone. Lai I really appreciate it. You have faith in me. I have faith in in in you as well. Perfect. So, one thing I I also wanted to share with you was some more collocations because I talked about faith in someone's abilities. And that is a a phrase that you may often hear using the faith in. You may also hear somebody talk about faith in humanity. You heard it in one of those example sentences. You may also have blind faith in someone or something that you you have blind maybe you have you know you're not going to change your belief in that case and you have blind faith in this person. You may also use it with the phrase to put your faith in someone and it's like putting your trust in someone. Notice with all these uh words that I'm using, trust in, believe in, faith in. And then finally, just you maybe you tell somebody and you want to convince them of something and say, "Look, have faith in me. I want you to have a little faith in me. It's very important. How about this? They decided a new course of action." So this picture I think is relevant. We're talking about change. And we're going to follow the verb decide. In this case, we're using in the past decided something. So, how are you going to complete this sentence? In, on, at? Write your answers in the chat, in the comments. And I love seeing all of these correct answers. Again, I feel like these are phrases. is these are definitely words that you should know and then it's just figuring out that preposition that follows. They decided on a new course of action. So you know this verb to decide. You come or bring a resolution in your mind as a result of consideration. And you may decide on something. Here's some other examples. It's hard to decide on the perfect gift when there are so many great options or we still haven't decided on where to go for vacation this year and you need to decide on something. How about this next one? I was surprised how well the event went. We're talking about surprised this adjective. I was surprised how well the event went. Which of these prepositions are you going to use? I'd like to give you a moment so I can see some answers and then uh um we can uh I'll let you know. So I was surprised. I see some differences in this case. You were surprised at something. I was surprised at how well the event went. You're not really you're not really going to follow this adjective with the preposition in. I saw that come up a few times, but you would be surprised at something. So, you know, surprised this feeling you get when you know something happens and you didn't expect it. Here's another couple of sentences for you. I was surprised at how quickly she finished the entire project. Or I was surprised at the price of the new phone. It was much cheaper than I expected. And you were surprised at something. Once again, I I don't think this is new necessarily. It's just about if if you didn't get one correct, just thinking about that answer, say looking at these sentences, reading them, maybe saying them out loud. It's all about accuracy and following these words with the corre correct preposition. What do you think about this one? There was a noticeable change m the weather. And once again, I think this is a bit of a collocation. We're talking about a change m something. And often people will use this when talking about the weather because the weather is constantly changing. And you may talk about a change m the weather and the fact that I'm talking about the weather again if you're unsure just what what feels right because I'm sure that you have probably heard this before and somebody talking about a change in the weather or a change in something. So when we change uh we make something or be it becomes difficult uh or uh different sorry or alter they decided um whoops that was a that's a little typo. I should have put that the first uh this first sentence up here. There was a noticeable change in the weather. Here are another couple of example sentences using change in the change in the schedule caused some confusion among the team or she made a noticeable change in her diet switching to healthier plant-based foods. So there is a change in something a change in the weather a change in your schedule or a change in your diet. I think those are actually topics that you may all they talk you may talk about hey there is a change in this thing and I I once again as I keep feel I feel like as long as I keep saying change in change in change in it's just going to stick up here in your mind that is the goal and maybe the next time you're talking you're just going to hear me saying change in change in how about this he is an expert ancient history. He is an expert. Ancient history. We're talking about an expert. Again, this is a common word. I think you know it. And how are we going to follow uh what what are we going to say? An expert. Ancient history. This is one that again this can be confusing and I will talk about why in just a moment and this is why English can be confusing and in particular this is why prepositions can be incredibly confusing and I understand why people make slight speaking mistakes. So we're talking about an expert and then we're following it with this this topic. So in in this case, this is what I would say. He is an expert on ancient history. So you know what an expert is? A person with a a great deal of knowledge uh about something or maybe they're very skillful in a particular area. Here are some example sentences and then I'll tell you why I think this can be very tricky. He is an expert on ancient history. The professor is an expert on climate change and has published several groundbreaking studies on the topic. And finally, as an expert on nutrition, she helps athletes optimize their diets for peak performance. So, the reason why I said this can be a bit tricky is because you you may hear people say expert on or expert in. And this is something that I thought was helpful and I thought uh Chenary summarized it well. And I'll read what was highlighted there. uh if you if you had said expert in instead of expert on both of them are correct but there is a slight difference in meaning. So it says in when you say in it makes the emphasis slightly heavier on the person who has expertise. So if you want to emphasize well the person is like their their expertise then you could use in. It says while on places some emphasis on the subject in which expertise is shown and they gave you an example my brother is an expert in foreign policy. So in that case if somebody is an expert in foreign policy it's like the the emphasis would be on the person the brother whereas if I like in our example sentence I said um he is an expert on ancient history it's like the emphasis is on the the topic the subject which is ancient history expert on expert in both of them are correct and once again for for this reason yeah it can be uh a bit confusing what What do you think about this sentence right here? The company aims in increasing its market share. We're talking about the verb aim. This is a verb that you probably know. It is not the most common verb in the world, but it is one that you may come across. You're listening to a movie, TV show, you're reading a a news article, and maybe you even see a sentence exactly like this. The company aims increasing its market share. Well done. Um, excellent. Lai, Talal, Aama, uh, Joanna, aim at uh, Alfred. So, when we're talking about the verb to aim, we're like having the attention uh, intention of achieving something. The company aims at increasing its market share. The new advertising campaign is designed to aim at younger a at a younger audience. And finally, the policy changes are aimed at improving health care access for undeserved communities. Aim at aim at aim at again just with that repetition. So here is a review of the the phrases that we were looking at today. And I've I've broke I've broken them down with the ones with on, in, at. So like on, we talked about a reliance on someone or something to depend on and someone is insistent on something or an expert on or in. We just talked about that or you decided on doing something. The phrase is within very common. I think often we use interested and you are interested in something or maybe you have a lot of experience in taking these quizzes and you do a great job which I hope you did. I hope you had a lot of success in taking this quiz and you did really well because I have faith in you. kind of just now ad libbing sentences as we go through these change in remember we talked about a change in the weather and then finally those phrases with at there there is an attempt at doing something or you aim at doing something you're gazing at someone or something same with look at or stare at you were surprised at something and finally skeptical at first remember I I wanted to include that as a phrase together you're skeptical at first but but once Again, if you're talking about the adjective skeptical, often we're going to follow that with the preposition of. So, what I'd like you to do is let me know in the comments how well you did on this quiz. I I hope that this was I hope that it was pretty easy for you, that you were able to get most of these correct because these nouns, verbs, and adjectives, I think, are fairly common. We use them all the time and I just want to make sure that you're using the correct preposition and this is a good way to practice. This is a good way to reinforce these words. So, these are very useful phrases, great way to build your vocabulary and improve your speaking and writing accuracy. I want to thank you guys for joining me today. Um, thank you to Kaio. I'm glad again I think you bring up a great point. If you feel a little more confident using these because when you're having a conversation, you don't need to stop to think about the correct preposition. Just use what comes naturally. And then what comes naturally, it's going to develop. Participating in quizzes like this, watching more movies, TV shows, reading more. I think reading is incredibly important, which is why I gave you all of those example sentences. And remember, if you want these lesson notes, join my email community. Check out that link down below in the description. Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see you soon for another lesson in the near future. So long. --- ## 479. Polite Ways to Express Sympathy in the Event of a Tragedy | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `doIOwBbWmlU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doIOwBbWmlU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:34:32 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about different ways to express sympathy when there's a tragic or unfortunate event. In this lesson, I will talk to you about some very, very useful expressions. Now these expressions are to be used when somebody close to you, or somebody you know, or somebody from work is going through a rough time. And these are things you can say to comfort a person, express your concern, or just express your sympathy. So something that I wanted to mention that is very important, is that when somebody's going through a rough time or when they're going through a loss, we want to make sure that we have the right words to comfort this person. We don't want to use something that can be potentially offensive. So it's very important that you pay attention to the context and that you say the right things. I'm going to provide you kind of some of the context that we can use these words in and what you should say. So first I want to talk to you about smaller losses or problems. If somebody is going through an issue but that's not...it's not incredibly tragic. So here's something you can say in this case. Now this one is very general. It can literally apply to almost any problem that somebody is going through. Maybe they're having a rough patch in their relationship. Or maybe they... the situation at home is not good. Or things that work a little bit difficult. This can cover a whole lot of different things. It just shows that you care and that you want this person to be better. I hope things get better soon Let's look at another one. So this one is obviously a little bit more specific. And it has to do with illness. If somebody is going through an illness or through a sickness, you can tell them that you hope they feel better. Well I hope you feel better, Clark. I hope you feel better Santa. I hope that you feel better Gus. Well then... I hope you feel better. Now again, something important to mention is you shouldn't really say this to somebody who's going through a really bad illness or chronic illness. Because they might not get better. And it might be one of those things where it's just really inappropriate. Only use it for illnesses where you know the person is going to recover. Okay, so what do we say for even more serious illnesses, more serious problems, or even death? Here are some things you can say. The most common one by far is... This one's very, very common and it can also be very professional. If a co-worker or your boss or somebody at work is going through a personal tragedy like a death. We say "I'm sorry for your loss." I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sorry for your loss. My lady, I'm sorry for your loss. It's very appropriate. It's not offensive. And you can safely use it. Now if somebody's going through something, and this doesn't have to be related to death, but it can be it, is... Now, many people, if they're religious and if you know that the other person is religious as well and they would benefit from this you can also add... Otherwise you can just say "You are in my thoughts" or "I am thinking of you." And this can mean if somebody's going through an illness, a serious illness, or a personal problem, or tragedy, or a death. You can say "You are in my thoughts." This next one is only in case of death. You can say... Very important. You only say this if somebody had passed away. Please accept my heartfelt condolences at this most difficult hour. Please accept my sincere condolences for your father. Please express my condolences to their families. Mrs. Ostrova. Please accept my condolences on behalf of the President and the people of the United States. And that's the only time that it's appropriate to say this expression of sympathy. Here's another one. This again has to do with death, and it can be interchangeable with some of the ones we've already said. And the last one also relating to loss is... And this one, just like the other ones, are expressions that relate to to to a loss of life, to death. Now what I wanted to say is that you can use a combination of these or more than one of these to express your sympathy to somebody. So for example, you can say... But you don't have to. You can use just one of these and it will effectively convey the message that you're trying to send, which is that you are thinking about this person in their time of need. So I hope you really never have to use these expressions. But the truth is that sometimes life is unexpected and somebody that we know is going through a rough time. And this is when this vocabulary will really, really come in handy. It's very, very important that we have to find the right words to comfort our friends and family and co-workers in their time of need. So in the comments, please write down... What other expressions do you want us to talk about? And maybe we'll do a video lesson. If you found this video useful, please hit that Like button. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 480. Popular American Slang That People Always Use | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qkPyic29AaA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkPyic29AaA) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:38:37 | --- Today, I am going to blow your mind with some popular American slang. BOOM! So in today's lesson, I'm going to talk to you about some popular and common slang that Americans regularly use. And remember, learning slang...it's mostly important for your listening comprehension. I've had many English learners tell me like... you know in the classroom I understand everything. But when I go outside in the streets, or if I'm watching a movie, it's really hard to understand. And that's because people use it informally, casually, in colloquial speech. If you're an English learner, it's not really necessary that you go out and use these words. But it is good for your listening comprehension. So let's talk about some common American slang that Americans love to use, especially me. The first one that I want to talk to you about is COOL. And no, I'm not talking about the temperature. I'm talking about something or someone that you like. If something or someone is cool, it means that that you are impressed by this thing, or you are impressed by this person. Now, if you are really impressed, then you could say that something is AWESOME. I use this all the time if I want to express that this is something that I really like, I really enjoy. I'm really impressed with it. I say that it's awesome. For example, if you guys hit that like button, that would be awesome. You guys...you'd be so cool. Next is the word BABE. Now, this is used to refer to a person's loved one. One's girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife. And you say babe instead of saying their name. I think it's a little more common that men use it to refer to their girlfriend or their wife. But it is a gender-neutral word. Women do use it when referring to a man as well. Be aware. Don't just say this to anyone. Not to an acquaintance, not to just a friend, or a colleague. Because it can be very offensive, and they might take it the wrong way. Why are you calling them babe? Are you trying to be romantic with them? What's going on? Just don't do it. Now, younger people might not use babe as often. It's a little bit of an older slang term. Instead, they may use BAE. And this is an acronym that is short for Before Anyone Else. It's also a word that can refer to your boyfriend, or girlfriend, your loved one. Someone that you have a romantic relationship with is your BAE. Next is a slang word that I like to use. And maybe I use it a little too much. And that is DUDE. And this just refers to a younger man, a guy. Because if somebody says "It's a dude." Then they're talking about, well...It's a guy. It's a man. Now I found a lot of fascinating information about this slang word. Because it's been around for a long time. And according to the Urban Dictionary, over a hundred years ago the word used to mean a person that was very snobbish and stuck-up. Then the meaning changed and it referred to a person that moved out west into the countryside. And this person just didn't know what the hell they were doing. And the meaning of the word has changed again. Because today it just refers to a younger man. A guy. A dude. Next, we have RIPPED. Most of us would just think of the verb "to tear something." But that's not what we're talking about. Instead, we're talking about somebody that is very strong very, very muscular. Muscles are really well defined. You would say that person is ripped. For example, I think I'm pretty ripped. Here's a picture of me at the gym. Muscles very well defined. Very strong. Ripped. This slang word also has another meaning which is to be intoxicated. If somebody is ripped, then maybe they've been drinking a lot or maybe smoking a little too much. We could say that this person is ripped. If you're talking about somebody who's intoxicated, ripped is not the most common way that somebody would refer to them. Instead, the slang word that they would probably use is this one right here, which is WASTED. So if somebody is very, very, very intoxicated, I'm sure you've probably seen somebody who fits this description. Somebody's intoxicated. They've been drinking way too much. Then, they're wasted. Another popular slang word is LIT. And no, this is not the past tense of light. It used to mean somebody who was intoxicated. However, that meaning is outdated. People people don't use it anymore. Nowadays, younger people use lit as an adjective to talk about something that is that is really awesome, really exciting. Or maybe even a person that that is really cool. So you could say that movie is lit. Or my best friend, she's lit. Interactive English...it's lit. I don't really use this word. So I feel a little strange saying it because I think I'm a little too old to say it. It's mostly younger people nowadays. Another slang word that I really like is ANTSY. And this is an adjective to refer to somebody who is impatient. Somebody that just cannot wait any longer. They're ready to do something else. They don't want to sit still anymore. That person is antsy. Another popular slang word, and one that is not so good is DIS. Dis this is short for disrespect, and it means to disrespect someone. So it can be either a verb "to diss (someone)," or it could be used as a noun, "a dis." But it means to disrespect someone in some way. You say something mean or nasty and you dis someone. We should all be respectful. You shouldn't dis anybody. It's not nice. It's unnecessary Next is BROMANCE. And this is just a cute amalgamation of the words "bro" and "romance." And it means love or affection shown between two heterosexual men. So most guys out there, they may be involved in a bromance. Or maybe they were involved in a bromance at one point or another. But it's when...guys, it's nothing sexual. Maybe you're gushing over this other person and maybe showing a little too much affection and expressing it. And other people see it. And they could think, "Oh okay. These guys have a bromance going on." The next line word which you might hear in TV or movies is GAYDAR. This is another amalgamation between two words. And those words are "gay" and "radar." And gaydar is just the ability to tell whether or not somebody is a homosexual. And it's not really used in a derogatory sense at all. It's mostly...you'd hear it in conversation if you're talking about some other person, and you're trying to think well maybe this person's gay, maybe they're not gay. And you talk about that person's ability to tell. And you mention somebody's gaydar. If you are in school or when you were in school, I'm sure you came across this word and that is CRAM. So cram is used as a verb. To cram is to try and learn a large amount of information in a very, very, very short period of time. So things that you can cram for. You can cram for an exam. You could cram for a test. Cram for a quiz. We've all been there. I think we've all done it. We didn't study, and we waited until the night before. And we have to cram I hope some of these words were new for you. And that the next time you are watching a movie or listening to music, you could try to listen for some of these because again, it's good for your listening comprehension. Now I want to hear from all of you guys. So in the comments, I want you to share with us any slang that you know, that you are familiar with. And this could be American slang. It could be British slang, Australian slang. Just write the word and tell us what it means. It's great to be able to expand our list and learn more. Even if you don't know of any slang, we still want to hear from you. Write to us. Tell us something that you think is awesome. We just want to hear from you guys. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. And as always, thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 481. Popular English Proverbs to Sound Like a Native Speaker | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `yegrza-wnw4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yegrza-wnw4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:38:55 | --- what's up everyone hello hello hello welcome to today's lesson my name is West this is interactive English which of course is the place that you guys you want to be when you want to practice and improve your English skills so today today I have a very cool lesson for you it's a lesson that I've been wanting to do for some time and that is talking to you about English proverbs so proverbs are you know they're they're nothing new I think many of you might be familiar with some proverbs or you've heard them before either on TV or watching a movie so some of these we'll see how many of these you know but I want to take a quick moment and say hello to people that are joining us lolly Allie nassima niya go xie kamila Hasan Raphael Jimmy and sorry again if I'm mispronouncing names I'm trying to go through this quickly Bertrand if you're joining us please I really want to hear from you say hello in the chat write your name tell me where you're from tell me if this is your first time here too I love hearing from new people that are just discovering us and even if you're watching this later please write it to us in the comments let me know your name where you're from I want to hear from you again I want to make that connection with you guys so today we're gonna talk to you about proverbs so the first thing again just to answer the question well what are proverbs just so you know in case you have not heard this English word before well a proverb it is a well-known saying that states a general truth or just gives a piece of advice so again it's basically we use them to talk about a certain situation now bonus points to anyone out there for you guys that are here with me right now bonus points who can tell me what what movie is this from I don't know if it's really an actual proverb but it was in a movie from uh while ago I don't how old many of you are but bonus points if you can tell me which movie is this from write it in the chat just write the name of the movie you don't have to complete the proverb I'm curious to see if you know if you don't know I will tell you in a second so again proverbs they they state a general truth or they stayed a piece of advice now in the title of this I had said okay well this is going to help you sound more like a native speaker the reason the reason I said that is because I think we use proverbs a lot to talk about a certain situation and it's kind of like to capture the moment and sometimes proverbs are specific to certain languages and they they're even rooted in culture a little bit so I'm often surprised I take notice if I'm talking to an English Learner or somebody who I know that English is not their first language if we're having a discussion about a topic and they use a proverb it always catches my attention I always notice it I'm like oh wow okay cool well it says something to me about their their level of English and how well connected they are with the English language the culture because they're able to use it and use it correctly in the correct context so that's something when I teach you the meaning of these proverbs to really kind of give you an idea as to to what context you're going to use it in so yes yes yes so many of you go see a junior Nia and Forrest Gump Pablo Darwin excellent yes this is from the movie Forrest Gump it's a bit of an older movie now at this point so yes that's that's a proverb from that movie again I don't know if it's a real proverb but just wanted to kind of test your pop culture knowledge to begin with so the way we're going to do this is as we go through these I'm gonna make it a little bit of a quiz so I'm going to give you the proverb part of the proverb and you have to try and complete the rest all right so it's gonna be like multiple-choice to see if you can the reason I'm doing this is just to see if you can go ahead and I defy the proverb that this is something that you've heard that's something that you're familiar with so I kind of want to just check and see if you can identify it so it's gonna be a little bit of a quiz at that first part and then I'm actually going to tell you the answer and tell you the proverb I'm going to tell you what it means and I am gonna try and talk to you a little bit about the origin I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this but so many times many of you when we've done lessons on idioms people have asked like well where did this come from where did this start and usually we don't focus on the origin but because we're dealing with proverbs I've looked some of this up and I've given you the origin now keep in mind that I think some of this is debatable this is not like so many times you might hear something and people say well now this person said it or this person said it so again this is just I did some quick checking online to see what it said and then this is what I found so again don't take this as like oh this is absolutely where it came from you might find different things but the reason again I want to highlight like why proverbs are so important because again we use them all the time often when I teach proverbs people will tell me that you know oh I have we have a similar proverb in mandarin or they'd be like oh and Portuguese yeah it means the the exact same thing or they'd say oh this is how we say it in Spanish so we have proverb the proverbs are used in all languages so it's good to learn well what are what are some English ones so the first one that I have for you is this and I want you to just write your answer again write your answer in the chat or even if you're watching this later part of the proverb all right it's not be the whole thing but most of the time when you hear it you just hear this first part when in mmm so what do you guys think write your answer write it in the chat write it in the comments what city are we are we talking about when you might hear this proverb and then I'll let you know I think it is a bit more common and you guys could tell me if it's the same in your native language or maybe it's completely different but yes excellent awesome lolly whiffy so yes When in Rome exactly in the full the full proverb When in Rome do as the Romans do most of the time and this is just my opinion I think probably like 80 or 90% of the time most people just throw out like when in Rome because you people get the idea and what it means is that when you are visiting another country or another place that you should follow their customs you should follow their rules you should follow their traditions the the people that live there so for example like when I lived in Korea and I would go out to eat dinner in Korea you know that people use chopsticks I you know growing up in the United States we didn't often use chopsticks but it'd be something like you know okay When in Rome I should use chopsticks I should I should follow that custom when when having a meal so that would be kind of an example When in Rome so again When in Rome do as the Romans do when you travel go somewhere you should try and follow those customs and again III think this is so true as many places as I've been I've tried to always follow this and and keep in mind we'll eat if this is not the way it's done in the United States you know doesn't matter you should try to follow their customs try and respect the culture and the traditions and and keep that in mind and you know when in Rome the expression if you want to know it was found in a letter from Saint Augustine and 3390 ad this information right here is probably not something you really need to know but many of you have asked like oh well where do these come from so that is where it came from the next one alright are you ready a picture is worth oh wait I just realized I see a mistake not if should say a picture is worth uh words all right how many words what do you think a hundred a thousand a million all right and again that is a typo right there I just realize it it's amazing as you go through I create these lessons I create these slides I go through them I check them again like okay this is good this is perfect yes I got everything and then as we're doing this I'm like oh my goodness simple mistake alright it should be is a picture is worth uh words what do you guys think alright I this is a common one I think I think you you people hear this all the time so we're getting some different answers in here but the correct answer is a picture and again I made the same typo on this slide a picture is worth a thousand words that's the that is the proverb that you will hear a picture is worth a thousand words and it is the the notion that or the idea that a picture can provide more information than words or that that you can basically summarize some complex idea or thought with just a picture you don't have to have this long written document to explain something a picture can usually tell us a lot of information fun fact as I was looking through this it seemed like the original one was saying a picture is worth ten thousand words but that was the that was the earliest use and then I came across this it said an early use of the exact phrase as it as it is here as people say it today appeared in 1918 in a newspaper ad for the San Antonio light that is I guess the earliest they could find this this exact phrase printed somewhere a picture is worth a thousand words so again that's just like yeah you know you usually I feel like you might hear it in a TV show where you know somebody's like a cop show or something a detective and they got a picture of somebody and somebody's like they see the picture that yeah picture is worth a thousand words that's that picture summarizes everything it says it all as to why they went a hundred as to why they got a thousand honestly I have no idea like I said I read that the original one it seemed it was ten thousand words but then what became popular is this one a picture is worth a thousand words the next one that I have for you guys is this one okay don't mmm the hand that feeds you don't mmm the hand that feeds you I'm getting ready to have a daughter so maybe later on in life if I'm arguing with my daughter or something maybe I might say this say hey don't mmm the hand that feeds you what do you think bite chew or rip okay and I think a lot of times again you can kind of put them in context based on what this statement is and you can put the meaning in context yes excellent thank you Mary go see autumn on Katherine nuyen all right yes bite bite bite bite bite don't bite the hand that feeds you and that just means if you tell somebody that it's like you're it's like you're giving a warning to them like hey don't disrespect me because I'm the one who's helping you I'm the one that's supporting you I'm the one that's providing you some benefit so it's saying like don't disrespect someone who is helping you or providing some benefits all right like don't bite the hand that feeds you and this one first scene in print in the 18th century Wow a long time ago by a political writer Edmund Burke so don't bite the hand that feeds you it's a good one I like it next one I think this one it's one it's probably my favorite of all of them and I think it's probably the most common one too and I know that in other languages there is either a similar proverb or they're just joining us we are talking about popular English proverbs that you are going to hear on TV movies and that depending on the conversation that you're having that you can use as well to kind of throw that out there and I think again people I'm often impressed by that when I hear an English Learner use a proverb use it correctly am i okay yeah cool exactly don't judge a book by it's cover yes hey excellent you guys rock that everybody got it if you got that answer hit that like button so that I know and you're like yes I'm rocking this so don't judge a book by it's cover III think again you could put that into context and mmm get the meaning that you should not prejudge the the worth or value of something or even a person based on the outward appearance alone so you can use this talking about a situation like I said you could talk about a person that you shouldn't judge a person whether they're a nice person or a mean person based on the way that that looks our don't judge a book by its cover it's it's what's inside that counts that's where the real value is what's inside and it's especially that's true for like a book because the story is why you're reading a book it doesn't matter what kind of cover it is on the outside but this is just so you know the phrase is attributed to a 1944 edition of the African journal American speech you can't judge a book by it's binding that was actually the original by its binding and then it kind of changed into cover and we have been using don't judge a book by its cover ever since so that is like I said I think this is one of my favorites and I think it's one that yeah we use quite often or I like to say because it's so true it's so true quickly I want to let you guys know again you can check us out on patreon if you haven't if you like what we do and want to show us some love check us out on patreon there are some cool rewards and I will leave a link in the description for you guys check that out so again if you are joining us a little late we are talking about popular English proverbs there meaning and kind of the context in which we use them so let's continue with our next proverb right here all right the grass is always mmm on the other side the grass is always on the other side this is actually I think again the full-time you might see it the grow the grass is always on the other side of the fence often I think it's shortened to this sometimes it's even shortened just to say the grass is always mmm what do you think all right the grass is always mmm on the other side so it depends on how you're looking at something somebody asked what the meaning is a binding the binding is kind of what what holds the book together like its spine so it's not the cover the front of the book but its spine that holds those pages together so excellent you guys Wow I think you know a lot of these you guys are rocking them I hope that you guys are able to use these in conversations if you're talking to somebody and throw these out there depending on the situation but yes the grass is always greener on the other side you could add make it the full proverb the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence I just often as I say it's like When in Rome you kind of shorten it you truncate it and this one you say you know yeah the grass is always greener and people know what you're talking about they know based on the situation that you're speaking of because it's talking about when people think the the life or situation of others it always looks better than their own that oh this situation is always better than their situation is always better than mine it's like oh the grass is always greener even if it's not true even if it's just it's all in your mind that you think this situation that this life is better and you think the grass is always greener this is so true nowadays with with Instagram and the way everybody sees other people's lives and they just see these pictures these snapshots and they're traveling they're doing all these things and people think wow oh my gosh their life is so amazing it's so wonderful except that Instagram is not true it is not the the actual reality of somebody's life even now like people will talk see us like because again people want to post pictures of the amazing things in life the cool things nobody nobody really posts a picture of them like watching Netflix but so again this this is really applicable today because of the way that we view each other based on the information that we have the grass is always greener another example that I think of is when I've lived in different countries you know I'll I'll leave a country or something and I'll go back to United States and well when I'm in a country you know when or when you guys are in a country you start realizing that oh like this doesn't work as well or this is not how we usually do it oh I wish it were like the other way and then when you go back all right to your home country you start to realize all the good things that actually existed there because it's like huh I didn't appreciate this when I was there it's like oh the grass is always greener you don't know and you you don't know until you've gone that but what was good what was the better situation so yes this is great this is a great proverb I like using it I also like using the next one which is this one what do you guys think mmm heads are better than one I think I think even if you've never heard of this you could probably take a good guess and get the right answer what do you think two three or four what do you think I mean again they're there you can get the right answer but again think of just think of the proverb all right you're talking to another person what would somebody say mmm heads are better than one what what do you think write your answer in the chat in the comments just want to hear you guys all right so yes all right Thank You Lally Christina Garcia Pablo Javed lady Olivia gosh you guys you rocked it excellent two heads are better than one and I don't know why I thought that that picture of the giraffe was funny so I threw that in there so when you're talking to somebody and you know you're like two heads are better than one it's basically just saying that it's helpful to have the advice or opinion of another person that so that you don't have to make the decision all you know solve it ask your partner ask your husband your wife ask your children whoever your friend two heads are better than one why should you ask them because two heads are better than one then yes where was it this proverb was first recorded and John Hay woods a dialogue containing a number in effect of all proverbs in the English tongue 1546 and yes I realize though there are a bunch of mistakes in there and you can look it up if you want I checked it because I was like wait a second is this was this a typo but apparently this was actually the name of this this document or this story I don't even know or this book or this paper even with all of these mistakes that's where this proverb was kind of first found and first recorded so yes yes three is good for is confusing yes exactly the more people sometimes it gets there becomes more problems in trying to solve a problem too many people might not be a good thing but two heads definitely is better than one what about so for this next one all right I'm gonna make it a little more difficult I am NOT going to give you a B or C I'm not going to give you multiple choice I'm just gonna give you a blank and I want to see if you can complete it alright what do you think better mmm then sorry I mean if you've heard this before then you know write that answer write it in the chat write it in the comments even if you haven't heard it try to try to put it together alright you know right right what feels natural to you because I think oftentimes we're unsure even though at some point you may have heard this in the past you have met you maybe you have read it somewhere and you just don't remember exactly sure like Oh Dwight do I know this just go ahead and write it it doesn't matter if you make a mistake here this is the one place where it is perfectly fine I encourage you to make mistakes all right better mmm then sorry okay getting some different answers yes the correct one is better safe than sorry somebody might say you know hey better safe than sorry and what this means is it's better or wiser to be cautious and careful than to be hasty and rash and do something you may later regret so instead of like if if you have to you know maybe you have to get somewhere and you can either you can either fly or you can take the train and you think of like though maybe the way maybe there's a plane strike or something there's an airline strike and you're not sure if it's gonna be flying you're thinking well it's faster to take the it's faster to take the plane but I I know that if I take the train I'm going to get there it's not going to be a problem better safe than sorry I'm gonna take the train even though a plane might be faster but it could get cancelled and then I'm really screwed so it's a situation and that you know you the decision that you make is the safer one it's the more cautious and careful one even though the other decision might be better if it works out you'd say you know it's better safe than sorry better to be safe than to be sorry okay so it's a good one that if somebody's asking you you know two heads are better than one somebody's asking you for your advice and they're like I don't know what I should do if I do this decision well I'm gonna get there quicker I'm gonna get this done faster or it's gonna be easier but if I do this other one then it's gonna be slower but I know it'll work and you might say you know I would just do this one I'd do the slower one better safe than sorry you know you don't want to regret this so just take make the safe decision better safe than sorry next one let's do this one so now you know if you guys didn't know that one now you can use it this one I think maybe you've heard of all right if first this is something I say to students all the time or anybody in life I even say it to myself if at first you don't succeed what what do you think how how would you finish that proverb it is a very very very famous proverb a very proper mmm a very popular one what do you guys think write your answer in the chat or again if you're watching this later write it in the comments if at first you don't succeed what do you think all right what should you do and again there's different ways that I think you could finish this sentence the the proverb is one that you'll hear most often but again you could you could finish it in different ways so yes actually excellent good job Katherine lolly perfect if at first you don't succeed what you would hear most often people would say try and try again if at first you don't succeed try again or you could say or again you know first you don't succeed try and try again keep going don't give up keep trying alright so this is a statement of encouragement you want to encourage somebody who has failed or they didn't succeed to just keep doing it don't don't give up on it keep trying again and again and like I said I use it a lot I say it to students because so many times and I felt the same way when I've been learning Spanish and Romanian that you feel like giving up you're like oh alright I'm not making any progress it's it's too difficult like I'm just gonna stop for a while it's okay to take a break but I would always say you know you know just keep trying don't don't completely give up on it try again and again because at some point you're going to make it you're going to succeed you're going to reach your goals or that is the best way to potentially reach your goals and what you want to achieve and what you want to accomplish first you don't succeed try and try again this proverb I think it makes sense it was traced back to the teachers manual by American educator Thomas H Palmer and the children of the new forest by English novelist Frederick Marriott 1792 to 14 to 18 48 again this is information you you don't really need to know but just so you happen to have it in case you're out one night at trivia and somebody asks this then you'd be like oh I know where this proverb came from so again I would encourage all of you the same thing if you are your you're learning English you're trying to improve your skills you're trying to practice your your skills even if it feels like you're not making progress or progress is slow again hitting that like button so that we know that you guys enjoy these lessons so I hope that you guys enjoyed this lesson on English proverbs that you can that you understood them and depending on the situation that you can go out and use these Proverbs in conversation the next time you're having a conversation most of the time they're used in speaking it's not often you would see it in in writing unless somebody's writing a dialogue if they're writing a conversation so again this is more for for speaking for conversation or you might hear it listening to a TV show or a movie so please please please like and share the lesson with anybody that you know who's trying to practice and improve their English skills write to us in the comments let me know which proverb do you like which proverb or which proverb did you learn I just want to hear from you guys and again you can join us right there these social media classes were on Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course right here at YouTube Thank You Lally Olivia go SIA Rafi ottoman ceci you Yin it's me Molly Amano thank you thank you thank you so Jen Adriano Thibault Curtis Gor to this I'm trying to just sorry again if I mispronounce names I just try and go through this quickly quickly quickly but thank you guys for joining me keep an eye out for a next lesson not sure when that will be I know this was a a random Sunday lesson but with the end of the year approaching there's a lot of end-of-the-year craziness right now but keep an eye out thank you guys for being here with me today I hope you enjoyed the lesson and I will see you next time so long --- ## 482. Popular Internet & Computer Symbols to Improve Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `z_nyDN4RoNQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_nyDN4RoNQ) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:40:17 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about some common internet symbols that you probably see every day and what those words are in English. That's coming up. So most of us use the internet every day. Most of us probably use it too much. So we see these symbols all the time. These are symbols that are on the keyboard, but maybe you don't know what these names are in English. And it's important to know the names because if we're communicating with somebody else, especially in business. We need to be able to tell people the right information. Even for something as simple as giving out your email address, you need to know these symbols. What are these words? We need to know these words. So I'm going to tell you. So the first symbol that I want to talk to you about is this one, right here. And if you've studied English grammar you may be looking at this and thinking well, it's just a period. Or maybe it's a full stop. Well, it's neither one of those. If we're talking about it as an internet symbol, it is just a dot. When you see this if you're looking at a website or talking about an email address, you would just say dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. This is a dot. So say dot. The next symbol, this one right here, is also used when we're talking about email addresses. And you would just say "At." If you're saying this symbol, you just say "At." It's like you're pointing somebody to a specific location. Where is it at? So for example, if I were to give you our email address, I would say it is.... Where can you find it? You can find it at gmail. And then everything pretty much always ends with a dot something. All email addresses and most web addresses end with .com But there are other dots out there. But that is how you would correctly say your email address or or somebody else's email address. At something, dot something. Now, perhaps the most common internet symbol that we use, and people even talk about this symbol nowadays is this one right here. And it is called a hashtag. And we use a hashtag as a way of labeling a conversation or labeling a topic. Most of the time when we post stuff on Facebook and Twitter, we will use a hashtag to identify that it's from us, Interactive English. Just do a search, #InteractiveEnglish. See what you find. Another symbol you might see is this line right here, and this is called an underscore. Now this line is low. It's at the bottom because it's used to underline words or phrases in order to give emphasis. And I think it's more common that people use an underscore in documents or passwords if they want to make it look like there's a space in between the words. So for example, I could write... And now it looks like there's a space between the two words. And that sometimes makes it just a little bit easier to read. Next is a slash. And a slash...we can make it a little more specific and say a backslash or a forward slash. Often times you don't actually have to say this word. But it's always good to know what it means. If I have a Documents folder, I'm looking for a specific file. And you could say, well it's in... That would be how to find this video. Another internet symbol that you will encounter from time to time is this one right here. And it is called an asterisk. And we use an asterisk mostly to kind of make a note about something, maybe a footnote. Sometimes when you guys write a sentence in the comments like we asked you to do I might point out a correction and use an asterisk to make a note about that correction, so that you are aware of it. Another symbol that you might see from time to time is this one right here. And this is a hyphen. If this is a longer line, then it would be called a dash. So a hyphen is the shorter one. A dash is the longer one. Now, you're probably wondering... What the hell is the difference between a hyphen and a dash? Well a hyphen, which is the shorter line, is used to join two words. And these could be compound adjectives like... We could also use it with compound nouns. A dash, on the other hand, which is that longer line, is used when we want to add comments, statements, or emphasis to a sentence. And there is a space on either side of a dash. Another internet symbol that you'll see on your keyboard is this one right here. And the caps lock just means that all the letters that you type are going to be capital letters. We're using capital letters, maybe to give emphasis to something. But caps lock is just a way of making sure that everything we type is in capital letters. Another symbol that you might see from time to time this one right here. And these are just called brackets. And we use brackets...we put information inside them. Now I don't think brackets are as common as these right here, which are parentheses. So when we're putting information inside, and we want to contain it inside an area, we mostly just use parentheses. But in case you see these somewhere, they are called brackets. I hope that you're able to learn some new words today, some of these internet symbols. And if you have any other questions let us know in the comments. If there are other symbols, and you want to know what this word is in English write the symbol in the comments and we will let you know. If you enjoyed this lesson, please share it with anybody you know who's trying to improve their English skills. As always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 483. Practice & Improve your English! ๐Ÿ‘ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `XYhR3oVDgdY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYhR3oVDgdY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:55:55 | --- [Music] interactive English is a series of videos designed to help students learn practice and improve their English [Music] skills our videos focus on active language learning so we're not just talking to you about grammar vocabulary or other language Concepts we want you to participate easy we don't want you to just watch our videos we want you to point click WR we even want you to speak to us look we want to help you improve your English and we feel that the best way to do that is with interactive lessons how does that [Music] sound you can join our Global classroom by subscri subscribing to our YouTube channnel you can also follow us on social media where we post exercises and activities for our students we'll see you in class --- ## 484. Practice PREPOSITIONS in English | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hDO-WnhotKg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDO-WnhotKg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:24:46 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english and our channel is all about just trying to help everyone practice and improve their english skills and work toward achieving english fluency so today i have it's a bit of a practice lesson it's definitely a practice lesson but there's also a bit of grammar as well as vocabulary i have some words and phrases that maybe you don't know and you will find useful but specifically we're going to be talking about prepositions we're going to be learning and practicing the use of prepositions which is why i said it is bit uh has a little bit more of a grammar focus but also i'm going to incorporate some of that some new vocabulary in there so i'd start out by saying that prepositions can be very difficult and confusing for english learners because these are not words that typically stand out they're very small function words that are easy to forget we can use so many different prepositions with with adjectives and verbs and the one thing i would say is that when when i hear a learner make a mistake and maybe they use the incorrect preposition it does not mean that somebody probably won't understand what you're saying i think even if you make a mistake people will understand what you're trying to say this is just a matter of when when i mention working toward fluency so that um you were speaking correctly you were speaking accurately and i think by far the best way to learn prepositions is more reading and more listening which is exactly what we're going to do in today's lesson i'm going to give you some sentences that you can read that you can listen to me speak and use these prepositions and of course we are going to be practicing so i encourage all of you who are watching this right now to participate in today's lesson i'm going to give you different sentences and i want you to complete the sentence with the correct preposition so yeah yes rod prepositions get they prepositions can be nightmares sometimes so i hope that that these are not too much of a nightmare we're going to start with questions that i think are a little easier and then we're going to get a little more difficult and i've tried to choose prepositions that i think people may sometimes confuse and ones that well we'll get into it there the one thing i would say is that prepositions uh there are some rules that you can follow but i would not focus on just rules because sometimes there are just certain prepositions that are going to follow specific nouns or verbs or adjectives and that's what i mean by more reading more listening will help you understand um which ones to use so let's just go ahead and begin and the first question the first sentence that i have for you is this one right here i told you we will start um with something a bit easier and then it's going to get a little more difficult as we move on so the it's just a question that somebody might ask if i'm talking to a friend or whoever if i meet a new class and talk to some students i might just say hey what time do you wake up um the morning what preposition are we going to use in that blank we're talking about the morning which is a period of the day all right excellent lolly yes the i think most of you should probably i think most of you know this um were you going to use the preposition in in the morning and this is this is an example of i'd say if you're learning prepositions of time there are certain rules that you can follow if you have these periods of time throughout the day morning afternoon evening you're going to use in in the morning in the afternoon in the evening all right excellent uh great job uh esther angela silvio good to see you um so i i think many of you should be familiar with using this preposition of time let's look at the next one um what preposition best completes this sentence all right she wore a scarf um her neck okay again uh i just want you to fill in the blank with a preposition and this is why i said like i'm giving you some sentences you are reading these sentences you're going to listen to me and you're going to see the correct answer and the more you read the more you listen the better i think you're going to understand all of these prepositions so the the there's the one thing that i think uh prepositions can be tricky is sometimes you can use more than one this is an example where i think you could use one of two prepositions the one that i was looking for which i gave you in my answer is around she wore a scarf around her neck you could say she wore a scarf on her neck but i i've tried to give you that picture because i think when you're talking about something like a scarf most people are going to use a round because of the meaning of the preposition you're talking about around you're talking about something that moves along the side of something else and it kind of just goes around it so a scarf is something you would wear around your neck um another example would be something like you wear a belt around your waist or a satellite might might move around the earth or another key expression would be somebody saying that something is uh around the other side of something else like oh it's around the other side of the fence um and you have to move along that side of the fence and go around it so in this case i think a round would probably be the preposition that most people would use but again if you say on it's fine everybody understands that um and i think that works as well too um so let's go to the next one all right uh i hope you enjoy learning um interactive english all right what preposition would you use to complete this sentence and uh i i think it's true i hope i hope that you do enjoy learning um interactive english which preposition best completes that statement so that it makes sense it's easy to understand and this is a preposition that i think we you might commonly follow that might commonly follow learning if you're talking about learning um someone else all right again i saw some great answers uh yes uh lolly uh eloisa i i think uh again you could use one of two the one that i'd say i think more common people would learn with someone i so notice some people put from i think you could use from but i think mostly you you're talking about learning with someone you were doing this thing together and i'd say look i hope you really enjoy learning with interactive english um but again you could use from it also makes sense so those i think are the two prepositions that you would want to use to complete this sentence and it's true i really hope that you guys do enjoy learning with interactive english and i did want to take a quick moment to talk to you about a opportunity to not only learn with interactive english and learn with me but to speak to me as well we just recently launched our first course at the interactive english school it is a speaking course that's called speak up and enrollment is now open that this is a speaking course it is a 10-week course that uh we're going to meet once a week for 50 minutes and it's all about just giving you more opportunities to speak and and practice speaking um so i hope that the way that again it works is that i've each each week there's going to be a topic and i've created a bunch of questions like expressing opinions and it's all about just giving you more speaking opportunities because we're going to have the class on zoom and we're going to come together we're going to look at the questions and then we're going to break into smaller groups and that'll give you more opportunities to speak and i'm going to be jumping in and out of different groups talking to everyone making sure that everybody is getting as many speaking opportunities as possible so it's a 10-week course it's mostly for intermediate to advanced learners and again we're going to be looking at a bunch of different topics and talking about that and it's just all about speaking speaking and more speaking and what i think this class is going to just help you do is build your confidence help you with your listening skills because you're not only going to be speaking but you're going to be listening to others and we're also going to work on vocabulary like new words phrases idioms expressions that are related to the topic we do a little bit of practice with pronunciation as well to help people speak clearly and i i really hope that again it's going to help you overcome any speaking anxiety there is a link down in the description so please check out that link if you think you might be interested in joining speak up this is a class that we're launching now a class class is going to start on september 17th and 18th so you have until uh you have until september 15th to enroll in the course that's the final thing i want to say um about that you have until september 15th and we will run this class again in the future um because right now we're only starting out with a few different class times and um we will expand on this in the future again if you guys want any more information about speak up check out the link you can find out about times the price and all that all that good information okay so let's just jump back to our lesson that was my own little promo that i wanted to do and let you guys know about uh is available let's go back and continue talking about prepositions and uh here this is well this is actually a true a true statement um i'm missing we're missing two prepositions which prepositions would complete this sentence again i think hopefully these are maybe a little easier and they will get more difficult my birthday is um november this year it's um a thursday all right which prepositions uh would you use to complete this sentence all right we're talking about uh a month and then a day so again these are more some rules that you can follow um so this is true uh i think you guys got that one excellent my birthday is in november this year it's on a thursday so if we're talking about some of these prepositions of time we use in with months in january in october in november and on when we're talking about days on monday on tuesday on wednesday all right next is uh this one which is well let's let's they're they're missing two it's easy for learners to get fed um there's two blanks prepositions all right this is actually a phrasal verb and if you don't know what a phrasal verb is it's a verb that well it's a verb plus a preposition but in this case it's a three-word phrasal verb so which two prepositions follow that verb all right what do you guys think it's easy for learners to get fed um prepositions all right excellent uh lolly armin louisa uh rainier angela maria hellum so the answer is yes you are fed up with it is a three-word phrasal verb you have the verb plus a preposition when we talk about phrasal verbs those are those are other phrasal verbs are also um they can be confusing as well but if somebody is fed up with something it means that they are annoyed or unhappy or maybe they're just bored with some situation uh the next one is think about it there are two different people talking so that's why i've given you a and b so one person says where are you and the other person says i'm um the gym all right think about that guy he is uh this guy right there he is running on the treadmill and he is um the gym so there's two people talking you have a question somebody's asking where are you and the other person's saying i'm um the gym all right i think uh again excellent uh yeah wow lolly uh xfunny uh silvio graham maria i'm trying to get some shout outs in here uh at the gym and the what i wanted to highlight here is this is where the at and in maybe some prepositions that people might find a little confusing because if somebody says at the gym you're talking about the location and that location could be in or around some uh building office home you're just you're talking about that location in would refer to that you are inside or on the interior so in this case you could say like where are you oh i'm in the gym or where are you i'm at the gym either one is okay but i'd say it's more common for somebody to use at simply because when you're asking the question where are you somebody's asking about your location they want to know the location uh they want to know where you are at so in that case uh i think it's more common for somebody to say hey i'm at the gym so keep that in mind if you're talking about at and in those can be a little confusing if you want to know what the what's the difference at is location in is specific location that you are inside some place now the next one um we knew the plane would leave um time so we had to run and we just barely made it um time all right so you may be looking at this and thinking well wait this that's a little strange because both of these prepositions come before uh the word time all right but there's two separate uh two different meanings and two different situations that i'm referring to so we knew the plane would leave um time so we had to run and we just barely made it um time all right which prepositions would complete this sentence right here all right what do you think uh excellent um yes savitha rod um angela perfect so we knew that the plane would leave on time so we had to run and we just barely made it in time so i wanted to highlight the difference between on time and in time so if you say that something is on time it means that it is done or it happens when it should something might arrive on time when it should or perhaps it's going to leave on time when it should in time just you're referring to something that is just early enough that we finish the project in time we finished right before it was the deadline and you finished early enough you do something in time so i think of a situation in that um in that sense like you're you're doing something you have to meet some kind of deadline and you try to get something done in time in this case we made it in time uh we caught the plane just in time we were early enough to get on the plane so on time versus in time uh this one is told you a little bit of vocabulary um an expression i'd say well that people can use sometimes i'm not sure what we should do i feel like we're um a rock and a hard place which preposition would complete that sentence and again i told you this is um this is more of i think an expression that you may hear from time to time if people are referring to this specific situation which i'll talk about in just a moment so which preposition would you use i'm not sure what we should do i feel like we're a rock and a hard place all right excellent uh anna angela um so so bemida we're talking about between i'm not sure what we do what what we should do i feel like we're between a rock and a hard place so i told you that this is an expression um to be in between or just between a rock and a hard place you don't really need to use in there um that you could but it's more of a typo the expression is to be between a rock and a hard place and it means that you're caught in a situation that is difficult because there's no way out you have um a problem on this side you have a problem on that side and you'd say you're stuck uh between a rock and a hard place and you could be talking about some physical problem that there's nowhere to go or it could be um just more of a um an analogy that there is some just difficult situation that you don't know how to handle and you could say that you're between a rock and a hard place so that's a good expression to know the next one uh and this is true one day i dream um hiking mount kilimanjaro i actually um i actually i think i'd use this in a previous preposition lesson a preposition quiz that i had if you saw that one maybe you remember what preposition that would be a little more appropriate in this case uh there there are actually uh a couple of ones that you could use what do you think one day i dream hiking mount kilimanjaro what do you think all right so i think uh all right i think the there are two different prepositions that you could use all right i chose of one day i dream of hiking mount kilimanjaro and the reason i chose of i think when somebody dreams of something they're talking about something they hope to do in the future that they wish they could do this it is interchangeable with a bout you could also use a belt that's perfectly fine but i wanted to make a little bit of a distinction between of dream of and dream about because i think often when people say dream about they dreamt about something they're talking about an actual dream when they're sleeping at night and you could say well last night i dreamt about this thing i dreamt about hiking mount kilimanjaro but if i dream of it then i'm talking about some kind of hope or wish that i want to do in the future the one thing that i would say that um is just me in this sentence i'm using it in the present tense if somebody is talking about something they hope to do or wish to do in the present tense i think it's more common that they would use of one day i dream of doing this all right if you're talking about something in the past that same situation that in the past you dreamed about doing this thing then i think that people might use about um i don't know why this is just my opinion about a difference between uh of and about if it's the present tense i think people might be more inclined to use of if it's the past or maybe you're talking about the present perfect like oh i've always dreamt about hiking mount kilimanjaro in that case i think i might use about so that's just like a little subtle nuance between the two but really they're interchangeable dream of dream about when you're talking about something you hope to do in the future the next one the audience was captivated the performance all right the audience was captivated mmm the performance so in this case um the word captivated is a key because you often follow this adjective with this specific preposition uh the audience was captivated um the performance so think about that word captivated which preposition would typically follow that adjective you are captivated something excellent um uh corey excellent great job yes mina you are captivated by something the audience was captivated by the performance if you are captivated by something it just it really holds your attention and you're really focused on that so in this case a performance everybody's watching it they they it's holding their attention they cannot look away they are captivated by this thing so again this is a good example of an adjective that is often followed by this specific preposition captivated by now the next one is another it's another expression that people might say from time to time kind of depending on the situation it's better to ask um forgiveness than permission all right what what preposition is going to complete this uh this saying that people might use it's better to ask um forgiveness than permission and i told you this is a a way of more building vocabulary as well because i told you this is something that people may say from time to time kind of i guess maybe giving advice in this case and the key is ask if you're using that verb you ask um something everybody you guys rock that you ask for something it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission and i told you it's a famous saying because when it's used is like in a situation where you need to act immediately you need to make a decision but that decision could cause problems so you're going to ask for forgiveness and ask to you're going to apologize it for it later instead of trying to get approval to do it so i think of a situation in that um you want to do something maybe um you want to go out with your friends or something if you're you want to go out with your friends and uh you want to leave work early and you're worried that your boss is going to get upset somebody said hey you know instead of asking for permit it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission just go ahead and do it have fun and then you will apologize later for the thing that you did wrong so this is a good famous saying that you may hear from time to time then we have um this one how would you complete this sentence i'm thinking um a number between one and ten and this is another one where i feel like people may think that they can use a couple of different prepositions all right what do you think how would you which preposition would you use to best complete this sentence if i say hey you know i'm thinking um a number between 1 and 10. what would you say how would you complete that sentence right there uh excellent so i think many of you get this because you're familiar with that saying if somebody says i'm thinking of something like i'm thinking of a number between one and ten but i wanted to highlight the difference between thinking of and thinking about in in this case i think you're you're overwhelmingly going to use of if you're you're telling somebody you want them to guess and you're like oh okay i'm thinking of an animal guess what it is um so if you think of something it's something that you're not aware of and you have to imagine it you have to in this case you have to imagine the number um but if you're thinking about something to me then you're taking time to consider it so in this situation where you're asking somebody uh to imagine something uh you're going to use of i'm thinking of a number between one and ten i'm thinking of an animal can you guess what it is um but when you think about something you're really taking some time to consider it so i wanted to highlight the difference between think of and think about so again this is a it's a great way to practice prepositions because you are reading these prepositions in these sentences you are listening to me use these prepositions and talk about them and you are practicing as well the more you practice the better i think you're going to understand um all of these prepositions and how to use them so i hope that you enjoyed the lesson don't forget if you are interested in working on your speaking and you want more speaking practice um you can join our new course check it out link is in the description down below if you want to find out more information about speak up thank you guys so much for joining me today i appreciate you being here on this sunday and i hope i hope that you learned something new thank you guys so much for watching um just give some shout outs uh mahmoud aloisa najma learn english with kd excellent uh omnidi lali great to see you thank you guys for joining me hope that you have a wonderful week because sunday tomorrow's monday hope you guys enjoy the week um where is it uh yoka shakira though angela anna um corey have a great week i'm gonna end it now i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 485. Present Perfect vs Present Perfect Continuous | When to use each so that you don't make mistakes | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jopAHmvPT-g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jopAHmvPT-g) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:19:38 | --- i have studied english i have been studying english are these sentences the same or are they different let's find out [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you improve your grammar because i want to talk about the difference between two verb tenses the present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous and these two verb tenses can confuse many english learners who may not be sure about how and when to use them as well as if there are any differences between these two tenses so before we talk about the differences between these two tenses i want to focus on how and when we use them and let's first begin with the present perfect tense which on its own can be very confusing because there are many languages that do not even have a present perfect tense so i want to first begin with how you're going to form the present perfect you're going to have a helping verb and a main verb the helping verb is going to be have and the main verb is going to be the past participle and we often use the present perfect to talk about a finished action in the past at an unspecified time we don't know when it's happened and it may have happened once or even more than once so let's look at this sentence right here i've been to china there i am right there again we have the helping verb have plus the past participle ben it is the past participle of the verb to be and you know that this happened in the past it's finished but you don't know when it's an unspecified time i've been to china or i could say well i've been to barcelona twice this happened in the past we don't know when but we know that it happened more than once there were two different trips to barcelona one thing that i want to say about the present perfect tense is that when you use it the the result is really what matters it's like you're more interested in the result than the action and i will come back to this when i talk to you about the present perfect continuous so let's let's think of this situation right here i'll i'll use a question and say have you hit the like button all right this is a question in the present perfect the the helping verb have the past participle hit that's our main verb have you hit the like button and again i'm really more interested in that result and i really am and i hope you would say yes i have hit the like button it happened in the past sometime between when the video started and right now and if you have let me know write that to me in the comments just say yes i have hit the like button practice writing using the present perfect and then i will tell you that you are awesome all right so with all of those examples that i just gave you we were talking about finished actions in the past so let's now move to the present perfect continuous and let's look at how this verb tenses form again we're going to use the helping verb have plus the past participle of the verb to be which has been have been plus our main verb with an ing at the end all right so in this case it's like we have two helping verbs have been and then the main verb and we use the present perfect continuous to talk about an unfinished action that started in the past it has continued to right now which is the present and then it will likely continue into the future so i could say well even right now i've been teaching this lesson it's an unfinished action it started in the past it has continued until right now and it's going to continue into the future and i hope you keep watching now one thing that i will say about the present perfect continuous is that when you use this verb tense the focus is more on the action because something is continuing so with the present perfect tense the focus is on the result with the present perfect continuous the focus is more on the action one thing that i want to remind you of and the reason why i'm so close is because i want you to remember this is that there are many non-action verbs that you should not use in the continuous tense and i'm putting a list of these verbs up here right now so you you should not use these verbs with the present perfect continuous but again with english there the people are always breaking these rules especially in spoken english but just to give you an example the if i give you a sentence like oh i have an iphone i'm talking about uh ownership possession i could use it in the present perfect tense and say yeah i've had an iphone for a long time uh it's an iphone 6 so it's pretty old but i could not use it in the continuous tense and say i've been having an iphone that just sounds awkward so just keep that in mind there are many non-action verbs that you should just avoid using in the continuous tense so now let's look at some differences between the present perfect tense and the present perfect continuous and i want to make some quick comparisons so you can see a clear difference between these two verb tenses especially how the focus is different so let's look at these two sentences right here we have redecorated our home and we have been redecorating our home the sentence in the present perfect we have redecorated our home it's talking about an action that started in the past and it's now finished we don't know when it started we don't know when it ended but the focus is on that result that yes it's it's finished the home it's it has been redecorated with the present perfect continuous we're talking about an unfinished action it started in the past and it's still going on right now so the focus is on that action that continuing action also and this may help you know when you should use the present perfect continuous if we're talking about an unfinished action that started in the recent past people may use this verb tense with the words recently or lately so i could say well recently we've been redecorating our home or lately we've been redecorating our home that tells me that this action it started in the recent past it's a continuing action that's gone until now and yes it's probably going to continue into the future here are another couple of sentences i have thought about buying a new phone or i've been thinking about buying a new phone so with the present perfect it suggests that okay i i thought about this in the past and then maybe i decided well no not to buy a new phone it's just something i thought about and then i stopped thinking about it and as you can see i still have this old iphone 6 and maybe i just made the decision not to buy one if i use the present perfect continuous and say well i've been thinking about buying a new phone that that suggests that i have not made a decision not yet i'm still thinking about it and maybe maybe in the future i'm going to make a decision and upgrade and get a new phone because yes this iphone 6 it's pretty old and then we get to these two sentences right here the sentences that you have been waiting for this entire lesson i have studied english versus i have been studying english and the difference between these two sentences is nothing well pretty much nothing because they're interchangeable you can use them and they basically mean the same thing because with both of these sentences we're talking about an unfinished action and i know this can be a bit confusing because you're probably thinking like wait a second wes you told us that the present perfect tense is used to talk about finished actions at an unspecified time in the past yes that is true but you can also use the present perfect tense to talk about an unfinished action that started in the past and and it's gone on for a duration of time or since a point in time and those are two key words that i really want you to remember and be aware of because we often use the present perfect with those words for and since so i could say i have studied english for three years a duration of time or i could say i've studied english since 2018 both of those sentences mean the exact same thing the only difference is for and since i could also say this using the present perfect continuous i've been studying english for three years or i've been studying english since 2018. so if somebody were to ask you how long have you been learning english you could respond with any one of those sentences it's it's really your pick there there's not much difference between them but there is a very there is very slight difference of course i didn't want to i didn't want to disappoint you i wanted to really get into details here so i was saving it for the very end and let's talk about those slight differences right now which is going to help you kind of will not only improve your comprehension but your overall fluency as well so the good news is is that when the present perfect and the present perfect continuous are basically interchangeable and they pretty much mean the same thing we're only talking about a handful of verbs we're talking about the verbs like teach play learn study and work all right so those are five verbs that when you're using either verb tense they're fairly interchangeable and they mean the same thing but again there may be a slight difference in a certain context situation it may be more appropriate to use one over the other so let's look at these sentences right here we've lived in budapes for four years and we've been living in budapest since 2017. so just looking at them generally speaking they're very similar they're they pretty much the same you could use them interchangeably but there may be a slight difference when talking about the permanent versus temporary so let me give you a couple of other sentences that i think are probably a little easier to understand when i talk about the difference between permanent and temporary so you're more likely to use the present perfect tense when when talking about an unfinished action that's more permanent and you're more likely to use the present perfect continuous when you're talking about an unfinished action that's perhaps temporary so i could say well i've worked for the company for 25 years i'm using the present perfect it's unfinished because i still work for the company and and it's more permanent it makes you think well i'm not looking for a job i'm not going to change jobs i'm just giving you this information i've worked for the company for 25 years if i say this that well i usually work downtown but i've been working at home ever since the pandemic started in this case i'm i'm referring to an action that started in the past it's unfinished because i'm still working at home but it's only temporary it makes you think that in the future then perhaps i'm not going to be working at home anymore i'm talking about a temporary situation i've been working at home ever since the pandemic started so hopefully that makes it a little easier to understand the difference when i say permanent versus temporary and you could even apply this to other sentences that you may use interchangeably so those two sentences that i told you a moment ago we have lived in budapest for four years or we've been living in budapest since 2017. one but again if you use the present perfect if i say we've lived in budapest since 2017 then it's a more permanent situation it might make you think well uh we're not currently looking to change the place that we live that we're probably going to stay in budapest if i say it using the present perfect continuous the focus is on that action that that we're we're still living here it's unfinished but it makes you think it may only be temporary because in the future that that's going to change if the focus is on that action in all likelihood that action is going to change in the future in which case we would we'll move somewhere else and that this is only temporary and if you were to ask me i would say the second one we've been living in budapest since 2017 because this is probably not going to be our permanent home in the future we will likely move somewhere else so even though with those five verbs work play live teach study you can use these verb tenses interchangeably you you could read a little more information into it if you want to think about whether something is going to be more permanent or if something is temporary i hope that that this lesson was easy to follow and easy to understand i know that i went i tried to go into a fair bit of detail in in talking about this information so that you have a better understanding to help you improve your comprehension but also your fluency as well if you are talking to somebody and you're trying to explain some situation that you are going to use the appropriate verb tense between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 486. Present Simple vs Present Continuous | How to Improve Your Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZwF8dilg-pc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwF8dilg-pc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:42:03 | --- what's up everyone welcome to today's lesson which is a super awesome grammar lesson and I promise you if you stick around you will learn something new [Music] what's up my name's Wes this is Interactive English which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills now we get so many comments and requests from learners asking us like we want to know more about the verb tenses verb tenses verb tenses verb tenses so ask and you shall receive we are slowly going through each verb tense and we're gonna talk to you about them and practice them and today we are going to look at the present simple and the present continuous now I know that you might be thinking oh wow this is gonna be this is this is too easy I've already done this I would say well first it is always always always good to practice and review grammar that we've already studied because I think one issue is that everybody always wants to do oh new grammar new grammar new grammar even if they're making mistakes simple mistakes with with grammar they've already studied so it's always good to review it's always good to practice also I promise you like I said at the beginning you will learn something new I think there is there are some new things that I think there will be some new things that I will tell you about the present simple and Present continuous so if you are joining us live please write your name tell us what's up in the chat hi bassam Tirana you see Anna Bogdan thank you guys Anna welcome welcome welcome glad you guys are here with us again write your name let me know in the chat even if you are watching this later write to us in the comments tell me your name tell me where you're from we just want to hear from you we want you guys to interact with these lessons be later we are going to practice using the present simple and the present continuous so let's just get right into it and first I want to talk to you about the present simple so I'm not going to go through the different ways that you form the present simple I'm just gonna tell you when you use it give you some example sentences and and I'll talk a little bit about the grammar so we use the present simple to talk about the following we use it to express habits for example I watch TV at night alright notice the conjugation i watch if we say he/she/it he watches she watches we use that s general truths we use it when we're talking about things that are generally true the earth is round the verb to be it's gonna have different conjugations I am he is she is it is we are they are keep that in mind also we use present simple to talk about repeated actions okay actions that are happening again and again the baby cries every day so every day that is a key signal word that tells us oh okay it's a repeated action and remember if the Verte if the verb ends with Y like cry we're going to use IES the baby cries every day and again a good rule of thumb is when when we see adverbs of frequency also usually always usually sometimes that that's also a signal word that tells us okay it's but it's probably the present symbol that's not always the case but it's it's something to think about we also use it with unchanging situations he teaches English online this guy that's me all right unchanging situations we use the present simple now if we want to get a little more advanced in talking about the present simple we can use this verb tense when we're talking about the future and we use it when we're talking about scheduled future time the key word there is scheduled that something is happening and we the time for example the movie starts at 8:00 p.m. it's talking about the future but 8:00 p.m. that's the scheduled time so we can use the present simple all right we can also use future like will but again in this case I think present simple is more common when you're talking about scheduled time the other example the plane arrives tomorrow tomorrow again tells us well that's the future but it is it's a scheduled time because we know that tomorrow the plane arrives the plane arrives tomorrow the other one which is something that I think can confuse learners all the time is when we're talking about future time clauses now remember that we use the present simple in the dependent clause and it's going after the subordinating conjunction now the subordinating conjunction if you're thinking of common ones those are words like you know before after when those are some of the more common ones and the present simple is going to go after those words so for example I'll turn off my phone before the movie starts talking about something in the future now the future tense will turn off that's my independent clause that's my main Clause right there before the movie starts that's my dependent clause and the present simple comes after before so so many times learners would want to say I'll turn off my phone before the movie will start and I'm like no no no no no no we don't use the future in both of these cases all right in the in the dependent clause after the subordinating conjunction use the present simple here's another example I'll pick you up when that's my subordinating conjunction the plane arrives again present simple I'll pick you up that's the future when the plane arrives present simple so this is a little more getting into more advanced grammar complex sentences and and keeping in mind that you're not going to use the future twice all right you would use the future in the main Clause the independent clause and the present simple in the dependent clause which is after the subordinating conjunction now let's quickly talk about negatives and questions so if we're forming negatives we're going to use not but we're also going to use a helping verb which is do so for example we do not play basketball it's in the present I don't have a car it's in the present and again with don't we can contract the the helping verb and the negative not we don't I don't now the exception would be is if we're talking about the verb to be we're not going to use do I should have provided an example but I don't have it up there so I will just tell you if we're using the verb to be for example I am not hungry we're not using the helping verb do but it's in the present simple I am not so with the verb to be we just use that verb plus not when we're talking about negatives and with asking questions again we if it's not the verb to be we need the helping verb do ok do they travel every summer it's a question in the present simple now keep in mind that the subject is going to go between the helping verb do and the main verb travel do they travel do they travel every summer does she work from home does she work from home question in the present simple and notice the conjugation do they does she so the conjugation of our subject she is going to go with the helping verb do they does she and again if we're using the verb to be we don't need the helping verb do so for example I would just say okay are you hungry it's a question in the present simple are you hungry and they were son I am not hungry answer in the the present simple so this is that that's talking about the presence well I think it's more again when we start learning English this is this is some of the verse first grammar that we learn is how to say sentences in the present simple next we start learning then the present continuous so let's look at the present continuous and there's a bit more information and we are then going to practice okay so with the present continuous these are the times when we would use the present continuous if we're talking about something at the moment something happening in action right now so I said for my example at the moment right now she is sleeping so the one thing to look at if we're talking about the grammar to form the present continuous we're using the verb to be plus the verb plus ing is sleeping so that is the form for the present continuous we use the verb to be plus the verb and ing is sleeping we also use it if we're talking about something temporary all right that's going to happen for a certain amount of time and then it you know it's it's not happening anymore so for example I would say you know I'm studying English this semester that for this semester I'm studying English it's temporary and remember I am studying we have the verb to be plus that ing and again there's there's different rules with the contractions we can contract the subject and the verb to be instead of I am studying I'm studying I'm studying English this semester we also use it with things that are changing things that are growing so you guys I hope you guys watch our lessons and you are learning a lot and then I would tell you you know your English is improving your English is improving its growing it's changing it's developing we can also use the present continuous when talking about reoccurring situations reoccurring Scituate they are always traveling they're always traveling they're always traveling now this is a little bit different from the the present simple when we're talking about unchanging situations that's just things that it doesn't change it's always happening reoccurring situations would be like something happens and then later on one month later two month later who knows it happens again and you're just talking about people in general and the reason I highlighted always is because it's often used with this adverb if you're talking about somebody in general I said wow they're they're always traveling wow they're they're always going to the coffee shop oh wow they're always dancing at the club alright that that that's definitely not me not dancing at the club but as an example if you're talking about reoccurring situations you usually use it with always and say that somebody's always doing something now we can also use the present continuous to talk about future and in this case future plans now the first two examples I am giving you right here you're using going to so most people when we think about the future tense you think about using will or be going to and that is okay but be going to is it's essentially it's the present continuous so for example if it's a future plan he is going to study abroad next semester all right that is my that is his future plan or future plan for tomorrow I'm going to the dentist tomorrow I'm going to the dentist tomorrow it's a future plan now if you want to use will with either of those sentences it's perfectly okay now one difference which you may not know and I think can be confusing if you're not talking about a future plan if you're talking about something sudden in the future you cannot use be going to you cannot use the continuous tense for example if somebody knocks on the door it's it's sudden we didn't know about you would say I will get it I will get the door you would not use going to in this case because it's a sudden decision you wouldn't say I'm going to get the door no it's not a future plan so you're only using be going to with future plans and again we can use it with other verbs as well if you're talking about you know next week I'm starting a new project next week we're doing another live lesson and we hope you guys join us again next week so we can use the present continuous to talk about the future and this is where I think it gets a little more advanced grammar when we're talking about the different uses of the present continuous and the present simple so when we're talking about negatives and questions again for the negatives we're going to use not and not is going to go between the helping verb to be and the main verb Wes is not working hard all right I I try to work hard but maybe maybe sometimes this is true and you'd say Wes is not working hard the next example they aren't talking anymore or they're not talking anymore the reason why I gave you both of these is because again we can use contractions differently and we can either contract the verb and not they aren't talking anymore or we could contract the subject and not they're not are the subject and the verb to be they're not talking anymore the meaning is exactly the same so the meanings the same you can use either one they aren't talking anymore they're not talking anymore keep in mind that for this other contraction you can only contract subject pronouns and the verb to be so I am I'm they are there you are your if if the subject is a person like wes is we cannot contract those two but we can contract the verb to be and not we could say Wes isn't working hard but keep that in mind if we're contracting the subject and the verb to be it has to be a subject pronoun if we're asking questions right here again we're gonna put the verb to be at the beginning the subject goes in the middle are you paying attention I hope that you guys are paying attention to this lesson because we are going to practice this very soon are you paying attention and if we have a question right here to go with that picture that picture from a long time ago is Wes working hard in that picture is Wes working hard and then you could answer you know wes is not working hard in that picture so that is asking questions now for a fun pronunciation tip so a pronunciation tip with the present continuous is that like I said it's the verb to be the verb in the ing so I am studying now a pronunciation tip when we're talking most native English speakers they they don't often say that in sound they will drop the G and I'll tell you what I mean so what's practice saying that with a few sentences and and wherever you're watching this repeat these after me say say this out loud okay and we're gonna drop the G so I will say it twice and you can listen to the difference I could say you're talking way too loud and in that case I'm saying the G but most of the times I would just say many native speakers would just say you're talking way too loud you don't hear that Aang you really they drop that G you're talking way too loud talking the next one if I say the G and you're speaking slowly I'm not doing this anymore I'm not doing this anymore if we drop the G which is how you know I would say it in normal conversation I'm not doing this anymore so you guys can repeat that I'm not doing this anymore and drop that G same with the other one if I drop the G we're always coming up with new lessons we're always coming up with new lessons coming up that we're dropping that G and that other one right there all right you're going to hit the like button we could control we could reduce going to and say gonna you're gonna hit that like button you're gonna hit that like button but even if I if I if wanted to say too I would still drop that G and say you know you're gonna hit that yeah you're going to hit that like button you're going to hit that like button so again you can hear it without that G but most of the time with going to people would reduce it with gonna but again this is a good pronunciation tip if you're looking to you know reduce your accent a little or sound a little more like a native speaker when you're using the present continuous you can just fix that G off the end I'm not doing this anymore you're talking way too loud you're gonna hit that like button alright I'm trying to be suggestive here so if you like learning grammar please go ahead hit that like button let us know so that is my pronunciation tip and now again we're not done talking about the present continuous there is something else that I think is very very very important when talking about the present continuous and that is stative verbs because you cannot use the present continuous with stative verbs now maybe you're asking what the heck is a state of verb well I will tell you stative verbs are are verbs that refer to states as opposed to actions so they're not really actions that you could just do physically these are states so we're talking about right here you're talking about senses opinions emotions mental states measurements with verbs like that we cannot use the present continuous so these are some examples of some common stative verbs now I want you to look at that list real quick real quickly and you might see it and be like wait a second I've seen some of those verbs used in the continuous tense and that's what I want to talk to you about so look at these verbs that I'm highlighting right there the verbs have C and love the one thing you need to keep in mind is that in English sometimes you have words that have different meanings this is the same with verbs verbs can have different meanings and depending on the meaning would depend on whether or not you can use the continuous tense so here are some examples first one up there I have a pencil in this case have is talking about possession something you have you cannot use this in the continuous tense now if you're talking about the other example in blue I'm having a bad day in this case you're not talking about possession you're talking about inexperience somebody is experiencing something I'm having a bad day that's perfectly okay now the verb see there in red he sees a spider that is your senses it's something you see with your eyes you cannot use that in the continuous tense but if we're talking about the next sentence he is seeing a therapist okay he's seeing a therapist he's seeing a physical therapist who knows in this case the verb see it means that you're visiting so you can use it in the continuous tense he's seeing a therapist it even has another meaning if I said you know what she's seeing my best friend in this case it's talking about dating you're seeing somebody else she's seeing my best friend you're talking about dating it can be used in the continuous tense and the last one which is probably the most confusing right here is love and you would say I love it it's talking about an emotion and nowadays you might even see people are you might hear it in a song or might hear it on TV or in movies and somebody says you know I'm loving it and they're talking about an emotion technically grammatically speaking again this should not be in the continuous tense you should not use I'm loving it however over the last 10 or 20 years it's become more and I think McDonald's was even using it as part of their slogan they're like hey let's just use some bad grammar it'll stand out more and at this point somebody says you know I'm loving it in my opinion I almost think it's in it's almost an idiom now it's an idiomatic expression that that is becoming acceptable in spoken English I don't I would not I would refrain and avoid writing it because that's a little more formal but again this is an example of how grammar rules are changing people are breaking the rules and it's just something to be aware of and something to keep in mind but typically love as an emotion it's a state of verb we should not use it in the continuous tense so now it is time to practice all right everybody if you are in the chat all right I'm looking at all you guys I want you guys to practice even if you guys are watching this later on I want you to write your answers in the comments practice using these stative verbs so what we're going to do I'm gonna give you some questions and we'll start easy it'll get a little more difficult but I just want you to complete the sentence using either the present simple or the present continuous now one thing I want you to keep in mind is sometimes with some of these sentences grammatically you could use both I want you to think of try to use the one that's the most appropriate given the context given the situation try to use the one that's the most appropriate are you gonna use the present simple or the present continuous I want you to write your answers so I know you are participating ready the first question is this one right here I usually mmm English at night I'm giving you the verb so I want you to complete the sentence are you going to use the present simple or the present continuous I usually mmm English at night what do you guys think and then I will show you the answer all right getting some good answers Farhat Marcela Kiera Giselle Stephanie Rosa excellent yes we're gonna use the present simple I usually study English at night the key word in there I think is usually again when we're talking about these adverbs of frequencies that should tell us okay it's probably gonna be present simple next let's look at this one so I hmm in there so this is a negative using not and go okay what are we going to use are you gonna use the present simple or present continuous think about the the context the situation I mmm in there what do you guys think write your answers in the comments in the chat all right we're starting a little easier and then it'll get a little more difficult alright so yes think about this situation in if we're talking about that house right there I would say you know what I'm not going in there I am NOT going in there or I'm not going in there excellent so the next one what do you think she mmm on the phone at the moment how would you complete that the verb is talk she hmm on the phone at the moment write your answer in the comment write your answer in the chat don't be shy alright don't worry nobody you know get a wrong answer it's no big deal what do you guys think all right so excellent you should say the key word there is at the moment and I just say you know she is talking on the phone at the moment she's talking on the phone at the moment we're talking about something that's happening right now we use the present continuous next we have this one it is a question okay hmm to see a movie later the subject is you the verb is want how would you write that question what do you guys think write your answer in the comments in the chat hmm to see a movie later so again we're talking about subject you verb want excellent you guys great answers do you want to see a movie later we're using the the present simple remember want is a desire that you cannot use that as a stative verb all right it's a state of verb so you cannot use it in the present continuous so you say do you want to see a movie later do you want to see a movie later what about this one okay not like to eat fast food alright again it's always good to practice even if you know all these that's perfect so I actually I want you I want you guys tell me if you get all of them right have a couple more for you so what do you think they hmm to eat fast food we're using the negative and our verb is like alright excellent they don't like to eat fast food again like is a state of verb we do not use it in the continuous tense what about this one alright tomorrow night I mmm an old friend tomorrow night I mmm an old friend what do you guys think alright tomorrow night I mmm an old friend so in this case again we're talking about a future plan that's happening tomorrow night excellent I see some good answers so tomorrow night I'm meeting an old friend we'd use the present continuous that's the most appropriate response if you're talking to somebody say yeah it's morrow night I'm meeting an old friend alright we're getting together we're having a drink we're having some coffee on meeting an old friend what about this one okay this is this is one I want to know the answer to all right it's a question hmm our YouTube lessons regularly subject is you and the verb watch what do you guys think keyword regularly what do you guys think keyword is regularly mmm our YouTube lessons regularly so I just told you the keyword is regularly it's it's something that is a repeated action so again we're talking about a question we need to use that helping verb do do you watch our YouTube lessons regularly what do you guys think let me know tell me in the comments do you watch our YouTube video lessons regularly I hope so so this is some good practice again using the present simple and the present continuous and so many of you would like us we're gonna talk about more verb tenses later but if you haven't already seen there are other lessons using these other verb tenses I highly recommend you check them out we've done other grammar lessons that I think will help you guys and we give more information and do some practice so I hope I will link those lessons I will link those lessons in the description and you guys can check those out and please I think it will really help you improve your grammar skills now if you got all of those right I want you to let me know write in the chat I want you to write new grammar or are no Graham right right grammar rocks alright I got all of them right grammar rocks you did you did got all of them correct even if you even if you're watching this later write that in the comments so I know that hey you guys rock that you rock those questions so thank you guys so much for watching I appreciate you guys if you would like and share this lesson and help us spread the word so that everybody can join these classes that we do on Saturday if you have any questions write those in the comments and please whoops it's over here check out our social media classes you can find us on Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course right here on YouTube so thank you Judy Patricia Wow Marcelo Bassam Giselle jr. Kira good of years Stephanie Palmer Tilo Bogdan I had Marla sorry if I miss some names Thank You tadhana excellent I really appreciate you guys being here with me today and practicing your language skills practicing your English skills hope you guys have a wonderful day and I will see you next time --- ## 487. Professional Writing for Business, University, IELTS, TOEFL โœ๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `V2Tv5vf2XOA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2Tv5vf2XOA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:13:14 | --- here are 13 tips to help you write professionally and what we're going to do is we're going to start with the big picture which is an idiom that means like the entire view of a situation or issue and then we're going to try to narrow it down to your actual writing so the first tip that i have for you the first thing that i want you to do is understand your purpose so it's a very simple question that needs to be answered what is the purpose of your writing now in general there are four major types of writing it could be a narrative and you're telling a story maybe it's descriptive and you're trying to capture an event or perhaps expository you're giving facts and information or even persuasive and you want to influence someone's opinion now whatever your purpose is you just need to have one because without it your writing is going to lack direction it's like trying to understand what is your purpose for being here right now you would like to improve your writing skills and if you'd like to improve your overall english please subscribe turn on notifications and then i can become your new english teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english is all about is trying to help you reach your fluency goals the next tip that i have for you is that you need to know your audience who is going to be reading your writing is it your boss your teacher your peers your colleagues or or just the public in general because once you know your audience then that's going to help you choose your style and in a nutshell which is another idiom i'm giving you some idioms in this lesson it really means in the fewest possible words in a nutshell when i'm talking about style i'm really referring to formal or informal writing so if we're talking about formal writing you should avoid idioms slang just those colloquial expressions you're also going to want to use more complex structures which i'll get into a little bit later with informal writing well then the rules are relaxed you can use some of those colloquial expressions but because we're talking about writing professionally i really want to focus on helping you develop your formal writing style this is the style that you need to use if you'd like to appear professional you want people to take you seriously so that is the big picture now let's talk about your actual writing when you put pen to the paper or even your hands to the keyboard but before i share those tips with you i'd like to quickly thank the sponsor of today's lesson which is italki and when you use italki there is always a teacher for you you will find qualified teachers from all over the world sharing their languages their dialects and their culture and there are so many benefits to using italki i think the absolute best thing is that well these are one-on-one lessons which means you get to focus on your learning goals so if you would like to improve your writing skills well then you can find a teacher who will help you do just that because you get to stay in control of your learning in addition you get to learn at your own pace you get professional feedback not to mention you can practice for free with the italki community there is no subscription there is no commitment you just pay per lesson so click on the link below in order to sign up find your teacher and improve your english skills you can also participate in the language challenge in which you can win certifications and coupons while at the same time achieving your learning goals all you have to do is click on that link in the description to get started let's get back to our lesson on writing professionally because i have many more tips for you and now as i mentioned we're going to talk about putting pen to the paper or or your hands to the keyboard so the next tip that i have for you is that you need to organize your ideas this is so important i don't want you just to think about this i want you to write it down start with brainstorming use that information to develop an outline and when i say develop an outline i want you to develop a comprehensive outline don't just write down a few words write down complete thoughts because when you do this it's going to help your writing have cohesion and unity when i say cohesion i'm just talking about your sentences are logically ordered unity means that your paragraphs are centered around one idea so when you organize your ideas and you write this down it's going to make sure that your writing has cohesion in unity it's very important the next thing that i want you to do which can be a little challenging i'm not going to lie and that is find your voice and when i say find your voice it's really referring to the words that you use the way that you write your sentences think of voice like your your fingerprint when it comes to writing that maybe you forgot to write your name but somebody reads your writing they know that it's you because of your words because of your sentences now when i say find your voice that means that i don't want you to think about well how would somebody else write this and present these ideas or what are the words that my audience probably wants to hear you need to discover what is unique about the way you present the topic use your words your sentences be authentic people appreciate originality and i mentioned that this can be challenging and if you're having trouble finding your voice i think the best thing that you can do is just to write as much as you can and you can start by writing to me down below in the comments but once again if you're putting together that comprehensive outline this is something that should start to be reflected in your outline when you're organizing your ideas something else that should be reflected in your outline is your tone you need to establish a tone and there are many examples of this uh tone could be aggressive or humorous nostalgic cheerful sad and what what this really does is it shows your attitude about a topic no matter what topic you have you can have different tones but you need to be consistent you don't want to switch between an aggressive tone to a cheerful one humorous back to aggressive all right writing is not a roller coaster don't think about it like that think about it more like you're traveling down this straight road moving from one idea to the next going from one paragraph to the next which then takes me to my next tip is that you need to organize your paragraphs so i talk to you about organizing your ideas and then you can take a closer look at those ideas and make sure that each paragraph is organized with a topic sentence with supporting sentences and then wrapped up with a conclusion and this is a structure that you can follow over and over and over especially if if your purpose is you're you're writing something that's descriptive or persuasive or even expository and just to emphasize how important this is when you organize your paragraphs it is the easiest and most effective way to convey your ideas something else that's going to help you move smoothly down that road of ideas is that you need to take full advantage of transition words and phrases so these are words and phrases that will allow you to effortlessly and seamlessly move from one idea to the next now there are many transition words and phrases out there i think it's very useful vocabulary for you to learn but just to give you an example if i want to add information i could use in addition if i want to contrast different ideas i could use however if i want to start out and say well this idea is very important i could begin with first and foremost and then share my idea now what this does is it makes it so much easier for the reader to follow along not to mention it's going to help you sound more professional because you're going to sound like you know what you're talking about my next tip is that you need to vary your sentence structures so when i talked about formal writing i said that you'll use more complex structures and this is part of what i was talking about so you have four different sentence structures you have simple sentences compound sentences complex sentences and compound complex sentences and i've given you some examples here so you can see what what the sentences are like but when you vary your sentence structures it's going to make your writing a lot more engaging people are going to want to continue reading because if you're using too much of one structure if you're only using simple sentences it's just going to sound really choppy if you're only using compound sentences well then it may sound a bit repetitive when you vary your sentence structures it's going to create a nice rhythm and flow to your writing and and this is probably something that that you're not going to be able to do the first time it's likely something that you can do and develop when you proofread you may go through and find a couple of simple sentences that you can turn into a compound sentence or maybe you'll add a dependent clause and create a complex sentence and then you'll be developing that rhythm and flow as well as finding your voice and this leads me into my next tip which is to keep it simple especially at first use the vocabulary that you already know if you're writing a rough draft don't stop and analyze everything use your outline keep it simple find your voice and then when you're done you can go back and proofread it and really fine tune some of those words and sentences and proofreading is what i want to talk to you about next because i want you to effectively correct your own mistakes so when you're writing i think many of you are going to use a computer and you need to use those programs to your advantage because if you're using something like word it will tell you if something is misspelled or perhaps there's a problem with the grammar use these programs to your advantage now if you're just going through and proofreading on your own what i would suggest you do is look for one mistake at a time don't try to look for all the problems at once so you could start with punctuation read through your writing and only look for punctuation mistakes and then go through it again and only look for spelling mistakes go through it again and only look for word choice and maybe change some of those words so what you end up doing is that you proofread your writing multiple times and the more you do this the more you go through it you're likely to find some mistakes you'll make some changes to make your writing better another tip that i have for you is to get others to look at your writing it's always good to have a second set of eyes because people may find spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes that you did not see before it's also good to get feedback in regard to the content but one thing i would tell you is that remember just because somebody gives you feedback about the content that doesn't mean that you have to accept it you can take it into consideration and then decide whether or not you would like to make the changes because remember it's your writing it's your voice and then i think it is very helpful for you to maintain healthy writing habits and there are two things that i think you should be doing a little bit each and every day first i think you should read regularly this is going to help you distinguish between different writing styles you'll get a feel for how someone else's writing is organized you'll also be able to see how people use transition words and phrases as well as varying their sentences and how that makes their writing more engaging i also want you to write regularly and this is something you can do writing in a journal each and every day or like i said you can write to me down below in those comments it's going to help you develop and find your voice you'll also be able to explore different purposes in writing as well as writing to different audiences in addition you'll be able to practice correcting your own writing so i hope you found these tips useful and that you can now go out there and try to write professionally if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 488. Pronounce 25 Major US Cities Just Like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `GPRfB1m1QN4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRfB1m1QN4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:14:25 | --- let's talk about how to correctly pronounce 25 major u.s cities and what i'm going to do is i will give you really the standard american pronunciation for these cities some of these cities will have more of a regional pronunciation which i i will talk to you about i'm going to give you both the ipa and phonetic spelling so that you can actually see the pronunciation and we're we're going to move from the west and and go east if this is your first time here let me introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about helping you improve your fluency if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons let's begin with our first city which is honolulu this is the capital of hawaii and this at the beginning you are going to pronounce this h and the second syllable has that schwa that uh sound hannah and the third syllable is the one that's stressed honolulu honolulu then we have juno so this this city is the it is the capital of alaska has two syllables the first one stress but i really wanted to point out that second syllable because it's going to be pronounced with a long o juno so so keep this in mind when you see a word that ends with that e a u you're going to pronounce it with a long o juno next is seattle and i i chose this city i think this is very important because though those two t's you're going to pronounce them as a flap t and the flap t it's very distinct in an american pronunciation and it really just sounds like a soft d seattle and the reason that we use the flap t is because it comes before a dark l seattle and that just means that that l that final l it's not going to be released when you say it the the end of the word your tongue is still going to be touching the top part of your mouth seattle seattle then we have portland this is the largest city in oregon has two syllables and the there are a couple things that i wanted to point out you're you're going to have a stop t portland which means that the air is not going to be released and also in that second syllable you may have noticed as you heard me say this that i i'm dropping the d even though the phonetic spelling and the ipa they include the d when when you say this you're going to drop the d and this is this is common this happens when the d follows an n portland before we continue i would like to thank the sponsor of today's lesson which is skillshare and let me tell you a little bit about skillshare because this is a great way for you to improve your pronunciation your vocabulary and and other skills as well because skillshare is an online learning community where you can take thousands of classes i have even taken a class by thomas frank called real productivity and it was very useful and of course there are classes to help you learn english vocabulary grammar idioms that there's a lot but when it comes to learning english what what i think is extremely useful is that you learn about something else in english learn about something you're interested in maybe travel or technology or healthy living and that way you are developing your english skills as you learn about one of your passions and right now skillshare has a special offer for all of you the first 1 000 people to click on the link in the description will get a free one month trial of skillshare so you can start exploring your creativity today so click on the link in the description to get your free trial take some online classes with skillshare you can learn english and you can learn well just about anything else you would like to learn let's get back to those 25 major cities that are difficult to pronounce and the next two cities are in california so let's begin with san francisco san francisco is a beautiful coastal city and if we're talking about well that second word the first syllable has the schwa and that c is gonna sound well more like an s and that second syllable is stressed san francisco san francisco then we have los angeles los angeles is another well very famous coastal city in california it is referred to as the city of angels and again in that second word the first syllable is stressed the g is going to sound more like a j and the second and third syllable have that uh that schwa sound los angeles los angeles then we have boise which is the capital city of idaho and boise two syllables the stress is on the first syllable but i think when most americans say this city they're going to pronounce the s more like a z boise boise however locally people may pronounce it with an s and they may say boise boise then we have phoenix this is the capital of arizona and as you can see two syllables stresses on the first syllable that ph is going to be pronounced as an f which is it's pretty common in many other words in english and you're you're going to follow that ph with the long e sound it's almost like the o is kind of just omitted phoenix phoenix then we have tucson which is the second largest city in arizona just behind phoenix but well with this city it there's a silent c you're not going to pronounce that c and you'll just say tucson tucson next is the city of albuquerque it is the largest city in new mexico it has four syllables the stress is on that first syllable the second syllable has that schwa that uh alba and then the third and fourth syllable that q you you'll just pronounce it with a k albuquerque after that we have sioux falls this is the largest city in south dakota and the name sue comes from the native american tribe now sioux falls this is one where the the pronunciation just does not match up with the spelling it's almost like you have a silent i and o and x but just listening to me say it it's pretty simple it's pretty easy sioux falls sioux falls next is the city of houston and this is the largest city in texas two syllables the stress is on that first syllable and it's almost like that first syllable you have like h plus like you're just saying you hugh houston houston let's move to the capital of iowa and we have des moines des moines the stress is going to be on that second word the first word you're going to have that schwa duh moin so in that second word it's almost like you're dropping that es des moines des moines after that we have st louis so st louis is a major city in missouri it's right on the mississippi river and the first thing that i wanted to point out with this city is that that st abbreviation so when you see this before a name the abbreviation is for saint you're going to say saint if you were to see this after a name well then that abbreviation may stand for street but in this case we're talking about saint saint louis the other thing that i would say is that when you're you're saying this name people often pronounce it as louis but in this case you're going to say louis st louis let's move a little further south to new orleans now with this one there are different pronunciations i say new orleans so in the second word i'm stressing that second syllable new orleans others may stress the first syllable and say new orleans and then with for like a southern accent you may hear people say new orleans new orleans but i think for for many people in the united states they would say new orleans and then there's chicago chicago is well it's one of the largest cities in the united states the first thing i want to say i want to point out with this city is that the ch you're going to pronounce it kind of like an sh it's not a ch sound it's a shh sound and the stress is on that second syllable chicago chicago let's move over to mobile which is a port city in alabama now i think uh mobile has two syllables the stress is on that second syllable but i i think this can be confusing because people might think of like well like a mobile phone the pronunciation of this city is very different mobile and that second syllable you're just going to say it with the long e sound mobile mobile and then we have louisville which is the largest city in kentucky has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable and with this one you are not going to say louis you're going to say louisville louisville now if you are from there i think regionally if you're from kentucky many people would pronounce it as louisville and they're going to say that second and third syllable with more of a schwa sound louisville louisville then let's go to cincinnati and cincinnati is the largest city in ohio and both of those cs they're going to sound like an s that second syllable has the schwa since the third syllable stressed and that fourth syllable has the long e and also that final t it is a flap t so there's a lot going on with this word cincinnati cincinnati cincinnati then let's go to detroit it is the largest city in michigan has two syllables the stress is on that second syllable and in that first syllable even though we're spelling it with e it's just going to sound like detroit detroit then let's go south to miami miami is a very well-known and famous coastal city in florida and the one thing i really want to point out with this is that it does have three syllables miami miami the stress is on that second syllable there are many spanish speakers who live in miami and spanish speakers may pronounce it as miami but most people throughout the united states will just say miami miami then let's go north to pittsburgh it is the second largest city in pennsylvania and it has two syllables the stress is on that first syllable but i really wanted to highlight the end of the word that gh it's almost like you're just going to drop the h and you'll just say pittsburgh pittsburgh that's a little different than this next city which is raleigh raleigh is the capital of north carolina home to duke university very well known university and with this one there's two syllables the stress is on the first syllable but again it's that second syllable that i wanted to point out that gh it's really silent in this case so you're going to pronounce that second syllable with the long e sound raleigh raleigh and then we have worcester it's not really well perhaps a very famous city in the united states it is the second largest city in massachusetts behind boston which i well that's pretty easy to pronounce but i chose worcester because well as you can see the spelling and the pronunciation they they don't match at all worcester it's almost like you're you're getting rid of the rce those letters in the middle of the word two syllables you just say worcester even in the u.s you have a worcestershire sauce worcestershire sauce and that that spelling is similar to this town at least at the beginning that first part of the word so if you happen to be in massachusetts and you're traveling around the state then now you know how to say this city worcester and then we have new york it is the most populous and famous city in the united states i i think it's pretty easy to pronounce but i included it because it's well i just had to it's so well known it's so famous i just had to include new york but i'm sure you've heard it so many times before that you probably do not have any trouble pronouncing this city i i hope that you enjoyed the lesson and that you learn something new about pronouncing some of these major cities in the united states very useful if you happen to be traveling to the us or you live in the u.s or maybe you're just having a conversation about one of these cities if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button and in the comments below let me know are there any other cities in the u.s that you might have difficulty pronouncing i'd love to hear from you thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 489. Pronounce the 50 US States Just Like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cWy0b2txvVo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWy0b2txvVo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:20:19 | --- I think many of you out there may be familiar with the different states in the US but do you know how to pronounce them all correctly that's coming up [Music] what's up everyone my name's Wes this is Interactive English and guess what I'm American I'm from the u.s. secret's out and the reason I'm telling you this is because often when I tell people and from the United States people will ask where you know a lot of people around the world are are confident with geography in the u.s. they're familiar with many of the different states but from time to time as we're talking about the US and places to visit and places that people may have been or they want to go I may hear them talk about a state and they'll they'll have a slight mispronunciation maybe they're stressing the wrong syllable or or they're just saying it incorrectly so I thought today would be a good time to talk about each state and show you how to pronounce them correctly so I'm going to tell you the state I am going to tell you how many syllables each word has I will show you the phonetic spelling and the IPA version as well so all of that means that by the end of this lesson you will be able to say each and every state perfectly the first state and I'm just gonna go through these alphabetically is Alabama it has four syllables and the stresses on that third syllable that damn Alabama and if you're in Alabama you might hear people pronounce it with a rather strong southern accent Alabama I was actually born in Alabama no it's true I was I've lived in quite a few of these states so I'll let you know the next state is Alaska it has three syllables the stress is on the second syllable that final syllable just has that schwa Alaska it is a beautiful state if you love the outdoors I highly recommend it I worked up there for the summer it's gorgeous then we have Arizona it has four syllables the stress is on that third syllable Arizona zou zou zou Arizona not much to say about Arizona except it's hot next is Arkansas three syllables stresses on that first syllable Arkansas this is a common one that that people have a little trouble with be cuz again don't don't think of the spelling don't try and pronounce it based on the spelling you can get all screwed up that final syllable saw saw Arkansas next is the most populous state and that is California it has four syllables stresses on that third syllable California sometimes if you're very cool you just shorten it to two syllables and just say Cali Cali you know I used to live in Cali I've just been informed that nobody cool says that then we have Colorado the state has four syllables the stress is on that third syllable even though it's our ID it's Colorado not rat Oh Colorado the Rocky Mountains beautiful state I did my university there University of Colorado go buffs next is Connecticut this is another one where the the spelling can can throw off the pronunciation a little bit if you're trying to say it how it's spelled but Connecticut has four syllables the stresses on that second syllable Connecticut Connecticut I also used to live in Connecticut now I think about it I've lived in quite a few of these states next is Delaware has three syllables stresses on that first syllable Delaware I don't know anything about Delaware I've never been there I've never lived there so let's just move on to the next date Florida it also has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Florida it's the Sunshine State my parents live there now known for its beautiful beaches Florida next is Georgia two syllables stress on that first syllable Georgia or again if you're in the south if you're in Georgia people might say Georgia I also used to live in Georgia Atlanta Georgia I'm sure people are like wait that's not how we say it in Georgia it's just Georgia my southern accents pretty bad then we have a state that I would like to live in and I think many people romanticize this state it's our only island state Hawaii has 3 syllables stresses on that second syllable Hawaii and again the spelling can can throw off the pronunciation a little bit but yeah just remember Hawaii then we have Idaho has 3 syllables is on that first syllable Idaho Idaho when I think of Idaho I think of potatoes that's what the states known for Idaho potatoes then there's Illinois also 3 syllables but the stress is on the third syllable Illinois again the spelling and the pronunciation can get a little crazy that last syllable that final syllable noise Illinois the next state Indiana has four syllables stress is on that third syllable Indiana I think many people might be familiar with this famous movie Indiana Jones not really have anything to do with the state just the name so let's just move on to the next one which is Iowa Iowa has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable Iowa again Iowa spelling pronunciation a little crazy I that second syllable has that schwa Iowa and when I think of Iowa I think of corn because there's a lot of corn in Iowa the next state is Kansas the great state of Kansas two syllables stresses on that first syllable Kansas and what I have to say about Kansas is nothing really I drove through there once it was a long drive so let's just keep driving on through to the next state which is Kentucky this word has three syllables stress is on that second syllable Kentucky Kentucky the next day Louisiana it has five syllables the stress is on that four syllable that and Louisiana and when I think of Louisiana I start thinking of food I think of that gumbo Louisiana known for their gumbo and while we're on the topic of food our next state Maine has one syllable just one Maine Maine I also think of food I think of lobster when I think of Maine and then again let's just keep going Maryland this state has three syllables the stress is on that first syllable Maryland it's not Mary you don't really hear that why it's just Maryland also think of food crab Maryland has Crabbe then we come to Massachusetts not a food state well actually no no that's not true there is New England clam chowder there which is pretty amazing in Massachusetts they also have four syllables and the stresses on that third syllable that chew Massachusetts and I think in Massachusetts you know how people from each state have have names like if you're from Georgia then you're Georgia and if you're from California then you're California if you're from Massachusetts then you're a Masshole I don't know why I always I always laugh at that joke I guess if you're from Massachusetts you probably don't think it's funny then we have Michigan the state has three syllables stresses on that first syllable Michigan and very close to Michigan is Minnesota four syllables stresses on that third syllable that's so that second syllable just the schwa Minnesota there's also a pretty distinct accent in Minnesota Minnesota minute Minnesota - I am just terrible at accents new soda Minnesota miss okay I'm just gonna let's just move on then we have Mississippi this state has four syllables the stresses on that third syllable that second one is just that schwa miss sybbie Mississippi after Mississippi is Missouri this state has three syllables and the stresses on that second syllable Missouri Missouri that S is gonna have more of that Z sound Missouri then we have Montana three syllables stresses on that second syllable Montana Montana another beautiful state gorgeous mountains Montana near there is Nebraska three syllables stress is also on that second syllable Nebraska Nebraska not really mountains in Nebraska sorry next we have Nevada it has three syllables stress is on that second syllable Nevada and when people think of Nevada I think most of us think of Las Vegas Sin City gambling Nevada next is New Hampshire two words three syllables the stress is going to be that first syllable in the second word looking at Hampshire now that last syllable it's not Shire it's not like Frodo in the Shire it's sure New Hampshire New Hampshire I also for a very short time lived in New Hampshire live free or die that's what it says on the license plate check it out next we have New Jersey three syllables stress is on will the first syllable of the second word that journey Jersey New Jersey again a state that I think probably has a more distinct accent Jersey a lot of times people will just say that second word just Jersey where are you from Jersey Jersey Jersey from Jersey I apologize for these terrible accents but let's just move on next is New Mexico four syllables again the stresses on that first syllable of the second word New Mexico Mexico New Mexico don't know what to say about New Mexico except yes very hot then another very well-known state New York two syllables stresses on that second syllable that second word New York often when people think of New York they may think of New York City first so sometimes people need to clarify that no I'm talking about New York State New York State the state of New York then we have North Carolina this state has five syllables but Carolina the stress is going to be on that the third syllable in that word Carolina Carolina North Carolina another state with a more distinct accent all my relatives and my parents they're from North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina oh goodness I'm gonna get raked over the coals for my accent then we have North Dakota four syllables but Dakota has three syllables and the stresses on that second syllable Dakota North Dakota then Ohio three syllables stresses on that second syllable Ohio Ohio let's just keep these O's going with Oklahoma the state has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable Oklahoma you can hear it emphasized that Houma Oklahoma I don't know why I think of Cowboys next is Oregon three syllables stresses on that first syllable Oregon that last syllable sounds like gun because it's unstressed so it's just Oregon then we have the great state of Pennsylvania has four syllables stresses on that third syllable Pennsylvania Pennsylvania and also I did I used to live in Pennsylvania not bad that's that's all I have to say then we have Rhode Island three syllables stresses on that will the first syllable of the second word Island Rhode Island and no Rhode Island it is not an island it's just called Rhode Island then we have South Carolina these words together have five syllables but the stress is gonna be on that second word that Carolina that third syllable again mmm I will I almost said North Carolina but no no this is South Carolina we're not talking about North Carolina South Carolina why are there two Carolinas I have no idea then we have South Dakota this state has four syllables but the stress is going to be on that second word Dakota that second syllable Dakota South Dakota moving right along we have Tennessee this state has three syllables and the stress is on that third syllable that final syllable Tennessee Tennessee after that is Texas two syllables stress is on that first syllable Texas it's one of the biggest states and people in Texas like to say everything is bigger in Texas I don't know why they say that it's just an expression from Texas then we have Utah two syllables stresses on that first syllable Utah after that is Vermont also two syllables but the stresses on that second syllable Vermont Vermont next is Virginia three syllables stress is on that second syllable Virginia Virginia and an expression with this day people say Virginia's for lovers why not assure exactly what it means but I guess Virginia's for lovers then we have Washington three syllables stresses on that first syllable Washington sometimes people may confuse it with the capital Washington DC which is not a state it is a district District of Columbia next is West Virginia the state has four syllables but again the stress in that second word that Virginia is on that second syllable West Virginia if you say it quickly you really almost don't hear that T at the end it almost sounds like you're saying my name West Virginia then we have Wisconsin the state has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable that conne Wisconsin people think of Wisconsin they think of cheese it is the cheese state finally there is Wyoming also has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable Wyoming Wyoming there you have it that is the pronunciation of each state so now that you have all this information you can say each and every state perfectly but now I want to hear from you guys I want you to tell me which state in the US would you like to visit where would you like to go or if you have already been there where did you travel to what did you think I'm always curious to hear what people have to say about the US if you enjoyed this fun pronunciation lesson hit that like button down below and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 490. Pronounce these Famous Brands with the American Accent ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `828TdxwC5qo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=828TdxwC5qo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:07:38 | --- today i want to teach you how to pronounce 20 famous and well-known american brands and yes i am going to give you the american pronunciation because i am from the united states my name is wes and well my brand is interactive english so if you would like to improve your english skills please subscribe turn on notifications that way you'll learn about future lessons and i can become your english teacher so this lesson is useful if you live in the united states or perhaps you're going to visit the united states and also some of these brands are famous all over the world so i'm going to tell you how to pronounce each brand as well as talk a little bit about why it may be difficult or challenging so let's begin with our first brand which is levi's it's a very famous clothing brand they make jeans and both of the vowel sounds they're they're long vowel sounds leave eyes sometimes i've heard people say levees but just remember it's a long e levi's then we have bows they make headphones and speakers and that s yes it is more of a z sound bose bose and then we have this is one of my favorites in and out burger and with with this one it's if you've been to california you'll know what i'm talking about people are crazy for in-n-out burger and i i've included it even though you you say it like it's spelled in and out burger but it's a great example of linking because people will typically say this quickly in and out burger so that final consonant sound is going to get linked with that that starting vowel sound just listen in and out burger in and out burger you can say it with me in and out burger one more time in and out burger and then we can say it quickly in and out burger that's how most people are going to pronounce it and if you were practicing with me let me know by hitting that like button i always love knowing that people are interacting with these lessons the next brand which is well very very famous nike you've probably heard of this company before they make shoes but nike has two syllables in the past i've heard people say nike with just one syllable but it has two syllables named after the greek goddess of victory nike the next brand is costco okay it's a very famous retail store you can find these all over the world and the reason why i've included it is because it's a great example of a lesion a lision is when certain sounds or syllables are removed so in this case the t is removed you're not gonna you're not gonna pronounce that t costco and the reason for that is that when the t comes between two consonant sounds it it may allied and it just gets removed costco costco another example of elision another pretty well-known american brand old navy in this case the d is going to get removed because once again it comes between two consonant sounds old navy old navy and then just to just to keep going with illusion this is one of my favorite brands especially in the morning cinnamon toast crunch so this is a cereal that people will eat for breakfast the word cinnamon on its own can be a little challenging it has three syllables the stress is on the first syllable the second and third syllable have that schwa sound it's an unstressed vowel sound just sounds like a cinnamon cinnamon and then to well continuing with elision the final t in toast it's gonna go away because it comes between two consonant sounds cinnamon toast crunch cinnamon toast crunch if you have not tried it already i recommend cinnamon toast crunch and then well another brand that i enjoy i would also recommend is ben jerry's okay they they make ice cream and the reason why i've included this one is because you see that sign for and ben and jerry's but nobody's going to pronounce and they're going to reduce it and just say n ben and jerry's and we can also link link this the same way we did with in and out ben and jerry's ben and jerry's another example of a famous brand that has that sign for and black and decker and this this company makes uh power tools that you can use around the home and once again you're not going to say and you're going to reduce it to just n black and decker black and decker next reese's pieces it's a well-known candy and both of those words end in siz reese's pieces and it can be a fun little tongue twister if you're trying to say it quickly reese's pieces reese's pieces then we have doritos doritos it's uh it's a well-known brand of chips and i really don't know how to describe doritos all i can tell you is that my favorite flavor is cool ranch but the reason why i've included it is because that tea in doritos i am going to pronounce it with a flap t which is very common in the united states so when the t comes between two vowel sounds you're going to use a flat t it sounds like a soft d doritos doritos you also hear the flat tea in other brands of chips like cheetos you hear that softie cheetos i really like cheetos except the you get cheese stuck on your fingers and then you hear the flap t in tostitos that second t i'm gonna use a flat t comes between two vowels tostitos and well let's let's keep going with some more examples of the flap t gatorade this is a well-known i guess you could say it's like an athletic drink that's at least well that's how they try to to market themselves but gatorade that t i'm gonna use a flat t and that second syllable i'm gonna use the schwa that uh sound gata raid gatorade and the same goes for this next brand caterpillar i'm not talking about the insect even though the pronunciation is the same caterpillar is well known for making machinery and again that t i'm going to use a flat t and that second syllable has that schwa caterpillar caterpillar let's switch gears and talk about medicine so tylenol is a very famous brand they make medicine for for headaches or to reduce fevers and i think it's very useful because people may not say hey do you have something for my headache they may ask for it by brand name and say hey do you have any tylenol and this one the spelling and the pronunciation are not too similar that y is pronounced with the long i sound tai and then the second syllable has the schwa tai la nal tylenol and then there's benadryl benadryl is an antihistamine for for allergies so again if i have allergies i might just ask and say hey does anybody have any benadryl and with this one again that second syllable has the schwa benedryl and the y is actually going to have a short i sound this time benadryl benadryl so with tylenol that y has the long eye with benadryl you have that short eye sound whirlpool this is a company that makes home appliances like washing machines and it's a great example of the dark l both of those l's are dark l's in which your is going to come up to the top part of your mouth and you're not going to release it whirlpool so that rl combination can be tricky in many other words as well but let's practice this and you should feel your tongue getting pulled up two times for that dark l whirlpool whirlpool whirlpool and then there's charmin charmin makes paper towels toilet paper and i really i don't know why but that's ch it's not a cha sound it's going to be pronounced like an sh sh charmin and that final syllable has that schwa charmin charmin and then we have listerine it's a it's a well-known brand uh mouthwash and the one thing i want to say about this is that that r-i-n-e it's not pronounced rhine it's pronounced with that long e listerine listerine so in the comments i'd love to hear from you let me know what is one of your favorite american brands especially if it is a brand that you find difficult to pronounce let me know down in the comments if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 491. Pronunciation English Lesson | Q&A w/ Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `F_1MQLvwwx4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_1MQLvwwx4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:23:38 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson this is it's going to be an interactive q a that is all about pronunciation so this is really a pronunciation lesson to help you improve your speaking skills so that you are speaking clearly so that you are speaking accurately and what i want to do is just take your questions your questions anything um that you want to know if there is a word or a phrase that you may be a little unsure about the pronunciation i want to take those questions you can write them in the chat and you can hear my pronunciation and i'll talk to you a little bit about that so today i really want you to be thinking about all of your pronunciation questions any pronunciation questions that you may have and i realize i've said pronunciation quite a lot already so the first thing that i want to say is well happy halloween i hope whether you celebrate halloween or you don't celebrate halloween i just hope you i hope you have a wonderful saturday and i want to give some quick hellos to um lolly great to see you angela sleepwalker um chris yingo ario alex what's up uh glad you guys are here thank you for joining me and what the way we're going to begin i'm i i'm going to begin with questions from our uh members and our patreon community because i posted there saying hey do you guys have any questions uh pronunciation let me know and if you guys are interested in showing us some love and want to support and sponsor interactive english there are links down in the description if you want to get a youtube membership uh patreon uh it's down there in the description so the first word uh that i have from from our uh list of patrons um is this right here somebody asked about uh adapt and adopt so this is a great example of a minimal pair and i think when you're talking about pronunciation minimal pairs it's it's excellent to understand what that is it's when you have you have two words and the only difference between those words is one sound so right right here we have two words and the only difference is that vowel sound that uh ah and the ah all right adapt adopt that is the only difference and that's what makes this a minimal pair and minimal pairs it's a great way to practice your pronunciation especially difficult sounds or even confusing sounds or some sounds are very similar so that is another reason why you could practice minimal pairs so let's look at this one where we have adapt and adopt so the difference is that like that a sound like um hack or that that ah adapt adapt and adopt adopt that ah sound so when i think about like that ah let's start with that ah sound both of these sounds are formed with your tongue your tongue is kind of at the bottom the ah think about going to the doctor the doctor will want to look at your throat and they say hey can you you open your mouth and say ah ah that is the sound that adopt a is similar but i think of look at my mouth when i make this so i'm going to make the ah sound first you should see my jaw drops a little and it's almost like i'm smiling a little more so the position of my mouth changes adapt adopt adapt adopt so if you want to learn more about minimal pairs because that is something i recommend you can check out english club i'll just put a link right here um boom a link right there in the chat the this is a good site that i think you can check out here i'll show you a picture of it and they list a bunch of minimal pairs so here you can see different vowel sounds minimal pairs different consonants and it's good for your listening comprehension but also you can repeat after you hear the sound and that's going to be good for your speaking and your overall pronunciation so that's a good resource that i would suggest that you guys check out the next question that we had from one of our members is this these three words right here now the pronunciation is very different we have so sewage and sewer all right so i'm gonna separate these because the meaning is different so is different than sewage and sewer so let's look at this one on um on its own the pronunciation i know it sounds a little crazy is so it's a verb and it's talking about like the action like you you use a needle and you might sew uh close and you are sewing the pronunc the spelling is s-e-w even though the pronunciation sounds like s-o so to so close um i tried to look up the history of this because it is really strange the the spelling does not match the pronunciation but i could not find any information really about saying why this is why is the pronunciation so different from the spelling but just know that the pronunciation is so and we're talking about that action like you're sewing some clothes um the next words that uh i had on that list were sewage and sewer so in this case the s e is more like that ooh sound sue like you're saying the name like uh susan or susie sewage so it's going to have like that ooh like that u sound let me see my lips around the su sewage or sewer and sewage is really talking about like waste and trash and kind of under below if you if you live in a city below the ground um you have like that maybe some of that waste flowing through the ground that is the sewage and the place is the sewer so sewage is actually talking about the waste the sewer is talking about the place so these words are related a little bit um in their meaning so sewage and sewer the s e is going to have that ooh ooh sound sewage and sewer and this one so all right and the more i think you the more you listen i think you'll see this especially where pronunciation and spelling don't match up this is another reason why i would encourage you to watch tv shows or movies using subtitles not only is it good for your comprehension but that's also going to allow you opportunities to see where spelling and pronunciation are a little bit different so this that's a good reason to use subtitles because we have so sewage and sewer another question i believe from silvio came from sylvia oh hey what's up silvio was regard and was asking about the more so like comprehension about how to comprehend this word and how it's used so one thing i'll say about the pronunciation it ends with that d sound most of the time uh well when you think of the d sound that d it's an aspirated sound which means that there's like that puff of air that you have so if you put if i say the d sound you're gonna feel like a puff of air but sometimes with certain words like regard it it's really you're stopping that aspiration that air is not flowing out and what i say it kind of sounds like a like a soft d sound because it's not really you you're you're not going to feel that aspiration when i say regard regard you kind of hear that d sound so i think keep that in mind when you're thinking about comprehension and listening to it and the other way that you could improve your comprehension when you want to when you hear the pronunciation of this word is to understand the different ways in which the word is used for example regard could be a verb to regard something like i regard um i regard youtube as a great place to learn languages and to learn a lot of different things in that context i regard it means that i i consider this or i think about this like i consider youtube a great place for learning i regard youtube as a great place for learning so that's one usage you could also you could also hold someone in high regard this would be more of a noun and you're talking about um that you think of that you think well of this person that you you could hold someone in high regard that you um or you could say in that same meaning that this person has no regard for something else which again you're talking about respect so you have a lot of respect for someone you hold them in high regard or you have or you don't respect something that you could say this person has no regard for something else so these are some common ways in which this word is used which is all going to help your comprehension the other way that i would say that you might say in regard to something or in regard with something you're talking about a connection so perhaps um i apply for a job and i i don't hear anything and i write to them and i'm saying like i'm writing an email i'm writing to you in regard to my application all right in regard to something so there are many different ways that you can um use a word like this one and when you understand that it's going to help with your comprehension when you hear the word and then it's going to help your with your pronunciation when you speak using this word i want to show you another great uh resource so i told you about um uh minimal pairs with english club when it comes to like learning the meaning of new words my favorite source uh i like cambridge this is the one that i like using so you he you hear i looked up the word regard and it gives you the different meanings some example sentences and then i also think that these online dictionaries are useful because they they have the pronunciation right here as well if you want to listen to the way that a word sounds i'm clicking on the link maybe you're not able to hear that but when it comes to pronunciation if you uh are on your own and you don't know how a word is pronounced use an online dictionary i think most of them nowadays have this feature where you can hit the speaker button and it will pronounce the word for you and then you're able to listen to it so take advantage of these resources uh i think it's it'll be very useful for you and well i don't you probably maybe know some online dictionaries i i prefer cambridge but again you'll find this uh feature on all of them so those were some questions from our members now let me take some questions from uh all of you guys how to say some words um i have let's see mustafa said flowers all right so here i'm gonna type the word um i'll just throw it in there so you guys can see the word that i'm talking about flowers the one thing i don't know if the question was that s sound and this is one of those um times where it's going to end it sounds like a z flowers and the reason for that is because that r at the end it's a voice sound and when you have a voice sound followed by an s it's going to have that z sound flowers flowers uh lolly's asking about effect and effect these are homonyms they're really the the pronunciation is the same let me i'll make a distinction in just a moment so effect with an a this is going to be these are the words that i'm talking about in case you don't know effect with an a uh to affect something is a verb effect with an e is a noun most of the time like in for me i would say both of them with that schwa sound uh uh at the beginning to affect something or something has an effect sometimes people may pronounce that noun that one the with an e they may say effect so that one you could have a couple of different pronunciations which in that case would be different so effect versus effect but and for me when i'm saying these words i will treat them as homonyms um uh and i will say both of them the same way with that schwa sound in um that that beginning position that uh uh sound effect and effect uh all right um angela is asking that's a good question this one um i'll say this one so i talked about flowers like with a z like beautiful like roses daffodils those are flowers this one is a flower uh for cooking and flower for cooking again that is another homonym those words sound the same so we have flowers and our flower and flower those again are homonyms the pronunciation is the same flower uh let's see we have uh silvio asked about thaw all right this is the word that i'm talking about it has one syllable you're not really um you're not really gonna hear that w sound that much uh i there are similar words that you that have a similar pronunciation and the spelling's the same with that w at the end like law thaw um but it's not going to be like a what a strong w sound it's more that that is the that pronunciation is how you would end that thaw law saw um those all have that ah ending sound let's see um fahad thanks for your help you're welcome thanks for being here let's see i'm gonna get to well let's see stuff at ass and then i'll do the next one uh this word is pronounced pessimism pessimism pessimism four syllables pessimism then we have uh assad asks for these two i wouldn't i don't know about that first spelling um here are a couple words career career you have that long e sound in that second syllable the r can be a little tricky because you have double r's there career career and career career so think about career has two syllables career career career you have three syllables so that's really the distinction between those two words courier courier uh let's see angela is asking uh good good halloween words because we're talking about which which and which those are homonyms the pronunciation is going to be the same last week i talked about a halloween lesson and one of the the tongue twisters that involved both of these words uh what was the tongue twister if two witches were watching two watches which witch would watch which watch and again that is a tongue twister because you are well you're just practicing saying the those homonyms which which which which it's the same pronunciation let's see we have okay here's another one i'm gonna go uh alexandra is talking about ear and year so they they can sound a little similar i think when you're listening trying to make the distinction can be a little challenging the only difference is that y sound at the beginning of year year year so again when you're making that y sound yeah yeah you're gonna drop your jaw kind of looks like you're you're smiling a little bit and i think if i say the words you should be able to see that ear year ear year so let's see what else do we have uh meat is asking about this is a good one because i like uh again uh did you and i think again pronunciation part of that deals with connected speech did you is often connected it's reduced and it might sound like didja didja did you did you um so instead of saying like what did you do yesterday i i might just casually informally very quickly say what'd you do yesterday did you what'd you do yesterday and this is when i think listening can be a real challenge when you have a lot of words and phrases that are connected they're run together and you the more you listen the more you'll get comfortable with that again a great way to practice would be using subtitles because you would hear that and you're actually seeing the words so you know exactly what the person is saying when you use subtitles uh that is another another example as to why it can be useful for your pronunciation let's see i'm gonna go okay roja is asking about these two words and then i'll get to yours lolly um we're talking about endure endure is the first word that u r e endure and the next one endeavor so again there's difference in syllables endure has two syllables endeavor has three syllables endeavor so that is the the real difference you should be able to hear those different syllables endear endeavor then we have uh let's see i told you i get to use i'll leave these right here let's talk about these so moon soon and here the difference that uh again those are minimal pairs the difference would be that one sound the m and the s moon soon and look book so i don't know if that maybe you're asking about the that double o that pronunciation that did that difference between because again the spelling and the pronunciation moon soon that that double o has that ooh ooh sound moon moon soon but then look book look book there is a poem in english called uh chaos and this the the purpose of the poem was that the author was trying to show that spelling and pronunciation did not always go together so they came up with this poem it's called chaos i did a lesson uh on this poem a while back trying to show that really english spelling and pronunciation it's it's a little crazy if you have not seen the lesson here is a link to it i'll put it in the chat it's a long poem and what i did is i i didn't practice it but i read the poem and then i was highlighting where i made pronunciation mistakes and i made a lot of them so if you're curious um in checking that out i didn't write the the name of the poem let me write the poem uh is called the chaos and here there's the link again i put it in the chat again so check that out it's a long it's a long poem and you get to see how how much how many mistakes i make because from time to time i think it's very common even in your native language you're going to make pronunciation mistakes you're going to misspeak it happens let's see um fabio ask this word i'm going to try to get as many as i can so um keep asking major and mayor again this is a good example of a minimal pair that j y major may your and the j y the pronunciation is a little similar um the j really j j j you're real your tongue is going to hit the behind your back front teeth on the top part yeah the y your your tongue is not going to hit the sides of your tongue should be uh between your teeth so again i think when you're talking about these minimal pairs with these individual sounds you can look up online there are so many different images and telling you okay this is how you need to position your mouth this is where your tongue needs to be this is how the air is going to flow through and then you can just practice major mayor and i hope if you if you guys want practice at home right now when you hear me say these words you can always repeat listen and repeat um risha asking about this word uh entrepreneurial all right so entrepreneur is a person who starts a business it's a word that english has taken from french and you're this we're using it in this case as an adjective someone is entrepreneurial entrepreneurial like um they like to start businesses that's their personality they're entrepreneurial then we have omar this is a good word veterinarian all right and i think one way to kind of understand this word is to break it down into syllables veterinarian all right six syllables veterinarian all right veterinarian that t sound because i'm from the united states that t sound is going to have a it's a it's called a flap t and it really sounds like a d veterinarian so you're not really if when i say that you're probably not hearing that t sound you're hearing more of a d sound that's a flat t sound veterinarian the same way if i say water it's going to sound like a d that flap t w-a-t-e-r but i would say people from the u.s water um sleepwalker good word this was in i think uh a lesson that i did recently flabbergasted flabbergasted keep in mind that the ed at the end it's going to be another syllable that id because the word ends with a consonant t sound flabbergast flabbergasted so you have that extra syllable at the end keep that in mind um then we have janna's asking about this word right here government government and you really i would say that that e that n for the most part is omitted you you might hear it slightly government but i think for the most part it's omitted government government uh let's see i'm trying to get to a couple others uh someone because i wanted to do this one this is another one that i think people have difficulty with um antarctica antarctica antarctica so you do hear that c it has that you do hear that um ant arctica you do hear that first c a little bit antarctica antarctica you guys can repeat this stuff after me uh let's see we have uh mustafa is talking about uh this word supremacist supremacist i don't think the the spelling is correct i know what you're trying to say supremacist let's see [Music] somebody's okay and then i'll get to the next one here we go culture culture so that u r e really it sounds like that your sound culture culture uh that's another i think common commonly confused word such is asking about almond almond so that o nd is kind of like an und almond almond almond two syllables almond uh i feel like saying it a lot sleepwalker i don't know this we kind of talked about um that ah sound that's another one draw draw draw saw um law uh silvio asked about thaw so there's many that aw that that's uh that's a good one um i'll ask i'll do this one i guess maybe the uh es17ch24 uh interactive interactive the channel interactive english interactive in case you don't know what it means it's kind of like they're you're you're doing something kind of you're engaged you're participating so that's why i named the channel interactive english because i try to do these lessons where it's not just passive learning and you're watching a video a lot of times we'll i'll ask you to do something and participate answer the questions especially with these live lessons like right now you guys are participating you're writing words i hope that perhaps after i say it you are repeating the words and practicing your pronunciation uh that's what i hope let's see um aileen asked about this this is another homonym both of these words have the same pronunciation complement but they do have different meanings complement with an e m e and t means that you are that these two things go well together peanut butter complements jelly when making a sandwich a pb and j complement with an i you are you are telling somebody something positive you're saying something nice and you give someone a compliment ralphson asked about these again this these are homonyms uh you're your same pronunciation sounds the same different meaning because y-o-u apostrophe r-e is the contraction for you are um let's see um roja i said i get to this one uh you were asking about laboratory laboratory laboratory so i would say it um laboratory that second syllable more with the schwa sound and uh sound laboratory laboratory the stress is going to be on that first syllable laboratory uh this is a good word angela paraphernalia paraphernalia para pha that schwa sound again that is the most common sound in english that unstressed vowel sound paraphernalia paraphernalia a good word i think more advanced word uh if you're talking about different items that somebody might have often i think this word is associated with drugs like paraphernalia let's see um this one all right you can just so you can hear me say it ticket ticket ticket that's what you were asking about emmanuel um trousers trousers trousers trousers so again remember i said that r that final consonant sound it's voiced so that s is gonna sound like a z if that was the question trousers mustafa oops entourage entourage again this is another french word that english has just borrowed and taken but the the pronunciation um i think is going to remain slightly the same i don't i don't speak french so i'm i'm just guessing entourage la is asking uh this is a good one this is psychic psychic it's a silent p at the beginning of the word uh psychic so uh this one let's just do i'm just gonna do one more cause i gotta wrap things up um reservoir reservoir that s is going to have more of a z sound reservoir again this is a word that was borrowed uh from by french from french that o i r sound reservoir so that is the pronunciation for that word again i hope you i'd encourage you listen repeat practice your pronunciation if you guys like what we do i'll do more of these lessons later on and i'll do the same thing i'll probably reach out to our members first if you want to uh sponsor support us check that out links are in this description down below and if you enjoyed the lesson let me know hit the like button which tells me that the lessons useful it's helpful for you to be able to ask your questions anything that you want to know about pronunciation if it helps to hear me say it and then you can practice or give you some information like i said i told you about um that site for minimal pairs which i think is very useful um this is cambridge online dictionary but right here english club you can check that out and find some more information about minimal pairs it's another great way to practice and improve your pronunciation so i hope you guys can check that out i hope you find it useful so thank you so much for joining me on this halloween this kind of halloween pronunciation day i hope you have a wonderful weekend give some shout outs thank you uh for joining me moadin meet aline christine angela hope you have a wonderful weekend enjoy the rest of your weekend karil onion onion uh i like that annyeonghaseyo i like that changed it to onion a little bit of a play on words i like it um roja sleepwalker uh enjoy the rest of your weekend and nekla thank you all right i gotta go i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 492. Pronunciation Q&A Lesson | You ask and I'll tell you how to say it ๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_NHiiBTfkAQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NHiiBTfkAQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:29:02 | --- all right we are live I first just want to say hello to all of you out there today we are going to do it's a pronunciation lesson it is more of a pronunciation Q&A and I want to take some of your questions if you want to know how to pronounce different words or phrases or sentences you can write that in the chat and you can just hear how I would pronounce it and I would say these words phrases or sentences but before before you start writing stuff in the chat just yet I do want to mention just one thing right off the top I know that you know this this coronavirus has taken the world by storm it's pretty much everywhere right now so I just want to say I hope that that all of you guys out there are staying home staying safe staying healthy and that I wish you guys all of the best and again just wish all of your countries all of the best and hope you guys are able to stay healthy so when it comes to pronunciation I want to start out by talking about some resources that you can use just two of my favorite ones when I want to know how to pronounce a word and again I'm gonna put this right here in the chat so you guys can see it and the first one that I have is this one dictionary.com I think this is a great resource I'm putting these links in the chat so even if you're watching this later please watch the chat because that's where I'm gonna throw a lot of these links dictionary.com you can find out the American pronunciation the the British pronunciation it also tells you the phonetic spelling of a word as well as the IPA the international phonetic alphabet another great resource I think is Cambridge dictionary those are the two dictionaries that I like to use or you can just google it and if you google the word like how-to announced and then some word it's going to come up in the search and it'll just be right there and you can listen to the pronunciation Google also will allow you to record yourself saying the word so after you hear how it's pronounced you can try to repeat it and then listen to that recording and you can listen to the word and then the recording and see if they match up and see if you think your pronunciation is close so again this is an idea it's kind of like practicing shadowing and shadowing is a great way to practice your pronunciation to improve your pronunciation it's when you are basically saying the word or the phrase or the sentences just after you hear it almost like you're saying it at the same time and again this is a great way to practice your pronunciation now those two those are some great resources and before we begin I'm gonna throw some words in there I'm going to start with questions that I got from our patreon community as well as our members and that's also something I wanted to mention we now on our YouTube channel we do have memberships if you want to check that out there is a link in the description or if you want to join our patreon community you can do that as well and there are some rewards that we offer and I'll put a link to the patreon right here but again there's a link in the description so I'm going to start with some of those questions from our patrons but before again I just want to say hello give some shout outs to people vivica Rosario Irene Kaleo proud Nikki Samuel Rohan Louisa Angela hello hello Gibson how are you guys zelich Aiden I saw you in there glad you guys are here so I'm gonna start with questions from our patrons and our membership community first I'm just gonna tell you I got a list of words that they were asking about and I'm gonna give you the word as well as the phonetic spelling and when I say phonetic spelling it's almost like how how you would you would I'm tryin saying you would spell the word the way that it's pronounced it may look a little strange to some of you but you get the idea so the first word that someone asked about I believe it was you Aiden is this one right here I'm writing it in the chat the word quarantine so it has three syllables and that the stress is going to be on that first syllable that qu a sounds like cor cor quarantine it has that schwa that second syllable has an sound and if you don't know what the schwa sound is it is an unstressed vowel sound it is the most common sound in English and often vowels will have that schwa and that's that sound quarantine quarantine and again if it helps you guys practice saying these words as I say it repeat it say it out loud it's all about getting some practice quarantine quarantine another word that I had was this one agnostic I'm throwing it again in here in the chat it has three syllables the stress is on that second syllable agnostic agnostic and I think when you hear this word maybe it's you make sure that you're stressing that second syllable agnostic agnostic you can hear that I'm stressing it when I say agnostic then we have this word unwittingly unwittingly again I will I will take questions from you guys who are with me in just a moment and you guys can write words phrases sentences and I will repeat them I'm going through some of the words from our patrons and our members first so unwittingly this is an adverb it's going to have well unwittingly four syllables alright and if you're wondering well how a syllable is a unit of sound and if you're wondering well how do you know how many syllables a word has one great way to do that is to put your your hand underneath your mouth say the word and for how many times your chin touches your hand that's like one syllable wit ting Li all right that would have four syllables unwittingly unwittingly is the word the stress is going to be on that wit unwittingly unwittingly the other thing is that I would say what this word is because I'm from the United States Americans tend to pronounce that flap T often when the tea you have a tea sound in the middle of a word the flap T sounds like a D a very soft D so if you hear me saying unwittingly it's you're not really gonna hear that T much it's going to sound like a light D sound unwittingly same with the word if I were to say this word right here water and I would pronounce it it's going to sound like a little bit like a D sound water water okay so let's see wait why is this not going through okay the next word that I have for you is this one right here wait a second why okay I'm gonna have to go over here because I popped out the chat and now the words weren't popping up this word okay plutocracy so plutocracy again it has four syllables and the stress is on that talk that that second syllable plutocracy and if you're wondering what a plutocracy is it's a form of government it's really a government by the wealthy by rich people by the wealthy that would be what it is when people refer to a plucked plutocracy another word that i think people often have trouble with this word pronunciation wise is this one aisle all right it's one syllable aisle aisle that s is a it's a silent letter you're not going to hear it aisle all right another word that we have is this one candidates so this is a word well it's a word because there's a political election in the United States if you follow that at all you might hear this word candidacy candidacy the stress is on that first syllable candid see that third syllable has that schwa that duh duh candidacy candidacy again if it helps practice saying these words say them out loud to repeat them after me I'm gonna pop up the chat again so it makes it a little easier for me to move around the next word that somebody has is this one it's a very common word but I think it's a little it can be challenging because it's a long word but only to two syllables Mountain mountain now you could say the pronunciation Mountain the mountain but often I think when people say this in a sentence like I'll say it we're gonna go hiking up the mountain it's almost like you're really reducing that second part to mountain mountain mountain mountain so I think quite often when you're just you know having a conversation oh that's a big mountain let's go hiking up the mountain did you guys did you and did you climb this mountain this last weekend Mountain mountain so it's Mount and and that you're just following it with you're just going right into that end sound mountain mountain mountain the next word somebody asked about was gnarled gnarled and gnarled just means like you're chewing something but again this has a silent letter that silent G at the beginning gnarled gnarled that EE D is going to have a sound gnarled because the L gnarled is voiced voice so it's going to have sound like that he'll gnarled then we have another word which again I think is because of the spelling a silent letter Castle castle that T there there is no T it a silent T castle so I'm putting that phonetic spelling I think by now that I've added that hopefully that makes a little more sense the phonetic spelling is spelling the word the way it sounds because with some of these silent letters gonna it can be a little confusing and then the last word that I want to go for from our patrons is this word and our members horizon has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable again this is when syllable stress it does become important horizon horizon that that you can hear my emphasis on that second syllable horizon that first syllable has that schwa that huh uh-huh rise and horizon all right and you see the horizon it's talking about like kind at the end like the Sun sets on the horizon all right there are maybe maybe there are mountains behind you and then the Sun is setting on the horizon all right so those are words that from our patreon community from our members I wanted to go over those first so right now if you guys have some words phrases or even sentences if there is a sentence that you would like me to say write that in the chat right now and I'll go through and I'll try to answer as many as I can and again I'm gonna try to write them give you the phonetic spelling which means it's going to take me a little more time so somebody Jose I saw you asked about comfortable all right this is another word that I think it can be really challenging alright so I'm writing it right there comfortable comfortable comfortable comfortable alright so again there's that it's a comfortable comfortable alright I I think the reason why this is challenging is because again it kind of gets short and sometimes you might not even hear that are comfortable are you very are you comfortable right now how's this seat is this seat comfortable I think you do when I say it you do feel I hear a little bit of that are sound comfortable comfortable but I think that's a great word because it's a great adjective I think it's a very common word comfortable comfortable let's see Sayid would you pronounce one have and shouldn't have I'd have one t'v one so I think one reason when you say wouldn't have I okay I'll use it in a sentence and I'd say this sentence if I knew so I'd say you shouldn't bought the gift alright so if I say oh you you shouldn't have bought the gift you shouldn't have bought the gift that have almost sounds like it gets reduced to like an of like a and you could think of it like an of' like of or Ovie in phonetic spelling shunt of shunt of alright one tough same with wouldn't have wouldn't of so in if I were just saying this naturally you shouldn't have bought the gift I'd say oh you shouldn't have bought the gift you shouldn't have bought the gift you shouldn't have bought the gift so again if it helps practice say them out loud repeat them after me should've went of shinta you shouldn't have bought the gift oh I if if you had called I if you had told me that you had bought the gift I wouldn't have ordered one I went to boarding one so again this is reductions I think they are very common they can be a bit tricky uh a dual head is talking about hoarding all right hoarding so again this is another word I think with the the coronavirus people hoarding what it means is people are just collecting a lot of items basically collecting too much so I'll write it right there in the chat with the phonetic spelling hoarding hoarding all right hoarding so that is a word that I think if you're watching the news especially in English you might hear this word and people talk about many people are trying their their hoarding supplies they're keeping a lot of supplies hello lisa is asking about hostile and hostile yes I say as far as I don't know in British if you're talking about they are sometimes I think sometimes people might pronounce it hostile they are hostile so in and I think again hostile is a place where you'd stay let me put those down so you get the phonetic spelling so a hostile is a place that you'd stay the pronunciation I just say hostile let me throw down the phonetic spelling hostile here we go hostile alright again it's like Mountain you're moving in from Mountain right into just that n hostile it's the same way you're moving right in to that TL hostile now you wanted to compare that with this next one hostile I think in American English I think it is pretty common like I would say pronounce it the same way that I would say hostile like wow they're and they're being very hostile right now it's a way of somebody's behaving somebody's acting they're acting hostile I think also people in the America in America might say hostile which i think is what they would say in British English and in that case you are going to hear that long I sound in that second syllable hostile hostile in the United States they might say both hostile or hostile but in British English you would hear hostile Willington asked about the word development so the word development again the stress is going to be it has four syllables the stresses on that second Stila bull development and again I'll put these in the chat so if you're watching this later please utilize the chat because I'm writing all these words in there the the stress is going to be on that second syllable development development and that third syllable has that schwa that development development development Abu Abu Bakar alright thank you for the question the difference between debt and date so the difference is really that the vowel sound that you find in these two words so debt is going to have that short e that short e sound and it's going to sound like this debt alright you go into debt where you are losing money and you could say some businesses business might go into debt people can go into debt if they spend more money than they make date which is going to have the long a sound is going to be well let's do it this is the phonetic spelling date they put for it so debt versus date again short e versus the long a sound let's see a couple of Holly alright disciplinary disciplinary let me get the phonetic spelling for you so disciplinary again this is an adjective means like you're you're kind of trying to enforce some rules or laws the stress is on that first syllable dis disciplinary disciplinary again that second syllable has that schwa DISA DISA disciplinary say it with me disciplinary Mary asks well Mary asked the difference between while and a while so again the only difference would be that extra syllable in front of a while so while again very useful word very common word let me get the phonetic spelling for you I'd say while there is a silent H in there you're not going to pronounce that H sound while a while you're going to have that schwa in front of the word while so you're saying the the pronunciation is very similar it's the same you're just adding that extra syllable that while verses a while here is a while so you can see how that's about that schwag is at the beginning and I'll say it again because the sound is so common it's so popular that it is an unstressed vowel sound the schwa sound is an unstressed vowel sound and it just sounds like a while the next word Muslim English asked me about entertainment entertainment it's a longer word again I think it's it's a pretty common word because people might ask you like hey what do you do for entertainment what do you do for entertainment I think when I say it quickly here's the you can see the phonetics billing entertainment entertainment but again if I were to say it quickly I almost like enter entertainment I almost reduce it to entertainment so I might ask you just say it quickly what do you do for entertainment and you might not hear that second syllable very well that Terr so again I I'm trying to teach show you like well what I would say if I'm having a natural conversation but also if you were to pronounce the word individually entertainment and I think it is good to pronounce it completely entertainment but I would tend to reduce that entertain entertainment let's see could you please Heidi hottie is asking could you please tell me how to pronounce crew crow so again it's that vowel sound crew has that it's just more like an ooh ooh sound crew let me write it there for you again practice saying it with me crew like you're talking about maybe a group of people your crew a work crew crew which is different from the bird that's going to have that long o sound crow crow crew versus crow let me write it for you boom okay crew crow alright so don't sing in German English no I think German Vicki I think German is way it's the pronunciation is very hard for me but I will try to pronounce that good girl Germer governor sutra government governor sutra is what I would say governor Sutra I'm sure my German pronunciation is is not very good let's see Morgana asked about wrists and wrists those are homonyms all right because wrists with the W it is a silent w so the pronunciation is going to be the same wait a second no no oh I'm sorry those are two different words risk and wrists so they could be confused but this the final letter is going to be different risk all right you can hear when I say you can hear that K at the end risk and the phonetic spelling is going to be just exactly like you say the word risk you should see that here that K risk now if I were to say wrist you should be able to hear that T at the end wrist risk wrist all right but there is a silent W in wrists which is why some people might get this a little confused there is a silent w risk wrist all right next one a mod I'm trying to pick some different ones uncle and ankle so uncle let me get the phonetic spelling for you if it makes it a little easier has two syllables the stress is gonna be on that first syllable uncle uncle uncle all right like you're your relative your uncle uncle and ankle the difference would be uncle the stresses on that for Silla ankle the stress is also going to be on that first syllable but it's a different vowel sound that uh versus Aang uncle uncle uncle ankle and I told you guys that I think one of the best ways to practice is first is just listening get more exposure to the language and then repeating and shadowing again is a great way to do that if you listen to somebody you're listening to me saying these words and I would encourage you to say the words out loud repeat them after me so that you again you can try to mimic my pronunciation when you're you're trying to improve your pronunciation and say these words so Lali asks between ball and Bowl I can't see that really well that in this one ball ball Bowl so again in that case mmm let's see ball like a bouncy ball it's really the difference in pronunciation ball is going to have that short a sound ball ball and it almost has like you're gonna hear that W in there as well ball and Bowl is that long o Bowl I think that other word Bowl bol L is like a for I don't know is that like a botany word but it's pronounced the same as bo WL so bowl as well as I think this one but that other one vo WL is much more common because it is we people use that every day maybe in the kitchen you are using a bowl ball bowl let's see what else do we have I'm asked word world so let me put that first one in there again both of these words have one syllable and I think that L is in the middle of world that's where I think again you just really have to listen for it so word word you hear that one syllable word versus world world the RL is a tricky combination because again your tongue when you're saying the R sound your tongue is in the middle of your mouth and then you're gonna transition a little upward for that L world world now world I don't think this time usually the L sound you're gonna your tongue is gonna touch the top of your mouth but when you're transitioning it's very quick your tongue is actually not going to hit the top of your mouth when you say world world world world it's a big world alright it's a different world world is a difficult is a difficult word to pronounce the word world let's see Andre asks for feature future so the the first syllable is what's difference between those two words these are great getting a lot of good information about words that two words that you think are maybe a little difficult to pronounce and maybe you confuse these so feature if we're talking about the adjective feature that long e sound versus future where you're going to have that it almost sounds like you're saying you're pronouncing the letter U future feature versus future feature future all right Linda asked this is a very I know it's a difficult word rural rural rural because you have that R and that L so it has two syllables row row and that second syllable has that schwa sound rural rural all right the rural like you might be talking about a rural community kind of like the countryside farmlands rural alright let's see Wilbert says please pronounce party alright so I would say party again this is another good example of that flap T sound people from the United States are going to use that flap T sound and that T is almost gonna sound more like a soft D sound party so that's how I would say it we're going out tonight and well we're going well we're not going to have a party because again with everything going on we need to practice that social distancing staying at home but pronouncing this word many people in in British English you are going to hear that T sound but many Americans party party juh Tov asked how do you pronounce a Corona Corona I think it's a relevant word it's a word that you hear all the time Corona so it has three syllables but the first and the third syllable are going to have that schwa that sound alright so when you hear people talk about it that the coronavirus corona is going to be pronounced like this there's the phonetic spelling ro know alright that first and that third syllable have that that schwa sound Korona um Michelle Leonardo says could you pronounce torture torture alright so here is the word that he asked about I know some of you have not you might not be following this that's why I'm writing the words that I am saying so you can just follow the words torture oh whoops I misspelled it sorry sorry sorry sorry it has an R in there there it is so two syllables tore sure torture torture Mary asked about the word unprecedented another word that I think people here more often that something never really happens and it's an adjective and they could say it is unprecedented so let's see mm-hmm getting spelling it for you if something is unprecedented let me write it in here for you so you guys know the word right there unprecedented it has five syllables all right unprecedented the stress is going to be on that second syllable that press unprecedented unprecedented all right unprecedented rumah ask between the P and the B sound that pair bear so again this is good where it's a great minimal pair and I practicing that PB that pop but pop but one way to practice is that P sound you're gonna have that breath of air you should be able to feel that puck all right it's a much different you'll feel a little bit of air with the B sound but when you say that pair you should feel the air hitting your hands pear bear pear bear all right the B sound should be much softer let's see what else do we have mmm masking let's see dreamer ass metal metal those words I would say for me they're homonyms again because in many people from the United States that flap T I'm going to pronounce it more like a D so it would sound the same to me they're sinan but in British English you would hear people pronounce that teeth metal so again there is the phonetic spelling but for for me from the United States I would pronounce them basically the same metal metal alright so let's see so he'd asked about the word manipulate so this is a verb to manipulate it has four syllables and the first syllable is gonna have that schwa sound that ma ma ma nip you late so can you hear where the stress is manipulate manipulate it's on that second syllable that ni P manipulate manipulate alright so again I think if you guys have any other questions especially if there's just a single word the resources that I told you to use what I've been using right now and kind of going through and finding the phonetic spelling dictionary.com is a great resource I also like using Cambridge dictionary that's one that I always use if I want to hear the pronunciation or or look up the meaning it gives you both pronunciation from the United States as well as the United Kingdom or just type in a Google search and just say how to pronounce blah blah blah blah blah and you will find the answer and Google will let you record yourself and then practice saying the word so again those are some great resources if you want to practice your pronunciation or hear how things are used but if you really want to improve three things all right get more exposure listening to the language practice shadowing and actually I thought there was a kind of a third thing I forgot it so two things all right listen and practice those two things you will improve your pronunciation and the more you do that you're again you're gonna improve your overall fluency because this is important we need this in order to communicate so once again I want to let you guys know if you enjoyed what we do and you guys want to make a connection with us you can connect with us on patreon we offer some cool rewards there or you become a member on our YouTube channel now and get yourself a membership this is something else that we have done there's a link in the description I'll also throw a link right here in the chat if you guys want to check that out we again we offer the same rewards for both but it helps us do what we do here at interactive English and the last thing another way I'm throwing all these ways for you guys to connect with us right now if you haven't joined our email list again we give you send you different updates we do send you resources from time to time and that is another way to to connect with us and that is free so definitely check out climb on to our email list and yeah that that is it again thank you guys so much for joining me today please you know stay healthy stay safe I wish you guys all the best want to read some comments thank you Syed our Shiva and Aidan Lally thank you guys for being here dreamer Sanna tonyia supercalifragilistic expialidocious all right there you go that's how you say that one supercalifragilistic expialidocious all right that's a good way to practice right there it's not a word that you're going to use aloha says Samwell so new mariangela honey guitar sorry I'm a mispronouncing name shallow Ahmad Frantz Fanon's Jessa Morgiana live for India room Michelle Leonardo Shama Andre thank you guys so much for being here I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend again stay healthy stay safe and I will be back next time for another live lesson so long --- ## 493. Q&A About Learning English, Life Updates, and More | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ACG6bimWkd4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACG6bimWkd4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:37:59 | --- all right so I think this may be working right now I'm gonna have to see so I know some of you were in a different location and let's see if I can tell people okay um live at a different spot link okay so first I want to apologize because this is a complete a bit of a complete mess because we're trying to go live on this other on our regular event and it just wasn't working and it's one of those things I know this has happened to everybody where you you are ready to do everything I sit down I test everything to make sure that it's working and then all of a sudden as soon as I'm about to go live just boom kaput it just it's it's not working so this it's it is incredibly frustrating because like I said I think people are waiting in another spot and Here I am live right here so it's a little confusing but I'm gonna see if I can kind of get that information and share that with people because I don't want them to be waiting around so today there's there's quite a few things that I'd like to talk to you about and kind of go over with you but first you know it's been a crazy month I'll say that so as you know some of you know you want and I we had our first child a baby girl Amelia she is very healthy mother is doing well so it's been a and adjust to Parenthood very little sleep but it's been very exciting as well and that's the reason we kind of took a break from the live streams for a couple of weeks but now we we are getting back into the swing of things and we're going to try and do live lessons every Saturday again and kind of keep up with our normal schedule this is the link to our current live lesson I'm writing the other people in the other chat so they know okay where to go and where they should be so what I want to do now is you know let me just say hello I want to say what's up ma vie uma mu Richard Tate Oh Lotus Dario Renea Anna Sayid Asura Robson thank you guys Gabriella thank you guys for joining us thank you guys for being a part of the community I really appreciate it hello hello hello want to welcome all of you guys today is just gonna be a bit of a hangout we're gonna just hang out and this is a little different from the other lessons that we've done because usually it's very it's something very specific that we're doing each week and I'm teaching something specific and we do some activities and I interact with you guys today I just kind of want it to be more of a hangout and I want to answer some of your questions directly so if you guys have questions just write them in the chat and even if you're watching this later I think this is great because it's going to be great listening practice if you just want to listen to English and practice your listening skills it's also going to be great because I will be answering questions about English and anything that you guys have any questions about learning English or if you have questions about me if you have questions about you wanna if you have questions about interactive English so it's also going to be great so that you get to know us a little bit better and you know what we are all about here on this channel so again hello Giselle Veggie from Brazil Taha hello hello what's up Asif long so many familiar faces thank you guys for being here in joining us so awesome says please talk about inform contractions well I would say again we had a whole lesson on contractions that you should check out and I there are a lot of them in the lesson that we did before we talked about just your typical subject and verb contractions especially with the verb to be and I'd say any contraction is informal it's important to learn because we use it all the time especially in speaking instead of saying I am you'd say I'm instead of saying we will will so it's good I highly recommend to check out that lesson you could just search our channel contractions and I go over a bunch of them with you and it's great listening once you know them if you can identify them it is great for your listening because when you're having a conversation I just used it when you are when you're having a conversation we use them a lot so it makes it so much easier to follow along the conversation so check out that lesson um Brian asked are you coming to Columbia I would love to visit Columbia I was actually in Columbia about ten years ago I went to Bogota Manizales meta-gene Cartagena and hiked around in Parque tyrona and I would love to go back because it is such a beautiful country um John a hello from the Philippines cebu I would love to visit Cebu I've heard a lot of great things about the Philippines and would love to visit ayesha hello from Pakistan hello hello welcome what's the difference between I like to plus infinite or like plus ing I like to go and or I'm liking I'm kind of thing it like if your question is about gerunds and infinitives like is a verb that you can it can be followed by a infinitive I like to play or it can be followed by a gerund I like playing so there are several verbs that can be followed by either a gerund and infinite or infinitive and like is one of them so I don't know if that was your question but you can follow it with either personally I tend to go with the gerund most of the time I like playing I like dancing I like singing that's that's just me personally so again as you guys are asking questions I want you again try these are great questions try to keep keep in mind make them specific because sometimes we get very broad questions and people would ask explain all the verb tenses and that is something that would take hours to go through and talk about so again just try to keep the questions specific like whether it's about a word and a meaning or how to pronounce a word and we can kind of run through a bunch of different ones please spell my name lotta Lotta is it split spam spell my name you want me to say your name lots of lots of bottom n hello welcome thank you guys for joining us what's the difference between two and four it's really that that really depends because prepositions can be really challenging that was a question from hey Yin about the difference between two and four prepositions are very challenging because they're those small little function words that follow nouns they follow adjectives and sometimes you just need to sometimes you can learn them and there are rules for example when talking about time and you say in the morning in the afternoon in the evening and that way you you can okay I know this other times you just have to kind of memorize and be familiar that you use it in this case so for example I said to you guys before I said I look forward to this live stream I look forward to this event and when you look forward to something that's when you would use to if we're talking about being responsible you are responsible for something we use it with that the best way to learn those prepositions honestly is to read read read read read the more you read in English you're seeing the words you're seeing the grammar you're seeing how these prepositions are used and that is the best thing that I think you guys can do for yourself amano put attrition patricia pretty hello how are you thank you guys for joining us welcome again you guys feel free to ask questions somebody said Oh same how do you spell what's the difference between desert and desert so the pronunciation is a little bit a different dessert - desert is to abandon it is a verb that is des ERT desert and then desert are you know that it can also be a desert so it can be - desert or a desert which is a noun which is a place the desert now desert ditches des ser t desert is what you would have after your main meal you would have desert you would have a cake you would have some ice cream and you would have that for dessert so don't don't confuse it desert and desert desert is the noun but again that is a multiple meaning word desert des ERT if we're using it as a verb it also could sound like desert so it can be a little confusing but again the spelling for those two it is different sir let me ask you I'm trying to find some more questions Rosalinda asked about active and passive voice again that is a it's a bit of a more a broader topic we do have a whole lesson which I recommend you guys check out about the active and passive so many times you guys will ask us about different things and we have a full lesson on it so what I'm going to do is this is a great time because we're here you guys are in the chat I'm gonna just see if I can find some of these links and I'll just throw them in there so if you are looking for information about the active and passive I will find that for you right now and I will link it in there because I suggest that you guys watch it gives you a bunch of information active and passive so while it's searching I will do that let me see hello hello from Thailand Indonesia great great to have you guys here sorry if I miss some of your questions I'm trying to read through this quickly when somebody says how are you fixed for job or cash or money so how should we answer that question how are you fixed for a job I'm not sure what you mean by like you're fixed for a job how are you fixed are you fixed for cash or you fixed for money I don't know if they're asking if you need some cash or you need some money is what are you it's kind of an expression and maybe try it you can ask it again maybe I'm reading it wrong whose name is John or called John which is the right thing now our ask I know someone their name is John or whose name is John or call John okay in this case you could say again I I know someone if you want to say I I know someone period their name is John or his name is John then it's just two sentences if you want to keep it as a if you want to make it a complex sentence I know someone whose name is John in that case it would be an adjective clause and you're just adding that information I know someone whose name is John or you could say I know someone call John I think it's more but more common to say I know someone whose name is John or I know someone his name is John I think those are the more common ways but it's a matter of of grammar whether it's two sentences or you're going to use it as an adjective clause please tell us your favorite idiom and its meaning tt99 all right great so I'd say my favorite idiom I often uh I often say like a lot of times I say play it by ear because I'm not somebody who likes to make definite plans I like to make plans but I also like to keep it open so often I'd say let's make a plan let's let's go out to dinner and they say okay well where are we going to go so I don't know let's let's play it by ear it means like let's just let's just take things as they come and we'll decide a little later or we'll decide at that moment we'll just play it by ear it's kind of like we're going to do this thing but you're going to be flexible to play it by ear so that's something that I always tell people like oh what are we going to do and say you know let's just let's just play it by ear we'll see what happens who knows let me give you the link so if you guys are looking for that active and passive voice here is the link to the lesson that you can go check out all right I'll just write it here active versus passive boom alright so you guys can go check that out that is a good link and good information talked a lot about active and passive so pretty Judy asked pretty much pretty well is that American or British hmm honestly I'm not sure how popular it would be in British English I think it's used in both I think it's used in American English people would say yeah you know pretty much or like yeah how are you doing you pretty well I I think pretty much is definitely something that's used a lot in American English but I don't think that's really much of a distinction between British and American English I feel like it's probably it's used in both so please visit India Vishnu yes we would love to visit India that is another place it is on our list and if we come to visit India we will be sure to ask many of you who are from there where we should go where should we visit if we go to India but we do love that is probably perhaps one of our favorite cuisines we'd love to eat Indian food you want and I go out to eat Indian food all the time and it's great let's see what else do we have is it normal yet Itza says is it it is nor that you could be better in grammar but when it comes from speaking English you sometimes can't be fluent as much as you want any suggestion I think that that's very common that people have different skill levels so for example we would teach students before that might be you know great at speaking or they might be more competent at speaking but their writing was not so good or other students who were great at writing or they had great listening skills but when they were trying to speak and express themselves it was a little more challenging for them one thing I think for speaking when that makes it so much difficult if people are afraid to make mistakes and and they're filled with a little anxiety then it becomes that much more challenging to speak and try to communicate with other people so one thing I definitely suggest was it when it comes to speaking don't worry about making mistakes just just go out there and say what's on your mind and and if you're having trouble trying to express yourself think of other ways to say it and oftentimes people would say that they're like oh I don't know how to say this in English if that's the case one thing I would recommend try to build your vocabulary the more you build your vocabulary the more you're going to be able to say exactly what you want to say and that's really going to help you so that you don't have to think and say well I'm not sure how to say this in English so building vocabulary I think is is something that will really help and again just trying to get that confidence so that you're not worried about making mistakes and you'll just say whatever we've heard people students are worried about making mistakes could be because of grammar or even pronunciation I know people have they've avoided saying certain words because they think they're not pronouncing it correctly so let's see English I said who else women trying to read wow they're going through these very quickly I was wondering if you could tell us about the proper to pronounce the flap T alright no no yeah kissaki great question in the future we're actually we we have done a lesson on the flop t yeah I'm editing that lesson right now and it'll probably come out in a couple of months but the flat T is very common especially in American English it's when that T is kind of in the the middle of the word so that T sound is in the middle and it just sounds like a D so better I instead of B et ter instead of saying better like you might hear more in British English I just say better which sounds more like a D watr water water is another one it just sounds like that D sound in American English when that T is in the middle that's basically the flap T let's see one left eeeh why don't you visit Rocco yes come on I'd love to visit Morocco and if we come to Morocco we're gonna let you know so many places to visit and it's just again there's too many places on the list and too just not enough time so hopefully we'll get to visit all of these places where you guys are from and that we'd get to let you know and maybe even do some meetups one thing that I want to tell you guys which again I am so sorry for is that we've now come out with a bit of a newsletter to to make another connection with you to send you guys useful and free information so if you're looking if you're interested in signing up for that newsletter here is the link I'll say sign sign up here alright you can go to the site put in your email we're not going to spam you and send you emails every single day we'll just send you stuff from time to time about useful free resources things that we're doing you can also access our secret fluency lesson the reason I'm apologizing is because we many people have signed up already and we've been in communication with them but there was a problem that we were not receiving emails and a few days ago I fixed that so now that we are receiving emails if you respond to one of our emails and sent us something we will get that now if you wrote us an email in the past and we didn't respond it's because we didn't get it and I apologize but things are working now Kurt Bart and can you come to Canada yes we would we were in Canada two years ago we were visit we visited a friend in Montreal and it was great I saw syw I'm in Hana I'm from Hong Kong the first time watch live broadcast welcome thank you thank you for joining this live broadcast so here we're all about practicing and improving your English skills if you did not know what interactive English is and you guys are joining us for the first time my name is Wes and that is what we are all about doing we come out with weekly lessons each week all about helping you guys practice and improve your lessons practice and improve your English and if you guys like what we do please hit that like button we always appreciate that Lily I love your video lessons from Saudi Arabia thank you thank you so much we're happy to have you as part of our community love it when you guys are here and just hanging out so just how can you help us to pronounce okay let's look at some of these words curtain the first one curtain button you don't really hear that T sound button Mountain again sometimes American English suppose to say Mountain and you almost dropped that T but mountain in the American act so I'd say curtain button mountain in the American in my very American accent um was it sighting in the answers why we you she for any country Ayesha Khan asked why do we use she for country that that's a good question I think that's something that sometimes certain objects will just get assigned gender I really don't know why for example oftentimes cars will get referred to in the female gender and they will talk about it as she I'm not really sure exactly the history behind that but I right a lot of times countries will get referred to at with the feminine female gender please who is it or is it Andrea please answer my question - it's really confusing wait where was your question maybe I missed it before oh why the words work would homework house work etc never a pronounced like the word nurse while their phonetic for the vowels are the same work world homework are are not pronounced like the word nurse even though the vowels are the same honestly the I have another great lesson that's going to come out in the future the thing we did another lesson before about spelling and pronunciation and in English it's just crazy and confusing and so much of it doesn't make sense the spelling and the pronunciation the reason for that is because over time pronunciation changes it doesn't change immediately but over hundreds and hundreds of years it does change and it's changed in English but one thing hasn't changed sometimes spelling has not and for that reason sometimes we get silent letters that are no longer pronounced for that reason sometimes vowels are pronounced differently within words in the future we're doing a lesson it's not really a lesson it's a pronunciation poem it's called the chaos and the reason for this poem is that it's all about just showing you that spelling and pronunciation are ridiculous and they don't match up and sometimes there is no rule to it you just need to learn how these different words are pronounced and said and a great way to do that I know many of you practicing your listening sometimes people don't like using subtitles because they think well if I'm using subtitles I really just want to practice my listening but if you're using subtitles it does help make it a bit of a pronunciation lesson because then you're able to see the word you're able to see the spelling and you're able to hear the correct pronunciation so I think that's a great way to to practice to kind of identify certain words of pronounce Curt Curt Barton say pickle in English pickle all right a pickle you can be in a pickle if somebody is that's an idiom if somebody is in a bit of a pickle it means that they are in a troubling situation so there's another idiom to be in a pickle you can have a troubling situation and in French and Spanish and French and Spanish I'm not really sure so sorry I can't help you with that one let's see greetings from the Ukraine Olivia thank you very much yes glad you guys like our lessons glad you guys hope you guys glad you're glad you think I'm a good instructor I've been teaching English for gosh about thirteen fourteen years now started a long time ago I've talked in several different countries Korea and Namibia the Dominican Republic the United States and now this is like kind of started teaching online with this channel and doing these live lessons and I think the reason I love these live lessons is because we are have we have lessons in real time you guys can interact I can ask you questions you can answer them and you can have as many people as you want in the classroom and keep it large so that's the one thing I love about these live lessons so Wow turns out that you are an old man Tennyson yes I am an old man and proud of it so I am no longer in my 20s I'll give you that I'm not gonna tell you exactly how old I am but it I don't think it would be it would be hard for you guys to find out so Mustafa irani says sometimes the dictionary pronounce the word in a weird way for example bottom and Cambridge dictionary sound isn't clear I hear autumn instead of bottom so yeah I think if you're I think it's great to use online dictionaries and you can listen to the pronunciation sometimes I forget which dictionary it is one of them will give you both the British and the American pronunciation I'm not sure if it's the Cambridge dictionary but a lot of them will will just give you the the British pronunciation but bottom yeah if you if I were to say it in my American bottom and autumn so you do hear that be it's a voice sound but but but bottom bottom and autumn how to wear is it somebody asked I'm a back or how to accept or decline an invitation in English politely I I would say how to accept I would say yeah I would love to if somebody's asking you to do something or you'd say yes I would love to do that or if somebody's offering you food I would love to have some I think it's great to use the word love because it shows you're excited if you want to decline to say no thank you no thank you is perfectly fine to decline something somebody asked where am i from I am from the United States I have lived in about maybe 15 different states so I've moved all over grew up along the East Coast the last place that I lived in the United States was the great state of California louis angle hi hello how are you yes Suhani asks could you tell me why english it's become an intern to be the international language that's a great question I think a lot of it has to do with just just the history mostly the history within the last hundred years before you had the British Empire and that spread all over the world and that I think it helped it made English a primary language in many countries in Asia and Africa and then I think towards these last 50 years I I know that the United States has developed a lot they've become you know especially economically and because of that I think the u.s. exported a lot of the language they exported the language in movies in music in TV a lot of pop culture and I think because the last hundred years you know because of the UK because of the United States it's kind of just become the international language and honestly I know some some students think like ah you know like it's difficult to learn I think it's good for for many of you guys I I almost think it's not a it's something that I part of me almost wish it wasn't the case because sometimes it for me trying to learn another language sometimes it becomes more difficult because you go to another country and you want to practice the language and many people will speak English and it it it some what it does is sometimes I think it makes people a bit lazier when if you're a native English speaker and it's not a good thing I think people tend to maybe become a little bit lazier when it comes to learning anguish English or when it becomes to learning other languages because some people will have it's a very ignorant viewpoint that they'll they'll have this expectation that other people should speak English and they become too lazy to try and learn another language but yeah I think it's something I wish you know i-i've I've learned Spanish when I was growing up I'm trying to learn Romanian now I learned Korean when I was in Korea and my Korean is a bit rusty at this point but yeah I think it's good to always learn other languages I think it really really really keeps the mind sharp and it's great for your mental health so who else how do you say hola in English Pete hola it's just hello usually you could say hello informally you'd say hi I tend to just say what's up I always start out my videos what's up everyone welcome to today's lesson Darya asked do you often use idioms in your daily life yes I do I can't say that everybody will use idioms but I noticed that when I started teaching and especially when I sometimes I would stop and say oh here's an idiom and once started doing that I noticed just how many idioms that I tend to use not only in my you know conversations with other people but even when I'm teaching I tend to just throw them out there and then I try to catch myself and explain what the idiom is so yes I end up using English I in English I end up using idioms quite often what does it mean speaking of an idiom be happy ask what does I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited mean so if somebody turns up out of the blue it means that you show up unexpectedly if you show up and people were not expecting you to be there then you can say oh you turned up out of the blue or somebody turned up out of the blue let's see kind of getting through these again you guys are asking a lot of great questions what's the what's the most difficult thing about learning Spanish for you I think the most difficult thing about Spanish for me what for me the most difficult thing is listening because and I think that goes for any language if I'm learning Korean Romanian listening is always a challenging skill for me and I think for many of you it might be one of the more easier language skills but it's always been a challenge for me so I'd say listening was the most difficult thing because it's always easy for me to just tune out and I'm listening to the conversation and then suddenly I tune out for like maybe five seconds and then suddenly I'm lost so listening is one of the most difficult things in a lot of the country in many of the countries where I visited like especially the Dominican Republic people would speak pretty fast so that made listening a bit more challenging but as for my speaking skills like I again that's something like I'll just do I know that I make a ton of mistakes when I'm speaking Spanish but I'll just go ahead and say it anyways I don't really care so that is one good thing for me about speaking I'll just go ahead and say it even though I know I'm making mistakes and typically people they can understand for the most part did you like teaching in the Republican Dominican public party asked yes I really liked it I was teaching at a Catholic orphanage I taught there for one year it was a public school and I taught grades five to nine so teaching middle school students at that age it can be it was a challenge to say the least but let's see so I may ask teacher kick it off what does it mean to kick it off means to are to let's let's kick it off to begin to start something often I'd say like let's instead this another idiom would be let's get this show on the road to get some to get the show on the road is another idiom to say let's begin let's start let's see and some YouTube vid a las Andrea says in some YouTube videos someone says oh my gosh what does it mean oh my gosh is more of it's just like an explanation talking about surprise you were just like it's an interjection it's more saying like oh my gosh like you wouldn't believe what happened so it's kind of just a way of saying like showing that you're surprised like oh my gosh another way of saying it people would say oh my god and again if you're texting somebody oMG same thing it's used in that same context somebody says oMG like this is what happened you wouldn't believe it so oh my gosh that's what it means let's see hi Wes hi AVI um I understand I understand your English 100 or spend but when I'm in the u.s. I don't understand native speakers yes so a lot many many students have told us this they say oh I understand when you're speaking but I don't understand when I'm listening to English out on the streets or if I'm watching a movie part of that be is because I just tend to speak slower and this is my natural speed some some of you have asked me they're like why don't you speak faster and it's like now you know this is this is the speed that I speak English and I think part of that has developed over time because I've been teaching English for so many years I've just naturally slowed down my speech because I want people to understand me and now this is just the way I talk so I tend to speak a bit slower which i think is good for English learners because I think it's always great to listen at your level so if you don't understand then that might mean that that listening is a little higher than your level it's always great to practice at that level but it's great if you understand especially if the speech is a little slower YouTube I tell people before if they tell me speak faster or speak slower YouTube allows you guys to control that you can speed up the speed of the the speech you can also slow it down if it's too fast so YouTube is great for that and I think it's good to practice listen at your level and over time you will just get better so that the next time you're out on the street and listening to somebody else even if they're speaking really fast then you're going to understand what they're saying let's see what does how are you Lanisha I am good how are you can you say hello in Spanish imagine okay who stays gustarรญa escรบchame hablando espanol por que siempre estoy hablando sobre ya zwei yo soy un estudiante espanol you a esta hablando espanol si como es aรฑos mรกs o menos en este momento necesito practicar mass practical practical practical porque en este momento no no tengo algunas oportunidad is de hablar espaรฑol y por ESO me vocabulary Oh Mae Mae olvidar Oh muchos palabras estos estos Ultimo's onions so there there is some Spanish for you guys if you guys want to and I'm sure again you're thinking about the my grammar you're like oh my gosh that's horrible or I'm my pronunciation may be off on many words but again it's all good practice I think I know people have practiced using YouTube and actually they put up videos of this them speaking the language they want to learn so you guys could do that in English and and try to practice speaking so mm-hmm let's see what else Chandra which language are you speaking I can't understand well I was attempting to speak Spanish and talking a little bit in Spanish so again what's difference between how do you feel and what do you feel I think Oh South Korea excellent right on so if somebody asked like how do you feel it's maybe asking I think like you know if somebody feels sick or they feel tired or there's something maybe not like a little wrong with that person and say hey you know how do you feel or maybe you're asking their opinion about something like how do you feel that would be similar if you're talking about an opinion because nobody asks like what do you feel they'd say what do you feel like doing what and in that case if you're asking somebody what do you feel like doing then you're asking their opinion what do you want to do what do you feel like doing I think that's a common way that it's used if you're talking about what do you feel what do you feel like doing looks like do you speak Portuguese Nancy asks no unfortunately I don't except for Oh Buddha God oh that is the only that is the my limit not the extent of my Portuguese or just want to ask what's your favorite food ooh that is a good question like I said we we eat Indian a lot I love Indian food I also love Mexican food is great and there's so many I don't have one specific favorite food I do love beef stew that's another one but I think my tastes change over time so it's like one year I eat a lot of this and then another year I'll eat this food so my favorite food tends to change over time all right so another thing that I wanted to share with you guys again if you guys like what we do and you want to connect with us further and help support our lessons we are on patreon I wanted to throw that plug out there I'll put this in the link if you guys want to check it out our patreon page you can check that out right here and again remember sign up for that our email list we will send you guys we will send you guys some very cool stuff from time to time as well as give you updates because one thing that we want to do here at interactive English we are going to start offering online courses and when I say online courses it's going to be in a similar format like our live lessons because we want to have as many people as we can in the classroom and we're going to come out with a beta and if you're talking about a beta it's kind of like an initial practice and the first course we're going to do is all about building vocabulary because that will really help you improve your other skills like it's going to help you read faster it's going to help your speaking and your overall English fluency so the first course that we're gonna do is building vocabulary we're going to do a beta version of it probably in a couple of months and if you guys are sign up to that newsletter we'll give you more information about it and you guys will be the first ones that will be able to sign up for that so again thank you guys again I'm gonna have to have to call it quits there's so many other things few other things I need to do today especially editing some videos it's been about 40 minutes thank you thank you thank you guys for being here thank you for being a part of our community if you have other questions please write those in the comments we love hearing from you guys and we try to answer as many as we can so thank you guys so much for being here thank you but et angel demon AVI I'm gonna try I'm gonna read your name in Korean so song it's a song eeeeek so song ich thank you probably my pronunciation was not good Giselle Olivia Linda Tamera booties baby hello thank you for being here Krista thank you thank you thank you guys for joining me today and we will be back next week for another live lesson we'll make a post about it later set it on your calendar hopefully everything is working perfectly at that point we'll see if we can work out the kinks thank you guys again enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time solo --- ## 494. Q&A Live-Lesson with Interactive English | You ask, I'll answer... | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `H1pdcNkUYvM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1pdcNkUYvM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:25:09 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson this is a q a a question and answer session in which you can ask the questions and i will try to answer as many of those questions as possible and if for some reason i i don't get to your question still write to me in the comments uh because i love learning about well what is it that you need to learn about because it always gives me some great ideas for some future lessons so we are going to be doing a q a session and i'm going to start with uh questions from our members and patrons and as we go through these i have my vocabulary uh my document here to maybe give you guys some examples to help you better understand some of these uh questions that people are asking so i want to give a quick hello and a shout out to some of you who are with me today hello uh spiritual akiba esther hi samuel um i am died of cooking hello welcome uh thank you guys for joining me sleepwalker lolly saw you guys in there great to have you with me so let's just get into some of the the first questions which i said i asked um some of in our community some patrons some members um what what are questions they had and i i'm going to get to them first so what i would say is if you are with me um right now just hold your questions off for just a moment and i'm going to talk about these first and then i will open it up to more general questions so let's uh go ahead and look at the first one which is from lolly who is asking about the difference between even if and even though that is a great question the difference between even if and even though so let i think it would be helpful to go over to our vocabulary document so and i'll give you some example sentences because if you say both of them are talking about a condition a certain condition even though is talking about a condition that is true it is actually happening even if is more of a hypothetical situation so i could give you this example sentence and say um uh we're going to play um we're going to play basketball um even though it's raining all right this is true all right it's happening so if you say even though and the condition even though it's raining that is something that is true if we use even if and i change it uh we're going to play basketball even if it's raining all right then again i'd say it's hypothetical all right we don't know if it's going to rain or if it's not going to rain and uh we don't know this it's hypothetical but i say well even if it rains we will still play all right so keep that in mind we're talking about even though versus even if we're using even though to talk about something that's true all right it's happening even though it's raining all right which is true i think it is raining outside right now or if i want to say like before i don't know if it's gonna rain um it may rain it may not rain even if it's raining that's the one that you would use so again that is one of the main differences uh we're talking about that condition in the sentence one of them's true even though one of them is hypothetical even if the next question is related to this which is why um i wanted to touch on that next and that is from uh patron uh takayo who asks about confusing about if or when and this is a little similar and again i think it's going to help if i give you some examples so let me go back well to our vocabulary document and i'm going to scroll down and talk about um well if versus when so i could say something um we will eat when she arrives okay in this case you're talking about um something is going to happen all right you know it's going to happen all right if i change it and say we will eat if she arrives all right you're i would say this is uncertain so in that case if we're using when it's something you know is going to happen if we use if there's a level of uncertainty maybe it will happen maybe it won't happen um so in this case we will eat when she arrives we know she is going to arrive we will eat if she arrives well maybe she arrives maybe she doesn't so in that case that is a clear example of um how those two are different if we're using when it's expressing certainty something will happen if we're using if it's uncertain you're unsure maybe yes maybe no um okay let's look at the next question i'm trying to go through these a little quicker so that i can open up to just general uh questions oh you're welcome loli i'm glad i hope that explanation helped so the next one um is from uh a member joyful and they asked about this um in a situation in which this expression is used speak for yourself it is a great question because i think that when you learn an expression like this and you learn the meaning then you can apply it to certain situations speak for yourself so if somebody says speak for yourself the situation is that you are talking with another person or maybe you're within a group of other people and it's like someone is making the decision for you and you are saying no no no no that is not what i believe that's not what i think you speak for yourself all right don't talk for me speak for yourself so for example say that i'd like to give examples with you and i all right um with you and me so if we are maybe we're in a group okay and we are going to um we're trying to decide where to go to dinner and i say hey you know let's we're going we're going to get pizza everybody everybody wants pizza and maybe you're thinking well wait i don't i don't really want pizza and you would say okay well speak for yourself i would rather go um get thai food so again in that case if you use that expression and typically it's going to come at the beginning of a sentence so you're going to start out the statement if somebody says something you're going to start out and say speak for yourself all right this is what i believe this is what i think so if somebody's trying to kind of include you in what they think you can tell that person no no no no no that's what i i don't think that speak for yourself so it's a good um phrase i'm going to add it to our vocabulary document let's go down here so they were asking about the expression speak for yourself i said it comes at the beginning of a statement where it's kind of saying you're telling others um that you have a different opinion all right and then you state your opinion um and they should not be speaking on your behalf okay so this is when you would use it if you want to tell somebody look i don't agree with what you're saying i have a different opinion speak for yourself okay great expression uh the next part uh let's see we have another question which this question is the longer one i will summarize it this is from uh a patron uh couple husband wife vicky and gustav gustav uh i know is feeling a bit ill so i wanna say i i hope you feel better soon gustav we wish you all the best um but vicky's question is talking about um gustav is learning english and learning the the present continuous and using the present continuous and the reason why this is challenging and this really applies to i think uh language learning in general because in this case gustav is going from german to english and part of the challenge is that english uses a different structure than uh it may be used in german and how do you overcome that uh because she was saying that this talking about helping verbs and this idea of helping verbs how do you learn that how do you use it correctly if it's different in your native language and that is an excellent question so when i think of helping verbs i think of the present continuous tense something that's happening now i am teaching i am teaching right now the verb to be is the helping verb or if we're talking about perfect tenses which in that case have is the helping verb i have seen this movie so what i would say to answer that question about well if it's different in one language how do you do this because i think when people are trying to do um grammar a lot of it is just um drilling kill i don't know if you know what i mean by that drilling kill it's just like you just like try to drill it into your mind and do it do it do it do it and hopefully you remember and i had this similar problem um when i was learning korean because the structure of korean and hopefully this will help out uh maybe with answer what vicky and gustav were asking the structure of korean the korean language is very different than english for example in korean the verb goes at the end and when i was learning uh this grammar i could not wrap my head around this it was so difficult for me to think about okay putting the verb at the end and anytime i tried to speak or say something and i i would try to think about okay where does the subject go where does the verb go and what it would do is it would um it would hinder my speaking and i could not express myself because i was too busy trying to think of the grammar in the middle of a conversation so one way that i got over this was it it helped me and maybe it will help you gustav is this idea of chunking and if you're unfamiliar with chunking it is a it is a way that people use to build their vocabulary and what it is is that instead of learning just one word and the meaning you learn an entire chunk and that could be three words four words or five words a perfect example of this is when you travel somewhere and you learn survival english or survival in any other language and you need to know how to say um okay where is the toilet so instead of actually learning each and every word and how the grammar is formed you're just going to learn that one phrase and you know that when you say this that is the question where is the toilet and that is what chunking is that you're not focusing on the grammar so much you're just thinking about this entire phrase or statement and you're learning it and you know okay that's what this means and i think maybe you could do the same with trying to do um these helping verbs like the verb to be and thinking of like a common question in the continuous tense like what are you doing what are you doing and knowing that the meaning of that is you are asking somebody right now what are what is happening what action is happening at that time and you know that okay what are you doing what are you doing what are you doing and you now learn that chunk and that's what you say and then you could apply it to some answers as well so if there's something that like let's take uh gustav for example um maybe if gustav likes to read and somebody said what are you doing oh i'm reading i'm reading a book or i'm reading this book and you just learn that chunk and you know that then you're using i am reading instead of trying to think about the grammar of like okay i'm with my subject now i need my helping verb then i need the verb plus ing you just learn that chunk i'm reading and then you know that you're going to automatically give that answer at least that's what helped me with korean in trying to just learn the chunk of this phrase instead of trying to think about the verb that i'm going to use and that it needs to go at the end of the sentence so i hope that maybe helps and chunking is a great way to again it's a great way to build your vocabulary um the next question uh that we have uh we talked about this one uh is from silvio and silvio says uh is asking about the difference between no longer and anymore great question so for this one uh i'm gonna go back over to our vocabulary document right here and talk about uh let's see no longer versus what i'm going to add is not all right and the reason why i'm adding not is because you're using when you use anymore you're you're pretty much going to be using it in the negative and in this case no longer and not anymore they're they're pretty much synonyms you're saying that something is not happening it was it was happening in the past but it's not happening now the difference would be a little bit in the the grammar okay so for example let's take the same the same sentence and we're going to use it uh it's the same meaning but we're going to use each one uh i could say i no longer play guitar all right i want to start playing again that's true can you guys uh see this let me move it down a little bit okay i no longer play guitar i don't play guitar anymore all right these two sentences they have the same meaning really you could say either one i no longer play the guitar um somebody asked me about this in you could you could say the guitar in american english americans like when you talk about instruments we like to take out the um like i play piano i play guitar um but i'll add the so in case somebody people might be confused about the um the article so no longer versus anymore when you use no longer it's going to go in between the subject and the verb i no longer play we no longer study they no longer go so no longer is going to come in between the subject and the verb when you use anymore you're going to say you're going to use the the negative not so in this case i do not do something and any more is going to go at the end of the sentence i don't play uh i don't play the guitar anymore um i don't study i don't study korean anymore uh now that i'm not living there i i haven't studied in a long while a long time so i no longer study korean so we use these both both of them you can use them to say the same thing but the difference would be the real main difference to me is where you're going to use it no longer is going to be come between the subject and the verb anymore is going to be at the end of the sentence but you need to use it in the negative with not all right uh let's look at the next uh question what are we at uh so we just answered sylvia's question um aiden is asking about um the the perfect tenses and this is something i'm not it's a long explanation so i'm not really going to get uh too deep into it right now but talking about the perfect tenses i think also like the past perfect the the present perfect continuous and the difference between these two and what i think i'll probably end up doing is following up with some future lessons and specifically focus on the difference between some of them like the difference between using the present perfect and the present perfect continuous and i know that these some of these can be very confusing because sometimes it's interchangeable and somebody might ask me well what's the difference between um i've uh i've lived in budapest or i've been living in budapest and you have these small little nuances so what i'll probably do and this is why i think it's great this gives me ideas for future lessons um so again i thank you for aiden for bringing this up and drawing some more attention because what i think i'll do is probably go through some more especially like some quiz lessons and give you guys a lot of questions so that you can practice and then i'll tell you why this is the correct answer um another question from lolly was talking about the difference between pledge and promise and are they interchangeable so the short answer to that is yes they are interchangeable but there is um there is a little bit of a difference between pledge and promise both of them are talking about a a commitment that you will do something in general overwhelmingly people use the word promise this is this is much more common than somebody talking about the word pledge when i think of the word pledge i think of something that is more official something that is more um professional and and that when i looked it up actually because i was kind of curious as well that's what it said um it said the difference between promise and pledge uh let me write it down here promise uh versus pledge um so promise is kind of like you're making a commitment to do something when i looked at pledge was just talking about it basically said a serious promise so i said that yes they are interchangeable but i think promise is just used in general like you promise to um meet somebody uh for dinner or you promise to help somebody with some work pledge is more serious and i'm gonna add like more formal because i think of a situation and like take a take the police for example and somebody is going to be the become a police officer they may make a pledge to serve and protect the citizens of the community and they pledge they make that pledge which is a serious and formal promise so when i think of pledge i think of capacities like um a job like a in a courtroom um or like a police or somebody who is has to take some sort of oath and they're raising their hand and say yes i pledge to do something and you're making a serious promise all right so they they are interchangeable but i think we use them in different situations uh but that is a great question um i hope that i hope that helps so now uh i want to open it up to some of you guys and we'll go through a few questions um that you guys have uh let's see uh so if you have some questions let me know um let me look through some of them uh if you have like i'm talking about uh pronunciation vocabulary a little bit of grammar i'll do i'll answer them the best uh as i can let's see so yeah that was one question um i see some people talking about like the when talking about instruments it's very interesting about whether or not to use the or not and i think in british english people would definitely use the like i play the guitar but in the united states many people will just take out the as though it were a non-count noun which is a little strange i play guitar i play piano um something to keep in mind uh let's see some of this i will please make about up usages i'll i'll i'm gonna consider that i think i have some phrasal verb lessons like pick up other than that like the word taking one preposition because actually um somebody else i think lali had asked the question about the prepositions two and four prepositions are really tricky and what i will say about prepositions is that the best way to learn that is with more reading and more listening because as you read and you see how the prepositions are used and used with certain adjectives or nouns or as you listen and you hear them used with that you're going to store that up in your active memory and then the next time you try to speak you will start using that that preposition correctly so it's a little difficult to take just one preposition and just talk about all the usage the only thing that i can do and that i was thinking about doing um later on would be taking a category for example like prepositions of time which prepositions are used with certain times like in the morning in the afternoon or if you say at night and learning those differences that is i think a manageable way to actually study prepositions prepositions of time prepositions of place but it's hard to isolate just one preposition and just talk about it but just more reading more listening that is uh that is definitely my suggestion for all of you guys uh excalibur can you speak hindi no uh i do not speak any hindi um so let's see muhammad asks what's the difference between entire um and whole so that i think in in many ways i think entire and whole they could be interchangeable because if you're talking about um entire you're talking about all of it same with whole so for example i think um i want the uh i'm going to eat the entire pizza or i'm going to eat the whole pizza the meaning is really the same in that case i think um people might use entire to emphasize really like that there is a lot of it more than usual like i ate the entire amount so in that case if you're talking about like eating which is when i think people might think they're interchangeable i think oftentimes people will use entire like oh i can't believe i ate the entire cake you could say i can't believe i ate the whole cake the meaning is the same but in that's in that context i think entire would be a little more common it adds a little bit more emphasis um all right i know some of you said the transmission sorry i guess uh i'll to check the the streaming uh it doesn't seem like uh it seems like it should be streaming okay um hopefully it's not uh too bad for someone uh let's see um trevor says uh what is roll ups meaning to roll up so i feel like uh roll up can have a couple of different meanings because again we're talking about a phrasal verb many phrasal verbs have multiple meanings so you could like roll up your sleeve in which case you're talking about actually just rolling something and making it kind of shorter you can roll up your sleeves maybe if it's raining and you roll up your pants you don't want to get wet um it could also mean like somebody could say we you're driving somewhere and you could sit and you say we rolled up to the house in that's in that context you're talking about you arrive somewhere or you approached some place we rolled up and most of the time i think you're you're talking about driving so those would be two different meanings for the phrasal verb uh roll up let's see uh yeah sleepwalker yes you cannot remember all prepositions at once brick by brick that is a great way of putting it uh prepositions are like putting together like a brick wall you're just doing it one at a time brick by brick slow and steady wins the race um let's see um where is it hold on try and see english-wise yeah you can roll up things uh like to ball up to roll up yes those can uh be used interchangeably um adriana asks when do you use come by so come by i think uh it basically means like to visit it's an informal way of saying you're you're going to visit um and for for example if i were to go talk to uh maybe i'm going to stop by somewhere i say tomorrow i'm going to come by and we're going to have a cup of tea i'm going to come by i'm going to visit i'm going to stop at this place and we are going to visit so i think uh i'm trying to think if it has any other meanings but that is i think the most common one you're going to visit somewhere uh you're going to come by rosemary asks what is a roller coaster a roller coaster is a ride that you would find at an amusement park it's probably people think of it as the most exciting ride at the amusement park you go fast sometimes you loop around and people will use it in a different uh context as well if they say that some experience that it was like a roller coaster so we often talk about it um kind of as uh as to compare it to something like um trying to think um you could say uh learning english it's wow it was like a roller coaster and it basically means it was fast you're changing directions it's not the smoothest ride and in that case like i said if you're talking about somebody's experience perhaps at work or um going somewhere and you want to compare it to a roller coaster it's a great uh it's a great visual way to compare something to and like oh it was just it was like a roller coaster and this is something i think people would hear quite often let's see uh see is it better uh curious like liza is it better to be conscious while speaking with native speakers i'm not really sure we mean like conscious like uh to be awake or fully i'm sure like i would hope that you're conscious and that you are engaging with these people having a conversation um ali says what is the meaning of wet my whistle um to wet your whistle it is a it's a phrase it's an idiom i think of it as an older idiom it means that you're going to try something you're going to try something not for the first time necessarily but it's like you're going to try something maybe you you're excited for you haven't had in a while i'm going to wet my whistle um and try this thing so if somebody could be talking about perhaps some kind of food or a meal they're going to eat or an experience that they're going to have and they just want to they want to wet their whistle and they want to try thing it's like you want to get a taste of this um would be uh one way of explaining it to wet someone's whistle uh junior hello from brazil how are you um eli has to come by and drop by have the same meaning uh yes in that case i think if you're going to drop by come by yeah you're going to visit uh i think they're interchangeable i think most people would say they're going to come by when i think of drop by for some reason maybe this is just me i think of a shorter visit if somebody's typically like i'm just going to drop by i think it's just going to be a shorter visit and then they have to go on to some other place so uh if i say hey tomorrow i'm gonna drop by and i'm gonna pick something up and then i'm gonna leave again uh i think that might be a slight difference between drop by and come by but you could still use either one i'm going to come by and pick up some books but then i got to leave but if somebody says drop by i think for me i think of a shorter visit um ivana asks what's the meaning of get through to get through something uh one meaning i think that i think is the most common is like to survive something you're trying to survive something that's difficult something that's challenging you're trying to get through this experience or maybe you're taking a class i'm just trying to get through this class i'm having a very difficult time with it i'm trying to survive i'm just trying to get through it um let's see angela's asking is i don't know maybe the uh you're answering somebody else's question uh you're tight means uh you're awesome yes i think some i i think tight and this maybe i'm too old for some of this slang when i think of somebody i think mostly people would say i haven't really heard this word too much be talking about another person like your type i always hear it mostly referring to a situation like oh that's tight and if somebody says oh that's tight that's awesome that's cool uh that's tight but nowadays who knows maybe people are using it to refer to other people as well um uh where is it uh releasing that says very helpful keep it up thank you uh rahul glad it's helpful i'm trying to get to different ones here um cindy asks what does it mean like tickle me means um tickle me it kind of means if somebody says well that really just tickles me it means that they find pleasure in it that something is funny that's it's amusing and you could think of like the literal meaning like to tickle someone they're laughing so if somebody says that something like tickles them like oh it really it really tickles me to see this thing it means that it just gives somebody pleasure um what is the meaning of pashu says what is the meaning of bloody so bloody to me means like actual it's an adjective you're describing something that there's a lot of blood coming out but in british english it's used more as an like i guess like kind of an adjective like a phrase people like oh that's bloody hell or they may say something is bloody impossible or bloody difficult in that case i think it would take on a similar meaning as very so it's a way to uh like an adverb of degree in british english of saying like very or like an expression like bloody hell is just like oh crap um so uh yes jacques let's hit the like button please do if you guys enjoy these lessons do hit that like button if anything it tells me that these are useful that it's nice for you guys to be able to come in and try to ask some questions um half court asks what's blasphemy means so blasphemy is it's a noun and what it's referring to is somebody speaking ill about uh maybe someone or something and it's like oh that's blasphemy it's some it refers to something that you should not say because it's inappropriate it doesn't necessarily have to be like profanity and you're saying bad words but it could be that you're you're just saying something that is not correct perhaps because it could be because it's cultural or maybe some tradition and you should not say this thing or you shouldn't do it and say oh that's blasphemy it's bad it's incorrect you shouldn't do it um ali keeps repeating what does it mean bear with me bear with me all right ali i will let me let me help you out uh giving you an example i will answer that question in just a moment i want you to bear with me okay i will get to that phrase in just a moment just please bear with me all right uh what is meaning uh swati astro would mean overwhelming overwhelmed so this is a difference between edie adjectives and ing adjectives we use ed adjectives to talk about like in general the way somebody feels like i feel overwhelmed with all the work that's the way i feel overwhelming is talking about more a situation like my work is overwhelming so my work is overwhelming and it makes me feel overwhelmed and there are so many different ed ing adjectives like uh confused i am confused but this is confusing or um uh i'm excited something the movie is exciting all right edie ing adjectives uh though those are very common and this is where people make just these simple mistakes all right so d hopefully did you guys for for those of you who are unfamiliar with the phrase bear with me were you able to put it in context when i gave you that example so if somebody's saying bear with me it means like um okay just wait a moment and like just it's kind of saying um not not really telling somebody to to be patient really but it's saying that to kind of continue on the same path that we we're going gonna do something we will get to it in just a moment maybe if you are unhappy with something some situation and somebody's like look it's going to get better later on just just bear with us just bear with it kind of like to endure this small annoyance that in the future things will get better things will improve and you're telling somebody look okay just just bear with me um uh you if or maybe you don't understand something i say just bear with me i'm going to help you understand it later on um so that is how it could be used uh let's see um something a free woman asks wicked means evil yes if something is i don't know if that's an answer to another question if something is wicked it would mean something is uh evil it's not good like in the story the wizard of oz the wicked witch but in in slang in the northeast especially new england around the city of boston people use wicked to say something is great to say something is cool and they'd say wow that's wicked um all right so i this is kind of it's uh going going on i am going to end the q a right there i will do this again in the future but if you enjoyed these q a's please hit the like button if you have other questions write to me in the comments and i may not be able to go through and answer all of them we get so many comments but what that does is it gives me ideas for future lessons because if some of you have the same question then i know okay there is definitely a need to talk about this in a future lesson so write those questions let me know what is it that you want to learn or you need to learn or that you find confusing that will help give me ideas for some future lessons so i hope that this helped uh i hope maybe you learn something new i tried to get through as much as i can um but i really appreciate all of you guys being here with me thank you guys um uh for joining me today i hope you enjoy the wonder the rest of your weekend yes you too thank you rose sleepwalker english vibes um uh go out enjoy the rest of your day lolly good to see you uh and i will see you guys next time so long --- ## 495. QUANTIFIERS for Non-count Food Nouns ๐Ÿž๐Ÿ•๐Ÿท| Grammar Quiz | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bU-qU8bN_q0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU-qU8bN_q0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:30:08 | --- hey everyone welcome to another interactive English lesson with me my name is Wes and the reason why I say this is an interactive English lesson is because I want you to participate I want you to write to me in the chats write to me in the comments and actually answer some of the questions because today it's kind of like a quiz lesson but we are going to talk about food quantifiers now I think this is really important because well I think many of us we talk about food all the time it is a very popular and common topic so I think it's useful to be able to be more specific when we're talking about food but you also want to make sure that you are using the correct quantifier because there are different quantifiers that you can use when talking about the same food now I've already said the word quantifier several times so you may be wondering well well what is a quantifier when I talk about a quantifier I'm referring to a word or phrase that's used before a noun to indicate an amount of something and often I think when when you think of quantifiers you might think of these words right here many much some any a lot a few but in today's lesson we're not going to talk about these quantifiers I want to actually be more specific when you're talking about these non-count food nouns so instead of saying like hey can I have some water we're going to use a different quantifier and talk about a glass of water so these are phrases that you have the quantifier followed by of and then the the non-count noun that you're talking about and we're talking and today is about non-count food nouns so we're talking about food and drink that is what today's lesson is all about so let's let's just get right into it I'm going to start the quiz and again I want you to write your answers in the chat don't be shy write your answers in the comments because I just want to hear from you tell me your name tell me where you're from we love hearing from new people so let's begin with the first question right here and that is this okay so I want you to try and think about putting these questions into context these first few questions that I have for you they are a multiple choice and think about the situation okay first thing in the morning I like to put a mmm of coffee I like to sorry first thing in the morning I like to put on a mmm of coffee alright how how would you complete that sentence right there okay first thing in the morning I like to put on a mmm of coffee so again we're talking about that non-count food now we're talking about coffee very common people we I drink coffee almost every day many of you probably drink coffee but again think think about the context first thing in the morning I like to put on a mmm of coffee alright right now I'm seeing a lot of different answers okay I haven't seen the right answer yet now I told you we're talking about coffee with all three of these you can use you can these are quantifiers when talking about coffee the answer is C first thing in the morning I like to put on a pot of coffee and the reason I said think about the context when I'm giving you these examples to put on is a common phrase of when you're talking about making coffee that you would put on a pot of coffee which basically means that you are going to start making the coffee and then you will pour yourself a cup of coffee or you could pour a mug of coffee both of those quantifiers are okay but in this situation you would put on a pot of coffee all right so our head is trying to trick you guys a little bit for that first one I think it may have worked a little bit so let's go to the next question and again remember think about think about the context of the sentence what is what is being talked about would it try to put a picture in your head in your mind that may help you understand exactly which quantifier we're talking about so here is the next question when you go to the store it's question when you go to the store can you pick me up a mmm of cheese when you go to the store can you pick me up a mmm of cheese okay which quantifier are you going to use a wedge of cheese B wheel of cheese or C slice of cheese when you go to the store can you pick me up can you pick me up a mmm of cheese all right what do you think write your answer in the chat in the comments and I am gonna try and give you guys a little more context here all right so I noticed many people are saying see a slice now if you're talking about a slice of cheese you're usually talking about a thin slice of cheese that you would put on a sandwich so when you are making a sandwich you may slice cheese but if you buy if you go to the store you could buy a pack of cheese which would have slices inside them or you would buy a wedge of cheese and this is a picture like those pictures right there those are wedges of cheese and what a wedge is is it looks like this shape right here it's basically the shape of a triangle and you would call that a wedge a wedge of cheese a wheel of cheese the reason why I don't think this fits is because when I think of a wheel of cheese those are really big that is a really big piece of cheese is a wheel and I I think that many people when you would go buy it for yourself or your family you would pick up a wedge of cheese so again think about the context the situation your goal to the store and in that case you're not really just going to buy one slice of cheese you'd buy a wedge of cheese all right excellent so this is a this a little more this is a little trickier than I thought all right so the next question how many mm of sugar would you like for your coffee we're going we're going back to coffee all right why not so how many mm of sugar would you like for your coffee it's a question it's a question that somebody might ask you if you are at a cafe a restaurant and you order some coffee and then I say how many mm of sugar would you like for your coffee a bags be pieces C boxes or D packs all right what what do you think which quantifier best completes the sentence with sugar and again it's tricky because all of those quantifiers you could use when talking about sugar it really just depends on the context of the situation so in this case it's a question that if you are at a cafe the server comes up to you you order some coffee and they say how many mmmm would you like for your coffee all right I see some some correct answers yes Angela could I perfect Eloisa aha the correct answer is d you're talking about a pack of sugar so how many packs of sugar would you like for your coffee this these little this picture right here those are packs of sugar when I think about a bag of sugar that is something you would buy at a grocery store maybe a bag or a box of sugar which are they're quite large and you would take that home and that's what you would use at home but if you're in this situation and you're out at a cafe they would typically they would give you a pack of sugar instead instead for your individual coffee okay so let's do let's do another one all right there's one more one more multiple choice one that I for you there's a mmm a flower in the top cabinet can you hand it to me so again think about the situation what's the context there's an mmm there's a a flower in the top cabinet can you hand it to me which one which one best completes that sentence think about where these people are they're asking a question and I say hey you know you and I we're in the kitchen and I say oh there's a flower in the top cabinet can you hand it to me mm-hmm what kind of what kind of flower is somebody going to have in their cabinet is it a carton of flour a sack of flour a bag of flour or a stick of flour yes excellent great job Simona nicosia lolly Fabio farhat Felina the correct answer is C because that is what people would typically buy at the grocery store a bag of flour and they would put it in their cabinet and I'd say there's a bag of flour in the cabinet can you hand it to me you could say trying to thank some of those other ones you don't really find there is not really a carton of flour a sack would be really a large bag of flour typically you would not have that in your home or especially up in the cabinet a big sack a sack really depends on what the material is like a burlap sack there may be smaller sacks and you could have that in your cabinet so pot I would accept that but I think mostly you would have a bag of flour up in the cabinet all right so before we continue because we're gonna switch it up and I have some different types of questions for you but again if you guys want to show us some love support what we do here at interactive English and bringing these new English lessons to you each and every week check out our patreon page it is another great way to connect with us I will leave a link in the chat and there's also a link down below in the subscription down below and I've seen some patrons who are with us hey Aidan how are you excellent thanks for joining this today's lesson so now we're going to do some more questions and this time I'm going to give you the quantifier but I'm not going to give you the food I'm not going to give you the the non-count food or drink and the picture is blurred so you really have to think about well okay what what what picture are you looking at and this is this is difficult alright but try try to put it in context so here so you understand what I'm talking about here is the first one it's hot outside let's make a picture of mmm all right there's the picture you can see that I've blurred this thing out which I will show you when I reveal the answer but think about that situation and you know when it's hot outside it's summer it's hot outside let's make a picture of what what what would somebody make a picture of what drink you know that it's talking about a drink but what do you think right write your answer in the comments all right see again there's no I I guess in this case there's no wrong answer because maybe you would make a picture of something that would be different from me I'm just thinking of something that's typically probably common during the summer time yes REME goes Luisa Monica Sophia the word we're looking for and I didn't know maybe that yellow would give it away a little bit a picture of lemonade so if it's hot outside let's make a picture of lemonade I don't know about other countries in the United States it's it's common maybe in some areas a little stereotypical that young children will go outside and they make a lemonade stand and they will sell picture pictures of lemon they'll sell glasses of lemonade but they will make a picture and they will sell it around the neighborhood so a picture of lemonade that is the answer so now you know what you know what I'm talking about with these questions the next one we finish the carton of mmm we'll have to buy another all right this one I realized that that that picture I've really blurted out maybe a little too much but again think about the the situation when you think of carton of what what's the first thing that comes into your mind I just want you to write that down and that's your answer because again if you're not if you're not sure because you could have you could have cartons of different things but I think quite common you know it's very what what do people talk about we finish the carton of mmm we'll have to buy another all right yes excellent try and give some different names here if they excellent be happy Marta Sophia for hot lollies yes we're talking about a carton of milk so milk this is what the the quant this is what it looks like that is a carton of milk again you can use this quantifier with other things I know somebody mentioned eggs you would say also a carton of eggs but in this case the picture which I really blurred out so maybe it was a little too difficult to actually try and get any hints I'm talking about a carton of milk we finished the carton of milk we'll have to buy another alright the next one are you ready here we go I like those milk emojis thank you perfect would you like a stick of this is a question it's a question that probably people might not ask you I just I couldn't think of anything else but think about that quantifier we're talking about a stick of something would you like a stick of mmm again I'm trying to give you a hint because it's maybe if you're cooking and you're cooking some food you're preparing it and you need this as an ingredient and somebody's saying hey you know I have this would you like a stick of mmm do you need a stick of mmm what do you think when you what what on count food known are we talking about a stick of something what do you think all right excellent yes Lally Orlando that is what I'm looking for Mon okay we're talking about a stick of butter again that that yellow over there you can see it now I apologize because that picture is a little misleading it is yellow like like the color of butter but those are actually that is a picture of those are cubes of butter if you want to be specific but often when you go to the grocery store and you buy butter you might see it it's sold in these long sticks a stick of butter that is the answer that was looking for all right are you ready for the next one look at the colors I guess I'll give you that hint and maybe that will help out a little bit she found a grain of mmm on the floor she found a grain of mmm on the floor so again I've given you the quantifier I'm asking for well what is the non-count food or drink now in this case we're talking about a grain of something so you should know it's a food what how would what what food would you put in there that would best complete that sentence and it's also the picture right there and I've blurred out that picture so what do you think what food would complete that sentence write your answer in the chat or in the comments she found a grain of hmm on the floor so some of you put corn interesting again I'd say think about the the the color salt I get you could have a grain of grain of salt that is true yes Aidan you Alyssa well duh I was talking about a grain of rice one so if you're talking about like in small amounts this was one little piece a grain of rice she found a grain of rice on the floor and you could see that well those are several grains of rice that that's on the floor but that is the picture a grain of rice but again there are many different types of food nouns that you could use a grain of something a grain of salt a grain of sand of course you're not going to eat sand at least I hope you don't but again you would use grain to quantify that this last one is just another fun one I just like this activity so I did an extra one I can't believe you ate the whole the entire plate of mmm what do you think that that is a a picture a picture of right there that is a plate it is a red plate what's in the middle there I can't believe you ate the entire plate of I'll give you a hint this one I told you that these are more about non-count nouns this is actually a count now this is something that you can count so I don't know if that's going to help you at all I can't believe you ate the entire plate of you could say fruit okay pizza maybe those are all yes artim excellent that that was a little tricky maybe I covered these these pictures up too much I blurred them too much I can't believe you ate the entire plate of cookies again cookies is a count noun it ends with an S you can count them there are 1 2 3 cookies right there but if we want to quantify it as a whole it is a plate of cookies is sometimes how you might hear it being used all right now we're going to switch it a little bit again I'm going to give you the sentence I'm going to give you a picture and it's not blurred so I want you to look at the picture closely and think of well what quantifier is this all right what what quantifier would I use with this food noun with this picture all right and let's just let's begin I think it helps maybe make you'll understand what I'm talking about right when I give this to you so and and maybe there could be there could be more than one answer because I told you it's quite often that you you can use different quantifiers in front of different food nouns the important thing here is context like that very first one I talked about a pot of coffee you put on a pot of coffee you start making it so at the store all right he bought a mmm of gum at the store he bought a mmm of gum at the store think about that situation what if you go to the store you would buy a mmm of gum all right excellent yes Fuko Michele a lot of gum yes I guess you could but we're talking about these other these other quantifiers Angela yes Sophia worked the answer is pack he bought a pack of gum at the store you could again if you're talking about one stick of gum it's not something that you would usually buy at a store just one maybe you would I don't know usually in a pack there are several sticks of gum so when you're talking about gum you'd say a piece of gum a stick of gum if you're saying hey can I have some but if you go to the store I think it's likely you will buy a pack of gum an entire pack excellent I think you guys got that one perfect think about this situation I'm so hungry in the morning I try to get a big mmm of cereal for my first bite and I try to I want to give you that that picture maybe it will help you I'm so hungry in the morning I try to get a big mmm of cereal for my first bite which quantifier will is that that picture right there a big mmm of cereal it's a way cereal is a non-count food noun so what would you say what it what is that quantifier right there um it's a minute you're close Eloisa you got your clothes you're on the right track unity perfect excellent yes Fuko it's it's a spoon you cereal with the spoon if you're talking about the quantifier it was a spoonful of cereal I'm so hungry in the morning I try to get a big spoonful of cereal for my first bite so whenever you're talking about food non-count food nouns with a spoon you would be talking a spoonful of cereal maybe you have a spoonful of honey perhaps you're sick and you're taking a spoonful of medicine so in this case when you're talking about those non-count foods or drinks when you're using a spoon it's a spoonful a spoonful of something perfect excellent some of you guys got that excellent all right at dinner my wife and I split a mmm of wine think about the context and look at the picture this this is a little bit of vocabulary as well do you know the vocabulary word that that I'm talking about right there at dinner my wife and I split hmm of wine now there are different quantifiers that you can use when you're talking about wine but one thing I want you I want you to first think about the context talking about splitting something and look at the picture those are the two things that I would say all right yeah actually so I would say first let's go through some of these all right you do see a picture of a glass in there I think often you would not you would get your own glass of wine you wouldn't split a glass of wine you could split a bottle of wine but in this case look at that picture again I guess it's semantics as to what you want to call a bottle or not but when I think of a bottle I think you know the bottle has the cork in it you're gonna take it out that is not technically the picture of a bottle what would you say you could say a jug yeah that would be cuz it would come in a glass jug if you haven't heard this word before it's talking about a carafe so sometimes if you go out to a nice restaurant and that you you have wine maybe you can get a bottle of wine or perhaps you can get a carafe of wine and this is like a smaller it's more it is more like a jug it's less than a bottle of wine usually it's it's less than a bottle of wine and it's more than one glass of wine so I think in this case a carafe would be I'm just guessing maybe about two glasses of wine and they come in those specific bottles there is no cork on the top that you have to open it they would serve they bring a carafe of wine and then you would pour yourself a glass that is the word and again that that may be a new vocabulary word for many of you but think about that if you go out to a restaurant and you are in the UK or Australia Canada the US and you go to a restaurant look for that on the menu you may see that a carafe of wine next one let's is this is this is also I think a little difficult this M of steak is called a New York Strip and to be quite honest I don't actually know if that is technically a New York Strip it does like I think it may be because a New York Strip is kind of it's a longer type of steak but it but it is a it's a type of steak but in this case what what quantifier would you want to use with with that all right this mm of steak is called a New York Strip and when you're talking about steak this is a quantifier that that you may use and again there there could be more than one answer I'm looking for something specific for steak many of you are writing piece all right and in that case I think you could use that a piece of steak this piece of steak is called the New York Strip sure everybody would understand that we know what you mean a chunk of steak I think you could use that it's a little I think less common now one thing when you're talking about steaks and you're giving the names New York Strip or a ribeye or a filet mignon then it's often yes I saw an answer um yak-yak been here yeah Jacques been here so I have I'm mispronouncing it yes a cut of steak if you're talking about a cut of steak you're really talking about well what type because the cut of steak it depends on well what part is the meat coming from it's talking about how you cut it and that that particular cut what it's like so I'd say this cut mm-hmm this cut of steak is called a New York Strip so again that is something that you can think about if you go out to dinner especially to a steak house the the waiter or waitress maybe they will talk to you about the different cuts of steak and when they talk about a cut of steak they're talking about well what what how is the meat cut and it typically it's going to have a name a ribeye a New York Strip a porterhouse or my favorite filet mignon the cut of steak all right excellent you guys you guys rock that today I hope you enjoyed taking this interactive quiz and learning about some of these food quantifiers because again lessons like like this this is all about practice trying to take what you already know and put it to practice and if you didn't know it then perhaps you learn something new perhaps you you didn't know that if you're preparing coffee you would put on a pot of coffee or like I said the the the glass of wine that's well it's boot it's more than a glass it's less than a bottle and you could say it is a carafe of wine or a cut of steak so I hope you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new if you did please hit that like button show me some love than I know ok we should have more quiz lessons in the future because this is helping you practice your English skills but I hope it's also helping you improve your English skills so please hit that like button share this lesson with others that you know who want to learn English write to us in the comments you can join our social media classes I know I'm throwing a lot I always throw a lot you at the very end but we we try to get out there as much as possible on Facebook Instagram Twitter and of course right here on our YouTube channel so thank you guys so much for being here thank you Michelle you Lissa eight in Jimena Luisa Lally Jonna unity I really appreciate it Mary Chris Vanessa Sophia trying to get in try to get in as many shoutouts as I can sleepwalker Gosa have a wonderful day and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 496. READING + VOCABULARY LESSON | Immigration in the US ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `aJGBsQlbkdk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJGBsQlbkdk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:22:49 | --- hey everyone uh my name is wes this is interactive english thank you guys so much for joining me today uh so this lesson is all about um it's it's it's about immigration is the topic that we're going to be learning today but it is a reading and vocabulary lesson so let me kind of explain what we're going to do uh i've chosen this topic um which is something that i think all of us can relate to in one way or another immigration it's something it's something that's happening all over the world people will move to other countries to live permanently for work or for education or more opportunities and what we're going to do is look at a few different articles that are related to immigration and i'm going to pick out some useful vocabulary words that i think will help you uh with with your comprehension that if you're going to talk about this topic or perhaps you're reading another article about this topic or you're even listening to um a news report then i think this is going to help you better understand um immigration and it's it's just going to help you build your overall vocabulary okay so let's let's begin with uh the the other thing i wanted to tell you about is that you may notice that uh this on this video there's like a donate button or uh this video is a fundraiser because what we've decided to do my wife and i and our little girl uh emmy we've decided that this month because it's we're we're getting to the end of 2000 um 2020 it hasn't been a very good year i think that most of us would agree that this year has not been the best because of the pandemic what we want to do is we want to highlight some different uh charities that we think are doing some good work uh and we're gonna make a donation and we've just decided to make the video like a fundraising event if other people would like to make a donation if you don't want to that that's perfectly fine um but we're going to look at let me show you and we're going to kind of lead into it i'm going to come back to this at the end of the lesson so we're going to highlight freedom university and we're going to kind of lead into this throughout the lesson i'm going to start with some articles we'll go over the vocabulary and then eventually uh at the end i'll talk to you a little bit about freedom university what they're doing why we chose to highlight this charity and give you a little more information about that but that's just something we wanted to do this month so next saturday and the following saturday it's going to be the same thing we're going to do reading and vocabulary about a topic and i'm gonna be doing some fundraising and highlight uh a charity i do want to give a quick little uh shout out to everybody with me hello uh cthulhu solo welcome excellent new member awesome uh hi takayo nekla uh maggie good morning um gertrudis how are you angela thank you guys for joining me so what i really hope is that after this lesson you'll be able to understand the topic a little more as well as build your vocabulary because i do i have a i have a vocabulary list for you guys which we're going to get to all of these words uh after we do some reading and what i will do is i will include all of this down in the description i will include links to the articles if you would like to read them because we're only going to read parts of the article i'll also include a list of the vocabulary words in case you want to review so the reason why i chose immigration i mentioned this before that i think it's something that everybody understands because it pretty much in all countries there are immigrants that may be living there for work or for education or perhaps there are people that you know that are maybe trying to immigrate to other countries so let's start with this article um right here okay and this is just talking about um around the world all right how do people view immigrants and in this research study that they did it said more people in most countries view them as a strength rather than a burden let's look at two of those words right there in that title right there i wanted to basically been because our topic is immigration to talk about immigrant and uh if you don't know what a burden means so right here if we go over to our vocabulary list okay here we go so an immigrant as you can see is a person who comes to a different country to live there permanently and you would refer to this person as an immigrant now this is a noun because we're talking about a person but be aware that you could use this as a verb to um to immigrate uh or as a noun immigration all right and the meaning is pretty much the meaning is the same because you're always going to be referring to people that move to a different country in order to live there permanently now again i'm going to throw some other vocabulary at you be careful because another word that's similar um emigrate uh whoops maybe i misspelled that emigrate is talking about a person who leaves um a country in order to move to another one this is something some people might confuse those words um to immigrate or to emigrate with an e so immigrate you're really going to the country emigrate you're leaving the country so the way that you understand the difference would be the preposition that follows you immigrate to another country because you're going to there and you would emigrate from because you're leaving a country so you emigrate from another country so this good vocabulary and sometimes those those words may be confused so um another what i want to say because uh another reason why i'm doing i chose this topic is because i think there are a lot of people um that watch these lessons that are uh immigrants that may be living in the united states which is where i am from i'm from the u.s and i i kind of wanted to again i think that is an important topic it's an important topic in the us and we are going to focus um some of the articles afterwards about the the us and what's going on so i wanted to talk to you about those first a couple words like uh immigrants are more than a strength and a burden an immigrant person who comes to a different country to live there permanently a burden would be talking about something that is a heavy load that you carry now often you might say that you're carrying something it's heavy and you're like oh this is a burden it's too difficult in this context the article is saying well immigrants are a strength it's a good thing if they're saying it's a burden then people would say oh it's not a good thing so be aware of that context as to how people are using it so let's go back to um let's go to our article all right what i'm going to do is i'm just going to read some of the article and then i'll talk to you about a few more words as we go through this and again there are i will leave links down in the description all right so it's talking about public divided on immigrants willingness to adopt host country's customs so i'm going to read some because we're going to come back to that word adopt all right so if we go down and i'll just read a little bit of this so it says majorities of publics in top migrant destination countries say immigrants strengthen their countries according to a 2018 pew research center survey of 18 countries that host half of the world's migrants in in ten of the countries surveyed majorities view immigrants as a strength rather than a burden among them are some of the largest migrant receiving countries in the world the united states germany the united kingdom france canada and australia each hosting more than 7 million immigrants in 2017. by contrast in five countries surveyed hungry greece south africa russia and israel see immigrants as a burden to their countries with the exception of russia those countries each have fewer than 5 million immigrants meanwhile public uh just read the rest of that meanwhile public opinion on the impact of immigrants is divided in the netherlands in italy and poland more say immigrants are a burden while substantial shares in these countries do not lean one way or the other 31 or 20 respectively okay so let's go back and talk about this first part um because this is part of i think um immigration when people come to live in another country and then that first that that subtitle where it says public's divided on immigrants his willingness to adopt host country's customs so let's look at that word adopt because i think it's very important um adopt and adapt when you're talking about immigration so if i go back over here to our vocabulary list if you want to know what the difference is so we talked about the difference between um to immigrate is to go to another country to emigrate is to leave a country adopt is when you start to accept you accept or you start to use something new so it basically becomes a part of your customs to adapt is to change in order to survive or become more comfortable in a situation so if you think about let's think about immigration if you go to another country and you're going to live there i think first off most people would adapt they're becoming they're trying to become comfortable in this new country perhaps it's a new language a new job new traditions new food and you want to adapt over time people may likely adopt to some of these customs and norms and traditions and then it becomes part of their lives so let me give you an example um we just had the in in the united states you just had the the thanksgiving holiday so for example somebody may move to the united states um from any country in south america central america africa asia it doesn't matter but perhaps somebody moves from a country that does not celebrate thanksgiving and then they start living in the u.s and over time they may start celebrating this holiday it's not really it's not a religious holiday it's really uh part of u.s history so that that is one example as to how people may adopt and they start celebrating a holiday such as thanksgiving so this can be um again when you think of immigration again this is something that people might talk about whether or not people are adopting to a country and the culture and the traditions or maybe they're they're not adopting so the one thing i definitely want you guys to distinguish is the difference between adapt and adopt i think first people will adapt and then over time they will adopt certain traditions the next word it's talking about a migrant because again these are words that are very similar when you think of immigrant or migrant a migrant it refers to a person who travels to a different country or place temporarily usually to find work so one thing you may notice in some of these articles or if you're listening to a news report people may use immigrant and then they may use the word migrant and you might be wondering well why why are they using these different words the the one difference i want you to understand is when you think of an immigrant think of that that is somebody who is more permanent that you are planning to stay in that country a migrant is possibly it's just going to be temporary you're going to live in another country and then you're you're going to leave for example i've lived in some different countries teaching english i i've i've never really stayed i was in korea for three years um the dominican republic for one year in namibia for one year and i guess you could say that i i was more of a migrant i was there working temporarily and then i left the reason why i think people will use them um together sometimes is because typically somebody may come to another country as a migrant and then they end up staying perhaps they fall in love they get married perhaps they continue working at this job and they stay in the country and then they become an immigrant because it's going to be more permanent so again i know i'm i'm giving you words and trying to really give you a little bit of a nuance so you understand the difference so an immigrant think of a person who is more going to stay and live permanently a migrant is somebody that may be there just temporarily but if they stay then you could say they are really becoming an immigrant uh substantial uh in the article we saw let's go back how was it used um so they're talking about um substantial because i wanted to go over that word for you ah so it says while a substantial in these countries do not lean one way or the other substantial is just talking about a large or no it's just talking about a value size or an amount of something often you're going to follow this word um with the word amount a substantial amount of something so if you're talking about substantial it just refers to a large large in size value or or importance another thing that i thought was interesting about this article many of you don't you may not know i am from the united states but right now i live in hungary uh and i found this interesting because in hungary according to this research uh most people view immigrants as a burden that it's not really um perhaps a very strong immigrant friendly country but this is actually where i am right now um i'm living in hungary i don't i would not say that i'm going to stay so again i'd probably i'd be more of a migrant i'm here i'm living uh i'm working and then i may move somewhere else all right so that is the first article kind of just talking about immigration in general now what i want to do is look at the next one okay and talk about which which talks about more immigration in the united states so again this is a little more of this is definitely more of an advanced article uh i would say so let's go back to the site right here um okay and this is the next article that i wanted to look at so let's see hold on one second okay so this article is talking about a new paradigm um a new paradigm for humane and effective immigration enforcement this is from the center for american progress i will go ahead and tell you this is a more liberal um a liberal organization so again this article is more about the immigration policy in the united states the organization does not agree with it they don't like it and that is um the reason for this article but there are some useful words i think that are related to immigration so a new paradigm for humane and effective immigration enforcement you kind of get the idea let's look at some of the vocabulary that um i think is useful so if you're wondering well what is a paradigm a paradigm is talking about a model for something in this case it's talking about the way the government is trying to handle immigration so the paradigm it's trying to say we need a new paradigm a new model for handling immigration one that is humane and effective so if you if you're talking about something is humane it is an adjective and it just means kind of like showing sharing uh kindness care and showing sympathy towards others especially people that might be suffering in some way so this again it's saying that it does not agree with the u.s policy on immigration you need a new paradigm one that is more humane so let's again i'm going to read some of this um and then we'll talk a little bit about it so let me go down here over here to the article ah okay so again i'll read you can just listen and follow along and then we'll look at some of the vocabulary it says in recent decades detention and deportation have become the entirety of america's immigration enforcement strategy this will strike many perhaps even most americans as both intuitive and inevitable how else is a nation uh to enforce its immigration laws but u.s immigration and customs enforcement ice which is the the government agency that handles immigration and customs ice is for sure um ice mass detention and deportation strategy is in fact both a sharp break from historic norms and neither the only nor the most effective way to enforce immigration law as a result of isis unprecedented mass deportation agenda the united states now spends more on federal immigration enforcement than all federal criminal law enforcement combined and has removed more than twice as many people in the first two decades of the 21st century as the entire previous history of the united states the brutality and enormous investment of immigration enforcement have created a well-documented humanitarian disaster that is increasingly driven the american public to reject isis heavy-handed tactics however less well-organized are the ways in which the agency's enforcement enforcement-only approach has utterly failed as a law enforcement strategy let's look at some of those words again i told you that this is from um this organization is very critical of the immigration policy they want a new paradigm a new model and let's look at some of those other words um from this article right here so we're talking about a detention center which detention uh if somebody it comes into the country illegally the in the us these people might end up in a in detention they call it detention and what that refers to is um the act of detaining somebody to detain is to keep somebody in one place and they have these detention centers which people might equate to kind of like a jail until they figure out okay uh until the people are deported so then you have that next word um deportation is talking about the act of forcing somebody to leave a country especially someone that does not have a right to be there deportation is uh the noun so we're talking about the noun deportation and the verb is to deport so again uh we can use this in different ways uh the meaning is kind of the same to uh whoops sorry i'm gonna add to deport and then you might be referring to a person so to to deport someone is when you would be making this person leave the country to deport so this is the situation where people might be detained again i'm now using the word in different ways they may be detained and kept somewhere and then later on then they are deported they are made to leave the country and they talk about this word i chose to use this word the article mentions unprecedented this is a word that we've heard i think a lot in 2020 especially in the united states people talk about things that are happening it's never happened before you would say that it's unprecedented so again this article is critical very critical of the u.s policy the immigration policy that they don't like it people are detained and then deported and the other thing they say it also goes against the historic norms so this kind of gets into the history a little more of the history of the united states that traditionally historically i think the united states is viewed as a country that has always been very open to accepting immigrants and people coming to the u.s for work uh for education to just start a new life it has a history like that and what this article was criticizing is that they're saying well we're moving away from that history not really just in the last four years but in the last couple of decades they they've really become a little more aggressive with um detaining illegal immigrants and deporting them and that is why this article was asking for a new paradigm again i'm trying to use these words again so that you may start to recognize them a new paradigm a new model that they want uh that is more humane that is showing a little more kindness a little more caring all right so again um these words are going to be down in the description if you would like to review i would encourage you um i'm also going to leave links to these articles if you want to keep following up on them alright uh let's uh let's look at the last one and then at the end i'll try to take some questions if you guys have them the last article kind of involves the charity that i want to highlight which is freedom university so if we go back over to uh the website um right here okay so here this is freedom university educating undocumented young people in georgia so this is kind of like an informal university and it's talking about undocumented young people i'll i'll explain this um a little more in just a bit so it says um if somebody is uh an immigrant you know that this person is now they they live in another country and they're doing so permanently if you say somebody is undocumented did i have that word uh let's see down here um yes okay just so uh we can go ahead and look at this so if something is undocumented uh you can say it's not supported by written proof so you can use this word in different ways but if you're talking about a person who is undocumented it would be a person who is living in the country that they they don't have documentation that says they can stay there that they can live there and you may hear people talk about an undocumented immigrant so those that's like a collocation you may hear those words used together people might refer to an undocumented immigrant a person who is living in another country but they don't have papers they may not have a visa to support that so this article let's go back to it and then i'm going to read a little portion of it and then we'll look at some other words so it says fewer than one percent of the 11.2 million u.s undocumented undocumented immigrants have completed any type of college degree in the united states and only 16 percent of undocumented college-age young people are enrolled in institutions of higher learning this is the result of many factors including restrictive policies in some states an exclusion from all forms of federal financial aid across the country dr laura mikko soltis is working to change this she leads freedom university in atlanta a modern day freedom school for undocumented young people that offers free college level classes college application assistance and liberatory spaces for learning her goal is to empower undocumented young people and advance their human right to education okay so it's talking about uh providing undocumented uh students these are college-age students with higher learning and she hopes to empower them okay so let's look at to go back there those are the words that i'm going to focus on so higher learning is talking about college or university level so if you ever see those two words somebody's talking about higher learning they're just talking about college or university and in this case it's offering uh undocumented students higher classes of higher learning hoping to empower them if you want to empower somebody it means that you want to give them the authority or freedom to do something i think all of this can agree that um education is so important education is very important and it definitely empowers people it provides people with more opportunities to work and make more money uh it provides people with opportunities to communicate with others like right now like this interactive english the whole channel is about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills which hopefully will empower you later on if you want to get a job or perhaps if you're traveling and you can communicate with people so that is what freedom university is all about um i've actually i discovered freedom university to just show you give you a little bit of a background as to how i came across it it was actually um this uh it's kind of like a documentary is it's somebody who's a comedian and they do these documentaries and they highlight a serious topic and they try to do it in a little bit more of an entertaining way so that people may pay attention to it but this is the right here it says up top there the terrifying situations undocumented people face i will put another link down in the description if you would like to watch this video it's great for your listening practice and it will help you understand a little bit more about what freedom university is all about but i told you that again this uh this lesson right here is a fundraiser my wife and i and emmy we're gonna make a 50 donation to freedom university um which is right here you can see the site uh and again i'll leave a link in the description and it's really talking about un empowering these young people that are undocumented to give them a better chance because in the united states um this is like a side topic there are there's a thing called well daca which refers to basically that some uh maybe immigrants came to united states they were undocumented they had children there so the children also maybe they didn't have uh documentation because their parents the came there illegally and because of that they well they grew up in the united states and some of them they still don't have documentations but the united states is their home they are american and they don't have the documentation it's a it's not a good situation again it's become very political and they it i don't think there is any clear resolution at this point obviously in my personal opinion these people should definitely stay they should have their documentation but some of the students i think at this university that that's kind of what they would fall into they've lived in the u.s their whole life but they're not able to receive the same opportunities as some other people because they are undocumented so that's what freedom university is um if and if you want to make a donation they do the donations through this other organization um called the the praxis project so that is actually the the donation goes to the practice project who supports freedom university and just so you know the praxis project um they they are a movement they do a lot of different initiatives helping out with uh equality for all racial equality um education like freedom university and that is the organization that accepts the donations on behalf of freedom university and supports freedom university i don't know if freedom university could not uh register as a a charitable organization on their own again watch the video it will give you a lot more information about it but this is the this is the organization that we that i wanted to highlight that i think is doing a great job that's doing a very important work uh and yeah if you guys want to get involved support people's uh education you can make a donation uh click on that donate button and even if you even if you can't right now i completely understand that check out the website i think it's always good to read this information practice your reading skills go on to the praxis project website as well because if anything you're reading about something that's good and something that's positive i think there's so much if you're reading like newspaper articles so much of it is just negative it's good to actually read something that is inspiring that makes you feel good so even if you can't make a donation that's okay i'd still encourage you go on those websites read a little bit more about it practice your language skills and it's just i think it just makes people feel better at least that's that's my opinion so i i hope that you guys learn some new words um again i will put these words down below in the description these are all the words that we talked about from the article that i think will help you understand a little bit more about the the topic of immigration which is an important topic which i think all of us can relate to because i think countries from all over the world um the the world is becoming a lot more connected um i like i told you i've lived in several different countries uh and and in my opinion i think that's a good thing i i think it's great that we're all being connected that we can communicate with each other um it's it's something that's positive i hope this was useful again i apologize i know that uh the the streaming i don't know if it cut in and out a little bit uh because of because of my shoddy internet uh but i i hope you learned uh some new words and uh thank you guys again for for joining me sorry it wasn't as much of a back and forth with you guys who are in the chat uh because of the type of lesson it is there's so many different windows that i'm having to jump back and forth between the the articles the vocabulary i'm trying to look in the chat uh to see what's going on but thank you guys uh so much mohammed zanat uh adir um brayan know about uh just give some quick shout outs at the end saad uh angela canule uh thank you guys um thank you for joining the the uh new member uh ka kathu kathushillo sorry if i mispronounce names um always good to see members and patrons takayo catrudus maggie um thank you guys so much for being here i hope that you enjoy the rest of your weekend and again next week what i want to do this month we're going to highlight uh some different charities uh make a donation i'm going to do the lesson as a bit of a fundraiser and just try to have it be a little more positive and and try to end the year on a little more of a positive note because 2020 has well it's it's kind of just sucked all right so we're gonna try to focus on something a little more positive and highlight some of these charities uh olga peter uh naoko mario great to see you uh mary uh roshan hope you guys have a wonderful weekend and --- ## 497. READING QUIZ ๐Ÿ“š Learn Vocabulary & Answer Questions about the Cheetah | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nCM4TSq31lk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCM4TSq31lk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:48:18 | --- would you like to practice and improve your reading skills well I'm gonna help you do just that [Music] what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills today we are going to focus on reading and we are going to do an active reading activity to help improve your reading comprehension so what we're going to do is I am going to show you a text you will read it and then afterwards I'm going to ask you some questions to see how much you understood and and how much you remember from from what you've read today's topic is about the cheetah a truly amazing animal and if you don't know much about the cheetah then you will very soon and just so you know this reading is probably around the level of intermediate to advanced before we begin I'd like to go over some vocabulary words with you these are some words that you are going to find in the reading the first one is characterized and what this means is it's talking about the features or the qualities that something or someone has the the things that really distinguish this person or or this thing characterized the next word is slender and this is an adjective that means the same thing as thin but it's really a way of saying that somebody is thin but they're also fit they're thin and they're fit they are slender the next word is contrast and this just means that that something is different you're talking about the differences between things so if something is in contrast to something else you're referring to the differences between these two things finally we have uniformly this is an adverb that that basically means the same that something is the same throughout so if something is the same in all cases we could use it as an adjective and say that something is uniform or as an adverb uniformly now that you know those words you can keep an eye out for those as you're reading the text and and hopefully this will help you understand the material a bit better so I'm going to show you the reading and the words are just going to scroll across the screen and just try to do your best try remember as much as you can and and really try to put a picture in your mind because that's going to help you remember the information after we're done reading I will ask you some questions to test your reading comprehension and I'll also give you the answers as well are you ready to learn about the cheetah let's begin you now that you've read that information about the cheetah I have some questions for you and I'll give you a little bit of time to think about the answer and then I'll tell you what it is here's your first question what are two characteristics of the cheetah the answer is a a small rounded head and a spotted tail so in the text there were several characteristics of a cheetah that were mentioned a cheetah has a small rounded head a spotted tail it has a deep chest a slender body and what else does the cheetah oh yeah a spotted coat and black streaks across its face here is your next question the cheetah is hmm the answer is a taller than a leopard remember in the reading it said that cheetahs are taller than leopards but much smaller than lions you ready for your next question here it is how much does a cheetah way the answer is be 21 to 72 kilograms this is very specific information from the reading and it it's like you're really trying to read for those key details because numbers those are often key details when you're reading so how did you do are you now experts on the cheetah if you did this activity and you performed well then let me know write that in the comments and just say I am a cheetah expert that way I know that you did the activity you answer the questions correctly and you practice your reading skills thanks so much for watching if you enjoyed this activity please hit that like button and as always I will see you next time --- ## 498. READING YOUR POSITIVE COMMENTS | Share the Love ๐Ÿ’– | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `kCxQmBL8f0Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCxQmBL8f0Y) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:32:28 | --- - Today we're sharing some positive and loving comments from you guys. As you probably know by now, the internet can be kind of a dark place at times. So we wanted to stay away from that, we wanted to kind of highlight the best part of it. Sometimes we get these amazing and loving comments and they make us so happy. So we wanted to share them with you. - We did a lesson talking about some of the mean comments which we will link around here. We didn't wanna just highlight that, we wanted to also really highlight the good things. - 'Cause this is more important, to be honest. - It is much more important. We just grabbed a few real quick, even though we appreciate your comment if you don't see one of yours. - Let's get to it! (claps) (laughs) So one of our comments is from Francisco du Vietnam and yeah. - This is a great one. - And you know, they're always welcome but this one's really, really cute. Because Francisco got really angry. And the comment goes, one hater dislikes this video, angry face, because he can't understand English and moreover furthermore he's jealous of our handsome teacher. (laughs) - So this is a good one because it was like it's like he's sticking up for us. Defending our lessons so. - Thank you Francisco. - We appreciate that, Francisco and we wanted to highlight that. - Thank you for sticking up for us. I love this one. - Another great comment is from Gisele and she says-- - She's super cute. - I greatly appreciate your lessons, a bear hug for you both. Thank you, Giselle. - So cute. Thank you. - Appreciate all your comments - A bear hug for you too - A bear hug to all of you guys out there for being a part of our community. - This one is from Moon Shiekh. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. It's very cute. It says, thanks a million guys. You brighten up my day. - It's always great to get those comments 'cause they brighten up our day. Another comment from Firdavs Islomov and that is, the first time watch your videos. Liked it so much. Greetings from Tajikistan. Well, greetings to you. Thank you. - Greetings. - It's always great to hear from new people. I always love it when they're like, oh, this first time came across your channel, watched some of your videos. - Thank you guys for sharing with us where you're from and-- - Yeah-- - just commenting, it's really nice. The next comment is from blabla, blabla, ellipsis bla. Blabla bla says, a hell of a vid fella. Thanks a bunch. Pretty please keep it on. - This is a great one. I like the use of the informal - Fella? - Like slang. Well that aint just fella but like, hey that's a hell of a video, a hell of a lesson. - Hell of a party. - Hell of a nice guy. - Hell of a summer, bud. - You did a hell of a job. - Mmhm. - Next comment is from Almaz, and it says, hi my name is Almaz from Azerbaijan. Thanks for your videos, I like them. Thanks again for-- - Heart, cat face. - Your comment, yes. We love the emojis too. - Yes, please, keep them coming. - Thank you so much for your comment. - Thanks for the cat face. I love cats. They're always welcome. - This is just one that I wanted to include I thought it was good. From Gouranjoy Mutum. It says, you look like Ben Affleck. Thanks! Do you think I look like Ben Affleck? - I think you're about-- - I thought I was more of a Matt Damon but... - You're about 20 times more handsome than Ben Affleck. - Aww. - Our next comment is from Xime Forero. OMG, you're such a great teacher. Learned so much today thanks to you. Thank you. I don't know if this for me or Wes, I forgot. - I think it's for both, you know. This is we're both interactive English, so thank you so much. - Thank you. - For your comment. The reason why we choose this comment is because for so many of our lessons we want to make them interactive and a lot of times we will ask you guys to write something in the comments that's related to what you just learned about vocabulary or grammar and this is an example because this was from talking about like politeness I think and he said I wonder if you could give me a cup of coffee so we wanted to highlight this comment because we wanted to say thank you for participating in the lesson we love it when you guys do that. - And as English teachers, we encourage you to participate because that way you practice. So please keep on participating but it's also really nice that you guys do it. Thank you. Another comment is from Veronica Cedillo. E, the most commonly letter used. And this is another participation - Exactly, yeah. - Comment and again we wanted. - Love them. - To say thank you for participating. - I feel like some people might look at some of these comments in the videos and be like, wait, why is this person writing this? - But we know. - If they haven't seen the lesson. But of course, yes, we know, and we love those comments. Here's another participation comment HM Truong Anh Thu and that is just speaking. Because I know in some lesson we do this activities where we actually want you guys to speak. And we asked you questions and tell you to pause and speak and that if you did, write speaking in the comments. Thank you for participating in the lesson, thank you for letting us know that you participated. - Another comment is from Teto Kasane, it goes like this. (laughs) So cute. Emoji heart eyes. Keep going emoji kiss. Thank you. (laughs) - We will keep going, and we hope you guys keep watching and keep learning. - And it's true, Wes is really cute. So thank you. - I think it was you, that one's for you. - He's cuter. - You're the cute one. This comment is from Jasmine and I just really like it. It's just like, thumbs up. - Four of them. - Yes. - Emojis. - Four thumbs up. We love getting these emoji comments they're simple. Sometimes usually I'll just respond with a couple of emojis. - Emojis are the best. - Happy face, thumbs up. So thank you for this comment. - Martha Lopez says it is a useful class, thanks a lot. Thank you for sharing. You know we're happy to hear if you think it's useful for you. - I'm glad people think it's a view it as a class too. Because I know some of our videos are a little shorter but then those live lessons are longer. It's actually like we really try to make that like a full class. So this comment from Sagur Khan, very effective lesson, God bless you. Thank you Sagur Khan, God bless you. Thank you for watching and commenting and we're really glad that the lessons are useful. - So these comments are really just a sample of the comments that we received. We love teaching you and it just means the world when somebody tells you that we're making a difference and that we're helping them. And that's really what we're here to do. - We really love all of your comments and hope you guys keep commenting and communicating with us. - Keep them coming. In the comments we like to keep kind of this positive vibe going so we want to ask you to write something positive and it doesn't even have to be about us it can be about anything, anyone. Think like that. - Just something positive. - Something good, okay? We want to keep the love going. So we'd like to really really really really really really thank you so much. We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you did, give it a thumbs up. And we'll see you next time. --- ## 499. READ FASTER IN ENGLISH | Become a Speed Reader ๐Ÿ“š | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `SPWFQOOybiU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPWFQOOybiU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:51:08 | --- okay I think we are live um welcome everyone Welcome to our Saturday um lesson uh today's topic is um reading fast or speed reading actually um so I have a question for you how fast can you read do you think you could read a little faster um and I think the answer to this should be yes for all of us uh yes uh keep watching okay so uh today's lesson like I said is about um speed reading and today we're going to talk about a few different things I'm going to give you some resources on um speed reading I'm going to tell you why it's important to read faster than you are reading now uh who can benefit from speed reading uh and what can you do to improve your reading and to make it faster uh because believe me faster reading is better reading if you do it right okay so I'm going to uh change my camera a little bit and I'm going to uh show you some online resources um and then I'm going to show you some um even an app that you can use on your phone and then what to do with books that you're already reading uh so first um before we do anything I just wanted to let you know um that if you'd like to practice with us if you've been following us or if you haven't uh it's very useful if you join our social media classes because um we have different kinds of lessons there uh on Facebook on Twitter Instagram Snapchat and of course here on YouTube we have different kinds of lessons for you we ask questions you can practice with us every day so it's a very good way to improve your English so if you haven't done it already please join our class classes because we have different questions on these different platforms um um the other thing I wanted to let you know is that um if this is a live lesson um I'm here talking to you but Wes is um in the chat room answering any questions so if you have questions please write them uh we'll get to them and we'll be able to answer them uh but again okay so going back to today we are talking about speed reading resources okay so we are going to talk about why you should speedread okay so let me tell you something um have you noticed that when you learn a new language whether it's English or whatever other language you're trying to learn you are not as fast as reading as you are in your native language because that happened to all of us I think especially when you're learning a language so generally speaking most of us most people who are learning a new language are not as fast English language Learners are just usually slower than native English speakers and that's just true for most most people um because of that when you read in English you're going to be slower right um so you're already as a disadv at a disadvantage because you don't speak or you can't read as quick as um native English speakers can so of course you can improve your your reading um by doing some of the exercises that I'm talking to you today um the other reason is because when we read faster we read more it's it's a very simple simple way of putting it but it's true and when you read more what happens is that we improve your our grammar our vocabulary and our writing uh all of these in one so here I'm just going to get my mic a Little Closer okay so we when we are able to to to read faster we can improve these other very very very important parts of the language um so there we go the other reason and I'm going to talk about this a little bit later is if you're training for any kind of test um like the TOEFL or the I you know in English speaking test you need to improve your reading um and to make it faster because that's the most difficult part by far of the exam and um they give you these very complicated long texts and you have to read them fast and there's other skills you have to do with it but you really have to make sure that you improve your speed so it's very very very very important that you doing okay but we'll talk about this a little later okay so um now I'm going to move on to who this lesson is for uh so like like I said before if English is your second language and not your first this lesson is for you because any and all Ells means English language Learners any and all English language Learners need to read a little faster um it's also for future uh University students or any kind of students who read books in English for school or not just books but articles um anyone like that if you are reading something uh this lesson and will help you uh for any kind of test takers like I said if you're taking the I or the TOEFL these standard tests all have a reading comprehension section that speed reading will help you tremendously with uh because speed reading is not just about reading fast and I want to make myself understood and I'll explain about this later but it's also about reading fast and remembering what you've read being able to understand and process but also being fast it because if you read fast and you don't understand then what's the point right okay and then my third point is Anyone who reads okay if you want to read every anything you know you want to be uh efficient with your time you want to make sure that you read fast so it's useful for Anyone who reads so uh and you should be reading if you want to improve your English Okay so we're going to um to move on okay so okay so let me tell you about the resources I'm going to talk to you about today um so we're going to do a few different things I'm going to teach you how you can test yourself test your speed see where you are and your comprehension then I'm going to talk to you about different kinds of resources uh we have some online resources so you can practice online um and these are really really good like I promise I did them they're very good um you can practice on your phone so I have an app that I want to talk to you about today and you can practice with a book or an article like a physical copy also so I'm going to teach you how to do that too and then the last and I think the best because it's the most fun is how you can practice with us because we have some uh reading lessons that are very fun and entertaining okay so let's um let's move on to um the first one which is the the self test okay so you can do these online there's some good uh free uh speed reading tests online um that I think are very are very good uh I'll show you the first one let me switch to my um browser there it is I'll show you the first one there there there are a few different ones I like this one because and I'll I'll show you in a second so if you're here um it's called free reading test.com I'll put by the way I'll put all the links in the description of the resources today uh so it's called freeing test.com and the reason I like it is because it has these really cool um things up here so you can you can select the the theme oh gosh okay I don't know why it's doing that okay my thing is not really working um never mind I won't use this tool um okay so you can select the theme um you can select the uh complexity level and you can select the story um and by theme I mean you can choose whatever you want what topic you want to talk about so you can talk about you know you I'm sorry read about so you can read fun facts you can uh choose general or American history so that's really good uh and it has this is what I really like it has levels so maybe if you're your level is not the highest um then you can still take this test because it's catered to any kind of level so it goes from 1 to 13 you do your complexity level and you even choose different stories so it gives you a stories and then you hit begin and then it gives you a story and then um you have to go through with it and once you're done reading you hit done reading and then it asks you these comprehension questions okay so once you answer the comprehension questions uh then it will tell you your speed and your um your comprehension how well did you score in both because like I said it's very important for um it's very important to be able to do both so I I really like this um this resource like I said because you can customize it some other websites that I found online only give you one text and you have to go through it and if for example you're at kind of a lower level then it's very hard to able to get through all of that and it might not be um true truly where you are so this one is really helpful because of that okay so uh that's why I really like it um okay so you can do the self test like I said on uh freading test.com very useful you can come back after you've practiced a little bit and retake it on a different level different story however you want to do it okay so now that you know how to test yourself and you figure out a base reading speed that you have we have to figure out how to increase it right okay so we're going to move on to how to do this online and uh what kind of websites we can use I have a a few of them for you and I think they're all very useful so let me just show you what I mean so okay so there are ones that I like um this zap reader it's just called zap reader.com um it's a very easy very simple very easy one so let me show you uh I you can copy and paste any text so I'm going to go through this chocolate text that I got off of simple Wikipedia and I'll talk about that in a second and then I paste it here and then I hit zap it and then I hit play and then if you can see it goes goes by really goes really fast right so you have to read as fast as the text is moving so this helps train your brain to move faster and to read faster and it gives you word by word so you can only focus on that word at a time so it's very very useful and again this works like I said with any text that you have um oops so this was zap reader um so it really works with any text that you have uh and it's very useful very simple free no problem another one that I like is spreer and spreer works very similarly um and you really you you do the same thing you just copy and paste uh in the in the text and then uh hit play and it just moves on however you want it to so this is a very very very good way to this is a very good way to be able to practice on your computer computer it really does help you know 10 15 minutes every day it will improve your speed your speed um another really good way and this so like I said this text is good for for everyone and anyone because you can put any kind of text so if you're wondering what kind of texts you should include um I have some suggestions for you and like I said I'm going to put these in the description um so let me go back to the chocolate reading that I was telling you about uh this is simple Wikipedia simple Wikipedia is is a page a web page from Wikipedia but it uses simple English so it uses English that is a little bit more simplified and it's not as difficult as the regular Wikipedia so because of this the language level is going to be lower so if you are just beginning to learn English this is really really really useful because you can use this text to um to to speed up your reading basically uh and you again it has a lot of different topics I have chocolate here because obviously I love chocolate um but also because um it's kind of a fun reading so you can really do any topic and it will find it and you can enter it in the in the zap reader or the spreer um another one for more of a me medum content if you want something a little bit more difficult I would say is regular Wikipedia as you can see it's a little bit more difficult the vocabulary is a little bit harder um they're more um you know uh synonyms and uh the grammar is a little bit more complex so this is for more of a medium kind of your intermediate level vocabulary use Wikipedia you know it has everything it has all kinds of information it's free it's there if you really want to challenge yourself and go beyond that at a difficult level I would recommend using texts from um magazines like National Geographic so if you click on magazines here you can read different kinds of Articles of course I think you have access to like one of these now you have to pay but um some of them are free so my internet's a little slow but you you can just click on one of these and uh then copy and paste it into the zap reader or the uh spreer and it will be um a little bit more challenging for you um another one if you don't like National Geographic there's the Atlantic it's a new source uh I like this one because the vocabulary used that they use is usually more difficult than others so if you really want to challenge yourself uh this is a good one and then there's the economist or other ones but these are very very useful now something I wanted to uh show you that's specific to just English uh language Learners is uh this website that I found that is right here I I don't know um this website but it has some really good exercises especially For Speed reading it's called Interlink language centers uh but I wanted to um get your attention uh for some of these exercises so if if you for example look at the speed reading exercises here so I'm going to click on number one it will give you an exercise uh like one by one sentence by sentence so it's really really helpful if you are an English language learner this is who this is developed for so if you hit next did you see how fast that was it was insanely fast so you have to be really fast but what I like about this is that it really focuses on your spelling so again if you're trying to take a test if you're learning English it's very important that you're you pay all you pay a lot of attention to your spelling and your Grammar and this is exactly what this focus is on okay because if you put belief it's wrong it is believe not a Believer so you really have to pay attention to the word but also this helps you pay attention to the grammar and then you do the next and then again you've seen it really fast so you really have to pay attention Okay so I really like this resource um because like I said it really is for English language Learners and it really helps if you want to challenge yourself to not only to read fast but to remember why you've read the part of speech all of that the spelling and I know some of you have problems with spelling um this will help okay okay so we going to move on to how you can practice on your phone okay um so we all have phones you know we use them all the time oops yeah there we go we use them all the time we all have them uh one of the apps that I like to uh practice my my reading with is called spreer uh the website I just showed you they they also make an app uh the app is a little better than the website like it has has more features and I'm going to show them to you in a second so okay so that's what it's called this I'm going to show it to you that's kind of what it looks like that's the app um and then I have a screenshot over there for you and let me tell you why I like it uh number one you can set your speed so like I said you know when you do the self test you find out what your speed is how many words per minute can you read and then when you go into this app you can change that so you can change how many words per minute you can read so you can maybe make it just a little bit more than you're than you're reading or you can do it a lot more it's up to you but I suggest doing just a little bit more at a time uh so you can set it and it so in that way it can be used you know as you get better you can keep increasing the speed um so that's very useful the other reason is you can add your own text like we've seen you know just copy and paste from another source but if you don't have a text handy I really like that they have a really big Library so you can do um as you can see in that picture right there um you know I've SE you've seen war in peace they have so many books they have articles they have different kinds and I've said this before when you read you should read something you like because if you like it you're going going to be interested and want to read more so if you don't like reading about economics or about the news don't read about the news read about you know I like I like Russian literature so I'm going to read War and Peace okay so you can really it really is helpful because you can choose your text and you practice with it the other thing I really like about it is the fact that it has these progress reports and um let me show you what they look like they look like this so basically now I just did a couple trial runs last night but basically it tells you what your speed is and then as you move and read more text you can see how you progress um so how how you're moving on so this is really useful because I think especially with learning a language sometimes it's hard to see if we have you know if if we've made any progress it really sometimes it's really hard you feel like you're stagnating you feel like you're not challenging yourself but with this you can actually see it and that's really nice sometimes be like look I've improved this much I can read so much faster and I think it really helps because with learning a language sometimes we feel like we're up here then we go back down here and then this really helps see that so I really like it for that purpose okay so I'm going to move on uh okay something to to mention that I I'm not 100% sure about this app I think it may only be on iPhones I'm not 100% but you can of course look up any other speed reading apps that are on uh your phone if if it's not on Android or um a different kind of platform if it's not make sure to look for these features because if a phone if an application has a way to see your progress and if they have different kinds of reading speeds and different kind of texts that's all you need it doesn't have to be this app okay so I'm going to move on to how you can practice on your with your books or any kind of article um so this is something you don't need an internet connection for you just need a hand or a pencil if you'd prefer but I like the hand and you need a timer um what it is is you just have to look at the text and follow the the text uh from left to right always from left to I know you see mirrored but it's really from left to right follow the text and you read the word that your finger is under and that word only don't read other words focus on the word you're really putting your finger under and then just keep moving keep moving and then you can time yourself of course so for example you can say okay set your timer to one minute and then see how many words you can read in that one minute when your timer goes off you count the words you've read you write it down and then this is how you keep your progress but you can do this at any time I suggest keeping like a log sheet if you don't want to use one of these apps so that you remember where you were where you started and where you're moving because it really helps to see how you've improved like I said okay so that's the way to do it um with um with a book or an article and of course you can choose the book or article that uh you want to to use okay the last and the best is um for me in my opinion of course I'm biased oops uh is to practice with us and the reason I say to practice with us is because we have some reading lessons that we've prepared for you and why I like them is that they're a lot of fun and they're interactive uh so you can um I'll show you what I mean by that actually so let's go back to our browser and I'm going to move to our page uh so these are our interactive reading activities um so what happens is as you can see I'm obsessed with chocolate I'm sorry but if you click on these different reading activities uh we do several things for you so I'm not going to oops put the volume on right now but it moved to okay there it is okay so what what we do in this in these videos is we give you different text that scroll so and they scroll typically at the uh speed of uh uh native English speaker so you can of course challenge yourself to read at that speed uh but then of course we also help you with your comprehensions I like this because they're not they're they're really in-depth learning so we really give you ways to help you to um especially for your reading comprehension for example we have questions here okay um we have questions here and then you have to click on the answer that is correct and then if you click on something that is not correct for example um we tell you we we give you help so that's why it's really cool it takes you to another video and then we give you more hints so this helps you you know it's good to have the good answer is it helps if you have the right answer um but it's not enough if you just know what answer is right we actually tell you how to find the right answer where the answer is so this really helps your comprehension which like I said is is crucial it's if you can read fast but if you don't understand what you're reading then there's no point of reading fast so this will help you improve un your understanding of the text so I I think it's it's very very useful um and like I said it's fun because you can click on the answers it takes you to different places you know we have fun practices like chocolate and and La Tomatina which is like a tomato throwing festival and uh all kinds of fun stuff so I definitely recommend checking it out um like I said it's free we're going to put the link in the description okay um so those are my those are my those are my um oh my gosh my resources that's the word I was looking for but before we leave um I just want to leave you with some tips and tricks um do you guys like my bear it's cute no very cute I love it okay um okay so what should you what should you do in generally speaking I would definitely suggest to practice daily and when I say practice daily I don't mean take three hours out of your day to read a GI book like we're in peace and really make sure you read it fast no you can take 20 minutes minutes 10 20 minutes of your day every day but every day is important and dedicated to just speed reading so just take time make sure you read because that will improve that will help you improve definitely so even if you take a little bit it's more important to do it daily than to do three hours here and then three hours next month because it's harder to improve that way when you read books use your index finger and only focus on the word that you are U that your finger is under okay because if you try to read more or go back then you're not practicing speed reading okay uh time yourself and test yourself often um like I said this is important because then you can see your progress so if you time yourself and you write it down uh and if you after maybe a month of speed reading you want to check yourself to you know your level again it's very easy just go back to that free speed reading test do it again choose a different level maybe and see how you're doing or do the same level different story and see how much you've improved on that level it really helps and that's why I like that test because you really you can really choose um and customize what you need from this from this um exercise okay um one of my other tips is start easy and then move up what I mean by this is don't start with a very very difficult text like I show you the one from the Atlantic and then type that in and then realize you're very slow because the vocabulary is so complicated uh you know start with something that's easy for you to read that you're comfortable with but then don't forget to move up to a higher level when you have gone comfortable because like I said you need to challenge yourself and when I especially if you're taking one of those difficult a or or um TOEFL tests the vocabulary there is pretty difficult so you need to make sure that you're improving that you're not just using I don't know like first grade level um or just a really low level make sure to keep going up so keep choosing harder texts like the ones I gave you and then for more practice uh I was going to go back to the browser to just show you one more thing that I have um okay so we are back here uh and I'm just going to show you in Google Google uh what you can do is type in ESL means English as a second language speed reading exercises or activities and then hit enter and there are quite a few that you can use that you can really practice so there are some on ESL flow or different kinds of exercises that you can do so there's different readings um there's different activities this is how I found the one that I was telling you about earlier so there is definitely a lot but it really helps if you this is what you look for ESL speedreading exercises because um I know the reason why I showed you what I searched for is because I know many we many times we get questions um from students and they're like how do I find this how do I find that and Google is such a huge place the internet is so big and vast that sometimes we don't know how to find the resources that we need even if they're there and they're free so this is what you need to look for and you'll find a lot of good information um make sure that what you do I mean it's up to you if you want to find a course that you want to pay for but there's so much free stuff that I don't think you really need to pay for anything so you just need to know exactly what you're looking for so that's why I said if you practice with the information I gave you with the free test uh speed uh speed test with Wikipedia simple Wikipedia regular Wikipedia these other free uh news sources um and more other I don't know articles and and other things if you practice with your zap reader or your spreer on your phone or on your computer with a book there's so much you can do and it's all free and you will improve so next time you're taking you know one of these tests or you're trying to just improve your your English or your reading in general think about speed reading um make sure to do a daily practice and um you will see that you will definitely and drastically improve so you can read more and get even better and it's more exciting and more fun okay so uh that's that's it for my video today uh if you feel like you've you know learned anything new um or you found this interesting please share a video you know with your um friends friends or anyone that's interested in speed reading because um this is for English language learners but I think it's applicable to Anyone who reads so anyone um and yeah just share it and uh thank you for joining us today we had a lot of fun um and I hope you also had fun and learned something uh thank you and we will see you later --- ## 500. ROMANTIC PHRASAL VERBS FOR LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS ๐Ÿ’– | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `c-4oYYlaLGs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-4oYYlaLGs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:41:40 | --- today we're talking about dating phrasal verbs super fun topic so today we are talking about one of my favorite favorite topics and I say it's my favorite because I love phrasal verbs because they can be tricky but also fun and also dating and who doesn't like talking to talk about dating so I'd like to welcome you guys today super fun lesson dating phrasal verbs we've done a lesson like this before but these are more okay so because it's such an important topic I think the reason I say it's important is because dating is very common we always have to talk about dating and there's so many dating phrasal verbs that kind of come up all the time so you should definitely know these phrasal verbs so if you are just joining us today thank you please let us know you know say hi tell us where you're writing from and welcome welcome welcome to our beautiful lesson okay so I'd like to say hi to a few people who I see here welcome Devika welcome Robbie Patricia I did ask Diego Robbie if I didn't say that welcome if I miss some names I'm sorry I can't see all of them but welcome to all of you and thank you for joining so let's begin so as you may know phrasal verbs we can separate them into separable or non separable phrasal verbs and if you had watched if you've been watching our live lessons you have seen this slide before but I'm going to keep showing it to you until you really remember it so what why why am i showing you this because phrasal verbs in English some of them we can't separate them they're separable so what determines that it's the transitive verbs okay so in English transitive verbs are verbs that take a direct object which means that many times when they do that they can be separable so we have the example here of taking out the trash the direct object is the trash so you can take the trash out or you can take out the trash so you can use it as it is or you can use it separate the verb from the preposition but they can also be inseparable at times alike for example we the one we have here is we got on the plane you cannot say we got the plane on but what's really important is if you're kind of ever wondering like is this verb separable is this verb non-separable if it is intransitive meaning if it cannot take an object right so like waking up you can't wake it doesn't--it's intransitive that will never be separable so it is always inseparable so if you're ever wondering and if you don't really know and if you don't remember how the verb is used this is kind of a good clue to help you and this is valid for all phrasal verbs whether they're dating or food or whatever category you put them in this will kind of help you get through that okay so this is our first one so we have the verb make up make up to make up it's kind of it's a good one it has a positive it has a positive connotation because you know with means maybe you've been fighting with your lover significant other spouse whatever friend even and it means to kind of forget about those differences reconcile and everything is okay again Wes and I have been together for about five years now almost and we have had our share of fights but for all those fights we have made up so that's very important of course so here is my sentence for you guys after some time apart they decided to make up very important phrasal verb we use this all the time and like I said yes of course a lot with dating but you can also use it with for example family or friendships all kinds of relationships ooh this is one of my favorites okay check out check out or this one is separable so you can check someone out and this is how we usually use it when we're talking about dating because when you check someone out it really means like you're kind of looking at them up and down well you don't have to be creepy about it but just look at somebody that you find attractive so somebody you're like wow this person they're cute um so for example I have my example here you know we just had the World Cup there have been a lot of cute cute soccer players out there in the field and my example is check out the cute French soccer player right I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought about who thought about this about soccer players sure a lot of people did but that is how we use it you check someone out okay or check out someone settle down okay so like I said these are about dating but it's also a we use them a lot to describe our daily life when you settle down it means that you start living a quiet life in one place with a partner any time you know when we're younger in our 20s we don't know where our lives are gonna go we're kind of all over the place but as we get older maybe some of us are looking to settle down it means to kind of find our own place in the world find a good job not good but like you know something more established more stable that's kind of what it is to settle down especially with a partner so my example here is it's not necessarily about me it's just an example one day I'll want to settle down and have a family so we use it a lot in fact this settle down and have a family together you'll see it often people talk about it because you know it's very common that somebody when they settle down with a partner they might want to start a family so these the this phrase you'll kind of see together a lot which is why I used it over here again if you guys are just joining us make sure to tell us where you're from and what is your name it's good to meet everyone and even if you're doing it later write it in the comments it's always nice to to see to see who's who's writing to us from somewhere okay our next one it's kind of two-in-one and it is to move in and to move out I put them together really because they go together and they're kind of easy to remember right when you move in you start living with a person and when you move out you stop living with a person so usually you say like you move in with someone but it doesn't always have to be that way like you can talk about two people and they move in together and that is my example here they will move in together in December they will move in together in December and that is my example so Wes and I moved in I think it was December 2014 very specific but I remember this so yeah let's move in and move out okay so just a quick reminder we are now on patreon and you know if you like what we do and want to support us the link for patreon is in the description and you can follow it to get us there it's just a fun fun way to support us so check that out okay so now that we've talked a little bit about some of these verbs we're going to I have a tip for you a tip that I think is very very important in how to learn how to learn and review and I put these together because they literally inseparable you can't learn with reviewing okay it's just not really learning and what do I mean about learning and reviewing phrasal verbs so my tip to you guys is the following there are different ways you can learn phrasal verbs there they're kind of difficult because the prepositions can be all over the place but you can what you can do is learn them by category like we're doing here so you can separate them you know buy food or buy clothing dating like in this lesson different ways another way to do would be to separate them by verbs so for example you can have phrasal verbs with take or phrasal verbs with check or something like that so there's are different ways you can learn it helps if they're in a category like I said but really what's most important is something I firmly believe in especially with phrasal verb is to practice them in context and what do I mean by context is to because of these prepositions it's really useful if you remember them in phrases and in the way you hear them so for example when you're watching TV and by TV I mean like just things you hear in them and TV shows or movies or even on YouTube just if you hear a phrasal verb just remember how it's being used and learn it like that and make sure that when you learn it to use it in a sentence to use it in an example because that way you'll learn it correctly otherwise there's a big chance for confusion and we don't want that and the second part is review oh my goodness this is so important okay so when you learn something today tomorrow make sure you review it go over all of your examples everything you've learned and review that three days later review it again I don't know a week later review it again two weeks later again three weeks four weeks every you don't have to do it every day but come back to what you've learned because that is a way to solidify your knowledge solidify what you've learned and the best way to remember and that's really what we're all trying to do so that is my tip and now we are moving on to moving on to move on I'm such a dork but that's our new phrasal verb dating phrasal verb it's non-separable so you cannot separate it but to move on and this one honestly you hear it a lot and it's it has a it's a good connotation it just means that you know you get over somebody but it's also like you know a relationship has ended and and all of that pain and suffering that kind of went with that you can put it behind you and you're able to move on to new experiences or any person many times it's a new person but it's that ability to okay except somebody new in your life or something new other than what you've had before sorry for the only explanation but it's just that feeling to move on that's why it's good we have phrasal verbs my example here is he's been finding difficult to move on since the break-up right so if somebody's having a hard time sometimes you know they can't really move on but eventually I think with time we all do so the question here was have you ever had to move on after a breakup so right write that down in the comments was it difficult please write it down because I'm sure it was for a lot of us um my next example is to drift apart this one's sad this was non-separable also you can't separate it and it really just means it's a gradual one it means over time you become less intimate restful less friendly just like you know you just drift apart you kind of grow apart and then it's just it's it's very gradual so when you're talking about two people in a relationship maybe they've been together for a long time maybe things aren't going great we can say they started to drift apart in this case when he moved to London for work question have you guys ever had a relationship where you ended up drifting apart because I know I haven't it happens it's not it's not fun but it's true it can happen so drift apart drift apart it's a good one even though it's sad drift apart I like this one do you guys like my picture oh my goodness this is from five years for you for maybe four and a half years ago or so from Wes and I when we first met and we took a trip together and that behind us is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco it was it was a beautiful trip and a really nice picture but that was a baby you're on time baby Wes anyway the verb is to fall for someone okay to fall for someone also non-separable and what it means when you fall for someone you become completely in love with this person you're infatuated you cannot stop thinking about them it's it's all you can think about well maybe not all but you're really into this person you have fallen for them or you fall for them so my example here which I'm not even sure if it's true maybe that's true that was fell for you one on when he met her I think it's true I think it's true so there we go that's our picture so cute good memories that's what it means to fall for someone it's a good good one it's always good to fall for someone it's fun ooh this one by the way all of the ones I'm giving you today are very like they're very common ones so you can you can use them in many situations but they're very common speaking of common to lead someone on this one is separable it's not that good okay when you lead someone on it's like lying deceiving a little bit a little bit misleading really what it is if you if you don't really like someone but you pretend like you'd like them for different reasons I don't know what those are you can lead someone on and and it's not really a nice thing to do I don't know if that's casting judgment but it's just it's just something that people do sometimes and you're just kind of making somebody believe that you're in love with them or you're attracted to them but you really not it's not nice right because we're playing with people's feelings so that is that is if you've ever wondered what do you call the situation and you haven't had a way to expresses well it is to lead this person on have you ever let someone on I hope I haven't but you never know my example here is it's not right to lead on your date if you're not really interested and I'm sure that a lot of you have had to date people maybe have had this experience sadly and you felt the same way right it's not it's not right it's not okay to lead to lead on someone if you're not interested in them it's just a waste of everyone's time don't do it if you can okay so that is to lead someone on okay are you guys ready for some practice I've thrown a lot of these I you and I think what's going to be even more fun is that I'm going to include you know how I told you that my tip my that a very very good tip is to review very important to review well we've actually done a lesson a previous lesson on dating phrasal verbs and I'm going to include those in this practice so if you've watched them and now it's time to review them so we're going to include some of them not all of them but I think it's a good time a good way to review it so are you guys ready for an exciting dating phrasal verb practice okay here he goes here he goes cute okay so I hope you guys like my pictures I tried to find the cutest pictures I possibly could and this one was one of my favorites um so here here it is so here I give you the verb but what I don't give you is the preposition and then we have this little penguin girl here and sometimes sometimes she flirts hmm her colleagues at work what could it be so this one's from the dating phrasal verbs that we had previously not from this lesson but to see if you guys remember so sometimes she flirts look at her flirting I'm very bad with her colleagues at work let's see some answers I see some good answers some good answers over there hopefully you said sometimes she flirts with her colleagues at work she flirts with if you said with give yourself a pat on the back good job you got it right flirts wit so you flirt with someone great start sorry for my cheesy pictures but it's so cute um this one okay this one is from today's lesson would you like to move mm with me so from context he is asking her would you like to move with me what do you guys think would you like to move with me yeah you guys got it right would you like to move in with me so so far just looking at your answers you guys are rock stars and you're doing amazing and even if you're watching this later please make sure to write down those answers in the comments because that is a great way to practice and you are doing great so far would you like to move in with me it's a great it's a great question great question let's look at our next one okay so this one check mmm the new chick in my class she's so cute so here I made a little bit of a pun a play on words because chick I put a little picture of a chick like a little baby chicken that's a chick but also if you know in English chick is kind of a slang word or yeah slang word for girl like like a cute girl so check mmm the new chicken in my class she's so cute so what could it be check what let's see how you guys are doing let's see looking at some of your answers beautiful beautiful you should have said check out check out is such a good one check out the new chicken in my class she's so cute check her out this one separable check her out look she's so cute very pink very happy very nice eyes the Swan is a double threat and what do I mean by that we have two of them here again I still give you the verbs but I do not give you the prepositions it's gonna get a little harder last year I had a big fight with my boyfriend you like my cats they fought but since then we've made em and now we're ready to settle em together okay so what could it be we've made em ready to settle em together okay what could it be I had a fight you know but not anymore we're not fighting let's see what you guys are doing seeing some some confusing answers some good as there's two let's see so here is the answer last year I had a big fight with my boyfriend but since then we've made up okay so you should have said we made up when you make up with somebody it means you are no longer fighting with them you're you're you're you know everything's okay in the world everything's good you're back together everything's great and now we're ready to settle down okay remember settle down is ready for a family kind of ready to be with this person for a long time you know excuse me that is - settle down settle down together so hopefully these were your these were your answers and now I have a little bit of a harder practice because now I'm not going to give you the purpose the verbs so you kind of have to guess from context don't be mad at me this is great practice so just just hang in there you're doing amazing from what I'm seeing some great great great answers okay now for this one pay attention to my tone okay it's been two years since the kiss it's time to it's been two years since the kiss it's time to so I'm implying that it really has been a long time since this kiss happened what should somebody do okay what should somebody do remember for this one you also need the verb not just the preposition so the whole phrasal verb why should you do what is a phrasal verb that means kind of get over it to give you guys a hint cuz you know it's just it's been a long time move on okay see if you guys I know this was a little bit harder but really what it was the intention of this was move on you know it's been a long time let it go get over it move on those are a few different ways to describe this kind of situation but really just move on so I hope that that's what that's where you guys were we're writing okay and I believe we have we have a couple more oh one more this one's cute yeah this one is separate but it really is I'm not giving you the verb here I'm not giving you the preposition so you're gonna have to put it together from the cute context of this cute little bear holding flowers because he will ah her on a date oh I made a mistake oh well so it's I don't know if you guys caught it it's actually easier than I meant it to be so let's see because it's from an older one maybe we'll it will kind of give you a little bit of a challenge but some of that was not intentional okay let's see how you guys okay so what is he doing so he's trying to get a date with her so what what is the right what is the right answer he will mmm her on a date so that second blank should not really be there that was a mistake if you're wondering so here's the answer he will ask her out on a date I meant to block that on but I I think I missed it so he will ask her out on a date should be the right answer so when you ask somebody out on a date you are you know you want to go out with them you want to get to know them better in a romantic way that is to ask somebody out on a date if you're wondering where this verb came from it is from our previous ones so if you guys haven't seen them yet please check out our dating phrasal verbs the previous ones it's a really really good lesson we had a lot of fun with it and I think it's very very useful so that's where that's coming from well you guys did an amazing job today practicing with us thank you keep practicing these verbs I wanted to thank you so much for watching Thank You jr. thank you go sir Thank You Bassam Jessica Ronin rod Victor if I'm missing some names I apologize I don't see them all properly but thank you for joining me today keep practicing your verbs if you found this lesson fun if you thought it was interesting or useful please like it share it and any kinds of comments or questions write it out in the comments and we are going to answer thank you have a lovely Saturday and a great rest of your weekend and I'll see you next time --- ## 501. Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | EARTHQUAKES ๐Ÿ˜Ÿ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pFF-iS9cT1M` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFF-iS9cT1M) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:17:37 | --- hello everyone welcome to today's lesson thank you very much for joining me this is well to me it's a very important lesson this is going to be uh one of the fundraiser a fundraiser lesson which we do from time to time so uh what how this works is i'm it's a vocabulary lesson and what we're going to do i say reading plus vocabulary because we're going to look at some articles and i'm going to talk about some words and pick out some words that i think are relevant that i think are important and useful make a list and all of these words are related to the topic and today's topic is about earthquakes it's a very serious topic and as i mentioned this is a fundraiser lesson i want to highlight a an organization that's very important to me i worked with this organization about 10 years ago and i'll talk a little bit more about that uh at the end i'm sure you may see a fundraiser button when as you're watching this video but the one thing i would say um if you can get involved that's great and and show some support even if if you can't financially right now i'd still encourage you go check out some of the organization read about it they do great work it's another great way to practice your english skills your reading but also i would say please like share this video like this video write in the comments anything just to increase engagement in order to kind of will spread the word a bit more so as i mentioned this lesson um because of the way this works i have like so many different windows open i'm not going to be able to talk too much in the chat i would like to say hello to um some some familiar faces hello lolly welcome thanks for joining uh takayo hello angela sleepwalker uh glad you guys could be here yasmine uh amar abdullah so i i'll i'll may try to check on the chat from time to time but mostly i'm just going to kind of go through this lesson talk about some of the vocabulary and then as i mentioned at the end um i'm going to circle back around and talk about the organization so i said today's topic is earthquakes so the articles that we're going to look at um are related to the earthquake that happened last saturday i believe august 14th in haiti so those are the articles that we're going to look at i'm going to point out some vocabulary that's related to earthquakes um again it's a natural disaster it's a it's a terrible thing very dangerous people lose their lives but i think it is also a topic that you're you're going to encounter in the future because earthquakes happen it's something that you are going to will listen to if you're watching the news it's going to be something that you might read about and it's also going to be something that you might be ha talking about in conversation about what's happening what's going on in the world so i think the vocabulary learning this vocabulary it's going to help uh your english skills it's related to i'd say it's more you could use these words in other contexts but i think again you you would commonly hear some of these words and phrases when people are talking about earthquakes but it's also going to help you get engaged a little more in what's going on so let's uh let's go ahead and look at the first article and then i'm going to pick out some words and then i'll hop over to our vocabulary list which you can find down in the description the words the articles everything from this lesson you can find down in the description so here um this is the first article that i want to look at it's from world vision who is a that's another organization that that works uh all around the world um that i believe does good work i have not worked with world vision i've heard about them but this is an article they wrote um talking about the earthquake and what was going on so here the first thing um i'm not going to read the entire article we're just going to read a little bit and then kind of i'll highlight some words and then put them put them on our vocabulary list so here you can see a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck haiti on saturday august 14th 2021 causing widespread destruction in the caribbean country according to the u.s geological survey the death toll has risen to at least one 1419 as search and rescue teams are racing to find survivors in collapsed buildings and rubble um at least 6 000 are injured and many more are still missing so this article is from it's from maybe uh four or five days ago i know that the the death toll has changed so this article is from a few days ago this is a situation that i think is still evolving and updating the first thing that i want to point out when you talk about earthquakes is like magnitude um so you when you're talking about the size of an earthquake and it will reference a number 7.2 this is a very large earthquake but it you're going to often you may see this word with it talking about the magnitude of the earthquake the other one other word that i want to look at in this first paragraph struck so this is a verb it's in the past tense that if you're talking about an earthquake because it is sudden that you say an earthquake strikes causing widespread destruction in the the caribbean country this is an adjective that i also want to highlight because again when you talk about certain disasters and you say they're widespread that's that it's everywhere that it's not really just in one location it can be all over the place so if we were to go over to our again the vocabulary document which i have right here i have these first few words that we can look at so again if you say is the magnitude it's referring to the measure of how strong or violent an earthquake is so again this is a word that is very specific when talking about earthquakes like what if you say if somebody were to say well there was an earthquake you might ask and say well what what magnitude earthquake was it so you understand just how strong and violent it was i mentioned strike is a verb that you may hear people use but struck is in the past tense um to cause a person or place to suffer severely from the effects of something very unpleasant that happens suddenly so that earthquake uh just struck it struck haiti last saturday and then widespread reverse to existing or happening in many place among many people all right so those are the first three words that um i wanted to have a look at if we go back to our article there's quite a few actually that i wanted to touch on in this article so it says the death toll has risen um as i mentioned i believe uh this has since changed that number death toll is a phrase that i think when people are talking about natural disasters um that have taken the lives of others this is a phrase that you may hear people talk about or if you're reading the news that you're going to come across so death toll i'll put that on the list search and rescue teams so search and rescue i think is another phrase that's related to not just earthquakes but other natural disasters and they might talk about search and rescue or search and rescue teams collapsed is another adjective that i think when you're talking about natural disasters specifically earthquakes is a word that you're going to come across and rubble is the other one so let's look at let's go back to our vocabulary list and i'm gonna move this down so you guys can see these um so again they talked about this uh disaster being widespread which as i mentioned uh well wait i already talked about that one so i i mentioned where we left off the death toll uh i said if you're reading about natural disasters or talking about that this is a phrase that people might bring up it refers to the number of people who die because an event such as war or an accident in this case we're talking about uh this earthquake that occurred um search and rescue you may i think every country might have some version of search and rescue but i've included this because i feel like it's a phrase it's a collocation when people might talk about those that are trying to help like to search for and offer aid to people who are in distress and danger so search and rescue i don't think really refers to a certain group but really kind of just in general um the people that are offering aid and help like they're part of search and rescue collapse i said when you're talking about an earthquake um so it's to fall suddenly because of pressure or having no strength or support so in this case when earthquakes strike buildings may collapse and then rubble if you're talking about like after a building may collapse rubble refers to the piles of broken stones bricks etc that is left when a building falls down or is destroyed so again if you're just joining we're talking about uh earthquakes i'm giving you looking at articles talking about words that are related to that so all of the words are down in the description if you want to review and as i mentioned relating this to language skills because sorry i know it's a topic that it's um you know it's not it's sad what's going on it's unfortunate um but i think it is important because as i mentioned at the end i want to circle back and talk about an organization that is important to me that if you want to help support get involved we'll talk about that a little bit later but as we go through these so i gave you those first i think seven words and i keep an eye out as you we look through these other articles um there are two more you're likely going to see these words repeated because as i mentioned um if you're focused on one topic it's a good way to build your vocabulary because you you read one article about this topic in this case earthquakes you learn maybe a new word or two or three and then the more you read about it you'll see these words again the more you see these words and you continue reading and see them used in different contexts it's going to help you move these words up here into your active memory so that the next time you are talking about this uh this topic or you're reading about it you're more likely to remember um the vocabulary so this is a good way to build your vocabulary um and again i do think this is a very uh important topic all right uh so uh we have those words now let's look at the next one and i'll i'll add a few more words to our word list so the next one it's not really um it's not an article it's really kind of the opening i think there is a video um that's with this i'm not going to show the video but really what um i wanted to do let me change this so you guys can see it uh a bit better i wanted to look at um this information that's over on the side here so i'm going to move this and change this around a little where is it so let me just bring this down here this is the article right here this side part right here is what i want to look at they're talking about this drone drone footage shows damage near haiti earthquake epicenter as death toll tops 2100. so in the previous article it was a few days before the death toll was lower um i think as this uh go as the days go by they keep updating uh the death toll so in this case again that's a phrase that i said that if you're talking about a disaster you're going to come across um and they're using it here as it updates um and more people have uh have lost their lives so let's i want to just read this part right down here that sir says drone drone footage so it says drone footage above the town uh center of corral shows the extent of the damage in this fishing vid village near the epicenter the church caved in and more than 3 300 homes were destroyed cnn's matt rivers reports from the town and shows us how locals are taking matters into their own hands to start the recovery because no central government support has arrived yet all right so looking at that title um that i mentioned drone footage shows damage near haiti quake epicenter as uh death toll rises i'm gonna move this up back here on our vocabulary list um i want to talk about the the next one epcenter so it talked about quake quake is another word that instead of saying earthquake people might just um refer to it as a quake or the quake if you know what earthquake everybody's talking about so that is just a shortened word for it but epicenter so this is another word that i think would be really specific um talking about earthquakes there if you're reading about it um or having a discussion and people say well there was an earthquake somebody might ask well where was the epicenter or maybe they give this information and say well the epicenter was in this location he this is where it was it refers to the point um the point on the earth's surface directly above the earthquake would be the epicenter as i mentioned again this is a word just like magnitude which is going to be more specific uh talking about earthquakes it said in the article um if we go back because there's a couple more um that i wanted to highlight uh when looking at this so we talked about uh collapsed it says in the picture you can see i'm not going to play the video but you can see like that church the the church caved in um along with other homes this is a phrasal verb that you could use and this another phrase where it says locals are taking matters into their own hands this is also a phrase that i wanted to talk to you about um which is used in this context but it could be used in others as well so if we move back over to the vocabulary list to talk about the meaning and then i'll show you how the context is used so if something caves in it's similar to collapsed but it's a phrasal verb to cave in is when the roof uh or ceiling or structure it breaks it breaks and falls into the space below so you might say the ceiling caved in or the roof caved in i think one difference would be i think cave in you're going to talk about like something above you like the ceiling or the roof if you're talking about an entire building um you could use cave in it's probably more likely you would say that it just collapsed to take matters into their own hands is to deal with a problem yourself because the people who should have dealt with it have failed to do so so to bring it back in give you context in the that little small article we were talking about is saying the locals are taking matters into their own hands because at this point the the central government has not been able to provide support so they're dealing with the situation themselves they're taking matters into their own hands so those are some other phrases that again i mentioned some words are specific to earthquakes like epicenter or magnitude and some of those other phrases you might you could use in other contexts depending on the situation and depending on what you're talking about so let's continue again as i mentioned as we build this list you can check because even in that last article they used some words or phrases that we had already looked at in the previous article talking about um the the death toll talking about um well we'll get into it because there's a couple other words that i want to look at in the next article um so i saw in the the chat darby derbyshire luis haiti is your country i don't know if you're in haiti uh darby jean i hope uh i hope you are uh okay everything's all right um let's look at the last i have one more article and a few more words that i want to pick out and then i want to just highlight this organization um quickly so if we go back to our sites right here and here is the final article that i wanted to to show you guys again it's about it's the same topic it's talking about the earthquake in haiti and as i mentioned relating it to vocabulary relating it to language learning if you're reading about a topic like one topic it's a good way to build your vocabulary you're more likely to come across the same words so just looking at this um the title there's a few couple words that i wanted to highlight so tremor strike haitian city still reeling from quake um authorities say the official death toll has risen to 2189 following the earthquake in the country south so this article i'm trying to look uh what's the date so this article was from august 19th a few days ago again i will link these articles down below in the description if you would like to read the uh the entire article i'm only just reading the very beginning part of it so there's a couple things i want to talk about tremors um i've already mentioned it said like in that first article they say the earthquake struck i had mentioned that when talking about earthquakes this is a verb you might come across like an earthquake strikes i think strike is used when referring to something that happens suddenly such as an earthquake so it says tremors strike this haitian city still reeling i'm going to put that word down on the list from the quake i said quake is just a short invert of earthquake so in this article they say the death toll which we talked about this phrase has risen i imagine this number is still going to change um if you're looking at a recent article today um so let's uh look at a couple of those words and then we'll read just that first part of this so if i go back to our vocabulary list um and go down here so here's the the article that i'm looking at um tremor strike haitian city still reeling from quake tremors a tremor is just a a slight earthquake so typically if there is a big earthquake again they said this was a magnitude 7.2 magnitude refers to the size how violent it was typically after the uh major the big earthquake there are tremors and there are smaller earthquakes uh that may occur and that's how you would refer to them as a tremor even if they're i'd say is a small earthquake and it's not a big one and you tell somebody like oh i felt an earthquake last night and they might ask well what what size was it a big earthquake if it's something smaller if it's a slight earthquake you could then say well they were just tremors there were only tremors um but tremors refers to a smaller slight earthquake reeling i said it said that the town was still reeling and if you say in that context using it uh like that it it really just means like very confused or shocked or unable to act so if you um experience something that uh like a horrible event a catastrophe such as a natural disaster and you could describe uh your the way you feel and you could tell somebody like yeah i'm still reeling from from this event i'm still confused and shocked and unable to act it could you could use it to describe um i think often instead of people like using it to describe an individual person which you can i think often reeling would be maybe used to describe like in this case like a community a country a group of people that are still shocked from some some event that happen and it's difficult to act let's move back to the article because i want to read where is it down here so if we move down right here so it says new tremors um new tremors have hit the southern haitian city of las que les que la case um a reuters witness said a few days after a devastating earthquake killed nearly 2 200 people across the caribbean nation and injured thousands more a police officer on patrol in laches on wednesday said there were no immediate reports of further deaths or damage in the region which is still reeling from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake on saturday morning so we talked about tremors those slight earthquakes strike or hit hit is another verb that you may use when when you may hear people use when talking about earthquakes uh devastating you may know this adjective i'm gonna add it to the list because i think when talking about natural disasters it's very common um and then as we mentioned um again it's talking about the region in this case i said like really a larger area maybe a community a group of people it's still reeling from this magnitude 7.2 earthquake and magnitude i think we've we've seen that in all of the articles we looked at really talking about the size and how violent it was so if we go back over to our list um just really this that last word that i wanted to add from this one devastating and devastated those are both adjectives so you have like that ing adjective to describe a situation or thing um and uh devastated that edie adjective to describe maybe the way you feel so like if i'm my feeling like i was devastated but in this case they're talking about the earthquake the earthquake was devastating um it caused a lot of damage and destruction so you could say it was a devastating earthquake so again this is the the list of vocabulary that i'm taking from these articles um all of it's down in the description along with the articles in case you would like to follow up and read more about what's going on or even just review those words that we were talking about now i want to highlight the organization that like i said i had worked with them um almost about 10 years ago i was looking for pictures like i think it's on another hard drive i had pictures of me there so this is part of like the let me make sure to see what you guys see like a bit of a memo nph it stands for um nuestros pequenos hermanos and i was working with them in the dominican republic it's a home um it's an orphanage so it's a home for for supporting children they have orphanages all like throughout latin america i believe there are about nine homes they have a home in the dominican republic which is where i was and they also have a home in haiti another thing they do in haiti which is so cool is that they run a hospital called saint damiens and here is like saint damian's hospital right here it's it's a pediatric hospital for children so they do st damien's the hospital does amazing work um in haiti they they've been there for gosh i want to say almost like maybe like two decades so they've been working in haiti for a long time this if i click on the about you can see i think a picture while i was in the dr i went to visit haiti i visited the home in haiti which is located in kenskoff which is outside of port-au-prince up in the mountains but here st damiens as i mentioned is a pediatric hospital there's a picture of saint damien's which is located in port-au-prince they have these um you can see the main hospital right here and then they have like tents down here for like visitors or doctors um there are doctors that will come from uh abroad internationally from the the us europe uh many other countries to support saint damiens to do some temporary work there again uh as i mentioned i think saint damiens does uh amazing work so this is the organization that i want to highlight if you see that donate button that is um where the the money is going to nph usa supports um these orphanages throughout latin america so this is this is really the reason why i i said we do these fundraiser lessons from time to time this was really why i wanted to go ahead and do this now i got this email maybe a couple a few days ago so i kind of wanted to try to spread the word talk about this again teach you a little bit of vocabulary because again this is a topic these words are relevant earthquakes are going to occur you're going to read about them you're going to listen uh to people talk about them and you may even also be having conversation so this is um what i got i'd link this down in the description um below again if you want to read a little bit more about nph what they do in haiti or in general i would encourage you to to do so it's always good to read about well read in english but i think it's good to read about organizations that are doing good work um because i know a lot of the the the articles that we talked about it's a horrible thing that happened um so of course it's not positive news or anything but i'd still i've linked those below i would encourage you guys to to also go ahead keep reading about this as well so this is nph um i'm gonna go back over here uh again i appreciate you guys joining me today um i know this was a lot a lot more of a serious topic um but i'll i'll leave all that information down below there the vocabulary that we talked about those three articles um i'll link those i've also linked um nph the home page if you want to read more about that or even saint damian's if you want to learn a little bit more about what that hospital is doing in haiti and of course there's that donate button that you may see around you if you want to support and support nph what they do they do they do really great work i wanted to show some pictures i mentioned i thought i think they were they must be on another hard drive because i had pictures when i visited saint damien's pictures i had a lot of pictures from the dominican republic but i don't have them on this computer uh right now so um somebody says ct i push the donate button but it's not working uh i don't know if maybe refresh it we cause we made uh like as part when we do this we uh my wife and i we make a 50 donation i think she was able to do it so i don't know maybe if you want to try to refresh it and and do it if that button's not working if you still want to there there i've linked it down below in the description um if you want to click on that link and you could do it directly that way instead of doing it through youtube but i really appreciate you guys again listening um and joining me today sorry i was not able to engage a bit more in the chat um oh rod how are you good to see you um but thank you guys for being here thank you rod thanks lolly um uh darby thanks for joining me ct i appreciate it um sleepwalker to kyo um thank you for being here and and all the the rest of you um miriam just trying to give some some quick shout outs um jennifer as we go there uh bamini good to see you bamini um thank you guys for joining me hope that you uh have a great week i know this is a random lesson that i do on sundays my schedule is changing a little bit there the next video lesson is going to come out on thursday which is a little different and then i'll see i'm going to try to get back on a normal routine a normal schedule posting new lessons and doing these live lessons as well i hope that you learned something new today i hope you can read those articles check out uh nph they do phenomenal work uh throughout latin america it's a great organization um and of course uh announcement anonymous donate awesome awesome thank you uh anonymous i don't know i guess it says anonymous uh they were able to get that working awesome i really appreciate that um so yeah this is great this is one way that i think i want to start using the channel more and more we started this last year when something happens to talk about it again this is a channel for learning english relate it back to that which is why i do these reading vocabulary lessons and then highlight in organization so this is something that i want to continue doing throughout the year so of course we will do this again thank you guys have a wonderful week please like share comment if you can't make a financial donation and completely understand but if you like the video comment share the lesson create that engagement so we can spread it uh as far as we can thank you guys um and i will see you in a lesson very very soon so long --- ## 502. Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | HELP FIGHT HUNGER | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `wbpz03igkfI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbpz03igkfI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:22:26 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson thank you guys so much for joining me my name is wes this is interactive english and if this is your first time hear from you uh this if this is your first time here please let me know write to me in the comments write to me in the chat love hearing from new people but uh it's all the channels all about trying to help you practice and improve your english and today is going to be it's a reading plus vocabulary lesson and what we're going to do is we're going to um look at a topic and we're going to look at some different articles related to that topic and i'm going to highlight some important and useful words that i think you should know that are helpful in understanding this topic so it's a way of using reading to build your vocabulary and i think it's very useful that you can do this with anything if you are reading about a certain topic it's likely that you're going to come across many of the same words so that's why i think it's a great way to build your vocabulary because the more you see words the more that you're likely to remember the meaning and just put that up here in your active memory so that's what this lesson is all about um and it's also about uh i think i mentioned before that it's the end of the year with these lessons what we tried to do is talk about a charity or an organization that we think is doing a good thing and we really want to highlight that we're going to make a donation some of you may see the donate button uh around on the page and what i'm going to do is later on i'm going to talk about this site right here why hunger this is the organization that we're going to highlight today they do a lot of great work relating to the fighting fighting hunger in the us and around the world and i'm going to circle back to that a little later but there's a link down in the description uh which if you want to read a little bit more about why hunger and there's also going to be a link to all of the articles that we talk about in this lesson as well as the vocabulary list that we're going to put together i know that i've kind of opened up with a lot right now but that's what's going to happen in this lesson and now i want to give some shout outs some recognitions to all of you uh some of you that have joined me great to see uh so many members and patrons you guys make this all possible hello uh lale takayo um uh maggie good to see you uh welcome john angela um abdulrasheed samir martha so many so many familiar faces mina uh if you guys have some questions try to write to me in the chat i'm going to try to keep an eye on the chat but again i'm going to be flipping back and forth between reading these articles putting together the vocabulary list that it's a it's a it's a lot to keep up with but i will try to keep an eye on the chat to see what's going on in there so you guys feel free to keep the conversation going today is a topic um that i think is very important i think we can all agree uh on this and that is about fighting hunger and it's not something um i i think this is an issue that many countries face all over the world especially now because of the global pandemic it's i think the issue has become even more serious and more severe and if you're reading an article about this uh about fighting hunger about this crisis or if you're listening to a news report or a podcast it's likely that you're going to come across an or hear some specific vocabulary words or specific phrases and that's kind of what i wanted to point out in this lesson so let's just go ahead and look at the the first site that we're going to do and i'm not going to read the entire article i'm just going to read a little bit and then kind of go over and put these words in our vocabulary list so the first one is this it says the un warns of an imp of an impending famine with millions in danger of starvation so just looking at that title there's two words that i want to highlight if you're talking about fighting hunger and the crisis that um that is fighting hunger un warns of an impending famine with millions in danger of starvation let's look at famine um famine and starvation those are two words that i think are that are important to know what they mean so if we go over to our vocabulary list you guys can see here that uh a famine this is just in the title it's a situation in which there's not enough food for a great number of people and a famine can happen for for different reasons it could happen because of a natural disaster it could happen because of a war but that's what it means it's this it's a situation a terrible situation in which there's not enough food starvation is kind of the the result of a famine so this is the state oops let me highlight it it's the state of having why won't this highlight i'm just going to do this the state of having no food for a long period so a result of famine could be starvation you have no food for a long period of time so those are two words right from the beginning that i think are important to understand when looking at some of these or talking about this topic so let's go back to the article right here it says i'm just going to read some of it again i will link these articles down below and somebody asked mustafa means impending means imminent are about to happen yes that's correct so if somebody says it's an impending famine it it it basically means yes this is likely going to occur now it's going to happen um and this is recent this is as of november so it's kind of um in related to the virus and everything that's going on because of that so it says that um i'll read it again you can hear like again my pronunciation uh just good for your listening uh i'm not going to read all of it but just some of it so it says that the numbers are staggering as reflected in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has triggered a new round of food shortages famine and starvation according to the rome base world food program 690 million people who do not have people do not have enough to eat while 130 million additional people risk being pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of the year hunger is an outrage in a world of plenty an empty stomach is a gaping hole in the heart of society secretary general antonio guterres said last week pointing out that famine is looming in several countries striking a personal note guterres said he could never have imagined that hunger would rise again during his time in office as secretary general the wfp singled out 10 countries with the worst food crisis in 2019 yemen congo afghanistan venezuela ethiopia and south sudan syria sudan nigeria and haiti the list is expected to increase by the end of the year so they're referring to the the un secretary general um in this article that's his quote but let's look at um let's look at some of the words that we've we talked about famine and starvation i want to look at this word right here shortage and often people may talk about a food shortage we're going to add that he talks about people being pushed to the brink of starvation so we you we talked about starvation is having no food for a long period of time i want to look at that expression the brink of starvation as well as saying that something is looming so in this case they're saying that famine is looming so we'll go back to our vocabulary list which again i'm going to throw these words down below in the comments are in the description part so you can see that a food shortage is just a situation in which there's not enough food if you have a shortage of something it just means you don't have enough in this case not enough food it's a food shortage that's a common phrase when talking about fighting hunger or the crisis that's going on the brink of something remember in the article it said pushing people to the brink of starvation it refers to the point where something new or a situation is about to begin in this case the situation is starvation that it's about to happen and the because of this it's pushing people to the brink um to the point where starvation may occur so that's what that phrase means and remember loom to loom is uh it's when something appears that is large and frightening and you may hear it used in the context like you could say you see dark clouds and you say oh those clouds are looming in the sky that they are large they're frightening they're looming in this case the article talked about the that famine is looming famine is the situation there's not enough uh food for many people it's looming it kind of means that it's it's there people can see it it's large it's frightening so you could use it in that context all right so again those are some very important words to to know like arya asked oh what does starvation mean that's uh up there on the food the the vocabulary list so you're not having food for a long period of time um abraham asked is it on similar like to on the horizon um yeah looming in on the horizon could be uh something you could say something's looming something's on the horizon that same meaning and that it's there but different in that something is looming it's frightening um so if you talk about something being on the horizon it could be something that's good but if something is looming it's typically uh something that is is bad it's frightening it's not good uh all right excellent oh i appreciate you guys in the comments with the assist all right helping each other out that's perfect um excellent thank you lolly so um let's look at our next article so we've we've talked about those words right here and again as we look at some of these other articles you will see some of these same words and that's why again reading is so useful for building your vocabulary if you can take a topic learn some words about that topic and then as you keep reading about it you're going to see those words again and again and again and they'll they'll just become a part of your vocabulary so the next article we're going to look at is this one right here let me zoom to the top let me see is that can you guys see this so the title is in multiple countries alarm over hunger crisis rings louder crisis is a word that um i think we talked about in a previous lesson it's just talking about a really really bad situation that this is a crisis it's a noun um so the hunger crisis is this uh bad situation where hunger exists so that is the title of the story and this is more related to i think um the world uh in general so let's again i'm just gonna read parts of it but i will link it down below in case you guys are want to read and continue reading these i always would encourage you guys to read if you just if you're just joining us we're talking about reading and building vocabulary and we're getting ready to look at this article right here so it says um this is in yemen the twin baby boys lay on a bed of woven palm leaves in a remote camp for displaced people in yemen's north their collarbones and ribs visible they cried loudly twisting as if in pain as if in pain not from disease but from the hunger gnawing away at them here united nation officials is increasingly dire warnings that a hunger crisis is growing around the world are becoming reality un agencies have warned that some 250 million people in 20 countries are threatened with sharply surging malnutrition and even famine in coming months the u.n humanitarian office this week released 100 million dollars in emergency funding to seven countries most at risk of famine yemen afghanistan south sudan ethiopia nigeria congo um and bukina fusau so this is the situation it it starts by referring to this situation right here with these um these two uh baby boys and the words that i kind of want to pick out um to highlight here at the beginning it's talking about this is a remote area um what that means is just kind of an isolated area that's unknown but really i want to look at this knowing to not i want to teach you what that means it talks about these un officials are giving a dire warning dire is another word that i think is very common if you're talking about any crisis or bad situation and another word that i had in here was malnutrition that surging malnutrition so let's go over to our vocabulary list have a look at those words and then if we need to jump back we will so again i know sorry i uh i know that this topic like talking about hunger and fighting hunger it's definitely a bit of a downer but i want to again use this situation to highlight we're going to highlight the charity and organization that is doing some good which is something to be a little more positive about so let's look at these words um it's talking about to gnaw this is a verb and you might follow it with the preposition away to gnaw away at something it's talking about biting or chewing repeatedly using making a whole in this case people might use it if they're hungry if there is starvation um they refer to like something is gnawing away at my stomach it's almost like saying that you're so hungry it's like your stomach is eating itself and it's your knowing hunger is the way it was used in the article so it's a way of kind of describing how serious the situation is that it's not just hunger it's really extreme it's really serious like a gnawing hunger that it's like eating away at you and people might use this also in other contexts as well um not really to refer to actually biting or chewing but if something is like really bothering you you could say that it's it's gnawing away at you if it's really bothering you maybe you feel guilty about something that's another context in which this this verb is used dire remember the in the article it said the un officials is warning of a dire uh this dire warnings um and if you say something is dire it just means very serious very extreme um again it's another word another adjective that i think is very common when talking about a crisis a very serious situation speaking about hunger malnutrition it's talked about surging malnutrition surging means that something is increasing becoming more and malnutrition refers to like physical weakness or or just bad health because there's a lack of food malnutrition and then humanitarian it's talking about the the un or this humanitarian organization and if somebody humanitarian um is an adjective it means that it's involved in improving people's lives or reducing suffering so whatever crisis it may be whether it's environmental hunger humanitarian again this is another very common word that you would read when when uh researching these topics or reading about these topics or listening to them so i hope that some of these words are new for you guys as well so let's move on to the next one and this is an article that's taking place the first two were referring to the situation um around the world this one specifically happening um this is the u.s i'm from the united states uh so i i do end up watching more news from the us or read about it because i'm from there and it's talking about the current hunger crisis in the u.s showing photos uh it says that subtitle uh food banks across the country have seen a staggering uptick in need since the onset of the pandemic so let's go down and there's a picture of like a food bank is where if people are homeless or they're uh they're suffering the from hunger they um they can go there and pick up some food some food that people will give out so let's read i'll read some of it again and then i'll pick out just a couple of words so that we'll add to our vocabulary list it says among the pandemics many dire effects there's that word dire again very serious it's making food insecurity in the us much worse in the past america's food banks have completely have been completely overwhelmed by demand uh in cities like pittsburgh san antonio and phoenix residents have lined up for hours at food banks attempt to address the massive influx of need some organizations have been forced to turn people away while others are struggling to maintain the supplies necessary to keep up images of lines at food pickup points underscore how devastating the economic fallout from this pandemic has been these photos are visible a line of long-standing issue um in one of the richest countries on earth millions go hungry each day so let's look at some words from this article again i told you that as you read about these topics that are the same you're going to come across similar words like dire we just talked about that but i want to talk about food insecurity if we're talking about hunger specifically this is a word a phrase that you may hear food insecurity i also want to talk about this massive influx of need an influx of something and that at this point it's difficult people are just trying to keep up we'll look at that phrasal verb as well as economic fallout so those are words that uh i want to highlight so let's go over to our vocabulary list um so we can have a look at these so again we talked about i just showed you or i just highlighted food insecurity if you're talking about fighting hunger and this crisis food insecurity refers to the fact that a person or family is not always able to get enough food so it's a little different it's it's different than starvation which is you have a long period of no food food insecurity is kind of like well you you have some food but maybe next week you don't know if you'll have any food or not that you may not know that is what food insecurity is talking about if something is completely overwhelmed that's a very common collocation it means it's just too much to too much to deal with so in this situation because of the pandemic many people losing their jobs these food banks where people can go get food these food banks have been completely overwhelmed and it's just too much there's too many people and it sucks about uh in the article or referred to a massive influx of need if we're talking about an influx of something in this case an influx of need it just means that a large amount of need need is referring to like the the food that people need a large amount of need arriving at the same time so if you have an influx of something it's really talking about a large amount at the same time and you're going to follow this word you would refer to an influx of something in this case an influx of need and then keep up if it's a phrasal verb and it means that you're able to deal with something that is changing fast and in the article it talked about that it's they may not be able to keep up that it's too difficult the other two words from this article it referred to uh things being devastating this the impact being devastating which devastating is i think a very common word it means that that causes a lot of damage and then the phrase the economic fallout so this is another collocation people may talk about the echo a fallout in this case they're referring to an economic fallout and it refers to the unpleasant results of the economy becoming worse so a fallout is just the the unpleasant results of something but typically an adjective may come before that in this case you're talking about the economic fallout so it's the results of the economy becoming worse so again um i'm sorry that i know that these articles it's not uh it's not something that is pleasant to read about it's difficult but i think it's something that's very important that i think people should read about because hopefully it might inspire um not just you but everyone to kind of take action and one organization one organization that is taking action is this one right here why hunger which is the organization um that we wanted to highlight in this lesson that we think is doing a great job um fighting hunger and i hope that uh i i hope that you guys will go check it out again there's a link down in the description i'm going to tell you a little bit about it and i have a couple of words we're going to add some more words to our vocabulary list so why hunger what they do um again they're fighting hunger i'm just going to read this part right here about their approach it says we don't just ask why we find solutions to hunger that transform and last our answer is to build the power with grassroots initiatives that nourish people and enrich the communities so those are two words that i want they're talking about grassroots initiatives and what that really means is like working at the local level that nourish people so if we go back to our vocabulary list i've added those two to the list right here from the y hunger website it's talking about grassroots initiatives at the local level ordinary people working in an organization and they work to provide to nourish people provide people with food in order to keep them healthy nourish is another word that i think is very common that's related to fighting hunger and and dealing with this crisis um nourish so if we go back uh and look at this so this is an organization that was actually you may hear about it because of music it was co-founded by and i didn't know this uh before it was co-founded by harry chapman who was a famous singer from a long time ago he wrote a uh and sang a very famous song cats in the cradle uh you can look up that song i'm not gonna sing it for you i'm a terrible singer uh but he is one of the co-founders of this organization he passed away a while back but he was a very famous musician and that's why they do these events and they'll do concerts and they get other famous musicians to raise money for this cause in order to fight hunger so again i'll leave a link in the description there's a donate button if you would like to get involved make a donation we're going to make a donation to why hunger um as part of what we wanted to do at the end of the year now which is kind of just there's so many bad things going on we wanted to we ended up talking about those bad things but then at the end trying to highlight an organization that's doing a good thing um and and really getting people hopefully getting people to think about how they can get involved why we should get involved and not only that part of the reason for doing these lessons is that hopefully you'll continue reading about this and other people will continue reading about fighting hunger we've talked about immigration last week i talked about protecting the environment because the more we read about this the more we learn about it i think that is just better for everyone because that makes us want to well make the right changes so i hope that you learned some new words from this lesson links to the articles are down below the words from the vocabulary list are down in the description if you would like to review and um again if you want to check out why hunger there's a link to there as well so uh i hope it was useful thank you guys so much for joining me let me give some quick shout outs uh at the end uh hello nekla santosh hello um fabio jesus uh he says is nourish the same as nurture um yeah like again you have like these words uh they're very similar nourish i think you're referring to food and keeping somebody healthy nourish nurture i almost think is like taking care of someone so in order to help them grow so the words are a little similar we might use them in different ways when i think of nourishment specifically i think of somebody getting food when i think of nurturing somebody um i think of not just food but taking care of someone or something uh protecting them there's a little more that would uh go into it uh thank you lolly for joining me always great to see you uh mustafa angela abdulrasheed uh maggie thank you guys uh just reading some comments uh mina i'm glad it was very helpful uh again re keep reading about these uh key like articles like this you'll come across some of that same vocabulary it's a great way to continue building your vocabulary um in the beginning let's unresolve situated economy safely or failing out and yeah i know i know it's uh i really i'm hopeful and i'm optimistic for 2021. i know all of us are at this point uh and i want to try to stay optimistic for 2021 and that things will we've we've things will just keep getting better i hope um and we will i'm gonna do from time to time uh we will do more articles like our more lessons like this where we will tip pick a charity that we want to highlight pick a topic that's involved with that charity we'll look at some articles build your vocabulary and then make a donation thank you guys um uh nekla rosa linda thanks for being here i'm nutty uh karina uh where is it just ryan to read uh santosh glad you like the lessons uh uh takayo thank you for joining uh we'll take uh join the action excellent uh boutique uh elizabeth angela i know that i like next week i'm gonna take a little break i know i'm dragging this on a little bit right now um we're gonna take a next saturday there's not going to be a live lesson i haven't decided whether i'll put out some other type of lesson or some other type of announcement because i do have an announcement coming up very soon that i will share with all of you guys stay tuned but uh there's not going to be a live lesson but that's kind of this is how we wanted to end the year focusing on these different charities um and do these lessons with reading and vocabulary and we will do more like this in the future so this uh yeah this will be uh let me look at a calendar uh this will be the last live lesson of 2020 so i really just want to give all of you really just say thank you thank you for joining me thank you for tuning in thank you for participating in these lessons uh and answering questions asking questions uh helping each other out it really uh it really means a lot to me and i hope that it means a lot to you and that these lessons are helpful so thank you guys so much for being here um i i wish you all the best i know the year is ending and i think many of us are very happy about that at this point because it has been a very rough year look forward to 2021 seeing you guys uh there and yes that that's when i will see you guys in the next live lesson i will see you guys in 2021 enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you --- ## 503. Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | Mental Health โค๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rTVX1bZcUOk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTVX1bZcUOk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:21:13 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english and if in case this is your first time watching one of uh the interactive english videos the channel is all about trying to help you improve your english skills in a variety of ways vocabulary pronunciation grammar today is a lesson that really is about using reading to build your vocabulary so it's kind of both about reading and vocabulary and how you can actually do this on your own and that's a great way to build your vocabulary is with reading so i do want to well just give a quick hello to some of you who are with me right now in the chat so many familiar faces uh great to see you lali hello uh good to see you uh let's see naima angela sleepwalker teresa how are you excellent you're everywhere awesome uh maya takayo hello nicholas eduardo um esther olivia i will try to keep an eye on the chat as i'm going through this but with there's a lot of windows that i have open right now um when i do these lessons and kind of switch back and forth between articles to the vocabulary list uh so i'll try to keep my eye on the chat a little bit but today's topic is a very important topic it's a very serious topic and we're going to be discussing mental health and the first thing that i want to say is kind of obviously i am an english teacher i am not a mental health expert and we're going to be talking i'm going to be looking at some articles that are related to mental health of course this is something that is very serious it's something that again happens all over the world and if if somebody out there thinks that um they they may be going through something some issue with mental health obviously i would encourage you to try to call somebody talk to somebody um a professional about that so the the reason why i'm doing these lessons right now give you a couple reasons we're talking about mental health is first to discuss something that is well relevant and that's happening in the world today typically a current event this is something that i think many people go through and experience the second reason is to highlight an organization uh that we feel is doing great work in trying to help out and really kind of shine a light on that organization make uh we're going to make a 50 donation some of you may see that fundraising button around there if you want to make a donation i'm going to be talking about the jed foundation and i will discuss that a little bit later on and then the third reason is like i said is to help you build your vocabulary because one great way to do that is to read articles that may be related to the same topic so i told you that today we're talking about mental health all of the articles that we're going to look at are related to mental health and as we go through the article i'm going to pick out some words that i think are a little more common that are a little more useful if you are reading about this or you're having a conversation about it and you'll see you should see that the more articles you look at you tend to come across the same words and as you continue to do this and you come across those same words the more likely you are to remember the meaning of that word if you want to use it in the future and that's what i mean when i say really building your vocabulary and doing so effectively so that you're not just forgetting the information so let's start out with uh this i'm going to start out with our first article all of these articles too are related to mental health during the time of covid because with uh the coronavirus with the pandemic there have been lockdowns all of us have been a lot more well in our homes it hasn't been normal and i think because during this time there have been some more issues with uh mental health some more challenges and that's kind of what these articles are looking at so let's look at the first one this is the first article that we're going to look at is kind of starting with children and then kind of moving into adults and it says keep paying attention to your kids mental health in this pandemic because i think uh you know it's definitely been very very different for children especially they're trying to go to school and all of these changes have been taking place uh before i pick out some vocabulary words i want to look at this first part right down here and this is what i'm reading right here uh if you can see it says keep a watchful eye on kids right now experts say the national suicide prevention lifeline number b the one to campaign shares five steps every person can take to help prevent suicide in a person of any age so there are a few words in there that i would like to talk about that i think are very relevant to this conversation so this is when let's move over to the vocabulary list that i've already created with this lesson and you can see right here that this is the title of the first article we're just getting ready to look at keep paying attention to your kids mental health in the pandemic so there were a few uh words right there in that short little first part that i read to keep a watchful eye to keep an eye on someone it just means you're paying attention to them it's a very i think it's a very common phrase in this case they say keep a watchful eye if you are watchful that's an adjective it means you're really well you're really watching somebody you're focused on this um and that that's a good expression you want to keep a watchful eye um and looking for signs maybe that somebody might be struggling with mental health so this is a good phrase to know prevent to prevent something is to stop something from from happening or from occurring and again this is another good verb to use and then it talks about suicide suicide would be the act of killing yourself intentionally one thing this is a noun one thing i do want to say about this word if we're talking about suicide people might often use it with the verb commit to commit suicide i've heard people try to use it as a verb like to suicide i think grammatically you can use it it's not very common in this case again in the article that i just read they are talking about trying to prevent suicide but if something if this happens uh you would use it with the verb commit so there was a quite a few words in just that first part that uh i was talking about and again these are words that you will see later on as we look at some of these other articles so let me just look at let's just look at this first part right here it says i'll read it and you guys can just follow along for nearly a year most of our children have been navigating the new difficult norm normal social isolation deeply stressed parents the effects of financial and uncertainty school from home and from wi-fi equipped school buses if they don't have internet while kova 19 itself has largely been sparing of children's physical health studies have shown it has taken a toll on their mental health associated with an increase in suicide-related behaviors experts say i'll just carry on i'm not going to read the whole article just the first part of it suicide was the second leading cause of death among children of adolescence ages 10 to 19 in the united states as of 2018 before the pandemic struck those suicide attempts and ideation were consistently higher in 2020 a recent publication peer-reviewed article in journal pediatrics found some increases basically what the article goes on to say is that they found that where the pandemic was hitting the areas where it hit the most that children were struggling um the most with their mental health so that's kind of the comparison that it was making there was another word that i want to talk about so again even in this article they mentioned suicide again isolation social isolation and that was the other word that i put on our vocabulary list isolation is just talking about being alone and i think that when you talk about maybe people dealing with mental health people might feel like they are isolated so i just used it in a different context because um well different part of speech isolation is a noun and in the article they talk about social isolation social means that you are with other people but during this time um we we a lot of us have experienced some social isolation so these are the first four words um that i wanted to look at and again we're going to keep adding to the list i will also say that i'm going to if you want to continue reading some of these articles down in the description i'm going to leave a link to the articles as well as a list of all of these vocabulary words so that you have them in case you would like to review um let's look at the next part right here so the next one that i have so i haven't been able to look at the chat uh just yet the next article that i wanted to take a look at was this one right here it's talking about mental health difficulties on the rise let's see make sure you guys can see this um okay so this is kind of talking about this starts out talking about the experience of this one person uh claire brennan tillberg's eleven-year-old daughter has been hospitalized twice in recent months after sharing that she was having suicidal thoughts the massachusetts girl has autism depression and anxiety although her daughter has been hospitalized before tillberg said things worsened when the pandemic hit her school went online and she could no longer meet with counselors in person suddenly the structure and support that um that helped many children keep a sense of normalcy work gone so there's a few words just in those first two paragraphs that i want to look at they were talking about the experience of um this one woman's daughter that had been hospital twice suicidal this again is the part of speech it's now used as an adjective i told you that suicide would be intentionally killing oneself as the noun suicidal as an adjective and here when you talk about um just mental health there's a few words right here autism depression and anxiety i want to look at and i've added those to our vocabulary list so again some of these words may be familiar for you and that's great if you already know some of them uh if not it's always good to review as well so if you're referring to autism that is a brain condition that affects the development or of social or communication skills it's something that does affect many children and adults around the world depression is talking about the state or feeling of being very unhappy and without hope for the future so often you might hear people use this as an adjective if somebody says that they feel a little depressed they're a little sad they feel a little hopeless if you're talking about more of maybe somebody who is enduring this constant state they may use it more as a noun and they would say somebody uh maybe suffers from depression or they're going through depression and anxiety is something that i feel like all of us probably get at one time or another this feeling of anxiety which is just nervousness or worry so let's go back over to the article those are the i'm going to go through this a little at a time as we read the article and we'll continue right here so it says that again that when classes moved online in this one person's experience the help that they were getting was was gone oh there was one more word that uh i wanted to look at in here it was uh talking about counselors i also added that to the list because it said that the help they were getting for example like school counselors it was no longer there i did add that to the vocabulary list counselors is talking about um somebody who is trained uh to listen and give advice to other people so typically at schools uh there are people who are trained to listen to students if they have problems worries concerns maybe they might be going through some anxiety or depression and they would listen to the students and they would give advice and they would be school counselors let's continue and with the article it says sorry here we go um so it says they were gone it says studies have shown that depression increases during teen years one out of every 13 high school students has attempted suicide and at least half of children with mental illness do not get treatment when schools closed across the u.s in mid-march in 2020 it separated students from other students along with advisors teachers and other adults at school additionally for many students school was the only place to get mental health services so this was a big challenge this was an issue that many students our children were having to endure the other again looking at some of these words that here talked about again it mentions depression that was in it increases during the teen years um talking about students that do try to commit suicide and also uh that the where it says suicide at least half of the children with mental health illness do not get treatment this is another word that i wanted to highlight and put on our vocabulary list whoops sorry about that was down here so if we're talking about treatment in general it would be like the use of drugs exercise therapy to improve the condition of an ill or injured person so treatments a very broad term that you could use to talk about well somebody who's sick they may go see a doctor and they receive treatment and in that case it might be some drugs or medicine in this case i think when you're talking about mental health uh i think a lot of the articles especially that we're looking at today it would refer more to therapy that they would go see somebody and talk to somebody who is like a counselor they would listen to them they would give advice and that's actually another word that we will talk about in just a moment in the next article so again these the first two articles were talking about the more students in in children the next article is right here i have four uh articles today so it's it's quite a bit this says nearly half of u.s workers suffer from mental health issues since covet 19 pandemic uh hit report fines of course as you can see from these articles a lot of it is focused around um they're from the united states which again i think is i think people around the world are experiencing this whether you're talking about school children in the united states or school children in other countries because the experience during the pandemic i think for many people has been similar and same with work but uh these articles right here are are just talking about uh are really referring to things that are happening in the united states so this article nearly half of u.s workers suffer from mental health i just want to look at a few things and add to our vocabulary list so it says again i'll read it you can just follow along if you're stressed out anxious or feeling lonely you are not alone nearly half of american workers have been suffering from mental health issues since the kovit 19 pandemic began at a significant cost to their well-being and potentially to their employers as bottom line there has there has been a significant jump in full-time u.s workers dealing with mental health issues in the last 12 months according to a report from the portland oregon based insurance company the standard um i want to look at where is it uh here it keep going sorry i lost the place here about 46 percent um of the more than 1 400 workers surveyed at the end of last year reported that they were struggling with mental health issues compared to 39 percent a year earlier and more than half of workers 55 percent said a mental health issue has affected them more since the pandemic began yet many may not know where to turn for help the stigma of mental illness therapy and mental health at work can keep many employers from using resources said dr george james a licensed marriage and family therapist and member of the cnbc financial wellness council so it has to be driven encouraged and supported from the top down so let's look at a few of the words from this that i added again we talked about anxiety the noun your feeling of worriness here we come across the word again but they're using it as an adjective you feel anxious one word that uh i want to talk about was well-being all right i've added that to the vocabulary list it's talking about people have well there's been a significant cost during the pandemic to everyone's well-being another word they're talking about the stigma of mental illness and then therapy and therapist so let's go over to the vocabulary list and have a look at those words and i'll refer how they were used in the article so oh i forgot yes to suffer suffer is a i think another common verb when talking about somebody who's uh struggling with mental illness or again it can be used in a variety of contexts if somebody's perhaps talking about like medicine medical field but to suffer is to experience physical or mental pain again the articles that we're looking at would really refer to that mental pain well-being as i pointed out in the article it was saying that um people's well-being was suffering that the state of happiness or just our feeling of happiness our our general well-being and that last one it talked about stigma it said that there was uh are there any yes the last two it said the stigma of mental health so this is a word stigma is talking about a strong feeling of disapproval that most people in society have about something so when i think you talk about like there it could be used in a variety of ways but something that in society that maybe they don't approve of and you'd say there's a stigma on this thing it's not a good thing so just to give you another example of what stigma might mean think about um a long time ago in some countries they may think that marrying a foreigner from another country they say oh like we disapprove of that society would disapprove and you could say there is a stigma on international marriages that society disapproves of it and you could say there's a stigma on this thing and again i think when it comes to stigmas i think just in general as societies become more open-minded as societies become more tolerant people in general these stigmas start to go away and i think that's that's a good thing so it's talking in the article it mentioned the stigma on on mental health that if somebody is suffering from mental health um maybe they worry about calling somebody or trying to contact a therapist because they worry about what their friends might think and that there's a stigma on this and it talked about the i mentioned it before therapy is treatment that helps someone feel better and you would typically use this with the verb get you get therapy and the person that you would see if you're talking about the person is a therapist someone whose job it is to treat a particular type of mental um or physical illness one thing i want to point out in case some of you might be wondering well what is there a difference between counselor and a therapist i would say that in just my view like i was trying to look this up the way it was explained um like counseling is more of a broad topic and you could say that therapy might fall under it so counseling i think generally deals with more listening and giving advice therapy would be more of a specific um thing you're working on and you would help someone could be physical or mental there there's physical therapy if you get injured or if you are suffering from a mental illness you could go see a therapist that might work with people who suffer from depression or who deal with anxiety high levels of anxiety and you would see a therapist specific for that uh let's continue i have one more article that i want to look at and then i want to highlight today's organization that do they do good work i i have been kind of uh glancing uh at the chat sorry i know you guys are kind of talking with each other that's great uh if you have questions if you want to ask each other i love it when people are able to help help one another with like certain words if you don't know what they mean so i have one more article that i want to show you and then we're gonna take one more look at the vocabulary list so here's the last article and let me make sure that you guys can see this let me change this a little bit okay and then i'm gonna whoops sorry about that i'm going to try to move over here maybe this will help so it's talking about i think a lot more people have been going to see mental health professionals so this article is looking at well mental health professionals are the ones taking care of us who's taking care of them and in this article says usa today spoke with half a dozen mental health workers who told us the pandemic has been the most challenging year of their professional lives they're seeing probably a lot more people so again i'll read this you can follow along and then we'll add a couple of words to our list when a world in pen um when a world and pandemic shut down the mental health professionals did not they kept working many more than ever counseling patients on how to survive something they'd never seen before something they feared themselves they counseled while the virus ravaged their neighborhoods with their children in the background through months of racial unrest and a presidential election that was the most polarizing in many of our lifetime this has without a doubt been one of the toughest years of my life let alone my career said michael mendel a licensed clinical professional counselor who works with adults and adolescents adolescence is like younger children usa today spoke with a half dozen mental health workers who told us the pandemic has been the most challenging year of their professional lives every one of them said they'd experience symptoms of burnout some are in therapy themselves but most are not these professionals are helping their patients cope with stress anxiety and sometimes unimaginable loss while also managing their own suffering many have taken on heavier caseloads with more patients experiencing trauma suicidal ideation most have transitioned to telehealth which made therapy possible during the pandemic but reduce the intimacy many thera therapists count on to connect let's go back and look at some um the things from this article some other words again even words that we talked about i told you that counselors are the people that would listen and give advice in this case they're talking about counseling people you could use this as a verb to counsel someone to actually give them advice to listen and give them advice so a lot of i think in this article in all of these articles we're coming across the same words but they may be using it as a different part of speech like a noun or an adjective so again they're using it as a noun they counseled these these people these health professionals counseled the people during this time of the pandemic this is not like it's talking about the election was polarizing if you don't know what that means it means it's very divided it was a very divided election um right here again this gentleman talks about he is a counselor and the other one uh i wanted to highlight i didn't add this to the list but it's talking about burnout symptoms of burnout burnout is when you basically just you're you're overworked and you just get too tired and you can't continue symptoms is a word that i wanted to add because i think it's useful when talking about mental health but also again it's something that you might hear being used medically your doctor might mention that so symptoms if we go over to the vocabulary list here it is oh wait i did not add them uh sorry maybe i could add it uh in just a moment because i had another question uh symptoms are the things that maybe identify that something is going on and somebody might have symptoms that tell you something uh is wrong or a problem exists the the last paragraph had some of the words that i wanted to look at said these professionals are helping patients cope uh with these things we talked stress anxiety we talked about an unimaginable loss and so patience it's talking about they're helping their patients cope with these things so if we go over to our list patients uh again is a very it's it's a common word that you might also hear people will use like doctors doctors have patients dentists have patients uh therapists have patients and these are people who are receiving medical care in some way could be physically mentally and they are patients to cope with something this is a verb it means to deal successfully with the situation so in this case they're trying to help their patients cope with these issues of stress they're trying to help them cope with anxiety so that they can deal with it successfully another word if i go back over to the article again it's talking about managing their own suffering i pointed out before that verb to suffer to um you are where is it you are experiencing some sort of pain mental or physical and trauma is the other word um that i wanted to point out in this article so if we go back over to our vocabulary list right down here at the bottom trauma is referring to a severe emotional shock that is caused by some upsetting experience some experience is very upsetting and it causes shock in this case like i said the the upsetting experience is really dealing with the the covid the pandemic and the thing everything else that you have to deal with because of that the isolation the social iso isolation that they talked about in one of the previous articles some of you asked about uh the word ideation one of my favorite sites just to show you guys if you want to use um an online dictionary i typically prefer to use uh cambridge i i think that the meanings that when when you put in the word that you want to look up i think cambridge really does a good job of trying to use simple language so that it's a little easier to understand so they talk about suicide ideation is basically i think i saw that in the chat before um referring to the activity forming uh the activity of forming ideas in the mind so i think before it was talking about in the both of the articles like suicidal ideation kind of like that idea of suicide starting to possibly form in some people's minds that's what uh it's referring to so those were the articles again if you want to read more about those articles i've linked them down in the description i've also included the vocabulary from this lesson that these are words that i think are useful if you're talking about well mental health or if you're going to continue reading about it i think you'll definitely come across them i do want to highlight the organization i mentioned that you might see depending on where you live you might see like a a fundraiser or a donate uh button around here somewhere and the organization that i wanted to highlight today that was doing great work is called the jed foundation so this is a foundation oh you can kind of see i'll just read this first part which will give you the idea it's protecting emotional health preventing suicide transitioning into adulthood can bring big big challenges and intense challenges the jed foundation empowers teens and young adults with the skills and support to grow into heavy thriving adults so the jed foundation works with uh school children they work with young adults adolescence that was a word in one of the articles i told you it means younger people so they're working with children if they are going through some um you know maybe suffering some mental uh illness perhaps they have thoughts of suicide this is an organization that helps younger people and says protecting their emotional health i read a little bit more about the organization it's called the jed foundation um because it was started by a a parent a couple whose son their son was named jed who committed suicide and after that they began this foundation and it's gotten bigger and they just do excellent work so this is the organization that we're going to donate we're going to make a donation to this organization if you guys also would like to get involved um and make a donation that is awesome um but this is again this is something that is i think very serious everybody um all over the world uh people deal with this i know the articles talked about it more so in the context of kovid uh but it's something even after covet that that is going to uh persist so like i said hopefully that some of these words will help you if you want to learn more about mental health if you're reading articles about it or even if you're having a conversation again i am not a mental health professional i'm an english teacher this is about building your vocabulary but again if you think that you're somebody out there might be going through or experiencing something related to some of the things we talked about in that they mentioned in the article anxiety uh high levels of stress depression then i would always encourage people to try to contact somebody talk to others um and and try to uh reach out uh try to keep an eye on keep a watchful eye on others as well because this uh this has been last year has been uh was a very difficult year this year is also a tough year and i think that we're all trying to get through this uh so i again check out the links down in the description i've also put a link to the jet down the the jed foundation down there if you'd like to learn more about that foundation as well and again even if you can't make a donation right now that's that's perfectly fine i'd still encourage you go check out the website it's great to learn and read about um some of these organizations that are doing good work i think that especially when you see the news and you see all these problems and troubling things going on it's great to learn about organizations or or hear about organizations that are doing a lot of good in the world today so check out those links they are down in the description and i i hope that you guys learned some new words today as well thank you guys want to give some shout outs um oh thank you lolly uh that's great i'm glad that you enjoyed the lesson you had mentioned that you are a health nurse working uh mental health nurse all right excellent um we need we need more more more people like you uh thank you guys uh sleepwalker um muhammad maria teresa good to see you uh i just saw you a moment ago uh vicky glad you're here uh glad you're able to tune into the lesson uh mahdi laura um uh let's see just some quick shout outs yashar ashaan dan uh mary i hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you all next time so long --- ## 504. Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | Protecting the Environment ๐ŸŒณ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_VtovqESHaE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VtovqESHaE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:22:38 | --- hello everyone welcome to today's lesson uh my name is wes this is interactive english and a channel here is just trying to help you practice and improve your english skills so that you can well just try to reach uh your fluency goals and the way that we're going to do that today is it's going to be two different things we're going to be talking about reading and really using reading to build your vocabulary so i i have some articles that i want to look at and we're going to pick out some words that i think are important that i think are useful and that are really good for your your comprehension so today's topic we're going to be talking about protecting the environment and i know that's a very broad topic there's so many things that are a part of that but obviously it's very important i think it's something that all of us want to do uh because we share this earth so i i have a few different articles about different things and i'm just going to grab some words that are all related to the environment and words that i think are common that if you're reading about protecting the environment you're likely to come across these words again and again which is why i think the more you read and you see these words over and over that's just going to really help you build your vocabulary and you're really going to remember the meaning so i wanna just say some quick uh shout outs hello uh members and patrons excellent takaya lali uh gertrudis uh great to see you thank you guys for joining me fabio karina richie lucas i i'm going to be going back and forth a lot between the articles our vocabulary list and i'll try to keep an eye on the chat to see what you guys are saying if you have any questions about some of the words i am going to include several things down in the description i will include a list to all of the words that we've talked about in today's lesson i will include links to the articles that we're going to look at in case you would like to read them i'm only going to look at part of the article and i'm also going to include a link to today's charity organization that we want to highlight i mentioned before that this month i'm doing live lessons just like this and i want to highlight an organization that i think is doing good work we're going to make a um a donation to this organization and i yeah i would just suggest go go check it out uh go read about it it's good to practice your reading and it's just good to hear about other organizations doing great work if you want to make a donation there will be um the links in the description but there will be a donate button around here somewhere um i i had to it takes it may take a few days for youtube to approve of the organization but that'll it'll show up uh later on and i i will show you the organization um about it and talk to you a little bit about it today so let's go ahead and look at um let's go ahead and just look at our first article so again i told you that we're talking about the environment protecting the environment and all of these articles are related to that so the first one uh is this one right here it's an article from the guardian tiny atlantic island takes giant leap towards protecting world's ocean now i think all of these i i think all of the articles are from 2020 so they're fairly recent uh one or two might be from last year but you could see the subtitle says this is from uh an island uh that is a territory of the united kingdom it says uk overseas territory tristan da cunha never heard of that but new marine protected area will be fourth largest sanctuary of its kind so right there we have a couple of words that i think are good when you think about the environment marine and sanctuary so if we go over to our vocabulary list which i have right down here you can see that um marine is talking about it's an adjective and it just says something that's related to the sea so you talk about a marine project it's related to the sea uh marine environment uh again anytime you hear that word it's something that's related to the sea a sanctuary refers to a safe place typically i think in this case in the environment you're talking about land or the ocean a safe place that is protected from pretty much people that are possibly causing damage and you want to protect it you want to keep that area safe and you might refer to it as a sanctuary so those are i think two words right from the start that i wanted to highlight um they used it in this article they said it's talking about ooh new marine protected area now that's a good example of you have several adjectives before the noun area it's a marine area where it's uh you have that sea that wildlife but it is marine protected area actually a new marine protected area so this is what the article is about uh this sanctuary and you can see those cute little penguins um right there that uh wait actually sorry i meant to go back over here show you guys this how it was used that new marine protected area i told you those adjectives together um you can see those penguins so i'll read um i'm just going to look at that this first part right here we'll read some of it i'll pick out a couple more words that are related to the environment uh and this again the idea is that as you learn these words and if you continue to read articles uh about the environment or even if you're listening to something related to the environment these are words that you may hear again and again and again so we talked about marine related to the sea we talked about a sanctuary a safe and protected uh space um and said oh daniel says i studied marine biology excellent that's a great example marine biology so the article says you can just follow along a community of 250 people on one of the most remote inhabited islands on earth has made a significant contribution to marine wildlife conservation by banning bottom trawling fishing deep sea mining and other harmful activities from its waters the government of tristan da cunha a volcanic archipelago in the south atlantic an archipelago is just a group a small a group of small islands and part of the uk's overseas territories has announced that almost 700 000 square kilometers of its waters will become a marine protected area mpa the fourth largest uh such sanctuary in the world in doing so the community will safeguard the area's wealth of wildlife including sevengill sharks the globally threatened yellow yellow-nosed albatross and atlantic petrol hop rock hopper penguins and other birds that live there and help the uk government achieve its target of protecting 30 of the world's oceans by 2030. i'm i'm not going to go over those animals um but there are a few words that i wanted to pick out from uh this so let's go back to our vocabulary list um it talks about this island as it's a remote island it's which means if you talk about a place that's remote uh it's far away from any populated area and the reason i included this is if you're talking about uh the environment uh forests deserts you may hear this adjective used to describe that the environment that it's very remote it's far away from anything from really any human activity conservation this is a great word it's a great noun it just is talking about the protection of plants and animals and natural areas especially from from humans and it says that these animals [Music] were threatened and that is another it's not a good word but this is a word i think when you're talking about the environment that you will hear again and again and again if it's talking about uh certain animals or plants if they say they're threatened it means that there uh could be harm or damage that's caused to someone or something so if we go back to um our article you can see it was a remote island and it's talking about the contribution to marine wildlife conservation again we have that adjective marine marine conservation and where else did they use some of those words i can highlight them right here so their sanctuary again that protected area and it talks about these animals it goes on to list some of the wildlife that is threatened by human activity and again i think these are words that are pretty these are words that i think are pretty common if you're talking about if you're reading about the environment all right let's look at another site which is right here let me go up to the top so you can see what the title of the article is um [Music] let me see juan okay there we go it's called um eight billion trees is coming to kangaroo island okay so this is uh eight billion trees is an organization that is just really planting a lot of trees i think probably you may be familiar with some of these organizations that are just planting a lot of trees to offset a lot of the the carbon footprint that people talk about so um welcome again if some of you are just joining us we're talking about protecting the environment we're looking at some articles and picking out words that are related to protecting the environment to help you guys build your vocabulary i saw maggie you joined us hello welcome maggie uh so let's look at this article 8 billion trees coming to kangaroo island this is an island um that is i believe it's near australia and i'm just going to look at this first part and pick out a couple of words so sadash says conserving the plant yes again to conserve conservation very common words with the environment so again this is just you can write if you guys uh sorry if i lost you for a second um so it says the organization oversees planting operations in many countries with the majority of its efforts focused in the amazon rainforest so let's look at a a couple of words this here is my vocabulary document um so to rebuild it mentioned about rebuilding habitats uh is to build something again that prefix re just means again and habitat is talking about the the natural environment in which some place lives so again that's another word that i think when you're talking about the environment protecting the environment people might talk about uh an animal's habitat native means it's referring to plants and animals that grow naturally in one place it's used as an adjective and sequester it's i think they mentioned about sequester carbon it means to store this this substance in this case it's carbon in a way that keeps it safe so let's go back over to the article and look at some of those words right here so it says that they want to again rebuild these habitats this this is where these animals live they refer to the native animals the animals that live there locally and you had all these words right in a row basically um which help rebuild habitats for native animals the animals that live there sequester carbon store keep this uh keep carbon keep it in a safe way and promote healthy landscapes throughout the world so again those are some useful words that i think um you will often hear when talking about uh the environment let's look at oh okay is there a big difference between preserve and conserve i think that they're they're they're very similar i think one one thing is like when you preserve uh because that's a great question to preserve is like to keep something that the way it is like you want to preserve land and you don't want to change the land and develop it you could also conserve something and in that case you're really talking about saving it so depending on what you want to talk about you could talk about some land you want to preserve the land this specific land keep it the same but at the same time you could also say you want to conserve the land because you want to save it because we're using up a lot of land but when you think about uh when i think about well when would you use these words con conserve and conservation it makes me think more of like resources and things that you're using up and in that case you might talk about conservation and conserve because we're using things up and you want to conserve it conserve it preserve is really the idea is just staying the same it's going to stay the same great question let's look at the next article and i'm going to try and go through these again a little faster so this article right here let me go up so you guys can see the title this is actually kind of giving an opposing point of view we just talked about um 8 billion trees there are many organizations out there that plant a lot of trees and this article i just chose it because there's a few words that i wanted to pick out uh it says planting trees won't stop climate change not only are planted trees not the carbon sinks you want but tree planting frequently ends up doing more harm than good these articles that i'm not really trying to share my opinion about any of this one way or the other i really was just looking for certain vocabulary that i thought was useful in order to make that list so this is referring to planting trees to offset that that carbon footprint and i think it refers to it as the carbon sinks like a sink at home with the water goes down that the carbon is just going to go down and disappear but there is uh let's read this and there's a couple words that i want to go over let's just stop right here okay so it says humans have long believed that planting trees any kind of tree anywhere is good something mother nature cries out for something that might even solve our climate crisis tree planting initiatives um tree planting initiatives proliferate the bond challenge trees for the future trees forever the 10 billion tree tsunami plant a billion trees eight billion trees that's the other organization we just talked about the trillion tree campaign and one trillion trees initiative just to mention just a few the passion for planting trees comes partly from the fact that in some places they sequester carbon there's that word again sequester this has been broadly interpreted to mean that festooning the earth with trees will solve the problem of climate change which is why tree planting programs are so popular with carbon polluters to avoid cleanup costs so i think in general this article is saying that well planting trees not that it's i don't think they're trying to say that it's bad it's just i think maybe they're trying to say that we should be careful because sometimes depending on when and where we do it it may not always be helpful um but i wanted to look at a few words from this article right here so if we go back here okay just a few words so mother nature is a phrase it just refers to nature instead of saying nature you may hear people use this phrase mother nature i think more uh like the earth the natural environment crisis that is another word when talking about the environment especially protecting the environment because often there might be some harm that's happening and people could refer to it as a crisis it's a noun and that is just a time where there's a lot of disagreement or suffering in this case talking about nature i think it more refers to nature suffering in some way the the environment's suffering and people say it's a crisis to proliferate this is a great verb um you could use it in a variety of contexts it means to increase a lot and suddenly so increasing a lot increasing subtly then you could say it's proliferating so we go back to the article and i can just point out where it's used they talk about mother nature um that like mother nature it's good to have trees um but they're saying that it might not solve this uh crisis of climate change because again they refer to it as a climate crisis and these initiatives so it's talking about these groups that are planting the trees they are proliferating there's many of them they're growing and they're growing quickly as well but i think that you might hear this when talking about the environment they might be talking about some form of pollution that has been proliferating it's been growing suddenly and quickly uh we've already talked about sequester festooning is more it's not necessarily an environmental word it just means decorate so they're talking about these trees festooning or festooning the earth with trees like decorating the earth with trees is what it refers to um so let's look at uh you guys with me all right hopefully you guys are learning some some new words uh let's see uh miranda like i'm glad you like our lessons um you're improving so i right now i don't there's we're not doing uh don't do private lessons i do have a speaking course which again i will talk about that later on the second half of the month because i'm gonna start a new course uh again but i'll let you guys know about that so the the last article that i want to look at um and go over some vocabulary is this one deforestation raised eight percent of amazon um in 18 years according to a study and it just says that the destruction is fueled by logging farming ranching mining and infrastructure projects on forest land so with the title i think that's a important word that you may hear deforestation raised is a word it just means destroy but i don't think it's it's definitely more of an advanced word but maybe not as commonly used i think people tend to use the word destroy like or destruction which is down there it says the destruction is fueled by logging farming ranching mining so deforestation and destruction are a couple of words that i wanted to look at right away so if we go back from uh to our list so deforestation refers to cutting down trees in an area and people are doing this so it's like when people are cutting down trees and they're doing this because they want to use the land for some other purpose could be farming uh in the article they mentioned mining could just be building like a shopping mall but when you're cutting down this forest land and i think it really refers to like a large amount of land deforestation destruction uh i mentioned that it said the destruction is fueled by mining uh logging and it listed a few other things destruction is the noun it's the act of destroying something and this is a good way to build your vocabulary learning the noun destruction the verb is to destroy so to destroy is to cause damage to something so that it really you can't use it anymore and this is another great way to build your vocabulary learning these word families destroy is the verb destruction is the noun the meaning is really the same it just depends on the part of speech so let's look at the article and again i'm not going to read that much of it in a second i think okay all right i think it's back again just drop for a second uh i'll continue read it says the amazon plays a vital role in curbing climate change but destruction of the rainforest has only accelerated in recent years found uh the study by the amazon geo referenced socio environmental information network wow that's a long name raisg so i want to look at a few words right here it's talking about deforestation again um destroying the the land taking out the trees uh wiping out is one word that i wanted to add so let's go over here to our vocabulary list um right here it mention i'm gonna add that word that word in there to wipe out it's a phrasal verb and to wipe out uh i'd say is to completely destroy something so wipeout i think again is a phrasal verb that you may hear if you're talking about protecting the environment perhaps the in this case the forest was wiped out or maybe they're talking about a population of animals or plants that are being wiped out they're being completely destroyed it's said it's vital that's a great adjective vital just means really important and in in this case to curb something means to limit something that's not wanted so let's go back to the article so you can see how it's used in context it said that the it is deforestation was wiping out eight percent all right it's destroying eight percent the amazon it said of course it is a vital uh it plays a vital role it's very important in limiting climate change so it's curbing climate change it's limiting climate change but that's another word that i think if you're talking about protecting the environment people will do things to curb negative effects so in this case um the amazon which is mother nature is vital to curbing climate change it's very important so those are a few words again i have uh this entire list down i put all these words in the description in case you like to review and the reason i chose these words specifically is because i think that as you talk about the environment you're more likely to use these words as you read about the protecting the environment you're more likely to come across these words and as you listen to news news reports anything these are words that i think you will hear again and it's really going to help you improve your comprehension another thing again that i wanted to show you was today's organization charity that we are highlighting we're going to make a donation there's a link in the description it's the amazon conservation team and they they do a lot of great work um working in brazil and colombia working with locals in the area on programs for conservation in order to combat these things that are going on such as deforestation so you can check out the website there's the donate right there again later on at once youtube approves this organization there should be a donate button that occurs on the appears on the page if you guys want to make a donation but even if you can't that's okay but i suggest it's good to read about this you're again you're gonna find these words that we talked about today and it's just good to read about um organizations that do a lot of good work they do a lot of great work uh i notice on charity navigator which is how we kind of try to vet some of these charities because we want to make sure that they're they're doing what they say they're doing this is a website that will use um which is good they had really high uh scores um on charity navigator like a lot of the money you donate really goes to the work that they say that they're doing in these countries in order to uh protect the amazon and actually save this land and i think many of you probably it was not long ago you had all of those forest fires that devastated um the amazon which a lot of that was brought on by uh even the man-made activity that was going on in that area so even yeah maggie said due to the california that is another uh place that really uh is devastated by forest fires i hope that you guys learned some lessons thank you heidi i'm glad you enjoy these lessons uh karina excellent uh margaret thank you guys i i appreciate all of you guys being here sorry if it dropped a little bit my internet's been a little spotty lately and it kind of drops and then it comes back um but yes my yes are we locate the article yes in the description down below there is a link to all of the articles from today's lesson if you'd like to reread them and really i just went over the first few paragraphs so even if you want to just re-read those first few paragraphs and see if you can identify those words that we talked about and just remember the meaning just from this lesson that would be a good way to practice what we've learned today those links are in the description i've included a list of all of the words from today's lesson that is also in the description um a link to the amazon conservation team in the description and uh again a donate button will appear here later if you guys uh are interested in making a donation they do a lot of great work so it gives some more shout outs thank you uh maggie for joining us today uh haresh yes i'm saying your name haresh verma all right sometimes people like uh give me a quick little shout out abraham um sajad maria alberto um thank you guys for joining me lolly thanks for being here as usual i appreciate it thank you for being a member too you make all of this possible um who is it let us i'm trying to give some quick shout outs uh asan uh amnati surinva sorry i couldn't like chat as much i know when i do these lessons it's really more focusing on these articles and then the words and then kind of really discussing how they're used in context because i think that's going to help you really remember the meaning uh ricardo takayo good to see you uh thanks for joining uh uh maggie yes see you next week next week there will be another we're gonna do another live lesson just like this we're gonna talk about like we're gonna read some articles pick out some vocabulary i'll highlight another organization another charity um we're going to make a donation uh chef lao um i can't read that name how are you doing i'm doing really i'm doing great how are you fala it's okay i've came late this is gonna get posted you guys will have plenty of time uh to check this out um shift paul uh esther okay i gotta i gotta call it thank you guys so much for joining me i hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see all of you next time so long --- ## 505. Reading + Vocabulary Lesson | Vaccines ๐Ÿ’‰ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YXEOf5I5FAo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXEOf5I5FAo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:19:28 | --- hello everyone welcome to today's lesson i have well this lesson is consist of two parts it is a reading lesson and a vocabulary lesson specifically it's really looking at how you can use reading to build your vocabulary and we're going to kind of walk through that step by step and i'm going to show you some articles highlight some words and create a vocabulary list which is something that uh all of you could do at home so today's topic we're we're going to be talking about vaccines i tend to i try to choose when i do these lessons i try to choose a topic that i think is relevant that people are discussing that is current and of course this is something that i think we are all aware of it's happening all over the world and i think it is very super important that we look at that and i want to teach you some words some words and phrases that are related to vaccines i will tell you i am somebody i i have not gotten um received a vaccine just yet we are on a waiting list but we are going to get one as soon as we possibly can i truly believe in vaccines i trust the science and i think that is the best way to kind of move past um this whole covet crisis that has engulfed the world but this lesson again is primarily just trying to show you some words that are related to this if you are well you want to read more about it or perhaps you're having a conversation you're discussing it with somebody else these are some useful words that you should know for your comprehension but they're also good for you to use your vocabulary uh as well and the the organization that i'm going to highlight today is doctors without borders um we've made a 50 donation to them if some of you would like to make that as well that's awesome if not that's no problem but i'd still encourage you to go to the website learn more about them they do great work but i will talk about that at the end of the lesson i want to say a quick hello to oh so many members gertrudis lolly hello good to see you vicky great to have you here takayo hi um angela ester ten critica andre thank you guys for joining me i will try to glance at the chat from time to time i'm going to be moving around on quite a few different screens between the articles and the vocabulary lists so i won't be able to uh read as much as i usually do in there but let's just go ahead and begin with the first article all of these articles that we're looking at um are pretty relevant you can see this article right here from something from cnn and it's from may 13th the title of this article because i know i'm kind of blocking it right now is that this is what vaccine inequality looks like so i'm not really i didn't choose these articles necessarily because of what what they're trying to say they're very different articles i was just trying to find some articles that had words and phrases especially at the beginning that i think were relevant that you're likely to find in other articles that you may be reading that are related to this topic of vaccines so before i pick out some of the words i'm going to just read this this part right here and then we're gonna go back through and we're gonna look at some of the vocabulary words i'm going to create a vocabulary list and i will also put all of these words down in the description if you would like to review i will also link these articles if you would like to read the rest of it because i am just going to read a very short portion of the article so this is talking about well it says america has been inching closer to herd immunity with 17 million more people becoming eligible for a covid19 vaccine cvs pharmacies in some hospitals across the united states will start administering the pfizer uh bio biointex shots to 12 to 15 year olds today following a recommendation by the u.s center for disease control and prevention cdc it's yet another major step in america's road out of the pandemic while severe illness due to covid19 is relatively rare among teens they can still spread the virus and their inclusion in the vaccination program is key for any hope of achieving herd immunity but as as the focus of the us shifts to inoculating younger people and convincing those who are hesitant to get the shot much of the rest of the world is struggling to get vaccines even for those who need them most including vulnerable people and healthcare workers so let's start at this the beginning up here and i'll just go through a couple of words because i know which ones i've highlighted we saw this um phrase twice in the article herd immunity i think this is something if you're talking about the the covet 19 pandemic vaccines this is a phrase that people often talk about um eligible is another word that i want to highlight and talk about as well as administer so it's talking about more people becoming eligible for the vaccine and this pharmacy cvs is starting to administer the vaccine so let's go over to the vocabulary list i'm going to bounce back and forth whoops that's not the vocabulary list uh here here is the vocabulary list right here so i mentioned the first one herd immunity this is talking about i got all of these um most of the the meanings of these words and phrases come from cambridge cambridge online dictionary that is kind of my dictionary of choice uh online dictionary of choice for finding words i think they give meanings and definitions using simple words so it's easy to understand herd immunity is talking about a situation in which a disease cannot spread through a group of people because enough of them are immune so if enough people receive the vaccine enough people are immune then you can achieve herd immunity eligible just uh in the article they talked about more people are becoming eligible for the vaccine this is i think um a statement that people will use no matter where you are in the world and you're talking about well who is eligible having the necessary qualities or satisfying the necessary conditions so for example i think uh with this covid vaccine in most countries uh around the world i imagine that the people who become eligible first would be those who the older population the elderly would be eligible first because that's who um people uh that's who we want to protect um that are most susceptible uh to the virus so the next one i said to administer i chose this because if we're talking about um just a vaccine or a shot this is a verb that you would use to administer a shot or administer the vaccine to cause someone to receive something you could say you could just use the verb receive as well that's perfectly fine um but i think administering is like the well the person giving it so i would say for example when i go and get the vaccine i would receive the vaccine and the the health care worker the nurse the doctor would administer the vaccine they're the ones who are giving it they would administer it let's go back to the article there are a few more words that i wanted to point out from here and it was talking about well this i i did a lesson before talking all about the pandemic but i wanted to include it again because if we're talking about vaccines the this is a very common word that you would come across people talking about the global pandemic and the spread the spread of the virus this is an important verb you see this word again uh herd immunity it's coming up once more and then there was another word down here it's talking about the uf shifts to inoculating younger people to inoculate is another verb which i also highlighted on our vocabulary list so i told you that we're talking about the the pandemic i said it's a global pandemic the cova 19 this is a disease a disease existing in almost all of an area so i mentioned the the adjective global before it a global pandemic in which case we're talking about covid which is existing across the globe spread is also used when talking about uh viruses disease it's just means to spread is to affect why can i highlight all of this to affect more and more people and you would say that the disease is spreading the virus is spreading it's moving around it's infecting more people a very common verb i think that you would use to talk about a situation like that so this is a very useful verb and inoculate uh it said that the u.s is changing to inoculating younger people and to inoculate means to you're giving somebody a weak form of a disease usually by injection um as a protection against that disease and you would inoculate somebody so you are giving them uh the the disease like i said usually uh it's talking about somebody would administer a shot and it would protect you against the disease to inoculate another another useful verb if talking about health disease medicines vaccines a verb that you will come across quite often all right so this was the first article that i wanted to look at and we have uh oh there's one more word that i think where was it in the article vulnerable so it's hot it was talking down here okay um talking about vulnerable people and healthcare workers i mentioned before that was the word i was looking for the people all over the world protecting the elderly because they are most vulnerable and as well as healthcare workers they're getting uh more exposure to the to the virus so vulnerable means that you um able to be easily physically emotionally or mentally hurt so you could use it in a variety of context in this case they're talking about somebody who is vulnerable to the disease that they i guess it would be like more physically that you're vulnerable you're more likely to get the disease you could say you are vulnerable so again it could be used in a variety of ways let's look at the next article so that was an article the overall it was talking about i think the the vaccine program and the title was about u.s inequality i will link it in the description if you want to just read the entire article again we're just looking at a small portion of these articles the next one is um over here okay so the title is unicef calls on uk to give 20 of vaccines to other countries children's charity urges uk to set example and start sharing jobs with lower income countries from june so if we go down here again i'm just going to read a couple uh a few paragraphs and then we'll look at some words uh i'm gonna come back to the words we already talked about and like i told you this is a great way to build your vocabulary because what we're what you're going to end up seeing is those words are going to be used in the this article and subsequent articles so that's why i said if you're trying to learn about a topic and you learn a new word related to that topic don't just read one article try to find another because the more you continue to come across the same words again and again and again the the more likely you are to remember the word to learn it and then it's going to become a part of one's your active memory so this article um the uk should says the uk should commit to giving 20 of its vaccines to other countries that are in urgent need of them as early as june according to unicef which says the uk will still have enough to vaccinate every adult by the end of july the children's charity estimates the uk will have enough spare doses this year to fully vaccinate a further 50 million people around the world and urges the government to set an example to the g7 by starting to share them next month vaccinating the populations of other countries is the only way to ensure new coronas new coronavirus variants do not spread it says unicef made its call before the g7 summit in the uk next month and as france announced it would donate up to five percent of its vaccine stocks to kovacs the u.n backed initiative to get vaccines to lower income countries the one thing i want to point out in this article right away we're talking about vaccines you know what a vaccine is it's a noun i wanted to show you how it's used other parts of speeches so you see vaccine being used here as a noun and then we can also use it as a verb to vaccinate to vaccinate other adults it's used here as a gerund at the beginning of a sentence vaccinating the the populations of other countries so a lot of these words it's another good way to build your vocabulary if you're not just thinking about how else the word might be used as a noun as an adjective or even as a verb great way to build your vocabulary the two words that i wanted to point out in this article right here doses because talking about vaccines that is a word that will come up talking about well how many doses did this country receive or how many doses are people getting in this case they're talking about spare doses extra ones that they can donate and then the other words coronavir virus variants this is another common word if you're talking about the the situation that's going on you may hear this word being used quite often so let's look at those two words so if we go to the vocabulary list over here looking at doses doses refers to a measured amount of something such as medicine um and you might hear people talk about like well one dose two dose three doses you can use it um talking about all kinds of medicine like if you are taking some medicine to help you sleep at night and it might tell you to take two doses um which is the measured amount in this case when they're talking about doses of the vaccine i believe they're talking just like one shot um one shot of the vaccine like one dose of it and then variance means something that is slightly different from other similar theme other similar things sorry and they referred to the coronavirus variance which means that the original coronavirus may ha has slightly changed and if it slightly changes then that becomes a variant a coronavirus variant and there are several variants uh around the world and i think that's something else that they're testing is how effective are these vaccines against some of these other variants so another very common word if we're we're talking about um about covid and the situations that hap that's happening around the world and vaccines let's look at the next article i'm gonna keep moving through these i know uh see some people uh conversing in the chat the next article is about uh well there's only a couple words that i wanted to to highlight that's saying the title is anti anti-vaxxers aren't the cause of america's dropping vaccine rates the this fact is crucial to getting the u.s vaccination campaign back on track i'm going to come back to the first word because i wanted to tell you what anti-anti-vaxxer means or what that is it's a word that you may have heard already and just look at the first paragraph it says america's coven 19 vaccine rollout has dwindled in recent weeks plummeting from a previous high of nearly 3.4 million doses administered a day on average in april uh to around 2.2 million a day this week i'm not gonna look at more it then goes into an analogy uh about what's going on and then down here it kind of talks a little bit more about well why this is happening i really just wanted to point out two words in this article which is the first one talking about anti-vaxxers um and then the other one is rollout and as you can see i talked about words that you would see again and again as we go through this right here we just talked about doses 3.4 million doses they're referring to to doses of the vaccine administered when they're they're giving something somebody's going to receive it the vaccine so those are two words that we just talked about 3.4 million doses administered but let's look at those two words anti-vaxxer and rollout if we go back to our vocabulary list and look what we have so an anti-vaxxer is just somebody who does not agree with vaccinating people and what i would say is that i know there are some people out there that i think in the first article it referred to some people being well hesitant that maybe they're unsure if somebody i think is unsure then i don't know if i would refer to them as an anti-vaxxer an anti-vaxxer is a person who just who just does not agree with it they think it's for some reason that it's dangerous or they don't believe that people should get vaccines then you could call them an anti-vaxxer often i think this is there's so much bad information surrounding this that i think a lot of people end up reading and then they start more maybe become more part of that anti-vaxxer community but speaking of vaccines it's a i told you this is something that i think all around the world in every country there might be a group of people that are like this that are against vaccines and you could say they are anti-vaxxers anti that prefix right there just means against so it against vaccines is what it means rollout is another common word talking about these vaccines because each country is rolling out their own vaccination program and the rollout is the act of making something available for the first time so you have this program you're starting it for the first time you would refer to it as like the rollout the noun the rollout all right let's look at i have one more one more article for you and then i want to talk to you a little bit about doctors without borders the next article i have a few more words is this one it says why um japan has been slow to roll out vaccinations and again i i know i'm blocking that first part uh but yes it says there we go why has japan been slow to roll out vaccinations what i would tell you to do take notice of the words that we've uh already learned and i'm going to highlight those even that first one i talked about the roll out the the rollout of the these vaccines um they're using it right now as a phrasal verb to roll out vaccinations the meaning is the same that you are uh making something available for the first time but one is a noun the other one this case is a phrasal verb so let's go down here i'm just going to read a couple of paragraphs and then again see we've already talked about several words see if you can pick up on the ones that we've already discussed throughout the lesson i told you if you read artists similar articles you're going to end up coming across the same vocabulary words again and again it's a great way to build your vocabulary so this is saying japan's rollout of covet 19 vaccines began belatedly in mid-february months behind the united states and many other countries officials blamed a shortage of pfizer a pfizer a pfizer vaccine from europe as the main culprit in the delay but three months later with shipments stabilized and officials attempting to accelerate vaccinations japan remains one of the world's least protected officials say there is a critical shortage of trained staff to give shots despite prime minister um yeshide suga's pledge to have all eligible people fully vaccinated by the end of september some officials say it could take until next year it will be impossible for japan to achieve protective herd immunity in the two months before the tokyo olympics are to begin so i think this article was kind of um written in the context of the japan is supposed to host the summer olympics and this poses an issue right now for the country we talked about roll out you saw in the title it was used as a phrasal verb here again it's being used as a noun they're making these vaccines available for the first time belatedly i didn't add that to the list because all it means is something happens late it's it's happening late you could say it's belated oftentimes i think people might use that to wish someone a belated birthday uh would be an example i wanted to talk about there's a couple words from here speaking of vaccines shortage is one of the words that i wanted to highlight because i think you some countries are experiencing a shortage of vaccines and the next word that i wanted to talk about here it is they use shortage again um was this one oh wait wait uh i meant to read this last part down here but just to go through that other paragraph we talked about eligible people that they meet the necessary requirements uh herd immunity they're using that one again and that last paragraph which i forgot to read but there's a word in there that i wanted to go over it's uncertain let me make sure you guys can see this it's uncertain whether japan's already strained healthcare system can treat extra visitors during the games as it struggles to handle local patients and mass inoculations so this is the other word that i want to point out strained if you say that a system is strained um i want to show you what that word means and we just we again in one of the previous articles we talked about to inoculate you're giving somebody a weak form of the disease in order to protect them against it let's move over to the vocabulary list i told you those two words if we're talking about a shortage of something you're often going to follow it with the preposition of a short i said some countries are experiencing a shortage of the vaccine it means a situation in which there's just not enough and then strained they talked about the strained it's already strained healthcare system that problems current problems are just making things more difficult and it's kind of getting difficult to a point that it's it could become a real big crisis so if you say that something is strained it's just really it's difficult and challenging because the problems keep intensifying um is what i would say so these uh are the different articles that i wanted to show you related to vaccines you can see here this vocabulary list that i put together i'm leaving these words down in the description below also there are links to the articles as well if you would like to read the rest of them i am a very i am a big advocate for for reading in english and just reading more and more i think it's a great way to build your vocabulary it's a great way to improve your grammar because you're seeing the correct grammar structure being used there are so many benefits to reading so i think it's always great and one other thing the last thing that i think you should read and check out is the site doctors without borders so even if you're not in a position to make a donation go check out the website read about them it's a great way to again build your vocabulary learn about an organization that's doing some good work i think so many things that we read about especially if we're talking about the news it's typically negative it's not something that is overly cheerful so it can be good to read about things that are a little more positive people doing good work doctors without borders it's uh it's originally i think um a french organization they work they have offices around the world at this point and basically they they serve they work on different medical projects helping um countries in need that are experiencing some great difficulties and you can read a lot more about them it talks a little bit more about some of their ongoing projects right now learn about what they do it's um yeah it's a good organization so that is the organization that we wanted to highlight in this lesson that is related to vaccines it's related to the the covet crisis the cove the global pandemic um right now so wanted to give a big shout out to doctors without borders go check out go the link is also down in the description if you want to go read about this so go check out the website learn a little bit more about them practice your reading skills um so that you can continue to build your vocabulary i know that um again i haven't been able to really pop into the chat too much i hope that you guys enjoyed the lesson i hope that you guys learned some new words and phrases again this is a very important topic it's very relevant because this is well this is going on right now so it's something that you may we'll read about in english but you may also be talking about it with your friends and families so these are good words and phrases to know thank you guys so much for joining me i hope uh i hope it was useful um yes okay lolly confirming yes it is a french organization excellent um and i like i said i hope you learn some new words and just continue to read because i think if you're able if there's something you enjoy like a topic read about it but read several articles because you're going to start identifying the same vocabulary word again and again and again and then suddenly yes it's going to be up here in your active memory and you're going to be able to use that the next time you're writing or having a conversation and you're actually to produce the language uh thanks for joining me lolly um vicky thanks for being here good to see you uh takayo glad you learned some new words juliana good to see you uh glad you were here awesome seeing a lot of people who are uh in the speak up course as well awesome great to see you guys gatrudus thanks for being here um sarah andre um please hello hello to brazil uh tenkritika um james tenten louisa these are articles we'll do i'll do more of these lessons later on i like doing these uh reading vocabulary lessons it it allows us to talk about something current something relevant something that i think is important and then also highlight an organization um that we think is doing good work so i like to make these uh fundraising videos from time to time i think it's good uh all right um which vaccine did you apply for we don't know so the way it works in hungary like we've we've registered we're waiting and then they'll call you and then tell you um when you're supposed to go in for the vaccine and then i think at that point you can ask and say okay can you tell me which one it is um it hungry is not in a position where i think they're not you're not allowed to choose at least um as far as i know um but i do want to get it as soon as possible um kareem uh yes all the best to you as well gettrudes uh anastasia leo um alisher khaled hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend um and i will see you next time so long --- ## 506. Reading Mean and Nasty Comments... And Laughing at Them ๐Ÿ˜œ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `uw7KKFTnB2g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw7KKFTnB2g) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:34:12 | --- - So, we really, really, really love hearing from you guys and it's such positive community but today we're gonna do things a little different and talk about some of those haters out there. (laughing) - We're gonna read some mean comments and we're gonna laugh at them. - So, when you're making videos like we do, I think whether it's education or anything, there's always haters out there. You're gonna have people that are, they're trying to just be mean and I don't know. - Sometimes for no reason. - Honestly, I don't know what possesses people to really do it. - That's mean. - Some of it can get really nasty. I don't think, for the most part, it doesn't really bother us. It's not really a big deal. - One of the reasons why it's easier for people to be meaner on the internet is because you're not seeing the person. You're not face-to-face and people are just mean. - They're hiding behind fake names. - Yeah. - But we get those comments and, not a ton of them, but what we wanted to do is try to make this a bit of a teachable moment and kind of use some of the words, and it's kind of a vocabulary lesson, I guess. We just kinda wanted to share some them with you and, again, make it a teachable moment and talk about some of the vocabulary and it's a little bit of a different kind of lesson. - I mean some of them are really funny. So, they make us laugh. - Some of them are very funny. Very very funny. (laughing) - So, thanks. (laughing) - We're just gonna read through some of these and then talk a little bit about them. - You want to read it? This is my favorite one by far. (laughing) I love it. - This comment, 'cause it's for me, Ian Joel, "Go talk to someone that doesn't speak English, you condescending prick." (laughing) Why do you enjoy that one so much? - Because first of all, because you are trying to talk-- - I know, well, Ian Joel, we are actually English teachers so we're trying to teach people and talk to people who not that don't speak English but people that are trying to learn English or improve their skills. Now-- - It's literally what we do. (laughing) That's our job description. - Yeah, Ian. In case you're wondering 'cause, again, I think some of these people are native speakers. I think a lot of them are trolls. It's not a good word but it's a good word to know what it means because that's kind of a new word I think that's come up in the last five, 10 years. - Yeah. So, a troll is basically somebody who says something mean or negative. Not that they really feel that way, they're just trying to provoke a response from somebody else and trying to upset another person or another group of people and getting them to react. So, a prick is a noun and it's basically slang. It's talking about...If you call somebody a prick, it just means they're a jerk. They're just somebody you don't like. It's always used in a negative context. - Hendricks, huh? Prick! - Just keep it down, yeah. - Prick. - Heavy, what I wouldn't give to know what heavy feels like, you insensitive prick. - The other good vocabulary word to know, which is again, not a good word, is condescending. - It's a good word. - And condescending is, it's an adjective and basically it means a way of talking to someone or communicating to someone like acting like you're better than they are. You're talking down to somebody. You're kind of being condescending and being mean and rude. We appreciate your condescending comment, Ian. So usually with unruly students, we just kick them out of the classroom. Ian, you're out of here. - Get out. - Get out. (laughing) Go outside Ian, get out of here. - Get him out of here. - The next comment. - I love this one too. (laughing) - Why do you hate on me? 'Cause this is another one for me. - Because they're like teacher. - Huh. Oh, okay. - Yeah. Icepeak C&E. - "Boy you must be the most boring teacher on YouTube. "They call a dollar a buck, wow, really?" Well, yes, Icepeak. This was from the, I think, the slang video and talking about different American slang words, that a dollar is a buck. But yes we are actually, I don't know why the quotes. If somebody does, this is another good thing. If somebody does the air quotes, basically it means it's the opposite of what they're saying. So in saying that I'm a teacher would imply I'm not. - Yeah, jokes on you, Icepeak C&E. - Yeah. - We are teachers. (laughing) It's what we do. - So we are teachers, so that doesn't really make much sense. But I could say, you know, Icepeak C&E is a smart guy. - It doesn't matter, don't be a hater. I mean, this is a funny comment without air quotes. - It is a funny comment. But still, Icepeak C&E, get out of the classroom. Get out. - And also, they do call a dollar a buck. - Get out of the classroom Icepeak. - Not everyone knows that! - Yeah. If you don't know that, get out. - Get out. - Get out. - The next comment is, you wanna... (laughing) You can explain this one. Give us some context. - This one was in one of my videos and it was a food idioms video and I believe that maybe at some point I've asked like-- - I don't think this might've been a hateful comment or anything, it's just funny. - We're not sure. But I believe I may have asked if people know other food idioms. Maybe. But, the comment was, "You eat like a horse." - So, we're not sure if that's a food idiom in somebody else's language or something. (laughing) - Or people are telling me that I eat like a horse because in another video, I was eating something. - In another video, but not in this one. - Not in this one. - Yeah. - So I'm not sure, do you really think I eat like a horse? What does a horse eat like? I mean, do they eat good stuff? - Maybe we got this comment all wrong. Maybe it's a compliment. - Maybe. (laughing) - A horse's diet is very healthy. - It was a fun one, we thought we'd share it with you guys. - You eat like a horse. (laughing) You can stay, I think, Matteo. - You can stay. Next comment. (laughing) - I think this one is yours. No, mine? - Yeah. - Melissa Hurles says, "waffling rubbish." (laughing) - Tell us how you really feel, Melissa. - This is short and sweet. If somebody is waffling, it just means that they're not making a point, they're going back and forth and back and forth. Of course rubbish, I'm sure you know that it's trash. - It's more of a British term. - Right - If something is rubbish, they say, "ugh, it's terrible." - Is she saying that you are waffling rubbish or the content is waffling rubbish? - I think this was on mine too. I think it was maybe just the lesson, waffling rubbish. - Ah, Okay. - I think part of this has to do with, I think, with another future comment that we're gonna show you in just a second, which maybe helps explain some. But, yeah, waffling, you're just really indecisive and kind of like, what, what. - You're not making a point. - What, what's going on? What's happening? - Yeah. - It kind of has to do with Mit's comment, right here. - Mit Mumo. (laughing) I like your profile picture. Is that UCLA? That looks like UCLA. - Maybe, I don't know. Get to the point! Like, yesterday, geez. - All in caps. (laughing) - I know. This is very frustrating. Mit's frustrated. - Screaming at us. - So I think this is part of it was some of our lessons because when we talk about a topic, we kind of go through the beginning about, okay, what the lesson is gonna be about and kind of talk about why it's useful and why this is important for you and how you can use this information. - Yeah, we think you should know why you're learning something. (laughing) - Yeah. Yeah, Mit. We don't just go in and say, okay here's the first word. Here's the second word. Here's the third word. - Yeah. - I think some people, I mean, again, everybody wants different things. Some people, like Mit, just want that. They don't want any, you know, don't talk to me about how I can use phrasal verbs, just tell me the phrasal verb or something. And that's just not what we're gonna do. We're not going to change that, but I think that goes with maybe the waffling part. - Maybe. - That she was talking about. - But why rubbish? That's just mean. (laughing) - Rubbish is just adding insult to injury right there. (laughing) - Yeah. - Like ugh. Oh yeah, we forgot, Melissa, boom, you're out. Get out the classroom. - Yeah, get out Melissa. - Get out. Mit, you too, follow her. - Get out. - You're out. You're done, Mit. Geez. - Get Out. (laughing) - Foysal. So this one again is pretty mean. (laughing) Foysal Ahmed, or Foysal. Are you sure you spelled the name right? Because I think it's Foysal. - He misspelled his name, you think? - Maybe. - Maybe. - "By far the worst one I have ever watched." Exclamation mark. (laughing) - What else do I want to say about this? - Why did you have to write that? (laughing) If you don't like it you don't have to comment. - He's entitled to his opinion. - But why, like-- - It's okay. - Write it down. - Even though the opinion may be waffling rubbish. - Your opinion sucks, Foysal. (laughing) Foysal Ahmed. Foysal Ahmed. - Yeah, all right, we're done with you Foysal. Get out. - Get out. - Get out of here, you're done. - Out. - Get out of here! - Oh, this is ridiculous. I'm gonna laugh so hard. Let's laugh. - I think this was a comment that was on a video we did together, obviously. - Obviously. - It's like, you're overreacting while you're teaching. - Over-acting. So here's the comment. Junaid Khan says, "Don't do overacting while you are teaching. You both laugh more than teaching. Please don't laugh more." (laughing) I'm sorry I keep laughing at your ridiculous comment. I think it was pronunciation. - I don't know. - The brands pronunciation video. - But it was. I think we were having fun with that lesson, and there was a lot of laughing. - So first of all, can I say something? We don't act, because we're horrible actors. We did try to act once with our skit-- - Yeah, it didn't go very well. - In our "your welcome" video. - It was pretty bad, pretty bad acting. - You're so amazing. - Thank you. - Can I get a refill on the coffee? - Yeah. Here is a refill on your coffee. - Is there sugar in this? We're not acting. We constantly laugh at each other because Wes is ridiculous and he makes me laugh. - If anything, I think we're probably under-acting. - If we laugh more than teaching, teaching is about having fun. If you're not having fun when you're learning, why are you even learning something. You have to have fun with it. That's how you learn, Junaid Kahn. (laughing) - From now on, Junaid, we will teach all lessons just like this, in a very monotone voice. - Nope. - And there will be no laughing per your request. - No, but you can go to a teacher who does that. So get out. - Get out of here, Junaid! - Get out of here. Now. - I just want to keep laughing now. (laughing) - Keep laughing. That comment makes us laugh, yeah, thank you. This is-- - I like the emoji, too. - This is one my favorite comments because we saw this one. "You look just like Sara Jay." This was one on one of Ilana's videos and of course the first thing I wondered was, who is Sara Jay? - Who is Sara jay? - So you do a quick little Google search on Sara Jay and you find out she's a porn star. (laughing) - So. - Which tells us something about you, Adam. - It's just not a great thing to tell somebody, especially a teacher, that you look like a porn star, with a kiss emoji. It's a little... (laughing) I know it's the internet, but it's a little... It's a little... It's inappropriate. - It's a little creepy. - I had a student who told me I look very sexy with my eye-liner, and I'm like, you can't say that to your teacher. This was face-to-face, a real student. Some students, especially if you're learning a new language, maybe you don't know how to compliment somebody-- - What's maybe culturally appropriate...eh, maybe. - Yeah, so don't call your teacher sexy. Don't tell them they look like a porn star. It's just not appropriate. (laughing) But thank you. First of all, I Googled her too and I don't think we look alike. I like the kiss emoji. We appreciate like-- - You can stay in the classroom. - Your happy feelings but... So this was pretty good. I'm not sure, I don't think we're sure which video this was on. It doesn't really matter because-- - It might be on the fun and funny one. - Oh. - Which is why, I don't, we don't know if this is, again, a misunderstanding or like just kind of-- - Maybe. Either way, they told us we look funny. Or it was Wes. You look funny. No, you're looking funny. - Hey, thanks. - They're usually like you look funny. Its not a good thing if somebody looks funny it's not something you want to look like. - Yeah. Yeah, they may have been trying to say maybe you are funny or you know-- - Or they wanted to say you look funny. - Or you look like you're having fun-- - Or it's a legit-- (laughing) - Or maybe, I just look funny. I don't know. It's kind of... You wouldn't say looking funny, you'd say funny-looking. - Mm-hmm. - Harry is the funny-looking one. (laughing) - You're a funny-looking little thing, aren't you? - Don't! - You just... Look funny. - I look funny? You ever seen The Shining? - You still shouldn't say that. - But, that's still not a nice thing to say to somebody. - Culturally, it's wrong. - You're funny-looking. - If you say something about somebody's looks, always have good things to say, like, you look great, you look amazing, you look beautiful. - Stay positive. All right, so, you can stay in the classroom. - Gosh this is a long one. (laughing) Wait, this is mine. Oh my God. I haven't seen this one. (laughing) So, Nasir Boota says, "Bad see he sent me to be dd be she the we can submit yeah he egg cheese fee see ex be seen by it and return bee-do." What? - I just included it because every now and then we get this nonsensical rambling about something that I don't know how to interpret this. I don't know. - What? (laughing) Oh. - Do you know what this means? - Maybe they're writing-- - Is this code for something? - Verb-tenses. No, to be. - I don't know. - Be. - It's like one of YouTube's great mysteries. What-- - What is this, Nasir Boota? What are you trying to tell us? - You need to translate this for us. - What language is this? (laughing) - Is that it? - Yeah. - Awe. - I know, I'm like sad. We're like, that's all? That's all that we have so far? - It was fun. We like to over-act. - I'm sure we'll get more negative comments in the future. So what we want to do is, because again, the internet, it's so, it can be so full of negativity, of hate, what we want you guys to do in the comments, you don't have to write to us, just go write something positive. Just go say anything, anything about anything in life, that's positive, that's happy, that's cheerful. Write that in the comments and look at what other people wrote and comment on theirs, and let's see how much-- - 'Cause that's how we want to promote. - Positivity that we can have. - We want to bring back positivity-- - It's what Interactive English is all about. - This is a fun space. I know not everyone likes it, that it's a fun space, but that's what we want it to be. We want it to be a fun learning space, because when you're relaxed and having fun, you are learning. So please keep it positive, keep it fun, keep it light, and practice. - If you guys enjoyed this lesson and enjoyed us sharing those negative and mean comments, and weird comments, too, hit that like button down below. Thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. - Bye. - Bye. --- ## 507. Reported Speech vs Direct Speech | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YaCbx5GLGfc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaCbx5GLGfc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:27:03 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English which if you want to practice and improve your English then you are in the right place and that's what this channel is all about and today I have a grammar lesson for you and we are going to talk about direct speech versus reported speech and I'm gonna give you some different examples and talk about well when to use them but also how to change back and forth between direct speech and reported speech but Before we jump into it if you are new here and this is your first time watching one of our lessons please write to me in the chat or write to me in the comments tell me your name where you're from because I just love I love hearing from everyone especially people who are new to the channel but I want to give a quick shout-out to those who are with me right now hello Gladys Angela Sam Sam well Samuel Lally Hawaa your Lea Abdullah Murillo Mary Jane Garcia thank you guys for joining me hope you help everybody is having a wonderful weekend Gertrudis of the Rahman I understand Michael Angelo I'm gonna try and throw in some more shout outs here and there because I am going to have you guys practice a little bit today with reported and direct speech and changing back and forth between the two so let's just go ahead and begin and really define well what what are these what does it mean direct speech and reported speech so direct speech is talking about the actual words that a person says and this is when you would have quotes around the words it's really what the person says and you could think of it like well what are they directly saying reported speech which is also called indirect speech they're they they're the same it's a description of what someone else has said without using the exact words now the reason why I chose to say reported speech instead of indirect speech because I think most of the time if you are looking up about this grammar in particular I think often people are going to use the phrase reported speech instead of indirect speech but they're the same they're one in the same because in this case you are you are reporting what someone else has said it's not direct you are reporting this information to someone else and because you're reporting it often you're talking about what someone has said in the past they have already said this thing and you're telling this to someone else so it was something they said in the past so this is what that means direct speech and reported speech so let's now look at let me give you some examples okay this is this is a conversation that using direct speech you see I put it in quotes this was a discussion that I had this morning my wife and I were talking and I said I'll just read it for you and he well it's talking about me so I could say he said we need more wine I thought you bought some she replied I'll go to the store he said can you also get some Nutella she asked okay so this is a conversation a real conversation that my wife and I we had this morning talking about getting some wine my wife she loves Nutella so she asked me to get some more Nutella now this is direct speech these are the exact words that we said now if we're gonna change this if if you were you heard this conversation and then you were telling someone else like whoa whoa what what did they talk about this morning what was their conversation we can change that to reported speech and it would look something like this he said we needed more wine she thought he had bought some he said that he would go to the store she asked if he could also get some Nutella so in that case is the same conversation using reported speech now I'm gonna talk about specifics of how we change that right now I just wanted to give you a little bit of an example of when you well what direct speech would look like a conversation and then what how we would change that to a reported speech so the first thing that I want to show you is this little graph right here and I apologize because you're gonna see me moving all around the screen today so if you're talking about direct speech this is a graph wait it's up here that you might see in grammar books if you're changing direct speech from reported speech if the direct speech if it's in the present simple it's gonna get changed to the past symbol if it's in the present continuous it'll get changed to the past continuous if it's in the past simple you change it to the past perfect present perfect past perfect will gets changed to wood and can gets changed to could now we're gonna go through there it is we're gonna go through each one of these and I will give you an example and show you how it's changed and then we'll practice it a little bit because like they say practice makes perfect so let's start with that first one and we're going to look at we're going to look at present simple indirect speech getting changed to the past symbol alright so here we go I'm big again alright so if we have direct speech and says something this is just an example she said I go for a run every day all right this person she's making this statement these are all statements that we're talking about just simple statements I go for a run every day it's in the present simple I go for a run if you change that to report its speech we're going to change that main verb go it's going to get changed to the past simple and we'll say she said she went for a run every day now I will say that this is just me this is how it's would be presented in a grammar book the appropriate grammar present simple to pass simple I think you may hear people and and I'm guilty of this too I may not change it to the past simple I might just say she said she goes for a run every day that is something you might hear now I'm not gonna I'm not putting that on here because I want to stick with what the the grammar would specifically tell you if you were to research this in a grammar book present simple gets changed to the past simple now the other thing I want to point out is I said she said that in this case the reason why I put that in parenthesis is because that is optional all right you don't have to say it you can omit it if you want this is your preference she said that she went for a run every day that's fine or you can take it out she said she went for a run every day the one thing I will say is that I think it's more common that if you're talking about verbs like very common verbs like say I think it's common that you will omit that and you're not going to use it that's just my opinion I think it's very common in that case you would omit that when introducing when it's introducing this relative clause so if you say something like common verbs like say she said she went for a run or common verbs like no instead of saying I know that you would just say I know that I know she went for a run every day so keep that in mind and I will come back to that in in just a second so again present simple gets changed to the past simple let's look at present continuous gets changed to the past continuous an example we were taking a vacation my parents said we're taking a vacation my parents said in this case I'm actually using the the present continuous to talk about future time and I know that's confusing I apologize if it is but the rule still stays the same if we change it to report its speech my parents said they were taking a vacation present continuous gets changed to pass continuous all right now let's look at past simple gets changed to the past perfect he said my I met my friend for dinner I met my friend for dinner is in the past simple if we change that to report its speech and you're saying it to someone else he said he had met his friend for dinner he said he had met his friend for dinner it gets changed to the past perfect so again I just really I'm doing this because I want you to think about the changes in the verb tense right now from direct speech to the reported speech okay the next one is if you have the present perfect it also gets changed to the past perfect she explained I have witnessed a crime that's in the present perfect I have witnessed a crime if we're going to change that to report its speech it's going to be in the past perfect she explained that she had witnessed a crime so I have witnessed a crime she had witnessed a crime in the past perfect now the one thing I would say is I changed that that reporting were changed that verb instead of she said I used she explained and because I'm using explained here I felt it would it would be better to keep that instead of omitting that I'm going to keep it I'd say she explained that she had witnessed a crime instead of said which I told you if you're using a common verb like say you might omit that for example I said she said she had witnessed a crime so again I realize I'm throwing a lot of different little things at you and I may come back to some of this a little bit later and do a more in-depth thing but I wanted to try and just focus on some of the basics about when to change these things so for example very simple will gets changed would we will help you move tomorrow my friends said alright we changed that to report at speech and we're not going to use will we're going to use would my friends said they would help us move tomorrow my friends said they would help us move tomorrow alright that is reported speech you're talking about what this other person said will gets changed to wood and of course can indirect speech is going to get changed to could he mentioned he mentioned she can drive us to work tomorrow she can drive it he mentioned she can drive us to work tomorrow remember I said mention so now I'm going to keep that he mentioned that she could drive us to work tomorrow alright instead of she can drive us she could drive us excellent well hello seung-ki Park thank you for for thank you for becoming a member excellent so let's let's practice this a little bit and now you get to you get to practice your your typing skills because I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to change it from direct speech to reported speech alright so here is this one all right Wes said reading is a great way to improve your English skills and Here I am up in the corner of I told you I'm moving around a lot how would you change that to report its speech Wes said reading is a great way to improve your English skills and again the thing that I would tell you to focus on is that that verb how are you going to change the verb in the direct speech okay so I'll give you a moiety if you can write out the full sentence what would you say Wes said reading is a great way to improve your English skills and I think yes that is something I always say and I truly believe reading is it's it's a great way to improve your English skills so what do you think getting some answers yes Katie WD all right he said that yes go SIA excellent it's in the present simple so you're going to change it to the past excellent NAT rock odd and Tunis perfect Carlo West said reading was a great way to improve your English skills I'm changing it from the present simple to the past simple and again I've omitted that in this case I just I didn't say that it's your it's your choice you can do you can use it you can not use it it's up to you let's do the next one if I were to say she proudly proclaimed I was the best student in class all right what do you think if you want to change that direct speech to reported speech she proudly proclaimed I was the best student in class now the one thing I will point out with this I wanted to use that proudly proclaimed because I feel that that it's a little bit of a collocation these are words that you may hear use together you might hear that adverb used proudly proclaimed all right you were very happy about it so if you don't know what to proclaim means it means you're stating something kind of in an in an excited way you might proudly proclaim something so what do you think she proudly proclaimed I was the best student in class the directs to direct speech is in the past simple so in that case we're going to use change it and use the past perfect she proudly proclaimed that she had been the best student in class so the verb to be was is going to get changed to the past perfect had been all right the the past simple will get changed to the past perfect and again this is another example in my opinion I do think you may hear somebody change it to reported speech and they may also just use the past simple and say she proudly proclaimed that she was the best student in class you may hear people say that but I'm just gonna stick with what a grammar book would say that you're going to change the past simple and you're gonna change it to the past perfect all right she proudly proclaimed that she had been the best student in class excellent whoo let's see do we get some of you guys are rocking this yes NAT perfect Andreea yes lolly again yes that works if you want to stick with the past simple in my opinion I think that works Rose Claire yes it's a she had was she had been remember the the past participle of the verb to be I have been I had been in that past perfect all right excellent so again remember had been is what we're looking for now so far we've talking about statements in just taking a statement and changing it from direct speech to reported speech now not all sentences are statements so I have another I have another chart for you to look at all right so here is another chart and hope I hope that this would make sense that down below me you can see statement question and command and when you change it the sentences are gonna change a little differently when you change it to a reported speech because that reported Clause is going to be that that's going to change so for example let's look at the statement and I've used the same context about somebody being tired so the direct speech in the statement I which is right over up top there he said I'm tired alright if we want to change that to report speech I am tired present simple gets changed to the past he said he was tired now when we're talking about statements we're going to use the that clause and in this case I said that you can keep that or you can omit it and take it out he said he was tired he said that he was tired all right both of those that's fine if we're talking about a question and somebody says are you tired she asked are you tired she asked if you want to change that to report its speech you could say she asked if he was tired so instead of using that you could use an if clause if we're talking about a question with the verb to be are you tired are you happy are you basically anything are are you confused I'm sorry sir if you're a little lost I know I'm throwing a lot at you right now so if somebody's asking a question are you tired and you want to change that to reported speech you're going to use an if clause she asked if he was tired the verb is still going to change the same we're gonna change it from the present are to the past what was she asked if he was tired now I just I know it could be a little more confusing you could use an if clause or a weather clause so for example I could say she asked if he was tired or I could say she asked if she asked whether he was tired now another type of question would be those WH questions who what where why when and in that case you're just going to use that question when you change it to reported speech so everybody look at the question who is tired she asked who is tired if we change that to reported speech she asked who was tired we're changing the present to the past she asked who was tired all right now if we're talking about a command because in it with a command you're talking to another person you're giving another person a command go to bed she said so if somebody's like oh I'm tired just said go to bed she said that is a command if we want to change it to reported speech and this is definitely more advanced she told him to go to bed so if you're talking about command you're going to use two plus the infinitive to go she told him to go to bed now the other thing that I would say that is a little challenging is because she said go go to bed she said when we talk about say it's this you say something but when you're reporting the speech you're going to change you're going to use tell because you used tell you say something you tell someone so when you're giving a command you're giving a command to someone so that's the reason why the verb changed instead of you're not gonna say she said him no no she told him because that's the difference between say and tell you say something you tell someone so again this is a lot more advanced when you're looking at that command go to bed she said change it to reported speech she told him to go to bed alright I know that this is a lot I know that this is a bit more advanced I hope that the chart can help a little bit so before I choke I showed you where was it this chart right here of how to change things alright in the direct speech we were looking at those verbs all right present simple to past simple I went through these different examples so if you're a little used hopefully you can rewatch it again and see how these sentences got changed because basically what you're talking about is it's a sentence transformation you're just changing the sentence from direct speech to reported speech or indirect speech you're just changing the way the sentence looks you're saying the same thing but you're saying it in a different way so the last one I wanted to do I wanted to do another little challenge another example so is this one wait we did this practice and I just showed you this so here is one more all right that I wanted to give you and I want you to change it to report its speech can you also get some Nutella she asked all right it's a question I don't know if you remember that about how can you change a question to report its speech let me let me go back somebody s show the slide all right so here is if you have a question you're gonna use the if Clause all right now I think I you kind of have a hint because this is the question in the conversation that I showed you at the very beginning and I changed it to report its speech do you remember what it was can you also get some Nutella she asked so when you're going to change it to report its speech start with she asked that's sure that's your starting point we're talking about can can gets changed to could now the other thing about a question remember we're going to use an if clause she asked if he could also get some Nutella because she was talking to me she asked if he could also get some Nutella excellent um let's see she asked yes Mina excellent Robi Ricardo very nice excellent you guys seem to get that sir hey also yes she asked yeah you just need the if if you could say you you know she asked if you could get some also get the but remember if it's a question she asked if he could get something so I know that this was a lot to throw at you today I wanted to try and start out I was hoping that it might be a little easier if we just start with some statements and that's when I wanted to show you this and go through each one and change the statement from direct speech to report its speech if you're still a little confused this is what I would recommend go back through these examples and look at these changes right here because this is very useful if you want to understand well why do we do this we do this when you're writing if you're writing a story you will want to you might want to say things using reported speech you're not always going to use quotes or if you're telling a story to somebody else and you're telling them what another person said that's when you're going to use reported speech so if it helps go back through these statements and look at about about how they were looking at how they were changed alright I think that would help you this right here this chart was definitely a little more advanced because we're not just using statements I was also talking to you about questions and commands so I think that we may practice this a little later on it's a lot of information to go through there's a lot of little grammar changes that need to take place mostly today I wanted you to focus on those verbs and see how those verbs changed from direct speech to reported speech that was the main thing that I wanted you to take away from this lesson I hope you enjoyed the lesson I know that some of you may be a little bit where it found it a little confusing that's okay just keep at it just keep practicing also if you guys and then we had a new member today welcome saw some other members sue ray with us other patrons like Vicki and Aiden I saw you guys in there if you want to show us some love if you like what we do and want to sponsor and support interactive English there are links down in the description to become a member or a patron we offer some different rewards for example one thing I'm gonna do which I haven't even put up there as a reward do like a sneak peek at a future lesson so Tuesday's lesson which will come out on Tuesday I'm gonna put I'm gonna post that today I'm gonna get let the members and patrons you can have a sneak peek at Tuesday's lesson I'm trying to get ahead with my lessons but sometimes it's difficult because there's so much going on right now thank you guys so much for joining me I hope that it made sense a little bit I know it's a lot to take in but it's always good to try to practice a little bit because I think that's the best way to learn and I love doing these live lessons because it gives you an opportunity to try to practice some of this grammar so thank you guys thank you kamila iris ami Amina Lali Ethiopia great to see you I'm just trying to throw out some more names get some names out there Wilbert Hani Marta mรผnster sireesha Luna Anderson so ray Nats Thank You Abdul Rahman thank you guys so much for joining me we will be back next Tuesday with a regular lesson and then next Saturday with another live lesson in please if you are new write your name tell me where you're from in the comments I just want to hear from you you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 508. Rhythm & Flow in English | Thought Groups, Word Stress, & Connected Speech | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `A0n65zB430k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0n65zB430k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:11:22 | --- so Rhythm and flow in English it's so important for your speaking fluency as well as your comprehension because it it's just going to make it so much easier for other people to understand what you're saying and we're really going to have a look at three different things thought groups stress and a little bit of connected speech we're going to talk about linking and I just I don't want to just tell you about this and have you hear it I also want to show it to you and the way that I'm going to do this and demonstrate this to you is with a poem and because it is Christmas time I've chosen a poem called a visit from St Nicholas it is very popular so it it this is also a little bit of a cultural lesson because this is a poem that you will hear if you're watching a TV show or movie now before we get into Rhythm and flow I I want to quickly go over some of the vocabulary so that you definitely understand everything that that you're going to hear so it begins TW the Night Before Christmas went all through the house twas is the very old contraction of it was it is not something that you should use in spoken English you may hear it like at the beginning of a story if it's from a long time ago but it is the contraction of it was the next line is not a creature was stirring not even a mouse stirring just means moving slightly and then the stockings were hung by the chimney with care so stock stockings are talking about like just this large sock that you would uh at Christmas time hang by the fireplace and it gets filled with presents and then speaking of the fireplace a chimney is just like this vertical pipe in in the home that would let the smoke uh allow it to escape from the house then we have in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there St Nicholas is just talking about Santa Claus the big Jolly fellow who brings kids all of those gifts the children were nestled all snug in their beds so nestled means that well just settled comfortably and often you may hear it as a verb to Nestle but it just refers to one's comfort and that's a little similar to Snug snug is an adjective that means comfortable warm cozy and you may hear people use this uh with that collocation all snug I'm all snug under the blanket in this case the children are all snug in their bed and finally while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads so sugar plums it's just a small round sugary candy it's it's not really a plum it just looks like a plum let me say it again but but this time together and then we're going to talk about thought groups because part of the flow is determined by thought groups ready TW the Night Before Christmas went all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse the stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there the children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads so as I was saying that I'm sure that you heard the the different thought groups because in spoken English we will use a short pause in order to break down a longer sentence and really we're just we're grouping together meaningful information which is why they're called thought groups it just makes it easier for others to understand what we're saying and grammatically these pauses are often accompanied with a comma but but that's not always the case if you have just a question would you like coffee or tea all right there's no comma in that question but you heard the two thought groups would you like coffee or tea the other thing I would say is that at the end of a thought group you you're typically going to have a stressed word and I want to talk about stress right now because that's going to help us create a r and that's because well English is a stressed time language what does that mean this means that English is a language where stressed syllables or words are said at approximately regular intervals and that means that the time between one stress syllable and the next are approximately the same and then if there are any words that come between they're going to be shortened or reduced to fit this Rhythm so I have now moved to the table and the reason I have done this is because very soon we're going to create a beat which is really going to help you understand Rhythm but before we do that I wanted to quickly let you know that if you would like to develop your speaking fluency you can join my speaking course click on that link Down Below in the description the course is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally and best of all because it's 2022 you can use the code speak 22 to get 22% off so click click on that link down in the description if you'd like to sign up the course includes weekly group lessons with me there are lesson PDFs lesson preview videos uh pronunciation video lessons a couple of audio lessons resource guides there is a lot so click on that link down in the description to find out more about class times and availability and if you have any questions or would like to take the course privately with me just send me an email at info@ interactive English videos . and I hope to speak to you soon so let's talk about Rhythm and the reason why I moved to the table is because well we need to create a beat and that's really going to to show you that you're going to say this poem using those stressed intervals and I'm going to say each of those intervals for approximately the same amount of time and the first thing that I need to do is we'll just just create a beat okay so uh here is my beat and it's a little fast but every time you hear my fingers tap the table that that is a stronger sound that's going to be a stressed word or or a stressed syllable okay we're going to fit everything into this Rhythm are you ready here we go it was the night before Christmas went all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse the stockings were hung by the chimney with care and hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there the children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads okay so I told you that was a that was a bit of a fast beat but you can see the different stressed intervals each one of those took about the same amount of time to say so even though I don't have to keep a beat that fast those intervals are are still going to be said at approximately the same amount of time the other thing I'd point out is that you you can probably tell that the stress is going to come toward the end of the interval now that doesn't mean that you're you're always going to stress the entire word like you have a word like Christmas okay the stress is in that word but Christmas has two syllables and the stress is going to be on the first syllable if we really wanted to get specific so if I wanted to show you exactly where the stress is then it would look like this it was the night before Christmas went all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse the stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there the children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads no matter whether you're keeping a quick beat or a slow beat as long as you are saying those intervals and approximately the same amount of time that's the most important thing because that's going to develop that Rhythm and flow so now let's talk about well smoothing things out with connected speech and really what I'm talking about is linking so I'm back over here on the couch to talk to you about linking and this is part of connected speech and really what it means is that the end of one word is going to blend with the start of the next word and this often happens when the final sound of one word is a consonant sound and then the beginning sound of the next word will be a vowel sound so let's go through the poem and I'm going to point out all of the phrases that we can link it was the night before Christmas went all through the house when all you have that final consonant sound that n we can link that with the vowel sound in all when all and and really what it would more sound like is that that n is going to get moved over to the beginning of all it was the night before Christmas when n through the house all right that's a little exaggerated but just want to make it easier for you to to hear it not a creature was stirring not even a mouse so let's first talk about not a okay the first thing I'm going to do is I I'm going to pronounce the article a with the schah sound and I'm just going to say uh it's an unstressed vowel sound and then I'm going to change the t a little bit because it comes between two vowel sounds I'm from the United States so I'm going to pronounce this with a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D NADA NADA okay and again we can link that that D sound at the end of not with the article a NADA all right n a creature was stirring not even a mouse all right we can do the same thing with not even a again I'm going to use a flap T so it's going to sound like a d that's going to get linked not even and then we'll link the N with with the article a not even a not even a mouse not a creature was stirring not even even a mouse the stockings were hung by the chimney with care no nothing we need to link here all right yay excellent uh in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there again there there's nothing that we need to link so let's continue the children were nestled all snug in their beds okay so there there's a couple of things going on the first thing that I want to look at nestled all so you you could link that D that Eed has a D sound with the vowel sound in all nestled all it really depends on how quickly you're reading this because remember that is a different thought group so because it's a poem there there's no rule as to how fast you need to read this you can find your own Rhythm and flow if you are reading it a little quicker and you're making a much shorter pause then you may hear people link these words the children were nestled all snug in their bed okay in that case you do hear a little bit of linking if you're you're reading it slower and you really make a pause then you're not going to link those words together the children were nestled all snug in their beds okay in that case I'm not going to link the the final consonant sound in nestled that D with all I I think generally speaking if words are in two different thought groups you're not going to end up linking them but again it really just depends on on your own Rhythm and flow and how quickly you would be saying this poem now the next phrase snug in we're definitely going to link that final g sound with the vowel sound in snug in their beds and finally while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads so visions of we're going to link that that consonant Z with the vowel sound in of vision Z and dance in that Ed has a voiceless T sound which we will link with uh the vowel sound in in danced in danced in their heads so let's review everything we've been talking about and I want to read this poem again and let's read it together okay so I want you to say it in the exact same way that I do are you ready TW the Night Before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse the stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there the children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads so one thing you may be wondering is how can how can you practice this on your own and continue to work on Rhythm and flow well the first thing I would say is just find something that you can read and say I think it really helps if there's something that you're able to read as you're trying to work on the Rhythm and flow which means uh a song or a poem or or even a speech personally I think poems are the best way to practice this the second thing I would say is I think it really helps if you're able to listen to someone else say it and then you can try and say it in the exact same way that's that's shadowing I just asked you to say the poem with me I asked you to Shadow me and try to say it in the exact same way it's not always necessary for you to analyze everything that that you're trying to practice with and break everything everything into different thought groups and find the stress and Link the different phrases shadowing allows you to do this naturally and you're really just letting your ears do all the work and that would be my suggestion the reason why I tried to break everything down for you in this lesson is just to help you better understand how that Rhythm and flow is created and why we talk the way we do right you could say why we talk the way we do okay I think if you were to do this continuously it would get a bit annoying after a while but I just hope that uh Rhythm and flow is a little bit easier for you to understand now if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 509. Riddles in English | Improve Your Comprehension | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `emXwlZ0p2cs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emXwlZ0p2cs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:21:35 | --- Hello, welcome to today's lesson. My name is Wes. This is Interactive English. The channel is all about helping you practice and improve your English. And I know I say that all the time with the hundreds of lessons that we have, but it's true. Uh, I really just want to help you practice your English skills. And today, the way that I want to practice is more so really getting you to to really have to think critically and and think hard because today we're going to be doing some riddles in English. We're going to be looking at some English riddles. And I just I just want you to see if you can figure out [snorts] the answer and to sol and solve these riddles. So, this is I think it's a fun way to practice a language, but I think it's also useful because you're really having to concentrate and think about, well, why why is this um why is this riddle challenging? How is it maybe trying to trick you? And what is it what is it trying to say? Before we begin, I just want to give some shoutouts uh to some people, especially uh especially some of our members and patrons. Hi, Teao Lai. Good to see you. Uh, Hotti, say Hazel, um, Ferreran Hanan, how are you? Uh, Antonio, Sami, welcome. As we go through this again, I want you guys to participate in these lessons. Write your answers in the chat. Even if you're watching this later, you can write your answers in the comments section. Use it like it's a piece of paper. So, let's begin with um well, just just to make sure that you know what a riddle is. A riddle is it's a type of question that describes something in a difficult and confusing way, and it also has like a a clever or funny answer. And you can do this as a game. So, that's why I said this this English lesson is a little more fun. Uh but it can also be a nice little challenge as well. So, we're going to start out with some easier riddles and then it may get a little more difficult as we go through this. And if you need uh a little bit of help, maybe I'll give you a hint. So, let's just begin with our first riddle, which is this right here. Kind of you have the sequence of letters, and all it's asking you is what are the next two letters in this? So, uh you see the first six letters. What are the next two letters that you think would follow? All right. And I don't want to I don't want to give you a hint for this one. I think probably uh many of you could figure this one out. But what do you think? What do you think are those next two letters? And then of course I will show you the answer and then tell you why. Maybe maybe this is a little tricky uh for some of you. But you see that sequence of letters and then there are two letters that should come next and which which two letters do you think should come after those? All right. So, wow. Nobody I don't have any guesses just yet. Wow. Maybe maybe we're starting out uh a little too difficult. So, the hint that I would give you is to think of a calendar. All right. And if you're thinking of a calendar, then you probably could guess that the next two letters should be the letters J and A. So th those were the first letters of the months, January, February, March, April, May, June, and then we get to July and August. That J and A. All right. Sorry. Maybe maybe that was I thought maybe that might be a little easier one. That's okay if you guys didn't know it. All right. So, all right. Maybe uh I'll try to give you uh some more hints. So, that sequence of letters should have been followed by J and A. What about this one? Um what can you catch but you cannot throw? So, often you think of catching something like you would catch a ball and you could throw a ball, but what is something else that you can catch and you can't throw? And in this case, I would say think of the word catch. What are some other ways that you can use that? You can use it with some very common phrases, common expressions. I would even say it's a collocation. Collocations are words that are frequently used together. So, you could say that somebody can catch this thing, but it's not something that you're going to just be able to throw back at somebody else or throw in general. All right. So, excellent. Um, say uh I guess well Dr. Lee Lai yes I'm talking about a cold. Some people put a a disease. I think most of the time you're when you talk about this you would talk about catching a cold. If you're talking about the word disease I would say maybe you're going to use the verb get. You would maybe get a disease but you're going to catch a cold because a cold is typically not as serious. It's just something that uh is a bit annoying, frustrating. It lasts for a few days and you would tell somebody I caught a cold. Excellent. Vicki, how are you? Good to see you. say flu. I think Lois, you could catch the flu. I think that's another one. But in this case, like I said, I think it's useful thinking about that verb catch. And other ways you would use it instead of just thinking about catching and throwing things. People put like a butterfly. You could catch a butterfly. Technically, you could throw a butterfly, too, but I I would not encourage you to do that. The next riddle that I have for you, uh, and this one, just really really think about this. Uh, some of them maybe you're familiar with. That's okay. A woman and nine friends are under one umbrella, but nobody gets wet. Why? All right. So why is it that this just this one person, this one woman, she has one umbrella, nine friends are around, nobody gets wet. Why is that? Why is that? Why is it that nobody got wet? And I would say that typically the the easiest answer in some cases when talking about riddles, the easiest answer is often the correct one. All right, so what do you guys think? Uh Katrudus, hello. Welcome uh Noel. Good to see uh everybody. If you're just joining us, we're doing riddles. We're It's a fun lesson. We're doing riddles in English that can be a little confusing, tricky. Uh yes. All right. So, I was going to give you a hint and say, think of the obvious reason why nobody would get wet. You guys got this. Excellent. Paul, uh Vu, Pentu, Lai, Olope, Suana, Dinara, uh Sami. Yes. Nobody got wet because it's not raining outside. Uh, so this is more just kind of a humorous answer as to why nobody nobody got wet because it's not raining. All right, the next one. Maybe I should have started with this one. That was a lot easier than that first one. What is something? What gets broken without being held? And for this one again, I think about that other riddle that we talked about. What can you catch but you can't throw? And the answer was you catch a coal. So think about that word uh that verb um broken. All right. And how else could you use that word? So this is again I think it's not just riddles but this is related to uh learning English because well I don't want to give away I don't want to make it too easy but think about something that you can break but it's not something that you can hold in your hands like for example you can hold a cup in your hand and if you drop it you can break a cup but what do you think uh what are some things and there is more than one answer. All right. Excellent. I see some good answers. Uh, perfect. Uh, yes, Daniel, Nilma, um, Dari, Yasher, uh, [laughter] [gasps] excellent. Um, Arena, SK, say, uh, just give as many shout outs as I can. Um, the these are just a few examples. So again, I I wanted you to think about that word break and how else you might use this word. These again are some collocations in English. These are words that are often used together. So most of you said heart. You can break someone's heart. You can't hold their heart. But in this case, you're talking about um somebody it is sad. Um maybe they're they're no longer in a relationship and they would say their heart is broken. You can break someone's heart. You can also break a promise. Uh if you well you don't keep your promise then you break your promise. And you can also uh break one's silence. Somebody else uh if they're not talking and they break their silence and they start talking. So these are just some examples uh useful collocations in English. These are pretty common phrases I think uh with that verb break. The next one. So you guys excellent. You guys rock that one. Um, this is just more of a I think a tricky and funny one. You enter a dark room. There is a candle and a lantern. You only have one match. Which one do you light first? All right. You enter this dark room. There's a candle. There's a lantern. Uh, you only got one match. And which one are you going to light first? All right. So for this one, uh I'd say if I were just to give you a hint, uh just think about this exact situation and think about what you are going to do. What is it that you are exactly going to do and that that basically is going to give you the answer. Uh excellent SK say um B Neil Mosuana Suana wrong. Yes. Uh if you before you light the candle or before you light the lantern, you're going to have to light the match. So in this case, you are going to light the match first. All right. Then we have here we go. Here's another riddle for you. This is again this is related I think to English language learning. Um, what fiveletter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? All right, so this may sound a little confusing because you're adding two letters to it. What fiveletter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? Typically, again, the the simplest answer is typically the correct one. And I want you to read this carefully and I want you to focus on exactly what the question asks. All right? Take the question like think about this um in a literal sense. All right. What fiveletter word becomes shorter when you add two letters for it? Excellent. Uh Lucy Lai say um Suana Medatan. Uh so the answer the answer is short. So we're talking about the word that becomes shorter. It's becoming the word shorter when you add the letters eer. So short becomes shorter when you add those two letters. So the correct answer is short. That is the fiveletter word. Awesome. You guys, I think you're really uh maybe uh maybe they are maybe these aren't too difficult. All right, then we have uh we're going to get to a few that are more listening. Um and I'll get to those in just a moment. Here's another one for you. What goes up but never comes back down. What do you think? Um, what goes up but never comes back down? I'll give you a hint in just a moment. I kind of want to give you an opportunity to think about this question uh for a little bit. So, I think excellent people got that. Um, excellent. All right, Stefan. Ready? Uh, what do you think? What goes up but never comes back down? And don't think about gravity because I think when you think about uh something that you could throw up where is it and throw the water bottle up comes back down because of gravity. Don't think about gravity. All right? Forget about gravity that would that you could throw something up and it would fall down. So I'll give you one more hint. Uh but I don't think you guys need it. Actually I see a bunch of correct answers. All right. So, I don't even need to explain it. I was going to say the you think of a hint like a birthday or something because we're talking about a person's age. People can get older, their age goes up, uh the numbers go up, but it's never going to come back down unless you are Benjamin Button. And that is a reference to the movie. [laughter] If you haven't seen the movie, you could check it out and then you'll know what I'm talking about. But your age goes up and never comes back down. This is another one because I do want to explain this word or situation coming up and I don't think I'm giving away uh too much of a hint. What has a neck but no head? I put a picture of a giraffe there because a giraffe has a long neck but it does have a head. So giraffe is not the answer. What is something that has a neck but it does not have a head? All right. And I think this one maybe is a little uh more difficult, but once I tell you the answer, I hope that it uh it makes a little more sense. All right. So, what do you think? What has a neck but no head? All right. I I don't maybe I don't need to hint. Uh people are are getting this. Yes. Uh Gatrudus Paul. Um Yerry uh Christian. Excellent. Great job. Uh SK Vupentu. Uh Emna. I'm talking about a bottle. A bottle has a neck, but it has no head. And the reason why I wanted to look at this is I want you to think about Well, there's You could probably hear Emmy in the background. a bottleneck. So you would call that that arrow is pointing to a bottleneck. But you could also use this word to describe a situation and you would say the bottleneck is something that causes uh it's a problem that delays a process or stops it from continuing. So for example, think about um work and you have different steps in the process that you have to do and right here this step things are delayed that's your problem and then it's getting backed up. You would say this is your bottleneck and you say oh that's a bottleneck. So often you might hear this word being used in business and people want to make things more efficient. They want to make it go faster and they want to eliminate the bottleneck uh so that there are no delays. So that is uh again you would say the bottle has a neck but I think it's a good word to know. It's a noun if you're talking about a bottleneck. It could refer to a problem that delays a process or stops it from continuing. Excellent. Um, let's see how well your listening comprehension is because now uh I'm not going to show I'll show you the answer, but I want you to listen to it first and think about what I'm saying and try to write the answers in the chat or in the comments. So, the first one that I have is this one right here. I just want you to listen and think about think about what I'm saying. So the riddle is this. What begins with T, finishes with T, and has T in it. All right, it's all well, I'll just tell you. It's one word. It's one word. Um, what begins with T finishes with T, and has T in it. This riddle, I think, is I think it's pretty common. Um, this is a riddle I think often comes up from time to time. If you've ever done uh riddles in English or you've been in a class and they're talking about riddles, you may have heard this one, but it is for listening and because if I show it to you, I think you'll you'll get the answer. Uh, it'll be too too easy. Uh, all right. Well, I'll read it one more time. Um, and then I'll give you the answer. What begins with T finishes with T and has T in it. Yes, Li Paul. Um, Jerry, perfect. Uh, Ibad, I'm talking about a teapot. Sometimes, uh, let me show you the answer. So, it begins with T, like the letter T, finishes with T, the letter T, and it has T in it. Sometimes if you see this riddle written then they're going to instead of saying spelling the word tea, they might just write the letter. But I think that can be a little confusing because in this case I think the riddle is meant to be um well read to somebody and they would just listen and try to solve that uh try to figure out the answer because again you might confuse the letter T with the word T. uh in a teapot will it it begins with t it ends with te and of course you put tea in a teapot. So let's do another one. Again this is listening and I want you to listen closely to what I'm saying and then see if you can figure out the answer. So the riddle is this right here. Um all right. There are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. How many didn't? I'll read it again in case you in case you're a little confused. All right. There are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. How many didn't? There are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. How many didn't or how many did not? That is my question. The question is at the end. I'm giving you the situation. There are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. My question is how many didn't? All right. And I know most people when you hear this, you're probably thinking, "Wait, what? You you didn't didn't what?" You're wondering like, "Wait, what's going on?" I'll give you a hint. And what I want you to think of um are homonyms. All right? Words that have maybe the same pronunciation, but perhaps they're spelled differently and have a different meaning. So, think about homonyms. That's your clue. And when I show you this, I'm sure you'll read it and then you'll be like, "Oh, yeah. Now it makes sense. Uh, yes. Excellent. O, Lopez, Vicki, perfect. You guys, you got the correct answer. So, remember I said there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens. How many didn't? How many did not? Now, I told you to think of homonyms because I'm talking about the difference between 28, the number, and saying 20 uh 8. The number 20, and then the verb 8. So, of course, a cow is not going to eat a chicken, but again, this is just a riddle. Uh, there are 30 cows in a field and 20 ate chickens. So, 20 uh so 20 of the cows ate chickens. How many didn't? The answer would be 10. 10 cows did not eat chickens in this case. But again, it it can be confusing because of uh you you I'm sure mostly everybody you're thinking of 28 the number instead of 20 the number and then ate the verb 28 chicken. So eight and eight. Uh yes, that can be a bit confusing. Uh let's do one more um one more listening one and this one I think is very uh I think it's famous and it's from I think 18th century England and it is a riddle and I think maybe you've heard it perhaps in a movie or a TV show maybe not but I want you to listen and then tell me what you think the answer is. Okay. So, here again, this is another listening one. Um, and then, oh, I don't think I have a slide for this. That's okay. I can tell you. Um, so it says, "As I was going to St. I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks. Each sack had seven cats. Each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were there going to St. Ives? All right. You may be thinking, you may be listening to that thinking, "What? What? What's going on? I'll read it again. And again, when people read this, because maybe I'm trying to trick you, I'll I'll read it quickly. So, as I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks. Each sachs had seven cats. Each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were there going to St. Ives? This again is an old riddle from 18th century England. I think it's pretty pretty famous. You could probably Google it and learn more about it. Uh yes, you like what's going on? Yes, I'm sure. I'll read it one more time and then I'll just tell you the answer. Um as I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives. Each wife had seven sacks. Each sack had seven cats. Each cat had seven kits. Kits, cats, sacks, and wives. How many were there going to St. Ives? So the idea behind this riddle is that the only important sentence is the very first one. Okay? Because basically they say that first sentence right there. Listen to the first sentence. As I was going to St. Ives and then he starts talking about this other people meeting them and throwing out all these numbers. I met a man with seven wives. Each wife uh each wife had seven sex. So as I was going to St. Ives, let's pretend it's me and say, "Oh, I met a man." Well, I don't know where that man's going. We I didn't say that he's going to St. Ives. I'm just saying that I met somebody. So in this case, I told you the very first sentence is the only one that really matters as I was going to St. Ives. So the correct answer is how many are going to St. Ives? one just one person who is the narrator who the person who's telling the riddle is the only person who's going to St. Ives as I was going to St. Ives I met a man with seven wives and then they throw out all these other numbers so that just to confuse people so again that is uh a famous riddle from a long time ago in England. All right so I think you guys you guys did excellent. I know that it kind of we went through this pretty quickly. Maybe next time I'll add some more riddles. But I hope if you guys enjoyed this lesson, if you enjoyed doing riddles, I told you this is a great way to practice your comprehension because you're listening to or are you're reading sentences that I think are pretty easy to read and understand, but they typically have a confusing or tricky answer. Uh, I also want to say if you guys like what we do here at Interactive English, and you want to uh show us some love, sponsor and support us, links are in the description for Patreon, for YouTube. It was great to see so many members and patrons here. Uh, Vicki, Teao, Lai, Gatrudis. Um, always good to see so many people here uh that are supporting what we do, really making this all possible. I really appreciate it. So, thank you guys for for joining me on this Saturday. I hope that uh you you understood these riddles and that the answers make sense and that in the future if you're going to do some riddles in English, it's quite possible quite possibly you somebody will give you these same riddles and now you know the answer. So, thank you guys so much uh for joining me today. Thank you. Thank you. Um let's give some more shoutouts. Uh yes, Maddie. Sorry, Mary Jane. Yes, we we're finishing up wrapping up for right now. Uh uh but the the lesson will get posted if you want to watch it uh and check out these riddles. But thank you um Sanjana, Vupentu, uh Kasak, uh Daniel, Nadia, uh Wooty, Christian, Jack. Um thanks for being here. Hope you enjoyed the lesson and of course I will see you guys next time. So long. --- ## 510. SAY vs TELL | Confusing Words in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NqZBXqFEksk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqZBXqFEksk) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:49:00 | --- Today, I'm going to tell you a secret. Well, it's not really a secret, but you should listen carefully to what I'm about to say because I'm going to tell you the difference between these two words Welcome to our global classroom. Before we begin today's lesson, I want to remind you to subscribe to our channel for more video lessons on how you can practice and improve your English And while you're at it, maybe you could share a video, or two, or three, or four. It won't hurt. So today I'm going to talk to you about the difference between say and tell And these two words confuse English learners, but mostly because their meaning is pretty similar So let's get right to it First, let's look at the verb SAY. Now, we use this verb when we want to say something to someone. Now we don't necessarily have to identify the person or people that we are saying something to but we're just saying something in general and that something might be general information. The weather report says it's going to rain today. In this example the weather report is saying something We don't really know specifically who they're saying it to but they're just saying it in general. Another example is that you might be saying your opinion about something The kids said Wes teacher is crazy Or perhaps you're reading what the instructions say. ...Instructions say if we finish the game it'll all go away. So in each of these examples we were saying something to someone Now, this is different from the verb TELL, which is when we tell someone something. In this case we usually identify the person or people that we are talking to which is why "tell" is often followed by a direct object Take a look at these examples Ioana told Wes to take out the garbage. In this example Ioana is telling Wes (me), she's telling me something. She's telling me to take out the garbage. Wes can you please take out the trash? Yeah? Yeah, I'll do it We tell our students to join our social media classes This of course is something that we tell you all the time. We tell you to join our social media classes. So join them! Here are a few more examples using TELL and keep in mind the object that follows the verb. She told me to sit in this chair. The teacher tells us to do our homework. My mom told me to take a bath. I told you not to wake me up. Now keep in mind that there are a few exceptions when it comes to using TELL. I know, English and all the exceptions... it sucks. But you don't always have to tell someone. Sometimes you can just tell something . For example, You can tell a secret. You can tell a lie. You can tell the truth. You can tell a joke. And you can also tell a story. These are several exceptions when it comes to using TELL. And you just have to memorize them, use them, and you will eventually remember them. I'm telling you the truth. Okay. Let's practice what we've learned, and this is a listening comprehension activity I am going to tell you a sentence, and that sentence is missing a word, which is either SAY or TELL. After listening to each sentence, I want you to say your answers out loud. You'll be saying this to me, and I'm going to be listening. I'll give you a moment to say your answer, and then after I will tell you the correct answer. So let's begin. I don't want you to _____ any more lies. I don't want you to _____ any more lies. The answer is tell. This is one of those exceptions: you tell a lie. I don't want you to tell any more lies. I can't hear you. Can you please ____ your answer again? I want you to ____ your answer. I can't hear you. Can you please ____ your answer again? I want you to ____ your answer. The answer is say because I want you to say something, which is the answer. I want you to say your answer out loud. That was so rude. I can't believe he didn't ____ hello. That was so rude. I can't believe he didn't ____ hello. The answer is say because we were talking about something that the person didn't say. I can't believe he didn't say hello. Umm... I can't remember: What did you ____ I should do? Umm... I can't remember: What did you ____ I should do? The answer is tell because we're talking about telling someone something. What did you tell me I should do? Perhaps it's a little easy when I do the activity. Now let's see if you can listen for these words when other people say them. Be careful what you ____. Be careful what you ____. Be careful what you say. Now ____ the truth. Now ____ the truth. Now tell the truth. Just ___ the first thing that pops into your mind. Just ___ the first thing that pops into your mind. Just say the first thing that pops in your mind. Don't ____ his name. Don't ____ his name. Don't say his name. And what did you ___ her? And what did you ___ her? And what did you tell her? ____ something I'm giving up on you. ___ something I'm giving up on you. Say something I'm giving up on you Great job. I hope you enjoyed this activity. It's always good to practice what we've learned and for more practice I suggest that you rewatch that part of the video and do the activity again because remember: practice makes perfect. What I'd like you to do now is in the comments below I want you to practice a little more and write a sentence using one of these words. I'd also encourage you to read each other's sentences Because that will help you learn more about how these words are used I hope I have cleared up any confusion that there may be between say and tell Thanks for watching and we will see you next time. --- ## 511. SENTENCES in English | Everything you need to know about TYPE & STRUCTURE | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `T-UEyF5_KEo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-UEyF5_KEo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:29:45 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson thank you for joining me my name is Wes and this is Interactive English and in case this is your first time here we are all about helping you practice and improve your English and the way that well today's lesson it is it's a grammar lesson because I want to talk to you about something that I think it is so important but I think sometimes people might tend to overlook this grammar and I want to talk to you about sentence types and sentence structures so this lesson it consists of two parts I'm going to talk to you about first sentence types and then I'm going to talk to you about sentence structures and I'm gonna go through this one at a time and I'm also going to tell you after I talk to you about it I'm gonna tell you why this is important why this is information that you need to know and how it's going to help you improve your English and achieve fluency because I know for many of you out there that's what you want to do you just want to keep improving and getting better and better and better and I that that's why that's why we're here that's why I'm here because I want to help you in that mission so we're gonna talk to you again just a reminder we're gonna talk to you about sentence types and sentence structures I told you already that the lesson then it has these two parts types and structures first we'll talk about the types then we'll talk about the structures and as we go through this but the way that I want all of you to participate is I want you to write some examples in the chat and actually practice as we talk about the different sentence types and the different sentence structures but first I want you again if I'd say hello to me write your name in the chat in the comments if you're watching this later tell me your name tell me where you're from I just want to hear from you so hello just quick shout outs hello Ada and Angela Aziza nesrin tirsty great to have you Oh Dena George thank you guys for joining me today so let's get into the first part which is talking about the the different sentence types and as a little bit of a warm up I have a question for you all right well I want you to think this is the this is the sentence answer the question this is a sentence what type of sentence is this answer the question is it a declarative sentence an interrogative sentence an imperative sentence or an exclamatory sentence which which do you think so this is the sentence I just say hey answer the question I want you to tell me what sentence type this is and afterwards we're gonna go through these one at a time we're gonna go through them individually so what I hope that you've said is that this sentence right here is C it is an imperative sentence if I say answer the question it is imperative excellent you guys you guys did great for that warm-up question so I just wanted to put this little graphic up here showing the different sentence types because there are four of them you have declarative which sometimes people call like simple sentences I don't want to confuse that because then we're talking about sentence structure but we will discuss this a little later on but we have declarative sentences and those would just be well we're gonna go through them one at a time but I gave you an example as well you answered the question that is a declarative sentence an interrogative sentence also known as a question sentence did everyone answer the question I hope I hope that you did that is an interrogative sentence a question an imperative sentence the command like like the warm-up the example I gave you when somebody says will answer the question that is an imperative sentence and then an exclamatory sentence down here you might say I got the correct answer and it ends in that exclamation point so let's go through each of these right now and then afterwards I'm gonna tell you why this is important why is this information that you need to know so let's first begin with the declarative sentence and a declarative sentence I told you some people may refer to it as a simple sentence but that that's more talking about structure so a declarative sentence is it's a statement that relays some information and it ends with a period and I put the the punctuation mark at the end and that is something that's important when you're thinking about sentence type as well as structure punctuation is important keep that in mind and here are some examples right here like the the first example I gave you you answered the question period I'm just making a statement I play basketball in the morning I'm giving you some information and again if you guys want to practice if you're with me here write write some declarative sentences in the chat and just practice your English skills that's what it's all about or the last example I gave you down here I could say well it's going to rain I'm making a statement I'm providing some information each of these sentences ends with a period and you should know that when you are writing and when you are speaking most of the time you're going to be using declarative sentences you're just going to be speaking or writing and giving some sort of information so this is the most common sentence type right here is the declarative sentence let's look at the next one which is I think this is this is the fun one is the interrogative sentence which is known as just the question sentence it's a sentence that asked a question any question and it ends with a question mark that little question mark at the end so you can see that at the end of all of these examples did everyone answer the question what do you do is it true the reason why I put that little you see the red line there with the arrow going up the reason I put that is because of the intonation I want you to think about the way that I'm saying this because when people ask questions there is that that rising intonation at the end which tells us that somebody is asking a question and you would any time you're having a conversation if you ask a question at the end you're gonna hear that rising intonation so just just listen to me I will repeat these questions you can also practice with me save the questions out loud again practice your speaking skills so I could say well did any did everyone answer the question all right you had that little rising intonation or maybe I'm talking to you and I want to know about your job and I ask you what do you do what do you do what do you do and you hear that rising intonation or somebody could say is it true is it true is it true and you hear that rising intonation at the end which tells us it's a question and somebody is asking this and again this is important especially for when you're talking about your your overall fluency and you just want to when you're speaking you want to sound natural you want to sound you know as fluent as you can and that's where punctuation and these little things are important like when we're talking about questions in that rising intonation at the end the next sentence type I told you is an imperative sentence and often these are known as command sentences you're giving someone a command so it can be more than that because it is a sentence that can give a command and instruction to make a request or even offer advice now these sentences can end with either a period or an exclamation mark and again I put those symbols in there so that you can recognize them and this goes back to the way that we speak in fluency so here's the first one right here this is something that you well you could see I think any type of instruction preheat the oven anytime you buy maybe you you buy some food you buy a meal and you look at how to prepare this thing and it says preheat the oven that is an imperative sentence it ends with a period or I could say this this is something that I ask you all the time and I would say this is more of a request please hit the like button because if I ask you that please hit the like button I say it's a request because of the word please I'm not giving you like a firm command if we take away please and I just say hey hit that like button that would be more of a command of me telling you something to do hit the like button but when we add that please I think it becomes more of a nice request and I hope you guys do if you find these lessons useful please hit that like button and then the last one get out of here alright you're giving somebody a command you're telling them what to do get out of here and it ends in that exclamation mark now this is when somebody might see that exclamation mark and they say well is it really is it an imperative sentence is it a command because it could also be an exclamatory sentence which is the next sentence type right here this is a statement that shows an emotion a strong emotion and it's going to end with one of those exclamation marks right there and I put that that word mood there because I want you to think about emotion as well as those emojis hoping that it just it helps you think a little more about expressing if you are happy or you're sad or you're angry and you you capture that emotion with that exclamation mark right there and I'll read these to you and again repeat after me this is a way that that you can practice and say this out loud because if you are reading a story and you see this word right here with that exclamation point with that exclamation mark you're not going to say you're not going to say awesome you're gonna read it like awesome alright show that emotion or somebody maybe say though we had a baby and they say oh that's great news and you're happy you're astonished that's great or I think maybe this is something that if you're arguing with another person you really don't like them and you want to just show you're angry and you say I hate you and you capture that emotion with that exclamation mark or perhaps food and you say something is Wow it's it tastes so good and you just really want to express it express it and you say that's it's delicious all right oh it's so delicious and you you capture the feeling with that exclamation mark or that last one when whenever there's a problem and something goes wrong you might hear somebody say I say it when it happens to me and you say oh oh all right there's a problem something's wrong oh and you can capture those emotions with that exclamation mark and again to go back to the main point all right why why is it important that you understand a declarative sentence and those statements the interrogative sentence those questions with that rising intonation the imperative sentence you're giving somebody a command or even these exclamatory sentence sentences I think it really goes back to reading because when you read you are are saying the sentences in your mind or you might be reading out loud it's really up to you but you're saying the sentence is you are following the punctuation and you're trying to capture the flavor of each sentence and this is what helps you develop a nice rhythm and flow to your speech so that you sound natural because when you are reading something out loud or when you're reading it in your mind and you see a question or you see a period and you pause a little bit or you see an exclamation mark and you capture that feeling that is what's going to help you develop your overall fluency and that's why I say reading is so important because when you're reading to yourself and you're listening to yourself say these words in your mind the next time you have a conversation you're going to try and speak the same way so that you sound natural and you want to show an emotion with an exclamation mark or you want to ask a question and you have that rising intonation so when you think about okay why should you understand these sentences because it really helps with your reading if you're able to identify which type of sentence it is and understand how you should be reading it it's going to help your overall fluency so you guys excellent you guys Rock that we talked about the four sentence types and now we're going to move on to the second part which is talking about those sentence structures but before before I move on if you guys like what we do here at interactive English and you want to show us some love you can check out our patreon page it's just another way to connect with us support what we do here at interactive English I know some patrons are with us already like Aiden I saw you earlier and again check it out I put the link in the chat there's also a link in the description down below so let's warm up a little again but before we do a warm up we're talking about sentence structure and this is really getting into grammar more specific grammar about you know how these sentences are put together and first thing I want you to know before we start this is you need to know what in independent clauses and you need to know what a dependent clause is so an independent clause it's just it's a sentence it expresses a complete thought and it can stand alone it is a full complete sentence that is an independent clause a dependent clause it's just the opposite of that it's a phrase it does not express a complete thought and it cannot be its own sentence so in order to understand the different sentence structures and to understand why they're different it's important that you know the difference between an independent clause and a dependent clause and we will I will identify this for you and we will get into it so let's just start with a number another warm-up question so I could say I give you this sentence right here after I brush my teeth I get dressed for work what kind of sentence is this this is a mmm sentence what do you think is this a simple sentence is it a compound sentence is it a complex sentence or is it a compound-complex sentence those are the four different structures that we're going to talk about so I give you this example what type of sentence do you think this is write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments I just want you to interact participate in these lessons after I brush my teeth I get dressed for work this is a what do you think simple sentence compound sentence complex sentence compound complex I hope that you guys said see actually this is a complex sentence and let me show you this other chart right here and we're gonna go through each of these as well so here is the chart the first one up at the top is just a simple sentence I eat a healthy breakfast this morning all right I eat a healthy breakfast I should say actually this should be in the morning I eat a healthy breakfast in the morning that makes a little more sense that is just a simple sentence compound sentence as we go through these see if you can kind of identify like well how are these different from each other compound sentence I eat breakfast in the morning and then I brush my teeth that is a compound sentence complex sentence was the example that I gave you after I brush my teeth I get dressed for work that is a complex sentence and then the compound complex sentence I usually take the bus when I go to work but sometimes I like to walk that is a compound complex so we're gonna go through each one of these I will give you some other examples I'm gonna try to break down the grammar so that it's a little easier to understand and then I'll tell you what why why is this important why should you know this information right here so let's begin with a simple sentence all right a simple sentence has one independent clause this is a sentence that has a subject and a predicate so the subject is just who or what the sentence is about that is my subject the predicate is talking about what the subject does and the predicate is going to include the verb so let's look at this sentence right here she watches the movie it is a simple sentence now let's break it down into its different parts where we have a subject and a predicate because an independent clause it's going to have a subject and a predicate who is the sentence about well it's about she she is my subject what does she do that's my predicate she watches the movie so I tried to color code this for you to make it a little easier to see so the the independent clause simple sentence is going to have a subject and a predicate she is the subject watch as the movie is the predicate and if I want to break that further apart because the predicate it has a verb it's always going to have a verb and this case it's also it also has an object watches is my verb object are the movie is my object subject verb object but the entire predicate is watches the movie so this is a simple sentence it has a subject it has one predicate if we're talking about a compound sentence this is when you have two independent clauses so it is a sentence with more than one subject and predicate you usually a compound sentence is going to have two independent clauses so you're going to have two subjects and two predicates and it's going to be connected by a conjunction so let's look at my sentence right here this is a perfect compound sentence he plays basketball but he doesn't play football all right it's one sentence it's a compound sentence with two independent clauses so let's let's break this down little bit for you so we have he plays basketball all right that is one independent clause he is the subject plays basketball is the predicate the conjunction that connects these sentences is the word but and often you would find I think the most common conjunctions are there's four of them I'd say our but and so and or those are the four ones and but or so those are common conjunctions then we have the second independent clause he doesn't play football again subject and predicate so he plays basketball first independent clause but he doesn't play football that is my next independent clause so again a compound sentence it's going to have two independent clauses now let's keep moving forward with a complex sentence so a complex sentence and we're gonna get a little more detail is a sentence it's going to have an independent clause and at least one dependent clause it may have more than that but it's a sentence that's going to have one independent clause and at least one dependent clause the dependent clause is likely going to begin with a subordinating conjunction and you're probably thinking what is a subordinating conjunction so those are words like after before while when and that is a subordinating conjunction and they often come at the beginning of a dependent clause so let's look at my sentence right here before I go to sleep I like to read in bed this is a complex sentence it has one dependent clause and one independent clause and the way it's broken down is like this so before I go to sleep that is a dependent clause it is not a full sentence if I just say something like before I go to sleep you're probably thinking well what I need more information so that's what I mean where it's not a complete thought it's not a full sentence that is a dependent clause in order to make it a full sentence you need to have an independent clause with it so before I go to sleep that is my dependent clause before is the subordinating conjunction it comes at the beginning of the dependent clause now I like to read in bed this is a full sentence it is an independent clause it has a subject I and it has a predicate like to read in bed I like to read in bed it is a full sentence it's easy to understand if I tell you this on its own you understand what it means so together when we put these together before I go to sleep I like to read in bed that is a complex sentence now this sentence right here notice again think about punctuation so before I go to sleep comma I like to read in bed the dependent clause is first the dependent clause it does not always have to come first it can come before the independent clause it can also come after the independent clause so let's change this around and if I put the dependent clause second I might have this I like to read in bed before I go to sleep what's changed do you notice that the punctuation has changed so when the dependent clause this this brings me to the rule what is the rule when the dependent clause comes first you need to separate them with a comma dependent clause comma and then the independent clause when the dependent clause comes after the independent clause there is no comma all right I like to read in bed before I go to sleep again if you're you're having a conversation you're telling a story this becomes important because there is a slight pause when you have that comma I say well you know before I go to sleep I like to read in bed did you hear that pause or I could say well I like to read in bed before I go to sleep oftentimes even when we're speaking even when we're having a conversation this this is going to affect the way that we say things and again it goes back to two people wanting to speak naturally and and that's why this is very useful to learn so remember that complex sentence if the dependent clause comes after the independent clause there's no comma alright and I know that this is a lot of information to take in we're going pretty quickly but I wanted to make sure I got through all of this so this is a complex sentence now let's look at a compound complex sentence and because you know what a compound sentence is it has two independent clauses because you know what a complex sentence is you have an independent clause and a dependent clause well then you could probably guess that a compound-complex sentence has is a sentence with two independent clause and at least one dependent clause maybe it has more but it's at least going to have one and when you have this you would call it a compound-complex sentence it is the fourth type of sentence structure that I wanted to go over with I wanted to go over with you and here's the example right here so I could say you left after 10 minutes but then you came back this is an example of a compound complex sentence now let's break it down so it's a little easier to follow and understand so we have our two independent clauses we have the first one which is just you left so if I say this to you it's a very short sentence it has a subject and a verb but it's a full thought it it's a complete thought because if I say well you left he left she left you understand what that means it is a complete thought after ten minutes is my D pendant claws remember the dependent clause often it's going to begin with that subordinating conjunction after before when wild because those are all subordinating conjunctions which tells you uh okay it's a dependent clause so you left after ten minutes this is like the the complex part of my sentence and then we're going to combine it using the conjunction but you then you came back that is another independent clause it has a subject and a predicate so when we put all that together you left after ten minutes but then you came back that is a compound-complex sentence alright and now again you may be asking yourself why do I need to know this why should I understand the different sentence structures before I told you the sentence types are great for your reading so that you can identify and understand well how should you how should you read this when in your mind and then how should you say this when you're having a conversation well this is very important for your writing because when you are writing it's great if you can use all of the sentence structures you should try to write using a variety of sentence structures and you should do this if you are writing a story if you are writing an email at work if you're writing even a text message or a letter to someone it's always good to use a variety because it's more engaging for the reader that people want to read a variety of sentence structures it makes it more interesting and it makes it easier to read as well because if you do this it's going to allow you to develop a more meaningful rhythm and flow to your prose which is another way of saying it's going to make it's going to make your writing it's going to you're going to be able to develop a more meaningful style and have a nice rhythm and flow to your style which is what you want because when you write something whether it's an email or a story you want other people to read it if you just have a story that is only simple sentences that's going to be pretty boring you want to make sure that you have a variety so that it's more interesting and that is why it's useful to understand the different sentence structures as well as be able to use them it's very important for your writing that you know how to use these sentence structures like let's go back through that go back over them like a simple sentence right using simple sentences you should write using compound sentences you should be able to write using complex sentences as well as right here a compound-complex sentences so understanding the sentence types good for your reading I think understanding these structures is great for your writing and this is stuff that you you want to do so let's practice these a little bit I have some sentences that I want to give you and this is going to be good review and I want you to identify two things I want you to identify the type of sentence as well as the structure so we this is everything we went over in today's lesson is just a reminder those are the four sentence types declarative interrogative imperative exclamatory and as well as the four different structures simple compound complex and compound-complex so let's practice I have here this is your sentence right down here tell me the sentence type and then tell me the structure so those are two different things that we're talking about so if somebody says okay I'm gonna say this go wash your hands or you can't eat go wash your hands or you can't eat what type of sentence is that first off think about what type of sentence is the way I'm reading it go wash your hands or you can eat and then think about the structure look at the way that it's written and then think about what is the structure of this sentence so excellent yes great job Hayden the the type of sentence go wash your hands or you can't eat it an imperative sentence because it's like a command I'm giving you a command I'm telling you to do something it's also a compound sentence because I'm giving to come to commands go wash your hands or you can't eat and I'm combining them with that conjunction or go wash your hands or you can't eat it is an imperative sentence and it's also a compound that is the sentence structure excellent perfect the fact that you guys got a lot of that yes door Angela it makes me feel like yes you are you understand this a little better so again I'm giving you the type I'm giving you the structure here's your this is this is my question and this is something that that I might ask you and I might say to you okay hey what are you going to do after this lesson it is a very common question that somebody might say well what are you going to do after something what are you going to do after this lesson what are you going to do after you eat dinner what are you going to do after the movie what type of sentence is that and what is the structure so what do you think that that think about this is a question what are you going to do after this lesson write this set did I first identify the type and then identify the structure all right so I think close I see somebody yes I think you guys got the you got the the declaratory interrogative part so it is it is an interrogative sentence but it's also it's a question but it's also a complex sentence because what are you going to do that is well it ends in a question mark that is my my independent clause because I can just say well what are you going to do that is a complete that's a complete thought it is a question after this lesson remember I told you that the the dependent clause is talking about it's going to begin with a sub or a conjunction a subordinating conjunction after before when wild because so in this case that is my dependent clause what are you going to do after this lesson what are you going to do after this lesson is a common question that I think you can get let's look at the last one another one the list of this is the last one yes you did a great job today what type of sentence is this I was about to I was about to just say the answer I kind of I almost did it's a I think you should get this it's very easy it's very simple I think you should know what type of sentence I told you that most of the time when you are writing when you are speaking this is the type of sentence that you're going to use it is going to be a declarative sentence and I think quite often people are just going to use a simple sentence alright and and that is the answer yes perfect Myra Aden Aziza door-mart Issa it is a declarative sentence and it is also the structure it is a simple sentence it is one independent clause you did a great job today and that is true you guys you did you did a marvelous job today I hope that you found this lesson useful if you did again please here's my here's an imperative sentence please hit that like button let me know if you enjoy there was a lot to take in today because I want to show you just as a little bit of review these two slides right here when I talked about the sentence types these are the different sentence types these declarative interrogative imperative and exclamatory sentences I told you this is very useful for your reading and when you talk about structure I think this part of sentence structure is useful these are the four different types of sentence structures which i think is wonderful for your so I hope you guys enjoyed this lesson thank you guys just to give some more shoutouts for for being here today lolly Carlos Evelina Aiden pachoo Angela Rafi player players and not 1953 thank you guys Ladon Maria Aziza naughty thank you guys for joining me today I hope you found this information useful keep practicing keep up the good work again reading is a great way to continue improving your skills because you're reading this to yourself you're seeing you're seeing these sentences you're able to identify the type of sentence and you're seeing the correct structure as well when you're reading so don't underestimate the value of reading hope you have a wonderful day and of course I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 512. SEXUAL INNUENDOS ๐Ÿ’‹ How to understand these suggestive remarks.... | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `9NcPvk4cVEs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NcPvk4cVEs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:16:42 | --- let's talk about sex actually i want to talk to you about sexual innuendos so that you know if somebody else is talking about sex let me quickly introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today it's all about really helping you improve your comprehension because sexual innuendos this is something that you will hear and you may come across them in tv shows movies possibly even casual and informal conversation so i think this lesson it's gonna have some vocabulary in it but it's also cultural as well so let's begin with well what an innuendo means an innuendo is when somebody makes a remark that suggests something sexual or unpleasant without directly saying it now not all innuendos are sexual but many of them are which is why in this lesson we're just going to focus on sexual innuendos and uh let's let's just begin with well it's maybe it's a bit of a creepy example if you enjoy learning english i want you to hit that like button go ahead and pound that dirty like button because you're a naughty englishman all right i i apologize all right i'm not going to do that again i felt a bit awkward just saying it but i told you that that was a bit of a creepy example now even though i was just asking you to hit the like button i was suggesting something sexual and i think it was quite obvious i'm sure that you understood that because of the words that i was using my intonation and my emphasis and those are three things that may help you identify a sexual innuendo there are many words out there that people may use when talking about sex so if we're talking about well the act of having sex words like hit pound or smack may be used if we're talking about perhaps uh the anatomy body parts of a man or a woman words like big or hard or wet or even if you're talking about somebody's behavior their personality you may use words like naughty or even bad and i would like to point out that naughty i think this is a common one even though this word is used to describe somebody's poor behavior i think often people may refer to children as naughty if you are talking about an adult and there are many adults out there that have bad behavior but if you say they're naughty i think there's a good chance somebody may think that you are talking about this in a sexual way so just be careful about describing somebody as naughty especially if it's an adult but since these are all words that people may use when actually talking about sex they may also be used when people are trying to make some sort of sexual innuendo intonation may also be used if somebody is trying to say some sort of sexual innuendo because the rising and falling of my voice may sound a bit sexual and suggestive even though i'm not saying anything that's very important and finally emphasis if you emphasize a word it really draws attention to that word it's like you're saying that okay this word is important so if you emphasize one of those words that i talk to you about like like big or smack or hard then people are going to think okay well why is this word important why are you emphasizing this word are you trying to suggest something else so word choice intonation and emphasis are three things that i think can help you easily identify a sexual innuendo there are also some common expressions and jokes that people may say which is another great way to identify whether or not someone is using a sexual innuendo one expression that i think you would hear is if you know what i mean so somebody would say the sexual innuendo they would make some suggestive remark and then follow it with if you know what i mean you're my kind of man if you know what i mean that's not what i meant a joke that you may hear which i think is probably more common uh if you're watching a tv show or movie it's not one that you may hear just in in conversation is that somebody would refer to something that is perhaps in a man's pocket something that is around their crotch and they would follow it with or are you just happy to see me is that a candy bar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me trying to suggest that the man is aroused excited and just really happy to see someone dawson is that a tree branch here are you just happy to see me is that coke in your brain you're just glad to see me even emojis can be used as sexual innuendos so you don't even have to say anything i i can just show you these emojis right here and you could probably guess what it may be trying to suggest let's look at a real life example of a sexual innuendo and i'm going to show this to you i'm going to show you an ad and i want to see if you can kind of understand what it's trying to suggest and think about some of those suggestive words here's the ad congratulations george brownridge for pleasing 15 women for an entire day we were all exhausted and very satisfied and we look forward to next year we all thank you so this ad it's quite funny because i think the sexual innuendo is pretty obvious and i i did not read it with much intonation or emphasis because i really wanted you to think about some of those suggestive words the first one is please so to please someone i think people may use this when referring to sex that the other person is happy with the the performance and and that they're quite satisfied which is another word another suggestive word that appears in this ad i think just another word that just adds on top of everything is exhausted that the fact that everyone was very tired it really does make the sexual innuendo more apparent now i don't know if this was this was maybe an accident or perhaps somebody at the paper was having some fun with this ad or maybe if the whole thing was a joke but the following day they came out with this apology our sincere apology to george brownridge and staff our intentions were to thank him for a generous holiday shopping trip which he arranged this annual tradition is much appreciated any inappropriate innuendoes were unintentional and we take full responsibility for the ad that appeared in yesterday's papers that is a real life example of a sexual innuendo and i i chose it because i think it's pretty easy to understand to identify and to know well okay why why is this a sexual innuendo but as i mentioned before i think many times sexual innuendos they're not going to be so obvious and they're going to be quite subtle and to find that we have to look no further than children's movies that's right children's movies well some of them have a lot of sexual innuendos so i'm going to show you some right now and we're going to talk about it this is something that has gone on for i think many years but i would say that i think one film that kind of really changed the way that this was done and they did a very good job of putting some of these sexual innuendos in there very subtly is toy story and then since then i think a lot more movies have been doing this but let me let me show you an example from the movie toy story so you have one of the main characters woody who has these interactions with little bo peep and i think quite often when they have their interactions there's typically some sexual innuendo involved like this one right here oh hey it was uh nothing what do you say i get someone else to watch the sheep tonight hell yeah so this is a suggestive question she doesn't use any words that i think are unpleasant or graphic she does use that that intonation which really i think tries to make it a little more obvious what she's trying to say somebody else watches the sheep we can go off together we can fool around have sex and there is your sexual innuendo another popular movie frozen also has some sexual innuendos which i think adults would find very humorous in the clip that i'm getting ready to show you one of the main characters anna she she's talking about her fiance and this is a guy that she decided to marry just after meeting him and the other character in the clip kristoff he's very surprised by this he's like i can't believe you're you're marrying this guy right after you met him how well can you possibly know him so he starts asking her these questions to to see if she really knows this person what's his last name of the southern isles what's his favorite food sandwiches best friend's name probably john eye color dreamy what size foot size doesn't matter the sexual innuendo it's at the very end when he asks about foot size and he even says it with a different intonation foot size and she responds foot size doesn't matter so this is a sexual innuendo because they're not talking about the size of his foot they're talking about the size of his and i'm not talking about an eggplant here's an example from the movie shrek and shrek and well let's just talk about it on the other side that's it right there that's doula i told you i found it so that must be lord farquaad's castle yeah that's the place do you think maybe he's compensating for something so they get to this castle and they see the king's huge castle and shrek asks do you think he's compensating for something suggesting that the king has this very big castle because really he has a small and this question do you think he's compensating for something is a question that you may come across in other tv shows and movies you somebody may even use it in casual conversation if they're making a joke perhaps a guy has a very expensive car and he has this car because he wants to impress all these different women you could ask do you think he's compensating for something if you know what i mean here's an example from the film rat tattooey when chef linguine he's trying to confess to this other person colette that well he's really not a great chef he's getting all this help from a rat and he's having a difficult time telling her pay attention to her eyes as he's as he's saying this you have a rush no no no i have this this tiny uh a little little a tiny chef who tells me what to do so i i thought this was kind of funny that he's he's talking about this tiny little and you see her eyes quickly glance down to his crotch as though he's suggesting something else and eventually yes he tells her it's a tiny little rat but again it's very subtle and i think it's something that maybe children might not catch on to but adults they're going to find it funny and then i wanted to show you this sexual innuendo from the movie cars because well it's not about what's being said it's about the action so just have a look and see if you understand the sexual innuendo we're like your biggest [Music] so the two cars which we can presume to be women are flashing their headlights at lightning mcqueen and the the sexual innuendo is well we it's suggesting that they are showing lightning mcqueen their breast because well there's two different things headlights can be an innuendo for a woman's breast but also flash that verb to flash means to show something well quickly and for a short period of time but if we're talking about how it may be used sexually women would flash somebody it's like they're revealing their breast and if you're talking about a man if he flashes somebody he would be revealing uh his crotch try to keep an eye out or listen for a sexual innuendo the next time you may be watching a children's movie i told you i think nowadays they're pretty common i hope that this lesson was easy to follow and understand i'm not telling you that you need to try to use sexual innuendos in your conversation if anything it's just good for your comprehension but right now what i want you to do is i love hearing from you guys so in the comments i just want you to write me a big comment if you know what i mean actually i don't even know what i mean i just want you to write me a comment and actually if you want to try to practice and try to use a sexual innuendo write one in the comments see if you can say something suggestive that we could well interpret as a sexual innuendo write that in the comments share with us let's see what uh you guys come up with you can be creative thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 513. SHOPPING PHRASAL VERBS TO IMPROVE FLUENCY ๐Ÿ› | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8TEYjgWtncw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TEYjgWtncw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:40:45 | --- hello and welcome today we are talking about a super fun lesson shopping phrasal verbs [Music] so today like I said I have a fun but also very useful lesson phrasal verbs are always good to teach because we use them all the time also because they're difficult and learners have problems with them all the time they're difficult because first of all they're not it's not easy to guess what they mean it's a verb and a preposition and the preposition it doesn't tell us what the meaning is but also because I don't know they're just they're just you kind of I just have to memorize them so they're difficult so that is coming up today a super fun super cool lesson and I think it's very very useful because we use shopping verbs and shopping phrasal verbs all the time but before we start I wanted to welcome you I wanted to see who's here and and welcome you guys lolly hello fried swallow young Masumi ibrahim Bijou faith in union marceline david abdul aziz welcome welcome welcome thank you for joining us if you are joining us a little later please write down where you're writing from and what is your name because we always want to know so thank you guys um and I think we have a great group today and a very fun lesson so just like I said shopping phrasal verbs they're very useful we go shopping all the time whether we go for groceries whether we go for clothes for things we need around the house we use these every day and you know phrasal verbs are not easy and I think anytime we get a chance to practice we should take it so let's begin with the beginning I guess if you're new to phrasal verbs here's a useful tip phrasal verbs can be separable or non-separable and what on earth am I talking about you know what I'm talking about write it down in the comments what do you think means separable or non-separable well first of all verbs in England English going in these different categories if it's a transitive verb it means that a transitive verb can take an object and the direct object can go with it you guys here my cat you see her right here but those are transitive verbs they can take a direct object now many transitive verbs are separable meaning that you can separate the verb from the preposition so for example the verb I have here you may have seen the slide before I like to use it because there's a West example on there that I like so if it's separable like take you can take something for example you can take the trash out so you can separate you can say take out the trash or take the trash out that makes it separable so you can use them with something in between the problem is that some transitive verbs can also be inseparable like yet so we got on the plane you cannot say we got the plane on and really the best way to study these is to memorize them and just kind of listen for them and see if something sounds strange or weird it's just it probably means it's not separable and then you'll learn that you learned that later I'm sorry about my cat she's just yeah sorry what she's saying hi hi so that's that's what it is now a good rule which finally we have a rule is that intransitive phrasal verbs verbs that do not take a direct object are always inseparable you can never separate them so we have here that west wakes up at 9:00 a.m. well you can never say wakes West weeks at 9:00 a.m. up it just sounds completely wrong you can't do it so that's a good rule so that is separable non-separable and for the verbs that I have today I will tell you if they're separable or non separate and again the more you listen for these the more that will sound it will sound off to you if you're trying to change it and it's just like it doesn't work trust your instinct because because it will help you so this is my first border but I have a question for you guys so it's to stress out and my I'll tell you the definition and then I'll ask you my question the definition is to worry or feel anxious or and and that's kind of what it is when you stress out about something you're very worried about it you you're just like feeling very very stressed about it so I wanted to ask you is this is this common with you do you stress out when you go shopping and then because I'm very curious to see and then again welcome if you just if you're just joining us write down where you're coming from and write down any questions you have and we'll try to to answer them so I'll share for me I don't like crowds it's pitch and I don't like big stores so for me stress like especially being in a physical store I always get stressed out so I have my my example they're crowded shopping malls stress me out especially around Christmas time and Wes knows this very well I freaked out and I just get out and I'm just I can't I can't I can't deal with it many times so that is my that is my example okay let's see so I'm gonna keep going it's our first one and it is separable so something stresses me out the stress is wes out its can stress anyone out its separable you can separate it stand out okay this is another one that is common with shopping I think especially with shopping for clothes when something stands out it means that it is different it is it kind of you see then you're like oh wow that is that is distinctive that is that is really usually in a good way when we usually talk about something that stands out is in a good good way my example here is these rain boots stand out from the rest because they're red you don't really see a lot of red rain boots out there I used to love I used to like going shopping with my mom sometimes and we'd look at something that really stands out and when we checked the price tag it's it was like four hundred dollars so I learned that many things that stand out are sometimes the price stands out too so it's not always it can be problematic but that is to stand to stand out and you can't separate this one okay we're in we're in when you wear something in again like I said if you're finding phrasal verbs difficult it's probably because of stuff like this that it doesn't make any sense the prepositions made absolutely no sense as to how they're placed near the verb however to wear Ana means to wear something to make it more comfortable and I really just hear this with shoes maybe with jeans but I heard it with shoes most of the time so for example if I were in my shoes it's because I'm trying to make them more comfortable and the process of wearing in shoes it's not the most pleasant because maybe I'll get a blister or something like that so my question for you for my girls out there do you girls wear do you like do you find heels comfortable even if you wear the man even after you wear them in I'm just curious do you ever find them comfortable share even even if it's in the comments later after this lesson I'm very very curious and I'll give you my answer because I don't I've never had a pair of heels that I thought was comfortable just never never never ever so I don't know about you but I've never heard weren't anything like that that was comfortable my example here is she'll wear in her heels before the wedding I mean I guess the wedding is when you'd have to wear heels but they're just not comfy okay are you guys ready for the next one did I like this one so this one can go two ways you can say look for or you can say lookout for and I'm looking for something yeah you I think they're both comment you can say either/or I think the hope the whole verb will be to look out for something but you can also say look for something and they mean the same thing and it's to search okay to search for something when you are looking out for something it's kind of you're regularly trying to find this object and I'm sure it happens to all of us like if you have a special event and you have something they specific that you're looking for that is when you would use this phrasal verb so it's not separable you can't pull these apart but you can use it just like that and you can opt out of the out so for example you can say like me right now if you guys didn't know I'm pregnant and when you're pregnant you can't fit into your normal clothes so right now I am looking out for a nice maternity swimsuit because we're gonna go to the beach next month and I really need some kind of swimsuit that fits me so I'm looking out for a nice maternity swimsuit or I could even say I am looking for a nice maternity swimsuit so either/or it is fine you can use it just don't change the for to something else okay now before I move on I wanted to let you guys know a reminder we're now on patreon and please check us out there it's a it's a really cool opportunity to support what we're doing and to kind of see what word what we're up to check us out check us a chick check out our page sorry I was apologizing for my very very bad dancing moves for some reason I keep wanting to dance today anyway if you guys are looking for something specific let us know what you are looking for when you go shopping because it's always fun to see what other people look for ok now before I move on and give you the rest of my verbs I have to show you one of my best learning tips for phrasal verbs and here it is it is listen and learn listen and learn why on earth do I mean by listen and learn when you listen and this is very important with phrasal verbs by the way quick and for quick informational tip I don't know what to call it but native English speakers never really learn phrasal verbs in school they just know them and the reason why they know them it's because they've learned them throughout the years by listening when we use phrasal verbs we usually use them in our speech we don't use them much in writing or in reading because they're a little bit more informal however we do use them all the time so don't it just because they're informal doesn't mean that you don't need to study you have to know them especially if you're a non-native English speaker because they make up so much of our daily conversation but we learn them through listening and this is when it's very very important to listen for phrasal verbs and try to listen either you know conversations that you hear from native speakers and if you can't do that in a place like YouTube or a place where there's a name for a lot of informal dialogue going on that is when you really need to pay attention for phrasal verbs because a lot of it comes through listening if you want something different you can do a podcast or something but always always keep in mind that this is where you will learn your phrase verbs through listening very important I know it's difficult some silicon for some people but you have to do it and I promise you after a while things will sound like hey this goes I think this is okay and other things will sound like no no like that sounds wrong that verb does not go with that preposition so you will develop that at some point I promise it will happen but you have to expose yourself so keep working on it it will get better and my next one is go with I need to stop dancing sorry guys what does it mean go with so if you go and walk into a story we've all done this where you have to find things especially of clothing that harmonize well with other garments or whatever you have that goes that works well with something then and we say that it goes with it it's actually kind of a simple one it makes sense so for example in my in my picture right here I have a dress and a pair of shoes and it says do these shoes go with my dress so that is how you use it does this go with that or you know does does this top go with these jeans or many times it's shoes and dresses because can be so complicated right right so that is go with go with it's a very common one you see it all the time and is non-separable okay you cannot separate it this is one I do not like don't like this one but it is coming so pay attention the reason I don't like it I mean it is kind of funny because it's fork out or fork over so anything that has to do with forks it's kind of funny but I don't like it because it means something bad it means that when you fork over or fork out a lot of money you have to pay them you have to pay a lot of money at once and many times you don't do with this happen you do it unwillingly for example I don't know if you guys saw the iPhone and the new iPhone just came out it's gonna come out in why I forget when they're selling it but the point is that it's a lot of money and my example sentence here is I don't want to fork out a thousand dollars on a new phone I'm sure I'm not the only one so I don't want to fork out I don't want to fork over a thousand dollars on a new phone that's how you use it for counter for fork over they're interchangeable you can use them either or equally equally common I think you hear them at the same time this one's better bring in okay so usually when we talking about something that is bringing in I it's always about money or some kind of profits or some kind of something that has to do with money so it's non-separable you always see some actually it is separable I think I made a mistake there because you can bring money in but I think it's more common to say something brings in money so for example it just means to generate or produce money and I have there an example from Amazon I have a question for you guys before I share my example and my question is do you guys like online shopping do you like shopping on Amazon or what is your what is your opinion of Amazon um because I am slightly addicted to it yeah I think that's fair to say I a lot of the things that I can't find in stores I always go to Amazon for and I think a lot of us do and it is crazy how much money they are bringing in so Amazon's online shopping is bringing in a lot of money is my example right there so I'm curious to see what is your opinion on Amazon or online shopping in general do you like it do you miss regular shopping the Yuma stores what do you think about it I'm just very curious about this because I love it I'm at home with a my cup of coffee life is good I don't have to be in a store stress out it's wonderful okay I just have a couple more and then an amazing practice okay this one I think is the most probably the most straightforward out of all of them it is to pay for okay to make a payment when you pay for something you you're making a payment for something that you're buying so my example here is we need to take out cash so we can pay for our meal this has happened actually to Wes and I and my cousin when we were dining out where we didn't have cash but we needed cash so was it to run to an ATM and take out cash so that is to pay for you pay for what you consume or what you buy yeah so you guys have shared some of your answers thank you for sharing them yeah some some people some of you guys like online shopping some of you don't like online shopping I get it my sister I don't think likes online shopping too much but I I love it so thank you thank you for for sharing that now our next one is two and one kind of it's to queue up or to line up and I think depending on where you're from one can be more common than the other for example in America and the u.s. we usually say to line up we don't really say to queue up much so I think that one is more British so but either way like people will understand whichever one you say is just one is more common depending on the country where you're trying to use it it really just means the same thing to wait in line behind people I don't think anyone likes lining up or queuing up but it's it's normal we all do it because it keeps order it keeps things in order so it is kind of a normal part of all of our shopping lives right now here's my example and I want to say I was curious if you guys know about this so if you guys know or don't know I don't know Black Friday in the u.s. is an event that happens after Thanksgiving where a lot of stores have these huge sales because everyone's off nobody goes to work and many times the sales start at crazy hours in the night so in my example here it says on Black Friday some people start lining up at 3 a.m. in front of the store this is not a made-up example this is a true a real example many times people will start lining up at 3 in the morning in front of this store is am I the only one who thinks that's crazy like what 3 a.m. and they wait the store doesn't open at 3 a.m. the store opens at like 7 so they'll wait for hours in front of the store so craziness but that's a bit of culture that you may have not known a lot of this has changed with the with online shopping actually so but this used to be the case craziness maybe I should dance every time I changed when you want what do you guys think maybe not to ring up someone or something so you either ring someone up or you ring up someone or something you can ring up a person meaning that when the person is ready to purchase whatever it is that they're buying you are recording their sale on the cash register tip tip tip to do you know like scanning and things like that that is to ring someone up or you bring something up like if they bought let's say banana they're in the grocery store they bought some bananas you ring the bananas up so you could you could use it either way it has the same meaning you record that on the cash sir ring up someone ring someone up here's my example right here the owner of the store rang up customers on a vintage cash register vintage cash register it's like an older type of cash register ring someone up oops well I just meant it's practice time so those were those are our verbs that were working with today I hope it wasn't overwhelming I think honestly they are they're not simple because they're not intuitive so you can't get some but I think what makes them a little bit simpler than others is that they are common they're so common you will hear them all the time so very very useful shopping phrasal verbs if you have not seen it yet or if you have I want to remind you that we have another lesson on shopping phrasal verb that has some even more useful well not more useful they're the same equally useful phrasal verbs so you can check this out on our web page on our YouTube page I mean you can check them out because we have more so this is kind of the second lesson that we're doing about shopping phrasal verbs because they're so helpful okay so that is what I'm talking about so today I have a few exercises that you guys can practice and I want to ask you are you ready for the first question see how you guys are doing okay so you started school some of you may have started school if you have I hope you don't have to deal with this situation here is my sentence this semester I have to out $500 on textbooks okay now here I have taken out the the verb and I've left the preposition so you have to tell me what verbis the reason I did this is because I thought it was more difficult this way so I was trying to make it a little harder for you this semester I have to mmm out five hundred dollars on textbooks let's see if you guys got the right answers before I check I'll give you a little bit more time I just wanted to say I hope you don't have to go through this I know if you're in the u.s. and you're a student sometimes you do have to pay this much money on textbooks and I've been there I'm sorry I know how it is let's see a lot of good answers thank you lolly fork out Mary fork out or over exactly okay you guys are exactly right this semester I have to fork out or over five hundred dollars on textbooks again I hope this is not the case I hope you just know the verb but don't have to actually pay the money it means you don't want to pay this money but you have to anyway fork out or fork over okay exercise number two now there's two of them that are missing and here I've given you the verb but taken out of the preposition I am looking huh a new jacket in a vibrant color that stands hmm okay I am looking mmm a new jacket in a vibrant color that stands hmm what could it be remember I'm looking for prepositions so here you'd have to insert the correct preposition so let's see if you guys are writing some answers in there what could it be what am I saying so hopefully you guys were answering I am looking for or I am looking out for a new jacket in a vibrant color that stands out okay so those were the two phrasal verbs I know I put two in there like I said I'm trying to make this difficult so you guys can really be challenged okay so I see some good answers good job good job good job good job good job Shakir Ibrahim Giselle marine in irene good job okay here's another one again to hear I took out the preposition again he is stressed mmm because the race is tomorrow and he hasn't worn mmm his shoes yet okay he's stressed mmm because the race is tomorrow and he hasn't worn hmm his shoes yet what could it be I hope you guys get this right I hope you never go through the situation because it's not a fun one to be in but if you answered he's stressed out because the race is tomorrow and he hasn't worn in his shoes you would be correct now if you're doing this now thank you thank you thank you for for doing it now but please know that you can do this later also and write down your answers in the comments later too because we check them all the time so make sure to do that it's very helpful if you if you actually go through these practices and do them so a good job for everyone who's answered I see some wonderful answers perfect great job let's keep on going I have more for you I am NOT I'm not letting you get off that easily okay here it is do you like my jeans they're kind of weird-looking but the questions of sentences I don't think that top ah these jeans now I've taken out the entire phrase over here to make it more challenging so I want to see the entire phrasal verb written in the answers okay I don't think that top ah these jeans what could it mean what could it mean I don't think that top mmm these jeans so I'm looking for a meaning of matches if you are wondering if you need a hint so basically I'm saying I don't think that top matches these jeans what is the correct phrasal verb some beautiful answers you guys are rock stars I always say this because I'm always impressed with you guys but yes you are correct I don't think that top goes with these jeans goes with these jeans so yeah Kristina Shakir dissolve no Louise good job good job good job okay so you're you guys are doing amazing the top does not go with these jeans okay now here's a here's a really tough one because I have three that are missing okay so let's go out with a bang okay we lied mmm to try the new donuts at the bakery but they ran out right before the cashier could ring me mmm these delicious treats bring ah lots of money for the owner okay why don't know am I talking about here okay what do you guys think what what is the right answer okay we lied huh to try the new donut to the bakery but they ran out right before the cashier could rank me mmm these delicious treats bring lots of money for the owner and if you guys know me of course I talk about food I talk about food constantly I love food I love sweets of course I put them in my practice let's see what you guys are writing oh my gosh you guys are doing so well some really really good answers I'm so proud of you I'm so happy yes yes yes yes yes good job good job good job good job we lined up to try the new doughnuts at the bakery but they ran out right before the cashier could ring me up these delicious treats bring in lots of money for the owner so great job cops go good job gizelle Kristina thank you if I don't see your answer it it doesn't appear in time that's okay keep writing it you guys are doing amazing because I think the more you practice the easier these will become and I just wanted to thank you that was it for my practice I told you we'll go out with a bang it will be a harder one but you crushed it so be proud of yourselves you did amazing I wanted to thank you for watching thank you for practicing with us if you found this lesson useful please like it and share it in any questions write them in the comments and we will answer and I just wanted to thank you guys again I thank you Irene Marie Giselle Rajesh Edson @fa christina cubs Mildred thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you for joining us and for being with us today have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you next time bye --- ## 514. SHOULD HAVE | COULD HAVE | WOULD HAVE - Modals of Lost Opportunity | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `LPpZEq8d66g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPpZEq8d66g) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:09:17 | --- i should have joined the interactive english community or i could have joined the interactive english community or i would have joined the interactive english community so today i want to talk to you about these modals should have could have and would have and they're often referred to as modals of lost opportunity because we use them to describe situations that we imagine are different now the good news is that you have not lost this opportunity if you would like to join the interactive english community there is a link down in the description it is a great way for you and me to to keep in touch but let's get back to these modals because i want to make sure that you are using them correctly and i think this is very useful because quite often we want to describe our feelings about past decisions so you're going to use should have when something did not happen but you wish that it did happen you'll use could have when something was possible but it did not happen and you will use would have when something happened but you're just imagining a different result now before we just dive right into these modals i want to talk to you about pronunciation and grammar because with pronunciation these modals will often get reduced so what's happening is that the h in half it's it's just going to get removed and then that vowel sound is going to become more of a schwa so we're left with of and then the final d that consonant sound will get linked with that schwa so it's like we have should of could of would of all right it's linked together and people may even reduce it further if they're speaking really fast and they're gonna drop that v and you just hear the schwa shoulda coulda woulda but in general i think it's often you're going to hear these modals get reduced and you can listen to me as the lesson goes on i will i will reduce them the other thing i want to say uh when it comes to grammar is that with these modals you're going to follow them with the past participle so with with regular verbs you're just going to to use that ed should have played could have called would have walked with irregular verbs you just need to know the past participle should have won could have broken would have bought now that we got grammar and pronunciation out of the way let me give you a little more context with each of these modals and we'll begin with should of so when you think of should've think of regret i i told you that something did not happen but you wish that it did happen so perhaps you're you're thinking about a past decision and somebody had a good idea or a recommendation and you did not listen to it and you lost that opportunity when when talking about that situation we can then use should've so i'm i'm constantly asking you to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications so let's just let's just imagine that uh you you don't do this and then in the future you're gonna look back at this situation and you might say i should have listened to wes my name's wes by the way in case this is your first time here you'd say i really want to practice and improve my english skills therefore i should have subscribed to the channel and turned on notifications now if you want to use should have in the negative should not have in that case it's like you regret something that was wrong i should not have yelled at my brother i should not have cheated on the exam i should not have eaten that and that's one that i feel like i i probably use from time to time yes i should not have eaten that bad decision now let's move on to could have and with this modal i want you to think of possibility that's the one word i want you to keep in mind possibility i i told you that with this modal something was possible but it did not happen i was so tired i could have stayed in bed all day it did not happen but i it was possible and i know that i i give you a lot of examples so today i have a special guest the famous marlon brando is going to give you the next example you was my brother charlie you should have looked out for me a little bit oh excellent marlon a little bit of review with should have so you should have looked out for me again something that did not happen but but he wishes that it did happen now i will make a quick little grammar correction you would not say you was instead you're going to use you were but that that's okay let's just focus on these modals so please continue you don't understand i could have had class i could have been a contender i could have been somebody of a bum so at this moment he feels like a bum but those other things were possible i could have been a contender i could have been somebody and and what he's referring to is uh boxing he was a prize fighter i could have been a contender and then if we want to use the negative could not have in that case we're just saying the opposite and saying that something was impossible so before i said i was so tired i could have stayed in bed all day that's talking about something that was possible if i changed that sentence around and said i had so much work to do i could not have stayed in bed all day now i'm talking about something impossible i could not have stayed in bed because i had so much work and then there's would've and with would've the word that i want you to remember and keep in mind is different because when you use would have it's like something happened but you are imagining a different result something different from the the real situation and often you are going to use this modal with the third conditional those if statements so i could say the team would have won the championship if their best player had not gotten injured so in this case i'm imagining that different result because the real situation is that the best player was injured and the team did not win the championship i want to make a quick distinction between could have and would have because it's possible for you to use could have in that sentence the team could have won the championship but again in that case we're talking about a possibility if i say the team would have won the championship now it's more certain and that is the result that that i'm imagining so it's really a difference between possibility and certainty could have and would have you could also use would of to show that you wanted to do something but you were not able to i would have given you a ride but my car broke down and once again i could use the third conditional to say the same thing same meaning i would have given you a ride if my car had not broken down now using it in the negative would not have you're still imagining a different result but instead of imagining a result that would have happened you're imagining that your your real situation would not have happened if some other things occurred i would not have finished the project without your help so the real situation is that i did finish the project and i'm just imagining a different result or i if i had not been stuck in traffic i would not have been late for work so it can be a little tricky to to wrap your head around some of these examples just know that with would have you're imagining a different result now something you may not have known about these modals is that you can use them together as an idiom should have could have would have mostly people would use this in spoken english and they are going to reduce these modals should have could have would have or they would reduce it more and say shoulda coulda woulda so what what this means is that you are dismissing someone else's regret or worry about a past action or some lost opportunity and you're just dismissing that so it's kind of a cold response and it's just unsympathetic so let's say that we work together and you're a little upset with me because i i made you do more work and i'm telling you like yeah maybe maybe i should have worked harder so that you did not have to do my work for me and you're a little annoyed you're a little upset and you would say yeah shoulda could have would have uh it's already done it's too late i've already did your work and then i could keep going and say i know that you did that extra work and i would have offered to help but i was stuck in traffic and once again you could dismiss my regret and say shoulda coulda would have i don't care about your excuse i'm still angry should've could have would have all right you can't change the past so that idiom is a fun way to wrap up the lesson i hope you learned something new and i hope you have a better understanding of these modals should have could have and would have and i could honestly tell you that interactive english could not have gotten this far without you that is absolutely true and well we can make it more certain and say interactive english would not have gotten this far without you and for that i really do appreciate it if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 515. SLANG from All Over the United States ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4XIgw1HVJ_U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XIgw1HVJ_U) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:28:23 | --- today we're guessing slang it's coming up [Music] today we have a super fun lesson and it's a very informal lesson because we're talking about slang specifically American slang and we are going to quiz each other on slang from the East Coast versus slang on the west coast it's slang so keep in mind that we might not know this is not common slang to so this is not so soon as we do this you guys can play along see if you can can guess some of these words I'll be very very impressed if you know some of these oh now I'm worried I mean a big part of this is we're challenging each other to see who knows more who's cooler well let's I mean obviously me let's see who knows more we'll start with the west coast so I'll ask you start with the west coast so I think I'm gonna make it easy for West and give him an easy one you know so my first one is - bum - bum it's a verb - bum okay - bum something is basically to borrow something from from another person right because people will talk about bumming a cigarette is a common way that it was used like oh can i bum a cigarette can i bum a smoke I think that's kind of across the country thank you you hear that that's a little more common alright yeah one one one one boom this one I think I'll start easy for you alright okay alright wicked wicked Oh like if some things we kids really cool or like like a wicked hangover like you've had like a really bad hangover is just something that makes something strong this is slang it's from Boston and think of like oh you know my friend he's wicked smart Oh like that that's wicked cool yes it's like something that emphasizes something else exactly yeah so it means like yeah very or really kind of an adverb of degree like yeah that's wicked cool he's wicked funny what do you got what do you got for me okay number two oh you I don't know if you actually know this one this is a California specific one it's June bloom June bloom gloom June gloom can you use it in a sentence June gloom is the best time of the year although it's usually used like Oh June gloom again I guess it like it when it rains in June or something like when it's like you're kind of depressed nothing to do with like personal okay what does it mean it's a two-week period usually at the beginning of June or if if it happens in May it's called Maigret where because of the ocean and the tides or something it is it gets cold in California at the beginning of June for about two weeks it's a period of cold weather our cool weather cool weather yeah I did not know that it's pretty nice because California is always so hot alright your next one is from the great state of Pennsylvania oh my gosh bufflehead a bufflehead bufflehead irene oughta buffle is that guy was a real bufflehead annoying stupid ridiculous yeah it's slang for an idiot so if somebody's like an idiot or stupid oh you bufflehead I like it bufflehead do you know this one before you know you never use honestly a lot of these that I have for you I did not know some of these I didn't know either but I knew jinglin this is a one that's more another one California related the industry or the industry so I would think if your time of the industry you're talking about like Silicon Valley kind of like the tech companies the tech community do you work in the industry no think more like la la oh okay Hollywood are you in are you in the movie like movies TV acting are you in the industry really absolutely I'll be there like oh you part of the industry yeah because everyone somewhat is somewhat connected to that make sense film TV entertainment industry so don't ask if you're part of the industry I'll give you another one that I think we've talked about before so you should know this okay Snowbird okay so I do know this just because because of where his parents me just talked about it a couple months ago yeah so snowbirds are people that they're people who usually live up in the Northeast but then for the for the warmer month for the colder months of the year they travel down south to like Florida yeah so Florida is a very popular state where you would hear this term snowbirds people come from Canada or in the Northeast where it's snowing and cold and they come down there for the winter season the next one I have for you I think you should know this one hey you know you see it you hear it a lot in movies it's bomb or theball something's the bomb mm-hmm it's it's the best it's the greatest it's awesome it's the bomb interactive English the bomb mm-hmm when I was working with a bunch of people who were who were Mormon they said that they referred to as the The Book of Mormon the bomb that's me they're like hey did you want to read the bomb and I was like what is the book of Mormon bomb this is one that I think I had heard before like on during like a BuzzFeed quiz or something Genki it's from it just said it says from the Northeast Genki something's janky yeah okay like you know that that janky ol car won't start like like John J it like almost like like I think once we give sentences then it's easier to put into context like oh that janky old car yes if something is in poor condition it's not good janky okay I'll give you one that I don't know if you use III don't I haven't used this one although it makes sense it is heavy not in weight so you give me a sentence yes I can so the story made me feel very heavy or I feel heavy when I see street children sadness or like a feeling like yeah well yeah because you could use it like the I think I've heard it before like talking about like Oh like this is a heavy situation like it's very serious it's very sad it's okay is that from California okay heavy this is one that I think you should get it's it says it's from Boston but I think it's kind of across the country sketchy oh I've heard it's kitschy yeah so what does it mean like it's problematic like you don't want to go there like a sketchy neighborhood is like I'm not sure about this place yeah yeah so it could mean in that context like yeah it's a neighborhood a sketchy place it's unsafe you're unsure about it you talk about a person some guys somebody's a sketchy character or you can't trust them great oh the next time I think you should know but it's a good one so we should definitely mention it it's to bail if you bail then you leave you're you're basically yeah you're bailing like people like go to a party with somebody and then you bail you get out of there you leave yeah but it doesn't always mean like almost it's like they only do on someone is just to bail like so for example because you know I'm tired I'm gonna bid yeah I'm gonna bail yeah just I'm gonna what are you gonna do I'm gonna bail I'm taking off I'm out of here I'm bailing yeah this party's janky mmm mad mad so this one I can go ahead and give you a sentence it says it's from like New Jersey New York mad that's mad tight yo there was mad people at the party last night yeah like is it another quantifier like it intensifies something or like yeah yeah many very I hear like you would talk talking about giving mad props like you're giving props to somebody you're giving them compliments and saying oh like mad props like a lot a lot of okay my next one is something that apparently is very very common in the Bay Area but I've never heard of it cuz I'm just not cool enough um and I hope I'm saying this right oh goodness Yatta de mean what yet it I mean or yet it up that's English yep yet it Amin I'll give you a sense sounds like something like out of a Disney movie or the West Coast has its own slang yet it a mean is that like a shortened form of you know what I mean it is yeah yet it Amin apparently mean I found it good me every website about this what okay yes I mean it makes sense if you say fast enough it seems like you know you gotta say it really fast yeah I mean no no no I mean I mean you don't mean maybe thank you to me that's good because that leads into the next one that for for me this is mom in um mom and it says it's from New Orleans mom and um now let me give you a sentence and you may you may get this Oh like you know how's your how's your mom and um Oh like how's your family mm-hmm so it's like mom and um II am like them mom in um so yeah if you just say it mom and um and people like wait what is that but then you explain it like Oh mom and mom and them mom's good but do you see our or is mom and um that's a good question I don't know I'll go with swoop swoop swoop swoop sentence swoop so apparently can mean two things so I'll give you both sentences but keep in mind they're two different meanings okay swoop me up at 5:00 p.m. is the first meaning okay the second one is are you planning on swooping the wallet so swoop me up if I like to pick somebody up to swoop in and and quip pick them up mm-hmm and to swooping that wallet like do you plan on getting that wall are taking it yeah but not neither of those that you just mention okay so what what does that mean in that contact to steal - steal Oh swap is whoo whooping so you can swap a cookie baby with that cookie to pick up maybe like in a car yeah but do you wouldn't slip somebody up or would you just swoop you just swoop them would you swap what may it eight o'clock all right this one this is a good one you are definitely not going to get this and I will be amazed if you guys get this it's from the great state of Alabama Oh caddywhompus haha I I swear I've heard this one no I think again this was another one probably I'm like one of those BuzzFeed quizzes no idea what it means but I have heard it so I don't know I don't know if you'd say like oh the picture is a little cattywampus like a mess yeah something like if it's like like sideways something's like either unorganized and messed up but especially like something that's crooked caddywhompus interesting so first of all what do you think better maybe we both did equally janky okay so in the comments we want to hear from you guys we want to know why you're interested or maybe interested in learning slang so many learners ask us about that what's your motivation for learning slang and trying to understand if you guys enjoyed learning some of these new slang words hit that like button down below and also check out our patreon page there's some cool rewards up there really cool to connect with us yes it is not janky you guys can check that out link is in the description thank you so much for watching thank you and we'll see you next time it's a little cattywampus right now alright yeah thanks for watching --- ## 516. SOME vs ANY | Commonly Confused Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `95cQr7KvPiM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95cQr7KvPiM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:20:09 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english and if this is your first time here of the channel it's all about just trying to help you practice and improve your english with a lot of different lessons pronunciation grammar vocabulary and today i have well this is a grammar lesson because what we're going to do is we're going to talk about the difference between i think this is some commonly confused grammar we're talking about the difference between some and any some and any i'm going to talk to you a little in detail about each one of these i'm going to give you some example sentences i'm going to ask you some questions so i want you to participate in the lesson and then toward the end i'll talk a little bit about some maybe idioms and expressions that also use some in any before we start the lesson i just want to say hello to some of the people who are with me right now hello lolly uh katrudis good to see you so many good to see some members patrons with us uh sleepwalker rosalinda pussycat lover leo how are you olga angela uh takayao hi uh i will give some more shout outs as we go through the lesson um because i do i have some questions that i would like all of you to answer so let's begin uh we're gonna go we're talking about sum and any and we're gonna start from the absolute uh beginning and what i mean by that is some and any they are both determiners so the first thing you should know is well what is a determiner in grammar this is a word that is used before a noun to show which particular example of the noun you're referring to so down here i have a list of different types of determiners like articles a and the a chair the bottle of water uh you also have demonstratives which are which is this that those these all right those chairs these uh bottles of water numerals is just really referring to like numbers one two three four one chair five bottles of water that i guess those are the examples that i'm going to use ordinals ordinals again ordinal numbers we're talking about first second third fourth so i could say um this is the first bottle of water that i've had today uh or i sat in the last chair uh possessive my his her uh ours my bottle their chair or quantifiers and this is what uh what i wanted to get to so sam and any are determiners but specifically the type of determiner they are they are quantifiers and quantifiers it's a word or phrase that's used before a noun to show the amount of it that is being considered an amount is the key word that i really want to would want to focus on when i want to when i well i keep saying when i talk about the differences between some and any so these are some examples of quantifiers many a lot of few less and then of course we have some and any down there so let's look at some first a i told you it's a determiner it's a quantifier we're talking about an amount the other thing i've put up there with an asterisk is that it's used with plural and non-count nouns please keep that in mind all right remember that with plural and non-count nouns so some and these these definitions i get from cambridge that's like my my go-to online dictionary when i'm looking to explain like the meaning of something i think they do a great job using simple words so sum is an amount or number of something that is not stated or known it's like a part of something some will have it has different meanings which i will come back to at the end but i'm focusing right now on an amount so it's talking about an amount or number so for example i gave those are some example sentences i bought some new clothes it's like you about you bought an amount of new clothes clothes is a plural noun i bought some new clothes or that question would you like some coffee coffee is a non-count noun and i could ask that and i would use some before coffee would you like some coffee any it's also a determiner it's a quantifier and again keep that in mind it's used with plural and non-count nouns any just means sum i told you they're commonly confused in grammar uh or even the smallest amount or number of so again we're talking about an amount here are some questions and then i'm gonna really look at the difference between the two so is there any ice cream left you're talking about even the smallest amount of ice cream is there any ice cream left sounds like something that i would ask uh and then the next one i don't have any cash on me can you pick up the check so you're saying that again an amount of cash you don't have any on you or we weren't expecting any visitors in this case we're talking about an amount of people an amount uh we're talking about any visitors we weren't expecting any visitors even the smallest amount of visitors all right so let's look at this and hopefully looking at this you can see the differences a little bit more i'm going to spend a little time on this page right here and for you members and patrons i will post this lesson later on this is a great little uh i think resource guide when talking about the difference between some and any so before forget about those exceptions to the rules down there i'll come back to those at the end i want to first look at the well no it's over this side right here all right sum i have that plus right there i'm talking about is generally used in positive statements all right or you could say affirmative statements and i have that example sentence i have some extra pizza all right that is a positive statements affirmative i have some extra pizza any is generally used in negative statements typically you're saying not in that case um so for example they might say oh i have some extra pizza and i don't want any pizza all right that is a negative statement the question mark is because any is generally used in questions all right do you so if somebody says oh i have some extra pizza um would you would you like some pizza like no no i don't want any pizza do you have any pasta i'm asking a question and i'm going to use any do you have any pizza notice i said generally there because of course there are exceptions which i'm going to talk about right now so going back to some the exception to the rule we're talking about questions you would use some with questions when offering something and you think that the answer is going to be either just yes or no would you like some coffee if i asked that then i would say well the answer is just going to be a yes or no and then it's finished so would you like some coffee coffee is a non-count noun and i think it's very common to use some with that construction would you like some of something the other thing i would say which i wanted to mention earlier when some and any when talking about an amount i think quite often you're talking about food not always because i gave some other examples that were not food related but quite often i think we're talking uh about food the exception to the rule for any is with those positive statements all right any can be used in positive sentences if it's used with the the conjunctions if or whether look at that that example that i gave you please let me know if you have any questions that is a positive statement it's an affirmative sentence please let me know if you have any questions questions that is my that is my count noun so any questions it because of if so i'm trying to think of an example with weather um uh i could say um i want to know whether you want any pizza i have some extra pizza so i want to know whether you want any pizza all right i i'm using weather in that case so again whether you want any pizza and then that's when you could tell me no i don't want any pizza that negative statement so this is a good well over here the those are general rules to follow some with positive sentences positive statements um the exception would be questions if you're offering something yes or no answer and any with those negative statements and questions and the exception would be the positive statements if you're going to use if or whether i know it's a lot to take in but i think as we practice this a little the more you practice the more comfortable you're going to feel i think using these and then when it comes time to use them in general conversation or your writing you'll just use them correctly because that's what i want to do right now i want to practice using some or any i'm going to give you some sentences and i just want you to think about well how would you fill in the blank how would you complete the sentences using some or any and i want you to write them write your answers in the chat that way i can throw out some more shout outs even if you're watching this later if you would like use that comment sense section like it's a piece of paper and you can write your answers down there here are this is a this is a conversation so we have like person a and person b the first person is asking a question did you catch um fish today you can fill in either some or any and then the other person responds yeah i caught but my friend didn't catch um all right i have three three blank spaces three blank spots right there and i want you to complete that conversation using either some or any if you're not sure if you're trying to think of the rules that we just talked about and you're like oh i forget exactly then this is another example i'd say just just do what feels natural um when thinking about this do what feels right so we're practicing using some or any let's see what we got here uh all right we have all right excellent uh farm on lolly uh honey jam awesome perfect uh i don't want to call excellent uh so here's the conversation uh rosa let's see all right lucy yes it should go any some any that's th those are the three blanks did you catch any fish today we're talking about a question again fish in this case would really refer to a uh like a non-count uh noun or or no a plural excuse me the plural of one fish is several fish did you catch any fish today and yeah i caught some that is a positive um that is my positive sentence but my friend didn't catch any that's my negative sentence so here is an example of i told you any we use with questions and those negative statements which the question you have did you catch any fish some is used with the positive yeah i caught some but my friend didn't catch any all right i hope this was that that probably was not too difficult uh so let's look at the next one this i this is going to be a longer dialogue but we'll kind of go through it just one at a time i told you before that i think often when you use summon any you're talking about food an amount and this is also where they could be maybe a little confused um so we have the waiter and the customer the waiter says would you like um vegetables to go with that should say your not you all right sorry about that i look at this several times beforehand and then there's always that one little typo that that that trips me up so the waiter says would you like mmm vegetables to go with your meal should say your and the customer would say do you have other options what do you think how would you complete that with some or any you guys are just rapid fire right away excellent uh lolly zsb uh angela anna what sleepwalker pascat lover uh who else kareem gettrudis oleg nice so we're talking about some and then any that you guys i think you'd perfect excellent and let's talk about why would you like some vegetables to go with your meal i told you any is used with questions but this is one of the exceptions because when you ask somebody that like would you like typically the answer is just going to be a yes or a no so in that case if you think the answer is just a yes or no you're going to use some would you like some vegetables to go with your meal the next question do you have any other options i i didn't know if you thought this might be tricky because i i thought maybe somebody would think well that could be a yes or no question do you have any other options the reason why you're going to use any is because even though you could answer yes or no the expectation is that you you need to give more information for example if the customer is asking do you have any other options and the waiter just says yes and they don't say anything else that's going to sound a little weird so in this case it's not like you can only answer yes or no you would need to give more information which is why in this case we're using any so this is not just a yes or no question would you like some vet would you like some vegetables to go with your meal uh do you have any other options and then they continue the conversation right here how about um rice or potatoes and the customer says i ate rice for lunch i guess i'll just have mmm caesar salad now the one little hint that i'll give you is i'm i'm trying to trick you here a little bit so we'll see uh if if some of you catch on this is tricky i'm trying to trick you and think about think about the what i told you at the beginning what i told you to keep in mind so we have the first part of the conversation would you like some vegetables to go with your meal the customer says do you have any other options and the waiter responds with how about rice or potatoes i ate rice for lunch i guess i'll have caesar salad and i told you i'm trying to trick you so that's uh your hint all right i think uh you guys are kind of getting this uh so far i haven't seen any correct answers because i'm trying to trick you all right and the the one that i'm trying to trick you on is that last one and the one thing i'd say before i'll show you the answer because i haven't seen any correct answers remember some and any they're determiners and i put that little asterisk up there used with plural plural nouns and non-count nouns okay so that's your that's your hint right there we're talking about for the first part actually the the last one should not be summer any all right some some and then uh caesar salad and let's talk about why i'm sorry if that was confusing so the waiter would ask how about some rice or potatoes again it's a question but in this case the answer could either just be yes or no so this also this can be thought of as okay that is the exception you're asking a question you're offering something and the answer could just be yes or no how about some rice or potatoes and the person could say well just yes or no and in this case the customer responds well i ate some rice for lunch it's a it's a positive statement rice is a non-count noun i guess i'll have caesar's salad so a caesar salad this is uh it's not a plural noun a salad it's a singular noun and in this case you're just going to use an article that is the determiner you would use i'll just have a caesar salad all right it's just a salad okay uh sorry if that was uh confusing maybe everybody was just zeroed in on that sum in any uh but i i think as you read this it's a pretty simple conversation dialogue i think uh i hope it makes sense yes it was a trap all right i told you that i would wanted to kind of wrap it up talking about some other meanings for some and any especially how they might be informally used as idioms so this is confusing grammar because they're both determiners they're quantifiers when you're talking about an amount some versus any but they can also have like some can have another meaning in this case it can refer to something that is well impressive that's some and then you would follow it with a noun that's some pig all right can anybody does anybody uh can anybody tell me where that's uh from that's some pig or somebody could say well that's some boat you got there and in that case they're using some to say that it's impressive that's some boat that's some pig and if you don't know that some pig that's coming that's a reference to the book charlotte's web i don't know if anybody's read that but that was like one of the that was the first that was the first message she wrote up in the web to describe wilbur some pig an impressive pig uh yeah so they no longer capitalize the sea and caesar salad i i don't know that's a good question maybe i should have capitalized that uh i'm not sure i'll have to check on that um so some could mean very impressive like this it's also this is another this is an idiom and then some and i told you it's an idiom because idioms don't think of the meaning of the individual word just think of this as one phrase and then you have the meaning and it means and even more and then some it's used informally uh hopefully those example sentences might help if i'm just speaking casually oh they paid us a thousand dollars and then some and it's saying that you got even more perhaps you got more money perhaps they gave you some food we don't know but it's just an expression that you could use uh they paid us a thousand dollars and then some and even more or i had to do all their chores and then some so again we don't know what what more this person had to do but if you want to kind of really emphasize give emphasis to something and really and even more people might throw that and then some and then some so this is a it's a good informal idiom if we're talking about any um this is another a phrase that you may hear i should say it's another idiom by any means necessary if somebody says by any means necessary it just means they're going to do whatever is needed and typically i would say that you're talking about it could be even something like referring to using some violence or cheating or maybe doing something unethical is i think how people may interpret this ah we're gonna by any means necessary we're going to win this election by any means necessary and in that case like i said they might be talking about doing something that could be wrong or cheating or immoral so think about consider that when you're using this typically people are saying that they're going to do whatever is needed even if it involves something that they probably shouldn't be doing by any means necessary another one um with any and this is another meaning for any let me explain this anyone that you like so for example if i you i don't know i maybe if i have a bunch of cars that you can choose from and i say choose anyone that you like or you can have anyone that you like in this case any is talking about it's one of a particular type of a thing when something's not important so basically oh you can have anyone that you like i'm saying you can have any type of this and it really doesn't matter it's not important which one anyone that you like and that's again that's a phrase that you might hear uh people say this is whoops i always get the the camera mixed up over here this um i just want i i i oh that's another typo i found it okay it should say instead of can it should say can't i can't just wear any old thing to the party any old thing this is more of an expression i think it's a little maybe a little bit of an older expression again can should be can't i can't just wear any old thing any old thing in this phrase really means anything but somebody instead of saying anything somebody might say any old thing they're referring to clothes so we're talking about wearing any old thing i think people that's typically how you would use this expression wear any old thing again we're talking about one particular item of clothing that's not important any old piece of clothing that doesn't matter in this in this context you're saying you can't just wear any old thing you're basically saying the clothes that you're going to wear is very important so you need to be careful you can't just wear any old thing and again i made a typo there that or over there it should not say can that should say can't um yes zsb you're right too many typos today uh i need to i need to need to hone in on these a bit more but yeah every time i look through these several several times and i'm like i got it down no typos and then yes i i get here live with you guys and they all just start popping up out of nowhere so these are just some other examples as to how you may use some or any i think the best um source that i have for you guys is this one right here and i told uh members patrons when i post these lessons then you'll have this available but this is really your guide to when to use some in any when we're talking about quantifiers because then in that case we're talking about an amount all right and if any of you guys are interested if you want to uh support what we do here at interactive english check out those links down in the description if you would like to become a member or a patron uh you can check out those links below so i hope this really i hope this helped maybe clear up some confusion my hair is getting way too long i really i desperately need to get a haircut anyway i hope this is useful and even if you knew some of this information it's always good to review it's always good to practice because sometimes this is where people may make a slight mistake when they're using some or any especially if we're talking about those exceptions that we were looking at on that chart of when to use them thank you guys so much uh for being here today thank you um boomi yashar um samitsa michelle leonardo farman jam where do you live right now i live in budapest hungary that's where i am and we are currently in lockdown right now uh and julio nyan thank you guys for being here lolly yes i want to learn english by any means necessary uh hopefully hopefully you won't have to do anything uh immoral to do that but yes that's it that is another way that you could use it in a positive sense i'm going to learn it by any means necessary you're very motivated very determined i love it uh thank you takayo excellent glad you learned something new if you guys did learn something new hit that like button down below it always uh it always uh just makes me you know it just makes me happy i don't know uh gotrudish you'll re-watch it excellent great um uh thanks for being here keep an eye out i will post these notes if not today tomorrow uh so you guys can access them uh my members and patrons fabiola um mohammed ria vifa thank you guys hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend --- ## 517. SONGS TO IMPROVE YOUR LISTENING FLUENCY ๐ŸŽต | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QKZJciv6YSI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKZJciv6YSI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:45:11 | --- Today, I want to talk to you about what songs you should listen to if you would like to improve your English that's coming up. Hi everyone. My name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is where you want to be to practice and improve your English skills. And today today's lesson is all about music because so many of you will ask, you know, I want to improve my English skills. I love listening to music. So what songs do you recommend? And I'm going to tell you about a variety of songs that you can listen to to help you improve your listening skills and your English comprehension. All of these songs are very different. Some of them you may have never heard of before, but that's good because it's all about getting exposure, especially the right exposure, which is really going to help improve your comprehension. But first I want to mention that when you're listening to music, I personally think it's really beneficial if you can actually see the words that you're listening to. So down in the description, I have attached a link to each one of these songs so that you can listen to them, read the lyrics and really understand what the song is about. Let's begin with something that I think is a bit easier and that is John Lennon's Imagine ,and the reason I chose this song, well first of all it's very famous but also it's really slow and I think that is a problem when it comes to listening to music is that most of the time people are not listening at their level. They're listening to music that is way beyond their level and they're like, wow, I didn't hear this word. I don't understand what they're saying, but this song is really slow. They speak slowly, which makes it easy to comprehend. Imagine all the people. And I think that's good that this song may even be below your level and it's always good to get that exposure because you want to build your confidence, you want to understand what it is you're listening to and this song will help you do just that. Now I want to tell you about another song that is also a bit slower. I think it's easier to understand and that is the Police, Every Breath You Take. Every breath you take... Throughout much of the song they're singing slowly, it'll be easy to follow. But then there's a part where it speeds up a little bit and I think that's a good challenge when you are listening to something that is slow and you can comprehend it easily and then test yourself to see if you can keep up. So throughout the song it moves a little slowly and then there's a point where it picks up a little. So they'll be like, I'll be watching you. And then it picks up a little faster. Since you've gone, I've been lost without a trace. And it, it sounds much better than that. Alright. I'm sorry. I'm going to try not to sing throughout this lesson because I just don't want to hurt your ears. But you get the idea that the song will move from from slow to a little faster and that's a good test to see if you can keep up and follow along with what's being said. Then we have Beyonce, If I Were a Boy. So this song I put this in there because it's good practice. If I were a boy, this is the second conditional. If I were a boy... She gives that condition, that hypothetical situation. If I were a boy... It's also the subjunctive I were, if I were a boy, if I were you, if I were king of the world. This is a great example of the subjunctive in the second conditional and then throughout the song she says this and we'll give different results and you're going to use wood plus the base verb. If I were a boy I would listen to her. So again, it's great practice for the second conditional to see if you can listen for it and try to identify those different results that she gives throughout the song because she repeats that throughout. If I were a boy and then we'll talk about these different results and what it would be like if this hypothetical situation were true. If I were a boy, then we have Indigo Girls, Closer to Fine. And this is a great song to also practice your grammar skills a little bit because they use the simple past quite often and the song is also a bit faster as well. And the reason I chose this is because I think when it comes to the simple past, for many of you, especially if you are an intermediate or advanced learner, you'll be able to easily recognize the simple past. It's good to choose a song that that's a little faster. I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains, I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain. And they sing it with a lot more melody than I just did right then and they sing it much faster. Closer I am to fine. So again, this is a great song to practice your grammar skills and try to identify the simple path. Then we have Gloria Gaynor, I Will Survive. One word that I would use to describe the song is mellifluous. And if you don't know what that means, it is an adjective which means that something is pleasant to hear and that's what I think about when I hear Gloria Gaynor's, I Will Survive. It is mellifluous. It is pleasant to hear, which is one of the reasons why I recommend it. Oh no not I. I will survive. This song also has, it has just a great message. I will survive. It's mostly that it has to do with a relationship and you know, trying to get past this, this bad relationship and she's saying, you know, I will survive. I'm going to move on with my life. I will continue forward. I will survive. Which I think is something that I think all of us can relate to, that we've had problems in our lives, issues, people that we've dealt with who have not treated us fairly and you want to move on past that. I will survive and this is a great song because it's a different style than these other songs. This is more disco music from the 70s and that's mostly why I chose it is to give you a bit of variety because when it comes to practicing your listening skills, I would always recommend try to listen to songs that you enjoy, music that you enjoy, but it's still good to get exposure to different music, to different styles, to different accents. And that's what I would encourage you to do. Then we have Weird Al's, Word Crimes. I love this song, especially as an English teacher because, well, if you're not familiar with Weird Al, he does music. It's, they're mostly parodies of other songs. So this is a parody of the song Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. So instead of blurred lines, Weird Al is talking about word crimes. I hate these word crimes. These are all the different mistakes that people make when they are either speaking English or maybe grammar mistakes. So this is a song that I really recommend you've listened to and read the lyrics. Follow along with the lyrics and and see if you can understand the different mistakes that he's talking about. It's a great song. Check it out. I think you will find it very funny. Word Crimes. Then we have Disney's, I am Moana. And this is from the movie Moana. And I think this song is great. Well I think many Disney songs in general are great because they tell a story they have to do with the movies, which means that the music is also going to tell a story related to what you're watching in the movie. This is a great example of listening to a story which is in the song. So the song begins with the grandmother telling that story, talking to Moana, asking her, you don't want to listen, do you know who you are? And then finally Moana jumps in there and you hear say, who am I? And then she proceeds to tell you who she is, which finally culminates in her saying. I am Moana... So this is a great song that presents a story that is clear, concise, easy to comprehend. So listen to the song, check it out. And if you haven't seen the movie, I also suggest you watch it. It's a great movie. Next is Charlie Daniels Band, Devil Went Down to Georgia. And the reason I chose this song is because again, it tells a story. It tells a great story, but also it's a different style of music because this is more Southern rock. A little bit of bluegrass. The devil went down to Georgia. He was looking for a soul to steal. And the song starts out really just giving you the main idea. The devil went down to Georgia. He was looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind, he was way behind, so he was willing to make a deal. And the devil comes across this, this boy named Johnny and they have this competition so it really tells a clear story in a different way than that a Disney song would. So that's why I recommend this song. It's great. Different style. Check it out. Then we have Harry Chapins. Cat's in the Cradle. This is, well this is actually one of my favorite songs. I love it. I chose it because, well it is a little slower so I think it will be easier for you to comprehend. And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon. The story which it tells is perhaps a little more challenging to then like a Disney song or even a the Charlie Daniels band song that I recommended, but still it represents a story, something that I think we can all relate to because it's talking about a relationship and not being able to invest the time and energy that you want to in this relationship. And I think that's something that we can all identify with when we're talking about friends or family and we want to be able to give this person a little more time, a little more attention, but maybe we're not able to. That is the message at the heart of the song. So when you listen to it, just see if you can identify it. Next is Alan Jackson's, Little Bitty. So I chose this song for, well, a few different reasons. First it's also I think a little slower. It's a little easier to comprehend because it is country music and that's another reason. It is a different style. And I do think whether you like these different styles or not, it's up to you. But I still think it's great to get that exposure and to give it a try. This was a very popular song, and what they're talking about are these things that are little bitty, which basically means it's talking about something that's small or in a small amount. So he talks about a little bitty town, a little bitty check, a little bitty car. All of these things that are kind of small or in a small amount, I think the message is to say, well, you know, if you just have a small amount of something that that's okay, that's perfectly fine. We all don't need to have too much in life. It's all right to be little bitty. Life goes on for a little bitty while. Then we have Pearl Jam's, Last Kiss. So this is a song that I grew up with. I think it's from the 90s and I was in high school. So that's how I remember it. And I chose it for two reasons. It is a song that is sung slowly and they clearly pronounced the lyrics. O where, O where, can my baby be? So I think this will be another song that it will be a little easier for you to comprehend. And that's good because listening to music, it's not always about trying to push yourself to the limit and try to listen to music that's really fast and challenging. It's good to get a variety and sometimes take a step back and listen to something that's a little easier to comprehend. But when it comes to music, I think the most important thing is that you listen to something you enjoy, which is one reason I tried to provide you with a variety of different styles and tried to provide you with different reasons as to why you should listen to these songs. Maybe to practice your grammar or your listening comprehension. And if you are learning English, it is a great way to do both, to enjoy the music as well as practice your listening skills. But now I want to hear from you. So in the comments, tell me what, what kind of music do you like to listen to? What is your favorite song? It's always great to get recommendations from other, so I suggest that you read down below in the comments and see what other people have to say. If you enjoy this lesson, please hit that like button. And as always, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 518. SOUND LIKE YOU'RE FROM THE US! ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ 1-Hour Deep-Dive into American Accent, Pronunciation, & Culture | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rSt_efdPN8Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSt_efdPN8Y) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:40:45 | --- We are about to do a deep dive into the American accent. And when I say deep, I mean deep. Of course, I am from the US and I want to share with you what truly makes up the American accent so that you have a better understanding as to why people sound the way they do. And if you are someone who is interested in learning more about accent, pronunciation, even US culture, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes, the channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. Let's get the ball rolling by talking about the American accent in general, the standard American accent, if you will. And I want to share with you some useful tips if you are interested in copying the accent and sounding a bit more like you're from the US. So, let's begin. In this lesson, we're going to talk about the standard American accent. And I really just want to break it down and talk about what are some of the different parts that make the accent what it is today. Now, the first thing I want to say is that if you are an English learner, you should not feel like you have to speak with any sort of accent. The most important thing is mutual intelligibility, that we understand each other. That being said, I do think this will help with your listening comprehension if you're watching a movie or TV show and really just get a better understanding of why people speak the way they do. And of course, we are going to practice throughout the lesson. And the first thing that I want you to keep in mind is that you need to pronounce those Rs, especially at the end of words. Father, car, water. that er sound at the end of those words. >> I am your father. Car for car. Car for car. There are some regional accents in the United States. For example, New England, in which you may hear people drop those Rs, but when talking about the standard American accent, you're going to pronounce them at the end of words. So, I want you to repeat these after me and I'm going to really emphasize that R at the end. Father. Car. Water. Good. We're going to build on top of this as we go through the lesson, but I want you to think about that last word, water, because this brings me to the next part of the American accent, which I think is very common. And I'm talking about the flap T. So, the flap T, it sounds more like a soft D, and it often occurs when the T comes between two vowel sounds, like in the word water. You don't hear a true T, you hear a flap T when I say it, water. And this is why these two words right here, with the American accent, they sound like homonyms, metal, metal. A flap T may also occur when the T comes before a dark L, such as in the words little, bottle, rattle. You hear that slight d sound. Bottle of water. I want you to repeat after me. Bottle of water. Now, if you were saying it in the exact same way as I was, then you were linking a couple of different words, and that's the next thing that I want to talk to you about, linking. This is part of connected speech, and it's when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. And it's almost like you're just taking that consonant sound and just moving it over to the next word or syllable. Now, linking is not specific to the American accent. Other English varieties use linking as well as other languages, but I do think it helps give the accent part of its rhythm and flow. So, bottle of water. We can link that dark L in bottle with the beginning vowel sound in of, bottle of. Now, let's add to this phrase, get a bottle of water. So, I've added the words get a. Except I didn't pronounce it like that. I said, get a bottle of water. Now, that final T in get, because it comes between two vowel sounds, I am going to pronounce it as, you guessed it, a flap T. And then I can link that soft d sound with the article a, and it's going to sound like get a. Get a bottle of water. And then we can turn this into a question. I want you to repeat after me, can I get a bottle of water? Excuse me, can I get a bottle of water? Can I get a bottle of water? Can I get a bottle of water, please? Many learners often ask me, how can I practice linking? And this is something that I think you can easily do on your own. Just take any article, really any paragraph. Go through the paragraph and identify all of those indefinite articles, a, as well as any preposition that begins with a vowel sound, in, on, at. If the word before ends with a consonant, well, then linking may likely occur. And then just go through the paragraph, read it out loud, and focus on those phrases, and make sure that you are linking that final consonant sound with the beginning vowel sound. So, let's look at, well, the very first sentence of The Hobbit, right? Very well-known, famous story. In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Just with this first sentence, linking occurs three different times. It occurs with the very first two words, in a. It occurs with the next two words, hole in. And then it also occurs with the words lived a. In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. I cannot stress enough how common linking is in just everyday conversation, and it's really going to smooth out your speech. So, let's build on that phrase that we were practicing before, and we'll create a question. Do you want to get a bottle of water? Repeat after me. Do you want to get a bottle of water? And right now, I want to focus on wanna, and I'm emphasizing it because I want to talk about reductions, which is also very common in spoken English, especially in the United States. This is when speakers shorten, change, or remove particular sounds. And there are many different reductions, but I I think gonna, wanna, have to, those are some of the more common ones. Now, even though you see them written right now, I would avoid using them in writing. I know sometimes you may see people use them in writing, like in a text message, but in general, I I would just avoid them. But when it comes to spoken English, I think they're great to use because I think they'll help you develop a nice rhythm and flow. There's one thing in particular that I want you to keep in mind, and that is reductions are not really emphasized. have a tendency to stress or emphasize them. But they're not emphasized. I just want you to listen as I say the following sentences. What are you going to do tomorrow? I want to take a vacation. I have to work in the morning. So, I'm not emphasizing these reductions. If anything, they're really de-emphasized, and they're just going to help you run right through the sentence. Now, there's one word that I really want to highlight because we often use it, and you're probably not even thinking about it. And I'm talking about the word for. So, this word is often reduced, and that vowel sound changes to fer. It's very soft and subtle, but see if you can hear the difference. Wait here for a moment. Wait here for a moment. And it's actually much easier when pronouncing that vowel sound just to say that fer, for a moment. Again, we can reduce that word and just move quicker through the sentence. Wait here for a moment. Let's keep adding to that question, and now we have, do you want to get a bottle of water for your father? I want you to say it with me. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father? One more time. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father? The next thing that I want to talk about when it comes to the American accent that I really think that you need to master is the schwa sound. People in the United States love the schwa sound. This is just an unstressed vowel sound, and it really is just going to sound like uh. And you hear it all the time in so many different words and phrases, even those reductions that we already talked about, that second syllable would have the schwa sound. Gonna, wanna, have to. When it comes to the schwa sound, it's important to know which vowel sounds in a word may be unstressed because those unstressed vowels may be pronounced with the schwa sound. And at times, this is when I hear English learners make a slight mistake, and they'll end up stressing a syllable with a vowel that should be unstressed and pronounced with the schwa sound. So, have a listen to these words right here. Official, pencil, address, syringe. All of these words have the schwa sound, and they're all different letters, and that's what I wanted to point out, is that any vowel, when it's unstressed, it may get pronounced with the schwa sound. It's unstressed, and another way to think about it is that it's just a weak sound. And that's where I want to go next and talk about weak unstressed function words. So, there are two common words that may have different pronunciations depending on whether the word is stressed or unstressed. And I'm talking about the words you and to. So, when unstressed, you may sound more like ya. And to may sound more like ta. And you hear that schwa sound. My suggestion is that you don't think about these words that you're always going to hear one or the other, either you or ya. Think about it more like a spectrum, and you may hear anywhere in between. Because the fact that you're not stressing these words, and you're using a weaker vowel sound, that's what's changing it to more of a schwa sound. Listen to this phrase right here, at the start of a question. When stressed, do you want to? When unstressed, do ya want to? Do you want to? Or this phrase, when stressed, to the airport. When weak and unstressed, to the airport. To the airport. Let's add these phrases to the question. There's that ta. To create a pretty long sentence that has everything that we just talked about. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport? Now that we have this long question, we just need to practice. And that is the next thing that I wanted to talk to you about, practice, because it is so important. And if you have been practicing with me throughout the lesson, I want to know. Write the word speaking in the comments. That tells me you've been practicing your speaking skills. So, when it comes to practice, there are several things that you can do. Listen to native speakers and try to imitate their pronunciation. Pay close attention to the way people articulate sounds, and then try to replicate them. Even if we're talking about, well, slight and subtle weak sounds. We just talked about those words, to, you, for, being pronounced as ta, ya, and fer. This is what can help you develop a more authentic Standard American accent, if that happens to be one of your speaking goals. So, let's practice. And because this question is so long, I am going to break it up into two different groups. And I'm going to put a slight pause between the groups. So, I'll say the question, try to listen for that pause. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport? Hopefully, you heard that slight pause after the word father, which is before that dependent clause. And I do this in order to really control the pacing. So, let's practice. I am going to say that first group, and I want you to repeat after me. And then I'll say the second group, and I want you to repeat again. Are you ready? Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport? Now, let's say the whole question. I'll say it, you repeat after me, and try it again. Control that pacing with that pause. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport? Good. Now, let's say it together. And this is more like shadowing. I want you to say it in the exact same way that I am. And really, what's challenging would be to see if you can keep that same speed. So, let's say the question together. We'll do this three times. Are you ready? Let's begin. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport? One more time. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport? Again. Do you want to get a bottle of water for your father before he goes to the airport? Excellent. Now, if you were able to say that question just like me, well, then you're using a lot of the things that we talked about in this lesson. You're pronouncing those final Rs, you're pronouncing that flap T, using reductions, linking, as well as some of those weak sounds like ta, ya, and fer. And remember, the most important thing is to continue practicing and really try to make time for it, because exercises like the one that we did in this lesson are really going to help you in daily conversations. Now that you have a better understanding of the Standard American accent, let's have a look at some distinct regional accents. And this is fun, because it it really adds flavor to any English variety. And even though some of these regional accents may be a little more difficult to understand, it really does give you a sense of the the country and the culture. Of course, the US is a melting pot. People move around all the time. And just because you are in one area, it doesn't mean everybody's going to speak with that regional accent. But, if you happen to be traveling around the US, you may come across some of these different accents. And in that case, it's a good way to improve your listening skills. to talk to you about some different and well-known accents in the United States. And as I present these accents, I'm really going to be demonstrating the the stereotypical accent. It's going to be very thick. And that's just so you can easily hear the difference between a a Standard American accent and a regional accent. I am actually an English teacher, and I teach a lot about the American accent. But I've had many learners ask me about specific accents. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk a little bit about some of the accents you may hear if you are visiting the United States or even living in the United States. The first accent that I want to talk to you about, which is the New York accent. Or, as some people might say in New York, New Yawk. when the R comes at the end of a word. So, just listen to the difference between a Standard American accent and then a New York accent dropping the R. Before. Befo. Here. Hea. Water. Wata. So, I'm dropping the R at the end of those words. And you will also drop the R when it it doesn't really come at the end, but maybe the middle of a single syllable word like like the word park. People might say, "Pawk." And even the word New York, as you heard me pronounce it already, New Yawk. Something else I want to tell you about the New York accent is that when you have the AL letter combination, it may sound like aw. And and this is very slight with some words. So, if I say the word talk, in the New York accent, "Tawk." And and it just gets stressed a little bit. And it may be easier to to listen for if I were to give you a question. So, instead of saying, "What are you talking about?" with the accent, "What are you talking about?" "What are you talking about?" Something else I would say is that when it comes to accents in general, I think reductions of all kinds are very common. So, in this sentence, I'm reducing you to ya. I'm using the the schwa sound, that uh sound, so that it's not stressed, and it would just sound like ya. Which is pretty common in spoken English when you comes in the middle of a sentence or the middle of a clause. So, it would sound like, "What are you talking about?" "What are you talking about?" This AL combination is also true in words like call. So, with this one, you can really tell the difference between where your tongue is at in your mouth, because generally, when you say call, the tongue is going to come up to the top part of your mouth at the end of the word, because it's a dark L, and you'd hear that aw sound at the end. Call. But with the New York accent, it would sound like caw. And your tongue is actually laying flat at the bottom of your mouth. So, again, to to give you an example with a sentence, "I'll call you later." "I'll call you later." Once again, I'm reducing you to ya, and then I'm dropping that R in later. "I'll call you later." "I'll call you later." Let's move a little further to the north, and we'll talk about the Boston accent. This is another well-known accent that you may hear in, well, movies, TV shows, like the movie The Departed. Great movie. >> One kid with your old man, one kid with your mother. You're up in middle class during the week, then you're dropping your Rs, and you're hanging in the big bad Southie projects. And the Boston accent actually shares some similarities with the the New York accent. You're also going to drop the R in in many words, like the well, the word car. I think this is a word that's often used when talking about the Boston accent. And it's going to sound like caw. So, what what kind of car you drive? Did you find your car keys? And when if somebody were to say the phrase car keys, and you are an English learner, yeah, it can be difficult to to catch that that the R is getting dropped, and somebody is talking about their car keys. Did you find your car keys? With the Boston accent, that AL, people may also pronounce it more like an aw. But I I think with the Boston accent, often there's there's going to be an upward inflection at the end of of sentences. So, if I were to say, "Yeah, I I was talking with my friends. We were talking about Star Wars." And I tried to end those sentences with that upward inflection. I like that phrase, Star Wars, dropping the Rs in both of those words. Something else with the Boston accent is the OR combination may also sound like aw. And this is true even if you're talking about the conjunction or, like chicken or beef. Chicken or beef? Coke or Pepsi? All right, hopefully you can easily hear that. And this is true when the OR combination is in individual words like divorce divorce. Force force. May the force be with you. All right, we're talking about Star Wars. So, I'm just just imagining Luke Skywalker with a thick Boston accent. May the force be with you. You know, me and the other Jedis, we're going to go down to the packie and grab some beers. All right, the that's that's more dialect. The packie is it's short for package store, which is just a liquor store where where people would buy alcohol, the packie. So, let's let's go in a different direction and head down south. And I want to talk to you about the southern drawl. One of the main characteristics of the southern drawl is that it's going to sound a little slower, and that's cuz people might drag out those vowel sounds. And I previously I did another lesson talking about the southern drawl. I'll leave that up here in case you're interested. But one reason why those vowel sounds are going to get dragged out is because people will take short vowel sounds and turn them into a diphthong in which you are combining two vowel sounds. And the vowel sounds that people will combine are short vowel sounds with an off glide schwa sound, which is that uh. So, you have the verb have. And it might sound like have. So, it's sounds a little longer. You can kind of hear that that schwa, that uh sound on it. Have have. Y'all have a pen? I need to write something down. So, hopefully you can hear that schwa sound, have. But I also said have a pen. And that's another characteristic of the southern drawl is the mixing of vowel sounds, especially the eh and the ih. So, instead of saying pen, it may sound like pin. Y'all have a pin? I need somebody to get me a pin. Okay, so even get might sound like git. But while we're in the south, I also want to talk to you about the southern twang. It's a little different than that southern drawl. So, with the southern twang, I might think of places more like the Florida panhandle or Louisiana. And it is going to be a little different than the southern drawl even though they share some of the same characteristics. People are going to take short vowel sounds and turn it into a diphthong. They're going to mix some of those same vowel sounds like get and git. But I I would say that the southern drawl it's going to sound slower, it's more rounded, and like it's coming from the back of your your throat. Whereas the twang, it's going to sound more at a normal speed, perhaps a bit sharper, and really come through the nose. It's going to sound more nasally. So, let me give you a sentence with the southern drawl and the southern twang. Just try to listen for the difference. If I were to say with the southern drawl, I can't wait to get me one of those. And then with the twang, I can't wait to get me one of those. Okay, I was trying to say it more through my nose. Please, if you're from the south, please feel free to to give me some notes down in the comments below. But just trying to make a slight distinction between the southern drawl and the southern twang. Because if you're spending any time in the south, you may hear a little bit of both. And now let's move Well, let's go to the upper Midwest because I want to talk to you about Minnesota. Okay, and even when I say the name of the state, you should notice that long O sound, Minnesota. And this is something that's distinct about the accent. If I were just to say it with a a standard American accent, Minnesota. But with the the Minnesotan accent, Minnesota. And you really have this pure O sound in many words. So, instead of boat boat. Soap soap. And it's really it sounds a little like you're just stressing that O a little bit, but you really have that pure O sound. Another thing about this accent, if somebody were to have a very thick Minnesota accent they may pronounce words that have AG as like egg. So, words that like flag may sound like fleg. Or bag beg. Instead of saying put the soda in the bag, you might hear put the soda in the beg. All right, now let's go let's go all the way out west to California. And I want to talk to you about Well, this is more of a stereotypical Californian valley accent. Again, something you might hear in movies or TV shows. And when it comes to this accent I actually think it's more about well, the the way people are stress timing the language. And what I would say is that people end up over stressing words that might have a slight stress and then de-stressing other words that that generally get reduced. So, let me let me give you an example. Just listen to the way I'm talking when I when I say the following. Today, we're going to go to the mall and I'm going to go shopping with my friends and it's going to be hella cool because everybody's going to be talking like me. Okay, so I was really trying to over stress some of those words and then de-emphasize the words that are commonly reduced, which is why you would really hear certain words and then everything else just gets run together and it sounds really fast. Uh something else about this accent, which is more dialect, would be the use of fillers such as the word like. I was like and he was like and she was like. I I used to live in California in the Bay Area and in the morning I would ride the bus to work and there would be high school students who would also take the same bus going to to school in the morning. And I would hear some of their conversations and it was difficult for me to follow. Every other word was the word like. And I like told him that I couldn't like come over and help him with his homework and he was like, why? You like promised me that that you'd like help me with this. It's a very important project. And after listening to this, I was thinking, what what are you guys talking about? Now, to to follow up on that, this is I think a stereotypical accent that you might find among younger generations, perhaps kids in high school might talk more like this. But again, this is the stereotypical valley accent. Hopefully you have a better understanding of these accents. I I know that I went through them rather quickly, but I just wanted to to to give you a sense of of what they sound like and why. Now that we've talked about different accents that you may encounter in the US, whether it be the standard accent or even some regional accents, let's focus a little bit on pronunciation. Because if you are traveling to the US, you're going to be visiting a state living in different states, so it's important to know how to pronounce them correctly as though you're from there. So, let's practice pronouncing all 50 states right now. them all correctly? I'm from the US, secret's out. And the reason I'm telling you this is because often when I tell people I'm from the United States, people will ask where. You know, a lot of people around the world are are confident with geography in the US. They're familiar with many of the different states, but from time to time as we're we're talking about the US and places to visit and places that people may have been or they want to go, I may hear them talk about a state and they'll they'll have a slight mispronunciation. Maybe they're stressing the wrong syllable or or they're just saying it incorrectly. So, I thought today would be a good time to talk about each state and show you how to pronounce them correctly. So, I'm going to tell you the state. I am going to tell you how many syllables each word has. So, all of that means that by the end of this lesson, you will be able to say each and every state perfectly. The first state, and I'm I'm just going to go through these alphabetically, is Alabama. It has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable, that bam. Alabama. And if you're in Alabama, you might hear people pronounce it with a rather strong southern accent, Alabama. I was actually born in Alabama. No, it's true. I was. I've lived in quite a few of these states, so I'll I'll let you know. The next state is Alaska. It has three syllables, the stress is on that second syllable. That final syllable just has that schwa, Alaska. It is a beautiful state. If you love the outdoors, I highly recommend it. I worked up there for the summer. It's gorgeous. Then we have Arizona. It has four syllables, the stress is on that third syllable, Arizona. Zo zo zo, Arizona. Not much to say about Arizona except it's hot. Next is Arkansas. Three syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Arkansas. This is a common one that that people have a little trouble with because again, don't don't think of the spelling. Don't try and pronounce it based on the spelling, you could get all screwed up. That final syllable, saw, saw, Arkansas. Next is the most populous state, and that is California. It has four syllables, stress is on that third syllable, California. Sometimes, if you're very cool, you just shorten it to two syllables and just say Cali, Cali. You know, I used to live in Cali. I've just been informed that nobody cool says that. Then we have Colorado. This state has four syllables, the stress is on that third syllable. Even though it's r a d, it's Colorado, not rado, Colorado. The Rocky Mountains, beautiful state. I did my university there, University of Colorado, go buffs. Next is Connecticut. This is another one where the the spelling can can throw off the pronunciation a little bit if you're trying to say it how it's spelled, but Connecticut has four syllables, the stress is on that second syllable, Connecticut, Connecticut. I also used to live in Connecticut. Now I think about it, I've I've lived in quite a few of these states. Next is Delaware. Has three syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Delaware. I don't know anything about Delaware. I've never been there, I've never lived there, so let's just move on to the next state. It also has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, Florida. It's the Sunshine State, my parents live there now, known for its beautiful beaches, Florida. Next is Georgia, two syllables, stress on that first syllable, Georgia. Or again, if you're in the South, if you're in Georgia, people might say Jawja. I also used to live in Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia. I'm sure people are like, wait, that's not how we say it in Georgia, it's just Georgia. My Southern accent's pretty bad. Then we have a state that I would like to live in, and I think many people romanticize this state. It's our only island state, Hawaii. Has three syllables, stress is on that second syllable, Hawaii. And again, the spelling can can throw off the pronunciation a little bit, but yeah, just remember, Hawaii. Then we have Idaho. Has three syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Idaho. Idaho. When I think of Idaho, I think of potatoes. That's what the state's known for, Idaho potatoes. Then there's Illinois. Also three syllables, but the stress is on the third syllable, Illinois. Again, the spelling and the pronunciation can get a little crazy. That last syllable, that final syllable, noy, Illinois. The next state, Indiana. Has four syllables, stress is on that third syllable, Indiana. I think many people might be familiar with this, famous movie, Indiana Jones. Not really have anything to do with the state, just the name, so let's just move on to the next one, which is Iowa. Iowa has three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable, Iowa. Again, Iowa, spelling, pronunciation, a little crazy, I o w a. That second syllable has that schwa, Iowa. And when I think of Iowa, I think of corn, because there's a lot of corn in Iowa. The next state is Kansas, the great state of Kansas. Two syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Kansas. And what I have to say about Kansas is nothing really. I drove through there once, it was a long drive, so let's just keep driving on through to the next state, which is Kentucky. This word has three syllables, stress is on that second syllable, Kentucky, Kentucky. The next state, Louisiana. It has five syllables, the stress is on that fourth syllable, that ann, Louisiana. And when I think of Louisiana, I start thinking of food. I think of that gumbo, Louisiana, known for their gumbo. And while we're on the topic of food, our next state, Maine, has one syllable, just one, Maine. Maine, I also think of food, I think of lobster when I think of Maine. And then, again, let's just keep going, Maryland. This state has three syllables, the stress is on that first syllable, Maryland. It's not Mary, you don't really hear that y, it's just Maryland. Also think of food, crab. Maryland has great crab. Then we come to Massachusetts. Not a food state. Well, actually, no, no, that's not true. There is New England clam chowder there, which is pretty amazing in Massachusetts. They also have four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable, that chew, Massachusetts. When I think of Massachusetts, you know how people from each state have have names, like if you're from Georgia, then you're Georgian. If you're from California, then you're Californian. If you're from Massachusetts, then you're a masshole. I don't know why I always I always laugh at that joke. I guess if you're from Massachusetts, you probably don't think it's funny. Then we have Michigan. This state has three syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Michigan. And very close to Michigan is Minnesota. syllables, stress is on that third syllable, that so, that second syllable just the schwa, Minnesota. There's also a pretty distinct accent in Minnesota, Minnesota, Minnesota. Gosh, I am just terrible at accents, Minnesota, Minnesota. Minnesota, okay, I'm just going to I just let's just move on. Then we have Mississippi. This state has four syllables, the stress is on that third syllable. That second one's just that schwa, Mississippi, Mississippi. After Mississippi is Missouri. This state has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, Missouri, Missouri. That s is going to have more of that z sound, Missouri. Then we have Montana, three syllables, stress is on that second syllable, Montana, Montana. Another beautiful state, gorgeous mountains, Montana. Near there is Nebraska. Three syllables, stress is also on that second syllable, Nebraska, Nebraska. Not really mountains in Nebraska, sorry. Next we have Nevada. It has three syllables, stress is on that second syllable, Nevada. And when people think of Nevada, I think most of us think of Las Vegas, Sin City, gambling, Nevada. Next is New Hampshire. Two words, three syllables, the stress is going to be on that first syllable in the second word, looking at Hampshire. Now, that last syllable, it's not shire, it's not like Frodo in the Shire, it's sure, New Hampshire, New Hampshire. I also for a very short time lived in New Hampshire. Live free or die, that's what it says on the license plate, check it out. Next we have New Jersey. Three syllables, stress is on well, the first syllable of the second word, that jer, New Jersey, New Jersey. Again, a state that I think probably has a more distinct accent, Jersey. A lot of times people will just say that second word, just Jersey. Where are you from? Jersey, Jersey, Jersey, from Jersey. I apologize for these terrible accents, but let's just move on. Next is New Mexico. Four syllables, again, the stress is on that first syllable of the second word, New Mexico, Mexico, New Mexico. Don't know what to say about New Mexico except yes, it's very hot. Then another very well known state, New York. Two syllables, stress is on that second syllable, that second word, New York. Often when people think of New York, they may think of New York City first, so sometimes people need to clarify that no, I'm talking about New York State, New York State, the state of New York. Then we have North Carolina. This state has five syllables, but Carolina, the stress is going to be on that the third syllable in that word, Carolina, Carolina, North Carolina. Another state with a more distinct accent. All my relatives and my parents, they're from North Carolina, North Carolina, North Carolina. Oh goodness. I'm going to get raked over the coals for my accent. Then we have North Dakota. Four syllables, but Dakota has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, Dakota, North Dakota. Then Ohio. Three syllables, stress is on that second syllable, Ohio, Ohio. Let's just keep these O's going with Oklahoma. This state has four syllables and the stress is on that third syllable, Oklahoma. You can hear it emphasize that homa, Oklahoma. I don't know why I think of cowboys. Next is Oregon. Three syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Oregon. That last syllable sounds like gun because it's unstressed, so it's just Oregon. Then we have the great state of Pennsylvania. Has four syllables, stress is on that third syllable, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. And also I did I used to live in Pennsylvania. Not bad. That's all I that's all I have to say. Then we have Rhode Island. Three syllables, stress is on that well, the first syllable of the second word, Island, Rhode Island. And no, Rhode Island, it is not an island, it's just called Rhode Island. Then we have South Carolina. These words together have five syllables, but the stress is going to be on that second word, that Carolina, that third syllable, again, n I won't I almost said North Carolina, but no, no, no, this is South Carolina. We're not talking about North Carolina, South Carolina. Why are there two Carolinas? I have no idea. Then we have South Dakota. This state has four syllables, but the stress is going to be on that second word, Dakota, that second syllable, Dakota. South Dakota. Moving right along, we have Tennessee. This state has three syllables and the stress is on that third syllable, that final syllable, Tennessee. Tennessee. After that is Texas. Two syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Texas. It's one of the biggest states and people in Texas like to say everything is bigger in Texas. I don't know why they say that, it's just an expression from Texas. Then we have Utah. Two syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Utah. After that is Vermont. Also two syllables, but the stress is on that second syllable, Vermont. Vermont. Next is Virginia. Three syllables, stress is on that second syllable, Virginia. Virginia. And an expression with this state, people say Virginia's for lovers. Don't know why. Not sure exactly what it means, but I guess Virginia's for lovers. Then we have Washington. Three syllables, stress is on that first syllable, Washington. Sometimes people may confuse it with the capital, Washington D.C., which is not a state, it is a district, District of Columbia. Next is West Virginia. This state has four syllables, but again, the stress in that second word, that Virginia, is on that second syllable, West Virginia. If you say it quickly, you really almost don't hear that T at the end. It almost sounds like you're saying my name, West Virginia. Then we have Wisconsin. This state has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, that con, Wisconsin. People think of Wisconsin, they think of cheese. It is the cheese state. Finally, there is Wyoming. Also has three syllables and the stress is on that second syllable, Wyoming. Wyoming. There you have it. That is the pronunciation of each state. So now that you have all this information, you can say each and every state perfectly. I want to switch gears and talk about something a little more fun and casual. So people in the US love movies. However, people in the US also love quoting movies and that's why I want to teach you some famous and well-known movie quotes that you may hear and could possibly even use from time to time when you're having a conversation. Therefore, this is a little bit of a vocabulary and cultural lesson. Nevertheless, I want you to really think about how I'm saying these quotes. Try to copy the way that I'm saying them using the same speed, emphasis, and intonation. Movie quotes. So this is going to be more of a cultural lesson, a casual, fun lesson, which is why I have not shaved. I'm I'm rocking the stubble right now, but I want to teach you some very famous movie quotes that Americans love to use. And these are quotes that have become very popular over the years that they will be referenced in other movies and TV shows and people may even use them in in just general conversation if it's the appropriate context. So I will talk to you a little bit about that. Let's begin with our first quote, which is show ME THE MONEY. AND THIS IS A QUOTE FROM THE MOVIE Jerry Maguire. It is a famous football movie, American football movie, from 1996 and he says show me the money meaning like how much will I be paid? Am I going to get paid for this and how much? You need to show ME THE MONEY. YOU HAD ME AT HELLO. This is another famous quote from the same movie, Jerry Maguire, and she says it to Tom Cruise, the main character, at the end of the movie. He comes in and says hello and then starts talking about why he loves her and then eventually she says, "Hey, just stop. You had me at hello." Meaning you don't need to to say all of those things. As soon as you came in here and said hello, then yes, I want to be with you. So the interesting thing about this quote is that people you can get a little creative with it. So if somebody's talking about something and then they're trying to sell you on it, something or some idea, you could stop them and say, "Hey, you know, you don't have to say anymore. You had me at You had me at comfort. A lot of times I ask you guys, please subscribe to the channel and I hope that you might be thinking like, "Wes, you don't need to say anymore. You had me at subscribe." Okay? You're going to go ahead, subscribe, turn on notifications so that I can become your teacher. The next quote that I have for you is a very famous one. It's from an older movie and that is, "Here's looking at you, kid." This quote is from a movie classic, Casablanca. And this is Humphrey Bogart's line. He says, "Here's looking at you, kid." Meaning like I'll never forget you. Then we have, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night." And this quote is originally from the movie All About Eve from 1950. And what's really curious about this is that the quote, it's often misquoted. And instead of saying night, people will say ride. Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. And what they're referring to is ride like could be you're getting into a car or even using ride talking about like a situation that you have to endure and it's going to be a difficult and somebody could say, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride." Why so serious? I really can't do a good job, definitely not as good as Heath Ledger did. It was an amazing performance in the movie The Dark Knight when he played that role of the Joker. An incredible actor and I think he did such a wonderful job like really getting into that character that people really remember that line. It was a little disturbing, a little creepy. Yeah. And then there's this quote. Let's see if you recognize it. All right, all right, all right. This is trying to do my Southern accent a little bit. So this quote comes from the movie Dazed and Confused. I love this movie. The movie came out in 1993, but it's about high school kids in the 70s. And Matthew McConaughey, very famous actor, is the one who says this line. And even though he's been in so many different movies, this this quote is probably what he's most famous for. This is what people remember him saying, "All right, all right, all right." And then we have, "Just keep swimming." All right? And I say it like that with that that fist pump because it means never give up. You have to keep going. Just keep swimming. This quote comes from the film Finding Nemo. It came out in 2003 and it's about a clownfish who is searching for his lost son, Nemo, and he has to to keep looking. Just keep swimming. And this is actually one of the most famous movie quotes of the 21st century because I it has that that really important message. Never give up. Just keep swimming. "Are you not entertained?" I'm trying to to imitate Russell Crowe. It's from the movie Gladiator. It came out in the year 2000 and he says this, "Are you not entertained?" Like trying to shame the audience because this film, Gladiator, it's loosely based on true events that happened within the Roman Empire and he he would fight for the audience's entertainment and he's a little he's a little upset when HE SAYS THIS. AND TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT, ONE WAY I think this lesson it can be useful if you want to practice and say these quotes in the exact same way. Shadowing, I think can really help your speaking fluency because you're you're trying to say it in the exact same way, same speed, same intonation, same emphasis, and really capture that rhythm and flow. And I think shadowing can be very useful and with these movie quotes, it can be a lot of fun as well. Here's a good quote if you want to practice shadowing and say it, "My precious." You have to say it like that, "My precious." This quote is from the movie Lord of the Rings and the the first movie, it's a trilogy, it came out in 2001 and it was actually it's actually based on the the fantasy books by J.R.R. Tolkien. But the movies brought the the story to life in a new and unique way and people really remember this quote, my precious. And it's become so popular that it's often referenced in other movies and TV shows. Here is another famous quote from Lord of the Rings. You shall not pass. Again, I'm trying to say it in the same way, but I probably don't sound EXACTLY LIKE GANDALF. AND ONCE AGAIN, I I don't know what it is about Lord of the Rings, but this is another quote that is often referenced in other movies AND TV SHOWS. YOU AIN'T HEARD NOTHING YET. THIS is the popular catchphrase from the 1927 musical drama The Jazz Singer. And o- over the years it kind of changed a little bit and I think more commonly today people will say, you ain't seen nothing yet. And this actually comes from the 1974 song by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. That's the title of the song, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. I think if people are going to say one of these they they will use seen. You ain't seen nothing yet. It means however impressive something may seem, it's going to be overshadowed by what will come. So, I could say like, wow, you you think these video lessons are impressive and amazing? Well, you ain't seen nothing yet. Just wait for what is to come. That's another reason why you should subscribe. I'll have what she's having. This is a quote from the movie When Harry Met Sally from 1989 and well, to give you some context, the the two main characters are sitting in the restaurant, uh Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal and she's pretending to to fake an orgasm. And then some other person in the restaurant, it's not even a main character, says, I'll have what she's having as though it's the food at the restaurant or the meal that's making her feel this way. And and even though this quote is said by like some real secondary character, it's become so popular and it's still referenced in movies and TV shows today. All right. And I say it like this because it's really like a voice that the main character is hearing in the movie Field of Dreams, which is also from 1989. So, Kevin Costner he hears this voice It's a great example of the first conditional that you have this condition, if you build it, and then the result in the future, he will come. And spoiler, it's talking about building a baseball field and then the players will come. Like maybe your father will return. All right, sorry if I spoiled it for you. The movie it's it's it's old, you've had plenty of time to watch it. Hopefully you have learned some new quotes that you can now listen for if you're watching a TV show or movie. I told you these quotes are so popular, they will be referenced from time to time. All right, all right, all right. Let's keep going with the pronunciation of some famous and well-known American brands. And I really want to go into detail and talk about how Americans pronounce these names because sometimes the spelling and the pronunciation don't always match or perhaps people are pronouncing them using different parts of connected speech. Either way, I want to teach you how to pronounce these brand names just like an American. Let's begin. 20 famous and well-known American brands and yes, I am going to give you the American pronunciation because I am from the United States. So, let's begin with our first brand, which is Levi's. It's a very famous clothing brand, they make jeans and both of the vowel sounds they're they're long vowel sounds, Levi's. Sometimes I've heard people say Levi's, but just remember it's a long E, Levi's. Then we have Bose. They make headphones and speakers and that S, yes, it is more of a Z sound, Bose, Bose. And then we have, this is one of my favorites, In-N-Out Burger. And with with this one, it's if if you've been to California, you'll know what I'm talking about. People are crazy for In-N-Out Burger. And I I've included it even though you you say it like it's spelled, In-N-Out Burger. But it's a great example of linking because people will typically say this quickly, In-N-Out Burger. So, that final consonant sound is going to get linked with that that starting vowel sound, just listen. In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out Burger. You can say it with me. In-N-Out Burger. One more time. In-N-Out Burger. And then we can say it quickly, In-N-Out Burger. That's how most people are going to pronounce it and if you were practicing with me, let me know by hitting that like button. I always love knowing that people are interacting with these lessons. The next brand, which is well, very very famous, Nike. You've probably heard of this company before. They they make shoes. But Nike has two syllables. In the past, I've heard people say Nike with just one syllable, but it has two syllables named after the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. The next brand is Costco. Okay, it's a very famous retail store. You can find these all over the world. And the reason why I've included it is because it's a great example of elision. Elision is when certain sounds or syllables are removed. So, in this case, the T is removed. You're not going to You're not going to pronounce that T. Costco. And the reason for that is that when the T comes between two consonant sounds, it it may elide and it just gets removed. Costco. Costco. Another example of elision, another pretty well-known American brand, Old Navy. In this case, the D is going to get removed because once again, it comes between two consonant sounds. Old Navy. Old Navy. And then just to just to keep going with elision, this is one of my favorite brands, especially in the morning, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. So, this is a cereal that that people will eat for breakfast. The word cinnamon on its own can be a little challenging. It has three syllables. The stress is on the first syllable. The second and third syllable have that schwa sound. It's an unstressed vowel sound. Just sounds like uh cinnamon, cinnamon. And then to well, continuing with elision, the final T in toast, it's going to go away because it comes between two consonant sounds, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. If you have not tried it already, I recommend Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And then well, another brand that I enjoy, I would also recommend is Ben & Jerry's. Okay, they they make ice cream and the reason why I've included this one is because you see that sign for and, Ben and Jerry's. But nobody's going to pronounce and, they're going to reduce it and just say n. Ben & Jerry's. And we can also link link this the same way we did with In-N-Out, Ben & Jerry's. Ben & Jerry's. Another example of a famous brand that has that sign for and, Black & Decker. And this this company makes power tools that you can use around the home. And once again, you're not going to say and, you're going to reduce it to just n, Black & Decker. Black & Decker. Next, Reese's Pieces. It's a well-known candy and both of those words end in s's, Reese's Pieces. It can be a fun little tongue twister if you're trying to say it quickly, Reese's Pieces, Reese's Pieces. Then we have Doritos. Doritos, it's it's a well-known brand of chips and I really don't know how to describe Doritos. All I can tell you is that my favorite flavor is Cool Ranch. But the reason why I've included it is because that T in Doritos, I am going to pronounce it with a flat T, which is very common in the United States. So, when the T comes between two vowel sounds, you're going to use a flat T. It sounds like a soft D. Doritos. Doritos. You also hear the flat T in other brands of chips like Cheetos. You hear that soft D, Cheetos. I really like Cheetos except that you get cheese stuck on your fingers. And then you hear the flap T in Tostitos. That second T, I'm going to use a flap T. It comes between two vowels. Tostitos. And well, let's let's keep going with some more examples of the flap T. Gatorade. This is a well-known I guess you could say it's like an athletic drink. That's at least well, that's how they try to to market themselves. But Gatorade, that T, I'm going to use a flap T and that second syllable I'm going to use the schwa, that sound. Gatorade. Gatorade. And the same goes for this next brand, Caterpillar. I'm not talking about the insect even though the pronunciation is the same. Caterpillar is well-known for making machinery and again that T, I'm going to use a flap T and that second syllable has that schwa. Caterpillar. Caterpillar. Let's switch gears and talk about medicine. So, Tylenol is a very famous brand. They make medicine for for headaches or to reduce fevers. And I think it's very useful because people may not say, "Hey, do you have something for my headache?" They may ask for it by brand name. Say, "Hey, do you have any Tylenol?" And this one, the spelling and the pronunciation are not too similar. That Y is pronounced with a long I sound, ty, and then the second syllable has the schwa. Tylenol. Tylenol. And then there's Benadryl. Benadryl is an antihistamine for for allergies. So, again, if I have allergies, I might just ask and say, "Hey, does anybody have any Benadryl?" And with this one, again, that second syllable has the schwa. Benadryl. And the Y is actually going to have a short I sound this time. Benadryl. Benadryl. So, with Tylenol, that Y has the long I. With Benadryl, you have that short I sound. Whirlpool. This is a company that makes home appliances like washing machines. And it's a great example of the dark L. Both of those L's are dark L's in which your tongue's going to come up to the top part of your mouth and you're not going to release it. Whirlpool. So, that RL combination can be tricky in many other words as well. But let's practice this and you should feel your tongue getting pulled up two times for that dark L. Whirlpool. Whirlpool. Whirlpool. And then there's Charmin. Charmin makes paper towels, toilet paper. And I really I don't know why, but that CH, it's not a ch sound. It's going to be pronounced like an SH, sh. Charmin. And that final syllable has that schwa. Charmin. Charmin. And then we have Listerine. It's a it's a well-known brand mouthwash. And the one thing I want to say about this is that that R I N E is not pronounced rine. It's pronounced with that long E, Listerine. Listerine. We've covered a lot of things in this lesson and I hope that you have a better understanding of the American accent. And if this is one of your speaking goals, I would recommend that you keep getting exposure to the language. You can practice using shadowing, trying to say things in the exact same way. You can do it. Keep at it. Just just keep swimming. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 519. SPEAKING ACTIVITY ๐Ÿ’ฌ Practice using descriptive vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `lJEUAKa_0As` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJEUAKa_0As) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:06:17 | --- so many people tell me that they want to practice their speaking skills but they don't have anyone to talk to and there are ways for you to practice on your own you can pretend like you're giving a presentation or talk to yourself in the mirror or sing a song or even shadowing but today i want to do an actual speaking activity and this is one that i would do in class with my students it's very easy it's very simple and i it's an activity in which you are going to use the vocabulary that you already know and you may even discover a few new words that you don't know and i also think it's fun because it gets you thinking in a different way because well there's more than one way that you can do this so to start out all i want you to do is listen to what i'm telling you and put a picture up here in your mind so for right now this is just listening comprehension for you i am going to be speaking and if i do my job well well then it should be easy for you to understand what i'm saying you'll you'll hear these words i'll try to be very descriptive and it should be easy for you to put that picture right up here so just listen to what i'm saying and picture it so this is a picture at the airport and it is at a gate and it looks like the gate is empty because you can see two rows of black chairs that are empty nobody is sitting there and the chairs are across from each other the chairs are also next to a giant window in which you can see outside and outside it looks like a nice day it's a little cloudy and there is a plane that is out on the tarmac and it looks like the plane has just landed because it's pulling up to the gate the plane is white has a little bit of orange in it there are also two airport employees out there they're very small and you can see them wearing a yellow vest and i say that the plane has just landed because it looks like it's pulling up to the gate next to the gangway and then the passengers will disembark but right now it's not it's not attached to the gangway it's just pulling in so i hope that you understood what i was saying and you could put a picture in your mind and that picture looked like this and you can let me know in the comments if your picture looked like the one that i was showing you so with this activity i was using vocabulary that that i already know and i said that maybe you'll discover some words that you don't know so i used words to describe this picture like gate tarmac gangway these are words that you might not use every day but they are important if you like to travel and if you fly when you're traveling well these are words that you might hear or you could use so the gate is an area in the airport where well passengers will enter the plane or leave the plane the tarmac is a smooth concrete area where planes generally park and you refer to that as the tarmac and then a gangway is an elevated walkway that people will cross so the planes will pull up to the gate the gangway will connect to the plane and then the passengers will disembark so this is what i want you to do i want you to describe a picture to me so the goal is just to try and be as descriptive as possible you can do this with so many different pictures related to topics that you think are important and i i told you that it's a it's a fun little mental exercise because there are different ways that you can do this not everyone is going to describe a picture in the same way and sometimes i've had people tell me that they get stuck when they're having a conversation they're trying to describe a situation and they're searching for that right word or phrase so practicing this is a great way to challenge yourself and try to get unstuck so that's what we're gonna do right now but before we start this speaking activity i wanted to let you know that you can sign up for my speaking course if you would like to practice and improve your skills and when you click on that link down below you will find a special discount just for you we do a variety of different speaking activities such as the one that we're doing in this lesson right now and the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn useful vocabulary as i already mentioned we do engaging speaking activities we warm up each lesson with pronunciation or connected speech in addition there are pronunciation video lessons included in the course and i am also going to teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases just click the link to sign up or learn more about the course and yeah i just hope to speak to you soon so let's get back to our speaking activity and now i want you to describe a picture to me this is the picture you're going to describe i want you to give me as much information as you possibly can the goal is to be descriptive so what i want you to do is pause the video say this out loud take your time and be descriptive and then when you're done you can continue watching and listen to how i would describe the picture and that way you can check to see if we were using some of the same vocabulary i told you there are different ways that you can do this so right now just pause the video describe the picture to me and then keep watching so this is a picture at the beach and at the front of the picture there is a huge pier and on the pier there are many colorful buildings because it's an amusement park and at the amusement park you can see this huge ferris wheel and in front of the ferris wheel there's a large solar panel collecting sunlight providing energy for this amusement park so this large pier then extends further out into the ocean uh on a more narrow pier to a couple of other buildings that are out on another platform further out into the ocean and then in the background behind the pier you can see the beach the beach is pretty empty you can see the white caps where the ocean waves are breaking and further off in the distance you can see these these green hills where the forest is so hopefully you use some of the same words that i did when you were describing this picture a pier amusement park ferris wheel solar panel white caps and there is really no wrong answer because like i said there's more than one way to do this it really just gets the vocabulary juices going you're using the words that you already know and then hopefully maybe you just discovered a few words that well maybe you forgot or maybe you didn't know and now you can try to make them a part of your speaking vocabulary but this is a great activity to practice being descriptive because when you are talking about your experience traveling at a party some event you want to use precise words and phrases so that others easily understand what you're saying and if you participated in this speaking activity i want you to let me know down in the comments just write the word speaking that way i know that you were describing the picture you were speaking out loud and practicing your skills if you enjoyed this activity please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 520. SPEAK FAST (and clearly) like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7fhooHoP-SQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fhooHoP-SQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:05:56 | --- have you ever wondered to yourself why is it difficult to understand the American accent when watching a movie or TV show I I want to help you I want to explain this and help you get a better understanding why this may be and what's going on because I I want to talk to you about fast speech and really this is hopefully going to help with your listening comprehension and understanding well why certain people sound the way they do what's going on when it comes to different parts of connected speech and I think this can also really help with your own speaking fluency even though we all have different goals but I think if you want to speak naturally and clearly in which case I mean that it is understandable then I I believe this will help you because you don't want to necessarily just always pronounce each and every individual word because the way I said it right there that's not necessarily how you're going to hear other people speak you can still use different parts of connected speech that we're going to go over right now and it's understandable it's natural and and that's really what I want to focus on and if this is something that you enjoy learning Please Subscribe turn on notifications then that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I want you to practice this is not just a lesson I want you to look at and think okay that's sure not not make it passive learning but more active because we're going to go through these sentences right here we're going to do a deep dive but I want you to practice and say them with me you can Shadow me try to say it at the same time maintain that same pace so let's go through these sentences one at a time and to begin with this is like a little mini dialogue I just want you to listen to How I would say this dialogue and then we're going to jump into each individual sentence so if I were saying this dialogue right here I would say don't you want to get out of the pool what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy let's go to the restaurant to get a b and get a bite to eat I'm going to do a few more laps and then I'm done so as I'm saying this and you're able to see the dialogue it's probably pretty simple and you think well okay I I understand this and if you're watching a movie and TV show if you use subtitles which there's nothing wrong with that I imagine it makes it a lot easier to understand again the challenge would be when you're having a conversation or you're trying to listen to someone while they're giving a presentation the the subtitles or the words may not always be available and that's when you want to fine-tune and hone your listening skills so let's look at this first sentence right here this question question don't you want to get out of the pool and let's look at what's going on as we go through I'll try to give a few uh shout outs here and there but it's great to see uh so many people Julia Rafael uh Tessa excellent so the first part that I want to look at up here so don't you want to two things going on don't you that t and Y May blend together to create a new sound this chch sound it's very light it's almost like we're going to insert it between the two words and that allows us to then connect this phrase together so of course there's nothing wrong with saying don't you and you may hear that it's it's not like this is not a rule that you have to do this or you're always going to hear it but it is common in this case don't you don't you can you hear that slight CH sound don't you don't you want to a very common reduction in English want to gets reduced to wna Don't You Wanna Don't You Wanna so the next part I'm I'm going to put it up there in phonetic spelling so you can see the pronunciation hopefully that makes it a little easier to understand what's going on don't you want to get out of again I just pronounced the individual words but I would end up saying get out of get out of I'm going to use linking and a flap te and a reduction so linking is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so in this case get out of we can link those three words together now I set a flap T and this is more specific to the American accent because I'm from the US when the t comes between two vow sounds especially when it's in an unstressed word or syllable then it may get pronounced as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft d get out of get out of can you hear that that flap te get out of get out of now out of this is the reduction because I could red I could say out of or out of especially when the next word begins with a consonant sound get out of the get out of the all right just say try to say that phrase get out of the get out of the now I've chosen this phrase specifically because get out of is very common this this phrase is often used in English and if you are looking for a starting point to practice linking this is a great phrase because we use it like to get out of the car get out of bed get out of uh you you're going to in this case get out of the pool so this is a phrase that is often used and you could use that linking and with the American accent you're going to be linking those flap Tes I told you I'm really I'm really going in deep here as to what's going on and then this question because it's a yes no question you may have that Rising intonation at the end get out of the pool and it's going to sound a little longer so I would say this right here and then I want you to practice it with me don't you want to get out of the pool don't you want to get out of the pool so let's say it slowly and I want you to you know repeat after me don't you want to get out of the pool okay now let's say it together and just shout don't you want to get out of the pool now let's speed it up don't you want to get out of the pool say it with me again try to maintain that same speed and I think that is the value of shadowing ready don't you want to get out of the pool one more time don't you want to get out of the pool so this is the first question these different things that are going on and you're going to see I'm going to talk about this again assimilation reductions and we're going to practice this at the end if you are practicing with me let me know down in the comments ju or in the chat just write the word speaking that way I know that you are participating in the lesson and if you would actually like to literally practice with me this is something that we talk about in my speaking course we always warm up with something related to pronunciation connected speech most of the time it deals with connected speech and we're working on these sentences talking about what's happening and then we move into our speaking topic learning different vocabulary different uh engaging speaking activities so the course is for intermediate to Advan speakers it's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally check out the link Down Below in the description if you like to learn more or enroll and in that case you can yeah you'll be speaking directly with me and practicing some of the very things that we're going over with going over right now let's look at the next uh next sentence all right and again I'm G to give uh some shout outs especially I love seeing people uh actually participating practicing that is what this is all about another question and then a statement what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy this is the response to that question don't you want to get out of the pool so what's happening here again we've already talked about a similation sounds blend together a lot of times this happens with questions so in this case what's sure if the S and Y blend together you get that sh sound like you're telling somebody to be quiet sh again we're going to insert it between the two words that is what allows us to connect them so what's sure it's really a natural transition from one word to the next this is not something you have to force if you say it it'll it'll just occur naturally what's your what's your name uh is a very common question in this case what's your hurry what's your what your what's your you hear that slight sh sound and then the next one so we have what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy so just often times the when the next word starts with a consonant sound and the t comes between two consonants it's going to alide this often happens with the the t or d so in this case just taken that t is going to alide it's like it gets removed now it really doesn't matter anyway because the next word begins with a t sound so it's really also like you have these overlapping sounds but I just wanted to point out I just wanted I just again I just wanted that ww is a consonant sound you don't hear the T it alides that is what I wanted to point out that when the next word begins with a consonant sound whether it's a t or some other consonant it's going to alide just wna just taken now in with verbs in the continuous tense I think I think it's quite common in the US I will drop the G this is referred to as gropping so instead of taking which you can say there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but I would make it it sound like taken taken take can you hear the difference taking taken taking taken taking taken now once I drop the G I can then link it with the vow sound in it and I think this often happens especially in this case because it's easier to link that n Sound instead of the in take in it Tak in it easy I can link that whole phrase together right there on the bottom and once again that t in it you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D taking it easy taking it easy just just say that phrase at the at the bottom taking it easy taking it easy so there's the phonetic spelling that I tried to provide taking it easy taking it easy so let's practice this together I saw some people already prella Ron uh excellent love it uh when people are practicing keep it up let me know I want to know so let's say this right now and I'll say it slowly and then I'll say it a little faster what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy so just repeat after me what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy now let's say it again say it with me I'll say it a couple of times what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy again what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy and that can be a little tricky that linking taking it easy because you can you can really move right through the phrase now connected speech does allow you to speak faster and that is why I think in movies and TV shows it can be difficult to understand but that does not mean you're you're always going to speak fast I can give a presentation and speak a little slower but still use these different parts of connected speech so let's let's practice this again together I'll say it at a normal speed repeat after me what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy now let's say it together I'll say it a few times just join in I'm just going to Loop it and just repeat it what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy again let me know right speaking if you're practicing participating that is what this lesson is all about and the next sentence that we have let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat so that is how I would just say it if I'm talking to someone else you let let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat now let's look at what's going on go to the so I wanted to isolate this phrase because we use it often like I mentioned that that get out of is a great phrase for practicing linking go to the what I really wanted to focus on is the word to because there are two different ways to pronounce it when it's stressed it's going to sound like I'm saying the number two two when unstressed the vowel it may get reduced and the vowel sounds going to change and it may sound a little more like the schwas sound T it's much softer and because the t comes between two vowel sounds that's why I have it saying right there it's going to sound like a flap T go to thee go to the just say say that one phrase go to the go to the this is again specific to the American accent and we use this phrase often go to the what I'm gonna go to the park go to the mall go to the gym uh go to the office and you hear this go to the go to the go to the so this is something that I would say just definitely listen for it because you'll hear this a lot uh I'm let's go to the restaurant and is another reduction that it changes and it's going to sound like n geta i can link that phrase together and that t you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flat tea bite to eat Co this is some coarticulation we have overlapping sound so it's not necessarily you don't want to say it as two words bite two and take that break we're just going to you say that one t bite to bite to and we're releasing it into that reduced two bite to bite to eat so this is what it's going to sound like let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat so let's say it's say it repeat after me slowly again let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat now let's say it again let's say it a little faster and just Shadow say it with me practice that pacing in these different things um let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat again if you wanted to speed it up you could say it much faster F let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat so again these are definitely things that I want you to keep in mind those unstressed words in which case the vowel is going to get reduced so to may sound a little more like T and may sound more like n this is very common in spoken English and it will really help with your overall listening comprehension and understanding okay that is what that is the sound I'm hearing that unstressed um weak sound I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done except I am not going to say each individual word like that the way that I am speaking right now it sounds a little robotic I would just say I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done since you see the sentence there I imagine you're listening and it's okay I understand that I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done but let's do a deep dive we're talking about the pool so this is very relevant doing a deep dive and talk about what's going on I'm going to you could reduce that to I'm gonna going to getting reduced to Gunna very common it happens all the time gonna wan to have to I think those are some of the most common reductions however when we have I'm going to you could reduce that entire phrase and it's going to sound like Amina Amina I feel like when I teach this some people are a little more comfortable than others saying Amina it's not something you have to do but it will help with your listening comprehension if we're talking about movies TV shows the way that people are just speaking out on the street you will hear that am am I'm going to do this I'm going to do that I'm I imag imagine you've heard me say it already as I've gone through this lesson I end up saying it a lot i'mna i'mna do a so I I did want to point out intrusion which would be it's another part of connected speech when you're adding sounds either a slight y or a slight W do do in this case I think you can hear that slight W sound because once again it just allows us to link two vowel sounds together do do I'm gonna do I'm gonna do a few laps and then I'm done so the the entire first part up there it's going to sound like i'mna DOA i'mna DOA I'm gonna do a few laps and I've already mentioned it may get reduced and sound more like n than I'm I can link that phrase together linking the final consonant sound with the beginning vowel sound then I I'm done I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done let's let's say it slowly and I want you to repeat after me and and give the i'mna a try you can let me know how you feel in the comments in the chats you can just give it a try and see what you think I'm gonna do a few laps and then I'm done one more time slowly I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done now let's start to speed it up you can Shadow I'll just say it several times you can join in practice with me I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done I'm GNA do a few laps and then I'm done I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done and again because we're using connected speech if I were to say it very fast I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done if you hear somebody say this and you don't see the written words that's when it can be a little a lot more challenging I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done I think there are definitely words that you would hear and pick out those stressed words but this is what makes it a little more difficult to really identify the individual words because people are actually saying them together they're saying them as a phrase let's practice now I want you to participate and say this dialogue we're going to say it together once again I'll say the whole thing and then we'll we'll take turns so there's a and b these two people having a conversation don't you want to get out of the pool what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy let's go to the restaurant and get a bite te I'm going to do a few laps and then I'm done let's practice how about uh I I'm going to start I will say a I want you to say B and then we'll switch ready don't you want to get out of the pool let's go to the restaurant and get a bite to eat well done now I want to switch I want you to say a and I I'm going to say B so you can begin right now what's your hurry I'm just taking it easy I'm going to do a few more laps and then I'm done perfect okay so again this even you know you're practicing your speaking skills you're improving your listening comprehension when you understand what's going on with these different sentences if you were actually participating and practicing with me let me know know write the words speaking in the chat in the comments you can also tell me what you thought do was this really difficult was it pretty easy to go through and practice and say these different sentences using these different parts of connected speech because again I really want to point out that these are things that you will hear in movies TV shows it's not necessarily that you have to learn these words such as linking assimilation allision it's good to be aware of what's going on unless unless you are an English teacher then I think it's definitely useful to understand well what's happening so that you can explain it to others but most importantly just to be able to understand that well there might be a c a small sound getting inserted between two words or an elision A sounds getting removed or a reduction is happening and The Vow sounds going to change just slight l so excellent uh great job excellent Julia VI thank you for participating that is what I love to hear and again if this is something that interests you and you actually want to practice with me check out that link Down Below in the description if you'd like to join my course practice different parts of connected speech there are audio and video lessons included in the course so that you can practice on your own and lessons are each week it's an 8-week course check out the link down below if you'd like to learn more about it and of course if you have any questions just send me an email so I I hope that you found this lesson useful I hope you have a better understanding and if you did let me know hit that like button that tells me that I should do more lessons like this in the future so I appreciate everyone joining me today I really appreciate you participating in the lesson saying these sentence with me it's been uh great seeing you just to give a few shout outs uh latow vid Julia uh Alex thanks so much for being here Rafaela it's good uh seeing you I will speak to you soon um Manuel Peter thank you guys I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and of course I will see you very soon in the future --- ## 521. SPEAK FAST (and easily) like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Jr-MkVYU7_8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr-MkVYU7_8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:03:41 | --- Let's talk about fast speech. And the reason why I want to go over this topic is because often I hear people say, "Look, they I they understand me when we're having these lessons right now, but if they're watching a movie or TV show or just out on the street somewhere, it's really a lot more difficult to understand what people are saying." So, when I talk about speaking fast, you should never feel like this is something you have to do. That's not necessarily the goal. I know that we all have different speaking goals and some of what I'm going to talk about does have to do more with the American accent and you shouldn't feel like you have to speak with any particular accent. But I do think this is really going to help your listening comprehension and understand well why people especially people in the US like me sound the way that we do when we're not just pronouncing individual words but mostly phrases. Because a lot of what we're going to talk about today has to do with connected speech and the different parts of connected speech, which is pretty much why people well sound fast or they're able to speak a lot quicker. practice and I would love it if you practice with me. I know I told you you you shouldn't feel like you have to speak with any accent, but just to kind of familiarize yourself with these sounds, with some of the transitions, I would encourage you to say these sentences out loud, practice them with me, and we're really going to do a deep dive and talk about what's going on. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. Yeah, I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. So I know reading and listening are really well two different things. Of course, you're able to read the dialogue, follow along, which is perfect. And that therefore, it's probably a little easier to understand and like, oh yeah, yeah, I get it. I I can hear the sentence and know what this person is talking about. So, let's do a deep dive and talk specifically what's happening with each individual sentence. And one thing I want to mention, if you would like to get the lesson notes that are next to me, click on that link down below in the description. Join our email community. And if you're unfamiliar with it, because I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, check out that link, join our community. I'll I'll give you a bunch of resources, lesson notes from time to time, as well as updates when it comes to new lessons, courses, and and and pretty much everything. So, let's look at this first uh well, two questions right here. What's up with the bus? Should we should we keep waiting around? The first thing I want to point out down here, uh what's up with something? This is a little more informal and I feel like it's a little more American English. You're more likely to hear this in the United States. And if somebody says, "Well, what's up with something?" They they would use this to say that, "Well, you don't understand something or you're trying to get an explanation for it." So, like, what's up with the bus? It really implies that the bus is probably late. What's going on? We've been waiting here for a while. What's up with the bus? Why is it late? So, when you say, "What's up with something?" You're you may be asking for clarification or like, "Wait, why why is this happening? What's going on? What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? The first I basically I'll go through this one at a time. The first thing I want to point out is that linking is going to occur with the phrase what's up. We're going to link the final consonant sound in what's with the beginning vowel sound in up. What's up? With the there is co-articulation. This is when you have overlapping sounds. Now, those th's are not the same. You basically have a voiceless th with with and a voiced th sound inthe' and you're going to feel that vibration. But really we're just going to smoothly transition from one into the other because the tongue in your mouth is in the same position. So the last thing that I want to point out and there's a lot going on down here is that we have some gdropping which is going to change that t to a glottle t as well as some linking. So when when we have verbs in the continuous tense, this is something that's also I think very common when people are will just speaking in the United States, they may drop the g. So instead of waiting and you hear that ing sound, I'm going to drop the g. For example, if I have the verb taking, I'm taking a break. I'm gonna drop that g. And taking is going to sound more like taking. I'm taking a break. I'm taking a break. The one thing that is a little more is a little trickier with waiting, if I drop the G, then you may hear people pronounce it as a glottle T. So, normally you might hear me say waiting and that T is going to sound like a flap T, which is something I'll get to in just a moment, and it's going to sound like a soft D. But with the American accent, when you have the T followed by an N sound, you may hear people pronounce it as a glottle T. This is not a fixed rule. But think about some other words that follow this mountain. All right, you have the T followed by an N sound. Kitten, mitten, and instead of waiting, waiting. And basically, if you're trying to think about, well, what the hell is a glottle stop? What is a glottle T? The glatus is closing. It's stopping the flow of air. To give you another example, if you and I'm sure you can make this sound, somebody makes a mistake and you say uhoh. Uhoh. In between that uhoh, you should feel that tightness in your throat. That is a glottle stop. Uhoh. Wait. And you can feel it down here. And then I can link that n sound with the vowel sound in around. I know it's a little tricky, but just give it a try. Waiting around. Can you feel that? Hear that linking too? Waiting around. Waiting around. Should we keep waiting around? Should we keep waiting around? Now, if you pronounce this with the uh flap t, that's that's perfectly fine. That's also a part of the American accent. Waiting waiting around. So, let's practice these two questions. And up top here, I've basically given you more of the phonetic spelling of what's going on. Maybe it's a little easier to look at or think about. But let's say these two questions. I'm going to say it slowly, and I just want you to repeat after me. Just repeat that first question. What's up with the bus? Now, repeat the second question. Should we keep waiting around? Now, let's actually let's shadow say it together. I want you to just say it with me. I'm going to say it a couple of times slowly just so you can again feel like get the get a sense for that rhythm and flow as well. So, I'm going to say it two times slowly. Just say it with me. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? So, let's speed it up. Just repeat after me. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? Now, if you wanted to challenge yourself and try to say it fast, uh, I'll say it quickly. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? I want to know if you're practicing. Just let me know if you're practicing. Saying this out loud, that's I love uh knowing that you're practicing. So, just write speaking in the comments or in the chat. That tells me that you're actively participating in the lesson, which is that's what I want that I want I want you all to participate and feel and and really practice your speaking skills. So, write speaking in the chat in the comments if you are actually saying these sentences out loud. So, let's go ahead and look at the next sentence. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. So, the first thing I want to point out, it's your call. This is a uh statement that you could use if you want to tell someone like, look, you should be the one to make the decision. Somebody's like, well, what do you think we should do? Like, well, it's your call. You know, you make the decision. I trust your judgment. It's you're the one who is well the better person to make the decision. It's your call. This is another informal phrase, but a good one to know. Something you may hear from time to time. It's your call. But I think uh you may we may want to consider other options. All right, let's look at what's going on with uh this sentence right here. Love it. All these people participating. Excellent. Teao suma. tal. Perfect. It's your call. The first thing I want to mention is that assimilation may occur. This is when you have two sounds. They blend together and it creates a new sound. This is not something that you have to force. As you transition from one sound to the next, it's just going to occur naturally. This is also not a fixed rule. So, you may hear the individual sounds. It's your or you may hear it blended together. That ts plus the y sound gets a ch. It's your call. It's your call. It's your call. But I we can link that phrase and I told you that we would talk about the flap T because Americans like me, we love the flap T. Probably the most common occurrence is when the T comes between two vowel sounds. But I. So but ends with a T, but the next word I begins with a vowel sound. So, even when we're talking about a phrase, that T can still change to a flap T. But I But I you could you should hear that soft D sound, that duh sound when I say this phrase. But I But I but I think we may um want to a very common reduction w. I'm sure you've heard this. You may even use this already as part of your speaking fluency. Consider other options. We have three words right here that we can link together. We're going to link the the final consonant sound, which are those R sounds in consider and other, and we're going to link it with those vowel sounds. Now, this is not something that is overwhelming. It just really provides a smoother transition, which is why I also say this is going to help you speak a little more naturally. And we're really just moving right into that next word. Consider other consider other options. And it's almost like we're moving that R sound over to the next syllable, but we're going to move right through it. Which is also why if somebody is just first uh learning the language and you hear somebody say this, they may not be able to pick out those individual words because of linking. It may sound like one long word. Consider other options. consider other options. So, here uh is the sentence. And again, I've provided you with a little bit of the phonetic spelling so you can kind of see what's going on. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. I know consider other options. I could not put that on the same line, but you get the idea. We're going to link those final three words. So, let's say it slowly two times. I want you to shadow. Say it with me. And actually, we'll practice these different parts of connected speech. So, let's say it together. I'm going to say it twice. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. Let's just do it again just for the fun of it. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. If we speed it up a little, let's maybe do a listen and repeat. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. Now, let's say it together a couple of times. I'm going to say it quickly. See if you can maintain that pace. I think that's one of the more challenging things when it comes to shadowing. Here we go. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. All right, we're going to go through this one at a time and then we'll we'll do the dialogue together. Again, if you're practicing, just let me know. Just write that word speaking in the chat in the comments and that way I know that you are actually will watching this lesson and practicing your speaking skills. The next sentence, we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. What is going on right here? So, we're going to This is another common reduction. Gonna and wanna, I think, are the two most common ones. Once again, you may already be using this as you're when you're speaking and having a conversation. We're going to have to. We can reduce that to have to. We're going to have to. It is a little trickier when you have one right after the other. Get an Uber. I can link that entire phrase and that final T in get once again with the American accent. You're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. Get an Uber. Say it with me. Get an Uber. Get an Uber. Get an Uber. Okay, [laughter] we'll just keep doing it again and again. A lot of this when it comes to well, not just pronunciation, but transitioning from one sound to the next is a little bit of muscle memory. You know, where is your tongue in your mouth? Controlling the airflow. and it makes it just easier, especially with some of this repetition. The next clause, so I'll probably separate this into two different thought groups, which is a way of structuring our speech. And after the word Uber, I'm probably going to have a short pause before I say that other dependent clause. If we want to, there's that reduction. If we want to make it on time, make it on. I can link that phrase together. Once again, that T and it, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. Make it on. Make it on. Make it on time. Just say that final phrase. Make it on time. Once more. Make it on time. So, I'll say this slowly. I I implore you. I encourage you to say it with me. And I love it that everybody people are participating. Elsie, uh, Chide R, excellent. Great to see you, Marama. Perfect. So, let's say this together slowly twice. We're going to have to get an Uber if we're gonna if we want to make it on time. Sorry, I think I kind of botched that a little bit. Let's Let's do it again two times. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. Once again, we're gonna have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. Even though I'm trying to say it slowly, it may still seem a little fast. Let's uh let's say it more of a at a normal speed and just say it with me. And notice that pause. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. And now if we speed it up again, I'll say it twice. You can try to say it with me. Maintain that same speed. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. All right. Once again, let me know if you're uh give me How about this? I'm kind of curious because I told you that I think when it comes to shadowing, maintaining that same speed is is probably one of the more difficult things. All right, just give me a a thumbs up emoji or something if if you feel like you're able to maintain that same speed as I'm saying it a little quicker. Uh, we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. The final sentence and then we're going to do this dialogue. So, somebody they they say this, "Well, we're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time." And then the other person replies, "Okay, I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app." What's happening here? I'm gonna now Well, I'm going to You could reduce that to I'm gonna One thing I want to point out, and this is something that you will hear in in spoken English, you may hear people reduce this even further. And instead of I'm going to, it may sound like I'm going to. I'm going to I'm going to I'm going to. So, I'm going to go to the mall. I'm going to go to the mall. I'm going to go to the mall. I'm going to um I'm going to clean the house. I'm going to clean the house. I'm going to cook dinner. I'm going to cook dinner. This is not again something that you're always going to hear. And that's why I said I think this will help with your listening comprehension so that if you're watching a movie or TV show and you hear that I'm then you know okay they're saying I'm going to I'm gonna I'm gonna see if I there's another that phrase that we can link together if I can find one on the app. So find one thing I want to point out is that elision may occur. This is when sounds or syllables get removed. Sometimes, not always, but that T or D sounds when they follow an N, they may elide and they get removed. To give you an example, this is interactive English. It's spelled I N T R. That T after the N in interactive, you do not hear me say it. So find is is another example. Find one. If I were to think of another word, um, uh, mind, I'm not going to release it into that d sound. Mine. Mine. Um, or, um, what else? What's another n d word? Fi. Well, I if I said I can't find uh I can't find my phone. I can't find my phone. I can't find my phone. You don't really hear that D. It allides. It almost sounds like I'm saying f I N E. Fine. One on. One on. I can link that together. One on the app. The one thing I want to point out with the article is that often it has a strong and a weak form. And often you're going to hear that weak form which is going to have that schwa sound. The the car, the cup, the glass. But because the word app begins with a vowel sound, you're going to hear that strong form. The app, the elephant, the air. So in this case, it's going to sound um like this. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. So let's practice this together and say it. I know some of you are saying like, okay, it is fast or a little too fast. Uh trying to maintain that same speed. So, let's say this slowly and just say it with me. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. One more time. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. Now, a little faster. I'll say it three times again. Kind of like a a middle speed. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. And then at a more regular speed, if I were standing out uh on the street at this bus stop and having this conversation, I would say again, I'll say it a few times. Try to say it with me. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. The one thing I want you to again keep in mind just highlight that I'm gonna hopefully as you hear me say that I'm gonna you can kind of pick it out and you hear it you know that oh I'm somebody is saying I'm gonna all right so let's uh let's start putting this all together. Excellent. I want you guys to keep practicing with me. Talal, Lai, uh, Peter, uh, Freddy, uh, Chad, keep keep let's keep practicing. And I I'm gonna say part A. Well, I'll say it one more time just so you can hear it and then we're going to switch and uh, we'll we'll pretend like we're having this conversation. So, just keeping everything in mind that we talked about, I'll just go through it once and you can hear my pronunciation. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. We're going to have to get an Uber if we if we want to make it on time. I'm going to see if I can find one on the app. And just so you know, I know somebody had asked, and Uber is kind of like a taxi. Again, it depends on what country you're in. I don't know if they operate they well, they don't operate all over the world, but they are pretty common in places like the US and and Europe. And you use your phone, the Uber app, to call an Uber like a taxi. So, let's practice this. And basically, I I'll start out. I will say A and I want you to say B. And then we'll switch. Are you ready? Let's begin. What's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? We're going to have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. Okay, now let's switch. I want you to say A and I'm going to say B. And hopefully I know that we're syncing this up a little bit so that it does sound a little bit like a a real conversation. So you're A, I'm B. You can begin now. It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. All right. Excellent. If you were participating, let me know. I want to know that you're practicing because that's what this is all about. Even though this is a video, you can still practice your speaking skills. Write that word in the comments or or the chat. Just write the word speaking. If you are actually saying these sentences out loud, practicing your speaking fluency. But I told you at the very beginning, I think one of the the most valuable parts of lessons like this is your listening comprehension because this is you're you're going to hear this. People are going to sound like this if you're watching a movie or TV show. Hey, what's up with the bus? Should we keep waiting around? It's your call, but I think we may want to consider other options. Well, we're gonna have to get an Uber if we want to make it on time. Okay, I'm gonna see if I can find one on the app. and they're going to run through these sentences and it will sound fast and that's okay. But the more you hear these sentences and really understand what's going on with some of these reductions with assimilation and the sounds blending and especially linking that is so common in just casual conversation. It is all going to start to come together over time. you feel like you learned something new, you can really do me a big favor and and hit that like button. That tells me that, okay, I should do more lessons like this in the future and talk about fast speech. Not just to to say, well, okay, you need to try to speak with an American accent. If that's one of your goals, then that's fine. But most importantly to help you improve your listening comprehension because well especially if you watch movies, TV shows, you are going to hear probably hear the American accent quite often. So if you enjoyed the lesson, let me know. Hit that like button. Again, if you want to get these lesson notes and join our email community, click on that link down below in the description. If you are already a part of our community, check your inbox. I have sent them to you. [snorts] But uh I really appreciate you being here with me today. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for participating in the lesson. I love seeing that. And of course I will be back in the future with more lessons to help you practice and improve your fluency because that is what the channel is all about. have a great day and --- ## 522. SPEAK FAST LIKE AN AMERICAN ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ #shorts #americanenglish | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ikttIN7zqnI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikttIN7zqnI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:58:01 | --- speak fast like an American here's a sentence for you I'm going to get an Uber and go home except I'm not really going to say it like that I would say I'm going to get an Uber and go home so what's happening I'm going to we can reduce going to to GNA I'm going to or we can reduce it even further and just say I'm going to I'm going to take a walk I'm going to get you I'm going to have to call you back I'm going to go get an Uber we can link these words together linking the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word get in Uber now that final T and get I am going to pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D if there's anything that Americans love more than fast food it's the flap tea get an Uber and of course and in spoken English is often reduced to just n so I'll say it slowly I'm going to get an Uber and go home say it with me I'm going to get an Uber and go home you sound just like an American and now you know how to --- ## 523. SPRING IDIOMS & EXPRESSIONS TO BRIGHTEN UP YOUR DAY ๐ŸŒธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `PRdorgubA48` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRdorgubA48) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:39:03 | --- Okay. Check this out. I swear that one month ago these trees right here were basically naked. And then all of a sudden...color explosion. You know what that means. You ready to go outside now. Yep. It's so bright outside. So, today we are going to talk to you guys about some common spring expressions. I feel like the sun is attacking me. Yeah, it's really bright out right now. How would you rate this beautiful spring afternoon? It's great. There's trees. There's shade. Greenery. Sun's out. All we need is ice cream. So our first expression is a weather-related one. It is not a cloud in the sky. And really, it's just what it sounds like it is. When it's gorgeous outside. It's sunny. It's beautiful. It's not cloudy It's just super sunny and there aren't any clouds in the sky. We say "Oh, it's so nice outside. There's not a cloud in the sky." So this is grass and another fun expression is saying that something is like watching the grass grow. And this is a simile because we're comparing two things. So you're comparing something that's very boring and unexciting and saying it's like watching the grass grow. It's just...yeah, it's not something that we want to do. And you're trying to say...describe something that's boring. It's not exciting. It's like watching the grass grow. Can you give us an example? An example... Waiting for Ioana to get ready is like watching the grass grow. We go through three different outfit changes. And it's like watching the grass grow. Everybody out here is enjoying this weather. So Wes. What your favorite... That's me. Yes. Yeah. What up? How are you today? Fine. What's your favorite thing about spring? I like that it... the days keep getting longer. After those dark winter days, the days get longer. You can spend more time outside. It's true. That is my favorite thing about spring. And you? Flowers. So many flowers. It's beautiful. The flowers are fine. He knows nothing. They don't bother me, but actually... They don't bother you? Actually, they do because I... My least favorite thing about the spring is the allergies. I get bad allergies. Yeah, me too actually. Partly, you know...the flowers are partly responsible for that. But they're so pretty. Another great spring idiom is to brighten up one's day. And for example, it just means to make your day better. If something brightens up your day, it makes you feel better. Greater. Everything is wonderful. So for example, these flowers right here behind me...they brighten up my day. So while we have this gorgeous view, I want to tell you about two expressions that actually have the word "spring" in them. And they're kind of a little similar in meaning. The first one is to spring into action. And that means to start doing something quickly and with a lot of energy. So if something happens, and you're trying to help somebody, maybe you will spring into action and start helping that person. The other one is spring to life, which basically means to start moving. That you've been one place...maybe you're sleeping and then - BOOM - you wake up, you start moving. And you spring to life. For example, Ioana, she likes to take naps in the middle of the day, and then suddenly she wakes up, and she springs back to life. Say 20 minute nap so people don't think I'm lazy. Because it's true. They're three-hour naps. No! They're 20 minutes. Our next expression is to spring something on someone. And usually we use this when we are talking about something, some kind of information that somebody gives you at the last minute. It was unexpected and maybe not so welcome. So for example, if you're at work...maybe it's 4:50pm, and you normally leave at 5:00pm, and your boss gives you a new project to do. You can be like "Uh. How could you do this? How can you spring this on me at the last moment?" Or something like that. It usually deals with unexpected or unwanted information. Another fun expression is saying somebody is not spring chicken. And if you say this, you're basically saying that this person is not young anymore. And you'd say "He's no spring chicken," or "She's no spring chicken." And often you'd hear it about...when somebody, they think they're younger than they really are. Give it a try. No. I don't want to get my shoes wet. Another spring expression that's really useful is spring cleaning. And what this means is when springtime comes along people like to clean up their homes. And I'm talking about a big, big cleaning. In the sense that you clean up every little corner. You just clean it really, really well. And that is spring cleaning. So I hope you guys learned some new spring expressions, and now we want to hear from you. So in the comments, let us know what your favorite thing is about the springtime. What do you like about Spring? Let us know. We love hearing from you guys. And if you enjoyed this lesson, please like and share it. And thank you guys so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 524. START USING THESE REDUCTIONS - gonna, wanna, hafta, gimme, lemme | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `erFBuGtRLig` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erFBuGtRLig) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:04:57 | --- i'm going to have to insist that you participate in this lesson and you're going to want to watch this until the very end at which point you're going to give me that thumbs up and and hit that like button now i just said several reductions and i said one after the other did you hear them you're going to want to watch this gonna wanna and reductions are basically when we push words together and when this happens certain sounds are removed and and we use reductions all the time in spoken english they really just allow us to say more in a shorter period of time now using reductions is not something you have to do if you do not feel comfortable using them when speaking it's no big deal but i do think it's important to learn them because they can really help your listening comprehension and if you would like to improve your listening and speaking skills please subscribe turn on notifications so that way i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel is interactive english and it's just all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so in today's lesson i'm going to talk to you about the reductions gonna wanna have to give me lemmy and even though i'm giving you the spelling of these reductions so that you can see what it is that people are saying reductions are really only for spoken english i do not recommend that you use these when writing we're really going to speed things up and talk about when reductions may be used together and you're going to say one right after the other and this may seem like a simple idea but it is challenging it is more advanced when it comes to speaking and pronunciation and trying to use these reductions so believe me when i tell you that you're going to want to practice this with me and did you hear those reductions just then you're going to want to practice this with me gonna wanna and if you want to get even more practice then check out the link down in the description and you can download a free audio lesson to continue practicing these reductions while you're in the car or if you're out walking check out the link down in the description so the way that we're going to practice is simple i am going to give you some example sentences and i just want you to repeat after me and the goal is just to help you feel a little more comfortable saying these reductions one right after the other and just just developing a more natural way of speaking so let's begin with gonna wanna because i've said this one a few times already so you may use gonna wanna when you're talking about someone and and something that they may want to do in the future so a sentence that you may hear is you're going to want to see this and the one thing i want you to notice is that the reductions are not emphasized or stressed sometimes when practicing reductions i think it's natural for for people to focus on them and then they end up stressing them but just try not to do that these are not content words so when i say you're going to want to see this really the the main focus should be you see and this gonna wanna it's not stressed and again that's why it's reduced and then we just fly right through the sentence you're gonna wanna see this so when you are repeating i want you to keep that in mind try to keep the same speed intonation and emphasis as we practice so i'm going to say the sentence three times and each time i want you to repeat after me the first time i'll say it at a normal speed then i'll say it slowly and then i'll say it again at a normal speed are you ready you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this everybody's going to want to get these shoes everybody's gonna wanna get these shoes everybody's gonna want to get these shoes i also want you to listen for these reductions because you will hear them when you're watching a tv show or movie and it's really going to sound like these sentences are fast so i have some clips to show you and i just want you to listen for the phrase gonna wanna nobody's gonna wanna watch that you're probably gonna wanna eat someone now you're gonna wanna see this everyone's gonna wanna carry it sj you're gonna wanna get this i told you these reductions are common and ones that you will hear from time to time so now let's talk about gonna have to and people may use gonna have to if you're talking about well something that someone will have to do in the future and it's kind of like you're telling them hey this is what we need to do so i have a couple of examples and again i just want you to repeat after me and we'll say these three times are you ready she's gonna have to bring it back she's gonna have to bring it back she's gonna have to bring it back we're going to have to give a presentation we're going to have to give a presentation we're gonna have to give a presentation all right you're gonna have to sign a waiver well you're gonna have to keep on waiting we ain't got no room we're gonna have to study them you're gonna have to know them i'm gonna have to pass it's gonna have to wait you're gonna have to reconsider you're gonna have to choose and now let's move on to gonna give me so gonna give me is used to talk about something that a person will give or do to the speaker in the future and in this case the speaker it's me so you may often use this with questions because the speaker is the object of the sentence it's like you're doing something to the speaker or for the speaker again me so i have a couple of examples but before we practice these i wanted to teach you a couple of different phrases so to give someone a hand means to help someone and to give someone a hard time means to deliberately make a situation more difficult okay we're gonna use these phrases so i will say the sentence three times again i just want you to repeat after me are you ready are you gonna give me a hand with this are you gonna give me a hand with this are you gonna give me a hand with this he's going to give me a hard time he's going to give me a hard time he's gonna give me a hard time yeah you gonna give me a dog for a pet give me a pitfall you gonna give me something don't give me a chance you're gonna give me a wedding and then there's gonna let me so we use these reductions when we're talking about something that a person will let the speaker do in the future and again we're talking about me so here are a couple of sentences and i just want you to repeat and say them with me are you ready are you gonna let me drive are you gonna let me drive are you gonna let me drive you're gonna let me review your work you're gonna let me review your work you're gonna let me review your work you let me in you're gonna let me know you're gonna let me go you're just gonna let me die you let me know right you know i love hearing that you participated in the lesson so if you did you can tell me down in the comments just write the word speaking that way i know you were participating and hopefully you feel a little more comfortable using these reductions one after the other because it can be a bit challenging and remember if you'd like to get more practice using these reductions you can download that free audio lesson just click on that link in the description if you enjoy the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 525. STOP Making This Common Grammar Mistake! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `OZOMzFn7RYI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZOMzFn7RYI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:45:46 | --- I recommend that you watch this lesson or I recommend you to watch this lesson are these sentences the same are they acceptable the answer is no to both of those questions these sentences have subtle differences in structure and usage and it's also much better to use one instead of the other and before we get into all of that if you are someone who likes to fine-tune your grammar skills Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals now to begin with let's get something very simple out of the way just to make sure that we're on the same page and I want to talk to you about the meaning of the verb recommend and I actually like the definition from Longman dictionary the best to advise someone to do something especially because you have special knowledge of a situation or subject this is an incredibly common verb we use it all the time and I want to make sure that we iron out any possible mistakes if you use this verb when speaking or writing so let's begin with the sentence I recommend that you do something this construction is the subjunctive mood now you may be thinking what the hell is the subjunctive mood that is a good question and let's have a little fun we can ask chat GPT the subjunctive mood is a verb form used to express things that are not certain or real like wishes hopes suggestions or hypothetical situations so let's focus on the suggestion or advice part and it says I recommend that he study more the studying has not happened yet it's just a suggestion but I want you to think about that he study because it may look a little strange we're not going to conjugate that subject in verb I'm not going to say he studies which is what you would normally think about this is the subjunctive mood so I'm going to to use the base verb I recommend that he study more think about the pattern we're going to use recommend plus that plus the subject plus the base verb we're going to use this pattern when speaking and writing now there are other sentence patterns that we can use with the verb recommend which definitely makes this confusing and I will come back to that a little bit later on but I also want you to keep in mind that the subjunctive mood is more commonly used in American English which is where I'm from I'm from the US than it is used in British English and here are some more examples I recommend that you take an umbrella I recommend that she see a doctor I recommend that we book our flights in advance and yeah that is something that I would typically recommend here are some other real life examples commend that you formally apologize I am going to recommend that she leave the relationship I recommend that that you start now I recommend strongly that you come forward now one thing I want to point out is that we have our verb recommend followed by a noun clause which begins with the word that and you do not have to use that at the beginning of the noun clause you can omit it if you want I recommend you take an umbrella I recommend she see a doctor I recommend we book our flights in advance now the meaning is the same but if you are curious as to which which form is more commonly used we can check out engram viewer which allows us to compare the frequency of different words and phrases so if we're talking about recommend plus go it's a little more common to omit the word that I recommend you go if we're talking about recommend plus take once again it's more common to Omit that and then finally if we're talking about recommend Plus work it's slightly more common to use that I recommend that you work but really the the point is that you can use either one whether you want to use that at the beginning of the noun clause or omit it both are perfectly fine and the meaning is the same now let's talk about I recommend you to do something and we can keep this short and sweet because the use of to after the verb recommend generally is considered incorrect In Standard English because look I I'll be honest if someone were to say I recommend you to take an umbrella it just sounds really unnatural and a bit awkward when when I hear this and I really wanted to point this out because I hear people use this form all the time when having a conversation and they say I recommend you to do something and I recommend that you avoid using this form and use the other form that we talked about and I want you to say I recommend that you do something but let's try to get a better understanding as to why there is some confusion first in some languages the structure is more natural so if you are just translating in your head I understand why some people would make this mistake and they use this form second this form is not necessarily incorrect it's just very uncommon if you are going to come across this form it's much more commonly used in the passive voice so in this case our pattern is the subject receiving the action plus the verb to be plus the past participle of the verb recommend followed by the infinitive so consider the following this is an active sentence if I say Airlines recommend that passengers arrive 2 hours before their flight this is an active sentence I'm using the form recommend that someone do something Airlines recommend that passengers arrive now if I were to change this sentence to the passive then I could say passengers are recommended to arrive 2 hours before their flight this is in the passive voice so my subject the passengers receiving the action plus the verb to be plus the past participle of the verb recommend passengers are recommended and then we have that to because we're using the infinitive passengers are recommended to arrive so in this case we have that form using two however the sentence is in the passive voice both of these sentences sound natural to my ears whether we're talking about the active or the passive but here are some more examples of this form with the passive portable electronic devices with lithium ion batteries are recommended to be removed and placed in carry-on baggage teenagers are recommended to get 9 to 10 hours of sleep and adults normally around to 8 hours now the vast majority of the time when you are speaking or writing you're going to use active sentences and that is why I recommend that you use the form that I'm using right now now I mentioned earlier that there are other sentence structures using the verb recommend and I want to have a look at them right now so you could recommend doing something and we're going to follow the verb recommend with the Jared I recommend taking an umbrella I recommend eating healthy foods I recommend hitting the like button and I just wanted to sneak that suggestion in there here are some more examples using recommend and the Jaren I recommend taking Surface trats well I recommend keeping the door closed I recommend knowing before speaking but I wouldn't recommend giving him any of our travel plans no one you could also recommend something to someone and this is also a little confusing because you see that too in there but we're talking about recommending something to someone and we're going to talk about a a person or a pronoun so often you're going to use this structure in the past tense because the recommendation has already been made I could say she recommended the movie to her friend or they recommended a restaurant to us now that doesn't always mean that you're going to use this in the past tense I could also say I recommend this channel to anyone who would like to practice and improve their English fluency and yes that is true here are some more examples using this structure can to recommend this to your friends yes very good firm but tender recommend you to a friend why are you reading a comic book Denise recommended it to me so the main takeaway is that I want you to use the form I recommend that you do something when making a suggestion to another person we're going to use recommend plus that plus the subject plus the base verb I'll give you one last example I recommend that you watch another video Lesson if you'd like to continue practicing and improving your English skills and that is everything that you need to know about using this very common and useful verb recommend and if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new you can let me know by hitting that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 526. STOP Mispronouncing These 5 Verbs! ๐Ÿ”ฅ Quick Pronunciation Fix | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BPLJV6jm09Q` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPLJV6jm09Q) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:54:02 | --- Can you correctly pronounce these five words right here? Let's begin with misinterpret. It has four syllables. The stress is on that third syllable. Misinterpret. You can really hear it. And it just means to basically get the wrong idea or have the wrong understanding of something. I hope that you do not misinterpret how to correctly pronounce this verb. The next one is perpetuate. to just keep something going. Again, it has four syllables. The stress this time is on that second syllable. Perpetuate. Keep in mind that tu has more of a ch sound. Perpetuate. Say it with me. Perpetuate. Then there's decipher. Three syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Decipher. It just means to convert something into normal language. Keep in mind the c has a s sound, more of an s sound. Decipher. Reciprocate. This word has four syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. Reciprocate. It just means to respond to an action or gesture. I hope that you enjoy this pronunciation video and you will reciprocate by hitting the like button. One thing that's a little tricky about this word is that you do hear a slight R sound in that third syllable. Reciprocate. Reciprocate. Say it with me. Reciprocate. And then there's acknowledge. This is a long word, but it only has three syllables, and the stress is on that second syllable. Acknowledge. When you acknowledge something, you just admit that it is true or real. I will acknowledge that this is a common verb. So definitely make sure you are pronouncing it correctly. --- ## 527. STOP SAYING BAD ๐Ÿšซ Use these 46 words & phrases instead | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MMeisR1A14U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMeisR1A14U) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:20:04 | --- bad is not what i want you to say instead i want you to say hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is just all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i have it's it's a vocabulary lesson for you it's really related to one word and that is bad first i want to say that i'm not telling you that you should never use bad of course you might use this word from time to time i just want to encourage you to think of other words and phrases that you can use to express your opinions about things that you might not like because the problem with bad is that it's so common it's not very descriptive and there are so many other words and phrases that you can use that would really tell someone just how bad something is and you're just giving them more information which is always good so what we're going to do is i'm going to tell you some very common questions that somebody might ask about different topics and instead of saying bad i'm going to give you some other vocabulary that you can use so let's begin with a very common question that someone might ask which is how's it going and instead of saying well i'm having a bad day there's a lot that you could say you could just keep it simple and really kind of just say the opposite of bad and say well not good or even crappy that's a synonym for badge that's a crappy day or even use an interjection like meh how's it going meh that really means that well the day is not very exciting perhaps it's pretty boring it's just meh or you could use a phrase like well i've been better that's a way of really not being too negative about the day and but just still telling somebody that that things are not things are not good i've been better or even one day at a time that really would tell someone that you're just trying to survive today perhaps it's been difficult very exhausting you just want it to end one day at a time another common question someone might ask you and it's also a conversation starter is well what did you think of the movie or what did you think of this tv show and instead of saying bad you could say well it's terrible terrible really means very bad or even atrocious i think atrocious is even stronger than terrible or if you want to give a little extra information talking about a movie or a tv show you could say that it's slow maybe you thought there would be more action more adventure and it's just it's not moving fast it's just slow or if it doesn't meet your expectations which i think happens when we watch a movie or a tv show then you could say it's disappointing yeah it was just disappointing it was bad don't you don't need to watch it it's disappointing now i know in this lesson i'm teaching you all these different ways to say that something is bad but i want to take a moment and tell you about something that is actually really good and it has to do with the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda so if you feel that your english is is maybe bad but i don't want to use bad so maybe you feel that your english is well just not good or maybe it's coming along slow or if you just want to improve your english skills and achieve english fluency then lingoda can help with that and right now lingoda wants to show you a little bit of love by offering a 20 discount on all marathon and monthly courses but you need to sign up between now and march 1st so lingoda is great because well they have small group classes which means you have plenty of opportunities to speak those same classes are available 24 7. you get to learn from the comfort of your own home and classes start as low as 8 euro per group class and i know all this because i have also studied with lingoda i took some classes in spanish and it was a really great experience lingoda has even started doing things like quizzes and homework and and these are new features that will just help you continue improving your language skills all you need to do is click on the link in the description and when you sign up you can even get a free seven day trial and make sure you use the voucher code love 2021 to get a 20 discount off your first month's payment easy to remember valentine's day is upon us love 2021 get that 20 discount and then once you do all that you will be on your way to reaching your fluency goals and that is a great thing and now let's get back to talking about well how to say things are bad so we're going to head back in the opposite direction and we're going to look at this question right here maybe somebody might ask well how's the food or how's the meal and instead of saying that it's bad maybe you want to be perhaps a little more polite you could say it's disagreeable if you say it's disagreeable it also maybe means that you don't feel very well maybe it makes you feel a little sick it's unpleasant you could say that it's disagreeable if you if you're not worried about trying to be polite and you really want someone to know that something tastes bad you could say it's gross oh this is this is gross or if the food is a little old you could say that it's rotten and sometimes old food it might start growing mold you could even see it on the food and then you could just say well this is just moldy typically moldy food it's it's going to taste pretty bad or if you want to get more specific and in this case you're saying that well the food could be better you could say that it's too spicy or it's too sweet or too sour because we use two to say that something is more than what is needed or you could use this phrase and say that something is not spicy enough or it's not sweet enough or not sour enough and with all of those phrases you're talking about well the food it could be better another question someone might ask you i know i asked this question before i go outside and i just say well what's the weather like and well of course the weather can be bad but instead of saying bad you could be a little more descriptive and actually say what the weather is like you could just say cold or hot or windy or rainy and in all of those cases you're actually describing the weather and i think when people do this what they're really implying is that they're not really excited about this if somebody says what's the weather like you're like hot that really doesn't mean that you love that weather you're really kind of saying that well it's it can be a little annoying probably it's too hot and you could also use two in front of those words as well to give it that extra emphasis it's too cold it's too hot too windy or maybe it's just too rainy outside and you're going to stay inside you could also say the weather is yucky so i when i think of somebody describing weather as yucky perhaps it's like raining and snowing and it's just dark and it's just not a you don't want to be outside in that weather when it's yucky or you could describe the weather and say that it's lousy it's just we have lousy weather right now or nasty that's another word that people may use when talking about bad weather it's nasty weather outside uh let's not go out it's really bad it's nasty then we have this question right here what do you think of well some piece of work such as art and sometimes art it may look pretty bad and if you really don't want to hold back then and you say you want to say it's bad you could just say dreadful oh this is dreadful or it's hideous this this picture is just hideous or garbage that can be a little mean and hard to hear if if you call somebody's piece of work garbage it's just oh that's that's really bad or if you're talking about like uh somebody's work perhaps like a paper or an article uh i'm i'm a teacher and sometimes students would give me their their writing assignment and i could say it's unacceptable all right this it's it's not good it's bad it's unacceptable or even you could tell somebody in this situation like they're handing you some assignment you could just say it's wrong so those are two words that you can use when you're you have a situation in which somebody might be submitting something to you at school or work and it's bad maybe you could just say it's unacceptable or wrong now let's look at this question right here what do you think of like this person and often you might be referring to a person's behavior the way that they act because some people they they have really bad behavior and you could say that someone is naughty naughty this is a word that i think people would mostly use to describe children instead of saying bad like oh this this child is very naughty you would not really use this word to describe adults a word that you could use to describe adults would be well juvenile that's a good one if you want to say that an adult is acting like a child because juvenile means a young child or a younger person and you could say that this person's very juvenile sometimes i can be juvenile i'll be honest or if you want to say that somebody's behavior is just really bad you could say that it's appalling or maybe even be a little more descriptive and say obnoxious this this person's just obnoxious very unpleasant bad obnoxious behavior people could also ask about your vacation you go on vacation you come back it's very common somebody might just say well hey how was the vacation and if it was it was a very bad vacation you could say well it could have been better and this is a way of not really well just being like oh it was it was bad you're trying to soften it a little bit but if somebody says it could have been better of course then there were problems there were issues it's not the vacation you were hoping for could have been better or even somebody might just say all right and in this case i would say all right has more of a negative connotation and you're saying that the vacation was kind of bad because when you think of a vacation people go on vacation to have a great time they they look forward to it they want to enjoy it so if somebody describes their vacation is just all right that's not a good thing that means their vacation was kind of bad or if you want to be completely open and honest you could say that it was awful i just had an awful time or even you could add to that word and say god awful oh it was just a it was a god-awful time that was that vacation was just awful or you could describe your vacation if it was pretty bad perhaps you might just say it was uneventful if something is uneventful then well nothing exciting happened again when you go on vacation usually exciting things should happen so when you say it's uneventful then that tells that tells us that well it was a bad vacation and then we have this question right here what did you think of the performance and it could be any performance it could be a musical performance or even a sports competition and sometimes a performance can be pretty bad but instead of saying that if you're actually going to use the word performance then you could say it was a poor performance i think this is a common collocation a poor performance that the team the team lost badly because it was a poor performance or another great collocation you could say something is a weak performance the business lost money because management had a weak performance or if you just want to describe the performance and say that it's really bad you could say it's it was a disaster everything went wrong it was a complete disaster or even say that it was horrendous that performance was horrendous i want to forget about it because it was so bad it was horrendous you may even want to talk about an activity or an event and somebody could ask you well how was this event and if it was bad you could say that it was unpleasant you didn't like it it was bad it was unpleasant or especially if you're talking about an event or activity usually you would think it's very exciting and if it's just not exciting maybe it brings you down you could say well it was a downer or even it was a bummer or it was just depressing yeah it was bad it was it was really depressing people may also talk about a class or a meeting they say how's the class how's the meeting and if it's a bad class maybe you want to say why it was bad and you could just say it was boring all right or another word that you could use is lame that meeting was so lame it was bad or even ordinary ordinary it's just not special and in this case if you're describing something like a class as ordinary yeah it's not a good thing i i hope that you do not think that these lessons are ordinary i hope that you think that they are completely the opposite of every word and phrase that i just taught you in this lesson but again this vocabulary is very useful because you always want to use different words and phrases when you're expressing yourself so instead of saying bad i hope you learn some new vocabulary if you did please hit that like button down below as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 528. STOP SAYING GOOD! Use these 77 words & phrases instead... โœ… | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `m6GWAFkjxyo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6GWAFkjxyo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:29:27 | --- good is not what I want you to say instead I want you to say this hi everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to teach you many different words that you can use to answer some common questions and not have to say the word good now I think you are very familiar with the word good it's a very common word according to Oxford English it is the 65th most common word in the English language it means something that is well very pleasant enjoyable interesting but the problem with good is that it's often overused and it's not very descriptive so I'm going to talk about different questions that someone might ask and ways that you can respond instead of saying good and really I just want to get the vocabulary juices flowing I really just want to get you thinking of other ways that you can respond to some very common questions so let's begin with perhaps one of the most common questions that somebody might ask you and that's just how's it going they're talking about your day or even life in general how is it going and instead of saying good you can say yeah great fantastic I'm doing well or you could even say never been better if you think that that you're just doing you're doing very good now if you want to express that well that you're good but not really show a whole lot of enthusiasm then you could just say well not bad I like to use that one how's it going not bad or you could even just say okay which is another very common word but you could use it instead of good hey what's going okay hi Tiffany hi Roger how's it going then we have the question how was the movie or maybe even somebody could ask you how's this TV series these are common questions because we like to talk about movies and TV and yeah I would always get this whenever I'd ask students you know well you know how was the movie everything good good good so instead of saying good you can say that well it was it was spectacular or it was a must see if it's a must see then that means that well you you really you have to see it but it's a great way to describe a movie as a must-see or maybe you could say it was entertaining fascinating we're captivating those are some great adjectives or even riveting that's another that's another good word if if something keeps you on the edge of your seat you could say wow it was riveting or if the movie or TV show is funny you could say it was hilarious or if it's scary it was frightening or disturbing or even it was powerful it really it affected me it was a powerful movie or maybe it was something and made you think you could say was it was thought-provoking that TV show it was thought-provoking that's another great adjective that you can use instead of saying good documentary now has presented audiences with the world's most thought-provoking cinema now if you want to start expressing yourself using many different adjectives like the ones that we're learning in today's lesson then you just need to practice and a great way to get practice is by taking some online classes with lingo des who is the sponsor of today's lesson and if you want fluency success then I recommend you check out the lingo to language marathon because learning a language is like training for a marathon if you are learning over a longer period of time that is just going to help you continuously improve your skills and there are three different options for the lingo de marathon challenge you can take the three month the six month or even the 12 month marathon and you can also get up 400 euro cash back if you attend 90% or more of the lessons during the marathon period which means that you could pay as little as 6 euro per class the reason this will really help you is because you will have small group classes with a native speaking teacher and I know this because I took some Spanish classes with lingo de and I had a lot of opportunities to speak I was able to learn new vocabulary and actually practice using the grammar in conversation you'll also have the flexibility to take classes anytime anywhere just click on the link in the description if you want to give the marathon a try and you have two choices you can take a 7-day free trial if you want to see if the marathon is right for you or if you know that you want to sign up for the language marathon then you can use the voucher code interactive ten and get 50 euro off your first month so click on the link in the description if you'd like more information about the language marathon and sign up if you want to make this your year for fluency success and don't forget use that voucher code interactive ten to get 50 euro off your first month so let's get back to our lesson on on what you should say instead of saying good and another common question that someone might ask you is how's the food or maybe how's your meal and instead of saying good you could say that that it is fantastic it's exceptional it's tasty it's savory it's delicious that's another very common response but let's get a little more specific and you could say that it is it's succulent it means that there's something's delicious and also a little juicy as well another phrase that you could use to mean the same thing is not watering oh it's it's it's so good its mouth watering or you could even say that something is fresh that is a great word that I like to use especially if I want to describe fruits vegetables or bread and I could say oh this is so fresh now those are all very positive ways to describe food and if you don't want to be so positive then you could just say alright ai-ai-ai-aight I'm guilty I used this one quite often it's a very common word and somebody says so how's your food alright it's good it's alright or if you want to be a little more specific and give that extra bit of information then you could say it's a little and then fill in any adjectives it's a little sweet it's a little sour it's a little spicy it's a little bitter and this this tells somebody that the food is good but you know it could be better because well it's a little sweet it's a little sour it's a little bitter it's a little I think two milks a little sour it's like milk here you go they're a little spicy another question that you could get is how's the weather and if you want to describe the weather you could say it's gorgeous outside I love using that adjectives to describe the weather and I say that quite often Wow you know it's gorgeous outside or you could just say it's a nice day or even it's a pleasant day or if you want to give more information you could say it's crystal clear so if you say it's crystal clear then typically there are no clouds in the sky it's blue skies all around it's crystal clear you can also say that it's sunny I think people associate good weather with sunny weather and say oh wow it's a it's a sunny day or even combine it with nice and say wow it's nice and sunny outside you could also say fine and I think people would just use this word if they're responding to the question and somebody's asking well what's the weather like what should I expect when I go outside and if you say fine then it's more like well then you know it's normal there's nothing strange there's nothing unusual it's it's just fine and finally you could be more specific and say it's a bit and then fill in whatever adjective it's a bit windy it's a bit cool it's a bit chilly Wow and again that that just gives people more information so they know exactly what you're talking about so just bit chilly in here don't you think we need a pilot city well I'll go conditions were a little windy another common question is well how's work going how's work and in that case they're talking about your job so you could say that that it's wonderful it's excellent or you say I love it I love what I do I love it or perhaps you could describe it and say that it is challenging maybe it's demanding and if that's the case you could also say that Wow it's you know it's very busy you could also say I'm learning a lot of new things I think this is a great response especially if someone just started a new job I'm learning a lot of new things or if you've been working the same job for a long time then you might say something like repetitive or even monotonous how's work wow it's monotonous I just do the same thing every day day in day out it's monotonous a job could also be lonely if you end up working by yourself all day or if you want to be sarcastic and somebody says this and ask you this question how's work going and you you don't really care for the work and you say well you know it's another day in paradise I don't really mean it but that's a good way to express the way you feel about the job read in the toxic fumes you'll probably die another day in paradise now if somebody's talking about some sort of project when they ask about your work and actually the things that you're doing and they say well you know how's your work going in that case then you could say like something like well we're working hard maybe you could say that well thing things are coming along nicely thing things are coming along or making progress that's another great phrase to describe how you're working on some project or an expression that I I think is a good one you could just tell someone slow and steady wins the race if you continuously work but even though you're not going to be going very fast slow and steady wins the race you're still going to achieve your goal chill out slow and steady wins the race can't have you burning out point is I believe that slow and steady wins the race we don't take risks we make profits something else that people love to talk about is vacation so somebody could ask you you know how was your vacation and there are different types of vacations if you if it's if it's very active you could tell somebody maybe well it was adventurous or perhaps you could say you know we were always on the go or even you could use the word non-stop that you were moving around you were doing so many different things that well vacation it was non-stop now other vacations are are a little more calm and in that case you might want to describe it as well it was just it was very relaxing or perhaps you could say it was restful or maybe peaceful that's another great adjective if you absolutely loved your vacation then you could say it was perfect or maybe a great expression is it was just what the doctor ordered this is an expression that means well that you you really needed to have this vacation you needed this thing and in that case you could tell someone it was just what the doctor ordered a visit to the park was just what the doctor ordered Thanks I was thinking after the past few days you've had some pancakes on the pier and serious sunbathing could be just what the doctor ordered and if we're talking about an activity somebody could ask you a question like well how was the party and instead of saying good you could tell them it was so much fun or it was a lot of fun or you could say it was off the hook that is an informal expression kind of an idiom or slang that means that it was well it was it was a lot of fun it was very cool that party it was off the hook or maybe you would describe the party as lively of course not all parties are full of loud music and dancing if we're talking about something maybe like a dinner party you could describe it and say well it was enjoyable or lovely or if you want to be more formal you could say it was glamorous or elegant or even tasteful those are some great adjectives to describe more of a formal party about a great dress burgundy a line very tasteful that's Italian silk very comfortable very tasteful although expensive you just threw a million dollar party a tasteful Polynesian affair culturally accurate if we're talking about event somebody could ask how was the the football match or how was the concert or how was the festival and instead of saying good you can say it was amazing exciting energetic thrilling marvelous or non-stop now I told you I would not use the words and phrases more than once so I'm going to add another word and say nonstop action that that things were just continuous and it just kept going it was so exciting you say wow it was just it was non-stop action kids running towards me with a look of joy I've never seen before and somebody might also ask you about your class or maybe a meeting and they'll say you know how was class or how was the meeting and in that case don't use good instead you could tell them that well it was interesting or educational or it was cool it's very cool you could also say informative or helpful or even inspiring I truly hope that you find these video lessons inspiring and well that that's actually what I want to know right now I have one question for all of you and that is what did you think of the lesson let me know in the comments write your answer down below just tell me what what did you think of the lesson and I do not want you to say good please please please tell me anything except for good I hope you now have the vocabulary juices flowing if you want to review some of these words and phrases check out the description below I put all of the questions as well as the responses and the next time someone asks you one of these very common questions you can be a little more descriptive and give them a more specific answer instead of saying the word good thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 529. STOP SAYING UM, AH, ER, LIKE... | Avoid Using Fillers for Effective Speaking | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `W0mEQ0IyfL8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0mEQ0IyfL8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:11:13 | --- So this lesson is uh like um so you know it's about fillers. So I have a new word for you and that is dfluency. It's not a word you need to know for just everyday conversation but in linguistics it refers to interruptions in the regular flow of speech. So fillers are an example of disfluency and we use fillers in conversation for a variety of reasons. Perhaps we get distracted or we start to feel nervous or we're just at a loss for what comes next. It is natural to use fillers in conversation. Fillers like um or ah and and they can be useful to regain your footing in the conversation. So it's a natural part of communication and you don't really need to eliminate them all together. But, and I'm sure you were waiting for a butt. As a language learner, sometimes people may overuse fillers for the reasons I mentioned before. They they get distracted or they get nervous or they're just at loss for what comes next. And in that case, you want to minimize your use of fillers. And that's what we're going to try to do in this lesson. So, I've broken this down into three parts. What's the difference between a pause and a filler? How do fillers affect your speaking fluency and how do you avoid them? For right now, let's look at this through the lens of effective speaking because the distinction is important because one is good and one is not so good. fillers. A pause is good and this is when you just stop speaking for a brief moment. It allows the listener or listeners to take in what you just said and it can be useful after emphasizing something. Fillers, on the other hand, may not be good because these are words, phrases, and utterances that tell people you're not done speaking and you need a little bit more time to think about what to say next. Right now, let's listen to the difference between using pauses and using fillers. When used correctly, short periods of silence can make all the difference in the world. have a greater impact on them. Let's listen to it again. This time using fillers. When used correctly, um, short periods of silence can make all the difference in the world. Like, uh, your audience is more engaged, so people take away more from your presentation. Uh, and, uh, you will certainly have a greater impact on them. With those pauses, the meaning was clear and with those fillers, I sounded unsure of myself. Now, that's formal speech, but even in casual conversation, the result may be the same. As an English learner, if you're using too many fillers, it may give the impression that you're either nervous or you're just uncomfortable using the language. So, if that's the case, then the goal is just to minimize the use of fillers because it is going to have an impact on your speaking fluency. So, let's talk about that right now. How do fillers affect your speaking fluency? As I told you, we use them naturally. They can help you sound more relatable as well as give you a moment to catch your breath. But if you're using fillers because you're nervous or you can't think of a word or you're unsure about what to say next, that is when they can become a crutch for your speaking fluency. And this is a crutch. It supports you when you have difficulty walking because of an injured leg or foot. And it's a good analogy because if your speaking fluency is injured, you may end up using fillers as a crutch. And that's also why some people refer to fillers as crutch words. The result of using too many crutch words is that the person listening is less likely to hang on to your every word because using fillers, it really does get in the way of emotional stories. If you're trying to tell someone something fascinating that you really think they should hear, language is expressive. It's emotional. And if you use a lot of fillers, it's just going to take the emotion right out and sound a bit boring and uninspiring. Now, this is inspiring. and dying in your beds many years from now. Would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that FOR ONE CHANCE, JUST ONE CHANCE TO COME BACK HERE AND TELL OUR ENEMIES THAT THEY MAY TAKE OUR LIVES, but they'll never take our freedom? You can hear that emotion, those pauses really let everything sink in. and it's very impactful. Now, let's listen to it again using fillers and dying in your beds many years from now. Um would you be willing like to trade all the days from this day to that? Uh for one chance um just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies like that they may take our lives, you know, but they'll never take uh our freedom. it it's just not the same. The fillers really distract from William Wallace's personality as well as his key message. That second time, he just sounds confused, uh, a little awkward, and it's just not authentic. So then the question becomes, how do you avoid using fillers? The first thing you need to do is just be aware of the fillers that you regularly use. Watch a video of yourself speaking about any topic. If you don't have a video, then record one or listen to an audio of yourself giving a presentation or having a conversation because once you're aware of the fillers that you regularly use, you'll start to hear these words in your day-to-day communication. And then what you need to do is transition from using a filler to creating a pause. So before saying that filler, you have to catch yourself and force yourself to be quiet creating that pause. But as you build your vocabulary, that just means you're not going to have to search as much for those words when you want to express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. You'll have them ready, and you won't have to use a filler. And then just be prepared. If you're giving a presentation, you should practice again and again because that's going to help you feel more confident. Please hit that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So, --- ## 530. STOP TRANSLATING from English to Your Native Language | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `uyeaHub9lY4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyeaHub9lY4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:49:57 | --- hello everyone and welcome welcome welcome to our lesson to our life lesson today let's see today we are talking about and and and and the dangers of translation the dangers of translation I hope everyone's having a nice Saturday and welcome to our tour lesson so I'm going to start oh the dangers of translation I should I should play some some some ominous music for you guys because this is how I feel about translation but that's okay I would like to let you know to welcome you today and please if you're in the comments please write your name where you're from hi so tell us about yourself are you writing why are you joining us from today and just say hi welcome everyone hello Perl hello you wanna hello mark oh yeah just let us know what is your name and where are you writing from because today we have an exciting lesson I think I I think it's very useful for most of us because we all struggled with translation so I think getting to expose the dangers of translation will be very useful for most of us and I will ask you some questions hi Jana very nice from India Romania Brazil wonderful Marco wonderful thank you very much for joining us today everyone I hope your Saturday is wonderful I hope you're having a great or a great weekend so far okay so I'm going to start are you guys ready is everyone ready excited I'm assuming yes so I'm just going to do to start so why do I say the dangers of translation and I have this ominous crazy face it's because translation has some problems okay so I will I will talk to you about how we begin to use translation as a method for language learning in the field of language learning or language acquisition there is this method called the grammar translation method and it started when people were trying to translate alt text into Greek and Latin or from Greek and Latin into different languages and it was primarily used to translate text that's very very important because that was its purpose and that's what it worked for the best however because of that it's been used so much to translate all text that it started being used everywhere by everyone basically almost all the schools have used this method and it's it's literally translating sentences from one language into the other and everyone uses it we've used the one I learned English when I was younger everyone uses this method most books use it so we are very very very exposed to this method and I think most of us know it very well so I want to ask you before we start welcome again if you're just joining us thank you very much for joining or listen and please tell us do you use translation okay so please just in the live chat whenever whenever you'd like just tell us if you've use translation and I will be honest and be the first one to say I have used translation and I think if you say I've never used translation I might not believe you because I think most of us have and there are times when we should use it so let's talk about why we do this okay first and foremost like I said we are used to it so we've been exposed to it many times we have seen it it's it's it's just comes second nature also because it's almost an instinct of course when you are first learning the language I think that your first instinct is to oh like what what is it what is this word in my language I want to find out I need to know it's very important that I know it's your first instinct of course but of course as we get as we get more proficient in the language that is when it becomes problematic and I would like you to know to to let us know if you've ever used translation and why you've used it this is very interesting to me because we all have different reasons I've just mentioned a few here but there's so many more reasons why we use translation when we try to express ourselves in a different language another one I said is when we quickly want to say a word in a language and we don't really know it we quickly look it up and then we just say that word and that makes it easy so it's much easier than then having that knowledge of the world insider our minds our brains okay and I think as we get more as we get more proficient in the language we if we have a lack of knowledge in a specific area we don't know a word that's when again when we fall on translation if we have if we don't have confidence and I experienced this a lot with some of my students they don't have the confidence in expressing themselves in English for example then again people fall on translation and they try to translate and this is when it really hurts our progress and I will talk about that in a second [Music] welcome Cynthia welcome welcome welcome from Brazil thank you thank you again for joining us again please let us know why do you why do you use translation if you translate and how do you do it when do you do it because there are times when I think translation is of course very very used and it's okay so let's talk about when it's okay because I do think that a translation is sometimes okay for example I think even Pearl was mentioning any new language learner yes when you first learn a language when you have absolutely no frame of reference to that language of course you're going to use translation you want to know what this word is and what this other word is and you it helps you make connections with the language so let's put it that way so I think then if you're just just starting it's okay now because I'm hoping that after today's lesson you will look and say translation is bad I'm going to try to use it less that's my goal today I I'm not here to tell you stop it stop it completely because I'm aware that it is difficult and especially if you've been doing it for a long time it's a habit that we're doing and it's it's normal to for it to be difficult to break okay so just try to use it less that's my goal today if you can't if you can't stop perfect are you guys ready again thank you very much for joining if you have any questions please write them in the chat I would also like to ask you again just at any time if you can write why do you translate and when do you use translations because I think it's important for us to for all of us to see that we all rely a little bit of done translations and we all have maybe will may be using them at different times so I think it would be useful if you if you mentioned that so are you guys ready for the first danger or problem with translation this is the most important I think by far I think they're all important but this one's of course it's important we learn languages for the purpose of communicating not try so not like translating text or anything but if we try to speak in a language it's a problem when people do not understand you and I have seen this a lot when people many times when they translate they translate word for word and language is more than words okay language is is syntax it's it's sentence structure its context its idioms its culture so it's not just words put together that's not what a language is so when you are trying to learn a language you have to be mindful of all of those things and how they fit in the new language okay so it's it's definitely more than that and if you translate word-for-word at that point you're not even speaking English even though you're using English words and I've had some experience with this with students writing to me or people that I've worked with writing to me using a translator translating their language into English and it doesn't sound like English okay so that's the main problem of course because you want people to understand you when you speak you don't want them not to understand you hi hi Ricardo hello from Venezuela thank you for joining us again if you guys are just joining us today welcome thank you for joining and also tell us why do you translate and when do you use translations okay so we were talking about a big danger of translation is people not being able to understand you at times that is a big problem it's a big danger but we have more so I'm going to move on to the second one this one's kind of connected because it doesn't sound natural okay we did a another life lesson on fluency and tips to improve your fluency and there we were talking that fluency the goal of being fluent in a language is to think in that language and express yourself in that line so if your goal with the languages to communicate in English and think in English translation is the exact opposite meaning that when you have to translate something in your language you have to take yourself from the mindset of English and go back into your language so you're you're stopping yourself you're literally stopping yourself from thinking in English and going into your own language which which brings me to my problem with this it is the result is you're not using the the the the language in a natural way so it sounds unnatural it sounds a little awkward and you don't sound like you are fluent which is a problem of course so a Fabio believes the translation is part of learning it can be in the beginning Fabio but keep watching because I have done some of these dangers and I can tell you that it really sets you back translation can make it more difficult and we'll get to that point in one second okay so the third danger okay so I I just realized this little girl looks like me a little bit but huh it's not me but she's cute whatever um okay so every time you translate you are making this girl cry just think about that just think about it okay I'm just joking she's not really crying but she's asking you to please stop okay so I wrote here that danger number three is that you are building bad habits and that's not that's not all you are building bad habits that might be very difficult to break which is the part that's more difficult and what do I mean by bad habits why are we building bad habits many times when you translate a word you using that word in wrong context or in your using the wrong part of speech so you're using a noun as an adjective or something like that and you are every time you're using it through translation you are kind of reinforcing that practice meaning that the more you use it the more you get used to using it wrong so for example I'll give you the example of my mom who every time she she translates directly from Romanians every time she wants to say it wasn't she says don't was it's exactly like in Romanian and she's used to so many times that now even though she knows the correct form she is still using the incorrect because it's almost impossible for her to catch herself if she had used it from the beginning if she had used it correctly from the beginning I believe it would have been easier so that's a bad practice and when these practices become cemented it's very difficult to break them another another problem is when we rely on a dictionary to express ourselves we are not relying on interior knowledge knowledge that we have within ourselves but on outside knowledge so if every time I'm trying to talk to someone I need a dictionary that's a problem that means I don't really know the language so these are the things that you are that you are kind of kind of hitting kind of facing ok so again if you're just joining us we are just talking about some of the dangers of translation we are a danger number 3 building bad habits we also talked about how the biggest problem is that people might not be able to understand you when you translate and that it doesn't sound natural now I know because we are so used to it that many of you I'm reading in the comments translation ISM portant in the beginning yes it is in the very very beginning I'm noticing that you guys are really questioning but the truth is that the trans grammar translation method doesn't really have much backing up from scholars and it doesn't really it's not really proven to work very well it's just that we are so used to it because our teachers taught us this way so it's not it's not a very effective method of learning there are like other ones like language immersion that are much much more effective okay somebody else how can we stop translating Thank You Sajjad for asking I'm going to actually talk about that at the at the end okay so we're going to go to the fourth danger which I think look language learning is difficult it's so difficult I think we all know it we do not need to make it more difficult but when you're translating you literally are making it more difficult on yourself look at this picture this girl is doing like all these equations just thinking about it that's kind of what your brain is doing when you're translating because your brain is in overdrive meaning it has to go from your language to English to English to your language from your English from your language to English in English to and back and forth and back and forth all while you try to have a normal conversation with someone you are making it so difficult on yourself when you're trying to use translation and the problem with this is you're more likely to make mistakes because the brain is having a hard time and for example this always happens to me when I go to Romania to my country my native country and I spent some time with with my family and I always speak Romanian and my husband is with me and I speak English so then sometimes I'll just switch I'll switch enough to start talking to him and in Romanian and I start speaking to them in English and then I'm like oh wait because your brain is in overdrive it's try to figure out what language you're speaking so it's it's it's going you're going to make mistakes so that's that's that's one of the problems okay so that's how you're making it more difficult the other the other thing I wanted to say is you are kind of cheating a little bit it's like cheating on a test because because on a test if you're cheating and I'm sure we've all been there we've all tried to cheat on tests if you haven't a good job but I think most of us have and what happens when you cheat on a test is maybe you get a good grade and for that moment you're happy because you got a good grade and you had a quick result but quickly as soon after that you will forget you will forget all the knowledge you don't even have that knowledge so you don't actually know the material well it's kind of similar with translation because you don't actually have the knowledge when you're translating okay I'm going to move on to the next to the next danger in one second but I just wanted to again thank you for whoever just joined us if you're just joining us let us know where you're coming from where are you writing to us from today and if you use translation how do you feel about translating and when when do you translate okay it's very interesting for me to know okay so we just talked about the first four dangers and I'm going to move on to the last one there's there's more but I think these were the most useful ones it's a quick fix one of my favorite teachers used to always say this and he said easy come easy go and if you don't know this expression it means when you get something quickly and then you lose it quickly and this is if I had a model for how I feel about using translation this would be it because you get if you don't know a word in English for example you don't know it and you try to translate it you quickly look it up you find it you use it maybe you'll remember it for an hour tomorrow you won't remember it and that's how quickly that's how quickly we forget and this has happened to me I'm sure it's happened to you too when you just forget the word and it's just not it's just not you you're not using the word so it's just not it's not very effective to do that welcome welcome Kamlesh I hope I'm saying it right okay so we were talking about this the fifth the fifth danger which is this easy come easy go kind of kind of method which is not very effective and you won't remember the word in the future so you have to keep going and keep using and keep translating and you don't have that knowledge in your mind the other thing that is actually pretty important for me as a teacher is when I want to every time I'm doing an exercise with my students or every time I'm asking students to participate it's because there's a skill that they're building or they're practicing well when you're using translation to express yourself you're not actually practicing any skill you're just what you are is you're just a dictionary you're just looking up a word and then putting it in and using it in in another language so you're not building any skills in that language so again my purpose today is to tell you that translation is not effective if you're trying to communicate and be fluent in English it's not if you're trying to translate a text or be a translator because then of course you can translate but you still the point is if you want to communicate effectively it's not very good method okay so if you guys just joined us welcome thank you very much for joining us we just went through the five dangers of a translating and I am getting ready to tell you what we can do about it what to do instead because I told you no no no no no now I'm going to tell you what to do about it okay so I'm just going to go over them quickly again just for anyone who just joined us so the first one is that people might not be able to understand you because many times you're using the words but you're using the wrong words okay and it does not sound natural which is another problem use it doesn't sound like you're actually speaking in English you are also building some bad habits by always relying on a dictionary not having the words within you and also cementing some mistakes you're making it more difficult on yourself because you are actually creating the situation for your brain when your brain has to switch from one language to another to another to another it's familiar it seems easy but you're actually making it more difficult and it's like cheating right cheating on a test is easy but we still don't have that knowledge and the last danger it's a quick fix and it doesn't work it comes easy it goes easy okay we know a word for a few seconds and maybe an hour or two and then we forget it okay so welcome for everyone who's just joined us Cynthia welcome Kayla and welcome hello if you guys are translating please let us know about it how do you feel about translating when do you use translation do you use it do you like it do you feel like it's making your life more difficult sometimes have you had any problems in people understanding how you are if you if you if you try to translate something please let us know in the chat I'm very curious to know because of course we've I understand that everyone's having problems and learning English is not easy let's be honest so let me tell you what you can do instead if you're seeing my first my first point you're probably like oh but it's make yourself think in English and what do I mean by that I don't mean boom you're going to start thinking in English from now on I mean if you make yourself and make a daily practice and exercise of trying to think in English every day you are go you are helping you are helping yourself step outside of your native language and into the English mindset so for example this is what I'm I've been doing with with Spanish on my way to work I force myself to think in Spanish and you can do that in English so on your commute to work or school or wherever you're going whatever it is that you are seeing doing force yourself to say it in English try to think in English and I'm not saying to do this all of the time just a little bit every day will help it is difficult it will be difficult but it is worth it it's you in the beginning when I was younger I could never think in English and now I think in English all the time it's the language that I I think and most of the time so it works you just have to make yourself it's a practice that is difficult in the beginning but it's worth it in for your fluency trust me and please believe me okay the second one is surround yourself with the language now I've made a video about how I became fluent in English and it had everything to do with surrounding myself with the language and this means that you have to or wood should try to read watch English everything just try to absorb as much English English as possible okay just try to do it please if you are trying to to use to listen and read and and speak and hear English make sure that you're listening or you're watching and reading current more current literature because for example if you're reading Shakespeare that is going to be a little bit more difficult it's not going to help you be sound natural either so just keep in mind that it should be current but surround yourself with the language this is something I always say please believe me that it's not a problem to make mistakes I believe some people translate because they don't want to make mistakes they want to say a specific word and they want to make sure that it's correct and they're afraid to make that mistake and I'm here to tell you don't don't be afraid so many people are learning English everyone understands English is a world language and everyone understands if you're going to make a mistake if they don't understand you the thing to do is to rephrase and actually this is a question that I always get that I see people English language learners seem to be frustrated sometimes and they say when I speak English I get upset that somebody doesn't understand me do you go through this problem if you do let us know do you ever have a situation had a situation where somebody did not understand you because I'm sure you did and I'm sure a lot of us did and if you did the thing to do is to rephrase what you were trying to say it might seem frustrating but it shouldn't and let me tell you why it shouldn't be frustrating because you are actually helping yourself by rephrasing something you are using different for its different vocabulary different grammar so you're actually strengthening your skills so it's actually a really helpful exercise for your language when I was teaching writing one of the most difficult but most rewarding exercises for my students was paraphrasing which means to say the same thing in different words and it was very difficult but it was very useful one of the most useful exercises you can do for your writing because it has so many benefits okay so if somebody is asking you excuse me I didn't understand use it as an opportunity to express yourself use it as an opportunity to try again and to just better your language learning and you will improve I promise and the scribe is the same way if you don't know the exact word that you're trying to say please don't translate just describe what it looks like people are going to guess eventually it might be a little difficult but eventually they will so sequest what what does easy come easy go mean Saku in easy come easy go means when you when you see a word and you're translating it really quickly you will forget that word very quickly if you don't if you're not using it if you're not if you just used it for translation yes so it does it does it does make a lot of confusion you are right Marcus oh it could it can be very confusing so these are my tips on what to do I know they may seem difficult they're actually not because you can start small and if you feel like you really really need to translate from time to time I think it's okay as long as you're aware that translation is is not a very helpful process in your fluency if you're aware of the dangers I think it's it's fine just try to do it less so because I know you're not going to just stop because I've been there it's like I said it's instinct but try to do with less because if you do it less and you focus more on thinking in English surrounding yourself in English making mistakes in English rephrasing all of these things are going to help you reach your language goals I promise they will because they helped me and it just i've studied how to study how to study languages and it truly helps when we try to use the language instead of translating so that is it I hope you guys enjoyed our lesson today if you did I would like to to ask you for a favor and please share our video if you think that this will be useful for someone else or if you liked it I think it's useful I never had anyone tell me don't use translation when I was younger and I spent too many years just translating and it actually slowed my progress down so now I know so I'm letting you know because I want you guys to succeed and yeah thank you so much for joining us I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Saturday thank you again and that's it I will see you guys next time bye --- ## 531. STOP USING THIS VOCABULARY ๐Ÿšซ Use these words & phrases instead... | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8BgDAl5Nk-A` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BgDAl5Nk-A) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:22:48 | --- today i want to talk to you about some vocabulary that well you you really don't need to be using anymore and what you should say instead that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and really help you achieve your fluency goals and today i have a little bit of a strange lesson and the reason why i say it's a little strange is because i'm going to talk to you about some words and phrases that you can just take out of your vocabulary you don't really need to use these words and phrases anymore but i want to tell you the vocabulary that you should use instead i'll go ahead and say that the reason why i'm telling you you don't really need to use these words and phrases is because they're a bit outdated and people really don't use this vocabulary today such as the first phrase that i have for you which is world wide web when for computers first came out and people started using the internet i think this phrase was a little more common it was uh reference technology it was a place that people could go to find a lot of different information even when you would put it in a website those three w's that stands for world wide web but even then i think many people would just shorten it and they would talk about the web and you may even hear that today somebody mentioned the web and and that's what they're referring to the world wide web but i i don't think it's as common nowadays i think mostly people are just going to talk about the internet that they're going to go online they're going to search for some information using the internet or perhaps they're going to well just talk about it as an activity and that they're just surfing the internet so you could use internet instead of talking about the world wide web next is just it's just one word and that is groovy and this word i i would say is dated and i say that because when i think of the word groovy i think of the 70s and disco dancing and people would use groovy to say that that something is cool that it's good that it's great that they really enjoy this thing and i think if you're watching a movie that perhaps takes place in the 70s you may hear somebody use this word eric how do you like pops new hair isn't it groovy you're one groovy baby are you guys all right groovy people are not really going to use this nowadays i think if you want to use a word that's casual that's very informal i think people might just say that they they think something is cool or there are so many other synonyms out there that you can use you can say something is great that it's amazing it's it's incredible it's impressive and i would say i would use any of those other words instead of saying groovy just just get rid of groovy so i want to take a quick moment and tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda because if you want to speak naturally and fluently and the way that people actually speak today then i have a great suggestion for you you can study with lingoda and participate in the lingoda language sprint this is a great opportunity for you to improve your english and really do so at an affordable price and remember if you successfully complete the language sprint then you can get 100 cashback or 50 cashback to be honest i have even studied at lingoda there i am right there taking some lessons in spanish and i can tell you from my own experience that it's a great place to learn a language i was able to gain more speaking confidence improve my pronunciation as well as build my vocabulary and there's really three main reasons why i really like lingoda the first one is that classes are available 24 7 so that's great if you happen to have a busy schedule second these are also small group classes which means you'll have plenty of opportunities to speak and third as i've said these classes are very affordable so let me tell you a little bit more about the language sprint because you have two different options you can take the super sprint in which you'll take 30 classes a month for three months or you can do the sprint in which you'll take 15 classes a month for three months so each month you'll pay for the classes and then if you complete the required number of classes you can get 100 cashback for successfully completing the super sprint or 50 cashback for successfully completing the sprint the language sprint will begin on january 15th so you must sign up before december 28th to secure your spot when you sign up you will pay a 49 euro deposit but you can use the voucher code win 8 to get a 10 euro discount on your deposit so click on the link in the description if you'd like to learn more about the language sprint don't forget to use that voucher code win8 and just take some online classes so that you can achieve your fluency goals so let's get back to our lesson our vocabulary lesson of the words and phrases that you you just should not be using and the next phrase that i have for you is carbon copy so let me explain what this is because maybe this is something you've heard of maybe you haven't a carbon copy is like a copy of a receipt an invoice and you would find this uh perhaps at a business they would write down the receipt or the invoice and below that is another piece of paper that's really making a copy of everything they're writing so afterwards the business would keep one and they might give you a carbon copy it's just a copy of everything that they've written you may still find some businesses using this today but i think the most common way that this is used is with emails because when you email someone you can include other people on that you can copy people on that email except you are not going to use the phrase carbon copy instead if you're writing an email you'll see those two letters cc those two letters actually stand for carbon copy but you're not going to say that if you want somebody to copy you on an email you're not going to tell them hey can you can you send me a carbon copy no you're just going to tell them hey can you please cc me on that email and in that way you're asking them to copy you on the email and they would be giving you a carbon copy but you're not gonna say that you're gonna use cc then we have one word which is just baloney and i'm not talking about the sandwich meat this word uh it used to be used informally to talk about something that is just fake it's not real it's not true it's baloney there there was even a phrase and people could say that something's just phony baloney it's not true but you're not really going to hear this nowadays i think instead people they may use the phrase fake news i think that's really been catching on a lot lately even though personally i don't really like this phrase because i think people tend to use it to talk about things that that they just disagree with instead of things that are actually not true and they just like to throw that out there and say that something is fake news but it is a phrase that i think is is becoming more popular i think even better than that though if you want to say something is well it's not true you don't believe it just use the word or even shorten that and just say bs like ow you know i don't believe that that's just not true it's a bunch of bs then we have the phrase kodak moment and what this means is it's talking about a special moment in time and the reason why this phrase came about is because of the the company kodak kodak was a very well-known company that would make cameras and of course people were taking pictures of special moments in time and that's really how the phrase began and you would hear somebody say oh this is a kodak moment and you may even hear this phrase if you're watching a tv show or movie look mom i really don't feel like having a kodak moment here okay it has not completely gone away but again because nowadays most of us take pictures using our phones kodak cameras are not as popular i think the phrase is also losing popularity as well but there's really not another phrase that you would use that especially informally that means the same thing you would really just say that something is a special moment or perhaps refer to a past event as a good memory and you would use that instead of saying the phrase kodak moment then i have a phrase which it really takes me back to my childhood and that is roll up the window because a long time ago cars in order to roll up the window they'd have this crank handle that you would have to roll and that's what somebody would would say they would tell somebody please roll up the window and you'd have to crank that handle and and you'd roll the window up nowadays it's it's really automatic so you're not going to tell somebody to roll up the window you're going to use the verb put and you would ask somebody you know can you please put the window up or please put up the window it is a phrasal verb that is separable to put the window up or put up the window either one you don't really need to use roll unless you happen to be in a very old car that that has that crank handle which i think is unlikely so just tell somebody to put up the window and then we have this symbol right here which you may be thinking oh i know what this is but a long time ago it was called a pound sign this is a symbol that you would find on your phone and people would say pound sign nowadays i think twitter has really just taken this over and people know this as a hashtag i think social media is just so popular in most conversations most situations if you're talking about this symbol right here you're going to use the word hashtag i can't really think of a situation in which you're going to talk about this as the pound sign i think you'll probably just say and then i have a phrase for you which is saying that something is like nails on a chalkboard and what this phrase means is you're saying that some sound is just terrible and maybe it makes you feel a little uncomfortable the same way that well if you scratch your nails on a chalkboard i hate that sound it would give me goosebumps and i'd tell some oh please stop stop so people might use this phrase to perhaps tease somebody about their voice or their singing and instead of saying that it's really bad they may say that it's like nails on a chalkboard now this is a phrase that you may still hear from time to time every time she says that's so funny it's like nails on a chalkboard to me no donkey even her voice annoys me nails on a chalkboard the reason why i'm giving this to you is because in the future i i think it could go away and the reason why i say that is because i think we're not using chalkboards as much at school they're really being replaced by white boards and in some cases they're being replaced by smart boards and i i've never scratched my nails on a smart board but i'm i'm guessing that it just does not sound the same it does not create the same effect so as chalkboards perhaps they start to go away this this phrase might go away as well so i just wanted to make you aware of that but if you hear somebody say that some sound is like nails on a chalkboard it's really a terrible and uncomfortable sound so i hope that you learned something new today whether it was the old vocabulary that i told you to get rid of or the new vocabulary that i said you should use instead and this is very useful because i think that if you're having a conversation today you want to use words and phrases that are relevant that are that are popular that are new nowadays because that's well that's what that's what people are going to understand so this is a great way to help you improve your fluency if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button and as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 532. STOP Using VERY & Use These 54 AMAZING Alternatives! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `87aAeZVn310` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87aAeZVn310) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:17:22 | --- Today I have a very important lesson for you. But let let's just get this out of here because I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary by teaching you over 50 words and phrases to help you avoid using the word very. That's coming up. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you practice and improve your English skills. So, if that's what you want to do, hit that subscribe button, turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons. Today, I have well, it's a very useful lesson because I want to teach you many different words and phrases that you can use instead of saying very because the word very, it's a very common, it's a very common word. I just used it several times then. It's probably one of the most overused words in English. I end up using it all the time. It's an adverb that means really or to a high degree. But because this word is so common, it presents a unique opportunity for all of you to greatly build your vocabulary. And there are two different ways that you can do this. I'm going to talk to you about both. The first way that you can do this is by learning some different synonyms for the word very. And here are some right here. These are all adverbs that typically come before an adjective to form a collocation. Words that are frequently used together. So, these are some very common and useful phrases that I'm getting ready to teach you. And I'm going to give you a lot. I do not expect you to remember all of them, but the more that you hear these phrases and that you see them, you're just going to end up making a mental note, and that's very important. So, let's begin with the first adverb, which is pretty. Now pretty, it has a similar meaning. but it's it's extremely useful because we often use pretty with some some very common and simple adjectives and their opposites. So, you might hear somebody say that something is pretty good or they may say it's pretty bad. Perhaps you're trying to do something and you have no problems and you say, "Wow, that was pretty easy." Or if there were a lot of problems, you might say, "It was pretty difficult." Maybe somebody's moving pretty fast. I do not want to do that in this lesson. I'll probably move pretty slow because that'll make it easier for you to understand. Or you're describing somebody and you say that they are pretty smart. And the opposite of that would be pretty dumb. The next adverb, which is probably more of a direct synonym, is extremely, which means a a very high degree. And I'll probably throw in some varies throughout the lesson, but you you could say something is extremely important. perhaps it's extremely dangerous. Maybe you are extremely grateful for something. Or you could describe uh something and say it's extremely difficult and I've now used difficult twice. Really just to show you that you can use different words and mix them together because there is a difference. It helps you be more specific. If you're talking about something and you say it's pretty difficult or extremely difficult, then we have the word highly. And you could describe someone and say they are highly successful. Maybe you're you're talking about a situation that is highly unlikely. You could describe a person's uh personality and say they are highly competitive or maybe they are highly motivated. The next adverb that I have for you is awfully. And instead of saying that that you're very tired, you could say you're awfully tired. Or uh a great phrase is awfully nice of someone. Uh I would say, you know, it's awfully nice of you to go ahead and hit that like button. It's awfully nice of you. Or maybe you say that you are awfully sorry. Or perhaps you're talking about a place that is awfully crowded. Then we have the word truly. I love this synonym. You could say that you are truly thankful. Or perhaps you're truly passionate about something. Or maybe you're truly happy. And we could also use truly with a synonym for happy. It's another collocation and say you are truly content. So either one. Truly happy, truly content. Great phrases to know. Immensely. And this just makes me think well like very big. But this adverb is used in some very common collocations. I threw another very just now. And you could hear somebody describe a person and say that they are immensely talented. something is immensely popular. I I wish my video lessons were immensely popular. Or maybe you describe something as immensely useful. Or you could talk about a business and say that it is immensely profitable. So, I just taught you some truly remarkable, which is which is another collocation with truly truly remarkable synonyms that you can use instead of saying very. And I I don't think these phrases are extremely difficult to learn, but I do feel that they are immensely useful in helping you build your vocabulary. And I'm really trying to emphasize these synonyms. But now let's look at the second way that you can supercharge your vocabulary and avoid using the word very. And that is by using more precise language. So I think quite often people will use very with a a simple adjective such as the adjectives that you see up here. And instead of using very along with one of these adjectives, you can use a word that is more descriptive. It's more exact. And this is going to help you more accurately express your thoughts, opinions, and ideas. So, let's start with very good. And you might use well very good to describe uh an event, a party, a festival. And instead of saying very good, there are so many different words that you can choose from. You could say that something is incredible, amazing, those are two very common adjectives, or spectacular. And then if you want to use a couple of adjectives which may not be as common, maybe you could say something is phenomenal or breathtaking. I love that adjective. I've never had anyone describe one of my lessons as breathtaking. I've just been waiting. I've been waiting to hear that down in the comments. And then the same goes for very bad. There are many different words that you can choose from that are going to be more descriptive than just saying very bad like terrible or horrible. Those are those are very common adjectives, great words to use instead of saying very bad. You could also say that well something is lousy or dreadful. That's that is very bad. And then probably I I think the strongest word maybe that you could use would be atrocious. I I really hope I I don't see that word down in the comments. Then we come to very happy. Now I have already taught you one way that you could avoid using very if you want to use another adverb and you could say that that you are truly happy. But you could also just use one word instead to be a bit more descriptive. And instead of saying very happy, you have several choices. You could say that that you are cheerful or you are delighted or elated or one of my favorites is ecstatic. That that if I am very happy, I would I love saying that I am just ecstatic. And then you could also say that that you are jubilant. All of those words mean that you are at some level of extreme happiness. You're very happy. But if you're not feeling very happy, and you're actually feeling the opposite of that, very sad, then again, there are many words that you could use that would be a little more specific and tell somebody, well, just how sad you are, but also maybe give an indication as to why you may be sad. So, just in general, an informal word that you could use is down. If you're feeling down, then yeah, you're you're just sad. But if there's maybe love involved in some way, perhaps you could tell somebody that you're heartbroken and then they know that, well, this may have to do with with ending some relationship and they know that love is involved. Or if you want to express that there's no hope, maybe you tell somebody that you you're just you feel dejected. Or bitter. That's another good one. And bitter makes me think that. Well, not only are you sad, but you're also a little angry. And then you could say that you feel wistful. Wistful is like you're sad because you're you're thinking about the past. Maybe there was a bad memory and I was thinking about it and and I became wisful. Beautiful is another common adjective that well people use very with very beautiful. And instead of saying that somebody looks very beautiful, you could say, well, that they look lovely or or they look marvelous. Or if you want to make it a little more intense, a little stronger, you could say that somebody looks gorgeous. Or you could say elegant. That's another great word. It makes me think of somebody who might look a little more formal, a little more dressed up. You could use elegant. Or I've saved the best for last, stunning. Stunning is a great word. The next time that you you see someone and you want to say that they look very beautiful, just say stunning. They look stunning. Another common adjective that's used with very is tired. Very tired. And I I think instead of saying very tired, probably the most common word that people would use is exhausted. I I use that one quite often. Instead of saying very tired, I would say I'm just exhausted. Or if you want to use a word that's more informal, you could say that you're drained. Or another informal word is beat. I'm I'm beat. And then there is exasperated. And with exasperated, it makes me think, well, you're tired mostly like up here in your mind that you're you're annoyed, you're bothered by something, and you you feel tired, and you're just you'd say you're exasperated. And then if we're talking about work, people get very tired because of work. You could say that you're just burnt out and and you need to take a break. You need to relax because right now you're you're burnt out. So after teaching you all of those different words and phrases, I am beat. But I hope that you were delighted with this lesson. And if you were, please hit that like button. If you do that for me, I would be extremely grateful because that's just going to help this video become immensely popular. And I'm just trying to give you a little bit of review as I wrap things up. The last thing I want to tell you is that you look stunning. Thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 533. SUFFIXES to Help You Grow Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xl9tQSmXAdc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl9tQSmXAdc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:41:52 | --- welcome to today's lesson which is all about helping you guys build grow and expand your vocabulary and I'm gonna tell you how you can do this very easily as well that's coming up what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills so today I have a vocabulary lesson for you which is all about trying to help you build grow and expand your vocabulary and the way that you are going to grow your vocabulary is with suffixes now as I said this is a very easy way for you guys to to expand your vocabulary and it is so so so important because that just means that you are able to use the words and the language correctly and really express your thoughts and opinions more more easily and more accurately as well so we're gonna talk today a lot about suffixes and Before we jump into it I want you guys to say what's up in the chat write your name tell me where you're joining us from and even if you are watching this later write your name in the chat we just want to hear from you so Hakim Bassam a mano Reno booked on sorry sorry sorry if I miss some names long nice to have you guys with us thank you for joining us today and let's just jump right into it so today we're talking about suffixes and if you're not already sure what a suffix is a suffix is a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to make a new word so we're taking one word and we're just building to it and as I said this is a great way to build your vocabulary and and it's very easy to because if you know the meaning of one word you can just build to it and build other words that have a very similar meaning so for example let's look at this word we have the word help and we're going to add the suffix ful to have a whole other word it gives us a new adjective helpful somebody is helpful so in today's lesson I'm going to break this into three different parts we're gonna break it down by the part of speech so we're gonna talk about some suffixes to make nouns we're gonna talk about some suffixes to make adjectives and as well as some suffixes to make verbs and as we go through this I'm going to give you the suffix and again there are many of them in today's lesson we're gonna go over about 20 different suffixes but there are many many others and I suggest that you learn them and learn the words that go with them so we're just gonna talk about these three parts of speech and some of the suffixes that go with them but as we're going through these what I would ask you guys to do is I've given you some examples of words that have these suffixes right some other words in the chat just go ahead and throw those words out there so that people can see other words that are used with those suffixes whether you are watching this now or even watching this later you can read along and see some of the other words so let's go ahead let's look at some noun suffixes so here are the first two that I have for you is we have the ER suffix and if you see this it's it's just creating a noun a person who performs an action for example I could say where does the teacher work so you have the the word teach the base word and we add that ER then we have teacher a person who teaches the next example I could use a helper you have the base word help we add that ER and now we're talking about a person someone who forms this action someone who helps so now in the first two minutes I've just given you two different examples with the base word help helpful helper we can just add these suffixes create new words and it is such a great way to build your vocabulary so again if you're if you're in the chat write some other words what other words have that er suffix or even this m en T suffix and if you see this suffix we're talking about the the action or result of something so for example I stared at the sky in amazement most of the time we think of the adjective something is amazing but if we want to say the noun amazement and often it's used with that preposition in we can also say retirement is a little boring so we have the word retire the verb to retire to stop working and we can make it a noun retirement which is the time when you are no longer working you you have hopefully saved money you retire and retirement is talking about this time period retirement is is a little boring alright so again it is such a great way to build our vocabulary and somebody Mildred yes burner exactly a great ER noun that's using that suffix thank you thank you for the example so let's look at the next set of nouns suffixes we have this one H ood which describes it's talking about a state a condition or character so for example if something is likely then you're asking about the possibility but if we want to use it as a noun you might ask what's the likelihood this happens this is a common way that this noun is used somebody's asking about the likelihood what's the likelihood of this event what's the likelihood that that something happens this is a common way that it's used this other word I think people know okay a child we know what what that means she remembers her childhood she remembers her childhood childhood is talking about this this condition of the state this period when you were a child so this is when I said it's a great way to to build your vocabulary because some people would say maybe they don't know the word childhood and they would say oh she remembers when she was a child and that's perfectly fine but again if you're able to build your vocabulary and use these suffixes you can say the same thing using less words she remembers her childhood it's very specific it's very to-the-point if you guys can think of any other words in that chat just write them down throw them down there now we have this one n e SS and you often you you see this one a lot at the end of of certain adjectives and verbs and it's talking about a state or quality so for example I might ask you you know what does happiness mean to you happy I think most of us know that word if we want to make it a noun that adjective a noun happiness happiness same with a we're alright somebody is aware we want to make it a noun awareness he lost his awareness all right we got some other good examples yes Rizwan a brotherhood a mono neighborhood Mildred Parenthood SQL madness excellent perfect thank you guys for sharing with us now let's look at some other noun suffixes we have these up here and you see these all the time I know you guys see these si o n tion and the pronunciation I know we've said this in other lessons is just tion if you see these four letters up here at the end of a word it's pronounced tion and it's talking about an action a state or being so for example wow and I just realized I made a mistake because I used some other examples which I didn't change but one of the most common words I think of would be with tion for example and if you guys know of any write them down transportation it is a noun transportation the way you move if I want to think of something with s io n comprehension comprehension understanding to comprehend the the verb the noun comprehension so these are very very common the next one I am if you see is M then it's talking about a practice a condition or or a doctrine so for example some words I'd say some people believe in socialism socialism again it's just a condition a doctrine a belief about society and then this last one down here which as a teacher I have used all the time if you don't know this word to plagiarize is the verb and it just means to copy copy work that is not yours and we would say especially in American school systems we're say don't plagiarize don't plagiarize if we want to make that a noun with is M plagiarism plagiarism is wrong don't copy use your own words alright so other words that people have yes mention perfect competition criticism go SIA excellent words yow racism feminism there are many many words that use these suffixes and again it is such a great great way to expand and build your vocabulary so now that we've looked at the nouns let's look at some adjectives and changing words into adjectives using certain suffixes so the first set that I have for you these up here and they're very common the double and able suffix and it's talking about capable of being so for example that first example to tolerate to be able to endure something if I want to describe something use adjectives something is tolerable it's capable of being tolerated learning English is tolerable I hope so I understand sometimes it may not be tolerable but I hope learning English is tolerable drinking water okay this is another great one is the water drinkable this this is an adjective so many people know the verb drink everybody knows Oh drink or they know they know the noun a drink but again if you want to expand your vocabulary we can use it as an adjective something is drinkable are you capable of drinking this thing drinkable great way again build your vocabulary grow your vocabulary next one ful I know a lot of you could think of words with this suffix and my example Wes it's true sometimes wes is so forgetful you just saw how forgetful that I was because I forgot to change those other sentences and give you some si Ont IO and examples I'm so forgetful and again I could say I hope this lesson is useful something helps you an adjective useful we use it all the time and if you think that building your vocabulary is useful please hit that like button down below go ahead and hit that like button some other adjectives with this suffix is this one is is interesting ish it's talking about belonging to or like something so for example if we're talking about a group people wes is not British it's being like like you're belonging to Great Britain you're belonging to this group of people wes is not British so many people ask us they're like is this British English or is this American English my pronunciation my accent is American English however this lesson right here suffixes British English American English Australian English Canadian English this is just important for all English varieties and the next word Wes can be childish at times childish childish means acting like a child so again you have this one word child you can change it around childhood childish build your vocabulary it's so useful to build it this way instead of thinking like oh I have to learn a completely different word build on the words that you already know the next adjective suffix le SS I know we see these a lot as well it means without something don't be careless with your work careless a great example sometimes learning English feels hopeless I know that it feels hopeless there are many rules especially with English there are so many different words and that's why I think people when they think of vocabulary they're like Oh what do I do there's so many different English words and that's what the purpose of this lesson is is to tell you well you don't need to focus on all these new and different words focus on building what you already know other great examples you guys have given yes about a hopeful bassam powerful edible shameless Fitness exactly the one other thing that I want to say with ich which is interesting it's now used kind of like in slang in colloquial if somebody says you know is something like this somebody might just say well you know ich and they just mean like well it's it's kind of like it alright it's similar to it they would say similar ish so a lot of times people will say a word and they'll just add that ish on it and it's kind of more slang but it's talking about yeah it's it's kind of like something else ish the next set that I have for you is the IOUs or the ous and this again the pronunciation the IOUs is more just like in us us you have that schwa sound the IOUs is all similar but it's almost like it yes alright so for example famous do you want to be famous you have Fame which we can just change that meaning and add the owe us the adjective famous and the next word again the great tion word caution alright show caution if you want to make an an adjective I'm cautious when crossing the street cautious alright and you should be cautious when crossing the street and look both ways next we have just the simple just the y at the end and usually we're adding this y at the the end of a noun to make it an adjective so for example it means that is made up of or or characterized by something else so you might be talking about the weather and you say it's a little cloudy outside actually right now it is cloudy outside that's true or if you're talking about food you could say wow this fruit is tasty again you're adding that Y and and changing the meaning excellent so these are some common suffixes that we can use to to create adjectives now let's look at some to create verbs and then once we're done with that we are going to practice what we've learned so some verb suffixes and I think some of these are going to be a little easier because when you're studying grammar I think you've seen these before like like this first one for example the IDI it's used with the past tense regular verbs now the IDI it's it's used to create the past tense but it is still a suffix so for example they walked to the park talking about the past last week I played soccer talking about the past the IDI it's still a suffix we can also use an e n suffix when we want to change either an adjective or a noun and change it into a verb so for example soft something is soft it's an adjective if you want to make it a verb soften alright and now I've used it in the past tense we softened the fall so it says soft now we've just added to suffices to suffixes to it we added the en and then made it the past with the IDI we softened the fall we made something more we made it softer and maybe we used a pillow I don't know we softened the fall the next one for example she strengthens her position she strengthens her position we use that en to to change it to a verb next we can create verbs with the ize or the i SE suffix and this means to to cause or to become for example stores commercialize certain holidays they commercialize they try to to sell more things and the way they do that is that they advertise to customers they advertise to customers these are some common verb suffixes and the other one that I have for you guys right there is the ing again it's the continuous form of the verb but it is still a suffix because we're taking that that base verb and adding an ing to talk about an action that is happening so for example you could say you know tonight yeah I'm eating healthy tonight eating has that ing suffix I am eating then the other one this is a question that is so common if you want to know like what what you know another person is going to do you just say hey what are you doing or maybe you're wondering like what's happening what do you what are you doing alright so these are some common verb suffixes let's look at a few more so we also have this first one the I F Y alright is to make or to cause to B so for example you have the word something is intense its intense that's an adjective we can make it a verb intensify the work intensifies everyday it gets more and more it gets more difficult and more difficult it intensifies all right they will rectify the situation to rectify means to to make something right again to correct something that might have been wrong to rectify the situation we also have the a te suffix to do or become for example dominate again we're gonna use that IDI pass we dominated the match and then you could say if something bothers you irritate to irritate this really irritates me that really irritates some other great ones yes to identify to capsize great examples simpatico Tricia derive Buda perfect thank you guys for sharing with us so these are a bunch of different suffixes with with nouns verb and adjective so now I want to give you guys a quick vocabulary tip and as I told you from the beginning this is a great way to build and grow your your vocabulary and the tip is this again use the words you already know and then expand on those words by being able to change them to nouns adjectives verbs you learn words in the word family so what I would suggest that you do if you're learning well how do I find out what other words are out there if you look on just about any online English dictionary you could type in the word intense for example type in intense it'll give you the meaning but oftentimes you will see this list of related words and that list of related words will show you how the the word is also used as a noun as an adjective as a verb and and look at the suffix look at the suffix that being is being used and actually see how the word is being changed so that would be my tip you know learn the words in the word family use the words you already know to build your vocabulary instead of drink you can change it to an adjective drink a bowl and use online dictionaries it is a great resource to find out those related words so now that we've gone through all this it is time to practice what we've learned and I have some questions for you and I want you guys to write your answers write them in the chat and even if you're watching this later use the comments use it as it's it's a digital whiteboard that you can practice with us and actually interact with these lessons this is interactive English so I'm gonna ask you a question all I want you to do is write the word write the suffix I have a few for you and I don't think I don't think they're too difficult so the first one giving you all these suffixes it's not all of them but many of them that we discussed today I want you to complete what what were what suffix are you going to use to complete that sentence write it in the chat write it in the comments when you get into the car you should mmm your seatbelt I've given you the the the root word all right which suffix are you going to use to complete that alright when you get in the car you should mmm your seatbelt excellent yes Saunders wanna see some great answers we should use that e n suffix when you get in the car you should fasten fasten your seatbelt again this is a great way en we change it to a verb to fasten something next is again I love this picture that I found alright don't be hmm and get in the water stay in the boat okay how are you going to complete this sentence I've given you the the base word are right the root word fool what suffix are you going to use that that this makes sense all right don't be hmm and get in the water stay in the boat write that suffix in the comments see some great answers yes go see a junior Geraldine Carlos thank you guys for answering you want to use that ish alright ish is like something don't be like a fool don't be foolish and get in the water stay in the boat there's a shark you don't want to go swimming with the shark so now let's make it a little more difficult I'm just going to give you a blank I'm not gonna give you the root word I want you to think of which word best completes the sentence okay and maybe you'll think of another word that I didn't alright so there might be more than one answer to this but the word is going to use one of these suffixes alright when doing important work it's necessary that you alright giving you a little hint with my action right here when doing important work it's necessary that you alright which which suffix completes this is going to complete this sentence what do you think we're talking about important work alright when doing important work it's necessary that you alright there's your hint right there what should you do and again you can kind of think this out part of speech which part of speech would be you what we're talking about you do some action you do something so it is a verb alright many of people again yes yes the word that I was looking for concentrate again focus that's perfect it means the same thing it just doesn't have one of the suffixes that we talked about when doing important work it's necessary that you and trade a te to change it to have a concen to concentrate that is our verb next alright what do you guys think we do these lessons out of the mmm of our hearts alright this is this is kind of an expression to so hopefully that makes it a little easier you do something out of the mmm of your hearts okay what what word is best going to complete that sentence what do you guys think write it in the chat even if you're watching this later whoops oops wrong button write your answers and yes since I just showed you the answer yes what we do these lessons out of the kindness of our hearts that was my mistake I went ahead jumped ahead so kindness again if somebody is kind it's an adjective we can add the ne SS to make it a noun the kindness of our hearts we love doing these lessons for you guys and practicing and helping you guys improve your skills we do these lessons out of the kindness of our hearts so now I have one last announcement for you guys because some people have asked about this previously and that is just to let you know we are now whoops wait this way yes we are now on patreon we if you guys like what we do here if you enjoy our lessons and want to show some love or support you can you can make a donation and there are some different rewards you can check us out on patreon I'll leave a link in the description and now I've just realized it's like it's completely contradictory to what I just said we do this out of the kindness of our hearts we do but still at the same time some of you have asked about this and it's completely up to you you you don't have to do this we're still gonna do a lot of these lessons each week these free lessons but we want to let you know that we are on patreon because again in the future we are going to come out with some online courses the some will be free some will not be free because our goal in the future we would love to make this our job and make this our permanent job so hopefully we we can do that some days but we just want to let you guys know if you're interested in checking that out so thank you guys for joining me today thank you for commenting and participating in this lesson if you enjoyed it I'd appreciate it if you liked it and share it with anybody you know who's trying to practice and improve their English skills right questions to us in the comments you can also join our social media classes those are available but thank you guys I'll walk lil jr. Carlos today Andrews wanna bassam go SIA Val dear leha long thank you for joining us thank you thank you thank you sorry if I miss some names on today Patricia we really love doing these lessons with you guys thank you again hope you have a wonderful day and we will see you next time and use yes--you farhat thank you we'll see you guys later --- ## 534. SUPER-USEFUL ADVERBS | Take the quiz to become an adverb all-star! ๐Ÿ“ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vKv9VV74fZU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKv9VV74fZU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:18:40 | --- hello hey everyone welcome to another english lesson today it's uh we're gonna be talking about adverbs so this is a grammar lesson and we're going to be doing a quiz that i think is good for well i think intermediate to advanced learners uh i have some questions for you that some of them are a little easier others might be a little more difficult but there are some also some useful phrases that i want to talk about that are adverbs or that contain an adverb so i'm i hope that this lesson has a little bit of something for for everyone whether you're a beginner intermediate advanced uh i just want to introduce myself my name is wes the channel interactive english it's all about trying to help you guys improve your english skills so if that's what you want to do please subscribe turn on notifications also write to me in the comments let tell me your name where you're from i always love hearing from from everyone especially new people and uh as i mentioned today's lesson it's going to be a bit of an adverb quiz all of these questions are related to adverbs so i think you guys as you go through this i think you'll see what i mean because i have different questions for you that are related to adverbs before we start and talking about adverbs i just want to say a quick hello to um some of you you members you patrons uh some of those speak up students uh great to see you lali katrudis uh takayo hello um let's i think when it comes to adverbs the first thing that i want to say well let's just let me just give you the definition the meaning of an adverb because i think that is something that we should know and this this meaning i took right out of wikipedia because i think they really they really cover everything and talk about everything um when referring to adverbs so this is right from wikipedia it says an adverb is a word or an expression that modifies a verb an adjective another adverb determiner clause preposition or sentence so adverbs can modify a variety of different words verbs this is the next part that i think is important adverbs typically express like manner place time frequency degree level of certainty there are many different um categories that you could put adverbs into and they also answer questions like how or in what way or when or where to what extent so the last part of this is when i think about teaching adverbs if you learn adverbs in the classroom say you have a teacher i think sometimes they will either they'll present adverbs by categories and say well we're gonna learn adverbs of manner and talk specifically about those adverbs and then we're going to look at some adverbs of frequency and kind of teach you those i think it makes it easier for learners to kind of well understand well what the adverb is what it means why it's an adverb how it's used when you break it down into those categories like manner place time or teachers may present it to learners like let's talk about adverbs that answer the question of how or let's talk about adverbs that answer the question of when it's very similar but i think that's the best way to learn adverbs and as we go through our little our little quiz i'm going to challenge you guys i'm going gonna break it down into those categories like manner frequency um and go through it that way and hopefully that makes it a little easier for you to grasp what i'm talking about so i hope that you guys are ready i hope that you're feeling smart today uh i just want to say hello anna fidel maria esther mohammed uh eloisa welcome let's begin with uh we're going to start with some adverbs of frequency and i think this is a little hopefully this is a little easier you're familiar with many of these adverbs and all i want you to do and there's more than one i've given you this with some blanks so you see those percentages there so we're talking about frequency which word would you use to talk about something that is 100 of the time and then which word would you use for 75 of the time and then 50 of the time 25 and then 0 saying that okay this i don't want to give the adverb the word away but that is how frequent this is zero percent so these i think when you're learning adverbs of frequency this is pretty common i think you learn this very early on um what these words are because often i think in conversation we talk about how frequently something may happen and that's when you're going to use some of these so what do you think again you guys can participate write your answers in the chat in the comments the first one 100 of course excellent we're talking about always something that you always do i always brush my teeth before i go to bed again very common word i think i'm sure everybody's familiar with it if we're talking about 75 percent of the time and there are there there are more than sometimes there are more than one answer for these but 75 percent i think uh most of the time people are going to use usually usually you could also use the word often i think that's the same it kind of refers to about 75 of the time um i tend to favor i think i always just say usually more than often but that's just me uh excellent x saw some great answers in there yes and 50 of the time sometimes if you're talking about something happens like um you know it sometimes rains in the in spring it's something that happens maybe 50 percent of the time sometimes i think another word um well i'm going to actually come back to a couple of phrases when it comes to sometimes so uh we will come back to that in just a moment 25 of the time rarely i think this one is commonly used i would even say rarely i think you could go less than 25 um i was kind of just trying to keep it in order rarely i think could even go like as low as like 10 percent it's it's something that does not happen often i just use that one um but rarely could be 25 there are some other ones you could use like hardly ever if a very that's a very low percent two um seldom is another word that you could use for that one and then i think zero percent at the at the end uh many of you had written that in there never yes so um if you say i never do something then you're really zero percent that this is something that has never happened so these are very useful words um that i again i think you learn these early on because we use them um a lot i think you will always use these words in conversation talking about how frequently you do something now let's move into some um well some other things that i think are kind of well similar different ways you could say this so here is an expression if i say we like to eat sushi and it equals it's the same as sometimes so i'm talking about like 50 what is an expression that i can use that means the same as sometimes so i'm talking about an expression it's more than one word so this is a you could say expression or a phrase it means the same as sometimes and i would say we like to eat sushi what do you what do you think let me know in the chat in the comments if you're watching this later i always love it if you guys participate in these lessons i think that's what it that's what it's all about that's what interactive english is all about now there are uh there are more than one uh there's more than one answer and that's why again i think for some of these it's giving you guys a chance to think of some different ones because maybe um you're gonna think of one that i didn't put down but what i was going for was this one every now and then so every now and then means kind of the same as sometimes i've also put another one down there from time to time is another phrase expression that you could use i saw somebody um takaya you put once in a while once in a while that's another one that you could say like i like to eat sushi once in a while i told you there's more than than one answer um uh vicky gustav yes half the time if you want to say oh i like to eat sushi about half the time like that's something that you would do 50 means sometimes so again there there's more than one answer for this these are just a couple of phrases that i think you will hear um people talk about how often how frequently something happens they may use every now and then from time to time um somebody put occasionally yes there are many different adverbs of frequency this this next one is an idiom and i've given you a hint down here so and this is kind of true um especially we live in hungary it's a landlocked country we eat seafood what what would uh what would i complete that with it's the same as rarely actually i would even go like like lower than that and say it's probably closer to like hardly ever probably maybe about 10 if i want to give you a percentage so i tried to give you a little bit of a hint to tell you what this idiom is um i don't want to to give it away but this is an idiom in english which is talking about well how often something happens like an adverb uh a frequency so instead of um using rarely could use this idiom uh excellence i saw some of you have it perfect the answer is once in a blue moon i told i put two moons down there with a calendar because that is a blue moon a blue moon is when you have two full moons in the same month they call that a blue moon and it is something that happens rarely it does not happen that often which is where this came from this expression that oh you do something once in a blue moon you just you do it rarely you don't often do it so those are some adverbs of frequency and that's what i i mean when i talk about like how often something happens and teachers may present it and say all right let's learn some adverbs of frequency but now i want to switch to kind of another group and talk about some adverbs we're going to switch to another group we're going to switch to adverbs of degree and talk about some of those so the first question that i have for you thinking about like a degree like to the extent of something this uh this is a question and i'm gonna kind of come back to this um and explain a little bit more of it once i give you the answer this is a question that somebody would ask kind of like jokingly trying to be humorous if it's like very hot outside and you're talking to somebody else and you know that that person feels like wow it is hot you know this person thinks it's very hot outside you could ask this question jokingly is it hot um for you is it hot for you all right what what adverb would go in there and it's an adverb of degree okay and i'm going to give you i'll talk a little bit more about this question in general so excellent um uh yeah three perfect the answer is enough that is the that is the adverb that i'm looking for it's an adverb of degree is it hot enough for you and i say that this is asked humorously because and i've underlined hot so in that context if somebody is really hot and you're talking to them you could ask them jokingly yeah you know is it hot enough for you you could also replace hot with many other words depending on the situation and ask the same question kind of joking so for example say that you are eating um like really spicy food and you know that your friend or somebody else they they're starting to sweat they think it's really spicy you could then say wow is it spicy enough for you or maybe you're trying to um move something and it's very heavy and you're both you're lifting it and maybe your friend is having a difficult time they think it's very heavy you could say yeah is it heavy enough for you so this is a question that you could ask um jokingly and you could depending on the situation and the context you can change hot and use a variety of words instead i chose hot because i think this is this is one that i think is probably it's commonly used it's summertime for many of you um who are in the northern hemisphere right now so it's very hot this is a question that uh you could ask if on a very hot day and you say that jokingly yeah you know is it hot enough for you so that's a good phrase to know as well this is more like vocabulary so now i've given you the adverb these are all adverbs talking about like a degree and i i want you to think of which word may follow that there's no wrong answer because there are there are different words that might often follow these adverbs and i just want you to think of some right now this is a great way for um you know to build your vocabulary collocations are when you have two words that are frequently used together so if you were to think of the adverb like fully what's the next word that just comes to mind all right and there there are more that there's more than one answer what would you use fully um what is a phrase that you would think of or deeply or utterly all right i feel like utterly there's quite a few words that you could follow with that again there's no wrong answer i'm gonna show you some of my uh suggestions or what i thought of when i thought of this but again this is a different way to kind of well present this for me to present this to you as kind of like a quiz not really a quiz question but really trying to get you to think of different words so i have some uh answers uh somebody will fully understand yes excellent fully aware fully conscious that's a good one i like it um fully grown excellent perfect i told you guys there are many different uh different phrases i hope you guys read the chat see what each other's saying again learning collocations is a great way to build your vocabulary so uh the ones that i was that i chose and again there's no right or wrong answer fully aware yes you are fully aware of something that you know that something is happening but as uh lolly mentioned fully conscious that's a good one uh you talk about somebody who's fully grown deeply deeply sorry about something i think deeply uh anna mentioned deeply regret that's awesome that's another one i think when you talking about something that maybe um is maybe a situation like sorry or regret deeply is one that you would that you would use you're deeply sorry about something or you deeply regret something uh be happy deeply disappointed uh excellent i thought there's many and then utterly i i think this one because utterly kind of means the same as extremely there are many different words that you could use um utterly insane is just the first one that came to my mind uh but you could say something is utterly ridiculous i think is another common collocation uh i see some other great collocations that you guys are writing in the chat that's what i wanted for all of you to share it's a good way to build your vocabulary because you see what other people are saying excellent um just to point out a few another ones uh lolly mentioned you're deeply involved that's another collocation um to really again express that degree maggie mentioned you fully understand something perfect um pamela mentioned fully vaccinated that is another uh common i think especially collocation you would hear nowadays talking about people getting vaccines and you may hear whether or not uh somebody is fully vaccinated uh vicky utterly annoyed that's another great collocation absolutely um remy utterly confused perfect so you guys get the idea this is just a good way to build your vocabulary learn some of these different collocations and these are adverbs of degree that you can do that so let's switch gears uh once again and now uh so we talked about some adverbs of frequency some adverbs of degree um now i want to look at some adverbs of manner and the first question i think is i i think you guys will know it i think it's not too difficult uh is this one it's just to fill in the blank i think you speak english very what word would uh what word would you use which adverb would you use to complete that sentence we're talking about manner an adverb a manner which really describes like well how is kind of the question that would uh somebody would ask so adverb a manner which word would you use to complete that sentence um again there are many there are many words that you could actually use depending on what what somebody's trying to say i see that now what i what i was going for um is well i think you speak english very well the one thing that i want to point out with this is because i think often um people will talk about well how well somebody does something and they use good instead so good is i would say it's more informal that's probably informal english it's common i think in spoken english to say wow you do this uh you're good um you do this really good and i think people who are very strict with like the trying to be like oh no no you should use well um i'm just trying to point this out i think well uh is you know well you could say again good good is just a word that's commonly used informally which means the same thing as an adverb but again some b people said fluently slowly clearly i told you there are many adverbs of uh adverbs of manner that you could use to complete this i think uh you you guys are already catching on when i said like uh these adverbs of manner i think they often end with that l-y so right now that says i think he's very badly i guess i think instead of badly i'd say probably poorly uh might be a little more common but yeah that's uh michelangelo awfully okay i want you to do a sentence transformation so sentence transformation is when you're you're saying the same thing but you're just using another sentence so right here i give you the original sentence i want you to be careful when you take the test what i want you to do change one of those words to an adverb of manner and just rewrite the sentence what would you say you're you're transforming the sentence you're saying the same thing but you're just saying it in a different way that is basically in short what a sentence transformation is so take one of those words change it into an adverb and then how how would you write that sentence what would you guys say i want you to be careful when you take the test all right so the word that you well would choose careful you're changing it into an adverb of a manner i told you those adverbs of manners those are typically those l-y adverbs so in this case we're changing it to carefully and in that case you would say i want you to take the test carefully um or you could say so uh that's what he said i want you to take the test very carefully sure you can add very in there if you want um but we're just we're saying it's the same thing it has the same meaning um except we've just transformed this sentence using that adverb of degree and as i mentioned when you're talking about um no adverb a manner sorry i misspoke if we're talking about those adverbs of manner it's it's often it's those l-y adverbs not all of them end in an l-y but many of them do slowly quickly uh differently carefully happily those are adverbs of manner now i want to kind of combine degree and manner with this uh this is a question and the reason why i'm giving you this question it's kind of a play on words and i will explain that when i give you the answer this is something that uh as a teacher i would say this to students sometimes kind of just joking around being funny i told you it's a play on words are you working or um working so notice uh what do you what do you guys think try and fill that out again it's a phrase that it's a question that i think is probably fairly well known it's not a secret but i think it's a good uh example if you're talking about a play on words and it uses those adverbs uh all right yes ana got it perfect um excellent hard and hardly so are you working hard or hardly working and it's a play on words because we're using that that adverb you have hard as an adverb and then hardly as an adverb and the reason why it's funny it's a play on words because working hard and hardly working are opposites if somebody is working hard in that case we're talking about um that adverb of degree like you're working with a lot of intensity and you're you're really um you're you're putting in a lot of effort and you'd say you're working hard hardly as an adverb of uh manner means kind of like well uh slightly very little and you're talking about or like not much hardly working is just you're working very little so that's why i said it's kind of a play on words working hard hardly working they're opposites and this is a good example of that using these adverbs are you working hard or hardly working good phrase fun question to to ask somebody all right so let's look at um some adverbs of time now all right so we talked about adverbs of frequency some manner some degree these are all uh some adverbs of time which again i think many of these are very very common adverbs and this is one that i don't think i don't think it's too difficult the reason why i'm putting this up there maybe it's challenging because i do often hear people make mistakes when it comes to using this adverb of time the package arrived and then what how would you complete that sentence which which adverb which which time adverb would you use and i've given you the calendar down there to kind of really put it in context i know that calendar it does not have seven days that's okay just pretend like it's a it's a four day week so you see that the blue that's when the package that's today um and then then you can count backwards the days when the package arrived so some of you guys are writing yes the package would arrive in time yes that's true uh the package would arrive early sure that's fine um but what would you say if you wanted to be exactly specific and tell somebody that the package arrived um and you wanted to specifically say this is when it arrived uh this is what what you would say and again i think uh you guys will be like oh yes of course what uh the answer i was looking for you could say yes earlier not not yesterday again because again count backwards all right it said not yesterday not not two days ago but three days ago is what i was looking for and the reason why i chose like three days ago this is uh sometimes i hear learners make mistakes and they'll say things like two days before or three days before um or like five days before instead of using like five days ago or one week ago or three years ago so this is a it's a good phrase to know if you're talking about that time and you want to to say well yeah something it didn't happen yesterday it happened two days ago or three days ago or four days ago so in that case that's what i meant like try to be a little more specific uh even though even though that is not a calendar with a full week on it uh this is all right this is an idiom and i want you to complete it now um i arrived that is an adverb clause and that's when i said like that's that's your adverb right there that whole thing um i arrived everyone had already eaten so that first phrase that first part of that adverb clause a clause um group of words it has a subject and a verb in this case i arrive that's your subject and verb it is a clause it is a dependent clause because it can't be its own sentence but the phrase before it is kind of a it's an idiom and i want you to think of what it is so i'm saying phrase so remember phrase has more than one word so i know some of you are like throwing you could say when but i'm not looking for one word when is not really an idiom uh which which phrase am i and you guys might not even think of it as an idiom i even before didn't really think of it much as an idiom until i was kind of putting this together and looked it up uh excellent yes maria the the phrase that i'm looking for the idiom by the time by the time i arrived everyone had already eaten so by the time is an idiom that phrase it means it refers to something that had already happened at that point in time so at once at this point in time something had already happened before so by the time i arrived everyone had already eaten by the time i arrived that is your adverb clause so again we're talking about adverbs that is your adverb clause you could again just use the word if you wanted to say when some of you said you know when i arrived everyone had already eaten that also makes sense that that's perfect but i kind of wanted to talk about that idiom it's a great phrase by the time i arrived everyone had already eaten if you're pointing out that context like at this point in time something else happened uh before so these were again um touching on different type of adverbs this was the quiz thank you guys for participating i told you that it was going to be a little bit of a mix of different groups of adverbs we talked about adverbs of frequency degree manner time there are other groups that i i didn't get to i kind of wanted just to go over a few and hopefully you guys learned something new because we talked about some different expressions uh as well uh it was great seeing so many patrons so many members and yes just to let you guys know if you want to support uh sponsor us if you enjoy what we do check out the links you can become a youtube member a patron helps make uh make all of this possible so that's really that's wrapping it up that's it for our adverb quiz again i think these are very useful words to know so this was kind of a little bit of grammar but i think also some vocabulary as well we talked about collocations there are many different um adverb verb collocations adverb noun collocations so hopefully you guys hopefully that's my hope for every lesson that you learn at least one thing new um so thank you uh adair anna lolly be happy rosa linda um gayathi eduardo gatrudest thank you guys lollygatis great to see you all again um angela takayo i hope that you all enjoy um well the rest of your weekend and of course i will be back next time for another live lesson oh yeah if you enjoy these live lessons if you enjoy like kind of these interactive quizzes that we do please hit hit that like button it helps the the algorithm gods i guess kind of help spread the word about interactive english so yes be sure hit that like button before heading out uh i would really appreciate it so thank you just give a couple more shout outs hun maria kaio great to see you um remy sheddin pamela enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you next time juliana hello all right all right i gotta head out --- ## 535. SUPER ADVANCED VOCABULARY | Descriptive words to be more precise | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eK6TOVHZmEQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK6TOVHZmEQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:05:32 | --- let's build your vocabulary and by the end of the lesson I promise you will learn something new and I I say that confidently because we are going to talk about some Advanced vocabulary I I say super Advanced because these are nouns verbs adjectives adverbs that are at a C2 level and Beyond now you may be wondering are these words often used is it absolutely necessary that I learn such words and the answer is really it depends now of course these are words that you're not going to hear all the time but it is going to help you be more descriptive and more precise if you are someone who uses English often every day or would like to be able to engage in a variety of topics and express yourself easily naturally and really add some flavor to your English vocabulary of course this is a quiz lesson so I want you to participate in the lessons and if you'd like to get the lesson notes click on the link Down Below in the description you can join our email community and you can access these notes that you see next to me right here if you are already a part of our community check your inbox I have sent them to you so we're going to start out with some Advanced verbs and I I'm going to give you a question this is going to be a fill in the blank and I want you to write your answers in the chat or in the comments even if you're watching this later use that comment section and participate in the lesson that that's what this is all about uh that is what interactive English is all about and I'll go ahead and tell you my name my name is Wes I didn't even do the introduction uh if you if you are someone who wants to build your vocabulary subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher so you you can see me right here in this first picture and the sentence my daughter m me she told me she had not eaten ice cream today but she had some earlier so just based on this context you know that she tricked me she had some ice cream and then told me oh I didn't have any ice cream this actually happens quite often and then afterwards I could say oh you m me now I've given you a word already that is like a synonym for this she tricked me she deceived me and again with when it comes to kids I don't think it's necessary necessary to use such strong words and in this case it this is a fun word this is why I think this verb is great in this situation and I think this is a challenging one I haven't seen any answers you could say she Bamboozled me to bamboozle someone is to trick or deceive someone in uh different way and in this case again we can use it playfully so it means to trick or deceive someone Often by confusing them and you could bamboozle someone or in this case I could say I was Bamboozled she Bamboozled me and I wanted to teach you this verb mostly because I just like saying the word bamboozle you can give it a try it's a fun verb to say but to give you a little more context because I want to give you some examples with these words here are some news headlines so that you can kind of get a better understanding as to how this verb is used so I'll just read through these quickly why smartphones bamboozle politicians they don't know again I don't know if it's like how to use them or how to create legislation around smartphones or the second one holiday firms try to bamboozle customers with long tnc's tnc's in this case refers to refers to terms and conditions and they try to bamboozle customers uh with certain words and phrases and then finally watch GAA star bamboozle Australian foe with gay football skill that leaves AFL crowd stunned and you would trick or deceive someone you will bamboozle this person the next one because I have quite a few I have quite a few words that I want to cover today after the controversy his chances of winning the election started to what what verb would you use I this in this case I'm using the infinitive started to so you could kind of start to put two and two together there's a some type of controversy that's not a good thing so what's going to happen to your chances of winning they're going to go down or they are going to I'm giving you the first two letters of this verb hopefully that is a little bit more of a hint so that you can kind of Guess The Word uh excellent nice sir law Ruben uh Mr casu Patricio are uh not dwell but dwindle so to dwindle after the controversy his chances of winning the winning uh chances of winning the election sorry that's a small typo there it should be the article the after chance his chances of winning the election started to dwindle so if something starts to dwindle or is dwindling it's becoming smaller in size or amount or just fewer in number so for this time I wanted to I'm going to try to switch it up as far as these examples go I you know checked out the the sorus you can see it right there and these are some other synonyms for dwindle now some of these other synonyms are even probably less frequently used but just again to get more of an idea as to other verbs that have a similar meaning Abate Decay decline decrease die down diminish drop I think some of those I would prefer even in this context you could use like the chances of winning started to decrease started to diminish started to drop or started to dwindle to become less the next one his injury could the team's chances of winning and this time I did include that article the the the team's chances of winning so what verb is going to complete this sentence it begins with the letter J I feel like this one is perhaps one that you are familiar with I think it is a little more commonly used if you watch I think the news or read the newspaper like the New York Times or uh Washington Post or a variety of English newspapers this is a word that a verb that you might hear uh great job excellent um yes perfect jeopardize good job Julia romelia I'll try to give some shout outs as we go along Loi excellent good to see you his his injury could jeopardize the team's chances of winning so if this happens to be a new verb for you what does it mean it means to put someone or something in a situation in which there is a danger of loss harm or failure so you're going to jeopardize something and and I wanted to this time give you some common collocations with this verb now of course this is just a sample there are actually several different variations they go through this is uh they give you quite a lot so you might jeopardize the chances jeopardize the safety of something you could jeopardize your relations or jeopardize the passengers workers follow it with any noun group of people jeopardize your chances of something happening like winning or suc ceeding uh jeopardized the health of something jeopardized the mission the operation jeopardized his life career position or saying something could May will jeopardize everything and talking about in risk or at risk of jeopardizing there are many different ways as you can see that people will use this verb so I think this one is very useful and a nice descriptive verb how about uh this next question he refused my offer immediately and said that he would not even M such a low offer this is a verb that you have definitely heard perhaps not in this context because this verb that starts with an E has uh m a multiple meaning so we're refusing an offer because it's so low and this person says I am not even going to such a low offer what verb could we use that starts with an E you're refusing it I'm not even I'm just going to give you the meaning not even going to think about it I'm not even going to consider this I'm not even going to entertain such a low offer so in this context we're talking about the verb to entertain not to make someone feel happy with some type of performance but in this case we're talking about giving attention or consideration to some idea feeling perhaps a suggestion and in this case somebody offers something you're like yeah I'm not even going to entertain this offer or I'm not even going to entertain your suggestion and the one thing that I'd point out with this verb and this is not a fixed rule is often people may use this in the negative to say that you are not going to consider something or think about it or give attention um to this idea so I've given you some example sentences right there refu like the first one we just said he refused my offer immediately said he would not even entertain such a low offer or I will not begin to entertain such accusations or she wouldn't entertain his outlandish suggestions in each of those sentences I am using it more with that negative to not give attention to not entertain excellent job uh some right answers uh evany s good to entertain an idea or thought how about this verb he was able to effectively the new company policy this verb starts with an A and once again I think this is one that you have probably heard of when it comes to a lot of vocabulary I think many of you may have uh you know passive understanding of these words that you hear them or you read them and you think okay I I know what they mean or I can put put it in uh context but when you're having a conversation maybe you don't actively use it and that's why it's good to get review learn these relearn them in this case uh if you already know it I have not uh seen any correct answers but let's uh let me let me give you the answer he was not uh he was able to effectively articulate the new company policy now of course there are other verbs that start with a I saw some answers in there like adapt adopt uh that that would work it would work in this situation I don't want to say that you're wrong but the word in this case that I was wanting to teach you is the word articulate to articulate something which means to express yourself readily clearly and effectively so some of you that you put in those other verbs with a uh adopt adapt accept again they would work but the verb that I want to teach you is to articulate which uh means you're if you're trying to articulate something perhaps your ideas or your suggestions that you just want to express yourself clearly and effectively the one thing that I want to point out with this verb is that you can use it as a verb to articulate something the stresses on the second syllable or you could use it as an adjective if I well we're just looking at this picture and saying well this this gentleman is very articulate again I'm stressing the second syllable the difference between the two the verb and the adjective is that final and fourth syllable so with the verb you have that long a sound to articulate whereas with the the adjective now we have that I articulate articulate to articulate or saying someone is articulate something keep in mind but the the these it's part of the same word family same meaning but different pronunciation how about some well speaking of adjectives like articulate uh let's look at some other Advanced adjectives and as we I'm going to switch it up a little bit and quiz you in a different way so what I want to do this time is really provide you with some different synonyms again I'm giving you the part of the word well the first letter as a little bit of a hint again this is these are all adjectives and then some synonyms below to see if uh you can kind of come up with the missing word so this is an adjective that begins with the letter s it is one that is definitely probably not as commonly used it is a certainly more advanced but some synonyms would be self-righteous insincere hypocritic critical Pious smug these are all synonyms for starts with an S again let me show you because this is a little more challenging if you want to say someone is sanctimonious sanctimonious means that yeah that just self-righteous you think you're better than everyone else here's an example sentence he gave a self-serving and sanctimonious speech a lot of times people will use this adjective and then follow it with a well derogatory noun like oh this sanctimonious jerk or this sanctimonious then you can put in the word that is negative and you're just emphasizing yeah how much you just don't like this person and saying they're sanctimonious this is another fun word starts with a P an adjective that has a similar meaning to ridiculous strange bizarre foolish and excessive a lot of these synonyms uh have been taken from the thesaurus.com and in this case you would often hear this adjective in a certain statement that I will show you in just a bit you can use that picture which is ridiculous it's a little strange and I would say wow look at this picture that's what thinking about this situation that could possibly happen I'd say that's what not peculiar kind of close but there's another word that we're looking for excellent uh Ahmad we're talking about Preposterous that is the adjective that I wanted to teach you so in this sentence the cow the cow won't be able to climb over the the style that's preposterous the cow won't be able to do that that's just Preposterous and that is the sentence I was talking about you have some situation and you want to say well instead of saying that's ridiculous that's crazy that's foolish you could say that's preposterous fun word another one again maybe it's like Bamboozled I just like saying Preposterous how about this one and I think you could use the picture as a little bit of a hint this is an adjective that you would use to describe of person and some synonyms include practical balanced composed reasonable cool-headed and I feel like this is a good adjective you could use when talking about someone in a work environment and you want to give this person a compliment talking about your colleague or maybe your boss that they are very practical they can remain calm Cal in difficult situations and you could say this person is excellent thong too I I thought thought some I thought you might get that one levelheaded so if somebody's levelheaded I feel again this is a compliment it's it's a good thing if somebody says you're level-headed and it just means all of those things you're balanced reasonable you you can stay calm in these challenging situations and I gave you an example sentence my colleague works well under pressure she's very levelheaded how about this next adjective right here again I feel like this one's a a little tricky perhaps there is another word that you might come up with but some synonyms for this word include alarming awful dire disheartening Dreadful so it's not a good situation in and instead of saying that well this is awful uh or this is alarming this is what and I feel like sometimes you may use this more as an attributive adjective before the noun talking about in this case perhaps a task that you have to do and like oh this is such a m task and the word that we're looking for well done uh romelia Julia daunting saying something is daunting you is similar to saying alarming or awful or disheartening for example he faces the daunting Prospect of up to three different exams in one day that is Dreadful that is daunting and then we have this uh this adjective right here I feel like maybe uh maybe you'll be able to to get this one and some synonyms include atrocious deplorable extreme flagrant glaring what uh what word am I talking about what do you think write your answers in the comments in the chat just want to hear from you and again this is I think one that you may use with the noun mistake that somebody makes instead of a a deplorable mistake or an atrocious mistake and what starts with an E you're really emphasizing just how bad something is and you could describe it as being hopefully well maybe you're thinking of the word egregious all right great job Alex uh yuchen perfect uh Julia l so if you say something is egregious these are some synonyms and I told you might use it with the word mistake he made an egregious mistake and you're really adding emphasis to just how bad or concerning that the mistake is to to put some of this into like context you could go to if you want to know how frequently some of these words are used whether it's these adjectives or any word or phrase and you would like to compare them this is a great resource you can go to Google engram viewer and it basically puts it on a graph and shows you the frequency and it's really based on written English and not spoken English but it's a good way to get a snapshot and I put these adjectives in there and you could see just looking at this that words like daunting egregious are more commonly used than the other ones that we talked about sanctimonious levelheaded and Preposterous I was surprised to see that at the bottom and I I guess maybe I shouldn't say I'm that surprise because I do feel like that is a word that you would hear more in spoken English as opposed to written English so in that case I I think it may make sense because again this is taken from like all of written English and graphing it for you all right now we're moving into some nouns right there's a lot lot to cover today and let's look look at some Advanced nouns this time I want to give you some common cations these are words that are frequently used together so I'm not just giving you the noun but some other words that are often used with this noun again it's a fill in the blank but I've highlighted the collocation he boasted about his accomplishments and walked around the stage with an air of what what noun could you use that you might use it with this collocation an air of what this is describing someone that again you you're not happy you could probably describe this person as a sanctimonious prick and you don't like this person because they're just they're strutting around with an air of yes superiority nice Manuel Julia so if somebody is again moving going around with the their acting like as though they just you know they have this air of superiority it's uh not a good thing so superiority refers to the fact that one person or thing is better stronger um than another if we're talking about people it's really it really has a negative connotation if someone is acting like they're better but if you're comparing things like two different things like phones or something and saying well this phone is just you know it it is uh you know this it has superiority over this other thing right then you're just saying it's better which in that case it's not necessarily negative but here are some common collocations with this noun and air of superiority technological superiority that would probably be better if I said the phone exhibits you know just technological superiority over this other phone you could talk about military superiority or moral superiority these are other collocations that are used with this noun how about this one and I feel like I think uh many of you may be able to to get this noun because it's probably a little more often used you watch TV shows movies I I imagine this is a word you have probably come across the court awarded to the mother pretty simple sentence we're talking about the the court the judicial system and this is another word that you might hear in that context and I'm using it with the verb awarded so that is the collocation this is ver a verb noun collocation with this Advanced noun so we're talking about the court is going to award what to the mother and the noun is custody to award custody the meaning of custody in case you are you whoops sorry you are unfamiliar with it it is just referring to the legal right or duty to care for someone or something especially a child a lot of times when people talk about custody children are part of this discussion and some common cations with this noun again these are all verb noun collocations to award custody to get custody to share custody to Grant custody or even to gain or lose custody these are all verbs that are frequently used with the noun custody you guys rock that one I think many many of you knew it which is great always good to get a little little review here is the next question I still love scuba diving but after several Dives the M started to wear off I realize now that I I give you this example I said I would highlight the actual collocation and the collocation with this noun would be what follows started to wear off the M started to wear off that is the collocation so we're talking about don't worry too much about the activity scuba diving but think about the situation you go scuba diving this person still loves it but you know the more they do it you become accustomed to it you be you get used to it it's not as big of a deal and you could say the M started to wear off and that is the allation we're going to use that noun and follow it with started to wear off there are I'd say possibly there might be other nouns that you could use but I feel like there's one definitely that is often used in this context good job Alex the novelty the novelty started to wear off I don't necessarily I wouldn't really say the you know the passion or the enthusiasm started to wear off grammatically there's nothing wrong with that it's just not of used in this context uh you could say the novelty started to wear off I think that would be more suitable to this situation because novelty it just refers to well technically speaking the quality of being new and unusual so the more you do something especially if at the beginning it's very exciting it's new it's different but over time yeah I think it's this is going to happen the novelty is start is going to wear off and there are are different ways that you could say it even though all of these collocations have a similar meaning saying the novelty is wearing off and using it in the continuous tense or the novelty is starting to wear off or the novelty has worn off and using that past perfect but really just thinking of saying that well you become used to something it's not new or exciting oh yeah you know the novelty has started to wear off and it's not as uh as strange or different or unusual good phrase good phrase to know I I included this this is a little joke uh from like the y e cards uh just to give you another like example with this saying the novelty of your lazy eye has yet to wear off it's a very strange statement to say that which is why it's supposed to be funny and ridiculous and absurd I know what you're thinking that's preposterous nobody would say that to another person and you're right the next next uh my wife uh she yeah she doesn't like to be seen with me if I'm wearing socks and sandals but I could say socks and sandals are making a what and again I apologize I forgot to highlight the the collocation I don't think it would be too much of a hint but making a m this is a verb noun collocation to make a what I know that the whole socks and sandals thing is not giving you too much of a hint but if I wanted to help you out a little a little bit and say that uh maybe this is something that people did a long time ago and now it's starting to become trendy again what what would you say it's becoming trendy again it's making a what I I I would say I would like to think that this is true but I don't think it is the answer is to make a comeback and a comeback would refer to a situation in which someone or something becomes popular famous successful after a period of being M much less popular so I think uh people would talk about maybe actors or in this regard that someone was very famous and then they go through this period of time in which they have not been working and starring in movies or TV shows and then you see them again and youd say well this person has made a comeback or is making a comeback you could also use it to refer to companies as well that you have this period where in which they're not very popular even though they're known and then they make a comeback here are some other verb noun collocations to make a comeback to mount a comeback or even to Stage a comeback all three of those are somewhat interchangeable when talking about this noun a comeback and this is a little more current events for you we're just talking about actors please don't raise your voice you are making a m once again I meant to include this verb noun collocation to make a what noun are you going to follow this with and I think this is a this is a good phrase to know because I probably you might be in this situation and it's not something that occurs all the time it's very specific but I think it's useful and I'm just trying to I gave you that uh that picture there of uh Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez I don't think things are going well but it was part of this news headline so instead of giving you the news headline I just want to show the P share the picture with you and then give a sentence and I feel like many of you know it we're talking about making a scene great job uh uh what you Julia Natasha cherton good job excellent so if someone is making a scene this would refer to an expression of anger or some similar feelings to being angry between two people and you're referring to like this an occasion when this happens so I said it's useful because you may be in a situation in public with another person who is upset they start speaking loudly and it's a little embarrassing and you could tell look you're making a scene there's no need to make a scene and you would use it with that verb to make a scene or you could say someone is causing a scene and they're people are looking because they're acting really uh you know they're they're really frustrated they're angry and they're showing this or you could refer to this and say well that was quite a scene or saying something is quite a scene great uh noun to know again it's it is more advanced it's more specific but I think it's useful because it applies to a situation that I'm sure if I asked you can you think of a time when you saw someone making a scene I'm sure that you can think of an instance when that was happening so let's look at some Advanced adverbs we're not done yet I have a lot of words I told you that I want to look at today so I I'm giving I'm making this multiple choice this may be a little easier than some of the other questions they follow order blind that or okay I'm gonna I'm going to start over they follow orders without questioning Authority I'm laughing because I started to say the answer I was getting ahead of myself they M follow orders without questioning Authority what uh what what adverb these ly words are we going to use I think uh I don't maybe you all know this because I think this was a little easier even though I started to say yes the word be blindly so if you say someone is blindly doing something it means they're just not thinking about or understanding like what they are doing you're not questioning anything and we were just talking about uh collocations I think that is a cocation as well to blindly follow orders and you're not questioning and you are just blindly following orders how about uh this question right here what adverb would you use to complete this sentence the town is remote and M populated a sparsely B resoundingly or C decrepit which word completes that sentence the town is remote and M populated so we're talking about if you know the what the meaning of the word remote is it'll make it easier it means that it's well they're not it it's kind of isolated it's not close to anything and therefore it would make lead you to believe that there is not much of a PO population and I I'm just keep talking but you guys got the answer sparsely saying something is sparsely populated meaning that there is a small number or amount of people or things you could say it's sparsely populated again another this in this case uh an adverb uh adjective collocation saying something is sparsely populated now uh maybe I keep thinking maybe this is going to get a little more difficult but I think you guys are going to uh get most of these with the multiple choice they worked in order to fix the mistake before the deadline how were these people working so just putting it you know in a context there's a deadline there's a mistake we need to fix it so of course I think you probably are trying to imagine well how these people are working in this case there is only one adverb that would appropriately complete this sentence they're not going to work lethargically because that means that they're moving slowly there's a deadline freely it doesn't really apply so it just leaves us with a expeditiously if somebody is working expeditiously they are working with speed and efficiency perfect how about the next one which maybe a little more uh challenging our vacation didn't start M the flight was delayed for 12 hours what do you think goes in that blank a tacitly B profoundly or C auspiciously WR your answers in the comment in the chat I think this one is going to be a little more challenging what do you think our vacation didn't start the flight was delayed for 12 hours so in this case we're talking about a situation in which uh it well it's not a good situation so what verb or what adverb in this case would uh would work um oh thank you so much Cinderella Essence I love it I appreciate it I love the love the little uh dancing guy there perfect so we're talking about uh an adverb that you could do a process of elimination and again this is a little trickier but the answer is C auspiciously so auspiciously means in a way that suggests um a positive or successful future so we're saying that again there's a negative it did not start positively because well the flight was delayed so it didn't start auspiciously that can be a little tricky because of that negative in there you're saying well it did not start positively because of this bad event that happened uh and you could say it didn't start auspiciously profoundly kind of means something is deep meaningful it really doesn't fit this context and tacitly really means uh like something is the way somebody's communicating and saying something directly once again it really doesn't fit uh in in this uh context and then uh how about this one they ignored any evidence that did not support their Theory which of these adverbs completes this sentence they ignored any evidence that did not support their theory if you know the meaning of some of these other ones again I think you could use process of elimination because the meaning is really not going to fit in with what the sentence is trying to convey so in this case meticulously if somebody is working meticulously they're paying close attention to detail you wouldn't really use it with the verb ignore you wouldn't meticulously ignore something um ardently also does not fit really well so we're going to go with blyly b and if somebody does something blly and this is another com cocation to blight ly ignore something you are you know happy without worry and it's like this cheerful indifference so cheerful is a keyword if somebody you know in this case Bly ignored you are cheerful you're not going to pay any attention to evidence that goes against what you want to prove so you are cheerfully ignoring this thing that you should be paying attention to and that is another collocation I know gave you all a lot of words in this lesson here is a little bit of review you can see all these words if you want to get access to these lesson notes remember click on that link down in the description join our email Community if you are already a part of the community again check your check your inbox I I've already sent them to you now for the Moment of Truth my question my poll how did you do on the quiz let me know in the comments comments in the chat how you did I'm going to give you a poll um I'll do like great maybe 100% um not bad 75% and then we'll do okay 50% and then uh I learned a lot of new words we'll say is maybe 25% because I'm sure with all of these questions I bet there there were definitely some that you got and you can let me know right now right at this very moment how you did on the quiz if you enjoy lessons like this and you like building your vocabulary especially with some very Advanced words that I told you are specific in certain situations like I just gave you that example of somebody making a scene and you could use that collocation hit that like button tells me that I should do more lessons like this I do want to thank all of you for participating in the lesson I want to give a shout out again for Cinderella Essence for the that super chat I really appreciate it uh great to see so many members in here today Loi good to see you uh as well as people that have participated in my speakup course too glad you were here and other people that I always see each week Angela tal Manuel um Ken Natasha Nova sir uh thank you so much for joining me being a part of the lesson and let me see where where we're at I think again for the most part seems like uh many of you learned a lot of new words couple people wow I'm impressed some of you saying uh you you got 100% on this quiz that that's that's awesome excellent but with all of these lessons my goal is that you learn something new and hopefully even if you knew some of the words maybe you learn some new collocations or ways in which these words are used used thank you so much hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and I --- ## 536. SUPER CONFUSING WORDS | 1-Hour Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vruqFucWWZ0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vruqFucWWZ0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:49:27 | --- if you sometimes find English words confusing by the end of the lesson I promise you there will be no more confusion because I am going to teach you over 50 different words and phrases talk about why they are commonly confused give you a variety of examples and ultimately this is going to improve your overall fluency so let's begin with some super confusing words and because it's a nice day let's go outside for this part of the lesson English is full of confusing words like these first two words that I have for you between and among they're both prepositions but you're going to use between when you're you're talking about well two things or two people there there's a oneon-one relationship use among when you're talking about well more than two and and it's not really distinct so I I could say you know the information in this lesson let let's keep that between you and me talking about a one-on-one relationship between you and me or there there's an idiom that is between a rock and a hard place this is talking about uh a difficult situation a rock a hard place you're between it it's it's not a good place to be it's a difficult situation now with a m i I know I told you to keep this information between you and me but i' I'd rather you share it among all of your friends so in that case I'm I'm talking about that group and you you may also hear people use amongst instead of among and they they mean the same thing I think it's more common to use among especially in the United States amongst it's a little bit of an older word but there are still some phrases statements in which people are likely to use a monst if you are in front of a group of people and maybe you're talking to them and you have to leave the room you could say Talk Amongst yourselves that is that is a statement that you may hear in which people may use amongst now between you and me if you truly want to build your vocabulary learn the difference between these confusing words I suggest you subscribe turn on notifications so that you learn about future lessons and I can become your English teacher my name is Wes the Channel interactive English that's what it's all about trying to help you improve and reach your fluency goals the next two confusing words that I have for you reluctant and reticent they're both adjectives but you're going to use reluctant to to refer to something that maybe you are hesitant to do or you're unwilling to do this thing use reticent when you're you're really talking about somebody's manner that they're shy or reserved so in that case I I think it's more common that you're going to hear people use reluctant when when talking about things they're unwilling to do in general reticent going it's going to allow you to be more specific so maybe if we're talking about somebody shy to speak and they don't want to speak they're reluctant to speak then you could describe them as being a bit reticent because we know that they're a little shy um if I were talking about maybe a a team that had to do a presentation and I could say well well she was reluctant to put together the presentation she was unwilling to do it maybe it was very difficult but then he was reticent to give the presentation so in that case I'm talking about well his his willingness to speak he was reticent he was shy he didn't really want to do it here are another couple of confusing words achieve and accomplish and these are great words to know so you're you're going to use achieve when talking about well you want to succeed in something if you use accomplish then that means well you you finish something often successfully so if I were to say like I want to achieve my goal it means that I I I want to reach this point and I want to do it successfully that's a little different than if I say I accomplished my goal well then it's finished and well perhaps I I was successful think of it this way I I always talk about trying to achieve English fluency that you want to be successful in in learning English and it's not something that you're probably ever going to finish so in that case I'm not going to use accomplish but if I'm talking about like a mission or a task well then I could say that I I want to accomplish this Mission or maybe I already accomplished this Mission it's done it's complete and I did what I needed to do then we have customers and clients so customers refer to people who who are buying a product or service and clients refer to people who need some type of professional support or help from another person or a company so I am going to to tell you I'm going to give you a situation uh talking about some people and I want you to think whether I'm talking about customers or clients I'll give you a moment and then I'll I'll tell you the answer so if I am talking about well shopping at the mall those are customers if I need to hire a lawyer and I need to use their services then I am the client if a company uses services from another company then they would be this is a little tricky because you they could be either clients or customers so in some instances they may be used interchangeably it really just depends on the relationship maybe between these companies but that's another reason why they can be a bit confusing and finally if I were to talk about well people at a people at a restaurant those are customers yes those are customers here are another another couple of confusing words figuratively and literally they're they're adverbs we use figuratively to refer to well using words or phrases in an imaginative way talking about something that that is not realistic you would use literally to talk about something that will is realistic something that happened so there's a phrase that people might use with figuratively and they may say figuratively speaking at the beginning of their statement and then go on to say something that is not realistic figuratively speaking people were kicking down the doors to buy the new iPhone so it's not realistic it's just an example and people would would do this really kind of to emphasize their statement if I want to use literally and this does happen maybe you're you're talking with a friend about another friend and that person shows up and you said hey we were literally just talking about you so this was realistic it happened the reason why these were may be confusing is because people use literally instead of figuratively and I know that may seem a little strange because their meaning is it's pretty much the opposite and I there are people who say this is incorrect this should not happen but you should be aware that this this is something that occurs in spoken English somebody might say something like I I literally have not slept in weeks of course that's not true it's not realistic but they they may use literally just to try and emphasize the fact that they have not been sleeping at all or I could say people have literally been kicking down the doors to buy the new iPhone so once again I'm I'm talking about something that's not realistic but I'm using literally instead of figuratively this is something that happens quite often in spoken English and I I'm even guilty of doing this from time to time then we have these confusing abbreviations EG versus IE and it's something that people will often confuse in writing they may even confuse it in spoken English if people say these abbreviations but you're going to use EG in order to mean for example you're going to use iie it's it's like saying that is to say or it's even interchangeable with specifically so let me try to make it a little easier for you to understand if I were to say something like I've been trying to eat more foods that are high in protein EG tuna brocc chicken I'm really just giving an example of some of the things that I'm eating if I if I were to say well the hotels downtown they raise their price during the high season I.E May to August now I'm specifically talking about that time period May to August let me give you a couple of statements and you tell me if we should use EG or iie if I were to say the restaurant is closed once a week m on Mondays all right in that case you should use IE because we're talking specifically about Mondays how about um there are many chores that I have to do during the week take out the trash mop the floor uh clean the living room okay you should have said EG because once again I I'm giving just examples of some of the chores that I have to do so just just really keep that in mind EG is used to just give uh some examples IE is much more specific you were talking about something that is specifically happening or some specific information and then we have these two confusing words consecutive and concurrent and I I think they may be confused mostly because of well the spelling and they kind of sound like they might be the same word but they have different meanings you're going to use consecutive to talk about well something that happens one after the other without interruption and you use concurrent to talk about well things that are happening at the same time so I could say that the city experienced consecutive heat waves there was a heat wave and once it ended without interruption another one started or uh if I were to use concurrent I could say well the country is experiencing concurrent heat waves that there are different heat waves happening across the country at the same time it's concurrent so just remember there are two different meanings consecutive one after the other without interruption concurrent it means happening at the same time now that we're back inside I want to talk about some phrases that can be really confusing and I'm talking about phrasal verbs because quite often people tell me that this is one of the most challenging Parts when it comes to building their vocabulary and people often make mistakes because there are many phras verbs many of them have multiple meanings so I understand that this can cause some confusion but right now I want to take a look at some phrasal verbs that are especially tricky we need to have a talk about phrasal verbs okay so phrasal verbs can be very confusing they can be very annoying but they're very important to learn because we use them quite often especially when speaking I want to look at some phrasal verbs that well the these can be very confusing using because their meaning is similar nevertheless there are some slight differences which I want to teach you and this is really going to help with your comprehension and your overall English fluency so let's just go ahead and start with these two phrasal verbs right here burn up and burn down now when I first started teaching English and uh you know I was having to learn a lot about the English language and one of the things that I I came across was just trying to show how crazy the English language could be and somebody was asking a question and they said how is it possible that a house can burn down at the same time it's burning up that just doesn't make any sense but it it's true that can happen because if we have this sentence and somebody says oh my God my house is burning down all right it it means the same thing and somebody could say oh my God my house is burning up so both of these phrasal verbs mean that something is destroyed by fire and in the example that I just gave you you could use either phrasal verb you could say my house is burning down or my house is burning up either one of them it's okay they mean the same thing but there are there there is a slight difference between these two phrasal verbs because if you say that something is burning down what that makes me think of is some type of structure like uh a home or a building or a bridge and when it burns down that structure is just destroyed and often it may just collapse if we're talking about something that burns up it makes me think of something that is perhaps smaller like an individual item not always because you could say that a home is burning up but I think uh you you will typically use this with smaller individual items paper a book or perhaps photo albums let's use that as an example so if you have this home and your home is burning down inside the home maybe you have some photo albums it's a smaller item and if it's destroyed by the fire then you would say my photo albums burned up in the fire they were destroyed by the fire but another word that I want to give you to help you probably better understand it would be that it was consumed by this fire I think that that word may help you make a distinction between burn down and burn up so if something burns up it's really consumed you could also use the phrasal verb when you you get rid of energy when you consume energy you can burn up calories and the other thing that I would say about burn up I think there is a level of intensity that this is happening uh right in front of you it's intense it's really hot it's getting hotter and hotter and in that case think of the same way if somebody has a fever they might say wow your forehead is burning up you're really burning up it's intense it's getting hot and and that is another way in which you could use this phrasal verb so in my original example of saying that my house is burning down or my house is burning up I think they are interchangeable you could use either one but I think it's because you are talking about something that is happening right at that moment you are watching this structure getting destroyed by the fire my my house is burning down you are watching the the home getting consumed and it's very intense my house is burning up if we are going to talk about this in the past and it's already happened I think in that case most people would use burn down and you could say last year my home burned down all right you you're probably not going to use burn up if you're talking about something that that's larger like a home you may use it if you are looking at it at that moment and you see that the fire is consuming it it's very intense you you could say oh no my house is burning up so again even though these phrasal verbs have a very similar meaning there are some slight differences between the two now let's look at the phrasal verbs walk up and walk down so let me give you an example perhaps you are looking for a restaurant and you ask somebody on the street hey do you know where this restaurant is and they say oh it's it's just right over there just just walk down the street and you'll see it or maybe they say just walk up the street and you'll see it in this case the both are correct you can use either one because walk down and walk up it means that you are just walking to some place I would say that there can be some subtle differences because you can take geography into consideration so for example if a person is going to be walking uphill then I'm more likely to use walk up just just walk up the street and you'll see it if the person's going to be walking downhill then I'm probably going to use down just walk down the street and you'll see it and if it's flat well then you can use either one I would say that I I think that in spoken English people are more likely going to use walk down now one way we can check this is using a great resource like Google's engram viewer which pretty much shows you how common different words and phrases are and you can compare the two so I can compare walk up and walk down and when I looked it up lo and behold I saw that their usage is very similar one is not that much more common than the other and then I was thinking wait maybe Am I Wrong is it just me that I would use walk down and a lot of other people would use walk up perhaps that is the case but we can look at it uh a little closer in depth because if you use walk up it can also mean something that's a little different so walk up can mean to uh to uh to walk to a person or place with a level of confidence that you are feeling very confident you have something you want to say and you might walk right up up to some person or you walk up to some place let me give you some examples I could say she walked up to her boss and said I quit all right she walked up to her boss she was very confident and and really had something important to say another example uh would be he walked up to her and asked her out on a date again in that situation you are walking to someone but it really uh it there really is a level of confidence that you have when you are going to this person or or this place so when I went back to Google engram viewer I was a little more specific with my uh with my phrase and I put in walk down the street and walk up the street and yes in that case uh you can see that walk down the street is more more common than walk up the street and this also applies to drive if you want to say drive up or drive down perhaps you're looking for a grocery store and you ask somebody and they say oh it's it's just just drive down the road and you'll see it in about 10 minutes or just drive up the road and you'll see it in 10 minutes again they're interchangeable they mean the same thing you are driving to some place but I I think it also applies if somebody's going to be driving uphill you could use drive up if they're driving downhill drive down and if it's flat either one but once again again I think drive down is going to be used uh more often in spoken English now let's look at these phrasal verbs take off and liftoff so I could say the helicopter is taking off or the helicopter is lifting off both of them are correct and both of them kind of mean the same thing in this case but these phrasal verbs do have uh a bit of a difference so for example take off refers to to an aircraft or a bird or an insect that leaves the ground and begins to fly liftoff refers to the action of some aircraft or spacecraft that is leaving the ground and typically with liftoff I I kind of think of going straight up you are going straight up from a particular point so I could you could say that a rocket could lift off the ground or a helicopter could lift off the ground uh a hot air balloon could lift off the ground a drone could lift off the ground so if we're talking about takeoff I could use takeoff with all of those as well I could say the rocket took off the helicopter took off the hot air balloon it also took off even the Drone it took off because I can use takeoff with with all of those as well as many more if we're talking about well like birds insects and planes takeoff is used much more often than lift off the reason why I think somebody would use liftoff would be if they they just want to be a little more specific uh and precise when whenever they're speaking or perhaps writing and they want to say that that this aircraft is leaving the ground and it's kind of moving straight up so you think of a a rocket a helicopter a hide air balloon a drone those are things that can lift off but they could also take off as well I hope that you have a little bit of a better understanding about the differences between these phrasal verbs even though in certain instances they are interchangeable and you could use either one you're doing great so let's keep moving forward so that you can achieve your goal of understanding these confusing words and then at the end of the lesson you can say missioned accomplished because it's finished so let's switch gears and I want to do a deep dive into two different phrases that are commonly confused used to and used to and in doing so we need to cover a little bit of grammar again it's a nice day so let's go back outside used to and used to now they they can be a little confusing not not necessarily when speaking but when trying to determine well which one you should use in writing and I say they're not really they're not really confused when speaking because the pronunciation is the same and I will come back to that a little bit later on but but for right now let's uh let's focus on used to because this is definitely the most common one that you are going to use when speaking or writing and I think well used to alone can be confusing because well dictionaries may look at it different ways Cambridge has used to as a modal verb Mariam Webster says that used to is an adjective as well as a verb McMillan dictionary has used to as a modal verb Oxford Learners dictionary also says that used to is a modal verb and dictionary.com has it as an adjective as well as a verb let's first make a distinction between used to as a modal verb or verb and used to as an adjective now the the grammar is different the part of speech but also the meaning is different so right now let's let's get rid of the adjective forget about the adjective let's just focus on used to as a verb or modal verb and I keep saying verb modal verb as you saw some of the dictionaries uh have it listed differently and that is because in some ways used to acts like a modal verb and in other ways it it really doesn't but whether or not used to uh is considered a verb or a modal verb the meaning is the same and let's talk about the meaning because that is very important and what this means means is it's talking about something that was repeatedly done in the past or or even a situation that existed in the past but the the thing is not done anymore or the situation does not exist anymore today in the present so I could will give you some examples talking about myself I could say I used to live in South Korea that that is true that is a situation that existed in the past and when I lived in South Korea I used to run uh around this Lake twice a a week bum Moon Lake I used to run around it twice a week and that is something that I had done repeatedly except for the winter uh in the winter it was a bit too cold so during those months uh I used to sit on my ass I could say that sometimes not always in those sentences used to is a modal verb it is a helping verb and I already told you that it has some similarities to modal verbs like it it has one form it's not conjugated so I said I used to live in South Korea if I change the subject to he it it's not going to change he used to live in South Korea but used to it it can act differently from your average modal verb uh for example with modal verbs you you're not going to follow it with to so I can say something well like I can swim or it will rain or you you should write to me in the comments I I just love hearing from you you should write to me in the comments now with all of those sentences we have the modal verb and then we follow it with the infinitive the base verb there is no two an exception is used to I used to run around the lake and well even if I wanted to change the subject and talk about myself in the third person to show that the form is not going to change uh I could say in Winter West you to sit around on his ass but sometimes all right so two is going to come before the base verb and that's why I think if you're if you're trying to think about it I think it's best to consider used to as just one phrase try to think about it together as one phrase used to questions and negative statements also make used to different from other modal verbs because if well if we're talking about questions typically we can just use the modal verb to create a question can he swim will it rain and if we're talking about negative statements then you're you're just going to use not with with a typical modal verb uh he cannot swim or it won't rain but this is not the case with used to of course used to it just has to be different than all the other modal verbs and I think this is also when people might say okay it acts more like a verb because if we're talking about questions used to it refers to the past so with questions you're going to use did and if you're going to make a negative statement then you're going to use did not so if we're going to use it uh as a question I could ask you did you use to study English and if I want to say a negative statement then I could say well I didn't used to have hair like this um and that's because I used to shave my head but more importantly than my shaved head is that you now see that used to has changed the spelling has changed to used to and this is what I want you to remember if we're talking about questions and negative statements you are going to use used to and you're going to spell it us I told you that the only distinction is in writing because well the pronunciation is the same whether you're saying used to or used to it's the same pronunciation the D and the T they blend together to create one sound so yeah the pronunciation it's really the same nobody's going to know if if you end up making a mistake because you're still just going to say used to or used to and now that you have a perfect understanding of used to being used as a modal verb SL verb let's now talk about used to being used as an adjective so the the first thing that I want to tell you is the meaning I told you that the meaning is different and what this means is that well it's referring to something that you are familiar with or that you are accustomed to and it often follows the verb to be so I could say well I am used to hot weather all right I'm just it's just something that I'm used to I'm not used to cold weather it's just something I'm not that familiar with and in this case because because used to is an adjective it's not going to change whether we're talking about questions or negative statements you are always going to spell used to like this used d uh another thing that I want to tell you about used to as an adjective just giving you another example I do not think any of us were used to staying inside for so long during the pandemic and I think that's true I think we can all relate to that sentence and the thing the thing that I want to point out with this sentence is that you you may often follow used to with a Jaren and you're used to doing something like I'm used to taking the bus in the morning or I'm not used to working late but even though we were not used to staying inside during the pandemic we had to get used to it and I just gave you an example right there of it being used with another verb that is not the verb to be and that I think is also it's a common usage to get used to doing something or even people using it as an imperative statement giving a command and you're telling somebody get used to it but just remember used to as an adjective has a different meaning than used to as a modal verb or verb that's the one thing that I really want you to remember from this lesson and I yes it's confusing but I think over time the more you listen the more you practice you're just going to get used to it I just went into great detail about the differences between used to and used to and the fact that these phrases are pronounced the same is another reason why they are confusing they're homonyms and I want to follow up on that right now and have a look at more homonyms words that are pronounced the same this vocabulary is especially confusing when it comes to spoken English you really just need to put the words into context text now I'm sure that you're probably familiar with many of them but I do think this is important for your pronunciation as well as just understanding that there may be another word with a different meaning that has the same pronunciation so let's begin listen carefully there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't if you are confused right now then that is because of homonyms and I promise that that by the end of this lesson you will not be confused anymore so let's talk about homonyms like these two words right here flower and flower so homonyms are words that that are pronounced the same or maybe they're spelled the same as another word but they have a different meaning and flower and flower you can hear that they are pronounced the same but you can see that they are not spelled the same and they do not have the same meaning all of the words that I'm going to teach you in this lesson are like this to be exact they are called homophones but homophones th those are a type of homonym I'm also giving you the phonetic spelling and the IPA so that you can actually see the pronunciation I think that'll make it a little bit easier for you and I'll tell you the different meanings as well and if we're talking about this flower well then that is one that you might find in a garden or in a park it has a very pleasant smell and this other flower well that is referring to the Fine powder that that you might use for cooking like if you're baking a cake then we have these two words right here addition and addition all right good words to know so the words have have three syllables and that first and third syllable you can hear that schah sound that uh sound the T N is pronounced as shun and the syllable stress comes before it on the second syllable addition if we're talking about this addition well then we're referring to adding numbers together like in math and this other addition would be talking about like a book or a newspaper or a magazine being published and and there might be different additions then we have click and click so this verse click I think is is more common it's the verb to click to click on something think about a computer you might uh click on a link I hope all of you click on that like button and and show me a little bit of love the next click that QE it does it has that k sound but it's referring to a a small exclusive group of people and what what I would say is maybe think about like high school that's how I think it's commonly used talking about young people they have their exclusive group of friends and you might refer to it as a click I don't think this word is often used to reference or talk about adults then we have these two homonyms right here patience and patience these words have two syllables the the stress is on that first syllable and notice both words they have that t i e which is pronounced sh with that schah sound patience and in this word patience the t is going to be silent and this refers to well a person who is under medical care or getting some type of medical treatment and this patience refers to the ability to wait and not be annoyed by something especially if there is a delay and you could say somebody has patience moose and and you guessed it moose all right these words are homonyms and you you may be familiar with uh this moose that large mammal that's part of the deer family and this other moose is talking about that that creamy and foamy dessert and it's actually a French word because the dessert it comes from France and in French it means like like froth or Foy which is what gives it its second meaning in English because you could talk about moose referring to a foamy substance that somebody could use for for styling their hair like right now um I actually I did not use any moose I did use a little bit of gel but but not moose the next set of homonyms metal and metal so both of these words it's going to end with that dark L that L you're not going to release it at the end but but these words are homonyms in in American English most because if we're talking about that t in metal it's going to be a flap T which is going to sound more like a soft D sound and the reason that we're going to use a flap T is because it comes between two vowel sounds so um I'm from the United States so I would pronounce it as metal which then means it's also it's a homonym with the verb to metal so metal the noun which is the one with the t is talking about an element like like gold or silver that is gener hard and strong and metal the verb to metal it means that you are getting involved in a situation in which um well you have not been asked to be involved and to share your opinion and you could hear somebody talk about meddling in somebody else's business or meddling in someone else's personal affairs to meddle then we have horse and horse so this horse very well known uh the animal that people can ride around on I don't know if you have ever ridden on a horse but this next horse I it's a good this is a good word hopefully you're building your vocabulary it allows you to be a little more specific because it's talking about this the sound of a person's voice so if somebody sounds horse it means that that their voice sounds a bit rough possibly because they have a cold so you could hear somebody inquire and say your voice it sounds a little horar do you have a cold are you feeling okay then we have principle and principle these two words I think are commonly confused so hopefully we'll we'll clear this up right now of course both words sound the same so they have three syllables the stress is on the first syllable that second and third syllable you'll hear that schwa sound principle principle so these words are confusing because they have multiple meanings and I think this is especially important in your writing because of course you you want to make sure that you are using the correct one so if we're talking about this Principle as a noun it refers to a person who is the leader of a school a school has a principle if we're going to use this word as an adjective well then it just means that something that is very important I could talk about the principal reason for for doing something if we're talking about this Principle as a noun it could refer to like a basis of conduct and you say that someone has principles or it could be used to refer to like um uh a set of rules that that explain how we should do something or or what's happening that you want to follow these principles then we have Gorilla and gorilla these words have three syllables that that first and third syllable you'll hear that schwas sound and the stress is on the second syllable gorilla gorilla and this gorilla refers to that that giant ape perhaps you have seen a gorilla at the zoo and this other gorilla it's a noun it's talking about a like a member of an unofficial military group and the the group of people together you would say they are gorillas the next set of homonyms core and core and I'm sure that one word you're thinking what wait a second that sounds nothing like the way it's spelled well the reason for that it's it's like you have that that pns you don't even hear it the other thing I would say about this word is that it is singular you see that S I think people might think that it is a plural noun but it's singular so let me let me explain why this is pronounced core so the origin of this word it comes from Latin Corpus which means body now this word was borrowed from French as well as the pronunciation core which is why you don't hear the p and the S so if we're talking about the this core it refers to the central part of something like the Earth's core and this core refers to a a milit AR organization kind of like that that body that organization that body the Army Core then we have sweet and Sweet I'm sure you may like this one word like I do sweet it it is talking about a flavor something that's sugary I really enjoy foods that are sweet and this other sweet that sui it is pronounced like sweet sweet and that is because it's another word that's been borrowed from French and it refers to uh a set of connected rooms like um that you might find at a hotel a hotel suite then we have these three words C's C's and C's okay you have that long e and it ends with that z sound so sees well this is just talking about like the ocean this sees the verb uh to look at something and really talking about it in the third person like he sees or she sees and then this other ver to seize something means to grab a hold of it suddenly okay so now that you have a a much better understanding of homonyms let's go back to that riddle I told you at the beginning of the lesson there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't think about which word is a homonym there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens okay the word eight eight is a homonym we could be talking about well the number eight or the verb to eat in the past tense which is eight and that that was the word I was saying all along there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't the answer of course is 10 I I know you're probably thinking well wait a second cows don't eat chickens of course they don't it's just a riddle but it's it's a fun little way to to introduce and talk about homonyms let's now turn our attention back to grammar because often when I hear people make speaking mistakes it's because of prepositions and some very common and confusing prepositions are in on at so let's have a look at when to use and how to use these useful prepositions when it comes to talking about place and once you understand this there will be no more confusion which preposition should we we use to complete this sentence in on or at actually you could use any of them all of them are correct it really just depends on the context and that's what I want to do in today's lesson I want to break it down for you so that you easily understand how to use each of these prepositions when talking about place and I'm also going to give you a little bit of a mini quiz at the end to see how much you've learned so let's begin with in and when you're thinking about in think about an enclosed space that you are surrounded on all sides and I want to give you some more General ideas as to when you would use this preposition so you will use in to talk about locations within a larger area how many people live in this town you'll use in with a car taxi or van if I were to say hey we're waiting in the car it's used to talk about workplaces or Industries if someone asks where do you work I work in human resources or I work in fashion and if if if you've seen many of my video lessons you you know I absolutely do not work in fashion it's my yeah my fashion is pretty bad you would use in with water let's all get in the pool or the expression there's plenty of fish in the sea so again we're talking about the sea we're talking about water and you would use this expression to say that well if somebody's single and they're looking to have a relationship and find a partner you're saying this to to encourage them to keep looking that there's somebody out there for them don't give up hope there's plenty of fish in the SE we use this preposition with class I'm having trouble paying attention in class I'm enclosed in this space and we also use it with printed materials if you don't know the meaning of a word can look it up in the dictionary and you can think about it that well that word it's surrounded by other pages so it's in the dictionary so just keep these in mind when you're thinking about in and now let's talk about on and when you will use this preposition and when it comes to on I want you to think about a a surface that something is attached to or touching something else so we use on to refer to the position of something on any surface your coffee is on the table I found some money on the sidewalk it's used to talk about a floor in a building I work on the seventh floor it also describes the position along a road or river or or by the sea or a lake I could say the car is on the road the boat is on the river again it's on that surface or or I could even say I grew up on the East Coast so I'm talking about the coast where I grew up on that surface and I would say on the East Coast so when you're talking about the coast East West use on now the next few are technically not on the surface but I I still want you to use on so we're going to use it when talking about being on public transit like a bus or a plane I'm on a bus heading downtown or I'm on a plane to Chicago and I I know this can be a little tricky because we use in with a car like you're you're surrounded you're enclosed so one way to think about it is that you're going to use in with with smaller vehicles and you'll use on with larger modes of transportation but again there's always exceptions because you're still going to use on with a bike or motorcycle on a bike or on a motorcycle we use the preposition on with left or right my house is on the left oh no no no sorry it's on the right and we'll use this preposition with media as well did you see the new show on Netflix or you may be watching this lesson on YouTube so just just keep all of this in mind when it comes to using on so now let's talk about at and when to use this preposition and and when you think about at I want you to think of a point a specific location or position so of course we're going to use at when we're referring to the position or location as a point I I could say there's a package at the front door we use it to refer to an address I live at 44 Main Street and and this can be a little confusing because if we're just talking about the street then we'll use on I live on Main Street on that surface but if I give the specific location 44 Main Street well now we're talking about a point so we're going to use at we use this preposition to refer to most shops or public places and and in this case I want you to think about a larger point so I I could say I'm shopping at the mall and you would use at even if you are in the mall because if somebody were to ask you like hey where are you they're they're typically asking about your location so that's why you would use at and say I'm shopping at the mall we use it to refer to group activities I could ask you how many people were at your party we also use it with school or university I studied at a topnotch university and that's not really true I studied at a party school but you get the point with either of those we're going to use at and we use this preposition with work or home I could really say that right now I'm working at home so this should give you a better idea as to when you would use at now let's go back to our original sentence and I told you that all three prepositions are correct it it really just depends on the context so if I say I'm in the lake well that just means that I'm physically in the water I'm surrounded by the water if I were to say I'm on the lake well now I'm talking about the surface so it it really implies that I'm probably on a boat and I'm out on the water and I'm on on the lake and if I were to say I'm at the lake well now I'm talking about a specific location even though it's a larger area if somebody were to ask where are you then I would say I'm at the lake because we're talking about location and right now I want to test your knowledge I have a little mini quiz for you I'm going to give you a sentence and I want you to think well which preposition best completes it in on or at I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I'll tell you the answer so so your first sentence is I found a mistake the first page which preposition would you use the answer is on so in this case we're talking about the surface of the page on the first page I found a mistake on the first page so so just keep this in mind if we're talking about a page we're going to use on and that is a little tricky because remember we're going to use in when talking about printed materials like a book so something is on a page but in a book here's your next sentence she felt proud the end of her month-long Journey what do you think the correct answer is at she felt proud at the end of her month-long Journey because we're talking about that that point that location she's at the end of her journey and these are really common phrases with at if we're talking about well at the beginning of something or at the end of something then there's this sentence there are no public toilets the city center the correct answer is in there are no public toilets in the city center we're going to use in because we're talking about a location within a larger area here's a question for you do you have anything your pockets I I think you know this the correct answer is in do you have anything in your pockets we're talking about an enclosed area here's another one we wanted to sit the front of the plane I'm trying to trick you a little bit but the the correct answer is at we wanted to sit at the front of the plane I I told you that with public transit you're going to use on on a plane but in this case we're talking about a specific location on a plane so in that case we're going to use at at the front of the plane how about this one please refer to the graph the slide the correct answer is on please refer to the graph on the slide so once again we're talking about the surface of something on a page on a slide so how'd you do on the quiz I I want you to be honest let me know down in the comments because I just love hearing from you it's always good to get a little grammar and cover a variety of topics because there are many reasons why someone may find English confusing throughout the lesson we've talked about vocabulary grammar pronunciation with those homonyms and I want to go back to vocabulary and do another Deep dive and really have a look at the differences between some very common verbs ones that you should know and I'm sure you use them all the time I'm talking about the verbs say and tell I'm going to tell you a secret well it's not really a secret but you should listen carefully to what I'm about to say because I'm going to tell you the difference between these two words and these two words confuse English Learners mostly because their meaning is pretty similar so let's get right to it first let's look at the verb say now we use this verb when we want to say something to someone now we don't necessarily have to identify the person or people that we are saying something to but we're just saying something in general and that something might be general information the weather report says it's going to rain today in this example the weather report is saying something we don't really know specifically who they're saying it to but they're just saying it in general another example is that you might be saying your opinion about something the kids said West teacher is crazy or perhaps you're reading what the instructions say instructions say if we finish the game it'll all go away so in each of these examples we were saying something to someone now this is different from the verb tell which is when we tell someone something in this case we usually identify the person or people that we are talking to which is why tell is often followed by a direct object take a look at these examples Yana told Wes to take out the garbage in this example Yana is telling Wes me she's telling me something she's telling me to take out the garbage wh can you please take out the trash yeah yeah I'll do it we tell our students to join our social media classes this of course is something that we tell you all the time we tell you to join our social media classes so join them here are a few more examples using tell and keep in mind the object that follows the verb she told me to sit in this chair the teacher tells us to do our homework my mom told me to take a bath I told you not to wake me up now keep in mind that there are a few exceptions when it comes to using tell I I know English and all the exceptions it it sucks but you don't always have to tell someone sometimes you can just tell something for example you can tell a secret you can tell a lie you can tell the truth you can tell a joke and you can also tell a story these are several exceptions when it comes to using tell and you just have to memorize them use them and you will eventually remember them I'm telling you the truth okay let's practice what we've learned and this is a listening comprehension activity I am going to tell you a sentence and that sentence is missing a word which is either say or tell after listening to each sentence I want you to say your answers out loud you'll be saying this to me and I'm going to be listening I'll give you a moment to say your answer and then after I will tell you the correct answer so let's begin I don't want you to any more lies I don't want you to any more lies the answer is tell this is one of those exceptions you tell a lie I don't want you to tell any more lies I I can't hear you can you please say your answer again I want you to your answer I can't hear you could you please your answer again I want you to your answer the answer is say because I want you to say something which is the answer I want you to say your answer out loud that was so rude I I can't believe he didn't hello that was so rude I can't believe he didn't hello the answer is say because we were talking about something that the person didn't say I can't believe he didn't say hello um I can't remember what what did you me I should do um I I can't remember what did you me I should do the answer is tell because we're talking about telling someone something what did you tell me I should do perhaps it's a little easy when I do the activity now let's see if you can listen for these words when other people say them be careful what you be careful what you be careful what you say now tell the truth now the truth now tell the truth just the first thing that pops into your mind just say the first thing that pops into your mind just say the first thing that pops into your mind don't his name don't is name don't say his name what what and what did you tell her something I'm giving up you say something I know that we have covered a lot this past hour and I hope that I have cleared up some confusion if if I have succeeded you can let me know know by hitting that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 537. SUPER CONFUSING WORDS | Learn slight nuances to improve your vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VL_062B-Oug` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL_062B-Oug) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:10:38 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. I have a vocabulary lesson for you in which we are going to talk about some confusing words and what I want to do is look at these different word sets, talk about what they mean and learn some of the slight nuances between them so that you have a clearer understanding as to when you could use these words. And all of this is really just going to help you build your vocabulary. Now, I really I want to say that if you would like a copy of the lesson notes, these slides that I have right here next to me, click on the link down in the description. You can join our email community, if you want to access them. If you are already a part of our community, then check your email. I'll send them to I've already sent them to you. As well as if you're a member, Patreon, I I will post them for you as well. So, this is interactive English. I want you to participate in these lessons. So, I'm going to start out with a question. This is just a fill in the blank. Which word do you think best completes the sentence? So, we're going to start out with these two words right here, persuade, convince, and thinking about the difference between these two words. Which word would you use to complete this sentence right here? He m that it was a bad idea. And that that looks painful. That cat is getting ready to take a bite out of that cactus. So, what do you think? He m me that this was a bad idea. Persuade. Convince. They're both verbs and sometimes they can be a little confusing. There is a slight difference between the two of them. Excellent. As we go through, I'll give some shout outs. Great job. Uh, Lai, Kareem, uh, Tyle, Vidya, Fernando, the the answer is convince. So, in this case, he convinced me that this was a bad idea. And if you're wondering why, why not persuade instead of convince? Because in a situation like this, it's really like changing your mind. Think about the mind. So let's look at these two words persuade versus convince. So one difference would be persuade is more closely associated with an action and convince is more associated with your mind and and changing your mind in some way. This is information that I've gotten uh from Encyclopedia Britannica. I' I've included the source down there and the meaning. Okay, as you can see, it starts out usually because sometimes these words are interchangeable and and that's okay. They're not uh always going to be used specific in specific situations, but sometimes it's better to use one word over the other. So, persuade is usually to cause someone to do something by asking, arguing, or giving reasons. So the example I gave you, she persuaded me to give her a ride home from work and she's giving reasons and persuading someone to take this action to give her a ride. Convince, on the other hand, again starting with usually usually to cause someone to believe that something is true. Again, changing their mind. The lawyer convinced the jury of his innocence. Now, in both of these sentences, I would say that each of these words is probably the best word to complete the sentence. I could say, "Yeah, she convinced me to give her a ride home from work." Again, you may use them interchangeably, but in this situation, because we're talking about an action, I I would go with persuade. But I would say that often pers convince is more interchangeable with persuade. So most of the time instead of using persuade people may use convinced in convince instead and not the other way around. And to demonstrate this you can check out engram viewer and this is a great way to compare different words and phrases and you could see which is more common. And as you can see convince is a word that you're more likely to hear and use than the word persuade. The next set that I have for you right here. Okay, fast versus quick. Okay, [laughter and gasps] we have a long drive. In an hour, we'll stop for a m snack and then keep going. And I would say with this sentence, there is definitely one word that I think is much more appropriate than the other one. So, how would you complete this sentence? would you use fast or quick? And I think with some of these, you're probably going to be able to to answer them, which is good. Again, this is all about practice. But as always, I hope I'm just going to give you a little information and you'll learn something new. So, we have uh a long drive. In an hour, we'll stop for a quick snack and then keep going. Nice. Uh, Rafella, Lai, Jonatel, Talal, uh, Bianca, Fernando, uh, Yao, Ammani, excellent. Good to see you. Uh, I'll try to keep giving different shoutouts. I think you guys knew that one. Now, my question would be, well, why why is it more appropriate to use quick instead of fast? So let's talk about the difference because both fast and quick they are adjectives or they could also be adverbs as well. So the part of speech is similar. Both of them refer to moving with great speed, but once again there's a subtle difference. And this I've taken from Cambridge University Press down here. We're starting out the meaning with usually because again sometimes they may be interchangeable. When talking about fast, it usually refers to things that happen or go at high speed. So, train, a car, a person running. That example sentence, he is fast. I'm talking about the speed that he's moving. Quick usually refers to something happening in a short time. That was the example that we just looked at. We're going to stop for a quick snack. In this case, we're talking about time, but it could also mean occurring with rapidity. And this one, I think occurring with rapidity may get inter maybe interchangeable with fast, but also it it's slightly different. It's slightly different. Look at the picture there of the basketball player and I said he is quick. Now, I could say a basketball player is fast and they're moving at a high speed. But in this context, I'm talking about more of a sudden fast movement and it's occurring with rapidity. It's sudden. They'll move over here and then move over here and say, "Wow, this person is quick." So, there's a difference between somebody's fast and they're moving at a high speed or saying they're quick and it's like that sudden movement. To give you another, I guess, example, maybe a weird one would be let's say you're you're trying to catch an animal and uh we'll say like a baby pig, okay? A little small pig. [snorts] And in general, you are faster than the pig. If you're running in a straight line, maybe you are faster. But if you're trying to catch this pig and it's gonna move here and move over here and move over here and you could say, "Wow, that pig is really quick." So again, there's a small difference between quick and fast in that regard when talking about occurring in rapidity, that sudden movement or just that speed. Fast versus quick. Hopefully that makes sense even with my weird example with the pig. And we have these two words right here. Again, I want you to choose which word best completes the sentence. We're talking about emiable versus amicable. My friends broke up, but there was an MN to the relationship. And with this one, there's there's definitely one word that you would want to use. My friends broke up, but there was an MN to the relationship. Would you use emiable or amicable? Both of these words are they're not the most common words and I think sometimes they're confused because of the the spelling in general as well as the meaning and we'll talk about that. But the correct answer, great job. Uh, let's see. Teaya, Lai, Rafella. Yes, Vidya, Kareem. We're talking about amicable. My friends broke up, but there was an amicable end to the relationship. So, these two words I got this information. This was provided by Grammarly down there. Amiable, amicable. The first thing that I want to mention is the difference in pronunciation. Both words have four syllables. The stress is on the first syllable but that beginning vowel sound is different. So we have emiable or amicable. So the difference is that e and e vowel sound. Emiable amicable. The meaning is friendly and pleasant. So the meaning is similar but the main difference would be amiable is used to describe a person and saying well this person uh you know he's really friendly she's really friendly she is emiable. Amicable is going to describe a situation such as ending a relationship. That's a situation. So we're going to use amicable to give you some more context. I've given you some well news headlines. It's a great way to just quickly see how some of these words are used in context. It gives you a better feel for usage and meaning. If you can't see them, it's it's okay. I'll I'll read them. I'm having trouble reading them right now. But looking at the ones that with emiable, it says an was emiable with Harry at the coronation as it wasn't the place to discuss royal rift. It's talking about uh you know the the royals and you said and was emiable. The next one Noel Coward was just an emiable jester but a scathing social satist um satirist. And the final one inepth AI and creativity strange bedfellows or emiable allies when referring to those two things AI and creativity are they emiable allies? Now the headlines with amicable again we're talking about a situation avoil Lavine and Taigga are still friends after mutual amicable split says source again relationship Chelsea reject Chelsea reject uh sorry wait third mount okay Chelsea reject third mount bid as uh counter offer hopes to help Man United reach amicable solution a situ situation, a solution. And then that final one, EXO and SM, contract dispute ends in amicable settlement. So those are hopefully some useful collocations talking about an amicable uh end to a relationship, an amicable split or an amicable solution or an amicable settlement. So oh, seeing some hearts in the chat. That's cool. I've never [laughter] I've never seen that before. Uh maybe that's something new. Excellent. Thank you. Then I want to look at these two words right here. Eavesdrop and over here. Which word would you use to complete this sentence? I m [clears throat] a funny conversation on the bus this morning. You're riding the bus. Sometimes people are talking loudly and you could say this situation I a funny conversation on the bus this morning. Are you going to use eavesdrop or over here? You guys are rocking uh rocking these as well. Excellent. So in this context, you're riding the bus, you're in close proximity with others, you really have no choice sometimes if a person is speaking loudly. And in that case, you would say, "I overheard a funny conversation on the bus this morning." Great job, Jessica, Joanna, Rafella, Lilly, um, Manuel, Julia. The difference would be really eavesdrop is intentional over here is unintentional. So thinking about riding the bus, you could eaves drop if it's really intentional. Of course, that situation may occur, but in general, I think often if somebody's speaking loudly and you're in a um enclosed environment, you would then overhear someone. you're not really trying to listen to it or maybe you're not really interested in what they're saying, but you would overhear this person. So, eavesdrop, it's intentional to listen to someone's private conversation without them knowing. And you may often follow this verb with the preposition on, to eavesdrop on someone or to eavesdrop on a conversation. And that picture hopefully it it makes a little more sense. Again, that person is putting that up there. They're intentionally trying to listen to someone's conversation. When you overhear, it's you hear what other people are saying without intending to or without their knowledge. So, you overhear somebody talking. I don't know if you can see that picture, but someone is in the room. These other people are outside. They're talking, and the person in the room overhears the conversation. And yes, I hear I mi intentional. That is a typo. Misspelling. Uh you could see unintentional. I missed that O in there. Uh but it it should be intentional. Thank you. Good. Good eye. Good eye. Uh Milo. Then we have uh two words that I think you know the difference especially if you see a sentence. But often what I what what happens is when people are in a conversation and they're talking about this I I hear people misuse these words sometimes borrow versus lend. So I'm giving you this question. Could you please m me a piece of paper? Which word are you going to use? Are you going to use borrow or lend? And when it comes to improving your speaking fluency and just using the right word th this is what helps this just practice seeing the sentence the situation choosing the right answer and then you start to internalize that because again mostly I hear mistakes in a conversation. Could you please m me a piece of paper? The answer lend. Excellent. Uh Lai Takayo um Vija, Julia, Sami, Jessica, Kareem, lend. So I want to ask Rafella. So does eavesdrop have a negative meaning? Yeah, I would say if we're talking about a connotation, eavesdrop in generally it's probably not a good thing. you're you're listening on, you know, it could be an invasion of privacy. So, I feel like often eavesdrop may have a little bit of a negative connotation if you're eavesdropping on someone. So, that is definitely more negative than just overhearing in which case it's unintentional. Good, good question. Then, so the way that I would say to think about borrow and lend is simple. Borrow your taking. Lend you're giving. And to be more specific, I took again this is from Encyclopedia Bratannica. Borrow you. You get or receive something from someone with the intention of giving it back. So you're taking something, you're getting it, you're borrowing it. Last week I borrowed her car. Now lend on the other hand is when you give something to someone for a short period of time and you expect to get it back. And I took that quote from Shakespeare. Believe it's from uh Julius Caesar. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. A famous line uh Shakespearean line. So hopefully again that makes sense. Borrow, lend. I think most of the time I hear small mistakes in just conversation in spoken English. The next one is right here. Revenge versus vengeance. How which one would you use to complete this sentence? You can see the Joker. Um Heath Ledger did an amazing acting job uh as the Joker. You may have foiled my plan, Batman, but I will get my what am I going to get my revenge or am I going to get my vengeance? The words have somewhat of a a similar meaning, but I would say they're, you know, definitely distinct and different. And one is certainly more commonly used than the other. You may have foiled my plan, Batman, but I will get my revenge. So, you're going to get your revenge. Excellent. Uh, nice Fernando. Um, Talal Lai Rafella. Good, good, good. Ymani Steve. So, think of it this way. Revenge, it's more personal and it's harm done to someone as punishment for harm that they have done to someone else. So, one distinction I would make is if you are a good guy and somebody harms you, you want to get revenge. Okay? If you're a bad guy and you're you feel like you're harmed, you could also get revenge like this. The Joker is a bad guy, but Joker could also still get revenge and they want to harm the other person. vengeance. Think about righteousness. And this one I took from gosh, I can't even see the source down there that I was using. It's from where is it? It's just from this uh like the talking about like like a wiki difference page, the difference between um a descriptive analysis and comparisons. But vengeance, think of righteousness, the punishment of someone for harming you or your friends or family or you're wishing for such punishment to happen. Generally, I would think somebody who is the protagonist, the the good guy would uh you know want vengeance and you have that it's more righteous. If you're talking about like the bad guy, in that case it would be revenge because it's not really the punishment that they would be wanting it. It you wouldn't really use vengeance in that context. I wanted to include some collocations down here. Some of them are used with both, but you could get revenge and you may follow that with on get revenge uh on someone or get revenge for something. You could exact revenge or plot revenge or plan revenge. And some then some common collocations with vengeance, take vengeance. You could exact vengeance. Both of those uh you can use exact with both either word. You could swear vengeance on someone. Or that idiom, it's not a verb noun collocation. It's an idiom with a vengeance. And if you do something with a vengeance, you do it with a lot of uh a lot of energy and force with a vengeance. I mentioned already and this is just to reinforce that point that I was making at the beginning. One of these words is definitely more commonly used. You are probably going to use or hear the word revenge more often than you would come across the word vengeance. and you're getting revenge as opposed to swearing vengeance. The next set that I have for you is imply versus infer. These are commonly confused and I'm not sure why the the spelling's different, the meanings are are different, but again these are just words that are commonly confused even uh among native speakers. I've hear people confuse these words. I had this uh these are again news headlines and I've just blanked out the the word. So this is from uh it says report Africa relations with China, Russia do not support for new world order. Which word would complete that headline? Africa relations with China, Russia do not support for new world order. Are you going to use imply or infer to complete that headline? So I think good job. Excellent. The the answer is imply Africa relations with China, Russia do not imply support for new world order. Excellent. Uh Juliet Takaya Jessica Rafella. Good. We're talking about two different meanings. So when you imply, you state something. When you infer, you conclude something. So, we're talking about implying to, again, this is this is from Grammarly, to suggest or say something in an indirect way. So, you're suggesting it. You're stating something, but not directly. You're implying it. She implied that I again, I'm missing a verb there. I apologize. I go through these lessons like three times and I still the like typos and some misspellings and in this case I'm missing the verb to be. She implied that I am not very attractive. She implied that I'm not very attractive. Didn't state it directly but just implied it. When we conclude when we infer, we conclude something. You're coming to a conclusion based on the information you have. So continuing that from that previous sentence, I I then concluded I inferred that she was not interested in a relationship. So she implied that I'm not very attractive. So I inferred that she's not interested in a relationship. And that was the conclusion that uh I came to. So I have another one. Let's keep going. Hopefully that makes sense. And these I think are useful words, but again I hear I've heard even native speakers misuse these words from time to time. Now we have um a couple of homonyms. Compliment versus compliment sound the same. The only difference is the spelling as well. Well well not the only difference the difference is the spelling and the meaning. The meaning is different. She added photographs to the text. Of course, you know the answer is compliment because they're homonyms. But which one are you going to use? Are you going to use compliment with an I or compliment with an E? And this one, because they're homonyms, this is probably this is more for your writing to make sure that you know the difference between these two words because if you're having a conversation, you say compliment, either one would work in that case. But if you're writing, spelling then becomes important. You want to make sure you're using the right word. The answer I said is compliment, but we're talking about compliment with an e. Very nice. Well done, Taka, Lai, Fernando, uh, Daud Bag, Julia, trying to give some new shout outs. Uh, Sami, Yamamani, excellent, Gordon. So, the difference, a compliment with an I is a remark that expresses approval, admiration. He gave me a wonderful compliment on my outfit. And they said, "Wow, that looks really nice. I I love that shirt. Those are really nice shoes that you have. And giving you a compliment. Compliment with an e refers to something that completes something else. So you might have two things that really they go well together and it just makes it much better. And I gave you a sentence that is distinctly American. Peanut butter and jelly complement each other perfectly. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich very common in the United States states among children. [snorts] This uh information was from uh Miriam Webster. But just keep in mind homonym different spelling different meaning and uh it's it's important to know especially when it comes to writing. The next one, deny versus refuse. This one can be a little tricky. There may be trying to think of some instances in which they may be interchangeable. I feel like once again there's probably a more appropriate word that you would use. But let's just look at the sentence. My request for more vacation time was which which of these words would you use to complete this sentence? My request for more vacation time was What do you think? [laughter] I'm laughing because I think this is the this is maybe I I got you. You guys have been rocking this the whole time. This is the first one. Maybe it it um tripped you up a little bit and the again this is this is confusing. So in this situation my request for more vacation time it's the context of work. It's either going to be uh allowed or no. So in this case I would say it's denied. You're not allowing it. My request for more vacation time was denied. So, let's talk about why. Uh, good job. Uh, let's see. Who is it? Raphael. Um, Raphaela. Raphaela. Pilo. Um, there's some, but I think again this is good. Um, Pink Lorenzo. Let me go ahead and move over here. So, denied and refuse. So, deny is to say something is not true, right? you're you're denying some maybe like a fact or you're not allowing someone to have or do something which uh is what we just talked about. You request something and look, nope, that request is denied and you say no. Refuse is when you say that you will not accept or you won't accept something. One way to think about this would be I I didn't put them on the slide because I thought it might be a little more confusing is to think about their antonyms. So if you deny something, the opposite of that would be to um admit or allow. And you are admitting yes, something is true or you're allowing someone to do something. The opposite of refuse would be to accept. So sometimes they could be a little confusing depending on the situation. If you're talking about um I I understand why many of people would put refuse like my my request was refused and that's why it wanted to include some more common collocations with these words. So often if we're talking about some type of request, the answer is like yes or no, it's going to be okay. It's either um allowed or it's denied. So you might deny a request, you could deny an application, you could deny the facts, deny the allegations, or deny a rumor and you're saying it's not true. If we're talking about refuse, you might refuse an offer, refuse help, refuse treatment, refuse, you could follow it with to refuse to believe something or even refuse to pay. So those are some common collocations uh with this word. But deny or refuse. Once again, I would say sometimes they may be used interchangeably, but there is that slight little difference between the two of them. And then we have say versus tell. And I've given you two blanks for for this one. Okay. She m me not to anything. What do you think? Which Uh you're going to put one word in each of those blanks. She m me not to m anything. And then we'll talk about the difference and talk about why because I think when you see it, this is similar to what I was saying with borrow and lend. I think when you see something in writing and I give you like a fill-in- thelank, it's okay. I I I get that. But sometimes when somebody's having a conversation, I may hear somebody say, "Use tell instead of say or vice versa." So, good job. I think you guys rock this one. She told me not to say anything. So, to say, think of this, you would say something, but you would tell something to someone. And that's really how we're going to use it. So when you're saying something, you're expressing a thought, opinion, suggestion, stating a fact. She said that she doesn't drink coffee. Okay? I'm just making I'm just saying that this was a statement. She said something. Now, when you're telling again, you it it involves like another person to say something to someone often giving them information or instructions. So looking at that, taking that same sentence and we're just changing it around using tell. She told me that she doesn't drink coffee. So that's really the distinction. You would say something, but you would tell something to someone or you could switch it around. You could tell someone something. But when you're talking about tell there that that that other that person is involved in that and once again this was taken from encyclopedia bratannica. So this is I I went over 20 words right here. Again if you want the lesson notes um check out that link down in the description. If you're part of the community I'll send them to you as well as patrons uh members. I'll put them up there. But the these are the words from today that we just looked at. I think some are more common than others and you probably know and use many of them already, but it's really just trying to fine-tune your vocabulary and understanding maybe some of these slight nuances when it comes to the English language. So, if you enjoyed the lesson, if you learned something new, I'd appreciate love seeing those hearts. Hit that like button. It let me It lets me know that, okay, this information is useful. Maybe in the future I I can do another lesson on confusing words because there are many of them. English has so many different vocabulary words, many with the same meaning, but the usage might be a little different and that's when those slight nuances come into play. But I want to say thank you for joining me, Vicky Gustav. It's good to see you. Thanks for being here. Lai, good to see you. Takaya, um, trying to get to like our members, patrons. Uh, Raphaela, uh, Yao Ammani, thanks for being here. Fernando, Ursula, Tanvi, uh, Takayo, I don't know, maybe I already said your name, but anyway, good. Thanks for joining. I hope that you all have a wonderful rest of the day and of course I will be back in the near future with another lesson to help you continue Uh in --- ## 538. SUPER IMPORTANT EXPRESSIONS | Clichรฉs in Spoken English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `k300AKXetyY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k300AKXetyY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:02:25 | --- vocabulary that you need to know and the reason why I say that is because I I want to teach you different cliches in English and the Very fact that we're talking about cliches means that the these expressions are often used which is why I said they're important to know you'll hear them in just casual conversation and again you can even use them depending on the situation that you're in and I have quite a few that I want to go over so I said that the very fact that talking about cliches means that this vocabulary is commonly used so what is a cliche in case you're unfamiliar with it it is a phrase remark or opinion that has very often been expressed before and is therefore not original or not interesting now generally when people think of cliche maybe they have a negative association because they oh it's not very creative but like I said this is all about building your vocabulary teaching you different words and phrases that you are likely to come across and that's why I think cliches are important and by the way if you want to get these lesson notes you can click on the link Down Below in the description join my email community and you can access the lesson notes if you're already a part of the community then I have sent them to you so this is a quiz lesson I want to I want you to participate and let's see how much you already know when it it comes to these different cliches to begin with I'm giving you the context in which it's used down below so this cliche is used to justify delays or tardiness and you could say this statement I've blanked out most of it but I've given you the word never that is the last and final word of this cliche so so there's some situation I'm late or tardy and I just want to justify it and I could use this expression which is one that I imagine once you you hear it you'll okay yes I I've heard that before so the cliche that I'm talking about excellent see some great answers better late than never so as an example if I were to say sorry I submitted my report right after the deadline but better late than never so you did not do something on time and it's like you're trying to may say well this is actually a positive because it's better than never getting something at all or never doing something better late than never so this is a fun expression that you can definitely use I feel like often I am late to do something I don't do something on time and I you know better late than never all right excellent um great uh great response I'll try and give some shoutouts as we go through this now I I wanted to uh share I'm going to share some memes and quotes just to kind of mix it up to give you some more context but I thought this was just funny when I saw it this plane you know crashed and he's hey he's he's ejecting uh at the last minute and yeah better late than never uh it's it's true it's true um what do you think about this one uh I I think this is one that I you could probably go out and use this cliche tomorrow and this would be used when you want to say that well someone is in a bad mood and you're basically commenting that this person is in a bad mood now you you could say it directly to that person or maybe you make a comment to someone else saying oh you know look this this person's really in a bad mood I'm giving you three words which are part of the cliche this is a sentence again that you will often hear and I feel once I show you be like oh yes I I've heard this before on the wrong how would you complete this sentence so if I am in a bad mood and you uh you know want to acknowledge that and comment about it what would you say so all right all right excellent so not we're not talking about the like getting off on the wrong foot uh because if you get off on the wrong foot that means kind of like okay you didn't you know get along really well at the beginning if you just want to say someone's in a bad mood and I'm giving you these pictures to kind of give you a little bit of a hint to wake up on the wrong side of the bed now the sentence that I wrote someone like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed generally when you use this you're going to use it in the past woke up because you're talking about someone who is already awake and you're referring to this morning that wow okay this person you know someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed keep that in mind that you're often going to use this in the past woke up so for example I say well he's been in a bad mood all day someone must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed now I'm using it um with that modal in the past participle must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed but just keep that in mind you're you're talking about someone who is already awake and you want to say that they're in a bad mood and yeah you know this person uh woke up on the wrong side of the bed the other thing I will say is really you are going to say someone now you could actually say the person's name but in general I feel like you would just say someone that is part of the the expression which is the cliche someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed and this is uh a funny little comic it says how he unwittingly gets up on the wrong side of the bed and you see that bear trap uh the bees the skunk and yeah I would be in a bad mood as well if I woke up on that side of the bed with all of those uh you know the snake yeah it's not not good I would not be happy I'd be in a bad mood as well how about uh this next cliche this next statement that you might hear this one I don't think is as often used as the um others that we just talked about but this is used to emphasize solidarity and support within a group and you could say one and you can use that picture and probably guess when you okay I recognize what's going on here this is a very well-known statement that well I don't want to give it away but if you want to emphasize you know that hey we're working together we're part of this group you could say this state but keep in mind again this was it is not original because it comes from this story movie uh you know I'm kind of trying to give it away a little bit um but what we're saying are the cliche that we're talking about is all for one one for all so the picture here is from the well the movie The Three Musketeers which was the Disney movie which again is based off the book uh the Musketeers years and this is like what they would say cuz they're always you know working together um you know all for one one for all and you know it's important to work together as an example it's important we we work together all for one one for all like kind of you know cheering that on all right excellent all right well excellent hi Heidi Christina thanks for joining the team love it love it uh also love those hearts that you guys uh keep them coming what do you think this is I would be willing to Guess that this is a sentence you have definitely heard even if you can't think of the answer right now I know that you've heard this before and you well I don't want to tell you but you would use this when referring to people who will spend the rest of one's life in happiness and just looking at the context perhaps you know you're going to be able to uh figure out the cliche but the final word is after so think about uh a story I'll go ahead and start giving you some hints you read this story and how are you going to end the story especially if it's like this maybe you know romantic story and they finally get together in the end and you would say what so I told you that this is a a cliche that I know that you've heard and they lived happily ever after the famous ending to uh many different stories in the end she married The Prince and they lived happily ever after excellent I think a lot of you got that because like I said I feel like you've heard it Well Done uh Heidi diligent learning Miranda Julia excellent here is another little comment I I like to try to bring some humor to these lessons because it just makes learning that much more enjoyable so this person says and they lived happily ever after except for that age thing as though of course people they're going to get older uh and then at some point pass away so it's not like uh you're just going to live forever what do you think about the next one and this is another one that I I I do think is pretty common so you would use this what is the context we're going to use this to say that the truth or a result will only be known in the future after events have happened I know that that is a little bit more to take in that you're going to know the result or you know the outcome at some point in the future you know once you know these events have occurred and what could you say the last word is tell now I think again this is I I told you these are common because I feel like you you know some of them which is great because the idea is hopefully that it's not just a part of your passive vocabulary but even a part of your active vocabulary and you can go out and use these phrases when you are commenting on this situation this context right here like many of you said only time will tell so only time will tell whether or not you decide to hit the like button that is true all right maybe maybe some of you hit it already and I really appreciate that the others maybe I'm trying to earn it with this uh lesson but only time will tell uh whether or not you will decide to ultimately hit that like button I hope you I hope you decide to do that so this is again it's a common expression which is why it is a cliche and I know that You' say well it's unoriginal it's not and this is why I feel like in writing you're you're people would say and I would even say this too try to avoid using cliches in writing because that is a time where you want to be a little more descriptive and express yourself but as far as spoken English goes they're very common and I think they're actually pretty useful you're wanting to comment on the situation like you know what's going to happen in the future like well you know time will tell we'll see what happens only time will tell if it was well spent now I don't know if this was really a quote from Jimmy Buffett who is a you know well-known singer but uh I think it is a great little um quote only time will tell if you know the time that you have on this Earth is well spent and we'll see so I hit the thumbs up excellent I appreciate it uh love it love hearing that here is another one that before I even came up with this lesson talking about cliches in spoken English this is kind of what made me think about it because I I said this like a couple of times in the same day and I started thinking like gosh why am I I'm saying the same thing I should you know think of other ways to say stuff because it's not very original and then I thought wait you know I've never done a lesson on cliches and the context would be like to say that uh a little planning can make the the tasks of daily life or even your I don't want to give it away the tasks of daily life much easier to manage so if you plan well and you really think about okay how can I do things better be more efficient you could summarize that and comment and say uh this expression right here and the last word is harder so I mentioned that I I ended up saying it a couple of different times because yeah this is something that I constantly feel feel that I need to do in growing this Channel and providing different uh courses online and wanting to actually provide more and put out some their video courses but I'm always I feel like I'm always falling behind and I'm not able to do it and I need to change things up and therefore I need to work smarter not harder so you could again capture that idea you're trying to encourage someone look maybe try to do things a little differently you could be more efficient work smarter not harder so don't just work a lot of hours but try to find ways to do a better job and and not have it take up a lot more time so in the example I say you seem like you're struggling with several different projects I'm giving advice to someone I think you can be more efficient if you work smarter not harder so a good one to keep in mind I have a great uh a great meme for this which really really does uh I think capture this sentiment and I I you know this turtle is absolutely working smarter instead of crawling they find a way use that skateboard you just go much faster on a skateboard so once again I think this is one you've probably heard it before maybe you even use it which I think is great because as far as spoken English goes cliches I think can be very useful and very helpful and I hope that some of these maybe you're coming across one or two that are new that's always um that's always great here's the next one i' I'm switching it up a little bit so this time I'm just giving you a sentence and I want you to try to put it into context you know what they say m is the best medicine as we go through this part I'm going to make it a little more challenging because right here there's just one word missing and what word completes this sentence and I've giving you this picture of this cute little cat with with glasses on and you could say m is the best medicine the other thing I would would like to point out is anytime you hear somebody start out and they say you know what they say basically you know that a cliche is coming you know what they say and then they follow it with a cliche and I did this on purpose because I wanted to make that known if you ever were planning to use a cliche you could introduce it with that sentence hey hey you know what they say because everybody says these things all the time and they're not very original but m is the best medicine so we're we're not talking about like uh I see some time not time is the best med sleep well I feel like I feel like sleep in time would be great uh as far as medicine goes but if this one's new for you that's awesome laughter laughter is the best medicine so you would use this sentence when you want to say Hey you know it's good to laugh it's good for your mental health and uh even especially if somebody is going through a rough time and they're a little sad maybe a little depressed you want to cheer them up you're like look come on you know laughter is the best medicine it's going to help you uh you know get over things it's beneficial to your health laughter is the best medicine here is a funny little comic that I found laughter is the best medicine and then down below it says unless you're seriously ill then you maybe should go see a doctor which is true if uh laughter of course is good medicine but yeah if you're you're injured you're hurt uh or something else is wrong then definitely definitely go see a doctor here is the next sentence he will get over the breakup time M all I feel like because I'm giving you that first word hopefully it kind of rings some bells and you know using that idiom to ring a bell like kind of you know make you think oh okay now I know the answer so the situation of course you're saying somebody's going to get over the a breakup and it's just going to take time because this person right here is hurt he's he's hurt he's sad and you could say time M all wounds so I want to say you you're close instead of cures because again that is more of a synonym but you're not really going to use it the cliche excellent uh well done Manuel Heidi um Time Heals all wounds now I will say because of course there there are always differences between among different English varieties I don't know if been British English maybe people would say time cures all wounds you will still hear that but I I would venture to Guess that if I were to go on engram viewer to see which of these sentences is more commonly used I feel like more often you would hear heals Time Heals all wounds uh instead but I'm not sure perhaps this is uh more common in British English it to use the word cures but you're going to use this to say that feelings of sadness disappointment it they just gradually go away over as time passes Time Heals all wounds another one that's super common that I think many of you um have heard before I thought this was this was also very true Time Heals all wounds but desserts heals them faster that sometimes that is how I feel if I'm a little sad or depressed and you know nothing beats a good dessert I I like to indulge in some chocolate and it kind of lifts my spirits so in this case I guess you could say dessert dessert heals all wounds as well how about this one I hope I get the job your now I'm not giving you a I'm giving you the word your which is not which is not that much of a hint but think about the the first sentence you're saying hey I hope I get the job I hope this happen happens um you know you want this to happen for me and I tell you this sentence I hope this happens and what it's like I'm giving you this command so that you're kind of wishing someone good luck your there are what how would you try we try to guess which cliche which unoriginal s statement would best complete this sentence and once again I I think this is one that uh you you've definitely heard of and you I think you probably use this uh phrase as well so if we're talking about hey I hope that somebody you know gets the job and I'm telling you um you know keep your fingers crossed you know fingers crossed I hope it happens you're expressing this hope that something will happen keep your fingers crossed again very common statement you could just say fingers crossed that works as well but you may hear somebody say you know cross your fingers keep your fingers crossed there are different ways to go about it but all of them would be considered a cliche because it's so commonly used but is another good one if you know somebody's expressing a wish or desire or something they hope will happen you're like look you know I got my fingers crossed or keep your fingers crossed I wish you all the best great great phrase to know especially if it's one that you haven't heard of this one is I think very I think very useful also very common but one that may be new for some of you we'll see so think about the situation we haven't closed down the business yet and you hear me emphasizing yet but the and the final is wall so I I've highlighted and italicized the cliche say the M wall so that is the final word and I think you can put it into context based on the first part of the sentence so we haven't closed the business yet and the fact that I'm saying yet is trying to imply that this is going to happen in the future and if something is going to happen in the future then you could say all right I see well maybe you guys maybe this was easy iier than I thought say excellent uh fatty acid mushak dwit Manuel tal Julia um the writing is on the wall so you could use this expression this cliche to say that there are signs that something will fail or no longer exist typically again you're saying that it's going to happen but it it does have a negative connotation you're expressing something that is your you're upset about you're disappointed you're like yeah it's going to happen the writing is on the wall you're not going to use this in a positive uh situation if I say I know that I'm going to get the job promotion this is great the writing's on the wall that that sounds a little weird and that is why you're going to use this when talking about you know something that's going to fail or in this case if a business is closing it's no longer going to exist the writing is on the wall and I I don't know if you I think this is um a well-known I don't know if it's Barnes and Nobles or borders like a a bookstore in the US that you know they just went out of business and they couldn't stay open and they were closing them down and yeah you could say the writing is on the wall how about this another one that that you know you know this one I know you said that you refused to eat I I know you said that you refused to eat uh Thai food again but say I I I don't know if the beginnings awkwardly worded because I if I had given you one word then it would have just been way too easy so I tried to to rephrase this in another way like oh hey I know you said you refuse to eat Thai food again but what what two words go uh go on each side the word say and this is another phrase that you could use very often in casual conversation because people they tend to say I I know I say never from time to time like I'm never GNA do this I'm never going to do that and then you could reply and say hey never say never you never you never know so Never Say Never is used to say that a person you know should not say that he or she will never do something because you know we always change our mind and you could use this this cliche like just never say never this Standalone statement once again I would say avoid using this in writing because it just doesn't go as well this is much more conversational English and that's why I said cliches in spoken English because that is how you're you're often going to come across them Never Say Never this is uh this is not necessarily using the clich but kind of a play on words soon as you say my child would never here they come nevering like they've never nevered before so it's like you say as soon as you say my child would never um you know cheat and it's like well here they come cheating like they've never cheated before this is an another expression that you could use to emphasize that somebody is doing something excessively so this is a fun way of using the word never my child would never do this and then here they come nevering like they've never nevered before that they were just doing a lot of this thing what do you think and by the way I there are so many this is this is just a small sample of cliches there are so many cliches in spoken English you hear them all the time like I said I feel like you're you use them as well which is fine this is great vocabulary to know because because we often use these phrases our vacation was over in the blink of an eye this is an idiom if you say something happens in the blink of an eye it happens very quickly and uh kind of like suddenly our vacation was over in the blink of the eye I guess it's true what they say there's that you know let me introduce my cliche M when you're M so which cliche is going to appropriately end this uh you know this this statement our vacation was over in the blink of an eye I guess it's true what they say what and I yeah I feel like I'm it is very unoriginal but I guess I I'm guilty of using this cliche as well as some of the other ones and it's okay it is okay to use them in spoken English so well done uh Heidi Ava Leonardo uh dwit just give a few shout outs time flies when you're having having fun so you would use this to say that yeah time seems to pass more quickly when one is enjoying oneself I sure that you thought wow it's been you know it's been 30 minutes already that's crazy it feels like it's just been five minutes we've been learning these cliches yeah it's true what they say time flies when you're having fun you're having fun building your vocabulary learning these different Expressions so that now you can go out and and use them and I hope you are able to use them this is a fun little cartoon this is how I feel if I every time I've run a couple of different marathons and both times I felt the same way it takes a long time because I don't feel like I'm having fun and they're saying like are we having fun yet as though okay this is you this is not fun it's it feels like it's taking forever but if something goes quickly like vacation or these lessons when you watch them uh you think wow time flies time flies when you're having fun and of course you could just say um you know like time flies so these are the the cliches that we were talking about remember remember remember remember what I showed you at the very beginning uh just as a little bit of review that a cliche is a phrase or remark that you people use them so often that it is just it's it's unoriginal and they say not interesting but I still think in my opinion they are incredibly useful in spoken English because we use them quite often and and hopefully you can now go out and use some of these as well I hope you enjoyed the lesson as always I hope you learned something new if you did then yeah I I would appreciate it if you hit the like button um you know again only time will tell if it happens but I feel like you know we are are in this together I want to help you out we're you're you're not alone all for one one for all and if you don't hit the like button today you can come back tomorrow and do it better late than never and I won't I won't feel that sad and of course you know time heals all wounds and I trying to just use them randomly right now but I do have to end the lesson it's going to happen the you know the writing is on the wall all right we got to we got to wrap things up so uh I hope you enjoyed it um you know click that link if you want to join the community get these lesson notes uh and --- ## 539. SUPER USEFUL IDIOMS | Talk about Friends & Family | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WLz83DJ5gtw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLz83DJ5gtw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:11:50 | --- hey everyone today i have a very fun idiom lesson for you about friends and family and idioms are great because we we use them quite often just in everyday conversation they're very casual they're very informal as you are learning these idioms i want you to think about your family i want you to think about your friends and your experiences because that's going to help you better remember the meaning so the first idiom that i have for you is a spitting image and you would say that someone is a spitting image of someone else and what this means is that a person closely resembles this other person so when you're talking about a family and i i think often you're talking about either the the father and the son or the father and the daughter or the mother in the son or the mother and the daughter you would say that that this person the child is a spitting image of their parent that is how it's most commonly used he's a spitting image of his father isn't he perfect you're the spinning image of your future son his blood runs in my veins this is a spitting image of old bootstrap bill the next idiom is runs in the family and this is talking about inheriting traits from other people in your family your your parents your grandparents and you would say that that this trait this characteristic it runs in the family for example i i have blue eyes and i can say well you know blue eyes it runs in the family or perhaps you're talking about somebody's hair color maybe they have red hair and you say well you know it runs in the family that this characteristic this trait is inherited from other family members it runs in the family it doesn't always have to be referring to a physical characteristic you could talk about somebody's behavior or their mannerisms as well perhaps maybe something that's not good perhaps somebody's a criminal and you'd say well yeah that that runs in the family the parents the grandparents they were also criminals so maybe it runs in the family don't get mad at her it's a couple little strokes runs in the family you have pandazma you that running family i guess stubbornness runs in the family then we have an idiom that i i think has become more popular in recent times and that is describing someone as a helicopter parrot and if somebody is a helicopter parent it means that they are giving way too much attention to the child and not attention i think in in a good way it's think about it it's like they're hovering over the child everything that they do they are not leaving the child side even as the the child gets older and becomes a teenager and they're still kind of controlling their lives you could refer to this parent as a helicopter parent it's not a it's not a compliment if somebody is being called a helicopter parent it may be to me it means they're a little overbearing they're too controlling they're too involved in their child's life a helicopter parent you have to hover over your kid's shoulder to force them to succeed it's called helicopter parenting gave me space kids love that didn't want to be a helicopter parent i think we should let the kids just work it out i'm not really into helicopter parenting like you are then you may hear somebody say a chip off the old block and i think this is more this is more of an older idiom so it's good for your comprehension you may hear it in a tv show or a movie but if you hear someone say a chip off the old block they're they're referring to the child is much like either the father or the mother in some way you would say they're they're a chip off the old block often i think a parent would be talking about their children to some other person and they say you know my son he's a he's a chip off the old block he's just like me or my daughter you know she is a chip off the old block she is just like uh her mother she likes to eat a variety of food just like her mother she's a chip off the old block she's by stick i love that she's a chip off the old block elroy you're a genius i am a regular chip off the old block the next idiom is like taking candy from a baby and this is just a simile you're comparing two things and you're saying that something is easy something is very easy it's like taking candy from a baby because if a baby had some candy well it would not be very difficult just to reach out and grab it and take it from them and you could say well this is easy it's like taking candy from a baby often i think it's used to describe some some situation in which you have to accomplish some kind of goal and you have to complete some tasks and you're like well you know it's gonna be easy it's gonna be like taking candy from a baby and that is how it's done like taking candy from a baby what do you think jackie i mean we got a case like taking candy from a baby speaking of candy the next idiom is like a kid in a candy store and this idiom is referring to the way that somebody is acting and it just means that they are very excited about something they're almost acting in a bit of a childish way they're so excited and usually i think people are describing themselves when they say this and they're like you know i i visited this place and i was like a kid in a candy store i was so excited i was running all around i couldn't believe my eyes i was like a kid in a candy store what corpse should we unearth i feel like a kid in a candy store it's college basketball and i'm like a kid in the cabin then we have to sleep like a baby this is again a simile comparing pro mostly yourself to a baby because when you sleep like a baby it just means that you are in some some deep sleep and you are getting a lot of rest and you'd say you know well last night i i was so comfortable i slept like a baby i think generally people use this when somebody would ask and they'd say you know oh how did you sleep how did you sleep last night you could say you know i slept like a baby i slept very well just like a baby would sleep so i slept like a baby yeah it's done i'm gonna sleep like a baby i've come a very long way to see you i couldn't sleep tonight usually i sleep like a baby he's probably sleeping like a baby right now i'm sure he's wide awake full of guilt do you ever feel that way no when i go home at night i sleep like a baby then we have to pop the question and this is an idiom that i think is very common many of you may already be familiar with it because to pop the question means to propose to someone to ask someone's hand in marriage and you in that case you are popping the question will you marry me you popped the question carl is about to pop the question you mean like marriage i cannot believe my son is gonna pop the question where did he bob the question what did you say said no can we drop it now it wasn't a real proposal the next idiom is breadwinner and you would say that someone is the breadwinner and this is referring to a person in the family who earns the money and and earns the money to support the family so you could be talking about the either the man or the woman and you could say well you know he he has a very good job he's the breadwinner or maybe she has a much better job and you say well well she's the breadwinner in the case that both the man and the woman work then typically you would be referring to the person who earns the most money who is supporting the family more financially that person is the breadwinner oh and i want to thank you for putting me under the added pressure of being the sole breadwinner now lindsay the bead business taken off is it actually i am the breadwinner michael as it turns out i am the sole breadwinner in my house there's no other source of income the next idiom which i i think is a great idiom even though the meaning is not that great and that is black sheep and if you're talking about a family and you say that someone is the black sheep it just means they are different than everybody else but typically different in a way that is that's not good perhaps they're even disrespected by the other family members and you say well that person you know they're a bit of a black sheep i i think it doesn't always have to be something bad but more just different perhaps even a little unusual that the way they're acting the way they're behaving the way they're conducting their life they're they're just different from the rest of the family someone is a black sheep everybody thinks i'm the black sheep i'll show them what a black sheep can do since before the dawn of time i have been designated the black sheep of miami this label is permanent i can't erase it and i can't trade it in for a new one do you know what's a black sheep no it's like when you're different to everyone else like me i look different so those were all idioms that were related to the family now i want to talk to you about idioms that deal with friends and talking about friends and the first one that i want to talk to you about is like two peas in a pod and if you say that two people two friends are like two peas in a pod it just means that they are very close they always do things together you you never find them apart and you would say well you know they're like two peas in a pod we should commemorate this one with a selfie oh look at us two peas in a pod he's awesome he's always up he's always happy i mean he and i are best buds we're like two peas in a pod next is the idiom to have friends in high places and when you say that you have friends in high places it just means that you have friends who are influential or friends who are powerful they have some kind of position in which they can wield influence or power you can say you know i have friends in high places i personally don't have friends in high places that's okay it's not very important to me but yeah i don't know anybody who's powerful or really influential so yeah i don't have any friends in high places waste of time deputy we have friends in very high places oh it's hurt me i'm not liked in washington i know that but i do have friends in high places i've made a lot of friends in high place in this case the costa rican government then we have the idiom a shoulder to cry on and this is just talking about a friend who is willing to listen to someone else's problem we often use it with the verb have or need you could say that hey you know tell your friend you know you have a shoulder to cry on if you need to talk to me i will listen to your problems or perhaps you want somebody else to listen and you say well i just need a shoulder to cry on i need someone to listen to my problems i need a shoulder to cry on you deserve better lizzy lizzy someone you can talk to a shoulder to cry on and starting to realize that she has to settle for less the moment she needs a shoulder to cry on bam i say you tell alex your heart belongs to penny i provide her a shoulder to cry on and then roughly half a year later i give it to her good then there's the idiom to bury the hatchet and when two people bury the hatchet it just means that they are ending some sort of conflict often i think of perhaps their two friends they get into an argument they're fighting each other and they need to make up they need to bury the hatchet they need to end this conflict you can use it when talking about friends but you could also use it when talking about maybe colleagues at work or even with your boss or somebody else that you know that there's some kind of conflict that exists and you need to end that conflict you need to bury the hatchet what the hell are you doing on my property look it's time we bury the hatchet seriously ari what about us would you like to talk about i'd like to bury the hatchet the animosity between the two of us has run its course you can pass that on to spencer too can you please bear the hatchet with her i'm sick of taking sides next is the idiom to hit it off and if you say that that two people hit it off it just means that they become friends quickly and they they really get along with each other and it's kind of like a sudden friendship and say wow you know they really hit it off you can use it to talk about friends or even perhaps if you're dating someone you go out on a date and you had a very nice connection you could say yeah we we really hit it off you and her hit it off define hit us off did she continue talking to you once you'd fixed her computer the whole night was amazing we totally hit it off and your mother she's been calling me all week she wants to go to a spinning class with me what is up with that i thought you two hit it off next is the idiom to build bridges and when you're talking about building bridges you're talking about trying to make a friendly relationship between two people or even groups of people that you you need to build some bridges and and have friendly relationships with with this person or with these people maybe you don't get along with your boss and it's just a problem and you need someone's shoulder to cry on and you're telling your friend about this problem and they give you some advice and they say you know you really need to build some bridges you need to build bridges with your boss so that so that you guys have a friendly relationship you can get along because you work together it's important to build bridges in times of crisis wise build bridges the foolish build barriers then we have to strike up a friendship and this is an idiom that just means to form a friendship to have a friendship so if two people become friends you could say yeah you know they they struck up a friendship or maybe you are going into some place where you want to meet new friends you say you know i really hope to strike up some new friendships i want to make friends with other people come on i spent five hours together maybe they struck up a friendship whatever you struck up she should be sick of it by now then there's the idiom to know someone inside out and if you say that you know someone inside out then it means that you know this person very well so you may be talking about your friend you say yeah you know i know my best friend inside out i know everything they like i know everything they dislike you could also use it when talking about a family member you're very close with your family you could say yeah i know my brother i know my sister i know them inside out we can also use this idiom when when not just talking about a person but perhaps even a topic a subject and you know something inside out so for example you could say i've been working on this presentation really hard i know it inside out or maybe if we're talking about traveling and say well i've been to this place a dozen times i know it inside out i know it really well actually going to go ahead and give her a call to views to date so i know we're inside now i think i can handle being a candidate's wife i know all the issues inside and out you know the product inside and out you are the horse that i would bet on so i just want you to know that if you have any problems learning english and trying to build your vocabulary let me know you always have a shoulder to cry on because you and me we're like two peas in a pod and especially let me know if you are a powerful and influential person because i would love to have some friends in high places all right so i i hope that you're now able to go out and and use some of these idioms in your everyday conversations especially when you're talking about friends and family they are so common they are so useful that's all for right now i hope you learned some new idioms and i will see you next time --- ## 540. SUPER USEFUL PHRASAL VERBS w/ FALL | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `XUa637ZuDh0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUa637ZuDh0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:14:16 | --- let's talk about fall phrasal verbs and i'm not really talking about the fall season i'm talking about phrasal verbs that all have the word fall and phrasal verbs can be confusing for a couple of different reasons you have the verb followed by a preposition and when that preposition changes well the meaning is likely going to change and phrasal verbs many of them have multiple meanings as well and as we go through the lesson i will talk to you about that and the one thing that i will really try to do as i teach you these different phrasal verbs is to give you some context and talk about well how you might often hear people use these phrasal verbs or how you can use them if you're having a conversation with someone else let me quickly introduce myself in case this is your first time here my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals if that is what you would like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons let's start with our first phrasal verb our first fall phrasal verb which is to fall apart and if you say that something falls apart it's really it just means it's breaking into many pieces or you could use it to refer to something that's that's breaking in general so maybe you you build something it breaks into many pieces you could say well it fell apart or if i have something like maybe a table somebody could say well yeah this table it's really old it's falling apart it's not literally breaking into all these different pieces you're really just saying it's kind of breaking down in general it's not it's not working very well you need a new table because this one is falling apart well we could use the extra money and this house is falling apart then we have fall behind and this means that you you fail to do something fast enough or on time or even that you're you're just able to maintain some level so i think people often use this with work and maybe they have a project and they have other things that they need to do and you could say yeah i'm falling behind with my work or in in the context of education especially when you're talking about trying to maintain a certain level if you're having difficulty in a class and you feel like all the other students are getting ahead of you then you could say well the class is so difficult i i think i'm starting to fall behind and i'm not able to maintain a certain level fall behind spring session you'd be expected to tutor so it doesn't fall behind in that respect your classroom experience may actually be of use fall through this phrasal verb means that something is just not going to happen and i think quite often we use this to talk about plans we have things that we want to do we hope that they happen but if they don't then you could say this weekend my plans just fell through and it's not going to happen that was great what are you doing here something fell through so i was able to come back a few days early then i have a three-word phrasal verb for you which is to fall back on and what this means is that you use something especially in the form of financial support when everything else has failed and you might say that well i'm i'm i can't find a job right now and that's okay because i can always fall back on my savings and i have that financial support that i can fall back on uh what's your financial situation like do you have savings to fall back on do you come from wealth or no no no and then i have a very common phrasal verb which is fall down it means to well just fall to the ground or floor and you could use this to talk about a person or a thing now it is a little similar but also different than fall over which really means in that case that something is well falling on its side that when it was vertical so if i were to use them maybe interchangeably i could say i i tripped and fell down it's the same as like well i tripped and fell over because i'm no longer standing and i'm on my side if i were to say something like i hung a painting and yesterday it fell down because it's probably falling to the ground or floor you're not going to use fall over in that case and because of that i think it's so much more common to use fall down fall down an elevator shaft what the hell does this mean i fall down an elevator shaft i don't know i just bring the scripts still it's good to be a little more specific depending on the context if you want to say something is on its side it's not vertical anymore it fell over what you doing down there i fell over what you fell over i don't do it on purpose and then we have fall off which has a couple of different meanings so the first one is that something becomes detached or separated from something else i hung a painting and then the next day it fell off the wall and often i think people will say what what this thing is falling from you could say the leaves are going to fall off the tree what do we do when we fall off the horse we get back on the next meaning of fall off is when the rate or quality of something is becoming slower or smaller and often i think you may use it in this context when talking about business and you could say that well sales are starting to fall off it's becoming slower or maybe new memberships have been falling off recently and hi so you can use fall off in that context of business do you have anything you want to add the next phrasal verb is fall out it also has a couple of different meanings that i want to teach you the first one is that well to come out of something by falling you could say that that something falls out the window the second meaning of fallout is to become loose and separate from your head or mouth so think about it this way you could say that somebody's hair is falling out or maybe you have a tooth it's a little loose and then it falls out so in this case when talking about well like hair or teeth you're not going to use fall off you will use fall out mrs simpson there's no physical reason why your hair should be falling out then we have fall four also two meanings the first one is that well you you develop romantic feelings for someone and you could say if somebody were saying well i'm falling for him or i'm falling for her they're talking about developing those romantic feelings oh my god you're falling for him i am not the second meaning is to be tricked or fooled by something and a very i think a common expression you might hear in a tv show or movie is like oh i fell for the oldest trick in the book and that just means that you were tricked or deceived by something that you should have known better because it happens quite often the ring i can't believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book and then there's fall into also a couple of different meanings the first one is that well you go into something like somebody falls into the pool or you could also say that you suddenly have a condition and you might fall into a coma hey michael did you fall into a koi pond uh i can't really hear you i i think we sort of have a bad connection jim did michael fall into a koi pond look like the cabin depressurized and fell into a coma or something oh i'm fine sit sit and then there are some useful idioms that have this phrasal verb you could say that something falls into place that things happen in a satisfactory way without any problems and things just fall into place doing this mall tour and he came here to our mall it was like everything was finally falling into place you know like it was um fate you could also use the idiom to fall in someone's lap and when something falls into your lap it really refers to well something happens in an unexpected way that you were not planning for you weren't trying to get this it just it just falls into your lap and you're often referring to something that's positive something desirable maybe you could say well i wasn't looking for a new job but this opportunity just fell into my lap it's up to you to make the best of it and it's not like opportunity is just going to fall into your lap i hope that you found this lesson useful i hope you learned something new and that you can well now go out there and try to use some of these phrasal verbs in everyday conversation they are pretty common they are very useful and i hope that it you understand it a bit better talking about some of the context in which we use these different phrasal verbs if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 541. SUPER USEFUL PHRASAL VERBS w/ SPRING | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vOE4DcSvsjg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOE4DcSvsjg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:08:05 | --- spring is upon us and you may not know that just looking at those trees in the background but today i don't want to teach you about the spring season i want to teach you some advanced phrasal verbs that all have the verb spring in it and if you enjoy learning phrasal verbs please subscribe turn on notifications so that i can become your english teacher my name is wes and and that's what interactive english is all about just trying to help you practice and improve your english skills so i am going to teach you the meaning of the phrasal verb i'm also going to give you a little more context as to how people will use the phrasal verb and then i'll also show you some clips from tv shows and movies because well they're just fun to watch so let's begin with our first phrasal verb which is to spring for something and it what it means if somebody springs for something it means that they pay for something often unexpectedly and typically generously for for someone else and the one thing i'll say about this phrasal verb is that you're you're likely to hear people use it in the past tense to refer to something that they bought so i could say surprisingly the boss sprang for everyone's lunch that it was unexpected and it was also generous or maybe i go travel with a friend and i could say my friend sprang for the flights the hotel and all the food it was very generous of them to to pay for this to spring for something no i think she's going to want to do these together you know she's praying for some champagne more importantly this is a fancy outfit all right i sprang for the three button jacket it was eight dollars extra the next phrasal verb is to spring on and the way that you would use this is you're going to spring something on someone and what this phrasal verb means is to suddenly ask or tell someone something that they just do not expect and you may often hear people apologize and then use this phrasal verb and they may say something like hey sorry to spring this on you but and then they would suddenly tell you something that you just don't expect like sorry to spring this on you but can you work over the weekend and it's probably not something you want to do and then you could respond and say hey how could you spring this on me at the last minute and you you may hear people use it with that question as well or say how could you spring this on me at the last second and suddenly ask or tell me this thing i'm i'm very sorry to spring this on you but um it's incredibly urgent are these divorce papers sorry to spring this on you but i didn't think it would be a problem and i'm going to spring something on you right now and maybe you expect it maybe you don't but it's it's good news so i'm not going to apologize and what i'm going to spring on you is that you can now join my speaking course if you'd like to practice and improve your speaking skills speak directly with me and just click on the link down below and when you do there is a special discount just for you the course is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally to help you speak confidently each week there is a different speaking topic we do engaging activities help you build your vocabulary and all of it is just to give you a little more confidence when you're having a conversation to help you speak clearly each lesson we warm up with something related to pronunciation or connected speech and there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course and it's not just gonna help you speak clearly but i think it will really help your listening comprehension as well and when it comes to speaking naturally we're going to talk about some of the language nuances when to use certain words and phrases practice using idioms as well as using a variety of different ways to express some common ideas so click on the link down below in the description if you'd like to join or learn more about the course and i just hope to speak to you soon so now let's get back to our spring phrasal verb lesson and the next phrasal verb that i have for you is spring up and what this means is to appear or exist suddenly and people might use this to talk about like the land uh maybe i could say weeds are springing up all over the lawn or people may also use this to refer to businesses if i were to say new cafes have sprung up all over town these past couple of years so to spring up is to appear suddenly this just sprang up you know what i think it is it's the mark of buddha why didn't you stay at the elvis tent city that sprang up on my lawn the next phrasal verb is spring from and this one actually has two meanings so the first meaning is to come from or appear suddenly i could say that the cat sprang from behind the bushes and then the next meaning is just to be the result of something if i were to tell you that his anxiety springs from feelings of insecurity that that is the result from this thing his feelings of insecurity they found us they sprang from the trees and wasted 40 of our most formidable men oh it all makes sense now journal true love always springs from true hate so the next two phrasal verbs are not as common but i still think they're useful because they're very specific and i wanted to teach you spring forward or spring ahead you could use either one when referring to daylight savings time and i know there are many countries out there they do not have daylight savings time but this is when people will set their clocks one hour ahead which means that the the days are longer and the nights are shorter so even right now the clocks are getting ready to spring forward not yet but i think in a couple of weeks they're going to spring forward and i will have to set it one hour ahead so spring forward spring ahead they mean the same thing you could use either one i miss you when i close my eyes during a sneeze i miss you when the clock springs ahead an hour we'll never get that time back times i get confused too especially during daylight savings time spring forward fall back we even have calendars in the wizards realm then we have spring back and this means to return to the original position after being bent forced or when pressure is removed and i think often an an actual spring is involved in this that curved piece of metal maybe you're putting force and pressure down on something and then when you let go it just springs back to the original position so think of a diving board after someone dives into the pool the diving board will spring back to the original position and i told you that this this phrasal verb it's not it's very specific so it's not common and i actually could not find a video clip using this phrasal verb so let's just move on and right now i want to teach you some useful phrases with the word spring some bonus phrases and the first one that i have is spring to life and if you say that a person or group of people springs to life it means that they become active and lively again and think of it that people might use it when you're talking about somebody who is maybe a little sleepy or they're just not fully aware and then something happens and they suddenly spring to life maybe at um a football match the the team is losing and then the crowd sprang to life when they scored a goal and you could even use this with the the word back and say that someone springs back to life and in that case you could think of it like they're returning to that position of being active and lively and they spring back to life the creature sprang back to life so i plunged the sword back into the hag's chest then we have spring into action and this one's a little similar to spring to life but it means to suddenly become active start moving or start working and someone springs into action and i think people may often use this phrase when perhaps telling a story and describing what happens and they say that someone sprang into action and it really captures that suddenness and they said they needed 20 cc's of george michael stack so just wham i sprang into action you know me then we have the phrase a spring in one step and this means that someone is walking energetically and in a way that shows that they're happy and confident and often i think you might hear people use this phrase to well describe someone else and maybe you're wondering why they are happy and walking the way they are and you could say that you notice that someone has a spring in their step and you're wondering what's going on pete's having an affair what lipstick the spring in his step you look marvelous you've got quite the spring in your step has your leg going back so i hope you learned some new phrasal verbs in this lesson and if you did please hit that like button and if you want to spring into action and and join my speaking course and speak directly with me just click on that link down below and yeah you could you could spring for this course which is going to be a generous treat for yourself so that that's all i'm going to say about that thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 542. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Binomial Pair Quiz | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Ip0tLocuHjA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip0tLocuHjA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:08:28 | --- i read you um and clear which word completes that sentence i read you um and clear and and really i want you to focus on the last part of the sentence um and clear because that is a binomial pair which is what we're going to talk about in today's lesson so i hope that after just listening to me say this that you know that the answer is loud i read you loud and clear so loud and clear is a phrase that means that something is easy to understand and follow so instead of telling somebody yes i understand what you're saying you could say hey i read you loud and clear i understand exactly what you're talking about so binomial pairs are very common in spoken english these are informal phrases that have two words that are connected by a conjunction and the conjunction is often and or or but not always and these phrases are typically fixed as well you're not going to change around the the word order very often so as i mentioned these words are very common in just casual conversation like this next one right here first and um i want you to subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications and yes this is something that i would love it if you would do that first and um so this is another binomial pair and the answer is foremost first and foremost so it's really an introductory phrase that you may hear somebody use this if they're giving a presentation and what it means is most importantly so i could say most importantly or first and foremost i would love it if you subscribe to the channel turn on notifications so that i can become your teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english is all about just trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you build your vocabulary with some of these binomial pairs the next one that i have for you i just want to relax and calm down i really need some um and quiet okay how would you complete that sentence and quiet this i think is a pretty well-known binomial pair and i'm guessing you probably knew the answer which is peace peace and quiet i just want to relax and calm down i really need some peace and quiet peace and quiet means that you just need freedom from just noise or or activity and just kind of want to get away from a lot of things that are loud and stressful and you want some peace and quiet here is the next one i really enjoy the um and bustle of big cities i really enjoy the um and bustle of big cities think about a big city it's it's very active it's loud and the answer is hustle hustle and bustle i really enjoy the hustle and bustle of big cities so if you're talking about the the hustle and bustle it refers to a lot of activity usually in a noisy surrounding the hustle and bustle it's kind of the opposite of peace and quiet and then i have a question for you how old do you think i am give or um okay how old do you think i am giver um so the last part is the binomial pair give or um and this this is a pretty common phrase i hope that you said the answer is take give or take give or take you would use this when you're talking about numbers like in this case my age and all it means is approximately how old do you think i am give or take and if you have any guesses you can let me know down below in the comments and if you really want to know how old i am i will tell you in person but you just need to join my speaking course and yes that is a sneaky little segue into letting you know that you can sign up for my speaking course if if you are someone who would like to practice and improve their speaking skills just click on the link down in the description if you'd like to join and when you click on that link there is a special discount just for you so the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally to help you speak confidently each week there are different speaking topics we do engaging speaking activities i'll help you build your vocabulary and all of this is just to give you more confidence when you're having a conversation to help you speak clearly each lesson we warm up with pronunciation connected speech there are also pronunciation video lessons and i not only is this going to help you speak clearly but i also think it's great for your listening comprehension and when it comes to speaking naturally we'll talk about some of the language nuances when to use certain words and phrases practice using idioms as well as look at different ways that you can express a variety of ideas so just click on the link down in the description if you'd like to sign up and improve your speaking fluency and i just hope to speak to you soon now let's get back to our binomial pair quiz which i'm sure you've gotten all of them correct so far and i want to change things up a little bit this time i am going to give you the meaning and i want you to tell me well what binomial pair am i talking about and to give you a little bit of a hint i am going to give you the first letter all right of each of the two words in the phrase and i'm i'm just going to give you five seconds to think of the answer and then i will tell you so the this one right here it refers to the advantages and disadvantages of something what is this phrase i hope that you said pros and cons this is actually a pretty common binomial pair i imagine you've heard of it before and you're talking about well like the pros and cons maybe when you're trying to make a decision and you're referring to those advantages and disadvantages and yes i think often we use this when you're trying to make a difficult decision and you're like let's let's write down the pros and cons so that we can make a good decision the next one refers to moving in one direction and then moving in the other direction what phrase am i talking about and hopefully that when i i said moving in one direction and then the other direction you thought of back and forth so i actually i actually used this phrase yesterday i made a decision and then i changed my mind and then i kept going back and forth because i couldn't make a final decision so it does not always have to refer to actually moving in one direction or the other as i just mentioned you could use it when talking about well changing your mind and you keep going back and forth and back and forth i can be rather indecisive so i tend to go back and forth the next one when you entertain someone typically taking them out to a fine meal what are you doing so the answer is whine and dine when you whine and dine someone you are taking them out trying to entertain them and generally you're taking them to a nice restaurant but it doesn't have to be you're really just trying to show them a good evening and you're trying to whine and dine someone then we have this next phrase damage or depreciation resulting from ordinary use and the answer is wear and tear so if you're talking about just using something just ordinary use then over time there's going to be a little bit of wear and tear and typically you would use this talking about like some item that's that's used so you might have uh some furniture that has some wear and tear or maybe you're trying to sell something like a bicycle and you tell them yeah the bicycle has some minor wear and tear but it's in good condition and then there's this binomial pair having no legal force or validity what do you think so the answer is null and void this is a phrase that you might hear people use when they're talking about some kind of agreement perhaps a contract and they say look it has no no legal force whatsoever it's null and void now i want to switch things up again because just to just show you how common these phrases are i'm going to give you some examples of binomial pairs being used in movies music and tv shows and i just want you to guess the the binomial pair so well before i show you these first videos i i want you to think about well the tone in which these people are speaking and and how they feel all right trying to give you a little bit of a hint here we go i'm excited i have nobody seen injustices i'm um of it i'm um of having nobody i'm um of seeing injustices so i i told you to keep in mind like the tone and feeling because these people were clearly upset and the missing binomial pair is sick and tired you're sick and tired of something i'm sick and tired of it i'm sick and tired of having nobody i'm sick and tired of seeing injustices this means that you are extremely annoyed with someone or some situation and you just cannot tolerate it anymore and you're going to follow this binomial pair with the preposition of you're sick and tired of someone or you're sick and tired of something and then in 1971 the grass roots came out with this very popular song that uses the binomial pair well a lot in the song and i'm not i can't play you the song because of copyright so uh i'm you'll i'm gonna hum it as well as uh sing it and i apologize for for my singing love is gonna get you [Music] okay i apologize for my singing i told you if anything it would just make things more challenging to have to listen to that but the missing binomial pair is sooner or later sooner or later love is gonna get you so like i said this is a popular song one that you would still hear today you would hear it in tv shows and movies and sooner or later it means that something is definitely going to happen you just you're just not exactly sure when it's going to happen and you could use this binomial pair sooner or later and then i have another set of videos for you so see if you can identify the missing binomial pair dr evil over the last 30 years virtucon has grown by you're just progressing by his insubordination is growing so for this one the key word is by has grown by is progressing by is growing by and the answer is leaps and bounds dr evil over the last 30 years birchikon has grown by leaps and bounds you're just progressing by leaps and bounds his insubordination is growing by leaps and bounds and really you're going to use buy before saying leaps and bounds buy leaps and bounds it just means that something is well growing very fast and very quickly and i could say that i hope that your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds when you watch these video lessons i have another song for you because in 1981 joan jett in the black hearts came out with this hit song i love um it's just not the same when you you cut it off like that so i love so put another dime in the jukebox baby i love so come and take your time and dance with me so it's a very it's a very famous and well-known song and the phrase that's missing is rock and roll i love rock and roll now in the song they're talking about rock and roll like the music genre using this as a binomial pair the meaning is different okay it's still you're saying rock and roll but i it was a creative way of introducing this so rock and roll is a music genre but you can use it as a binomial pair to mean well let's start something let's begin so if somebody were to say hey let's rock and roll what they're really saying is well let's begin let's start and they're typically excited to start this thing let's rock and roll and here are a few more videos for you it is over i won congratulations you won congratulations you won notice that they're talking about some type of competition they said congratulations you won and perhaps they're telling the other person that they won honestly and fairly which is a big hint because fair is part of this binomial pair fair and square that is the answer congratulations you won fair and square it is over i won fair and square congratulations you won fair and square congratulations you won fair and square and if you tell someone that they won fair and square you're just saying that they won honestly and according to the rules so to get a little review i could tell you i hope that you enjoyed taking the quiz and that you did not go ahead and look up all the answers beforehand i hope that you that you played fair and square and i'm sure that right now perhaps you're you're going back and forth between uh watching another video lesson or clicking on the link to sign up for my speaking course but i would say that well you can you don't have to go back and forth you can do both and if you do both then your english skills will improve by leaps and bounds and if this lesson if it was easy to understand and follow just let me know you can write to me in the comments and say loud and clear because that'll tell me that it was easy for you to understand these different phrases and their meaning and i'm sure right now you're probably sick and tired of my rambling and that's why i am going to just wrap things up and ask you once again to hit that like button if you enjoyed the lesson and tell you thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 543. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Build Your Vocabulary | Ways to Say "Happening Soon" | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HuA6dmbPQac` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuA6dmbPQac) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:15:15 | --- in today's lesson i want to talk to you about different ways that you can say that something is coming up that something is about to happen it could be a birthday or a festival or maybe even your favorite season and i'm also going to try and give you a little bit more information as to when you might use these different phrases and i will show you some videos so that you can see how these phrases are used in context let me take a quick moment introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills so if that's what you want to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons let's begin with the our first phrase which is right around the corner and you could also say just around the corner or even round the corner so either one of these i probably say that something uh is right around the corner it's going to happen soon and often i think you're you're referring to something that you look forward to perhaps you're you're excited about this and i say wow the vacation it's right around the corner or just around the corner or around the corner christmas is right around the corner thanksgiving breaks right around the corner love is just around the corner bonus time is just around the corner another common phrase is coming up and if you say that something is coming up it just well it means it's going to happen soon and and often i think you're talking about like uh a specific date and some maybe event that's going to occur on that date and you know it's going to happen perhaps like a birthday i think people often use this when talking about birthdays and you say this to someone you know your birthday is coming up kind of as a reminder that okay you know this is going to happen and maybe you're you're just stating it as a matter of fact you know marge and i have an anniversary coming up hi sheldon what's up well i'm calling because thanksgiving is coming up and i wanted to offer you the aquarium tickets a phrase very similar to that is to say that something is approaching that it's it's getting closer again you could refer to a specific date like a birthday and if you want to even be more specific if it's going to happen very soon then you could say well something is fast approaching graduation is fast approaching and it's time to award the title of senior class valedictorian right now i want to tell you something that is right around the corner it's coming up and that is the next speak up course it is my speaking course that is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally it is fast approaching if you would like to enroll each week we talk about different topics uh we do different speaking activities so you will be learning with me speaking with me as well as your other classmates so if you are interested in signing up check out that link down below in the description to learn more about the course as well as the class times that it is offered it is coming up it's fast approaching so please check that out we now return you to our regularly scheduled program you can also use the phrase and say that something will be here before you know it and in this case i think you're saying that you're referring to something that you really anticipate that you're really looking forward to you're excited about or maybe you're even trying to reassure someone who maybe they're going through a difficult time and they want it to end and you're just trying to reassure them and say look it'll so it'll be here before you know it this little one will be here before you know it much work be done tournament here before you know it yeah that's what i'm afraid of something is upon us so if you say that something is upon us i it's a more formal statement or you're probably going to use it in a more formal setting and in this case you're you're not really going to be talking about like a specific day or just a specific time i think it often is used to refer to like more something that would last perhaps over a period of time and something that would could possibly bring about great change and you'd say that yes this is upon us and it's probably not a phrase that you are going to use very often but it is something that you may hear in tv shows and movies but if you're going to refer to something like a season that lasts over a longer period of time perhaps it's going to bring about great change like winter and then you could say winter is upon us war is upon us the apocalypse is upon us winter is almost upon us kill the boy and let the man be born on the horizon so this it's another phrase that you are probably not just going to use all the time but it's a good one to know because if you say that something is on the horizon it means that you know it's something's going to happen soon but perhaps you don't know exactly when it's going to happen and you could say well it's just it's just on the horizon it's like you can see it but you don't know exactly when it's going to happen it's going to be soon maybe that job promotion it's it's on the horizon i don't know exactly when it'll happen but it'll be here soon big things on the horizon stevie which is uh why i wanted to sit down with you today do you have any prospects no you got anything on the horizon no something is brewing and if you say that something is brewing this has a negative connotation it means that well some trouble is getting ready to start or some problem uh is going to happen in the near future or at least you think it is and you can say that that something is brewing or again casually you might hear somebody say something is a bruin like for example uh a storm the weather it's looking like it's going to be very bad you could say yeah it looks like looks like storm's brewing storms are brewing dwarfs others are less than savory nature wars brewing girls don't like me i don't really like them yet either but i think i'm gonna there's a stormer brewing down there on its way so this is a phrase that i think is actually a lot more common and you would use this to refer to something that will arrive soon something physical probably something that you may have sent if you're talking about like the mail like a box you send a box to someone and then you let them know hey it's on its way it's going to arrive soon it's on its way transport's already on its way the ac is on its way where's the fight on its way then we have the phrase in the cards this is uh an informal phrase i think it's even a bit of an idiom and that you say that it's a way of saying that something will likely happen and it's not one that you're probably going to hear very often but you could hear it in the context of somebody trying to like predict the future or something that might happen and you could say that it's in the cards maybe you want to ask somebody out on a date and you're kind of flirting with this person and you're asking them do you think like at some point we could go out and get dinner and then the other person replies well yeah i think it's in the cards i think this is something that will likely happen it's in the cards i'm just saying doesn't look like band camp is in the cards so it's in the cards look at our chance to make history i'm just saying telling the truth is not in the cards right now next is the phrase on the verge of something and you're probably going to use it with the verb to be to be on the verge of something and well that of something is pro it's probably going to refer to some type of discovery some breakthrough that it's getting ready to happen it's so exciting you could say yes you are on the verge of making this new discovery dr cooper is on the verge of a breakthrough on the verge of major discovery now you are on the verge of making an irreversible mistake mr vice president if you enjoyed this lesson and learn some new phrases please hit that like button and of course you can check out one of these other lessons i i think it's in the cards or at least i hope it's in the cards and then an entirely new video lesson will be here before you know it so don't worry thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 544. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Expressing Ability vs Inability | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `5FcYMrQyTCI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FcYMrQyTCI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:12:13 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson this is it's going to be a vocabulary lesson and I want to talk to you about some useful phrases if you want to talk about your abilities and that well maybe you're good at doing something or perhaps your inability some things that maybe you need to work on and you need to practice a little more so hello thank you guys for joining me hello uh Vicky Gustav rafella takayo good to see you let's uh let's move into the first part and again just kind of introducing and talking a little bit about the topic so there are many many different ways that you can say you're either good at something or you're not good at it this is just these are a couple of examples like he is good at teaching English or he sucks at teaching English these are two common ways to express ability or inability the one thing that I want you to keep in mind as we go through and talk about these phrases and I would like you to participate and give me some examples write them in the chat or write to write them in the comments is keeping in mind some of the things like grammar are we talking about an adjective or like good or a verb like to suck at something is it followed by a preposition which preposition are you going to use if the preposition changes does that change the meaning and also small things like well is this a phrase that's going to come at the beginning of a statement or even at the end so these are the things that I'd like to talk to you a little bit about as we go through some of these different phrases so again welcome to today's lesson um we're gonna talk about ability and inability but before we do that I want to make one quick little announcement and that is just letting you know if you would like to join my speaking course check out the link down in the description this is a course for intermediate to Advanced speakers it's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally we do we we have different topics each week we learn vocabulary related to the topic and again even phrases like uh like these phrases today this is some of the stuff we go over learning how to use them practice using them and of course you can use the code speak20 to get 20 off uh the course so let me I'm going to throw that in the chat right there but yeah check out the link Down Below in the description if you're interested in joining so with all of these lessons as you may or may not know I like to to make them more of a quiz lesson it's more interactive that way so all I want you to do is to complete the sentence and we're starting out with phrases to talk about your ability to do something things that you're good at so just keep that in mind so as far as helping you determine which phrase uh we're talking about so the first one she has a um for negotiating I've given you the meaning but because we're talking about being good at something your ability to do something of course they're they're all going to be very similar but this is a skill or natural ability to do something easily and and well so what could you say I've I've kind of highlighted the phrase in general and given you the first letter excellent so you guys are rocking this first one vb7k2 excellent so yes you guys are right she has a knack for negotiating I'm going to give you some examples but right now also if in the chat in the comments tell me practice using these phrases tell me something that you have a knack for a skill or natural ability you do it easily you do it well so here are some examples that um I'm giving you you have a knack for something if I see some good sentences I'll read those out so you could talk about like the first one I have a knack for falling asleep quickly something that you can do easily or if I were commenting on about somebody else's abilities and say oh he has a knack for telling stories he's just naturally good at doing this and then the last one there's one little slight change that I wanted to make you aware of uh she has The Knack of being at the wrong place at the wrong time so you'll notice two things instead of anak and using that article I'm using the definite article the and following it with the preposition of I think more often than not more commonly you're going to hear the phrase used a knack for something however and I was trying to find like if it wasn't like a solid rule because you can follow Knack with the preposition of and often when I was looking at example sentences it comes after the definite article thus so it's like you're talking about a specific thing The Knack of something happening so keep that in mind a knack for something or the neck of I wanted to to point that out but I think more often than not you're going to use a knack for something um so let's see so he said I have a knack for singing in foreign languages excellent I have a knack for cooking good um my partner had a knack for presentation or giving presentations perfect excellent uh the next one let's keep moving on and it might again I I hope that some of these phrases are new for you and as I shown you at the beginning many people will just say oh I'm good at this he's good at this she's good at that uh but these are again building getting a little variety mixing it up a little bit so he is extremely um at coding once again we have this word followed by the preposition at and when you think about that phrase you're referring to well skilled and experienced and I do think a key word in here is experienced that you have experience doing this thing and you could say well they are very um at this thing and again the word starts with a P I haven't seen it just yet but I'll give you a moment and then I'll tell you the answer and this is a phrase that again you're not going to to use it all the time or probably hear it all the time but like I said it's just getting a little bit of that variety uh building your vocabulary that's what it's all about so the word that we're looking for he is extremely proficient you're proficient at coding and that's why I said I think a key word is experience like you have some experience you're proficient at doing this thing all right now I see some good answer excellent Rafaela Julia um promise nice excellent so yeah we're talking about being proficient at something now with this one let me give you some examples and again feel free write some example sentences in the chat in the comments the idea is just to practice using them in context so the one thing which you can see right here is that proficient you may follow it with different prepositions you could be proficient at something proficient in something or proficient with something and I've given you some examples right here trying to let you know well when you would use which preposition so the the first one I'm proficient at setting up a tent okay this is something that yes I have experience with I love camping so I could say oh I'm yeah I'm pretty proficient at setting up a tent and and that's referring to specific things okay the before in the example proficient at coding it's a specific thing the next sentence she is proficient in two languages so proficient in something is often used with subjects uh you might hear somebody oh I'm you know proficient in well you might be proficient in English or proficient in math and you're referring more to a subject if you want to say you're proficient with something he's proficient with knives uh and I forgot to put a full stop at the end there I apologize but in that case we're talking about tools that you may use and you're proficient with this tool in this case somebody is proficient with knives so again this is why prepositions can cause some confusion you could be proficient at proficient in proficient with once again in my opinion I would say that probably proficient at is used more often because you're talking about a specific thing that you are skilled at doing or that you have experience with this thing so somebody says I'm proficient with computers perfect nice uh my I'm proficient at math excellent he is proficient at cooking a plethora of foods my dad is proficient at gardening excellent so again it's all about getting that practice that's what well interactive English is all about especially these lessons right here so the next one she is at problem solving this word starts with an A and again the blanks those are missing letters so I'm telling you right now that this word has one two three four five letters she is at problem solving I would even say again this phrase is more advanced it's probably less commonly used than proficient at but still something you may hear from time to time and again I try to give you some of this more advanced vocabulary hoping that maybe you'll you'll learn something new and it refers to having a natural ability to do something that needs skill so you're talking about something where skill is needed and you have this this ability starts with an A does anybody any any ideas uh which word I'm talking about which adjective and yes excellent the answer is adept so I want to one answer in there perfect she she is adept at problem solving and she has this a skill that's a skill that people need and you have this natural ability you are Adept at this once again once again please write some sentences practice using this phrase in case it's new I see all these answers now I don't know if it's because of the delay or just like oh yeah Adept uh people writing it down perfect so the way that I wanted to present this a little differently instead of me just sharing some sentences with you uh to really show you how it's used in context I just put this in quotes went to news and took some screenshots of some news headlines using this phrase to once again just to show you that yeah you you may come across this if you're reading a book or reading a news article so the first one it says Montreal companies are Adept at meeting employee needs and in this case they're they're doing a good job they have this ability to meet the employee needs uh this is February Creature Feature it says Foxes are surprisingly Adept at and I'll tell you what the rest of the article title was they didn't write it down right there but it was saying that foxes are surprisingly Adept at living among uh human beings so basically where where our environment where people build homes and apartments and they live that foxes are Adept uh surprisingly Adept at living among us and basically with us and close by uh and yes that's something that they're able to do and then that final example I believe this is somebody who plays Cricket they're talking about an athlete Barat Adept at making a challenging task look easy so once again this is a phrase that you're talking about your ability to do something to do it well you are Adept at uh this thing so the let's let's keep moving on um right here again this one I think is a a common one my oh I didn't see sentences I'm not to Adept at writing on the chat okay that's fair fair enough um but it keep keep writing some of these sentences practice using them that's that's that's what I like to see like sorry I didn't get to too many sentences there but I want to look at this one because there are other phrases I need to get through my friend is a um at riding a horse or you could say it riding horses either one and this is to have an inherent or instinctive ability uh in something we're talking about this activity my friend is a um at riding a horse and I see some quick answers with this one so great job I think this is a phrase that's more commonly used so you've probably heard this watching a TV show movie perhaps you even use it yourself um Helena Mina uh nice we're talking about a natural if you are a natural at something then it's almost like you're you're born with disability you just instinctively know how to do something and you could say you are a natural at this thing here are some examples and there's one thing that I want to point out at the bottom so once again you're going to follow this with the the preposition at you are a natural at something maybe a noun or you're a natural at doing something I'm trying to highlight there here's he's a natural um at playing chess so you could say he's a natural at playing using that gerund playing chess or just say he's a natural at chess either one is perfectly okay the next sentence that I wanted to say is that if if you're not going to use the preposition it is common just to say somebody is a natural but in that case typically you would talk about that something beforehand and we already know what the topic is like oh I've never seen someone play um so well at chess he's a natural and you're making that statement you don't have to follow it every time with that preposition with this one I think it's common to say that somebody is a natural another way of using this phrase would be would be to use the adjective Natural Born she's a natural born swimmer so Natural Born you would find this phrase before the noun and you would say somebody is a Natural Born something so the different ways that you can use this word and phrase which I think is useful it's helpful to understand some people writing some sentences I'm a natural at helping people okay good I'm a natural at learning English glad to hear that Wally uh she's a natural at acting on stage nice rafella he wants to be a natural at swimming nice then let me see I have I think one more with these abilities and then we'll talk about inability so this is well you see that hyphen in there they are um in the art of deception we're talking about knowing a lot of something and I think this does have to do it's a key word knowledge so I've there are two words I've given you the first letter of each word and once again each of those blanks that is a letter what do you think they are in the art of deception they know a lot about this thing and I hopefully that I'm giving you the first letter of both of those words it makes it a little easier to try to think of the phrase and with this one we are going to follow it with the preposition in you are in something good job um Gabriel Julia Mina promisec sorry if I mispronounce names we're talking about the phrase well versed you're well versed in something you know a lot about this thing and it does make me think a well-versed you have knowledge so it's not necessarily like talking about like a physical ability but knowledge and information nice uh Vicky Gustav Lawley Rafaela perfect so I'm not going to be I'm not going to read these I know it's small really the point that I wanted to make with this was just highlighting one of the dictionaries that I like to use Cambridge in order to get you know meanings I think they give simple explanations but if you were to scroll down uh not just look at the meaning often they give these examples using the word and they're really citing it from other online articles and what I've done I've just highlighted where they have used the word the only thing I would say is if you're I think reading these sentences it does give you a better idea of like the context and how people use it the grammatical structure which is all very important sometimes I feel like the sentences they provide because it is a news article it may seem a little bit more formal but this is a useful resource not just learning the meaning but then trying to look at some sentences and get a feel for how these phrases are used is also very very important so now we're going to switch gears and we just talked about ways phrases that you can use to express your ability that you're saying you're you're good at something now I want to talk about your well inability if there is something that you well it's you need to work on this thing and you need more maybe you need more practice but you're expressing that and you're talking about either yourself or maybe you're saying like well this other person maybe needs to work on this thing they're not very good um let's look at some of those phrases so the first one and I think I've given you a lot of words so hope maybe this will make this part a little bit easier public speaking is not my um there's two words missing both of them begin with an S and this is a phrase that I really like if you're talking about well a particular skill or ability that a person does not have or in this case not necessarily that they don't have it but they just need more practice they need to work on this thing in order to improve uh perhaps that's a little strong saying that you just don't have uh this ability and I know some of you who have taken my my speak up course we've I think we've talked about this phrase before excellent takayao um rafella Julia Gabrielle we're telling the phrase is strong suit and if you say that something is not your strong suit it's just you're just letting somebody know that okay this is the thing I'm not the best at this thing you could use this in the affirmative but I I put this under the category of an inability because often I think people will use this phrase in the negative and they're talking about something that they're not good at doing and you could say well it's not really my strong suit so just because I have it here uh talking about inability you could hear people use this in the affirmative and say wow this is you know this is really your strong suit like you're really good at this but often I think people will use this phrase um talking about something they're not good at I've given you some examples here all related to learning English just to to follow up and the one other thing I point out is this notice where it is it's often it's going to come uh really at the end of a statement so talking about English like somebody said well English grammar is not my strong suit and it's just something they need to work on and improve or phrasal verbs are not my strong suit I I've I feel like a lot of people will tell me this again they can be very confusing they have multiple meanings and you can say well yeah phrasal verbs they're not my strong suit or making small talk in English is not my strong suit so you're referring to this skill that you just need more practice you need to work on it you need to get better you could say it's not my strong suit strong point I would say point is not really often used if you wanted to to refer to in this sentence like you wouldn't really uh put point at the end there um typically I think point would be like an argument if somebody's like well that's not a very strong point like I'm not a strong argument or Reason these idioms are not my strong suit calculus is not my strong suit geometry is definitely not my strong suit um lodging a complaint is not uh my strong suit uh all right excellent you guys those are some great examples thank you for for sharing some sentences let's let's keep sharing some more now well let me just read the sentence and then I'll talk about it American football is not my um I've only given you one letter at the beginning there are three words that are missing and the that first word that's missing it's the begins with the letter c now I will say what I wanted to mention about this because in general we're talking about ability and inability this is not this phrase is not necessarily related to your inability to do something it's more closely associated with your talking about likes and dislikes so in this case something that you just don't really care for that you don't like I wanted to let you know that at the beginning and I think I've probably just given away much of it there seeing all these answers so when something is not like the type of thing that you like uh yes Lolly Rafaela Victor Takaya Ashraf Oleg um we're talking about you know it's not your cup of tea and I'm sure American football is very popular in the United States uh which is where I am from and I really enjoy it but I know for other people who are not from the US they would say yeah it's not really my cup of tea it's not the thing that I enjoy or like the most so keep in mind this is not really associated with the ability or inability but more likes and dislikes something you just don't really care for so here are some examples uh and and these are actually personal examples I was trying to think of other things I was like why not write some things that are just not my cup of tea so I would say that horror movies yeah they're just not my cup of tea not thing the types of movies that I like to watch the most early morning flights are not my cup of tea I'm not a morning person I don't like getting up early going to the airport checking in going through all that it's definitely not my cup of tea and Loud bars and restaurants are not my cup of tea I think at one point maybe they were and maybe I feel like I'm I'm getting older or something it just it's just today it's not my cup of tea um yeah if it's just too loud you can't talk you can't have a conversation not my cup of tea uh we have some sentences summer uh is not my cup of tea because most of the time sweltering hot yeah uh cooking is not my cup of tea watching TV is honestly not my cup of tea swimming's not my cup of tea great excellent and I hope I imagine you guys are sharing your your personal feelings about this and I think that's the easiest way to to practice think about well what how do you feel what is something that's not your cup of tea or in this case using this other phrase in which case we are talking about uh an inability you can see the meaning right there a small problem or weakness in a person what would you say math has always been my um two words the first one begins with an A and the next one begins with an h and you may be looking at this and you see that capital A that is not a mistake that is that's just part of the phrase it is a um it's a capital capital letter so that's not a mistake uh and again I don't know how you may hear this from time to time um the fact that everybody's kind of throwing those answers in there makes me think okay maybe people have heard this before but it is referring to a weakness if you want to say that yeah you're not really um good at this thing so excellent yeah Lolly Leonel um Ashraf we're talking about the phrase Arena Achilles heel and I will point out that you may find achilles at the end there with an apostrophe like because it would be uh you know incense possessive you may find it without it I just I wrote it without it but in general this is a phrase that you're probably going to use more in spoken English and you're probably not going to find yourself writing it that often but you may or may not find it with an apostrophe at the end of the word so I'm sure obviously we all have weaknesses and you can if you want to tell me um what what is your Achilles heel and write it in the chat or write it in the comments and just practice using the phrase in context it says yes thinking about Brad Pitt in the movie Troy he played the role of Achilles so just to to give you some context as to where this phrase comes from Achilles um well-known uh well I don't want to say well known but in the the mythology I I think what happened is that Achilles was in the river sticks maybe I'm gonna get this wrong I apologize was put in the river sticks and then basically was thought to be kind of invincible um except for uh his heel that was the one weakness that he had and eventually I think as The Story Goes he was killed by an arrow that hit his heel and you feel free to correct me if that is an inaccurate interpretation but again it comes from the the story and say something is your Achilles heel and you would find this typically at the end of a statement and um these uh these are true examples for me writing legibly is my Achilles heel if you were to see my handwriting not good not very legible uh I'm also not very good at drawing so I could say yeah drawing is my Achilles heel if I had to do this thing uh it is certainly one of uh my weaknesses and I would also say yeah cooking is my Achilles heel so those are just some examples uh coding has always been my Achilles heel when I was at school physics uh was my Achilles heel math was my Achilles heel yeah I think you use it a lot um with a subject everyone has an Achilles heel absolutely we all have weaknesses um my Achilles heel is cleaning the house nice so again you could say that well this is uh my weakness this is not my strong suit this is just another way to Express that and say well this is you know it's my Achilles heel this is my weakness here's another one and I'm kind of curious uh if you guys uh are gonna get this when it comes to dancing I have three missing words and I've given you the first letter of each word maybe I'm giving it away I don't know but this is an informal way of yeah just saying that you are not good at doing this thing and really we're in this context we're talking about inactivity because the meaning is like you're moving in a very awkward way so when it comes to dancing I have what what would you say how would you complete that phrase it's very informal it's casual you may use this in just uh a gen a conversation if you're talking about uh well in this case not being very good at dancing so the answer all right now Lolly Julia nice two left feet so this is a way of expressing think of what it really means if somebody has actually you know two left feet they're not going to be very coordinated when it comes to dancing or moving and you could say you have two left feet I will say more often this phrase is used when talking about dancing but you could use it when referring to any activity in which somebody is really they they really need to use their feet and you could say they have two left feet if you want to say they're not good so here I just give two different examples um because you could say two left feet or two left hands once again giving you my opinion I think it's more common that you you may come across people saying two left feet but if you want to say somebody's not you know there's an activity you need to use your hands you could say oh they have two left hands so the first example he's not very coordinated I think he has two left feet when it comes to playing soccer right and again soccer you need to be coordinated um and if you're not then yeah maybe you'd have two left feet or using the other one two left hands she's unable to catch so when it comes to juggling she has two left hands this is an activity you're using your hands um and you could say that someone has two left hands so it really depends on that the activity that you're talking about two left feet two left hands I would say it's more common to say two left feet and often and people are going to be referring to to dancing um if I were trying my hand at skiing I would surely have two left feet it's a good example skiing you you need to you got to use your feet um so with these lessons my goal is hopefully hopefully um you learn something new today I want to just put a little review slide up here I appreciate you guys again practicing using these phrases in context I added that one down there like to say I used those in the last two examples when it comes to so you could even use that phrase fill in an adjective like to be the best when it comes to this topic or to be terrible when it comes to this activity so that's another phrase that you could use when talking about ability or inability and there are others as well it's not just these but I wanted to highlight some of these and again it's all about building vocabulary getting a little bit of language variety which again is something else we try to do throughout my speaking course check out that description if you're interested in joining and if you did learn something new please hit that like button because I know let me see if I can do a little review I'm I'm pretty sure that that many of you have a knack for learning languages and you are probably fairly proficient in English and I know that some of you may think well you know building vocabulary it's not my strong suit but again as you keep doing it and learning it and not just learning the meaning but learning how these words are used I am confident that you know at the end of the day you will be well versed in these different phrases and you would then go on to tell somebody well look you know English is is definitely my cup of tea using it in the positive and maybe you then talk about something else that you're not good at and then you could say well this is my Achilles heel it's my weakness so if you enjoy the lesson again please hit that like button you can check out the link down in the description if you would like to join my speaking course or learn more about it thank you very much for joining me today Lolly Takaya Vicky Gustav um good to see you Arena Sid uh Sam gidi Theory thanks so much trying to throw out some shout outs Rafaela I will see you in the next speaking course excellent um yeah that's that's about uh that's about all I got I hope you guys uh have a wonderful day and of course I will see you soon for another lesson so long --- ## 545. SUPER USEFUL PHRASES | Ways to Express Ability vs Inability | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `42TqcC-srXA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42TqcC-srXA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:48:41 | --- I am going to teach you many useful phrases that you can use to talk about ability or inability and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is West the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals now there are many phrases that you can use to talk about ability or inability here are some very common ones if I said he is good at teaching English or inability he sucks at teaching English these are very common phrases but what I would like to do is give you a little bit of variety so that you can use phrases that may be a little more captivating and interesting when talking about these things now before we get started I just want to let you know if you would like to build your vocabulary practice your speaking skills you can check out my speaking course it's for intermediate to Advanced Learners it's it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally check out the link Down Below in the description if you'd like to sign up or learn more about the course so let's start with ability if you want to say that you're good at something but we don't want to use good at it's very common maybe we want to be a little more precise and in this case you could say you have a knack for something she has a knack for negotiating this means that you have a skill or just a natural ability to do something well and just to give you some more examples uh I could say I have a knack for falling asleep quickly it's something that I can just do naturally or he has a knack for telling stories he does it well and then she has a knack of being at the wrong place at the wrong time one thing that I want to point out is that most of the time you're going to say somebody has a knack for something however ever you may find that it's sometimes followed by the preposition of you have This brilliant Knack of getting your own way now I will say that overwhelmingly I think you're going to say that someone has a knack for doing something I have a knack for Impressions chosen your opponents wise living I have a KN for it the next phrase is proficient at he is extremely proficient at coding this simply means skilled or experienced it's really a way of adding emphasis instead of just saying that someone is good at something you can say they're very proficient at this thing now I would like to point out that you may follow this adjective with either at in or with and I've given you some examples to help you be a little more precise if we're talking about specific things then you're going to follow it with at I'm proficient at setting up a tent I like to go camping so I'm very proficient at doing this if we're talking about General subjects then you can use in she is proficient into two languages I'm sure that you are proficient in English and then finally she's proficient with knives when talking about tools that we use so just something to keep in mind when using this word proficient at proficient in proficient with I think most of the time you're going to use proficient at but I could also use Adept at she is adept at problem solving so this really implies that you have a natural ability to do something that well requires skill and to give you a little more context here are some news headlines using this phrase Montreal companies are Adept at meeting employee needs or February Creature Feature foxes are surprisingly Adept at and then I I forgot what the the rest of the article sorry to to keep you in suspense but they're Adept at something and then finally Barat Adept at making a challenging task look easy the next phrase is masterful at I I don't think this is as commonly used I could say I am masterful at taking selfies this just means you have a lot of skill in a particular job or activity now I I will say I I really did think especially a long time ago that I was masterful at taking selfies I traveled with a disposable camera in the late '90s and basically I would take a lot of selfies and I I never knew what they looked like until I got it developed and then once I got it back I saw like wow I took a lot of decent pictures and I thought yeah I was Adept at taking selfies I'm just going to keep using some of these different phrases I could also say he's masterful at spotting new Talent one thing I want to point out is that you don't always have to use it with the verb to be and then follow it with at I could also use it with nouns and here are some adjective noun collocations with this word a masterful job a masterful performance a masterful game or a masterful tone so again remember that we're talking about skill in a particular activity or or job so it makes sense that you're going to use it with job or performance or game Fred became masterful at leveraging the media to wage his war on J and on Q he masterful performance to give you a point of reference as to how frequently these words are used we can check out engram viewer which allows us to compare how often certain words and phrases are used and they put it on a graph it's very easy to see I was actually surprised when I put in the words proficient Adept and masterful I thought that proficient would probably be more commonly used but as you can see it's a little more common for someone to say you are Adept at something or it is an adjective that you're more likely to come across the next phrase is a natural at my friend is a natural at riding a horse now if you say someone is a natural at something you're really saying that they have an inherent or instinctive ability it's almost like you were born with with this ability and you could say someone is a natural he's a natural at playing chess and I could also use it without specifying what it is I could just say someone is a natural I've never seen someone play so well at chess he's a natural and finally to give you another word if you want to use it as an adjective you could say someone is a natural born and then follow it with a noun she's a natural born swimmer the next phrase is well-versed they are well-versed in the art of deception this means that you really just know a lot about something now to give you some examples using this phrase I thought I'd highlight Cambridge as a source and you could put in well versed and they do give you some different example sentences so you get a better idea as to how it's used in context I'm not going to read through all of these I've underlined where well-versed is in the sentence but just to give you one example it says however it will be of limited use to researchers who are already well-versed in these debates and it will not convert any scientific naturalist then I want to teach you the phrase when it comes to now this is not specifically used to talk about ability but we can use it to connect it to a certain topic so I could say he is a natural when it comes to Billiards so again we're using when it comes to to identify a specific topic that is being talked about and really you could then input a variety of different words to talk about your ability and use when it comes to to identify the topic so I could say she is extremely proficient when it comes to coding or the professor is well-versed when it comes to Modern Art so I could use these adjectives then follow it with when it comes to in order to basically introduce the specific topic I I could say that you are great when it comes to building your vocabulary right so let's continue building your vocabulary and and talk about different phrases that you can use to talk about your inability and let's start with a a phrase that I think is very useful and that is to say that something is not your strong suit public speaking is not my strong suit it's really a phrase that you can use when referring to a particular skill or ability that someone does not have but I personally think it is extremely useful because maybe you don't want to S someone like look I just don't know how to do this maybe you're familiar with the activity or the job and you just want to tell the other person that well you you kind of know how to do it but you're not the best at it and that's when you can use this phrase and say that something is just not your strong suit let me give you some more examples in the context of learning English perhaps um you think well English grammar is not my strong suit or phrasal verbs are not my strong suit or even making small talk in English is just not my strong suit so with each of these it's not talking about something you've never done before you you've tried this you've prac ractice maybe you need to work on it and you want to let the other person know that and therefore you could say well yeah it's just not my strong suit iron is not really my strong suit look yoga is not my strong suit typing is not my strong suit yeah giving things time is not my strong suit the next one is cup of tea American football is not my cup of tea now this does not directly refer to inability it's really more about about your likes and preferences because you would use this when something is not the type of thing that you like however when talking about things that maybe we're we're not very good at often it's because we don't really enjoy it we really don't like this and that is why I wanted to include this phrase and say that something is just not your cup of tea for example and these are really my personal examples because yeah I would say that horror movies are not my cup of tea or early morning flights are not my cup of tea that is definitely true and right now at this point in my life I would also say that loud bars and Loud restaurants are just not my cup of tea it's not something that I like or prefer then I want to teach you the phrase Achilles heel this is probably not as commonly used but still useful it's always just good to get a little variety math has always been my Achilles heel so this means that it's just a a small problem or a weakness in a person I I would say when you think about Achilles heel I think a good word to think of a synonym would just be weakness something is your weakness it is your Achilles heel and I I would also say it's like a real true weakness that someone may have so once again I am going to give you just some personal examples I would tell you that writing legibly is my Achilles heel if you were to see me right You' be like what I do not understand this I could also say that drawing is my Achilles heel it's just something that I have never been very Adept at doing and finally grammar is my Achilles heel now you may be thinking like wait a second you're an English teacher and yes that is true but there are things that I think we have stronger skills at when it comes to teaching and I enjoy teaching vocabulary pronunciation grammar but if I'm thinking about all the different parts of language I'd probably say yeah for me grammar is probably my Achilles heel got to do a lot more research and think about what's acceptable what's not acceptable and once again to give you another point of reference perhaps I didn't want to use like something so strong and say well you know it's my weakness this would be another time when I could say well grammar is just not my strong suit and you don't want to say that you're well really not good at this thing or it's a weakness but just something that you need to work on that you're not the best at how about this phrase Rusty a bit Rusty I haven't bowled for over a year so I'm a bit Rusty this means that you are are not good at knowing or doing something as you once were because you just have not practiced it in a long time and you could say that you are a bit Rusty or a little rusty I think with this word with the word Rusty people may use those adjectives and say that you're a little rusty or a bit Rusty when talking about different activities to give you a little more context here are some news headlines feeling socially awkward even extroverts are a little rusty so this was published 2020 I think it was during covid after those lockdowns that people who were extroverted yeah they were they were a little rusty and then everybody looked a bit Rusty this article I think was talking about players on a sports team maybe they haven't played in a while so they looked a bit Rusty and finally crelle Strauss was a little rusty in intense acting return post selling Sunset it was a balancing act so this person has not acted in some time so they felt a little rusty I'm just a little rusty well my Russian's a bit Rusty but we got the job done yeah I'm just a little rusty my latin's a little rusty remember we're a bit Rusty so bear with us the next phrase is to have two left feet when it comes to dancing I have two left feet there is that phrase once again when it comes to I can identify the topic and then well talk about my inability when you have two left feet it means that you really move in a very awkward way and I think most of the time when somebody uses this phrase and they talk about having two left feet they're really referring to dancing not always but quite often so I could say that someone has two left feet or even two left hands and it's really referring to one's coordination for example he's not very coordinated I think he has two left feet when it comes to playing soccer yeah you really need to use your feet when playing soccer and if you're not very coordinated you move in an awkward way somebody could say yeah you have two left feet or she is just unable to catch so when it comes to juggling she has two left hands if we're just talking about those phrases two left hands two left feet I I think mostly you're going to hear somebody talk about having two left feet and they're not coordinated they move in an awkward way and and probably they're talking about dancing now for a little review I hope that you feel like you are very proficient in English because you have a knack for building your vocabulary learning new words and then practicing them when you have a conversation but even if you feel that well building your vocabulary is not your strong suit I I hope that you you keep at it because well for me I will be honest I am not a natural when it comes to learning languages I have to really work hard at it because if I stop for even a short period of time then yeah my skills they get they get a bit Rusty and then I have to work harder and try to catch back up but I I think that for some people they're very Adept at um learning other languages and you know I think as long as it's something you enjoy then I think you'll be able to do it if if this were something that you were to say well it's just not my cup of tea then it it would be a little more challenging and I'm sure that there would be different aspects of language learning in which you would feel like well this is just my Achilles heel and uh I don't know I was trying to think about how to work in two left hands two left feet I don't think I'm going to be able to do that so let's just start to wrap things up if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 546. Say this dialogue if you want to speak like a CHAMP ๐Ÿ† | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `O9pYeJg9KSw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9pYeJg9KSw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:56:23 | --- Welcome, welcome, welcome to today's speaking practice. That's right. This is a speaking practice and I want you to actually speak and practice your skills and try to copy and shadow what I'm saying. Now, I say shadow my American accent because I am from the United States and I am going to talk to you a little bit more about what's going on, why I am saying it the way I am and in that case it is more about the American accent. However, I would say again, don't feel like you ever need to speak with any particular accent. There are many varieties out there, many of them are amazing, but of course I know some people in in my audience live in the US, you work with people in the US and that's why people may have more of an interest in the American accent. So, we're going to I want you to actually again speak and say these sentences with me and say them after me as well. Here is our conversation. To just to begin with, I'm just going to say the whole thing and then we're going to look at one part at a time. So, there are three different parts to this conversation. It's actually it's not even a conversation. I will say it's more of a talk and this is one person who's just saying these sentences like they're they're talking to someone else. So, let me go ahead and say it and then we're going to look at one one at a time. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office and exercise helps me clear my mind. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. This is again, these are sentences somebody may say when they're talking to somebody else and I want to practice and we're going to do a deep dive and talk a little bit about what's going on in each of these sentences. Now, if you are somebody who would like to improve your speaking fluency, check out the link down below in the description if you want to join my speaking course. It is all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. is part of it. We usually warm up with different parts of connected speech. That's like the first 10-15 minutes, and then we dive into our topic, and we learn vocabulary, we do different discussions, uh debates, we practice different speaking frameworks. So, a lot of a lot of good stuff. If you are interested in improving and developing your skills, check out the link down below in the description. Let's look at our first uh Let's look at our first sentence. I've adding a little vocabulary in here for you just just to keep you on your toes. Uh this the So, let me say, "Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at at the office, and exercise helps me clear my mind." To clear one's mind, it just means I put it down there, "to let go of distracting thoughts or worries." This has a positive connotation, and generally, you would do something in order to clear your mind. And you just want to get rid of those worries, whatever distractions, and you need to clear your mind. I hope that these lessons are, you know, help you get away from your your stress, your distraction, and I hope it helps you clear your mind. So, we're going to practice, and then I want you to let me know in the comments, in the chat, if you were actually speaking. I don't like speaking to myself, so I want you all to let me know. See all these hearts flying? I love it. Love it. Love seeing that. So, this is our first sentence. Now, here's what's going on. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office. Let's just start with that. I've put basically what it's going to sound like. Feeling So, the first thing I would say with many of these verbs in the continuous tense, not all Americans, but many people will drop that G. And then we're going to link that consonant sound. So, it's like we're moving it over to that next uh syllable or word. In this case, the article a. Feeling a Feeling a Feeling a little stressed Stressed that ED would typically have a t sound, which again we're going to link and move over to that preposition. Stressed at the office. Now, the the You have two different forms, strong and a weak form. This case, we're going to use the, which would be the strong form, because office begins with the vowel sound, the office. So, let's just just repeat after me. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office. It's your turn. Okay. I trust that you're speaking with me. And often this gets gets reduced. It's going to sound a little more like n. These words Some many some words uh uh We'll talk about some of these other ones later. They're not really emphasized. So, and is going to sound like more like an An exercise helps me clear my mind. An exercise helps me clear my mind. Let's Let's say this together. Here comes the shadowing part. I want you to say this with me. I'm going to say it slowly and keep these things in mind. So, let's start uh say it slowly. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office. An exercise helps me clear my mind. One more time, slowly. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office. An exercise helps me clear my mind. All right. Now, let's speed things up. Again, I want you to shadow. And now I've I've put the words back in there. So, let's say this together more at a normal speed two times. Ready? Let's begin. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office, and exercise helps me clear my mind. Again. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office, and exercise helps me clear my mind. Okay. All right. So, that was shadowing. I've We're going to keep doing it. Let's Let's do one more. Let's do this as a listen and the repeat. Now, I'm going to say this faster. And try to, you know, say it after me. I still want you to shadow. Try to say it in the exact same way. If you can, I know reading and speaking are two different things. Of course, you can see the words right there, but maybe close your eyes, just listen to what I'm saying, and then repeat it after me. Try to say it in the the exact same way. So, let's do this two times. I'll say it. I want you to repeat. Ready? Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office, and exercise helps me clear my mind. Okay. One more time. Again, I know I'm I'm saying this quickly. Uh ready? Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office, and exercise helps me clear my mind. Okay. I'm I'm giving you maybe like 5 seconds, not much time to say it. I like it. Ouch. It's fast. All right. Uh yes. Lolly, great to see you. Love to seeing so many members. Uh hello, everyone. I want you to write in if you're practicing. Let me know. I just love hearing it. Write the word speaking in the chat, in the comments, so that I know you are practicing your skills and working on these different things. Because I do think this is going to help you well, sound a little more natural, really smooth things out if you're able to use some of these different parts of connected speech. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office and exercise helps me clear my mind. Let's look at the next one and we're we're going to come back to this. Don't worry. Love these hearts. Love it, love it, love it. All right, here's the next sentence. It's a long one and there is another another phrase that I want to highlight. Ready? Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. Now, the one expression I want to highlight first thing in the morning. I think you you see this, you know what it means, but this is a useful phrase that you can do anytime you want to emphasize that you're going to do this before anything else. First thing in the morning, whether you're talking about getting up and doing some activity at home first thing in the morning or at work. This is what did you do at work? Well, I had to do something first thing in the morning. This is what I did before anything else. Great expression to know. So, let's look at what's going on. Thank you. Excellent. Cinderella, Alexandro, Shita, perfect. Excellent. Speaking, speaking, speaking, that is what this lesson is all about. There's a lot going on here. Let's unpack it a little at a time. Therefore, I got to is a pretty common reduction, gotta gotta. Now, I I wrote T's there even though you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flat T. It's going to sound like a soft D, gotta. Get up, very common phrasal verb. I again, I'm going to pronounce that final T in get as a flat T and then link it with the preposition up. Get up. Get up. Got to get up. Let's just say that phrase. Just repeat after me. Got to get up. Got to get up. And we reduce we can reduce that to N and then go to the. Several things going on. So, the first thing is that T in two, it comes between two vowels. You're going to hear me pronounce it as a flat T, which is why I put that D there. The other thing is you're saying, "Wait, why why the?" Two is another word that is not stressed. Often it's going to get reduced. So, instead of two, like the number two, it may sound a little more like a weaker tuh, like it has the schwa sound. And that's why I put go to the. Go to the. And you could practice this phrase. Just say that after me. Go to the. Go to the. One more time, just for fun. Go to the. And then you can add nouns to the end of it. Like, "Well, where are you going?" Go to the gym. Go to the mall. Go to the store. Go to the shop. Go to the park. So, in this case we're going to go to the gym. First. This is elision because I I was emphasizing when I said first that tuh sound. That T is going to elide because it comes between two consonants. So, it's just going to sound like first thing in the morning. Thing in, we can link that ing sound over. Let's just we're going to bookmark it there for a moment. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning. And I'm saying it a little bit with like a melody, that stressed timing, so that it helps you try to maintain that same speed. Say this with me. Let's make it a little sing-song. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning. Let's say it together one more time slowly. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning. You're doing amazing. Great job. All right. The last part of that sentence, so that I don't lose motivation, for is another common word. Instead of sounding like the number four, it often gets reduced and it may sound like a softer fur. Fur the rest of the day. Now, I could say rest of. We're going to link that together, but a lot of times when you have of and the next word begins with a consonant sound, it may sound more like a resta. Rest of the day. Rest of the day. For the rest of the day. Just say that last phrase. For the rest of the day. For the rest of the day. A lot of this, whether I know whatever your preference is for practicing. A lot of it really is just like drill exercise and you say it again and again and again. And then it's going to transfer over into your conversational speech. So, let's practice this slowly two times. I want you to say it with me because this is the shadowing part. Are you ready? All right. If you're ready, let me know see those hearts, thumbs up. All right. Here we go. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. Let's say it again together. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. All right. Let's keep going and we're going to let's speed things up. I know you guys like that fast. Okay. Well, not too fast. Here I'm I'm putting the words back in there. I'm still labeling like what's going on, whether it's a reduction, linking, the flap T, elision. So, let's let's say this at a normal speed, shadowing still, and I want you to say it with me. Ready? Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. Let's say it again. Say it with me. I'm going to keep saying that. Say it with me. Say it with me. Here we go. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. I think it's great to This is my personal belief. If you are actually trying to shadow and say it with me, and you can kind of get an idea for the speed. Is it Is it fast? Are you able to keep up and say it at the same speed? Especially like right now, trying to say it more at a normal speed. I will speed things up right now just to challenge you because like I said, a lot of this is more like a drill exercise, and you're just practicing, you know, the position of your tongue in your mouth, transitioning from one sound to the next, whether we're using reductions, linking, whatever it may be. So, let's uh let's say this together. And yes, somebody that said Yeah, you're right, motivation. That's another one. You're With my accent, you're going to hear me say that first T as a flap T, motivation, motivation. That's again, the flap T is a distinct part of the American accent. Let's [snorts] say this uh I want to do a listen and repeat. Okay, so this time just listen to me and then try to repeat it. Again, if you want, you can try to forget about the words. This is about speaking, and I want you to focus on actually speaking in the way that you're saying these different words and phrases. So, if you can, close your eyes, just listen, and then try. I know it's a long sentence, but then try to say it after me. And I'm going to say it faster. Ready? Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. Your turn. Okay. All right. Hopefully, you were able to try to get it within that short period of time that I'm giving you before I just start speaking again. If I'm not giving you enough time, I apologize. Let's say it one more time. This is listen and repeat. I'm going to say it at a faster speed, and then I want you to repeat after me. Ready? Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. Well done. Let me know, again, in the comments chat, are you are you actually practicing? Just write the word speaking. Let me know. I love hearing from you guys, too. You all know that, as well. Here is the last sentence. And this is Again, it's not a dialogue, but this is like somebody's speaking for, you know, just talking about their situation. >> [sighs] >> I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. The phrase that I wanted to highlight, that work-life balance, I think that you probably are already familiar with this. It's a phrase that I think has become commonly used nowadays because I think many of us are actually giving this some thought, and we're thinking about the time that we work, we're thinking about the things that we want to do in our free time, our other goals, our passions, and we're trying to manage that. So, a work-life balance is the balance between your professional and personal life. Great phrase to know. Quick uh before we jump into it, just want to give some praise to those of you excellent uh Cinderella, good to see you again. Uh Lolly, um Seka Solovav, Just Ball, Louise. Perfect. Um Donu, excellent. So, again, keep practicing. Let's do this one and then we're going to we're going to put it all together at the end. And it's it's a lot to take in, but once again, a lot of this is kind of like a drill exercise and you just keep saying it again and again and again and again. Because I think you know these words and you hear me say the sentence, I think it registers and you're like, "Okay, yeah, I understand that." But we're really doing a deep dive and talk about well, what's going on? So, I've been trying to except I'm not going to say trying to. I have already mentioned that people, especially in the US, we like to drop those Gs with verbs in the continuous tense. So, instead of trying, I'm just going to say trying. Trying, again, that n sound, your tongue is at the top behind your front teeth and you're going to release right into that t sound. To is reduced to that t. Trying to. Trying to. Just say that phrase. Trying to. Trying to. Trying to. When I when I just say it like that, maybe it sounds a little weird, but that is how it sounds. Like, I've been trying to. I've been trying to find a We can link that phrase, move that consonant sound over, find a better work-life balance. The last part in order to. Now, I can link that whole phrase in order, in order, in order. And you can hear me moving that n sound over in order. It's not really linking that last part. One thing we talked about the flap t when it comes between two vowel sounds. I mentioned the phrase like get up or the word motivation. Very common uh when it comes to the American accent. Another time when you hear these flap t's is when the t follows an r sound and it's in an unstressed syllable. Think about these words. Let me say these words. The t follows the r in words like party, dirty, and the t you're hearing me pronounce it as a flap t. In this case, the t is also going to follow that r sound, which is why I change the that t the t into to a d and you have that that d right down there. Once again, the two is reduced. It sounds a little more like tuh in order tuh in order tuh. So, let's just say that phrase in order tuh in order tuh. That's how it sounds slowly. in order tuh in order tuh And then you can drill a drill. In order to manage my stress. Let's say the whole phrase. In order to manage my stress. I'm going to try to say it like a song so you can hear the stress timing. Makes it easier to keep the pace. In order to manage my stress. Say that after me. In order to manage my stress. In order to manage my stress. Okay, hopefully as I'm identifying this you can actually hear that in order tuh in order tuh and it makes a little more sense. In order to manage my stress. Let's Let's say the whole thing slowly. This is a shadowing so let's say it with me. Ready? I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. One more time. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. So, again, I'm basically putting like the phonetic spelling up there, like what it sounds like. Of course, this is not how you would spell these words. Now, I'm going to remove it. I'm still going to include like linking and G dropping, what's happening, but let's say it at a normal speed. Shadow, say it with me. Ready? I've been trying to find a work a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. I apologize. I kind of fumbled through that first one. Let's say it with me again. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. One more time cuz I screwed up that first one. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. Good. Now, the challenging part. I'm going to say it fast. Don't worry about This is just more drill, practicing, transitioning from one sound to the next. Close your eyes. Don't focus on the words. Focus on the sounds that you hear. All right. I'm going to say it, and I want you to repeat after me this time, and I'll give you a few seconds to try to fit this whole sentence in there. Ready? I've been trying to find a better way to Oh, sorry. >> [laughter] >> Let me start over. I apologize. All right, here we go. >> [gasps] >> I've been trying to find a better find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. I apologize again. I still kind of fumbled that first one. Repeat after me. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. Let's do it one more time because again I feel like I messed up that first time. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. Nailed it. Nailed it. You nailed it. Even though I can't hear you, I trust you that you're speaking, practicing your skills. And again, let me know, write speaking down in the comments so I know I know that I'm not talking to myself right now. But it's it it has been known to happen. Here is the entire again a converse It's not really a conversation. Maybe we can assume that somebody is in a conversation and they're telling this other person you know what's going on with their work and stress and trying to go to the gym first thing in the morning and find that work-life balance. Let's uh Let's shadow and I want to let's say this together. Let's It's a little long to do a listen and repeat, but I think that's a good goal when you're shadowing. I know a lot of times we've been doing it with these smaller sentences, but I think it is good to try to shadow and practice something longer, a little more substantial. I always say audiobooks are a great way to practice shadowing because you see the words and you can actually try to say it along with the audio. So, let's say this together. I'm going to say it at a normal speed. I'm not going to try to go too fast. And let's just keep in mind some of those things we were just looking at. Here we go. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at work and exercise helps me clear my mind. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. I hope you didn't think that was too fast. Maybe maybe it was, uh maybe it wasn't for some of you. Let's say it again. Shadow, say the whole thing with me. Ready? Here we go. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office and exercise helps me clear my mind. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. Well, then let's do it one more time. Just for good measure. Just for fun. Ready? Shadow, say it with me. Here we go. Recently, I've been feeling a little stressed at the office and exercise helps me clear my mind. Therefore, I got to get up and go to the gym first thing in the morning so that I don't lose motivation for the rest of the day. I've been trying to find a better work-life balance in order to manage my stress. If I, you know, I I dropped the microphone and I'd clap for you if I could, but I think that this is useful. It's good for developing your overall speaking fluency. Again, everybody has different goals. I know I was focusing a little bit more on the American accent because I'm from the US. Again, you don't shouldn't feel like you need to speak with any particular accent, but I I really think a lot of this information can be helpful, especially when it comes to your listening comprehension. Very quickly, wow, Cinderella, thank you so much. Uh it's great seeing you. Great uh having you. I love it. Participating and I hope you you know, you're able to practice and improve your skills. And yeah, I I'm going to keep We're going to keep working on this. As I've mentioned before and I will mention it in the future, a lot of this can be a little bit more of a drill exercise, but just to highlight that yes, shadowing. Use this to your advantage and try to say a sentence in the exact same way. Try to say it at the same time. The They think the clearest association is singing a song. When you sing a song, you don't just say the words, you're trying to say it same intonation, same emphasis, same pronunciation, same speed, and that's basically what this is except we're just using conversational sentences. Things that you know, people might talk about just in everyday conversation. So, keep at it. We're going to keep working on this in the future. Thank you so much for joining me today. Let me know in the chat, in the comments if you enjoyed this lesson. Write the word speaking and hit that like button. Hit that like button. It goes a long way and subscribe. I realize I didn't even introduce myself. I'll do that. We're going backwards, all right? Yeah, if you're if you're unfamiliar, this is your first time here, my name is Wes. The channel's Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. That is my That is my line that I typically give at the beginning of each lesson, but I I completely spaced it today. I was so focused. I was locked in on these sentences. --- ## 547. Silent Letters (K & W) | Learn English Pronunciation & Spelling | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `chqwbSlCAOM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chqwbSlCAOM) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:53:43 | --- Shhh...these are silent letters. I'm going to show you how to pronounce them correctly. Or more appropriately, not pronounce them at all. Welcome to our global classroom! Thank you for joining us. Now, before we begin today's lesson, I'd like to remind you to please hit that subscribe button if you would like more videos on how to practice and improve your English skills. A common question that we get is... "Why are some words in English not pronounced the way they are spelled?" Well, there are several reasons for that. Historically, the pronunciation of English words has changed over time, even slightly, as we've gone from Old English to Middle English to the Modern English that we speak today. Sometimes, the spelling would even change with the pronunciation. But not anymore. In the 15th century, the printing press was invented and that helped standardize spelling. So now, even if pronunciation may change or evolve in some way, shape, or form spelling largely remains the same. Now, one result from all of English's historical changes is the existence of silent letters. And that's what I want to talk to you about today. So in this lesson, we're going to look at two silent letters that we commonly see at the beginning of some words. These are the letters K and W. I say we're going to look at them because that is all we are going to do. We are going to look and not pronounce. Please keep in mind this is the American pronunciation of these words. Now, silent letters are common across most English varieties. However, the pronunciation may vary slightly depending on where you are. First, let's look at some K words Now you find a silent K when it is followed by the letter "n". Here are some common words that you've probably seen before. Now, I'll say the words and then you can repeat after me. Notice that I did not pronounce the K in any of those words. The K is silent, and each of those words begins with the N sound. Now, let's go over the silent W. This is another silent letter that is typically found at the beginning of some words. However, the silent W is usually followed by the letter "r". Here are some examples, so please repeat after me. Notice once again that the W is silent. So when it's followed by an "r" then the word begins with the R sound. Now you should be aware that there are other words that have a silent W but are not followed by the letter "r". These words include... Good job guys! You sound just like native English speakers. Now let's make it a little more challenging. I'm going to give you some sentences, and I want you to say them out loud. I'll say them, so you can hear my pronunciation. And then I want you to repeat them so you can keep practicing. Here's the first one. Great job saying those sentences! I'd recommend doing this exercise one more time and continue practicing your pronunciation because this is going to help you improve your overall English fluency. Please "like" the video if you were able to pronounce these words correctly. And remember to follow us on social media for ways to practice and improve your English. Thanks for watching! We hope you enjoyed today's lesson and learned a little more about silent letters and why you should not pronounce them. We'll see you next time. --- ## 548. Similar Spelling, Wildly Different Sounds ๐Ÿ˜œ English Makes NO Sense! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hQejPMg0uoI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQejPMg0uoI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:52:00 | --- Can you correctly pronounce these four words right here? All of them ending with e a r. Now, you would think that the pronunciation is the same, but it's not. They're all different, which is why English can be a bit crazy when it comes to pronunciation. And this is when people will make small mistakes. So, let's start with fear. And you hear that ear sound. And when you have fear, that that emotion of danger. And there are other words that also have the ear pronunciation such as clear. Here. [snorts] Appear. This is very different than our next word, which is pear. Now, the e a r has an air sound. And pear, we're talking about the fruit. Other words with this pronunciation include bear, wear, swear. Then there's learn. Now, the e a r has an er sound. You're learning something. You are acquiring knowledge. It is an extremely common verb. Other words with this er pronunciation include earth, pearl, search. And finally, we have heart. Now, the e a r has an ar sound. Heart, like uh that muscle in your body, your heart. I could not think of other words in which the e a r sounds like ar, but as you can see, there are many words that have this e a r spelling and have a different pronunciation. You just got to sort through them so that you can avoid any small and silly mistakes. --- ## 549. Slang, Informal, and Formal Vocabulary | English Class ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿซ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `I4HnJlbod2Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4HnJlbod2Y) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:59:16 | --- class today let's talk about how to say things in a formal way an informal way and then using slang so how would you describe an atmosphere that is just really exciting what would you say formal Lively good how about you informal energetic and what do you think slang lit really okay moving on what would you call a person who really likes or has strong admiration for a person or thing formal a connoisseur excellent uh what do you think informal a fan okay that works n slang a Stan Stan isn't that from an Eminem song okay now what statement would you use to say that you just you don't like something formal that was unpleasant okay and informal that was bad good slang that sucked that okay sling we get it we get --- ## 550. Slang, Informal, and Formal Words in English | #Vocabulary Class #Shorts ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿซ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `sk2smq4ZfMg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk2smq4ZfMg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:58:54 | --- okay class today we're going to learn how to say things in a formal way an informal way and just using slang let's say that you meet someone for the first time what would you say formal pleased to make your acquaintance okay how about you informal nice to meet you and slang what up I guess that works now how would you describe someone who has a lot of money what would you say formal wealthy informal how would you describe this person rich and slang bling bling okay and then what verb would you use if you want to describe someone who's speaking highly of their abilities or accomplishments formal to boast how about you informal ooh to brag slang what would you say to flex okay you're not that strong --- ## 551. Sound Fluent in English โ€“ Use These (C1) Phrases Like a Native! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Bt8OTU34WKw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt8OTU34WKw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:02:09 | --- let's learn some Advanced C1 phrases to help you build your vocabulary and all things considered this lesson is going to be helpful and useful and all things considered is the first phrase that I would like to teach you so you would use this phrase when you're trying to say that something is true or good in general when you consider all of its aspects and it like you're saying that a situation is not perfect but in general it's pretty good and often I think you may use this phrase when you're referring to an event like the success of an event so if we're talking about a wedding I could say the wedding was a great success All Things Considered there's a lot of planning that goes into a wedding some things may go wrong but you could say all things considered it was a great success I also want to teach you the pronunciation of these phrases so that you can say them accurately and clearly and with this phrase the only thing that I'd like to point out is that there's a bit of co-artigan calculation going on with that final dark Ellen all and then you move right into that voiceless th in things because the tip of your tongue is going to be behind your top front teeth and it's like we can just connect those two words all things all things considered I guess All Things Considered I was lucky Dwight was there now I am not the perfect teacher no teacher is perfect but all things considered this is the best place for you to practice and improve your English skills and if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals that's what we're gonna do we're gonna do it bit by bit and bit by bit is the next phrase that I'd like to teach you so this is a binomial pair which is talking about an expression that has two words joined by a conjunction and that conjunction it's often and or or but in this case it's not we're talking about buy bit by bit and what this means is gradually you're going to do something gradually often I think that you would use this when talking about something you're going to grow or develop or even just the opposite something that you're going to destroy or take apart so I could say that I am trying to grow this channel bit by bit I'm doing it gradually and hopefully it'll get bigger and bigger you may be thinking is there really any difference between bit by bit and little by little which is also another binomial pair and they really have a similar meaning I would say that little by little is more commonly used it's actually a B2 phrase but if you know that binomial pair then you should have no trouble using bit by bit and for pronunciation there's not really anything too difficult going on here there's a little bit of alliteration when you have the same sound set again and again bit by bit you hear that sound so in that case it's pretty fun to just say bit by bit bit by bit when I sat back and watched Moriarty destroy my reputation let's just stay with the sound with our next phrase which is before you know it and this just means very soon so when you use this phrase you're emphasizing that something is going to happen quickly and suddenly and before I give you some examples I want to talk about the pronunciation and I really want you to pay attention to the linking that occurs at the end of this phrase so you have that consonant sound in no it's going to get linked with the vowel sound in it that beginning vowel sound no wit and people will generally say this phrase together they'll say it quickly so linking will occur when you use this phrase before you know it first she's texting at work and then she's going to doing our homework and then she's hanging out with the bad kid and before you know it she's pregnant to give you a few more examples I could say I know flying gives you some anxiety but the plane will be on the ground before you know it or perhaps someone's pregnant and you say congratulations I bet the baby will be here before you know it or if you start using Elsa speak before you know it your pronunciation will have improved dramatically and I'd like to thank Elsa speak for sponsoring today's lesson so this is a great app that I actually learned about from many of you but if you're not familiar with it let me show you what it's all about there are many different things that you can do to really help you fine-tune your pronunciation you can practice by skill and there are a lot of them you can also practice by topic and there are many of those as well and something else that's very cool about Elsa speak is that you can practice the words and phrases that you want to learn so we can even practice a phrase from this lesson if I were just to type in before you know it and then you can listen to it before you know it and then practice before you know it all right excellent and then let me show you what it would look like if a mistake is made so instead of no I'll say now before you know it and as you can see this instant feedback allows you to make adjustments and continue to improve and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership for free but you can also use my discount to get 85 percent off a lifetime membership or forty percent off a one-year membership so check out the links and discounts in the description if you would like to improve your pronunciation and before you know it you're going to sound just like a native speaker it's going to happen one day out of the blue and that is the next C1 phrase that I want to teach you out of the blue you can use this phrase to say that something happens that is completely unexpected and often you would use this if you're telling a story and then you want to emphasize the thing that was unexpected last week out of the blue she said that we should move in together and I didn't know that our relationship was that serious it just happened out of the blue so I use this adverb phrase once at the beginning of the statement and then at the end you can kind of move it around a little bit and once again this phrase has a similar meaning to another phrase which is out of nowhere except out of nowhere is a B2 phrase but when you're building your vocabulary it's good to get a little variety when you're having a conversation or in this case when you're telling a story and you can use different phrases for pronunciation the one thing that I want you to keep in mind is that final T in out I'm from the United States so with the American accent I'm going to pronounce that t as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D and then I will link it with the vowel sound in of it's going to sound like out of out of the blue and because you're emphasizing something that happens people will say this quickly and they will link those words together out of the blue everything was going great until he suddenly reappeared out of the blue but that dum dum ran his mouth the next phrase is at a glance this means to see something immediately or quickly and people may use this phrase with the word quick and say at a quick glance you're just adding a little emphasis to the speed or someone might say at first glance that's another collocation with this phrase saying that you looked at something quickly but then you had to look at it closer or maybe you looked at it again to show you how it's used in context I could say I could tell at a glance that something was wrong everyone looked worried or I recognized her at a glance she was the woman from the party and for pronunciation once again that t and at I'm going to pronounce it with a flap T and then I will link it with the vowel sound in uh that article add a at a glance at a glance we're going to line the front seat in the back seat in the floorboards we've got some blankets cup stops as it starts sticking his big snout in the car the subterfuge won't last but at a blast the car will appear to be normal then there's the phrase to have something against someone and this just means to dislike someone for a reason and even though the meaning is pretty simple and straightforward the usage of this phrase can be a bit challenging because the something is your reason and let's say you don't like someone because uh they stole something I would not say I have stealing against him that just sounds awkward instead the reason that something it's often well it's not going to exist or it's going to be unknown so let's talk about a reason that just doesn't exist in this case you're basically saying that you have no reason to dislike someone and people may use this with the words nothing or anything so I might say I have nothing against him we just don't have anything in common so I don't have any reason to dislike him the reason it just doesn't exist but maybe you don't have anything in common and therefore you're not friends or using anything I don't have anything against her we just don't get along so once again the reason why I dislike this person just doesn't exist but maybe again with some people you don't end up getting along and you're not friends if we're talking about a reason that is unknown well then people may ask a question and use this phrase like why were you so mean what do you have against her so again it's unknown the reason so that's why I'm asking the question what do you have against her or you could just use this in a statement if I'm asking you like well look I don't know what you have against me but we really need to find a way to work together so again what you have against me is that noun clause but I'm still talking about a reason that is uh that is unknown I don't know what you have against me but I know that's that's just an example you know we're friends we get along I think we work well together but if we're talking about the pronunciation of this phrase I'd like to point out that Elysian may occur if the someone is him or her and illusion is when you remove a certain sound or even syllable so in this case we're talking about that H in him or her and if it gets removed well then we can link that final T in against with the vowel sound so it'll sound like against him or against her what do you have against him what do you have against her and a vision may occur when you're pronouncing this phrase you don't care very much for our community do you Mr Walsh I have nothing against your community Mr Pruitt the next C1 phrase that I have for you is to look on the bright side and this just means to find good things in a bad situation and you would tell someone to look on the bright side so think about it in the context of trying to cheer someone up and there's a bad situation and you tell them look on the bright side and then you would follow it with a reason and that's really important so you're telling them to cheer up try and stay positive and then you got to give them a reason why if you just say look on the bright side and don't say anything else then it's going to seem a little strange so let's say you tear your new shirt and you're really upset about it and I'm trying to cheer you up and I say hey look on the bright side now you get to go shopping for some new clothes and you get to find a new shirt and you can look on the bright side when you're pronouncing this phrase just keep in mind that once again linking will occur we can link that final consonant sound and look with the vowel sound in on look on and remember the article the we're going to pronounce it with a schwa sound because it comes before that consonant B sound in bright look on the bright side look on the bright side this is a deal breaker look on the bright side what's the bright side only nine more months to Comic-Con oh yeah to take issue with so this just means to strongly disagree with someone or something and you could just use this instead of saying I disagree I take issue with that and it just gives it a little bit of emphasis I take issue with teachers who use corporal punishment or we took issue with the changes they made to the contract or you're not going to hit the like button I take issue with that okay I just I disagree with that and of course I'm just kidding you you can do whatever you want but when you are pronouncing this phrase keep in mind that we can link the final consonant sound intake with the beginning vowel sound in issue take issue and you can start to see a theme here that linking commonly occurs in many of these phrases that's not what we already are cool your tongue Airman because I intend to take issue with your performance then we have to keep a low profile and this means to avoid attracting attention to yourself and I think that we can all relate to this phrase right now can you think of a time when you were trying to keep a low profile perhaps you go to some social event maybe a party and you really don't feel like talking to many people so you try to keep a low profile or or perhaps it work maybe you showed up late or you forgot to submit something you don't want to attract attention to yourself so you try to keep a low profile and for pronunciation yes more linking we can link that consonant sound and keep with that schwa sound in the article uh keep uh keep a low profile Vice for me on my new position keep a low profile if I had a gold dragon or every time I heard that joke I'd be richer than you are then we have the phrase in accordance with and this means in a way that agrees with or follows and and typically you're talking about agreeing with or following a rule or a law and because of the meaning that you're following a rule or a law I think it's likely that you may hear this phrase being used in a more formal situation so I could say the justice department acted in accordance with the new law or to be honest I could get banned from YouTube If I am not in accordance with YouTube's terms of service so in both of those examples it's a it's a little more formal because I'm talking about following a rule or a law now when you pronounce this phrase of course we can link those first two words we can link that consonant n and n with the vowel sound in accordance in accordance and keep in mind that final syllable in accordance even though it's spelled d-a-n-c-e you're not going to say dance it's going to have that schwa sound it's going to sound like dunce in accordance with in accordance with FAA rules the first two people to the front will be upgraded to First Class okay YouTube the next couple of phrases are more related to driving and the first one is back road so a back road refers to a small road that does not have a lot of traffic on it so maybe you're just trying to avoid traffic or avoid those busy streets and you take some back roads and one thing I want to point out is that I think you'll often use this with the plural roads because when you're driving if you're trying to avoid traffic you're probably not just going to stay on one road you may take several different ones and that's why people often talk about back roads I know some back roads that we can take in order to avoid rush hour traffic and the pronunciation of this phrase is pretty simple and straightforward you just say those two words as they are back roads I'm glad we took the back rugs highways are probably a mess right now then there's bare left or Bear right this means to change directions slightly so that you're going in a particular direction in this case left or right and I think these phrases are very useful especially if you're giving directions and you want to be specific because some roads especially some of those back roads they may not always have a full left turn or right turn and I would say hey up ahead you're going to want to Bear left and then after that the road's going to intersect with another one and when that happens you should Bear right all right I'm just trying to be a little more specific and I also want you to keep in mind that the word bear this is a homonym do not think about the animal this is a verb to bear and it means to change directions slightly and again we're just going to provide that extra bit of information to Bear left or bare right and for pronunciation the only thing I want to say about well just one of the phrases Bear right you have that overlapping R sound that final R and bear in the beginning R and right just allows you to move from one word right into the next Bear right or maybe we'll bear left yes I know some of these phrases may be challenging but I want you to look on the bright side as you continue to build your vocabulary bit by bit well then you will continue to develop your overall English fluency you just need to keep reviewing these phrases from time to time and before you know it they'll become a part of your active memory and you'll be able to use them easily and naturally and I hope you agree with me and you don't take issue with what I just said I would love it if you write to me down in the comments unless you're trying to keep a low profile in that case I I understand but if you learn something new I'd really appreciate it if you hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 552. Sound Fluent with These Advanced English Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZbuWkRgjizs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbuWkRgjizs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:36:26 | --- Let's take your vocabulary to the next level, because I want to teach you 12 high-level phrases to help you sound incredibly fluent in both professional and personal conversations. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes, the channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, let's go ahead and get started with our first phrase, which is to put your thumb on the scale. This means to unfairly influence the outcome of a situation in order to gain an advantage. Now, to give you a little more nuance, this is often used in a negative context because it implies a lack of fair play or maybe even a hidden bias. And it's typically done by a person or group of authority. So, a business executive might do this or the government in order to unfairly affect the outcome. I could say the business executive put his thumb on the scale by giving his nephew the interview questions in advance. That is not fair. That is not right. That is certainly putting your thumb on the scale. Here are some more examples. This is in no way the Contras and the Sandinistas. We're not putting our thumb on the scale. Don't bother because it won't change a goddamn thing. Why? Because I've got my thumb, boom, on the scale and I don't want you to win. Let me put it this way. Maybe you thought I was going to follow it with something else, but I'm not because this is our next phrase. And you're going to use this phrase whenever you want to introduce a clearer, more direct, or even a more polite explanation of a difficult truth. So, this is kind of like a red flag phrase because someone will then follow this phrase with information that may be very blunt, very critical, and the person is really just trying to be careful with their wording. So, if I make a statement like, well, he's not the hardest worker. Let me put it this way. I wouldn't hire him again. Great introductory phrase. Whenever you're in that situation, you want to be clearer, more direct. Let me put it this way. Let me put it this way. You're going to put on this suit. You're going to come to this party or I swear to God I'll blind you with a hot spoon they did to that little boy in Slumdog Millionaire. Really, Dwight? How fast are you? Let's just put it this way. Last weekend, I outran a black pepper snake. Then there's to come to terms with. This means to gradually accept a sad or difficult situation. Now, keep in mind this is not necessarily agreeing. It's really an emotional process. So, you're likely going to use this when talking about grief, illness, or even a major life change. So, here are some things that you and well, me as well, that we may have to come to terms with. The loss of a loved one, losing a friend, uh a breakup, a divorce. There are many different things that we really need to process emotionally and it may take time to come to terms with it. He is still coming to terms with the fact that he has to move to a new city. Here are some more examples. So, a lot of patients need time to come to terms with their diagnosis. The same thing happened to my mother. My father was deep in debt, so I was helping him come to terms with selling our family home. Subject to change. I like this phrase because I use it from time to time. I may throw out a statement uh which is true and say, you know, everything is subject to change. It means dependent on the circumstances, not final. Often you're going to use this with the verb to be and say that something is subject to change and you may come across it in legal documents or more formal announcements. And it's another way of saying that this is the plan for now, but just don't count on it. It's not 100%. Here's an example. The flight is subject to change due to the incoming storm. Great phrase. Maybe you can use it just like I do. If somebody asks, you know, what's your plan? What are you going to do? Is this final? And then you could say, you know, everything is subject to change. >> At a new journey time, 3 years to get home. Subject to change. >> What? I didn't need to be in there. The next phrase is to pull out all the stops. This means to use every possible resource or effort to make something successful. Now, this is an idiom, and let me tell you where it comes from. This is something I did not know. It comes from playing the pipe organ, and you would pull out the stops in order to get the loudest sound. So, it really implies that you or someone else is going above and beyond in order to make something successful, and it's a great phrase that you can use to add emphasis. I could say the hotel pulled out all the stops for the celebrities wedding, even flying in flowers from Paris. That is really going above and beyond. I try to pull out all the stops for these lessons, provide you with meaningful information, examples, nuances. And if you feel like that I try to pull out all the stops, you can let me know by hitting that like button. And I'm just going to keep saying and using this phrase, pulling out all the stops. Hopefully, it'll then just sink in. I made the bet you really are pulling out all the stops. Man, you were absolutely trying to win today. You pulled out all the stops. That was by far the most over-the-top routine. Then we have the phrase to weigh in on. This means to give your opinion or advice on a specific matter. There's one thing that I want to make very clear about this phrase. Let me put it this way. The person speaking or the person weighing in on some matter or topic is generally an expert or they have a lot of influence or specific knowledge about this situation. And that is why you may be asking them to weigh in on it. So, it is a little more formal than just giving your opinion. I could say, "I'd like to ask the legal team to weigh in on this new policy." Because they have expertise and that is why I want the legal team to weigh in on it. Give us a name, Raymond. Weigh in on this is your job now. No. Use the red metal to replace the damaged drill along the profit-making lines. Now you're talking. Dagny, would you like to weigh in on this? No. Here is our next phrase, to keep someone at arm's length. I'm trying to give you a a visual representation. Just keep somebody away because it means to avoid becoming too close or friendly with someone. Like you're trying to maintain a professional relationship. So, this phrase, it could have a neutral connotation as in you're just trying to be professional. You don't want to get too close to your colleagues. Or it could have a slightly negative connotation implying that someone is cold or untrusting. I could say, "Even though they work together, she tries to keep her colleagues at arm's length." Now, this sentence, it doesn't tell us if she would rather just be more professional or is untrusting, but you get the idea. Whenever you want to keep someone at arm's length, yeah, you just don't want to get too close. You need to go make things right with your mother. Because as long as you keep her at arm's length, you're going to keep looking to us to fill that void. I have loved before. It didn't work out. They either die a dismal death or they dump you with a handwritten letter. I don't know which is worse, but it's why I keep everyone at arm's length. Then we have the phrase in the wake of. This means happening after or often as the result of some event. Now, let me give you another visual. Think about a boat that is passing by in the water. The wake refers to those small little waves that the boat creates. So, the boat passes by and you can still feel the wake. You know that the boat has passed. In this case, the event has passed, but the consequences can still be felt. So, this phrase is similar to as a result of. I think the main difference is that in the wake of often refers to a consequence following something major, disruptive, or negative. Many people lost their homes in the wake of the flood. Now, I could say as a result of, but because this event is disruptive, it's negative, I am going to use in the wake of. In the wake of the flood. In the wake of the infinite future, the only thing that the only thing that remain the only thing that remain >> It is also the next and perhaps most important step President Kirkman is taking to reestablish our government in the wake of the capital attack. Just half an hour ago, Mexican officials closed the border in the light of so many US refugees who are fleeing south in the wake of the approaching storm. >> To call into question. This means to cast doubts about something, to challenge the validity of a fact. So, in short, this is a very professional way of saying, I don't know if this is true or I don't know if this is effective. So, you can use this phrase to sound a lot more objective than just telling someone, "Look, I do not believe you." The new evidence has called his alibi into question. Now, there are doubts, we're a little suspicious, and yeah, we don't know if this is true. Okay, see you, Chris. Peter, this is none of my business, but you're turning your boy into a slacker. How dare you call my parenting into question? Buonasera. That means good evening in Italian. May I say having to explain that to you puts into question the authenticity of your ristorante? Then there's the phrase to fall by the wayside. This is more of an idiom, and I like to use it from time to time. It means to be pushed aside, forgotten, or fail to be completed. This really implies that something was neglected because other things just became more important. And my example, this is just something that describes, well, me. Maybe you can relate to it, too. New Year's resolutions often fall by the wayside by the middle of February. I I know that I have big plans, I I come up with these New Year's resolutions, and then unfortunately, some of them just fall by the wayside. It happens, life gets in the way, you know, everything is just subject to change. We all know that the economy is bad, and bloated companies like Dunder Mifflin are going to fall by the wayside. Peter's always been a girlfriend guy. He put all his focus and energy into his relationships, and all his dude friends just fell by the wayside. There you go. I knew it. >> a favor, just go. I had a 48-year tooth brushing streak. I couldn't let it fall by the wayside. >> Okay. Then there's to bridge the gap. This means to connect two different things or reduce the distance between two groups. Keep in mind, this has a very positive connotation because we're we're talking about something that is solution-oriented, and therefore it's often used in business and politics. I could say, "The new mentor program is designed to bridge the gap between senior management and new hires. So, you're really trying to reduce the difference or bring people closer together or just connect two things whenever you're trying to bridge the gap. Well, if you want to get closer to him, then maybe you should bridge the gap. I do it all the time. Miss Bell, see what's up. See what's up. Her English is limited. I've had to learn Cantonese to bridge the gap. He told us thought that he discovered could actually scientifically prove the existence of a divine power. Begin to bridge the gap between science and religion. Then there's for all intents and purposes. This means in every practical sense, in the most important ways. It's another way of saying practically speaking. Now, we use this when something isn't officially true, but the result is the same as if it were. With the CEO on leave, the vice president for all intents and purposes is the head of the company. So, it's not official, but the result is really the same. Be aware that you may hear native speakers incorrectly say for all intensive purposes. It's not correct. I think it may sound a little similar if you were to say it quickly, but just stick with intense and purposes. For all intents and purposes. So, for all intensive purposes, people in need without a wristband are dead to us. Intensive purposes? Did you mean intense and purposes? Oh, wow. I didn't realize things were that bad. >> Yes, for all intents and purposes, Adrian has left me destitute. Hi, Howard. Howard? Sheldon. Howard is employing a schoolyard paradigm in which you are for all intents and purposes deceased. Now, even though the English language is subject to change, I really think that native speakers will continue to use these phrases and you should too. I think that learning this vocabulary is going to help you bridge the gap between your speaking fluency and my own. I really want you to pull out all the stops and keep building your vocabulary. Do not let this fall by the wayside. Let me put it this way. I think it would help if you go ahead and watch another video lesson. And you know, for all intents and purposes, go ahead and hit the like button if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new. Thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 553. Sound Like a Native: Advanced Idioms You NEED to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7PEu8vVQl4o` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PEu8vVQl4o) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:41:52 | --- Let's learn some advanced idioms to help you sound more natural when you're having a conversation more like a native speaker. And if you are someone who enjoys learning new idioms, building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So let's begin with an idiom that I like to use from time to time and that is to cross that bridge when we come to it or to cross that bridge when we get to it. It means to deal with a problem if and when it arises and really an emphasis on the if and when because basically what you're saying is that you're you're not going to stress out over a future problem because it might not ever occur. So, let me give you some situations. And basically, you could respond to these questions using this idiom. do if our flight gets cancelled tomorrow? That's a problem in the future. You don't want to deal with it now. So, you could say, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Or perhaps during a negotiation, I ask you, what do we do if they don't accept our offer? We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Or perhaps we're trying to build something and I say, "What's going to happen if we do not get the building permits?" Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it and we're going to deal with these issues in the future if they actually happen. Here is a fun little comic using this idiom saying, "Hi, I'm that bridge you said you'd cross when you came to it." And in this case, yeah, you might want to avoid that bridge >> if he doesn't have that bullet removed. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. >> That's like step 37 and we're still on step four. Cross that bridge when we get there. >> We shake hands and forget all this ever happened. >> We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. >> Then there's to get the short end of the stick. This means to be treated unfairly or to get the worst outcome. So let's say that in a group everybody has to do a household chore. And one of those chores, cleaning the toilet, is not one that anybody really wants to do. So let's say that the person chosen for that task feels like well it was an unfair process they got the worst outcome. got the short end of the stick. So this idiom originates from the practice of drawing straws or drawing sticks. You hold them out, people choose and whoever gets the shortest stick or shortest straw has to do the undesirable task. So, in that case, it it really means what it says. Let's have a look at some video examples. >> You're gonna get the short end of the stick. >> I don't understand what that means. Are you talking about money? Cuz I don't care about money. >> No, no, it's not just money. It's time, too. >> Just makes me sick watching him do his number on my cousin. >> He's the one getting the short end of the stick, letting somebody like you get away. >> The truth. Allison gets the short end of the attention stick around here. >> In what way? Now, when it comes to improving your fluency, building your vocabulary, and developing your speaking skills, I don't want you to get the short end of the stick. I want you to succeed. And if you want to practice and improve your speaking fluency, you can join my speaking course. It's all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Each week, there is a different speaking topic. You will learn vocabulary related to that topic and you're going to practice your speaking skills with a variety of engaging speaking activities. So, click on the link down below if you'd like to join or learn more about the course. And I just hope to speak to you soon. Let's continue with our next idiom, which I think is a fun one, but it's not a good thing. And that is to throw someone under the bus. It means to blame, betray, or abandon a person for selfish reasons. And I I think we can all relate to this idiom. I have a little girl and a baby boy. And let's say we're eating at the dinner table and I find some food on the floor. I might say, "Hey, what happened? You know, why is this food on the floor?" And my little girl, Emmy, she's very quick to throw Luca under the bus. It wasn't me. It was him. He's the one that did it. And she'll throw him under the bus. Now, you could use it in a more playful situation like that, but I I think often people will use this in a more serious situation. I got fired from my job because my colleague threw me under the bus. Or my girlfriend broke up with me because a close friend, they threw me under the bus. Beware. Karma drives the bus you just threw me under. So, in this case, what goes around comes around. I hope the bus you threw me under swerves to hit you on the sidewalk. And you must have excelled at the throw people under the bus course in college. >> Did anybody find out about this? I'm throwing you under the bus. >> Are you telling me that if I throw you under the bus, you're going to drag me with you? You put your interests above mine about just putting mine back up next to yours. >> Rehired. >> Husband and wife are supposed to help each other, not throw each other under the bus. Besides, you had a comment for throwing me under the bus like that. It's not my first rodeo. This is our next idiom, and you're going to use this to refer to a situation that someone has been in before. And really, you're going to end up using it as a standalone statement, and you're reassuring the other person that you do have experience. So the context in which you would use this idiom would be if someone's talking to you like you don't know what you're doing. You've never done this before. You don't have experience and you want to let that person know I do have experience. It's not my first rodeo. So generally it implies that you've done this thing several times before or you actually have quite a bit of experience when you say to someone, "It's not my first rodeo." To follow up on the idea that the person actually does have quite a bit of experience, here's a fun joke. Seems like a very low amount of rodeos. >> And uh sunscreen. You are organized. Not my first rodeo. >> I'm running off here. Understood. >> Not my first rodeo. >> Don't forget to support his head. >> I will. It's not my first rodeo. Oh, I can't wait to take him to his first rodeo. >> Let's call a spade a spade. This means to speak honestly and directly about something even if it's unpleasant or embarrassing. So that last part is key when trying to understand how and when to use this idiom. Let's say that there is a topic that people are trying to avoid discussing like criticizing your boss. It could get you in trouble. But you're going to do it anyway and you're going to let people know that you're being honest. I'm just calling a spade a spade. So, you use this idiom to highlight the fact that you're being honest. You're being direct when you call a spade a spade. >> I investigate. >> You dig holes. >> All right. I dig holes. >> Don't just calling the spade a spade, isn't it? I >> mean, I'm all for living life, but this is the Geller's 35th anniversary. Okay, let's call a spade a spade. This party stinks. >> You still have too many side effects from the procedure. So, >> experiments. Let's call a spade a spade. >> To throw down the gauntlet. I love it. This just means to issue a challenge. So instead of telling someone, I have a challenge for you, you can say, I'm throwing down the gauntlet. In case you're wondering, gauntlet, this is a really a medieval word. It's an armored glove and people would throw it down and then they might start fighting. If you want a more recent example, Thanos had a gauntlet in the Avengers in order to hold the Infinity Stones. Now, I am going to throw down the gauntlet right now because I don't think you're capable of subscribing to the channel. All you have to do is click on that subscribe button, but I don't think you can do it. I'm throwing down the gauntlet. Let's see if you can do that. And of course, I'm just trying to trick you into subscribing, but still, it's a good example. >> So, I'm going to write my own story. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. >> I'm throwing down the gauntlet, baby. >> The training wheels are coming off, people. I'm throwing down the gauntlet today. Pull power shields. >> Full power, sir. >> Well, we've thrown down the gauntlet. >> The next idiom is tow the line. This means to do what you're expected to do without upsetting anyone. And this is a great idiom that you can use in a work context because let's say you're supposed to follow a policy or maybe just follow your boss's instructions or maybe even follow what your colleagues are supposed to do. And in that case, you could say you're just trying to tow the line. You don't want to upset anyone. You're towing the line. Here are some news headlines to give you a bit more context. Sneaker loafers, a hot new shoe trend, tow the line between fashionable and geriatric. This is kind of a funny headline because geriatric refers to older people. Five contagious country songs that perfectly tow the line between funny and serious. Trump administration knew Gabbert wasn't going to tow the line at Iran briefing. Here are some more examples. So, I would really like my job back as well. >> We all agreed to our version of the story, so somebody isn't towing the line. >> Yeah, well, I'm the chief now and I got to Everyone's got to line up behind me, you know, tow the line. Then we have off the cuff. Simply put, it just means without preparation. So, basically, you might do something off the cuff. And in this case, it's really just an adverb phrase. You could speak off the cuff or give a presentation off the cuff or make a decision off the cuff. You may also use this as an adjective as well, an off-the-cuff response or an off-the-cuff comment or an off-the-cuff critique. Interestingly, this phrase is believed to have originated from people writing notes on their shirt cuffs for a quick reference, typically done by speakers or actors. sure that you don't have anything to say about me being friends with one. >> Nothing off the cuff. What I do have is a prepared statement. >> I had to use my own words. >> An off-the- cuff emotional speech. Even Lincoln had to write his down. >> Take a last bow enough. Make it seem more off-the-cuff. >> Let's talk about the elephant in the room. And when somebody mentions this idiom, the elephant in the room, they're really referring to an obvious problem that everyone ignores. And I think we can all relate to this idiom when thinking about problems that we don't want to talk about, we're trying to ignore. Uh I just thought these pictures were funny if referring to a work situation that is obvious and yeah, nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room or even a a personal relationship. People have problems and they're trying to ignore the obvious and they don't want to address the elephant in the room. The next thing I want to say about this idiom, something that I I kind of just mentioned, is it's often used with specific verbs. To talk about the elephant in the room or to address the elephant in the room. I could say, well, just telling you directly, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. Or no one wants to address the elephant in the room. Here are some more examples. >> But I think we should probably talk about the elephant in the room. I think it's time we address the elephant in the room. >> We're all up. You want to talk about the elephant in the room? >> No, I don't. I don't even know why you brought that thing. >> I mean, the figurative elephant >> to go down in flames. This just means to fail spectacularly. And this is a great idiom whenever you want to add emphasis and descriptively say that something failed miserably. He tried to give a presentation off the cuff, but his presentation went down in flames as soon as he started speaking. And you can use this idiom to talk about relationships that fail, business ventures that fail, pretty much anything. And if you don't believe me, you can just listen to the following songs. Elas down in flames. Three doors down going down in flames. Reliant K down in flames. My point is there are many songs using this idiom to go down in flames. >> I got to hand it to you, Roy. You go down, go down in flames. >> This whole enterprise is going down in flames. >> If we're going down, at least we're going down in flames. >> Actually, I saved you. Seriously, man, you were going down in flames. Trust me, I know. >> Then we have the idiom up in the air. This just means uncertain or unresolved. And often you're going to hear people use this or or you can use this when talking about future plans. I could say, "Our vacation plans are still up in the air because we haven't booked our flights yet." Or, "The future of the project is up in the air until the board makes a final decision." I hope that your plan to hit the like button is not up in the air. This should be certain, definite. Hopefully, you have already done it. I guess my plans are a little up in the air. >> Who it is and if he's actually an insider at the White House, that's up in the air. >> I do have some stress with regard to the future of my business. Certain things are still up in the air at this time. >> Then there's to move the goalpost. This is to change the rules unfairly during a process. So, let's say that I tell you if you learn five of the idioms in this lesson by the end of the month, I will buy you a plane. I don't know why I just thought of that, but okay, let's say I'm going to buy you a plane. You got to learn five idioms. And the one week goes by and then I tell you, okay, I want you to learn 10 of these idioms and you have to know all 10. And you say, okay, that that's fine. I'm going to get that plane. And then another week goes by and I say, "Okay, now I I just want you to to know all of the idioms in this lesson." I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to give it a try." And then once we get to the end of the month, I tell you, I want you to learn every single English idiom in existence, which is well, incredibly difficult. So what I keep doing is moving the goalpost and I'm changing the conditions and in that case it's really unfair to you. So I I think again this happens quite often when somebody establishes certain conditions and you're trying to achieve the goal. But as those conditions change that's when you can use this idiom and say that someone is moving the goalpost. This idiom comes from sports, soccer, football. There are goalpost and if somebody's moving them, it becomes more difficult to score. Which is the goal that you want to achieve? To move the goalpost. >> Time for the final exam. A gentleman's stool. >> Really feels like you're moving the goalpost. >> She's big dinner teas. >> No, I am not. I am not. >> Yes. Yes. She keeps moving the goalpost. >> Then we have the idiom to jump through hoops. This means to do a complicated or annoying series of things in order to get or achieve something. So, I'm from the US, but I live abroad with my family. And because of that, we always have to do immigration stuff. Like, I have I have to get a residency card. And when I was doing that, I constantly felt like I had to jump through hoops, one hoop after another. And it was very frustrating and annoying. To help you better understand this idiom, here are some more news headlines. You may not have to jump through hoops to cancel subscriptions anymore. This can be very annoying and something that I think we can all relate to. American Airlines customer says the company made her mom jump through hoops to inherit her late dad's frequent flyer miles. Don't get me started on these airlines. They constantly make you jump through hoops to do things. And finally, I'm disabled and homeless, yet I'm constantly forced to jump through hoops to prove I need support. >> I was on my way jumping through hoops, kissing the proper behinds, tending to all the non-chemistry that one finds oneself occupied by. >> A lot has changed since y'all left. Okay, you have to jump through some hoops, and the new foreman is here. >> You'll forgive us if we're not really in the mood to jump through too many hoops for a cat. The next idiom I have for you is to shoot yourself in the foot. This means to do something that causes your own failure. And basically the idiom means what it says. You hurt yourself. It's often accidental. You don't mean to shoot yourself in the foot. It just happens. Let me share with you times when I have shot myself in the foot. So I have shot myself in the foot when I bought a stock and then it crashed. And unfortunately, I've shot myself in the foot more than once. I have shot myself in the foot when I arrived super late for a job interview. And just so you know, I did not get that job. I have shot myself in the foot when I told my wife that I forgot her birthday. And that that's not true. That's just an example. If that did happen, I would really be shooting myself in the foot. >> Don't shoot yourself in the foot like this. your foot and you're holding the gun. >> Biker, I'm an idiot. >> Boy, you guys just keep shooting yourself in the foot. >> But you know what? I'm done with all that. I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot anymore. >> I knew this moment was coming. So, let's talk about the elephant in the room. Are you going to watch another lesson or are you going to leave? Now, if your immediate plans are up in the air, let me try to convince you. I think you should watch another lesson because I don't want you to forget these idioms. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot. And this is the challenge that I'm going to issue. I'm throwing down the gauntlet. I want you to keep watching more of these lessons. I'm not going to make you jump through hoops. I think you will definitely learn new things because I well I like to think that I'm good at this. It's not my first rodeo. And if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 554. Sound More American FAST: Master Connected Speech in 45 Minutes! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rjCwER1Cy7Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjCwER1Cy7Y) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:45:27 | --- let's talk about American fast speech and I really want to do a deep dive and help you understand why people speak the way they do so we're going to talk about connected speech and I want you to practice this is a practice lesson and the way that I want you to do that is with shadowing and I am going to say the sentence and I want you to try to say it in the exact same way same intonation emphasis pronunciation as well as the same speed and I think that's one of the more trickier parts of shadowing so the dialogue that we're going to go over right now and I have a few of them that we're going to practice together is this one right here to begin with let me just say the dialogue and then we're going to look at each sentence one at a time and talk about all the different things that are going on so here is how I would say the dialogue is your cold getting any better no I'm going to get an Uber and go home but wait you're going to want to see this sorry I got to get out of here right away it sounds simple enough as you hear me say these sentences and especially because you're able to read it and listen to it at the same time I think it does make it that much easier but to challenge you and have you try to say it just like me can be a little more difficult so let's start with this first question right here is your cold getting any better so what's happening in this sentence the first thing that I want to talk talk about is a similation this is when two sounds blend together to create a new sound often you may find this in question construction so in this case is your that final z sound in is is going to blend with that Y and your and it's going to get a j sound it's like we're putting it right between the two words which is what allows us to then connect them together so this is not something that you have to force as you just transition from one word to the next it's going to occur naturally it's also not a fixed rule you may hear people say these words separately is your but often especially if somebody's speaking a little faster this blending will occur and it's going to sound like isure isure I've given you the phonetic spelling uh just to hopefully make it a little easier for you to see the pronunciation and see what's happening is your cold getting there are a few things happening so getting with these verbs in the continuous tense it's very common I think in the United States for people to drop that g so instead of getting I am going to say getting and the other thing you may notice is like wait a second that t change from getting in which case I'm using a flat T it's going to sound like a soft D because it comes between two vowel sounds and it changes to a gladle t a gladle stop getting now with the American accent when you have the T that t sound followed by an N sound you may hear people say this as a glottal T the glotus is closing it's blocking the flow of air and that that's where the sound is coming from your throat think about if I say uhoh that is a glottal stop that uhoh uh oh and the same thing happens with the T in words that follow this pattern t plus an n Sound in words like kitten written button or in this case get get get and then linking can occur I can link that n Sound with the vowel sound in any this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next I told you I'm giving you giving you a lot of information with just this one simple question so the way it's going to then sound uh is your cold getting any better of course better you're going to hear me pronounce those t's as a flap te this is very common with the American accent and if this is an accent that you are trying to emulate definitely use the flap T so better you'll hear me say it that soft D better it is a yes no question so you really do have that Rising intonation as I ask the question is your cold getting any better is your cold getting any better now I want to practice this and I want you to say it with me I want you to Shadow and say it at the same time I'm going to say it two times slowly and then twice at a normal speed and I want you to say it out loud practice your speaking skills and think about these different things that are going on so let's say it twice slowly together right now ready is your cold getting any better one more time is your cold getting any better now let's speed it up and say it twice at more of a normal speed here we go is your cold getting any better excellent let's look at the next sentence right here I'm going to get an Uber and go home all right it sounds very fast when I say it like that so what's going on the first thing is I'm going to of course going to we can reduce that to gunana that is a very common reduction probably the most common reduction in spoken English one that you may already be actively using right now the one thing that makes this a little trickier and this is something you know if you don't feel comfortable using it do not feel like you have to use this do not feel as though you need to use any accent whatsoever I like working on this but I always tell people that even if maybe you don't feel like using this that's perfectly fine I do think it helps a lot with your listening comprehension because you will hear people speak this way so I'm going to I'm gonna I can reduce it even further and it's going to sound like Amina Amina either one works it's very common to say I'm gonna but just for practicing this to kind of get you outside of your comfort zone a little bit let's use Amina am and you'll hear people say look I'm gonna go to the gym I'm gonna go to the mall I'm gonna go to the store i'mna i'mna Amna in this case I'm going to get an Uber I can link that entire phrase again we're linking the final consonant sound with the beginning vowel sound and then that final T in get you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T so even when we have a phrase and then the final letter is a t if the next word begins with a vowel sound I'm GNA change that to a flap T get in get an Uber I'm gonna get an Uber and go home but I'm not really going to say and go home I'm going to reduce and and and the vowel sounds going to change it's is going to sound like n n and go home so let's practice this sentence twice two times slowly say it with me shadowing say it out loud and then twice at a normal speed so let's say it two times slowly I'm going to get a uber and go home let's say it again I'm going to get a uber and go home now let's speed it up a little more are you ready I'm going to get an Uber and go home once more I'm going to get an Uber and go home this is not something you'll be able to do perfectly the first time it's just something you need to keep working on because a lot of this is just muscle memory transitioning from one sound to the next and you can repeat repeat say it out loud and eventually it's going to start sounding more and more like this American accent because that is what I'm talking about the next sentence you're going to want to see this except I'm not going to say it like that I'm going to say you're going to want to see this so there are a couple of reductions we've already talked about going to getting reduced to gunana want to is another very common reduction and it's just going to sound like Wana it is a little tricky when you have one reduction right after the other going to want to going to W so you may hear somebody say a sentence like this you're going to want to see this or maybe they say a sentence uh like you're going to want to hear this all right indicating that hey I have some information or something that you either want to see or hear so this other person is telling their friend who wants to go home look wait wait wait wait you're going to want to you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this don't go just yet however the person says look I got to get out of here right away I got to get out of here right way what is happening here got to is another reduction I can reduce that to G you're going to hear me say those flap T's gotta get out of we can link that phrase together and that t is also a flap T I really want you to think about this phrase get out of get out of because we use it often if you're looking for a great phrase to start with when it comes to linking and practicing that this is a great starting point because we use it to say well uh I'm you know I need to get out of bed or get out of the car or get out of trouble get out of get out of get out of we use it in a variety of different context so I got to get out of here right away I can link that final phrase and that t right instead of a stop te I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T because it comes between those Val sounds and I'm going to link it with away right away right away hopefully you can hear that soft d right away let's look at the whole sentence and practice together two times slowly are you ready I gotta get out of here right away I gotta get out of here right away now let's speed it up a little twice ready I got to get out of here right away I got to get get out of here right away let's go back to our dialogue and practice together so I so to start out I am going to say part A and I want you to say B it's not a long conversation and hopefully it'll it'll syn up a little bit and it'll sound natural as though we're just saying this together and then we're going to switch and I want you to say a and I will'll say B so I to begin with I am a you are B let's begin is your cold getting any better but wait you're going to want to see this all right good good let's switch and now I want you to say a and I am going to say B you can begin right now no I'm going to get an Uber and go home sorry I got to get out of here right away excellent I I I take it that you are practicing saying this out loud with me because th this is the way you kind of work on reducing your accent if that is one of your goals but I told you that you should never feel like you need to speak with any specific accent but I really do believe this will help with your listening comprehension because you will hear people say these simple sentences just like this is your cold getting any better no I'm going to get an Uber and go home but wait you're going to want to see this sorry I got to get out of here right away let's keep practicing because there are several dialogues that I want to go through and just keep digging in to the different parts of connected speech and what's going on and have you actually practice your speaking skills here is the next conversation that I want to practice the two of us and again I want you to say this out loud and and say it with me shadow so let's begin with uh well just listening to me say this dialogue and then we'll look at each sentence one at a time he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm I don't want to bother him but I really want to bite to eat don't you want to wait until he's done I'm going to try to stay out of his way so this is a a cooking situation and somebody wants to go into the kitchen and get a bite to eat and they're having this conversation so to start out he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm and all of these are different locations various locations in the United States and I I'll tell you where it is um but if you want to guess you can write it in the comments he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm so what's going on in this sentence the first thing is Benin I can link that together and it's almost like I'm moving that final consonant sound over to the next word with that beginning vow sound Ben in he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm we've talked about gropping with those verbs in the continuous tense we've talked about gropping with those verbs in the continuous tense so instead of cooking and you hear that in sound it's going to sound like cooking cooking and then I can link that phrase cooking up a cooking UPA cooking up a storm he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm I do want to point out that the phrase up a storm is used to refer to well doing something with a lot of energy and and often skill so if somebody's in the kitchen cooking up a storm then they're preparing a meal it's probably going to be a good meal and they're working really hard and very you know putting a lot of energy into this so let's practice saying this sentence right here let's say it two times slowly and I want you to say it with me at the same time or try to say it at the same same time and then we'll say it twice at more of a normal speed so let's practice this slowly he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm one more time he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm now let's say it again two times at a normal speed ready he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm once more he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm great job let's look at the next sentence right here oh also if you're wondering this picture right here is from like the Bean in Chicago so this is uh from the the Windy City of Chicago here's the next uh sentence I don't want to bother him but I really want to bite to eat so what's going on in this sentence right here I don't want to want to I can reduce to Wana very common reduction bother him now alision is when sounds or syllables get removed and there are certain times when this happens in one instance it happens with the H in words like he him her his when it comes in the middle of a sentence or the middle of a clause now I don't want you to think about it as the sound it just completely gets removed in this case think think about it like we're turning the volume down and you don't really hear that H it's not really a strong sound to begin with but once I I turn down the volume on that consonant sound I can then link that final consonant with bother with that hm sound so bother him bother him you don't really hear that H and linking can occur I don't want to bother him but I really want uh so what's going on here when the T follows an n Sound I told you there were different times when elision may occur that t T May alide and instead of want and we're linking that t sound over the T alides and it's just going to sound like Wana to give you another example of that t liing it happens with individual words like instead of center with the American accent you're going to hear me say Center interactive with the American accent interactive internet that talides and I'm just going to say internet so this is something that is quite common with the American accent so I just want to point out this is what's going on with that want uh it's going to sound like Wana and then the word two it actually has two different pronunciations a strong form and a weak form the strong form is going to sound like the number two the weak form it gets reduced the vowel sound changes and it's going to sound a little more like awah sound it is a much softer sound T bite to eat eat bite to eat so let's practice this sentence right here again we'll say it two times slowly and then two times at a normal speed I don't want to bother him but I really want to bite to eat one more time I don't want to bother him but I really want to bite to eat now let's speed it up a little say it at a normal speed here we go I don't want to bother him but I really want to bite to eat one more time I don't want to bother him but I really want to bite to eat and in case you're wondering this is a picture of the uh I believe I don't know the Space Needle from in Seattle so this is uh from Seattle Washington a very famous landmark here is the next sentence don't you want to wait until he's done okay don't you want to wait until he's done what's going on with this question we talked about assimilation two sounds they blend together to create another sound in this case the T and Y blend together and you get a slight CH so instead of don't you don't you don't you it's very slight you don't have to force it it'll just occur naturally don't you want to we can reduce that to wna Don't You Wanna don't you wanna wait until I can link that phrase that final T and wait you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap t wait until instead of he's once again allision may occur we mute that H and then I can link that final consonant in until wait until he wait until he's done and this is a yes no question so you'll hear that Rising intonation don't you want to wait until he's done so let's practice this question two times slowly and then two times at a regular speed so let's you know the two of us say it right now together slowly here we go don't you want to wait until he's done one more time don't you want to wait until he's done and now if I speed it up a little bit at a more of a normal speed say it with me don't you want to wait until he's done once more don't you want to wait until he's done nice this is uh picture I know you can't see it right now I think it is from uh Arches National Park in Utah very uh beautiful state a lot of amazing uh national parks there here's the next one I'm I'm gonna try to stay out of his way I can just really like run right through this sentence I'm gonna try to stay out of his way so what's happening I'm going to of course I could reduce this to I'm gonna but I I'll you know just this is just me I think I'm just so used to it whenever I have that I'm gonna I'll just say I'm GNA I'm GNA I'm I'm going to try to again this is a function word it's not really emphasized so I'm going to reduce it it's going to sound a little more like to try to stay out of I can link that together that final T and out you'll hear me pronounce a flap T out of his out of his way elision once again occurs with his it's like we're muting that H and then I can link that phrase together out of his way out of his way so let's practice this sent right here together two times slowly are you ready say it with me I'm going to try to stay out of his way one more time I'm gonna try to stay out of his way now let's say it again but at more of a normal speed and yeah it can be fast one of the challenges of shadowing is that you you're trying to maintain that same speed so let's say it one time at a faster speed ready here we go I'm going to try to stay out of his way give it another try here we go I'm going to try to stay out of his way nice hopefully you can try to maintain that speed and just transition from one sound to the next so uh before we look at the dialogue this is a picture from Siesta Key Florida a very well-known beach in Florida very pristine very beautiful so let's practice our dialogue and we are going to take turns I want you to say this with me I will start out and say a and I want you to say B and I expect that you're going to say this out loud that's what I want you to do I want you to practice your speaking skills so I will begin and then you can say B and then we will switch are you ready here we go he's been in the kitchen cooking up a storm don't you want to wait until he's done all right excellent let's switch now I want you to say a and I will say B so you can go ahead and begin I don't want to bother him but I really want to bite to eat I'm GNA try to stay out of his way okay so again this is another dialogue using you know different parts of connected speech some of it's view this is very common when we're talking about just casual spoken English and I the other thing I would say is don't think of it as even like formal or informal you're still going to hear people use parts of connected speech when they're giving a presentation at work or in another situation people will still use reductions like gunana and Wana and they will link their phrases together so here is our next dialogue and once again we're going to do a deep dive and talk about everything that's going on but I want you to practice it with me and at the end we'll go through and take turns saying these different sentences but first I just want you to listen to the way I would say these sentences what do you want to do tonight I'm going to go get a bite to eat do you want to go sure could you wait until I finish work it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night so what's happening with this sentence right here again see if you can identify some of these landmarks because we're talking about American English I'm talking a lot about the American accent so I thought I'd throw in some uh nice American landmarks and famous landmarks in the US what do you want to do tonight what do you want to do tonight very you know common question that someone may ask so the first thing is that you do have some overlapping sounds but really the the te is going to alide it it goes away because the T and D it's the same position the tongue is up behind your top front teeth kind of touching that aviola Ridge but we're we're putting it in the T but we're not going to release we're going to release into that D sound so that's why I I said like elision really occurs so you don't hear this what do these two separate words it's going to sound like w do W but do is also not a word that gets emphasized and when these words are not emphasized that they may get reduced and that vowel sound changes slightly so it is a weak do which is going to sound like du what what what are you what are you that is another thing I want to point out youu is a word that also has two different pronunciations a strong form U and a weak form in which it's going to sound like it has more of awah sound y y so you could say what are you what are you what are you or what are you what are you what are you you may hear both and I'm not going to encourage you to say one over the other but something I just want you to be aware of because like I've said this is really going to help your listening comprehension so we have Whata I'm just going to use Whata for the sake of this exercise want to I can reduce that to wna what do you want to do what do you want to do tonight what do you want to do tonight so Doe tonight again that t it does come between two vow sounds so you're going to hear me pronounce that flap T do tonight do tonight do tonight what do you want to do tonight so it is very soft and that's why I kind of underline I did want to highlight it but it is soft which is why you you do hear that flap te so let's say this question four times twice slowly and then twice at a normal speed so let's practice this slowly first say it with me ready what do you want to do tonight one more time what do you w to do tonight it sounds a little weird saying it slowly because again that's when I think then you would expect to hear that tonight that that t sound but if somebody is saying this quickly with that American accent it's going to sound like this so let's say it quickly together more at a normal speed are you ready what do you want to do tonight give it another try what do you want to do tonight so let's look at the next sentence but before we do uh you probably know this is a picture of Mount Rushmore all right very well-known uh uh landmark in the US so the next sentence I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go I'm goingon to get a bite do you want to go all right and then you can think about where this beautiful lovely place is right here so we notice the theme you see a lot of this I'm G which is perfectly fine but in these sentences you're going to hear me reduce it to that am uh again it's just something if as you practice this I think you will feel a little more comfortable doing it but again don't feel like you have to you can just use I'm gonna if you're more comfortable with that uh phrase but you'll hear me say I'm gonna get a I can link that phrase together and I'm going to say that t as a flap te geta geta I'm going to get a bite to eat so that two is a weaker two so it's going to sound like T and then in that with that last question I could say do you do you wanna because I'm going to reduce want to do you want to go but if I'm saying it quickly it may sound a little more like the schah and don't think of this as like one or the other try to think of it like a spectrum and it could come anywhere between U on one end all the way down to like y on the other do you want to go do you want to go do you want to go it is a much softer sound which is why I say it kind of gets reduced in that vowel sound changes because you're not really emphasizing it so let's practice these uh two sentences two times slowly and then two times at a normal speed so let's say it slowly together ready I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go one more time I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go now a little faster at a normal speed ready I'm going to get a bite do you want to go once more I'm going to get a bite do you want to go okay good and I hope that you notice this uh in the background that is a picture from yosity National Park it is probably one of the most beautiful Parks national parks that I've seen in the us here is the next question could you wait till I finish work could you wait till I finish work so let's talk about what's going on and I bet you'll probably be able to guess where this picture uh was taken so could you ass similation may occur we're going to blend that D and Y and basically we're going to end up with a J sound could you could you it's like we're putting it right between those words and that allows us to connect them could you wait till so you do have overlapping sounds that final T and wait in the beginning T in if they overlap and then basically they end up coming between two vow sounds so together it's going to sound like that flap t wait wait I because then I can link those three words together wait I wait I finish work could you wait till I finish work let's say this together slowly and then at a normal speed so two times slowly say it with me ready could you wait till I finish work once more could you wait till I finish work now let's say it a little faster at a normal speed here we go could you wait till I finish work once more could you wait till I finish work nice and yes this is a you see that kind of Casino down there the neon lights this is Las Vegas the last sentence it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night so what's happening here getting I'm going to drop that g so instead of getting it's going to sound like getting I've talked about that gladle t when you have the T followed by an n Sound the sound's coming from your throat getting getting it's getting late it's getting late I don't W to I can reduce that W to wait around all I can link those three words together and you'll hear that flap te in wait wait around all night wait around all night it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night let's say this together Shadow Say it With Me Slowly two times ready it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night once more it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night now it's going to be a little more challenging as we speed it up I still want you to Shadow say it with me at a normal speed ready it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night one more time it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night you're doing great let's practice this dialogue now and of course I I think you know this is New York City the Big Apple because you can see the Statue of Liberty right there so let's practice this dialogue I am going to start out I will say a and then I want you to say B and hopefully the timing will will work out because I'll give you a moment to say your part and then we'll switch in you can say a and I will say B are you ready here we go what do you want to do tonight sure could you wait till I finish work nice let's switch I want you now to say a and then I will say B so you can go ahead and begin I'm going to get a bite to eat you want to go it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night all right well done give yourself a round of applause but it's not through it's not over just yet I want to do one more dialogue here is the final dialogue that I want to practice with you so once again I'll start out you can just listen to me say these sentences and then we're going to break it down one at a time so this is how I would say this dialogue what did you do last night did you go to the movie yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work I'm going to go see it this weekend if you want to see it again let's do it I'm up for watching it again so let's talk about what's going on and we'll begin with with these two questions right here and just as a little mini quiz you can think about where in the US this is and I think you I think you know but uh the first two questions what did you do last night did you go to the movie simple easy to understand when you hear it but as far as saying it and trying to think about the way people in the US would say this let's let's talk about that right now let's get into the the details so the first thing is assimilation what did you this is a common question construction and that t and D you do have overlapping sounds I've already talked about this you're really you're not really going to hear that t you're moving into that position but then you're releasing into that D sound what did you that D and Y blend together and you get a j sound so th this is very common what did you what did you do last weekend what did you do last night what did you do yesterday what did you what did you what did you now as far as assimilation goes you you hear that as well in other questions where did you why did you how did you so it's very common I think in these question constructions what did you do last night so another time when a lesion may occur is with the T when it comes between two consonant sounds so in this case you don't really here like last last where I'm like releasing into that t sound it comes between two consonants so it's just you don't really hear it last night last night or last week last year and the other thing the other part of the question there's that D and Y blending together again did you did you go to the I I want to point out we've talked about two having two different pronunciations a strong and a weak form this is that weak form so it's going to sound a little more like T with the schwas sound however that t comes between two vowel sounds so with the American accent you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T go to the go to thee that is a useful phrase that you'll hear a lot and again if you're interested in in imitating the American accent this is a good phrase to keep in mind that go to the go to the go to the because you do hear that flap T and it is a week week two and I I say this and I point this out because we use this phrase a lot you go to the gym go to the mall go to the store go to the movie which is what we're talking about right now so let's practice these two questions we'll say it two times slowly and then two times at a a normal or or a faster speed so let's say these two questions slowly I want you to Shadow say them with me right now here we go what did you do last night did you go to the mov movie one more time what did you do last night did you go to the movie now let's say it a little faster again just say it with me try to maintain that same Pace what did you do last night did you go to the movie let's say it one more time what did you do last night did you go to the movie good the next sentence um oh yeah if I I keep forgetting you know I think you know this is Hollywood in Los Angeles the very famous Hollywood sign I I think you see it a lot in movies and TV shows but let's go ahead and look at the well the next picture as well as the next sentence yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work so what's happening here well first off got G I can link that phrase together moving that final consonant sound over and it is going to be a flap t comes between two vowel sounds gotta yes I got a ticket and is often reduced and it's just going to sound like N I got a ticket and then called in now I can link this phrase together and I'm going to move that that e d called would have a D sound because that l sound is a is a voice sound called in and you can hear that D sound as I link it called in sick there's that week to to to work called in sick to work called in sick to work so putting it all together yes I got a ticket and then called and sick to work but let's practice it I want to say it two times slowly and then two times at a normal speed so let's begin with saying it slowly here we go yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work again yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work now let's speed it up a little bit say it with me here we go yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work again yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work keep it up you're doing great and just so you know this is a a picture from uh Time Square in New York City it's Broadway so it's uh def definitely I recommend checking out Broadway if you're there this probably looks familiar already but uh I'll I'll still tell you where it is uh in case you forgot so the next sentence I'm going to go this weekend if you want to watch it if you want to see it again I'm going to go this weekend if you want to see it again I'm gonna that's perfectly fine it's very common people say it all the time but you're going to hear me I'll go ahead and reduce it even further with that i'mna i'mna I'm gonna go this weekend I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do that I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to we can reduce that to W to see it again that T I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T and then link it with the vow sound in again it again if you want to see it again if you want to see it again now let's practice this two times slowly and then at a faster speed so let's say this slowly together here we go I'm going to go this weekend if you want to see it again one more time I'm going to go this weekend if you want to see it again let's speed it up it's a little more challenging see if you can maintain that same Pace here we go I'm going to go this weekend if you want to see it again let's say it one more time I'm gonna go this weekend if you want to see it again nice and then the last sentence Oh yes I mentioned this is uh another picture from Seattle Washington you see that uh the giant the Space Needle right there what do you think let's do it I'm up for watching it again what's happening in this picture so not this picture well with this sentence let's do it so intrusion we haven't talked about this yet this is when you add sounds and typically if if you're going to add sounds the reason for this is to link two vowel sounds together and you see that final vowel sound in do with the beginning vowel sound in it and we're going to add a slight W sound again it's very slight but that is what then allows us to link these two words together do it do it do it you can hear you can definitely hear that W sound let's do it I'm up I'm up I can link that together and we're like moving that M sound over and just to point out if you say that you're up for something or you're up for doing uh something it it really just means that you're willing to do it like hey would you like to do this yeah I'm up for it or like Yeah I'm not really up for it all right you're not willing to do it so I'm up for I I can reduce that and once again when it's reduced the vowel sound's going to change slightly and instead of four like the number when it's a strong form it's going to sound a little more like fur it's a much softer weaker sound I'm up for watching because I'm going to drop that g so instead of watching watching and then I can link that together watching it again I'm up for watching it again let's do it I'm up for watching it again let's practice two times slowly ready let's do it I'm up for watching it again let's say it one more time with me let's do it I'm up for watching it again now let's speed it up here we go let's do it I'm up for watching it again one more time let's do it I'm up for watching it again all right you're ready you're ready to put it all together this Al also by the way is a picture I believe gosh I forget it was a while ago when I put this together I think this is the shann andoa national park along the east coast that mostly runs through uh Virginia another beautiful national park on the East Coast so here is our dialogue just you can listen to me say it one more time and then I I want to practice this I will say A you will say B and we'll try to say it in a more natural way and then we'll switch so just to hear it one last time what did you do last night did you go to the movie yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work I'm going to go this weekend if you want to see it again let's do it I'm up for watching it again are you ready I will say a and I just want you to say B here we go what did you do last night did you go to the movie I'm going to go this weekend if you want to see it again good good good now let's switch I want you to say a and then I will say B so you can go ahead and begin yes I got a ticket and then called in sick to work let's do it I'm up for watching it again all right well done I really hope that you were able to get some speaking practice with me this this hour and actually try to work on some of these different parts of connected speech that we've been talking about reductions linking assimilation there there is quite a bit to try to take in but as I I mentioned earlier a lot of this I think has to do with like muscle memory these are good exercises trying to just transition from one sound to the next and just practice it repeat it say it again and again and again so that the next time you're in a conversation you're not even going to think about it and you're just going to use a phrase like go to the and go I'm going to go to the gym I'm going to go to the store and maybe if you practice it enough the next time you would say I'm gonna you might hear yourself just saying look yeah I'm GNA do this or I'm gonna do that I'm gonna I'm am if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 555. Sound Natural, Not Textbook! Advanced English Phrases Explained | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YbRQEajeRrA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbRQEajeRrA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:53:01 | --- advanced phrases that native speakers use to be more precise, descriptive, and persuasive when both speaking and writing in no uncertain terms. This means in a very clear and direct way. This phrase emphasizes a forceful and unambiguous message. And often you're you're going to use it right before that that forceful message that you want to share. She told him in no uncertain terms to leave her alone. and she made it very clear in no uncertain terms that she loves you and she wants to stay in your class. A foregone conclusion. This refers to a result that is obvious to everyone even before it happens. So, you're going to use this when you want to say that the outcome is obvious. There is no doubt as to the final result. Given the team's poor performance, the loss was a foregone conclusion. Everyone knew this was going to happen. >> From that point on, the whole game was like a foregone conclusion. I I couldn't fight this feeling that I'd already lost. >> Our next phrase, which is one that I really like, and that is nip it in the bud. This means to stop something before it gets worse. And when using this phrase, you're often going to use it, which refers to the problem or the issue. And you're going to do this because maybe it's already been mentioned. We need to nip it in the butt. >> Tell you what, I'm going to nip this in the bud. You deserve a fighting chance. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. --- ## 556. Sound Professional with these Advanced Verbs | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `LqqE6g0r2ew` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqqE6g0r2ew) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:14:49 | --- today I want to teach you verbs to help you sound more professional and I'm really talking about work but this vocabulary is relevant to you and everyone else because well we use this in just everyday life situations we have to deal with people at work we have to talk to people who are perhaps in a position of authority but in making an association to work it's going to help you better remember the meaning so that you can use these verbs easily and naturally in in everyday conversation it's good to make that word association let me quickly introduce myself my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons let's begin with our first verb which is spearhead to spearhead something it refers to well an individual or a group who is going to lead some type of undertaking or movement and I'm really I'm talking about something big and important that's going on so you might say well you have this new program who is going to spearhead the new program who's going to be the leader or who's going to spearhead this this new ad campaign or who's going to spearhead the event so we're talking about leading some type of of big undertaking next we have the verb for go to forego means to decide not to have or do something even though you really want to have it or do it you basically you basically just have to give it up which is something that happens in life it also happens in business maybe you have to forego a new business opportunity or you have to forego the promotion I can give you a sentence and say that you had to forego the promotion because the company asked you to spearhead this new project but it required you to move and you couldn't move so you had to forego the promotion and then we have this verb which is one of my favorite verbs because I like to do it every now and then and that is procrastinate to procrastinate means to wait a long time before doing something that you must do so so basically it's like you're just avoiding work and often I think you you may use this verb in the negative and somebody might say hey let's not procrastinate we need to do this now or don't procrastinate or perhaps even somebody like your boss could tell you stop procrastinating and I I do not want to procrastinate either and I want to take a quick moment to tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda so whether you're learning this vocabulary to sound more professional or any vocabulary for that matter you need to practice using it and if you are determined and motivated to improve your English fluency lingoda has an amazing using offer because this fall lingoda is getting ready to hold its very first two-month language Sprint and if you successfully complete it you can get 100 cash back so why why am I always talking about the language Sprint and why it's a great opportunity well there are two main reasons first you you get to improve a lot in a short period of time because this is an intensive language challenge you will take a lot of classes and the second reason is that well this is Affordable and not only that you can have the opportunity to get your money back and I'll tell you how you can do that right now because you have two choices when it comes to the language Sprint you can take the Super Sprint in which you will take 30 classes a month for two months if you successfully complete it you can get 100 cash back or you can take the Sprint in which you'll take 15 classes a month for two months and if you successfully complete that you can get fifty percent cash back you must sign up for the language Sprint by September 3rd because it's going to begin on September 7th and I I can honestly tell you lingoda it's a great school for learning a language I've even studied with them you can see me right there taking a Spanish lesson and I really enjoyed the classes for several reasons lingoda has experienced teachers flexible learning hours these are small group classes there's an interactive curriculum and as I've already mentioned the classes are affordable so if you would like to improve your fluency and join the language Sprint and take classes for 60 days click on the link in the description and when you sign up use the code west20 to get a 20 Euro discount so click on the link Down Below in the description to join the language Sprint be sure to read those terms and conditions and really just end 2021 on a strong note and improve your fluency now let's get back to our lesson teaching you different verbs to sound more professional and the the next verb that I have for for you is overhaul to overhaul something means that you are going to examine and investigate thoroughly in order to repair or revise something so it we could use it in the context of education and maybe a school is going to overhaul their curriculum or perhaps a business might overhaul their training manual you could also use this word as a noun has the same meaning and there are some common collocations you could say that you're going to do a complete overhaul of something or a major overhaul great word to know great verb because it really talks about some change that's going to happen the next verb that I have for you is resolve and the first thing I want to point out with this verb and really talk about is the pronunciation resolve notice that s really has the z sound resolve resolve and what it means is that you are solving some problem or difficulty and you're trying to make it come to an end and we often use it with some of those words that I just mentioned you would try to resolve a problem or resolve a dispute resolve an argument resolve an issue and I could use it in a sentence and say well the team has been procrastinating because they have not been able to resolve their personal issues and this is a problem because we're getting ready to overhaul the entire department then we have the verb strategize and to strategize means to think of a detailed plan in order to achieve success and you could use this in in business in sports in war and really when you strategize it's often done with one other person or perhaps a group of people it's a little similar to brainstorming but brainstorming is really when you you come up with with an idea strategize is when you're kind of taking that idea and you're creating a plan around it because you want it to be successful and once you strategize and you have that plan then you're going to need to implement the plan and to implement something means that you're you're just going to start using something you have some plan and now you're going to put it in action and you can you can Implement a plan a policy an idea and then well once you implement it you want it to succeed you want it to be successful and that's why you really need to execute to execute means to perform or or accomplish something such as a task a plan or an order and I I often think that this verb is kind of associated with success you want to execute in order to achieve success and hopefully hopefully you will not have to improvise to improvise means that you're having to deliver or invent or or do something without preparation so for example maybe you have to give a presentation and you're not prepared and you're going to improvise the presentation that's not a good idea in business but sometimes uh at work situations may change and people people may need to improvise I could say well we we strategized for weeks and we we came up with this new plan we then implemented the necessary changes we were executing well and then all of a sudden conditions changed and we had to improvise then we have the verb champion and it's it's very different than the noun because to Champion something means that you are going to support defend or even fight for some belief or principle and relating it to work you might Champion maybe a new policy or you could Champion workers rights that's pretty common or maybe just Champion an idea or suggestion and really get behind it and support it next is the verb restructure and to restructure means to organize a company a business or even some system in a way that it operates more effectively and I think in it at work it could be a good or a bad thing because it could be good because restructuring May mean that the the company could have more success in the future it could be a bad thing because when a company restructures it it could mean that some people are going to lose their job to troubleshoot which means I really like this verb to try and solve a problem for a person or organization and usually you you're often finding why maybe a product or service is not working correctly and often I think it may refer refer to something technical or logistical like with computers but uh I think when you troubleshoot something you're really referring to maybe a smaller problem and what I mean by that is if you have an entire system and something's not working when you troubleshoot it you're you're fixing the one thing that's wrong and then everything starts working again that's what I mean when I say a smaller problem and I could I could use it in a sentence and say the business has been losing money and we could not easily troubleshoot our problems so I championed a proposal that would restructure the entire company from the top down then we have a very professional verb which is Network to network means to try and meet people who might be useful to you especially when it comes to work and this this is something that happens at conferences at parties at events and and P people will try to network you want to meet others that might help you get ahead in in business and I there's an expression that goes something like it's not always about what you know it's who you know it's that that who you know when you network that often becomes more important and could even eventually help you become more successful now I want to talk to you about some verbs that you may already know but I think they are also still going to help you sound more professional and use them instead of some more basic common verbs like uh the first one is to attend to attend means that you're going to go to some event or place you're you're just going to be present somewhere and I think it is a little more professional instead of using the verb like go and you're going to go to this place so you're going to attend a meeting or you're going to attend a conference uh the same goes for the verb assist to assist it just means to help and I think often these are they're interchangeable they're basically synonyms but I think it's a little more professional to use assist instead now in my opinion and this is just my opinion I think uh one difference is that I think when you ask for help then it's almost like you're having trouble with this thing maybe you just can't do it on your own I think if you're asking somebody to assist you it's like you're it would be nice if they helped you but it's it's like you've still done the the primary part of the job most of it's done but you just need a little help and you want somebody to assist you that's just my opinion but in general I think you could use them as synonyms but to be more professional use assist then we have the verb submit to submit something it means that you are giving or offering something for a decision to be made by others it's it's a little similar to hand in which I think is more informal it makes me think of high school and you would hand in your homework submit a little more professional all you might submit an application or you could even submit a letter of resignation and then we have the verb commute to commute means to make the the same Journey regularly between home and work and it's very similar to travel but I think commute is definitely more specific we're really talking about work and you may often follow it with a preposition you might commute by something like by train or by bus or you could commute from one place to another place and I could say something like I submitted a request to work from home because it just takes too long to commute from my home to the office all right so I hope that you learned some new verbs in this lesson I hope you can use them at your job at work so that you can sound a bit more professional if you enjoyed the lesson and you did learn something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 557. Sound Smarter Instantly with These B2 Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8csCgOaVWwY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8csCgOaVWwY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:52:34 | --- Let's learn some B2 vocabulary to help you supercharge your fluency. Now, let's begin with five essential B2 nouns. And the first one is what's one that I really like and I use it quite often and that is nonsense. This refers to words, ideas, or behavior that is foolish, ridiculous, or or just makes no sense. Often, you can use this noun to dismiss something as well, not logical or it's just not true. >> We have the technology to to build a portal in an alternative universe. >> Why, that's absolute nonsense. >> Then there's stopover. This is a short stay in a place in the middle of a long journey, usually between flights. And some common prepositions that you may follow this noun with is a stopover in this city or a stopover at some airport. >> You want me to go to Paris? >> Paris with a quick stopover in London. >> But it required a stopover in New York City. >> Tragedy. I'm trying to say it with more emotion because of the meaning. It refers to an event causing great pain, suffering, or distress. Think about a serious accident or crime. And there are some common collocations with this noun. If somebody's talking about a personal tragedy or a great tragedy or even a national tragedy. >> The governor was using national tragedies for their own agenda. >> It's a tragedy, a real tragedy. >> And the next noun is dose. This refers to a measured amount of medicine that is taken at one time. And figuratively, it can also refer to an experience, usually an unpleasant one. Quite often, this noun is going to be followed by the preposition of a dose of something. >> Your mother received a heavy dose of vaccine that wasn't meant for an adult. >> Then there's rehearsal. This refers to a practice or trial performance of a play or some other work generally for a public performance that is going to occur later on. And there are some fixed phrases that are very useful with this now. If somebody's talking about a dress rehearsal, then that's really referring to the final practice before the public performance. Or if you hear in rehearsal, it means at that moment then, you know, people are currently practicing. >> We're in rehearsals. >> It's a live action musical tribute to the Dark Crystal. >> I don't believe I've ever heard of a wedding dress rehearsal before. >> These are incredibly useful words. Try to listen for them. Preferably, try to actively use them. --- ## 558. Speak English Smoothly: Rhythm, Flow & Fast Speech Tricks ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZtxEU_FtuBM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtxEU_FtuBM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:00:20 | --- going to work on your rhythm and flow to develop a a smoother way of speaking. And we're really going to combine this with fast speech as well. And when I say fast speech, I'm I'm really talking about using connected speech. So, there are really two parts to this. And I do think it's going to help you not just smooth out your speech, but just sound more natural when you're having a conversation. And if this is something that you would like to do, you want to improve your speaking fluency, please subscribe, uh, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. In case this is your first time here, my name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, I I have one more quick announcement as well. If you are interested in in practicing and improving your speaking skills, you can join my speaking course. Check out the link down below in the description. It is for intermediate to advanced speakers. And the goal is to help you speak confidently, speak clearly, speak naturally. There's quite a bit of vocabulary and and we warm up with connected speech. Some of the things that we're going to be doing uh right now, so you can check out that link down below. So the first thing that I want you to be aware of is that English is a stresstimed language. I'm going to say that again. All right? It is a stress time language. There are other languages that are syllable uh time languages. So English is stress timing. And what what does that mean? This means that the stress syllables or words are said at approximately regular intervals. And I've given you this example right here with this question. So what did so instead of saying the individual words, what did you do last night? Again, people understand that. I don't want to say that it's in incorrect. There's nothing wrong with it. But as far as developing your fluency, this can be very useful. You want to use that stress timing. What did you do last night? So the stress is going to come on what, do, and night. Everything else, the other words and syllables that are in between, they're going to get reduced in order to fit that pattern. So I'm going to you're going to hear me talk about this uh as we go through this. We're going to practice saying this that what did you do last night? And I want you to practice with me. What did you do last night? And that that's why I have our word for the day. It is actually it may sound a little more maleifuous. Now this is an adjective. It's not one that you're going to use every day, but when talking about language I think it's very useful. It's a nice descriptive word because basically when you describe a language as maleifluous. It just means that it's it's pleasant to hear. It sounds musical. And I think you can speak English the way that I'm going to say some of these sentences. And I'm going to emphasize that stress timing and it's going to sound a little musical, which is why I wanted to share this word with you that what did you do last night? So, we're going to practice some of these sentences several times. We're going to go through the different parts of connected speech. We're going to practice saying them using stress timing. And I want you to practice with me. I want you to I don't want to be talking to myself right now. I want you to practice uh wherever you are at home, on the bus, it doesn't matter. So, this is these are the sentences that I want to practice. And I say it's this is the speech. It's not like a speech like you're behind a podium, but this may be an example of you go to somebody's place and then somebody they say these sentences. So, I'm going to say them right now and then we'll go through each one at a time. If somebody if I, you know, I go over to someone's house and I say, "Look, thanks for having us over for dinner. I brought you a bottle of wine. Where do you want me to put this or should we go ahead and open it?" So, that's how I would say it. It's very easy to understand. Follow along. I'm sure when you hear that, you understand it. individual sentences. Keeping in mind the stress timing, it's all about that that rhythm and flow. We're going to develop the rhythm and flow. So, the first thing I want to do is I've indicated the what's going on when it comes to connected speech down here. Right here you can see the stress timing and I put I I'm showing you the intervals as well as the stressed word or syllable. So let's talk about this first and then we'll we'll put it all together. So the first thing that I want to point out is words when they're when they're function words they may get reduced. Four is a great example because when you learn this in school, you learn it like it's a a homonym like the pronunciation of the number four. And if you say four, again, it's not incorrect. It's fine. It's perfectly normal, but it's something to be aware of that this is a word that often gets reduced. When that happens, that vowel sound's going to change slightly. And this is not something you should feel like you have to do. Uh, again, one thing I will say is I do think a lot of this helps with your listening comprehension because you're going to hear me say sentences like this. You're going to watch a movie or TV show. You'll hear other people speak like this. And I think often this is why people might tell me, "Oh, I listen to you and I understand everything that you're saying, but then I'm I'm out on the street and it's a lot more challenging to understand what what's going on." So for is going to get reduced. Thanks for it's going to sound more like for having us over. I can link this entire phrase. We're going to link the final consonant of each of those words with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. The other thing I want to point out is that the word having when you have these verbs in the continuous tense, I do this a lot. This is not a rule. It's not something you have to do, but often the G gets dropped. So instead of having, I'm you're going to hear me say have. It's just easier to say. So I do think this is common with the American accent in the United States. You'll hear people do this all the time. So instead of having having us over having us over for dinner, once again, we're going to reduce for. So, let's let's practice this and then we'll do the stress timing. Thanks for having us over. I want you to repeat that linked phrase after me. Having us over. Just that one phrase. I'd say, let's say it slowly. Having us over. And we'll speed it up. Having us over. Having us over. So, thanks for having us over for dinner. I'm saying it slowly, but hopefully again you can hear that melody. Again, this is going to help with your listening comprehension, and I hope that as I'm doing this, you can hear the melody. So, the stress here are the intervals. The stress is going to come on. Thanks. The first syllable and have having first syllable and over and the first syllable in dinner. If I want to be specific, if you want to think about the clapping, thanks for having us over for dinner. That is going to help you really try to keep your words within those intervals. So, I mentioned that you have the stressed word or syllable. The words or syllables in between get reduced to fit that pattern, which is why words like for then get reduced. Thanks for having us over for dinner. So, let's say it slowly and then we'll speed it up. Thanks for having us over for dinner. And I again, I know I'm emphasizing it. Thanks for having us over for dinner. Let's let's speed it up a little bit. Again, I trust that you're saying this out loud. Thanks for having us over for dinner. One more time. Thanks for having us over for dinner. If you can try to shadow and say it with me and just say it out loud. Now, let me add that emphasis and let's make it a little sing song. And again, just shadow. Say it with me. I'm really going to emphasize it now. Thanks for having us over for dinner. And I'm I'm really stressing those syllables. Thanks for having us over for dinner. And you can hear that melody. Of course, you're not going to speak like this in general conversation. That might sound a little weird. you go over and say, "Hey, thanks for having us over for dinner." People would be like, "Wait, was this a mistake? Like, why are you speaking like this?" What I really want to do is get you thinking about that rhythm and flow. And if you can try to capture it, then I think that's a positive step because even if I say this like at a normal speed, I'm still using that stress timing, that rhythm and throw that flow. Thanks for having us over for dinner. Thanks for having us over for dinner. Let's say it three times. Shadow. Say it with me. All right. Ready? Let's do it. Thanks for having us over for dinner. Again. Thanks for having us over for dinner. Thanks for having us over for dinner. All right, let's look at the next one. We'll we'll come back to this. If you are actually practicing with me right now, I love I I just want to know. Let me know. You can hit the like button. write the word speaking in the comment or chats. You can hit a heart. It doesn't matter what what kind of engagement, but as long as you just just do something and let me know, okay, you are participating because that's what this lesson is all about and just practicing your speaking skills. So the next sentence, we brought if I were to say the individual words, we brought you a bottle of wine. Okay, I'm not going to say this sentence and pronounce the individual words. Instead, I'm going to use different parts of connected speech and then we'll put it down here and we'll we'll practice that rhythm and flow. We brought you. So, assimilation is when you have two sounds and they basically it's like they're blending together and one sound really takes over. So the T and Y may blend together and you get this slight ch sound. So brought you may sound like brought you. Brought you. Hopefully you can hear that ch sound. brought you. Brought you. This is not a fixed rule. It's not something you have to do. But generally as you're transitioning from one sound to the next. It it will just occur naturally. You do not need to force this. But we're going to blend those two sounds. brought you a bottle. That T that it comes before a dark L. So with the American accent, uh, which I'm from the US, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T. It's going to sound like a soft D. Bottle. Bottle. Just say that word with me right now. Bottle. That is the American accent. And then I can link it with of. Bottle of wine. Bottle of wine. Now, I could say bottle of, but because the next word, wine, begins with a consonant sound, you could just reduce it bottle. Bottle of wine. We brought you a bottle of wine. We brought you a bottle of wine. All right. So, let's look at this right here. Okay. And I want to practice this again. All right. And what I want to do is I want you to practice. Say it with me. All right. We brought you a bottle of wine. We brought you a bottle of wine. Let's Let's say it slowly. We brought you a bottle of wine. Say it again. We brought you a bottle of wine. All right. Now, let's speed it up. We brought you a bottle of wine. Hopefully you can hear that rhythm and flow. I'll say it one more time. Think about that that rhythm and flow down there. Brought, bottle, wine. Those are the words that are getting emphasized. And think about this. Even if we remove all of those other words, you still kind of understand it. Brought bottle wine. And it's like, okay, yeah, somebody brought some wine. So we brought you a bottle of wine. We brought you a bottle of wine. You can hear that melody and really hear that rhythm and flow when I say we brought you a bottle of wine. And now again, I'm emphasizing that melody. So, let's let's practice shadow. Say it with me. We'll say it slowly. I'm going to really emphasize that stress timing. We brought you a bottle of wine. We brought you a bottle of wine. Now I'm going to speed it up. Shadow, say it with me. We brought you a bottle of wine. We brought you a bottle of wine. One more time. We brought you a bottle of wine. All right. Excellent. Excellent. All right. Again, let me know. Saw so many people in there uh speaking, practicing. Excellent. Uh Lily, Ike, Takayo. Perfect. Uh so again let me know uh any way whether it hearts likes whatever just uh that you're participating in in the lesson that is what it's all about. So the next sentence this is a question where do you want me to put this? We'll we'll get to the rhythm and flow in just a moment. Let's talk about the connected speech parts of what's going on. So where do you do is another word that in in questions it's not you know really emphasized and this is another one that may get reduced. I I do this all the time. Sometimes I say do other times it may sound a little more like duh and you hear that schwa sound and the vowel sound changes. Where do you where do you where do you where do you where do you? Now again that's not a rule. It's just something that occurs, especially if somebody's speaking a little faster. So, where do you want me? Elision. And I realize maybe that might be a typo. That should say elision. This is the omission of sounds or syllables. So, we have the N or the T follows an N. And in this case, it's going to elide. It comes between two consonant sounds. This is something else that happens a lot especially with the American accent uh with words like internet or even interactive. You don't hear me pronounce that true t when I say that. So the t is going to elide and want me is just going to sound like want me. Want me. Want me. To is another word another common function word that often gets reduced. Instead of saying the number two, once again, it's going to sound like it has that schwa sound. To to put this, I just want you to say those final three words that to put this. To put this, to put this. So hopefully you can hear the difference. If I were to stress it and say to put this versus to put this, it's a much softer sound. And hopefully it's easier to say as well because you don't have to worry about stressing it. just a very soft to put this to put this. All right. So, let's look at uh the the phonetic spelling and then we'll practice uh the stress timing right here. So, where do you want me to put this? I just want you to repeat after me. I'm saying it slowly. Where do you want me to put this? Again, you can kind of hear that melody. Where do you want me to put this? Let's speed it up. Shadow. Say it with me. More at a normal speed. Where do you want me to put this? Where do you want me to put this? Now you can see the stress timing. It's going to come where, want, put. If I remove all those words, you can kind of get the idea as to what somebody's saying. Where, want, put. So, where do you want me to put this? If it helps you, try to clap as you're saying the the question. Where do you want me to put this? Where do you want me to put this? Where do you want me to put this? So, let's say it together, and I'm going to go ahead and clap and see if you can maintain that same speed. Pacing is also very important. Developing that rhythm and flow, just smoothing out your speech. Ready? Say it with me. Where do you want me to put this? One more time. Where do you want me to put this? Where do you want me to put this? Okay, I'm talking about that bottle of wine. Now, again, maybe if you're walking and I don't know if somebody would ask, "Hey, where do you want me to put this?" You could. Uh, but I wanted to go over some of those different parts of connected speech. Now, the last one is another question, and there are some things going on, and then we'll we'll break it down. uh down below with the the melody the stress timing. So or should we go ahead and open it? Go ahead. So ahead and we can link that together and is going to get reduced and often sounds like n. I've talked about three of the main function words. Uh you well and is a coordinating conjunction, but it's not a word that you're going to often stress. So words like for to and are often going to get reduced like for to. So go ahead and open it. Open it. We can link that together linking that final consonant sound with the vowel sound at it. Or should we go ahead and open it? Or should we go ahead and open it? Now down below I'm putting the stress on or should a head open. I'm separating or as almost like a different thought group. So there's going to be a short pause in between. Or should we go ahead and open it? Or should we go ahead and open it? Now this is not something you have to do. Somebody may still, you know, they they may still maintain that same or say, or should we go ahead and open it or should we go ahead and open it? But I'm just going ahead separating it into two different thought groups and emphasizing and stressing that or or should we go ahead and open it? Or should we go ahead and open it? So, I want you to repeat after me again. Say this sentence out loud and we're going to follow that that rhythm down below that stress timing. Uh let me go ahead and move to this slide so you can see what's going on with a head n and then open it and we're going to link that phrase. So just repeat after me. Or should we go ahead and open it? Or should we go ahead and open it? Now let me speed it up a little again. Shadow. Let's say it together. Ready? Or should we go ahead and open it? Trying to capture that melody. Or should we go ahead and open it one more time? Or should we go ahead and open it? Okay. So, now we've we've practiced all of these sentences. I want to I want to go back through them and uh I want you to once again keep in mind those different things that we were talking about and try to say it using that stress timing. Maintain the same speed. Use those different parts of connected speech. So I'll I'll go ahead and say I'll say the sentence and I want you to repeat after me and then we'll practice saying all of it together. So let's just start with this first one up here. Repeat after me. Thanks for having us over for dinner. The next one, we brought you a bottle of wine. This question, where do you want me to put this? And then finally, or should we go ahead and open it? Okay, now let's do it again. And I want you to shadow and and say it with me. I'm going to go ahead and say all of the sentences. And I you're gonna hear me emphasize that stress timing a little bit just so it's easy for you to hear that melody, that rhythm and flow. So, let's say this together. Ready? Let's begin. Thanks for having us over for dinner. We brought you a bottle of wine. Where do you want me to put this? Or should we go ahead and open it? All right. Let me know again if you're practicing. Write the word speaking. Hit the like button. A heart. doesn't matter. Let me know that you're you're engaged in the lesson. That's the whole idea. I want to practice it again. The one thing that I want to challenge you with is see if you can maintain the same speed as as I'm saying this. I think that is the one of probably maybe the most challenging part of shadowing apart from uh the reductions and linking is just trying to maintain that same speed. So, let's we'll practice this a couple more times. Excellent. All right. Great. Cinderella. Uh yoyo Pete's coffee. Uh love it. Pete's coffee. I miss I miss Pete's coffee. Uh when I was living back in California. Anyway, uh getting off topic. So, I want you to try to maintain that same pace. That's the challenge that I want to issue to you right now. Let's practice it again. I'm going to say all four sentences. Say it with me. Right. Ready? Let's begin. Thanks for having us over for dinner. We brought you a bottle of wine. Where do you want me to put this or should we go ahead and open it one more time? All right, you guys are excellent. All right, Li Raphaela, great to see you. Um, Yelson, everybody, people are participating. That's what it's all about. Let's say it again. Ready? Begin. Thanks for having us over for dinner. We brought you a bottle of wine. Where do you want me to put this? Or should we go ahead and open it one more time? Thanks for having us over for dinner. We brought you a bottle of wine. Where do you want me to put this? Or should we go ahead and open it? So this these are simple sentences. You hear me say them. Even if you don't see the words, it's easy to follow along. It's easy to understand. But as far as your own speaking fluency goes, rhythm and flow using connected speech, I think it is going to help you smooth out your speech. It's going to help you sound more natural. And I I ultimately it should be easier for you to say. Part of the reasons why some of these words get reduced is because it's just easier to say than saying four or two and having to pronounce all of those vowel sounds. So, this is what I wanted to focus on in this lesson. really combine both rhythm and flow along with connected speech or sometimes fast speech is what I like to call it because it does allow you to speak much faster even though that should not be the goal is just to speak very fast. The most important thing is that people understand what you're trying to say. But when it comes to other parts, if you are giving a presentation or you're in another situation in which delivery is important and that is where this can certainly help you as far as delivering the message that you're trying to convey. Once again, if you are interested in Oh, one before before I tell you about that, just keep in mind the stress timing. English is a stress time language. You have those regular intervals. There is a stressed word or syllable and everything else is going to get reduced in order to fit that pattern. And you can almost hear it when I say in order to fit that pattern. And you can hear that rhythm and flow. if I wanted to create it with basically any sentence. I can just create that melody. So, if you're interested in practicing and improving your speaking skills, again, you can check out that link down below if you want to join my speaking course. So, I hope that you found this lesson useful. If you did, you can let me know by hitting that like button. I try to mix it up from time to time with different lessons, whether it's vocabulary, grammar. In this case, it is more about just speaking, not necessarily pronunciation, but just your general speaking skills, your speaking fluency, and talking about two things that I think are incredibly important as far as communicating with others, rhythm and flow, and then fast speech. Really talking about those different parts of connected speech. So, I appreciate all of you being here. Thank you, Lai, great to see you. Pete's Cafe, so many members. Raphaela, Taya, uh, great to see you. Uh, Manuel, I saw you in here. Talal, so many familiar faces. As Tuli, Julia, thank you guys so much for being here. I hope that you learned something new. And I will see you soon for another lesson in the future. Marcia, Cinderella, there's just so many so many. Francisco, love it. Thank you guys. Have a good one. I will see you next time. --- ## 559. Speak FAST (and naturally) like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Jlppzwc_z_g` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlppzwc_z_g) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:11:58 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson in which we are going to talk about well American fast speech I am from the United States so just keep that in mind most of the things that we're going to be talking about some of them are very specific to the American accent and I will point that out the other thing I want to say is that just because you hear people speaking fast maybe if you're watching a TV show or movie that does not mean that you have to speak fast the most important thing is that everyone understand each other so again if anything I think this can help your listening comprehension I know that when it comes to speaking everybody has different learning goals but I really want to break down why people sound the way they do why are words and phrases sound the way they do and we're going to be looking at Connected speech reductions intonation emphasis a little bit of everything and of course because this is interactive English I want you to participate I would like you to say these sentences with me say them after me you can practice shadowing if you like and then we're going to practice reading a dialogue and saying a dialogue at the end so I definitely want you to say this out loud practice your speaking skills and and take advantage of this opportunity so let's let's begin with the dialogue and right now all I want you to do is just listen to the way that I am saying this dialogue it's a very short conversation between let's say person a and person B so let's just listen to me uh say this dialogue is your cold getting any better no I'm gonna get an Uber and go home but wait you're going to want to see this sorry I gotta get out of here right away so you just heard me say this dialogue I you said it I don't think I said it too fast but it sounds it sounded natural again that's another thing that I want to talk about is just that natural Rhythm and flow of the English language especially the the American accent and what we're going to do right now is just look at these sentences practice saying them and then we will read this we will say this dialogue together one more time I'll let you listen to me say it again is your cold getting any better no I'm gonna get an Uber and go home but wait you're going to want to see this sorry I got to get out of here right away so again think of a situation I don't know maybe this is that happening at a party and these two people are talking and saying this so let's look at this first one and all of the images that I've included again just referencing the United States because that is where I'm from and we're really talking about the American accent you will find some of this some of the things we're going to discuss it's pretty common among all different English varieties but some of it some of it's specific to the US so the first question is your cold getting any better the first thing that I want to look at are those first two words right there is your and what I want to to show you is that assimilation may be taking place so assimilation is when you have two sounds they blend together to create a new sound in this case we have that z sound in is and the beginning ye sound in your it can blend together and you get a j sound like in the word pleasure and I've given you the the IPA symbol right there all right I'm kind of emphasizing it a little bit right now is your try and say it with me azure one thing I'd like to point out again trying to say this naturally if you're just saying is your and you're saying it quickly you'll end up doing this naturally you'll those sounds will blend together and you're going to hear that slight je sound and it's like we're inserting that sound between those two words is your okay is your is your cold the next thing that I want to look at so I've included the IPA or the phonetic spelling up there is your above it looking at the next line getting any so getting if I were to pronounce that that ing that ing ing would be with the American accent a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D however sometimes when people are speaking and they're using the continuous tense and I think this is a little more common with the uh American accent people may drop that g and when they drop the G it's going to change that t sound so get in get in that T it's going to now become a glottal T because you have the t comes uh before a vowels in between two vowel sounds and then it's followed by an n Sound getting getting so it comes the t comes between two vowels and Then followed by an N getting so repeat after me getting Mountain kitten okay those are also words where you have that t which is followed by a vowel followed by an n Sound get in any the other thing linking may occur linking is when you have one word it ends with a consonant sound it may get linked with the next word that begins with a vowel sound get many get in many getting Nanny say it with me get ninny getting ninny that glottal T so I mean it's almost like you're swallowing that T it's coming from down here like that glottis getting any is your cold getting any better and better again that that is a flap T in the American accent uh comes between two vowel sounds so it's gonna sound like that soft D the other thing that I'd mentioned this is a question sometimes with those yes no questions you'll have that Rising intonation at the end is your call is your cold getting any better is your cold getting any better do you have a cup um uh if I were to say like um you know is this your phone and again you hear that Rising intonation so let me let's let's look at this sentence right here just practice saying it with me right now out loud I'll say it slowly is your cold getting any better is your cold getting any better now let's say it quicker is your cold getting any better is your cold getting any better some of you who well I know who have taken my speaking course uh Giuseppe takayo we've practiced this especially uh specifically this sentence is your cold getting any better so this is the first one and what I'd like to know I'm curious I you know hopefully I want you practicing this and saying it with me I want to know how difficult how difficult was this to say um so I'm gonna put this down in the chat I'd like to hear so how difficult is this for you let's say let me put this down here real quickly [Music] um okay so I've put down this this poll how difficult do you think this question is to say it the same way that I was is your cold getting any better do you find it easy if it's easy one if you find it difficult for you to say it just like I am then five would be difficult so let me know what do you think um again well it's actually only given me two choices they're only easy or difficult and and you can tell me what you think uh so the next one that I want to look at but before we do I'd like to mention that if you're interested I have a speaking course that's going to start this is a course for intermediate to Advanced speakers and it's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally we start each lesson with activities like we're doing today uh talking about connected speech pronunciation and then we go into our topic learn new vocabulary have discussion uh some of you uh that I see who are in here have taken the course before Takaya Giuseppe I do want to give a shout out uh hello Vicki Gustav good to see you um but you can check out the link in the description down below I'll also uh include it in the chat and you can use the code speak20 to get 20 off the the course fee so check that out if you're interested in prac in practicing and improving your speaking skills the next uh sentence that we're looking at is this one if I were to say each individual word I'm going to get an Uber and go home so I I'm not going to say it like that I would say I'm going to get an Uber and go home so let's look at what's going on the first thing that I want to point out would be reductions reductions is when you basically end up removing some sounds and this allows us to say things well in a shorter amount of time we can just say things faster now I'm sure that you've probably heard uh going to getting reduced to gonna so you could say I'm gonna it's perfectly fine or if you want to reduce this even further I'm going to it may sound like Amina Amina and I want you this this may feel a little strange if you're saying this out loud I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna give it a try but definitely listen for it if you're watching a TV show or movie you'll hear this instead of somebody saying I'm gonna it's gonna just sound like Amina and you don't even hear that g sound in going to or gonna I'm gonna Amina so when I practice this and when we do this I just you know give it a try see how comfortable uh it feels really reducing I'm going to and we'll we'll just try and say Amina Amina all right so let's look at the next part Amina and more linking can occur but one thing I'd like to point out get and that t and get it with the American accent it comes between two vowels it'll turn into a flap T and then linking can occur we can link that flap t with the vowel sound in an and then we can link that final um sound with the vowel sound in Uber get an Uber get an Uber get an Uber say it with me get an Uber one more time get an Uber here's what it looks like right here so I I gave you the the phonetic spelling up here get an Uber and it's almost like we're moving that consonant sound over to the next syllable get an Uber get an Uber the there's also uh more another reduction and is often reduced to just n and this is quite common in spoken English instead of saying and you would hear people just say n and once we do that all right we're left with this so I'll say it slowly I want you to say it with me it's good to practice speaking out loud I'm gonna get an Uber and go home one more time I'm gonna get an Uber and go home and then if we're to say this a little faster I'm gonna get an Uber and go home try and say it with me and try to keep that same Pace I'm gonna get an Uber and go home and I tried to break it down in three different parts that first one I'm gonna get an Uber and go home I'm gonna get an Uber and go home I'm gonna get an Uber and go home one more time I'm gonna get an Uber and go home okay so what do you think uh what do you what do you think of this one again easy or difficult uh I'm not really giving you too many options here but uh again I'd like to to to hear from you and let me know what you think um whether or not it's easy or difficult so most of you I think had an easier time with um that first one you can see I think many of you thought it was easy so let's let me pull you for this next one too um while we're here I'm gonna get an Uber and go home all right keep keep practicing um that and like I said I everybody has different goals I when I've talked to a lot of Learners some people do not feel comfortable with that I'm gonna it feels strange and once again if you find something like okay this doesn't you know this doesn't work for me then yeah don't you should never feel like you have to speak a certain way let me let me put this poll together um okay so hopefully again you were practicing this which what do you think about this one I'm gonna get an Uber and go home do you find this sentence easier or or difficult again I'm kind of curious and we're going to put all of this together at the end once we go through and we're going to practice that dialogue that I read uh that I said at the very beginning so let's look at the next part the next sentence and there's the again all these images of the United States we're talking uh more about the American accent you're going to want to see this there is really one thing happening uh but it's happening one after the other and we're talking about more reductions so this one I think is a little more straightforward but once again it may feel uh a little awkward so going to will reduce that to gonna want to we can reduce that to wanna Gonna Wanna the thing that may well what makes this sentence perhaps a little more challenging is that you have one reduction right after the other Gonna Wanna You're Gonna Wanna See this and when we reduce these phrases these are not stressed sounds these are weaker uh weaker sounds which is why again they're getting reduced you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this let's practice this one uh together so we have that Gonna Wanna I'll say it slowly just say it with me You're Gonna Wanna See this one more time you're gonna wanna see this you have that Gonna Wanna now let's speed it up a little bit you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this if we just said it like naturally oh hey you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this so I think again the going gonna and wanna two very common reductions in spoken English I I'm sure you've heard these perhaps many of you already use these reductions as part of your your speaking fluency right now I don't know how often you may use one after the other but that's what I wanted to practice if somebody were to say oh you're going to want to see this or you're going to want to hear this so what do you think uh about this one easy or difficult let me know I I think that this one maybe a little more uh maybe a little easier for for all of you that we're just talking about these reductions the last one uh okay everybody had well still a little bit more of a difficult time with that one uh but let me ask you about this one so once again I'm gonna let you guys let you tell me what you thought of this right here uh let's see oh is it um so again you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this you can just practice it with me as I'm inputting this information okay let me ask you so what do you think about this sentence right here one reduction right after the other you're going to want to see this you're going to want to see this and once again just to reiterate this is not something that you have to use I do think this is useful for your listening comprehension because if you're watching a movie or TV show or listening to somebody on the street if you're visiting or living in the United States you're gonna there it is you're gonna hear people using these reductions so let's look at the next one right here so this was uh the the other sentence that if I were to say this slowly I got to get out of here right away I got to get out of here right away and I'm in that case I'm trying to pronounce the individual words and for me it sounds a little uh it's a little difficult to to do that to say it eat pronouncing each individual word so let's look at what's going on because what I would say is I gotta get out of here right away and the first thing that I'm going to do is reduce got to another common reduction in spoken English and it's going to sound like gotta I gotta I gotta say it with me I gotta I gotta and you hear that schwa sound God gotta it's also uh even though I spelled it with a t it is still more of a flap T you hear that soft D gotta gotta and then the next phrase get out of out of is a you hear this phrase in many different sentences and this is another good example of linking and we can actually link this whole phrase together and the final T in get and out with the American accent it's going to be a flap T get out of and then we can link all of this together get out of say it with me get out of get out of put it right here so you can see that phonetic spelling hopefully it makes it a little easier if you're practicing get out of get out of get out of and then right away so this once again flap T you you notice how common the flap T is in the United States it's very very often used and we could link we can link that flap t with the vowel sound in a way right away right away I gotta get out of here right away so say it uh say it with me I will say it slowly I gotta get out of here right away I gotta get out of here right away and then if we were to say it faster I gotta get out of here right away I gotta get out of here right away you have that sense of urgency I gotta get out of here right away I can't stay I gotta get out of here right away Okay so uh there's that other phonetic smell right away I gotta get out of here right away all right once again let me know what you think of this sentence uh and just kind of polling you guys so that that last one when we talked about those reductions that definitely seemed like uh it was a bit easier with that Gonna Wanna so let me know this one has a few more things going on in it if we're talking about reductions as well as linking and those flap T's so let's see I gotta get out of here right away what do you think about this sentence easy to say or a little more difficult you can let me know your thoughts right now and what I would like to do is we're going to put all of this together and practice the dialogue that we were that we I showed you at the very beginning so notice each each one we went over each of these sentences I did add a couple like no or but wait or sorry so before we practice we're going to do this together I just want you to listen to me say it one more time I'll say it slowly and then faster and then we will practice so slowly just listen for those things we talked about is your cold getting any better no I'm gonna get an Uber and go home but wait you're gonna wanna see this sorry I gotta get out of here right away now let me say it at full speed okay and then we'll practice is your cold getting any better no I'm gonna get an Uber and go home but wait you're going to want to see this sorry I gotta get out of here right away all right now let's practice I am going to read a I want you to say B and I want you to say this out loud and like we're we're just reading saying this dialogue together so I will be a u b b and we'll practice ready here we go is your cold getting any better but wait you're going to want to see this okay good now let's switch I want you to say you're going to be a and I will say B and we'll practice this again so ready you can begin one two three go no I'm gonna get an Uber and go home sorry I gotta get out of here right away okay all right so this whole lesson is just about giving you an opportunity to practice some of your speaking skills and work on some of the different things that are going on like I said if you don't feel comfortable using assimilation or linking or reductions that's perfectly okay it's not something you have to do I do think it's good to to get a feel for it and understand it and listen to it because it will help your overall listening comprehension because you're going to hear this when you're watching a TV show or movie and people are going to use Azure and they're going to blend those two sounds together or they're gonna link get an Uber and you'll hear that linking so if you participated in the lesson I just want you to let me know just write speaking down in the comments that that tells me that you were practicing you were saying these sentences out loud which is really what I want so write speaking if you were participating and actually practicing your skills uh let's see the last results of the last one uh sentence well maybe it was a little more challenging again I think when you have some of these different things going on it becomes a little more difficult uh like that last sentence I gotta get out of and Link that phrase together I gotta get out of here right away I gotta get out of here right away it can be a little uh a little trickier but once again it's all about getting that practice not just about speaking fast but just speaking naturally because you will this is how you're gonna hear other people speak if you are in the United States so I just want to say thank you for participating great job um eloisa Galia Shima Diaz um abduran uh gosuran Alexander excellent I'm always happy when people are are practicing and and again just this is an opportunity to actually work a little bit on your speaking skills and just as a quick reminder again um if you're interested where is it maybe right here nope uh you can check out my speaking course link is down in the description um if you want to check out class times availability use that code speak20 to get uh 20 off the course fee so if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button that tells me that maybe I should do more of these lessons in the future and again thank you guys so much for joining me Sal odia uh takayo great to see you I will see you soon in the upcoming course sorry if I mispronounce some names but I hope that you have a wonderful day and I will see you --- ## 560. Speak FAST (and smooth) like an American ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FOM74AuYqR4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOM74AuYqR4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:11:16 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson in which we are going to talk about American super fast speech now before we continue I I'd like to clarify what I mean when I say super fast speech what we're going to discuss in today's lesson mostly revolves around connected speech we're going to talk about assimilation reductions and this really allows people to move quickly through different words and phrases now that does not mean that everybody is going to speak super fast you can still use connected speech and speak at a slower Pace that's perfectly fine but understanding these different concepts I think will give you an understanding of why people speak the way they do which is going to help your listening comprehension if you do hear someone in a TV show or movie really just fly right through the sentence I think you'll be able to get a better idea as to what they're talking about so we're just going to look at some I I think pretty basic simple sentences and we're going to explore this dialogue right here so just to start out I am just going to read it I'm going to say it out loud I just want you to listen and then we're going to go through these sentences one at a time and as we go through them I want you to practice your speaking skills and I want you to say these sentences out loud and practice with me so just to listen to the sentences listen to this dialogue uh I would say it like this what do you want to do tonight I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go sure could you wait till I finish work it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night so just listening to me say this dialogue out loud you can see the words and I imagine that you're a to then listen to it and think okay yes I I understand that even if I didn't have the dialogue maybe I could pick out most of those words but let's have a look at what's going on with each of these sentences so let's start at the beginning and then we're going to come back to this at the end because I I want to practice with you and again I want you to say this out loud so i' I've included pictures from the US because I am from the the United States so much of what we're going to talk about today it does revolve somewhat around the American accent and I'll try to point some of that out as I go through the lesson but let's just begin with that first question instead of saying like what do you want to do tonight and you hear each of those individual words the way I was pronouncing it I was just saying what do you want to do tonight what do you want to do tonight okay so let's look at what's going on and I'm going to break it down one at a time the first thing I I want to talk about are those first two words what do so you you have some overlapping sounds with the T and the D because what you have that stop T your tongue is coming up to the front part of your mouth to the the roof of your mouth and you're releasing right into the DU sound in do what do now when you say this quickly because the D sound is pronounced the same way your tongue's going to come up to the roof of your mouth and then you release it really is like that t then goes away like it alides and elision is when sounds are dropped and often this happens with the T or the D they alide in certain words and phrases and they just get dropped and you don't hear them so instead of what do what a what a you can hear it's like your tongue's just flapping against the roof of your mouth when you're saying that du d what a now I'm saying do is a weaker sound and this is a form of a reduction because there are certain words that I would say have two different pronunciations and I would also say that this is something that's more common in uh with American English so when you take some of these vow sounds and you don't stress them and it's a weaker sound often that vowel turns into a schwas sound which is an unstressed sound sound unstressed vowel sound so in that case instead of do it may sound more like du the same with u you can you hear people say you all the time which is more stressed when it's weaker when it's unstressed it may sound more like Y and that does not mean I think there's a little misspelling instead of J should say yeah that does not mean that people are always just going to say one or the other there is a a spectrum between U and Y but basically that first those first three words it's going to sound like what you what you what you at least that's what I was saying when uh I said that dialogue what do you want to we can reduce that reductions or when we remove or change some sounds there are some very common phrases in which uh when I say reduction you probably think about W gonna have to so want to we can reduce to W and then the T in tonight and this is definitely part of the American accent when it comes between two vowel sounds often it's going to get become a flap T and it's going to sound like a soft D so even though that t is at the beginning of the word well you know the word before that do it still is going to come between those two vowel sounds what do you want to do tonight do tonight so do to T night it's very soft it's very subtle but I end up saying it with a flap te now something else uh you may be wondering I'm just going to take us over here and then we're going to practice this so I've given you the phonetic spelling up above these words and phrases to make it a little easier to follow what do you want to do tonight what do you want to do tonight hopefully you can hear that that flap tea in tonight what do you want to do tonight the other thing you may be thinking is wait there are two words in there two dos why is one of them like and the other one you hear do what do you want to do and that is because that second do it is it is a Content word so you are going to emphasize that what do you want to do tonight what do you want to do tonight and basically in this question the three main words that are highlighted I would say are what do tonight and in that case even if you remove the other words you kind of understand well what somebody's trying to say what do you want to do tonight so let's practice this I want you to say this I want you to repeat it right after me let's say it slowly and then we'll say it faster what do you want to do tonight and now I'll say it faster what do you want to do tonight and then again if I were to say it very quickly super fast what do you want to do tonight now let's slow thing I just want you to say it with me this is shadowing all right try to keep that same pace and I'm going to say it like this what do you want to do tonight are you ready let's say it together what do you want to do tonight one more time what do you want to do tonight okay so that is that question very simple straightforward but really really doing a deep dive into what's going on here the next thing that I want to tell you oh very quickly I do want to mention that if you would like to practice an improve your speaking you can check out my speaking course enrollment is open you can also use the code speak 20 to get $20 off and I'll throw that in the chat if you guys want to check that out click on that link the link is also down in the description if you'd like to find more information but this is this is some of the stuff we do we warm up with something related to pronunciation connected speech and we work on some of this and I would always say that you should never feel like you have to speak a certain way that you have to use connected speech the the the main reason why I highlight this is to help you understand well why people speak the way they do understanding what's going on with these words and phrases and the sounds people are making which ultimately is going to help your overall comprehension your listening comprehension but it's fun to practice when you're speaking the next sentence uh that we have in there uh or two sentences I should say I I'll say it each individual word I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go so when I was saying that dialogue I said it uh like this I'm gonna sorry I'm gonna get a bite to eat do you want to go I'm gonna get a bite to eat do you want to go I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go so let's look at what's going on with this one okay and again if you guys are practicing with me let me know let me know in the comments in the chat just write the word speaking so I know okay you are working on that uh and you're practicing because that's what this lesson is all about it is a practice lesson so let's see the first uh first part is I'm going to now we just talked about the reduction want to becomes Wana going to another very common reduction you could reduce that to Gunna now sometimes you may hear people reduce this even more when the statement begins with the word I'm I'm going to you may hear people reduce that to Amina Amina am for those of you who've taken my my speaking class you know you hear me say this quite often throughout the course I would say yeah I'm going to do this Amna Amna Amna Amna so it is something that you will you will hear I know that when I've practiced this with people sometimes it may feel a little awkward trying to say that I'm gonna but just so you know again it's very common to say I'm gonna as well so I I put both of them down there you could say I'm gonna or if you want to reduce it even further I'm gonna the next part is get uh all right that article uh and this is a great example of linking linking is when one word ends with a final consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel sound so we can link these words together it's almost like we're taking that uh that t which is ultimately a flap T because it comes between those two vowel sounds and we're just moving it over and it becomes a part of the the article get get and I'm GNA geta I'm GNA geta I'm GNA geta and you can really move through that first part of the sentence really quickly I'm going to get a and the last part that I would say I'm going to get a bite to eat once again I talked about weaker and stronger sounds with certain words like to youu even for you might hear people say F now that doesn't that doesn't always mean people are going to say that weaker sound with the schah but I'm I'm putting it there just so you're aware of it so you know it and try to practice see again how it feels I'm going to get a bite to eat to eat it's a very soft sound too bite to eat bite to eat bite to eat I'm gonna get a bite to eat I'm gonna get a bite to eat I'm gonna get a bite to eat all right I'm gonna get a bite to eat and then do you if I wanted to say that uh again with a little weaker more with that schw sound do you do you want to we already reduced that to want do you want to go do you want to go I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go all right I want you to say it after me I'm G to get a bite to eat do you want to go notice with those yes no questions do you want to go that Rising intonation as we we go to the end of that question do you want to go so say it after me again I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go one more time I'm going to get a B te do you want to go now let's let's Shadow say it with me try to keep that same Pace I'll say it at this speed I'm going to get a bite te do you want to go so ready let's say it together here we go I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go let's do it again ready I'm going to get a bite to e do you want to go and I think when it comes to shadowing that's one of the more difficult Parts would be you're trying to say things in the exact same way intonation emphasis using reductions linking but trying to keep that pace I think is a bit more challenging especially when we're talking about using connected speech and practicing that way all right so that was the second uh part the next sentence that we're going to look at all right again if you guys are speaking let me know uh excellent uh VI Superman Gustav great job takayo again it's good to practice this great for your comprehension never feel like oh you need to start doing this but it's good to understand like what's going on here so the next question that we're looking at again I'll say each individual word so you can hear me could you wait till I finish work but the way I was saying it could you wait till I finish work could you wait till I finish work and even listening to to me maybe you can kind of pick out some of the things that are going on could you wait till I finish work could you wait till I finish work so the first part that could you assimilation this is another part of connected speech this is when you have two sounds they blend together to create a new sound in this case that final D in could and the beginning Y in U they blend together and you get this J sound it's very subtle it's almost like we're putting that J sound between the two words and then that allows us to connect them together so instead of could could you could you could you could you could you do this could you do that could you do this could you do that it's not something I would say that you should try to force as you say these two words and you just say one right after the other I think you're naturally going to blend these sounds together and and you'll hear it again it's slight so instead of could you could you could you now notice that in that case could you I'm actually saying the stressed you even in this question you could you know unstress it say the weaker y could you could you could you but just for the example I have let's just say that it's a stronger sound and we're going to say could you could you even though I just wanted you to know it may may be weaker from time to time wait till so we have two overlapping T sounds wait till wait till and you could hear somebody say it and they pronounce that T it's very clear with the American accent often when that t comes between two vowel sounds it may get changed into a flap te wait wait so hopefully you can hear that soft D wait could you wait could you wait and then we could link we already talked about linking that final consonant l sound until with the vowel sound in the with the pronoun I till Li could you wait a lie could you wait a lie and finish work uh no nothing really I wanted to point out there but just those first five words in this question let's just practice ice that first part could you wait a lie could you wait a lie say it say it say it after me could you wait a I could you wait till I finish work say it one more time could you wait till I finish work and now Shadow say it with me same time try to keep that pace ready could you wait till I finish work once again could you wait till I finish work okay so now you hopefully you can kind of hear these different things going on let me know WR speaking in the chat in the comments if if you're practicing your skills and you're saying these sentences out loud all right that's what it's all about just getting a little little speaking practice today I know I know that I'm not there but trust me I can hear you I think you're doing great I can hear you the next uh two sentences again I'll say each in individual word and then we'll break it down it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night but the way I was saying it it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night again if somebody's really going to say this much faster it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night and you can really fly right through the sentence so let's see what's going on let's start with it's getting so this is something that I think is pretty interesting at least I find it interesting when it comes to not only the American accent but just English in general so get you hear that stop T at the end if I'm using it in the continuous tense like um in this case it is getting that t comes between two vow sounds and you hear that flap te getting getting however sometimes I think in the US people will drop those G's so think about the sentence I'm taking a break if we drop that g instead of taking it's going to sound like taken I'm taking a break I'm taking a break in this case once we drop that g if we drop the G we now have the T followed by a vowel sound followed by the n Sound in that case it's going to be pronounced as a gladle t think about the word Mountain you have a t followed by a vowel sound followed by the N sound so that t in Mountain it's pronounced as a glottal te the best way I can describe the glottal te it's almost like you're swallowing it Mountain getting getting so just say that word say it after me getting getting it's getting late it's getting late and we're dropping that g using a glottal T instead there's nothing again there's nothing wrong very common you could say it's getting late it's getting late you hear people say that all the time in the in the US they're going to use that flap te but if I wanted to drop the G it's getting late and the next part a couple things going on I don't want to we're going to reduce that to Wana and this is again we're going to move right through that final part of the sentence because we can link the phrase wait around all and we're going to link all of those final consonant sounds with the beginning vowel sound of the next word and that final T in waight you're going to hear me say it with a flap t wait around all wait around all I don't want to wait around all night so this is the way I would phonetically spell spell it so you can see it it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night so I want you to say it after me again let's let's say it slowly to begin with it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night now let's speed it up a little bit it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night and now let's say it faster it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night and then because I talked about well super fast speech Let's try and say it well super fast it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night and and now again just to get that shadowing too let's try and say it at the same time I'm not going to say it too fast I'll say it like it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night and I want you to say it with me ready here we go it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night one more time it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night okay so we just did a thorough Deep dive into all of those sentences and and great job uh Jillian Gustav uh VI again keep speaking that's what this is all about I want you to speak out loud and I want you to do that again because I want you to say this dialogue with me so before we say it and we take turns like I'll be a you will be B and then we're going to switch I'll let you listen to it uh again I'll say all of them right now and hopefully it's a little easier now that we we've gone through and talked about each of these sentences so I'll just read the whole thing right now what do you want to do tonight I'm gonna get a B I'm GNA get a bite te do you want to go sure could you wait till I finish work it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night okay so let's begin with uh I'll be a and I just want you to read or say B I want you to say it out loud again let's we're having a conversation all right you ready what do you want to do tonight sure could you wait till I finish work all right now let's switch I want you to say a out loud and I will say B okay ready you can begin I'm going to get a bite to eat do you want to go it's getting late I don't want to wait around all night all right excellent let me know in the chat all right if you were practicing your skills that's what uh that's what this is all about um I I I just want to really help you understand the what's happening with some of these words and phrases and I know that it's a lot it's a lot to take in because there are so many different things going on when talking about well some of the different parts of connected speech elision assimilation and then we have reductions tried to mention about the rising intonation at the end of yes no questions so let me see uh I'm going to I'm going to give you a quick little poll were you practicing um with me and I just want you to answer the question because what I think I'll do in the future this is just a yes no were you practicing with me were you practicing your speaking skills in the future I I'd like to do some more lessons like this and really break down analyze some sentences to help give you a better understanding of what's happening again this is not something you should feel like you have to do it depends on your own speaking goals with your speaking fluency I do think that when you're using reductions connected speech it's going to give your speech a more natural sound and this is not just something that you would do informally on the streets even when you're giving a presentation in a formal situation people are still going to use reductions linking this is really common and again I would say that you can choose what what you want to do if something doesn't feel comfortable like reducing I'm gonna to I'ma don't feel like you need to do it but it is something you may hear which is always good for for your listening comprehension so all right it seems like most of you 3% of you were not practicing that's okay as long as you were listening then you're still getting some value out of this at least I hope so so I really appreciate you guys being with me today I hope that you enjoyed the lesson I hope that you learned something new if you did I would love it if you hit that like button I would really appreciate it so I could tell you say well right now I'm going to get going okay and there's that Amina I told you I don't know why I use it a lot I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna get going right now I'm gonna get going so I'm gonna have to say goodbye thank you guys for joining me thank you Vicky gusta thank you too you're doing great uh know too get to get to hear you practice uh in class which is good and yes just as a reminder if you guys want to check out the course uh click on that link below something that I continue to run throughout the year Loi thanks for joining us being here super monk uh sen alash VI tal just give some quick shout outs at the end Laura Camille again all right I'm I'm gonna sign off there's that I'm gonna I'm gonna keep saying that I'm gonna I'm Inna I'm Inna anyway hope you learned something new if you --- ## 561. Speak Fluent Office English: Advanced Idioms for the Workplace | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hUqcqN-W9AE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUqcqN-W9AE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:48:17 | --- let's learn some advanced work idioms to help you build your vocabulary I'm going to talk about the meaning of each phrase how it's used as well as go over the pronunciation so that you can say them just like me and I know that you probably work hard when it comes to learning idioms and I'm sure that you are willing to go the extra mile and let's begin with that idiom right there to go the extra mile this is commonly used when talking about work because it means to do more than what is expected of you I like to think that I try to go the extra mile when putting together these lessons I'm sure when it comes to your job you also try to go the extra mile there are two things that I want to point out when it comes to using this idiom because I often hear mistakes just keep in mind that this is a fixed expression to go the extra mile sometimes people see go and they want to just add two after it to go to the extra mile no no no no no go the extra mile the other thing is that you're always going to use the definite article the so just remember it's a fixed phrase to go the extra mile way to go the extra mile your mimo would be proud I go the extra mile now I've been thinking about it all day and I have a plan to go the extra mile for pronunciation I just want you to keep in mind that the definite article the' has two different pronunciations a strong form and a weak form we're going to use the strong form the when the next word begins with a vowel sound and the weak form the' when the next word begins with a consonant sound this is more of a general rule you may not always hear people follow this but it is something to keep in mind to go the extra mile and if you would like to continue going the extra mile please subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and you know learning these idioms will certainly help you improve your overall fluency and sound more natural especially at work now it is going to be a little difficult to learn idioms I'm not going to lie you definitely have your work cut out for you and I want to continue with that idiom right there to have your work cut out for you this means means to have something very difficult to do and it's really a way of adding emphasis so instead of saying well that's going to be difficult for you I can just use this idiom you have your work cut out for you and you don't always have to use for someone I could say you have your work cut out to learn these work idioms and the other thing I want you to think about is the grammer because you have a subject pronoun a possessive adjective as well as an object pronoun he has his work cut out for him she has her work cut out for her they have their work cut out for them when pronouncing this idiom there are two things that I want to mention the first is that the final T in Cut you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound more like a soft D this is very common when talking about the American accent and yes I am from the United States and often people are going to use a flap te when it comes between two vowel sounds the next thing is that linking may occur and this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vow sound of the next word so let's think about that phrase cut out I can link that flap t with the vow sound in out cut out to have your work cut out for you just listen for it they've got their work cut out for them Hey listen just so you know you might have your work cut out for you well we have our work cut out for it Santa's got his work cut out for him now improving your speaking and pronunciation takes time I could certainly say that you have your work cut out for you but if you're willing to go the extra mile there's an app that can help you so let me quickly tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson Elsa speak this is an app that I originally heard about from many of you so let's check it out and it's really easy you download the app and you can start exploring and I'm amazed at all the different things that you can do you can have ai conversations practice daily lessons improve pronunciation let's say that there's a specific topic that you're interested in like work just go to study by topic work and career and there are so many different lessons to choose from but I think one of the coolest parts of the app is to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so I can just put in I plan to go the extra mile and then listen to it I plan to go the extra mile and then practice saying it I plan to go the extra mile now let me show you what happens if I make a couple of speaking mistakes I plan to go the extra M as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try and make adjustments so use the link in the description or scan the QR code you see on the screen to download Elsa and get 7 Days of a pro membership for free and you can use the other Link in the description to get 85% off a lifetime membership or 40% off off a one-year membership so if you are looking to go the extra mile check out the links and discounts below let's get back to our lesson and learn more useful and advanced work idioms and the next one that I have for you is to pull your weight this is a great idiom when talking about working in a group because it means to work as hard as others in a group to pull your weight in order to meet the deadline everyone on the team has to pull their own weight now you may hear people use the word own in between the possessive adjective and the noun to pull your own weight to pull his own weight to pull her own weight or I could say Wes is just not working hard right now he's not pulling his weight often you may hear people use this with the negative to say someone is not doing their fair share of work Wes is not pulling his weight when pronouncing this idiom I think it's pretty simple and straightforward to pull your weight we haven't done that in years thank you you've really been pulling your weight around here seven a winner way to go blanders the Bible's finally pulling its weight then we have to pick up the slack this is another great idiom when talking about working with a group because it means to improve a situation by doing something that someone has not done or completed so if some work has not been completed maybe you have to pick up the slack with this idiom I often get asked like where does it come from and if we do a quick search we learn that the origin comes from sailing when a sailor is pulling a line a rope there's likely to be some amount of slack in the line he's putting down another sailor is needed to pick up the slack and ensure the line doesn't get tangled so if you are working in a group you may need to pick up the slack if someone calls in sick you may need to pick up the slack if a member of your team goes on vacation or you may need to pick up the slack if someone is just being a slacker and a slacker is an informal noun for someone who is lazy and does not work very hard and if you are working with someone else who is a slacker then yes you may need to pick up the slack when pronouncing this idiom more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in pick with the beginning vowel sound in up pick up to pick up the slack we're all going to have to dig deep and band together to pick up the slack while your mother recovers and with Roy going we got a smaller crew and I'm picking up all of his slack so I think I should be compensated fairly by getting a raise on the same page this means agreeing about something really about how something should be done so if people are on the same page then they just really understand each other and in order for us to be on the same page when it comes to using this idiom I have some funny memes that I want to share with you we may not be on the same page but we can at least try to be on the same chapter I'm glad we're on the same page and that both of our minds are in the gutter and if you say that your mind is in the gutter it just means that you're you're thinking about inappropriate things we may have been on the same page but I think we were actually in different books so in this case yeah they just they really don't understand each each other when pronouncing this idiom again I think it's pretty simple and straightforward one thing I want to mention because I talked about the strong and weak the' in this case I'm going to use the weak form the' because the next word begins with a consonant sound on the same page only way that I could get back to a normal life he I get it we're on the same page what do you mean I mean em and us we get it we're all in the same page what page is that the next idiom is up to par this means to be at the usual or expected standard I hope that you think this lesson is up to par it is at the expected standard now I included not because often people are going to use this with the negative to say that something is not up to par it is not at the expected standard I might say well his presid presentation was not up to par or I went to the new restaurant and yeah I just didn't think the the food was up to par when pronouncing this idiom again you're going to hear me pronounce the final T and not as a flap T and then I'm going to link it with the vow sound in up not up not up to par the other thing I want you to keep in mind is that the word to has a strong and weak form as well and most of the time you're going to hear that weak form because it's unstressed and it's going to sound more like it has awah sound T it's much softer not up to par not up to par just listen for those two things so if I'm not up to a par performance-wise Jim this isn't exactly a Turn on there's a thing called proposition 48 says that if your grades aren't up to par you can take the SAT if you score 700 or more you can get into college see this is perfect I wanted to head over to the street and do a walking tour of ethnic foods it can't be moving here if the schwarm is not up next is learn the ropes this means to learn or know how to do a job or activity so whenever you start a new job this is just something you have to do you have to learn the ropes when I began making these video lessons I was learning the ropes there were many things that well they weren't necessarily related to teaching editing creating thumbnails and it took me some time to learn the ropes keep in mind that you may follow this idiom with the preposition of to learn the ropes of something to give you a better idea as to how it's used in context I have some news headlines for you sharing ties to Ukraine students learn the ropes of tennis pupils and staff learn the ropes firefighters learn the ropes during rescue course when pronouncing this idiom I think it's pretty straightforward but once again we're going to use that weekthe because the next word begins with a consonant sound to learn the ropes it's his first week on the job so he's still learning the ropes he's been very patient I've been learning the ropes around here then there's hit the ground running this means to immediately work hard and successfully at a new activity and I I just want you to keep in mind we're talking about a new activity and that is the context in which you would use this idiom and you really just want to emphasize that you're going to work hard and you're going to hit the ground running I could say the new project starts on Monday and we're going to hit the ground running or when I started my new job I didn't get much of an orientation I just had to hit the ground running for pronunciation keep in mind that a lesion may occur this is when sounds or syllables get removed and it sometimes happens with the T and D sounds when they come between two consonants so that final D in the word ground it comes between two consonant so it alides you don't really hear it to hit the ground running to hit the ground running well we need somebody who can hit the ground running right now I just don't have the time for it I have to hit the ground running how was your day superb this morning I made a palindrome with my alphabets that nice hat Bob to hen sounds like you hit the ground running next is burn the Midnight Oil I like this idiom because I think I can kind of relate to it it means to work really late at night and you could use this instead of saying like oh you're working late tonight I could say you're burning the midnight oil keep in mind that I think often people will use this in the continuous tense because they're they're talking about right now you see someone at the office and you say wow you're burning the midnight oil burning the midnight oil it's only 11:45 take a break wow Bing burning the midnight oil you know me sir for pronunciation I I just want to focus on the word oil because it can be a little tricky you have that vowel sound which is a diff thong oi followed by that dark L oil oil and when you put it all together it's still one syllable so let's practice repeat after me oil burning the midnight oil excellent the next idiom up to speed this is when you have all the latest information about a subject or activity then yeah you are up to speed I could say I didn't go to the meeting could someone please get me up to speed or maybe she didn't attend class yesterday perhaps one of the other students will help bring her up to speed and I really just want to point out that you may often use this idiom with those verbs they're really collocations to get someone up to speed or to bring someone up to speed when pronouncing this idiom you hear me say hit with that week two which sounds more like T up to speed just listen for it let me bring up to speed just want to bring everyone up to speed okay let's get the crew up to speed so get me up to speed then we have cut corners and yeah I think we've all cut Corners before this means to save money or time when doing something by not including Parts actions or details so the final result is really not as good as it could be so you may use this idiom when commenting on someone else's work perhaps they you know they didn't really do a good job they were trying to save time the quality is not that great you could say yeah they really cut Corners to give you some more context here are some funny jokes think quality don't cut corners and as you can see the corner of the sign is cut or I had to cut a few Corners this big radar looking thing is a walk clock and most of the buttons are glued on so the quality is probably not that great and then don't work hard work intelligent cut Corners because it's easier to roll a ball than push a box and you just got to cut those Corners when pronouncing this idiom it's pretty straightforward you do have some alliteration with that c sound when saying cut Corners to cut Corners you can't cut Corners in life you know who cut Corners Kennedy was when he was running the Bay of Pigs know what we're talking about oh let me guess cutting corners and stupid getrich quick scheme wow it must be expensive to produce all these cartoons well we cut Corners sometimes to save money our animators will reuse the same background then there's to have something on your plate this means to have something usually a large amount of important work to deal with and most of the time people are going to say a lot instead of something and it really implies that you're talking about work or just important things that you have to do to have a lot on your plate I could say I know that you probably have a lot on your plate but after this lesson I'd love it if you write to me in the comments because I just I just like hearing from you when pronouncing this phrase if I'm going to use a lot a lot on your plate a lot on my plate the final TN lot I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T and then we can link it with the vowel sound in on a lot on your plate a lot on my plate and she's she's doing her best you know she's got a lot on her plate she's got school she's got work give me some time okay I have a lot on my plate no problem I get it stay at the office cookie I just got a lot on my plate it's not easy being in the spotlight it's the difficult Road I've chosen now for a little review I know there is a lot to take in with these vocabulary lessons and that's why I don't like to waste time time when the lesson begins we just hit the ground running because my goal is to try to bring you up to speed with all the latest information as to how these idioms are used but you're still going to need to work hard and it may require you to burn the midnight oil from time to time I don't know maybe it's really late at night right now as you're watching this but even if you have a lot on your plate and you're busy at work or at home or with other activities don't cut corners you may miss something important and nobody's going to be around to pick up the slack building your vocabulary this is all on you and you certainly have your work cut out for you now if you still feel like your vocabulary skills are not up to par then I would recommend that you watch another video Lesson and I'm sure you will because you seem like someone who who always goes the extra mile but I'm going to leave it there so if you enjoyed the lesson and learn something new let me know by hitting that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time Soo --- ## 562. Speak Like a Leader: Advanced Phrases Every Professional Must Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Tn5XiN-GAuE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn5XiN-GAuE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:59:03 | --- I want to teach you how to speak and communicate just like a leader and with some useful phrases that every working professional must know just like it says right there. And if you would like to get these lesson notes right next to me, join my email community, click on the link down below in the description and you can access them so you can just more easily remember them and make this vocabulary a part of your active memory. If you're already a part of the community, check your inbox because I've I've already sent them to you. So, this is a quiz lesson. I like doing these because I want you to actually think as we're going through this about the word phrase and participate and I want you to write your answers in the chat or in the comments. After all, this is interactive English and I might as well introduce myself as I lead into that. My name is Wes. Uh the channel's interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, I told you that this is going to be a quiz lesson. So, let's just go ahead and jump into it with our first question. She had to m down when the manager was on leave. So I've g I'm giving you the meaning take responsibility for a situation while another person is temporarily absent. This is a more informal phrase but still one that another person you might ask your colleague or especially your subordinate if you are the leader you may ask somebody this. You're going to say this if you are going to be absent for a little while and I want you to down. So, I've kind of highlighted the expression. There's a missing word and then down and then two more missing words. Think about the the meaning, but also I I'm trying to think about how I can give you a little bit of a hint without giving the answer away. So, we're not talking about like take down. All right. She had to m down when the manager was on leave. So the person who in this case the manager was on leave now she was in charge while this person was gone and she had to what the first word it [laughter] is not I see a lot of takes the first down is not take the first word is actually hold. So I'm going to go ahead and give you that she had to hold down what when the manager was on leave. I mentioned this is more of an idiomatic expression. It's more informal but definitely one that you could come across in a work context. And if you are the leader or you are the manager, the boss, you are going to go away and you might ask someone else to hold down the fort. So if you say hold down the fort, you're asking another person to be responsible, take charge, lead while you're away, and then you're going to come back. But in the meantime, somebody else is going to hold down the fort. So if this expression was new, that's awesome. I love it when you learn new things. If it was, you can let me know by hitting that like button. So the sentence, she had to hold down the fort when the manager was on leave. to give you a to give you a visual that I again it's humorous. This is a little bit of a joke. Uh someone's got to hold down the fort and this is quite literally the cat of course is holding down the fort in this case. So think about that situation. It's very specific. Somebody leaves and another person might hold down the fort while that other person is away and then they they are in charge. They would be the leader. >> [snorts] >> What do you think? This is more of a collocation. The project leader's calm and competent approach serve to m confidence in a stress team. Now the meaning of this this phrase in general is to create or establish a feeling of trust, self asssurance or certainty in others. There are many well there could there could be more than one answer. There is one specific verb that I'm thinking of and which I'll tell you in just a moment, but the there are other verbs that you could use in this case and we will we will get into it in just a moment. So, this is a good way to really think about some of the different verbs that you know when we're talking about confidence. The project leader calm and competent approach serve to confidence in a stress team. a common collocation somebody mentioned u build confidence boost confidence I yeah those would work that's not the verb that I'm thinking of but that's okay as I just mentioned there there could there can be certainly be more than one answer for this question but we're talking about establishing that feeling of trust self asssurance certainty in others [snorts] so I see a lot of build and boost which is good the verb that I was thinking of. This is another common collocation. Collocations are words that are frequently used together to instill confidence. The project leader calm and competent approach serve to instill confidence in a stress team. And that is what you're doing. You're creating that trust and that certainty. Now, I've mentioned the word collocation several times and commented on using build or boost saying that would work. And that's kind of what I wanted to lead into and share with you some common collocations when using the noun confidence. So, essentially, I think a lot of these would work in this context. Build confidence, instill confidence, boost confidence, increase confidence. I I think those three would be fine in that sentence that I just showed you. But some other collocations, you might try to maintain confidence or to restore confidence or in maybe a negative context to shatter confidence. And in that case, it has a negative connotation. It's not a good thing. Another thing that I wanted to point out which you probably noticed is that often you're going to follow this collocation with the preposition in to instill confidence in someone or a group. The same with to build confidence in someone or a group. I even think I followed it with this uh to instill confidence in a stress team. So there, this is a great way to build your vocabulary, but also in this case, I just want to get you thinking about some of those verbs that you might use with the word confidence. What do you think as the team leader the M here? Now, there's more than one word. There's basically the entire phrase is missing, but success or failure is mine to own. So the phrase the meaning of it is when one person accepts the ultimate responsibility for something that will not try to they they won't try to pass the blame on to someone else. This I would say is more of an an American uh expression. It is also an idiom. But I think whenever you're talking about somebody who is a leader, whether at work or in government or in any capacity whatsoever on a sports team, if someone's a leader, I think this phrase applies to this person. A lot of times it might be used as a standalone sentence and you're saying, "Look, I'm not going to pass blame on to anybody else that I am the one who's in charge. I am the leader. It's my responsibility. The what? All right, I see a great answer. Excellent. Uh Joanna, the buck stops here. So once again, you're going to use this when you want to convey that look, you're you're the one who's responsible. Don't try to blame somebody else for the failure of the business or whatever project that you might be doing. The buck stops here. I mentioned that I feel like this is more of an American idiom because we're we're using the the word buck. I forget where the the exact origin of this phrase, but it's a great one to know when referring to the person who is the leader, like you're the leader, you should be responsible. The buck stops here. Her leadership style made her a tough m to so I've I tried to highlight the phrase a tough m to so let me let me start over and read the whole sentence to give you context her leadership style made her a tough m to for the incoming manager and that is a key part of this sentence for the incoming manager. So, we're we're talking about someone who has been so successful that it will be very difficult for the person who comes next to be as good. And um we're we're this really again it basically means what it says and I'll explain that in just a moment. So, we're not uh we're not talking about a tough cookie or like a tough nut to crack. No th those are other those are other expressions but they don't apply to this situation when you have somebody who is new. They're coming in to a position and the person before them was so amazing that somebody may tell the incoming person like, "Oh wow, you know, this person is a tough m to you are new. The other person did an amazing job." And because of that, it makes it a what I feel like some of these phrases, even though I don't see the answer. I think once I show you, you're going to think, okay, I've I've heard this before. I've I know this expression, and I find I got a I got the right answer. Yes. Uh, good job. Deep value. A tough act to follow. So, I mentioned that it's specific to this context because you're following someone else. you're the the incoming manager, you're new to a position and the person before you did such a good job, you're like, "Oh, wow. This is a tough act to follow because now the expectations are really high and I have to really perform well and do a good job, be a strong leader because her leadership style made her a tough act to follow for the incoming manager." I told you that it really means what it says. Think about the situation. If there is a performance or if there are going to be several performances in a competition, if I am going to perform, I would in some way at some level I might hope that the people or the performance before mine is not that good because then I go on and it oh, it's going to make me look really much better if the person before me just bombed and they did a horrible job. If the person or group before me did a really good job, well then that's a tough act to follow. I have to follow that act and it's going to be very difficult. It's going to be hard. And I'm mentioning those words hard and difficult because you may use those adjectives as well. You could say something is a tough act to follow or a hard act to follow or even a difficult act to follow. To be honest, I was really surprised. I in my opinion, I felt like uh using tough act to follow would be the most commonly used, but apparently when I put this into engram viewer, which is I know I've shown you this before, if you ever want to check the frequency to get an idea, okay, what do most people use and say, uh it's actually more common to say a hard act to follow. But really, any of those phrases would work. It's a hard act to follow. a tough act to follow or even a difficult act to follow even though that one is not as commonly used. So, good idiom, good expression, very specific again because we're talking about somebody replacing another that did a really good job. Uh those are I somebody mentioned like shoes to fill that it's a ve it's pretty much the same. you know those are you have some big shoes to fill that you have a to do a really good job work hard because the the person before you also so that expression uh is is very similar to a tough act to follow [sighs and gasps] the next one I'm not giving you any hints in this case I just noticed that I just blanked everything out effective managers know when to m rather than micromanaging every minor task task. There are two words missing. The the meaning of this phrase is the process of assigning sask you know decision-making power responsibility uh to another person usually a subordinate. So you're not going to micromanage every little small thing. you trust this other person and because of that you are going to rather than micromanaging every minor task. See the word delegate and I applaud you that is the first word and and delegate on its own uh would work. You could say would know when to delegate rather than micromanaging. However, I'm I'm thinking of more of a phrase. What phrase? What other word could I use with delegate? What are you delegating in this context? This is another common collocation with the verb delegate. I told you delegate on its own it would be okay. But we're talking about different phrases when it comes to leadership. So in this case I'm talking about delegating authority. to delegate authority. You're assigning decision-making power, responsibility to a subordinate, a team. You trust these people. You're not going to micromanage them and you will delegate authority. Effective managers know when to delegate authority rather than micromanaging every minor task. So there are once again many great phrases, many common collocations with the word authority. So, I wanted to share some of those with you. I've already mentioned and I'm going to say it again and again and again even in the future. This is a great way to build your vocabulary. To delegate authority, you might hear somebody use it with the the verb respect to respect authority. A great leader probably commands authority. U this person also people that are born leaders may assume authority. Uh you could demonstrate authority or exert authority. And the last one, of course, not a good one. More of a negative connotation. I like to switch it up every now and then. To abuse authority, not a good thing in that case. But these are some common collocations with the noun authority. Let's move on to our next question. The new director is steering toward digital transformation. I'm giving you the word steering and what what what's the phrase this is really it's it's a it is an idiomatic expression but at the same time it it really means what what it says we're talking about overseeing directing you're guiding a project or organization essentially setting the course and when I say the phrase setting the course it's a little bit of a hint because when you set the course, what do you I don't know what do you think of when you hear that phrase? I know what I think of. So the new director is steering towards digital transformation. This is something else that a leader does. If you are the boss, CEO, an executive, manager, you have people below you. You are in charge of a team or a group and you are responsible for steering what? Think about something that you might steer. We're talking about moving in this case and I mentioned the hint as far as setting the course. So not a good guess. Not not steering the the direction steering the wheel. No, in this case the the phrase we're talking about um to steer the ship, steering the ship is when you are going to oversee or guide a project or organization. And you could say the new director is steering the ship toward digital transformation. And I mentioned the word like setting the course. When I think of when I think of that phrase, I don't I think of like submarines or ships and you might say, "Oh, you know, set the course for this because this is the direction we're going to head in." And that's why I said maybe it's a little bit of a hint to uh come up with this phrase to steer the ship. And you are steering the ship. Here is uh I think another common phrase, very useful phrase. I think they're all useful. A great manager always m by m, not by commands. So this phrase three three words and I I tried to highlight the the one in the middle is by by the meaning of it is to model the behavior you expect from others rather than just giving uh instructions. So I'm not just going to tell you what to do. I'm also going to do this thing take part in. And I'm going I don't want I was about to say it. I'm going to I'm just going to model it. But this is I think a phrase that you will definitely hear when talking about leadership in some capacity. If somebody's trying to encourage you to become a leader, to be a better leader, then this is a great phrase that you should know and you can use. And I think this is something we all should want to do depending on the situation that we're in. And I see some excellent answers. Um, well done. Uh, Scotty, Julia, uh, Lai, Joanna, just give some shout outs to lead by example. So if somebody's leading by example, they're modeling the behavior that they that they want instead of just telling somebody, look, do this, do that. A great manager always leads by example, not by commands. To lead by example. [snorts] And I would say I see some other like work by the book, preach by example. I I wouldn't use those phrases. I'd stick with this one. Very common ve it is known. And this is the one that I would encourage you to use to lead by example. This is a I thought it was just a little humorous. Uh it says leadership is action not position. Lead by example. That dog is leading those uh those ducks uh through the water. Here is your next question. Like the I love these quizzes. Get you get you thinking about the vocabulary that you already know. And hopefully some of this is new. Hopefully you're learning some new phrases when it comes to leadership, communicating with others. Again, this is a little bit more of a business English lesson. Employees trust leaders who the not just make promises. So, of course, you could probably put in a a bunch of phrases. They they trust leaders who lead by example. Uh but in this case m the okay you're not just making promises but the meaning of this is to back up one's boastful talk with meaningful actions there there's something specific that I want to say about this answer. We'll get into it in just a a moment. But think about the second part. You're not just making promises. You're not just blah blah blah blah blah blah talking. You're going to back it up. to back up one's boastful talk with meaningful actions. So I see some uh good there. There are actually there are several different answers that you can give. I see everybody most people putting walk the walk that works uh to to walk the walk. One thing I would say, and I am going to try to make a bit of a distinction here. In this case, I'm talking about somebody's boastful talk. So, they're being boastful. They're bragging like, "Oh, I I'm going to do this. I'm the best. Yes, we're going to accomplish this." But then I'm able to back it up. So, the phrase that I have, and if you said walk the walk, that that works. That is fine. Uh, I put walk the talk to back up one's boastful talk with meaningful actions. Employees trust leaders who walk the talk, not just make promises. Now, the reason why I said walk the talk because the talk would be that boastful, that bragging that the way that you're talking and communicating is probably getting the other person think, okay, let's see you do this. But then you're able to do it and somebody's like, wow, that's pretty impressive. this person's able to walk the talk. So the three things that I wanted to point out these expression to walk the talk to walk the walk or to talk the talk. So I this again this is how I just would divide this up and try to make a slight distinction between these different expressions. So walk the talk. I mentioned you're backing up your boastful talk. It makes me think that the way that you're talking is very confident, cocky, you're bragging. Whereas walk the walk, I think, would just more commenting like you're going to do what you say. You say something and then you do it. When you're saying it, it's not necessarily like you're bragging or like we're going to do something amazing, I'm the best, or whatever it is. It's not like you're bragging. You're just saying you're just doing the things that you say and you're walking the walk. So that's the like the slight uh distinction I'd make there. To talk the talk is to talk or act in a confident way so that you seem very good at at what you do. And that is more uh about you know communicating. so you're talking in a confident way so that you seem very good at what you but in general I feel like the three of these you know could be used interchangeably and I don't think anybody's going to say oh wow that sounds awkward if you choose one o over the other but these are I think these are useful phrases to know especially when talking about somebody who is in charge and they they need to take control I you know just out of curiosity I put this into engram viewer thinking about okay which which of these phrases are more commonly used walk the talk walk the walk or talk the talk turns out they're they're you know pretty similar that the frequency of these phrases is roughly about the same so that's why I said whether you know whichever one you feel more comfortable using I I I actually felt like probably walk the walk was going to be more commonly used and just barely just barely Here is the next question or the next sentence really. It's not a question but I my question to you is what is the correct phrase? Leaders must on during times of change. So I've only I'm only giving you that one word on there. It is a longer expression. So there are several words that are missing, but the meaning hopefully gives you an idea of the phrase that I'm talking about. You're you're staying focused and attentive on what is important. So when you are able to prioritize the thing that is important, you're focusing in on it. You are laser focused. What else could What's another way that you could say that? And I think in business or and again leaders in any capacity this is something they must do. They must stay focused especially as things are changing. They're moving fast and you're going to sell tell someone or you're go you know hope you're going to hope that this person is going to keep their eye on the ball. to keep your eye on the ball. This just means to stay focused and attentive on the thing that is important. Leaders um must stay focused I think I there's a little typo down there. Leaders must stay focused and attentive on what is important. Um they must keep uh okay now now I see what I did here. Uh I should say yes. Leaders must keep their eye on the ball during times of change. I see what I did. I wrote I didn't write the example sentence. I just kind of copied uh the meaning. Sometimes, you know, I get tired. I'm working late at night. Uh you just got to just please bear with me. Bear with me. Um Oh, Cinderella, thank you so much. Thank you. Uh I appreciate it. The super chat. Love that you're learning new things. That is the goal with all of these lessons, especially these vocabulary lessons. I always hope that you just learn one thing new. So, I apologize for that little uh mixup with the the sentence down there. Uh I've I've seen this before and I thought it was funny where uh you get this literal sense of somebody saying that I think in the video you could see it and the father is saying look, you know, telling a son, look, keep your eye on the ball. Keep your eye on the ball. And then the boy walks up and [laughter] just like really stares at the ball. So, I feel like this is a great uh great example of keep your eye on the ball, but it really means what it says. When you're playing a sport, for example, baseball or anything, uh golf, and somebody says, "Look, you got to keep your eye on the ball." That is the thing you need to focus on. So, whether we're talking about sports or business or anything that we want to accomplish, it's important to keep your eye on the ball. Great phrase to know and use and one that I think you can actually go out and use in different circumstances. [snorts] After the CEO retired, the COO took there are two words that are missing. So the meaning of this phrase is to take control or assume leadership of something such as an organization, government or project. So after the CEO retired the chief executive officer who would be the top uh in the corporate hierarchy, the COO which stands for chief operating officer took what? This is something that I think happens when if you have a CEO uh that retires generally a person there might not be one person directly below them but several that are below them. the C the COO would be one of them and one of those people might take over or they're going to take what this is more of an informal phrase that you can use to basically say that you're going to take control and the phrase that I'm talking about well done um yes Julia Joanna to take the reigns Uh, just keep in mind the the spelling of res I Ns. Because what we're talking about when we're talking about the res, think of the uh like a horse. When you're riding a horse, you're holding on to that that rope or that I it's not really rope uh what it's made of leather, but those are the res. You're going to hold the reins, take the reinss if you're riding a horse, and that is what's going to help you control where the horse is going to go. And that's where this comes from, that you're going to take the reins. Now you are steering the ship, to use another phrase that we talked about, and you have control, and you get to decide what we're doing, where we're going when you take the reigns. So this is another way of telling somebody who is maybe going to become a leader uh or just want to express this in another way. Oh, you know the COO took the reigns. They took control of the company. Or maybe if you're going to take charge of a situation and you might say, look, I'm going to take the reigns. I am going to take control of this situation. So think about that if it's an association that makes it easier like horseback riding and you're holding on to the reinss and that is what gives you control take the reins she leads again there's several words missing during every project making sure everyone sees her dedication and commitment. So the meaning is to take an active role in what one is urging and directing others to do. She leads. Now, of course, I'm sure maybe the first thing when you when you see that word lead, I I hope that your mind went back to the other expression we talked to, lead by example. In this context, lead by example would work. I want to give you another phrase that really has a similar meaning. I don't I do not think it's as commonly used as lead by example. That is the one that I feel like you should know and really try to learn and I think is uh more common commonly used. But this is another way to say a similar thing. She leads m uh during every project making sure everyone sees her dedication and commitment. You have that active role directing others. Okay, this is what I want you to do. And you could say somebody is going to lead what any guesses. So another way of putting this uh another way of saying this would be to lead from the front that you are ahead of everybody else. And that's where that whole from the front part comes into play which tells you that if you are in the front then you're the one who is really guiding everybody to use that other phrase. you're the one who's steering the ship. She leads from the front during every project, making sure everyone sees her dedication and commitment. As I said, this is a it's very similar to lead by example, but I think leading by example is is much more commonly used. After months of effort, his contributions finally started to the [snorts] on the company's revenue growth. So I don't think the sentence may give you that much information and trying to figure it out but after put a lot of effort into this and finally it started to the so it finally started to make a noticeable or s significant difference in a process or outcome. So can you think of any phrase that fits this context which has this meaning? It finally started to I look I I think some of you put in um uh pay off that that would work in this context. It finally started to pay off. Uh sure that's not the phrase we're talking about because there's that article 'the' in there. It finally started to move. Oh gosh. I said the first I started to say the first one. I just wanted to do this. I just wanted to do that little motion right there to give you a little bit of a hint, but I said move already. So move the what? What phrase has that meaning? You're making a change. It's finally starting to move the I I think this is maybe a phrase that you've heard of in some context perhaps watching a movie, TV show, listening to the news, or listening to a podcast. Uh it finally started to move the needle. So if something moves the needle, then it's making a noticeable change there. It's affecting or altering the outcome. when something moves the needle. So after months of effort, his contributions finally started uh to move the needle on the company's revenue growth. And hopefully if somebody is the the leader and they are steering the ship and I would hope that they're leading by example that the effort and the work that they are doing is going to move the needle and it's going to make a noticeable change in whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish or achieve. So to give you a little more context using this phrase, sometimes as you know I like to throw in some news headlines. Uh it says green lash how to move the needle on climate change. So it is a little bit of an idiomatic expression but even in like news articles you're going to come across some of these phrases. Apple's latest gaming efforts won't move the needle. So we're using it in the negative this ca in this this case. Decisive actions move the needle. not symbolic gestures. I think maybe that's true. And then it says, "Weak jobs data expected, but will it move the needle? Will it make some type of noticeable change?" These are the phrases that we just talked about. Hopefully, some of them are new or maybe you've heard it once or twice before and now you get a better understanding as to what it's mean, what it means, and how it's used. So that as you're talking about business or somebody who's a leader or even yourself, if you are uh in some type of leadership position that maybe you can use some of these um and that you are able to instill confidence in others because I believe that you are somebody who just doesn't just talk talk talk. I think that you actually walk the talk when it comes to improving your English skills, building your vocabulary. The only thing I would suggest is that you just remember, keep your eye on the ball. Try to learn a little bit each and every day. Focus on, you know, some of the more common expressions like the ones I said, lead by example, I think, is a great phrase to know. And I you you're it's going I I think in the long term it is going to move the needle and you will see a noticeable change in your level of English. And I'm just kind of yammering on right now trying to get you a little bit of review and just keep using these phrases in context. So I hope that you enjoyed the lesson. If you did, you can let me know by hitting that like button. I always appreciate you participating in the lesson and yeah, I will see you soon for another lesson in the future. So long. Have a good one. --- ## 563. Speak Like a Native ๐Ÿ’ฌ Compelling Vocabulary You MUST Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RFeFPCui_9Q` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFeFPCui_9Q) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:58:15 | --- speak and communicate just like me. And that's why I want to teach you this compelling vocabulary that I think you need to know. And if you are someone who enjoys supercharging your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. Now, this is a quiz lesson, so I want you to participate. That's the first thing that I want to say. And the next thing is that these words are I I think they're a little more advanced even though I think you're going to recognize and you're familiar with some of them already because I think they are still often used. Now you can use other words in their place and I'll talk about that. But I think when it comes to building your vocabulary and just constantly improving, this is incredibly useful and I think it's going to help build your confidence as well as just be more descriptive and precise when you're having a conversation. The next thing that I want to mention, if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills, you can check out my speaking course. There is a link down below in the description. These are small group classes for intermediate to advanced speakers. And that is one way that you can just speak directly with me and we do a bunch of different engaging speaking activities. and begin. I'm just going to jump right into it. I'm wasting no time this year. Uh, and I'll give some shoutouts as we go through this. I see some familiar faces, some members. So, let's begin with some compelling verbs. And of course, I'm using a word like compelling just to capture your attention and really emphasize that yeah, I think this vocabulary is useful. These verbs are incredibly useful. So, here is the first question. I am giving you the sentence and the meaning down below. I'm also giving you the first word of the verb. He chose to m his university application for a year. So it begins with a D and the meaning is to put off either an action or an event to a later time. Essentially you are postponing this this thing that you are doing. Now I think when you're talking about an application this is a verb that you will often use. Of course you could say put off and use that phrasal verb but phrasal verbs are a little more little more informal. Uh you could use postpone. that would work as well. But specifically, we're talking about a word that I think maybe you're familiar with it. We're not talking about delay. That that's another word that you could use, but this word is a little more advanced than delay. Of course, delay is a very common verb which I think definitely you should also know that verb as well. But can you think of any other words? begins with a d to m his application for another year. So I chose this context because I think it is often used in this context when you are delaying something. I'm going to use the the word that uh I saw down there. Instead of using that, you can use defer. To defer something is when you put it off to a later time. Essentially, you're postponing it. You're delaying it. And when talking about an application, uh, you can do this. So, you can defer an application. You can defer your enrollment. Uh, you may commonly hear this verb when talking about something related to school. Defer an application. Defer enrollment. In this case, he chose to defer his university application for a year. And you're just waiting a year before doing this thing. Uh, excellent. Uh, monsoon, Bellarosa, Jordan. Uh, good, good, good job. I don't know. Um, I got many more for you guys. And hopefully if this is a new verb, it's one just to to keep in mind to defer something because I I I said that I want to help you supercharge your vocabulary. Not just build your vocabulary, but really supercharge it. I wanted to share with you some common collocations with this verb. These are words that are frequently used together. So you can defer a decision. Once again, you're putting it off. You may often follow this verb with for or until when you want to specify the time. So you may defer a decision for 3 weeks. And I'm using for with that period of time. Or you can defer a a decision until the end of the month. And now I'm really talking about that specific time until the end of the month. And you can really follow any of these phrases with for or until when you want to specify an amount of time. But you can also defer a payment. You can defer work. Something that I [laughter] I like to do uh even though others might say that I am procrastinating and they may use the verb to procrastinate instead, which is one I can relate to. You can also defer a discussion or you can defer entry or even defer responsibility. You're just putting it off to another uh to a later time when you defer something. Uh the next one, she refused to m a plan she didn't fully support. Think about the context. There is some I guess some plan and they say will you support this? Will you m this plan begins with the letter E. It means to make a public statement that you you approve of this thing. You support it. Uh and you're either supporting something or someone and you are going to uh I don't want to give it away. I was about to say it. Um not not execute. The key word here is support. this public statement of support. This is a verb that you may often hear when talking about politics and there is a campaign going on and you are somebody is going to m a candidate and you would use this verb. So again, it begins with an e and it's talking about this public statement of support. So the verb that we're talking about, excellent, Manuel, Julia, Manuel, great to see you. You too, Lai, good to see so many members here. Is to endorse. To endorse someone or something is you're just showing your approval support for this thing or this person to endorse something. She refused to endorse a plan that she didn't fully support. But like I said, you may hear this when talking about politics and you might endorse a candidate and you support this person for public office. [gasps] I I for I forgot that I had this up there. Uh I thought it was funny. Um me and the boys after endorsing each other's skills on LinkedIn. I don't know where this picture's from. this military picture. It's like North Korea or something, but they have all that uh those medals just, hey, yeah, you did a good job. I endorse your skills. Endorse your skills. Uh but speaking of LinkedIn, I'm not too active on LinkedIn. public speaking or they have skills in marketing or public relations or whatever it may be." So that is another context in which you may use or or hear this verb to endorse someone or something. Great verb to know otherwise I wouldn't be teaching it. How about this one? He m his authority during the negotiations. This is a verb that means to state a fact or belief confidently, positively or forcefully. So this is I I think maybe this is a little trickier. It begins with the letter A. Every time I say that, I feel like people mostly get the right answer. But he his authority during the negotiation. You're communicating in this way that is, you know, confident, positive, forceful, and what verb can you use that really captures those three things? Confidence, positive, and that you that you're right, and you're doing it in a little more of a forceful way. So, as I just mentioned, every time I say, I think it's going to be a little more difficult. I think people start throwing in the the correct answer. Uh, well done, uh, Alana Katarina. Uh, Allan Katarina, we're talking about to assert. Asserted. He asserted his authority during the negotiations. This is a word that I think is a bit stronger when you assert your authority in this context and you're really displaying a level of confidence. you're displaying a level of even forcefulness. To give you a little more context, or not to give you more context, but to give you some more collocations, as you can tell, I'm a big fan of uh common collocations. Here are some other words that may be frequently used with the verb to assert. You can assert one's rights. Um, you can assert your innocence. You could assert your authority like in our example. You can assert your control or assert your dominance or assert your independence. So keep in mind how you know the words that are being used. We talk about asserting dominance or authority or control and there really is this element of forcefulness in that context. And on the other end, when you're asserting your independence, your your freedom, your rights, that's also emphasizing it, but really in the other way that has more of a positive connotation. Uh, but great job, Lai Julia. Um, excellent answers. Here we go. The next one. Some analyst that the market will recover quickly. So I'm I'm using I I wanted to use this one after the own because in it has in the meaning you're asserting something as a position and an argument. What verb would has this meaning to assert something as a position and an argument. And we're using that verb to assert again. What do you think? Any guesses? Write your answers in the chat. After all, this is interactive English. I want you to participate in these lessons. That's what it's all about. So, some analyst starts with the letter C that the market will recover quickly. So, they're asserting this in a way that shows that they're confident and you're going to use this verb. Some analyst. What do you think? Any guesses? Don't be shy. All right? Even if you get it wrong, doesn't matter. Nobody there doesn't really matter in this situation um which you're you know watching this at home or somewhere else on your phone on your computer nobody's going to judge doesn't matter if you write the wrong answer down can you think of a verb that has this meaning that begins with the letter C if not maybe this is a new one for you which is great I love it when uh people learn new things to contend. When you contend something, you are asserting something like they this is my position in this argument. So some analysts contend that the market will recover quickly. So they're trying to make this argument. This is my position. I believe it's going to recover quickly and they contend that the market will recover quickly. If this verb is new, you can let me know. Hit that like button. Hit those smiley buttons. Doesn't matter. I love it when I I see that everybody is maybe coming across a word or two that they're a little they're unfamiliar with and building your vocabulary. You know, it's a marathon, not a sprint. It's always good to get the initial exposure if it's something completely new and then hopefully go back to it in the coming weeks and just slowly move it into your active memory. Let's switch gears now and talk about some compelling nouns. Once again, I want to grab your attention with these nouns. So, the first one right here is this one. Um, maybe people did get contend. The chat took a little time to catch up right now. Uh, let's just move to the next one, though. The committee struggled to build among members with opposing views. The committee struggled to build among members with opposing views. I would say maybe I I think I maybe missed an article in there. Not a big thing, but to build a something uh begins with the letter C and the meaning is we're talking about a generally accepted opinion among a group. I think this is a word that is one that you've heard, you've come across, maybe even you use it actively, actively. And if this is a noun that you actively use, that is wonderful. I love hearing that. So, what do you think? We're talking about a generally accepted opinion among a group is what? What do you think? In this case, you're trying to build a so well done. Um yes, Julia Manuel uh leentre uh sorry I mispronounc and Vicky Gustaf, good to see you. Welcome. Consensus is the noun that we're looking for. If you're talking about a consensus, then you're referring to this generally uh accepted opinion among a group of people. uh like for example a scientific consensus and trying to understand well what do most people believe when it comes to this thing. What is the common opinion that people have or share and that is the consensus. Sometimes you need to have a consens consensus in order to make a decision and everybody kind of has to agree. So the committee struggled to build a consensus. I'm going to add that article in there. To build a consensus among members with opposing views. Once again, you see this theme. I'm just throwing these throwing these phrases at you. So, once once again, here are some more common collocations. Hopefully, it helps make it a little more sense, but also understanding how this noun is commonly used. You might hear people these are all different adjective noun collocations. Uh a broad consensus or a general consensus. This is a common one and we need to have a a general consensus before we make a a final decision. There might be an overwhelming consensus. In that case maybe 95% of the people share the same opinion and it is a overwhelming consensus. There might be a clear consensus, a growing consensus, or I think I already mentioned that last one, a scientific consensus about what people should or should not do as it pertains to their health. Great noun to know, one that I hope that you may already be familiar with and even use actively right now. [snorts] The contracts m led to multiple interpretations. Begins with the letter a. Another noun that I think is uh a good one to know. [snorts] Refers to something that is unclear or confusing or it can be understood in more than one way. This is a word that we're we're talking about the noun, but you may often hear people use this as an adjective as well. Of course, the word's going to change. Part of the same word family, but often it's used as an adjective, but we can still use it as a noun as it is in this example. Refers to something. Look, it's a little unclear. It's confusing. There is some or you can understand it in more than one way. Like in this example, there are multiple interpretations. Which word very specifically [laughter] follows that meaning? What do you think? So, we're talking about the word ambiguity. Ambiguity refers to something that is unclear or confusing. It can be understood in more than one way. The contracts ambiguity led to multiple interpretations. I said that you may often hear this word used as an adjective and then in that case you're going to say something is ambiguous. Ambiguity the noun, ambiguous the adjective. Two words that I think you definitely should know because this is something I think we come across in our daily lives. And you see something whether it's a contract or you're not sure how to interpret it. You say, "Yeah, there's a there's a bit of ambiguity. So, I'm not really sure what this is trying to say. To give you uh an example related to English learning, I think maybe all of you uh can appreciate this. Oh, I I I meant to say something for beforehand. I'm sorry. I got ahead of myself. I wanted to give you the sentence and I wanted to ask you which one kind of you were thinking of. So, the sentence is I saw the man with the telescope. And in English, there exists this ambiguity where I can I can say this sentence, but there's more than one way to interpret it. I saw the man with the telescope. Which one do you think of? You can let me know uh in the chat in the comments. Are you thinking when when you hear this sentence, are you thinking are you imagining number one and that this boy has the telescope or are you imagining number two that you saw this man and this man is holding a telescope? I saw the man with the telescope. Which one you hear that sentence do you imagine? But the the whole point is that there is no both of them are correct. You really have to put it into context or depending on the situation, you may have to ask for more information and be like, "Well, wait a second. Did you were you looking through the telescope or did you see somebody walking and they were holding a telescope?" But this is a great example of ambiguity in the English language. And there are other sentences as well. It's a reason why the language can be a little confusing. But I imagine most of the time if you were to use a sentence like this probably you would understand the context and you okay yeah this person uh you know they're looking through the telescope and that is how they they saw the man but either one could be correct just an example of ambiguity. The long rehearsals help build a strong sense of m among the musicians. The meaning of this noun is mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together. And if we're in this situation talking about people who are playing together, they're rehearsing together. And there was a strong sense of what what noun that begins with the letter C are we going to use? And it has this meaning referring to mutual trust or friendship among this group. There is a specific word. I don't see it just yet. So I'll give you another moment to think of all of those couns the the answer that I'm thinking of. You wouldn't really a strong sense of coherence. It sounds a little awkward in this context. There is another noun that is certainly more precise when you're talking about a group of people. The other key word would be in the meaning which is friendship. Think about friendship when you're trying to think of this word. So I saw some answers. Excellent. C HCT Manuel camaraderie. Camaraderie refers to that friendship when you're talking about a group of people and there's real camaraderie among a group. The long rehearsals help build a strong sense of camaraderie among the musicians. So anytime you want to you're talking about a group that's getting along and they're friends and you could say yeah there's a you know a lot of great there's camaraderie among the group of students or the group of musicians or whatever group it may be and there is this strong sense of camaraderie. How about the next one? Once again it's a it's a language learning example. So hopefully you guys you you would appreciate it. Learning a new language requires patience and what begins with the letter R. The meaning is the ability to be happy, successful, etc. Again, after something difficult or bad has happened. Language learning there are, as you know, uh you know, I've tried to learn several languages in my life. There are ups, there are downs, there are times where you feel invincible, like gosh, I'm learning so much. this is great and then other times where you feel like h I feel I forgot you know so many things I feel like I can't communicate or speak uh coherently but in that case it requires patience and what that starts with the letter R it is a great noun especially in this context and well done Alan Katarina Tayo good to see you resilience resilience is the noun that we were looking for. This means the ability to be happy. Uh because it is I mean resilience is more obviously than happiness but it's like you more happy positive successful things are going well especially after a time when you were in a little bit of a slump and you could say that someone is resilient and I'm using it as an adjective now just to point out that you may often use this verb as an adjective. resilient, but as a noun, resilience. Either one works. They're both part of the same word family. And once again, I think it's worth it to know to know both of them. To give you a little more context with this word, here are some news headlines that I think are pretty recent just to help you better understand how the noun is used. Writing builds resilience by changing your brain, helping you face everyday challenges. That's true. I hope you all write a little bit in English. You're writing now, so you're practicing vocabulary, writing skills, your listening skills because you're listening to me. This is a great lesson. King urges kindness and resilience in Christmas message. Uh how 2025 showcased the power and resilience of science. And then finally, Bangladesh's LNG dependence um raises concerns about energy resilience. And we're using that noun resilience in in each of those news headlines. Just another another way that I like to uh introduce and teach these words. All right, we're moving on to a different part of speech. Adjectives. Let's learn some compelling adjectives. Of course, they're compelling. They're important. They're useful. All of the above. He appreciated her m feedback even though it was difficult to hear. [sighs] Of course, you could probably just take that adjective out and just say feedback. But if I want to be a little more precise, a little more descriptive and describe the type of feedback which does give you more information, I could then use this word which means honest and telling the truth, especially about something that is difficult, painful, or maybe you struggle telling this other person. But in that case, you you're going to say it anyway. you think this person should know and you just want to be what the sincere works sincere feedback I think that is a a common collocation but I think to to try to hone in a little bit more on this word it's not with the it's not sincere think of the word honest this is another synonym for honest and in that case instead of saying somebody is honest You could say that they are very what? Well done. Um, Rosie, uh, Julia, we're talking about candid candid feedback. There are other collocations with as well when talking about sincere feedback or constructive feedback. That's another common adjective that's used when talking about feedback. But in this case, when wanting to really hone in on that being honest and truthful when trying to share something with somebody else, he appreciated her candid feedback even though it was difficult to hear. And you could say that somebody is candid. They are being honest about something that maybe is a little difficult to share with someone else. This is an uh I say this with all the words I was about to say. It's great adjective to know. It is all right. All of these are are great words. Here is a this is a maybe an example more from uh even before my childhood, but part of it it kind of goes back to uh the 80s. So this is uh an advertisement. Pick it up and smile. You may be on candid camera. So this was a TV show a long time ago. I even even before my time, but even when I was a child, there was a an a show it kind of evolved over time and it was called Candid Camera. And basically, they would put people in situations to see how they would react. And they're calling it Candid Camera because you're getting the way people honestly behave in this situation. Like they see trash on the street and they're showing people walking along. Who's going to pick it up? who's going to walk on by. And finally, they they it's it's like kind of a prank channel. Uh well, they have YouTube channels nowadays, but it's like a prank TV show seeing how people would react and then they tell, "Oh, you're on camera. You're on candid camera." Uh it is like a like a hidden camera to see how people honestly behave in certain situations. Another example, a long a long explanation of me trying to tie in the word candid right there. His m preparation contributed to the project success. This adjective, and I'm not giving you any the first letter anymore, making it a little more challenging. I think you guys uh uh know many of these words anyway, which is great. Means showing great attention to detail. you're very careful and precise and in that case you could say someone is what now there may be more there may be more than one adjective that kind of fits this description but I told you this is a little bit more of an advanced word at least I think it is even though it's one that does get used especially in a work context because you want people that pay close attention to detail and you want somebody to be very wet. His m preparation contributed to the project's success. And the key phrase in there is that attention to detail. Excellent. Loi, uh, Tayo, uh, Monica, meticulous is the adjective that we're looking for. I think this is a useful one, especially when talking about work and you want someone to really pay close attention. like look, you really need to be meticulous. Or you want to describe a colleague and give this person a compliment because this is a good thing if someone is meticulous and say he or she is very meticulous. They always get it right and all of the information is accurate because they pay close attention and he or she is very meticulous. I I've provided a lot of language learning sentences in uh this this lesson today which is relevant. I don't know why sometimes these random things just uh tend to come out. She has a mappet for learning languages. The meaning is very eager for something especially a lot of food. So this is a I'm going to share some I think I'm going to share some other collocations with this. This is a common collocation a mappetite. Now you could use it in the context of literally you know eating food. However, I'm using it in the context of like for learning something new for learning new languages. [snorts] Of course you could say yeah a strong appetite that works but that's not the word I'm looking for. This is a word that is descriptive. It is not an everyday adjective that you're going to come across all the time. But if you really want to emphasize just how strong or eager it is that somebody wants to in this case learn new language languages and you could say that she has a verocious ver voracious sorry voracious appetite. Uh well done. Saw a correct answer in there somewhere. Uh J. Roger. Excellent. So, you could say somebody has a voracious appetite when talking about eating, but you could use it in other context as well. Like I said, we're talking about somebody who's eager to learn and they just want to learn so many different languages. And you could say they have a voracious appetite. It does have a a positive connotation in this context. So, more phrases with this adjective. One thing I want you to keep in mind, you may often follow it with the preposition for, not just for this first one, but but all of these as well. So, you have a voracious appetite for something if you want to actually say what the thing is. But you could also describe someone as a voracious reader or a voracious consumer or a voracious eater which would specifically be referring to food or a voracious predator. Those are some common collocations with this word. Again, this one is not as common as some of the others that we talked about. If we're comparing adjectives, I think you're much more likely to come across the word meticulous than you are voracious. That's just my opinion. I'd have to double check with engram viewer but still this lesson I mentioned it at the very beginning is all about supercharging supercharging your vocabulary. Here is the next one. While the idea was ambitious, a m plan was needed to make it work. The meaning of this word is you're you're dealing with issues in a reasonable, logical and realistic way. essentially the word that I'm highlighting here uh which I'm going to teach you in just a moment. It's really it's kind of a synonym for all of those reasonable, logical, realistic. There are even other adjectives that I think you could use in this context. Uh so this is a good way of just getting the vocabulary juices flowing. What word would uh accurately fit in there? While the idea was ambitious, a m plan was needed to make it work. I just want to see see what see how creative we can be as a as a group collectively. And uh with the adjectives um the I don't see the answer in there just yet. This is a word I told you. It's really like a sense uh meaning reasonable, logical, realistic, uh sensible works. Uh grounded, you could say that. I don't think that's as commonly used. Effective. Um and the word that I wanted to that I'm trying to teach you right there. More in a work context. Well done, Julia. Uh htt pragmatic. I would also one word that comes to mind um practical is another one that you could use. I think if somebody is pragmatic they are also practical. So really the these are all loosely synonyms. Pragmatic, practical, realistic, reasonable, logical. If you're describing as someone as very pragmatic, the only thing that I would say is that I do think this adjective is one that may be more you may come across more in a work setting or work context. While the idea was ambitious, a pragmatic plan was needed to make it work. I'm going to say it again. Great adjective to know. Some of my favorite I I always love a good adverb. So that's why I wanted I saved the best for last and I wanted to teach you some compelling adverbs and I do think these are a little more difficult a little more challenging. The team won leaving no doubt about their dominance means completely or in a very definite way. So what adverb can we use to describe how the team won? I believe all of these are ly adverbs. I'll go ahead and and tell you that talking about how or the manner in which something happens. So the team won how leaving no doubt about their dominance. And the meaning of this adverb is completely or in a very definite way. This is an adverb, but I feel like this word as part of the word family is one that you may come across um as an adjective as well. So, write your answers in the comments, in the chat, even if you're watching this later. I just love it when when people are participating in these lessons. That is what makes this that is what that is what makes this interactive. That is the essence of interactive English. The team won what? Any guesses? We got to the We get to these adverbs and then everybody's just mums the word uh right now. So, the adverb I'll go ahead and give it to you. Uh perhaps maybe the the feed is slowed down a little bit. Resoundingly is the adverb that uh talking about the team won resoundingly leaving no doubt about their dominance. In this case, if something is done resounding resoundingly, completely in a very definite way. I mentioned you may use this as an adjective. Um, it was a resounding victory. In that case, I'm kind of saying the same thing that it was just a complete victory, but I'm using it as an adjective. The next uh oh to give you a little more context with this uh adverb in case this is new uh I always love it when you learn new words or get exposure to some new words. Here are some more news headlines using this adverb. Um yinians resoundingly approve a new constitution paving uh pave way for elections. That is a collocation with this adverb to resoundingly approve of something. So, let's say that you have a an overwhelming consensus and everybody has the sha same opinion and then you resoundingly approve some measure uh that paves the way for these elections. The next uh headline, Air Canada cabin crew union resoundingly rejects pay package. Kind of using the opposite. So, that's another collocation you may use with this adverb. resoundingly approve, resoundingly reject. Conservative wins resoundingly in Chile's presidential election. And then finally, Epstein file bill passes resoundingly in the House with only one no vote. These are all fairly recent uh news headlines. Okay, some of the the news, the information looks familiar to you. I try to take things that uh are are pretty recent. He defended his position throughout the debate. What adverb could we use? This is a little trickier when it comes to these adverbs, but the meaning of it is doing something in a way that is strong, steady, and determined without changing, hesitating, or becoming weaker. So, you have this determination. You're not going to change. You're not going to hesitate and you're going to do something. What? Just as a reminder, this is an LY adverb. Write your answers in the comments in the chat if you happen to have any uh guesses as to the word that I'm talking about. He defended his position. I think things did freeze up a little bit there which is why uh the chat kind of delayed. Sorry about that. Uh saw some answers in there. So the word uh that we're talking about he defended his position. You have that determination. You're not going to change. And in that case you do something unwaveringly. Unwaveringly. I saw a couple answers. Well done if you uh wrote unwaveringly. He unwaveringly defended his position throughout the debate. You can use this when talking about how somebody is doing something and you're really want to capture that the the idea that you're doing it and with a lot of determination. You're not going to change. You're not going to hesitate. And in this case, this person unwaveringly defended his position. Great adverb, [laughter] right? She spoke m to ensure everyone understood her message. What do you think? She spoke m to ensure everyone understood her message. This is a this is an adverb that I think is commonly used more common than unwaveringly or resoundingly. You're going to come across this. It just means carefully thought out in advanced. It was planned, studied, it was intentional. and you do something what? All right, welcome Sherry. All right, new member. Love it. Love it. Love it. Thank you for joining the community. Uh love seeing that. Love seeing members in here right now like Manuel, Lai, uh Gustav. So what? Don't don't overthink this because this is a a pretty common adverb. And yeah, there there are more there's probably more than one that you could use. Sorry, I see like the the sun is setting and it's it's kind of casting this shadow uh right now. She spoke m to ensure everyone understood her message. Of course, I think confidently works, clearly works. Uh you could use those adverbs succinctly. Sure, that's a good one. This is one that I I think is is pretty common. And I'm talking about the word deliberately. She spoke deliberately to ensure everyone understood her message. If you do something deliberately, it is planned. It is intentional. You gave it a lot of thought. And I feel like now that you see the the adverb that I'm talking about, you're like, "Yes, I know this word. I use it. That's perfect." Uh try to mix it up a little bit between some very common more common words and others that are are a bit more precise. So, here are some common collocations with this adverb. You might deliberately ignore someone or deliberately avoid or deliberately refuse, deliberately withhold, deliberately deceive, deliberately mislead or say that something um is deliberately vague. And if something is deliberately vague, it could very well be uh ambiguous and there might be some ambiguity in that case. This is just the tip of the iceberg with an adverb like this. There are a lot more collocations that you could use with this adverb. I just wanted to share some phrases that you may certainly come across when we're talking about the word deliberately. The manager negotiated better terms for the contract. Accurately assessing situations or people perceptively. What what adverb has that meaning? The manager negotiated better terms for the contract. [sighs] There are Yeah, you could probably come up with other um different adverbs that would correctly fit in this context. And these are this is another reason why I enjoy doing lessons like this because I'll give you the word that I'm thinking of, but often times you you could use another one. So it is really just getting the vocabulary juices flowing and trying to think of different nouns, verbs, adjectives or in this case adverbs that fit the sentence. The manager negotiated. So how is this person negotiating? What adverb? It is an ly adverb could we use that means accurately assessing situations or people perceptively? So, I apologize. I think Okay, I thought the it froze. The chat froze. So, I'll just go ahead. I'll give you my uh answer in just a moment. Uh but words that you could use that I think are good that it's not the one that I was thinking of. Meticulously. I like that. Yeah, we can use that as an adverb. Precisely. Skillfully, you might skillfully negotiate something. Another great adverb we could use in this context, um, I don't know if I would use like, uh, vividly in this case. Um, shrewdly is another adverb that you could use. Surely, I don't know if I would use that when talking about negotiating. But let me go ahead and give you the the word that I was thinking of uh, because I did see it up there. Somebody did mention it. I think it was you, Katarina. Astutely. Astutely. The manager astutely negotiated better terms for the contract means accurately assessing situations or people perceptively. But as I just said, there are other words that I think you could use in this context. My personal opinion, the one that uh somebody used, I do like uh when some we're talking about negotiations and saying somebody is a shrewd negotiator or shrewdly negotiating. In that case, it makes me think they are a very tough negotiator and you're really trying to to to get what it is to get what you want. Here are the all of the words that we talked about in today's lesson. All of the verbs, the nouns, the adjectives, the adverbs. I hope that you were familiar with some of them. I hope that maybe one, two, three, or even more were new and you're just getting that exposure because that is the first step when it comes to supercharging your vocabulary. which is which is something that I absolutely want to help you do this year. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you soon for another lesson in the future. --- ## 564. Speak Like a Native ๐Ÿ’ฌ Powerful Vocabulary You MUST Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VRvh8G3ftfY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRvh8G3ftfY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:59:57 | --- I want to teach you some powerful vocabulary that I think you must know. And I say it's going to help you speak like a native. What I really mean is that these are words that are more advanced, but they are they are descriptive. They are precise, especially in certain situations. So I I do think this is going to help you become a more proficient speaker, but at the same time, it's going to help with your listening comprehension as well as your reading comprehension. So, this is this is just good vocabulary to know. And I'd like to point out if you want to access these lesson notes that are next to me, click on the link down in the description. Join our email community if you're already a part of it. Check your inbox. I have sent them to you. So, of course, this is a this is a it's an interactive lesson. I want you to participate. I see people participating with those hearts and smileys right now in the chat. I love it. So, I want you to write your answers either in the chat or the comments and and actually actively participate in the lesson. So, we're going to begin with some powerful verbs and I'm breaking this down by part of speech. Here is the first question and I I will read it to you. I'm giving you the meaning of the verb down below as well as the first letter. So, going to start out a little easier and then it may get a little more challenging as we go through this. I told you these are advanced words so they are a little more specific but still I tried to choose ones that I think are more commonly used ones that you might come across if you're listening to a podcast or a news report. So I I in that regard I think they're incredibly useful especially in a professional context. So during the presentation the speaker briefly m to the company's past mistakes without going into detail. The verb begins with the letter A and the the meaning is just to make an indirect reference and it's like you're kind of hinting at something. So, it really fits in well with the sentence because you're talking about it in an indirect way. You're hinting at it, but you're not going to go into detail because we're talking about a mistake and maybe this person does not want to talk about the company's past mistakes and therefore they will m to the mistakes and not go into detail. All right, I see some excellent answers in the chat. The the word the verb that we're talking about is elude. And I think many of you got it because we're talking about eluded to the company's past mistakes. So that is perfect. Uh it just means to make an indirect reference when you allude to something. And again there's there's a reason that somebody might do this. They don't want to speak about it directly. They don't want to spend a lot of time talking about it and therefore they may acknowledge it and just move on and they allude to something. So let's just move on to the next one. Some of them I'm going to give you a little more information on with some collocations and I I think it'll be very useful. Constant delays and poor communication only serve to m the team's frustration. This means to make a problem or a situation or just some negative feeling. You're just making it worse. So think about the situation. Again, I'm kind of giving you more like of a work context in this case, as well as the previous example, delays, poor communication. What would that do to the team's frustration? It's going to make it worse, but we can use this specific verb that's going to capture that sentiment. It's going to add a little emphasis instead of just saying, "Oh, it just it made our frustration much worse." I mean, you could say that. It's very it's it's perfectly fine to say that, but you could really capture that by using this verb. So, we're talking about the verb exacerbate. Perfect. Well done, Dwit. Katarina Manuel. Uh, it just means to make a problem, a bad situation, or a negative feeling worse. Now, I want you to think about the meaning right there. to exacerbate a problem or exacerbate a situation because these are actually common collocations. These are words that are frequently used together. And when talking specifically about this verb, this is how you you may use it. and talking about exacerbating a problem and making it worse or exacerbating a situation. You could exacerbate uh a decline, exacerbate poverty, exacerbate a shortage, and exacerbate a symptom. Now, of course, there are many other ways that you can use this verb. I just wanted to give you a a quick little sample as to other phrases with this verb that are commonly used and that I think are very useful. It's a great way to keep building your vocabulary, which is what this is all about. So, you guys are are are rocking this so far. All right, I'm I'm I'm impressed. Now, maybe this one might be a little easier. Let me my main point. We must act immediately if we want to meet the deadline. Again, I'm trying to put it into more of a work context, but in this case, the verb starts with the letter R. It means to say something again. a number of times t typically for emphasis or clarity. So I do think this is definitely useful in a work situation because people do this all the time. They say something over and over just not just to emphasize it but to make sure that everybody understands and you're going to what I was about I was about to say it but I stopped myself. So what do you think? And I do think this verb is, you know, commonly used. I feel like I I use it a lot as an instructor because I I do this quite often. I say things again. And you could use a word like uh I see people repeat that would work. It's like, oh, let me repeat what I just said or repeat my pain point. But if you really want to include the whole idea of emphasis and clarity, then you could use the verb to reiterate. And I saw some answers in there. Perfect. Um, Julia, Talal, I'll try to give some shout outs as I go through this. To reiterate something, it it just it is repeating it, but you're really repeating it again because you want to clarify, make sure everybody understands. And therefore I might say look we need to reiterate the policy so that all the employees are on the same page or look let me reiterate uh you know the main point of the presentation and you're going to reiterate something. So it is really in in a sense it is a synonym for the word to repeat which is a very common verb but you're just adding that emphasis or clarity when you reiterate something. So, this is that's a great business verb. How about this one? Spreading false rumors can seriously someone's credibility in the workplace. This mean starts with the letter U and we're talking about to lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of, especially gradually or insidiously. So, you might see that adverb insidiously. If you do, if something is insidious, it has a negative connotation. It just means kind of bad, evil, more in in a very intentional way and you're doing this purposefully and and not a good way if you're doing something insidiously. But this verb I think is one that you've I'm sure you've heard before even if it is probably maybe it's a part of your passive vocabulary and you don't actively use it but therefore it is a useful one if we're talking about lessening the effectiveness and this is actually a a collocation to someone's credibility. So the verb that we're looking for is to undermine. To undermine something or someone is you're just lessening whether it's the effectiveness of something, power, ability and you are undermining maybe what this person is saying or you're undermining this person and in their ability to do something. So, another one that I think you will certainly hear in a more professional context because this happens I think in business when talking about colleagues, your supervisor and or other companies and people may undermine someone else and it does become a little bit of a problem or an issue. So, I hope that uh you know you're familiar especially after you see some of these verbs that you're you recognize them and over time the idea is then to make it a part of your active vocabulary so that you can use them. And to give you a little more reference, I thought it's always fun to throw some of these comics in here. It says, "Your power nap is uh somewhat undermined by Mr. Cuddles." This person's trying to take a power nap uh and using their teddy bear and it just kind of undermines the word power as far as having a power nap or taking a power nap. So now let's switch gears and I said I told you that I'm kind of dividing this into parts of speech. Now I want to take a look at some powerful adjectives. And these are words that I think are very descriptive, very useful whether in business or school or just in your daily conversations depending on what you're talking about. What do you think? And this is actually true, right? My wife loves the opera, but I feel about it. So once again, for this one to, you know, make it a little easier, kind of giving you a little bit of a hint, uh, I'm trying to trying to allude to the correct answer by giving you that first letter begins with the letter A. And the meaning of this is to have mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone. And you could say that I feel about something. And this is I guess how I feel. Yeah. About the opera. My wife loves it. She would like to go. And I'm kind of like, you know, I guess we can go, but I don't know. Sometimes I may not really feel like it. It has its pros, its cons. And therefore, you could say that I am what? So, think about this. I I feel like once again this is a word that once I tell you the answer or show you because I'm not seeing any guesses just yet. I think oh yeah I've heard this word before. Um maybe it's new for you which is perfect. So the adjective that I'm talking about excellent well done. Ambivalent. If you are ambivalent about something then yeah you have mixed feelings as far as it's okay it's not bad. that's not good. Or it could refer to contradictory ideas uh that someone or uh may have. And in that case, you could say you're ambivalent. So this is a good descriptive word. And I'm sure that you could think of something right now like if I said for me it's the opera. And maybe for you it's something else that it's not like you love it or you hate it. You could then say, well, I'm just kind of ambivalent. I, you know, I don't like it. I don't hate it. and maybe I'm just a bit ambivalent. So, a good good good adjective to know. To give you a little more context, here are some news headlines uh as far as uh you know, trying to make it a little easier to understand. So, these are actually headlines that I took yesterday. Uh autocracy or democracy more and more people are ambivalent. Not a positive trend. I would say not a good thing. But in this case, yeah, you could say people are ambivalent. Like they just they don't really care one way or the other. Uh the next one, the best leaders aren't decisive, they're ambivalent. This is I don't this is the headline of the title. Again, I didn't read the article, so I can't really uh talk about it. Most times I think people would think leaders are oh very decisive, make quick decisions, but uh the article is trying to say they're ambivalent. Then the la last one, teachers are happy uh with cell phone bans. Students are more ambivalent. And I would I I would be someone who is very happy with a ban on cell phones. And I guess yeah, some students maybe it's important to them, but for many of them maybe they don't care like they don't have to use it at school and therefore they are ambivalent. What do you think? And maybe this one might be a little more difficult. I feel like I always say that and then everybody everybody writes the answer down there in the chat. She has m taste in clothes. So it starts with the letter I and the meaning is in accordance with the highest standards. You heard me emphasize highest standards. Perfect. And with no problems. So in that case you could say something is and immaculate is a good guess but that is not the word that uh are talking about what do you any other think about try to run through all of those I adjectives that uh are are can be very descriptive and this is a common collocation. Uh you you could use immaculate when talking about someone's taste, but I think this is perhaps even a little more common to say somebody has m taste in clothes. So the word the adjective that we're looking for insane. No, that's uh close. Uh good job. I see a couple answers. Impeccable. So if something is impeccable, then you're you're really talking about I'm going to emphasize it again, the highest standards. And in this case, yes, she has impeccable taste in clothes. So, here are some other collocations with this adjective that uh I think are very useful if you want to use them and it gives you a sense as to how the adjective is used. You could say someone has impeccable manners or impeccable taste. I mentioned this was a collocation, impeccable style or impeccable service. perhaps talking about a restaurant or a hotel. Uh an impeccable record if you're referring to maybe a politician. And then impeccable credentials if talking about perhaps a job applicant. And their credentials are impeccable. Great word to add emphasis when referring to those very high standards in saying that something or even someone is impeccable. All right. I love that you love this word. Thank you. Thank you for the Thank you for showing the love. How about this one? I feel like many of you are going to get it, but we'll see. Uh I've I've been surprised before. I do think this is uh a fairly, you know, commonly used, but I would still say it's an advanced word. My brother presented me with a very m business opportunity. So this adjective begins with the letter L and the the meaning is producing a great deal of profit. So it's very I I mean I'd say rather specific. We're talking about a great deal of profit and therefore you could say something is there's a L sound and then how would you finish it? This is another the the example sentence is another collocation. a m opportunity. So, I'm going to go ahead and say it. Yes. Uh saw a lot of uh answers in there. Angela, uh Ibraim, uh Julia, lucrative. Something is lucrative. And I I know that many of you got this and you might some of you you you know this word. You're very familiar with it. You might think, I don't know if that's really advanced. I'd say just because if a word is advanced, it really doesn't mean that it's like never used, but this is certainly a word that you'll come across if you if you're interested or reading a lot about uh especially business and you might hear people talk about a business that is very lucrative or a lucrative opportunity. I just mentioned that is a common collocation. So, if something is lucrative, if I tell you, wow, I have a very lucrative offer for you, then I'm basically saying that there's a lot of money involved in this. It's a great way to make profit. But this is also one of these words that you need to be careful of in English because I would say people that are maybe trying to take advantage of others or you talk people scamming others, this is a word that people will use. Oh, this is very lucrative. It's easy money, very easy way to get rich, and it is extremely lucrative. So, it's descriptive, but be careful if somebody is, you know, trying to sell you some lucrative opportunity. Just take it take it with a grain of salt. That's my uh that is my my uh unsolicited advice with with regards to that. How about this? His mbehavior is one of the reasons why he lost his job. So this adjective refers to moving or behaving in a way that is not key word not regular not certain or not expected and therefore you could say that someone or something is what again I've tried to as I've gone through and given you these example sentences I've intentionally tried to use some common collocations when talking about behavior. If the behavior is a little unexpected, you'd be like, "Wow, I I didn't expect that." Or it's irregular, you might say someone's behavior is m or they have m behavior. This word does have a negative connotation, especially when talking about someone's behavior. It is not egregious. That's another adjective, another advanced descriptive adjective that really just means horrible. Uh, that would work. You could say somebody's behavior is egregious. However, the meaning doesn't really line up with egregious, which is more like horrible, bad. Whereas, this is talking about, again, think about moving or behaving. In this case, behaving in a way that's just not expected. It's irregular. You're a little surprised. You're like, "Oh, wow. This this is this person's behavior is erratic. All right. Well done. Excellent. Lai uh Yana. Well, well played. So erratic behavior is a collocation. If you want to talk about the way that someone's behaving, it does have more of a negative connotation. If you say that someone's behavior is erratic, that one moment they're very happy and then they're very angry. uh and they kind of just change quickly from one mood to the next. And you might describe someone's behavior is erratic. But it could also refer to movement. Maybe someone is driving in uh an erratic way and you're just moving in this irregular way and it's probably not very safe. But it could refer to movement as well when you say that something or or is or someone is erratic. Here are some other collocations. I know I'm I guess with these collocations, I'm actually throwing a lot of vocabulary at you, but I think you guys can handle it. I think you can. So, I mentioned erratic behavior already, but maybe you go to the doctor. Again, this would be a negative thing. If they say, well, you know, you have an erratic heartbeat and it's just not regular or erratic movement. You could talk about the weather there. Yeah, the the weather is very erratic. uh or say something is highly erratic and using it that adverb adjective collocation as well as increasingly erratic. So these are some words that you may likely find with the adjective erratic. So let's move on to our next part of speech. Talk about some powerful powerful nouns. All right, everybody loves everybody loves a good noun. So now I'm I'm taking away uh that first letter. I am not going to allude to the the correct answer uh anymore by providing you with the first letter. I'm still going to give you the meaning in an example sentence to try to help you put it into context. So uh I I still think you all will will perform fairly well. The initial test results were viewed as an So we're talking about something that is different. abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified. There is a there is a hint uh in this and I'll I'll go ahead and tell you the hint. Think about that article, the article that comes before the noun. So, you could use this as a hint. The initial test results were viewed as an this tells you that the noun is going to start with a verb. Uh not a verb, sorry, with a vowel sound. It's going to begin with a vowel sound and we're talking about yes um saw some answers in there. Uh maverick imperfectionism an anomaly. So if something is an anomaly it is just different from uh something else. I will say that if you're referring to something as an anomaly, typically there are other measurements or there's something that you can compare it to so that you know that oh this one thing is different. This test result is an anomaly. It's different than what would be considered normal. Or if you say something else is an anomaly. it stands out and is different from the rest or from what is uh the expected result when you say something is an anomaly. It's an anomaly. How about this one? I think this is a good word. I think you can go out and use it because you could probably think of a situation that maybe you are facing right now that uh you you could use this noun. we are faced with an agonizing m and it seems there is no correct choice. So we're talking about a noun that means uh a well that refers to a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives especially ones that are equally undesirable. So think about the the specific meaning talking about making a choice. That's even part of the example sentence. And there I think generally there are two but as it says in the meaning there could be more than one. And basically what you're basically what you're alluding to I'm just going to keep using that verb throughout the lesson. Basically what you're alluding to when you use this noun is that well you don't really like any of the choices. So that it's it's a little more specific and as I was rambling on, you all gave a lot of excellent answers. We're talking about a dilemma. So if you are faced with a dilemma, then you really need to make a choice and you may have two cho two options, three options, four options, but really in this situation, nothing is you don't really view any of them as desirable and like oh this is this is a great choice that I have to make. So again, I think this is a a good noun because like I said, I think we can all relate to it and we have all faced a time when we had to uh um when we faced a dilemma. Once again, that that is a a common verb that you may use with this noun to face a dilemma. I wanted to give you these examples to highlight the fact that a choice needs to be made. So, for example, this first article, news headlines, best of Beth Ashley, not really sure who that is. Uh, the retirement dilemma. What to do now? A lot. So, you retire. Well, what's the dilemma? Should I find something else to do? Work around the home. And maybe this is a dilemma and people, they don't know what to do. And maybe they don't really like any of their choices. The next one, return or stay. The dilemma facing Syrians living in Europe and trying to make this decision. And finally, the family business dilemma. Who is next in line? In this case, you could have well two, three, four children and there are multiple options and it is certainly a dilemma. I think of the show uh succession in that case. If you have not seen it, great show uh talking about a family business and that that's really the main storyline, the dilemma. Who is going to take over the family business? How about this? I feel like this one might be a little more challenging. There are several M for promoting people who don't have formal qualifications. Based on the sentence, I think it may be a little harder to to come up with this noun, but really uh the meaning is any act, decision, or case that serves as a guide or justification for subsequent situations. This is a word that I think is often used and you may encounter it if you're talking about the courts and rulings and the judiciary uh that that you you may but you could use it in other contexts as well like the one I'm giving you is more of a a business context. There are several for promoting people who don't have formal qualifications. So this is a guide for an in and a justification for subsequent situations. What do you think? Do you have any guesses what this noun could be? Once again, I think once I show you, many of you are going to, oh yes, I've I've heard of this noun before. Maybe you even actively used it use it from time to time. We'll see. Or perhaps if it's new, then that's that's perfect. Wellplayed, Cindy. We're talking about a precedent. So, I I mentioned that you might hear this more in a judicial context as far as a court ruling and saying, "Oh, there is a precedent already that this was the ruling in the past and it's going to serve as justification for a court ruling in the present and there is a precedent." Now this context I think it does fit in the example sentence saying well there is a precedent for promoting people who don't have formal qualifications. So, it's been done in the past and maybe we're in this situation now and we're looking at some, you know, we're going to promote someone and maybe I tell you, well, this person doesn't really have a lot of formal qualifications. Maybe that should disqualify them. And you tell me, well, look, it's it's happened in the past. There's a precedent for for promoting people without formal qualifications. It works. All right. So, hopefully, again, this word, this noun is new, uh, then that's perfect. How about this? Arranging child care over the school holidays can be a real m for working parents. Well, I'll tell you in just a second what I was about to say. The meaning is a confusing or difficult problem or question. Now, the reason why I was chuckling just a moment ago is because in a previous question, some people had actually put this answer as the answer to a previous question. And I will I will follow up on that in just a minute. So, we're talking about a confusing or difficult problem or or question. Perhaps it's a puzzle, maybe it's a riddle. We don't know. But in this situation, I I think it applies parent and more so this is a situation in the US having to figure out uh child care or pretty much you know all the time but over the school holidays it can be a real m for working parents and I see some right answers. I actually uh I like the answer disaster. That is true. It can be a real disaster for working parents. But the word that we're looking for is a conundrum. It can be a real conundrum for working parents. You know, what do you do in this situation? This is a difficult problem and we got to figure out how to solve this problem. So, you know me, I like giving you these fun little memes or to to give you an example. I thought this was uh funny as far as the this cat the conundrum. I love this box. Wait, is that a new box? And then of course the cat moves over there and lays down. It's like, you know, I missed that old box. I was just confused. And then they go back and you could say, well, this is quite quite the conundrum, the problem that this cat is trying to solve. Now, one thing you may be thinking, or if you're not thinking of it, I want you to think about it right now. What is the difference between a conundrum and a dilemma? Because they they are similar. I I'd say the similarity mostly is because there are situations in which you could use either one. So that's why I also use this because I could say well that you know that's quite a conundrum. This cat is trying to solve this problem. Okay, which box should I use? I could also use dilemma to describe this situation. This cat is faced with a dilemma. You know what box is the best one to relax in? and maybe they don't like either choice because they feel like well I'm always going to regret and I I wish I were in the other box. So I could describe something and say well somebody's facing a dilemma or that's quite the conundrum but just to highlight the difference between them and of course you know I'm trying to make a use of AI as much as I can just like everybody else and nowadays when you do a Google search I just wanted to highlight this. I did think that the AI overview gave a a nice description highlighting that nuance because if you can't see it, I'll I'll just read it there. It says, "A dilemma demands a choice. You have to make a decision when you're talking about a dilemma. Do I do this or do I do that?" When talking about a conundrum, you're really just referring to this challenge and it's talking about a challenge of somebody's thought process or understanding. kind of like a puzzle. So you could refer to the situation as a conundrum. It's a difficult problem to solve. That difficult problem could be a choice that you have to make. And that's why there is some overlap with dilemma and conundrum. But when you're talking about dilemma, there is a a decision that must be made. So really think about a choice when you're talking about dilemma. So, here are some powerful adverbs. Right, let's we're moving through all the parts of speech today. What do you think? So, this is actually a longer uh you know vocabulary list um and I'll show you all of them at the end. Each song was integrated into the film. What adverb can we use that's that means smoothly without any breaks, interruptions or noticeable changes or in a way that is perfectly integrated and uninterrupted. I feel like this this meaning really captures this adverb. It is one that I think you I I think you're familiar with it. I imagine that you if you read articles, you've come across this word, you've heard it before. if you listen to um a lot of English movies, TV shows, news, what have you. So, in this case, I'm trying to say that it really went in smoothly with the film and it is kind of a a common collocation with integrated. I could say that the songs were seamlessly integrated and many of you rock that one. Uh just keep in mind seamlessly is spelled s ea uh instead of two e. Sometimes this word is commonly misspelled. So if something is done seamlessly there it's very smooth. No breaks no interruptions and you try to do something seamlessly. I try to do these lessons. They are not always seamlessly. They are not always done seamlessly because depending on my internet connection there could be a break a drop. you know thing things happen that are beyond my control and therefore unfortunately I cannot say that they are done seamlessly here are some useful collocations and just want to point out that I'm talking about verb adverb collocations all of these are verbs that you might use with this adverb in saying that something fits seamlessly or it flows seamlessly or moves seamlessly blends seem seamlessly, to merge seamlessly, or to connect seamlessly. Of course, there are other verbs that you can use with this adverb. I just wanted to give you a sample because I do think it helps you get a better understanding of the word and how it's used when you see these collocations. How about this one? He had given away their secret. We're talking about an adverb that means without intention, accidentally. And really, it's it is interchangeable with accidentally because I could say he had accidentally given away their secret. That works. But I don't want to use that word. Everybody knows the word accidentally. I want to use another more flavorful, powerful adverb. I could use this word instead. he had given away their secret. There are other now now that everybody's writing them down there. Yes, there of course there are others that would fit unintentionally that would work. Uh half-hazardly that also works, but that is not the word that I'm thinking of. The one that I wanted to point out is another one that everybody's uh people have been writing. Uh Julia Davit uh well done inadvertently. If you do something inadvertently, it just means you didn't mean to do it. It was accidental or it was unintentional. So these are words that you know are rather interchangeable. Now, one thing I will say about the pronunciation in British English, you are going to hear that true T inadvertently. You may even hear it in the US. Some Americans may say it like that as well, inadvertently. But if I were to say this inadvertently, you hear that glottle t, that glottle stop inadvertently. So it does make it a little more challenging to say uh with the American accent if you're going to use that glottle stop inadvertently. Inadvertently. You can give it a try. Inadvertently. How about uh how about this next one? The professor stated the rules for the assignment. Once again, I think now you get the meaning. I think you'll be able to pick out the adverb. So stated the rules for assignment in a clear detailed manner leaving no room for confusion or doubt. And in that case, somebody is doing something how I can give it away. All of these are ly adverbs because we're talking about how in this case. So the professor stated the rules for the assignment. So they gave them in a clear and detailed manner leaving no room for confusion. Precisely I it would work but precisely is more I I feel about like accuracy and it's just really done in an accurate way but again it would fit concisely is more makes me think more about the the time that it's done in in a short uh manner if something is concise. The word that uh that I'm talking about or that I'm looking for in this case is explicitly. When something is done explicitly. And a lot of times you might use this when explaining something or talking about it. So I'm using it with the verb stated. They explicitly stated or explicitly said not to do something. So in this case if the professor explicitly explains the details the rules for the assignment then they are providing the information in a very clear and detailed way so that there is no confusion no doubt and something is done or in this case said explicitly and that's another phrase you might hear if somebody says oh I explicitly said not to do this thing and they were trying to say that oh they told you this information in a clear uh and detailed way. It is 10:00. So, my roommates are still at the pub. This is just a madeup example. I don't have any roommates and I am certainly not at the pub at 10:00. I I try to be in bed at that time. At this point, it is 10:00. So, my roommates are still at the pub. But if we want to just think about the context, we're talking about an adverb that is used to convey what is a certain it's very likely though it's not known for certain. So we're going to use this when we want to highlight that well I think this is likely what's happening but you know it could be wrong that that it may not be the case. It is 10:00 so my roommates are still at the pub. The word that we're looking for, ex slasher. Well done. Well played. We're we're talking about presumably. Presumably is used to convey that. Well, I I think this is probably true. It's likely true, but you know, it may it may be wrong. Presumably, it is 10:00, so presumably my roommates are still at the pub. I have uh I I thought this was funny. Presumably good at helping people stay alive. And it is a a picture uh right there. You can see the the name on the sign Dr. Beg. And for those of you who uh may be a little older, perhaps you'll get this joke. Uh the Beeges, if you're familiar with the movie, gosh, I'm drawing a blank. Saturday Night Fever won a long time ago with John Travolta. That was the song in the movie by the the song by the beeges that uh uh uh uh Staying Alive Staying Alive. Again, I'm not going to sing it for you. My singing is horrible. But that's that's the joke that Dr. BG thinking the music group the BeeGees. You know, presumably this person's really good at helping people stay alive. Here are all of the words that we just looked at. So, there are there are 16 of them that we went through. I know I gave you a lot of vocabulary today, especially with those collocations, but hopefully it gives you a better understanding as to how the word is used in context. So I right now just to review very quickly, um I know that when it comes to building your vocabulary, you are not ambivalent. You are somebody who is passionate about learning new words and phrases. And therefore, I think that you are faced with a dilemma right now. you can either uh watch another video lesson or maybe you're you're just going to go. I hope that you are going to choose to watch uh another video lesson. And if you do, then the the transition is it's you can seamlessly transition from this video to another video, continue building your vocabulary. And I just want to reiterate that one more time. I think you should watch another lesson so that you can continue learning new things. Uh because I think I I like to think these lessons are just impeccable. All right? Even though you might have to deal with my erratic behavior from time to time. Okay? So that's all the review that I'm going to give you. I hope that you enjoyed the lesson and that you learn something new. Again, if you want to get these lesson notes, check out the link down below in the description. Go out, try to use these words, make them a part of your active vocabulary, and just keep developing your overall English fluency. --- ## 565. Speak Like a Native ๐Ÿ’ฌ Powerful Vocabulary You Should Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `tQXQuxEgWUo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQXQuxEgWUo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:37:01 | --- Let's learn some powerful words. I'm talking about some powerful nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs that are really going to help you build your vocabulary. And I think this This is, of course, vocabulary you need to know. It's going to help both your listening comprehension as well as your speaking fluency. And if you are someone who would like to build your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is West. The channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goal. So, let's go ahead and jump into it, and we're going to start out with some powerful verbs, such as allude. To allude just means to make an indirect reference or just hint at something. I'm giving you an example sentence down below. During the presentation, the speaker briefly alluded to the company's past mistakes without going into details. So, whenever you want to avoid going into details, but still talk about something, you may allude to it. The next verb is to exacerbate. To exacerbate something means to make something worse. Really, we're talking about a problem, a bad situation, a negative feeling. So, this It really does have more of a negative connotation. Uh here's an example. Constant delays and poor communication only serve to exacerbate the team's frustration. So, great verb whenever you want to emphasize that, well, something is becoming worse, and you are exacerbating a problem or situation. Now, to really help you jump-start your vocabulary, I want to share with you some common collocations with this verb. This is These are some verb-noun collocations. I've already mentioned to exacerbate a problem, to exacerbate a situation, you could also exacerbate a decline, or exacerbate poverty, exacerbate a shortage, or even exacerbate a symptom. But, in all of these instances, again, it really does have more of a negative connotation. Then, there's the verb to reiterate. This is a verb that I really like, mostly because I do this quite often, but it just means to say something again, or a number of times, typically for emphasis or clarity. Let me reiterate my main point. We must act immediately if we want to meet the deadline. So, I said I like it because I think quite often, as a as a teacher, I constantly want to either will emphasize something, make something clear, so I am going to reiterate and say it again, and bring it back up, because that is one of the best ways to learn is just constantly review, get exposure, and as we go through the lesson, I am going to try to reiterate many of these words, just so you can just hear how they're used in context. This is something that I think every teacher should constantly do and just reiterate the information that they would like others to learn. Then, there's to undermine. This means to lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of uh especially gradually or insidiously. And if you're unfamiliar with insidiously, it means that you really are just doing this in a more real like negative and spiteful way. You are undermining someone. So, this is not good. It has a negative connotation. Spreading false rumors can seriously undermine someone's credibility in the workplace, and that is true. It is not good if somebody is undermining you, and it's also not good if you are undermining another person. I just thought this was humorous. You know I like to share it with you from time to time. Your power nap is somewhat undermined by Mr. Cuddles. So, yeah, you had that stuffed animal. It really doesn't feel like a power nap, unlike unlike these powerful words that I'm teaching you right now. Then there's to concede. Whenever you concede, it just means you admit or agree that something is true after first denying or resisting it. And you are conceding that well, you were wrong or that you made a mistake and really it is true after all. The manager conceded that mistakes were made during the project. So, I I feel like this is a good thing whenever someone is willing to concede something and you admit that you're wrong or that the other person is right. It's a great way to work towards compromise if people are willing to concede, especially if they're wrong. To mitigate. This means to make well, to make something bad less severe, less serious, less painful and you are trying to mitigate something. Taking breaks throughout the day can help mitigate stress. That is a great collocation because of course there are many things in our lives that we would like to mitigate and you want to make it less severe or less painful. Once again, here are some useful collocations with this verb. Mitigate stress, mitigate damage, mitigate a threat, maybe you want to mitigate the impact of something or mitigate the consequences or even mitigate a loss. Great verb to know. This is another great verb to know, to compel. When you try to compel someone, probably to do something, you are forcing or just strongly persuading someone to do something. The evidence was so strong that it compelled the jury to reach a quick verdict. And they were well, they were compelled to come up with a verdict quickly because yeah, you just really had strong evidence. How about refrain? Whenever you refrain from doing something, you just stop yourself from doing it. Please refrain from using your phone during the presentation. I think people should always refrain from using phones during presentations, whatever they're at the movies or even a concert. And often you're going to follow this verb with the preposition from and then a gerund. Refrain from doing something. Just keep that in mind. Here is a another fun uh thing that I pulled off the internet. So this was a sign at a bowling alley. Due to the coronavirus, refrain from touching other people's balls. Please remember to wash your hands after touching your own balls. Thank you. I imagine they this this was meant to be funny. Just wash your hand after touching your own. Okay, let's let's continue. To differ. This means to put off to a later time. So you're probably putting off some action or event. In general, it just means to postpone something. He chose to defer his university application for a year. Here are some more collocations. These are words that are frequently used together that you're going to hear whenever we're talking about the verb differ. You might defer a decision and then follow that with either for or until. So you may defer a decision for a period of time. We're going to defer that decision for a couple of weeks. Or you're going to defer a decision until like a point in time. We're going to defer that until tomorrow. You could also defer payment, or defer work, defer a discussion, defer entry, as well as defer responsibility. How about endorse? This is another useful verb to add to your passive vocabulary and then hopefully start using it over time, make it a part of your active vocabulary. When you endorse someone or something, you make a public statement of your approval or support for something or someone. She refused to endorse a plan she didn't fully support. And in this case, she did not endorse it and come out publicly and say, "Yes, I am for this thing." So, you could endorse someone or something. Here is a an example because on LinkedIn, I don't know if they still do it nowadays and you could endorse someone's credentials, somebody you know and say, "Yes, they have this skill, whether it's programming or presenting." Here is me me and the boys after endorsing each other's skills on LinkedIn. I don't know if this is uh from play beat maybe North Korea. They have all this these badges on in the military, but yes, they really really did endorse each other's skills in this case. How about assert? This means to state a fact or belief confidently, positively, or forcefully, and you assert something. He asserted his authority during the negotiations. So, whenever you assert something, you're you're really stating it in a confident way. Here are some other collocations. You could assert your rights, assert your innocence, assert your authority, like in our example sentence, assert your control, assert your dominance, or even assert your independence. These are some phrases that you will likely come across whenever we're talking about the verb assert. Now, here is another verb that is somewhat similar, but still a little different. There's a slight nuance. To contend. To contend means, well, here it is, to assert something as a position in an argument. And that's the distinction that I want to make. Here's an example. Some analysts contend that the market will recover quickly. So, whenever you contend something, think of it more as possibly a debate, an argument, and you contend some position. Whenever you assert something, you're really just stating it in a confident way. So, they're not always interchangeable, just something that I want you to keep in mind. And right now, I would like to assert that if you want to improve your speaking skills, you should check out my speaking course. I contend that there is no better way to improve your speaking fluency. So, this is a course for intermediate to advanced speakers. It is all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Check out the link down below in the description if you'd like to learn more about the course. But, generally, we start out each week warming up with pronunciation, connected speech, and then we move into our speaking topic, learning new vocabulary that we practice with a range of engaging speaking activities. And I'm just trying to use some of that vocabulary, like assert and contend. I told you that I'm going to reiterate these words as we go through the lesson. But, let's just Let's just move on. The next set of powerful words that I want to share with you are some powerful adjectives. These are very descriptive words, like this first one, ambivalent. If you are ambivalent, it just means you have mixed feelings or even contradictory ideas about something or someone. I could say my wife loves the opera, but I feel ambivalent about it. And yeah, this is true. Not like I don't I don't hate it. I don't love it. I'm rather ambivalent. So, this is a great word whenever you want to show that you're kind of neutral and you don't really you're not really excited or you don't really dislike something and you could just say that you are ambivalent. Here are some news headlines to give you some context as to how this word is used. Autocracy or democracy, more and more people are ambivalent. It's not a good thing. The next one, the best leaders aren't decisive, they're ambivalent. I had no idea. And finally, teachers are happy with cell phone bans, students are more ambivalent. And yeah, I can imagine teachers might be happy with a cell phone ban because cell phones, they could undermine learning in the classroom. You like how I slipped undermine back in there? Here is the next adjective, resilient. It just means that you are able to recover quickly from setbacks. Here is an example that I think is a common association, at least in my mind. Maybe it's because I I have kids. Children are often remarkably resilient after major changes. Now, of course, this is not true for for all children, but as just to reiterate that I think this is a common association, say, "Oh, you know, children, they can deal with the changes. They're they're incredibly resilient." And I think that more adults would like to be resilient because this does have a positive connotation if you say that someone is resilient and they're able to recover quickly, get back on their feet, and keep going. Impeccable. Another adjective that has a positive connotation because it just means in accordance with the highest standards. Perfect with no problems. She has impeccable taste in clothes and that is a common collocation to say that somebody has impeccable taste. Here are some more phrases with this word. Impeccable manners, impeccable taste which I already mentioned, impeccable style, impeccable service, impeccable record as well as impeccable credentials. I do not have an impeccable style because I don't have impeccable taste in clothes, but I like to think that yeah, I'd like to think my teaching credentials are impeccable. I don't know. You can go and check me out on LinkedIn. Maybe you want to endorse some of my skills. I would appreciate that. The next word is lucrative. This means producing a great deal of profit. If there is some opportunity that a person describes as lucrative. My brother presented me with a very lucrative business opportunity. I've used the word opportunity twice now because that is another time when you will come across this adjective. If somebody is describing some lucrative opportunity. How about erratic? This just means that someone or something is moving or behaving in a way that is not regular, certain, or expected. His erratic behavior is one of the reasons why he lost his job. So, if you are using this this word to describe a person, I I think it does have more of a negative connotation. As far as describing other things as erratic, then maybe it's just more descriptive, not really positive or negative, but really just precisely describing what has happened. Here are some common phrases. Somebody has erratic behavior or erratic heartbeat. It's not a good thing, but again, that is very descriptive. Erratic movement, maybe the way somebody is driving. Erratic weather. You could also use it with some adverbs and say that something is highly erratic or increasingly erratic. And then you could put all of them together in describing someone as having increasingly erratic behavior. And we could use that adverb, adjective, noun collocation. This is great way to just keep building your vocabulary, especially in a natural way, because these are the phrases that that native speakers use, which is why I said this is going to help you speak like a native. Tentative. This is a very common, useful word. It just means not fully worked out or developed. I could give you an example here and say, "We set a tentative date for the meeting, but it may change depending on everyone's schedule. Right now, the meeting it's just it's tentative." Here are some phrases with this adjective. A tentative schedule, tentative plan, I think is very commonly used, as well as a tentative date, a tentative agreement, as well as tentative arrangements. So, this is a word that I think I think you should know all of them if possible, but definitely uh definitely bookmark this one because you will certainly hear it if you are getting exposure to the language. And I people often talk about plans or their schedules or a date and they may use it and descriptively say that, "Well, let's just say it's tentative, all right? We're it's not fixed. We'll see if it happens cuz it's just tentative." Formidable. If something or someone is formidable, it just really means that it's inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable. Climbing the mountain was a formidable challenge even for experienced hikers. So, if you're talking about a formidable challenge, you're just emphasizing the fact that it's really difficult. That it was something that's very impressive. Not many people can do it if you want to describe a challenge as being formidable. Here are some news headlines using this word. And these are also collocations as well. The first one, Argentina coach Morocco is a formidable opponent. That is a common phrase, formidable opponent. Strategy consultant Jerico Lugo says AI is your most formidable ally as a new consultant. Again, another collocation, a formidable ally. New medieval books, the formidable women who shaped medieval Europe. And in this case, we're talking about a person, well, women, a group of people, and saying that they are formidable. I really think it does have more of a positive connotation, especially in this context. And then finally, comeback kid inside Shawn Mendes's formidable return. Here is the next word, tedious. Just means too long, slow, or dull, tiresome, or monotonous. Filling out all the paperwork was a tedious process. I feel like this is a word that you may commonly use, or you'll hear somebody use it when they're talking about work. Because there may be some type of work, whether it's paperwork or something else, that you don't really care about doing. It's slow, it's time-consuming, and you could describe it as as very tedious. I I hope that you don't think this lesson is tedious, and dull, and boring. I I hope that you're excited to learn some of these words, and I even hope that you are compelled to watch another video lesson after this and keep building your vocabulary. Maybe even Maybe even you are compelled to hit the like button simply because you find the quality of these lessons to be impeccable. Just going to keep using these words. The next adjective, ubiquitous. So, keep in mind the pronunciation, ubiquitous. It just means present, appearing, or found everywhere. Now, in my opinion, I think it's a great word, but it is probably not ubiquitous and you are going to come across it every day. However, I think you should know it. It is a a great word to know because it's descriptive if you want to describe Well, let's just look at the example. Smartphones have become ubiquitous in modern society. That is true. And this is a great adjective you can use to describe the fact that Well, smartphones, they're everywhere. You know, wherever you go, people are on their phones, and they are ubiquitous. Here is This is kind of uh um the opposite of what I just said. It's just a little funny. Notice how you hear the word ubiquitous being used everywhere. It's just supposed to be funny, but again, I I don't think that you're going to come across this word all the time. It's not ubiquitous, but still a great word to know, and a fun word to pronounce as well. The next word, candid. It just means honest and telling the truth, especially about something difficult or painful. So, it's a synonym for honest. Uh you know, thank you for being honest. Thank you for being candid. He appreciated her candid feedback even though it was difficult to hear. Overwhelmingly, I think you're going to hear people use an adjective like honest, but it's always great to keep building your vocabulary. Learning synonyms is an excellent way to do that. And instead of using a word honest, especially if you want to describe something that is just more difficult to talk about, then you could use this word and say, "Oh, yeah, you've you've been very candid. I appreciate that. Thank you for opening up and being so candid." Meticulous. This is a This is an excellent adjective as far as work is concerned. It just means showing great attention to detail, very careful and precise. His meticulous preparation contributed to the project's success. Has a positive connotation if you were describing a friend, a colleague, family member as someone who is meticulous. But often, I think you may more likely use this in some sort of work context. I know some people have jobs out there in which it is incredibly important to be meticulous. I I try to be meticulous when I put these lessons together. However, as you may have noticed, I do make mistakes every now and then. Sometimes typos seem to slip their way in there. Maybe Maybe we're going to come across one in this lesson, but I still try. I try to be meticulous because it is a good thing. Voracious. This means very eager for something, especially a lot of food. She has a voracious appetite for learning new languages. So, a voracious appetite, you would think it's related to food, but I'm using it in a different context as far as saying an appetite for learning something. I think that you have a voracious appetite for building your vocabulary. Otherwise, you wouldn't be watching this lesson. But here are some other collocations with this word. So, I mentioned that you could have a voracious appetite for doing something. But you could also say someone is a voracious reader, a voracious consumer, voracious eater, or even a voracious predator. In that case, I think probably you're more likely describing an animal if we're talking about a voracious predator. Here is the next word, pragmatic. This means dealing with issues in a reasonable, logical, and realistic way. It has a positive connotation if you are going to describe someone as pragmatic. While the idea was ambitious, a pragmatic plan was needed to make it work. There are a number of other words that really have a similar meaning. Again, all with a positive connotation. If you're describing somebody as pragmatic or practical or sensible or reasonable. I like to think that I am very pragmatic. Basically, any Any word with a positive connotation, I'm going to try to use it to describe myself. I am pragmatic. I am meticulous. I am resilient. But I'll be honest. I I have exacerbated problems from time to time. I mean, I have made things worse. That that is true. Okay, let's keep going. This time with some powerful nouns. And the first one that I want to teach you is consensus. This refers to a generally accepted opinion among a group of people. If you are talking about, well, hey, what is the consensus? The committee struggled to build consensus among members with opposing view. I think anytime you are working in a group or having to make decisions and there are many people involved, it you know, it may not be unanimous and you just need to get a consensus. What is What do most people think about this situation? What is the consensus? Here are some useful phrases with this noun if we're talking about a broad consensus or a general consensus, maybe an overwhelming consensus. Perhaps you just have a clear consensus, a growing consensus or even a scientific consensus. Great phrases to know. Ambiguity. This refers to something that is unclear or confusing or it can be understood in more than one way. The contract's ambiguity led to multiple interpretations. And generally ambiguity can refer to that that something is open to more than one interpretation. I will say that often you may hear people use this word as the adjective and just describe something as ambiguous. So whether we're talking about ambiguous or ambiguity, both of them are useful and great words to know. Here is a an example of ambiguity in English. So I know you can see the pictures, but if I were just to say this sentence, I saw the man with the telescope. In your mind, if you were going to picture this, I saw the man with a telescope. It can be interpreted either one, number one, number two. Based on the sentence, we really don't know. So this is an example of ambiguity in English. And there are others as well when people may say something like a statement like this, and you're really not sure, and you need clarification to know exactly what this person is saying. Comradery. This refers to mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together. Long rehearsals helped build a strong sense of comradery among the musicians. This has a positive connotation if we're talking about comradery among the students or the employees, and you have that trust and friendship. Resilience. This refers to the ability to be happy, successful again after something difficult or bad has happened. And you could talk about resilience. It has a positive connotation. Learning a new language requires patience and resilience. That is true because you're going to have good times, and then you may go into a slump and feel like, "Well, I'm not learning much." But you got to keep going. All right? That is resilience. Now, you may notice that this word kind of looks familiar because now we're talking about the noun resilience when we've already talked about the adjective resilient. And if somebody's resilient, then they're just able to recover quickly after some type of hardship. So, the meaning is really the same. The only thing that's going to change is the part of speech. The noun resilience versus the adjective and describing someone as resilient. Here are some news headlines just to give you a better idea as to how this noun is used in context. Writing builds resilience by changing your brain, helping you face everyday challenges. Or King urges kindness and resilience in Christmas message. How 2025 showcased the power and resilience of science. I guess so. And then finally, Bangladesh's LNG dependence raises concerns about energy resilience. Then there's epiphany. This refers to a moment when you suddenly feel that you understand or suddenly become conscious of something that is very important to you. During the meeting, she had an epiphany about how to solve the company's communication problem. And that is a common phrase that you would use. You're going to use it with the verb have. To have an epiphany. And you just have this sudden realization. And you really, instead of saying a sudden realization, you're kind of adding emphasis whenever you say, "Well, I had an epiphany." It just just came to me all of a sudden and it was a great idea. Then there's anomaly. If we're talking about an anomaly, then we're talking about something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified. The initial test results were viewed as an anomaly. Now, just be mindful of the context that I'm using it in when talking about some type of test results or you're measuring something and uh you're you're getting these different and then you have this one that's whoa, wait, this is different than everything else. That's when you can refer to it as an anomaly. It is different from the others that have been tested or observed and you could refer to it as an anomaly. Great noun. Disposition. This refers to a person's natural character or temperament. Her cheerful disposition made her a natural team leader. And there are other adjectives that are often used with this noun. And here they are. I tried to put them in order as those having a positive connotation and then kind of moving into some more negative ones. So, let's start out with the positives. If you're describing someone as having a cheerful disposition or a friendly disposition or even a sunny disposition. And then a phrase that's more neutral, maybe a little negative, if you describe someone as having a nervous disposition. And then the other two have a negative connotation, an aggressive disposition or even a gloomy disposition. The next noun is precedent. act, decision, or case that serves as a guide or justification for subsequent situations. There are several precedents for promoting people who don't have formal qualifications. I'm giving you like a work situation with this noun, but for the most part, and this is my opinion, I feel like often you may hear this when people are talking about the the justice system and possibly referring to a legal precedent or judges are trying to make decisions and they're confronted with a case and maybe they look and say, "Well, what you know, what was what was the precedent because this has happened before." And trying to determine what should be done now and just using that as a guide. So, keep that in mind. I feel like if you watch any courtroom dramas, this is probably a noun that you will certainly come across, precedent. Then we have dilemma. This is a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives, especially ones that are equally undesirable. So, if you have two choices, you don't really like either one of them, then that is a dilemma. We are faced with an agonizing dilemma and it seems there is no correct choice. It's not a good situation to be in whenever you are faced with a dilemma. Here are some news headlines to give you more context. Best of Beth Ashley, the retirement dilemma. What to do now? A lot. Return or stay? The dilemma facing Syrians living in Europe. And those are the two choices. Return, stay, that is the dilemma. And finally, the family business dilemma. Who is next in line? There may be two, three, four kids, we don't know. But that can be a difficult situation, and that is a dilemma. Then there's conundrum, a confusing or difficult problem or question. Here's an example. Arranging child care over the school holidays can be a real conundrum for working parents. You know, it's hard to solve this problem. What do we do? And you are faced with a conundrum. Here's an example of a conundrum. Uh just thought this was funny with the cat. I love this box. Wait. Oh, is that a new box? And then the cat moves over. Oh, I miss the old box. Uh I was just confused. And this is an example of a conundrum that this cat has. You know, which box to choose. Now, as I was talking about the word conundrum, you may have been wondering, wait, what is the difference between dilemma and conundrum? I am so glad. I'm so glad that you've asked that question. And we can even use a little AI in this and and check out the difference between dilemma and conundrum. So, simply put, a dilemma demands a choice, whereas a conundrum is primarily a challenge to a person's thought process or understanding. Now, sometimes either one could be used to talk about the same situation, but they they may be referring to different things. When I use the word dilemma, then I'm referring to the choice. Conundrum is just talking about the the situation. And saying, "Wow, that's that's a problem." So, let's say that you Maybe you don't like your job. Should I stay in this job or look for a new job? Both of them are are you know, it's a tough decision. I say, "Wow, that is a dilemma." You know, in that case I'm referring to the choices. Or I could say, "That is a conundrum. That is a difficult problem that you have to solve." I could use either one. It really depends on what the focus is, either making the choice or just referring to the the problem in general. Here is the next word, which is nuance. This refers to a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound. It is a This is a noun that I think I use quite often, especially as as a teacher. Same with the word reiterate. I talk a lot about the slight nuances when it comes to English and vocabulary and how the words are used in context. But let me give you an example with this noun. There's a nuance between being confident and being arrogant that many people overlook. So, of course, confident, arrogant, these words uh the meaning is similar, but the nuance would be that if you describe someone as confident, they believe in themselves. This has a positive connotation. Arrogant, somebody believes in themselves, but they really express themselves in a way that is annoying. So, this is a great example of a nuance when you have words that have a similar meaning, but one is positive, one is negative if we're talking about these two adjectives. So, again, as we go through this, I I always try to share with you some of the slight nuances between words. I I just talked about conundrum and dilemma and trying to describe the nuance between those nouns. Here are some common collocations with this noun. You might talk about a slight nuance or a subtle nuance, full of nuance, or even saying something lacks nuance. Repercussion. This refers to an unintended consequence of an event or action, especially an unwelcome one. The company's decision to cut costs had serious repercussions for its employees. So, this word, it does have a negative connotation if we're talking about some action, and then there are some negative consequences, and that is the repercussion. And in that case, then you are in a situation where you need to mitigate the damage and make it so it's less severe. Now, there's another noun that is similar, you know, speaking of slight nuance, and and that is the word ramification. So, again, if we're talking about the difference between repercussion and ramification, we can go back to our AI overview, a ramification is a complex, often unintended result of an action or event, which can be positive or negative, while a repercussion is an unintended, usually negative consequence. They are very similar. You probably could use them interchangeably in in a variety uh of situations, but that slight nuance would be that a a repercussion is generally more negative than a ramification, which could be positive or negative. Then, we have the word catalyst. A catalyst refers to a person or thing that precipitates an event, and it really causes it to happen. It's just like starts things out. The crisis served as a catalyst for innovation in the industry. So, you had this thing happen, the crisis, it precipitates the innovation. And it comes before it and really is the the thing that gets it going. And that is the catalyst. Here is a It's a bad joke, but I'm going to share it with you anyways. I tried to make a chemistry joke, but I got no reaction. Maybe I needed a catalyst. This is a little bit of a play on words because we're talking about chemistry and reaction and catalyst are words that you will use when talking about that that science. In chemistry, you have different things substances that may cause or start a reaction. But also, you're going to use the word catalyst if you need to get things going and start the initial reaction, then you could say you need a catalyst. So, you of course you can use catalyst when talking about things that are unrelated to chemistry, but yeah, I thought I'd share I thought I'd share this bad joke with you. Let's keep going with some powerful adverbs. I don't know why I owe This is like one of my favorite parts of speech. I love a good adverb like seamlessly. Smoothly, without any breaks, interruptions, or noticeable changes, or in a way that is perfectly integrated and uninterrupted. Each song was seamlessly integrated into the film. I try to create lessons that seamlessly move from one word to the next. I know that you know, doesn't always happen. I realize that these lessons are not necessarily impeccable, but I always try to seamlessly move from one word to the next. Let's see if I can do it right now because the next adverb I thought I was going to the next one. That was I did not do that seamlessly, but let's just look at some collocations. So, you could say that something fits seamlessly or flows seamlessly, moves seamlessly, blends seamlessly, merges seamlessly, or connects seamlessly. These are some useful verb adverb collocations. Now, I will try to seamlessly transition to our next adverb, which is inadvertently. This means without intention, accidentally. It's really interchangeable with accidentally. Probably, you're going to come across accidentally more often, but once again, it's always good to get a little bit of variety, learn new words. I could say he had inadvertently given away their secret. So, if you do something inadvertently, it just was not your intention. Then, we have explicitly. This means in a clear and detailed manner, leaving no room for confusion or doubt. The professor explicitly stated the rules for the assignment. Often, I think you're going to use this adverb when talking about communication and saying somebody explicitly told you something or explicitly said something or like in the example, to explicitly state something. So, keep that in mind whenever we're talking about the adverb explicitly. Then, we have presumably. This is used to convey that what is asserted is very likely, though not known for certain. So, when you assert something, you're just like stating it as though it's a fact, but in this case, we're saying, well, it's likely, but it may not be true, and then you could use the adverb presumably. Here's an example. It is 10:00. So, presumably, my roommates are still at the pub. It's likely, but you know, that may not be the case. Here is a fun example, Dr. BeeGee. Presumably good at helping people stay alive. I don't know if you're familiar with the the music group, The Bee Gees, their famous song Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive. Ah ah ah I'm not I'm not going to I'm not going to sing it for you. I concede that I have a a terrible voice, and I I imagine that is the consensus if I were to try to sing this song to you, but that is why this is funny. Presumably good at helping people stay alive. Unequivocally. I like this word because you can really use this adverb to add emphasis. It means in a way that leaves no doubt. The CEO stated unequivocally that the company would not cut jobs this year. Once again, just like explicitly, I think you may often use this adverb when talking about communication. You say something unequivocally. You state something unequivocally. Or you I don't demand something unequivocally. So, great word if you want to add emphasis, like no doubt. The next word is incessantly. It just means without interruption, constantly. She talked incessantly about her new project barely taking a breath. I I would say this adverb maybe more often than not has more of a negative connotation because somebody is doing something incessantly, it's too much, and perhaps it can be a little annoying. Here are some common phrases with this adverb, to talk incessantly, or to complain incessantly. Nobody likes that. To worry incessantly, to bark incessantly, in that case we're really talking about a dog, or to chatter incessantly. Great phrases to know with this adverb. Then there's eloquently. This means in a way that gives a strong, clear message. The speaker eloquently explained the challenges facing the education system. So, if you do something eloquently, that is a good thing. It has a positive connotation. I think everyone would like to do a variety of activities eloquently. So, I mentioned my my singing. I do not sing eloquently, which is why I was not going to uh keep singing that song. Conspicuously. This This means in a clearly visible way. He arrived conspicuously late to the meeting, drawing everyone's attention. So, conspicuously means in a clearly visible way. If I want to say the opposite, I can add the prefix in, inconspicuously. And in that case, it's not clearly visible. But if I want to share some more useful collocations with this adverb, I love good adverb collocations. You could say that someone is conspicuously late, or conspicuously absent, conspicuously lacking, something is conspicuously high or low, conspicuously clean, or conspicuously good or bad at something. I'm going to go back and just give you another example with my singing. As As you can tell, I am conspicuously bad at singing. Then there's resoundingly. This means completely or in a definite way. The team won resoundingly, leaving no doubt about their dominance. Here are some more news headlines, so you can get a better idea as to how this adverb is used in context. "Ghanians resoundingly approve new constitution, pave way for elections. Air Canada cabin crew union resoundingly rejects pay package. Those are two collocations to resoundingly approve or resoundingly reject. Conservative wins resoundingly in Chile's presidential election. And finally, Epstein files bill passes resoundingly in house with only one no vote. So, even though this bill, in case you've been following the whole Epstein saga, this bill passed resoundingly, but the government really hasn't been been sharing. They they've been somewhat uncooperative, and that's a charitable word, uncooperative, releasing these files. That is their disposition right now. That's the government's disposition, uncooperative. The next word, the next adverb is unwaveringly. This means doing something in a way that is strong, steady, and determined without changing, hesitating, or becoming weaker. He unwaveringly defended his position throughout the debate. Another great adverb, and I really that's what adverbs do. They they add emphasis. They are very descriptive, and they just provide that extra information, which is why I think they're incredibly useful. Then we have deliberately. I I think you will certainly come across this word and can definitely use it. If you do something deliberately or somebody else does something deliberately, it just means it was carefully thought out in advanced, planned, studied. It was intentional. She spoke deliberately to ensure everyone understood her message. As we've gone through the lesson, I've tried to review a lot of these words and bring them back up. This is something that I have done deliberately. Now, a lot of times you may hear this adverb used in in more of a negative way. So, here are some collocations to to give you a better understanding. So, if somebody deliberately ignores someone, going back to that uh Epstein example that the bill resoundingly passed in the Congress, and now the government, the administration, is really deliberately ignoring everyone when they're saying, "Look, you need to to release more information." You could also deliberately avoid something or someone, deliberately refuse, deliberately withhold, deliberately deceive, deliberately mislead, or say that something is deliberately vague. So, looking at these verbs that I'm using, you can kind of tell that uh if somebody's doing something deliberately, it may not be a good thing, or depends on the verb that you're going to use it with. Then there's astutely. This means accurately assessing situations or people perceptively. That's really a synonym with this adverb. Here's an example, the manager astutely negotiated better terms for the contract. This has a positive connotation if somebody does something astutely. I know that I gave you a lot of words, and I don't expect you to memorize all of them. Hopefully, you knew some already, and it was just a little bit of review. But, if some of them are new, that's great. The goal is just to take your time, make it a part of your passive vocabulary, try to listen for them, and then move them into your active vocabulary over time. I hope that you are compelled to come back and rewatch this lesson just to review because I've given you so many different powerful words right now. And if you did enjoy the lesson and learn something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching, and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 566. Speak Like a Pro ๐Ÿ’ผ Advanced Phrases ESL Learners Should Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `5Z7z5j7O1QE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z7z5j7O1QE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:53:29 | --- advanced phrases that native speakers use when both speaking and writing. Hang by a thread. This phrase pretty much means what it says. You are in a dangerous situation or state in which you are unlikely to survive or succeed. You can use this phrase to emphasize the fact that you're in a situation in which you are barely surviving or or getting by. Here is a fun picture to visualize this phrase. I I don't know uh if that's a panda or what, but yeah, that little guy is hanging by a thread. >> I don't know how we can possibly beat them. I Glee is hanging by a thread. Then we have in the grand scheme of things. This means considering everything. So it really refers to the broad perspective, seeing the big picture and and not getting bogged down in the specific details of a moment. In the grand scheme of things, the Earth is just a tiny planet in a vast universe. >> In the grand scheme of things, an ex-wife's throw pillows [music] aren't much of a problem. >> Then we have the phrase at the heart of the matter. This just refers to the most important or fundamental part of a problem, issue, or situation. If we're talking about a relationship, at the heart of the matter is a lack of trust. So really, you would use this phrase if you want to highlight the central point and talk about that problem that should be understood or addressed. >> Charmaine, being pregnant just changes everything. >> The heart of the matter. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. --- ## 567. Speak Like an American: Accent & Pronunciation Training ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `n8HK4rTTTdk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8HK4rTTTdk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:58:29 | --- Let's talk about the American accent. And the very first thing I want to say is that uh you know when it comes to English in your speaking fluency, you should not feel as though you need to speak with any particular accent, whether it's the US, Australia, the the UK. The most important thing is that people understand what you're saying. Now, that being said, I know there are people who live in the US uh and English is their second language or they're getting ready to visit the US or they just like the American accent. And if that's the case, then this lesson is for you. I I really just want to talk about why the accent sounds the way that it does and really dive deep you talking about connected speech and a variety of things if this is one of your speaking goals. So I want you to well let [laughter] I was going to say something let let's look at the dialogue but if this is something then you enjoy you can uh please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher and and teach you more about accent pronunciation vocabulary as well as grammar. My name is Wes the channel is interactive English and that is what it's all about. So, let let's just look. This is the dialogue that we're going to go through and I want to read it right now and then we're going to go through each part and I'm going to talk about what's going on. We're going to practice. I want you to practice and say these sentences with me. Say it out loud and just get some speaking practice today. And afterwards, we're going to say this dialogue together and and we're going to practice it uh together. So, let me go through and I'm just going to say it right now. You can hear my pronunciation and the way that I'm saying these different uh sentences. So, it starts out, "So, what are you going to work on next year?" "I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off." Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. Simple enough. I feel like if you you hear me say this or if you were to hear this dialogue on a TV show, you would understand it. It's not super difficult. There is one phrase that I would like to point out even though I think many of you may already know it. But before as we get into this with each sentence, one thing I want you to keep in mind because when it comes to not even just accent, but just your speaking in general, English is a stress time language. And this is what helps give it that rhythm and flow. So essentially it means that the stressed words or syllables are said at approximately the same length and then the words that come in between often get reduced. And I am going to point this out as we go through this. And it also is kind of what makes the language sound like a song, a little sing song. So I could even ask this question. What did you do last night? And you can hear the way that I'm talking and it sounds a little like a song. What did you do last night? I could also clap with those stresses. What did you do last night? And the idea is that again those those intervals come at regular those regular intervals. It's going to give that rhythm and flow. And even if you took out everything and you just had what do night you kind of get the same idea of what what somebody is trying to say. So, as we go through this, I want you to keep that in mind. And as you practice with me, I want you to try to maintain the same pace. That's important. The other thing that's important, which I wanted to point out, is if you would like to join my speaking course, check out the link down below in the description. This is for intermediate to advanced speakers, and it's all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. At the beginning of each lesson, we talk a little bit about connected speech, different parts of the American accent. That is more the warm-up. And then we dive into the topic, look at vocabulary, do different engaging speaking activities, role plays, debates, little mini presentations. So, if this is something that you're interested in, please check out that link down below. And I would like I look forward to speaking with you soon. Here is the first question. what are you gonna work on next year? And I'm trying to go ahead and say it with that melody. Let's listen for it. If I were to make it sound a little more like a song. So, what are you going to do next year? But in general, here would be the claps. Like, so what are you going to work on next year? Not what are you going to do next year, what are you going to work on next year? And even if I speed it up, I'm still maintaining that that stress timing. What are you going to work on next year? What are you going to work on next year? So, let's look at what's going on and I want you to to practice with me. Okay? So, really I I trust I trust that you are going to say these sentences with me and shadow try to say them at the same time. The first thing what are looks like there's a lot going on but really what I want to point out is remember that the question what that thou sound is it's more of a schwa sound. I know you may find different uh um uh if you look on it, the IPA may slightly, but I really do think it's more of an unstressed vowel sound. Just sounds like uh what. Now, you hear that soft D because that final T, I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T. And this is a distinct part of the American accent. It often occurs when the T comes between two vowel sounds. Even though it's at the end of the word, the next word R begins with a vowel sound. So, I'm going to pronounce it as a flap t and then I'm going to link it with the vowel sound in r. And this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word. So, what are instead of pronouncing the individual words, I am just going to say what are. What are what are say it with me? It sounds a little weird if I if just I I uh just like we're saying it together like one word, but just give it a try. What are What are What are you going to is often reduced to going to? I think many of you probably are are using this already. Probably the most common reduction in English. What are you going to work on? Again, we're going to move that consonant sound over. At least that's what it sounds like. and work on next year. The other the last thing I want to say and you could see it talking about assimilation next year that T and Y it's like they blend together. Now I know assimilation is when you basically have two sounds and one becomes more like the next. I think in its simplest terms I I just say like they're blending together. So it's like that T and Y gives you a slight ch sound. This is not something that you have to force. It's not something you're always going to hear. People may pronounce those individual words, but as you're transitioning from one sound to the next. You could hear that slight ch next year. Next year. I'm emphasizing it a little bit right now. put all this together, this is what it's going to sound like. And this is what I want to practice. I've given you the phonetic spelling so you can see the pronunciation. If it's if it's easier for you just to look at the actual words, please go ahead and do that. But let's practice saying it right now. I'll say I'll I'll say it slowly. So, what are you gonna work on next year? What are you gonna work on next year? I want you to say it with me right now. Let's say it three times. One time slowly and then two times at a a more normal speed. So, slowly. Ready? So, what are you going to work on next year? Now, a little that a normal speed. So, what are you going to work on next year? one more time together. So, what are you going to work on next year? Okay, if you were practicing with me, let me know. Write the word speaking in the comments in the chat. I'm going to do that with each of these lines. So, just let me know down in the chat in the comments if you are participating. And I'm just I'm not talking to myself right now. I want to think that I'm I'm talking to you. Okay, the next sentence. I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. So, we talked about stress timing. That comma, think about it. That's a p there's a pause there. So, it's like we're going to reset that that pattern. I'm trying to get in shape or I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. So, let's talk about what's going Excellent. I'm glad. Thank you. Thank you for for speaking with me. Uh, Ike Lai Tayo, uh, great to see you. Manuel Talal, welcome. So, I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. There's a lot going on here. This may be a little challenging, but I think as we go through this, just one thing at a time, hopefully it makes sense. The other thing I would say when it comes to connected speech and we do these practice lessons, even if this is not one of your goals, and that's perfectly fine. I told you you don't feel like you need to speak with any specific accent. I do think it will help with your listening comprehension and which is also very important because if you're listening to a TV show, a podcast, you may hear this is the way you may hear people speak, especially people from the US just like me. So, I'm trying. A lot of times with verbs in the continuous tense, we're going to drop that G. Just get rid of it. We don't need it. It just makes the It just makes it's easier to say instead of it's easier just to say in. So instead of trying, I'm gonna say trying. I'm trying to. So to is one of those words that is often reduced. It's a function word, which means it's not really going to be stressed. And when it's reduced, that vowel sound may change slightly. So instead of two, like I'm saying the number two, it's going to sound softer. More like it has thatwah sound. T. I'm trying to get in. There's more linking. And that final t that is also a flap t, which is right. Right here, I've written flap t plus linking for both those phrases. Get in as well as but I. But I. So let's just say those. Get in. One more time. Get in. And then the next phrase. But I, but I, we have that flap T plus linking. And then down at the bottom, this is where maybe it gets a little trickier. So I mentioned G-dropping already. Get rid of that G. So instead of putting, I'm going to say putting. Now, this is where this is where we get into the weeds a little bit. So the T the two T's in pudding, when they come between two vowel sounds, it's going to sound like a flap T. If you want to say pudding and it's easier for you, that's perfect. There's no problem. That's also the American accent because we're using that flap t. But if we drop that g, it's going to change from a flap t to a glottle stop. And the sound is coming from your throat when you have a t sound followed by an n. And there are many words that I could show you examples. Think of the word kitten. Kitten. You hear that coming from your throat, that glottle stop. And to give you another, if you're trying to think about, well, how do you say this? You know, this glottle t. If you make a mistake and somebody says, uhoh, uhoh. Put your finger down here and say it. Uhoh. Between the uh and the o, your glauus is closing. It's blocking the flow of air. And that is a glottle stop. So this time it's like we're swallowing the t. Putin. Putin. Putin. All right, give it a try. I know it may seem a little weird. Putting. Putting. Putting. Whether you want to say putting with the flap t or putting with the glottle stop, either one works, but we are going to link that last phrase. It off. Putting it off. Putting it off. That t in it. Once again, you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap t and we're going to link it with off. Putting it off. Putting it off. If I That maybe if I say it again and again, you kind of start to register. But you can say it with me. Just try that last final phrase down there. Putting it off. Putting it off. Putting it off. I could probably sit here for an hour and just keep saying putting it off. Putting it off. So, let's let's let's practice this sentence. I know there's a lot going on in here. Um, so you can just listen and say it with me or if it helps to look at that phonetic spelling and you could see the, you know, what I'm actually saying. I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. So, let me, let's say it slowly three times again. Shadow. Say it with me. And it's like we're we're singing a song. And keep in mind that pacing. So, let's say it slowly. I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. Now at a more normal speed. Ready? I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. Once more time. I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. All right. I'm sure when you said it down, you sounded it sounded just like me. That was perfect. Okay. Again, if you're practicing, let me know. Write speaking down in the comments, and let's just keep speaking and speaking and speaking all the way through this dialogue. The next uh the next sentence. Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. Now, this is the phrase that I wanted to highlight and talk about when life gets in the way is one that you may come across from time to time. And all that means is that your your daily responsibilities or unexpected events, they just prevent you from doing something that you may want to do or things that you need to do. And it's like, yeah, you know, I I understand life gets in the way. It's another way of saying you're just you're busy. things are coming up and you're not always able to do the things that you want to do. So, let's look at what's happening with this one. I know it's a couple comments not easy. Yes, I I know I know it's not easy. This this is when you look at these simple sentences, we dive deep into what's happening. Uh but once again, it's good to practice, but also I think it does help with your listening comprehension. So this one, this one's a little I think a little more simple, straightforward. Not as much going on here. So yeah, it's hard to stay consistent. There's that reduction. To stay. To stay. To stay. Just try it. Try it. Instead of saying to, try it with that to. To stay. To stay. One more time. To stay. We're just going to keep drill drill drill. To stay. Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent. I I wanted to include the pronunciation of especially because people have told me before this word can be a little tricky and it is a common one. So I I wanted to go ahead and give you both the phonetic spelling as well as the IPA pronunciation. Just keep in mind the stress is on that second syllable. Especially. Especially. And that third syllable has that schwah. There's that unstressed vowel sound. Especially. Especially when life gets in the way. There we're going to link that phrase again. Moving that consonant sound over to the vowel sound in n. Gets in. Gets in. You can say it again. Just say it after me. Gets in. Gets in. Gets in. One. One thing I will say, a lot of this is a little bit like a drill. Just keep saying it again and again and again. And basically, the next time you're having a conversation, you'll just start linking these phrases. You'll be using these reductions. And over time, you're just going to develop that more natural way of speaking. And you and essentially you'd be developing the American accent because that's what we're talking about. So I told you not not too much going, not as much happening. But let's go ahead and say it one time slowly and then two times at a normal speed. So slowly. Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. Let's say it at a normal speed. Say it with me. Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. One more time. Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. I apologize because I realize I didn't talk about the stress timing, but if I were to clap, hopefully you can hear that melody. The more I talk about it, you can kind of pick up on it. Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. And as I say it again, hopefully let your ears do all the work and you can pick up on that melody, on that stress timing. Then we got to we got to we're moving to our final sentence. I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. So this is what I meant. I meant to talk about the stress timing at the beginning. Right now I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. So each of those claps, that is my stressed word or syllable. I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. Any whether I'm saying it slowly or fast, the stress timing doesn't change. I'm just either saying it slowly, moving it farther apart, or condensing it and saying it much faster. What is happening? What is happening with this beautiful sentence right here? So got to we can reduce that to gota. This is another I think fairly common reduction to stick with it. We're going to link that consonant sound over with it. If I if I we're going to link that phrase as well. Now you may be thinking to yourself, and this is something we haven't really like discussed. You might be thinking, well, why is that t and it not getting linked with the vowel sound in if? This is because it's a separate clause. And basically when when you hear me say it, I'm going to separate it into two different thought groups. And there's going to be a short pause in between there, which is why I'm not linking it over. So even if I move back here and just listen for that pause, I got to stick with it or I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. Can you hear that pause between it and if I got to stick with it if I want this pause to be if I want this pause? Okay. So basically, if I move the if statement to the front, then you're going to use a comma. If if I have it come after um the the main clause, I'm not going to use a comma, but speaking I I still am gonna make that pause. I gotta stick with it if I want this year to be a success. So want one thing to keep in mind with this word that nt a lot of times the t may elide when it follows an n sound think about words like internet or center or interactive you don't hear that t sound want is also similar in and it elides you're really going to remove it if I say I wouldn't say what do you want me to do I would say what do you what do you want me to do what do you want me to do what do you want me to Again, you don't really hear that T. So this case, it does allide even though the T and the TH the the position is the same in your mouth. So even if you're putting your tongue up behind your top front teeth, one even with the N and the T and the th you're going to release into that, that voiced this sound, it want this year to there's that reduction with to be a success. The last thing that I want to talk about, I I said with assimilation, you don't need to force it. It will just occur naturally. And I think intrusion is the same way. This is when you add a slight sound generally between two vowel sounds. And it's going to be either a Y or a W sound. And that is what allows us to link or connect these vowel sounds together. Bey. So you hear a slight Y sound between them. Be a success. be a success. Let's practice. I know I'm giving you a lot with this last sentence. Let me say it one time and then you can practice with me. Then I'll say it slowly. I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. So let's say it slowly, shadow, say it with me and then you can tell me whether you're actually doing this. So let's say it slowly. I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. And when I say it slowly, I think you can hear that melody. Let's say it again. Shadow. Say it with me, but at a normal speed. I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. One more time. I got to stick with it if I want this year to be a success. Perfect. All right. You sound like you're from maybe like um the New York area, somewhere around there. That's what I would say. Okay. Now that we've gone through each sentence and we've dived deep, if you if you've been practicing once again, let me know. I want to write write speaking down in the comments or hit a heart or a like button. That way, I know that you're participating, which is all which is really what all I all I want. Um, and and just keep practicing and practicing and practicing. Here is our dialogue. I will say all of it now and then we're going to say it together. I'll say A, you say B, and and then we'll switch like we're like we're having a conversation, which is true. Well, we're about to. So, let me let me say all of it right now, and then we're going to practice together. So, what are you going to work on next year? I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. Yeah, it's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. All right, are you ready? Let's begin. I I will say A and I just want you to say B and we're going to have this conversation right now. Are you ready? Let I'll begin and you you say B. Here we go. So, what are you going to work on next year? Yeah. It's hard to stay consistent, especially when life gets in the way. That was perfect. Flawless. Okay. All right. Excellent. That's what I wanted to hear. That's what I wanted to hear. Now, I want to switch you. I want you to say A. I am going to say B this time, and we're going to have this conversation. So, you can begin with A. Ready, go. I'm trying to get in shape, but I keep putting it off. I gotta stick with it if I want this year to be a success. Well done. All right. We we just rocked it. And I know I've given you a lot and I know that as we've gone through this, like some of you had mentioned, it is uh it is challenging. It can be difficult, but it's not I it's not something that you have to start using all of these different parts at the same time. Start with some of the things that are more common. For example, reductions like going to and using gonna or I mentioned that to often reduced it sounds like to to like uh to stay to stay consistent or to be a success. And as you just keep repeating some of these phrases using that weaker t, then your brain is going to make that change already when you're having a conversation. So, I I'm giving you a range of different things when it comes to the American accent. And hopefully hopefully if this is one of your goals, it is going to help you feel more comfortable and confident when you are speaking. And even if it's not, I hope that it helps with your listening comprehension. But if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new or just enjoyed speaking with me, let me know by hitting that like button. And remember, if you want to join my course, check out that link down below in the description. Thank you for being here. I hope that you have a wonderful day, a merry Christmas if you are celebrating. If not, then uh I just hope you have a great end of the year. I wish all of you a happy new year. And I guess the way it turns out uh no, maybe uh I I might I'll see you before the end of the year. All right, I'm just going to keep keep going. But uh have a great day and I will see --- ## 568. Speak Naturally & Easily Using Contractions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ORKEv_Ghmp0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORKEv_Ghmp0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:32:48 | --- So today I'm going to talk to you about a bunch of different English contractions. I think there's 28 of them. So this lesson is going to be great for your listening, speaking, and pronunciation. So today's lesson is all about contractions. And first let's just talk about well... What are contractions? The word to contract means to squeeze together. And that's what we're doing. We're taking two words, and we're squeezing them together. And where we end up omitting letters, we put an apostrophe instead. And an apostrophe looks like this. You will notice them when I give you a bunch of example sentences. And to be perfectly honest, the reason this lesson is important is because we use contractions all the time, especially when we're speaking. They're also commonly used in informal writing if you're writing a text message or an email. They're not really appropriate for formal writing. So be aware of that. So today I'm going to talk to you about contractions with subject pronouns. And those pronouns are... And I'm going to show you how they can be contracted with different verbs. We're going to go through this quickly. I'm going to say the words I will then say the contracted forms, so you can hear my pronunciation Then I will give you an example sentence. And I will say it twice. I'll say it once without the contracted form. And then again with the contracted form. So let's begin. The first set of contractions I want to talk to you about are those with the verb (to be). I'm not going to keep the subject pronouns in the same order. I'm basically going to put them in order of their conjugation. I'll let you know what I mean by that in just a second. I'll also throw in some other examples, so that you can hear the contracted forms in some different contexts. Let's start with (I). I'm a doctor. I'm a criminal. I'm a real-estate agent. Which sounds just like the possessive form of "your." Now, let's look at he/she/it because the conjugation with the verb (to be) is different. It's a sunny day today. It's a busy day. It's been a crazy day here today. Now when you just heard those sentences, you may even be thinking to yourself, you know... It sounds a little strange without the contracted form. And this might be because we use the contracted form so often. That if you were watching a TV show, or a movie, or listening to music you're going to hear it in the contracted form the vast majority of the time. Not many people are going to say, "It is a cloudy day." They're just going to say, "It's a cloudy day." So again, that is why this is so important. Now, let's talk about contractions with (will). We use WILL + BASE VERB when we want to talk about things that will happen in the future. But we can contract the word WILL with our subject pronouns. Which is something that's it always good to hear somebody else say. I'll pay my share. I'll pay for it, okay. Sure, I'll pay for it. I'll pay whatever they want. You are going to pay. Oh, I'll pay. Hint. Hint. And this, especially in American English, the T is going to have that Flap T sound, which is more like a D. I forgot to say...what was my sentence? Now let's look at contractions with the helping verb (have). So we're going to contract the subject pronoun with "have" when it's a helping verb. That's the key word right there. And "have" is a helping verb when we're talking about the present perfect tense. Again, just pay close attention to those examples, and you'll see what I mean. It's true. We were there last year. You've already lost. Yes, you've already made history. But you've already begun. Now we'll look at he/she/it because again the conjugation with "have" is different. And in case you didn't know, this expression means to kind of go a little crazy. To lose it right here. He has gone off the deep end. They have completely gone off the deep end. Everybody's going off the deep end. Also notice the spelling "He has" is the same as the contraction "He is." The only way you'll tell the difference is based on the context. Because again, we use "He has" when "have" is a helping verb Which means we're talking about the present perfect. This spelling similarity also applies to "She has" and "It has" as well. It's been a pleasure. Jack. Mr. Dawson. It's been a pleasure. It's been a real pleasure. So that's something to keep in mind when we're talking about He/She/It. The spelling of the contraction as well as the pronunciation is the same. He's. She's. It's. Let's look at some contractions with the modal verb "would." I'd love it. I'd appreciate it. I'd be your best friend. You'd help me do that. You'd love each other. If we do it your way Kingslayer, you'd win. I can't emphasize this enough. It is so important that you learn and understand and can identify these different contractions. Because we use them so often when we are speaking. And now you can use them too. If you found this lesson useful, we'd appreciate it if you'd hit that like button. And if you really enjoy what we do and want to show us some love, check out our Patreon page. Link is in the description. Thanks so much for watching, and I will see you next time. See, it just doesn't sound natural. It's so much better to say... Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 569. Speak Quickly & Naturally by LINKING These Common Words ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jNqQ0AulDvc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNqQ0AulDvc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:41:24 | --- Today, I'm going to teach you five common English reductions. Which is something many, many, many English learners really want to learn. So I will talk about that with you coming right up. Welcome to today's lesson, which is a pronunciation lesson because I am going to talk to you about five common reductions in English. And I think a lot of people would like to learn more about reductions. Or they're interested in learning about them because it helps people reduce their accent. And it's not only good for speaking, but it's also very important for listening as well. Often times, learners want to try and identify each and every single word. And it makes the task more challenging. Instead of just trying to comprehend the main idea. So this is not only good for speaking, but it's also important for listening so that you have a better understanding of the conversation and what the other person is talking about. And the reason that I think people use reductions is... it's just something that comes naturally. I think this is common in all languages when people are speaking fast and the words kind of just run together. Now, the one thing that I want to tell you about reductions, and this is a pet peeve of mine. This is only for speaking. Alright. Please, please, please, please please do not write these reductions. I know that you see this done all the time. You get text messages using reductions. You see it on Facebook and on the internet. But a good rule of thumb, a good practice, is just not to write these reductions. The reason for this is because I think some learners don't always make the distinction between what is accepted and in informal writing and then their formal writing. So they might end up using and writing these reductions at school, in academic papers. Or writing them at work in a business email. And it is just not professional. It's not something that you want to get into the habit of doing. So please, please, please do not write these reductions. This is just for speaking. And listening. The first two reductions that I want to go over with you are two that you have probably heard and maybe you even use them as well. And that is /gonna/ and /wanna/. They sound like one word that would have two syllables. And the stress is on the first syllable. That second syllable has the schwa that /uh/ sound. which is a reduced vowel sound. And also notice there is no T sound in "to." It basically goes from that N sound that /nnn/ straight into the schwa. First let's talk a little bit more about going to which is reduced as /gonna/. Now we use this when we're talking about something that we are going to do, and it's used with the verb (to be). So we have our subject, and then the verb (to be), plus going to, plus the base verb. So for example, I could say... I am going to give this video a thumbs up. I am going to give this video a thumbs up. So remember going to, when it's reduced, is followed by a base verb. Going to play... Going to dance... Going to go... Be aware that if "going to" is followed by a noun, as in we're talking about a place that we are going to go, then it is not reduced. So for example... "Going to" is followed by the noun school, so we are not going to reduce that. We do not say... No. In order for it to be reduced it has to be followed by a base verb. I don't know what I'm going to do later. I really don't know. Don't know what I'm going to do. So let's practice saying some sentences. Ioana is going to say the sentence with the reduction, and you can just repeat after her. This is good practice. Here are some other examples of "going to" getting reduced to /gonna/. So see if you can listen for it. Let's have a look at "want to" /wanna/. Now, we use this and reduce "want to" when the verb want is followed by the infinitive. Which is TO + the base verb. For example... Sure you do. Want to... Do something... What do you want to do? Now keep in mind, we can't reduce "want to" if the subject is in the third person, and we're using he, she, or it. This is because when our subject is he, she, or it we have to put an -s on the end of "want" so that it becomes "wants." So the subject and the verb agree. Now "wants to" we cannot reduce that. You just have to say "wants to". Let's practice a few more sentences using this reduction. Once again Ioana is going to say the sentence, and you can repeat it after her out loud. Now here are a few more examples using this reduction in different contexts and situations. The next two reductions I want to talk to you about are "has to" /hasta/ and "have to" /hafta/. Now these reductions also sound like they may be one word with two syllables. And again, the stress is on the first syllable and the second syllable is once again reduced with that schwa sound. That /uh/ sound. In these reductions you do hear that T sound. That /tuh/ at the end. So you're going to say... You're going to use your tongue and press it to the top part of your mouth. And that's going to stop the air flowing out. Once you stop it, then you just make that /tuh/ T sound. The same with "have to." You're making that F sound and you are blocking the flow of air with your tongue. Push it up against the top part of your mouth. Now when you say the reduction, it all happens very fast. But you should feel your tongue touching the top of your mouth and blocking that flow of air as you make that /tuh/ sound. Now, we use these reductions "has to" and "have to" when they are modal verbs, and we're talking about an obligation. Something that you have to do. And when the subject is I, you, we, they you're going to use "have." For example... Why? Because... These are obligations. These are things that I have to do. "Has to" /hasta/ is is the same. Except we're going to use it with the subjects he, she, or it. So for example. I could say that... Maybe he has to study because his parents think that... But he didn't study, and because of that... Here are some more example sentences using "has to" and "have to". Again, have fun. Say them out loud. You don't have to say them, but I think you should. And now I want you to listen how these reductions "has to" and "have to" are being used in these examples. The final English reduction I want to tell you about is "got to" /gotta/. This also would have two syllables with the stress on the first syllable. And the second syllable would have the schwa. Now the T, and this is especially important in American English. The way Americans talk. It has that Flap T sound, which is like a light D. And this is what happens when the T falls in the middle of the word. So for example, look at these words. The T is in the middle, which will sound more like a D sound. And "got to" is no different. The T is in the middle, so Americans would tend to use the flap T. Which makes it sound like /gotta/. This is reduced, "got to," when it is a modal verb used with "have." So have got to ... It's again talking about an obligation. And it's definitely reduced when "have" is contracted with the subject. This is also true with "has" if the subject is he, she, it. We could also drop "have" and say /gotta/. And this is definitely more informal and commonly used in more colloquial speech when you're just having a conversation with somebody. Talking about something that you /gotta/ do or I /gotta/ do. So for example, here are a few things that you've got to do. First, you got to keep practicing your English skills. Second, you got to watch these lessons. Finally, you got to join our social media classes. It's just a lot of fun. And it's a great way to keep practicing. And for your practicing pleasure, here are some more sentences using this reduction. So you've got to repeat these sentences, and you've got to say them out loud. And now let's listen to "got to" being used in different contexts. I hope you guys have a better understanding about how to use these reductions, and also maybe it'll help you when you are listening for them as well. Remember don't write them. This is only for speaking. So now we want to hear from you. And what you got to do is write to us in the comments. And let us know what kind of English lesson you would like. What are you having trouble with? What would you like to see more of? What would you like to learn? We like hearing from you guys, so let us know in the comments. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time. --- ## 570. Speak Quickly & Naturally ๐Ÿ‘‰ โ€œgo to theโ€ | Fast Speech in American English ๐Ÿš€ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KoY5Q5Px-9Q` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoY5Q5Px-9Q) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:02:20 | --- i want to quickly talk to you about the phrase go to the all right now when i say go to the you're probably listening to that thinking wait what the hell is go to the and really what i'm saying is go to the so if you're going to say that phrase and and reduce it say it quickly and sound natural you could say something like uh i always go to the gym except it's going to sound like i always go to the gym so what's going on is two the preposition is often said with that schwa sounds like ta now that t because i'm from the united states is going to sound more like a flat t that d sound because it comes between two vowels in which case it sounds like go to the go to the i always go to the gym i always go to the movies i always go to the bathroom --- ## 571. St. Patrick's Day English Lesson | Pronunciation + Culture + Vocabulary ๐Ÿ€ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QVxM-G3Bkik` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVxM-G3Bkik) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:20:47 | --- Hey everyone, my name is Wes. Welcome to today's lesson. Um, today I think it's a fun lesson. It's a cultural lesson because what we're going to talk about, what I want to teach you about is St. Patrick's Day. So, this is a St. Patrick's Day English lesson um because it's coming up. It's right around the corner. So, I thought this would be uh a good time to to teach you a little bit about St. Patrick's Day while at the same time also kind of teaching you different vocabulary words related to this day. Um, so before we jump into this uh activity, the different activities that I have for you, uh, I just want to say a quick hello, give some shoutouts, and I want to say hello to Lai, good to see you. Uh, Tayo, hi, how are you? Um, Sajad, uh, Lara Farman, Angela Sleepwalker, good to see you. I' I've been a I've been away for about two weeks now. This is the the first live lesson I've done in a few weeks. So, it's good to be back. Um, first off, so today's lesson, it is more interactive. I want you guys to participate. Write your answers in the chat. Even if you're watching this later, throw your answers down in the comments. Use it like it's a piece of paper. make it more of an active learning exercise, which is what which is what I'm all about is just trying to make more make things more active learning because I think that's just I think that's a little more helpful than just passive learning. So, uh hello uh Cath Cathud Cusello Cthusel, nice to see you. All right. Hello. How are you? Um sorry if I mispronounced names. I apologize. Um I'm going to get better at this. So, as we go through, I will give more shoutouts uh later on. So, let's This is kind of what's on the agenda. First, I'll say happy St. Patrick's Day. Even though even though today is not St. Patrick Patrick's Day, I'm just throwing it out there. Um, and we're going to do a little pronunciation practice to begin with. And then it is a I guess you could say it's a cultural quiz plus vocabulary. I'm going to really be doing those at the same time. So, as we go through this again, I want you guys to participate, write your answers in the chat, and I hope that all of you learned something new from today's lesson. So, let's begin with pronunciation. And I think a fun way to well, I think to practice pronunciation is with a tongue twister. So, when you think of St. [snorts] Patrick's Day. I think many of you think of well you should you would think of Ireland. So this is a tongue twister. And the the goal of this one I think is just to say it several times as quickly as you can. And this is actually really difficult because Irish it ends with that sh sound. And you it's kind of like if you're trying to think about this sound like you're telling somebody to be quiet like sh. And then the next sound, wristwatch, that is a silent W. So it begins with R. And going from that sh to an R sound is pretty difficult. So that's why I think saying these two words, at least for me, it's really challenging. Um, it's a it's a good this is a good tongue twister. Irish. Irish. Wristwatch. So Irish. Irish. And then switch to that R sound. It's like you're have to pull your jaw back. Wristwatch. Um, Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. So, let me let's try to say it. Say it with me. Try to say it a few times. And again, I think with this, the goal is to say it quickly because you're going to make a mistake. So, I'm just going to say it three times quickly and you can listen to how poor my pronunciation is with this. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. Okay. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristw. So it almost I think ends up saying Irish rishwatch. It's hard to transition from that sh sound that shh to an. And I again one way to do it would be thinking like you're saying sh telling somebody to be quiet to a smile. Wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. Irish. I'll try it three more times quickly. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. Irish wristwatch. [laughter] Okay. All right. I hope that you um are able to do this pro possibly a little more accurately than I can. Um is just to to say it quickly. So, this I think is a good good tongue twister to start out because we're talking about St. Patrick's Day. Um you might think of Ireland and if you are well somebody um from Ireland they would say they are Irish. Um so somebody think yes it's not not easy. Wow. Uh but we got a piece of cake. Excellent. All right. So, I think it's interesting because I think where um depending on where you're from, maybe some certain sounds that you might found find difficult. Some tongue twisters uh may be very difficult and then others may be pretty easy. I think and that's the same uh I think that's the same for native speakers. Even native English speakers might have um find some tongue twisters easy and then others a little more difficult. And it's going to be different for each person. This one for me I I well I think you heard is kind of uh difficult. So let's uh well get into some questions. We're talking about St. Patrick's Day. So the first question that I have for you um is this one which is going to give you a little more information about this holiday. So I have that one blank spot in there. I'm not giving you any uh multiplechoice uh answers. So just let me know what you guys think from what you know about this holiday. St. Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious celebration held on March what the traditional death of St. Patrick the foremost paint saint uh patron saint of Ireland. So we're talking about the death of St. Patrick the patron saint of Ireland. Uh so that day St. Patrick's Day this year is on March what what is uh the answer. What do you guys think? Um so I told you you know that today today is not St. Patrick's Day. I told you that it's coming up and St. Patrick's Day. Yes. Excellent. Uh kasides uh 10 kitka. Um whal you're off by one day. Uh Abd Rashad the the answer is the 17th. All right. March 17 is St. Patrick's Day. So this is when St. Patrick's Day is always celebrated. It's the traditional death of St. Patrick. I was trying to look up. I think people believe this was the day um in which St. Patrick died. I don't know if people are absolutely positive about that, but that's what they believe. So therefore, uh, St. Patrick's Day is on March 17th, which this year is going to be this coming Wednesday. This coming Wednesday is St. Patrick's Day. Excellent. Uh, the next question that I have for you is this one. And again, this is kind of well learning about the the this this cultural holiday as well as some vocabulary. The M is a symbol of Ireland. The name comes from Irish. I'm not even going to try to pronounce it because I think maybe I'll be giving the answer away. Um, but I'll skip over that. Which is um the dimminionative of the Irish word and I'll I'll skip over that. My probably I'm sure my pronunciation would be horrible. And it simply means young clover. So what word are we talking about? which the the word this this is a symbol of Ireland. Told you where the name comes from. It's the dimminionative. The dimminionative of something means kind of like the shorten the shortened form um of this other word. So this word is the dimminionative of this other word. And and really what it means is young clover. That's what it means. Uh what what do you think is the symbol of Ireland? I gave you those pictures down there and then we're I'm gonna follow up and kind of give you a little bit more information about this. So, think about it. This is the symbol of Ireland. What do you call those uh well those pictures down there? Um, excellent. Yes. Uh, critique uh critika loi. Uh, perfect. The answer is a shamrock. So the shamrock is a symbol of Ireland and it comes from that Irish uh shamrock. I don't know if it would be pronounced shamrog which is the dimminionative of the Irish word shamrog which means young clover. So shamrock means young clover. Excellent. Uh great job. I think somebody got that. Excellent. Gustav perfect. Um Luke English addict. All right. Katie Katie Deio. Nice. So, I'm gonna follow up on this because some of you were were thinking about uh another word. So, shamrock is really it means young clover. It is a type of uh well there are different types of clovers. So, basically those uh those two these two pictures right here those are shamrocks. They are also they're clovers but they are different clovers. Now, one of them it says the m clover is very rare. According to tr to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck. So, this one I'm giving you the multiple choice. There are only two choices um because those are two different uh they're both shamrocks, but they're two different clovers. One is a threeleaf clover. The other one is a fourleaf clover. So, which of those clovers is the rare one that people would believe, oh, this this brings good luck? I believe um that this would be good luck. What do you guys think? Let me know. Write your answers again in the comments. Uh even if you're watching this later. Excellent. Uh Tayo, Suana, Laura, Alpha, uh Aan, Athanasios. Excellent. Angela, yes. The answer, Tatiana, the answer is B. We're talking about the four-leaf clover. Um is the rare one. Uh the the threeleaf clover is much more common. So according to the tradition, if you find a fourleaf clover, it it brings good luck. Then we have some other questions. This is kind of a little more of a story which we'll kind of walk through or not not a story before we get to that. This this right here. So my question about this first I'll just read it and then you can listen to it. There was an old man from Peru who dreamed he was eating his shoe. He awoke one night with a terrible fright and found out that it was quite true. All right, this just listening to me read it, you can tell this is a poem. But what kind of poem is it? That's the question that I wanted to ask you. And I'll this may be a little more challenging. I don't know how familiar many of you are with different types of poems. Um, but what do you think? What is this poem called in in English? There was an old man from Peru who dreamed he was eating his shoe. He awoke one night with a terrible fright and found out that it was quite true. These poems are I don't I don't know if you would say I would say they're common. It really just depends. They're very short poems. They're humorous poems. That's the they they follow a certain pattern. And you would call this poem what? And I tried to find a picture and made that old man like look like he's eating a shoe. So I if you just read it, you can tell like, okay, it it is supposed to be funny. It's supposed to be a funny, humorous poem. Um what would you call it? Uh a nightmare? No. Uh it's not a nightmare. Uh even though yes, that would be horrible to wake up and you're eating a shoe. Not a stanza. These are good guesses. Again, these are um stanza is related. Stanza is more like uh kind of a paragraph. The same way um essays would have different paragraphs, poems would have different stanzas. Excellent. Uh Vicky Gustav, yes, this is a limrich. So a limrich I told you they're humorous poems and they have that rhyme pattern a a bba. So a aabba let's look at this you can see that those words rhyme peru shoe true um this the first second and fifth line and then the third and fourth line are also going to rhyme night and fright. There was an old man from Peru who dreamed he was eating his shoe. He awoke one night with a terrible fright and found out that it was quite true. So this is uh this is an example of a limrich. And the reason why I put this in there related to Ireland many I think some people believe that the name of this comes after the the city in Ireland, the city of Limrich. Even though when I was trying to read a little bit more about it, some people believe that some of the first the styles of this poem actually came from the UK. So I'm not really positive uh exactly where the name come came from, but many people believe that the name of this poem, this type of poem comes from Limrich, Ireland, the name of the city. So I told you that I did have some vocabulary words that are related to the culture uh are related to St. Patrick's Day. So this will I think this first question is a little easier and then maybe it'll get a little more difficult. We'll see. Many of you may be familiar with this, especially if you celebrate St. Patrick's Day. So, on St. Patrick's Day, you're supposed to wear what? All right. What are you supposed to wear on St. Patrick's Day? Write your answers in the chat. The reason also why you might be wondering while I'm why I'm doing this, I am from the United States. I'm not from Ireland, but St. Patrick's Day is coming up in the US. It is still um it is like it's still a holiday that many people will celebrate. And I would say that you you don't have to be Irish to participate and celebrate in St. Patrick's Day. I think this is a day that many people in the United States, they will get together with their friends, they'll go out, they'll have some drinks. Um and yeah, I think many people will celebrate St. Patrick's Day similar to the way people many people will celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the United States. Excellent. So, uh, you're supposed to wear green. Perfect. So, green is the answer. I've even tried, I don't know if you guys can tell just watching this video. Um, this is very, very dark green. A very hunter green uh, sweatshirt that I'm wearing. So, excellent. Um, Laura, Esther, uh, Caddy, Sleepwalker, uh, Angela, German. Perfect. So, you're you're supposed to wear green on St. Patrick's Day. And let's add to this. On St. Patrick's Day, you're supposed to wear green. This tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green will make you invisible to what? All right. So, this is part of the folklore of St. Patrick's Day as to why you should wear green. If you wear green, then you will you will be invisible. So, think about why why would you want to be invisible on St. Patrick's Day? Who do you who do you not want to see you? So, basically, you are invisible to someone. I'll go ahead and tell you that. So, what do you guys think? Uh, you're the folklore says that when you wear green, you are invisible to to whom? All right. And I think again this is another this well this group of people uh associated with St. Patrick's Day. Perfect. Uh yes, Oleg uh Lai you guys got it. The answer is leprechauns. So the tradition uh that is tied to folklore that when you wear green you are invisible to leprechauns. The leprechauns, they cannot see you. And well, one of the reasons why you don't want them to see you is, let's continue. This is because leprechauns like to anyone they can see. Okay, so I told you that we we kind of started up here reading through um part of this uh holiday. On St. Patrick's Day, you're supposed to wear green. The tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green will make you invisible to leprechauns. And this is because leprechauns like to m anyone they can see. So what do if if it's St. Patrick's Day, this is the folklore. Uh if leprechauns can you're not wearing green, leprechauns can see you. What will they do? That's the question. So that they lolly bother. Yes, they do bother you. But how how do they bother you? Um what do they what would a leprechaun do? And again, think about I would tell you to think about St. Patrick's Day. What happens? Of course, if uh if many of you if you're not familiar with St. Patrick's Day, that might be this may be a little difficult um a little more challenging. Uh excellent. Uh well, Tatiana, close maybe. Um Laura, you got it. Perfect. So, [laughter] kidnap or steal. Uh, so we're talking about um, yes, perfect. Gustav, nice. They would pinch anyone that they can see because that is at least I think of when when I was well, when I was younger, especially at school, uh, St. Patrick's Day, you'd show up to school, many people would wear green, and if they didn't, maybe your friends would come around um, and pinch you. Typically in high school, maybe your friends might punch you in the shoulder or something like that, but uh the the folklore would go that the leprechauns would if if you are not invisible because you're not wearing green, the leprechauns would uh pinch anyone that they could see. So I mean maybe I don't some of you put like play tricks to kind of maybe that that might also be it. Uh this is the information that I found mostly mostly thanks to Wikipedia. I will uh I will credit that even though that's not the most solid of sources. So the next one the next question that I have for you speaking continuing talking about leprechauns and of course you can find a leprechaun's pot of gold at the what where might you go uh to find a leprechaun's pot of gold. This is again based on the folklore, the tradition where people would say that um leprechauns would guard their pot of gold. Where would it be? Where what how would you best complete that sentence? All right, you can try to find a leprechaun's pot of gold at the what? All right, I think many of you may maybe you're a little familiar with this part of the folklore. for the tradition especially if some of the other questions had been a little more difficult. Um, perfect. Yes. Uh, Lai uh, Angela per Sylvia perfect. Yes, that is excas that is the specific part. Um, Lucon excellent. Uh, Elon Laura we're talking about it. It is the rainbow specifically. you would finish that and say the end of the rainbow. That at the end of the rainbow is where you will find uh a leprechaun's pot of gold. All right. So, these are again uh it was kind of a mix between teaching you a little bit about St. Patrick's Day, the history, some of the folklore behind it, as well as some of that vocabulary related to it. Of course, you know, the color green. Um, but, uh, leprechauns, they would pinch people. And of course, you might think of like those a clover. You have a four-leaf clover. Good luck. A three-leaf clover. And those are shamrocks, which is the symbol of Ireland. So, I hope you learned something new from this lesson. I know it was a little bit short and sweet, but I hope maybe you learned some new words or phrases or even just learned something in general about St. Patrick's Day, which remember is on March 17th, which is this Wednesday. Uh, I really appreciate you guys being here with me today. Uh if you guys enjoy these lessons, if you like what we do at Interactive English, uh and want to uh join our community and become a member, a Patreon, links uh to that are down below in the description. Also, if you uh want to join, you can join our email list. There's also a link down below to that in the description. It's a great way to keep in uh you can keep in touch with me. Uh you can get access to the secret fluency lesson. We'll send some updates from time to time. I also send out some resources and I do not overwhelm you with a bunch of emails. Um, and of course you can unsubscribe anytime you want, but it's a good way to keep in touch uh with me. But thank you guys so much for being here. I know I told you this was kind of a a short and sweet lesson. But I will uh I'm planning to come back next week with uh another lesson. Thank you guys so much for being here. uh MZZ Lai um Marcos perhaps uh Lucand in in the future I will do a Q&A and then get to more some more specific questions. Uh Yash um and Aansios um Gustava Vicki Angela Oleg Laura Kasari Cece Tayo U Katie Deio trying to get in as many shout outs uh as I possibly can. Young Suana. And I apologize too if I mispronounce names. Of course, you guys I'm sure you're well aware of uh maybe the many mispron many many pronunciation mistakes that I make when it comes to some of these names. Hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next --- ## 572. Start READING to Start Improve Your English | Reading Comprehension Quiz (La Tomatina) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MxyhF3YA1tk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxyhF3YA1tk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:54:10 | --- today we are going to practice and improve your reading skills that's coming up [Music] what's up everyone my name's Wes this is Interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English today's lesson it's not your normal lesson because this is more of an activity we are going to do a reading activity to help you practice and improve your reading skills so the way we're going to do this is I am going to give you a reading selection and you are going to have to read it and afterwards I'm going to ask you some questions to see how well you can remember and recall the information this is what we call an active reading exercise because you need to interact and answer the questions that I give you okay so you you really need to focus you need to concentrate the reading is not gonna be super difficult it's only gonna be about a minute but it is a very fun topic it is about La Tomatina so I will give you some time to read it and then afterwards I'm going to ask you a few questions and give you a moment to answer those questions but before we begin I want to talk about a few vocabulary words that you are going to find in the story the first one is takes place and when something takes place we're just talking about when this thing occurs and often we're talking about an event when does this event happen when does it occur when does it take place the next word is foodfight so this word means exactly what it sounds like you're having a fight and you were using food I don't know if you've ever been in a food fight they can be kind of fun to have so this reading is about a food fight another word that you will find is avoid to avoid something this means to to keep oneself from doing it you want to stay away from this thing or maybe stay away from this activity you want to avoid doing it then we have spectacular this is an adjective that means great amazing incredible those are all synonyms for spectacular so it's it's a wonderful way to describe an event to describe an activity and we can say it's spectacular so now that you know those words let's begin I we'll show you the reading and it is going to scroll across the screen so as you're reading it again try try to focus on what you're reading try to put a picture in your mind that's going to help you remember the information and afterwards I'll have a few questions for you alright let's begin you now that you're done reading I have a few questions for you and I'll give you five seconds to think of the answer and then I'll tell you what it is and if you don't remember that's okay just just try to do the best that you can here's your first question what is La Tomatina famous for the answer is B tomato fight remember in the reading it said the most popular event is on the final day which is when they have the world's largest tomato fight here's your next question the tomato fight is on the Wednesday in August the answer is C last the tomato fight is on the last Wednesday in August this was some very specific information that you had to try and remember here's another question why must tomatoes be squashed for the event the answer is B so people don't get hurt in the reading it said that the tomatoes must be squashed by hand in order to avoid injury we don't want anybody getting hurt at La Tomatina so they squashed the tomatoes by hand how did you do did you get all of those questions correct if you did I want to know and write to me in the comments and just write the words tomato fight that way I know that you did the activity you got those questions right and you understood everything about La Tomatina I hope you enjoyed this reading activity and if you did please hit that like button thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you next time --- ## 573. Stop Confusing These Words | Advanced Vocabulary + Quiz | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7pTyq_h5PWY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pTyq_h5PWY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:35:55 | --- If you are looking to build, develop, and grow your vocabulary, then today's lesson is for you because I am going to talk to you about some confusing English words. Words that are are commonly confused by not only just native English speakers, but also English learners. So, I just want to say what's up? My name is Wes. If this is your first time here, Interactive English, we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills, especially in classes like today where it's all about interaction. I have some questions that I want to go over with you and ask you, and I want you to write the answers in the chat or even in the comments later on whenever you're watching this. We just want you to participate. That's what it's all about, practicing your English skills. So, I just want to give a shout-out to some of those people who are with me now. Sarah, Gundrun, Olivia, what's up? Uh Room, Bahar, Anna, uh Abdirashid, uh you know who I am. Yes, I do know who you are, Phyllis. Uh welcome, welcome, welcome. Uh hope you guys are having a great day. I hope you're feeling exceptionally smart today because I'm going to ask you some questions about words that are commonly confused, and then I'm going to tell you what they mean and give you some more examples, okay? So, before we jump into it, I just want to give a quick shout-out to quick shout-out to us. Check out the link in the description, and check out our Patreon page, and I'm just going to throw it up right there in the chat, and there it is. Boom. Okay, you guys can check that out whenever you feel like it, all right? So, let's let's just jump into the lesson. What we're going to do is I am going to do this a little differently because we've talked about confusing words in English before, and when we've done this before, I would go over the words with you, and then I would ask you some questions at the end. I'm going to do the opposite this time. I'm going to give you the question, all right? I want you to to try and think of the answer, do the best that you can, and then we will talk about the answer and talk about the words and and why is it that these words are commonly confused. Okay, so, the first question that I have for you is this, all right? So, it's it's just a fill-in-the-blank. I've given you the sentence, I've given you two options at the bottom. Which word would you choose? He is incredibly bright, and his skills go much mm than the basketball court. Okay? The answers you would either say A, further, or B, farther. These are commonly confused words. Further, farther, because they are both comparative adjectives. So, which one would best complete this sentence? What do you think? Further or farther? Write your answers, write them in the chat, or again, if you're watching this later, write them in the comments. We just want to hear from you. All right, so, getting some good answers. Excellent. Uh Anna, Ira, Saravada, Sarah, Olivia, perfect. Osia, hello, hello. Um Bassam, Sahuna, I'll try and give as many shout-outs as I can. Yes, the answer is A, further. He's incredibly bright, and his skills go much further than the basketball court. Remember, I told you um these are well, they're both adverbs, all right? So, again, when you're talking about further, you're talking about a metaphorical or figurative distance. And what I mean by that, we're talking about a distance in which the there there there isn't really a number that we can associate with it. So, I could say he's very bright, his skills go much further than the basketball court. So, maybe somebody has a lot of basketball, they're they have a lot of basketball skills, but then they have skills in other areas as well as well, maybe math, languages. So, again, they it goes further than just the basketball court. In this case down here, farther, we're talking about a physical distance. That is the main difference between these two, and you might could say something like, oh, it was farther than I expected. You're traveling to a place, and you expected it to be 10 km, it ended up being 15 km, and you could say, wow, it was farther than I expected. Now, I will say that sometimes further is also used to talk about physical distances as well, so that one can be interchangeable, but for the most part, those are the big differences between these two words. Further, metaphorical distances, farther, actual physical distances. All right, excellent, perfect, all right? I thought we'd start out. I'm going to it'll get a little harder as we go on, all right? The next one, all right? Cuz these are, you know, these are kind of advanced words, all right? So, this this is my I just I had to throw something in there, you know, personally about myself, even though I look a bit ridiculous in this picture. So, I I love it when I mm a smile from baby Emmy. So, again, if this is your first time here, we just had my wife and I just had a little girl. She is now almost 4 months old, incredible. So, this is a picture of or actually she likes to look in the mirror, and I think it's funny. I said I look a bit goofy in this, but I love to mm a smile from baby Emmy, okay? Baby Amelia. Is it A, elicit, or B, illicit? Again, these are pretty much homonyms, so they can they're they're commonly confused, they're spelled differently, but they're pronounced the same, especially in American English. In British English, I think there is a slight pronunciation difference, so it's easier to tell between these two words, but yes, okay. Wow, look at you guys rocking it. Anna, Liza, uh Sarah, Emil, perfect. August, Ivan, Lynn. Oh, Olivia, you guys are rocking it out today. So, the answer, yes, is A, elicit, all right? We're talking that this is a verb, and it means to you're provoking a response, some kind of response from another person. So, I could say, you know, I love it when I elicit a smile from baby Emmy. I'm smiling at her, and I get her to smile back at me. I elicit a response. Illicit, the adjective, is talking about something that is illegal, forbidden, and often you find it before certain nouns, maybe illicit behavior, illicit activities. Um and and it's referring to things that are illegal. So, I could say, oh, she was worried about his illicit behavior, okay? So, again, these are homonyms, they sound the same, but they have very different meanings and a different spelling, okay? All right, excellent. All right, I'm going to see hopefully like challenge you guys a little more. So, what do you think about this one? Okay. Here's my question. We may encounter mm weather conditions, okay? Which word would best complete that sentence? Which word best completes that sentence? We may encounter mm weather conditions. Is it A, averse, B, adverse? So, again, these words are they're not quite homonyms. There's just one little letter difference between them, but they are also commonly confused. It's easy to confuse these two words. So, what what do you think? What How it what what word best completes this one? And again, if you're just joining us, we are doing a a kind of a vocabulary quiz on words that learners, as well as native speakers, commonly confuse, all right? Excellent. All right, wow, all right, excellent responses. Give a few shout-outs to to Sava, Maria, um Issatal, I'm trying to say different names if I can. Kennedy, yes. Uh Phyllis, Paula, Mahesh, yes, the answer is B, adverse. We may encounter adverse weather conditions, okay? So, again, the part their parts of speech are different. So, if we're talking about averse, it's an adjective that you have a strong dislike to something, okay? You do you don't really like it, you have an opposition to it. So, I could say, again, just cuz I I like using myself uh for examples, it's a little self-deprecating. Wes is absolutely averse to eating broccoli for breakfast. Yes, I am opposed to eating broccoli for breakfast, I don't want to do it. Actually, to to be honest, I am averse to eating broccoli for for lunch and dinner as well. I just don't like broccoli, okay? So, I'll just throw that out there. I am averse to eating broccoli. I'm opposed to it. I have a dislike for it. Adverse, okay? I don't know if you hear the pronunciation difference, averse, adverse. All right, averse, you have that schwa at the beginning. Adverse is a verb, um you're talking about preventing you know, preventing something that is preventing harmful um So, we may encounter adverse Again, actually, this was a mistake. Adverse is actually an adjective. As I was going through these, some of these uh didn't get changed, but again, they're both adjectives, all right? We may encounter adverse weather conditions, all right, adverse is an adjective. It's talking about harmful weather conditions. It's not something good adverse conditions. Again, it's an adjective that was a typo. All right. The next question. Okay, here's a good one for you guys. What do you think? All right. So the sentence that I have for you is I can't show mm because I don't know what it's like. I can't show A sympathy or I can't show B empathy. All right, these are words that are that are commonly confused. Sympathy and empathy. What do you think is the correct answer? Even if you don't know, I encourage you. Try give you know, give it a guess. All right, what do you think is the the correct answer? All right, I I don't worry about getting it wrong. Again, that that's the last thing I want you to worry about. What do you think? The the key here is that second part of the sentence. I don't know what it's like. All right, that I'll give you a hint there. All right. So what do you think? All right. Write your answer in the chat. Even if you're watching this later, just write to me in the comments. We just want to hear from you guys. Okay, so this one maybe a little more challenging. Okay, but I'm seeing some good answers. Yes. Lynn, Sassy, Hian Tran, Misbah are wait some Samwad. Emil, again sorry if I mispronounced names. Olivia, the the correct answer is B. Empathy. All right, I can't show empathy because I don't know what it's like. I told you the key words there was I don't know what it's like. So these are both nouns. So let's look at sympathy first. Sympathy is it's a feeling of pity. It's a feeling of sorrow because somebody has misfortune or they are suffering in some way and you feel bad for them and you show sympathy. You could express sympathy. So for example, I said they expressed their heartfelt sympathy. You can show sympathy to another person and you feel for that person because they're struggling with something. Empathy. The difference is the empathy is you're able to understand and share the same feelings because you you know what it's like. You've had the same hardships. You've had similar problems and you know what that person is going through because you have experienced it and you can show empathy. Also again, you can use it um as a verb to sympathize with someone or to empathize with someone. So again, the big difference is in that that's question I said in the sentence I said because I don't know what it's like. All right. So if if you don't know what it's like, then you can't express empathy. And that was the that was our question. I can't show empathy because I don't know what it's like. I have not had the experience. So then you could only show sympathy. So that is the difference between empathy and sympathy. All right. So again, remember if sympathy, you just feel bad for somebody. Okay, maybe for example, um somebody lost their pet. Okay, that is a a problem. It's something that's sad. I can feel sympathy for that person. All right. I can't feel empathy because I don't know what it's like. I have never lost a pet. So I don't know exactly what that person is going through. So again, sympathy is sorrow, empathy is you've had that same experience. Let's look at the next question. Again, this is another these are two words again that are commonly commonly confused. I'll read it for you in case you can't see it very well. He couldn't look me in the eye, so I mm that he wasn't telling the truth. Okay. Is it A imply, B infer? And again, I I I didn't the word won't go directly in there. I I'll I'll talk about that in the second, but which which word has the correct meaning? He couldn't look me in the eye, so I mm that he wasn't telling the truth. All right. So those are two words that are commonly confused, imply and infer. Which one which one do you think? This is these are commonly confused words. So uh All right, getting again some some different answers here. All right. And one thing I would say, this was kind of a trick because I know I put it down there, but I I didn't put down the correct form of the word. All right. So the answer. All right, let me say let's say we got some good answers. Yes. Misbah, Miriam. Lai Lamai. Thank you guys for answering. Abdul Rashid. Perfect. All right. The answer is B infer. And I would say that that's the answer, but what it should be is this was in the past tense inferred. Okay. So let's look at these. All right, again this one is confusing even for native English speakers. So to imply they're both verbs. All right, to imply is to indicate the truth by suggesting something. Okay. So the way I would explain it is this. Imply and infer they are they are think of them as opposite of each other. So for example, think of somebody speaking and somebody listening. All right. The person who is speaking might imply something. They are suggesting something. The person who is listening would infer something. They're they're hearing the information and they would draw some conclusion. So to imply is to suggest something. To infer is the person is then they're receiving some information and they're coming to some conclusion based on what they see or based on what they hear. So in that regard, these two words are complete opposites. And I'll I'll try to hopefully it makes a little more sense with these sentences. So think of that sentence before. Somebody is looking away. There's two people having a conversation. One person is is looking away and they're talking to the other person and I could say, you know, he kept looking away which implied he wasn't telling the truth. So the person looking away was doing this action. They weren't looking at them. That suggested that implied that that he wasn't telling the truth. The person who was listening. All right, he couldn't look me in the eye. So then I inferred I drew conclusion because of that. I inferred that he wasn't telling the truth. So again, these words are are opposites, imply and infer. Imply is to suggest. Infer is to make some kind of conclusion about some information. Okay. So again, think of it. If somebody is speaking and somebody is move it over here speaking and listening. The person who's speaking, giving the information might imply something. They may suggest something. The person who is receiving the information is going to infer something because of the information that they see. Okay. So again, commonly confused words. I know I know it's difficult. Probably spend a whole lesson on these two words. Let's look at the next question. Are you guys ready? All right. Next one. I was working more often because it was the summer season. All right, we're talking about A than or B then. Which one best which one which one completes that sentence? There's only one answer for this one. But than and then are commonly confused words. Okay. Um so what what would you say? All right. Which word completes that sentence? I was working more often mm because it was the summer season. All right, what what do you guys think? Than or then? Write your answer in the chat. Write them in the comments. Okay. All right, getting some good answers. Yes. Some quick shout-outs. Lynn, Liza. Perfect. Um Who else? Bahar, I can. Yes, excellent. Um Room, Olivia. Perfect. The answer is B then. I was working more often then because it was the summer season. So if we're talking about than or then, than is a preposition. It's used to join two parts of a comparison. Think about a comparative sentence. If somebody were to say, oh your English is better than mine. All right. A cheetah is faster than a lion. It's comparing two things. It's a comparative statement. Then is an adverb. You're saying like at that time. Okay, it's talking about in the past or maybe in the future. So for example, this was talking about a time in the past. I was working more often then at that time because it was the summer season. So maybe it was the summer season. There were many tourists there. So somebody had to work more. They were working more then. All right. The next one. I think this one might be a little easier for you, but it is three words. Okay, not um Oh no, no, no. This one's this one's a two word one. So the question is different. All right. It's another homonym, cereal and serial. Which one which word goes in which place, all right? What's the number on that box? I think this one is a little easier. I hope you guys I think you guys should be able to get this, all right? So, what what is the order of those words? You see that A B? They're homonyms, cereal and cereal. What What How would you complete that that question? What's the number on that box? All right? What do you think? What would you say? Again, you're going to use both of them for this one, all right? Is it going to be A B or B A? What do you guys think? What's the number on that box? All right, so I'm only seeing Some people are just putting one answer. Wait a second. What's going on? All right, it's You You need to use both of them, okay? And maybe I I apologize, perhaps this one didn't make as much sense. I should have made it a little clearer. You're going to use both of them, all right? So, it's either going to be A B or B A, all right? So, the answer would be Again, they're homonyms. What's the serial B number, serial s e r i a l, on that A serial box, c e r e a l, okay? So, let's look at it. Again, they're homonyms, which is why they're commonly confused. They're spelled differently, but I think most people know cereal c e r e a l, the noun, is a breakfast food. Many people will eat it for breakfast with milk, and I would say yes, Cocoa Puffs. That is my favorite cereal, all right? What is your favorite cereal? Let me know in the chat. Um and serial s e r i a l, that is just the adjective, and you're talking about taking place in a a sequence. So, for example, in that last example, a serial number, all right? It is a sequence of numbers. Or you could be talking about it It has a It has a multiple meaning committing the the same offense. So, for example, my sentence, don't be a serial killer. Yes, if you're talking about a a serial killer, if you've ever seen maybe a crime show or a horror movie, it's talking about somebody who ends up killing many people. They would refer to them as a serial killer. So, again, it has multiple meanings. I've used both of them, a sequence like a serial serial number, um or again, committing a the same offense. You could have a serial criminal, all right? They're doing the same thing over and over again. All right, excellent. Ah, Misbah, cornflakes, my favorite cereal, all right? And in I have an Indonesia, not much cereal. Oh, okay. I don't eat a ton of cereal, but sure. I I definitely will eat it for breakfast sometimes. Now, this one, okay. This is the three-word one. It's a three-word homonym. Again, I I apologize if it's not clear. You are going to use each word, all right? Which word goes in which blank, all right? You're going to use A, B, and C. You just need to put them in the right place. This is a homonym, site, site, and sight. All right? So, in his report, he an obscure um talking about people who unexpectedly lose their um All right? What What would you say, all right? Which words go where? Again, you're going to use all of these words, all right? And again, bonus points if you write out the words. I did not conjugate the verb, all right? I didn't conjugate the verb in the answer because then I thought it would be too easy. All right, so what do you guys think? Write your answers in the Write your answers in the chat or in the comments later on, all right? This one maybe Maybe it's a little more difficult. Um but let me know what you think, all right? So, excellent. All right, get some good answers. Yes, uh Louise, perfect. Uh Mahesh, excellent. Um What else we have? Paulo, perf- uh yes. Uh Olivia, yes. The answer is it's B C A, okay? In his report, he cited, all right? Or you could say sites, either one. It could be the past or the present. You B, he sites an obscure site, C, talking about like a website, talking about people who unexpectedly lose their A sight, your vision, all right? So, let's look at those words, just so you know a little It's a little more clear as what they mean. So, so site, c i t e, is a verb. You're referring to something as evidence, okay? Often, when you're writing an essay or a research paper, your instructor or professor might say, "You need to cite your sources. You need to say where you got the information from and make a reference to it. You need to cite, c i t e, cite your sources." Now, a site, a noun, s i t e, is just talking about either one of two things. You're talking about an area where you could build something like a construction site or a campsite, or it could be like a webpage, all right? You're You're You're talking about a website. Often times, people might just say a site, and depending on the context, they know that you're talking about a webpage as in my example right here. And then, the last one, another noun, s i g h t, sight, is just talking about your ability to see, all right? The power of sight. So, in his report, he sites an obscure site, like a webpage, talking about people who unexpectedly lose their sight, all right? Sight, sight, sight. Now, I have a couple more questions for you, okay? Now, these Now, it's it's going to be a little bit of a mix, okay? I want you to write your answers. How would you best complete this, all right? So, I was um to the idea of eating um for dinner. What would you say? Write your answers in the the chat. Write your answers in the comments if you're watching this later. It's all about practice. Practice, practice, practice, practice. So, let me know what you think, all right? Don't worry about getting it wrong. What would you say? I was um to the idea of eating um for dinner. Okay? We talked about these words before, and now we're doing a more bit of practice, all right? All right, so Okay, I'm getting some good answers. I'm thinking I'm falling in love with you. Well, thank you. I'm I'm flattered, all right? So, yes, all right. Um Shin- Shinbashi, Isatao, Phyllis, Bassam, perfect. All right. I would say I was averse, a v a v e r s e. I was opposed to the idea of eating cereal for dinner, c e r e a l, all right? So, you can see the answer up here. I was averse. If you are averse to something, remember, you are opposed to it. You dislike this. So, I was averse to the idea of eating cereal for dinner. This isn't true. I am not I'm actually Truthfully, I am not averse to the idea. I have eaten for cereal for dinner before. I'm averse to eating broccoli for dinner, like I mentioned before, okay? So, excellent. All right, great job. Next one, all right? Another question for you guys. All right. So, this one is three different words. It's a longer statement, so I would say, "Their strict behavior okay? Um that the policeman didn't have much um for the drug dealers is um activities." Okay, so, "Their strict behavior either implied or inferred that the policeman didn't have much what? Empathy or sympathy for the drug dealers' is illicit or illicit beha- activities, all right? So, this one, again, I'll give you a little more time. It's a bit more I think it's more of a thinking question because there are, you know, some challenges in here, all right? What What do you think? Okay? You're talking about their behavior, remember. Think of it again as implied infer. If you are implying, then you are the one kind of doing the talking. You were doing the the action. You were producing this this information. If you're inferred, you're kind of on the receiving end, and you're making a conclusion about something. All right, so Okay, perfect. All right, I think we got a lot of good good answers. Yes, um Mahesh, Bassam, perfect. Louise, uh Ludmilla, uh uh excellent, excellent. Let's see. It's It's just moving way too fast. Okay, so let me let me tell you the answer. So, the strict behavior implied, all right? So, again, the police are acting strict. They're the ones doing this this action, all right? They have their behavior. It implied that the policeman didn't have much sympathy, all right? They didn't feel bad for the drug dealers' illicit activities. It's illegal activities. Now, the reason, again, the the strict behavior implied cuz again, the police are the ones It's like Think of it again, if you're speaking or listening. They're the ones kind of doing the action. This implied that they didn't have much sympathy. The reason I say it's sympathy instead of empathy is because they're police officers. You would think that most police officers, they don't know what it's like to deal drugs. They don't know what it's like to go to jail. So, they can't show empathy. They would have to show sympathy. They would show sympathy. So, this was a little more challenging. Again, these are some commonly confused words. Just to review them for you guys if you join us a little late and for you guys who have been with me and are watching this, it's always good to review. So, we talked about further and farther. The difference is further is a metaphorical distance, no numbers. Farther is an actual physical different distance when you're talking about uh traveling somewhere, okay? Now, also, elicit and illicit, I said when Americans are pronouncing us, they sound more like homonyms. Elicit is a verb to provoke a response. Like I said, I like to elicit a smile from little baby Emmy. Illicit is an adjective meaning illegal. Illegal activities like drug dealer's illicit activities. We talked about averse versus adverse. Um averse uh averse is an adjective talking about you dislike something, all right? I'm averse to eating broccoli for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Let's just throw all of those out there. Or adverse, again, that is also an adjective. That was a typo. Um talking about something that is unfavorable or harmful. Um you know, something is adverse uh to your health or adverse weather conditions. We talked about empathy and sympathy, both nouns. Sympathy is you're feeling sorry for somebody because of some difficulty or misfortune. Empathy is you you you're able to you're kind of feeling sorry for them, too, and you're able to understand because you know what that feeling is like. You have experienced it before, so you can show empathy. of them verbs. To imply something, all right, is to make a suggestion. To infer something is to draw a conclusion. So, again, they're kind of opposites. Imply is like a suggestion. Infer is to draw a conclusion about some information. We talked about than versus then. Then is a preposition, a comparative sentence. You're joining two parts. Then is an adverb talking about at that time. And then we talked about this Whoops, where is it? Uh no, right here. These Oh, two different ones. Yes, homonyms. Cereal and serial. The cereal c e r e a l, the breakfast food. You eat it for breakfast. Serial s e r i a l is talking about a sequence of numbers or committing the same offense over and over again. And then the last set, which again are homonyms. Site c i t e is to give reference to something. Cite your sources. Site, a noun, is like an area where you build something, construction site, campsite, or it could be like a webpage. And sight is talking about the power to see. All right. So, again, these are commonly confused words in English and they're a bit more advanced vocabulary words. So, I hope you guys learned something new. I hope that when you come when you need to use these words that you will be able to use them uh correctly the next time you are having a conversation or maybe chatting with somebody online, all right? One thing Last thing I want to say, if you guys want to join our community, be a stronger part of a community, you can join our email list. You will get access to the secret fluency lesson. Only people that join the list get access to the secret fluency lesson. I will throw a link to that right there in the chat, so you can check that out. There's also a link in the description. for this lesson on confusing confusing English words as well as the quiz that we did to actually practice our skills. If you enjoyed the lesson, please hit that like button down there. We love it. Or even better, share the lesson with anybody you know who's trying to practice and improve their English skills. You can also follow us on social media up here. We're active. We're always trying to help people practice their English skills. So, quick little shout-out. Thank you uh thank you, Bassam, Lynn, excellent. Liza, uh Lidly, thank you. Have a nice weekend to you, too, as well. Camilla, um Chan Chandan, um My Nuyen, Who am I? Uh Liza, Berol, Olivia. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Afrin. Um Ira, Virginia. Sorry if I missed some names. I will always try and keep giving as many shout-outs as I can during these lessons, but we will be back next time for another live lesson. I hope to see you then. So long. --- ## 574. Stop Putting Adjectives in the Wrong Order ๐Ÿšซ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `d55Ixdx4fGA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d55Ixdx4fGA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:36:07 | --- what's up everyone welcome to interactive English my name is Wes and what this channel is all about is just helping you guys practice and improve your English skills that's why you're here and that's what we're going to help you do and today we have a special grammar lesson for you I'm going to talk about something and we are going to practice it as well and that is adjectives word order this is something that is very useful and it's very important because we use adjectives all the time when we're speaking when we're writing and you're also going to hear them quite often when you're listening or reading so I want to take a moment so to give a quick shout out to those who are with me right now hello dr. daya Israel lolly lots of Ryan welcome go see ya good to see you dr. Ahn Didem Sabah thank you thank you for joining me and get ready because what I want you guys to do I want you guys to practice using adjectives today if you're with me now or even if you're watching this later I want you to use the comments section as though it's a piece of paper and practice using these adjectives so first off let's start with the benefits okay what what is the reason for even having this lesson and and doing this discussion what are benefits of learning adjectives word order as I said we use adjectives when we want to be descriptive alright it's going to help you use more precise language so that you can put a picture in your mind or if you're speaking you're going to help that other person put a picture in their mind so they will know exactly what you're saying and and again if you're using more than one adjective if you're using two adjectives three adjectives even four adjectives they need to be in the right order and again if you know that order and you can use those adjectives then you're really going to be able to say exactly what you want to say and and again these are colorful words and this is what makes you know speaking this is what makes people so effective when they're speaking if they can use adjectives correctly and they can use them effectively or even in writing when you're reading a story and you just think to yourself oh my gosh this person said this so incredibly well and and they just use the right words and they use the right adjectives to really express a feeling or express an event or a situation so it is so useful to be able to use adjectives and you need to use them in the correct order the other reason the other benefit is that you will eliminate the risk of sounding awkward because for example I could just tell you okay I have a new I have a new blue shirt okay you understand what I'm saying if I say well I have a blue new shirt I'm also going to understand that but it just sounds a little awkward and this goes back to your fluency level if you want to be fluent in English then this is what you need to do you need to get this order down and you need to get it correct so that you don't sound awkward when you're having a conversation and you're using adjectives to describe something so then the next logical question these are the reasons why you should be aware of an adjective word order if you're using more than one adjective the best now you're probably wondering okay well how should we learn this order how do we go about learning this so that we can improve our fluency skills the number one way to do that right there the number one way the best way the absolute best way is with reading and listening I'm also going to throw in I didn't put it up there but I would also say practicing as well and that's what we're going to do in today's lesson we're going to talk about it but we are going to practice writing some sentences using different adjectives but the best way to learn it is is just by more reading if you're reading an article if you're reading a book or just listening you might be listening to a podcast you might be listening to another conversation or a song and people will just start using these adjectives and it's just going to seep into your brain and then when you go to make produce the language when you start speaking or you start writing you will naturally begin to use these adjectives in the correct order now well I'll show you what I get to in just a moment all right we're gonna get to the rules and kind of talk about that but the best way to learn it is just more reading more listening it's good to be aware of the order and the rules but reading listening and practicing those are just the best way best ways to really feel comfortable with the adjective word order so that you can use as many adjectives as you want when you are speaking or writing the next advice that I would give you is this and I rarely say this to English learners or students in general is if you're having a conversation and you want to use different adjectives but you know you're you're unsure I mean again go ahead and use them and just think about what feels right do what feels right because again we're going to talk about the order today but if you're having a conversation or even if you're writing an email you're not going to stop and think about okay you know which adjective comes first blue new like what what's going on you're just going to say them and and that's what I would encourage you to do is just keep practicing and the more you listen the more you read you're automatically going to correct that order on your own so in that case because of that I would always encourage you just do what feels right you know what what what sounds right when you say the sentence to yourself what sounds right because most of the time that is going to be correct because you've already been exposed to the correct order through reading and through listening all right so let's go ahead and look at the rules somebody had asked about mentioning the rules for adjectives word order so down below me you can see I've put them based on category and I've got this there basically it's it's pretty much accepted I was using can bridge I looked at what they said Oxford would word English and I've included quite a few of them most of the time they'll just put down like maybe six or eight topics and try to learn I put down quite a few and I will go through them quickly but again this this chart right here is not some thing I think it does a lot of good to sit at home and try to study the best way again is just reading listening and what we're going to do today is practice so again the first one right down here we're gonna start right yes on this side right here alright the first adjective that you would find if you're talking would be quantity if you're talking about for example some alright some shirts many shirts or even if you're talking about a number one two three two three four five six seven alright that is going to be the first adjective that you're going to use in order the next one would be an opinion and I've put down below some examples so that you can see for example if you're talking about opinion something is delicious something is maybe amazing alright it's whatever your opinion is that would be the next order then we're talking about size big little small shape again these are no quality would be next the way something for example if something is thin if something is thick maybe something is rough we're talking about the physical quality of a noun because that's what adjectives are typically describing after quality after physical quality you talk about shape round square oval and then condition is something clean is it dirty is it messy then after that age you could say something is old something is new something is ancient if it's very old color again you guys know this blue green red blue yellow the colors would come next origin origin is talking about like a country like where was something made if something is American or Brazilian or French or Chinese that would come next finally we're talking about the material for example a shirt might be a cotton shirt a plaid shirt a silk shirt and then finally the purpose what is the purpose of this noun so I gave you this order right there I said so in that natural order a delicious big round wedding cake that would be the correct order of those adjectives now most of the time I think it's good to use it's it's always good to use adjectives I think it's great to use too tibs oftentimes it's you'll find it's very common to use three the more adjectives you start to throw on there it could sound a little awkward so there's not really a situation that you would say delicious big round wedding cake that that's a little too much this was just as a reference for all of you guys so that is the word order you have opinion size shape and purpose delicious big round wedding cake the next one okay two dirty old blue cotton shirts so again this time we're using five adjectives to dirty old blue cotton shirts we're using quantity condition age color material and then our noun okay so this is the word order it's something it's just for your reference it's not something I would recommend okay take a lot of time and study this this is just for you to refer to especially maybe if you're writing you could take some time and look okay what is the order what is the correct order but again reading listening those are the best ways to learn this order and really know it and understand it so let's look at before we jump into the practice I wanted to let you guys know again if you really want to connect with us I recommend you join our email list there's a lot of cool benefits you can access the secret fluency lesson we will send you some useful and free resources and you'll get the latest updates about what is happening here at interactive English because we got a lot planned for the future like our online courses and we might throw some discounts for those who aren't you who are on our email list so a link is in the description below check that out and join the list and connect with us because we want to connect with all of you so the way we're going to do this is we're going to start with an easy practice and it's going to be a more controlled practice and I'm gonna give you the adjectives and I just want you to put it in order and then as we go through this it's going to work towards a more freer practice in which I want you guys to write sentences in the cop in the chat all right and even if you're home at home I want you guys to write some and let me know what you think and this is a great way to practice using adjectives so the first question that I have for you is right here okay so think of this like again this is like a sentence think of it as somebody's having this conversation and they're saying ah it's a mmm turtle I'm giving you the two adjectives down there little cute okay which one comes first what order are you going to put those adjectives in if you're using those two words little and cute we're just starting out with two I want you to write your answer in the chat or write it in the comments if you're watching this later okay what do you guys think it's it's always good to practice and don't worry about making mistakes it doesn't matter this is just about practicing this is for your benefit so if I say oh it's a mm-hmm turtle all right those are the two adjectives I see some great answers yes go see on a sim da da l a la ratta Leah excellent yes so if we're talking about I say ah it's a cute little turtle it's it cute I'm giving my opinion okay it's a cute little turtle you go with opinion first and then sighs if I wanted to say another opinion like I don't know why maybe it's because I'm hungry I'm thinking of the word delicious but again that would be another opinion I saw it's a delicious little turtle or again if I'm using color that would also come later all right it's a cute green turtle or again color would come after size I would say oh it's a little green turtle so again that is how you would use it in this case we're using opinion over size so the next one all right let's look at this one this is a little more challenging because now we have three look at my mmm box okay those are the three adjectives that I want you to use brown big and square okay Brown big and square look at my mm-hmm box okay what do you guys think I want you guys to write your answers down okay so just to let you know we're talking about Brown okay color big size square is shape alright I'm giving you I'm giving you those items that they're listed under what do you guys think alright look at my mm box alright so this one okay I was going to say this one's a little a little trickier especially because of it's a little trickier especially because the shape and the color and I can understand how these would be confused alright but remember if we're looking back on our list right here alright we're talking about color size and shape okay so we're going to use size first shape and then color which means you're going to say look at my big square brown box alright what I would say about this one because I think this is a lot more challenging because I think like I said size is a given look at the look at the big square box look at my big brown box okay but shape and color those could be a little more challenging and confusing and I would say just is just to me my personal opinion if you used color before shape to me that's not going to sound as awkward I'm not going to listen to that and be like hmm that sounds strange I think that one is one that you could get away with alright so I know many of you put big brown square box so if you put that one to me again I'm giving you my personal view as well I think that that one is acceptable and is not going to sound as awkward as some of the other ones all right but if we're following that order that order of adjectives look at my big square Brown box alright the next one alright I am going to give you a sentence and I want you to complete it with two adjectives choose any adjectives you want just try to put them in the correct order what do you guys think all right my mmm-hmm car is parked out front and then I'll give you the sentence that I came up with it I just chose one all right so what do you think how would you complete this sentence if you're going to use two adjectives to describe that car my mmm-hmm car is parked out front what do you think right right you're right your answer right write it in the chat again even if you're writing this later just right right use the comment section it's like a piece of paper okay we have on a sim yes my beautiful red car is parked out front perfect all right real hon my expensive red car is parked out front yes you're talking about the condition okay kdj my big red car is parked out front what else do we have yes Carla my new red car is parked out front we have a lot of excellent my fast red car perfect Alice on photo yes those are some great examples and again when you guys are able to see each other's examples like I said the more you read the more you listen that's just going to help you continuously put these adjectives in the correct order that's what it's all about reading listening practicing so I just said my my shiny new car is parked out front okay shiny I'm talking kind of about the the the physical quality of it new is the condition okay my shiny new car is parked out front the next one let's look at this one give me some more sentences here we go these mm-hmm shoes are my favorite and those are the shoes down below those really those are not my shoes this is just a picture of shoes that I found but you know what what adjectives would you use to describe those shoes again I'm just asking for two because most of the time I think you're going when you use adjectives it's great to use one adjective gives it more gives it a description you can describe it even more with two adjectives and I think it's very common for people to use two adjectives to describe nouns whether you're talking about shoes cars basically anything so what what would you guys say all right to describe those shoes let me know ok all right Aviano said my old black shoes are my favorite exactly you're talking about age and then color um kdj my smart black shoes are my favorite excellent that's good I like that and that's for British English too saying something is smart in the way it looks but that is perfect all right that's about my casual if there's casual sneakers sneakers and shoes are pretty much synonyms but I guess sneaker shoes this is maybe sneaker is a type of shoe so you could say that my clip my casual sneaker shoes are my favorite because sneaker would be more of kind of like I guess a purpose not a purpose maybe kind of the the type of something Jane my dirty old shoes are my favorite I guess sure um my lovely black shoes are my favorite I guess they do look a little dirty they're they're kind of scuffed up you pointed that out I just said my classic walking shoes are my favorite often I don't know why when I think of shoes I think companies like to describe these are classic these are classic shoes and I just gave them a purpose as in walking shoes even though I don't know they don't really look like walking shoes but you could walk in them so I said these classic walking shoes are my favorite all right now we are going to completely open this up all right and you guys are going to be able to throw a lot of different examples out there and I would just encourage you try to write you're gonna have to write a full sentence in this case to describe something because I am going to show you a picture and the picture is going to have a lot of different things on it I want you to use some adjectives to describe what you see alright try to use more than one try to use to try to use three if you can and then I will give you some examples okay so I've put myself very small down there in the corner but this is the picture all right there's a lot of things that you can describe a lot of different nouns in this picture that you can describe so can you I want you to write a sentence in the chat write a sentence in the comments if you're watching this later and give some examples and use some adjectives and try to make sure that you are using them in the correct order all right so what do you guys think what what what's a good sentence with that adjective word order okay so and and if you're unsure again follow them follow my advice at the very beginning just do what feels right what feels right what sounds right when you're thinking about adjectives word order if you're not sure just go ahead and put it down don't worry about making mistakes okay what what are some sentence is that you could put together all right that to describe this picture somebody said Roberto American walking yeah that would work American walking shoes origin purpose so we have there's a luxurious new rectangular laptop perfect exactly all right I like this new t-shirt perfect it is a new shirt my Italian leather bag you have origin and then material okay the Italian leather bag perfect my favorite Blackwatch excellent you're giving your opinion my favorite black watch I have a brown leather bag excellence of a great great example okay brown leather bag my old my old black broken watch in this case I would say again broken is often used as a participle adjectives which means it follows the verb to be so oftentimes you you would use its it say like my my old black watch is broken so in that case you still have three adjectives in the sentence but they wouldn't all come before the noun I hate that little black phone sure yes size and then color alright what else do we have alright do you guys have any more sentences I see a big white cotton shirt perfect size color material a big white cotton shirt great example lovely so here are some examples that I put down again these are just four I say you know I just bought this sleek thin mobile phone so again I'm talking about something is sleek that's my opinion oftentimes we talk about electronics they use the word sleek it looks cool it looks sharp thin is the physical the physical quality sleek thin mobile phone even though mobile phones consider it now mobile is an adjective it is the purpose so that one has three I said there are also there are two round black camera cases on the table and I tried to think of sentences that are going to sound a little more natural even though there are a lot of adjectives there so two round black camera those are all adjectives alright I Stoke wanta t shape color purpose alright to round black camera cases on the table the next one my trusty oh my trusty old brown travel bag never lets me down my trusty old brown travel bag never lets me down okay trusty old brown travel bag travel bag is purpose so again I think it's very when you include a purpose it's very easy to throw some other adjectives on there because oftentimes that purpose and that now they really kind of meld together alright a travel black camera case actually those are camera now I'm just noticing those aren't camera cases those are camera lenses alright I know some people probably say some stuff in the chat later on camera lenses and then that last one this is a new limited edition men's magazine okay these are different examples of some adjectives adjectives used in sentences let's practice let's do another one alright here is your picture I tried to put myself out of the way there there's a lot going on in this picture so again I want you to to write some sentences all right try to use two or more adjectives use as many as you can but again just just don't try to force it try to think of a sentence that would come naturally to you when you're looking at this picture and you see something and like okay I want to describe this thing you have a lot of looks like there's a lot of candy in there there's some bottles up above me there's some lighters over here you have some chewing gum and other candy there's some beer and the fridge looks like there's some nuts on the table so what what kind of sentences would you use what adjectives could you use to describe this picture all right what do you guys think write those in the chat write those in the comments it's all good practice all right uh yeah all right you could save right you have there is a cold black bottle sure exactly perfect a cold black bottle of beer so what are what are some sentences that we could use and then I will share some of my sentences so you can see there's some sentences that I came up with when looking at this picture again just just write what feels natural don't don't worry too much about okay okay just just write what comes natural all right so we got some sentences um I got a chilled beer bottle okay chilled all right it's describing the condition it is a beer bottle all right beer would be the purpose all right it is a chilled beer bottle um yummy yellow candy your opinion the color and then the noun perfect I see a cold dark beer yes I see a cold dark beer too delicious fresh beer all right a lot of a lot of beer stuff I guess that is the more that is the clearest part of this picture for big icy bottles of beer excellent Gaby thanks for sharing with us everything seems so delicious and fresh perfect uh so you some wonderful delicious candies all right so again that is perfect usually buy some spicy snacks all right disguising the snacks so excellent that's yeah you're giving the quantity some spicy they're your opinion and then snacks spicy snacks on the weekends come at a small store near my house perfect let's see there is a cold bottle there is a plethora of ancient round white peanuts I like it yes perfect all right I like that word ancient used to describe the age so let's look at here's some examples that I just put down okay so we'll start above these smooth cuddler lighters are on sale okay smooth colored lighters smooth I'm talking about that physical quality and then the color down below me there are several unhealthy snacks behind the counter alright two adjectives several and unhealthy several unhealthy snacks my sentence about the beer try a smooth ice-cold Brazilian beer so again smooth I think people might use it to try and describe a cold beverage ice-cold Brazilian beer I think that's I think that's a brama unless you guys want to it can correct me I think Brahma is a Brazilian beer I think so so and then that bottom one the store is trying to sell these old dirty Canadian peanuts again I wanted to throw an origin in there I have no idea if those peanuts are from Canada but it really doesn't matter it's all about practicing all right practice practice practice practice the store is trying to sell these old dirty Canadian peanuts alright so again with adjectives word order it is good to use things as a reference like this and I showed you before that you have this order of quality quantity opinion size quality shape condition age color origin material purpose alright this is the order that you're going to follow but again the absolute best way to learn this order or is to learn it naturally and the way that you're going to learn it naturally is with reading and listening because if you were to ask most native English speakers about making a list in trying to order the adjectives in order people are gonna find it difficult because as native English speakers you know we don't think about this we grew up with this information and we were exposed to it reading and listening and then as we got older the rules just become natural alright we don't sit there and study these lists of like okay this is the order it's all about reading it's all about listening and getting that exposure that is the best way to learn information like this and again that's why I say if you're unsure of what to do just do what feels right okay do what you think comes naturally so I hope that you guys enjoyed this lesson and enjoyed practicing this adjective word order if you did please like hit that like button smash that like button actually share this lesson with your friends anybody else you know who is trying to practice and improve their English skills we want them to become a part of our community and you guys can always write to us in the comments we love hearing from you guys so please hit us up down there and you could check us out on social media that is a lot those are a lot of call to actions that I just gave you so thank you for joining me thank you go see a shaquille hit on Carla honest um thank you thank you thank you Lally it's great to see so many people here today and we will be back next time with another lesson thanks for joining us and I will see you next --- ## 575. Stop Saying Everything Is INTERESTING | Build Your Vocabulary with Advanced Synonyms | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `r1EZUyWGGqU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1EZUyWGGqU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:32:17 | --- - Do you find yourself constantly describing things as, 'interesting?' Wouldn't it be better if you found some more precise words to describe the things you're into? Stick around to learn some new vocabulary words that are synonyms with interesting. So, today we are talking about all things interesting. I've actually noticed that many English language learners and students in general, when they want to tell me about something wonderful, something interesting that they've seen or watched or know about, they always use this word. Interesting. How was the movie? Interesting. How was the book you read? Interesting! How was the show? So interesting. It's a good word to use but it only describes so much. It's not very precise and today I want to teach you how you can really talk about something using more precise vocabulary. So the words I'm talking about today, they're all synonyms for interesting. But they have slightly different meanings. So, let's get to it! Our first word is 'fascinating.' And this is already better than interesting because it means extremely interesting. So, when somebody tells you about something that's fascinating, you're not just interested. You're completely into it. You're so interested that you find it like, "Wow!" - Fascinating! - That's what's so fascinating! - Dad loves muggles, thinks they're fascinating. - It's not just like, "Yeah, yeah it was interesting, blah, blah blah." You're like, "Wow! This has got my attention completely. It is fascinating." The next word is, 'intriguing' and this one I really like. Because I'm a very curious person by nature and the definition is that, something intriguing is, you know it arouses your curiosity and it peaks your interest. Really it has a little bit of a mystery to it If something's intriguing, it just gets your attention and you really want to find out more about it. That's intriguing. The next word is, 'thought-provoking.' And just like I mentioned before, if you're looking for a word to describe something that makes you think, if you're maybe describing a book or a movie that's really caused you to think and maybe even caused you to think about something that you've never thought before, this is a good word to use. Thought-provoking. - Okay, what we're going for is serious, insightful, thought-provoking radio journalism. - Admit, it's thought-provoking. - It's so much better than interesting, honestly. Because it says so much more. If it's thought-provoking it really makes you think. Thought-provoking. Such a good word. Can you guys see how excited I get? Almost sounded like I'm sexually attracted to these words. I'm not! I'm not insane. The next one is, 'captivating.' Captivating, another good word. And this kind of means two things. Attracting is one of them and then, holding interest is another. So, when something is captivating, first it attracts you. 'Cause to captivate means to grab your attention. You can look at things that are captivating. You see somebody, somebody's eyes, somebody's look may be captivating. But it really just means that something that kind of grabs on and holds your attention. Captivating. (cat meows) Yes? (cat meows) What? (cat meows) Yes? The next word is, 'enthralling.' Thr-thr-thralling. If you're having a hard time pronouncing this word, don't worry it is a little bit difficult because of the 'th' sound. So, just keep practicing. Enthralling. But what it means is that, if something's enthralling it holds your attention completely. You are so focused on this thing, it is enthralling. So, the next word is another good one. In fact, I think all of the words in this lesson are really, really, really good. It's wonderful because it has more meanings into one. So, it is 'compelling.' And if something is compelling it is, it evokes your attention but also admiration and interest kind of all into one. - Silence, is more compelling. - Great, story. Compelling. And rich. - Sounds compelling. - We use compelling for arguments, like a compelling argument, maybe will make you change your mind if somebody has a compelling argument. Something that is so powerful, that it convinces you that something is true. Or that something should be done. - You made a compelling argument, yo! - You call that compelling?! - Compelling is kind of a call to action. It makes you want to do something. 'Stimulating' is our next word. And, it means that it's inspiring new ideas, there's new enthusiasm, just something that makes you feel more creative and more refreshed. That's stimulating, it's bringing all of these things to your mind that are making you think about something and it's making you really, really look at something in a new and different way. Stimulating. The next word is, 'appealing.' And appealing is really three words in one. It is, pleasing, it is attractive, and it is interesting. Of course. So, you can also use it when you're talking about somebody's appearance because it has that physical factor to it. And not just describing a book or a movie or something like that. Our next word is, 'riveting.' Riveting. Such a good word! To describe something as riveting it means that it is extremely interesting and exciting in the same time. It is engrossing. It is riveting. Our next word is 'gripping.' And if you know what gripping means, it is to hold onto something tightly. And that's what happens to your attention when you are describing something as gripping. Something is gripping, you're really into it. So, what do you guys think? Do you love these words as much as I do? Let's find out because now, it's time to practice. Okay, so because we're always looking for recommendations in the comments I want you to tells us about a movie that you saw that you found very interesting. But, of course, of course, don't use interesting. Use one of the words from this lesson. Really looking for new things to watch all the time and also, our other viewers are probably going to want to see your recommendations as well. Make sure to use the vocabulary words. The more you use them the better your chances of remembering will be. I hope you found this lesson fascinating, captivating, compelling, if you did please give it a thumbs up! If you like what we do and want to show us some love, please check out our Patreon page. It's awesome. The link is in the description. Thanks for watching, I'll see you next time. I forgot how to say, check out our Patreon. Mew? (cat meows) Yeah. (cat meows) Meow. Okay, let's say (speaks in a foreign language). Let's see that again, Georgie. And what? (cat meows) (laughs) She's so chatty right now! --- ## 576. Stop Translating! Learn This B1 Vocabulary to Speak with Confidence | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3e2CbmWPN9U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e2CbmWPN9U) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:59:15 | --- The lesson that I have for you today is very very I'm going to add one more very important because we're talking about B1 vocabulary and this vocabulary is commonly used. So it's more at an inter intermediate level but I I think these phrases are word phrases that you should definitely know and really be able to actively use when you're having a conversation. And that is why I say these are B1. This is B1 vocabulary you need to know so that it'll allow you to just speak more confidently. And also I wanted to let you know if you're interested in joining my speaking course, check out the link down below in the description. The course is all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, speak naturally. Check out the links down below and you can use the discount code if you wish to enroll. So let's go ahead and jump into it. This is a a quiz lesson. I want you to participate. Even if you're a little shy, it's okay. Write your answers in the chat in the comments. I just love hearing from you. And the first one, the first question is says, "Come on, lighten up. It was just a joke. Where's your I've kind of highlighted the portion that's missing and I've given you the meaning down below. So there are three words in this B1 phrase and it refers to your ability to understand funny things and this is like a a somebody would say this. Oh, come on. Lighten up. It was just a joke. Where's your what? Very useful phrase, very common especially in this context because well people use this phrase in different ways. I will say probably a more difficult phrase is that first one, somebody saying lighten up. Lighten up just means like relax, calm down. It's not a big deal. It was just a joke. Where where's your sense of humor? Well done, Lai Julia Katarina. So, if you're talking about someone's sense of humor, it refers to the ability that someone has to say, "Okay, yes, this is funny," or, "I understand the joke." And you could say, "Somebody has a a great sense of humor or a fun sense of humor." There are a lot of different collocations that you could use with this phrase or even somebody asking that question, "Where's your sense of humor? Come on, lighten up. Where's your sense of humor?" Let's look at the next one, right? Oh, actually, I wanted to point out one quick thing because of course, and I forgot to introduce myself. I'm sorry if this is your first time here. My name is Wes. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. Uh, so I I am from the US and that's kind of what what I wanted why I wanted to introduce myself. There are some differences in spelling as many of you may know with a variety of words. Humor is one of those. So in the US we'd spell it hu m o r and in the UK and British English hu m o r. And there are other words for example color is a similar word that has a spelling difference. So just something to keep in mind. Let's go ahead look at the next one. Any furniture you buy must be cheap, attractive, and all practical. the meaning of this phrase and maybe you can't see it. Uh I have one I blanked out one word m all means most importantly. So I'm listing these different things and then of course I get to that last one most importantly practical. Now what phrase could we use that means most importantly and it's going to have the word all in it. Any furniture you buy must be cheap, attractive, and m practical. This is like something I would say probably uh because I'm I'm a bit frugal. And of course, my wife would say that I'm more cheap. And I would say yes, we're looking at furniture. It's I should be cheap, attractive, and all practical. So again, this is B1 vocabulary. I think you you should definitely know it. I see some great answers. Excellent. uh Manuel or Lali Teao above all. So if you're talking about these different things and then you want to say well most importantly you can use this phrase above all any furniture you buy must you cheat attractive and above all practical. This is again what I would say probably. I don't know if I would include attractive because I just I don't know I don't really care. I would just say it must be cheap and above all practical or probably I would say it must be practical and above all cheap. All right. So the next one again very very important phrases and I'm going to keep stressing that as we go through this because th this is B1. These are phrases that you are going to actively come across when you're having a conversation, you're listening to a podcast, you're watching a TV show or movie. What do you think? Our little girl didn't go to school because she m there are three words. I'm not giving you much apart from the indefinite article. Uh there I think you're going to be able to put this together. We're referring to uh when something when when the measured amount of heat in the body is higher than normal, often indicating an illness. I had to play around with the meaning because when I was putting it together basically the phrase was in the meaning as okay this is I think this is probably I don't want to say too easy but it is commonly used I I think you you know it our little girl didn't go to school why would somebody maybe not go to school because she right the measured amount of heat in the body is higher than normal there are a few there there are a couple a few different ways that you could say this. So, of course, somebody says, "Well, somebody has a fever. That's perfect. Yes, that works." Or somebody's running a temperature. That also works. In this case, though, the phrase that I think is often used uh but all of them, I think, are very common because we can all relate to this. Have a temperature. So, if somebody has a temperature, that's basically what it means. The amount of heat in the body. When I was putting this together, it kept saying the temperature of your body is higher than normal, indicating an illness. And you could say, I have a temperature. Now, going back to my point of there are different ways to say this. So, it's not like there's only one answer. I want to talk about a few different ways you can talk about this. All of them, I think, are commonly used. And just to show you that as far as getting a better understanding is which one's more common, that's when we can use engram viewer to check out the frequency of words and phrases. of these down below. They mean the same thing. To have a temperature, to have a fever, running a temperature, or running a fever. And just looking at this list right here, I was, you know, to be honest, I was a little surprised. Uh, have a fever is the most commonly used. I I'm I guess I shouldn't say I'm that surprised. I guess I'm surprised at how much more frequently used it is. So, have a fever and then running a fever. So, I think the main takeaway is that it is more common for people to use the word fever instead of temperature. But either one, they mean the same thing. One thing I want to point out when talking about these phrases is that when you're saying like you have a temperature versus you are running a temperature, you're going to use running a temperature in the continuous tense as well as running a fever. So just keep that in mind. We're going to use that ing. If I said, well, right now I have a temperature versus right now I'm running a temperature or I'm running a fever. So, just that distinction with the verb, the running within the continuous tense. Let's look at the next one. This is true. I'm always uh I'm always fishing for these uh calls to these different call to actions. I would hit the like button. So, this is used when you give someone advice. So, it's like I'm giving you advice and I would say something. I would hit the like button. I I think there are probably multiple phrases that you could use to give you a little bit of a hint to kind of take you where I'm going. Think about the grammar, especially in the the independent clause. Think about the grammar and the meaning of that first part. It is it is used when you give someone advice. I would hit the like button. What phrase can we use? Whenever you want to give someone advice, this is commonly used. I've done uh a number of lessons talking about this, mostly grammar lessons. And we're going to use this phrase. So, I told you to think about the grammar that would hit the like button using would plus the base verb and the phrase is drum roll. Actually, no drum roll necessary if I were you. Well done, uh, Julia Tayo Manuel. Um, Cinderella, yes, you made it. Uh, magical one. Thanks for joining our community, becoming a member. I love it. And Lai, good job. So, if I were you, I would hit the like button. This is me kind of, you know, giving you advice, kind of asking you to go ahead and hit the like button. Uh, in this case, somebody mentioned press. I would say hit the like button, but I feel like it's more I don't know if it's cooler to say smash the like button. That is something I think a lot of the the younger content creators are using, smash that like button. I don't think I would use a word like press is is not commonly used in this context. So let's go back and talk about this structure. If I were you, I would. This is the second conditional. It which refers to an unlikely or hypothetical condition and its probable result. So we have those two parts condition result. In the condition uh we're going to use the past simple and in the result would plus the base verb. So, here are some examples down here. If I were you, I would hit the like button. That was the sentence we just had. If I were you, I would keep building your vocabulary. And finally, I would click the link in the description. If I were you, I'm moving it to the back. So, the result can come before the condition. And then we just remove that comma. The other thing I wanted to say, which I didn't put up here, and I don't know why, this is an example of the subjunctive. So if I were you, if uh he were you, she were you. And we are going to use that subjunctive. You may hear people in colloquial speech like if I was you and they say if I was. However, I I don't think I I my I would recommend I would encourage you just to use the subjunctive in this case. I think it is more accurate if I were you. I say accurate grammatically speaking. So, let's go ahead and look at the next one. I love seeing uh love seeing so many uh members here participating. Manuel, Vicki, uh Lai, Teresa, excellent. Love having everybody here. I was the of I've given you a couple of words even though it may not help eating dinner when I got your message. The meaning of this phrase is to be busy with an activity. I was the of eating dinner when I got your message. I think this is a phrase. I know that you've heard it. I would imagine you you may use this right now because I told you these are B1 phrases. They are incredibly common. I was you're doing this activity and you're basically commenting instead of saying well look I was busy with this activity when you when I got your message we're just going to use this phrase and the phrase we are talking about excellent I in the middle in the middle of doing something I see some other answers in this case I I would stick with in the middle you're not really going to use uh like in the process you I feel like in process sounds very formal. Maybe if you're talking about like some academic, you know, you're you're doing some testing or something. Well, I was in the process of doing this. Just casually speaking, I would say, I was in the middle of eating dinner when I got your message. One thing to keep in mind, in the middle of and then you're going to follow that with the garand. Sometimes this is when people will make slight speaking mistakes and the infinitive will will slip in there and they'll say in the middle of to do something. Just keep in mind you're going to use the jarn in the middle of doing something. In the middle of. How about this next question for you? My next B1 challenge for you in you should review new vocabulary every so often. It means usually or in most situations in and then follow it with this word. This is in I would say an introductory phrase when you're getting ready to say well in most situations you should do this or you need to do this or it would be wise to do that. [laughter] I almost used it right now. And that is something I wanted to say about this phrase and the the correct answer. Excellent. Um, Lai Julia, in general. In general. And I think you should do this. You should review new vocabulary every so often. It's part of spaced repetition. I'm a big believer in that. learn something new, go back, review it uh a couple of days later, go back the following week, review it, and then the following month, and you're really making it a part of your active memory, and then you can o over time, you'll make it a part of your long-term memory, and you won't even need to think about it. You're having a conversation, and you'll just use these phrases, well, in general, blah blah blah blah blah. Now, I I told you I was about to say it because I've noticed, and this is something I think I I use it too often because when I go back and I look at some of these videos, these live lessons, or I'm editing another filmed video, I use this phrase quite often. I think I I overuse it because I catch myself, gosh, I keep saying in general, in general, in general. I think it's because as an instructor, I'm constantly trying to well teach and share information. And that's why I would say, well, in most situations, this is how you would use this word or this is the context in which you're going to find this phrase being used, which is why you may hear me say in general too much. All right, I'm going to go ahead and put that out there. It's not something that only second language learners do. Native speakers often overuse different words and phrases. It is something that happens and you just try to avoid it. You understand that and then you can avoid it. Um, wow, Cinderella, thank you so much. Uh, I truly appreciate it. That is uh amazing. I I glad that these lessons are useful and you all are learning new things and you can actually go out and try to use this vocabulary or the grammar or the pronunciation whatever it is that I try to teach you in order to help you improve your fluency goals because in general [laughter] that is what that is what these lessons are all about. It is about helping you achieve your goals, move to that ne take that next step towards fluency and uh yeah so that you feel more comfortable and confident speaking English. I see people answering the question. I haven't even I haven't even read the sentence. I'm kind of rambling. When she received news of her acceptance such a happy moment she m into to suddenly start crying. This is a phrase. It is I I guess you could say a common collocation because this verb is not one that is often used. So if somebody starts crying well done um well Katarina Tayo uh she burst into tears. Some when somebody burst into tears that just means they they suddenly start crying. In this example it's more of a joyous it is a happy cry. It's not something sad, but I if somebody's sad, of course, sure, they can burst into tears. And what I wanted to say is the verb burst. To burst is not the most commonly used verb, but there are some phrases such as this one in which I think it is more common to use and say, well, somebody burst into tears, they suddenly start crying. I thought this was humorous. And as you if you you've watched some of these lessons, you know that I put these little different u memes or whatever in here from time to time, do warning, due to influence of hormones, I could burst into tears or kill you in the next five minutes. There's a a wide range uh uh in when it comes to those emotions and those hormones. What do you think B? This is the first B1 vocabulary lesson that I have ever done. Amazing. But it is true. I've done so many vocabulary lessons. In general, I do No, I'm I'm I'm adding emphasis. In general, I typically will do these more advanced vocabulary lessons, C1, C2, or even beyond that and really get specific and precise. So, this is the first B1 vocabulary lesson that I've ever done. If you enjoy it or you like it, please you can let me know by hitting that like button. And this has this phrase has three words. Once again, it is more of an introductory phrase that you're going to use at the beginning of a statement when you're admitting something is true. We use this all the time. This phrase in just casual conversation. So, I see a lot of answers. The the the phrase that I'm talking about is to be honest, as many of you know, to be honest. This is the first B1 vocabulary lesson that I have ever done. So, you will often hear this phrase listening to a podcast, YouTube video, watching a movie, TV show to be honest. Very, very useful phrase in casual conversation. How about this one? What do you think? I deleted the picture. What? I think you all know this phrase. There are actually two different phrases that you could use and the meaning is without intending to or without being intended. Which which phrase has that meaning? I deleted the picture. What? So when you want to say that you do something unintentionally or [laughter] I probably I I end up saying the words as we're as we're going through this because yeah they are commonly used words. So if you want to say that you you did something without intending to do it, it was a mistake, it was an accident, those are the two words that you would use. However, we need uh another word in there. We need another preposition. I deleted the picture by accident or by mistake. If you wanted to use an adverb, I see some of those you could say, "Yeah, I deleted the picture uh inadvertently. I deleted the picture accidentally. I deleted the picture unintentionally." Those all work. I think those adverbs are a little beyond a B1 level, but they're still very useful and they would work in that context. So, there are different ways that you could express this sentiment, this thought that I didn't mean to do it. I deleted the picture by accident or I deleted the picture by mistake or I deleted the picture accidentally or I deleted it inadvertently. I love that word, inadvertently. So, if I want to give you a little more context, if you're just curious, like I sometimes am about which one which phrase is more commonly used, it's a little more common to to come across by accident. However, you're still going to hear somebody say by mistake quite often, and you could use either one. Both of them are really interchangeable in this context. By accident, by mistake. I saw him stick out his foot. He tripped me. What? To do something intentionally and not by accident. So, this is the the opposite of of what we just talking about. It's not by accident. Somebody did something. What phrase could we use? What B? Which B1 phrase could we use to say that something was done intentionally? I saw him stick out his foot. He tripped me. You mean to do this thing. And in that case, you could say that you do it. What? Two words. I I You guys You guys are You guys are rocking this quiz. This is why I think I need to make them a little more challenging, but I thought we'd have some fun and just do some B1 phrases. Kind of mix things up a little bit. So, the phrase that I'm referring to is on purpose. Well done, Lai, Julia, Rachel, Katarina, Manuel, Monica, Tayo, everybody. Everybody rock that one. You're doing something intentionally. It's not by accident. It's on purpose. I saw him stick out his foot. He tripped me on purpose. Phrase that you should absolutely put up here, be able to use. You're having a conversation. And if you want to say something was not done by accident, just say, "Well, this was done on purpose. It happened on purpose. I did it on purpose. I meant to do this." Take your seat. the show just start to be doing to be going to do something very soon. We're missing a verb, of course, and it's really part of the phrase. And then what? Well, what other word is missing is m start. Another I mean all of these phrases, but this is another one that I think you should be able to use casually when you're talking to someone and really not have to give this much thought. And this is this is these are the these are the building blocks to achieving English fluency. So if you know these that is awesome. That is perfect. The phrase that I'm talking about, take your seat. The show is just about to start. Just about to do something. Now, you do not have to include the word just. You could say the show is about to start or I am about to ask you another question and you are about to answer that next question and you're going to do it on purpose because you mean to do this. You could include just. It's just the more of a colloquial way of speaking. Just about to do something, but you don't have to. Take your seat. The show is just about to start. Well done. Here are some news headlines just to give you a little context. I just want to switch things up a little bit so that you this is just easier to kind of grasp on to these phrases. So, I'll just read through these quickly. The world's most luxurious surfing event is just about to kick off. In this context, if something kicks off, it means it begins. It starts. The next one, Ed Sharon reveals he is just about to move to America. I did not know that. And finally, the I'm going to mispronounce this. The Etaqarid meteor shower is just about to peak. For any of you who are interested in astronomy out there, you can correct my pronunciation of this meteor shower, but you get the idea. It's just about to peak. So, just about to do something. The students close to the teacher. I hope this is something that you are doing right now. Even though if you're not, I'll I'll never know. I just trust I trust you though. But the meaning of this phrase to watch, listen to or think about something or someone carefully or with interest. I think in the context of students, teachers, you will hear this phrase being used. Parents, children, people are going to use this phrase. Your boss talking to other or even among your colleagues. And you should do this if somebody's up there, they're giving a presentation and you should listen to this person. Listen carefully as to what this person is saying and therefore you should what the phrase we're talking about is to pay attention to pay attention to someone. I didn't I probably should have put the to because that's what you're going to follow it with. I could just give you a sent uh like a command and say I want you to pay attention or pay attention. But generally you would say pay attention to this person or to this thing. The students paid close attention to the teacher. Now I gave you that close in there because that is a collocation with this phrase. Collocations something that I talk about a lot on this channel. These are words frequently used together. So if we're just talking about the phrase pay attention, there are other words that are often used with it. To pay close attention to, to pay special attention to something, to pay enough attention uh to someone or something, to pay no attention to anyone that's I I hope that's not what you're doing. And or to pay particular attention to this person or this thing. These are just some common collocations. It is another excellent way to build your vocabulary. So instead of me saying I want right now I want you to pay close attention or I was going to say I want you to pay attention. I can add a little emphasis using the word close. I want you to pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you when it comes to these collocations because that's just going to help you be a little more precise and continue to build your vocabulary so that you can speak naturally when you're having a conversation. I didn't need my old couch. So, I decided to get it. Get is a part of this phrase. I don't know if you can see it's highlighted. The meaning is to remove or throw away something unwanted. You have something you don't want it. I could say I'm going to throw it away. I don't know if I would say I'm going to remove it. That sounds maybe a little formal, but this is a more casual way of saying that you're going to we'll do this. You're going to remove something. You're going to throw something uh away that is unwanted. You're going to well done. Get rid of it. So, you could get rid of something in which case you are throwing it away. Something you don't need. I didn't need my old couch. So, I decided to get rid of it. And a lot of times that something may be it because you've already mentioned the thing in the sentence before or and and the listener knows that and that's why you might be talking about your couch and then you're going to get rid of it and you would use it often with this phrase to get rid of it. Everyone please and walk to the nearest exit. Once again, there are, I think, a couple of different phrases that you could say uh and use to continue to be quiet, peaceful, not worried, especially in a difficult or frightening situation. Oh, Vicky Gustaf, thank you. Thank you so much. Uh I like I love the the the little coffee because Yeah, that is that's perfect. That is perfect for a morning coffee. Uh well actually I will absolutely use that. I love it. Thank you so much. I this is a phrase that in this context you I think you know you hear it. I don't know if you're going to use it all the time. I I would hope not because it's like really this maybe sense of uh urgency. Maybe something's wrong. But you might, if you're addressing a group of people, everyone please and walk to the nearest exit. You want everybody to be peaceful. You want them to be quiet. You don't want them to worry. You want everyone to Let's look at all the different ways we could say this. To keep calm, stay calm, remain calm. Either one of those verbs you can use with calm. And that really fits this context. Everyone, please remain calm and walk to the nearest exit. So, I mentioned it may not be one that you're going to use often, at least. I mean, I I would hope not because that is a troublesome situation. If you're having to tell everybody, look, everybody remain calm or stay calm. There's something wrong. And in that situation, if there is something wrong, you obviously want everybody to keep calm or remain calm. Again, you can use any of those verbs. The meaning is the same. This is I don't know. I [laughter] don't know why I thought this was humorous. Maybe I thought like a I have a little bit of a darker sense of humor. Of course, the sign should say keep calm and then they're like that blood setters. And down below it says sometimes it's best to panic. So [laughter] I of course I this is not this is not uh any type of advice at all. It's always good to keep calm, stay calm, remain calm. Uh, no need to worry. I have another question for you right here. I could believe when I saw the garden in full bloom. The meaning of this phrase to be very surprised. This is a way of basically emphasizing that you are really surprised. And really you're talking about surprised by something that you you're you see in in the case of our sentence. We're talking about a garden. It's so beautiful. I was so surprised and I could believe when I saw the garden in full bloom. So the phrase that we're talking about, I could not believe my eyes or believe your eyes or believe one's eyes. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the garden in full bloom. To not believe your eyes just means to be very surprised. So you might use it with could like I could not believe my eyes when what did you see? I could not believe my eyes when I saw this famous celebrity or I could not believe my eyes when I watched my favorite team win the championship. You don't have to use that could not that construction. You might tell somebody like I'm telling you, you will not believe your eyes when you see my next video lesson. All right? You're going to be so surprised. You will not believe your eyes. So, just keep in mind we're just using this phrase to mix it up a little bit. Of course, it's very common to say, "Oh, you're going to be so surprised. You won't believe it." Uh, but we're going to add a little emphasis and say, "Not believe your eyes in this case." So, I just went over, we just talked about 15 B1 phrases. If you knew them, if you knew got most of them correct, let me know. Hit that like button. If you learned something new, once again, hit that like button. Just hit the like button just for the heck of it or smash the like button. Doesn't really matter. It just tells me that you enjoy these vocabulary lessons. I should continue doing them because I do think this is essential building your vocabulary for achieving a level of proficiency so that you can communicate clearly, effectively with other people's. Uh these are phrases that I mentioned already are kind of the building blocks. So you absolutely need to know these phrases. And yes, remember click on that link down below if you would like to join my speaking course. And uh yeah, that's all I have for you. I want to thank you for joining me today. Thank you for participating in the lesson. I love it. And I will see you all soon for another lesson. and so long. --- ## 577. Stop Translating in Your Head โŒ | Start Thinking in English โœ… | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `C1BguLyBieA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1BguLyBieA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:14:02 | --- when you're learning English I think it's natural to translate from your native language to English but this is something that that you should really try to avoid As you move from a beginner to intermediate to an advanced learner and really it it just comes down to developing positive learning habits so I want to talk to you about five things that I want you to to start doing today so that you can stop translating and start thinking in English the first thing that I want you to do is to create an English bubble after that I want you to keep your learning routines in English and then we're going to change the way that you learn new vocabulary we're also going to start automating some of your responses and then we're going to turn thinking into Active Learning and I I know what you may be thinking right now I should subscribe to this channel turn on notifications and then that way I can become your new English teacher my name is Wes the Channel interactive English that that's what it's all about it's all about helping you improve your English skills so the first thing that I want you to do and I want you to do this today and really we start doing it is to create an English bubble and what I'm talking about is just surrounding yourself with the English language and getting as much exposure as you possibly can so take a moment right now and think about well how much exposure do you normally get to the English language each day and what whatever you come up with I want you to try to double that and make that bubble even stronger because when you do this it's like you're building the foundation you're creating an atmosphere that's going to allow you to translate less and start thinking more so this is why many people think well I I need to go live in an English-speaking country and that's going to help me learn the language faster and it's going to be easier as well because they think well I'm going to be surrounded by the language thankfully today it it's not necessary because of Technology because of computers we can surround ourself with any language no matter where we are in the world and I think it's especially easy with English so in in general what am I talking about I'm talking about getting more daily practice with the primary language skills more reading speaking listening writing to be specific what are some things that you can do that maybe maybe you're not doing them right now when you wake up in the morning instead of waking up to an annoying alarm sound wake up listening to music in English before you go to bed at night if you're like me I tend to look at my phone and I may read an article online you can read an article in English you're watching YouTube videos if you turn on those subtitles turn them on in English if you're taking a class online the whole lesson should be in English and again you you do not have to go to an English-speaking country for this to happen you can do this no matter where you are in the world before we continue I'd like to take a moment to thank the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda and this really ties in to what I'm talking about with that English bubble and getting that daily practice because lingoda is getting ready to start another language Sprint so the language Sprint is a great opportunity for you to really challenge yourself and practice each day for 3 months and and really move the needle when it comes to achieving your fluency goals and the the one thing that I really love about the language print is that if you attend all your classes you can get up to 100% cash back and there have been many people who have achieved this success and really taken their English to the next level and I think you can be one of those people as well now when it comes to the language Sprint you have two choices you can take the Super Sprint in which you'll take 30 classes a month for three months if you success F complete that then you can get 100% cash back or you can take the Sprint in which you'll take 15 classes a month for 3 months if you successfully complete that you can get 50% cash back both plans require a 49 deposit and then you will pay for the classes in thre monthly installments now you must sign up for the language print by October 15th because it's going to begin on October 31st I can honestly tell you lingoda is a great place for learning a language I have even studied with them you can see me there taking a lesson in Spanish and I had a great experience because well these are small group classes they have professional teachers they have flexible learning hours and an interactive curriculum so if you are motivated and you're ready to surround yourself with English as well as become the next language Sprint Champion then click on the link in the description and when you sign up you can use the voucher code champ 7 to get a 20 discount so click on that link down in the description if you would like to join the language Sprint or learn more about it always be sure to read those terms and conditions don't forget to use that voucher code champ 7 to get your 20 discount and then and then really just surround yourself with English which is going to help you reach your fluency goals now let's get back to the lesson to help you stop translating and start thinking in English and I want to talk to you about a few more things that I want you to do today and the next thing that I want you to do is to keep your learning routines in English I I understand if you're a beginner that it's normal to learn English using your native language it it maybe builds a little more confidence it helps you more easily comprehend what you're learning but as you become intermediate Advanced and you try to work your way toward fluency your learning should be entirely in English because well well when you're learning it's it's natural for your brain to switch back and forth between English and your nebor ative language the goal is for this to happen less often and when you keep your learning routines in English that's the result so once again it comes back to developing those positive learning habits if you're learning grammar rules then you should learn those rules in English if you are taking an online class the entire lesson should be in English and then there's one thing that I definitely want you to do starting today from now on when you look up a new word or phrase new vocabulary I want you to use an English dictionary there are many online dictionaries that when you look up the meaning it uses simple easy words they make it very easy for you to understand I like to use Cambridge you could also uh read example sentences so that you can better understand the context in which these words are used you can also see if there are other words in the word family how is the word used as an adjective as a noun so that's something that I definitely want you to do if you're not doing it already when you learn new vocabulary Look up the meaning using an English dictionary now speaking of vocabulary that that is an excellent segue into the next thing that I want you to do which is we are going to change the way you are learning new vocabulary and again we're going to keep building those positive learning habits and I I want you to just put away your translator if you have a translator just just put it away you do not need it in order to express yourself I know as a beginner it's a quick and easy solution but the goal is not to stay at the level of a beginner you want to improve and when you're constantly translating it's really it's really going to delay your learning it's not as meaningful and you're likely to forget so as I mentioned I want you to start looking up new words using an English dictionary and as you learn the meaning of these new words and you feel comfortable that you understand maybe how the word is used I then want you to make a word association because that way it it becomes more meaningful and you're more likely to remember the meaning as well as put that word up here in your active memory so when you make a word association you're you're basically you're taking a word and you are connecting it with a a person or thing it's like you're able to then put a picture in your mind and there there have been many studies about how useful word association is when it comes to language acquisition and this is really how we acquire our native language we learn a new word and then we put that picture in our mind so if I say blue bear all right you you can probably put a picture in your mind maybe it looks something like this this is one of my daughter's favorite toys but I think one of the challenges is with a more advanced vocabulary that that might be a little more abstract and there's not just a clear picture that you can think of but still in that case you can you can associate it perhaps with a person so if you learn an adjective like Frugal it means somebody who does not like to spend a lot of money they're very careful with their money well I I am Frugal you can think of me or if you learn an expression like glass half full it it describes somebody who's very hopeful or optimistic and the same way that glass half empty describes somebody who's pessimistic so I could ask you what kind of person are you are you a glass half full type of person or a glass half empty type of person let me know down in the comments and it it doesn't always have to be a a word association with other people recently I I did a lesson talking about earthquakes and some words that you would often hear when when talking about this and one of the adjectives was devastating and this is actually an adjective that is pretty common when you're talking about any natural disaster so this is a change that I definitely want you to make and at anytime you learn a new vocabulary word or phrase make a word association because it's just going to help you retain that vocabulary which then means when when you're trying to think about something in English you you have all those words at your disposal and your brain's not going to be switching back and forth as much to your native language you're going to be able to keep it in English mode which is what I want you to do something I also want you to do is to start automating your responses and well think of autotype when you're you're typing something and then it goes ahead and fills in what what you might be trying to write if you use Gmail they have something called autoc compose it helps you write emails faster because they're making suggestions and and you can do the same thing with your speech and in that case you're not really even you're not really translating you're not even really having to think somebody's just saying something to you and you respond immediately without thinking about it and there is no translation so how should you do this I think you should start with common well questions that somebody may ask you um if you meet somebody and they say what do you do for a living you should be able to give a response quickly easily naturally and talk about this because you've done it several times before so this is a great example of a question somebody could ask you and then you give that autor response you could also use partial autor responses so a question like where are you going you could say I'm going to go and then fill in the rest and you're using that reduction gonna I'm going to go I'm going to go shopping I'm going to go to the bakery I'm going to go to the park and then you can fill in the rest with well whatever is happening at that moment wherever you may be going so this this is useful when you're having a conversation and you can just respond immediately you're not having to translate you you really don't even need to think that much and you give a quick response there are no awkward pauses which is which is how a conversation should be now I I know I said there's not much thinking with these automated responses so let's talk about thinking right now and one thing that I want you to do is I want you to turn thinking into Active Learning and when I say active learning it it just means that you're required to do something so in this case you're required to think I want you to make yourself think in English so if you have like 5 or 10 minutes during the day maybe when you're you're not doing much you're brushing your teeth you're you're making dinner you're riding the bus to work I want you to take some of that time and say all right I'm going to make myself think in English whatever you see however you feel you're going to be thinking about it in English and see how long you can do that before your brain switches back over to your native language this is something that I want you to do and I want you to do it for homework that's right I'm going to give you some homework in this lesson today I want you to take 10 minutes and just think in English and tell yourself okay for the next 10 minutes I'm just going to think entirely in English and I want you to let me know how it goes down in the comments were you able to do this for a few minutes or 10 minutes or even longer before your brain switch back to your native language the longer you you can do this then I think that is an excellent sign so starting today I want you to to do those five things that we talked about in this lesson you're going to create an English bubble you're going to keep your learning routines in English you're going to change the way you learn new vocabulary you're going to start automating some of those responses and you're going to turn thinking into Active Learning and when you do this tomorrow the next week the next month the next year you will be translating less and you'll be thinking more in English which is the ultimate goal I hope you enjoyed the lesson if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time Soo --- ## 578. Stop Using Basic English! Speak Like a Pro with These Advanced Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_ec9wix_1fM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ec9wix_1fM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:40:23 | --- Let's learn some advanced phrases that native speakers use to be more precise, descriptive, and persuasive when both speaking and writing. And if you are someone who enjoys learning new phrases, building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So, let's begin with our first phrase, which is in no uncertain terms. This means in a very clear and direct way. This phrase emphasizes a forceful and unambiguous message. And often you're you're going to use it right before that that forceful message that you want to share. So I I could say she told him in no uncertain terms to leave her alone. So I'm using the phrase right before that direct message to leave her alone. He made it clear in no uncertain terms that the deal was off. or the letter stated in no uncertain terms that failure to respond would result in legal action. Hopefully, these sentences give you a better sense as to how this phrase is used in context. But still, I want to share some video examples with you. >> He told me in no uncertain terms that he's got dibs on the upper class girls. >> I am here to tell you in no uncertain terms to stay away from my son. and she made it very clear in no uncertain terms that she loves you and she wants to stay in your class. >> Then we have the phrase a foregone conclusion. This refers to a result that is obvious to everyone even before it happens. So you're going to use this when you want to say that the outcome is obvious. There is no doubt as to the final result. Given the team's poor performance, the loss was a foregone conclusion. Everyone knew this was going to happen. Here are some news headlines to give you more context. Trump cutting off aid to Ukraine, not a foregone conclusion, says experts. In this case, we're using it with the negative to say that the final result is well, it's not obvious at this point. And it's a foregone conclusion that Ethereum is a commodity, says Joe Luben. Let's take a look at some more examples. >> Capture is a foregone conclusion. You go down with your plane. >> The death sentence is not a foregone conclusion. Don't worry. >> From that point on, the whole game was like a foregone conclusion. I I couldn't fight this feeling that I'd already lost. >> Now, if you are someone who wants to build your vocabulary, improve your speaking fluency, then I am telling you in no uncertain terms that you should join my speaking course. It's all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Each week there is a different speaking topic. You will learn vocabulary related to that topic, and there are a variety of engaging speaking activities. So, click the link down below in the description if you want to enroll or learn more about the course. And I just hope to speak to you soon. Let's continue with our next phrase, which is one that I really like, and that is nip it in the butt. It means to stop something before it gets worse. And in this case, the it refers to the problem or the issue, to nip it in the bud. And we're going to use it because it's already been mentioned. The problem is getting worse. We need to nip it in the bud. So it in this case refers to the problem. Now, that's not always the case. You may actually say what it is that you want to stop from getting worse. I could say to you, you need to nip these rumors in the bud before they spread. The phrase comes from gardening. When a leaf or flower starts to form, it's just a bud. And when you nip it or cut it, you stop it from growing. Now, sometimes people mistakenly say nip it in the butt. All right, that's a that's a different word. We're not talking about somebody's butt, even though that may sound a little funny. The words sound similar. Just keep in mind the phrase is nip it in the bud. >> We just want to nip any problems in the bud. >> Tell you what, I'm going to nip this in the bud. You deserve a fighting chance. >> Then there's the phrase to go against the grain. This refers to something that you would not usually do because it is different from what is usual or what is normal. And in that case, you're going against the grain. Let's say that you come from a family of doctors and you are going to go against the grain and become an actor. Or maybe I tell you the new policy goes against the grain of everything that the company stood for. One thing I want you to keep in mind when it comes to this phrase is that it it's a fixed phrase. You're not going to change the article and say go against a grain. No, no, no, no. Go against the grain. You're not going to add an s to the word grain. Go against the grains. No, no, no, no. It's just go against the grain. So, think of this as a fixed phrase. >> Let the perfect be the enemy of the good. >> Guess I'm just going against the grain again. >> Shouldn't mean that we can't have a civil conversation. >> I just don't understand why you always have to go against the grain. >> Hang by a thread. This phrase pretty much means what it says. You are in a dangerous situation or state in which you are unlikely to survive or succeed. So I I literally want you to imagine this in your mind. If you are hanging by a thread, that is not a good position to be in. But you can use this phrase to emphasize the fact that you're in a situation in which you are barely surviving or or getting by. His career is hanging by a thread after the scandal. Now, you could use the preposition on and say somebody's hanging on by a thread. That also works. And here is a fun picture to visualize this phrase. I I don't know uh if that's a panda or what, but yeah, that little guy is hanging by a thread. >> Our coalition is hanging by a thread. I I don't know how we can possibly beat them. Glee is hanging by a thread. >> Until our group is back together again, this whole thing is hanging by a thread. >> The next phrase, a case in point. This means a good example of something that was just mentioned. So, think about this phrase as having the same usage as the phrase for example. Now, often you're going to just say for example, this phrase is commonly used, but it's always good to get a little bit of variety because a slight nuance would be that you're going to use a case and point in more formal situations. So, this phrase is a bit more formal whenever you want to introduce an example. So, you're more likely to use it in presentations or essays. I could say many species are struggling to adapt to climate change. A case in point is the polar bear. And maybe you've seen some of these images, but it is very sad to see these pictures of the polar bear struggling due to climate change. Here are some more examples. >> You can learn a great deal about a man from his trash. Case in point, satellite TV bill. >> That's right. I love telling the truth. Case in point, sometimes when I blow my nose, I get a boner. >> Boss has to loosen up every now and again. Case in point me. I'm half loaded right now. >> Then we have in the grand scheme of things. This means considering everything. So it really refers to the broad perspective, seeing the big picture and and not getting bogged down in the specific details of a moment. Often you're going to use this phrase at the beginning of a statement or clause. In the grand scheme of things, the Earth is just a tiny planet in a vast universe. I was really upset about losing the game, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal. Or in the grand scheme of things, my problems are insignificant compared to what some other people are going through. I hope that gives you some context as to how and when to use this phrase. Let me give you some more examples. >> In the grand scheme of things, an ex-wife's throw pillows aren't much of a problem. >> Pay them scheme of things, it's a speeding ticket. In >> the great grand scheme of things, we're just tiny specks that will one day be forgotten. >> Then we have the phrase to strike a chord with someone. This means to resonate emotionally or intellectually. So uh perhaps I say his story about growing up in poverty struck a chord with many people. So in this case they could they could empathize with it. They could relate to this story. I hope that this lesson strikes a chord with you and creates this emotional response that that makes you go ahead and hit that like button. So please hit the like button if this lesson strikes a chord with you. I want to give you some more context. So, here are some news headlines. Chimes IPO may struggle to strike a chord with investors. Sydney music students strike a chord with Bush Kids. And this headline is kind of a play on words because we're talking about the phrase strike a chord and music, chords, instruments. I think you get it. Sir David Adam's latest message about the world's oceans should strike a chord with us all. Here are some other examples. Pat was the biggest child actor of the 1980s, striking a chord with audiences all over the world. >> But it's worth what you wrote here struck a chord with me as well. >> And when I started sobbing uncontrollably, apparently that struck a chord with quite a lot of people. >> The lion's share. This just refers to the largest portion. So if we were talking about food, a lion is a very strong animal. And if there were some food, I would not try to take a lot of it. I'd just, hey, go ahead and take it. You can have the largest portion and you can have the lion share. Now, often you're not really going to use this phrase when talking about food. Instead, you may hear people use this phrase when talking about work. Let me give you some examples. She did the lion share of work on the project. Or, the tech giant dominates the market, claiming the lion share of global smartphone sales. And finally, although many departments contributed, the R&D team did the lion share of the innovation. Let's have a look at some videos. >> I'm I'm taking the lion share. I'm just saying. >> No, take more than the lion share. Take the whole share. >> The animal rights activists, they want the lion share and they don't want to share their lions. >> And when it's time for for her wedding, I will I will handle the the lion share. >> I like this next phrase, cut to the chase. It just means get to the point. So, this is a great phrase that you can use if you want to tell someone, be direct. Don't waste any time. Please cut to the chase. Now, often people are going to use this as a command, telling someone to get to the point if they're rambling on and on, talking about a bunch of nothing, kind of like I'm doing right now. So, perhaps you're thinking, look, cut to the chase. So, I am not going to waste any more of your time. I'm just going to cut to the chase and show you some video examples. >> I'm late for a skydiving massage. >> I'll cut to the chase. >> Behind every great inventions in MIT M. I'll cut to the chase. The Air Force believes there's an application for this technology. >> Can we cut to the chase? Cut to the chase. Yeah. Well, what are you, Joe Hollywood? >> Then we have the phrase at the heart of the matter. This just refers to the most important or fundamental part of a problem, issue, or situation. So really, you would use this phrase if you want to highlight the central point and talk about that problem that should be understood or addressed. Or maybe I I give you a command and say, "Let's cut to the chase and get to the heart of the matter." So now I'm using both of these phrases to say let's get directly to the most important thing. To be honest, these two phrases to cut to the chase and at the heart of the matter, they are a little similar, but one clear distinction is that they have different parts of speech. But let's get to the heart of the matter right now, which is helping you understand how this phrase is used in context. >> The courthouse is the heart of the matter. >> Voter registration office. >> Charmaine being pregnant just changes everything. >> The heart of the matter. >> Put your hands where I can see them. So before we get to the heart of the matter, I have one question for you. >> The next phrase to be in over your head. This just means to be involved in something that is too difficult. So instead of me telling you this is too difficult for you, I could say you're in over your head. It's a little more informal, but I really do think it adds emphasis. If you want to tell someone, look, this thing that you're doing, it's too difficult. You're in over your head. So let me share with you sometimes when I was in over my head. So, I was in over my head the first time I stepped foot in a classroom. And this is true. Not not just the first day or week, but really that first month, the kids ate me alive. I was in over my head. I was also in over my head this one time when I tried to cook dinner for a group of friends. It did not go well. The food did not taste well. And yeah, I was in over my head. And even right now, I'm in over my head right now because we had another child and it's very difficult and I'm struggling and I feel like I'm in over my head. But I I will say if you're ever in a situation and you feel like you're in over your head, try to learn as much as you can, make adjustments, and really just do your best. If you ever feel like you're in over your head, >> the market's crashing. >> Nuh-uh. >> You're in over your head. >> Maybe you're in over your head. >> Yes, I do. and so does the leadership. >> You're in over your head. >> And remember, if you feel like you're in over your head, just excuse yourself to go to the bathroom or get a drink. >> Now, I hope this lesson really struck a chord with you. And even though these are advanced phrases, I I don't think you're in over your head trying to learn and understand them, but when you watch lessons like this, it is a foregone conclusion that you will build your vocabulary. So, let me just cut to the chase. Let's just nip this problem in the bud right now. So, watch another video lesson. In the grand scheme of things, it's going to help you reach your fluency goals. And if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. --- ## 579. Summer Idioms to Help You Beat the Heat ๐Ÿ˜Ž | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RX12T3J0R9s` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX12T3J0R9s) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:48:49 | --- I'm going to teach you these expressions, come rain or shine. And I'll tell you what that means in just a second. What's up, everyone? In today's lesson, I want to teach you about summer expressions, well, because it's summer outside. So, I thought I'd take this opportunity to teach you some common expressions that are related to the summer. So, the first one that I have for you is is one that I've already mentioned, and that is come rain or shine. And what it means is that that something's going to happen. It doesn't matter what the weather's like, doesn't matter what the situation is, that something is going to happen come rain or shine. Often, I think it's used when talking about some some event, maybe a sporting event, that it's scheduled for this day, and it doesn't matter what the weather is like, the event is going to happen. And then what I'm going to do, 10 miles, rain or shine. It's after school, rain or shine. The re-exam will be tomorrow morning at 4:00 a.m. outside. Rain or shine. The next expression is everything under the sun. And what this means is that you get everything that you want, everything on earth, anything that you want that that you will get. So, often, I think it's used when you're talking about maybe describing a person, that they they want a lot, maybe they want too much, and you could say they're asking for everything under the sun. You were thinking you could control everything under the sun? Then there's an expression, an Indian summer. And what this means it's it's an unexpected period of hot and dry weather. And the reason why they call it an Indian summer is cuz it doesn't happen in the summer, it's usually in the fall. When you think that summer has ended and it starts to cool down, but then suddenly it gets really hot again for a short period of time, you could say it is an Indian summer. I think of this heat as late in the year? Yeah, Indian summer, huh? sure my husband and I can brave another week or however long this Indian summer's going to be. Then we have a ray of sunshine. And often I think that this expression is used to describe a person and saying that that something or someone just brightens your day. It makes you so happy, it makes you so excited, and that you'd say, "Wow, it's you know, you are just a ray of sunshine." For me, I would say our little daughter, Amelia, she is my ray of sunshine. And you guys too, you are also my ray of sunshine because yeah, you you brighten my day with all those amazing comments. Who are the ray of sunshine? You know exactly what a ray of sunshine? You're my ray of sunshine, Cupid me. The next expression is to take a shine to someone. So, shine again makes me think of the sun, summer. And what this expression means is to take a liking to someone. and you really get along with them and you really hit it off, you could say, "Wow, you know, I'm I'm really I'm really taking a shine to this person and we're really getting along. I really like them." To take a shine to someone. Ah, yeah, he took a shine to me. Because we rather hope Lady Mary might have taken a shine to him. He is quite a charmer. Your father's certainly taken a shine to him. Oh, Homer, you are the living end. Then we have to soak up the sun. And when I think of this expression because it just means to to get a lot of sun, to sit out in the sun and just take it all in. You just want to soak it up. So, I often think of somebody perhaps going to the beach and they just want to lay out on the sand and soak up the sun. We're going to be soaking up some sun at the Phillies game. Soak up all the sun you can. The next expression is summer fling. And often I think people would say that somebody has a summer fling. And what it means is just a short-term romance during the summer. And often I think it's used with with younger kids, teenagers, high school students might have a summer fling. That school has ended and summer has started and they might meet somebody and they have a short-term romantic relationship and then school starts again and the relationship ends and you just say it's a summer fling. So our summer fling was going to be just that, a fling. Oh, Miss McGarrigle, who says anything about girlfriends? Let's just start with the summer fling. The next expression is not a cloud in the sky and this is I think used to describe the weather. That you're talking about a summer day and you want to say, "Well, there's not a cloud in the sky." It means exactly what it says, that the sky is clear and you could describe it and say, you know, everything is good, everything is well because there's not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful day, Mrs. Palmer. Not a cloud in the sky. Not a cloud in the sky. Perfect day to unveil operation slammed. Then we have to brighten up someone's day and what this means is to make someone's day more special, to make somebody's day better, especially after somebody might be having a bad day and somebody does something for you and it might brighten up your day and make you feel a little bit better. I bought you some flowers to brighten up your day. I'm just trying to brighten up your day with my dope ass anecdotes. But you brighten up for me all of my days. The next expression is just a statement. It's a way to describe a summer day, especially if you're talking about the weather and it's really hot, you could just say, "It's a scorcher." So if somebody says it's a scorcher, then it just means a very, very hot day. It's a scorcher. Right now, it's kind of nice out. It's not really a scorcher, but maybe later in the week it supposed to get a lot hotter. It's a scorcher today, ain't it? Going to be a real scorcher today. Well, it's going to be a scorcher. Then we have a phrase that I I don't really like, and that is rise and shine. And all this means is that somebody would say this when it's time to get up. So, if somebody says rise and shine, it just means, "Okay, it's time to get up. It's time to get going. You you need to start your day." And the reason why I don't like hearing this is because I usually I usually want to sleep a little later in the morning. I don't want to have to get up. Day one, greenie. Rise and shine. Rise and shine. Rise and shine. Rise and shine. It's a beautiful morning. Yes. All rise and shine, camera. Don't forget YOUR BOOTIES CUZ IT'S COLD OUT THERE TODAY. NOW, let's talk about a few expressions with the word heat in there because when I think of summer, I think of the heat. And the first one is to beat the heat. And if you are trying to beat the heat, it means that you are doing something to stay cool and refreshed and and get out of the hot weather in some way, shape, or form. You are trying to beat the heat. So, during the summer, what do you guys do? What do you do to beat the heat? Well, people have found all sorts of ways to beat the heat. One local man is using his head. Is it warm out? I hadn't noticed. I think I have a way for us to beat the heat tonight, Philly style. Then we have to take the heat. And what this means is to accept criticism or just just get scolded for something that was done wrong or for something that was wrong. You're you're you're going to take heat for this thing. So, if you do something bad, like you have a summer fling and your partner finds out about it, then you're going to take a lot of heat for that. And we're supposed to be some kind of decoy for you and take all the heat? This is all my fault. You're not taking the heat for this. If I'm wrong, I'll take heat for it, but I'm just trying to do what's best for the paper. The next expression is in a dead heat. And this is used quite often with with sports because if something is in a dead heat, it just means that it's a draw. It's even. It's the same. So, you could say that the match ended in a dead heat and it ended in a draw. It was a tie. Nobody won. Anybody has a strong feeling one way or another? Interesting. Our preference survey shows a dead heat. And the latest polls have it as a dead heat. So, there you have it. Those are a bunch of different summer expressions that that you can use in a variety of context. So, I would encourage you to go out and practice them. If you enjoyed this lesson and you learned something new, please hit that like button. And as always, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 580. Super Advanced Vocabulary that will BLOW YOUR MIND ๐Ÿคฏ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4gVXkiayVAc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gVXkiayVAc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:01:40 | --- I have some vocabulary for you that's going to blow your mind. Well, I I say that and this is why I say that you are highly proficient if you know these words, but I think that you are very knowledgeable when it comes to vocabulary. So, some of them you may be familiar with, but if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, let's just jump right into it with our first question. suspicion? This is right now at the beginning. It's a multiple choice. So, perhaps this is going to be a little easier and we're going to ease our way into this and it's going to get a little more challenging. Now, I say that these are advanced words. They're going to blow your mind. That means that you're not going to use them in just everyday conversation. You're not going to hear them all the time. These are words that are more specific, more descriptive, more precise, but they can still come in handy, and it's always great to improve your listening and reading comprehension. suspicion uh condemn, vindicate, reprimand or discredit. I see some uh excellent answers. I think you guys you're you're on top of this. All right. Maybe maybe you're gonna blow my mind. To to vindicate is the word that we're looking for. That is the correct answer. So that means to clear from blame or suspicion to help give you a little more context. I have some example sentences down there for you. New evidence vindicated the accused or he felt vindicated by the court's decision. And finally, her success vindicated her bold choices. So, I'm going to give you some example sentences as we go through this. Hopefully, that'll give you a better understanding as to how the word is used in context. And if you would like to get these lesson notes that you see right next to me here, click on the link down in the description, join my email community, and you can access these notes. If you're already a part of our our lovely amazing community, I have gone ahead and sent them to you. So the next question, what do you think? Again, multiple choice. Which word means carefully considering all circumstances before acting? So before you do something, of course, you're going to consider all circumstances. And which word do mean? What what is which word means that? So is it impulsive, circumspect, frivolous or brazen? The fact that it's multiple choice right now makes it a little easier because if you do know some of the other words, you can, you know, go through a process of elimination. But which of these words means carefully considering all circumstances before acting? So in this case once again it's not it's not trick trick answer but uh some of you all right wow perfect be once again be the correct answer uh you guys you guys are blowing my mind circumspect so it means carefully considering all circumstances before acting here are some example sentences I know it's a little small so I'll go ahead and read it for you she she was circumspect in choosing her birds or his circumspect approach helped avoid a disaster. And finally, always be circumspect when making big decisions. It is true. Now, again, this is not a word that you're going to turn on the TV and you're going to hear someone using. However, you still may come across it. And to further bolster that argument that this is a word, you may come across, I have some news headlines for you. Again, giving you a little more context. And all of these headlines have the word circumspect. For example, up here, time to be circumspect about Trump's global trade warnings says uh Kierney chairman Bob will. And then finally, the next one, barristers must be circumspect in exercising free speech. And then down below, journalists told to be circumspect in reporting. So this is a word that you may come across reading the news or watching a TV show. It definitely is a more advanced word, but I I think it's good to to get a variety. Even if uh you know you you really want to be descriptive or want to learn specific words, it's good to know them. And then if you feel comfortable, you could try to use them in conversation if they are applicable and they're relevant to what you're trying to convey. What do you think about this one? Which of the following means showing strong feeling, forceful, passionate, intense? Which of these words? And I don't I found this picture of uh this cat right here and it just yeah, that that look was very intense and this that the cat looked like it had that just strong feeling. So what is the correct answer? vehement, tepid, aloof, or mellow. Once again, maybe you can go through a process of elimination. For example, mellow is really kind of the opposite. Like you're kind of relaxed and calm. So, I'm just going to tell you it's not D. The answer. Wow, everybody. Uh, yeah, you guys are rocking this. Perfect. Vehement. A is the correct answer. showing strong feeling, forceful, passionate, intense. Now, one thing, well, let me give you get to the example sentences and then I'll tell you where I'm going with this. He gave a vehement denial. All right? Yeah, it wasn't me. It was a vehement denial. Very passionate. Or she was vehement. She was a vehement supporter of reform. All right? That strong feeling. Or finally, the protester spoke vehemently about the issue. And that's what I wanted to point out because this right here we're vehement we're using it as an adjective but often you may come across this word as an adverb as far as in vehemently and that ly ending. Somebody may speak vehemently or act vehemently. And so that's one thing I wanted to point out with this word in particular as an adjective or as an adverb. And yeah, I like these uh I try to find these pictures of uh animals every now and then because it does I think it makes the lessons a bit more engaging. What do you think? Which of the following means brief and to the point? So I think this is a well in my opinion I feel like it's a good word to know because often you may talk about this meaning and you want someone to be brief and to the point or you're trying to write something or convey a message that is brief and to the point and in that case you would want the message to be mundane, succinct, verbose or maleifuous. What do you think? Brief and to the point. I hope in this case that you said and I think many of you did succinct expressed in few words concise. So in general I I think this word has more of a positive connotation because I think most of the time we use it in a context in which um fewer less is better. All right, fewer words, more concise. That's generally a good thing. He gave a succinct explanation of the problem. Or her writing style is clear and succinct. This is a collocation. You may use it with those two words, clear and succinct. Perfect. Good phrase to use. And keep your answer succinct and focused. So those are some more examples using this word in context. If you knew some of these words already, that's perfect. And of course, this is a quiz lesson. So, I want you to participate. I want you to write your answers in the chat or in the comments. I love seeing it, seeing people participate in these lessons. So, I thought it would be fun. We just went over four words to go ahead and look at the frequency and see how often they're used and compare the two. So, this is from Engram Viewer. If you have a word or phrase or a couple of words or phrases and you want to know, well, which one do most people use, this is a way to very quickly get a snapshot because they put it on a graph as to which words are more often used. So, as you can see, they're very close, but in this case, you're going to come across succinct and vehement more often than you would come across vindicate or circumspect. And to me, that that's not surprising at all. I think those words are more absolutely more commonly used. Vindicate, I often feel like it's used in the context of somebody, you know, being accused of something or in a courtroom setting uh is when you may end up coming across that word. So, let's switch gears. I gave you uh some multiple choice questions. Now, let's let's make it a little more difficult. I'm going to give you a sentence with the missing word, and I'm also going to give you the meaning. And I want you to see if you can think of the the the the advanced word, the word that is going to blow your mind and write it in the comments, write it in the chat. So the first one, he gave a m apology that seemed rehearsed. So the meaning is carried out without real interest, feeling or effort. I will be incredibly I will be very impressed if you get this because I feel like in this case there many native speakers would find this very challenging. I would find this challenging just giving this one sentence plus the meaning. This is a word that is definitely more advanced. It's one that you you may come across from time to time. However, um th this is uh the the one thing I want to point out maybe the is that in this example he gave a m apology that seemed rehearsed. So in this case, it's not really a good thing. We're talking about an apology. Oh, it seemed rehearsed. Maybe they didn't mean it. There wasn't really any effort or feeling put into it. And therefore, you could say it was peruncter. He gave a prefuncter apology that seemed rehearsed. So the meaning of peruncter is carried out with any real interest, feeling or effort. And uh well done. All right. I saw a couple answers in there. Perfect. Peruncttory. To give you a little more context because some of you may be thinking, "Well, I've never I've never come across this word before." Here are some example sentences. He gave a prefuncter nod and walked away. again without maybe real interest. The cleaning was done in a peruncter manner. Okay, maybe no effort was really put into it or her smile was peruncter, lacking real warmth. Once again, in that last sentence, it is used in more of a negative way. Peruncttory. What do you think? Oh, I thought uh this was a good meme as far as uh giving you another example with this word of bonus points if you can tell me the movie. Okay. Life is like a box of chocolates. Okay. And then down here, a cheap, thoughtless, peruncter gift that nobody ever asks for. Now, of course, life is a very precious gift, but I thought this was funny. mostly thinking about this box of chocolates that you may give as a gift to uh someone or uh maybe you get it as a gift and just comparing it and saying it is a peruncter gift that well nobody ever asked for. Um and uh yeah, I thought this was a little humorous. So, let's uh see. Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering about the movie, I said bonus points. This is of course from the movie Forest Gump. That is a picture of Tom Hanks playing Forest Gump. Well done, Lai. Excellent. Here's the next one. I think this one is easier and this is a word that is more commonly used and uh I I think you'll realize that once I give you the answer, but let's see if you can uh get it. um his response was m revealing more than he intended. So the meaning of this word revealing or indicative of something that is not explicitly stated. So you could say it is you're giving you're revealing this information even though you're not explicitly saying it and you could say it is. A lot of times you're going to use this as a predicate adjective and it's going to follow the verb to be that. Oh, this is his actions were his response was again I think this is a word that you've certainly heard of and maybe it is one that you even use. So when talking I may it's hard to perhaps come up with it with just this limited information that I'm giving you. But if we want to say something is revealing it's not explicitly stated. You could say that it is telling. You know his response was telling revealing more than he intended. So if something is telling it in a way it tells us information even though it's not directly said to us. Maybe it's basically the way somebody is acting or behaving and you could say that it is telling. So this is a useful adjective. Of course, most of the time people when you hear see the word tell, you think of the verb to tell someone something. And in this case, you could think about using it in the continuous tense like listen to uh you know, I am telling you something right now. But in this case, we're using it as an adjective. So here are some example sentences. Her silence was telling. Okay, that okay, that gives us more information because she's silent and it tells us something. Or the hesitation in his voice was telling. If somebody hesitates, well, something's wrong and maybe it gives us that it reveals some information. It's telling. And then finally, it was a telling sign that something was wrong. So once again, this is, I think, a useful adjective if you want to say something is telling and it's revealing some information. What do you think about this next one? They found themselves in a m situation with no easy solution. So the meaning exposed or involving danger or dangerous, perilous, risky, those are all synonyms if you want to dangerous, perilous, risky. But I will say that I feel like a common collocation you might talk about a situation that you are in and you may say I am in a m situation. They found themselves in a m situation with no easy solution. Exposed to or involving danger, dangerous, perilous, risky. Um, I like the guess somebody mentioned dire uh a dire situation and that I think is a good guess. That's not the word that we're looking for. I feel dire is actually a stronger word than the one that I am going to share with you. Uh, but that is a that is a really good guess. Uh so of course it is a dangerous situation and this word I guess well let me let me give you the answer and then I'll give you a little more context. All right the answer well done Vicky Gustav precarious a precarious situation. So precarious situation it is like okay there is some danger it's like uhoh you know maybe um a little complex as well I feel like in this case dire would be a stronger word if you wanted to emphasize something and say it's a dire situation we have major problems but if you refer say some you're in a precarious situation it is you know involving some danger or you're exposed and I think that is a key word exposed to danger danger. Uh, for example, here are some example sentences. The ladder looked precarious. Okay, it didn't look very safe. It was dangerous. Or their financial position is precarious. They're exposed to some risk or danger. And finally, she was in a precarious state of health. So, this is I feel like a useful word, good word to know, descriptive word, precarious. Okay, I thought I saw this. I thought it was funny. I had to share it with you. So, this this is uh a headline uh kind of just like a joking article. I think it was from BuzzFeed. And basically, it was like 32 kids who supposedly found themselves in a very precarious situation. And I didn't I didn't want to go through and show you all the pictures. I just thought the first one was uh funny. And it says first, um, there's this poor kid in a less than stellar view. So, yes, I could say she's on that bike. She is in a precarious situation just sitting there. Uh, and I thought that was humorous, so I wanted to share it with you. How about this? Despite the pressure, she remained m and handled the situation with grace, having or showing calmness in a crisis. Of course, I think overwhelmingly people are going to use an adjective like calm, and this is a bit of a synonym. It is a more advanced word. It's not as commonly used. Uh you could put in the word calm. Despite the pressure, she remained calmed and handled the situation with grace. Very common. But there are other words that we could put in there, synonyms for the word calm. So, I feel like there may be more than one response that could uh be put into this sentence and it makes sense. It's correct. But the meaning of this word having or showing calmness in a crisis composed is another good word that would work. That's not the word that I'm looking for. So, again, composed, I feel like, is a is another commonly used word and I think a great word to know and you should know it. Um, but this is not not grounded or adamant in this case. Let me give you another synonym. Uh, you could say it's not as commonly used, but just one to just be aware of. Unflapable. Despite the pressure, she remained unflapable and handled the situation with grace. Having or showing, which means having or showing calmness in a crisis. And you would say someone is unflapable. So, here are some example sentences. Again, I want to give you a little more context. If you're looking at this word and you're thinking, you know, I've never heard anybody use the word unflapable. Again, that doesn't mean that you're going to hear somebody use it tomorrow or the next day. These are advanced words. Remember, I'm just trying to blow your mind. So even when the situ even when the students got rowdy, the teacher was unflapable and remained calm or her unflapable demeanor impressed the interviewers. Somebody was unflapable or he remained unflapable even after the shocking news. And I feel like for even though this adjective is not the most commonly used word, I feel like that is kind of a verb adjective collocation to remain unflapable or saying somebody remained unflapable in some very I don't know uh dire situation, precarious situation and they stayed calm and they remained unflapable. What do you think? Oh, let me again we just did four more words. So, I I wanted to go back to engram viewer, but I wanted to point out a flaw and I wanted to make you aware of this because engram viewer is not perfect. It's not going to tell you all the information that you may need. So, if we put in these words, uh I I do think that the order of usage as to which ones are more commonly used, telling I definitely think that's most commonly used. And then you see precarious, prefuncter, and then unflapable. The one thing that you might be looking at saying, "Wait, why is telling used so much more often?" Because when you use engram viewer, it's not differentiating between parts of speech. So, we were talking about telling as an adjective that you're revealing information. Engram viewer is putting together all forms of telling even as a verb in the continuous tense like I am telling you something and they're going to count that which is why it's not always going to work. So just something to keep in mind. I wanted to point this out. If you were to use engram viewer for this and you see the results are very skewed and because it's using telling in other um other part as another part of speech. So let's make it even more difficult and uh let's see uh you can really practice your typing skills because this time I'm giving you the word and I want you to tell me the meaning. So, what is the meaning of this word? I will go ahead and read these example sentences down below to give you some context. And I just want you to write down the meaning of the word. So, she made a cogent argument for her case. His explanation was both cogent and thorough. And then finally, the lawyer presented a cogent summary. So, how would you define this word cogent? I think looking at the sentences, this is another good exercise when it comes to learning a language is um you know putting words and phrases into context and coming up with what you think might the meaning the meaning would be. So, think about how it's used in these sentences. a cogent argument or the explanation was cogent or a cogent summary. So convincing is I I think you're on the right track but not the word that I would probably use or even persuasive. Uh somebody had mentioned clear. I think that uh is better even though actually no I feel like convincing no it works. I'm trying to think because uh I haven't looked at this while as for what the exact meaning. I think all of you are right. Convincing, persuasive, clear. I think that would work. Uh I had forgot the what I had put as the meaning because I had just got this from the the dictionary of an argument or case. Yeah. Clear, logical, and convincing. A cogent summary, a cogent argument. when when I was uh hesitating on that because I feel like in my view when I was thinking of the word cogent the first thing that comes to my mind is clear that it's clear it's easy to understand in that case like clear and logical but as you can see convincing up there is also part of the meaning as well all right so maybe this was not as difficult as I thought it would be for you guys uh probably I hope maybe the uh sentences help. think? Again, this is not a word that it's not like I go out and use this word all the time, but let me give you some examples. The beauty of the sunset was ephemeural. Fame can be epheiral. That is a this is a good example sentence to try to put the meaning together. Or they enjoyed the epheiral moments of spring. What do you think this means? If you're describing, so there think about what the sentences are describing. Sunset ephemeural fame can be epheiral or these moments of spring. So because of that hopefully and I saw excellent some great answers, not lost lasting long, fleeting. I love that word. That's a great word. Temporary. Perfect. So if you want a short-lived Well, excellent. I like the I like your guys meaning. I like all of these even uh more than the dictionaries lasting for a very short time and I mentioned fame as a good example and you hear that expression somebody has their 15 minutes of fame something happens and all of a sudden the spotlight is on this person they have their 15 minutes of fame but it's epheiral and you know it's forgotten about after that and it's temporary it's not lasting for a very long time. So once again, I feel like in most of these situations, again, instead of using this word, people may use a phrase like uh short-lived or fleeting or just not not doesn't last long. And those are phrases that end up being more commonly used. But still, this is all about building your vocabulary. How about this? Ubiquitous. What do you think it means? This is actually a word that I have previously talked about in at least one other vocabulary lesson, quite possibly two other vocabulary lessons if you are an avid viewer of interactive English. Ubiquitous. Let me read the sentences for you. Nowadays, smartphones have become ubiquitous. Very true. Her laughter was as ubiquitous as her optimism. And finally, social media is ubiquitous in today's society. So if you want to describe something, and I think good examples would be like social media or smartphones because everyone has them or everyone's using it and they're on it all the time because it because just to use some of your uh meanings, it is everywhere. It is common place. It is all over. It is ubiquitous. present, appearing or found everywhere. That is the meaning of this word. And once again, it is a more advanced word, but still one that I I think you actually may come across this word from time to time. So, it's good to know uh especially for your comprehension. Don't feel like you need to go out and just okay, let me go out and use this word and try to comment and say, well, you know, McDonald's is ubiquitous. Um, but again, if it comes up in conversation, it is useful. I thought this was funny. Um, notice how how you hear the word ubiquitous being used everywhere. So again, trying to be funny that the meaning is everywhere even though it is not a word that of course is being used everywhere. It is a more descriptive precise word that you can still use if you want to describe something as ubiquitous. What do you think? Cander. What is the meaning of cander? She spoke with cander about her experiences or his cander earned him respect. I appreciate your cander on this matter. What do you think the meaning? And hopefully again you can use those sentences to kind of come up with the meaning putting it in a context. I like this activity when it comes to building your vocabulary. And this is another way to to test those skills and really get you get you thinking. It's a thinking activity. So cander, somebody speaks with cander or again it's a positive using it in a positive way. And yes, perfect, frank, open, honest. Uh those are all great synonyms. The quality of being honest and telling the truth. Cander. Keep in mind cander is a noun. Often you may I should say often. It's still another advanced adjective. Sometimes I'll say sometimes instead of often in or instead of using it as a noun, you may hear people use it as an adjective to describe someone who is being honest, who is being frank. And in that case, you could say they are candid. So just keep in mind candid as the adjective or cander as the noun. Once again I wanted to give you some context and I'll be honest I was surprised um with this not with ubiquitous. So just comparing those there is absolutely a difference as to which of these four words is more commonly used. Ubiquitous apparently it is everywhere especially compared to these other words. I was personally surprised that efferial was next. I thought cogent would be more commonly used. That's just that's just me. As far as some of those collocations, like a cogent argument or a cogent summary, I feel like that is an adjective that's sometimes used to describe different nouns. And cander as a noun, it I guess it doesn't surprise me, but like I said, a lot of times instead of somebody saying like, "Oh, I appreciate your cander." I might just use it as an adjective and say, "Oh, you know, I appreciate it. You you were very candid uh about what happened." Instead of saying honest, I'll say candid as an adjective. So, here are a list of these words. and uh just to use them quickly. I hope that I know v building your vocabulary can be a little daunting and maybe you feel like you're in a precarious situation. I hope not. But if that is the case, I hope that you remain unflapable and you are calm because you can watch more of my video lessons to get a cogent summary of different words and phrases and how they're used because I am vehement about helping you build your vocabulary. And I hope that my passion comes across and I hope that it's telling because some of these words that I teach you, some of them are ubiquitous and you can really use them and they are common and others like these maybe they're not as ubiquitous, but they're still good to know because it's all about improving your skills, improving your listening and reading comprehension, and just building your vocabulary a little bit at a time. So, if this lesson just if these words just blew your mind, um then uh let me know. You can hit that like button or write to me in the comments. I always love hearing from you. But I really appreciate you being here with me today. As always, I hope that you learned something new. Uh and again, if you did, you can let me know by hitting that like button. And if you want to get these lessons, check out that link down below in the description. But thank you so much for being here for the members. Vicki, Gustav, Lai, um great to see you all. Uh let's see who else. Ahmed, Julia, uh Rexi, thank you guys for for participating in the lesson. That is what it's all about. It's interactive English. That's what I want you to do when it comes to these lessons. So, I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you very soon for another lesson in --- ## 581. Super Confusing Words for English Learners | BUILD YOUR VOCABULARY | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `z8q4tvrmwKo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8q4tvrmwKo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:13:53 | --- english is full of confusing words like these first two words that i have for you between and among they're both prepositions but you're going to use between when you're you're talking about well two things or two people there's a one-on-one relationship use among when you're talking about well more than two and it's not really distinct so i i could say you know the information in this lesson let's keep that between you and me talking about a one-on-one relationship between you and me or there there's an idiom that is between a rock and a hard place this is talking about a difficult situation a rock a hard place you're between it it's it's not a good place to be it's a difficult situation now with a hmong i i know i told you to keep this information between you and me but i'd rather you share it among all of your friends so in that case i'm i'm talking about that group and you you may also hear people use amongst instead of among and they they mean the same thing i think it's more common to use among especially in the united states amongst it's a little bit of an older word but there are still some phrases statements in which people are likely to use amongst if you are in front of a group of people and maybe you're talking to them and you have to leave the room you could say talk amongst yourselves that is that is a statement that you may hear in which people may use amongst now between you and me if you truly want to build your vocabulary learn the difference between these confusing words i suggest you subscribe turn on notifications so that you learn about future lessons and i can become your english teacher my name is wes the channel interactive english that's what it's all about trying to help you improve and reach your fluency goals the next two confusing words that i have for you reluctant and reticent they're both adjectives but you're going to use reluctant to to refer to something that maybe you are hesitant to do or you're unwilling to do this thing use reticent when you're you're really talking about somebody's manner that they're shy or reserved so in that case i think it's more common that you're going to hear people use reluctant when when talking about things they're unwilling to do in general reticence go it's going to allow you to be more specific so maybe if we're talking about somebody shy to speak and they don't want to speak they're reluctant to speak then you could describe them as being a bit reticent because we know that they're a little shy um if i were talking about maybe a team that had to do a presentation and i could say well well she was reluctant to put together the presentation she was unwilling to do it maybe it was very difficult but then he was reticent to give the presentation so in that case i'm talking about well his his willingness to speak he was reticent he was shy he didn't really want to do it before we continue i want to take a moment to thank the sponsor of today's lesson which is italki and when you use italki you will always find a teacher that is right for you there are qualified teachers from all over the world sharing their languages their cultures their dialects and there are a lot of benefits to using italki i personally think that the greatest benefit is that these are one-on-one lessons which means that if you want to improve your pronunciation maybe you want to develop your writing skills or build your vocabulary well then you can do all of that because you are in control of your learning you also get to learn at your own pace you get professional feedback and you can practice for free with the italki community there is no subscription there's no commitment you just pay per lesson and right now when you click on the link below and sign up you have the chance to win free italki lessons twice a week for three months to learn more details don't hesitate to click on the link down in the description grab your chance to win some free lessons find an english teacher that's right for you and then you can take your english skills to the next level let's get back to our lesson of confusing english words and here are another couple of confusing words achieve and accomplish and these are great words to know so you're going to use achieve when talking about well you want to succeed in something if you use accomplish then that means well you've you've finished something often successfully so if i were to say like i want to achieve my goal it means that i i want to reach this point and i want to do it successfully that's a little different than if i say i accomplish my goal well then it's finished and well perhaps i i was successful think of it this way i always talk about trying to achieve english fluency that you want to be successful in in learning english and it's not something that you're probably ever going to finish so in that case i'm not going to use accomplish but if i'm talking about like a mission or a task well then i could say that i i want to accomplish this mission or maybe i already accomplished this mission it's done it's complete and i did what i needed to do then we have customers and clients so customers refer to people who who are buying a product or service and clients refer to people who need some type of professional support or help from another person or a company so i am going to to tell you i'm going to give you a situation uh talking about some people and i want you to think whether i'm talking about customers or clients i'll give you a moment and then i'll tell you the answer so if i am talking about well shopping at the mall those are customers if i need to hire a lawyer and i need to use their services then i am the client if a company uses services from another company then they would be this is a little tricky because you they could be either clients or customers so in some instances they may be used interchangeably it really just depends on the relationship maybe between these companies but that's another reason why they can be a bit confusing and finally if i were to talk about well people at a people at a restaurant those are customers yes those are customers here are another couple of confusing words figuratively and literally they're adverbs we use figuratively to refer to well using words or phrases in an imaginative way talking about something that that is not realistic you would use literally to talk about something that will is realistic something that happened so there's a phrase that people might use with figuratively and they may say figuratively speaking at the beginning of their statement and then go on to say something that is not realistic figuratively speaking people were kicking down the doors to buy the new iphone so it's not realistic it's just an example and people would do this really kind of to emphasize their statement if i want to use literally and this does happen maybe you're you're talking with a friend about another friend and that person shows up and you say hey we were literally just talking about you so this was realistic it happened the reason why these words may be confusing is because people use literally instead of figuratively and i know that may seem a little strange because their meaning is it's pretty much the opposite and i there are people who say this is incorrect this should not happen but you should be aware that this this is something that occurs in spoken english somebody might say something like i i literally have not slept in weeks of course that's not true it's not realistic but they they may use literally just to try and emphasize the fact that they have not been sleeping at all or i could say people have literally been kicking down the doors to buy the new iphone so once again i'm talking about something that's not realistic but i'm using literally instead of figuratively this is something that happens quite often in spoken english and i i'm even guilty of doing this from time to time then we have these confusing abbreviations eg versus ie and it's something that people will often confuse in writing they may even confuse it in spoken english if people say these abbreviations but you're going to use eg in order to mean for example you're going to use ie it's it's like saying that is to say or it's even interchangeable with specifically so let me try to make it a little easier for you to understand if i were to say something like i've been trying to eat more foods that are high in protein eg tuna broccoli chicken i'm really just giving an example of some of the things that i'm eating if i if i were to say well the hotels downtown they raised their price during the high season ie may to august now i'm specifically talking about that time period may to august let me give you a couple of statements and you tell me if we should use eg or ie if i were to say the restaurant is closed once a week on mondays all right in that case you should use ie because we're talking specifically about mondays how about um there are many chores that i have to do during the week take out the trash mop the floor uh clean the living room okay you should have said eg because once again i'm giving just examples of some of the chores that i have to do so just just really keep that in mind eg is used to just give some examples i.e is much more specific you were talking about something that is specifically happening or some specific information and then we have these two confusing words consecutive and concurrent and i think they may be confused mostly because of well the spelling and they kind of sound like they might be the same word but they have different meanings you're going to use consecutive to talk about will something that happens one after the other without interruption and you use concurrent to talk about well things that are happening at the same time so i could say that the city experienced consecutive heat waves there was a heat wave and once it ended without interruption another one started or if i were to use concurrent i could say well the country is experiencing concurrent heat waves that there are different heat waves happening across the country at the same time it's concurrent so just remember they're two different meanings consecutive one after the other without interruption concurrent it means happening at the same time i hope that these words are now a little less confusing for you i hope you learned something new if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 582. Super Confusing Words? | Useful HOMONYMS explained | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rH40nadmuMs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH40nadmuMs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:01:24 | --- so I want you to listen carefully there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't if you are confused right now then that is because of homonyms and I promise that that by the end of this lesson you will not be confused anymore so let's talk about homonyms like these two words right here flower and flower so homonyms are words that that are pronounced the same or maybe they're spelled the same as another word but they have a different meaning and flower and flower you can hear that they are pronounced the same but you can see that they are not spelled the same and they do not have the same meaning all of the words that I'm going to teach you in this lesson are like this to be exact they're called homophones but homophones those are a type of homonym I'm also giving you the phonetic spelling and the IPA so that you can actually see the pronunciation I think that'll make it a little bit easier for you and I'll tell you the different meanings as well and if we're talking about this flower well then that is one that you might find in a garden or in a park it has a very pleasant smell and this other flower well that is referring to that fine powder that you might use for cooking like if you're baking a cake then we have these two words right here addition and Edition all right good words to know so the words have have three syllables and that first and third syllable you can hear that schwa sound that uh sound the tion is pronounced as shun and the syllable stress comes before it on the second syllable addition if we're talking about this Edition well then we're referring to adding numbers together like in math and this other Edition would be talking about like a book or a newspaper or a magazine being published and there might be different editions then we have click and click so this first click I think is is more common it's the verb to click to click on something think about a computer you might uh click on a link I hope all of you click on that like button and and show me a little bit of love the next click that q-u-e it does it has that k sound but it's referring to a a small exclusive group of people and what what I would say is maybe think about like high school that's how I think it's commonly used talking about young people they have their exclusive group of friends and you might refer to it as a click I don't think this word is often used to reference or talk about adults then we have these two homonyms right here patience and patience these words have two syllables the the stress is on that first syllable and notice both words that have that t-i-e which is pronounced with that schwa sound patience and in this word patience the t is going to be silent and this refers to well a person who is under medical care or getting some type of medical treatment and this patience refers to the ability to weight and not be annoyed by something especially if there is a delay and you could say somebody has patience moose and you guessed it moose all right these words are homonyms and you you may be familiar with uh this moose that large mammal that's part of the deer family and this other moose is talking about that that creamy and foamy dessert and it's actually a French word because the dessert it comes from France and in French it means like like froth or foamy which is what gives it its second meaning in English because you could talk about moose referring to a foamy substance that somebody could use for for styling their hair like right now um I actually I did not use any mousse I did use a little bit of gel but but not mousse the next set of homonyms metal and metal so both of these words it's going to end with that dark Arc L that o and you're not going to release it at the end but but these words are homonyms in in American English mostly because if we're talking about that t in metal it's going to be a flap T which is going to sound more like a soft D sound and the reason that we're going to use a flap T is because it comes between two vowel sounds so um I'm from the United States so I would pronounce it as metal which then means it's also it's a homonym with the verb to metal so metal the noun which is the one with the t is talking about an element like like gold or silver that is generally hard and strong and metal the verb to metal it means that you are getting involved in a situation in which um well you have not been asked to be involved and to share your opinion and you could hear somebody talk about meddling in somebody else's business or meddling in someone else is personal affairs to metal then we have horse and horse so this horse very well known the animal that people can ride around on I don't know if you have ever ridden on a horse but this next horse it's a good this is a good word hopefully you're building your vocabulary and it allows you to be a little more specific because it's talking about this the sound of a person's voice so if somebody sounds hoarse it means that that their voice sounds a bit rough possibly because they have a cold so you could hear somebody in choir and say your voice it sounds a little hoarse do you have a cold are you feeling okay then we have principle and principle these two words I think are commonly confused so hopefully we'll we'll clear this up right now of course both words sound the same so they have three syllables the stress is on the first syllable that second and third syllable you'll hear that schwa sound principle principle so these words are confusing because they have multiple meanings and I think this is especially important in your writing because of course you you want to make sure that you are using the correct one so if we're talking about this Principle as a noun it refers to a person who is the leader of a school a school has a principle if we're going to use this word as an adjective well then it just means that something that is very important I could talk about the principal reason for for doing something if we're talking about this Principle as a noun it could refer to like a basis of conduct and you say that someone has principles or it could be used to refer to like um like a set of rules that that explain how we should do something or what's happening that you want to follow these principles then we have Gorilla and gorilla these words have three syllables that that first and third syllable you'll hear that schwa sound and the stress is on the second syllable gorilla gorilla and this gorilla refers to that that giant ape perhaps you have seen a gorilla at the zoo and this other gorilla it's a noun it's talking about like a member of an unofficial military group and the the group of people together you would say they are gorillas the next set of homonyms core and core and I'm sure that one word you're thinking what wait a second that sounds nothing like the way it's spelled well the reason reason for that it's it's like you have that that pns you don't even hear it the other thing I would say about this word is that it is singular you see that S I think people might think that it is a plural noun but it's singular so let me let me explain why this is pronounced core so the origin of this word it comes from Latin Corpus which means body now this word was borrowed from French as well as the pronunciation core which is why you don't hear the p and the s so if we're talking about the this core it refers to the central part of something like the Earth's core and this core refers to a military organization kind of like that that body that organization that body the Army Core then we have sweet and Sweet I'm sure you may like this one word like I do sweet it is talking about a flavor something that's sugary I really enjoy foods that are sweet and this other sweet that s-u-i it is pronounced like sweet sweet and that is because it's another word that's been borrowed from French and it refers to a set of connected rooms like that you might find at a hotel a hotel suite then we have these three words C's C's and C's okay you have that long e and it ends with that z sound so C's well this is just talking about like the ocean this sea these the verb to look at something and really talking about it in the third person like he sees or she sees and then this other verb to sees something means to grab a hold of it suddenly okay so now that you have a much better understanding of homonyms let's go back to that riddle I told you at the beginning of the lesson there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't think about which word is a homonym there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens okay the word eight is a homonym we could be talking about well the number eight or the verb to eat in the past tense which is eight and that that was the word I was saying all along there are 30 cows in a field and 28 chickens how many didn't the answer of course is ten I I know you're probably thinking well wait a second cows don't eat chickens of course they don't it's just a riddle but it's it's a fun little way to to introduce and talk about homonyms if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 583. Super Descriptive Adjectives to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `eZwxIdz-1Kc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZwxIdz-1Kc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:12:08 | --- i want to teach you some super descriptive adjectives related to the five senses sight hearing smell touch taste and i want to teach you some common collocations words that are frequently used with these adjectives and i promise you will learn something new my name is wes the channel is interactive english that's what it's all about just trying to help you improve your english skills and always learn new things so let's start with sight because i think quite often we want to describe the things we see and the first adjective that i have for you is uncanny uncanny means that something is strange or mysterious in kind of a a surprising way you could say somebody has an uncanny ability to do something like an uncanny ability to pick the winner it's very surprising or it could be strange and mysterious because it's unsettling maybe i'd say you have an uncanny resemblance to my father that's another collocation with this word to say that somebody has an uncanny resemblance to someone else then we have dilapidated it's a very descriptive word and usually you might describe a structure as dilapidated and what it means is just old or in poor condition so you could say that the building is dilapidated or the bridge is dilapidated maybe in your town there might be an area where some of the buildings are dilapidated give up the condo life give up all your flaming worldly possessions you'll live in a dilapidated house in the toxic waste part of town then we have the word gruesome which means that something is unpleasant or shocking and often it's related to death or injury and that's also a collocation with this adjective you could say it was a gruesome death or maybe you're watching some police show and they describe a scene and they say oh it was a gruesome scene then we have a word which is more well it's more positive than gruesome and that is mesmerizing if you say that something is mesmerizing it means that it is attractive in in kind of a mysterious way and you just cannot take your eyes off of it so you could maybe describe somebody's eyes as mesmerizing and you just want to keep looking at their eyes or maybe you could say that you were mesmerized by the performance i hope that you are mesmerized by this video lesson and then we have hazy so hazy means just well not clear but you could use it in two different ways you could use it to talk about the weather and it's not clear because of the heat and you'd say well it's a little hazy outside or you might use it to describe uh your memory and in that case you're saying well it's not clear you don't remember it very well you can't really put a picture up here in your mind and see things it's it's just hazy my memory is a bit hazy now as you learn new vocabulary i think it's important that you try to practice using these words and phrases and i think the best way to do that is just with conversation and if you'd like to get more speaking practice maybe improve your pronunciation learn more about grammar then i'd recommend you check out lingoda which is the sponsor of today's lesson and lingoda is an online language school where you can learn english business english spanish german or french and right now lingoda is getting ready to have their biggest promotion of the year if you click on my exclusive link in the description you can get 40 off your course fee but first let me tell you why i think lingoda can help you reach your fluency goals these are small group classes which means you'll have plenty of opportunities to speak classes are available 24 7 so you can pretty much customize your learning schedule they have qualified teachers with a proven curriculum you get to design your course because once you're placed at your level based on your needs then you get to choose which topics you'd like to cover you can study from home which is a very comfortable learning environment and there are cash back rewards which is an excellent way to stay motivated i know this because i have also studied at lingoda you can see me right there taking some lessons in spanish and it really helped me improve my speaking confidence as well as my pronunciation two things that i really wanted to work on so if you are ready to invest in yourself and have more work opportunities maybe communicate easily with others when traveling or even just for your own personal enrichment you can do all that when you click on the link in the description and take advantage of this incredible offer because once you click on that link you can get forty percent off all marathon courses or forty percent off the first month of a monthly subscription once you click on the link and sign up you don't need to do anything else the discount is automatically applied and if you're still unsure there's no harm in signing up because each plan includes a seven day free trial so click on the link in the description and sign up to start improving your english invest in your education invest in your future and invest in yourself let's get back to our lesson with more super descriptive adjectives and i want to talk to you about hearing and the next word that i have for you is faint and if you're describing something as faint it means that it is not strong or clear and you may refer to like a faint noise or a faint sound or maybe something whispers and really what you're saying is that it it just you're not able to hear it well enough to know exactly what it is it's just it's a very faint noise and kind of the opposite of that is piercing and piercing would be talking about well something that you hear that is high and loud and unpleasant if there maybe is just this really loud ringing and you could say it's just it's a piercing sound when my alarm goes off in the morning it's just this very annoying piercing sound then we have raspy which means unpleasantly rough okay and often i think you would use this word to describe someone's voice they have a raspy voice for example what about this joker guy one man or the entire mob he can wait when the new d.a hears about this he'll win do you trust him i really don't know why they gave batman such a raspy voice but it is a great great example for teaching this word then we have thud and and thud is talking about the sound that's made when something heavy falls and and hits something else and often i think you might use it with the word loud and say that you heard a loud thud and the other thing i would say about this word is i think people would use it when they don't see what it is that's falling and they just hear the sound and say oh i heard a loud thud like this one here's another thud okay we don't know what it is but we heard it and we could say there was a loud thud vociferous it's a great word and you would use it to describe a person because what it means is that someone is expressing their opinions or complaints loudly and repeatedly so you could describe perhaps a vociferous opponent or talk about someone's vociferous demands if i were just like yelling at you loudly subscribe to the channel hit that like button do it right now i'm not going to take no for an answer those would be my vociferous demands but i i don't want to yell that at you i want to ask you politely please subscribe hit that like button i just wanted to give you an example of what vociferous means now let's talk about smell and a couple of these words could also be used to describe someone's taste like this first one which is overpowering so overpowering just means that it's it's extremely strong or intense if you smell something that's just overpowering and and really that's all you can smell open grave smoothies get them out quickly the stench is overpowering you could also use the word heavenly to talk about both smell and taste and it just means that something is giving great pleasure when talking about smell i think you would often use it with the word aroma aroma refers to a pleasant smell so if you say that something is a heavenly aroma you're really just giving it a bit more emphasis next we have putrid it's kind of the opposite of heavenly and if you say that something is putrid it just means that it's rotting and really has an unpleasant smell so you could say that there's a putrid odor or a putrid smell or maybe a putrid garbage can just really unpleasant then we have the word toxic toxic just means poisonous so if you smell something that you would describe as toxic then you just need to get the hell out of there eyes forward back straight and oh yes read in the toxic fumes and you'll probably die toxic fumes and then there's the adjective musty which means that something is smelling unpleasantly old or and slightly wet so you could say that it's just like a musty room or maybe um you're talking about some musty old books and people will often use that phrase to describe something musty old something that's just it's unpleasant maybe a little wet a little damp and it's just a musty old smell let's talk about words to describe the things we touch like slick and if you say that something is slick it means that it is well smooth and maybe shining and that that you tend to slide when walking or riding on it so i could say that that the roads are slick because of the ice then we have filthy which means extremely dirty and you could also use this word to talk about things that you see but if we're referring to touch then maybe you might slide your finger along something and it's really dirty and you could say oh this is filthy next is the adjective lukewarm i really like this one it's just saying that that something is slightly warm especially a liquid so perhaps i'm talking about maybe the shower and say yeah the shower is just it's just a little lukewarm so so somebody knows what to expect that the water is just slightly warm you're gonna leave me here with a floundering career in a lukewarm americano mushy great word it means that something is soft and has no firm shape and you would probably use this word talking about things you might be touching with your hands if you're preparing food and maybe some meat that that is mushy yes and then there's cuddly cuddly is just talking about something that you'd want to really wrap your arms around in a caring and affectionate way maybe you're talking about a cuddly stuffed animal like this one right here which my daughter calls huggy yes stuffed animals they can be cuddly and then there's taste and i want to teach you this adjective right here subtle which means that something is not bright or loud or noticeable or obvious in any way you could also use this adjective to talk about well hearing or something you might see but if we're talking about taste you would use this generally in a positive way and you're describing some something that you're eating that has a subtle hint of something else like a subtle hint of cinnamon or a subtle hint of oregano so that's a good phrase to learn a subtle hint of something then we have strong which i think is also used when talking about smell but it means that that maybe a taste is very noticeable and powerful and you could describe maybe a cheese a blue cheese as having a strong taste or coffee that is a common collocation if somebody's talking about strong coffee pet arabian is strong coffee pungent this is one of my favorite adjectives from the list and you could also use this to to talk about smell but what it means is that something is smelling or tasting very strong and sharp and often i think you would use it to describe something that you find disagreeable so i could say that that a durian has a pungent taste and i also think it has a pungent smell then there's savory we can use this adjective to talk about food with with a salty or spicy taste not not a sweet one so pretzels garlic bread beef jerky i could describe those as savory and then there's succulent which means pleasantly juicy and there's a wide range of foods that you could describe as succulent ranging from strawberries to steaks there's a lot there's a lot of food that i would say is succulent that looks positively succulent i hope that you learned some new and descriptive words and collocations in this lesson if you did let me know write the word mesmerizing down in the comments that way i know that you learned something new you enjoyed the lesson you just you could not take your eyes off this lesson that's all for now thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 584. Super USEFUL EXPRESSIONS for your next conversation (30-minute Lesson) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fz8BNxx8SYg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz8BNxx8SYg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:02:49 | --- let's learn some super useful English expressions for casual conversation and I think these expressions are going to help you add a little more flavor to your discussions if you're talking to a friend a colleague a family member now this is a quiz lesson so I would like you to participate write your answers in the chat or in the comments and if you'd like to get the lesson notes join my email Community Check out the link Down Below in the description if you're already a part of it I have sent them to you all right now so one thing I do want I would like to introduce myself if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary and learning new words phrases and expressions Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so this lesson is not just passive learning you don't have to just sit there and watch I I want you to participate there have been allegations of corruption I bet this is just the tip what how would you complete that expression I'm giving you part of it the tip this is I think a common expression that you probably know you may even actively use it already it may be a part of your active vocabulary but to try and give you some context there have been Al allegations of Corruptions corruption and somebody says well I bet this is just the tip how would you complete this expression and I think giving the the first part the tip is is a little bit of a hint and yes we are talking about the tip of the iceberg and I don't know if you noticed this is a politician in the background uh Senator Menendez and yeah I feel like when when talking about corruption and politics I think usually whatever you know whatever information you have it's probably just the tip of the iceberg which means a small noticeable part of a problem and even though the total size which is really much greater and the example sentence yeah there have been allegations of corruption but I bet this is just the tip of the iceberg to give you a visual because I'm a visual learner when thinking about an iceberg you can kind of see well up top what people see that small noticeable portion and then down below what is hidden there's more to it so for example they say well you see someone's Behavior but there's all this other stuff underneath which is actually uh a bigger part of who the person is their values their beliefs their worldview the things that you don't readily see so if you want to say that well there you can only see a small part of something that's much greater you could say it's just the tip of the iceberg here is your next question I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth but I decided to give doubt what do you think this is a I think a very useful expression and we're talking about to give M and then the the final word is doubt I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth but I decided to give doubt uh this is one that I'm sure you've heard and once again maybe you actively use it I tried to choose Expressions that I think are a bit more common excellent great job uh Loi J janatul uh to give someone the benefit of the doubt I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth but I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt this means that you're choosing to believe what someone tells you even though it may be wrong or maybe it's a lie I wasn't sure if someone was telling the truth but I decided to to believe what they were saying and I could say yeah I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and how about what do you think this one is maybe a bit more challenging I feel like I always get the M stick when my family decides who is going to do which chore I feel like I always get the the M stick when my family decides who's going to do which chore so to get the and the last word is stick and notice the chore I put somebody cleaning the toilets it's not a chore that I think well many people enjoy doing or want to do I know I would rather do the dishes than clean the toilet but if somebody they have to do this and you could say that they get the short end of the stick so if somebody is getting the short end of the stick this just means that they they end up in a worse position than other people in a particular situation even though it's not their fault so perhaps somebody is selected at random and you basically have to do something that nobody wants to do and you get the short end of the stick such as like well if somebody gets the short end of the stick and they have to clean the toilet when deciding who's going to do which Family chore I believe believe this may come from people when they try to make a decision like who's going to do something and they have all these sticks and they break them up and somebody has to choose whoever gets the shortest stick is the person that has to do the task or the thing that nobody wants to do and you get the short end of the stick I believe this is where this expression comes from to give you a little more context because these are casual Expressions most of the time you're just going to hear hear here and use them in informal conversation however you may still come across them in a more formal context such as a news article and even though this is more casual I've given you some news headlines using this expression Zim government I believe they're talking about the Zimbabwe government restrained and carefree in its spending civil servants get short end of the stick or land owners may get short end of the stick and finally Blue Jay's Prospect get short end of the stick as many are absent from MLB pipeline top 100 now once again you're probably not going to come across this as much in writing if you're reading a news article or a book but it is something that you're you're more likely to use in conversation I would say that that goes for all of these Expressions what do you think of the next one she plans to keep running she's m wind so the expression it it ends ends with the word wind once again I think this is a useful expression that I think you can use quite often in in a specific situation so in this context someone's going to keep running but and and maybe it's difficult and they're just going to keep going and they would you say oh gosh I'm about to say it she is M wind I think once I tell you you probably May recognize it or think oh yes I I I'm familiar with uh this expression so the the expression that we're looking for is to get your second win or to get for for someone to get their second win so in this situation somebody's running and they're very tired but they get their second win they get the energy to keep going so you have this return of strength or energy that makes it possible to continue an activity or start again if you stopped doing an activity a lot of times I feel like this is used when you're exhausted and you're tired but then you you have this energy to keep going or to stay awake and you're getting your second win for example sometimes at night if I'm working late I might be really tired and then instead of going to bed I'm say okay I think I'm getting my second win and I'm going to continue working or maybe you fly somewhere and you travel somewhere and once again you're tired but you've landed and you're like okay I'm going to stay up I have this again this other this return to strength and I'm getting my second win here is a funny example think this oh these raccoons when you're tired but you get a second win and of course this raccoon looks like like it looks like he's up to no good and I don't think it's a good thing if a raccoon is getting a second win so a great phrase in case this is one that you may be unfamiliar with how about this one your eyes for any changes in the schedule so I'm giving you part of the expression your eyes I know this is challenging because you're really some with some of these sentences I'm not giving you much context M your eyes for any changes in the schedule so you're giving this command which I think is often how this expression is used M your eyes what do you think I'm telling somebody to look pay attention I want you to be aware and I would like you to keep your eyes peeled keep your eyes peeled for any changes in the schedule now I saw somebody said keep your eyes open that that also works I I would say if you say hey tell somebody hey keep your eyes open and look for something be aware that also works you could use again in this case the expression keep your eyes peeled for any changes in the schedule or I'll give you another example because this is one that I would often use but again it means to watch carefully for someone or something if I'm driving and maybe I'm looking looking for a gas station if somebody else is in the car with me I might tell them hey look keep your eyes peeled for a gas station and look for one so that we can pull over and get some gas so once again keep in mind I told you that often you may use this as more of a command you're telling somebody look keep your eyes peeled for this thing but you could use open I don't want to say that's incorrect and I'll even give you another one that I was unfamiliar with which is more British English keep your eyes skinned it says informal British but it means to look or watch closely in order to see or find something before this lesson I was unaware of this phrase but so you learn something new every day keep your eyes peeled keep your eyes skin but to give you a little context if we want to if you want to know which one is more frequently used this is a great opportunity you can go to engram viewer this is a resource that you can compare the frequency of different words and phrases and as you can see it's much more common to say keep your eyes peeled keep your eyes peeled for this or that and yes if you are in the US that is the that is the expression you want to use keep your eyes peeled for something I'm switching it up a little bit now I'm giving you the meaning and I want you to think of the expression use the picture to help you so I've Cho I've chosen picture that kind of really capture the the idiom or the expression so the meaning is to not completely believe something that you are told because you think it is unlikely to be true what what do you think what expression can I use that has this meaning don't completely believe it because you know it may not be true what should you do look at the picture and I think this one I I thought it might I thought it might have been fairly easy or at least a little easier when you're talking about this expression yes excellent uh this is some great answers to take something with a grain of salt a lot of times the something is going to be it like you're talking about uh a story and you say look I'd take it with a grain of salt or you read something in the newspaper or on Facebook and okay just take it with a grain of salt once again in British English you may hear people use pinch instead of grain uh but I just wanted to give you some example sentences using this expression uh I already mentioned when you see something on Facebook and yes I definitely think this is true you should take it with a grain of salt now I always I always try to take everything with a grain of salt I think that is a healthy thing to do especially nowadays with you have you know social media a lot of information that's really not that great it may not be true or it's incomplete so I think it's always good to take things with a grain of salt and uh another thing maybe you don't you don't have to trust me you should take what I say with a grain of salt that final example sentence so that's another way that uh I that you may hear people use it I said to take it with a grain of salt or in the next sentence to take everything with a grain of salt or to take what someone says with a grain of salt and it's kind of like your advising someone uh when it comes to this how about this expression right here use the picture to come up with the expression the meaning is to do things in the wrong order what is someone doing in this situation if someone is doing something in the wrong order of course you could just say look you're just doing this in the wrong order but if you want to use an expression and you want to capture this idea you could tell someone this you are doing what and once again I feel like this image really captures the the the expression so looking at it what's going on in this picture you're doing things in the wrong order in that case you are putting the cart before the horse so once again of course you could say something look you know you're doing this in you're doing this all in the wrong order but you might want to you could emphasize tellone something look you're you're putting the cart before the horse you you should be doing the other thing before you do this to try to provide a a little more clarity when it comes to this here are some examples of when you might be putting the cart before the horse so you're putting the cart before the horse if you start decorating a new office before you get the promotion and in that case yes you are putting the cart before the horse or you're putting the cart before the horse if you you book your honeymoon vacation before you propose not a good idea I think you definitely you should propose first and then think about the honeymoon if you do it the other way around you're putting the cart before the horse and finally you're putting the cart before the horse if you start selling a product before it is tested once again you're doing things in the wrong order you should test things and then sell the product but if you don't do that you could tell someone look you're putting the cart before the horse Great Expression here's another one that I think uh maybe it's a little more aggressive depends on the situation and the context again the picture I think really is um very specific when it comes to this the meaning is to show to show by your actions and not just your words words that you support or believe something so in this situation maybe I want to tell someone I don't want to I don't want to hear what you're saying because let let's see your actions let's see you do this thing and I want you to do what the picture I think can really help you in this case because this this gentleman right here what is he doing he's putting his money where uh his mouth is to put your money where your mouth is I told you that this may be I a little more aggressive but it's like if somebody's just talking like I'm going to do this or this is easy and you want to say okay let's see you do it don't just talk about it let's see your actions let's see you do it I want you to put your money where your mouth is or you could just say tell somebody as like a Command put your money where your mouth is a lot of times people would follow this up and they might want to bet the person and say let's see you put your money where your mouth is I'll bet you $100 that you cannot do this thing so think about that context that situation because language learning should be fun here is a little comic uh in in which case this person is saying they say put your money where your mouth is so I'm making a salad out of $100 bills it's like they're taking the ex the expression literally as far as putting the money where your mouth is and making a salad out of this uh out of this money so here is the next one what do you think to depend for your success on a single person or plan of action what is if somebody is doing this and this is the situation what expression has this meaning and once again I I I don't know if you all find this more challenging than the first part or a little more difficult I thought maybe it might be a little easier with these pictures because the picture is like almost literally what the expression is you're depending uh your success depends on maybe a single action or a plan of action and this is not a good thing and in that case excellent uh LLY Joanna Manuel you are putting all your eggs in one basket to put all your eggs in one basket means that yes you're just depending on maybe one thing when you probably should uh diversify would be uh a good way of putting it so here are some example sentences to give you a little more context investing all your savings in one stock is risky you're putting all your eggs in one basket or the next one I wouldn't recommend applying to only one college you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket sometimes you're going to hear people use this with the negative like you're giving someone advice and you in that case you're going to use it the negative say look don't put all your eggs in one basket you should do more things uh apply to more colleges buy more stocks instead of just one don't put all your eggs in one basket and then finally she's been relying on one client for most of her business she's definitely putting all her eggs in one basket so keep in mind typically this is more of a negative uh when you have have all your eggs in one basket it is a risky situation and that is why I said I think often people may use it with the negative in advising someone look don't put all your eggs in one basket here's the next one the person who arrives first in a place is most likely to get what they want what expression has this meaning and you can use that picture to try to think about okay what expression is this the person who arrives first in a place is most likely to get what they want and I feel like this is like a saying that you're you're telling somebody look you should arrive first because yeah you're going to get the thing that you want and you would tell this person the early bird catches the worm early bird catches the worm you arrive first you're going to get what you want so basically it's kind of saying that if you wake up earlier if you're really active probably like I guess in the morning then you're going to achieve your goals you're going to get what you want and you may say this to someone if the next morning like we got to get up early we got to get going we got to start because the early bird catches the worm I thought this was funny again this little meme you see this this bird right here kind of clutching like yes I slept in and I still caught that worm yes that was great and it's always uh I guess it's always a good thing it's always reason to cheer if you're able to sleep in and still catch that worm and achieve your goal for the day what do you think this is this is a common expression it's one that I I think most of you know many of you probably actively use it but it means to imagine how someone else feels in a difficult situation use the picture think about the the expression you're imagining well how is this person feel in this situation or I'm trying to think about it and be a little more possibly sympathetic to what someone else is going through or dealing with and you could tell someone look look you need to put yourself in their shoes to put yourself in someone's shoes is just imagining how someone else feels in a difficult situation now there there are other Expressions that you can use that really have the same meaning and you could put yourself in someone's shoes or you could say someone else's shoes you you'd often hear else's with this expression or to put yourself in someone's place or to put yourself in someone's position so I've given you some example sentences with each of those you should be kinder when considering others and put yourself in their shoes once in a while or to put yourself in someone's place if we're having a conversation and I say look put yourself in my place what else could I have done all right what should I have done in this situation I don't know just put yourself in my place or put yourself in someone's position if I maybe you're encouraging me to exaggerate in a job interview and I don't feel comfortable and I like look okay this could be problems like I'm not going to lie in the job interview it's wrong you know put yourself in my position all right think about my situation and put yourself in my position so all of these again are really have the same meaning trying to say look you should be more sympathetic as to what someone else is going through we've already talked about Ingram viewer this is another great example of we have these different phrases and you want to know okay which one do which one is am I more likely to come across or use when I'm having a conversation uh I put these in engram viewer and it was very close basically to put yourself in my place and put yourself in my shoes are are used at about the you know the same frequency you're going to come across them uh fairly uh well regularly and then the the other one to put yourself in my position is not as often used but still one that you may come across so it's good to to be aware of and know all of these so here is a little review these are all the Expressions that we just talked about today if you learn something new you can let me know by hitting that like button that is my goal with all of these lessons I just hope you learn something new so that you can continue building your vocabulary --- ## 585. Super Useful American Expressions | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rdZmbSNORKc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdZmbSNORKc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:13:27 | --- let's talk about some super useful american expressions they're very common in the united states which is where i am from and the first expression that i have for you is to err on the side of caution and what this means is that you are going to be especially careful when making a decision you don't want to make a mistake so you're not going to do something that would be very risky you're going to be very careful you're going to err on the side of caution one thing i will say about this expression is that the first word you may hear some people pronounce it as er to er on the side of caution however i think in the united states most people are going to say air to air on the side of caution i would say to you i hope that you err on the side of caution go ahead subscribe to the channel turn on notifications so that you'll learn about future lessons and then i can become your english teacher my name is wes that's what interactive english is all about trying to help you achieve your fluency goals the next expression is one that that i use quite often and that is to play it by ear so what this means is that when you say let's play it by ear it means that you do not want to make decisions about what will happen you're going to wait and see how how things unfold so you really don't want to plan in advance you're going to play it by ear and when i'm when i'm traveling sometimes i don't like to have a fixed plan i just want to see what happens throughout the day and then i'll make a decision as to what i'm going to do next yeah i like to play it big ear let's play it by ear so when are you getting back from florida i don't know played by you why geez the pick and the poke itinerary is just great now they've worked it out to the exact minute you won't miss a thing honey why don't we just forget the pig in the poke itinerary and play it by ear before we continue i would like to thank the sponsor of today's lesson which is skillshare and skillshare is an online learning community where you can take thousands of classes which means that you can explore and discover so many different things that you would like to learn more about when i joined skillshare i took a class by thomas frank on how to improve productivity i've also taken classes on stocks and trading because that's just something that i'm interested in and i'd like to follow up on that point because of course you can take classes in english if you want to build your vocabulary or learn more about grammar but what i would recommend is that you explore some classes that interest you like like travel or design or cooking because that way you can practice and improve your english as you learn about one of your passions and right now skillshare has a special offer for all of you the first 1000 people to click on the link in the description will get a one month free trial of skillshare so you can start exploring your creativity today so click on the link in the description to get your free trial take some online classes learn more english and learn more about well just about anything else that you'd like to learn about now let's get back to the lesson on some of those useful and common american expressions which i i think are really going to help you in just casual conversation and the next one that i have is i hear you i hear you so this is an expression that people will use when they're trying to empathize with somebody else and they're kind of maybe you're you're listening to another person's problem and you want to empathize with them and you'd say yeah yeah i hear you and most of the time i think people they're going to pronounce you with that schwa yeah i hear you i hear you we don't have as much money as you okay i hear you we can talk about that then we have the expression close but no cigar and what this means is that a person falls short of a successful outcome and therefore they get no reward so it's believed that the origin of this expression comes from well fairgrounds a long time ago people would participate in in games and activities and if they win they would get a cigar and if they didn't win then the person running the game or activity would say close but no cigar are these diamond deep nope diamond down nope like diamond damn close but no cigar just plain diamond sooner rather than later so this expression really comes from the binomial pair sooner or later which means that something is going to happen in the future you just don't know when so sooner rather than later it's kind of just being a little more specific and you're saying that something is going to happen in the immediate future closer to now than at a later date so i could say well right now the the door handle in our home one of the door handles it's it's a it's broken it probably is going to fall off if we don't fix it so i think we need to fix it sooner rather than later stannis baratheon is coming for us sooner rather than later you're gonna run out i guess the sooner rather than later painful detox is inevitable then we have an accident waiting to happen this expression was coined in the united states and it really means what it says it refers to a person thing or situation that is likely going to cause an accident so maybe there is some really old bridge that has been neglected and it looks a little dangerous to cross you could say this old bridge is an accident waiting to happen or if somebody were to just leave like a box in the middle of the floor and somebody could easily trip over it you could say well this this is an accident waiting to happen i had a smoke and i think i might have lit something that i don't know what happened he put so much goddamn lacquer on that thing it was an accident waiting to happen the next expression is in and of itself and what this refers to is something well on its own or by its very nature and you may hear people use it in well one of two places perhaps at the end of a statement i could say well taking care of a child is a full-time job in and of itself on its own that's a full-time job or people may use it after the subject so i think flying is stressful you have to check your bags go through security wait at the gate get on the plane and using it after the subject i could say flying in and of itself is stressful but the rest of the vacation it's it should be very relaxing summoning the brother in court i probably hope that that's a sad commentary in and of itself elizabeth do you think this is actionable oh polonium in and of itself is improved then we have throw a wrench in the works or you may hear people say throw a monkey wrench in the works and if somebody says this what it means is well something that prevents an activity or plan from succeeding i could say well the project ran out of money and that really threw a wrench in the works because we're not able to finish the project now you you could also use this expression saying well to throw a wrench into something so maybe something well throws a wrench into your plans this bad weather really it threw a wrench into our plans or maybe well the attack threw a wrench into the peace negotiations that it was going to prevent these negotiations from being successful so just be aware that you can use this expression in different ways okay here we go you know what i don't want to throw a wrench into the works but i want everything to be perfect baby's fingernails are just bothering me were you expecting to have detective boyle on your team have i thrown a wrench into your plan i really like the next expression because i like to use it and that is not buying it and what it means is that just you're not willing to believe or accept that something is the truth if maybe you're at work you're talking to one of your colleagues and they say oh the boss called in sick again you say yeah i'm not buying it now i think most of the time people are going to say it because whatever you're talking about what you're referring to is known it's obvious and you just say hey i'm not buying it i don't believe this is true you may hear people actually be more specific and say what it is as uh a teacher might tell a student say yeah i'm not buying that the dog ate your homework okay i'm just not buying it and you could also use this in the affirmative especially if you're talking about expressing disbelief so you you tell somebody something and maybe it's not true but they believe it and then you say well i can't believe i can't believe they bought it i honestly think i helped him more than he helped me i'm not buying any of that no i told my uncle i had a stomach ache tonight you think he bought that yeah he probably bought it the next expression is jump on the bandwagon i i think this is pretty common especially referring to like trends or or talking about sports because what it means is that you are either joining an activity because it's become very popular or you're changing your opinion about something because it's become popular and you want to share in the success so thinking about trends like fashion maybe there are just some popular shoes that everybody has to have and you're going to join in this activity and sharing the success you're going to jump on the bandwagon or in sports maybe a team is always losing and everybody has a bad opinion but then suddenly they start winning and people jump on the bandwagon they change their opinion so they can share in the team's success and they jump on the bandwagon are you jumping on this superhero bandwagon club where you have to wear full body spandex really my thing reason for not wanting to jump on the bandwagon it's just that i've seen you get your hopes up before only to be disappointed when things didn't work out okay so let's use some of these i could say i hope that you jump on the interactive english bandwagon because this channel in and of itself will help you achieve english fluency and i would really love it if you would write to me in the comments and i hope that you write to me sooner rather than later and i know you may be a little disappointed that the lesson is is ending i hear you but i have to go do laundry okay i'm sure you're not buying it but i do want to err on the side of caution and and start wrapping things up i don't want this to go on too long i know that you are a busy person you have a lot of things going on i do not want to throw a wrench into your plans and that that that's all i got thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 586. Super Useful Idioms & Expressions w/ SPEAK or TALK | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `X9QuyPJVdpk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9QuyPJVdpk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:03:27 | --- in this lesson i am going to speak my mind and i'm going to tell you exactly what i think about these idioms and expressions and this is actually the first idiom that i want to teach you and that is to speak one's mind it means to say what you're thinking openly and honestly and when it comes to well the word mind you're really referring to a person's thoughts similar to the way somebody would ask well what's on your mind in this case they're asking what are you thinking but as far as speaking your mind in that case you are speaking and saying and sharing your thoughts with another person and you may hear people use this as like a stand-alone statement kind of like giving a command to another person and you would say hey speak your mind and in this situation probably the other person is thinking something and they want to say what they're thinking but perhaps they they just haven't yet and you are just telling them hey i want to know what you're thinking speak your mind tell me openly and honestly or you could use this to encourage a person to to speak honestly and say hey don't be afraid to speak your mind all right you should share what you're thinking honestly and openly don't be afraid to speak your mind you don't think we can win yeah i speak my mind your grace i've been speaking your mind lord carson i think you lost this war and throughout this lesson i am going to speak my mind i'm going to do that right now and tell you that if you would like to practice and improve your english please subscribe turn on notifications that way i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals so that you are not afraid to speak your mind and tell others what you think so in this lesson i am going to teach you a lot of different idioms and expressions that all have the word speak or talk not only am i going to give you the meaning but i will talk to you about how the idiom and expression is used because if you're going to use them you want to make sure that you are using them in the correct context the next one that i have for you is speaking from experience this means that you are talking about something having had prior experience so that you what you have to say is more credible and that you have a worthwhile viewpoint and and really i i think the key word is credible because if somebody says well speaking from experience it's kind of like you're letting somebody know that well you are an authority figure when it comes to this topic or this situation because you have prior experience now just because somebody says this and they say speaking from experience that does not necessarily mean that they are a professional it just means that this person has some experience so perhaps they have some valuable insight so you may hear people share their viewpoint and then say well i'm speaking from experience so that you know this person is credible or you you can use this as an introductory phrase before sharing your viewpoint so i could say speaking from experience i think one of the best ways to learn another language is to continuously get exposure to the language and i'm talking about my experience when i was learning both spanish and korean i would try to get as much exposure to each language listening and reading and then i would try to practice using the language with speaking and writing and i'm just speaking from experience okay so i tried to use it both ways once to introduce my viewpoint and then again just to reaffirm it at the end and tell you hey i'm speaking from experience secrets create barriers between people speaking from experience believe me the next idiom that i have for you is to talk one's ear off and what this means is to talk to someone for a long time often excessively and loudly so really it's a situation in which you feel like the conversation should be shorter but it just goes on and on and on because the person is talking your ear off now it's not really a good thing but because it could be more negative if you say someone is talking your ear off because people may not like that but people also use this jokingly as well perhaps my my wife might say hey if you start talking about football my husband is going to talk your ear off which tells you that i am a fan of the sport and that i like to talk about it and i might talk about it a little too much and talk your ear off now this is an idiom that you may not often say directly to another person perhaps you might use it apologetically and say hey you know sorry for talking your ear off in which case you're letting the person know that you're probably talking a little too much but more often you may use this idiom to talk about well another person and say that they were talking your ear off about some topic i could say i went to the party last night and i saw one of my work colleagues and he just started talking my ear off about a presentation that he has to give next week and it's a party i i don't want to talk about work so i quickly tried to get out of that conversation and then i talked to the host of the party who was just complaining about the weather and was going on and on about it and was just talking my ear off so i i wanted to get out of that conversation and ultimately i just left the party so those are a couple of examples using this idiom to talk one's ear off you two have a great time getting to know each other don't let this one talk your hair off she's the type of girl who just loves to talk that's mrs robertson watch out she will talk your ear off right now i want to take a moment to tell you about my speaking course and i i'm just going to speak my mind and i will try not to talk your ear off so speak up is a course for intermediate to advanced speakers and it's really all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally check out the link in the description if you would like to join or learn more information and when you click on that link and go to the course page you will find a special discount just for you so each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn vocabulary related to that topic we do engaging speaking activities at the beginning of each lesson we warm up with something related to pronunciation or connected speech there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course in addition i'll teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases so click on the link below if you would like to sign up and i really hope you consider enrolling because perhaps you are someone who thinks yeah i would like to practice and improve my speaking skills and maybe you tell this to yourself but in the end actions speak louder than words and that is a nice segue into our next expression which is actions speak louder than words so this is actually a proverb which means that actions are more revealing of one's true character because it's easy just to say things and make promises and it takes more effort to actually do something and follow through actions speak louder than words now you can use this proverb in a variety of situations like uh perhaps somebody is just talking about some of the things that they want to do or they're planning to do and maybe you don't really believe this person you could use this proverb and say hey actions speak louder than words in this case it's like you're telling them hey show me all right don't just talk about it let's see you do it or you could use this in a situation in which somebody talks about one thing but then their actions are doing like completely the opposite and i can give you a great example when it comes to this think about politicians they like to say things all the time say the things they're going to do or say the things they believe in but when it comes time to vote which would be the their action they do the exact opposite so in this case you could say hey actions speak louder than words your actions really reveal your true character and what you truly believe in actions speak louder than words uh he's he's just a loader they don't allow them to communicate but what if he has something to say actions speak louder than words the next expression is one that i really like and it's one that i hear from time to time and that is like talking to a brick wall and what this means is that you are unsuccessfully trying to persuade or reason or talk with someone who just does not listen or or does not react and i think people would say this out of frustration and they would say well it's like talking to a brick wall and i it's a it's an expression that i think we can all relate to sometimes my wife says this when trying to talk to me i i might be on the computer and i'm really concentrating on something maybe i have my headphones in and she is talking to me at the same time perhaps asking me something and i'm not i'm not ignoring her i i kind of out of the corner of my eye or the corner of my ear i can hear that that she's saying something and the one the one thing that i do catch is her saying it's like talking to a brick wall because i'm not listening and i'm not reacting and she would say ugh it's like talking to a brick wall says it just like that all right another time when you may use this expression is when you're trying to reason with someone who is just unwilling to listen perhaps this person is just really stubborn and it doesn't matter what you say or the reasons that you give they're just not going to listen and again out of frustration you could say it's like talking to a brick wall what did he talk about he talked about rugby what did he talk about francois it's like talking to a brick wall what did he say i think he wants us to win the world cup next is the phrase on speaking terms and this just refers to a mutual relationship that is limited to uh casual greeting or just casual conversation it it means that you're friendly enough to talk now the one thing that i want you to know about this idiom is that often you're going to use it in the negative with the word not to say that you are not on speaking terms with someone in which case it's like you're saying that that you had a falling out and you and this other person you are no longer talking so we can actually use engram viewer to show you which one is more common and as you can see it's more common to say that you are not on speaking terms with someone than to use this idiom in the affirmative and say that you are on speaking terms and because it involves two people you're really going to use it with the subjects we or they we're not on speaking terms or they're not on speaking terms now as far as using this idiom you may hear people use it in the context of well like somebody is asking about someone from your past and asking like hey do you still talk to dave and keep up with dave now maybe i don't know that you and dave well you had a falling out and then you could tell me look yeah we're not on speaking terms or perhaps a situation where you're you're asking about an ex-husband or an ex-wife and then this person might say well unfortunately we're not on speaking terms you could also use it in a situation in which you're asking someone to talk to another person if i asked you and say hey can you talk to dave and convince him to join our team and again i don't know that you had a falling out and you would just tell me like look we're not on speaking terms you you should ask someone else because dave and i we're just not on speaking terms call them the avengers broke up we're toast broke up captain i fell out hard we're not speaking terms then we have to talk one's way into something or out of something and it means to persuade people to do something or to not do something by the reasons that you give so if you talk your way into something you are persuading someone to give you something or maybe allow you to do something i could say he talked his way into getting a promotion okay he got a promotion or we talked our way into the private party and they allowed us to enter if you talk your way out of something then you're persuading someone not to give you something perhaps a punishment or persuading them not to make you do something like chores or work so i could say she got pulled over by the police and she talked her way out of a driving ticket she persuaded the police officer not to give her a ticket or maybe i tell you you have to write to me in the comments it's like i'm making you do something and you are trying to talk your way out of it and persuade me not to make you do this and i'm i'm not buying it and i say look you're not going to talk your way out of this all right that that is a statement that you may often hear if somebody's trying to persuade the other person and they're they just don't believe it and they're not gonna fall for it they may say you're not gonna talk your way out of this okay i i'm still gonna make you do this thing the other thing that i wanted to point out with this idiom is that it is more common to hear people say they're going to talk their way out of something than talk their way into something so comparing these two phrases you can see that it's more common to talk your way out of something i'm not letting you just throw your life away i'm gonna talk our way out of this start a new life there meet a local girl fall in love talk my way into a line job at a textile plant next is the phrase as we speak and it just means at this exact moment right now and really it just adds emphasis to whatever it is you're talking about you might say it's happening as we speak and there's really a sense of urgency so you can use this phrase at the beginning of a statement and i could say hey as we speak there is a crowd forming outside the building and perhaps a protest is going to begin and yeah there's a sense of urgency or i could use it at the end of a statement and tell you the plane is boarding as we speak we need to go right now because the plane is boarding as we speak even as we speak millions of children are staring at the tv instead of getting some much needed exercise and then there's to talk some sense into someone and this means that you are talking to someone and really trying to persuade them to see reason and what it makes me think is that this other person is perhaps scared or angry there's a lot of emotion involved and you may be trying to talk some sense into this person and it really implies that this other person is perhaps out of control and they're not listening to anyone so maybe i say well look dave is out of control can you please try to talk some sense into him right now it's like talking to a brick wall he won't listen to me or anyone else so please please try to talk some sense into him and then once again you tell me sorry we're not on speaking terms i can't help you because dave and i we're not on speaking terms you're going to have to find someone else to try and talk some sense into him dad mom is crazy can you talk some sense into her i hope you learned some new idioms and expressions and you don't feel like i just talked your ear off this entire lesson because i know that that when you watch these videos you're paying close attention and because of that i never feel like i'm talking to a brick wall and please check out the link down in the description if you'd like to learn more about my speaking course there are people signing up as we speak and of course yeah write to me in the comments i always encourage you to speak your mind and tell me what you're thinking and i'm just trying to get you a little bit of review but i hope that you enjoyed the lesson and if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 587. Super Useful Idioms & Expressions | Learn American English ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `9_Ti0Fss3lI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Ti0Fss3lI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:28:18 | --- today i want to teach you some common american idioms and expressions that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and this channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you build your vocabulary as well as improve your overall fluency because i'm going to teach you some very common and useful american idioms and expressions that you might hear if you are talking to somebody who is from the united states or maybe you can use some of these if you plan to visit the us so believe me when i tell you that this lesson it's going to be a piece of cake and that is actually the first idiom that i want to teach you many of you are probably familiar with this i wanted to start with something a little easier and then it'll get a bit more challenging but if we say that something is a piece of cake it just means that something is very easy so i told you that this lesson it's going to be a piece of cake i'm going to teach you these idioms and expressions and after i explain them and tell you how to use them i think that you will have a better understanding and like i said it's just going to improve your overall fluency so this lesson it's a piece of cake what's the sound of one hand clapping piece of cake oh bart it's a 3 000 year old riddle with no answer and every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake what about a raise based on merit rank each person individual piece of cake then we have the phrase run late or run behind and they they both mean the same thing it just means to be late for something now i i guess i could say that i use this phrase quite often and i would tell people that that i'm running late and i i would use it often because yes i am sometimes late for appointments or if i'm going to meet somebody but i would call ahead and tell them hey you know don't worry i'm i'm just running a little late so in that case i think it also implies that you are on your way to to get somewhere or if you're talking about perhaps like a project and you say you tell your boss you know i'm running a little behind you're telling them that it may be late but that you're working on it so again this is a great expression i think uh especially if you're somebody who who tends to be late for things you could just tell somebody hey you know i'm running a little late but i will be there it's only four blocks but they are so slow i'm running late too we're running light yeah we're always running late we're running a little behind schedule hi sorry i'm late i've been running behind all morning then we have the expression to get the hang of something and this just means to learn something that's not quite obvious so for example i think often you would use this when talking about some type of game or activity you're trying to learn it and and get a little bit better at it and in that case you could you could tell somebody you know i'm starting to get the hang of this i'm starting to feel a little more comfortable i understand it a little bit better and i'm starting to get the hang of it one thing i would like to point out with this expression is that it is often going to end with that pronoun it so in that case it's almost like you know what it is you know the game or activity that somebody is talking about and if you're trying to learn it a little bit better then you're trying to get the hang of it or starting to get the hang of it or you could say he he is getting the hang of it but you know the activity so it's often going to end with that pronoun it don't worry you'll get the hang of it you're going to get the hang of it we'll help you how's he doing i haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet then we have the phrase all set and this just means that that you are ready and you are ev everything is in order so it's something that maybe you could ask to somebody if you want to know if they're ready and you can say hey you know all set or you could tell somebody if you want to say that you are organized you're prepared and you are ready to go and you'd say you know i'm all set we're all set we are ready we're organized we're prepared you could also say just to throw in another expression good to go okay it means the same thing if somebody says you know i'm good to go that means that they are ready they're all set ready ready set okay we're all set let it rip is it okay if i put out some candy that pam brought back from puerto rico sure thanks for asking pam we're all set let me know what you got good to go weapon's good to go you're good to go then we have the expression to sound like a broken record and it really means well kind of exactly what it says and that is that somebody is just repeating something again and again especially when it's not really necessary and you would say to another person like oh you know you sound like a broken record you just keep repeating the same thing again and again and again especially when you don't want to hear it then you could use this expression and say that someone sounds like a broken record i hope that i don't sound like a broken record because i do i tend to repeat things again and again so so that you have a better understanding of all of these idioms and expressions because i just i just want you to get the hang of it you know i know i sound like a broken record we are buddies you're going to murder me like you murder my father you people sound like a broken record baby's babies you sound like a broken record next is the phrase pitch in and this just means that you start doing something as a group especially something that is helpful so if you are working with a group of people maybe a team you want everyone to pitch in you want everyone to do some work the something that's helpful for the group or the team and in that case you want everyone to pitch in but it's used in in that context that you might ask someone who may not be helping and you would tell them to pitch in or say you need to pitch in but it is to to do something that's helpful everyone here has a job we all pitch in glad you could pitch in he needs all the help he can get by the way if you need help with that i'm more than happy to pitch in then we have the idiom to blow off some steam and this just means to to do something or to say something that helps you get rid of of some energy often some some negative energy that if you're you're angry or upset you might try to perhaps you go for a run and you just want to blow off some steam you just want to want to get rid of that energy so you could use it when talking about a an activity that you do something physical in order to blow off some steam or maybe it's something that you you say to someone perhaps you even might yell at someone and you're just you're trying to blow off some steam time to think no let him go he needs to blow up some steam i've never seen him like this get the big lug a break even he needs to blow off some steam you're working so hard this semester really need to go crazy you know blow off some steam you still seem stressed you want to blow up some steam then we have the expression it's not rocket science so this is a statement that somebody would would say to another person if they want to express that something is not really difficult and it's it should be easy to understand and you'd say no look it's not rocket science the listen for this if you're watching a tv show or movie because again if somebody wants to say that like look this is not difficult they might tell somebody you know it's not rocket science so i would tell you guys you know learning these idioms and expressions it's not rocket science i think it's a piece of cake and if you just keep practicing a little bit each and every day then you're really gonna get the hang of it caller apologize it's not rocket science i mean fixing your hair is not exactly rocket science because i don't want to go by myself barb it's not rocket science you just tell your parents you're going to stay in my place afterwards then we have the expression to table something and this just means to postpone a discussion until a later time and often i think it might be used in business perhaps you're having a meeting with a group of people and and you have a list of items that you're going to go through but you want to discuss one of them at a later time you might say you know let's let's table this item for right now and then we will discuss it later so you could table some item if it's on an agenda or maybe you could just table some discussion and you will talk about it at a later time to table something suppose that we table this discussion until let's say the second nope is gone i i think what the dana's trying to say is uh there'll be time to talk about that we can table that for a later date what is your job exactly besides making balloon animals protecting your reality okay guys can we table this discussion right now the fact is is that we have this stuff next is the idiom to jump on the bandwagon and this just means to start supporting something or to even start doing something because it's trendy or fashionable often i i think i would use this idiom uh when talking about sports that if there is a sport team that just suddenly started winning and then everybody they they like this team all of a sudden they're they're a huge fan then you could say look you know uh he he just jumped on the bandwagon he only likes the team because everybody else does he's supporting this team he jumped on the bandwagon of course this has happened to me if i'm living somewhere and then that that city has a sports team they become really great yeah i jump on the bandwagon everything's echo friendly that is how friendly that i just haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet millions of people got on the anti-denmark bandwagon show me some kind of kindness not jumping on the let's get meg family bandwagon let's stick with sports for right now because the next expression is to sit in the nosebleed or you could say to sit in the nosebleeds section and what this refers to is that you are sitting in seats that are that are very high up at the the very top of a stadium and you're very far away from all of the action because you're so high up there you are sitting in the nosebleed section and the reason why we use this is because if you are at a very high altitude then maybe your nose would start to bleed because of the altitude so if you're high up there in the stadium then you could say you know i'm sitting in the nosebleed section when i jump on the bandwagon and i want to go see a sports team play typically i don't have a ton of money to spend so i have to find the cheapest tickets which are usually high up there in the stadium and i would sit in the nosebleed section can you take me to a concert with my new friend harper sure why not it'll be nosebleed or obstructed view seat but you know what i have a friend uh he's got a couple of seats if you don't mind the nosebleed section they're yours no we don't care we just want to go then we have the idiom to fall through the cracks and this just means to overlook something so if you are perhaps doing some project you don't want to overlook the details you don't want anything to fall through the cracks i need you to be sure that things don't fall through the cracks basically i need you to be more like dean here you do it every week and you forgot things are falling through the cracks i'm pretty sure you've worn that sweater four days in a row this whole uh single-parent thing everything is just falling through the cracks so what did i tell you those idioms and expressions piece of cake all right it's not rocket science and i'm sorry i know that i sound like a broken record because i keep repeating these these same idioms and expressions over and over again i hope you're not upset with me but if you are a little upset and you think you need to blow off some steam then i would suggest that you check out another video lesson i hope that you enjoy these lessons and that you just you jump on the interactive english bandwagon jump on the interactive english bandwagon and because okay i can't think of any more i just trying to review as much as i can thank you guys so much for watching i hope you learned some new idioms and expressions and i will see you next time --- ## 588. Super Useful Idioms & Phrases for the US Election ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `e5WT0kQjaew` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5WT0kQjaew) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:03:28 | --- We just had an election in the US. It's big news and we will talk about that. But because this uh event just occurred, I want to teach you some useful idioms and phrases to talk about the election to talk about politics. This is a conversation that may persist well especially in the short term in the next 3 to 6 months. So, I think some of this vocabulary will be useful. And I would say that it is a bit more advanced, but you'll still come across them if you're listening to um a news report or watching some uh reading a newspaper about the election. Now, uh if you would like to Well, sorry, I was going to say, of course, as you know, Donald Trump has defeated Kla Harris. Uh this it was pretty much a sweep. I don't even think it's really gonna end up being that close. And we will get to that. I as as we get to the end, I'll tell you who who I voted for. And I'm also curious to know who even though the election is over, who do you think uh who were you hoping would win the election and I want to take a little bit of a poll and and get your thoughts on this. But if you'd like to get the lesson notes, please click on that link in the description. And if you are already a part of our email community, I will send you the notes so that that you have them and you can practice and try to remember this vocabulary because that's what this is all about. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And yes, I I say that every lesson or pretty much every lesson. That is my intro. So, this is a quiz lesson and I want you to participate and it's going to get a little more difficult as we go through this. And the first question is the immigration issue is often used as a political. So, I'm giving you the the meaning down below. The meaning of this phrase and I've bolded it as well. A political is a problem that politicians from different parties argue about and try to to use in order to get an advantage for themselves. And you would refer to this issue as a political. Often times it implies that maybe one party they don't really care about solving it or they don't care about u you know fixing it and it's just being used as a political. So I'll give you a moment. think of the answer and then I'll tell you the answer. But I would love it if you would participate. Write your answers in the chat in the comments. I just love hearing from you guys. This is definitely a more challenging question. I see a lot of different if I see any answers, I'll uh correct answers, I'll I'll give some shoutouts. Now, there there are you you know many collocations with the word political. It's it's not the word I'm looking for. It's not a political weapon. That's not uh what I'm looking for in this context. But you would specifically talk about an issue, whether it's immigration or some other issue, and you could say that the issue is being used as a the answer that I'm looking for is a political football. That is the phrase that you may hear when you talk about certain parties using an issue trying to gain an advantage and they say, "Oh, they're just using it as a political football." Now, even though I'm from the US and in the United States, when people say football, they think of American football. But that's not really what this refers to. Again, I'm sometime I'm miss I'm interested in the history of some of these these phrases and the origin and where they came from. This actually has been around for a long time. Said it was first used in 1857. I've underlined part of it because this is from Wikipedia. And it says this is from an American cartoon from the time President Harrison in 1889 shows a clear visual illustration of the metaphor without using the actual phrase. So, I don't know if you didn't notice, I used that in the background of the when I was asking the question, but this is the image that appeared in the newspaper in 1889 talking about this metaphor as in football, which in this case, yeah, it looks more like like rugby. Um, but nowadays, I feel like this phrase is used across many English varieties. If we're talking about the UK, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and they might say an issue is being used as a political football. The next one, hopefully, again, I hopefully if this is new, then just try to listen for it, especially in the coming months. Like I said, now that the even though the election is over, people are going to still be talking about politics and and what's going to happen after this. The parties worked out a compromise in a m deal. I think this one is a little more common. So I think some of you may be familiar with this. A m deal. That is the phrase that I want to highlight. Something is done secretly without attracting attention and you're you could say that they're doing something and it was a m deal. What do you think? What word is missing at the beginning of that phrase? There is a key word in there which uh I would say is secretly. It's done secretly. So we're not talking about a done deal or a closed deal. Think I I think when I show you I think you'll be like okay yes I have heard of this phrase before. So in politics in general or even in business, you may still use this phrase when something is arranged secretly and you might refer to it as a backroom deal. So not people no you know it's not out in the public. some people weren't aware of this that this was going on and you might hear people talk about somebody making a backroom deal or they solved the problem you know they they met together it was a backroom deal and they you know pass some legislation but the whole idea of backroom implies that there is some secrecy involved. It doesn't always mean that it is um nefarious and that there's definitely a negative connotation. Sometimes it's better for things not to be out in the public. So, any time though it's we're talking about secretly, something's done secretly, you may hear it being used as a backroom deal. To give you a little more context, here are some news headlines. Um, I think I say it's not negative, but I think some of this is more negative. Um, formal WAPO, this is referring to the Washington Post editor, reveals proof of Trump's backroom deal with Amazon founder. This has to do with a a couple of weeks ago or maybe even a week ago when the Washington Post said they were not going to endorse anyone uh for president. He's implying that there was some backroom deal or this one, this is actually from France, the backroom deal to parachute macron loyalists into Brussels. I'm not really sure exactly when this article was done, but another example talking about a backroom deal. And then finally, California journalists slam backroom deal after big tech upends agreement meant to bolster local news. So even though it doesn't have to be used as in more of a negative connotation, I I guess I would say most of the time I think it does imply something secret that is not good and they're talking about a a backroom deal. Here is the next one and at the end I I want to I'll get your opinion. You can let me know who you voted for and I'll tell you who who I voted for. So, Senate Republicans have made supporting the war in Ukraine a signature policy priority, but their efforts have been complicated by fellow Republicans who are moving on the issue. This is an idiom moving m on the issue. This refers to the like to change the rules while someone is trying to do something in order to gain an advantage or you know make it more difficult for them. And you could say someone is moving. Now, this can be used outside of politics, but often I think you might use this when there is a negotiation going on and transpiring and the conditions are changing and you could say this person or this group of people are this actually this is actually from um a news article and I'll show you that in a second. This is not a sentence that I just made up. Uh, so if we're talking about a change in rules and somebody's doing it, we are talking about to move the goalpost. Well done, Fatty Acid, Julia. Excellent. So, some of this is an idiom I'm sure some of you may have heard before. I think I've even taught it in a previous lesson on idioms to move the goalpost. You're changing the rules and the conditions to make it a little more difficult or challenging. This is this is something that happens in politics a lot. Now I tried to highlight this and maybe I made it more difficult to to see. This article is from a while ago and this is I basically summarized uh that first part which I highlighted which was the previous sentence talking about McConnell bedeled does Trump GOP move the goalpost. So, it was implying that Mitch McConnell back before was trying to get some deal done um that involved uh funding for uh Ukraine and some of the other people in the party were moving the goalpost. The next phrase that is this one is more current and relevant from this year. After Joe Biden stepped aside besides Kla Harris, no other Democrat decided to throw their How would you complete this sentence? To throw someone's. It refers to announcing your intention uh to enter a competition or election. So you would use this when talking about elections. If you are entering and you're saying, "Yes, I am now running for office and I am going to throw my what?" How would you complete this sentence using the idiom? But you could also use it when you're, I guess, entering a competition as well. It doesn't always have to be used as part of politics. But I think often this is an idiom that you're going to hear in this context. When there's an election, somebody says they are going to run for office and they are going to throw their All right, that's like my I guess giving you a hint. They're going to throw their what? Not throw in the towel. Remember, throw in the towel is another idiom, but that just means to quit or give up. So, that's really a different situation. If you quit, you say, "Look, I'm throwing in the towel. I'm giving up. I'm quitting." In this case, when you're announcing that you're going to, you know, enter an election, enter a competition like, um, no other Democrats did this. Kla Harris decided to throw her hat in the ring. So to throw someone's hat in the ring basically means you said you're announcing that okay I am going to enter the competition. In this case it was really just Kla Harris. They did not have a primary. I think the Democrats felt like they didn't have enough time. So nobody else decided to throw their hat in the ring. Another idiom that I would encourage you to listen for, especially in the context of politics, whether it's a US election or any other election for that matter, to throw someone's hat in the ring. Again, I hope uh I I I'm encouraged that I feel like some of this may be new for some of you. I thought this was funny, so I thought I'd share it with you. Um you see Willy Wonka there saying, "I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for president." Why, you ask? I wouldn't be the oddest one running. So I think this is again just making fun of the I don't know the state of US politics and the the candidates that end up uh getting selected to to run for office. The next question in elections people sometimes underestimate the power of a movement. So the phrase an Movement refers to a social or political movement driven by groups of ordinary citizens rather than politicians or other influential leaders. So when you have a movement that begins with ordinary citizens and it just grows and becomes very popular, other people join this movement. Maybe some influential people start to join the movement as well. But really the fact that it started by ordinary citizens, you may refer to that as what type of movement and I do think this is another collocation um as opposed to an idiom and one that you will hear in well when whenever there is any type of election or social change even somebody's trying to bring about change whether socially or through the means of government. And you might refer to this movement as a grassroots movement. Nice, Illas, Julia. Well done. So, a grassroots movement really underscores the fact that it's more I I guess I want to say local, but also just really ordinary people started it. Not somebody famous, not somebody with a lot of money who's very influential, but just ordinary people try to to start this movement and have it spread and get others to join their grassroots movement. To give you some context for this, this is another resource that I might use with uh learners from time to time because I am a visual learner. So sometimes I might go into Google and in quotes I'll put the phrase and then look at Google images to see what comes up. So this is an example of putting grassroots movement into Google images and just seeing what pictures pop up. And as you can see, it is more you see these protests, people gathering or they're trying to um spread the word when it comes to some sort of cause, but really people getting involved uh in in trying to make change in some sort of grassroots movement. So hopefully looking at some of these images helps uh give you a better idea as to the meaning and how this phrase is used. Politicians often avoid talking about and what they're what people may avoid talking about is a major problem or controversial issue which is obviously present but is avoided as a subject for discussion. This is an idiom, but you can definitely use it outside of politics. And you could use this when you're in any situation in which there is a problem, tension, and people are just avoiding. They try to avoid talking about it and they want to ignore it, pretend that it does not exist. And somebody might say, "Okay, look, we need to talk about what?" And you could use this idiom, one that I feel like you've all heard. Uh I don't maybe not everybody, but uh most of you have probably heard before. You might hear it movies, TV shows. Excellent. Great job. We're talking about the elephant in the room. Uh well done, Mal Li. Great job. Good to see you. Um Boston Cafe. Uh Simple Boy, nice. Trying to give a few shout outs uh as we go through this again. I just I thought this was funny so I thought I would share it with you. Sometimes I feel like you can use humor as a way to learn language and and enjoy learning the language. So this is just a comic uh from I think a while ago. If you were in the middle of the room the whole time, why can we not find a single witness to corroborate your your testimony? And they're questioning this elephant, you know, but the elephant was in the room the whole time. the elephant was in the room. Now is maybe it's going to get a little more challenging because before I was giving you at least one word in the idiom or in the phrase. Now I'm just removing it but I'm still giving you the meaning. So the first one, the country's new prime minister is expected to win his first from parliament next week. Obviously, I'm not talking about the the United States now because this is not an example about the US because we do not have a parliament. Um, but you could still use this phrase when talking about US politics in general. If this is the meaning, we're talking about a vote in which members of a group are asked to indicate that they still support uh the person or group in power, usually in government. So, we're talking about a vote. I don't want to give it away. I almost said it. Um, support is a key word that you still support this person or this issue and it's going to be in this case is expected to win the first vote of what I just gave you part of the phrase right there. So that is the idiom. a vote of m and in this case we're talking about the phrase a vote of confidence. So a vote of confidence would be when members uh indicate yes okay I still support this person or maybe I still support this um this legislation and it is a vote of confidence. Now this this phrase does have two different meanings and I want to really uh point that out. So the first meaning we already talked about more related to government. The next meaning I classified this more as a you know broader use and it refers to a sign that you are pleased with the quality of something and what someone has done or produced. So let's say that in a company there was a you know the marketing team did a really good job promoting products and um as the marketing team was promoting this the CEO of the company shows up and you could then say okay yes it was a uh a real vote of confidence and that the CEO showed up and It was a vote of confidence. So again, there are different ways that you can use this idiom in other contexts and which is why I said it's has a little bit of a a broader use. How about this one right here? Let me know what you think. So the sentence, some people claim that Obama [Music] to get Joe Biden to withdraw from the race. Apologize for the the phrasing. These are things I having some internet uh issues today. But the the idiom means to secretly use influence you have over important people in order to get something uh or to help someone. So in this case, people say Obama withdrew from or not Obama, Biden withdrew from the race and people were wondering well why like what happened? Um and and and some people were speculating that Obama m to get Joe Biden to withdraw from the race and say, "Look, I think we should go in a different direction." What do you think? And this is another idiom that I think is very useful outside of politics. So you could use it in this context, but also just uh talking about other things as well when you're secretly trying to influence uh something or have uh you know some some sort of influence and you might try to do what the idiom that we're looking for whoops is I apologize trying to get things sorted here to pull some strings. Some people claimed Obama that Obama pulled some strings to get Joe Biden to withdraw from the race to pull some strings. Here is the next one. Oh, just to give you some more examples, here are a couple of sentences because I said it doesn't have to be used when talking about politics. Here's the first one. He pulled some strings to help his son get a job and he tried to influence the the maybe the hiring process. The next one, I may be able um sorry that's a typo. I may be able to pull a few strings if you need to get on an earlier flight. So, this is a typo. It should be to pull a few strings instead of pulled a few strings in the past tense. But, as you can see, you can use this idiom to talk about a variety of uh situations in context as long as it has this meaning and you're secretly trying to influence something. What do you think? There was a lot of in order to get a visa to travel to the US. This is another another phrase that I think is commonly used especially when talking about government and we're referring to the official rules and processes uh that seem unnecessary and delay results. And you could say there is a lot of what? Government bureaucracy, government rules. You might refer to it with as this phrase. What do you think? Um, all right. Welcome, Jacelelle. Excellent. Becoming a member. Good to see you. Nice to meet you. Uh, thanks for thanks for joining the team. So, we're talking about two words in here. It it is referring to government bureaucracy. So, it does have the mean the same meaning. If I were to put it in here, there there was a lot of bureaucracy in order to get a visa to travel to the US, that would work. But in this case, we're talking about a specific phrase, and the phrase that I'm referring to is red tape. Well done, uh, Julia Fis Farv, sorry if I mispronounced names. Um, Miranda Talal. Red tape is informally or casually used to talk about government bureaucracy. And a lot of times that you're going to use it with a lot. There is a lot of red tape when you're trying to get a permit or do something and you say, "Oh, there's just so much red tape. There's a lot of red tape." And you're really frustrated. So red tape, it absolutely has a negative connotation. It's not a good thing. In my opinion, and this is true, this is my opinion. Politicians must be willing to in order to pass legislation. This is a phrase and I I guess you maybe I don't think it's really an idiom. I would just say it's a phrase, but the meaning is to vote, unite or otherwise cooperate with members of another political party. I think that people should work together even if they're in different parties. That's my opinion. And in the US especially, you're going to hear this because there are just the two main parties. And you might say people need to in order to, you know, get something done, they're going to work on legislation together. Even though uh they're they're in two different parties, a Democrat and Republican may work together. And they would talk about they have to do what? So it's not uh has to do with coalition. A lot of times coalition is often used in more of when talking about parliament. So in the US with the two-party system, we don't really use um like the word coalition to describe cooperation. Collaborate is it it is a type of collaboration, but that's not the phrase that I'm looking for. specifically implies that one person from one party is working with the other party and in that case they they may need to cross the aisle and when you hear this being used especially in the US and maybe this is a little more US-specific because of the two-party system that we unfortunately have that a Democrat may need to cross the aisle and they may work with Republicans to get legislation passed or if Democrats are working on something but they need some Republicans to cross the aisle in order to get the votes to pass the legislation and that is when you may hear this phrase being used crossing the aisle working together which yeah in my opinion I think that's a good thing. Here are some more news headlines to to give you a little more uh context. So the first one polarized electorate American voters not easily swayed to cross the aisle and yeah it's very polarized uh nowadays so it's happening less frequently. Uh here's the next one. When families cross the aisle against presidential candidates. I think it's kind of just commenting on families that may have different uh political views. And then uh this is I this is kind of silly. Why did the politician uh cross the congressional aisle? Uh data privacy act was on the other side. This is more of a play on words if you're unfamiliar with that structure of someone telling a joke. Why did the chicken cross the road to to get to the other side? Or there's the punchline. So they're it's trying to, you know, have this kind of play on words referencing that joke. Why did the politician cross the congressional aisle? A data p privacy act was on the other side. Maybe that joke fell flat, which is fine. Um, uh, I just wanted to throw it in there just to have some fun. President Obama used a lot of his to pass the Affordable Care Act. So, this is a phrase, I know this is from, you know, a long time ago, uh, when this is when Obama first got elected and they were passing Obamacare affordable care act. and he had to use a lot of what to get it done. And it refers, this phrase refers to an individual's ability to influence political decisions. Has to do with a lot of networking and I'll give you this, you give me that, and making deals. Maybe there are some backroom deals going on, and you're having to use something in order to get some legislation done. your influence. So, it's really another phrase that is talking about influence. And you may hear people refer to this as what? This one is a little more challenging, but I think when I tell you the answer, you you may think, okay, I'm I've heard this before when talking about politicians negotiating with each other. The phrase that I'm looking for is I said it really is like networking but political capital. And if a if a politician has power, which a president does, you're going to use some of that power to get things done. And you may have to, you know, ex you may have to use some political capital to get something done, but then you could also lose that capital. So in a way, the capital is the amount of influence you have. And then as you're trying to get deals done, maybe you're you're you're having to you're losing some of that political capital. This is taken from Wikipedia. I actually think they did a decent job of kind of capturing what it is. And I highlighted the sentence um or underlined it and I want to read it to you right now. Political capital can be understood as a type of currency used to monetize, mobilize voters, achieve policy reform, or accomplish other political goals. And I think that's a good way to think about it. Like it's a currency that you're gonna trade with somebody else in order to get something done and you're going to use or exchange like political capital. So another phrase that you will definitely hear when talking about uh politicians trying to work together. Maybe they have to cross the aisle and use some political capital in order to pass legislation. Women are entering the M in larger numbers. This is referring to the sphere of political activity or and debate. So this is another phrase and you you may hear it news um just in conversation discussion. I don't know if you are somebody who likes talking about politics, but I I wanted to choose some idioms and phrases that you may come across uh in the coming weeks, coming months, especially now that the election just ended. Women are entering the M in larger numbers. We're just talking about that sphere activity, the the conversation, and you might refer to it as the political something actually. All right. Well done. We're talking about the political arena. TP Valley. Well, excellent. Great job. So, when somebody's talking about the political arena, this this is in general what they're they're referring to. And you could use arena with other adjectives as well if we're talking about, I don't know, the economic arena or or something like that. So you may hear the noun arena used in other context when talking about some sphere of activity. In this case, I'm referring to the political arena. So, here are the 12 idioms, phrases that I wanted to highlight in this lesson. Again, if you want to get the lesson notes, click on that link down below in the description. Um, if you're already a part of the community, I will send them to you. This is a good way just to practice. Remember remember them. Try to listen for them in the coming days, coming weeks, because these are are ones that you'll you'll come across. So, now for the moment of truth. I'm I'm really curious about uh what you guys would do. So, in the I'm going to start a little poll right now and you can I know the election's over, but I would just be curious to get your opinion. Um, I just started the poll. Uh, just wanting to know what you you all think. Who did you want to win the US election? um Donald Trump or Kla Harris. So now I will tell you, yeah, I'll tell you who I voted for. So I am not a Trump person. I voted for Kla Harris. I was voting in the state of Florida and I think she got crushed in Florida. So I am not a Trump guy. I've never really been uh a Trump guy. So I voted for Kla Harris. But again, it's okay. It's okay for people to disagree. I think we we talked about there was that one article was talking about polarized and I think it there are levels of unhealthiness as far as the conversation is concerned whether somebody likes this person or that person and if there's a political divide it really has to some extent created a social divide and I think that's really uh unfortunate and I've had people actually write comments when I've mentioned that yeah I I just voting for Biden or Harris and people are like, "Look, I can't I can't learn from you anymore." As though they're connecting learning language to their political ideology. And again, I think that's kind of silly. I teach students that are more progressive. I teach students that are conservative and have told me they're supporting Trump and they like Trump. And that is okay. It's okay to disagree. Um, I think the most important thing is that, you know, not that I need to tell you guys, I think you hear it all the time that people just need to be able to have conversation and talk and try to listen to each other and well, why do you feel this way? This is why I I think that or why I'm voting for this person. So, uh, I wanted to kind of gauge where you were at as I, you know, shared, um, who I ended up voting for. I hope that with all of these lessons that you just learned something new. And if you did, you can let me know. Hit that like button. And uh I'm going to keep coming up with lessons on different topics with it when it comes to vocabulary idioms. I think when you take some vocabulary and you're able to put it in a topic, in this case like the election, it gives you something to associate it with. And in this case, because the election just happened, I I hope that maybe as you're listening to the news or reading an article or just having a conversation, maybe you end up coming across some of these idioms and phrases to reinforce that and it's just going to you'll be able to make it a part of your active memory and um you'll be able to use it moving forward. All right. Uh Egon, I didn't know it. Unsubscribed. I've had people tell me that. I have had people tell me that. Um, but that's just that's just the day. That's just the the time we live. So, I find it fascinating. I know it seems like uh there've been about 53 votes. The all of you here, it's seems a bit of a split between uh Trump and Harris. I feel like the um the interactive English electorate, if you will, if I'm talking about the audience of learners, the electorate seems very split. It's almost like this is uh we have a little bit of a swing state here that uh the interactive community interactive English community is a little bit of a swing state and that's okay. So uh I hope you enjoyed some the lesson and learned something new. Um as always, thank you guys so much uh for watching and I will see you very soon in the future with another lesson. So long. --- ## 589. Super Useful Phrasal Verbs for Everyday English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `wsK2_cVMpB4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsK2_cVMpB4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:58:11 | --- what's up everyone today I'm coming at you with a phrasal verb lesson so these are all phrasal verbs that are related to travel and transportation this is something that's very common it's a part of our everyday life we go places we take different Transportation so it's good to know the phrasal verbs that are associated with with different types of Transportation so I'm going to teach you the meaning of the phrasal verb as well as give you some examples so that you can see how it's used in context keep in mind that that some of these phrasal verbs may have multiple meanings but today I'm I'm only going to talk to you about their meaning when it comes to travel and transportation the first one that I want to teach you actually I'm going to teach you the first two at the same time and those first two phrasal verbs are get on and get off so when you get on something you're talking about you're you're entering it when you get off then you're talking about leaving it now what I really want you to remember with these phrasal verbs are are the types of transportation that we use them with so we use get on and get off when we're talking about a bus a plane train boat motorcycle or bike so those are six forms of transportation that you will use get on get off please get on the bus please get on the bus get on the boat Train's leaving do I get on the train where are you meeting there's women when they get off the bus at the pool party right here George in here [Music] now another set of phrasal verbs that that have the same meaning is Hop on and hop off so again hop on means the same as get on Hop Off means the same as get off the only difference is that I think hop on and hop off they're a little more casual a little more informal but you hop on you enter you hop off you exit and you use them with those same six types of Transportation [Music] hopped on a train follow the degrees no ah get down hop off their Blonde Ambition now just to give you a a real world example if you've traveled in a major city especially in Europe you may see a bus that's called Hop On Hop off it's a tourist bus that that drives around the city and takes people to the main tourist destinations and it's called Hop On Hop off because you buy a ticket you can hop on and hop off at the different landmarks keep an eye out for that the next time you're traveling in a major city the next set of phrasal verbs that I want to teach you and again we're going to do them both at the same time and that's get in and get out so get in is just to enter get out is to exit to leave so the only difference between get in and get on is the types of transportation that that we use it with so when we're talking about getting in and getting out we're going to use that with cars trucks taxis ambulances helicopters and canoe I don't know how many times you find yourself getting in and getting out of a canoe but just in case now you know you're gonna get in that canoe and then you'll get out of that canoe in the car get in the truck oh boy she's getting in his helicopter early chances if you're getting an ambulance and you try this out of here out get out of my truck get out of my cab we can also use these same types of transportations with other phrasal verbs we just got to replace the verb and that is hop in and hop out it means the same hop in is the same as get in hop out same as get out and we use them with those same types of Transportation it's it's just a little more casual it's a little more informal hop in hop out it happened we'll talk in the car hop in let's go check out your new home you're gonna hop out sir no he's not no no hopping okay we're here hop out so there you have it we just learned eight phrasal verbs right off the bat just just keep in mind that when you're talking about trying to figure out the difference between get in and get on it really depends on the type of Transportation the next phrasal verb is get around and to get around is just to move around from one place to another you are traveling from one place to another place you're getting around often I think it's used in the context of a question and you're going somewhere and people may say Hey you know how are you going to get around how are you going to move from one place to another and you might say well I'm I'm just gonna get on a bus or maybe you're gonna say hey I'm gonna hop in a canoe that might work if you're traveling in a place like Venice but when you want to get around you are moving from one place to another you can also use it in the context of even a smaller area for example the home if you have an older grandmother or grandfather and you could say it's difficult for them to get around if they have a tough time walking around the home you could use that in general conversation and be like you know yeah they have a tough time getting around so you can use get around when talking about a larger area or even a smaller area when you need to move from one place to another get around but Mr Ann does have one with an electric motor we can get around by himself are you gonna get around out there we'll rent a car the next phrasal verb possibly one of my favorites is hurry up and if you tell somebody to hurry up then you are just telling them to go faster to move faster we need to hurry up I think uh we use it a lot especially in in travel if you are running late you're going to tell somebody hey we need to hurry up we got to catch our flight or if you're in the car and somebody's driving and you're you're late again you might tell them hurry up we need to move fast faster this phrasal verb is a great example that it can be used in a variety of different contexts not just travel or Transportation at work if you need to finish something on time you might tell them to hurry up we need to hurry up because we need to finish the report on time [Music] you better hurry up yeah I'll run quick get in hurry up let's go the next phrasal verb is take off and this is just talking about an aircraft mostly a plane when it leaves the ground and it starts flying it takes off for example if you have a flight instead of somebody asking you you know when does your plane leave maybe they'll ask you hey when does it take off when are you leaving when is it going to take off often I think I'm usually sitting on a plane waiting because it's been delayed and I'm wondering when are we going to take off they need to hurry up let's take off only an hour before the plane takes off that's no surprise since I've been here those planes have been taking off every two hours I want to make sure the helicopter is ready to take off got a private jet taking off across town and we wanted to get you a seat on this rocket before it takes off then we have hold up and this means to to cause a delay and often make somebody late because of that DeLay So when talking about travel and transportation I think of traffic and if somebody show goes up late for something they may tell the other person look I got held up in traffic that's why I'm late because I was held up in traffic often I think this verb is is used in the past tense because you're already late and you're telling somebody why you're late so you you were held up by something and you can use this phrasal verb when when talking about most things that have caused a delay and you were held up maybe by someone or you were held up by something for example maybe you arrive you arrive home late and you could tell your husband or wife you know I was held up at work and if you arrive late to work then you could tell your boss hey I was held up in traffic those are those are some good excuses pranks late must have been held up in traffic oh no he got held up at work and you can go and look for him or you can stick with us as long as you don't hold us up the next phrasal verb actually I'm going to teach you another set of phrasal verbs and that is check in and check out I think many of you are are probably familiar with these two phrasal verbs because it's talking about hotels or a hospital so for example you check in to a hotel that just means that you arrive somewhere that you've you've made arrangements to stay there you check into a hotel you can also check into a hospital if you're sick and you need to go and stay there for some time when you leave then you would check out of the hotel and that means you're leaving after you have paid the bill to check out you can also check out of a hospital once the doctor gives you permission to leave check in check out are you checking in sir I need to check myself in I just checked myself out of a mental hospital she checked out of the hotel the next phrasal verb buckle up and this just means to fasten your seatbelt in a car or in a plane it's a smart safe thing to do I think everybody should buckle up we're gonna need to buckle up before we take off sir all right boys up then we have cut off usually this phrasal verb is separable and you would cut someone off and when you cut someone off it means that that you are blocking their way especially trying to keep them from from going somewhere you cut them off I think it's used a lot when people are driving and somebody cuts you off or you if you're driving the car you'd say oh man that person just cut me off they blocked my way and I can't get around them to cut someone off it's not good to cut people off people get very angry they might get filled with a lot of of road rage now that this is an extra one for you road rage is just an expression used to talk about someone who is very angry when they're driving it's not good to have road rage because it's not good to be angry it's not safe to be angry but if you do get road rage make sure you buckle up hey you cut me off what turn down your radio I'm driving in my car somebody cut you off I think to myself I could just kill that guy but I don't all units cut him off on Elm now then we have speed up and this just means to move or happen faster again I think of driving you're in a car you might need to speed up and the car needs to go faster so if somebody has cut you off then you might be upset and you will speed up and you'll try to pass that person not saying that's what you should do but again just make sure you're buckled up the opposite of speed up is our next phrasal verb and that is just slowed down and that means to happen or move slower speed up slow down again I think they're pretty common because we use these quite often especially when you're driving and you might tell somebody if they are speeding up you might tell them hey hey hey slow down who cares if that person cut you off you don't need to be angry no road rage you don't have to speed up and pass them let just slow down let's take it easy doesn't seem like it doesn't slow down that was a lot of fun I'd like to get off now slow down the reason why I didn't tell you that I was going to teach them as a set is because the verbs are different I I think this is when phrasal verbs can be pretty confusing that if somebody learns the phrasal verb speed up they may instinctively want to think that well the opposite is probably speed down but that's not always the case so I wanted to point that out that these verbs are different speed up slow down the next phrasal verb is pick up and again often I I think it's separable and you would pick someone up and when you pick someone up it just means that you are going to get someone at at a specific location that you've arranged you've made plans to go get them and to then you're going to take them somewhere in in a vehicle you would pick them up so you could pick someone up and and take them to school you could pick someone up and take them to work take them to the library and you are just taking this person to a different location to pick someone up so you'll pick me up tonight at 7 40 five I'm supposed to pick her up next Sunday April 12th 3 42 p.m picking my girlfriend up at the mall now after you pick someone up and you take them to wherever it is that they need to go you're probably going to drop them off and that is our next phrasal verb to drop off and when you drop someone off it means that you are leaving somebody at a a particular location usually with you not getting out of the car so you stay in the car and you would drop someone off so you might pick up your friend and drop them off at work you could pick up your husband or wife and drop them off at home so remember you would pick someone up and then you would drop someone off she just dropped me off would you please take us to the next corner and drop us off yeah a spaceship drop off don't focus on the wrong part of the story brother then we have connect through so this phrasal verb is all about flying and what it's talking about is that you are stopping at a a location kind of an intermediate location as you continue traveling to your final destination so when you're flying it's not often that we fly directly from one place to the other we are going to connect through another city and you'll have to change planes and you will go on to your final destination so this would come up when you're having a conversation about flying and somebody's asking you about your flight and you're telling them how long it is and that you have to connect through one or two or three different places before you reach your final destination connect through I never want to connect through many different places I always want to take off from wherever it is that I'm leaving and then land in my final destination and then I can catch the 4 30 a.m back to Edinboro connect through Houston head on up to Cincinnati and then rent a car drive around nine and I'll be home two hours earlier than if I flew home as planned the next phrasal verb is see off again this is often separable and you would see someone off you're talking about a person in that case to see someone off and when you see someone off it means that you are going with with another person or maybe a group of people to an airport or to a bus station to say goodbye I am going to see my friend off I'm going to take them to the airport and say goodbye to them there or maybe a bus station if you are going to get on or hop on a bus to see someone off it was so nice of you to come to the airport to see us all oh shoot and I really wanted to see will off to the boss come to see me off graduate kind of view your master doesn't seem to like Lannisters I hope you have a wonderful day remember next time you get in a car be sure to buckle up and if somebody cuts you off don't don't worry about it don't speed up take your time just slow down there's no reason to hurry up but I hope you can now go out and try to practice using some of these phrasal verbs because that is the best way to remember their meaning I hope you guys have a wonderful day and I will see you next time --- ## 590. Super Useful Phrases for Advanced English Speakers | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_Cq_ZTH2SOc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cq_ZTH2SOc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:52:22 | --- I just want to give you a heads up because this is not your average run-of-the-mill lesson I'm going to teach you some Advanced phrases for highly proficient speakers of English and these phrases are even a little more challenging than the C2 level they are a bit informal but I think they are useful when it comes to everyday conversation so if you are at your wits end when it comes to building vocabulary look no further now I'm not going to drag my feet any longer so let's go ahead and begin with the phrase that I just mentioned to drag your feet this means to do something slowly or not start it because you just don't want to do it so let's say there's a deadline and you're working slowly your boss might say why are you dragging your feet we need to hurry or every year yeah we have to pay taxes I'm always dragging my feet because I just don't want to start the process I procrastinate I put it off I drag my feet even Morpheus knows this phrase now it may often be used as a jiren if someone's giving you a command like quit dragging your feet or stop dragging your feet or you may often use it in the continuous tense to talk about what's happening right now he is dragging his feet or she is dragging her feet this is a phrase that I think you may certainly come across when watching a movie or TV show see for yourself moving kid quit dragging your feet mother we caned Gordon stop dragging your feet don't act like he's the only reason you've been dragging your feet to stay here he accidentally got it right didn't he you've been dragging your feet on the next OS so you can figure out what Apple's going to need now I would like you to stop dragging your feet and subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals let's continue with our next phrase which is to go to bat for someone it means to support someone when the person needs help this phrase originated from baseball the idea of Simply substituting one batter for another to help out the team it was slang but now it's used more generally and to show you that here are some news headlines Pharma funded Republicans go to bat for drug industry as Medicare moves to negotiate prices to help stop the killing of pets we must go to bat for Chicago's abandoned animals and Eagles as veterans go to bat for embattled head coach Nick serani serani serani okay any anyway I want to quickly talk about how to pronounce this phrase and I want to focus on the word to which has two different pronunciations when stressed it sounds like to when unstressed it may sound like it has that schah sound t it's a much softer sound but that's what I would use when I say the phrase to go to bat for someone the other thing I want to point out is the flap T which is specific to the American accent and I am from the United States but it occurs when the t comes between two vow sounds so it's going to sound like to go to bat for someone can you hear that flap te go to go to to go to bat for someone just listen for it they wouldn't honor my coupon for two free streaks they wouldn't well I'll go to bed for you honey obviously I said by no means are you kidding me I always go to Bath for you then we have the phrase run-of the-mill this means ordinary or not special or exciting in any way and often you may use this adjective phrase as an attributive adjective it's going to come before the noun perhaps you're talking about a run-ofthe-mill Cofe coffee shop or somebody gives a run-ofthe-mill presentation or maybe we're talking about a run-ofthe-mill lesson but at the beginning I told you that this is not your average run-ofthe-mill lesson and that's what I want to point out is that you may use this adjective phrase with the negative to say that something is not ordinary it is special and exciting and yes I do believe this is not your average run-of-the-mill lesson when pronouncing this phrase I want to point out that linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in run with the beginning vowel sound in of and it's almost like we're moving that consonant sound over so it sounds like run of run of the- Mill it's totally acceptable to be a everyday run-of-the-mill average worker is that what you think Gordon does run-of-the-mill interviews does the run-of-the-mill college experience include stripping you of your dignity next is the phrase to air on the side of caution this means to be especially careful rather than taking a risk or making a mistake so instead of saying we should be careful or we don't want to make a mistake you could say we should air on the side of caution and I would recommend that you go ahead and hit the like button I don't want you to forget so let's air on the side of caution and go ahead and do that for pronunciation the only thing I want to point out is that first word that e RR is pronounced as air or ER you may hear either one in the US I feel like most people are going to say air but it can be a little tricky because the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match to air on the side of caution once again just listen for it if you're worried there's extra milk in the freezer okay yes I will air on the side of caution and defrost a fresh badge I didn't care for the way that he handled it so I'm going to have to air on the side of caution and say pass why it's the first rule in pain management always air on the side of caution then we have the phrase pull strings I like this one it means to secretly use the influence you have over someone in order to help someone or get something that you want now again I should say it doesn't always have to be like you have a a lot of influence over this person it could just mean like maybe your friends let's let's say that you want to go see a movie and it's sold out and I tell you hey look I I know someone who works at the theater maybe I can pull some strings and get us some tickets and I have not really influence but I have a connection I have a contact there and I can pull some strings one thing I want to point out with this phrase is that you're often going to use a determiner before the word strings to pull some strings or to pull a few strings if you don't believe me listen for yourself fck did you get me out of that and pull some strings have you getting this a few calls pulled some strings so what do you think pull a few strings you know hook me up with some tickets I decided to pull a few strings call in a few favors and I've decided to make you official Security Supervisor of the branch next is a phrasal verb chime in this means to add one's comment or opinion to a conversation or discussion that one has been listening to and sometimes this is done by interrupting I know when my wife is talking to someone else and I want to share my opinion I may chime in and yeah it can be a little rude and annoying if someone chimes in or other times someone may be asking for someone to share an opinion and they may say does anyone want to chime in to give you some more examples as to how this phrasal verb is used in context I have some more news headlines for you whoopy Goldberg chimes in on Barbie Oscar snub drama a Tik tocker went viral with a tearful reaction to a Super Bowl party snub and celebs chimed in Snowflake CEO says he values Merit over diversity VC's chimed in when pronouncing this phrase I just want to point out that more linking may occur and we can link the final consonant sound in chime with the vowel sound in in chime in to chime in Chris I'm not sure you have the green light to just chime in whenever anyone please chime in well take it easy and this is not her fault oh look who decided to chime in anyone else want to chime in then we have the phrase to cut someone some slack this means to treat someone in a less harsh or critical way so some examples I will cut you some slack if you don't hit the like button I know I told you to air on the side of caution and go ahead and do that but if you don't I will cut you some slack I will cut you some slack if you don't join my email Community but I will will not cut you any slack if you don't write to me in the comments so I I I want to talk to you quickly about the difference between I will cut you some slack versus I will not cut you any slack remember that we're going to use some with affirmative statements and any with negative statements one more thing I want to point out is that you may hear people use this with the verb give to give someone some slack however as we can see using enr Vier it's over whelmingly more common for people to use the verb cut to cut someone some slack young lady this may be the high point of B's life cut him some slack let's say you get a job which you probably won't they're not going to cut you any slack you're meant for a job with lots and lots of slack then we have the phrase to oneup someone I like this phrase even though it's not really a good thing to do it means to get an advantage over someone by saying or doing something better or more extreme so let me give you some examples and I want you to think about who is trying to one up the other next week I'm going for a hike next week I'm climbing Mount Everest last month I met the star of the high school basketball team yeah that's nice I met Michael Jordan I think I might buy a new car maybe a Honda I've been thinking about buying a new car as well but probably a Ferrari I think it's quite clear that person B is trying to oneup person a it's time I come up with a to score with the ladies there's Jimmy trying to one up me I go to church too and I have raffled and bingoed and B sailed my way as close to the good Lord is you so do not try to one up me because I will one up yours the next phrase is perfect if you ever feel like you are so worried confused or annoyed you just don't know what to do you can say I'm at my Wit's End often people may use this phrase at home or at work parents might say this when they're frustrated with their kids kids I'm at my wits end or maybe at work you just have too much going on you can't handle it and you tell your colleague I'm at my wits end and I just don't know what to do most of the time you will use this phrase to talk about yourself your own frustration therefore you're going to use the possessive adjective my I'm at my wits end but you can use other possessive adjectives as well his wits end her wits end your wits end and keep in mind when pronouncing this phrase more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in wits with the beginning vowel sound in N witsend I'm at my witsend I'm sorry I'm at my wits end Sally I think she may need private school if there's anybody who could understand what I'm going through it's you and to tell you the truth I'm I'm at my Wit's End I am I am really sorry about this I'm just at my wits end with these two then we have to second guess this means to criticize or question a decision after it has been made and typically you say what's wrong with it so let's say that you make a decision and then I am telling you like well why did you make this decision what were you thinking did you consider this in that case I am second guessing your decision so it really has a negative connotation keep in mind this phrase may also be used with a reflexive pronoun when we're just not confident with the decision that we've made if I said well why did I do this that was a dumb mistake what was I thinking I am second guessing myself I think everyone can relate to this and I'm sure at some point in your life you have second guessed yourself for pronunciation I just want you to know that the final D in second may get muted because of Aion this is when sounds or syllables get removed and this may occur with the t or d when they come between two consonants think about the phrases old car or next day you don't really hear the t or d nor do you hear it when I say second guess to second guess someone don't second guess yourself you made the right call cautious not cautious enough I'm already second guessing myself and that's the last thing a captain could afford hey I figured out on my first job when a little creative thinking on my part almost got me not paid never second guess a client heads up this is a phrase that I use all the time and it's a warning that something is going to happen usually so you can prepare for it and I might use this you know I'm out walking with my wife on the street and I see a bike coming down the sidewalk and I say heads up and she tells me well why don't you just say there's a bike coming down the sidewalk and I tell her that's too long you got to be concise fast efficient heads up now I want you to know that this phrase is often used with the verb give to give someone one a heads up it's a common collocation so I will give you a heads up when the next vocabulary video comes out I will also give you a heads up when I start my next speaking course and I will give you a heads up when this lesson is getting ready to come to an end when pronouncing this phrase you guessed it more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in heads with the beginning vowel sound in up heads up to give some one a heads up Mak Not freak out it's not my responsibility to care a heads up heads up hey wonderful but before you fully commit I should probably give you the heads up my plan is very elaborate and you might get a little messy I'm in it's the highest and then there's to foot the bill this means to pay the bill for something especially something expensive now I want to clarify how you would use this phrase because if um you go out to an expens expensive restaurant with a group of people you're not really going to say well who's going to foot the bill but you may use it when talking about things that are a lot more expensive think about education or travel I could say my parents foot the bill for my college education go Buffs or if you are going to travel for work I might ask you is the company going to foot the bill for your trip it's expensive there are multiple things you may pay for flight hotels is the company going to foot the bill the other thing I want to point out with this phrase and you may have noticed it with the examples is that you're really going to use this when talking about paying the bill for someone else so my parents foot the bill for my education or the company foot the bill for your business trip so so keep that in mind when using this phrase here are some other examples I'm sorry Alex so much for attorney client privilege not when I'm footing the bill one call to the town they'll declare that thing a hazard and they'll rip it down themselves and they'll foot you with the bill I'm renting a yacht and I'm calling all our friends and we're taking a yacht to Catalina and you're coming and I'm putting the whole freaking bill you know what now for a little review so I'm giving you a heads up that the lesson will end shortly and I hope that you will cut me some slack because I'm sure that you want to continue learning more useful phrases but we've we've talked about quite a few already I don't want to overwhelm you therefore I decided to air on the side of caution because I believe that's what good teachers do and I certainly don't want to think that I'm your average run-ofthe-mill teacher but you can let me know down in the comments feel free to chime in with your thoughts but if you would like to continue learning watch another one of my video lessons make that decision don't second guess yourself continue watching and learning so I'm going to stop dragging my feet and wrap things up if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 591. Super Useful SPEAKING Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿš€ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `k75nWSvMfyA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k75nWSvMfyA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:36:14 | --- I want to help you upgrade, enhance, and develop your speaking fluency. And what better way to do that than with phrases that have to do with speaking. So, if you are someone who would like to improve your overall speaking skills, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And generally speaking, this is the best way to do that. just subscribe, watch these lessons, and generally speaking, you will improve your skills. And let let's just go ahead and get into the first phrase, which is generally speaking. This is very common, extremely useful because you're going to use this phrase to talk about things that are usually true or true in most cases without getting into specific details. So this is an excellent qualifier that you can use whenever you want to avoid saying that something is absolute. It is 100%. So I could say generally speaking the weather in California is quite pleasant. Now this is a state that is known for its weather. Not too hot, not too cold. And yes, generally speaking, many people, myself included, find that the weather is quite pleasant. Here are some more examples. >> I mean, generally speaking, people don't like you. >> Shut up. Shut up. You're an idiot. >> You're an idiot. >> But generally speaking, in the afterlife, there's a good place and there's a bad place. >> I'm just saying generally speaking, when you order breakfast and they give you the wrong order, send it back and get the right order. Then there's speak up for. This is a phrase that you can use in order to support or defend someone or something, especially when they're being criticized or they're just unable to defend themselves. So, this is a phrase that implies courage because you are taking a stand for someone with less power. Now, keep in mind, you may hear people use this with the reflexive pronoun yourself. You need to speak up for yourself. In this context, it means you need to communicate your needs and really express your thoughts and opinions and yeah, just speak up for yourself. To give you another example, I could say you need to speak up for your colleagues if you feel like they're being treated unfairly. So often you would speak up for someone else, but you could also speak up for yourself. >> If you can't speak up for us, at least speak up for yourself. And they hate that I do that and they want me to speak up for myself. They'd kill you right now. Is the peacekeeper >> on me for speaking up for you. >> Now, generally speaking, if you would like to greatly improve your speaking skills, then you need to practice. You need to have more conversation. And that is why I would like to tell you about my speaking course. It's all about helping you speak confidently, speak clearly, and speak naturally. Each week there is a different speaking topic. You will learn vocabulary related to that topic. We do engaging speaking activities and I'll try to teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases. So, click on the link down below in the description if you would like to sign up or learn more about the course. And yeah, I just hope to speak to you soon. Let's continue with our next phrase, which is to be on speaking terms. This means that you are friendly enough to talk to someone usually after a period of arguing or disagreeing. So, because of the meaning, and this is what I want you to know, you're pretty much always going to use this with the negative and say that two people are not on speaking terms, that they are not in a friendly situation, that they're willing to communicate. So, in that case, you're going to use it to describe this icy relationship between two people. I I could say, "My neighbors haven't been on speaking terms since the dispute over the fence last year." So, people are not willing to talk and communicate with each other because of some argument or disagreement. And in that case, you could say that these people, they are not on speaking terms. >> Last night in the crypt, you had another vision, didn't you? I didn't realize we were back on speaking terms. >> We're not discussing anything. You and I are not on speaking terms. You have been invading my privacy for years. >> I didn't invite him. He and Jean Viev were not on speaking terms. I was so annoyed. >> Next is the phrase shoot the breeze. This means to have a casual informal conversation with someone or a group of people about unimportant things. Now, I could also use the phrase shoot the [ย __ย ] I think this is more commonly used in spoken English, but shoot the breeze is safer for all audiences. So to to give you an example, I could say we spent all afternoon sitting on the porch just shooting the breeze and we were talking casually about nothing. Or to use the other one, uh he likes to go down to the pub and shoot the [ย __ย ] with his friends. So we can look at engram viewer and you can see that both of them the frequency of their usage is about the same. But personally I think it's probably more common especially in spoken English just to say shoot the [ย __ย ] simply because you may end up using this phrase among friends the people that you're closer to. So in that case you may use that more informal phrase instead of shoot the breeze. But either one works. >> Welcome home buddy. Man, I missed sitting around just shooting the breeze. What are you doing here? >> Just been upstairs with your boss, you know, shooting the breeze. >> I'm not your boss. We're just a couple of guys. A couple of guys shooting the [ย __ย ] >> The next phrase is to speak highly of and this just means to say good things about someone or something and you're just offering a lot of praise. Now, typically this phrase is used to comment on someone's professional reputation or character. So, this is an excellent phrase in a work context. Everyone speaks highly of her leadership skills. Now, I want to take a moment and thank you because I read the comments and I know that you enjoy the lessons and that you speak highly of them, except for this comment and this one right here, as well as this one. No, I'm I'm just trying to have a little fun with these negative comments. I don't know. Maybe I sound like a cat. I don't know. But I generally speaking, I know that many of you enjoy the lessons and you speak highly of them and I really appreciate that. >> You're the most popular girl in your school and the fact that you hang with G and I well speaks very highly of you. >> Oh, yes, of course I do. Nice to see you again. Speak so highly of you. >> So nice to hear. Angelo here spoke very highly of you and how you handled yourself with him in Pennsylvania. >> Then there's speak too soon. I like this phrase. It means to say something that is quickly proven wrong or to celebrate success before it is actually guaranteed. So this phrase is really used as a type of self-correction. When something goes wrong immediately after you say, "Well, hey, everything's okay. I said the traffic wouldn't be bad today, but I definitely spoke too soon because it's actually pretty horrible. All right, here is a funny meme. You guys are the greatest. Spoke too soon. Any Gladiator fan, you you get this joke. You can appreciate it. >> I don't want to speak too soon, but we may have beaten this. >> So, is your dad here yet? >> No, I never showed up. >> What? >> Oh, damn. It's about too soon. It's going to be okay. >> Don't worry, kid. Your old man's crafty. Spoke too soon. >> Then we have speak out against. This means to publicly express an opinion, especially a critical one, in order to protest something. Now, keep in mind there is a very distinct difference between speak up for and speak out against. Speak up for is more about showing support, whereas speak out against is more resistance and opposition. And there are some common collocations with this phrase. You could speak out against corruption or speak out against injustice, speak out against racism or speak out against abuse. There are many things that you can speak out against. It takes a lot of courage to speak out against corruption within a large organization. Yes, that's true. I think we should all speak out against corruption, especially government corruption, which many countries are not immune to. I have my lands and titles stripped from me. I dare to speak out against Prince John. >> Every man, woman, and child is going to speak out against you. If you are wise, you will leave this place. >> You know, I was one of the first to speak out against horse play. >> Mhm. >> Then there's the phrase talk tough. This means to use strong, aggressive, confident language to show that you are in control and you will not back down. And I'm trying to explain this in a tone in which I'm I'm talking tough. Now, one thing I absolutely want to convey when it comes to this phrase is that a lot of times it implies this subtle hint that the other person, the person who's talking tough is all talk. And all talk is another useful phrase that means that really somebody is just saying words. There is not going to be any action. there's not going to be any followth through and it's kind of a way of projecting strength even though you you're not really going to follow through with anything that you're saying. I could say the CEO talked tough during the negotiations but eventually agreed to a compromise. So, someone can project strength when they talk tough, but yeah, it's not they're not going to follow through with it. And there won't be any action if somebody is just talking tough. >> It's easy to lash out when your blood is up. Easier still to talk tough when no one's life hangs in the balance. >> Right. It's probably easier to talk tough when you had your magic to back it up. >> Y'all [ย __ย ] don't scare me. >> You can talk tough all you want, but this ain't no record. Then there's the phrase speak out of turn. This means to say something at an inappropriate time or without having the authority to do so. Now there are two situations in which you would often use this phrase. The first is when you end up sharing information that was not really yours to share and in that case you are speaking out of turn or you are interrupting this formal hierarchy that you should let others with who have more authority they should be the one speaking but you interrupt you share your opinion and somebody might view that as speaking out of term. I could say, "I hope I'm not speaking out of term, but I think the current plan has a few flaws." And maybe I'm saying this to a group of people who are my bosses or executives, and I I might say, "Look, I hope I'm not speaking out of turn." Now, in that example, it does sound more neutral, but I want you to keep in mind that this phrase, it really does have more of a negative connotation if you or someone else is speaking out of turn. >> Now, when Dwight tells you that he will keep prices steady for a year, I think he is speaking out of turn. >> Forgive me for speaking out of turn, sir, but you sent me to that school to change me. But if Detective Blake chooses to speak out of turn, the result would be unpleasant. >> Then there's the phrase to speak ill of someone. This just means to say bad or unkind things about someone. To to give you an association, think about this famous old proverb, speak no ill of the dead. If someone passes, then it's not really necessary to then say bad things about this person. To give you an example, I could say, "Even though they broke up, she refuses to speak ill of him, and they're no longer dating, but she's not going to say bad or unkind things uh about her ex." One thing I want you to know is that this phrase may be considered a little more formal because you could also say speak badly of someone or speak poorly of someone. All of them work. They have the same meaning. You could use any. >> Tell me about Dr. Stapleton. Never speak ill of a colleague. >> I don't like to speak ill of anyone, but he is not a good man. I'm sorry, but he's not >> really. What did you hear exactly? Just >> I shouldn't speak ill of the dead. talk is cheap. This means that it's actually much easier to say you will do something than actually do it. It's a little similar to the phrase I mentioned before and that saying someone is all talk and there's not going to be much action. However, talk is cheap is more it's more of a challenge that you are directly telling someone, okay, let's see you stop talking and start acting. Another expression that you could use which is interchangeable would be actions speak louder than words. They keep saying they'll fix the road, but talk is cheap when no construction is happening. This is a great example that I think we can all relate to. Somebody says that they're going to fix something. It doesn't happen and then you are thinking, "Ah, talk is cheap. Stop saying it. Let's see you start acting. Talk is cheap. >> We believe you. >> Talk is cheap. Perhaps a test of thy faith. Walk through the wall. I will remove it for you. >> Talk is cheap, Ryan. If you're going toe-to-toe with this Frenchie, you need to step your game up. >> Oh, he end up looking was weak. That ain't no bail. I'm just saying talk is cheap. >> Then there's to be spoken for. This means to be already claimed, reserved, or in a committed relationship. Now, in a romantic context, it means I have a boyfriend. I have a girlfriend. But in a more general context, it means this item is already taken. Here's an example. I'm sorry, but that last piece of cake is already spoken for because I want it. It is spoken for. Here is a funny comic that I wanted to share with you. Sorry, but I'm already spoken for. I I think you get the joke, but in case you're unfamiliar with what you would call this person, it is a ventriloquist. Just wanted to let you know. Here are some more examples with our phrase. >> In your pants, Tommy Bahama. She's spoken for. >> I made friends with the richest lady in baby camp. Very cute. Should send you up there. >> I'd imagine she's spoken for. >> Hey, at least give me one of those margaritas. >> Sorry, they're so spoken for. >> I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but I would love it if you go ahead, watch another video lesson, keep building your vocabulary. Generally speaking, it is the best way to reach your fluency goals. Now, I know talk is cheap. I want to see you take action. Go ahead, hit that like button. If you do that for me, I promise I will never speak ill of you. In fact, I'll do the exact opposite. I will speak highly of you. So, please check out another lesson so you and I can continue shooting the breeze. And what I really hope is that you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new. And if you did, you can let me know down in the comments. Thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 592. Super Useful Stock Market Vocabulary | Words & Phrases You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `zJUa-DT58cA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJUa-DT58cA) | | **Language** | Hindi (auto-generated) (hi) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:44:21 | --- เค‡เคธ เคตเค•เฅเคค เคฎเฅˆเค‚ เคเค• เคถเคพเคฎ เคฎเคจเฅ€ เคเคฌเฅเคฐเฅ‰เคก เคฎเฅ‡เค•เคฟเค‚เค— เคฎเคจเฅ€ เคจเฅเคตเฅเคตเฅ subscribe and subscribe the Channel Please subscribe and subscribe the Channel Please subscribe and subscirbe spider-man เคธเฅเคตเคฟเคฎเคฟเค‚เค— เคชเฅ‚เคฒ เคตเฅเคนเคพเคŸเฅเคธเคเคช เคฌเคพเคฏ เคธเฅเคŸเฅ‰เค•เฅเคธ เคตเฅเคฏเคพเคง The Amazing spider-man subscribe and subscribe the Channel Please subscribe And subscribe The Amazing เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคŸเฅ‹ เค‡เคธ เคธเคฎเคฏ เคœเคฌ เคคเค• เคชเฅเคฐเฅ‡เคœเฅ‡เค‚เคŸเฅ‡เคถเคจ เคตเคฐเคถเคฟเคช เค‡เคจ เค•เค‚เคชเคจเฅ€ เคตเฅเคนเฅ‡เคฏเคฐ เค†เคˆเคเคธ เคกเคฟเคตเคพเค‡เคกเฅ‡เคก เค‡เคจเคŸเฅ‚ เค‡เค•เฅเคตเคฒ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคธเคฐเฅเคตเคฟเค‚เค— subscribe and subscribe the Channel Please subscribe and subscribe the เค•เฅเคตเคพเคฐเฅเคŸเฅเคœ เคฌเคจเคพเคˆ เคธเคกเคผเค• เคฌเคจเคพเคˆ เคœเคฟเคธเค•เฅ‡ เค”เคฐ เคถเฅˆเค‚เคชเฅ‚ เคธเฅ‡ เค•เฅ‰เคธเฅเคŸ เคนเคฎ เค‡เคธ เคชเฅ‰เค‡เค‚เคŸ เค”เคฐ เคนเคพเคฐเฅ‚เคจ เคซเฅ‚เคก เคชเฅเคฐเฅ‹เคกเค•เฅเคŸเฅเคธ เคเคตเคฐเฅ€เคกเฅ‡ เคเค‚เคก เคตเฅเคตเฅ‡ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคœเคฐเฅเคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เค•เคฐเฅ‡เค‚ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เค•เคฐเฅ‡เค‚ เคถเฅเค•เฅเคฐเคตเคพเคฐ เคต เคธเค‚เค˜ เคชเฅเคฏเฅ‚เคฎเคฟเค• เคธเคฎเฅเคฎเคพเคจเฅ€เคฏ เคฌเคพเค‚เค—เฅเคฒเคพ เคฒเฅˆเค‚เค—เฅเคตเฅ‡เคœ เคฏเฅ‚เคœเฅเคก เคซเฅ‰เคฐ เคฎเฅ‹เคฐ เคกเคฟเคซเคฟเค•เคฒเฅเคŸ เคธเฅ‡เคฒเฅ‡เคฌเฅเคธ เค•เฅ‰เคŸ เค‡เคจ เค เคฌเฅ‰เคฎเฅเคฌ subscribe and subscribe and subscribe and subscribe and subscribe and subscribe the Channel subscribe เค•เคฐเฅ‡ เค‡เคธ เค…เคฎเฅƒเคค เคธเฅเคตเคฏเค‚ เคญเฅเคฐเคทเฅเคŸ เค”เคฐ เคจเฅ‡เค•เฅเคธเฅเคŸ เค†เคซ เค•เคฟเคจ เค†เคซ เคตเฅเคฐเคค เค‰เคชเคตเคพเคธ เค•เฅ‡ เคธเคฎเคฏ เคœเคฐเฅ‚เคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคœเคฐเฅ‚เคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคฎเคพเคฏ เคšเฅˆเคจเคฒ เค•เฅ‹ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคœเคฐเฅเคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เค•เคฐเฅ‡เค‚ เคธเฅเคงเฅ€เคฐ เคเคก เคŸเคพเค‡เคชเฅเคธ เค†เคซ เค‡เค‚เคธเฅเคŸเฅ€เคŸเฅเคฏเฅ‚เคŸ เค•เฅเคฐเฅ‰เคจเคฟเค•เคฒเฅเคธ เคจเฅ‹เคกเฅเคธ เคชเฅ‡เคก เคคเค• [เคธเค‚เค—เฅ€เคค] เคธเคฌเคธเฅเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคœเคฐเฅ‚เคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคฒเคพเค‡เค• เคธเคฌเคธเฅเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เค”เคฐ เคถเฅ‡เคฏเคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคŸเฅ‹ เคฐเฅเคชเค เค‡เคธเคธเฅ‡ เคชเฅ‚เคฐเฅเคต เคจเคฏเคพ เคตเฅ‰เค‡เคธ เคฎเฅ‡เคฒ subscribe and [เคชเฅเคฐเคถเค‚เคธเคพ] subscribe the Channel and subscribe the เคนเฅˆเค‚ เค”เคฐ เค†เคช เค…เคšเฅเค›เฅ€ เคŸเฅเคฏเฅ‚เคฌ เคนเฅˆ เค†เคช เคธเคฎเคฏ เค•เฅ€ เคตเคจ เคฎเฅ‹เค‚เค  เค†เคˆเคŸเฅ€ เคนเคธ เคตเคฐเฅเค•เฅเคก เค‡เคจ เคฅเฅ‡ เคฌเฅเคตเฅ‰เคฏ เคตเคพเคธ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคŸเฅ‰เค•เคฟเค‚เค— เค…เคฌเคพเค‰เคŸ เค•เฅเคตเฅ‡เคถเฅเคšเคจ เค…เคฌ เคธเฅเค•เฅ‚เคฒ เคเค‚เคก เค‡เคธ เคตเคฟเคกเคฟเคฏเฅ‹ เคšเฅˆเคจเคฒ เค•เฅ‹ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคœเคฐเฅเคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เค•เคฐเฅ‡เค‚ เคฎเคพเค‚ เค•เฅ‡ เคคเคนเคค เคเค‚เคก เคตเคฐเฅเคธเฅ‡เคธ เคชเฅ‰เคœเคฟเคŸเคฟเคต เคเค‚เคก เคฏเฅ‚ เค…เคฌ เค•เค‚เคชเคจเฅ€ เคเคฌเฅ€ เคกเคฟเคตเคฟเคฒเคฟเคฏเคฐเฅเคธ เคจเค‚เคฌเคฐ เคตเคจ เค‡เคœ เคฆ เคชเฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคธ เค‘เคซ เคธเฅˆเคฎเคธเค‚เค— เค•เค‚เคชเคจเฅ€ เค•เคพ เคชเฅ‹เคฐเฅเคถเคจ เค…เคงเฅ€เคจ subscribe The Channel Please subscribe and subscribe and subscribe the Channel เค•เฅเคตเฅ‡เคถเฅเคšเคจ เคถเฅเคฏเคพเคฎ เคœเคฏ เค‡เคจเฅเคตเฅ‡เคธเฅเคŸเคฎเฅ‡เค‚เคŸเฅเคธ เคŸเฅ‹ เค—เคฟเคต เคตเฅ‰เค‡เคธ เคŸเฅ‹ เคŸเฅ‰เค•เฅเคธ เคเคช เคเค‚เคก เคฎเฅ‡เค•เค…เคช เคซเคฟเคฐ เค”เคฐ subscribe And subscribe The Amazing เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ เคธเคซเฅ‡เคฆ เคœเคธเฅเคŸเคฟเคจ เคตเฅเคฏเค•เฅเคคเคฟ เค•เฅ‹ เคœเคฐเฅ‚เคฐ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ subscribe [เคธเค‚เค—เฅ€เคค] and like Thanks เคชเคพเค• เคธเฅˆเคจเคฟเค•เฅ‹เค‚ เคธเฅ เคธเคพเคซ เคฎเคจเฅ€ เคตเคฟเคธเคจ เค…เคงเคฟเค• subscribe and subscribe and subscribe the Channel Please subscribe and subscribe the Channel subscribe เค•เคฐเฅ‡ เคœเคผเค–เฅเคฎ เคเค‚เคก เคตเฅเคฏเคตเคธเฅเคฅเคฟเคค เคฅเคพ เค•เคฟ เคฆเคฌเค‚เค— เคฆเคฌเค‚เค— เค…เคฌ เคธเฅเค•เฅเคฐเฅ€เคจ เค•เฅ‹ เคธเคฌเคธเฅเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ subscribe and subscribe and subscribe the Channel subscribe เค•เคฐเฅ‡ เค…เคชเคจเฅ‡ 160 เคชเฅ‚เคฐเฅเคฃเคฟเคฎเคพ เคธเคฐเฅเคตเฅ‡ เคซเคพเคฏเคฐ เคถเฅ‰เคŸ เคธเฅเคŸเฅ‰เค• เคšเฅˆเคจเคฒ เคธเคฌเฅเคธเค•เฅเคฐเคพเค‡เคฌ subscribe and subscribe the Channel Please subscribe thanks for watching this --- ## 593. Super Useful Weather Phrasal Verbs โ˜”๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `tcOK8dJOnpk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcOK8dJOnpk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:05:55 | --- everyone today i want to talk to you about the weather and specifically i want to talk to you about some advanced phrasal verbs that you can use to well not just have conversation and talk about the weather but really make specific observations about what is happening right now or what will happen in the future and this is useful because well we're people are outside all the time and the weather changes so it can be useful to point these things out and talk about what's going to happen with the weather especially when you're making plans with other people so we're not going to get into phrasal verbs that i think are a little easier like wow it's really heating up which is it's getting hotter or well it's starting to cool down which means it's getting colder i think many of you may be familiar with those and you could probably put them into context these phrasal verbs however will will help you provide a little more information a little more nuance a little more flavor to the conversation whenever you want to make an observation about the weather so the first phrasal verb i have for you is to let up and a common sentence that you might hear somebody would make the observation well i think it's starting to let up it means that is starting to become less severe than it previously was and often you would use this to talk about either the rain or the snow so for example if you are somewhere and it just starts raining really hard and you run and take shelter and you just have to wait so you might wait for a little while and then over time it's going to become less severe and you could say well i think it's starting to let up are you ready let's let's go ahead and leave let's go back out there in the rain because it's starting to let up and as you can probably guess once a rainstorm or a snowstorm begins to let up after a while it most of the time it's just going to stop so it's really severe then it starts to let up and then it stops to let up to become less severe no i know i know but looks like my flight's cancelled and no one's flying until this weather lights up then we have rained out and this just means that some kind of event or activity that it cannot take place because of the rain and i i think of sports quite often there is some kind of match that takes place outside and and you can't play there's just too much rain and you say well the game got rained out we can't do this because of the rain it got rained out yeah but we drove we could drive back we could watch the parade it's rained out since soon another great weather phrasal verb is to blow over and this just means to come to a quick end and we often use it when talking about a storm again it could be rain it could be snow and you say that it's going to blow over and you can kind of think about it based on what those individual words mean that you have some kind of storm and it is blowing over and then it's done it's already passed by it has blown over and it's come to an end there's no more and i think we use it i think i use this quite often when you when you're saying something that you think is going to happen and you think well you know there are some dark clouds but i i think the storm's going to blow over i don't think it's going to last it will come to an end shortly it's going to blow over then we have to clear up and this just means that the weather becomes more pleasant or more agreeable and you could say well it's it's going to clear up so we're talking about a situation in which it is raining or it is snowing and you say that well in the future it's going to clear up it's going to become more pleasant and it's going to stop again i think we can often use it when expressing your hopes or desires and you say you know i hope that it clears up soon or you could say well you know it's raining pretty hard right now but i think it's going to clear up by this afternoon to clear up to become more pleasant or more agreeable grace guys are gonna clear up pretty soon the sky is gonna clear up charlie the crazy weather cleared up too for whatever reason then we have breakthrough and this just means that it is starting to appear and in this case you're you're mostly talking about the sun that the sun is starting to break through the clouds that is a common way in which this phrasal verb might be used so let me let me give you an example i could say that well you know the the storm has blown over the sun is starting to break through which means well very soon the weather's going to clear up and it's going to be a nice and pleasant day and as you can see you can use these phrasal verbs multiple times to talk about a variety of situations once you break through the clouds to the clear blue beyond the the space next is roll in and if something rolls in it just appears in a large amount and when i think of this phrasal verb i think of you're talking about perhaps some dark clouds often i think you might be talking about the fog so the fog starts to roll in which means it it's appearing in large amounts and then you could say well i really hope this clears up soon i have places to go people to see i hope it clears up soon and that this just blows right over and it goes away and i'm just gonna keep using these phrasal verbs throughout all of these examples just to help you remember and better understand what they mean years ago malaria was a sunny land of farmers until the mysterious storm clouds rolled in and never left then we have pick up and if we're talking about a storm specifically rain or snow if you say it's starting to pick up it means it's starting to get stronger so you would use this phrasal verb when making an observation about maybe the rain the snow or even the wind and you could say wow that wind is really starting to to pick up and it is getting stronger or that rain it's really starting to pick up outside and if it continues to pick up well then the match might get rained out and we won't be able to play so if you want to talk about weather that is getting less strong and is the opposite of pick up then you would use the phrasal verb die down to die down is to refer to rain snow wind often those three things and you want to say that it is getting less strong it's getting weaker it's starting to die down and depending on what you're talking about you may use these together quite often so perhaps you're doing an activity in which well the wind is good maybe you're flying a kite and you say wow i really hope the wind picks up so the kite is very easy to fly or maybe you're sailing a boat and it's becoming a little more difficult and say oh no the wind is starting to die down we need it to pick up and get stronger so that the sailboat can go ah come on dad the wind's dying down we're almost to the engine winds died down they'll be here soon then we have the phrasal verb hold off and what this means is that you're referring to the weather and saying that it's not going to start yet but it probably will in the future and i often think of using this phrasal verb when talking about your hopes your wishes your desires and you want to say that the rain is going to hold off or that the snow is going to hold off mostly because you have something you need to do something you need to finish and then it will start in the future but right now you're hoping that it's gonna hold off so for example you could say well i i really hope the rain holds off for a little bit and that we can finish the match because if it starts to rain and then it starts to pick up well we're gonna have to cancel the match it's gonna get rained out so hopefully that weather that storm will hold off next is a winter phrasal verb and that is bundle up so if you tell somebody to bundle up or you say that you have to bundle up it just means that you need to wear warmer clothes during cold weather so if it's really cold outside i might say well you know i really need to bundle up or maybe i'm talking to you and i say wow it that that cold weather it just rolled right in it's starting to snow i don't think it's gonna let up anytime soon so you know my advice i think you should bundle up when you go out there so that you can stay warm bundle up looks like another cold one today in the midwest that's the bundle up everyone bundle up it's awfully cold outside let's stick with winter and snow for right now and the next phrasal verb is snowed in and if you say that someone is snowed in or maybe you were snowed in it means that you are unable to leave you are unable to go anywhere because there's just too much snow so if there is a huge snowstorm and it snows a lot and you are unable to leave you can't go anywhere you would tell somebody you know well i can't leave we're snowed in we have to stay where we are we have to wait until the weather clears up because right now we're snowed in there was this huge snowstorm and i got snowed in we're snowed in we're dropped in the school then we have beat down and this just means to shine intensely so because of that you know that it's just describing the sun we use this to describe the sun and you could say that you know the sun is just really beating down so not only is it hot but it it really has this level of intensity which often it just makes people uncomfortable if you say wow that sun it's really beating down right now it's too hot it's too uncomfortable to be outside we need to go inside where there's air conditioner because the sun is just beating down oh let the sun beat down upon my face the sun beating down on tropical waters powers the weather systems of the globe so there you have it i hope that the next time you are talking to somebody about the weather but more specifically that you are trying to make an observation about what's happening especially if it's snowing or raining that you can try to use some of these phrasal verbs to to talk about what you see or what you think will happen so i hope that wherever you are in the world the sun is starting to break through and you can just go out and enjoy the day and that any type of bad weather will just hold off right now because i don't want your plans to get rained out i really don't want you to get snowed in and i what i really want is for you guys to understand and remember these advanced phrasal verbs when you want to talk about the weather which is why i just keep repeating them and trying to use them over and over again so in all seriousness i hope that you have a wonderful day i hope you are having beautiful weather go out and enjoy it and i will see you next time --- ## 594. Surprising Things about Americans & Living in the USA ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rO6Md_-t4No` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO6Md_-t4No) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:45:03 | --- welcome everyone to our wonderful Saturday lesson I hope you're having a great day and I hope that your week was also amazing today we have a different kind of lesson and it is a very cultural kind of lesson so if you are just joining I would like to welcome you to interactive English Saturday lesson please tell us where you are from and what is your name and introduce yourself a little bit either if you're with us now live or if you are joining us later please write it in the comments welcome Vivian welcome for COD welcome Estella Anita Junior Patricia yeah long time no see I know so it's glad it's glad to see you here and I hope you're having a great day so I want to explain a little bit about the lesson today it is a cultural lesson like I said and I think it's very important then when we talk about language that we also talk about culture because it's not it's not just words the formal language there's so much more that comes with it so that being said I am talking to you today about things that surprised me about the US so if you're just joining please no you're not late you're not least we just began we are writing about we're talking about the things that surprised me about the u.s. so some of you may know that I moved to the US when I was 15 this was in 2002 I believe it was in 2002 so everything i am telling you today has to do with my personal experience and what was surprising to me I have to mention this because maybe I noticed things that other people haven't or maybe these things are more important to me than to other people so if if there's anything else that if you've travel to the US and you've noticed that was surprising to you please write it down and I will remind this to you throughout the lesson but again this is my experience the picture that I'm showing you right now this was taken in April of 2016 it was the day when I got my citizenship yay so that was a really fun day uh-huh that is me with an American flag and a flower that I got from my colleagues at work so again welcome welcome if you're just joining in the comments write down your name where you're writing from and if you're watching this later please do that as well yeah I was a teenager yes when I move to today us a very young teenager I was just starting high school so so let me tell you some of the things my favorite one is this one by far so before I moved oh gosh if you've seen American movies especially ones from like the 90s or the 80s you always see blonde people wearing jeans or something like that and I for some reason thought that everyone in the US was going to be blond and white I mean I knew about African Americans but I didn't I I didn't I didn't know that there would be like other kinds of ethnicities I had no idea and I was in for a huge surprise and this is my favorite part about the US and it is what I miss the most now because where I lived in California um there was a huge diversity they were Korean there are Japanese there were Vietnamese there were people from Mexico there are people from India they're people from you name the country there were a lot of places they were there and it was amazing and let me tell you why that was amazing first of all because everyone has a great story so they have stories from back home they have stories about immigration they have stories about culture different customs traditions and it was really great for me because I was used to a lot of European traditions but not so much about other places and this maybe should have gone before because I love food if you know me you know I love food so there is a lot of diversity that comes with that in food so you get to try if you're in the u.s. especially where I was in California you get to try a lot of amazing like Mexican food and a lot of amazing Korean food and a lot of amazing a Vietnamese food so you get to try all of these different foods and I loved it I loved it so that was surprising because I did not expect it but it was wonderful so so I'm off to the US just to answer a quick question I moved to the US because my parents decided to go there it I already spoke English I learned it in school I was I was already practicing and speaking before before I moved so it's been it's been going on for many years wes is in the comments he's somewhere out there okay so oh I forgot to mention one thing the other thing that's wonderful is that with this diversity is that people celebrate different holidays so even if maybe you have no experience in different cultures and their holidays maybe especially in high school they'll have organized events or in university or you'll meet friends and you'll get to participate in other people's holidays so like I said this was wonderful for me I learned so much I met a few people and it was just something really nice because I think the u.s. is a unique place in that and I missed that because now in Europe where I am at least we I just don't have that even though we have other countries here it's it's not to the same extent okay so now I want to talk about bathrooms because because this may be something that people don't notice or they don't care but I noticed that it was surprising to me at the time it was a good thing again so there are many in the u.s. there are many public bathrooms are free and there are a lot of them so you can go in a lot of malls even in the park in a lot of places they'll just have a lot of free clean public bathrooms and here in Europe where I am it's a little bit different there are clean but you usually have to pay for them so I think that's the that was my surprise um and the other thing that I was going to mention that I think a lot of people hate and I was uncomfortable too for the us is that the stalls like the doors don't go all the way up and down there like they come they cover partially so it takes a little bit of getting used to and I think it's a little strange so you can see people's feet which can be a little weird it was very surprising I got used to it and it was it was it was a little funny so okay so now I have a question for you guys that I'd like to ask you so please write it down in the comments do you have any international friends so if you have any international friends friends from other countries write down where they're from and yeah just where they're from and if you have any because I'm going to tell you the story about my experience with being in the US and making friends so please write that down in the comments do you have any international friends and if yes where are they from and I'm going to just yes okay so this was my experience with making friends in the u.s. even when I first moved there and it took a while after that I don't I didn't think it was easy in fact I thought it was really difficult you have I think Americans are friendly people they're they're friendly they're always they like to smile they like to greet but I think that they're not always like I put here they're not always inclusive this was my experience at least maybe I was in the wrong place but it felt like like I mentioned before you have these different ethnic groups you have like I said Koreans and Indians in Vietnamese but it seemed to me like they many times these ethnic groups or people like to stick to their groups and it's hard if you're not part of this group sometimes to join a group so that was difficult for me like I didn't want to hang out with other Romanians I wanted to meet other people and that was a little bit difficult in the beginning so it can be hard and so that's been my experience it's not always easy but yeah I want to see what you guys have answered yeah you have friends from India very good friends from Trinidad Tobago wonderful and everywhere except Antarctica well that's wonderful Turkish friends yes so I you know I think the world is changing a little bit and we're becoming more international more globalized so it's really wonderful to hear that you guys are making friends from from different places honestly I think we have so much to learn I think we all learn from each other so for me this is really important to have international friends okay now I have another question and it's about food to do so inadvertently I think if you think of America or United States I think about fast food and I'm sure a lot of other people did too so I wanted to ask you before we talk about my experience with international food I'm sorry with fast food is what kind of fast food do you have in your country because I know that it's not going to be Burgers and Fries okay so what what into what fast what do you have in your country what do people eat when they want something fast and on the go maybe they had a little bit to drink um what do people eat what is fast food in your country please write that down and I'll tell you my experience with fast food so before I moved before I moved to the US I thought that I didn't realize how important fast food was I thought it was one of those things that you just have from time to time and you have it like a treat or something that was extremely surprising for me because people really eat it and they eat it some people eat a daily other it's just something that is part of the culture that I think is really really ingrained so that was that was that that was really surprising for me the other thing again I was raised on I was lucky enough to be raised on organic food and my mom's an amazing cook and she was cooking all of these amazing foods from scratch everything was made from nothing well in the US that's not the case and I've seen that many many people use things like a cake mix which is pre-mixed ingredients and you buy it in a box which I'm still very surprised by or many frozen foods or canned foods or processed foods that was a little bit shocking like for example for cookies they have this this roll and then you just open it and then you cut the cookies it's like in a log of cookies you cut them and then you just put them on a sheet and then bake them like you don't have to you can if you want to which I do but you can just put them in there and they're ready so that was in 2002 and even later that's those very surprising to me so let me see what you guys answered tapioca tacos quesadillas tamales oh my god you guys are making me hungry falafels oh gosh pestle I hope I don't I don't mispronounce that okay very good question what does it mean from scratch it means from the beginning so some some foods especially nowadays if you go to like in a frozen aisle you can find things like a frozen pizza dough and you just you can just buy it well from scratch means you make it you add the flour you add the the oil the salt you mix it together and so on so and that's what it means from scratch when you start from the beginning so that is what I want to talk so fast food now I put a picture here of my favorite fast food place so it's it's not McDonald's I in fact I hate McDonald's i I cannot stand it but if you because I moved to California this is a franchise that is started in California Southern California and then it kind of spread up to I think it's in Oregon Nevada I'm not sure about Texas maybe not but it's kind of in the West the Southwest if you ever go try it it's burgers in an hour burger and I think it's really good it's actually really cheap too and I think it's higher quality now I will I will tell you guys I don't I don't really like fast food I'm not a fast food person like I said I was raised on organic ingredients I love healthier food so I'm not a huge fan of fast food but I do love this place I like a good burger and this place I think in and out makes a really good burger so of course West had to share that his favorite fast food is its chick-fil-a it's okay I'm sorry was but thank you guys so much for sharing um yeah exactly so I think the key is is is a very diet America's eat more than I thought but they are aware of being fit and I'll talk about that later because that's that was a pleasant surprise okay so moving on okay you need a car so this was very surprising because when I first there's a song actually that goes I'm not gonna sing it because my voice always carry most of you but it goes like nobody walks in LA and it's so true people don't walk everyone has a car you'll see like two or three people walking maybe there really aren't many people walking because everyone is driving and it drove me crazy the traffic is terrible is it I'm talking about LA this is not always the case but you do generally need a car in the US and the reason why is because the places the distances are are big and places are spread out so you know it's in order to get to a point A to point B by foot it would take you two hours you know but if you take a car well might take you two hours because of traffic I know it will take you like thirty minutes but the distances are really great and everyone drives and public transportation is not very reliable so that's a problem and this is not something I like at all at all that you need a car because for example here where I am in Europe you don't need a car like it's nice to have a car if you want to get out and travel but you don't need it and over in the u.s. I think you really really do so let's see so you do need a car that was surprising very surprising to me something another thing I don't like but again it's because of the size of the country I think and the streets are bigger everything is bigger so one of the things that was the first thing I noticed which is my third point here is it was the food how much bigger the food portions are and then I noticed cars and the other things so cars are much bigger and I think a reason why is because people are more comfortable because they're always in a car so they like to feel safer and more comfortable so they drive either bigger trucks or they drive these giant like vans or SUVs they're really big and they take up a lot of space but they can do so because the streets are big - streets are wider so they have more room so it's easier but in the same time it's just big big big it's a little too much for me and now the food portions oh gosh the food portions are really big like really big so this is not if I get a burger and I get something like this that's not abnormal for me to receive a burger this big on a plate this big I think they do this for several reasons I think people like to I I don't think everyone I don't think people usually finish these portions I think it's something to mention because I when people go to the US they say oh my god how can people eat this much I don't think they always do I think it's because when you pay the restaurant they think you get a better value if the food is bigger and it's actually very customary that people take a lot of their food with them in a back you know to go back so but it's still I don't I think there's a lot of food waste because of that if they don't take it so I don't like that at all I don't think they need to be that big so so yeah I just wanted to ask you yeah it's funny because you mentioned peanut butter because I'm going to talk about peanut butter um but Monica to answer your question and my accent and yeah it takes a really long time to become fluent honestly so if if but that doesn't mean that you're not speaking the language even if you're maybe not as advanced the more you you speak the better it is but it does take I think it takes a lifetime to to to be fluent in a language and I think that's something amazing that's my view of it so so yeah so the other thing I want to talk about houses are bigger to like they're they're much bigger than I see here in Europe and I think that's especially in the suburbs if you go outside of the bigger cities so not in if you're in like Chicago or New York no that's where spaces are smaller but in the suburbs you will see bigger houses bigger cars bigger streets wider and this is of course because it's a new more country and they couldn't they had the space for it okay oh this one so surprising to me you guys the country's so huge that if you go from the west coast to the east coast it feels like you're in a different country sometimes because of the people there so different sometimes the accent the the the southern accent is so different than the Western accent through the eastern and also because the geography I mean there's in California where I was there were you know there's this of course the ocean next to me but you also have mountains in in Arizona Nevada Texas you have the desert and then you have mountains and the Rockies in Colorado for example and Utah and so the geography varies quite a lot because it's such a big country but I think the people are very different so I was shocked when I went from California to places like Georgia to see how different people were it really did feel like a different the food is different I think very different in the south it's more it has its own there's its own cuisine even the north northeast was different so it's just all very very different it's a it's I don't know if it's good or bad it was just surprising that because of these big distances that you can have such different experiences for you for though for for the ones if you ask in my native language is Romanian okay another thing that surprised me that I really some of it is good some of it as bad is staying healthy and what it takes to stay healthy first of all it's expensive staying healthy in the u.s. costs a lot of money because buying organic fruits and vegetables is not cheap and that's it's it's it's because it's a priority to many people and especially now especially where I was and people realize that and they they up the price and and it is a little it's expensive the same with joining gyms or big craze now is CrossFit or these kind of like smaller parts gems they can be very very expensive but what I do like about it that was surprising that I didn't have in Romania when I was younger was this idea of being fit as a priority so Americans generally from what I've noticed they like the outdoors they like doing things like hiking and biking and being active and staying active I really really like that I think it's very healthy and I think they have a lot of natural beauty to go explore especially I mean everywhere really but it's I really really like that and it was surprising because I didn't expect it so that was that was surprising to me okay my I have a question for you guys I'm going to talk about sports and this is difficult for me because because I don't know much of us with what I'm going to try to cover it so my question is what sports are popular in your country so it's an easy one I'm sure you know and I'll tell you about the u.s. in a second more specifically about college sports so when I went to university I was shocked first of all that the college had a team different teams in fact like they have team they have basketball team they have football team they have all kinds of teams for all kinds of different sports and they compete with other college teams and it is a big deal everyone goes to watch these sports the schools actually end up making a lot of money off of these sports people pay a lot of money and athletes college athletes are seen as celebrities so it's very very important and it is also a little bit surprising to me how important it is because I've I've when I visited like I was telling you guys about Georgia and Atlanta you see these you see college sports flags or in people's houses it's that important to them like they're constantly ask me like Oh UCLA they have a great what do they have like a basketball team or this is bad because I don't know because I'm not a sports fan but it's very important and Americans take their sports very seriously and they'll wear like the wear hoodies with their sports team on the on the hoodie and it's a big thing it's very surprising this nothing like this exists where I grew up so let me see what you guys are doing okay football football football curling and Korea interesting football badminton soccer football and by football I'm guessing you you you me soccer right and the us like I said I think basketballs huge but I think football is probably and I mean American football would be the most important sport or the most watched I guess so yeah I'm looking what you guys are saying it's it's pretty it's pretty incredible because I have no idea that I didn't know that the US would be such an important like a country that cares so much about sports and you have people in people but I think I think generally speaking people care a lot more than well than me okay so I'm let's see we were talking about a few different things that surprised me I want to talk about this one which you might have heard before but it has to do with drinking alcohol I think in most countries the age where it's legal to drink alcohol is 18 but I don't think it's enforced in many places I know it wasn't in Romania I don't think in many countries in Europe it is well in the u.s. things are a little different first of all the drinking age is 21 I've made a mistake there but the drinking age is 21 it is strictly enforced and so like if you you have to bring an ID even if you're clearly over 21 so I had occasions where I've gone with people even if you don't actually sometimes if you go into a place where they might serve alcohol even if you don't buy alcohol you might still have to show them your ID so it did even if you're clearly older this was very surprising because like I said in Europe nobody cares everyone just lets everyone in it's not enforced it doesn't matter so uh hmm let's see oh wow so we have a hockey - and we have soccer I see soccer soccer if I'm going back to - what you guys are saying soccer to be the consensus of being one of the most important important ones yeah in the u.s. soccer is getting gaining more popularity I think but it's not definitely not the most popular sport I forgot about baseball I think that's another one that people watch a lot so there's basketball American football and baseball okay I don't know if you guys have seen these or have them but this was this concept of a drive through was totally surprising I was so surprised but not just by any drive-throughs but because of the places that had drive throughs that I've seen so a drive through if you don't know it's a place where you go with your car you don't get out of the car you stay inside your car and you talk through a little window from your car and then for many they're common with restaurants where you tell them your order and you drive through the window you pay and then they give you your food that's very common but what I found very surprising were pharmacies where you'd have you'd give them like you'd go to the window give them your prescription and then they'd come back and give you your medication very strange and then I've seen banks like for the ATM where you go in pull out again with a car driving driving then you stop you put in your car take out money and then keep driving so again very surprising to me and Starbucks which is if you if you're not if you're not sure what it is Starbucks is a an American coffee shop I guess it's everywhere now but you can go again like you don't have to stop you just get you her take a wake up and then you just keep driving so I put a picture here of a drive-thru pharmacy it was very very very very surprising um very very strange what cost more gaining or losing weight Oh that is a great question absolutely absolutely losing weight costs a lot more than gaining it's very easy to gain weight food is everywhere and it's cheap especially fast food it's cheap so you can it's much easier to buy fast food than to just you know purchase everything to make your own food because it costs time and money so sadly gaining weight is a lot cheaper okay we're getting through these this one's faster at just an observation I had that I thought was very bizarre maybe it's not so strange Americans like to be comfortable I think they're more of a casual people and I think that this is reflected in sometimes in the use of pajamas so I've seen people in class when I was a university student and even a high school student people came in class wearing their pajamas very strange I thought but it's fairly I saw it I saw it like a lot actually I did I don't see it at work it doesn't happen at work but definitely in university I saw it a lot at the grocery store from time to time you'd see people wearing pajamas I don't know or jammies has has some people like to call them they you know people like to be comfy I find it strange a little bit but sometimes I saw some kid pajamas so I don't know if you can work it um okay so before I show you the next one I have a question for you and please please please please answer um throughout while I keep speaking I have a couple more things to show you but here's my question to you if you've been to the US or if you've seen different if you've noticed other things about Americans I would like to ask you have you noticed but what was something that surprised you about Americans what what was surprising to you because these things are surprising to me but maybe not to other people or maybe I haven't noticed other things that are surprising to others so I would like to know please write it in the comments right now or later if you've been to the US what is something that surprised you about the people about culture about maybe language write it down we love love love love to see I be so curious to see what you notice maybe you agree with my list maybe you don't maybe you've seen something on TV if you haven't been there what do you think okay so now I want to talk about something very surprising and this again it's personal ice and what do I mean by ice American look Americans love ice like they are I feel like they're obsessed with ice you when you sit down at a restaurant poof they give you a glass of water but that glass is going to have it's going to be full of ice and maybe a little bit of water now you may like ice maybe you love it um I I don't know I I think it's okay but I think it's too much but it really is in everything even in the winter people like it some people chew on it like they think it's satisfying to crunch on it I don't understand this is not something that I get and I I lived there for 15 years and I could never understand American obsession with ice it they and then they give free refills I don't know if this is something you knew about like if you order a drink in many places they'll bring you another one another one another one and they only charge you for one but it's it's like full of ice so so you're probably just getting one drink I don't know so when I'm there I usually ask for a little ice like it's too much for me so I found this very funny it's people love it I don't I don't understand yeah I love ice cream too let's see that's something I love I again maybe you love ice and so that's um so maybe maybe maybe this will be great for you I know Wes I think he likes it so I find it funny this is another thing that's weird to me we're surprising I guess peanut butter oh my gosh everyone loves peanut butter I feel like um now I'm okay with it but I'm only okay with it in different contexts but when I moved there everyone was like how do you not like peanut butter what's wrong with you what how can you not like peanut butter um Americans love it they really really love it they eat it on everything bread cookies um bagels chocolate I like it I really like it with chocolate actually crackers oatmeal and celery which I find very disturbing I don't understand but they really eat it with everything and I don't understand this obsession with peanut butter it is everywhere if you guys don't know a very very iconic American sandwich is the peanut butter and jelly sandwich which is just jam kind of and they just put on the side it's like peanut butter on a slice of bread on the other hand it's like jam or jelly put it together and you eat it it's very strange um I like it if it's in a sweet combination so now I learn to be okay with it so it fits with chocolate I love it if it's out if it doesn't have chocolate I'm like eh but I'm not a huge peanut person but I found it very strange but I just wanted to mention that I shouldn't be talking too badly about peanut butter because Europeans are obsessed with Nutella to be to be honest we have it everywhere we love it we put it on everything pancakes we put it on toast we put it on cookies we put it in ice cream so we also have an obsession with a different kind of spread so I'm not judging I was just confused white peanut butter why not almond butter or I don't know so if you guys are writing remember to write down if you've seen remember to write down if you've seen any if you have if you've been to the u.s. if you find anything else that's strange other than my list because I'd be very very curious okay and now the last thing that I found a little bit surprising especially when I moved there was how many flags there were a lot of people really like to show their their their love of their country through flags and they do this with actual little flags or with hats or with bumper stickers or on like mugs or houses t-shirt it's it is a little bit strange to me um but it's there and I think maybe not so much anymore but when I moved I moved at a time it was right after 9/11 if you guys know 9/11 was when the twin towers fell so that was a time when I think a lot of people really felt the need to show their their their love and their support for America and so on so that was very strange I hadn't seen that when before in any place so that was a little surprising and of course in schools this may be something that you don't know is that children many times have this thing that they say which is the Pledge of Allegiance and it's a short statement about being respectful to the flag and it's it's it's a very interesting thing that I haven't seen I wasn't used to and it was certainly very very very surprising so right now I'm still looking through comments to see if you guys have written anything so some of you haven't been there it's it's well now you know now you know what to expect kind of that might surprise you but maybe it won't because now you know about it but even if you're writing later please right down what were some things that surprised you about Americans well that's it for today thank you guys for joining if you found this interesting if you liked my list if you disagreed with my list if you have anything to add please let me know in the comments I want to thank you for joining me on this beautiful Saturday and I hope you have a wonderful day if you like this lesson please like it please like it and share it with your friends thank you guys so much and I'll see you next time --- ## 595. TAKE THE IDIOM QUIZ ๐Ÿ“ | COMMON & USEFUL AMERICAN IDIOMS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rHM8T7puxuc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHM8T7puxuc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:36:52 | --- what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English and in case this is your first time here let me just tell you interactive English we are all about helping you practice and improve your English and today we have a fun little quiz so this is really going to be an interactive lesson because I am going to give you a quiz and I want you to tell me the answers all right so we're going to see how much you know about idioms we are going to give you I'm going to give you a quiz on idioms and I will say that I I think that these are common idioms so after this lesson in the comments I want you to tell me how many you got correct because that way I know maybe next time I will make them a bit more challenging I wanted to start with some common idioms because again these are the idioms that you are most likely to hear and the idioms that you will most likely use when you're having a conversation with somebody else so I want to give a quick shout out to those of you who are with us right now I want to say hello to uh sidad Andre Barbara little provian hi how's it going um sahid Barbara I can't read it from Creek Greece hey what's up um Huda an L Isaac yes thank you thank you thank you guys for joining me just wanted to give you guys a quick shout out some recognition thank you for joining me and let's just go let's just get into it the first thing I want to tell you though in case you're watching this and you're like what the heck are idioms all right just so you know a quick little warmup all right an idiom it it's a group of words which have a different meaning when they're together when they're put together then they would if you just take the meaning of each separate word so for example here's my example under the weather so if you think of weather then you think of rain snow sunshine and if you're under it then maybe you're just standing under it I don't know like this little guy under the cloud but no no no no no that's not what it means when we use this together under the weather it means that you feel sick and right now I would tell you just to to give you an example right now I'm feeling I'm feeling a little bit under the weather it's true it's nothing bad I just need some more vitamin C perhaps a little more sleep and then I won't feel under the weather anymore but this is a good example of an idiom and a common one too that that you might hear often if you're watching a TV movie uh under the weather so I'm going to give you the quiz and if you are with us in the chat I want you guys to to write your answers in the chat and and play along because this is interactive English we want you to interact with us that's what it's all about even if you're watching this later I want you to take the quiz write your answers in the comments and then at the end tell me how you did because I just I want to hear from you guys so these idioms uh some of them I will give you the meaning and you need to identify the idiom others are just Gap fills and you need to complete the idiom like what word finishes the idiom so let let's get into it all right are you guys ready you know your idioms all right let let's see let's see how much you know of these common idioms so the first question is right here all right a m in Disguise means a good thing that seemed bad at first so how would you complete that idiom I've highlighted the idiom in red well it's it's kind of a shade of red m in Disguise is it a favor in disguise a blessing in disguise a coincidence in Disguise or a mask in Disguise what what word completes that idiom it means a good thing that seemed bad at first okay so again we we talk about this situation often idioms will will summarize like a situ and capture something and M in Disguise all right excellent thank you uh great Miriam Kim alandro uh jelle great yes you are be a blessing in disguise so a blessing in disguise is a good thing that seemed bad at first so here is my situation to help you try to understand it a little bit more losing my job was really a blessing in disguise because then I never would have moved across the country and met the love of my life so if you lose your job that's a bad thing but then maybe you move across the country you're going to start over you're going to start new and you meet the love of your life and you live happily ever after so then you could look back and and look at that situation and say you know losing my job that was a blessing in disguise it was a bad thing but but good things came out of it it was good in the end all right the next question all right are you guys ready I think you guys you guys did well on that one this one I just want you to tell me the meaning let's call it a day so you need to put it in context unfortunately I didn't give you much context here because I've just I've just given you the statement let's call it a day what does that mean does it mean let's watch the sunset does it mean let's proceed with with your plans does it mean let's stop working on something or let's let's shout loudly in public what would you guys say A B C or D write your answers in the chat or if you're watching this later just write it in the comments all right I just want to hear from you guys so if somebody says let's call it a day yes be happy Veronica Alejandro little little poan Miriam uh Kim Ira perfect C is the answer you want to stop working on something to call it a day means you you don't want to work anymore you want to finish whatever it is you're doing and you'll call it a day and this is a very common idiom that you will hear and these are just Expressions you would use it with someone like the first one I'd say you know let's call it a day let's stop working or you'd say time to call it a day it's time to stop and finish what you're doing or maybe you'd say you know we'd better call it a day we had better call it a day we had better stop working we've done enough we don't need to work anymore let's call it a day but right now we are not going to call it a day I have more questions for you so let's continue and I want you to this one's really context you need to identify the entire idiom all right that's good example be happy I'm really exhausted let's call it a day sure so I'm a bit tired I'm going to go all right so think about the situation all right I'm a bit tired I'm going to go what what are you going to do what idiom are you going to do if you are a bit tired are you going to hit the sack are you going to take a sack are you going to hit the pillow or take the pillow I meant to say take the sack in B those should all Beth thethethe but since I'm a bit tired and I'm feeling under the weather I I I that was a typo so what do you guys think all right if if you if if I say you know I'm a bit tired I'm going to go or again I'd reduce it and say I'm G to go I'm going to go M what what do you think hit the sack take the sack take the pillow hit the pillow or take the pillow and we see a little little uh differences in this yes most of you excellent uh Ronan Luca Izzy uh Lai Atilla uh Asma perfect I want to try and give you guys some shoutouts if I see your name sorry if I I mispronounce your names or don't see everybody but yes the answer is a hit the sack so if you're going to go to sleep and you're tired and you want to say that you're going to go to sleep you're going to hit the sack in this case the sack is just talking about the bed or wherever it is that you're going to go lie down and here are some sentences so you can put the idiom in context if you say you know it's been such a long day I'm going to go hit the sack which mean I'm just going to go to sleep or you might say you know maybe you've been traveling for a really long time and you'd say this I'm just going to go hit the sack as soon as we get there soon as we get there I'm going to go hit the sack and I I think it's commonly used with going to go talking about something you will do that you will go to sleep you're going to hit the sack I'm going to go hit the sack all right so that one is C and I just want to give a quick another little shout out basically a quick shout out to ourselves if you guys like what we do and you want to support what we do we have some cool cool cool rewards on patreon you can check that out I will leave a link in the description and you can go check out our patreon page if you guys haven't seen it or you haven't been there let me just hook it up right here in the chat bada ah right there so again you can check that out we it's a great it's another great way to connect with us and that's what this community is all about us trying to connect with you guys on a little more personal level and communicate with you so let's continue the quiz are you guys ready hopefully again these are common idioms so if you think they're a little easy don't worry about it that's okay just tell me that you did perfect at the end and then I'll know okay I need I need to make them a little more difficult so this one is is a common phrase uh it's also a common expression all right ignorance is M what would you say how would you complete that this expression means that someone is better off not knowing what do you you think all right write your answers in the chat somebody say hey Wes I brought some students to watch this live excellent what's up guys I'm glad glad that you get I love it when groups groups get to watch these lessons perfect so what's the ex this is a common phrase that you will hear ignorance is I gave you the meaning somebody is better off not knowing so in this situation what would you say ignorance is bliss ignorance is happiness ignorance is tolerated or ignorance is awesome what what would you say I think most of you guys uh got this Les yes uh Francisco what's up rousar Ira um GV yes Barbara who else do we have cuz it just keeps scrolling through scrolling through Sarah excellent the answer is a ignorance is bliss and it's usually a standalone sentence and you're just talking about the situation so you're not really using it with with a lot of other words you're just capturing it and say you know ignorance is bliss so here is a situation like I'm your friend and your boss I don't want to know about your devious plan I'd say ignorance is bliss so for example because we're friends but I'm also your boss all right you're going to do something that you know might not be wrong but because I'm your boss I don't want to know about it don't tell me I don't want to know because I don't want to get in trouble you do whatever it is you're going to do and I'll just say ignorance is bliss it's better for me not to know so I I hope that makes sense I hope that's easy to follow and I if that's the situation you're talking about like look I'm better off not knowing ignorance is bliss very common phrase that you might hear all right next one all right and even if you guys don't know these I encourage you write an answer in there even if you don't know it's great to just practice and and again it's all about interacting um is what this is all about ready once we land in New York once we land in New York City our plans are really up in the air so that is the idiom up in the air that is the idiom and I want you to identify the meaning what do you think it means does it mean that things are uncertain does it mean that that your plans are complete and very busy maybe your plans are C cancelled I don't know or maybe their plans are always changing what what is the meaning of up in the air so if you say that something is up in the air it means what all right excellent I see some great answers yes yes sabba Miriam rusa Francisco Kevin um who else Olivia Kim Veronica Esther yes yes yes yes the answer is a if things are up in the air then you're basically saying that things are uncertain unsure or or not planned you don't know what's going to happen and you could say well it's up in the air I think often that it's used when you're talking about your plans and they say somebody say oh what are you going to do and you're like well I don't know our plans are up in the air we don't know what's going to happen things are uncertain I've given you another example here I'd say you know she hasn't decided who to hire so she's going to make a decision but at the moment the decision is really up in the air the decision is not planned it's unsure so this is another example about how you can use this idiom but most of the time it it's used to talk about somebody's plans like things they're going to do up in the air all right the next question next idiom challenge question is this don't do anything until you hear from me I want you to all right and and this is the full idiom what does it mean if if this is your situation this is your context I don't want you to do anything until you hear from me I want you to I want you to sit tight I want you to stay still I want you to stay up or no sorry a first one was sit firm or D I want you to sit tight so what does this mean if if it says I don't want you to do anything until you hear from me I want you to what sit firm stay still stay up or sit tight what do you guys think write your answer in the chat or again write to us in the comments even if you're writing this later I want I really want to see how well you guys are doing and this is I think this is one that I use from time to time because it it really addresses a certain situation this in this situation you're telling somebody something specific what would you do we got some different answers but yes uh yes Ronin Miriam Lyn G RAR yes the answer is D I want you to sit tight so when you when somebody tells you to sit tight they are asking you to wait patiently and take no action until you hear otherwise you need to wait for instructions you need to wait for somebody to tell you what to do so for example some and most of the time somebody would just tell you like it's a command uh you know sit tight just sit tight you need to sit tight and when somebody tells you to sit tight it just means just wait patiently and then somebody will tell you some instructions what you need to do you need to sit tight and wait until I call you so in this situation you have to wait for that phone call all right wait for that phone call you need to sit tight and again it's very specific it it's a great idiom to use if you want somebody if you want them not to do anything until you tell them to do something tell them to sit tight all right the next one the next idium question is this all right again this is a fill-in theblank so the idiom is in red the expression is in red and there's a blank a rule of M what is it how would you complete this idiom a rule of m means a general Unwritten rule for whatever they're talking about all right are we talking about a rule of fact a rule of Secrets a rule of thumb or a rule of law what do you guys think A B C or D and again if you're just joining us we're we're taking a quick little quiz we're doing an idiom quiz I I want to see test your knowledge of these com common English idioms and again I think uh these are common idioms these are very common idioms so write your answer in the chat I want to hear from you guys all right so getting some different answers in here let's see let's see what we got um what do we have so yes all right excellent uh a medium uh abdell Ronin who else we got skip through it keeps going doing you guys are answering so quickly perfect octar s jelle uh imate Asma perfect so the answer is C if you're talking about a general rule we refer to it as a rule of thumb all right rule of thumb just like that like button down below a thumb if you guys enjoy if you guys enjoy these quizzes hit that like button so that I know like okay I need to do more quizzes like this we need more idiom quizzes vocabulary quizzes grammar quizzes uh because this is a great way especially it's very interactive I really like them so a rule of thumb is a general Unwritten rule for whatever it is that that they're talking about or whatever it is you're talking about so you you're telling somebody like okay here's a general rule of thumb all right so for here's my example in in language learning there's usually a general rule of thumb for for many different things I'd say okay here's a general rule of thumb with spelling put I before E EX except after C so it Rhymes a little and this is actually a rule of thumb put i before e except after C so if you're trying to think like oh the word receive how do I spell that which comes first e or I so it's after C so we do re e c e i v e now compare that to the word preview which one comes first I or e p r v i e w so that's something to remember all right put i before e except after C so if you're writing a message to somebody and you're thinking oh what comes first I or E remember this remember this rule of thumb right here this is a good one this is a good one all right so here is your next idiom question I don't know if it's possible we may have to take a range check so that's your idiom right there take a rain check what do you think it means all right what what do you guys think that means take a rain check I think I I don't know if this is used in British English as much um I think again most of these idioms they're definitely American English I think in British English they would use most of them because again these are just common English idioms so what does it mean take a rain check does it mean to postpone a plan does it mean to make another plan does it mean to go with the second option option number two or does it mean to cancel your plans if you say hey and I'm I'm going to take a rain check all right wow you guys are really rocking that one just quick quick on the draw that one be happy yes RAR uh shamina Alejandro isy perfect yes so to take a rain check if you tell someone you want to take a rain check it it means you want to postpone the plan you don't want to do it right now maybe you'll do it later so you want to put take a rain check postp own a plan and my little image right there I tried to write it like as if it was real all right you talk about rain clouds and it's raining little checks all right that that doesn't exist so to take a rain check means to postpone a plan I will tell you this I think culturally when sometimes when people say like H I'll take a rain check sometimes they're saying it sarcastically like okay we're not going to do that that's never going to happen but yeah yeah I'll take a rain check so for example like in this case it might be real it's like oh I can't meet you to dinner tonight I I'll have to take a rain check sorry maybe next time we'll postpone it and we will do it in the future we will do it later I can't meet you for dinner tonight I'll take a rain check now in this situation is what I was talking about somebody says it and they'd mean it like okay it's never going to happen so if somebody's inviting you to a wedding and you say whoa whoa whoa whoa wait you want me to come to your friends sisters nephews wedding I'm not going to know anybody then you might say yeah I think I'm going to have to take a rain check basically you're just telling them no I'm not going to go because it's a wedding you can't really postpone that plan so in that situation you're telling them you're you're using take a rain check by saying yeah I'm not going to do this the I'm not I'm not going to do these plans we are going I am going to take a rain check great idiom I love it love it love it love it next one all right if you really want it you have to work for it and then you would follow it with this expression all right it summarizes that statement that conditional sentence this phrase summarizes it if you really want it you have to work for it what would you say the entire expression the entire idiom and it's it's often used as a standalone expression would you say no pain no gain no rain no gain no pain no brain or no rain no brain what would you say all right this is uh this is a good one I like this I I think this is a bit more common all right if you really want it you have to work for it what would you say to to complete that sentence all right again if you guys are just joining us we are taking an idiom quiz I am testing your knowledge of some English idioms so yes you guys again rock that one thank you uh perfect Kevin Lisa Allah um Sada uh snake venom perfect excellent love it Tiffany you would say a Esther excellent job no pain no gain so if you if you have to work for something you that you really want all right it's something that's difficult so because it's difficult it's going to cause pain but once it's done then you are going to achieve your goal which means again if there's no pain then you're not going to gain any value out of it is basically Al what it's saying and we just shorten it together and say no pain no gain all right so for example in these in these sentences I might say you know finishing the marathon will be difficult I have not done it yet and I can summarize it and say you know no pain no gain I am going to have the physical pain but in the end I will finish and maybe I'll just feel good about myself or in this case you're talking about you know this construction project is a huge undertaking it is a huge project it's it's going to take a lot of time a lot of energy a lot of money and you say you know no pain no gain you have to work for it if you really want it so all right so excellent excellent excellent let's do the next one ready here it is if something is over someone's M it means beyond their understanding or too difficult for them to understand so again I I'm giving you part of the idiom I want you to complete that blank over someone's what over my M over your M over their M what does it mean well yeah actually you know what it means it's too difficult for them to understand and yeah it's it's beyond their understanding what would you say how would you is it over someone's shoulder over someone's head over someone's brain or over someone's mind how would you complete that idiom let's see what do you guys think I'm seeing some good an well let's see all right some different answers in this one maybe this one's a little trickier all right but yes uh a Saba Milan hi hi Milan uh what else do we have who else got it well um I don't know that name it's somebody from Thailand I think so excellent good job jelle um and then again I don't know that name I think uh not sure where it's from maybe I think it I know you told me you wrote comments before and I I know you just told me sorry I forgot write me a comment let me know your name um yes perfect Olivia Tiffany so this one if it's too difficult to understand the answer is B it's over someone's head so if something uh you don't get it you don't understand it and maybe you should understand it and you're like ah it's it's over my head it's too difficult to comprehend so this situation it's it's often used when talking about jokes maybe because sometimes a joke a person might not understand it Wes didn't understand the joke it went right over right over my head right over his head so if something goes over your head then you don't understand it and you know again it could be a joke it could be a story that somebody's telling you and you just don't get it you don't understand what they're saying and it goes over your head or maybe even a subject something is very difficult Quantum quantum physics all right that's definitely over my head I just I I don't understand it it's too difficult for me to understand it's over my head all right so again another great idiom that you guys can now go out and try to use and again this is very much for idioms are very much for informal speech so you might you you are going to hear them if you're watching movies um or you are just on the streets in the United States you might hear people speak and use idioms even in the classroom before I start teaching or when I started teaching I just realized I use idioms quite often I use them quite a bit so I think they're great to learn if anything for your listening comprehension so you guys can at least understand what somebody's saying and if you want to try and practice and use them I think that's great uh but but I know sometimes they can be a little more challenging to use because of the grammar so again thank you guys I hope this lesson was not over your head all right so if you enjoyed this lesson if you understood um if you understood it then just tell me that write that in the comments say this was not over my head all right and tell me how many of these how many of these answers you got all right how many did you get correct so again thank you guys so much for joining me if you enjoyed this quiz you can let me know that by hitting that like button down below so I know that that we should do more of these idiom quizzes vocabulary quizzes write us questions um in the comments and tell me how many how many of these did you get correct and say hey it was not over my head I rock that one you can also check us out here on social media and oh by the way another great way to connect with us is to join our other interactive English community and subscribe to our newsletter let me leave you guys a link right here right here baboom bam all right so check that out uh it's another good way for us to communicate we send you free resources and you will get access to the secret fluency lesson oo it's a secret all right thank you guys so much let me give some more shout outs uh for those of you are here Su jelle um Risa Allah oh first time excellent we're glad to have you here Sadia thank you thank you thank you um all right let's see um s you are you typ some s using chin are you from China no I'm not from China I'm from the United States um snake venom thank you be happy thank you guys for joining me Saia Sai Ira Fanny uh Risa Kevin Saba F Fernando Olivia thank you guys so much I hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you very soon all right so long --- ## 596. TAKE UP Has 6 Different Meanings ๐Ÿ˜ฒ Phrasal Verb Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3N7anhAkGE0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N7anhAkGE0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:47:52 | --- today we're talking about this phrasal verb and its many different meanings [Music] what's up everyone my name's Wes this is Interactive English which is the place you want to be to practice and improve your English skills in today's lesson we are talking about phrasal verbs actually we're just talking about one phrasal verb take up and it's many different meanings and that's something that's very challenging and difficult when it comes to learning phrasal verbs is that they don't just have one meaning they might have two three or four meanings in this case I'm going to talk to you about six different meanings of take-up I'm going to tell you the meaning I will give you some example sentences and I'll also show you some videos so that you can see how the phrasal verb is used in context let's begin the first meaning of take-up is just to start doing something new it can be a hobby and activity and you're doing it because you are interested in this thing so for example a long time ago I wanted to play guitar so I took up playing guitar if you're interested in gardening you can take up gardening keep in mind that in this case we follow it with the gerund that ing now so you can take up cooking maybe you want to take up running these are things activities that you want to do and start honey when did Peter Griffin take up jogging I mean I've always wanted to take up golf the next meaning of take up is just to fill a particular amount of space or time so let's start with space and when I think about this I think about the computer because things on your computer take up space for example maybe you have a movie and it's a very large movie you're like wow that takes up a lot of space I can't stay with Phoebe Ross we're roomies you guys don't need me here taking up all your space which is my boo I've got it the way I like pickup space and you slow me down if we're talking about time it's just an activity something that that uses your time for example learning English maybe it's it's taking up a lot of your time maybe it's not taking up a lot of your time but if something takes up time it's just using your time these take up a lot of time listen I don't want to take up your time Michael I thought we do not take up people's time with meetings like these the next meaning of take up is to accept an offer so you can take up an offer in which case you are accepting it I think often times you would hear it as you take someone up on something so that's that's that's a longer phrase and typically if you're having a conversation and you're asking this person if they're going to accept this you don't have to say what something is often people would just say that for example you're negotiating with somebody and they tell you something you're like you know I'm gonna take you up on that I'm going to accept your offer I'm going to take you up on that hey I might take you up on that I might take you up on that one day absolutely take you up on that offer then if we're talking about clothing we can use take up to say that we want to make it shorter in length so for example women might have a dress that they want to make it shorter it's too long so they might take it up well what do you think we need these clothes so badly hey I think they're gonna be okay we'll just have to take them up just a couple of inches you can also take up a question a problem or cause and and discuss how you are going to act on it so you might really believe in something and you are going to continue discussing it or acting on it and you say I'm going to take up this cause because I believe in it or I'm going to take up this issue most great actors take up coozes and I'm the greatest difficult do we have to take this up with the police so why don't you take that up with him we can also use take up to say that that a person or or a group has has gotten in a particular place and and that is where they are they have taken up a position at this certain location when I think of it used in this context I think of maybe war and battles and the military and somebody might say you know the enemy's taken up position on the other side of the hill they take up a position somewhere gentlemen take up your position so those are six different meanings for take up but I also wanted to give you some bonus phrases and the first one is to take up arms this just means that you are preparing for battle using weapons so if somebody's taking up arms they are getting ready to fight there is going to be a battle we're going to take up arms it's not something you want to hear it's not a good thing when people take up arms he will remain in the north where he belongs he will not take up arms against the analysis well not two sides you can also take up residence somewhere and if you take up residence it just means that you live somewhere this is the place that you live and often it's it's temporary so you're talking about taking up residence in this place for for some period of time yeah I took up residence at this apartment by the lake just for the summer or it could be something more permanent maybe you're talking about an animal that might be unwanted that has taken up residence in your home maybe mice you don't want them there but they they've taken up residence and you want to get rid of them so you take up residence just to live there and Susan Fleisher takes up residence in a remote farmhouse and Ashtyn Oregon so I don't want to take up any more of your time but if you enjoyed this lesson and you learn something new please hit that like button also I suggest that you join our community and and subscribe to our newsletter you get to access the secret fluency less of us will just send you some cool stuff from time to time some useful and free resources I hope you take me up on that link is in the description thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 597. THANKSGIVING PHRASES + COLLOCATIONS ๐Ÿฆƒ | Build Your Holiday Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `o6C7FMGVHbs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6C7FMGVHbs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:11:58 | --- Fall is in the air, and this is the first phrase that I would like to teach you. So, if you say that something is in the air, what it means is that well, you are aware of something or that that something is in the immediate surroundings. So, you could say that well, like love is in the air. This is another common phrase, but if we were were talking about fall, you could say fall is in the air or or autumn is in the air, either one. it starts to become fall. The the temperatures are getting colder. Um the leaves are starting to change color, and and you could use this phrase. And something else that's happening this time of year is Thanksgiving. And I want to teach you about Thanksgiving in the United States. I want to teach you a little bit about um you know, the holiday in general as well as some vocabulary, some useful phrases and collocations that you may hear or that you could use if you're talking to somebody about Thanksgiving. So, the very first thing that you should know is that in the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It's a family holiday in in which everyone will get together, and that is a useful phrasal verb when talking about Thanksgiving. Get together just means that well, people are meeting each other at in a arranged time, and in this case, it's Thanksgiving. Very popular time for people to get together. But let's talk about why people get together. How how did this all begin? So, the origin of Thanksgiving dates back to the early 1600s when colonists came over to well, what is now the United States. And in the beginning, I think they were having a tough go at it. So, they came to an agreement with the Wampanoag, which was the Indian tribe that was in the area. And the agreement was that the the colonist would supply the Wampanoag with European weaponry. Well, more more like this. And in return, the Wampanoag would give the colonist some food. And one year, the colonist and the Wampanoag, they shared an autumn harvest. And that's another colocation when talking about Thanksgiving, this time of the year. Harvest means just to gather crops. And this is something that that people would do before winter. So, they may talk about the autumn harvest or even the fall harvest. Anyway, this became known as the first Thanksgiving. Now, many people like to think of this event as everyone getting along and sharing, probably because that's how we like to think about Thanksgiving today. But really, what this symbolized was a rare peaceful coexistence between these two groups, between the colonist and the Indians. I think it's a far stretch to say that they were BFFs. And then afterwards, the US went on to become independent, become a country, and and states would celebrate Thanksgiving independently until Abraham Lincoln came along. And you may be familiar with President Abraham Lincoln because he was president during the Civil War. And it was actually in the midst of the Civil War that Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that there be a national Thanksgiving Day held in November. And I think there are probably many Americans who are unfamiliar with Abraham Lincoln's role in Thanksgiving. But this is how it all got started. Nowadays, each November, people will get together and and they'll have a family gathering, which is another colocation when the family just comes together. You could use this to to talk about well, Thanksgiving, some other family event, or or even other family holidays. And you have a family gathering. Now, people mostly will celebrate with family, but but you could also celebrate Thanksgiving with friends. It's it's just about well, being with the people that you care about. Thanksgiving is an important food holiday. Everyone will will get together. You have a family gathering and people will have a feast. And that is another great phrase. A feast is just talking about a large meal and you would use it with the verb have to have a feast. Or somebody may describe and talk about Thanksgiving and say, "Oh, it's going to be a huge feast." So, you you could use those phrases when when talking about Thanksgiving or really any other big food event. Now, speaking of big events, if we're talking about food, the main event, of course, is turkey. Turkey is clearly associated with Thanksgiving and I'm not just talking about like small slices of turkey. I'm talking about a big full-on turkey that you would need to carve. That is another phrase that you may hear, carve the turkey. Carve just means to cut into the surface of something, but because we're we're referring to a big turkey, you would use this verb and you would say, "Somebody needs to carve the turkey." Shall we carve the turkey, get this dinner started? I'm an excellent carver. Allow me. Think I can carve the turkey after all this my house. Sitting right here in front of me. Now, typically people are going to sit around a table and eat together. And if that's going to happen, then you will need someone to set the table. Another great phrase. To set the table just means to to organize the cloth, the plates, the silverware, the glasses. And once the table is set and the food is brought in and everyone is sitting down, they may not eat just yet. Because Thanksgiving is a time when people show appreciation, they may give thanks. That is a collocation. Give thanks means that you are expressing gratitude and talking about something good that has happened. And in general, people may talk about some of the things they are thankful for. That's another collocation. You When you use thankful, you're going to follow it with the preposition for. You are thankful for something. I can tell you that I am thankful for you. I really love the community that that we have created. And if you are thankful for these video lessons, you can let me know by hitting that like button. You could also you could also use the phrase grateful for. It really it means the same thing. I think it's a bit more formal and because for some Thanksgiving it is more of a formal holiday, they may use grateful for. But in general, you're really still just talking about the things or the people that you appreciate. Another phrase that you may hear, which is a little similar, is count your blessings. And often I think people may say this like kind of as a reminder to others and they would say like, let's count our blessings or we need to count our blessings. Now, before eating, we're still not eating yet, people may also say grace. That is another common Thanksgiving collocation. To say grace, it it's just talking about a prayer of gratitude before or after a meal. And in general, I think most of the time people may say grace before the meal. Are we going to have a prayer? It's Thanksgiving, you know. Before we're served, shouldn't we say grace? And once those traditions are over, still before eating, somebody may say the phrase dig in. And and that right there, that is your cue to start eating because this is a phrase that you could really use with any type of shared meal and it just means that that you're telling people like start eating, all right? It's time to start eating, dig in. And of Of there are families and people who will skip out on some of these traditions of saying the things that they are thankful for and they'll just go straight for that phrase, "Dig in." And everybody will start eating. And once that happens, it can get pretty silent around that table because everybody's just there focused in on that food. I'm even getting a little hungry. And after eating, somebody might say, "I'm stuffed." This is a pretty common phrase. It's just another way of saying that you were full. You can not eat any more. I'm stuffed. Or perhaps somebody will ask you the question, "Do you have room for seconds?" That is another great phrase. Room for seconds is talking about the ability to eat a second serving of food. And I think at Thanksgiving, I think most people have room for seconds and thirds and sometimes even fourths. And still, after eating all that food, many people have leftovers, another common phrase. So, leftovers is talking about the food that remains after a meal. And you would use it with the verb have, have leftovers, or you could use it with the verb eat, eat leftovers. Personally, I really enjoy eating leftovers after Thanksgiving. I hope that you learned some new phrases and collocations and that you are now stuffed with vocabulary. And I'm going to let you digest this over the next few days. But because it's Thanksgiving and we have such a caring and loving community, I'd like you to write to me in the comments and maybe tell me something that you are thankful for. What is What is something that you are thankful for? I think it's always good to to think about some of the positive things that are going on in our lives. Now, because it's Thanksgiving, whether you celebrate it or not, of course, I'm going to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoyed the lesson. I hope you learned something new and I will see you next time. --- ## 598. THAT, WHICH, WHO? Important Relative Pronouns You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `8TdELMQKMms` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TdELMQKMms) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:01:55 | --- this is the grammar lesson that will change your life because let's face it English which is the global language is important for people to learn and use and I am the person who is going to teach you all about the relative pronouns that which and who and I'm sure you heard me emphasize these words as you were just listening to me and these pronouns are very important because there is some debate as to how they should be used when it comes to formal or informal or written English versus spoken English let me give you an example I don't like the dog um fit me which pronoun should we use and normally I would say which one is correct but in this lesson I I don't want you to think about grammar in terms of correct and incorrect instead I want you to think about it more in terms of acceptable versus unacceptable and then you're going to have that Spectrum in between so which answer do you think is more acceptable and I will tell you in just a moment but it's important to know why because when you know this and you know why an answer is more acceptable or more often used than others it's really going to help you dramatically improve your grammar skills have a better understanding of the language and you won't make simple mistakes when you're having a conversation or when you're writing and if you are someone who would like to improve your grammar Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and be sure to stick around because I'm going to give you a mini grammar quiz at the end to see just how much you've learned so let me give you a quick overview of that which and who because these pronouns sometimes may seem interchangeable but it can be a little trickier than you think in general you're going to use that when referring to people animals or things you're going to use which when referring to animals or things and you will use who when referring to people and I'm sure you notice that that is more often used than the other pronouns because it overlaps with which when talking about animals or things and it overlaps with who when talking about people so let's dive deeper so you know how and when to use these words and I am from the United States so just know that the recommendations that I'm going to give you it's more related to American English and I will try to point that out as we go through the lesson now the relative pronouns that which and who are going to come at the beginning of a relative clause and you're starting to hear the word relative a lot so what is a relative Clause a relative Clause gives us extra information about a noun it is a dependent clause so it has a subject and a verb but it cannot stand alone as its own sentence and as I already mentioned it's going to begin with a relative pronoun in every lesson I always ask you to hit the like button and if you're ever wondering well where is the like button I would say just hit the like button that is right below this video so that last part that is right below this video that is a relative Clause it begins with the relative pronoun that it's just giving us more information about the word button I'm telling you the location of it and it's just a quick example but maybe subconsciously I'm trying to get you to hit the like button but let's just sum up quickly so we have a noun that is modified by a relative clause and that relative Clause is going to begin with a relative pronoun are you with me here are some sentences that we can combine using a relative clause I don't like the dog the dog bit me I don't like the dog that bit me all right there there's your answer to the question at the beginning or we have the sentence I plan to go running it's a great stress reliever I plan to go running which is a great stress reliever so I combine the sentences using a relative Clause except in one sentence I use that and in the other sentence I use which and maybe you're wondering are they interchangeable and in this case I would say no so let's talk about why and look at the difference between that and which it really depends on whether or not the relative Clause is restrictive or non-restrictive and that just it pretty much means what it says if the relative Clause that extra information is restrictive well that means that it is necessary in order for us to understand the sentence and we really need that information if the relative Clause is non-restrictive well then it's not necessary it's optional you can leave it in or you can take it out so if the Clause is restrictive you should use that I don't like the dog that bit me all right we need this information to help help us understand well why I don't like the dog but we could also assume that well maybe there's more than one dog and I'm talking about that dog that dog that bit me or if I said computers that are used for gaming are usually more expensive so not all computers are used for gaming so again we need this information so in both of these sentences I have a restrictive relative Clause that begins with the relative pronoun that now I will say and this is where we're talking about acceptable and unacceptable it is acceptable to use which I could say I don't like the dog which bit me however in most English varieties using that is preferred especially in the United States I don't know why but Americans we we love using that I just want you to be aware of this now let's look at some non-restrictive Clauses which once again and this information is optional it may be interesting but we don't really need it in order to understand the sentence I plan to go running which is a great stress reliever so we can take this out and it's not really going to change the meaning of the sentence or my plan or I could say my flight which is tomorrow has been delayed and again this is you know good information to have but it's not necessary and in this sentence you'll notice that the relative Clause comes between two commas and this tells us that we're talking about a non-restrictive clause so we can take that information out now if you're having a conversation you're not going to be able to see these commas but one thing you could do is listen for that short pause or if you're speaking you're going to make that short pause when you get to the comma so if I were to just say this sentence naturally I'd say my flight which is tomorrow has been delayed now let's talk about the difference between that and who and remember these pronouns overlap when we're referring to people and one thing you should know about who is that this pronoun is commonly used with both restrictive and non-restrictive clauses when who is part of a restrictive Clause it may sometimes be interchangeable with that just keep in mind if we're using that to refer to people it's pretty informal so if you're writing which is a more formal way of communicating I would not recommend using that if you're writing stick with who but let's combine these two sentences I told you about my friend Tom he got a promotion so he is the subject of my second sentence and I can combine them using a relative clause and who I told you about my friend Tom who got a promotion now in this case I would definitely recommend using who I think using that sounds a little awkward for two reasons first we're actually saying the name of a person when you're that specific I would definitely recommend using who the next reason is that we're talking about the subject of the sentence and I will come back to that in just a moment now even if we remove the name and take it away and I say well I told you about my friend who got a promotion if we're talking about the subject of this sentence I would definitely recommend using who so you may be wondering when are that and who interchangeable in restrictive Clauses and this is really going to happen when we're talking about the object before we were talking about the subject so if I said I don't know the man you were talking to him and I want to combine these two sentences with a relative clause and man that is the noun that we're going to add some information to so if we're really being grammatically correct I would say I don't know the man to whom you were talking but this sounds pretty formal especially to American ears but if we're talking about the object which in the second sentence is him we're going to use whom I don't know the man to whom you were talking now I didn't really include whom in this lesson mostly because in the United States except for and writing people are not going to use it often in conversation instead they're going to use who or that so in this case when we're talking about the object that is when who and that may be interchangeable and what happens is the preposition then goes at the end of the sentence I don't know the man who you were talking to or I don't know the man that you were talking to so there's three different ways that you could say this all of them are accepted so the more formal I don't know the men to whom you were talking or what I would refer to as just a more casual way of speaking I don't know the man who you were talking to or a more informal way I don't know the man that you were talking to so when referring to people and we're talking about restrictive Clauses if we're referring to the object this is when that and who may be interchangeable and personally I would recommend using who because I think that is what is more commonly used and when who is part of a non-restrictive clause it is not interchangeable with that you are always going to use who but once again it's a non-restrictive clause so this extra information it's optional I could say my teacher who taught me in high school retired last month it's good information to have but it's not necessary or Anna who's from Brazil is pregnant okay it's good to give more details but again it's not necessary in order to understand the main idea of the sentence so now that you have a better understanding of how we use that which and who I want to test your knowledge with a mini grammar quiz so I am going to give you a sentence and I want you to think about which relative pronoun best completes the sentence and I I want you to listen for it because at first I'm not going to show you the sentence I just want you to listen I'll give you a moment to think of your answer and then of course I will tell you the answer are you ready I like the dress my mother made for me I like the dress my mother made for me what do you think the answer is that I like the dress that my mother made for me all right and then again this is an example I'm not talking about me but this information is necessary it implies that well maybe we're talking about more than one dress so we're going to use that Chicago the largest city in Illinois is not the state capital Chicago the largest city in Illinois is not the state capital so perhaps you were listening and you heard those pauses which tells you that this is a non-restrictive clause in which case you are going to use which Chicago which is the largest city in Illinois is not the state capital and in case you're wondering Springfield is the state capital of Illinois the next one last week I saw Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time last week I saw Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time so Tiger Woods is a person I'm giving you the name so you should use who last week I saw Tiger Woods who is one of the greatest golfers of all time then we have you should not use the bike um has a flat tire you should not use the bike has a flat tire so this is a restrictive Clause we need this information because well maybe we're talking about more than one bike you should not use the bike that has a flat tire my cat is 15 years old scratched me yesterday my cat is 15 years old scratched me yesterday so even just hearing this you could probably tell like okay well this information is not necessary and we're talking about an animal so we're going to use which my cat which is 15 years old scratched me yesterday it's a non-restrictive clause then there's this one if you're traveling to India you should visit my good friend is living there if you travel to India you should visit my good friend um is living there so we're talking about well friend that is a noun that is a person we're going to modify that with our relative clause and use who as the relative pronoun if you're traveling to India you should visit my friend who is living there and then this one you should join the gym is only five minutes away you should join the gym is only five minutes away so I'm trying to to tell you this and like give you extra information about the gym you can see with that comma of course you want to use which because we're talking about a non-restrictive relative Clause you should join the gym which is only five minutes away so how did you do on the quiz let me know down in the comments I'd love to hear from you if you enjoyed the lesson and you learned something new please hit that like button I'd really appreciate it as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 599. THE SHORTEST WORD IN ENGLISH #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xugVXDeP7dc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xugVXDeP7dc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:57:26 | --- a is the shortest word in English just listen to how short it is this video is a masterpiece you should learn how to pronounce this word correctly because we use it all the time according to the Oxford English Corpus it is the sixth most common word in the English language now you may be thinking what about the word I that's also pretty short no a is shorter according to the internet which is never wrong in sound a is shorter because it is a monong while I is a diff thong just try try to pronounce these two words a i you see it's much more difficult often this indefinite article is simply pronounced as an unstressed schah sound uh which is the most common vowel sound in English give it a try and see how easy it is uh this makes it even shorter amazing and now you know --- ## 600. TOP 10 REASONS TO LEARN ENGLISH ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `H5-PrI2hc48` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5-PrI2hc48) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:18:28 | --- Hey everyone, welcome to today's lesson. I think this is I think it's a very fun lesson because I am going to talk to you about the top 10 reasons to learn English. Now, I'll I'll be honest with you. These these are my top 10 reasons. And I'm sure that some of them may be similar for all of you. And of course, we all have different reasons. You might have different reasons for learning English and that's that's perfectly fine. So, let me quickly introduce myself in case this is your first time here. My name is Wes. This channel, Interactive English, it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. will then hopefully become one of your online teachers and you can learn with me each week because well, I come out with quite a few lessons. So I do want to say some quick hells to some people who are with me in the chat. Hello uh Taio Juliana good to see you. Um, Dip Dip John, sorry if I mispronounced names. Sleepwalker, Rosalind Linda, how are you? Uh, Abdul Rashid Washington, Maggie, hello. Let's, uh, as we go through these, I told you these are like my top 10. And I'm going to try to present them in a more interesting way, I think, kind of more entertaining way. And I'll give you some information as to why I am um this is my opinion about why this is the reason why you should learn English. Uh so oh Washington first time here. Awesome. Excellent. Love having first timers with me. Uh so the first reason that I have for you is well I'm going to explain this as we go through it. I thought this was kind of a funny meme right here. these little uh little baby ducks just trying to fit in. And really the first reason is well you just you don't want to feel left out. And there are so many people around the world today who are learning English. I think especially when you talk about kids learning it in school, many of them have to. So I think as you get older, at least this is what happened for me is that I got as I got older, I started to understand how important language learning was. I really started to appreciate it more. I wish that I had taken it more seriously when I when I was a student. But I I think I wanted to be a part of that community if I were were traveling somewhere else and being around other people. I wanted to fit in. And to kind of show you this, I have this um right here. I wanted to share with you that this is from the ethnol log. And the ethnol log is kind of it's a it's a publication that comes out every year giving statistics on language as well as um living languages really. So this just shows you that English is the most widely spoken language in the world. 1.348 billion. Now the way they calculated this up L1 and L2 learners. So what that means is like L1 is that English is your first language. L2 would mean that English is your second language. So when you combine those L1 and L2, we're talking about 1.3 billion people. And I think it would always it's great to be a part of that group as well as other language groups as well, but you don't want to feel left out. So that's my first reason because there are so many English speakers. It's good to be a part of that group. The the next reason that I have for you is I kind of mentioned it about a minute ago and this should give you a clue as to what I'm talking about. I also thought this was an entertaining uh an entertaining image. It says, "This is me walking down the aisle." So, this is a reference walking down the aisle when somebody is getting married. And they walk down the aisle and then they they get married. They have the ceremony. So, basically what this person is saying like this this is their love. This is their true love. They're walking down the aisle on an airplane. So, really that the next reason that I have for you is basically just travel. your ability to travel, go other places, and communicate with other people. Because truthfully, if you I I had just showed you that other picture talking about 1.3 billion speakers. If you travel to another country and you don't speak the the native language there, there's a good chance that English would be the common language that you would use. And that's how you would communicate with people. Ask them how much something costs. Tell them that you want something to eat. You could even ask them where uh where the bathroom is. So, if you plan on traveling, I think this is a great reason to learn English. And I don't know uh please share with me what what your reasons are. I'd love to hear from you, especially if you can connect to any of the reasons that I'm I'm giving right now. And as I go through, if I find something to comment on, uh I will. I will. Um so the next uh the next one so we talked about you know you want to the first one you want to to fit in travel is another important reason why you should uh learn English and then this one this is number three all right number three of the top 10 uh and I'll tell you this is nice to meet you I already forgot your name so in short what I'm really referring to are relationships you're able to form different relationship. So, right now, let me know if any of you are trying to learn English or improve English because of some relationship you have. Maybe you are interested in dating somebody else. Perhaps you're interested in making friends from another country or you already have friends and you would like to improve your English skills so that you could communicate uh a bit better with them. So, relationships, not just talking about dating, but relationships, um, friendships, uh, colleagues at work, any type of relationship. This is a good reason to learn English. All right. Uh, so let's look at uh, the next reason, number four. All right. Number four. We're running through these here again is how I wanted to present it. Um, I am ready for my promo promotion. That dog is ready for a promotion. So, I'm talking about you would get a promotion because of work. All right. Learning English is going to present you with different work opportunities. And it might not just be like maybe it could be a promotion. Maybe you are able to advance further in a company or in your career because you speak English or maybe you even speak some other languages as well. Again, I think many of these reasons that I'm giving you could relate to any learning any language. Uh but I know you guys are here because you want to improve your English skills. So I'm relating it to that. So work opportunities I think will definitely help. And again, you can connect many of these because there are so many English speakers around the world. I already mentioned that when you're traveling, chances are that English could be the common language. So, that could be another work opportunity that if you are trying to get a job in the tourist uh some the tourist industry and that business, they might want people who can speak English that have to communicate with tourists in English. So, I think learning English and improving your English will definitely help you get more work opportunities in the future. And again, if this if you guys can relate to this, if some of you have had work opportunities because of English, just let me know. Let me know. Um, great to get a new foreign culture sleeper. Yes, I'm going to come to that one in just a minute. Songs in English. Yep, I'm getting you guys are you guys are reading my mind. Excellent. So, this is the next one. in again just I thought this was a a funny way to kind of introduce the uh idea the reason I admire your relentless drive to further your education and avoid real work. So really this is kind of taking a jab at I think uh higher education probably people doing MAS PhDs uh who just continue going to school but relating it to learning English and language we I just I mentioned work opportunities I feel that it's important to also say that yeah it's go also going to help you um with a lot more education opportunities that if you want to learn something. If you want to go to school, if you speak English and you can take uh classes in English, that is going to give you more choices as to maybe which university you can go to or perhaps you want to take a class, but maybe only the cl the class is only offered in English. And I think this is especially important because all all of you guys I'm looking at the chat uh see Min from Vietnam. Esther hello from Barcelona. Um Juliana I know is in Italy. So everybody's from you know different places around the world but we're all you guys are all online right now and online education is something that's growing. It's becoming a lot more prevalent. and say that you have an interest in learning more about cars or fashion or something like that and you want to find some online class. Well, I I think there are many online classes that are offered, but they may be offered in English. Now, that doesn't mean that you could you could probably find maybe another online class in your native language as well, but again, it's about having more opportunities to take classes, online classes here or actually attend some university or school and then you just have the choice. So, you get to decide what you want to do. Um, excellent. Uh, all right, Gustav. Yes. Uh, you said Vicki also learning language. she's learning German. Um, so again everybody, as you guys can just see in the chat, people are from uh around the world. So I think education is another opportunity that learning English, improving your English is going to give you. And the last thing I'll say about this quickly, I mentioned about taking an online class um in English. I I personally think that is an excellent way to improve your English is if you're taking perhaps a class that's related to something else and you're learning vocabulary related to that something that you're interested in and you could take those classes in English. The next one that I have for you, so we've done the top five already. Uh, number six, this one the the number six reason why you should learn English or continue improving your skills. Uh, some of you probably recognize that logo right there. Uh, which is from Netflix. And you can see, I don't know if you could see the writing. It says person who pays for the account. And then you have parasite 1, parasite 2, parasite 3. What this is referring to is a parasite is a person. They're they're kind of joking saying this is somebody who's using another person's account and that person is paying for it. I'll be honest with you, my wife and I, our family, we we are parasites. We are parasites right now. But what I'm trying to get at with um with learning English is that when you learn English that there you you also are then able to access a lot more entertainment, TV shows, movies, books, um stories, anything. There's so much out there that's in English and it will open that door and you can watch um a TV show that everybody's been talking about or you can go see a movie and you're able to watch it in English and not have to worry about um having it dubbed in your language because again when when people would dub in like films or TV shows in another language, it it is slightly different. it is a little different and it's nice to be able to go watch it in the original language and I I think this is true this is I think so useful again for any language that the more languages you learn the more opportunities you're going to have but because English is such well it's such a popular language around the world there is so much entertainment in English that you would then have access to so I think that is another great reason why you should keep improving improving, keep trying to learn. Um, and and that is that's it's just going to help you open up so many more doors to entertainment. I've actually been watching some shows on Netflix, the the Narco series in Spanish. Um, I I speak some Spanish, so that that I'm comfortable with. And I've even been watching this other show in French, Lupon, and I just turn on the subtitles. But again, it's there's so much access out there because of the internet. And that uh well, that kind of leads me right into number seven. Um the number seven reason why, and I thought this was uh kind of funny and and probably somewhat true for for some people out there, it said, "The internet went down and I had to spend time with my family. They seem like good people." kind of indicating that this person's not spending much family time. They're usually online. And I think uh I think probably many of us can relate to that that as time goes on, I know especially for me over the last 10 years, 20 years, I spend more and more time online. I spend more on time surfing the internet. It's more like my work is more related to that. So what I'm trying to get to with number seven is basically saying that English is the language used online. It is the language of the internet. Now of course there are many websites out there the in different languages but English again once again is the most popular. It is the most common and just to prove it this was taken from statistica which provides a lot of different information and statistics about things. So this is the common languages used on the internet as of January 2020. You see English is like it makes up 25% of the internet right now followed by Chinese and then Spanish and then Arabic. But 25% that that is a lot. And again when you speak English you have access to that. it it then leads you into some of these other things when we talk about access to that entertainment, possibly access to finding uh employment and getting more work opportunities, access to travel. So, a lot of these are really connected. So, um thank you Fidel. I appreciate it. Um Nuria, hi from Argentina. Um he says they don't dub anything in German. That's good. I think nowadays I think dubbing is becoming less common and I I do think that's a good thing that really people getting that exposure to other languages and I think for me that my personal preference is I would rather watch a TV show or movie using subtitles than it be dubbed in English. Um let's see. Takayo says learning English enrichment of life for me. Excellent. Perfect. uh kind of the I'm going to kind of kind of leading into that one as well. So number eight, the number eight reason to learn English and I will explain this as well. Um I just thought again I just thought it was funny. People say nothing is impossible but I do nothing every day. And this I guess is a quote from Winnie the Pooh or it was part of uh it was part of that. Uh, I did not know that it was from Winnie the Pooh, but it seems to be attributed to that. And I really I thought this quote was really funny. But what what I think it's really saying is again saying that um you you you do nothing. You're not having to work hard. And I will explain this in saying that it's easy to learn. Let me let me explain what I mean when I say it's easy to learn. I don't necessarily mean that. Oh, it's going to be easy for everyone. language learning it takes time it takes dedication there it's it for for most of us like especially for me it takes a long time what I'm really talking about when I say that it's easy to learn is the it's e so easy to get a lot of exposure it's easy to learn because there's so much of it that surrounds us I just showed you that basically 25% of the internet is in English. So, you go online, you're probably going to be reading in English. You turn on the the radio in your car. Chances are you might hear some songs in English. Whatever country you live in, you could We were just talking about movies. You could go to the movie theater and perhaps you can see a movie in English. So, there it it's very accessible. It's a language that's very accessible. And because it's so accessible, I think it it it can be a little easier to learn than perhaps other languages. If somebody wanted to learn Swedish, it might be a little more challenging because there's you it it might be a little more difficult to get exposure to Swedish than it is for somebody to say, well, I want to get exposure to English. Um, and there's many different choices out there. even learning online. If you wanted, we talked about education. If you want to take some classes in English or if you want to take private lessons with a teacher, there are so many options out there. Um, I'm I'm just taking a guess, but I'm guessing there are probably more English teachers than there are Swedish teachers. Again, you just have a lot more opportunities. And because of that, because of that, that's why I said it might be easier. So, that's my long explanation for easy to learn before many of you start thinking like, "Wait a second, I'm having a tough time learning English." I know it is. It can be challenging, but I just keep stick with it. It's worth it, which is why I'm doing these top 10 reasons. Um, let's see. Number eight is the best. Yes, this was a great I really love this picture. Um number nine cuz somebody before had mentioned um culture and that's what this one is related to. So I thought this was inter interesting again to giving a little bit of a take on water in restaurants. You see in the US um you see those ice cubes France like sparkling water and then China where it's it's hot. Now, I again, I don't fall on any of these categories. I'm from the United States, but I don't drink uh ice water. I'm sure there's probably a lot of other people that don't drink ice water. My choice of water is not up there. I just Yeah, just pour some tap water. Whatever temperature comes out, that's that's what I'll drink and I'm fine with it. But again, the point that I'm trying to make here with number nine is the you're you're able to learn about different cultures because it it is going to open up other realms of like travel for example. We talked about being able to travel somewhere, communicate in English, learn more about other people in in English as you're c talking with them. And you learn about other cultures. And it doesn't have to be through travel. You can also learn about other cultures just from talking to people uh talking to people online. I hope that maybe some of you perhaps you can learn a little bit more about uh culture in the United States from watching my video lessons. That's what I hope. But again, it's partly learning about different cultures. So I think that is another reason which somebody had uh mentioned previously as to why they wanted to learn English. Learning cultures is um a great reason. And then let's see number 10. And I'm going to leave you with this quote um right here. The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. Albert Einstein. To be honest, I have no idea if Albert Einstein actually said this. It's a it's one of those quotes that gets attributed to Albert Einstein. And I feel like there are so many out there. There just so many of these popular quotes and phrases and then you look it up and it'll just say Albert Einstein. I don't know if it's true, but this is one um that I I thought was relevant for number 10 as we're kind of wrapping this up. The measure of intelligence is the ability to change. Because basically what I'm talking about is just you learning more about yourself. because we just talked about number nine, your ability to learn about different cultures and get that experience and the education opportunities. You're you're you're going to be able to learn more that way. And I think just in general, the more you learn, not just about language, but about anything, any topic, I think you're always going to learn a little bit more about yourself. And that's a good thing. And I think English will help you do this. I think learning other languages will also help you learn more about yourself. I told you that some of these I definitely think are connected as well. Good reasons why you should learn any language in general. I think a lot of them um are are related to that and relevant. So let me again because I I sure uh you probably don't remember some of these. These are again the top 10 if you kind of wanted to look back through them. Number one, you don't want to feel left out because I told you that there are 1.3 billion billion speakers of English worldwide. That's L1 and L2. Travel. Again, if you travel somewhere, especially outside, travel abroad, there's a good chance you're going to be speaking English in order to communicate. relationships, any type of relationship, friendship, love. Um, that is a good reason to learn English, your work opportunities. I'm sure many of you probably that that might be one of the reasons why you are here, you watch these video lessons, is to try to help with your your work opportunities, education. I mentioned that um your ability to attend different classes whether it's actually you go to a university or even just online classes entertainment so much out there in English TV shows movies uh books you name it there's just a lot more entertainment that you could then access the the language used online 25% I think is what it was uh it's like 25% of the internet is in English I said it's easy to learn. But again, I'm really talking about you can easily get exposure to English. Number nine, learn about different cultures. And then number 10, wrapping it up, learning a little bit more about yourself. So, I hope that um maybe again you can relate to some of these. I saw you guys uh writing some in the chat as to why you are trying to learn English and improve your skills. Um, I I think there are more than just 10 reasons, but ultimately what I hope is that if you can if if you think about some of these reasons and maybe it helps you stay motivated a little bit because I know learning a language, it's uh it can take some time and it's important to stay motivated to continue improving. I love doing these lessons and seeing so many familiar faces each week. It it's it's awesome. Um so many familiar faces like Lai, Rosal, Linda, um Vicki, Gustav, um Sleepwalker, Juliana, Tayo. Uh I really appreciate you guys being here with me. I hope you enjoyed the lesson. I hope you enjoyed my my top 10 reasons. And right now in the chat or in the comments once this gets posted, let me know what what is your primary reason um for learning English. Why do you want to learn English? Uh is it one of these reasons right here or is it some other reason? Let me know in the comments because I just love hearing from you guys. Um I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thank you. Um, Moaba, Deanjan, um, Rudra, Washington, Rodriguez, Eder, Edair, Angela. Um, thank you guys for joining me today. Trying to give some quick little shoutouts at the end. Also, uh, if you do, I know kind of mention this every now and then. Uh, if you guys like what we do, want to support the channel, links are in the below. If you want to become a member, a patron, uh, you guys can check that out. So enjoy the rest of your weekend. Uh I will be back uh next Saturday for another live lesson. Thank you. Uh Juliana, Nyion, Ahmed uh learning it to get educational opportunities. Perfect. Uh Sebastiano, uh you're welcome. Thanks for joining me. Birdie, uh love for English is insatiable. Awesome. Um Ra Garcia, you're welcome. Thank you guy. Thank you for joining me. Um, tal. All right, I'm going to wrap things up. Uh, thank you guys again. Uh, yeah, that's kind of that's kind of it. Remember, let me know, write to me in the comments what your reason is for learning. --- ## 601. TRAVEL VOCABULARY - Useful words & phrases for your next trip โœˆ๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xGeEJBTagug` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGeEJBTagug) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:18:39 | --- if you are like me and you plan on traveling in the near future then i want to teach you some useful travel vocabulary that you should know that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you build your vocabulary because i think many of you out there are really you are ready to travel after lockdowns and and not being able to go places visit family and friends i i think yes i am ready to get out there i'm ready to travel so that's why i want to teach you some essential travel vocabulary that will help you the next time you're planning a trip and you're getting ready to take a vacation so let's kind of start with that word right there vacation except i i want to teach you a word that's pretty informal and i think it it's kind of a new word over the last few years and that is staycation so this refers to well it's a vacation in which people stay at home or near home and they do not travel to to other places and i think many of us can relate to that you take some time off from work you don't really leave home you could refer to it as a staycation i think lately many of us may have been taking some staycations as punishment for my reckless evening i plan on taking a quarantine style staycation a whole day just to myself so that's a good word to know that i think is becoming more popular because yes often i think people want to take a vacation from work but maybe they don't want to travel for one reason or another and and they might take a staycation at this point i am ready to actually go other places i do not want to take a staycation i'm really i'm feeling really excited i'm feeling a bit adventurous so the next phrase that i want to teach you really kind of has to do with that and that is a sense of adventure you might hear people use this phrase when they're talking to somebody else and telling them about some exciting trip or or even some opportunity and they'd say hey where's where's your sense of adventure so this refers to people kind of getting outside of their daily surroundings and doing something unusual doing something different and sometimes it may even be a little bit dangerous and you refer to a person's sense of adventure next i want to teach you the difference between two words that i think learners might sometimes confuse and really talk about how they're different and that is book and reserve two words that i think are very common when talking about travel and i'm referring to the verbs to book something or to reserve something so let's start with the verb book if you book something you're talking about well you have something for a particular time in the future and when you book something you will likely have to pay for it so in that case we're talking about maybe you book a hotel room or you book a flight or you book some train tickets hey i need you to book me a flight to st louis i need to book passage on your ship to the far outlands when you reserve something you keep something for a particular purpose or time and you you may not have to pay for it when you reserve something so you could reserve a table at a restaurant or maybe you reserve a rental car or even a hotel room yeah which brings us to article 23 subsection c check here to reserve your spot is it possible to reserve a table for 2 at 8 or 8 30 perhaps it's really a difference between well having something when you book it and just keeping it when you reserve it and i i think nowadays these words may overlap because online sometimes you may you may be given the option to pay right at that moment and you might get a discount or you can pay later so in that case uh the words may be used interchangeably depending on what you're talking about camping trip the one you booked for us at owl haven the one you have to reserve a year in advance so i think because of the internet these words will maybe tend to overlap which is another reason why they can be so confusing we can also use these words as nouns a booking or a reservation in my opinion i think it's more common that you might hear people talking about a reservation than than talking about a booking but as a verb i think people will use both and remember the difference is really between when you book something you have it mostly because you pay for it and when you reserve something it's like you're just keeping it because you haven't paid for it yet then i want to talk to you about these two words right here and show you how they're different and really they're just opposites when you talk about peak and off-peak they're very useful especially if you're getting ready to travel so peak is really referring to well the highest level which means that off-peak refers to well when when something is not at the highest level and you could use this when talking about time like if a restaurant is busy and you could say well these are the peak hours and these are the off-peak hours or perhaps somebody's talking about the tourist season and this is peak season and this is off-peak season you may also see these phrases being used when referring to price like this is the peak price this is the off-peak price which means like again these phrases are great to know because if you're traveling maybe you want to save a little money and and you want to pay those off-peak prices so now that you've probably thought about where you might want to go because you have a sense of adventure you have booked your tickets and you've you've done so during the off-peak season because well you just don't want it to be too busy it's time to start packing so i want to talk about these phrases right here which are interchangeable they mean the same thing that is pack light and travel light and what this means is that you take very few things with you when you go somewhere and you might say that well i really need to pack light for this next trip because i don't want to carry around a bunch of things or maybe you're telling somebody uh about this how much you have brought and you say well right now we're traveling light we don't want to bring a bunch of stuff we're traveling light so pack light travel light you can use them interchangeably these are great phrases leave all that can be spared behind we travel light i've got more luggage to get this one does not pack light i don't know why i brought so much pancake mix how'd you get ready so fast oh i packed like once i got through an entire spring break with nothing but a long t-shirt and a belt and once you pack if you're going to travel a long distance you might be getting on a plane and you might have a flight so i want to talk to you about these two phrases right here a connecting flight or a direct flight so a connecting flight is talking about an arrangement in which you might take two or more flights in order to reach your final destination and in this case you would be getting off of a plane and then probably getting on to a different plane and you would call that a connecting flight you could also use this as a phrasal verb and say that you are going to connect through some place and in that case people would typically say the name of the city like before we get to our final destination we're going to connect through los angeles so when you connect through a place you're gonna say the name of the city but a connecting flight yeah they they can make the trip a lot longer in my opinion it's much better to take a direct flight and when you take a direct flight you're really you're just taking one flight you you leave one place and then you get to your final destination in just one flight it's great it's wonderful but they can be a little more expensive and you may notice that when you go to book the flight and if you travel a long distance by plane it's it's very possible that you might get jet lag which is another useful phrase that you could use if well if you experience this so jet lag is talking about a feeling of of tiredness and confusion that a person might get when they travel a long distance by plane and the time is very different from the place that they left and you might hear people use it with verbs like uh somebody has jet lag or maybe you might get jet lag or you are experiencing jet lag and i i think this happens to everyone and typically the result is that you just don't sleep very well for the first few days until you get used to to this time and you just gotta just gotta endure that jet lag oh does the word jet lag mean anything to you people here we go maybe it's the uh the jet lag whenever somebody arrives at the place that they are traveling to their destination i think quite often the first place that somebody would go is to the hotel and in that case i want to teach you a couple of phrasal verbs that are very common when traveling and that is check in and check out so check-in means that you are reporting your arrival at an airport or hotel so when you check in at the airport you might get your boarding pass and check-in in this case may also be used as a noun the check-in we need to go find the check-in and when you check in to a hotel you would report your arrival and they would give you your room key so you can check in at the airport and you can check in at a hotel check out means that you are well you're leaving and you are paying the bill and returning your room key so you would check out of a hotel and with this phrasal verb we do not use it when talking about flying we only use it when talking about a hotel you can check into a hotel and then you would check out of a hotel but if you're talking about a flight you're only going to check in to your flight and when you're traveling especially if you're traveling to another country it's very important that you know the exchange rate and this is talking about the rate at which money in one country can be changed for money in another country you want to know the exchange rate because when you change that money you you want to make sure that you're not losing a lot of money in that process and personally i would not recommend changing money on the street many places that you might go to you you might find this little little kiosk where you can exchange money and that is actually the next word that i want to talk to you about kiosk and kiosk can have uh well a few different meanings i think it can refer to like a small business or small shop that would typically sell items for example you would find them maybe at a mall hey ned i can't hack it anymore you want to buy my side of the kiosk i'll get all the people coming out of sears kiosk can also refer to well a small building or small business in which you are buying something or you're exchanging something through a window so somebody's on the other side and maybe you are buying some concert tickets and you go to a kiosk or like i mentioned at many airports you might find a kiosk where you can exchange money and you do this through that small window it could also refer to a small machine in public places that you could go to to perhaps get information or maybe even buy tickets like like train tickets and well finally i want to teach you a this is more of a proverb it's a great expression very common related to traveling and that is when in rome i the full expression is when in rome do as the romans do however most of the time people are just going to shorten it and say when in rome what this means is that when you are visiting another place you are going to follow the customs of that place so maybe you travel to japan if you're in japan you might want to try eating with chopsticks because that's what many people who live in japan do so you would say yeah i'm going to try this i'm going to do it when in rome so often i think that it's used in that context when you're talking uh to somebody else like hey we should do this we should try this because that's what the the people that live there do it's part of their customs it's part of their traditions and you would say hey when in rome so i hope that you learn some new words and phrases and i think this vocabulary will be very useful the next time you're getting ready to take a trip and that's what i would like to know right now in the comments down below let me know where you would like to travel where do you plan to travel next let me know in the comments if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 602. TRICKY GRAMMAR QUIZ | MANY ENGLISH LEARNERS GET CONFUSED | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pdL-UhB4JmM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdL-UhB4JmM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:39:06 | --- hello and welcome welcome welcome welcome to our grammar quiz lesson I'm so excited how are you guys doing today on this beautiful Saturday I hope you're doing well let's see I'm gonna say hello to everyone hello welcome Lally welcome my web welcome Lake welcome welcome welcome are you ready to practice your grammar because I know I am it's December which means it's the best time to practice grammar of course it's the best time of the year for it so today like you've seen probably in the preview today we are having an amazing lesson we're going to do a grammar quiz a grammar quiz so I hope you have your brains you're thinking helmets on your grammar helmets on and you're ready to begin hello welcome welcome welcome ok so why are we doing this because I want you guys to practice your grammar these questions that I have prepared for you today are difficult and they're easy at the same time meaning that everyone everyone can make these mistakes whether you are advanced or whether you are a beginner because I see this I see this all the time students who are very very advanced and then they make these tiny little mistakes I would just say they're just very very common mistakes for English language learners so let's let's brush up on that grammar let's let's get it let's get it let's get it right ok so if you guys are ready we're going to start I have a few questions this is we're just going to do a quick practice I will show you the questions and then I will show you the answer and tell you why okay so let's begin here is the first question it's a little bit of an easier one and if you are right now in the chat make sure to write your answer down in the chat write the whole word it's good practice if you're writing later if you're watching this later make sure to also write the answer down because we look forward to seeing those answers okay so your first question is sometimes English grammar can be hmm okay what is the answer confused or confusing what do you guys think write it down in the comments okay again make sure to write the whole word please form that habit write the whole word because it's good practice is it confused or is it confusing which one is it oh I see a lot of good answers I see a lot of good answers if you answered confusing you're correct okay why is it confusing you know this like I said it's an easier one but I see so many people make mistakes that I have to I have to address this when we use when we use these ing adjectives we are describing situations or a person's character okay very important situations or a person's character we used eg adjectives to describe emotions like how are you feeling about something if you feel confused you feel confused about something okay so something is confusing to you or you feel confused about something do not get those mixed up because then you could be switching the whole meaning of a sentence for example you don't want to say you're boring when you mean you are bored that's when these become important and all of these mistakes today I will say this some of them are small but they become really significant when they interfere with meaning when they change what you want to say when they don't express what you're trying to communicate that's when it becomes really important okay so let's keep going you guys are rocking this far perfect good job so one other one good call good call good job okay let's see the second one tada okay this one has a very simple rule but if you don't know it you might get it wrong and I see so many advanced students getting this one wrong so here it is I mmm tomorrow oh sorry I am him when he tomorrow okay the verbs are see and come this is in the future it's in the future so make sure you time it accordingly so is it I will see him tomorrow when he will come tomorrow is it I will see him when he comes tomorrow or is it I see him when he comes tomorrow or I see him when he will come tomorrow which one is it okay so I like I said many students get this one wrong even advanced students I've heard this all the time so let's see what you guys are writing I see some we'll see comes calm comes okay so some mixed answers there I most of the answers I think are correct but if you're wondering why I will show you the answer so here it is this is the correct answer I will see him when he comes tomorrow a lot of the answers so a lot of people that I've heard in the past a lot of my students even if they're very very advanced they will say something like I will see him when he will come tomorrow it makes sense kind of because we're respecting the rules that we think are correct right like we're talking about the future so you the future but here's this thing there's a rule in English when we're talking about future time clauses so when we're talking about the future and use these time marker words like when he comes tomorrow or when he gets here or after or before we have these words that is in that time clause we use the present form of the verb it sounds confusing but it's really not just make sure you use the present tense so if you're wrong don't worry this is one of those times when things are going to start sounding wrong like you hear native speakers speak like this and at some point you'd be like hmm I will see him when he will come tomorrow that sounds weird to me and you might not know why but it's because of this rule it's it sounds weird because it's wrong and that's what I wanted to emphasize today with a lot of these grammar rules some of them are super complicated trust your intuition because English is one of those languages that has a lot of exceptions but the exceptions will start resonating with you trust that if it sounds wrong it's probably wrong okay so that is the answer okay so again we'll have things like I'll come home after I finish work or he'll turn off the TV before he leaves the office not before he will leave the office even though both of these events happen in the future you use the present tense with a time clause okay so it's it's it's not difficult it's a simple rule and I actually really suggest studying up on this one because it's a nice rule that English always follows which is not always the case with English so whatever you see rules that don't really have exceptions like follow them because they're hard to find with the English language so just remember to use the present in the time clause when we're talking about the future okay so I know you guys are saying oh it's terrible it's confusing no it's not it's not it will come it will become easier than where you use it I promise I promise see if you got it wrong just keep it in mind okay this is something I need to work on again if you are answering this if you're watching this later write it in the comments because we pay attention okay ready for next lesson here F for next question here it comes did its prepositions because I know everyone gets them wrong so so here it is we do live lessons Saturdays which is today is it in on or at which one is it in on our app which one live lessons in Saturday's life lessons on Saturdays live lessons at Saturdays let's see your answers I see some on on on let's see if you guys are right I don't know I don't know I don't know you guys are right yeah we do live lessons on Saturdays now the reason I put this on here is because it can be tricky for some people I have heard students say like at Saturdays because I think they're thinking of the British at the weekend so if you're thinking of that keep in mind it's it's it's not when we are talking about specific days we use on okay days and dates on if you made a mistake don't worry prepositions are honestly difficult for everyone regardless of how advanced you are because they're so different in every country in every language that we speak so sometimes that we we tend to translate directly from our language and we tend to use that preposition that goes with it and we make mistakes okay so if we make that mistake it's okay just make sure that you correct yourself every time okay just just make sure and then the more you use it the easier it will become okay by the way at is used for precise times so like we say things at 3 p.m. or at 5:00 or whatever precise times and in we use for things like months or years or like long periods so say like in January or like in the 15th century or something like that that's when we use it it is difficult again because we just kind of have to we tend to translate from are from different languages and that's what gets us but the answer to all of these is more practice so let's go let's go let's do more practice let's see how you guys are doing ok this one it's actually really difficult ok even though you guys might not realize it I'll tell you why in a second San Francisco great city by the way is where mmm Golden Gate Bridge is located beautiful bridge you should go see it is it San Francisco is where Oh Golden Gate Bridge is located is it San Francisco is where the Golden Gate Bridge is located or is it San Francisco is where Golden Gate Bridge is located without an article which one is it okay which one articles are one of my favorites okay so what what is the answer I see a lot of the and some some extent or some extent bag in there let's see if you guys are right and bonus if you know why okay the answer is the following San Francisco is where the Golden Gate Bridge is located and do you know why is the question because when I found this out my mind was blown first of all I did not know that English has so many rules for articles if you ever studied articles and you've studied them in depth especially the article the there are so many different like I feel like they're 18 or something there's so many different ones basically the rule here is that we put the in in front of the names of bridges it might sound crazy but it's true so if you have a bridge we put the in front of it in front of the name of the bridge and that is literally the rule so you know you have the Golden Gate Bridge the Brooklyn Bridge the the I would like to emphasize what I wrote here that there are many arbitrary rules things that don't seem to make sense so it doesn't seem like oh because of this or because of that it's just the rule and you kind of have to memorize it that's really what it is and I wanted to show you some other things just because I find it very fascinating for example when else do we use the this is just another example we have so many more rules but in front of museums so for example we don't say I'm going to visit Louvre Museum I'm going to visit the Louvre will you always put the the Prado Museum which is a fantastic museum by the way in Madrid so you put the in front of museums also you also do it in front of like a monument like the Colosseum or the pyramids like you want to visit the pyramids again makes no sense but there are exceptions to that too so you don't say I want to visit the Stonehenge you say I'll visit Stonehenge or st. Peter's Basilica so again these do require memorization kind of in in a way but in a way they will sound weird because to me I could never get myself to say I'm gonna go visit the Stonehenge it just sounds wrong and the more English you expose yourself to whether you are reading articles or you know the newspaper or whatever or listening to the news it will become easier I promise I promise I promise so don't despair don't despair it's just it's just something that you'll become used to but check it out we do have a lot of these rules and we have some some really good ones um by the way for newspapers it's done the New York Times The Washington Post and so on it's crazy crazy crazy English okay so are you guys ready for the next one [Music] okay this one is also a little bit difficult the doctor recommends she hmm some sleep the doctor recommends she some sleep is it get is it get is getting or will get which one is it get get is getting will get what do you guys think again write down your answer in the chat or in the comments she so this one it might be might be different than how you expect it to be it's just what I'm saying so I see a bunch of different answers which is good because I'll explain why the answer is what it is in a second a lot of very different ones here is the answer okay I know this could surprise a lot of people but the correct answer is the doctor recommends she get some sleep why you're wondering why is it not yet you know we've always learned English and we've learned you know when you have he she or it you always put that s right she yet he got he gets like it it make it seems to make sense but we have this thing in English called a subjunctive which is kind of an older formal grammar and we use it in these dependent clauses for kind of very specific things like recommendations or expressing desires or the or resolve and that is when we do not use that s for third person singular okay so the subject is a weird one it's it's right now it's mostly used it's not really used formally that much in American English and British English is not used that much at all its more common in in American English but we do see it quite often with with these kinds of recommendations so or questions like is it necessary that she work all day or something like that it's kind of a tricky one it's just you don't have to use it if you don't want to but it's good to recognize it and see why it is the way it is it's not easy but this is the correct way to say because it's a recommendation in this case the doctor recommends that she get some sleep so it's good to recognize it again like I said it's because it's a little difficult and not very common you don't have to use it yourself but just be able to recognize how it is okay so how are you guys doing so far did you get all of them right how many do you have out of because we've had five questions so far how many did you get out of five let's see let's see let's see let's see well you guys right that answer I'm going to remind you that we are now on patreon and if you don't know what it is you can check it out in the description it's a really cool place where you can support us and and and get some really amazing rewards we do a lot of exclusive content that's on there and it's just for our patreon it's just a nice place to show your support and where we get really really creative so let's see you guys are doing well five fours threes good job good job good job good job okay we're good we're about to get some more so let's see tada okay let's see if you give this one right okay it's actually true for where we are today mmm raining a lot lately is it it's raining a lot lately is it it'll be raining a lot lately or is it it's been raining a lot lately which one let's see how you guys are doing is a B or C it's it'll be or it's been and also if you know why I also like to see some of those answers okay so I see I see some good answers I see it has been it's ill be I see some mixed answers but let's share why okay so the correct answer was it's been okay it's been raining a lot lately this is the present perfect continuous if you're wondering what further perform it is and why is it it's been it's a short form for it has been it has been and we use this again the present perfect is honestly one of the most difficult tenses in English and it is also one of the most common ones so you can't get around it you have to use it and you have to know why we use it the way it we do but the present perfect especially there are continuous we use it for actions that started in the past and that are still happening right now or just finished happening so that means you know the streets are probably still wet it's been raining a lot it's raining now or even if it's not raining the streets are wet because it has been raining a lot with this I would say a quick quick tip for you watch your pronunciation you know you see that bin a lot of a lot of students I hear say they make the e sound like in cheese it's not being it's been it said shortened it sound okay it's not it's been raining a lot it's been raining a lot I hear this mistake all the time I think it's easy to correct so there you go that's my pronunciation tip make sure that you follow it okay how are you guys doing enjoying grammar you should be proud of yourselves even if you haven't gone all of them right because this is how you improve your English you find out things and you practice them so give yourselves a pat on the back for being here and for for practicing with us because you are doing amazing and I'm super proud of you very very proud okay here's our next question which one is it okay she stopped to smoke or she stopped smoking okay this one might seem easy but it's not let's see so I see I see a lot of smoking i sees a lot of smoking everyone seems to agree that it is she stopped smoking wow you guys are all in unanimous in this decision almost oh there's a see there there's no see okay I was tricking you I'm so sorry I was tricking you because they are both correct but why are they both correct and this is what it's very important the meaning of what you're trying to say okay so I am sorry again I was trying to tricky she stopped smoking is probably what most of you thought about when when I say she stopped smoking it means that she quit smoking it means that she does not smoke any longer she's done she's like no more cigarettes I am never smoking again but what about she stopped to smoke why am I saying that that is correct because it has a completely different meaning we do this when we are talking about she stopped doing whatever she's doing maybe walking or whatever in order to smoke so it's like she stopped she took a break and then she smoked so she stopped so this is when it's so important like said that you use these germs and infinitives that we call them correctly because it literally means come to completely different things so in one instance she is not smoking and then the other instance she is smoking so this is why you have to pay attention if you say she stops to smoke but you mean she's she quit smoking you are saying the wrong thing so pay attention right very very very important as you might know there are things that you need to remember with germs and infinitives there are verbs sometimes that take both of them and they're both correct and they mean the same thing like I like studying with interactive English or I like to study with interactive English those mean the same thing but when it comes to stop pay attention because you could be saying the opposite of what you're trying to say very important ok so I hope you got that right I'm sorry that I was trying to trick you I promise for the next one I'm not trying to trick you I'm just trying to teach you so here it goes ok let's see which one you guys get there was up on the table red big plastic hat big red plastic hat plastic big red hat or big plastic red hat which one is it there is only one correct answer this time I promise no more tricks just one one one correct answer let's see which one you guys get to do I'll give you a tip for this one just a quick quick little tip go with whatever sounds sounds good this is when when you have to trust a little bit of your intuition so go with that and if you don't have an intuition about it don't worry it's okay you will develop it I promise over time so I see a lot of again mixed mixed answers so let me explain why you probably have different answers the correct answer was I believe it was B but it said this is what it is there was a big red plastic hat on the table big red plastic hat why is it this way why is it that you know some things that it this is the correct way of actually saying it well because in English adjectives follow a certain order when you have more and the order is kind of like what I marked over there you know first you have opinion then you have size then you have shape then you have age color origin material and then the noun so in this case big which is size comes before the color which comes B wait yeah comes before the color and then that comes before the material and then you have the noun so that's the right order and it is right there's no like is it right another way no no this is the only correct way of mentioning it okay big red plastic hat big red plastic hat on the table so if you didn't get it right don't worry this is something that you can practice just you know you can follow a lot of these exercises and just kind of keep practicing and it will start sounding natural and things will sound off okay very good okay so that was it's again it's not like I said it's not difficult it's just something of a matter of practice that's why I said these can be very difficult or they can be very easy it depends okay ready for the next one it's gonna be different I think this one's easy but maybe it's not you guys tell me what do you think oh yeah I did want to give you more examples for the other ones so we can say like I have here dirty old cotton sock or a small Japanese serving ball or something like that those are just more examples of how you can play with with these and keep keep practicing okay sorry back to the question mmm the keys with you when you come over tomorrow is it bring the keys with you when you come over tomorrow just one one correct answer bring or take bring or take I like that it's mixed everyone has a different opinion it's bring or take it's kind of mixed so I will show you what do you guys think again write it in the comments did you do and do you know why if it sounds if you answer a certain way the correct answer is bring bring the keys with you bring them with you when you come over tomorrow I'm making this motion because when we use bring we use it to show movement toward someone or something so when I when I talk about you coming over tomorrow you are coming to my house which means you it's the motion is towards me right towards somebody or something so you have to that's when you use bring but when you're talking about take that has to do movement away you know away from someone or something so you say take the keys when you leave you know take them with you when you leave but bring them when you come so if you the key words here I'd say would be come because coming has to do with come like come here right not leave so everything that any motion anything that has to do with you or emotion towards you it's bring and things that have to do with away from you it is take again this will become easier as you as you move along I think you guys are doing amazing you guys doing really well so again put yourself on the back even if you got it wrong this is a great opportunity to practice okay tip tip tip tip to exactly take the keys when you leave take them good good good a good example any okay wonderful now we have another one again I'm not trying to be tricky but this is something that people make mistakes with so I wanted to bring it up the sentence is the euro has been used in Europe several years has been used in Europe mmm several years is it since or is it for since or for has been used in Europe hmm several years what do you guys think since therefore again they are they're easily confused because many people learn that you use this at four with a present perfect so everyone kind of uses them and then they end up using them interchangeably but they're not actually used interchangeably so let me show you what I mean if you answered four you are correct the euro has been used in Europe for several years why is it four why why is it not since well because we use four to talk about the duration of time right for a few years but since we use it to mark four point in time so like will say since 2004 or since I was a child a point in time when you talk about one specific point in time you use cents and when you're talking about a duration like we are talking about in this case several years you know three hours five days whatever that's when we use four so keep that in mind there are simple rules but of course there's so many rules in English that it is normal to forget so don't feel bad just keep on practice and keep on practicing and I promise it will get easy things will sound wrong and when they do that's when they probably are wrong so so just just kind of follow that okay so I hope you guys have enjoyed our lesson if you didn't get all of them right don't feel bad this is not supposed to make you feel bad it is just an opportunity to practice that it's literally what it is so hopefully now you'll you know you'll remember that we put this uh in front of bridges and that we talked about you know bring when we're talking about an action towards something it's okay if you don't remember all of them you can always rewatch this lesson it doesn't matter if you got them all wrong maybe next time you'll get more correct it's just an opportunity to practice so I just wanted to thank you for joining us today if you found this lesson useful if you've learned something new please go ahead and give us a thumbs thumbs up like it share it with anyone who you think would find this interesting right so keep on practicing you guys are doing amazing great job today thank you for joining thank you Antonio thank you Giselle thank you Judy long is there not a crumb Thank You Ian for joining us again on this beautiful Saturday you guys have a nice weekend and keep practicing and you will do amazing thank you so much I'll see you next time --- ## 603. TRICKY VERB TENSES ๐Ÿ˜ฒ Advanced Grammar Quiz | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TFNi5N48nEo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFNi5N48nEo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:15:40 | --- hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel's all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today we're going to be talking about well english grammar i have a verb tense quiz that i want to give you so you can practice your grammar skills and see if you can complete some of the sentences with the correct verb tense so i will give you a moment to think of your answer and then of course i will tell you what the answer is and i will i'll try to help you out a little bit i'm going to give you a hint with each of these questions so this is actually a live lesson that i did a while back i've just shortened it for some of you that means that this may be review which is always good and for others of you if this is new let me know how you did in the comments below let's just go ahead and start the quiz good luck let's just look at our very first question maybe this is a little tricky so i've given you a hint that this is uh well there is a modal in this sentence all right there's a modal in this sentence and i want you to the main verb is no he ought um better the answer is to no so i told you that it's a little tricky because you're not only writing the verb you need to put the preposition to in there so ought is your modal verb many people really consider ought to as the modal and then when you have like a modal verb you're going to follow that with the base verb no the next one right here this is going to be again maybe it's a little tricky we'll see i did say this is more advanced grammar so the plane um your main verb is arrive at 8 pm your clue is scheduled time somebody is saying that oh we got to get to the airport the plane um at 8 pm the reason i said i thought it would be tricky is because i thought many people might say will arrive which you could say but scheduled time it's more common that people are going to use the present simple i'm talking about something in the future but i'm using the present tense because we're talking about something that is scheduled scheduled time how about this one again um your clue unspecified time so how would you complete this sentence i um to china twice in this case unspecified time we're talking about the present perfect tense i have been to china twice you don't know when i'm talking about i didn't tell you the time so in that case it's it's common people are going to use the present perfect tense i have been to china twice here we go and this is true actually uh this is a true sentence for me and my family i'd say last year last year at this time we um a trip to romania your clue is i'm talking about an action at a point in time we're talking about the past continuous last year at this time we were planning a trip to romania and in this case it's the past continuous at this time last year we were planning a trip to romania let's look uh at the next one i um the door in this case i want you to think about the situation and you're saying this sentence like it's a quick and sudden decision we're talking about the future tense something in the future but it's like really the immediate future and if you're talking about a sudden decision i'll get so you're going to use will with quick and sudden decisions something that would happen immediately and i think most of the time in conversation people are going to use the contracted form i will ow i'll get the door i'll answer it so this i'm telling you there's an adverb clause in this sentence and the adverb clause is before my alarm went off the hint is really i think about that adverb clause and that's going to help you determine the the verb tense that main verb which is here before my alarm went off i um allowed boom the answer that i have for you just think about is just heard before my alarm went off i heard a loud boom the reason why i wanted you to focus on the adverb clause is because you have that past right there it'll help tell you that the main verb will also be a simple pass before my alarm went off i heard a loud boom i kind of gave you a hint for uh one that's coming up anyway we will get there i um english for four years and i will continue to do so in the future another key word there is for fo r the preposition not the number so i um english for four years and i will continue to do so in the future we're talking about the present perfect continuous i have been learning english for four years and i will continue to do so in the future let me tell you why it's the present perfect continuous so that first part um that first independent clause i've been learning english for four years something that started in the past it's continued to the present so that really tells you you're going to use the perfect tense but in this case it's better to use the present perfect continuous because the next part is saying that you will continue learning english in the future here's the the situation there's two sentences your key is that there's like just some evidence uh and i don't want to give out i don't want to give too much of it away so think of the situation there's only one minute left in the match our team um win remember how i told you before that sudden uh sudden quick actions like something that happens immediately you're going to use will when there's evidence or even there's a sign that something will come in the future you're going to use going to there's only one minute left in the match our team is going to win this is great let's look at the the next question or the next sentence that i have for you this is an example of the subjunctive technically the subjunctive mood so here's my sentence the doctor recommends that she um some sleep i've done lessons about this before so hopefully you've seen some of the lessons and it makes it much easier to understand you would say she get the doctor recommends that she get some rest did i say sleep in that first no rest sorry maybe i misspoke when i was talking about it the doctor recommends that she get some rest now i will say that this again i'm writing this down so in writing i think it's very common people would use the subjunctive mood especially in the united states because i'm from the us uh that they would use this in the united states now if we're talking about spoken english i think that people will say gets and this is sometimes when the way people speak does not always match the way somebody would write something that is grammatically accepted or correct spoken english can be a bit different here's another one are you guys ready what do you think now many now i talked about this before previously a few minutes ago two past events and now i'm giving you two blanks so think about the situation by the time i um at the restaurant that is actually an adverb clause the main clause everyone um and i want you to use already order and i'm talking about two events that are in the past so the first part by the time i um at the restaurant that is my adverb clause and with the adverb clause you're going to use the simple past the next part it's appropriate especially because you see the word already that should tell you okay the perfect tense and because we're talking about the past then you would use the past perfect let me show you the answer yes by the time i arrived at the restaurant everyone had already eaten this is a good example as to when you would use the past perfect tense so this was just a a quick little grammar quiz that i had for you guys today to help you practice uh verb tenses it wasn't a very long quiz there were just ten questions but it's always good to get that practice and i think it really helps with your overall english fluency i i want to say again if you guys like what we do here at interactive english there are links down in the description if you'd like to join patreon youtube i have some different rewards for you if you want to check that out help support uh what what we do here at interactive english but in the future i will have more quiz lessons like this to help you practice your grammar help you practice vocabulary pronunciation i really enjoy doing these lessons and if you guys think they're useful let me know hit that like button --- ## 604. TRY LISTENING FOR KEY DETAILS | Advanced Practice Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TYz8BY9N7Cc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYz8BY9N7Cc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:41:18 | --- hello and welcome today I have a super duper super duper useful lesson for you it's all about listening for details coming up so welcome everyone to our beautiful lesson like I said it's a very very very useful lesson because listening tends to be something that everyone is having trouble with and it's always one of our biggest complaints and we're going to talk about that in a second but for now I wanted to welcome you to our wonderful lesson so in the comments please write down where you what is your name and where you're greeting us from where you are joining us from so please write that down in the comments I'd like to say hello to a few people Bassam welcome Judy a life of happiness XO Deepak John I would Jabar bruh welcome welcome welcome if I didn't say your name its I'm sorry I'll try to say it later lolly welcome welcome so Ezequiel hello and welcome everyone so please don't hesitate to write your your name and where you're from in the comments and today I have a really really useful lesson for you like I said before and the reason why I really like listening lessons is because it's something that I always hear from students students always tell me you know we can maybe we can understand you as a teacher but when I hear conversations between people then I have a really hard time catching the information because it's too fast or the words are blending together and that's it's very important to do listening exercises and that's what we're going to do today so I hope you're ready that your ears are perked and listening because we're about to do some practice so today we are talking about listening for details okay details is a key word here and I want to talk to you about why this of listening practice is important so why why our detail is important why do we care about them why why is this something that we should study so obviously you've heard about details before I am sure of it um because there if you've studied English at any point in your life you've seen this it's in all of the textbooks it's everywhere people saying you know everyone says details are important well why are they important because they truly provide information about the main idea so whatever conversation you're listening whatever context listening context you have you want to have you need that information you're listening to the news they're saying something the details are going to give you the hood why the the how and so on that's where the meat of this is it's it's very very important so those details are really everything and when are we kind of looking for details well sometimes we don't even care about the main idea and we just look for details and in those cases it's very important to just train your ear and know what to listen for what are these details and what am i what do I mean by this is you know for example if you have to make a phone call to find out to a store to find out the opening hours for example you don't even care about anything else they mean like they don't care about the address you don't care you just want to listen for that specific information just for the hours you hear them and then you hang up that's it that's a great example of when details are important there you know everywhere we go we're always looking for specific details and if you care about improving your English and you have to take a test these kinds of questions will always be in you know tests like the IELTS a TOEFL it will show up everywhere so it's really good to kind of get us trained on this so that's what details are now I want to talk to you about content words as well and content words in English if you haven't heard this term it's not as common as details if you haven't heard about content words in English these are words that carry meaning so they are you know your nouns your verbs adjectives but main verbs I mean verbs that show action not helping verbs adjectives adverbs so the words that have meaning those are content words that's what we call them so here I have an example as you guys might know I love cats so I put a hun example of a cat the cat was sleeping on the bed the content words in this example are cat sleeping and bed right nothing else that is those are the words that carry your information that is what gives you why you need to know the message of the sentence those are the content words and why am i bringing up these content words well because the content words will give you these details we you should make sure that you look for content words whenever you listen for a message and also because you need to understand what content words are in order to understand or follow what's being said there is a huge difference for example I showed I have two images here when you listen for a conversation if you just listen for the main idea if somebody's talking you know about a car you could just the the content words make the difference about what kind of car so for example I can be talking about a small red car or a big blue car well those are two very different things and that's where contact content words come into play because that's what you need to listen for so details really make all the difference and they're very very useful they will help you all the time so now because I know you guys want to do a practice we're going to do a bunch we're going to practice quite a lot and what I have in store for you today is I have some listening exercises and I have them written in front of me but I will not show them to you I will just say them so you have to listen and then I have some questions about the details of course and you have to make sure to pay attention now I will see each one twice so if you didn't catch all of the details the first time around you have another chance the second time around but I will not slow down they will not be too easy okay so just try to keep up because I'm going to read at a normal conversation level so that you can really really practice your listening okay so are you guys ready are you ready for the listening there you go okay it's coming up it's coming up okay so now pay attention Jane Austen Jane Austen was born on December 16 7075 she was an English novelist she wrote many books of romantic fiction her works made her one of the most famous and beloved writers in English literature she is one of the great masters of the English novel Austen wrote about typical people in everyday life this gave the English novel its first distinctive distinctively modern character Austen stories are often comic but they also show how women dependent on marriage for social standing and economic security her works are also about moral problems so that was that was my first reading I hope it wasn't too hard I realized I was a little slow so I think I'm gonna read it a little faster this time so I hope you guys got it I'm going to read it one more time okay so pay attention here he goes Jane Austen was born on December 16 7075 she was an English novelist she wrote many books of romantic fiction her works made her one of the most famous and beloved writers in English literature she is one of the great masters of the English novel Austen wrote about typical people in everyday life this gave the English novel its first distinctively modern character Austen stories are often comic but they also show how women depended on marriage for social standing and economic security her works are also about moral problems okay so I hope you're able to catch that I'm going to give you the questions in one second I wanted to ask you something now I just realized these are famous people that I'm talking about please do not cheat do not Google this information okay so it's solely based on what information I gave you okay so based on what I asked you let's see who gets this right when was Jane Austen born okay and try to give me the entire date like I said I'm not trying to make this easy for you this is a this is a good practice it has to be challenging okay so write it in the comments whether you're here now or later okay when was Jane Austen born let's see if you guys are providing oh I see some good answers there let's see if you answered December 16 7075 you are correct and some of you did good job and even if you didn't if you wrote the year that's good too good job good job Junior good job some your good job Judi good job you guys okay ready for my next question boom in what genre of literature the Jane Austen's writings belong this is a little harder so genre of literature means what kind of literature what kind of writing did she do in what genre of literature the Jane Austen's writings belong so what what were what were what was the type of writing that she did that should be the answer and see if you guys get it I see some good answers good job so if you answered romantic fiction you would be correct now some of you may have just said fiction and that is also okay this is the complete answer so it's fiction but it is romantic you can have like dramatic fiction you can have different kinds of fiction so that is correct okay question number three so this is a little bit more free it says right one detail about her writing meaning that you guys can you might have different answers here so whatever you remember if you whatever detail you remember about her writing write it down okay so if you guys I'm gonna give you a little bit of time so it could be a few different things in my examples I answered a few I gave some possible answers so I'm going to to show them to you right now basically you could have said you know she her writing were comical you know they were funny at times also you could have written that they show women's hardships because they had to deal with you know showing how women dependent on marriage for their economic status or for their social standing those are all very good details that you could have given about her writings that she wrote about people everyday people that could have been another detail that you've written or that she wrote about moral problems like I said any of these would have been a good answer as long as it is pertinent and part of what I actually said okay so like I said I kept it free because many of us could have different answers but if you are writing any of those than you would be correct okay so how did that go was that difficult was that easy are you like you wanna you have to give me something harder because that I knocked it out of the park what do you guys think I thought it was really easy so I'm ready I'm ready for a new one I'm ready for the next one are you guys okay this is gonna be a little bit tougher but I think you guys are ready okay Oh before I read it to you of keep in mind that we're now on patreon so if you like what we do and if you'd like to support us you can go ahead and go on patreon our link is in the description okay now for real I'm going to show you our next practice okay okay coming up Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale was an English nurse she helped create the modern techniques of Nursing she became a leader of the team of nurses who helped wounded soldiers during the Crimean War she was the first female to receive the order of merit the highest honor awarded to a British person as a nurse she was given the name the lady with a lamp because at night she checked on the wounded soldiers and always carried the lamp with her Florence Nightingale was a wonderful woman who fought the odds of not living a life expected by her family there you go so that was that was the first reading maybe it's not long now I just realized it was maybe a little bit shorter so I'm gonna do it again okay so you catch those details one more time Flores 19 Gale was an English nurse she helped create the modern techniques of Nursing she became a leader of the team of nurses who helped wounded soldiers during the Crimean War she was the first female to receive the order of merit the highest honor awarded to a British person as a nurse she was given the name the lady with a lamp because at night she checked on the wounded soldiers and always carried the lamp with her Florence Nightingale was a wonderful woman who fought the odds of not living alive expected by her family okay so I hope you guys caught that try to pay attention to the content where it's okay so things like dates things like like other details like names that I've said a numbers anything maybe if you've caught like I was trying to stress some of those content words hopefully you caught that and here are the questions okay so my first question is why why is Florence Nightingale famous okay so this is obviously a very important question there were a couple of details in the story that I've mentioned that you could mention in your answer okay so it's not just one say it's probably to that you could mention but I will be happy if you just mentioned one and let's see I see some good answers good job okay so here's what you could have answered you could have said first of all she was an English nurse she's probably the most famous nurse in the world I think one of the most famous because she really laid the foundation for modern nursing if you know a little bit about Florence Nightingale she's a very interesting person you should look her up it's just kind of just a fantastic woman so any of those answers could have been fine I I think I think I if you just said like something about the woman with the lamp that's also kind of acceptable but you should it should be something about Nursing I think because that's that's what she did okay so and that's a Content word that I kind of kept saying so that should be in your answer ok now this one I've only mentioned once so I hope you I hope you caught it but I did stress it so hopefully you caught that the question is during what war did she practice okay so what was the war and if there's any history buffs between among you like I'm curious if you guys got this one it's a little bit harder especially if you're not familiar with this war let's see somebody answered it they're close but not quite not not quite actually this is the Crimean War okay the Crimean War so if you didn't get the Crimean War correct don't feel too bad because I have more questions coming your way for example who this is another difficult one she was the first female to receive the DA what and here I'm looking for a very specific answer that I mentioned okay very specific answer let's see if you guys get it okay so I'm good answer some of you guys did mention the Crimean War a few of you good job okay so this one might be hard to I quizzed West earlier he got this wrong so sorry to out us okay so if you answered the order of merit you are correct then they did it in points for you if you didn't don't feel too bad because it's not something that we hear a lot about a lot like it's not something that you don't hear about this everyday this kind of prize the order of merit okay so yeah I would say a lot of people probably said like Medal of Honor or like something like that but it is order of merit so if you got it pat yourself on the back good job we are not done with Florence Nightingale my last question is what did she always carry with her and I fully expect all of you to answer because I think this is easy what did she always carry with her let's see if you guys got it I see some good answers there did it the lamp yeah so you guys are correct good job so if you said the lamp it is true yeah it's overwhelming everyone's getting it right you guys are rocking this amazing amazing amazing amazing so how is it going so far are you doing well um like I said these kinds of exercises are very very useful okay if if you're if you're kind of listening before I do the next practice I do have a question for you and I want to ask you what is your biggest challenge when it comes to listening okay what is it is it when people speak do they speak too fast do they kind of link the words together what is your biggest problem with listening please write it down because I really really want to know I'm always curious so please share okay so I want to we're going to do one more practice right now and and I hope you guys are ready because it's coming it's coming up okay so just like the other ones I'm just going to say it two times and then ask you questions you guys are doing really well on this by the way okay here it goes Mary Curie was born on November 7th 1867 she was a Polish and French physicist chemist and feminist her research focused on radioactivity she was the first woman professor at the University of Paris she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel prizes one in physics and one in chemistry together with her husband she created a theory of radioactivity they found different ways to separate radioactive isotopes and discovered two new elements radium and polonium she used her own studies in radioactivity to develop a new treatment for cancer okay so this one might be maybe easier or more difficult for some of you for a couple different reasons one might be everyone I think a lot more people know about Marie Curie another one why it might be difficult is because we are kind of talking a little bit about some scientific facts there that could be terminology that could be a little bit harder so I'm gonna say it again hopefully this time you'll catch all the details Mary Curie was born on November 7th 1867 she was a Polish and French physicist chemist and feminist her research focused on radioactivity she was the first woman professor at the University of Paris she was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel prizes one in physics and one in chemistry together with her husband she created a theory of radioactivity they found different ways to separate radioactive isotopes and discovered two new elements radium and polonium she used her own studies and radioactivity to develop a new treatment for cancer okay so I promise I wasn't trying to read that fast it's just how you would read that article so if you're feeling like oh my gosh this is going so so fast I still think you guys probably are gonna get some of these right again pay attention to those content words okay so here is my first question where was Mary Curie from okay so I didn't I mention dit and hopefully you guys got it it wasn't exactly the country wasn't mentioned but her nationality was mentioned so if you got that I you should have answered Poland or front and France she was born in Poland but then she moved to to France when she was young so a lot of you I see said polish and some of you say Paris so that both of those are correct but really yeah she was from both places Poland and France so hopefully you got that right I see a lot of good answer so good job getting difficult she won two Nobel prizes one in mmm and one in hmm let's see let's see those answers okay so she won two Nobel prizes let's see how you guys are doing with these answers interesting fact if you remember from the reading she was the first person ever to win two Nobel prizes how amazing is that if you answered one in physics and one in chemistry you are a rock star and you should congratulate yourself because you are correct yes exactly physics and chemistry my goodness this is one smart woman right amazing amazing and incredible my next question is sorry that about my image here is why were the two new elements she discovered together with her husband what were the two new elements she discovered together with her husband my image will come back don't worry so what were the two new elements she discovered with her husband let's see some of your answers this one might have been harder a little bit because if you don't know or if you don't work with the specific names then that might be a little bit more more difficult so the answer if you guys got it and you really should be super happy and oh my god so many good answers good job radium and polonium okay I actually don't know much about these elements I'm not a chemist but that seems pretty damn impressive to me so great job Mary Curie great job and great job to our students because you guys did an amazing job I see so many good answers so wonderful wonderful wonderful work well I hope like I said before I hope that you know you keep practicing I asked you before what were some of the main issues that you have with listening I've seen some answers you know about people speaking too fast and that is that is definitely a legitimate concern if you feel like people are speaking too fast I would say that the best thing to do would just just keep training you're listening and you will find out that the more you listen the easier it will be also if you're watching TV a good way to improve your listening would be to turn on English subtitles not subtitles in your own language but English subtitles so when people are speaking really fast you see the text and that will help you catch because people will use contractions when they speak people will use like they'll have pronounce the word sometimes so that will help you catch how people actually say a word and they don't fully say it right so that is my tip for the day I wanted to thank you so much for joining me this this wonderful Saturday Thank You Carlos thank you pirata muhammad Arman John my Javed Bassam Samira thank you thank you jr. thank you so much for for joining us today and I hope you have a wonderful day and if you liked our lesson please share it and don't forget to write questions in the comments either now or later it doesn't matter thank you and have a nice have a nice day --- ## 605. Take This Advanced Vocabulary Quiz | Learn New Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `1TGWI9AHNR4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TGWI9AHNR4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:36:18 | --- today I am going to test your knowledge of some advanced English vocabulary words so what's up everyone my name is Wes and in case this is the first time you're here at interactive English we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and the way that we are going to do that today is by testing your knowledge of some advanced vocabulary and I am going to give you an advanced vocabulary quiz so I encourage you to participate take the quiz and and really see what you know and hopefully you will learn some new words and that is just going to help you improve your overall Eng English fluency but if you are also out there looking to really improve your English skills and improve your fluency a great way to do that is by finding an English teacher and what I would recommend you do is to check out I talked e and I talked e was kind enough to sponsor today's lesson so if you are not familiar with I talked e it is an online language learning platform where it connects students with teachers from schedule a lesson according to your schedule so whatever time is convenient for you and then in the end you get a one-on-one lesson which is also perfect because that means that you get to work on the goals that that you want to achieve and the things you want to improve for example this last week I've been taking classes on I talked E and I've been learning Romanian I've been studying Romanian that that's the language I'm trying to learn right now and it was really great because I got to work with a couple of different teachers on I talked E we had one-on-one lessons and I got to do the things that I wanted to do we were working on building new vocabulary learning verbs how to conjugate those verbs and then I was trying to make sentences and actually improve my fluency so this is a really great opportunity if you're looking to find a teacher and for all of you guys here at interactive English I talked e is offering $10 free credit after you sign up and purchase your first les so if you purchase your first lesson they will give you $10 credit which you can then use for your second lesson so I will leave a link in the description and I will throw one in the chat right there if you guys are looking to up your game improve your fluency and find an English teacher so let's talk about today's lesson and about building vocabulary especially advanced vocabulary and and why this will be helpful and in helping you improve your overall fluency and and really you know most of you guys out there you are a little more advanced your intermediate to advanced learners so I think many of you are very interested in advanced vocabulary but let's quickly talk about why should you learn advanced words these advanced vocabulary words the first reason is for greater all-around comprehension so think about your receptive skills you're reading you're listening if you know these advanced words and somebody uses them in conversation then you're just going to be able to understand what that person is saying and you're not going to miss a beat you're going to understand everything and your comprehension will be at the at the top level if you know them the more vocabulary you know the greater your comprehension the second benefit is with those productive skills speaking and writing because when you're speaking in writing you are trying to communicate and if you know these advanced words the more vocabulary you know the more that you will be able to express exactly what you want to say because you will have the word that that describes that situation so many times when I've been working with learners over the year years they say like Oh like we're having a conversation and then it's like we hit we hit a point where they can't really express anymore and they say I don't know how to say this in English so the more vocabulary that you learn the less that you will say that the less that you're going to say I don't know how to say this in English so those are two great reasons why you should learn these advanced vocabulary words and just constantly constantly be building your vocabulary it's always a great thing to do so what I hope is that today you guys are going to learn some new words as you practice but before we take the quiz I just want to say what's up to some of you guys who are here with me right now Jean monopod Noelle Ludovic ah Francisco Anna what's up isso Tao ceci cocea Allah thank you guys so much for being here Lally how's it going seeing so many familiar faces Karl jr. hello hope you guys are having a great day and again as we go through this I want you guys to answer these questions to the best of your ability don't be shy even if you're watching this later on I want you to participate alright try it try to write your answers in the comments so that I know all right are you guys ready here we go all right let's let's take the quiz the first question that I have for you is this one it is a synonym question tell me which is a synonym for the word tradition okay so this this is your advanced vocabulary word right here trepidation which of those is a synonym you can either write the word or just write a B C or D which word has this a similar meaning to trepidation callousness apprehension confidence melancholy write your answer in the chat okay what do you guys think I'll give you a moment and then I'll tell you again well I want to give you guys an opportunity to try to answer these and see how much you know all right seeing some excellent answers look at you guys right there Jr Bach Anna Carl Connick yes trepidation a synonym for trepidation would be apprehension B is the correct answer again this is advanced vocabulary I saw somebody had mentioned I saw somebody mentioned wow this it's so hard Alamgir yes these these are more advanced words which means they're they're not as often used but again this is more precise language so you can really say what you want to say so trepidation means a feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen okay it hasn't happened but something that may happen and it's just apprehension so for example here are some example sentences so you can see how the words used in context his trepidation made him stay quiet so if somebody was anxious about something that may happen and they stayed quiet all right maybe they were afraid that about their language skills all right so they they had some trepidation all right this next one this is a good one and give you an image too we entered the dark house with great fear and trepidation if I I were entering that house - yes I I would I would have trepidation to go inside that house so it's kind of a mix of fear I would also say your little hesitant you're not sure whether you want to do this because of that fear because of that anxiety trepidation the next word the next question that I have for you guys is which of these words means bold and without shame the meaning of this word is bold and without shame okay again these are these are advanced vocabulary words what do you think is it a stout be altruistic see sullen or d brazen what do you guys think which which word which word means bold and without shame okay this is a great word to describe a person describe a situation okay so seeing some great answers in the chat yes Samira Alan McGee Alamgir sorry if i mispronounce names ha fede Konica so if somebody is bold without shame D is the correct answer brazen you could say that person while somebody is brazen or you could use it before the noun as it because this is an adjective to describe something alright so it means bold and without shame for example let's look at some sentences criminals have a brazen disregard for the law they don't care about the law so they have a brazen disregard for the law without shame they don't care about it or for example all right here we're using both words without any trepidation without any fear or anxiety she brazenly told her boss that he was incompetent so again it's not something he would often tell your boss but if you do so she brazenly told her boss again in that case it is an adverb and ly so we can use these words as different parts of speech but brazen is an adjective or you could do something brazenly brazenly so again also if if there's other words that you're unsure of because some people have asked like oh why don't you tell us the meaning of all the words that would take a long time plus if you find other words that you don't know I would encourage you look them up just do a google search and you can find the meaning immediately all right so the next question I have for you is this all right I like to use myself as an example and poke fun of myself I'm an easy target so West doesn't like to spend a lot of money he's so hmm so in this case I'm giving you the context and I want you to see okay which word best goes which word best completes that sentence all right West doesn't like to spend a lot of money he so is it a conscientious be spendthrift see a verse or D frugal what do you guys think which word best completes that sentence right there okay so excellent excellent excellent seeing some great answers yes Carl Lentz ash I can perfect Alan Grier Donna lolly perfect so if somebody doesn't like to spend a lot of money and adjectives that we could use to describe them is Dee frugal somebody is frugal it means that you are sparing or economical that's you know in in regard to money or food most of the time I think it's used to talk about money you're talking about the way somebody spends money in this case the hell they don't spend money they are frugal and my good example sentence is just talking about other synonyms there are other synonyms for frugal such as thrifty or cheap okay so again they're these these are words with very similar meanings you could say somebody is cheap say somebody is frugal say somebody is thrifty now one slight difference I feel like if somebody says cheap that that's a little meaner so it's kind of is it's a bit more negative and might make someone feel a little worse if somebody said oh Wes you're so cheap like oh okay I don't feel very good but frugal frugal and thrifty they're also not like you know things that you want to call other people it's not somebody people want to say yes I want to be so frugal but again they're not as harsh as cheap but you could describe a person as being frugal or thrifty and yes it is true I am kind of a frugal person yes I don't go out to expensive restaurants or anything like that or you could say he's so frugal he never buys anything and puts all his money in the bank alright so hopefully these sentences will help put these words in context so that you better understand them okay the next question alright the next question I have for you is this another synonym question what is a synonym for candid okay candid so this word I'll tell you it's an adjective alright you could describe a person and say that they are candid or if we wanted to use it as a noun we could say oh you know I really appreciate your candor I appreciate your candor so what do you think it means candid it's an adjective does it mean a joyful be uptight see displeased or D truthful okay what what do you guys think all right yes excellent all right I see some great answers gurveer isset Oh Samira yes yes yes yes if somebody is candid it just means that they're truthful that they are honest so it is the quality of being honest truthful and straightforward so those are some more great synonyms all of these words candid honest truthful straightforward those are all synonyms that have a very similar so here are some examples the owner was candid about all of the problems with the car and the work that still needs to be done so maybe you're buying a car and the person is honest with you they are candid and say well the car needs this the car also needs this and the car needs this and they tell you what problems exist so they're very candid is a good thing you want to be candid with other people and I want you to be candid with me are you guys are you gonna hit that like button that's my question for you what are you gonna be candid with me hit that like button so again yes I hope you guys are candid and I hope you guys do hit that like button if you enjoy learning new vocabulary words alright so we've had some great words already let's look at the next question let's just keep it going keep it going are you ready the next question is I give you the meaning all right so mmm means having a harmful effect especially in a gradual or subtle way all right what do you guys think all right this word means having a harmful effect especially in a gradual or subtle way what do you think is the answer a B C or D okay truculent benevolent languishing or pernicious which which word means having a harmful effect especially in a gradual or subtle way all right again see some good answers yes Alessandro jr. Konica RT Lally perfect the answer is D pernicious so the meaning of pernicious again it's an adjective that means having a harmful effect especially in a gradual or subtle way so oftentimes you might hear this being used before a noun like in these examples they were not able to execute their pernicious plan all right it was a plan that could be harmful I don't know maybe it was a pernicious plan and they were going to do something and destroy the environment I don't know or the new policies had a Nicias effect on neighboring countries so the country comes out with a new policy it affects its neighbors and you say it has a pernicious effect it has a harmful effect I think another great synonym for pernicious is insidious if something is insidious you could also say it is pernicious they have a very similar meaning because you're talking about something something that is harmful but maybe like again it's very subtle you don't maybe you don't realize it immediately all right it's something that happens over time it's pernicious okay so that is a great word great word to no good advanced vocabulary word the next question I have for you is this again put this into context all right some people are so mmm and distrust the sincerity of others so if people are this this this is an adjective all right if if we can use this word to describe this person all right then you know they distrust the sincerity of others all right so there are other words you have to know again you kind of need to know what does sincerity mean in order to really understand in order to really comprehend this question so again I told you that the more vocabulary you learned the better your comprehension so yes I see some great answers yes lolly Prasanth Shelley SHhhh Karl I can perfect this test is difficult yes I want it to be difficult because again these are these are advanced vocabulary words that you know maybe you might come across if you're reading a newspaper article or something that is a bit more advanced so the answer is a cynical and if somebody is cynical it means that they are believing people are motivated by self-interest that people do things in order to only help themselves when you have that belief these you'd be so describe you are cynical whereas a noun a person would be a cynic all right if somebody says oh there's such a cynic they think that others are motivated by their self-interest or distrustful of of their sincerity if I say oh I want to do something for you and you don't trust my intentions then maybe you are cynical all right so for example here is I was about to go over here but again no no not over here over here is where the sentences are when you're talking about politics this is often times when you would hear this word when it comes to politics FIFA people often tend to be cynical because you think of politicians and you think well these people don't want to help me they're only looking out for their own interests they only do things that benefit themselves and the people that give them money so people often are cynical about politics they don't trust the sincerity of politicians so often that that's a when talking about politics you might often hear cynical or in this case the employees were cynical when it came to the company's promises and the company makes promises the employees didn't really believe the company because they think oh this company is just looking out for themselves not not the employees and they were cynical all right so again another good word cynical next question another synonym question what is a synonym for impeccable all right again these are this is another adjective ok so again a lot of these words are adjectives which are great because those are words used to describe things describe situations and describe people and like I said you learn these advanced words you will be able to use more precise language and really say what you want to say impeccable so what is a synonym is it a imprecise B unblemished C erroneous or a D squalid all right again if you guys are if you don't know some of these other words again just do a Google search I recommend look up stuff it's you as long as you're learning new vocabulary that's what's important to me that's what I want to hear so all right excellent yes we have di Monza and shalosh Lally yet lotta perfect Connick excellent yes impeccable means be unblemished where is it right here whoops I think did I maybe I mixed up the order that's okay impeccable means without fault or error something is unblemished so for example I did it again over here everyone respects the coach because of his impeccable reputation if talking about somebody's reputation the way that they think of other people and they think all his reputation is impeccable people think really highly of this person okay maybe they are somebody who is honest they're straightforward they're very candid about life and they have an impeccable reputation or for example we could use it when talking about like a job candidate she was an impeccable candidate for the new position so she gives her CV it lists her qualifications and you could say wow she is an impeccable candidate all right they are unblemished without fault or error impeccable alright somebody else like are these adjectives are often used that's a good question and I'd say again it really depends it depends on what your level of English is if you are listening to a movie all right you're going to come across some advanced adjectives throughout a two-hour movie you might hear some of these if you are reading the New York Times or The Washington Post newspaper articles they use more formal language they use more advanced vocabulary words you will you will hear this these words so for example like I said when talking about politics I think it's common to hear somebody say that they're being cynical or somebody is a cynic so it really depends on the context of the conversation but but yes I think it's always good to build your vocabulary again depending on your level these are definitely advanced words so if you have an advanced level of English then then that's good if you can learn some new words today and use them let's look at the next question which is this all right what do you guys think all right I want you to write your answer in the chat or in the comments even if you're watching this later on hmm means obviously offensive or disgraceful all right it's obvious so again there there are words you know you need to know obvious that helps if you know obvious in order to to figure out this word so again the more you build your vocabulary the better your overall comprehension what do you think it means obviously offensive or disgraceful is it be a obtrusive be perennial see flagrant or D amiable okay what do you guys think Wow I see I think I might have I think I may have tricked some of you on this one okay um mr. Sam boom magda yes excellent the answer is C flagrant I noticed many of you were putting a obtrusive if something is obtrusive it more it that means something is sticking out okay something is sticking out of it like you know there was an obtrusive like Rock sticking out of the water or something like that you could say obtuse is another word that kind of means offensive but flagrant alright let me give you some good examples it's obviously offensive or disgraceful in basketball if any of you are basketball fans out there I could say this sentence right here the basketball player committed a flagrant foul so if there is an intentional obvious disgraceful foul somebody pushes another player they would get a flagrant foul and maybe get thrown out of the game so if you talking about basketball they call it a flagrant foul that's a that is a again this is a common way that you would definitely hear this word if you are a big basketball fan or you're talking about basketball or look at this sentence right here the teacher exhibited a flagrant abuse of power alright if we're talking about a flagrant abuse of power it is disgraceful it is horrible they are taking advantage of other people all right and yes again I like to use myself to pick on myself as an example so yes you could talk about a flagrant of of power alright is another phrase a collocation you might hear this adjective being used in that context next let's look at it alright years after he went to jail he was mmm for a crime he didn't commit so again put the words in this is I'm giving you the sentence try to put it into context and I want you to choose the most appropriate the most appropriate answer because technically I think somebody could say oh you know maybe you could say this other word but to me I think there's really only one answer alright there's really only one answer years after he went to jail he was hmm for a crime he didn't commit is it a exonerated be discharged see placated or d incarcerated what do you guys think all right seeing some great answers in there yes fabio jr. fara wasa RT mr. Sam Justin perfect so if we're talking about in this context the answer is a exonerated somebody went to jail but they didn't commit the crime so later on they were exonerated and if you were exonerated it means that you are proven innocent you are absolved from blame so like I said in that other sentence they were exonerated they were proven innocent and then they got to leave jail so for example here's another sentence the new evidence exonerated the primary suspect so again depending if you're saying well how common are these words if you're watching a TV show that's about law and order and and police and arresting other people and criminals then this is a word that you might hear you might hear somebody talk about the word it can be used as a verb like I used it in this sentence to exonerate someone as a verb or in the example that I gave you it was a participle adjectives exonerated someone is exonerated this the meaning is the same here's another example politician should be should not be exonerated for their misdeeds so if politicians again many people their cynical when it comes to politics because the politicians are only looking out for themselves and maybe they commit some crimes and they say well they should not be exonerated for those crimes people should be punished all right so again a lot of these I'm trying to use topics that you might hear these words being used for example like cynical or exonerated and and hopefully that'll help you keep an eye out for them if you heard listening or reading about those topics all right the next one and this point is just it's a fun one all right what is a synonym for sesquipedalian and I don't even know honestly I might be mispronouncing this sesquipedalian okay I'll go ahead and tell you this is absolutely not a common word in English all of these other words are our advanced vocabulary words that you will hear not every day but in certain situations precise language this is a word like I said I'm just having a I'm just having a little fun right here all right this is not a word that you you probably need to add to your vocabulary it was just a really long word and I found it was like okay I'm gonna throw this in there what is a synonym for sesquipedalian all right just take a guess what do you guys think all right you know and who knows there might be some examples in which you find this word but this of all of these words we've done today this is the least common all right so but I actually I see I see some good answers somebody got it um where is it shall ish yes all right also who else Ahmed perfect all right if we're talking about it in general it it means long but specifically it's talking about not just long in length long words okay I didn't I didn't throw that on there it was just it was too long all right but it's something that's characterized by long words so look at these example sentence I'd say oh the people of this town tend to have sesquipedalian surnames maybe everybody's last name or surname is very long name and you could say it's sesquipedalian all right characterized by long words all right it's a long word the story was replete with the sesquipedalian dialogue all right people are having dialogue conversation and it's characterized by long words you could say it's sesquipedalian I actually think that other words a bit better replete that is a better word for you to know an advanced vocabulary word it is replete it is full of something is full of something it is replete with something all right it's full of that's a bonus word for you all right so let's have a look at the words that we talked about today so again trepidation brazen frugal candid pernicious cynical impeccable flagrant exonerate sesquipedalian what I want you to do in the chatter in the comments tell me a word that you learned today are there any new words that you learned today and if so write that just write that word in the comment or write those words in the comments because I love it when I hear from people and they say oh I learned something new today that that that just makes my day when I hear that so in the chat or in the comments just write a new word that you learned today besides sesquipedalian all right besides that one some of the other words because of those those are more common all right so again this is a great way to build your vocabulary to practice your vocabulary we are gonna have more quizzes in the future because it is a great way to interact especially with all of you so again I hope you guys keep building your vocabulary the larger your vocabulary the better your overall comprehension all right so hopefully some of these words were new for you today and hopefully you learn some new words exactly I see excellent perfect Fabio learned a new word arti of it Avani Oh learned all of the excellent perfect Hesham so again the idea is that you're probably not going to remember all of these words but over time the next time maybe you come across the word you'll start to remember it the more you see it the more you're likely you are to remember it and then you make it a part of your active memory all right that is the goal so thank you guys so much for being here with me today if you enjoyed this lesson please like and share it hit that like button down below in the comments tell me a new word that you learned today I want to hear from you and as always you guys can follow us up on social media here we are active on Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course here at YouTube so thank you guys so much for joining me today Jean Jean Louise blueberry red brandy Anna Doha Fatima I'm trying to get as many shout outs as possible um Curtis the guy Hameed Camilla thank you thank you it is a Francisco la Lee jr. sorry I'm not sure how to pronounce that name but thank you anyways thank you said thanks arty I like em here thank you guys we will again we're gonna do more quizzes I might make this like a quiz month of live lessons so join us next time we will be back next week for another live lesson I hope you guys have a wonderful day keep practicing and keep up the good work I will see you next time --- ## 606. Take Your SPEAKING FLUENCY to the NEXT LEVEL โฌ†๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZMkhSFUd6sE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMkhSFUd6sE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:12:30 | --- let's talk about how you can improve your speaking skills and these these are things that you can start doing today i want you to start doing them now because i think it's really going to help you and if you would like more lessons to help you improve your english skills please subscribe turn on notifications so that i can become your english teacher and that is what interactive english is all about trying to help you achieve english fluency so the very first thing that i want you to do if you're not already doing it is to continue building your vocabulary and try to make a habit out of this that you're going to learn a new word or phrase each and every day because that is the best way to help you be more descriptive and you can talk about the things that you see you can share the way that you feel and when you learn more precise language even if it's an idiom with a specific meaning it's going to help you more easily express yourself and you'll be able to say exactly what you would like to say now the next thing that i want you to do which is kind of following up on that first one of building and and learning new vocabulary is that i want you to continue practicing the vocabulary that you already know keep practicing the words and phrases that you have already learned that you're familiar with and this is something that i think tends to get overlooked because i know there many of you are are focused on trying to continue building your vocabulary which is great but sometimes you may forget to practice the vocabulary that you learned last week and you need to keep practicing these words and phrases because then it'll become a part of your active memory and then over time it'll become part of your long-term memory which is the ultimate goal i also want you to talk about a variety of topics and i think this is a great way to challenge yourself because then in a way it's like you're making yourself learn new vocabulary that may be related to that topic and of course it's great to be able to to talk about your work or where you live conversations that you might have quite often and you can keep practicing that and be able to have that conversation easily but it's also important to vary your conversations discuss different topics whether we're talking about education or stereotypes or even crime because when you do that when you vary your conversations then you'll be ready for anything something else that i want you to do which i think you may not be doing is find fun ways to engage with speaking so having a conversation is just one way to engage with the language and practice speaking but there are other things that you can do as well like you can do role plays you can give a presentation you can have a debate these are ways that you'll be using the language in a different way which is going to help your speaking fluency and it's also and most importantly it's also going to help you build your confidence and that's the next thing that i wanted to lead into which i think is so important when it comes to improving your speaking so much of speaking is related to confidence you want to feel confident that you are pronouncing words and phrases correctly you want to feel confident that you're using grammar in the right way you want to feel confident that you are also using new vocabulary correctly and people can easily understand what you're saying so doing all those things that i just talked about that's going to help you build your confidence you're going to feel a lot more comfortable when you're having a conversation or even doing one of those other speaking activities and you're not really going to worry about making mistakes and i i also think in general when you build your confidence you're going to be presented with more opportunities to speak english and then i want you to practice practice and then practice some more take advantage of every opportunity you get to practice speaking english because well the more you practice the more confidence you're going to have the more you practice the more you'll be using new and old vocabulary the more you practice you'll likely be talking about different topics and having different conversations in short when it comes to speaking just like the saying goes practice makes perfect now i told you that i want you to take advantage of any opportunity to practice speaking english and right now i'd like to share with you a great opportunity to help you practice and improve your speaking skills and that is by joining speak up this is my speaking course which is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally you will also get to speak directly with me because i will be your teacher and right now i have a special end-of-year deal because i'm getting ready to start a six-week mini-course click on the link in the description use the code speak 30 to get a 30 discount off the course so click on that link down below if you'd like to enroll improve your speaking skills what the course includes it includes well group lessons with me i told you that i will be your teacher there are also uh weekly lesson pdfs there are lesson preview videos to help you better understand what we're going to be doing in class there are weekly pronunciation video lessons as well to help you speak clearly there are also some resource guides and audio lessons there's a lot so click on that link down below if you'd like to enroll learn more about the course like class times and availability and if you have any questions feel free to send me an email at info interactiveenglishvideos.com so check that out if you want to improve your speaking skills and i hope to speak to you soon so long --- ## 607. Take the CONDITIONALS QUIZ | Advanced Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `SkrEZ9enm1I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkrEZ9enm1I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:35:09 | --- what's up everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is Interactive English which we're all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills so if you're with us for the first time that is perfect that's what we're all about especially practicing your skills which is what we're going to do today because I have a quiz for you and and I'm going to ask you some questions and you are going to participate and we're going to talk about conditionals it's it's a bit of a conditional quiz so this right here this is a grammar lesson to help you guys practice your skills to improve your skills and this is useful so that the next time that you are having a conversation or that you are writing something you're going to be able to use this grammar correctly because you've practiced it again and again and again so if you are somebody who is interested in improving your grammar skills or if you want to improve your speaking skills basically any of your English skills one thing I would recommend is finding an English teacher and a great place to do that is at itok ii who was kind enough to sponsor today's lesson so if you don't know what I talked he is it's a platform that helps connect teachers and students so it's a great way to find an English teacher if you want to work with a teacher from the US from the UK from Australia you can find teachers of all sorts you can also schedule classes around your schedule so if you don't have time at a certain point you will find a teacher that has availability for whenever you want to teach or for whenever you want to to learn and then you get a one-on-one class okay so for you guys right now I talk has a special promotion that if you sign up take your first class they will give you $10 free credit which is great it's a nice little discount on that second lesson that you would take so if you sign up take a class they will give you $10 free credit after purchasing your first lesson so check out the link in the description all right in the description down below if you want to find a teacher and start improving your English skills so today is all about improving your grammar skills especially with conditionals now I am NOT going to go deep into the the grammar of these different conditionals we're just going to practice writing sentences and practice our skills we've already done some lessons that are all about conditionals and if you are interested in seeing those lessons I'm gonna put a playlist up right there go check out that playlist we go through all of the different conditionals and really show you the grammar and give you a bunch of example sentences so go check that out so what I want to do today is more about practicing but before we get into it I want to give a quick shout out to two people who are with me today let's say hello hello Ahmed Sava Mizpah Robbie Harun Louie Poonam sorry Kennedy just been Joe jokin no again sorry if I'm mispronouncing names alright there's a lot of people here Lally Rob great to see you if I miss some names I will try to get recognized you and shout out your name throughout this lesson because what I want you to do I want you to participate I want you to write sentences I want you to practice using these conditionals and actually that is a benefit because everybody who's watching this and they're seeing this they're gonna be able to see a lot of different examples as to as to how these conditionals are being used so let's just go quick little quick little review all right I told you I'm not going to get too much into the grammar but just some basics okay so what are conditional statements this is when you have a condition and a result so the condition is going to be that if statement the result is just your main Clause so you can see this sentence right down here if you don't pay attention that is the condition if you don't pay attention you won't understand conditionals but if you do pay attention then you will understand because that means your eyes are practicing your language skills and even if you're watching this later I still want you to practice use the comments as though it were a piece of paper and practice practice practice practice the next part is just let's look at the types of conditionals okay so I've listed five different kinds of conditionals and I've given you an example sentence so I didn't break it down the grammar but I want you to just read the sentences carefully and just kind of take it in and that is a great way reading is a great way to to under absorb the information so that when you need to use it you can use it correctly so the zero conditional if you touch fire you get burned this is just like a general truth we use these conditions just to say things that are true in general and we use the present simple present simple okay that's the zero conditional the first conditional we're talking about a result that happens in the future if I go to the party I'll call you okay if I go to the party I will call you a result in the future the second conditional those are your hypothetical situations okay those are kind of imaginary if I could fly I would travel the world all right can I fly know it's imaginary Beyonce has a great song it's called if I were a boy now this song it's a great song for listening for the second conditional because she talks about all of these things that would happen if she were a boy you can check that out you can look that up on YouTube and find the video it's a great song for for listening for grammar the third conditional okay is unreal and the reason I say it's unreal is because we're talking about a condition that happened in the past it's already happened we cannot change the past so that's why I say well it's unreal you can't change the past if I had gone I would have told you so maybe you're talking about that party that you were supposed to go to well if I had gone to the party I would have told you so in that case did I go to the party no if I had gone alright you're using the past the the past perfect all right and then in the condition would have would have and the pass so again just just read the sentences take it in all right we're gonna practice this and then the final one the mix conditional this this one can be really challenging because you're taking oftentimes you're taking a condition that it happened in the past and then you're talking about a present result as in as this example sentence right here if I had eaten all right I wouldn't be hungry now if I had eaten earlier in the day I didn't eat but if I had eaten then I would not be hungry right now so you're kind of mixing the those two which is why the grammar is a little different and those are tricky but again if we practice practice practice it'll get better so we're gonna start out we're gonna start a little easier and then it's just gonna get a little more difficult as we go through and again I want you guys to to practice write in the comments you guys are already writing some great sentences exactly that's what I want so that everybody can read them and that's just going to help us absorb the information and and that's gonna help us learn so the first part is what I'm going to do is I am going to give you the condition or the result and I just want you to complete the sentence that's all and I will tell you the conditional but I want you to use the picture that I give you try to use the picture so if you're wondering what I mean by this let's just do the first one so for example let's talk let's look at the zero conditional okay this is the one I want you to write a sentence in the zero conditional if you commit a crime what what's the result so I've given you the condition the if statement if you commit a crime okay tell me the result remember to keep it in the zero conditional this is talking about a general truth so I'll give you a moment and then I will show you I will show you my answer okay and if you guys if you're if you're just joining us what we're doing is we are practicing using conditionals and practicing conditional sentences so use that picture all right what do you think excellent Paul alright curious all perfect perfect remember guys I told you guys keep it the zero conditional alright present simple present simple alright so the answer that I was looking for are that you could say again there's different things yes Hui Allison you commit a crime well you could say you are sentence keeping it in the zero conditional you go to jail so a general truth okay if you commit a crime present simple you go to jail present simple now you could use it if you said you will go to jail that's the first conditional it's also correct you can say that but that's a difference between the zero conditional and the first conditional zero conditional you're talking about just a general truth all right something that's true maybe for a person as an individual or just something like science all right you can use those statements all the time if you commit a crime you go to jail now let's look at the first conditional okay so I I've tried to make this a little more challenging okay those are the pictures all right you see study test all right I'll fail now the the hint that I'll give you okay I've kind of switched it around because you're talking about a condition and a result they're not always in that order sometimes the result can come before the condition the meaning is the same but you can put the the result before the condition which is what I've done here so I have given you the result I want you to complete the sentence tell me what the condition is and use those pictures all right I'll fail what what what would be that what would be the the condition all right all right so yes we have all right curious all perfect clรกudio excellent edison excellent perfect all right said that uh perfect all right so yes we're talking about I'll fail what's the condition if I don't for the test okay so you may have put something a little bit different but that's just fine again we're practicing again that that grammar to the result is going to have the future tense I'll fail the condition present simple I'll fail if I don't study for the test and usually yes that that's that's true statement um let's look at the next one okay the second conditional hypothetical situation okay if you're just maybe you're just thinking something to yourself if I had five dollars okay if I had five dollars what all right write it in the chat if you're watching this later again write your answers in the comments and then at the end just you know hit that comment button so that I know that yes you were participating in the lesson that is the best way to learn is to participate and keep practicing so in this case I've given you the condition if I had five dollars all right the condition is in the past simple all right that that's the that's the simple past all right you can say it either way past simple simple past if I had five dollars what would you do okay remember care to so if I had five dollars I would buy all right you would say remember you're using would plus plus the base verb all right so Claudio yes I would buy a coq10 I would buy a house a house for five dollars wow that's a good deal listen I would buy something all right perfect if I if I would buy a gift for myself Mary good good example all right you guys are rocking it alright so again if we're talking about the second conditional remember I asked you what would you do so if we're tire if I had five dollars I would say I would buy you a coffee I'd buy you a coffee because that's just it's a nice thing to do maybe you don't like coffee I could buy you a tea okay so if I had five dollars all right simple past the result would plus the base verb I would buy you a coffee I would go I would say I would dance so again this is the second conditional now let's look at the third conditional are you ready it in this case again I'm giving you the result first all right I'm giving you the result we would have hit the like button all right we would have hit the like button give me the condition now I'm asking for that if statement and again you you could you might say something a little different it's fine you can have different answers I just want to make sure you guys have an idea as to how you should use these conditionals and then make sure you know the the grammar isn't confusing you too much all right so again you're talking about something that happened in the past all right we can't change the past all right we would have hit the like button what would you say okay what do you think all right give me that if statement so we would have hit the like button if what all right what do you say if my mom watched this video if we had had an interesting session okay yes all right perfect so if you had shared a good clip exactly so that you guys those are good those are good examples all right I would say again I would we would have hit the like button if you had asked us all right so again I didn't ask you I didn't ask you in the past it's already happened so then again think about the grammar the condition if you had asked all right is the past perfect had asked and then the result we have would Plus have plus the past participle would have hit okay so if you haven't hit the like button I am asking you now please go ahead hit that like button if you like practicing your English skills and practicing using conditionals okay now let's do a mixed one and I just realized all right this is this is very similar to that example I okay I don't want to tell you all right we've already we've already kind of talked about this so again if you're just joining us we're practicing using conditionals it's a bit of a conditional quiz this is going to help you get a little more confidence in your skills so this is a mix conditional if I had heat & breakfast that is the condition I want you to give me a result from the present all right so think about this situation think about your real life and maybe okay you didn't eat breakfast how would you feel all right what what you know what would the result be what what would you say right now well if I had eaten breakfast what okay how could you complete that sentence give me a result it's a mixed conditional because we're kind of taking that conditional the the condition as in the third conditional that past perfect something in the past we can't change it all right what about you know right now all right excellent hurry I wouldn't be so angry okay that's time I'm a I'm angry when I'm hungry too Elena I wouldn't be so hungry hangry you could say hungry and angry that amalgamation I wouldn't be hungry yes perfect all right so if I had eaten breakfast again I wouldn't be so hungry right now talking about the I said right now just to emphasize that I'm talking about the present okay this is an example of a mix conditional and a common one that people might say well if I had eaten earlier I wouldn't be so hungry that is a common example okay so what I want to do now all right we're gonna switch it up a little now I have a few more questions for you and this is just going to be a gap fill it's multiple choice I'm going to give you a statement and I want you to complete it with either a B or C okay I'm not gonna tell you the conditional it's just a little gap fill if you're just joining us we're practicing using our conditionals and that's what it's all about so let's look at the first question okay if you can't see it really well because of the picture try to find these nice pictures to kind of go along with these sentences I'll read it so I said if I hmm it was going to rain I would have brought my umbrella okay what what do you think best completes that that conditional statement if I hmm it was going to rain I would have brought my umbrella alright what do you think all right a B or C okay would you put will no had known or would have known what do you think all right so seeing some good answers in there all right so yes curious soul Paul dragged on and B yes thank you guys for answering boom Ron alright so the correct answer is B alright we're talking about the third conditional if I had known it was going to rain alright I would have brought my umbrella third conditional all right excellent the next one this one I think you can see clearly I you to dinner if you help me move all right what do you think what what could best completes that sentence I hmm you to dinner if you help me move would you say would take take or will take and again I'm trying to switch it around between sometimes I'm putting the condition and then the result other times I put the result first and then the condition and just get a feel for it because either way when you're having a conversation you can switch it however you want alright so hmm yes in this case most people yes madam poor Mary Mario Claudio you know who I am wait a second wait a wait so he yes if we're talking about this okay if you help me move alright what it will what will what will happen in the future we're talking about the first conditional all right so the correct answer wait a second the correct answer is C yes I'd want to know make sure that I got the right letter I will take you to dinner if you help me move so somebody might say this to you like hey if you help me move I will take you to dinner all right you will do something a result in the future all right excellent the next one all right let's do another one here we go if you if ok what if I hmm you I join our email list what what uh what would you what would you say alright if I you I join our email list alright this one I just realized I kind of made a little bit of mistake alright we'll see all right I'll give you both parts of it so what do you think would you think it's a B or C if I mmm you I join our email list alright so many of you I think you got it yes Paul Dogon Maria mana poor Patsy Olivia Alice Elise thank you guys excellent you guys are rocking it participation wise so the correct answer is B I put if I were you all right I join our email list it's the second conditional and if you guys are interested in joining an email list boom there's a link right there if you haven't done so already we send you some cool stuff some free resources some email updates just you know keep you involved in our lives the one read the one thing I wanted to talk about this is this is an example of the subjunctive in English because you have that that I all right I were when you're talking about the simple past you'd say like I was happy but in this case when you're talking about the second conditional it is grammatically appropriate to use the subjunctive if I were you alright the same way in the beyond seesaw fiancee song to bring it up again the title of the song if I were a boy alright if I were you will hear people in spoke in English they will say if I was alright so I would say in spoke in English you you might hear both if I were if I was when you're writing writing is more formal so I think if you're writing something I would stick with the subjunctive and use worse so just something if you said a that would say okay you're not really wrong I told you so I would accept both of them so just keep that in mind this is the subjunctive now let's make it even a little more difficult okay whoops wait wait wait no don't look at that don't look at that let me explain it first so now what I want to do is I'm going to give you a situation this is kind of talking about transformations I'm gonna give you a situation I want you to write a conditional sentence using that situation okay I don't want to give you too much of a hint but read the sentence or the sentences and then write a conditional sentence and this is a little more tricky okay so let's look at the first one right now so again I will read it in case your you can't see it very well because of the the colors and the picture so it says I didn't take the bus so I didn't arrive on time okay what is a conditional sentence that you could use that that would mean the same thing that would capture that same meaning this is again people have asked me about transformations and practicing transformations of taking one sentence and using saying it in a different way but having the same meaning so this is a sentence I didn't take the bus so I didn't arrive on time what what's what conditional sentence could I use that kind of means the same thing all right that has the same meaning so I'll give you a hint all right remember think about it like this the condition and the result all right the first part is the condition the first part of this is the condition the second part is the result so again we're talking about something in the past I didn't take the bus so if we're talking about something in the past you can't change the past we're talking about the third conditional all right so somebody said all right monatti Menotti excellent very good all right I okay you could say it patia close Christina yes perfect so again this is the third conditional if we want to say the same thing I didn't take the bus so I didn't arrive on time if I had taken the bus all right past perfect I would have arrived on time so basically like I put the sentence down there so you can reference it I didn't take the bus so I didn't arrive on time if I had taken the bus I would have arrived on time so we can use the third conditional to say - they have that same meaning and it's a little more challenging because you have to think it through a bit more with that grammar if I had taken the bus I would have arrived on time would have plus the past participle would have a ride let's do another one all right so I don't live in New York City because I didn't get the job I don't live in New York City because I didn't get the job what conditional sentence could you write that has the same meaning all right think it through remember how I said typically you'll find like a condition your if statement and then the result but you can mix those over all right you can put the result first and then the condition that's a hint okay so so think about that I don't live in New York City that would kind of be that's your result because I didn't get the job that would be the condition all right so I'm trying to kind of work this out as you're as you're going through this and trying to think of the answer yourself and probably spend a little more time writing it so what do you guys think what what condition can't what what conditional sentence what would mean this same thing I don't live in New York City because I didn't get the job all right close I think this one if I lived in your city I would have got the job close all right little little peon excellent that's nice all right if I had got the job I would live in New York City now one thing I would say if I wanted to be technical about this and say oh it has to be perfect remember in this case in this example what it's over here in this example the result comes first so if we're gonna put the result first I would say the following all right I would live in New York City you're talking about right now I would live there right now if I had gotten the job and I would say again when you're talking about the the past perfect had gotten had got you can use either one either one of those is correct but if you wanted to write this sentence exactly all right you would use this conditional up here the result would come first I would live in New York City if I had gotten the job this is a mixed conditional we're talking about a result talking about the present I would live in New York City and then something that happened in the past which I can't change if I had gotten the job all right so excellent I think I saw some great answers in there that's perfect all right you guys are getting this so let's do another one all right one more good for good practice right now so this is my sentence all right my sentence is all right I'm shy I didn't go over and talk to her okay I'm shy I didn't go over and talk to her what conditional sentence what conditional sentence captures that find it looks a little strange because it's like where I'm about the same I'm about the same size no she's over here I'm about the same size as her in that picture so if I said I'm shy I didn't go over and talk to her what conditional would would capture that okay so again think about a the condition and the result all right what are you going to do and that like I said this this is more challenging these transformations are a bit more challenging because you kind of really have to to think about it in a different way because you know the meaning you understand these sentences they're not very difficult sentences but then when it comes to okay now I need to put it in a conditional sentence and make sure that the grammar is correct as well it becomes an added challenge all right so okay all right so I am shy I didn't go over and talk to her excellent Paul Patrick um Ron are remember okay I little slight mistake so again we're talking about I am shy all right that's the present condition so I would say like if I weren't shy all right I didn't go over and talk to her all right that's my result remember I would have gone over and talked to her so in this one I switched it around all right I know I said it's it's still it's still best to use the subjunctive but I wanted to give you this example because again somebody might say this and they might not use the subjunctive and this is this is how it is in English but I would say again even though I didn't do it here if you're writing I would I would set recommend stick with the subjunctive if I weren't so shy I would have gone over and talked to her but again somebody might just be having a conversation they say wow if I wasn't so shy I would have gone over and talked to her all right if I wasn't so shy that hypothetical all right hypothetical all right I I would have gone over and talked to her that is that that third conditional that result I would have gone past participle I would have gone over and talked to her if I wasn't so shy I would have gone over and talked to her all right so again this is a great way to to practice your skills to practice these conditionals and it's it's a bit more challenging so if you guys enjoyed this lesson I do hope pleased that you hit that like button maybe share this lesson with anybody else that you know who's trying to practice and improve your English because again this is a great way to do it it's just to practice practice and practice even if you don't understand and you find it a little confusing like I said we have that whole playlist of lessons talking about each conditional and we give you the grammar and talk about it in more detail I'm gonna throw it back there in the chat for you alright go check out those Plett that playlist and you can see those different lessons alright so thank you guys so much for watching again like and share we really appreciate it write to us in the comments because we just love hearing from you and of course you can follow us on social media we're active on Facebook Twitter Instagram and of course right here at YouTube so thank you just give some more shout outs Joe Toth monopod Vicky hey wait a minute hey hey Vicky welcome if you're just joining room Giselle Olivia Maria Karim and Camila thank you Aziza Kristina little Pahlavi on will do more practice lessons like this in the future because I think this is a great way to actually interact and practice your skills in real time in the chat or even if you're watching it later again I encourage you write to us in the comments use it like it's a piece of paper practice practice practice alright thank you guys said that a student a OS Lali fo do Donna I see on Mary thank you guys so much for joining me hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 608. Take vs Have | How to Build Vocabulary with Useful Collocations | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4klTtD4NT_Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4klTtD4NT_Y) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:38:49 | --- Today I want to take some time and have a lesson that will help you build your vocabulary with these two verbs right here Where'd they go? Welcome to today's lesson which is really going to help you build and improve and enhance your vocabulary skills because I'm going to talk to you about two very very very common English verbs: take and have and talk about some of the words that frequently follow these verbs. And these are called collocations. and collocations really help you expand your vocabulary because you're using words that are frequently used together And you're not just learning one word, you're learning two words and seeing how they're used in different contexts And there are all sorts of collocations. You can have an adjective noun collocation You can have a noun verb collocation, or you can have a verb noun collocation which is what we're going to talk about today because I'm going to talk to you about words that frequently follow the verbs take and have. Now when you think of these verbs, you might be thinking: "Oh, I know this verb. I know how to use it. I know its meaning." But when these verbs are used with certain nouns, the meaning can change slightly. And that's why it's so important to learn these verbs together with these nouns. because then you'll know how to use them, and when to use them, and be able to use them correctly the next time you're practicing your English skills. So let's start with the verb "take". This is one of the most common verbs in the English language And when you think of take, you probably think of the meaning of, well: to hold something, to take it I'm going to take it. But when we use it with certain nouns, the meaning's going to change a little And I'm going to show you how "take" is used with these nouns in different categories because that's going to help you understand how to use it, and you'll be able to relate this verb to a certain category Because it's used in more ways than one. For example, we often use take when we're talking about transportation or movement because you can say that you are going to take a walk Or if you're using transportation, you might take a bus, or take a taxi, or you can take a plane. You can also move forward by taking a step in the right direction. We also use take when we're talking about a response to something, or even a plan of action because you can take action. I don't know what... that's taking action, I guess. You can also take control: take control of a situation. If you want to be the leader, then you can take charge. Take charge of the situation, take command! That's another one: take command! You can also take responsibility for something that has happened and you can take advantage of something or someone There are many different responses when we're talking about take. We also use take when we're talking about time, because you can say that something takes time. It takes a duration of time and you can be a little more precise and say how much time something takes it could take minutes It could also take days it could take years And if something goes on, and on, and on, and it feels like it never stops, you could say that it takes an eternity. And I hope you guys take some time to join our social media classes, because it's a great way to practice! Some other common expressions with take: we can take notes, you can take a photo we can also take a nap Who doesn't love taking naps? You can relax and take a break if you're tired of doing something You can also take someone's advice Take advice These are just some of the nouns that we use with the verb take, but there are many many many many other ones out there that you can learn and practice and use and that will help you build your vocabulary. Next, let's have a look at the verb "have" and talk about some of the nouns that we frequently use with this verb. When you think of have, I think most of us think of possession. something that we actually have For example, I have a phone. I have a phone. And it's important to note that when have means possession, you cannot use it in the continuous tense. You cannot say: I am having a phone. No! But when have is used with certain nouns, the meaning of the verb changes. It doesn't actually mean possession. And in that case, you may be able to use have in the continuous tense. Over the years, I've had many learners ask me about this, and they say: Well, you told us we can't use have in the continuous tense, but I'm reading this story and they're using it that way. And I have to explain to them: Well, in that story, have does not mean possession. So this is a perfect example of why learning these collocations are important, because the meaning can change, and it will help you improve your vocabulary, as well as your grammar. So let's start by talking about food, because food is awesome! When we're talking about food, We can have breakfast, we can have lunch, and we can have dinner. And in this case, "have" kind of means what you're eating. So we can use it in the continuous tense, and I can say: I'm having breakfast or, I'm having eggs for breakfast - which basically means that I'm eating eggs. You can also have a snack; you can have a drink like coffee Mmm. I like having coffee in the morning. Finally, you could have a bite to eat. Something that you're going to eat We can go out and go have a bite somewhere. Have a bite: have something to eat. We use have when we're talking about someone's health because you can have a headache. You can also have an injury, or you could even have the flu. If you're sick: have the flu. I hope nobody out there has the flu right now, because it's been going around this year. We can also use have to talk about problems. ... problems that somebody is having. You can have problems, You can have issues. You could have trouble with something, or trouble with someone. That's not good. or you can even have an accident. like you broke something. We use have when talking about speaking, because you can have a chat with someone You could have a talk. You could have a conversation. And if you don't agree with somebody, maybe you have an argument with that person. Some other expressions with have: you can have a good time; you can have fun; you can have a relationship you can even have sympathy for someone. Again, there are many many other nouns that we often use with have. These are just some of them. And I recommend going out and learning more of them because this is a great way to build your vocabulary It is now time to practice what we've learned. So I am going to tell you a sentence and I want you to complete the sentence with either take or have. and I'm not going to show you the sentence, so this is also going to be a little bit of a listening activity as well. and you need to pay close attention. I will say the sentence twice, you will say the answer out loud, and then afterwards I will go over the answer with you. Are you ready? Let's begin! The answer is take. It'll take a few hours for us to get there. Remember, we use take when we're talking about a period of time. Something takes time. Here's the next one Again, I hope that you answered take because this is talking about more of a response. People who gamble are willing to take a risk. Let's look at another. The answer is having. What are you having for dinner? We use have quite often when talking about food: have dinner. I don't know what I am having for dinner. What are you having for dinner? Well, before you tell me, let's do some more practice. Here's another. The answer to this one is take. We'll take a boat out to the island. We use take when talking about transportation - how are we going from one place to another. We'll take a boat. Are you ready for the next one? Here it is: Have is the answer. We need to have a chat about your work performance. Have, we are speaking. And this is something I hope that your boss maybe doesn't tell you at some point, because that might not be a good thing. Here's the next question: Right now I have a bad cold. We use have when we're talking about health: have a cold. I hope you guys rocked that practice and got all of those correct And now I want to hear from you. So if you know of any other collocations with take and have, I want you to share with everyone and write those in the comments. Any other nouns that you know of that are often used with take or have - Please write those in the comments. This will help everyone out there build and expand their vocabulary. And if you enjoyed this lesson, and you learned something new: Don't be shy, please hit that like button down there and let us know. I really appreciate you guys taking your time to watch this lesson, And I hope that you have a wonderful day. I'll see you next time. --- ## 609. The 3rd Conditional EASILY EXPLAINED | English Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `O7dVZ5u-C20` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7dVZ5u-C20) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:42:52 | --- If I had taken my medicine, I would not have felt sick. If I had studied for the test, I would have gotten a good grade. If I had taught a different lesson, then you would have learned something else. And not the 3rd conditional, which is what we're going to talk about coming right up. Welcome to today's lesson which is all about the 3rd conditional. We're going to talk about the 3rd conditional. And we are also going to practice - PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE - the 3rd conditional. And I'm going to tell you how to use it, and when to use it, and well...why we use it. Which is where I want to begin. So, why do we even use the 3rd conditional? Well, we use it to talk about the past. And it is an unreal situation because it did not happen. We cannot change the past, so this is not possible. And we're basically just thinking about some event or situation, and we're imagining how things would have been different. Now remember, when we're talking about conditionals these are "if" statements. And they're made up of two parts, which is a condition and a result. The condition, which is our "if" clause, is going to have a subject and a verb. And in this case, with the 3rd conditional, the condition is talking about the event that we're thinking about in the past. So for example, I could say... Now look at the grammar here. In this clause, in our "if" statement, we are going to use the past perfect. As I said before, this is an unreal situation because...well...Do I have a car? No. I'm just thinking about this situation. If I had a car... Now, what would be the result if I had a car. I could say... Now pay attention to the grammar in this clause as well. It also has a subject and a verb, but the grammar that we're going to use is: would + have + the past participle. Now my subject is "I" and the verb is "take," but the past participle of take is "taken." So I would say... That is what I'm imagining would have happened. So when we're using the 3rd conditional, we're going to follow this structure. Did I buy a car? No. Did I take a road trip? No. This is what I would have done if I had bought a car. But...I didn't buy a car, so I didn't take a road trip. It didn't happen. Let's look at a few more examples. And for these I will give you the condition first and then the result. And please, please, please, please pay close attention to the grammar that were using. So again, this is an unreal situation because well we did feed the squirrels, and they don't look hungry. Again, this is a situation that did not happen because he did not type his essay yesterday. But we didn't see a shark. It didn't happen. And we're just imagining, well...What would have happened? Now keep in mind the punctuation. If the condition comes before the result then we need a comma to separate the two clauses. But if we switch these, and the result comes before the condition, then there is no comma needed. Let's see some more examples on how the 3rd conditional is used in different situations. Now are you ready for the big moment? Because it is time to practice using the 3rd conditional. So what I want you to do is practice using the 3rd conditional in the comments. And I want you to give us an example from your life. So think about your life. Think about an event in the past that did not happen. Now think, if it had happened, what would have been the result. So I want you to write us a sentence using the 3rd conditional. And you can use this right here to help you out as a bit of a starting point. And I would also encourage all of you to read each other's comments because that gives you an idea as to how we can use the 3rd conditional. And, you know, help us learn a little bit about each other. So if you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. And feel free to share this lesson with your friends, classmates, anyone you know who's trying to improve their English grammar skills, especially with the 3rd conditional. Thanks so much for watching. Don't forget to write to us in the comments. And we will see you next time. --- ## 610. The BEST BOOKS for Beginner, Intermediate, & Advanced Learners ๐Ÿ“š | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BgFuII5c1J0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgFuII5c1J0) | | **Language** | Vietnamese (auto-generated) (vi) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:44:32 | --- em muแป‘n sao chฦฐa up and that I think it is so hard for when you want to improve your life which shows When I come and There's three take that money for controlling and Trust Me mixtape Eliza special with a yoshimura VnExpress delicate and finally add comment westridge watch live show I want to talk about it leads and valid and a host of the five and the person you were no no means understand Why it Some people and they lived and worked well that you improve your English vแป hopelees a what you need to you can use and to help you improve the much so much and with that first name and Which is Smart Stick Wars I don't like to sleep and off at 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The BEST BOOKS for learning English ๐Ÿ“š | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `dHzj-e0iSLE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHzj-e0iSLE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:18:53 | --- Hello everyone. Welcome to today's lesson. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. If this happens to be your first time here, please let me know. Write to me in the chat or or in the comments. Write your name. Tell me where you're from. Very happy to to meet new people and hear from new people. And of course, if you want to improve your English, if that's why you're here, please subscribe, turn on notifications, hit that like button. um so that you will learn about future lessons today. Well, actually the very first thing I want to do, I do want to give a few uh hellos to some people who are here. Um great, excellent uh to see so many uh uh members and and patrons and speak up students. Awesome. Thank you guys for being here. Hello Vicki, Gustav, uh Gatrudis, Lai, great to have you guys here with me. and uh to hello speak sleepwalker Rosalinda um thank you guys so much for joining me as we go through uh I'll try to acknowledge some other comments today I I just want to share with you some books that I think are great for learning English and the very first thing that I want to premise this with is that all the books that I'm going to share with you the books that I'm going to talk about it's just my opinion this is my experience experience with these books. Everybody is a different type of learner. Just because maybe I like a book doesn't mean it's probably it may work for you. And if you find a book useful, that may or may not work for somebody else. So again, this is all just my opinion, my experience with this. Because what I want you to do is as we talk about some of these books, if there is a book that you that's related to the topic that I'm speaking about, if you have a book that you think has been great and very helpful to to you, please write that in the comments and I'll try to make a mention of it um so that we can share and learn from each other because of course there are many books out there that I'm unfamiliar with or that I haven't used in the classroom. So again, it's a great way to learn from one another. Now, um so now that we got that out of the way, let's uh let's talk about the first book that uh that I have that I want to talk about. Some of these are also kind of um I think would be kind of relevant for teachers, especially this first book. So other other books are going to be um for like maybe if you're learning on your own if you're learning by yourself but compelling conversations this I would say is a speaking book if there are so if there are any other books out there that you have used to help you improve your speaking or practice speaking throw those down in the chat and I will I will try to look for them and make a mention of it. I told you that this one is one that I've used in the classrooms and all this really is and I said I think it's probably geared more toward uh English teachers is that it's a book of just questions and it takes like there are so many different topics whether it's like restaurants, travel, uh environment and all it is movies, TV and it it just has a topic and it just lists probably about 50 questions for each topic. So that's why I said it can be very useful for teachers if you're you're in a classroom and you're trying to think about, okay, this is the topic. What are some questions I could ask the students to have them engage in conversation and talk to each other? This is just a good book to reference that can help you really kind of get the the creative process going about, okay, what are some questions that I can ask about this topic? something on your own, you could uh just try to think about the look at these questions, try to answer them. But I think this book is probably more for teachers in the classroom. The other thing I would say, again, we're talking a lot about books in this lesson. Some of you may prefer to learn using books. Others of you, again, we're all different learners. Others may just prefer to watch videos on YouTube. Others may take actual um lessons in class and have discussions. Uh and then like I said, many of you might use books to try to improve, to try to practice. It's very common. So, as far as speaking goes, especially if you are an English teacher out there because I I hear from quite a few English teachers in the comments, um this is a good book as far as like thinking of questions to engage students in a variety of conversations, compelling conversations. Um, I haven't seen any the books about the about speaking. So, I'm just going to move on to the next part because I don't I think with speaking there you're probably not going to you're you're not going to find too many books out there. Um I think often because again you think about speaking it's not something that um you may use a book for unless it's for kind of like overall um where you're have a book for like speaking reading um writing this I I guess I put this kind of related to speaking. Um don't be fooled by the title because again don't nobody should feel like they have to speak English like an American. Not at all. This is a book of idioms and that's I think why they chose this because these are idioms that I think are more common in the United States which is why it's titled speak English like an American though. Now I think when it comes to speaking because idioms can be rather informal and I think they're quite common in spoken English. This is a book that has like a bunch of idioms. But the reason why I like this book is because the way that it teaches the idioms, it's all dialogue. So they they tell you some of the idioms and then they give you this sample like dialogue, some situation between like the mother, the father, the son, the daughter, and it just shows their conversation. So so that they're using the idioms in context. And I think that's so important when you're learning idioms. you're not just learning the meaning, but you're trying to figure out, okay, how to use this in the correct context so that I'm using the idiom correctly. And that's one that's one reason why I like this idiom book in particular is because it really teaches the the idioms through these different dialogues and situations and then at the back of the book, it lists all the idioms and the meaning uh as well. So this I think when it comes to idioms, even though there are so many books out there for for learning idioms, if you guys uh if you guys have an idiom book, write it in the chat, let me know. Um but this is a I think this is a good one um so that you can see how the idioms are used in context. Uh let's see. Lolly says, "Yes, for watching your videos." Thank you, Lai. Uh I'm glad that you enjoy the the lessons on YouTube. Um, so, so Zane Brahim, I just saw um ask saying the English teacher suggestion that Beex books I'm using class. So that's what this lesson is. So um, Zay, I'm maybe mispronouncing it. I just talked about like for speaking, this is a good uh, conversation starter book. If you're talking about idioms, then I I like this book, but again, it I think these are more idioms that would be more common in the United States. So, it's kind of rather isolated in that regard, which again is why it's titled speak English like an American. Um, it's focused more on uh idioms that people would use in the United States. So, just keep keep that in mind. Um, let's see. Um, uh, V or Gustav say, "I talked to my wife in English all day. Live in English uh speaking country." Excellent. Yes, that's always uh that's always a good way. I'm sure you probably Gustav you probably hear quite a few idioms uh that they might even mention in this book being in the United States. Let's look at uh well somebody Jatine asked which book is best for a beginner. Well I'll I'll get into that a little bit. I don't know if this is really a beginner book because I feel like idioms you're kind of getting into more as part of vocabulary. Idioms would be more I think intermediate like advanced and you're trying to learn these different phrases that are kind of unique idioms. So this I would not say is a beginner book right here. But let's move into something which I think is very common. Oh, one last thing. Um when we talk about this uh this is more related to vocabulary and I I again I don't know what your guys opinion would be about this book. This is just from my own personal experience. The the book is 501 English verbs. And the reason why I'm putting this up here is because when I was learning Spanish, I used it was the same book but for Spanish. 51 Spanish verbs. And all all it is is just that's what it is. It's just a book of verbs. and it gives you the the verb and how it's conjugated, examples as to how um people would use it. And for me, it helped with my own like self-study because when I was learning Spanish, I took some classes, but I was also trying to learn it on my own. And this is one that I would use mostly for building vocabulary. And I would I would just read through it, look at the verb, and see how it was conjugated, how they used it. and it really helped me. And the one thing I would say about this is that it's definitely more like wrote learning. And when I say wrote learning, which some people may, it may work for some people, maybe not for others. Wrote learning is more like memorize, memorize, memorize, memorize. Because that's what I would do with this book. I would try to learn a verb and try to memorize how it's used. And over time, I hope I was getting a little more comfortable with it. I think one of the challenges with wrote learning is that when you're just trying to memorize stuff, sometimes it can be easy to forget if you're not able to make some connection with the word or phrase and associate it with something else. But as far as wrote learning goes and you're just trying to memorize and learn new words for vocabulary, I think this can be helpful. And the the other thing that I would say about verbs is that I I think verbs are really like the heart of the sentence because they they tell us the time like when something is happening. It really help they can be very descriptive to help people put a picture in their mind. So, I think verbs, learning verbs, not only different verbs and what they mean, but how you're going to use them um grammatically, I think can be very useful if you're going to use the present tense, the future, the past tense, the perfect tense. So, that's why I put this up here more as a vocabulary book and not as much of a gram as a grammar book. That's again, that's my opinion. And the reason why I threw it up there is because like I said, I used this when I was learning Spanish and yeah, I thought it was uh kind of helpful. Uh let me go back uh check some of the comments. Um yes, exactly. Sleepwalker mentioned, I think when I was talking about the idioms that many different English-speaking countries have their own slang and idioms. That is absolutely true. So, that last book I told you was um I think definitely that's more for idioms in the United States. Um again, Adrienne says, "Yeah, I'd like to learn more books about uh English slang or idioms. Not sure if I'm catching on to these a little late here. This is a book if you're looking for English American slang and idioms." Uh let's see. I'm going to get into some more books uh with uh some grammar specifically. Uh Vick and Gustaf, we have 51 English verbs and 51 journ in digital form. Awesome. Excellent. Hopefully, I don't know. Let let us know if you if you have found this useful or helpful. Um Lai says, "Rope memory is really important." Uhhuh. Absolutely. I think uh yeah I I think again I think a different a learning approach in which you're like they they talk a lot about an eclectic approach where you're trying to teach um learners using a variety of styles because I think wrote learning can be very effective for some and others they may need more than that um that memorization maybe they need to be like more kinesthetic learning get out of the chair and stuff like that but I think this is a good one um for like memorizing and just learning a bunch of different ones because there's so many different verbs out there. Also, it's just a great way to build your vocabulary. Let let me move on. So, let's get into some grammar. grammar books I think a lot of them can really be used for self-study because it it'll talk about the grammar and then give you some different exercises so that you can practice on your own and then you can check to see whether or not you you made the correct sentence. So English grammar and use I think is a good one if you're trying to learn English on your own. And I think that's how they've really developed the book. So that that keeping in mind that okay, the person who's going to buy this book is um trying to learn English on their own. They're trying to study grammar on their own. And that's how they've laid it out. So it's very easy to understand like okay introducing the topic. This is the grammar we're going to talk about. Here are some examples. Here are some activities that we want you to do. So, it's really easy to follow in that regard if you're looking for a grammar book. Uh, I've also said um that I think another great way to learn grammar is just to read and read story books or read articles online. And the more you read, you're learning grammar passively because you're seeing how the correct grammar is used. This again these books right here like this one is more active learning because it's giving you the grammar but then you have to do some exercises or activities um after you learn about it and then you can check the answers. So I think these are u this is a good book for grammar. Let's see what else we got here. Um Adrienne says another book where to learn uh slang than that blue book. Apart from that blue book, I don't know. That's a good question. Adrian, no, that's the one that I have. That's the one that I used. Um, let's see. How can I find the book? Uh, Zen asked, "How compelling Conversations?" Some of these books, if you just do Google searches, um, online you can find them. I didn't leave any links down in the description, like taking you to an Amazon page or I know everybody shops at different places. Some people would buy books online. Others may you may even go to a bookstore. So, I just wanted to give you these titles that if you wanted to, you could do like for this one, just do a Google search for English grammar in use and you're going to find different options for buying buying this book if you were interested in it. Uh, let's see was I have the Lai has these books. Awesome. Excellent. That's great. Uh, the next one I have, this is another grammar book. And so, this one I'd say is really good for self-study. This one, I think, is good in the classroom if you're a teacher and you're looking for a grammar book to teach a class of students. You could also use this one on your own as well. This is um understanding and using English grammar. This blue one is for I think this is their advanced grammar. They have two other books, two different versions. I think the red one is for beginner and the gray one is more for intermediate. So, you can find it at different levels. It's written by Betty Azar, who Betty Azar is pretty well known in grammar circles. Um, she's written, I think, a variety of books, but I've really enjoyed using this one in the classroom because it lays out the grammar in different ways. So, it's not just like here's the grammar, here is your writing activity, like cut write it down. It gives um grammar exercises with reading. There's parts for for speaking as well. So that if you're in the classroom with students and say, "Okay, let's uh let's do here's the grammar, but let's practice it speaking." It also has some activities that you can do with that, which I think is wonderful. So it's not just more for like on your own, which would be this one where here's the grammar, here's practice some activities. Um would be like okay, wide ranging. And that's why I said I think this one is good uh for the classroom. Uh Carne uh 282, thank you so much for the the super chat. I really appreciate it. Says, "I've been learning a lot uh grammar for writing recently. I'm curious how accurate are um writers grammatically correct?" Like are you talking about like I guess how often like if these writers are grammatically correct when they're writing like articles? Um, I think honestly I think when whenever you're writing I think grammar mistakes are are fairly common. I I was reading an online article um just yesterday and I noticed a grammar mistake and of course these businesses some of them have editors and sometimes they still make a mistake or I I'm sure some of you may have read a book and even a book that's been published and you might find a slight grammar mistake. So I think it definitely happens. Um, I noticed when I whenever I write something and even the last lesson that I did, somebody had found uh a mistake and I was like, "Yes, good. I I always like look like rewatch the videos or even as I'm writing something, I reread it and still at the end there's still like a mistake. Um, sometimes it is a grammar mistake. It's like they're so hard to avoid. Um, let's see. Vicky Gustav, his nine-year-old daughter still speaks German uh better than I do. I guess nothing beats a native speaker. Okay. Yes, true. Um, so yeah, this I I told you I've tried to give you two different options with the the grammar as far as like self-study. This would be more like a classroom approach, but you could use this one um on your own as well. Uh, as are any book for writing? Yes, I'm I'm working our way toward writing. So, so far um just to recap, you guys just been joining us, we have this book which I talked about for speaking and questions. This one uh idiom book, but specifically idioms in the United States. Uh this is for like vocabulary, building your vocabulary with a bunch of verbs. This, um grammar, self-study grammar book, more classroom grammar book. And now, well, before writing, this is a reading book. One thing I will say about reading, of course, you're probably thinking like, wait, why do I need a book teaching me about reading when I could just read? And of course that that's actually what I would recommend that you do is if you want to read find something that you are interested in some topic whether or not it's like fashion or cars or food and then use that read articles about that. That I think is the the best thing that you can do. Um oh Vicki thank you so much awesome for the super chat. I really appreciate it. Um, all right. Yes. Oh, you just found out you came here. Yeah, the super chats. Yeah, it's available. Like, it's not I I'm not really honestly too familiar with how it works. It's not something I've really mentioned or talked about a lot because I'm not sure exactly um what everybody sees on their screen, but I I really appreciate it. Thank you. Uh for reading though, this is a book, What a World. I've used it in the classrooms and all it is it is it's real stories about things that are going on around the world topics. It could be things that are historical. It could be some that are kind of um related to current events or um like sporting events, uh festivals, traditions, uh places. There are many different things and all it's a very short reading and they then give you some comprehension. There's some vocabulary but then there's also some comprehension questions to see what you understood. So that would be I think the main argument for buying a reading book is because then you're making it an active exercise because you would read something and then you'd have some questions that you need to answer or perhaps there's some like vocabulary from the reading and it wants you to put it in context. So, I think that can be very useful um as far as improving and developing your reading skills in in any way if you're making it a more active exercise because again, if you're just reading something and just learning about it, reading is a passive activity, which I think is wonderful. But if you're looking for like a reading book that would give you some active uh like discussion qu or questions after um after you read, then I like I like What a world. That's just me. these current events. The next book um is we're talking about pronunciation. I know somebody asked about writing. We're getting to writing. Um even though I think I just have one book mentioned for writing. Uh Wells said is a pronunciation book that I've used in the classroom. I really like the way that this is laid out where it really breaks it down talking about the individual sounds, consonant, vowels, and how to make the sounds. It gives you some examples, words, phrases that you can say. But then it also goes a little deeper into other parts like intonation, emphasis, connected speech, different parts of connected speech. So, this is a great book for the classroom and I think it could also be used uh like on your own as an individual learner if you're looking for some type of pronunciation book. And again, like I said, everybody's different. Many of these resources, like if we're talking about pronunciation, you can do searches online and find different sites talking about um pronunciation of certain sounds that could help be helpful. So, it's not necessary that you buy a book or that you use a book. Everybody's different. Some of you may prefer that, but this I think is a good book uh pronunciation that I've used. Another one which uh I've also liked and I've used in the classroom and it's very similar. I found them to be very similar in the way that they approach pronunciation. And again, they lay it out um with the the individual sounds, some how to how to how the air flows in and out of your mouth, how you how you should position like your your mouth and your tongue. Clear speech is another good book that gives you all of a lot of that same information and also talks about intonation, emphasis, word stress. Uh they give a lot of information about pronunciation. You really you really get into the weeds on pronunciation. And that is a phrase, if you haven't heard, if you get into the weeds on some topic, it it's an informal expression that it's an idiom that means you're getting detailed about some topic. So, these pronunciation books, they really you really get into the weeds when it comes to pronunciation. It dropped. Okay. All right. Sorry if that uh sorry if that kind of dropped and it picked back up. always always experiencing um some technical difficulties uh here in Budapest. But as I'm sure some of you at home uh I imagine you can relate to some of these internet technical difficulties that I'm talking about. So anyway, yes, uh I was talking about effective academic writing. There are books for kind of more beginners, intermediate, uh advanced. This is book two. So I think this book is more for intermediate learners but they as far as academic writing is concerned they lay out kind of from the very beginning about like the structure of a paragraph topic sentence supporting sentences conclusion and then kind of go into building an essay and putting that together and how that should be structured. They also talk about like useful words and phrases like transitional words to move from one idea to the next. So it really gives a lot of details about how to form um if you're doing academic writing for university or whatever. Um it gives you a lot of great information about how you should structure your writing and it could be very helpful. So this is my suggestion for writing. Um if you guys um were wondering about oh what about a writing book somebody had asked about that and then all right this is one other book that I kind of wanted to highlight and talk about it's called um presenting in English and it's about giving presentations. So this one is more related to business English. I know some of you out there are learning English for work um or for a job maybe you you might have to give presentations and that's what this is about like kind of structuring the presentation so it's similar in a way similar to writing because I think you're you're giving a presentation same with academic writing you're going to use more formal language it's going to be more structured so a lot of that can be related so This also is talking about forming the presentation. What are some words that you're going to use to transition from one idea to the next? But then it goes into other details that are more specific about giving a presentation like your your introduction. How to hook the audience. what are you going to say at the very beginning to grab people's attention or what are how are you going to answer questions at the end of the presentation and and what you should do and some strategies about that. So if if you're somebody who has to well you're trying to learn English for work or business and you think you might have to give a presentation this is a good book for that. So, uh, again, these are just books that I have experience with. I'm sure some of you, um, are familiar with these books. Maybe you've used them. Maybe they've worked for you. Some of them maybe, uh, maybe you didn't have a good experience with them, but again, a lot of this is just uh, opinions. There are so many different books out there to choose from um, when it comes to learning English. So, thank you guys for for joining me. Um, if you Well, yeah, if if you like what we do, there are links down in the comments or down, sorry, down in the comments down in the description if you would like to become a member or um a patron. Check that out. Of course, I saw many of you amazing members and patrons today. Vicki, Gustav, Lai, um, uh, Gatrudis, uh, Takaya, some SpeakUp students as well. Juliana, awesome. Trying to give some last minute shoutouts. Um but yeah, and what I would say is to to wrap things up, um if uh there are some other if there's another book that you would like to recommend that you have found really helpful, please write that in the comments. Uh let other people know. They say sharing is caring because uh a book that has been very useful for you, I think somebody else could get a lot of great use out of it as well. So please leave write a message in the comments talk write a tell me about a book that you have found found very helpful and useful and that's good for me to know as well like as far as learners telling me like oh this is a book that was really useful then that's like a book that I want to find out more about maybe I'm going to go buy it um because I'm always interested in like how these books are teaching English it's always there's so much to learn when it comes not just to learning English but also teaching it as well. Always trying to to get better and better. Um, so thank you guys for being here. Uh, Juliana, Esther, Gatrudis, uh, Vicki Gustav, Sleepwalker, Lai, uh, Anjali, Judith, um, Bird 2K, hello. Um, Raul, Garcia, Kareem, uh, I, Maggie, thank you. I hope, uh, I hope you guys enjoyed the lesson. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Don't forget to tell me what book uh you have really enjoyed and I will see you next week for another lesson. --- ## 612. The BEST Listening & Speaking Activity | Practice English on Your Own | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7K8Pe4WH6xs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K8Pe4WH6xs) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:29:14 | --- Today I have a super cool, super amazing listening and speaking practice for you! Now every time I do a lesson, I'm just going to do that. So today I have a really great lesson because I think it's a very very useful activity because it will get you listening and speaking, which is so important. So what I'm going to do today is I'm going to give you a couple stories and you have to listen for the details So this is how it's going to work: I'm going to read the story to you twice and then in order to help you remember the story I'm going to give you some clues. As you follow the clues, you can remember the story, and I will ask you to pause the video, Say this story using the clues, and then, to make this even more fun, and a little bit more embarrassing for Wes, we're going to bring him over here and he is going to do this exercise with you. So this is kind of a memory/ listening/ detail exercise, but it's also a speaking exercise because you have to speak. It's going to be fun. So Wes is here. I am here to do this activity with you. We brought him so that it's funny. To test my listening skills. Yeah, I mean, it's just funnier than just doing it by ourselves, right? So He's going to do this exercise with you. He's going to listen to this story. I have it right here on my phone, I'll read the story to Wes, and to you guys and then I will ask you to pause the video. And then to try to say this story as you see the clues, and then unpause it to hear Wes. To see how much I remember. So here's the first story: Okay, there's a lot of numbers in there, all right. Oh yeah one more time, okay Sorry guys It's also a bit of history. So Okay, I'll say it one more time if you if you can't remember it, okay? Okay, I don't think that was too bad. All right. No the next one's pretty bad. Okay, so I hope you were able to get all those numbers down because now it's time to retell the story that I just said. So, please pause the video right now and use the clues that you see on the screen to retell the story Try to remember as many details as you can Okay, so I hope you guys got most of that Yeah? I know the years were a little bit tricky. Now let's see how Wes did. Okay, so I'm showing keep the clues. I want to see them before I forget. Okay. So um, so I'm showing him the clues right now if you want I can read it to you one more time. No, no, it's fine. Okay, if I screw up, I screw up. Okay. Um, okay So the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris, France It was built from nineteen....not 19... 1887 to 1889 for the World's Fair which is what they were hosting It is 324 meters tall and it's made of iron, And originally, it was only supposed to be there for 20 years because the people thought it was really ugly and ruined the skyline, but then they decided to keep it and now it's a very famous landmark in Paris. Is that right? Is that good? It's true, but you added some stuff that wasn't in the story. Why not? Yea, I ad-libbed, give a little more information. What did I add? Well, you added the last part that now it's an important landmark. It's true, but... But it wasn't in the story. Okay, nice. Also, it's the World Fair. the world's. It belongs to all of us the World's Fair. No, it's fine. Okay. Wait, I don't want to look at these other clues. Okay, so I hope you guys got that Um, I think I think what could have been tricky were the years because there are a lot of numbers But I hope you got it. Wes did really well. I rocked it. So are you guys ready for the second story? Are you ready? I think so. Yes. This is the this is the weird one. Yeah a little bit All right, so the a little strange but go with it. Okay Snow? It's about snow. All right, I got that It's very logical. So I mean just trying to remember the the different details Okay, so you're gonna read it again? Okay, so one more time Okay Okay, so now it's time for you to pause the video and use the clues on the screen to help you remember the story. Now this one's a little bit more difficult, so don't feel bad if you couldn't remember all the details I hope you guys got most of that right, or all of it. if you did, great job. Now let's see how Wes does. All right. Let's see Snow What is snow Oh gosh, I feel like I forgot now all of a sudden... I see the clues and now it's all okay, so Snow is frozen water. It forms by I kind of forgot the beginning. Wait so snow... it is just no it's like frozen ice and Snow is frozen. All right, it's frozen water Okay it forms High up in the sky where it's cold it comes in all shapes and sizes and it becomes Snow becomes water when the temperature goes above zero degrees Celsius There are many different winter sports that involve snow like skiing and sledding It's also there's fun stuff that we can do with the snow and build things like a snowman You could also build igloos and castles I'm gonna add that to it Snow can be very dangerous when driving because it lessens our visibility Or lowers our visibility when driving and In order to prevent accidents when there's snowy conditions out there you could use like salt or sand to put on the roads To help the the tires grip the road a little better. And snow is the best! Snow is wonderful. Yeah. I think I really botched that beginning The beginning was a little iffy. You forgot about the atmosphere. You were like: high up in the air. I hope you did a better job than I did Please let us know if you participated in the lesson, and if you did write the word SPEAKING in the comments so I know that you were speaking. If you enjoyed this activity hit that like button, show us some love, and keep practicing, keep speaking, keep listening and your skills will improve greatly. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time! Let us know if you did better than Wes. I'm very curious. Stupid snow! --- ## 613. The BEST Ways to Greatly Improve Your Fluency in 2021 & Beyond | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `edVwkq03Yh4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edVwkq03Yh4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:21:19 | --- so if you are thinking that this year 2021 you would like to improve your english and and you just really want to take it to the next level i want to talk to you about five things that i absolutely think you should do if you really want to improve and and reach your fluency goals that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel in case this is your first time here it's all about just helping you practice and improve your english so that you can reach your fluency goals and in this lesson i want to talk to you about 2021. kind of just more of a statement and then i'll explain to you what i mean and that is make time not excuses this is probably it may sound like one of the easiest things to do but it's probably one of the most difficult things that somebody can do because how how often is it it's a new year and we tell ourselves i'm going to do this i'm going to do that and we don't make time for it and when that happens we start making excuses i'm too busy i'm too tired so it's so important that you make some time for your learning and this goes for anything that you want to learn if you want to learn how to play a sport you need to make time for it if you want to improve your skills uh playing a an instrument you have to make time for it and once you're able to think about well your your day your schedule what time you have available if it's well i'm going to study for 10 minutes each day or perhaps i'm going to study for 30 minutes three days a week it really doesn't matter you just need to set aside some time that you are going to dedicate to learning english and once you do that it's like you're taking the first step because then you can start to think well how am i going to fill that time how am i going to practice english am i going to read a book am i going to watch a youtube video and then you can start thinking about the things you need to do the things you need to work on that is going to help you improve the most if you want to build your vocabulary or learn some new grammar the very first thing you need to do is just make some time and that is the first step that you can take this year to truly improving your skills make time not excuses my next suggestion is to get outside of your comfort zone and i i know this may sound a little strange because i i always tell learners that when you're learning a language or you're studying it's it's always great to be in a comfortable environment you want to feel comfortable and not worry about making mistakes however sometimes i think it's good to really challenge yourself and push yourself a little bit and just get outside of your comfort zone and that might include trying to find maybe a speaking partner people to speak with in your city or town or perhaps go online uh join some group or maybe it might include taking a class but find some way something new to get outside your comfort zone challenge yourself push yourself and i'm not saying that you need to stop everything that you're doing because if if you feel that the way you're learning english works well and it works for you definitely keep doing that i'm saying that you should do this in addition to what you're already doing challenge yourself get outside of your comfort zone push yourself a little bit i think you will find it to be rewarding and it will really test your language abilities it's always good to really test yourself and get outside of your comfort zone and my next suggestion is to know your limitations and what i'm really telling you is just don't overdo it i think if you're really you really want to improve you're working hard you're studying a little bit each and every day that's great but if it gets to be a little too much if you feel uh perhaps you're a little frustrated or you get to a point where well today i just i need to take a break it's okay take a break stop take a deep breath as long as you have made time for your learning and you know what you're supposed to do it's okay to take a break because i think you'll be able to easily pick back up once you're ready once you feel a little better once you feel a little more confident and you're ready to continue if you've made time it's going to be easy to pick right back up where you left off but i would definitely encourage all of you to know your limitations in 2021 and if you need to just just take a break one of my other suggestions that i have for you this year is to use all four language skills try to get a little practice using all four language skills listening speaking reading writing i think it's very important for for just developing your overall english fluency because these language skills they're they're all connected so it's very important to get some practice and try to learn and develop all four language skills instead of just focusing on one so for example think of like well what you're doing right now you're watching a video lesson so you're getting some listening practice i i've been putting some some words and sentences up on the screen so you're able to read and you you could also write a comment down below and practice your writing the only thing that's left is speaking getting a little speaking practice in 2021 and that brings me to my final suggestion if you are somebody who you you want to speak more english that's something you want to do this year then i recommend you check out the interactive english speaking course called speak up this is a 10-week course that is all about just trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak effectively each week there there is a new topic we will get into small groups and do different discussions we'll do different speaking activities we're going to work on your pronunciation help you build your vocabulary a little bit of everything but it's really just all about having you speak and speak as much as possible check out the link down below in the description if you would like to learn more about the schedule about the price that link is down in the description and i truly hope that i will speak to you in 2021 if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 614. The Health Vocab Native Speakers Use Every Day (Advanced Words & Phrases) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `__IQ-ZmoiyM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__IQ-ZmoiyM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:56:10 | --- Let's build your vocabulary with what I think are very useful, pretty common words and phrases phrases. It is all about health. And if you enjoy building your vocabulary, please subscribe. My name is Wes. The channel is interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. So if you would like very quickly to get the lesson notes, check out the link down below in the description. Join my email community. If you are already a part of it, check your inbox. I have sent them to you. So, for those of you who've been here before, you know, you know the drill. This is a quiz lesson. I want you to participate. If you're new here, I want you to write your answers in the chat, in the comments, because this is all about active learning. I want you to participate in these quizzes. We're going to start out with physical health. So all of these words, phrases, idioms are in one way or another mostly related to your physical health. What do you think? Professional athletes constantly m themselves to m during training. So, I've blanked out two different words in there and I've highlighted part of the expression something themselves to the M before training the meaning down below to make the maximum possible effort physically. So, if you are physically I almost I almost said it as I was about to try to explain it. You you're talking about that maximum possible effort. What is it that you're doing? And this is not something that just professional athletes do. I think anybody who is very competitive and you really want to win, you want to succeed, you want to finish the race or the competition, you are going to what? What is it that you're going to do? Write your answers in the chat, in the comments, and then of course I'll show you and let you know what the answer is, give you a sentence, talk a little bit about it. So, this is something that [sighs] I think uh let me let me go ahead and show you. Maybe the the chat's not updating. We're talking about to push oneself to the limit. If you are going to push yourself to the limit, that is when you are making that maximum effort physically to finish or achieve a goal. And really it is more about your physical health in this case more about competing whether it's running, swimming, tennis, it does not matter and you are going to push yourself through the limit. Excellent. Uh Tayo Manuel great to see you. Um in this case I wouldn't say put through put through but to push push oneself through to the limit. So that example sentence from before. Professional athletes constantly push themselves to the limit during training. Let's look at the next one. This one I I think you all know this. I you know this phrase I'm so this is like this is what I would say. I I guess it depends on the stairs. I'm so that I get out of breath climbing the stairs. This phrase refers to being unfit, lacking stamina, or having poor health due to a lack of exercise. I I I need to Yeah, I need to change my ways. So, I'm so that I get out of breath climbing the stairs. This what what phrase is commonly used when you want to talk about someone, whether it's you or someone else, as unfit? If somebody is unfit, typically you're not going to use this. This phrase is much more commonly used. I I would say I wouldn't say, you know, I'm unfit. Instead, I would use this phrase and say, I'm so what. And I'm actually going to give you actually going to give you both phrases. The one that means unfit, but also fit in this case. So, I'm not seeing a you know, not exhausted, couch potato. No. Out of shape. Yes. Well done, uh, Miranda. So, if you want to say that you are unfit, you don't have STEMA, you there's not a lot of exercise, specifically, this phrase is commonly used to say that you're out of shape. Uh, if you say, "Look, can you are you able to run uh 10 kilometers?" And no, no, I'm kind of right now I'm pretty out of shape. If you're out of shape, you are unfit, you are lacking stamina, it is because of health or lack of exercise. The opposite would say would be to say you're in shape. Well, I'm right now I'm in shape. I feel good. I'm able to run a long distance because I am in shape. But generally, I feel like for the most part, I don't I don't know about you, I feel like a lot of people like me would ref more kind of be closer to out of shape. So, if I go to the doctor and they say, "Do you exercise regularly?" I'd probably be like, "To be honest, I feel like I'm a little out of shape." Right now, I'm a little out of shape. I've given you a couple example sentences. That one's from before. I'm so out of shape, I get out of breath climbing the stairs. or after months of training, she is finally in shape for the marathon. These are opposites. Great phrases to know when talking about your physical health. I just thought this was hilarious, so I wanted to share it with you. They tell me to get in shape. And that is a common collocation when we're talking about uh in shape with that verb get. I need to try I want to try to get in shape. You should get in shape. I'm working hard to get in shape. And of course, the squirrel right here is just going to say, "Look, round that is a shape." And yeah, that that's true. That's a good argument. So, the next one, what do you think? Write your answers in the chat, in the comments. I want to see everybody participating in these lessons, even if you even if it's the wrong answer. All right? I don't I don't mind. It's it's all about learning. Love these hearts coming in. It took a month of physical therapy, but he's finally what the meaning is to be physically healthy again after a period of illness or injury. It took about it took a month of physical therapy, but he's finally what what do you think? I think this one's a little a little trickier to be physically healthy again after a period of illness or injury. And in this case, when you're starting to feel better, you could say, "Any guesses? What do you think?" Don't be shy. Write your answers in the chat, in the comments. Alive and kicking. You could colloquially say that. Uh, you know, I'm I'm alive and kicking. Maybe it's a little extreme. Recovered, out and about. That's a that's a that's another great phrase. I like it. Well done, Julia. the the phrase that I'm looking for specifically to be physically healthy again in is to be back on your feet. And this is an idiom that you would use again if somebody had you had this injury, you're ill, and basically saying you're back on your feet. It uh it really implies that something was wrong before. You were ill, you were injured, and now everything is okay. Some of these other phrases like you said out and about I think that is good to say that yes you are active specifically this idiom though it it if somebody tells me like yeah now I'm back on my feet I know that previously there was some issue somebody was injured or somebody was ill so that's why I feel like this idiom is pretty pretty precise if you want to capture that sentiment and say I was really hurt before but now now I'm back on my feet or the doctor said, "I'm going to be back on my feet in no time." That is an expression you might hear if you're watching a TV show or movie. You'll be back on your feet in no time. This is again another good little meme that I came across. Miss two car payments. We'll take that car away and then you will be walking and you will be back on your feet. After a week of uh heavy flu, I'm finally on something. So, on is part of this phrase. I want you to keep that in mind. On what? The meaning is to be recovering from an illness or an injury. And in that case, you know, we're not going to say, "Oh, you're back on your feet." I've already talked about that. In this case, we're going to say, "You are on what." This is one that I think is I I mean, maybe not as commonly used, but I still think it's useful to know, not just for you to try to use actively, but in case you hear it. This is for your listening comprehension. In case you're unfamiliar with this phrase, after a week of heavy flu, I'm finally on what? There are two words missing. To be recovering from an illness or injury in this case, instead of saying if you didn't want to use like back on the feet. Uh yes, excellent. Um Lumilda to be on the mend. We're gonna when you're on the mend, it means that you are recovering from uh an illness or injury. The distinction, if I wanted to give you a slight nuance between back on your feet and be on the mend, we're going to use on the men with the verb to be. If you say you're back on your feet, then I feel like you are more fully recovered. That you've gotten past the worst part of it and you have recovered. You are back on your feet. When you say on the mend, I feel like you are still in the recovery process. You're very close to being back on your feet, but you're still recovering. You're still taking it easy. And that is when I would use on the mend as a quick little distinction between on the mend and back on your feet. So, I get hurt and then I'm starting to feel a little better and I tell you that, yeah, I'm on the mend. and then you see me a week later and say, "Well, you're back on your feet." So, both of them have a similar meaning, but uh that would be the a slight little nuance between the two. What do you think? Sorry if the picture got in the way uh of this. The doctors discovered a m heart defect during a routine screening. Now, there's one word in here that I'm really highlighting, but saying an M heart defect is a collocation with this word. So, the doctors discovered a m heart defect during a routine screening. We're talking about like of a disease or physical abnormality. Uh something that is present from birth. So, that's really what it means, present from birth when referring to either some disease or physical abnormality. The doctors discovered a heart defect during uh routine screening. You again, you might use this. I feel like you're probably more likely to hear it, especially if you watch medical shows that involve doctors, nurses, then you might certainly hear this. It's not a word that I feel like I've used quite often. I think nowadays, especially as I get older, I think I talk more and more about my health and and telling like telling you that I'm pretty I'm kind of out of shape in the moment. I need to I need to do more. Uh not inborn or inherited, not those words. There's another word that is definitely more advanced in this case. And the word that I'm talking about, I'll go ahead and tell you, is congenital. Congenital means present from birth. doctors discovered a congenital heart defect during a routine screening. Keep this in mind. Like I said, you may actively hear it more, especially if you watch a lot of TV shows, movies that involve doctors. But to give you some examples as to when you might hear it, here are some common collocations with this word. So, a congenital birth defect or a congenital heart defect. You might hear somebody talk about congenital heart disease or a congenital condition, congenital disorder, or a congenital abnormality that it is present from birth. Something to to keep in mind. Well done. Excellent. Uh Manuel Jerks. All right. Some people, you guys got that one. Nice. Well played. It took her nearly a month to fully from the surgery to recover from an illness or exertion. So I don't probably uh [laughter] you could substitute some of these. Oh, it took her nearly a month uh before she was back on her feet. Uh it took her nearly a month and then she was on the mend uh from like recovering from the surgery. But in this context, there's one word. There's one word that's missing very similar to recover. And I don't know if that helps you or gives you a hint at all as far as trying to come up with the missing word. It took her nearly a month to fully from the surgery. Of course, you could say recover. That works. But there's another word that I think is a little more precise, and we'll talk about why in just a second. I wouldn't say in this case you couldn't use get over because the word from you wouldn't say get over from that would sound awkward. So you could say it took her nearly a month to fully get over instead of get over. So I think often get over is commonly used when talking about an injury. You're going to get over an injury. In this case I said there's one word missing and we have it. There it is. The word is recuperate. To recuperate means to recover from an illness or uh just this exertion. It took her nearly a month to fully recuperate from a s the surgery. So I I said that the word recover would work just fine. This word is a little more precise. Here is just an example. I like to play around, have a little fun with these Google searches because now you get this AI overview for for everything. Sometimes it's useful, other times I, you know, might slightly disagree, but that's okay. This is all about learning and and kind of navigating this process. So, this case, I was just wanting to highlight what it was saying about the difference between recover and recuperate. And if you can't if you can't read it, that's okay. I'll give you a summary. Basically, recover is just a much broader term. You are going to use this more often in casual conversation. You could use it in the sentence that I just gave you. took her nearly a month to fully recover from the surgery. That's fine. of healing that would involve resting and taking it easy and then you are trying to recuperate from uh surgery or something else that is causing you issues. So both of them work. recuperate I think is a little more precise because it does really imply that relaxation in order to feel better in order to be at a point where you could say yes I am on the mend and then eventually you will be back on your feet I'm just going to use a lot of these different phrases hopefully again the more I say them the more that I use them you just be able to internalize them and more uh easily remember them so that was all about physical health. Even though sometimes I think there is overlap between some of these words and phrases, that's okay. Now, I want to specifically look more at mental health and some words and phrases that are directly involved in this because when talking about health, I think those are the two two key aspects. Physical health, mental health. So, the first one, I've tried everything to fix this laptop. I am at my what? This is an idiom. When you are worried, confused, annoyed, you do not know what to do next. And in [clears throat] that case, you're so frustrated, you could say, I'm at my Now, there is there are other idioms that I think would work as well, and I think it does tie into your mental health because we're talking about this worry, frustration, annoyance, and you could use this phrase. So the phrase that I'm looking for if you want to specifically again at my is part of it and you it means that you are super worried confused annoyed well done Manuel you are I am at my wit's end. If you say I'm at my wits end he's at his wits end she's at her wits end then it just basically means that you're very annoyed you don't know what to do. I I think that is also a key part of it that you don't know what to do. There is some situation, some problem that is so annoying, it's causing you a lot of worry and stress right here and you just don't I don't know what to do next. I'm at my wit's end. There is another idiom that I've taught before in my courses saying that you're at the end of your rope. And if you say you're at the end of your rope, you are frustrated and you have no more patience. And often I feel like if you're dealing with someone else and they are frustrating you and you have no more patience with this person then you say look I'm at the end of my rope. This specifically more refers to that that idea I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do now in this situation. I am at my wits end. So both of them great idiomatic phrases that you can use to talk about that frustration or annoyance. Here's this is the title of a book, but I thought it again relevant just to show you how it's used in context. The title is Laughter for Days when you're at your wits end. And I think it's just like a joke book telling these different jokes to cheer people up whenever you are at your wit's end. The next uh the next question, this I think is common. After 80 well the phrase as well as I think the situation after working 80 hours a week for a month he finally reached what what what did he reach? And that is that's part of the phrase right there the verb reach which is why I tried to highlight it. Maybe you can't see it very well, but the meaning is the moment of greatest strain at which someone can no longer cope with the situation. And in that instance, you can no longer cope. You would tell someone, I have reached what what what could you say? I guess there's a couple in you thinking about the verb reach. Maybe there's a couple of different phrases that you could use. Uh let's see what you guys come up with. Can you come up with anything? After working 80 hours a week for a month, he finally reached what what did uh what did he reach in this case? So the idea that when you can no longer cope with some situation and there's all this distrain and frustration and I definitely think this is all about mental health. You could say reach you reached your limit. That works. That does work. That was the other phrase I was thinking of. But in this case I'm going to give you another one with the verb reach. I wouldn't say reach depression. Um, Elon Musk mindset. No, no, that's not what I was looking for. To reach your breaking point or to reach a breaking point. This is the greatest moment of strain at which someone can no longer cope with a situation after 80 hours. Uh, after working 80 hours a week for a month, he finally reached a breaking point. But somebody had mentioned like, I had finally reached my limit. That that's another phrase that you could use in this context. It works well because again, you're letting someone know that the there's nothing else that you can do. You can no longer cope with the situation when you reach your limit or when you reach a breaking point. Both of them great phrases to know when talking about your mental health. Lack of sleep always leaves me feeling and easily frustrated. This is a word that I'll be honest, it is an advanced word. It's not as commonly used, but again, I like to mix it up with words and phrases that I think are more colloquial, more formal or professional, or just ones that are more advanced just to uh improve your overall comprehension. So, the meaning is to be nervous, irritable, or anxious. And this is I think this is true. If I say lack of sleep, it always makes me it always leaves me feeling and I could say any of these. It leaves me feeling irritable and easily frustrated. It leaves me feeling anxious and easily frustrated. It leaves me feeling nervous and easily frustrated. Now, insomnia is not it's not a feeling. It's not a way you feel. It's more a noun to describe that situation when you cannot sleep than you have insomnia. But in this case, we're talking about you are feeling. Let me go ahead and show you. Um, wait a second. I am feeling on Okay, I meant to say yes. I I'm feeling leaves me feeling on edge. Actually, there's I apologize. There was another word that's coming up which I guess you could use interchangeably but this is not the this is one this this is another phrase that again you can use in this context when you are irritable, nervous, you are on edge. I do think this is a useful phrase to know and it is more common just colloquial speech to describe how you feel or describing how you think somebody else is feeling if they have that nervous irritable feeling and you could say look you you seem a little on edge or you know I I'd say look sorry I'm just right now I'm a little on edge I've been frustrated at work home all these different things it's coming at me at once I've reached a breaking point. And yes, right now I am on edge. So, this is a good phrase to know, especially in more of a colloquial uh sense, spoken English, I think you're more likely to come across it, but it is very descriptive. So, good one to keep in mind. Sorry if I I confused you with that other verb or the other word that I was thinking of, which is coming up. Don't worry about it. Uh we'll get there. Many health uh many healthcare workers suffered from severe m during the pandemic. This is a this is a word that I think you know. I'll go ahead and say that even though there are many of you here right now, I will go out on a limb and say that I think the vast majority of you know this word. You've come across it. You probably even use it in casual conversation. Think about the context when it comes to this sentence. Many health care workers suffered from severe during the pandemic. This is a state of emotional, physical, mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. This is a word that I feel like many of us can relate to and it is tied in with your mental health because it's not a good situation. And I think you need to do something in order to change it. So the word that I'm looking for, excellent. Uh just give some quick shoutouts. Um Natalia Manuel uh FCH Teao, good to see you. Burnout. This extreme, you know, emotional state where you've had so much stress for a period of time and you are experiencing burnout. Or you could use it as a phrasal verb and just say right now I'm just I'm burnt out. I can't keep going like this. I'm burnt out. I'm emotionally exhausted. That is my mental state and I need to make some changes. It's a very I think uh common and useful association when you think about the pandemic. Healthare workers suffered severe burnout during the pandemic. Like I said, this is a word that I think we can all relate to. I'll be perfectly honest. I feel like the last month there's been a lot like going on a lot uh you know obviously work keeping me busy home personal like I [laughter] I feel like I and in some ways I am at my wits end but uh in the last month yes I feel like right now I've I've been experiencing this burnout this just emotional I feel drained right now and I'm trying to think of things to do meditation what have you uh going out walks in the morning, tried to cut back on some classes. Lot lot lot going on. But this is something that I feel like, you know, we can all relate to in one way or another. And we experience in our lives we've experienced at one point or another this idea of burnout. So the next one, sorry, that's okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna get by. I appreciate it. Uh appreciate it, Teayo. Uh but this uh you know we all you know life full of up ups and downs. Here is a fun little again little I like to throw in these memes with this candle reading this book how to avoid burnout. If you are able to get the joke I think that does say something about your level of English fluency. If you're able to look at whether it's a meme or a comic and you understand the play on words or whatever it's trying to say, I think that is a sign of a more proficient level of English fluency. So, that's another reason why I like to throw them throw them in there for you. I'm not sad, but I'm not happy. I feel like I'm just in this job. This is the this is the word that I was talking about before. But the actual phrase was to be on edge sometimes. Yeah. I feel like uh lately again with the whole burnout I would say I feel like I'm on edge sometimes. Sometimes this is a state this feeling of blur. You're not depressed but you're not like thriving either. feel like as I go through this it's like all right it's like I'm looking in the mirror. Uh a sense of stagnation. What do you think? Can you think of a word that accurately, you know, fits this definition? This state of blah. You're not depressed, but you're not really doing great either. You're stagnating. Everything's kind of just moving right along. And in that case, you could say that you are what? Again, it's not the most common word. Maybe this is new. And like I said, it's always good to get exposure to new words and phrases. So, I haven't seen the answer. Uh, I think probably the closest one. I like the word stuck. I feel like casually, colloquially, that's not the word I'm looking for, but I like it as far as saying like, look, I'm I'm not able to move forward. Um, especially like more emotionally, and you feel stuck. that is very common and useful in just colloquial speech. The word that I was looking for is languishing. So in case this is a new word for you, that's wonderful. But if you are languishing, that is this state of you know blleh. You're not depressed, you're not doing really well, and you feel like you're you feel you're stuck in this case when you are languishing. So good word to keep in mind especially if like I said this is new new reading listening what have you but when talking about mental health yes perhaps you will come across this word totally new love it love hearing that here is the next one if you your if you m your anger this is what I tend to do I feel like a lot again a lot of people can. It's not just me. I hope it's not just me. If you your anger, it will eventually explode in an unhealthy way. That's true. This is I'll go ahead and tell you this is a phrasal verb that I feel like you I I think you've probably heard it before because it is quite common. We're talking about mental health, specifically when talking about anger. I think a lot of people do this and eventually, yeah, it's gonna you're gonna you're going to reach a breaking point. You're not going to be able to contain it and boom, you're going to be on edge and then at some point it's just going to explode and who knows what will happen then. But the meaning I forgot to even talk about the meaning to repress or hide emotions rather than expressing them. This is something I've been working on. You know, I think we all I think it helps to express how you feel and talk about it with someone. It's always good to release any of that anger or frustration. So, the phrasal verb that I was talking about, which I think yeah, I see many of these correct answers to when when it's when you bottle up your anger or bottle up your emotions, you repress or hide your emotions rather than expressing them. Once again, I feel like whether you think about yourself or you know someone else know someone over right here. Somebody who bottles up their anger and then at some point maybe maybe you see them and they seem a little on edge and then if they keep bottling up their anger, their emotions, then you're going to explode. Here are some common collocations with this phrasal verb. I've mentioned a few of them already. You can bottle up your emotions, bottle up your feelings, bottle up your anger, bottle up your grief, bottle up your sadness. All of this is it is negative. Of course, it has a negative connotation because it's not a good thing to bottle things up. It's good to talk about them or find some way to get rid of that energy and blow off some steam so that you do not reach a point in which you say look I am just at my wits end and I completely bottled everything up. So here are just again give you a little review. There were 12 words and phrases that I wanted to focus on today uh as for your physical health and mental health. Those are the the two key things and I want you to review them, try to keep them and keep talking about myself right now. I do I mentioned I feel like I'm a little out of shape. I need to change my ways, get out more, be more active because I I want to I before I was telling myself that I should get in that I should get in shape by the summer. I think that's too late. So now I'm just going to try to get in shape by the fall. And hopefully, I think when you're not in shape, you could suffer an injury, especially if you are pushing yourself to the limit and then you get injured and then it's going to take some time to recuperate, but of course eventually you'll be back on your feet. And during that time, if you get injured and you're having to relax, take it easy, sometimes people can, you know, reach a breaking point. It's not good to sit around all day. You might feel like you are languishing in that instance and you might be a little on edge as if you are associating with people. Again, just trying to get a little review as I'm talking about this. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, I think some of you said languishing was new, then let me know. Hit that like button. I tells me I should do more of these lessons. I wanted to tackle this topic because I do think it's important. We talk about it. You you hear it a lot in the news or podcasts, whatever. People are constantly talking about health and they should. And I think we often talk about our health, both physical and mental, and things that we need to do in order to take care of ourselves. So hopefully you can go out and use this vocabulary. Thank you all so much for joining me. Manuel, great to see you. Teao, Julia, uh, English teacher with Fernando. A lot of people, a lot of familiar faces. Love it. Natalya, thank you guys for joining me. --- ## 615. The MOST DIFFICULT Tongue Twister ๐Ÿ˜œ #interactiveenglish | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `6SOnJ3nlnWI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SOnJ3nlnWI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:02:00 | --- she sells seashells by the seashore this is the beginning of a very famous and well-known tongue twister in english and and the reason why it's challenging is because there are two minimal pairs see she shell cells and you go back and forth saying them and it makes it really difficult and and the idea is that you're supposed to say it quickly so what i want you to say is this she sells seashells by the seashore the shells she sells are seashells i'm sure all right i have trouble with it and i in the comments after you say this say it out loud practice your speaking and in the comments i want you to tell me how difficult you think it is and also if you would like to practice and improve your speaking you can check out my speaking course there's a link down in the description so now go for it practice that tongue twister so long --- ## 616. The Many Things We're Thankful For | HAPPY THANKSGIVING | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hMedupeK6Yo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMedupeK6Yo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:39:32 | --- I rely I don't know that's a good question I think it says we're live what's up guys thank you guys for joining us today we see some people in the chat let me kind of get this going right here so today if you guys bear with me for one second all right welcome welcome welcome I just want to say let's say hello to some people who have joined us okay so we're gonna go through these quickly hi lolly sonars Basu knew she honestly junior hello hello hello thank you guys for joining us on this Saturday today what we're going to do is because last Thursday was Thanksgiving so in the United States they celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday I know some countries celebrated of November yes they celebrate it at a different time but in the u.s. it was this last Thursday so we thought that in recognition of Thanksgiving one thing that people do is that they'll kind of say the things that they're thankful for things that are happening in life that they appreciate and we kind of wanted to do that as well and share that with you guys so I mean obviously it's always good to be grateful yeah it's always good to remember that you're grateful sometimes you know we get bogged down with the heaviness of life and and things get crazy and we forget to be thankful for the things we have and I think this is a good reminder it's agreeing that back it's a good point to reflect and kind of think about everything that's going on in your life and especially the good thing so that you can kind of appreciate it and acknowledge those things so we made our list of things that we're thankful for and we want to share that with you and in the comments if you guys are joining us in the chat let us know like what are some things that you are thankful for in your life right now I know we've asked that before on a couple posts we've made but share with us and if you're watching this later again write it in the comments we love hearing from you guys let us know what are some things that you're thankful for so today's lessons more of a listening it's kind of a cultural lesson but also a bit of listening practice so you're just gonna listen to us having a natural discussion about this and if we come across any words or phrases that we think are yea difficult or useful maybe some idioms we'll try to let you guys know so if you're just joining us again hello today welcome we're talking about different things that we're thankful for so so we have prepared a list of things we are thankful for and we have not shown it to each other mm-hmm so we are going to see if we wrote some of the same things or not are completely different but yeah so we're kind of gonna go one and the other okay yeah we'll read some of your guys comments as well I see a few people commenting already about things that they're thankful for it's it's good so sorry I'm like leaning because I'm trying to read it to read you're reading comments at the same time yeah so usually and you know there's an expression ladies first so what do you have what's the first thing on your list and these are not by importance either they are just no they're not in a specific order but mine actually is this one is probably the most important one for me if you guys you probably know by now I am pregnant almost eight months pregnant at this point getting close so the thing that I'm most thankful for this year is my little baby girl that's in my tummy that's me too that was my number one yeah I said our daughter yeah our baby girl so you guys will get to maybe meet her next year so mm-hmm early June so yeah that was my number one - oh my god for them anyway yes January yeah so yeah that was my number one - or that was the first thing I thought of like thankful for our daughter and family so let's see some of your guys Lucia is so thankful for my family boyfriend and friends yeah I think that's probably the most common thing that I think people talk about in our hearts we just mentioned our daughter family friends is something that we want to be thankful for some mothers I'm thankful for many things all right good good good it's good to be thankful what are we drinking what am i drinking Oh me I think so thank you my giant shiny tee I'm thankful for tea too but that's not on my list is what's the due day it's the the third week in January January I mean there's no it keeps switching but changes a little bit at the end of January yes yeah so yeah it guys just keep writing make an ongoing list things that you're thankful for just let me as we speak you'll get ideas for other things that you're thankful for because sometimes it works like that when you hear somebody oh yeah I'm also thankful for that you know so yeah nalli wrote I'm thankful to be learning English with you guys thank you thank you we're thankful for for having you yeah so that's actually something useful again I think people tend to make mistakes with prepositions those tiny little words that get in the way of everything when you talk about things you're thankful for you always use it with the preposition for you're thankful for something so you guys are writing in the chat you can tell us you are thankful for whatever it is so I mean I'll read my okay because we are having our new baby girl right now our apartment is pretty small oh it's like small so whatever you see right now this is the whole apartment no it's very small like you make toast if we're done anyway we've been running around like crazy which is kind of an expression that people use when you're just super super busy we've been running around like crazy trying to find a new apartment and we finally locked one down and we now have a new apartment which we will be moving into the beginning of December so in like two weeks we're going to be transitioning into our new place and we will try to show you guys and maybe maybe you can join this process of moving which I'm not looking forward to but I am thankful that we have a new apartment and that is one less thing to have to worry about at this point so yeah yeah we're definitely thankful that because we have so many things in our list now I'm just so happy when we cross those things off check-in those boxes so getting closer to new apartment and check mmm yeah what else we got here is one life that's a good one yeah for life yeah it's good good time to be alive yeah for now I'm thankful for Game of Thrones yes the new seasons coming out it's coming out I thought it was 2019 maybe either way we're thankful for that as well sure what else we got thankful for being able to understand you thank you yeah this is something that people have talked about because when listening is such a challenge because we've done some videos on this I think when people are trying to practice their listening skills you you only have like movies and TV and it's all going at the same speed which is if you're listening to native English speakers who are using slang expressions and idioms it just goes fast that's the only speed and I think because we're teachers were kind of used to speaking a little slower especially when we teach like beginner level classes and because of that now my cadence is very slow and even when I go back to the u.s. my family and friends tell me that like why are you why are you speaking so slowly that's the way I talk now do you want to share what else do you have okay so my next thing it's kind of tight in I think my first three things are connected it's it's family and I'll and I'll say what I mean I think this year with being pregnant and everything we we don't live close to family we're just our selves just the two of us here and our families all over the world and I'm just thankful that we've you know I think we've gotten closer to our family we've managed to see a lot of people by choice and a little bit earlier do some unfortunate circumstances but we've seen a lot of of our family and we were able to visit them and spend time with them and it's just so nice to be able because life is so short to have that time with your family yeah even when you're away yeah this even next month my family's gonna be my parents are coming out here sister so we're gonna see family around new years and that's gonna be great but but yeah it's really nice to be able to close to family what's what's weird well no clothes and that we were communicating more and the thing that I was gonna say is weird is that I feel like I don't know for you I feel like with my family we talk more now that were further away than when we lived in the United States yeah but in the same place though it's also different cuz such a big country mm-hmm that's I saw something somebody was writing up here yes my mother will being family friends a smell of coffee that's such a good there's a chocolate nature rainbow such good things to be thankful yeah again it's a good time to like reflect and and you think about especially since there's a lot of you turn on the TV there's so much negativity there's so much like almost news is bad news so it's good like these moments too like oh let's let's acknowledge and talk about some of the good things mm-hmm I'm thankful for my mr. Wilson thankful for my family my health my job excellent thankful for your English lessons thank you so much thank you for English doesn't have more than 10,000 phrasal verbs yes there are many many many many many phrasal verbs and we will do more phrasal verb lessons in the future to try and help you guys out so okay my next one I am I think we both we're thankful for basically all of you guys we're thankful for all of your your support all of your comments for sharing with us for for being a part of our lives and helping us create this English learning community that we've been working so hard is that on yours too so yeah we want to thank all of you guys for for for being here for learning English with us for practicing with us it's really useful and I want to give a special quick little shout out special thank you to some of our patrons out there who really are making helping make all this possible again we'll leave a link in the description you can check us out on patreon but it really goes a long way and helping us kind of build and grow this channel and put all these lessons together for you guys so you can go check that out if you are interested what about do you have another one yeah okay so this one's a little cheesy but if we're talking about being grateful I'm gonna share it okay I put wet so you guys if you don't know was if our personality sometimes it's hard to know like what kind of personalities people really have but like between in our relationship I am I'm I mean I'm a little impulsive and kind of very passionate and like West is super calm and grounded and kind of like a rock which especially not just throughout this pregnancy but in general in life it's always it's been so wonderful to whenever I freaked out to have some money to calm me down my passcode okay sorry so just just like it's been amazing to have him as not just you know life partner but also to work with him and do all of this so I'm just very thankful that was my next one too because my next one was family and is amazing I said especially especially my beautiful wife you wanna because I think we one of our strengths is that I think we complement each other and for example like one thing that I thought like she said a rock which I'll take that's a you know that's a good compliment because somebody steady strong if you describe somebody as a rock I think of myself I would describe myself more as Anil I'm very I'm very organized very meticulous of like okay what do we need to do today let's accomplish these goals every day let's organize it on a spreadsheet and and I'm like party so I'm more creative and impulsive and like but as we've been going through this process the pregnancy like I've been trying to step up and do a lot of the work with with interactive English and our business and you've been doing a lot of the research of what we need to do things we need to buy what's important to have and and that's been like super useful and super helpful and stuff that I have and I want to be more involved in that but it's been a good we've been able to complement each other and in that way so that's been really good but yeah when you said that that was my next one especially my beautiful wife so wait let's read more things that people are thankful for let's see pronouncing your name oh yay great I'm gonna try not to do it cuz I feel like I'll mess up at this time okay let's see somebody was asking what's going on and if you're wondering if you're just tuning in and you just kind of checked in we are sharing things we are thankful for in recognition of Thanksgiving yes talking about different things we're thankful for in life in general and kind of want you guys to share with us and we encourage you yet to also share things you're thankful wonderful happy watching thank you stuff thank you happy Thanksgiving happy Thanksgiving to all of you guys out there even if you don't celebrate it it's what's the would you find some others you want to read okay yeah keep keep writing guys keep keep shouting it up let us know again think of different things that you're thankful for one question that I have for you which now I'll probably get into some more specifics like I said at the beginning when you think of things you're thankful for you know family friends work health those are always at the top of the list now I'm kind of curious is there something specific that you are thankful for somebody I mentioned like the smell of coffee and it's like something like that very specific can you think of something specific that you guys are thankful for write it in the chat let us know okay okay so my next thing should I share something specific sure sure well sure whatever you want done better I might not a little bit more general but I have a couple that are more specific so I'll say one that I think is very important it's random I know but being able to travel to see families and loved one this year because we we were having a conversation recently with somebody who basically they they're an immigrant and they can't they're at the refugee and then they can't go back to see their family and and it just you know it just it puts things in perspective where we've been able to in times like these where we were able to go see our families even though they're across the seas you know we're able to go visit and and that's just been I think it's it's just such a privilege that you know we're able to travel to see people to to connect with family with friends with loved ones i I don't know I'm very very very thankful for that I think that's one thing that I think a lot of like Americans probably take for granted is the ease of an ability to be able to to go back and forth across a lot of these different places let me give you I'll give you well I guess a more specific thing and it's a little more superficial kind of and I say superficial which means kind of like irrelevant it's not the most important thing in the world but it's been very beneficial and that is online shopping and the reason I say that is because preparing for the new baby we've haven't had time to go out and go to a bunch of baby stores and because of the internet and the ease of online shopping you know like it's so hard when you live in a country and you don't speak the language to try to translate things in this store and we don't have a car so like lugging all of this stuff around would be hard so yeah you're right online shopping then a huge component to Amazon yeah convenience in our lives lately which has been nice we're not sponsored by Amazon but they have been helpful so I'm thankful for being able to read excellent awesome what else do we have thank you guys well thank you guys Alissa you're welcome thing I mean again we really appreciate all you guys for being here for for watching our lessons for commenting and interacting with us which is basically again interactive English this is what we want to to kind of know you guys to meet you guys and connect and this is such a good way to do it what about do you want to read you have another one do you have any more yeah I have a lot more okay um well do I keep going with all these general things um give a specific okay um no you go okay I alright one thing which is a little more specific I don't know some of you may or may not know depends if you follow us on Twitter Instagram or Facebook which you should by the way but I recently completed a marathon and that was something that's always been on my bucket list and that's an idiom your bucket list are the things that you want to accomplish before you die because another idiom would be to kick the bucket and if somebody kicks the bucket it's a very informal way of saying that they passed away that this person has died and therefore another expression your bucket list would be things that you want to accomplish and running a marathon was one of the things that I wanted to do and I was able to accomplish that a few months ago and I doubt I will do it again but that's something I'm thankful I'm thankful for that yeah that's crazy I can't believe you did it it's insane I could not maybe we can all do it next year me you and the baby no the furthest I've gone was 30 kilometers and that was ended in tears so yeah a year before we dog painful I could not I mean I'm sure I could if I wanted to but I just don't want to okay so I will share my next one which is something that I've always been thankful for now but like just being part I wrote here of a multicultural family and what do I mean by that again with the family but I just mean I just mean so my family if you guys didn't know is Romanian but we live and we lived in the US and then Wes his family's American and I love learning from people I love exchanging like cultural information and and asking questions and learning about people and I think and now we live in a completely different country and I love always getting to know different kinds of people and I just I think it I can't think of something that enriches your life more than then just connecting with people from all kinds of cultures yeah that's been a huge part of my life I'd say the last 20 years especially like teaching in all these different countries and and learning about different cultures and languages it's been huge and now like again with with you guys like being able to kind of hang a connection yeah and share a little bit about you know obviously we can share more about American culture and you know hence Thanksgiving and learn about other cultures and learn about you know other parts of the world and and things that are important and holidays and all of that stuff like I think it's it's absolutely priceless yeah yeah definitely somebody mentioned on their bucket list who has it I think was it lolly said on my bucket list I want to meet you yeah we hope one of these days I think we should try and plan like some sort of Meetup if we can and it I guess it all depends on the city and the location but we would love to be able to meet some of you guys who are out there who we keep commenting with it's like we have this virtual connection but let's see what else give you one more I didn't realize I was kind of Oh trying to look two things I guess that they're kind of the same one is that I'm thankful for is kind of the direction of you know our business and what we've been able to accomplish this year Interactive English has grown immensely and we have a lot planned for the future with this next year trying to do somebody who just asked about online courses right we are true trying to put that together and we want to do working on it yeah these online courses and figure out how it would work if we want to do these like live lesson courses or what there's still a lot of questions but we're very very thankful for the direction that this has been heading and all the opportunities that are now out there and that ties in with the other thing that I wanted to say which was the positivity that this has been such a positive experience and the community again we're so thankful for all of you guys that it's been so great to interact and meet you guys and get those comments and that positive feedback it really it really means a lot mm-hmm I have something like that's similar to that that you know just because of what we're doing I feel so thankful to be able to do what we love because we absolutely love love everything that we do we love putting lessons together we love working on all of this we love preparing things for you guys and we have so many ideas we just need time to not enough time to do it right to put it all there but we've I mean we've been teachers we've taught for a while and I always I think was also we both love teaching like we love it because we can help people and we see it happening and when you see that what you do works it's pretty rewarding so I'm really thankful for being able to do well we love education is something we've been very very passionate about which is something we had in common when we first met and it's something we want to continue doing and even trying to highlight more of on this channel we're trying to find different ways to maybe to do that yeah so yeah it's been really great so some people are saying oh we would meet in Cancun that would be a great idea it would be a great idea we should go to Canada partly you guys look so beautiful thank you appreciate that a lot of emojis loving the emojis we always like responding with emojis I try to write those in the comments as much as I can I from Kazakhstan hello hello people from all over the world do you have any others that's kind of like that kind of wraps up my list I think which is another good expression idiom to to to wrap something up it basically kind of means to get towards the end my last one is about living where we do live living here in Europe I am very thankful for it we if you guys know us and have followed us we have we used to live in California which is a wonderful place to live it's great beautiful stay mm-hmm however it is very very expensive and I don't know should visit but definitely bring your wallet yeah I'm not sure that we could have done what we're doing now if we were living there yeah it'd be a different dynamic yeah so I think living here is helping us do that just really facilitate interactive English and everything else that we're doing so absolutely absolutely so why don't we can just wrap up this lesson right now because we are actually getting ready to film another lesson yes soon as this is done we're just gonna keep keep keep going yep so thank you guys so much for being here and joining us today and keep writing to us in the comments because we love hearing from you guys and let me see if I can do this transition boom okay so please well you got to get in the frame over here there you go please like and share if you enjoy what we do and if if you think that we're helping you your English practice and improve write us questions it's a great way to practice and follow us on social media because again we post a lot of questions it's another place for you guys to interact with us and practice exactly practice makes perfect thank you guys so much for joining us today thank you for sharing thankful yeah thanks for sharing with us hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend and we'll see you guys next time thank you --- ## 617. The Names of Different Nationalities | Learn English Demonyms | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pmTR4FuzkKE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmTR4FuzkKE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:29:54 | --- hello everyone welcome today I have another interactive English lesson for you with me my name is Wes glad to see you if you are new here so we're going to talk about a topic that I think is very useful it's related to vocabulary and specifically it is talking about the names of nationalities that's what I want to talk to you about today and some of this may be familiar to you but like I said this is important because I think we talked about people from other countries often in everyday English and what I want you to do is because I want to hear from you in the comments in the chat I want you to write your name and tell me your nationality where where are you from don't tell me the country give me your nationality because we have people from all over the world so in the chat in the comments write your name and your nationality just to start out with because I want to hear from all of you so when we when we go over this topic specifically what it is what I'm going to be teaching you today are demonym x' so you may be wondering well what is a demonym well that is a name used to describe residents of a particular place now you can have demonym that are talking about people from specific cities you could have demonym talking about people from particular regions or areas as well as particular countries and I think this is the most common type of demonym when you're referring to people from different countries often it's usually very similar to the country name but it is that's why I said it's a useful topic to be able to know these words now some of you you may already know some of these words but I'm going to make it a little more challenging because I have I've thrown in some questions for you a little trivia about some of these different places around the world now of course in this lesson I'm not I I can't go over every single country name every single nationality with you so I had to make a decision and I apologize the way that I chose which countries to talk about is that I I've based this on the top 50 countries that have viewed our lessons the most so I looked at the lifetime views for this channel and I took the top 50 countries and that is the list I'm going to use which means I know I apologize I am going to end up leaving out a lot of countries and it may not be fair to because there are larger countries like India Brazil the United States they have a much larger population so of course they end up they end up being included on this list so I apologize if your country is not on the list but again this is a great opportunity to to write that in the chat or write that in the comments tell me where you're from write your nationality which is another great way for people to expand their vocabulary just to throw out some hellos yes yes Mena Spanish moderate Mexican men Vietnamese perfect eleven Armenian excellent so we have people here from all over the world that's great now let's just begin we're gonna begin with the question all right I told you I'm gonna throw in a little bit of trivia for you so if anything I think you should definitely learn something new from today's lesson so here's the first one and the question is related to the the list that you're about to see so and I'm sorry if i mispronounce this baku is the capital city of what if you know the answer write that in the chat write it in the comments baku is the capital city of which country do you think it is a country that is on the list that i am about to show you but I figured I'd give you a chance all right let's see do you know it Bukka was the capital city of if you're not sure I hope that you said I didn't know this either until I looked it up but Baku is the capital city of Azerbaijan so the first set that I have for you the top 50 numbers 52 46 we have these trees right here El Salvador Nigeria Netherlands Israel and Azerbaijan so if we're talking those are the names of the country now the names of the nationality are as follows somebody from El Salvador is Salvadoran nigeria nigerian the netherlands dutch now some people may say a hollander i realize again this is where i think you may know more than me because there sometimes there may be multiple names for one nationality and if that's the case please share with me in the comments I think often in English especially if you're from the United States people from the Netherlands they would just Saul to call them Dutch Israel Israeli is the nationality and Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani okay excellent so that is 50 through 46 now let's look at the next set of countries we have 45 to 41 Ethiopia Kazakhstan Kenya South Africa and Argentina now a person who comes from those countries the demonym the name of the nationality is as followed is as follows ethiopian kazakhstan e kenyan south african and argentinian and again if you find yourself on these on this list right here write it in the chat write in the comments and say yes that's me I am from or I am and then include the nationality let me know all right so let's continue so the next set numbers 42 36 we are counting down from 50 the top the the 50 countries who have viewed our videos the most and we're going over the nationality so Sri Lanka Singapore Somalia Peru and Colombia all right if somebody is from Sri Sri Lanka we'd say there Sri Lanka Singapore Singaporean Somalia Somali Peru Peruvian somebody is Peruvian I think I saw somebody before they mentioned they were from Peru in the chat and Cambodia is Cambodian so again these are the names of the nationalities if you are referring to a person or group but people from one of these countries this is the name of the nationalities that is what you would say ELISA Peruvian and I'm there excellent perfect glad you can join us today so here we go all right I have we've gotten we've done the first 15 already so now I have another question for you again this country is coming up on the list so look at the flag this is the flag of what which country do you think so again I'm trying I tried to make these questions a little more difficult because I think some of this vocabulary these country names these demonym you may be familiar with already so what do you think about that flag that flag that is the flag of which country what do you think so I hope I hope that you said that is the flag of yes well duh excellent Nastia perfect this is the flag of Poland and of course Poland that is on our next set right here so we're on 35 to 31 number 35 is the dr i had to shorten it because i couldn't fit the reckoning on one line but that is just the Dominican Republic the Dominican Republic is number 35 the D are number 34 is Myanmar Algeria Poland comes in at 32 and Nepal is 31 so if we're talking about people from those countries all right this is what you would call the nationalities somebody's from the Dominican Republic they are Dominican from Myanmar Burmese now this little different because Bernie Burmese I I think it's considered basically an ethnic group but just so you know Myanmar Burmese Algeria Algerian if somebody's from Poland polish and Nepal Nepalese all right so these are the names of the nationalities let's look at the next set number 30 is Ukraine and then Columbia France Malaysia and Iraq so if we're talking about nationalities from these countries we have Ukrainian Columbian French Malaysian and Iraqi so I like I said the names of the nationalities often they're fairly similar to the name of the country quite you find it quite often that you would just add an end to the end Colombia Colombian but there are other ones where you you may just need to memorize and if you're asking yourself like well how do I learn these different not just the names of the countries but the names of the nationalities and the people I think the best way to do that is just to read if you are reading newspaper articles especially about world news I think you are going to come across these nationalities quite often when reading articles current events about world news and they refer to these nationalities so reading is a great way yes Lalli excellent I am French perfect you are on the list so again just want to let you guys know if you are looking to connect with us make another connection with us you can check us out on patreon there is a link down below in the description I'll throw a link in the chat right here it's just a way to support what we do here at interactive English join the team make that other connection with us you can check out that link so let's continue with another question and this is okay well we're got a few more questions for you so mmm is home to the world's tallest building alright which country well which country is home to the world's tallest building what do you think write your answer in the the chat or in the comments let me know so again this is a little trivia for you around the world I will give you a hint the city is I believe well unless I for actually no I that's it I was gonna say either yes Dubai but what is what is the country yes G foon so the United Arab Emirates often just referred to as the acronym the UAE is home to the world's tallest building and I knew I had the name up here I believe is called the bird's Burj Khalifa I probably mispronouncing that but the UAE is home to the world's tallest building and they find themselves in the top 25 at number 24 so number 25 on our list of countries that have viewed our videos the most we have Spain the UAE Germany Morocco and Australia I felt like I wanted to give a bit of a shout out and put a question on there about the UAE because that's kind of impressive the country only has I think there's less than 10 million people in the entire country but they are on the list excellent so if we're talking about the nationalities of people from those countries we have Spanish and Marathi German Moroccan and Australian and I was reading that I think in the UAE there might be more than one word to express the nationality but I think overwhelmingly I found Emirati is is the one that I knew and I think would be most common when talking about that nationality um cows are yes I'm maracas and excellent perfect glad to have you with us today so I have another another question all right another little question for you just to throw at you so this question I think it's a little more personal it's about it's about me so this will depend on how closely I think you follow our lessons and how closely you have followed us on social media on like Facebook or Twitter because sometimes I bring this up so from 2006 to 2009 I taught English in hmmm which is known as the land of the Morning Calm so there's your hint which country is known as the land of the morning calm what do you think write your answer in the chat in the comments which country am I talking about steer to my heart I taught there for three years I really had a great experience there yes ji-hoon you are correct so if you don't know the country that is referred to as the land of the Morning Calm is South Korea and I taught there from 2006 to 2009 anybody out there South Korea annyeong haseyo thank you for joining us and I taught I taught both children and I taught at a university here I just thought I'd share some pictures with you so those are pictures of me which is gosh over ten years ago the time it just flies by so that is my looks a little bit about my experience in Korea and Korea finds themselves in the top 20 so we have Italy Taiwan South Korea Turkey Bangladesh alright so if again we're talking about nationalities today people who come from these places and we have Italian Taiwanese South Korean Turkey I put two Turkish or Turk I don't know which one is more common if you are from Turkey please let us know Turkish or Turk or Bangladeshi alright so those are the names of the nationality somebody asked where did I teach in Korea I lived in the two different places I lived in Daegu as well as the city of Jung Joo which those those two places are pretty close alright so let's get into the top 15 all right we have Japan Egypt Russia Saudi Arabia and Mexico so if we're talking about people from these countries we'd have Japanese Egyptian Russian Tsao Saudi and Mexican so those are the names of the nationalities if you're joining us we're talking about the names nationalities and I'm using a list of the top 50 countries of people the top 50 countries that have viewed our lessons here at interactive English and yes we are entering the top 10 the top 10 countries so let's let's continue with another question the elephant is the national animal of what which country the elephant is the national animal of which country let me know write your answer in the chat in the comments what do you think the elephant is the national animal of I think I think some of this is maybe a little bit and perhaps an easier question I think elephants are very well-known in this country it's a country that I think a lot of people go to for for travel for tourism what do you think Wow many people saying India maybe uh this maybe I'm wrong I'd have to check I didn't hook this I know the one that I was thinking of is Thailand it is the national animal of Thailand is it this is it I'll have to check is it the national animal of India - I'm gonna have to look that up real quick everybody overwhelmingly said India but Thailand is what I'm looking for and Thailand comes in the top 10 so we have 10 to 6 we got Pakistan at number 10 thailand united kingdom Philippines and Indonesia so again if we're talking about the nationalities which is what this lesson is all about then we're talking about these names right here so we have Pakistani if somebody is from Thailand then they're saying Thai we just save Thai UK I think many of you know because there are many teachers English teachers from the UK and you'd say they are British or I think a little informally you could refer to somebody as a Brit when you're talking about just one person so one person a Brit British you could refer to it as just one person or many people either way I think British is probably a little more common from the Philippines you'd say that person is Filipino Indonesia Indonesia okay so we're entering the top five and let's see here is a question one more question before we go into the top five poutine is a dish that includes french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy now this is a food it's a dish it's a meal and it originated in which country all right what this is a country that is in the top five I'm talking about poutine so I thought I'd throw in a little bit of a food trivia question for you which country is did this did this dish originated in French fries cheese curds brown gravy very delicious not super healthy yes actually perfect Jinwoon gertrudis Shing a star thank you for answering talking about jin-haeng Canada so poutine is a dish that originated in Canada and Canada is on our list they are number five so we have the top five countries of that viewed our video lessons Canada Vietnam Brazil India and the United States and if we're talking about the nationalities of these countries we have Canadian Vietnamese Brazilian Indian and American so I think again I was actually surprised to be quite honest because I hadn't really checked this before to see which countries have viewed us the most Brazil India I thought they would be in the top part of the list I was surprised that many people in the United States are watching these video lessons I know there's a lot of people there who are trying to practice and improve their English I don't know if they're native speakers are not so again this whole lesson let's just do a little bit of a recap is was about demonym x' and we're talking about the names of nationalities where people are from and a demonym is it's not a common word but this is you to describe residents of a particular place so if we're talking about these I'm just gonna go through the list for you right here I told you I was going to go through the list based on the top 50 countries that watched our video lessons so we have right here Salvadoran Nigerian Dutch Israeli Azerbaijani continuing in the list we had Ethiopian Kazakhstani Kenyan South African Argentinian then we have Sri Lankan Singaporean Somali Peruvian Cambodian trying to think go through which was and then 35 Dominican Burmese Algerian Polish Nepalese again if you're from one of these countries let me know write it in the write it in the chat or in the comments Ukrainian Columbian French Malaysian Iraqi that we had continuing on where is it yes Spanish Emirati German Moroccan Australian that we had let's see continuing with ooh here we go Italian Taiwanese South Korean Turkish Bangladeshi then it was trying to go straight Japanese Egyptian Russian saudi Mexican then we entered the top ten Pakistani Thai British or Brit Filipino Indonesian and then we got to the number the top five Canadian Vietnamese Brazilian Indian American again these are great words to learn in the comments in to chat right where you are from write your nationality especially if you didn't find yourself your country on the list if that's the case I hope that you will share these videos with people in your country so that they will get in the top 50 views for our channel but let us know it is a great way to build your vocabulary because I do think this is part of everyday English if you are talking about people from other countries if you're talking about current events I think this is great vocabulary to know because I think quite often you want to refer and talk about people from these different places and hopefully you have friends from some of these places as well so thank you guys so much for joining me today this lesson was a bit short and sweet again write to me in the comments tell me your name tell me your nationality and just say I am mm let me know where you're from and as always whoops hold on uh where am i where did I go there that's better thank you guys for watching please hit that like button if you enjoy what we do and enjoy learning with us I really appreciate you guys tuning in to these lessons these live lessons it's a great way to interact and really create more of a personal connection with you write to us in the comments thank you just give some shout outs real quickly Thank You Ernesto Mohammed min AEG hoon Saeed Elvis Yankee Doodle grace uh Michelle Mahmud DOS Caballero 1953 lolli sleepwalker Angela Lucia Nastya bent bent blondie sorry again if I mispronounce names thank you guys so much for joining me right your nationality post put it in the comments because I think again this is a great way to build your vocabulary the more you read about them even if it's a short sentence and someone says I am I am Filipino people see that and it really starts to sink in so please write to us in the comments let us know your nationality share with everyone else and we will continue to grow our vocabulary together hope you guys have a wonderful weekend and --- ## 618. The SECRETS to Understanding American FAST SPEECH ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FVT7IcrdoSI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVT7IcrdoSI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:12:41 | --- i understand you perfectly but tv movies music that can be very difficult to understand so this is a comment that i get quite often and right now i want to talk to you about why this happens so this is helpful if if you would like to speak faster but more importantly it's going to help you comprehend fast speech and really what it all comes down to is connected speech so i'm going to give you some sentences and we're really going to break it down and talk about what's happening so let's begin with our first sentence it is a very common question and that is how is it going you're not often going to hear many people say it like that and pronounce each individual word instead people are more likely going to say how's it going so let's look at what's going on the first thing you're you're going to contract how is and just say house all right now it ends with that final z sound and we're going to link that with the vowel sound in it and this is when linking often occurs when the final sound of one word is a consonant sound and then the beginning sound of the next word is a vowel sound so it's going to sound like how's it think of it like two syllables how zit how's it going all right and in going i'm really going to drop the g i'm not going to pronounce that ing and say eng i'm just going to say go in how's it going all right so let's practice i'll say it a couple of times i'll say it slowly you can shadow and and repeat after me and try and say it in the exact same way how's it going how's it going how's it going then i have another question for you which is where did you get that and once again people are not going to say it pronouncing each individual word instead they say where did you get that and this is a great example of assimilation and what that means is when you have two sounds that blend together to create a new sound and this occurs with the final d and did and the y and u they're they're going to blend together and you're going to get a j sound it is a voiced sound ja and it's going to sound like where did ya and notice that instead of saying you i i'm going to pronounce it with the schwa and say yeah this is something that i do and i think it's pretty common in places like the united states where did you where did you get that and i also want to talk about that because i think if you're listening to somebody speaking very fast they may drop that t and it's just going to sound like that and your tongue is going to be at the bottom of your mouth people may say it with a stop t that in which case the tongue is going to then be touching the top part of your mouth so it's a very slight difference you can listen for it if i say it without the t that and with the stop t that when i say it now i'm going to say it without the t so let's practice again i'll say it slowly and then we'll get a little faster where did you get that where did you get that where did you get that then we have we are going to have to postpone the meeting okay so it's a simple sentence easy to understand but if somebody were to say this quickly we're gonna have to postpone the meeting so let's look at what's going on the first thing that people are going to do overwhelmingly they're going to contract we and are instead of saying we are we're going to say were and then next we're going to use some reductions going 2 is going to get reduced to gonna have 2 is going to get reduced to hafta we're going to have to and postpone i i think often people are not going to pronounce that t it's going to be a silent t postpone postpone the meeting and then i want to talk to you about meeting because the t in meeting i am going to pronounce it with a flap t which is more of like a soft d sound this is very common in places like the united states because that t it comes between two vowel sounds i'm gonna say it with a flap t meeting so let's say it slowly and then get faster we're gonna have to postpone the meeting we're gonna have to postpone the meeting we're gonna have to postpone the meeting okay it's just it's just something we have to do here is another simple sentence we live in an apartment we live in an apartment okay so this is a great example of linking so i've already mentioned that linking often occurs when the the final sound of one word is a consonant sound and then the beginning sound of the next word is a vowel sound so let's let's start linking some of these words and we're going to start with the v sound and live we're going to link that with the vowel sound in live in then the n we're going to link with that vowel sound in n live and n and then that other end we're gonna link with that schwa sound in apartment so if we're just focusing on those parts that we're linking together it's going to sound like the nana then an apartment we live in an apartment and and i the other thing i would say is when we're talking about linking these words together it's not it's not a very strong sound all right this is a very weak sound and and that is part of the reason why it's it's getting connected so you can kind of just run right through this part of the sentence so let's practice say it slowly and then we'll get faster we live in an apartment we live in an apartment we live in an apartment okay and it's true yes right now my family and i we live in an apartment and then i have these two sentences for you it is time to face your fears just do it it's time to face your fears just do it so the first thing that we're going to do instead of saying it is we're going to contract that and we're just going to say it's it's time to often when when i say the preposition to i'm going to use the schwa and just say it's a very weak sound once again it helps me kind of just run right through the sentence it's time to face sure so face your this is another example of assimilation you have that s sound in face we're going to blend it together with the y in your and you're going to end up with a sh sound face sure face sure it's time to face your fears just do it okay so that second sentence just do it this is a good example of intrusion now intrusion is when you add a sound and the sound that we're going to add is a slight w to the end of do and when we add that slight w well then we can link it with the vowel sound in it and we can say it quickly just do it just do it so let's say it together it's time to face your fears just do it it's time to face your fears just do it it's time to face your fears just do it and maybe i i could say this to you if you would like to build your confidence when it comes to speaking or improve your overall speaking fluency i could say look it's time to face your fears and just enroll in my speaking course just click on that link down below in the description just do it okay so yes i am getting ready to start a six week mini course that's going to wrap up before the holidays at the end of the year and i also have a special end of year discount just for you because when you enroll you can use the voucher code speak 30 to get a 30 discount off the course and the course includes a weekly one-hour small group lesson with me because i will be your teacher you get to speak directly with me there are weekly lesson pdfs covering various topics we do different speaking activities there are also lesson preview videos to help you better prepare for class there are pronunciation video lessons a couple of resource guides a couple of audio lessons there is a lot just click on that link down in the description if you'd like to sign up learn about class times availability check that out and if you have any questions feel free send me an email at info interactiveenglishvideos.com if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time and i hope to speak to you soon so long --- ## 619. The TRUTH about Becoming Fluent in English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nJ7atIp19jg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ7atIp19jg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:16:57 | --- the truth about becoming fluent in english it's so important because i think for many of you out there that is what you want to do that's your goal you would like to achieve english fluency so today we're going to have a little bit of a heart-to-heart we're going to have a heart-to-heart conversation about how you can become fluent and and the truth i want to talk to you about the truth because i think there is uh well a lot of information out there that might mislead people and perhaps they think it's a little easier than it really is quickly i'd like to introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about helping you trying to achieve your fluency goals with vocabulary lessons pronunciation lessons grammar lessons a little bit of everything when it comes to learning english so let's just begin with the first truth that i have for you which is you are not going to become fluent in just a few months now of course i think it's possible that you can greatly improve in a few months in a very short period of time and also there are some people out there that are very gifted when it comes to language learning and they may be able to achieve a high level of proficiency in a very short period of time for me that's not possible and i i imagine for many of you it's also not the same and i i tell you this because when i decided that i wanted to learn spanish and i that was one of my goals i wanted to become fluent and when i started i don't know how i got this impression but i thought you know if i could live in a spanish-speaking country if i'm studying all the time if i get a lot of exposure to the language probably in a few months i could become you know maybe i could become fluent and when i actually tried this it just wasn't the case so i think it's important that you have realistic expectations it doesn't matter if you are a beginner learner and you're just starting out or perhaps you're right in the middle of your language learning journey it's important to have realistic expectations because that's really what's going to help you move forward because if you're able to set short-term goals and long-term goals and work toward that the ultimate goal which is fluency you're just going to be getting closer and closer and closer because truthfully this this is not going to happen overnight you're not just going to start learning english or any other language for that matter and become fluent overnight that is not realistic but if you continue to practice if you continue to learn and you continue to improve by building vocabulary improving your listening uh practicing speaking you do all that then again you're going to be working toward the ultimate goal which i think is very possible for you to achieve which is english fluency the next truth that i have for you is perfect is the enemy of good enough now this is my version of the quote i think the uh original quote is attributed to voltaire the frame the famous french writer and philosopher and i think it's more like perfect is the enemy of best something like that now i i think that if perfect is a part of your well mindset if you think that's one of your goals my english needs to be perfect i would just get rid of that i would try to get that out of your mind because personally i think it's going to hold you back i think it's always great to strive to improve to to get better to to constantly improve your language skills but you need to realize that i think you're always going to make mistakes and that's perfectly okay i make mistakes in english i think i make quite a few mistakes to give you an example i grew up in the southern part of the united states and sometimes my wife will catch me saying this and she'll tease me a little bit sometimes i say like might could and when people say something like that it means the well the ability to do something i might say well you know this afternoon we we might go for a hike and it sounds it's a little strange it's not correct and yeah it's it's a mistake but it's perfectly fine i think my english is good enough it's good enough to uh communicate with others i can share my thoughts opinions and ideas and if i make mistakes that you know it's no big deal i move on and i think you need to consider this when thinking about well where you are at is my english good enough because if your english is good enough to carry on a conversation about a variety of topics if your english is good enough to read a book without constantly having to run to a dictionary if your english is good enough to watch a movie and you understand about 90 of it well then in my opinion i think that your english is good enough well that you can consider yourself fluent the next truth that i have for you it's it's my version of a popular expression you may be familiar with the expression and that is fluency is in the eye of the beholder now the real expression is beauty is in the eye of the beholder it means that that beauty is subjective maybe what i think is beautiful you might not think is beautiful fluency is the same way fluency is subjective just because i think that you might already be fluent in english maybe you don't feel the same way about your language skills and really there there is no one exam that you can take the head is just going to tell you okay yes you have now achieved english fluency congratulations let the party begin the truth is that the only one who's going to be able to determine whether or not you are fluent in english or any other language is yourself i do think that there are certain maybe indications certain things that you can look for to kind of uh tell whether or not well you have achieved fluency i i just mentioned before that maybe you can watch a movie and you understand 90 of it that may be one indication of english fluency but you are really the only one who's going to be able to determine whether or not you feel fluent in a language and i really think that the more comfortable and confident that you become engaging in english i think you're just going to know you'll know whether or not you have achieved your goals and whether you feel that you have a level of proficiency that you would consider yourself fluent so i hope you enjoyed our heart to heart conversation about english fluency and i'd love to hear from you let me know in the comments if any of this resonates with you if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 620. The Ultimate Philanthropy: Giving Billions of Dollars Away | Reading + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `QKF1cEYD614` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKF1cEYD614) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:24:21 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english and the channel it's all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and and really just try to work toward english fluency and if this is your first time here please let me know tell me your name uh you can write it in the chat if you're watching this later write it in the comments i love hearing from new people uh here at the channel and i want to just quickly tell you what what we're going to work on today because we're going to look at some articles in english these are um online articles and the goal is trying to really build your vocabulary and look at some different articles and think about how we can build our vocabulary while we're reading and what we're going to do today is talk about something that i i think is a good topic something that's positive because i think when you look in the news there's obviously a lot of negativity out there there's so many things that uh so many problems that typically come up but this is going to be a little bit different because i want to talk about a philanthropist who has given away all of his money and this is we're talking about billions of dollars so which is a good thing i think any type of philanthropy is is excellent um no matter whether you are very rich or maybe you don't have so much money and you want to donate you want to volunteer or get involved i think all of that is wonderful so i have my as we go through these articles there's two of them that i want to look at we're gonna i have my vocabulary list that we're going to build and put together and i think when we're when you read about the same topic i think that's something that's very useful you're often going to get the same information but you're going to see the same words being used again and again and not only is that a good way to just build your vocabulary when you're learning new words but when you learn a new word it's useful to see that word again and the more that you read and you see that word or phrase you'll be able to put that up here in your active memory and then you'll just be able to use it correctly the next time you're speaking or writing uh i have the website which we're going to look at in just a moment this is the first article that we're going to be looking at and again it's all about just trying to help you build your vocabulary using reading which i really recommend that everybody do and we're going to try and build our vocabulary today and i will include links to the articles down in the description and i will also include the vocabulary words that we go through in today's lesson i will put those down in the description as well in case you would like to review so i do want to give a quick little shout out saw so many members here today uh and that's awesome uh lolly um uh gertrudis welcome thank you thank you for joining our community um putri surya thank you for being here um and then a lot of regulars too uh rose angela sleepwalker uh amity maddie uh eduardo hello what's up thank you um great to have you guys here i really appreciate everybody coming together and i i think this is great this is what the community is all about and everybody kind of just working toward that goal of improving their english skills so let's go ahead and begin and i told you what the topic is we're talking about um a philanthropist somebody and this is i guess it happened recently that um this person who was a billionaire and their goal was uh they wanted to die broke and now they're they say this person is officially broke i don't think they are officially broke and have like zero money um but they're they're definitely no longer a billionaire this person has given away billions and billions of dollars and i i want to just say that i think that there are many i think people out there like this that give away a lot of their money and i i think that's that's awesome um but i know that this person's getting a lot of attention because they are a billionaire um and they're giving away so much but i think whether you are a billionaire or whether you're somebody who again you're you're just trying to make ends meet and that's a phrase if somebody's making ends meet it means they're making enough to survive but even still those people will still donate uh they give money to support charitable causes and i think that is equally valuable and that should be also recognized so if you guys are out there and you are giving and being charitable that you know kudos to you i i give you props um and that's i don't want to get into too many slang expressions i did that in a previous lesson to give someone props is to give someone credit and and recognize their achievements and contributions so let's go on down here and i'm just going to read the first part and then we'll look at some of the vocabulary so just that little opening it says it took decades but chuck feeney the former billionaire co-founder of retail giant duty-free shoppers has finally given his given all his money away to charity he has nothing left now and he couldn't be happier so this is the person his name was chuck feeney he was the billionaire and co-founder of this retail giant duty-free shopper so let's look at some of those words just so you you really kind of understand all right where we're at so if we're talking about somebody who is the co-founder um a founder is a person who um creates uh and i'll say organization or business but because they're a co-founder they do it with another person all right so think about that word co it means together with someone else and you've probably seen this word before like a co-worker somebody else that you work with so he was a co-founder he created the business with another person now duty-free what this means is if you're talking about duty duty is another word for tax that if somebody has to pay a duty they have to pay a tax so duty-free just means tax-free um so let's just keep it simple tax free or paying no taxes so he created um this store let's go back because i want to talk a little bit about it the it was called duty-free shoppers this is a store that you would find at an airport so for some of you out there i'm sure that you have you have traveled internationally and you go to the airport and when you go and you're waiting at the international gate you're probably going to see a lot of duty-free shops and that means that when you buy something there you're not going to pay taxes and the reason for that is because typically you pay taxes for products that you buy in a country and because you are buying something a product could be a bottle of water or anything and you are getting ready to leave the country that's why you don't have to pay taxes and it's tax-free now food for thought because i look this up he was not the first person to start a duty-free business the first business that was duty-free was actually started in ireland and i believe it was in 1946. in 1946 in ireland that is when the first duty-free shop opened his business the these shops actually began in 1960 14 years later and he started this um this business which was called duty-free shoppers and i think the business just grew and you would find this business and many different places many different airports uh around the country around the world and that is how he made his money so let's go on and look at this next main part of the article right here so again i'm going to read it just follow along and we'll go ahead i'll highlight some words and then we'll talk about the meaning we'll add it to our vocabulary list so it says charles chuck feeney 89 who co-founded airport retailer duty-free shoppers with robert miller in 1960 amassed billions while living a life of monk-like frugality as a philanthropist he pioneered the idea of giving while living spending most of your fortune on big hands-on charity bets instead of funding a foundation upon death since you can't take it with you why not give it all away have control over where it goes and see the results with your own eyes we learned a lot we would do thing we would do some things differently but i'm very satisfied i feel very good about compliment um completing this on my watch feeney tells forbes my thanks to all who joined us on this journey and to those wondering about giving while living try it you'll like it so this is what he said i want to highlight a few words in there and then we'll come back and the reason that i'm choosing these words i think maybe there are a little more or maybe perhaps advanced but this these are words that will help you understand other articles if you want to read about this same topic so we're going to look at a few we've already talked about what it means to co-found something he created it with another person um we're going to look at the words amassed he amassed billions because of his monk-like frugality we're going to talk about frugality as well and we're talking about he was a philanthropist so let's go back over to our vocabulary list and look at some of those words and i'll write down the meaning so here we are okay sorry uh i try to move this as seamlessly as possible but sometimes it's difficult uh because there's so many different windows open so if we're talking about to a mass it's a verb so in the article it said he amassed billions and that means when you amass to get a large amount of something often i think you will see this verb when talking about money somebody a mass they might amass a fortune in this case or they he amassed billions he was able to get a large amount of something frugality this is a a noun and it what it means it's talking about the quality of being careful with money so it said the reason why one of the reasons why he became so wealthy was because of his frugality it's a noun that's describing somebody who is just very careful with their money most of the time i think you will hear this word used as an adjective and i'm going to write it down and that is frugal i think this is the you again you can use these words as nouns or adjectives it's another great way to build your vocabulary so frugality is the noun but i think most of the time people use it as an adjective and say that someone is frugal and if you say someone is frugal it means that they are um very careful with how they spend money another way you could say it's a way of a polite way of calling someone cheap that they don't want to spend money so they they're they try to be frugal or maybe they have a frugal lifestyle i to be quite honest i also i try to be frugal i i don't want try not to spend a lot of money on things that maybe i don't need the next one it was a philanthropist so i told you at the very beginning that we're going to talk about this person he is a philanthropist and what this means you're talking about a um a person who helps the poor uh it's describing a person who helps the poor um especially by giving money so when i think of a philanthropist it's somebody who's helping but more likely they're helping because they're donating money and there are different ways that people can help they can they can donate money they can volunteer and actually work for the charity or the organization but when i think about somebody who is referred to as a philanthropist i think about somebody who is that that's specifically what they're doing they're they're donating money um all right so i i apologize i'm not able to really glance too much at the chat right now but i'll try to glance at it when time to time i know i so um somebody said the vid is unclear the streaming it's been challenging lately hopefully we can power through it but yes there may be moments when the the screen may get a little blurry i'm still working on it uh trying to work out all the kinks uh that's a good expression the kinks are just the problems so let's go back to our article and i want to look at a couple um a couple more words so we talked about philanthropists it said he pioneered this idea of giving while living and i want to look at what that means to pioneer something and then it said he pioneered this idea giving while living spending most of your fortune on big hands-on charity bets instead of funding a foundation upon his death so if you pioneer something let's go back over to our vocabulary list i'm gonna skip around a little bit uh i apologize so to pioneer something refers to um you're talking about the first to do something all right so this is something that at the time while he was doing this it really wasn't happening that much and i think this idea of giving while living is that instead of just getting all the money and then when you die donate it and give it away he wanted to do this while he was alive so he that so that he could control where the money goes and that's the idea i think of giving while living uh i want to talk about that other word even though i have it down there in the next one a fortune all right and if we're talking about a fortune it just really refers to a large amount of money all right he made a fortune with his business so let's go back over to boom um our article so hopefully again that this article it's easy to follow it's easy to understand as we look at these vocabulary words and then i want you to pay attention when we read the next article how many of them that you see again so let's just look at this last article right here all right so he started this thing giving while living that when you're alive you're gonna just keep giving your money away so over the last four decades feeney has donated more than eight billion to charities universities and foundations worldwide through his foundation the atlantic philanthropies when i first met him in 2012 he estimated he had set aside about 2 million for his and his wife's retirement that's still a lot of money um in other words he's given away 375 000 percent more money than his current net worth and he gave away and he gave it away anonymously while many wealthy philanthropists enlist an army of publicists to trumpet their donations feeney went to great lengths to keep his gifts secret because of his clandestine glow glow trotting philanthropy campaign forbes called him the james bond of philanthropy so let's look at this um this paragraph i want to pick out a few words that maybe uh might be a little more challenging so you see that he amassed a fortune of 8 billion he was giving it away while he was still alive he did set aside 2 million for his retirement which is the time when you stop working and you are able to live and try to take care of yourself so he gave away the money anonymously i want to look at that word because i help i think it helps you understand what kind of person he is so that word if we go back to our vocabulary list anonymously [Music] if you do something uh anonymously it basically means that one's identity is not known so someone's identity is not known and because of that they say it was like a clandestine operation um which if something is done like that it's done in secret and often i think of something like you're describing some mission perhaps you might hear it in a movie if it's an action movie and they talk about some clandestine operation but anonymously is the word that i want to focus on because i think it really kind of helps describe who he is because they said that many people who are wealthy what they may do is that they try to promote the the fact that they're giving so much money away so he didn't want to do that he was not trying to look for people who would say hey good job well done you're doing a great thing so he was doing this um anonymously all right so those are the first words that i wanted to look at um with this article and i hope that uh i hope that some of this made sense i want to look at some of your comments um uh about what you're saying yes me and ask to invest is to a mass uh i think when people invest money they they hope to amass more money they hope to get a larger amount of money so i'd say that investing is a way yeah to amass more money but not always because if you invest money you could get more money you could also lose it um let's see oh yes i can't be a philanthropist because i have no money i understand yes i think i think all of us would love to be philanthropist um but uh yes typically i think when you hear that word a philanthropist it's refers to a person who already has a lot of money and they're trying to give it away uh let's see um um please give me your contact number well i i you people can email me my email is pretty much well uh known if you guys join our email list then you basically have uh our email you could find that down in the co description below if you want to join our email list email is the best way to contact me i'm not really giving out my phone number um let's see uh alright so now that we have some of these vocabulary words that we started right here and again i will put this list down down in the description if you want to review let's look at another article that is similar all right and the reason why i want to do this is because i think you now understand the topic but it's really to see that how much well how many times you see these words again and again because i think if you want to build your vocabulary reading is a great way to do that and what i would encourage you to do is that if you are reading about some topic and you learn some new words continue reading about that topic because you're going to you're going to see that the words are used again and again and again and the more exposure you get to the the word uh the more likely you are to remember the meaning and understand that so that's why i want to look at another article talking about this same topic billionaire charles feeney finishes four decade long dream of giving away uh an 8 billion dollar fortune so already you see that word fortune that we've added to our list and it just means somebody who has a lot of money so let's just look at the first part um and then we'll pick out a few more words and we'll go through it and sorry i know uh some of you may hear emmy in the background she's not uh she's not too happy right now she just woke up from a nap so let's i'll read through it and then we'll look at some words so it says for years billionaire charles feeney had one goal in mind to give away his massive fortune and live the rest of his life broke now the 89 year old has fulfilled his wish according to forbes uh steve uh bertoni feeney has finished giving away more than eight billion in anonymous donations through his foundation atlantic philanthropies over the course of four decades forbes says feeney gave 3.7 billion to education and more than 870 million to human rights and social change or campaigns feeney who amassed his fortune after funding the famed airport retailer duty-free shoppers also gave around 62 million in grants to end the death penalty in the united states and 76 million to support the affordable care act obamacare the outlet reported feni also gave back to his alma mater to build a technology camp alma mater cornell university and recently gifted them a 350 million contribution to build a technology campus in new york city according to forbes with nearly all of his fortune gone feeney officially closed down atlantic philanthropies this week that's why i think they said um it's over he's closed down his charity his organization because the there's no more money left he's given it all away um we learned a lot we would do some things differently but i'm very satisfied i feel very good about completing this on my watch feeney told forbes many thanks to all who joined us on this journey he added and to those wondering about giving while living try it you'll like it so let's if if we were just going to go back and look at this article after we've already started building our vocabulary list you can kind of see some of the same words we've talked about uh that he was giving away a fortune all right he got a lot of money he did these anonymous donations all right we talked about that word already it's very similar and again this is a way to build your vocabulary because the other article said that he did it anonymously if you do something anonymously that is that is the adverb because it ends with an l y n one's identity is not known in this case they're using it as an adjective an anonymous donation the meaning is still the same so uh what are some other words that we talked about in this article so again they discuss his business about duty-free shoppers duty is talking about tax and here is one word that i want to talk about grants because sometimes if people um somebody who is a philanthropist they have a charity an organization that will give grants um so he gave grants to different things and also he supported his alma mater so let's look at those two words we're going to add that to our vocabulary list let's go back over here we talked about the word fortune already i wrote it before in the other one so if we're talking about a grant um what this refers to is let's see it's money given to a person or or um organization for a specific purpose all right i think often you may hear this word when people talking about like um doing research you have somebody who's a scientist or um they peep somebody finishes their phd and they're or they're doing their phd and they're doing research they may try to get a grant and they're trying to get support for their research and they're trying to get money so that they can continue doing their research that would be the specific purpose so that is um a time when you would often hear this word being used when talking about somebody looking for a grant to continue research now he donated money to his alma mater if we're talking about an alma mater it's basically the talking about the school the school college or university where a person studied all right and that is your wherever you went to university or college you would say that is your alma mater and the last one was that phrase i don't know if you remember that phrase from the article um i did not highlight it so let's go back over here and he talks about um he was able to i feel very good com um about completing this on my watch about giving all of this money away he was able to do it on my watch and if you want to use that phrase if you say um you're going to do something on my watch or on your watch what that means let's go back over here it means that you are doing something um while um while someone while someone is on duty like they're working in that case because again duty has different meanings while someone is on duty or in charge of some situation all right and often you might hear this use this expression if you're in charge of some situation and you say look somebody's worried about something and you say it's not going to happen on my watch it's not going to happen while i'm in charge of the situation so in this case he said i'm happy i was able to do this on my watch and in that case i think he meant like i'm happy that i was able to do this while i'm still alive that he can see where all these donations go he can see where the money goes and he's doing this on his watch so that's a good phrase to learn you're going to hear this being you may hear this being used in a variety of different contexts if something happens on your watch it's talking about while you are in charge of a situation so i i didn't highlight too many um vocabulary words because i wanted to try to to keep it simple so that it's a little easier to follow along um i want to look at some uh questions mel uh eli says i can't invest money okay yes i i hear you i hear you lolly um so let's see about a um you're really talking about a lot of money and that's why i think you would hear a mass being used with words like a fortune because already talking about a lot of money so somebody might amass a fortune or because i'm getting paid more money or i'm making a higher salary so in that case i don't think you would use um a max unless the job is just paying you a ridiculous amount of money and you can amass a fortune so i think when you're going to use that verb you're gonna hear it used with words like uh fortune or in this case um they they talked about amassed over a billion dollars with his company excellent good question um so i hope that some of these um words were new for you um and i hope that it was kind of easy to follow along now what i would say let's see all right um what i do want to say is that because we do these lessons from time to time where we talk about some current events and we talk about a topic we build vocabulary and something that my wife and i wanted to do with our channel was to then highlight a charity an organization we're going to make a donation and then i'll put the uh i'll talk about it and then put a link down in the description if somebody else would like to go learn more about the organization or make a donation as well and we've done this before i think we did it when we're talking about um we talked about the housing crisis and we did to help you build your vocabulary to understand because these are important things these are important issues an um that we think is doing good now because this topic is really just kind of general it's talking about philanthropy what i did is i went um i went to our community page and i posted a poll and i gave a few different options of saying okay which charity which organization should we highlight now i chose very broad organizations which i think are very they're they're well known and um many of you may be familiar with them typically in the future we're going to highlight a lot more smaller organizations but we'll probably leave that to a specific topic so uh your opinion and the poll came back right there um between the international red cross unicef the world food program amnesty international most of you chose the world food program which uh is an organization that is run by the united nations to help um help people help communities that are in need of food and they will do this when there are natural disasters they will do this when areas have um been hit by well things like famine or perhaps if there's a war going on the world food program will get in there so we're gonna make a donation to the world food program i've left links down in the description if you'd like to go there and learn more about it i think again i think any organization that is working to solve a problem in the world right now whether it's environmental hunger poverty it's it's good all right this is this is what we mean and today i wanted to talk about philanthropy as a topic because it is a little more positive instead of looking at so many things that are well problems that we have in the world right now but again in the future we will do this we will highlight another charity when we talk about some issue or a problem um so yeah keep an eye out for those lessons so uh i hope that you enjoyed the lesson i hope you found it useful and i i particularly hope that you learn some new vocabulary words and then again if you want to review you can uh review them down in the description i see some people like uh there's an echo i i apologize gosh i got the i got a lot of kinks to work out with the internet right now i'm gonna get on that before uh before the next one let me see all right i'll have to look at that and see what's going on sorry about the audio um i hope you have a wonderful week um thank you uh lolly uh thank you maggie for joining us jason just trying to get some shout outs roseanna um thank you guys hope you have a wonderful week i will see you next time --- ## 621. The Word ANTICIPATE | Build Useful English Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `XIM2Tewr29U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIM2Tewr29U) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:53:54 | --- Hello! And welcome to our global classroom. I know you've been anticipating this lesson. See how I just used the word "anticipate" in a sentence. That's the word! The word "anticipate" means to expect or predict something that might happen in the future. For example, I anticipate that this will be a very fun lesson. Here are some other things we can anticipate. If you're going on a trip to Hawaii, you might anticipate that the weather will be warm and sunny. Or if you go to dinner at your favorite restaurant, you anticipate that the food will taste great. Also, if you study with us, you anticipate that you will be learning English. Hola! Bienvenidos a nuestra clase. Wes, we're teaching English here! So we've established that anticipate means to expect something that will likely happen. But anticipate has another meaning too. It can also mean to look forward to something. For example, each year I anticipate the winter season because I love snow. Another example. I eagerly anticipate traveling to Venice. What? Just kidding. Unfortunately, we have no plans to travel to Venice. Wes! Hint! What? Do you have any more examples? Of course! So...you anticipate more cuts? They anticipate little problems like this. It's my job to anticipate your every need. Congress, unable to anticipate the enormous capacity... Did you anticipate anybody breaching the cooling system? Any red flags? So what part of speech is the word "anticipate"? Let's look at it in a sentence! In this sentence, "anticipate" is a verb and it comes right after the subject. Here's another example. What? Now that you know the meaning of the word and how it's used, let's check your pronunciation. The word "anticipate" has four syllables and the stress is on the second syllable. I want you to repeat after me. I'll say it, and then you say it. Anticipate. Anticipate. Wonderful! Great job! Okay. Now let's expand our vocabulary and look at a couple words in the word family. As previously mentioned, "anticipate" is a verb. But it is possible to turn it into an adjective. The adjective is anticipated. And it's commonly used with words such as "highly" or "most". As in "the most anticipated" or "highly anticipated." Here's an example. Here's another one. Now let's look at another word from the anticipate family. If you want to say the opposite of anticipated, you just add the prefix "un-" to it so you get unanticipated. If "anticipated" means expected, then "unanticipated" means unexpected or something that took you by surprise. For example. You ready? It's time to practice what we've learned. Okay. I'm going to give you three questions. For the first two questions, I want you to listen to the sentence and say the answers out loud. Fill in the blank with either... We'll give you a few seconds and then tell you the answer. Here's the first question. The answer is unanticipated. The key word in this sentence is surprise. This means I didn't expect it. The answer is anticipate. Because I love swimming, I anticipate I'm going to have a great time. Now, we have one more question for you but first we'd like you to do us a favor. "Like" the video if you feel like you've learned something new. Next, in the comments below, we'd like you to use the word "anticipate" in a sentence. If you need a little time to think of a sentence, just pause the video. Did you write your comment? Okay. If you did, let's look at the last question. For this one we want you to click on the answer you think is correct. If you get the answer right, we'll let you know. If the answer is incorrect, we'll take you back to the beginning of this video. Watching it again will give you a better understanding of the word. Okay. Here's the final question. --- ## 622. Things You Should NOT Say to Women (in English) ๐Ÿšซ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `48UKsvkznrM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48UKsvkznrM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:47:58 | --- hello and welcome to our lesson today today we are we have a special kind of lesson it's not grammar related it is it's more of a cultural conversation I would say because it has a lot to do with with culture and it's very specific to the Western culture and women from Western culture so the point of this lesson is educational and it's about learning how to express yourself how to express yourself when you want to speak with somebody in a professional kind of situation whether it's your teacher or whether it's whether it's somebody that you just met or a co-worker or anyone like that I think it will be very very useful so hello everyone if you're just joining us hello welcome our Salah work on i'm maanna welcome Patricia welcome thank you guys for joining our cultural lesson today today we're talking about things you should never say to women especially if you want to be polite that's kind of where this is standing in the meantime I had some questions for you before we start is why do you think it's important to learn about other people's cultural values so some of these things that we're going to talk and discover about talk about today and address today these are things that are considered inappropriate or maybe a little rude in like the US or maybe England Britain but they might be considered completely appropriate and great topics of conversations in other countries and cultures so to me this is fascinating how how different cultures have different things that you can talk about and there we go I accidentally hit the start streaming button anyway so we have different things it's it's fascinating how we can talk about some things in some cultures and we cannot talk about them in different cultures so that's my first question is why do you think it's important to learn about people's cultural values and my second question to you today is what are other topics that people don't talk about in your culture so what are some things that people don't really talk about you know in some cultures like in the US and does it necessarily have anything to do with women it's it's money so people in the u.s. don't like to talk about money yet in other countries it's like one of the first things that people discuss is how much you're making also in the u.s. people don't really like to talk about age and we'll talk about that a little bit in this lesson it's not really brought up but in other cultures it's one of the first things that people usually mention they mentioned the age they are because it's an important part of the conversation you address them in a certain way if they're a certain age so it's it's kind of very interesting to see what things people like to talk about and what people don't like to talk about so welcome our she'd a welcome Helen a nice Lasserre presentation from France Brazil Italy let us know your name is where you're coming from it's really nice to have some answer Laura yes because we have to respect every culture right so when you're talking to somebody from a culture it is nice to try to respect their culture and kind of try to understand their culture so I think I think that's very true thank you so if you guys are just joining just write down why do you think it's important to learn about other people's cultural values okay so there we go so like I said before to me this is a it's an educational listen it is kind of a compilation of things that have been that I've heard that have been said to me over the years many times and most of the time from people that were meaning very very well they're just trying to be concerned about certain things but they just didn't know that what they're saying could be inappropriate and that's the part that I think it's most important because when we try to communicate with someone and we mean well we definitely don't want them to get offended and that can be very a very important issue so and i'ma says it's really important to know how cultures are different because it's amazing to discover new things and be open-minded minded to other cultures that's right so that's that's exactly right I think I'm I'm of the same opinion I think when you learn about new cultures it's it's very fascinating for me to find out how different cultures think about different subjects and some some crazy things that could be offensive in one culture it could be a compliment in a different culture which is kind of it's it's it's fun to think about okay so but why am I giving this lesson about things you shouldn't say in English to someone well because like I said before you you may you may be your comment may be construed as rude or disrespectful which is definitely not something that we want to be so depending on the culture is something that can seem like it's a concern about someone it may not be appropriate and another reason especially if you have a cultural or a professional connection to somebody that you're talking to it could have serious consequences like you may lose your job if you make an inappropriate comment if you you may get expelled if you're working in a school so now we're talking it can get pretty serious so the point like I said of this lesson is to kind of hear some of the things that you shouldn't say and then just kind of try to avoid them so again I think I'm gonna show you what the first slide in a second and then I'm going to ask you and I'm going to ask you right now and you can tell me what are some things that you were asked whether you're a man or a woman it doesn't matter what are some things that you are asked that you didn't like so some things that you were asked throughout your life that you just did not like yeah I thank you aya welcome welcome welcome my shade from Sudan welcome I I yes thank you I'm glad you guys are enjoying this I had a lot of fun putting this lesson together because there were so many things that I was like okay we need to talk about this because without intention it can be offensive so thank you guys for joining and please write down whether you're a man or a woman it doesn't matter what are some things that you were asked throughout you know generally speaking that you did not like okay okay so going back to what you should never say to women number one in my opinion because it's it's the one that I've been told the most you look tired like this cat's right here so as a teacher I had so many students come into my office and I think I just had a bad office with some bad lighting because so many students would come to my office and be like teacher teacher you look so tired teacher you look tired and I I was like oh man I look tired but I spent all this time putting on makeup and so the point would you look tired and why it's not appropriate it is because it it tells somebody that maybe they don't look good and the flipside is maybe they're not tired maybe they think they look great maybe they're very well rested and maybe the they just think they look great and you just told them they don't look good now I understand that many cultures this comes from they're concerned about your health somebody's concerned they're showing that they care there it's it's a very nice thing to say to show but in the u.s. in the US and and in other Western cultures it is not polite to tell somebody that they look tired very nice so yeah we're talking about how much I earn you yeah a lot yeah that's that's not polite in the US either and asking a woman if she is pregnant and that's absolutely the same in the in the in Western culture and I'll talk about why that is offensive as well in in the u.s. too it's just yeah it's definitely a big no-no so other ways people can ask you know like are you tired people have asked me teacher why your eyes so red maybe I have an allergy it can happen I know it comes from concern but I just be mindful it's not something that um that you want to ask some money so you look tired just forget about it don't mention them if you want to say something about what somebody looks like I would say stick with something super general like be very vague and just say you look well you look great if you have to say something but in general I would say try not to comment too much about what somebody looks like because it might get you in trouble so if you're very specific like you look beautiful it's again it's not appropriate because it might be your teacher it might be somebody else that you have a professional relationship with so you have to to make sure that you don't that it's not unprofessional okay my second one hi long welcome welcome welcome so if you guys are just joining us we are talking about things you should never say to women in English and if you guys have anything to add that in your country people don't like to talk about or things that you were told or you were asked that you didn't like being asked please share them it is so much fun for us all of us to read them together and see how different cultures are I think that's very very exciting and one of the best things about doing a lesson such as this the renzo says that in Italy people in the south don't like to talk about value from territory and it could help self omim probes okay sorry hum okay so let's see so there's so many things that people don't like to talk about so please if there's something that people don't like to talk about in your country share it with us it will be fun to read together okay so the second one is are you sick and this is very similar to are you tired or you look tired because again maybe the person is not sick and that means that this is what they look like today and maybe you're saying that they don't look as good as they should and it's it's a little bit offensive to tell somebody so that's that's part of why we shouldn't although I understand that it could come from you might have a good reason maybe you want to help this person maybe you think you know maybe you're concerned you're thinking maybe they're not taking their vitamins or something like that but don't say anything like this okay welcome save us welcome to our lesson today I don't know if a mobile number yeah I wouldn't ask it really depends who you're talking to I'm talking of a very general kind of from a professional standpoint like somebody like like you would you would have a co-worker or a teacher or somebody like that that you have a professional relationship with so yeah definitely don't ask your teacher their mobile number because that is not professional and again if you guys are just joining write down some things that you are asked that you didn't like or maybe you want to share some things that you liked they that you were asked that you did like and we can see how that's different from culture to culture exactly privacy is the Patricia thank you for mentioning that yes when when we talk about our private lives it's not something that that you should that women like to just share so if it has anything to do with personal information and like I'll talk about like weight or like age or money or any personal details it's people don't or if they have a boyfriend or a husband or somebody like that it's it's not appropriate to ask oh yeah yeah you cannot ask if somebody got fat or definitely nothing with weight stay away far away from anything that has to do with a woman's weight because it can never go anywhere good you can never go anywhere good okay so the one that is coming up a lot and definitely you can see it online and people really finally are addressing this one is you should smile and why you shouldn't tell a woman that she should smile or ask her on the flipside why are you so serious or something like that it's because it's not something that you would tell a man it's just not something you don't just go to your your male teacher and say teacher you should smile it's it's usually just told to women and it's it's not appropriate so they're not there to smile they're just there to do their job and it's just not related to kind of to that kind of you don't have that relationship with them is just not appropriate okay so it's something that you have to be very careful about and just I would say be as profession as you can when you first meet a person because that it puts you it like kind of in the safe zone so if you guys are just joining us welcome and thank you we are talking about things you should never say to women and if you have some things to add the you know about things that in your country people shouldn't say or things that you know you shouldn't say please write them down because it's so much fun to look them over yeah please never ask a woman Helen very good point if if they are fat or why they got fat or how come they got fat just don't don't do it so if you have any other things to add like things that have you've been asked that you hated or things that you've been asked that you liked please write them down because it's fun to share okay speaking of weight to never never ask how much do you weigh now in some cultures this is now that it's welcome but it's more it's more discussed than in the u.s. really no one in the US should ever ask a woman or in a Western culture like that like how much do you weigh now I'm originally from Romania and in Romania for some reason people love to talk about weight they everyone's sharing I'm 55 kilograms I'm 50 kilograms I'm whatever I don't like to share how how much I weigh and I don't I think women are from magazines too to reading novels too everything about women were exposed to so much scrutiny about our weight that it's just we don't need to keep asking so please never ask a woman anything in relation to her weight not even if you think she looks skinny so because that can be a problem and I'll talk about that in a second so please don't ask about a girl's weight never never ever just be on the safe side don't say anything okay yeah so it's it's not a it's not appropriate in Egypt to call someone with their mother's name so that's very interesting yes so seeing some cultures that can be some things may be more appropriate than in other cultures so it's very very very useful to know if you're talking to somebody from the US especially in a professional environment what not to say and definitely never ask your coworker how much they weigh please okay and this is another one that in some cultures may be offensive and in others it may not be generally speaking in the u.s. people don't like to talk about how old they are in fact you often in movies and things like that you see people saying that they're always turning 39 and is there like fifteenth time to turning 39 so people really don't like to talk about their age so it's not good to put them in that position to ask them hey how old are you and again all of these questions that I'm asking I have been that I'm sharing you today I'm have been asked and I know for sure because I know the people who've asked me they don't come from a place of nobody's trying to be offensive but without realizing they can be especially if you're asking like in job interview oh my gosh just don't do it right so try to be just mindful of who you're talking to okay so again this can be rude in some countries if you're asking about age now I wanted to ask you if you guys are just joining us first of all welcome if you haven't answered yet please answer what are some things that people in your country don't like to talk about what are some topics that are not very open for discussion or as we call it taboo so things that we don't want to talk about we don't like to talk about we don't talk about our are cold tableau okay the is a personal one that has been told to me a few times and it has to do with makeup like you don't need to wear makeup and the reason why this is problematic or you shouldn't say it is first because just as a rule of thumb you should be careful on commenting on someone's appearance it's it's not good to do it especially if you don't know this person if you have a professional relationship with them you want to stay away from saying anything about what they look like and another reason is because you are saying that they're doing something wrong so it can be a little bit offensive for example you know you may be saying like oh you have too much makeup or something like that so when you're implying that somebody's doing something wrong that can be a problem the other reason is because you might hurt someone so women often wear makeup for different purposes some people are trying to hide scars like if they have some serious problems with their skin or maybe they had a traumatic event earlier from in their life and they hurt themselves and now they have a scar they're trying to cover so that can be a problem so just make sure that you don't mention anything about someone's appearance things they should do or shouldn't do because you could be hurtful or you could be offensive okay so we're kind of halfway through this I'm just going to go through them really quickly for the people who just joined today first one is you look tired or you look sick are you sick you should smile how much do you weigh how old are you and then finally not finally but we're talking about you don't need to wear a makeup yeah so it can be a little personal so to both women or men I would just in I think in general it I think for any person if you tell them that they look tired it can be construed maybe that you're worried about them or something like that so just don't worry don't worry about saying that okay oh another one that has to do with weight that again has been told to me are you sure you want to eat that like everyone who knows me knows I love love love chocolate like I love chocolate and many times sometimes students would joke around and be like teacher you keep eating all these cookies are you sure you want to keep eating cookies and and it it could be funny it could be funny but in the same in the same time it again relates to um that to the subject that women should only eat a little bit which it's kind of ridiculous we all know the women are normal people just like men and you can eat if you're hungry you should eat and and it's fine so please don't ask a woman if if they're going to eat that or if they should be eating that or anything that relates their weight or anything like that if you're just joining us write down the some of the things that that you would that you would not like to be asked they or the you were asked and you don't you don't like to talk about or that things that are that people don't like to talk about in your country any of these things it it is really fun to to kind of share and read okay another one that I've heard a lot about is a silly one I think but I have heard it so I'm sharing it with you please never say to a woman women are emotional or worse women are crazy um I think this is a problem because you're stereotyping you're making a statement about all women and clearly we don't know all the women so we can say that there are this so to say that women are emotional or more in more emotional than men that's even worse so just don't mention anything up something like this is just it's um it's just stereotyping and it's not good to stereotype like that and I can assure you that you're going to make somebody very angry if you tell them women are emotional or they're crazy so one or the other please just don't say it I have heard it and it's really hard to to to to get out of it so you can make somebody very very angry with this comment so just just don't oh this is a backhanded compliment if you guys don't know what backhanded means it is a compliment it's a compliment so you're telling somebody something good but then in the same time you're kind of offending with him you look great for your age so this is not good if you tell somebody they look great for their age it means that you think that they're old and like I said especially in the u.s. women are sensitive about their age so telling them not you look great but you know you're kind of old but you look okay even if you're old so it's it's a little bit it's upsetting so don't don't say this one the next one which may seem like it's a good thing to say knowing that you don't want to call women fat it's it's not a good thing so even if somebody looks like they've lost weight you are commenting on what they look like and on their weight and it makes them self aware also maybe they're going through an illness and they're sick and maybe they've lost weight unintentionally so maybe they did not want to lose weight and maybe they're going to something so even if you think you're you're complimenting someone you might not be so like I said please don't don't don't comment on someone's weight you shouldn't tell them you look like you gained weight you look fat you look like you've lost weight nothing about weight just never mention it nope just don't do it okay and yes latter I hate it too a lot of people say women are moody or emotional and it's just very stereotypical and just not true so it's it's just kind of like saying that you know like it's you can't steer your type like that you can say all the women on the planet are a certain way and so I definitely agree it really it upsets me too a lot and there is no way that that can be construed as good okay pregnant are you pregnant now again there may be occasions when you look and see a woman that you think for sure she's pregnant like she looks very pregnant I'm sure she's pregnant can I ask no and the reason you cannot ask is because you may be wrong maybe she's not pregnant and maybe she has health problems or issues or even worse maybe she is trying to get pregnant but she can't because of infertility and then you're really hurting somebody so please please please don't ask about pregnancy or weight issues because it can be you can be mildly offensive but you could really hurt someone and that's really not what you want to what you want to say now the other thing I was going to say is if you do see a pregnant woman and she tells you she's pregnant and then you talk about it don't say like oh you look really big or you're you're about to pop or I think pregnant women when they're pregnant they're very aware of their situation they know they're pregnant and they don't need to hear how big they are from other people I think it's very it can be very upsetting so um yeah please don't ask and also sometimes you just have a big meal like I if you know sometimes you really enjoy yourself like we just had Thanksgiving and sometimes you eat too much and your stomach pain may come out you know you have a big meal and your tummy is bigger and that's okay but please don't ask don't ask somebody if they're pregnant it's just it's just not okay it can really make somebody very sad okay so these are the these are the things you should never say to a woman if you have any other others that you think you shouldn't say to women please please please write them down it will be fun even if you're watching now or later it's very fun for us to read anything other than weight loss pregnancy me women being emotional eating a lot of food wearing makeup aged or smiling or being sick or tired so if you have any of these or if you have any experience with people asking you these like you guys have been sharing it's yeah I see it it does make us feel bad Helen I agree completely I haven't been asked yet but I've been told so many of these things especially about my weight and about about looking tired and sick and people telling me that I look good for my age and so many of these things so it's generally not good it can make somebody very sad so um I just don't do it okay well that's it for today thank you guys so much for watching if you have any anything else to add about things that are inappropriate in your culture to say to women or generally the you know that have been told to you please share them with us I love to read them um oh yeah that got me in trouble too about giving our seat to somebody who I thought yeah that I was I had the problem when that's - okay okay well thank you guys so much no not see anything you can say many things if you really want to say something you can tell somebody you look great you look fabulous you look well but don't be very specific like your eyes are like I don't know especially and again I'm talking about a professional relationship so I'm not talking about what to say to your wife or your girlfriend although please don't tell your wife or your girlfriend that they look pregnant because that's not going to go well over well so but just be very specific with a very general with your with your compliments okay well thank you guys for watching and please if you found this lesson useful I like it and share it and have a wonderful wonderful weekend and I will see you guys next time thank you guys --- ## 623. Think You're Fluent? This English Grammar Quiz Will Test You! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gN4L0EfgB2U` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN4L0EfgB2U) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:51:52 | --- today you are going to test your grammar skills so I have a quiz for you and this quiz ranges from the B1 level to C2 so really it is for intermediate to Advanced Learners and I want to see how much you know and if you are someone who enjoys improving your grammar skills Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so this is a quiz lesson which means I would like you to participate you can write your answers on a separate sheet of paper or even use the comments section I just love hearing from you I like seeing people participate in these lessons because after all this is interactive English so let's begin with parts of speech and I want you to tell me what is the predicate noun when you have this sentence right here mark became an actor so there are four words in the sentence one of these words is a predicate noun and that word is the word actor so a predicate noun is a noun or a noun phrase that follows a linking verb to provide additional information about the subject of the sentence in this case the subject of the sentence is Mark our linking verb became and that means the predicate noun is actor and in case you're wondering we're talking talking about Mark Hamill that is who is pictured right there from the movie Star Wars the next question is where are the chairs there are several in the closet I want you to focus on the word several and tell me if that is an indefinite pronoun or an indefinite adjective you only have two choices and I hope that you said the word several is an indefinite pronoun so let's talk about the difference between the two inde inite pronouns stand alone and do not modify a noun or pronoun here's an example for you he doesn't talk to anyone in that case anyone is an indefinite pronoun now indefinite adjectives are used to describe a noun in a nonspecific sense check out that example sentence he doesn't know many people so in this case many describes people in a non-specific sense because it doesn't tell us exactly how many people knows we just know that he doesn't know many people here's the next question it's just like Wes to show up a half hour late so in this sentence right here what part of speech is the word like this can be a little tricky because the word like it it can have many different parts of speech but in this sentence we're talking about like as a preposition it means that it is typical or characteristic of and you may hear it used in a sentence like this it's just like someone to and then you're talking about their their characteristic it's just like West to show up a half hour late but the word like it can be tricky because it may be a verb a noun a conjunction an adverb and of course in this sentence right here it is a preposition here is the next question after a few minutes we found the key in the drawer so looking at this sentence I want you to identify the object of the preposition this is a little bit of a trick question because there are actually two objects of the preposition we're talking about the words minutes and drawer so after a few minutes this is a prepositional phrase minutes is the object of the preposition we found the key where in the drawer that is another prepositional phrase so the word drawer is also the object of the preposition so these are nouns that work with a preposition to form a prepositional phrase now let's test your knowledge when it comes to verb tenses I'm going to give you a sentence and I just want you to complete the sentence using the verb that I give you with the correct tense the movie M tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. how would you complete this sentence and use the verb start so technically speaking you could complete this sentence in one of two ways we're talking about tomorrow so I I wouldn't say it's incorrect to use the future tense however in this case because we're talking about scheduled time it's more common to use the present simple the movie starts tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. we use the present simple when we refer to future events that are planned and they're not likely to change so a movie has a set time in this case it's tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. we'll use the present simple the movie starts tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. how about this one I for the bus for the last 20 minutes I want you to use the verb wait so think about the context think about the situation you are at this bus stop right here and you're telling this to someone else and in this case it would be appropriate to use the present perfect continuous I have been waiting for the bus for the last 20 minutes we're talking about something that started in the past has continued to the present right now and will likely continue into the future I've been waiting for the bus for the last 20 minutes here is another one yesterday nobody noticed when I M out of the room so the verb that I want you to use is slink so slink it's not the most common verb in the world I will talk about what it means but we're talking about something that happened yesterday it is finished therefore you would use the past simple and to slink it it means to walk away somewhere quietly so that you're not noticed and the past of slink is slunk yesterday nobody noticed when I slunk out of the room it's finished it happened and I slunk out of the room here's another one your phone rang while you were outside call them back I'm I'm giving you a choice here are you going to complete this question with are you going to or will you which one do you think is more appropriate your phone rang while you were outside call them back so in some situations you may use be going to or will to talk about the future but sometimes there are some differences like in this case so we're talking about prior plans something you intend to do therefore it's more common to use be going to your phone rang while you were outside are you going to call them back now to give you another example of a difference between will and be going to if you are making an immediate decision in that case it's more appropriate to use will now to give you another example of a difference between will and be going to would be immediate decisions in that case it's more appropriate to use will Let's uh stick with the phone my phone is ringing I I'm going to say I'll answer it it's an immediate sudden decision in that case I'll use will I will answer it I'll answer it so let's move on to plural nouns I'm going to give you a noun I just want you to tell me the plural form I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I'll tell you the answer so the singular is rof what is the plural form of this noun I hope that you gave me one of two answers you could say roofs or rofes either one of those is acceptable when talking about the plural of roof here's the next one fungus that is a singular noun what is the plural of fungus the answer is fungi that is the plural form of fungus here's another one enthesis that is the singular noun what is the plural of emphasis if we're talking about the plural form of this noun it is emphases emphasis emphases then we have the singular elf there's one elf but there are many what the answer is elves there are many elves let's move on to some figures of speech and this this can be a a little tricky but here is your first one he is as tall as a tree it's a simple sentence I think you understand it but I I want you to tell me what is this sentence an example of a aimile b irony C alliteration or D hyperbole a simile simile is the comparison of two things using the words like or as he is as tall as a tree here is the next one boom this this just that word alone that is an example of what a pleonasm b scty C anopia or D personification I I don't want to go through each one because I'm going to bring some of these back up in just a little bit but if I say a word like oh boom crack bang Splash those are examples of anamia this is when you use words that are used to represent sounds and they're similar to noises here's the next question the wind howled all night this sentence is an example of a irony B upon C personification or D sync truthfully the wind doesn't really howl that is something that a wolf might do but I may use the verb howl just to make my writing a little more engaging and in that case this sentence is an example of personic ation you are giving human characteristics to non-human things in this case the wind and saying that it howed all night now I would like you to write an example of alliteration any example of a literation I think that this is something that you know you're probably familiar with it so let me show you a couple of examples sheep should sleep in the shed you have that sh sound or Peter Piper picked a pi pickled peppers this is a tongue twister tongue twisters often use alliteration which is the repetition of the first letter or sound within a group of words all right it's time for a quick spell check I'm just going to give you a word and I want you to identify the correct spelling I'm telling I'm giving you the meaning as well so if you are feeling like you might vomit you could say that you are nauseous how do you correctly spell the word nauseous the correct answer is be nauseous it's a useful adjective if you have this feeling and you want to say that oh you know right now I feel a little nauseous how about this word right here this is a a pretty common word we're talking about a day of the week Wednesday but it's a word that I often find misspelled now I hope that you chose C Wednesday uh again the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match but definitely a word you should know how to spell how about this word entrepreneur this is someone who starts a business I believe that this word is borrowed from French entrepreneur and the correct spelling for entrepreneur is B so keep in mind that the stress is on that final syllable when you're pronouncing this word entrepreneur entrepreneur and then we have the word narcissistic if you really have a lot of admiration for well for yourself then you could say that you are narcissistic and if you want to spell this word correctly you are going to spell it just like C narcissistic let's do some sentence Transformations actually we're going to do some keyword sentence Transformations and well what does that mean it means I'm going to give you a statement and I want you to use the keyword to complete this other statement so that it has the same meaning and I think this is really useful because we're checking your grammar and your vocabulary so you're it's kind of quizzing you on two different things so the first one is a question would you like to watch a movie I want you to complete that second question do you m movie and I want you to use the word feel so to complete that question so that it has the same meaning as would you like to watch a movie you could say do you feel like watching a movie we're going to use feel like to suggest like oh is this something you want to do but we're going to follow that with the Jaren watching do you feel like doing something here's the next one I regret not speaking to you sooner I wish M sooner and I want you to use the word had how would you change that sentence so that it has the same meaning as I regret not speaking to you sooner well you could use the word had to say I wish I had spoken to you sooner we're talking about the past perfect had spoken I wish I had spoken to you sooner it's very similar to well I regret not speaking to you sooner how about this one right here they are going to learn the truth one day I want you to use the word matter and complete the following sentence it's only they learn the truth what phrase would you use with matter when talking about well that you know the truth is going to come out it's only a matter of time before they learn the truth really has a similar meaning to they're going to learn the truth one day it's only a matter of time before they learn the truth how about my boss is determined not to give me a pay raise use the word intent when completing this sentence my boss m a pay raise and we could say my boss is in intent on not giving me a pay raise so the one thing I want you to keep in mind when you're using intent you're often going to follow that with the preposition on you are intent on doing something in this case my boss is intent on not giving me a pay raise so of course I would like to know how you did on the quiz let me know down in the comments I always love hearing from you if you you enjoyed this grammar quiz and testing your skills let me know by hitting that like button as always thanks for watching thanks for participating and I will see you next time so long --- ## 624. Think Your English Is Advanced? Prove It in This Grammar Challenge! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `J95wi05lvtE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J95wi05lvtE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:39:43 | --- Let's talk about some confusing English grammar. And if you would like to improve your grammar skills, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And if you'd like to get the lesson notes here, check out the link down below in the description. Join our email community. From time to time, I will send you these notes so that you can practice and review. So, this is going to be a quiz lesson. I will give you a moment to think of the answer and then I'll tell you the answer and explain why this can be a bit confusing. So, here is your first question. I didn't m wake up this early. Are you going to complete this sentence with a used to or b used to? I hope that you chose a used to. I didn't used to wake up this early. We're using it as a verb. And there are several reasons why this may be confusing, but let's focus on using used to as a verb, which means it's used to say that something existed or repeatedly happened in the past, but does not exist or happen now. So, for the most part, because of the meaning, you're probably going to use this in the past tense, like in the example, I used to wake up early. I did in the past but not now. In our example, I'm using the negative did not. In which case, we'll follow that with the base verb us. I didn't used to wake up this early. What also makes this tricky is that used to us can also be used as an adjective. It refers to something you're familiar with or accustomed to. I'm used to running in hot weather or I'm not used to running in hot weather. So, just keep that in mind. You can use this as a verb or as an adjective. Used to and used to. Here's the next question. Your voice is soothing. Can you read this story? What do you think? To me or for me? Now, technically speaking, either one is correct, but this is my opinion. I feel like in this context, I think it's probably a little more appropriate to use a to me. Your voice is soothing. Can you read this story to me? And the key word in this case is soothing. This is my opinion. And because of that, I I'd like to hear your voice. Can you read it to me instead of for me, which is like, well, I just don't want to be responsible for this thing. So, here are some examples as to when you might use to me and for me. I I'm not going to go over all of these. You can check out that link in the description and get these lesson notes if you want to look at all of these different examples. But I would like to specifically look at these two right here. So, using to me when you're talking about your perceived opinion. This problem sounds difficult to me. I don't know how to do it. Okay, I'm really expressing my opinion and using to me versus for me. It's talking about how it affects you because maybe well I this problem needs to get done. Somebody has to do it. And I might say, well, this problem is too difficult for me. I can't solve it. Again, when thinking of the example, if I were to say, well, your voice is soothing, you know, can you read this to me? I I think of it more as like you're you're talking about your opinion and you enjoy listening to someone and and that's why I chose to me even though for me would also work. Now I realize that this still may be a bit confusing to me versus for me. But if you are ever in a position and you really want to know well which one's more commonly used a great resource is engram viewer. two different words or phrases and you want to just know, well, which one is more common, this is a great resource. So, if I put in the statement, it's new to me versus it's new for me. As you can see, it's a little more common to come across it's new to me. Just something to keep in mind. Here is the next question. I started learning English m an early age. Are you going to complete this sentence with since or from? So the correct answer is be from. I started learning English from an early age. Let's look at the difference between from and since. You're going to use from to denote the starting point of an event, action, or journey. You're going to use since to indicate a point in time that continues to the present. And and look at some of those examples. the doctor will be here from 10:00 a.m. tomorrow versus the doctor has been here since 10:00 a.m. We're starting at that point since 10:00 a.m. and continues to the future. The exhibition runs from March to May. All right, we're talking about that action, that event versus the exhibition has been running since March. Again, we're using it as a point in time. Here is your next question. We decided to go out m the rain. Are you going to complete this sentence with in spite of, despite, or are both of them correct? This is kind of a trick question because the correct answer is C. Both are correct. We decided to go out in spite of the rain or we decided to go out despite the rain. In spite of and despite. And I've taken this from Cambridge's online dictionary. In spite of and despite have a similar meaning to although or even though. They express a contrast between two things. And I've given you a couple of examples. They arrived to the airport late despite leaving in plenty of time. Or they arrived to the airport late in spite of leaving in plenty of time. How about this one right here? She's m New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. Are you going to complete that with been to or gone to? The correct answer is gone to. She's gone to New York City. She'll be back tomorrow. So, what what's the difference between been to and gone to? You're going to use been to to describe completed visits. All right. It's over. You were there and then you're back. I have already been to the store and now I'm back. or we have been to India twice in the last year. You're going to use gone to to describe a visit that you have not returned from yet. He's gone to the toilet. He'll be back soon. Or you just missed her. She's already gone to bed. So really, there is a distinct difference between been to in which it's completed versus gone to and you're not back yet. Here is your next question. Did you watch my new lesson? M YouTube. Which preposition are you going to use? In, on, or at. Hopefully, this was a little easier and you knew that the answer was on. Did you watch my new lesson on YouTube? Now, in, on, and at can really be confusing, and I I'm not going to go over all of these examples, but in general, you're going to use in when talking about an enclosed space. you're surrounded on all sides. We're going to use on when referring to a surface, something that is either attached to or touching something. And you're going to use at when referring to a point, a specific location, or position. So again, you can get the lesson notes and and really go through and look at some of these different examples. How about this one? There is a bear in our neighborhood sometimes rummages through our garbage cans. Are you going to complete this with that, which or who? And if you're unfamiliar with the meaning of the verb to rummage, to rummage through something just means to really look through something quickly and carelessly. These relative clauses can be tricky, but I hope that you chose a that there is a bear in our neighborhood that sometimes rummages through our garbage cans. So, let's talk about these relative clauses, that, which. So, in general, you're going to use that when referring to people, animals, or things. You're going to use which when referring to animals or things, and you're going to use who when referring to people. This information is either going to be part of a restrictive clause, which means that the information is needed. So in that case, you're going to use either that or who. Or if it's a nonrestrictive clause, in which case the information is not necessary in order to understand the meaning, you'll use which or who. In our example, we're talking about a restrictive clause and we're talking about an animal. So in this case, I think that is the preferred relative clause to use. And I say preferred because if you chose which, you know, technically it is not incorrect. I think using which would probably be a little more common in British English. But because I'm from the US, I'm giving you that perspective. And in that case, that is the preferred relative clause. How about our next question right here? At the store, we need to pick up some fruit. M apples, bananas, and watermelon. Are you going to complete this with eg or IE? When making a list, you're going to use eg because it stands for for example. At the store, we need to pick up some fruit. For example, eg apples, bananas, and watermelon. So, eg, as I just said, stands for for example, I love eating exotic fruits. For example, durian, passion fruit, hornmelon, guava, and jackf fruit. Yes, I I love my exotic fruits. Whereas I is an abbreviation. It stands for in other words, the fact that they came up with something like I'm not even going to try to pronounce it. Um, in other words, the fear of long words because that is what the word means. Shows that psychiatrists do have a sense of humor. And this is a a funny little example uh using this very long word. I'm afraid of spiders. That's called arachnophobia. What are you afraid of? Long words. He says that's called hippopot. I'm not even going to try to pronounce it, but it's just a it's a fun little joke that I wanted to share with you. Here is the next one. All applicants submit their resumes by the first of the month. Are you going to use must or have to? Now in this context I think a must is the more appropriate choice. So must and have to they they are a bit similar but as you can see there are some distinct differences as to when it is more appropriate to use must and when it is probably more appropriate to use have to. So just as a quick example, you're going to use must when expressing something that is required. You must report to training camp by the end of the month. Whereas have to, you might use that to express necessity. I have to make a dentist appointment. So in this case, I really think it's expressing something that is required, which is why I would say all applicants must submit their resumes by the first of the month. What do you think about this one? We are going m where no man has gone before. Are you going to complete this with to go boldly or to boldly go? This is a little bit of a trick question, but I'm going to say the answer is B. To boldly go only because this is a direct quote from the TV series Star Trek. We're going to boldly go where no man has gone before. But really what we're talking about are split infinitives. And I've taken this from Marian Webster's dictionary. So what it was basically saying is that it's preferred not to split the infinitive, but if people do that, and I think this would be more common in spoken English, it's still considered correct. Preferred. She decided to quit her job immediately. Now, if I wanted to split that infinitive, I could say, "She decided to immediately quit her job." Or the preferred, "The doctor told me to check my blood pressure regularly." If I wanted to split that infinitive, the doctor told me to regularly check my blood pressure. Something to keep in mind. How about this one? Did you catch m fish today? Are you going to complete this with some or any? This may be a little easier but still confusing. I hope that you chose be any. Did you catch any fish today because we're talking about a question. So, some versus any. In general, we're going to use some when making affirmative statements. I have some extra pizza. Now, there are some exceptions and I've also included some useful phrases if you want to check those out. But if we're talking about any, we're going to use that when making negative statements or asking questions like the one I just asked you. Did you catch any fish today? Now, once again, there are some exceptions and useful phrases with any as well. But let's move on to the next question, which is this. Which question is grammatically correct? Who do you believe or whom do you believe? Grammatically speaking, the correct answer is be whom. And I I specify that and say grammatically speaking because in spoken English, I think people often break this grammar rule. We're going to use who when referring to the subject of the sentence. We're going to use whom when referring to the object of the verb or preposition. I've given you some examples using both who and whom. But in this case, we're really talking about the object. Whom do you believe? And I I know that because I can then change it to a statement if I said I believe him. I believe her. Him and her, those are object pronouns. So, we're talking about the object with this question. Whom do you believe? Now, I mentioned that this grammar rule is often broken. And to prove my point, we can just check out engram viewer and I could put in the question, whom do you believe versus who do you believe? And as you can see, who do you believe is more commonly used? Again, that does not mean it's grammatically correct, but just something to keep in mind. So, here is a little review of all of the different grammar concepts that we went over. Again, if you'd like to get these notes, check out the link down below in the description and join our email community. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, please hit that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. So long. --- ## 625. This is why your English teachers encourage you to make mistakes... ๐Ÿšซ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gbauIno9aBw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbauIno9aBw) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:46:17 | --- Today we are going to give you some of the best advice when it comes to learning English. Before we begin, we'd like to remind you to please subscribe to our channel for more lessons on how to practice and improve your English. So today's advice is very, very, very important. And this will help you immensely in learning English. And it's something that is much easier said than done, but it is an inescapable fact. So the best advice that we can give you is don't worry about making mistakes. We make mistakes all the time. It's true When it comes to making mistakes, you just need to accept it as a fact of life. It's going to happen and that is okay. One of our favorite quotes is one by Albert Einstein. And he said, "A person who never makes mistakes never tried anything new." Very true. So the point is if you don't try something new, if you don't make the mistake, then you're never going to learn from them. And you can never improve. So when we started filming these videos we just kept making mistake, after mistake, after mistake. And we're still making mistakes today. If you're making a lot of mistakes, then that really just means that you are trying really hard. Which means that in the future you can correct those mistakes and make fewer. Another great quote is, "The expert at anything was once a beginner." And this is true because in order to become an expert you have to start somewhere, which is at the beginning. And at the beginning you're going to be making a lot of mistakes and you learn, and you get better and better. And then you become an expert, and then you'll be able to help others correct their mistakes and improve. Another piece of advice is don't feel bad and learn to laugh at your mistakes. We try to. One funny story about making a mistake is when I was teaching at a university in Korea. We were having a class discussion and one of the students was talking about a famous musical group called the Wonder Girls. And they had just had this hit song, and the chorus of the song is, "Nobody, nobody but you." I want nobody, nobody but you. I want nobody, nobody but you. But the student thought that they were saying, "Nobody, nobody wants you." Which is kind of completely the opposite message. And everybody kind of had a good laugh about it. He did as well. You know he didn't mind. He was interested to learn the correct words that were being said in the song. And afterwards I told him, "You know, it's okay. It's an innocent mistake." And music is a great way to learn English and especially for listening and trying to identify the exact words that people are saying in the song. One experience that I have with music is I've been learning Spanish for quite a while and there is a famous bachata singer, Romeo Santos. And he has a song where he says, "Llรฉvame contigo," which is take me with you. Llรฉvame contigo, que no aguanto la aflicciรณn. Llรฉvame contigo, no seas malita y no no. And, for some reason, I thought he was saying like, "No hable conmigo," which is don't talk to me. I remember when I told people that...like, yeah everybody thought it was pretty funny. And now that I think about it, yeah it is pretty funny. Take me with you. Don't talk to me. Now I know and when I sing along to the song I can say it correctly. Can you sing the song for us? I thought he was saying, "No hable conmigo." Llรฉvame contigo, que no aguanto la aflicciรณn. "No hable conmigo." Llรฉvame contigo, no seas malita y no no. My listening is not the best. I think your singing is not the best. Yeah, my singing is even worse. I also had a very public mistake. And this was again after years of learning English. In fact, it was in university in a big public classroom. I think there were about maybe 40 people. It was a literature class and at the very end we were reading a story where this character at the very end of the story kicked the bucket. We kept talking about different kinds of symbolism throughout the story, and then I ended up raising my hand in front of everyone and said, "I don't understand. Why did he kick the bucket at the end. Like why...?" It just didn't make sense. Why was there a bucket? Why was he kicking it? What does this mean? And the teacher just told me, "Oh, well in English to kick the bucket means to die." Guess who just kicked the bucket. And then it makes sense. So again, this is very public, but let me tell you something. I will never forget what kick the bucket means. Finally, you should use mistakes as a learning opportunity. And don't shy away from them when you make a mistake. Really try to ask questions and understand what the mistake is so that you can correct it. And if you don't have anyone to correct your mistakes, that's okay as long as you keep exposing yourself to correct English, which would be through music, and reading, watching TV, and movies. You will start to internalize that information and correct those mistakes automatically when you start producing the language in speaking and writing. Yeah, at some point things will just sound wrong to you. And you say, "Okay, this just doesn't sound right. I'm not going to say it anymore." And then you realize, "Oh, I've corrected myself." So remember it is okay to make mistakes. Recommended even. You can see that...hey, things are no different for us. People make mistakes all the time and it's just part of the learning process. So in the comments below what we'd like you to do is tell us a mistake that you've made when learning English and how you've corrected it. I think it would be useful to look at what other people have written so that you can learn from each other. Learn how people have corrected their mistakes and thus maybe fix your own mistakes. So everyone's just learning from each other. Sharing is caring. Thanks for watching and we will see you next time. Bye. --- ## 626. Try This! 5 Tricky English Adjectives Every Learner Should Master ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `MsLwsZPJPNc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsLwsZPJPNc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:54:31 | --- Can you correctly pronounce these five adjectives right here? These are longer words which definitely makes them a little trickier to pronounce like the first one, unprecedented. This is a word that I think you'll hear more and more of. Things that are you just can't believe it's happening. It's unprecedented. The stress is on that second syllable. This lesson is un Well, there are there are many lessons like this so it's not unprecedented but you know what I mean. Preposterous. I just like saying that word, preposterous. You can certainly hear the stress on the second syllable. So if something is ridiculous, you can just say, "That's preposterous." Then there's simultaneous. You're going to hear all five of those syllables, simultaneous. And the stress is on that third syllable. Say it with me, simultaneous. When things are happening at the same time. The next word is one that I really like, phenomenal. Of course that ph has a f sound and the stress is on the second syllable, phenomenal. I hope that you think this lesson is phenomenal. And finally, sophisticated. Whenever something is really complex, you can say it's sophisticated. Now that first syllable, you will hear more of a schwa sound which is an unstressed vowel sound, sophisticated. Of course we got that ph in there again, sounds more like a f, an f sound, sophisticated. This lesson Nah, it's not really sophisticated but [laughter] uh I hope that now that we've gone through them, it's much easier to pronounce these words. --- ## 627. UNLOCK THE AMERICAN ACCENT ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Useful Pronunciation Tips | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Q_A2DUy9bro` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_A2DUy9bro) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:08:50 | --- today i have 10 pronunciation tips to help you improve your speaking fluency and yes i am from the united states so some of these tips are more related to the american accent let's begin with number one and we're talking about elision in which you are removing sounds so number one you may not pronounce the t when it comes between two consonants and i'm sure you hear this when i say words like exactly or mortgage or christmas and this also goes for phrases as well if i were to say last night or mashed potatoes you don't hear that t at all number two let's stay with elision you may not pronounce the d when it comes between two consonants and again you hear this in words like sandwich or lands this also applies to phrases like used car or sand castle and notice that t is also gone in castle because it comes between two consonants so a couple of things going on with that one number three also part of elision you're going to drop that g in those ing words so it's really a difference between in and in taking taken normally i would say something like yeah i'm taking the day off and i think this is pretty common in just casual conversation with those verbs in the continuous tense playing watching dancing i hope that you are hitting that like button and subscribing to the channel so that i can become your teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals number four and this one is definitely more american english you're going to use a flap t when the t comes between two vowels and a flap t sounds more like a soft d and i'm sure you hear it when i say words like water or beautiful and this also goes for phrases as well when the t comes at the end of the word and it's linked with another word that begins with a vowel so instead of saying something like we're going to meet at the office meet at we can link those together and now the t comes between those two vowels i can use a flap t we're gonna meet at the office we're gonna meet at the office number five be sure to pronounce those r's now this is a difference between american english and british english which is known for dropping those r's but in the u.s you want to pronounce those r's in words like father or whether or better and notice that flap t when i say better now some regional accents in the u.s such as like well the boston accent in the northeast they may drop some of those r's but in general just just go ahead pronounce those r's i have one quick announcement before we continue because if you are someone who would like to improve your speaking fluency well then you can join my speaking course just click on the link down in the description and when you do you will find a special discount code just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally to help you speak confidently each week there is a different speaking topic you get a bit of variety we do engaging speaking activities help you build your vocabulary all of it to give you more confidence when you're having a conversation to help you speak clearly we always warm up each lesson with something related to pronunciation or connected speech and there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course and this not only helps you speak clearly but i really do think it helps with your listening comprehension as well and speaking naturally you will learn some of the language nuances when to use certain words and phrases practice idioms as well as use a variety of ways to express some very common ideas so click on the link in the description if you'd like to join or learn more about the course and i just hope to speak to you soon now let's get back to those pronunciation tips number six don't be afraid to use the schwa sound especially with some very common words so the schwa sound it is an unstressed vowel sound it just sounds like uh you hear it in in words like banana banana you hear it in that first and last syllable now we can use the schwa in very common words like you which has two different pronunciations both are accepted when it's stressed you when it's unstressed and we say it with the schwa yeah so if i were to say like look at you okay you can hear that stress you if i were to ask something like um are you gonna write to me in the comments okay are ya gonna write to me in the comments i i say it with the schwa and i'm also making a suggestion as well are you gonna write to me in the comments number seven don't be afraid to use reductions there are certain phrases like going to and want to that often get reduced to gunna and wanna again you hear that schwa at the end so this is something that i think i end up doing like 99 of the time so if you want to speak like they do in your favorite tv show or movie then you're going to start using reductions number eight and this is a syllable stress rule so words that end in t-i-o-n or s-i-o-n it's pronounced as shun but the stress is going to come on the syllable before pronunciation comprehension all right i'm emphasizing a little bit so you can easily hear it pronunciation comprehension the stress is on the syllable before number nine another syllable stress rule words that end in t y c y p h y g y and a l the stress is going to be on the third to last syllable so electricity photography biology okay again i'm trying to over emphasize it so you can easily hear it but stress is on the third to last syllable number 10 keep an eye out for loanwords so these are words that are borrowed from other languages and english has borrowed many many words and often the word may keep its spelling and pronunciation and this is why sometimes you see a word in english and you think wow the spelling and the pronunciation they just don't match so to share with you a few loanwords that english has borrowed from languages like french champagne spanish marijuana hindi pajamas japanese samurai the the list goes on and on there are many many loan words just just keep in mind that the spelling and the pronunciation are not always going to match up i hope you enjoyed the lesson and learn something new again if you'd like to practice and improve your speaking with me click on that link down below in the description if you'd like to join my speaking course thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 628. USEFUL HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY ๐Ÿ‘ป | Words & phrases you should know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DzY7ARuxkjY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzY7ARuxkjY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:16:30 | --- happy halloween all right so i hope that you are having a wonderful day i hope that you're going to have a wonderful halloween whether you are celebrating this holiday or not if you like halloween please go ahead hit that like button that'll that'll tell me this is like uh this is actually part of my daughter's costume for tomorrow she's going to be a pumpkin uh it really doesn't fit on my big head it fits more appropriately on her she's right here uh i'll give you a little shot show you what she looks like um oh i thought you were gonna bring her okay never mind so we are going to talk all about uh halloween vocabulary words that are related to this this holiday uh so i have some some scary halloween vocabulary um ah here she is do you want to say hi to everybody that you can't see part of your new uh outfit uh for tomorrow her little pumpkin outfit say hi all right there you go excellent so before uh before we we jump into talking about all of these amazing words and phrases um i do want to let you know that there is still time if you would like to enroll in my upcoming speaking course that's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly yeah speak naturally um i'm gonna put a link in the the description and i'll throw it right here in the chat as well if you'd like to join my speaking course if anything um if anything just check out the the landing page i didn't do this myself but um the person we had do this page did a really really nice job i thought so there's a bunch of more information about this talking about what's included in the course but the one thing the cool thing that i really wanted to share with you is because it's the end of 2021 there you can get a 30 discount if you use the code speak 30. you can get 30 off the course check out the page it gives you the the class times that are available um so again check that out um if you want to end 2021 on a strong note and and improve your your speaking fluency so uh i do want to say quick hello um good to see you lolly sleepwalker michelle leonardo yashar angela um christina abdullah catherine jude great to have you here i'll try to give some more shout outs as we go through the lesson because the way that we're going to do this because this is interactive english um we're going to be talking about the vocabulary i'm going to give you some questions and write your answers in the chat even if you're watching this later write your answers in the comments it's a great way to participate in the the lesson but also i think it does help you better remember these words if you're really trying to think about them before i just tell you uh what they mean so let's just go ahead and begin with uh with our first question right here so in stories as you see as it says a a dead person who comes back to life and sucks blood from other people at night it's basic i'm asking you like what what is this person called what do you call this person again all of these words are related to halloween this is a i think it's a word that you guys are probably familiar with i'm sure you've heard many of you have heard it before and the key the key phrase in there i would say is sucks blood okay what what do you think uh what what am i talking about um i'll give you a second to think of the answer and then i'll tell you excellent uh yes the correct answer is a vampire so a vampire there are so many movies and tv shows out there related to vampires somebody who's trying to to to suck the somebody uh the the blood um that's how they survive i guess but great job uh uh ruth juliana oh giuliana great to see you um breon lolly excellent the next question next halloween question that i have for you um for halloween people hollow out a pumpkin they cut holes in the side to create a face and then place a candle inside so what this is called what what do you call this it is a it is a phrase you can see some pictures of them right there what do you what do you refer to them as like basically the whole thing it's called a what and this is something that we we're gonna try and do tomorrow it's a fun activity i think especially if you're a kid and you create these um and you you hollow out take out the the seeds from the pumpkin put that candle inside make a face um what what's it called um all right excellent so the correct answer uh is a jack-o-lantern all right lolly great job a jack-o'-lantern so in this is what you would refer to like those the pictures of those pumpkins right there they are called jack-o'-lanterns a pumpkin that has has a face and there there's that candle inside i am going to i'm going to circle back to this later on so this will be a little bit of review but hopefully if you did not know this it's a great phrase to know because this is this is definitely a part of halloween okay let's keep going the next one is trying to get your vocabulary juices flowing and i have a word i've given you part of the word and well the meaning of this word it is a synonym for these other words right here it's a synonym for frightened or scared or frozen another word that you could use instead of those words is this one uh is this one right here so i i i thought it would be too difficult if i didn't give you any of the letters so that's why i thought i'd play like a little bit of a a hangman type game and see if anybody can can guess what word that i'm talking about so you guys are putting in some great words that i i think are synonyms but it's not it's not the one that uh we're i'm looking for just yet what do you think so i actually probably no now i now that i see what you guys are writing i see my mistake because if you said terrified yeah you're actually right and that does that does fit in there um and that that that's perfect all right it does have the same meaning another word to teach you another word because i think if you want to say frozen to um another word that you could use is petrified so i think terrified if you said terrified you are you're absolutely correct um it also works it means the same thing it's another synonym and that word is that word is more common but if you want to use a word a little more advanced vocabulary that's not as common you could say petrified you were petrified and i think part of um petrified the meaning again that frozen part that you're you're so scared that you are unable to move so many people said terrified great job you guys got that right um no petrified uh but that's okay all right um hello ho hans excellent uh thanks for joining us good to see you nice to meet you um let's let's keep going with some more uh vocabulary words um hans and gustav welcome here is this um this is an adjective okay so it's an adjective that's used to describe a place or a person it means strange slightly frightening uh or making you feel uncomfortable all right so what what what word could you use to um describe a place or a person and and that it has that meaning so again part of this is just trying to get you to think of some of these different words that are often related to halloween these are words and phrases that if you are watching a movie or tv show which of course because it's halloween that is on tv you'll see a lot of them this is some vocabulary that that you will tend to come across um okay so i see some great answers in there so the word that we're looking for all right um describing a place or person is creepy okay so you could say that something is creepy um that it's as a place like it's strange it's slightly frightening or i think even if a person if you're saying like oh a person is is creepy then it's somebody that makes you feel uncomfortable some of the other words in there that you guys gave um spooky eerie again those work as well those are also great words that are related to halloween but we had one uh creepy who is it ah mr the sun and sleepwalker excellent catherine uh hamsa perfect the next the next question that i have for you and this one i think this one is um a bit more difficult uh so it's something that is impossible to explain by known natural forces or by science and you would refer to this as what okay so this is a more difficult word um i think it's probably you could say it's related to halloween but i think you this is probably something that you would probably find in more like movies that have like ghosts in it something that is unexplained um it can't be explained by science these natural forces so what what do you think um any any guesses what word would be used to describe what i'm talking about all right you guys uh you guys are close i see i do see one correct answer give them a shout out um perfect the answer that i was looking for the word that i'm talking about is paranormal so if you describe something as well this is paranormal um that that's what it refers to that you cannot er it's can be explained by science and often i think you might hear this word used um as a collocation with the word activity and you might say oh there's paranormal activity that something is going on that we can't explain and that's why i said maybe ghost something like that but keep an eye out for that collocation listen for it people will talk about paranormal activity all right so here is the next one this is well here's a it's a fill in the blank and let's say a is a meeting where people try to communicate with the dead and you would refer to this as what and again this is more advanced vocabulary it's not it's not a a word you're going to use in everyday conversation i imagine i don't think probably many of you have participated in a meeting like this um it makes me in a way think of the the game like the when you would play like the ouija the ouija board and you try to communicate with a ghost or a spirit but in general um this type of activity meeting um in which people will will try to communicate with the dead uh what do you think i think when i when i give you the answer i think many of you are like oh yes i i have heard of that word i would say um i'm trying to think give you a hint like maybe more of a formal word for it um like i said it's not something that you people i think people that take this very seriously this is what they this is what it would involve so the word that i'm talking about in case you you're not sure maybe medium i know some people are saying maybe i'm not too familiar with it i'm talking about a seance so you could describe a seance as this meeting this activity in which people are trying to communicate with the dead through like chanting or could be some dances i i really don't know but you could say it's a seance but that's why i said like this would be like people that are really taking it more seriously um and participating and trying to do this you could refer to it as a seance and somebody asked if it's uh i think i don't know um gustav is it's a french word i don't it there is an accent marker over a seance so i'm not really sure i don't believe it is i i believe this word is borrowed from another language i'm not really sure um which if anybody can clear that up in the comments it would be greatly appreciated so let's continue i have some more um more words for you this uh i chose that picture because it looks um that picture looks a bit creepy okay so there's something creepy um in the shadows i want you to try to use a word to complete that sentence this is a word that um yeah is a bit uh it's a bit scary it's a bit creepy and you might hear it that that collocation in the shadows so again if you don't know think about like what what does your instinct tell you so i'm not telling you the meaning of this word i will tell you the meaning when i give it to you but do you have any guesses what word would complete that sentence there's something creepy in the shadows and i get i told you that uh yes that is uh that's i i thought that picture was a little creepy that shadow um excellent yes uh some correct answers so that the word that we're looking for is um lurking something lurking in the shadows so great job angela um little duckling great uh so if you you're talking about lurking like what does it mean lurking means that like somebody um where the presence of someone or something is felt and it's kind of like it gives you like a sense of danger that there's a problem and that's why i said something is lurking in the shadows maybe it's following you another way that you might hear this is have you ever gotten the feeling that somebody was like over your shoulder um and they're like looking over your shoulder you could say somebody's like lurking over your shoulder and they're staring at what you're doing and it makes you feel uncomfortable maybe a little frightened so you could say lurking great job um also udit um gustav hans excellent so uh that's a it's another i'd say it is a little more advanced word it depends on the context but again thinking of these collocations to build your vocabulary lurking in the shadows lurking over someone's shoulder are ways that you can use that word all right um hi luca all right how are you so let's keep going on you guys i think you're doing great keep keep the answers coming um what do you call the process of forcing an evil spirit to leave a person or place by using prayers or magic okay what um so this is really even though it's a question i'm giving you the meaning the process of forcing an evil spirit to leave a person or a place um what do you call that and again this is a word that i think you're probably more likely to hear uh it movies like scary movies there's a very famous old movie that this was kind of um well it was kind of the title close and you guys are rocking this one so i'm just going to give you tell you the answer yes the answer is exorcism all right that is the process so great job um brayan pasek angela cece catherine uh juliana yashar lolly um okon uh ruth try to get more shout outs in there so we're talking about exorcism the movie that i was talking about um i guess you'd refer to the person is an exorcist and that was the title of the movie gosh i think how old that was back in like the 70s maybe um very scary movie a long time ago uh this next one what do you call this all right there's a picture for you um just just tell me no i'm not giving you the meaning nothing just that picture what is that called right there and the reason when you think of um i think again of halloween stories especially um like people from like a long time ago when they're scared they're like they'd go grab this and like let's go let's go get the evil person let's go let's go get that the witch or whoever and they would go and grab one of these and you would see them like marching in the street um using it to i guess they're they're gonna try to fight um with this but it's really it's a it's a farming tool um what do you refer to this as i think everybody's kind of right what i would say and the word that i'm talking for about um is a pitchfork so this is uh really like the farming equipment that somebody would use people are saying trident a trident is also um it does yeah it looks like that i feel like a trident makes me think more of like um poseidon the gree the the god that would have this weapon and they'd have like a trident so to me i think a trident i don't know and again i don't know if this is correct i think a trident would be more like a weapon whereas this is more for for farming uh you would use a pitchfork and that's why i said in movies um or tv shows it take takes place a long time ago people their farmers they would run and grab their pitchforks and they would mark and they'd run through the streets and be very angry so yes the word that i was looking for it is a pitchfork then we have um okay this is a little different some of you have already said that you've written this word so i know you know how to spell it but i'm going to give you a word i'll tell you what it means and i just want you to spell it so this is an adjective used to describe something strange and frightening in a mysterious way the word is eerie all right that's what it means if something is eerie it's strange or mystery in a mysterious way how do you spell the word eerie and it's a great word um it it's more advanced but i still think it's uh it it's probably a little more common if we're talking about things that might um be scary like halloween so what do you think how do you spell the word eerie i know the first person to spell it correctly i know everybody's gonna going to see the answer of course um but excellent angela sleepwalker um baby jojo's lolly i i saw this word before people were writing it down when we were talking about the word creepy um or the the synonym which again eeries another one something that is frightening it's mysterious the the tricky thing is that there are two e's e-e-r-e-i and often to give you a little more information about this word how people use it they might use it with the word feeling like you would say i have an eerie feeling about this perhaps some situation instead of saying strange feeling you have an eerie feeling so that is a common collocation with uh with this adjective let's keep going why don't we shall we uh so here is your next question fill in the blank and i told you that we would come back to jack i i've already said that these um these pumpkins that are they're carved out they have this face they're called jack-o'-lanterns and it's believed that the jack-o-lantern the jack-o-lanterns they um their frightening faces scare away evil spirits so that whole idea is an example of what all right so hopefully i'm explaining this correctly that you're you're going to have an idea of what i'm talking about so the idea that these jack-o-lanterns those faces will frighten away evil spirits what would you call that that is a what all right and awesome you guys are rocking it uh yes uh saira sarah sorry i've mispronounced names sleek walker um we're talking about the word superstition all right so that is the answer that we're looking for and if you want to know specifically what a superstition means it is a belief that that people might have and that's not based in like scientific fact that it has not been proven there's no evidence to support this idea and you would call it um it's just a superstition it's something that people believe in and there's many superstitions out there uh like you see a shooting star and you make a wish or a four-leaf clover that's good luck that is an example those are other examples of superstitions but uh i think halloween in general there are quite a few superstitions i can't even say it quite a few superstitions related to halloween such as this one um right here okay so oh ceta said uh erie is a new word excellent glad glad to hear that you learned something new i always love it when people just walk away from these lessons just even learning one one new thing so hopefully there are some new words and phrases for you so little girl she's getting she's getting excited for halloween so one superstition claims that this is another this is a superstition that it's bad luck if you cross paths with this animal all right what uh what animal am i talking about uh specifically all right what would you say so it's another super this is a common one that's not it's not necessarily rooted in halloween it's just a superstition you guys i think seem to be very familiar with ran an alligator it's not an alligator we're talking about a black cat and i say it to be specific yes it is a black cat if you cross paths as far as i know with a um like a yellow cat or a white cat it's not supposed to be bad luck but if you cross paths with a black cat then the superstition is people think oh that's that's bad luck it's not it's not good luck um that is a more of a kind of a a cultural question when it comes to halloween or superstitions in general so here we have uh i have another synonym question for you i'm using erie again a bit of review so a common halloween word that is a synonym for these other words right here and i keep in mind this is common all right it's a common word i've already seen some people write it um already thinking it was one of the other answers but uh so you could say chilling something is creepy we talked about that word at the beginning eerie that strange feeling this is another synonym um except this is a very common word um that you would hear that's related to halloween okay what do you think uh the answer yes uh yashar freyan lolly great job um that i i was looking for the word spooky so this is a very common halloween word if you say that oh something is a little a little spooky it's a little scary and this is a word i would be interested to know like the frequency that this word gets used when it's uh around halloween that probably there's this huge spike that more people are using the word spooky because i think other than halloween i don't i i don't really use this word that much but when it's time for halloween it's a word you might hear uh a lot more often then we have okay this this person right here who's that again just another another picture for you um what what would you call that i guess i guess i could say it's a person probably not but uh just looking at that hopefully that that looks familiar and you know uh what it's called so what do you think again write your answers um in the chat in the comments if you're you're watching this later um so uh i thank you guys you guys are right yeah you could call it death um but the answer yes lali that we're looking for specifically um some people put reaper and to to be this is the you'd say i guess the grim reaper um is i don't know i feel like in this i maybe like i said i don't um know if this is absolutely correct i know a reaper would be like somebody who would if somebody dies like they come up and it's like they collect the the dead after somebody dies and they say it's a reaper i feel like the grim reaper refers to like the the main one um which in this case other people like you said people would just refer to them as death like the the main one um all right so again grim reaper is what was looking for but again reaper or death i think that also works um vicky or gustav said you can't use the word spooky here interesting uh it's a trigger word wow interesting then uh i have another word uh well another let's see is it a word or phrase all right oh this is a word okay and this uh again this is i think good specific vocabulary all right miami she kind of crossed back and forth you probably hear her the sound a witch makes when laughing may be called a what so we're talking about a specific laugh that a witch would make if you're watching um a tv show or movie they have that very distinct laugh but it has a name and what would you call that that that that's uh that's my example for you i don't know if that helped at all when you heard me uh do that just now but what do you think so the answer that we're looking for is a cackle yes so great job uh lolly perfect uh sarah gustav hans um hottie yeah you would just say that this something cackling and i would think of a witch i really don't know anybody who their laugh in general is like a cackle but um again it's a great word if you want to be specific talking about how that a witch would laugh that okay so here is another word that i'm giving you kind of like i tried to give you these are collocations so it's an adjective that means like involving violence or blood it's kind of um i guess you could say it's a halloween word but you could use it in other contexts in situations as well and these are um like i said collocations you could say it's a movie or those are some um details and again the adjective means that it's involving violence or blood what um what adjective would go before the word movie or details like movie or um details what would you say i think the key word violence uh violence and blood all right and it's a little it's scary and yeah i think when i tell you probably you've you've heard of this i haven't seen anybody answer it kind of close sarah lolly that's close all right um unless uh unless i've made a a slight spelling mistake uh which is always possible with my typos um so the answer were looking for gory all right you'd say something is a uh gory movie gory details um and it involves like violence or blood so gory you think of something that there's a lot of like uh blood and again you would use it to describe a movie or perhaps like a somebody's telling a story and they're giving these gory details so it's a good again a good word to know i saw so many people spelling it uh g-o-r-e i had to second-guess myself um but yes the spell i'm trying to think uh gore and looking up that is okay so the meaning gore it's again the same you're talking about blood has been shed but gore is a noun so you would say like there's a lot of blood and gore and in that case gore is a noun kind of means the same thing but using it as an adjective you'd say gory like something is gory like a gory movie gory details or a gory crime scene um i really don't know so hopefully maybe um maybe that adjective might be new for for some of you so uh i wanted to show you guys again quickly um here is uh here's the vocabulary list these are the words from today if you are on our email list i have a special halloween if you sign up today uh i have a special halloween treat i'm gonna send you these notes um everybody if you wanna sign up there's also a link down below in the description for that if you wanna sign up to the email list but if you do that today i'm gonna send those out to everybody on the list these um these these notes from this lesson so hopefully that out of these 16 words one of them is new and you learn something new today that is always um that's always my hope with any of these vocabulary lessons that i end up doing i um i hope you enjoyed the lesson i hope you guys have like i said at the very beginning a wonderful halloween whether you celebrate it or not and uh again if you guys want to practice and improve your speaking one last little shout out you can check out um the link down in the description if you'd like to sign up for speak for my speaking course all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally you can check that out for more details and more information or if you have any questions just email me info at interactiveenglishvideos.com so uh lolly says six words were new awesome um yashar some of them were new and and the other thing that i would say if these are if these are some new words if tomorrow because tomorrow is halloween if you're watching something about halloween whether it's a tv show or movie or maybe you're reading something maybe go try to find an article related to halloween and see if you come across any of the words from this lesson all right any of these words right here so that's what what that's your homework assignment so it's a great way to continue building your vocabulary um and really taking these words and putting them up here making it a part of your active memory so thank you guys for being here thanks uh angela lolly eudet muffin sleepwalker juliana good to see you um gustav hans cece god of sarah happy halloween um and i will see you guys in the next lesson --- ## 629. USEFUL LISTENING SKILLS | Main Idea - Key Details - Make Inferences - Interpret Meaning | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jdtSQKkgHsE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdtSQKkgHsE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:29:12 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English which are channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to talk to you about a skill that is very important and that is listening but not only that I want to talk to you about different listening skills especially very important listening skills because listening I think is well it's something that you know it's part of the way we communicate we all want to have conversations and in order to do that we need to understand what the other person is saying it's very important and I want to practice some of these different listening skills with you today in order to help you improve your skills because to be quite honest listening this is actually this is my most challenging list skill when I'm trying to learn other languages I've studied Spanish I've studied Korean right now I'm trying to learn Romanian listening is always the most difficult for me I know everybody's a different learner but this is what's most challenging for me so this is something that I really need to practice when I'm learning another language so Before we jump into it I just want to say hello to everybody who's joined me in the chat if you are watching this now write your name in the chat if you're even watching this later write to me in the comments tell me your name tell me where you're from because I just love hearing from people especially especially new students so hello Julie rumah Ricardo Adan Lally Michael Angelo bethey Ramona hello welcome Robert thank you guys for joining me today I'll try and get in some more shout outs as the lesson goes on so we're gonna talk about listening today I'm gonna tell you about these different skills and and why they're important how we use them and then again we're going to do a little bit of practice I want you to listen to me talk to you about a few things like we're having a conversation and we're going to see well we're gonna see how well you can listen to what I'm saying so this is all it's all about comprehension it's all about trying to understand the words that you hear the phrases that you hear the sentences that you hear and these are the skills that we're going to talk about today main idea key details making inferences and interpreting meaning those are the four different skills that I want to look at and we're going to go through them one at a time so first let's begin with main idea so when you think of the main idea what all it means is it is just trying to understand what is the point of the conversation why are you having this conversation like what what is it that you guys are talking about and I would tell you that you really need to comprehend the big picture now what do I mean when I say big picture because this is a great idiom in English it's a good expression if you want to use it and and people talk about the big picture what that means is that you need to comprehend the the complete story the complete idea that is the big picture so when you are listening to a podcast or maybe you're listening to a song or you're listening or you're just having a conversation you need to comprehend the big picture the entire story the entire idea and that's going to help you identify the main idea now if you're talking about something that is like a very short presentation or a very short story often times you might hear the main idea at the very beginning people will start talking the and they're talking about a certain topic and they might just say the main idea the very first thing the very first few sentences you might hear the main idea if you're talking about a longer story for example maybe a movie and then then it comes down to what you really need to understand the different parts you need to understand the beginning the middle and the end the big picture and then that way you were you will know well what is the most important topic the main idea the most important topic so the other thing that I would tell you I'm going to throw another expression or maybe it's even perhaps a proverb at you to help you kind of think about the main idea of what I would tell you my suggestion would be this don't miss the forest for the trees so this is a proverb like that you can tell somebody else like you're giving them some advice don't miss the forest for the trees and what it means is that when you are doing something in this case you are listening to like I said it could be a song a TV show having a conversation the forest that is the big picture right there alright you need to understand the big picture the trees are those just tiny details so it's saying that don't don't get too hooked on those tiny details that you forget about the big picture don't miss the forest for the trees now you can use this proverb it doesn't just have to relate to listening you can use this to talk about so many other things perhaps you're doing a project at work and you need to do the entire project but you get stuck on these little details and because of that it becomes a bigger problem and somebody could tell you hey don't miss the forest for the trees so don't get too don't get too hooked on when you're listening that you're trying to just think about all of the specific details start with the big picture start with the main idea that that to me is the most important skill when it comes to listening is that you just want to understand well the main idea the main topic that is being discussed so let's go back let's practice this and we're gonna start we're gonna we're gonna start out a little easier and then it will get a little more challenging so I am going to read something to you and let's just pretend like we're having a conversation right now and I'm going to say something to you and all I want you to do is me what do you think is the main idea what's the main idea all right so here we go we're gonna practice your listening all I want you to do is just listen and tell me what the main idea is so I would tell you this we're having a conversation and I might say you know I love eating pizza it's my favorite food because the combination between cheese and tomato sauce is spectacular there's a great pizza restaurant close to my home but recently I've been learning how to make pizza on my own because hands down pizza is the best okay so I just gave you that short little excerpt right there that's just a short little listening and I want you to tell me what is the main idea write it in the chat write it in the comments this is when I want I want you guys to participate all right what do you think is the main idea I will I will read it again okay so here we go I'll read it one more time think about the main idea ready I loved eating pizza it's my favorite food because the combination of cheese and tomato sauce is spectacular there's a great pizza restaurant close to my home but recently I've been learning how to make pizza on my own hands down pizza is the best all right so again I told you we're gonna start a little easier and then work into it I also wanted to point out if you heard that that expression at the end hands down if somebody says that expression hands down then that just means like for sure or definitely or absolutely that you want to say that like okay hands down this is the best so that is another great expression that you can use hands down to say definitely absolutely alright so the main idea again there there can be more than one answer we have eight and the delicious pizza yes katroo dish you love pizza Anna pizza is amazing Priscilla love eating pizza app excellent alright those so this is what I wrote down again there could be more than one answer but the main idea could just be well maybe you said eating pizza or pizza is the best or Wes loves pizza these are all acceptable answers but you were able to listen to what I was saying and then understand well what is the main topic and again I think that this I wanted to start with this main idea because I I think when you're listening to something this is the first thing that you should really keep in mind that you want to understand because if you understand the main idea that is going to allow you to follow the conversation it's going to allow you to more easily follow the movie whatever it is you're listening to this is the most important thing because once you kind of understand the main idea then you can move in two key details and and once you get those key details again that is going to improve your comprehension that's going to help you understand exactly what the person is saying to you and you're just going to get more information so this is the next skill that I wanted to talk to you about and that is key detail so when you think about key details what this means is that you are listening for groups of words or or groups or different phrases and you're trying to identify specific information and these details that you're listening to they could be well descriptive details you could be talking about adjectives those are very descriptive because they tell us about size they tell us about color they tell us about the shape so that is a great example of when you're listening to something if you hear adjectives those are those are good details those are key details that are going to help you understand what the story or what you're listening to details could also be things like well names dates any number for that matter that could be a very a key detail when you're listening to a conversation so the reason why I think details are also important and to try and help you along with this what I would suggest that you do is that you try to you know put a picture in your mind when you hear those adjectives put a picture in your mind when you hear a number put that number in your mind and and almost like treat it like you're watching a TV show or a movie because that's going to help you follow along with what the person is saying if you can put a picture in those your mind that's going to help you capture those key details and then when you need to you'll be able to better recall the information so what what do I mean when you recall the information because if you're having a conversation with somebody you want to be able to first understand what they're saying and then if you need to if you've identified some key details you want to be able to share that information maybe with another person or perhaps it's just part of the conversation you want to discuss it with the person that you're talking to so try to put a picture in your mind it's going to help you understand what it what you're listening to but it's also going to help you recall that information that is the important thing that I wanted to hit on when talking about key details so what what we're going to do is again I am I am going to give you I'm gonna tell you a story alright this is this is a true story it's a true story about me and I want you to listen to the story and the first time I will read it twice the first time that you listen to the story I want you to think about the main idea I told you that is the that's the primary thing that I want you to think about if you hear some details perfect I want you to think about the main idea and then I'm going to ask you a couple questions these questions are going to be about details from what I tell you and then I'll read it again and then see if you can identify those details are you ready so let's go here we go again all I want you to do you just need to listen right now and this is me telling you a story this is a true story from my life are you ready here we go so I'd say you know some time this was from a long time ago too I'll just tell you that sometimes my my job it can be a bit manat I work at a golf course and pick up golf balls on a driving range I must pick up thousands of golf balls each day I start work at 8:30 in the morning and I head out on to the driving range then I take a short 15-minute break at a quarter to 11:00 lunch is at 1 o'clock sharp I usually pack a PB&J sandwich that's what I like to eat and then I go back out onto the driving range and then I finish work at 4 the time does not fly okay so I said this is a true story from my past although I'm telling you the story as though this is what's happening now I use the present tense but this is true I used to work at a golf course it was the very first job that I have so again when you listen to that the first thing is just start what is the main idea ok and now I want you to listen for some key details ok so I have a couple of questions that I want to tell you right now that I want you to think about and perhaps you were able to easily follow the story and you remember those details now that's great if not then just listen for the information so the first question I have two questions for you the first question is this is right what time do I take a break and I'll give you I'll give you some options do I take a break at 9:45 a.m. 10:45 a.m. or 11:45 a.m. what time do I take a break that is one of the details and then the second one is what do I eat for lunch ok so those are the two questions I want you to think about as I read it again those are the details that I want to see if you can pick out as I read this again ok so all you need to do right now is just listen ok listen to my story telling you about well my time working at the golf course alright so I guess I'd say you know sometimes my job can be a bit monotonous I work at a golf course and I pick up golf balls on the driving range I miss I must pick up thousands of golf balls each day start work at 8:30 in the morning and head out on to the driving range then I take a 15-minute break at quarter to 11:00 lunch is at 1:00 o'clock sharp and I usually pack a PB&J sandwich that's what I that's what I enjoy to eat eating I go back out onto the driving range and then I finish work at 4:00 the time does not fly ok so again this is a true story I this was the very first job that I had when I started working I was 16 years old and I was working at I was working at a golf course I worked at the driving range so I gave you two questions that I wanted you to think about and again because we're practicing our listening I wanted just to tell you those I wasn't going to show you the questions so the first question was this I said what time what time do I take a break and I gave you three options a 9:45 a.m. B 10:45 a.m. or C 11:45 a.m. what time do I take a break now some of you I hope you were able to extrapolate this because I was not that tricky but maybe a little bit I take a break at 10:45 a.m. excellent yes ADA and Samuel a sleepwalker nice now in the story I did not say 10:45 I said I take a break at quarter to 11 quarter to 11 15 minutes to 11 o'clock is 10:45 and this is where like if you are taking a listening test such as the IELTS or the TOEFL this is something they tried to do kind of not in order to trick you but to really test your comprehension they may take one detail but they're going to say it in a different way so I told you quarter to 11 but in the the question that I gave you I wanted you to see if you ant could identify that as 10:45 now the next question that I had for you I asked you I said what what do I eat for lunch all right that's right so that you love pizza yes I probably I probably should have put pizza but that is not true I did bring pizza with me to the driving range all right so yes I saw it it's circa rim excellent so what I eat for lunch is a PB&J so I don't know some of you may not be familiar with a PB&J this is I would say it's kind of an American thing and what what PB&J stands for it stands for peanut butter and jelly sandwich a PB&J and this is something that I think it's quite almond the common that kids would eat PB&J sandwiches I was 16 at the time they're very easy to make and I just I would put together a PB&J I would take it with me because I would get hungry out on the golf course so some of you put a sandwich that would be correct but if you really wanted to to identify that key detail a PB&J sandwich peanut butter and jelly sandwich excellent all right so remember details that is talking about those those specific information those the names the numbers the adjectives that will all if you can identify them put a picture in your mind because again it's going to help where your comprehension and it's going to help you recall the information so next the next skill that I want to talk to you about is this one making inferences now if you don't know what this is what what this means when you make inferences is that you are using the information that you know in order to make a guess or to infer information that is not directly stated and this is so important when you really want to will understand the big picture the entire situation because often people are not always going to say every direct all the information directly you might just have to they're gonna give you part of it and then you're just going to have to guess or infer other things that are happening so for example if I were to tell you something like this okay I'm just going to tell you the information and I want you to in fur well what's the weather like so I could say something to you like well I got in the car soaking wet I could hear the pitter-patter sounds hitting the window okay and I might say well what is the weather like what do you think is the weather like I didn't directly tell you what it is but I gave you some information so that you you could make a guess so let me say that again I'd say if I were to say you know I got in the car soaking wet and I could hear that that pitter-patter sound hitting the window I didn't tell you directly what it is but you can make an inference and infer well what is the weather like outside all right and what you should say yes tada perfect lolly sorry if i mispronounce names the sleepwalker it's raining it's raining outside I get in the car I'm wet all right well why could I be wet there are different reasons why I could be wet maybe somebody threw me in a pool maybe it's raining but then when I follow it up and say you could hear that that pitter-patter sound hitting the window then that should tell you right there okay it's raining outside so I might not when you're having a conversation with somebody or you're maybe you're listening to a presentation in class or a presentation at work people might not always directly say every piece of information so this is where it's good it's good to be able to make inferences and infer other things to to better your comprehension okay so let's let's practice this and another I guess like you could say it's another proverb that I could tell you and this is something that you know to use and when it comes to making inferences I could say look read between the lines and when somebody tells you to read between the lines they're basically telling you to try to understand the hidden information that there are certain there's certain information that you could say it's hidden or in this case we're talking about listening that somebody does not say directly and you need to understand that you need to make inferences so I could say this proverb right here okay when it comes to making inferences all right listen to what somebody's saying and then read between the lines all right this is important but this is a great proverb that again you could use in a variety of situations if you want somebody to understand some hidden information you could tell them read between the lines all right so let's practice right now we are I'm going to read you a situation and I want you to listen to it and and try to make some inferences okay so what I would tell you is this before before we're gonna go through this slowly and I want you to think about the following all right I'm gonna tell you about two people and I want you to think about what's the relationship between these two people what is the relationship between these two people that I'm getting ready to tell you about in this little little story okay so again all I want you to do right now is I just want you to listen all right we're gonna go through this a little bit at time so what's the relationship if I were to start like telling you a story and I say you know they were walking along the pier side-by-side when he reached down and took her by the hand okay that's a little bit of information and you're thinking about the relationship what can you infer okay well these two people obviously know each other they're holding each other by the hand it could be they could have a romantic relationship they could be family members family members could walk hand-in-hand but but again they they do know each other now let's add some more to that all right so I'll start over again they were walking along the pier side-by-side when he reached down and took her by the hand they stopped at the edge of the pier and embraced they stared into each other's eyes listening to the sound of the ocean water below their feet okay so now I've given you a little bit more information to where you think okay it's a little bit of a romantic setting there they're looking into each other's eyes they embrace so it's probably not going to be a family member all right we know that there are some people saying okay dating a couple bromance possibly who knows they are in love but again there are many types of relationship what is their exact relationship even if they're in love all right are they boyfriend and girlfriend are they engaged are they a married couple okay so let me give you some more information suddenly he got down on one knee and he pulled a ring out of his pocket her face was glowing with happiness all right so now if you were to infer okay what is the if somebody were to ask you you hear that whole story and they say well what is the relationship between these two people all right he's proposing to this person so that means that that their relationship right now would be they are well they're like boyfriend and girlfriend they are a couple and he is proposing to her in which case they would become they will get engaged and it will be the their fiancee okay so this is where again you are listening to some information I did not say they were boyfriend and girlfriend but I'm giving you information so that you can infer that you can infer okay they're getting there he proposed to her they are not married they must be boyfriend and girlfriend now let me let me let me back up all right and read it to you a different way and I want to see what you can infer all right so again the question the question remains the same all right that I'm asking you what is the relationship between these two people and I am going to okay let me let's I'll start at the beginning all right I would say same beginning they were walking along the pier side-by-side when he reached down and took her by the hand they had just met months ago at a coffee shop and really hit it off all right now if you don't know what it means if this is a good idiom another expression to hit it off it means when two people instantly come friends or they instantly make a connection and they get along really well alright so I have given you a little bit of a different situation okay again I want you to make an inference okay and the question is the same what is the relationship between these two people let me read again and I'm gonna finish the story okay so I just want you to listen here's the entire story they were walking along the pier side-by-side when he reached down and took her by the hand they had met just a few months ago at a coffee shop and really hit it off as they walked her fingers brushed his ring a symbol of eight years of turbulence they stopped at the end of the pier and embrace they stared into each other's eyes listening to the sound of the ocean water below their feet okay now I've given you a little more information and I didn't know let's see I don't know if you were able to pick up on it if I said well what is the relationship between these two people so again I told you uh if you caught those key details because I know that some of you guys are talking about that you know throwing out the main idea you could say okay love it first sight that they're their friends maybe they were classmate let me read it again see if you can pick out some key details all right they were walking along the pier side by side when he reached down and took her by the hand they had just met months ago at a coffee shop and really hit it off as they walked her fingers brushed up against his ring a symbol of eight years of turbulence they stopped at the end of the pier and embraced they stared into each other's eyes listening to the sound of the ocean water below their feet okay I don't know if you guys caught that so remember I said they had only met a they had only met months ago alright the guy he's wearing a ring and I said it stood for eight years of turbulence if the guy is wearing a ring like I'm wearing right now what does that mean okay it means he's married so if they had only met a couple of months ago what could you infer all right these two people are not married you could say he's having an affair dun dun duh scandalous I know okay so in that case what I was trying to say is that these two people they're walking along the pier they met months ago they're holding hands he's wearing a ring that stood for eight years of turbulence if you don't know what turbulence means when you fly on a plane you know when you're flying on the plane and the plane gets really shaky and bumpy that is turbulence so if you say something is a little turbulent you say that it's bumpy it's rocky it's not steady in which case if the marriage is not steady then probably that that means there would be problems okay so in that case that that information that key detail right there would allow you to infer that okay he is having an affair that he would be cheating on his wife and that would be again making a different type of inference okay so let's look at the next part so that was all about that was all about making inferences again when you make an inference you are listening to the information and you're trying to make a guess about other information all right the last part that I want to talk to you about is interpret meaning now when I say that you when I talk about interpreting meaning this is a very broad topic specifically I want to talk to you about two things I want to talk to you about intonation and emphasis in order to help you interpret meaning whenever you're listening to somebody talk so when we let's start with intonation this is the rising and falling of someone's voice when I say emphasis I'm talking about you are stressing a word or a phrase to to give a specific meaning and what I mean by this to help you interpret meaning when we're talking about intonation and emphasis I'll give you another quote and this is something that I like to say that you know it's not what you say but how you say it so when you think about listening to information what somebody says that that may not always be the most important thing but the way that they say it the way they use their intonation their emphasis that is really going to help you interpret the true meaning of what somebody is saying okay now of course I want I want to practice this so I am going to well let me give you some examples when we talk about first let's look at intonation because I told you intonation is talking about like the the rising and the falling of someone's voice think about the question when you meet somebody I might ask you and say you know hey how you doing you know how you doing that is a very common question I want to know how you are so if somebody just says well how you doing then they just there it's a very simple question there's no intonation now I don't know if you've ever seen the show friends and the show friends there is a character called Joey and one of the one of his catchphrases was this this question and he would say it something like this he'd say how are you doing and he would say it in that way how you doing now when you say it like that when when the character would say it on the TV show the true meaning of that is something that it's more something romantic that that he is interested in this other person so he would see a beautiful woman and then he would say how are you doing like I'm not very good at saying that but if you were to watch the show friends the character Joey would always say how you doing and again it implies something romantic that he has an interest in this woman and again it's all about intonation that is the true meaning so you can you can say it in a way that again you get more information the same way think about a question okay when you think about a question usually there is a rising intonation at the end so we can also use statements as a question as well and that's going to give you a little more information think about this situation all right if somebody were to ask you like you know did you lock the door a simple question did you lock the door and somebody responds and says I lock the door now the way that I said that with the rising intonation was a question all right which is very different from the statement so if somebody says did you lock the door I say I lock the door if I say it like that with the rising intonation I'm asking a question which means that in my mind I was thinking wait I was supposed to lock the door no no I wasn't supposed to lock the door so again if you are able to identify something like intonation you will better understand the situation as a whole it's going to help you understand that main idea that big picture if somebody says oh did you lock the door and say what I lock the door you're saying a statement but you're using that rising intonation which means it's a question okay now let's let's look at emphasis if you're talking about emphasis again it is you are stressing a word or phrase to give it a specific meaning let's go back to that that question that I asked you when I said I locked the door kind of like you know unsure of this thing what if I were to say like add emphasis to I somebody says did you lock the door and I would say I lock the door it's almost like I'm questioning then like well wait I was not supposed to do it you were supposed to do it I lock the door no no no it wasn't me so here's another sentence I want you to think about this sentence a simple sentence and I just want you to listen to it I'm gonna say it with no emphasis and the sentence is she isn't driving to the park she isn't driving to the park you can listen to that you understand it put a picture in your mind if it helps she isn't driving to the park now if I emphasize a certain word it's going to change the meaning of the sentence so for example what if I emphasize the very first word if I emphasize she and I were to tell you well she isn't driving to the park what does that mean if you are going to now interpret the meaning of this sentence if I said well she isn't driving to the park that means that well she is not doing it somebody else's or what if I were to interpret the word and say well emphasize the word driving alright and I said well she isn't driving to the park how does that change the meaning she isn't driving to the park what do you think if you were to interpret that meaning cuz that changes it a little bit she isn't driving to the park if I'm emphasizing driving that means well she's not driving in a car she's going to the park in some other way maybe she's walking to the park perhaps she's taking the bus to the park maybe there there's a train or maybe she's riding a horse we don't know but if somebody emphasized driving then that's going to change the meaning a little bit so again emphasis is very important in understanding the specific meaning I could even say what if I emphasize the last word Park and I say well she isn't driving to the park what does that mean now I changed it again when I emphasized the word part she isn't driving to the park what does that how does that change the sentence if ice if I emphasize Park this is the place that means well she's not driving to the park she's driving to some other place we don't know maybe she's driving to the grocery store maybe she's driving to the mall but if I were say well she isn't driving to the park she's going somewhere else so again these are small little things that again I want you to keep in mind when you're talking about intonation and emphasis that's really going to help you interpret the meaning of what you hear when you're listening to not just a conversation but you're watching a TV show a movie you're listening to the radio anytime you are listening that people are going to use intonation they're going to use emphasis and this could change the meaning and that's really that's what I really want you to be aware of when it comes to those things so in basically what what I want to do is just quick little in review all right so we talked about these four listening skills right here main idea I told you this is the most important one this is the first thing that I think when you're listening to something that you should really try to grasp okay what is the main topic and then once you get the main idea see if you can pick out some of those key details and those key details that might allow you to make inferences and try to understand information that was not directly stated and then also as you're listening especially if you are listening to a conversation and somebody's talking or they're telling a story listen for that intonation and emphasis because it's going to help you interpret the true meaning the true meaning of what someone really wants to say so these are the four skills that we talked about today this is what I wanted to practice with you and I I hope this helps because like I told you listening for me this is my greatest challenge when I'm learning a language some of you might find listening pretty easy others might find it difficult but it is always good to practice and the fact that you're able to identify some of these different skills whether it's main idea or making inferences and we can just take one at a time and practice that this is going to help you then next time you are listening to well anything a TV show a movie and you want to identify the main idea and listen for those details all of it helps even just watching this lesson and listening to me right now you've been listening to me go on for over a half hour any time you are listening and getting exposure to the language that helps so I would encourage you surround yourself with the language try to get more listening whether it's listening to an audio book whether you're listening to a conversation or maybe you want to go out and listen to another one of our lessons it's all going to help so again if you enjoyed this lesson please I would appreciate it hit that like button down below thank you guys so much I just want to say thank you too let's see sleepwalker morgana a10 shim top thank you guys so much for joining me today couple things last things I want to mention if you guys want to connect with us via email you guys can whoops check us out right there there I just threw a link in the chat there's also a link down below oh one last thing we did start we did start doing YouTube join memberships we are now active on YouTube you can join up with a membership and during these live lessons there are some cool emojis that you can use some badges check out link link is in the description down below if you want to become a member thank you guys again Bojan franceska Kareem sandy I am on neckla hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 630. USEFUL RESTAURANT VOCABULARY YOU NEED TO KNOW ๐Ÿฝ๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cLFtJkGFjlY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLFtJkGFjlY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:19:18 | --- Hello, welcome to today's lesson. Thank you for joining me. My name is Wes. The channel, it's Interactive English. The channel's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goal with so many different lessons related to vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, a little bit of everything. And today, I think it's a very well, I said it's useful restaurant vocabulary. So, a lot of the words that I'm going to talk to you about today, I don't think this is probably I wouldn't say this is advanced vocabulary. I think it's useful because these are words that are quite common that the talking about the things you would see in a restaurant, the people you would see in a restaurant, perhaps some of the questions that they may ask you. I think it's very helpful and for some of you, I think this will be a bit of review. It's great to see so many uh members here, so many patrons uh as well as some uh students from Speak Up. Awesome. Now, the way that I'm going to do this is that typically if we're talking about building vocabulary, I think it's normal that somebody you might you might get the word and then you're going to look at the meaning and then maybe you'll get a picture to help you associate it with something. We're going to work our way backwards today. All right, we're going to do the exact opposite. I'm first going to show you a picture and then I'm going to give you the meaning and then I'll tell you the word and this is going to allow you because I want you to try to kind of again go back through the vocabulary that you already know to see if you know these words and I think many of them you will know and if you know them please write them in the chat participate the this is interactive English and I want it to be a more interactive lesson. So, let's begin with the first one. This is our first picture right here. You walk into a restaurant. These are two people that that work there. So, looking at those pictures, what what does this person do? What would you say is this person's job? And these are very important words that that you need to know. So, again, starting with the picture and then I'll give you the meaning, which is right here. It's a person whose job is to bring the food to customers at their tables in a restaurant. Who who is this person? And for some of these, I think I'll I'll try to give you some synonyms as well because not only will you might you might refer to some of these words just that one way. Some of them there are synonyms which I think are also helpful in building your vocabulary. So awesome. I actually you guys already kind of beat me you beat me to the punch where you're giving me a variation of all of those words. Excellent. Uh lolli gratudrudis um sajad tertika ui. So the there are a couple different words that you could use if you're talking about the well the individual people. You could refer to um like a man or a woman. a man, you might refer to him as a waiter and a waitress, uh, a woman, a waitress. So, waiter and waitress, I think they're very common. If you want to use a word that's genderneutral, that it doesn't matter if it's a man or a woman, then you could just say that they're a server. And I think often in restaurants, restaurants would refer to the these people as servers because it really doesn't matter, man. But the customers, if you're talking um to somebody else uh and you know that your server is uh a man, then you might say, "Oh, I haven't seen the waiter in a little while." So, I think customers, it's pretty common that they may use the words waiter or waitress. But you could also say server means the same thing. Very common words, very useful um if you're going out to eat in a restaurant. Another because we're starting with people. The next one would be this person right here. Um, who who is this? This is another person who works in the restaurant. You can see by that picture that they work with food. What do you think? Um, is this uh I told you I'd say we're starting with the picture and then I'm going to give you the meaning and then I'll tell you the word. We're working our way backwards from what you may be typically accustomed to. So, here's the meaning. All right. This is a skilled or trained cook who works in a hotel or restaurant, especially the most important cook. So, some of you I think I saw the word cook. Yes, this person is a cook, but we're talking about a specific cook and you're talking about the most important cook. And that most important cook is the chef. All right. I think all of you, most of you got that. Uh, give some shout outs to Kao. Awesome. Um, be happy. Perfect. Gustav, good to see you. Welcome. Glad you're here. So, this is again another person who works in the restaurant. Good to know. Uh, we talked about a waiter, waitress, chef, works in the kitchen, and these are two other people. Now I will say that the this is useful restaurant for a vocabul this is useful vocabulary for a restaurant and all restaurants around the world are a little different. They have different setups. I'm from the United States. So in general it's kind of like that. That's what I have in mind. Restaurants in the United States. These are people who work at a restaurant. I'm not they're not in this case. They're not it's not a waiter or waitress. It's not a server. It's another person typically the first person that you would meet when you when you go into the door with your friend or family or whoever. What would you say? So I told you I would give you the meaning and the meaning is right here. So this is the person uh who greets customers as they enter the restaurant. Some of their other job responsibilities would be like they would take reservations. They might put people on a waiting list if there are many people who want to get into the restaurant and they would bring the like you or your group of people to the table and they would hand out the menus. What do you call these people? All right. I know a lot of people are throwing manager in there. They're not managers. Sometimes the manager may do this. I I will give you that. But there is a specific name for these people. When you go to the restaurant, they would talk to you, they greet you, they say, "Okay, how many like maybe you have to make a uh they would make reservations, put your name on a wait list." What would you say? All right, maybe this is new for for many of you. So again, you have a choice if it's a like a man or a woman. You would say that uh the man may be a host or a hostess. host or a hostess at uh if we're talking about a restaurant. Some of you mentioned like uh a receptionist. Receptionist is more I think like at a hotel, somebody who's um down there like answering phones, helping out customers or like in an office, if we're specifically talking about a restaurant, a host or a hostess. That's their job would be to take people to the table. Maybe they put people down on the wait list. And oftentimes I think you would see um you might see a manager, especially if it's very busy, managers would help out. They might do this um and they're helping out uh get people situated in the restaurant before the waiter or waitress comes around. All right, so today is all about helping you guys build your vocabulary. Um, this one, let me give you a little bit of context because you see that this is a group of people. And what I'm going for is what what would you call the group? So, we've talked about some people that work in the restaurant. If you go and you talk to the host or the hostess, they might ask you a very common question and they're referring to the group of people. So, let me just go ahead and give you the the meaning for this. Maybe it will help you because yes, you could say customers, guests, but I'm talking about the specific group like whoa. Uh oh, no, I went too far. I think you guys saw that. So yes, we're it's a particular group of people who are involved in an activity. Um and we're going for the word Ibraim. Yes. Party. Party. So a very common question that you get to the restaurant and maybe the host or hostess is there and you want a table. They may ask you like how many are in your party. They're talking about the group that you are with. And you might say well there's two people or there's four people. But that's a very common question that a host or hostess will ask you. How many are in your party? And even if you're, let's say it's really busy and you're waiting for a table and they may announce the people who the table's ready for and they may say the last name and they would say like Smith, party of five, Smith, party of five. So again, they're talking about that group. Um, or Stevens, party of three. Stevens, party of three. And they would make that announcement and you're going to hear them use that word again, party to talk about the group. All right. So, uh, again, party has different meanings. Of course, many of you, if you think about party, you're probably thinking about like the celebration, but in this case, at our restaurant, they're referring to the group, like the group that you are with. How many are in your party? Now, we're kind of going through this from the beginning. So, we we talked about some of the people. You go into the restaurant, the host or the hostess may ask you, "How many are in your party?" And then they're going to take you to maybe one of these places. And this is trying to make a distinction about where you might sit in a restaurant. I think you guys I think you probably definitely know this word up here at the top. So, let me know in the chat, in the comments. we're talking about where customers may sit in a restaurant. And the reason why I'm making a distinction is because this may be it may be another question that the host or hostess may ask you. They say, "Oh, would you like to sit in a m or they may give you a choice or sometimes people maybe they have a preference and you would tell the host or hostess like oh we have there are four people in my party and we would like to sit in a what? All right. Excellent. Uh Loi Louisa nice. Um, yes, we're talking about a uh table versus a booth. This is a table. I told you. I think everybody knows that. And this is a booth. Um, Gratudis asks, "Good question. You're talking about at home, a host or a hostess at home." I think if we're just talking about home, it would just be a host. Somebody is the host. You're not going to really differentiate between the gender. But often I think if you're talking about a restaurant, I don't know why for some reason people like for um they would say like the man is the host, woman uh hostess. But if it's just in general at the home like you are going to be a host for a party, I think you just say host. And then maybe at a restaurant too, host could be either for a man or a woman. Um either one. I don't think uh I don't think it's as big of a deal. So this is the difference between a table and a booth. Again, this is something I I think booth is something more specific. Some restaurants have them. Other restaurants they you may not have them. Here you see a picture of well, you have spoons, you have forks, and you have a knife together. Together, what would you refer to this uh set? You would refer to this as what? And there are several different words that that you could use. For example, like let me give you the meaning because again I told you all we're working backwards through this. I'm giving you pictures and then the meaning and then I'm going to give you the different words that you could use. So I said yes, it's a spoon, a fork, and a knife used for eating a meal. Collectively, we can refer to this as what? All right. What would you guys say? Um, see how many different words you could think of to describe this. Uh, I got some good ones. Yes. Abraham, sleepwalker, Eloa, be happy, perfect. Uh, Armando. I would say like just for me, the word that comes to my mind, which I think maybe I would probably say is more common than some of the other ones would be silverware. Silverware. Another word you could say utensils because people talk about eating utensils. I don't think that's as common. Cutlery is another one. Specifically, I think cutlery really involves like if you're trying to cut things um like maybe you're eating a steak or something. In general, you could refer to it as cutlery. I think cutlery would definitely have to include a knife. But if you you're just talking about um maybe a combination of uh I don't know a spoon and a fork, you could refer to that as silverware. In general, silverware is the one in my opinion I think would be the one that's u most commonly used. Like sometimes uh maybe it's not at the table and you might ask the waiter or waitress like, "Hey, we we need one more set of silverware." Um but yes, utensils, cutlery, those are also synonyms that you could use as well. Then we have this um I gave you these are pictures. Maybe you might not see it uh at a restaurant. They may not bring you uh bottles that look like this, but this is an example of well drinks. What would you use? And the word that I'm thinking of I'm I'm try I want you to think of the word that you would see on the menu. Okay? So I'm trying to give you a hint. You see these are drinks and really the meaning is I'm talking about a drink of any type but what word would you see on the menu instead of um instead of like seeing drinks which you may see people might ask for like hey can I have the drink menu the waiter or waitress might ask you like what would you like to drink is a very common word but I think this is a word that you would see on many different menus it's not a word that you're going to probably use um speaking when you're you're talking. Uh so yes, excellent. Eloa, Shazada, Esther, Lai, we're talking about uh a beverage. Beverage is just another word for drinks. And beverage is a word that you will likely see on the menu. And then they list the different drinks that they have available. So, it's a good word to know, but it's not, again, beverage is not uh a word that you might use. Um, I'm trying to think of a context, a situation in which somebody uh maybe the waiter or waitress, your server might say it. They would say like, "Oh, like here they we have different uh alcoholic beverages or we have non-alcoholic beverages." if they're just trying to classify a a set of drinks. But as a customer, it's probably not something that uh you may end up using, but you'll see it on the menu. Uh here is Okay, hopefully you can kind of tell um what what this stuff is right here. In general, I would think of like salt and pepper, right? But there's a word that you can use to refer to salt and pepper as well as some other things. They are considered what what is the word? Um all right. So gastang beverage. Excellent. Yes. Beer please. What do you guys think? Uh let me give you the meaning. Maybe this will provide a little more context and clarity. talking about a substance such as salt. Um I say salt or pepper are the two most common that you add to food to improve the taste. What would you say? Not I know some of you is thinking spices, not spices. Again, this is um restaurant. They would be on the table. This is the stuff you would find on the table. And it's probably a word that as a customer you're not going to really use, but if you work in a restaurant, you would probably use this word a bit more. What I'm talking about, in case you have not heard of this word, some of you may not know it. It's a good word. Condiments. So, salt and pepper are generally referred to as condiments. But then you might have some other like sauces um on there, maybe a hot sauce or ketchup or mustard, especially if in the United States, ketchup and mustard are very common. Um and you would just refer to them in general as a condiment. Condiments. Uh so, and I'm sure like I said, many restaurants all over the world are a little different. I'm from the United States. So, that's kind of what I'm referencing when I'm talking about restaurant vocabulary. Let's continue with this next one. Now, let me provide some um give some clarity because yes, this is a menu, but I'm talking about a specific type of menu. And hopefully uh well, let me give you the meaning and perhaps that might make it a little easier. Yes, this is a menu. Um, but I'm talking about a menu when you choose uh each dish from a separate list instead of eating a fixed combination of dis dishes at a fixed price. So I think it's if you you know in the United States and you go to a restaurant, it's quite common that you order off of a menu and whatever you order it comes with these different things. But sometimes at some restaurants you order everything separately and that in that case you would refer to it as what? Typically we are talking about Zenat said fine dining. Yes, we're talking about probably restaurants that are more expensive. It's considered fine dining and in that case you would say the menu is what? All right. And yes, excellent. Lai banaz um we're talking about a menu and you would refer to it as all cart all cart. So in this case the probably if you as the customer you're asking questions about well does it come with this the the server may say oh everything is alloc cart that whatever you're looking at on the menu it's separated it has a separate price everything is alak cart so this would that's what I meant when I'd say it's a specific type of menu it's an alakart menu like everything is allocart then we have. All right. Again, this is a very, you can tell I'm from the United States. I guess this is a very uh very American uh looking dish right here. And just look at the food and think about, I guess, to give you a hint when you would eat this food right here. When So, you go into the restaurant. We talked about the people you would see. The waiter, the waitress, the host, the hostess, the the chef is in the kitchen. They are going to ask you how many are in your party. You they take you to either a table or a booth. You sit down. You get your beverage. You order drinks. You have your condiments on the table, your silverware, and then you are going to get uh this food. This is it's a small amount of food eaten before a meal. And there are two different words that I think you could use. I think in the United States, one is more common than the other in my opinion. Uh, and I think you guys got uh most of the ones that I'm talking about, what I think of the word that I tend to use is uh an appetizer. But an appetizer, it's the same as a starter. I think this is another word that you'll see at on the menu. It's going to say appetizers or starters and it's going to list the different choices of food that you can have before you would have your main meal. You could say there are appetizers, starters. This is a this is a good example in the United States of food that people might order as an appetizer. I think they had some there's some quesadillas there, some hot wings, some cheese sticks. Yes, those are uh standard appetizers in the United States. Uh the next one. Okay, so now we're we're talking about food appetizers. This right here you would refer to as your what I think many of you know this word. You some of you wrote it for the last one. So you start with the appetizer and this is your it is to give you the meaning. It is the main dish of the meal. What would you say? It is your And I guess there Yeah, there are some words. Um, well, you said main course. Yes, it is the main course, but that's not the word I'm looking for. It's just one word. Uh, it is also I think it's a it's a word that you would see on the menu as well. Maybe some restaurants would say main course. Other restaurants would just say this one word. And what I'm talking I'm surprised I haven't uh seen it. Everybody is all about the main course. I almost feel like uh one person says main course and then another and then everybody's boom just piles on with main course. Uh the what I'm thinking of the main dish of a meal. It yes it is your main course or it's your entree. So that's another word that I think is pretty common that you would see on the menu. You have you would see beverage, appetizer or starter entre. And then they would list the different main dish uh dishes that they have available for you to choose from. So main course entree the same thing that main main dish of a meal. And I think I don't know I guess that's maybe some chicken. Uh this definitely looks like an alak cart menu right here. Then we have uh right here. Let's I guess we're sticking with that theme thinking that it's uh it's an alle cart menu. You maybe you get your your appetizer, your starter, you order uh your entree and then you have these right here. What would you what would you call these? This is another I think a good word. Um especially if you're talking about going to a restaurant in the United States, it's uh that many restaurants Yeah. they would have uh they would have this available or they the server might ask you about this. I'm talking about an extra dish of food for example like it says uh vegetables or a salad. It's served with the main dish served with your entree and it's sometimes on a separate plate. And if we're talking about like alak cart, I would then say it's it's typically on a separate plate or in a separate dish. All right. They're not uh Okay, you guys kind of close. Um not talking about like uh it's not dessert snacks. Yes, you guys got it. Excellent. Uh Angela Merta. Um you could say I think some of you be happy. Uh side dish. Uh lolli. Excellent. I'm just talk I would just say sides. You could say a side dish. Sure. But I think it's probably very common that um customers may ask like, "Hey, does it come with any sides?" Or maybe the server would ask like, "You can choose one side to go with your entree." And then you would make a a choice of what type of side you would like to have, but typically you could just say they're they're side dishes or sides. Either one. Perfect. You could use either one. Excellent. So, I told you that. Yeah. These words I think are very useful because I think they are common. I don't think they're very advanced. I only I only chose uh about 12, so not too many. I didn't want to go overboard. I kind of wanted to do that activity and kind of do things a little differently and showing you the picture, giving you the meaning, and then telling you the word. Just doing everything in reverse from what I think people would normally do when we talk about building vocabulary. Um, and doing it this way. I think it's always good to kind of try to get you to elicit the vocabulary and think about these words. So, these are very useful words if you're going out to eat in a restaurant. Words that I think you need to know. If you guys I hope you enjoyed the lesson. Also, just want to let you know if you guys want to show us some love, support our channel. Saw some uh lot of uh members and patrons uh with us today. Lai, Gatrudis, Gustav, uh, of course, thank you guys so much for being here, supporting the channel. There are links down in the description. Really helps all uh, make all of this possible. What goes on here at Interactive English, you guys are the backbone, the backbone of Interactive English. Uh, so uh, I hope that maybe you learn some new words today. Again, I tried to share some common words with you, but then as well talk about maybe how else people would refer to them, such as like silverware, utensils, cutlery. Uh we mentioned um some people hopefully maybe host, hostess, maybe that was new for you. Um waiter, waitress, server. There's different ways that you could refer to things, appetizers, starters. But I think especially now as well I think many countries are starting getting through this pandemic. Restaurants are starting to open. Where I live now um in Hungary they just kind of starting to open indoor uh seating again. So I think it's I think many people want to get back out there get go out to eat at a restaurant um start to normalize again. So this is useful vocabulary that I hope will help you out uh in the future. Thank you guys. Give some shout outs uh right now at the end. Thank you uh Lai Gustaf uh Gatrudis to Kayle. Thanks for being here. Um Esther, Elsie, Tenretica, Louisa, Mari, Hina, try trying to get as many shout outs. Zenat as I can throughout the lesson. Hey, one uh sorry if I mispronounced names, of course. Um, Tori, I hope that you guys enjoy the the rest of your weekend and of course I will be back next week with another live lesson to interact Back. --- ## 631. USE CONTEXT CLUES TO UNDERSTAND NEW VOCABULARY | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oO9CXNfo0-I` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO9CXNfo0-I) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:28:48 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson thank you guys so much for joining me and today is a very useful English lesson I think it's very important so without further ado let me tell you today we are going to be talking about context clues and this is extremely important for your reading comprehension but I think it's also very useful for building vocabulary so those two things I think when you practice using context clues to build your vocabulary and understand whatever it is you're reading it's going to improve your overall English fluency and please I always encourage you guys to read as much as you can so if you are joining me again say hello in the chat love hearing from all of you even if you are watching this later please write your name in the comments tell me where you're from because I I just love hearing from you so hello hi Aidan sleepwalker Ahmad Mary Kareem Edward bate the ester Angela Carlos just trying to get out as many quick shout outs as I can Ricardo Layla thank you guys for joining me today and as I go through I'll try I'll try to get in some more shout outs there but I hope you guys are having a wonderful day I hope you are staying safe and staying healthy so we're going to practice using context clues today and the idea again is to give you some practice so you understand well what it means to use context clues but I also hope that you'll be able to build your vocabulary and maybe learn some new words today because as we go through this that's that's the idea we're going I want you to try to think about well what do these words mean you may already know some of their meanings and that's great you can just review them but but that's what I want to practice with you today so let's just start out by talking you know let me I just want to tell you what are context clues just give you a basic definition so what they are is that they are hints that an author gives you to help you understand the meaning of a difficult or unusual word within a book so the clues may appear within the same sentence as the word or they may come in the sentences before or after the word so you just keep that in mind often you find them within the same sentence but you could find them either before or after the word and if you kind of understand the whole meaning then you have a better chance of understanding well what does this word mean if there is an unknown word you have you have a better chance of determining okay this is probably what the word means and we all do this when we're reading because when you're reading no matter what language even now I if I'm reading a book in English I will read words that I may not know the exact meaning but I can try to put them into context and say okay it probably means this okay so what I want to do next this is kind of gonna lay it out for you what I want you guys to do and if you're with me even if you're watching this later I want you guys to participate and and write your answers in the chat write your answers in the comments as we go through these and you're trying to think about the meaning of the words so we're gonna do this in three steps there are three fingers there there um I want I'm going so we're going to find an unknown word but I'm actually going to give you the word I'm gonna tell you the word that what I think would be unknown and then we're going to look for the context clues and then I want you to see if you can guess well what is the meaning of this word based on those context clues what is the meaning so that is how we're going to do this I'm going to start just with basically one sentence at the beginning and as we continue and go through these it's going to get longer and longer and longer and I think it will get a little more challenging as well so let's just begin we'll start off slow start off with a simple example and the first sentence that I have for you is this okay so if your here's our sentence the movie was very bloody and grotesque so you know that well what what I'm talking about right now talking about a movie and then describing it so basically those like this is the word that I wanted to focus on grotesque you may know what it means but if if you're watching this you're like hmm I'm not exactly sure what that means let's let's look for those context clues I already mentioned that well what's the topic what are we talking about we're talking about the movie now what other word it can help us describe that bloody so those two words would be the the context clues and based on that okay a movie a bloody probably you can think well what does it mean grotesque it probably does not mean something that is funny or humorous what you would say is that it means something that is strange or unpleasant it is an adjective that is used to describe a noun and it means strange or unpleasant it's grotesque you could use it to describe a movie you could use it to describe food if you think something is very disgusting it's strange it's unpleasant you could say oh it's grotesque this is grotesque now I will tell you all of these meanings that I got I have taken these from Cambridge dictionary that is a dictionary that I like to use and I would highly recommend it and the reason I like can bridge is because I think they give a very easy definition to follow they use words that are simple and I think it's a very clear definition so all of the when I show you the meaning of these words I took all of them from Cambridge dictionary if you haven't checked it out I will throw a link in there right there - to Cambridge so the other thing that I wanted to say is again you may find some other context clues that might help you that I don't necessarily identify so even if I identify something that that maybe well maybe you thought of something else then that's perfectly okay there can always be more than one or two or three context clues so keep that in mind so let's start let's continue the next example that I have for this is right here so here's now we're moving into a little bit of a story and I could say dark clouds surrounded us the ocean was angry and lifted our boat up and down it was a perilous journey and few of us survived so I think just reading that you can probably put a picture in your mind which helps with your comprehension but what if you're thinking well I don't know exactly what perilous means what exactly does this word mean we know that it is an adjective because of the it's part of speech it's describing the word journey but based on what we just read what do you think this word means where do you think what do you think would be some good context clues alright so the ones that I would point out all right just to talk about those those these would be my context clues you could have you could use any of these so if you have dark clouds you know the ocean was angry oh that's not good and few of us survived so this is the situation that we're in and something is perilous yes I think you guys yeah you're rocking this alright perilous just means something that is extremely dangerous excellent anima Esther Aidan perfect rosalinda a maje throwing some shadows yes everybody said dangerous ceci murillo excellent great job Mary Gladys so again now you get the idea of what we're doing and it's going to get a little longer now and this is very common when you're reading so some of the other examples I have for you that are coming up there's going to be a little dialog in there as if people are having a conversation so let's go to the next one it's going to get a little more challenging and here is here's our little a couple sentences the boss will sly and clever during the interview he refused to admit the company did anything wrong therefore therefore he tried to obfuscate the truth so again I think you can read that or even listen to me say this and you can kind of get the main idea you know what's happening however maybe you might be looking at this and thinking well I'm not really sure what does it mean to obfuscate alright what what does this verb mean obfuscate this is actually a verb from one of our vocabulary lessons advanced verbs that I did a while ago so I'm giving you this situation and I want you to think what what do you think this verb means what does this word mean obfuscate he tried to obfuscate the truth let's so again if you're reading something just like this the first thing you want to do is look for some context clues all right so these are some of the context clues that I identified all right so you're describing this boss all right he sly and clever okay slice not really a good word to describe somebody he refused to admit something so this person don't does not want to tell the truth so in that case he's trying to obfuscate the truth so in the example yeah you guys a lot of you are saying hide out there um trim twist the facts yeah I think again those are all great answers I think you're you're really getting this the can bridge to find this if you're trying to obfuscate the truth or some information you're you're trying to make it you're trying to make something more difficult to understand or comprehend so in this case the boss he doesn't want to admit it's an interview he doesn't want to admit everything's wrong so he's trying to think well I'm not going to lie but I'm just going to make the truth very confusing and difficult to understand so that maybe people don't think we did anything wrong and that way they're not going be a little angry so I think that is its a collocation you might find it to obfuscate the truth that you're trying to make it very difficult to understand I think this happens a lot if like in talking about politics or some some kind of situation in which you don't really want people to know the truth and really what's going on so you try to make things more difficult than it really is and in this case obvious Kate the truth um all right so let's look again we're gonna keep moving along one thing I wanted to point out is I told you that this is primarily for for reading you could do you could use context clues and listening all the time I think we do this but we just do it quickly when you're listening you're it's moving so fast you don't really have time to go and point out and think about the different context clues you're really just trying to follow along the main idea but your brain does do that and you really do it quickly reading it's more of a reflective skill where you it's it's a it's something it's very reflective where you can stop you can go back you can look at a word then you can go back and look at the other words around it so this is a great way again to practice context clues build your vocabulary improve your reading comprehension so here we go now this is a little bit more of a dialogue and again I'll read it so let's say Mary suddenly appeared Tom looked shocked to see her I know you went to the party without me she said I don't know what you're talking about he replied somewhat nonplussed okay so this is again the situation it's a conversation between two people Mary and Tom and she's kind of accusing him like oh you did this you did this without me now again I think you understand overall what happened in this situation but maybe you're thinking well he replied somewhat nonplussed all right we're describing Tom the way it were scribing the way he is it's an adjective but maybe you're like ah I'm not really sure what this word means so again think about this what do you think what do you think this adjective means if somebody looks nonplussed or maybe they say something nonplussed what do you think that word means so let's go back let's look for some context clues and what I would say is this right here alright so think of the situation she suddenly appeared in Tom he looked shocked and then when he was giving his answer that I okay because of that you should try it you should be able to think okay if somebody he replies somewhat nonplussed then okay yes excellent answers uh Mary Asif excellent sleepwalk there I thought yeah all right if you are non plus then it means that somebody is surprised or confused that that that is just the way that that is their description so Tom in this situation he was shocked he didn't know what to say III don't know what you're talking about so you could say that he you know replied somewhat nonplussed all right he was a little surprised he was a little confused this is another word if you ever read the books Harry Potter JK Rowling she likes to use this word quite often you would come across it the way people say stuff or the way she's describing a character as nonplussed alright so if you're reading Harry Potter keep an eye out for that one okay so again we're going to make it a little more challenging I like to try and make it a little more difficult as we continue and see if you can try to understand that these different unknown vocabulary words by using the context clues so here's another situation it was well past midnight they had been working diligently to finish the project before the deadline I can't work anymore I'm beat he told her yeah it's getting late let's call it a day and finish up tomorrow she said again I think the situation very easy to follow I think you probably understand it but maybe you're like well there's a few words in there I don't know so I'm I'm highlighting these three for you again maybe you're familiar with them maybe not and if you're not let's see if you can find some context clues and see if you can determine the meaning of these words so the first one we got we have diligently beat and call it a day the expression so let's first let's take one at a time we're gonna start with diligently and the context clue that I would say okay finish the project before the deadline so think about this somebody is working diligently it is an adverb describing how this person works so if you're trying to finish something before a deadline what do you think how would you how would you be working if you're trying to do that um excellent uh sir it's Sylvia Russia sleepwalker perfect Mahmud yes if if you're talking about somebody who's working diligently again the the can bridge I'm giving you the can bridge meaning it means that they are working well well carefully and with a lot of effort they're working hard I would also again this is their definition I would also to me it also means that you're kind of working continuously to that you're working so hard that you're really not stopping you are very focused on this work and you are working diligently okay let's look at the next word which was in that discussion when the guy said you know I can't work anymore I'm beat so if somebody says I'm beat what do you think it means and I've given you these two context clues all right what time is it it was well past midnight and then basically what he said it's well past midnight and he says can't work anymore I can't do this I can't work anymore I'm beat this is an informal expression I guess you could say it's a little bit of maybe slang but I think it's very common I think people use this quite often when I you can put it into context and if somebody says I'm beat yes it means exactly sky Ricciardo crack crazy excellent Marilla Gertrudis if you're beat then it means that you are extremely tired it is an adjective and you would say somebody would just describe themselves you would use it as a predicate adjective as well somebody say I'm beat or oh he's beat somebody is extremely tired then that last word that other unknown word was call are word it's a phrase call it a day let's call it a day and the context clues that I have for you would be first one is getting late again referring to this time and then she's replying like we'll finish up tomorrow so it's getting late finish up tomorrow call it a day this is an idiom that I hope that based on that context you could easily determine that to call it a day the idiom means that you are it means that you are going to stop what you're doing because you just can't do it anymore and you often you use this idiom I think when talking about work that you are doing some type of work for at your job or it could be school and you are so tired you cannot continue somebody might say you know let's call it a day we can't work anymore let's call it a day and then we will continue later we'll call it a day so that is a good good idiom to know good expression because if you're working you're too tired to continue and you're working with somebody else you could tell them like look let's call it a day let's stop what we're doing all right so I got another one for you again it's a longer it's a longer paragraph and we are going to identify several different words so here is the the paragraph and as again think about the situation put a picture in your mind and try to think about well how these people feel so I said I told him we were not buying anything and that he should put the toy back he then proceeded to throw a tantrum it had been a very rough day and I was already at my wit's end I was in no mood to deal with his pure I'll behavior I took a deep breath and tried to relax after a few moments he calmed down as well so I think the situation is again rather it's it's not too advanced if you're listening to that if you're reading it ok I understand what's happening but perhaps there are these three words or phrases that you're not exactly sure what they mean but again if you're reading it's reflective you can stop and say ok let me look around and find the meaning of these other words and phrases to help me better understand this unknown word so we have tantrum at my wit's end and pure I'll all right so let's begin let's take this one at a time and talk about a a tantrum and I put the got those first context clues for you of think about the situation that leads up to this tantrum all right somebody's saying I told him to put that we're not buying anything today all right we're not shopping we're not buying anything put that toy back if you were talking to in this case is talking to assume like her little boy then what do you think their reaction would be he throws a tantrum and this is a it's a good collocation because we we use this with the verb throw somebody throws a tantrum you could also say somebody has a tantrum so we use it with either throw or have and yes I think excellent perfect a 10-month read more guiana yes if somebody's throwing a tantrum it's again they define it Canberra jazz a sudden period of uncontrolled anger and I think this word is often used when when you're talking about children maybe again they get really upset all of a sudden and you could say that they are throwing a tantrum or maybe they're just oh they're really having a tantrum but I think it's commonly used with throw somebody throws a tantrum let's look at the next one this is a at my wit's end this is a an expression that I don't know if it's more of an American expression I'm not really sure if it's common commonly used in British English but it's an expression that you would hear you might hear it in a movie or a TV show it's not I'm not gonna say that it's super common but somebody might say you know I was at my wit's end they're describing the way they feel and here are some context clues that you know you you now know what tantrum means so he proceeded to throw a tantrum alright and already I'm saying it was a very rough day how do you think that person feels that it's it's been a really difficult day it's been a bad day and now they have a child who is throwing a tantrum and they say I was already I was already at my wit's end it's been such a bad day I was already at my wit's end what do you think that that would mean alright so again this is an expression that means if somebody says you know I'm at my wit's end it's almost like you're saying you're at your breaking point you are already at your breaking point and again the wake Ambridge defines it is you are so worried or confused that you don't know what to do next you're very worried you're very confused and you're like okay i'm i it's it's almost like you're you just you can't think of what you should do next you're kind of panicking and you could say you were you're at your wits end again i think of another way to another expression you could think about the meaning of this phrase is somebody saying i'm i'm at my breaking point many of you were talking about oh you're losing patience that's another great way to think about it that you are at your wits end you're at your breaking point you're you're losing patience and you don't know what to do next then we have that that last word pure oil I think in I think in many some Americans may pronounce it as peril as well I think in British English is kind of more so how I'm pronouncing it pure I'll but they're talking about pure I'll behavior so again let's look at these context clues that somebody the child proceeded to throw a tantrum you were already at your wits end and then you were again you're trying to relax so they're describing the child's behavior as pure I'll so what do you think it means I think it's very obvious now I realize and I will tell you afterwards I don't think I used it in the right context and I'll explain that in just a moment but I think all of you yes I getting some great answers perfect one d3r at one end sorry they didn't get all that rumah mary a sleepwalker exactly gladys joseph perfect so if somebody is you're saying is pure i'll the adjective it basically means childish that you were behaving in a silly way and not like an adult the reason why I said that maybe I'm not using it in the right context is because of course a child is going to behave have childish behavior I think pure I'll is it's an adjective that would more commonly be used when talking about maybe a teenager or even an adult somebody who should be a little more mature and they're not acting like that they're not acting like an adult then you might refer use that adjective and say they have you know pure wild behavior or a pure wild manner or maybe making a pure I'll comment so again I think it's more commonly used to describe somebody who should be acting like an adult but is not acting like an adult so in my example I was talking about a child of course a child should have well it's not a surprise that their behavior was a bit childish so again this is so important like for your reading comprehension and it is it is such a great way to use in order to build your vocabulary because I always tell students especially you know building your vocabulary it improves your fluency because you can use more precise language when you want to describe your thoughts your opinion your your ideas and one of the best ways to do that is just to read is to read different books news or newspaper articles and like even today you guys were reading these examples all of it helps and I hope I really hope that you guys learn some new words today just watching this lesson so I thank you guys so much all of you for for joining me if you guys want to connect with us if you guys are interested in sponsoring and supporting interactive English we we now have both YouTube memberships patreon links are in the description we offer some different rewards and it's all the same whether it's on YouTube or patreon all those rewards are the same notice some patrons in here today like Aiden excellent so thank you guys so much for joining me I hope that you found this lesson useful if you did hit that like button and this is a great way I want to do more practice like this in the future because I think it is so valuable for improving your English skills and and really reading and finding these context clues to understand new vocabulary Thank You Aidan Mahmud rumah mrs. Farhan hater maan create sleepwalker Rosalinda is trying to get in some many shout outs as I can Angeles and oz Samuel hope you guys again have a wonderful weekend stay healthy stay safe and I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 632. US Election Aftermath (What happens now?) | Reading + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `aYz0utJLS0w` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYz0utJLS0w) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:23:26 | --- Hey everyone, welcome to today's lesson. My name is Wes and this is Interactive English, the channel. It's really it's just all about trying to help you practice and improve your English skills so that you can achieve English fluency. And if this is your first time here, I would love to hear from you. Please write your name in the comments, say hello. I love hearing from from new people to our channel. So today I have a lesson that it's it's a little bit current events because as many of you know, there was a presidential election in the United States. And I I wanted to talk a little bit about that. It's in the news a lot, what's going on. And in this lesson, we're going to look at several different online articles and we're going to read a little bit about the article and then I'm going to pick out some of the useful vocabulary that I think will help you better comprehend what it is that you're reading. But also this is going to help your listening because I'm going to try and highlight some of the words that I think are a little more difficult, more advanced. And some of them that I think are very important and will help you if you want to learn more about this, if you're reading other articles or perhaps you're watching the news, you may hear some of these words and phrases. So I really just want to do this to help with your comprehension. I'm not really I'm not really going to get into my personal opinion about Joe Biden or Donald Trump. I Toward the end, I will share my opinion about what's going to happen maybe, what I think is going to happen. But I really want to focus on a few of these articles, talk about the election, what's going to happen next and and kind of how it works. So I do want to say a quick hello to some of you who are with me. Lolly, as always, great to see you. Um Elias, welcome. Orlando, so many people from all over the world. That's wonderful. I I do have a couple of things I just want to show you. We have our vocabulary document which I'm going to be picking out some of those words from the articles and after this lesson I will put all of these words down in the description as well as links to these articles in case you want to finish reading them and review. We're not going to read the entire article. The other thing I want to show you is if you want to learn a little bit more about the the US election and how it works, I did a lesson about a month ago talking about the Electoral College system. I did the same thing. It was a vocabulary lesson and I was talking about some of the words that are relevant to the way that the US does an election as well as explaining how it works. So I will leave a link to that lesson in the comments. I'm also going to throw it in the chat right now. If you would like to learn about a little bit more about how the elections process works. So there's a link right there in the chat if you want to check that lesson out and that's more explaining, well, how do we do this? How do we work our system? Today I want to focus really on what's going to happen now. Where do we go from here? So of course I told you this is kind of a a reading and vocabulary lesson and there's so much information out there because you could do just a quick Google search and you're going to find all of this information. are so many different articles about it. It's it's a it's a current event, something it just recently happened. So you're going to find a lot of different news out there. But because we're going to focus on where do we go from here? What happens next? This is the first article that we're going to talk about which is Here's when the results of the 2020 election will be finalized because I know some of you are thinking about, well, okay, the election is over. Yes, it is over but it's not finalized, okay? So that's a little bit of a distinction and let's read some of this and we'll pick out a few vocabulary words that I think will help you. So the first thing that we're going to talk about is let's just read some of this together right here. And then I'll talk about a few words. So it says Joe Biden is the president-elect of the United States as NBC News projected Saturday, but the results of the election won't be finalized until January. When Americans cast their ballots for president on November 3rd, they weren't voting directly for Biden or the incumbent Donald Trump Donald Trump. President Donald Trump, but rather for their state's electors. Members of the Electoral College cast their votes for president on behalf of their states. Then Congress convenes to count the electoral votes and announce the results of the election. So let's look at a few words from this that may you may think would be useful, okay? So here I have right here. Okay, I got to move around um quite a few of these screens. So this is that first um that first article. Here's when the results for the 2020 election will be finalized. I want to look at these first two words right here. So it says that they projected that the winner will be Joe Biden. To project, when it's used as a verb, it's talking about you're calculating an amount in the future based on the information that you already have. So the they know how the votes are coming in and who's winning and because of that you can project who the winner will be. So they're projecting that Joe Biden is the winner. The other one they they mentioned the incumbent Donald President Donald Trump. So this is a term that I think is very relevant to politics. If you say somebody is an incumbent, it means that they are officially having a named position. So basically if you already have the job, if you are the political representative, whether you are the president or you have some other position, you are the incumbent. And then during the next election, you would have to run against another candidate. So that's another word when talking about politics that you're likely to come across. Somebody might mention the incumbent. So in this case, the incumbent was Donald Trump. So let's look at the next part of this article and see what it has to say. This is going to helping you understand what's going to happen next, okay? So it says in a controversial move, Trump has refused to concede the election and is mounting efforts to challenge ballots in multiple states even as tabulation continues. Here are the key steps in the electoral college process between now and inauguration day. So let's look at that word to concede because this is a word that if you're listening to the news um or you're reading other articles about the election right now, that's probably something that you're hearing that Trump right now has not conceded the election. So what that means if you say that someone's going to concede, it means let's go back over to our vocabulary list. I already have it written down. To concede means to admit unwillingly that something is true. So when you concede an election, you're basically admitting, yes, the election is over, I lost and I concede the election. So that has not happened yet. But it really it it it does not have to happen in order for Biden to become president. So it's more it's more of a a custom, a tradition that the person who loses would concede and congratulate the winner. It hasn't happened yet. The other word that it's talking about is let's talk about inauguration. I have it written down there. I didn't have these in the the order but so it said that um they're wondering if this will happen before inauguration. Inauguration is talking about the ceremony of officially putting somebody in an important position. In this case, you're talking about becoming president and they have a presidential inauguration, this ceremony. I think many countries around the world when they if you select your political representatives, your president, your prime minister, there is probably some type of inauguration, the ceremony. That's what it's called. So let's look at the next part because I want to talk about, okay, well, what's going to happen next? So right now it says that um the the votes are in. So each state has the votes that they've received. People cast their ballots. And now the states will need to certify the results. To certify to certify something means, I put it on our vocabulary list, means to say that something is true. So the next step is that states have Most of it will happen this month. The states will certify the the results and say, yes, it's true, it's accurate that this is the results of our election. So that is the next step. I know that part of what's been going on Trump they they were trying to challenge it. They're trying to stop or slow down the states from certifying the election. But this is probably going to happen this month. The states will certify the election the the results and they'll say that it's true. We're going to fast forward ahead because I want to talk about the next step. Once the results are certified what will happen then is that the electors uh on December 8th, that is the last day for the states to resolve any kind of disputes or disagreements. Uh they have until December 8th because on December 14th the electors will cast their ballot. As I said, we we have a really kind of screwy system in the United States if you're not familiar with the Electoral College. So, people cast their votes um and then each state has a number of electoral votes or electors. Electors are the people. So, let me give you an example just really quickly. Uh California has 50 electoral votes. So, the state of California because it has the biggest population has 50 electoral votes. So, the state will choose 50 electors. 50 people that will cast the vote on behalf of the voters. So, because Joe Biden won California, those 50 electors are then in in what the the way it should work is they will then cast their vote for Joe Biden, those 50 electoral votes. And that is what determines who is president. So, hypothetically, hypothetically you could have electors decide to say, "Look, I know that the people chose this. I'm going to vote a different way." That is very uncommon. It does not really happen. I want to say that um some if you are an elector and you you basically promise to vote the way that the the people in the state have voted. If you go against that and you don't do it, I think that um you could even get in trouble. That there might be some kind of penalty. I don't know if you have to pay money or go to jail. Um but you could get in trouble. But those voters will cast their vote on behalf of the the state. And what I mean it by on behalf of is like the people in California, they voted for Joe Biden. So, the elector is going to they know that. So, they are they're going to cast their vote for Joe Biden on behalf of them. You you may be wondering, like I said why does the US do this? Uh the reason why I think they wanted to have one final check that if the people in the US voted for somebody who was uh who they should not get voted in, the electors was like one other check to possibly stop that from happening. But in this case the electors have been chosen. Once the votes are certified on December 14th they will then cast uh the official vote. Um and at this point those votes will uh go for Joe Biden. I don't know that if you've seen the the counts that they are projected. Again, those are projections like they're guessing that it's 306 to like 232. Those are the electoral votes. So, that is what makes it official. So, hopefully hopefully this makes a little more sense as to what's going to happen from now into the future. That the states will then certify the results this month. And then on December 14th the electors will cast their ballot. And then in January you have the inauguration. Okay? So, that's a lot to take in. All right. All right. So, I want to look at another article and pick out a few more words that will help. Again, if you guys are just joining me, um we're talking about uh it helping you improve your comprehension to understand the aftermath of the US election. What's going to happen from now until January when uh the new president is comes into office, which is at this point President-elect Joe Biden. So, let's look at the next article. Uh so, that's kind of a little bit of a history. All right. I know like like again, it's always interesting conversation cuz people are very uh people are very they have very strong opinions, I think, when it comes to politics. And it's uh everybody a lot of people are very divided. Let's let's look at the next article. Okay? So, the next article and I'll again, I'll pick out some vocabulary from this article. It's really talking about um mm right here about conceding. So, I told you right now that um Trump has not conceded the election. To concede is kind of to admit that, "Okay, this is this is true. This was fair. Um I I lost the election." He has not conceded and he's challenging this in court. And they're trying to challenge this. So, I want to talk This is talking about um kind of no modern presidential candidate has refused to concede. Here's why it matters. Really, I want to highlight some of the vocabulary that I I think is very useful in this that these are words when talking about politics I I think are very common. So, it says, "No modern presidential candidate has refused to concede. Here's why this matters. The formal concessant concession speech has played a vital role in even the most divisive elections from the Civil War to Bush v. Gore." So, you know what it is to concede. It says it's a vital role. Vital is a great adjective that means something is important. And it says, "One of the most divisive elections." This is an adjective that I think you'll you'll come across a lot if you're reading about US politics or possibly even uh politics in your own country. And people talk about something or someone, maybe a person is divisive. And what it means to be divisive uh if we go back to our vocabulary list, uh let me move this down so you guys can see this list of vocabulary words and then we'll talk about them. Divisive is describing something that causes great disagreement within a group of people. So, you could just I I think often you might use it to describe a person. It can be divisive. Some people uh people think Trump is very divisive. And I think it's it's interesting with US politics, especially when thinking about um Trump because what I would say is the the things that people hate about Donald Trump, his critics, the things that they hate about him are almost the same things that his supporters love about him. So, you have uh a lot of disagreement between the critics and the supporters because some of the things that the critics would hate are the same things that the supporters love. And it's really hard to bridge uh that gap in between. But I want to look at some more words from this article as we go through it. So, okay. Here we go. Let's go down a little bit. I'm not going to read the whole article. I just want to pick out some of the vocabulary that I think is useful when talking about the the US election. So, it says, "Even though Joe Biden has secured enough votes to become President-elect of the United States, President Donald Trump has given every indication that he won't accept the results as fair. Trump has uh Trump also has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power." Both moves would be historical first if Trump refuses to concede even after all legal challenges are resolved. US history has seen a handful of bitterly contested elections, most recently in 2000 when Democrat Al Gore called Republican George W. While their first conversation was congenial, the second was tense with Gore famously telling Bush, "You don't have to get snippy about this." Um let me so, let's see how much more did I want to read? Okay. No presidential candidate has ever refused to concede defeat once all the votes were counted and legal challenges resolved. For the country's first uh hundred years or so conceding a race wasn't part of the process at all. Here's how the loser's concession went from non-existent to essential custom that all candidates have observed, albeit So, let's look at some of the vocabulary for this. They're talking about um Trump has not conceded and so far has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer uh of power. That's another word that uh a phrase that I think you you might hear if you're watching a news program and they might talk about uh a peaceful transition of power. It's when the leaders of a government peacefully hand over control to newly elected leaders. Probably I I you you guys understand this. You probably heard it. It really means exactly what it says, that there is a peaceful transfer of power. You're transferring it to the new elected leaders. They mentioned the the word contested. So, to contest something as a verb is to say that something is unfair and you try to have it changed. So, right now Trump is contesting the elections. In this case, they used it in this article, they used it as an adjective saying that it is a contested election. So, you could use it as a verb to contest something or as an adjective, the meaning is the same. So, a contested election is when one person, in this case Trump, is saying that it's unfair and they're trying to get it overturned. Uh so, they mentioned that in the past you also had a contested election in the year 2000 between Al Gore and George W. Bush. And they they mentioned that the phone call was congenial. That's just a word that I wanted to pick out. If you say something is congenial, it means it's friendly, it's pleasant. The next time they spoke, it was not very pleasant. And then that other word that I want to show you, albeit. This is a good conjunction. So, if you go back here, it says um where was it? Let me find out where it was so you can see how it's used in context. all candidates have have observed, albeit some less graciously than others." So, they're saying for for a long time this has become custom that the losing candidate would concede. And in this case, they're saying it's custom, albeit although some concessions are not as graceful as others. Some of them are a little more controversial, that maybe there's a little more anger, emotion involved, like like the one in 2000. So, again, these are some great words to know if you're trying to understand more about what's going on with these elections. All right, I have another article that I want to talk about, which is recent, because again people Trump is contesting the election. He does not agree with these results, but right now Biden is projected to win and as I showed you in that first article, this month the states will certify the results. They'll they'll come out and say, "Yes, this is right. will then cast their final vote and then it becomes official and then the inauguration would be in January. So, let's look at this last website because again, they're all right now they're talking about um uh they're mentioning fraud and issues like that. So, these are some words that I wanted to do, but this was something that came out really recently, um which is not helping Trump. So, this is an article um which you can see. It says, let me move it down so you guys can see the title. So, it says, "Trump's own officials say 2020 was America's most secure election in history." And I say that it's not helping Trump is because even in the government uh the Department of Homeland Security came out and made a statement and said, "Yes, the election was fair, that there was no widespread fraud." So, I'll just read the the um the I'll just read this part again and then I want to pick out a word or two. It says, "Trump's own officials say 2020 was America's most secure election in history. Homeland Security put out a statement with state and local officials that countered the president's fraud claims." Okay? I want to look at those two words, countered the president's fraud claims. To counter something and fraud. Those are the first two words that I have for this article right here. So, if we go over here, again, I have a list of words. We'll go through them a little bit at a time. So, to counter something um is to react in the opposing opinion or action. So, when you're countering it, you're you're giving um the opposing view. For example, you might hear it used in the term counterargument. Somebody is presenting an argument and then another person gives the counterargument, the opposing view. So, the the Homeland Security gave the counterview. They're saying, "No, no, no, there was no fraud." Um and they countered his view that fraud um was committed. If you don't know what fraud is, it's um again, it's a word you probably are hearing a lot of if you're listening to US politics and what's going on. Trump is claiming fraud that it it's the crime of deceiving people. It's a very broad term. It's not specific. It's just saying that the that there was some type of crime. So, let's go back to the article. Um I have some more words that I want to share with you. And we'll see what this says. Um Okay. So, again, I'm going to read some of it and then uh we'll look at the words. I'm not going to read the whole article. I will leave these um articles down in the description if you want to read them. Again, reading is such a good way to improve your English skills and it's a great way to build your vocabulary because my hope is that if you learn some of these new words and you continue reading about the US election, you're probably going to come across these words again and then you'll come across it again and again and again. And suddenly you you now understand this word. You're putting it up in your active memory. Okay, so, let's let's go to where is it? Let me read this article right here. Um Okay. It says, "The 2000 Where is it? Wait a second. Uh Okay. The 2020 US election was the most secure in American history, according to US election officials. Um The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now, across the country election officials are reviewing and double-checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result. The the coordinating bodies on election infrastructure and security said in a joint statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA." All right, that was a lot to uh That was a lot to big sentence to get through. The statement directly contradicts President Donald Trump, who has made unfounded allegations of widespread voting irregularities and fraud. The president is using these claims to challenge the vote counts in several key states that deliver President-elect Joe Biden his apparent Electoral College victory. The Trump campaign has filed dozens of lawsuits, some of which have already been dismissed, but the barrage of legal action and Trump's false claims, often bolstered by right-wing media and some of the president's allies in the Republican Party, have undermined overall faith in the electoral process and in the safety and security of US elections. Okay? let's look at a few of these words. The first one that I wanted to talk about was that they again, this is talking about the DHS. They came out and gave a counterview saying there was no fraud and they put out a joint statement. So, the joint statement was with the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. So, this was the first word that I wanted to point out, joint. So, if you say that something is joint, it's belonging to or shared between two people. So, they put out a joint statement. You may hear somebody use joint um if they're talking about joint custody is another phrase that you may hear this in. With um the next one they're saying about unfounded allegations. Okay? So, unfounded allegations. Allegations where it's a statement because Trump has made allegations saying that without giving proof something wrong has happened. Unfounded, so far they're saying unfounded is the adjective describing that unfounded allegations. Unfounded means it's not based in on fact. So, right now they DHS is saying they have not found voting irregularities, so they are unfounded allegations. It's not based in fact, but allegations are that you're making that statement without proof. And again, these are these are two words that you're also going to hear a lot about saying that Trump is making allegations or somebody else is making allegations that something happened and then somebody else might say, "Well, it's unfounded." And if you hear that, you know unfounded means, "Okay, it's not it's they're saying it's not based on fact." All right? So, those are some really great words to know if you're trying to understand what's going on. Um The next part that I want to say, dismiss and bolster, was in that last paragraph. So, it said that Trump has filed many lawsuits. Many of the lawsuits have been dismissed. And they're saying that some of the the claims, the fraud claims are bolstered by right-wing media. I want to talk about those two words, dismissed and bolster. So, if we go back to our vocabulary list, to dismiss means that you you're saying it's not important, it's not worth considering. So, if you're talking about like um like the law and uh lawyers and you have a lawsuit, this is a word that you will commonly hear. You might hear that the lawsuit was dismissed, that it was the judge decided it's not worth considering and they dismissed the lawsuit. So, that is a good verb to know if you're reading something that has to do with the law or a lawsuit um such as this case because Trump has filed lawsuits. Many of them have been dismissed. But they say that these claims of voter fraud are bolstered by right-wing media. If you bolster something, another good verb to to learn in case you didn't know what it meant, it means to support something and you're trying to make it stronger. You're trying to bolster this claim, okay? So, these are some good words uh to know which I think are very common if you're again, you're reading something about the US election or you're trying to understand, well, what's going on? What's happening with all of this? These are some good words to know. Again, I'm going to put all of these words down in the description after the lesson along with links to the article. The words will be there in case you'd like to review. These are very useful words for um for understanding what's happening. So, the one thing I want to say again I'm going to give you I'm going to share my opinion uh about where what's going to happen in the future um and where this is going to take us. But I do want to say if you guys like if you like what we do here at Interactive English and you want to show us some love, you can support our channel with a YouTube membership or on Patreon. Links again to those are are down in the description below. So, let me let me give you my view. Um I was trying to give this lesson and not really get into my personal opinion about uh Trump or Biden. help you more easily comprehend the information that you might be reading or listening to later on um in the future if you're listening to anything about politics. So, what I think is going to happen um this is just my view. As I said, the next step is that this month the states are going to certify the results. I think that some of them like uh in Georgia, they're doing a recount. At this point, re is a great uh prefix to learn to means to do it again. So, they're counting again to make sure it's right. But I think most of the the the states are going to certify the results. All 50 states will certify the results and they're going to come back and say that yes, uh this is the outcome uh of the election that Joe Biden won. electors that were chosen, I think they are then going to cast their votes for Joe Biden and the result is going to be the same as what's projected right now. I think it's going to be 306 to 232. And then in January, there is going to be an inauguration for Joe Biden. That's what I think is going to happen. But then let's move further into the future. What's going to happen to Donald Trump? Because I know there's a lot of speculation um about what's he going to do uh next, what he would do. And this is just my view, my opinion because I think Trump he loves the spotlight. He comes from TV, that is his world. I think that people view the US politics a little bit like uh reality TV. He uses those phrases like stay tuned, we'll see. It's like trying to keep people like tuned in for next week the same way you do with a TV show. So, I think that's kind of going to continue. And what I think he's going to do, I think he's going to concede, but I think he's going to concede in his way, which means I think at some point Trump will give a concession speech, but it's not it's going to be different than all the others because I think he this is my view. I think he's going to concede and say, yes, the uh we lost this election because it was rigged and because it was fake. So, I still think that he's going to say he's lost because that I think he's still going to say because there was this fraud um even though those allegations, just to review, those allegations are unfounded. All right? It's always good to review some of this vocabulary. So, I think he's going to concede um in his way. I think there will be an inauguration for Joe Biden uh in January. And then afterwards, I think Trump is going to still try to to keep the spotlight. I think Trump will people talking about maybe doing some type of media company like a perhaps a TV show or a podcast. I think he's still going to stay actively involved in politics. And what I think because he's the TV guy, I think he's going to end his concession really and probably say that he's going to try and run again in 2024. So, the next election in the US will be four years later in 2024. I think he's going to uh to say that he's probably going to run. Again, he's not going to make a commitment, that's not what they do in TV. You need to keep that suspense. He'll say, probably, we'll see, stay tuned. And I think he'll do that for the next few few years in order to to stay relevant to uh for people to listen to him. He'll say, I'm going to run. And my prediction is that in 2023 or in early 2024, he's not going to run for re-election. That's just my view. I think he's going to continue to say, stay tuned, we'll see, stay tuned. And then I think he's going to uh decide not to do it. That's just my view. Um and yeah, I don't know. We'll see. There it is. We'll see. We'll see what happens. I hope you guys enjoyed the lesson. I hope you learned some new vocabulary. And again, reading, it's an excellent way to build your vocabulary. I hope I would encourage you guys all right now. If you're watching this right now, once this lesson is over, go find uh an article and and read it. Build your vocabulary. It it will help you, all right? So, thank you guys for joining me. I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Just give some shout-outs at the end. Uh thank you for being here. Um Lorraine, Anaya, Orlando, Sleepwalker, um Surge, what's up? Nice to have you here. Juan, um hope you enjoyed the lesson, found it useful. And then stay tuned. I'm going to use that. Stay tuned for another lesson next week. Uh I haven't decided on the topic. I think maybe we'll do uh maybe a cultural lesson on Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is right around the corner. So, thank you guys again. Uh Lolly, thanks for being here. CC, uh Angela, Bomba, uh Kareem, Hassan, hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. I will see you --- ## 633. US Regional Vocabulary You Need to Know ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ (+ Lesson Notes) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `OimYIupXx4c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OimYIupXx4c) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:00:38 | --- this lesson is about the United States which is where I am from and I want to teach you some Regional vocabulary which I think is useful for any Foreigner who may be living there as well as anyone who is just going to visit the US so if you enjoy building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so I want you to participate in this lesson all right I want you to think about what vocabulary word or phrase would you use to describe these certain things and here is the first one okay what what would you call this if somebody were to ask you hey would you like a all right we're talking about a carbonated beverage so overwhelmingly in the United States and I think in English throughout the world people are going to use the word soda and just say yeah would you like a soda now a long time ago in the 1800s Wendy's carbonated beverages first came out people would use the phrase soda pop it's not common nowadays most people have just taken that first word soda and they've just run with it however in some places in the U.S such as some of those Midwestern states like Wisconsin and Minnesota people may say pop would you like a pop and they're talking about a carbonated beverage now if you're from the south which is where I grew up you may hear people just use the word Coke and I know Coke is the name of a brand this coke was invented in Atlanta Georgia has deep roots in the South and it's it's so popular so well known that people may use the word Coke when referring to any carbonated beverages would you like a Coke would you like a soda or maybe would you like a pop so I've given you this map right here just to give you an idea as to where people may use these different words that does not mean this is my disclaimer that if you're in this area that everyone is going to use this word I told you most people in the U.S are going to say soda there there are many transplants across the country which is another great word it refers to a person who moves to a new place therefore there's a lot of mixing going on you're going to hear people in different parts of the country use a variety of words based on where they grew grew up or their own experience so this map is just to give you a general idea as to where you may hear people use some of these different words and phrases and if you would like to get a copy of these beautiful lovely Maps well check out the link down in the description because when you join our email Community then you can access this lovely ebook with this different Regional vocabulary let's look at the next one what would you call these insects right here these small little insects that I think technically they're beetles and they're related to the glow worm because their butts light up so what would you call these small insects right here they're actually it's real they're really beautiful to watch in the evening there are two different words that you may hear people use I think most places throughout the United States they're going to say that these insects are fireflies however if you're in the South again which is where I grew up people may call them lightning bugs and this is actually something that I have experience with because when I was younger uh I would visit family in North Carolina and see them and I'm constantly hear and talk about lightning bugs and it wasn't until I got a little older that I heard people talking about fireflies and I realized oh it's it's the same insect we're talking about the same thing so you may hear people say fireflies or lightning bugs if you're in the South let's stay in the South for just a little bit and I want to see how well you know your Southern dialect because most people throughout the United States would refer to a group of people as you guys and it doesn't matter if it's a group of men and women or only a group of men or only a group of women it's pretty common to refer to that group and say you guys except in the South you may hear people use this instead it's a contraction I imagine you've heard this word watching well TV shows or movies and in the South you may hear people say y'all this is a contraction stands for you all and it's just reduced to y'all y'all want a Coke and then we can go to the park and watch the lightning bugs that is that's something somebody may say and they use all of those phrases right there now I catch myself using both from time to time I grew up in the South but I've lived in many other places throughout the United States most of the time I I would say you guys but every now and then I I catch myself using y'all now in the United States many people live in the suburbs they live in homes and sometimes they may have this informal event in which they sell used items sometimes new things just right out in front of their home there's no business license needed they just take their some of their used stuff and they set it up right in front of their yard and people may walk by and sometimes they they buy something and this is called what do you think there are three different phrases that you may hear people use garage sale yard sale or tag sale okay so I think uh in general most people are going to use either a garage sale or a yard sale there is that one little tiny spot in the Northeast that may say tag sale and I think this is more common in the state of Connecticut I actually used to live in Connecticut back when I was in Middle School and I would see signs sometimes people would put up in front of their yard that says tag sale we're having a tag sale but most people are going to say either garage sale or yard sale and they would they may put up a sign in front of their yard advertising this informal event don't confuse this with the larger market in which there are many vendors selling different things mostly used things but that market is called a flea market so just remember a garage sale yard sale or even a tag sale is an informal event in which people are just selling things right out in front of their home and how about this next one what would you call this there there are two different answers and I think both of them are are pretty common throughout the country so you could say either one and nobody's really going to give it much thought but the two different phrases that I'm talking about are either trash can or garbage can the only thing I'd really like to point out is you can see on the map it seems like the Pacific Northwest has a stronger preference for for saying garbage can while I think many other parts of the country would just say trash can personally I feel like I use both of them if we're talking about some like one that's inside the home I think overwhelmingly I would just say trash can if it's outside the home then maybe I might use either one but that's just me personally and just to teach you one more vocabulary word the place where you dump your trash can or garbage can is called a dumpster all right right there and this you will only see those outside here's the next one what would you call this right here there are three different words or phrases that you may hear people use throughout the US two of them I think are are much more common than the third one so overwhelmingly I think people especially on the East Coast are going to say water fountain on the west coast I think you're more likely to hear people use drinking fountain and you can see that little bit of purple right there in certain places in the Northeast as well as in the midwest people may call this a bubbler but it's not as common as the others most of the time people are going to say drinking fountain or water fountain and this candy right here that many children love is called what do you think there are two different words people may use I I know what I used to say back when uh I lived in the South so most of the time people are going to call this a lollipop because that is the actual name of this hard candy it's a lollipop however a long time ago informally people started calling it a sucker because you would suck on the lollipop nowadays if people use the word sucker you're more likely to hear this in the South or even a little bit in the midwest but just be careful because the word sucker it's also an informal word referring to a gullible person that you can easily trick and you could say this person is a sucker so just keep that in mind it's a word that has multiple meanings how about this right here what would you call this roadway and I this can be a little tricky because I think people often may use them interchangeably so you may hear people call this roadway either a freeway or a highway but there is a difference between the two and I think even many Americans might not know the difference it's one of those things uh in which all highways are freeways but not all freeways are highways okay sounds like a little bit of a riddle it's kind of like uh both thumbs are fingers but not all fingers are thumbs one of those types of things so let me let me explain the difference so the subtle difference would be access to the road because highways there are larger roads they may have multiple Lanes of traffic but there could also be cross traffic as well and you may have to stop whereas freeways have controlled access which means there's no cross traffic you're not going to have to stop and generally you may have to go up a ramp in order to get on a freeway but even though there's a difference people may use them interchangeably especially on the East Coast however on the west coast it is more common for people to use the word freeway and keep in mind you do not want to confuse these words with interstate and once again some people may end up using all three words interchangeably but an interstate is like a freeway it has controlled access except it's going to cross from one state to the next now something that you may not have have known has to do with the numbers because whether you're talking about a freeway a highway or Interstate if the number is odd then it's referring to a roadway that goes north south and if it's even then the roadway goes east west just a little food for thought now let's take a trip to the grocery store what would you say this is so overwhelmingly most people in the United States are going to call this a grocery cart that phrase is most widespread but there are areas that may use the word carriage such as in the northeast or even buggy in parts of the South or Midwest but pretty much anywhere you go you could just call this a grocery cart now you may not always be in a grocery store but still use this cart in which case people would just refer to this as a shopping cart and if you go to a playground you may see this what would you call it because in the U.S you may hear people use a couple of different names so I think most people in the U.S are going to call this a teeter-totter and I I believe that's also what they would say in Canada as well but when I was a kid in the South I would hear people use the word seesaw and I believe people would also say seesaw in British English so it's this is an instance in which Southern dialect and British English overlap and it's it's interesting because when I think of other parts of the Southern dialect like y'all it just much of it sounds seems very distinct from British English except if you're talking about a seesaw so I hope this lesson has been insightful because language it does it gives us a glimpse into the culture and I know many of you who watch these lessons you live in the U.S or you travel to the US often and learning the different names of these these very common things I I think it can help so you'll know whether to ask someone for a soda or a pop or the next time you're traveling somewhere you'll know if you're on a freeway or a highway or the next time you go to a playground you'll know if those kids are on a teeter-totter or a seesaw if you enjoy the lesson and learn something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 634. Understand EVERYTHING in English | Improve Your Listening | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pdI6pDEhnjQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdI6pDEhnjQ) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:34:20 | --- When it comes to learning a language listening is so important. So today, I want to talk to you about some different ways on how you can improve your listening skills to better your comprehension. Often, the first time we are exposed to a language, any language, it is through listening. We hear it being spoken, or we hear it on TV or movies. So it is so important that we improve our listening skills and understand how to improve our listening skills in order to comprehend the language and better understand the words and sentences that we are hearing. So today, I'm going to talk to you about some different tips and different strategies that you can use to become a better listener. The first suggestion that I have for you is to pay close attention to the content words. Now if you're wondering well, "What are content words?" These are words that actually have meaning. And because of that they really help us paint a picture in our minds. And that makes it easier for us to understand what it is we're listening to. So content words would be like adjectives. And you're thinking about the size, the color, the sound, the smell, the feeling. They're also nouns - the people, the places, the objects. As well as the verbs - What actions are happening? What are the actions that you're hearing? Don't worry so much about the smaller words - the articles, the prepositions. Really focus on those content words, and then use them to put pictures in your head. If it's a podcast, if it's a TV show, or even in just a general conversation, if we're able to identify and understand these content words, and actually put an image in our mind, we're going to understand exactly what is being said. And that helps us improve our overall language fluency. The next suggestion, which is very important, is to become an active listener. So for most of us whenever we're listening, its passive listening. We're listening to a TV show, or a movie, or music, or a podcast, and you're not really required to do anything. Just listening and trying to understand. When I say become an active listener, this means that it requires you to do something. You have to actually respond to whatever it is you're listening to. And that response might be answering a question. That response might be doing a summary. That response might be actually speaking to somebody and having a back and forth conversation. When you become an active listener, then you're really exercising those muscles and trying to understand exactly what you're hearing. Because there is a response. You will need to do something after the listening is over. So this is important for having a conversation because you want to understand and you want to respond to them. It's important if you are preparing for a school test, or the IELTS, or the TOEFL. Because you have to answer questions based on what you hear. So it's important to try to become an active listener and practice your active listening skills to improve your overall comprehension. Now you don't have to do anything completely different if you want to practice your active listening skills. You can use those same sources that you're using for passive listening and just change them into an activity in which you become an active listener. So for example, if you are watching a TV show or a movie, then you can practice by trying to make a prediction about what's going to happen next. You can also use online resources and do some listening activities and then have to respond to the questions that they give you. Even here at Interactive English, we have different video lessons to help you practice your active listening skills. And I will put those up above, and I highly recommend you go check those out. The next suggestion I have for you is to listen and follow the signs. So whatever it is you're listening to if it is a presentation, if it is a TV show, or even just a conversation, you have somebody trying to take you from point A to point B. And all along that path is the conversation that you have to understand. So in order to get from point A to point B, you need to follow the signs. Often when we're hearing something things are told in sequential order. And that means they're using transition words like first, also, in the beginning. And if you're able to recognize these signs, and the transitions, and where they're taking you in the conversation, you're going to be able to more easily understand what it is you're listening to. So you need to be able to recognize these transition words and follow the signs that's going to take you from one part of the conversation, to the next part, to the next part, into the next part. A great way to practice this skill is by listening to different presentations. Because when somebody is giving a presentation, again, they want to tell you a story in sequential order. They want to take you from one point to the next. And in order to do so, they're going to use those transition words. And that's a great way to practice and see if you can identify the different signs that are going to help you get from one idea to the next. Another very useful suggestion, which is one that I tell students all the time, is to listen at your level. I also say the same thing for reading. Read at your level. Because when students read something that's way too difficult, well, they don't understand, and it's not really helping them improve. And this also goes for listening. We have so many students talk to us and say, "You know. When I'm out on the street listening to English, it's very hard to understand." Or when I'm watching the movie and I'm not using subtitles, it becomes very challenging to understand and follow along the story. And that may be because you're trying to listen at a level that's a little too difficult. Perhaps you don't understand all of the content words that you hear. You're not able to put those pictures in your mind. And then you don't understand what you're listening to. On the other hand, we have many students comment on our channel and say, "Hey, I understand everything that you just said." I completely understand what you're saying in these lessons. That means that that is a great level for your listening skills. And it's great to practice those skills and listen to something at your level. Listen to these lessons. Listen to other videos in which people are speaking maybe at a little bit of a slower pace. That is a great level for you to practice your listening skills. And build your listening skills as well so that in the future you're going to watch that TV show, you'll watch that movie, and you will understand just about everything that is being said. Of course, I think it's perfectly okay to challenge yourself and to watch all these different movies, and TV shows, and listen to music. That is great. It's still good practice. But again, I think you benefit most from listening to something at your level, and following a long speech such as mine so that you can build your skills over time and improve. So that you can more easily understand fast speech later on in the future. Please. Please. Please. Please. Try to listen at your level. Right now, what I'd suggest that you do is try to practice those listening skills. Practice those active listening skills. And I've put together a playlist for you guys right here that you can check out. Because these are some lessons that are going to help you practice your listening skills, and help you practice becoming an active listener. If you enjoyed this lesson and found these suggestions useful, please hit that like button. And leave us a comment because we just love hearing from you guys. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 635. Unlock Your English Fluency with These Speaking Hacks | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hxcbXoxLWrs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxcbXoxLWrs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:58:42 | --- I have some useful speaking hacks to help you dramatically improve your speaking skills and it's a little hyperbolic I'm exaggerating because well these are not secret hacks these are just things that you should be doing and I hope you give me a chance to convince you that you should be doing these things because well much of what I'm going to talk about in today's lesson these are things that we do in my speaking course which is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally if you're interested in joining or would like to learn more check out the link down in the description so the first speaking hack that I have for you it's just one word and that's shadowing we're going to spend a little bit of time on this so again allow me to convince you so shadowing is when you listen to something and you try to say it in the exact same way you're using the same pronunciation the same speed the same intonation the same emphasis so think about singing a song you're not just going to say the words like you're just reading it you're going to actually try to sing it and say it in the exact same way hold me closer and I feel nothing so my recommendation would be to listen to something say it and let your ears do all the work let's take uh well the song by The Beatles Let It Be you're not just going to just say these words let it be let it be let it be let it be that is not shadowing you're trying to say it in the exact same way let it be let it be let it be let it be and I'm not gonna keep singing I know I'm not a very good singer but you get the idea and when you do this you end up working on things that you may not realize that you're practicing so let's look at the T in let we're going to pronounce this as a flap T that t comes between two vowel sounds so it's gonna sound like a flap T which is more like a soft D let it and we can take that consonant DS sound and Link it with the vowel sound in it and linking is part of connected speech let it let it let it be when you're shadowing you you don't necessarily have to study and learn about the flat t or even linking you're just going to do it naturally as you say it the same way that you hear it again let your ears do all the work listen to the following where did you meet him for the first time where did he come from who is he in just those few sentences there were several things going on when it comes to Connected speech assimilation Elysian and linking and again it's good to know these things and understand them but it's not necessary in order to practice so let's let's break this down where did you meet him for the first time so that final DN did we can blend that with the beginning Y sound in you that's assimilation and when they blend together you get a j sound where did you where did you now meet him that H it's it's going to have lied and that's part of a legend this is when sounds get removed and this can often happen with the H sound in words like he him or her when they come in the middle or at the end of a sentence now the final T in meat we can we can use a flap T and then link that soft D sound with the vowel sound in him so it's going to sound like medium medium let's let's listen for it where did you meet him for the first time and then the next two questions we also have illusion and linking where did he come from who is he so that H is going to a lied and then we can link that D sound where did he come from and the same with that final question who is he and then we can practice and say it in the exact same way say it with me right now where did you meet him for the first time where did he come from where did you meet him for the first time where did he come from who is he I have another sentence that I want you to Shadow but my name is in it so I should probably go ahead and introduce myself if this happens to be your first time here my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher and the next sentence that I want you that we're going to work on and I just want you to go ahead and say it first and say it out loud here's the sentence okay now I want you to say it in the same way that I do you're not going to get away with this Wes now once again there are a couple of things that are going on which you're just shadowing you might not be thinking about the first thing that I want to point out is the contraction you are your contractions are very common in spoken English and it's just a more natural way of speaking the same goes for reductions going to is going to get reduced to gonna you're not gonna and well people use reductions again it's a more natural way of speaking it also helps give the language that Rhythm and flow and that's what I want to get to right now so English is a stress time language what does that mean it means that as you're speaking you're going to be stressing certain syllables and words and the time in between them it's approximately the same so I'll say this again and I'm going to clap for each stress you're not going to get away with this Wes so I'm clapping on not the second syllable in a way and then my name Wes and then everything in between it's going to get shortened in order to fit that pattern you're not going to get away with this Wes and well this is what's going to help create that nice Rhythm listen for it you're not going to get away with this so far you're never gonna get get away with this stand so when you're shadowing and you're saying things in the exact same way there is a lot that you end up practicing and there's also a lot that you can practice with short video clips speeches presentations audio books YouTube videos if this is not something that you're doing I recommend you try it it's also very important that you continue to build your vocabulary and I think it really helps if you focus on a specific topic and I think it's even better if you focus on a topic that interests you because these are the conversations that you're likely going to have you're likely going to talk about the things that you're interested in and reading is a great way to discover the vocabulary that you should learn so if you're gonna read you should stick to the same topic and the more specific you can be I think the better because then you'll learn more specific vocabulary related to that topic so let's well let's choose a topic and say that we're gonna well read some things about inflation that is our topic so if you don't know what inflation means inflation refers to the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time and what I would encourage you to do is not just read one article about inflation read multiple articles because when you do this you're going to start to recognize a pattern of words that get used again and again and that tells you that okay this word is important when it comes to this topic and just to show you what I'm talking about we don't even need to dive into the article I can show you this just reading the headlines turkey Cuts Benchmark interest rate despite rampant inflation B of A warns hot inflation might run rampant for another 10 years fed hikes interest rates amid rampant inflation despite recession risk rampant inflation takes a bigger bite out of food gas budget I'm sure you know the word that I'm getting ready to teach you and that is the word rampant this is an adjective that refers to something that is getting worse quickly and in an uncontrolled way so even if you knew what this word meant before I showed you these article headlines now you know that this is a collocation when talking about inflation and people may talk about rampant inflation so when you read different articles stories comments posts that are all related to the same topic this is a great way to discover important vocabulary that you should learn when it comes to improving your speaking you also need to get a variety and let me tell you what I mean because this follows up on building your vocabulary so what I'm referring to are synonyms or phrase cases that have the same or similar meaning now there are many different phrases that you can use to introduce your opinion like in my view I'm of the opinion that or I have no doubt that so it's good to learn different phrases and get that variety because even though you can use any of these phrases to introduce your opinion they're not always interchangeable so if someone were to say in my view it's very similar to in my opinion it's also very commonly used if someone were to say I'm of the opinion that this is also similar except it sounds it's a little more formal so it's not as often used as something like in my view and if you were to say I have no doubt that well this really expresses certainty and it's just really emphasizing what you're getting ready to say I have no doubt that you should hit that like button okay I'm just really certain that this is what you should do it's just my opinion in the past I had a student who loved to use the word moreover this is a transition word that you can use if you want to to add more information it sounds a little more formal so it's not a word that's commonly used in just everyday conversation however when I would speak with this student they were constantly saying moreover moreover moreover and I had a discussion with him and telling him hey it's great if you could use a variety of words to say the same thing also in addition furthermore when you use a variety of words and phrases even to do something as simple as expressing your opinion it's going to make your conversations your presentations your speeches more appealing to The Listener and that's important it's also vital that you build your confidence this is key when it comes to improving your speaking skills so building confidence is something that takes time and practice and you know you could relate this to to just about anything Sports work let me give you a scenario let's say that you are going to take place in a competition in one month now on one hand you don't practice at all for the entire month and on the other hand you practice a little bit each and every day in which scenario do you think you would have more confidence in your abilities of course I'm sure you you chose the the second option in which you practice a little bit each and every day so I don't think I need to convince you that practice is a good thing so let's talk about how you can practice today we live in a world in which many people would like instant gratification and that can be challenging when talking about something like building your confidence however if you're looking to give your confidence a real boost I I have a suggestion for you what I would recommend is that you get outside your comfort zone within a comfortable and environment and let me explain what I mean by this so when you get outside your comfort zone that means that you are pushing yourself in ways that you're not used to and that could mean well giving a presentation in front of a group or perhaps you're talking about a topic that you you don't know much about or maybe doing a role play or making up stories when you push yourself to do something and then do it and accomplish that goal well then that can build your confidence but there can be a downside because when when you get outside of your comfort zone sometimes it can make people nervous a little anxious and that that's why the next part is important you want to do this within a comfortable environment that's going to make it easier for you to get outside your comfort zone and this is this can really give your confidence an immediate boost it's one of those I can do anything if I put put my mind to it type of approach but you don't always have to build your confidence in this way you can also do it slowly over time you probably feel more comfortable talking about the things that interest you maybe you've had these conversations before and that's great I want you to keep having them because repetition is a good thing and and this goes back to the practice that I was talking about and you can relate having casual conversations to giving a presentation the more you practice a presentation the more confident you're going to feel that well when the it comes time you're going to give a great presentation and the same can be said about having a conversation the more you have conversations about a specific topic the more vocabulary you know the more comfortable you feel well talking to others about this topic you're just going to feel more confident engaging in conversation so so there's more than one way to do this you just need to put in the time and put in the practice you should also learn to move past your mistakes now I think you should care about correcting your mistakes it's great if if someone points them out and you know we we all learn from the mistakes that we make but I don't want making mistakes to give you anxiety to the point where it just becomes more difficult for you to communicate and that's what I'm talking about when I say move past them just know it's okay to make a mistake if you can understand the correct way of saying something make a note of it and then the next time just try to use it correctly recently I had a student and we were talking about travel and she said last year I made a vacation to Disney World and I told her that if we're talking about a vacation then you'd want to use the verb take to take a vacation this is a common call location and then as we continued our conversation and we were talking about a different vacation she's self-corrected and used the verb take and this is the best thing you can do we all make mistakes I make a lot of mistakes you may not see many of them especially in these videos because I just edit them right out but it's okay it's part of the learning process and we move on I hope that you really give some thought to some of the things that I've talked about in this lesson and I really hope that I've given you some ideas as to how you can practice and improve your speaking skills and again if you're interested in joining or checking out my speaking course click on that link Down Below in the description please hit that like button if you well liked this video Lesson as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 636. Unlock the American Accent: Speak Smooth, Natural English Now! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `JewpkxDixJU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JewpkxDixJU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:57:00 | --- Let's unlock the American accent or I want to help you unlock it if that is one of your speaking goals. And the first thing I want to say, of course, is that you should never feel like you need to speak with any particular English accent. There are many varieties out there. Many of them are lovely. But I've heard a lot of people tell me they either live in the US or they work with people in the US and therefore they they would like to emulate the American accent. And if that's the case, then this lesson would be for you because I want to look at a dialogue and break things down and talk about how people in the US would say them, which is where I am from. And if you are someone who enjoys learning about different English accents and having a better understanding of them, please subscribe, turn on notifications. The channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. The other thing I'll say very quickly is if you want to get these lesson notes right next to me, click on the link down in the description, join my email community, and then you'll just have them for future reference in case you ever want to practice. If you're already a part of the community, I've sent them to you and you can check your inbox. So, here's the dialogue. And I want to start out I'm just going to read through it rather quickly and then we're going to look at each part and talk about what's going on. We're going to do a deep dive. And as I say it, I want you to practice with me. This is I I don't want I don't want you to just sit there and listen. This is not a passive learning exercise. I want you to participate. I want you to be actively active and I want you to speak and say this out loud and we'll go through each one, practice it a few times, and then at the end, we're going to go back and we're we're going to say this dialogue together, you and me. Okay? So, I I am going to ask and I'm going to check from time to time if you are actually participating and saying these sentences out loud because that's that's what I want to hear. All right? So, let's go ahead and look at this first Well, no, I said let I'll I'll I'll say the dialogue so that you can at least hear it once and then we'll go through each sentence. So, the way I would say this is, "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" "Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert." "I'm leaning towards a movie cuz I don't want to make it but I don't want to make a decision right now." "Sounds good. Now, saying it just like me maybe is a different thing. That can certainly be challenging depending on what we're talking about. So, let me show you what we're talking about. We're going to start with this first question right here. "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" As I'm saying it, I hopefully let's talk about what's going on. "What do you think we ought to ought to" this is another reduction. There are many of them and I will talk about some of the others in just a second, but ought to you could reduce to ought to. And those T's you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flat T. Americans, we love the flat T. This sounds more like a soft D. Your tongue is coming up in the same position. The tip of your tongue is going to be behind your top front teeth, but it there the tongue is not going to hang out there. It's just going to boom flap. Boom flap. ought to ought to ought to ought to. And you should feel your tongue doing that, flapping against the top and then coming back down. And that's why it's going to sound like a soft D sound. things that I want to point out with this question. "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" To give you the phonetic spelling because maybe it it'll make it a little easier to see the pronunciation. What do you you can see that I am reducing that what is going to be more like a what. The T and the D these are overlapping sounds. In this case the D is going to take control and you're going to hear that what a what a you. The do it's this is the word that really gets reduced. I'm going to I'm reducing the whole phrase, but do is going to sound more like duh. It has that schwa sound. The schwa sound is an unstressed vowel sound. Typically sounds like uh. And you when that's reduced, it's going to sound like ya. What a ya what a ya what a ya. Just say just say this right now. What a ya. What a ya. You could say what a you. That's perfectly fine if you want to stress you, but if somebody's speaking a little faster, you might hear that them say it with that schwa. What a ya. What a ya think we ought to So, I'm spelling it with that flat T. ought to do this weekend. Let's say it together. Let's say it slowly. So, I'm going to say it twice slowly and then at a normal speed shadow say it with me. Let's say it slowly. What a ya think we ought to do this weekend? What a ya think we ought to do this weekend? I'll speed it up. Let's say it at a normal speed. Ready? "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" And this is essentially a drill exercise. You take a a question like this and you just say it again and again and again and try to keep these things in mind. "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" "What do you think we ought to do this weekend?" Maybe the more I say it, you're just going to internalize it and try to and you could say it just like me. So, this is the first sentence. This is the first question in our dialogue. The response from the other person is, "Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert." "Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert." Keep in mind that I I want to talk about this in just a second. That that that comma there after well like that pause. "Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert." I'm making another pause in there and that's that's the reason why I'm mentioning this right now, but let's we'll we'll practice that when we say this together. What's happening in this uh this uh God, well, I think I made a typo. I find these all the time. I didn't mean for uh this to be a question. It should be a statement. So, just ignore that question mark at the end. really intrusion occurs and this is something that is very slight. I told you we're doing a deep dive right now, but if you have these two vowel sounds and I I wanted to include it because the other part there's more intrusion here. See a. See a. Intrusion is when you add an extra sound. Listen for the sound that I'm adding between these vowels and that is what allows us to connect them together, to link them. See a. See a. See a. And I'm I'm trying to emphasize that ya. There's a slight Y sound between them. See is a front vowel and when you have this front vowel like see, then you may add a slight slight ya sound, which allows then we're going to connect it. See a see a movie. "Well, we can go see a movie pause it. I'm before the conjunction or I am going to separate it into different thought groups. This is a way of organizing your speech for the sake of clarity. And even though I don't have to, it's not a rule, I'm going to make a slight pause there just because it's easier to understand. "Well, we can go see a movie slight pause or go to a concert." Or is another word that is often reduced and it's it's going to sound a little more like er. It it's not a word that you're going to emphasize. Like if I were to give two options, chicken or beef, Coke or Pepsi, and you can hear more of an er in there instead of an or. And then go to a. So, go to we have that T. I'm going to change it to a flat T. It's also reduced even though I didn't I I should have written it down. Two is going to be sound a little more like tuh. Um or no, in this case sorry it it won't because of intrusion. That's the other thing that I meant to say. So, two uh go go to uh I'm still going to use that flat T. Go to uh. Listen to that phrase. Which sound am I adding? Go to uh. Go to uh. I'm trying to emphasize it right now. A slight W sound. When we're talking about a back vowel, I don't know why this is my back vowel. Go to that ooh sound. Ooh uh. You're going to add a slight W. So, front vowels a slight ya and back vowels a slight wa between the two vowels. Go to go to go to a concert. Just say that last phrase. Go to a concert. Go to a concert. Go to a concert. Let me show you the phonetic spelling and hopefully it makes it a little easier. "Well, we can go see a movie there's that see a slight pause or go to or go to a concert." "Or go to a concert." "Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert." I guess you could turn it into a question if you wanted to. As far as well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert. Depends on how you ask it, but really I meant it for to be a statement. So, I want to practice this now. And then I'm going to ask you all if you're practicing, and if you are practicing, I just want you to write the word speaking. So that I know that I'm not sitting here talking to myself, which is sometimes what happens. So let's say this slowly two times. I want you to shadow and say it with me. And then we're going to say it twice at the normal speed. And remember I'm going to make that slight pause between movie and or, or I'm going to say it more like er cuz it gets reduced. Let's say it slowly. Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert. Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert. Now, now let's say it at at a a normal speed. Ready? Two times. Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert. Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert. Let me know if you're participating and you are actually saying these sentences with me, practicing your speaking skills. Because we're we're going to say this dialogue together in just a moment and write the word speaking in the chat or in the comments so I know I'm not speaking talking to myself. Thank you. All right. Ramla, Alima Dev, all right. Thank you. I appreciate excellent. Keep up the good work. There are two more sentences that we're going to dive into and I want to talk about what's happening. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. I wanted to highlight the phrase like to lean towards something. In case you're unfamiliar with it, I think it is a useful phrase when you want to express that you are interested in something and you're likely to do this particular activity. So you have like two or three or four choices, but you're indicating which one you're likely to do or which one you prefer to do and that is what you are leaning towards. I'm leaning towards a movie. That I'm indicating my preference in this example. So let's talk about what's going on as far as connected speech goes. Now, I'm leaning, you hear that ing? When talking about verbs in the continuous tense, a lot of times people in the US, such as myself, I'm going to drop that G. Let's just get rid of it. And this may happen because I actually think it's easier to say lean in and using that n sound than leaning. In is easier to say than ing. This is not a fixed rule. You do not have to drop the G. You could say leaning towards is fine, but you're going to as as I practice this, I'm just going to say lean in, lean in towards. Towards a. We can link that final consonant sound in towards with that article a. Towards a. Towards a movie. I'm leaning towards a movie. Slight pause. I'm going to pause it again before that conjunction. In this case, grammatically speaking I should have used a comma, but hey, that's okay. I'm we're talking about spoken English and I will make that slight pause. But I. Except I'm not going to say it like but I. I'm going to link these two words together and the T in but, because it comes between two consonant sounds, I'm going to pronounce it as a flat T. But I. But I. And this is a I think this is a phrase that's commonly used. You talk about something and then you say, well, but I don't want to do this or but I learned this the other day. But I but I but I. So but I is a good phrase to just say again and again and again, linking it and using that flat T. But I don't want to This is one of the most common reductions. Want to is going to get reduced to wanna. Make a. Once again, we can move that consonant sound over. Make a. I don't want to make a decision right now. I changed I kind of reworded uh that last part because one thing that I think is very common and I hear slight mistakes is the collocation make a decision. Very quickly I want to point out often I hear like take a decision. And in British English you might hear people use take, but even in British English, I think it's overwhelmingly more common to use make. And I think in some languages it's just like a language translation thing, but anytime we're talking about a decision, I want you to use the word make, which is why I included that phrase in this dialogue. Make a decision. Make a decision. Make a decision. Again, the more I say it, the more you're just going to keep it in mind and the next time you're having a conversation, you're just going to say, well, yeah, I haven't made a decision or I need to make a decision. And you're going to use that verb make. So here is the the phonetic spelling. If it if it helps to ignore that, then just do it. Just focus on the the the words in white, the actual words, but really really really focus on what I'm saying and the way that I'm saying it. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. Let's say it I'll say it again slowly two times like that. Say it with me. Want you to practice these sentences. I told you this is a practice lesson. So let's say it twice slowly. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. That's slowly. Let's say it at a normal speed two times. Shadow. Say it with me. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. And that last clause, you can really move right through it. But I don't want to make a decision right now. Sounds a little like sing-song if I wanted to turn it into one. But I don't want to make a decision right now. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. The last statement or actually two statements, sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. Sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. All right. I said it differently those two times, but I want the thing that I want to point out you'll see in just a moment. So, what's going on? Sounds good. That that part sounds good. Nothing that we need to really think about. Just let me. So just when the T comes between two consonants, it may elide. An elision is just the omission of sounds or syllables. So just let me. This is a reduction. It's going to sound like lemmy. Lemmy. Just let me know. Just let me know. Just let me know. What you. Now, assimilation is when you you basically the simplest terms I I would like to put it is just these sounds they blend together. You get this other sound. So the T and Y when they're next to each other, it's like you're going to have a slight ch sound in between them. This is not a fixed rule. And I told you I said the two sentences differently. The first time I did not blend them together. I just said just let me know what you want to do. And then the next time I said just let me know what you want to do. So what you want to do. Want to we can reduce to wanna. What you want to do. What you want to do. Can you hear that ch sound? What you. Or you could say what you if you want to emphasize you versus ya. What ya versus what you. So again, there I I think one thing when you really get into it and dive deep, there are different ways that you're going to hear native speakers pronounce these sentences. And I I What I really want to hammer home right now is that don't think of this as a fixed rule. There are different ways that you can do it. What you. What you want to do. So here is the phonetic spelling. it two times slowly and then two times at a normal speed and then we're going to practice this dialogue together. Sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. Sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. Hopefully if we're saying it slowly, it's easier to practice. Now we're going to speed things up. Normal speed. Ready? Sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. Sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. And that ch sound, it is very slight. It is not stressed. It's not a sound that you're really going to notice or pick up on. It's not emphasized. It is a slight ch sound. That again, that's what's really allowing us to to connect this together. Part of connected speech. Now that we've gone through each of these four amazing, lovely sentences and I've talked about what's happening in each one, let's say it together. I'll go ahead and say it one more time. I'll say all of them right now and then we're going to practice this. So, I'll I'll go ahead and say all of them. What do you think we ought to do this weekend? Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert. I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. Sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. Okay. This is a conversation that I had last weekend, which is why I'm I'm sharing it with you. Let's practice this together and then you can let me know if you participated and I want you to write speaking in the chat or in the comments. All right. I don't want you uh uh I don't don't don't bail on me now. All right. Let's Let's have this conversation. I will start out and I am going to say A. I want you to say B. And then we'll switch. So, I will begin. Are you ready? Here we go. What do you think we ought to do this weekend? I'm leaning towards a movie, but I don't want to make a decision right now. All right. Excellent. Excellent. I trust that you were having this conversation with me. Let's switch it up. I want you to say A and now I am going to say part B. So, A, you can go ahead and begin. Well, we can go see a movie or go to a concert. Sounds good. Just let me know what you want to do. Well played. All right. Give, you know, give yourself a thumbs up. All right. Don't not just me. Hit that like button for yourself if you were practicing and saying these sentences with me. See a lot of people already yes indicating that they were speaking. Nice, Nicola. Um Lorenzo, Jim, perfect. I love I love knowing that other people are are practicing and working on your speaking skills because like I said, this may not be for everyone. I do think even if you are not interested in modifying your accent and that is perfectly fine. I I really do think it still helps with your listening comprehension because if you're you're probably going to end up watching a movie or TV show or listening to a podcast or a news broadcast and the person is going to be from the US. And this is the way that they're going to pronounce different words and phrases and use connected speech. It is common not just in everyday casual conversation, but it's common at work. It's common when people give presentations. It is ubiquitous. Ubiquitous is a word that I've taught before in several vocabulary lessons. It is everywhere. Connected speech is ubiquitous. So, I hope that this made sense and I hope you learned something new. I just hope you felt like uh it was a a good practice lesson. Remember, you can get these lesson notes clicking on that uh link down below. And if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something, please hit that like button. Lolly, I think you absolutely deserve a thumbs up. All right. You and I both, we deserve we deserve that thumbs up. So, I will have more lessons like this in the future because when it comes to an English accent, I think it's good to go over a range of words and phrases and when I do these dialogues, of course, there's only so many different words and phrases that I can use, but uh I'll keep doing this in the future cuz it seems like a lot of people are interested in this or they've asked about it. So, thank you so much for joining me uh joining me today. Thank you for participating in the lesson for all of those that were speaking with me. Uh I really appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see you soon for another lesson in the future. --- ## 637. Upper-Intermediate (B2) Expressions | Strengthen Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ช | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WdumVW_EvDE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdumVW_EvDE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:50:03 | --- let's see if you know these B2 Expressions which are are more Upper Intermediate and they are very common Expressions so let's find out if you need to continue building your vocabulary or perhaps it's the other way around and I want to start with that expression the other way around this means the opposite way or in the opposite order and for the most part you're going to use this expression at the end of a statement and let me give you a cultural example so in the United States which is where I'm from if it's your birthday then maybe your friends and family will take you out and they will pay for your meal however in other countries it's the other way around whoever is having their birthday they may take out their friends and family and that person the host will pay for pronunciation very quickly I just want to point out that the article the' has two different pronunciations a strong form the and a weak form the' in this case we're going to use the strong form the because the next word begins with a vowel sound the other the other way around well I don't know how they did things in that City but in this city handmaidens wait on ladies not the other way around Indians ain't supposed to feel sorry for Cowboys it's the other way around then we have an expression that I I feel like I often use whenever I want to share my opinion and that is as far as I'm concerned so this is a way to share your personal opinion about something it's a little more polite a little more formal a little more professional but you can still use it when you're out with friends so let me give you my opinion about different things as far as I'm concerned English is a very useful language to learn as far as I'm concerned Coke is better than Pepsi and as far as I'm concerned the US will win the next World Cup that's not really my opinion but I I just want to support the team as far as I'm concerned right here with you and the boys this is Paradise as far as I'm concerned when you jumped through that Wormhole you were doing your job the car is driving home W as far as I'm concerned I would never forfeit my control of the wheel when pronouncing this phrase just be aware that linking may occur this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vow sound of the next word so think about the phrase far as I'm we can link those three words together and it's like we're moving that consonant sound over to the next syllable far as I'm as far as I'm concerned so I would say as far as I'm concerned you should subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so go ahead subscribe I think it's very important that you continue building your vocabulary at all cost well maybe not at all cost but that is the next expression that I want to teach you at all cost is used whenever you want to say that something must be done or avoided whatever happens even if it's very difficult or causes a lot of problems so this is a great phrase when you want want to emphasize something maybe you want to avoid something at all cost or protect something at all cost or win at all cost now there is a slight debate as to whether or not the word cost should be singular or plural for the most part it is more common to use the plural form cost with an S according to the grammarist at all cost is the more correct form of the phrase and is most common in both spoken and written English the letter s in cost should not be omitted to help give you a better idea as to how this expression is used in context I have some news headlines for you Warren Gatlin hits out at springbox and their winit all cost mentality crypto four altcoins to avoid at all cost according to experts Panda Express menu items the staff avoid at all cost so if you like to eat at Panda Express this is probably an article you want to read for pronunciation I want to talk about the flap T because this is a distinct part of the American accent I I told you I'm from the US so the final T and at you're going to hear me pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound like a soft D because the t comes between two vowel sounds and then I can link that flap t with the vowel sound in all at all at all cost just listen for it yeah but what about no mercy you us to win at all costs your mission is to protect the code at all costs next we have the expression to take someone's breath away which means to be very beautiful or surprising so you would say that something takes your breath away it could be a performance a meal a work of art and it's just a great way to add emphasis the phrase was widely popularized in the'80s by the music group Berlin who release their hit song Take My Breath Away which they made for the movie Top Gun I don't want to play it because I just don't want to get a copyright strike but it sounds like take my breath away this sounds nothing like Berlin but I will say that once again when pronouncing this phrase linking will occur we can link that voiceless th in breath with the vow sound in a way Breath Away Take My Breath Away wo yeah wow really takes your breath away doesn't she your art collection never fails to take my breath away so did I take your breath away have an open mind or keep an open mind this means to wait until you have all the facts before forming an opinion or making a decision about something this expression is very common and very useful especially now days because I think it is incredibly important that people have an open mind or keep an open mind and that is the other thing that I want to point out you're really going to use this with those verbs we need to have an open mind or we need to keep an open mind and of course open mind this is a noun phrase but you can also use it as an adjective it's also very common if you want to say that someone is open-minded when pronouncing this expression more linking may occur so have an open we can link that phrase together as well as keep an open we can link that together as well just listen for it I just hope you'll have an open mind at the Great Pumpkin you should keep an open mind things set in the circle have a surprising way of coming true yeah it's freshwat you e people actually eat that crap it's very popular just have an open mind and keep an open mind here then we have lose track this means to no longer know what is happening or not to remember something and often you're going to follow this with the preposition of to lose track of someone or to lose track of something and a common collocation with this expression is to lose track of time he always loses track of time meet a girl you lose track of place and time sorry I lost track of time you lost track of time you have to tell me when you're going to be home late when pronouncing this expression there's more link thinking track of I try not to lose track of time but it definitely happens a pain in the neck you can use this expression when you want to say that someone or something is really annoying I might say well one of my students is a real pain in the neck and I'm I'm not talking about you of course not this is just an example or commuting downtown is such a pain in the neck so when I gave you both of those examples I added a little emphasis and you can do that if you want to say something or someone is a real pain in the neck or such a pain in the neck another idiom with the same meaning would really just be replacing the word neck with the word butt or ass pain in the butt pain in the ass now it is a little stronger and I would say that you need to know your audience because someone could very well get offended especially if you say there're a pain in the butt or a pain in the ass but there is more linking that may occur we can link the final consonant sound in pain with the beginning vowel sound in in and this can be a bit challenging linking a final n Sound with the preposition in pain in pain in pain in the neck give it a try pain in the neck excellent she's a big pain in the neck if I had wanted a proper maid I would not have hired a headstrong opinionated pain in the neck like you next is the expression up to a point this means partly or to a limited degree so so basically you're really just establishing a limit I could say I will tolerate his laziness up to a point or her story was true up to a point or your method worked up to a point to give you a better idea as to how this expression is used in context I have some more news headlines for you Locust raised in high gravity grow freakishly strong up to a point using AI to reduce collisions at C is a good idea up to a point Wildfire smoke drives a rise and er visits up to a point for pronunciation I would like to point out that intrusion may occur this is when you add a slight sound between two vowels in order to link them together so to to ends with a back vow so we can add a slight W that W sound in between there to link them together to up to a point can the Wagon train go any faster uh up to a point excuse me we're here because you said you have a plan I do up to a point this little performance you're putting on will only help you up to a point to cross someone's mind this means to think of something and often you may use it in a question like did it cross your mind to hit the like button you know just just something to think about or people may often use it in the negative if I were to say I forgot to take out the dog it just didn't cross my mind here are some more examples Hey when we sell the Bitcoin are you going to pay your dad back all the money you took from him over the years never even crossed my mind wait you think I'm spy the thought has crossed our minds yeah the pronunciation is pretty simple and straightforward to cross someone's mind so let's just move on to the next expression which is to break the ice this means to make people who who have never met before feel more relaxed with each other so you could use this idiom whenever you have a group of people who don't know each other and say let's break the ice or we need to break the ice you could also use the noun phrase Icebreaker as well let's do an icebreaker when pronouncing this idiom remember I told you that the articlethe has a strong and weak form once again we're going to use that strong form the because the next word begins with a vowel sound to break the ice it's my first day as city manager so I'm holding open Office hours to break the ice so to break the ice we brought cupcakes and then there's to break someone's heart which really has two meanings the first one would be to make someone who loves you very sad pretty much by telling this person that you stopped loving them I could say she said that she wanted to see other people and it just broke his heart and in this context I I could also change it to an adjective and say he is heartbroken it can also be used when you want to refer to an event or situation that makes you very sad so let let me give you an honest example I have a little girl I'm a parent now and really since then any that involves children if it's a tragic event it just really breaks my heart if it is you know doesn't matter if it's a a shooting a natural disaster any tragic event it really breaks my heart when children are involved so this is really an expression that you can use to capture that sad emotion and that feeling when something breaks your heart I know it was you Fredo you broke my heart you broke my heart my date Mary Joe kumy left the senior dance with another guy broke my heart gave me a home gave me a name and in return I've given in my life and to see it like this breaks my heart once again I think the pronunciation is pretty simple and straightforward to break someone's heart so let's move on to our next expression can't be bothered I I will say that I think this is more commonly used in British English but you may hear people in the US use it as well I can't be bothered this means that you are too lazy or tired to do something I can't be bothered to work over the weekend or and this is true I can't be bothered to iron my clothes or I could say I can't be bothered to cook tonight now to really drive the meaning home I have some images of animals that can't be bothered blah blah blah rules of the house I can't be bothered I I really love this one koala can't be bothered or when you can't be bothered to turn your head for pronunciation I I thought I could point out some of the differences between American and British English that vow sound can't versus British English which is going to sound like can't can't can't can't be bothered can't be bothered I can't be bothered that's actually a really I think a really bad example of a British accent and yeah I maybe I just can't be bothered to improve my British accent but let's see if you can hear the difference if you can't be bothered to do homework the only thing people are going to trust you with is grunt work what about Marissa Marissa can't be bothered she's too busy running around with that tattooed new friend of hers I won't stand up because I can't be bothered all right well if you can't be bothered I'll have a sandwich now for a little review I hope that this lesson took your breath away and you were amazed at just how much you learned and I would love for you to continue building your vocabulary at all cost that that may be a little extreme and perhaps it's the other way around and and you don't want to overdo it because you can learn new words every day up to a point because then it it could become too much but I I suppose you are you're already familiar with some of these expressions and in that case as far as I'm concerned it's always good to get review I've really enjoyed teaching you this vocabulary and you know what they say when you're having fun it's easy to lose track of time so I should probably start to wrap things up and of course you can continue building your vocabulary by watching another video Lesson I suppose that has already crossed your mind please don't tell me well I can't be bothered because if you were to say that it would just break my heart now even though I can sometimes be a pain in the neck or even a pain in the ass I hope that you enjoyed learning these expressions with me if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 638. Upper-Intermediate (B2) Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Mkxixi-Xi7M` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkxixi-Xi7M) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:14:01 | --- hello and welcome to another lesson in which I am going to test your vocabulary and see just how much you know when it comes to some very useful and common English phrases and the the reason why I say useful in common is because these are all more Upper Intermediate phrases B2 phrases B2 refers to cambridge's framework um where you have A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 so B2 is more Upper Intermediate which means that these are phrases that I think are are a little more common so hopefully you are familiar with some of them many of them will see just how much you know because I am gonna I'm gonna present this as more of a quiz lesson and again my goal with all of this is that you learn something new and as we go through this please write your answers in the chat right your answers in the comments because I just love hearing from you and that's what these lessons are all about just participating and it's just more active learning so the before we begin because we're talking about building vocabulary I did want to let you know if you're interested in building your vocabulary and practicing your speaking skills then there's still time if you would like to join my upcoming speaking course it's all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly speak naturally you can check out the course page there's a lot of information about the course um you know costs time schedule availability so I will link that down below in the description and I'll even put it in the chat so okay so I just threw that in there right there as well if you're interested in checking that out so let's just let's go ahead and jump into it uh with our first question okay so I'm gonna present this to you in a few different ways the first part I'm going to give you the phrase and then it's just multiple choice you know a b or c what what do you think and then I'll tell you the answer I'll talk a little bit about the phrase and try to give you a little more information about how it's used in context because I think when building your vocabulary and learning these phrases as well as others um this this is when I think you can really understand the these phrases a bit more so what do you think all right I'm seeing some great answers in the chat all right excellent so the correct answer is B because of a situation mentioned in that case so let me give you an example to so that you better understand um the meaning so again if somebody says in that case you're really referring to something that was already mentioned or discussed so check out this little dialogue right here like a and b I'll have some apple juice please well sorry we ran out of apple juice okay in that case because we've already talked mentioned about the situation in that case I'll have uh some orange juice okay so just remember that you're often going to use this at the beginning of a statement because you're referring to something already mentioned like well in that case I'm going to do this instead or I'm going to have um you know this is what I think so just keep that in mind you're referring to something that was already mentioned excellent you guys rock that one I feel like again B2 um I I think you guys will know quite a few of these and that's good it's always good to get review these phrases like I said they're common they're important so what do you think with respect to that's your phrase do you think it means a in connection with something B admiration for or C politely what what do you think a b or c we're talking about the phrase with respect to so I I this one may be maybe a little more challenging but I I feel like how do I say it's maybe a little more formal but this is one you may find newspaper articles um and I'll get to that in just a moment but yes I see a lot of great answers the answer is a in connection with something with respect to so you may also have people say with respect of means the same thing either one is okay in this case I just included with respect to um so I mentioned that it's it's a phrase that maybe it's a little not more formal but I I wanted to give you an example using news articles and in this case not really necessarily in the article but also headlines so I have two headlines for you that uh use this phrase and again it means in connection with something the first one's talking about uh Bishop Bode and cardinal Loki is there a double standard in Germany with respect to mishandling of abusive priests all right so again a double standard is referring to um well you have one standard for one group of people but then a different set of Standards or expectations for another and they talk about a double standard so is there a double standard in connection with the mishandling so with respect to the other one down here you may not be able to see it so I'll just read it it says I'm talking about Singapore in talks with Morocco to buy carbon credits it says however both countries have to control their carbon emission levels with respect to International guidelines set to to track climate and then it goes on and on so it's talking about controlling those emissions in connection with or with respect to the international guidelines all right so in in this case again it's like we're we're change interchanging that meaning with this phrase it's a great phrase as well as this next phrase okay might as well so what do you think uh this phrase means might as well is it a used to show that something is possible B used to say something is likely to happen or C used to suggest doing something might as well okay and I think this is a good one uh sometimes people will ask are these phrases good for like both speaking and writing and the answer is always it depends because some of these phrases are idiomatic they're more idioms in which in which case I would say it's probably better to reserve them for spoken English um but others again you could use in writing papers uh it really just depends like with respect to in this case it's a little more informal makes me think like more dialogue so the answer might as well um a little this one wow varying different different answers so the answer is actually C you're you're you use it to suggest doing something and I'll add a little bit to this I couldn't fit it all in the meaning so you use it to suggest doing something often when there's nothing better to do and it's like well you know we might as well do this all right so you're you're basing this off like on the the situation at hand so think of these examples right here uh somebody goes to meet a friend um and they say like well you know maybe they weren't planning to stay there and you think well as long as we're here we might as well get a drink all right as long as we're at this place all right I'm suggesting that we do something because maybe we have nothing better to do in this situation it's almost like you're waiting for someone um and you're like well we might as well do this while we're here or even in the second one they're going to be late so we may as well start eating now you may have noticed that instead of using might I replaced it with may they have the same meaning you could use either one might as well may as well so I wanted to point that out in that example so they're going to be late we may as well start eating so you're suggesting that you do something and again not always but often because there is uh nothing better to do so it's a good phrase good phrase especially I think more for for like spoken English the next one okay in a row all right what do you think remember write your answers in the chat in the comments I want you guys to participate so in a row is it talking about a one after another without a break B making a boat move through water or C to argue consecutively especially loudly what do you think this phrase means again this is a B2 phrase and don't be fooled because again a lot of some of the words in this phrase they have multiple meanings um I'm trying not to give you too too much of a hint um so what do you think and it said B2 this is all more upper Upper Intermediate all right so the answer is a we're talking about one after another without a break so let me give you some examples you're talking about something like happens in a row now row again as a verb to rho that was the second meaning like you're you're moving through water and then the other one the fight loudly that's another um it's a word with multiple meanings but the pronunciation changes a row you're going to have a row like an argument with somebody but if you're talking about the phrase in a row one after the other like he's called in sick four days in a row the team has won the championship three years in a row happens one after another often this is going to be used with some sort of like time uh days months years and again because you're talking about one after the other typically you're going to use it with numbers like well two three four five uh you're not often going to hear it with like large numbers unless you're talking about maybe a smaller increment so let me give you an example like again days months years days would be the smallest increment but if I were to say something like well we have not uh we haven't had an accident at work now for 556 days in a row so again you could use it with a larger number but typically you're going to hear people use this with uh you know smaller numbers two three four five in a row so that was the the multiple choice portion now I'm going to switch things up this time I am going to give you the phrase and I'm only going to give you maybe one or two words that are part of the phrase and I want you to guess it and to help you guess what the phrase is uh you can use the picture so look at this one right here all right what would you say what phrase am I talking about and of course then I will tell you the meaning I'll talk to you a little bit how it's used and and give you some examples now there may be there there may actually be a couple of different words that you uh you may be thinking of so you take something into um what do you think look at the picture that that is really trying to help you decide well what what goes in that blank how how can you best complete this sentence take something into um and that to be perfectly honest there are two different words that that you can use they have a very similar meaning the word that I'm looking for uh is account to take something into account and what this means is to consider or remember something when judging a situation some of you said to take something into consideration I think that's perfectly okay that is another phrase for some reason when I was looking these up it lists this as the B2 phrase to take something into account and even when I checked on uh Google engram viewer to see which one is more commonly used uh this is the one that ends up being more commonly used uh that you're going to find more often to take something into account look at the example that I'm I'm giving you down here if I were somebody were to say look look I hope my boss takes into account the fact that I worked an extra weekend when I asked for some time off next month so in this case it's like I you're saying that your boss your hope that they consider or remember that you work some extra time an extra weekend when they're they're going to judge that situation about okay should I give this person time off the other thing that I wanted to point out is that I followed it with the fact that sometimes you may use this phrase and then follow it like takes into account the fact that something happens in which case you're talking about the situation so I hope my boss takes into account the fact that I worked an extra weekend when I asked for some time off next month and in this case again this would be interchangeable with consideration I hope my boss takes into consideration the fact that I worked an extra weekend you could also use that one as well so again those you mentioned consideration perfectly fine the next one what do you what do you think very very short uh short phrase right here behind um and I think this is probably some of these may be a little easier and then at the end it is going to get um more difficult the last part of this quiz that I have for you so what do you think we're talking about behind what is the phrase that I'm referring to based on that picture so there is a blank space here there so it's really [Music] um and just one word that's missing and we're taught and that word is the word bars behind bars so you can see those bars right there it's like a a jail that's what it looks like because that's what the phrase is talking about if you say Behind Bars it just means in prison and I again I've given you some examples with some news headlines and this is I think fairly it's a fairly common phrase when you want to talk about someone who is in jail in prison uh like it says Bannon uh they're talking about Steve Bannon I don't know how many of you follow like American politics uh but Steve Madden gets four months behind bars for defying 1 6 January 6 subpoena and if you're not sure what a subpoena is a subpoena is an order that you have to appear in court so he defied that order and now he's going to spend four months behind bars the next one uh down here it says man faces 25 years behind bars for illegally converting Bitcoin to US Dollars it's talking about a money laundering scheme but in this situation when you're talking about Behind Bars yes somebody did something illegal and they're going to go to jail they're going to go to prison and spend some time Behind Bars the next one um what do you think I I don't know I think this one many of you will get so we're talking about on um and then that dot dot dot is like kind of a you know there's some information that would go in there and then you're going to follow that with on hmm and to help you out what do you think I tried to find a picture that would best maybe represent this phrase I don't know if I I did a good job I haven't uh seen any answers just yet so on on what do you think I think when I tell you the phrase this is a phrase that you you've probably heard before it is casual colloquial this is one that I think is great um when talking about spoken English and the phrase that I'm referring to is yes on the one hand and then you would talk about like whatever you're gonna say and then on the other hand you have this situation so again in this picture you can see it's like she's considering two different options she has her hands up so on the one hand on the other hand so this is used when you are comparing two different facts or just two opposite ways of thinking about a situation uh so I I gave you an example um down there that is me and Emmy on the one hand I'd like to stay up and relax with a movie but on on the other hand Emmy is going to wake me up early in the morning so in this case I it's like I'm comparing two opposite way opposite ways of thinking like again I'd love to stay up but on the other hand I'm I'm going to get up early and that's not going to be very pleasant if you don't get a lot of sleep at night so on the one hand I'd like to stay up and relax with a movie but on the other hand Emmy is going to wake me up early in the morning so that is the that is an example using this phrase and just to to add to that picture right there that picture is us standing on a bridge at about I think it's like 5 30 in the morning we had just returned from the U.S completely jet lagged Emmy was getting up at like three o'clock in the morning so spending some time inside when the sun came up walked outside she was riding her bike and that picture is from yeah I think like five o'clock in the morning somewhere thereabouts the next one this one I didn't want to give you a word because I think it would have made it too easy so I gave you some letters that are well part of the word and I still think you're probably going to get it just looking at the picture so in looking at this picture I I would tell you to give you another hint not that you probably need it um you know what noun first noun that comes to mind in the first verb that comes to mind what's what's going on so I don't think you needed that hint in order to know the phrase that I'm talking about again it is a B2 phrase it is considered Upper Intermediate and it's a phrase that I think you um probably most likely have heard only because this is one movies TV shows that comes up quite a bit because talking about relationships so the phrase that I'm talking about referring to you can see the verb break all right which would be that first word the next blank would be someone because it could be any any person and then heart that is the noun break someone's heart and if you break someone's heart it means that well to make someone who loves you very sad and it's like ah you know if I say you broke my heart then you're I'm just telling you that that you you made me sad um it could be for a variety of reasons in this case it said usually by telling some a person that you stop loving them and again in that case it doesn't mean always like you tell them like you say it out loud you could tell people in different ways um and they could uh it you know you could say oh you you broke my heart the example I wanted to give you was from the the movie The Godfather um there was a line in there he says you know I know it was you Fredo you broke my heart you broke my heart and this is when Michael Corleone gives him the the kiss of death like he knows it was Fredo that betrayed him and you know their their family so he's like it you know it breaks my heart this was a I think a pretty well-known line from the movie but a great example again of saying of using this phrase to break someone's heart the next part of this quiz which I think is going to be more challenging is I am going to give you the meaning and I just want you to think of the phrase all right what phrase do you think I'm talking about and again it's not a word it's not just one word it's a phrase two or more words so and I think this will be a little bit more difficult even though again I think many of these phrases you've heard of and you you may be familiar with so this is the meaning to make the situation even more unpleasant or difficult what phrase could I and and there may be other phrases as well that have a similar meaning I don't know if they would be B2 phrases we're just focusing on uh the B2 phrase so we're talking about to make the situation even more unpleasant or difficult what do you think and I know like I said this is a little more challenging so I'll give you a hint as you're thinking about it there's your hint so um matters so matters is going to come in the middle of the phrase so once again like like I said if seeing some great great uh great answers there there could be more than one word or phrase that has this same meaning but there's just one specific um phrase that I'm talking about that is considered a B2 phrase Upper Intermediate vocabulary so the answer in case you're wondering is to make matters worse to make matters worse we can use this when referring to well making the situation even more unpleasant or more difficult think about the context that I'm giving you down here like a wedding there's a lot of planning that goes into a wedding a lot of things can go wrong and if we're just in the moment talking about it like oh the wedding caterer canceled on us and to make matters worse the best man suddenly got sick and is in the hospital so it's like there's now a problem because the Caterers canceled and then now the situation is be is worse to make matters worse because the best man is now in the hospital so you may also hear people use instead of matters things to make things worse that is another phrase that you can use has the same meaning I just wanted to point that out but in this case we're talking about the phrase to make matters worse all right so I told you yeah this would be a little more challenging just getting the meaning and then trying to come up with a phrase so the next one is it's you you would use this phrase to show that you think or feel the opposite of what has just been stated okay think of um this would be a transition word and those transition words you can use them to um talk about the order of events you can use them to add information you can also use them some of these transition words or phrases we're talking about opposite that is a key word in here so this is a phrase used to show that you think or feel the opposite of what has just been stated there's your hint okay um on the um what do you think so it has the same meaning as a word like however but again this is a phrase so we're talking about the opposite and the answer which uh is seeing now excellent on the contrary and I think this is a little more uh formal you would hear it more you would find it in writing uh you you could hear people would use this in spoken English as well probably a little more common to use a word like however but again you could use this phrase to to state that you think or feel the opposite like um here's my little dialogue again not many people not many people like these English lessons and I would say hey on the contrary people hit the like button all the time okay so that would be like my um my reason for thinking the opposite like on the contrary hey people hit that like button all the time and perhaps I'm subtly suggesting that you you hit the like button if you enjoy building your vocabulary and and learning these new phrases so please yes go ahead hit that like button but on the contrary um is a good phrase to know and there are different ways again expressing that you feel like however on the contrary um so this is a good way to build your vocabulary if uh this is a phrase you're not familiar with the next one there's not much information uh that I'm giving you here as far as the meaning goes approximately almost okay what phrase uh would mean approximately or almost I'll give you a hint this is a binomial pair I've done many lessons in the past talking about these binomial pairs these binomial Expressions we have two words that are joined by a conjunction and that conjunction is usually and or or and it's a some of them are fixed phrases uh like this one and to give you again to kind of start you know jogging your memory to get you suddenly thinking of something there's your hint so I'm giving you the the part of this binomial bit or so you have or um and I really think these phrases are useful they're very common they're a little more um colloquial so I think you're more likely to use them in spoken English but not not always all right so there okay I'm gonna give you some more information because I see some great answers the the correct answer is more or less all right this is a binomial pair more or less it means approximately it means all most now it has a similar meaning to give or take okay give or take would more closely resemble approximately the only difference is that give or take you're you're likely to use that when talking about numbers um I have uh well you know he is you know 60 years old give or take a few years so you're going to use give or take if you like talking about numbers you can also use more or less talking about numbers as well so in that case they're interchangeable but you can use more or less talking about other situations and that's why this phrase is more common than saying give or take so let's look at these examples uh if I say she more or less started the business on her own okay I'm saying like she almost did this on her own maybe she got a little help but really more or less she was she did this she put this business together um by herself I cannot use give or take in this situation because well first off we're not talking about something that's countable we're not talking about numbers so we could not use give or take here the next one where I say hey you know we're more we're the same height more or less um in this case we're talking about height which would be a number so in that case you could say yeah we're the same height give or take uh but again more or less it both of them are binomial pairs this one is more commonly used this is our B2 phrase then we have uh and I think maybe you guys uh we'll get this one so we're talking about this is the meaning for a long medium or short period of time in the future what phrase has this meaning and I think it's a common one um for a long medium or short period in the future I'll go ahead and give you a hint and put in a word for you which I don't think you needed uh but there it is so um term okay what there well I don't want to give you another hint but uh there are actually three different phrases when it comes to this meaning and I will explain why so we're we're talking about the future a period of time in the future and the reason why the meaning is talking about long medium or short is because we can use each of those words in this phrase so we're talking about the phrase in the long term or the phrase in the medium term or the phrase in the short term so it really depends on the period of time that we're referring to most often people are going to talk about something that's going on in the short term which is you know more the immediate future or in the long term which is more the distant future people may use in the medium term it depends on the context and the situation but more often you're likely to hear people talk about something that's going to happen in the short term or in the long term so the example that I wanted to give you is talking about the stock market and say well the stock market may be volatile in the short term all right in the immediate future but the market will certainly Rebound in the long term in the distance future it's going to come back it's going to go higher at least I hope it is because things have been uh things have been pretty bad lately so it may be volatile in the short term but in the long term I am optimistic that it's going to to rebound and come back so these I think are great phrases to know and to use when you want to reference that that period of time so here again just to give you a little bit of review these are the phrases that we talked about in today's lesson these are all Beach two phrases which I hope maybe you learned one or two new phrases if you knew all of them then that is awesome it's always good to get a little review and try to get a better understanding as to how they're used because like I said these phrases are certainly pretty common and just one more plug again if you would like to build your vocabulary and practice um your speaking skills you can click on the link in the description if you want to check out my speaking course link is down below so I I really appreciate you guys joining me today like I said the goal with all of these lessons especially when it comes to vocabulary is that you just you you learn something new and you get something out of these lessons learn a new phrase go out try to to listen for them or even practice using them the next time you're having a conversation so give some shout outs uh because I haven't been able to mention too many names thank you for being here Lolly always great to see you takayo hello good thanks for joining um Julia Ennis Maria um Gustav thanks for being here's the nuts a lot of familiar faces uh today uh Alexandre um Wint sorry if I mispronounced names kariel um thank you for joining me and I will see you in the near future I because I'm I'm going to come out with more video lessons in the short term in the medium term and the plan is to continue coming out with more lessons in the long term so uh I hope to see a a lot of you I hope that that you will see a lot of me uh in the future so thank you for joining me have a wonderful day and I --- ## 639. Upper-Intermediate (B2) Phrases to Supercharge Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ช | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `TyceVYt_474` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyceVYt_474) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:55:59 | --- let's learn some incredibly useful B2 phrases which it's more Upper Intermediate and I say these phrases are incredibly useful because they're very common now some of these phrases it's possible that you've been using them all along but I promise that you will learn something new so let's begin with a phrase that I just mentioned all along this means from the very beginning and it's a great phrase because you can use it in a variety of situations and really it's interchangeable with the meaning from the very beginning so when you use this phrase it just allows you to be more concise and use fewer words I could say I knew all along that their relationship had problems or maybe that was the plan all along so instead of saying from the very beginning I can just simplify it and say all along when pronouncing this phrase linking may occur and this is extremely common in spoken English this is when you link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so we can link that final consonant sound in all with the beginning vowel sound in a long and it's almost like we're just moving that consonant sound over to the next word or syllable all along all along I want you to listen for it you're right all along Frank you had them all along it's been there all along now ever since you started learning English perhaps you have enjoyed building your vocabulary all along and if you really do enjoy building your vocabulary Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so the next phrase that I have for you I really want you to keep this in mind because I use it all the time and I'm talking about the phrase keep in mind you can use one of two verbs the verb keep keep in mind or the verb bear bear in mind they both have the same meaning which is to remember a piece of information when making a decision or just considering a matter and this is a phrase that as a teacher I use all the time I'm constantly telling Learners hey keep in mind and then I tell them the information I want them to remember as a way of emphasizing it so generally you're going to use this phrase at the beginning of a statement now to be perfectly honest I I think that I use the phrase keep in mind more often than I use bear in mind and I think others do as well you can see this using engram viewer which allows us to compare the frequency of different words and phrases so it's a bit more common for people to say Keep keep in mind and I want you to keep in mind that throughout the lesson I am going to teach you the meaning of these different phrases talk a little bit about how they're used in context and bear in mind I'm going to tell you how to pronounce them just like me so when pronouncing this phrase more linking may occur I told you it's very common in spoken English and we can link that final consonant sound in keep with the beginning vowel sound in in keep in keep in mind you can do the same with bear bear in mind keep in mind bear in mind now here's something I want you to keep in mind if you want to improve your overall fluency it's important that you develop your pronunciation for Clear communication and that's why I want to talk to you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is Elsa speak this is a great app to help you fine-tune your pronunciation and if you're unfamiliar with it let me show you how it works you just download the app create an account and there's so much that you can do practice daily lessons improve pronunciation study by topic let's say you're going to take an exam like the IELTS and you've been studying all along but you want more practice well Elsa has these great study sets to help you with that so we can practice well daily routines and start saying some of these very common collocations do exercise daily routine have breakfast but I think one of the coolest features is being able to practice words and phrases that you want to learn so maybe we want to practice the phrase keep in mind and I can say keep in mind this will help you fine-tune your pronunciation and then we can listen to it keep in mind this will help you fine tune your pronunciation and practice saying it keep in mind this will help you fine-tune your pronunciation now let me show you what it looks like if I make a mistake and I mispronounce some of those vowel sounds cap on Min this will help you fun tone your pronunciation as you can see you get instant feedback which then allows you to try and make adjustments and right now when you click on the link below and download the Elsa speak app you can get seven days of the pro membership for free or you can use my discount to get 85 percent off a lifetime membership or 40 off a one-year membership so check out the links and discounts Down Below in the description if you would like to learn your mistakes and improve your pronunciation and before you know it you'll sound just like a native speaker now let's get back to our B2 phrases and the next one that I have for you is at your convenience this just means when you want and I could say I would like to schedule a meeting at your convenience and there's also a great collocation with this phrase these are words that are frequently used together and that collocation is at your earliest convenience so really I'm just emphasizing that this needs to happen soon I would like to schedule them meeting at your earliest convenience when you pronounce this phrase assimilation may occur this is part of connected speech it's when two sounds they blend together to create a new sound so in this case it's like the T and Y blend together and you get this CH sound and we can place that slight CH between the words at in your at your convenience now this is not something that's always going to happen you may hear someone say at your convenience but keep in mind assimilation may occur and you'll hear that slight CH sound at your convenience once again just listen for it you may transport aboard at your convenience please call me back at your earliest willing to meet you at your earliest convenience then we have the phrase to keep someone company this just means to stay with someone so that they're not alone and really this phrase is used in a positive way because if you tell someone to keep this person company it shows that you care you want to help this person you don't want them to be alone and I really appreciate you keeping me company as I teach these phrases I don't want you to leave because then I'll be alone and I'll just be talking to myself so if you are happy to keep me company you can let me know by hitting that like button when pronouncing this phrase elusion may occur and this is when sounds or syllables get removed so it may occur with the first letter of the possessive pronoun him or her it's like that H just gets muted and then we can link the consonant sound with the vowel sound so instead of keep her it's going to sound like keeper keeper company keeper company keeper company instead of keep him that H gets muted it's going to sound like keep him keep him company keep him company I volunteer to keep him company so then why don't you keep him company I really like this next phrase because it's something that I try to do and that is set an example this means to behave in a way that other people should copy so I try to set a good example for my daughter I think that's something that parents do teachers should try to set a good example bosses and managers should also try to set a good example and I keep saying the word good because this is a common collocation with this phrase to set a good example and you could also say to set a bad example but it's more commonly used with the adjective good and I think this is one of the few times in which a positive phrase is more often used than a Nega native phrase to set a good example but to help you better understand how this phrase is used in context I have some news headlines for you China can set an example for the asean no nuke treaty company Saks top performer to set an example for others and to sack someone this is an informal way of saying that someone got fired subsidized train tickets Germany and Spain set an example for pronunciation there's two things that I want to talk about the first one is that the final T in set I am going to pronounce this as a flap T this is very common with the American accent when the t comes between two vowel sounds I'm going to pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound more like a soft D and then we can just link the entire phrase said an example set an example say with me set an example excellent then we have the phrase to have an eye for something this means to be good at noticing a particular type of thing so maybe you have an eye for beauty or perhaps you have an eye for fashion or you have an eye for details or you have an eye for a good bargain let's see what what else can you have an eye for quite an eye for the pretty girls you do have an eye for other people's mistakes we have never built a pattern before or a print because you have to really have an eye for print when pronouncing this phrase we can link the three words have an eye it's going to sound like heaven I and then the word for in spoken English it's common for it to get reduced and it's a weak sound and that vowel changes so instead of four it's going to sound more like fur to have an eye for something to have an eye for something at ease I'm telling you this because it's our next phrase and I also want you to relax I want you to feel free from worry so you may definitely hear this phrase being used in a military context it would be used as a command and in general a person of a higher authority would say this to someone of a lower rank who is standing in position and they'll say at ease and they're just telling this person to relax at ease at ease headies there are also some great collocations with this phrase someone may look at ease or feel at ease or seem at ease he really looked at ease during the job interview you could also put someone at ease when she texted me that she got home it really put me at ease or you could also put someone's mind at ease planning for the wedding has been so stressful I wish there were some way to put my mind at ease thanks but you should know we're a little concerned about this being used in weapons well let me put your mind at ease what we use it for is none of your business for pronunciation that final T and at because it comes between two vowel sounds once again I am going to pronounce this as a flap T and then we can link that flap t with the vowel sound in ease at ease at ease then we have the phrase in due course or in due time you can use either noun they have the same meaning which is at a suitable time in the future so typically you're going to use this phrase either at the beginning or end of a statement I could say we will announce the grand opening in due course or in due time we will announce the grand opening as far as usage goes both phrases are roughly equally used personally I prefer to say in due time but just looking at their usage over time it's really fascinating how language changes when pronouncing this phrase it's pretty simple and straightforward you're just going to say one word right after the other in due time in due course and then there's the phrase fair enough I really like this one probably because I use it quite often and it's used to say that something is reasonable or acceptable and typically you're going to use this phrase in a back and forth conversation well you just said you didn't care about the push-ups I changed my mind wasting your time old man the last thing I need is another Sensei fair enough I don't think as much I can teach you right now anyway for pronunciation there's more linking we can link the final consonant sound in Fair with the beginning vowel sound in enough fair enough fair enough and then we have to get on someone's nerves it means to annoy someone a lot this is an idiom that's used in casual conversation when something or someone is bothering you typically people use this when talking about themselves and they'll use the possessive adjective my so instead of saying that someone is annoying me I'll say that someone is getting on my nerves also you're likely to use this in either the past the present or the present continuous Wes got on my nerves at the party last night in the past or sometimes Wes gets on my nerves a general truth in the present or Wes is getting on my nerves it's happening right now the present continuous I really hope that I don't get on your nerves I suppose if I do you can hit the dislike button but I'd much rather you hit the like button at your convenience of course when pronouncing this phrase two things that I want to talk to you about that final T and get I'm going to pronounce this as a flap T and then we can link that flap t with the vowel sound in on get on to get on someone's nerves next is the phrase in that case which I really like because you're going to use this in a conversation it means because of a mentioned situation so it's a great phrase when you're having a conversation and you're referencing something that was mentioned and reacting to it let's say you tell me it's cold outside and I say in that case I'm gonna wear a coat or maybe you tell me you don't have anyone to hang out with it's a little lonely so I say in that case I'm going to keep you company here are some other examples I'll give Stella a lifetime of love over these next eight months in that case welcome to the family son I think she's out well in that case Eric I can't do that with her in here for pronunciation there's some co-articulation going on this is when you have overlapping sounds because the final consonant sound in in your tongue is roughly in the same position when you're pronouncing that voice th in that so it just allows us to smoothly move from one word to the next in that in that case otherwise it's pretty simple and straightforward but I keep talking to you about pronunciation because this is something you really need to practice and then practice some more and do it all over again which is the next phrase that I want to teach you all over again this means to start again from the very beginning and it's a great way to add emphasis instead of just saying again and there are also some useful collocations with this phrase you could do something all over again there was a mistake with the design so so we had to do it all over again you could also start something all over again people showed up late and interrupted my presentation so I had to start all over again from the very beginning for pronunciation we can link the entire phrase link those final consonant sounds with the beginning vowel sounds all over again all over again so I really want to stress just how common linking is because as you can see with many of these phrases it's likely to occur and now for a little review because as a teacher I want to set a good example because review is just going to help you remember these phrases and I want you to keep in mind that as you review and practice these phrases in due time they'll become a part of your active memory and in that case you'll be able to easily use them whenever you're having a conversation so I really appreciate you keeping me company throughout the lesson and I would encourage you to watch another video Lesson and you can even choose because I know that you have an eye for finding the right lesson for yourself and you know if you don't want to watch one right now I understand you can watch one at your earliest convenience fair enough so I'm going to wrap things up before I start to get on your nerves but I really hope you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new if you did you can let me know down in the comments thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 640. Upper-Intermediate B2 Vocabulary Every Fluent Speaker Knows | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oSAQVzy3-sI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSAQVzy3-sI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:37:47 | --- Let's learn some B2 vocabulary to help you supercharge your fluency. And I say that because these are words that you will actually hear and use when you're in a conversation. And if you are someone who wants to develop your overall English fluency, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It is all about helping you reach your fluency goals. Now, let's begin with five essential B2 nouns. And the first one is well, it's one that I really like and I use it quite often, and that is nonsense. This refers to words, ideas, or behavior that is foolish, ridiculous, or or just makes no sense. So, often you can use this noun to dismiss something as well, not logical, or it's just not true. And you can add emphasis to this noun with some great adjectives and say something is absolute nonsense or it's utter nonsense or pure nonsense. Now, keep in mind this is a non-count noun. So, you're not going to use it with an article and say uh nonsense or add an s to the n. If somebody were to do that, I would just say that's nonsense. To give you an example, I could say the new company policy is absolute nonsense. It's just going to create more paperwork for everyone. Nobody likes paperwork. And this is something I would say I would say that is absolute nonsense. >> We have the technology to to build a portal into a an alternative universe. Why? That's absolute nonsense. >> Communications detailing your relationship with Nazi high command. >> That's out of nonsense. >> Then there's stopover. This is a short stay in a place in the middle of a long journey, usually between flights. And some common prepositions that you may follow this noun with is a stopover in this city or a stopover at some airport. So I could say, well, yeah, I had a stopover in Los Angeles or I had a stopover at LAX if I wanted to use the airport. Now, in the US, which is where I'm from, you may hear people use the word layover instead. And really, they are interchangeable, but a slight nuance is that when I think of a layover, I I definitely think of a shorter break, maybe an hour or 2 hours or 3 hours. Whereas a stopover, it could be a shorter break, but also a much longer one. Maybe you even have to spend the night. To give you an example, I could say, "I prefer a direct flight," which is true. I I always prefer direct flights, but a stopover in Singapore can be quite refreshing if the airport is nice. I have never been to Singapore, so I don't know anything about the airport, but if it is nice, then yeah, I would not mind a stopover. >> You want me to go to Paris? >> Paris with a quick stopover in London. >> I was on my way to the Harrisburg coat outlet to buy an irregular coat, but it required a stopover in New York City. >> Tragedy. I'm trying to say it with more emotion because of the meaning. It refers to an event causing great pain, suffering, or distress. Think about a serious accident or crime. And there are some common collocations with this noun if somebody's talking about a personal tragedy or a great tragedy or even a national tragedy. Keep in mind that you're not going to use this with minor inconveniences. It's really when talking about events that cause true sadness or suffering. If you're referring to a tragedy, I could say it was a terrible tragedy when the museum burned down because so many wonderful works of art were lost forever. >> It's a tragedy. A real tragedy. >> Now, this goes beyond personal tragedy. >> The governor was using a national tragedy to further his own agenda. Now, if you want to keep building your vocabulary and improving your English skills, it does help to take classes. And you can do that on Skillshare, who is the sponsor of today's lesson. In case you don't know, Skillshare is a platform where you can take creative classes taught by professional graphic designers, accomplished educators, successful entrepreneurs, which makes it the best place to learn a creative skill, or just pick up a new hobby. Not only can you take classes to build your vocabulary, improve your grammar, learn more about pronunciation, but on Skillshare, you can take a wide range of classes on any topic that interests you. And of course, you can learn about these topics in English. Very recently, I took a class on goal setting called Stop Overwhelm, a creative guide to goal setting with AI, Trello, and Chat GPT. and going through the classes and actually doing the project helped me map out the goals that I plan to accomplish this year as well as understand how AI can help me streamline the process and just work more efficiently. This is something that I find fascinating and want to learn more about. But I would recommend that you explore classes that truly interest you, whether it be travel, design, cooking, because that way you will practice and develop your English skills as you learn about one of your passions. It's a win-win. And right now, Skillshare has a special offer for you. The first 500 people to click on the link in the description or scan the QR code will receive a one month free trial of Skillshare. So, click on the link to get your free trial, take some classes, improve your English as you learn about one of your creative passions or about a topic that may help advance your career. Let's get back to our lesson. And the next noun is dose. This refers to a measured amount of medicine that is taken at one time. And figuratively, it can also refer to an experience, usually an unpleasant one. Quite often, this noun is going to be followed by the preposition of a dose of something. And there are also some common collocations with this noun if referring to a small dose of something or a heavy dose of something or even the recommended dose. And there is a common phrase that you may come across from time to time which is a dose of your own medicine. And this is more figurative referring to you being treated in the same bad way that you treat others and you get a dose of your own medicine. Now, for the most part, you're going to use this noun in a medical context. I could say the instructions say to take two doses if the pain doesn't go away within an hour. Your mother received a heavy dose of vaccine that wasn't meant for an adult. >> We've got to get back at them for what they did. >> Yeah, give them a dose of their own medicine. >> Then there's rehearsal. This refers to a practice or trial performance of a play or some other work, generally for a public performance that is going to occur later on. And there are some fixed phrases that are very useful with this noun. If somebody's talking about a dress rehearsal, then that's really referring to the final practice before the public performance. Or if you hear in rehearsal, it means at that moment, then you know people are currently practicing. If a group is in rehearsal, the band sounded a bit disorganized during rehearsal, but the actual concert was flawless. >> We're in rehearsals. It's a live action musical tribute to The Dark Crystal. Oh my god, Gavin. Shh. >> We're supposed to be quiet during rehearsal. >> I don't believe I've ever heard of a wedding dress rehearsal before. >> Now, I want to teach you some powerful B2 verbs. And I'm emphasizing powerful because I think they're incredibly useful. And the first verb is distinguish. This means to recognize the difference between two or more people or things. Now, often you're going to distinguish between A and B or distinguish A from B. To give you an example, I could say it's difficult to distinguish between the real brand and a knockoff. Or, it's difficult to distinguish the real brand from a knockoff. They mean the same thing, but often you're going to distinguish between two things or distinguish one thing from another. To give you a little more context, here are some news headlines. Language models cannot reliably distinguish belief from knowledge and fact. Five pointers to distinguish between chemistry and compatibility. And finally, Britain struggles to distinguish between protest and terrorism. Here are some more examples. But I guess when one's young, it seems very easy to distinguish between right and wrong. >> He can't distinguish bagels from donuts. >> You're having a hard time distinguishing fantasy from reality. >> Then there's the verb treat. This verb actually has three different meanings. And we're going to talk about all of them because they are all at a B2 level. And the first one really refers to behavior because it means to behave towards someone in a particular way. Now, I think that we should all treat each other with respect, and I'm sure that you agree. Now, to give you a phrase that has well, certainly a negative connotation is to treat someone like dirt. And that would mean that well, someone is being treated very badly. >> Where I come from, guests are treated with respect. His home situation sucks. His foster parents treat him like dirt. It also has a medical meaning which is to give medical care to a person or to give medical care for some disease. And quite often you're going to use it with the preposition for to treat someone for some disease. I could say the doctors treated the patient for a rare disease. >> Regardless, you interns are the future of this hospital. If you don't treat patients, you won't learn. >> It may also refer to something special. And in this case, it means to buy or pay for something for someone else as a gift. And in this case, you're frequently going to use it with the preposition to to treat someone to something. So, I I could tell you, you should treat yourself to another vocabulary lesson once this one is over because I I want you to learn more. I want you to develop your overall fluency. And it's it's always good to get a heavy dose of interactive English. >> You're going to buy it and you're going to wear it out of the store, okay? You're going to treat yourself. >> Then there's exploit. This verb has two different meanings. It may mean to use something well in order to gain an advantage. And in this case, it's it's a little more positive or maybe neutral. Or it may mean to treat someone unfairly. And I'm using that verb again to treat as far as behavior to treat someone unfairly and make them work and really not pay them that much. And of course in that case it has a negative connotation. So it really depends on how you want to use it. I think often in business it's a little more positive if a company is exploiting resources. For example, I could say the company is looking for new ways to exploit the potential of social media marketing. That's good. It's smart. It's efficient. >> Primitive but effective. >> It's just exploiting an abundant resource. >> If we're talking about exploiting people, that is always bad because we're talking about treating them badly. For example, I could say critics argue that the fashion industry exploits low-paid workers in developing countries. So really, depending on which meaning you're going to use will depend on whether it's positive or negative. let you call and arrange wet t-shirt contest. It exploits women. >> I warned her. She made a choice. You exploited her. >> Next is the verb wander. This means to move slowly around a place without a specific purpose. And often you may follow it with a couple of different prepositions. You may wander around a place or even wander through some place like a park or a city. Don't confuse this with the verb wonder. They have completely different meanings. Even though the pronunciation may sound a little similar, but you wonder something, then you're thinking about it. Wander. It has an a. So, think a for action. You are moving around without a particular purpose. Here is a fun example. At least I thought it was entertaining. Not all who wander are lost, but I probably am. And yes, sometimes that that's true. If I want to give you an example sentence, I could say, "We spent the entire afternoon wandering through the narrow streets of the old town." >> No, this is why you don't waste 45 minutes wandering around the Valentine's Marketplace. >> And as we wandered, we picked up new people along the way until we ended up here. >> Then there's mumble. This means to speak quietly and in an unclear way, which makes it difficult to understand. Now, often someone is going to mumble and they'reum because they are either tired or annoyed or nervous or shy and you're not going to be able to understand them that well. And just keep in mind this is a more descriptive verb than just saying somebody is speaking quietly because really it's like you can't even make out what they're trying to say. Some common collocations with this verb include to mumble incoherently or to mumble under one's breath. And I think when you use that phrase, it's because you are frustrated and you don't want the other person to hear what you're saying. Maybe your boss tells you to do something and you mumble something under your breath because you don't want your boss to hear. to give you an example which I I think happens you know a lot parents and children because my parents would say this to me from time to time stop mumbling and speak up I can't understand a word you're saying >> I mean who does that >> does >> what are you mumbling about >> being an adult like >> did you just do that little kid mumble under your breath thing >> let's move into some descriptive B2 adjectives like forthcoming so this has a couple of different meanings It could refer to something happening soon or if we're talking about a person, someone who is willing to share information or help. So, if we're talking about an event in the future and we want to say it's happening soon, then I could share an example with you and say we are very excited about the forthcoming school events. >> We have not heard back yet from France, but we expect their approval to be forthcoming. you violated federal law when you sent agents onto the reservation. That investigation is forthcoming. >> If we're talking about a person, you could say that, well, they're forthcoming and sharing information. But it's also common to say the opposite and say they are not forthcoming and they are not providing information. Either way, we're really talking about communication. So, I could give you an example and say the witness was not very forthcoming with details about the accident. >> Your tone doesn't inspire me to be very forthcoming. >> I'm going to be as forthcoming as I can be, Mr. Anderson. >> The next adjective is sharp. I like this word mostly because yeah, I like to think that I'm pretty sharp, even though that that is definitely not always the case, but it refers to a person who is intelligent, notices things quickly, and just really thinks fast. And really, you're just complimenting someone's mental state or mental speed. And in that case, you're saying they are highly intelligent. To give you an example, even though he's in his 90s, my grandfather has an incredibly sharp mind and remembers everything. Hey, what do you guys think about this Jared? He's right? >> No, he's pretty sharp. >> She's sharp, but she doesn't know anything. >> Oh, no. She's more than sharp. She's a human lie detector. >> That is Winston Bishop, who was our new assistant. Tell you what, he's sharp aspar attack. >> Then there's worthwhile. This refers to something that is useful, important, or just good enough to be a suitable reward for the money or time spent. And often you're going to use it with the structure, it is worthwhile to do something. So this is stronger than just saying something is good. It really implies that there is some effort and you're receiving a benefit. I I could say it is worthwhile to watch these lessons and because you're developing and improving your English and you're you're getting that value. Here is a fun example. Coffee makes it possible to get out of bed. Chocolate makes it worthwhile. And yeah, I I think that's true. I love chocolate. only worthwhile if you're going to use it regularly. I came up with this example because we actually got a home projector. And yeah, I I think it is worthwhile. We will probably use it every weekend or every other weekend. And yeah, in that case, I definitely think it's worthwhile. >> Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts of America. >> This a worthwhile organization. >> Getting a good person out of government is a worthwhile endeavor. >> I've been griffin 30 years. I never got any. >> Then why are you doing it? >> Seems worthwhile, doesn't it? >> Then there's last minute. I think this is an adjective that we can all relate to because it refers to happening at the latest possible time before an event. And there are some common collocations like a lastm minute change or a lastm minute decision or even a lastm minute cancellation. I hate it when airlines make these last minute cancellations. Now you'll notice that when I'm using it as an adjective before the noun, there is a hyphen, a lastm minute decision. If we're going to say something like, well, uh, the decision was made at the last minute, there's no hyphen, but we're also changing the part of speech. In this case, it's a noun phrase if we're talking about the last minute. Something to keep in mind. One other thing that I will say about this phrase is that even though it could refer to something that is exciting or spontaneous, I think quite often it's used when talking about something that's more stressful or even a lack of preparation. I could say I made some lastm minute changes to the presentation. And in that case, it may imply that I wasn't fully prepared or I was unsure of myself and therefore I made some lastm minute changes. But you didn't tell me you were coming. >> It's a last minute decision. >> Obviously, >> this morning's budget memo reflects some last minute changes before our hearing. >> Next is self-confident. This refers to feeling sure about your own ability to do things and be successful. Now, quite often people may use the noun self-confidence. But if we're talking about the adjective self-confident, be careful not to confuse this with arrogant because even though the meanings may be slightly similar, arrogant definitely has a negative connotation where you think you're better than others. Whereas self-confident is is more positive that you just really are sure about your own abilities and it's generally seen as a good thing if someone is self-confident. I could say and and this is true. Living in a foreign country has made me a more independent and self-confident person. And in that case, it really does have a positive connotation. >> They're smart, self-confident, and articulate as we've raised them to be. Just say if you replace Harvard with a nice 22-year-old grad student, your self-confidence will sore. >> Now, let's turn our attention to some useful B2 adverbs like simultaneously. This refers to something that is happening or being done at exactly the same time. Now, it's a longer word, so I want to talk about the pronunciation quickly. Simultaneously, it has six syllables. The stress is on that third syllable. simultaneously. Say it with me. Simultaneously. The other thing I'll point out is that it really has the same meaning as the phrase at the same time. Perhaps it's a little more formal, maybe even more precise if you say something is happening simultaneously. To give you an example, I could say the software allows you to stream to multiple devices simultaneously at the same time. >> Now, this little bastard hacks into anything that's on the digital network. That means every cell phone, satellite, ATM machine, and computer simultaneously. >> Who's in these days? Simultaneously inspiring and disconcerting. >> Then there's the adverb preferably. This is used to indicate that one choice or way of doing something is more desired or liked than others. And often you're going to use this at the beginning of a phrase and then add a condition. And there are some common prepositions that follow this adverb. Maybe you want to do something preferably in some location or you're asked to submit something preferably by some deadline or maybe you you want something preferably with certain features. So this is really a soft requirement. It's not necessarily mandatory. I I could say we were looking for an apartment in Vienna with three bedrooms, preferably near a park. This was not a mandatory requirement. It's just something that we wanted. >> You're one of those millennials that thinks they can get whatever they want whenever they want. Preferably with free shipping. >> What I want is to clear this furniture, preferably in silence. >> Say three things. Paid rent, some form of insurance, and TV. Preferably cable with DVR. >> Then there's eagerly. This means that you are doing something with a lot of excitement, interest, and enthusiasm because you just want you want this thing to happen. And there are some common adverb verb collocations like to eagerly await or to eagerly anticipate or maybe even to eagerly accept something. It really does have a positive connotation. worried. So to give you an example, thinking about students and school, I could say the students are eagerly awaiting the start of the summer holiday. I know my little girl is eagerly awaiting the summer break. >> When Miss Vaky first asked me to chaperon the girls on this trip, I I accept it eagerly. >> All his adoring subjects eagerly awaiting his return. >> Willingly. I like this adverb. It means that you are doing something because you want to do it and you're happy to do it and not forced to do it. Once again, there are some common adverb verb collocations like to willingly accept something or to willingly participate or even willingly cooperate. And if I want to say the opposite, I'm going to use the prefix un. Unwillingly. So, it does suggest a level of consent and cooperation. Here is a fun meme. I just like the picture of the cat when you were going to do the dishes willingly and then your mom tells you to go do them. I think we can all relate to this when we're going to do something willingly but then somebody tells us, "Yeah, go do that." And it just feels forced and you no longer want to do it willingly. To give you another example, many parents willingly contribute their time to support school events. I haven't really done this to be quite honest. It has not been forced, but I I can't say that I have done it willingly. I need to think about that. >> Arrest them. >> I shall go willingly. >> Whatever punishment awaits. So, you see, Mercer, every man has a price he willingly accept. He lives right here in Greenale. >> Willingly. Why? >> Next is patiently. It is an incredibly important word. It means you are able to wait for a long time and accept difficulties without getting angry or upset. And a very common collocation with this adverb is to wait patiently. Here's an example. I'm waiting patiently. And really, this is a classic adverb of manner. Really showing your temperament during an action. If you are waiting patiently, you have to wait patiently for the paint to dry before applying a second coat. And I'll be perfectly honest, I I don't really enjoy waiting. So, uh, a lot of times I'm not able to wait patiently, and it is something that I not that I don't do willingly. I guess you could say that. >> Day after day, she hung from her web and waited patiently for an idea to come to her. >> On his way. >> Oh, damn. Why we're waiting patiently? Whiskey. And so after waiting patiently to be relevant again, our heroic narrator steps back into his leading role. Now, I told you at the very beginning, these are incredibly useful words. Try to listen for them. Preferably, try to actively use them. They're really going to help you get your point across as well as sound more natural. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, you can let me know by hitting that like button. As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time. --- ## 641. Upper-Intermediate Phrases (B1 + B2) You Definitely Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZWdj9eY1zPM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWdj9eY1zPM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:54:16 | --- I'm going to teach you some common phrases that you absolutely need to know they're that common and I'm going to tell you the meaning talk a little bit about how they're used in context as well as go over the pronunciation so you can say them just like a native speaker we will begin with some B1 phrases which are really at an intermediate level and then move into some B2 phrases which are mostly Upper Intermediate and I promise you will learn something new so let's begin with the phrase in advance this means before a particular time or before doing a particular thing and often you're going to use this phrase at the end of a sentence or Clause I could say we should prepare the presentation in advance I think it's smart to do things in advance or maybe I tell you you don't need to pay for these lessons in advance okay you really you don't need to pay for them at all they're free now when pronouncing this phrase there is some linking that may occur this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so we can link the final consonant sound in in with the vowel sound in advance and it's almost like we're just moving that consonant sound over to the next word or syllable so it's going to sound like in advance in advance I want you to just listen closely for that linking we're book months in advance we don't do solo acts I've got nothing for you okay thanks Mar you deserve a wedding day that unlike our children was planned in advanced now if you would like to get notified when I come out with new vocabulary lessons sometimes in advance not always then please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English which is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so let's continue now is not the time to take it easy and that's the next phrase that I want to talk to you about take it easy so you could say take it easy or take things easy and these phrases have a couple of different meanings and we'll talk about both the first meaning is to rest relax or avoid hard work and and you could really use either but as you can see it is more common to just say take it easy so I could say when I'm on vacation I like to take it easy and yes that's true or my doctor told me I should take things easy everyone recovers differently I'm still taking it easy it also means to stay or become calm and in this case you're really going to use take it easy and you will use it more as a command so I I could say hey don't be mad take it easy or take it easy you need need to calm down just calm down all right take it easy calm so you may be wondering what is it like what what does it mean in this case let's dive into some grammar right now with this phrase the word it is referred to as a dummy pronoun or a dummy subject it really has no specific meaning it's just a grammar function when pronouncing this phrase the final t in it I am going to pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound more like a soft D and this is very common with the American accent because I am from the United States and it often occurs when the t comes between two vowel sounds and then we can just link this entire phrase and it's going to sound like take it easy can you hear that soft D take it easy now if you are someone who likes to relax and take things easy while practicing s English because well that's a great way to learn the language then there's an amazing app that I'd like to tell you about Elsa speak who is the sponsor of today's lesson this useful app will help you fine-tune your pronunciation and practice your speaking skills and right now I want to show you some of the cool features when you join Elsa premium because now you can have a back and forth conversation using their AI feature welcome to Elsa AI please select one of the following role plays I can even create my own scenario I want to have a conversation with a good friend at their apartment talking about my upcoming job interview and I feel a little nervous hey it's so great to see you thanks for having me over I really appreciate it because you know to be honest I I'm I'm a little worried about my job interview tomorrow what are you specifically worried about well I I'm just a little nervous because I think there's a lot of competition and I I really could use this job and I really want to stand out I completely understand have you been practicing your responses to common interview questions I'm familiar with some common interview questions that employers might ask but I think I could probably use a bit more practice you just need to believe in yourself and show them what you're capable of you've given me a lot of good things to think about for my interview tomorrow but I really need to get going I appreciate your help of course anytime and good luck with the interview roleplay completed we are Computing your feedback and then after the roleplay you get a full assessment of your conversation with indepth feedback when it comes to pronunciation vocabulary and grammar another cool feature you can also use Elsa's speech analyzer from your desktop and get immediate feedback whenever you have a meeting or give a presentation or practice for an exam like the is there's just so much to help you improve so join Elsa premium today by clicking on the link down in the description and you can get 30% off a one-year membership and if you already have a pro membership you can upgrade with the new Elsa conversation bundle once again check out my unique Link in the description to get an Elsa premium membership and take your speaking fluency to the next level let's continue with these common and useful phrases and the next one that I have for you is in the end this means finally eventually after something has been talked about or discussed a lot or or really it's like the final result in a series of events or just the final conclusion after considering all relevant facts and often you're going to use this phrase either at the beginning or end of a sentence or Clause we were thinking about eating Mexican food but in the end we decided to get sushi so that was the final result or I could say in the end we are all English Learners after taking all the facts into consideration yeah I could say that because I learn new things about the language each and every day now don't confuse this phrase with the phrase at the end which is really referring to a specific point at the end of some activity like at the end of the story or at the end of the movie let me show you some news headlines so you can get a better idea as to how this phrase is used in context in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the Silence of our friends I think this is a well-known quote from Martin Luther King or this is from soccer in the end Spartans were on the mark and then succession finale explained Logan W again in the end great show in case you haven't seen it for pronunciation the only thing that I want to point out is that the article the' has a strong and weak form the weak form is most common you will use the schwas sound that unstressed uh when the next word begins with a consonant sound and you'll sayth the strong form the you will use when the next word begins with a vowel sound like it does with our phrase so you will say in the end in the end I hope that you pronounce this phrase correctly the next phrase drag and drop we're talking about computers now this means to move something from one area to another while using the mouse and this is actually a binomial pair this is when you have a pair of words linked by a conjunction like the phrase loud and clear drag and drop which is a relatively new phrase because we're talking about computers and who knows maybe this phrase will become outdated at some point because things change quickly when it comes to technology but often you'll use this phrase when talking about files documents or pictures just drag and drop the files to upload them when pronouncing this phrase keep in mind that the conjunction and is often reduced in spoken English and it's just going to sound like n and then we can link the final consonant sound in drag with that beginning vowel sound so it's going to sound like drag and drop drag and drop to make a face I like this phrase because it it means to make a a strange expression with your face especially to show that you don't like someone or something and and that's really the key here you're making that face to show that you just don't like this person or thing let me give you some examples you may make a face when someone takes your favorite toy you may make a face when you eat something you don't like you may make a face when your best friend starts dating your ex-boyfriend here it burns brother got but why are you making that face I wasn't making the face we gave him the drinking talk apparently it didn't take Line's making a face you're making that face again I didn't make a face I just um there's a party for uh someone I know for pronunciation once again there's more linking this is so common in spoken English we can link the final consonant sound in make with that vow sound with the article a make a to make a face I hope that you are not making a face while watching this lesson the next phrase or I should say phrases wait a minute wait a moment wait a second and you can use these phrases in several different situations these phrases may be said when interrupting someone or when you're trying to get someone's attention or when you have suddenly thought of something important one thing I want to point out is that you're not literally talking about a minute a second or a moment you'll just use these phrases when you find yourself in those different situations so let's use these phrases in those situations just to reinforce the meaning so let's say you're trying to get someone's attention anyhow I am out uh wait a minute I'm sorry I yelled you I was too proud to admit I was lonely how about when you suddenly realize or think of something well mystery solved wait a moment and of course when interrupting someone they look even better on Ben's floor are you hitting on less for me wait a second just turn around what for pronunciation the final T in weight I am going to pronounce it as a flap T once again it's going to sound like a soft D which is very common in places like the United States and then we can link that flap te with the vow sound in that article uh wait a minute wait a moment wait a second can you hear that linking let's move on to some B2 phrases and I told you at the beginning that these phrases are more Upper Intermediate but still commonly used in conversational English and the first B2 phrase that I want to teach you is to make matters worse and you could really use this phrase with to or without to without to it means to make the situation even more unpleasant or difficult and really you would use this when advising someone I could say be careful or you could make matters worse or keep your mouth shut or else you'll make matters worse dangerous as this is involving the NYPD can make matters worse when we use to with this phrase it's used to say that something has made a bad or difficult situation even worse so we would say the bad situation and then add to make matters worse and finally add the thing that will made the situation worse so I could say schools are overcrowded and to make matters worse many teachers plan to retire next year she's unjustifiably arrogant about Loop quantum gravity F matters worse she's often mean to me when pronouncing this phrase you may often hear a week two it's going to sound more like T with that schah sound it's a very slight soft sound and once again I am going to pronounce those t's in matters as a flap T to make matters worse say it with me to make matters worse good then there's the phrase run into this is a phrasal verb that actually has two meanings the first one is to drive a vehicle into an object or into a a person in another vehicle by accident and and mostly when you use this you are talking about cars but not always if you run into someone or run into something it also means to meet someone when you are not expecting it so you are out somewhere on the street and you run into a friend and it was not planned let's look at some memes and jokes using this phrase so you can see how it's used in context I like this first one my girlfriend ran into her fitness instructor while on vacation small world yeah I don't know if they just ran into each other and it was unexpected anyway the next one he ran into my knife 10 times so yes this is a joke I don't think anybody wants to run into a knife once again mostly you would use this when talking about cars and you run into someone or run into something and then I ran into my ex today I was so so excited I backed up the car and hit him again so this uses both meanings in order to be funny and create the joke like you ran into your ex like you unexpectedly met but then really it's referring to actually hitting this person with their car when pronouncing this phrase more linking will occur we can link the final consonant sound in run with the beginning vow sound in into run into to run into someone or to run into something then we have the phrase from out of nowhere or we could just say out of nowhere this means very suddenly or unexpectedly this is an adverb phrase that you would use to give more information or even add emphasis and often you're going to use this phrase with the verb come I could say the horse came out of nowhere to win the race or the flying object appeared from out of nowhere and it just appeared suddenly for pronunciation the final te and out I am going to pronounce it as a flap te and then I can link that with the vowel sound in of out of out of nowhere just listen for that flap te and linking a businessman and a woman little dog came out ofwhere and forced him on and right before he's about to throw the first pun Katie comes out of nowhere steps right between us and starts screaming the lyrics to Hotel California next is the phrase neither nor and you can use this phrase to talk about two or more things that are not true I could say I have neither the time nor inclination to get involved in someone else's drama and this is a little bit of a cocation to have neither something nor inclination to do something and inclination is just referring to your desire so I could say that I have neither the time nor inclination or I have neither the resources nor inclination or I have neither the energy nor inclination to do something let's look at some more news headlines so you can see how this phrase is used in context neither the us nor China seem intent on meaningful diplomacy despite interests neither students nor employers favor skills over a college degree and neither science nor religion support overturning row and in case you're wondering this is referring to the court case in the United States Ro v Wade which has to do with abortion when it comes to pronouncing this phrase I think it's pretty simple and straightforward you're just going to say both of these words neither nor neither something nor something else neither nor on top of something this phrase means in addition to something especially something unpleasant so you're going to say something unpleasant and then use this phrase and follow it with that we missed our bus and on top of that the next one we took had mechanical problems my girlfriend's dead and on top of that it's that time in late summer before football starts and there's no basketball we're going to make your clients whole a check for the 46 and change right now and on top of that we'll give you another 46k to cover your expenses I know basically nothing about Vietnamese cuisine and on top of that I got Co a few months ago and I lost my sense of smell and taste for pronunciation surprise surprise more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in top with the beginning vowel sound in of top of on top of something and then we have the ladder this means near or towards the end of something and and that's really the meaning of lad but because we're talking about something specific we're going to use this with the article the the latter and there are some useful collocations with this phrase we can talk about the latter part of something construction will begin in the latter part of the month or he got injured during the latter part of the match I could also talk about the latter half of something I was born in the latter half of the 20th century or the latter half of the movie was much more captivating for pronunciation there are two things because I've already mentioned the strong and weak the' in this case we're going to use that weak the' with the schwas sound because the next word begins with a consonant sound and of course you will hear me pronounce those t's as a flap T the latter the latter part of something the latter half of something now for a little review and I am warning you in advance that I am going to use many of these phrases just to to reinforce the meaning so so I'm thrilled that you have made it through the latter half of the lesson because you know some people think they have neither the time nor inclination to watch a 20-minute video and on top of that some people think that building vocabulary it's just not that important and I completely disagree and to be honest it even makes me a little angry and I have to tell myself wait a second Wes you need to calm down take it easy and of course I'm hopeful that in the end people will realize how important and valuable it is to build your vocabulary the same way you realize how important it is and therefore you will continue to improve your English fluency so I I got to wrap things up here and I look there's no need to make a face I'm sure that's the last thing that you want to hear but I'm confident that we will run into each other again very soon and we will especially if you watch another video Lesson if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 642. Use CONTEXT CLUES to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `CqgB2fDLwaA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqgB2fDLwaA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:11:04 | --- hello welcome to today's lesson in which we are going to talk all about building your vocabulary with context clues and if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary I'd appreciate it if you go ahead and hit that like button because honestly context clues this is a great way to understand and really you're just taking the information that you have to infer the meaning of words and phrases that you might not know so let's well let's start with that I just talked about the meaning but I'll go through this real quickly context clues are hints that an author gives you to help understand the meaning of a difficult or unusual word within a book the clues may appear within the same sentence as the word or they may come in the sentences before and after the word now even though when people think about context clues they really associate it with reading because that is reflective you're able to look at the sentences before and after really think about it in order to better understand the meaning of an unknown word or phrase but because you love a challenge uh we are going to practice today with both reading and listening we're going to start with reading and then we'll move into listening which I think is a bit more difficult but really it's a three-step process and I know there are four numbers there just bear with me the first thing you need to do is find the unknown word then you're going to look for those different clues either before or after and then you're going to try to infer the meaning based on your understanding of what is being said before or after the unknown word and then finally you can join my speaking course this is a nice little transition into me making the announcement that yes you can join my speaking course it's for intermediate to Advanced speakers it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally you can also use the code speak20 to get a twenty dollar discount and I know like yes rafella good to see you in there also uh part of the course I'll post this down put that in the chat but there's also a link down in the description if you'd like to learn more about the course find out about time and availability but of course I would love to be able to speak with you so let's begin with reading I think it's a little easier and it's a good way to start out and I'm not gonna give you I'm not going to overwhelm you with a bunch of information really these words are all within a sentence so we're going to start simple and then try to make it a little more difficult but I have 12 different words and phrases for you and again with all of these lessons my goal is that you learn something new so hopefully some of this vocabulary will be new for you these are Advanced words and phrases so don't think that they're the most commonly used words in the world again I tried to choose stuff that maybe you wouldn't be familiar with like this first one we should be cognizant of the fact that every complaint is not a Justified complaint and you get that that angry angry cat right there so you should be cognizant of the fact that every complaint is not a Justified complaint I told you we're going to start out a little easier and here's some multiple choice does does this word do you think it more similarly means critical aware or suspicious think about the sentence look for those different context clues again if you're able to understand just the main idea you can kind of put it together one thing I would say is that I think does help is identify the part of speech as well are you talking about a verb an adjective a noun and that'll give you something to go by so you guys uh maybe the multiple choices make it a little too easy great job Lolly rafella Sylvia Manuel Elisa the answer is be aware if you are cognizant of something you are aware of something keep in mind with both of those words you're often going to follow it with the preposition of and I the only difference I would say is cognizant is probably a little more formal overwhelmingly people are just going to use aware in this case but the answer is be aware here's the next one I have a few multiple choice questions and then I'm going to take away the multiple choice and I want you to just write the meaning so here is the next question that I have for you doubts were cast on the veracity of her alibi doubts or cast on the veracity of her Alibi of course I've highlighted the the unknown word this is the word that I want you to think about well what does this word mostly mean in this context and if you're able to again understand that context okay what what's going on in this situation I think it's going to help you pinpoint the meaning and I'll just go ahead and say I think a keyword in there a key well context clue would be the word Alibi and if you understand what an alibi is this is a noun even looking at the picture we're talking about like a situation law enforcement if somebody has an alibi it's someone who can attest as to whether or not someone was doing something or was at some place so when you're talking about an alibi there needs to be trust there needs to be honesty there needs to be truthfulness so in this case veracity we're talking about a credibility in this one excellent Alex um Rosie Kareem just trying to give some different shout outs anvu nice job here's the next one uh wait yes okay so I thought I was giving something away and I wasn't uh switching it up a little bit using some news headlines and once again I've in this case I've underlined the word that I want you to think about the meaning and try to come up with it and these are some news headlines using the words so these are words that you may come across reading the news or reading a book uh the there there's so many and so many different vocabulary words in English so the first one Trump angers UK with truculent tweet to may this is an older um older article talking about it when I think Trump was president and he was tweeting at uh I think Theresa May so Trump angers UK with truculent tweet to May and the next one I think this one's a little more recent Prince Harry Meghan Markle do not seem to win anything with their truculent Behavior so there is quite a bit that I think you can pull from as far as well trying to gauge well what is the meaning of truculent so even in that first headline right there angers so I think in that case you can kind of tell well okay this word has a negative connotation and even in that next one they're not going to win anything with their truculent Behavior so in this case it's referring to their behavior in a negative way and all right you guys I I think in this case you could do a process of elimination because I made a mistake down there which I just see right now ABC that last one affable uh should be C and affable has a positive connotation uh means friendly so we can rule that one out and you're really just deciding between a and b and I think most pretty much all of you excellent Lolly rafella uh uh gen Tran nice well done the answer is B antagonistic so truculent means that somebody is being well unpleasant antagonistic it has a negative connotation and I will say that I think in that second news headline you may hear it being used with the noun behavior and somebody talks about a person's truculent Behavior they're unpleasant antagonistic behavior that is a collocation with this adjective now to make it a little more challenging again this is reading I I think the multiple choice makes it a little maybe too easy I'm gonna give you the sentence I'm highlighting the the word or phrase that I want you to think about the meaning and yeah I want you to just write down your best guess as to what this phrase means again sometimes all right you may already be familiar with it so just this sentence right here I'm in charge and I'm calling the shots based on what you know about this sentence this situation if you will what do you think it means to call the shots I'm in charge and I'm calling the shots once again let me know write your answers in the chat and even if you're watching this later write it in the comments these are practice lessons that's what it's all about to actually allow you to practice your English skills so I want you to just write the meaning what you think the meaning is of to call the shots there's there's more than one answer because there's different ways that you can explain and talk about the meaning of these words and phrases so I have some answers like okay who's the boss a lot like controlling the situation um on who will decide so the one deciding excellent so the key word in there is somebody is in charge if somebody is in charge well what does that tell you about the situation that tells you that this person is going to make all the decisions that uh influence any situation they're the boss they're in charge they're going to make the decisions they are going to call the shots this is an idiom that you could use the next one I think this one's going to be a little more a little more challenging if one speaks without knowledge one ends up pontificating from Prejudice rather than from a reasoned opinion this is well I'll go ahead and tell you you can probably you know the part of speech just reading the sentence pontificating in this case they're using it as a gerund but generally speaking it's a verb to pontificate and use the clues surrounding this word think about the meaning of the sentence and what do you think that verb or what do you think it means to pontificate try to take it like a one step or like just several steps uh like start with identifying the part of speech adjective noun verb then think well is this going to have a positive connotation or a negative connotation and just build onto it from there instead of just trying to come up with the meaning right away so if one speaks without knowledge one ends up pontificating from Prejudice rather than from a reasoned opinion and I'm already wow I'm already seeing uh some good answers right there as far as so nice job uh Elisa Sylvia um Lisa you hit on a word that I've that I think when it comes to this verb you find in several different meanings um when you look in online dictionary so if you're pontificating again let's break this down pontificating from Prejudice Prejudice has a negative connotation so I think we can tell that if you're pontificating it's not a good thing because you're speaking without knowledge again not a good thing when you should be speaking you know from a reasoned opinion in this case so to pontificate means you're expressing your opinion in A pompous way there's that word pompous pompous refers to someone who they just think they know more than others and it's not like they have a lot of knowledge and experience to back up their opinion they just feel that well I'm right this and and I think this is a useful word it's not the most common word in the world to pontificate but associating it to well many things that are going on today I think a lot of people pontificate online they talk about things they share their opinions about information that they don't really know much about and they do it in a way that's rather pompous like I know everything don't question me and really they're pontificating instead of speaking from uh knowledge and real experience and having a reasoned opinion so this is a good word to know but again it it's more advanced it's not one that you're going to come across all the time all right here is the next sentence that I have for you on weekends I sometimes do banal activities like cleaning my shoes or defrosting the freezer and I've heard I saw two different pronunciation banal is saying banal banal sometimes I feel like dictionary.com when I looked at looked at it they had banal I don't know I don't think I would say that it's a distinction the pronunciation between U.S and British and British English um but yeah I would just say banal banal activities so looking at this sentence you can tell right away this is an adjective and we're trying to think what does this adjective mean on weekends I sometimes do banal activities like cleaning my shoes or defrosting the freezer and I only put that second part in there because this is something I did a little while back I defrosted the freezer had to get all that ice out it was just getting too too cluttered but I would say that is a banal activity great job all right you guys are you know already picking these out I trust that you're not looking these words up as we go through this but if you are hey it's okay again as long as you learn something new then I'm gonna declare Victory but great job Lolly rafella dull ordinary um uh consci mundane learn skills rudimentary excellent so again there are several other adjectives that you could use the to describe the meaning of this word boring ordinary not original mundane so just because it's not mentioned there I think still you get the overall general idea if you spend time you're cleaning your shoes or defrosting the freezer these are not exciting activities and yeah that you could say like Yama said they're uninteresting um the next part that I want to look at is listening so again just to be clear when you think about context clues people are really going to associate that with reading however because you guys have done so well I wanted I want to challenge you and I want to test your skills when it comes to listening and of course it's much more difficult when listening because it's moving a lot faster it's not reflective it's not like you can go back and listen to it again unless you're watching a video but if you're in a conversation you just have to do this in real time and just pick out that unknown word and as long as you're following the conversation you can kind of get an idea as to what that unknown word or phrase might mean but I have a quick question for you just out of curiosity um what do you think is more difficult between these two skills would you say reading or listening which one uh which is the most difficult uh skill for you I'm going to add that which is the most difficult skill for you and yeah it's a poll you guys can you know let me know what you think so the first one again we're going to start with some multiple choice and then I'm going going to give you some words that I just want you to listen to it and then you're gonna write down what you think the meaning is so this is actually it's very informal I think it was considered slang a while ago now I don't know if it's kind of gone um more become more mainstream what we're talking about the word janky all right let me give you the sentence and you tell me what it means either a b or c some people have told me that my mic is kind of janky so I'm thinking about replacing it I'll say it again some people have told me that my mic is kind of janky so I'm thinking about replacing it and you can just write ABC I think that again based on that statement it's pretty straightforward I'll say it slowly and then we'll talk about those context clues some people have told me that my mic is kind of janky so I'm thinking about replacing it so if I'm thinking about replacing something then that should tell you right away that okay this is not good this is not positive it has a negative connotation and I'm saying something is janky so we're talking about an adjective that's describing a noun in this case we're talking about my mic so really I would say broken is a little too far on the extreme if it's broken um it just wouldn't function in that case a legal limitation I was going for a knockoff but I think as most you said the the answer is a bad quality if something is janky it's really talking about something that is bad quality great job Jen uh consci uh learn skills nice rosegar the the only thing that I would say about this is often I think people may use this to refer to electronics I think that that's kind of what I came across but that's not always the case I've heard people talk about clothes that are janky shoes Electronics computers in this case I'm talking about my mic that is part of that if it's janky it's just bad quality it's not that good so the next one mockish and for this one once again I'm just gonna give you some news headlines and see if you can infer what the meaning of it is so I have three different headlines that I want you to listen to and then write down what you feel like the meaning is again write it in the chat or write it in the comments later again I just want you to participate so the first one is from inews and the headline is Joe Biden's Ireland visit is a mockish tour of smiles Shamrocks and gaps the next one is from the guardian and it's talking about the hollers review Marcus John Krasinski comedy feels like a long sitcom I then have another article from the guardian the space between us review cosmically mockish teen romance so there were three of them I'll say them again the first one from inews Joe Biden's Ireland visit is a mockish tour of smiles Shamrocks and gaffs the next one is talking about I believe this is a show the hollers and it's a review the haulers review Marcus John Krasinski comedy feels like long sitcom and then the other one also a review I don't I guess this show the space between us cosmically mockish teen romance so just listening to those what do you feel like it probably means mockish the most you don't have any bad quality you're an excellent teacher thank you demos I appreciate it all right so once again I think you guys are are able to put all of this together and rule out the ones that we're not talking about the the answer in this case is overly sentimental so we're talking about C sentimental really in an exaggerated awkward or false way and now that you see that meaning and you're thinking about those headlines hopefully that makes a little more sense like the uh Biden's visit is a mockish tour of smiles it's Shamrock's gaffs it's just exaggerated it's awkward or in the other two headlines those reviews talking about a comedy or a book or a story and saying it's mockish just sentimental in a false way overly sentimental all right the next one I have one more multiple choice and then it's gonna get uh I think a little more challenging so the word that I want you to listen for exigent and the sentence in more severe cases exigent circumstances may require that the animal be removed for Veterinary Care I'll say it again in more severe cases exigent circumstances may require that the animal be removed for veteran Veterinary Care just listening to that I know that you're trying to hone in on the word exigent what do you think would be the best meaning for this word in more severe cases exigent circumstances may require that the animal be removed for Veterinary Care I think there are well different context clues before and after so the first one severe cases again not a good thing that should tell you about the situation we're referring to and then that the animal removing the animal for veterinary care if an animal is not well okay we it's important it's urgent that we get the animal to this other place where they'll get better care and I just gave you the answer B great job uh CZ Lolly uh Manuel rafella if something we're talking as exigent it means urgent I feel like fortuitous means fortunate that's very very positive we could rule that out and unusual it kind of fits in there but it really just doesn't fit with the overall situation we're talking about exigent circumstances meaning urgent or pressing circumstances will require us to do something different in this case take the animal to the veterinarian to get uh better care all right let's make it a little more challenging I'm going to take away those multiple choice options and I want you to listen to the sentence and tell me well write the meaning of the word bamboozle what do you think it means so the sentence is I got Bamboozled into telling them my credit card number I got Bamboozled into telling them my credit card number just listening to it again what's the part of speech I got Bamboozled into telling them my credit card number generally speaking bamboozle viewed as a verb to bamboozle someone so this person got Bamboozled and that last part really is the main context clue I'll say it one more time I got Bamboozled into telling them my credit card number so if you're telling someone your credit card number unless you're talking to your the credit card company it's probably not a good thing you shouldn't you shouldn't be revealing your number so if you got Bamboozled into telling someone your credit card number there are a number of different words that you could use to describe this verb uh I think good ones uh oh starlink fooled is good swindled I saw that one um tricked is another one fool cheated all of those work so to bamboozle someone whoops right here and here's the answer I got bamboozled into telling them my credit card number you're tricking or deceiving someone Often by confusing them that is another word I saw in there like confusing them but if you're bamboozling someone really again you're you're tricking and deceiving someone there's some type of trickery involved and in this case you're deceiving someone into getting that credit card number to bamboozle someone all right and the next one I don't know Manuel he wrote the word and we're we're going to go straight to that one so Manuel I hope I think you should uh uh know this one uh the next one here it is oh for some reason those got switched around I hope I didn't screw that up and reveal the answer I don't know why those got turned around anyway cajole this is the word I want you to think about and tell me write down the meaning and this is actually a word from a lesson that I did a little while back I don't want to give it away but this was one of the words cajole so I'm going to use I'm using my little gar my little girl Emmy as an example in this sentence and I would say my daughter often cajols me into buying her ice cream I just can't say no to that face my daughter and this is true my daughter often cajols me into buying her ice cream I just can't say no to that face it happened yesterday and I'm confident it may happen today as well so if you are cajoling someone to cajole it's a verb and I said she often cajols me into buying her ice cream I just can't say no to that face I think uh listening to those words and phrases that surround cajole you can kind of piece it together and yeah great job Sima Rafaela learn skills Rachel we're talking about cajoling someone we're talking about persuading someone to do something the only thing that I would add when I say oh I just can't say no to that face cajoling someone you're persuading them to do something typically by talking nicely to them I said by Pleasant talk but really you're speaking to someone in a way like you're trying to flatter someone oh I like what you're wearing today oh you're so nice you're so amazing and they're just talking to you in such a nice way and that's really how they're persuading you to do something and in this case my daughter cajols me into buying her ice cream by saying oh you're the best dad in the world um so I would say that cajole in general because you're talking pleasantly to someone I don't think it really has a negative connotation I don't know if I would say it has a positive one um but maybe more neutral but your to cajole someone into doing something all right so here is the next one this is an idiom toe the line what do you think it means I want you to write your answer in the chat or in the comments and let me give you some context toe the line the boss is a real jerk so if you want to get ahead at this company you'd better learn how to toe the line the boss is a real jerk so if you want to get ahead at this company you'd better learn how to toe the line I think this is an idiom that you would find more in the U.S an American idiom what do you think it means if somebody is trying to toe the line or in this case this person would be getting advice and telling you'd better learn how to toe the line and again maybe if you've never heard of it that's good you'll learn something new this is an idiom so mostly you're gonna hear it probably in spoken English as opposed to in in writing in a book so I'll say the sentence one more time we'll talk about my boss is a real jerk so if you want to get ahead at this company you better learn how to toe the line the fact that the boss is a jerk that's part of the the clue right there so you want to get ahead what type of person would you need to be if you want to get ahead in a company in which the the person above you is just a real jerk so you probably going to need to do what's expected of you you know somebody your boss is going to expect you to do the work not cause trouble not cause problems and that's really what it means to toe the line to do what you are expected to do without causing trouble for anyone and you're learning to toe the line if this phrase is new for you that's great let me show you that there were 12 words and phrases from this lesson again I tried to choose ones that were a bit more advanced so these are not words that you're going to come across all the time but it's just practice using some of those context clue to infer the meaning that's a great way to build your vocabulary again if you enjoyed the lesson I'd appreciate it if you'd hit that like button and if you learned something new let me know down in the comments I always love uh hearing from you let I'm curious because I can see uh the results I'd asked you guys like what what's your most difficult skill listening reading 70 of you said listening and I would also say that I am in that camp as well actually listening is possibly the most difficult skill for me my ears are just not that good so I really appreciate you guys being here thank you for joining me today I hope you enjoyed the lesson I hope you learned something new and of course in the future uh I'll try to be back with some more engaging lessons whether it involves vocabulary grammar pronunciation um but I just want to say thank you guys good to see you lolly uh kanji CZ always learn something new that's great just give a few quick shout outs at the end um Rafaela good to see you and I will be seeing you uh next week in the speaking course and again if you're interested in joining my speaking course check out that link down in the description uh Sylvia as well nice good to see you Alex uh yeah I could keep going but uh I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of the day and I will --- ## 643. Use PREFIXES to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `OmGxZ28znXE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmGxZ28znXE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:43:25 | --- hello hello hello welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive English and it is the place that you want to be if you're looking to learn and improve your English skills and today I have a very cool lesson for you because it is a lesson that many of you have requested this is a lesson that you guys chose that you wanted to learn about and that is this I am going to teach you and talk about how to build your vocabulary with prefixes that's what we're gonna discuss today we're gonna talk about what prefixes are what they mean how we use them and specifically how they can help us expand our vocabulary and we can just learn new words new words new words and really really grow our vocabulary and improve our English fluency now Before we jump into it what I want you to do is I want you to write your name in the comments in the chat tell me where you're joining me from and even if you're watching this later we just want to hear from you write your name say hello we love hearing from you guys hi you Lisa jr. Rosario Kiara Samantha hi I'm Vivian Bassam welcome thank you guys for joining me today now let's really jump into the lesson so we're talking about prefixes we're talking about just a part of a word so really we need to take words and and break them down as much as we can and then we can add to them now what I mean by that is this look at this word right here the word is in action in action and I tried to just break it down by using that little pick that pencil image there so we have our root word which is the smallest form of the word and that is act now to act is basically mean something something's happening we can add the suffix tion action now it means like it gives movement we think that something is happening and moving around and there is action if we add the prefix to that in action it changes the meaning altogether and it basically means well no action is happening nothing is taking place so when we talk about this we need to understand that words can be broken down into different parts even the word prefix can be broken down into two different parts we have pre which basically means before and fix means to attach prefix we're talking about attaching letters before a word which is the prefix and that's going to change the meaning of those words so that is what we're going to look at today we're gonna do I'm gonna talk about some common prefixes we're gonna talk about what they mean I'm gonna give you some examples and at the end we are going to practice what we've learned so let's start out with just a basic question about what are prefixes as I already said those are letters that we add to the beginning of a word and that creates a new word and meaning now what it helps us build the vocabulary is that if we learn the meaning of the prefix then that's gonna help us determine the meaning of the words that it goes before because you're gonna see these prefixes the same prefixes again and again and again look at this example right here everybody knows probably the word happy what does it mean happy well if you want add the prefix to that unhappy it basically means not that you are not happy now anybody can all you could always say not happy the effort that makes sense but if we want to to use it in one word we use the prefix on and say something you know it makes me unhappy you don't like it so we are using the prefix unn to change the meaning of happy so what I want you guys to do right now as we go through this lesson all of you guys that are in the chat or even if you're watching this later and using the comments as I go through some of these prefixes I'm gonna give you tell you the meaning I'll give you some examples I want you to be thinking of other words that have this same prefix and write them down write them in the chat write them in the comments because what I want to do is just build this list of vocabulary words for people to see because like I said we use these prefixes the same prefixes with with so many different words so as I go through these I want you guys to write some words that you know that you that start with this prefix so fittingly because my example was unhappy let's start with on the prefix on un now if we see this prefix before a word it's basically gonna have one of three meanings it's going to be mean it's going to mean either not remove or reverse and I've had these example sentences right here so again if you're in the chats or use those comments what are some other words that use this prefix that start with on let's see let's see how many words that we can get so I tried to think of some example sentences using common phrases that you might see or hear and the first one like you say somebody might say you know I have some unfinished business alright we have some unfinished business to attend to it means that it is not finished where there is more business that we have to do unfinished not finished the next one can you undo the spell now this might be something that maybe you'll hear it or if you're watching a Harry Potter movie or read it in the books and somebody's talking about a magic spell and you want to reverse it you want to undo this spell and then the last example sentence is we need to unpack our suitcases so you can pack a suitcase and put clothes in or you can unpack the suitcase and remove them and take the out so these are three different examples of how we can use the prefix on we have some other great examples unusual unreal unstable uncomfortable excellent thank you guys for sharing perfect let's look at the next prefix this one right here D is dis this one means not or opposite of and it's challenging because there's many there's a lot of prefixes that mean not and and again this is where it's important to just practice and practice and practice so that we understand which prefix goes with which words so try to again think of some words what are the words can you come up with that begin with dis so here are my two examples right here we were dissatisfied with the meal if you're satisfied you like it you're happy if you're dissatisfied you are not happy you don't like it you were dissatisfied with the meal or if we're talking about sports and the competition and you could say the cheaters were disqualified from the competition they were eliminated they were removed from this competition they they were they were disqualified so again great examples disabled dysfunction disagree there are so many examples and this is a great way to again have everybody see these words and create this list now let's look at these right here this is a lot to take in so I just lumped all of these together ill em in here and when you see these they they have the same meaning it's either going to mean not as I said there's many that have this meaning me though so they'll either mean not or without so when you see these prefixes attached at the front of a word it's gonna mean not or without and there are many many examples out there and I'm sure you guys write those in the comments so my examples theft is illegal something is not it's illegal or somebody might say somebody's somebody's taught telling a ridiculous tale a ridiculous story and you're thinking about the events that happen you say well their story seems improbable to me probably didn't happen it did not happen it's not probable it's improbable or he felt insecure during the presentation if somebody feels insecure they're not comfortable they're not happy so they maybe feel insecure because of some event and the last one down here this is a very common word that you would see irresponsible if somebody is not responsible they're irresponsible and somebody might tell you don't be irresponsible all right always you should always be responsible don't be irresponsible okay so again there's many many different words inconvenient irresistible imbalance excellent thanks for sharing with us jr. so these are all words that there's many words that they'll mean not or without let's look at the next prefix that I want to go over out so if you see this one and I know I'm going quickly today we're going through these fast and then we're gonna practice some but again it's always good to practice these because it's gonna help us build double our vocabulary because you're learning a new word if you see out it it's going to mean that you go beyond or you're talking about outside of something so in my first question right there do you think you can outrun me can you outrun me can you if we are running can you go beyond what I can do can you go beyond me and the answer to that is probably you can because hey I'm not very fast and I feel like I'm a little out of shape and don't have much endurance so many of you out there could probably outrun me the next one out they outlasted the competition so if you're talking about outlast it does it makes me think of courts or athletics and you outlast someone else or another team or your opponent they outlasted the competition or you like my picture right there the when I think of an outlaw I I think of the Wild West you know Cowboys and back during that time when people were outside the law they were outside the law they were referred to as outlaws he is an outlaw that is a perfect image right there of an outlaw the next prefix that I want to show you guys is this one right here Otto and if you see Otto before a word then it just means self okay self is what it means for example I love reading autobiographies a biography is a story about a person now an autobiography means that that person wrote the story about themselves they wrote that story there their self all right it's an autobiography another common word that we see this with is you could say right now everything is on autopilot a pilot is a person that flies a plane and there's a function autopilot it means the planes flying itself but we also use this word when we're talking about basically any system that we're discussing and say you know things are on autopilot right now everything's moving along by itself it's on autopilot so those are some useful words with Auto and there are many many others out there automobile autobiography automatic many words that you will see that use this prefix now let's look at today's tip done tada and today's tip is this you might be asking yourself right now well Wes how do we how do we learn these what's the best way to learn prefixes and what I would say is the the best way to do this because there is no rule there's no rule of like okay if if a word begins with this letter you're gonna use this prefix there's no rule like that what I would say is you should learn prefixes just like we're doing right now learn them as you might learn new words what is the meaning because once you learn the meaning of a prefix and then you see that prefix later on attached to another word it's gonna help you figure out what that meaning is because if the prefix means not then basically you could just and you know what the other word means that then you'll know like unhappy then you'll know okay this means not happy so it's important to learn the meaning of prefixes now once you've learned the meaning I think a great way to identify and think of okay well which prefix goes with which words the best way to do that I think is with reading and listening and I would think reading is even better because again listening is a very it's it's a very fluid motion when you're listening to a conversation nobody's gonna stop and be like wait wait wait let me identify that prefix but when you're reading it's more reflective you can stop and think about the word and actually pick out the prefix and see how it's being used and see the word that it's being used with because as you see these these words you're taking that information in and once you take that information in you are understanding it then you're more likely to use it correctly the next time you were speaking and you're having a conversation so what I would suggest to you is the next time you are reading something you are reading a book you are reading a story even if you're reading a short little article online see if you can identify some of the different prefixes because I guarantee you you will see something you will see many of them if you're even reading a short article and that's going to show you okay all right we use this prefix with this word and you're going to take that information in you'll be able to remember it and then use it the next time you want to either speak the language or right so that is my tip for all of you guys now let's look at let's continue our list and talk about some more prefixes now let's look at this one de if you see these two letters before a word it's gonna have the following meaning it's going to mean lessen or change or off now again in the chat in the comments what are some other words that you can think of what are what are some other words that are have this prefix before it here are some of my examples the land has devalued for years if something D values it means that the the value is going down down down down down in you it's lessens the value lessens its devalued you can also this is uh this is my Star Wars reference someone deactivated the hyperdrive if you deactivate something then you are turning it off alright it is deactivated and then finally this is something that all of us probably should do from time to time we should debug our computers because as we surf the internet our computers can pick up these different bugs and we need to change and lessen and get rid of these bugs and we want to debug the computer so again there are many many other words that you might see with this depreciation depression there there's so many out there and it's great to be able to understand these prefixes now this next one is a very common one and I think many of you probably know it are e if you see this before a word it just means again all right re when you see re it means again for example many times as a teacher in the classroom students would write stuff they would write papers and I would often have them I would show them some corrections and say look it really helps you should rewrite this rewrite this correct your mistakes it's going to help you and in this sentence I had to rewrite the business proposal I had to write it again or the student reapplied to graduate school you can reapply to something you can apply again so if you see our e it just means again next we have miss this is another very very common one and if you see miss it just means incorrectly or badly so again I tried to think of some common common sentences somebody might tell you look you you misinterpreted the message you misinterpreted the information it basically means that if you misinterpret something you interpreted something incorrectly you thought you knew what you were doing or you thought you knew what the meaning was but no it was not correct it was incorrect you misinterpret information you misinterpret the message you can also misbehave the child misbehaved last night in this case it means badly all right misbehaved is behaving badly and finally this is another common sentence that you might hear or you might even tell somebody and say whoa wait well there's been a misunderstanding there has been a misunderstanding that the information that we were trying to understand it's incorrect all right so there's been a misunderstanding something is incorrect and then you try to resolve it so these are some very common ways that we can use miss alright there's this is a very very common prefix that you guys will see attached to the front of many many words now a lesser known prefix but one that is still very relevant is omn I so you're not gonna see this one as frequent but if you do it's great to know what it means because it's usually attached to these larger words and I think most of us could put the the meaning in context but it's always good to know so if you see Omni in front of a word it's going to mean all or every so I'm NIT present so if something is present if something is omnipresent it just means it's everywhere so buses are an omnipresent noise throughout the city maybe there's so many buses around the city you always hear the sound of the bus it's an omnipresent noise it's everywhere or the satellite emits omnidirectional signals so satellites typically emit signals now if those signals are going out in every direction you could say it's omnidirectional so Omni means all or every it's a lesser known one but it's great it's great to know and understand because you might see this one later on now another prefix I have this one is just for fun okay it's mostly with spoken English you don't really see it in writing in its this uber and I almost think it's kind of like slang nowadays now uber means very over or beyond it's a German word so this is something that English has borrowed from German and people will use it as a prefix to to certain nouns or adjectives to mean very over or beyond and like I said most of the time you're just gonna you might hear this in spoken English maybe people that are typically younger because it's more to me it's a little more slang than it's not formal language at all it's very informal but I wanted to give you some examples so you can see how it's used in context they you could say somebody they went to an uber fancy restaurant yesterday and if something is uber fancy it means it's very fancy but also beyond to the point where it's probably unnecessary that something was you bur fancy you know it's not necessary it was really really fancy but that's how you would use it with that adjective then you could say then oh oh wait then I just caught one of my mistakes not than tha and it should be then th en then we went to this uber cool club alright so if something is very cool and you really want to emphasize it you might hear some people talking and having conversation say oh this was an uber cool Club and there's my picture of a club but it's been a while since I've been to a club so I I cannot relate to this I have not been to any Buber cool clubs so now that we've discussed the meaning of these some of these different prefixes let's practice what we've learned da da da it's time to practice I hope you're ready alright so what we're going to do is I am going to give you the prefixes that we talked about and I'm just gonna give you a sentence and I want you to complete the sentence which prefix are you going to use so really look at the word that it's being attached to some of these are gonna be easy others might be a little tricky and all I want you to do you don't have to write the whole sentence just write the word and I would ask you write the full word because again that that really it helps us take in that extra information because we're writing out the word that it's the pre that that we are attaching the prefix to so write out the whole word and even if you're watching this later I want you to participate use the comments like it's a piece of paper and just write the words and then once we're done hit comment alright so I know that you were interacting and that you were participating in the lesson so my first question to you is this one right here alright here are the prefixes that we talked about I did not include uber on this list because again like I said it's more slang we don't use it that often and especially we don't really use it in writing so here is my sentence we can't break into the bank that's mmm we can't break into the bank that's mmm now our word is possible so which which prefix are you going to use with possible I want you guys to write that in the chat or even later in the comments and try to write write the full word write the word so again you're taking that information in which prefix is used with which word it just helps it's great to do most of you said excellent you guys Rock the answer we can't break into the bank that's impossible we can't do it it's not possible we say something is impossible next let's look at this one and this could be a real situation for many of us that experience cold weather it's so cold outside we need to mmm the windows and when I was doing this think about you getting into a car you're getting into the car and you have the the windows the windshield and you need to mmm the windows the word is frost which prefix are we going to use with frost think about that it's cold outside what happens when it's cold outside what happens to the the window sometime all right which prefix are you guys going to use write the word in the chat I want to hear from you guys or even in the comments yes most of you chose the right prefix we're going to use the prefix de all right defrost which basically again it means to lessen it's cold it's so cold outside we need to defrost the windows we need to defrost them all right next question for you guys is something this is a very very common sentence if you're making a phone call and you are calling a business and you are asking for somebody you might hear this sentence sorry he's mmm to talk right now he's to talk right now we're talking about the word available which prefix are we going to use with available and again the key here is again somebody saying sorry alright so sorry he is mm to talk right now which what's what's gonna go in front of those words right that in the chat write it in the comments yes most of you excellent job we're talking about somebody who's unavailable sorry he's unavailable to talk right now unmeaning somebody is not available let's look at this one all right this one maybe it's a little tricky we thought the movie started at 8:00 p.m. I guess we were mmm all right we're talking about informed we thought the movie started at 8:00 p.m. I guess we were mmm which prefix are we going to use with informed okay the reason that I say this is tricky and because again it's always great to identify prefixes as prefixes with different with words is because sometimes we can use different prefixes with different words and this is one of them so what do you guys think which one are we going to use with informed alright I think most of you excellent you got this right I thought the movie started at 8:00 p.m. I guess we were misinformed all right misinformed you had bad information we can also use the prefix on uninformed but uninformed is different it means that there was no information so that's why I said this first part we thought the movie started 8:00 p.m. so if they were thinking something then that means they got some bad information let's look at this question right here all right we love her work she's in mmm part of the team we're talking about the word dispensable if something is dispensable it means that you know you can get rid of it all right now there's a little hint here I've given you a hint because basically I gave you the article and all right so again if we're talking about and then you know that the word is going to start with a vowel sound okay so which word goes ahead of that if somebody's we're talking about dispensable you can get rid of but you love her work you don't want to get rid of her she is an indispensable part of the team indispensable part of the team all right so this is a great way to practice we are learning the meanings of these prefixes we're seeing words that they're used with and then we're practicing that because as we take this information in chances are next time we have a conversation and we're using these words and we want to say something we're going to use the correct word we're going to use the correct prefix with that word and again I think it's very very important reading is a fabulous way to do that so the next time you're reading I really suggest that you try just take a moment and try to find some prefixes and see which words they're being used with so as always if you guys enjoyed this lesson hit that like button we really appreciate it if you like learning English with us we always want hit that subscribe button and turn on the notifications so that you get updates whenever our new video comes out whenever we do these live lessons because we want to keep growing our classroom also please share this lesson if you know others that are learning English and write to us in the comments because we just love hearing from you guys write to us in the comments practice participate in these lessons that's what we want and if you're looking for more practice join our social media classes we're also on face book Twitter Instagram join us there we post a lot of information and questions to help learners practice and improve their English skills so thank you guys so much Daniel Bassam Rossi Patricia Costa Eunice Ivy Lally Amer you Lisa Cara jr. thank you thank you thank you sorry if I missed some names I hope you guys have a wonderful wonderful weekend and we will see you next time so long --- ## 644. Use These (B2) Phrases to Instantly Sound More Fluent! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cxExOyY3kH4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxExOyY3kH4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:44:36 | --- let's learn some B2 phrases that you absolutely need to know and I say this because they are so common and I want to make sure that you are using them correctly and effectively like our first phrase all of a sudden it means very quickly or without warning and there are two things that I want to say about this phrase the first is that you're likely going to use it either at the beginning or the end of a sentence and the next thing is that it's very useful because this is a great way to EMP emphasize the fact that something happened suddenly you may even emphasize the phrase when speaking all of a sudden my pants fell down okay there there's no context but it really captures your attention or I got really tired all of a sudden great phrase to know and use for pronunciation linking will occur this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word and we can link the phrase all of a all of a and people are going to say say this a bit quicker and they're really just going to pronounce it all together all of a sudden it seems like all of a sudden so much is happening well it kind of happened all of a sudden it was a spur of the moment you know all of a sudden you care what happens to me Sudden Valley just sort of implies that something awful could happen all of a sudden now if you would like to build your vocabulary improve your pronunciation develop your grammar skills Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so subscribe keep watching because who knows all of a sudden you may forget what you've learned so you need to continue practicing and watch these video lessons because you may miss out on some very useful phrases like our next one the last minute this means the latest possible opportunity for doing something and there are some great collocations with this phrase these are words that are frequently used together so you may do something at the last minute in this case we're talking about the specific time I submitted the report at the last minute or we checked in for our flight at the last minute you may wait or leave something until the last minute he waited until the last minute to board the train or maybe someone asked you why do you leave everything until the last minute if you like to procrastinate then probably you've heard somebody ask you this question for pronunciation the only thing that I wanted to point out is that a lesion will occur this is when sounds or syllables get removed so the final T in the word last it's going to Al light it comes between two consonants so you're not going to hear it the last minute I want you to listen for it the town of Woodbury was supposed to host it this year but because of recent flooding they cancelled at the last minute didn't anticipate so many people losing their nerve at the last minute now let this be a lesson to you don't always leave things until the last minute now learning these phrases is important but it's also essential that you pronounce them correctly and practice using them when speaking and I have an amazing app that can help and I want to quickly tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson Elsa speak this is a great app to help you fine-tune your pronunciation and if you're unfamiliar with it let me show you how it works and I want to show you a really cool feature when you join Elsa premium because you can have an in-depth conversation using their AI feature as you can see there are many AI conversations but we're going to create our own role playay hi welcome to L which kind of roleplay scenario would you like to do I want to have a casual conversation with a close friend over the phone and I'm deciding whether or not to apply for a new job opportunity hey there so I heard about this exciting job opportunity you're considering tell me more about it yeah it's something that came up all of a sudden but it looks interesting and I'm thinking about applying but I haven't made a decision just yet that sounds great what kind of job is it it's a sales position and I have a little experience but I don't know if I'm really qualified you should go for it your experience will be valuable and it could open up new opportunities for you yeah you're right and I definitely don't want to wait until the last minute to apply you should take the chance and apply it could lead to some amazing opportunities for you thanks for the confidence booster I think I'm going to go ahead and do it so I appreciate it but I got to go now and I'll talk to you later and let you know how it goes good luck with your application can't wait to hear how it all goes role play completed and then after the role play you get a full assessment of your conversation giving you meaningful feedback when it comes to pronunciation vocabulary and grammar so click the first link below or scan the QR code on the screen to download Elsa for free and get 7 Days of a premium membership for free or you can use the other link to get a 50% discount on a one-year membership so don't wait until the last minute if you want to improve your English skills check out my special links to get an Elsa premium membership and take your speaking fluency to the next level let's continue with our next common and useful B2 phrase which is for the sake of someone or for someone's sake this means in order to help or bring advantage to someone now I'll be honest when I was putting the together I thought it would be a little more advanced than a B2 phrase but sure enough it is a B2 phrase and I want to give you examples with both of those phrasings for the sake of someone and for someone's sake so let's start with for the sake of someone I could say I decided to move away from the city for the sake of my mental health or maybe the parents decided to stay together for the sake of the children and if we're talking about for someone's sake I could say I hope that you're right for both our sakes or maybe you're thinking I should hit the like button for Wes's sake yes it would it would it would help me when pronouncing this phrase just keep in mind that the word for is often reduced it's unstressed therefore the vowel sound may change and it's going to sound a little more like fur and then we can link the phrase sake of and it's like we're moving that consonant sound over for the sake of someone or for someone's sake she was my mother too mother gone for the sake of you baby you don't have to pretend other women aren't attractive just for my sake well I'm glad it turned out to be somebody else for everybody's sake once and for all let's break down the myths and destroy the lies and Distortion for your sake for their sake then we have by far which means by a great amount now often this phrase is going to come after the verb to be and we're going to follow it with a superlative which is an adjective or adverb indicating that something has more of a quality than anything else in a group so I could say English is by far the most commonly used language in the world and teaching English is by far the hardest thing that I've ever done but it is by far the most rewarding as well and of course you are by far the best student that I've ever taught and I hope that this is by far the best vocabulary lesson you have ever seen and if it is yes you can you can hit that like button when pronouncing this phrase I think it's pretty simple and straightforward by far here are some more examples I am by far the most qualified person they interviewing you have to let me study that machine of yours is by far the most magnificent invention I've ever seen in my life all the things that Bart might do for money this is by far the most legal this is why out of the five dads that I have had you are you are by far my favorite I'll take that next is the phrase as far as I know or you could say so far as I know and this is used to say what you think is true even though you do not have all the facts now you may end up using this phrase as a standalone statement someone ask you a question and you respond and just say as far as I know this is what I think is true but you may also often use this at the beginning of an independent clause I could say as far as I know my daughter still believes in Santa Claus or so far as I know you have already subscribed to the channel I like to think that it's true even though I'm I'm not sure but if you haven't done so please you can go ahead and do that now we have these two phrases they mean the same thing but I would like to share with you which one is more commonly used so we can check out engram viewer to see how frequently these phrases are used used and as you can see it's more common for people to use the phrase as far as I know for pronunciation more linking may occur we can link the three words far as I when saying the phrase as far as I know or so far as I know let's listen to some more examples as far as I know yeah there's only two ways you can injure your neck mhm there's no one to blame here but Oscar as far as we know your staff wasn't hurt but the patient's abdomen was open he's stable as far as I know then there's can't take your eyes off someone or something this means to not be able to stop looking at someone or something and it is a great phrase to add emphasis I could say I can't take my eyes off that dessert it just looks so good for you music lovers there is a famous song from 1967 we're going way back Frankie belly Can't Take My Eyes off of you you're too good to be true can't take my eyes off of you I'm not going to keep singing this song cuz my voice is just wrong okay I don't want to I don't want you to take your eyes off the video for pronunciation I want to highlight the word can't because there is a difference between American English can't and British English can't now you're going to hear me say can't and if you listen to many online dictionaries you're going to hear that te get released however most people are going to say this with that nasal sound and then follow it with a stop te so your tongue is going to come up behind your top front teeth and block the flow of air can't the other thing that is happening is that more linking will occur we can link the phrase eyes off Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You right now that that is true you're just too good to be true can't take my eyes off of you oh my God I can't take my eyes off this Li on woman is absolutely mesmerizing it's the ring you can't take your eyes off it then we have an incredibly useful phrase to take advantage of someone or something this phrase actually has two different meanings one positive and one negative now the positive connotation is is actually a B1 phrase which means to use the good in a situation like you're going to take advantage of an opportunity when using this phrase in a negative way which is the B2 meaning it refers to treating someone badly in order to get something good from them so if someone is taking advantage of you or you are taking advantage of someone else it's not a good thing to help you better understand this phrase I have some humorous memes that I want to share with you like this one if you need someone to take advantage of you I'm your man or how about this one please explain to me how not letting you take advantage of me is being mean and finally whenever you feel taken advantage of at work just remember how lucky you are to be stupid enough to tolerate it for pronunciation there's more linking this is just commonly used in casual conversation we can link the phrase take advantage of and we're moving that consonant sound over to take advantage of someone or something he's taking advantage of her didn't exactly sound like anything was happening against her will last night and I think that Ryan knows that and he's taking advantage of you I think you are wrong because I'm doing it too I'm taking advantage of Pete like you're taking advantage of Tracy then there's as a result of something this just means because of something and the phrase is really interchangeable with the meaning and it's also interchangeable with the phrase due to and in my opinion I feel like as a result of may sound a little more formal I could say I hope that you build your vocabulary as a result of watching this lesson I could say due to watching this lesson or because of watching this lesson all of them work and it's good to get a little variety but to help give you a better understanding as to how to use the phrase as a result of here are some news headlines San Francisco museums brace for layoffs as a result of the city's budget deficit Pope Francis remains hospitalized but doctors say he's no longer in imminent danger as a result of pneumonia ponia and in this case imminent just means immediate and finally chick sail soaring as a result of ongoing egg shortage West Texas feed stor say for pronunciation we can link two different phrases as a and result of as a result of listen for it as a result of our success I'm getting a seat on the High Council I made a promise as a result of the promise I have to stay on us it simply says you won't hold us responsible if you die as a result of gross negligence then we have to be in your 50s this is the period in which a person is aged 50 to 59 and and of course we're really referring to any 10-year period it doesn't have to be your 50s I could use this phrase to say well someone's in their 30s or 40s or 50s 60s and so on really you would use this phrase to approximate someone's age and you're just guessing and you have that 10-year period so let's have a little fun right now and play a little guessing game I am going to show you the picture of a well-known person and I just want you to guess this person's age you have a a 10year window right there so let's begin how about Leonardo DiCaprio what do you think I hope that you said he's in his 50s because yes that that is true he's in his 50s how about Joe Biden what would you say I think everybody knows yeah he he's old Joe Biden he's in his 80s how about Cristiano Ronaldo famous footballer he's been playing for quite some time he is in his 40s Taylor Swift famous musician she is in her 30s Pope Francis I know that yes he is old he is in his 80s and finally what do you think what about me what would you say I am not in my 20s I'm not in my 30s I'm not in my 50s so hopefully by process of elimination you would guess that I am in my 40s that's true not going to tell you my my exact age but for pronunciation the only thing that I want to point out is that more linking may occur with the verb to be if you say someone is in their 30s or 40s or 50s or if you're talking about a a group of people they are in their 30s or 40s so just something to keep in mind here are some more examples can't even tell when the disease would hit you if you do have it could be in your 70s like your mom or could be sooner could be sooner the mullers and the enzers indicates he was in his 40s and then there was this dermatologist and she looked like she was in her 20s she's like in her 50s hey you're Nifty 50s yeah one way or another great phrase it just means in some way that is not known yet and it's almost like you're expressing confidence that something is going to happen I could say I am going to pay you back one way or another all right I'm going to make it happen or One Way Or Another We're going to get out of this mess and I'm just expressing that that confidence once again for music lovers you may be thinking this phrase sounds familiar and that may be because of Blondie's hit song One Way or Another one way or another I'm going to find you I'm going to get you get you get you get you one way or another I'm going to win you going to get you get you get you you you get the idea and I feel like I'm such a terrible singer I'd be better off just playing the actual song even though I might get a a copyright strike for pronunciation I I just want to point out that the word or is often reduced and when that happens the vowel sound's going to change slightly instead of or it may sound more like er one way or another and then we can link the final consonant sound in that r with the vow sound in another one one way or another just listen for it everything's going to work out one way or another we'll get that money one way or another this rival we has to stop one way or another sooner or later one way or another the gods have a plan for us then there's to make a fool of someone this means to trick someone or make someone appear stupid in some way now someone could be a reflexive pronoun and in that case it's like you're you're doing it to yourself I could say I got drunk and made a fool of myself so in that case the subject and the reflexive pronoun we we're talking about the same person someone may also be used as an object pronoun and in that case it's like someone else is doing it to you she made a fool of him in front of his friends or I sometimes I ask you to hit the like button and I could say please don't make a fool of me if you if you don't do it I'm I might just feel stupid so please don't make a fool of me for pronunciation there are a couple of phrases that we can link make a and fool of to make a fool of someone I'm sorry it's taking me this long to figure it out but I promise done making a fool of myself let him make a fool out of himself no he will make a fool out of you you won't make a fool of me any longer oh I'm embarrassing him you're making a fool of yourself then there's the phrase one by one which means separately or one after the other I could say the children exited the classroom one by one or over time the apartment buildings have been built one by one I've been talking about music a lot in this lesson and of course there is a famous children's song the ants go marching one by one don't worry I'm not going to sing it I don't want to hurt your ears but fun fact this is an American folk song to the tune of the Civil War song When Johnny Comes Marching home and here is a fun meme that I wanted to share you see these soldiers marching and one person starts singing the end go marching one by one and then someone else says shut the up Carl so I I just thought it was humorous and wanted to share it with you for pronunciation it's pretty simple and straightforward just say each word one by one here are some more examples one by one come in one by one one by one I'm not going in there than began to wrinkle and go black one by one plopped to the ground at my feet they all Dove down from the high Pier One By One or my son will kill you all one by one now I hope that you don't make a fool of me and go on and do something else I want you to keep watching these video lessons one by one so you continue to build your vocabulary and as a result you're going to learn a lot of new words and phrases so please do it now for my sake don't wait until the last minute and I I'm not trying to take advantage of you this is by far the best way to improve your English fluency as far as I know you see how easy it is to use these phrases in casual conversation and I hope that you go out and do the same if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new you can let me know by hitting that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 645. Use These Advanced English Phrases to Sound Like a Native ๐Ÿ”ฅ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qQyusE3jKmE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQyusE3jKmE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:54:40 | --- to cross that bridge when we come to it or to cross that bridge when we get to it. It means to deal with a problem if and when it arises. And really an emphasis on the if and when. Because basically what you're saying is that you're you're not going to stress out over a future problem because it might not ever occur. Instead, you're going to focus on the present and deal with issues as they come up. >> That's like step 37. And we're still on step four. Cross that bridge when we get there. >> We shake hands. and forget all this ever happened. >> We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. >> Then there's to get the short end of the stick. This means to be treated unfairly or to get the worst outcome. So, this idiom originates from the practice of drawing straws or drawing sticks. You hold them out, people choose, and whoever gets the shortest stick or shortest straw has to do the undesirable task. So, in that case, it it really means what it says. You're going to get the short end of the stick. >> He's the one getting the short end of the stick, letting somebody like you get away. >> To throw someone under the bus. It means to blame, betray, or abandon a person for selfish reasons. And I I think we can all relate to this idiom. I think about my family. I have a little girl and a baby boy. And let's say we're eating at the dinner table and I find some food on the floor. I might say, "Hey, what happened? You know, why is this food on the floor?" And my little girl Emmy, she's very quick to throw Luca under the bus. It wasn't me. It was him. He's the one that did it. And she'll throw him under the bus. >> Are you telling me that if I throw you under the bus, you're going to drag me with you? Husband and wife are supposed to help each other, not throw each other under the --- ## 646. Used to vs Use to | Confusing Grammar You Should Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `FeykGJ5N2W8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeykGJ5N2W8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:16:18 | --- let's talk about the difference between used to and used to now they they can be a little confusing not not necessarily when speaking but when trying to determine which one you should use in writing and i say they're not really they're not really confused when speaking because the pronunciation is the same and i will come back to that a little bit later on but for right now let's uh let's focus on used to because this is definitely the most common one that you are going to use when speaking or writing and i think well used to alone can be confusing because well dictionaries may look at it different ways cambridge has used to as a modal verb merriam-webster says that used to is an adjective as well as a verb macmillan dictionary has used to as a modal verb oxford learner's dictionary also says that used to is a modal verb and dictionary.com has it as an adjective as well as a verb let's first make a distinction between used to as a modal verb or verb and used to as an adjective now the the grammar is different the part of speech but also the meaning is different so right now let's let's get rid of the adjective forget about the adjective let's just focus on used to as a verb or modal verb and i keep saying verb modal verb as you saw some of the dictionaries uh have it listed differently and that is because in some ways used to acts like a modal verb and in other ways it it really doesn't but whether or not used to uh is considered a verb or a modal verb the meaning's the same and let's talk about the meaning because that is very important and what this means is it's talking about something that was repeatedly done in the past or or even a situation that existed in the past but the the thing is not done anymore or the situation does not exist anymore today in the present so i could we'll give you some examples talking about myself i could say i used to live in south korea that that is true that is a situation that existed in the past and when i lived in south korea i used to run around this lake twice a week bum on lake i used to run around it twice a week and that is something that i had done repeatedly except for the winter uh in the winter it was a bit too cold so during those months uh i used to sit on my ass i could say that sometimes not always in those sentences used to is a modal verb it is a helping verb and i already told you that it has some similarities to modal verbs like it it has one form it's not conjugated so i said i used to live in south korea if i change the subject to he it's not going to change he used to live in south korea but used to it it can act differently from your average modal verb for example with modal verbs you're not going to follow it with two so i can say something will like i can swim or it will rain or you should write to me in the comments i just love hearing from you you should write to me in the comments now with all of those sentences we have the modal verb and then we follow it with the infinitive the base verb there is no two an exception is used to i use to run around the lake and well even if i wanted to change the subject and talk about myself in the third person to show that the form is not going to change i could say in winter west's use to sit around on his ass but sometimes all right so two is going to come before the base verb and that's why i think if you're if you're trying to think about it i think it's best to consider used to as just one phrase try to think about it together as one phrase used to questions and negative statements also make used to different from other modal verbs because if well if we're talking about questions typically we can just use the modal verb to create a question can he swim will it rain and if we're talking about negative statements then you're just going to use not with with a typical modal verb he cannot swim or it won't rain but this is not the case with used to of course used to it just has to be different than all the other modal verbs and i think this is also when people might say okay it acts more like a verb because if we're talking about questions used to it refers to the past so with questions you're going to use did and if you're going to make a negative statement then you're going to use did not so if we're going to use it uh as a question i could ask you did you used to study english and if i want to say a negative statement then i could say well i didn't used to have hair like this and that's because i used to shave my head but more importantly than my shaved head is that you now see that used to has changed the spelling has changed to used to and this is what i want you to remember if we're talking about questions and negative statements you are going to use used to and you're going to spell it u-s-e i told you that the only distinction is in writing because well the pronunciation's the same whether you're saying used to or used to it's the same pronunciation the d and the t they blend together to create one sound so yeah the pronunciation it's really the same nobody's gonna know if if you end up making a mistake because you're still just going to say used to or used to and now that you have a perfect understanding of used to being used as a modal verb slash verb let's now talk about used to being used as an adjective so the the first thing that i want to tell you is the meaning i told you that the meaning is different and what this means is that well it's referring to something that you are familiar with or that you are accustomed to and it often follows the verb to be so i could say well i am used to hot weather all right i'm just it's just something that i'm used to i'm not used to cold weather it's just something i'm not that familiar with and in this case because used to is an adjective it's not going to change whether we're talking about questions or negative statements you are always going to spell used to like this u-s-e-d uh another thing that i want to tell you about used to as an adjective just giving you another example i do not think any of us were used to staying inside for so long during the pandemic and i think that's true i think we can all relate to that sentence and the thing the thing that i wanted to point out with this sentence is that you you may often follow used to with a gerund and you're used to doing something like i'm used to taking the bus in the morning or i'm not used to working late but even though we were not used to staying inside during the pandemic we had to get used to it and i just gave you an example right there of it being used with another verb that is not the verb to be and that i think is also it's a common usage to get used to doing something or even people using it as an imperative statement giving a command and you're telling somebody get used to it but just remember used to as an adjective has a different meaning than used to as a modal verb or verb that's the one thing that i really want you to remember from this lesson and i yes it's confusing but i think over time the more you listen the more you practice you're just going to get used to it if you enjoyed this lesson and learn something new please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 647. Useful (C1) #Collocations with BROADEN ๐ŸŒ… | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `vqifd2YRLfk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqifd2YRLfk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:58:29 | --- are Dum never broaden your horizons Yep broaden this means to increase the range of something and there are some great cations with this verb these are words that are frequently used together so you can broaden your horizons this is an idiom that means you're increasing the range of things you know about or your experiences you can also broaden your mind in this case you're increasing the knowledge that you have about something you can broaden the scope hope of something and if we were talking about politicians they may need to broaden their support let me show you some news headlines so you can see how this verb is used in context local historian urges town to broaden Horizons when it comes to school names does travel broaden the mind not according to new research us and China agree to broaden talks in bid to ease tensions you should explore a new sub broaden your horizons and --- ## 648. Useful Adverb Collocations to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Dn_e5nYSnQs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn_e5nYSnQs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:09:08 | --- today i am going to teach you 50 different collocations and if you don't know what collocations are those are words or phrases that are frequently used with other words or phrases and there there are many different types of collocations you can have verb noun collocations you can have adjective noun collocations but in today's lesson i want to talk to you about adverb collocations the idea again is not for you to memorize every single one of these i think you may already be familiar with many of them so a lot of it will just be review but it's just getting that exposure so that you know which words go together so let's begin with the adverb strongly this is it's often used to emphasize some of the more common ones would be well you could strongly condemn that you really are are upset with someone and you might strongly condemn them for for doing this thing or perhaps you could strongly disagree with someone you it's not just your normal level of disagreement you want to emphasize that and say that you strongly disagree you could also strongly suggest something that you want to make sure that this person well probably does what you are telling them to do so you may strongly suggest something now if you want to add a little more to it and really kind of tell them look look this is what you should do then you might strongly recommend something so suggest and recommend they're pretty similar but i think recommend has that extra little like well okay this is what i think you should do so you could strongly suggest something but if that person doesn't listen then you might strongly recommend it you could also strongly support someone if you want to show an increased level of support you would strongly support them the next adverb is fully and this adverb is kind of just like talking about something that that's complete for example you could say that you are fully aware that you know everything that's going on around you and you are fully aware of some situation for example i could say that i am fully aware that you are not going to memorize all of these collocations but in that case i strongly suggest that you keep practicing that maybe you re-watch the lesson again because that is just going to help you build your vocabulary you could also say that that a person if you're describing them they are fully awake they are they are definitely awake they are completely awake but you want to say they are fully awake i hope that you guys are fully awake right now as you are watching this lesson you would also use fully to say that something perhaps a a program or a machine it is fully operational that everything works it's fully operational and finally you can use it with the adjective upright and say that that someone may be standing fully upright i i always try to stand fully upright but it doesn't always happen and and i end up slouching like this but i i try to stand fully upright the next adverb that i have well it's actually two adverbs that can be used interchangeably and those two adverbs are absolutely and utterly now you can use either of these adverbs when when talking about the adjectives that i'm about to teach you but sometimes i think it may be more common to use one over the other and as we go through these i i will tell you which one so both of these adverbs they they kind of mean like like definitely or for sure for example you we can use it and say that someone is absolutely alone or utterly alone either one works but in this case i think it's probably a little more common to use utterly and say that well they they are they are utterly alone sometimes it's not good to be alone so let's let's put a positive spin on it and i could say that somebody could be absolutely amazed or utterly amazed i think either one of these adverbs goes well with this adjective if you again just want to add a little flavor to it and say well you know i i was absolutely amazed when i saw the movie it was incredible i was absolutely amazed or you could well we could use it with the adjective appalled and say that you were maybe you really didn't like something you thought it was terrible and you were absolutely appalled by this thing or utterly appalled again either adverb i think goes well with this adjective we could say that something or or even someone is absolutely beautiful or utterly beautiful i think in in this case i i guess for me i would tend to use absolutely more often than i would use utterly if i'm talking about something that's beautiful i'd probably say that it is absolutely beautiful you could also be absolutely convinced of something or utterly convinced and and in this case i think both of them are quite common but well i'll tell you my personal take i and this i think i would probably use utterly then we could use these adverbs with the adjective devastated that that maybe you could say we were absolutely devastated we were utterly devastated when we heard the news i think either of them go very well with this adjective you could also say that a person might be absolutely furious or even utterly furious between these two adverbs i would probably go with absolutely but either one works absolutely furious utterly furious then we could describe a person's feeling and say that they were absolutely miserable or even utterly miserable both of them work well so if you want to really say that a a situation was bad perhaps you got caught out in the rain and you were stuck there and you got soaking wet and you just felt absolutely miserable these adverbs also go well with the adjective ridiculous and you could describe well either a person or probably more often a situation and say that it that it was absolutely ridiculous or utterly ridiculous and finally you could use it with the adjective stupid and again describe a person or even a situation and say it was absolutely stupid or utterly stupid both of them work well especially if if stupid is just not good enough and you really want to say just how stupid it was you could say that it was absolutely stupid or utterly stupid then we have the adverb deeply and this is it's just talking about a great amount for example you could use it with uh the adjective concerned and you would say that you are deeply concerned about something or it's quite often used with regret and you might deeply regret something if you really want to say that you are well you you really are upset about this and you you wish that it had never happened you could start out and say well i deeply regret that this thing happened then we could use it with the adjective divided and say that well perhaps people are deeply divided i think if you're talking about politics that is a great example you could say i can't believe that that people are so deeply divided that they won't listen to each other they strongly disagree and they are deeply divided and i am utterly amazed at how absolutely ridiculous it is sometimes that people are so deeply divided and finally we can use it with ashamed and you could somebody could say that they are deeply ashamed about something so with all of these keep in mind that they they all kind of have a negative connotation it's not talking about something that's overwhelmingly positive if you are saying that that people are deeply divided or you're deeply concerned about something or you deeply regret it or you're just deeply ashamed so keep that in mind next we have the adverb highly and this really well it kind of means the same as very you're talking about a degree and i think it does have more of a positive connotation to it so we we can start out and you might say that something is highly unlikely that it's probably not going to happen you could say it's highly unlikely that this thing will happen you could also use it with recommend that you highly recommend something now this is a little different than strongly recommend because i think when you highly recommend something you're kind of telling that person that well you think this is the best it is the very best and that's why you highly recommend it if you strongly recommend it you do think it's really good but it's kind of like you're you're maybe pushing it a little more on that person and you really want them to do it so they they are a little different in that way but if you think something is is great it's it's absolutely the very best you could highly recommend it we could describe a situation and say that well maybe it's highly unusual that is a common collocation as well as highly controversial that this it's it's not just it's not just controversial it's very controversial it's highly controversial we could also say that something is highly sophisticated it's it's very complex it's detailed maybe we're talking about some advanced science and we say wow this it's just highly sophisticated or you could describe a person and say that they are highly educated that they have gone to university they have their masters their phd and you would describe this person and say well they are a highly educated individual perhaps then you could describe a person who is highly educated and say that he or she is highly intelligent they're they're not just very smart they are highly intelligent and sometimes if a person is highly intelligent they may get a job in which they are highly paid that they are earning a lot of money and they are highly paid at their job now let's kind of go in the opposite direction and talk about the adverb grossly it means pretty much the same like very you're talking about a degree but i say that it's kind of in the opposite direction because most of these collocations have a negative connotation for example you could say that something is grossly exaggerated that it's really it's not close to the truth that some story something that happened and you'd say well it was grossly exaggerated or maybe you're describing a person and say that they were grossly negligent that they made a mistake they were negligent but it was a very careless mistake and you could say that they were grossly negligent we could also use it with the adjective inaccurate and say that something is grossly inaccurate if somebody's telling a story that was grossly exaggerated you you could then say wow that is just grossly inaccurate that is not what happened it was grossly inaccurate we could also say that somebody may be grossly mistreated and that is not a good situation if somebody is mistreated and if they are mistreated well really bad then you could say they are grossly mistreated you could also describe a situation and say that something was grossly unfair it just really wasn't fair it was grossly unfair or perhaps say that someone was grossly reckless that they didn't care about what happened to others and they were grossly reckless their behavior was grossly reckless or you could use it and say that a a person might be grossly misled that they were not told the truth they were led to believe something that was grossly inaccurate and in this case you could say that they were grossly misled and finally we could say that well something or even someone was grossly underestimated and in in the case of describing a person maybe that sounds a little surprising and like oh we we grossly underestimated this person's value they surprised everyone and that would be a good thing but if you're talking about a situation perhaps that you were trying to plan for something but you grossly underestimated what would happen and in that case that would be more of a negative connotation and you might grossly underestimate the results which means you were wrong and yeah that that that might not be a good situation then we have the adverb mildly which really just means slight or or not much and you could say that a person is mildly upset they're just a little upset they're mildly upset or maybe they are mildly concerned about something there's something that they should be a little concerned about and you could say that they are mildly concerned or perhaps a person is mildly surprised by something that happened so this is a great adverb to again just give that that extra little bit of information and use mildly to describe that maybe the way you feel you're mildly upset you're mildly concerned or you're mildly surprised then we have the adverb widely and this it's a great adverb i like using it because it really just means like universal it's talking about everything or everyone and you could say that something is widely available that you can find this thing anywhere everywhere it's widely available or maybe you want to say that you're talking about some information that everybody knows about and you'd say that it is widely known and finally we can use it with accepted and say that something is widely accepted everybody accepts this information as the truth it is widely accepted and finally we have the adverb perfectly it is another great adverb and to make some very common collocations in which you're saying that well things are are okay but i think it's used in the context that somebody might be saying the the opposite and then you're trying to say no no no it's like this for example you might use it with the adjective normal perfectly normal somebody might be trying to say that well things are a little strange this is a little weird and you would say well no no no everything is perfectly normal so for example perhaps i know many of you you're you're learning english it's quite uh it's quite common to make mistakes but it doesn't make people feel good so i could then say hey don't worry about it it's perfectly normal to make mistakes it's not strange it's not weird it's perfectly normal you could also say that that something is perfectly acceptable that that this thing is just fine it's perfectly acceptable or maybe you could say that somebody is perfectly willing to do something they're willing to do it they are perfectly willing to do it and again maybe it would be used in a context where somebody is may you think that they're not willing to do it and they say no no i'm perfectly willing to do this thing so i hope that that all of this made sense i know that i gave you a lot of collocations today but again the idea is not that you you're going to memorize each and every one of these over time you are going to learn all of these different collocations and not only that you will be able to use them correctly i am utterly convinced that this will be the case you will learn all of them because you are highly intelligent i'm going to end it right there so i hope you learned some new collocations today i will be utterly devastated if you didn't and they'll be a little deeply concerned that's not true it's okay everything's perfectly normal all right so long --- ## 649. Useful Beach Vocabulary to Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `lyW4kq9itXk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyW4kq9itXk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:32:18 | --- today I want to teach you vocabulary that you will use the next time you go to the beach because that's where I am right now everyone my name is Wes this is Interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I have a vocabulary lesson for you because I am at the beach I am at siesta key in Florida the Gulf Coast beautiful beaches so I thought this would be a great opportunity to teach you some useful vocabulary words that you may want to use the next time you go to the beach or you may hear somebody else using these words if they're talking about the beach so the first word that I want to teach you is the word tide and this is just referring to the rising and falling of the water level so if the water level is rising then people will refer to that as high tide if the water level has been falling then they will refer to that is low tide and this usually happens twice daily and the reason why the water level at the ocean is rising and falling is because it is caused by the pull of the Sun and the moon on the earth so often you would hear it used with those two words high and low high tide and low tide the water is in it's high tide if the water is out then it's low tide the next word that I want to teach you is the word current and this can be used to describe the way that water moves it's moving in a particular direction you could also use it to describe the wind but since we're at the beach people might often talk about the oceans current and describing the direction in which the water is moving now you may often hear this word being used with strong if you want to use an adjective to describe the current that's how it's commonly used people might say well there is a strong current usually to say that it could be a little bit dangerous if you want to go out swimming and say wow the current it's really strong be careful another useful word which deals with the current is undertow so this is the current that is below the surface of the water and it's moving in a different direction than the surface current so the undertow is under the surface of the water for example people might say well there is a strong undertow that if the current on the surface is moving in one direction the undertow underneath may be moving in another direction which could be a little dangerous people are out there swimming and if the undertow is pulling out into the ocean then people may find themselves drifting further out away from the shore now if you're walking down on the beach many people just walk barefoot but you may find people down there that are wearing either sandals or flip-flops and I wanted to quickly talk about the difference between sandals and flip-flops so sandals are when you have it's like an open shoe that has a sole and it's attached with straps these straps go around your feet and those are called sandals whereas a flip-flop is a soul that is loosely held by this this y-shaped strap so right now for example I am wearing flip-flops let me show you right here those are my lovely flip-flops I also have a pair of sandals but this is common Footwear that you may find people wearing when down at the beach now let's talk about some people or things that you will see when you are at the beach so a person who works at the beach is a lifeguard this is the person whose job it is to make sure that people are safe for those who are out swimming in the water stay safe and that is a lifeguard and they typically work in like this stand right there and that is a lifeguard stand and they sit there and they've watched all the people swimming in the ocean and just make sure that they're safe now an animal the bird that you often find that the beach is a seagull so these are these white birds that you can see in the background right here flying around those are seagulls you find them flying all around the water they have the word seed in their name so these are the white birds that you constantly see if you're at the ocean flying around the seagulls you may also see sand dunes those are the dunes the mounds that you would find before you get to the beach so back here let's see you could see there are some sand dunes they're not very big but those are just like the small little mounds of sand they're called sand dunes if you want to talk about sand and use a quantifier you would talk about grains of sand the beach it's full of sand but if you want to talk about one piece of sand then you would say it is a grain of sand just one one little piece a grain of sand if you want to talk about trees that you would find at the beach those are probably palm trees these are trees that are without branches and they have fan-shaped leaves at the top and you can see in the back right over there there are some palm trees now a boat that you may find at the beach there are many different types of boats but this is one that you may see out in the water or even parked up on the sand and that is a catamaran now a catamaran is pretty distinct because they have these two holes that run parallel and then there is a deck connecting those holes or it could even be like a mesh padding that's connecting those holes together but if you see that it is a catamaran now there are many different activities that people can do at the beach you can play beach volleyball you can build a sandcastle but I want to talk to you about the difference between surfing boogie-boarding and skimboarding because those all involve some type of board so surfing involves a longboard that you go out and you catch the wave and you stand up on this board if we're talking about a boogie board that is a smaller foam board that people would lie down on you you lie on your stomach and you catch the wave and if you're using those foam boards that is a boogie board now a skim board is used where the ocean comes up on the sand and in the ocean thumbs up on the sand they leave this little little layer of water that people will throw the board down on and jump on the board and just glide across that thin layer of water that is a skim board finally well you can't talk about the beach without talking about what people wear so universally people would wear swimsuits and you can use that word to describe what a man or a woman would wear but you could be a little more specific so if we're talking about what women might wear a type of swimsuit is a bikini this is a two-piece swimsuit or if the swimsuit is only one piece then that's actually what people refer to it as a one-piece now those are relatively general terms there are more specific words for swimsuits that women might wear but those are two common types either a bikini or a one-piece now if we're talking about what men wear you could say swimsuits it's very common you may also hear people say trunks swimming trunks or if you're talking about a specific swimsuit that's a little more tighter its form-fitting that is called a speedo and this word actually comes from the brand speedo that is the brand name and it has become the name of this type of swimsuit a speedo so there you have it those are some common and useful words that you can use the next time you are going to visit the beach I hope that you learn some new words if you did please hit that like button and write to me down below in the comments tell me what do you like to do when you visit the beach do you like to go surfing perhaps you want to ride on a catamaran let me know down in the comments below thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 650. Useful Business Expressions to Sound More Professional | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `EXY48QcBOvI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXY48QcBOvI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:33:49 | --- - Today, I'm gonna talk to you about some business expressions that we use all the time. That's coming up. The expressions that I'm going to teach you today are used quite often. These are business expressions that we use no matter whether we work in an office, a restaurant, a school. These expressions are universal. So, let's begin. The first expression is this one, ASAP, A-S-A-P. It's an acronym that stands for as soon as possible. We say this when we really want to express urgency that we need something immediately. You might hear somebody saying, I need this thing ASAP or you could say all four letters, means the same thing. I need it A-S-A-P, right now, immediately, ASAP. - A-S-A-P, that means now. - Call me back ASAP. - I want you outta here A-S-A-P. - I'll get that to you A-S-A-P. - Darryl and I need to see you in his office ASAP. - So you can all get in your constructive compliments A-S-A-P. - Sergeant, let me know who's available ASAP. - The next business expression is to go the extra mile. This means that someone is doing more than expected and they're making a special effort to achieve some goal. Someone can go the extra mile. - I go the extra mile. - Never let it be said I do not go the extra mile To look at the big picture means to look at a situation as a whole and that you are able to see all of the important facts. In different situations, you might hear somebody say we need to look at the big picture or somebody might tell someone else, like I was telling you, I think you need to look at the big picture. - You know, just step back for one minute and look at the big picture. - So, let's look at the big picture right now. These Business English lessons are gonna really help you unlock your potential in the workplace and take your English to the next level because you're going to feel more comfortable speaking English with co-workers or even customers. You're also gonna feel a bit more confident the next time you go in for that job interview or you have to give that presentation. And you'll also feel more capable when it comes time to write that important email or even make that important phone call. Now, if you're worried about fitting these lessons into your schedule, don't worry. You can start now or any time in the future and book classes around your schedule. Weekends, evenings, mornings, no problem. It's up to you because Lingoda offers classes 24/7 and that is another useful business expression. 24/7, it means 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A person might use this if they're talking about their availability and say you can contact me 24/7. Or a business might use this to say that they are open all the time, 24/7. - And it goes, the park is open 24/7. - So, enrolling in this course will give you 90 group classes over six months. That's a lot of learning. And if you wanna try it out and see if it's right for you, you can even take a free trial class. The cost of the 90 classes is as follows. So, for 90 classes, let's just do the math real quick. That's only 11 Euro per class. That's a great investment and that's exactly what this is. You're investing in yourself. But because you are learners of interactive English, Lingoda is offering you a discount of 50 Euro or $50. When you sign up, you just need to use the voucher code, InteractiveBE, BE like Business English. InteractiveBE and you will get a discount of 50 Euro or $50. For more information on everything I just said, check out the link in the description and use that voucher code to get your discount. What are you waiting for? It's time to get the ball rolling and that is our next expression. To get the ball rolling means to do something to start an activity. You're basically saying let's begin. Often, you would hear someone just say let's get the ball rolling or it's time to get the ball rolling. - Let's get the ball rolling. - I'll tell you what I think just to get the ball rolling. - And to get the ball rolling, I will tell you the darkest secrets. - The next expression, pass the buck. When someone passes the buck, they are basically shifting responsibility to someone else. They're passing the buck. We use this at work when we're talking about someone who they don't wanna do their work and they want to shift responsibility to another co-worker and they would pass the buck. - I think you're passing the buck. โ™ช There's always someone higher up โ™ช โ™ช Where you can pass the buck โ™ช - Try not to pass the buck. It's not good, you're not gonna make friends that way. One of my favorite expressions is back to the drawing board or you could also say back to square one. What this means is that you are admitting that an idea or a proposal has been unsuccessful and that you have to just start over again and create a new idea. Start new, start fresh, go back to the drawing board. - Go back to the drawing board. - Oh well, back to the drawing board. - Back to the drawing board. - At work, in business this happens all the time. We do different things, it's unsuccessful and we can just say, you know, it's time to go back to the drawing board. The next expression is red tape. This is used to express that there is just an excessive amount of bureaucracy. There are just too many rules that a person or a business has to follow. - It's gonna be hot and heavy. I didn't want a bunch of bureaucratic red tape. - I'm not letting this get derailed by red tape. - Tried to get some, but it would've taken months to clear up the red tape. - Most of the time when you hear this, it's talking about government. People use it to say that there's just too much bureaucracy and government. You want to do something, you have to go through all this red tape. It can be pretty annoying. Another expression, which is one of my favorites is I need it yesterday. As a statement, it's gonna sound confusing, but when somebody says this they really want to show a sense of urgency that something needs to happen right now. Actually, it should have already been done, which is why they would say I need it yesterday. - I need to know it yesterday. - Pick it up and bring it to the hospital. We need it yesterday. - Maybe you're talking to a co-worker or even your boss and you say, when should I have that ready for you? They might be a little upset and say I need it yesterday. You should've already done this thing. So, if your boss tells you I need it yesterday, you better do it ASAP. Another great expression which is also a statement that you would just say to somebody is I'm afraid I didn't get that. The reason why I think this is so useful is because it's a way of clarifying information especially when you're talking on the phone. So, if you're speaking to somebody on the phone and they're telling you something and maybe you're trying to write it down and it's going too fast, you could say, I'm afraid I didn't get that. - I'm sorry, I didn't get most of that. - I'm sorry, I didn't quite get that. - So, if you're on the phone and you want to clarify the information that somebody is giving you, then you could just say, I'm sorry, I'm afraid I didn't get that. If you enjoyed learning these business expressions and you feel like you've learned something new, please hit that like button. Also, don't forget to check out the link in the description if you'd like to get the ball rolling and really improve your Business English. Use that voucher code, InteractiveBE to get your discount. --- ## 651. Useful COLLOCATIONS in English (+ Lesson Notes) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VO8nS6NYHDY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO8nS6NYHDY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:13:32 | --- all right welcome to today's lesson and we're just gonna hit the ground running I just have I have this first question for you right here we're not gonna waste any time but we're we're talking about collocations in English so these are words that are frequently used together so how would you complete this sentence right here if you don't answer this question I might um into tears okay I'll give you a moment to think about it and then I'll tell you the answer and and talk a little bit about it and share some other example sentences with you as well so what do you think how would you complete this sentence and this is a collocation so the answer I hope that you said would be the verb burst all right I I might burst into tears so this is a verb noun collocation and here are some other examples down here like last night he burst into tears or we were laughing so hard we burst into tears one thing to keep in mind when talking about the verb burst in the simple present burst simple past burst and the past participle is also burst burst burst burst just keep that in mind so I mentioned that today we're going to talk about collocations this is a great way to build your vocabulary it's important to know which words are frequently used together because that's really going to help your overall fluency sometimes I notice people will use an adjective with a noun that it's like okay those aren't really commonly used together and then I would say okay probably this would be a better word to use so these are great phrases to know and we are going to begin oh and I'd like to say if you like building your vocabulary Please Subscribe and turn on notifications so that I can become your teacher that is what I would like to do I would like to help you build your vocabulary and also if you would like to get a a copy of these lesson notes all of these collocations check out that link down in the description I will also throw it right there in the chat and the first we're going to start with some verb noun collocations like the the other one that I just gave you burst into tears the next question is this right here all right how are you gonna where these will range from more intermediate to Advanced phrases which is why I said this is like B1 to C2 vocabulary more intermediate to Advanced in in that range so I really want you to um attention and this is something that yeah I would say to you pretty much any any learner if I were teaching them and say okay I really want you to um attention when you're talking about the noun attention frequently you're going to use it with the verb pay all right see a lot of great answers I really want you to pay attention and I also would like you to participate in the lesson write your answers in the chat or even in the comments if you're watching this later so this is a very useful collocation talking about paying attention he has difficulty paying attention are you paying attention often I think people may end up using this in the continuous tense because they're talking about right now in this moment like hey are you listening are you paying attention great phrase to know the next one is this one right here okay I'm going quickly I'm going to go through these quickly I have great news where um a baby all right what verb are you going to use with that noun all right we're talking about I'm giving you the noun which is a baby what what verb are you going to use I have great news we're um a baby and this is a a word this is a phrase that I'm sure you've heard TV shows movies maybe you've had have friends and they've you've been in this situation so the correct answer is have all right we're having a baby now I will say that there are that there may be more than one answer with some of these it's not like this is the only verb that you can ever use with the noun that is true I see some people putting expecting that is also a verb that you can use we're expecting a baby however the only thing I would say is I think in this context if you're talking to someone I think they're probably more likely to use the verb have but that being said there is nothing wrong with saying expect we're expecting a baby um often I feel like if you were to use the expect I feel like people might use that one more in a question like oh are they are they expecting a baby are you expecting so again there is more that there may be more than one answer and I'll try to I'll keep that in mind as we go through this but a lot of great answers perfect here's another one and this one is it's a common noun you're talking about a presentation and sometimes I hear people use uh different verbs with this one but yesterday he um a great presentation so what what answer uh what verb would you use when you're talking about a presentation and trying to give you that picture thinking okay it's like it's happening um it happened yesterday there he is right there he um a great presentation so this is the answer all right excellent we're going through these perfect I don't think this one maybe it wasn't as uh difficult the answer is gave all right to give a presentation yesterday he gave a great presentation again if you want to be real technical the answer it should have been in the past tense I saw a lot of those uh answers in the past which is perfect so is here's some more example sentences when are you going to give your presentation or right now in the continuous tense she's giving a presentation on human rights to give a presentation excellent then we have this one which I think could it may be a little trickier I feel like every time I say that everyone gets the right answer the crash a lot of damage to our car so you can see the damage right there so the noun is damage what verb are you going to use before that noun to um damage the crash a lot of damage to our car so what do you think write your answer in the comments in the chat I just want you participating all right this is uh interactive English this is a time to you know to participate be a part of these lessons so I would say again this is another one there are more than there's more than one answer so what I was going for in this case was to do do damage the crash did a lot of damage to our car but you could also use the verb cause something causes damage I I gave you some more example sentence down there did the storm do damage to your home um you could replace that with cause as well did the storm cause damage to your home or this is a phrase that you may a statement that you may hear the damage has been done and in this case you somebody's talking about well look it's too late to change what happened the damage has been done and we're using it um in that the present perfect so you're using the past participle in that case you you're if you're you saying this as an expression you would not replace that with cause you would just say hey the damage has been done we can't change the pass we just have to move forward but the damage has been done got something to keep in mind the next one okay you really need to um a decision so for for this one uh again I would say there are a couple of different verbs that you could use to give you a hint um I'll just let you I'm letting you know I am from the United States so in the United States it's uh more common to use a a certain verb what do you think this is a slight little difference between uh American English in British English because I again either one is correct but the answer again I'm from the United States people are going to use make when talking about a decision this is the preferred verb in British English I think it's very common people would say take a decision both of them are perfectly okay I'm I'm using make because like I said I'm from the US this is typically what I would say so you really need to make a decision and then using it in a question up there have you made a decision or she really makes quick decisions so the next one that we have she's not good at um secrets she's not good at um Secrets think about uh that that picture right there what verb are you going to use when talking about secrets so I think there's one that's very common she's not good at um secrets the verb that I hope that you are thinking of is the verb keep to keep a secret so keeping I think awesome you guys were using it again in that context you're not good at doing something now in this case I'm using it as a gerund which is technically a noun but still The collocation Remains the Same to keep a secret she's not good at keeping secrets or somebody could ask you the question can you keep a secret or somebody say hey we shouldn't keep secrets from each other all right let's move in to some adjective noun collocations and this time we're going to switch it up so before I just gave you the blank and I wanted you to complete the sentence now I'm going to give you a little bit of a hint uh I'm gonna give you a synonym for the missing adjective so I don't know I think uh maybe this will make it I mean this will make it easier I thought maybe it was going to be pretty difficult so I wanted to give you that information but here is the first one I'm going to take a um shower all right what adjective would you put in there that really it has the same meaning as short time so once again we're talking about a shower this is our noun you're going to use that with the verb take to take a shower but if we want to be a little more specific which is what adjectives really help us do they just they're very descriptive we can talk about a yes a quick shower excellent I'm going to take a quick shower if I were to say this though I would reduce going to to gonna I'm gonna take a quick shower I'm gonna take a quick shower and this is not something yeah it's not something I like to do I end up I like taking nice long showers that's just me then we have this one I think this is a little more difficult because this phrase is not as commonly used the Titanic sank on its um voyage so Voyage is our noun and the adjective the the meaning of it is the the first attempt you're talking about the first attempt at something specifically it has to do with sailing uh sailing a ship you're talking about a voyage that trip so maybe I'm guessing if you've seen the movie Titanic I'm sure this phrase is used in that movie I don't know if you would remember it um the Titanic sank on its um Voyage when we're talking about a ship and the ship is going um you know to won't go on a voyage you might use it uh you might be more descriptive and use this adjective all right I see one answer uh just be careful with spelling we're talking about uh the maiden voyage so the Titanic sank on its mated maiden voyage this is the first trip that a ship will take and you could refer to that as its maiden voyage we were on the cruise ships made in Voyage or the yacht completed it's made in voyage so I I think when you're talking about Voyage this is a word that's commonly used of course there are words that are similar in meaning like I saw some answers like inaugural um I I feel like if you're going to use like inaugural you you might more commonly use that with the noun trip like the inaugural trip but in this case Voyage I think it's pretty common to say made in Voyage so hopefully with this one maybe you learned a new phrase the next one and this also there are two there are two different adjectives that you could use if somebody says shhh the baby is um asleep and it has the same meaning as deep what do you think there are two different adjectives that I I think people might commonly use so I I imagine you probably can guess both of them uh and again this is a great way to build your vocabulary being very more specific talking about well the type of sleep and the two that I was well think of the first the answer that I put um was sound asleep but fast is also another um adjective that you could use when talking about the noun asleep I even included it down here in one of the example sentences so I could also say I was sound asleep when the alarm went off you're in that deep sleep or it was noisy but I was fast asleep all right you're you're in that deep sleep so both of those are common commonly used when talking about the the noun asleep the next uh the next collocation which is one that I I think this may be a little more challenging but also I think it's one that you might may hear from time to time so it's probably not as common to talk about like made in Voyage because that specifically would refer to a ship but in this case we're talking about an obligation we have a obligation to protect the planet I think um if you're an environmentalist then you would definitely agree with this the missing adjective has the same meaning as well virtuous virtuous would be a synonym for this okay what uh what do you guys think we have a um obligation to protect the planet so the answer is and I think I see so good answer excellent um so we're talking about a moral obligation you have a moral obligation to do something this is a common collocation when you're talking about that noun obligation so I could also use it in these examples down here there's a moral obligation to tell you the truth or I have no moral obligation to help you but in this case again we're talking about a moral obligation this is one uh I think they're probably maybe a few different adjectives you could use because there are many words that have the same meaning as like well very bad but we're talking about the noun pain he was in um pain after the fall what word do you think would uh would you use before that noun pain he was in pain after the fall and I think all right excellent a lot of you are getting this one kind of checking the spelling because it is a longer word so we're talking about uh the answer that I was looking for was excruciating and the reason why I I chose this specifically is because there there are not many times where you're going to use the adjective excruciating it's very descriptive but when you do use this adjective I think you're frequently going to follow it with that noun excruciating pain but again there were some other great answers um the other words that you could put severe pain uh great pain there are quite a few words that you could use but just keep in mind uh if you want to say something hurts you know really badly you could say you are in excruciating pain so it's a Well really emphasizing that word the next one he always looks like he's in um thought at the office I think this this one's probably a little easier so the the word is a synonym for profound and I think even just thinking about that a synonym for profound it gives it away right there but we're talking about the noun thought he always looks like he's in thought at the office he always looks like he is in deep thought at the office I gave you some more examples here she was in such deep thought or I paced around in deep thought and you may often use the preposition in before this collocation to be in deep thought so that is a phrase that is commonly used with this collocation uh all right now oh okay I think there's another one um and this one's a good one at least I think so sometimes I'll give my boss some um criticism so the noun is criticism what what adjective are you going to put before this noun and it means the same as worthwhile so this is I don't want to give it away this is a a great phrase for when it comes business English I think a useful collocation because I think sometimes we need to give criticism we need to offer some criticism but there's a specific type of criticism and that's what uh I'm getting at so the answer is constructive constructive criticism so I I mentioned this is great for business English because you don't it's not good to criticize someone but I think it's fair to give some constructive criticism that's going to help the other person improve uh if you guys have any constructive criticism for me you can write that down in the comments uh I would say I'm open to receiving constructive criticism or please offer some constructive criticism nowadays I think on online YouTube yeah typically you just get some criticism sometimes it's not very constructive so let's look at some adverb verb collocations and this I think is a little more challenging because we're talking about adverbs that is the missing word and now I'm not going to give you a synonym but I'm going to maybe give you a few letters to try and help you think of the adverb and come up with the adverb so let's just get right to our first one I was waving to get their attention I'm giving you three letters and all of those other blanks those those should be letters so this is a a longer word I was waving to get their attention when talking about the verb wave what adverb may be used with it so and with these adverbs again they're very the you can use them in different places I think this is the only one that I've put after the verb the other examples they're going to be before the verb but I was waving nice got some answers perfect frantically I was waving frantically to get their attention um or you were waving frantically to get some help or he waved his arms frantically to stop traffic if you are unfamiliar with the word frantic it means kind of in a very emotional kind of panicking way so if you're doing something frantically you're doing it quickly you are perhaps panicking a little bit so if somebody's waving frantically they really are trying to get someone's attention the next one this time it's coming before the verb we're talking about the verb remember she remembers what happened so I'm giving you four four letters in here the a g and the l y at the end the l y is not much of a hint because many of these adverbs these are adverbs of manner and many of them end with l y so the answer all right that we're looking for perfect is vaguely she vaguely remembers what happens so it vaguely means that just a little bit or not much so in this time if if you say that you vaguely remember something you don't remember it well or you don't remember much of this thing so I could say I vaguely remember seeing the movie like I don't recall going there that evening or we vaguely remember our first date like where did we go what did we do um that you just don't remember much you vaguely remember something another adverb that you can use with the verb remember is this one right here it's kind of the the opposite of vaguely remember uh and you could use this adverb I um remember what he told me so again I'm giving you those three letters in the middle of the word and everything else is blanked out so how how would you complete this sentence right here and I I gave you a hint it's pretty much the opposite of when you vaguely remember something in this case you well I don't wanna I I end up I keep talking I feel like I end up giving away the answer or giving away hints so all right excellent uh some great answers perfect so this one uh is the answer is distinctly all right you see that t-i-n in the middle of the word you distinctly remember uh something it means that you clearly remember what happens you definitely remember this thing I distinctly remember what he told me or I distinctly remember what she wore or we distinctly we distinctly remember our first date all right just changing that sentence from before so those are those are some great collocations with the verb remember if you don't remember something you could say I vaguely remember it or if you definitely remember it and it's very clear in your mind you could say I distinctly remember the next one is with the the verb priced all right the computer is um priced what what adverb are you going to use and I've I've given you kind of part of the beginning of the word the EAS so I think when you're talking about the way something is priced you may commonly use this adverb in which case you are saying that it's fair um that you don't have a problem with it and again maybe I'm giving you some of these hints because I see some great answers because you would say it's reasonably priced uh here are some other example examples the meals were reasonably priced or I think that the car is reasonably priced now these sentences you see they're all written in the passive voice so again I'm using the past participle something is priced it's reasonably priced and I think when talking about the something being reasonably priced often you may find this using in passive sentences because you don't really need to say well who the agent is who is the person doing the action in this case the computer is reasonably priced I assume that we know it's the store that that came up with the price that's selling the computer then we have this one um it's not a good situation if this happens he um forgot her birthday and I feel like you probably are gonna guess this one because I think it's common when talking about the verb forgot and you would use this adjective or this adverb sorry to well it would give emphasis to the that verb that situation like oh if you're apologizing for something and like I um forgot so he forgot her birthday I gave you a few letters even though I don't think you really needed these letters to Guess that the answer is completely he completely forgot her birthday so if you want to again emphasize the fact that you forgot something and again I feel like you would use this especially if you were perhaps apologizing for something like oh I completely forgot about the meeting I'm so sorry or she completely forgot to sign her name in this case it was it was a mistake then we have this one all right and maybe I'm wrong when I when I say this but just as an example using uh this adverb verb collocation I um doubt that you got all these correct or that you got all of these right I um doubt that you got all of these right but I feel like since many of you are just spot on with your English and you get so much exposure listening reading you're familiar with the words that are often used together so maybe this this quiz was a bit easier for you so we're talking about the verb doubt to doubt I um doubt that you got all of these right so with the verb doubt I think an adverb that is often used is seriously I seriously doubt that you got all of these right uh here are some other examples with this we seriously doubt that it happened or I seriously doubt the Earth is flat all right I I seriously doubt it even though I don't know maybe then there's in that case it's like you're saying there's a very very small chance um but again when you're talking about the verb doubt if you want to give it a little bit of emphasis with these adverbs these adverbs and adjectives are great for emphasizing um verbs and nouns you could say that you seriously doubt something so again if you want to get a PDF copy of these lessons you get all of these collocations you can join our email Community click on that link down in the description just to try and do a little bit of review off the top of my head if you don't click on that link and join our email Community then I might burst into tears but I'm confident that you are going to make the right decision and join me on your English learning Journey because in the future I'm gonna keep putting out new lessons and I'm going to try to give you the best presentation that I can if I'm talking about vocabulary or grammar and I you know obviously I would not say that you have a moral obligation for watching these videos or even hitting the like button but that's something that I I always ask you to do I ask you this lesson and I distinctly remember asking you in the last lesson to also hit the like button and I know it's okay some of you may be thinking look I you know I'm sorry I completely forgot I understand that happens um but once again please hit that like button I hope that you make the right decision and I I really hope that you learn something new because I can tell just by the level of participation in this class that you were really paying attention so again I really can't think of any more ways to use these again and let's ever say okay I gotta go I'm gonna go take a quick shower so I'm gonna wrap things up thank you guys for joining me today again these are very useful phrases to know it's a great way to build your vocabulary thank you rafella lolly takayo give some shout outs because I wasn't able to do it during the class um Laura Dania um Vicky Gustav thanks for being here and joining Ava uh hashir Julia Alex um thank you thank you thank you Danny hope you guys have a wonderful day I'm just gonna wrap things up and I will --- ## 652. Useful Christmas Collocations๐ŸŽ„ #shorts #interactiveenglish | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `kd2HbW4BZAQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd2HbW4BZAQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:02:11 | --- here are a few common christmas collocations christmas break christmas vacation christmas shopping christmas card christmas tree christmas lights christmas decorations christmas stocking christmas list christmas present christmas carol christmas music christmas movie christmas tradition christmas celebration christmas party christmas spirit christmas miracle christmas eve christmas day and for a really fun one merry christmas i hope you all have a wonderful christmas and happy new year --- ## 653. Useful Collocations to Greatly Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ojr7ZWqX3_M` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojr7ZWqX3_M) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:15:00 | --- Hello. Welcome to today's lesson. I was gonna say it's been uh I feel like it's been a little bit of a little while since I've done a live class, but today I think is a very useful class for building your vocabulary because we're going to be talking about collocations. And if you are not familiar with collocations, what this means is it's referring to words that are frequently used together. So you can have adjective noun collocations, you can have noun noun collocations, adverb adjective collocations. There are many out there. But the reason why I say this can be very helpful for building your vocabulary is because you are learning the way that people will just naturally use the language when they're talking about things. whether they're maybe describing something and you're using the words that people commonly use together. So, I I feel like the the actual words that I'm going to give you are not too difficult, but hopefully some of these collocations will be new. But, of course, this being well, one of our our normal lessons, I want you to participate. I want you to write your answers in the chat. I also want you to write it well in the comments if you're watching this later. Um, it's interactive English. So yes, I want it to be interactive. I want to hear from you. So let's let's go ahead and begin with the first one. Where is it? Right here. Okay. So this is uh the way I've done this. I'm giving you the sentence and there's one blank and in that blank space I'm giving you a synonym. So you see the picture, the guy stepping on some gum and it says, "I can't believe I made such a mistake." So in that blank, I had the word large. Okay, we're not talking about a large mistake. What is the common collocation? Large is a synonym for this word and then I'll give you the answer and highlight the collocation. So, in this context, and I've tried to give you pictures to kind of put yourself in that in that situation if this happened to you, like, oh gosh, this was a mistake. All right, excellent. Um, so yes, Lai, good to see you. Uh, Sleepwalker, um, Vivian, Angela, the the correct answer is big. Now I also saw Tayo I also saw Teayo wrote huge a huge mistake I would say that is another uh another collocation if you're talking about a mistake probably big and huge are the more common words the difference would be huge is more it gives a little more emphasis so you have a big mistake if you have a huge mistake then yes it's just that much greater but I'd think huge is also um also relevant. So again, you you get the idea now. What I want you to do the collocation in this case, big mistake. All right. So the next one, uh some of these I think this one I think is maybe a little easier. Some of them I think will get a little more challenging. Um here we go. So you you see this ice cream there? Well, you only see three right there, but it says you can choose from a mr range of possibilities. An range of possibilities. In that blank space, I put the word broad. So, broad is not the answer. Broad is a synonym for this other word which is part of the collocation. All right? It's a It's a commonly used phrase. And yeah, I think uh because collocations, these words are often used together. You guys are doing great. I think you're probably more familiar uh with some of these phrases. Uh excellent, Lai, Teao, Vicki, Gustav, good to see you. Um so another word for broad which would fit this sentence and is part of the the collocation is wide. Many of you wrote that answer. You got it. So, we're talking about you can choose from a wide range of possibilities. So, wide range of something. I should include of in there as well. A wide range of something is a common collocation when talking about um you know this degree like this range that you can choose from. All right. So, I did want to make a quick announcement. If you um you know want to have a wide range of possibilities when learning English, one thing you can do is join join our email community right there. I'll send you some cool stuff from from time to time. You can be a part be a part of the interactive English family. Um some send you some videos uh some ebooks as well as like course discounts things coming up. So you can check that out. Link is down below. Um here's the next one. All right, while we're at it, we're going to just run right through these. So, you see the picture, there's an airplane there, and somebody would say something like, "Next week, um, I'm going to m a flight to New York." I'm going to m a flight to New York. So, the the word that I put in there, the synonym, I just say get. So, you're not going to say I'm going to get a flight to New York. I mean, you can. It's not very common, but there are there's one collocation that I'm looking at. There's actually again there are other answers as well. I'm I'm noticing that because you guys are putting some of the other ones in there. So, there are different ways that you can you can say this. Um, but uh I think you guys put one of them in there, which is uh perfect. So in this case, many of you wrote take and take is a perfect response. Take a flight. That is a collocation. It absolutely is. It's not the one that I was looking for in this case. You can say I'm going to take a flight to New York. That's perfectly fine. The collocation, the word that I was looking for, which also um you could use, is catch. I'm going to catch a flight to New York. So, this is another collocation when you're talking about flying. You can use the verb take. I'm going to take a flight. That's perfectly fine. Um, but in this context, I'm going to get a flight. I'm going to catch a flight to New York. Catch. Catch was the answer that I was looking for. Um, great job, Vicky Gustav. Um, it's just metam. Nice. I didn't see too many catches in there. I thought as soon as I started seeing take uh Vivian yeah as soon as I started seeing take I was like okay yes but take that's that's a good answer as well take is a good answer I [snorts] will accept that the next collocation well the next question that I have for you right here you can see this picture very dangerous so if somebody if there is a I don't know you're in a dangerous situation or just some environment and somebody says we should go if we stay here we we're in m danger danger the synonym that I to help you out threatening okay so something is is threatening danger I'm basically telling you what the danger is part of the collocation so in this situation somebody's like look we should go if we stay here we're and m danger. Which word goes before danger? This is an adjective. Um, again, I think there probably are some others. Um, even if it's not the answer I give you, there may be other words that could fit in here just fine. Um, but there is one particular one particular answer that I am looking for. And again, please write your answer in the chat. I love hearing from you. I want you guys participating. Don't see too many not everybody is as quick to answer this question. Uh which maybe hopefully then it's new for for some of you. Um I see a couple of correct answers. Yes, Sleepwalker. Uh Aika. Um the the the answer that I was looking for was grave. So, we should go. We are uh we're in grave danger. If you're in grave danger that it's it's very serious and it's very well, like I said, it's threatening. All right, you're in grave danger. Um grave was the one that we're we're looking for, but there are other adjectives that you could use um with danger. I saw some people put mortal in there. Mortal danger is another collocation. Um, are you ready? So, here is the next one. And actually, in the the speaking course that I teach, we actually just talked about this word um last week. So, or this week is when we're talking about in this case, the lawyer won the case because she made a m argument. And many of you might be thinking, well, strong argument. Strong argument is a collocation. But this this is not the answer. I've strong is the synonym. So I want you to think of another collocation with argument. You can make a strong argument. That is a good collocation. But think about uh what other word could you use? And and in that context, somebody who is a lawyer, they want you to believe what they're saying. They're trying to convince you of something and they're trying to make a m argument. So strong, it's not strong, not strong, but what's another way that you can say this when you're talking about an argument? Okay. So again, I don't see before everybody was giving all the same answers. Now I see uh um some different answers. So you could say um I think a strong argument is a common collocation. A convincing argument is another collocation. Those words are commonly used together. But the answer that we were looking for is compelling. So Bokai Bokai Wang Tayo Vicky Gustav excellent. Um um Jacinder uh is that let's let me just go right here. Ah um is that I don't know maybe Christian. I'm not sure. Everybody has different user uh names out there. So, we're talking about compelling. So, a compelling argument is it is another it's a strong argument, but really gives good reasons um as to why you should believe them. And it's like, wow, that that's um a compelling argument. So, compelling argument, strong argument, um convincing argument, those are all collocations. But in this case, I was looking for the word compelling. It is a good, it is a great adjective, I should say. If something is compelling, so compelling uh somebody that compelling means that that there it's basically convincing because there are strong good reasons for it. So this like if you're talking about a compelling argument, they're giving good reasons as to why you should believe them. It's compelling. The next one, [snorts] um, I think this one's relevant in the the United States, in many countries in Europe. Um, people are mivided along political lines. So the people are mivided along political lines. The synonym that I'm giving you are the word that I'm giving you intensely. So it's not intensely divided but what else? It's a common collocation. Um intensely is just a a synonym for this. So people are divided along political lines. And this one I think is I I think this is one that uh you will hear quite often um especially in this context talking about politics. So have some [laughter] of course you know that there should be uh it is an adverb that should go in there. Um one of these ly words. Uh I see couple of correct answers. the the answer that I'm was looking for is deeply. If you're talking about um being divided, you could say people are deeply divided along political lines. Uh so if if you're talking about people or groups of people and you say they are deeply divided, then they really do not agree with each other at all. So deeply divided uh is the collocation that I was looking for. But again, like I said, you could use other adjectives in there. Um, extremely divided would be another phrase that people might say. So, but in this case, I was just looking for deeply. People are deeply divided. So, hopefully, again, if uh even if you didn't get that, hopefully some of these are familiar that you recognize it when I give you the answer and say, "Oh, yes, deeply divided. I've heard that before." Again, collocations. It's a great way to improve your vocabulary. Um, here's the next one. You see that? Very well, it's a very clear day. Um, and say, well, it's a gorgeous day outside. The sky is m clear. So, you could just say, wow, the the sky is is clear or it's there clear skies outside. But this is a word that would go before clear. The synonym a synonym for it would be translucent. So that is a I think that's a big hint as to the well which word I'm looking for. Translucent. And now I see all these answers just rolling in um with this one. So like like many of you put down there, the correct answer is crystal. So crystal clear is just a way of saying something is well extremely clear, pristine. But you could also use this collocation in terms of understanding like do you understand what somebody else is saying? Like if I'm giving you instructions and say do you understand what I'm telling you? Do you understand the instructions? You say yes it's crystal clear. So if you say that it's crystal clear then yes that you easily you really understand what I'm saying. So it could be used in different ways but either way it is a great collocation crystal clear. The next one because I have several more is right here. If somebody were to say um maybe think of it the context you're giving a presentation and everybody's looking at you. So you're giving this presentation and you say I would like to m your attention to the graph and the word that I'm giving you the synonym is bring but you don't want to you wouldn't say I don't I want to bring your attention to there's a a word in there that you would commonly use in this situation. your I don't want to I almost keep giving away the word but I would like to m your attention to the graph and the word that I gave you is bring um so I think many of you oh cut this so again in this case um we're talking about drawing someone's attention to something so this is I think a common phrase that you would hear If somebody's trying to tell you, hey, I want you to look at this right now. Like, I would like to draw your attention to this thing that I'm pointing at, this graph, this word, whatever it is that you're trying to explain that you want other people to notice, to look at. I would like to draw your attention to something, to draw someone's attention to something. Um, so I think many of you got that, but be careful because I know like paying attention that is another collocation that you're listening, but in this situation, you would like to draw your attention to something like bring your attention over here and focus on that. Um, I hope that makes sense. So the next one, here we are. Um, you see this guy on the phone, uh, looks very frustrated, looks, um, imagine he's saying this to somebody else. The person he's talking to, it's very upset. He maybe does not want to hear anymore. And he says, "I believe I have heard m enough." And the word the synonym that I have for you is entirely. But you're not going to say entirely enough. That is um that's not really that's not a collocation. But the one that I'm going to tell you that is definitely a collocation. In this situation, somebody's like, I I don't want to listen to you anymore. I have heard enough. And this one uh I do think is pretty common. I don't know if I can really think of other collocations that would go before enough um in this particular context, but I saw a lot of great answers. Anetta, Vicky, Gustav, um Aika, the the answer is quite. And again, I'm trying to give you the context to make it easier. If somebody's a little frustrated, they're upset, they don't want to listen anymore, they say, "Look, I've heard quite enough." And that um would be the collocation. Quite enough. And in this case, again, you're you're kind of fed up. You're not Yeah, we've I've had quite enough. I've had quite enough of it. I'm not going to take it anymore. [gasps] Then we have where is it? Right here. Um, we've been here for for hours. So, these people are waiting. We've been here for hours. This is a complete m of time. I think this one is very common. I'm sure you've probably heard it before, but still, it's a great collocation to know, one that you can use. the the synonym that I put in there was misuse, but you we're not going to say this has been a complete misuse of time, even though you could say it. It's more common to use another word instead, which again is a very common collocation. So, which word would you use in there? Um, you've been waiting around for um you you've been waiting around quite a long time and you don't want to wait anymore. You're basically you're you're a little upset by it. So, let's see. Okay. I I think most of you got that. We're talking about waste. Okay. A waste of time. So, if something is a waste of time that you just don't believe that um this is important, that this is valuable at all, and you say, "Wow, it's such a waste of time." So, this one, you guys rock this one out of the ballpark. Excellent. Um, but I told you this is a very common collocation when talking about time, a waste of time. Then we have, um, think of this situation. This person, you see, they're holding their knee. They're in pain. They fell down. And I could say he was in pain after he fell down. And the word, the synonym that I'm giving you, terrible. But I don't want you, we're not going to say terrible pain. Um, he was in pain after he fell down. So, what's another synonym in this case um for terrible? What could you say? This is a word that you would often find with pain. And it's another one that I think is common that I'm guessing you've probably heard this before. uh see these these answers rolling right in. Um so it makes me think yes, this one was a little easier. So we're talking about excruciating excruciating pain um really emphasizes how um how painful it is. And again that when talking about pain there are other um collocations. You could say that um somebody was in great pain or maybe there they had severe pain. So there are a lot of other words that you can use but in this case if you want to say um something you know add emphasis to it and talk about excruciating pain um is something that's really serious. It's really bad. So like, oh, he was in excruciating pain after he fell down. That was that was the collocation that we're looking for. So hopefully maybe this one would be new for you if you if you didn't know it. Excruciating pain. Then um you have we have this picture of a nice little steak dinner. And if somebody were to say like maybe you are the customer at the restaurant um maybe I'm the server or perhaps uh I've been here before and we're friends. We're eating there. Oh, you should get the steak. People recommend it. Another one that I'm pretty sure you've heard before. The the synonym that I'm giving you is greatly. But you're not going to say people greatly recommend it. Instead, you're going to say people recommended. Another adverb very common when talking about recommend. And just throw out some. You guys are rocking this one too. Sleepwalkers, Feta, Lai, uh, Natada, Muffin, Bang, Anora, Anetta. Um, so many so many good answers for this one. Yes. So, the we're looking for um Vicki, Gustav, Moses, highly. Highly is the word um the adverb. So if we're talking about recommending something and you are passionate about it, this is a a word that you would often use like oh I highly recommend this or I really I highly recommend that you do something or experience something or try something and you highly recommend it. So it really adds a lot more emphasis to it. So it's a great collocation great collocation to know. Then I have another sentence for you. We're going through going through quite a few uh collocations today. So they're shaking hands and I could say we really need to m the deal today. There are actually two collocations that I can think of with this one. So the the synonym that I'm giving you is finish. All right? So I'm not going to say we we really need to finish the deal today. You can say that. Sure. But there are uh there's another collocation that I'm thinking of. Um and there's actually there there's two other words that you could use. We really need to m the deal today. So we're talking about finishing this deal. What's another way that somebody can say that without finishing without saying finishing the deal? Um there's I told you there's two different answers that I think would be pretty common. other common collocations. You guys are you guys basically got both of them. So the the one that I put down here, we need to close the deal today. Or the other one that I was thinking of seal the deal. Either one of those to close the deal. To seal the deal, it means we need to get this finished and have it over with and done with. So you could say we really need to close this deal today or we really need to seal the deal today and it's finished. It's complete and it's over. Uh, you guys did great on that one. Let's Let's do another while we're still here. All right. So, here, this one maybe is a little maybe this one's a little more difficult. We'll see. So, the picture says speak truth. But if somebody were saying this to you, put yourself in this situation. If I'm telling you this, um, and I want you to be honest with me and I say, "Look, you can tell me the truth. I want you to speak. And the synonym that I'm giving you is openly, but I'm not going to use openly. Again, speak openly. You may hear people use those words together. But there's another um there's another collocation that I that I have in mind. Um so what what would you say? I know. Uh, [laughter] [gasps] speak frankly. Yes, you could say that. Uh, that that also goes, but it's actually there's something else I'm thinking of. Um, that again, telling somebody, look, it's okay to tell the truth. Say what's on your mind. Um, but yeah, I see frankly would work, but the collocation that I was looking for was freely. I want you to speak freely. And you can say what's on your mind. Don't worry about getting in trouble. Um, but you could tell somebody like, look, I want you to speak frankly. Um, and be honest. Tell me what happened or speak freely. Like, don't be afraid um of what somebody else is going to say. And there again, you could also say, I think honestly, uh, that also works. I'd like you to speak honestly. Um, that's another one. Thanks for throwing that in there, Vicky Gustaf. Uh, so yeah, there again, like with many of these, there are other words that you could put in there. Um, but very, very useful, very useful phrases. And then I have a double for you. Okay, there's two in here. Um, so this person looks, you can see in the picture, very happy. Uh, they look very healthy. And it says, "We're happy to report that he had a m and m recovery." So the two words in the blanks, a m and m recovery, one of them is fast. A fast recovery and a complete recovery. But I don't want you to say fast and complete. Those are just the synonyms. So instead of saying a fast and complete recovery, we're happy to report that he had a m and recovery. What are those ms that I'm I'm saying? So these are again words that you would use with uh when talking about a recovery. So there are two that I want you to try to think of um in this case. So what do you guys you guys are [laughter] doing great doing great. Um please if you guys are getting these like hit hit that like button let me know let me know that you guys are uh getting the correct answer. It kind of tells me tells me that we are on the right track. Um so I think you guys uh got this. So, if you're talking about recovery, the first one, fast, I think there are two that you could that you could use. A quick recovery or a speedy recovery is another one. And that's actually the the answer that I was looking for. You could say quick um or speedy, but I said speedy instead of a complete recovery. This is a very, I think, common collocation talking about a full recovery. So, we're happy to report that he had a speedy and full recovery. All right. So, if you if you guys if you were if you got many of these, let me know. Hit that like button. Or even if you learned some new collocations, um, hit that like button. Uh, always helps me spread the word, spread these lessons. You can also let me know in the comments how you did. I'm always interested to hear how well people did. These are all of the collocations that we talked about today. There were 15 questions. um in total and these are all I believe there were 15 questions but these are all the collocations from today's lesson um for those who are the like members patron subs sub subscribers I will email I will will I will put these up there for you guys to have so again this vocabulary it's very useful uh it's very helpful in order to be descriptive but also again just speak naturally because these these are phrases that are often used when people are trying to describe stuff when they're talking about um just being descriptive um and saying like again uh grave danger or crystal clear or you highly recommend something. Uh so yeah, I hope you guys learned some new uh collocations. If you did, let me know. Hit the like button. Or if you enjoyed the lesson, hit the like button. or or if you like my shirt, just go ahead, hit the like button. [laughter] Doesn't matter. I just want you to hit the like button. Um, thank you guys so much for uh watching and participating in today's lesson. I really appreciate it. I love uh seeing all of those answers. I think gosh, by and large, you guys did really, really well today. Um, and even coming up with other collocations. Like I said, there was more than one answer to many of these questions. and thinking of them. But this is great. Just gets the vocabulary juices flowing, which is what I want. So, I just want to wrap things up and tell you I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Um, and I will see you guys next time. Quick, some quick goodbyes. Goodbye. Uh, Lai, Vicky, Gustav, to Kaio, thank you for joining me. Sleepwalker, um, Muffin, uh, Yakbin, Angela, uh, so many familiar faces. Casia Sveta, thank you guys. All right, I gotta go now. Um, I --- ## 654. Useful English Expressions w/ BABY ๐Ÿ‘ถ #learnenglish #shorts | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZkECAPoqXk0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkECAPoqXk0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:57:35 | --- English Expressions that are all related to babies to cry like a baby if you say that somebody is crying like a baby then that that just means that they are crying and I often think we use it in the context that somebody is complaining about something I remember just crying like a baby crying like a baby or crying like someone in college what are you complaining about to sleep like a baby and and what it means is just to sleep really well she will sleep like a baby and sleep really well at least that's what I'm hoping when it's done I'm going to sleep like a baby you ready to continue the lesson to have a food baby and what this means is that when somebody eats a lot of food they eat a very big meal too much they might say I have a food baby oh March I'm giving birth to a food baby --- ## 655. Useful English Expressions | Rain, Rain, Rain ๐ŸŒง | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `027p-bAeqnw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=027p-bAeqnw) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:43:45 | --- It's raining outside. Which means... It's a good time to talk about some rainy expressions. So today I have to go out and run some errands. And because it is raining outside, I thought this would be a good time to talk to you about four different rainy English expressions. The first one that I want to talk to you about is an idiom. And that idiom is... Now this is an idiom used to just say that it is raining outside. But usually it is talking about very heavy rain. When it's pouring down outside, you would say it's raining cats and dogs. And right now, it's not really raining cats and dogs, but it is kind of raining sideways, which kind of sucks. Boy sure is raining cats and dogs. When it's raining cats and dogs outside, and the rain... Is that aright. Just...raining cats and dogs there. I just soon not go back in it. Coming down like cats and dogs. The next rainy expression is... And this just means to say or do something that ruins somebody's plans. So for example, maybe you are very excited about seeing a movie and then your friend, who has seen the movie, tells you it's really bad. And now you're just not as excited about it because your friend rained on your parade. So, it's not good to rain on somebody's parade. Try not to do it. Hey, don't rain on my parade. Junior, nobody's raining on your parade. I'm just keeping an eye on her for a while. Don't rain on my parade, okay. Because I'm living my dream. Hate to rain on your parade pal, but we thought we'd even the odds. Hey man, I don't want to rain on your parade but we're not going to last 17 hours. The next one that I want to tell you about is an expression. And that expression is... And this just means that when something happens, it is immediately followed by something else. And usually it's talking about something bad or negative. So for example, say that you get into a car accident. And then right after that you learn that your home was broken into. And those are two bad things. And you could say, "You know. When it rains it pours." And it can also be used to talk about things that are positive as well. When two things happen one right after the other. When it rains it pours. When it rains it pours. Let's get you cleaned up and home. When it rains it pours. When it rains it pours, huh. When it rains it pours. The final rainy expression is... And this just means to keep something, usually something of value. And that's usually money. And you are saving it for a time when it is really, really, really...absolutely needed. And you must have it. You save it for a rainy day. So set some aside. Save it for a rainy day. I was...I was going to save this for a rainy day. Jesus! My mom taught me to save for rainy day. Save it for a rainy day. So there you have it. Those are four English expressions that have to do with the rain. So now, we'd like to hear from you. And in the comments, let us know what you like to do when it is raining outside. Usually I like to stay in and watch some movies. But today I had to go out and get a few things from the grocery store. So, let us know what you like to do. We love hearing from you guys. Thanks for watching, and we'll see you next time. --- ## 656. Useful Expressions & Idioms All About HOME | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-3F-BoHMZIQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3F-BoHMZIQ) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:42:29 | --- Today, we're talking about home expressions and home idioms. Right now, we're in my hometown for the holidays. This is the city where I was born and spend first 15 years of my life. And after that, I moved to the US. But because we're here...because this is still my home, we are doing some expressions about home and idioms about home. How does it feel to be home? It's okay So Ioana is going to give us the grand tour of Timisoara. Ooh, Donuterie. Whoa! Jesus, what's going on? Attack of the pigeons. The first expression I want to talk to you about is "Home sweet home." And this is something we say after...maybe we've been traveling a little bit, and we finally get home, and we have the nice feeling that we belong in this place. Home sweet home. Do you feel home sweet home? I feel home. Another expression that is very similar in meaning to home sweet home is "There is no place like home." And this means that home is the best place where you can be. It doesn't matter how far and wide you travel, you always love to come back home. I believe this comes from the Wizard of Oz. It's a quote about Kansas. When Dorothy traveled to Oz and she kept wanting to go back to Kansas. There's no place like home. I don't understand why Dorothy wanted to go back to Kansas because, honestly, Oz sounds like a much better place. But whatever - to Dorothy there is no place like home. There's no place like home. What happens in the movie? In the movie, I don't know. In the book she ends up going back to Kansas. How? She...with her silver shoes I don't have...I'm not Dorothy. There's no place like home. You're supposed to click them. Oh. I don't know why she does it. I think she like jumps up and then says there's no place like home. That looked like a jumping jack. Probably one of my all-time favorites is there... Wait! What's the expression? Oh, home is... Another great expression, which is probably one of my favorites, is "Home is where the heart is." And this has nothing to do with a physical place. But everything to do with inside. And what I mean to say by that is any place you are in the world that you love, or any person that you're with that you love, you feel home with them. You feel comfortable with them. You love that place, and it feels good. It feels right. And that's what it means. Home is where the heart is. The next expression I want to talk to you about is a "Homebody." It's really just a word. A homebody is a word used to describe a person who likes to stay home. They don't like traveling. They don't like, maybe going out, being social. They just like to stay home, be cozy with a blanket and a book, maybe. That's a homebody. Just somebody who really enjoys staying home. What's that big building in front of us? The Opera House. What? The Opera House. This is how the people of Timisoara get their water. Should we...should we go by there? Because we haven't been. Our next expression is "Nothing to write home about." And to put it in one word, it kind of means meh. Which...it's usually what we're talking about reviews. Like we're reviewing a movie that we saw or we're talking about a drink that you just tried. And somebody asks you, "How was it?" And you say nothing to write home about. It just means it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. It was just kind of...meh. Our next expression is something that "Hits home." And this means something that you can resonate with. Something that you can relate to. For example, if somebody makes a comment and you have...maybe a childhood experience with that, you can say "It just really hits home." It means that it affected you, and you can really resonate with that. And many, many, times it is negative. It hits home. Our next expression is "A home away from home." And this refers to a place. It's a place that is not physically your home. But just a place that feels very very comfortable just like home does . And it can be, you know, if you're living in another country that can be your home away from home. Another example is if somebody's always working and they really, really, really enjoy working, maybe their office is their home away home. Another home expression is "Home team." And this is a sports expression. And it means...it usually refers to some kind of sports team that is in your hometown. Whether it's basketball, baseball, football, soccer, soccer, or whatever, your home team is the team that is from your hometown. What's Timisoara's home team? Oh gosh..it's Poli. Poli Timsoara. It's a football...a soccer team. Alright. Are you a big fan? I...no. It's your home team. We hope you enjoyed this video about home expressions and home idioms. And now we want to hear from you. So please, please, please in the comments below, tell us about your home town. Things you like about it. What's there to do? Please share. We always love hearing about our students and their lives and culture. Thank you so much. And I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 657. Useful Expressions to Tell a Great Story ๐Ÿ’ญ | Time Order Words | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `W5HnORt-cZ8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5HnORt-cZ8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:34:58 | --- Previously on interactive English. Which answer best completes the sentence? I would be 88 years old. All right. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. That's not what we're talking about today. Today I'm going to teach you all about time order words. Hey everyone. My name is Wes. This is interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English and that is what you want to do. Subscribe to our channel. We put out lessons every week that will help you take your English to the next level. In today's lesson, I want to talk to you about time order words, which are so important to help you improve your speaking fluency. And the reason I say this is because we use time order words when when we're telling a story, we use them when we're giving a presentation because these are words and phrases that transition between different events and ideas and they help people follow along with with what another person is saying. So I've broken this lesson down into a few different categories, which you can see here. So first we're going to talk about before, what are some different ways that you can discuss the things that happened before an event or before the story that you're getting ready to talk about. Then we will discuss first, all right, how, what are some different ways that you can say first when you want to begin your story or begin your presentation. Then we'll look at different ways in which you can say next, how you transition from one idea to the next as well as some different ways you can say sometimes. And then last we're going to talk about last and and some of the useful ways that you can tell people that your story is coming to an end. Your presentation is coming to an end and you want to tell them what happens last. Let's begin with before and the very first word that I said in this lesson previously. That is the first time order word I want to talk to you about. And when you say previously what you're talking about is the events that happen before and you're kind of recapping the information from before so that people have a better idea of what you want to tell them right now. And when I think of the word previously, I think it's often used in TV shows when you're watching a series and they want to remind you about everything that happened before. You might hear that word previously and I always remember the show lost. I don't know if you've ever seen that show, but it would always begin on lost muesli on lost previously on lost. And then it would tell you about all the events that happened before so that you, you are ready to watch the show now. But you can also use this when you're talking about maybe maybe you're giving a presentation about research that you did and you want to tell them some of the things you did before you started doing the research. So you might say, well previously we identified the different methods we wanted to use it for collecting the information. And you would tell people this so that they understand the research that you want to present to them. Another common phrase is not long ago and if you say not long ago, then you're talking about the recent past, and this may vary. It could mean a few hours, it could mean a few days. You really just have to put it in context when somebody says, well, not long ago, something happened and that's going to help you understand what the person wants to tell you right now. Or if you're talking about something that happened a long time ago, then you're talking about very far in the past could be hundreds of years, thousands of years, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, and if that sounds familiar and it should, it's because that's how star Wars begins. The key word that I want you to focus on is a go because this is also where I think learners make simple mistakes. I've often heard learners say things like, Oh two days before or three weeks before I did this thing and I would have to remind them that in that case they want to use a go two days ago, three weeks ago when you want to talk about the past and say that something happened before. Another great time order word is prior to and when you use prior to you actually want to use it with some event or something that took place. So for example, you could say prior to the meeting we had a conference call in which we discussed our yearly goals. So before the meeting, prior to the meeting something happened, and again you need to say the event that it is prior to the start of school, prior to the soccer match, something happened prior to filming this lesson, I was doing a live lesson and that is that is a true story. We do live lessons on Saturdays. You guys should check those out if you haven't already. Now let's look at first when you want to begin your presentation or begin the story that you are going to tell others. You can use the phrase in the beginning or at the beginning. Often these may be used interchangeably but there is a slight difference at the beginning would refer more to a specific time whereas in the beginning would be talking about a time period in general. Let me give you a couple examples. So I could say at the beginning of class I was sitting in the front row, so that is talking about a very specific point in time. At the beginning of class this is where I was sitting and then if I wanted to use in the beginning I could say, you know in the beginning class was so boring, so dull, but then it got super exciting and we were all so thrilled to be learning some new things and I hope you guys are thrilled to be learning time order words and if you are let know, hit that like button. So in that example, I am not talking about a specific point in class, just kind of referring to the beginning of class in general. So that is one difference between at the beginning and in the beginning. Then we have the phrase at the onset and onset just means you know the start of something and you want to say at the onset when you want to say those things that happen first. Often this is followed by the preposition of at the onset of winter, the temperatures were really cold at the onset of this lesson I, I did a little parody off of lost when I said previously on interactive English at the onset of the lesson. Okay. All right. All right. Let's, let's just move on to the next phrase or phrases and that is from this point on or you could say from that point on, and again they are a bit different. So when you say from this point on you were talking about right now you are having a conversation with somebody and you're telling him from this point on, I will be completely honest. Now if you're talking about that, which is often referring to like a distance, something that's farther away, you can use that when talking about things either in the past or the future. So if we're talking about the past, I could say from that point on, I've been completely honest. It happened at some indefinite point in the past, which is why I use the present perfect. But still it happened in the past. From that point on, I've been completely honest or if I want to express this and say it in the future, maybe I'm talking about some 0.2 days from now and I'd say, okay, you know, from that point on, I will be completely honest with you. From that point on, I'll be completely honest. Now let's look at some words and phrases in which we can say next, which is a very popular and common word. When you want to transition from one idea to the next, some very common words, which I think many of you already know are our words like after then or later. And I don't want to focus on those too much because I think it's a bit easy. You probably know how to use these when transitioning from one idea to the next, but we can add a word to make it a little more precise. For example, let's take after and I could add the word right, right after and when I say that something happens right after then that that gives you more information, you know that that it happened immediately. Right after I got to work, my boss just started yelling at me. If I want to use another phrase that has the same meaning, you could say as soon as, and as soon as again, it means that something happened immediately. As soon as I got to work, my boss started yelling at me. We can also add another word which has a a similar meaning and that is soon after. Now the difference between right after and soon after would be just that that time period. If somebody says right after, I think it's immediately soon after means, well, some general time period in the beginning, soon after, so right after I got to work, my boss started yelling at me and then soon after he yelled at me, I just quit. I stopped, I went home and then we can add a different word, which is shortly, shortly after, and that really just has the same meaning as soon after you're talking about something that happens in that general time period of the beginning. Shortly after, and I could continue this story and say shortly after I quit my job, I found another one her, me. Then we have consequently, now this is a word that's used to say that something happened as a result of something else. So it is similar in that you're, you're saying something happened next, but it's specific in that it's a result of another thing happening. So consequently in that case is very similar to saying. Therefore for example, maybe I am going to play a football match outside and it starts raining and I could say, well you know, it started raining and consequently we had to cancel the match. So canceling the match was a result of it raining. So I can use consequently to connect those two things and say that canceling the match happened. Next, it started raining. Consequently we had to cancel the match. Now let's look at some different ways to say sometimes, which is a very common adverb of frequency because things don't always happen. Sometimes they don't never happen. I'm using it right now. You just want to say things happen sometimes and I want to teach you three phrases that you can use and you can use them interchangeably and it they just mean the same thing. So the first one is from time to time, from time to time, I like to eat pizza, which, which is true from time to time. I like to eat pizza. Another great way of saying this is to use the word occasionally. Occasionally I like to go for walks outside. Yeah, it's something I like to do. It relaxes me. I enjoy it. I like to do that occasionally. We can also use the phrase every now and then, same meaning sometimes every now and then I what? Every now and then I make eggs for breakfast. Also a true story. I don't always do it. I just do it every now and then. Occasionally I'll, I'll also have cereal and from time to time I'll eat oatmeal. All right, so those are some great examples and now you know what I like to eat for breakfast and finally we come to last. When you want to say what's happening at the very end you want to say what happens last? I already used one of the words that I wanted to tell you and that is finally so a good way when you start to end a presentation or you end a story, you can use either one of those last or finally. Another way of saying that is just you know at last, at last something happens and when you hear that phrase at last, then again that tells you, okay, we're at the end. Personally, I noticed that I, I like to use finally when I'm going to wrap something up and bring it to an end. I just say finally most of the time I don't really say last, I'm not really sure why, but I just prefer to use finally another way that you can say it and I think it's a little more professional. You would probably hear it in presentations or maybe if you're reading an essay, somebody might say in conclusion in conclusion and then they will give you the end of whatever, whatever it is. But like I said, I think it's something that's more common in a presentation in a more formal setting. People might say in conclusion and then tell you the end of their presentation and I want to throw another one in there and that is eventually, and you can use this to talk about things that happened at the end often as a result of something else. Eventually this thing happened and when we use eventually it does. It makes me think of the end. There is some kind of closure. Eventually this is what happened. For example, I could say that, well my my friend, they got really sick. They, they were in the hospital, they were there for some time and they had to take some medication but eventually they got better. And in that case I think eventually is a word that you would hear more in just everyday conversation when somebody's talking about you know, the events in their life and things that happen and when you want to bring it to an end and talk about what happened last, you could use eventually. Eventually this thing happened. So prior to this lesson I was reviewing my notes and in the beginning I was really trying to stress to you the importance of time order words that they're so useful for your speaking fluency when you're giving a presentation, when you're telling a story. And consequently, I hope that you've learned some new words that you can then go out and use when, when you're having a conversation and trying to tell your own story because you will use these words from time to time. I promise you every now and then you're going to need these time order words and phrases. So in conclusion, I'm just trying to use these words again so that you can see how they're used and just to show you that yes, they are very important. They're very useful when you're having a conversation or even in a more formal setting like work or school when you're giving a presentation. So let's practice a little bit in the comments. I want you to tell me about your day. What did you do today? And I want you to use some of these time order words. I look forward to reading about your day and learning a little bit more about you, just as you guys have learned about me, as such as the things I like to eat for breakfast. All right. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you learned something new and I will see you next time. --- ## 658. Useful Food Idioms for Delicious English Fun ๐Ÿ˜‹ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4YP00D-OVu0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YP00D-OVu0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:40:37 | --- Are you hungry? I hope you are. Hungry for knowledge. Thought that wink would come out better. I thought I'd have a sexy wink. It just looks like I have something in my eye. So let's learn some food idioms. If you want to improve your English, have fun, and learn even more idioms, subscribe to our YouTube channel. We love making these videos to help our students improve their English skills Today we are talking about some super-common food idioms. Now when I was preparing for this lesson, there were so, so many food idioms to choose from. But these ones are the ones that I heard again, and again, and again. So they're very, very common. You can hear them everywhere. And it's fun because who doesn't like to talk about food. Yeah exactly. Everyone likes to talk about food. Now, I'm going to do my disclaimer that I do for every idiom video that I make. You can use idioms at any time. You can use these idioms at anytime. But just keep in mind that idioms are a little bit more informal. Don't use them on job applications or any kind of formal English context. So keep that in mind and come on. Let's have some fun with food idioms. The first one, number one, is bread and butter. One of my favorite food combinations. I'm going to say that a lot in this video because I kind of love all food, especially good food. You know. Like good bread and good butter. Well bread and butter means somebody's main source of income. It just means how somebody makes their money, their main source of income. For example, for Wes and I teaching is our bread and butter. Number two...cool as a cucumber. I love this one because cucumbers are among my favorite vegetables. And I am always cool as a cucumber. No, I'm not. Because somebody who's cool as a cucumber is calm and relaxed. And I am known to be a little stressed sometimes. So I always tell myself, Ioana, be cool as a cucumber. And it works like half the time. But that's what it means, very calm and relaxed. Number three...not my cup of tea. And this means it's just something that you are not interested in or something that you just don't like. Naturally, I love tea. Oh, maybe I should... I'm back in... Now this is my cup of tea, and it's huge. As you can see it's as big as my face. And I love tea, so having tea is my cup of tea. But...if that makes sense...I'm just going to.... I'm sorry if that's confusing. I'll give you another example. Hold on. I need to have my tea. Number four...in a nutshell. And in a nutshell means in the fewest possible words. So if you can imagine a little nutshell. It's very, very small. I'm imagining like a little pistachio They're very, very small. So in a nutshell just means very little. Saying something in as few words as you can. Number five...to put all your eggs in one basket. This is a piece of advice which means that you shouldn't concentrate all of your efforts and resources in one area. Because that means that you could lose everything. And it could refer to anything from feelings to money to hopes and dreams, and things like that. So don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Number six...spice things up. Notice how I said that. This one gets me happy because I love spices. Of course, I told you I live food. But to spice things up means to change things. Change a boring routine into something more exciting. To change things up. This expression is commonly found when we're talking about relationships. And I mean romantic relationships. Maybe sometimes you want to spice things up. And you want to do something different like go on a vacation or do something crazy with your loved one. So to spice things up means to make things a little bit more exciting and different than you normally do. Number seven...bring home and the bacon. Now, I'm not a huge fan of bacon and I know a lot of people are going to be like, "What? Ioana, are you crazy? Why don't you like bacon?" I don't really like it. But I'm a huge fan of this idiom. To bring home the bacon doesn't refer to actual bacon, but instead to material success like money. Bring money. Make money. That is really what it means. Bring home the bacon. Bring home the money. Make money. That's what it's about. I don't know why I got so excited. I don't even really like bacon that much. Number eight is a lemon. And I have a story about this one. When I was younger, I didn't really know what a lemon was supposed to be. And I kept hearing car commercials. And they kept talking about, "You won't get a lemon." And I just kept wondering what is going on. Why would I want a lemon?" Why would I buy a lemon at the car dealer? It was very confusing until I found out later that a lemon is something that doesn't work very well. Usually we talk about lemons when we refer to machines or cars. So a car that just doesn't work very well, it's just called a lemon. I don't really hear it about people. Like we don't say, "Oh that person's a lemon." It's mostly about things that don't work. You do not want to buy a lemon. Number nine...spill the beans. Now this means to reveal secret information. But you don't just reveal it, you kind of do it in discreetly or by mistake. That's like when you're spilling something. It's not usually intentional. So it's not something that you want to do to spill the beans. It's just like you don't want to spill beans. You don't want that. You got a mess. And number ten, our final one for today, is cheesy. Now you're probably thinking cheesy is good. Right? Who doesn't love cheese? Cheese is great. So cheesy must be even better. But it's not. It actually doesn't have a good connotation. Something cheesy is usually inferior, or cheap, or of low quality. Now cheesy can be used to describe many things from feelings to people to objects. So you can have a cheesy smile, which is not good. Or you can have a cheesy outfit, which is also not good. Or maybe you can have or say a cheesy pick-up line, which is really, really not good. So even though we love cheese, we do not want to be cheesy. I've said this word so much that now I really, really, really want some cheese. Okay, so now that you've learned all of these ten new, beautiful, fabulous food idioms, I want you to use them. So please, please, please write a sentence in the comments using one of these wonderful 10 food idioms that we learned today. And if you want to choose more than one, go crazy. Choose two or three. You are more likely to remember these words. In fact, I guarantee that you'll remember them. And if you want even more practice, join our social media classes. They are so much fun, and you will learn so much. So do it. Join it. Join! Now I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and that now you will spice things up and use some of these idioms in your everyday conversations. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 659. Useful Games to Help Practice & Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `dMfQJ-fT2uo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMfQJ-fT2uo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:47:44 | --- hello hello hello I hope you guys are having an amazing fabulous wonderful day and I'm glad that you are joining us because we have a super super super awesome lesson today because we're gonna do something special we're gonna do something a little different than what we've been doing in the past so again if you're just joining us write your name in the comments let me know where you're joining us from and today without further ado we are going to talk about games okay but we're not just going to talk about games because that would not be nowhere near as fun we are actually going to play some games we're gonna play some different games so this lesson is good for people that are teachers of English because you know I think most of us pretty much all of us will play some games in the classroom but it's also good if you are an english learner and you want to practice your English because like I said we are going to play some games and I'm gonna test your knowledge and see what you guys know and you can practice your English as we go through these games so what's up everybody Marco how's it going good to see you amano mohamed yes men from Turkey excellent we got a lot of people from all over the place so this is really going to be a worldwide game that we are going to be playing today because people are from everywhere so and if you're watching this video later again you can play along as well write your answers in the comments this lesson will be for everyone so let's play some games well but before we do actually before we play some games I quickly want to talk well why should we play games okay so the first reason that I think we should play games is because the games are they create an interactive environment just just like that above me interactive English and we want these games they really get us involved in the learning process and the other thing it will do is it will encourage participation because oftentimes when we play a game students are in groups people and groups you have competition and you have to really participate in the activity in order to play the other thing that it does which is really really really really really important is it elicits critical thinking and this is so important because problem-solving really it really exercises our brain when we use problem-solving and that is basically what games do that's what games do for us they elicit our critical thinking another reason that one right there number four is that it increases our motivation you're more motivated to learn it's a better learning environment because well you're playing a game and you're more relaxed and you have fun well relaxed kind of number five which is that it it lowers your anxiety because you're not worried about a test you're not worried about the right answer the wrong answer you're just playing the game and there's really not a right or wrong and you just have fun which is the last one it is we like games because they're fun which is why they exist which is why we play them so again if you guys are just joining us in the chat let us know let me know where you're from Felipe from Brazil welcome Mohammad Lata hello excellent we got a lot of people here davia jr. excellent good to have you guys here so today as I was saying we are going to play some games and I am going to ask you guys you guys are going to have to participate and give me some of the answers because that's that's kind of how these games are going to work so let's talk a little bit about what are some different games that we play again this is this can be useful for if you are a teacher of English or even an English Learner because again we're actually going to play some games and you really need to participate okay I'm watching alright so some of the different games what are some popular games I've just written down a few and again these are games maybe you are familiar with maybe if you don't know you could always google these games and see exactly how they're played Scrabble for language learning for English it's great for spelling pictionary again that that visual learning which is really good that's one of my favorite ones I would always do this I love to do this in the classroom I would take it a step further I would do animal pictionary and have people choose like two animals and they have to combine the animal they have to draw one animal that looks like two of the different ones and you have to guess the two animals so that was always fun charades where you're actually using motions again where you're making the gestures with your body memory game that's also good for exercising the vocabulary muscles when you learn new vocabulary words bingo of course hangman is another one kind of for especially like beginner learners where you're trying to get them to think of new words Simon Says again that's another one especially if you're learning parts of the body Simon Says touch your head Simon Says touch your feet and another one that's just more of a conversational one we have a lot of different games 2 truths 1 lie where you write down three things two of them are true one's a lie and everybody just has to guess which one is the lie and try to figure it out and it really is a communicative activity because you're doing a lot more speaking so these are some games that you can use in the classroom these are games that you can just play at home with your or your family but they are not the games that we are going to play today but so the games that we're gonna play well the first one is this one scattegories okay so scattegories so as you can see I'm gonna show you go over how to play it and then we are actually going to play it and you're gonna need to write your answers in the comments okay so how to place categories is pretty simple okay there is a list of categories and then you are given a letter or I am going to give you a letter and you have to think of a word that begins with that letter okay so it's pretty straightforward and the categories often most of the time in the classroom I would keep them pretty vague pretty general like those that I have listed like city food sport clothing name animal car country and they just have to think of a word that starts with that as part of that category so for example if I gave you the letter T and it was name then you would think of a name that starts with T like Tom or something like that okay so you can make these categories more specific depending on the level of the the classroom or your students or the learners but we're gonna keep them pretty vague right now today so are you guys ready alright so I'm just gonna give you one category and a letter and I just want you to UM poom-poom just write those words write as many words as you can that that apply alright so the first one is this okay so as you write them I'm gonna I'm gonna jot them down so city and your letter is B give me the name of a city that begins with the letter B and the idea is to write as many as many as you can alright so give me the name of a city that begins with the letter B as you guys go through this I am going to try I'm gonna try to write your names okay I'll write your answers all right Wow okay getting the answers already yes excellent but as Ilya Bulgaria excellent what else do we have ah Barcelona I was just there you wanted I were just there what's the name of a city again that starts with B alright so just write those in the chat remember wait wait Brazil's a country so know this we're just going for cities right now what are what's the name of some cities that start with C are not seeing B the letter B let me give you an American city that I think may be like Boston Boston is an American city we have butene city all right what else what else do you guys have are there any other cities that begin with B we have what are we a bad mom oh yeah Budapest perfect excellent alright so what are what are some other cities any other cities that start with B I'm just gonna jot a few more down ah good one that's a good one Bogota alright so I'm just writing down some of your hand so I'll try to whoops okay all right what are the Birmingham yeah that's another one that's in that's an Alabama excellent Bogor Indonesia alright excellent so you guys perfect Beijing excellent so there's a lot of different cities out there and typically we're playing in a little differently because usually you'd give all the categories and the groups would go through and they'd write one for each one and you try to finish as quickly as you can this one for this activity we're just again we're exercising our creative thinking trying to think of okay what are some different cities that begin with the letter B that was perfect alright so the next one that I have for you guys what I want you to do is let's do this one okay how about all right food with the letter C okay what are what are some foods what some food that begins with the letter C okay any any it could be any type of dish maybe even a meal or any just any kind of food that begins with the letter C and again I'm gonna write your answers in there excellent starting to get some already coconut perfect alright anything else what else do you guys got carrot excellent ooh excellent couscous uh cheesecake perfect that's one of my favorite desserts cheesecake what else what else do we have that starts with C oh that's a double point right there those are two points if you can give me two words chicken curry all right that's a that's double the points right there because you got two words cheese excellent very simple all right anything else that were that ah of course you want as favorite chocolate all right so perfect excellent so these are all food words that begin with the letter C and you guys this is something that it's often it's really fun to do with a group of people and you have one group against the other group and you go through and you try to write them as quick as quickly as you can and then you would count up the points usually you only give somebody maybe I don't know maybe less than a minute to think of them and then you count up the points and and see what's the one who's the winner so again there's a lot of them caviar chips cauliflower cupcakes another bonus word excellent so this is how to place categories it's a good one to play in the classroom to really get people thinking of vocabulary words that that start with that letter so it is a fun game to play I recommend it ok so again thank you if you just joined us we are well we're playing games because why not because it's a lot of fun if you like playing games remember hit that like button please also share this lesson once it's wrapped up so are you guys ready for the next game that I want to play with you and this is more this is definitely more of an English game I guess maybe you could do it in other languages but it's this game right here ok we're going to play mad libs now maybe you haven't heard of mad libs before it was popular in the United States a long time ago I don't know if it still is but the idea behind mad libs is that you take a story some paragraph and then you take words out of that story ok and for example say that you take an adjective out alright and then you give somebody a list of that words they have to think of maybe an adjective a noun kind of like the list I got it on there like a silly word a plural noun and somebody else will just they just think of words off the top of their head and then we take those words and we plug them back into the story and the end result is that it you get this funny story it's an entertaining story so marieee interesting and fun and creative it's especially popular I think younger learners like children would love these activities and love these games so we're gonna give it a try all right so right now in the chat I want you to think of those those things right now tell me give me a silly word alright right down right right a silly word into the chat for times sake and then I'm gonna go ahead and start plugging some of these in so give me a silly word also right and adjectives all right right right some different adjectives in the chat so we can start collecting these words and then we'll plug them into the story okay so write an adjective also finally give me give me a plural noun okay so funny word alright jerk okay wonderful perfect alright give me give me some adjectives silly words this is perfect also a plural noun and remember a plural noun would be a noun that ends with s not always but like boys glasses pants or a plural noun could be an irregular one like people or children okay so write those in the comments that's another one snotty alright so let me show you the game alright so here let's see okay so here we have our mad libs game alright and we are going to play we're gonna do this one right here which is it's called sick note so I think most of us may be familiar with this idea is when you are sick at school when you're sick you you don't go to school and many times you have to bring a note to school saying you know what was the problem why were you not at school and it's a sick note you bring a sick note to school so we are going to do this sick note right here alright so I got some words that from you guys already let me see what else you got for me okay and then we're gonna put these in there so I also want you to think of an illness okay think of an illness that's another one that we need as well as a place okay let me figure that I'm gonna take a jerk and put it right here when we'll do jerk let's use snotty that was one I like down here I saw wonderful was a good adjective little also think of a name give me a name somebody give me a name could a name of a person could you know just a regular name or it could be the name of somebody famous all right any anybody any name these are some other things we need to fill in the rest of it okay so what do we have a headache okay headache that's good right now okay headache let's our oh wait I actually I like diarrhea mmm gosh I wonder mmm what else do we have named Stuart miss Chen I'll tire okay let me see what else we got here okay so let me fill in so named okay okay let's go with will go with Stuart all right Stuart can even give me a plural noun a place we need a number as well if somebody wants to write a number what else do we have here let's see Oh Taj Mahal okay I like that place okay we'll use that one Taj Mahal they spell it right okay so what else do we need we need a number we need a plural noun and another adjective give me another fun adjective all right just write those in the chat okay Fabio was first 118 all right another adjective and a plural noun and we will be set okay exquisite that's a good that's a good one all right what's a plural noun all right get somebody give me a plural noun cats dogs whatever box is exquisite okay and okay we're gonna go with kittens sure there we go all right so once we have this filled in and we have our list of words then we'll take it and we'll go go mad and then I'll read the story so says dear school nurse jerk Stewart will not be attending school today he has come down with a case of diarrhea and has horrible kittens and a and a wonderful fever we have made an appointment with the little doctor snotty who studied for many years at the Taj Mahal and has 18 degrees in pediatrics he will send you all the information you need thank you sincerely mrs. exquisite all right so as you can see it's kind of just a funny little paragraph or note I will put a link to these games in the comments afterwards in the description so you can kind of go check them out but it's a great game to play especially if you have a group of people and you are practicing especially like those parts of speech what like thing having people think of an adjective or a plural noun or a place it's it's a great way to use English in that way all right so the other game that I want to play with you guys is this one okay is jeopardy alright so this is it's actually it's a TV show type game some of you maybe you've played it but basically they you have different categories with points okay and the lower the point the easier the question the higher the point the more difficult the question and somebody would pick a category and a point value and then you get a question and you have to see if you can answer that and you must answer the question in order to get the points that's how we play jeopardy now jeopardy is a great it is a great great game I think when I've used this in the classroom students the everybody loves it it's great because you can work on a lot of different skills because you get to choose the categories the only thing is it is a little more work to put in but you know that's okay so let's play some Jeopardy why don't we all right so let's see let me see if this works okay all right you guys you guys up there with me alright so you can see my jeopardy board I put in English jeopardy I whip this together this morning and we have one two three four five categories in five different point totals word sounds prepositions idioms what am I so in the chat somebody choose one which category and which point total do you want to use and I will click on that question okay so let's see who's first give me a category and a point total and again if you're watching this later you can you can play along with us use the comments as basically like a piece of paper write the answers down in there and then once it's done just hit comment submit the comment that way I know that you're you know you're participating you're participating in what's going on so okay I have a double one there somebody said preposition preposition okay preposition 4:40 okay let's we'll do that one all right so preposition 440 I will just click on this okay some of these may be easy maybe they're difficult alright I don't know it says don't go take me you alright take me you what would you say is it around with or by what do you guys think the answer is write it in the comments okay what do you think don't go take me you all right we've got some good answers in there so let's then we can go in here and most of you said be with we can check out ding ding ding ding all right you got it the answer is B with okay very good so I saw somebody else had put words for for T so let's go look at this one right here all right okay what does it mean to to perspire means to hmm what to perspire means to what do you think it is again there's a little time don't worry about the time write your answers in the comments in the chat and if you're watching it later on just yeah write your answers as we go through this that way I know you you were participating along with us and you weren't just you know just watching it so what does it mean to sweat to dance or to swim what do you guys think alright to perspire all right all right you guys whoa pretty everybody's pretty good so most people with a sweat and the answer is yes it means to sweat to perspire all right guys where are we going next where where are we going next what else somebody give me we have words ten all right let me let me try that okay let me this is an easy one okay again you can make them as easy or difficult as you wants the lower the point value the easier it is so what's a synonym for big all right is it a tiny be large or see happy which one of these is a synonym for big all right that that that should be that this should be an easy one all right okay all right we got it we got a minute all right perfect so mostly everybody was saying be large that is the correct answer excellent so what else did we have I saw another one on here that I wanted to draw a different one somebody had put what am i 450 okay let's go let's go check that out so here is your question question all right I'm rain mixed with ice what am I is it sleet snow or hail I'm rain mixed with ice what do you guys think that is rain mixed with ice sleet snow or hail all right everybody's put in I think this one maybe maybe you guys haven't heard that maybe this is a new word if it's raining but it's a little mixed with ice it's sleet we would say that it is sleet because usually once it hits the ground it turns right to ice snow is actually it is frozen it is ice there was our little ice crystals so rain mixed with ice would be sleet so hopefully that might be a new word for you guys somebody else had put I think idioms 4:30 is that one that I saw on here idioms 4:30 yes okay we're gonna go idioms 4:30 what does it mean break a leg break a leg means what good luck hurt yourself don't mess up what does it mean if somebody tells you hey you know break a leg break a leg I don't know maybe if you've heard this idiom before but somebody might tell you hey you know break a leg what what does it mean break a leg what do you guys think some people all right a not sure okay yes if somebody tells you to break a leg this is something if you're you're getting ready to do a performance of some sort you're doing you're getting ready to do something and somebody tells you break a leg they're basically kind of saying you know good luck they're wishing you good luck you know do well good luck break a leg what's another one give me let's do maybe a couple more what's another category in point total I'm just starting to realize maybe this the random ones you guys are picking seems like a lot of the answers are a I don't know why but that's not how it is for all of them so let me know where should we go next sounds 450 there it is okay so sounds 450 okay the most common English vowel sound is what which one of these sounds is the most common sound do you think it's a B or C all right this is kind of testing your your knowledge your of phonetics because of these different these different symbols you might see these when you're studying pronunciation and learning how to make these different sounds which one do you think a B or C I've got some different different responses in there alright so in case if you're not sure the answer is B all right it is the schwa sound so that upside-down e that is the schwa sound all right that is the most common vowel sound in English and we did a whole video lesson on the schwa sound which you guys hopefully you will check out alright let's do one more one more where where should we go what do you guys think what's another category in point total all right interactive English what am i 4:30 alright we will do this one what am i 4:30 okay here's another one I am sharp like a knife what is sharp like a knife is it a razor a brush or spatula what do you think what is sharp like a knife write your answer in the comments sharp like a knife what do you guys think all right it's gotten so I get so good answers in there something that is sharp like a knife is yes it is a razor razor so you get the idea again this is how to do these games and how to play these games so again games are just it's a really important part of learning and I hope that you guys can use games to go out and play and improve and especially practice your language skills I will leave a link in the description to these games so if you want to play that jeopardy game you can I'll give you the link you can go to it and you can you know test your knowledge and then write to us on Facebook or Twitter let me let me know how you guys did all right so I hope you guys appreciated that game it's a little different really appreciate you guys watching and being with us here today again please hit that like button if you enjoyed these games if you enjoyed playing games and share this video with others so that they have a chance to practice their english as well if you have any questions or comments again write those to us we try to get back to as many people as we can and you can also check out the social media down there Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat and of course right here on YouTube you can find us here so thank you guys so much lotsa mono favio mohit yes-men murder thank you thank you thank you guys for joining us and we will see you guys next time all right have a great day --- ## 660. Useful Idioms You Absolutely NEED TO KNOW for 2025 | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `B-XrsKwOzMo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-XrsKwOzMo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:43:43 | --- I want to teach you some important and useful idioms that you can use in 2025 now this vocabulary has gained popularity often reflecting social issues Trends or even cultural shifts and I don't want to waste any time let's just go ahead and get started because I want to hit the ground running and we'll begin with that idiom right there to hit the ground running this means to immediately work hard and successfully at a new activity and it really has a positive connotation so this is a great idiom that you can use when talking about work or just any activity that you're really excited to do the project begins next week we really need to focus so that we can hit the ground running so whenever you want to stress that you're going to work hard and right away this is a great idiom that you can use like I said I don't want to waste any time let's start building your vocabulary I just want to hit the ground running I hope you don't mind me starting on these documents I just wanted you to hit the ground running first he does become eligible next year I want him to hit the ground running now if building your vocabulary and learning new idioms is a goal that you have this year then please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is West the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and if you subscribe to the channel you will not regret it you're going to learn so much it will really be a game Cher and I want to talk about that idiom because it is becoming more and more commonly used to say something is a GameChanger you can use this whenever you want to say that something significantly Alters a situation and and mostly in a positive way so this is a great phrase that you can use to add emphasis robotaxis are a GameChanger this will be the future of Mobility so in general we're talking about a new development that has a massive impact on a situation and in that case you can say that something is a GameChanger now you of all people like this I'm going to use lowfat ingredients Game Changer if you follow me I swear to you it's a game changer hey looking at the 65 in 4k huh it's a game Cher throw shade now I'll be honest this is an idom that I don't really use it is more informal and probably used mostly in the United States and because it's more informal it may not be as commonly used as some of these other idioms however it is definitely gaining in popularity but this is a an idiom that you're more likely to come across on social media but what it means is to subtly disrespect or criticize someone so it really does have a negative connotation and I mentioned that you're more likely to come across it on social media here's an example Jason kid throws shade at the Celtics our group was ready to go they were ready to celebrate and in a way he is slightly critic izing the other team basically saying they weren't prepared which is why they lost here's another fun example because I think it's good to have a laugh this is a a fun way to build your vocabulary I don't always throw shade but when I do it will be to your face and not on Facebook do you know you're throwing shade behind her back so what' you just stop by to throw shade we're having fun doing sister stuff today I learned to throw shade then we have under the radar this means not attracting attention or discreet and this is a great idiom because I think we can all relate to it sometimes well many of us are in a situation and we try to fly under the radar she was not a well-known musician and for the most part her music went under the radar that suddenly changed when one of her songs went viral there are a couple of things I want to say about this idiom the first is that there are some common collocations some verb idiom collocations and often you will use this with verbs like to be under the radar or to fly under the radar or to go under the radar or even to stay under the radar the next thing is that you may also use the phrase below the radar or beneath the radar they they have the same meaning but as you can see they are not as commonly used for the most part people will use the phrase under the radar it's under the radar we've been living in this no man's land for the past month flying under the radar nobody around here knows me we can fly under under the radar because of the news we need to stand under the radar then we have the idiom to rain on someone's parade this just means to spoil someone's enjoyment and I I'm sure that you can think of a time when someone rained on your parade and they just spoiled and ruined this good time I could say right after I got a promotion I received some bad news it really rained on My Parade so this idiom really means what it says you have this parade which is the enjoyment and then the rain comes and it spoils everyone's good time now you may also use this idiom to premise some bad news for example I could say I hate to rain on your parade but and then I spoil everyone's enjoyment or I'm sorry to ran on your parade but it's like you're kind of softening the bad news and basically telling someone that you're going to spoil their enjoyment the last thing I want to do is uh rain on your parade sorry I don't mean to rain on the parade I find parades to be impotent displays of authoritarianism romance is never perfect but don't let me rain on anyone's parade breaking the internet this is a phrase whose popularity has really skyrocketed because it means causing a major viral sensation online did you hear about the latest political controversy it's breaking the internet this is a phrase that really has become popular due to social media and social media is not going away anytime soon so this phrase probably won't either because nowadays the way that we consume information is via the Internet so if you have a video a post a meme that really takes off then you can say it's breaking the internet all right let's break the internet he's all over my Instagram now you're about to break the internet good I hate the Internet it's working we're going to break the internet fomo fear of missing out I really like this acronym it it refers to the anxiety a person feels when missing out on some social event or experience and this is an acronym that I I think we can all relate to I think we've all experienced fomo at one point or another I could say a lot of people are buying Bitcoin because of fomo to give you a little more context using this informal acronym here are some news headlines Bitcoin rally stall creates entry point for fomo investors this follows up on the previous example but I think this is an acronym that often gets used when talking about the stock market how Coldplay fomo could lead to burnout I suppose they're talking about the music group Coldplay and finally fomo leads to shopping addiction here are some more examples oh man some of our friends are at a rooftop in Brook Brooklyn oh somebody's got fomo and I'm watching their Snapchat stories it's like fomo 247 thank you for coming to celebrate Meredith bet she's in heaven right now with some serious fomo at the end of the day this is an idiom that I I think I use quite often and it means when everything is taken into consideration it's kind of like saying ultimately so really you're going to use this idiom after talking about a series of events and then you'll use the idiom and then State the most important information in this lesson I want to teach you some useful idioms I'm trying to give you a variety of examples and at the end of the day I just hope that you learn something new one thing I want to point out is that this expression is similar to the phrase in the end don't confuse it with the phrase at the end which refers to well a point really at the end of something the britanica dictionary talks about this at the end is used in the idiom at the end of the day which means something similar to in the end when everything is considered however at the end is most commonly used more literally as a prepositional phrase followed by of to refer to the end of a specific noun this is just something to keep in mind because I I do hear people confuse these from time to time and in this case I I just want to highlight the idiom at the end of the day at the end of the day all that matters is what you think at the end of the day we are all just trying to get by at the end of the day you can't depend on anyone else but you The New Normal I don't know why I feel like I hear this phrase every other day now but it refers to a state of things that is accepted as usual and maybe I hear it more and more often because there are a lot of things that are different than before some of them a little weird but they're becoming accepted and you could say it's the new normal according to a recent poll many Americans believe that remote work is The New Normal this is a funny joke using this phrase so I wanted to share it with you he says I swear Karen if you say new normal one more time getting frustrated that she keeps mentioning this new normal as she's holding this mask 21st century family coming through this is the new normal over the past several days there has been increased IO chatter but that is the new normal but scared is sometimes good unless it becomes The New Normal in which case that's no way to live clapback this is also an informal phrase that's mostly used in the US so it may not be as common as some of these other idioms but still gaining in popularity and what this refers to is a quick sharp response to criticism here's an example I'm not afraid to clap back at the haters who criticize my English lessons this is not true uh there are haters out there but I tend to ignore them and I I Don't Clap back everyone in this office wants to F at you and they're planning a prank clap back under the weather this is a great idiom well I mean it's not a great thing but it's a great idiom to use it means that someone is slightly ill so I like this idiom because I feel like I use it quite often instead of saying that well I feel a little sick I'll just say I feel under the weather I woke up this morning feeling a little under the weather so I went back to sleep often you may use this idiom with an adjective like little or bit I'm feeling a little under the weather or I'm feeling a bit under the weather okie dokie and what seems to be wrong with them with twinkle it's just a bit under the weather yeah yeah well hmer and bar well they're under the weather mhm I'm sorry I I've I've been a little under the weather in the driver's seat this refers to being in control of a situation and and really the IDI means what it says because if you are in the driver's seat then you control the car but in this case we're referring to some situation Mark likes to act like he's in the driver's seat but Jessica is the real leader of the team I will admit sometimes I like to be in the driver's seat and control the situation it it really just depends but other times I will gladly sit in the back go to sleep and let someone else control the situation negotiations are all about trolling things about being in the driver's seat and another lifetime starts right now with you in the driver's seat now I hate to rain on your parade but I really need to wrap things up but if you'd like to continue building your vocabulary maybe you're experiencing a little fomo you're welcome to watch another one of my video lessons because at the end of the day it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long by --- ## 661. Useful Idioms in 60 minutes | Greatly Improve Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `kE7XwFvTOPc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7XwFvTOPc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:05:08 | --- Today, you are going to learn a lot of idioms, and many of these idioms are from the United States, which is where I am from. My name is Wes, and the channel is Interactive English. And if you enjoy learning idioms, please subscribe, turn on notifications, so that way I can become your teacher. So, I am going to tell you the meaning of the idiom, talk about how it's used, give you some example sentences, and what I've done is I've taken the very best of idiom lessons and put them together so that you can learn many idioms in just 1 hour. So, let's begin. Today's lesson is all about money. I want to talk to you about money. This is a very important topic. Many people out there, they love money. Everybody wants money. We we all need money in order to survive. So, I want to teach you some common idioms and expressions that are all related to money. I will tell you the idiom and then talk about the meaning, and I'll I'll also try to discuss how you would use this idiom, and then finally, I'll show you some video clips so that you can see how the idiom or expression is used in context. Now, keep in mind, I am from the United States, so some of the idioms may be specific to the US. However, I think that that they are very common and well-known that people all over the world from other English-speaking countries will likely understand these idioms and expressions as well. So, the first idiom or well, it's more so it's just a word. First word that I have for you, and this one I think is more specific to the United States, is the word buck. informal word, and a buck is just talking about a dollar. One buck is $1. Now, you would use this word, I think, mostly when talking about smaller amounts of money. You're not going to hear people talk about 1 billion bucks. That's you know, people would use dollars in that case. But if you're talking about a small amount of money, people may say bucks instead of dollars. Like, "Hey, do you have a couple of bucks? Or can I borrow a few bucks?" And that's how I think most people would use this word when when they want to say a dollar, instead they're just going to say a buck. Well, I gave him a few bucks. I mean, I only got a couple bucks. I mean, a few bucks. Okay, whatever. Look, if you're hungry, man, I can loan you a buck. It'd be worth a few bucks. Can I hold my ride? Just want a quick look, see? Pay you back. A buck, eh? have to cost an arm and a leg, and this just means that well, it just means that something is expensive. So, instead of saying that well, this you know, that car it's really expensive, you could say well, it it cost an arm and a leg. I think people would use it when they're describing something that's expensive, but in a way, I think they're also saying that they don't think it's worth that much money, that it cost too much. It should not be that expensive. So, when you say well, something cost an arm and a leg, you're you're basically saying that it's too expensive, that it should not cost this much money. But in general, it's just it's just really expensive. These lessons, they don't cost an arm and a leg. They're they're free. This is an advanced computer system. Cost an arm and a leg. Cost an arm and a leg. Cost me an arm and a leg. It's got GPS navigation, 200-W stereo system. Christian, get rid of the old sandwich vending machine in the lobby, which cost us an arm and a leg to rent and no one use it. Then we have the expression pony up. And if you tell someone to pony up, you're you're just telling them to pay money, and it's it's money that they owe, that they should pay, and sometimes it may be to settle a debt. And you tell this other person like, "Hey, okay, you need to pony up. You need to pay some money." So, this is a very it's a very informal expression, but it's one maybe you would hear somebody use this if you're watching a TV show or movie, and somebody needs to pay money for something, and the other person might say, "Hey, okay, you need to pony up. You need to pay your money. You need to pony up." party, and you're the CEO, so pony up. No, if anyone should pay, it should be you. This thing with Bobby goes to trial, we're going to have to pony up some serious upfront cash. What you should do is have him sponsor you for the dance. Ask the manager to pony up a couple hundred bucks. Yeah, $10 a dance. So, if she makes it through 20 dances, you need to pony up $200 towards her class trip to DC. Then we have the expression put your money where your mouth is. And this is one of my favorite expressions, and it just means that that it could mean a couple of things. It could mean that somebody is spending money in order to improve a bad situation, that that someone needs to put their money where their mouth is, or you could say that that you are telling somebody that they need to spend money so that that you know that they mean what they say, and they're not just talking. That instead of just talking, talking, talking, you'd say, "Okay, look, put your money where your mouth is. You need to spend money to show me that you are being serious, to to show me that what you're saying is true. It is believable. Put your money where your mouth is." And again, I I guess I would say that this expression doesn't always have to be talking about money and spending money. In another way, it's telling somebody to basically well, do what you say. If you are talking and saying all these things, and the other person, maybe they don't believe you, then they might say, "Look, okay, let's see you let let put your money where your mouth is. Let's see if you do what you're saying. Put your money where your mouth is." Put your money where your mouth is. I say to you. 10 votes. Five against five. to have a little drink. Come have a drink with me and see who's more of a laugh, yeah? Put your money where your mouth is. I wouldn't want to get any exhaust on that pretty face. I got you put your money where your mouth is. Next is the idiom to make ends meet, and this just means that you are earning enough in order to live, that you're not you're not making a lot of money, and you have all this extra money lying around. If you make just enough in order to live, then you could say that you are making ends meet, or perhaps you may hear somebody say, "Well, you know, we're just trying to make ends meet. We're trying to make enough in order to live, to make ends meet." Would you describe your financial circumstances? I was struggling to make ends meet. You're a waitress. For 6 years. And I could never make ends meet. Tara and I are trying to buy a house, and we're, you know, struggling to make ends meet. She put in the in the bushels and stuff and sell it, you know, because they had to, you know, make ends meet and stuff. The next expression is to be loaded, and loaded it's just an adjective, and it's used to describe someone who has a lot of money, who is very wealthy. You could say, "This person is loaded. He's loaded. She's loaded." I think well, many of us out there, we'd like to be loaded because well, it's nice if you don't have to worry about money, because there there are many of us out there just trying to make ends meet. We just want to make enough money. Although, it'd be nice one day to be loaded. Hey, you Travis. Hey, can you get that five you owe me? My man is loaded and loaded. He's loaded, is that it? The Sappersteins are loaded. some? The stuff we smashed is worth nothing compared to that thing. These guys must be loaded. Then we have the expression to look like a million bucks. Now, first I I want to tell you that before I said that you don't use the word bucks when talking about a large sum of money, except except with this expression to look like a million bucks, or you could say to look like a million dollars. It means the same thing. But when you use this expression, you are saying that a person looks very nice. They look very elegant, and you're talking about most of the time I think it's talking about the way they look, the way they're dressed, the way they've styled their hair, and you could say, "Wow, you look like a million bucks." This is a it's a way that you can give a compliment to someone. You look like a million dollars." I I like I love it if somebody were to tell me, "Hey, Wes, you know, you look like a million bucks." It would it would make me feel good. And right now, I want to tell all of you, I've no idea what you're wearing right now, but doesn't matter. I think you you look like a million bucks. You look like a million dollars. I just wanted to let you know. Come on. You look great, okay? You look You look great. You look like a million bucks. Yeah. Terrific. Wonderful. You look great. You look like a million bucks. Damn, darling, can I say you look like a million bucks? I have never been able to wear that dress cuz I just couldn't pull it off, and now you just look like a million bucks. Then I have a couple of phrases that mean the same thing, and that is shell out and fork over. And you can use these interchangeably, and it just means to pay for something. And you may hear somebody say, "Oh, you need to you need to shell out some cash if you want to buy this thing that cost an arm and a leg, or you really you need to fork over some money if you want to purchase this thing." Again, you can use these two phrases interchangeably. They are very informal, so I don't think you're necessarily going to use them all the time in conversational English, but try to listen for them the next time you're watching a TV show or watching a movie. To shell out, to fork over, to pay for something. to get Big Belly White to shell out for a huge repair job while Lucky Jimbo gets a paid vacation. Yeah, he most certainly is. People will fork over eight grand for that. Well, I've been on the phone all afternoon. Oh, yeah? Had to shell out $5,000 to the brick offs. Next is the expression rags to riches. So, if you say that somebody went from rags to riches, then you are just saying that in the beginning they were very poor. And then later on they became very wealthy. So, you're describing a person's situation over time and you could say that they went from rags to riches or that that they have a story that is rags to riches. They were poor and then they became rich. Rags to riches. So, what is the secret of this rags to riches story? Here they come now, the rags to riches Cinderella contenders. Like a true rags to riches story, but I've always found little class to be just so much more real. Then we have the idiom bread and butter. And if you are talking about somebody's bread and butter, then you are just talking about their main source of income. And that that would pretty much be somebody's job. And for example, I could say, well, you know, making these English lessons on YouTube, it's our bread and butter. This is the the primary way we are are trying to make a living. Right now we're we're making ends meet, but hopefully maybe a lot in the future at some point we'll be loaded and it will be a story of rags to riches. I just want to give you a quick little review because I think the more you hear these idioms and expressions being used, the more likely you are to remember their meaning. So, if we're talking about bread and butter specifically, you're talking about the the way what what somebody does to make their living and to make money, their bread and butter. Restoration antiques. It's my bread and butter. I'm a scientist. My ability to think is my bread and butter. Then we have foot the bill. And to foot the bill just means to pay for something. You are paying for some bill. When I think of of this idiom being used, I think it's often used to describe a situation in which someone else might be paying for this thing. Someone else is footing the bill. You could use it when if talking about yourself that you're trying to pay for this, but I think quite often it's used when you're you're referring to another person paying for this thing. So, for example, maybe if uh the the next lesson I show up with these expensive clothes and I look like a million bucks. And you think, wait a second. I know that that these YouTube videos, this is Wes's that's his bread and butter. He's just making ends meet right now. I wonder who's footing the bill. Who's footing the bill? You would not have to do a thing and Felipe will foot the bill. You got your money's worth. What? I foot the bill while you played Mother Teresa. We estimate the damage at $75 and frankly we think it's terribly unfair that other taxpayers should foot the bill. Next is the idiom break the bank. And to break the bank means that you are you try to buy something that really it it costs too much and you cannot afford it and you could say that, well, it's going to break the bank. You will go into debt because this thing costs too much, cost an arm and a leg, you can't afford it and it's going to break the bank. Or maybe you're trying to tell someone that, well, hey, don't worry. I can afford this. It's not going to break the bank. So, you may hear this idiom being used in either the affirmative or the negative. So, in the affirmative you'd say, well, it's going to break the bank. We can't afford it. Or if you want to reassure someone that you can afford this thing, hey hey, don't worry. It's not going to break the bank. But to break the bank means that you can't afford it and you will likely go into debt. Are you looking for a mattress that won't break your back or the bank? If you want to be like me, you got to make snap decisions. We're going to break the bank at the Monty Burns Casino. Then we have the word penny pincher. It is a a compound noun because this it's talking about a person who really tries to save all their money. And they they really just don't like to spend their money and you could say, well, yeah, this person is cheap. You could say he is a penny pincher or she is a penny pincher. They just really want to save all their money and they don't want to spend anything, a penny pincher. How can you afford a maid on what I'm overpaying you? Oh, well, you see, Mr. Penny Pincher, I I mean to say You got another job on the side. Then we have the expression pick up the tab or pick up the check. And that they mean the same thing and it just means to pay for a bill, to pick up the tab or pick up the check. Often I I think of a restaurant and perhaps at the end of the meal the bill comes and you might say, hey, don't worry about it. I'm going to pick up the check or I'm going to pick up the tab. I am going to pay for this bill. To pick up the tab or pick up the check. okay. Uh you're going to pick up the tab, right? Great. up the check. I'll have to pick up the Cuz you're Little James. So, there you have it. Those are some great idioms and expressions that are all related to money. in Paris, the city of lights or the city of arts and culture. So, today we're going to talk to you about some idioms and expressions that are related to art. And culture. That's coming up. It's a gorgeous day out, perfect day to see all the sights of Paris. That's is the Louvre, one of the most famous museums in the world. Check out this view right here. With the Eiffel Tower. Or kind of. It's right there. So, since we are in Paris, which is a city very well known for its art and culture, we're going to talk to you about some expressions and idioms that that have words related to art in them. Of course. So, the first expression I want to talk to you about is to paint yourself into a corner. And when somebody paints themselves into a corner, that just means that they are put into a situation where there is no or there are very few good outcomes and they are painted into a corner. It's not a good place to be. Which I bet she regrets it. He's painted himself into a corner. But Nick has been painting me in a corner since we were kids. We painted ourselves into a corner. And now they have to paint ourselves out. So, there's a famous saying that goes a picture is worth a thousand words and what this means is that you can have a complex idea that can be expressed in just one single picture. Better expressed in fact than a description. So, there's so much more that a picture says than words can say. A picture's worth a thousand words. A picture's worth a thousand words. A picture's worth a thousand words. A picture's worth a thousand words. Another expression is to paint the town red. And when you go out and you paint the town red, that just means that you are going out and you are partying and you are celebrating in a very lively way. As an example, you would say, you know, let's go out tonight, let's paint the town red. The world is your oyster. Kick up your heels. Paint the town red. Smithers, don't you know how to paint the town red? Oh, we're going to paint the town red tonight. Let's paint the town. We'll shut it down. Another expression is to see the big picture or to look at the big picture. And this just means to see the situation as a whole. Uh because sometimes it's a very important to instead of like looking at little details to look at the situation as a whole and that means to look at the bigger picture or to see the bigger picture or the big picture. So, we are just chilling on a bench as you can see behind us. Oh, where is Where did you That's the other way. I can't show you. There we go. That's the Eiffel Tower. So, we're going to we're going to share our favorite things about Paris right now. What is your favorite thing about Paris? The food, hands down. That was going to be mine. Everything. The food is just like the ingredients are simple, high quality and just well put together. I I like the croissants or here the croissant. Just Why is your nose so red? Cuz we were out in the sun all day yesterday. Somebody got us What's your favorite sight? I like the Versailles, the gardens. They were I I thought they were really really impressive. Wes, tell me your favorite French word. French word? Mhm. I've been saying uh mercy. Mercy, okay. Yeah, I've been using that. Okay, what about Favorite French word? Um amour. What? Amour, I don't know how to pronounce it. Favorite English channel? Interactive English, obviously. All right, let's keep moving. Another expression that I say quite often is you just say, "What's wrong with this picture?" And when you're asking somebody what's wrong with this picture, it means that you're asking this person or group of people to identify what what is wrong with this situation and seeing if they can identify it. So, you're kind of asking them in a sarcastic way. What's wrong with this picture? Guys, what's wrong with this picture? Something's wrong with this picture. Can't be simple as it seems. Look at this sorry, miserable squashed thing. Can anybody tell me what's wrong with this picture? So, this is an expression that's also a question and it goes, "Do I have to paint you a picture?" And it's it's not it's kind of like when you're trying to explain some something to somebody and they just don't don't get it at all. It This is kind of asking like, "What else can I do to make you understand this?" You you're trying to make it more clear for them. What else can I do to make you understand this?" Another idiom is saying that something is like watching the paint dry. This is a simile because we're comparing two things and you're saying that something is like watching paint dry. So, you're talking about something that is very boring, it's dull, it's tedious and it takes a long time. So, another expression is to paint a mhm picture. And why I made that mhm sound because you can change the adjective. So, something can paint a terrible picture, can paint a bleak picture, can paint a rosy picture. And what this means is to describe something in a certain way. Um and many times it's used in a negative way. So, when you you if something paints a terrible picture, it means that things appear to be pretty bad. Painting a pretty graphic picture in training. You continue to paint far too bleak a picture of Laura Niel. You painted an extreme picture. These particular circumstances paint a thorough picture of the horrific events in Samoa. Hope you guys enjoyed learning these expressions and getting a glimpse of our trip to Paris. So, since everyone is so excited for the World Cup, I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk to you about some popular soccer idioms and expressions. And yes, I said soccer because I'm an American even though the rest of the world pretty much says football. Not sure why we say soccer, Americans just do, but we we do a lot of things that don't make much sense. Keep in mind that even though these idioms are related to soccer and sports, they can be used in a variety of different situations and context and I will show you that and give you some examples as we go through these expressions. The first expression I have for you is to keep one's eye on the ball. So, when you're you're playing soccer or just about any sports, you need to look at the ball. You need to know where it is and you have to keep your eye on it. So, this basically means that you really have to pay attention and stay focused to the activity that you are doing. This could be used not only in sports, you could use it in business as well that you need to stay focused on what you're doing or even in school, you need to pay attention, you need to keep your eye on the ball. Keep your eye on the ball. I'm going to keep my eye on the ball. Emily and I have a future with a plan. Maybe that's true, but you need to keep your eye on the ball. The next expression is a little similar, but it's still different and that is to be on the ball. So, if you say that you are on the ball, it just means that you are really alert and you are aware of everything that's going on that that you're doing things right and you say, "You know, today I'm I'm really on the ball. I'm really sharp, I know what's happening, I'm focused, I'm on the ball." One of my favorite idioms is to get the ball rolling. And when we say this, it means that we want to start something. So, it means pretty much exactly what it says. So, if we have a ball and we want to start rolling it, then we get the ball rolling. We start moving along. Many times I would walk into a classroom and we're getting ready to begin class and I'd say, "All right, guys, let's get the ball rolling. Let's begin." I'll tell you what I think just to get the ball rolling. dollars and 27 cents. Wow, look at you, you did pretty well. Really? Cuz I put in the first two. Just you know, get the ball rolling and to make myself feel better. And so, if it's okay with you, I thought I'd get the ball rolling with a personal story. Now, when people are playing soccer, you have to kick the ball. There's a lot of kicking going on and someone can say that they get a kick out of something, which means that they really enjoy something, they really like it. I get a kick out of watching World Cup matches. I get a kick out of riding a motorcycle. I hope that you guys get a kick out of watching our English lessons and will hit that like button down below. Another great expression is a game changer. So, if something is a game changer, then that means that there was some new idea, something happened that really shifted the game in one way or another. So, in sports, somebody maybe gets injured and they uh-oh, that's a game changer. Or even in business, maybe you have a new computer system that's going to help you and you say, "Wow, this is a game changer." There's many ways that we can use this expression, but if there's some new idea, something revolutionary that is going to change the way that we do things, it's a game changer. It's a game changer. It's the key. It could break into any system. I met a girl. Oh, really? Spending all this time with her and she is a game changer. It's kind of a game changer. Come on. We need a game changer. This next idiom is one that I think I also use a lot and that is a game plan. So, if you have a game plan, it means that you have a strategy for doing something, that you have a plan of action that you are going to execute in order to succeed. You must have a game plan. So, if you're playing soccer or or any sports for that matter, you need to have a game plan, you have to have a strategy to win. And in business, you need a game plan if you're going to do some negotiations. In school, you need a game plan if you're working on some project, even if you're organizing an event for a friend, you need a game plan. So, in soccer, there are referees out there on the field and they carry a whistle and sometimes they might blow the whistle. And when you blow the whistle on someone, it means that you are you're calling this person out for doing something wrong, maybe something even illegal and you're reporting it to the proper authorities. You can blow the whistle on another person, you could blow the whistle on a company, on an organization. If somebody's done something wrong, you can report it, you can let everyone know and you are blowing the whistle on that person or company. We can also change this idiom around and make it a noun and say that someone is a whistleblower. And if someone's a whistleblower, then that person is the one who reported the wrongdoing that is happening. They're a whistleblower. Blow the whistle on someone. Never blow the whistle on family. And thanks for not blowing the whistle on us. You called me the other day. You were going to blow the whistle, right? Another great soccer expression, which is also it's relevant to any sports out there is to say, "We were robbed." And to be robbed means that something happened that was unjust, that that you don't think is fair. Maybe you just barely missed the goal or maybe there was a penalty and you disagree with it, you'd say, "Ah, we were robbed." A very common expression is to take sides. So, if you're thinking about soccer, you have two different sides of the field, one team is on one side, the other team is on the other side and you take sides. You are cheering for one team. So, if you are taking sides, it means that you are supporting one over the other. And this is very common because it's used often when when two people disagree about something and another person is there and they're trying to figure out, "Okay, who do I agree with? Whose side am I taking?" Everyone's taking sides and splitting into groups. Well, if Bernadette's on Amy's team, I pick Howard. I'm not taking sides. Fine, because I'm stuck with Raj. I'm sorry. All right, take his side. I am not taking his Well, whose side are you taking? are besties, someone should apologize. I don't want to take sides. One could be forgiven for thinking you're taking your family's side in this debate. I am taking their side. Next is to be on a roll. And if a sports team is on a roll, that just means that they have been very successful lately. They've been winning a lot. They have a streak of success. So you guys are learning these idioms and expressions and you're learning so much English. I could say, "Yeah, you know, you're on a roll. Keep it up. You're doing great. You guys rock." Today we're talking about 10 dessert idioms. Yeah, they're all related to dessert, but they all mean different things. If you want to relax with a piece of cake and an English video, subscribe to our channel. Hungry yet? Number one, piece of cake. It just means that something is very, very easy, just like eating cake. This lesson is a piece of cake. And every task you undertake becomes a piece of cake. Number two, to have your cake and eat it, too. This idiom means you cannot have it both ways. You can't have your cake and still eat it because if you eat it, it's gone. You don't have it anymore. I have it and I'm eating it and now oops, it's gone. And this relates to life by telling you that you cannot have everything that you want. Think of somebody who maybe is working all the time, making a lot of money to get a really nice house. Um but they can't enjoy the house because they're always at work. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. We travel a lot, but it's part of our work, so we're not on vacation when we travel. You can't have your cake and eat it, too. Number three, icing on the cake. Icing on the cake means something that makes something good even better or something bad even worse. So it really um amps up a situation. I had a bad day at work, but the icing on the cake is that the car broke down on my way home. It felt so great. I just wanted to go in and hit four for four and qualify for worlds one last time. And um winning was just icing on the cake. Number four, to sugarcoat something. This means to make something seem better, more pleasant, or more acceptable than it is. To sugarcoat it. When my friend asked me what I thought about her new haircut, I had to sugarcoat my response so I wouldn't hurt her feelings. You don't have to sugarcoat it. I get the drill. Number five, easy as apple pie. Mhm. What this means is that something is really, really, really easy, just like eating pie. So sometimes you see it um as easy as apple pie or sometimes you just see it easy as pie. Uh so so sometimes it has the apple and sometimes it doesn't. But it really just means that it's as easy as eating the pie, not making it cuz making it's a little difficult. Learning English with us is as easy as apple pie. Number six, flat as a pancake. I really like this one. I don't know why. It's probably one of my favorites. Um so you know a pancake, it's very, very flat. It doesn't have any ridges or any bumps or anything. It just means that something is very, very flat. My hometown is flat as a pancake. There are no mountains or hills. Flat as a pancake, huh? Number seven, nutty as a fruitcake. Now, I don't have a fruitcake to show you because I couldn't find one today, but you have to trust me, they're very nutty. They have a lot of nuts. But when we say that someone is nutty, it also means that they're a little crazy. So when someone is nutty as a fruitcake, it can mean anything from just being a little silly to completely crazy. Nutty as a fruitcake. Don't pay attention to Wes. He's nutty as a fruitcake. Well, I can save you the trouble. You're nutty as a fruitcake. Number eight, that's the way the cookie crumbles. Now, this idiom really means that's how life works. I can't believe I didn't win the painting contest. Ah, well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. I'm Bruce Nolan and that's the way the cookie crumbles. Number nine, to sell like hotcakes. This means that something sells very well or is very, very successful. Every time a new iPhone comes out, they sell like hotcakes. Number 10, to have a sweet tooth. A person has a sweet tooth loves sweets. They love desserts. Okay? So for example, I have a huge sweet tooth. I love all kinds of desserts and sugar and my favorite is chocolate. Yuana has a huge sweet tooth. She prefers sweets over food. Here you go, Sonny. Little something for the old sweet tooth. So that was it for the 10 idioms. I hope you like them and I hope you're not too hungry. Now it's time to practice what we've learned. I want you to look at the sentence and choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Say your answer out loud. My exam went great. I finished quickly because it was Is it A, flat as a pancake? B, nutty as a fruitcake? Or C, easy as apple pie? The correct answer is C, easy as apple pie. When an exam is easy, you probably finish it quickly. So during this lesson, we ate a lot, but we learned even more, no? Now you have 10 dessert idioms that you can use anytime, not just when you want something sweet. I think this lesson was as easy as apple pie, don't you? If you think so, too, please give this video a thumbs up. like to express hope and inspiration, then this lesson is for you. Hey everyone, my name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I want to talk to you about some idioms that you can use to to help give other people some hope and inspiration, especially if they've been feeling a little down and just need that extra encouragement to get through some situation in life. So the first idiom that I have for you is keep your chin up. So this idiom means that you want to encourage someone to you know, stay positive if they are going through a difficult situation. You want them to keep their chin up. And the this idiom comes from well, when people feel a little sad, typically their head might be down. So you're telling them, you're basically saying, you know, "Keep your chin up. You know, things are going to get better." And you just want to give them that little bit of encouragement to stay positive in some difficult situation. Keep your chin up. Often I I think it's used as a standalone statement. It's kind of like you're giving somebody a command and saying, "Hey, you know, keep your chin up, all right? Things are going to get better. Stay positive. Keep your chin up." Anyway, keep your chin up. You keep plugging and uh good things will happen. Keep your chin up. Don't stop caring. Hey. I'm going to keep working on that for you. Just keep your chin up. The next idiom is, you know, hang in there. And this idiom, it also means to it's to encourage someone to keep trying, especially when they are going through some difficult situation. To to keep trying, don't give up. Just just hang in there. You can do it. When I think of somebody using like hang in there, I think that that person is doing something that they're actually doing some kind of work or activity and they're actually they're doing something that they don't want to do and they are having to endure this thing. So you may hear this used again as just a standalone statement. Somebody saying, you know, "Just just hang in there. Keep your chin up." So again, these are are very useful idioms to offer that hope and inspiration. have a plan and I am going to save our jobs. Just hang in there. Please just hang in there a little longer. Okay. Just hang in there. Next is the expression break a leg. And this is used just to to tell somebody good luck. So instead of saying good luck, you can just replace it with this idiom and say, "Break a leg." So you would often hear it right before somebody is getting ready to do something such as a performance. And instead of saying good luck, you say, "Break a leg." They're getting ready to start the competition. Could be a a sport competition, an academic competition. And before they begin, you could say, "Hey, break a leg." You could even use it together with good luck and say, you know, "Good luck. Break a leg. I I believe in you. I want to give you that that that hope. So, just go out there, do your best, break a leg. Grab your scripts, people. We open in 20 minutes. Break a leg. Thank you. Break a leg, Chef. Circus floor on a wire no wider than a human thumb. It is time. Oh, break a leg. Then we have in the bag. And if you say that something is in the bag, it means that that you are sure of success or or you are sure of accomplishing something. You're You're very confident in something, and you might hear somebody say just a general statement like, "Hey, it's in the bag." When giving somebody a little bit of hope or inspiration, I think this idiom could be used to offer some reassurance to somebody who may not be confident about what's going to happen, and you tell them, you know, "Don't worry. I think you can do it, you know, that it's in the bag. You're going to have success. It's in the bag." Don't worry. This is in the bag. I've got him dead to rights. Fingerprints, witnesses, it's in the bag. They'd better be damn good if they hope to stay. Relax, Tom. It's in the bag. The next idiom, and it's also a very popular expression, and that is sky's the limit. And if somebody says, you know, the sky's the limit, then it just means that there is no limit to your success, to your aspirations. And this is a great way to offer someone some inspiration by telling them, you know, to keep going, that they can continuously grow and develop and succeed. And you You can express that by saying, you know, "Sky's the limit." For example, I could try to offer you some inspiration if you're you're having some difficulty and tell you, you know, "Just just keep going. I hope you keep learning with us throughout this year. There's so much that you can achieve and accomplish and grow. The sky's the limit." Well, I turned this one into a functioning boyfriend, so sky's the limit. What do you want for your birthday, Bing Bong? It's okay. I'm good. Come on. Sky's the limit. Dream big, my boy. Then we have the idiom the world is your oyster. And again, I think this is often used as a stand-alone statement, and somebody would just tell another person, "The world is your oyster." And what it means is that that this person, the person that you're telling this to, will have many different opportunities to to do things in their life or their career. There are so many choices that they will have. You could tell them, "The world is your oyster." Often, I think it's used when you're somebody is talking to a younger person. That they have their whole life ahead of them, and they can do all these different things, and you can express that by telling them, you know, "The world is your oyster. You have so many options, so many choices. Take advantage of it. The world is your oyster." I'm telling you, kids, from now on, the world is your oyster. I could do anything. All bets are off. World is my oyster. You're a beautiful young girl. The world is your oyster. Next is the idiom, and this is one of my favorites, and that is light at the end of the tunnel. And somebody would say this when they want to express that the things the situation is going to improve or it is going to end, especially if it is a difficult or challenging situation. It will improve or it's going to end. That is the light at the end of the tunnel. So, think about the exact meaning of what this would say. So, if you are in a tunnel, it's very dark. It's a little scary. Nobody wants to be there. You are looking for your way out of this tunnel. And then you you see this light up ahead, and you know that that it's going to end or things are going to improve. That is what will basically, again, what it means, light at the end of the tunnel. And the reason why I really like this idiom is because I I think you could use it in in any situation. No matter how bad or horrible it is, you can always try to find some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. And it it's a great way to offer somebody that hope, the light at the end of the tunnel. But, I finally feel like I'm at a place where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The light at the end of the tunnel is the finish line. This is just my luck. Then we have the statement there's plenty of fish in the sea. Now, this is a statement that's used for a specific situation because what it means is that you are basically telling somebody who has ended their relationship that that they should stay positive and that things are going to be okay because there are plenty of other people out there that they can have another romantic relationship with. So, I think you would hear this idiom or even use this idiom often when somebody has ended their relationship and you're trying to reassure them that "Hey, things are going to be okay. Don't worry about it. You will meet somebody else. There's plenty of fish in the sea." Now, you could also say, just to throw in a little bit of grammar, there are plenty of fish in the sea because fish can be both singular and plural. So, no matter what, the the meaning is still the same. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Or you're trying to reassure somebody else, "There's plenty of fish in the sea." Point is, you're the best guy I know. You'll get over her. Plenty of other fish in the sea. Another sign from the universe that I'll never find love. Hey, come on, pal. There's plenty of fish in the sea. I say there are plenty of fish in the sea. Then we have to look on the bright side. And if somebody says this, it means that you should be cheerful and positive even though some kind of bad situation has occurred. And usually when somebody tells you, you know, "Look on the bright side," they will then tell you something to stay positive about or something that is, you know, good news or cheerful even though there's been some terrible situation. So, let me give you an example. Say that somebody has lost their job. That's a bad situation, and somebody might be you know, pretty sad or down about that. And you want to give them a little bit of inspiration. So, you tell them, "Hey, look on the bright side." And when you say this to your friend, you need to tell them why they should be cheerful. So, in this case, maybe you say, "Hey, you know, look on the bright side. You have always wanted to move to this other place, but you couldn't do that. The job was keeping you here. Now you're free. So, look on the bright side. You can move to this other place, try to find a new job. It's what you've always talked about doing. Look on the bright side." I look on the bright side. I mean, at least you won't have to live with this ugly chair. Don't cry. Look on the bright side. We get to see our lives flash before our eyes. If all our hair falls off, our our our wives won't want us anymore. Well, there you go. Look on the bright side. Then we have the idiom pull yourself together. All right. And this is uh this is an idiom that means that you need to gain control over your emotions, and you need to start acting normal again and behaving normal. So, I think often it may be used as like a command. Somebody telling you, you know, "Pull yourself together. You need to pull yourself together." If something happens and you are angry or you are frantic, and you start you know, you you start panicking, then that is when another person could tell you, "Hey, you know, pull pull yourself together. You know, start behaving normal so that you can solve this problem." Or you could even use it and talk about yourself, and you're telling someone, you know, "I need to I need to pull myself together. I I need to get it together and start behaving normal so that I can solve this problem and get my life in order. I need to pull myself together." Three hours ago, you made the situation worse. Russell, pull yourself together. Pull yourself together, Diddy. Pull yourself together. You know what? I could actually use a drink just to pull myself together. Next is fingers crossed. And this just means that you are telling somebody that you hope that they will achieve something that will happen in the future or something successful will come to past, and that that you've got your fingers crossed. So, you can say this to somebody else if they are telling you the things that they want to do, that they want to accomplish, and you should say, you know, "Fingers crossed. I believe in you. I'm hoping for you." Or you could say that about yourself, that you wish something will happen in the future that that would be good for you, and you're trying to kind of express a little bit of hope in your own situation, and you could say, you know, "I've got my fingers crossed. I I have now uh I I I lost my job. I I tried to look on the bright side. I have moved to this other place. I have applied for a new job, and I'm waiting to hear back from them. I got I've got my fingers crossed." Good luck on your tenure review. Make me proud. Fingers crossed. I hope that your your interview went well. Mhm, fingers crossed. Okay. Well, let's just say this is going to be great. Fingers crossed. Then we have blessing in disguise. And this just describes a situation that appears bad at first, but actually turns out to be pretty good. And often, I think it's used to reflect back on a past situation because something was bad and then since then, you know, some good things happened. So when you think back about that first bad situation, you could refer to it and say, you know, it was a blessing in disguise. Let me give you an example and we'll stick with that same story, all right? Somebody loses their job and they try to look on the bright side and they move to a place that they've always wanted to live. They they applied for a new job, kept their fingers crossed and and got that new job. And then let, you know, maybe they met the love of their life and they got married and they had a family. It's a blessing in disguise." I got fired from running the Sweet'ems Foundation. Thanks to me. Hey, blessing in disguise. I took a job at this accounting firm. So you see, George, the whole incident was a godsend. You mean a blessing in disguise? Yeah. What I'm saying is maybe this is a blessing in disguise. I don't know who the father is. What? So now I I want to do a quick review as I offer you an inspirational message, okay? So I would tell you I I know that learning English can be challenging and difficult, but I I want you to keep your chin up because even though it it may feel that you're not making any type of progress whatsoever and that you're not improving, you really are. You need to take comfort in the fact that your skills are getting better and better each and every day that you practice. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is English fluency. So keep doing what you're doing, keep watching our video lessons, keep practicing a little bit each and every day, write to us in the comments. I want you to just hang in there and keep working hard and don't give up because the to be perfectly honest, when it comes to learning another language, there is so much that it will help you with about whether it's getting a job, meeting other people. There's so many ways that languages can help us learn and grow. Sky's the limit. So I hope you enjoy this lesson, learn some new idioms as well as feel a little more inspired perhaps after my message, all right? If you did, then hit that like button down below. Let me know. Are you hungry? I hope you are. Hungry for knowledge. Thought that wink would come out better. Thought I'd have a sexy wink, but it's just the way I have something in my eye. So let's learn some food idioms. If you want to improve your English, have fun and learn even more idioms, subscribe to our YouTube channel. We love making these videos to help our students improve their English skills. Today we are talking about some super common food idioms. Now, when I was preparing for this lesson, there were so so many food idioms to choose from, but these ones are the ones that I heard again and again and again, so they're very very common. You can hear them everywhere and it's fun because who doesn't like to talk about food? Yeah, exactly. Everyone likes to talk about food. Now, I'm going to do my disclaimer that I do for every idiom video that I make. You can use idioms at any time. You can use these idioms at any time, but just keep in mind that idioms are a little bit more informal. Don't use them on job applications or any kind of formal English context. So keep that in mind and come on, let's have some fun with food idioms. The first one, number one, is bread and butter. One of my favorite food combinations. Going to say that a lot in this video because I kind of love all food, especially good food, you know, like good bread and good butter. Well, bread and butter means somebody's main source of income. It just means how somebody makes their money, their main source of income. For example, for Wes and I, teaching is our bread and butter. Working in the factory is his bread and butter. Number two, cool as a cucumber. I love this one because cucumbers are among my favorite vegetables and I'm always cool as a cucumber. No, I'm not. Because somebody who's cool as a cucumber is calm and relaxed and I am known to be a little stressed sometimes. So I always tell myself, Yona, be cool as a cucumber. And it works like half the time. But that's what it means, be calm and relaxed. She remained cool as a cucumber in the stressful situation. Number three, not my cup of tea. And this means it's just something that you are not interested in or something that you just don't like. Naturally, I love tea. Oh, maybe I should I'm back in. Now, this is my cup of tea and it's huge as you can see. It's as big as my face. And I love tea, so having tea is my cup of tea. That That makes sense. I'm just going to I'm sorry if that's confusing. Um I'll give you another example. Hold on. I need to have my tea. Okay. Going to bed after midnight is not my cup of tea. Number four, in a nutshell. And in a nutshell means in the fewest possible words. So if you can imagine a little nutshell, it's very very small. I'm imagining like a little pistachio. They're very very small. So in a nutshell just means very little, saying something in as few words as you can. What happened at the meeting? Tell me in a nutshell. Number five, to put all your eggs in one basket. This is a piece of advice which means that you shouldn't concentrate all of your efforts and resources in one area because that means that you could lose everything. And it could refer to anything from feelings to to money to hopes and dreams and things like that. So don't put all of your eggs in one basket. When planning your investments, it's unwise to put all of your eggs in one basket. Number six, spice things up. Notice how I said that. This one gets me happy because I love spices, of course. I told you I love food. But to spice things up means to change things, change a boring routine into something more exciting, to change things up. This expression is commonly found when we're talking about relationships and I mean romantic relationships. Maybe sometimes you want to spice things up and you want to do something different like go on a vacation or do something crazy with your loved one. So to spice things up means to make things a little bit more exciting and different than you normally do. They spiced things up by taking a romantic getaway. Number seven, bring home the bacon. Now, I'm not a huge fan of bacon and I know a lot of people are going to be like, "What, Yona, are you crazy? Why don't you like bacon?" I don't really like it, but I'm a huge fan of this idiom. To bring home the bacon doesn't refer to actual bacon, but instead to material success, like money. Bring money, make money. That is really what it means. Bring home the bacon, bring home the money, make money. That's what it's about. I don't know why I got so excited. I don't even really like bacon that much. We both bring home the bacon. Number eight is a lemon and I have a story about this one. When I was younger, I didn't really know what a lemon was supposed to be and I kept hearing car commercials and they kept talking about, "You won't get a lemon." And I just kept wondering, what is going on? Why would I want a lemon? Why would I buy a lemon at the car dealer? It was very confusing until I found out later that a lemon is something that doesn't work very well. Usually we talk about lemons when we refer to machines or cars. So a car that just doesn't work very well, it's just called a lemon. I don't really hear it about people. Like we don't say, "Oh, that person's a lemon." It's mostly about things that don't work. You do not want to buy a lemon. Oh, no. It's clear that he bought a lemon. Number nine, spill the beans. Now, this means to reveal secret information, but you don't just reveal it, you kind of do it indiscreetly or by mistake. That's like when you're spilling something, it's not usually intentional. So, it's not something that you want to do to spill the beans, just like you don't want to spill beans. You don't want it, you got a mess. Shh. Don't spill the beans, it's a secret. And number 10, our final one for today is cheesy. Now, you're probably thinking, cheesy is good, right? Who doesn't love cheese? Cheese is great, so cheesy must be even better. But it's not, it actually doesn't have a good connotation. Something cheesy is usually inferior or cheap or of low quality. Now, cheesy can be used to describe many things, from feelings to people to objects. So, you can have a cheesy smile, which is not good, or you can have a cheesy outfit, which is also not good. Or maybe you can have or say a cheesy pick-up line, which is really, really not good. Hey, you know what would look good on you? Me. Are you tired? No, why? Cuz you've been running through my mind all day. You know, it's dangerous for you to be here in the frozen food section. Why is that? Because you could melt all of this stuff. So, even though we love cheese, we do not want to be cheesy. I've said this word so much that now I really, really, really want some cheese. Those pajamas are so cheesy. Okay, so now that you've learned all of these 10 new, beautiful, fabulous food idioms, I want you to use them. So, please, please, please, uh write a sentence in the comments using one of these wonderful 10 food idioms that we learned today. And if you want to choose more than one, go crazy. Choose two, three. You are more likely to remember these words. In fact, I guarantee that you'll remember them. And if you want even more practice, join our social media classes. They are so much fun, and you will learn so much. So, do it. Join it. Join. Now, I hope you've enjoyed this lesson and that now you will spice things up and use some of these idioms in your everyday conversations. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 662. Useful Idioms with the word TRAIN | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `yXc1yfr-cuU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXc1yfr-cuU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:00:48 | --- we are at a train station getting ready to get on a train so I thought I would teach you a few different expressions with the word train and the first one is to say that something is a train wreck this means that well you're saying that something just was terrible it was horrible I gave a presentation and it was a train wreck it was just it was really bad the next idiom is to lose one's train of thought and this means to kind of temporarily forget what it is that you were talking about or what you were doing and often there's maybe some sort of interruption uh like sometimes happens with her she interrupts me and then I might lose my train of thought and I forget what I was doing and then you could say that you're well you're stepping in front of a moving train for someone and often people would use this in the negative say they're not going to do this because it means you're making a sacrifice in order to protect someone else and they may say look I'm not going to step in front of that moving train so those are some train expressions --- ## 663. Useful LOVE Idioms to Improve Your Fluency โค๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `SSU7doHqaX4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSU7doHqaX4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:51:26 | --- What words do you love? Do you love idioms? Today we're talking about love idioms. Welcome and thank you for joining us today. Today we'll talk to you about 10 love idioms. And these are idioms that don't necessarily have the word "love" in them. But they are used to describe love and relationships. If you'd like to practice more with us please make sure to join our social media classes on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. So the first love idiom is "to fancy someone." And this is mostly used in British English and it means to like someone and their company. So it's not just to like someone but to enjoy spending time with them. So if you enjoy spending time with someone and you really like them, you would say that you fancy them. You fancy that person. Number two is to fall for someone. And to fall for someone means to develop romantic feelings for someone over a period of time. It could be a short period of time or a long period of time. But that's how you say that you fall for someone. So number three is head over heals in love with someone. So this one could be either head over heals in love or just head over heals. And it just means completely and deeply in love with someone. When somebody is head over heals in love with someone else, they cannot think of any other person. This is the only person on their mind. It's all that you think about. You're very, very, very, very, into this person. So you would say that you're head over heals. Number four is lovey-dovey. Have you heard this one before...lovey-dovey? I hear it quite a bit and it's kind of a way that people act. It really describes how people act and how people are. So you could say that two people act very lovey-dovey with each other. That means that they're very affectionate and they really show their affection towards each other. But very strongly, very much. And sometimes it's more viewed as a negative thing. Like they're so lovey-dovey. It can be almost a little too much. But it's an act. It's how you act towards each other. Number five...to be smitten. It means to be strongly attracted to someone. It's almost like you were smacked by love. And now you're super in love with this person or very, very attracted to them. Number six...to get hitched. This is used quite a bit and it means to get married. To get hitched...to get married. Number seven...to tie the knot. This is another one that's just a synonym for "to get hitched." So it also means to get married. To tie the knot. Number eight...to go through a bit of a rough patch. Now this can be used as to go through a bit of a rough patch or to just go through a rough patch. What it means is when a couple is having trouble, a period of problems in their lives, you know something goes bad and they're constantly fighting or arguing or they just have some issues. We're saying that they're going through a rough patch or a bit of a rough patch. This usually means when you say that that the period is finite and that things are going to get better. Number nine...double date. Double date means an activity that two couples do together. So it can really mean any kind of activity. But many time it just means like a date like going somewhere, to a picnic or to the movies or to a bar. Just two couples hanging out with each other... it's a double date. And finally number ten...on the rocks. On the rocks is a relationship experiencing difficulties and is likely to fail. On the rocks doesn't necessarily have to describe a relationship between a couple. But it can really be used to describe any kind of relationship. Like if you don't get along with your mother or your father you can say that your relationship with them is on the rocks. So do you remember all of these love idioms? Let's see! Let's practice them. Please use one of the words that you've learned today one of the idioms to describe this picture right here in the comments below. Please make sure to be creative. If you want to use more than one, you can. And I think it's going to be interesting for anyone reading the comments to see what other people have written. But also it would be fun for us to see if you guys come up with something super creative. It's all good. It's all practice. So thank you for joining us today. If you like the video please give it a thumbs up. I hope you learned something new and I hope that you get to practice these love idioms with a loved one. Now go out there and fall in love. See you next time! --- ## 664. Useful Listening & Speaking Activity | Describe Words Around the Home | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `4qtdmq9J7DM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qtdmq9J7DM) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:44:07 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson - Describing Nouns! In this lesson, we are going to describe nouns that you will find around the house. This lesson will help you practice your listening and speaking skills. These nouns are at a beginner level. However, we encourage all learners to give it a try because it's a great way to practice your speaking. For this activity, Ioana is going to describe six different nouns to you. You will have ten seconds to guess and say the answer. Each of these nouns is something that you will find around the house. Remember, this activity is to help you improve your listening and speaking skills. This is why it's important that you speak. Let's see an example before we start. Ioana will describe a word to me, and I will guess the answer. Here's the word. You're ready for this? Oh, I'm ready. Okay. Here we go. This is something you sit down on. It has four legs and a back. You will find these around the table or at a desk. Do you know what I'm talking about? I think the noun you are describing is a chair. Now that you know how the activity is done, let's begin. Ioana will describe a noun to you, and you will try to guess that now. Remember to say your answers out loud. And after we finish, I will go over the answers with you. Ready? Let's get the clock up there. You find many of these around the house. At night, people turn them on because they give the light. Sometimes, they're next to your bed and you use them to read. Can you guess what this is? This is something you will find in a dining room. This is something with four legs. People eat there. People put their food on this. Can you tell me what this is? This is the place where you sleep. On it, there are sheets. There are pillows. There are blankets. Children love to jump up and down on this. Many times people say, "I'm tired I'm going to..." There are many of these around the home . You open and close them and go from one room to the next. You can also lock these if you don't want people to enter. Open and close. What is it? This room in the house has a sink where you brush your teeth or wash your face or wash your hands. It has a shower where you wash yourself. This is a piece of furniture you find in the living room. You sit on this and people will watch TV or a movie. This is big enough for two or three people sit on it. They're very comfortable. Hopefully, you're able to give an answer to all of those. Feel free to do the activity again. And if you would like to, you can pause the video and go back to the start of the activity. Now, before I reveal the answers to you, I'm going Ito replay some of the key words that Ioana used to describe the nouns. At night, people turn them on because they give light. A lamp is something you turn on to light up a room. That is the answer. People eat there. People put their food on this. A place where people sit and eat is at a table. That's the answer we're looking for. This is the place where you sleep. On it, there are sheets. There are pillows. There are blankets. The place where you sleep is on a bed. You open and close them and go from one room to the next. Something you open and close to go in and out of a room is a door. This room in the house has a sink. It has a shower. The room that has a sink and a shower is the bathroom. You sit on this and people will watch TV or a movie. A sofa or couch is somewhere you sit to watch TV. I hope you enjoyed this activity, but now it gets better because it's your turn. We're going to switch roles, and you are now going to describe the nouns to Ioana. She will then try to guess the nouns that you are describing. Make sure to speak up, be creative, and most importantly have fun. Ready? Here's your first word. I think you're talking about the refrigerator. Ready for the second word? Here it is. I know this one. It's a kitchen. Great job today! We hope you enjoyed this activity. And if you did, give us a "like" down below. And finally, remember that sharing is caring. Please share this activity with your friends, your classmates, anyone that you know who is trying to practice and improve their English. So please keep practicing by watching our lessons. We'll see you next time. --- ## 665. Useful Listening Phrasal Verbs to Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pOGeILJ22sM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOGeILJ22sM) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:54:24 | --- Listen up because today I am going to teach you some very useful phrasal verbs. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is interactive English which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to teach you some phrasal verbs because we use phrasal verbs all the time. They are so common in everyday conversation and today I'm going to teach you some phrasal verbs that are related to listening. These are listening phrasal verbs and the first one that I have for you is listen up. I said it at the very, very, very beginning of this lesson and all it means is to listen carefully. It's just you're telling somebody or a group of people to listen carefully. So when I think about this phrasal verb being used, I think about maybe a coach talking to a group of players. They might want to get their attention and tell them, hey everybody, listen up. What I'm about to say is very important. Or maybe a teacher would say it to a group of students. They want the students to pay attention and they tell everybody, listen up. Listen Up. No one mention Richard Roper again. Listen up. I don't have to tell you what this game means. Listen up. I'm hearing a lot of whispers and rumors. All right, listen up, listen up. Now when you listen, you are secretly listening to their conversation. You are secretly listening to what they're saying. We can also make this a three word, phrasal verb with the preposition on and listen in on someone. Looks like Gary and Gertty are about get briefed on the Yukata assignment. We should listen in. I can only assume that you're listening in. You've been listening in on our conversation. Tell the FBI agent listening in on this call Then we have here about, so to hear about something or maybe you hear about someone is is just to receive information about this thing or or person did you hear about what people are saying in the comments? You should go check out those comments and while you're down there just write us comment because we love hearing from him. I know I hear about people who are with hearing about how did you hear about that? Hello, how did you hear about us? The next phrasal verb is here from and you hear from someone. Now this phrasal verb has three different meanings. The first meaning would just be you are receiving a phone call or a message or maybe even an email from another person. Did you hear from your friend which would just be like, okay, did they call you? Did they write you? Did you hear from them? Will I hear from you? Did you hear from the doctor? Did you hear from your friend? Did you hear from Bobby? Did you hear from Superman? The next meeting is just to listen to a person or or even a group of people talk about a particular topic. For example, maybe the school faculty is going to hear from the students about some issue that's going on at the university. You would hear from these people we still have from tonight's featured guest. As we begin our service, we will now hear from her daughter and finally it means that if somebody is angry then then you're just going to tell some other person about it. I think it's often used in the context. Somebody angry and they say, you're going to hear from my lawyer. I'm going to tell my lawyer about this thing that I am angry about. Or maybe somebody didn't apologize to, to you and you say, you know, if, if he doesn't apologize then, then he's going to hear from me. I'm going to let him know about this. You have two weeks. Otherwise you'll hear from my lawyer, But you'll hear from my attorneys in the morning. You'll be hearing from me Sherlock. You will be hearing from him, Mr. Scott. Okay. Wow. I can be very, very persistent. Then we have to hear someone out and when you hear someone out than you are just listening to this person. You are listening to what they have to say and and you let them finish. You are not going to interrupt this person because you are hearing them out. Think people frequently use it when you're, you're maybe having an intense conversation or a discussion with somebody and you want this person to listen to you and you just tell him, look, hear me out. Listen to what I have to say. Hear me out Before you say or do anything. Just hear me out. Just hear me out. It's called Hinckley Cold Storage. Just hear me out. Just hear me out. All right. They're playing cards in them and I read his hand blind And I hope all of you hear me out and listen to the lesson until the very end, because if you don't, then you're, you're going to hear from me. You're going to hear about this. Another great listening phrasal verb is here of, and you can hear of something and you are just receiving news about this thing or about this event. For example, uh, I was shocked to hear of the sad news or you could hear of someone and you're receiving news about this person. For example. I haven't heard of anyone. All right? I don't know anyone who would not hit the like button for this lesson because phrasal verbs are amazing. They're wonderful. I haven't heard of anyone who wouldn't hit that like button, which is a way of me trying to tell you to hit that like button. So why? Why don't you go ahead and do it? You ever hear of superman. You ever hear of KFC? The king shall hear of this. Pittsburgh Crawfish. Every hear of us? Now I won't hear of it Mo. You're a fabulous catch. Then we have pick up. Now the phrasal verb pickup has many different meanings. I just want to talk to you about the meaning that's related to listening. So to pick something up is just to to hear a sound. You could also pick up a scent as well, but when it comes to listening you would pick up a sound and what I think about is somebody who, who's trying to listen carefully, maybe they have their headphones on and they're trying to hear, listen in on a conversation and they were like, oh, are you picking anything up? Have you, have you picked up the sound? Can you hear anything? Or maybe you're trying to listen to things happening in, in outer space and you're trying to pick up some sounds. You're trying to pick something up. Try the scanner. See if you can pick up anything. Don't worry Cap. I can handle it. It's all yours. If the scanner pick up anything, report it immediately. I tried to get a fix on Alphazentura according to Will's calculations. Picked this up instead. How about we talk about that other thing as mission Abdul picked up on those little radio. The next listening phrasal verb is tune in and to tune in means to listen to and watch a TV show or maybe a news broadcast or, or even a video lesson. I really appreciate it that that all of you tune into our video lessons and and hear me out. I am really grateful for that. Thank you. Tune in next week called the exciting conclusion. Phil here. If you have tuned in for WNYX is regularly scheduled. Can you tune into the cockpit frequency? Yea, why? The next phrasal verb, and this is probably my favorite one on this list, is to tune out and when you tune out, you just, you stop paying attention, you stop listening and you can tune someone out or you could tune something and you're, you're just not listening to this thing or this person anymore. And I really hope that you are not tuning me out right now because you've heard about something else exciting going on. Don't, don't, don't worry about that. Just just stay with me. I want you to hear me out all the way until the end Children. Okay. Tune out. Some secrets are coming out, right? Some adult one's. Look, when usually Amy complains about her coworkers, I just tune her out. It's just one more shift. Just tune her out and she'll eventually leave you alone. And then we have, well this is not a phrasal verb, it's just an expression, but, but I liked it so I thought I would throw it in there and it is to hang on to someone's word. Often I think the, the entire expression would be to hang onto someone's every word and that just means you are listening very carefully to what someone is saying because somebody is saying something that is so exciting. It is so captivating that you just want to listen to every single word that this person is saying and you are hanging on to every word. But he hangs on your every word. I'm asking. I'm telling you, take that responsibility seriously. I guess it's because we all want to believe that what we do is very important that people hang onto our, every word. I now the leader of thousands of people, they all hang on my every word. So listen up. Now that you've tuned in to this lesson and you've heard me out, now I want to hear from you and I want you to write to me in the comments, and if you understood this lesson and you feel like you can go out and use these phrasal verbs, then let me know in the comments and I just want you to write, I am hanging on to your every word. That way I know. Okay, this person was listening carefully. They were not tuning me out and, and they have learned something new. Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed learning these listening phrasal verbs and I will see you --- ## 666. Useful Pet Idioms to Improve Your English Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xa_yaZu2x_c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa_yaZu2x_c) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:45:39 | --- Today, we're going to kill two birds with one stone. You're going to watch a really fun video, and I'm going to teach you six different idioms at the same time. Incredible. Are you ready? If you want to improve your English, have fun, learn about new idioms, phrasal verbs, pronunciation - SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL. Subscribe. Do it. It's going to be great. Today we have a super exciting lesson. We are talking about animal idioms, specifically pet idioms. So if you have a pets, or like pets, or want to know about pets, or just want to improve and expand your idiom vocabulary, keep watching. You can use these idioms at any time. Just keep in mind that idioms should not be used for essay writing or academic writing in general. Are you ready for the pet idioms? Here they come. Number one - Catnap. Oh, I love this one because I take so many catnaps. Catnap means a very short nap that you take throughout the day. Like cats do. That's okay. I can get plenty of catnaps here at the office. If you've ever seen a cat, they sleep all the time throughout the day. All the time. You look around. Where's your cat? It's sleeping. It's taking a catnap. And you can take a catnap too. The second idiom that I wanted to talk to you about today is to kill two birds with one stone. And this means to get two things done at the same time. You can do two things at the same time you are killing two birds with one stone. Perhaps we can have the Pharaoh solve the problem of Solomon. And kill two birds with one stone. In addition to giving you kids a lift. I'm also on my way to a funeral. Killing two birds with one stone. I don't know where it comes from. It's a little cruel to kill two birds with one stone but also if you think about it...efficient. You only use one stone to kill two birds, so...yay. The third one... the third pet idiom is pull a rabbit out of a hat. It means to do...to surprise everyone by doing something very clever. And this one is very cute. It reminds me of kids' magic shows. Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat. See! Nothing up my sleeve. So if you've ever seen a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat, they take out a little rabbit, and everyone is surprised, and the kids have these amazed faces. That's actually where the idiom comes from. Do you like guinea pigs? I hope you do because this next idiom is...guinea pig. And what it means is to use someone or something as a subject of an experiment. He's using patients as guinea pigs. My first guinea pig. So many times we say that someone or something was used as a guinea pig. Or we use someone as a guinea pig, or you were used as a guinea pig. It just means as an experiment Number five - dog eat dog world. This pet idiom has a little bit of a negative connotation. And we use it when we try to explain that somebody will do anything and will stop at nothing from getting what they want. The view of the marketplace is that it's a dog-eat-dog world of hostile competitors. I come from like the dog-eat-dog world of show business, man. I mean, it's like every man for himself getting parts or movies and number one and all that kind of stuff. Our final pet idiom for today is for all of you fish lovers out there because it is fish out of water. Somebody who is a fish out of water is someone who is uncomfortable in a certain situation. I'm a fish out of water, lion out of the jungle. He a fish out of water, lion out of the jungle. And I think it's safe to say that we have all been fish out of water at some point in our lives. Okay, wonderful. So we've learned these great pet idioms, but now it's time to practice them. I want you to use one of the idioms from this lesson and write a sentence in the comments below. Go ahead. Do it! I'll wait. You could also tell us about any pets you have or any pets you'd like to have. For example, I would love to get a cat and we could take catnaps together. How great would that be? Oh my god. I want the cat so bad. I love animals. I'll be looking forward to reading your comments. I hope you learned some new idioms today. If you did, please give this video a thumbs up. Also, if you like animals please share this video with all of your friends and everyone you know who loves animals and maybe wants to learn some idioms too. Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 667. Useful Phrasal Verbs to Easily Talk about Clothing | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `gmQmyJf1Jp8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmQmyJf1Jp8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:40:27 | --- Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Today I have a really cool lesson. We are talking about phrasal verbs related to clothing. Before we begin, I just want to make sure that you really pay attention to these. Phrasal verbs are both easy and difficult. What makes them easy is that you just have a verb and a preposition. And all you have to do is memorize them. But the problem is that many times we forget which preposition goes with which verb. And that is when we mess up the meaning. And this can be actually very confusing. One of the best ways to learn phrasal verbs is to learn them by category. And a very important category is clothing because we use these phrasal verbs very, very often in English. Whether we are putting clothes on or taking clothes off, we want to make sure that we are using these phrasal verbs correctly. So let's get to it. Let's learn some phrasal verbs about clothing. Number one is PUT ON. And "to put on" means to start wearing something. Simple as that. So for example, if I'm cold, I might want to put on a jacket. Or if I'm going to a nice event I might want to put on a nice dress. Or I might want to put on my nice boots. Put on. Number two is the opposite of put on and it is TAKE OFF. And "take off" means to remove clothing. I've heard many learners of English use this incorrectly. Many say put off. Please don't mix these up. They're very important. We use them a lot. We talk about them in our routine. You put something on. But then when you get warm, you take it off. Put on. Take off. Put on. Take off. There you go. Now you are masters at this. Are you ready for the next one. Number three...BREAK IN. And this means to wear something new to make it a little bit more comfortable. We can break in and new clothes or new shoes. For example, many times when we buy new shoes they're a little tight here and there, so we want to wear them so they can kind of fit to our feet. We are breaking them in. Number four...TRY ON. And "try on" means to put something on if you want to see how it fits and how it looks. For example, when we go shopping many times we will try on some clothes to see how they look. This will give us an idea whether they look good or maybe not so good. Many times something looks amazing on the hanger. And then you try it on and maybe it doesn't look so amazing. We try them on. We try on the clothes. Number five...THROW ON. Now to "throw on" means to put something on very quickly. You just put it on very quickly. Like Superman. Wait... Is Superman very quick? Who's quick? Spiderman? The Flash? Yes. You are putting on an outfit like the Flash. So you have to be very, very quick about it. You throw it on. Sometimes, maybe if the alarm rings and you just keep hitting snooze, and then you eventually wake up. And you realize you're late. You might have to throw on some clothes because you have to get to work on time. Number six...BUTTON UP. Now to "button up" means to fasten something with buttons. So if you're wearing something that has buttons like a sweater. No, sweaters don't. Like a cardigan. Or like a button-up shirt, or anything that has buttons. When you close those buttons you say you button up. Number seven is DRESS UP. This verb has two different meanings. The first one is to put on clothes that are a little bit more formal than the clothes you usually wear. For example, we might want to dress up for somebody's wedding. Or we dress up for a job interview. Or maybe we'll dress up for some kind of formal event. The other meaning of dress up is to put on clothes that make you look like someone else. And we do this for fun. For example, many, many children dress up for Halloween. We like to put on a costume, and we dress up. Number eight is DRESS DOWN. Now this is the opposite of dress up. So if you dress down, you wear clothes that are less formal than the clothes you usually wear. I hope now that you have a really good understanding of these phrasal verbs. And I hope that you can use them correctly when you put your clothes on in the morning. Now here's how I want you to practice these verbs. When you get ready in the morning, say what you are doing using the correct phrasal verb. Whether you're putting on a shirt, or trying on some new jeans, or breaking in your new pair of shoes. If you've enjoyed this lesson and feel like you've learned something new, don't forget to share it with your friends and anyone who's trying to learn English. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 668. Useful Phrasal Verbs with GET ๐Ÿ‘ | Vocabulary Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hAtgXJ7YxOc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAtgXJ7YxOc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:51:50 | --- Today, we are going to talk to you about three different phrasal verbs and their different meanings with... Hello and welcome to our global classroom. We have an amazing lesson for you today on phrasal verbs. But first I'd like to remind you to join our social media classes. It is a great way to practice and improve your English skills. Phrasal verbs can be challenging for learners of all levels. And this is because one phrasal verb might have several different meanings. Such as the ones we will talk about today. And it's usually the preposition that follows the verb that trips people up. But hopefully after this lesson, you will have a better understanding of these three phrasal verbs. And feel a little more confident using them in conversation or writing. One thing to note about these phrasal verbs is that they are inseparable. And that just means that the object that follows the phrasal verb cannot go between the verb and the preposition. They must stay together just as they are right now. So we're going to tell you how each of these phrasal verbs is used, give you the meaning, and some example sentences. And at the end we'll do a practice. So let's begin. First, let's begin with GET UP. This phrasal verb has two meanings. The one that you may already be familiar with is to arise from bed and get to your feet. Don't confuse this with "wake up" which is the moment when you stop sleeping and open your eyes. GET UP is when you physically get out of bed in the morning. Me...personally, in the morning and then I just spend, you know, 10 or 15 minutes in bed and then I get up. So a common way to use this phrasal verb is... Another meaning of GET UP is "to climb or be elevated to a higher position." So if I'm down here, maybe I need to get up there. The next phrasal verb I'd like to teach you is GET AWAY. This means to "move away from something or someone." Many times this phrasal verb is used in imperative sentences when someone gives a command. GET AWAY can also mean "to leave or escape." And this could be used literally or figuratively. We can also add "with" to "get away" and then we have a three-word phrasal verb. GET AWAY WITH This has a slightly different meaning which is "to escape the consequences of something." Maybe you do something bad and someone tells you... The final phrasal verb I'd like to look at is GET OVER This means "to recover from something." Usually an injury or illness and return to your normal state of health. GET OVER also means "to overcome a situation or an issue that is causing problems." We hope you have a better understanding of those three phrasal verbs, but now we'd like to practice what we've learned. So this is going to be a listening comprehension activity. I'm going to say a sentence without the phrasal verb. And I want you to point to the correct phrasal verb that completes the sentence. I'm going to say each sentence twice and then I will reveal the answer. Let's begin! Number 1 - Ioana is so tired. What time did she _____ this morning? Ioana is so tired. What time did she _____ this morning? The answer is GET UP. We are talking about getting out of bed and getting on your feet. So you should have pointed at GET UP. Number 2 - I'm so sad. I can't _____ the fact that I lost my job. I'm so sad. I can't _____ the fact that I lost my job. In this sentence, we're talking about overcoming an issue, so the answer is GET OVER. Number 3 - My little brother is always bothering me. And I can't seem to _____ from him. My little brother is always bothering me. But I can't seem to _____ from him. The answer is GET AWAY. In this sentence, we're talking about putting distance between me and my little brother. Number 4 - I don't how the cat was able to _____ there. I don't how the cat was able to _____ there. We're talking about the cat being in a higher or elevated position. So the answer is GET UP. Number 5 - They've been working really hard lately so they decided to _____ for a few days and go to the beach. They've been working really hard lately so they decided to _____ for a few days and go to the beach. The answer is GET AWAY. We're talking about taking a vacation and escaping for a few days. GET AWAY Number 6 - I know you're scared. But you need to _____ it and face your fears. I know you're scared. But you need to _____ it and face your fears. When you're scared, you need to GET OVER or overcome your fears. So GET OVER is the answer. Hopefully you did really well on that practice. And please feel free to try it again and listen for the missing phrasal verb. This is a great way to practice your listening comprehension skills or you could say the sentences aloud and that will help you practice your speaking and pronunciation. And remember...SHARING IS CARING. If you enjoyed this lesson, please share it with your fellow English learners. Thanks for watching! And we'll see you next time. --- ## 669. Useful Phrases to Express Your Opinion | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BcWHKyNhhK4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcWHKyNhhK4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:03:05 | --- let's talk about some very useful phrases that you can use when you want to share your opinion and i i think this lesson is really important because you want to have a little bit of language variety when it comes to your speaking fluency and i think sharing your opinion is something that we often do in just everyday conversation so the first two phrases that i want to talk to you about are i think and i believe these are two very common phrases that people use when expressing their opinions one thing i will say is that it's a little more common to use i think we know this because well you can see it right there on the graph and throughout the lesson i am going to reference google engram viewer which displays a graph showing how frequently phrases occur in a corpus of books and this is good because it allows us to compare different phrases like i think and i believe the one thing i want you to keep in mind is that this is taken from writing and spoken english it is a little different it's more informal but this will still give us a general idea now you may be thinking i know these verbs this is easy i use i think and i believe all the time so let me teach you something that maybe you did not know about these verbs both think and believe may be followed by a that clause which would be your direct object i think that she's away on vacation some people believe that we are not alone in the universe you should know using that is optional but you're more likely to use it with belief and this is because think is more of a reporting verb so in informal spoken english it's often dropped i think she's away on vacation now believe it's more referring to your mental process so you're likely to follow it with a that clause some people believe that we are not alone in the universe and we can also add emphasis to these phrases using adverbs and then it's like we have an adverb verb collocation and that does not mean that you're always going to use the same adverbs with both think and believe so let me let me give you some collocations with these verbs you could say i truly believe or i firmly believe or even i strongly believe that you should hit the like button okay that's just my opinion if we're talking about think uh i could say well i honestly think or i really think or i definitely think you should subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications that way i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel interactive english it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and in my opinion this is the best place to do just that and well right there that is the next phrase that i want to talk to you about in my opinion and this is another very common phrase that people will use in both formal and informal situations so it's a great phrase to use if you are in a meeting or giving a presentation it's simple it's clear it's easy to understand and i i think most people would use this adverb phrase at the beginning of a statement when they're getting ready to introduce their opinion so how does this affect spoken english it's going to create a separate thought group which means there's going to be a short pause just listen in my opinion the moon is made of cheese in my opinion socks and sandals are a great combination in my opinion you should check out my speaking course so you should hear those slight pauses right after i say in my opinion and that last one is true in my opinion you should check out my speaking course i truly believe that it will help you practice and improve your speaking skills and i definitely think you should click on the link below because when you do you will find a special discount just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic you will learn vocabulary related to that topic we do engaging speaking activities we warm up each lesson with pronunciation or connected speech there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course in addition i will teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases just click on the link below if you'd like to sign up or learn more about the course and yeah i hope to speak to you soon in my honest opinion you will love it and that's what i want to talk to you about now i want to use a couple of adjectives to create some more collocations in my honest opinion and in my humble opinion so once again we're adding emphasis and if you say in my honest opinion you're just directly telling the person that you're trying to be honest you're trying to be sincere in my honest opinion you are an amazing person i think it's wonderful that we all hear that from time to time that's just my honest opinion okay so maybe you noticed i used the phrase once at the beginning to introduce my opinion and then i used it again but this time at the end of a statement that is just my honest opinion so you can use either of these phrases at the beginning or the end of a statement and then when you say in my humble opinion well then you're telling someone that you're not trying to be proud you're just you're just sharing your thoughts and i think you may often use this one when you want to express an opinion that well is not rude but perhaps it could be difficult to share i have had people share their opinions about well some of these lessons and previously somebody said you know you should get a new microphone because your audio isn't that great now i can take this opinion and soften it up a little bit and say in my humble opinion you should get a new microphone because the audio isn't that great all right it's just it's a little more it's it's just easier to take in when somebody says look in my humble opinion i'm not trying to be too proud and i took that person's advice and that's why i bought this well this nice lavalier mic then we have i'm of the opinion this is another phrase that you can use that has the word opinion but it's just not as frequently used because to be of the opinion is really a much more formal way of saying i think or i believe and as you can see when we compare this phrase with in my opinion it's it's just a lot more common to say in my opinion still it's good to get a little language variety and make all of these phrases a part of your speaking vocabulary one thing i'll say about this phrase is that you will follow it with a that clause so i could say i'm of the opinion that you should watch another video lesson and i'm not telling you what to do that's just my humble opinion next is the phrase in my view and this really just means the same thing as in my opinion it's not as commonly used and you can see right there over the years it's been close and and the battle is still raging but in my honest opinion and this is really my honest opinion i think if somebody says in my view it just sounds a little more formal than saying in my opinion however you can use this in any situation now we just talked about getting a little language variety because in my view it's important to use different phrases when expressing your opinion you don't want to continuously say the same thing over and over and i i firmly believe that okay the next one is from my point of view and this just refers to the way that you see a situation you know your point of view now i will say to be careful with these prepositions in and from because i have heard some learners confuse these and they may say from my view or in my point of view so if we're just talking about someone's view use in in my view if we're talking about point of view use from from my point of view so point of view from point of view from and point of view from if i say it enough times i think it's just gonna sink in and you'll say yes from my point of view now you can use this phrase to introduce your opinion but i think often people will use it at the end of a sentence and say something like try to see things from my point of view you know try to understand my opinion about the situation and in my view i think some people have difficulty seeing things from other people's point of view and i'm just trying to use both of them right there and then there's as far as i'm concerned i like this one and i use it every now and then it's another way to introduce your opinion especially when somebody asks you a question or or they just want to know your thoughts also i really think that it slightly emphasizes your opinion about something um like if somebody says why are you leaving the meeting as far as i'm concerned this meeting is over or what should i wear to the interview as far as i'm concerned you should dress to impress or should we wait for her to get here we told her to be here at seven o'clock so as far as i'm concerned we should go ahead and start eating so in each of those examples it's like i'm slightly emphasizing my opinion about this situation and in my view you should continue to build your vocabulary and learn new phrases because it's all going to help your overall fluency and i truly believe that you will be able to use these phrases because quite often we want to share our thoughts and opinions with others and of course i am of the opinion that if you learn something new you should hit that like button and that that's just my humble opinion and you may be thinking how long is this charade going to last and wes just keeps saying these phrases and using them and reviewing and if that were your question then i would say yeah as far as i'm concerned we need to wrap this lesson up so i hope you enjoyed it i hope you learned some new phrases remember to check out that link below if you'd like to learn more about my speaking course and i will see you next time so long --- ## 670. Useful Phrases to Say "I'm tired." ๐Ÿ˜ด | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jcP3KvF9Ivc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcP3KvF9Ivc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:00:07 | --- today I want to talk to you about a very common statement in English it's something that people say all the time you've probably even said it and that is I'm tired so you already know what this means if somebody says I'm tired but the way that we're going to build your vocabulary is learning different ways in which you can express this feeling because not all of them are the same you can think of somebody saying I'm tired as as like an umbrella and underneath that there are different situations and different contexts in which you would want to use these different phrases to express that feeling and that's how we've broken this down instead of just throwing at you a bunch of different statements that mean the same thing I want to talk to you about the situation we're going to take one situation and talk about different ways in which you could say that you're tired and it means the same thing so for example when you think of somebody that says I'm tired then probably you think of a lack of sleep that this person hasn't slept and and as a result of that they would say I'm tired so if we're talking about a lack of sleep there are different ways in which you can express that the first one is I'm sleepy so if somebody says I'm sleepy it means the same thing as I'm tired and that you need to get some sleep you are tired and you need to go to sleep now when we're talking about somebody saying I'm sleepy I think it's it's used in a situation that you're sleepy you're tired but you can't go to sleep just yet so let's just pretend that maybe you're working on some project at night it's getting late into the night you haven't finished yet and somebody asks you you know oh you know how you doing how do you feel and you say you know I'm I'm a little sleepy but I I just need some coffee I just need something to stay awake so I can keep going so that's how I think of somebody using that statement and telling someone you know oh I'm sleepy I'm feeling a bit sleepy you could also say that somebody looks sleepy and that they they look very tired their eyes are closing and they're like oh you know he he looks a bit sleepy I don't think it's a good thing to necessarily tell someone you know oh you you look sleepy it could be uh you know it could even be a little offensive depending on the situation the context so just keep that in mind and be careful before you just go tell somebody you know hey you know you look sleepy I speak from experience because I've had English Learners tell that to me at like the middle of the day and they're like oh you know teacher you know you you look sleepy and I haven't been sleeping I don't know maybe it's just the way I guess that I looked that day but at the same time it's not something you you often want to hear so just make sure that you are using it in the appropriate situation the next one is it's a bit more informal and that's just I'm beat so if you tell somebody that you know oh you're beat it just means that you are very tired that you really need to get some sleep you're very tired and you just say you know oh like I'm I'm beat I'm ready to go to bed I need to get some sleep I'm beat another statement that that means the same thing and is probably a little more commonly used if you want to express that you were very tired and that is just I'm exhausted so if you really need to get some sleep you've been you haven't slept in a long time and you could tell somebody you know I I'm just exhausted right now I I don't want to stay up any longer I'm exhausted I need to go to sleep then we have I'm pooped and this is it's also more informal and I think maybe that it's it's not as common you're not going to hear uh everybody say this one when they want to say that they're tired I I don't generally say it so if anything you know you can use it if you want but it's more for your comprehension in case you hear it if you're watching a TV show or a movie or you might be having a conversation with somebody and they're very tired and they tell you know ah I'm pooped so if somebody says I'm pooped it has nothing to do with going to the bathroom it's talking about getting some sleep because that person is tired I'm poop finally if you are very tired because of a lack of sleep instead of saying I'm tired you could say you know I can barely keep my eyes open so think think about it it means exactly what it says if you are so tired and you're going to sleep you're starting to close your eyes and you're trying to fight it off I can barely keep my eyes open you are very tired exhausted beat and again in in this context I think of somebody they would say it because perhaps they're trying to stay awake just like I mentioned when somebody says you know I'm sleepy I think of them perhaps trying to stay awake in order to finish something perhaps they want to watch something who knows whatever it is you're trying to stay awake just a little bit longer and you're having a very very tough time doing it you could say oh I can barely keep my eyes open wow somebody was really craving oh yeah you better keep my eyes open it was a ball at the age of five all he has to say is hello and I can barely keep my eyes open keep going as long as you can Tony I can't keep my eyes open hey guys sorry to interrupt the lesson but I just wanted to let you know a quick announcement if you are interested in practicing and improving your speaking skills you can check out my speaking course a link is down in the description each week there are different speaking topics and you'll learn vocabulary related to each topic and we even do uh some of the things that we're talking about in this lesson different ways to say things building a little bit of language variety so if you would like to improve your skills please click on that link down in the description so now let's get back to our vocabulary lesson then there is an expression which is British English you might hear it if you are traveling in the UK or maybe you're watching some TV show or movie that takes place in the UK and people are speaking British English and they might say I'm knackered so if somebody says I'm knackered it means that they are tired it's not something that I say or that you're likely going to hear in the United States but just so you know I'm knackered is the same as I'm tired so all of those expressions can be used when you're talking about a lack of sleep the that somebody says I'm tired they need to get some sleep you can use any one of those expressions and I try to give you some more specific information about the the situation in which you may use these but now I want to talk to you about a different category that people would still say I'm tired and that is when you are overworked and in in that sense I'm talking about when somebody is overworked physically or they are overworked mentally in either case you can use these next expressions to convey to say I'm tired first I want to point out that some of the Expressions can be used in in multiple ways for example we're talking about the statement I'm tired you can use that to talk about all of these categories at the same time if we're talking about somebody who is overworked physically or mentally you can also say I'm beat I'm exhausted I'm pooped again in this case I'm pooped is not going to be as common but you you may hear it from time to time I'm bead is still informal and I'm exhausted is probably the most commonly used between those three if somebody is talking about being mentally tired from work they've been working too hard and they want to stop and they want to go home you could say you know I'm I'm just exhausted or if you're talking about being physically tired you are overworked physically if you have been running a marathon if you're running a marathon and you get to the very end you are really really tired you might tell somebody oh you know I am exhausted I can't do any more exercise I am just exhausted so I think you would commonly hear this being used when people are talking about playing sports basketball soccer anything where it is just some real physical exercise that they're doing afterwards they might say you know I'm I'm exhausted you may also hear somebody say I'm drained if they are overworked physically or mentally then you could just you know I'm drained and and what it means is that you were just drained of energy you have no more energy left you are so tired because uh you are overworked physically or mentally you are drained well the last few weeks I've been feeling weak just drained of energy [Music] full energy physically I feel like I could demolish a tank mentally I just feel I feel so drained anymore you know I feel vigorous like I could ride my bike around the park a lot of people trying to drain me on my energy I hope that you're not drained and this isn't too much for you because I I still have quite a few Expressions that I want to go over so if you're feeling sleepy just go get go get some coffee do some jumping jacks try to wake up so so that you can continue learning these Expressions another great expression is I'm worn out so if you are physically or mentally tired and you say that you're worn out I think it's it's often used in the context of you're you're trying to say okay you need to relax you need to take a break so I'm worn out I'm gonna go uh outside for a walk uh you know I'm I'm a bit worn out so I'm just gonna walk instead of run so when I think of somebody saying I'm worn out often I think that they're implying that they to take a break and that they're going to take a break because they're tired next is I'm spent and when somebody says I'm spent that obviously they're tired but it's like they have spent all of their energy so in that way it's a little similar to you know I'm drained I'm drained of energy I have spent all of my energy and there's nothing left because I have done too much physically or mentally and you could just say I'm spent all right I can't do any more I'm spent I am not spent I was just teaching you the expression and we will continue with burnt out I'm burnt out and if somebody says you know I'm I'm burnt out again they they just there's no more energy left they have been overworked so instead of saying I'm tired you could just tell somebody you know I'm I'm burnt out and you could think of it in the context of of a fire a fire is raging and there's a lot of energy and then after some time it burns out and when it burns out there's there's nothing left there's no more and and that's how you would feel if you want to tell somebody I'm tired I'm burnt out and that's how you would feel as well if you are just so tired you could tell somebody you know I'm I'm burnt out then we have I'm done and when I think of this I can see it being used more in the context of work or they're just working so hard on something and they hit that breaking point they're so tired and they just say you know I'm done it's finished it's over I'm done I'm tired I'm not going to work on this anymore you could also say it I think when when talking about a physical activity again the the the meaning is still the same that you're not going to continue anymore you're you're you're tired of whatever it is that you're doing whatever sport you're playing and you just tell people you know I'm done that's it I'm done I'm not going to continue I'm I'm tired I'm done I think we've all been there before and I I it also entails a level of frustration that when I'm frustrated uh you know whether I'm playing a sport or or working too much and you you just hit that point where you you can't continue and you just I'm done then we have a couple of Expressions that are are very similar means the same thing and I I think you can use them interchangeably within this context of being overworked and that is I'm running on empty or you could say I'm running on fumes and either way I think it's it's good you can relate it back to a car think about a car and the car is moving and it runs out of gas and when you're on empty you're not moving fast because in this case you are so tired that that you can't move very quickly whatever work you're doing or whatever physical activity you're doing and you just say look you know I'm I'm running on empty I don't know how much longer I can keep going because I'm running on fumes so whether it's empty or there's fumes in the car either way it's not going to go much further neither are you and you could say you know I'm I'm running on empty I'm running on fumes finally you could tell somebody I'm on my last legs and if you say I'm on my last legs again you're you're just so tired because of the the physical activity the work you you can't go much further you could say I'm on my last legs we can also use this expression in the context of of health and somebody talking about like they don't have much longer to live for example maybe you have a a pet an old dog or an old cat that is going to pass away somebody might say you know you know they're they're on their last legs they don't have much longer left they've lived a long life but in that context you could say that they're they're tired in a sense and they don't have much longer to live I'm on my last legs it's my Aunt Shirley she's on her last legs you must be on your left leg I haven't been this exhausted since I stayed up all night with my first Tesla coil now I want to teach you a couple of more expressions in another category and that is getting sick so I I think all of us can relate to that when we don't feel very well and we're starting to get sick I I think it's normal we feel tired you could say you know I'm tired but instead of saying I'm tired and you want to convey that you're perhaps starting to get sick you could tell somebody you know I'm feeling a bit run down so in that context you're telling the person that you're you're so tired and you're not feeling the best that you might get sick in the near future and it doesn't have to be really sick but maybe you're just coming down with a cold and you'd say you know I'm I'm feeling a bit run down lately at work I've just been exhausted there's too much going on I've been running on empty for quite a few days now and because of that I think I'm starting to get a little sick I'm feeling a bit run down or you could tell somebody I'm feeling fatigued and fatigue that's just a synonym for tired but it's used in the context of health and somebody feeling like they're going to get sick so instead of saying I'm I'm feeling a bit run down you could just say you know I'm I'm feeling fatigued lately I'm just feeling fatigued and I need to get some rest so that I take care of myself and hopefully I don't get sick then I want to teach you two more Expressions that are well they're kind of in their own category and the first one is dealing with medicine so sometimes when you take some medication you're going to feel tired it has some effects when somebody takes medicine and they feel tired I think it's it's common that somebody might say you know I'm I'm feeling drowsy I'm feeling a little drowsy I'm tired the reason that you're feeling drowsy is because of some medicine that you have take taken its cause you to feel tired and you could tell somebody you know I'm I'm I'm feeling a bit drowsy if you were in the U.S the UK Australia Canada any English-speaking country and you go to a pharmaceutical store and you find some medication often you may see uh on the the Box it'll say drowsy or non-drowsy this will make you feel tired or this won't make you feel tired so again if somebody says I'm I'm drowsy it makes me think that they have been taking something that's making them feel this way that's making them feel a bit tired next is one that that is very common and it's talking about travel so when you travel by plane and you travel a long distance you're going to change time zones and that change in time will affect your body it'll affect your your brain and you could say that you are jet lagged so when you travel a long distance uh for me we we travel from from the United States to Europe you know we change time zones and it takes a a couple days to adjust to the new time zone and during that time you could say you know I'm just I'm jet lagged I'm jet lagged I'm feeling really tired it's going to take some time before I adjust to this time zone so when somebody says I'm jet lag it I know that they have either just returned from a trip or maybe they just they they're at the start of their trip but they've traveled a long distance they're trying to adjust to the time from traveling by plane it's not talking about a boat it's not talking about a train or a car it's when somebody flies and they're adjusting to the time zone you could say I'm jet lagged Mom I'm tired okay I have airplane mode [Laughter] he's jet lag you want to go monitor some dinner uh I'm actually pretty jet-lagged probably gonna just catch up on some sleep this jet lag I can't sleep how you feeling exhausted maybe it's the uh the jet lag so now you've just learned uh many different ways to say I'm tired which is so useful because again that statement somebody's saying I'm tired it's very common and you can still use that if you want to it's perfectly okay but if you want to be specific in certain situations it's good to know these other Expressions so that you can accurately express your your thoughts and opinions and ideas and give that extra little bit of information for example if you want to tell somebody no I'm drowsy then I know they've taken some medicine if somebody says you know I'm you know I'm a little sleepy then I know they need to go to bed or I'm jet lag they've just traveled a long distance or I'm pooped I had noticed that one because I don't hear it as often but I I understand what it means I'm pooped I'm tired I'm exhausted I'm drained all right there are so many different ways to say I'm tired and now I would encourage you to go out and try to use them but also actively try to listen for them as well the next time you're watching a TV show or watching a movie and see if you can listen for these Expressions because people use them quite often all right wow we we just covered a lot of ground today I'm I'm drained that was that was a lot of work and because I'm I'm drained I'm exhausted I I think I need to go to bed I'm feeling a little sleepy I'm I'm running on empty I'm on my last legs all right so I that that that's all I yeah I'll just go to bed all right I'll see you next time --- ## 671. Useful Proverbs to Share WISDOM | Advanced Expressions | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fctX94Gwwcs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fctX94Gwwcs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:30:53 | --- today I want to teach you some very common proverbs that will help you share a little bit of wisdom with others that's coming up hey everyone my name is Wes from interactive English videos dot-com and we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I want to teach you some common proverbs and if you don't know what a proverb is they are these short little sayings that will offer some wisdom advice or just state some obvious truth today specifically I want to focus on proverbs that will help you share some wisdom with others and they really help you describe a certain situation so the first one that I want to teach you is when in Rome do as the Romans do and what this proverb means is that when you travel in another country you should act and behave just like the citizens of that country it's quite common that this proverb will get shortened to just when in Rome so if somebody makes a comment or statement saying when in Rome that's what they're talking about this whole proverb when in Rome do as the Romans do let me give you an example so in some countries like China Japan Korea people may eat using chopsticks and you are getting ready to travel there and you know that you're going to be eating out at restaurants and maybe you you have never used chopsticks before but somebody says you know when in Rome okay when you go there you need to try and use chopsticks you need to try and and really become a part of that culture while you're there so I think this is a great proverb it is a very wise proverb because it's going to help people really become more accepted when they are traveling in another country and there's just less likely to do something that is inappropriate or possibly even offensive because you're really trying to behave just like the citizens of that country When in Rome do as the Romans do or just say when in Rome I'll take a Manhattan and kick the vermouth in the side with a pair of steel-toed Wow quite a drink order oh well when in Rome then we have the proverb two wrongs don't make a right and this proverb is you're basically talking about somebody who might want to get revenge on somebody else so if somebody does something bad to you and you are upset and you want to get revenge then somebody else might say hey two wrongs don't make a right if you try to do something wrong and do something bad to this other person it's just going to make things worse so I think often in life we all experience this situation where somebody does something bad to us and we think oh you know I want to get back at this person and that's when somebody could tell you look you know don't don't worry about getting revenge two wrongs don't make a right because you're more likely to just make that situation worse two wrongs don't make a right somebody ought to rule a gambler's career the way he ruined Krusty two wrongs don't make a right back don't the next proverb is absence makes the heart grow fonder okay so this proverb I think is talking about two people that maybe are there they're separated for some reason so absence is talking about two people being apart from each other and it makes the heart grow fonder when you are away from this other person you may be more likely to think about them you may be more likely to miss that person and that's what this proverb is saying that when people are away from each other especially your loved ones you could say you know absence makes the heart grow fonder so this is I think a very wise proverb especially offering maybe somebody a little bit of comfort when they saying that you know you understand what they're going through if we are away from our loved ones or the people we care about you can say you know I know absence makes the heart grow fonder we we often think about and miss those that we care about a lot especially when they're far away absence makes the heart grow fonder they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder arm or my thoughts turned to head and finally failed a pain of imprisonment then there's the proverb money doesn't grow on trees and in this case you are telling somebody who typically spends a lot of money that hey you know money is not easy to get you have to work hard to obtain it it's not like it just grows on trees and you have just an abundance of money that you can take and spend so you're trying to offer somebody a little bit of wisdom and remind them that you know money is important you need to be careful you need to be wise in how you are spending that money and you're trying to tell somebody look you know money doesn't grow on trees it's difficult to come by so you need to be careful on how you're spending your money money doesn't grow on trees they only do you have any concept of money at all mine doesn't grow on trees you know next is the proverb patience is a virtue and I think well I guess I would say this is one of my favorites because I think it applies to me this is something that I think I need to remember because a virtue is just talking about something that is excellent it is an admirable quality if somebody is virtuous so you're saying that patience the ability to wait for something is a virtue and I think that we all find ourselves in certain situations in which we just don't want to wait any longer we must act right now and in that case somebody may say look patience is a virtue you need to wait you need to be patient and like I said I think of myself sometimes I I don't like to wait I just want to do something now I want to finish something right away when I I think in the back of my mind I know that it's good to be patient and that it would be good to wait and I would have to try and tell myself look you know patience is a virtue it's a good thing to be able to wait don't give up easy do you this is a virtue then we have the proverb early bird catches the worm and you you could probably understand this proverb based on exactly what it says that birds may be they're going they need to eat worms in the earlybird the one that gets up first in the morning ahead of everyone else is going to get that meal is going to catch that worm so if somebody's trying to share this bit of wisdom with you they're saying that you know you need to work hard you need to be number one you need to get there before everyone else and then you will you'll finish what you need to finish or you will get the thing that you are looking for for example maybe you want to go see this very popular movie and it's opening day and you're not sure if you're going to get tickets or not you could say hey you know early bird catches the worm you need to get there early you need to wait in line because patience is a virtue and then at the end you will likely get that ticket early bird catches the worm get their head you're not the only early bird gets to work then we have the proverb beauty is in the eye of the beholder and what this means is that the beholder is talking about the person who's looking at something it's talking about their point of view what they think so if you say beauty is in the eye of the beholder it just means that everybody has a different opinion as to what is beautiful or what may not be beautiful because something that you think is beautiful perhaps a painting may be I don't think it's that great and then we could say well beauty is in the eye of the beholder that we all have a different opinion about what Beauty means it's different for each and every one of us so in that situation where you may disagree with someone about well what is beautiful you could then say you know beauty is in the eye of the beholder we can we can disagree as to what is beautiful or not beautiful beauty is in the eye of the beholder who's the more gorgeous than you Oh name one person well after all beauty is in the eye of the beholder right then we have the proverb the grass is always greener on the other side this is another proverb that you may often hear shortened people would just say the grass is always greener and what it means is that you are you are thinking about some other person's situation and you think it's much better than your own even though that's not true and you would say well the grass is always greener on the other side with that person's situation because maybe maybe this person has a great job maybe they have a lot of money and you think wow their life their life is so easy - so difficult and you know that may not be true perhaps this other person has many other problems that you might not know about so in that case I think you're trying to give somebody a bit of wisdom and tell them like look you you should be happy with your situation even though you think that this other situation is much better that you know it may not be the grass is always green it's funny I used to stand in here and wish I was out there now I'm out there I wish I was in here the grass is always greener next is the proverb a picture is worth a thousand words and this proverb simply means that a picture often has a stronger message than than words that may describe a situation so instead of just reading about some situation it's better to have a picture it's more meaningful it's more powerful it has a stronger message than those words and in that case you could say well a picture is worth a thousand words and typically we're talking about pictures that could be very profound and are often about some important topic for example maybe poverty or war or you you catch somebody cheating or doing something wrong and there is a picture of that and you could say well a picture is worth a thousand words this picture has a very strong message it's a very disturbing picture they say a picture's worth a thousand words but I say nothing beats a picture and a thousand words so now I'd like you to go out and share this wisdom with others share this lesson with others who you know are trying to practice and improve their English skills and I would also encourage you to try and practice using these Proverbs because they are quite common when describing specific situations and especially if you want to offer some wisdom to your friends your family or even your colleagues if you enjoyed this lesson and you learned something new please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 672. Useful Proverbs to Share WISDOM | Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `mfUGE62qZuo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfUGE62qZuo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:04:17 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson which i i think is a very fun lesson because i want to teach you different proverbs to help you share some wisdom and if you don't know what proverbs are they are these well short sayings or statements that people will use to either share some wisdom or give some advice or just say something that isn't obvious truth so specifically in today's lesson i want to focus on sharing wisdom i want to focus on those statements that if you find yourself in a situation where you want to share some wisdom with another person then these proverbs are perfect for that so the first proverb that i have for you is beauty is only skin deep and what this proverb means is that someone's character their intellect their all of their inner qualities are more important than his or her outside beauty and their physical features so you could say beauty is only skin deep now the reason why i say that you can use this to share some wisdom with another person is that i think if you are if you find yourself in a situation where another friend is going through a difficult time romantically or with a relationship and they really like this person they're very attracted to the way somebody looks but after dating them they realize okay it's not going to work they're just not going to connect with that person and maybe they're a little sad about that because they're they're really attracted to the outside appearance and then you could you could tell that person you know beauty is only skin deep you know what they say beauty is only skin deep and and kind of remind them that those inside qualities those are the most important not the outside appearance if you had an ounce of self-esteem of self-worth of self-confidence you would realize that as tried as it may sound beauty is truly skin-deep the next proverb is every cloud has a silver lining and this proverb i think would most often be used to give some reassurance to someone because what it means is that every bad situation or something that has a negative impact there will always be some good that may come out of this and you'd say every cloud has a silver lining and if you want to think about it in terms of exactly what it says think about if you're outside and it's a cloudy day and you start to see that silver lining which is the sun which tells you that eventually the sun is going to come out it's going to be a beautiful day and everything will be much better so in that case if somebody is going through some kind of bad situation and you want to tell them that well even though there is this bad situation there there may be one or two small good things that come out of it and you could say every cloud has a silver lining when things are sad you just have to be patient because every cloud has a silver lining comes man george doesn't want to play with me i know but every cloud has a silver lining then we have the proverb every dog has its day and i i really like this proverb because well what it means is that even someone who is very unfortunate someone who is very unlucky they will still have success at some point in their life that is when you can use this proverb and really you can capture that situation and say well every dog has its day when you want to tell that person that you know i know you've had you've been having a rough time lately so it's good that you you got some success every dog has day the keys are inside i guess every dog has his day as a future veterinarian you should know that every dog eventually has his day then we have the proverb one man's trash is another man's treasure and what this proverb means is that if somebody thinks that something is junk it's trash they don't need it anymore and they're going to throw it out some other person may think it's valuable they can use it they can find something to do with it and in that case you could say well one man's trash is another man's treasure and i like this proverb because i think there are there are times in all of our lives when maybe someone wants to throw something out or they want to get rid of it but you say wait wait wait i i can use that i need that i'll take it and in that case then you could say you know one man's trash is another man's treasure one of my girlfriends threw a party where all the women were asked to bring a man they weren't interested in somebody brought bob and the rest is history oh i love that one woman's trash is another woman's treasure next is the proverb rome wasn't built in a day and what this means is that if you are working hard on some project that it's going to take a long time to complete and it's almost like you're telling someone that they need to be patient because i think we've all been in that situation before where we are working very hard on something and we want to finish it quickly someone else could then tell you and say relax take your time rome wasn't built in a day and i really like this proverb because i think it's very useful because whether you're talking about work or school or something that's going on at home there are many different situations in which you can use this if you want to tell someone that it's going to take a while to complete this work so they shouldn't stress out about it they shouldn't worry about it it's going to take some time you can tell them you know rome wasn't built in a day must take it slowly a room wasn't built in a day i know is the minivac ready take it easy boss after all rome wasn't built in a or knock off the philosophy will you then we have a very common proverb which is ignorance is bliss and what this means is that if you well if you don't know about something then you really don't need to be concerned about it in other words if you are unaware that something is happening then it's not going to cause you stress you can just go on with your life you have no idea this is happening and somebody might say they may describe you and say well ignorance is bliss you are completely unaware of it and because of that you can just continue on with your life you're not you're not worried about it at all so i think it can be well it can be used in both a positive and negative way it really just depends on the situation so let me give you an example so hopefully it'll make a little more sense i think this can really be said about food because they're i think we go to the grocery store we buy food and we we don't always know exactly where it came from and i think sometimes we don't want to know where it came from and in that case you could say well ignorance is bliss i don't want to think about it because then well i may not want to eat it ready get started one moment subject appears well rested and enthusiastic apparently ignorance is bliss i know that when i put it in my mouth the matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious you know what i realize ignorance is bliss the next proverb is you're never too old to learn and i i really like this proverb because i i think it is i think it is absolutely true and and all it means is that you are you are inspiring someone to learn something and do something new because you're trying to tell them that hey it doesn't matter how old you are you should continue trying to learn new things you're never too old to learn and i would say this to somebody if they want to learn a musical instrument if they want to learn a new language this is something that that i would try to use and encourage other people especially as as they get older i know i'm starting to get older and sometimes i feel that something well it may be too difficult i'm not going to do it and in that case i would want someone to tell me and reassure me and say look wes you're never too old to learn you should try this you should keep learning you're never too old to learn well you're never too old to learn something new yeah mother nature's finest killer mr win one is never too old to learn from a master mr kid and because we just talked about the proverb you're never too old to learn i think it's relevant to teach you this next proverb which well maybe it's more of an expression and that is you can't teach an old dog new tricks and the reason why i think this is relevant is because it kind of means the opposite of you're never too old to learn what it means is that someone has been doing something a certain way for a really long time and because they've always done it this way it's hard for them to change you cannot get this person to change even if your way is much better and in that case you could describe this person and say well you can't teach an old dog new tricks and i think that i think all of us could relate to it if we are just used to doing something one way it's easy for us we know how to do it and even if there is a better way it can be difficult to change and in that case that is that is the situation in which this proverb would be relevant you can't teach an old dog new tricks hey you want to try something no come on no no i guess you can't teach an old dog new trick because there's no limit to how neat your handwriting can marge i don't know you can't teach an old dog new trick inspirational what have we learned well we have learned that you can't teach an old dog new tricks so i hope these proverbs were easy to understand i hope the lesson was easy to follow and you can perhaps try and go out and use these proverbs if you find yourself in a specific situation but especially i i hope that you try to listen for them the next time you're involved in a conversation or you're listening to a podcast a song a tv show a movie you will hear them from time to time i am going to end it on that note right there have a wonderful day and i will see you next time --- ## 673. Useful SPEAKING Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NkxSgCbcnaY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkxSgCbcnaY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:06:28 | --- wow speak of the devil i i was just talking about you out loud to myself that's that's not true but speak of the devil is the first phrase that i want to teach you in this lesson so what it means is well you would say this when the person you were talking about suddenly appears so if you and i are talking about um i don't know donald trump and then suddenly woman man camera tv very insightful and then we could say well speak of the devil donald he just suddenly appeared so it doesn't really have a negative or positive connotation it does let that other person know that well you were just talking about them but it's a it's a fun phrase when you happen to be speaking about someone and then that person just suddenly shows up and in this lesson i am going to teach you some super useful phrases with the word speak or speaking and if you enjoy learning some very useful vocabulary then i suggest that you subscribe turn on notifications so that way i can become your teacher my name is wes and that's what interactive english is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals the next phrase that i have for you is so to speak and you would use this phrase to draw attention to the fact that you are describing something in a an amusing or strange or or figurative way instead of just saying things directly if i were to say something like look we need to be on the same page so to speak so to be on the same page is an idiom that means you you need to understand what each other is doing you need to agree on things but instead of saying that directly i could use that idiom and then follow it with so to speak or if i were telling you a story that wow i almost fell down the mountain it was like i was looking death straight in the face so to speak so again i'm i'm telling this story i'm trying to describe it in a figurative way and i can use that phrase so to speak here are a couple of other examples to help you get a feel for the context them are you sticking so to speak i believe lecture has even seen a woman in eight years and oh are you ever his taste so to speak and then we have the phrasal verb speak up and this has two different meanings the first one is it it means you're asking someone or telling them to speak louder that you can't hear them like hey i can't hear you please please speak up so you may hear people use this like in a meeting or when somebody's giving a presentation if if somebody's not speaking very loudly then some other person might say hey hey i need you to speak up we can't hear you or maybe if somebody is on the phone and they're having trouble hearing the other person they might say hey can you please speak up i'm having trouble hearing you the next meaning of this phrasal verb is to share your opinion or really just say what you think so it can be used in the context of well you're encouraging someone to share their opinion like yes i really think you should speak up and and say what's on your mind or perhaps there's maybe some regret that you didn't say something and you might say something like well i i should have spoken up at the meeting i didn't say anything but yeah i should have spoken up and right now i want to say what's on my mind and tell you about my speaking course which is called speak up and it really works with both meanings like i'm telling you hey you can speak loudly and confidently or just telling you hey it's okay share share your opinion and you should speak up and if you are interested in practicing and improving your speaking skills then please click on the link down below and when you do you will find a special discount just for you the course is all about helping you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally each week there is a different speaking topic i will teach you some useful vocabulary related to those topics we do engaging speaking activities we warm up each lesson with something related to pronunciation connected speech there are also pronunciation video lessons included in the course and i will teach you some of the language nuances like when to use certain words and phrases so click on the link below if you'd like to sign up or learn more about the course and yeah i just hope to speak to you soon so let's get back to our useful phrases with the word speak or speaking and the next phrase that i have for you is speak for yourself so this is something you say to someone to say that the opinion they just expressed is not the same as your opinion so it's like someone else is speaking for you and maybe they're using the word we and they include you and they're sharing their opinion and you you don't agree with their opinion and you could tell them hey speak for yourself i just don't agree with you so if someone were to to say you know we think that this english lesson is just terrible we think it's terrible and you're like no no i don't agree with that you could say speak for yourself i think this english lesson is fantastic and i really i really do hope you enjoy building your vocabulary here are some other examples let's be honest we're not young man speak for yourself my doctor said i'm in my twilight years you don't go into science for the money speak for yourself last month my company both invented and cured restless eye syndrome the next phrase is well it it may seem similar but it has a different meaning and that is speaks for itself and what this refers to is that well something is clear and that no further information is needed so if i were to say something like my work speaks for itself in that case i'm telling you that well you know the type of work that i do you know the quality it speaks for itself i don't need to provide any further information my work speaks for itself it's mostly used with singular nouns but people may use it with plural nouns as well with phrases like well the facts speak for themselves that well you the facts are clear and no more information is needed here's another example this is a news headline it says benbocker says track record speaks for itself so again they're talking about well the type of work they do their track record speaks for itself and then there's a new book neil hamilton lets land speak for itself so the information is clear nothing further is needed yes the land speaks for itself and then there's speak volumes and this means to provide a lot of information about something without using words maybe you want me to speak up and express my opinion but i stay silent perhaps i'm afraid and you could then tell me you know your your silence speaks volumes so this is a statement that you may hear with with this phrase someone's silence speaks volumes that they're being very quiet and that that is just giving you a lot of extra information without using any words here are a couple of other uses with this phrase you play your cards right all the work you did over the past few months will speak volumes for you because he's usually such a chatterbox no but it's different now it's more a verbal nonverbal he speaks volumes with his eyes and then i have a collocation for you which is technically speaking these words are commonly used together and what it means is that you are clarifying something with extra details and more information so i could say i get up early in the morning technically speaking i get up at 5am so i'm just giving extra information and clarifying exactly what time i get up the other thing i would say about this collocation is that you're you're generally going to use it at the beginning of a statement so here are a couple of other examples so the headline is u.s economy contracts and then they clarify this at the very beginning using technically speaking this negative economic growth and then they then talk about what it looks like and the reasons for this the next article a guide to fighting jet lag so the headline is talking about fighting jet lag and the article begins technically speaking and then clarifies what jet lag is and why it occurs so i hope that the quality of this lesson speaks for itself and even though you don't have to tell me directly if you hit that like button it speaks volumes and i also hope that you learn some new vocabulary which is going to help you speak english perfectly so to speak and i love hearing from you so it would be great if you want to speak up in the comments down below and just yeah share your your opinions let me know what you think and i'm just trying to give you a little bit of quick review but that's all i got for today thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 674. Useful Shopping Idioms So You Can Shop Till You Drop ๐Ÿ›๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3_-BR1tDXbU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_-BR1tDXbU) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:20:30 | --- - Do you like shopping like I do? Because if you do, I have some new shopping idioms for you. That's coming up. Hello and welcome. Today's lesson, I believe, is very useful because we are talking about shopping idioms. Because this is a very, very common subject, you are going to hear these idioms all the time. What I'm going to do is I give you the idioms, a little bit of an explanation, like how and when they're used and then an example sentence. So, let's get to it. Our first idiom is window shopping. To window shop means to just look in the window of a store without buying anything and just look and see what is there. This is probably the one I like the least. The reason is because when you window shop for something, you don't actually shop. You don't actually go inside the store and buy stuff. You just look, which I guess it can be fun sometimes, but most of the time, I think it's more fun when you actually buy things. - We've got a lot of window shopping to do. - [Jerry] Plus, this is the perfect time to catch up on my window shopping. - I'm very well aware that there are many people who like to window shop and the only thing I like to window shop for is I think furniture and interior design stuff. That can be fun. It gives me ideas. How about you? What do you like to window shop for? Do you like it, is it annoying? What do you think? The next idiom is rip-off, a rip-off. This is used as a noun or a verb. So, something can be a rip-off or somebody can rip you off. Either way, it's not a good thing because when something is a rip-off, it means that it costs way more than it should, way more. - What? What a rip-off. - I got ripped off! - A rip-off is an informal way to say that somebody's stealing from you. So, if something's a rip-off, you almost feel like somebody was trying to steal money from you. That's how much you're paying for this particular item. It's a rip-off. The next idiom is shop till you drop. You might have heard this one. I hear it in movies all the time. Everyone always talks about how they like to shop till they drop. I think it's a catchy idiom because it rhymes. It just means to shop for a really, really long time until you become exhausted. If you have ever shopped till you dropped, you know that feeling of the end of your shopping day when you're just tired and ready to take a nap or something. The next idiom is retail therapy or shopping therapy. You could say either one, they mean the same thing. What this means is to shop to make yourself feel better, so just what it sounds like. This is just something that we do if we've had a bad day or if you've had a rough time. Sometimes, you just need a little retail therapy or shopping therapy. The next one is bargain hunting. When you bargain hunt, you are looking for deals. That is what a bargain is, is a deal. Bargain hunting means actively searching for really, really good deals on things that you shop for. - Anyway, now, we are going bargain hunting. - I'm not gonna blow this by bargain hunting. - I like finding good deals, but I don't think I have the patience to always go bargain hunting. The next idiom is to shoplift. This is a little bit of a bad one because it involves a crime, which is never good. To shoplift means to steal something from a store. You shoplift. If you take it and hide it and walk out with it without paying for it, it's not a good thing. Don't shoplift. Fit like a glove is our next idiom. We usually use it for clothes or some article of clothing because when something fits like a glove, it means it fits you perfectly. It looks like it was meant for your body. It's the perfect size, the perfect shape for you. - Fits like a glove. - 58 years since I wore this uniform, still fits me like a glove. - Everyone loves to find something that fits like a glove. It makes us feel great. Our next idiom is like a bull in a China shop. I know it sounds like a mouthful, but it's a very specific idiom. What it is, it's what you imagine it to be. If you imagine a bull in a China shop, he would destroy everything because everything is breakable. It's porcelain, so they break. - I'm obviously gonna have to go talk to my bull in a China shop. - You're coming in here like a bull in a China shop. - The idiom means the same thing. If somebody behaves like a bull in a China shop, they are acting recklessly, they are acting clumsily, they are causing trouble. Our next idiom is a shopping spree. The shopping spree is a short period of time in which somebody buys a lot of things. The word spree, it just means a short period of time and it shows a lot of things that are happening in that short period of time. Our next idiom is pay through the nose. This one's really funny for me for some reason. I just imagine taking our money out of our noses. It's actually not that funny in real life because when you pay through the nose, it means you end up paying a lot of money for something usually more than the fair price. - Make them pay you through the nose. - PAC, they'll pay through the nose for it. - It's not really a fair price that you're paying. You're paying a lot more than that. It's not such a good thing. Okay, I hope you have a better understanding of these 10 idioms, but now comes the most important part. It's time to practice. I have some questions for you using these idioms and in the comments, I'd like you to answer them. You can choose to answer one of these questions or two or all three of them. The more you answer, the better it will be because you get to practice more idioms. So, here they are. The first one is, Or do you have something that fits you like a glove? Let me know the answer to any of these in the comments and be sure to write in full sentences using the idiom that I mentioned. Remember, idioms are an amazing way to improve your English fluency and if you're looking to further improve your fluency, check out our secret lesson. It's linked in the description. Thank you for joining me today. I hope you had a great time learning some new English idioms. Thanks. (laughs) Oh my gosh. That's it. Thanks for watching our lesson today. I'll see you next time. --- ## 675. Useful Shopping Phrasal Verbs to Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `tmQEtbzOew0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmQEtbzOew0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:35:15 | --- Who doesn't love shopping? I know I do. But you know what's even better than shopping? That's coming up. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome to our lesson today. I have a super fun one. We are talking about shopping phrasal verbs. Of course, these are very useful phrasal verbs because we have to go shopping all the time. We need food. We need clothes. And that is why these verbs will come in very, very handy. Because we can use them all the time. So let's begin. The first one is SELL OUT. So this means...they sell out it means they don't have it any longer. That the store doesn't have something any more and it's not available to buy. And many times we use it with "of." They sell out of something. So maybe you go to the store and they sold out of mushrooms. It happened to me the other day. They sold out of hummus, or eggs, or something. This is also a very common word to use with different events. For example like a show or a concert. Number two is TRY OUT. And this just means to test something to see if you like it. And of course this is going to be more applicable to shopping trips that involve clothes or shoes. Because you want to test those items out before you buy them. Number three is PICK UP. And this just means to buy or grab something from the store. When you pick something up from the store you're not spending a long time in there. You are just grabbing what you need and leaving. Easy as that. Number four is almost like number three but slightly different. It's PICK OUT. Not pick up, pick out. And it has a completely different meaning. It just means to choose. This is why phrasal verbs are so complicated. It's because you switch the preposition and suddenly the meaning changes. But pick out means to choose one thing. Number five is MARK DOWN. And this one is among my favorite ones because when stores mark something down it means they reduce it in price. Which calls for a happy dance. Happy Dance! They marked down the prices. That's...I'm sorry about that. That's really what it means. The price goes down. It's marked down. I love this dress, and they marked it down 50%. Number six is to LOOK AROUND. And this one can also be fun. It just means to browse around without a plan. You don't have a shopping plan. You're not there to just go in, buy something, and get out. You're just looking around. You just want to see what they have. Maybe you can get a new dress. Maybe some new shoes. It doesn't matter. You don't have a plan. You're just looking around. Number seven is to SHOP AROUND. And when you shop around, you compare prices between two or more stores. And we usually do this with more expensive items. Like a TV, or a computer, or a phone, or things like that. That are worth a lot of money. We don't want to go in the first store we see and buy it. We want to shop around. Number eight is SHELL OUT. And this means to pay a lot of money at once. And maybe sometimes a price that just doesn't seem or fair or too much. So this one is not among my favorite phrasal verbs because nobody wants to shell out a lot of money at once. Number nine is to BLOW MONEY ON (SOMETHING). And this is also not among my favorites because it means kind of to spend money wastefully. Number ten is TAKE BACK. And it means to return something to the store. Now I think Wes will agree that I do this a lot. Or I used to do this a lot. If it's defective or it doesn't fit right, many times we can take it back. Okay, now that we've learned it's time to practice. So in the comments, write down the answer to one of these questions. Let us know. And you can answer all three questions if you like. I hope you found these phrasal verbs useful. In fact, I'm sure you did because they're very, very useful phrasal verbs and we go shopping all the time. Thank you so much for watching. If you liked it, please give it a thumbs up. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 676. Useful Signposts to Improve Your Listening Comprehension & Speaking Skills | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WF9NHb2EnQM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF9NHb2EnQM) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:41:28 | --- welcome to today's lesson which is going to be very helpful because I'm going to tell you some useful words that will help you become an amazing listener but also a very effective speaker that's coming up [Music] what's up guys my name is Wes this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and like I said this is a very useful lesson because it is about both listening and speaking it's going to help you become a better listener but also if you're going to be able to use some of the information that I tell you today it is going to help you become a much better speaker especially when it comes to presentations and we give presentations all the time if we are at school or university but even at work in a business setting we give we may give different presentations so the way that I'm going the way we're going to do that is by talking about signpost and more specifically we're going to talk about how to follow the signpost and and signposts are are just what they look like they are signs that tell us the direction that we need to go signpost will tell us where we need to go and they help take us from one idea to another one so if you are joining us today I want to hear from you guys say hi say what's up in the chat tell me where you're from even if you're watching this later I just want to hear from you write your name say hello um and I will try and say everybody's name hello Shiva L Diego Valeria Renee Haley how are you welcome welcome welcome um Ria welcome to today's lesson which again it's going to help you guys with your listening and speaking skills and at the end we we will also do a bit of a practice so Le let's just reiterate what what are signposts let's look at that again so what are signposts those are words or phrases that people use to move between ideas and show The Listener or reader what has just happened or what is going to happen next now when we're talking about signpost there are many different reasons that that we use these more specifically like I said just to to change from one idea to the next but there's many reasons why we might be how we might be changing ideas and and these are four of them right here now I'm not going going to give you all of the signpost within each one of these there are many I'm going to give you some of the more popular ones and this will probably be we will do more lessons using signpost in the future because again it is so important to help you become a better listener as well as a more proficient speaker so the first one that we're going to talk about is changing direction if we want to move in a different direction what are some signposts that we can use or what do we need to listen for also number two emphasizing a point if we say something and then we really want to make sure that our audience knows how important it is we will emphasize the point we can also add a similar point and this is common if you're talking about something and you are giving details and examples you might want to use these signpost in order to add a point and then finally summarizing which if we're talking about presentations we would often do at the end of a presentation or if you are listening then you might listen for these words that tell you okay the presentation is getting ready to end so it's really important that you are able to identify these words if you are listening to somebody speak and it's also it's also great that you understand these words so that you can use them if you are giving a presentation or you are having a conversation and you are trying to move the person you're talking to in One Direction or another so that everybody understands what's going on so let's first look at oh and as we do this what I would ask you guys to do in the chat um is is give some examples because I think some of these words you you're probably familiar with so in the chat write some examples write some sentences we we just want to hear from you guys and it's great for others to be able to read that and and see how these are used in context and of course I'll give you guys some examples as well so let's first look at changing direction to change direction one of the most common words is that one up there however and we use however to talk about like it it contrasts the previous statement so you're saying something different that that contrasts the statement before it so for example I'd say I love eating out at restaurants however something I don't love which contrasts that however it can get really expensive and notice with all of my examples I've put the signpost at at the very front of the sentence now they are not always used at the front of the sentence I've just done this so so that you can see how they're used and really clearly see how we're changing ideas and how we're changing Direction so I love eating out at restaurants however it can get really expensive this is true conversely this is a good one and you you'll see again a lot of these words they're they're used in more academic context or you would see them if you are reading newspaper articles so this is a little more advanced and we're I'm going to test you on that a little bit later so conversely it reverses the statement that was just made so for example Le the medicine didn't help conversely it made my condition worse so it's not like you're saying you're like however like you're contrasting it with the previous sement you're you're reversing it you're almost you're going in the opposite direction that this thing did the opposite conversely it made my condition worse now let's look at a couple others on the other hand so this is when you want to describe two two opposite actions all right um on the other hand you you're describing two opposite ideas I want to take a vacation okay on the other hand I have so much work to do those are two opposite ideas vacation and work I want to take a vacation on the other hand I have so much work to do it's true and the other one another point to consider is this is a phrase this is an expression and it's basically it it changes the focus to a different idea so it's saying like Okay yeah yeah one other thing to that that you need to know one other thing one other point to consider is so for example if we we have that picture down there of the beach it's summer and people travel during the summer so somebody might say you know something that's not good is it's really hot it's hot during the summer some people don't like being outside and then some somebody could say another point to consider is that summer travel spots may be crowded in addition to being very hot outside these places might also be crowded so we are changing the focus to this different idea excellent so let's continue let me show you now this is really how you'll be able to see some of these used in context these are some examples these are real examples that I found for you they are from articles that are are pretty recent as well so that first one is from the Tampa Bay Times and again this is talking about how we're changing directions and just all you can do is just the reason for this is to see these examples and see how they're used in context by some measures African-Americans are employed close to the highest rate in modern history on the other hand they are still much more likely to be unemployed than the rest of the population so again again on the other hand we're showing those two different ideas now again remember conversely we're talking about it it's reversing moving in the opposite direction I I don't know how to pronounce that somebody in China may know this company pin pendo China's latest e-commerce giant to list on the NASDAQ which is a stock exchange found that the initial public offering is not a Panacea now Panacea is a word it means a solution that it is a remedy to help something it's not a common word but that's what it means so they found that the initial public offering to go public was not a Panacea a remedy a solution conversely it did the opposite it's listing has drawn attention to the company's counterfeit products and investors are not happy so again these are some really great examples so that you can see how these signposts are are actually used and those are real examples so let's continue and talk about emphasis all right and again uh I want to hear from you guys think of some examples just write those write those in the chat and if you guys are just joining us we're talking about signpost to help you improve your listening skills as well as become a more effective speaker if you're able to use these signposts correctly so when we want to emphasize something we we could use furthermore so it's basically saying in addition to what was said you are adding some other information that's going to help we appreciate it when you like our lessons furthermore we enjoy reading your comments so again I'm I'm emphasizing those two things as well as being a little suggestive all right we appreciate it when you like those comments and hit that like button furthermore in addition we enjoy reading your comments when you guys just say hey what's up my name is so and so um and we just love hearing from you guys you can also use moreover which again some of these are synonyms as well I saw somebody had asked about um talking about however and but again those basically they're interchangeable however and but have the same meaning moreover has the same meaning kind of as also moreover uh also or more importantly if you're talking about ideas and then building on top of that you should study English a little bit each day that's my suggestion moreover let's another suggestion you should practice using interactive activities such as this live lesson such as this lesson because we are going to practice at the end I have some different ways to practice to see if you guys were if you guys were paying attention and know how to use signpost so again these are great ways to express emphasis to other ways to express emphasis in fact all right you are emphasizing that something is true the truth of an assertion the truth of a statement and this is a ridiculous example Wes loves pizza in fact all right emphasize it how much does he love pizza in fact he eats it for breakfast lunch and dinner okay so it's emphasizing this truth in fact all right uh this is not true however all right contrasting it that is my favorite pizza right there a pepperoni pizza that is that is true my favorite pizza is pepperoni we can also use this phrase right here it is also important to highlight okay again we are drawing attention to another detail that that follows one it's also important to highlight how much Wes enjoys eating spaghetti all right don't don't just think about the pizza it's also important to highlight how much he enjoys eating spaghetti excellent so again these are great signpost in order to add emphasis so let's look at some real life examples the first one from uh Business Insider in 2018 I still use a desktop all right let's emphasize that in fact I actively prefer using a desktop over a laptop the next one is NASDAQ which again is that Stock Exchange so a lot of stock and stock stuff and financial stuff in here growth revenues um growth in revenues was driven by strong performance of segments further the company witnessed robust organic growth of 12% moreover all right also more importantly Acquisitions contributed 5% to Topline growth these are some great real life examples that that reinforce what how to use these signposts and what these signposts mean so also let me take a quick little break to tell you we are now on patreon so again if you guys like what we do if you want to show us some love and support check out our patreon page we have some cool rewards and a link is in the description so let's continue and talk about some more signpost and now we're going to move to similar points if we're talking about adding a similar Point all right this is one that I use all the time and would tell one of the first ones that I would teach students and tell them like hey this is a great one to use in your writing it's great to use in your speaking in a presentation and it's good to listen for if you're listening to somebody speak in addition you are mentioning something that that's connected to to something else what was just mentioned so for example I will teach you signpost in addition I will provide you with examples just like this sentence right here I will teach you signpost in addition because these are connected I will provide you with examples also is like I said some of these are interchangeable also basically means the same as in addition except I think also is probably a bit more informal so you would hear it a lot in in colloquial speech but I think if you wanted to be more formal if you're giving a presentation or in your in your writing I would go with in addition but also same meaning we teach grammar pronunciation and vocabulary let's add to it also we teach you a little about American culture so this is true our videos teach you English but we we also try to throw in some some some cultural stuff as well so let's look at some more similarly we use similarly to um indicate similarity between two ideas so if we're talking about things that are bad smoking is harmful similarly drug use has negative effects on one's Health these are two bad these are two things that are not good for our health so we can use similarly to to draw the similarity between these two ideas um another word that's pretty much almost interchangeable likewise likewise just means in the same way often we can use both likewise and similarly you know interchangeably the country has inefficient public transportation okay it's inefficient the country's inefficient public transportation likewise the roads and bridges are in poor condition so you're talking about two things that that are negative and we're adding another Point that's that in this case which is something that's not good let's look at some of the other examples all right so some more examples of adding similar points right here all right New York Times in addition to disturbing Wildlife all right so they've given you the first point now they're going to give you the second in addition to disturbing Wildlife Mr ranky faces several other charges included including being intoxicated to a degree that endangers himself or others unreasonable noise and keeping an open container of alcohol in a vehicle according to court documents so in this case you know Mr ranki has some problems okay next down below Forbes from Forbes um magazine for instance in order to make your CTA buttons pop out keep the size of the rest of the text smaller similarly the size of the headings should be slightly larger than the body of the than the size of the body text in case you're wondering CTA stands for a call to action when you guys do things that we do we always we always give you a call to action something we want you to do for example I always tell you guys hit that like button hit the like button that is a call to action I'm asking you to do something so in this case it's saying the the CTA needs to stand out make the text size bigger similarly the size of the heading should be larger than the um body of the Tex so these are great examples s that that you guys can see how it's used in real life and and I think the next time that you are reading an article and newspaper definitely look for these signposts try to see if you can identify some of them and and again understand okay this is where it's taking me this is where the article's taking me the author is taking me or even if you're listening to a presentation like a TED Talk listen for these signposts because we use them all the time let's look at the last part summarizing this is one of my favorites that I would always very simply always teach students when you're talking about the end you're you're getting to the end of your point or you're getting to the end of your presentation or your essay this is a great one talking about in conclusion okay in conclusion you're kind of summing up and when you hear that in conclusion or if you read in conclusion or if you say in conclusion then then you're telling the person okay this is getting ready to end all right so this is a great one to know like in conclusion the price of oil will continue to rise so perhaps I was talking about oil and why how the price is changing and why the price is going up and then I can end it and say you know in conclusion the price will continue to rise finally is another good word to use we're we're interest troducing that final Point okay so we're kind of summarizing lot we maybe summarizing things that we were talking about or or we're just kind of getting to that final point and if you're talking about your day maybe I'd say like I did this first next then and finally we ate dinner at an Indian restaurant okay so those are good words in conclusion finally some other good signpost are these two right here to summarize so if you say to summarize and you hear that then you know okay they're getting ready to end and and give kind of a brief brief summary of the main points the main ideas to summarize our European Vacation was exciting and educational okay that that's a very short that's a very short summary but just to give you the idea and again overall is is a bit similar I think in this case overall I feel like it is a little more informal and you might hear it more in everyday English to summarize is a great one for a presentation or in your writing um but again they're very similar so overall is taken as a whole and I could say if we're talking about the dinner I could say you know overall the chicken dinner was Bland and without much flavor all right overall taken as a whole let's look at some examples um that first one up there Kelly Blue Book says you know in conclusion the bottom line is that if a vehicle is found uh that is over 10 years old has the right price looks attractive and fits your needs a loan will likely be available from a bank credit union or other financial institution assuming that your credit is good so again in conclusion we we're summing up what what the article was about and again like I said the the you find these all the time so the next time you're reading an article look for some of these see if you can identify them this one's from Seeking Alpha which is another Financial magazine uh to summarize the quarter all right to summarize the main points of the quarter we continue to make strategic Investments against our key growth initiatives and we've made important progress on Project fuel our enterprise-wide initiative to transfer the company's business and c and the cost structure so like I said I think these signpost the they're they're not too too difficult to learn I think they're very valuable to use especially because we use them a lot when we're we're talking about more indepth conversations more advanced conversations so it's a great place to start to learn these so that you can you can follow these conversations a little easier you can follow these presentations if you're listening to a presentation uh as a TED talk or you're listening to somebody give a presentation at work or school or wherever all right so my next question is are you guys ready to practice are you ready to practice what you've learned and I've seen a lot of great comments um so let's practice and I have some questions for you so here are some of the signposts we talked about I told you that this is going to help with your listening um and speaking if you can use them but right now I'm just going to test you're listening so I'm going to read something to you and in there's a blank space and instead of the blank I'm just going to do like a a pop and I want you to think of which signpost would correctly go in that blank so this is a little challenging because you need to listen and understand most of what's being said and then write that in the chat I'll say it a couple times so are you ready the first one that I have for you is this okay here we go we could take the train to San Francisco and get there in six hours we could fly and get there in one hour all right I I will read that again ready we could take the train to San Francisco and get there in six hours we could fly and get there in one hour all right so which which signpost is going to help us transition adequately but from one idea to the next all right write write your answers in the chat and again I know this this may be a little more um difficult and there might be more than one correct answer because like I said some of these are interchangeable and you you you don't always have to use uh of the one over the other so one more time we could take the train to San Francisco and get there in 6 hours we could fly and get there in one hour I'm seeing some great great answers from you guys um thank you guys for answering uh Fernando Salam Anita muhamed Patricia thanks for your answers let's look at this what I had all right I had we could take the train to San Francisco and get there in 6 hours hours okay that's one option all right another idea a different idea on the other hand we could fly and get there in one hour all right that's just what I used I think you could use however is also another one that would go um I saw some of you put also I think you you know that would fit too you could that's another option but I think in this context it it's better to say like however or on the other hand because you're you're kind of comparing the two we could take the train and it takes 6 hours how on the other hand or however we could fly and get there in one all right so let's do the next one all right ready I'm going to read this to you um again bear with me I'm having to like switch back and forth a lot between screens so ready in order to improve your English skills you should establish shortterm goals you should try to study a little bit each day okay ready in order to improve your English you should estab establish short-term goals you should try to study a little bit each day which signpost goes in the middle of of those two ideas and and helps us move from one to the next which one do you guys think in order to improve your English you should EST establish short-term goals you should try try to study a little bit each day again I think there you might find more than one answer um excellent Patricia Fernando muhamd Nish uh Julia we have this in order to improve your English you should establish short-term goals moreover we're adding another point you should try to study a little bit each day if you said in addition um I think that would be fine also again that's correct I just chose moreover again you're kind of it gives it a little more emphasis that moreover so let's look at the next one I have one more listening for you and then I have another a different practice so the other listening that I have for you is this one ready they usually cook dinner at home when he is traveling she usually eats out okay they usually cook dinner at home when he is traveling she usually eats out okay which which signpost kind of connects or like would would really help uh go between those two ideas they usually cook dinner at home I'm guess talking about a husband and wife um boyfriend girlfriend whatever they usually cook dinner at home when he is traveling she usually eats out what what do you guys think what would go in that one one all right um all right some good answers what was looking for is this one so and there's some others you could use they usually cook dinner at home conversely when he's traveling she usually eats out all right because these are I was trying to go kind of two opposite ideas you eat at home what's the opposite of that what's the complete reverse of that would be eating out so conversely he when when he is traveling she usually eats out again in this context if you said however that's perfectly fine um that would make sense uh so again it's not always one or the other let's do some more practice are you ready so in this one this is a little more challenging I've given you again this is a real example I'm going to read through this and tell me which signpost goes in that in that yellow blank right there so why in the world would we shut down the one thing that's made everything else possible Franklin asked explaining that the joint wasn't shutting down anytime soon Franklin Barbecue is expanding its offering by the end of the year we're opening up a tractor trailer outside of Franklin he said the 1971 airstreamer trailer which won't have okay I kind of cut it off because we didn't have to keep going so which one do you think uh would would appropriately go in that blank write it in the comments and again even if you guys are watching this later join in write the com write write your answers in the comments we want to hear from you all right what what do you guys think this this is a little more challenging because again we're getting into the these articles where you don't have the entire context I've tried to give you as much as I could um so you're talking about something that people thought was shutting down all right and then it's m Franklin Barbecue is expanding its offerings all right why would we shut down so what we're looking for in fact why in the world would we shut down something that's made everything else possible The Joint wasn't shutting down soon okay it's it's the opposite in fact in fact all right we're expanding so again remember we can use in fact to to emphasize that point all right in we you know we're not shutting down why would we shut down we're expanding so let's look at that was a little more difficult let's see if this one maybe is a little easier all right Fortune the decision is a welcome one in part because Jones's News Channel Infowars has contaminated our media and political discourse with paranoia and stupidity M Jones deserves to be flushed because he infects harm on his targets most notably The Grieving parents of the Sandy Hook massacre who have faced a harassment campaign from Jones Jones supporters who claimed their child's death was a hoax this is something that's been in the news recently like I said these are examples that that I've taken pretty recently all right do you guys have any thoughts what do you think all right we're they're shutting down this news channel contam contaminates the political discourse and paranoia bones deserves to be flushed all right what do you guys think all right some good answers in there that they have is likewise all right you're you're adding something similar all right he is contaminated the political discourse likewise Jones deserves to be flush because he infects harm on his targets all right so he's contaminating the media likewise he is in in inflicts harm on his targets so let's look at one more all right and this is I give you a little bit of a title it's from The Daily Norseman this is talking about American football to give you some context the offensive line is in big trouble why it might be true for starters the offensive line was a pretty large concern heading into Camp M the Vikings which is the name of a team are literally looking for starters because they're currently down to three of them the middle of the line is gutted with Nick Easton Pat alen and Mike remers all sidelined okay again this is a little challenging which one goes in there for starters all right it was a concern heading into the season what do you guys think could adequately go in there also all right so for starters the offensive line was a pretty large concern heading into the camp what's something else also the Vikings literally looking they are literally looking for starters they are looking for other places because they have trouble um with this offensive line again that might be more challenging because you might not follow American football and I I wanted to try and work from something that was a little easier the listening which I did to something that's a little more difficult like those articles so I hope that you guys found this useful and we will talk more about this later because signpost it is so important to learn it helps you become a better listener it's going to help you become a more effective speaker and and try to identify these when you're reading an article or listening for to a speech and also if you're telling a story or you're giving a presentation make sure you include these because it it makes it easier for the other people to understand what you're saying cuz they can listen for these sign post so please like like and share this lesson um if you enjoy what we do you can write Us in the comments say hello we just want to hear from you guys and join our social media classes we are on Facebook Twitter Instagram and again if you want to help us show some love check out patreon it's always there so thank you Muhammad uh Muhammad Fernando Victor Vincent Anita uh thank you thank you thank you guys for joining me today Molly I really appreciate you guys being here and we will be back next week uh for another live lesson hope you have a great week and we'll see you next time --- ## 677. Useful Speaking Phrasal Verbs for Better Communication | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_iD3uw_faJc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iD3uw_faJc) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:36:30 | --- Today I'm going to talk to you about phrasal verbs that have to do with speaking. That's coming up. Many of you out there would like to practice and improve your speaking skills. Many of you would also like to learn phrasal verbs and learn how to use them. So in today's lesson, I'm going to combine those two ideas, and talk to you about phrasal verbs that deal with speaking. Let's start with the verb TALK. And the first phrasal verb I have for you and possibly the most common is TALK TO. And when you talk to someone you are directly speaking to another person. I suppose that you could also talk to some thing as well. Most of the time we're talking about another person. You talk to someone. This is very similar to another phrasal verb TALK WITH. And they're basically interchangeable. You are speaking directly with another person. Talk to. Talk with. The only difference is that talking with... ...it really implies that there is another person you're having a conversation with. So for example, I could talk to myself in the mirror. I wouldn't really say talk with because there's no other person involved. So that's why I think it's a little more common to talk to someone or something. Now if you are out there and you are looking for somebody to talk to or talk with, I highly recommend that you check out Lingoda who was kind enough to sponsor today's lesson. For those of you who may not be familiar with Lingoda, they are an online language school that offers courses in English, and German, Spanish, and French. And all of their courses are taught by highly trained professional teachers who are all native speakers. I have some first-hand experience learning with Lingoda because I took some classes in Spanish and the teachers and the lessons were great. And it was a really, really good experience. They offer both group and private classes. And they're available 24 hours a day. And that's important because it doesn't matter where in the world you live teachers and classes are always available. Upon completing a sufficient number of courses you can receive a CEF our certificate showing your level of comprehension. And then you can use these certificates for university, for visa applications, your CV. There are many different uses. Now Lingoda has kindly offered everyone here at interactive English a discount of $50 or 50 euro. All you need to do is click on the link in the description and then put in the code WES. That's my name. Just put that code in. Simple as that. And the next thing you know, you will be talking to a native English speaker. The next phrasal verb using talk is to TALK (someone) UP. Notice that someone goes in between the verb and the preposition. And when you talk someone up, then you are just speaking very enthusiastically about this person. So if you're in a group of friends, you can talk him up, you can talk her up. Maybe you could talk me up and tell everyone about Interactive English. Another good example is like in in a job interview. You go in there and you want to talk yourself up because you want to show them that you're the best. To talk someone up. Another phrasal verb which is not so good is to TALK BACK to someone. And this means that you are replying to someone in a rude manner and you're not being polite. So for example, if there's a conversation and somebody tells you to do something, and you don't want to and you're angry. You might talk back to this person. Often, you hear it in situations like children talk back to their parents. Maybe employees sometimes talk back to their boss. But when you're talking back to someone, you are not being very nice. And more often than not, you should be polite in these situations. But instead you're talking back. Now let's look at SPEAK. Because there are several phrasal verbs using this verb. The first one I want to talk to you about is SPEAK UP. And this just means to raise your voice and make it a little louder. So often, if you're having a conversation somebody might ask you to speak up because they can't really hear you well. They don't know what you're saying. You might hear this when talking on the phone. Because there's other noises and maybe it's difficult to understand somebody. So they might say, "Hey, could you please speak up a little?" We can change this meaning completely by adding another preposition to make it a three-word phrasal verb. And that is SPEAK UP FOR someone. And if you are speaking up for someone, then you are just defending this person. So you may want to defend this person because they're being attacked, and you want to speak up for him, or speak up for her, or maybe even speak up for yourself. Now, we can remove up and make it a two-word phrasal verb once again with another new meaning. And when you speak for someone you're basically representing this person's beliefs, this person's opinion. You are speaking for this other person. Often is used in some context where there's a group of people, and you might say... You know, I speak for everyone when I say this opinion or this belief. So for example, I could say...I think I speak for everyone when I say you should hit that LIKE button. Another phrasal verb, which is so, so, so common is this one right here. And that is SHUT UP. Now, this phrasal verb is important because it does have a couple of different meanings. The first one, which I think most of us probably think of, is firmly or angrily telling someone to be quiet. You don't want this person talking anymore. You want them to close their mouth. You don't want anymore sounds coming out. You might tell them "Shut up." The other way that this phrasal verb is used is kind of to express disbelief. So somebody says something that is outrageous. That you can't believe it, and you might just say "No. Shut up." Shut up. Really? Shut up. So in this case, it's not really used to be rude or mean. You're basically expressing your disbelief. You can't believe what you're hearing. Shut up Now I want to practice what we've learned. And in the comments, I want to hear from you. So I want you to write a sentence using one of these phrasal verbs. And to help you out, you can even answer one of these questions. Write to us in the comments. Practice using these phrasal verbs. Because to be perfectly honest, that is the best way to remember the meaning and really understand how to use them. I would please ask you to talk up Interactive English. You can share this lesson with your friends, your classmates. Anybody you know who's trying to practice and improve their English skills. And also don't forget to click on the link in the description to get your discount and start talking to a native English speaker. Thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you next time. --- ## 678. Useful Speaking Tips to Help You Prepare for the IELTS | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bu1LN2VmF7w` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu1LN2VmF7w) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:48:57 | --- hello and welcome if you guys are joining us this Saturday it's Saturday afternoon when I am in Budapest and today I have a fun lesson for you it is called um IELTS speaking tips so if you're not taking the IELTS or have no idea what the IELTS is do not worry I will let you know and this lesson is not just about the IELTS speaking tips about the IELTS but it's also about general speaking tips so let me begin if you guys are just joining us welcome let us know where you're from where you're writing from what's your name we're always glad to see to have our students join us hi Marco welcome welcome to our lesson hello Patricia welcome so today we're talking about the IELTS and general speaking tips hi Russia so if you guys are joining us please make sure to tell us how are you doing how are you feeling today do you know what the IELTS is have you ever had to take an English test before so I'll repeat some of these questions in a second so that uh that is our topic today the IELTS speaking tips and IELTS is an English test if you are wondering what is going on what is the IELTS if you've never heard about it then now you know it assesses your English proficiency so I am NOT a singer okay not because of my microphone no it really helps with the voice so again if you guys are joining us let us know what you're writing from what you're doing how are you doing and if you know what the IELTS is and if you don't know have you ever had to take an English proficiency test or any kind of language test so the IELTS is I'm going to say this really fast the International English language that I couldn't say it sorry is the International English Language Testing system and what it is it just really tests your English level it's like the title says it's international so if you need to somehow prove that your English is at a certain level many employers will ask their employees to take this test students sometimes have to take this test for admission and university it's it's very esteemed everyone we like it's kind of a standard test everyone really respects the scores from an IELTS test and other tests that you may have heard about that are kind of similar to the IELTS are the American TOEFL or the TOEIC these are similar tests but opals very similar except it's it's more of an American test IELTS is more British and Australian accents but everyone can take it and you can use any kind of accent you want you can use an American accent if you'd like so again welcome are you guys my question for you today is have you ever had to take an English test and if you have what was it have you ever had to take the IELTS and if yes how did you do how did it go and if no would you would you be interested in taking one okay so please let us know in the comments I'm very curious hello if you're just joining us again let us know where you're from and what's your name and it's always exciting to see all these countries oh my gosh Egypt Philippines Brazil France Indonesia wonderful so it's really great to have you guys so this IELTS test it's not a it's not an easy test I wouldn't say but I I think it is fairly accurate in in assessing your English but the reason why I'm going to explain this in a second who this who this lesson is for it's not just for IELTS speakers because the test really assesses your speaking your listening your reading and your writing so all four skills it really does a good job I think at at assessing this so if you want to improve your general English especially your speaking today I have some good tips and also some test taking skills so it's kind of in the middle okay so see so yeah you guys have been taking some of this test I Fabio I think it is a little difficult but just like any other test the more you prepare for it the better you will be I think it does a good job at assessing the language but I think if there are some some tricks and if you're taking the TOEFL there are pros and cons against between the IELTS and the TOEFL some people like to speak to a person and that's that's the main difference between the IELTS and the TOEFL are speaking to a person versus speaking to a computer I think they're very similar so I wouldn't say one is easier than the other I think it depends on if you prefer if you're more nervous when you speak in front of the person then it's probably easier to take the TOEFL because you speak in front of a computer but if you're more of a people person and enjoy speaking to a person then it might be easier to take the IELTS and it's also about the listening whichever accent you find easier the America TOEFL is an American accent and IELTS is an English accent for the listening parts so whichever you're more used to that that might be easier for you okay so who is this lesson for this lesson is for anyone taking the test obviously if you're taking any other kind of test because these tips apply to everyone who is preparing for any kind of English test if you want to improve your speaking skills please please please keep watching because I have some tips on how to improve communication or even your presentation skills in English tips for writing a yes I will talk I think I'm going to have a lesson on writing tips later on but you'll be surprised because some of the writing tips in English apply very well some of the speaking skills in English apply very well to writing because they're their English speaking BA speaking and writing in English are very similar they follow patterns and they follow rules so if you if you keep listening you're going to find out some really helpful tips okay so my first tip for today is be prepared and this should be the first tip for any kind of test ever that you're ever ever ever going to take so please always prepare I've heard stories I've had a lot of students who have taken these these tests and they went and they just went there and they had no idea what to expect don't don't do that please research what your test is how much time you have for each of these what to take with you you can you take a pencil can you bring a watch because for example for IELTS you cannot bring a watch so all of these please make sure to research ahead of time now for the speaking test here there are three parts to it and it's a total of 11 to 14 minutes usually and the topics are very common they're just things like work education communication computers internet childhood food happiness flowers they're just very very random topics they're very common topics but there are topics that sometimes you may not expect because it can be anything art it literally anything so you have to be very prepared and you have to know what the examiner is is looking for because they're looking for specific answers for specific triggers that we're going to talk about so for that I would say read example answers the Internet has so many good resources for this where you can type in and see some of the topics that are out there and then you can just read the topic and how somebody would answer that will help you very much in trying to come up with with a good answer and of course practice a lot and you can practice with online prompts like I said you can find if you type in IELTS speaking prompts you can find a lot online you can my suggestion would be to print out a list just print it out and then cut it with scissors and you have these small strips of paper with the topics on them and fold them and put them in a cup and then a way to test yourself would be to just take one and then just speak because if you have them all in one paper I think it makes it easier and you don't want to make it easy on yourself you want to create as close of a test environment as you can because that way you become more prepared so again we are talking about how to prepare for the IELTS or for any English speaking test so if you guys are just joining us that's what we're doing please if you just--just--just just joined our conversation write your name where are you coming from because it's really nice for us to see and for everyone to just kind of get to know you so we're talking about how to be prepared there are many ways to do it like going online and finding good information I would say to use if you're going to go online to make sure that you're using sources or resources that are reputable for example one that I found that I really like that I'm going to leave in the description is IELTS Liz comm it's a very good one useful one and has very current topics so if you're wondering like what were the more recent topics of conversation you can have them there at least for speaking I found that it was very useful now be careful there is a lot of bad advice online I have noticed a lot of bad answers and a lot of bad advice so don't use it just because somebody has been to the exam it doesn't mean that they have good answers or know what is the good answer so please use reputable sources when you're training if you really want to to be very serious about it and you want to buy a book use the one from Cambridge because that's who makes the test and make sure to use a really good really good material so something that is you put there by a teacher not by some other student and make sure that they know what they're talking about very important okay and the last tip too in order to be prepared is to time yourself I've done this to students many times and sometimes it's actually very difficult because when you time somebody they think oh I have so much to say about this topic so much and then the problem is they're different time limits so sometimes you don't have as much as you think and then you only speak for forty-five seconds and when you have to speak for a minute and a half and that's a problem because when you don't speak enough the the person the examiner is going to think you don't have enough to say but again this is applicable to generally to testing yourself is is to see how prepared you are and it will help you kind of get better at elaborating on a topic which is very useful now this tip tip number two I really like this one because it I love writing in English and it's similar to writing this is how when speaking is similar to writing and this is when English is different than other languages so I'll say this English is different so when you speak in English especially for an exam but in general when you have to have a presentation when you have to give some kind of official speech any answer they have to give in a debate for example or anything like that you have to follow a structure in English and it's the same with writing I know in many other cultures many times you don't immediately say the main idea or the conclusion that you want to get to I know that's true but in English you have to you have to immediately state your opinion you immediately stay the answer to your question and then back it up with examples very very very very important okay so you have to make sure that you follow this rule first you state your idea then you give examples and this goes for any answer that you have and the more examples the better but please don't go off-topic in English I will say for an answer to be relevant and good you can any any one of your sentences has to be related to your main idea if you're talking about something completely different and it's not directly related to your main idea it's not relevant and it's signals like oh this person is kind of ranting they're just talking about something else so make sure you stick with this structure it's very important and very useful and again this is useful not just for the IELTS but for any kind of other presentation you have in English or any other kind of answer that you have to give or they have to elaborate on welcome welcome welcome everyone again today we're talking about speaking tips for the IELTS so if you're taking the IELTS please watch this these are very useful I believe but not just for the Isles in generally a general firfer for improving your speaking skills in English and this this is another really good one stay current so what do I mean by stay current I mean read newspapers watch the news do anything you can to stay informed and the reason for this I have so many reasons why you should be doing this of course I mean in English why should you do this because you as I wrote here you need example so whenever like I just talked in the previous point where you have to give your main idea and then you have examples some of these topics are going to be about things like like space exploration or technology or they're going to be topics that you may not be as familiar with as you'd think so you need when you're watching the news and you just kind of try to stay informed you get ideas you get examples and you can use all of these examples in your when you speak in your question in your answer so not only you have things to talk about when you stay current but also your vocabulary will improve so the more you hear the more you listen the more you read the more you find out there pay attention to the world around you in English the better your vocabulary will will become and also you will have more topics of discussion and this is is the same for the writing section of the test you always have to have ideas you always have to have examples and this is a great way to get examples and ideas by just reading the news being informed and it will help you improve your vocabulary as well okay so my first tip use good English and what do I mean by use good English many things that I mean by good English so I'm gonna start with with the first one which is don't be too informal so in order to when you go to any kind of a speaking exam it's a speaking exam so you're welcome you're welcome to use a little bit more of an informal language then you would writing but you know don't go in there saying hey buddy I I know this this may sound like oh of course you but I've had students that I've known who because when they're learning they're learning so much of the colloquial English so you have to make sure that you're able to separate the formal and informal contexts so make sure that you're not too informal that you're just it's just like an interview but don't don't don't overdo it don't be too informal um my second tip under this category is to vary your sentences oh my gosh this is so important when you speak English well any native English speaker we use complex sentences you use simple sentences and complex altogether you use transition words which I've also put here so you have to be able to use a variety of these mixed-up synonyms synonyms are super important we have I don't know if you guys have seen but if you haven't you to check out our some of our synonym videos so we have good words bad words happy words and academic words these are all synonyms that are very helpful their academic and you should use them instead of words like good or bad because it will automatically make you sound a lot more advanced in your English and if you have to prove to anyone that your English is advanced it is now it would be this time when you have to show that you know that you are advanced that your proficiency is very high that you can use all of these words and you can use complex grammar structures and this would be the time to do it so again if you guys are just joining welcome thank you have you ever taken the IELTS is the question of the day if you have how did you do if you haven't have you taken any other tests or do you think you're going to take these it's very interesting for us to know okay so I said to use idioms because idioms when you when you use them you show that you have a high proficiency or high understanding of the language and how it's used in the local local context but I would say not to use too many idioms like don't use one per sentence because you may sound it sounds a little awkward so idioms are used but they're used sparingly they're not used very very often so make sure that to know that you're okay you can use them but just don't overuse them so don't try to show off too much with your knowledge it's very important okay let's see I mano says I'm afraid of the TOEFL exam what can I do I'm mano I would suggest you to be prepared the more you prepared the more you will become confident and the better you will be at speaking so prepare by speaking read those topics outloud practice with a friend if you if you have wonder will is willing to listen to you test yourself time yourself make sure that you know everything there is to know about the exam so that's I think the most important tip is just be prepared the more you practice something the better you become at it and that's just true for anything okay and the last tip I have for you guys today are some things to keep in mind my first one is use your voice and I mean like speak by voice I mean your individual voice make sure you know be yourself speak like you would don't don't try to sound too scripted or too robotic or because your intonation it will just not sound natural so just be yourself speak don't worry about it too much but be prepared because it will come natural to you once you're prepared now the second one is be confident and confidence comes with being prepared so that's why it's very important the topics that you can find online just topics and I'll show you I have a I actually have an example here actually I can just show it to you guys so this is one of the topics and what it looks like where it says describe a piece of advice you recently received the topics are very very random but they tend to come up again and again and again so if you know what the topics are and what people could ask you the more you practice the more you will know kind of what to answer so it's very important that you practice and then your confidence will come and you'll be able to express yourself and when you are confident you sound like you're doing better so I cannot tell you how many students I've had that their English was pretty high but their confidence was really low and when they spoke because they were a little afraid of speaking I thought they were a much lower level and you remember you only have a few minutes with this person make them count please please please be confident prepare and you will do wonderful and my last tip is think fast you have to think fast like this one here describe a piece of advice you recently recently received you should say when this happened who gave you the advice where the advice was how you felt about about the advice oh my god what if you can't think of any advice when was a Eli's given advice like I don't know I haven't thought about advice so maybe like all these things are going on through your head you cannot change topics you have to choose the topic that is being given to you so what do you do well you can do a couple things just think really fast if nothing comes to your mind I'm sorry but I would recommend to lie and the reason is because they don't care honestly if you're telling the truth nobody cares if if this is a real piece of advice if it's not nobody cares if you believe in this what your opinion is this does not matter it really truly doesn't matter all the examiner cares about is your English how well can you defend your point how well can you string sentences together how well can you speak so it really really really does not matter if you believe in this if this advice whatever thing you're talking about actually happen if this is your opinion doesn't matter your opinion your the way you speak matter so that is the only thing that matters so again think fast if you can't think of an example make one up it's okay just make sure make sure that you answer all of the points on the paper or try to address all of them so again thank you guys for joining these are some of the tips that I was talking about today I'm gonna go over them really quickly for the people who just joined the first one is to be prepared make sure that you practice a lot and the more you practice the easier this will be become the second one which applies to all of our old speakers of English is to follow the structure of English don't state your idea your main idea last make sure you state at the first the first thing so state your main idea than an example than another example and never go on to off-topic so it's very important that you give examples that are relevant and that all of your sentences connect stay current because this is how you get it apples watch the news read this will improve your vocabulary and also will help you expand your knowledge give you more ideas and help you think fast help you come up with these ideas when maybe you're not you're caught off guard use good English vary your sentences use synonyms don't use the same words over and over again because this shows the examiner and everyone that your command of English is much higher used transition words like eventually finally more over things like that these are very useful to learn use them the examiner would like that a lot use idioms don't you overuse idioms because it will sound strange and lastly keep in mind to use your voice be confident do not shy it's your time to shine be happy you know you're speaking to a person they want to hear your thoughts it's great don't forget to think fast and just kind of it might seem crazy but enjoy it you know enjoy the the opportunity that you have to practice your English to use your English so it's your time like I said to shine so that's it for today thank you guys for watching us for joining our class today it's always exciting it's always a fun Saturday when I get to talk to you guys thank you again if you found that this was useful if you know anyone who's taking the IELTS or any other test if you know anyone who is a little bit shy and is afraid of speaking please share this lesson with them I think it was very beneficial again thank you guys so much don't forget to to join our social media classes and I hope you guys have a wonderful wonderful Saturday or Sunday or weekend for us it's Saturday afternoon I know for other people it's Saturday evening so again thank you guys and I will see you next time bye --- ## 679. Useful Speaking Tips to Improve Your Fluency ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `AMr2mSbORfc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMr2mSbORfc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:25:07 | --- hey everyone my name is wes from interactive english which is all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to talk to you about speaking because i know there are so many of you out there who want to improve their speaking and they really want to practice speaking with others and i want to give you some tips i want to give you some helpful tips that will allow you to improve and develop your speaking so the first tip that i have for you is try to focus your speaking and what i mean by that is perhaps focus on a specific topic because i think when people are i know it can be challenging because when people are are speaking and they get into a conversation sometimes they they may not know where that conversation is heading and that can be difficult to follow but if you're able to focus your speaking like on a specific topic then you can really concentrate on on what you want to say about that topic the thoughts and opinions that you want to express it's very similar like when you're giving a presentation you are focused speaking about that one topic the next tip that i have for you is to always try to practice speaking when you learn new things and this goes for everything so for example when when people learn new grammar often i think people learn and practice grammar using a book and they may write a lot but you really need to practice speaking as well when you learn a new verb tense or you learn about a new part of speech you need to use that in speaking because it's going to help improve your fluency but it's also going to help you better remember the grammar and how to use it correctly uh that also goes for new vocabulary as well many people might look up a word using an online dictionary and they read the meaning or perhaps they read some sentences using the word make some flashcards but you also need to practice speaking and using that new vocabulary some of those new phrases those idioms and expressions practice using them when you're speaking because again that's going to help you better remember the information the third tip is to well practice speaking clearly and that that can be a little challenging because it encompasses a lot because when i say speaking clearly i'm not talking about accent because i can understand english accents from all over the world i'm talking about pronunciation uh intonation emphasis um reductions contractions and you want to speak clearly so that everybody can understand what you're saying and you need to practice those things because when people if they mispronounce a word that may cause some confusion so it's very important that you practice those different parts of speaking clearly pronunciation intonation emphasis it's really going to help others understand what you're saying and then my final tip is all about confidence because i think when when some people try to engage in a conversation they they may be a little afraid to speak because they think that the other person maybe they think they won't understand what they're saying or perhaps they feel like they they cannot fully express what they want to say and they just lack that confidence and the best thing that you can do in order to build your confidence is practice but you need to be in the right environment in order to practice you need to be in an environment where you feel comfortable you feel relaxed and you are just not worried about making mistakes and you feel that you can just speak and have a conversation and and that is the best way to build your confidence is just practice practice and more practice notice that with each of those tips i talk a lot about the need to practice the need to practice speaking and i have the perfect solution for you because interactive english just launched its first speaking course called speak up this is a 10-week course in which we will get together once a week for 50 minutes and we're going to focus on a different topic answer a bunch of questions learn new words phrases idioms expressions work on pronunciation as well a little bit of everything and it's just about getting you as much speaking practice as possible and because you're going to be speaking so much it's really going to help you build your speaking confidence so this is a course for for intermediate to advanced learners you have until september 15th to sign up for the course because classes are going to start on september 17th and 18th so you have until september 15th check out the link in the description to learn a lot more information about the course which is really going to help you improve your speaking as well as just develop your overall fluency skills so check out that link down below to learn more about speak up and i i just hope to speak to you soon so long --- ## 680. Useful Sport Idioms to Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3PIx-pZ37K8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PIx-pZ37K8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:11:31 | --- - If you are someone who loves sports, then you are definitely going to love this idiom lesson. What's up, everyone? My name's Wes. This is Interactive English which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English skills. And the way that you are going to improve your skills today is by learning some new idioms. I'm going to teach you some idioms that are related to sports. That doesn't mean that you can only use these idioms when talking about sports. They can be used in a variety of different situations and I'm gonna talk to you about that today. And as I teach you these idioms and tell you the meaning, I'll give you some example sentences as well as show you some videos so you can see how these idioms are used in context. So let's begin. The first idiom is a tennis idiom and it is the ball is in your court. And what this means is that it is up to you. It is your responsibility to do something or to make a decision. The ball is in your court. So example, when you're playing tennis, you hit the ball to somebody else and then the ball is in their court. It's up to them to act. So this can be used in a variety of contexts. It could be used in business in a negotiation. For example, maybe you make an offer to buy something and then you'd say well, okay here's my offer, the ball is in your court. It is your responsibility to make a decision now or tell me what you want to do. And we often use this idiom as just a standalone statement and you would tell somebody, you know, the ball is in your court now. It's up to you, the ball's in your court. - Call me back. If you want. (sniffs) Ball's in your court. (audience laughing) - I said no which means right back in the driver's seat. - So the ball is in his court? - The next idiom is to get off the hook. And if we're talking about hooks, you can probably guess that this is a fishing idiom. When you're fishing, you use a hook to catch the fish. So if the fish gets off the hook, then they are able to escape danger. They're able to escape punishment. And that's exactly what this idiom means. You are escaping responsibility for something that you are no longer responsible for this action that happened that was bad or wrong. You are no longer going to get punished for this thing. You are able to get off the hook. - I don't have a choice. I guess I'm kinda hoping you'll come back over the rail and get me off the hook here. - So for example, when I think of this idiom because I'm a teacher, I think of students that when they don't do their homework and maybe there's a punishment and they're trying to think of an excuse, I might tell them and say, you know, you're not gonna get off the hook that easy. - You are not getting off the hook that easy, mister. - And that is a common sentence in which you might hear this idiom being used. That you would tell someone that you're not going to get off the hook that easy. That you need to be held responsible for something that happens. You're not going to have it completely removed. You're gonna have to suffer the consequences a little bit. You're not gonna get off the hook that easy. Then we have a baseball idiom, go to bat for someone. To go to bat for someone means just to defend somebody. So in baseball, when you go to bat for another player, that you're basically helping that person out. They don't have to bat because you're going to do it for them. You're going to help that person. You are going to defend them. - Just go to bat for them. - I'm tired of going to bat for you and your show. - I wanna thank you for going to bat for me last week. - Next is a hunting idiom and this idiom is used quite often and it is to give it your best shot. And often people would just say it as a sentence and just say give it your best shot. And this means that you should just try your hardest. Do your best. So when you're hunting, even though I'm not a hunter, you are shooting something and you want to give it your best shot. You tell people this all the time whether they're doing sports or business. You would tell them and encourage them and say give it your best shot. - Well, go ahead and give it your best shot. - [Harry] Come on then Nigel, gimme your best shot. - Stupefy! - Okay, O'Connor, gimme your best shot. - So for example, I would tell you guys this. If you're thinking that learning English is too difficult, I don't know if I could do it, I would encourage you and say, you know, give it your best shot. Just try your best. That's all that we're asking you do, give it your best shot. Next is an idiom that comes from horse racing and that is the home stretch. And if you're talking about the home stretch, you're talking about the end. So when talking about horse racing, at the end of the race, you might hear somebody say the horses are coming down the home stretch. They're getting close to the end. And you can use this when you are getting close to the end of something, specifically when you're about to complete something or finish something. So with this lesson, I'm just about halfway through it. I'm not quite in the home stretch just yet. - We're almost done, home stretch. - This is the home stretch. All we gotta do is focus. - Hang tough. You're in the home stretch. - Next is a golf idiom and that is not up to par. So in golf, you have a score that you try to get for each hole and if you match that score then that would be par. So that's the average score. That's what you want to do. If somebody's not up to par, then that just means that they're not good enough to do a job or a position. And you just don't have the skills or abilities to do something and somebody might say, you know, yeah, you know, this work, it's not up to par. - So if I'm not up to par performance-wise-- - Jim, this isn't exactly a turn on. - [Pete] There's a thing called Proposition 48 says that if your grades aren't up to par and you take the SAT, if you score 700 or more, you can get into college. - I hope these video lessons are definitely up to par for you guys. I hope so. Next is a boxing idiom, to throw in the towel. And in boxing, if somebody throws in the towel, then that just means they give up, the match is over. And that's exactly what it means, to give up something. So if you're tired of doing something, you don't wanna do it anymore, you'd say, you know, I'm just gonna throw in the towel. I'm done, I give up. Or you might hear it being used that somebody's, you know, they're trying to encourage you and tell you not to give up and they'd say don't throw in the towel. Don't throw in the towel just yet. Keep going, keep working hard. - They're throwing in the towel. He says once the debts are paid, there won't be too much left. - Round after round, I kept getting Frank in to patch me up. And he's talking about throwing in the towel but he ain't my manager. He can't throw in nothin'. - Maybe it's time to throw in the towel. - If you guys are thinking, you know, I'm done learning English, it's too difficult, I don't wanna do it. I would tell you, don't give up, don't throw in the towel just yet. And I'm not gonna let you off the hook that easy. I'm always going to encourage you and tell you to keep going and give it your best shot. (chuckles) And I'm just gonna keep using these idioms over and over so that you'll remember them. Let's just keep going. We're coming down the home stretch which means we're getting close to the end but don't leave just yet. I have some more great idioms for you. And this next one is a football idiom. It's an American football idiom. And I'm sure some of you might be rolling your eyes like, uh, American football. (chuckles) Nobody watches that. But this idiom is a good one and it is blind sided. And if somebody is blind sided, it just means that they did not see something coming. They did not expect this thing to happen. You were blind sided by something. So for example, somebody might tell you some news that is shocking, like, oh they're getting a divorce. And you're like, oh my goodness. I was just blind sided by this. - It's like you're as blind sided by this as I was. (audience laughing) - I can't believe she blind sided me like this. Being so nice and friendly to my face. - So when you're blind sided, it's not really a good thing. It's something that you weren't expecting and you would be blind sided by something. So we often use it with the preposition by. I was blind sided by this thing that was not good and I was surprised. I was blind sided. Then we have a basketball idiom, slam dunk. This is probably a phrase that you've heard before especially if you're a basketball fan. In basketball, a slam dunk is when you take the ball and you slam it and hang onto the rim. Yeah, I can't slam dunk the basketball. I can't jump. So if something is a slam dunk, then it just means it's a sure thing. It's easy to do, it's easy to accomplish. You know that you're gonna do this thing and you say, well, you know, it's a slam dunk. So you're watching this video right now and I'm thinking like, hmm, I wonder if they're gonna hit that like button. But I know, (button pops) but I know, you know, it's a slam dunk. It's a sure thing. You're gonna hit that like button. Right? Unless you think this lesson's not up to par. - It's a slam dunk. - I hope it's a real slam dunk. - To me, this decision is a slam dunk. - The next idiom is call the shots. This is a billiards idiom because when you're playing billiards, you often have to call your shots and point to the pocket where you want to shoot the ball. So if somebody calls the shots, it just means they are making the decisions. You might often hear this idiom in business because there's a hierarchy of people from the boss, the manager, and then you. And your boss would call the shots. They would be making the decisions. - I call the shots, I do what I wanna do. - So you're calling the shots now, huh? - Gonna see nothing but the bench this year. - He ain't callin' the shots. You'll play. - So I'm a bit curious if you knew some of these idioms already. I hope that you weren't completely blind sided by these idioms and I hope that you can go on to use them and try to use them and give it your best shot. But because this is Interactive English, I have a bonus idiom for you. (tada music) And this is going to be a question and I want you to click on the correct answer. Before I ask you this question and you go off to another video, I want you to hit that like button if you enjoyed learning these idioms. So are you ready? Are you ready for your bonus idiom? What does it mean to hit below the belt? What do you think? Click on the correct meaning. If something is below the belt, it's a martial arts idiom. What do you think it means? If you don't know, please don't give up and don't throw in the towel. Just choose one, give it your best shot. Which one do you think it means? Click on the correct answer. Or the video's just gonna end. --- ## 681. Useful Study Phrasal Verbs to Improve Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DhO1q_dO-Ok` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhO1q_dO-Ok) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:11:17 | --- - Today we are going to study study phrasal verbs. I'll explain that in just a moment. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is Interactive English which is all about trying to help you guys practice and improve your English skills. In today's lesson we are going to talk about phrasal verbs, but phrasal verbs that are related to study, so that's what I meant when I said we are going to study study phrasal verbs. So the first phrasal verb that I have for you is think through. And this just means to carefully consider the possible outcomes of some situation, and you might say, you know I just need to think it through. You need to think something through, and really consider it before you make a decision. - I just want you to think it through. - Still thinking things through. - What is there to think through? - Just try and think things through. - Let us think this thing through logically. - I don't want to decide just yet. I really want to consider things. You want to think it through. Its always good to think things through before you make a decision. The next phrasal verb is pick up, and you can pick up something or you can pick something up, and it just means to learn something. And often I think we use it when we're talking about a language or a musical instrument or even an activity. So for example, I would say that I am trying to pick up Romanian right now. I am trying to learn Romanian, and many of you are trying to pick English up, which is why you're here. - You can't just walk up to those guys. You have to get out there, and learn the moves, get into their head, pick up the speech. - Picked up English faster than I could teach it. - I got bored, I thought I'd pick up a new language. - I'll be back, I've never seen anyone pick it up that quickly. - Do you have a special tool for these? - If it has to do with my hands, The next phrasal verb is a pretty common one, and that is cheat on. You cheat on something, and this just means to act deceptively or unfairly when you are completing a task. So you can cheat on a quiz. You could cheat on a test or cheat on an exam. I don't recommend that you cheat on anything at school, but it does happen from time to time, to cheat on something. - What, you're cheating on your conversion test? (audience laughing) - When I was a kid, I always played by the rules. I never cheated on a test. - I regret to announce that someone in this class cheated on yesterday's exam. - Then we have a three word phrasal verb, read up on, and when you read up on something, then you are increasing your knowledge about a topic by reading about it. So you might read up on history if you want to learn more about that. You might read up on a person. If you're trying to find out more information about them, you would read up on something. - I read up on my history, thanks for the tip. - [Instructor] This will all be on next week's midterm, so I suggest you read up on it. - I've been reading up on your family's culture. - I've been reading up on this whole Iraq War situation. - Then we have go through, and this is a great study phrasal verb because when you go through something, it just means that you are scrutinizing it. You are looking at it very carefully, so you might go through a paper or you might go through a report that you wrote and you're looking for mistakes. So when you go through something, you are looking at it carefully. I always hope that you guys go through the comments and read them because it's another great way to practice English and practice your reading skills as well as learn more about each other. - I could go through the Panama papers. - We have to go through those documents. - I took the liberty of going through your address book. - We still have the books of Pherian to go through. - Then we have two phrasal verbs that actually have the same meaning, and those phrasal verbs are hand in or turn in. So when you hand in something or you turn in something, it just means that you submit something. You give it to the teacher. You hand in your homework. You turn in the paper. You hand in the essay. You turn in your presentation. So when you hand in or turn in something, you are just giving it to either your teacher or professor. - Do you realize what would happen if I hand in my homework in your handwriting? - Anyone failing to turn in any homework assignment will be penalized one point off their final grade. - Hey, I want to email you my paper before I hand it in. - This is the first paper she's had to turn in. She's bound to falter a little. - The next study phrasal verb is fall behind, and this is a good one even though it's not a good thing. You don't want to fall behind because when you fall behind it means that you are not current or up-to-date with some information or even some task, and you're really lacking in comparison to the other students, so when you fall behind it's not a good thing. But sometimes it happens, and you might say, yeah, I just fell behind, or I've fallen behind. - Boys are falling behind in every subject! - You need to make school more challenging or else my son will fall behind. - We're falling way behind. - You haven't exactly been helping. - Is there any company that doesn't have a product in production? - And I hope that you guys have not fallen behind and that you understand every one of these phrasal verbs, but if you have fallen a little behind, that's okay, because then you can just go through the lesson again and again and again until you have picked up every single one of these phrasal verbs, and I'm just gonna keep saying them and repeating them over and over because that's just another great way for you to remember them. The next phrasal verb is drop out, and when you drop out that means that you leave an activity or a program without completing it. And often people use it and they talk about dropping out of school. When you drop out of school, you just leave and you don't complete it. - Everything else, I fail. I dropped out of school. - So you're dropping out. - No, I'm going to public school. - You dropped out of college? - I heard you dropped out of school. - I went to university for a year as well before I dropped out, so I'm a quitter. - Don't drop out of school. I definitely don't recommend it. I think you should work hard and turn in everything that your teacher asks you too (chuckles). At least that's what I would want from my students. I always want them to hand in their assignments. The next phrasal verb is hand out, and this is a common study phrasal verb because you hear it a lot in the classroom. To hand something out just means to distribute something. You are passing something to the other students in the class. So oftentimes, teachers would hand out an assignment or they would hand out a test or they'd hand out a quiz, or, yeah, most of the stuff that they hand out, it's not stuff that (chuckles) learners are excited to get. Nobody wants a quiz or a test, but we gotta do them, and as long as you read up on all the information, then you should be fine. - True, I've been handing out assignments, and the kids turn them in and everything. - What kind of homework are they handing out in the first grade? - Why don't you hand out the schedules? - That means we have to hand out the preparedness packs. - The next study phrasal verb is catch on, and to catch on means that you understand what is meant or that you understand how to do something. So maybe somebody might have a difficult time catching on, and they have trouble understanding some material. - And you're not going anywhere. - Of course not, I'm already there. - You'll catch on. - But all our professionals have college degrees. - I catch on pretty quick. - You've got to wait until your contracts are up, I get it. - You catch on slow, you'll fit right in here. - I'm sure that you guys catch on quickly and you understood these phrasal verbs, but if you didn't catch on, that's okay. Just go through the lesson again, and just think it through. Think through these phrasal verbs, and try to understand them. Maybe you might want to read up on them so you have a better understanding and hopefully the fact that I've been repeating all of these phrasal verbs helps you remember their meaning a little bit better. So now I have an assignment for you, and I want you to turn it in, and the way that you're going to turn it in to me is by writing a comment. And all I want to know is something very simple. I just want to know if you caught on to this lesson. So if you understood all of these phrasal verbs, if you understood my explanation of these phrasal verbs, then in the comments write, I catch on quickly. That way I know you understood these phrasal verbs and maybe feel a little more confident the next time that you are studying with others, or the next time you find yourself in a classroom. These phrasal verbs can be used in many different contexts. Thank you guys so much for watching. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button, --- ## 682. Useful TRAVEL PHRASES That You Need to Know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `iQbmS7fEtso` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQbmS7fEtso) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:02:36 | --- let's learn some indispensable travel phrases that you really should know and these are phrases that are are some of my favorites that you can use if you're talking about a holiday you're getting ready to take or a holiday that you took in the past and of course if you would like to access the lesson notes that are right here check out the link in the description join my email Community if you're already a part of it check your inbox I have sent them to you so this is going to be a quiz lesson and I would like you to participate write your answers in the chat if you're watching this later I want you to write your answers in the comments this is after all interactive English my name is Wes and that that's what it's all about is trying to help you reach your fluency goals so if that's what you'd like to do please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher so let's let's go ahead and jump into it without further Ado here is your first question to start out I'm giving you part of the phrase and I want you to complete it but I'm also giving you the meaning down below so in this case the meaning is to leave a place or begin a journey what phrase are you going to use that has that meaning it is a little more casual it's a little more informal but one that I think you'll definitely use in conversation or you're certainly going to come across it if somebody else is talking about travel and you want to say okay let's let's leave let's get going let's hit the road so if you're going to hit the road then it just means you're going to leave you're going to begin a journey you could use this when you're you're traveling but even if you're on your way to work or something you're like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna hit the road and I'm GNA get going and I'm going to leave um excellent great job I'll try to give some shoutouts as we go through this to give you a an association with this phrase there is a famous song by Ray Charles it's called Hit the Road Jack In this case Jack is just an informal like B for anybody and I I imagine some of you have heard it that hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more no more no more no more hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more I apologize for my singing but go listen to the song it's a great song very well-known Ray Charles Hit the Road Jack what do you think M stop it means it will it refer I'm giving you the word stop uh because in the meaning it refers to a stop as during a trip for fuel food uh or a rest or just to use the restroom so really any type of stop one might make specifically for those things you are going to say let's stop and you can use the picture there as a little bit of a hint and thank you lolly great voice I appreciate it uh I don't I don't get that very often so in this case the stop that we're talking about and the other thing that you may notice I'm I'm really going to try to give you more information with these phrases so that uh again it's all about building your vocabulary many of you said Pit Stop yes that is the correct answer we're often going to use that with the verb make to make a pit stop if you didn't use M it's okay but I wanted to give you that that extra bit bit of information so if you're traveling you're in the car and you want to say Okay I I need to use the the toilet I think we need to make a pit stop or I'd like to get a snack can we make a pit stop so you're going to use that verb with this phrase just to give you a little context I feel like this image I thought it was a little humorous this is what a pit stop looks like you stop the car the family the kids running out of the car going into the store buying some you know whatever it is or or using the restroom and it is a pit stop so good phrase to know especially if you are someone who likes taking road trips because generally you're going to use this phrase when you're you're traveling by car excellent love love those hearts keep it keep them coming guys here is the next one in giving you the first word which is not much of a hint but the meaning is far away from any towns cities and just where few people live and I don't want to give it away by saying too much but that is the meaning far away from any towns and cities and where few people live you could say that you are in what I think when talking about travel this again is of course I think all of these phrases are commonly used and the phrase that we're looking for well done uh too Miranda we're talking about in the middle of nowhere so if you say that maybe you you got a hotel you stayed at a hotel out on the lake and you were in the middle of nowhere all right you were out in nature there was nothing around you were in the middle of nowhere so there are some other collocations with this phrase that I'm giving you down below you might say you're you're talking about traveling somewhere and maybe you say we got lost in the middle of nowhere there was nothing else around or maybe you describe where somebody lives and say well they live I v I was visiting a friend who lives in the middle of nowhere or maybe you go somewhere like I said you stay at a hotel on the lake and you are you are staying in the middle of nowhere or you might find yourself in the middle of nowhere so those are some common cations with this uh phrase if you want to accurately describe some place that's far away from any towns or cities and you are in the middle of nowhere here is the next question I'm not giving you any part of this because I feel like this is one that maybe is a little easier one that uh you'll probably be able to get but I think it's commonly used probably a phrase that you've heard of before to make a journey without taking a lot of heavy things with you in this situation what is it that you're doing so you're taking this journey you're not bringing a lot of heavy things and therefore you are doing what and I think this is something that when when we travel I think many of us want to do this but at least for me it's very very difficult to do because as I start this process of getting all of my things ready and I pick up my suitcase I think H okay or my backpack like uh it was not successful in this endeavor so if you're not bringing a lot of heavy things then you could say that you are going to travel light or to pack light either one of those Works they both have the same meaning travel light Pack Light and like I said I think it's something we we all want to do but I think you're capable of doing this especially if it's a short trip you go for a weekend somewhere you say yeah I was I'm going to just pack light or I'm going to travel light to give you a little more context there are some news headlines for you I don't know if you can see them but I'll read them to you it says travel light after 50 seven stylish packing habit hacks for carefree Adventures travel the next one travel light with these 34 carryon travel light with Uber X XL I don't I didn't even know that is now a thing Uber XXL I guess it's a very large car that you could then yeah you could bring a bunch of bags a lot of uh different suitcases and you don't travel light it's not a problem so again common phrases and that is in part what it's all about I want to give you vocabulary that you can actively use which is why I said this is indispensable and this is vocabulary that you really need to know here's the next one the meaning is to lose or cause to lose meaning or Effectiveness when translated into a different language style form Etc when passed through or when pass through a third party and I'm giving you one of the words in but this is relevant because if you are traveling somewhere else especially you go abroad you're in a country in which somebody the people speak a different language you're trying to communicate this is something that can happen from time to time and I think we've all been in that situation so what would you say when you lose the meaning or it causes this to happen or it changes it a little bit it's not as effective due to I don't could be language translation or some other you know you're trying to be funny and it just does not come out the the same way so in this case the the phrase that you can use well done fatty acid uh Miranda Lost in Translation so again this was more so when another language is involved which in this case would mean that you're you're traveling abroad you're in another country another language another culture and this is something that can happen because I feel like English should be more entertaining as far as learning English should be fun even a little humorous I've given you some examples down there of well these different signs that you could say okay something was Lost in Translation again if you can't see it I'll I'll read it to you the first one it looks like it's a sign at the airport but what it says in English it says eating carpet is strictly prohibited and of course I think what they want to say is eating on the carpet or eating over the carpet is strictly prohibited instead of actually literally eating that carpet but uh I don't know that carpet it looks kind of delicious to me so maybe it that's what they wanted to say and then the other one is just a little bit of a meme it says if I were German I would run because the sign says Germany is now cold cut sausages so it's something I guess you could be a little concerned about if you are German so I I think that you you travel abroad and of course I I've seen this before for when many signs are translated into English whether you're talking about at an airport or especially at a restaurant and things yeah they tend to get lost in translation it is something that happens and now you know the phrase to describe that situation what do you think M uh on perhaps I'm giving you a little too much information and you'll be able to to come up with the phrase it just means to hurry so if somebody is saying like Okay we need to hurry or you're just telling someone look hurry up or you need to hurry you could use this phrase and said instead it is a synonym but I think in this case instead of saying hurry when you're traveling it's a phrase that I think you're more likely to come across because you're really I think the really movement is involved um so instead of saying like to hurry you could use this phrase instead and what I'm referring to is the phrase well done Fabio uh safira we're talking about the phrase to get a move on Julia um aot nice to get a move on means to hurry so maybe we're traveling together and I tell you look we really need to get a move on we need to hurry or maybe I'm just telling you or you know giving somebody a command like look get a move on all right we need to hurry and I wanted to I thought this meme was funny let's get a move on because this picture of this kangaroo maybe some of you have seen this before there I think there are many memes with this picture this kangaroo looks very very relaxed very chill and does not look like uh this uh kangaroo will be getting a move on anytime soon so I want to switch it up a little bit and now I'm going to give you a sentence and I'm going to give you part of the phrase and see if you can just put it into context and come up with the missing travel phrase we will get there faster if we take what so what phrase could you use to complete this sentence and this is this is definitely a a travel phrase well a word that I think you should know I think many of you know it already and you could use the picture as a little bit of a hint that is a a clue that I'm giving you right there so the the phrase that we're talking about and again I'm giving you that verb because often you're going to use this with that verb well done uh Takaya Loi um to take a shortcut we will get there faster if we take a shortcut I think anytime you're traveling uh people are always on the lookout for a shortcut a way to get to their destination faster and you could just call that a shortcut and often you're going to use that with the verb take let's take a shortcut so it means a route that is more direct than the usual route or a quicker way of doing something in this case we're talking about travel in this lesson so it would really be that first part of a meaning like uh a more direct route but if you're doing some activity maybe you're putting something together assembling it and you oh I found a shortcut and in that case then it would be referring to a quicker way of doing something here are some examples talking about like a more direct way I I mentioned already we will get there faster if we take a shortcut or maybe you're telling somebody look you can take a shortcut across the field go go this way and yes you'll be able to take a shortcut what do you think I have a m in Denver on my way to La so in this case we're talking about well I I'll go ahead and tell you we're talking about traveling by plane I have a m in Denver on my way to La you could probably infer that based on this you know Denver on your way to La that right there is actually a picture of Denver International Airport Dia so I your your final destination is La but what do you think I have a m in Denver on my way to La there is a you could use another phrase I see a lot of people say like layover layover would work in this context that is another word you're talking about travel that's actually not the one that uh I I put in there but it does work if you have a layover in someplace you have this temporary period where you are going to relax but uh there is another one that that you could use so let me go ahead and give it to you in this case I was just talking about a connecting flight so if you want to use the phrase connecting flight flight then you are stopping somewhere temporarily in which case you have a layover and then you are going on to uh La there again there are other ways that you can say this and I'll put it down there so if you said layover that works but a connecting flight is a flight train or something that leaves at a suitable time for you uh to take it to continue your journey after you have traveled on a previous flight or train so really you have a connection a lot of times you might say you could say a stopover as well that also works I see that in the chat but uh to talk about two different ways to refer to this I have a connecting flight in Denver on my way to LA or I have to connect through Denver on my way to La um so again you could connect through a city on your way to another one and that tells the person that you're going to stop that you have a layover or you have a stopover and then they going to continue or you could use connecting flight so again all of those words and phrases are generally used to refer to the same thing it just really depends on the way that you want to phrase it as whether you have a layover or a stopover or a connecting flight or you're going to connect through some City on your way to your final destination what do you think uh in in this one in this case there there is just one uh response that I'm looking for if someone were to say I love to avoid crowds therefore I prefer to travel off what uh what phrase completes this you can see this picture right there this very perhaps some secluded beach in the middle of nowhere and there's not many people around and that's why somebody says look I prefer to avoid crowds therefore I prefer to travel off so I I I guess you could include the word travel as part of this because often yeah you're going to use it with that verb and Well Done uh saw some great answers fatty acid teayo uh Julia we're talking about off the beaten path so if you travel off the beaten path that in that case you're we go ahead and give you the meaning you're really going to a place that maybe is not known or popular with many people I know that when I like to travel if I have a choice between going to some very crowded well-known City or going somewhere like a town that may be more off the beaten path that's what I would choose to do I would rather avoid the crowds go see someplace that maybe is not as well known and therefore I could say yeah I like to travel off the beaten path or off the Beaten Track either one of those is okay and what I wanted to point out here this is a resource that if you watch these lessons I definitely bring it up uh from time to time if you're ever in a situation and you want to compare the usage of certain words or phrases you could use either one and you could use engram viewer to to put it on a graph so I can put in off the beaten path off the Beaten Track and it basically shows you how commonly used are in comparison to one another in this case it's really the same and you could use either one and they're used at about the same amount of frequency you could say I said I like to travel Off the Grid yeah Off the Grid is another phrase that's very similar the only thing I would say about Off the Grid in that case it makes me think it is somewhere that yeah very remote I think of someplace that is really nobody else is around and you are in the middle of nowhere in that case in that if you are off the grid what do you think because of the traffic accident we had to m a slight M and I'm giving you the word slight even though it's not absolutely necessary to use as part of this phrase however I think that you may use this word if you're talking about this travel phrase and you can see the road there so this is one that pertains to driving for the most part not always I think anytime you're you're trying to travel to a destination you could use this phrase but quite often I think you're you would use it in the context of driving and you're going somewhere by car so we're because of the traffic because of the traffic accident you know you're not going to go maybe the direct route in that case you're going to possibly take a slight detour to take a detour or to take a slight detour um all right Joo welcome all right thanks for uh becoming a member joining the team I love it so here is the meaning if somebody takes a detour uh a different or less direct route to a place that is used to avoid a problem in this case in the example a TR uh the a traffic accident or to visit somewhere or do something on the way so if you're avoiding something you're going to take a detour but if you perhaps maybe go out of your way because you want to you want to see this other place before you go on to your final destination you could still use this phrase yeah we wanted to to visit this Lake that um you know is kind of out in the middle of nowhere because it's off the beaten path so we took a little bit of a detour on our way to this major city that you are traveling to and I'm just going to review and keep using these phrases because you can certainly use them uh multiple times if you're talking about traveling and and visiting someplace all right love seeing these emojis thank you guys so this is a a funny I I again I don't know if you could see it these images are a little small so I can give you some context and tell you what's on it it's supposed to be funny because you can see on the the orange sign it says detour and it's pointing in this direction but just below it it says it's a dead end and it says no outlet and it's like wait a second how is you want how is that a detour to go right into the dead end anyway let's move on to the next one we are making M because of that shortcut so I'm bringing up that word we've talked about a shortcut already is a more direct route to get to your final destination who doesn't love taking a shortcut on their way to somewhere so if you take a shortcut I I don't want to give it away what what is that doing to the time that it takes you to get there which is why I have the picture there of this hourglass because I I'm I'm bringing that into the I'm giving giving you a little bit of a hint so you take this shortcut what does that do to the time um and maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the word time because it's kind of uh giving it away so if you take a shortcut and you're just wanting to comment that uh yeah we're making good time because of that shortcut this is a very common phrase when you're traveling somewhere and you want to basically say that you're ahead of schedule or you're yeah you you you're just going to get there early and perhaps you're you're happy about that you say oh yeah we're making good time now here are some other examples because you're just you're basically able to complete a trip quickly I already gave you this example sentence we're making good time but because of that shortcut you don't have to use the word good you can use another adjective instead we're making uh or we made great time I think it only took us an hour and 15 minutes so you can make good time you can make great time and it has a positive connotation because you're just getting somewhere FAS and who does not like to get to their destination quicker I know I do especially if I'm especially if I'm traveling by train I just don't like I just don't care for airline travel I'd much rather uh take a road trip or uh go by train what do you think on our road trip we took a little detour all right we've already talked about that phrase we decided to route and drive up the coastline on our road trip we took a little detour we decided to M route which is part of the expression that I want to highlight and drive up the coastline this is a picture of the California coastline if you ever visit the state of California and you're taking a road trip I highly recommend you well you don't have to take a detour maybe it is but you go up Highway one and go along the coastline it's gorgeous and you can see Big Sir which is actually this is where the the picture is taken from but uh in that case if you are driving along a highway or you take any route that is very beautiful it's lovely and that's the reason you're taking it you could say that you are taking the scenic route and this is an this is a phrase that's kind of fixed um actually you could take we could take a scenic route as well we could use the article uh um if if uh if it fits in that like let's let's take a let's take a more scenic route but uh you are often going to use it with the verb take we're going to take the scenic route up the coastline and visit and see Big Sir so I mentioned detour could be because of an accident or it could be because you want to do it so in this case if you take a little detour because you want to take the scenic route it works here is a funny uh shirt I I'll again I'll read it for you if you can't see it but just just the the definition of a scenic route is a way that is not the fastest way but that has beautiful scenery and if you are not in a hurry and you're not looking to take shortcuts then yeah perhaps you would like to take the the scenic route uh I said if I'm driving I feel a little more like I can take my time and in that case generally I don't mind taking the scenic route this shirt says I'm not lost I'm just taking the scenic route so if you're going somewhere and maybe somebody says well you're you know I I you know we're we're now lost in the middle of nowhere you can say look we're not lost in the middle of nowhere I I just decided to take the scenic route look around it's all this nature uh it's very beautiful and you're taking the scenic route here is a review of the travel phrases that I wanted to highlight again these are ones that I like to use that I think are really relevant in conversation if you're talking about uh trip that you took or even one that you will take you can use these phrases from time to time whether you're flying taking a car train it really depends on the the way that you're going to travel but uh these are ones that you can certainly use and you will hear uh if you're having a a conversation about travel if you enjoyed this lesson and you learn something new whether you learned some of these phrases or even uh talk talked about those collocations please you can let me know by hitting that like button and uh yeah that's what it's all about is just building your vocabulary taking a topic that I think we can all relate to and adding to it a little bit at a time so I really appreciate all of you joining me today I hope that you found this lesson useful and I will see you in the future with another --- ## 683. Useful Technology Phrasal Verbs for Surfing the Internet | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xhN9jSMkNFs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhN9jSMkNFs) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:45:51 | --- Today, I want to talk to you about some useful phrasal verbs that you may use every day That's coming up. What's up everyone? My name is Wes. This is Interactive English, which is all about helping you practice and improve your English skills. And today I want to talk to you about some useful phrasal verbs that are related to the computer, to the internet, to technology in general, which is why I said you may use these every day because we use the computer all the time. So the first phrasal verb that I want to talk to you about, well actually a couple of phrasal verbs that have the same meaning is log in and sign in. And what this means is just to access a computer or even a site using a name and a password. When you first start using the computer, you may need to log in and then if you perhaps want to go to a website, you might have to sign into that website, Anonymous 821 signed in to multiple accounts on standing by. I logged into Hoytsman's computer and flooded it with Thai pornography. Then we have to click on and that just means to move the mouse over to an application to a link and then you select it. You click on the application or you click on the link, Just click on the enchanted boots to put them on. I don't know. Can I see them in another color? Just click on them. Next we have scroll up and scroll down and this just means to move to the top or bottom of a site or a text. So for example, If you're using a document you might need to scroll down to find more information or keep reading or maybe if you miss something then you would scroll back up. Okay, wait a minute. What happens if you scroll down? How about if you scroll up? You can also scroll through a site or a document and this just means to go through it. To go up and down. Usually because you're looking for some specific information and you are scrolling through the site. In order to find the information that you need. I will take a silent face journey as I scroll through this comment section. And scroll through the onscreen menu. You should scroll through the pictures on my husband's phone. So because we're talking about computers, the internet technology, I want to tell you about a great opportunity to help you improve your English. And a way that you can do that is by taking some online classes with Lingoda, which is a language school where you can take lessons in English, German, Spanish or French. And I've even studied at Lingoda. So I can tell you it is a great place to learn a language. So with lingo Goda you have many options when it comes to learning English and if you'd like to learn a lot in a short period of time, then I would suggest that you check out the Lingoda sprint because this is the best way to quickly improve your English skills. Now Lingoda two gives you two different options to choose from. You can take the sprint in which you'll take 15 classes a month for three months, so you will pay each month. If you take each and every class and successfully complete the sprint, then you will be eligible for a 50% refund. Now if you're thinking, I, I really want to challenge myself, I want to learn as much as I can, then I would recommend the super sprint in which you will take one class each day for 90 days. So every month you will pay for the classes. But if you take all 90 classes and successfully complete the super sprint, then you will be eligible for a 100% refund. Now when you sign up, you will need to pay a 49 euro deposit in order to secure your spot. But this 49 euro will be taken off your first month's payment. But for all of you here at Interactive English, you can use the voucher code SPRINT7 to get a 10 euro discount on your deposit. So click on the link in the description to find out more information about costs, schedules, as well as how to get that 100% refund and of course use that voucher code SPRINT7 to get your 10 Euro discount and really begin taking your English to the next level. The next phrasal verb that I have for you is to back up and oftentimes you're talking about backing up your computer or backing up your hard drive and this just means to keep an extra copy of information for safekeeping. Every now and then I need to back up my computer. I need to save that information in case something happens or maybe you say you're going to back up your hard drive, which is where the information is stored and you are going to back everything up because you definitely don't want to lose it. It's always smart to back up your computer. Every time it's triggered, I get a text like a Google alert, I don't even know what you're talking about. You know he backs up his hard drive every night, right? What are you doing? Backing up the hard drive. It's a good habit to get into. Next is hack into and when somebody hacks into another computer or even a site, then that just means they are illegally accessing a computer or they're illegally connecting to some kind of network. So it's not a good thing. I hope that you are not trying to hack into someone else's computer in order to steal information. but this is a phrasal verb that you may definitely hear if you're watching a movie or a TV show and somebody is trying to illegally access some information. They may hack into the computer or maybe hack into the network. He hacked into our system. You hacked into her computer. I'm hacking into the phone's camera now. That's it. That's a livestream. Monica hacked into our server. Okay. Please don't tell me that you hacked into end frames system. I won't tell you that. Well did you hack into it or not? Sheldon, that computer is used for national defense hacking into it is a federal crime. Then we have the phrasal verb run out of and this just means to decrease the supply of something. When talking about computers, it's common to hear someone say that they are running out of space. They use the computer all the time. They're storing all this information and photos and they begin to run out of space. Now this is a phrasal verb that you can use in a variety of different contexts, but it has the same meaning. For example, you might run out of gas if you're driving a car or maybe here at home I might run out of milk, which is true. I am running out of milk so I need to go to the store. The supply is decreasing. But when you're talking about a computer, people would say they're running out of space. Apparently the net has run out of webspace and they don't have enough bytes left to add my name. Now, if you're trying to create more space, you might use the phrasal verb free up and you're trying to free up space and make it available so that you can continue to save photos and other information on the computer. You need to free up some space. We can also use this phrasal verb and a variety of other situations as well. For example, you may need to free up some of your time and you make it available so that you can do other things. But when talking about computers, it's all about the, the space that you have, the memory. Most of the time people free up space by deleting things, but just make sure that's why it's good to back everything up so you don't lose anything. You're making a choice to destroy it, to never see it again. You choose to delete because you need to free up space because you don't want it anymore. Next is the phrasal verb pop up. To pop up, which means just to suddenly appear. So I think it's normal nowadays if you are using the internet, that an advertisement will suddenly pop up and it just appears, so this is a phrasal verb to pop up, but it can also be used as a noun because that advertisement, the one that pops up is referred to as a pop-up. It's called a pop-up. But the action to pop up is a phrasal verb. And I keep saying pop up so many times. I hope that this is not confusing. Yeah, except when you update the software, a little window pops up and you click okay to actually go inside there, but I've seen those ads pop up on my screen. Then we have opt in and opt out and this just means to choose to receive messages. So if you opt in, then you are saying, yes, I will receive some messages. If you change your mind and say, I don't want to receive any messages any longer than you can opt out. Opt in, opt out. What value can we offer now to the user to entice them to download the app and opt into our network? This is the butt whisperer 9,000. Cushion track. Dog walk side path. A must. Liability opt out button. Keep them coming.And drill Sergeant mode. We also have the phrasal verb filter out and this just means to remove unwanted email messages. So if you receive emails that, that you don't want, you're not interested in these messages, then you may try to filter them out so that you just don't receive them anymore. Google always filters out my emails. They think I'm a bot. And when we said someone should probably help Eric by filtering out any negative comments he mentioned you by name. Then we have three phrasal verbs that mean well, they all mean the same thing. So this should be easy and that is turn off, shut down and power off. And it just means to, to end a session on the computer and you just stop using it. So if you're not going to use the computer anymore, you can turn it off or maybe you'll shut it down or perhaps you'll power it off. You can use any one of these three. In my personal opinion, I think turn off is probably the most common, followed by shut down and then power off. It's still used, but I don't think it's as commonly used. And I'm probably going to hear from a bunch of people in the comments say, I always say power off. I love using that one. You can use any of them. Don't worry about it. They all mean the same thing. Turn off, shut down, power off. Turn off the computer and come downstairs. I'm going to need your gimble angles Jack. Before you shut down the computer. Energy probe. Shut down, Alex. Shut down. Power off. Then we have plug in, which is a phrasal verb specifically talking about plugging a power cable into a socket. Plug in. So if you need to charge your battery then you're going to need to plug it into a socket so that you can continue to use the computer. I don't, I don't think your computer's plugged in. I'm sorry guys. What are you doing? Plugging in your computer. Then we have print out and if you are printing something out then you are making a copy of something from the computer. Most of the time it's talking about a document. You open up a document and you want to have that, that hard copy, so then you will need to print it out. Print out. Look, I've got your advert here. I've printed it out. I've printed out some reviews. I've been craving Sudanese all day. I'll print out some menus. Then we have set up and to set something up just means to install a new program or perhaps even assemble a computer. I don't think that most of us are assembling our own computers and it's like, Oh, I have to set up my computer. You might say that in the context of you have a new computer and you need to move all your information from the old computer to the new computer and all of your programs. In that case you could say, you know, I need to set it up. I need to get everything ready so I can start using it again. But you will see this phrasal verb when you start using a new program for the first time, you will need to set it up on your computer. You install it, you set it up, and then you can start using it. We set up a voice activation system on your computer. I'm going to need so much help setting up my computer. I'm like a total grandma. Then we have keep up with. And this is probably my favorite phrasal verb because I think it applies to me. This is used when talking about technology because what it means is to maintain the same of something and often I think it's talking about like knowledge or changes and it really applies to technology because often people, well people like me, he might say, you know with so many changes happening and it's moving so fast, it's difficult to keep up with all of these changes. It's difficult to keep up with all of these updates on the computer. It's difficult to keep up with with all of these different forms of social media. So if you're like me, then yes, it may be difficult to keep up with all of these changes. I've been trying to keep up with her, but I'm an old ass. What do you like about Ryan? Ryan keeps up with all the latest technology trends and he's very honest with me when I put on weight. And I hope that you have no problem keeping up with our lessons because you don't have to sign into anything in order to watch our lessons. Now, there may be an advertisement that pops up from time to time and you may have to watch it. But that's just about it and I'm just trying to use these phrasal verbs again and again because that's just going to help you remember their meaning. If you enjoy this lesson and learn something new, please hit that like button. And as always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time. --- ## 684. Useful Time Expressions to Help Improve Your Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `XeC8fL0eAA8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeC8fL0eAA8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:46:34 | --- hello hello hello how's it going I hope you guys are having an awesome day out there my name is Wes this is interactive English and we are always coming out with new and different lessons to help you guys practice and improve your English skills and today I have a very very cool lesson for you we're going to talk about something that is commonly used all the time every day so it's a really important lesson and that is time we're going to talk about time and telling time some of the the useful words and expressions that we use when we want to say what time it is and again this is very important because as I said we we used this every day we're constantly thinking about well what time it is everybody has a busy life so the this is very important stuff that we want to know and again if you're joining us please say what's up in the chat of Rosario Lou and Vivian hey how's it going Patricia glad that you guys can join us and even if you're watching this later just say let me know your name where are you from write it in the comments love hearing from you guys and glad to have you with us so today we're going to talk about telling time and some of the useful words and expressions that we can use when we want to say what time it is it's gonna start out it'll start out a little easier and this is this may be stuff you already know you're familiar with but then it's gonna get a little more difficult and especially once we get into some of the expressions that we use when telling time because you don't want to just say the same thing anybody you don't want to say the same thing anybody ask you hey what time is it you want to be able to give different responses because it just helps out with your overall fluency so the first thing that I wanted to show you guys and talk about today is the 12-hour clock and the reason I want to talk to you about this is because that's what we're going to use when I'm when I'm talking about saying time we're going to use a 12-hour clock and the reason that we're going to use a 12-hour clock is because well that's what most english-speaking countries use and if you are listening to music or watching TV or movies and listening to English more than likely you are gonna be you're gonna hear people talking using a 12-hour clock and so let's let's go back a little let's back it up give you a quick little history lesson so the 12-hour clock how did it come about and I'd be curious to know in the chat or in the comments what do you guys use do you use a 12-hour clock or do you use a 24-hour clock which one which one do you use what do people in your country use let me know let me know in the chat I'd be interested to hear from all of you so the day's originally long time ago the days were divided into two different cycles and that makes sense you had the daytime and then you had nighttime and the the time was tracked depending on the position of the Sun in the moon historically you had ancient Egypt you had the Romans you had the British Empire all used the 12-hour clock the 12-hour cycle and then when clocks came about many clocks as you can see my clock down there in the corner began using a 12-hour analog dial and when I say the dial it's just that picture down there and they would use Roman numerals the twelve Roman numerals to represent the time for the 12-hour clock so all of the words and expressions that we use today that I'm going to teach you about it refers to this 12-hour clock okay so very interesting all right Bradley I used 12-hour clock at my country Brazil they used the 24-hour clock okay Marco says 24 hours more comfortable yeah that's true it's very interesting Egypt's the 12-hour clock it's very interesting to see what everybody's doing as I've lived in different countries I've become a little more used to a 24-hour clock so both of them are very familiar but again with with english-speaking countries I don't know why everybody just uses the 12-hour clock Britain the United States Canada Australia so again for the for this lesson we're going to talk about and discuss things based on that 12-hour clock so let's start out with something simple and easy because we all we love simple and easy don't we and that is just saying you know the basic time how do you say the time so when you have your time kind of like we have this clock right there you're going to say the hours first you'll always say the hours it's and then the hours followed by the minutes okay you say the hours and then the minutes so in the shots in the comments I want you to write down and write out your answer what time is it right now using this method just the hours and the minutes all right what what time is it right now and see if you can spell see if you can spell the numbers instead of just writing the numbers cuz that's pretty easy okay what time is it right now let me know in the chat so let's look at this my nice beautiful digital clock right here and use that as an example so the hours that's on the tenth so it's 10 and then you say the minutes it's ten twenty nine okay it's ten twenty nine this is a very precise way of saying the time if you're you're telling somebody this if they asked what time it you if you use this way you're being very specific very precise you'd say uh it's 1029 now let's look at these other examples below and how we would say that so look at the first one for all right you see this one right here okay if I say what time it is if it's the top of the hour you would say the the number the hour and then o clock followed by oh clock what time is it it's 4 o clock it's 5 o clock it's 6 o clock so if it's the top of the hour remember you're going to use that o clock all right five o'clock six o'clock seven o'clock eight o'clock nine o'clock if the minutes are from one to nine okay you're going to say the hour all right look at that one that I have down there for you you're gonna say the hour seven and then zero you're going to say o again seven oh eight what time is it it's seven oh eight so if the numbers are 1 to 9 the minutes you're going to say o 701 702 703 I was recently teaching a student and just asking them what time it is I was more curious about the time difference because we were in two different locations and the student told me they said it's five five and I was thinking for a second wait a second I knew what he meant because I knew what time it was here and I knew he meant five oh five and then we had a nice little discussion about saying the time so again if that that's zero if the numbers 1 to 9 the minutes you're going to say 708 and I wrote that as an example kind of I'm putting it in quotes because it's it's like you're saying the time speaking and I I do want us to speak today okay I want you to speak we're gonna make this a little a little bit of a speaking lesson later on once we do the practice and then the last example down there what time is it the hours and the minutes it's 11 12 all right what time it is it it's 11 12 the one thing I want you to know with if you're saying time like this okay we say this with in the morning in the afternoon in the evening so when we use those time expressions in the morning in the afternoon in the evening oftentimes we oftentimes we're using we're saying time like this we're saying the hours and then the minutes okay it's ten twenty nine in the morning it's ten twenty nine in the evening okay so if you want to add that other time expression it makes it more specific so you know whether it's the morning the afternoon or the evening a lot of often you can just use this based on context because if people are outside then you most likely know if it's daytime or nighttime but sometimes we're inside and we lose track of time and somebody might say yeah in the morning in the afternoon in the evening especially if they want to emphasize this like like it's really late in the morning and you've been sleeping in late so this is a very simple easy way of doing stuff you say the hours and then you say the minutes now let's look at some time words okay and this is talking about the various parts of the day and these are some good words that that indicate a period of the day that that you should be able to conceptualize and know okay what time are people talking about so in the chat or in the comments let me know I want you to write tell me what is your favorite part of the day and why what's your favorite part of the day and why that is my question to all of you all right right now let me know what is your favorite part of the day so let's let's go around let's go around the whole circle so this day that I have right here would be based on a 24-hour site okay so it's it's a full day and let's start at the top right there at noon or mid day which would be 12 p.m. sorry for the the graphics I tried to make it look like the the yellow for the Sun during the day and then down make it a little darker at night it didn't turn out as well as I'd like but you get the idea so 12 p.m. right there up at the top would be noon we would just say it's noon or midday more commonly I think people would say noon I don't hear a midday as much so people often say noon instead of saying 12 p.m. so once we move once the time moves after that then we are into the afternoon alright and that's a very general time period that there is no specific time like oh it's from here to here it's just after noon that's what it's based on and that is the the day time period until the Sun is going down and when the Sun Goes Down you have the sunset which I think most of us are probably familiar with that word sunset when the Sun Goes Down you have the sunset and after the sunset there is this short period where it's still light out we can see and it's not dark just yet but the night is coming quickly so it's that period from when the Sun Goes Down you have the sunset and then there still light before it gets dark and that is dusk that is what we refer to as dusk and it can also be called twilight that time period where there still light but the Sun has gone down it's Twilight it's dusk once the sun goes down then we are into the evening which is my favorite part of the day because you can kind of kick back relax and enjoy other people are saying the evening as well excellent Maria some people in the mornings okay very cool very cool again let me know what what's your favorite part of the day so once you get into the evening that is when people have dinner they relaxed maybe they watch some TV and then they go to bed and at 12 a.m. that is midnight okay so we have 12 p.m. would be noon all right around lunchtime and then the opposite would be 12 12 a.m. that is midnight and then after midnight you're kind of you're moving back into what people consider morning that it's the early morning and then we go back around and before the Sun comes up this is also important before the Sun comes up it starts to get light you don't see the Sun but there's light and that is what is dawn people can also refer to this as Twilight as well because Twilight is basically any period where there's light but the Sun is either up or but the Sun is still down so it both dusk and dawn you could refer to as Twilight even though I think most people think of Twilight around dusk once the Sun Goes Down so you have dusk and dawn dawn is the time right before the sunrise and then once you have the sunrise then people most of us commonly just refer to that as morning and then you're back at noon and it just goes round and round and round and the time never stops even though I think many of us would like it to stop sometimes so again if you're just joining us welcome we are talking about telling time and the different expressions and words that we can use to tell the time and afterwards I have a little practice for you some of you oh my favorite part of the day is sunrise ooh very cool I am not much of a morning person so I'm not a huge fan of the sunrise I like to sleep in so let's get back to telling time and I want to look at this and talk about half hours so when we're talking about our 12 hour clock all right a lot of times things are broken into different intervals different minutes and a common one is a half hour which is 30 minutes and if we're talking about a time that is right here 30 minutes past the hour then you would just say half past half past and then the hour it's 30 minutes past the hour it's half past mmm and then you'd say the hour so for this okay that 3:30 now this is where let's let's practice some speaking right now I'm gonna say geez what's time what time is it I want you to say the answer I want you to tell me the time all right this this is it's 3:30 we're gonna use 3:30 and I just want you to speak the answer and say it out loud if you're if you're if you're with us right now or even if you're watching this later everybody wants to practice a little more speaking speaking speaking so now's your chance to do a little speaking and just practice it okay so I'll ask you again what time is it you should say it's half past three all right what time is it 3:30 its half past three all right let's look at the next one 8:30 I'll ask you you can tell me hey uh what time is it did you tell me did you tell me the time I hope you did cuz it you should say it's half past eight so if it's 30 minutes past the hour most of the time we're just gonna say half past it's half past one it's half past two it's half past three it's half past four so thirty minutes we would use hath passed in the comments right now in the chat if you were speaking out loud I want you to write the words speaking I want to know if you were actually talking to me and having a little bit of a conversation okay if another thing to point out just so you know a little difference between some of the the British English American English we'll talk about this throughout the lesson but in British English some people may say they may just say half eight so if somebody says half and then the hour that's what they mean they mean thirty minutes past the hour so eight thirty it's half past eight some people in Britain might say it's half eight I remember traveling a long time ago and the first time I heard this I asked somebody from Britain what time it was and they said I think like oh it's half 5:00 and for a second I was trying to think I was like hmm do they mean 4:30 or do they mean 5:30 I wasn't quite sure but if somebody says half and then the hour they mean it's half past that time so 8:30 would be half eight 9:30 would be half 9:00 and of course a very common way that we talk about the time is to give estimates to give approximations so again there's my digital clock right there we can estimate things with about you can always do it if it's 10 29 you don't have to say again the hours and the minutes it's 10 29 you can use about and just estimate it's about half-past ten and then you know that okay it's about 30 minutes past 10 o'clock it's about half past 10 so that is how we can use the half all right so if it's thirty minutes we're going to use half past let's look at the next one another increment very commonly used would be 15 minutes so if we're talking about 15 minutes past the hour it's 15 minutes past the hour we would say it's quarter past and then whatever the hour is okay it's quarter past the hour so again I want to do this a little little speaking right now I'm just gonna I'll give you the time I'll ask you what time it is and just say it out loud practice using these because these are great expressions that that people use all the time instead of saying 215 okay so let's look at that one first 215 what time is it you should say it's quarter past two it's fifteen minutes past two it's quarter past two let's look at the next one okay are you ready 5:15 what time is it it's quarter past five ten fifteen what time is it it's quarter past ten again I want you to practice saying these out loud I don't I I don't it doesn't matter where you are if you're at home if you're on a bus if you're at school if you're at work practice saying these out loud even if you're watching this later on it's always good to get a little bit of speaking practice and actually pronouncing these words and saying it out loud because that's another great way to help you remember the information so 15 quarter past would be 15 minutes past the hour Americans down here a side note for this one Americans also use after I think I probably since I am from the United States I probably use after more than I use past I would say in this example my clock over there you can see I'd say yeah it's quarter after 1:00 it's 15 minutes after 1:00 o'clock so you could use either past or after if you want to say it's it's 15 minutes past the hour but after it's more so I think an American thing than it is a British thing but just so you know food for thought it's quarter after 1:00 it's 15 minutes past 1:00 it's it's the same okay so again if you guys are doing this practice if you're saying this out loud I want you to write just right speaking in comments so I know that you guys are actually participating and saying this stuff and repeating afterwards also I have another question for you do when when you're talking about time in in English do you use these already do you use half past are you using quarter hours to save the time because again this is something that we do everyday that it's so common all the time to use half and quarter so this is talking about quarter past fifteen minutes past the hour now let's look at if it's fifteen minutes until the hour 15 minutes until the hour you are going to use to or till which would just kind of be shortened for until til it's quarter to the hour it's quarter till the hour so again let's just practice let's practice speaking a little more let's look at that first one I will ask you what time it is and just give me give me this response 4:45 that's the one we're starting with 4:45 what time is it and you should say it's quarter till five you could also say it's quarter to five let's do 9:45 what time is it it's quarter to ten its quarter till ten both mean the same thing and 11:45 what time is it it's quarter to twelve or you could say depending on the time you could say it's quarter to noon it's quarter to midnight depending on the time of day twelve it's either going to be noon or midnight those are other ways to express 12:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. so we can use two or til when we want to talk about that it's almost at the hour almost at that point another thing I probably more common I used to I don't know why I don't really use till that much I would always just say it's quarter to one quarter to two quarter to three quarter to four quarter to five I personally just used to I don't know which one you are more common you you are more comfortable with you can let us know let me know in the comments I'd be curious okay some people are when I'm doing it aloud perfect excellent thank you for participating excellent let's look at oh that other note my side note down there for you that Americans will also may also use of and this one I think can be pretty confusing it depends where you are from in the country I don't really use of I've heard it before but people might say it's quarter of two that means that it's 15 minutes until two o'clock its quarter of two so if you ever hear that when you're watching a movie or watching TV then you'll know it's 15 minutes until that our quarter up to a quarter of 3/4 of four it's more of an American thing I don't think it's as common so let's continue hello again if you guys are just joining us great to have you with us let me know your name and where you're from we are talking about time and time expressions and different ways that we can say the time so let's look at using time alright using time wisely so I kind of wanted to give you a visual of past or after as well as two or til so again that that clock that hour can be divided into two different parts if you're talking about the first the first part of the hour all right 1 to 30 minutes you're you're you you're going to use past or after when you're talking about the time if you want to say the minutes and after and then the or once it goes over that half-hour then you would use to or till and then whatever the next hour is so I hope that kind of gives you a little bit of a reference as to how the clock is divided and how people are going to use past and after and - until and again if you guys use these let me know write it in the chat do you guys use past and after - until it's great to learn it's great to practice because again we use this all the time excellent so let's look at a also I wanted to point out just for one thing if we're talking about if we're gonna say again morning afternoon evening remember that we're not really going to use that you you're not going to use it's it's quarter after 1:00 in the morning it you could I think it sounds a little strange if you're gonna use those time expressions in the morning in the evening in the afternoon remember it's most commonly used with this form right here when you say the hour and then you say the minutes it's 10:20 9:00 in the morning it's 10:20 9:00 in the evening so that's something to keep in mind if we're going to use those expressions let's look at just some more examples using past after 2:00 until so I hope that you guys can see these clocks down there it's a little small but I think you can kind of get the idea as to where things are at so let's look at that first one right there the the shorthand is almost to the 7 the longhand is on the 8th so we're gonna say it's 20 to 7 it's 20 to 7 it's 20 minutes until 7 o'clock it's 20 to 7 or you could say it's 20 till 7 the next one right there with both hands are pointing to the one we'd say it's five after one five after one or you could say that's that's more of an American way of saying it you could also say it's five past one five minutes past the hour five minutes past one o'clock it's five after one it's five past one again if you are gonna say in the afternoon it'd be more it's fun if it's it's 105 in the afternoon that's what I think would be more commonly used with in the afternoon let's look down here these clocks right here the long hand is on the five and the short hand is in between the two or three so it's a it's twenty-five past two it's 25 past to the the other thing that I wanted to tell you guys when you're using these you know that the clock is divided into twelve numbers all right so it's basically five minutes we use these a lot when we're talking about these five minute increments 5 10 15 20 25 35 we use that a lot so we'd say it's 25 past 2 it's 25 after 2 to say it's 225 and then the final one over there that clock in the corner it's pointing to okay it is it is almost 11 o'clock the long hand is pointing at the 10 so we'd say it's 10 till 11:00 ten minutes until 11 o'clock it's 10:00 till 11:00 or you could say it's 10:00 to 11:00 all right so excellent oh thank you jessabelle from the Philippines love this video well excellent I'm glad that you guys are finding this useful hello hello lene RK I see some new people in here hope you guys are having a great day again thank you for joining us today on this Saturday or even if you're watching this later thank you for joining us let's let's do some practice and again I want to make this a speaking practice so I'm going to give you a time and just ask you what time it is and I want you to think of all the different ways that you can say it and see how many that you can say if you don't want to say if you want to write them down write them in the chat write it in the comments I would recommend try speaking it it's great to say the language but if you want to write it that's fine as well just it's it's good to participate and get involved in this process is the only thing I want so let's look at the first one all right are you ready and boom okay so I want you to say the times out loud or if you want to write them it's fine so again I put it in quotes you just say it's mmm okay what are the different ways that we we could say this this is the time right here I'll give you a moment and then and then we'll go through them and I'll show you the different answers I'll show you what I have so if you look at the clock and you see this time and somebody asks you right now I say what time is it can you can you tell me what time it is what are some of the different answers that you could give what time is it what do you think what time is it so I hope again so you're ready perfect all right yes yes yes VidCon Mohamed Aquino perfect Murillo excellent so some of the things you could say if somebody says what time is it and this is the clock all right the first one you could just say the hour and then the minutes it's 2:15 okay it's 2:15 the p.m. so it would be 2:15 in the afternoon what time is it it's 2:15 in the afternoon you could also say as some of you wrote the chat it's 15 past two 15 minutes past 2:00 o'clock you could also say it's 15 it's Fitz it's quarter after 2:00 is another one we talked about those quarter hours it's quarter after two also it's quarter past two that was another one so you can use any of these examples you could say it's 2:15 you could say it's 15 say the minutes past the hour it's 15 past 2:00 or you could say again 15 we just say it's a quarter it's quarter after two it's quarter past two again quarter after it would be that that's that's more made that's the American Way of saying it so the next one are you ready here it is this is the time this is a time that I really hate to see because it's too early so my question for you is what time is it what time is it tell me what time it is what are some different things that you could say what are some different things you could say if you see this time what time is it and say the answer is out loud it's hmm what time is it all right let's look at let's look at a few of these so first I would say okay it's 6:40 again just saying the hour and the minutes it's 6:40 in the morning all right its morning time usually I'd say it's 6:40 in the mm maybe throw some profanity in there morning because I am NOT a morning person I would hate to see this time we could also say it's 20 to 7:00 all right it's 20 to 7:00 some of you wrote that in there it is 20 to 720 that perfect Vivian Nick brad.leah perfect excellent way to go so it's twenty two seven twenty minutes to two seven o'clock or twenty minutes or twenty til seven twenty minutes until seven o'clock excellent let's look at another one um what about this time right here what would you guys say you see this on the clock and I ask you what time is it what would you tell me can you tell me the time all right for this one there are different ways that we could go about it so let's look at a few of them what we could say is just say the the hours and the minutes it's 11 48 okay you could also say it's 12 minutes all right that's what's missing all right it's 12 - and again we're gonna go to 12 p.m. so you could I put a red line through it because again not many people would use this because it just sounds a little awkward and redundant it's 12 to 12 or 12 till 12 technically that's correct but we wouldn't really use it because of the numbers that we're talking about 12 and 12 more common this is when somebody would substitute 12 p.m. for noon and you could say it's 12 to noon or 12 he'll noon or again if we want to use about and give an estimate you're good to say it's about 10 to noon or you could say in that case it's 10 to 12 10 til 12 that's perfectly fine all of those are all of these answers are fine I just kind of marked out 12 to 12 because again it's just it sounds a little bit like a redundancy and it becomes a little more confusing so people put in there it's 12 to noon perfect it's 12 to midday that is also perfectly fine excellent excellent you guys are rocking it let's do another this time right here what would you say for this time what time is it what time is it you can say your answers out loud or write them in the chat or if you're watching this later write your answers in the comments write them down use the comment section like it's a whiteboard and you can practice and use the language that's the most important thing what time is it so this one what we are talking about a half-hour so let's look at the different ways we can say this again we can always say the hours and the minutes it's 5:30 it's 5:30 5:30 in the evening this would kind of depend on the time of year it's winter right and house so it still gets dark early so I would say it's 5:30 in the evening in the summer when it stays light longer then I might switch and say it's 5:30 in the afternoon so it really depends on the time of year again 30 minutes we'd say a half past it's half past five it's half past five in the US you could say half after five I don't think it's as common usually with after it's it's mostly those quarter quarter hours or as I said in Britain they might say it's half five which means it's 5:30 the most common one would just be it's half past five what time is it it's half past five that's the one that I really wanted to get and all of you said it Broly Oh Nick's done in it's half past five al-aziz perfect Eduardo 5:30 perfect welcome Eduardo just arrived excellent so again these are all great ways to use time expressions in order to quickly review with you guys how we use it again the first way very common is just to say the hours and then minutes it's 1029 and we often use this method especially this way of telling time if we're going to use in the morning in the afternoon in the evening we talked about some important time words that you'll find throughout the day I think most of you are familiar with many of these words maybe dusk and dawn might be two different words so remember dusk is after once the Sun sets and then dawn is just before the sunrise and that is that period of time where there is just there is light out and you can kind of see but the Sun is nowhere to be found and people might often refer to that as Twilight we have 1/2 hours if it's 30 minutes we're just gonna say half half past half past the hour it's half past 3 half past 4 half past five that is a good one to know and same with quarter if it's 15 minutes then we're gonna use quarter it's quarter past whatever the hour is a quarter past two it's quarter past five it's quarter past 10 and as I said Americans like me will sometimes use after instead of past if it is 15 minutes until it reaches a certain hour we're going to use to or till my personal preference I often use to but as those examples 4:45 its quarter till 5:00 9:45 it's quarter to ten 11:45 it's quarter to 12:00 or quarter to noon quarter to midnight whatever time of the day it might be so those are some other expressions and again just showing you how we use past and after 2:00 until and it's most commonly used with those increments of you know 5 minutes 10 minutes 15 20 25 that's a common way of expressing the time so I really am glad that you guys join me today please if you have questions write them in the comments once this video gets posted if you're watching this later again say what's up let us know where you're from right any comments let us know what time it is what time are you watching this lesson please again like and share this video help us spread the word and as always you can join our social media classes we are active well let's start here Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat and of course right here on YouTube so we appreciate you guys being here with us today Braulio Eduardo Murillo long Maria I'm sure I threw sorry if I miss some of your comments as well sometimes not all of them pop up so thank you guys again for participating and being here and we will see you next time have a great weekend --- ## 685. Useful Tips on How to Build the Perfect Resume or CV | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `9l6atz6RHWk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l6atz6RHWk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:42:52 | --- today I am going to talk to you about how you can build the perfect and ideal resume or CV that's coming up what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place that you want to be if you are looking to practice and improve your English skills now today's lesson is one that has been requested by many of you and it's more of a business English lesson because I'm going to talk to you about some useful and common sense ways that you can go about in building your perfect resume or CV we're going to talk about how to build the perfect resume or CV and this is useful I think to everyone out there many people who are watching this channel are English language learners and they would like to apply to an international job and they would like to have build a CV or resume in English and even if you're an English native speaker everybody out there is applying for jobs or they're going to look for a job in the future and you need to have that perfect resume or CV because you just want to improve your chances when you actually start looking for a job so I say common sense ways to help build your resume or CV because these are things that that all of us should be doing and I don't think sometimes not all of us do these things and I'm also guilty of not doing all of these things but I want to give you these useful tips and suggestions on how you can do just that so if you are joining us please in the chat write your name tell me where you are from or even in the comments later on just if you're watching this later write your name in the comments tell me where you're from I just want to hear from all of you guys and let's just begin so the first thing that you might be wonder is well what's the difference between a resume and a CV they're pretty similar because both of them are it's just a way of highlighting who you are your education your work experience your accomplishments but there are some some little differences and let's have a look at those right now so a resume is just going to be a quick summary of your skills and experience it's usually one to two pages oftentimes it's just a single page it's something that's really short really brief and and highlights the the number the top things that you want to share with this company that you're applying for and resumes I think are more common in the United States and Canada I think many parts of the rest of the world they typically ask for C B's and C these are just in it's a little more in-depth it gives a little more more details than a resume and it talks about your achievements and it's usually two or more pages now I say two or more I don't mean that you know C B's are typically ten or twelve pages that's a bit too long I think on average a CV might be three or four pages but it really depends it's going to be different depending on who you are because if you're younger your CV is maybe going to be a little shorter in it then if you're older because if you're older you probably have had more jobs you have more experiences and therefore you would highlight those and you would have a longer CV so again whether you're writing a resume or CV keep that in mind they should be varied they should be detailed and they should really talk about the highlights the things that you really want the this person to know about you okay and if you're wondering well which one do I use when I'm applying for a job I think most of the time if you're a look at if you're applying for a job in the job description it'll say whether you should submit a resume or a CV and just look for that if they ask for a resume then you no if they ask for a CV you know that as well so my first question for all of you guys which I want you to write in the chat or even in the comments later on is this one right here how much time do you spend on creating a resume alright how much time do you spend on creating your resume or CV let me know in the chat do you spend one hours two hours three hours four hours how what how do you go about doing this and then I'll share with you my experience alright what what I do and for me personally doing a resume or CV it's not something that I can sit down and do at one time period I usually do it over multiple days sometimes even a week and what I'll do is I'll start on it one day I'll do a little bit the next time the next day I'll do a little more and then I'll do a little more the next day until I feel like it's finished and everything on it is perfect because it is something that you really want to check and you want to make sure it's correct so typically I end up spending you know a fair fair bit of time doing this so the first tip that I have for you guys okay the first tip that I have for you is this one right here and that is to know your audience know who you are giving your resume or CV to know your audience that's what I mean by that and there are two things that I think you should keep in mind when it comes to knowing your audience the first one is this alright in which country is the job or business located alright which company are you applying for is an American company is it a company from Europe and the reason for this is because not all resumes and CBS will look the same depending on the country a CV in Brazil could look very different than a CV and Mongolia and you need to know who your audience is where is this job which country it is it in because then you can find out well how does it how do people in this country typically do a resume or CV that's very important to know and understand it's also important to know which field or industry are you applying to which field or industry and the reason for this is because again if you're doing a resume for architecture that can look very different than a resume for computer science or coding so you want to make sure which field or industry what type of resume or CV is common and relevant and useful for that industry and in order to do both of these that leads me to my next tip and suggestion for you which is so so so so so important and that is do the research ok don't just sit down and write the resume make sure that you do some research first and find out as much information as you can about the company as much information as you can about the location the resume type the style what is it that people are looking for and some of the things that people might be looking for is this so if we're talking about a resume you might know as it is it going to be a chronological resume that lists things in order is it going to be a functional resume that has your highlight has has highlights your achievements or accomplishments also what's what's the format of the resume or CV going to look like is it going to have a pitch should you put a picture should you not have your picture what about the headings should you put your education first or should you put your work experience first do the research to find out which is the best resume or CV for the industry or field to which you are applying and a great way to find out some of this information is to use Google images as a reference that is a quick and easy way to do just that so just to show you this I'm gonna show you a comparison because I just typed in into Google Images two things I typed in America resume and German CV so just looking at these pictures let's see how they are different so let's check those out right here well here we have the German CV okay so here is a picture here's just some pictures that come up of the German CV and here's the American resume America resume German CV America resume German CV just by looking at those two okay whoops what can you guys what can you guys see the difference I think probably the first thing that that you should have noticed is that the pictures okay on the American resume there weren't really that many pictures on there I think maybe it show two on the german cv most of them had pictures of the applicant pictures of the person who's creating this CV so this is a good way Google Images is a good way to to find some of this information out and get a lot of different samples so you can read other people's resumes and kind of see what they look like and at the end of this lesson I have a little treat for you because I am going to show you my resume and you can see kind of what that looks like and get a feel for it so the next tip that I have for you is this one right here and that is to use action words use action words before we did a lesson that was more about action words that are adjectives that you can use for business interviews for your next job interview and I will link that up in the card up above if you want to check that one out but when I'm talking about action words I'm specifically more talking about this using action verbs and also for grammar writing inactive sentences so the reason we want to use action verbs like develop create manage implement structure because these verbs stand out if somebody's skimming through a resume or CV these are words that typically jump off of the page and they're more interesting to the person who's reading it they help emphasize your education your experience as well as your accomplishment so it's very important that you use the right words when you are writing when you are writing your resume or CV be very careful of that also you want to make sure that you are using active sentences don't don't use the passive voice the reason for this is because active sentences they're easier to read and plus in an active sentence you're highlighting the subject doing the action and in this case because it's your resume it's your CV the subject is you you want to highlight that you are the person that is doing this action so be sure to write using active sentences all right okay the next one that I have for you and this is so so so so important is no grammar or spelling mistakes okay you should make sure that there are no grammar or spelling mistakes on your resume and CV that means that you need to check it again and again and again and again and again before you submit it and I think it always helps send it to somebody else ask them hey can you look through my resume real quickly can you read my CV and and get some feedback see if they find any typos any spelling mistakes any grammar mistakes and the reason that you should make sure it's perfect is because this is this is somebody's first impression of you because they're gonna get your resume they don't know who you are and this is their first impression it's a reflection on you and if there is a typo if there are a lot of spelling mistakes or grammar mistakes the first thing that I would think is why why didn't this person make sure that everything was correct that everything was in order that if they didn't put the care in time into doing their resume or CV maybe if I give them a job and a task to do how do I know that they're going to put the time and care into doing that job so again make sure that there are no grammar and no spelling mistakes before you submit your CV and you always need to revise it again and again and again it's so so so important the next tip I have for you is something that has been a little difficult for me I think it's something I often overlooked and it can be really challenging and that is to try to network try to get your resume and CV out there to the world it's for as many many people to see as possible because that's only going to help your chances of getting a job the more people that have your information and the ways that you can go about trying to network as I said share your resume and CV share it with your friends share it with your colleagues so that if somebody becomes aware of a job maybe they can go ahead and forward your CV or resume to this prospective employer also you can use platforms like LinkedIn that's a great way to to list your education your experience and your accomplishments it's more developed for working professionals for business professionals so make sure it's updated on LinkedIn and again keep it updated and this is something that I think all of us forget I do as well if you work somewhere for a few years and then you go back and you look at your resume or CV and think oh wow this is old I need to update it keep updating your stuff make sure it is current you don't want to turn in and submit things that are old and again this is another thing sell yourself I just put that down there that's a very America I think when people are trying to sell themselves and really say this is me I'm the best person for this job please please please hire me but I think it's always good to sell yourself and really highlight your education your experiences your accomplishments on your resume and then network network network network that is only going to help you when it comes to to finding a job and making sure that you have you are in the best position to get hired for that job so what I want to do now is let's let's have a look at my resume okay I want to I want to show share with you some of my resume and we'll have a look through it and I'll see because I think there are some things that I need to do to change it around to make it better because I think again this is something it's an ongoing process we can always make and improve our resumes and CVS so let's let's first have a look so this is a resume from from this year okay now right here you can see that I've blocked out my my address and my personal email because again you know if you guys want to get a hold of me it's not that difficult you can cut leave comments here and you want and I usually respond but this is a chronological essay because I'm putting things in chronological order with the starting with the most recent so my education and even my work experience down here at the very bottom my resume is two pages you can see that my teaching started in Korea in 2006 and seven at an academy and then I went on to work as a visiting professor at a university that's when it started okay that about a little over ten years ago and then the chronological order it it just moves up to where we are today now again I put my education first as an educational instructor trying to show okay this is University of San Francisco where I got my ma I have a certificate at UC Berkeley and I got my undergrad a long time ago well a kind of a long time ago at the University of Colorado now my work experience again my most recent interactive English perfect and I go through you can see I've had a number of different jobs but depend again this is chronological order there's other things that if I wanted to change this around and write more of a functional resume and highlight maybe I'm applying for an administration job this would be something I'd want to highlight I was the director of an intensive English program in Berkeley California I was before I was the director I was the academic coordinator at that school so I have some administrative experience so if I was if I were applying for an administrative job then that might be something that I'd want to highlight and create more of a functional resume now let's look at some of the language and nitpicks some of the language that I use in here some of the verbs okay we have okay implement develop alright manage these are good verbs that that stand out when somebody's reading through this utilize complete I think if I were to make a critique of mine I think facilitate that's another good one sometimes I use the same verbs over and over again I think it would help me to use different words I use conduct and implement quite often as you can see here's conduct down here again but these are some of the action verbs that I use throughout my resume I think they're good but probably I think it would be beneficial if I use some different ones now I highlighted again the education and work experience first on the second page these are other things that I would like people to know about me but maybe it comes towards the end it's it's not what I want people to see first I have some volunteer experience that I did in Coast Rikka as well as here are some workshops that I attended professional development I actually think probably this should come before my volunteer experience I could move that around because I think that's more relevant to any teaching position that I'm applying to languages also travel Mithu fine Who I am Who I am as a person so that is a quick sneak peek at my resume and again I'm this is a way of me networking a little bit because I'm sharing it with all of you so and sharing that but again even in looking through my resume there are things that I think I can go through and improve on and make it a little better so that it can stand out a little more and also if I were doing a CV I have a CV but it's a bit older I need to update that I should probably put my picture on there depending on the job that I'm applying for but again depending on the job and the industry you need to do the research because it's not always going to be the same the tips and suggestions that I gave you in this lesson they're fairly universal but it's going to help you understand the type of resume the type of CV that you should be submitting in order for you to stand out so that they call you and say hey we want you to come in for a job interview so one question that I have for you that I want you to write in the chat in the comments is this in the comments section let me know what's your dream job what dream job would you like to have if you could have any dream job in the world and you were going to fill out and complete a resume or CV for this job what what job would you guys like to have I just love to hear from you guys write that in the chat write that in the comments so as always thank you guys so so so much for watching I appreciate you being here with the Deepak long Bassam Sebastiano Kiara that daki thank you guys so much for joining me sorry if i mispronounce some names please as always like and share this lesson especially if you enjoy what we do here at interactive English and don't forget join whoops they're up here join these social media classes we're on Facebook Twitter Instagram we are posting stuff all the time to help you guys practice and improve your English skills thanks so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 686. Useful Tongue Twisters to Help You Practice Pronunciation ๐Ÿ˜œ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qZAJidoaxSo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZAJidoaxSo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:20:24 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes this is interactive english and if this is your first time here please say hello to me in the chat tell me where you're from or even in the comments down below if you're watching this later write your name tell me where you're from i'm always i'm always interested to hear from new people and of course it's great to see some very familiar names and i'll get to those in just a second but i want to tell you what what we're going to do today and i want you to practice speaking that is the goal for this lesson i want you to practice speaking and you're really going to be working on your pronunciation and the way that we're going to do that is with some tongue twisters i have five tongue twisters that we're going to look at that we are going to practice together and i i think it should be well i think it should be fun interesting entertaining so the first well there is my uh title slide tongue twisters uh i want to begin by well i'll tell you what a tongue twister is and then we're going to start with some that i think maybe are a little easier and then we're going to move up to some of those that are more difficult but before we look at the first one of course i want to say hello to some of you who are here with me lolly always good to see you uh necklace cc yashar uh ten kritika nice to see you nyan uh mean boomi angela welcome uh mavia arturo as we go through these i'll try to uh get some more shout outs in there because again i want you guys to practice saying these out loud and then i want you to tell me what you what you think of them did you think it was easy or difficult because that's one thing about tongue twisters is that it some people may find some of them to be very easy and others will be very difficult and it's going to be different for for each person so let's begin talking about well what what is a tongue twister in case this happens to be your first time hearing of this phrase i'm sure most of you are familiar with uh these statements and sentences because you probably have them in your native language as well so a tongue twister is it's a sentence or phrase it that is intended to be difficult to say especially when it's repeated quickly and often so the first few that we're going to look at are are very short and they're really phrases that are meant to be repeated again and again and again and i think with all of these tongue twisters it's it's good to try to say them quickly that's that's the goal that's the um that's the thing you want to do is to try to say them as fast as you can which is what also makes it very difficult because this this could also it's very difficult for me as well so i told you the the reason why i think this can be useful is well i i think if you are able to identify some difficult sounds because i think in any language there might be some sounds that are a bit challenging so if you can identify one or two of those sounds and then look up if you can find a tongue twister that has that sound and you're able to practice that that's what i would recommend doing to practice your pronunciation and then what you should do because i don't think you need to say tongue twisters every single day what i think would be very helpful is that if you find one that you want to work on maybe for a month or a couple of months write that down put that in your if you have a vocabulary notebook or a vocabulary folder write the tongue twister in there they're typically not very long and then whenever you go back to review old vocabulary words if it's maybe once every two weeks just practice saying that tongue twister or once a month practice saying that tongue twister and it's really just getting uh getting exercise for your mouth you're you're really working out your tongue so let's uh let's begin with the first one all right this one right here and this would be a good example of if i said if you can identify some sounds that are difficult in english if i've taught many learners before they have trouble with the r and the l the the r and the l so in in that case if this is you this would be a great tongue twister for you to practice on your own uh and you try to say this try to say it three times okay so i'll say it you can hear my terrible uh the terrible job that i do at saying these tongue twisters and then i want you to practice saying these out loud uh i want you to do this with me okay so this again it's rl um you see those uh you see those sounds um those letters appear quite often the r sound remember your tongue is in the middle it's kind of pulled back like you're smiling er and then the l the tip of your tongue is behind your tum your top front teeth so red lorry yellow lorry so i'm saying it a little slowly um red lorry yellow lorry all right and then i'm going to say it three times quickly and then i want you to say it three times quickly so i'll do um red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow laurie all right that's actually i think one of the better times that i've i've done this now so now i told you i want you guys to practice speaking in this lesson i want you to say this out out loud three times i'll give you uh maybe about six seconds i'm i'm just gonna wait while you say this ready go okay that little moment of silence i hope i hope that you were saying this tongue twister out loud uh what i want you to do is let me know how difficult you think this this tongue twister uh this tongue twister is for you so on a scale of one to five if you thought it was easy one would be the easiest and five would be the most difficult so think about for you did you think this was easy or difficult just get you can write a one to five so i know one would be the easiest five would be the most difficult all right so um hopefully uh you guys were able to do that oh hey mon how are you good to see you i just say hello edgar marty welcome good uh nice to see you here uh excellent i i like everybody's like yes i'm done uh i was able to do that yashar says easy breezy all right excellent um neon was challenging so this is a good one for that rl pronunciation and you say it i i think the faster you say it and if you continue doing it um it might i'll try and see uh red lori yellow lorry red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow lorry you have red laurie yellow lloyd and it sounds like le lelo lori uh lello rory and you kind of just start mixing those up all right okay so wow i'm i'm uh janissa it was easy omid was a four okay a little challenging um okay necklace was not too easy okay so this is uh this is good a little bit of a mix i told you it's gonna be different for everyone let's look at the next one okay so stupid superstition so this can be challenging you have that st letter combination in each of those words stupid and then station and then you also have like the stu stupid and then it's switching to just the su sound stupid super okay and the reason why i chose this one if you don't know what a superstition is it's something that people might believe in where and there's no real evident there's no facts or scientific evidence to show that this is true so for example maybe i think um oh okay like uh i'm i'm a little nervous about the lesson every time before i do a live lesson i i kiss my pen for for good luck all right it's a superstition it's not true it's just an example and some people might say as a collocation well that's a silly superstition or people might say well that's just a stupid superstition so this is actually a phrase that i think people will use when talking about superstitions because some of them are very ridiculous and you might refer to them you might think that they are stupid so this is actually a pretty good phrase and it is also a tongue twister so let's practice uh saying this one saying it three times i'll say it three times and then i want you guys to say it ready and i'm gonna say it as quickly as i can all right stupid superstition stupid superstition stupid superstition okay all right now i want you guys to practice i'll give you five seconds are you ready go okay all right i hope i hope you were able to do this one easily and naturally and say this out loud that is my expectation for this lesson that you are speaking out loud right now i don't care where you are even if you're at home or on the bus just just start just use this opportunity to practice speaking so same question with this one let me know what you guys think was it easy or difficult for you give me one to five one being the easiest five being the most difficult what did you think of this one and i told you uh i told you at the beginning remember it's gonna get a little more challenging uh as we go through some of these so oh i want to say hi uh dorcas valerie excellent welcome good to see you um all right i love tongue twisters a lot of people saying they're not superstitious i am also i'm not very i'm not a really superstitious person either um but it's a good word to know uh lolly thought this one was hard okay all right uh takaya good to see you four alright so this one is a little more challenging um some of you maybe had an easier time with it again these are all they're going to be different for each one of us because i think some sounds are going to be more challenging depending on our native language uh muhammad said it was five uh who else uh ismail a two okay so this is a good phrase i think that you may hear somebody say if they're talking about a superstition they say oh that's just a stupid superstition or a silly superstition those i think would be some collocations with the word uh superstition all right are you ready let's let's get make it a little longer right now here's the next one this one is um it's a little more famous i think at least at least in the united states this is a tongue twister that i think is pretty well known that when i was a child um i would you'd come across this tongue twister um and people might say it so this is one that i'm a little more familiar with so in this case we're practicing it's just that p sound that and i know some people might have trouble with uh minimal pairs like the p and the b sound the real the big difference is that the p is voiceless there's no vibration and the b the b is a voiced sound so this one is really just focusing on the p so let me i'll say this and then i want you to say it i'm going to say it as fast as i can um i'm going to time myself too because then i'm going to give you twice as long when you practice this okay so i got my stopwatch ready and you can listen to me say it and then i want you guys to say it ready and peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers a peck of pickled peppers peter piper picked if peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers where's the peck of pickled peppers peter piper picked all right i told you i had i've had some practice with this one uh so this is one that i'm very familiar with uh which maybe it's not cheating but it it makes it easier the more you practice these the easier will become i think that's just with anything so i was able to do that in where is it seven and a half seconds all right so i'm gonna let you guys i want you to say this as fast as you can okay and i'm gonna give you about 15 seconds are you ready and go all right say it out loud 15 seconds as fast as you can you should be speaking right now okay a few more seconds and stop okay all right i hope uh i hope you were able to finish this uh tongue twister and same question again i kind of want to gauge which ones are a little more challenging for all of you one to five one being the easiest five being the most difficult how did what did you think about this one was this difficult for you or did you think this was easy one to five let me know uh well holly thank you yes i told you i've been practicing i've been working on this one uh boomi says it's too hard dorcas it's difficult all right now i got some uh lin now i get some fours and fives up there this is a little more challenging i think because it is longer you have um you got a lot of the that p in there a lot of a lot of alliteration okay so oh dark set is one all right valerie wow all right impressive so for me this one actually is a bit easier than some of the other ones i think in part because i have said this many different times i i'm very familiar with it so this for me would be a little bit easier now i'll say it one more time just in just uh just to show off a little bit so peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers a peck of pickled peppers peter piper picked if peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers where's the peck of pickled peppers peter piper picked all right and you just get that ppp sound coming out rapidly all right uh i hope that and again this is one that you could look up practice on your own uh if you think it is a little challenging and again this is a fun way to practice your pronunciation as well as again speak speak out loud many people tell me oh i have nobody to speak with well this is you can kind of speak out loud with yourself i hope you're speaking with me as we practice this right now one thing that i imagine some of you may be wondering you may be wondering what is the most difficult tongue twister out there i'm glad i'm glad that you asked that because if you were to look that up online i have a couple for you right here here is according to the guinness book of world records i i told you i think that it's really going to be something that's personal for you i know i have an easier time with some tongue twisters than other ones and then i know other people think i think it's difficult other people think oh that's easy i don't know how they came up with this um but this one i think it is i think it's pretty challenging so we'll practice this uh right now and we'll we'll see okay so let's see i don't know let me see uh uh oh voice is gone let me know if that the audio comes back let's see if i can look at this the second time in a row i've had some issues with the audio um audio seems to be should be okay all right somebody says it's back all right i apologize i'll have to uh look at what's going on maybe it's my internet connection something dropped let's just practice saying this one and this one is not these are words that you're not really going to use together it's really just because of the sounds all right audio's back excellent all right the sixth six wait sorry i already messed it up okay the sixth sick cheeks sixth sheep's sick all right i'll say it one more time the sixth the sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick all right i'm having a tough time saying it slowly all right i would like right now let's have you i want you to practice this uh out loud say this slowly or quickly it's up to you um depending on how much you want to challenge yourself so i'll give you a few seconds i want you to say this out loud right now okay i'm i'm trying to imagine like i'm listening to you say this out loud uh let me know what do you think again one to five one being the easiest five being the most difficult so mine's like no way i can't do it this one is very i i think it's very challenging that's i think sixth uh just in general that ordinal number uh that xth is a very challenging sound the sixth six sheik's sixth sheep's sick all right yashar said it's a three all right not two not too bad um uh ten critiques says it's difficult but it's not all right five takayo yes so i told you i think for for some of you um i'm a judge wow a one okay i'm impressed some of you maybe think some of these are easier and others are more difficult all right so this was according to the guinness book of world records but everybody has a different opinion and i there was a disagreement about the world's most difficult tongue twisters there we go now it should be working i apologize this was just a a silly mistake i added this to uh when i use obs for these live streaming and you have to add like a web browser you have to add the camera and i did this right before the lesson started and of course i forgot to add the microphone that is the reason why it's gone out there's actually there was nothing wrong with the settings i was just um a bit of an idiot okay so this you should be hearing me now what all i was doing while you guys were probably listening to me awkwardly speak silently to myself i was just reading this and talking about how they did this study at mit and they found this tongue twister right here to be the most difficult one for people to say so let's look at this tongue twister and practice saying it so according to mit researchers this right here is the most difficult tongue twister that many people had problems with pad kid poured curd pulled cod okay again this is a this is a sentence you're not really going to say this for any reason whatsoever it's just a tongue twister because the stat the sounds are are difficult to say it quickly and you're supposed to say it 10 times i'm not going to say it 10 times i'm just going to say it three times i'm going to try to say it three times and then i'll ask you guys to do the same so you can listen to me make a fool of myself right now as i try and say it three times quickly pat kid port kurt pull cod pat kid port curled pro paul pad had kid port kurt pulled cod okay i uh of course i stumbled there so i want you guys try to say it out loud i'll give you five six seconds uh say it as quickly as you can practice speaking ready go okay all right again let me know how you did what did you think of this one um one to five one being the easiest and five being the most difficult what did you think of this one so i wanted to show you guys both of these two right here that were at least deemed the most difficult tongue twisters in english um what did you think of this one lorena says the hardest ever uh gia says it doesn't seem that hard okay omen says it's the easiest one all right lynn not so hard he sees laughing i for me i would say this one was the hardest of all of these this uh the six six sheep six sheep sick this was the most difficult for me because it just it feels awkward trying to say these words together so uh again i think one thing that um one thing that tongue twisters i said at the very beginning it's different for each one of us uh even for all of you it seems like some of you think that some are very easy for you and others are difficult it's not the same for each of us but again this is a good way to practice and i think people when they think of pronunciation one thing people say ask me is like well how do i practice what is one way that i can practice my pronunciation this is an example using tongue twisters to practice speaking out loud if you can find a sound that maybe you think is difficult or even a sound that you're working on right now if it's the r and the l um i told you you can go back to this first tongue twister we talked about and actually practice your pronunciation it's not something you have to do every day it's not even something you have to do every week but maybe just practice it once a month or something just a different tongue twister really just to exercise your mouth that that's what uh that's what this is all about so uh one thing i want to say uh oh the voice is gone again maybe i'm gonna have to gonna have to keep checking what's what's happening with some of this i apologize at the issues with the the audio today two weeks in a row there have been uh the issues with the audio all right uh if you guys enjoy what we do here at interactive english want to show us some love saw some members uh and patrons today there you get a youtube membership patreon there are links down below in the description really helps uh helps keep this going uh really helps us what we do here at interactive english uh i want to just give some shout outs lolly uh great to see you me the most difficult is the r all right excellent so the i would suggest like that tongue twister i think there are a few more out there uh tongue twisters with the r that you're able to practice some of those i would just do you could do google searches for tongue twister uh r sound and you might find a few different ones that you could just practice saying so i really appreciate you guys being here with me today i appreciate even more that you were participating in today's lesson that you were actually practicing speaking out loud um and there you have it you were actually speaking english today even um and you were you were talking to me okay so thank you guys so much for joining me um boomi angela suhana lin tankertika anuga enugra sorry again if i mispronounce names nyan i hope you guys found this uh useful i will write some of these uh tongue twisters down in the description if you kind of want to review or if it makes it easier for you to uh look at them in the description so i will include those down below and again just yeah practice every now and then this is a great way to do it good to see you thank you uh takayo good to see you um fatima thank you esther mean uh was it gia yashar hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend i'm just gonna end it right there you guys did a great job today and i will see you --- ## 687. Useful Verbs to Talk about the SPRING ๐ŸŒป | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `qMkRJt-bVW0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMkRJt-bVW0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:29:16 | --- so spring is here it's my favorite time of the year so I wanted to teach you some very common and useful verbs that you can use to talk about the spring that's coming up everyone my name is Wes from interactive English videos calm and we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and today I I want to help you build your vocabulary as well as improve your grammar because I want to teach you some very common and useful verbs that you will hear and that you could also use if you are talking about the spring and you can use these verbs in a variety of different ways it's not always just to talk about the spring and and I will talk a little bit about that as we go through these verbs so when you think about the spring you probably think about flowers and plants so a very common and useful verb that you may hear is blossom to blossom and this is just talking about when flowers are produced that there are trees and the trees will begin to blossom the flowers appear it's very bright it's beautiful lovely colors and you could say they are they're starting to blossom and another verb that well I think of flowers in this case would be to sniff somebody might tell you that or they might ask you hey why don't you sniff these flowers they smell really nice and you can sniff the flowers this is another verb that I think you would often hear if you're talking about maybe perhaps an animal think about dogs they might sniff it's the they're taking that small short breath and they're trying to smell something and they would sniff if we're talking about plants you might use the verb sprout and if you have a seed and it starts to sprout its just talking about it is starting to grow and when you put in the ground and you start to see the plant you could then say yes the plants they're starting to sprout and then there is another phrasal verb that you could use and that is team width and you might be talking about an area that is teeming with flowers and in this case team with means it is it's full of something full of activity full of life and you could say that well the garden is teeming with flowers but you could also use this phrasal verb if you're trying to describe some area like the like a park and you can say well it's it's teeming with people it is full of something to team with when you think of spring you probably also think of growth so some verbs that we can use to talk about growth would be flourish and if you describe something as flourishing then you're saying that it is growing successfully you're saying that it's very healthy and it is starting to flourish so a garden could flourish you could also say that a business is flourishing and it's growing successfully to flourish then we have the verb to rejuvenate this means that it's ascribed something that is starting to to look better it is growing it is developing and it's starting to look better it's starting to look healthier and you could say that that it is rejuvenated and in this case I think of spring the trees start to blossom and the flowers come to life and ever everything around us just begins to rich it starts to look better and look healthier to rejuvenate and then we could also say breathe life into something and this is more of an expression but it's talking about you are you are bringing something back to life and it is growing it's developing it's healthier and in this case if something may be dying or it's struggling you could try to breathe life back into this thing to make it look better make it look healthier and you want to breathe life into something but in the spring you may also think about animals so some verbs that you might use with different animals the is like a merge you could say that animals start to emerge in spring and this just means that they start to become visible again for example you could say a bear might emerge from its cave it becomes visible again now if we're talking about specific animals or insects and the verbs you might use with them you could say that birds chirp you could also say that crickets chirp these would buzz and frogs would croak so those are some different verbs that you might use with specific animals or insects in spring eggs also start to crack a chicken's eggs will crack and didn't have those baby chickens and this is when you would hear the expression a spring chicken and a spring chicken is talking about just a young person and often you might hear it used in the context of somebody trying to say that they are not young anymore and they'd say I'm no spring chicken for example I can say yes I'm starting to get older I I am no spring chicken oh not anymore I'm not a young person and of course in spring there are many activities that people might do for example people might mow the grass and you would use that verb to mow people might also have have a barbecue and you could say they are having a barbecue or you could just use barbecue as a verb and you could tell somebody hey you know let's barbecue this weekend let's let's get some food invite some people over and we will barbeque and a very common verb that you might use in spring is yet and there are several different collocation that you would use with this verb these words that are frequently used together so somebody might try to get healthy in spring and they're trying to exercise and they just want to get healthy and when they do that they may get outside more often to get outside that's another great collocation you could also get a whiff of something and in that case you are smelling something that's in the air you get a whiff of something and you might also get allergies this is a this is a phrase that I understand very well because every spring I always get allergies and in spring the weather changes as well so there are some common verbs you may use for example to melt if you are changing from winter to spring and you live in an area where there might be a lot of snow then the snow will melt you could also use the verb shine to shine because I think spring there are more sunny days and in that case you would use you would use this verb more often to shine the sun is shining you could also say that the the temperatures it's starting to warm ah that is a useful phrasal verb to warm up is just talking about the weather becoming warmer and then if it's raining outside you could use verbs like drizzle this just means to rain lightly it is just it is drizzling outside or you could also say sprinkle that it is sprinkling and it is just a light rain so drizzle and sprinkle you could use them interchangeably it is just talking about light rain which you may encounter in spring so those are some very common and useful verbs that you may hear if somebody's talking about the spring or you could even use if you're having a conversation about the spring so in the comments let me know what is your favorite thing about spring let me know and maybe try to use some of these verbs just to get some practice if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 688. Useful Vocabulary for Job Performance (Lesson Notes Included) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fplxQPLyWxI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fplxQPLyWxI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:11:36 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. I have well it's a vocabulary lesson for you in which I want to teach you different words and phrases that you can use to talk about a person's job performance. So these are words and phrases that are related to work. These are words and phrases that you'll come across in the workplace. And this is a quiz lesson for you because I'd like you to participate. Write your answers in the chat in the quiz. And if you would like to download the lesson notes and join our email community, there's a link down in the description. And if you're already a part of our community, then uh check your email because I have already sent them to you. So let's begin with some positive words. So I've I've positive adjectives. So I've broken this into different parts, positive, negative. So, I'm going ahead and and giving you that information. So, the first one, uh, positive adjective that you could use to describe a person. This is a little bit of a fill in the blank. I've given you the meaning down there, and I just want you to tell me the word. What word is missing in this case? She's intelligent, hardworking, and for some of these, there may be synonyms that you think of. So, there there could be more than one answer. However, I'm I'm just going to focus on one word. And this word means having an agreeable or pleasing personality. And I think a key word in this is personality. Someone you can talk to. You get along with this person easily. They are very friendly. What's a word that you could use to describe this person? And I think this is a a good adjective that you could use to describe yourself. If you go in for a job interview, uh this is a a good word to to know to talk about. So the word that I was thinking, it's one word. All right. Uh like I said, there's different ways that you could uh different words you could think of. Personable. So if you say that someone is personable, you're referring to their personality, the way they are, just a pleasing personality. It's a good person to be around. And like I said, this is a great word if you go in for a job interview and you talk about yourself, like different words to describe myself. I'm hardworking. I'm personable, which tells the the the others uh the employer that you can easily get along with others. But like I said, I see some answers in there. Yeah, amiable, cheerful. Those could those could work as well. But maybe if this is a new word for you, then that's great. How about this one? He always does a m review of his work. We're talking about someone who is detailed and careful. And I think a key word in this is the word review because this is an adjective noun collocation. You may often hear people use these words together. He always does a m review of his work. when you're talking about the work that someone does on a paper, on a project or however that they they they're really careful, they really give a lot of details. What do you think? And like I said, this is a a collocation that I think you may hear. So meticulous is a good word. It's also means you pay close attention to detail. That's true. But yes, Jocelyn, that was the word that we're going for, a thorough review in this in this context. And once again, think about that collocation. Generally speaking, you might describe someone as meticulous. It's not often used with the word review. I think more more often people would talk about somebody doing a thorough review and a detailed review. the next one because I have quite a few of these that I'd like to get through. How about this one? Her numbers are always right because she's very m I almost said the next part of the word. You see, you see that hyphen in there, and that's kind of a a hint, but it it's a word that means paying close attention to all of the small particulars when working on a task. And some of these meanings, I I had to change a few words because the answer was well, part of the word was in the meaning. So, think about it. What again? This is a word that has that hyphen in there. So, what do you think if somebody's paying small close attention to the small particulars? And I almost said it just then, which adjective would you use? And again, think of somebody who works a lot with numbers. Of course, they this person would need to be very meticulous, very thorough. Yes. Excellent. Uh, Vina Iona. Uh, Alona. Yeah, I the the answer that I was going for was detailoriented. And really the the thing that I want you to think about is the second part of that word that oriented because this is you may hear somebody say that they're detail oriented. They pay close attention to the details. They are maybe somebody is resultoriented that they really focus on the outcome and less about how you get there. And somebody's resultoriented and that oriented is really referring to like okay this is the focus. What do you think? That's the focus. So the next one and again this is a little challenging to to hone in on the word that I'm talking about because like I said there are when it when it comes to talking about some of these adjectives there are many synonyms and other words that may also fit in there. Many of his colleagues admire his mapproach and the meaning of this word is you're you're trying to control the situation rather than just responding to it after it happened. So it's like you're you're addressing the situation like right away or even before you think something is going to happen and you're not just waiting around. This is a positive word. I think a lot of employers like people who you could describe with this word. Uh, excellent. Teao. Uh, yes. Um, Talal, I'm talking about the word proactive. So, if somebody's proactive, you're not just waiting around or sitting around to get orders or somebody to tell you what to do. you're just going ahead and doing it and you're responding and you could say that you're very proactive like you're very proactive when it comes to problem solving. Great word to know. The next one I think I and then we'll get into some negative negative words. She often has many m ideas and the meaning of this vocabulary word is using new and different methods. I think this is a word that many of you are familiar with. I don't know if the meaning is enough of a clue for you to to guess it, but you're talking about new different methods. And I I think this is an adjective that you you would often hear with the word ideas. And I would say to give you another hint, I feel like this is a word that's associated with technology as well. When talking about tech companies, new technology, people may think of this word. She often has many m ideas. So nice, the correct answer. Excellent. Vicky Gustav, good to see you. Welcome, Jocelyn. Uh Aviva Olga. Yes, the the word that uh I was looking for innovative and it's very positive, new, different, innovative ideas, things that can really change and and help the business for the better. And once again, you may hear this word when people talk about technology because again, it's new, it's different. Then let's move into some negative words. I have some negative adjectives that I want to share with you because when when you talk about somebody's job performance, it's not always positive. You may be talking about one of your colleagues that maybe you don't feel like this person is doing a very good job. So these are all words that have a negative connotation. During the during meetings, he is sometimes. So the meaning of this word is not giving attention to someone or something. I think this is a pretty common word and a word that gets used around the workplace because it happens. People may not pay that much attention or they're not really focused on what they should be doing and they're daydreaming. And you could say that somebody is what during meetings he is sometimes what do you think if somebody is not paying much attention you could say that they are I don't see the word so I'm going to go ahead and tell you guys yeah distracted sure maybe that might be a reason again this is a a word that would definitely be more negative in this case I would say somebody is inattentive. Inattentive. So you could take away the prefix and you could use this and says that somebody is very attentive. But I I think more often people are going to use this uh in the negative and say that somebody is just really inattentive and you can't trust this person to get things done and focus on the work they should be doing. So again, my goal with all of this is that hopefully you take away one or two or three new words from each of these lessons. Then we have this sentence right here. She's m and does not think things over before acting. What would you say? For those of you who are currently in my speaking course, this is a word that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. you're likely to do something suddenly without considering the results of of your actions. There I think there are two words that you may think of. One of them is commonly used and I'm actually going for the other one, but we're talking about somebody who just does something suddenly and they don't really consider the results of their actions. So the the two words I'm talking about are of course synonyms. And I will tell you it's not the word impulsive. But again, this would fit that description. Somebody who's impulsive. What's a synonym for impulsive? I actually think that this has more of a negative connotation than than saying somebody is impulsive. more generally you're you're always going to use this more in a negative way. So the word the synonym for impulsive that I'm talking about is the word impetuous. So if somebody's impetuous, they're acting they're not thinking about what the results are. And you're you're acting when you should probably think carefully about this. And the reason why I say it's more negative than a word like impulsive is because I think impulsive you can use in a variety of different ways. You could say somebody is an impulsive shopper. You're not really going to say someone is an impetuous shopper. That's not that common. So typically again if you're saying somebody is impetuous I think often you may be talking about in the decisions that they're trying to make and they make an impetuous decision. word impulsive. Then we have the next one. Are you ready? And this one is a word that it's probably a little more difficult. He was criticized for his mandling of the situation. Not skilled or effective. That's the meaning. And I know it's not really giving you a whole lot because there are a variety of words in which you could say, you know, that mean like not effective. But again, there's one word that I want to talk about. It has this meaning and is another, I would say, more advanced word that you could use if you're talking about the way somebody's work ethic or or the way they conduct their job and you're talking about their job performance. some situation and the oh this was like the their mandling of the situation. I would say that uh poor is a good word because this is that's a common collocation the poor handling of a situation. That's very common. That's not the word that I'm thinking about or that uh I'm I'm giving you. Poor is a very common word. It's used with many collocations, but that is a that's a good guess. So the the adjective the and again there there are others that you could throw in here but the one that I'm thinking of again if it's new for you that's great inept. So if you talk about someone's inept handling of a situation which I think is another collocation probably not as commonly used as poor handling but it just means not skilled not effective. So, if you describe somebody and talking about their ability as inept, that yeah, they're just not very skilled or competent. Uh, incompetent, I'd say, is another word that you could use that would mean like the same thing. That's also good. Excellent. How about uh this one? This this is actually I think for many of you, I'll go ahead and tell you I think this is probably going to be a new word, which again, it's good. I think uh it's always good to try to learn a new word or two, build your vocabulary. Sometimes she's difficult to work with because she's a little I know the sentence doesn't give you much context. the meaning behaving in a slightly unfriendly and too formal way. And you could talk about this when referring to somebody's personality and like like they're a little cold. Cold. They're not friendly. It's basically the opposite of personable. What's an adjective that you could use? And again, I think that this may be a new word for many of you, but it's a good word to describe someone specifically who is acting this way. They're unfriendly and and maybe it's just yeah, a little too formal, which is why I think it's a good word when talking about work or somebody's job performance. And yes, uh, excellent, Joselyn. Um, New Yen, excellent. Perfect. Uh, Julia, the word that I was thinking of, uh, standoffish. If somebody is standoffish, you could say that they're unfriendly. They're not easy. This person's not going to open up to you. Like I said, it's pretty much the opposite of someone who is personable. All right, so let's do another one. During the interview, we discovered that he was m when talking about his prior work experience. What word could you use that means that a person is slightly dison dishonest? They're not speaking the complete truth. And this happens, I think, during a job interview. We like to embellish our our skills and abilities, but you don't want to to lie completely about your experience. So, in this situation, you discovered that someone was they were being what? And it refers to them being slightly dishonest that you're they're not giving the entire truth. This is another word that I probably would use to describe like a a salesman, perhaps a used car salesman. You can't really trust them. I I think generally they may be dishonest because they just want to sell you the car and you could say somebody is m. So the word that I'm looking for, the adjective disingenuous. So if someone is disingenuous, it means that this person is not being really honest and they probably lied. And you can't really trust this person if you're saying someone is disingenuous. It's a synonym. I saw the word insincere. That's another word that you could use to fill in the blank with this sentence. And they are a synonym. Somebody's disingenuous. They're insincere. You can't really trust them. they may not be telling the whole truth. Okay, now let's switch it a little bit and talk about some positive phrases. And these are all collocations. These are words that are frequently used together when talking about someone's job performance. So the first one, she regularly regularly m the and does things before anyone has to ask. So we're talking about someone who is to they're they're the first one to do something, especially to solve a problem. And I think this is a phrase that you would often hear at work. Somebody's talking about their an employee in a positive way and say this person regularly the so that bolded part the 'the' is part of the collocation. So you have a verb noun collocation. If somebody is the first to do something you're talking about solving a problem. Nobody has to ask. In this case, a word that would describe uh this person as well, an adjective would be someone who's proactive. All right, see some good answers. Nice. Uh Aviva, Joselyn, Kevin, well done. Takes the initiative. So, this is a positive phrase if you want to talk about the way someone's performing their job and they go ahead and do something and they're willing to take the initiative. And that's a a great way to describe someone. Then this is this is more of an idiom. He's the type of person who will go the and maybe I've given you a little too much with go the which is part of it. And the meaning is you're making more effort than is expected of you. What would you say? And like I said, this is an idiom that you are pretty much always going to use when talking about like pretty much work. There could be other situations in which you may be able to use this phrase, but overwhelmingly you're going to be talking about work and you're doing more than is expected of you and you go the great job. Nice Lai Cruz. Uh, Olga, well done. Yes, we're talking about someone who will go the extra mile. And once again, we're referring to someone the work, the the willingness that they have to do more. And you could say this, my colleague always goes the extra mile. So, another positive way to talk about someone's job performance. Here is the next one. She's really careful and close to and this is a phrase that I think is pretty common. And um once I show you the answer, I think you have heard about this. If you can kind of fill in those blanks, close and two are a part of this phrase. It means to think about something carefully. And you're really just trying to avoid any sloppy mistakes. And I was about to I was about to mention something that probably would have given it away and I don't want to to to to do that right now. So, she's really careful and close m to and this is probably somebody who is working with numbers. Uh, somebody who needs to or should be meticulous. And I was going to bring it back and say detailoriented, but detail is a part of this phrase. And I think many of you got it. Excellent to Joselyn, Kevin. someone who pays close attention to detail and they're really thinking carefully about what the work they're doing and they really avoid those sloppy mistakes to pay close attention to detail. So pay attention is a common collocation and you pay close attention to detail very common phrase. Here's the next one. He there's two words that are missing right there m in completing work projects on time. So we're talking about someone who is has a feeling of satisfaction which you have because you you've done something well. What phrase completes that? And I know it's a little more challenging. I'm not giving you much uh with just providing the word in there but once again I think this is a phrase you've probably you you have heard of and once I tell you you'll be like oh yes so when somebody has just real satisfaction for the work that they've done and they can m in my work or in this case in completing work projects on time. So close. I would say instead of takes pleasure in that's close. Uh again, this is a a positive phrase. Um I don't want to say brag. Brag has more of a negative connotation, but I'm talking about someone who yes, takes pride in completing work projects on time. you if you take pride in something, this is a phrase you're going to follow with that preposition in and you really just feel proud of whatever work that you're doing. You take pride in doing something and you would follow that with a gerand like you see in that sentence. Take pride in completing. All right, the next one. This is I think a little more informal which is also relevant to work. I know at least in the United States, which is where I'm from, work is can be a fairly casual environment. She's willing to do any task and is always ready to for the M. That's a phrase and for the is a part of it. So the meaning is you're making a personal sacrifice for the collective benefit of your colleagues. because we're talking about in relation this in relation to work. But you could use this in situations that are not related to work or your job, but really trying for to make a sacrifice for the collective benefit of your friends or family. But if we're talking about your colleagues and somebody, you know, nobody wants to do this thing, maybe this project, nobody wants to work on it, but the the company needs someone to do it. And then you are going to make a personal sacrifice. And you could say you're going to for the M. Well done. Nice Jocelyn. Uh Ellis to take one for the team. So if you take one for the team, it's a personal sacrifice. Again, it's a little more informal, but it depends on the situation. It is definitely a phrase that that you could use. If somebody is making this sacrifice and they say, "All right, yes, I'm gonna take one for the team. I'll do it. I'll take one for the team." The next one, uh, well, okay, let's move into some negative phrases. So, those were all positive collocations when talking about job performance. Let's look about Let's look at some negative ones. All right, here's the first one. the company had to let him go because he wasn't m his once again I'm not giving you much of the phrase this is another idiom this is an idiom that I believe I've talked about in uh a video lesson before and what it means is that you're you know to do things that you should be doing as part of a group of people who are working together often I think people are going to use this in the neg negative to say someone is not doing the things they should be doing. They're not helping out. They're not getting their work done on time, the the responsibilities that they've been tasked to do. And you could say someone is not. [Music] So the answer or the idiom that I was going for again and this is commonly used when talking about work especially when talking about people who are working together on a team pulling his weight. If someone is not pulling their weight, they're not doing the like what they are expected to do. And in that case, generally someone else may need to to step up and do the work and go the extra mile. So once again, this idiom often used when talking about work. And in this case, if somebody has something negative to say about their job performance and yeah, this person's just not pulling their weight. How about this one? I think this one's a little easier because I've given you very most of the phrase. She certainly has a m of commitment to her work to not have a strong interest in your work or desire to succeed. What word completes that phrase? It's a common collocation. And the the the the word that's missing is the one that I really wanted to highlight because I feel like this is a word once again that's common when talking about work job performance and this is a phrase that uh you may hear and yes you guys got it. Excellent. Emeralda Andy Olga FCO. Perfect. We're talking about someone who has a lack of commitment. And anytime you want to say there's a lack of something, there's just not not enough. All right? There's no there's no strength in doing this. So, it's not a good thing if your employer or supervisor, manager or boss says that you have the a lack of this, a lack of commitment. So, lack is a a good word to know. Then this is a word that I think maybe new for for many of you. This is actually not a collocation. I'll go ahead and tell you that this is just it's a noun. It does it does have a hyphen in there, but it's a noun. Just really one word. At our weekly meetings, he is usually a what? A person who is expected to be somewhere but never shows up. I just realized I just mentioned part of the answer. A person who should be there but is not there. And you could say this person is a m. And yeah. All right. I think I I I feel like I kind of gave it away that they never show up. If we want to take that phrase, turn it into a noun, and you could say someone is a no-show. This is a little more informal, but once again, it's a good way to describe someone who is just never there when the expectation is that they should be there and they're a no-show. But you could use this noun outside of the work environment in talking about a friend or family member who just never shows up. Oh, I think they're they're a no-show. The next one, which is a common phrase, it seems that she is often three missing words. And that picture, it's a little bit of a hint. The meaning is to do something or happen later than planned or expected. What would you say that? And and I feel like I use this phrase quite often when talking about my work or the things that I hope to accomplish uh throughout the day. Certain things like, okay, I want to do this and then I'm going to do this. Oh, no. I'm I'm not going to complete it. I'm those three words. This is the phrase that I would use to talk about this. And I told you that you could use that picture as a little bit of a hint. It seems that she is often what do you think a negative phrase to talk about this situation? So the the key word when I said you could use the picture running is the first word of this phrase because you see this uh woman right there, she seems to be running down the street. And if you again things are happening later than planned or expected, then you would say that you're running behind schedule. And this is kind of a a fixed phrase. So you're not going to uh you know, you wouldn't you wouldn't say behind her schedule. I see that like you would just say that I'm running behind schedule or he's running behind schedule. She's running behind schedule. Let's not try to run behind schedule. And you would use these three words together to talk about again let that you don't want things to happen later. But like I said, I think we can all identify with this phrase. There are certain things that we want to get do done work or otherwise and we may be running behind schedule. Great job. Uh Alamoad Rafella, nice Dimmitri. So I I think maybe it's a common phrase. So, I feel like you you may have uh that one might have been a little easier. How about this one? He just can't. Again, three missing words. It's a very common phrase. When I show it to you, I'm sure you'll be like, "Oh, yes, of course. I knew that phrase." But it means to manage, deal with, or control the demands and stress of a circumstance. And this is one in which I did change one of the words circumstance because it would have just given it away. So I use the synonym circumstance instead of the other word because I didn't want to make it too easy. But somebody who is unable to manage, deal with or control the demands and stress of well maybe a a variety of different circumstances. say he just can't what? So, it's a little challenging, I know, because I'm not giving you much of the phrase, but once again, I feel like you you've heard this before. Handle pressure situations. So, again, in the meaning it said or control the demands and stress of a situation, but I think that would have made it too easy. But if you say that someone can't handle pressure situations, that that's what it means. And you could turn this into a positive and saying and talk about somebody's job performance and saying, "Wow, they're really great at handling pressure situations." So, it it could go either way. All right. So, here is a review of all of the words and phrases from today's lesson. And like I said, if you want to get these lesson notes, click on the link down below in the description, join our email community, or if you're already a part of it, I am just going to go ahead and send them to you. So, we talked about 20 different vocabulary words or phrases, some positive adjectives, negative adjectives, as well as some positive phrases and negative phrases. all of them that you could use to talk about someone's job performance. I hope that you learned something new. If you did, I would really appreciate it if you go ahead and hit that like button. I'm sure some of some of you were already very proactive, very proactive, and you went ahead and did that because I think it's great that you guys take the initiative. And I'm sure you're going to continue to build your vocabulary because I know a lot of you are willing to go the extra mile when it comes to learning new words and phrases. And I I'm trying to be honest when I say that. I don't want to be disingenuous because I think it is very important. And I'm going to do my part. I'm going to try to pull my weight and come up with new lessons each week. Many of them vocabulary and just, you know, I'll I'll never be a no-show. And I try to make these lessons very thorough. And I just keep using some of these just to give you a little review in using them in context. So, I hope that you all have a wonderful day. And I --- ## 689. Useful Vocabulary for Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Kt5xBs3Banc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt5xBs3Banc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:23:25 | --- if you use social media I want to teach you some very useful words to know hey everyone my name is Wes from interactive English videos dot-com and the channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and we are also on different social media platforms like Facebook Twitter and Instagram so hopefully hopefully you can find us there and the reason why I'm telling you that is because today's lesson is all about helping you build your vocabulary because I want to teach you some useful words that are all related to social media so let's begin with our first word which is engagement now some of you may be thinking like we'll wait engagement that is talking about a promise to marry someone which is true that is that is also an engagement but if we're talking about social media it refers to any interaction that you have with the platform so anytime you like something or dislike something or you write a comment or you share something that is considered engagement then we have the word meme and the reason why I want to teach you this is because it's very popular on social media and what it refers to is an image or it could be a video that is typically humorous and it is shared widely on social media and there are all there are all different types of memes out there for example there you may see different cat memes cats are always those are always great memes you can find memes that relate to popular TV shows or movies such as Game of Thrones because you know who does not love finding the perfect avocado or of course there are memes that that involve babies because babies are are just very cute and it's just hilarious if they really thought these things so there are many different types of memes that are out there but if you you see this picture with some kind of witty or humorous comment then you know that that is a meme then we have the word follower this is a noun because it's talking about a person who is tracking or or following some other person group or maybe some organization on social media and you would say that that this person is a follower and I think if people are on social media sometimes they they want to get many different followers and you could also use it as a verb to follow someone in which case you are are connecting with that person group or organization to follow now if you are following someone and then you decide to stop then that brings me to my next word which is to unfollow now this is a verb which means that you are no longer tracking or following a certain person group or organization you're not following them on social media anymore and you unfollow this person so again that is a verb and for some reason it's not used as a noun there is not a person who you call an unfollow er alright that does not exist so keep that in mind you can talk about a person who is a follower and they follow others or if you want to stop then you could unfollow that person to unfollow someone is also over but there's no unfollow er next is a very common word which is feed so if somebody is talking about the feed it's it's it refers to the page that updates regularly and it's showing you the latest information that that's on this platform and typically when you go on to Facebook or Instagram that's that's pretty much where you begin you start at the feed and people would use this word and talk about maybe they were scrolling through the feed and they were looking at different pictures or comments or somebody could say something like oh something just popped up on my feed and I thought it was very interesting so if somebody's talking about the feed they're they're referring to that that page that updates regularly and it shows them the latest information then we have the word hashtag which is basically just this symbol right here and people use the hashtag with another word or you could use it with a phrase but there are no spaces and it's used to describes just some topic some general topic that if people want to search for information about this topic they can use a hashtag plus the name of the topic and then hopefully they'll find out the latest information that involves this topic that is how people would use hashtags so down below you can see that I've included some hashtags in this video hashtag interactive English hashtag vocabulary hashtag perfect avocado because again who doesn't love the perfect avocado then we have the word fishing and this is a very important word because it is a terrible thing so notice the spelling this is different from fishing with an F in which you're trying to catch fish however the meaning is a little similar because fishing pH you're trying to catch people you're trying to catch them in some some scam in which you pretend to be another person or perhaps you pretend to be from some business and you're trying to get information from others you're trying to get their passwords perhaps some secret information because they want to steal from you and that's what we call phishing mostly I think people may be familiar with this word when talking about emails because you receive some email that is basically a scam and they're trying to get you to to give them some personal information but this is happening more and more on social media for example somebody may say something and Oh congrats you're a winner and they want you to click on some link or maybe they write something in a comment and say that somebody has posted some crazy photo of you and they include a link and they want you to click on it and and that's how it all starts and they try to scam you get your personal information phishing next is the word cyber bully so this is a word that I think is becoming more more common and again it's not a good thing because it means that you are using the internet specifically social media in order to send hateful or harmful messages to others and you're basically you may be threatening other people and you call that person a cyber bully so instead of just when most people think of a bully they think of a bully at school this is a bully on the Internet a cyber bully then we have the word handle so this is talking about the name that someone is known by on social media that that is their handle so for example here are here's our social media right here when we started using these platforms the name interactive English was not available so we had to choose a different name which his interactive engg we had to shorten English so this is our handle our handle is interactive in now if you did a search for interactive English on on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram you are likely going to to find us but because the the interactive English was not available we had to use a different handle so a handle that is just the name that somebody goes by then we have the word campaign which is a planned activity to achieve a particular goal or some aim and it's basically like a marketing campaign but it's become very popular on social media and people might talk about some Facebook campaign to raise money for a cause or perhaps some some campaign on Twitter that involve social justice so there are so many different activities out there there are so many different campaigns out there that might try to raise money or awareness and it happens all the time on social media so this is a very common word that you may see nowadays next I have an acronym for you which is DM and that just stands for direct message and that's talking about a private message that is sent on social media because somebody might tell their audience their followers to a DM a direct message a private message I the I guess people people have sent us DM I'm guilty I don't really end up checking them I apologize if you have sent me a DM and I have not responded but that's why on social media we we really haven't been using DMS that much so I hope the next time you are looking through your feed you come across some of these words and you understand them because you watch this lesson if you enjoy this lesson engagement it's a really it's a great thing please hit that like button always love to get some engagement and as always thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next time --- ## 690. Useful Vocabulary to Talk About Sounds | ONOMATOPOEIA ๐Ÿ”Š | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Oe8YVPSoJGY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe8YVPSoJGY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:23:11 | --- today's lesson is really just about one word and that is onomatopoeia [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel that is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english and achieve your fluency goals and over the years i have done so many different lessons but i have never done a lesson like today talking about onomatopoeia now this is a word it's a fun word that you're you're not going to use this word in everyday conversation but you may use onomatopoeia so the meaning of this word is what's important what it's talking about is that you can use anamanapia and use a word to represent a sound so for example if you're telling a story and instead of you trying to imitate the sound the sound that that you heard and you're trying to explain it to someone else you may use this word instead and that word is what imitates the sound so sometimes these words are used as nouns and other times they may be used as verbs but they they're often related to something specific not always because you can use these words in a variety of ways and i will explain this as we go through the lesson i think the first one is a good example so the first word that i want to teach you is splash splash is really related to water it's talking about the sound of water if somebody says they heard a splash then i think well maybe something was falling into the pool or the lake people could also use this as a verb if they're playing in the pool and they're splashing each other so this is a good example of a word that is certainly a little more specific if you want to talk about the sound of water i think quite often you're going to use splash did you hear a splash you want to see a splash i'm going to show you a slap boom all right so boom is a word that you would use if you want to talk about a loud sound and often i think people may use that collocation and they talk about a loud boom i tend to think about perhaps an explosion oh my god what was that and then we try to get up powerbomb if i hear somebody say well there last night we just heard this loud boom i i might think there was some type of explosion a loud boom or you could use it to describe somebody's voice and say a person has a booming voice a very loud voice so what did this giant sound like huh i mean do you have a big booming voice or more informally people could use it to kind of say they're just they're they're trying to blow someone's mind they they tell them something that's shocking surprising and they just may say boom you got a script that's well written about the greatest fire in oregon history for 90 pages and you never see it live inside that fire for 50 pages boom hold on beep this is a sound that i think if somebody's using this word they're going to use it again and again they may say beep beep beep because what i think about if you're going to use beep i think about an alarm clock [Music] when you wake up in the morning the an alarm clock might make that sound that beep beep beep it's an annoying sound at least i think so uh because i don't like to get up then people may also use this when talking about uh perhaps a car horn if the there's a traffic jam people are hitting that horn don't you remember me used to yell at me for uh beeping my car horn when i came over to pick up john they may use beep to describe that sound that just constant that beep beep beep but i think when people use this word if you're telling a story there's a good chance you're going to use it more than once it's going to be repetitive and earthlings i have some news [Laughter] my bull crap meter is going crazy yeah it can be uh quite annoying crack all right this is the sound of something breaking that was a loud crack and you could be talking about a stick if you break a stick you'd hear that crack sound but even what i would tell you to think of would be think of an egg to crack an egg and you you hit it against the side of something you hear that crack and the egg breaks take an egg correct the wrist hmm thank you weep you watch one two three if you're saying that uh you're telling a story and that you hear something crack you're talking about uh something that's breaking this looks good what are you doing come on crack not gonna crack then we have pop a popping sound i think is to me it's more of like a sudden and loud sound think of popcorn all right if you are making popcorn you're preparing it if you're listening that's the sound that the popcorn makes that pop pop pop pop you could also use pop to describe things like perhaps fireworks or even gunfire if somebody is telling a story and they were really scared because the night before they just heard this pop pop pop and they thought it was gunfire so it's really talking about a sudden loud maybe even a little bit of a shocking sound that pop pop pop what was that pop sound well i had some hard candy in there but whatever momentum the president had coming out of iowa just like air going out of a pop balloon i don't remember seeing crows around here before big bastard that's why i got the gun i'm going to pop a few of them all right this this is probably my favorite one uh that i'm going to teach you today yoink is talking about the sound of somebody grabbing something now this is a word that's not really used as a verb i think people will say this when they are actually doing that action you grab something from another person and you may just say yoink and i tend to use it probably a little more playfully when you're just having fun and you take something from another person i have the glasses yoink take those click this is a very very common word it's common sound and i think it really refers to somebody pressing a button and i think a long time ago uh the old cameras they you'd take a picture and click you'd hear that sound you just wasted your time and mine click i just captured the exact moment when you realized you had failed today i think people often associate this word with the computer you're you're clicking on a link and even when you're using the mouse you you press down and it makes that sound that click click the mouse with me three click zoom so this is a word that that's talking about a sound of well something that's going fast something that's moving fast maybe a car and you might hear somebody say that the cars were zooming by they were going fast or if you're telling a story and the you're talking about a plane overhead and it just zoomed right by [Music] and this word is talking about the sound of air and specifically i think people would use it if they're expressing shock or surprise like that is a gasp that is the sound gasp let's do a makeover i need you to arrange a meeting without ryan and pam knowing gasp are you talking about a secret meeting think if i was an escaped murderer where would i hide where oh i have no idea i just thought if i gasped i could force an epiphany slap so this is a word that you may have heard before but you can use it to describe the sound of two things hitting each other i think most of the time people might think of like like a hand like that that is a slapping sound and people may think about well somebody getting slapped in the face and you would hear that sound that uh well i don't want to hurt myself but ow yeah that you can hear that sound i don't okay i'm gonna stop slap slap boom what's wrong boom oh it's just this thing we used to do to get each other pumped up where we slap each other in the face you don't have to do it i want to go first with this make me slap him you call that a slap no booth so the next time you're telling a story instead of just talking about the things that you see use these words to talk about the things that you hear the sounds that you hear you can use on a monopia if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button or click that like button down below love to hear that sound as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 691. Useful Vocabulary to Understand the US Election | Trump vs Biden 2020 ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `bzqDdU2SSH0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzqDdU2SSH0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:24:21 | --- let's talk about the u.s election so buckle up it's going to be a bumpy ride [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel that's all about trying to help you practice and improve your english and today it's more of a vocabulary lesson because if you haven't heard there is a presidential election coming up in the united states so i wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you about well how the election works and teach you some different words and phrases that i think are very useful that will help you better understand the election in case you happen to be reading about it or maybe you're listening to a news report this is useful vocabulary that will help so i i want to start out by saying that i'm going to try to make this lesson apolitical which is a great word that means that it is not connected to a political party i i'm not really trying to promote one party over the other i'm going to try to make it a political but it is difficult to discuss politics without kind of sharing your opinion in one way or another i will say in my opinion because i want to talk to you quite a bit about how the election works i really don't like the way that the system works and i will explain why in in just a moment so let's just begin with the basics in the united states it's really considered a two-party system and that is a phrase that you may hear a two-party system what it refers to is that two political parties really just dominate politics and on one side you have the republican party which is trump's party and they're viewed as more conservative and then on the other side you have the democrats which are viewed as more liberal and that party's leader is joe biden and if you are not affiliated or registered with one of these main parties then you are considered an independent and an independent is talking about a voter who is not registered with a political party and the i to be honest i am an independent i am not registered as a democrat as a republican i'm an independent and you will hear this word a lot because both biden and trump they want to get the vote of the independence and typically independents tend to have more moderate views and this is another common word because moderate refers to views that are not extreme and are often accepted by a larger number of people now you may be wondering why would anyone register to be identified with a particular political party well that's because in some states you need to be registered with that party in order to participate in the party's primary and the primary is just when the voters choose who is going to be the candidate for that party who is going to be the the party's leader essentially and the primary it's already done it's finished and you have trump who is the representative for the republicans and biden is the representative for the democrats but to put things in context for you most americans are not registered as either a democrat or a republican among registered voters 41 percent are independent 26 percent are republican and 31 percent are democrat but no matter if you're a democrat republican or independent very soon the election is coming and people will go vote or cast their ballot this is a phrase that it means the same thing as to vote so when the election gets here you're probably going to hear people talk about a couple of different numbers you're going to hear people talk about the popular vote and this refers to the total number of votes that a candidate receives and somebody somebody will win the popular vote however that person may not become the president i know it sounds strange that somebody could receive the most votes but they don't win what determines the next president is actually the electoral college vote so the electoral college is a phrase that you should definitely learn because it is something that you will hear people talk about so right now i want to take a moment and and teach you about the electoral college and this is really this is really the main reason why i said i'm not really a fan of the way that the voting system works so what the hell is the electoral college well in the entire country there are 538 electors or 538 electoral votes and in order to win the presidency a candidate must receive the majority which is 270. so that's the magic number both both trump and biden need to get to 270 or more electoral votes in order to become president now each state is assigned a number of electors or electoral votes and that is based on the population of the state so for example california is the state with the highest population and california has 55 electoral votes the next state would be texas texas is the second most populous state and they have 38 electoral votes and then you have a state like montana montana is a big state uh in terms of land but it has a small population so montana has three electoral votes so i know this is a little strange but just stay with me because the electoral college has been with the country since the beginning the u.s was founded in 1776 and it's it's it's pretty much always used the electoral college what has changed is the way in which we use the electoral college because right now 48 states have a winner take all and what that means is that whoever wins the popular vote in the state they get all of the electoral college votes it doesn't matter how close the race is so if somebody wins 51 to 49 that's a very close race but the person who got 51 percent is going to get 100 of those electoral votes and i know you're probably thinking to yourself well that's just silly that doesn't make much sense at all how did this happen well we've been using the electoral college system for a while but it really changed in 1824 this is the year that most states started using this winner take all approach and the reason that they were doing this was completely partisan and partisan is another very common word that you will hear it means that somebody strongly supports uh an idea or a party and they don't really carefully consider well what's what's best for everyone now there are groups across the country that want to change this they want to amend the process and amend is a great verb when talking about politics it means you want to change something critics of the electoral college would say that at the federal level when voting for the president depending on the state you live in your vote really just has no influence whatsoever so for example let's let's look at california california is a blue state and this is a phrase that if you hear about a blue state it is a state that is really it's it's controlled by the democrats so california is a blue state it has 55 electoral votes which will they'll go to joe biden now if you are a republican who's living in california then really your vote just has no influence and the same goes for democrats who may live in texas texas is a red state and that is a state that is just controlled by republicans so democrats voting in texas well you know it's not going to have much of an influence however democrats they're fighting hard in texas and they're trying to make it a purple state and a purple state is talking about well a state that has more of a mix of democrats and republicans and you don't know how the vote is going to go so you have blue states red states and purple states because if you mix blue and red you get more of a purple color regardless in our current situation i don't think biden or trump are that interested in the blue states and the red states because that's already been decided what i think they are truly interested in are those purple states which are more commonly referred to as swing states these are states that well they could go for biden and the democrats or they could go for trump and the republicans they may also be referred to as battleground states either one you're going to hear people use these quite often swing states or battleground states and across the country there well there are about 14 different swing states but i i think really there are only about seven or eight true swing states because some of these states will lean left which means they are more likely to go for biden and the democrats and the other states may lean right which means they're more likely to go for trump and the republicans in the swing states those are the ones that everyone is going to be keeping an eye on come election day really the only reason why biden or trump may go to a blue state or a red state is to fundraise for their campaign and when you fundraise you are just raising money for a campaign which is a it's an organized group of people that are trying to well trying to get someone elected and in the united states campaigns cost a lot of money do you have any idea how much the 2016 presidential campaign cost i'm going to tell you when everything was all said and done the two campaigns combined spent over one billion dollars some of that money that billion dollars came from pacs or super pacs and those are two useful acronyms so a pac it just stands for a political action committee and a super pac is just a super political action committee it's an organization that can raise money privately in order to influence an election which is a fancy way of saying that well the election is for sale well kind of because the more you donate the more influence you have and there are limits as to how much a person can donate to a campaign but those same limits don't exist when a person or company wants to donate to a pack or a super pac and that's partly why presidential elections are so expensive let's go back to that billion dollars which is ridiculous it's almost it's like buying every person in the united states a cup of coffee and to be completely honest i think i would rather have a cup of coffee than just listen to a bunch of political advertisements because i think it is our civic duty which is a phrase that means it is it is our responsibility as a citizen to try to become informed about well what do these candidates stand for and and there are many ways that we can learn about candidates we can read about them we can watch them give interviews and talk about what they want to do and the changes they want to make we could also talk to our friends and family but that can be a little dangerous because to be perfectly honest civil discourse in the united states it's a bit toxic and civil discourse refers to polite conversation concerning ordinary citizens and and yes right now civil discourse in the united states it's at i'd say it's at a bit of a low but still very soon everyone's gonna head to the polls and they're gonna cast their ballot and head to the polls that is a phrase that means their people are gonna go to a voting location and they're going to vote but because there is a pandemic there's going to be more absentee voting as well as mail-in voting and if you've been following the u.s election at all those are phrases that i'm pretty sure you've heard first you need to keep in mind that each state determines on its own how it's going to do voting so an absentee ballot this is when a person requests a ballot and election officials will send it to them and then they they mail it back uh and people do this because maybe well they're out of the country or perhaps somebody is just outside of the state that they live in and therefore they request an absentee ballot now other states when they say mail-in voting what they refer to that as is they send out ballots to all registered voters and then those voters they can either mail the ballot back or they can head to the polls and they can cast their ballot in person the reason why i'm talking to you about this is because well some people are claiming that the election will be rigged and this is an adjective that means that something is dishonestly arranged in order to get your desired outcome proponents would say that that this person just wants to maintain the election's integrity critics would say that this person is engaging in voter suppression and that is another phrase that that you may come across voter suppression is when you just do not allow people to vote what i would say and and this is not my opinion i want to stick with the facts is that there is absolutely no evidence of widespread voter fraud through the mail so people should not be worried about voting by mail all this does is just create a lot of drama because well i think it's fair to say that politics in the united states has become a little like reality tv and i think as we we approach the season finale november 3rd i think you can expect a lot of suspense because typically in a normal boring election which are the elections that i prefer one person will concede the election and to concede is to admit something is true someone will concede and they admit that okay i lost the election and then they congratulate the winner something tells me that this election might be a little different spoiler alert it would not surprise me if this election is contested and what that means if an election is contested it means that the validity of the results is challenged by the losing candidate so after november 3rd i i think it's likely that we may not know who the winner is it could take days weeks i sure as hell hope not it could take a while to figure out who the next president of the united states will be i know many of you may not be from the united states but i want to hear from you i want you to cast your ballot in the comments below who would you vote for biden or trump let me know down below in the comments all i would ask is please please please let's keep it civil but let me know who you would vote for i will even tell you who i am going to vote for in the comments below i i will get things started thank you guys so much for watching i hope you enjoy the dramatic upcoming election and i will see you next time --- ## 692. Useful Water Phrases to Build Your Vocabulary ๐Ÿ’ฆ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `l0G0Eo0rcWA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0G0Eo0rcWA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:01:47 | --- this is the pool there's water in the pool so i'm going to teach you some useful phrases to get your feet wet or you could say to to dip your toes in the water they both mean the same thing it just means to to try something to attempt an activity and and just yeah you're just giving it a try you just want to get your feet wet or dip your toes in the water to dive in head first so this just means that you are going to be just really committed to doing something you're going to start immediately and you're going to dive in head first so maybe there's a big project coming up yes let's just let's just do it we're going to start it we're going to dive in head first to keep your head above water this is just to survive a dangerous situation and it's a bit dangerous you just you need to keep your head above water because if you don't well then it's --- ## 693. Useful Weather Idioms to Build Your Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Fw3Jrs4pElA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw3Jrs4pElA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:00:56 | --- Let's talk about the weather. Now th this of course is a very common topic. We we often talk about the weather. But what I want to teach you today is vocabulary idioms that are related to the weather because they have a word that has to do with the weather in the idiom. Now, that does not mean that the meaning of these idioms and the way that you would use it has to do anything with the weather. But as far as learning idioms, because they can be a little tricky sometimes. I think it does help to associate it with something. In this case, these phrases are associated with the weather and that can help you give you a better understanding of the meaning and then how to use it. So, I am going to talk about some idioms that I think are common. Others may be not as often used, but I still think they're great to know when it comes to improving your listening comprehension or reading comprehension. And if you would like to get these lesson notes that are right next to me, click on that link down below in the description. Join my community and uh you'll have access to them. If you're already a part of the community, check your email. I've sent them out to you. And of course, if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about helping you reach your fluency goals. And I know some of you want to build your vocabulary, learn more idioms because you hear them often in casual conversation. If you watch Netflix or you're watching a movie, you're definitely going to come across these idioms. I I'm giving you a sentence and I've taken the idiom out. I see people already answering which is good and I want you to complete it with the idiom. The picture is I was trying to associated with it. I thought it'd be a little too easy if I give it gave it to you right away. So I blurred it out a little bit. I'm feeling m so I decided not to go into work. Think about the reason why maybe you wouldn't go to work and because of that then think of the idiom that means the same thing. This one is incredibly common and I see all these excellent answers. Great job. Uh Angela Lai, good to see you. Uh feeling under the weather and I think this is one that in my opinion you definitely need to know. I think it's a great one to use. when you're under the weather, you're feeling a little sick or unwell. The key word here is little. And if you are incredibly sick to the point maybe you you need to go to the hospital, in that case, you may not use this idiom. But for most of us, as you're you know, you go about your lives, most of us get a cold or there's there many times when we just don't have to seek, you know, emergency medical attention, but we're just feeling a little sick. Maybe we go to the doctor, we get some uh antibiotics, whatever it is. Just to again to emphasize, you know, it's just a little sick or a bit sick. So not severely when you're feeling under the weather. I use this one all the time when people talk to me. Oh, you know, how's it going? You know, I'm okay, but right now I'm a little under the weather. Excellent. Well done. Uh, Jing, good to see you. Uh, I'll give some shout outs as we go through this. I thought this was funny. So, again, I'll share some of these memes from time to time just to reinforce it. I can't go to work today. I'm feeling under the weather. So, in this case, you're talking about you're under some, you know, tough, difficult, horrible weather and you're just not feeling good. You feel under the weather. What do you think? I'm already now we're getting more now we're we're uh getting it's getting more difficult. I at least I think so. This is another this is an idiom that I think is very useful. It's not as common as the one we just talked about saying, you know, you're under the weather. Because often people are going to say like, "Yeah, I'm a little sick." This is just something that happens to everyone. What do you think? Now the sentence itself may not directly like the negotiations is not going to tell you exactly which idiom that you may use, but the picture again I've blurred out because I I don't want to give it away. If you can kind of tell what's going on in this picture, it is a picture of a person kind of, but there's something going on there. His emotions. So, if you're in a negotiation, I think most people would say, look, let's take the emotion out of it. All right? You shouldn't be emotional when you're trying to negotiate. So, if someone is emotional and then it's going to what what's it going to do possibly? And you could say his emotions m his m during the negotiations. So hopefully some of these are are going to be new for you as you go through this since uh I didn't see any answers. So maybe this is a little the the answer what I was looking for. You could say it clouds his judgment. So if you say that something clouds your judgment or clouds my judgment, it refers to just impairing your ability to think clearly, make good decisions and you could say it clouds your judgment. So if somebody is emotional and you're negotiating, it it could cloud your judgment and you're unable to make a good decision. So this is an idiom like I said it may not be as commonly used. It is very specific. We're using the word cloud. Think about uh you know the in this picture the cloud is like kind of going all over his head. You can't really think clearly. You can't think straight. And you could say something clouds your judgment. And there are many situations that you may be in in which okay you think can't really think clearly and it and it clouds your judgment. If you have to make a decision, uh, you know, you're you're hiring somebody for a job, but then you have somebody who is applying for the job that you kind of know, maybe a little bit of a friend or a family member, it it could cloud your judgment because you know this person, you want to give them an opportunity and maybe you might not make the best decision. So there are definitely instances when somebody's not thinking clearly or they're not able to think clearly for one reason or another and then you could say something clouds your judgment, his judgment, her judgment, my judgment. So this is a great phrase to know. If this one, if this is new, again, you can let me know. Uh if you're learning new idioms, hit that like button. Or if you're with us uh today in the chat, you can hit those hearts uh likes and just uh again, learning something new. That's what it's all about. She m the surprise party and pretended not to know. So, I think you can kind of tell from the sentence, the what's happening and get an idea at least the the missing part what the meaning is and then try to think of an idiom that fits that that meaning and you could use the picture or help. So she m the surprise party and pretended not to know. So at this point you know that what goes in that blank she she knew about the surprise party and pretended not to know. She got some information about it. Somebody told her. Who knows? So, we know that that is the the situation that she found out this information from somebody or in some way and then pretended not to know. What idiom, what phrase could we put in there when you are learning about some information or you receive it? Uh, again, most of the time I feel like somebody mentioning it, maybe it was an accident. So, we're not talking about like like blow off or blow away. No, nothing with that verb. So, in this picture, you can kind of see this person, the the cloud. I don't know if you can see those other lines and we're really talking about the the wind. So, the wind is part of this and the answer. Excellent. I saw one. Perfect. Uh Joanna Jing, perfect. Got wind of something. To get wind of something is when you hear a piece of information, especially something that somebody was trying to keep secret. So it could be a ver in this case we're talking about a surprise party or maybe another instance the company is going to lay off some employees and somehow the employees got wind of this news and maybe they you know they were upset but in that context they get wind of it and they learn something they get some information that they were not supposed to have and you get wind of something. So, this is another idiom that I feel like is very specific. It's still good to know because one that you will come across casual conversation. Somebody's telling a story. It's a great way to add emphasis and oh, I didn't want this person to know, but somehow uh she got wind of it or he got wind of it and you're using this idiom. Let's see. To give you a little more context, I even though idioms are more informal, you don't typically use them in writing and it's not I wouldn't encourage you to necessarily you you still come across them. I even you can even find news headlines in which they're using some of these phrases. So, here's some example more context to help you better understand the meaning. Fiji police get wind of unreported drug cases in schools and they learn about it. They get wind of this or cancellations flood in for uh killed our hotel as guests get wind of lockdown. This is years ago talking about the the COVID lockdown but the this is happening and tourists people get wind of it and then they cancel their plans that some country may be in more of a lockdown. And then finally, his his Hot Wheels set won't last uh long once collectors get wind of it and they find this, they learn about this new, I don't know, prestigious set and then they'll want to buy it and to get wind of something. Let's look at the the next one. I think the picture can help you. I blurred it out a little bit, but uh I think you maybe can still piece it together. The rumor created a m eventually damaging the company's reputation. So the company's reputation was damaged. Started with this rumor and it's almost like as things went along, things just kept getting worse and worse and worse. Now you see the article uh there. So this is a going to be a noun. We're using this as a noun phrase. But the rumor created a eventually damaging the the reputation. So something that starts out small in this case rumor. Most rumors start out small but then they can spread quickly and when they spread quickly more people get wind of this information. Perhaps they start to believe it and then it gets you know worse and worse in this case for this company. And you see the picture there. If you're not able to tell, those are snowballs and it's rolling down the hill. And as it goes down the hill, it's getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And then that would be referred to as a snowball effect. So if you refer to some situation as having a snowball effect, it's just increasing in size at a faster rate. So in this case some situation is creating this snowball effect and eventually that's another key word because maybe at the beginning you know it was just a rumor but more and more people hear about it and that's why eventually as it got bigger and it increased in size it really damaged the company's reputation. And you could say something creates a snowball effect or it has a snowball effect. gets too big and then there are some maybe some consequence. What do you think? This This one's a little more challenging. And typically, for those of you who have uh joined me for these lessons before, I feel like every time I say that, that's when everybody knows the answer. But we'll see. The company is confident it can of economic uncertainty. So, you have some economic uncertainty. You don't know what's going to happen. And that's a that's a scary situation. But in this case, the company is confident that it can do what? So this is another idiom that's well related to the weather even though we're going to use it in different context. And this is certainly one that I think you will hear and you might again I think you can definitely use it uh in your own life when talking about a situation telling a story and these are great phrases that you can use to be descriptive to add emphasis. So all right feel like sometimes just giving you a little more time to think of the answer and uh respond to these. Uh yes we're talking about to weather the storm. If you are able to weather the storm, then it just means that you are able to continue doing something despite serious problems. The company is confident that it can weather the storm of economic uncertainty. So think about any situation in which there are problems, but you're basically saying, I'm going to be able to handle this. I can deal with these problems. I'm I'm going to be able to weather the storm. And there are many different situations that could apply that this could apply to as far as a problem you might have at work or uh personally and it's going to it's you're going to have to endure it for some time. But if you think you can get through it, yes, I I will be able to weather the storm. Uh, I wanted to give you this is a fun I'll use this from time to time just to to point it out as far as using chat GPT. And if I want to give you more context or even if you wanted more context yourself, you could go to chat GPT and say, "Hey, give me five sentences with the idiom weather the storm." So, what I really wanted to point out is even though the idiom is talking about the weather and we're talking about a storm, you you're not you could use it when talking about the weather as far as there's a storm coming up and you're like, look, okay, we're going to need to weather the storm. And you could use it in that context, but most of the time it's some other problem that somebody might be talking about. And for that reason, I I wanted to give you some of these more some of these other examples using this idiom like the first one, the small business managed to weather the storm during the economic recession. That is that tough period. Or the number number two, they faced a lot of criticism, but the team weathered the storm and came out stronger. a lot of criticism, but they weathered the storm. Number three, with patience and persistence, we can weather the storm and get through these tough times. That's a little more vague, but still you're able to use this idiom. Number four, the the marriage wasn't perfect, but they weathered the storm and stayed together for decades. Uh, I think that's a good example in thinking about marriage having its ups and downs. You have good times and then you have other difficult times in which case you need to weather the storm. That's a good association uh for this idiom. And finally, the politician had to weather the storm of public uh of public backlash after the scandal broke. If there's a scandal, whether you're involved or a company or in this case a politician, they you may need to weather the storm and try to get to the other side. So, great idiom. Hopefully, again, if this one's new, you can let me know. hit that like button and I can do more of these lessons or again tells me right now you're learning some new phrases. The next part and I'm I'm switching it up a little and what I want to do now is I'm giving you the meaning of the idiom. I'm giving you this picture and then I want you to to think of that what what is the idiom that I'm talking about. So this idiom means to hinder someone's enjoyment. Basically you're you're upsetting someone's plans. You can look at the picture. I think that is a at least one of the words th this is a direct word that is in a part of the idiom and then hopefully you can kind of put it together from there. So you're hindering someone's enjoyment. In that case, uh yes, uh uh Lai Katrina, you are raining on their parade. So, this is a picture. I tried to find a picture of a parade. And if you could think, okay, there's a parade. What idiom uses the word parade that's associated with the weather? To rain on someone's parade. you're hindering their enjoyment and you there again I think we can all think of a situation in which you were having a good time but somebody else came along maybe they had a bad attitude or they they said something negative and it really just you know it rains on your parade. Uh and this is one that I think we can all relate to. They hinder your enjoyment. They rain on your parade. this idiom right here to stop being careful and do something that is dangerous or uh that might result in failure. What are you doing in this case? So if you're doing something that might result in failure, the picture is a little more difficult. So, I was trying to find a picture of something that I'll go ahead and give you one of the words. Something that's really windy, a windy picture. So, this idiom has the word wind in it. You're you stop being careful. You're doing something that's dangerous. And in that case, you are doing what? This is another one that I would say maybe it's not as commonly used, but still one that you're going to come across from time to time because I think people, especially in places like the United States, we love using idioms. It wasn't until I started teaching English many, many years ago and we would talk about idioms that I actually realized how often I use idioms in just casual conversation. All right, now I see some great answers coming in. Perfect. Uh Ava Miranda um Julia to throw caution to the wind. You're you're basically it kind of means what it says. You should be cautious and you're taking caution. Hey, you know, I don't need to be cautious anymore. I'm going to throw caution to the wind in which case I'm going to stop being careful and do something that could result in maybe disaster or failure. Here, this was actually a video. I I I couldn't gra grab the video to show it, but this was from I don't know if it was a Reddit post or something. Sometimes you've just got to throw caution to the wind and go for it. It was a video of these uh this boat that's close to the land and you have these two cats and the one cat is, you know, thinking about it, thinking about it and then just jumps and is trying to get to the land and just say, "Look, I I'm going to throw caution to the wind. I might not make it and end up in the water, but I'm going to do it anyway. And yes, the cat the cat did land in the water, but just ran up onto the shore. So, it was a it was a fun little video, but a good example of, you know, I'm I'm going to take a chance even though this is dangerous, and I'm going to throw caution to the wind. What do you think uh this idiom right here? So the meaning is this is an idiom that is said when one bad thing happens and then it's followed by other bad things and it just makes the situation worse. I I'll go ahead and say this is it is an idiom but it's also an expression. And when I say it's really an expression a lot of times people use this it's a standalone statement and you're just commenting on this situation. If somebody talks about something bad that happened. Oh, I overslept this morning and I I was late for work and then when I got to work, I spilled some coffee on my clothes and I had to give a presentation later and I was scrambling around to and you just keep talking about one bad thing after the other and you're telling somebody this and they could say, "Okay, yeah, you know," and they're just going to use this expression. I will say point out one thing when you you you most of the time use it to talk about bad things that are going on. I still think it's okay. You could use it to talk about great things like you get really lucky as well, but most of the time people are using it when referring to bad things that make the situation worse. And all of you, I think you you know this, you've heard it before. When it rains it pours. So this is a way to comment on a the succession of bad things that really ruins someone's day and uh just uh just yeah just ruins things for it. So all all of these things they just end up raining on someone's parade. What do you think? Uh oh, one thing I wanted to point out with this idiom in the US when it rains it pours. And this is something that I actually was unaware of until I put this lesson together. In uh the UK, you may hear people say, I think you could still say when it rains, it pours, but people may say it never rains, but it pours. Has the same meaning. We're talking about thing bad things that just continuously happen and it just makes the situation worse. When it rains, it pours. What do you think about this next one? We're talking about a quiet or peaceful period before a period during which there is great activity, argument, or difficulty. And you can kind of use the picture to think about what this what is this idiom. It looks looks very peaceful right now, but you can see that off in the distance, you see that lightning and those dark clouds and the weather is about to get much worse. So when commenting on this situation that you know something in the future is going to be difficult whether it's going to be an argument or a tough conversation that you need to have with someone and then you could refer to the period before as as what this is the and you could even use this when referring to the weather but also other situations as well. So, you're talking about the the the period before and you're saying, "Well, right now it is the what?" Any guesses? What do you think? Uh, all right. Perfect. All right. Maybe there was a little delay. I see all these answers in there now. Great job. Um, Katarina, Lai, Monsoon, uh, Talal, the calm before the storm. and you're just referring to this period of kind of tranquility where it's it's there's not any like argument or activity or problems, but you know it's coming and you're commenting on that like I'm a little worried about you know what's getting ready to happen like right now is the calm before the storm and you know that it's going to get a lot more problematic. What do you think? This idiom is used to tell someone that you cannot accept an invitation now, but would like to do so at a later time. I could not really find a picture that accurately addresses this idiom that would actually give you a hint without making it too easy. But you're going to use this idiom and this is more of an American expression to tell someone you can't accept an invitation now, but hey, maybe we'll we'll do this later. And in that in that situation, you maybe you invite me to say to go get a cup of coffee. You say, "Well, I'm on my way to do something else, but maybe let's do it this weekend, so I'm gonna have to what?" So, excellent. Uh, well done. We're talking about the idiom to take a rain check. I feel like you guys you guys know your your idioms, your weather idioms. So, when you take a rain check, you're basically saying, "Okay, we're not going to do it now. Maybe we'll do it in the future to take a rain check." I will add one thing when it comes to this idiom. I feel like sometimes sometimes people will use this idiom even though they're kind of implying, okay, this is not something I want to do and I'm going to tell you that we're going to do it later, but we're not really going to do it later. We're going to I I want to take a rain check. So, if you ask me to do something, hey, let's go to dinner, but I'm like, I don't really want to go out and, you know, maybe I don't plan to do in the future, I might just use this. Uh, let's uh just let's take a rain check. All right, let let's take a rain check. The next Oh, the we're going to switch it up again. And I feel like maybe this will be a little easier. Uh, I'm giving you a picture. I just want you to tell me the idiom. Look at the picture. I blurred it out a little bit because I didn't want to make it too easy, but you can kind of see what's going on. And then what idiom are we talking about? This is one that is, I think, pretty common. So, it's one that you're you've heard before. At least I'm confident that you've probably heard it. You may even use it, especially well, I don't want to give it away because we've we've been in this situation. And you can see these three individuals here. They are hacking away at this uh this thing which is clearly, even though I've blurted out, it's clearly ice. And we're talking about breaking the ice. So, this is a pretty common idiom. As I just said, I think you've probably heard it before when you want, you know, you want to make people feel comfortable and more relaxed, especially when they don't know each other. This is something every time I I run a course and the we have our first class together and there's like four or five people and um I might use it as a noun and say we're going to do an icebreaker means the same thing. I'm just changing the part of speech to a noun, an icebreaker. Or I could say, well, let's break the ice. Here are some questions that are, you know, this is just to break the ice and we're going to try to feel a little more relaxed and and comfortable with each other. Great idiom to know. This this is a joke that I heard a long time ago and it's it is a cheesy joke and I've I mentioned uh I think somewhat recently in another quiz about the something falls flat. You It's intended to be funny but it's not funny. Maybe this joke is going to fall flat. And then somebody would say, "Excuse me, do you know how much a polar bear weighs?" enough to break the ice. So, of course, uh I I was I was looking around for different memes and this is one because I feel like it's a it's a joke that I heard a long time ago that I thought I would share it with you. Maybe it fell flat. I don't know. What do you think about this uh picture right here that I've blurred out? This is another idiom that I would say maybe is not as common as talking about breaking the ice or or doing an icebreaker, but one that I think is still if you're learning idioms and you study idioms, this is vocabulary that you're interested in, then I imagine you probably have come across this before and you've heard it before. So, you see this person, this woman who's wearing a green dress. She's on that l uh ladder. It's not I I know to to be on cloud nine. That is an idiom. That's not the one that I'm talking this one. Think more think more specifically exactly what's going on in this picture. I will go ahead and tell you all if you're unfamiliar with the idiom to be on cloud9. You're just really happy. If I got great news, I say, "Ra, right now I am just on cloud nine. All these great things are happening to me. When it rains, it pours and I'm on cloud nine. So, I said, think about more specifically exactly what's happening. And you can kind of see it in the picture that this person has literally her head in the clouds. And if you're commenting and talking about someone, this is an idiom that you would use to describe someone else. And if someone has their head in the clouds, you're basically saying that this person is not paying attention to what's going on. They are oblivious to the things that are happening around them and or also really implying that maybe they're being impractical or unrealistic. So if I'm talking about what my plan for this next year and or for the rest of this year and I say, "Well, I'm going to do this and I have all these plans and I'm going to do that." And you think like, wow, that is just not realistic. You could say Wes, you know, kind of has his head heads in head in the clouds. His head is in the clouds right now. And you're basically saying that uh I'm being unrealistic. Or in another situation, if I'm just oblivious and not paying attention to what's going on, you're like, what what is how do you you know, how are you unaware of these things that are happening? You really must have your head in the clouds. So again, another idiom. Uh hopefully if you've if you've heard it if you know it, let me know. Hit that like 100 button, whatever. Uh tells me that you're you're aware of some of these idioms. And that that is also an important thing because you're learning them passively for the most part. You read about these idioms, you watch these lessons, talking about the meaning, looking at example sentence. The goal is to build your confidence over time so that you can actively use them. And I know that's something that some people that don't have as much confidence in doing that. They're worried that they're going to use it in the wrong way. And I and I understand why. And it's just about getting that exposure. What do you think? people are learning idioms, I don't know why. I feel like English idioms, this is often like one of the first ones that people end up learning at school or wherever. This is an idiom that I don't really personally use even though like I said I think it's one that a lot of uh speaker people who speak English as a second language I think many people are familiar with it and you can kind of see in the picture that it is raining but what is it raining it's raining cats and dogs so if you want to say that it's just raining heavily you could say it's raining cats and dogs personally there are so many different ways that you could say this. I would just say, "Wow, it's really pouring outside." Or I'd say, "Wow, it's really coming down." Or, "It's raining heavily." So, there are a variety of ways that you can express this. And maybe that's why I don't end up using it as often because I use other things. Um, but yeah, you could say it's raining cats and dogs. This is uh what what do you think? So, I I I I'll give you a moment to think about it. I think you can kind of tell where this person is. Now, we've already talked about breaking the ice or doing an icebreaker. So, it's it's a different idiom, but that that being said, it is another idiom that has the word ice. I'll go ahead and tell you that because I think you can kind of discern from the picture that this this person is standing on ice and what I guess I could say what what kind of ice. So, all right, perfect. The the idiom that I'm referring to is, you know, to be on thin ice. Now, there are several verbs you could using this. You could tell someone like you're skating on thin ice or you're walking on thin ice. I personally think I feel like often you're just going to use it with the verb to be and tell someone like, "Okay, this is your location right now. You are on thin ice. Right now you're on thin ice." So, there are different verbs that you can use with it, which is why I just gave on thin ice because it really just refers to doing something that is dangerous or risky. And I would say often people may use this as a like a command or more so just like a a statement telling someone that if they are doing something that you don't want them to do, like look, don't don't keep pushing me. you're on thin ice. You're on thin ice. So, you might use this as a warning to someone else, saying like, "Look, you're in a dangerous spot right now. Don't don't keep doing this." To go back to uh um talked about like marriage and that other idiom of weathering the storm because marriages go through times that are that are difficult or trouble. But also, again, you you're married, there are times where you're going to disagree. And if I may be having an argument with my wife about something and we keep talking and maybe she might tell me, "Look, okay, look, don't let's not keep talking about it. You're you're saying things that's really bothering me. You're you're on thin ice." And it's like you're giving that warning to someone else. You're on thin ice. Let's Okay, this is uh I thought I just thought this was funny. This little meme right here says the the thinner the ice is, the more tempting it is to check if it can hold you. And I feel like in even though you're going to use this like to be on thin ice, not literally talking about uh on thin ice, but in a dangerous position, I think people do have that temptation when somebody gives you that warning like, you know, don't you're on thin ice. Uh it's almost tempting to keep pushing to see at what at what point does the other person break and and in that case you fall through the ice and then you really maybe have problems with your uh spouse, with your boss. That's another time that you may hear somebody use this at work. Maybe you make several mistakes and your boss says, "Look, you you need to change things. You need to uh you know, do better. You're on thin ice right now. What do you think about this one? I I feel like I probably should have blurted out a little more. You can kind of uh gauge what's going on in this picture. This is another idiom that I think you will likely hear, especially movies, TV shows. Depending on the situation, you could use it conversationally, but I feel like, and this is again just my opinion, one that you may come across more in TV shows. Uh, and then but in instead of actually actively using in conversation. So, what is happening in this picture right here? You can see this gentleman who is dressed in a peculiar way, holding a flashlight. Obviously, it looks like they're stealing somebody. This is this person is a thief. Yes. And what they have in the bag, you can see there's a word written, but it's maybe a little, you can kind of make it out, I guess, to steal someone's thunder. If you steal someone's thunder, you are doing what someone else is going to do before they do it. Especially if it's taking like success or praise away from someone. So, let me give you some examples of like the context. Let's say we work together. you're my colleague and I have an idea and I share my idea with you and basically during the meeting you you pretend like it's your idea and you say, "Oh my gosh, they you stole my thunder. You basically took credit for my idea." That would be more a situation that is, you know, it's going to bother someone if they steal your thunder. Something that's a little more, you know, innocuous that's really not going to hurt. Let's say that um I I we would use this in class. Uh if I'm asking questions as a student, I ask for people, oh, can you give me an example? And they maybe give an example using the idiom or whatever vocabulary we may be talking about. And then the next person that I asked, I was like, okay, can you give me an example? If they were going to say the same thing, they oh well, I was going to say the same thing. You know, this person stole my thunder. and they did it before they were getting getting ready to do it and that's kind of harmless in that context. Another time when you may use this like taking attention away from someone. So think about a wedding. This is another example I give with this idiom. If um on the wedding day the bride is going to wear a white dress, other women should not wear a white dress. If somebody else were to show up wearing a white dress, you could say, "Oh, it's like, you know, she's trying to steal the bride's thunder and take attention or praise away from this person." So, there are different ways in which you can use this idiom. I I think again it's one that you're you're you will come across. Uh so, it's good for your comprehension. It is a little more specific. So, you may be in a situation in that in which you can use it and I think that's great. I thought I share this one last meme with you. Nobody can steal your thunder when you are the storm. And in this context, it's like you're the storm. You're the one who is loud and talking. And basically, because of that, nobody's going to be able to steal your thunder. Here are a list of all the idioms that we've talked about. Again, uh hopefully some of them are new. If you were familiar with some of them, that's great. It's all about getting that exposure so that you can take it from more well passively understanding them if you hear them in conversation to being able to actively use them. And some of these you can certainly use actively. They're very easy. You're feeling a little sick. Well, you know, I'm feeling uh a little under the weather. or more specific if you're in a situation in which ah I think you're not uh something happened and I don't believe that you're able to make the right decision and say well I think this thing really clouded your judgment and you weren't able to make a good decision uh and and other ones more descriptive commenting like raining cats and dogs or you know wanting to break the ice so all of these idioms are related to the weather in that there is a word either the word weather or something else related to the weather. Even though as we've gone through them and you understand the meaning, you you can see that they're used in different context. If you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new, let me you can let me know by hitting that like button. I really appreciate uh you being here with me today learning these new idioms. I hope you just keep practicing, keep up the good work, and I will see you very soon for another lesson in the future. --- ## 694. Useful Winter Expressions to Build Your Vocabulary โ„๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `P82G_6hFVL8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P82G_6hFVL8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:20:53 | --- today i want to teach you some common and useful winter expressions that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english and this channel is all about just trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to talk about winter because right now it's winter especially if you are in the northern hemisphere so i thought this would be a good time to teach you some different expressions that have words that are related to winter words like cold or ice or freeze and to help you better understand these expressions i'm going to throw in some video clips so that you can see how these phrases are used in context so let's just begin with our first expression which is to leave someone out in the cold and what this means if you if you leave someone out in the cold it means that you are excluding someone from a group or some activity and you're kind of ignoring this person and you are leaving them out in the cold for example maybe i want to participate in a game with a group of friends but the the game can only have so many people and they say sorry we we can't have any other players in the game and i could say well i can't believe you're just going to leave me out in the cold you're not going to let me participate in this activity be a part of the group to leave someone out in the cold sometimes you have to put yourself above the story well i don't want to leave you out in the cold oh you're not it's not like we're a team anyway i want a job for coach tyrell he's been with me for 10 years i won't leave him out in the cold the next expression is a cold streak and when you say that something is a cold streak or maybe you say that you are on a cold streak it refers to a a time period when you're not having much success or you're not achieving your desired outcome it's like you're you keep losing again and again and again you could say well you're you're on a little bit of a cold streak often i think people may use this in the context of sports and they they keep playing they're participating in these matches but they they just happen to keep losing and they're on a cold streak or maybe people might use this uh when talking about dating that they're you're trying to find and meet a boyfriend or girlfriend and you keep asking people out on a date and the other person keeps saying no then maybe yeah you could say you're on a little bit of a cold streak keep in mind you could also say the opposite of this if you are having a lot of success and you're always winning then you are on a hot streak so you could be on a cold streak if you're not having success and a hot streak if you really are if you can't make a pay i'll find somebody who can coach you're trying to put a charge on my you're on a cold streak i'm trying to encourage you to catch fish stacy love me i'm not a cold streak but i'll pay her back let's go another round in cold blood all right yeah it sounds sounds a little scary it's not a good thing it means that something happens intentionally and without any feeling or emotion often i think people would use this with uh the statement and say that someone was killed in cold blood that they were killed by somebody that just had no feeling or emotion for what they did so this is an expression that i think you would hear if you're watching some tv show or movie that has a lot of crime or drama and they say that somebody was killed in cold blood or you could say somebody was murdered in cold blood that alexander cullen is guilty of murdering three people in cold blood i watched you open fire in a room full of unarmed starfleet officers you killed them in cold blood then we have to give someone the cold shoulder so this is a very common expression and it means that you are intentionally unfriendly to someone and in this case i say that it's common because i think you would probably use this or hear it being used if you're talking about people that know each other and perhaps people that maybe you you might think this person is your friend and you see this person out uh perhaps at a party and you you wave to them and they do not wave back and they're ignoring you and they seem like they're a little upset or angry and they don't talk to you you could say that that person is giving you the cold shoulder and even if you think about it like it's like you're you're giving somebody the shoulder like you're turning away from that person you don't want to talk to them and it is something that's uh it's unfriendly to give someone the cold shoulder you want to get lindsay back you got to give her the cold shoulder i don't know maybe we need to go out there and find out what we're meant to do his wife was giving him the cold shoulder out cold all right and i say it like that like out cold because it refers to somebody who is completely unconscious and if you're unconscious it just means you're not awake and i think that this is an expression that would be used maybe if you're you're talking about people fighting i think of boxing when people are boxing they're hitting each other and if somebody gets hit in the head really hard they may they may go unconscious and you could say they're out cold wow what happened you hit your head on the doorway coming in got knocked out cold [Music] can't tell it's knocked out cold then we have pour cold water on something or you could say to throw cold water on something and well think about it if you throw water on something usually you're trying to put it out you're trying to stop it and cold water cold it has a little bit of a negative connotation so if you are pouring cold water on something you are just being you're you're discouraging perhaps another person or you're just being negative about something let me give you an example maybe uh maybe you have a great idea and i start saying all of these negative things that this is not gonna work uh you shouldn't do this and i'm discouraging you then you could say that i'm pouring cold water on your idea or i'm throwing cold water on your idea but i would never do that to you i wouldn't lisa one of the hardest jobs i had is throwing cold water on young children's dream tip of the iceberg this is a great expression and to help you understand the meaning i just want you to picture an iceberg an iceberg will stick out of the water in the ocean but you only see a part of the iceberg underneath in the water there's a much bigger part of the iceberg that you don't see so when you refer to something as the tip of the iceberg you're saying that that you're only able to see a small part of something that's much bigger often i think it's used to talk about something that is a problem or just some bad situation and if you want to say that you you only know about a little bit of it then you could say well this is just the tip of the iceberg that there is a lot more just underneath that we're not able to see right now it's just the tip of the iceberg i just got a little panicky change is not easy for me charlie really i hadn't noticed and i'm not just talking about the clothes the clothes are only the tip of the iceberg everything is gone mom and pop vanished so all my sneakers are gone i'm afraid so and that's just the tip of the iceberg then we have to break the ice and this is a very common expression because what what it means is that when you have a group of people that do not know each other you want everyone to feel a little more relaxed and a little more comfortable and you might say let's break the ice let's do something so that we feel a little more relaxed talking to one another and we you can get to know somebody and you want to break the ice you could also use it as a noun if you're talking about some activity to help people feel a little more relaxed and you would call that an icebreaker anytime i start a new class i always like to begin with an icebreaker so that all of the students feel very comfortable and they're relaxed and it's just it's a good way to break the ice that's it don't be shy that may be a little joke to break the ice yes sir you said that's me leo gets whatever you need leo gets you get it i use that all the time to break the ice when i meet people you know it's good next is the expression to put a freeze on something and what this refers to is a policy that will temporarily stop something and i i think you might often use this in the context of maybe business so a company may have a policy and they want to put a freeze on hiring they want to temporarily stop hiring new employees so they have this policy and they'll put a freeze on hiring no we're going to talk about this now or if you'd prefer i put a permanent freeze on the education budget then we have freeze up so this is a phrasal verb and what it means if someone freezes up it means that a person becomes very anxious and they're unable to move or speak and you could say that they just they just freeze up i think people will use this phrasal verb when they're talking about perhaps somebody's giving a presentation and they're in front of a group of people and maybe they forget what they're going to say and they just freeze up or perhaps in a play if somebody forgets their lines and they're in front of the audience and then they just freeze up so i think often people may use this when they're talking about be doing something in front of a larger group of people perhaps an audience and you suddenly become anxious and you forget what you're supposed to say you you can't move you just freeze up sometimes it does it happens to me when i'm creating these lessons and well perhaps i just forget what i'm supposed to talk about i forget where i'm at in the lesson and i just freeze up but i i never show you that then we have the expression which one am i on that flash on the roof nearly gave me a heart attack i stop i freeze up i can't i don't know what happened in there and i just froze up i locked up i'm sorry when hell freezes over so this is an expression that people would use just to say never that something is never going to happen because the idea is that well hell is just never going to freeze so if i'm talking about something like the world cup the world cup and i think that the u.s the u.s is going to win the world cup i'm very excited for it you don't believe me maybe you think i'm crazy it's never going to happen you could just say well when hell freezes over or another way you could use this is you could say that the u.s will win the world cup when hell freezes over so in that case you're saying the thing that's never going to happen and then you follow it with when hell freezes over the u.s will win when hell freezes over we made some adjustments look at page nine i don't understand are you selling me the dealership or not when hell freezes over and when will the church see any of this money when hell freezes over suckers then we have to freeze someone out and what this means is that you are excluding someone socially from perhaps a group or an activity and usually in an unfriendly way so in that case it's a little similar to be left out in the cold because again you're you're ignoring someone but the difference is to be left out in the cold it refers to you're not able to be part of the group if you're freezing someone out maybe you're a part of the group but nobody's talking to you they're not interacting with you socially so maybe i i go to a friend's party and everybody's mad at me and nobody's talking to me they're not being social with me i could say they're freezing me out or maybe at a company you could say the group froze out the new employees during the meeting that they weren't talking to them they weren't uh they weren't interacting with them socially to free someone out he didn't want to talk to us about being angry maybe we don't talk to him at all freeze him out that's right i guess we'll show him somebody help me out here chip hmm karen tito larry you can't freeze me out like this we're on a first name basis so now for a quick review in the future i have so many more english lessons for you this is just the tip of the iceberg and i know that before i told you that we use this mostly with a bad situation in this case it's a good thing there are many more great english lessons that that you haven't seen just yet this is just the tip of the iceberg and i know that well sometimes the channel it can hit a little bit of a cold streak maybe not as many people are watching the videos uh maybe not getting as many likes or or comments perhaps it's because i freeze up in the middle of the lesson even if that happens i promise i will not give up i will never give you the cold shoulder because you are an important part of the interactive english community and i'm just not going to leave you out in the cold so i i hope that you could easily understand what i was just saying because you just learned the meaning of all of these different winter expressions and if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button it'll really help me help me get back on a hot streak and i will see you in the next lesson so long --- ## 695. Useful Words & Synonyms on How to Say You're SAD ๐Ÿ™ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `aLlxMBv-WJM` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLlxMBv-WJM) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:36:58 | --- Do you ever feel sad, blue, dejected? But there's no need to feel sad today because you're about to learn some new words. If you feel like you're not making enough progress with your English, don't feel sad. Join our social media classes. You will learn so much. So this lesson is all about different ways to express your sadness. So instead of just saying "I'm sad," "I'm sad," "I'm sad," "I'm sad," each time, I thought it would be good to give you some vocabulary words. Some different ways to say you're sad. So let's get to the lesson. So the first one is to be blue or to feel blue. And this means that you're feeling sad, melancholy, a little bit depressed. It's just not...you're not feeling well. You're feeling blue. A little sad. And I think we all feel blue from time to time. I like this one because it's connected to colors and I love colors. And it's very interesting that we can connect emotions to a color. So it's...I think it's a really common one, and it's a really, really good way to express you're sad without saying the word "sad." Okay, the next one is heartbroken. So when you're heartbroken you're extremely sad. Your heart is broken...imagine in a million pieces for something bad that happened. Or just something really, really sad that has happened to you. Now we hear this a lot about romantic relationships, but it doesn't have to be about that at all. It can be about any relationship or any other events that have directly affected you. You're heartbroken. The next one is down. And this just means...when somebody's feeling down they can be a little bit... They can be unhappy or a little bit depressed. So again, this one...it does mean sad. It does mean unhappy. But I would say maybe not the same intensity as very depressed. You're just a little bit down. The next word is bitter. And this one is a little bit more specific than the others. And the reason is because when somebody feels bitter, they're feeling anger. They're feeling resentment. They're feeling sadness. And it's usually the result of some kind of unjust treatment. Or treatment that they think was unfair or unjust. The next word is dejected. And this one is a little bit sadder. Because if somebody feels dejected, they feel depressed. They feel sad. But it's almost as if they feel hopeless. They're about to give up on whatever situation they were in. If they're dejected, they've kind of tried everything and they're just... That's kind of...they're about to give up. Number six is gloomy. And this also has a little bit of a twist to it. So I I hear this word a lot connected to a place or a mood. It has to do with kind of like dark mysterious places. If a place is gloomy, it's like a depressing but dark, scary place. But of course it can be a mood as well. So somebody can feel gloomy. The next one is disheartened. And when somebody is disheartened that means that they lose confidence. They lose the determination, and they're just really feeling very sad. The next one is depressed. And when someone is depressed, it means that they're in a state of extreme unhappiness. And I'm talking extreme. So depressed is really, really a word that you shouldn't take lightly if you're trying to say you're sad. It means you're feeling extreme, extreme sadness. The next word is miserable. And if somebody is miserable, it means that they are extremely unhappy or uncomfortable. So you can see it in both of those situations. Our last word is dark. And this means...if somebody's feeling dark, they are feeling unhappy. But it also has to do with maybe feeling some unpleasantness or being a little bit pessimistic. And it just really means that, you know, they're feeling very unhappy. And just a little bit unpleasant to be around. They are in a dark mood. Okay. So now I want you to practice the words you just learned. This is really, really great practice. And I really want to emphasize that it's very important that we use different words That we use synonyms to express our feelings. So here's your practice. What I want you to do is complete the following sentence with one of the words you learned today. So I'll repeat that. Use one of those words in the sentence, and tell us what makes you feel that way. And it doesn't have to be true. You can just write it down just for the sake of practicing. I hope this lesson didn't make you feel sad. But instead happy to have learned some new words. So next time you feel a little blue, down, or disheartened by your English progress, don't despair. Just watch another video. You will feel better and learn at the same time, which in my book is a win-win. So nothing to feel sad about here. If you found this lesson useful, please give it a thumbs up. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 696. Useful Words to Say Things Are Cheap and Expensive | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VQc_rQsE1oI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQc_rQsE1oI) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:33:12 | --- - Today we're learning some very useful vocabulary, keep on watching to learn some different ways to say cheap and expensive. Now these two words, cheap and expensive, are among the most common adjectives out there. And I thought it would be time to teach you how to say them differently. We don't always want to say this is cheap, this was so cheap, this is so so cheap, (gibberish). Boring. And it's not just boring, sometimes it doesn't adequately describe something. So today I'm going to give you different words that kinda more accurately describes these two very important adjectives because we work with them all the time. So stick with me and learn some new great words. So let's start with cheap, the first synonym, and this is a direct synonym, meaning you can use it interchangeably is inexpensive. So if something is inexpensive it means it's cheap, it just doesn't cost a great deal. - This one you can use for most things, so instead of saying cheap, just say inexpensive. Okay, now another direct synonym for cheap is I forgot the word. Another direct synonym for cheap is low-price. Again, this is interchangeably, so you can use cheap, you can use inexpensive or you can use low-priced. The next synonym for cheap is affordable. Now, yes, of course this is a synonym, we can talk about something cheap being affordable, but I think I hear this a lot with big ticket items, so if something that is kind of usually expensive or usually is worth a lot of money. So talking about things like a car or a house or something that is usually very expensive. It doesn't cost too much, it's cheaper than we expected to be. Maybe we can say that it's affordable. The next one is cost-effective. And this one is one of those synonyms that has a very specific meaning. So, not only is it cheap, but it produces some good effect without costing a lot of money. So, it's kinda like good for the price. Cost-effective. It does the job and it doesn't have to cost you a lot. Our next adjective is budget, and don't confuse this one with the noun budget, because they mean slightly different things. When used as an adjective just stands for inexpensive. You know it's just a synonym for cheap. Our next synonym is reasonable, and this another one that is not quite a direct synonym for cheap. So if something is reasonable, it just kind of means that the price is not necessarily too cheap, but more like fair or moderate. Not too expensive. - It's not more or less, it's just fair. But of course you can use it as a synonym for cheap in the context that you're talking about fair prices. The next word is steal, and for this one I don't the verb to steal, it's a noun. So when you refer to something as a steal, that's kinda how we use it. It just means that's so cheap, almost like you stole it. - It shouldn't be that cheap, it should be illegal that it's that cheap, but it is. So this one is probably one of my favorites, because if I find something that's a steal, I'm having a great day, don't have to pay a lot of money, so life is great. Our next synonym is bargain, and this one just kind of means the same as steal, except steal is more informal. But really, they mean the same thing, it just mean something really really cheap. And usually bargain has the implication that whatever item you bought, you bought it on a sale for a price that's usually much lower than expected and maybe you just got a really good sale or deal. Okay, so now that you know some wonderful synonyms for cheap, how about we talk about expensive. I just realized these are not gonna be as fun as cheap, because nobody likes to talk about expensive things. So we are going to start with the most kinda direct synonym for expensive and this one is costly. Now pay attention how you pronounce this word, because you do not hear the t, it's a very subtle, almost silent t. It just means costing a lot. If something's costly, costs a lot of money. So, it's expensive. It's costly. Our next synonym is overpriced, and this one has a slightly different meaning and it just kind a means if something is overpriced, it cost more than it should. Yes, it's expensive, but it shouldn't be this expensive. It just it's way too much, it's overpriced. The next one is pricey, and this is kinda like costly, is kind of a direct synonym for expensive, and it just means costing a lot of money. It's expensive. The next one is valuable, and this one kinda has two meanings, one of them is, obviously the directly related to money. If something is valuable it means it's worth a lot of money. - But it can also mean that it has another kind of value as well. It doesn't necessarily have to be about money. So something valuable to you could be maybe something one of a kind. - I'll say this many times when we're talking about valuable, we are talking about, um, I hear to jewelry a lot. So, you know, like her ring or earing or something would be valuable. Our next word is extravagant, and I would say that this one also has a slightly different meaning, usually when something is extravagant, it cost a little bit more than you can afford or more than you should pay for it. Extravagant, is kind of connected to like a life of luxury. So extravagant can also be more than something reasonable, it's just too much. Our next word is lavish, and I put extravagant and lavish together because they are kind of related. So when we're talking about lavish is kinda still that idea of that life style. If it's something that is elaborate, that's expensive, that a lot of money was spent on it and maybe just something that it's a little bit abundant. Lavish, it's really kind of luxurious. So maybe you've notice that this words have kind of gone from just, you know, expensive to like, crazy expensive. Well, our next word is even crazier on the expensive scale. And it is exorbitant. Something is exorbitant it means that it is at an unreasonably high price, the price is so high that it just, no. Why would you pay so much for this? It is exorbitant. So whenever you use this word you wouldn't just describe expensive, but you would describe something so expensive that it is almost insane. - Completely unreasonable, it doesn't make any sense, yet it cost this much. Exorbitant. And our next synonym is kind of an idiom. Well, it's not kind of, it's an idiom. Therefore it's a little bit less formal, and it is an arm and a leg. It means very expensive not as expensive as exorbitant, but it just means very very expensive. Okay, so now I want you to practice this words that we've just learn, so what I want you to do is in the comments, use one of the words we learned and tell us about something you think it's cheap or expensive. Remember, the more you use the vocabulary the better it will stick in your mind, so you know if you want to tell us about ten things, twenty things, whatever, the better you'll remember them. I hope you enjoyed this lesson and learned some new vocabulary words, if you did, please give us some love, thumbs up, share, whatever you want to do. I also hope that your purchases in the future are not exorbitant or extravagant. But instead they are reasonable and affordable. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 697. Useful World Cup Idioms for Your Vocabulary Goals | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ynJBUyVFZwo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynJBUyVFZwo) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:37:19 | --- So since everyone is so excited for the World Cup, I thought this would be a good opportunity to talk to you about some popular soccer idioms and expressions. And yes, I said soccer because I'm an American. Even though the rest of the world pretty much says football. Not sure why we say soccer. Americans just do. But we we do a lot of things that don't make much sense. Keep in mind that even though these Idioms are related to soccer and sports, they can be used in a variety of different situations and contexts. And I will show you that and give you some examples as we go through these expressions. The first expression I have for you is to keep one's eye on the ball. So when you're playing soccer or just about any sport, you need to look at the ball. You need to know where it is, and you have to keep your eye on it. So this basically means that you really have to pay attention and stay focused to the activity that you're doing. This could be used not only in sports. You could use it in business as well. That you need to stay focused on what you're doing. Or even in school you need to pay attention. You need to keep your eye on the ball. The next expression is a little similar, but it's still different. And that is to be on the ball. So if you say that you are on the ball, it just means that you are really alert, and you are aware of everything that's going on. That you're doing things right and you say "You know. Today, I'm really on the ball." I'm really sharp. I know what's happening. I'm focused. I'm on the ball. One of my favorite idioms is to get the ball rolling And when we say this it means that we want to start something. So it means pretty much exactly what it says. So if we have a ball, and we want to start rolling it. Then we get the ball rolling. We start moving along. Many times I would walk into a classroom, and we're getting ready to begin class and I'd say "All right, guys. Let's get the ball rolling." Let's begin. Now when people are playing soccer you have to kick the ball. There's a lot of kicking going on. And someone can say that they get a kick out of something. Which means that they really enjoy something. They really like it. I get a kick out of watching World Cup matches I get a kick out of riding a motorcycle. I hope that you guys get a kick out of watching our English lessons. And will hit that like button down below. Another great expression is a game changer. So if something is a game changer, then that means that there was some new idea, something happened that really shifted the game in one way or another. So in sports, somebody maybe gets injured and that's a game changer. Or even in business. Maybe you have a new computer system that's going to help you and you say wow this is a game changer. There are many ways that we can use this expression. But if there's some new idea something, revolutionary that is going to change the way that we do things. It's a game changer. This next idiom is one that I think I also use a lot, and that is a game plan. So if you have a game plan, it means that you have a strategy for doing something. That you have a plan of action that you are going to execute in order to succeed. You must have a game plan. So if you're playing soccer or any sports for that matter, you need to have a game plan. You have to have a strategy to win. And in business you need a game plan if you're going to do some negotiations. In school you need a game plan if you're working on some project. Even if you're organizing an event for a friend, you need a game plan. So in soccer there are referees out there on the field. And they carry a whistle. And sometimes they might blow the whistle. And when you blow the whistle on someone it means that you are calling this person out for doing something wrong. Maybe something even illegal. And you're reporting it to the proper authorities. You can blow the whistle on another person. You could blow the whistle on a company, on an organization. If somebody's done something wrong, you can report it. You can let everyone know, and you are blowing the whistle on that person or company. We can also change this idiom around and make it a noun and say that someone is a whistleblower. And if someone's a whistleblower, then that person is the one who reported the wrongdoing that is happening. They're a whistleblower. Blow the whistle on someone. Another great soccer expression, which is also it's relevant to any sports out there is to say we were robbed. And to be robbed means that something happened that was unjust that you don't think is fair. Maybe you just barely missed the goal, or maybe there was a penalty and you disagree with it. You'd say we were robbed. A very common expression is to take sides. So if you're thinking about soccer you have two different sides of the field. One team is on one side the other team is on the other side. And you take sides. You are cheering for one team. So if you are taking sides it means that you are supporting one over the other. And this is very common because it's used often when two people disagree about something. And another person is there, and they're trying to figure out, "Okay. Who do I agree with? Whose side am I taking?" Next is to be on a roll. And if a sports team is on a roll that just means that they have been very successful lately. They've been winning a lot. They have a streak of success. So you guys are learning these idioms and expressions and you're learning so much English I'd say "Yeah, you know you're on a roll keep it up. You're doing great. You guys rock." And anybody can be on a roll if they happen to have a lucky streak. And you could say "Yeah, you know. Lately I've really been on a roll." Now that you know some of these popular soccer idioms and expressions I have a question for you. I'm going challenge you. This is interactive English, and we have an interactive question. So I want you to click on the correct answer. What is this expression right here mean? To score an own goal. I want you to click on the answer that you think is correct. If you don't know the answer then just say "I don't know," in the comments, and I will tell you the answer. I promise you. What does it mean? Click on the correct answer. If you don't click on an answer the video is just going to end, and then I hope that you will LIKE this lesson, share it, and go on to watch other lessons. --- ## 698. Using Pictures to Improve Your English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Ee1sL-AtxZ0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee1sL-AtxZ0) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:45:51 | --- Today, I want to talk to you about something that will make it easier for you to learn and improve your English skills. And that is... Before we begin today's lesson, I'd like to remind you to join our social media classes because it's another. great way to practice your English skills. So a lot of you out there who are learning English are studying on your own. Maybe you don't have time or the resources to take classes. So you are trying to teach yourself. And self-study is a great way to try and learn the language. But there are certain things that you can do to improve your skills, so you become better at teaching yourself. One thing that I think is so important for learning English or any other language for that matter is using pictures and images to learn the language and reinforce whatever it is that you're trying to learn. And this is especially important for self-study because there are so many images out there that will help you learn the language. So first why is it even important to use pictures or images when it comes to language learning? Well, we are all different and we have different learning styles. Some of us are kinesthetic learners, and we need to move around. Others are auditory learners, and we need to hear whatever it is that we're learning because that's going to help us. Others, like me, are visual learners and it really helps to see pictures with color, and it has a stronger meaning. And it helps me, especially remember the material and really reinforces my understanding of whatever it is I'm learning because I'm actually able to see something to associate with that. And the significance of visual learning is evident all around us. This is especially true when it comes to early childhood education. You can just go into many elementary school classrooms around the world and you will probably see that they are full of pictures that are very colorful because this really grabs our attention. And not only that, it really provides a stronger connection with what we are learning, which in turn helps with our memory and our retention of the material. So what I want to show you today is something that maybe you are already familiar with and hopefully you are already using it. But if not, I strongly suggest that you start using it. And it is a great online resource that is available to everyone. And that is... So Google images, what is it? Well, it's basically a search engine of pictures and images of anything that you want to know about. And it can be extremely useful for learning English, especially if you're studying on your own. So a lot of times students will ask me a question about vocabulary grammar, maybe pronunciation. And depending on the question, I might just go on Google images and find a picture and send that to them because that not only explains the material, but it gives them a visual reference. So the most common way that people use Google images would be for vocabulary. They come across a word that they don't know and they want to have a picture to associate with that word. So for example, say that you are reading a story and you come across the word DRAWBRIDGE. And you know it's a bridge, but you're not really sure exactly what type of bridge it is, so you can just write DRAWBRIDGE into the Google image search engine and then...voila you have a bunch of pictures about what a drawbridge actually looks like. And now it's something that you can associate with what you already know. Because many of us have seen a drawbridge in our lives at one point or another. And now we can associate that word to the image. Another example, maybe you don't know what a GROUNDHOG is so we can put that into Google images and then we see that...yes, okay. It is an animal. And maybe this is an animal that you never seen before so you really learn something entirely new. Or perhaps you have seen a groundhog before and you just didn't know that that's what it meant in English. That's going to help you remember it especially when you want to produced that word in speaking or writing. We can also use Google images to find out the difference between two words. So for example, a lot of people might confuse the words borrow and lend. And on a side note, if you're looking for an explanation you can check out our video right up there. Or there. I don't know. It's somewhere up there. But we can use Google images to find out the difference We can just type in "borrow versus lend." And then we're going to have a lot of pictures and images come up showing us the difference. And some of them even show us directly that yes...borrow means to take, lend means to give. And even if there's not necessarily a picture of the action, we can find the meaning and it shows us using a lot of different colors. And colors really help. And what I recommend is that you save these images, put them in a vocabulary folder, and then you can reference them in the future. So Google Images is not limited to just vocabulary. We can also use it to learn grammar So for example, say that we are studying and learning about the present perfect tense. Well, we can put that into Google Images, and again we're going to have a lot of different pictures come up. And some of them are even going to have graphs and charts that are showing us more information about this verb tense, when to use it how it's used, and it'll also give us many different example sentences using this verb tense. And then if you go up to the top you can see that it gives us more words that are associated with our search. So maybe you also want to learn about the present perfect continuous. So now we can go over there and look at some of those pictures to give us an idea about how that verb tense is used. And maybe even understand the difference between the present perfect and the present perfect continuous. Finally, we can even use Google Images when it comes to pronunciation. So say that you want to learn and understand a little bit more about silent letters. So you can write silent letters into the search, and now we have a lot of different pictures showing us images of words with silent letters, and the silent letter is even highlighted. So we know that when we're saying this word we're not going to pronounce that sound because that letter is silent night: knight, knee, wrist. These are all common words that have silent letters. And truthfully, these are just a few examples as to how you can use Google Images to improve your self-study. I would definitely recommend checking it out. If you have any question about the English language, just put it in the Google Images and see what comes up. It's going to help you learn and understand the material better. So what I'd like you to do now is in the comments below let us know what online resources you are using when it comes to learning English. And sharing this is going to help everyone because we'll be able to find and discover new resources that will help us learn English better. Especially if we are using self-study. Thanks for joining us. I hope you enjoyed this learning tutorial about how to use Google Images, so go use it. We'll see you next time. --- ## 699. Using Subtitles to Enhance Your English Skills | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `7DpTGGT-prg` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DpTGGT-prg) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:49:08 | --- all right hello hello people English learners students friends I hope you guys are having a wonderful day so in the chat again let us know where you're joining us and also maybe tell us I don't know tell us tell us what you did today tell us something that you did this morning or this afternoon and if you're watching this at a later time again write a comment tell us what you did today like reading your stuff and I promise I I will reply I will reply Marco what's up how are you doing good to have you here so like having conversations I like interacting with you guys so speaking of conversations and dialogue today I want to talk to you about something that as an English teacher it's very important to me and I think also for you guys learning English or any other language for that matter this is something that I think is very useful and helpful and that is this we're going to talk about the benefits of using subtitles so I first want to start out by saying that this is something that again can it's not controversial but I think there are some linguists and teachers and people out there that have looked at this and they've said well you know subtitles if you can't learn a language using subtitles or it doesn't help and other people think it does so today I'm gonna give you I'm gonna give you my opinion my perspective and the one thing I will say is that I do agree with some of it and that I don't think you can just learn a language only with subtitles so for example I don't speak French and I don't think I could sit in front of a TV and watch movies and television with French subtitles and that I'm gonna learn the language that way but I do think that if you are a studying a language and you are getting classroom study and you are using a book and you are using other resources and practicing you are listening you're reading your writing and your speaking subtitles can really help complement complement what you are trying to learn and what you are doing and complement your overall language skills and truthfully I definitely don't think it hurts so it's not something that I think you have to do always but I think it is useful especially in the right context and that there is a lot of value that you can gain from using subtitles to watch TV movies or even English lessons on YouTube so Marco how I am doing extremely extremely well it's a nice weekend here it was rainy last weekend now it's a beautiful day outside and afterwards I think we're gonna go out for a walk so hello pearl from India excellent I hope you guys are having a great weekend today as I showed you I'm gonna talk about the benefits of using subtitles so to tell you a little story quick little story when I first learned that it's useful to use subtitles I was learning Spanish and I had been studying Spanish for quite a while I studied at a school in Spain I was doing self-study I was doing work in books and this was when I was on a trip from I was on a trip in Latin America I was actually in Paraguay of all places and during this whole time as I'm learning Spanish I'm listening to music I really love the music and my listening skills I'll be on they're pretty bad so I would I would listen to the music and I would enjoy it but often I didn't understand all of the words and that was okay because you're kind of listening to music and you're just enjoying the the rhythm the flow and the beats so it wasn't until this one trip when I was in Paraguay and I went out with a group of friends to a karaoke bar and you know I'm guessing most of us have been to do karaoke and you are singing the song but the words are up there it's like they have they have subtitles with the songs so you know you know the person singing knows what to sing so at this karaoke bar all of the music was mostly Spanish and it was music I was familiar with and when I'm sitting there looking at listening to people sing these songs and reading along with it I started to notice I was like oh okay that's what they're saying I began to understand actually the words that were in the song and it had a lot more meaning and I think that's when I first discovered that okay subtitles can be very useful on many different levels hello from Malaysia Thailand excellent have people from all over the place hope you guys are having a wonderful day I'm guessing it's pretty late at night there so thank you for joining us so first reason I want to show you the benefit of using subtitles is this a better understanding so my question for you is as follows do you prefer subtitles or do you prefer without subtitles when you're watching something in English alright do you prefer to use subtitles or do you prefer no subtitles let us know in the comments write it in the chat or if you're watching this later again please answer the question write it in the comment section we like to hear from all of you guys and interact with you so in the chat let us know do you prefer titles or without and again there's no right or wrong answer we're all different learners we prefer different learning styles and we prefer to work on different skills so I'm kind of curious how what you guys think of subtitles do you enjoy using them do you not enjoy using them do you use them sometimes so do you prefer subtitles or without write it in the chat let me know so there are very there are a lot of benefits I think to using subtitles and that first one is a better understanding because it complements our other language skills so it complements you know our reading skills definitely which I will get to in a moment it complements our listening skills it can compliment our grammar skills because we are able to see the syntax of a language and syntax is just the way that words are ordered in a sentence so there are many skills that it can complement if we are using subtitles it also allows because of this because we're getting this extra reading skill that were able to use it allows information to be processed more easily we're able to understand it a little better so again depending on your learning style depending on where you are at and your level of English if you are a high beginner or low intermediate or if you're an advanced learner it's going to depend on what you want to do and how much it can help you so so many I usually prefer subtle because I can easily understand exactly thank you for sharing with us it does make it easy to understand where you're at throughout this process that quote it's kind of an expression maybe a bit of a proverb that it says we must learn to walk before we can run that basically whenever you are learning something whether it's learning a language or you're learning how to play the piano you start at step one and you go through a process and maybe get to step 20 you don't just go from 1 to 20 there is an in-between period so when you are learning a language you're a beginner and then an intermediate and then advanced so personally I think subtitles can really help bridge a gap if you are a high beginner or low intermediate learner I think it can help immensely because it gives you the ability to watch things that maybe you normally would not be able to watch on your own just listening to and understand completely so it really helps at that level to be able to sit down and watch an entire movie or to watch a TV series and really understand what's happening and really stay with it so subtitles can really be useful in that way have some people kind of prefer subtitles especially when I watch movies because they talk very fast exactly oftentimes I'm going to get to that also as well about colloquial speech which is more informal the way people speak out on the streets or just casually with each other many times people tend to speak very fast so subtitles can be useful so a better understanding is what it can give many of us if we are learning the language again if you are just joining us say hello in the chat let us know where you're from what you're doing today and join our conversation about subtitles so the next reason why the next benefit of using subtitles as I said before is it improves our reading and literacy skills and I think it's very obvious why it would do that because you are reading you are reading and you're having to read at a quicker pace you're having to read at the pace that people are speaking so I think it really helps improve our reading skills and my question for you you can let us know in the chat is do you feel like you read enough personally I feel that reading is it's a little bit of a lost art nowadays I think people tend to spend less time reading and more time watching now that we have you know social media and all the internet and so many different options out there or I think an issue for me is that I'll still read I'll just read in smaller increments so I'll find something online and I'll read it it's a short article and then that's it so I'm still reading but I'm reading less I feel like nowadays so how do you feel like you get to read enough and are you satisfied with the amount of reading that you do because when it comes to language learning I think reading is definitely undervalued as far as the benefit that we get from reading books reading articles reading stories I think it helps so much and the reason I think it really helps so much is because again you're more likely to remember the material that if you are just listening then chances are there's a good chance that you might forget the next day or a few days later if you're reading there's a better chance that you're going to remember and because of that it reinforces that knowledge that you're gaining by listening to somebody talk in a video and also watching them because again you're watching a movie or TV show or even on YouTube you are watching something and you can use the captions or the subtitles are said I read almost nothing all right so again a lot of us depends on you know our time our schedules maybe we don't get enough time to read as much as we like so again subtitles are a way that we can practice those reading skills and while we're doing other things while you are watching something so you get to do two birds in one stone which is an idiom that means you get to do two things and accomplish two things at the same time so the next benefit that I have for you is somebody you know you had mentioned earlier that people talk very fast because a lot of times they're using informal speech and that's why when you're using subtitles and you get to see the words that everybody is saying you get to learn new words and phrases because you are learning these colloquial expressions such as idioms such as phrasal verbs and not only learning them but learning when to use them so oftentimes you might hear somebody say a phrasal verb but it's that preposition at the end that if you don't hear that then it can completely change the meaning and if you're using subtitles you could see that oh okay they said put on which is very different than the meaning of put out or put up so it can really help you understand and learn these new words and phrases and get to see when to use them so my question oh I had my question for you guys that I want you to put in the chat and let us know can you tell us share with us what is a new word or phrase that you recently learned all right what's a new word or phrase that you recently learned share it with us because maybe somebody else does not know that word so share it with us in the chat or if you're watching this later write that word in the comment because again when you write this word that you that you recently learned you are reinforcing your ability to remember that word so please write it in the chat what is a new word or phrase that you have learned so again somebody pearl just shared it it does help me improve my reading speed pronunciation and increased vocabulary yes there are many benefits and especially I think the reading speed is a huge one the other thing that I wanted to tell you about with learning new words and phrases was the subject specific vocabulary so I have an example for you if you are watching a TV series that has to do with a hospital or doctors they're going to use a lot of medical vocabulary and if you're using subtitles a lot of this you know many of these words because it is very subject specific it is about medicine a lot of these words you may not have heard before so instead of just listening to the somebody say the word and maybe you're not under you're not sure how that word is spelled if you're using subtitles then you'll really get to see the word and then maybe you can look it up if you really want to know what it means and then there you go you've just learned a new word because they're really talking about subject specific vocabulary depending on maybe the TV show or the movie or the YouTube video that you might be watching hi from Turkey almost 6 p.m. yes it's getting late it is almost dinnertime so this is another example I used to show my students Grey's Anatomy so Grey's Anatomy is a TV series I don't think it's still running it's a bit older but it is about you know doctors in the hospital so they use a lot of that specific vocabulary yesterday I came across the word enigma excellent yes that is a good word stood me up that is a good phrasal verb idiom expression that you can use so if somebody stands somebody up that they basically they make plans and then they don't show up which is not good so again you can learn using subtitles you can learn the new words these new phrases and it really really really helps and again I'm not saying that you have to use subtitles all the time it's up to you this is your decision but I think it is good to mix it up and even if you do understand most of the stuff just you know throw the subtitles on practice those skills the reading the other the last thing that I wanted to show you is some of the other benefits of using subtitles and the question that I have for you this time is how often do you guys usually use subtitles how often do you use them do you never use them do you seldom use them do you sometimes use them or do you often use them or always tell us how often do you use subtitles and do you like using subtitles but there are other benefits and other reasons why we might use subtitles the first one I have up there is the accent maybe you are watching something and the accent is difficult to understand this has happened to me in watching some movies even in English I'll give you an example I was watching a long time ago there was a movie British film it's called Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels good movie by the way if you want to watch it but it is about it takes place in London and these guys in the movie they have this very very thick they have those thick cockney accent and especially at the beginning it was a little difficult to understand so I turned on the subtitles and I was watching it was a movie in English but I was watching it with subtitles because again it was helping me understand a little better what exactly was going on and what exactly was being said so if the accent if you're watching something and you're not familiar with the accent whether it's an American accent a British accent South African accent it does help to use subtitles that is a benefit sometimes if you are watching something and the video quality is not that good and you don't have the visual reference so that you understand what's happening it's good to use subtitles also maybe you might be watching something that the audio is not very good and that can help when you're using subtitles so that you don't miss what is being said pearl said almost every time watching The Big Bang Theory that is excellent that is a funny show it is a good show to watch and if you're using subtitles again you can makes it easier to understand because even in that show it's a you know more of a casual it's a comedy show they're using specific vocabulary because it is about scientists so they're using some of those more technical terms probably vocabulary words that people don't use in everyday English Stella hi from Argentina hello how are you excellent thanks for joining us again these are some of the benefits that you get from using subtitles so again in the chat or the comments let us know how often you like using subtitles and why you think it is beneficial like hearing from you guys the last thing you might have noticed I don't know if you've seen our if our in our video lessons we always try to write in put English captions in there so that if you want to use subtitles when you watch our lessons they are available to you in English we don't do that with these live lessons mostly because they are very long they're 20 to 30 minutes and it would take hours and hours to put those in there YouTube does automated captions but with our regular lessons that come out on Tuesdays we put those English subtitles in there so my last request to you if you are interested in helping us out in any way shape or form again you can help tribute subtitles in your native language because this makes it more accessible to everyone now I know that you might be thinking like oh well if you're going to use subtitles you should use English and I think that is true I think it's more helpful to use English especially when you're watching an English instructional video however again remember the quote that I talked to you about at the beginning it says that said you know before we can run we have to learn how to walk so if you are at a beginner level or if you are at a higher beginner level and you want to watch some English instructional video they might be that person might be more comfortable using subtitles in their own native language again so they can understand everything and I completely understand that and it would help us if you are interested to contribute some subtitles in your native language I've put some instructions up there how to do it if you have a video of ours that you enjoyed you can go to the video and then down below the screen there's that little gear icon there's that little wheel you just click on that and you could select subtitles and it says add subtitles and CC and from there it will take you and you can put in the subtitles for us and contribute to our community our lessons which again will help others enjoy our videos and help us spread the word which is very important and we would truly appreciate it so again this was a little short lesson Oh from the Dominican Republic excellent awesome we got people from everywhere thanks for joining us again thanks for joining us we're kind of wrapping things up at this point sorry about that but we appreciate you guys tuning in if you have any other questions or comments please we're going to publish this video write them in the comment section we enjoy reading them we enjoy interacting and talking to you guys so write those in the comments and we will get back to you if you enjoyed our lessons please like and share and you can also check out our social media Facebook Twitter Instagram snapchat we are posting new stuff every day questions quizzing you giving you information to help you practice and improve your English skills so again thank you guys for watching thanks for joining us today we appreciate it we will be back next Saturday with another live lesson and we have another video coming out on Tuesday so any other comments let us know and we will get back to you but thank you for watching and joining us have a wonderful rest of your day alright thanks so much we'll see you next time --- ## 700. Using the Past Tense | Learn the Simple Past, Past Continuous, & Present Perfect | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `657u7YiSj5k` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=657u7YiSj5k) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:37:28 | --- all right what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is the place you want to be because we are all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and the way we're going to do that today we have a fun lesson for you because we're going to talk to you about three different verb tenses I'm going to talk to you about the simple past the past Progressive and the past perfect that's right I'm going to talk to you about all three of those verb tenses now I'm not going to go into a very deep dive into these verb tenses we have done some lessons like that in the past and I will link those up above in the cards and I highly encourage you to go check those out what I want to do today is this we're going to talk about the verb tenses how they're used when we use them I also want to share with you some of the signal words that you will see when you see these words then you'll think okay this is the verb tense that I should use and after that we are going to practice I want you guys to practice your skills so I have some questions for you I will ask the questions and you guys need to choose the correct verb tense are you going to use the simple past the past the past continuous or the present perfect so we got a lot going on and I want you guys to be in I want you guys to interact with the lesson even if you're watching this later on use the comment section WR sentence and and actually make it more active learning that is what this is all about so I want to take a a quick moment and give some shoutouts here give some shoutouts to everybody who's here right now uh what's up Jean Maya uh I wna sorry if I miss some names or mispronounce names I apologize Ira hello Hugh how are you uh Risa suie uh Baka jadil gosia star night fancy Club avar marillo welcome long thank you guys so much for joining me today and you know let's let's just have some fun we're going to be talking about those verb tenses and a f and a question that you might ask because this is more of a grammar lesson is why should we learn these tenses all right very simple question simple answer all right why should we learn the different verb tenses because we want to know when things happen all right verbs are like that that's like the main part of the meal in a sentence it tells us so much information because it tells us when these things are happening is it happening in the future is it happening right now or is it happening in the past that's why it's so important to learn these different verb tenses understand how to use that so that that we just improve our overall fluency whenever you want to speak English or even if you're listening it's going to help your listening comprehension it helps all of the language skills so learning the verb tenses it's just so important all right so let's begin with the simple past okay so the these are sometimes when we whoops over here here we go when we use the simple past when something happened once at a specific time okay it's a finished action it happened once and then it's done so for example I read a book last night this is what happened I read a book it's finished and I use the simple past so I will put the question to you what did you do last night give me some sentences let me know in the chat or even in the comments what did you do last night give give me a sentence use the simple past easy enough we also use the simple past right here to talk about something happened again and again remember this is a finished action this is finished but it it it was repeated it happened more than once and this is when you might find it being used with adverbs of frequencies always usually sometimes rarely never or in this example I said every Monday okay every Monday I went to soccer practice I don't do it anymore but before I went every Monday all right it was a repeated action it happened again and again now next one is something that was true for a period of time so it it's again it's it's finished it's true for a period of time but not anymore so my example is we lived in the Bay Area for 3 years that's a picture of Yana and I in front of the Golden Gate Bridge it's a very very iconic spot in the Bay Area so we lived in the San Francisco Bay area for 3 years we were there for that period of time but we're not there anymore okay so so we liveed there before so let's see some of the example sentences thank you guys for sharing um I went there yesterday sure you could say that I watched the the last episodes of my series great sentence I watch videos on YouTube excellent hope you watch some of our videos uh I slept last night of course great uh I sold my motorbike yesterday all right interesting wow um I watched Bohemia rap City movie oh thank you I haven't we haven't seen that we want to see it but those are some great great example sentences Sunrise says I made dinner Perfect all right this is what I want you guys to do I want you to keep practicing even if it's easy all right because so many times students are always I need to learn something new I need to learn something new and it's so easy to forget that we need to review these simple basic rules whether it's reviewing simple grammar or even vocabulary it's always good to view so let's look at some of the signal words I've already mentioned that when you see these adverbs of frequency again we use the simple past but don't think it's only for the simple past because you can use adverbs of frequency for for any verb tense but sometimes if you're talking about if you know the situation is talking about the past and you're using that adverb of frequency you can use the the the simple past like I always so for example I said we lived in the Bay Area Yan and I we lived in San Francisco we always went for a walk around our neighborhood that's true we usually ate uh breakfast at on the weekends at one of our favorite uh restaurants it's called Cafe Roma sometimes sometimes we went uh we sometimes we hiked around in the North Bay uh the Dipsy Trail if you ever go there and we never we never swam in the Pacific Ocean okay that's something we never did I just used the simple past for all of those adverbs of frequency to talk about our time in the Bay Area it's a finished action the next one uh definite points in time there are a lot of signal words for this I'm not I wasn't going to give you all of them but uh yesterday last week last month again we you you hear this used so often last year those signal words tell us okay we're talking about the past and those indefinite points in time if you've mentioned a long time ago a few months ago something happened it's a finished action you might use the simple past okay excellent so let's continue let's keep this train rolling along and talk about the past continuous so the past continuous and the the grammar you know that we use the helping verb to be and then the main verb Plus in okay we'll as we go through this I'll talk show you that so it's an action that happened around a specific time it might not be right at this time but it it happened around this time so my question is like what were you doing last night okay what were you doing one thing to keep in mind here and this is where it becomes important for listening all right I already asked you in the last question I said what did you do what did you do last night and you would respond in the simple past this time I'm asking a question in the past continuous therefore when the questions in the past continuous most people will just have a tendency like I would just I I wouldn't even think about it I would automatically respond using the past continuous now I could use the past simple there's nothing wrong with that but it's just just something to keep in mind about listening the way when you're listening for the verb tense often times you automatically just answer with that verb tense so if I somebody says you know oh what were you doing last night I'd say you know yeah I I was reading a book I would answer the question using the past continuous because that's what the question was in so now again I'm going to put it to you guys what were you doing last night I want you to give me an answer using the past continuous preferably an answer that's different from the one before so just tell me you know what were you doing last night and again the thing that makes at the past continuous is that you are talking about an action that is a continuous action it doesn't just stop suddenly it's something that happens for you know some period of time maybe 5 minutes 20 minutes 3 hours it's a continuous action so we used it when talking about around a specific time we also use it to show something continued for a period of time she was dancing all night again we're using the helping verb to be in the past was the verb Dance plus ing she was dancing all night I was reading all night um they were watching TV all night there's many ways that we could use this and the last one that I wanted to highlight the past continuous with verb showing change or growth the city was changing rapidly so this really depends on the verb that you're using so those verbs that show change or growth would be like verbs like develop verbs like grow verbs like change all right when you see those verbs you might often see them in the past continuous all right let's let's check out some of uh your guys example sentences uh Dion I was doing something maybe all right sure yeah we were all doing something but that's still great example uh last night I was watching a movie uh until 4 a.m. Malika wow all right I guess hopefully uh I guess you enjoyed that movie uh I was watching your channel last night thank you long um I was studying perfect um let's see what else we have um w we are watching from guala my students ey please say hi hello Advanced English Academy what's up thank you guys for for joining us at this time perfect uh let's see I was uh I was at work all day so again using the past continuous I was working all day past continuous that ing uh what else we have I was studying English I was chatting with my friends um I was hanging around all right great Lew perfect perfect example so that is wonderful excellent so again keep keep writing those sentences it's always good to practice practice practice practice uh so let's check out some of the signal words now this is where it might get a little more complex or a little more difficult so the first one I want to talk to about are the subordinating conjunctions while and when the reason I chose these two is because we we're talking about a complex sentence all right that's one independent clause and then one dependent clause you put them together and you have a complex sentence so for example she was watching the baby while I cook dinner okay you see that while in this case we're talking about two actions that are happening at the same time she was watching the baby while I cook dinner she was watching the baby that is the independent clause while I cook dinner that is the dependent clause and together they make that complex sentence now let me tell you like when when we use them so usually if we're using while and when and you're talking about two actions that that are happening at the same time often you would you would use the continuous tense with the action that's happening longer so for example she was watching the baby that is a long action for those of you who don't know we just had a baby girl she's now 5 weeks old that is a longer action because we are continuously watching the baby all right while I cook dinner that is a shorter action so I use use the simple past now in this case you you could switch that around and nobody's going to correct you and say you know I was cooking dinner while she watched the baby that's perfectly fine because cook and watch those are continuous actions often times and maybe I should have given you this as an example when we use this when and while you're talking about one longer continuous action and then maybe some very very short action that happens once like for example a knock somebody knocked at the door she was or like I could say I was cooking dinner when someone knocked at the door in that case knocked is the simple past and it's just a very short action that's not going to be in the continuous tense so the subordinating conjunctions while or when in those complex sentences you often see the past continuous and the past simple used together okay the next one is time Expressions when telling a story I say time Expressions because again there's so many of those yesterday a few days ago last week uh a few months ago there there's many time expressions and when you're telling a story I think it's just natural that we we often start with the past continuous because you're trying to capture the moment what was happening at that time several days ago I was visiting my friend and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah something happened all right uh yesterday I was watching TV when all right something happened so often when you go and you're telling a story you you might hear people start with the past continuous and in those cases they will depending on the story you end up switching between the past continuous and the past simple and you may even throw the present perfect in there which is what we're going to talk about right now so let's look at the present perfect so again this is just very it's a very just just quick overview of these verbs because then I want to practice so the present perfect something started in the past and continued to the present okay so it it it's talking about the past but something continued to the present in this case two words that are very important for and since when you use for you're talking about a period of time when you use since you're talking about a point in time for example I have played guitar for 10 years all right I started in the past and I've continued to the present for 10 years if I want to use since I'm using a point in time we've lived in Budapest since 2017 that is my point in time but since 2017 started in the past and it continues up until the present so again question to you guys I want you to to tell me use give me a sentence in the present perfect tell me something that that you have done that you started in the past and continue to the present and I want you to use either for or since remember four is a period of time for 10 years four 10 weeks for one month and since with a point in time often a year or maybe even a month since March since 2018 okay give me a sentence what is something you start in the past and continue to the present um and the next one all right something happened once repeatedly at an unspecified time I did forget to mention because I didn't go too much I didn't go into the grammar structure but when we're talking about the present perfect we're using have as our helping verb and then the main verb is the past participle all right I have lived I have played that is the structure of the present perfect so something that happened once either once at an unspecified time or repeatedly at an unspecified time I could say I'm having a conversation with somebody and I say oh yeah I have lived in South Korea I've lived in South Korea it's true I have lived in South Korea do do you know when no there's no time I didn't put a Time on there or maybe I'm talking about like how are we going to get somewhere and somebody says oh you know we should take the bus I'm like ah we've taken the bus twice this week we have done this action repeatedly I didn't tell you when I just told you how many times we've taken the bus twice all right so let's see some of these example sentences all right um so I've lived in Indonesia since I was born excellent all right perfect Ira I have worked um for four years all right uh we've lived in Jakarta okay yeah you've worked for four years I have studied English since 2017 excellent marillo uh let's see I have played chess for ages good good perfect um so we say yes I have eaten lunch all right something that happened we don't know when in that case that's an unspecified time perfect so those are some great examples thank you guys thank you for sharing let's look at some signal words for the present perfect all right so if we're talking about adverbs of frequency always is is one that uh we often use it with but especially those next two ever and never so ever in case you don't know what it means it means basically of all time you're talking about all time and you would say ever often you hear this as a question have you ever all right have you ever done something have you ever gone somewhere and then you're talking about have you ever in all of your time have you ever and then the other adverb of frequency you often use the present perfect with would be never because you're talking about something that you have never done I have never taken drugs again question to you what is something that you have never done all right tell me something what what is something you have never done I have never and then use that past participle all right it's good to practice practice practice practice and then the next part is when you're talking about like from from past to present remember an action that started in the past continued to the present I've already mention this these two words for and since when you learn the present perfect this this is usually the first place you start you start with those two words for and since what have you done for a period of time or since a point in time I have studied English for two years a period of time I have studied English since 2017 a point in time all right so excellent let's see what you guys uh have got all right um Leta I have ever visited maybe I have you could say I have never visited Italy um have you ever been to bogot uh yes yes I have been to bogot I I was in bogot in 2008 all right I could say that so uh again ever is often used with that question all right have you ever um let's see I have never visited Italy uh excellent okay I've never visited Italy I have never been to New York great I suggest you go it's a great City cool place great state I have never eaten Sushi oh you're missing out uh definitely definitely try some we love eating sushi I have never traveled to Sweden we have never traveled to Sweden either all right but it is on our list all right I've never gone to the US OFA excellent great example um those are perfect all right again th those are common uses of the present perfect if somebody says have you ever or if you're saying something you know I have never done something all right I just want to let you guys know if you like what we do if you enjoy our lessons you can connect with us again check us out on patreon we have some cool rewards I'll leave a link in the description and it's just uh it's just another way to connect with us and be a part of our community plus I'll be your best friend all right so now that you know now that you know those verb tenses we did a quick review of the those verb tenses the past simple the past continuous and the present perfect let's practice all right what we're going to do is again I am going to give you guys a sentence I want you to I'm going to give you the verb all right tell me what are you going to use are you going to use the simple past are you going to use the past continuous or are you going to use the present perfect all right and just want to give a special shout out thank you very much marillo yes for the Super Chat we really really appreciate it thank you guys thank thank you so much marillo you rock all right you just made my day thank you thank you thank you all right so your first question are you guys ready I want you to write your answers in the chat don't be shy even if you don't know I encourage you to practice to try and give an answer and if you're wrong that's okay doesn't matter don't worry about making mistakes ready here we go all right I'm giving you this all right this is probably easy because I've been really I've been emphasizing this the last 10 minutes all right you ever wish all right upon a shooting star okay so what what do you think all right there there is a a key in there that's really going to help you out and I I probably don't need to tell you but it it's the punctuation okay so write it I I want you to write don't don't just write the tense try if you can't write it out what what would you say how would you use that verb tense if you can try to write the full sentence I know that's a little more challenging to type it because I don't give you much time all right so what do you think you ever wish okay upon a shooting star so again I told you the key is that punctuation that question so now you know it's a question and remember I told you ever all right ever we we often use that with questions with the present perfect I know some of you are saying present perfect yes that's great try to try to write it out so what would you guys say yes so many of you jelle Malika uh Assad uh Asma thank you thank you thank you you guys are right you guys rock that have you ever wished upon a star so again have you ever wished upon a star Remember Have is that helping verb that helping verb with the present perfect wished is our past participle have you ever wished upon a star next one are you guys ready next question is this right here um I M through the park when you m all right I M through the park when you m right I I'm you know I'm telling somebody this sentence what am I going to use all right there's there's two in here all right so they're both highlighted in blue what what are you going to use all right and try to again try to write these out don't just tell me the verb tense try to write them out I through the park when you m okay we we talked about this remember that key word that key word in there is when when is the keyword it is a complex sentence okay so what do you guys think all right yes booya you guys rocked it all right thank youis H Assad perfect uh starry night yes remember I told you that you're talking about a complex sentence with when one one part's going to be that longer action is going to be in the past continuous and then that shorter action because call all right that's just a very short action which you would just use always use the past simple I was walking through the park when you called I was walking through the park when you called and then you just have your conversation okay perfect excellent so the next one again it's like a this is like a conversation all right there's only one that that I want you to do so somebody would say we need to watch the new movie and that other person would say I it twice already what what do you think think what what best completes that sentence what would you say all right the verb is C so what what are you going to say to complete that sentence we need to watch the mood the new movie and somebody said well I it twice already what verb tense do you think we should use write your answer in the chat even if you guys are watching this later again I encourage you make it and active exercise write your answer in the comments the comments think of it it's like a piece of paper that you're just able to write on all right excellent perfect uh all right Olivia Risa Sunrise all right so this is what I would say because we have some other other answers remember twice already it's a repeated action most commonly say oh we need to watch the movie again I've seen it twice already now if you use the past simple all right yeah I saw it twice already you you might grammatically you know it's it's it's fine but it's not as common again because you're talking about a repeated action and also already that is another key word I didn't really talk to you about that but already you use it often with the the present perfect you have done something already so we need to watch the new movie I've seen it twice already all right I'm not going to watch it again I've seen it twice already the next question question are you ready all right have you ever taken a road trip so again this is two people asking having a conversation and somebody says have you ever taken a road trip sure we M won last year the verb is take have you ever taken a road trip sure we won last year all right what what do you guys think how what how are you going what what verb tense are you going to use to correct to correctly complete that sentence all right kind of watching the chat and doing this at the same time can get a little confusing sometimes all right have you ever taken a road trip sure we M won last year the key word in there is last year which means yes you guys rocked it you're going to use the simple past that that makes the most sense we took one last year it is a finished action all right it didn't continue to the present so you're going to use the simple past have you ever taken a road trip sure we took one last year and this is where it can get challenging because in English you you're constantly changing verb tenses so the question was asked in the present perfect and you gave an answer in the in the simple past that is normal that is natural all right let's do another one this is kind of uh a question again the two people having a conversation there we go all right again there there's two parts to this how M your leg and then somebody would answer and say i m in Colorado so the first one I'm giving you the the subject and the verb because it's a question you break all right what how are you going to complete that question how M your leg and then somebody would give the answer oh i m in Colorado ski that is the verb that you're using for that one SK key what do you guys think all right again I think it's good to practice this question and answer question and answer because when you're having a conversation you're doing a lot of that you're asking a lot of questions and you're giving a lot of answers so what what do you think all right how M your leg i m in Colorado all right what do you think all right this is a little maybe a little more challenging I see some good answers all right remember all right so the first one something happened you see this leg it the leg is broken okay and you're asking okay it's a finished action so we're going to use the simple past all right but remember how did you break your leg because we're using we're going to use do in the as the auxiliary verb the helping verb for that question in the past how did you break your leg and the answer in the past continuous because it was it's a continuous action all right this is something that you were doing I was skiing in Colorado again then it becomes kind of like that storytelling how did you break your leg oh I was skiing in Colorado and then I I went off this jump and I landed bad and I ended up breaking my leg okay so again you you end up switching sometimes between that that past past per past continuous and the simple past but in this case as a conversation well how did you break your leg I was skiing in Colorado excellent excellent excellent so if you guys if you guys rock that lesson please let me know and hit that like button down below if you enjoyed that practice again also one thing I wanted to to show you guys is if you want to connect with us another thing you can do is check out uh subscribe to our newsletter we send out some cool cool cool stuff plus we let you know more about when these live lessons are going to happen There's the link right there I just threw it in the chat all right so thank you guys so much for being here with me today I hope you enjoyed this lesson I hope you learned something new about those different verb tenses we talked about the past simple the past continuous the present perfect all things that are happening in the past so please if you enjoyed it like and share the lesson hit us up in the comments because we just love hearing from you guys so again give some more shout outs to people who here thank you thank you thank you merillo again especially for the Super Chat we love it we appreciate it thank you uh Ellas ulissa ludvika Malika Olivia Rosalinda Nares uh suszie Ira Joyce Esther so many excellent so many wonderful people here wow big class today um loose bres jadil thank you thank you for joining us Saba star night Jr justella Risa I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend keep practicing keep studying keep up the good work and I will see you next time --- ## 701. VERB TENSE QUIZ | Grammar Lesson for Intermediate to Advanced Learners | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `p078c3xeHFk` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p078c3xeHFk) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:33:04 | --- hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which if this is your first time here we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and the way that we are going to do that today is this is this is all about practice and I am going to give you a verb tense quiz that's right we are going to practice your knowledge of the different verb tenses now if you have not seen the lesson that we did before which was all about the twelve different verb tenses I suggest you check that out and I am going to throw a link to it right here in the chat so that last lesson about the twelve different verb tenses is is what's leading us into this lesson right here in which we are going to practice our skills because practice makes practice makes perfect I almost screwed that up practice makes perfect the more you do something the better you will be so what I want you guys to do is I want you to participate in this lesson that is what interactive English is all about even if you are watching this later I want you to write your answer in the comments section use it like it's a piece of paper write your answers participate in the lesson and also just tell me hello say what's up tell me your name I just want to hear from you guys give you guys a quick little shout out hello hello lollie kelly maria lydia Baeza sahara olivia hello hello welcome thank you guys for joining me I will give more shoutouts as we go through the lesson and the quiz but let's just get into it so the first set of questions that I have for you it's gonna get it will get more difficult as we go along but the first part of it it is multiple choice so here is your first question okay and I've blanked out the part I want you to tell me which answer best completes the sentence a B or C or if you're very fast at typing just write the whole sentence because I think that that's really useful that will help you out so I hmm English since 2005 alright and there yes there is me over there my goofy picture I just tried to find something a picture where I was looking ridiculous so I M English since 2005 what do you think which of those verb tenses will best complete the answer yes excellent Aditya sorry if I mispronounced names Angela Leonardo Jacqueline the answer is C I have been teaching English since 2005 this is an example of the present perfect progressive it's talking about an action that started in the past has continued to the present and will likely continue into the future because I will continue teaching English I have been teaching one of the key words that I wanted to point out in here is the word since when you see words like since and for that that can indicate the perfect tense so in this case we are going to use the present perfect progressive next one here we go from time to time we mmm for dinner okay from time to time we mmm for dinner what what do you think best completes that sentence I tried to find an image of this eating out wait we I was about to say the answer alright that's not the type of restaurant we typically go to but it was a fun image so I thought I would use it so again if you're just joining us I saw somebody come in it's okay Brenna if you're late no problem we are practicing your English skills this is a verb tense quiz all right what do you think which one completes the sentence yes new yen go Xie Carlo Syed excellent a eat out that is the correct answer from time to time we eat out for dinner we're talking about the present simple and the the hint that I tried to give you was that from time to time because from time to time that is an expression that means the same as sometimes sometimes from time to time they mean the same thing and that is that adverb of frequency will tell us the present simple it's something that's used to describe actions that are in the present and they are habitual they are factual so this is something that's that is habitual we do it from time to time all right are you ready for your next question which is this by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone mmm eating what do you guys think all right write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments if you're watching this later I just want you to participate because that is the best way to improve your skills not just learning and listening but actually engaging with the lessons by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone mmm eating okay what what do you guys think all right what what do you what do you think Thank You Maria you're awesome - I think you're great as well so yes exactly as seeing some good answers yes lolly foo Leah sleepwalker Kate Wang Wang Tien Elena the answer is C by the time I arrived at the restaurant everyone had already started eating so let's let's dissect this and talk about it in a little more detail this is an example of the past perfect one indicator is that already when you see already that also talks about more of the perfect tense so if this refers to two actions that are in the past one happened before the other so by the time I arrived at the restaurant all right this is my dependent clause this is my adverb clause and it is in the past the simple past arrived it's what happened before that everyone had already started eating I'm going to use the past perfect so before I arrived something else happened which is everyone had already started eating see is the correct answer great job you guys you guys are rocking this excellent that must mean maybe you guys also that lesson last week and you learned all of these verb tenses and you know them perfectly okay then next one I'm gonna I'm gonna try and go through this quickly too and just keep it moving right along I tried but the door just mmm open okay I tried but the door just mm open what what do you think which which verb best completes this sentence and again we're just starting out as we go through them they will get a bit more challenging a little more difficult as we continue going through these so let's see I tried but the door just mmm open all right think about if somebody is saying this to you all right the keyword in there are the key phrase I would say is I tried I tried I tried to do something but the door just mmm open all right the correct answer yes I'm gonna give it a couple shoutouts Mickey Elena Sarah who else has it [Music] perfect the correct answer is C I tried but the door just won't open it will not open I gave you an example like this last week which it is the future simple it describes actions that will happen in in the future but it expresses some it can express some sort of fact or certainty so in this case somebody that the key phrase is I tried somebody's trying to open the door but it's it's not opening and you're subscribing the situation of how this certainty what's it gonna be like in the future you know the door won't open the door just won't open I tried but the door just won't open so if this is some situation which you're in you're you're trying to do something but it's not going to happen you will use won't all right I tried to make a phone call but my phone it just it won't work all right so I tried but the door just won't open okay future simple ready next one okay lately mmm watching reruns of the office okay and this is uh this is a true story all right my wife and I you wanna and our little girl and me we we you know lately I don't want to say it I get close to actually telling you the answers lately mmm watching reruns of the office what do you think is the answer a B or C we've been we were we'd been which one do you think would be correct okay so alright lately hmm watching reruns of the office okay in this case the key word is lately that a verb is actually giving us some specific information it's telling us more information and yes we have some answers excellent Lally missus redundant who else ro Missa ticktick perfect Angela Omar the correct answer is a lately we've been watching reruns of The Office this is the present perfect progressive it's talking about with so we're doing it again because I've already asked you one with the present perfect progressive just kind of seeing you know trying to trick you throw you off a little bit it refers to actions that start in the past they continue to the present and and will likely continue into the future lately we've been watching reruns off the office we have been present perfect progressive okay the next one by the time this lesson ends you hmm the like button okay what do you think by the time this lesson ends you mmm the like button I'm trying to include all of you in this example so what do you think is the correct answer all right a B or C we would you say you will have hit you will be hitting or you will hit by the time this lesson ends okay what do you think is the correct answer a B or C and some of these yeah some of these verb tenses can be a bit challenging all right so again if you're just joining us we are doing a verb tense quiz and I want you guys to participate I want you to write your answers in the chat and even later use that comment section practice your English skills so we have some good answers by the time this lesson ends all right the answer is yes excellent job Chris Stefano alash Olivia perfect Natalie by the time this lesson ends you will have hit the like button a that is the correct answer we are talking about the future perfect and again when you see that by the time remember we had it in a question just like two questions ago by the time it's often used with a perfect tense maybe it's the past perfect in this case it's the future perfect by the time this lesson ends all right we have our dependent clause using the present simple which means our independent clause we're going to talk about the future you will have hit the like button two actions in the future one happens before the other so the action in the future the lesson ends well what will happen before that in the future you will have hit the like button I hope that you have already hit it but if you if you have not hit it please go ahead and and hit that like button let me know if you enjoy these quiz lessons the more I see those likes that I know okay I need to do more of these quiz lessons people enjoy them it's great practice okay so again this is a little more challenging when we're talking about the future perfect by the time this lesson ends you will have hit the like button excellent let's look at the next one okay back in 2010 I mmm live in and that's true story I I'm trying to think I want to talk about this without giving it away all right what do you think would you say a used to be used to or see have used to which one do you think is correct this one I tried to I tried to be a little cute with and tried to maybe trick you a little bit I think you guys will do fine on this one back in 2010 all right I'm giving you the year I mmm live in Namibia and I said that's true if you don't know where Namibia is it is in southern Africa it is just northwest of South Africa it is a beautiful country that is me with my grade 11 English class all right that is in 2010 so yes excellent great perfect thank you for your answers mercs on Quique Alba's Ricardo Luna M RN the answer is be used - all right back in 2010 I use to live in Namibia I could just use if I wanted to use live as my main verb I just say you know back in 2010 I lived in Namibia it is an action that is complete it is finished so you would say be used to it is the past simple an action in the past that is finished alright it is finished in the past the reason I say it could be a little tricky is because used to and used to that what it means is again the meaning of the verb is something that you did in the past but you no longer do so I was trying to be a little tricky but you guys caught onto that you knew that you knew that all too well excellent alright here we go let's continue when her parents knocked on the door you guys can hear him out trying to simulate that knocking when her parents knocked on the door she mmm for work okay what do you guys think alright when her parents knocked on the door she mm-hmm for work would it be a will have already left be had already left see has already left again using that already like trying to use I like trying to use words that I think are common with the certain tenses all right that's why I'm doing this all right excellent thank you for your answers yes rumah Lally pronoun sorry again if I mispronounce names who else we got it's going so fast the shadows thank you for your answers Chris yes the answer is B all right when her parents knocked on the door there's that knock she had already left for work it is an example of the past perfect all right and again I want to give you that meaning down there if you're trying to figure out well what exactly is the past perfect it's talking about two actions that are in the past and one happened before the other so again like one action when her parents knocked on the door again knocked is in the past what happened before that she had already left for work now sometimes there's confusion between well when do I use what's the difference between the simple past and the past perfect if I use this sentence in the simple past when her parents knocked on the door she left for work and I just say it in the simple past then that makes me think well that these two things happened around the same time but in this case you want to give that extra information using the past perfect saying well she's not at home all right before the parents knocked on the door she had already left so in this case you definitely want to use the past perfect all right ready when he got to work everyone mmm in the conference room when he got to work everyone in the conference room what do you think a will meet B had met C was meeting alright which of those tenses which of those verbs best complete it's this sentence and again I would always encourage you try to put it into context all right think about it as though we're having a conversation or you're having a conversation with somebody and you know I say hey you know when he got to work everyone hmm in the conference room what do you guys think which best completes this sentence write your answer in the chat or even in the comments later I just want to hear from you I want you to participate so that you can practice and improve your English skills all right so I have some good answers yes Sabri Syed hanifa the shadows mr. Awlaki Nicosia Nika the answer is C when he got to work all right got that is in the past simple all right when he got to work that's my dependent clause everyone was meeting in the conference room all right past progressive when it can refer to two things refers to a continuous action at a specific time if I'm asking about a specific time in the past or talking about actions that were happening when another event occurred so for example you know what an event occurred he got to work all right what action was happening it was a continuous action so when he got to work you know he arrived there was a continuous action everyone was meeting because the meeting started in the past it's continued to when he got there and it's probably gonna continue on so when he got to work everyone was meeting in the conference room and I'm sure that he probably felt a bit embarrassed because he was late to the meeting it's not good sometimes to be late for these important meetings so hope you guys everyone got that one past progressive or as I think I said past continuous past progressive they mean the same thing progressive continuous it's the same all right at this time next week mmm another live lesson all right again there's that serious picture of me at this time next week hmm another live lesson this is actually an example that I used in the previous lesson so again if you have not seen that lesson check it out it really go through all of the verb tenses and give you some specific examples okay at this time next week mmm another live lesson what do you think it is hey I'll be teaching B I'll have taught or C i'll have been teaching what do you guys think write your answer in the chat write your answer in the comments I'm seeing some lovely answers alright yes Chris the the rubix Santi Sophia yes sleepwalker the answer is a at this time next week I'll be teaching another live lesson so again think about this it's the future progressive we're talking about a continuous action that happens at a specific time or actions that that will be happening when another event occurs in this case we're talking about a specific time I'm giving you that time at this time next week all right same time same place what continuous action will be happening I will be teaching I'll be teaching notice the form when you're talking about the progressive tense you're using the verb to be the main verb and ing I'll be teaching but in this case since it's the future you need that we'll all right I will be teaching another live lesson true story all right and I hope you guys will join me for that lesson okay so what we're gonna do now is we're gonna switch it up and now I'm gonna make it a little more difficult because I am NOT going to give you this is not going to be multiple choice anymore I'm not going to give you a B and C what I want you to do is you will need to write the correct verb tense I will give you the verb that you need to use in some cases I will give you the subject as well all right so let's go ahead and look at the next one so [Music] what mmm right now now one thing I will say I just noticed this the verb that I want you to use is do the subject is you I forgot to put the subject so it should say in parentheses you do so I should say the subject and the verb you do I want you to write the question or or write what that verb tense should be what mmm right now you do that that is what you should be in parentheses okay excellent yes go Co D shi-wan perfect all right so the key word there is right now that's going to tell us that we would be asking this question in the continuous tense in the progressive tense the present progressive an action that's happening right now it's not yet complete if somebody were to say hey what are you doing right now what are you doing oftentimes I put right now so that you would know what kind of answer I wanted oftentimes somebody would just ask what are you doing hey what are you doing perhaps if they're on the phone they might say hey what are you doing right now and make it a little more precise but often if you're just having conversation they just say hey what are you doing what are you doing right now all right let's look at the next one in this case I gave you the subject I hmm took Guatemala all right and if you can't see the picture yes this is a picture of me from 2009 I believe it was ten years ago visiting Tikal in Guatemala which is these these ruins they're amazing it's a beautiful country shout-out to anybody in Guatemala right now who's watching who's watching this lesson all right hope you're having a wonderful weekend so I mmm to Guatemala okay how what do you think is the best way if somebody if you and I are having a conversation and I want to tell you this information what would I say I to Guatemala all right what what do you think okay I'm saying some some different answers in there but yes Lorenzo excellent one Lin O'Dare it's going so fast Aaron Wow I have been to Guatemala present perfect all right we're talking about in this case an action at the in the past at an unspecified time now you could say exactly some people said went and they use the simple past grammatically that is correct I could say yeah I went to Guatemala but the reason why I wanted the present perfect is because again we often use the past simple when you're giving a time let's say you know if I said 2009 I went to Guatemala in 2009 that is a completed action I'm giving you the time but in this case it's an unspecified time so I think commonly people would use the present perfect when they're talking about places they have traveled places they have been places they have visited notice I just used the present perfect when I said all of those have been have traveled have visited present perfect unspecified time I've been to Guatemala all right next one all right we're just going through these going through these um mmm learning English with us alright now I've taken out a bit more information I did give you the subjects in the verb you and joy what is the first part of that question what do you think hmm learning English with us I've given you the subject I've given you the verb hmm learning English with us what question am I asking you all right and there there is that's me and my beautiful wife you wanna and we are standing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge because we used to live in the San Francisco Bay Area if you guys haven't been all right there again using the present perfect if you haven't been you should go it's a beautiful beautiful city alright um let's see yes go see a fool eeeh perfect alright again some of you writing part of the question but not all of it [Music] Elijah yes do you enjoy ok do you enjoy learning with us alright do you enjoy learning English with us that is my question for you it is a question in the present simple describing action in the present habitual factual I'm just asking you like it'd be like a yes or no question do you enjoy learning English with us remember the main verb is enjoy you enjoy learning in this case is a gerund okay do you enjoy learning English with us and if you guys do I really hope that you enjoy learning English with us and if you guys do enjoy learning English with us and want to support what we do here at interactive English check out our patreon page you can join the patreon family there are some cool rewards check that out there's a link down below in the description but I'm gonna throw a link right here just for all of you if you would like to support interactive English and the things our lessons here we'd really appreciate it you can check that out if you don't that's okay alright we're always gonna be here for you we just want to help all of you guys practice and improve your English skills so here we go the next one this is another example from the previous lesson alright by 2067 we hmm on YouTube for 50 years okay the verb is teach alright how are how are you going to complete that sentence using teach all right what what tense what verb tense are you going to use so that this makes sense and this is a little more challenging again some of the grammar that that I think you definitely need to know would be like you know present simple past simple present as past continuous present perfect those are the ones that we commonly use all the time once you get into some of those other ones it does become a little more advanced by 2067 we hmm on YouTube for 50 years okay there are there are I'll give you a hint there are four words that you should use all right in this in this sentence or if you guys close close some of you yes all right I see some grant correct answers yes Alicia perfect Lasha yes okay I see another one Daniel so four words all right we're talking about the future so we know that we're gonna need to put we'll all right by 2067 that's talking about a point in the future and we're referencing a continuous action perfect tense all right we'll have we'll have been and then it's a continuous action teaching will have been teaching on YouTube for 50 years this is an example of the future perfect progressive and like I said this is this is more advanced grammar because it's not in every conversation you're not going to views the future perfect progressive but in this case if you're talking about these actions two points in the future all right then this would be a time when you would use it by 2067 what's happening all right we will have been teaching for 50 years if we continue all right it's a continuous action that goes up until 2060 seven and maybe we will continue I hate to break it to you probably we won't be teaching by 2060 seven because that would mean that I am 40 I think I would be 88 years old oh goodness I certainly hope that I'm not still teaching on YouTube at at 88 but who knows never know life is full of surprises let's look at it alright okay this actually no no I don't know why I'm laughing this is a very serious this is a very serious sentence all right this past month I mmm every other day and I plan to keep it up and you know I I tried I included a picture of myself in this you can see that picture down below I'm getting good results this past month I mmm every other day and I plan to keep it up okay that's that's part of the key and I plan to keep it up alright so think about it this is you think about you and I we're having a conversation and I'm just telling you hey this past month I mmm every other day and I plan to keep it up what do you think all right the verb is exercise the main verb is exercise all right I I haven't seen it yes all right Harry excellent great job what is she won all right room yes we're talking about something that started in the past all right I've continued up until the present and when I say I plan to keep it up I'm going to continue in the future I have been exercising every other day and I plan to keep it up to actions that again we're talking about actions that started in the past and they have continued to the present and as you can see again look I'm getting great results from this I was laughing it's such a bad Photoshop job but I just thought it was funny anyway all right let's look at the next one if you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at alright that's what I always say this is another question why hmm Mia heads up last night all right you this is what I want you to use you not give okay how are you going to complete that question using that's the subject you it's in the negative and the main verb is give me a heads up last night and this is an expression that I like to use you're talking about a heads up is just the that you're you're making something known you're telling someone about something like some some kind of information all right I I don't want to to say the answer so I will tell you all right so what would you say yes Eddie exactly your name perfect la1 perfect yes Lally why didn't you give me a heads up last night again last night it's gonna tell you it's the past we need to use the helping verb do it's just gonna be conjugated in the past why didn't you or you know why didn't you give me a heads up last night past simple it describes an action again in the past so something happened and well actually in this case something didn't happen and I wanted this person to give me a heads up to tell me some information so that I could be prepared they did not tell me so I said hey you know why didn't you give me a heads up why didn't you tell me that I had to do this extra work why didn't you give me a heads up I need to know all right so yes if we're talking about giving someone a heads up you were giving them some information to make them aware of something so for example I'd say you know I'm gonna I just want to give you guys a heads up that we will that here we go follow my verb we will be doing a live lesson next Saturday I just want to give you a heads up let you know about that I hope that makes sense all right next one the phone mmm somebody answer it what do you guys think all right what do you think the phone mmm somebody answer it what do you what do you guys think how would you complete this sentence think of it like your this situation is happening all right what would you tell somebody if if you were saying this sentence what would you say to them the phone hmm somebody answer it all right so yes um let me see it's going so quickly all right remember the phone is singular yes Ricardo Lorenzo Eddie Omar so if this is like this would be happening now because the the key is somebody answer it I'm telling somebody answer the phone so this is happening now in the present which means we're going to use that present progressive tense the phone is ringing all right remember the formula you're going to use when you're talking about things that are happening now all right we're going to use the verb to be plus the main verb with the ing is ringing the phone is ringing somebody answer it present progressive something that's happening now it's not complete so this is a common incident you might hear this if you're watching a movie or a TV show and this is happening and say hey somebody's phone is ringing answer it pick up the phone are you ready here we go this is I think this is a little more difficult people mmm in the chat when I began this lesson all right people mmm in the chat when I began this lesson the verb that I want you to use is talk all right people mmm in the chat when I started when I began this lesson now there are there are two different answers that you could give one of them is what there is one answer that I'm looking for all right there is one answer in specific that I'm looking for and I will tell you but there are two answers that you could give actually most of you are giving the second answer that I thought of that's that is very common but okay so you could say this all right well yeah no people I've made a mistake sorry yes mostly everyone got it right people were talking in the chat when I began this lesson all right people were talking again it's a continuous action in the chat when something happened all right so it's talking about the it says again refers to continuous actions at a specific time all right or when they were happening when another event occurred so in this case it's not I'm not giving you a specific time I'm more talking about that event that occurred okay I began the lesson that is the event well what action was happening at that time and continuous what continuous action well when the event occurred I began this lesson people were talking people were talking in the chat the verb to be again past progressive plus the main verb ing all right here we go when this quiz is over how many questions hmm correct all right this this is a question that I could ask you all right I'm giving you the seven you I'm giving you the tense to kind of you will get all right so you know that we're talking about the future at this point when this quiz is over how many questions mmm correct what do you think we're talking about remember think about it stuff when you're thinking about verbs verbs are so important because they they tell us the time they tell us when things happen is it happening in the past the present or the future and they we talked about those different aspects remember about something being the simple or the progressive or the perfect so this is a lot of information to go through and if you haven't seen it already check out the lesson from last week I think it will really help so when this quiz is over how many questions yes excellent you have many questions again I'm looking for specifics I haven't seen any people are close but I haven't seen a correct answer what's going on all right so think about it remember it's a question all right how many questions all right think about the construction when this quiz is over how many questions we need that that future tense will will you remember when we're talking about a question you're gonna you're gonna invert that subject how many questions will you have gotten or have got again the past participle of get can be got or gotten so how many questions will you have gotten correct all right that is the specific words that I want or you could say will you have got correct for me personally I always as the the past participle I always use gotten get got gotten I always use gotten so I'd say when this quiz is over how many questions will you have gotten correct so again the Future Perfect to actions in the future one happened before the other so when this quiz is over it's in the future all right you've already some things happen you've already gotten some questions correct we don't know how many which is why I'm asking you how many questions will you have gotten correct so remember that is the specific construction that you would need to use will you have gotten that was that was a little more difficult all right a little more challenging let's do another one we mmm to open the door for several minutes when she found her key all right think about the situation we mmm to open the door for several minutes when she found her key all right again this is this is more difficult this is a little more challenging how would you complete this sentence I think the other one was challenging because it was a question so this is just a statement all right we the verb is tri we mmm to open the door for several minutes for several minutes for is a key word there when she found her key all right so let's let's break this down found okay that when she found her key that is my dependent clause it's in the past so we know that we're talking about something in the past when I said for several minutes remember when I said if you see words like for and since that often tells you the perfect tense all right for several minutes found her key so in this case we'd say we had been trying to open the door for several minutes when she found her key past perfect progressive it is a continuous action because you're not just trying once what the door won't open let's stop you're continuously trying to open the door but it's in the past it's a continuous action it's for a duration of time had been trying all right we had been trying to open the door for several minutes when she found her keys suddenly she found her key and now we can open the door all right excellent so I hope that that I know that was a lot to cover I hope that you guys enjoyed this practice I hope that you got some some good use out of it thank you guys so much for watching thank you guys for joining us today if you enjoyed this quiz don't forget to hit that like button let me know so that I know that I should prepare more of these quiz lessons to help you guys practice and improve your skills because practice is such a big part of it here on YouTube you get a lot there are a lot of lessons out there including many of ours that are more for presentation lessons teaching you about where birds and grammar pronunciation but this is actually a great way that we want to actually have you guys practice your skills and participate in our lessons so please like and share this lesson write to us in the comments if you have questions we just love hearing from you tell us your name especially if this is your first time here at interactive English let us know we want to hear from you you can join our social media classes we are active on Facebook Instagram Twitter and that's it of course right here on YouTube so thank you thank you thank you sleep whopper sweets I can't speak anymore sleepwalker rumah Angelo Vishnu Alberto Eddie Michael Angelo karma show how to thank you thank you yawn hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time I don't know if you guys are still watching Viki Gustav I saw you guys comment on there quickly thank you guys glad you could join me hope you guys have a great day I will see you next week be here alright --- ## 702. VERB TENSE QUIZ ๐Ÿ“ | Advanced Grammar Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Lp01IpEZlL4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp01IpEZlL4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:21:48 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is wes and this is interactive english and in case this is your first time here the channel it's just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills such as with these interactive live lessons that i hope uh all of you are going to participate in today's lesson because i have a little bit of a quiz for you it's actually uh i guess you could say it's a grammar quiz because we're going to be talking about verb tenses and i have some sentences that i'm going to give you with some blank spaces and all i want you to do is fill in the correct verb tense so that is the way we're going to practice in today's lesson and i want you to write all of your answers in the chat participate in the lesson even if you're watching this later on next year it doesn't matter you can still participate use the comments section as like your piece of paper and write your answers in the comment section so today it is it is a verb tense quiz that's what we're going to be doing in today's lesson before we start i do want to give a couple of shout outs to everybody who's here with me live today hello uh lolly as always great to see you angela sleepwalker thanks for joining me um althea let's see anar going through names as i see them uh yashar peter rosalinda as i go through i'm gonna ask you guys questions i'll give some more shout outs later on as you're giving the right answers as you if you give the right answers uh katrudas hello how are you welcome so let's just look at our very first question and again this is all about verb tenses i'm gonna give you a sentence with the blank i want you to to write the correct verb tense i'm also go i'll tell you the verb as well and i'll give you a little bit of a hint so here's the first one it's going to get more difficult as we go along so here is our first sentence all right and i want you to complete that sentence and this maybe this is a little tricky so i've given you a hint that this is uh well there is a modal in this sentence all right there's a modal in this sentence and i want you to the main verb is no all right so how would you complete this sentence he ought um better what do you think all right what do you think write your answers in the chat uh hi oh silvio hello how are you marty good to see you guys um write your answers in the chat and then i'll tell you the correct answer so the reason i said it's a little not tricky i think you guys got this excellent uh jet should be here uh giorgio fulia pt nekla hello ariane uh asan excellent the answer is to no so i told you that it's a little tricky because you're not only writing the verb you need to put the preposition to in there so ought is your modal verb many people really consider ought to as the modal and then when you have like a modal verb you're going to follow that with the base verb no so he ought to know better and in this case you're talking about something that somebody well the kind of a recommendation they should do this something that should happen and you could say like i think this is a common phrase if somebody makes a bad mistake or they make a bad decision and you say he ought to know better he ought to know better than that all right excellent uh you guys got that one perfect oh takayo hello how are you excellent glad to see you the next one right here um this is gonna be again maybe it's a little tricky we'll see i did say this is more advanced grammar so the plain your main verb is arrive at 8 pm your clue is scheduled time you might be thinking schedule time wait what does that have to do with anything i will explain when i give you the answer all right so how would you complete that sentence think about um somebody is saying that oh we gotta get to the airport the plane um at eight pm all right perfect wow you guys are rocking this uh saeed lolly excellent uh konisi uh peter ali brayan i thought this would be a little trickier maybe you guys you guys are just too smart so the reason i said i thought it would be tricky is because i thought many people might say will arrive which you could say but scheduled time it's more common that people are going to use the present simple even if you're talking about something in the future so if we have to go to the airport i would tell you like oh we we need to leave now we need to drive to the airport because the plane arrives at 8pm i'm talking about something in the future but i'm using the present tense because we're talking about something that is scheduled scheduled time you would do the same thing with um maybe a movie you would tell your friend they might say oh what time does the movie start the movie starts at nine o'clock i'm still talking about something in the future but because it's scheduled time most people are going to use the present simple if you say the movie will start that's perfectly fine but i think very common in this case people will use a present simple excellent you guys wow rock that one how about this one again [Music] your clue unspecified time all right the main verb is the verb to be so how would you complete this sentence i um to china twice and the hint that i'm giving you is just right there i'm talking about schedu unspecified time i was about to say schedule time unspecified time you're going to use which verb tense all right write your answer in the chat like i said even if you're watching this later write to me in the comments i always love getting those uh i see these old videos and people are using that comment section and i think it's great so excellent uh perfect lolli giorgio some of these names i can't pronounce uh angela uh situnia ali yes amen so in this case unspecified time we're talking about the present perfect tense i have been to china twice you don't know when i'm talking about i didn't tell you the time so in that case it's it's common people are going to use the present perfect tense i have been to china twice if i told you the time if i said last year in that case people would then use the uh the past simple i went to china last year that that would be specified time and then you would use the the simple pass but in this case we're going to use the present uh present perfect excellent here we go and this is true actually uh this is a true sentence for me and my family i'd say last year last year at this time we um a trip to romania your clue is i'm talking about an action at a point in time so hopefully these clues that i'm giving you will help remind you of the verb tense that you should be using because when you're learning verb tenses this is what this is the way people would teach them this is how i would talk about them and i would tell people oh think about think about it's an action at a point in time you're going to use this verb tense last year at this time we um a trip to romania the main verb is plan all right so excellent this one okay so if we get a little more difficult i gotta give some shout outs konisi perfect saeed that's what i was looking for um i saw another answer close uh who is it uh gosh it's kind of moving for anna perfect uh yashar we're talking about the past continuous last year at this time we were planning a trip to romania so to plan that's the main verb i i said it's an action so if you think about an action it's like something that's happening at a point in time which means it's going to continue because we're talking about an action typically it's something that will continue along and in this case it's the past continuous at this time last year we were planning a trip to romania so again i could ask somebody like oh what did you do last year and then i'd say oh we went to romania or uh or if somebody's asking for that point in time remember think of the continuous tense you're talking about a point in time like the present present continuous i am teaching a live lesson right now it's what's happening at this point in time and you could do the same for the past at that point in time we were planning a trip to romania excellent well done i know it's a little more difficult let's look uh at the next one okay the main verb is get okay i um the door in this case i want you to think about the situation and you're saying this sentence like it's a quick and sudden decision so perhaps you're you're in your home and you hear this knock and somebody says i um the door and i want you to use the verb get we're talking about a quick and sudden decision excellent uh well done hi hello isabella excellent uh lolly konisi hello mohammed sayet darby uh gatrudes yes we're talking about the future tense something in the future but it's like really the immediate future and if you're talking about a sudden decision i'll get so you're going to use will with quick and sudden decisions something that would happen immediately and i think most of the time in conversation people are going to use the contracted form i will ow i'll get the door i'll answer it so that is i think overwhelmingly how people will use this you are not going to use going to all right you will use will i'll get the door quick sudden decision the next one right here so this i'm telling you there's an adverb clause in this sentence and the adverb clause is before my alarm went off the hint is really like think about that adverb clause and that's going to help you determine the the verb tense that main verb which is here so before my alarm went off i um a loud boom what would you say before my alarm went off i um allowed boom all right so ooh interesting you it depends on the context i think i think maybe you guys are trying to so the answer that i have for you just think about is just heard all right before my alarm went off i heard a loud boom in this case i know many of you put uh had heard remember you're going to use the past perfect when you're talking about two events two past events in this case you're saying before my alarm went off all right that that has not happened yet you're just talking about in general something that happened before this other thing that that had not happened before my alarm went off i heard a loud boom past simple the reason why i wanted you to focus on the adverb clause is because you have that past right there it'll help tell you that the main verb will also be a simple pass before my alarm went off i heard a loud boom uh let's look at i kind of give you a hint for uh one that's coming up anyway we will get there let's look at the next one the main verb is learn all right we're talking about a continuing action i um english for four years and i will continue to do so in the future okay so i think you understand the situation another key word there is for f-o-r the preposition not the number so i um english for four years and i will continue to do so in the future so in this case it's a continuing action what do you think what what verb tense would best complete that sentence and again i think excellent uh lolly fulia sleepwalker lucy uh yashir um manolin arturo takayo trying to give as many shout outs as i can katrudus darby angela um if you're just joining us we're doing a verb tense quiz i think you probably could tell just by the way that i'm i've been presenting this so in this case you you guys are right we're talking about the present perfect continuous i have been learning english for four years and i will continue to do so in the future let me tell you why it's the present perfect continuous so that first part um that first independent clause i've been learning english for four years something that started in the past it's continued to the present so that really tells you you're going to use the perfect tense but in this case it's better to use the present perfect continuous because the next part is saying that you will continues you will continue learning english in the future so that is one difference between the present perfect and present perfect continuous i think of an action that will continue in the future you're going to use the present perfect continuous i have been learning all right i hope that explanation makes it a little easier to understand let's look at your next question you guys rock that one right there so here's the the situation there's two sentences your key is that there's like just some evidence uh and i don't want to give out i don't want to give too much of it away so think of the situation there's only one minute left in the match our team um win so win is the verb that i want you to use how are you going to use that what verb tense in order to complete that sentence so that it really that the situation makes sense what do you guys think write your answer in the chat because this is a quiz i want you to write your answer in the chat i want you to participate that's what these lessons are all about so this is a distinction between uh again you're talking about the future there's two different ways you can use the future tense you could use will or be going to and i want to give some quick shout outs uh people got that correct uh yes uh diane diane sorry if i mispronounced names yes amen in this case remember how i told you before that sudden uh sudden quick actions like something that happens immediately you're going to use will uh i the the door somebody's knocking at the door i'll answer it i'll get it in this case you're going to use going to when there's evidence or even there's a sign that something will come in the future you're going to use going to there's only one minute left in the match our team is going to win this is great it's the same way that think about this if you eat something and you don't feel well maybe you have food poisoning you you would tell somebody that's a sign that something is going to happen in the future that's like some evidence and you would tell somebody like oh i think i'm going to get sick oh i'm going i'm going to get sick so that's another example as to when you're going to use going to and not will so i was trying to kind of trick you guys with those because a lot of times when you're talking about the future especially like a planned event you can use either one you could use will or be going to but sometimes it's more appropriate to use one over the other such as this case right here when there's a sign or evidence that something is going to happen like oh there's dark clouds outside i think it's going to rain um that then you're going to use going to um yes mama said yes if you're sick i'm going to throw up i'm going to be sick exactly that's an another example uh all right i started talking about that now everybody's uh commenting on it let's look at the the next question or the next sentence that i have for you this is an example of the subjunctive technically the subjunctive mood so here's my sentence the doctor recommends that she um some sleep what are you going to how are you going to complete that sentence recommends is you're really that's your m that is the main verb the that she um some sleep that is a clause but a clause it still has a verb in it and i want you to tell me uh what you think how are you going to complete that sentence and maybe uh i think i've done lessons about this before so hopefully you've seen some of the lessons and it makes it much easier to understand yes uh georgia uh sleepwalker the pika takayo uh angela so this is the subjunctive subjunctive mood in this case you would say she get the doctor recommends that she get some rest did i say sleep in that first no rest sorry maybe i misspoke when i was talking about it the doctor recommends that she get some rest now i will say that again i'm writing this down so in writing i think it's very common people use the subjunctive mood especially in the united states because i'm from the u.s that they would use this in the united states i've heard that in the uk some of you in the uk might know that maybe they will say gets now if we're talking about spoken english i think that people will say gets and this is sometimes when the way people speak does not always match the way somebody would write something that is grammatically accepted or correct spoken english can be a bit different but because we're writing this i really just wanted to point out that okay that this is an example of when you might use the subjunctive mood if you're talking about verbs like recommend or suggest or there there are a list of verbs and the reason for that let me try to explain this quickly is that remember if you're using a modal verb you're going to follow it with the base verb so something that she should do she should get some rest now you could say that there's a hidden modal verb that should we're hiding it and the reason we're hiding it is because the meaning of recommend the meaning of that verb is actually like it's telling you something you think this should happen i recommend that she should get some rest but we don't need to say should because of the verb recommend so you just say the doctor recommends that she get some rest the doctor recommends she gets some rest so that is the subjunctive mood um here's another one are you guys ready what do you think now many now i talked about this before previously a few minutes ago two past events all right and now i'm giving you two blanks so think about the situation by the time i um at the restaurant that is actually an adverb clause the main clause everyone um and i want you to use already order so how would you complete that sentence there's two different blanks in this one by the time i um at the restaurant everyone um and i'm talking about two events that are in the past so both of this has already uh happened and i'm kind of speaking as i speak i think i'm using the the verb tenses so the first part by the time i um at the restaurant that is my adverb clause and with the adverb clause you're going to use the simple past the next part it's appropriate especially because you see the word already that to tell you okay the perfect tense and because we're talking about the past then you would use the past perfect excellent great job uh alexander fulia lolly uh who else do we get sorry i know you guys are throwing these in there uh artura nyla perfect uh all right let me show you the answer yes by the time i arrived at the restaurant everyone had already eaten and again this this time i'm talking about two events that are in the past and those are the two events that are related to each other because everyone had already ordered that happened first and then later on you arrive at the restaurant and then now then later after that then that's where you are now so it's almost like you're talking about these two events that happened in the past by the time i arrived at the restaurant everyone had already eaten so i this is a good example as to when you would use the past perfect tense excellent so this was just a a quick little grammar quiz that i had for you guys today to help you practice uh verb tenses it wasn't a very long quiz there were just 10 questions but it's always good to get that practice and i think it really helps with your overall english fluency i i want to say again if you guys like what we do here at interactive english i saw some members and patrons uh with us gertrudis uh lolly silvio uh takayo uh the i will there are links down in the description if you'd like to join patreon youtube i have some different rewards for you if you want to check that out help support uh what what we do here at interactive english if you enjoyed this lesson please give it a like hit that like button it lets me know okay i should do more quiz lessons in the future this is just a great way for you guys to practice in real time and also for me to interact with all of you and kind of explain some of this different grammar which is what we talked about today some of these different verb tenses so i hope you enjoyed the lesson thank you guys so much for for joining me and we have one more question sorry i have no more questions at this point but in the future i will have more quiz lessons like this to help you practice your grammar help you practice vocabulary pronunciation i really enjoy doing these lessons and if you guys think they're useful let me know hit that like button thanks uh for being here good trudes lolly mzz arterior arturo great to see you uh ariane darby sleepwalker laura angela [Music] thank you excellent i get to practice my korean a little bit arturo silvio good to see you esther garish uh takayo yes thank you guys so much for joining me enjoy the rest of your weekend --- ## 703. VOCABULARY Q&A LESSON w/ INTERACTIVE ENGLISH | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `waCddbL2--c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waCddbL2--c) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:27:52 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes this is interactive interactive English and in case this is your first time here on this channel our lessons it's all about trying to help you practice and improve your English skills vocabulary grammar pronunciation we try to do a little bit of everything and especially if this is your first time watching one of our lessons please write to me in the comments let me know your name tell me where you're from love hearing from new people so I just want to give a quick shout out to some of you who are joining me today in the chat lo dos DOS Caballero Aydin sleepwalker Angela GLaDOS Abdul Rahman Sajid Lali Felix go to turdus hello Manu Abdul thank you guys for joining me today I want to make this a vocabulary Q&A so if there are any words phrases idioms expressions that you would like me to talk about you can write that to me in the chat I'll get to as many as I can and I'll tell you what the meaning is and I'll try to give you some examples as to how a person might use that and as we go through the lesson I have a couple of things that I want to show you we have this page right here which is going to be a list of the vocabulary that we compiled from today's lesson once the lesson is over and it's posted I will put all of the words from today in the description down below so you can have it you can review it if you want to look at those words and see what they mean I'm also going to use today can 'bridge online dictionary which is right here this is one that I like to use and I would recommend you guys use Cambridge there are many different options when it comes to looking up words and phrases but I like this one because I think that when they tell you the meaning of the word they use simple words in order to explain it I think that's something that's challenging when you look up a word and they give you the meaning but then you find these other words that you don't know and you're like well this doesn't help me so I think Kenbridge does a nice job doing that so we may I may refer to this page just to show you and we'll look it up together and talk about it so let's go ahead and look at see what you guys have for me so again if you have any words or phrases or idioms just write them in the chat I'll try to get to as many as I can all right so a question from a tense yes this one I'm gonna try and put these also in the chat so you know as well get a grip alright to get a grip on something is it's an informal expression which means that you want to get hold of it I think I guess you could say it's an idiom that you want to get hold of something so that you can control it that's kind of what I would say but again like just to check on it to make sure to give you guys a clear definition and then I'll add it to the list we can go over here to cam bridge and then just type in and see what they say get a grip and like you could say you use it okay get a grip on yourself get a grip so you would say this if you're talking again in this context like you're talking to a person like get a grip on it get a grip of yourself and it again it's talking about trying to control something in this case controlling your emotions so you would tell somebody this if there is a situation a crisis and people are panicking and you don't want them to panic you could say get a grip on yourself alright stop panicking control your emotions get a grip on yourself so over here we'll go to the vocabulary page and I'll add it so again I will post this later so that you guys have it as well to make an effort to control your emotions your behavior again so that that you can kind of think clearly you want to get a grip on yourself or somebody might just say get a grip all right you need to get a grip you need to control your emotions excellent excellent that's a good one Lucia asks this one pillow talk all right I'm gonna throw that in there so if you are we're talking about pillow talk this is it kind of means what it says that if you if a man if a couple is in bed at night and they I think typically it might it might be after a romantic evening and afterwards they're having just a you know conversation just chatting and they're in bed they would refer to that as pillow talk simply because you're in bed you're laying you're lying on your pillow and you're just having conversation typically after a romantic moment or just after after sex and you call it that's pillow talk so let me add that one to our list right here that's it again it's a more it's I guess it's an idiom you could say conversation a couple will have in in bed at night and I'd say typically after like sex or a romantic evening and you could call that pillow talk all right so let's see that's a good good question good word good phrase let's see Abdul asked what does it mean if you say something is out of this world all right so out of this world is another idiom and I could say just to give you a hint I hope that you guys think that that these video lessons that we do each week are out of this world so if you describe something as being out of this world then you're just saying that it's really great and you would usually follow it after the verb to be and you'd say something is out of this world and in that case you mean that to say that something is really great I've added it to our I've added it to the vocabulary list that's what I was typing in just then out of this world something is really great that's another good idiom or expression let's see we have something ramen profitable if the question is like if you say something is profitable that is an adjective and you're basically saying is it are you able to make a profit doing some service or selling something is it profitable so this is more of a business term that you would use but again we can just to show you this kimbridge if you want to use it later on you could type in profitable and you can see yes making or likely to make a profit and if you don't know what it means to make a profit it means that you are making more money than it costs you so if I baked a cake and it cost me $10 and I sell it for $15 that is a $5 profit which means that that would be profitable so profitable profitable it's I'm just gonna throw down that's an adjective maybe I'll start putting the part of speech down there as well if you think it helps so it refers to something likely to make I'm gonna say make a profit just like Canberra just put down there so it is a good business term it's something you would hear probably if you're reading a newspaper or something about business and they're talking about whether or not something might be profitable um Rose Claire asked about Croc crack of crack of doom I think you may mean crack of dawn crack of dawn so that's the one I'll talk about if you say crack of dawn you know that dusk and dawn are two different pew time periods so dusk is at the end of the day when the Sun Goes Down dawn is just before Sun comes up so the crack of dawn basically means right at that time right at dawn so people would use it and away and say that like we woke up at the crack of dawn it's just an expression it's a way of saying that you you had to wake up very early you had to get up at the crack of dawn so instead of saying well we woke up really early you're basically just using that expression and saying well we hit we well we got up at the crack of dawn crack of dawn you usually say to refers to this exact period of time often used when mmm saying a person wakes up so I'm gonna add that in there because I think that's typically the context that you would either use this expression or you would hear somebody else use it when they're talking about they had to do something or wake up and it was at the crack of dawn it was really early in the morning right when it was dawn so there's another word ooh excellent it's this enthusiast I'm just sorry if I'm I know that you I'm getting a lot of these words I may not be able to get all of them censorship all right except you'd want to spell it with a C censorship so this is a another good one where you are limiting information and typically you don't want some information to become public you don't want people to know it could be an opinion it could be something that's fact and if you limit the availability that is a form of censorship but this is another great word that I think it would be best let's see what are our friends at Cambridge say we're talking about censorship and the way they do it the the active oh this is another thing about using some of these online dictionaries if you don't know one word typically they may use it in that in the meaning the act of censoring book or film so in that case then we just have to look up the verb to censor something and this is I'm just gonna read this a person whose job is to read books watch films in order to remove anything offensive from them so in that case you want to again I said to make information you don't want to make it known to everybody and that could be something that's the truth it could be something an opinion and because you think that this is harmful information you want to censor it and you don't want people to learn about it this is a common topic I think when right now we're on YouTube and this is something that I think a lot of YouTube or youtubers might talk about that YouTube might engage in censorship which is the noun to censor is the verb and I'm just gonna add their meaning right here and maybe YouTube for example I think they have been doing this about the coronavirus that some people might say some stuff about the coronavirus that's not true it might be a conspiracy theory and they are censoring those videos they're taking them off of YouTube so that people aren't getting bad information but that would be an example of censorship let's see what else do we have I heard I think there was another question cabin fever that's another good one that I think is relevant especially right now I'm gonna write it right there so if somebody has you would say somebody has cabin fever a cabin is a small wooden home and I'll tell you kind of where it comes from a long time ago when most people lived in for example the countryside hundreds of years ago they would live in a small cabin now depending on where you lived if you lived in the mountains or you lived in a place where you experienced winter and it would get really cold well winter everybody would have to be inside the cabin you're not going to go out as in play you're not going to spend much time outside so you are stuck inside during the winter it's a small space and when they say fever you just you want to get out of there and you say you have cabin fever so it's not really a real fever like your your temperature is rising and your head is getting hot it's a situation in which you are stuck in a small area and you want to leave and you say I'm starting you could use it with get or have I'm getting cabin fever or I have cabin fever but that's a good good phrase and it's something I think I say it's relevant to what's happening now many countries have these stay at home orders and people need they should stay home right now because of the virus and I think you could say some people maybe they're getting cabin fever they just want to go outside because they've been at home all day cabin fever you are stuck inside some small space cannot leave excellent excellent let's see what else do we have if you guys are just joining me today I'm just going through this is a vocabulary Q&A and I'm taking your questions if you have any or there are any words or phrases idioms expressions that you want to know write them in the chat and I will try to get to them we have another word somebody wrote I'll get to this Achilles heel I want to talk about that one that's good so I'm gonna write it here your Achilles heel it's referring well to it's a part of your body you know your heel is down by your foot your Achilles is kind of like the back part of your foot but we use it as an expression today and you refer to somebody it's your Achilles heel and basically it means that it's your weakness so again I'm gonna check and see what camber says yes a small problem or weakness and a person or system that can result in failure so I'll just copy that come over here to our vocabulary list I'm getting pretty good at going back and forth and hopefully it's looking a little smoother Achilles heel and then we'll paste it right here so if you're talking about somebody's weakness you could say that it is their Achilles heel for example a silly little I think of Superman if you are familiar with Superman the character you could say that Superman was he his weakness was kryptonite when he was around kryptonite he loses his strength and you could say that is his Achilles heel kryptonite is his Achilles heel it is his weakness MD Yunus says what does it mean wave all right so this word all right it's here again is a homonym it has so wave WAV II just means like this hello you wave at somebody or it could be talking about an ocean wave in this case waive the pronunciation is the same the spelling is different w AI ve and it's a verb to waive something it means that you are you if there is a requirement you are basically getting rid of it and you're saying okay you do not have to do this requirement and we are going to waive we're going to waive this so you could also use it as a noun and somebody could get a waiver which means that they don't have to fill a fulfill a certain requirement if they have a waiver so again let's go back over to can bridge to see what they say so to waive is yes to not demand something that you have a right to do or not cause a rule to be obeyed so again I said a requirement if there's a rule a requirement that needs to be followed you say you don't have to follow it you don't have to obey it and you can waive this requirement waive good word to waive and write this down as a verb and we'll post it here again the noun would be a waiver somebody would get a waiver which is typically permission then and it could be a piece of paper which is a waiver that would show somebody okay I don't have to obey this rule or I don't have to follow this requirement so to waive something abdul-rahman what does it mean mislead I'll write that down mislead again think of somebody to to lead somebody is you are taking them in a certain direction to mislead somebody is to basically you're taking them in the wrong direction and often in this case you're talking about perhaps a conversation so you could say that you mislead somebody and they're following you and you go to the wrong place but often I think it'd be like if if I'm giving you bad information you could say that I am misleading you I'm getting you to think something that's not true so I think it's often used in that context when you're talking about sharing information and I told you before that on YouTube there was a lot of bad information about the corona virus you could say that it was misleading information so that is when they decided to censor some of these videos and get rid of them to mislead so let's go over here and I'll add that to the list let's see I just looked it up on kimbridge to for good measure so to cause someone miss lead and verb to cause someone to believe something that is not true to mislead someone and again I think with social media nowadays when you have so much information that's easy that's easy to get on Twitter Facebook YouTube there is a lot of misleading information and people you can easily mislead people to believe stuff that's not true let's see we have wanted to say there's another ooh Abdul that's a good word lackadaisical so lackadaisical right here I'll throw this down here if you say it's an adjective and often I think it might be used with somebody's they're talking about their behavior their attitude that they have a lackadaisical attitude and if you describe somebody's attitude or the way they're behaving as lackadaisical it just means they don't care they're not showing much care in this thing and you could say that yes it is lackadaisical again let's go over here just to give you guys more examples I'd always encourage you to look these words up keep your own vocabulary list I think that's always a great way to build your vocabulary if you just have a list that you can go go to to review words and try to remember them showing little enthusiasm or effort so I'll add that one to the list lackadaisical it is an adjective showing little enthusiasm or effort to do something get as many words as we can excellent so I think I I think you could say a collocation would be like attitude a lackadaisical attitude we'll get to some of these others sorry lolly asked what does it mean go dutch so this is an expression you would say to to go dutch means that if you go out with somebody maybe it could be a date it could just be a dinner with a friend but if you go Dutch it means that each person is going to pay for themselves if you're doing like at a restaurant and you go Dutch you're gonna pay for your meal maybe you go to a movie and you say oh where it will go Dutch you're going to pay each person will pay for themselves so I think often you would use it in the context of perhaps dating and you want to ask somebody out and maybe this person's a little like wait I don't know if I want to I don't know if I'd want to call it a date you say oh don't worry we'll go dutch it will just go as friends we'll go dutch and each person will pay for themselves excellent that's a good phrase I'll add it to the list and again you'd say you'd use it like a verb to go Dutch wait what is it oh gosh mmm Dutch yes it's a proper noun I say refers to a situation in which each person will pay for themselves all right to go dutch excellent let's see we also have mmm there was another one up here that I wanted to ask somebody had asked about Steven Jackson asked about morbid that's a good word it's another I'll write it down so you could whoops sorry I misspelled it nah not more big sorry that's wrong more bid with a D there you go and it is an adjective it's used to describe maybe the way someone might be acting or some setting so again we can go back to cam bridge and if you say something is morbid it's like a little I think of like death and scary that it's okay there we go it says that something is someone is maybe interested in unpleasant subjects especially death so they talk about like a morbid fascination with death would be an example or maybe you're describing as a person as a little morbid and which you're then talking about there their character morbid good word so let's go over here to our vocabulary list and again I said this was an adjective and we'll throw down the meaning right there perfect excellent what else do we have so we said I like this one uh-uh this asked about a shameless plug so let me copy pasted so this is if you're talking about a plug which is a noun and could have different meanings you could talk about like to plug a drain which means you're sticking something in there to to keep the water from flowing or the thing that you would use is a plug now this is a different meaning for plug if I am going to plug a movie I am going to basically kind of give a little bit of an advertisement a little bit of a promotion for this thing and you are going to give it a plug shameless in this situation would be like if I am plugging myself and I do I think everybody kind of does this and I could say like if I were to say oh why don't you guys you know hit that like button you know the interactive English it's the best channel for learning English or if I'm promoting something that I'm doing if it's a course or some kind of lesson I could say oh it's a shameless plug that I know that not that I shouldn't be doing it but it's kind of a way to refer to when people are giving some type of promotion when maybe they shouldn't and I think often times it's when people use it in the context when somebody is doing that for themselves and they're giving themselves a shameless plug and I will probably in the future because I'm going to come out I'm coming out with these courses it's in the works it will be out this year and I will be going I will be giving myself some shameless plugs so keep that in mind I just want to make sure let's go over here I'm just curious actually to see what can bridge has written down if they have this whole phrase a shameless plug now they don't have it because it's kind of I guess you could say it's it's more of an expression I don't think it is an idiom really so I'm gonna write it over here I'll just use my word so shameless plug again plug in this case is talking about a noun - mmm promote something that usually I'm gonna say this usually serves someone's own self-interest alright that you're trying to say something that would that's just gonna really help yourself and you could say that it is a shameless plug all right I'll do a couple of more Karen if you want to look on the list cabin-fever I've already I've talked about that one it's on our list and again I will post all of these words in the description down below this is a great one let's talk about elephant in the room somebody was asking about that so if some this is an idiom if you want to talk about the elephant in the room and it's used in that context when you're having a conversation or discussion with somebody else and there is a topic that you should talk about but you want you don't want to talk about it it's an uncomfortable topic that two people or a group of people may may need to discuss so for example it would be used in a situation that if there is a group of people and there's a problem I have a problem with some other person and it's good to just talk about the problem so that we can get past it and somebody might say look we need let's talk about the elephant in the room let's talk about this uncomfortable situation so that we can make amends and we can get through it and forget about it so if somebody's referring to the elephant in the room it's talking about some uncomfortable topic that typically needs to be discussed and I think people would often use it just like that and kind of say let's talk about the elephant in the room or we need to talk about the elephant in the room so I'd say some uncomfortable topic that needs to be addressed or discussed and you'd say yes it's the elephant in the room all right so I think again I'm sorry if I could not get to all of your words I wanted to get through as many as I could I hope that it was easy to follow I hope these examples made sense and I will post these words down in the description if you want to review them and we'll do more lessons like this in the future where we can talk directly and I want to do different Q&A s that revolve around pronunciation vocabulary grammar so we're doing a little bit at this time I'm trying to make them a little more focused so thank you guys so much for joining me today here I'll give you an example of a shameless plug all right if you guys like what we do and just want to support our lessons you can check us out we have YouTube memberships patreon we offer some cool rewards it's another great way to connect with us links to those are down in the description there that is a perfect example of a shameless plug alright so thank you guys for joining me let's see Stephen Hadi Lally cuts back sleepwalker and isos Abdul Mohammed thank you guys Aidan I hope that you guys have a wonderful weekend stay healthy stay safe and I will see you next time so long --- ## 704. VOCABULARY TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE PANDEMIC ๐Ÿ˜ท | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `fy0t-y6m6F0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy0t-y6m6F0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:28:39 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson thank you guys so much for joining me today I really appreciate it today I want to talk to you about well topic that everybody is aware of and that is the global pandemic because several of you have met well many of you had actually have asked me about talking about some vocabulary that is related to the Cova 19 virus or this pandemic because I know many of you are reading newspaper articles in English you might be listening to a news report in English and you are going to hear these vocabulary words over and over again so what I want to do is talk to you about I'm gonna do things a little differently today and you'll see what I'm talking about we're actually going to go through some different news articles and pick out some of the words and I'm gonna create a vocabulary list for all of us here and then at the end what I will do is I will take all of those words and I will put them into the description of this video so that you can have them you can copy them and paste them and put them in your own word document so first I first want to say I hope all of you out there are staying safe and staying healthy and give some quick shout outs to those of you who are with me today hello hottie honey ELISA sleepwalker Aaden great to see you Zanna Saeed welcome Kareem Mahmud Walter hello hello hello so again this is hopefully that this lesson will you'll you'll be able to learn a few new words so that the next time you're reading about information that's happening related to this virus related to the pandemic it's going to help you understand it a little bit easier and I also want to well I want to talk to you about something else that's a little personal that's closer to me and I will discuss that at the very end and come back to it but the way I'm going to do it differently is like I said I'm just going to share my screen and we're going to go through some articles and pick out some words and basically create our own vocabulary word list related to the pandemic so here is the first article that I have for you there I actually found a couple of articles that were specifically about words to help you understand this pandemic so we're gonna go through this and I'm gonna try and go through this quickly and pick some things out if you guys have some other questions I'll try to see if I can find it because right now I have I have a lot of different screens open so this was an article by time and I will also link all of these articles in the description below in case you want to go back and look at the article on your own so these are terms to help you understand the crisis as you can see down here it starts out talking about well what it what is a virus the corona virus I think that most of you guys are aware of what the virus is and then it's talking about the difference between an outbreak and epidemic and a pandemic so as you can see an outbreak is talking about a sudden rise in a disease so if an outbreak is a sudden rise in the disease an epidemic is when there are enough outbreaks that go beyond the initial spot so when it starts spreading to other areas it becomes an epidemic and then a pandemic is when that epidemic has become worldwide so outbreak epidemic and pandemic now what we'll do is we're gonna go over here to our vocabulary list and I'm just gonna write them down so we have an outbreak when there is a sudden a sudden start to disease and then the next word was epidemic because you might hear this word a lot it is when the outbreak spirit starts to spread beyond its origin origin is just like talking about where it begins and then we have a pandemic which I'm sure many of you have heard it's when the epidemic becomes world wide and the w-h-o declared this a pandemic last month in March and this is another word this is an acronym that you may hear quite often if you're reading an article or listening to a news report they will just say WH o which stands for the World Health Organization there we go so started this list right here of words and we can go back to our article right here and again if you see some other words then you know you could just like let me know and I'll try to find them again hello to others that are joining us uncle-ish sua Raj nice great to see you thank you for joining Michael Angelo hello so those are three words that I think are will very super important words that I think you should definitely know these are other words quarantine is another word that I think you will hear quite often and self quarantine so if we're talking about somebody who might quarantine themselves it is referring to a disease that's out there and you would say that this person needs to quarantine and what that means will go back over to our list it's a verb so I'm just going to write it to quarantine and it basically means to isolate a person so that disease is does not spread so again if somebody were to get kovat 19 and they have the disease they might say okay we need to quarantine this person we need to isolate this person and they would be alone so that this disease does not spread and you might also hear it used with self quarantine right here and self quarantine again is when you make the decision to do this on your own when you decide when I'm just going to write when a person decides to isolate themselves and it's basically if you know you're sick you say okay I'm going to go into self quarantine now quarantine I would say this is a word I'm just gonna add verb right there it's a word that's used when you're talking about a virus or an illness it's specifically used for that so if you're talking about like if you just want to be alone which many people feel that way but from time to time you would not use the word quarantine you would only use this really in the context of a disease or an illness and you might need to quarantine yourself or people might need to quarantine next let's see you hear about these words right quite often symptoms and it's talking about a sign or indication that someone has a disease so this is a noun and you'd say that well somebody has the symptoms of this disease which we'll talk about in another article symptomatic is just the part of speech is changing and we're using it as an adjective and you could say that someone is symptomatic now another common word that you might start hearing now-a-days is people that are asymptomatic and if somebody is asymptomatic it means that they are not showing signs of the disease and this is where I think this Cove in 19 is very dangerous because even if somebody is asymptomatic it seems like they can still spread the disease even though that they are asymptomatic they're not showing signs they can still spread it and that's why I think this is spreading very quickly so you may hear this word a lot when you're talking about well when you're listening to a news broadcast and they might hear to refer to people as being asymptomatic that even though you may be asymptomatic you may need to quarantine and still isolate yourself so that the disease doesn't spread so let's go back over to again our vocabulary list we're just gonna have this as a running list down here so I'm gonna write down symptom and again some of these words you you may have heard about before and again it's just great to review it's always good to review the meaning of these words indication that a person has a disease I'm just gonna write this is the noun so let me correct some of this and again I told you guys that after the lesson I'm just gonna I'm just gonna copy and paste this in the description so that everybody has it symptomatic is the I can't spell and do all these things at the same time so symptomatic is just the adjective describes a person showing symptoms so it'll say and then asymptomatic again is another adjective so you'd say that someone is asymptomatic we use it frequently with the verb to be that they are not showing symptoms so they may still have the the disease but they're not showing symptoms you could say they are asymptomatic let's look at some of the next words relating spread this is another word that I did want to talk to you about because when you are talking about a virus you would use this verb and say that the virus is spreading that it is going to a larger area that it is getting passed from one person to another person that the virus is spreading I'll write that one down I want to go over here and talk about again I'm just gonna go through some of these terms the I will link these articles for you guys down below so spread I will remember to write oh so this is another article from USA Today it says what does Furlow mean can I leave home under shelter-in-place coronavirus terms explained so most I'm just gonna read through this and then we'll talk about a few words most people know by now what is what social distancing it most people know what social distancing is by now they've heard that that the corona virus outbreak has been declared a pandemic we remember we just talked about that a pandemic is when an epidemic becomes worldwide but what does it mean when you here in New York is the epicenter in the United States and what do healthcare Provisionals say when they need ventilators or respirators or both so let's talk about some of these words so the first one it's talking about the epicenter and again I'm not I'm not a healthcare professional if you were to look at the word some people may use it a little differently but in general it's just talking about the very the center of an area and you'd say it is the epicenter or more informally somebody might say it's a hotspot and if you're ever if you ever want to know about some of these words source that I like to use is can bridge so you could even go to Cambridge dictionary over here type in epicenter and then if you move down sorry if you guys can't see this it's talking about right here okay is a place that shows the highest level is an epicenter so we can go back over to our vocabulary list and I'm gonna add these terms down there spread is the verb used to say the virus is passing from one person to the next we talked about epicenter and right now they're in each country in many different countries there may be an epicenter for that country and it is the Canberra JH meaning what was it I'm just gonna copy and paste it is well the highest place the higher the place that has the highest level sorry so the place that has the highest level so if you are following what's happening in the United States I'm just going to use that as an example because I'm from the United States you they would say that New York is the epicenter because that is that is the area in the country that has the highest level of this another word I'll just add it right here would be hot spot if people want to say that New York is the epicenter New York is the hot spot let's go back over to our list right up here so these articles they show some pictures shelter-in-place stay at home I think those words are fairly self-explanatory it's just talking about people that they need to stay at home and you could use this as an adjective it's used as a compound adjective right here because it's describing the order that the government is issuing an order saying what they want you to do and it is a stay at home order and you would hyphenate it see those hyphens stay at home order let's talk about this is another word that I wanted to ask you about art I tell you about contact tracing so many health professionals you may hear them talking about the virus and tallit talking about the things that they they need to do that people need to quarantine they need to do social distancing and stay away from each other and they need to do contact tracing as well and I'll read this it says contact tracing is done by closely monitoring and tracking with whom a person infected with the contagious virus has come in close contact and that is according to the World Health Organization or the w-h-o so let's add that to our list right down here and let's see can you guys see so contract no contact tracing identifying people have our let's I'm gonna write it like this contract a so I'm gonna try and just make it simple if a person has the virus it's identifying fine who they have come in contact with all right you're you're trying to find out who have these people come in contact with so that those people can quarantine and you can try to stop the spread let's go back over again let's see sure I said yes use me so sorry I'm again my spelling I'm just trying to write this quickly it's a little difficult there are so many windows open right now so I'm trying to switch back and forth so that it doesn't seem too confusing so right now if you're just joining us I just want to let you know we are talking about vocabulary that is related to this pandemic to the corona virus I'm creating a I'm going over several different articles creating a vocabulary list which I will put down in the description once the video is finished so here is another expression another term that you may hear which is flattening the curve so as people get infected I'm sure that you see these graphs that they show and the graphs may go up like this and what they're talking about is you want to flatten that curve so to flatten means that it's talking about the surface that's something there's no bumps that it's just flat so here is a visual picture of what this might look like so you they show this one curve I don't know if you can see my cursor and you want to take in it you want to take the curve and flatten it out and this is what they mean when the health professionals up there whether they are talking about countries like you the United States Italy and Spain where the the curve is going up at a very high rate and they say we need to flatten the curve we need to make sure that we need to make sure that people are quarantined they are social distancing so that the virus does not spread and there are fewer cases and they can flatten the curve that is a very common expression that you might hear so I'm gonna go back over to our vocabulary list and write that one down here flattening okay flattening the curve so it is mm well again I I'd say it basically means what it sounds but when they're referring to the curve they're talking about the number of cases that a country has so I'd say flattening decreasing I'm gonna use this decreasing the number the amount of cases so that each day there are fewer and fewer so when there are fewer and fewer cases that curve is going to start to flatten and that's what they mean when they're talking about flattening the curve let's look at there's a couple more words from this article and then we're just gonna go through and read some others ventilator in a respirator so this is something that you are probably hearing a lot about different countries talking about hospitals saying that they need ventilators and a ventilator is a machine that's used to help someone breathe by getting oxygen into their lungs and removing carbon dioxide from the body so these those are ventilators those are the machines the larger machines that hospitals would have a respiratory it's a little different because these are masks or devices to keep potentially harmful substances out of out of inhaled air so a ventilator is more of the machine a respirator is going to be the mask and I will write these down in just a moment vaccine this is another word that you will hear quite often that people are going to talk about because the vaccines I'll just read this what it says it prevents disease by stimulating your immune system to produce an appeal antibodies exactly like it would if you were exposed to the disease so this is something I'll give you an example we have a baby girl Amelia and over it she's now one in this last year she has been getting different vaccines to help protect her from other viruses so right now you would hear people use this word in the context of well we need to develop a vaccine there are many pharmaceutical companies working or like all over the world right now everybody is trying to develop a vaccine to this virus to help protect people in the future so what are those words that I want to write down flattening the curve ooh I forgot to talk about this one furlough so this is a word that is more talking about the economy when businesses because many as you know many businesses are having to shut down restaurants bars shopping centers just clothing stores and those businesses are closed and you might hear I think there was an announcement about yesterday or two days ago that Disney World is going to furlough many of its employees and what that means is furloughs are temporary leaves without pay so this is a little different it says I'll read the whole thing furloughs are temporary leaves without pay they're different from being laid off because the intent is for the worker to return to a job after a period of time so if a if an employee is laid off it means like that it's similar to that they're fired that they are let go of their job and they are now unemployed to furlough means that they are temporarily leaving work but then later on in the future they will have the opportunity to come back to their job so I just said that Disneyworld there was a news article two days ago they plan to furlough many of their workers and in the future those workers will then be able to come back to work at those same jobs so it's just a slight difference let me write down some of these words furlough ventilator or respirator vaccine so we're gonna go over back to our vocabulary list and I wrote about vaccine I don't know about how to write it I forget a substance used to help the body fight off disease all right I'll check these before I post them down below but just as a quick writing it down so I don't forget so again you would get a vaccine to help you fight a disease to lay someone off is basically to fire or let this person go from their job and they are now unemployed this is different than we were talking about furlough is a temporary leave let me get this spelling out of the way temporary leave without pay so that's something to keep in mind if you are reading something about a company that is going to furlough the workers that these people are not going to get paid without pay but they will return to their job the future so either way again these are the they're very different terms neither one of them is good so this of course with all these businesses shutting down many people losing their jobs or if they are getting furloughed people are still not getting paid and that that is a that is a huge problem and then there was another word oh we were talking about the difference between ventilators and respirators so this is a machine used to help people breathe and respirator is more of a mask used to help clean the air so again keep keep an eye out for these words if you are listening D these are words that if you were to go read another article after this lesson you are definitely going to see some of these words especially if you're talking about hospitals and ventilators and respirators let's I want to keep going because I want to go through a few other articles and read through some of them and pick out some words so this is talking about again how to protect yourself I'm not a medical professional I think a lot of you a lot of us have read the same information similar but I want to go through this and see if help you maybe understand some of these words so it says the corona virus this is an article from about a month ago you can see it's from March 5th but it says the corona virus are what are the symptoms how it spreads and how to protect yourself we had already said that symptoms are indications that somebody has a disease spread this is the verb you're going to use when talking about it moving from one person to the next so I wanted to go down here I'm going to kind of skip through some of this and just talk about this right here so you can see in that video right here it says got Leah Vaughn corona virus spread we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg and again think about this is a month ago so they this is an expression when they say that we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg what this expression means is that you are only seeing just a small amount when there is so much more information or that we still need to learn and that we still need to understand so I wanted to teach you that expression and again think about it in this context this article was a month ago and they were saying we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg that we're going to learn more about it or the virus is going to spread a lot more which it has so that is a term again I'm going to add it to our vocabulary list if you want to use it it can be used in other context as well tip of the iceberg mmm let's see OOP that's an E that's why it's I'd say it's an idiom it means you only see a small amount when there is much more usually it's talking about information or something that's going on to understand and you could say that okay we right now this is just the tip of the iceberg and this is a again it's an idiom that you could use in a variety of context a variety of situations let's go back to the article about okay how you can protect yourself the w-h-o and the Center for Disease Control's often you if you're watching information about the United States you would hear the CDC it's another acronym have listed a number of actions people can take to help prevent the virus from spreading which is nearly identical to preventing other viruses like the flu so some of these things that they're suggesting and we'll talk about some of these words regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with alcohol-based rub and wash them with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after using the bathroom eating blowing your nose coughing or using if you use a hand sanitizer experts suggest using products that are made with at least 60% alcohol so that is one word I also I'm gonna add some of these words right here I'll read this one too when it comes to face masks the CDC does not suggest people wear them to prevent catching respiratory illnesses which includes Kovan 19 they actually just changed this recommendation yesterday and they're now at least in the United States they're recommending that everyone wear a mask in the article says however if you feel you are infected and pose a risk to others a face mask should you be used to prevent the viruses spread so I wanted to talk about this because this is a respiratory illness and when they're talking about respiratory it wrote it means breathing it's talking about the lungs and breathing because the covin 19 does affect it is a respiratory illness and the last one that I want to add the word okay I think that was all from this article so I wanted to add a couple of words to our list the acronym I'm gonna add it up here because we talked about WH o stands for World Health Organization Center for Disease Control and this is this is specific to the United States the CDC is the organization that would offer guidelines or try to tell people what to do and it's the Center for Disease Control but you would hear it shortened to just CDC and then we had what else oh I wanted to talk about hand sanitizer used to disinfect and clean hands but sanitizer is the word that you may use maybe you're not familiar with it to sanitize as a verb it just means to clean to clean something too to disinfect it you want to sanitize it so again you want to use hand sanitizer disinfect your your hands you may want to use their other sanitizers as well that you can clean other parts are other areas around your home or outside and the last one respiratory refers to breathing and the lungs so if you hear it used as a respiratory disease or a respiratory illness respiratory is talking about breathing it's talking about the lungs so let's move back I wanted to show you I hope that I hope this is helpful and that you guys are learning a few new words because again this is something that you I follow it in the news every day I think it's very important to understand what's happening how we can stay safe how we can protect ourselves so hopefully some of these words will help you especially if you are following news in English either reading or listening I want to show you another article again this one so this is actually talking about pictures of different places and now that so so much of it has been shows down we've already done some of these words but I want to say ok coronavirus quarantine and look at empty streets highways and bridges from Paris to Florida we've talked about the word quarantine quarantine is when people you are isolating yourself or a person who is infected so they don't spread it so right now much of the world is quarantine let's look I'm gonna read this for us so I said the world is a very different place right now amid the corona virus pandemic many countries around the world have restricted travel and implemented quarantine measures others have entered into complete lockdown restaurants bars and tourist attractions have closed their doors people are working from home instead of driving to the office as a result cities and usually cities that usually team with people have turned empty and quiet remember those early scenes for of deserted London and 28 days later things are eerily similar to that right now to give you a glimpse of what the world - what a world practicing social distancing looks like we've rounded up photos of streets highways bridges around the world sites that usually include bumper-to-bumper traffic and tourists crammed together like sardines sitting empty now III told you if you're reading an article the there are many words we've talked about related to the pandemic specifically but you might find some other ones like in this one it says amid amid the corona virus pandemic and again if we wanted to go over here to camera JH you could put in a mid and it just means that okay it's in the middle of something happening it's a preposition in the middle of or surrounded by so amid the corona virus pandemic that we are all surrounded by this many countries have implemented quarantine measures or complete lockdown when you lock down is just referring to okay nobody can move everything's closed nobody should go anywhere so there is a difference between a quarantine or a stay at home order and this a complete lockdown and another phrase that you can hear or that you can see it's talking about traffic bumper-to-bumper traffic this is a phrase used when you talk about a car has a bumper and it's saying that there is HS heavy traffic jam and you could say bumper-to-bumper traffic and people are trimmed crammed like sardines those tiny little fish that are packed into those jars sardines so let's I went out before I'll show you some of the pictures that they showed in this article but I want to go back I'll write a couple of those words down so amid this was a preposition which means like surrounded by and we used it in the context of amid the endemic something has happened like we are surrounded by this and then that other expression these are just other words from the article bumper-to-bumper traffic is just talking about a heavy traffic jam is the only is the best way to put it so if the they're not directly related to kovat but again when you're reading an article there there are it's a good chance you're gonna come across other words that you might not know try to put those words into context to help you understand it get mostly what what the article is talking about so I'll just show you a couple pictures and then I want to talk to you guys about something else Oh Luke asked about teaming that's another good question so it says that it's talking about as a role cities that usually team with people so if you talk about an area teeming with something else it means that it's very active there are very many people there so you could describe that like oh the the shopping mall is teeming with customers that there are a lot of them and it's used as a verb and again if for if you want to see Cambridge's definition team as a verb to gosh I wish I can why can't I move my cursor over teaming team to rain heavily no wait it's teaming no I don't know why they don't have it in here teaming to rain heavily alright I'm just gonna write it down I'll add that to the vocabulary list because that is another good word so you would use it to team with and if you say that something is teaming with something else team with it is a lot of something or like the mall is teeming with people all right it's a way you could describe it there are many of this thing and again you would say teeming with so it's in the article it said that they these cities are usually teeming with people so I'll go back because just show you some of these again these cities during quarantine this is a picture of Paris France at the Montmartre neighborhood which is now empty here's a picture of one us at is in Argentina again I will link these articles down in the description if you would like to go back and read them and see and learn a little bit more about this situation this is a picture of Lombard Street in San Francisco if you've ever been there usually I could say that this street is teeming with cars and it's typically bumper-to-bumper because there are so many cars waiting to go down this street here's a picture of Madrid in Spain Tokyo Japan so again that's just showing pictures of what this quarantine when everybody is quarantine and there is a stay at home order so again here's another picture of London the millenium bridge very famous very well-known and I hope that you guys have learned some new words I hope that you guys are trying to stay up to date and informed about what's happening and I hope that you can get some use out of these vocabulary words because the this is I think it is very this is a very important information to try and share with you I will put these vocabulary words down in the description in case you want to copy and paste them and create your own vocabulary list I will also link these articles the last thing that I want to talk about because it is important to me as an individual I don't know if you know this about me I used before in 2012-2013 I taught at an orphanage for one year in the Dominican Republic so I was at this orphanage I was teaching middle school and high school students I was teaching English and math and I got a message a while ago about maybe a few days ago one of the ways that the orphanage makes money is by having visitors come down and visit the orphanage they see what's going on and they make donations but because of what's going on with the virus that people are not able to travel the again they're there they're asking for donations asking for funding and I wanted again they say during a crisis sometimes that brings out the best in people so I hope that we this this video is monetized whatever money comes from the monetization of this video we're gonna donate to nuestros pequeรฑo cerdo manos which is the organization I wanted to show it to you right here so they they they do a really great job this is an orphanage they run about they have about eight or nine orphanages all throughout Latin America so they have one in the Dominican Republic they have one in Honduras Guatemala Mexico which was where the first one was located they run orphanages and schools in Haiti they also run a hospital in Haiti for children which does amazing work so if anything if anything I suggest go check out the website learn a bit more about what they do I will leave a link in the description if you are interested in donating and helping support this cause but I told you it's it's personal to me because I worked for this organization for a year in 2012-2013 I went back to visit the following two years and to visit the kids because it's very meaningful obviously here's some to show you pictures there's me about seven years ago with one of the kids here's me when I worked at the orphanage just showing you guys a little pictures just me back in the the past here again I had no hair well I had a buzzed head back then shaved head and this is me just yeah working at the orphanage again I was there teaching teaching English teaching math it was it was an incredible experience so I will link that in the description as well if you would like to make a donation or even again just support some other cause there are so many causes out there that are in need that have been really affected by this virus and I hope again they say during a crisis brings out the best in people so I hope thank you guys for joining me today I hope that you learn some new words that if you are reading about articles about this pandemic listening to a news broadcast try to listen for some of them I hope it helps you understand this a little bit better and that you can follow along and please stay safe stay stay I wish all of the best for all of you guys your families take care of yourselves and we will be back next week for another live lesson so thank you so much sabah Martha Gaetano Saeed lolly Angela I apologize if I could not get to some individual questions nowaday are in this lesson specifically I will try to do a better job at but next time today was a little challenging switching back between these articles and the vocabulary list but thank you Amir dd8 in thank you guys so much for being here Carlos sorry xialu sleepwalker luca again sorry if i missed some names bj hope you guys have a nice weekend stay safe stay healthy and I will see you next time so long --- ## 705. Valentine's Day ๐Ÿ’– | Discussion of Useful Words & Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DssEqFZ6IVc` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DssEqFZ6IVc) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:46:05 | --- hello hello hello welcome to our beautiful lesson this the Saturday I hope everyone's doing well thank you for joining us and for another amazing incredible super interactive English lesson I hope everyone's doing well and if you are just joining I would like to welcome you and also ask you if you can share your name and your location because it's so much fun for us and for everyone to see who is joining us who's here who's watching so if you guys are watching let us know what's your name where you're from hello hello welcome Patricia welcome al-kamil welcome to Harry oh sorry if I mispronounced your names I apologize I am so glad to see you here I am doing wonderful thank you thank you for asking it ahead you're a great because we are talking about one of my favorite subjects today and I think we're going to have a super fun lesson so if you're just joining please write yes thank you from India from Bangladesh from Brazil Haiti friends what a wonderful group of people we have here Egypt so great it's so nice to see people from everywhere so I'm very very thankful for that today I am talking about one of my favorite things to talk about love and I wanted to ask you right now before before we start our lesson because it's it's a lesson about love vocabulary and Valentine's Day how do you feel about Valentine's Day okay so as you're joining if you could write your name and what you're writing from if you could tell us how do you feel do you like it I know over the years I've heard many people complain about how commercialized this holiday has become that people only use it to make money off of it so I know it had a lot of criticism but I will tell you my opinion about it later okay so let me know how do you feel about Valentine's Day right so it can be problematic because yes we can feel lonely so it definitely draws attention so yeah right right how you feel about it and if you are just joining and just kind of watching us just tell us what's your name and where you are from okay well thank you thank you so okay so yeah a lot of people a lot of people can feel down and it definitely can come as a side effect of Valentine's Day so tada do you guys like my roses I'm such a cliche but roses are my favorite flowers a cliche means it means something that that you're just something that is so typical they always say that girls always like roses but in my case it's true roses are my favorite flowers so I put some roses there for you um okay so I have two questions for you the first one I'll state it again how do you feel about Valentine's Day are you sad are you excited are you over it are you just like can we just act like it's another day and my second question is and this one I think is a nicer question how do you say I love you in your language okay so I'm kind of going to repeat this question throughout our lesson today because it's so important to say I love you my personal opinion I I love to hear it and to say okay so some people are over Valentine's Day thank you for sharing Vivian some people is just normal some people are excited thank you guys for for Oh Roenicke were engaged on Valentine's Day so definitely a memorable time I'm sure so thank you guys for sharing see there are some people who are feeling sad and I completely understand that makes sense for the longest time I've always been a person whether I was alone or I was with somebody in my life I have always loved Valentine's Day and the reason I've loved Valentine's Day was because I thought what a great holiday it's wonderful to be able to celebrate love whether you buy someone for something or you don't and whether it's a romantic love or love for your parents or your brother your sister your family I always start it's a wonderful thing to celebrate and I think we need to celebrate more love in this world so this is why I love it and I'm very curious how what you guys are what your guys's opinion are thank you for sharing we have so many beautiful declarations of love here oh well thank you for loving me I'm getting it from all languages you guys are amazing with your tam-tam oh this is beautiful thank you guys I'm just joking please keep writing how do you say I love you in your language and if I try to read it and I say it I mispronounce it please forgive me my husband he's here he is he's lurking he's in the chat room he's saying hello to people okay so thank you for sharing I understand some people might not love it but this is going to be a fun lesson even if you don't like Valentine's Day because we are learning some vocabulary and a little bit of a culture lesson about things connected to Valentine's Day and I think that's very valuable so if you guys are joining let us know where you're from like Valentina welcome Oh Evelyn Tina what an appropriate name for a lesson on Valentine's Day so let us know where you're writing from and how do you say I love you in your language so let me talk a little bit about st. Valentine because he is connected to this holiday well his history dates back all the way to the third century so he it's it's a really long history it's complicated a little bit we're now going to talk about all of it because it's so much to say but just a couple things he was a roman saint so he was from rome he was now commemorated on February 14th which is why we delivered our lesson now and why Valentine's Days on the 14th of February so this st. there are so many stories and legends about him this was a long time ago third century so obviously there will be a lot of things that people say what happened that may or may not be true I'm just going to share the ones that I like the most because I'm it's my choice okay so what I liked was that apparently he was a very good kind of person and He healed lots of people who had different diseases and he got he was a martyr which is a person who dies because of their faith and supposedly even when he was getting killed he the last thing he did was to heal the prisoners daughter so that was his last act of love so he was a very loving person very loving that's which is probably why he is declared a saint in some legends again his connection with love is that he secretly married couples so that their husbands wouldn't have to go to war so there's a lot of a lot of legends like I said which may or may not be true but they are this is how they are connected to valentine's day so thank you guys if you if you are just joining and you just started joining i would love to know how you say i love you in your language oh I see some wonderful writing for in Mandarin in Italian so nice oh I'm going to try to learn all of these we'll see how well I do okay so a st. Valentine he was I'll tell you in a second so um ah okay now I want to talk a little bit about Valentine's Day after talking about st. Valentine and I wanted to ask a quick question do people I know it's kind of a global holiday now but just curious do people celebrate Valentine's Day in your country do they celebrate it and if yes how what should are there any traditions do people do gifts they go out do they celebrate it and how so please write it down in the comments I'm so I'm so so curious okay and I will tell you a little bit about Valentine's Day as I know it and as I've seen some research so apparently the history of Valentine's Day is also all just like st. Valentine the romantic traditions associated with this holiday were apparently started by Chaucer around 14th century so before that the word no like romantic traditions and after that apparently it increasingly became increasingly became more romantic and now of course Valentine's Day is celebrated as a day for romance and devotion so it's all about love and romantic love so let me see what you guys are saying so yes if you guys are celebrating if you're just watching us I want to know the following do people celebrate Valentine's Day in your country so apparently yes in China hello and then yes in France so I'm just so curious yeah if you guys are selling valentine's day in your in your country and i wanted to say one thing so in most of the places in the world that celebrated on February 14th right now today which is coming up it's on Wednesday so that's that's what's happening and but I wanted to say one thing in the u.s. it's it's kind of a popular holiday in the sense that it's not just for couples it is a lot romantic love has a big it's a big deal but it's also for children so I would say that children also celebrate like they give gifts their parents their teachers they go to school with little Valentine cards small gifts so I know in some countries it's just mostly about romantic love but this is more just about love however romantic love I think is emphasized so it's it's it's more important but children also celebrate which I didn't know before I moved to the US I didn't expect it and then I saw it I was very pleasantly surprised to see it so that's my a little bit of information let's see so it's it's it's not a very expensive party so okay so some people celebrate and fill the Philippines doing giving flowers okay so doubt about Valentine's story I mean the story about Valentine's Day that I gave especially for st. Valentine its legends so they're not none of these are necessarily true legends I don't know if I've explained properly but legends are things that may or may not be true so this was such a long time ago third century that we don't know what actually is true so if you're wondering like what is this story about st. Valentine well it may not be true but this is what people say okay so if you guys are still writing yeah I would like to know about how are you celebrating Valentine stay in your country so a chance to give gifts among boyfriends and girlfriends thank you for sharing I think it's very very similar in the u.s. so now I want to talk a little bit about an English term that's part of our culture popular culture but the word Valentine is a noun in English so from a name from st. Valentine it became a noun so a Valentine can be two things first it's a card or a letter usually Valentine's Day is it's especially for for kids but it's it kind of started with letters it's always been about letters or cards or love letters and that's a Valentine it's a card that you give to somebody who you love who you love and many times it's anonymous so maybe you don't have to say who it's coming from that's that's a Valentine so another thing had is a Valentine so of Valentine is the person that you are sending the car to so you can say for example for me this year wes is my Valentine next year probably not ways I'm joking I'm joking I don't know that was funny sorry guys um but a Valentine is a person hey you're here sending the car to sorry I'm still laughing in my head about this joke and or a card or a letter that you send and this is something that I thought was really cute another one of the legends that I read about st. Valentine because he's associated with this holiday was supposedly the prisoner's daughter that he healed he wrote a letter to her and he signed it your Valentine so some people say that this is where this comes from the association of the letter with the word Valentine okay so I'm laughing because I made a joke okay so um okay the next word I want to talk to you about actually before I do I want to welcome everyone who's just joining us and if you are I want to know two things one is how do you say I love you in your language and two is I want to know what do people celebrate Valentine's Day in your country and if you do if you if people do celebrate Valentine's Day in your country what did they do okay so please let me know in the in the comments okay the next word that's associated with this holiday is Cupid okay Cupid cupid in classic mythology is associated it's he's the god of desire and love and attraction and affection and he has a bow and arrow and apparently if you get hit by his arrow you fall in love with a specific person so two people who get hit by Cupid's arrows you know the day they fall in love with each other so that is Cupid and you will see him everywhere he is on Valentine's Day cards he is on letters he might be like in balloons or whatever he is everywhere on this holiday so I wanted to talk about him but also I wanted to share an English expression because today we're also talking about some vocabulary so the expression in English is to play cupid okay to play cupid and to play cupid means to try to bring two people together to set them up which is another English expression so when you think okay this person I think they would they would be perfect for my friend I'm going to try to bring them together we say that maybe you're trying you're playing cupid and I have an example here our friend at work was playing cupid which is a true story it's a true statement when Willis and I first met we had a friend and she was trying to play cupid so every time I was with her she what she thought Wes and I were with would get along really well and she told me you wanna what about Wes look at him isn't he great isn't he handsome and I was like yeah I guess he's okay yeah and then she can't she kept asking me and then I was like oh yeah you were right so it actually worked yeah her playing cupid was really was was it was very successful so I wanted to ask you now because we are about to we are about to talk about gifts okay so I want to ask you what are typical Valentine Day gifts in your country so I know you guys were sharing some things that you're doing for Valentine's Day buying chocolates sharing them or sharing gifts with boyfriend/girlfriend I want to know what are some gifts that people typically sure and also if you are just joining please let us know where you're from what is your name and how do you say I love you in your language and even if I miss some of your comments I'm going to go back and read them all because I want to know how to say I love you in any language I can okay so please please let us know okay so what gifts what gifts do people usually give in the u.s. it's kind of there's some typical gifts that people give it's always first it's a card it's very important because of the tradition I think or a letter the second I think most important thing is chocolate or candy but chocolate I think is a huge thing flowers and red roses are very important not very important but very common I would sometimes jewelry like a necklace or something usually maybe with hearts or something on it or sometimes stuffed animals like a little teddy bear these are very common I would say probably the most common would be the first two so I would say if you guys can't guess yet my favorite is obviously and Wes are you paying attention it's uh obviously chocolate this is my favorite gift ever for birthdays Valentine's Day Christmas New Year name the holiday this that's my favorite gift always so aha champagne perfume okay so cards wine dinner red roses very good yeah exactly so there's so many very very similar I would say in the u.s. maybe oh no am I still alive I think yeah okay sorry I accidentally click throw something and I thought I went offline sorry I'm here with you guys okay sorry about that okay so these are the gifts that are typically given and to do now this is something that is again associated with Valentine's Day and these little candy hearts they're about maybe like this small sometimes you see them bigger but they're pretty small and they call they're called sweethearts in the US and there are these little sugar hearts they're made of sugar I think I don't I think they taste very good but people people give them not for the taste but for their message it's they're very cute and there are different colors and they have these these messages on them and they have messages that you can see here like a true love or first kiss or say yes be mine xoxo miss you and things like this so there just little messages that are given in these candy hearts for those of you who don't know xoxo means let's see do you guys know what does xoxo mean and if you don't know I will tell you in a second I'm just curious to see if you know I love candy huh uh-huh me too I'm a huge fan of candy uh-huh so again if you guys are just joining right down how do you say I love you in your language okay so white roses um why are most of the gifts for women III don't think they are I think many times people go out also and there's usually a gift exchange between a boyfriend and a girlfriend I think a lot of people receive candy whether they're a man or a woman or they'll do dinners together and that's sometimes a gift that is that's important so okay so somebody said kisses or XO so xoxo means I which ones which I think X is a kiss and O is a hug something about like I don't know but it means hugs and kisses that's what xoxo means yeah so that's what it is so they have these little cute messages and they show up around Valentine's Day and they are very very cute okay now I'm going to talk about another Valentine's Day or love connected expression and I wanted to ask you okay what romantic songs or movies okay do you know in English what romantic songs or movies do you know in English that is my next question and I'm curious to see your answer while I talk to you about the next expression which is love is in the air you guys like my picture there I love being in the air so love is in the air is some you hear a lot around Valentine's Day but you might not only hear it in Valentine's Day you might hear it at a wedding for example it's just some kind of loving or romantic atmosphere but you do obviously would hear around this time of the year because everyone celebrate Valentine's Day a lot of people do so my little example here is Valentine's Day is next week and love is in the air you'll see many couples strolling walking going to the restaurant having a nice dinner so we can say that love is in the air so if you guys okay let's let me see what movies you guys are sharing all songs of NDK glass yes I agree I think they're very romantic and Titanic thank you for saying Titanic I am I also think it's a very romantic movie song by the scorpions Twilight sure yeah these are so many romantic movies so I want to hear what romantic songs or movies do you know in English let me think me if I can think of the most romantic movie I can think of from for me it's not a movie that I haven't seen this movie in like well since 2004 since its came out but it's the notebook I I don't even remember if I liked it too much but I just remember I thought wow this is a very romantic movie so the head is the movie I would share um so if you guys just keep writing and I'll keep checking what romantic songs or movies do you know in English okay the second expression that's super cute I think it's cute it's lovebirds okay so this one has a cute history I don't know I'm guessing it's connected but apparently during the Middle Ages it was believed that birds paired in mid-february which is kind of overlapping obviously with Valentine's Day so right now two people that are in love we call them lovebirds just clearly in love acting loving to each other you know kissing hugging holding hands things like that and my my sentence here is the two lovebirds got engaged last week so two people who are in love we can just call them lovebirds and if you are just joining please please please tell us two things one is how do you say I love you in your language and right now we are sharing romantic songs or movies that you know in English um I also love love birds yeah it's very nice so um the notebook is a good one yeah do you think I should rewatch it I I was planning I was actually thinking of rewatching the notebook because it's been so long and I don't remember much from it I just called to say I love you very good yeah so these are great thank you guys for sharing this is great now I have a playlist and a list of movies for Valentine's Day I think we all do so that's wonderful okay so the next one is to have a crush so I added that image there because animals are super cute so that's that's my reasoning okay so to have a crush on we usually say to have a crush on someone and it means to like them romantically and it means to when you have a crush on someone you like them oh you think they're so charming and wonderful and you're enchanted by them you're infatuated with them and sometimes it can be secret so you think that oh this person is so cool everything they say is so interesting while I really like them that's a crush okay so connected to this I wanted to ask you how old were you when you had your first crush do you remember if you remember I'm so curious to know I think if I remember I must have been around six or seven years old when I had a crush and it was not good because my sister had a crush on the same boy and he liked her and not me so that that's my story with my in my first crush so I was wondering if you um if you remember when was the first time how old were you when you had your first crush nine years old 2012 yeah so just very very curious and it it can be innocent okay it doesn't have to be too romantic it can be like like I said when a child like some like somebody else it's one of those words that doesn't have to be very very exceptional eyes okay now my example here is I had a crush on Wes when we first met and this is not something that I usually admit to him because he he is always joking with me about it but it's true when we first met I did have a crush on him so this is how we we say the the sentence structure it's you have a crush on someone so let's see what ages you guys are showing 10 years old 15 20 yeah so that we're all over the place I think we've all had crushes and sometimes they don't necessarily end well like mine didn't so it happens um okay so are you ready for the next one this one is also cute a secret admirer okay um I think this one is widely used in romantic comedies in all kinds of movies about love but a secret admirer is somebody who has feelings for another person but but the second person that's the admirer part the second the first part is that they say who they are they do not disclose their identity okay so there's secret um there's secret admirer okay so usually secret admirers will probably send a letter to let the person know or a little gift to their crush so something I didn't mention when you have a crush on somebody you have a the person you have a crush on is called a crush so a secret admirer will send a letter or a gift or two to the crush a secret admirer and my question to you guys is have you ever had a secret admirer okay I don't think I had I don't think I've ever had a secret admirer but if you had I am very curious to hear about it so if you're just joining we're doing a couple things please right how do you say I love you in your language and right now we are sharing if you've ever had a secret admirer okay and then this is while I talk to you about today probably the the favorite way to spend Valentine's Day for most couples this is a candlelit dinner and it's just a very very romantic dinner for two and sometimes we see it as a candlelight dinner so it can be both it means the same thing and my example here is the couple enjoyed a candlelit dinner together so it's just a very very romantic dinner for two people and it has candle lights and maybe music is playing in the background and it's just very very very romantic okay so this somebody did have somebody did have a secret admirer so there we go I'm sorry that they passed away but that's that's really cool okay so before I show you more or less in English I want to talk about quickly about the the things we've covered today and I want to thank you for sharing what how you're celebrating Valentine's Day if you're celebrating whether you like it whether you don't and just quickly kind of going that over the things that we talked about today we talked about st. Valentine we talked a little bit about Valentine's Day and the connection would st. Valentine and about how its celebrated in different countries we talked about what a Valentine is and it's a person that you give a Valentine to which is a card that you give to somebody that you like your Valentine Cupid is connected to this holiday and we can play cupid so when we're trying to bring two people together we say that we are playing cupid we talked about the gifts that were bringing for Valentine's Day that we gift for our loved ones and many times it's a card or chocolate flowers it doesn't usually get too expensive it depends on who you are I guess some people can but it's usually the two are the first two are the most common we talked about these sweet hearts or the candy hearts with messages of love in them and then we talked about some expressions like love is in the air and we hear this a lot around Valentine's Day we talked about lovebirds which is such a cute expression and there's just two people who love each other and it's obvious it's clearly it's clear to us that they're in love we talked about having a crush and and thank you guys for sharing for sharing how old you were when you had your first crushes I told you about my story about my sister who had the same crush um and I was I think 7 6 6 years old and then we talked about secret admirers and if you've ever had a secret admirer which is somebody who is likes you but they are not for some reason choosing not to share their identity so their secret it's a little bit mysterious a little bit romantic and we talked about probably the favorite way to celebrate Valentine's Day for most couples which is with a nice candlelit dinner and it looks it can look very very beautiful and romantic so I just wanted to let you guys know that we have besides this listen we also have another lesson on English idioms on English idiom so on love ATM so if you're interested please click on it the link is in our description so if you want to know more words or more love idioms please go ahead because I think it's very very useful because you will expand your vocabulary and who doesn't want to know more ways to talk about love in English right it's it's amazing so I wanted to thank you from interactive English for joining me today and was in the chat if you thought this lesson was useful if you enjoyed it if you liked it please like it please share it if you have any questions or comments or concerns or if you want to know more about love other expressions if you have any questions about Wes and I please write them in the comments and we will answer and also I'd like to invite you to join our social media classes because we constantly teach and ask questions and it's really really good practice because you get to answer in English and interact with our community of students so I would really like to thank you guys thank you so much for joining thank you for your questions thank you for your answers for sharing and I would like to say that which is very thankful and we love our community of students and this is why I love Valentine's Day because it's a reminder of love and we love you guys and it's just so wonderful of you to join us and thank you thank you thank you and have a wonderful Valentine's Day and if if you don't celebrate don't worry about it it's still good to learn about love so don't worry about Valentine's Day and didn't just learn about these love idioms and expressions thank you guys so much have a wonderful I think weekend and hi we'll see you next time --- ## 706. Vocabulary - however, nevertheless, nonetheless, in addition, moreover, furthermore | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `nLxL-O7OzWY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLxL-O7OzWY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:26:55 | --- [Music] Hey everyone, my name is Wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and today I have a a vocabulary lesson for you, but it's also a lesson to help you improve your overall English fluency because I'm going to talk to you about these words right here. And they are very important transition words. They are all adverbs and we use them quite often because they make our speech and our writing much easier to understand. So let's well let's make it easier for you because right now I I want to put them in groups. So we have two groups and that first group however, nevertheless, and nonetheless those those adverbs are used to contrast two sentences and you're basically emphasizing how two statements are are different. The next set, which is in addition, moreover, and furthermore, are used to add information. You're adding information to something that was previously said. Now, often these words are interchangeable, but it's very important to know well how often we use these different words, where in the sentence you you can use them and if that changes the meaning at all, as well as any of the slight differences between these words, which there are some, and I will get into that a little bit later. The one thing I hope that you notice, even though these words may be interchangeable, is that I continue to use different ones. And that's really important because when you are you're speaking and giving a presentation or or if you're writing an essay, it's likely that you will need to use transition words multiple times. And you don't want to just use the same word over and over again. them if you're giving a presentation or you're writing an essay. However, some are more formal than others, and that's what I want to talk to you about right now. So, let's begin with these words right here. However, nevertheless, and nonetheless. These words, these adverbs that we use to contrast two statements and say how things are are different. So, let me give you an example. I could say, I love the spring season. However, I always get allergies. All right? So, I'm using however to contrast these two these two different ideas because I do I really I love springtime. I it's wonderful. It's great. However, I get allergies. It's something that I hate. I don't like just when I'm coughing and sneezing all the time. So, this is a very useful adverb that I can use to contrast these two statements. Now, I used however because this is this is definitely the most common adverb that you can use if you want to contrast. And because of that, it's probably not the strongest as well. So, in the case of we're talking about spring and allergies, it's more conversational English. Now, I I could use nevertheless. It it's interchangeable. I could say, I love the spring season. Nevertheless, I I always get allergies. I Some people might think it could sound a little awkward. And the reason for that is because nevertheless, it's it's more formal. It's more formal than however, which means that it's not as common. You are not going to use or hear this word as often as you would hear or use the word however. Nevertheless also really emphasizes the difference. So it it provides a bit more emphasis than however. According to the Oxford English dictionary, strict grammarians insists that nevertheless should be used when referring to something that has occurred, is occurring, or might occur. Let me give you an example. There's a global pandemic. Nevertheless, some people refuse to wear a mask. So in this example, we are we're we're talking about something that is occurring right now. And I think it is definitely appropriate to use nevertheless because we're talking about something that is is a more formal. It's more important and you really want to emphasize that because yes, it's it's very important that we wear a mask. The chosen one the boy may be. Nevertheless, brave danger I fear in his training. Now, nonetheless is the least common adverb among the group and its usage has really become a little more popular in the last hundred years. So, this word nonetheless, it's also more formal and you again you use it if you really want to emphasize the difference between two statements. But there is one slight difference. According to the Oxford English dictionary, strict grammarians insist that nonetheless should be used when referring to an amount or something that is measurable. So, I can give you an example sentence and say, "The business proposal seemed risky. Nonetheless, we made an investment of $1,000." So, we're talking about money and amount. And I use nonetheless. Now, this this is not an established rule. Again, these words are interchangeable. The main thing that I want you to take away from all of this is that however is the most common transition word if you want to contrast two statements. And nevertheless and nonetheless, they are more formal and they are going to give a little bit more emphasis when you want to say that two statements are different. Another thing to keep in mind is that these words typically come at the beginning of a sentence, but they they don't always have to. They can come in either the middle or the end of a sentence. Let's go back to some of those examples that I just talked about. There's a global pandemic. Some people nevertheless refuse to wear a mask. So, in this case, you will need two commas around the adverb so that the punctuation is correct. But if you if you're wondering, well, what what's the difference between using it at the beginning or in the middle? I would say that it's not as strong that I if you're putting the adverb at the beginning, you're giving that difference a little more strength. In this case, putting it in the middle, you're you're kind of saying it a as a matter of fact. You're not really trying to highlight that there is such a huge difference. Or I could say, "The business proposal seemed risky. We made an investment of $1,000 nonetheless." All right. So here I put I put the adverb at the end of the sentence and again in this case I I think it's not as strong and this would certainly be less common. The reason why I think people will do this especially in their writing is more for just sentence fluency because you want to structure your sentences in a variety of ways and you may not always want to put the adverb at the beginning. It's good to to switch things up now and then. It makes reading more interesting. Now let's look at in addition, moreover, and furthermore. So these words are used when you want to add information. In addition is the most common one. And because it's the most common, I also think it's the least assertive of the three. So let me give you an example. I can say, well, I I often try to teach you new vocabulary. In addition, I use short video clips to show you how the word is used in context. So, I'm adding information to what was already said. And in a way, I'm really complimenting the information that I already gave you. That failure clearly stands on its own. Thanks for pointing it out. In addition, your premise is flawed. Now, moreover is well, it's more formal. It's less common. And it really it adds emphasis on on top of what you already said. So in this case, I think it's great if you are trying to be persuasive and you want to build on top of something that you you said previously. Let me give you an example. I could say that well he does not have the necessary skills or competency for the job. Moreover, he is untrustworthy and lacks common decency. So, in this case, I'm I'm making a persuasive argument as to why, well, this person, it's not the right person for the job. They don't have the skills. And then I build on top of that and add that emphasis and and say probably perhaps even more important that this person is untrustworthy. They lack common decency. So in that case, if you really want to be persuasive and you're making an argument and you want to build on top of it, moreover is a great transition work. The Klingons were too far distant to have been the attackers. Moreover, they also were apparently attracted by distress call. Now, furthermore was a little late to the party, just like nonetheless. It it's had its popularity rise in the last hundred years, but it is it is less common than moreover and it is certainly less common than in addition. But just like moreover, it is more formal and it's going to add a bit more emphasis to the information that that you're trying to add. So, let me give you another example. During a pandemic, it's important that we practice social distancing. Furthermore, we should try to wear a mask. All right? I'm I'm really pushing these masks on everyone, but you you understand what I'm talking about. I'm adding more information and I want to emphasize it a little more. So, in that case, furthermore is entirely appropriate. Just like those words used to contrast, in addition, moreover, and furthermore typically come at the beginning of a sentence, but that's not always the case. You may find them in the middle of a sentence after the subject. So, for example, I could say, "Interactive English helps me improve my language skills. Watching these lessons, moreover, builds my confidence and increases my understanding of the English language. So, this this is something that I I hope that you would say, but really, it's just an example to show you that you can use these words in the middle of a sentence after the subject, but I I'd say that it really just it's just not as strong than if you use it at the beginning. So, I hope you learned something new from this lesson. In addition, please remember that however is most commonly used when you want to contrast two different statements. And in addition is most commonly used when you want to add more information. Nevertheless, do not underestimate these other words because if you want to be a bit more formal or you really want to emphasize that there's a difference or emphasize the additional information, that is when you should use these adverbs. Moreover, it's absolutely necessary that you continuously try to use different words if you are if you're doing things like giving a presentation or you're writing some important email or essay. So, I I tried to give you a little bit of a quick review at the end, but I really hope that you paid attention as to how I was using these transition words throughout the lesson. If you enjoyed this lesson, please hit that like button. As always, thanks so much for watching and I'll see you next --- ## 707. Vocabulary About the Economy | Read and Put New Words In Context | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `WQ1eb-GpEbA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ1eb-GpEbA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:27:27 | --- hey everyone welcome to today's lesson my name is Wes and this is Interactive English in case this is your first time here the channel it's all about just helping you practice and improve your English and if this is your first time here please let me know write your name tell me where you're from write that in the comments because I'd love hearing from everybody especially new people to the channel so today's lesson it's it's about helping you build your vocabulary but also doing this while you're reading because I think reading is so important because you get to well you get to see the correct grammar being used and you also get to learn new words so I want we're gonna look at some different articles we're gonna pick out some words and create a vocabulary list so I don't know if some of you remember a while back I did a lesson about vocabulary related to the coronavirus many learners were asking me about that because it's such such an important thing that's happening all over the world there's a lot of news about it and people were asking about words that are related to this and they wanted to know what the meanings were so I'm going to do something a little similar today but in this lesson we're going to focus on the economy because because of the the coronavirus the economy has become a very a very important topic because a lot of countries have had to close down businesses shut down the economy basically and now we're having a conversation about well what do we do from what do we do from here how do we start this up again and there's a lot of news and information out there so I want to talk about words that are related to the economy so this is going to be a little more advanced these are more advanced words because I think this is a very specific topic but I think it's very useful it's very important especially now because like I said you're gonna be real read a lot of news articles about the you might be watching the news and you would hear these words so as we go through this I am going to do the same thing I have my my vocabulary document right here for the words that we find today and after the lesson I'm going to take these words and I will put them down below in the description of the lesson in case you want to review them or just listen for them as we're going through the lesson I'm also going to show you some of these on this website right here so let me kind of adjust this for her us and we're going to look at some different articles today that are related to the economy and basically sorry about that you can tell this is live we're gonna go through some of these articles pick out some words and we're gonna try to put them in context and see if you understand what they mean and that's how we're gonna create our vocabulary list so I do want to give a quick hello to some of you who are joining me today thank you guys so much great to see you Orlando Jarrah Helen Fatima Erica a-10 how are you dawn thank you guys for joining me if you do have some questions I'll try to answer those but questions about the economy I want to keep this lesson focused on the economy and some words that are related to that to help build to help build your vocabulary so if you have some questions I will try to get to those questions and check them periodically I have a lot of windows open right now as I'm switching back and forth between these so let's go ahead and start with an article all right so if I what I've done is I just did a search for the economy and then I went to the news and I've picked some words out that our pixel I picked out some articles that we can start out with and try to find some words that may be new for you that are important and relevant to everything that's happening right now so let's look at the first article that we have right here which is talking about Kovan 19 economics I'll read it is in case just so and then I'll go back through and we'll stop and look at some words so it says financial gurus bracing for a tsunami of bankruptcies in 2021 so this is an important word that you're gonna hear a lot of people would be talking about bankruptcies so bankruptcy is a noun you can also use it as a verb for example like to to go bankrupt and let's look one thing I want to show you which I will reference also if you ever want to know the meaning of a word this is probably one of my go-to online dictionary to put the word in here I think can bridge gives the the meaning of words that are they're easy to understand and when they give you the meaning they don't use very difficult words so I think that happens quite often you look up the meaning of one word and you're reading the definition and then you find these other words that you don't know but can bridge is a little easier so for example if you want to do this and I always encourage students to start making their own vocabulary lists so that they can go back and review and and really build their vocabulary and start to put these words into their active memory so if we look up bankruptcy we can have it so it's a situation in which a person becomes bankrupt maybe that doesn't help you out so much because if you don't know we can then just look up bankrupt and get the meaning there so again this is it's an adjective and it means that you are unable to pay what you owe and that you are having had control of your financial matters by court of law to a person who sells your property or death so what I'm going to do let's just go over to our vocabulary page right here and I'm going to add that word down there so if somebody says bankrupt alright it is an adjective and it means that you are unable to pay what you owe now in this context we're talking about bankruptcy which is the noun and you you may hear it use with this verb to to declare to declare bankruptcy some businesses right now if they are unable to pay what they owe they are declaring bankruptcy and this is basically more of a I'd say it's more of a position that they go through this legal process these companies so that they can restructure their company in order to try and survive and and pay off those debts so in some cases it's not always a bad thing and that instead of a company just saying look we're done they would try to declare bankruptcy in order to restructure the company so that hopefully in the future they can pay off those debts and then they can survive so I'm just gonna put two declare bankruptcy to say the company is unable to pay debts and must be restructured and I'm gonna add structured the word like a legal situation because you would declare bankruptcy so let's go back to our article right here where is it I told you got a lot of pages to open so they're talking about in this situation many of these companies they may experience bankruptcy because they've been closed for a long time and I'll just read I just want to go through a couple these so it says Australia could face a tsunami of bankruptcies when government support packages and existing capital run dry as a result of Kovan 19 a lead financial institutions a lead financial institution has Warren Malcolm Howell bankruptcy trustee and partner at insolvency firm Jurek Sutherland Sutherland forecast that the majority of these bankruptcies will come in 12 to 18 months time thanks to a delay in the economic impact of coronavirus the most at-risk says how our small business owners who have been forced to use personal finances to prop up their businesses during mandatory shutdowns let's go back through and I want to take a few more of these words from this so they're talking about capital and in this case you're talking about capital is referring to money that a company would use to run their business so if I go back over here we're gonna go back and forth capital so capital is just referring to mmm capital money or you could say resources because capital could be like land to used to run business now the other word that I wanted to look at it was in there was insolvency all right this this is the noun most of the time I think you would see this used as an adjective and you would say a business is insolvent or maybe they are solvent so if a company is insolvent it basically means well let's just one make sure that I give you the correct meaning of these words let's check out and see what can bridge has to say insolvent I was gonna say that it the company is unable to pay their obligations and what they owe so yes your it says a company not having enough money to pay debts or or buy goods and you'd say that the company is insolvent so we'll go back over to our vocabulary lists and not able to pay debts and you would say that the company is insolvent there are a couple of other words that I wanted to point out from this article one of them was this word right here when they talked about where is it there's a forecast I think many of you know them but this is a way in which you use words that you may know and you can use them in a variety of situations so when you think of forecasts you're talking about what will happen in the future I think often people will hear this word used when talking about the weather the weather forecast what will the weather like be in the future but you will also hear this when talking about the economy the economic forecast what will the economy look like in the future and then the next one is a phrasal verb that they use down here which is prop up and to prop something up like to prop up the business is just to support and in this case you're basically you're supporting the business but keeping it open keeping it alive and well they're trying to support the business they're trying to prop it up so let's go back over to our list right here and I'm going to add those words to this so we talked about prop up and I almost forgot the other word forecast actually so we're gonna add to forecast which is to kind of predict what will happen in the future and then prop up is just a phrasal verb I'll add that here so you know phrasal verb which is to support something alright to prop something up is to support it so I hope that again these words make sense I hope that it's it's easy to follow and understand as we go through this together I'm just checking that you guys have it yes Muhammad says forecasts for the weather exactly means to predict like Orlando and Saudi Saudis had just said sorry if i mispronounce name so let's go back over to the next article that I want to look at I'm just gonna go through because I want to show you several articles I just want to go through a few paragraphs from each article so this one right here is saying that coronavirus grim reality world economy to shrink by 3.2 percent new UN reports projects so if you don't know if something is grim it's an adjective it means that it's well it's it's negative it's kind of really talking about just something bad and it's an adjective that basically it means bad and you might use it like well a grim reality a bad or dark reality a grim situation a bad situation so we'll add that word in just a moment but I want to get through and look at some of this so this first paragraph I'll read it you can follow along in its world economic situation and prospect or in its world economic situation and prospect the W ESP report update launched on Wednesday the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs a lot of different departments the de sรก said that as of mid 2020s tick product GDP and developed countries will plunge to minus five percent while the output of developing countries will shrink by 0.3 percent I'm sorry I know that all of this news that we're talking about it's very negative it's not very cheerful of course but the reason why I am doing this is because I think it is very useful it's important and this is what many people are talking about nowadays so I want it I talked about grim the other word or that I think is important or it's actually several words is you might often hear this acronym used a lot and people are talking about GDP which you can see refers to gross domestic product and what that means is it's talking about the amount of goods served the total value of goods and services that a country produces and in a way people will use this to talk about maybe as a measure of how successful the economy is and how the country is growing and they talk about GDP so when you hear that acronym GDP it stands for gross domestic product the other verb that I wanted to look at which I think is useful which you can use in a different way is plunge so in this case if you're talking about think about a graph if you're giving a business presentation and you're showing this chart you're showing this graph and there was a huge drop you could then say there was a a plunge in prices or in this case a plunge in development so you're really referencing a number and you're talking about a huge drop would be a plunge to go down all right so let's add those words from this article to the vocabulary document right here so the first one that I mentioned was grim was is an adjective because they talked about a grim reality and I just say like bad or dark the next one was that acronym GDP which stands for a gross domestic domestic product and often I think instead of saying gross domestic product people are just going to say GDP you will hear it on if you're watching anything about the news about the economy or you see it in articles GDP gross domestic products is the total value of goods and services goods I'll say goods produced or services administered by country all right so that would be the meaning of GDP the total the good the amount of goods and service is the total value and people will use it to measure success all right let's look at I got another article that I want to show you are a couple more so as I said if you're just joining us we're working on putting words in context and trying to build vocabulary so the title of this article is this is about the United Kingdom the guardian view on the UK economy deep depression and a huge bill ahead this is a word that may get thrown around people talking about a depression or they may say at a minimum the economy is heading into a recession a recession is which growth is slowing and it's actually it's it's contracting all right it's going the other way a depression would be more of a time period where there is no growth a lot of people are losing their jobs and this is something that people are worried about if we are going into some sort of global depression so we'll come back I'll come back to this word I just want to have a look at this first paragraph right here let's see so I'll read the paragraph and we'll pick out a few words from this so it says to grasp how low are the expectations for the economy consider this on Wednesday it was announced that the UK's national output had just had its biggest drop since the great crash of 2008 the financial crisis and and the immediate response of many analysts was surprised that it hadn't happened further and so the statistics make grim reading grim there's that word again bad over the first three months of this year GDP gross domestic product shrank two percent on on the previous quarter the economy was already slowing in February and then came the UK's first coronavirus deaths in March alone GDP plunged nearly 6 percent I didn't I didn't plan this they just happened to be using these words over and over which is good it's good review like I said these are common the greatest contraction since records began in 1997 amazingly most of the world most of that would have happened over just the last week or of the month the first full week of the government's lockdown the impact was drastic travel agent demand collapsed car plants shut and car plans shut and exports fell off a cliff the winners were few and far between the computer industry got a boost as those having to work from home brought laptops while the paper industry had an amazing few weeks all that hoarding of toilet toilet roll proved good for someone so this is talking about the situation I want to look at a few words so we talked about depression I'm going to add that word some of these words like I said we've already looked at so we talked about grim is an adjective which means bad that's on the list GDP gross domestic product again they're saying it shrank which is the past tense to shrink and we also have that word in there plunged I don't want to click on that it'll take me to another one now what do you think this word means they're talking about it plunge you're a contraction now this you may hear this being used when talking about English and because before I have done lessons on contractions and in English when you contract words like I will be comes out or we have we've you're taking two words and you're pushing them together and you have a shortened version so in this case you're talking about growth if something is contracting it's going back in it's getting smaller is a contraction so depression contraction these are other words that we can use which to talk about the economy or a situation if something collapses I think when you think of the the meaning of the word collapsed is something that just falls down like a building could collapse a bridge could collapse but in this case if they're talking about demand demand is what people want something demand people want it is collapsing so people just don't want anything anymore so these are words that you can use in a variety of situations to describe something like a building fell down it collapsed demand collapsed it fell down there's no demand or if I'm very tired I could say I went home I collapsed on my bed and I was so tired I just I fell down so those I'll add that other word and I want to use this expression right here if you say that something fell off a cliff so when you think about the economy I think often like you see there are so many numbers in there when they talk about 2% 6% and when you say that something fell off a cliff in this context you're really talking about the the numbers that we're moving along and then a doom it just dropped so instead of saying it dropped if you want to really this would be a more way of using a more colorful language to say that there was a huge drop you could say that it fell off a cliff so let's go to the vocabulary document and I'm gonna add those words collapsed fell off cliff let me see hopefully I can remember them so we talked about well before we do again to give you some more examples using kimbridge if we type in that first word a depression all right it does have different meanings which some of you may have heard it used in this other context like if somebody's unhappy and it's a state of unhappiness you are experiencing depression in this case if we go down here we're talking about the economy a period in which there is very little business activity and not many jobs it is a a depression so I'll take this very little business activity and we are going to add it to our vocabulary document down here let's see make sure you guys can see this alright so if we're talking about a depression I will just say period with little business activity and few jobs alright I said some of those other words when you're talking about describing the economy and you can use these words if you're giving a business presentation and you're using numbers and you say that something collapsed alright you're saying that it I'd say just fell down or fell apart alright and in this case they were talking about demand which let's add that word because that's another important word when you talk about the economy and people will talk about the demand for certain things at the end of that article they were they referenced toilet paper so when this all started there was a huge demand for toilet paper many people want something demand the I'd say mmm demand the people who want things alright and maybe it should be talking about people when people want things the other word that you would hear often as well with this I'm just gonna write supply is talking about the availability the availability of things and you may hear this used as a binomial pair and people might talk about supply and demand when discussing the economy they may say well what it we need to think about the supply and demand those two kind of go hand-in-hand because what you want if you're trying to make sure the economy is running efficiently and effectively if there is a demand you want the supply to meet the so that you have this balance between the two the supply and the demand we also said I gave that expression to to fall off a cliff is when you want to express if you're talking about numbers I'll just say to to fall sharply or I'll just add plunge and it's another way of saying that if you say that the demand plunged it fell sharply the demand fell off a cliff it fell sharply alright so let's see I'm trying to think of somebody else orlando is it a downturn so I don't I'm not sure what you're referencing in that one like a depression but that's another good word to write if you're talking about an economic downturn is I would say when the economy changes from positive positive starts a I'd say when the positi the economy starts to contract alright or a change mmm reduce or a reduction in growth because if an economy for example is growing at let's take five percent and then it changes and it starts growing only at three it's still growing in a positive way but you could still refer to that as an economic downturn you started contracting you started going the other way great word all right so that's another word Henry asked about fluctuate if you're talking about that that's a good word a verb to fluctuate is basically to go up and down so for example if you're talking about prices of something and you say the prices fluctuate the prices go up and then they go down up and down and they fluctuate so again these are all great words that you can use if you're describing talking again your your any type of presentation that you may be sorry if you can't see this right down there any type of presentation that you may be giving that you're using numbers and you're describing some graph talking about numbers these are very useful let's do one more article so if we go back over here or is it we talked about this one all right so this one says coronavirus Chancellor Rishi Cenac warns of significant recession so I said before depression is one word that you may hear I I think that that is the extreme exam that is the the worst case at this point I think people are talking about that there is definitely going to be a recession so we are going to add this word to the list in just a moment but I want to look at the article and pick out a few more words right here so let's see if you guys can see all of this so I'll read that first part it says the Chancellor has said it is very likely the UK is in a significant recession as figures show the economy contracting at the fastest pace since the financial crisis remember contracting it's it's it's going it's decreasing the economy shrank by 2 percent in the first three months of 2020 as coronavirus forced the country into lockdown Rishi sunic told the BBC that just a few days of impact from the virus in March pushed the economy into decline economists expect even bigger an even bigger slump in the current quarter mr. sunic said it is very likely that the UK economy will face a significant recession this year and we're already in the middle of that as we speak that first quarter drop was driven by a record fall in March output and comes after the economy stagnated in the first quarter of 2019 so let's look at some of these words we you've seen some of these in the other articles we've looked at shrank I haven't written that one but again you're talking about the verb to shrink it's it's getting smaller notice that there are many words in here that have the same meaning but when you're writing it's good to use different words I'm sure other teachers have told you that if you're writing an email if you're writing an essay if you're writing something for work you want to try to use different words instead of saying the same thing over and over again so one other word that I want to look at in here slump if you're talking about the economy again there's a bigger slump which is a kind of a rough period a difficult period is called a slump I often think you you could also hear this word I think of sports too that if you have a team that starts losing several games in a row they might say you know we're in a slump we're in a bad period right now and you could call that a slump so any you could use this in a variety of situations any time where you're you're having maybe a bit of bad luck and just things aren't working out you could say you know I'm in a bit of a slump right now things are not good so that is one word I'll add and then the other one which again is this one they're talking about stagnating if something stagnates so let's go back over to our cam bridge so you guys can again to reference this if we're talking about a recession and you can kind of get the idea how it's different than a depression a period when the economy of a country is not successful and conditions for businesses are bad so the it's it's just not successful business is bad and that's happening right now so you could say that right now we are in a bit of a global recession and if it keeps going if things get worse it could turn into a depression so this is probably where we're at right now not successful bad conditions I also use the word I wanted to look up stagnate just to see what they have so if something is stagnating again if you are describing some situation perhaps a graph and you're using numbers and you're pointing to this chart and you could say that you know growth stagnated that it's staying the same it's not growing it's not developing it's stagnating so let's go over to where is it our vocabulary list and we're gonna add those words to this document so instead I'll add recession right below depression recession period with bad with a business situation and poor well I'll just have that I forgot the exact meaning of they said but I can go back and check it out so we're talking about right now we are in a recession if things get worse it could turn into a depression I told you down here let's add this word oh sorry I added recession up there for us and down here I'm gonna add slump so slump again is an adjective and it means a period in which things I'd say are not going well alright so I told you that if there is an economic slump this period where things are not growing perhaps the economy is contracting or if you're talking about sports I gave analogy to that if a team is a period where they're just losing they lose one game they lose the next name you could call it a slump and then we said to stagnate is when there is no growth or development to stagnate all right so and I I again if you you saw that I just show some articles at random I looked at some of these articles this morning and just kind of pick them out and thought that oh these these articles have some useful words in them so I will take these words from our vocabulary list I will put them down in the description but I hope as we went through those articles you notice that you saw the words again and again and again so I hope this helps if you are reading a news on online article something to do with the economy and you might encounter these words and then you can try to put them in context in case you forgot what they mean or hopefully you as you start to see these words more and more you will just remember their meaning it is such a wonderful way reading is a great way to build your vocabulary especially with words that you have already learned and you're a little unsure of and you get to see them again so I highly recommend you guys keep reading as much as possible I thank you guys so much for joining today again just to let you know if you guys like what we do here at interactive English and you want to sponsor and support our channel you can get a membership on youtube or check us out on patreon we have some cool rewards links are down in the description and I I hope this helps I will do more lessons like this in the future I kind of enjoy being able to actually show you articles of things that are being written right now and trying to pick out some of those common words that you may see so that when you're reading about it then you'll you'll understand these words because you've already learned them so thank you guys so much for joining me thank you kamila Henry Lally abdul rahman observin orlando booted a sleepwalker Angela Aden hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend stay safe stay healthy and I will see you next time so long --- ## 708. Vocabulary Challenge | What do you call this place? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `p7vMpG5oLwY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7vMpG5oLwY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 11:01:10 | --- vocabulary challenge what do you call the place that we're at right now there are slides there are swings I don't really know what the heck this is there are trampolines so the correct answer is playground if that is what you answered then give yourself a high five or a pat on the back what are you doing okay okay uh-huh --- ## 709. WAYS TO SAY "I'M SICK" ๐Ÿค’ | Learn these Super Useful Phrases | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `6zatfYBY-kU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zatfYBY-kU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:11:31 | --- oh god i'm not really that sick that was just for effect obviously i feel well enough to to create this lesson right now but i i have been sick quite a bit this fall and winter it's that time of the year when i think a lot of people get sick and that's why i want to teach you some different ways that you can tell someone i'm sick in general i often like to tell people you know i'm feeling a little bit under the weather i'm feeling under the weather this is an idiom that i think is pretty common uh in just casual conversation and it means that you're like a little sick that it's nothing really serious but instead of saying that you're sick or a little sick you could just say yeah i'm feeling i'm feeling under the weather i am just feeling under the weather and i think that i will go home and rest and i really think this is a useful lesson because it's great to learn new ways to say things that are pretty pretty common in our daily lives like like being sick so if you like adding variety to your language skills please subscribe turn on notifications that way i can become your teacher my name is wes the channel is interactive english and that's what it's all about trying to help you improve and reach your fluency goals the next way that you can tell someone you're sick is just to say yeah i have a cold and a cold is a common infection it affects your nose your throat you may cough a lot and it's just a general statement to tell someone that you're sick you can even add bit of i have a bit of a cold if you want to tell them that it's mild it's not too serious you could say you have a bit of a cold now if you want to go to the other end and say that you were very sick you could tell someone oh i'm sick as a dog and this is an informal statement it's also a simile because you're you're comparing yourself to a dog it's actually been around for hundreds of years a long time ago dogs were seen as undesirable animals and there were quite a few statements that that talked about dogs negatively just like this one so when you say you're sick as a dog it means that you're really sick often i think there's vomiting involved and yeah it's not good to be sick as a dog no rations fresh water kowalski's sick as a dog enrico he's trying to eat him you could also say i don't feel so well it's a very common statement and i often i think people would use this one when they're they're starting to feel sick that it's just beginning and you can let someone know that this is what's happening like yeah i don't i just don't feel so well i don't know what it is but i don't feel well i know talking about being sick is a bit of a downer and i want to hit the pause button on that and talk to you about something that's going to be really exciting and make you feel good and i'm gonna just throw this off so i i seem a little healthier right now and i wanted to let you know that enrollment is now open if you'd like to join my speaking course this will be the first speak up course of 2022 so it's a great way to start the year on the right foot keep your english skills healthy and alive and the course is all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally and there is a special start of year discount because it's 2022 if you use the code speak 22 you can get a 22 discount so click on the link in the description if you'd like to sign up the course includes weekly group lessons with me i will be your teacher there are weekly lesson pdfs there are lesson preview videos there are a lot of pronunciation video lessons as well as resource guides some audio lessons there's a lot just click on the link if you'd like to join or learn more about class times and availability you can also do the course privately with me and take one-on-one lessons you can email me at info interactiveenglishvideos.com if you'd like to learn more about taking a private course or email me if you have any questions about the course in general so this is a great opportunity to practice and improve your speaking fluency with me all you got to do is click on that link let's get back to those very useful but not really things you want to have to tell someone because it's not fun to be sick and the next uh well let me uh let me get the the blanket uh back on because it gives the right gives the right look for this lesson i have been feeling a little under the weather i'm feeling better now but the next one that i have is i might be coming down with something and you would tell somebody this if you're again if you're just starting to feel sick you're using that modal of possibility might and often it refers to a cold and it's just letting someone know that your immediate future does not look good and then we can change this sentence just a little and take that modal out of there and now we have i've come down with something so in this case you are telling someone that you are sick so you're using something because maybe you have not been to the doctor you don't know what it is probably you think it's a cold or you could use this because you just don't want to be very specific perhaps you're calling in sick to work and you don't want to tell them exactly what's going on you could just say yeah i've come down with something georgie you're coming with us yesterday lunch um actually i've come down with something it's like a little tickle oh could also tell someone i'm feeling a bit run down so to feel run down this is an idiom it means that you you feel tired and weak and once again this is one that you would use that if you're just starting to feel sick and i think that's because at the beginning people often feel tired and and weak and you could say yeah i feel a bit run down that's how i feel now but perhaps in the future it's going to turn into a cold or something else so far i've talked about general ways to say i'm sick but right now i want to teach you some ways to to be more specific and describe the illness you may be experiencing so you could tell someone i have a splitting headache and i i like this one you can use splitting i don't i don't like having a splitting headache that's not good but i i like this informal phrase because you can say that you have a splitting headache to say that you have a very bad headache it could be caused by a cold or maybe stress i know when i've been sick sometimes i've had a splitting headache where's all this hesitation coming from i i'm sorry i just have a splitting headache let's stick with the head and you can tell someone i'm congested so congested just means abnormally full and you would say i'm congested mostly to talk about your nose but you could also refer to your head in general if everything it just feels full up here you could tell someone i'm congested right now i feel a little bit congested but it's all it's working its way out now if you want to be more specific really just talking about the nose then you could tell someone i'm stopped up and in that case it means that you might be having trouble i am a little congested in that case it means that you might be having a little trouble breathing you're constantly blowing your nose trying to get all that mucus out of there and yes you could tell someone yeah i'm stopped up now if you're coughing a lot then you could say i'm coughing up a storm so this is an informal phrase in the u.s and if you if you say something up a storm it refers to doing something with a lot of energy or strength or ability oh i'm just packing up a storm because she has been tweeting up a storm i wrote up a storm making book after book it can be used to refer to things that are both good and bad in this case it's not good to be coughing a lot if you tell someone yeah i'm just i've been coughing up a storm now i will say that i think you would more likely use this phrase to make an observation about someone else if if this other person is coughing a lot then you could say yes he or she is coughing up a storm you could also say i have a fever which is a little more specific or or say i'm running a temperature both of them mean the same thing you're just saying that your head is hot because your body temperature has risen which is a sign that something is wrong because there are many illnesses associated with a fever you could also tell someone i caught a bug so to say that you caught a cold is a common collocation those are words that are frequently used together but in this case we're we're just replacing cold with bug and if you caught a bug it refers to a virus or bacteria and you could say yeah i caught a bug now if you want to be a little more specific with this often somebody might say something like oh i caught a stomach bug and in that case you're referring to the stomach being affected which then means that you are probably getting sick and vomiting if you tell someone that that you caught a stomach bug and you could also use 24-hour bug that's another uh phrase that's pretty common and you're just telling someone that you're you're you're pretty sick for just this short period of time and then it goes away it's a 24-hour bug you need a prescription it's a 24-hour buckets just going around our family caught a 24-hour bug a few months ago and it sucked also when talking about stomach sickness you you could tell someone yeah i can't keep anything down so in this case you're you're talking about vomiting that you're unable to keep food in your stomach and this is what happens commonly when you catch a stomach bug you may also tell someone something is not sitting well or the food is not sitting well so in general if something does not sit well then that means that you don't like it so in this case you're referring to food and your stomach does not like it so you could say yeah it's just it's not sitting well maybe you have a stomach ache perhaps it could refer to a little bit of food poisoning that you feel it in your stomach and you hopefully can keep it down but you could just tell someone yeah just something's not sitting well except for that yokohama beef bowl i tried for lunch not sitting so well and then if you want to be very specific you could just tell someone i have the flu it's very common this time of year in winter it refers to influenza and it really uh it reminds me i still need to get my flu shot i really hope that you learn something new even though i hope that you do not have to use these phrases but in reality you know we we all get sick so they can be very useful if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i will see you next time so long --- ## 710. WEIRD & STRANGE IDIOMS ๐Ÿ˜œ | Supercharge Your English Fluency | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `y-n-Tg51oeU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-n-Tg51oeU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:17:10 | --- let's talk about some weird and strange idioms in english and an idiom is a fixed set of words that have a particular meaning that's very different than the meaning of the individual words so if i say something is a piece of cake many of you may be familiar with this idiom i'm not talking about food i'm just saying that something is easy and that is also it's a bit of a strange idiom as well but before i teach you these different idioms let me introduce myself in case this is your first time here my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills so if that's what you want to do hit that subscribe button turn on notifications so that you will learn about future english lessons so really the purpose of this lesson is to help you build your vocabulary but also improve your english comprehension because these are idioms that you may hear in everyday conversation because they're a bit informal but you could also hear them in movies and tv shows so it's good to be aware of them so that you understand what people are talking about let's begin with our first idiom which is pardon my french so this is a phrase that is used to apologize for some offensive language if you say some a word that is bad you would then follow it with this idiom and you might say pardon my french if you were to say like this is [ย __ย ] pardon my french it's almost like you're you're trying to say that the bad word is part of another language but this idiom is used in a really a specific context if you're talking to another person or perhaps a group of people and you kind of want to to show respect and you want to be polite but for some reason you really need to say this bad word that use this offensive language so you would follow it with pardon my french it's like you're trying to say that well hey this is not the way i normally speak i usually i do not use this language and you would say something that might be offensive and then follow it with pardon my french this is not to say i don't get a ration of [ย __ย ] in every conversation pardon my french pardon my french today has been a gosh dang mother fudging sugar show the fact is the industry is all of us by the balls pardon my french your honor then we have to weasel out of something and i like this idiom because well i like idioms that have animals in them and to weasel out of something it means you're trying to avoid something by being dishonest and i think we could all relate to this idiom if you have some housework to do i know that i have housework that i have to do sometimes my wife might ask me to do something and i'm like well wait i got to go somewhere i'll be right back and yeah i try to weasel out of doing the housework i think again we can all relate to this one to weasel out of something hey stroker 10 bucks for the cake don't weasel out on me i'd be taking an even bigger risk i didn't hand this to you personally you're not going to weasel out of my deal again you can weasel me out of this physical i will blow your mind by doing something incredibly holy at some point amen hold your horses this is well i think this is actually probably one of the more common idioms and it just means that you're you're telling somebody to be patient to wait a moment calm down relax hold your horses and i it is a very strange idiom because i have no idea how hold your horses somehow became the patient but that's the way it is so this is good idiom if you want to use it and tell somebody hey just be patient just calm down wait a second hold your horses hold your horses i'm coming well apparently it is because you know this is taking forever it's forever hold your horses hold your horses down in front come on sweetie buddy the next strange idiom is pot calling the kettle black and this idiom is used to point out uh hypocrisy so if there's a situation and you're trying to point out this hypocrisy you would just say that that statement you'd say well that's that's the pot calling the kettle black so to to help give you a little more context and meaning say that you are trying to weasel out of something and i tell you like hey you should not avoid this you should do it you should not try to weasel out of it and then later on you you learn that i am also trying to maybe weasel out of the same thing or something else and then you would tell me you point out that hypocrisy and you would say well that's the pot calling the kettle black why don't you go put some clothes on well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black or uh african-american suddenly she's thinking of filing a restraining order well isn't that the pot calling the kettle black drinking while at school is just stupid and most importantly any of you guys drinking it all is illegal it's a fair amount of the pot calling the kettle black then we have kitten caboodle and this this weird idiom means well the whole group of something of people the the entire amount all of something and i think people would use this maybe to to give emphasis when you tell somebody that you want well everything i want it all i want the whole kit and caboodle that'd be last week my stock was worth twice what it is now i'm thinking about getting out in a whole kitten caboodle loving boys i see a vast improvement not too late to change your mind a lot of good cops want to drop the whole kitten who wouldn't then we have tongue-in-cheek and this idiom yeah it's really it's the meaning is very different than those individual words because this idiom means that you are just not being serious you're making a joke but maybe you're you're saying it in a serious way like you're being sarcastic and you could say that well it's just a little tongue-in-cheek and i think often you might hear people use it in that way they're telling somebody else they're explaining that they're just joking that they're being sarcastic and you would say yeah it's just it's just a little tongue-in-cheek after he was threatened by a group that somewhat tongue-in-cheek called itself the game is straight as an oklahoma highway it seems like kind of an opportunity missed would have been funny well i i feel that they were just trying to be tongue-in-cheek ah a winky face i guess that could be helpful if i'm saying something tongue-in-cheek here is a very weird idiom and that is wet behind the ears and it has a pretty well straightforward meaning if you would describe somebody as wet behind the ears you're basically saying that they're inexperienced and i don't know well i don't know how this came about that went behind the ears became somebody who's inexperienced but it's it's good to know and i could say that yeah when i first started making these video lessons i was wet behind the ears i felt a little uncomfortable being in front of a camera the the quality of the videos were not that great and yeah it was because i was wet behind the ears graduated six years ago so you're 27-28 yeah oh you don't look at thank god my last assistant was only 23 and still went behind the ears in fact even you went somewhere behind the ears fbi agent decided to put some informant in my cartel next is gung ho and if you say that you are gung ho it means you're very excited and eager to do something i am always gung-ho to teach you guys new english lessons each week especially ones that help you build your vocabulary that is something that i am gung-ho about and i hope that you are gung-ho to hit that like button why don't you let your new assistant take all this down wow you're a gung-ho you're getting a new assistant we were all pretty happy when jeff came around he became really gung-ho about avid's documentary yes his arm is paralyzed yes his legs are paralyzed why is everyone so gung-ho to connect those two conditions then we have a very weird idiom which is mind your p's and q's and i i in my opinion i think this idiom is perhaps a bit older it's not one that i have heard in quite some time and what it means if somebody tells you to mind your p's and q's they're really telling you to mind your manners to be careful about the way that you behave and i i think people might use it more often if you're talking to somebody perhaps a child or somebody who's just really being very immature you could tell them to to mind their p's and q's that's right capital city and former member of the soviet union and we kindly request y'all mind your p's and q now i want everybody to mind the p's and q's that means no effin and jeffen the next idiom is a bull in a china shop and often you you would say that perhaps you're talking about a person and you would say that someone is like a bull in a china shop and what that means is that this person is not really careful in the way that they move around or even behave and the idiom if you think about it it makes sense because if you have a china shop china it's very uh very fragile very delicate a bull is not the animal that you would want to have in a china shop because everything's going to break so in a way it's almost like you're saying that somebody is just not delicate in a particular in handling a particular situation and you could say that that they were acting like a bull in a china shop it's like an elephant chinese change up go in the china shop anyhow hey i am curt get out now get out bull and china shop out of my house my temple this is where i come to find peace dog you're coming in here like an emotional bull in a china shop then we have this strange idiom to bite the dust and i really like this idiom because i am a fan of queen and they have a famous song called another one bites the dust and if you say that someone or something bites the dust it means well to die to come to an end or to fail so if you don't succeed at whatever you were attempting to do you could tell somebody yeah like i was trying to to jump over this on my bike and i just bit the dust i did not succeed i failed or if you want to talk about well something dying probably more common you would refer to maybe an insect as opposed to a person because you don't want to talk about people that way you don't want to act like a bull in a china shop you want to be a little more caring but if we're talking about like a mosquito and you kill a mosquito then yes that mosquito bit the dust it means his current relationship is about ready to bite the dust hard ass counselors bullies all by the dust but timmy's still standing i'm laughing because yeah this next idiom i think is very strange i have no idea where it came from but bob's your uncle and this idiom you may hear it in the u.s from time to time but i think it's more common in the uk and ireland and what it means is it's really just a way of saying well there it is it's done that's it and often i think people would use it after giving a set of instructions you're telling somebody to do something and then once you're finished telling them what to do you could just end it with bob's your uncle sit down big smiles plant the bug underneath the table easy peasy japanese bob's your uncle that's sick so i i could give you guys some instructions and say you know first watch this entire lesson second hit that like button third write to me in the comments and bob's your uncle there you have it it's done it's over bob's your uncle and if you followed those instructions then i want you to write that to me in the comments and just say bob's your uncle and then i know that yes you did everything that i asked you to do i hope you enjoyed the lesson and learn some new strange and weird idioms and i will see you next time so long --- ## 711. WHERE TO PLACE ADVERBS? | ADVANCED ENGLISH GRAMMAR | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `T0igXeCdRaA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0igXeCdRaA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:40:30 | --- today I have a very useful lesson for you it is a grammar lesson and it is all about adverbs what's up guys my name is Wes this is Interactive English which is the place that you want to be to practice and improve your English and today I have a grammar lesson for you it is about adverbs but specifically it is about adverb placement where where do we put these tricky little adverbs so this this is a very useful lesson because we use adverbs all the time and it's actually it's also a common question that we get from you guys about well if I'm gonna use an adverb where does it go because you sometimes see them at the beginning of the sentence you sometimes see them in the middle and you sometimes see them at the end of the sentence so I'm gonna talk to you about some different types of adverbs and where you would most commonly find them in the sentence now Before we jump into it I want you to say hello say what's up in the chat I just want to hear from you guys tell me your name tell me where you're from because we just love hearing from you so hello Amano's so Maya unisom yet mooshka Nashawn a man well Pablo hello hello hello welcome thank you guys for joining me today for this super awesome lesson so let's just begin with something simple and easy and I just want to tell you quickly well what are adverbs so adverbs it's a word or phrase that modifies the meaning of an adjective a verb or other adverb expressing manner place time or degree that that in a nutshell is what an adverb is it is a part of speech now I mentioned already that you might find it in one of three positions and these are the three that I'm talk to you about today so you could find it in the initial position which when I say that I'm talking about the first word of the sentence you can find it in the middle position which I would say the middle is anywhere between the first word and the last word it gets a little it can get a little confusing what where the middle is but in general anywhere between the first word and the last word and then you could also have it in the final position which is at the very end of a sentence or you could even say the end of your main clause so the the goal behind this lesson is not to think like well I'm gonna memorize this and and then it's it's just gonna be done I'm going to know this information because when you talk about advertisements it can be confusing it can be tricky and it's more something that you just need to practice and become familiar with and then you'll just naturally start using it correctly in your writing or when you're having a conversation so it's not about trying to learn necessarily the rules because like I said the you know you can have adverbs in more than one place it's more so becoming comfortable with the type of adverb it is and then where you might find that in the sentence so as we go through this as we talk about these adverbs and where they are placed I'm gonna give you some general rules of thumb so the first one the first rule of thumb that I have for you is to stress the adverb to give it a little more emphasis you place it before the subject in the initial position so in that case it would be the first word of the sentence and it depends not only again on the type of adverb but also what you're trying to do what you want to emphasize so for example check out that sentence down below repeatedly I called you but you didn't answer so when I say it like that I have a little bit more of an emphasis on repeatedly that that is important information because I could use that adverb in the middle position I could say I called you repeatedly but you didn't answer and in that case you understand it but that that's not the part of the information that I wants to be highlighted so if we put it at the beginning you're kind of giving that adverb a little bit more stress repeatedly I called you but you didn't answer so that that is useful information that's something to keep in mind is you know when you see it at the beginning of a sentence it's going to give a little bit more emphasis to that adverb and because it's a little bit more important it's something you want to emphasize so keep that in mind and with that let's talk about some of the adverbs that you will find in the initial position and if you're just joining us today we're talking about adverb placement and where they go which part of the sentence so in the initial position I first want to talk about conjunctive adverbs now what a conjunctive adverb is is it joins a statement to the preceding clause or sentence so if you want to know what that means it's basically it's a word that that's connecting information from the sentence before an example like these words right here they're also referred to as signpost you may have already seen it we did a lesson on signpost and listening for these words because they help guide us through the presentation or help guide us through a conversation and it's important to be able to listen to these words so all of these words right here would be conjunctive adverbs however moreover also next finally therefore and the they would come at the very first part of the sentence and it's connecting information with with the sentence before now you may not be able to see it but I want to give you a little bit information up there you might notice that asterisk and what that says it it may also be used in the middle position so again just because you see however or moreover most of the time you will find it at the beginning of the sentence in that initial position however it may also be in the middle position it's not as common but grammatically you could use it there so let's look at an example right down here first and first we learn the meaning of these adverbs next we learn where they go so we learn the meaning and next we learn where they go the first and next again those are conjunctive adverbs they are time order words because it's telling us the sequence of things and this is this is a little more basic I think most of you are familiar with that when you're talking about when you're telling a story first next then after that those are conjunctive adverbs and they often come at the very beginning of a sentence so let's look at another type of adverb and where they go so you can also have evaluative or or viewpoint adverbs and these are adverbs that show you your attitude your opinion or your point of view about something some information again right here you might notice they may also be used in the middle position but but most of the time when you're having a conversation or if you're reading a book and you see these adverbs they will they will often come in the initial position actually obviously apparently personally fortunately and interestingly let's let's let's practice this right now I want you to use the adverb interestingly and tell me something tell me your opinion interestingly bla bla bla bla what happens what is something that is interesting or that happened that was interesting interestingly something happens so practice using that write us write a sentence in the chat give us an example because it's always good to keep practicing what we've learned and I gave you an example right there personally you're kind of giving your opinion about something personally I think you should hit that like button and down below right I'm kind of trying to look at it right now that would be my personal opinion about what what's going on I think you guys should hit that like button so again if you can see right right right an example sentence I'm waiting to see if anybody can give us that that isn't interestingly oh you could say again at the at the beginning interestingly you know that that was interestingly that was a great question interestingly I have time to watch your lesson perfect interestingly I was about to watch a movie exactly you're giving us some of that information so these are evaluative viewpoint adverbs you often find them in that initial position let's look at our next rule of thumb so if we're talking about the adverb having little to no emphasis if there's little to no emphasis on the adverb place it after the subject and before the verb in the middle position again the middle position it's that is not always the specific position for that the middle position can can kind of be arranged but often you would find the adverb between this between the subject in the verb it's considered the middle position and when it's there it's just not emphasized like I said if it's in the initial position it gives it a little bit of emphasis so my example sentence is Wes sometimes eats an entire milk a bar before going to bed sadly enough yes this is true this is one of my guilty pleasures and if you don't know what a guilty pleasure is it is something that you do that feels good which is the pleasure part but you know that you shouldn't be doing it and you feel guilty about it because before I go to bed I know I shouldn't eat a chocolate bar but I want to it tastes good I do it and then afterwards I feel a little guilty for doing it and actually that that's why that I do eat right there that that's my latest guilty pleasure right there is that Milka Oreo bar so again we use that that sometimes it's not emphasized it gives us some information because it's telling us how often something happens but but it's not something that that's emphasized in the sentence so with that because it's telling us how often something happens the first one that I want to talk to you about our frequency adverbs and when you're learning adverbs these are like some of the first adverbs that we would learn frequency adverbs of frequency because they tell us how often something happens but again even though we find them in the middle position most of the time right here they may also be used in the initial position or the final position these adverbs are are pretty flexible as to where they go in the sentence and again it's not so much trying to learn well this is where I'm always going to use it it's a matter of just practicing getting exposed through reading and listening and doing lessons like this so that you just start to internalize the information and just start using it correctly on your own so again you should proud you are probably familiar with those adverbs of frequency always usually often sometimes rarely never and as an example this is true we always ask you to write to us in the comments and I just noticed right there I made a mistake you can see it it should say right to us in the comments not right to use in the comments so again you guys can it's something we always ask we always ask you to write to us in the comments we also always ask you guys to hit that like button right there we always appreciate it right now I only see 23 likes alright come on guys come on keep it going let's uh let's look at the next one all right so you call so fine in the middle position degree adverbs and these degree adverbs tell us the intensity of something so it I'll you you're I'm sure you know these like really very so quiet extremely barely I'll tell you something they're very common in spoken English we use them and speaking all the time often when when as a teacher and I'm teaching especially not only in adverbs but trying to help build vocabulary I always tell students maybe try to avoid something so instead of saying things are oh very good use a word that that captures that ands like instead of saying very good say great amazing incredible and just use a single word that that captures it without having to use that adverb that's something that I especially tell students in their writing I think it's very useful to kind of not use as many of these in their writing but it is so important in speaking because we use them a lot in just regular everyday conversation and for example I'm so tired after working all day so again you would find these degree adverbs in mostly in the middle position one thing I want to say is that the degree adverbs when you say a lot or a bit those often go in the final position I know I talk about things and use a lot quite regularly something happens a lot and when you're using that it's often going to go at the final position and not the middle position but many of these other degree adverbs you will find in the middle position also this is just a sample these are not all of the adverbs of degree I just picked some that I thought are more common and and that you use more regularly so let's look at another rule of thumb alright and this is kind of taking us to the the final position and it just says most adverbs are at the final position of the main clause or even the sentence especially if you're talking about just a simple sentence that has a subject and a verb such as the one I gave you that example the children run quickly so most adverbs that we use you're gonna find them in that final position after the verb and it's an adverb that is modifying the verb and telling us more about that action the children run quickly of course that that is my main Clause that is a complete thought of course you can you can often add two sentences in which case it's still gonna be at the end of the main clause but you can add on top of that and you could say the children run quickly when the school bell rings and you can add a dependent clause on there so make it a complex sentence but it really depends on the sentence type but especially when you're talking about a simple sentence the main Clause you have a subject a verb often adverbs might will be found in that final position so let's talk about some types of adverbs that are found in the final position first we have manner adverbs and this such as that example sentence it tells us how something is happening it modifies that verb they're often found in the final position but they may be used in the middle position as well I will I will tell show you that in just a moment so you have these manner adverbs like something happens carefully it happens slowly it happens quickly easily badly loudly sadly and my example sentence they talked about their feelings openly we can use that at the end of that at that sentence and it's saying how they talked they talked about their feelings openly now again you can use you can take that manner adverb and I think it's I think it's just as common that you might hear someone say they they talked openly about their feelings you can also put it between the subject and the verb and say they openly talked about their feelings and I think this is where people can get a little confused where you have this one word that can go here and here and here and I know as a language learner people want to know like just just tell me one place to put it and that's where I'm gonna put it and again don't worry so much about thinking well this is what it has to be like it's all about getting exposure with reading and listening and like I said lessons like this so so that you learn a little bit more and and get that exposure so the next time you're having that conversation or you're writing that email or whatever you're doing you'll just start using them correctly because it's gonna be like oh okay I know I can use it here I know I can use it here so let's look at some more time adverbs this is these are other words that I'm pretty sure you're probably familiar with because they tell us when something happens and often you find them in that final position today tomorrow yesterday a while ago at night now but again they may be used in the initial position as well if we want to emphasize it because a very common sentence we might say is we breakfast in the morning you're saying when this happens we breakfast in the morning now if I want to put that in the initial position I can and I would say in the morning we breakfast and by putting it in the initial position again just recognize that it does add a little more emphasis to to that adverb by saying well this this is important in the morning is important so most of the time you're going to find it at the final position at the end but it can be used in the beginning of the sentence especially if you want to add a little bit of emphasis to to what you're trying to say so now you're familiar a little bit more with the different positions where you might find these adverbs in the initial position the middle position or the final position so I do want to practice using some of these and do that but first I just want to have a little fun you can have a little fun with adverbs as well and here to do these two questions does wess work hard does wess hardly work so this is one I always would go into a classroom and joke with students and say are you working hard or are you hardly working and sometimes students would think about that hmm working hard because they are actually two different adverbs two different meanings that the adverb hard you're you're doing something with a lot of effort and energy or hardly which is almost a little bit of the opposite means you know very very little so you can work hard or you can hardly work they're opposites but it's a little fun with with word play you can ask ask somebody that are you are you working hard or are you hardly working so it's fun I just wanted to share that with you guys I also wanted to share that we are on patreon now so you can check us out there we have some very cool rewards and I will leave a link in the description so let's look at let's let's practice using some of these adverbs so I'm gonna give you a sentence and I kind of want you to think well what notice where the adverb is and then what type of adverb do you think it is and and kind of what word would you use to fill in the blank and of course there's more than one word that you could use so let's practice using these adverbs so the first one is right here okay it is at the beginning of the sentence way over there I have those different types of adverbs that we talked about in this lesson conjunctive adverbs a value to viewpoint frequency degree manner time which type of adverb do you think this is right it in the chat and also fill in that blank what what word would you use to go in that blank mmm the earth is round and not flat so what what type of adverb do you guys think we should put in there let let me know in the chat so it's at the beginning of the sentence and I told you when it's at the beginning that that's gonna help us give a little more emphasis to it so we we talked about two adverbs at the beginning conjunctive adverbs and evaluative viewpoint so this is obviously expressing a viewpoint you guys should have said viewpoint and the word that I would have put in there is obviously obviously the earth is round and not flat it is an evaluative viewpoint adverb what about so remember again the the important thing one important thing that I wanted you to take away from this lesson if if that adverb is in the initial position there is a little more emphasis that that that information is important all right let's look at the next one I saw that image and I was like okay I'm just gonna try to find a way to incorporate that in one of the lessons so I hmm pick my nose what what kind of adverb do you think that is again it's coming between the the subject and the verb so what what kind of what kind of adverb do you think that is and then what would you guys put in there if you're gonna fill out you're gonna share share with us and and put that put an adverb in there which adverb would you use so we're talking about it goes between the subject and the verb it's it is a frequency adverb yes Amazo you put frequency in there that is perfect and getting some interesting answers some people usually always hardly occasionally I got one excellent rarely usually what I just put in there you know I sometimes pick my nose it's an adverb of frequency and again you know this is something I think it's just natural I think we owe everybody does it whether they would admit it or not it's no big deal so let's look at the next one the next one he spoke hmm during his testimony now this one it's not not tricky I think but what do you guys think that is what type of adverb and then what word could could go in there if you're thinking about that situation you're in a courtroom and somebody is speaking it is talking about how they speak now I would say that I've added some information that during his testimony you you could just take that out and say he spoke hmm and that is your main clause that is your sentence you're talking about how someone spoke so what what type I think some of you said yes we're talking about how somebody spoke it is an adverb of it is a manner adverb and I would say he spoke honestly during his testimony he spoke honestly so this is this is again this is great information you guys are here you're practicing this is the best way to learn instead of thinking about it like oh I have to learn a rule don't think about it like that just just practice these adverbs and understand that they don't always have to go in just one position in a sentence they are a little flexible and you can use them in different ways and the more you practice the more you listen the more you read then then the better you are going to become and it's really going to help you improve your fluency skills and on a side note if you really want to improve your fluency skills check out our secret lesson I've linked it down below so check out our secret lesson which is going to help you it is ten ways to help you master English fluency you can click on the link and truly become a part of the interactive English community and we will email you that lesson link is in the description so check that out thank you guys so much for watching as always please like and share this lesson if you have questions write to us in the comments because we just love hearing from you guys this is such an amazing community and we're so happy to have you guys with us and join us for these lessons we really appreciate it so thank you thank you thank you Thank You Fabio jr. Molly Giselle mr. Sam thank you guys so much sorry if I've missed some names evidence other days Sandra I I didn't um Thun Thun Wafi everything you want excellent hey km Ravi Dejan thank you guys for being here and checking out this lesson keep practicing keep watching it's really that's really what's gonna help you improve your English the most thank you guys for being here and I will see you next time --- ## 712. WILL vs GOING TO | Learn to correctly talk about the future | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `En83TEmL5z0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En83TEmL5z0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:19:01 | --- what will you do what are you gonna do are these questions the same or are they different let's find out hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel is all about trying to help you improve your english fluency and today i want to talk to you about the differences between will and going to we we use willing going to to talk about the future this is very common we use them in everyday conversation and the first thing that i want to tell you about will and going to is that you cannot always use them interchangeably you cannot always use either one when talking about things in the future it really depends on what you're talking about and the situation but if you do use the wrong one i think people will still understand what you're saying it just may sound a little awkward so i want to start out with how will and going to are similar and how you may use them interchangeably and the first way that you can do this is when you're talking about no prior plan let's say that you ask me about my plan tomorrow i could say i'll probably stay home tomorrow notice two things first i contract will and say i'll probably stay home tomorrow this is very common in spoken english and the next thing is that i'm using probably just to show you that that there is no prior plan and i could also use going to and say the same thing and i'd say well i'm probably gonna stay home tomorrow and in this case i want you to notice that i'm reducing going to and saying gonna which is also very common in spoken english and i i'm gonna use that a lot throughout this lesson i just said it again right there so so just listen for that you can also use will or going to when making predictions let's say you're talking about the weather and you ask what's the weather going to be like tomorrow and i say well i think it'll rain again i'm contracting will it'll rain and i i'm using i think just to show you that yes this is a prediction and i could also use going to shores i think it's going rain later it's gonna rain that's great the videos did the work for me here are the two sentences and in both of those videos they also reduced going to with gonna so when you're making predictions you can use either will or going to and and i will come back to this a little bit later on when talking about the differences and go into a little more detail but before i teach you the differences between will and going to i want to tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda and as i talk to you about this i'm going to use will and going to a lot so just listen for it so lingoda is getting ready to start another language sprint which is great news for all of you who would truly like to improve your english and right now i want to talk to you about how signing up for the language sprint will help you achieve your fluency goals so the the very first thing i want to tell you about the language sprint and this is a great motivator is that if you attend all of your classes you can get up to 100 cash back and there are really several reasons why i think that studying with lingoda is going to help you and the first one is that well these are small group classes which means you will have plenty of opportunities to speak second classes are available 24 7 which makes learning very convenient and third these classes are very affordable as low as 10 euro per group class i have even studied with lingoda that's me right there taking some classes in spanish and i can tell you it was a great experience i was able to gain more speaking confidence build my vocabulary as well as improve my pronunciation which is something that i really needed so let me give you some more information about the language sprint because there are two different options you can take the super sprint in which you will take 30 classes a month for three months and if you attend all those classes you can get 100 cash back or you can take the sprint in which you will take 15 classes a month for three months and if you attend all those classes you can get 50 cashback the sprint will begin on april 28th and you can sign up until april 16th but keep in mind spaces are limited and when you sign up you will pay a 49 euro deposit and then pay for the classes in three monthly installments and because joining the language sprint is going to change the way that you learn english you can use the voucher code change 51 to get a 10 euro discount off your deposit just click on the link in the description to learn more about the language sprint don't forget to use that voucher code change 51 and sign up for some online classes so that you can reach your fluency goals now let's talk about some of the differences between will and going to and i want to teach you how they're commonly used so we use will when we're talking about a quick and immediate decision and we use going to when talking about a decision that has already been made like a prior plan let's compare these two we're out of cinnamon toast crunch and this is true we are out of these cinny minis i'll go get some i just made that quick decision right now when you said we were out okay yeah but that's great are you gonna stay here are you actually going to go get something i'm going oh so we're we're talking about a future action in which it was a sudden decision there was no plan to do this so we use will let's look at the same situation and we're going to use going to and it's a prior plan we're out of cinnamon toast crunch don't worry i'm going to go get some after you finish this video okay that's great well i i still need about five minutes all right okay all right thanks so we're talking about a future action uh that was really planned there was no sudden decision this was already decided it was a prior plan so we use going to of course there are many situations that fall into one of these categories like there's a knock at the door oh i'll get it right it's a sudden decision because well i did not know there would be a knock at the door or if we're talking about a prior plan this weekend we're gonna go to the park the decision has already been made it's planned in this case it's a little awkward if you use the wrong one so if there's a knock at the door i'm going to get it it it just sounds a little strange or if i were to talk about my prior plans and say this weekend we will go to the park it sounds really formal so people will still understand what you're trying to say if you use the wrong one this is really just helpful to to improve your fluency so that you are using the appropriate one use will for quick and immediate decisions and use going to for prior plans immediate actions and prior plans that that's a good comparison between when to use will and when to use going to but right now let's just talk about when it's more appropriate to use will so you will use will when talking about making a promise i could ask you a question do you promise that you will hit the like button all right i i hope that you will do this let me know in the comments if you did and i promise that i will respond to you and and show you some love and i really do i many of you may have noticed that i try to respond to as many comments as i possibly can you should also use will when making an offer i'll help you with that i'll give you whatever you need i i really want to help you improve your english so i'll continue making these video lessons that that is my offer to you for both promises and offers it's definitely more common to use will but that may not always be the case and yes it can be a little bit confusing because you may hear things like this i'm gonna make him an offer he can refuse this is a famous line from the movie the godfather i'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse and he uses going to when referring to the offer this is actually a prior plan i'm going to make him an offer it's not the actual offer because when you actually make the offer that's when you use will you should also use will when you're making a threat and and i really hope this is not something that that you will have to do but if you're making a threat use will and a very i think popular phrase which i think you would often hear in cartoons somebody's very upset and they say you'll pay for this ornery fur baron rebel you'll pay for this you're one of king martin's guards huh you'll pay for this see let's get out of here [Music] you'll pay for this in my opinion this is really more of a general rule of thumb because you may hear people use going to when making a threat you've had this pair of extra gloves this whole time yeah we're in the rockies i'm going to kill you what i'm gonna kill you most of the time when making a threat people will use will and i i think it makes sense because if you're upset and and you threaten somebody typically it is a sudden and quick decision and that's why yes use will if you're making a threat if you refuse to do something you should use will and it's often contracted with not you will not do something you won't do something in the future i won't do it he won't leave they won't help us it's very common in spoken english to use that contraction won't i want to he won't tell us they won't fight for you i won't help you and we're done you should use will when talking about facts tomorrow the sun will rise i will wake up and clap my hands and say today is going to be a beautiful day actually that first part that is the fact the next part is more fantasy about me waking up and clapping my hands i am not a morning person and now let's talk about when you should use going to you should use going to when there are signs or evidence that something will likely happen especially in the near future so let's say that you eat some food that just is really bad you might say oh i'm going to be sick or perhaps you are watching a sports competition and your team it's very close to the end and your team is winning you might say oh my team is going to win you're talking about things that are likely going to happen in the near future now these are also predictions as well i told you that i was going to come back to this a little bit later on remember at the beginning i i said when you make predictions you can use either will or going to we can put a finer point on that if there are signs or evidence that something is likely going to happen if you have some evidence that that this is going to happen perhaps you see the weather forecast then you should use going to i think it's going to rain tomorrow if you have no idea it's your opinion you're just making a guess then you could use will i think it'll rain tomorrow in my opinion when talking about the weather i think most people are going to use going to because typically they might have some type of evidence that is going to tell them what the weather will be like in the future so that's a little more detailed information for you when talking about predictions if there are signs and evidence that something is likely going to happen you is going to if it's just your opinion and you are unsure if something will likely happen use will now let's go back to the original questions what will you do versus what are you gonna do and really either could be correct it really just depends on the context i think overwhelmingly people are going to ask this question referring to a prior plan they believe that the other person has a prior plan so they say what are you going to do and typically they will add some time to that what are you going to do tomorrow what are you going to do later and somebody would answer with their prior plan i'm going to work all day or i'm going to visit an old friend if someone were to ask what will you do it's really a question in which there's no prior plan or at least the person asking it may believe that there's no prior plan what will you do i suppose i'll have to kill the mountain myself that make for a great song i hope to hear them singing one day i just wanted to give you that example one of my favorite scenes from game of thrones so remember at the beginning i told you when there's no prior plan will and going to may be used interchangeably so if somebody were to ask that question what will you do you could also say what are you going to do they mean the same thing you could use them interchangeably if we're referring to no prior plan so i just gave you a lot of information about will and going to and i hope it helps because i think many learners feel that that talking about the future is easy and they may not be aware of some of these small subtle differences but now you know and that's just going to help you improve your overall english fluency if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 713. WORD OF THE YEAR (2010 - Present) | Advanced Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `KaQRAXJ61U0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaQRAXJ61U0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:14:49 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson it's been a little while since i i've done a live lesson so i'm really excited about this and this is well it's a vocabulary lesson but i think it's also a bit of a cultural lesson as well so i'd say some cultural vocabulary because what we're going to talk about is well i have a list of words for you and that list is going to be talking about the word of the year so from 2010 to the present 2021 uh we're going to talk about the word of the year for each of those years and that's why i said it could also be a little bit of a cultural lesson in which case i'm talking about uh american culture but i do want to say a quick hello to those who have joined us hello gustav good to see you uh thank you for the hug i appreciate it awesome uh lolly to kyle great to have you with me today angela deepa um as we go through this i'll i'll give i'll give a few more shout outs at because i i want you guys to again this is interactive english i want you to participate in the lesson and try to guess the word for each year and of course i'll give you a little hint to help you out so let's uh let me first let you know like well where this is coming from because um not you're not always going to have the same information this word list i'm taking from the american dialect society and like i said there are different lists i think um uh online dictionaries have their own word of the year oxford does macmillan has a word of the year and maybe in the future i'll talk about some of those because they are different words this is from the american dialect society and because of that i told you that these words are a bit more related to the united states so it's things that were going on in the u.s at that time things that were popular and that's why these words were chosen which is also why i said it's a little bit of a cultural lesson because we're talking about vocabulary that uh is is relevant uh in the us at that time so here are the criteria as far as you know them deciding which word to choose so i know this is small so i'll just let you know it says um demonstrably talking about words that are demonstrably new or newly popular in the year in question widely or prominently used in the year in question indicative or reflective of the popular discourse discourse is just referring to like the conversation that people are having in their everyday lives and not a peeve or a complaint about overuse or misuse i don't know if i agree with that last one i think when there are words that become popular i think there are definitely people out there that complain that it's being overused or they get tired of hearing it so i i don't know this is their criteria though so let's begin with 2010 okay i want i want you to think all the way back to 2010 um i was uh in my early 30s at that point but what do you think was the word of the year in 2010 or what may have been and i just mentioned that this is from you know talking about the u.s but this word i think is relevant all across the world um i think at this time it was a word that it was becoming you know more and more popular and i think nowadays we we use this word quite often in everyday conversation or we're talking about it it's part of our lives now i think for the vast majority of people and i'll give you a hint think technology okay so that's your hint technology phone okay the and think can you think of any word related to that technology phone i know once i tell you the word you you're familiar with it you know it we use it a lot today um okay no not not not wax i don't i told you this is going to be a little challenging maybe so the word that i'm talking about is app so in 2010 that that was the word of the year in 2010 of course you know that apps um that's short for application program for a computer or phone operating system i think now most the time when people think of apps you think of apps on your phone very common if you're using a smartphone i'm sure you have apps on there somebody just pointed out like what's app yeah so it's it is kind of interesting to to put this in perspective and think about well this word nowadays which i think is pretty common back then in 2010 it was relatively new uh that this was all just coming out and it was becoming more and more popular so again a lot has changed over the years one thing i will say again people think like hey i want to use an app in order to learn and improve my english i think you can do that but just to give a quick little plug if you really want to improve your english skills especially improve your speaking skills i did want you guys to let you know that enrollment for my speaking course is now open you can use right there that code speak20 to get 20 off the cost the course is it's about helping you speak confidently clearly naturally there is a link down in the description that'll take you to this course page you can learn a lot more information um about the course what's included in it uh as well as down here the the class times that are available so please check that out if you are interested in practicing and improving your speaking skills and yeah you get to speak with me directly with me so check that link out down below in the description and i'll also um i'll also include the link here in the chat uh in case uh you're interested so let's go ahead and look at the next one okay so we're talking about 2011. again i know that it's difficult to think of well um you know what what was going on back then there's that link i just put in the chat in case you're you're interested so 2011 i'll give you a hint of what was going on a few years before you had that the housing collapse and there was a some of the big banks they went under they failed and by the time 2011 rolled around a lot of people were angry um about how that situation was handled and a lot of the you know some of the banks and other big businesses getting taxpayer money so there was a lot of anger in the united states at this time and there was a movement and that movement was called mmm wall street so getting you to try to think a little bit about you know 10 years ago what was happening the the history and that was that's your hint that movement was called um wall street in 2011. do you have any guesses i think when i show you the word you guys are i think many of you are going to be familiar with the word with the meaning so the word for 2011 um is occupy so to occupy something i think you know what it means is like you are taking over this area you are your presence is there um in this case it was really referring to that occupy protest movement and the name of the movement was occupy wall street and again people were very upset with wall street because these businesses had gotten a lot of money and yeah they were people were very uh unhappy about that so that's what was going on there in 2011. so let's move in to 2012. all right and i'll give you again i'll give you a hint because i know this can be challenging so in 2012 one year um after a lot of that occupy uh wall street was going on let me see because i want to make sure giving you guys the hint okay so this is another word that well think about twitter that's my hint for you twitter what word became popular because of twitter and it's a word that you see well okay it's a symbol now i'm going to try to make it a lot easier for you a symbol again so this is related to technology twitter i think starting out becoming more and more popular and people just started using this word a lot more it was coming up even in conversations and i know that some people did not like uh hearing this word in conversation so not social media again twitter is a a form of social media but this word became popular because of twitter and it's also again part of social media in general yes vivienne carol caroline um for learn close not a gif uh harry the the correct answer is like i said is a hashtag um it's like i'll just read it it's a word or phrase preceded by the symbol that's the symbol is a hashtag used on twitter to mark a topic or make a commentary so it really using that hashtag would basically really earmark it as part of a topic in general and you refer to it as hashtag something so this is what uh became very popular or what is labeled as the word of the year in 2012 was the the hashtag so let's move on what do you think 2013. so in i don't think you guys um i don't i don't know if you guys you're not you're not gonna guess this i don't it's not even a way that i use this word so i'm just gonna go ahead and tell you what it is but the word of 2013 um and maybe it's again capturing more a little bit of pop culture is the word because but not using it as giving like um in the normal sense it's using it introducing like a noun or adjective and i think a lot of people would end up using it in in spoken english and you'd say they give you some examples down there like for example like well because reasons all right saying like oh you have reasons for something or because awesome so you're saying like because something is awesome because awesome and again i think this was more spoken english the way that people are using it perhaps younger generations i never really used uh the word because like this but this is what they had down um for 2013. i know some people put in a selfie that's a good guess i actually think that would have been a better choice a selfie for that one um 2014 let's keep moving so in 2014 this like i told you a lot of this is related to what was going on in the united states this was another movement that was taking place in the united states in 2014 it gained a lot of popularity um it became a lot of you know part of a conv larger conversation it's still been going on over the years and even um in the last couple of years it's still uh you know being talked about coming up from time to time but this was the the word of an well a phrase talking about another movement that started in the united states around this time 2014. any guesses i thought maybe talking about that uh case pride that's a good guess i think pride has been uh you know around and more popular for a lot longer um think about uh well i said it's been around recently and that was with the george uh george floyd so the the movement that i'm referring to is black lives matter so in 2014 this is when it came out when some uh you know black people were killed at the hands of police in particular talking about michael brown in ferguson missouri and eric garner and staten island there were others as well but this is when that movement uh black lives matter became a lot more well-known and like i said there have been other instances over the years in which this has become um more of a topic of conversation most recently was with the death of george floyd and again this was like front and center part of the conversation so in 2014 this is it but a lot of you guys had uh um you know some good guesses and talking about like pride me too uh me too another i forget what year i think that was actually after 2014 i think um but yeah i like good job uh gustav you got it ariane um sarah so yeah it seems like uh again it's something that comes up uh in conversation 2015. um so your hint for 2015. again this is uh i don't know how they chose this but this was a word um actually i'll tell you what it is you tell me what the word is it is a gender it is a singular gender neutral pronoun it's a word that i've used just in casual conversation for a long time i don't know why it has kind of been rejected by a lot of um i think dictionaries english technically doesn't have a singular gender-neutral pronoun except for this word and in 2015 it was labeled the word of the year most of you think about it as more of a as a plural pronoun yes uh who is it i see one uh bong bong excellent yes i'm talking about the word they so this was the word of the year in 2015 they talking about not a plural pronoun and referring to they as a group of people but as a gender-neutral singular pronoun for a known person so let me give you an example of that so what i mean and i said i've i've you know so many people use this in spoken english if you were to tell me like hey my friend is getting ready to take a vacation and you say my friend is taking a vacation well i don't know if your friend is a man or a woman but if i'm asking a question i would say oh where are they going and i'm using they in that context as a gender neutral singular pronoun if you say my friend you're talking about one person you know my friend's taking a vacation oh where are they going and in asking that question i'm using they as a gender-neutral singular pronoun and it's very common um but yes so they in that context can be singular as well and again i don't know why there's been some pushback of like no no we need to come up with a new word and some people have tried to come up with new words like thine or thon and it's it just hasn't worked out um so let's move to 2016. and i will go ahead and tell you as we get into the next few i will say the american dialect society i feel like they're probably a bit more progressive because they're talking about their choices and you know trump was a very talked about person in 2016 and beyond so a lot of the some of the words and phrases are related to politics this one in 2016 i'm not so sure i'm just assuming that it is i've often heard people talk about it in the context of politics and what's going on in society in general i'll go ahead and tell you i don't know if anybody is going to just guess this um they chose to dumpster fire this 2016 word of the year i mean obviously it's a phrase but if you in case you didn't know this you can use dumpster fire to refer to like it says a disastrous or chaotic situation so instead of saying well this is chaotic you could say well it's a dumpster fire and in this case you're using it as a noun so chaotic would be an adjective but if you say something is a dump i'm dumpster fire you're using it as a noun but it's referring to a situation that's just terrible so that's what i mean i think maybe they're referring to politics in a way that in 2016 the political situation in the u.s it was a dumpster fire i'm not sure exactly what else was going on that they may be referring to but like i said the reason why i think pop it's relating to politics is because i think people will talk about politics and use this word and be like well the mess the situation with the government it's an absolute dumpster fire um so hopefully maybe this phrase is new for some of you and it's more common in spoken english to say something is a dumpster fire um i want i don't want to give away a hint uh but 2017 okay um this is definitely related to politics definitely related to donald trump um what do you think was the word of the year in 2017 somebody actually gave it to us already somebody was uh they they they got a little the little head one year ahead um but we the word uh or the phrase is actually in there so the in 2017 it was a phrase um definitely related to uh politics definitely related to trump i told you somebody had already uh had thought about it they thought it was 2016 just one year off um but yes excellent so uh gustav you got the you got the the right answer it was in 2017 though um sarah vivian eddie lolly perfect so the the phrase that i'm talking about is fake news um and it's one that has i think it's i mean it's stuck around over the years you still hear people talking about it and using it so it's referring to it's trying to what uh this is what i would say i'll give you my opinion about it um people would say fake news talking about disinformation or um bad news or bad information often i think that people use it in the context when they don't like the news that they hear even if it's true or real they try to discredit it the same way trump would do and say oh it's fake news i don't like what i'm hearing i don't like what you're saying i'm just gonna call it fake news and i actually think that's how people more commonly use it is or is used to try to discredit real news um by just saying it's fake but this is something that you would hear uh trump use all the time uh talking about fake news so it it makes sense why this was chosen as the word of the year in 2017. um 2018. this is another one it's related to politics it's not one that i feel like you're i wasn't really even that familiar with it i was familiar with the situation um it was it's referring to what was going on at the the u.s mexico border during this time i told you i think the american dialect society choosing these words um maybe a bit more progressive and again framing it more around politics but when when trump was in office i think politics was a definitely a big part of the conversation um in the united states in general so i told you this is a phrase that was related to what was going on the u.s mexico border at this time so the i'll just go ahead and tell you they're talking about um tender age shelters camps or facilities and what this is is this was the the phrase that they tried to use when they were like basically taking kids that came across from the border like or if people were coming into the country illegally they would take the children away and they would put them in these uh shelters and they tried to call them they tried to word it like oh it's a tender age shelter or a tender age camp trying to give it a nice name um even though it did not look good at all um so that was a good guess i think some people mentioned wall that was a that's a good guess as far as conversation things that were happening at that time but this is what they chose as the well again phrase of the year 2018. let's look at 2019 um 2019 is less about trump and politics but more just about society and again this is what trying to be uh i think the the ads the american dialect society trying to be a little more progressive and the choices that they're making with these words or phrases this would have to do more with i i think the the topic of uh trans and how people identify uh which gender they identify with so i know some people putting in covid you guys a little not 2019 getting a little head getting a little head in 2019 i told you it was more i think related to to trans and the the gender that people would identify with so what i was what i'm referring to what they chose are the my pronouns and when they say my pronouns they're talking about the pronouns that somebody would request that others refer to them as and sometimes i i didn't really notice this as much but i know in certain social media profiles people would put something and then they'd put their pronouns they'd put like um she her and basically what's that what's that that's saying is that they would like people to address them with those pronouns she or her or again he or him and those are the pronouns that people are asking people uh to identify them as so this was uh 2019 2020 some of you um had already put it in there i think in 2020 it was not that long ago um i think everybody knows the horrible uh situation in 2020 that uh basically consumed the entire planet uh people had already put it in there i said like yeah you're getting a little ahead of yourselves um but yes uh so before uh who else had it uh sleepwalker uh bong talked about yes sleepwalker case angela eva uh we're talking about covet short for covid19 given to the disease caused by the infection from the novel coronavirus so that i i guess you could say in uh it i'm trying to think when it first came out uh in 2019 i believe in china is when people were starting to kind of start talking about it but i feel like internationally it wasn't until really early 2020 that it it ended up consuming the media consuming our lives and then i think it was around in march of 2020 those lockdowns uh started um in countries were locking down so that was the word of the year in 2020 which makes sense based on their criteria words that are popular that are used a lot and then 2021. let's go back to politics okay in the united states we're going back to politics think about politically in the united states what big event happened uh in 2021 um it happened at the very beginning of 2021 and it's left a really big scar on american politics so this is again this is a word related to that that was that's your hint um it's related to politics obviously related to trump happened at the very beginning of 2021 and it was a very sad day um so i think probably you might be thinking you might know the situation maybe you're trying to think of a word related to that situation but the word which again if you didn't know it this could be a new word for some of you many of you the word is insurrection so it's referring to on january 6 the attack the attack on the capitol building when they had that stop the steal protest and then they went um they marched right down to the capitol clashed with the the capitol police broke inside uh and it was uh it was a it was a dumpster fire to bring that word back up it was absolutely a dumpster fire so again 2021 related to politics related to trump uh insurrection and again this is um if this is a word you didn't know then that's what it means an insurrection is a violent attempt to take control of the government uh and you'd say it is an insurrection so i'm kind of curious in the in the chat or even in the comments uh if you're watching this later my question would be what do you think what do you think is going to be the word of 2022 uh what do you guys think let me know let me know in the chat or let me know in the comments i know we're only we're only we're not even halfway through the year but if there's a word right now that you might think is like popular now in 2022 people are using it a lot it's relevant to what's going on in the world uh what do you think what do you think would be a good word for 2022 i told you i'd review a little bit so here um in case you joined us a little late these are the words of the year here's 2010 um to 2015 app which part of technology very common word today occupy i mentioned was part of the occupy wall street movement hashtag also related to tech twitter specifically because uh was just the usage in spoken english like oh because great because awesome uh black lives matter another movement that was that came out of 2000 um 2014 they a gender-neutral singular pronoun they was actually chosen as the word of the decade because they do a word of the decade as well um and that was chosen here the other one's 2016 dumpster fire uh it's a good one you could you guys can go out and use that phrase if something is chaotic just say wow this is just a dumpster fire uh 2017 fake news which i'm sure many of you have heard 2018 tender age shelter referred to those shelters along the border when people were coming into the u.s and they were basically taking the children 2019 the my pronouns the pronouns that people would want others to address them by 2020 covet and 2021 insurrection and getting some again thinking about the word of the year for 2022 it's interesting so yeah um people talking about war ukraine um world cup i guess world cup is coming at the end of this year uh monkey pox russian invasion all right stagflation putin um seems like that's a polarize okay uh elon musk buys 20 for selfish reasons okay yeah he is he's definitely another person that's being talked about quite a bit lately elon musk uh esther invasion all right so that's interesting uh to see again where where we're at um again this is it's not just a vocabulary lesson i said it's a little bit of a cultural lesson because this is these are words that are related to things that were happening in the united states maybe in the future i'll do one um from either macmillan or oxford i told you they also do like a word of the list i think theirs are more representative to the world in general so maybe that's something we'll we'll look at a little bit later on but anyway all of these words i think are useful good to know words that may come up in uh conversation so i hope you guys if you learn some new words again please uh let me know hit that like button and also just one more quick little shout out if you guys want to know again if you want to practice and improve your speaking skills please check out that link down in the description if you want to join my speaking course and you can use that code up here right there speak 20 to get 20 off the price and if you have questions i think it's down at the bottom of the page you can where is it email me at info interactiveenglishvideos.com if you have questions or if you'd like to take the course privately with me um that's also an option so thank you guys again for joining me thank you uh lolly to kyo always great to see you gustav thanks for being here um abigail ava vivian mohammed angela just trying to give some quick little shout outs ariane linda um i hope all of you james let me just keep going i hope all of you enjoy the rest of the weekend and --- ## 714. Walk the Path to Achieving English Fluency ๐Ÿ’ฌ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `OkUdXwHbPMA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkUdXwHbPMA) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:22:09 | --- so i want to talk to you about your english learning journey from the very beginning when you first learn how to say things like hello all the way up to the point where you well maybe you feel like you've achieved english fluency that's coming up hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel that it's all about just helping you practice and improve your english skills and in today's lesson i really want to focus on a a specific topic and that is learning english is about the journey and not so much about the destination that's what i want to focus on in today's lesson is talking about that journey instead of just solely focusing on the destination because when people begin learning english or any other language for that matter they people tend to think about okay where do i want to end up what is the destination and for many people i think when it comes to learning a language that is fluency people want to be fluent in a language or at least they they want to achieve an advanced level and that goes for just about anything if you're learning how to play an instrument or you want to learn how to play a sport i think people tend to think of that destination first and that that becomes a goal and it's like okay this this is the point that i want to get to this is what i want to achieve and and that's not a bad thing i think it's always good to think about well what is your long-term goal where would you like to end up but that should not be your primary focus especially at the beginning because if you are just focused on that outcome of becoming fluent it could it could be a little daunting it could be a little overwhelming because then you start thinking about all the things that you need to do that you need to put a lot of time and energy into this you need to maybe take some classes uh you're going to need to read a lot of books watch a lot of videos and when you start thinking about that somebody could think to themselves well this is just going to be way too challenging it's going to be way too difficult they may want to give up or they may just stop all together and and that's not what i want learners to do but when you look at it another way and think about the journey that you're going to go on in order to reach your fluency goals or whatever destination you may have if you can appreciate the journey then that's going to make it so much easier for you it's also going to be a lot more rewarding think about people the people that you're going to meet you're going to make new friends you might uh have work colleagues that you work with these people and you're able to speak the language so there are so many different connections that you're going to make along the way no no matter how much time you spend learning the language could be months it could be years i think you're also going to learn a lot about just the world in general because the people that you meet the experiences that you have it's going to teach you a lot about culture and other countries and communities so when you learn a language you're going to learn a lot more than just the language it's really going to give you a different perspective on life and the only thing i can do is relate this back to my own experience when i decided that i wanted to learn spanish so i want to tell you a little bit about my language journey learning spanish and i'm going to tell you in spanish so i will put some english subtitles up there so everyone can follow along and i'm sure that if you if you speak spanish you may see some differences between what i'm saying and the subtitles because yeah i make mistakes i make mistakes all the time but but that's okay so let me take a moment and share my journey with all of you okay bueno [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and and that's really what i wanted to to stress that you are just happy with where you're at because if that destination changes after you meet different people or have different experiences that's perfectly normal but in the end if you are happy with where you're at then to me that means that you really have appreciated the journey that you've taken and you really value those friendships and you value those experiences i also think that if you are able to appreciate the journey then you may not mind certain delays because i think for most of us that's bound to happen where we feel like we have a delay in our learning and that we're not making as much progress as we'd like to and i can sympathize with all of you out there who may feel that way right now because when it comes to learning a language i'm a i'm a slow learner i'm not somebody who picks up a language quickly and can just achieve all of their goals immediately it takes me a long time and even if you're moving slowly as long as you continue you will get to your destination so what i'd like you to do right now if you feel like sharing is well tell me about your journey learning english tell me about some of the people that you've met the experiences that you've had and and why you think it is rewarding and i would love it if you would share a little bit about your journey with me down below in the comments if you enjoyed this lesson please hit that like button as always thanks so much for watching and i will see you next time adios hasta luego nos vemos so long --- ## 715. Want to Sound Fluent? Advanced Words Native Speakers Actually Use! | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YMD4t-JcHzE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMD4t-JcHzE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:58:52 | --- Let's learn some impressive vocabulary that I think you should know. Now, these are more advanced nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, but I think they are useful. They're going to allow you to be a little more descriptive and precise when you're having a conversation. And if you would like to get these lesson notes right here next to me, check out the link down below in the description. Join my community. If you're already a part of it, then I have sent them to you already. So, uh, check out that link down below. So, let's let's begin with some verbs. I want to go ahead and jump into it. As many of you know, this is a quiz lesson. I want you to participate. Write your answers in the comments in the chat. And again, we're talking about verbs right now. The manager that mistakes were made during the project. I'm giving you the meaning of the verb down below. To admit or agree that something is true after first denying or resisting it. Now, to make it a little easier, I'm giving you a hint. I'm giving you the first letter of the verb. I don't know if you can see it. It's a little maybe hard to distinguish, but the first letter is C. The manager starts with the letter C that mistakes were made during the project. So we are admitting or agreeing which again confess I think that would work. But the next part of that is what what really would determine this word. You deny it at first. You resist it. You deny it at first and then you admit it. So confess would work but when you confess something it doesn't necessarily mean that you've denied it. And that is the key part. That is the key when it comes to this word. this verb. So again, that's why I mean this is a little bit more precise when you want to talk and I think we can all relate to this. Somebody denied it. No, no, this is not the case. And then like okay, yes, yes, this is this is what happened. There mistakes were made during the project. So the verb that I'm talking about, and I do think that once you see it, you'll be oh yeah, yeah, I'm familiar with it. We're talking about to concede something. the manager conceded that mistakes were made during the project. So when you concede something, you're admitting that something is true, but it really says that at first you you didn't want to admit it. You tried to deny it or you were resisting and okay, I I concede that mistakes were made during the project. And this is a great example of the passive voice when you don't want to say, well, who made the mistakes? what was the problem that you use the passive mistakes were made. This is something that you will hear politicians use all the time because they don't want to say that they made the mistake. They'll use the passive voice and just say look mistakes were made. Uh so to concede just keep that in mind. You're you're admitting it's true but at first you resist it. Now I will I'm not actually uh denying it at first but if I wanted to use it like saying I will concede. I don't know if you can tell from my voice I am a little under the weather. So, I apologize if I start coughing here and there or uh have to blow my nose, but I'm going to power through power through this lesson. [gasps] So, the next one, taking breaks throughout the day can help m stress starts with the letter M. And the meaning of this verb is to make something make well something bad less severe, serious or painful. [sighs] This is a collocation when talking about like stress. You're trying to m stress begins with the letter M and you're just making it less severe, less serious or less painful. And excellent. Well played, Tayo Manuel Julia. We're talking about the verb mitigate. To mitigate something, you're making something that is bad. It's not good, but you're making it less severe. And this is something that I think you you want to do if you are enduring something that is painful and you know it's not going to go away, but you want to mitigate the pain or in this case mitigate the stress. So I mentioned that this is a collocation when when talking about stress to mitigate stress. Let's go ahead and look at some other collocations with this verb. And this is another this is an excellent way to build your vocabulary and really develop a more natural way of speaking and communicating because this is what uh you know people like natives often use when they speak English. You mitigate stress or people might try to mitigate damage, mitigate a threat, mitigate the impact, mitigate the consequences or mitigate a loss. Now there are there are other collocations that you could use with this verb. when talking about the verb to mitigate to mitigate something. All right, good good verb to know. What do you think? The evidence was so strong that it m the jury to reach a quick verdict. The verb begins with the letter C as you can as you can see. And the meaning of this verb is to force or strongly persuade someone to do something. And in in this case, I think it's more strongly persuading the jury to reach a quick verdict. So there's some evidence and it was so strong that it m the jury to reach a quick verdict. So of course see words like con convinced um convince and persuade. Those are kind of synonyms. This is not the word that's not the verb that I'm looking for. Even though you could you could use convince in this context. It convinced the jury to reach uh a quick verdict. If I want to add emphasis to that. So instead of saying I was convinced to do something, I was what? What's going to add more emphasis to the verb convince? Now convince is a great verb. I love the verb convince. I use it all the time. It's a common verb. This one is a little more advanced. And again, it just lets you add emphasis. And in that way, when you're able to do that, you're going to get your point across in a clearer way. Well done, uh, Lai. I figured if I I rambled enough, somebody would get it. Great job, Lai. To compel someone. So, it really has a similar meaning to convince. We're just adding emphasis that you're just strongly persuading someone to do something. In this case, the jury, the evidence was so strong, it compelled the jury to reach a quick verdict. And they were compelled to do something. I just like saying that word. Compel. All right. I hope that you feel compelled to hit the like button and subscribe. [clears throat] Turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. I didn't even introduce myself. I'm sorry. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And when we do lessons like this, it's all about helping you build your vocabulary so that you have a better, you know, comprehension, listening, reading, but also, you know, better you can communicate a little more effectively when speaking or writing using verbs like compel. What do you think about this next one? Another another impressive verb. Please m from using your phone during the presentation. This just means to stop oneself from doing something. Begins with the letter R. I think that many of you are probably familiar with this verb because often you're going to follow it with from you will from doing something. So th think about uh put yourself in this situation and it's like somebody is making this announcement right here and somebody says look everybody please from using your cell phone during the presentation. So the the verb that we're talking about is the verb to refrain. Please refrain from using your cell phone during the presentation. you're stopping oneself from doing something. You're going to hear people use this verb when the making some announcements and they tell everybody, "Please refrain from taking pictures during the show. Please refrain from using your cell phone uh during the presentation. Please refrain from doing whatever it is." And they want people to stop themselves from doing it and they will refrain from doing something. I thought, okay, this is it's maybe a little maybe a little distasteful joke. I thought it was funny, but again, using refrain, this was a sign at the bowling alley, I guess, a long time ago. I don't know. I'm assuming it's a fake sign. They're just trying to be funny. Says, "Due to the Corona virus, please refrain from touching other people's balls. Please remember to wash your hands after touching your own balls." Thank you. And I imagine at a bowling alley, this is a play on words. It's a joke, but I wanted to share it with you because it's using our verb to refrain. Please refrain from touching other people's bowling balls and wash and wash your hands after touching your own bowling balls. All right, very important uh during the during the COVID period. So, let's now switch gears. We just talked about some impressive verbs. Let's look at some impressive nouns that at least I think they're impressive. During the meeting, she had an M about how to solve the company's communication problem. So, this is a noun. It's a long meaning down here. A moment when you suddenly feel that you understand or suddenly become conscious of something that is very important to you. Um, it should say to you not doing something. That's a little typo. I think I forgot to delete uh delete part of this. So it should just say something that is important to you and for forget about the rest. Um so you would often use this with the verb have and you are going to have an it begins with the letter e and this is a word that I maybe you don't use it all the time. I imagine that if you watch a lot of movies, TV shows, you listen to podcasts, this is a word that you have heard and somebody has this brilliant idea all of a sudden and they say, "Oh, I had an M." Not Eureka. Eureka is more talking about like a sudden discovery. And really, you would use Eureka as a standalone statement and say, "Wow, Eureka." And in this case, we're talking about a specific noun. And I told you that you're often going to use it with have to have. And what I'll be honest, I'm a little I'm a little surprised. Nobody's uh nobody's gotten it just yet because I do think once I show you this is probably a word maybe like, "Oh yes, oh yes, I've heard of this uh word." We're talking about an epiphany. So if you have an epiphany, that is a common collocation. It refers to this moment when you have this sudden idea and it's like, "Wow, okay, this is what I'm going to do. This is a great idea. I just had an epiphany." And keep that in mind. You're often going to use it with the verb have to have an epiphany. And I I don't know, you can let me know in the comments, in the chats if this is a new word. That's great. But I do think it is one that you may you may come across uh you know from time to time. You're listening to the news or podcast TV show and somebody has an epiphany. This is a word that I use quite often. If you watch these lessons, there's a m between being confident and being arrogant that many people overlook. Based on the sentence, I don't know if I'm giving you much help in trying to determine what this noun is, but the meaning is a subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound. So, we're talking about some subtle difference when it comes to meaning, expression, or sound. Excuse me. The begins with the letter N. And as many of you are pointing out, yes, uh, Hadrio Teo, great job. We're talking about a nuance and I I said I use it quite often in these videos because there there when talking about language there there's certainly nuances between different words. So in this case we're talking about the nuance between being confident and arrogant because they do have a similar meaning but confident has a positive connotation. It's a good thing if you are confident in your abilities. If you're arrogant, you're you're basically confident in a way that annoys other people and it really bothers them because you think you're superior in a way. And that is when you would describe someone as arrogant. So that is a nuance between the two. And if you want to meet in the middle between confident and arrogant, I would like to use the word cocky and say it's a more informal adjective in saying somebody is cocky. It is more confident in a kind of arrogant way, but you could use it more playfully. You could use it more negative. Say, "Somebody's being cocky." Or you could use it more like friendly like, "Oh, I'm going to win. I'm the best." Don't be so cocky. All right? Don't don't don't be cocky. So that that I think is a good in between when talking about confident and arrogant. I wanted to throw that other word at you, but nuance is a great word to know. Here are some common collocations. And if talking about a slight nuance, I think when I use this word, this is the collocation that I tend to use and saying, look, there's a, you know, slight subtle difference. There's a slight nuance or a subtle nuance. You could say something is full of nuance or maybe it lacks nuance. Uh, any of those are collocations that you may hear with the noun nuance. The company's decision to cut cost had serious for its employees. Now there are I would say there are two words that I feel you know would fit this sentence. Both of them have a very similar meaning at least in my opinion. There there is apparently there is a there is a slight nuance between the two words that I'm thinking of and I will tell you both of them but it refers to an unintended consequence of an event or action especially an unwelcome one. So in this case company decides to cut cost you have to do it and it happens but it may have some serious for the employees. You know maybe it's going to lower employee morale. people are going to have to, you know, be let go. They're going to cut back on benefits. Who knows? And all of these things is going to have a what I see. Actually, I see both words. All right, great job. So, the word that I I'm highlighting right now or that I want to talk about is the word a repercussion. So, a repercussion is an unintended consequence of an event or action, especially an unwelcome one. And that I think is the key thing. When you're definitely referring to something that is not good, then yes, it is a repercussion. The company's decision to cut costs had serious repercussions for its employees. Now, ramification is a word that has a similar meaning. And I would say, you know, in my opinion, I probably would use them interchangeably. I think if you said ramification, that would also fit. The company's decision to cut costs had serious ramifications for its employees, but to have a little fun. You know, I like to make sure I'm I'm staying in the game up to date with new technology. And I'll I'll use uh AI whenever I can. And uh you know, I wanted to highlight if I just put it in there what it says as far as the subtle nuance between ramification and repercussion. Now, I think again, I feel like they're really interchangeable. overview that a ramification is is complex. It is also an unintended uh consequence and it's saying it can be positive or negative. In my view, I think even when people use the word ramification, probably they're referring to something that's negative whereas repercuss repercussion is, you know, always uh a negative one. So again, I really think that these two words are interchangeable, which is why I said either one would work in this case, but uh I wanted to point out that slight nuance according to this AI overview. But take everything. Look, when it comes to all of this, take everything with a grain of salt. What do you think? The crisis served as a m for innovation in the industry. So the noun begins with the letter C refers to a it could be a person or thing that precipitates an event. So in this case we're talking about a thing which is the crisis but it served as a for innovation in the industry. I think this one's a little more challenging, not only because of the example sentence, but because the the definition uh may not give it away as uh clearly as some of the others. So, I'll give you a little bit little bit of a hint. begins with the letter C. But this is a word that you generally may use or come across if we're talking about science and a science experiment is taking place and you need to I don't want to give it away, but you could also use this word in other contexts such as this one right here. And you're referring to it really kind of getting things started. It's getting the ball rolling. So the crisis occurred but then on the other side that is what created that is what started this innovation in the industry. So in that case we could say that it served as a catalyst. And if you're referring to a catalyst then you're talking about something that is it says it precipitates an event. It just it comes before it and it really gets it going. So, I told you catalyst is more of a word in science that you're going something that's going to start some type of reaction, maybe a chemical reaction. And to highlight that, this is a little bit of a joke, a play on words. It said, "I tried to make a chemistry joke, but I got no reaction. Maybe I needed a catalyst." So, it's supposed to be funny, I think, on two different ends. A chemistry joke. There was no reaction. You know, a reaction in chemistry. And then of course they needed a catalyst, something to really get the the people laughing. It's a bad joke. I'm sorry, but it's another example of how catalyst is used in both ways as a term for science, but also in this case just talking about trying to get something going and something being a catalyst. Let's move on to some impressive adjectives. And these these are these are words are impressive, at least in my book. >> [gasps] >> So this time I'm making it a little more challenging. I'm not giving you the the first letter of the word. So you kind of just try to put it into context, look at the meaning, see see what you can come up with. We set a m date for the meeting, but it may change depending on everyone's schedule. So this is a word that I think is a common one and I think you know it. It means not fully worked out or developed. And in that case, if something is not fully worked out, it's not developed, you could say it is what? And we're talking about a m date. This is a collocation. And as soon as I say collocation, words that are frequently used together, you know that I'm going to share with you some other collocations. At least I think I I am as part of this. Uh yes, I do have them on there. So, we're talking about well done the word tentative. Tenatives. If something is tentative, it's not fully worked out. And typically, this is going to be used as an attributive adjective before a noun. Now, you could say, well, look, it's tentative and just leave it at that. But I think most of the time you're going to talk about what the what is the thing that's not fully worked out. So in this case, there was a tenative date that was established, but it may change some other collocations. And really, you're you're often going to use this word when talking about some, you know, arranging some type of plan or a schedule. So a tenative schedule or a tenative plan, a tenative date, a tenative agreement or make tenative arrangements. So these are some common phrases that you would use with this adjective. Good one to know, especially because we talk about our plans all the time, things we're going to do or things we would like to do, but maybe it's not fully worked out. And in that case, we might make a tentative plan. All right, how about this one? Climbing the mountain was a m challenge, even for experienced hikers. This word may be a little more difficult to guess. At least I think it might be. But the meaning is inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable. And all of that can get wrapped into one. And you could use this impressive adjective and say that something or someone is what. And to go ahead and let you know, yeah, that is uh another collocation I think with challenge and saying something that is really difficult, you could say it is a m challenge. So if we're talking about a word that mixes fear and respect, it's impressive because well, who knows? Maybe it's large or powerful or intense. In that case, we could say that something or even someone, you could use this word to describe a person as well. Formidable. Formidable. Climbing the mountain was a formidable challenge even for experienced hikers. I will say that you you see words like fear and respect, like opposites. Fear, you think of maybe something being a little more negative. Respect, of course, is positive. I do think this word is a bit more neutral that it's not necessarily mean that you are positive or negative about on this thing. You're just trying to refer to the difficulty in saying something is a formidable challenge to give you some more collocations, but I want to do this through the use of some news headlines. Argentina coach Morocco is a formidable opponent. talking about the the football team uh Morocco formidable opponent is another collocation with this adjective. Now um the opposite of that you could say strategy consultant I don't know Jericho Lugo says AI is your most formidable ally as a new consultant. You could use it that way as well. I think more commonly you're going to hear people talk about a formidable opponent. The next one, new medieval books, the formidable women who shaped medieval Europe. I told you this is a word that you could use to describe a person, saying that he or she is formidable. And then finally, comeback kid inside Shawn Menddees's formidable return. All right, those are some different uses. Hopefully, it gives you a better idea as to how this word is used in context. How about this one? filling out all the paperwork was a m process. There are probably other words that you could use, other adjectives that you could use to complete this sentence, but there's one specific one that I want to highlight which refers to something that is too long, slow, or dull. It is just tiresome. It is monotonous. And it is what? What? What? Those are really synonyms. tiresome, monotonous, and you could use it to describe well in this case paperwork. Nobody likes doing paperwork. And or I think just work in general, some some work you could say this work is very what when you want to say it's just it's boring, it's not exciting, it takes a long time to do, and you're just doing the same thing again and again and again. And you could describe it as being what? What do you think? So monotonous, I told you, is a synonym, but in this case, well done. I don't know whether the chat wasn't uh catching up, but uh good. Excellent. I see some correct answers. Tedious is the word that we're looking for. If you want to describe something, some work that you have to do is tedious has it has a negative connotation. You're basically saying it's tiresome, it's monotonous, takes too long to do, and it is just really tedious. This is a great association, filling out paperwork. If you have to fill out paperwork, you go into the doctor's office and they say, "Hey, fill this out." You're like, "Oh gosh, okay, let me go through and name, address, allergies, what have you." it it can seem a bit tedious. All right, that's a good example, a good association with this adjective. Smartphones have become in modern society. This is a word that I've I I know I've talked about previously, can't remember. Maybe I've talked about it already in a couple of different lessons when discussing advanced adjectives, but it means present, appearing, or found everywhere. And the key word is everywhere. Something is present everywhere. You could say it is what. And I think this is true when it comes to smartphones. I was on the tram this morning and just looking around. Everybody was on their smartphone except for me because I was just looking around. So if you want to talk about something that is everywhere, uh the word again there. Yeah. Common of course. Uh but the word I told you it's a little more of an advanced word is ubiquitous. If something is ubiquitous, it's just you you find it everywhere. So I give you another example besides smartphone. McDonald's. McDonald's is everywhere. Oh, yeah. McDonald's is ubiquitous. So a word that maybe you're not just going to actively use every day in conversation, but you may hear it listening to a news report or a podcast. So again, this is going to help with your listening comprehension because you may come across it from time you're reading a news article from the New York Times. Yes, they will use an adjective like ubiquitous. They like to use big words, I feel like in the the New York Times. So this is a just another little bit of a joke. Notice how you hear the word ubiquitous. It's being used everywhere. All right. So yes, of course, I don't know if that's true, but it's a good little play on words as far as the meaning and its usage uh being used everywhere. Now, let's switch gears. Let's move to some adverbs. Everybody loves a good adverb. At least I do. So, the CEO stated that the company would not cut any jobs this year. So, in a way that leaves no doubt. Of course, I could have made it. These are I'll go ahead and tell you. All of these I don't think it's going to be much of a hint, but all of these adverbs are ly adverbs. I was thinking about putting that at the end, but it's like, well, what's the point? Just go ahead and tell you. They're all they're all going to end in ly. So, if you're stating something in a way that leaves no doubt, these, I think, are going to be a little trickier. You could say that you are stating something or you're saying something or you're commenting on it and what what adverb any guesses as to what it means in a way that leaves no doubt? And I I think a lot of the time a lot of times you may hear people use it before the verb and but also afterwards like you said something no doubt. Once again I feel like this is an adverb that you've heard before. You may even use it when you're talking if you want to say that leaves no doubt and you say something unequivocally unequivocally the CEO stated unequivocally that the company would not cut any jobs this year. So in this case you're saying that look there no doubt I just want to emphasize the fact like what I'm saying. So whenever you really want to add that emphasis so that basically it's a good word to say tell use when you're like okay you get you need to trust me all right this is what's going to happen I'm telling you the truth there is no doubt and you state something unequivocally so you're saying it very clear nobody has doubt so you might um give some in directions and say the directions for the assignment unequivocally uh so there are many things but a lot of times It's something you say or state or uh d some type of direction that you may give to someone else. This is excuse [clears throat] me. This is one that I I I also think you might know. And maybe this is a little easier. She talked about her new project barely taking a breath. So think about that last part. Somebody's barely taking a breath and they're just going on and on and on and on without interruption constantly. And you could say this person talked what this is a common collocation when talk using it with communication. Somebody's communicating in some way and there there's no interruption. It's constantly. And somebody is doing something, talking, speaking, complaining, and they're doing it. How? How? Any any guesses? Feel like once again, maybe the Yeah, some Sorry, the chats then it's not updating for some reason, but it's okay. Uh, you could say I I mean I I understand somebody saying repeatedly that okay that kind of works, but I wouldn't say repeatedly. That does mean like that without interruption. I do think this is a stronger adverb when you want to say that it's it's way too much. But repeatedly, I think would work in this context. That would work. But that's not the that's not the adverb I'm talking about. Continuously is another one that would also work. I think those words are a little more commonly used. I want to give you again something a little more advanced. And yes, excellent. I see a couple good answers. We're we're talking about the word incessantly. Incessantly, we're adding a little more emphasis to repeatedly, continuously. If you say somebody is talking incessantly about her new project, barely taking a breath. So I said you might use this word incessantly when talking about the way somebody might communicate. So you may say somebody is talking incessantly about something or complaining incessantly. So in a way that really I I also I feel like this also tells me that maybe it bothers the person or it bothers you if you say somebody is complaining incessantly or worrying incessantly. That's another common collocation. dogs bark, but of course that's the way that's the way they communicate. And you might say, "Look, this dog was barking incessantly. It just didn't stop." Or to chatter incessantly. So all of those verbs are different verbs when talking about communication. But you could use it with the adverb incessantly when you want to say there's just no break and it's just on and on and on and somebody is talking incessantly. He arrived m late to the meeting drawing everyone's attention. So the meaning of this adverb is in a clearly visible way. So it's like this person arrived. Of course everybody noticed maybe they stopped what they're doing and it was very obvious that this person entered the meeting late and we could say that he arrived. How how is he arriving? Which means in a clear and visible way. This is one that I do think maybe a little more challenging at least probably to come up with based on the example that I'm giving you. Uh but it is another one that I think probably you've heard and maybe you even use. Uh abruptly, invisibly. Those aren't the word. That's not the word that I'm looking for. Love those hearts. Thank you very much, whoever's sending those out. Uh, he arrived what? And it again is just obvious, clearly visible. So, in this case, I'm talking about conspicuously. He arrived conspicuously late to the meeting, drawing everyone's attention. So, if something is done conspicuously, it just means in a clearly visible way. Now, I think a good synonym for conspicuously is noticeably. I think that that that's a good synonym for this. So, some other collocations, some other phrases, if we're talking about this adverb, you might say, like in our example, uh, somebody was conspicuously late or conspicuously absent or say something is conspicuously lacking something. You might say something is conspicuously high or low. Maybe a place is conspicuously clean. And then you might say someone is conspicuously good or bad at doing something. All right? And you're you're just trying to emphasize because I really think whenever you're using an adverb, you're you're really just trying to add emphasis, give a little more information, which is really what they do. So conspicuously, good one to know. All right. Hope if it's new, let me know. you can hit that like button. That tells me that you're learning new words, building your vocabulary. And remember, it's a marathon. It's not a sprint. We just do this slowly over time. Some of these words I feel like I I've talked about before, and it's always good to get a little review. The speaker explain the challenges facing the education system in a way that gives a strong clear message. Once again, I think this is a word, you know, and maybe the meaning doesn't completely give it away, but it really does have a positive connotation. You're talking about somebody who is speaking in a very effective way, persuasive way. You're basically giving someone a compliment if you say that they spoke about this thing. So, we're not talking about uh No, not explicitly or loudly. What do you think? Any other guesses? Explicitly. Again, it does mean very precise and like this is what happened. And that's that's why I said maybe it's not going to completely give it away. I wanted to add that in there as far as like giving someone like you really enjoyed listening to this person that you they the words that they used the delivery their tone everything about the way they spoke was what and hopefully that maybe makes it uh a little easier to follow. So we're talking about if some again it does this is the dictionary definition giving a strong clear message but in this case the word that uh the adverb that I was trying to to point at is eloquently. So somebody speaks eloquently or they and a lot of times I think this also is another adverb that you would use when talking about communication. The speaker eloquently explain the challenges facing the education system. But I would also add if you're going to use eloquently, it does also imply uh that you just really enjoyed the way this person was communicating. And it could be because of the words they used, the delivery, and all of that. You could say again using it as an adjective and say somebody is an eloquent speaker. So it really does have a positive connotation. These are all of the words that we looked at. There were 12 in total. Some some verbs and uh nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. And I know that I, you know, incessantly I talk incessantly about building your vocabulary. I think it is true. It's really good to learn some of the slight nuances between some of these words because a lot of them I I think as you I saw like some other words could complete the sentence perfectly fine and it's always good to understand well you know is there a difference between this word is it going to add a little emphasis and I think those nuances are great and I hope that this serves as a catalyst to continue building your vocabulary maybe maybe it'll even compel you to watch another video lesson right now. All right, just trying to promote myself, give you a little bit of review with some of these words. But once again, if you want to get these notes so you can remember them, go ahead, click on that link, join my email community, and yeah, if uh if uh you're already a part of it, just check your inbox. So, I hope that uh you learned something new. That is the goal with all of these lessons. If you enjoyed it, you can let me know by hitting that like button. Thank you, thank you, thank you for joining me and I will see you next time for the next lesson. I'm surprised I didn't cough or anything or not that much through this. Anyway, thanks a lot. I will see you soon. --- ## 716. Weird, Strange, and Fascinating Expressions | English Tautologies | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `_DhyWb1DX8c` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DhyWb1DX8c) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:37:17 | --- what is up everyone I hope you're having a great day my name is Wes and this is interactive English which is all about helping you guys practice and improve your English skills and I realized just now looking at myself in the camera I think I need to get a haircut but that has nothing to do with today's lesson I actually have a very cool and exciting lesson for you which is all about English tautology we're going to be talking about English tautologies what they are what they mean and you know whether you can identify them in everyday conversation and how often you hear them so first and foremost let's begin now you may ask yourself what the heck are tautologies and why should I care those are two very very good questions so a tautology is an expr question that says the same thing twice but in a different way so you're basically being redundant you're saying the same things twice now you might be wondering well why would anybody say the same thing twice so let's first talk about well when you may hear topologies when are times that you may hear topologies being used and the first one would just be everyday conversation there are several different Expressions that I think are common in English that are are actually tautologies you're saying the same thing and you're saying it twice and they're just Expressions to to say some kind of sentiment to say how you feel and I am going to show you those in just a moment and as we go through these I do have some questions for you guys that are in the chat so you can answer and interact with us and even if you're watching this later I want you to write your answers in the comments and interact with us more so you will hear toies in everyday conversation if if you're watching a TV show or movie or just listening to English on the street you may also hear them in poetry because when you're using poetry the there are different you know people are talking about rhyming and the it's a way to give an image inside in paint a picture in your head and you're using toies and saying the same thing twice and this is going to make sense once I start showing you some examples you're also going to hear them in songs because Again songs SS and poetry are very similar and people will repeat themselves over and over and over in literature in books they use this as a literary device and acronyms as well there are some common acronyms that are actually tautologies and you may not be aware of this and the last one well advertising again repetition they use it in advertising because they want to repeat and repeat and repeat so that you remember whatever product uh they're selling or whatever service it is and the last time the last one thing you might hear it is just a speaking mistake sometimes we misspeak and it ends up being a tech tautology and it could be it could sound a little confusing and again I I'll give you guys some examples so I don't know if you noticed it I actually said a toy just a moment ago I said first and foremost let's begin now this well it's over here this is not something that that's common this is not a common expression I just wanted to give you an example first and foremost let's begin you're you're saying the same thing twice all right you don't need to say that it it really doesn't make much sense so this is a little awkward but there is a common one that a common expression that people use all the time it's also a tautology you're saying the same thing twice but in different ways and I want you to complete the expression okay M what it is so I've already told you what a toy is you're saying the same thing you're you're just kind of saying it in a different way so this is a very popular expression in English I want you to try and complete this expression what goes at the beginning of that statement what it is this is something that I actually say quite often and I I think this is actually an an expression that you will hear in everyday conversation that you're going to hear if you're watching a TV show or movie but I understand that this may be a little difficult um because again these are just Expressions that you you might hear from time to time but it's good to be able to identify them so any guesses all right what it is what goes before that comma all right if you guys are a little unsure like I said th this may be a little more challenging yes uh gelle Fabio yes uh so what would go the expression would be it is what it is and people say this all the time to say you know you know that's just the way the situation is you can't change it all right there's nothing I can do about it for example maybe your boss tells you you have to work on Saturday and you're just like your friend says hey you know why do you have to work on Saturday and you're like it is what it is is you know there's nothing I can do that's the situation that's life it is what it is and again it's a tautology because you you're saying the exact same thing it is what it is it is what it is it is an perfect example of an English tautology one that is actually common an expression that you will hear in conversation and now you can go out and use it if you're practicing your English or if you're having a conversation with somebody and they're saying well why do you have to do this this why is it that way you can just say you know it is what it is and that is a great example of a tautology another one all right right here if somebody were to say something like this is a short summary of blah blah blah blah blah okay a short summary this would be an an example of a tautology because a summary is just a a short uh a short uh synopsis of the main idea all right a short explanation of the main talking points so a summary the meaning of a summary is something that's short so you don't need to say it's short it becomes redundant but again you might hear this when they're talking about giving a presentation and they'll say you know I'm just going to give you a short summary of the material this one right here if somebody were to say I get up at 6: a.m. in the morning why is that a tautology what are the things that I'm saying twice well 6: a.m. you know that that's the morning I don't need to say in the morning you could just say I get up at 6:00 in the morning or I get up at 6:00 a.m. again this is redundant but people will say this these are expressions that people actually say in everyday conversation the reason that I put these in quotes is again to let you so you know that we're talking about speaking often you're going to hear toies more in spoken English and they're more accepted in spoken English because when they're written down if somebody were to write you know using a topology like this for example they might look at it and try to correct it and say look you don't need to say the same thing twice it's redundant so again I put all these in quotes so that you know it's more spoken English that people will use use this and the bottom one down there this is a necessary requirement well if something is a requirement then you know it's necessary there's no point to there's no reason to say it's necessary but often times if somebody's talking about requirements they they would use this really to emphasize it and really say okay it's a necessary requirement you have to do it all right exactly are you ready for the next one this one's going to be a little easier this is another tautology it's a common expression how would you complete that statement I'll tell you there's just one word there's just one word that goes there write your answers I want to hear from you again even if you're watching this later I want you to interact okay write your answers in the comments and or just say hello we want to hear from you so what would you say enough is M all right what what do you think all right enough is M let me know what you guys think you guys are given some great answers um Redberry Cherry can we give a Super Chat sure that would be great we love getting super chats so this one again it's a little easier yes Al Ivan Vishnu uh Sava mly jelle want to give you guys some shout outs Carlos Abu Su Olivia enough is enough this is a a common phrase when you are you know upset you want somebody to stop and you say look enough is enough this is going to end enough is enough and it's a tautology because once again you're saying the same thing twice enough is enough now now these two this top one and this third one right here I put down as examples because these are things that I might say in the classroom and you would hear tautologies in the classroom or teachers would say them because you're constantly repeating the information I once heard a great expression it said a great teacher never says things once you're always saying things two times three times four times because you want students to remember the information you also want them you want them to understand your instructions so for example I might say okay you need to take turns one after the other it means the same thing but it would be this would be something I would say so that you the instructions are very clear take turns one after the other um the other one we talked about enough is enough and then this last one i' would say don't forget to do the homework and write three paragraphs the three paragraphs that is the homework but again I would say it I I would repeat myself because you want students to remember so I think it's quite common for teachers to use topologies and constantly repeat the information and say things twice do the homework and then say what the homework is so that the students remember or hopefully remember this last one down here this would be an example of I think an awkward statement if somebody were to say this in conversation you might uh you might think it's a little weird in my opinion I think that that that just sounds a little strange the only time that this would be acceptable would be if there's a long pause and somebody's actually trying to think about what they want to say to express themselves so for example you could say you know in my opinion you know I well I think that and if you have that pause then it makes sense because you're trying to think of an explanation but if you just say this sentence right one after the other I think in my opinion I think that or in my opinion I believe in my opinion I feel then it would sound a little awkward so again be careful of some of these tautologies because some of them are common Expressions it is what it is enough is enough and other times they might it could sound a little awkward in everyday conversation all right so let's keep keep going and I want to mention you guys somebody had just brought up the super chats we of course love that and again if you want to connect with us a great way to do that you can check us out on patreon it is we have some cool rewards it's another great way to connect with us and we'll leave a link in the description if you guys are interested in becoming patrons the next question that I have for you is music so again I said that you might find topologies in songs you're saying the same thing twice so again I want you to fill in the blank what do you guys think and this is this is it's a little more challenging all all right this is uh from a song I Just Want to Live While I'm now even if you don't know the song that's okay you probably haven't heard of it it's a song it's by Bon Joi all right and this was actually I think it was a common it was a popular song several years ago but even if you have not heard the song think about what word would go there that would kind of be saying the same thing I just want to live while I'm and I was I was thinking about singing it just just for a moment but I I yeah you you don't want to hear me sing it besides many of you have rocked this yes all right um I just want to LLY great H Camila Abu uh Ira fabiio lanja Alise yes I just just want to Live While I'm Alive I know it sounds it's very bad sorry about that um I just want to Live While I'm Alive this was a song by Bon Joi it's a tautology it means the same thing however in the song you know his meaning is you know I I just want to Live While I'm Alive you know while you're alive you want to take advantage of of Every Breath You want to do amazing things you really want to live your life to the fullest so the meaning of it makes sense the message makes sense but again if if you were writing a paper and you were writing an essay and somebody wrote like I just want to Live While I'm Alive I would look at this and be like what what are you talking about but again I if you're having a conversation and you're expressing you know I just I just want to live while I'm I'm still alive then the meaning makes sense you want to take advantage Carpe DM sees the day another uh popular song uh this is from it appeared in a a famous Alfred Hitchcock movie I believe in the 1950s k whatever will be will be uh it was sung by Doris Day but she did not she did not come up with the song I really don't know who did but again this is an old song very very famous k s what whatever will be will be it is a topology you're saying the same thing whatever will be it will be of course and this last one shout it shout it Shout It Out Loud by a kiss again again if you are shouting something then of course it's out loud you don't need to say that but in this case again when we're talking about music shout it shout it shout it out loud it makes sense to to use a tautology so let's let's move forward let's go to some acronyms all right what what is this all right first this is a little easier I want you to fill in that blank what kind of acronym would you use all right remember an acronym is just a a shortened form of the of a of a phrase you're taking the first letters of the words and you're squeezing it together to into an acronym what kind of machine is that that is a m machine I think this uh this probably a little bit easier write your answers in the chat write them in the comments what what is This Acronym right here all right and then I will explain why it is a tautology and there are a few more topologies when we're talking about uh acronyms yes uh Brian Vishnu uh yes I guess you could say it is a bank machine that's true but what is the acronym all right you could say yes it is a teller machine the acronym would be an ATM all right ATM machine it stands for automated teller machine but if somebody's having a conversation they say Hey you know I need to go to the ATM machine that is something that people might say and it's almost like you're saying automated teller machine machine so again this would be an example of a topology in this case it's very common that people might just say ATM which you know I need to go to the ATM where's the ATM let me hit up an ATM the next one this one is very common to hear it VIN number if you're talking about a VIN number um for example your vehicle identification number all in the us um I imagine in other countries you have a license plate and the license will have or your vehicle is going to have a VIN number your vehicle will have a VIN number so it can be identified your vehicle identification number but it's like saying your vehicle identification number number your VIN number in this case again you will hear those word This Acronym used with number VIN number all right the next one uh another example please RSVP RS VP stands for and my I I apologize for my French pronunciation resp and in when you when you translate that respond play just means please respond so again if you ask somebody which is very common please RSVP it's almost like you're saying please please respond again this is an example of a toogy with an acronym um yes uh LLY gave a great another great example your PIN number number your personal identification number number PIN number so you find toies quite often with uh acronyms it's it's not uncommon that you see this repetition and again it just it just becomes natural like I said when you're talking about Vin you're almost always going to say VIN number when you're talking about rsbp it's very common for people to say please RSVP my next question we're going to move on to literature and this is a very very famous statement all right by a very famous writer uh from the UK okay or not to be that is the question okay what what what goes in that blank what would you guys say all right M or not to be that is the question this is a very famous English tautology in literature that you see this repetition m or not to be that is the question all right uh let's see what do we got here write your answers in the chat or write your answers in the comments again it's it's like the comment section it's like a piece of paper all right you guys can just write on it it's great to practice yes all right um wait wait oh to to bed all right bed or not to oh to be there it is yes um excellent uh Brian Ivan Fabio Molly vlock uh jelle Andre Alis Vishnu I think yes most people have heard this uh expression this phrase even if they have not read Shakespeare before to be or not to be that is the question it's a very famous phrase um if you're talking about English literature to be or not to be that is a toogy you're saying the same thing it's basically like sometimes when I would ask students about the meaning of of a word and I would say well what is a tautology and if a student was kind of being a smartass they would tell me a tautology is a tautology and' be like well yes you are correct and you answered my question by giving me a toy a toy is a tautology what does the what what does this mean and you just say it's the same thing all right again to be or not to be you're repeating yourself the next time let's look at some toies when it comes to advertising again I told you that we use tautologies one reason we use them is to repeat and I said that teachers will use them in the classroom I'll use them because you're constantly repeating stuff whether you're telling students instructions or whether you're just teaching them information you say things again and again and again they do we do this a lot in advertising as well because you want to repeat the information you want to make the person who's listen listening to your ad you want to make it very clear what it is that's happening all right so these are just some phrases that you might hear somebody's talking and they say oh this is a new innovation all right well an innovation is something that's basically new you don't really need to say it's new but it sounds much better if somebody says well this is a new innovation and you're basically using that adjective to describe an innovation which is already in the meaning the next one please prepay in Advance well to prepay means to pay in advance so you really don't need to say that but again next time you're listening to a commercial or if you're reading something that that is an advertisement and they want you to buy it see if you could May notice that please prepay in advance that's something you may come across this is a very common one they say oh here's an added bonus well a bonus is something that is extra it's something that you get in addition so you really don't need to say an added bonus but that is basically it's it's a collocation those two words are frequently used together something is an added bonus or they might say you know we're giving away free tickets all right to give away means that you are means that it's free you don't have to pay for it so you could just say we're giving away tickets but again often times people would say we're giving away free tickets all right just for that emphasis is just for that Clarity so you might often hear toies when we're talking about advertising so again this is a common this is a great example of when you would hear tautologies all right that repetition again and again and again so as your added bonus here is another question all right this is a this is a challenging one all right I personally made this bowl for you with my own what do you think you could use use to complete that sentence it's a little more difficult but but what word or maybe you could put more than one words um what what could you say to complete this sentence to make it a tautology I personally made this bowl for you with my own M all right the key word in there would be personally all right the key word would be personally and yes exactly uh Vishnu Fabio Abu yes I personally made this bowl for you with my own hands or somebody might say uh I personally made this bowl for you with my own two hands all right because if you personally do something you are already making it you don't need to tell them that you made it with your own two hands but again this is something that that people might say keep that in mind that you would often hear toies in spoken English it's not as common that you would see it in writing the only time that you might see it in writing would be I I would say sometimes in literature um again for as a literary device like Shakespeare you want to emphasize something or uh I I think in advertising when it's a written advertisement they might talk about something being an added bonus okay so I hope that makes sense like I said again this is just a fun little lesson to talk about tautologies how they're used when they're used and that next time you can try to identify them and if you can think of any more examples please write those in the comments give some more examples of a tautology so that people that are reading this that they can continue to learn and and and get see more examples of toies that would be perfect so again if you guys enjoyed this lesson please like and share we love hearing from you guys in the comments and you can join our social media classes up there so I want to give a shout out thank you guys for joining me today thank you Loi Ira Andre Olivia um Rosa CLA step Malala Von Vishnu jelle thank you guys so much for being here really appreciate it I hope you enjoyed uh this lesson on toies L vck all right Su thank you thank you thank you I'm sorry if I I mispronounced some of of your names or if I wasn't able to say your name I I'm always trying to to get as many shout outs as I can sa am uh thank you thank you guys for being here Rocky hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 717. What's going on with US protests, Black Lives Matter, & George Floyd | Reading + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `rwNDwxjVbI4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwNDwxjVbI4) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:26:51 | --- hey everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English and if this is your first time here on the channel this we're all about just helping you practice and improve your English skills and again please if this is your first time write your name tell me where you're from write that in the chat or even if you're watching this later write that in the comments I love hearing from everyone well especially new people so what what we're gonna do today is we're gonna talk about some some current events and I think it's a very serious topic it's a very important topic and I just want to start out by saying that we're gonna be talking about what's going on in the United States with the the protests and black lives matter and George George Floyd and I just want to start out by saying that obviously I don't I don't consider myself as a person that can speak intelligibly on this issue I am from the United States but I say that I cannot speak intelligibly on this issue because I don't have the same experience so I don't have the experience of what it's like to be somebody who is black in the United States I don't have the experience of what it is like to be a minority in the United States so the only thing that I feel like I can do is try to try to listen try to understand try to read more about what's happening and what's going on and then just try to reflect about my I mean my own experience and Who I am in order for well in order for me to try and become a better person so I'm not this is not about this is not my expertise so it's this lesson is not about me giving you my opinion about everything I am an English teacher so this is an English lesson and what we're going to do is instead of me just talking about my pinions or thoughts we're going to look at a few different news articles and we're gonna read the articles which I hope will help you maybe give a little bit of a better understanding about the situation and and learn more about what's happening why it's happening and then again just try and hopefully when you leave think about okay well where do we go from here well what might be the direction that we need to go in after this so as we go through these articles because like I said it's an English lesson we're gonna I'm going to pick out some vocabulary words and I'm going to create a vocabulary list and I will put those words in the description after the lesson is over so in case you want to look at the words in review but I'm going I'm trying to choose words that I think are relevant that are important these are vocabulary words so that if you want to continue reading about these events that are happening or maybe you're watching the news or you're listening to something that if you understand these words it's going to help you better comprehend the information and and understand what's going on so again it's more about reading and building your vocabulary as well as learning about this situation because some of you have asked me about what's happening what's going on why it's happening so just keep that in mind we're gonna be looking at vocabulary words and at the same time I hope that these articles will will help put the situation in into context so that you understand and get a better idea as to what's happening so right here we have our vocabulary list which I will be bouncing back and forth between I apologize if I have so many windows open right now so I'm gonna try and do this hopefully it's it's a little seamless but let's go ahead and begin and we're gonna start with this site right here and what this is it's talking about well the title is what is black lives matter to help you understand well what this is because this is something that you probably have been hearing more about if you've been paying attention to the protests if you've been reading about it you may be wondering well what exactly is black lives matter and this article tells you what it is and kind of how how it began so let's go ahead and read this together and then I'll go back and pick out a few vocabulary words so it says attention has been called to the black lives matter movement by black out Tuesday in which the music and other industries in the United States this week protested the death of George Floyd and other African Americans by shutting down for 8 minutes and 46 seconds the length of time Floyd was held to the ground with the policeman's knee on his neck this statement against racial injustice has largely been associated with the black lives matter movement which began in July 2013 when George Zimmerman was acquitted of fatally shooting Trayvon Martin a 17 year old unarmed black teenager Martin has Martin was killed by Zimmerman as he was walking from a convenience store to his father's home in Sanford Florida where he was visiting Zimmerman a self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman called the local police department mentioned there had been burger burglaries in the neighborhood and said he observed a real suspicious guy who was up to no good the police dispatcher told Zimmerman his security services were not needed but Zimmerman still left his vehicle leading to a violent confrontation between himself and Martin Zimmerman fatally shot Martin at close range and later claimed to the two police Martin assaulted him and he shot Martin in self-defense the basis of his acquittal so this is the situation which happened back in 2013 that started this movement called black lives matter so I'm gonna go back and we're gonna pick out some vocabulary and we're gonna talk about this a little more so if you're sitting there again if you're wondering thinking about specifically well what is black lives matter what it really is is it's it's more of I think from my understanding more of a movement than just a singular organization because I think there are many people involved in it so this is the meaning this is the definition that it came from Wikipedia but I think it also was on their website as well so I'm gonna post it in here right here so black lives matter is an international human rights organization moment originating in the African American community that campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people so what's happening now obviously the situation with George Florida involved the police black lives matter it's it's not really it's not just about the police and the black law in the black community it's it's much broader because as you just read this situation in which this man Zimmerman shot this other young man Trayvon Martin it was not related to the police in that matter but it came it did come out of the justice system which we're gonna get to some of those words right now so some other words that I want to highlight in this article are as follows let me go back to the article so you know what black lives matter means this this man George Zimmerman right here was talking about he was acquitted a fatally shooting Trayvon Martin a 17 year old unarmed black teenager if somebody is acquitted that is more talking about the law and legal terms so acquitted acquitted and fatally are the next two words that I want to put up there on a vocabulary list so if somebody is acquitted it means that it was decided in a law of court that someone is not guilty of a crime and he was acquitted of fatally shooting Trayvon Martin so if we're talking about something fatally as an adverb it means in a way that causes death so often you might hear it as an adjective and you say something is fatal and it means that something somebody died because of this thing so think about that situation because it is it's crazy that here was a man that confronted this other you know 17-year old boy 17-year old teenager and he wasn't committing a crime he was being basically accused by this other guy the confrontation started he shot him and killed him and he said it was self-defense and he said well I was just defending myself when they brought it to the through the justice system and the jury had to decide whether he was innocent or guilty they came back and they said he was not guilty he was acquitted of basically killing this this teenager and that caused and rightfully so a lot of outrage and a lot of anger and that's how the movement got started so let's go back to the the website there's a few other words that I wanted to highlight so it said again the situation Martin was walking he was killed when walking from a convenience store to his father's home and Zimmerman was a self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman so if you're unsure about what some of this means in the United States and I don't know how it works in some other countries some neighborhoods some areas they they may have something called a neighborhood watch and all that means is that if there let me go back to the vocabulary list right here if there is a neighborhood watch you may see some signs up about it it's supposedly when your neighborhood the people that are your neighbors are going to watch the other homes or the neighborhood if something bad or wrong is happening as a way of reducing crime and it's organizing people to watch each other's property and sometimes you might see a sign up I don't know if you see them anymore when I was a child it might say sometime like a sign that says neighborhood watch and it kind of is just like a warning to people like okay be careful like we're watching where we're trying to help each other and watch it so it said he was a self-proclaimed neighborhood watch and what that means if somebody is self-proclaimed it means that you say something about yourself that this was not his official job this was not something that he was I don't believe he was paid to do that this was his job that somebody hired him to do this thing that he did it himself and he said he would say this about himself he was a self-proclaimed neighborhood watch person so it's used as an adjective to say that somebody is a self-proclaimed teacher maybe that's not their job but they say that about themselves or they are a self-proclaimed you could choose anything really and really it's not an official title it's just something you say about yourself if you say that something is self proclaimed so in this situation Zimmerman was a self-proclaimed watchman and he described he called the police and described this person as a real suspicious guy who was up to no good if you don't know what that phrase means that somebody is up to no good I'll add that one back to the vocabulary list right now so if you say somebody is up to no good it's kind of just a phrase and expression that means somebody is doing something illegal or just some bad activity and you'd say that this person is up to no good and then the last word that I wanted to talk about was at the very end of the article right here so it said that Martin Zimmerman fatally shot Martin a close-range and later claimed to the police that Martin assaulted him he said that this this teenager this Trayvon Martin assaulted and came after him and he shot him in self defense which means that he was saying self-defense he is trying to defend himself and that was the basis of his acquittal and if you say that something is the basis of something else you know that acquittal means that you were found not guilty and if that self-defense was the basis of his acquittal what that means is let me add it it means that that was the most that that was the reason for this thing that that was the most important fact or reason for doing something so self you could say that self-defense was the basis of his acquittal and as I said like hopefully this article will give you some context of okay well what is black lives matter it is a movement where did it begin it started with this with this instance in which case again when he was acquitted everyone was outraged and rightfully so because it's basic like like he's Zimmerman this guy started this fight and then he when the fight escalated because again if you start a fight with somebody somebody may fight back and he shot him and then basically the the judge the criminal the criminal justice system acquitted him and said oh no no you're not guilty of killing this person which was ridiculous so hopefully this will give you a little historical context of what's going on so again I just want to say like I'm not really going to spend much time reading the the comments as we go through this I you're just joining us we're talking about the u.s. protest the black lives matter movement and trying to give you a little historical context explain the situation and provide you with some vocabulary to help you understand it better if you continue reading about it or listening to it but I will say hopefully I haven't been reading the chat but I hope everybody all I'd ask is just be respectful be kind you know this is not a place to try and in antagonize others or other people so I hope that people are just being respectful in the comments so this is another article that I wanted to show you that I think will also help things put them into context a little more so the title of this article is called which death do do they choose many black men fear wearing a mask more than the coronavirus and I think this shows you a little bit of everything about what's going on right now with the virus and what's happening with the black lives matter and in this sit in this well let's just read the article so it's saying what do they choose wear the mask or or the corona virus so again I'll read it and then we'll pick out a few words and go through it to help you build your vocabulary a little bit so says when the CDC issued guidelines in early March asking people to wear masks to prevent the spread of corona virus the question for many black men was not where to get a mask or which kind it was how do I cover my face and not get shot as the recent killing of George Floyd made achingly clear the widespread fear of violent death at the hands of law enforcement is not unfounded being killed by police is one of the leading causes of death for young black men a study last year found one in a thousand black men in America could expect to be killed by police despite their fears of infection and the statists and statistics showing black communities are among the hardest hit many black men feel wearing a mask is a bigger threat than the corona virus just as they are more likely to than white people to to be stopped and frisked to be pulled over for traffic violations and to be charged with drug crimes black individuals also appear more likely to be targeted by police for simply wearing masks in a heartbreaking calculus many are choosing not to wear them at all so again the the title of the article kinds of sums it up that the that black men have a dilemma about do I wear a mask and risk being targeted by the police or do I not wear a mask and get the coronavirus so let's look at a few of the vocabulary words that I wanted to talk about in this article so the first one is it said again the the death the killing of George Floyd made it a kingly clear it made it a kingly clear the widespread fear a violent death at the hand of law enforcement is not unfounded so let's look at a couple words I want to look at achingly and unfounded so if you say that something is achingly clear then you're talking about it's an adverb and you're describing this situation let me go back over to our vocabulary list achingly means similar to extremely but it means extremely in a bad way because if you have an ache which is a noun it's something like a pain that hurts so achingly as an adverb it means it's achingly clear it means it's extremely clear in a bad way another adverb that you could use that has a similar meaning would be painfully if you say painfully or achingly they have similar meanings now if you say that something is unfounded all right it means that it is not based on facts so let's go back to the article because this was important the way that it was worded if something let me go down so you see this so achingly extremely bad and like painfully unfounded that something is not based on facts but if you go back to the article whoops and read how it's used it says that the fear of violent death at the hand of law enforcement is not unfounded so the it's it's used in a way saying that this is based on facts that there is a a fear of of maybe having resulting in death that hands of law enforcement that is based on facts and the killing of George Floyd by a police officer was just another example of that so again if the in this say they're saying it's not unfounded which is which is a way of saying it is based on facts but if you say that something in general is unfounded then you're saying it's not based on facts like the accusations were unfounded that they weren't based on facts the next the next few words that I want to talk about are in this next paragraph that it's talking about difference between like black men and white are black people white people right here let me make sure you guys are we're watching it we're looking at the same thing yes so it says just as they are more likely than white people to be stopped and frisked to be pulled over for traffic violations and charged with drug crimes black individuals also appear more likely to be targeted by police simply for wearing masks so let's leave that stop and frisk if you're not sure well what does that word mean if somebody is frist frisked so let's go back to our vocabulary lists right here and if you say that somebody is frisked it means that you are the police is stopping you and then what they're doing is they are searching your body they are searching your body to see if you have anything that is illegal or some weapons maybe drugs so if the police see somebody and they think oh this person they're suspicious they're up to no good they can just stop that person and say okay turn around I'm gonna I'm gonna check your I'm gonna see if you have anything illegal on you maybe you're not doing anything wrong and again this was something stop and frisk that black people are more likely to be stopped and frisked than white people even though in the United States the the population is very different there are many more white people than there are black so the next word that I had was talking about I want to talk targeted because it said that if somebody is targeted it means that they are paying direct attention to a particular group so let's go back and show you how it was used in the article it said that it's talking about the likelihood and they also black people also appear to more likely to be targeted by police for simply wearing masks that the police would see somebody the a black person wearing a mask they're more likely to be targeted that the police are paying more attention to this person and then the last word that I want to talk to you was therefore because of that they said they make a heartbreaking calculus many are choosing not to wear masks at all they think that the mask put them more at risk so if you're saying that somebody is making a calculus it's similar to somebody like making a calculation and they're trying to make a decision so we can go back to the vocabulary list and add this word where is it right here sorry let me move this down so a calculus is again I took all these definitions from Cambridge online dictionary it's one that I prefer to use it's a method of reasoning to make a decision so in this case the even though everybody is encouraged to wear a mask these people they feel these young black men feel that they are in more danger if they wear the mask than if they don't so again that hopefully that gives you a little sense of the the fear that people have that they're living with in their daily lives especially at a time like now during this pandemic when everybody is saying like yes you should wear a mask and one of the examples they gave in the article I'm gonna also link all of these articles down below if you want to go back and read the full article I've only I'm only taking the very beginning of these articles and talking a little bit about it but this one right here if you were to go to where was it there was a link in here I don't know if it's this one right here but there was a link to one of these that showed an instance of the situation was two young black men walked into a Walmart they were gonna buy a few things and they said the security guard there started following them as they were walking in to this Walmart and as they go inside the guard tells them that they have to leave and I think the reason he told them is that they look suspicious because they were wearing masks and the mass that they were wearing were you can see a video because these videotaping and showing it it's just the one that you would get from your doctor that you would buy at a convenience store all of the one many of the ones that you would see in the hospital so it wasn't any kind of strange mask there's a pandemic going on but again it's just another example of the type of discrimination that goes on the the next site that I want to look at is this one right here which is more specific about the death of George Floyd which recently happened and the protests that have since followed so let's go over here it says I'm just gonna read the beginning part says tens of thousands of people have demonstrated mainly peacefully across the United States for an eighth night following the death of African American George florid in police custody one of the biggest protests joined by Floyd's relatives took place in his hometown of Houston Texas many defied curfews in several cities imposed after violence and looting in some districts on Monday night the Pope has issued a call for racism not to be ignored we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism he said but he also condemned the violence nothing is gained by violence and so much is lost so let's talk about some of the the words that you see in this part right here so I want to highlight a few of them for you and let me why hold on one second I apologize okay so let's go over here to the vocabulary our vocabulary document right here I'm going to move this out and some of the words that I want to highlight from this argue the first meant to would be curfew and looting and I'm gonna go ahead and put both of them right down here so if you're talking about a curfew this is something that because of some of the the riots that have transpired especially it tends to happen later at night at nighttime the city may impose a curfew and what that means is that as a rule that everyone must stay at home between particular times so they may say there is a 8 p.m. curfew and at that time everybody must be in their home now it's used in this context you could also use this word in other context as well for example when I was younger and I was a teenager and I tell my parents like oh I wanna I'm gonna go out it's Friday night and they may say ok your curfew is 11:00 o'clock that at this time I had to be home it was a curfew it talked about looting in the article and I'll go back and highlight some of these and that is just an activity of stealing from shops during some event or protest and people start looting they break into shops and they may go inside and steal stuff and that's what the that is called is looting so if we go back to the article and see how they use those words in context it's talked about that during these protests many defied the curfews that they did not they did not follow the rules they did not go home and they they the reason they put these curfews in is that they were imposed which means they were started after violence in looting in some of the areas so the next phrase that I want to talk to you is the the Pope issued a call for racism not to be ignored he said we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism so that this is the phrase that I wanted to talk to you about was to turn a blind eye to something so if you say that somebody turns a blind eye to something what that means is that somebody is ignoring or they're just they pretend not to notice something so this is a phrase that you may hear I don't say it's quite common but you could hear it in a variety of context if somebody is ignoring something or they're not paying attention especially to something that's wrong that they should pay attention to you could say that that somebody is turning a blind eye to this thing the next phrase that I wanted to talk to you about okay let's just go back to the article quickly and I'll show you a few more words that I wanted to go so actually I wanted to read the next part too because I did have some words that I wanted to show you in that so the Pope made those comments about we cannot turn a blind eye and write down here it says the Floyd case has reignited deep-seated anger over police killings of black Africans and racism demonstrators have taken to the streets not only to express their outrage at the treatment of mr. Floyd but to condemn police brutality against black Americans more widely they there have been calls and a proposal from a u.s. lawmaker to end the qualified immunity of police which prevents civil legal action against them more generally more generally protesters have called for an end to racism and discrimination so I want to highlight a few of these words so it said the Floyd case when when when he died it said it is reignited deep-seated anger over police killing of black Americans and racism so I want to talk to you about reignited to reignite something as well as something that's deep-seated which is an adjectives so let's go back over to the list and let me add those words to this so okay so if you say that something reignites it means that it started again so as I mentioned and I showed you in that first article about how black lives matters how the black lives matter movement began and there have been other instances and problems that have followed and then when this happened the death of George floored it reignited all of this again it started again it really did anger and if something is deep-seated it means that you feel you feel really strongly about something or you really truly believe something so in this case they are talking about strong anger deep-seated anger the next couple of words that I want to talk to you about was the end there to help you understand this part right here where it's talking about a proposal which is like a suggestion from a u.s. lawmaker they want to end the qualified immunity of police which prevents civil legal action against them so I want to talk to you about they want to end the qualified immunity is a word that I want to talk about they want to stop the immunity of police which would prevent this civil action one other word that I want to talk to you about was this this part right here sorry I missed a word that demonstrators have taken to the streets not only to express their outrage at the treatment of mr. Floyd but to condemn police brutality against black Africans black Americans more widely so they're talking about condemning police brutality and the next part the suggestion was to end immunity for the police so if we go back to our vocabulary list if we're talking about [Music] condemning something to condemn me to criticize someone or something because they've done something morally wrong so a lot of people are condemning these actions that hey this is wrong it's morally wrong to condemn immunity has a couple of different meanings which you may have heard for because of the pandemic as well immunity means that you are protected against disease or legal action so if you have immunity in talking about the the disease the virus kovat then it means that you're protected against the disease if you have immunity in the legal sense it means that you are protected and you do not have to worry about somebody suing you and in this case qualified immunity for police officers when they're talking about civil lawsuits and what a civil lawsuit mean it means that one person can sue another person for doing something wrong and in this case if police have immunity it would mean that the family member cannot sue that police officer for doing for for killing this person the only way that the police officer could would get in trouble then would be if it is the government the the state government local government or even federal government decided to take action and say this is wrong we are going to punish you in some way but right now there is a qualified immunity from civil lawsuits that just means individual people are not able to sue at the moment so again I hope that these articles can put some things in context as to how this started what's happening why it's happening and then the big question is like where do we go from here and I one thing I want to say that again this is more just my opinion talking about this is that I know right now a lot of the discussion is focusing on the black community and the police but I still think black lives matter is a much broader topic broader discussion it's not just about the the police it's about it's part of it about the police about the criminal justice system it's about access to education and having more education equality it's about having safer neighborhoods it's about having better health care it's about having equal opportunity if you want to do something like take out a loan from a bank there are so many different forms of discrimination that exists in the United States and to be quite honest I think it exists all over the world I think if all of you were to reflect right now about your country and what's going on there and think about what kind of discrimination exist in your country whether it is against somebody of a different race a different religion a different gender I imagine that everybody can can kind of think about something that goes on so again I I don't the the big question is people think okay what's the next step and obviously I don't have the answers to that again I think it's always good to just try to listen to understand and then I think reflecting is also important which is what I said that I tried to do is when this comes up to think about my own experiences and what I've seen happened the types of discrimination why this was happening and hopefully if I'm able to reflect on it and understand I hopefully that can that will make me a better person and one thing I thing I wanted to say is one thing we want to do with some of these lessons which we've decided to do from now on out I don't know if you saw the lesson before when I talked about The Cove in nineteen and some of the vocabulary from the virus and then at the end I made a donation we may a donation and highlighted a charity and organization that was important to me because I worked with this orphanage so one thing we want to do and not we're not gonna do it all the time maybe once a month we'll see is that when we talk about some of these issues whether it's talking about racism whether it's oh I'm up perfect protecting the environment it could be talking about inequality it could be a variety of things one thing we would like to do is try to use this channel this platform for a little bit more of a positive change and I want to highlight an organization that we think is doing good work and my wife and I we have decided to make a donation to this charity and kinda and highlight it so the one that we decided this time it's called black girls code and I will put a link in the description right down below you can check it out I will throw a link in the description right now if I can and what we've done is we made a donation and what this what this organization does is it works in trying to train and educate young black girls and teaching them how to code how to write code and preparing them for the the digital world because everything is digital nowadays so this it is closely connected with education it started in the San Francisco Bay Area and we used to live there I had heard about this organization before but we wanted to highlight it we made a donation I suggest you check it out if you want to make a donation that's fantastic if not I would still that's pert that's okay I'd still encourage you to go check it out read about it you're reading in English it's a good way to practice your language skills and just I think reading about any type of organization that does some good in the world I think that also helps us become better people in general so check that out link is in the description I threw it in the chat I hope you guys enjoyed this little discussion I hope you learn new words and phrases and again I hope it helps if you decide that you want to read a little bit more about what's going on or if you watch TV or listen to something maybe you hear these words being talked about and you'll be able to understand it a little easier so thank you guys so much for joining me today I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 718. What's the most difficult language skill to learn? | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ZBqGjxfiwvU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBqGjxfiwvU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:30:05 | --- If you'd like to improve your listening skills, then today's lesson will help because we're going to have you listen to a natural English conversation. So, some of you have asked us that to practice your listening skills, you would like to hear a natural conversation or just hear us speaking about a topic in general. So, that's what we've done today. We've chosen a topic and you guys are just going to listen to us talking about it. And you're not only going to listen to the conversation, but you're also going to see if you can try to identify some vocabulary words that I'm going to go over with you right now. These are just random words that I've taken from the conversation and I'm going to tell you the meaning. you're listening to the conversation, we're going to show you where they're at so that you can get a feel for how these words are used in context. So, the first word that I want to talk to you about is a verb and that is to defer. And usually you would use it that you defer to someone else, to defer to someone. the future. To defer to someone. The next word and it's it's one that I use from time to time and it's more slang is just crap. If you say, you know, something, oh, that that's crap. When you say that, you mean that that's just it's it's ridiculous, it's absurd, it's an exaggeration, it's a falsehood, it's nonsense, it's crap. Then we have the phrasal verb tune out. So, you can you can tune out something or you could even tune someone out. And when you when you tune out, you basically you stop listening and you stop paying attention to what's going on and you're just off in your own in your own mind and you just tune out. Another great word is eavesdrop. It's a verb, so you'd say to eavesdrop. And it's often followed by the preposition on, to eavesdrop on someone. And it means to listen secretly to a private conversation or to listen secretly to a conversation that you just you shouldn't be listening to. You have no business listening to this conversation. You are eavesdropping. Next is an expression rub it in. And you could you could rub it in or just say, you know, rub something in. And when you rub it in, you are drawing somebody's attention to an embarrassing fact or mistake. And you're you're basically highlighting this embarrassing moment when somebody doesn't want to hear it, they don't want to listen to it and they might say, you know, don't don't rub it in or, you know, do you have to rub it in? Stop rubbing it in. Then we have reserved. And this is an adjective which means that if somebody is reserved, it means they're slow to reveal their emotions or opinions. They're basic it's basically saying that somebody is shy. So, as you're listening to our conversation and listening to us talk about this topic, keep an eye out for these words and again we'll highlight them for you so that you can see how they're used in context. Let's begin. All right, so Hi. what we want to talk about right now, what what we think is the most difficult skill when it comes to learning a language. So, I will defer to you first. And what do you think when you're learning another language, um, any language, what's what's the most challenging thing for you when it comes to learning another language? Uh, you know, I think it depends on the language, which is weird, because for me it does. Like I Why don't you talk cuz I don't have an answer right now. Have to think about it. Okay. All right. Um It's okay. I would say for me the most difficult language skill is, well, I think by far is listening. Which I think is surprising because I think for many people out there, well, exactly. I think for many people like, oh, that's the easiest. But for some reason my my listening's crap. I feel like when I was learning Spanish or even when I was learning Korean it's so easy for me to tune out. And actually like when I'm in a conversation or with a group of people are talking and I'm focusing like, okay, yes, I know I know what's going on. I'm listening to the conversation and then all of a sudden I I I lose focus and and then I try to jump back into the conversation and start listening again, but by by that point I've I've kind of I'm lost. I've kind of forgotten about where we are at in the conversation and what people are talking about. Maybe I need to try and focus a little more on on what's happening in the conversation, but it's always been a challenge for me. I think it is better than some of my other language skills, but at the same time I feel like listen my listening should be better than than what it is if I'm whether I'm learning Spanish or Korean or right now trying to learn Romanian, listening is always a challenge. Mhm. What about you? Well, now that I think about it, it's speaking, of course. I don't find listening difficult. In fact, and I think the reason I don't is because I really like listening. I like and this is just just my personality in any language, I think. I like listening to people's stories. I like listening to to eavesdrop, you know, like if if there's like a random conversation. about speaking. Why is the speaking difficult? So, I know we're talking about speaking, but I'm trying to explain like why listening isn't hard for me because I I just I just I just I just I just No. Well, I have a hard time with speaking, so I don't think I think it's worse. Um Plus, I think I'm a little bit more reserved as a person, so I'm not very um like outgoing or anything, so I don't I'm not very confident, so I think that's a big part of it. That's a huge part of speaking. When you speak, you have to be confident in what you say. And even though I know what I'm going to say, somehow if I speak with somebody who's a native speaker, like all of these doubts come in my head and I'm like, I'm just going to shut up. I think if somebody's, yeah, a bit more a bit more reserved, it becomes an additional challenge to try and speak another language and and go ahead and start talking without worrying about whether you're saying things correctly or not. Right. So, that's why I think speaking is harder for me. Reading, I think, is is usually like it's not as it's a little bit difficult. going to go through all the language skills right now? Yeah, I thought we were ranking them. No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, so speaking is hard. So, now we want to hear from you guys and in the comments let us know what language skill do you think is the most difficult, not just with English, but really when you're learning any other language, reading, writing, speaking, listening, grammar. Yeah, what let us know what you think is the most difficult. If you enjoyed our conversation, hit that like button and as always thanks for watching and we'll see you next time. Whatever it was what I was going to say. Um You're talking about listening. Listening is difficult for you. I've already lost focus. --- ## 719. What We Do NOT Miss About America | Interactive English Cultural Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `xahXXzvvUJ4` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xahXXzvvUJ4) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:35:51 | --- You probably already know that we are from the United States, but right now we don't live there. And today, we want to talk to you about some of the things that we don't miss about living in the United States. That's coming up. Welcome to today's lesson which is a little bit of a... well it's a cultural lesson, I guess. Because we're going to tell you some of the things that we don't miss about living in the United States. And yeah, we're not really trying to hate on the U.S. at all. When anybody's traveling or living abroad, there are things people miss there's things people don't miss. So we want to tell you some of the things that we don't miss. Well it's just our experience with... Our opinions. One thing that I don't miss which has been a lot in the news recently. I think in the U.S., it's pretty much always in the news. ... is I do not miss guns. I don't want to get into the whole whether you know you should have a gun or you shouldn't have a gun. It's really... Gosh it's become, I think, embedded in American culture at this point. Say hello to my little friend. Go ahead. Make my day. I think one of the issues is, for me, what I don't like is there's just way too many guns. And they're pretty much too easy to get. And one thing that I wanted to share is that I'll go see my my family that lives in the state of Florida, and maybe I'll be in the grocery store and there's about 50 people in there. And Florida has a gun law where you can get a permit to carry a gun and put it in your your pocket, your bag, or whatever. And sometimes I'll just look around and see all these people and think you know, there's probably about 20 guns in this building right now. It just it makes me feel uneasy. It doesn't make me feel safer at all. And that's one thing that I don't miss is just like out in public looking around and thinking like, gosh, you know, I wonder how many guns are around here right now. Yeah, it's terrifying. Yeah. I don't miss the guns. Okay, the second thing we don't miss, and this is really true for me, I don't miss like the...people sometimes get carried away I think in the US with work, work, work, work. Make money, money, money. And it's kind of that cycle of like people who are overworked and people who are just really just all... It's like they work...they live to work. They don't work to live. That's a good way of putting it. Yeah. Yeah, so it's just a little much sometimes and people... because you know you're looking at your neighbors and they have a new car, and they have a new phone, and they have like a new huge TV and that becomes a little bit of an obsession for some people. The expression in English is the rat race. Everybody gets caught up in the rat race. And you need to work, work, work. Go, go, go. Money, money, money. It can get too much. It's... For me it's not where the focus should be in life. Yeah. And I don't miss that. We're English teachers. We're definitely not in it for the money. Obviously. This is a good one. This is something I definitely don't miss. I think most Americans probably would agree with me once they leave the U.S. or get outside is tipping. Because that is another thing. America is a tipping culture. Where you tip... ...restaurants, bars, hairdressers, taxis. Everything. I just a $20 tip on a ten dollar check. You're supposed to leave a tip. I live on tips. Make sure you tip the nice lady. A lot of people work in the service industry. I did as well when I was in the U.S. I always tried to tip well because after working in the industry you want to help support those people. Well we tip in the U.S. because people only make like one or two dollars per hour. Yeah, they don't make the same amount of money. They don't make as good of a wage. If they didn't get tips... So if you're not from the U.S. and you do travel there, you should tip. Keep that in mind. I just...I don't want to be a jerk. I think it's true. So there's a stereotype about Americans when they travel abroad that you can recognize them really easily because they're really loud and obnoxious. That can be true. I tend to think... I don't miss that. I think when you put people from any country in a group together, people are loud and obnoxious. Americas are very extroverted and social I think. And I think that sometimes comes out and it's a little much for someone like me. People that are obnoxious you tend to...they tend to let you know. Kind of cocky and like show-off. I remember after living...after living abroad I went back and I was visiting my parents. I was going out for...I'd go out for a run every day. And within a week, just out there running on the street, I had two different like cars drive by and people like yelling stuff at me. That I was an #$@##$. It was random like trash-talking. Just like...people just like wanting to talk trash. Especially after coming back from living abroad, I was immediately felt like...AMERICA! People can be annoying. I was pissed off. I was just trying to run. So this kind of... I guess it ties in a little bit with the tipping. Not so much. But also the...I'm not an alcoholic but the cost of... I like how you premise that. The cost of alcohol is really...I think it's pretty high. In the U.S., if you're trying...if you go out somewhere and you want to buy a beer or a glass of wine at a restaurant. Living abroad, we've been in Europe for a while now and like wine is so...wine is so cheap. It's just an added expense in the U.S. that you just got to prepare that you're going to spend a little more money for a beer, wine, a cocktail. Yeah. Well, you know, it's $9 beer night. Yeah, it's tough traveling back there and going out to get a drink and it's like "Oh my gosh." This is how much that we're spending. So another thing I don't miss about the U.S. we don't miss, I think in general, is the healthcare system. For a few different reasons even though they have like really good, great technology and everything. It's really hard if you don't spend a lot of money to get good healthcare. It's not accessible to everyone. No it's not. And it's very frustrating I think for most people. It's basically...it's a for-profit industry. We worked with a lot of international students, and students coming to the US they had to...one of the requirements for was that they had to have health insurance. And trying to explain the system to people that are not from the United States is really... You know...they look at you just like "What is going on here ? It cost this much?" It's like...no, no insurance will pay for it. It's okay. But check that it's covered by your healthcare provider. Yeah, we had students who thought like they're part of a scam. They're like "Are you sure how much I need to pay? Why why am I giving all this money?" We had a student that got into a motorcycle accident. He was okay but had to spend...was in the hospital for two days. Broke their arm. It was it was like $87,000. And this went on for...I don't know how many times I was on the phone with Blue Cross Blue Shield. But it went on for months, and months, and months. And finally, the insurance company negotiated and the cost was down. You know, he didn't have to pay for it but it was just... ...such a pain in the ass. Another thing which we don't miss, and I think most Americans would agree with this as well, is public transportation. Because most...even big cities, very few big cities have good public transportation. And it sucks because it's so hard to get around. And because of that you have to have a car. New York City is one of the few places that has good public transportation and metro system. What is it? I just come off as such a hater. It's American deserts. So... So it's not that big, but I just come off as a hater. So first of all, I think American desserts are horrible. That's what I don't miss. Tell us...how do you really feel? But the sweets in general, I'm not a huge fan of the desserts. They're too sweet. I think maybe Americans have like... ...too much of a sweet tooth. We like a lot of sugar. Tell me if this needs more sugar. The birthday cakes and cupcakes and all of that. I'm not a huge fan. Too much sugar. I'm not a big dessert person, so it doesn't really bother me. I don't like it. I don't think the U.S. is known for...as a dessert country or a dessert place. I guess, yeah. Besides cheesecake. I love cheesecake. Cheesecake is the best and... I guess pies are good too. Key lime pie. Key lime pie is good. Oh, so you do like the desserts? Like two. Two desserts that I like. I think a lot of people in the United States feel the same way as we do right now and we don't miss being a part of that. It's more something that's going on now, and that's the political climate and the politics in the United States. And it's really, really divided. And brings out the worst, I think, in people right now. And there are I think...there there are legitimate reasons for that. Just the the divisiveness and the... The way...you can't really have conversations anymore about it. So it's definitely something we don't miss. So okay. This is my perspective and it might be different than somebody who's born and raised in the U.S. But since I wasn't, I can talk about it. What? Nationalism. Greatest country in the world. No, so that's... Number one. I have a problem with nationalism. I think it's too much. I'm going to start that chant... U - S - A. No. U - S - A. Meaning that I think a lot of people are obsessed with the U.S. They think it's the best country. They think it's the greatest and they think other people in the world... That's what they tell us. Okay. It was on a cereal box. In fairness to America right now, I feel like the whole... There is more, I think definitely more nationalism right now, which ties into the whole political stuff. But I think that's also happening... ...around the world in different places to some extent. I don't think it's necessarily a good thing. But I think everybody's... Many countries are going through this whole pro-our country and against everybody else. And obviously since we are living in another country we don't tend to be in favor of nationalism. We want...we want people to be more inclusive. Yeah. We are the world. We are the world. We are the children. We are the children. And more welcoming because we're not in the U.S. right now and we don't want people to yell stuff at us as we're out running. We believe in you America. You can do better. U - S - A. Okay, that's... U - S - A. Okay, so now we want to hear from you guys. So please in the comments. It's time to dish. And tell us what are some things you don't like about your country. Come on. We know there's something. Yeah, you don't miss, maybe you don't like, or love. About your country. It's okay. This is a safe space. Yeah. Please keep in mind that we didn't want to offend anyone. Just our thoughts and opinions. Yeah, it's just our experience. We hope you can appreciate us sharing with you guys about our, you know, the American culture and our thoughts and opinions about the United States. And if you did enjoy this lesson, please hit that like button. Give us thumbs up. And as always, thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye. --- ## 720. What We Miss About America | Interactive English Cultural Lesson | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `yTHnIMe3XX8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTHnIMe3XX8) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:36:18 | --- Today we want to talk to you guys about things we miss about the US. Easy. I like how you're... So in today's lesson we're going to tell you some of the things that we miss about living in the United States. So we are from the United States, but right now we don't live there. So it's a little bit of a cultural lesson for you guys. And we just want to share that with you, so... More of us story sharing time. Story sharing time. Do you want to...you share first. Ladies first. Okay, so the first thing I personally miss about the US, probably the thing... Not that I miss the most, but just that comes to mind first is the food. Food! Food. Oh, I missed you so much. And what I mean about the food, I don't mean like American burgers. Really, that's what you miss? No, I miss ethnic food, and the availability of having all of this ethnic food everywhere like from Indian to Burmese to... Mexican food. Mexican, which is really good in California where we were. And just all kinds of different ethnic food. Oh my god. Sushi. Yeah, there's so much and I miss it so, so much. Yeah definitely in bigger cities there's a lot of food varieties around there which is nice. And it's authentic because you have people from different countries who lived there and who started these restaurants. So for the most part, I think it's authentic and delicious. The one thing that I miss and maybe some of you would think its controversial. I don't know. But I really miss the beer. And I don't think...generally I don't think the US is known for its beer. Most people don't think about "Oh, the US. Great beer." But they should because there's a lot of different micro brews there and... But you mean craft beer, right? Craft beer, yeah. Of course. Yeah. Not the beer that they export to other countries generally. But there's a lot of micro breweries and craft beer in the US that's really become popular over the last 10 even 20 years, so... You guys they have chocolate beer. It's like coco beer. It's incredible. There's a lot of good beer. Yeah. Really good beer. But craft beer. It has to be craft. Not Budweiser and all of that crap. Go for the beer stay for the food. So the next thing I miss that comes to mind is very important. To you. To me now. Well yes. Because first of all I I missed the convenience of shopping. Online shopping. The one-stop shop kind of thing. I used to be huge into buying of Amazon Prime. Which if you guys don't know you get same-day shipping. So you can buy something in the morning and get it to your house. It was annoying. Like I thought it was annoying because she'd get something every day. And then half of the stuff she'd return and be like "Yeah, I don't like this" or "It doesn't fit." But it's free returns. So it's kind of incredible because you have this huge availability and you can sit there with your coffee and order things It's so much better than shopping, honestly in person. But...so I miss that. You're making it seem like the lazy American. Like don't want to leave the house. It's convenient. And like all those big stores that you have a lot to choose from, a lot of options. Yeah, there's a lot of those like Costco's, Walmart's. Where if you need something you just go there and they have everything. And I know they have Costco in a lot of places all over the world. But there...I think there's a lot of those places in the US. Yeah, but I mostly miss Amazon Prime. I miss it so much. Speaking of shopping. Another thing that I miss and I guess you do too would be the cheap products. So there's a lot of things that I think are much cheaper in the US especially like electronics and clothes, jeans. And, it's nice not having to pay a lot for some of this stuff. Yeah, a lot of sales that they have. But you have stuff that's usually very expensive that can be on sale for like 70-80% off. And it's a really, really good sale. So I'm...yeah, I miss that. That's a good one. Okay, so the next thing we miss is...I miss a lot - like every day - is this store. This grocery store called Trader Joe's. And we are dedicating a whole category to it because it's so good. So it's a cheap store for food that has a lot of organic ingredients. And everything they do... This video is not sponsored by Trader Joe's. No. But we just like it. We love it. It's such a good story that we miss and everything... It's important. It's a private grocery store, so you're only going to find it in in the US. Yeah, sadly. So it just has everything good, high quality, cheap. And they change their stuff a lot, so you always get good food. It's kind of along the healthier line as well. More health food, I think. I miss it. Yeah. Another thing that I miss, and this is pretty much just me, I think, is sports. I really miss sports. And obviously you can see sports while you're outside of the country, but I miss talking about it, too. I really enjoyed talking about sports with friends and family and... Everybody loves sports. You know I love sports. You got to love sports. Oh man, I love sports. Yeah, it can be a cultural thing. Why are you laughing? I'm laughing because I so don't miss that. I'm so happy that's over. Because I'd walk into a room and everyone's like "Did you see what Belichick did?" or whatever. It's like a different language. Great conversation starter. Okay, so I don't know why we left this like... What? It's like number 7 on our list. Well, this is not in order. It's not in order. Of course not. But we miss family and friends. Yeah. Obviously. Definitely not an order of priority. No obviously this... Family and friends...well, after sports. I don't know. I guess. First family and friends, and then everything... Well food though. That's a... Okay, anyway. So we obviously really, really miss our family. Both of our families are in the U.S. It'd be nice to be closer Yeah, and our friends and everyone. We have a kind of a nice group of friends that are back there. In the Bay Area, so shout out to all of you guys. Even though you're probably not watching this. I think another thing that we miss, which again is not something that I think is a huge deal is of course the language. Just being able to easily speak to people. Be able to understand. That's one thing, sometimes, we miss the language. You can eavesdrop, which is nice sometimes. Yeah, you can eavesdrop. Yeah, you're somewhere and then you hear all these kind of conversations. You're so nosey. It's fun. It's like a little drama sometimes. And to read the labels. Oh, yeah, yeah. It takes me sometimes a really long time. Like if I'm trying to buy something in the grocery store. To translate everything. The ingredients. She spends a lot of time and energy translating the the food labels. Didn't have that problem at Trader Joe's, did we? No. So one of the...I don't really eat fast food too much I'll put that as a disclaimer. But one fast food that I I miss and I really loved being...spending 15 years in California was In-N-Out. So if you guys know, In-N-Out is a...if you've heard of it is like a burger and fry chain. And they have really... It has a bit of a cult following. In-N-Out. And everybody is, you know fanatic. Like it's the best fast food out there, which I disagree with. Because being from the Southeast, better than In-N-Out is Chick-Fill-A. No. So if you're ever traveling, especially on the east coast of the United States, you see a Chick-Fill-A stop by grab some chicken. You won't regret it. It's okay. It's amazing. I am part of the Chick-Fill-A cult. It's great. What do you mean? You said you loved it. No I said I liked it. You said, "Oh, this is amazing." I said it was good. For fast food it's incredible I said it was good. I kind of miss, I don't know if you miss it as well, is just how casual things tend to be. Whether it's work or just out in society or whatever. It's increasingly more Informal, which I think is a good thing because I like to be casual and you... Whether it's the way people look or whether it's the way people talk. Not that I tend to be formal when I leave the US. But I just miss...you see other people they're really dressed up and really formal and it makes me feel like... Don't do nothing stupid. Just dress casual. I enjoy casual. I want casual. And how about casual Friday again. Huh re-instituting casual Friday. No, I like it too. But not just because of that it just kind of blurs the lines between like classes and... In the U.S. it's a little bit or more casual. Well it's harder to tell, I think. Yeah. Because people like to be casual. Yeah, I miss that too. Not to the point where people end up wearing pajamas at the grocery store. It's like too much. It's taking it to... So here are the things that we miss about the U.S. And we want to know from you. If you've traveled abroad or lived abroad what were the things from your country that you missed? Yeah, let us know in the comments. What do you miss about your country when you're away? We hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you did, please give it a thumbs up. Sharing some of these cultural experiences and thoughts with you guys, so... Thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye. --- ## 721. What it's like to live outside the US | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `1BjjsUraF28` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BjjsUraF28) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:27:24 | --- [Music] everyone this is interactive English which are channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your English skills my name is Wes and I'm Jana and we are we are the creators behind interactive English and today we have it's more of a listening lesson for you because we're just going to have a natural conversation a discussion about a topic that one of our members one of our patrons has asked us to discuss and as we go through this we will we'll try to identify some words and phrases that maybe you it might be useful to help you just build your vocabulary and that might make it a little easier to understand and follow the discussion as well so the the question that somebody asked us is what's it like to are why did you choose to live outside of the United States so we're from the United States but we do not live there we live in Europe and I think they were just want to know why why we made that decision and I think what would it's like to live outside of the country so do you want to talk about why why we made that decision away from where I was born for many many years now so it's kind of I when you move first it becomes much easier to move again because I looked I was 15 [Music] it's a good phrase though second home because a lot of people talk about that especially I think when they're traveling or living in other places they talk about like a second home like another place that they're comfortable with yeah or you could say a home away from home is another way yeah yeah that feels like home but yeah I think in the same way that I've lived teach it well teaching English has brought me to several different countries so I've lived outside of the United States for some time but I think it's uh I don't know I always think it's good to get outside of your comfort zone to get a new experience to learn another culture learn another language I know that I've heard back from many of you that some of you want to go live in places like the u.s. in order to improve your English to study that work there are many different reasons for that and I was in encourage people to to travel and go abroad and live in other places well that's what I was gonna say if you learned so much about the world about people about who you are even discovering yourself when you trap not just when you travel because when you travel you're going to a very different place I live in a certain place but when you live somewhere just always handle things being just even little things if I remember I've had a friend who was upset that in Europe in some place you don't have like shower curtains it's just like oh I knew that was important to have a shirt but you get used to it and you find out which things are important and which things that you could do away with yeah Emmy has joined us she is the is the third teacher on our channel interactive English you may have seen her in some other videos we've done some collaborations but I would say like especially living abroad I think there are many advantages but there's also I think quite a few hurdles the people have to jump over and if you hurdle would be just talking about an obstacle something that may be challenging so for example like when we got here just trying to learn the the healthcare system things like that can be a little challenging when we had her because she was born she was not born in the United States she was born right here in Budapest Hungary so there's bureaucracy issues there healthcare people work and the language is a big one of course officially have to go to a doctor and you have to edge the medical terminology or everything could be different prescriptions you know even lab results like things like that that people don't think about sometimes obviously they're not going to be in English yeah so you have to figure that I remember we had an important test when I was pregnant and they told me it was all normal but I wanted to know the numbers and everything and it was all in Hungarian and I was like oh gosh supposed to do with it wasn't just on yeah but it was like Hungarian medical language was like oh yeah yeah I think a lot of people asked us to like what we're gonna do in the future and we say there's a lot to take into consideration which is a phrase that means just there's a lot to think about especially because of this little one school and trying to figure out the education system so yeah we'll see we'll see what happens in other countries going to be much easier than with a family or like if you have health issues like that might be harder because that's when it becomes the important you have to know your doctor your provider your everything and that can take a while anywhere I think another challenge that we've had like we've always want to we want to get more plugged in to the system kind of or even just to the society and when I say like we want to get plugged in it means I think we just want to be more a part of it socially as well and kind of making more making more friends having a wider social network because we work at home it does also it makes it a little more difficult to to get out and have many social interactions as you can see right now we're sitting in a park all by ourselves friends come with us to be honest I think most people who consider moving to other countries they're not gonna work at home so I think whenever that's true you're gonna be out there like some kind of connection some kind of networking opportunity so I think that helps ya to have a group to have an organization something you connected to in the place that you're going not really because any honestly no matter how great the country is no matter how much you love it even if you when you visited it like you loved it so much there's they're going to be you're going to miss it because it's just not your home you're going to miss things about your home and that's that's normal and that's okay I think it took us a while even though we've loved it it's like the honeymoon period and then it's such a good phrase talking about like the the honeymoon period is starting about when you first do something there's a lot of excitement a lot of energy everything's new and then once the way it wears off is like oh you're like way there's something so no and then after that you kind of start getting used to things in you okay well yeah you got to learn the ins and outs of the different cities different places transportation systems and if you're talking about like the the ins and outs then you're really just saying you need to you use it with the verb learn you want to learn the ins and outs of something kind of really know it very well and know it in detail or you could say know something inside and out it's a similar expression but I think over time you end up doing that you end up learning a lot of these things because right now I think we feel very comfortable in because we haven't we don't have any plans to go in here anywhere else right now but I think in the long run I don't think we will end up staying here yeah the camera just shut off inexplicably why you have something to add but yeah we at one thing that's challenging we've we don't know we've talked about moving to other places in Europe or possibly the u.s. because we do miss family yeah that's one of the I think difficult things about traveling or living overseas I know some of you have experienced that as well and I'm sure you go through the same thing because people you know they tend to get homesick which is an adjective that just simply means you miss home yeah so it's hard to say at this point what the future holds but of course we will let you know if you if you keep following our videos and our channel so I hope that you enjoyed our discussion maybe learned a few more vocabulary words again this is just good for your listening comprehension to see if you can follow along and understand so we we are going to go play around in the park right now and let her go run around so thank you guys so much for watching and we will see you next time --- ## 722. What to Say & What NOT to Say When a Woman is Pregnant ๐Ÿ™… | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `RxBDs31Nni8` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxBDs31Nni8) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:40:21 | --- hello and welcome this is Wes anyone pro interactive English hi so it's both of us today special lesson today super specialist and I think a fun culture lesson because as you might know if you if you don't now you'll find out that we are expecting our first baby so and now I'm about six months pregnant uh-huh so it's getting closer it's going fast yeah it's going fast so today we are going to talk about something that has come up in the six months so far something we're experiencing but also well your Experian not me yeah and it is how to talk to pregnant women and the reason we chose this is because when you're pregnant people are going to say things to you like they are it's just normal it's just some such a big change in somebody's life and somebody's going to say something and you should know the right things to say mm-hmm yeah so when she came up with this idea for this topic and I thought it was I thought it was a great idea because part of it's like even talking about me because I feel like even you know it doesn't matter even as a native English speaker there are certain events or certain things that happen in people's lives and I even have a difficult time finding the right words to use like what's appropriate what's not appropriate and sometimes I just keep my mouth shut we actually we also did a video about expressing sympathy which is kind of the same way that helps you you know kind of navigate what should you say to someone that's what this is all about so there definitely are some appropriate things but before we start I want to say hi yeah let's say what's up oh wow so let's let's say hi to whoever's here I want to say how Crysta Gisele Gmail Jamari Emilio lolly lolly hello hello welcome mr. Mohammed illusory Benny Benny Jacqueline yes sir Fabricio sorry sorry if we missed some names you say what's up to you guys and as we go through this it's gonna be a little conversational like write us in the comments if you have questions or thoughts like right so just to mention so today we are talking about how to talk to pregnant women so if you have any questions about that we'll take those questions we'll try to answer them as much as we can it's kind of a conversational thing what I was going to say like why are we doing this I so if when somebody's pregnant if you weren't sure you know as women we go through a lot of stuff in our bodies things change things hurt there's a lot of I think insecurities for some of us like they're you know your body's changing so there's a lot of things that maybe you're not so you don't feel as good and this is a special time when you shouldn't say something that doesn't make somebody feel good but also because of that right now so so that's why I also like because there are some things that you really shouldn't say yeah like my general like I said this is a good lesson for me because I'm not sometimes comfortable about knowing like Oh what should I say I don't say so my general rule of thumb is that if I'm not sure whether or not it's something I should or should not say I keep my mouth shut I just don't I just don't say yeah yeah because then you eliminate the possibility that you're you're gonna say something wrong but the truth is also that a lot of us don't know what to say in these occasions so I think I think this is a good it's it's something good for people to to know so let's let's begin start out with what you should say so here are some things that I we think are harmless that I we've heard that other people have said that I think if you say these you're you're safe basically that nothing nothing bad is going to happen if you see these things yeah so this is stuff again this lesson I think we've told a lot of you guys that we're having a child everybody has been so supportive and they've said such wonderful things and the one thing that is so universal and some of you have been saying it in the comments now is congratulations education so this one I think is just so safe I mean and just way to celebrate and tell somebody you know that's that's good news congratulations good to hear right so legitimately if you don't know what to say go with congratulation or congrats for the shorter if you're friends with somebody it's it's definitely not a problem if you say that it should be fine yes Mari thank you Klose excellent yeah thank you guys Thursday the congrats me and if you guys have questions about pregnancy or what to talk to pregnant people about women right and down in the comments yeah if you're if you're wondering about whether or not it's it's a good question I saw somebody I mean he mentioned a question do you like to skateboard I don't know if it's related to this lesson but yeah that's not something maybe I tried yeah don't ask I mean I guess you could congratulations I don't think it's offensive off-topic okay yeah so congratulations always appropriate good one yes next one you look amazing okay great you look wonderful any of those things okay the reason I'm saying this is nice is because like I said when somebody's pregnant you can get two camps of people some people might be feeling great others might be feeling kinda you know when I when I got pregnant for the first almost five months I was sick really really sick so I wasn't feeling amazing I wasn't feeling beautiful I wasn't feeling great and when somebody tells you that it's like oh thank you it's kind of helps your day a little bit because you might not be feeling like that so it is super appropriate to tell somebody they look amazing or great mmhmm yeah it's always always good always safe stick with the compliments I think so the next one I think again is a harmless question again you can ask you know when when is the baby due if somebody you meet somebody and you know they're pregnant then or they tell you like hey we're expecting you say congratulations I think it's fine to ask when when the baby is due right and if you don't know what do is it means like when are you going to have your baby that's that's what it means when is the baby due in case you you didn't know that's harmless people pretty much know from the beginning when the baby's due yeah and I think most people again this is I mean we're looking at this through an American cultural perspective so again we don't know in you know other cultures if this is universal but at the same time make I think I think it's an American culture it's perfectly fine right I'm gonna offend somebody right if if you're asking when the baby is due did we tell you guys when the baby is due I'm not sure dude maybe we didn't do you guys know sure our baby's due in January at the end of January the end of January is our due date we become parents okay the next one do you uh say it yep it's you're going to be a great parent and that's that's what we want to hear yeah worried the reason I put it on there is because I've heard somebody told me this it just made me so happy you know like you hear so much advice from people that you know unwanted advice sometimes they told you who told you that that I'm going to be a great parent family friends are like in the community here I think in the I think but also like like family in front it's just so it's just really yes they do they say we're going to be alright yeah but it's so nice like you know again like I said there's so many unknowns especially if you're a first-time parent that it's like oh people have faith in you that you're you're going to be a good parent it's nice it's a nice thing I think yeah so just looking at some questions real quickly somebody was asking graduations thank you for that did you have any nausea in the morning like me oh yeah lolly wolly I had nausea in the morning in the afternoon in the evening anytime of the day it was pretty bad yeah all day long they shouldn't call it morning sickness to be honest is it a baby girl or baby boy that's something I think we've also mentioned we didn't mention it today but it is a baby girl yeah another question what is the meaning of conceived when your lady and so when do you want to explain that no you can what you conceive is the act of like when when people have sex and the woman becomes pregnant that's the conception so to conceive would be like when you know you would have the child yeah the act of having the child to conceive but yeah that would also not be that would be something a little more like you wouldn't ask somebody like when did you conceive yeah so yeah so let's talk about that's a good segue into what you shouldn't say and I wanted to say something the reason why we had so few things that you should say and you'll see we have a lot more why you shouldn't say is because you really it's hard because people have different relationships with people so yeah if it's family I think you can say a lot more maybe yeah but also like stick to if somebody asks you then you can say things but try not to offer a lot of advice try not to offer things if somebody doesn't ask you so it's it's one of those things where it's safer to say as little as possible yeah so we're trying to give you just the basics of you're safe with whether it's a colleague or a family member yeah Julie yeah exactly the baby do oh you guys are gonna be great parents right very good good stuff good stuff to use yeah so what you shouldn't say do you want to talk about that I'll start yeah I'll do the first one okay so was it planned is is our first question and okay this is when it can it can vary if it's somebody that you're very close with like a very close friend and they ask nobody's asked us this either but we write know that yeah but if if so a lot of these by the way it's not just things that have been asked of me but I I'm also part of like a mom group on Facebook and I've seen and a lot of people have been on the receiving end of this so I think we should talk about it because I haven't received all of these but some other people have yeah and this one again it's when you talk about planning a baby it's very very very very personal like you're talking about like oh were you having sex it's a little bit weird to ask that of people unless you're very close friends and and other people know like you're I think it would be something that you would wait for if it's your friend or even a family member you would wait for them to tell you whether it was actually planned or it wasn't planned but I feel like most people probably wouldn't even ask that but it's just something to keep in mind like yeah yep try not to them it's the next one is do you want to read this one too how much weight have you gained I'm laughing because here's what my experience has been I think when when somebody becomes pregnant people forget that you're dealing with a woman and they focus on the baby so they have all these technical questions like how much does the baby way like how much do you weigh but people do the math but we're still human women and I don't think you ever go to a woman and ask her like hey in the last five months six months how much weight have you gained it's not appropriate please don't have general rule of thumb especially in American culture avoid talking about weight don't altogether don't just it's you're not putting yourself in a good position just also a four thought she might be feeling sensitive about it remember when were pregnant we don't have much control about what is happening what's growing what's changing and it's like well I you know like it's not something that I'm proud of but it's this much or or it's not so just please don't ask that ever unless you are her doctor in which case he's I don't think that yeah yeah in that case like they measure you anyways yeah don't ask that please please please I'm just looking a couple other comments Congrats Thank You Robson hi hoon thank you guys for the congratulations yeah okay ask me when I say my wife has morning sickness bye meaning she is pregnant if somebody oh no it's it's a different thing morning sickness yeah so well from my understanding they're asking if if saying if somebody has morning sickness is the same as saying they're pregnant I I thought it kind of implies if you said that your wife has morning sickness than it would imply that she's pregnant right but there are two different things if somebody is pregnant they're pregnant but they might not be sick yeah if somebody has morning sickness right it's because they're pregnant mm-hmm exactly yeah so again it depends what information you've already told people I guess yeah I think yeah generally you would tell them that you're pregnant before talking about morning sickness [Music] so from Indonesia in Egypt for would prefer boys to girls no no we either baby is a blessing anything is yeah yeah well yeah they calculated at birth at when you go to the doctor the weight of course but it's not something you share with like friends or family it's just not something that you you really just like you should talk about unless yeah yeah I I don't I can't think of a time when it's appropriate to talk about it so the next one is really funny one are you sure there aren't two in there and I don't know people like again if people say it as a joke trying to be funny or something nobody said it no and not to us but I it has been my said to people even in a pop culture like on TV or something you might hear that like please it's not funny if somebody okay first of all if somebody's pregnant and they've been to the doctor and they've done ultrasounds and things they know how many are in there so they're pretty sure if but the implication is if you have two babies obviously if we have twins yeah you're much bigger again I think nothing referring to size maybe just avoid it all to you that's when you use your inner voice yeah another one oh speaking of that one this is another one you look like you're about to pop this is one that we actually heard it was a while back with a friend of ours we were out and at a restaurant yeah somebody said this to her and we were all like we were just stunned like why like you are talking about why would you say that so it was kind of yeah this was yeah it was we were really surprised but yeah we actually heard somebody say this well if you guys don't know to pop the reference from to pop is like a key pop a balloon yeah because it's so when a balloon is very inflated like it's going to pop this person was making a comment that yeah she looked like she was really ready about birth which was a very very stupid thing to say and I was gonna say one thing like women is you know we're all different shapes and sizes and like it we we have no control over how big our belly gets so if it's really big and we're still early like if somebody hears that they're going to feel bad especially if they're they still have like two three months right and somebody says you look like you're about to pop it's they're not gonna feel good I just had a baby girl that was last month Oh awesome congratulations Junior is it okay say how are you feeling to a pregnant woman I yeah if you can ask how you're feeling make sure she's pregnant though yeah so something I didn't we didn't put on here was also be careful yeah don't ask people go ahead and say congratulations if you are not 100% sure make it wait for them do you know you they were to tell you that you're pregnant and then you can ask oh how are you feeling that's another cliche that people would maybe yeah don't congratulations and then they say I'm not pregnant and that is really not a problem yeah but I say how are you feeling again I think so some of this really again depends on even your relationship I think with these other people whether it's a family member or a close friend or again if it's an acquaintance then maybe you know that's when you don't say no don't say and just and just be quiet somebody said chubby lady please don't ever say that to me lady yeah that's offensive that's it's very offensive please don't say that the senate when are you gonna have your baby shower I don't I don't know that I don't know they maybe that's okay to ask her maybe asking us we can answer both we can ask you but we're not gonna have a baby shower um because we're right now we're not planning we're gonna be traveling next month so and then we get back we have to move and there's there's a lot going on right now so we don't know well Never Say Never you don't know we don't know there's not one being planned ya know and also yeah I wouldn't ask that because some people might not have a baby shower or they might not like them or they might there are actually a lot of cultural things that I found out that I didn't know I think it's okay to ask like are you going to have a baby shower you can ask you can ask we don't assume that these are things that I don't know so I don't know either as long as you're not I think as long as you're not touching something about size or if something very personal we're good so what's the baby girl name we still don't have well we're a firm name just yet we have we have some choices yeah I have some no we're trying to choose we're still trying to choose so we'll see so the next one that's inappropriate yeah I keep laughing if somebody might tell you that looks like a big baby and I'm laughing because again has it has to do with size where I think people incorrectly assume that if you have a big belly you're going to have a big baby which is absolutely not the case some women can have a tiny belly and have a big baby someone and women can have a big belly and have a tiny baby because it's not just the baby in there there's like other stuff like em Neotech fluid blood flow there's a lot of other stuff in our bellies so don't say that it makes somebody feel like oh like why is anything sighs really to stay away from stay away so yesterday asked are you couple or married we are married we got married last March well I I did want to dress that a little bit you can also say a married couple so a couple doesn't mean not married just in case you were wondering so yeah yeah yeah well could mean married yeah so a couple just means to me maybe are you dating yeah you can either say dating would be more like then you're not married yeah so we come back to some of these so let's look at the next one [Music] who's the father who's that father or worse do you know who the father is so I think that one I don't think we milk men to really explain why that might be offensive okay well yeah I mean obviously it's too personal it's - yeah it's too personal but I think yeah I think it implies a lot of a lot of things that you know are just very negative and you wouldn't want to it's what some people might be pregnant and not necessarily being a relationship and in that I think a lot more in those cases it's not very appropriate because they might make the decision to have that pregnancy alone so I don't think that it's a good thing to ask yeah I think that is that's a yes you could always wait for the other person to share that personal information who's the father what's his name what's happening here another one okay this one you're so small you barely look pregnant okay so now you might think what like if it's not a good thing to talk about somebody being big why can't I tell them they're small and it's stay away from anything sighs nothing sided also because somebody might be feeling bad like if they have already fears about how small they are made they're scared like maybe they're feeling like oh maybe I'm so small like is my baby developing properly and people are like you don't even look pregnant yeah why are you pretending to be pretty it's and I think one thing to know like I said we're trying to give you best practices yeah like these are the best things to stay perfectly safe because some I don't I can't speak of some people might not get offended at all yeah some of these things but just to stay perfectly safe yeah some but some women might be happy to hear that yeah yeah possibly but I think in best practices stay away from me my golden rule is stick with congratulations let's look at the next one we have yeah you look so tired you look sick you look miserable yeah this is in general you shouldn't tell this to anyone yeah because because it's just nobody wants to hear that like I feel like whether you're pregnant or not yeah like you look tired or you look sick or you look miserable and also if they're feeling tired sick or miserable like the last thing they want to hear is how tired sick and miserable they look yeah right and again like this is I think that's another thing that's purely I mean it's a very American perspective it's as far as applying it to everyone because I'm not really sure in other cultures I think question if it's normal to you know be able to tell somebody like oh you look sick like and that is kind of like showing that they care we don't know Western in general I think America and I can like you have this over optimism and over so I think of any people avoid stuff like that so what else what else we have sleep now because you'll never sleep again this is the noise this is this is it this one's annoying to me oh okay like this may be one of the least ones but I again I don't know because people like yeah it's annoying because people act like they know like oh like we know that you're never gonna leave you mean like people that don't have kids saying this either people don't have kids or people who have kids and they tell you this like you don't know maybe you'll have a very nice quiet baby and that will sleep and maybe you will sleep I have friends who were told this advice and there but maybe you want so I just don't just just don't say something like that we have I just look at some of these I always thought a big belly means a big baby no it really doesn't it really really doesn't um so you can have a pretty big baby in a tiny tiny belly mm-hmm this conversation that you're talking about today is very important thanks you you're welcome that's why like I said I think this is a contentious topic and there are certain things that's it's difficult to find the right words and know what you should say and what you shouldn't say where is it we're not replying to my greeting sir ma'am hello how are you doing mom 3 how are you excellent thank you for asking I love your channel thank you good advice do I thank you [Music] okay yeah somebody was asking if it's safe to try to travel while pregnant yes it is obviously we're weird I mean we have our doctor's approval to travel so no we're not in the u.s. we're live in Europe currently if you're wondering what our situation is going to visit family in the u.s. yeah so but that being said isn't I think are there general guidelines for like again if you are there are if you're the third trimester do they say you shouldn't travel by generally they say don't travel by airplane but it's always up to your doctor I'm I'm I'll still be in the second trimester so but that's also not something that is appropriate to ask well I'm just I mean it's fine we can answer but I'm just saying don't ask someone else well yeah it's obviously yeah you guys can ask us anything that's we told you yeah yeah we told you guys to ask us anything um because that's what we we want you guys to do so you know yeah but that kind of falls in line with this next one oh yeah are you sure it's okay to eat that or are you sure it's okay to drink that yeah this goes into like giving I think too much advice or people trying to put there well I was just gonna say you know somebody's pregnant they they've been to the doctor they have already so many guidelines of the things you're allowed to eat the things you're allowed to drink because if in case you didn't know there's so many things you're not allowed to eat or drink because of different safety issues so we're generally very aware and I think if somebody asked that it's just I don't know it's it can many times I believe it comes from a place of concern like somebody's worried but it's also just a little bit intrusive yeah and it's a I think that's a good question because there's a lot of times where you know I think as a guy like I might want to ask information just out of curiosity to know and trying to find a way to ask it to learn something instead of it maybe coming off as being offensive or do you know what I mean yeah yeah you want to say English Oh like I didn't realize like is it okay to what does what does your doctor tell you like just trying to learn information so it's kind of again it's hard to figure out for questions like for example coffee a lot of people think oh like you shouldn't have caffeine well the doctors always tell you that you can have up to 200 milligrams of caffeine per day so then you can ask like oh I've heard that coffee is not okay during pregnancy is that true and blah blah blah and then if you approach something your mom not like this is yeah ask a question yeah to have a meaningful conversation yeah yeah exactly yeah the only time I'd say that it might be acceptable is if is if you would say it to anybody universally universally well-liked if somebody's going down and they start like you know we're walking along the river and they're like oh I'm just gonna drink the river water and it's like wait a second are you sure you should drink that so whether somebody's pregnant or not like saying it if somebody's just don't think you should say anything all right next one okay touching the belly this is nothing that you would say it's just something you do just going walking up to somebody and touching their belly especially without ass now again this is very American and I think in other cultures it's perfectly appropriate to go and touch the belly and this is also limited to acquaintances because I think if you're friends or close friends or family with somebody something I would never even try think about doing no I wouldn't either buddies depending just what I mean like as an American like I feel like well if my sister comes and touches my belly like I'm not going she doesn't need my permission it's okay yeah so if it's family like it's it's it's definitely fine yeah but but please if it's an acquaintance just try not to do it so just some questions just random questions make on how long have you been together much love for you thank you thank you we've been together like five years been married almost two years so where are you from we're from the US but right now we live in Europe where is it so thanks Jamie a great conversation thank you excellent well I'm glad you guys I'm glad that you guys are finding again this information useful I think because we're experiencing well you're experiencing this now that we thought it's a good idea to again be able to share this useful information about ways that you can talk about this appropriately yeah and things to avoid yeah and we haven't included everything in this lesson yeah I think there's a lot of what not to say basically the more personal it is you it's a rule of thumb the more personal your question is you probably shouldn't ask yeah remember general with um if you're unsure if you should say it or not just don't say it just say congratulations you look great so just heads up you guys can also check us out on patreon we are now there we have some cool rewards if you want to learn more English and get to know us a little bit better link is in the description also we are going to link to the secret fluency lesson if you guys want to improve your fluency ten ways to improve your fluency we will also put that in the description you guys can check that out I didn't know if we would fit in this frame perfect excellent thank you guys so much for joining us today please if you like this conversation and you learn something new hit that like button as always you know please share this with anybody you know who's trying to learn English and helping us expand the community and as always write us questions in the comments because we just love hearing from you guys so thank you thank you Giselle jacqueline Lewis I may owe Batman Robby mr. mr. Gorman lali lali Mohan I'm just reading down Mohamed Shubin yes sir yeah thank you thank you guys we enjoyed being here with you and we will be back for another lesson next time enjoy the rest of the weekend and we will see you guys later --- ## 723. Who Are You? | Fun Q&A with Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `u0Nw-C8ZAGA` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Nw-C8ZAGA) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:39:14 | --- What are you planning to do in the next five years Why don't you record more vlog videos? How old are both of you? Did you have any certificates after graduation? What do you think about your job? In your opinion, who is the best teacher on YouTube? What languages do you speak? When will you visit Indonesia? Why did you decide to do this? So you guys asked us some questions, and now we're going to give you those answers. That's coming up. So we thought it would be fun to do a video about us. And we always get questions, so we figured we'd answer them together here on our couch. We wanted to hear some questions from you. Whether they're from... Whether they're about learning English or about us. And I think a lot of people had a lot of questions about who we are, why are we both teaching English as a couple. Why are we? Some of these questions overlap, so if we don't get to all of them some of them were very similar. But we'll try to answer as many as we can. Pick some and then we'll go through it. Okay. I'll pick with the most common one which seems to be the the best place to start which is "How did you meet?" Right. Like how did we meet. How do we know each other? We were both in California at the time and and the school in Berkeley. We were both teaching because imagine... We first met she observed my class, and I think as soon as she saw the instruction, she was just like "Oh my gosh. Game over." So first of all we were both English teachers. He was already working of this school, and then I came in. I had just finished my masters, and... She observed my class. Again with a class. I think I was teaching the the present continuous that day. His was the first class I observed, and I remember thinking this guy is so tall. Like who's this tall? Why why is he so tall? It had nothing to do with the present continuous. No. It was just like why is this... And he had visited many countries. Whose this tall goofy guy? So that was...that's how we met. How long was it before you're like "I like this guy." 10 minutes? 20 minutes? Well, it's not... A half hour? I'll say this. We started dating about two months after we met each other. Okay. So two questions are connected. What did you major in college and do you have any certificates after graduation? I'm going to try and do it in a minute. Can you time me? Timer for one minute. So I'm going to try and give you my answer in less than a minute because it's... I'm going to give you a very quick and long answer. So this will be good for listening because I'm going to speak fast. Are you ready? Yeah, yeah. Oh, it's staring. Okay. So I majored in business management, and after I finished university I decided I didn't want to do business management. So I wanted to travel and do some volunteer work, so I moved to Costa Rica. And I ended up working with Habitat for Humanity. I was a volunteer coordinator for Habitat. Great organization. You should check it out. They help people with affordable housing. While I was in Costa Rica - pura vida - to anybody out there from Costa Rica. I met many people who were English teachers. One couple was from teaching in South Korea. They talked about how they loved it, how wonderful it was so I ended up in South Korea. I started working at an academy for one year, and then I moved to a university for two more years. It was a great experience. I love Korea. I miss it. I want to go back someday. After three years in Korea, I wanted to have another teaching experience. Go somewhere else so I went to Namibia Ended up working with another organization called WorldTeach. Another great organization by the way. And I was teaching at a high school in rural Namibia. I was teaching English and math to grades 9 through 11. It was another awesome experience, and I met a lot of really great learners. Still keep in touch with them today. Hello out there if anybody's watching this from Namibia. Afterwards, I went to the Dominican Republic to teach at a Catholic orphanage. Spent a year there. I was teaching at a middle school. That was a challenging experience actually. I decided that I wanted to go back and get my masters so I moved to California which is where we met. Am I over a minute? So yeah, give us your history. I think somebody asked our ages at some point too, so I'm just going to say like obviously... I'm 24. Wes has more experience because he's older. So he's eight years older than I am so... So how old does that make me? You're 39 and I'm 31. I just turned 31. I moved to the United States to California when I was fifteen years old from Romania. So I've done three years of high school and my years in university. I've done them all in the United States. I did my university education at UCLA So if anyone is... Go Bruins! Yeah, go Bruins. I got my degree...my university degree in history, and a year after that I started getting into teaching English and tutoring. I was tutoring languages before that. I started tutoring a lot of ESL speakers in the Southern California area. A lot of kids and then adults also. And then I moved to Northern California where we were teaching adults, and I fell in love with it. It was amazing. At some point during that time I got my certificate. TESOL certificate, which Wes also has from UC Berkeley. And...yeah, then we moved here. How is your love story? How is your love story and bla bla bla bla? Excellent. So our love story...I thought it would be cuter if you talked about it. So after she observed my class... We got married last year in March. We got married in New York City. And it was a very small wedding. It was very intimate. It was really just the two of us. Wait, that's your talk about our love story. We had a lot of connections through... This is terrible. I'm just going to say it. What makes history magical - let's just start with that. Okay. That's a good word...magical. I like it. Alright. You're doing better. Go. What makes our story magical is that...none of us were really supposed to be in this place, so we were there by chance. So I was going to visit my sister. I was just going there on a visit for a couple weeks. But I don't know why I decided maybe I should look for a job here. Wes, as far as I know, and I think this is true that you also weren't sure if you're going to stay in California. You had come to the US to get your MA. So we met at this tiny, tiny school in Berkeley, and it wasn't really a plan for either of us. We didn't have plans to stay there. And we both wanted to leave. And this was really nice because we could leave together after we were done. That's our love story. And it's been happily ever after. You have such joy and happiness. You have to realize that we're like with each other all the time. That's one of the challenging things. I think... What do you mean? I like a ray of sunshine in your life. Working together... We're always together. We work out of the home, so... Sometimes it's like. When did you get this idea to launch interactive English? Kind of like, how long have you been working on this? So, the idea came after I finished my MA at USF. And I think I was just at home watching some YouTube videos. And a lot of it...again it was just real it was passive learning. People were just giving presentations, and here's the information. This is what he does when he's home alone. He watches YouTube looking for English teaching. What we had been working on at our school before was about just really creating an interactive environment. An interactive classroom. Getting the students engaged with what's going on. And I thought that we could kind of apply that same element to YouTube. And trying to make the lessons a bit more interactive by asking people to point, to click, to repeat after you. In the comments below, write a sentence about this picture. I'm going to give you an adjective and I want you to click on the meaning. Say it with me...answer. See, easy you just don't see the W. And I think it's a little bit of a weird concept because people are you're watching a video. And you don't really know whether the other person is actually participating. So this is something that we've always cared about and then... We're just trying to apply it to video, which... Yeah. Which can be challenging but also fun. You guys can let us know if it's working. If you guys are actually interacting with these videos. Let us know in the comments. What's your favorite book? What's your favorite book? The Little Prince. The Little Prince. That's a good one. That's another...it's a good one to read too. I'd say...gosh, I can't really think of it. I've been reading a lot of the Magic Treehouse lately for work. This is for some of our other classes, so I've been reading a lot about Jack & Annie and the Magic Treehouse. The ninja one wasn't that bad, I guess. Night of the Ninjas. But I would say if you're looking for an easy, easy read. They're just kids books. You don't have to keep running to a dictionary. It's just, yeah. It's just good quick easy read. Here's a good one. Why don't you record more vlog videos? It helps to practice. Wes loves this question. Honestly, I really like the vlogs because it's fun to share our experiences with you guys. And we are on our way to... Hello and welcome to beautiful Dubrovnik. They haven't been...they haven't been as popular on our channel. Why don't you guys watch them? We love them. Because yeah, they're more meaningful to us obviously. We love our vlogs. We do hope to do more vlogs, especially like traveling. Or even places maybe around the city. We did one going to IKEA and those are a lot of fun. And they're...you know we can make vocabulary lessons out of them. So we will do more vlogs. Which one's your favorite vlog? The favorite vlog. I like the one we did Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik. Watch it. If you haven't seen it, we're going to link it above so you can check that one out. Here's another question. Here's a good question. What what is your favorite country? What's your favorite country? Do you have one? No, I don't. I don't have a favorite country. I think it really depends on well...I guess the things you did and who you met. Like for me...like for food, Italy. And wine. I had a great time in South Africa. I really like South Africa. Yeah, and South...and Argentina. Please tell me your country of origin. So in case some of you don't know because people have asked on our videos. They're like "Is this American or British pronunciation?" Everything we do we would be the American accent. I'm from the United States. I grew up all up and down the East Coast. Lived in about eight different states. Which one of those states was your favorite? Which state to live in? Was my favorite? Growing up. I'd say well...I really like Colorado. Yeah, so I'm originally from Romania. I've talked about this in a previous video. But I was born and raised there until I was fifteen years old and then I moved to California. It's where our love story begins. Yeah, but that's really where I've spent all of my time in the US. I mean, I haven't really...I've visited other states, but I haven't lived in any other state other than California. This question is about us, but this is one that we get all the time. People just asking about improving their fluency and we've made some video lessons about this. First, try to study a little bit each day instead of overwhelming yourself. If you could take like five minutes, ten minutes a day to learn a new word, or to read a book, or to listen to music. And that's the next part would just be the the exposure that you're getting. And trying to find different resources. No, I just wanted to say that when it comes to language I don't know if you know this expression. The expression goes if you don't use it you lose it. I would say like in any kind of shape or form that you can practice English, do it. Do something like if you can't read today, if something's too difficult, you know listen to a song or watch a YouTube video. Just do something instead of...something is better than nothing. Oh, here's a good one. What languages do you speak? Oh, good question. Oh me! Yeah. Okay, English. Really? Yeah, it's great. English. Romanian. Spanish. I understand Italian. I understand a little bit of Portuguese. You have really good comprehension of romance languages. Romanian, if you guys don't know, Romanian is closely related to Latin, so because of it, it's really helpful. So I also speak English too. That's awesome. I'm fairly proficient in Spanish, spent several years in different Spanish-speaking countries. My Korean it...it used to be conversational. Now, it's a little more basic. Even though we did go to a restaurant recently and I got to... They understood you and everything. Well, yeah. I was there for three years. I'm learning Romanian right now. It's also I'd say basic, a little conversational. Say something. I was about to say something in Korean. It's getting all mixed up in my mind right now. But yeah, I just need to keep practicing. And again, just trying to do those same tips that we give you guys. They said, "Who's your teacher on YouTube you hope to work with him or her? Or in your opinion, the best English teacher or coach on YouTube? There are a lot of good English instructors on YouTube. For collaborate...we've only done one collaboration so far with Ali from Papa Teach Me. Hi Ali. If you're watching. I don't know if you're watching. That was a lot of fun. We do...we hope to go travel to the UK later this year, so hopefully we can reach out to some of the UK English teachers and do some collaborations with some of them. That would be awesome. My favorites.I feel like...I feel like probably people might think the same about us. In terms of...there's a lot of great people, but then there are some just really great lessons that I might see. And we watch it and think "Oh, that was a great idea," or like how they did that and implemented that. For example, I like the...that guy from Eat, Sleep, Dream English does these songs. And would actually like go through the song and then pick out words or phrases and explain them. I thought that was really cool. Ali from Papa teach me. I think he has some really... It's funny. Really great stuff. Uses some animation which is very cool. Best one of all is Interactive English. Sure, yeah. So the nearest future plans. Oh, yeah, yeah. We kind of talked about what we want to do with the channel as we keep growing it. We would like to do more collaborations as we just mentioned. We want to come out with a website, have some e-courses available for you guys, some ebooks. Maybe start some classes later on. So a lot of a lot of stuff planned for the future. We would like to stay on the pace and keep doing two lessons each week. Like one regular lesson and then one live lesson. It's a fast pace. So hopefully we can keep up and keep doing two lessons a week. Have you ever been to Myanmar? No. No, we haven't. But we would like to go. I'm not coughing because of Myanmar. I drank some water and it went down the wrong way. When will you visit Indonesia? Alright, I like how they went straight into... I know it's a good question. We haven't been. Do you want to come? When will you come? Yes, we'd love to come. Yeah, there's just so many places that we still need to see and visit. Okay, well we have talked your ear off. Thank you so much for all of your kind questions. Hopefully, we answered most of your questions. We don't want to leave until we ask you a question. And we want to hear from you. Okay, so this is very, very, very, very important. I forgot the question for a second. But we would like to know "Why are you studying English?" Why are you here? Why are you watching us? What's motivating you to learn the language? Is a job, education, friends? Traveling? Travel. Yeah, let us know in the comments. This is part of the interaction where you have that comments section and you get to write and actually use the language so... And we do read what you're write. I hope you enjoyed our little Q&A session here on our couch. Thank you so much for watching. Thanks for listening to us. Thank you for following us. And we'll see you next time. --- ## 724. Why English is SO hard to learn? | + Lesson Notes | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `J2YDI1lpYOw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2YDI1lpYOw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:11:25 | --- Hello and welcome to today's lesson. Today [sighs] we're going to talk about why English is so hard to learn. Now, I know what some of you may be thinking. Well, English, I think it's it's pretty easy to learn or it's a lot easier than other languages. And that may be true. I know it depends on each person. However, today I want to focus on something that actually does make English a bit challenging and I think some of the words that we're going to have a look at will be new and and I think that's great. I always want you to learn something new. So, the way that I want to start out and present this is with uh different sentences and I want you to participate. I want you to practice saying the sentences out loud like this first one. I'll give you a moment. Say it out loud and then you can hear me say it. So, I hope that you said the bandage was wound around his wound. The bandage was wound around his wound. And the confusing words in this sentence would be wound and wound. So wound, this is well the past simple or the past participle of the verb to wind. Wound. And wound, this is a noun. This is just referring to well, if you get hurt or injured and you have a wound. So wound and wound. I want to start out by saying that the sentences that we're going to have a look at in this lesson, they are all from well, this lady right here, Marlene Davis. So, she was uh an English instructor. She was a newspaper columnist and she came up with these 20 sentences that we're going to look at today entitled the article why English is so hard to learn which is the title also of this lesson and really what it focuses on. Oh yeah, I want to make this announcement too. If you would like to get this sent get these sentences and download the lesson notes, you can join our email community. There's a link down in the description. I also pinned a link here in the chat. If you are already a part of our community, I'll go ahead and email them to you so you can look out for that. So, the reason why these sentences are a little challenging is because they all have heteron. This is when you have one or well, one of two or more words that have the same spelling but a different meaning and pronunciation. And that's why they can be a little confusing. Like these words down here, wind like the wind is blowing or wind like you're winding a clock. This is an example of a heteron. So once again, I want you to practice, you know, practice your speaking skills. Say these sentences out loud and then you can listen to the way I say it and then again practice once more. So how would you say this sentence right here? Okay, I'll say the farm was cultivated to produce produce. The farm was cultivated to produce produce. So to produce, this is a verb. You're making something. You're bringing it into existence. Two syllables. The stress is on that second syllable. To produce something. produce. This is food that's grown. Vegetables would be an example of produce. The stress is on the first syllable. And this is loosely a syllable stress rule. When you have a word that has two syllables, generally speaking, the verb is going to be stressed on the second syllable to produce and the noun is going to be stressed on the first syllable produce. Okay? So again, think about the the syllable stress. And this is when people may make a slight speaking mistake and they end up stressing the wrong syllable and it can cause some confusion at times. Here's the next one. Again, I want you to say it out loud first. All right. So, I hope you said the dump was so full that the workers had to refuse more refu. So, refuse to refuse. Once again, you see that twocllable verb, the stress is on the second syllable. You refuse something. I don't want it. We got to say no. Refuse is just another word that you could use to talk about uh garbage, trash, unwanted waste material. refuse. The stress is on that first syllable. So, like I said, some of these words, I think, are not as commonly used. You're not often going to hear the word refuse. People would just say trash or garbage. But again, hopefully that some of these words are new uh for you as we go through them. Here's the next sentence. I want you to say it out loud. All right. We must polish the Polish furniture show shown at the store. We must polish the Polish furniture shown at the store. Polish. Polish. So polish, you're talking about rubbing something. All right. Stress is on the first syllable. And again, this is a verb, which is why I said generally speaking, verbs have that stress on the second syllable. Polish is talking about things related to the country, Poland, the people, the language. In this case, we're using it as an adjective talking about the furniture, the Polish furniture. But once again, the stress is on that first syllable. Polish. Polish. Then here's another one. Again, I want you to keep speaking. How would you say this one? He could lead if he could get the lead out. He could lead if he could get the lead out. Lead led. So lead. I think people hear words like leader. Somebody is going to lead. you're going to control uh some situation, a group of people. And lead is referring to the the element, this very heavy, it's gray le. And this is again where where spelling and pronunciation, it can get a little confusing. Lead le. I've also tried to underline an idiom, get the lead out. If you haven't heard of this idiom, if somebody tells you to get the let out, it means that you need to move or work quickly. So perhaps you're working on a team, you're behind schedule, and you say, "All right, everyone, we really need to get the let out and we need to work quickly. We need to move quickly. We need to get the let out." All right. If you are participating in these lessons, let me know. Write the word speaking so I know that you're practicing. You're saying these sentences out loud, which is what this is all about. Just getting getting a little speaking practice. I'm I'm I'm really I'm listening. All right. So, here's the next one. Again, I want you to say it out loud. All right. So, I would say the soldier decided to dessert his tasty dessert in the desert. The soldier decided to dessert his tasty No, the the soldier decided to dessert his tasty dessert in the desert. Okay, so this is there are a few things. you have the the heteron desert, in which case you're you're leaving someone or something. You're deserting. And the one at the bottom, the noun, the desert. Okay, the noun stress is on the first syllable. It's an area covered with rocks, sand, and you can see in that picture, that is a picture of the desert. Once again, these heteron follow that stress rule. The verb, the stress is on the second syllable. dessert uh and to desert and the noun stresses on the first syllable, desert. Now, I I highlighted that other word as well because that would just be an example of a homonym. These are words that have the same sound when talking about your tasty dessert, cake, cookies, um you know, a lot of chocolate. You could have that for dessert. And then once again, the stress is on that second syllable. All right. Excellent. Um, all right people speaking. Love it. Vida, Vicky, Gustav, um, Zenat. Perfect. Again, this is all about getting just a little bit of speaking practice when it comes to well, words that can be challenging to pronounce. So, here's the next one. It's also going to follow that syllable stress rule. How would you say this? You see one word in there quite a few [laughter] times. Three times. Oh. Oh, I would say, well, since there's no time like the present, he thought it was a He thought it was time to present the present to his girlfriend. I'll say it one more time. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present to his girlfriend. So present, the noun has multiple meanings. Again, stress is on that first syllable. The present up here talking about well, right now, it's a moment in time. It also means down here like a gift that somebody may well give to you. You they give you a birthday present. That's different than the verb to present, in which case you hear that stress on the second syllable. You're presenting something. You're providing information. And I think all three of these words are are commonly used. Here's the next one. This one may be a little confusing, but I want you to say it out loud. I hope that you said a bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. Let's say it together again. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. Bass is referring to the fish that you would find in a river, a bass, which is different than referring to the the instrument or well, even playing, singing, that low range of musical notes, bass. So, in this case, we're using it as an adjective, talking about the bass drum. But you could say somebody plays bass in the band. But again, just don't confuse those two uh pronunciations. Bass base. Here we go. All right. I want you to say this one out loud. I hope you said when shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. So we have one right after the other. Dove dove. So dove with that schwa sound, that uh sound. Dove. It It's referring to the bird. You can see the bird over there in the corner. That is a dove. The white bird. Dove is referring to the past simple of the verb dive. Dove. Dove. like you dove into the swimming pool. Then we have another one. Think about that syllable stress. Say it out loud. All right. Now, I want you to say it with me. I did not object to the object which he showed me. One more time. I did I did not object to the object which he showed me. This is good speaking practice working on that syllable stressed. So, I did not object. We're talking about the verb. You see the stress on that second syllable. You're expressing opposition. All right. I did not object to the object. The object, the stress is on that first syllable now that it's a noun. It's just anything that you can touch or see. An object to object to the object which he showed me. Once again, good practice. Say these sentences out loud. Work on that that syllable stress. This is all about fine-tuning your pronunciation. And remember, if you want to get a copy of these lesson notes, check out the link down in the description or the pinned uh uh comment that's in the chat. Try this one. I would I would say the insurance was invalid for the invalid in his hospital bed. Let's say it one more time. This maybe one of these may be a new word for you. The invalid. The insurance was invalid for the invalid in his hospital bed. Invalid is I think it's a more common word. If something is invalid, it's referring to a document or something that's just not legally acceptable. Like you present a document, they say, "Well, no, this this is invalid." All right, we can't accept this. It's invalid. Now, invalid. The stress is on that first syllable. That second syllable has that schwa sound. So invalid. Invalid it just would refer to somebody who is sick and they're unable to take care of themselves. It is more uh you know of a derogatory word that you would use. Not that common to say somebody's an invalid. Um but again a great example of a heteron. Let's try this one. Say this one out loud first and then I'll say it. This one may be challenging. I would say there was a row among the oresmen about who would row. Say it one more time with me. There was a row among the oresmen about who would row. Row. Row. So, if you're talking about up top there, a row, it's uh a noun. It just refers to a noisy argument or fight and say somebody had a row. It's a word that you may not hear that often, but it may come up from time to time. A row. And I think probably when you see this word, the pronunciation that many people think about would be row, the activity. You're rowing a boat. You're using the ores to row row row. So, row row. Keep that one in mind. Here's another one. I want you to again say this one out loud. This these are very common words. They were too close to the door to close it. Let's say it together. They were too close to the door to close it. And I think this sentence maybe you didn't have as much trouble with because uh these words are very common. You're close to something or someone. You're not far. You're talking about the position either physically or in time. Close. It's getting close to uh my birthday or something which is not true. My birthday is in November. It's far out. Uh, but to close something, the verb, you're talking about opening and then shutting it. You're closing the door. Close. Close. Great words to know because they are commonly used. Close. Close. Here's another one. All right. This one again maybe a little tricky, but I want you to say it out loud. All right. The buck does many things when the doe's, the females are present. There's that word present again. The Let's say it again together. The buck does many things when the doe's are present. So, the buck does, we're talking about the verb to do, but this is the singular um third person like the buck does performing an action. Very common verb. Now, the other doze is just referring to a female deer. Doze. You hear that long o sound? Doze. So if somebody you're out hiking and somebody says, "Oh, there's a dough." They're talking about there's a female deer. In this situation, many times instead of specifying whether it's male or female, a lot of people of course would just talk about a deer, they see a deer. But once again, I told you I think some of these words are new and it can also be a good way to build your vocabulary a little bit. Another one. I want you to say it out loud now. Let's say it together. A seamstress and a A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line. Sewer. Sewer. Sewer is a well a person who sews. We're talking about that activity. You sew something like clothes. Uh you can see that picture in the background a little bit. It's a sewing machine. Stress is on that first syllable with the long O. That's different than that short vowel sound. Sue. Sewer. Sewer is referring to the underground pipes network that would carry away waste. The sewer. Sewer. Sewer. Give this one a try. Say this one out loud [clears throat] then with me. Say it with me. To help with planting, the farmer taught his SA to sew. To help with planting, the farmer taught his SA to sew. So, the first one, SA, is talking about an adult female pig. [cough] Sorry about [clears throat] that. Again, not a word that you're going to end up using in just everyday English. If you want to talk about an animal, people are mostly just going to talk about um uh a pig and not really refer to whether it's male or female. But to sew, in this case, to sew again with that long o sound, we're talking about putting seeds in the ground so that plants will grow. Again, let me know, write speaking in the chat if you guys if you're participating and actually saying these sentences out loud. That's what it's all about. It's good just to voice these words and practice saying them. That's what that's what's really, I think, going to help you internalize this information. Um, oh, true. Vickiy's birthday Saturday. Wow, that is close. Happy birthday, Vicki on Saturday. Upcoming. Nice. [sighs] Here uh is the next sentence again. Say it out loud. And then say it with me. The wind was too strong to wind the sail around the mast. One more time. The wind was too strong to wind the sail around the mast. These were the first two examples that I gave you. Wind as a heteron. The wind, we're talking about the air was too strong to wind. Again, that verb, you're turning something to wind the sail around the mass. I've also, again, I'm giving you the the phonetic spelling as well as the IPA so you can see the pronunciation and hopefully get a better understanding as to how these words are pronounced. Here's another. I'll let you go first. And then I would say, upon seeing the tear in her painting, she shed a tear. Let's say it together. Upon seeing the tear in her painting, she said it she shed a tear. Tear. Tear. And these are words that uh you may come across and that you may use to tear something you have. They're talking about a hole that will generally or ripping uh a piece of paper or cloth. Something has a tear in it. And then tear it would be, you know, referring to crying. the the liquid that would come out of your eyes to shed a tear or you have tears in your eyes and you use that long e sound tear. [sighs] All right, let's do another. Think about that syllable stress when it comes to verbs and nouns. How would you say it? I would say I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. All right, let's say it together. I had to subject the subject to a series of test. To subject is the verb. The stress is on that second syllable. Subject. And again, you're kind of controlling somebody uh against their will to subject someone to something. In this case, that someone is the subject. The stress is on the first syllable and we're referring to the thing being discussed. But in this case, the the thing would be like your the subject would be like the person. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. This is when that syllable stress becomes important. Excellent. Uh practicing. Yes. Nice. Gustav JJ Bella. Well done. Here's another. I'll let you say it first and then say it with me. Or how can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? together. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? This is this can be a little more confusing because both words have three syllables and the stress is on that first syllable. The difference is that third that final syllable. So to uh how can I intimate something? How can you make something clear without saying it directly? Again, it's not the most commonly used verb intimate. And intimate is an adjective. It's referring to like a close friendship that you have with another person. This is a word that you may come across from time to time. You hear it with certain uh in certain collocations like an intimate relationship was is a common collocation. So, intimate, intimate. These are all different hon. That's the goal is always learning something new and getting that practice. I hope that you were speaking. If you were speaking in today's lessons, write to me in the comments. Let me know. Just write the word speaking so I know that you are participating and actually practicing your skills. And just as one last reminder again, if you would like to get the lesson notes and join our community, check out the link down in the description or I pinned it in the chat here. And if you're already a part of the community, check your inbox cuz I've already sent them to you. So again, I think for the most part, English as well as other languages, they there are certain things that may make the language a little trickier, a little confusing. And I think heteron is something that definitely can be a little more confusing for people learning the language because you have these words, the same spelling, but different meaning and different pronunciation. So, if you enjoyed this lesson, if you practice and you learn something new, please hit that like button. I always appreciate it. If uh you you also want to write to me in the comments, of course, I love hearing from you. And thank you guys for joining me today and participating in this lesson. And I hope that you got a little bit of speaking practice. So I Lapka, nice. Uh Lai, good to see you. Teao, glad you learned something new. Give some quick shout outs uh to people. DJ Flexible, nice. I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day and I will see you all next time. So long. --- ## 725. Why It's Difficult to Understand Movies, TV, or Music | Improve Your Listening | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `cAmdP8LMUCY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAmdP8LMUCY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:28:56 | --- Today I'm going to tell you why it's so difficult to listen to and understand TV, movies or music. That's coming up. Something that we often hear is that I understand every single word you say, but when I'm listening to a TV show or watching a movie or or listening to music, I have a lot of difficulty understanding like what's being said and and trying to follow along with the conversation. It's so much more challenging. I don't understand anything you just said. I don't understand anything you're talking about. I am just saying that I don't think that you understand what I am saying. Today I'm going to tell you why that is, but also I want to talk to you about why it's still important that you keep doing this to practice your listening skills. I want to start out telling you just a quick story. The first language that I learned was Spanish. And and listening, to be completely honest, I is one of the more difficult language skills for me. But something I really enjoyed doing was listening to to Spanish music. I would even try to to sing along with the songs and and pick out the words for those parts of the song that I wasn't too sure of. You know, you just mumble your way through it. But in general, I I thought that I understood a great deal of of these songs. That all changed one time. I went with a friend to a karaoke bar. And as you know, at a karaoke bar, you can see the words to the song and people were getting up there and they were singing these popular songs that I I was very familiar with. What I realized as they were singing the song and I could actually see the words, oh, that's what they're saying. And to be quite honest, it kind of made me feel a little bad. It made me feel like, oh wow, my listening actually sucks. We'll have to do something about that. I completely understand how you might feel if you are watching a TV show or movie or or listening to music in English and you you're you're not able to understand everything that's being said and it might get you down a little bit. You might think, gosh, my my listening's not as good as I thought it was. So, I understand where you're coming from. So let's talk about why this is and answer that question. Why is it so hard to understand movies, TV and music? First, I think it is very important to understand and realize that you are listening to colloquial speech. It is very informal language. And because of that, you're listening to slang, idioms, and expressions that that you might not be very familiar with because you didn't learn this in the classroom or you didn't learn this in the grammar book that you're using. All it takes is for us to hear one expression that we're not familiar with. And and that can throw off our entire understanding of the conversation or whatever it is that we're listening to. Another reason why it might be very difficult when listening to TV, movies, or music is that people are constantly connecting their speech and they're linking their words together, which makes it so much more challenging to identify individual words. And the reason that that we do this in English or any language for that matter is just efficiency. We are able to say the most words in the least amount of time. And it also has a more more natural sounding flow to it as well. For example, instead of saying going to, you would hear going to or have to, you might hear have to. Did he? People might say did he. And for this reason, when these words get linked together, this is when language sometimes sounds like one long word. Especially when you first start learning a language, you're not able to identify the individual words and and everything's just clumped together and and it makes it harder for us to listen and understand what's being said. A third reason is that really it depending on the video and the situation, people may speak faster than they normally do in real life. I think this is especially true with music because with music, it it's all about producing that nice sound. It's not necessarily about trying to speak clearly and articulate each and every word. And this can also be true for video as well. Naturally, people end up speaking a little quicker if they might feel nervous or or a little anxious. And that tends to happen when you're in front of a video camera. So, if you're just randomly watching people on YouTube and trying to follow along with their vlog or or a story that they're trying to tell, they may end up speaking a little faster than they normally do if if they're just speaking with a friend in real life. And I I think that's something that people tend to forget about because when you talk about practicing your listening skills, people practice listening to to TV, movies, or music all the time. And therefore, I think it's important to understand, well, okay, this is a very advanced form of listening. You should not feel bad whatsoever if you have difficulty understanding a TV show or a movie. You should think about listening just like any other language skill. When you first start, you're going to be a beginner and then an intermediate and then over time you'll move into that advanced stage and then you'll be able to understand everything that's being said. Now, if you're somebody who's looking to improve your listening skills and you're wondering, well, how can I do that? We did a lesson that was all about how you can improve your listening skills and different things that you can do to practice your listening skills. And I will link that above. Now that you know why listening to TV, movies, and music is so difficult. It's too advanced. I don't need to be doing that right now. I want to take a moment tell you why you should still do it. No matter what level you're at, you should still continue watching TV shows and and watching movies and listening to music. Even if you can't listen to and understand everything that's happening, it is still very useful. And I want to talk to you about some of the benefits that you will get out of this. The first benefit is that you don't have to think of this is study. You you're not doing it because you feel like you have to do it. You're doing it because you want to do it. And that's the key right there that this is something that that you want to do. And because of that, it it changes the dynamic of learning a little bit. You're you're not putting as much pressure on yourself and and you can kind of let your guard down and just enjoy it and relax and and it does really help the learning process. Let me give you an example. Many times students have asked um you know what TV show should I watch if I want to learn English or or what are some movies that I should watch? And that tells me that you may be looking at this the wrong way because I always tell learners the same thing. You should watch something and and listen to something that interests you. then then listen to sports. If you like cooking then then watch something that's related to cooking. Choose something that that you are interested in because that's what you're going to get the most value out of. You are doing it because you want to do it, not because I told you to. And and that kind of ties in with the second benefit, which is any exposure is good exposure. We always tell learners try to surround yourself with the language. And with technology nowadays, I I think it's absolutely possible. You don't have to travel to a a native English-speaking country in order to learn the language. There are different ways that you can surround yourself with English and TV, movies, and music. Th those are three ways right there that are great. I've often heard stories from people saying, "Well, I watch the TV show Friends, and that's how I learned English." That that that's possible for some people. It might not be possible for everyone, but again, that is a great way to to do something that you want to do to learn without putting pressure on yourself or or stressing yourself out about trying to learn the language. Another benefit is that this is completely learnerdirected. You get to choose how you are learning English. You get to choose the the TV show you're watching or the movie you're going to watch or the music that you're going to listen to. This goes back to what I just told you about find something that you are interested in. It's learner directed so it's all in your hands. You get to decide what's best for your learning and what you're most engaged in. Because I could tell you to watch some movie that you think is absolutely boring and you fall asleep. That's not going to help you. You need to find what what you are interested in and use that to your advantage. It's in your hands. And the final benefit is just access. When when talking about TV, movies, or music, there there is so much of it out there in English. If you are living in another country, chances are that you could turn on the TV and maybe find a channel that that's in English. And if you have a streaming service like like Netflix or Hulu then the opportunities are are just endless. Even now if if you are watching this video then you are using the internet. There is just so much that is accessible and I really encourage you to take advantage of that. So now I would really love to hear from all of you guys and have you guys share what you are doing to practice your listening skills. So, in the comments, let me know what what TV show you like to watch or or maybe a movie that you thought was great or or even the music that you listen to in order to practice your English listening skills. I hope you enjoyed this lesson and if you did, please hit that like button. --- ## 726. Why You Should Learn Other Languages | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `aymxsXz0aRI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aymxsXz0aRI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:28:35 | --- in today's lesson we're gonna help you practice your listening skills as well as teach you some new words [Music] when you're looking to practice your listening skills it's always great to listen to a natural conversation or just somebody speaking about a topic and expressing their ideas their thoughts and their opinions and that's what we're gonna do today we have a discussion that we're going to have you listen to but not only that we want you to pay close attention for certain words we've taken some words from this discussion and I'm gonna tell you the meaning of these words and as you listen to the discussion we will highlight them for you so you can see how they're used in context so let's have a look at the words the first word is passionate it's an adjective and it means that you are expressing or showing strong emotion or feeling and not only did I want to talk about this word passionate but also the preposition that follows we say that you are passionate about something or somebody might just be talking and they say you know teaching English that that's what we're passionate about so when you're using this adjective it's often followed by the preposition about passionate about the next word or words is this aha moment and this is an expression so the word when we say aha it's an interjection and it's like you're saying that oh you've you've discovered something but when we say that something is an aha moment what we're talking about is a moment or point in time when somebody suddenly realizes something and they they suddenly discover something and you say ah you know that that was an aha moment I I suddenly realized something and it's brought on by an event or an experience that that this person has an aha moment then we have melodious this is an adjective and if something is melodious it's talking about a sweet sound or a musical sound just something that that has a nice melody you could say oh it's it's melodious next is osmosis now first and foremost this is a chemistry term but that's not what we're talking about in this discussion when we're using it you you can say that you learn something through osmosis they're saying that they gradually absorb information and they're they're getting the information slowly and naturally and they're absorbing it and yeah they learn it through osmosis next is steroids and this word is a noun and it means a chemical substance that helps us improve our strength and ability a lot of times you might hear athletes taking steroids to enhance their performance and and generally it's illegal they should be doing that it's also used as an expression to to compare something and say it's like it was on steroids and when you say something's on steroids you're basically saying that that that something was was very strong very powerful and you know it's like it's on steroids so as you're listening to us discuss the topic keep an eye out for those words so you can see how they're used in context and that's a really great way to learn new words because it just reinforces your overall understanding of the meaning so let's begin going to talk about why we started learning different languages what's your motivation for learning another language and we'll talk about what was ours when we started yeah yeah yeah yeah so ask you I guess first what why I started well I when I was in high school I took German because we had to choose a language but at that point I think in my life I wasn't interested in learning another language unfortunately so I didn't take it seriously and it wasn't until I was in university that I decided I wanted to learn another language and it was like a bit of an aha moment for me realizing the you know you learn another language that really opens things up not just as far as travel is concerned but work opportunities you have the ability to go to another country and work there and and live there so it just really made me realize how important it is and since Spanish is a very important language in the United States then that's what I started with and I started learning Spanish what about you so to be fair I've always been interested in languages like even when I I mean I if you guys don't know I was born in Romania but I think actually the language I wasn't interested in was English I thought it was it sounded ugly now it's kind of funny to think about those times but I mean I've heard some Mohican your pardon or something how do other learners say that like they think English it's not a beautiful language not as pretty as other languages as other Romance languages so I've always been interested in languages and even as a kid I'd watch cartoons in different languages what got me for example I will tell you about my experience with Spanish what got me into Spanish is when we were kids we used to watch these telenovela as they called them they're their soap operas and I like the Argentinian was it just like a lot of dramatic TV shows or like everyone's cheating on each other and everything's crazy and like it's just they provided you with the right motivation to learn Spanish I kind of learned it through osmosis like I feel like there was just so much going on and I was a kid yeah yeah and I just it was so fun and like we keep watching again I was like a teenage girl that was just a lot of fun and I I think it sounded pretty I love the sound of Spanish especially I think the ones I liked with the Argentinian one so like I really like the I got a feel for the Argentinian and so that's how that's how I started learning Spanish so I keep learning languages because they sound pretty I think that's my motivation we know they're saying like the songs are nice and and I think they sound good yeah I like poetry so I can read that too so for me it's all personal obviously yeah it can be a lot of different things travel personal enrichment like I think a lot of many many of you out there probably learning English for for work or language if you want to study abroad yeah that was like good food okay so that's that's kind of what we wanted to talk about today I hope you enjoyed their little conversation about why we started learning different languages we'd like to know why you try why are you learning is it for traveling is it for just because it's a world language and at this point I think it's very important oh why why are you trying to learn and let us know in the comments we love hearing from you guys and if you enjoyed our conversation hit that like button down below thanks for watching and we'll see you next time --- ## 727. Why learn another language? | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Tx_ra36YVps` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx_ra36YVps) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:20:11 | --- today we are going to put your listening skills to the test as well as teach you some new vocabulary [Music] what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English which is where you want to be to practice and improve your English skills in today's lesson we have a natural conversation for you we're gonna talk about what languages we would like to learn you're not only going to listen to the conversation but I'm going to teach you a few different vocabulary words and then highlight them in the conversation so that you can see how they're used in context because that is one of the best ways to build your vocabulary and expand your vocabulary see how the words are used in different contexts so let's begin the first word I have for you is an adjective ambitious and ambitious means that you are eager to achieve success so a person could be ambitious they want success it also means that you're eager to achieve a goal and it's used in a context that that's saying something such as a goal could be ambitious everyday ambitious move is a gamble it's very difficult it could be a little too extreme and you might then refer to it and say that this is ambitious or maybe a little too ambitious the next word well it's actually a phrase and it is an idiom under one's belt under my belt under your belt under his belt under her belt and what it means is is to achieve a goal or experience to someone's satisfaction to your satisfaction that that you get it under your belt you have done this thing you have learned it you have experienced it and you could say yes I now have that under my belt hard to believe I only got a semester of junior college under my belt so you could say that you have something under your belt but more often we use it with the verb get to to get something under your belt or my belt you want to get something under your belt just get something under one's belt that's the idiom the next word is an adjective proficient and it just means that you are skilled or capable of doing something you were proficient at doing this thing or you are proficient in this task for example many of you would like to be proficient in English and I want you to be proficient in English I hope that it's not too ambitious you really want to to get these words under your belt so that you can go use them and you just know all of these words and I'm just trying to use them as much as I can so that you remember them the next word is another adjective intriguing and if something is intriguing it means it's arousing your curiosity or your interest you really you want to know more about this thing you're very curious because it is intriguing next is an expression on and off so we talked about doing something on and off and what it means is that you're saying that you do something from time to time that you start something and then stop and then start again and then stop and then start again and then stop I see your boyfriend I think in all of our lives we all do things on and off especially if we're trying to learn something on our own and we don't have time many of you might be learning English on and off you do it when you can but it's not constant it's just on and off the next word is cliche this is a noun and what it means is that it's talking about an opinion a phrase or even an expression that is overused and it's overused to the point that it's just lacks originality it's not original anymore because you always hear it expressions are a perfect example of things that might be cliche I really just want them to be happy and I know that sounds cliche and I know saying it sounds cliche sounds cliche maybe I'm being cliche I don't care because I am what I am so you may often hear people start a sentence as cliche as it sounds and then they say something cliche they say an expression and then kind of explain why they're saying it to make their point so you kind of let people know that you are going to say something that is cliche as cliche as it sounds bla bla bla bla bla bla bla something is shei and that is not English now that you know these words let's listen to the conversation and again we'll highlight where they are so that you can see how they're used in context so right now we're gonna have a short little discussion talking about languages that we would like to learn and yeah this is just our opinions and do you want to go first do you want to talk about one language this one yeah well right now and then I get to go we'll take turns okay oh right now oh gosh so a while back I think I had an ambitious idea of I wanted to get older Romance languages under my belt before I how many are there five okay seven many so like I think I should really cuz I know a little bit of everything but I probably should actually like actually speak them um so I think the next one on my list even though I used to be very good at it it is Italian but I kind of forgot it all but I still think it's like the most beautiful language over so that and then and then Portuguese and then French or French and then Portuguese it I think for me the next language because I've been learning well I learned Spanish first and then Korean now I'm learning Romanian I want to learn Romanian apart from that in the future I think Mandarin I'd like to learn Mandarin well me only because well there's so many speakers I think it's becoming more important but I think that the challenging thing I think it's probably well I don't really know because I haven't tried to learn it yet but I feel like most people think like oh it's so difficult to learn like it's very you know tonal that you've got to learn a lot of different tones and but I think it would be nice to be proficient in Mandarin so that would be one that's like my dream language that I would like to learn I don't know what's another one that you want to learn boy I just said them all like in the wrong so just the romance no no no I'd like to learn Arabic maybe beautiful again I'm it's all about the sound to me I it's just very like I think it sounds very poetic and I I heard some songs and I think they're so so beautiful so I think Arabic is really beautiful language plus it has all of these intriguing sounds like why can't do it but it sounded really cool the students are trying to tell me to make the huh sound and they're like yeah sure you have to it's a second year we've had quite a few students from the Middle East that we work with before yeah they would always get a kick out of us and trying to to pronounce words or phrases in Arabic another one that I will I'd say instead of learning another one I would like to just be and I think many people feel this way just become more proficient in the languages that we already know a little bit about or started learning so for example I lived in Korea for three years and learning Korean and it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride a lot of ups and downs and I think before tackling a whole new language it'd be worthwhile to go back and really try to become a little more proficient in Korean I think that would be useful for me yeah I feel like that about French it's one of those languages that I've studied on and off for years and years and years and then I still don't really speak it and and I think because you kind of drop it and then take it up in there yeah and I think that's normal I think we we start learning a language and then we stop for a while and then we pick it up later on and I think many of you out there probably might be doing the same thing with English right now that you've already studied it before and now you're trying to continue to improve your skills the unfortunate language is if you don't if you don't speak it you don't use it you lose it yeah yeah as cliche as it sounds but yeah it's true yeah any any other languages you want to learn it I'd like to learn yes Russian okay all right and that's that's the one because of usefulness because if you learn rush and I think you can easily understand all these other Slavic languages like you know like like Serbian or Croatian or Slovak maybe like Bulgarian polish there's a lot of roots check yeah so I think I think that's a language I would learn just for how useful there would be but I heard it's really difficult and I have no idea I you know I go by feeling I don't think it's I think it's a pretty language but I just I've never like been into it as much as the other ones Oh another language that I would like to learn which I think would be very cool I'd like to learn sign language I think that would be very cool I don't know I really don't know how many varieties of sign language we don't know or how different they would be I thought it was pretty you know standardized to some extent no I think it would be cool to learn some sign language sign with babies did you did you guys know that that like babies understand sign language before they understand yeah they can't talk mm-hmm so that's I think that's pretty really really cool awesome so now we want to hear from you guys so in the comments let us know what languages you would like to learn besides English obviously what languages would you like to learn let us know in the comments we love hearing from you guys and if you enjoyed listening to our discussion about languages hit that like button down below and as always thanks for watching we'll see you next time thank you same challenge child shows really can like in the office and it's like ciao --- ## 728. Why we created a Interactive English | Natural Conversation + Vocabulary | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `NK0AVJU6-rU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK0AVJU6-rU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:25:19 | --- [Music] everyone my name is Wes and you wanna and we are the creators of interactive English and you can find us at interactive English videos calm as well as follow us on social media so this channel it's all about just helping you practice and improve your English and today what we want to do is just have a natural conversation a discussion and as we do this just help you learn a few new vocabulary words because we'll put those down there and hopefully that will help you more easily understand and follow the conversation so we got some questions from our patrons our members and one of them was asking us about how we came up with interactive English and why we started this YouTube channel and it's been about how long a little four years yeah it's been a while so do you remember the first time that you were talking about it I approached you with this idea yes I remember it was on it where where were we we're in a Bart I believe we're going to the bar to San Francisco where we yeah we have we have different memories I thought we were at Cafe Roma I said hey I got this idea I want to do a YouTube channel I mean I just talk a lot of nonsense quite quite often so maybe we were no I thought we were at Cafe Roma and I had been thinking because I had just finished my got a master's in Teasle and we were getting ready to leave the country we were moving from the u.s. to Europe and I thought that's when I told you about the idea and was like hey should I do this is it a good idea because part of the reason like the one way we try to make this channel a little bit difference because I really try to focus more on active language learning exactly to really try to get you guys a little more involved so we have some videos that are just passive learning where you're just listening and trying to understand what we're saying maybe learn some new words and then other lessons that are more active where we do activities in which we want all of you to participate and do things and you're like I wish there was a way or a channel or something that is like allows people to get engaged with what they're seeing because because we see this I mean because we would do that in the classroom exactly and we it was all about trying to instead of just standing up in front of the class talking about grammar or whatever trying to get the students more involved yeah so like you have to be and this aside aside a side note yes I know that you have to be engaged as a learner in order to be able to actually learn yeah so I thought of we thought about how we would create these videos and that is also one reason why we do a lot of those live streams is because we can interact directly with all of you and we do a lesson and ask questions and try to get you guys to participate and answer those questions and in that way that is a great example of active learning where you are having to respond to something that that we're teaching so you have to think in English you have to write in English you have to sometimes speaking English whereas get to speak in some video so just like the other thing is I've always been I guess I've always been a little interested in becoming an entrepreneur and I've always thought about well yeah I did I did my undergrad in business management and I always thought it'd be cool to start a business and I just was never really sure on the direction and I started teaching and I really loved teaching and then this was kind of a good way to combine both of those and really start our own thing and trying and even now we're in the process of trying to turn this into a business how did you feel can I ask you no questions no now that you've done it for so long is this how you pictured it that it would be that you've imagined kind of going and is this you're still following like how you started out I feel like live this has been I feel like this has been a success in that we started out really didn't have any huge expectations but we kind of had an idea all along that we wanted to build a bit of a school around the channel which again we're still in the process is doing and creating courses but yeah I think it's gone very well I feel like we've we've moved slower than would be my preference but that's the way that's normal I think anytime you a lot of times people want to do something they have this plan for whether it's a business or a project and yeah you're not you're not able to go as fast as you would like so yeah that was kind of how at least that's how I imagined that it started like we were talking about it that day and we were getting ready to start this how do we film these lessons and if you do if you watch some of our earlier lessons I think they're very different than today's lessons I think when we began I was I was really anxious and a bit nervous those first few times trying to stand in front of the camera record a lesson we used to we used to write these scripts like we were in a play and just kind of try to read them like line for line and it just it just made the process very slow and I don't think it looked very authentic either that it looked like we were just bad actors listen to these words that have the but I think that was part of just shows that everyone comes with a camera because my next question to you was gonna be like do we have anything to say to somebody who wants to start a channel or I've alway we've had some people ask us about whether or not they should do it anytime anybody asked me about Oh should I start a YouTube channel I would say yes not necessarily going like doing it because like oh you're gonna make a lot of money because that's I that's not really the case and I think even for us like we do want to make this more of a standalone business and we're having to try and develop things around it but trying to live just off your YouTube channel I think is extremely different you really need to have a very popular channel to be able to do that so I always tell people time it takes a really long time yeah but if you're passionate about some topic and you really want to tell other people about it share your thoughts and ideas I tell it yes go ahead start a YouTube channel why not I mean for us like education has always been something that's very important I think we're both very interested in education and especially making it more accessible worldwide which i think is another great thing about YouTube because people have access to the Internet and you could learn so many different things I don't know how many times when I want to figure out how to do something you just do a search I do a search and then I'll typically I go to videos too I don't know why because I'm a visual learner I like to watch video and I would do a search for information and then go to the videos and then see what people are teaching so I don't know I don't know if that's how you guys any of you have found our channel if you were interested to learn more about English and discovered interactive English but what do you think has been the most challenging thing about I know what I'd say for me or for both of us just I don't know just the experience in general well there are a few things the first time so we've always worked together just like first since I've known him we've worked together we met at work so that was I think starting something together where there's no define anything seeing them all the time when you're young relative I don't like saying much I'm just saying 24/7 I understand I get sick of myself that's been hard living like small quarters but to prove how compatible we are I was going to say the same thing that that was the biggest challenge is trying to relationship and working together working at home and we have to agree but I think like you're right where we where we want to end up the destination we could agree on that but then how we got there like yeah not sure what kind of analogy I could give you it's like I want to take a plane and you want to wants to ride a horse now just want to go fast get there like boom let's get it sire patience see and I'm like yeah yeah things that can be very anal when it comes to efficiency and I I do realize I don't think I'm a very easy person to work with depending on I get distracted very easily like right now we've got to stretch she constructed like ten minutes ago when we were talking about actual work in the school and some courses and stuff and I thought she was listening and they was like oh wait there's a sign back there I want to take a picture so I think these are minor things that we go through as a team so yeah that's what I would say - what do you think is your the biggest before we start all of this working we were in the crimes we were running a school together after teaching at the same school but not going to the office being able to live kind of anywhere having that flexibility working at home has some pros and cons good things and bad things but you don't have much of a social outlet which is not which is tough I think I put in a solid work day but I go to bed very late and I tend to get up I don't get up early in the morning and I would like to and I think I should but it's hard to change that routine because in a way you are your own boss which is I think one of the one of the things that people love about being and I think that's something people don't realize cuz they watch YouTube videos having fun yeah it is can be very deceptive but I think it is I think that's true like you hear expressions like YouTube burnout and people that camera comes on and everybody's all smiley and then it goes off and they maybe they're just having a really really bad day nobody knows that oh god I remember the early filming days and I just have like I'm a very anxious person so I just have like anxiety attacks over like the camera in my face and it's yeah tough if you're not very but I was a very calming influence I'm sure so I would say when we hear from all of you guys like down in the comments like oh this is very useful it's really helped I feel like I'm improving like that that really yeah it really means that's why we do this which goes back to making when we talked about education becoming more accessible being able to to teach English to everybody and we have like kind of a global classroom which is wonderful and it's such a I think maybe sometimes people trivialize like language learning and it's but it's so important especially if they're in a different country for right now it's such a world language that it's it's so important to be able to speak it you can get ahead in your job you can get ahead in your school you can get ahead there's so many different ways if you speak English and especially if you're really good at speaking I think it does I think it opens up a lot of doors work and neither travel I think when people travel to other countries typically the common language is English I think we're really happy that we did this and we started this channel and we hope that you guys find these lessons useful and even lessons like this which is just a it's a conversation to help you practice your listening skills and follow along because another thing I always talk about besides producing the language is getting getting exposure different exposure whether it's listening and reading so for for example like in this video getting that listening exposure hopefully you learn are you heard a few new words or expressions and now you know what they mean and the more you practice the more you're going to improve it's all valuable I just wanted to say like everything even if you're just listening yes what we want you to produce it but even if you're just listening and keep listening like that's going to help you so we hope you guys enjoyed listening to our conversation and listening to our story about why and how we started our interactive English YouTube channel so you have any questions yeah write to us in the comments love hearing from you thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you next time --- ## 729. Winter Words, Idioms, and Expressions to Help Your Fluency โ›„ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `jxMQPPnagTs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxMQPPnagTs) | | **Language** | English (en) | | **Type** | No (manually created) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 09:41:15 | --- Winter is coming. Actually that's a lie. It's already here. And... Nice and cold outside. So today, I figured it'd be a good time to talk about some cold words and winter expressions. Cold words. What do you mean? What are cold words? What are cold words? Words that have to do with the cold? I think we should go out there. So we decided to do this lesson today because it's cold outside. And...well, it's a good time to talk about the cold. Ioana really likes the cold, but... I like snow. I'm not a huge fan. Where did you go? I'm here. There was so much more this morning. The first word is bundle up. Which is this what I'm doing right now. Bundle up means to take all the clothes that you have in the closet and put them on. Just kidding, but it means to just really, really, really put on some warm clothes. Because it's cold. So you have to bundle up. Put on a hat, a scarf, gloves, jacket, boots. I don't know. Just bundle up. Put on...put on some warm clothes because it's cold outside. You feel cold? No. It's not that cold. Because you're all bundled up. I'm bundled up so I'm not that cold. Wait. Don't tell them that it's not that cold. It's supposed to be really cold outside. Yeah. It's freezing. Did you just throw a snowball at me? Often in winter, when it's snowing, people will build... ...a snowman. Gummy nose. Another common winter word, especially when there's snow outside is slush. And slush is just when the snow starts to melt. And it's kind of...yeah, makes this weird sound. And we have slush. In the slush. Are you having fun? Wait. Are you going to be? What are you doing? Where are you going? I was just hiding. So when we're talking about the weather, and it's cold outside, there are varying degrees that we can use depending on how cold it is. So the first one, if it's not really that cold outside, somebody might say that it's chilly. Or you could say that it's also nippy. Nippy outside. Do you ever say it's nippy outside? Nippy. Nippy. And actually I don't think that one's as common. Just so you know in case you might hear it. So chilly and nippy are kind of like it's just a little cold out. And of course, probably the most common thing to say is just...it's cold. Like today. It's cold outside. You can see the snow. But if you want to say it's really cold and emphasize just how cold it is. You could say, it's freezing outside. Like wow. It is really, really cold. It's freezing. We could also use a simile to talk about how cold it is. And that's when we just compare two things that are not alike. So you could say that it is as cold as something. And frequently people might say it's as cold as ice. Because ice... Ice is really cold. You could also say, maybe it's as cold as... What would you think? It's as cold as... Canada. The North Pole. I don't know. And depending on how informal you want to be you could also throw some profanity at the end there. And just say, it's cold as f#@%. Now this one, everyone uses. It's true. Cold AF. You could also say that. You want to get out there? Yeah. Let's go! Go! Go! Get out there. Well, I don't have skates. A common word that comes up all the time when we're talking about winter is ice. So I have an expression for you that has to do with ice. It is on thin ice. So when somebody is on thin ice, we say that they're in the kind of a dangerous situation. For example, when Wes keeps saying stupid things many times I'll say to him, "Wes you're on thin ice." Which means if you say something stupid one more time, I'm going to get really, really mad at you. But I never fall through the ice and that's very important. So that's a great use of you're on thin ice. If he says one more stupid thing, he'll end up sleeping on the couch. That's not true. Yes, it is. That's not true. You're on thin ice. You're on thin ice. Another expression that has to do with the cold is to give someone the cold shoulder. And this just means to ignore someone or not pay attention to them. You would give them the cold shoulder. And, sometimes when Ioana is on thin ice, I will give her the cold shoulder. That's not how that works. I just don't pay attention to her. Not true. I give her the cold shoulder. True story. Nope. True story. You can't just say it's a true story. It doesn't make it true. It does make it true. It does make it true. Alright. Put my hat on. It's cold. You can just say AF. You don't have to... Cold AF. Yeah, you don't have to say... I'm not that cool to say cold AF. I don't think. No, you're not. That's true. You're not cool. You're cold. Get it. I'm like full of puns today. Full of funs? PUNS! Word play. I thought you said funs. PUNS! What, it's a word in the English language. I said you're not cool. You're cold. Get it. He doesn't get it. Look! Oh, gosh. Oh no. She's so slow. She's so slow. I can run with the camera, and she still won't catch me. Stop. I'm not as fast. Hit the brakes. They fly right on by. Did you like my Top Gun reference right there? This is it Maverick. I'm going to hit the brakes. He'll fly right by. Yes, it was pretty lame. I tried to ignore it, but you wouldn't let it go. You think it's going to freeze our butts if we sit on this bench? Which bench? There's no bench. Okay. So another expression that's related to the cold is cold feet. And of course this means that your feet are so cold. No. It's not. It's not really what it means. So cold feet... You say...we say cold feet like we get cold feet. So many times it means that you are... How do I put this. So we say that you get cold feet before like a major event? You get nervous. You have a lot of anxiety about this event. And many times, especially now, people refer to getting cold feet before they get married. So, it's very common. Everyone's always asking, "Did you get cold feet before you married Wes?" And I answer, "Yes, of course. I was terrified." He's so scary. Look at him. I had cold feet. Did you? Well, my feet...well, literally my feet were literally cold. It was a very cold day in New York. It was a very cold day when we got married. But you can also get cold feet before like a... Really big presentation, or like a speech. But just about always it's used to talk about marriage. Yeah now, mostly marriage. Cute. Also, if you guys are wondering what's this gorgeous background behind us. We are in Budapest. It's a beautiful city and we love it. And that's all I wanted to say. If you're wondering where we are and it's so cute and pretty. The last cold expression that I have for you is a very, very common one. And that is just to catch a cold. So cold is a word that has multiple meanings. It could be talking about the weather, but it could also mean when you are sick. And you say that you have a cold, or you can get a cold, or even catch a cold. This is an expression that we often use. Getting a cold. I just wanted to say that from the outside it looks like there's a crazy man just kind of giving a lecture to a phone. It's pretty funny. Where? Oh. You're talking about me. Yes, I was talking about you. So we hope you enjoyed this lesson about winter and the cold, and the words and expressions. So in the comments, we want you to write what is your opinion about the cold. Do you love it like me? Or indifferent to it like Wes? Or do you hate it? Okay. So let us know. Write it in the comments. Love hearing from you guys. And as always, please like and share this video. And...that's all I got. We'll see you next time. Stay warm. Stay warm. And bundle up. --- ## 730. Write Smarter, Not Harder ๐Ÿ’ก | 7 Tips to Instantly Improve Your Academic Writing | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `oLX7oyZB5Ng` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLX7oyZB5Ng) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:15:50 | --- if you spend time writing in english or you would like your writing to be a bit more professional i want to talk to you about some very useful tips that's going to help you immensely improve your writing really it's going to help you greatly improve your academic writing and develop those skills and i know that when i say academic writing you you may think of university which is where a lot of academic writing is done but this is also very important in a more professional setting a business setting so these tips will help my name is wes the channel is interactive english it's all about trying to help you improve your skills so that you can reach your fluency goals if that's what you would like to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons so let's begin with the first tip that i have for you and i think this one is is very important which is why i've put it at the very beginning and that is to be concise and what it means to be concise is that you are stating the information clearly and you are using as few words as possible so really you just avoid wasting words and i think this applies to so many different things so let me give you an example uh with these video lessons before a long time ago when i first started doing these lessons i thought that well the longer i could make them then that would just make it better and more people would be watching them but what i realized after once i started doing this is that i shouldn't be trying to make the lessons longer i should try to give you the information i should try to teach you the lesson and then whenever it's finished then well that's how long the lesson is and that's the same with your writing you should be concise state the information and try to use as few words as possible because why say something in ten words when you could say it in five and one way that you can do that that's going to help you be concise is to use action verbs so let me give you some sentences so that you know what i mean a simple way that you can avoid using too many words is to stay away from the tio n words and i'm not saying that you should never use these but really just keep this in mind because it will help you cut down on unnecessary words so if i were to say the report provided an explanation for these unusual results you see that tion word explanation well i can just make that an action verb and say the report explained these unusual results i've said the same thing it's more concise i've used fewer words and and you're still saying the information clearly another reason why it's very important to be concise is because it's going to help whoever it is that's reading your writing it's going to help them more easily understand what you're trying to say the final thing that i'll say about this is that you should try to use the vocabulary that you already know i think quite often people will try to look up words that are more difficult that sound more academic intelligent and and they put that into their paper even if it's a word that maybe you don't even know try to avoid doing that use the vocabulary that you already know it's going to help you say things clearly and be concise the next tip that i have for you is to organize your paper this is going to help you carefully structure your writing and all you need to do is create an outline it's as simple as that and i cannot emphasize this enough because often i think many people will just skip this part of the writing process i used to teach ielts and ielts is a proficiency exam and part of the exam you have to write and it is timed and i would work with students to help them try to achieve a high mark and what i would always tell them is that at the very beginning just take five minutes organize your paper and write down create a quick little outline about what you want to say before you start writing and so so often they would tell me well i just don't have time there's no time for this i just need to start writing and when i would read their writing i could see the lack of organization some of the ideas would overlap and and some points were not even connected to their main thesis so i think without organizing your paper and saying okay this is what i'm going to talk about first second and third it's very easy to lose track of where you want to go and when you start to lose focus of your main idea you you kind of go off track and you start writing about things that may not even be relevant so please take a little bit of time create an outline organize your paper and think about how your writing should be structured my next tip is that you should avoid contractions idioms and other colloquial expressions simply because they're very informal and writing in general writing is more formal and academic writing is definitely more formal so let's have a look at some informal language like contractions instead of writing it's right it is instead of writing could of write could have or instead of writing theirs right there has i'll also include phrasal verbs in this because they can also be a bit informal and in that case instead of if you were to say like put up with use a more specific verb like endure or tolerate instead of saying check out you could use a verb like view or consult so not only are you using more formal language but you're also you're also being more concise you're using fewer words and as far as idioms go just just please avoid them look at these two sentences right here collecting data was easy and efficient or collecting data was a piece of cake it just just reading it is a bit awkward and the same goes for colloquial expressions if you if i were to write something like the scientist had trouble finishing the experiment but no biggie if they didn't finish they could just go back to the drawing board and i the colloquial expressions like saying something is well no biggie it's no big deal or i use that idiom go back to the drawing board not only does this informal language sound unprofessional but it's probably going to seem strange to the person who's reading it so please avoid contractions idioms and these other colloquial phrases the next tip is that you should vary your sentence structures and this is going to help you avoid choppiness and if you're unsure what that means i'm going to tell you a little story and i think it will make more sense but let's get into some more details about sentence structure so there are four basic sentence structures you have simple sentences this is one independent clause so if i'm going to tell you a story about my day i could say i woke up late this morning it's a simple sentence we also have compound sentences which is when you have two or more independent clauses so continuing the story i could say i immediately went to the kitchen and i made myself a cup of coffee a complex sentence is when you have one independent clause plus one or more dependent clauses after i finish my coffee i got ready for work then we have compound complex sentences which is when you have two or more independent clauses plus one or more dependent clauses and let's continue when i looked at my watch i realized i was running late so i ran out the door and jumped in my car so let's review our story using all of those different sentence structures i woke up late this morning i immediately went to the kitchen and i made myself a cup of coffee after i finished my coffee i got ready for work when i looked at my watch i realized i was running late so i ran out the door and jumped in my car if we were to change this and just use simple sentences the story is going to sound well it's going to sound very choppy if i say i woke up late this morning i immediately went to the kitchen i made myself a cup of coffee i finished my coffee i got ready for work i looked at my watch i realized i was running late i ran out the door i jumped in my car all right it's it sounds more like a children's book and it's definitely not academic writing so when you vary your sentence structure it's going to help your writing have a nice rhythm and flow and to be perfectly honest when you're writing you may not analyze each sentence and really look at the sentence structure this is more likely something that you will notice and you'll be able to get a feel for it as you re-read your writing so when you re-read you'll be able to get a better sense if there is some choppiness and you need to adjust some of your sentence structures my next tip is to use the active voice and that is because the active voice it just gives more clarity now i'm not saying that you should never use the passive voice it really depends on what you're writing if you're writing some scientific paper then yes it's likely you may have some passive sentences but in general overall most of your sentences should be active so let's compare the active and passive if i were to say archaeologists conducted a study of the newly unearthed artifacts this is an active sentence it has nine words and if we compare it to the passive a study was conducted of the newly unearthed artifacts you see that the issue is that well in the passive we don't know who conducted the study now we could add that to the end of the sentence and i could say by archaeologist but now i have 11 words why say something in 11 words when i could say it in nine so again it's about being more concise so just keep in mind that most of your sentences are going to be in the active voice the next tip is to avoid repetition try to use a variety of words because it's going to make your writing more captivating use precise language if possible and try to avoid words like very because words like that are often overused now in writing one one way to avoid repetition is when it comes to transition words these transition words are when you can will add information perhaps you're moving from one idea to the next but when you're writing transition words it's easy to repeat them let's take the word also this is a word that's commonly used to add more information but you do not always need to use this word because there are other words that have the same meaning so instead of saying the crisis caused severe economic damage companies were forced to downsize and many people lost their job also banks were forced to tighten lending practices which meant small businesses had a difficult time accessing money also the local government proved ineffective in offering relief we can just remove also to replace with some other words like in addition and furthermore and it's going to sound much better so we have also in addition furthermore moreover besides there are a variety of words that you can use when you're talking about these transition words the good news is is that well repetition is pretty easy to spot when you reread your writing you should be able to identify if you continuously use the same word again and again and again and really unless you're writing a poem there is no good reason to continuously repeat words over and over just remember this famous saying when you avoid repetition your writing won't suck actually it's not a famous saying i just made it up right now but the message the lesson is still relevant avoid repetition the next tip and i really want to emphasize this is proofread and the reason why i say i want to emphasize this is because it's another step in the writing process that some people tend to skip and the reason why it's so important to proofread is because you're able to do some of the things that i've already talked about you're able to get a feel for the sentence structure that you use you're able to spot some of the words that you may have repeated most of you are probably proofreading because you want to correct mistakes so in that case i have a bonus tip for you and that is read backwards go to the very last sentence read that one try to look for mistakes go to the next to the last sentence read that one look for mistakes and just continue reading backwards until you get to the beginning and the reason for that is because you're really isolating the sentence and you're able to look for spelling mistakes grammar mistakes punctuation and in short when you read backwards you're focusing more on the text and not the ideas so proofread forward from beginning to end if you want to get a feel for the rhythm and flow of your writing make sure that your ideas are logically ordered as well as check for repetition proof read backward if you want to really focus on the text and check for grammatical errors and most importantly just make sure that you proofread and do not skip this step so i hope that you found these tips and suggestions useful because i definitely think this will help you immensely improve your academic writing please i would love it if you would practice your writing right now and write to me in the comments i always love hearing from you thank you guys so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 731. You're definitely fluent if you can change these. | Advanced (C1 + C2) Grammar | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `BD_b87_vVms` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD_b87_vVms) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:09:12 | --- you are fluent if you can change these and if fluency is something that you would like to achieve please subscribe to the channel that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English which is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and I've been saying the word fluency a lot and this it's really subjective because I've met people before that say you know I'm not that fluent in English and then I hear them speak and I say well you sound pretty fluent to me and this is why other exams like I tofl they end up using words like proficiency instead and keeping that in mind proficiency we're going to do some sentence Transformations today and all of them are at a c1c2 level and this is cambridge's highest those are the two highest levels of proficiency which based on the European framework show that somebody has mastered the language they have a high level of speaking competency and are able to express a variety of thoughts ideas and opinions so if if this is something you've never done before let me explain it so you know what I want you to do we're going to do a transformation exercise and as you can see right down here what does this mean it's an exercise where Learners are given one sentence and need to complete a second sentence so that it has the same meaning and I I think these are activities that you will find on proficiency exams like the iots or TOEFL or toic and I think the reason for that is because you end up well practicing a lot of different parts of the language so it's not only using your knowledge of grammar and structure but vocabul ulary as well so we're going to do some keyword sentence Transformations I am going to give you one sentence as well as a word that I want you to use when you're writing the next sentence there may be again there may be more than one way to do this for some of these we'll we'll see what you come up with but in general you may need to to type quickly as we go through this uh I've us if if you're just joining us um and you're new here please please write your name in the chat in the comments I love hearing from you and I also want to mention that if you are interested in downloading these lesson notes that you see right here next to me there is a link down in the description that you can access them when you join our community I'll also throw it right there in the chat if that's what you'd like to do if you're already a valued member of the interactive English Community go ahead and check your inbox I have already sent them to you so that you have them from here and into eternity so let's start with this first one and we're we're going to begin with sentences that are well these are transformations at a C1 level and they'll get a little more challenging as we go through this so the first one I'm giving you the sentence up top I regret not hitting the like button okay you can you can see where we're going with this one I want you to write another sentence using the word had the word right here in the middle and you're going to start out the sentence I wish and the sentences are going to have the same meaning that's what these sentence Transformations are all about so you're going to write another sentence using the word had it's going to have the same meaning as this sentence right here I regret not hitting the like button so this this lesson does have a bit more typing in in it instead of just writing a word you're going to have to write several words or even better just write the entire sentence and I'm going to go through and maybe give some shoutouts as we go through this uh excellent um nice Julia Ava great job so let me show you the first one the answer sometimes there may just be one thing missing I wish I had Hit the Light button so we're talking about a wish a desire I wish I had hit the like button so you see where we're going with this again I'm kind of fishing for those likes if you haven't done so already yeah I'd really appreciate it if you hit the like button that way at the end of the lesson you won't be feeling like this you won't be thinking ah I regret not hitting the like button or I wish I had hit the like button excellent great job I love seeing all these sentences when people are participating and even if you're watching this later write the answers in the chat this is interactive English it's all about act having you actively participate in the lesson but well done nice uh Loi um takayo nice good to see you Rafaela Loi great to see so many members familiar faces love it here's the next one I almost always go out on Saturday night this is an example it's absolutely not true as far as like my life is concerned um but I want you to rewrite the sentence using the word ever right down there and I've given you most of it I at home on Saturday night so again you're these are key word Transformations I want you to use this but then you're also having to think about grammar vocabulary how are you going to change it around so that these sentences really have the same meaning and I think the key word or phrase in here when you're looking at this sentence is almost always because you really want to think uh we're talking about almost always go out but in the second sentence you're talking about staying at home so you have to think about what's the opposite of almost always what what could you use what adverb of frequency would be on the other end of the spectrum from always uh nice Angela well done um Manuel yeah some of these again they're they are a little tricky and of course I'm going to ask you how you guys did at the end so the answer is I hardly ever stay at home on Saturday night I told you to think about the they're basically opposites you almost always go out so that means you hardly ever stay home and you're thinking about expressing that that opposite those different adverbs between always and hardly ever almost always and hardly ever well done well done the next one again we're going to stick with C1 for right now and then I'm going to make it a little more difficult and challenging because I know that you love a challenge so the sentence I asked her if she needed more information I I think this one's a bit more tricky uh so I want you to use the word else and complete the sentence so that it has the same meaning I asked her if M she needed to know I think maybe this one could be more at a C2 level so the sentence I asked her if she needed more information it means the same as saying I asked her if M she needed to know and hopefully as I'm saying it like that it can kind of you know jog your memory of like okay I think I know what would go in that um that that blank using the word else that is the key word right there that I want you to use um very close uh Vivi very close rafhaela very close and again one thing um so some of just a slight thing the the answer I asked her if there was anything else she needed to know so I know a lot of you some of you I saw putting there is I asked her if there is anything else in this context we're talking about again it's in the past so there was I asked her if there was anything else she needed to know but I think everybody was kind of on the right track with this one which again I think is impressive because I thought this one um was going to be a little more challenging and difficult but great job well done okay another C1 sentence transformation it's easy for my colleague to speak in public it's easy for my colleague to speak in public let's change this sentence using the word difficulty and filling in the the sentence down below my colleague speaking in public my colleague speaking in public so you can see some the the grammar changing as we go through this for example you have to speak in the first sentence and then you have the the jiren down below speaking in public so what sentence could you write so that it has the same meaning as it's easy for my colleague to speak in public great job I think many of you uh definitely on track with this one Ava uh L um I think uh who ala I'm trying to give some different shoutouts you guys keep participating I love it I love it when it the it just keeps flying by so the answer my colleague has no difficulty speaking in public so that was the those were the three words that you needed to fill in there has no difficulty somebody has no difficulty doing something and you'll follow that with the jiren my colleague has no difficulty speaking in public how about this one give this give this a try and if you can't see that of course I'm going to read it losing weight will take longer than you think losing weight will take longer than you think I want you to use the word lose and when you're writing a sentence that has the same meaning you won't be able to M and then ending with you think you won't be able to M you think think about again other Expressions that people would use in this situation has the same meaning as losing weight will take longer than you think I feel like in some of these when if there was a slight or small mistake once I end up showing you the answer then it I think for many of you it makes perfect sense and you might be thinking oh I I should have gotten that I I think I should know that so losing weight will take longer than you think I want you to use the word lose when completing the next sentence uh that was good Daniela that was really good there's you could use that I think I I could say you're right but I think the the probably a more commonly used phrase Stellar well done is as fast as you won't be able to lose weight as fast as you think uh I saw like one in there like as quickly as you think and you like I said there with some of these there may be more than one response I do think it's more common for someone to use as fast as you think when talking about their someone's ability to do something you can't you won you're not going to be able to do this as as fast as you think but again as quickly as that also works the next one we need to run or the bus will leave before we get there I don't know why I'm reading this so slowly we need to run or the bus will leave before we get there all right that's better I want you to use the word time when putting together another sentence that has the same meaning unless M we get there so of course in as we've gone through this you're having to write a few more words in that blank spot again I told you as we as we progress I'm going to try to make these more difficult and we're getting we're about ready to head into the C2 sentence Transformations so we need to run or the bus will leave before we get there I want you to start out using that Clause unless and then completing the sentence we get there I feel like if you're you're able to put together that first Clause with unless then the rest of it should just follow we need to run or the bus will leave before we get there so unless we do what and then kind of put it together well done nice cun unless we run starting that we have that that dependent clause right there then you could start putting together the rest with that independent clause unless we run what's going to happen the bus will have left by the time we get there unless we run the bus will have left by the time we get there so by the time is a it's it's a challenging phrase when when you're using by the time when you hear that you should automatically start thinking okay perfect tense that you're going to use that in this case we're talking about the future perfect the bus will have left by the time we get there because again we're talking about the future in here we need to run or the bus will leave before we get there unless we run the bus will have left by the time we get there this one is a little more I think this one's definitely uh a bit more challenging so I that last one maybe also could have been at the C2 level I don't want to say that these are exact as far as the level but all of them are at that advanced level of proficiency C1 C2 but let's let's talk about some some C2 Transformations right now and you like showing the picture of the the Transformers anyway so the first one that I have for you you rarely get less than 80% on these quiz lessons for many of you who have been following me over the years you know that I like to do these live lessons these quizzes have you participate and just practice your skills whether it's vocabulary grammar and I I enjoy this lesson in particular because you're you're able to practice both so you rarely get less than 80% on these quiz lessons I like to think that because I know you guys work hard play hard and you rock these quizzes but I want you to use the word rare I appreciate all those hearts and complete the sentence down here so that it has the same meaning it less than 80% on these quiz lessons so how would you complete the sentence so they have the same meaning it M less than 80% on these quiz lessons using the the word rare well done David trce nice um Co so yeah again like we could make it a little more concise um nice Emma uh larine so the answer it is rare for you to get less than 80% on these quiz lessons and I will ask you at the end and you can tell me what you know what range do you think you were in as far as today's quiz lesson goes with the sentence Transformations so it is rare for you to get less than 80% on these quiz lessons I believe this one probably is a little more difficult because there are just some slight mistakes that someone could make whether it has to do with the verb tense or the phrasing but here's the next one thanks to my colleague we won the competition thanks to my colleague we won the competition I want you to use that keyw for and complete the sentence down here so that it has the same meaning had lost the competition so you'll notice that change as far as the the Opposites thanks to my colleague we won the competition and then in the second sentence now I'm using lost the competition had lost the competition what do you think and this one you really that it's you know a bit more you know grammar is involved with the construction because we're talking about something that is you know know hypothetical it didn't happen in the case of the second sentence down here nice uh close Sarah close getting there yeah Viv so the answer had it not been for my colleague and that is a phrase that I want you to had it not been for my colleague is it's a phrase that you would use to present like these contrasting ideas had it not been for my colleague well what would have happened this is hypothetical well we would have lost the competition and I said there's a little more grammar involved in this one because you see that that Clause that independent clause at the second part of the sent we would have lost the competition it's it's similar to that third conditional you have would Plus have plus the past participle we would have lost the competition so the first part of that sentence had it not been for my colleague would be similar if you were going to use an if statement and say if it had not been for my colleague we would have lost the competition so those phrases are interchangeable had it not been for someone or something versus if it had not been for someone or something those are interchangeable phrases something to to keep in mind when thinking about that that third conditional so let's look at the next one as always hopefully you just you learn something new with all of these lessons that's always my goal whether I'm teaching a concept that's a little easier or more difficult that that you just learn something new and if you have learned something new again hit the like button it just lets me know I should do more of these lessons so what do you think about this um I yeah I included this one on purpose he looks a lot like my teacher Wes talking about myself and you can yeah you can let me know what you think but I want you to use the word resemblance when rewriting the sentence here he my teacher Wes now this one has is a little more vocabulary related and I'll I'll tell you why once I give you uh give you the answer he my teacher Wes so you could say LLY yes that works but there's one I would say there's an adjective missing and I see another one yeah and this is where I feel like you you could use more than one because I want you to think which adjective I'll go ahead and give you a hint is going to go with resemblance and I think it's a it's a common collocation so actually you guys are giving great answers and I think some of these sentences are right I haven't seen the one that I'm about to show you but like I said you could use different adjectives in order to complete this sentence so I think I see a lot of him like he Bears a resemblance to my teacher Wes sure I I feel like this is what I had said okay he has an uncanny resemblance to my teacher Wes and I was using an uncanny resemblance which is a common cocation so you could say someone Bears uh a resemblance to someone the only thing is I feel like in in saying like somebody looks a lot like someone else this is that's a little stronger than like oh yeah you know he Bears a resemblance uh it's like oh you kind of look like this person but thinking about those adjectives that you could use with resemblance and I used uncanny resemblance that works it's like oh strange and mysterious it's a common collocation you could say I see in the CH a strong resemblance that would also work somebody else mentioned a striking resemblance that's another great cocation a remarkable resemblance you could even use like a strange resemblance there are a lot of different adjectives that you could use with that but I think in this situation I I think it's fitting to use an adjective with resemblance when rewriting the sentence so once again I think for this one there are several ways that you could do this but the real question that I have for you and you can just give me a yes or no in the chat in the comments what do you think so often I get comments on just random videos of people telling me that I look a lot like Mr Beast who is a a very very famous YouTuber or that I have an uncanny resemblance to Mr Beast what do you all think I personally take take this as a compliment because he's much younger than I am so I appreciate it when people telling me I end up looking like Mr Beast but you can uh let me know in the comments in the chat if you agree that I have an uncanny resemblance to Mr pie is he like no oh thank you loli I really appreciate it so let's uh let's let's look at the next one I thought that was a fun one it's always good to get your feedback because yeah I end up getting these comments about ah maybe once or twice a uh once every month or two that I look like Mr Beast so that child is twice as tall as she was two years ago that child was that child is twice as tall as she was two years ago I want you to use the word doubled and rewrite the sentence so that it has the same meaning that child's m in the last two years I feel like there's uh some disagreement some people yes you do look like Mr Beast other people know uh thank you Rafaela I really appreciate it some people um so what what do you think the the the one thing I want you to keep in mind of course you can see that child's were were using that possessive adjective in this case so what are we going to follow it with and if you you know the word that you're going to follow that with then I think the rest of the sentence will kind of do it that child's m in the last two years excellent I'm seeing a lot of great answers I think you guys rock this one that child's height has doubled in the last two years perfect and in this case again you're talking about the child's height well done okay he he promised never to lie again I want you to use the word truth rewrite the sentence he swore now on I think this one again some of the the like this a couple of those C1 ones that we we've already done I think we're about challenging I think you guys will can get this one as well and I enjoyed that picture of the pinky swear again pinky swear that promise that you you're never going to You'll Never Lie this is something I always do with my my little girl too when she's like I promise okay pinky swear all right pinky swear very very official those pinky swears so he promised never to lie again I want you to use the word truth he swore now on it's a simple sentence great job um David VI uh it's kind of moving fast great Eva try to give some shout outs he swore to tell the truth from now on both of these sentences they have the same meaning you could use either one what do you think about this one and I I think this has it's a little more vocabulary related I don't think I made a good impression on my on my new boss today so if somebody's sitting there telling you look I don't think I made a good impression on my new boss today it's not good news I want you to use the word foot when rewriting the next sentence with the same meaning I think my boss and I might today and it's important that you you again I guess identify this idiom I'll go ahead and tell you it's an idiom I said it's more vocabulary related and that is really going to help you complete the sentence and I I think this is a good idiom to know it is a C2 idiom which is why put this uh sentence transformation at this level I think my boss and I might today what would you say uh come you close close I still haven't seen it a lot of you running it you could you again letting use start you could use uh that verb I think there's a better verb to use in this case um I think in this situation people are going to use it with the verb get and say I think my boss and I might have gotten off on the wrong foot today so to get off on the wrong foot it basically has this meaning that you start something in a way that's you know not good in a way that you don't want to and you say look I think you hear this a lot somebody says yeah look I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot and you kind of want to start over in this case I think my boss and I might have gotten off on the wrong foot so like I said you could say like so start uh We've started off on the wrong foot I think it's more common in this context to use the verb get but we're using that past participle gotten off on the wrong foot but you may also use like might have got off on the wrong foot because got gotten both of those are accepted as far as the the past participle of the verb get I think my boss and I might have gotten off on the wrong foot so now is the moment of truth I want you to to let me know how did you do on the quiz let me know in the comments and for those of you are here hold on hold on don't go anywhere just yet I'm going to put uh I'm going to put a little quiz in the the the chat right here so that you can just go ahead and tell me um how you think you you you did how do you wait what happened to uh I'm going to put a poll in here and you can tell me I'll write it how did you do on today's quiz I I told you before I said less than let's let's do it percentages um 80 to uh 100% let's do it uh 60 to 80% because I had that one option um let's say 40 to 60% and of course you could just guess and I'll just write the last one oh boy like maybe you needed a little more work so what what do you think you can share your results right there how did you do on the quiz today if you're watching this later let me know in the chat I always love hearing from you guys and if you did learn something new I'd appreciate it of course if you hit that like button it just tells me that look I should do more of these lessons I think these are really great activities this uh I've already mentioned it before because not only are you having to really kind of think outside the box as to okay how are you going to structure this other sentence so that it has the same meaning you're really thinking about grammar structure verb tenses but also using vocabulary as well just mentioned with some of those last ones like that to you'd really need to know or have heard of that idiom to get off on the wrong foot in order to complete that sentence I think it's highly it it's highly useful and again if you want to get these lesson notes join our email Community there's a link down in the description and I just can't help but uh checking out the results all right so this is this is a little more balanced I think everybody was kind of in that 40 to 80% range which tells me that yeah that you probably learn something new and yeah keep practicing these this is a great little I I said that you're definitely fluent if you can change these because again this is an activity you will certainly find on many of these proficiency exams doing sentence Transformations Isles TOEFL toic because you end up using a lot of those different things that I just mentioned so I really appreciate you guys joining me today I always um love it when you participate in these lessons and I'm sure I will be back very soon for another lesson to help you test your skills when it comes to vocabulary grammar pronunciation speaking a little bit of everything so thank you very much it was great seeing you let me show L rafela great to see some members in here too good to see you uh I'll be talking to some of you soon as the next speak up course is getting ready to start Manuel Daniela um tal Joseph thank you guys for joining me have a wonderful rest of the day and I will see --- ## 732. YouTube Vocabulary that You Need to Know โ–ถ๏ธ | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `SBsumuJ9dCQ` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBsumuJ9dCQ) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:26:30 | --- if you enjoy watching youtube just like i do then these are some words that you need to know [Music] hey everyone my name is wes from interactiveenglishvideos.com and the channel it's all about helping you practice and improve your english skills and today i want to help you build your vocabulary because i think many of us we like to watch youtube so i want to teach you some very common and useful words that are related to youtube and that if you watch youtube quite often you are probably going to hear many of these words so let's start with something very very simple very easy so when you are on youtube of course you see many different images and pictures that represent the video those are called thumbnails this is a word that you've probably heard before if you spend a lot of time on youtube that you see those small images they're just called thumbnails and people try to design and create these amazing thumbnails in order to capture people's attention and that really brings me to my next word which is click bait so this is a word that really it was not around before we started using the internet and this word comes from well the words click plus bait so to click on something just means that that you are pressing on some image or link because you want to see or find out some more information about it now bait is well it makes me think of fishing that you use bait in order to catch a fish and in this case click bait you are you are using something enticing some a title or even a thumbnail in order to get somebody to click on this you're trying to lure people in even though it may not be an accurate representation of what the video is about so let me give you some examples because even yeah even interactive english i have been i'm guilty of a little bit uh i'd say mild click bait so look at this image right here this is a thumbnail from a video that uh i did a while back 10 adjectives to help you sound smarter so you could say that this is uh you know this is a little bit of mild click bait now i could say 10 advanced adjectives that would probably that's exactly what it's about but to say to help you sound smarter it just maybe captures your attention a bit more now some people may not be happy with this because they think that i'm implying that if you don't learn these adjectives and if you don't use them then you're just not going to sound smart and of course that is absolutely not true so this i would kind of i would classify as like mild click bait to give you an example of what i would consider extreme click bait would be what if i create a thumbnail like this and the title of my video is learn english with me i'll give you my phone number and you see that thumbnail and think oh okay that's great i want to practice my english i'm going to click on this and watch the video and then the video appears and you suddenly you see me and you think wait a second this is not what i wanted this is not what i expected and and that would be an example of something that is really true and genuine clickbait when you are using the title and the thumbnail in a way that's that is a bit misleading it's something that's outrageous really just to get people's attention and make them click on the link and watch the video then we have the phrase to go viral and this refers to a video that becomes very popular and spreads quickly now often you may hear it used in the present perfect and if somebody's talking about a video that has gone viral it's spreading quickly it's becoming very popular this is very different than thinking about another virus that your computer could get if your computer gets a virus that's a bad thing but if you're talking about a video that has gone viral then well that is a great thing because that way you are reaching more people and that is another reason why some people try to use click bait in their titles and and their thumbnails because perhaps they're hoping that the video it's going to help it go viral next we have the word troll and this is a great word i like it even though it's not a good thing because a troll is a person who likes to start arguments in the comments so down below um most videos practically all of them there is a comment section where you can respond to what you just saw and you can write messages to well just give your thoughts and opinions about the video or you can say something directly to the creator and a troll would just be somebody who says things that are kind of a bit controversial because they're trying to start an argument mostly with the other people who are watching the video and i think the other thing about a troll is often this person may not even believe the thing that they're saying they're really just trying to upset other people make them angry and and just start an argument and usually they because of that they're not saying anything very constructive they're maybe making personal attacks and you could say that this person is a troll it happens on interactive english from time to time we get comments from from people who i would consider trolls and mostly they're just they're just personal attacks against me let me give you some examples why do you speak so slow are you you're a you're stupid now sometimes i can't help but but respond because it does get a little annoying so like for example that last one i responded and said you're stupid keep practicing do you get that because they they did not make it a a contraction you are you are stupid so and i was in a way i was just trying to help them out now this uh a troll is different from the next word which is a hater and if you say that someone is a hater you're talking about a person that just all they say is really just negative things about a video and about the content and the reason i say it's different from a troll is because a hater really this is their true belief it is their opinion typically a hater is not going to attack someone personally they're just going to say oh i just don't like this video i think it was terrible so for example if somebody was a hater on our channel maybe they say that they that the explanations that i'm giving are not very good or they say the words that i've that i choose to teach you are just terrible choices and they they just have a negative opinion about the video it's happen again we we deal with haters as well on our channel and i think you can find them on any youtube channel but let me give you an example of a hater is this a dumb joke who wouldn't know these words i would expect a child of eight to know these this is somebody who just i think just has a negative attitude because they watch the video but i don't know if they really understood that the video is for english learners and the video was about uh very common academic words and because these are common academic words they are words that are well known they're they're not words that are going to be extremely difficult so i understand the reason why they would say oh i think these words are not very advanced they're not very difficult well that's because they're very common but i don't i i really don't think an eight-year-old would know some of those words but again this is the this is this person's opinion i really do think that they believe that those words were way too easy and you could just say they were just they were just hating on that video one thing about youtube i would say is that as uh a creator somebody who has been on youtube for a little over three years now you really just have to ignore haters and trolls and not pay attention to them because those those those are not the people that i want to reach i want to reach all of you who truly are here because you want to improve your english and i appreciate that and i always love hearing from you guys down in the comments then we have the word streaming which is well it could be used as a verb for example i could say that i will stream another lesson on saturday or i could use it as a noun and talk about a live stream either way the meaning is is the same because you're talking about watching a video directly from the internet and you are watching it as it's happening i do it here on this channel pretty much every saturday and i will stream a lesson and it allows me to interact directly with you guys and you can watch the lesson right as it's happening speaking of streaming the next word is chat and this is really just talking about having a discussion and sending messages on youtube so you could use it as a verb to chat or as a noun and talk about uh the chat so for example when i do my live streams there is this this discussion part which is the chat and i would tell people to write to me in the chat or ask questions in the chat even we would practice we we do different practice lessons and i tell people to write their answers in the chat so there is a difference between the comments section and the chat because when you're talking about the chat it's it's happening at that moment and you are communicating directly with other people another word that you may hear on youtube is the word vlogger and this comes from the word blog which in that case a blog is talking about a site that is updated and it's typically run by a person or a small group and they're they're talking about some topic or sharing their opinions and in this case because youtube is video a vlogger is talking about somebody who basically videotapes their their lives i think most vloggers will videotape uh their lives they put it on the internet they just show the things that they do during the day and sometimes they'll share their opinions about different topics and you could say that somebody is vlogging you can use it uh as a verb to vlog or as the person it is a the person's a vlogger then we have the word trending which refers to something that is very popular and it is widely discussed online and often i think you would use this word in the continuous tense and you would talk about some video that is trending or people might ask what's trending and i don't think we've ever really had any of our videos really start trending and go viral we've had some some popular lessons but nothing that has really just just taken off but if something is really really becomes popular and becomes popular quickly you could say that that video is probably trending then we have the word influencer which refers to just a person that has a lot of influence over their audience often it's used in the context of marketing because a lot of times people will ask influencers to promote a product or service i don't really consider myself uh an influencer i guess maybe a little bit um i it's a little strange because i know that's a word that's directly related to youtube and social media i just think of myself as a teacher another word that you may hear people talk about is algorithm and specifically they would talk about the youtube algorithm and in that case they they're referring to whatever mathematical calculation that youtube does to determine which videos they should show to people to decide what videos are going to appear on your home screen what videos they're going to suggest to you all of that is determined by the youtube algorithm and you could even then talk about people who might try to to cheat the algorithm a little bit and they use these baity titles and thumbnails hoping that it's go hoping that the algorithm will notice it and that that video will go viral all right and this is a good way to review some of the words we've already talked about then we have the word copyright when when i started using youtube this is something that i i really was trying to pay attention to so what what copyright refers to it is the legal term for ownership over some content that a person creates so basically the person who creates content they have the ownership over that content and they can decide if other people can use it they have that copyright and if you use somebody else's content you you are they would you would say that you are infringing on that person's copyright and youtube to give you another phrase they might give that channel a copyright strike and if you get so many strikes i think it's three then well you could have your channel suspended so copyright is just the the legal word for the ownership over content that someone creates now the reason why i said that i was very interested in this is because i i do in some of the vocabulary lessons that i show you i take these very short videos and i show them more as an example of the vocabulary word being used in context and mostly those videos are only about like two to four seconds so you may be wondering wait a second how is it that that i can use these videos but maybe other people can't so there is another word which is called fair use and what fair use means is it is the the ability for creators to use very very short excerpts or pieces of other people's material if it is for the purpose of criticism or reporting the news or even education education falls under fair use and because this channel it's an educational channel i'm teaching english i teach a vocabulary word and then i might show some videos of people using that word in context now fair use is a gray area which is another good phrase because a gray area is talking about where it's not very clear what is right and what is wrong there are no clear set of instructions it's hard to tell if something is fair use or if it infringes on someone's copyright so i would say that those short clips those very short excerpts that i'm using it's fair use it's for educational purposes here is an example of fair use now to give you an example that might not be fair use would be if i said today we're going to learn english and i am going to have you watch an episode of friends which is a popular tv show and the video starts and i say okay let's just watch friends and i show you a 20 minute episode and don't really do anything in that case that would not qualify as fair use because i am using the entirety of that content i didn't really create anything of my own that does not qualify as fair use that is a copyright infringement and that video would likely get a copyright strike and possibly be taken down next is the word notification we'll we'll end it on a little bit of an easier note because well this is a noun many of you may be familiar with the meaning of this word because you know the verb to notify and to notify someone is just basically to to tell someone about something and that that is kind of what a notification is except it's a noun and that is when you receive a message telling you about something if you want to receive notifications so that you get a message that there is a new video lesson from interactive english you can hit the bell and that will turn on notifications so i hope that you've learned some new words and as you're watching youtube you may hear maybe some influencers or some vloggers talk about these words and they talk about the youtube algorithm and i'm trying i'm just trying to think of of some of the words that we use just to give you a quick little review so please please hit that like button because in that case i hope it will make the video go viral and just try not to be a troll don't be a troll don't be a hater show some love not not just here but to anybody else on youtube because i think a lot of people work hard to to make content whether it's educational or entertaining and it's just good to just good to be positive i hope you have a wonderful day thanks so much for watching and i will see you next time --- ## 733. You are DEFINITELY FLUENT if you can change these. | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `DJg0cWx8yIE` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJg0cWx8yIE) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:04:33 | --- If you can change these, then you're fluent. Now, of course, fluency means a lot of different things to different people. It's rather subjective. But what I will say is that if you can participate and you do well in today's lesson, this activity, then I think you are highly proficient when it comes to English because I am going to test your skills with both grammar and vocabulary. And the way that we're going to do this is with some sentence transformations. And basically, this is an exercise in which I am going to give you a sentence and then I'm going to give you a word, a key word, and I want you to use that word to make a new sentence that has the same meaning. So, you really got to think about both the grammar that you're using as well as the vocabulary. And I'm going to highlight certain words and phrases as we go through the lesson because those are the ones that I think are useful and they are more advanced idioms, phrases, words, and we'll have a look at them in just a moment. But if you'd like to access these lesson notes, you can click on the link down below in the description, join my email community. If you're already a part of it, I I have sent them to you. But let me go ahead and introduce myself in case this is your first time here. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And this is a quiz lesson. So, I want you to participate. Write your answers in the chat in the comments. And let's begin with this one right here. Your brother must try to accept that he'll never be an author. I want you to use the word terms to create this new sentence that has the same meaning as your brother must try to accept that he'll never be an author author. Your brother must m the fact that he'll never be an author. So I'm giving you part of the sentence but I want you to use that word to finish the sentence so that it has the same meaning. And I see a lot of uh great answers. The the answer is to come must come to terms with your brother must come to terms with the fact that he'll never be an author. And this is a great phrase and that is the one that I want to highlight to come to terms with something. It just means that you need to accept something. And typically you're having to accept something that is difficult or painful or unpleasant and it's almost like you just have to face it. Yes, this is true and I have to come to terms with this reality that I that I would not like to accept. So, this is the sentence. Your brother must come to terms with the fact that he'll never be an author. The next one, what do you think? Again, I want you to write your answers in the chat in the comments. So the first sentence, I felt so relaxed at her apartment because her friends greeted me so greeted me so warmly. I want you to use the word ease to complete the next sentence. Her friends m with the warmth of their greeting. How can we complete that sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first? I felt so relaxed at her apartment because her friends greeted me so warmly. [snorts] One thing I will say because I I want you to let me know how you did at the end of the lesson. When it comes to these, really try to think about the grammar. Think about the verb tense that you're using. Is it the past? Is it the present? And also think about those small things like prepositions. Make sure you're using the right one because if there is a small mistake technically it would be it would be viewed as incorrect. So in this case uh we're talking about using the word ease and the answer her friends made me feel at ease with the warmth of their greeting. And again, you'd want to use the entirety of that phrase. Made me feel at ease. We're talking about something at the at in the past. So, this is the the phrase that I want to highlight. If you make someone feel at ease, you're just they're just they have no worries. There's no awkwardness. You're able to to feel make someone feel relaxed. her friends made me feel at ease with the warmth of their greeting. Now, I I will say because I've seen it in the chat there, there may be more than one way to answer these because you can make someone feel at ease or you could put someone at ease. I see some of those responses. If you were to say, "Her friends put me at ease with the warmth of their greeting." I think that's okay. That would work as well because when it comes to English, there are sometimes a variety of answers. There are there's more than one verb that you could use. In this case, this both of them are collocations. To make someone feel at ease or to put someone at ease. I think either one works. [snorts] How about this one? What do you think? My friend plays golf better than I do. I want you to use the word nearly. I am not m as my friend and create a sentence so that it has the same meaning as the the first one. So again, if you're just you're just joining we're we're doing some sentence transformations. I want you to use well I'm testing both your vocabulary and grammar skills in order to do this activity correctly. So, I want you to use the word nearly and create a sentence. My that means the same as my friend plays golf better than I do. The answer hopefully what you're thinking because I know these are a little longer. You got to type a little faster. I am not nearly as good at golf as my friend. You're not nearly as good as someone in this case. Excellent. I think a lot of you uh did pretty well with that one. So, I want you to think about that phrase. You're not nearly as good at something as someone. And you could use this to express this idea when you're stating that one is not as good as the other when you want to compare the two. And I think this is often done when talking about people and their ability to do something. You're like, "Wow, I'm I'm not nearly as good as my colleague at presenting or I'm not nearly as good as my brother at surfing." And you're not nearly as good at something as someone. It's a great expression to know. The next one, let's keep it rolling. I had no problems at all during my trip to Italy. I want you to use the word plan and complete the next sentence so that it has the same meaning. Everything m during my trip to Italy. Again, sometimes there there may be another word or two you could tweak and it's also correct. I I will of course I'm giving you my answers as to how I would finish these sentences. Uh, I had no problems at all during my trip to Italy. The other thing that I feel like is a little more challenging for you guys right now is that I'm, you know, I'm giving you a little bit of time, but not too much. Some of these can really be a bit tricky and often it may take people, even native speakers, it may take them some time to figure it out. It is a little bit of a puzzle, which is one reason I really like these exercises. So, if we want to use the word plan and make it give it the same meaning as the first sentence, I could say, "Everything went according to plan during my trip to Italy." went according to plan. Excellent. I think people did uh pretty well with that one. So, the phrase that we're talking about to go according to plan in this case, this is finished. So, we're going to use it in the past. It went according to plan. Keep that in mind. Again, these are some of the small nuances. But if you say that something goes according to plan, it just means it happens in the way that that you intended. And you might say, "Oh, yeah. Everything went uh according to plan." Or, "I hope everything goes according to plan." So, this is a great phrase to learn to go according to plan. How about this next one right here? The heavy downpour brought their picnic to an abrupt end. I want you to use the word cut. They had to m because of the heavy downpour. A lot of times I feel like you can you see that word, that keyword, and you know the phrase that needs to go in there and then it's just a matter of filling it in correctly. Like I said, using the correct grammar and it may be something as subtle as the verb tense. Instead of being in the present, it should be in the past. So these are things to keep in mind when you want to make sure that the meaning is exactly the same. So, we're going to use the word cut and create a new sentence that means the same thing as the heavy downpour brought their picnic to an abrupt end. What you could say is they had to cut their picnic short because of the heavy downpour. They had to cut their picnic short because of the heavy downpour. So again, though I you should include all of those words to cut something short. In this case, we're cutting their picnic short because of the heavy downpour. So if you are cutting something short or you need to cut short something, typically I feel like you're going to put that in between cut and short. to cut something short. It means you just have to you have to stop doing it before it's finished. Maybe you don't have time. You run out of time. In this case, something the heavy downpour caused them to cut their picnic short. They had to cut their picnic short because of the heavy downpour. Excellent. What do you think? Do you think she was offended by what I said? I want you to use the word exception to come up with another question that really means pretty much the same thing. Do you think m remarks? Do you think m remarks? This one I I do believe is a little trickier because you need to come up with the the phrase that I'm looking for with the word exception and then I'll give you a little bit of a hint. Keep in mind the preposition that you're going to follow it with. Do you think m remarks? We're going to use the word exception to come up with another question that means the same as do you think she was offended by what I said. So the phrase I'll go ahead and and tell you the the answer and again if you if you got it right you can let me know by by hitting that like button. But this one is definitely a little trickier to to take exception. Once again we're talking about something in the past. Do you think she took exception to my remarks? Because this is the person who was speaking to take exception to something. So you're going to follow this with to take exception to something. In this case, do you think she took exception to my remarks? Because again, I was the one saying these things. So to when you take exception to something, this is a a more advanced phrase. It means you are offended or something made you angry and you could uh take exception to something. Do you think she took exception to my remarks? If you got that one, that that's that's impressive. Good job. Especially in the the limited amount of time that I'm giving you. The next one, there has been a sharp increase in the price of oil. I want you to use the word up the price of oil last month. What do you think? What could you use? So, there has been a sharp increase in the price of oil. I want you to use up use a specific phrase so that it has the same meaning. This one uh there is I would say in order to make it more accurate, there is a specific verb that I would use. And I know that uh one verb that everybody's thinking of right now is not the one that I'm thinking of. You could use it, but remember we're talking about a sharp increase. So, in order to make it a little more accurate, what verb could we use? Now, you could say something goes up, in which case it increases, but there's another verb that you could use to really represent a sharp increase. And that's why I keep saying that it it'll make it a little more accurate. So the price of oil m last month we could use the word up and complete this sentence. It has the same meaning as there has been a sharp increase in the price of oil or the price of oil has shot up in the last month. Of course I saw a lot of people put uh went up again using uh like the price of oil. In this case I would say you'd want to stick with the present perfect. So, I'd say it has gone up in the last month, it started in the past and it's continued to the present. But to be a little more accurate, because if you say something has gone up in the last month, that just tells me it it has increased. I don't really know by how much. But in the first sentence, because it's a sharp increase, that's why I would say that shot up is a bit more accurate. Then you know that it is a sharp increase. the price of oil has shot up in the last month. And and hopefully as I've, you know, going through and explaining this, it makes sense the difference between saying something has gone up versus something has shot up. So if using shot up is just going to uh allow you to be a little more specific in this um context. So if you say that something shoots up, there are multiple meanings for this. I'm sure you could probably think of some other meanings, but the one in our example, the meaning is to increase very quickly in size or amount. The price of oil has shot up in the last month. A lot of times you're going to hear this phrase when people are talking about prices like wow prices have really shot up over the the last year. The these prices keep you know they just you know shooting up. So again shoot up has multiple meanings but in this case we're talking about increasing quickly and really like almost like all of a sudden maybe you weren't expecting it. How about uh this sentence? The company takes complaints seriously. I'm not giving you a lot. I want you to use the word saying to complete this sentence. It by the company it by the company. So there are a lot of there are quite a few missing words in here. there's an expression that I want to highlight or a phrase that and then and then you could complete the rest of the sentence. So, one thing to give you a little bit of a hint, the company takes complaints seriously. This sentence is uh the active this is the active voice. The next sentence, well, now I'm [laughter] now I am giving you more of a hint. You see that by the company that is a bit of an indicator that you're going to write a sentence in the passive. Now, so you got to think of the expression and then finish writing the sentence in the passive. And I see that uh people are kind of getting get you got the expression, you got the phrase that especially the one that I want to highlight. But then how would you complete the rest of the sentence? It goes without saying. That is the phrase that uh we're talking about using this word. And if we want to complete the rest of the sentence using the passive, I would say it goes without saying that complaints are taken seriously by the company. This is a sentence in the passive and the opposite would be the active. the company takes complaints seriously or it goes without saying that complaints are taken seriously by the company. So if you want to say or use the phrase it goes without saying that is the one that I want to highlight. Now what I will say also is again this is a transformation exercise. Uh it's used a lot on proficiency exams. Most of the time you're going to use the active as you can see that it's a lot more concise. it's a little easier to just follow understand yeah the company takes complaints seriously but you may use the passive in certain instances um uh for example like you want to highlight the um actor in this case. So it goes without saying that complaints are taken seriously by the company, not the actor, but uh in this case complaints. You may you may use the passive, but there it is a lot more it's a lot wordier. So I don't think it is as often used. But a great phrase whenever you want to say that something is obvious, you could say it goes without saying. A lot of times I think people may use this phrase when they want to share their opinion about something and you want to say that well your thought or your opinion you think it's obvious. Well, it goes without saying that we should do this or it goes without saying that this is probably going to happen. So in this case we're talking about it goes without saying that complaints are taken seriously by the company. He became famous but it cost him his privacy. What do you think? His rise of his privacy. I want you to use the word expense. I think now that you see the keyword, you could probably think about the phrase that would go in there. And then it's just a matter you you know the vocabulary. Then it's just a matter of figuring out the grammar that would go uh with it. So what do you think? His rise of his privacy. We're using the word expense. So our first original sentence, he became famous, but it cost him his privacy. His rise of his privacy. So I think you know expense like at the expense we're often going to follow that with of at the expense of something. One other word that you would need to change in there in order to make it the same famous. We're going to change that word and instead we're going to use his rise to fame. His rise to fame came at the expense of his privacy. his rise to fame came at the expense of his privacy. And if you say that well to something, you know, comes at the expense of something else, this is a uh a way that well, you know, it embarrasses or harms someone or something that you're you're basically losing something. And that's what makes it a little harmful or sometimes embarrassing. something comes at the expense of something else. Like in our example, his rise to fame came at the expense of his privacy. What do you think? I think for the you guys are you guys are are doing pretty good. I think especially identifying the vocabulary, these uh different phrases that I want to highlight and then the other tricky part is using the grammar so that the sentence has the same meaning. Jennifer has had a cold since Thanksgiving. Jennifer's had a cold since Thanksgiving. This This is also a little trickier. Jennifer M at Thanksgiving. I want you to use the word over and come up with another sentence that has the same meaning as Jennifer has had a cold since Thanksgiving. That's probably the more common sentence you would use in this situation. And yeah, it's a little more concise. Yeah, Jennifer's had a cold since Thanksgiving. But of course, there are other ways that you can say it, such as the one that I'm about to share with you. So, I feel like again, you're you probably could identify the phrase that I want to teach you. We're talking about over to get over something. But we're not going we're gonna you got to use the grammar because you can see has had we're talking about the present perfect started in the past. It's continued to now. And I would say Jennifer has not or hasn't gotten over the cold she caught at Thanksgiving. Now you could say gotten or got. Either one works. Both are used as the past participle. So I could say Jennifer hasn't got over the cold she caught at Thanksgiving. That works as well, but typically but we are going to use that u the present perfect. And in this case, we're using the negative. She has not gotten over the cold she caught at Thanksgiving. [snorts] All right. So to get over something, I feel like this is a phrase you probably know. I think it's pretty common. You are, you know, you're talking about getting better after an illness or you're feeling better after something that has made you unhappy. A lot of times it's used in the context of being sick, like in this example, Jennifer hasn't gotten over the cold she caught at Thanksgiving. Other times that you may use this phrasal verb is when talking about relationships. There's somebody goes through a breakup and say, "Oh, yeah. I haven't gotten over my ex." And that is another common time when you may come across or people could use this phrasal verb, but the meaning is the same. You're trying to get better after an illness or just something that has made you unhappy. So, this is a review of the different phrases that I wanted to highlight. As we went through this, I told you we were testing both vocabulary and grammar. And if you want to get these lesson notes, check out that link down below in the description. I think these are not just useful phrases. I think they're fairly common and they are more a little more advanced, but they're a great way to be a little more precise, to be more descriptive, and also just develop that natural way of speaking or writing. Now, for the moment of truth, I'm just I'm always curious. All right. Th this is not uh this is not a real standard by any means, but I I just want to to know what what do you think? I'd love to get your feedback. How did you do on the quiz? --- ## 734. You are FLUENT in Thanksgiving if you can answer these | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `hm-V4XZQB_A` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm-V4XZQB_A) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:08:50 | --- You are fluent in Thanksgiving if you can answer these questions. So, I have a vocabulary quiz for you. And if you are someone who enjoys building your vocabulary, then I would ask that you please subscribe, turn on notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And I look, let me address the first question or first thing that you may be thinking, which is, Wes, I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. And you know, if that's the case, that's perfectly okay. This is a popular family holiday in the United States, which is where I am from. And I you can think of this as a little bit of a cultural lesson as well. Even though some of the vocabulary that I'm going to present and go over it can be used in a variety of other context and situations as well. And I promise I do I say this every lesson, but I promise that you will learn something new. And if this is your first time here, let me know. Write to me in the chat, in the comments. Tell me where you're from. I just love hearing from you guys. The other thing I want to mention is that if you would like a copy of the lesson notes that you see right here, check out the link down in the description. You can join our email community. And if you are already a part of the email community, check your inbox because I have sent them to you or at least they're on the way. I'll go ahead and throw that link in the chat as well. So, let's just go ahead and get started with some collocations and idioms. If you're unfamiliar, collocations are words that are frequently used together. So, the first question that I have for you, and I want you all to participate because this is interactive English after all. It's all about you guys participating in these lessons. I want you to fill in the blank. Uh, who would like to m the turkey? Write your answer in the comments in the chat. I already see a lot of familiar names in the chat. Great to see everyone. I'll try to give some shout outs as I go through this. Uh, good to see some members. Oh, Lai, uh, Takaya or Melinda. Excellent. Rafella. Perfect. So, what do you think? Who would like to the turkey? I I'll go ahead and tell you that the answer is not cut because some of you might be thinking, "Oh, okay. Cut the turkey." Which again, I don't want to say that's incorrect. But I'm looking for a different verb. I'm looking for a more precise verb that's often used when talking about turkey because you're going to I don't want to say the verb, but you're going to create like these slices. So, this is a verb that you would use in this context when talking about turkey because yeah, everybody Thanksgiving, this is like the one thing that everybody thinks about. It's turkey, turkey, turkey. Great job. Uh, nice, Julia. The answer is carve. Who would like to carve the turkey? Now, of course, there are other verbs that you could fill in that would actually they would fit if I saw some answers like who would like to, you know, eat the turkey, cut the turkey, uh, cook the turkey, stuff the turkey. There there are, of course, many different verbs that you could put in there. In this case, I I was looking for carve, and I mentioned before that, you know, not don't think about cut. In this case, we're going to use carve. Who would like to carve the turkey? But I like everybody's energy and enthusiasm and going through and answering these questions. it's a little more difficult. Uh but let me I'll read this to you. Thanksgiving is a family holiday and some people may homage to their ancestors and those who came before them. Now, of course, not some families do this. And the key word in there is homage. I will tell you the meaning of that after. And this is a collocation. If you're talking about homage, which verb are you going to use? You're going to m homage to their ancestors and those who came before them. I'll go ahead and this is not the most common phrase in the world. It is something that again you may come across it during certain events or holidays. In this case, we're talking about Thanksgiving. And wow, you guys uh you're spot on with this one. To pay homage. Well done. Uh Chestnut, Tom, Raphaela, Jerry, uh or Melinda. Nice. Excellent. W I thought I thought this one would be a little more uh challenging. So I I gave you the meaning down here to pay homage is you're showing deep respect often praise that you would show to a a person or God and you pay homage. So it does apply to this situation if you're paying homage to your ancestors. You say what you're thankful for, you're grateful for at least at Thanksgiving and you're yeah you're paying homage to those who came before you. Well done. Well done everyone. Bonus points for you. At Thanksgiving, we should count our This is another It's a phrase. I I'll go ahead and say, you know, it's like a it's a collocation. I don't think it's an idiom necessarily because I think the meaning is kind of like what it says. So, in this case, it's a common phrase. This is one that you you again, you don't have to just use it at Thanksgiving. I think it fits in with this holiday and what people tend to do around Thanksgiving and it's kind of embodies that Thanksgiving spirit. And I think this is a phrase that many of you have have heard of before. You may hear it when watching movies or TV shows. We should count our And once again, I see you guys are on top of this. The answer is blessings. To count our blessings or count one's blessings. Just make sure you are going to use that possessive adjective. Count my blessings. Count your blessings. Well done, Lai Angela. Uh, nice. So again, I I gave you I went ahead and gave you the meaning. But if you you say, look, you know, we should count our blessings. We should be grateful for the things that we have, which again is part of Thanksgiving. This is what some families will do and they, you know, they they say thanks for the things that they have been blessed with. Here is another phrase that is relevant to Thanksgiving because it is a food holiday. We're we're going to talk about food in just a moment. But again, you could use this phrase when I I think it would really come up anytime there is a gathering, a larger number of people who are going to get together and they're going to eat together, whether breakfast, lunch, or dinner. You may ask this question, who is going to m the table? You see the picture of the silverware, that knife and fork. That is a little bit of a hint. So in this case, I'm basically asking you which verb is going to complete this question to m the table. Wow, you guys. Uh this is good. This is good. You guys you guys are definitely advanced. The qu the answer which many of you knew is set the table. Well done, Whitney. Uh, Ratman, Takayo, Tom, Muhammad, uh, Sai, nice, good to see you. Good. Excellent. Just trying to give some shout outs as we go through this. So, when you set the table, somebody would go around and they put down like the napkin, the fork, the spoon, the knife, and again, it's a ph it's a phrase that you would typically use if you're talking about a group of people. It could just be four or more, but in this case, somebody is going to set the table and everybody will eat together. Definitely something you would hear at Thanksgiving. Now, this I'm going to I'm trying to make it a little more difficult. And I will go ahead and say that this is an idiom and it's not directly linked to Thanksgiving. There is a word in this idiom that is definitely connected with Thanksgiving. That's as much of a hint as I'm going to give you. The key word in here would be quit. I'm going to quit. I tried to show there are two blanks there. So, this is a phrase. I've gone ahead and said it's an idiom. A key word is quit. And I would say that with this idiom that is a collocation to quit. And again, I think when once I show you the answer, if if you weren't sure, I I know you can see some of the answers in the chat. I think, okay, yeah, I think I've heard this before. Somebody's pushing something away. They're trying to quit and they're going to quit cold turkey. Nice. Excellent. Uh Manuel, Angela, excellent snowflakes. So, if you say that you're going to quit cold turkey or that somebody quits something cold turkey, they stop suddenly and completely. And often you end up using this idiom when referring to like a drug, whether it's alcohol or cigarettes. I feel like those are the two most common things that people would talk about trying to quit and quit cold turkey suddenly and completely. All right, this is another one that Okay, let's let's just read it. Moving across the country allowed me to meet my future wife. It turned out to be a Now, I just gave one line there. It is more than one word. This is a phrase. It's also a phrase or it's an idiom that you could use apart from Thanksgiving. any situation that would fit this description. So, think about what's going on. You, this person moved across the country. Perhaps they didn't want to. They were a little nervous. It wasn't They were unsure about moving across the country, but they met their future wife. If we're looking at this picture, they they had a family and they're very happy. So, it turned out to be a what? So, I haven't seen the answer yet. So, I'll give you a little more time. I I see some people are like blessing. Keep going. I told you this is a phrase, not just one one word. Blessing. And then what are you going to follow that with? And excellent, Ava or Melinda. A blessing in disguise. So, of course, if you said something turned out to be a blessing, that that works. that that fits this context, this situation. But if we're talking about a blessing in disguise, this is an idiom. I gave you the meaning down there. It's a misfortune that eventually has good results. And that's why I tried to set this up that well maybe this person didn't want to move across the country, but then this good thing happened and there were good results. The future wife had a family. It was a blessing in disguise. And once again, you could use this to describe a variety of situations in which some unfortunate situation eventually has good results, a blessing in disguise. So, let's in case you're hungry, let's get to the the next part and talk about food. Because, of course, Thanksgiving is a food. It's a family holiday, but I'd say it's also a food holiday. This is something else that people think about when they hear uh Thanksgiving. So, what I want to do now, and I want to test your food knowledge, so it it it's still vocabulary, but it's uh also well, you you'll see. I'm going to show you a picture of some food, and I just want you to tell me what it is. And again, I want you to be precise. So, here is your first one. This is something that you'll you would see on the table uh at many Thanksgiving gatherings. And I I imagine you know the the the food, but what is the name specifically of this? Okay. So, what what do you think? It's first time that I'm live. All right, Daniela, welcome. Awesome. First time live. Perfect. So, I know that you I'm going to go ahead and tell you like you need to give me more than just corn. So, what else would you follow it? This is corn m the so kind of it's it's four words and one thing keep in mind that preposition. So, it's not corn in but corn on. Corn on what? Corn on the cob. Corn on the cob. So again, this is I was looking for the that full phrase, corn on the cob. And yeah, this is something that I think many people eat at Thanksgiving. So here is the next one. And again, I think most families would eat this at Thanksgiving. Of course, you could eat this in, you know, other times of the year, but I just don't think it's as often. I I don't think it's as often prepared. So, basically, just I I can go ahead and try to describe this to you. It's like you have um bread mixed in with some vegetables, mostly I think like celery and onions and this bread crust, and it's baked together. It's still it's soft. It's delicious. And this well done, Lai uh Ratman fatty acid. I love the name stuffing. So Thanksgiving, you're going to eat corn on the cob. You're going to have some stuffing. And of course, you're going to have some of this as well. I think this one I I think some of these food items you're familiar with, maybe you forgot the name, but definitely if you're talking if you know somebody from the US and you're having a conversation about Thanksgiving, food is something that you would you may definitely talk about. So, it's good to know some of these words and phrases and you could ask somebody, hey, you know, do you guys prepare a lot of corn on the cob? Are you going to have who's going to make the stuffing? you you you end up using a lot of what what is this? This is something that I've noticed because I've somebody who's, you know, lived outside of the US, I feel like it's not as common in many other places that I've lived. Unfortunately, I'd really love this. And excellent. Well done. Uh Lai Raphaela gravy. We're talking about gravy. I think in uh the US gravy something that uh Americans love. And you put gravy on the turkey. You put gravy on the stuffing. You can put graving on not on the corn on the cob generally. No. I maybe somebody does, but gravy is something. Yeah. You're going to use it. This would be I guess your your dessert. So, of course, you can look at this picture and you see that, okay, this is a piece of pie. And of course, I want you to tell me what kind of pie is this right here. Think about Thanksgiving, the fall season. Don't I don't want to give it away too much, but what what would you think about in the fall? We just had Halloween and at least in the US they did and I think many other countries are starting to participate in Halloween. But of course at Halloween a big thing are those pumpkins and at Thanksgiving you are going to have some pumpkin pie. All right, pumpkin pie. Well done. All right, everybody uh did really well on that one. Excellent. Okay, here is this is actually one of this is something I look forward to at Thanksgiving. I really enjoy this food right here. And what what is it? And this again, every everybody's different. I feel like growing up, this is something that really at least I would only have around Thanksgiving. It's not something that I would end up eating throughout the year. So, what do you think? Looking at the picture, you can probably tell that this is some type of bread. And I'll go ahead and give you that. What kind of bread? And you see that that slice of butter on top there. And you're not going to put butter on top like it's a little hat. It's just kind of showing you yes, there is butter that you would use when preparing this bread. Excellent. Lyc Gloria cornbread. Cornbread is also very popular at Thanksgiving. Kind of tried to run through the most important things apart from turkey which I think you know which we we were looking at a turkey at the very beginning. All right, this this last one is more challenging and I just wanted to throw this one in there because maybe this is a new word. It's not a word that you're going to go out and use that you're probably going to come across that much, but again, I wanted to to try to throw something new each and every lesson. So, let me explain the looking at this picture. What would you call like this whole thing? This mixture uh you you see this there there's food the you know the vegetables in there. What would you call that? All right. And okay perfect. So I think you many of you heard of the uh Whitney Angela Lai nice a cornicopia a cornicopia it refers to that really like I said this picture that symbol it's like a symbol of nourishment and you have that hornshaped container that is overflowing with maybe produce flowers nuts and it's a cornucopia. So, like I said, this is not a word that you're just going to go out and end up using in everyday conversation. So, let's let me make it a little more challenging. I told you this is a it's a vocabulary lesson, but it's also a cultural lesson. So, let's kind of move in to the cultural aspect of this and talk a little bit about the history and some of the traditions at Thanksgiving. So the first thing we'll see what how much you know about this American holiday. And I know some of you again people who follow me watch this channel actually live in the US or they're celebrating Thanksgiving or maybe some of you have celebrated Thanksgiving with someone before. What do you think? English settlers who traveled to America and established a colony in Plymouth Ma Massachusetts were called the what kind of leading into the first Thanksgiving and thinking about well the people that were a part of that. So when you think of Thanksgiving, especially the history, this is a word that would come up. And this these are the people that they may refer to, these English settlers. They traveled across uh to America to the new world. They established a colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts, and they were called, well done, Helina Lairenina, the pilgrims. So th this would be these uh settlers the name of this group who established this colony. Excellent. Rafella um Angela. So we we have the pilgrims Melinda Suma. Nice. I'm just going to keep throwing some shout outs in there and let's let's fast forward. They arrive in the new world and the event referred to as the first Thanksgiving. I'm putting it in quotes because it's not formally established like which was actually the first one. This is considered to be the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the pilgrims and the Wampaog people. The Wampenog was the um Native American tribe that was in the area and it was celebrated by the pilgrims and the Wampaog people in November of what year? So, I've given you four options down there. 1521, 1621, 1721, or 1821. I think just thinking about the history and I think you could probably kind of put this together which year I'm talking about. So, the answer, all right, you guys, excellent is November of 1621. This is when the pilgrims and the Wapanog came together and they celebrated the first Thanksgiving in November. All right. Then let's continue. And this actually I think this one's a little more challenging. Not necessarily. I it's it's part of Thanksgiving again the history because we're talking about the pilgrims and the wampaog and people are like well how did they you know did people really get along back then? Well, this is somebody who is in the middle of that as to whether or not they got along, who was kind of the bridge between the colonist and um the some of the Native American tribes. So, this person acted as an interpreter and guide to the pilgrim settlers at Plymouth during their first winter in the new world. I've given you four choices. Pocahontas, Geronimo, Saka Jawia, and Squanto. Again, I feel like maybe you could process of elimination because I'm sure maybe you've heard of some of these before. So, let me let me just kind of run through this. So, Geronimu was an Apache warrior much later on. All right, that's I think like the 1800s something. Saka Jawia was an interpreter, but Saka Jawia was an interpreter for Lois and Clark that expedition um which also came after Pocahontas is maybe you've seen the the Disney movie. Pocahontas, this would actually be like kind of I don't want to say the closest, but let me explain. So, Pocahontas was a uh I I guess you would say like a tribal princess of sorts. She married a a colonist actually at one point traveled to Europe and in Europe she crossed paths with Squanto. Squanto was somebody who was enslaved taken to Europe. I think they crossed paths with Pocahontas. So these two actually lived around the same time and Squanto then returned to the new world as an interpreter guide was kind of the person bridging part of that relationship between the pilgrims and the Wampaog. And so the answer is that's a very long explanation for Squanto being the answer to this question. So this is the the person who played a role in bridging that relationship. Here's another one that I think is pretty challenging. Which president made Thanksgiving Day a holiday? And I'm showing you this picture of Mount Rushmore because it's one of these. It's one of these guys right here. That's the answer. So, basically, it's another multiplechoice question. One of these presidents made Thanksgiving Day a holiday. We have George Washington. I'll just go in order. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, or Abraham Lincoln. Which which one of those? So, I'll give you another hint. This is somebody who served as president at a time when it was really important to try and bring the country together. And they made Thanksgiving Day a holiday. Before that, there were different like Thanksgiving Day proclamations as far as making a proclamation about this day. But this president wanted to bring the country together or needed to and they made Thanksgiving Day a holiday. Not that this was the thing that actually brought the country together, but during this during this time there was a lot of division. And me just saying that I imagine uh you know that the answer, yes, excellent, is Lincoln. Good job, Rafella Lai. Uh, Suma, Angela, Manuel. Nice. So, Abraham Lincoln is the first president that actually made Thanksgiving Day a holiday. And I believe that when Abraham Lincoln did this, he had originally, I think, said it's going to be um the last Thursday in November. And then over time, it's it's kind of changed. Now Thanksgiving is of course celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. That is when everybody recognizes and has this holiday. Okay, the last one. This is more recent. Let's we started uh you know definitely from the very beginning and now coming up to today a couple of traditions. This is again partly my opinion, but they're on Thanksgiving Day. Now, there are two things that people may watch on TV on Thanksgiving Day, and those two things are the what and what. Now, that doesn't mean many people don't even turn on the TV uh Thanksgiving Day, but if somebody is going to turn on the TV, probably they may watch one of these things or maybe they end up watching both of them. What do you think? So, they're two different things. I want to see if anybody can kind of think, Vivian, you're on the right track. You're you're definitely on the right track. So, the two things that are odd, Fatty, I said again, you're kind of on the right track. So, the the Super Bowl is not until uh later. The Super Bowl is going to be uh next year. So, right now, we're I think about like at this time like week 11, week 12 in the football season. So, you you're on the right track because it's not the Super Bowl because that's the final game of the season. But in general, I would say football. Love the videos of Wes. Yes, that would be that would be awesome, too. Uh, love that answer. Lillly football in general because the season is still going on, but it's the fourth again the fourth Thursday of November. There are professional football games on Thursday and they have two different games. It's kind of a I guess you could say it's maybe become a tradition, a sport tradition in the United States. So people are either they may watch football or in the morning they may watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. So yes, parade is a correct answer. If you want to be specific, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And the reason I'm listing that is because I feel like Macy's has been I think sponsoring this parade for a long time, ever since I was a kid. And it's basically that that is the parade. So you're right if you said, you know, football parade, that's perfect. But those are two things that people may watch um on Thanksgiving Day. Either one or both or perhaps just nothing. So again, I hopefully you learned one or two new things about this holiday. Here is a list of uh just a little bit of review. I I feel like the collocations and idioms part of this may be a little more relevant because these are things that you may actually use in conversation if you're talking about setting the table or we should count our blessings or something as a blessing in disguise. Of course, what I'd like to do before you before you head out, I'd like to see how well you did on this quiz. So again, I'm going to put in a poll. quiz? All right, let's uh Oh, whoops. Not a Q&A. That's not the one that I want to do. I want to do a quiz. Okay, so I I'm trying to think of some creative things to say. Um I Okay, I I'm just say I did great. Um not bad. And let's see. Uh the last one, I'm such a turkey. Like if you call yourself turkey, okay, that's not good. And that would tell me that okay, maybe you need to study a little more about Thanksgiving. Not that it's necessary because like I said, this is a a popular American holiday. So once again, I know many of you, you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, which is fine. It's more of a cultural lesson, especially vocabulary that you may come across if you're you're listening to somebody talk about Thanksgiving or you're in a conversation and people are celebrating Thanksgiving or maybe you just happen to be traveling to the US in November and it's going to be Thanksgiving and yeah, you could maybe use or come across some of these words. So, it seems like a little bit of a mix as far as how well everybody did it on the the quiz, but I think most people seem to be in that not bad camp. But I always, as always, I really thank you for participating in these lessons. That is what it's all about. That's the most important thing. And again, if you want to get a copy of these notes, check out that link down below in the description. Join our email community. And from time to time, I will send you some of these useful resources whenever I do these live lessons. Uh, well, thank you so much. Uh, I want to just give some more shout outs. Safella, good to see you. Uh, Taya, good to see you, too. I'll see you soon. Uh, Manuel, Julia, Ava, Lai, uh, Angela, thanks for being here. Fatty acid. Um, trying to think. Okay. I I I guess I probably should should wrap things up. So, oh, I can use some of these, too. Like, oh, all right. I can put up some hearts and smiley faces and All right. I just learned that now. Perfect. Okay. Maybe I'll start taking advantage of that. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving if you happen to be celebrating this holiday. If not, I just hope you have a wonderful uh Thursday. Enjoy the upcoming weekend and I will see you soon, very soon in the future for another lesson. So long. See you then. --- ## 735. You are obviously fluent in English if you can understand these | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `HfOQQ85XkNw` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfOQQ85XkNw) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:55:27 | --- I imagine that you want to achieve some level of English fluency and I have one question for you are you working hard or hardly working [Music] I thought it was funny it's just a joke and that's what I want to talk to you about in today's lesson and if you enjoy jokes and laughing while learning English please subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English which is all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and right now I want to test you to see how far you've come along when it comes to English fluency as you probably know jokes are brief stories observations or thoughts that have a setup followed by a punch line that creates laughter and this is an important phrase when talking about jokes and I have quite a bit of vocabulary in this lesson but a punch line is the last part of a joke or story that explains what previously happened or explains what makes it funny so what does this have to do with English fluency well when you understand jokes in another language which it really shows that you have a deep understanding not only of vocabulary grammar or pronunciation but other cultural aspects as well let's begin with wordplay and there are many types of jokes that use wordplay puns one-liners double entendras we'll talk about all of them that question that I asked you at the very beginning uses wordplay are you working hard or hardly working and even though the phrase is working hard and hardly working they sound similar they're really opposites and the key words are those adverbs hard and hardly because hard is an adverb that means you put a lot of effort into something you work hard you play hard while hardly this adverb of degree means barely so this is a question that I would sometimes jokingly ask students sometimes they would get it sometimes they wouldn't but it's a fun question to play around with let's look at some more examples and we'll begin with puns and this is an amusing use of a word or phrase that has more than one meaning or just sounds like another word or phrase are you ready here we go what did the duck say when the waiter gave him the check put it on my bill okay so in this case we're talking about a duck bill versus Bill meaning check and that joke may seem a little cheesy which is an adjective that you could use to describe a joke that's low quality but I I have more the next one I used to hate facial hair but then it grew on me that may also be a little cheesy facial hair can grow on you but if something grows on you you can use that to say that you get use to it let's let's now listen to some and this well first one's from Doc talk and I will put links to these sources Down Below in the description all right let's let's listen to this I got fired from the bank today a woman asked me to check her balance so I pushed her okay so we're talking about the word balance if you're checking a balance at the bank then you just want to know how much money is in the account but balance could also refer to your ability to stand vertically and yes he pushed her all right here's another one my dog accidentally ate a whole bag of Scrabble tiles so I took him to the vet no word yet actually I like this joke if you are not familiar with the game Scrabble then it may not make much sense because when you play Scrabble you use letters to try to form words so he takes the dog to the vet and when he says no word yet it kind of makes you think like the vet is trying to play the game and create a word but no word yet could also be used to say that you just haven't been given any updates or you haven't heard any information the next type of joke that I'm going to tell you and it uses wordplay one-liners these are well jokes funny remarks or answers that are really just one sentence not always but often and the first one-liner is I haven't slept for 10 days because that would be way too long so in this case if somebody says they haven't slept for a period of time that means well they have not been sleeping it's not a good thing but you could also interpret this sentence as meaning somebody's not going to do this in the future because yeah sleeping for 10 days that's just a crazy idea and I know I'm explaining these even though you probably get it but I'm not going to explain this next one are you ready I Don't Like Cocaine I just like the way it smells if you're familiar with cocaine I'm sure you get the joke I want to listen to some more one-liners and this is from we got the chocolates again links down in the description here we go did you hear that the Dalai Lama has been arrested for gambling apparently he likes Tibet this one's a little cheesy the Dalai Lama gambling and the the word play is the word Tibet because it sounds like the phrase to bet to bet money to gamble as opposed to the place to bet uh here here's another one my mate went for a colonoscopy last week absolutely wrecked him that is this one the this one's a bit more difficult because we're talking about a colonoscopy if you're not familiar with this it's a medical procedure and I'm I'm not going to go into details as to what goes on but the the word play has to do with the word rectum which sounds like the phrase wrecked him and this is an informal phrase that means you're kind of just destroyed it was just unpleasant and that that kind of sums up a colonoscopy another form of word play is a double entender which contains a phrase that could be interpreted in more than one way and really there's an obvious interpretation and a not so obvious interpretation that may be rude inappropriate sexual or all of the above and I have a few examples of double entendras here is the first one we were just talking about one-liners so this caveman one-liner hi there I'm fully erect I actually think this both meanings are pretty obvious the one you're kind of standing erect and the other one I'm not gonna talk about the next two I think are especially funny because these are actual news headlines like this one A-Rod goes deep Wang hurts so this is referring to baseball but again it has well uh another interpretation that is sexual and pretty ridiculous but not as ridiculous as this news headline which is uh this this is pretty bad Julia Roberts finds life and her holes get better with age so this headline has a typo instead of the word holes they meant to say roles in talking about her roles in movies but they didn't say roles and because of that it's rude inappropriate sexual all of the above now we can't talk about jokes without talking about satire which is the humorous use of irony or sarcasm to ridicule people ideas institutions as well as social structures and I think one of the best sources for satire is an American newspaper called the onion and I love the onion and I'm from the United States and many of the articles are related to the US so some of these jokes may be a bit more difficult to understand because apart from vocabulary it also involves current events and culture so let's look at some news headlines new Community Health program teaches low-income Americans to ignore symptoms so I think this is uh in two parts taking a shot at the American Health Care system which is a bit of a mess as well as commenting on how lower income people are just not treated well here's the next one nerd who spent the summer getting into shape quickly discovers bully worked out twice as hard all right so this is these stories are not true they're they're made up but it's it's pretty funny here's a political one Trump turns self into Atlanta strip club and I think this is a current event but I think it's funny because I could actually see Trump heading over to a strip club in Atlanta but the paper makes fun of all politicians new poll finds most Americans see Biden as too old to effectively lead Congo line so taking a shot at Biden's age but also if you're unfamiliar with a Congo Line This is a dance that I think is associated with older people they form that line and the person in front is the leader but yeah Biden he's a bit old Elon Musk sues Mark Zuckerberg for being better at profiting off someone else's idea okay maybe that's true and no way to prevent this says only nation where this regularly happens commenting on the gun violence in the U.S and people constantly oh there was no way to prevent this really so these are great examples of satire You Gotta Love The Onion again link down in the description and if you understood most or all of these jokes well then I would say that you are pretty fluent in English and if you did understand most are all of them let me know down in the comments you can even tell me which one you thought was the funniest I hope you found this lesson useful and humorous if you did please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 736. You have certainly achieved fluency if you can change these. | Advanced Grammar (B2 - C2) | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `L6ymIk7ScKo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6ymIk7ScKo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:07:16 | --- You are fluent if you can change these. And I want to just let you know that if you are someone who enjoys developing your overall English fluency, please hit that like button, subscribe. That way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So in this lesson, I want to test your English fluency. Now the first thing that I want to say is that fluency is very subjective. I have met many learners over the years that I think they have achieved fluency but maybe they don't feel that way. So just keep that in mind because often when you talk about things like uh the IELTS or TOEFL instead of fluency they use words like proficiency as far as your ability. So keep that in mind that fluency is subjective. But yes, I think that if you can change all of these sentences and transform them, then yeah, you've certainly achieved fluency. So this is what we're going to do. We're going to take sentence one and we're going to change it into sentence number two. Like changing from a caterpillar into a butterfly. So this is an exercise that is called uh keyword transformation. So basically we I'm giving you one sentence and you need to change it so that it has the same meaning. You want to change it to another sentence that has the same meaning as the first one. And as we go through this I am going to start with some sentences that are more at the B2 level. This is a a level of upper intermediate proficiency and then we'll move to a C2 level C1 level and then onto a C2 level. Some of them may be a little easier than others, but in general, I think they they fall within these categories. Let's start with the first one. Some B2 sentence transformations, and you have a better idea as I show you this. So, you have this first sentence up here. This train should have arrived five minutes ago. I want you to use this word. This is the key word supposed. And I want you to put it in this sentence right here and complete it. So what I would say is that you can write your answer in the comments, write your answer in the chat. This is interactive English. I want you to participate in the lesson and yeah, let me know as I as I go through this. I will try to uh you know give some shoutouts here and there. So this train is late. It m five minutes ago. Okay, I want you to change it. So the first sentence, this train should have arrived five minutes ago. This is like our caterpillar. Let's change it into the butterfly down here. This train is late. It m five minutes ago. There are there are different ways to do this. So I'm going to give you one response. There may be other ways that are also correct. So, I don't want you to think that there is only one answer for all of these. It really depends on the sentence. Um, excellent, uh, Angela, uh, Rose. So, the answer I'll go ahead and show you because I have quite a few of these that I want to get through. This train is late. It was supposed to arrive five minutes ago. Supposed to do something. It was supposed to arrive five minutes ago. So both of these sentences have a similar meaning. Let's go ahead and look at the next one. So our first sentence, I regret not studying more for the exam. I want you to use the word only and include it in this other sentence. If m for the exam. So, generally when I give you these blanks, there's probably anywhere from three to five or six words that are missing. And I really like these exercises because I I say fluency because it's really testing both your grammar and your vocabulary. And I think this is important, your grammar and vocabulary. I see people putting in uh um some different answers for the last one. Excellent. Good to see you. Loi, Vicky, Gustav, welcome. Love seeing members uh join these live streams. So, what do you think? I regret not studying more for the exam. I want you to use the word only if more for the exam. All right. Nice. Li um tal missing one word in there. Only remember you got to include only. Nice, Julia. So, the answer, if only I had studied more for the exam. All right, so you regret something. You could express that like, oh, if only I had done this thing. That is another way of expressing regret. If only I had studied more for the exam. Excellent. Okay, the next one. Our spending will have to be reduced next year. I want you to take this again same meaning and put it in the next sentence. We will have m are spending next year. What do you think? So I actually think the again the meaning is the same but I think this is probably more commonly used if you want to express this thought or idea. At least that's the the way that I would say it uh in this case. So you got to uh you know we got to reduce our spending next year. How are we going to say the same thing using back? That is our key word. So there is again uh I think we're got it. Excellent. I see one correct answer. I can't apologize if I can't say everybody's name or give all the shout outs. Um, so we're talking about cutting back, but you need to follow that with another preposition. So, this is kind of like a three-word phrasal verb. You could think about it. Something that uh you need to do, which is to cut back on um well, you actually where is it? We need to cut back on our spending next year. So even then uh I think I forgot to include on I starting to think we need to we will have to cut back our spending next year that I think that that that works as well to cut back but I would actually say that I would add on to this. You want to cut back on something. So for example a lot of times people would talk about this with like eating something and you want to cut back on your sugar intake or something like that. I think cut back works, but uh I think cut back on would probably be better in this context. Again, I like to I find uh some things that I would like to change as I go through these lessons. The next one, I went for a walk. All right, he said. So, I put those quotation marks in there to show that this is direct speech. Somebody is actually saying this uh statement. I went for a walk. Okay. He said, I want you to change this and use the word said to complete this other sentence, which I'll go ahead and tell you uh is is indirect. So, we're changing something from direct speech to indirect speech. And I want you to think about how you would do this. And of course, you're going to use um the word said. This is a little more grammar because you need to think about the verb that is being used in direct speech and then how you are going to use that when you change it to a sentence that is indirect speech. I went for a walk. He said would be like changing this to the following. All right. See some good answers in there. He said he had gone for a walk. So in general if you say something in the present then then when you move that to indirect speech it will change to the past. In this case the sentence using the past I went for a walk. We're then going to use the past perfect. He said he had gone for a walk. And that is a sentence in indirect speech. Great job. I see some uh good answers. All right. We're going to we're going to start to make this a little more difficult. So now I have some more, but I would say this is more at the C1 level. So this is an advanced level of proficiency. And let's uh let's look at the first one. The company has a good reputation in the community. All right. The company has a good reputation in the community. You can read that sentence. I think you understand it. I want you to use the word highly and complete this sentence down here so that it has the same meaning changing a caterpillar into a butterfly. So the company m of in the community I think a word that would give you a hint would be that word of. So you can try to use that to think of other phrases that you could use with highly to express the same thing. The company has a good reputation in the community. The company of in the community. This one I would say is also again part vocabulary thinking of what phrase would you use so that it has the same meaning. So if we want to use the word highly so that it has the same meaning, you could say that the company is highly thought of in the community. If you think highly of someone or something, it would be like saying, well, yes, this person or this company has a good reputation. People think highly of this person or in this case the company to think highly of someone. Excellent. Nice. Um tal pela. Perfect. Uh good. Let's keep going. And the next C1 sentence transformation is right here. Yesterday, I informed my boss in writing that I would be leaving the company. I want you to use the word notice when completing the next sentence so that it has the same meaning. And I think maybe this one is a little easier. It depends on again, you know, what you end up studying when it comes to English because I think this is definitely more like business English. You would hear this. You're going to I don't want to give it away. I m to my boss yesterday. Somebody's leaving the company. What phrase are you going to use? And I you there again there are different ways. Um I see some again you handed in your notice that would work. I wouldn't say you really sent in your notice. You could hand it in. Or again, if I want to think of a collocation that you could also use with the word notice, you could give someone your resignation notice. I gave my my resignation notice to my boss yesterday. So, with this one, again, I think there are different ways you could complete this using the word notice. I did want to point out that that is a common collocation talking about your resignation notice. you're quitting, you're leaving the company, and you give your resignation notice. All right. Excellent. Um, yeah. And again, like I said, there are different ways. See something like your twoe notice. That's very common, especially, I think, in the US. Um, perfect. So, here's another one. And I want you to change this first sentence. I' I'm really giving you two sentences. some information about this person. If I said she is a full-time student and she is a a waitress. Okay, I'm giving you two sentences telling you about this person and I want you to use the word addition to complete the following in. She is also a a waitress. I feel like probably you're going to know how you're going to start this because it's a common phrase in but then you got to think about well how are you going to complete the rest of it so that it has the same meaning what are you going to follow um if you say well if I go ahead and tell you like in addition okay so in addition how are we going to uh what are we going to do um with that uh great job I See some excellent answers. Nice. Uh Angela English thought. Um Miranda. So when we start out with in addition. All right. In addition to what we're going to follow that with a jarn. In addition to maybe doing something. In this case, we're talking about the verb to be. She is a full-time student. So the gerand being in addition to being a full-time student, she is also a waitress. In addition to being a full-time student, she is also a waitress. So I think you can get that in addition to the the trickier part would be like, okay, what are we following that with the jiren? In addition to being uh something. All right, let's look at another one right here. I think learning to use a typewriter is a waste of time. Somebody may say this. Yeah, I think using the typewring to use the typewriter is a waste of time. I want you to express that same idea using point. I don't how to use a typewriter. Again, this is really getting the vocabulary juices flowing. you have this idea and you want to think, okay, what word or phrase do I need to use that means the same thing, but then you got to add the grammar on top of that to make sure that you're using the right grammar. Perhaps if it's an infinitive or a garand, uh, like we just talked about. So, I think learning to use a typewriter is a waste of time. Somebody could also say, I don't how to use a typewriter. In this case, I think uh we're talking about point. So, uh I see some some uh I I feel like again you could say like you don't uh get the point of doing something, but I think more commonly you could say I don't see the point. Um I don't see the point. What? I don't see the point of learning how to use a typewriter. So again, like you may hear people use it with get. I don't get the point of learning to use. In that case, if you're saying I don't get the point, it's almost like you don't understand. In this in this sense, it's like, well, you do understand what's going on. You just you just don't think it's important. You think it's a waste of time. So in that case, I think it's more appropriate to use a verb like see. I don't see the point. Um, like why are we doing this? The one thing that I want to point out with this is that we're following I don't see the point of doing something. But you may also follow it with in. You don't see the point in doing something. And this is when English can uh, you know become a little tricky. But let me show you. We can check out engram viewer. This is a way of us. Engram viewer takes like written English and then shows you how frequently certain phrases are used. And this is a perfect example that you can see both of these are correct. You don't see the point of doing something or you don't see the point in doing something. But as you can see, more commonly people are going to follow this with of. I don't see the point of doing this thing. But in is not that is not incorrect. And I know this is when English can be a little tricky and confusing, especially when it comes to these prepositions and people just want to follow a rule like wait is it of or is it in? And uh it can be a little frustrating if I sit here and tell you well you know both are okay. So let's look at some more difficult ones. These are C2 transformations. So again, this is the in Cambridge's highest level of proficiency and I have some sentences for you at this level. And again, it depends on the circumstance. Some of those other ones maybe seemed a little harder than these. It really just depends. It's difficult to know what my reaction would have been in that situation. I want you to use the word how and complete the sentence. I'm not in that situation. So, we're still ending the sentence within that situation. It's difficult to know what my reaction would have been in that situation. I'm not I almost said the word because I and then it would have started to give away the sentence. I'm not m in that situation. So, what else could you say that would have the same meaning? Again, write your answer in the comments. If you're watching this later, you can write your answer in the chat right now. I love it when people are participating in the lesson. So, in this case, think about I'm not. You know, thinking about that idea, I think you can put together the next word. I'm not sure. I'm not sure how. And then you could start piecing more of it together. Um, nice. I like some of these responses. So, here is the way you could complete the sentence. I'm not sure how I would have reacted in that situation. Would have plus the past participle, which in this case reacted. I'm not sure how I would have reacted in that situation. Here is the next one. Um, great job. Again, there many people. Uh, Vicki Gustav, nice. Uh, Julia, just give some more shout outs. We can drive, but I would prefer taking the train. Okay, so this is the first idea, and I want you to use the word averse and complete this sentence. Although m I would prefer taking the train. What do you think? Although m I would prefer taking the train. I think in this case I I would say you really need to know the meaning of our key word right here averse. And it is a more advanced a C2 word. And I think there are other again I don't want to give it away. Um if we use it as a noun again thinking of other words in the word family. Um so if you know the meaning of the word a verse you can start to piece it together. So that's why I said this is really vocabulary and grammar which is why I love these exercises. You're testing two things uh at once. You get the best of both worlds. We can drive, but I prefer taking the train. We could start out the sentence. Although, all right, we're talking about averse. Averse means like um you know, you don't really want to do something. But in this case, you're saying, well, we can drive. So, in that case, you would want to say, I am not averse to driving. You are not averse to doing something. It means like, well, you will do it. you are willing to do this thing. Like in that first sentence, we can drive. So although I'm not averse to driving, I'm not completely against it. I would prefer taking the train. So that's why I said you kind of need to know the word averse. You're not averse to doing something. And I mentioned another word in the word family like an aversion. If you say you have an aversion to something, you have a dislike to doing this. So if I said, "Oh, I have an aversion to um raw eggs." All right? Then I just don't like it. So in this case, you don't want to say that like, "Oh, although I'm not averse to doing this thing that you're okay with it. It's fine." So that one's a little little trickier. You really need to know again the meaning of averse and then understand that you need to put it in the negative. You're not averse to doing something. you're willing to do it. All right. Here is the next sentence, which is true. Okay. Next Wednesday is my seventh wedding anniversary. I want you to use the word will. Put it in this sentence right here. Next Wednesday. M years. Again, I I I have to I want to keep like kind of keep the conversation going. I just don't want to sit here in silence. Obviously, you guys can kind of think it through. But as I talk, I end up, you know, giving hints and I don't want to do that just yet. So, I want you to use will. All right. Well, thank you for the congratulations. I appreciate it. Next Wednesday years. So one thing we're saying like my seventh wedding anniversary you can see that the word seventh that is a ordinal number. Okay first second third fourth fifth. Down here we're talking about years and with years you're not going to use ordinal numbers. You're going to use cardinal numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Okay? So you know that the sentence is going to end seven years and then how can you kind of piece it together uh from there? Nice. Uh tal. Um good job. So we're talking about next Wednesday. All right. What is the the subject of the sentence? It is me. I All right. And then what what verb tense are are we going to use? All right. In this case, we're talking about the future perfect next Wednesday because that is in the future. I will have been married for 7 years. It started in the past and has continued not to the present but to a future moment which is next Wednesday. So, that's where you really got to think uh about the grammar. So, excellent. Nice. Um, uh, as far as getting that grammar, Vicky Gustaf, uh, Talal, um, Ava, well done. Um, so in thinking about these, I see some sentences that again are very close but maybe missing one word, like perhaps you were missing that uh, helping verb have. So in that case, again, I will have been married for seven years. Here's the next one. Once this contract is signed, the agreement is binding. Once this contract is signed, the agreement is binding. I want you to use the word by to complete the sentence. As soon as you m and then the agreement there again with notice as these get uh more difficult, there are more words missing uh in these sentences. So you need to think of you know several words that you're going to use to complete the sentence and using by and one of the key words in there which I think again you can change it around one of the key words in this first sentence is binding. All right. You say something is binding that um it is formal. You cannot get out of it. That typically in the eyes of the law. But in thinking about binding, you can use that or part of that word with by. So what are we talking about doing? We're talking about, you know, once the contract is signed. So in this case, as soon as you do what? As soon as you sign the contract. All right. What happens? Okay. So it's really a it's a complex sentence in two parts. Uh I see close uh Tatiana as far as think about that subject. Um because we're talking about you. If I if I really want to be nitpicky with some of the grammar, as soon as you do something, which is sign the contract, then you are bound by the agreement. So, saying something is binding. Another way of phrasing this is saying that you are bound by something. We're using that past participle um and then by this thing. You are bound by the agreement. So again, these can can be a bit tricky, but hopefully as uh you know, we've gone through them, you have again thinking about the vocabulary, the grammar, it really helps you put a lot of this together. So of course, now um that that we've gone through this and I said, you know, if you can change these, you've achieved fluency. I want to net know how you uh have done on the quiz. So I am going to put uh let's do a little poll and I'll ask this question. You can uh let me know how did you do on the quiz and I'll give you a few different answers. Um I am fluent. Um, and I'll say that is 100%. Or I am almost fluent. Or I'll just add one. I need to study a little more. Okay, I'll put that poll in there. Of course, I'm always curious as to how you feel like you did on this quiz right here. And I feel like probably for many of you there may have just been like one small mistake here here and there that perhaps you got the idea and you knew it but as far as like putting the grammar and using the correct grammar maybe there was a slight mistake. But these are difficult. These are definitely um these are challenging exercises which is why I think they are often used not just in English classrooms but on those proficiency exams because you're able to test both grammar and uh vocabulary. So you need to study a little more. Hey, that's okay. I'm glad that you're here studying uh with me and and practicing week in and week out. that that's the best way to uh improve your skills. So, it seems like wow, typically when I've done these quizzes, I I feel like especially when it's just vocabulary or something like that, most people are like, "Oh, yeah, I rock that quiz." Seems like this one uh everybody's saying they need to do a little uh they need to study a little more. But there is a um seems like wow about a little over 10% of you um have achieved fluency and I am proud of you. Um and I hope that you continue to practice and improve your skills. Watch these lessons, participate in these lessons because like I said, this is interactive English. If you enjoyed the lesson, please hit that like button. It lets me know that I should do more of these. always write to me in the comments because I love hearing from you and I try to write back to you as much as I can. And of course, I will be back in the near future with another lesson. Just want to say some goodbyes to Lai, Julia, Angela, Vicki, Gustaf, uh, Talal, um, Alina, Rose, Tatiana. I'm just trying to go through think about see names that are participating. Galdi, uh, Pelagoya. Perfect. Um, Lena, thank you guys for being here. Hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you soon. So long. --- ## 737. You know YOU'RE FLUENT when ... | English Fluency Test | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `taievgDEDPU` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taievgDEDPU) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:16:31 | --- how fluent are you in english let's find out in today's lesson i want to talk to you about 17 different signs that will help you decide and determine whether or not you have achieved a level of english fluency and the the very first thing that i want you to know and this is very important is that only you can decide whether or not you feel as though well you have reached a level of fluency because there is no official test that you can take and you get the results back and it says congratulations you are now fluent that does not exist so only you are the one who's going to be able to make that decision but the things that i'm going to talk to you about today can really help you kind of figure out where you're at in your journey in your goal of achieving english fluency let me quickly introduce myself my name is wes the channel is interactive english which is all about trying to help you achieve your fluency goals so if that's what you want to do please subscribe turn on notifications so that you will learn about future lessons let's go ahead and begin with number one which is well you feel comfortable being surrounded by english it can get pretty intense if your life is consumed by another language so if you are always reading in english and listening to english as well as speaking english i think that can be challenging for many people especially over a longer period of time but when when people reach fluency i think there's just a natural comfort that someone has being surrounded by another language so if you feel comfortable and you don't get burnt out which means you just get exhausted by constantly being surrounded by english or any other language well then that's a good sign the next sign is that you start dreaming in english and really in my opinion this would tell me that you're getting a lot of exposure to the language a lot of exposure reading listening just practicing every day and i i realize that dreaming it's different for everyone some people may dream a lot and other people they may not dream at all but in general i think this is a positive sign that you're getting a lot of exposure that can lead you to english fluency or maybe even tell you that you're already there number three you are capable of surviving in english and let me explain what i mean by this it means that you're able to communicate your basic needs if you go to the bank or the post office or even go see the doctor and i'm not just talking about speaking i'm also talking about writing because you may need to send emails to people and really i think this is a step that everyone has to take because if you're not fluent it may be a bit more challenging even though it's not going to be impossible it could be a little more difficult to completely survive in english i want to take a quick moment and tell you about the sponsor of today's lesson which is lingoda and this is definitely relevant to this lesson because learning with lingoda will help you reach your fluency goals and lingoda is getting ready to start another language sprint which is an excellent opportunity to get a lot more exposure and a lot more practice and if you sign up right now and attend all your classes you can get up to 100 cashback i can tell you firsthand lingoda is a great school for learning a language i have even studied with lingoda i have taken some lessons in spanish there i am right there and i really enjoyed the classes and i found them helpful because lingoda has experienced teachers there's an interactive curriculum these are small group classes and classes are available 24 7 so there's really flexible learning hours let me give you a little 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sign up or learn more about the language sprint don't forget to use the voucher code fast nine to get your 20 euro discount and then take some online classes with lingoda so that you can achieve your fluency goals let's continue with our lesson on the different signs that can help you tell whether or not you are fluent and number four is that you have stopped translating from your language to english because if you're always translating from your language to english it's probably going to slow down a conversation if you're talking to someone and it may even slow down your writing as well and i think one sure sign of fluency is that you've stopped translating from your language to english because your thoughts have started to originate in english and having your thoughts originate in english really just leads me into number five which is that you start thinking in english because well just like dreaming when you get a lot of exposure this is something that i believe just happens on its own and you're really just thinking about random things maybe you're thinking about what you need to do or or what you think about something and it's almost like you've just gone ahead without even trying and activated the english part of your brain the next few signs that i have for you are all related to speaking and number six is that you are confident in your ability to talk about a variety of topics and i'm not talking about topics like uh tell me about your family or describe your hometown i'm thinking about things in which you could have a more profound discussion talking about maybe climate change or globalization or civil unrest or social issues like equality i'm sure that you have opinions about all of these things it doesn't mean that you have to be an expert but you need to feel confident in your ability to express those opinions and and overall i think it really just demonstrates that you are confident in your own speaking fluency number seven you speak without frequent pauses and i i think it's normal and natural for for you to use fillers everyone uses them fillers like um or hmm and i you just don't want to overuse them because often i think it means that that you're searching for the right word or phrase or sentence and well in my view fluency means that you're able to speak as the thoughts come into your mind because again the thoughts would be originating in english next you are able to tell a captivating story and captivating you're really able to get everyone's attention and this is really like when you would be letting your emotions speak perhaps you're very passionate about the story you're telling and you we would know this because you're naturally using intonation and emphasis to make the story sound more interesting now i want to talk to you about a few different signs related to listening and number nine is that you're able to watch a tv show or movie and understand about 85 and i'm just choosing 85 you could say 80 or 90 the main point that i'm trying to make is that you're able to listen to this tv show or movie and follow along and understand what's happening from beginning to end and you're able to do this without using subtitles because well to me that really shows that you have a more advanced level of listening number 10 you're able to hear a new word or phrase and and understand the meaning based on what you're listening to so it's like if you're you're listening to somebody talk and you hear this new word or phrase you're quickly able to interpret the meaning because you understand everything else that you have been listening to and i know this can be very difficult you may not always be able to do this but if you are able to do this and kind of put different words in context well then i definitely think that shows a level of fluency then we have well well this one's kind of simple and straightforward but when you hear a joke you're able to understand why it's funny and this really it could mean that you you have a deeper understanding of words because well perhaps it's funny because a word has a multiple meaning or maybe you're just able to make inferences and think about well what's somebody suggesting what's going to happen next there's many different reasons why a joke might be funny but if you understand it that that's a good sign and i don't mean you don't you don't have to understand every single joke you hear many times there are jokes that go over my head and that's an expression that means that well you just don't understand something but in general understanding jokes it's a quick test but a good one number 12 you can eavesdrop in english and to eavesdrop means that you're able to listen to someone secretly let me explain what i mean if i when i lived in korea and i went to a korean restaurant everybody was speaking korean but if somebody was speaking english it was very easy for me to pick up on that and i could listen to their conversation even if i wasn't trying to it really just stood out in my mind conversely when i was learning spanish and i felt like my spanish was improving and i thought well am i fluent am i not fluent if i went into a restaurant and and everybody's speaking english i might hear somebody speak spanish and i could identify that but it was very difficult for me to listen to the conversation because i wasn't a part of it i was not involved in that discussion and well it made me feel like okay i really need to step up my game but i knew that listening was a little challenging for me it was a difficult language skill and i think if you're able to eavesdrop in english if you can do that well that's a good sign i'm not saying that you should eavesdrop on others because it could be inappropriate but as far as trying to decide well how what what about your listening fluency if you can eavesdrop that's that's a good sign now let's talk about a few signs related to reading number 13 is that you're able to read an article from a newspaper without constantly having to look up words in a dictionary and the reason why i said well like a newspaper or an online article is because you're more likely to encounter advanced vocabulary and i think that if you are able to read an article and you understand most of the words or even the words that you don't understand you're able to put them in context that's awesome number 14 your reading speed is 200 to 300 words per minute i imagine many of you probably don't know your reading speed and this information may vary uh i chose this because the average adult has a reading speed of two to three hundred words per minute and again this is something that will vary person to person i am actually a pretty slow reader but if you want to know you can just go online do a google search for reading speed test there are probably quite a few sites in which you will read an article and then they may ask you some questions and it's testing your reading speed along with your comprehension in general this is a good way to test your reading fluency it's also a sign if you're able to re-read and correct your own writing because if you're well a beginner or intermediate learner and you write something probably if you re-read it you're not going to be able to find many mistakes but as you become a more advanced learner as you get closer to fluency you should be able to reread something that you have written maybe an email and try to find some mistakes because i think well everybody makes mistakes and you may be able to find a mistake that well you use the wrong preposition or maybe you need to to use an article or perhaps it's a punctuation mistake i think that self-correction is an excellent sign of fluency then let's talk about a couple of signs related to writing number 16 is that you are able to write according to your audience so what i mean by this is that uh not all writing is going to be the same you're you're going to write differently if you are writing an email to a friend or perhaps you're writing some type of business proposal so this is a good sign that you're able to understand the subtle differences between formal and informal language which is more evident in writing number 17 you can write poetry because well many poems rhyme and it can be challenging to to find different rhyming words poems also use very descriptive words to help people put a picture in their mind and this could show that you have a rather large vocabulary and i think poems also people will compare things using similes and metaphors which shows that you can be creative with the language and i think language creativity is a sure sign of fluency and speaking of writing i would love it if you would write to me in the comments let me know if you have passed any part of this fluency test and of course you do not need to check all of these off in order to consider yourself fluent again you are the only one who's going to be able to make that decision these are just some some suggestions some things to keep in mind so you can tell where you're at on your journey to english fluency if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 738. Your English grammar is EXCELLENT if you can answer these | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `A7VGgI5-adY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7VGgI5-adY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:01:54 | --- If you can correctly answer these grammar questions, then well, your grammar skills are excellent. So, I have a quiz for you and I want to test your knowledge of English grammar. And I do think this is a little more challenging mostly for intermediate to advanced learners. So, let's go ahead and jump into it with our first question, which is right here. She speaks English as though she m a native. Now, I love it when you participate in these lessons. So, I would encourage you to write your answers in the chat, in the comments. I love hearing from you and it's a great way to actually get involved and actively practice the language. She speaks English as though she m a native. So I will give you the answer along with a brief little explanation as to why it is the correct answer. So what do you think in this case? The missing word she speaks English as though she m a native. We're really talking about the subjunctive in this case. So she speaks English as though she were a native. Clauses that start with as if and as though describe unreal or improbable situations if they are followed by an unreal tense. In this case, the past subjunctive or the the past perfect subjunctive. Now, if you said she is, again, this is one of those things when people will say that in spoken English and people may not use the subjunctive like if I were you versus if I was you. Grammatically speaking, in this case, I think the subject the subjunctive is recommended. It's preferred. But if you said she is, I'm not gonna hold that against you. So, one thing I wanted to let you know as we continue, if you would like to access these lesson notes, you can click on the link down below in the description, join my email community, and that way uh I can you can learn more. And if you're already a part of it, uh, check your inbox because I have sent them to you. And also, I should go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. So, let's continue with uh our grammar quiz. And the next question that I have for you is right here. This we're starting out with these uh just fill in the blank. by this time next year they m in their new home. Think about the context and I I'd say apart from that think about the time as well by this time next year they m in their new home. So for some of these there may be more than than one answer. Um, I I feel like with this one, not not so much. But I will talk about that as we go through the lesson. And that's part of what makes English, I think, really tricky, really challenging is that you have, you know, things are acceptable versus unacceptable. And if they're acceptable, then there may be more than than one way to answer it. So by this time next year, I said, think about the time. We're talking about a point in the future. This time, one year in the future. So, because of that, I want you to think about the continuous tense. And in that case, you would say they will be living in their new home by this time next year. They will be living in their new home. I don't know if the in this context if you could use another verb apart from living, but I think this is the one that you want to use. So, the future continuous is used to indicate an ongoing action in the future. They were living in the home, they're living in it at this time next year, and then they will continue living in it in the future. Uh, excellent. Great answers, Lai Fabio. Uh, well done. Nice. I'll try to give some shout outs from time to time as we we do this. Little they know what was about to happen. Which word are you going to put in there that will accurately complete this sentence? Little they know what was about to happen. Now, this is a an expression that I'm confident that you have heard before, especially if you're somebody who watches movies, TV shows. I I think you've come across this phrasing and you've heard it, but it is one that I I don't know if you would end up using it that often in just casual conversation, but it's great to know, especially for your listening comprehension. So, I see a lot of uh great answers, which makes me think yes, you you are familiar with this phrasing. Little did they know what was about to happen. All right. Well done. Um John, Anesco, uh Joanie, uh Kevin, perfect. Uh so, the reason why I said maybe you don't use this as often because we're talking about inversion and it's not just you. I I feel like I don't invert that many of my sentences. So, basically, we use inversion after negative adverbials. And when I mention inversion, we're basically switching the subject and the verb. So, basically, you might use this if you want to add emphasis. And it it does sound a little more formal, and people may use it to persuade someone. They may use it for effect. So in that case, you're more likely to hear it in a speech or a presentation or telling a story. I can imagine with this sentence, this is something like a a narrator might say if you're listening watching a movie or a TV show, little did they know what was about to happen. And they just use this for effect. So, to give you a little more context with some of these uh inverted phrases like the one that we just talked about, little did they know what was about to happen or never had I seen such a beautiful sunset. Now, of course, I would not typically say this. I would just say I've never seen such a beautiful sunset. But if you want to add that emphasis and use that effect, you could use inversion. or in this case, rarely will you hear such beautiful music or under no circumstances should you hit the like button. Okay, I I don't mean that. Of course, I would love it if you go ahead and hit the like button. This is just an example, okay? And I could say, uh, never have I created such a terrible example encouraging you not to hit the like button. But anyway, just wanted to give you some other examples using inversion. I had to share this with you. I I found this meme and I thought it it was funny. Just the again, arson is not funny, but you see this house burning and that child just the look on on her face. Little do they know it makes you wonder, okay, what what happened? What was going on? So, just to just to have a little fun. And it's always good to laugh when trying to learn another language, improve your skills. What do you think? I prefer tea. M coffee. This is there. There's Well, I don't want to give it away, but I feel like you probably know this one. You've heard this structure before. And again, I I think it's useful. It's common. So, I told you this is more intermediate to advanced as far as uh the the type of questions. I prefer tea coffee. So, I see a couple of of different answers in there. I think one of them in this context is definitely better to use. Now, you could use over. I'm not going to say that's incorrect. But if I want to compare the frequency of the phrases, like what what is somebody going to say in this case? Two. I prefer tea to coffee. I prefer this to that. I prefer X to Y. And as far as an explanation, I thought it just helps I can uh talk about what uh this is from Cambridge when talking about prefer. And if you can't see it, I I'll go ahead and reading read it to you. Expressing preference. We use prefer to say that you like one activity over the other. And we can use a prepositional phrase with to when we compare two things or actions. They I use their example sentence. I prefer tea to coffee or we prefer going by ferry to flying. So you prefer one thing to the other. Now like I said, you could say I prefer this over that. That is also something you will hear especially in conversation. And that's why I said there are maybe multiple answers that are acceptable, but in this case, I definitely want to make you aware of what I think is more commonly used. And in this case, I think you would use to more often. I prefer tea to coffee. Had I known I what? There are several missing words. It differently. had I known I m it differently which well I've already told you there are a few missing words so which words are you going to use to complete this sentence now I I there's something that I want to I will tell you something about this sentence which just looking at the sentence I think that you are aware of so had I known own I differently. So, we're talking about the the third conditional, a third conditional. You probably notice, wait a second, this is not an if statement. Generally speaking, third conditional sentences, you're going to use an if statement. But we're not here because it is inverted. But it's still the third conditional. So I would say had I known and you're using uh you know the past perfect I would have plus the past participle I would have done it differently. So this is an inverted statement using the third conditional. So there is no if. We just talked about inversion and you're going to use the third conditional to talk about the past describing a situation that didn't happen. It's imaginary. And this is the form that you would use generally if plus the past perfect plus would have and then the past participle. Again, I think more commonly like I would probably just say in casual casual conversation, oh, if I had known, I would have done it differently and I'm using that if statement. But I tried to I wanted to trick you a little bit with that inverted sentence right there. Had I known, I would have done it differently. Let's move into some uh multiple choice questions. And I do think I this I could have probably made this a little more difficult. I think you this is going to make it a little easier, but that's okay. The idea is just to practice your grammar skills, reinforce some of the rules and nuances that you already know and you may be familiar with. So, which is grammatically correct? I've talked about this before if you've watched my videos, especially my grammar videos. So I I uh I I hope that you can you can get this one. He suggested me to go or he suggested that I go or he suggested me going. Which sentence is grammatically correct? The key word in here is suggest. So that is that verb is really the focus in this case. We're talking about the verb suggest. You are going to well the answer is be. He suggested that I go. So the verb suggest we're going to follow that with a that clause. And and again, you that could be omitted, but we're going to use that plus the subject plus the base verb. He suggested that I do this or somebody else suggested that I do that. To help reinforce this, I believe I've even shown this before in a previous video talking about suggest. This is taken directly from Cambridge uh the online dictionary and it's talking about suggest plus a that clause. When we suggest an action to someone, we can use a that clause and in informal situations is what it's saying that is often left out. So the example sentence, I suggest that you leave here around 4:00. uh or her doctor suggested that she should uh reduce her working hours. So keep that form in mind. And when I've talked about this previously, I've also talked about the verb recommend. I suggest that you do something. I recommend that you do something. This is a this is something I often hear and a small mistakes are made when people are making suggestions even those that I I think are more proficient that are advanced learners. I will hear the slight speaking mistake from time to time. Just keep in mind I recommend that. I suggest that. How about this? Which word fits best? What do you think? I look forward to you. Are we going to complete this sentence with meeting or have met? I look forward to m you. This is a well again I don't want to give it away. The the phrase look forward is one it's one that you know. I feel like you probably actively use it right now which is good. This is really just a reminder because once again I will hear some speaking mistakes from time to time whether it's with this phrase or another that I will show you. So I see all those wonderful B answers which is correct. I look forward to meeting you and we're going to follow it with the gerant. Now I could you could look at this and probably guess like what is the mistake that people often make? You have look forward to and then sometimes I feel like our brains are trained to think of the infinitive and people will say to plus the base verb. But in this case the phrase in its entirety is look forward to and then we follow it with the jarn because to is a preposition. So we'll follow it with a jarn. Now, to have a little fun, to give you a little more context because I told you whether it's this phrase or another one, the I I do hear these mistakes all the time. And uh I thought I would ask chat GPT again. I don't know if you can see it, so I'll just read it for you. My question to chat GPT was, give me a list of 10 uh the 10 most common phrases when you have the word to followed by a gerand. So they again I'd take it with a grain of salt as to whether these are the most common ones but still I think they are pretty common and uh again this is when small mistakes are made like that first one look forward to plus jarn but you would also say you are committed to doing something you are used to doing something maybe you're devoted to doing something other um words they use you're addicted to maybe playing video games or you're open to learning more about some topic. Or you can confess to doing something, object to doing something, you're opposed to doing something, or admit to doing something. So, I thought I'd have a little fun there in in using chat GPT to give you more phrases that you have to followed by the gerant. So, just keep that in mind. All right. Um, here is the next one. And awesome, Deli Williams. Great. Great. Thanks for thanks for joining, becoming a member. Saw some uh other members in here, Kevin, Loi, uh and a couple others that even just joined at the beginning. I really appreciate it. Helps helps make keep all this going. So, which is correct? And I don't want to give it I'm not going to give it away. Not yet. Neither of the options are good or B. Neither of the options is good. Which sentence is correct? And for this one, honestly, I imagine there there may be a mix of responses. I like that. I like the the thinking emoji like maybe uh not sure. Neither of the options are good. Neither of the options is good. Which sentence is correct? So, grammatically speaking, there is a an answer that is, I'd say, more acceptable in this context. So, the key word in there is neither. If we're talking about neither, it is singular. So, in this case, neither of the options is good. The pronoun neither is singular and requires the use of a singular verb form. Let's look down there. However, and there is a another however. A plural verb form is common in informal writing and speech when a prepositional phrase comes between the word and the verb. So in this case we do we we have that prepositional phrase neither of the options. Options this is a plural noun which again our brain is then trained to think okay options are. So in spoken English, I think this this is the the whole idea that I really want you to be aware of. You will hear people use neither of something or something else. Neither of the options are good. That is something you may hear grammatically speaking. Again, I I people would say yes, neither is a sing is the pronoun is singular. So basically, you don't have to take it from me. You can take it from the Britannica dictionary. It's basically saying the same thing that you have the rule grammar rules the pronoun neither is singular and again however when it's followed by in this case they said when neither is followed by of something uh neither of the answers is correct or neither of the answers are correct. Keep this in mind. Again, I I would always encourage people don't think of everything in English as either right or wrong or correct or incorrect. Think about it more as acceptable or unacceptable. And there may it's a sliding scale and in this case I think neither is is more acceptable but in in some instances neither are works as well when you have that prepositional phrase in between. So, that is a little bit of a trick question. This one, this is not a trick question right here. Uh, even though maybe it looks like one. Which is correct? The the fewer people there are, the better or the less people there are, the better? Which sentence are you going to use? If you were talking to someone and you're going to use one of these sentences and just looking at it, you can see the difference between the two. The only two words that are different, we're talking about the words fewer or less. The fewer people there are, the better, or the less people there are, the better. So, we're talking about people. people. It is a count noun. We can count the number of people. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. It is an irregular count noun. So, when we're talking about count nouns, grammatically speaking, we're going to use fewer. The fewer people there are, the better. So, I I explained that right down there. We use fewer with countable nouns. People is an irregular plural noun. So I will say once again this is another instance when people make you know slight speaking mistakes but they make it enough to where you know maybe it's considered acceptable because often times with certain count nouns especially if we're talking about irregular plural nouns you do hear people use less in spoken English. So again if you said less I I wouldn't worry about it too much. It's not like the worst mistake in the world. It's not going to if somebody were to hear this, they're not going to really pay attention and be like, "Oh, wow. That was a grammar mistake." Native speakers actually miss make these mistakes quite often. And to reinforce that fact, I have this funny comic here, which is something again I I believe I've shared this before when talking about the difference between fewer and less. If you go to grocery stores in the US, you'll see these signs that are grammatically incorrect. 10 like this this cashier lane. Uh this line is for 10 items or less. So in this comic they crossed it out and said fewer. And down below the guy says, "What can I say? I was an English major." So it's like he had to make that grammatical correction on the sign 10 items or fewer instead of 10 items or less. So those are words that are commonly confused, fewer and less. Here is another difficult question. And I I'm kind of curious. What do you think in the following sentence? Who has the telescope? The man saw the woman with the telescope. Who Who has the telescope? Is it is the man the person who has the telescope or is it the woman who has the telescope? The man saw the woman with the telescope. What do you think? So, this is another sentence that it's a little tricky because when you're kind of breaking this down and you see that prepositional phrase, okay, wait a second. With the telescope. All right. And there are two people in the sentence. This man, this woman, but you're trying to think who has it. The who the man saw the woman with the telescope. To be perfectly honest, you don't know at this point because I'm not giving you enough context. But this is a it's a fairly well-known sentence in linguistics when we're talking about English because it is an example of an ambiguous sentence. So, if you said A or B, either one is correct. Depending on the context, I could say the man saw the woman with the telescope. And that may make you think, okay, the man is looking through the telescope and is looking at this woman, which which is perfectly correct. It's grammatically correct, but it's also ambiguous because I could say the man saw the woman with the telescope and the woman is the person holding the telescope. Like I see some woman walking on the street holding a telescope. And we could say the man saw the woman with the telescope. It is also grammatically correct. And that's when it says that's down below. It says um the these ambiguous sentences are only understandable in context. like you need extra information to know who actually has possession of the telescope. There are other sentences like this, but this is one that in in linguistics, it's pretty well known as an example of an ambiguous sentence. The man saw the woman with the telescope. Who says that we can't have a little fun while we do this? Let's uh let let's make you think a little more. Instead of giving you a multiple choice, let's actually have you write out some sentences. So, I want you to change this sentence to reported speech. Right now, it is direct speech. I am tired. She said this is another like a you're taking a grammar quiz. This is an activity that they may have you do. You have this direct sentence and they say, "Okay, change this to reported speech." How are you going to rewrite this sentence so that it has the same meaning? And we're going to use reported speech instead of direct speech. Well done. Um, Venady Lai keyword. So, uh, JD, she said that she was tired or she said she was tired. You could use that or you could omit it. Either one works, but we're going to use she said she was tired because normally the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the time from the tense in direct speech. So in direct speech it was in the the present. I am tired. So we're going to go one back which means we're going to use the past. She said she was tired or she said that she was tired. Excellent. You guys rocked that one. Maybe maybe this one's a little trickier. We'll see. We'll find out. I want you to make this sentence passive. They are repairing the car. How can we change this sentence so that it well it has the same meaning, but we're just going to write it in the passive voice. So, in the active, they are repairing the car. In the passive, what are you going to say? So with the passive, we're again I don't want to go ahead and tell you the form. I'll tell you in just a moment when I give you the explanation, but uh how would you rewrite that sentence in the passive? The correct answer. All right. Well, good job. All right. Uh, we got some great responses. Uh, Joanie, Frank, uh, Joanna, Alicia, the car is being repaired. Now, in this case, you could follow it with by someone, but because we're saying they and we're talking about people repairing a car, this is uh we could probably omit the actor. You could say the car is being repaired by them. But often if you're saying the car is being repaired, most people most of the time it's implied that they took it to a mechanic. They took it to a shop and there are mechanics repairing the car. So the passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences the action. So in this case, the car is experiencing the action. We want to highlight and emphasize that. and as opposed to uh the person or object performing the action. So in the active voice, the focus is kind of like they they are repairing the car. These are the people that are doing it. But if we don't really want to highlight that, then we could use the passive. And in this case, we're talking about the passive present continuous. The car is being repaired to I thought this was funny. again. I found uh this passive voice joke, believe it or not. And the joke says, "Why was the road crossed by the chicken?" We're just changing the question from why did the chicken cross the road to the passive? And the chicken's response right there is I thought this was supposed to be about me. Like the joke is supposed to focus on me. So if you change it to the passive, then the focus is really going to be on the road that is crossed. So again, little humor with grammar. It's not often you find many grammar jokes, but uh I thought this one was kind of humorous, so I wanted to share it with you. A passive voice joke. What do you think? Change the following sentence. Change the following to a conditional sentence. So, I'm giving you two different sentences. He didn't study. He failed the exam. These are two simple sentences. You know, you you can read this. You hear me say it. You understand what's going on. But I want you to change this and make it a conditional sentence. And this is when you get into a little more advanced grammar. When you have this these two simple sentences that instead of using two simple sentences, we can use a complex sentence with a conditional with an if statement. So in this case, he didn't study. He failed the exam. It's already happened. We can't change this. So we're talking about something in the past that we cannot change. And we're going to express this. This is an unreal situation. All right? We cannot change the past. So therefore, we're talking about the third conditional. You've heard me mention the third conditional already. And I talked about the form that you would use. So if I want to change this using the third conditional, if he had studied, and we're using that past perfect had studied. If he had studied, he would uh he would not have failed the exam or he wouldn't have failed the exam. If you wanted to to change this around uh and change the verb fail to pass, you could say he would have passed the exam. That would also work if you wanted to use the opposite of fail. or if we're going to just stick with the words that were used in the original sentences, if he had studied, he would not have failed the exam. Once again, we're using that past perfect in our if statement and then in the result would have plus the past participle. Again, I think this is uh something that I think many of you used. Uh, perfect. And I saw a lot of great answers. Well done. How about changing this sentence right here so that you are using a garand? Rewrite the following sentence with a gerand. Again, write your answers in the chat in the comments. I love it. I love seeing so many people participate in these lessons. Uh if you made a mistake and you didn't get one, that is perfectly okay. Hopefully you understood the explanation and understand what what the mistake was and why it was made and and how to correct it. It's all about improving your grammar skills. So the sentence we have here, I hate when people interrupt me. And yeah, I think all of us hate that. So I hate when people interrupt me and I want you to change this so that you're using a garand. And this is also tied back into something else we were talking about just a moment ago. I want you to use a gerand, which is that it's like that that verb form with the ing except it's not technically a verb even though it looks like one. So I hate when people interrupt me. If you want to change this so that you're using a garand, we're actually going to change this to the passive. I hate being interrupted. So you could say, I hate being interrupted by someone, but it's unnecessary. We're just talking about people in general. So this is an example of the passive garand form which again is as a jiren which is a verb with ing ending in the passive voice. So it just to give you an example it may appear in one of two forms like in the present like being shown um uh or in the past having been shown. So I hate when people interrupt me. We can change that using ajarn. I hate being interrupted. If you said sometimes you could say getting like you could get interrupted. I hate getting interrupted. That would also work as well. This one I think is a little more challenging. Even still, it's getting a little more difficult as we go through this. I want you to transform this sentence using the keyword so that it has the same meaning. And I've done these exercises with you before doing these keyword transformations. So the sentence that I want you to change is right here. We had no idea that he was planning to resign. I want you to rewrite this sentence using the word intention. And this can definitely be a little tricky. I think once I show you the answer and you're able to read it using the word intention, you'll probably think to yourself, "Yes, okay, I've had I've heard that form before. I've heard people use sentences like that like this." But sometimes it can be really difficult to think about that change, think about that transformation in the moment, which is what I want you to do right now. This is definitely an exercise that I I would say is is more advanced. We had no idea that he was planning to resign. And I want you to change that using the word intention. So I see we had um okay, I see some answers kind of close in this case. a a phrase that is commonly used and I said probably when when I show you um you could say wait well let me show you the answer and then we'll talk about it we had no idea he had any intention of resigning so the phrase that I'm talking about is any intention of doing something and in that case do you have any intention of writing to me in the comments do you have any intention of hitting the like button or do you have any intention of um I don't know I can't even think of another sentence but any intention of that is the phrase that I was talking about before when I said I think when I tell you you're going to recognize okay yes I've heard those words together somebody talking about any intention of doing something so in this case we can use that phrase, we had no idea he had any intention of resigning. And it works well. It allows us to transform this sentence so that both of them have the same meaning. So, I hope that you will learn something new. And if you didn't get all of these correct, that's perfectly fine. Some of them were a little tricky. And some of them I told you that uh you uh that both of the answers were correct like the ambiguous sentence or neither of the options is or are. And you have these small nuances which can really make English a frustrating language to learn, but it's good to know. And once again, just as a reminder, if you would like to get these lesson notes, join the community. Click on the link down below in the description. If you're already a part of the community, I have sent them to you. So hopefully if if you did answer all of these correct, then yes, your grammar is excellent. I would even say if you got most of them correct or many of them correct, your grammar in my view is still excellent. So let me know how you did uh in the comments. Uh like I was saying, do you have any intention of of writing to me in the comments? I hope that you do and let me know how you did. I always love hearing from you. If you enjoyed this lesson, you can also let me know by hitting that like button. I always appreciate it. And I will see you soon for another lesson. whether it's vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation. I like to mix it up from time to time. --- ## 739. Your Path to Speaking Confidently, Clearly, & Effectively | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `-hKyxNopd2Y` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hKyxNopd2Y) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 08:21:41 | --- today i want to tell you about how you can speak confidently speak clearly and speak effectively that's coming up [Music] hey everyone my name is wes this is interactive english the channel that is just all about trying to help you practice and improve your english skills and if that is what you would like to do please subscribe so that you will be notified of future english lessons and in this lesson i want to talk to you about uh speaking and really trying to achieve speaking fluency or achieve your speaking goals by really focusing on how you can speak confidently speak clearly and speak effectively so let's begin with just speaking confidently because i think this is something that can be challenged for many learners that you you want to speak you want to have a conversation but maybe you just you just don't have confidence in your abilities and what i think you need to do the most important thing that you can do is just get more practice you need to continuously practice speaking practice having different conversations because the more you do that the more confidence you are going to have in your own abilities think about uh giving a presentation when you give a presentation you have to get up there in front of a group of people and and you have to talk about something you have to speak and if you don't have confidence in yourself in your abilities then you might think that giving a presentation is just an impossible task that it's just too difficult and this is this is something that can be very challenging whenever i would have to give a presentation i would practice probably about 10 to 15 times and the more i practiced and i was thinking about well what am i going to say how am i going to say it the more confidence i had in my abilities to give a good presentation and the same goes for having a conversation the more you practice uh having a conversation and speaking and you're you're having a variety of discussions then you're just going to have more confidence in your abilities to talk about a lot of different things and before you know it if you can do that you will be speaking confidently it's also important that you speak clearly now when i say speak clearly i'm not talking about accent what i'm referring to is mutual intelligibility and what that means is that people of different english varieties can understand and communicate with each other because there is mutual intelligibility for example the united states english in the united states that's one variety english in the united kingdom that is another variety of english but people can understand each other because there's mutual intelligibility the same goes for english learners if there is an english learner from france and they're learning english as a second language and there's an english learner from mexico who is also learning english as a second language they can communicate and understand one another when there is mutual intelligibility you understand pronunciation and and you're also aware that the pronunciation of some words may be a little different among different english varieties you also understand intonation and you know if somebody's making a statement or if they're asking a question you understand tone and you can kind of tell if somebody is speaking in a way that they are happy or sad or perhaps even a little upset when you learn those things it's going to help you speak clearly achieve mutual intelligibility so that you can speak english with people from all over the world and as you are practicing and building your speaking confidence and speaking clearly and communicating with others you also want to make sure that you are able to speak effectively as well and when it comes to speaking effectively i think of this it's not always about what you say but how you say it how you say it means that you are practicing when to emphasize certain words or or when to pause that can be very effective and it's also related to speaking clearly how you say it refers to sharing your thoughts and opinions and and getting your point across so people easily understand what you're saying how you say it means that you are using precise language so people know exactly what you're talking about how you say it is related to telling a great story and you're able to grab people's attention this is what effective speaking is all about and i really hope that i have grabbed your attention because i want to talk to you about how you can achieve all three of these things speaking confidently speaking clearly and speaking effectively and the way that you can do that is by enrolling in the interactive english speaking course called speak up this is a 10-week course in which you will take a 50-minute lesson once a week with me and we are going to talk about a variety of different topics have a lot of discussion in small groups which will give you more opportunities to speak and there's also going to be a lot of different speaking activities as well in addition there will be weekly pronunciation video lessons that will help you speak clearly because you're going to learn about pronouncing difficult sounds in english you'll learn about connected speech minimal pairs and more so the goal of this course is to help you do the three things that we just talked about get a lot of speaking practice so that you can build your confidence learn more about pronunciation so that you can speak clearly and also learn how to say things so that you are speaking effectively and because i truly appreciate that you are learning english with me here at interactive english you can use the voucher code speak up 10 to get a 10 discount off the course click on the link in the description if you would like to learn more about class times how much the course cost as well as more information about the course in general click on that link in the description and i just hope to speak to you real soon thanks so much for watching and i'll see you next time --- ## 740. Your listening skills are EXCELLENT if you understand AMERICAN FAST SPEECH | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `VfjOi_02ItY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfjOi_02ItY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:46:21 | --- let's listen to American fast speech so this is all about trying to help you improve your listening comprehension and just really get a better understanding of why people speak the way they do and if you would like to improve your listening skills Please Subscribe turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals so I have several different clips from movies and TV shows that we're going to listen to and then we're just really going to break it down and talk about what's going on so let's begin and listen to our first clip so you are going to hear uh him say a couple of different questions and to begin with I just want you to listen to it uh a couple of times what did you do how did you how did you get this what did you do how did you how did you get this so let's talk about what's going on we have these questions what did you do how did you how did you get this but that's not really what you hear the first thing I want to say is that assimilation is going to occur when we have that phrase did you basically this is when two sounds they blend together to create a new sound so that final D and did in the beginning Y and U when they blend together you really get this J sound so it's going to sound like did you what did you do how did you how did you get this the other thing I'd like to point out is that there are some overlapping sounds basically your tongue is going to be in the same position in your mouth and you're going to stop with one sound and then release into the next one so the final T and what we're going to stop that flow of air and then release the air into the D sound in did and when that happens you're not really going to hear that T it's going to sound like what did you what did you do and even at the end there get this we're going to stop the air with that final T and get and then release it into that voice t H and this get this so in general it's going to sound like this I've tried to give you the phonetic spelling to make it a little easier to see what's going on what did you do how did you how did you get this what did you do how did you how did you get this now that you know what's going on let's listen to it one more time what did you do how did you how did you get this hopefully you can really hear the blending of those two sounds and you hear that J sound what did you do how did you how did you get this before we continue I'd like to make a very quick announcement because if you would like to practice and improve your speaking skills you can check out my speaking course there is a link Down Below in the description the course is for intermediate to Advanced speakers and it's all about trying to help you speak confidently speak clearly and speak naturally and and this these are some of the things we work on when it comes to pronunciation connected speech and trying to understand why people sound the way they do so check out that link Down Below in the description if you would like to improve your speaking fluency let's continue with our next clip right here so again we'll listen to it a couple times and then we'll talk about what's going on okay listen I'm going to have to call you back it's it's it's very fast okay listen I'm going to have to call you back all right I want you to listen to it again see if you can pick out what he's saying okay this is I'm going to have to call you back the reason why I chose this is because I I want to talk about reductions this is when we are removing or changing sounds and there are some very common reductions that are often used in just casual conversation so for example going to we can reduce that to GNA and have to we can reduce that to have to I'm going to have to it's a little more challenging when you have one reduction following right after the other I'm going to have to the other thing I want to point out is when you have I'm going to you could say I'm going to but we could reduce this even further and it may sound like I'm am I'm going to have to call you back okay can you hear that that reduction I'm going to have to call you back so either one is okay personally I think it's probably a little more common for somebody to say I'm goingon to instead of I'ma but definitely this is something you will hear if in just casual everyday English I end up using it quite often I'm going to go to the park I'm going to go to the mall I'm going to get something to eat I'm going to I'm I'm in this case I'm going to have to call you back so let let's listen to it again and really I do think it's more of an I'm GNA but it almost sounds like it's in between the two but you can tell me what you think so I'll play it a couple of times okay listen I'm going to have to call you back okay so now that you hear it hopefully you can kind of hear that going to have to going to have to okay listen I'm going to have to call you back if you want to try and say it at the same time practice the the speaking okay list I'm going to call you back all right I think shadowing is always a good way to just practice your your speaking fluency the next clip that I have for you is right here so again we'll listen to it a couple times and then we'll talk about what's going on I was up all night thinking about it I think that you could probably hear this and understand what's happening I was up all night thinking about it so let's look at what's going on because there's a couple of things I want to talk to you about in this um clip he says I was up all night thinking about it but again he's not really going to say it like that because there are well quite a few things that I want to discuss the first thing is linking this is when we link the final consonant sound of one word with the beginning vowel sound of the next word so we have the phrase was up all we can link those words together and it's almost like we're moving that consonant sound over and it's going to sound like was up all was up all and then we also have overlapping sounds when we end with that dark L and all and then move right in to the n Sound in night all night all night I was up all night I was up all night one thing I want to point out is that sometimes with continuous tense verbs the G gets dropped this is known as gropping I think it's probably more common in places like the US which is where I'm from so once we drop that g we can then link that n Sound with the beginning vowel sound in about thinking about and the final T in about I told you I'm from the US so I am going to pronounce it as a flap T it's going to sound more like a soft D this often occurs when the t comes between two vowel sounds and then I can link that flat t with the beginning vow sound in it thinking about it thinking about it I was up all night thinking about it you can look at everything that's going on there we have l ing overlapping sounds gropping word linking and that flap T I was up all night thinking about it so it's pretty simple sentence but a lot going on when it comes to Connected speech I was up all night thinking about it now that you know what's happening let's let's listen to it again and see if you can hear that linking but also that flap te at the end I was up all night thinking about it okay you can hear that linking as well as that flat te in about it I was up all night thinking about it the next clip that I have for you is well this is a little challenging because she's speaking really fast see if you can think about the exact words that she's saying I promise to go to the movies with him next Saturday I'll I'll play it again I promise to go to the movies with him next Saturday this is very fast one more time I promise to go to the movies with him next Saturday so the sentence that she's saying is right here I promise to go to the movies with him next Saturday what's happening to begin with there are germinates this is when we have double consonant sounds the final Ed and promised all right ends with that t sound which is the same as the consonant sound in two promise to promise to go to the I want to think about that phrase go to the but I'm going to pronounce that t as a flap T again it's very common with the American accent go to the and I I want you to think about that whole phrase because it's common go to the movie go to the cinema go to the park go to the mall this is a phrase that ends up getting used quite often and you're going to hear that flap T then we have Aion this is when sounds or syllables get removed and this may occur with the H in words like he him her or his and it's almost like we're just muting that H sound and if we turn the volume down then linking may occur we're going to link that voiceless th in with with that vowel sound with them with them and even that last phrase at the end next you don't hear that t once again allision occurs that t comes between two consonants and we're just not going to hear it next you can hear that it ends with that s sound which is the same consonant sound in Saturday another germinate this just it just allows us to easily transition from one word to the next next Saturday so this is what it sounds like I promise to go to the movies with them next Saturday one more thing that I'd like to point out is the unstress 2 and when this word is unstressed it's almost like that vowel sound's going to get reduced and it may sound a little more like the schah sound that unstressed uh so instead of two it may sound a little more like T and I I tried to show you here that it's not like you're only going to hear one or the other it may be a spectrum and it could come anywhere between so in the end I think it's going to sound a little more like this I promise to go to the I promise to go to the movies with them next Saturday and then if you want to speed it up I promise to go to the movies with them next Saturday so now that you know what's happening let's listen to it again and see if you can identify pick out some of those things we were just talking about I promise to go to the movies with him next Saturday play it one more time I promise to go to the movies with him next Saturday so I really hope that some of this makes a bit more sense when thinking about why people sound the way they do and if you don't feel comfortable trying to make this a part of your speaking fluency that's perfectly okay but understanding connected speech and some of the different things we talked about it's really going to help you improve your overall listening comprehension so if you enjoyed this lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 741. โ˜‘๏ธ ONLINE ENGLISH LESSON | Q&A with Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `3EIYy6nOvGo` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EIYy6nOvGo) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:34:50 | --- what's up everyone I hope you're having a wonderful day my name is Wes this is interactive English in case this is your first time here our lessons are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills and what I want to do today because we like doing these live sessions these live classes which are a bit longer is we're gonna do a little bit of an English Q&A all right so I'm gonna take your questions all right I want to answer your questions whether you have things that you want to know about grammar pronunciation vocabulary even if it's just like personal stuff if you have a question for me personally I am happy to answer it and talk to you guys about that so I just want to give a quick shout out to some of those are here because I love giving these shout outs and if you don't know what a shout-out is it's just like in acknowledging it is it's an acknowledgement of somebody to give them recognition for doing something and I want to give you a shout out for being here so we have hi Mary Gayle Sherman your tech friend Joe Toth malbert hello hello seriously lolly what's up good to see you again Manu Phillips how are you Nour I'm just just saying hello so Maddie how are you English is fun excellent say huh pee-yew Marcos how are you guys so please say hello tell me tell me you're tell me where you're from I love seeing where everybody is from and like I said I I just kind of want to go ahead and jump into the question so all I would ask is that if you have a question try to make it as specific as possible if you have something about okay how do you pronounce this word or a specific grammar question or something specific about vocabulary I will try to answer the best that I can but even though I am an English teacher that still doesn't mean I'm learning new things about the language every day the English language is constantly evolving it's constantly changing and that's a great thing about working as a language instructor is that you're constantly learning new things so again try and keep it specific because some people might be like well tell me about all of the verb tenses and that is that's a little bit too much so again even if you're watching this later this is a great way to practice your listening skills to kind of just hang out and and see what questions are asked and also I would write write us questions in the comments even later write to us in the comments if you have a question about pronunciation and grammar or vocabulary it's amazing how many lessons we've created because of those questions that somebody will ask us question and then a month or two later we do a lesson just about that because we get a lot of great ideas from all of you so hello hi Sarah from Egypt excellent Ahmed Palestine perfect Shang bond says hello can you give me your whatsapp number unfortunately I cannot because I am may be ashame I'm not on whatsapp I know so many people have asked us about hey like give us your whatsapp number let us know if things change and I get a whatsapp number I will be sure to let everyone in our community know about it so that we can you know you could start using it we can start communicating it's just been one of those things we're on YouTube Twitter Facebook Instagram it kind of is overwhelming to a point where it you know there's there's just not time to try and think about using something else but if that changes I will be sure to let you know and just to throw a quick little plug for ourselves and again is I come across these things a plug is just like a bit of an advertisement your own shoutout so if you guys want to join our community please subscribe to our email list I just threw a link in there we send out lesson updates we will give you access to the secret fluency lesson which is very cool and we'll also send you some other free resources from time to time so if you haven't joined please sign up and join that's another great way to connect with us Alton Rodriguez asked why why are some people it's easy to understand the English and you are one of them so this is a question that I think a lot of people we hear a lot that people will say I'm listening to your lesson I understand everything that you're saying but then I turn on a movie or a TV show and I'm like what the heck what are they talking about and there's two reasons I think first is I've been teaching English for over 15 years and I think especially when you start working with learners who are absolute beginners you have to speak slower so after so long after a long time of teaching English my speech has naturally slowed down and I've even had friends when I go back home and visit friends and family in the United States sometimes they would ask me they're like why are you talking so slow and it's like well this is the way that I talk now so the speed of my speech is going to just be it's going to be much slower than the speed of somebody else you might hear on YouTube or somebody that if you're watching a TV show or a movie so that's one reason why another reason is I also think just in my trying to be careful about what I say because when you're watching a TV show or movie you have the people use a lot of connected speech they use a lot of idioms expressions and slang and when they use all of that and they're talking really fast it just becomes an additional challenge to try and comprehend everything that you're saying but if you want to improve your comprehension just get more exposure build your vocabulary and get more language exposure so that you can identify these words or phrases whenever you hear them but again I think a lot of movies as even YouTube they allow you to slow down the the speed of videos I've had some people tell me like oh you're speaking too fast and I would tell them hey just go to the settings you can slow down the speed or you can speed it up if somebody thinks wow Wes you're speaking way too slow you can go and speed that up and and it will sound maybe find your speed okay that's that's all I that's all I would say all right let's see the seriously what's the friends I'm trying to find stuff as they come in uh I'm not so thank you for talking slowly hey no problem alright again this is just the way that I speak marbly from West Palm Beach Florida all right excellent what's up Florida I hear it's very hot now in Florida my parents are from there so I am very familiar with that they live around Tampa Bay um let's see what do we had what's Brian is what's the difference between if I had known and if I knew so again when you're thinking about conditionals the if I had again because you're talking about the condition using that past perfect it's the third conditional if I had known that the class you know that if I had known that I had class I would have done my homework if I knew I would say in casual just everyday speech I I think that people use them interchangeably I feel like grammatically correct that third conditional would have the past perfect but if I knew I had class I would have done the homework people could use that as a mix conditional and it would have the same meaning so I think that they they could be used interchangeably in many different situations especially in colloquial speech and this is the big difference I think what people say and what you write when you're writing things down you should follow the grammar a bit more because it can just look awkward in your writing but when people are speaking they tend to break rules all the time I think we mentioned this last time when talking about conditionals the subjunctive if I were but some people will say just in conversation if I was and if it happens enough sometimes it just becomes it just becomes accepted um your soul hello how are you good how are you hum D help me how do you need help let me know this is on credit from Haiti how are you let's see try to such an app to communicate with others it's a meal so one app I'd say again it really just depends some apps you have to pay for and you can communicate for example I think cambly you would pay and you can connect instantly with native English speaker and they just you pay per minute I think there's another app out there that I've been I've done kind of like a video interview with these guys from Hollow H h-e-l-l-o all right it's an app that you can connect with other people who want to practice so I actually want to speak English but I don't know if you'd be able to connect with other native English speakers I'm not sure where they're at in this process but let me I'll go ahead and throw that in down there too if you guys let me throw that in there for you in the chat so this is another one if you just want to maybe connect with somebody who also wants to practice their speaking skills you can sign up let check it out I haven't signed up I haven't signed up I haven't used it yet to be honest with you I've just done these kind of interviews with these guys so if you give it a try let me know what you think I'd be curious to let you know so let me see all right what do we have here somebody had asked what's the difference let's see someone asks what's the difference between someone where was it like no difference between anyone anybody and somebody so in this case you're talking about these indefinite pronouns so let me think I'd say when you're talking about someone all right so someone again these are indefinite pronouns we don't know specifically who they're talking to they're often used in the subject position of the sentence so I'd say that for example where is it trying to also give you guys make sure I give you the the correct information the perfect information so let's see where is it oh I think it froze for a second okay no it's back alright so for example I'd say that you know someone and somebody they may be able you may be able to use them interchangeably for example like someone someone copied my homework or if you're a student alright you could also say somebody copied my homework it's an indefinite pronoun you don't know who that person is talking about now if you're talking about anyone or anybody all right they're used so gosh where is it anybody and any same is it like for anyone in anybody they're used with questions all right does anyone does anyone study English does anybody study English ok so those can also be used interchangeably it is an indefinite pronoun is it ok so I would also say that anyone and anybody it's also used in the negative that's the other important so for example if you're talking about maybe you can't hear or you like I can't hear anyone we would use it in the negative tense all right that's also something to keep in mind so let's look at somebody said your tech friend you look like Tom Cruise all right I will I will take that as a compliment thank you your tech friend if I look like Tom Cruise aren't you a fan of the supernatural series by chance my wife you wanna she loves supernatural she's very happy about that what does that mean out of in this phrase straight out of so if somebody says out of out of that would be the informal spelling oh you TTA it's more out of it basically means where you come so if I say like oh this is I'm coming at you straight out of Budapest this is coming from this place so they say like straight out of Compton like you had just mentioned would be like they come from this place are there differences between British idiomatic expressions and American malbert ass yes there are um we did a quiz before with Ali from Papa teach me talking about some American idioms versus British idioms so for example I think an American idiom would be take a raincheck where is if you say I want to take a raincheck it means that you promise to do something later let's take a raincheck let's have dinner tonight nah I'll take a raincheck I think some of these idioms are common that people might understand them it crossed all English varieties in British English as well they asked us one about what's a chinwag and this is an idiom expression of British idiom that I had never heard of so I didn't know but a chinwag is kind of just to have like a chat a talk an informal discussion with someone so again these idioms can they they can be very different so is just something to keep in mind but again the more exposure that you get the easier it is to learn so if you're somebody who wants to learn more British idioms then listen to watch some British TV shows if you want to learn more American idioms then then watch those shows because again TV shows they use them informally all the time so let's see have you ever been to LA or New York City yes most of I have my wife's family they live in Los Angeles and New York City we've just visited we've been there visiting before that's actually where we got married two years ago in New York City but if you visit the u.s. those are some those are some good places to visit let's see and crush can you give some examples semi ask and give some examples of attracted and crush in a sentence so I would say that you are you are attracted to someone and it's used in that sense so like I am attracted to another person you could say well I am attracted to butterflies alright you are drawn to these things a crush is used as a noun and we often use it with the verb have you have a crush you have a crush on someone so we follow it with that preposition so you could say like oh I am really attracted to my neighbour to say that with using crush I have a crush on my neighbour the same meaning just using different words let's see I'll to have you better been to Brazil no we have not been to Brazil but we really really want to go so shivani ass analysis analysis verse analyses so again this is a that's a good one so analysis would be the singular analyses would be the plural but I want to say I think often you people often talk about just analysis the the one example I give you that with like would be with like data or data or data you they say either one in the US the plural form of it is datum but nobody not many people really use it that way they use data as the singular as well as the plural and I think I'd have to double-check analysis might be the same way probably not as extensive you probably hear like oh they've given us the analyses of which is like would be different forms of analysis and this is what it told us but if you're talking about like the the data and data that is one case where I think data has kind of become the the word for both the singular and plural form can we use but and however interchangeably the short answer yes the to give you a little bit of a longer answer I would say however it's more common especially if you're talking about your academic writing or if your talking about speaking in a presentation it's more common as a transition word at the beginning of a sentence so if you're gonna try and contrast something and you're you want to use the word at the very beginning of the sentence I'd say go with however use but is more of a coordinating conjunction to combine two sentences to combine two independent clauses so that is just a quick rule of thumb you don't always have to do that but that is I think that's just a good rule of thumb to follow you know use however at the beginning of the sentence use but to combine sentences and if you don't know what a rule of thumb is that's another expression it's just talking about a general rule to follow not specific alright pop says oh sorry I have you ever been to Egypt no that's another place we would like to go we would love to go visit Cairo see the pyramids we've heard it's amazing there's too many places we want to travel our look we have a little baby right now she's five months old they she was going to do the lesson with us my wife you wanna and our little girl Amelia we're going to do the lesson but the little one she's not in a very good mood right now so we figured it was best not to put her make her sit in front of the camera so we'll try that another time whatsit and very cold versus freezing what's the difference there is none I would say I always like words like freezing if you can take out these adverbs like very which is just kind of an adverb of degree it's it's common in just everyday English I use very all the time it's just you know it feels natural but I think when you're speaking or especially when you're writing it's better to use more precise language and instead of saying very cold yes a freezing that's a very just one word it's it's very specific and I I just think it's better overall it's just something I would recommend but if you're just having a conversation you know whether you want to say gosh it's freezing outside or it's very cold outside the meaning is the same Preedy hi hi how are you hi Sumner nice to meet you and although nice to meet you from Brazil thank you ludovic which countries in Eastern Europe would you like to explore a lot of questions about me today which is cool so we've been my wife is Romanian American so obviously we've been to Romania we've looked like to go to like I'd love to go to like Poland we have a friend a good friend there I would even love to go to Moldova even further out east on the other side of Romania we'd love to visit Ukraine as well just all these places there there's so many different places to go not enough time Sebastian hi from Brazil excellent Lucia have you been to Italy yes we have my wife really wants to go back to Italy I think we want to explore northern Italy we haven't explored northern Italy as much but we've been to you know Rome I've been to Chengdu tada very beautiful beautiful country binge-watching alright somebody are you asking about binge-watching or just say that you are binge-watching if you guys are out there wondering well what does it mean to binge-watch it means to watch a lot and watch it consecutively so for example if you guys want to binge watch our lessons it means that you start now you watch one lesson and then you continue and continue and continue until hours have gone by and you could say wow I've been binge-watching your your lessons nowadays with Netflix I think many people like like to binge watch alright so let's see what else do we have here alright Scott I don't know who Scott Adam says goals are for losers what do you think Jonas okay uh I'm not sure who I guess I don't know who Scott Adams is I don't know if I should know who Scott had hims is I'm not sure why he would think goals are for losers it's it's subjective I guess anybody can think that I personally don't agree with that I think it's good to have goals to try and like think of things that you want to accomplish I often tell people when it comes to language learning try to make short term goals don't just say a goal like oh I want to become fluent set goals kind of talking about well how you're going to reach fluency like oh okay you know I want to read ten minutes a day and you find a new Zartan article online you read a book and you read for ten minutes a day and then you could say well I've accomplished that goal or I didn't and you know that's up to you I I think for me I think goals are a great way of organizing your like kind of making a plan in organizing what you need to do and think of okay I need to get from point A to point B and thinking about your goals and how you're going to reach that it's just a good way of organizing it some everybody's different some people might not like organizing things and that that's up to them should I watch a movie with or without subtitles I honestly I think it's up to you but I I think it's good to do both from time to time I think it's always good when you're using subtitles you're also getting you're practicing your reading skills you're hearing the correct pronunciation and you're seeing the words so you're able to match that up especially if you're watching a TV show or movie and they're using a lot of idioms or they're connecting their speech so I think in that way it can become helpful and you could think oh okay I I know what that they're saying now and then you could go out and practice that I don't think you always have to use it but I think it's good to switch it up from time to time and use subtitles um let's see hello hello how'd I do Princess Mira hello how are you um let's see what else Ardi I feel like I killed two birds with one stone by watching your video excellent great use of the head expression kill two birds with one stone it's not a very ideal day it's not a very nice expression because you don't want to think about killing birds but if you guys don't know what that expression means to kill two birds with one stone it means to accomplish two things at the same time so for example maybe with this discussion we're talking about learning English and maybe you want to practice your listening skills so you are practicing your listening skills you are learning other things about the English language you're learning about me and you could say yeah I'm killing two birds with one stone so let's see my speaking style is awesome thank you I really appreciate that thank you so let's see you again throw out some more questions if you have questions for me questions about English pronunciation vocabulary let me know if there's a word that you would like to know how to pronounce this word just just hit me up I want to go back and kind of talk about somebody I think I didn't like my example when I talked about somebody someone anybody anyone but just to clarify against somebody and someone you're gonna use those in positive sentences anybody anybody and anyone use those with questions and negative sentence they're all indefinite pronouns a great way to again what I like to do and I tell you guys this sometimes is that if you have questions about you know vocabulary or even grammar put it into Google and then click on images because if you put it into Google and do a search it'll bring up a bunch of different sites and some sites maybe you're gonna find useful other sites not maybe not so much if you click on images it's a very fast way of finding what you need and getting a quick example so you could put that into Google click on images and I think it's a really great way to also get a visual of what it is that you're trying to understand especially if you're talking about like a verb tense then you could put that in to present past perfect into Google click on images you'll get some examples and you'll also get kind of a like a bit of a map to show you to help you better comprehend what it means to use that that grammar tense so let's see let's see sorry they're looking awesome thank you all right I'm uh do you know anything about a Mideast no I'm not sure is that a program I say vaguely familiar is that a program that places English teachers in different countries in the Middle East maybe I've heard of it but maybe I'm thinking of something else I might be conflating that with another program and to conflate means to think of two things as the same thing when they're actually different alright so there's another one do you know energy no Bob the Canadian no I don't I know who he is I know that he is another English instructor on YouTube it's kind of a it's a little bit of a small community that even though there are many different English instructors on YouTube I think many of us are aware of a lot of the other instructors sometime from time to time I will go look at other people's lessons to see how they're teaching I think it's like you're able to observe a class in that regard to see what their style is like to see what they're talking about to see how they're presenting the information I think it's really great for me to see how did you decide to lead the YouTube channel like did you mean like like when did we decide to start one when we decided to start one after I finished my my MA and Teasle teaching English to speakers of other languages we were getting ready to move from California and I just thought it sounded like a great way to try and the goal was kind of like what we're doing right now to create a bit of a global classroom to be able to teach so many people at the same time and and again like provide it for for free basically to do that on on YouTube it's a free platform you don't even need to sign up for it anybody can go on there you can learn English you can learn with somebody we think it's great obviously I think we do we'd make some from ad revenue if you have ads on and we do as we've gotten bigger we have been doing some more sponsored videos with companies that we've tried that we think offer a good service for language learners you guys have probably seen some of those lessons before where I give a quick shout out - mmm a service for for learning English that we think people might be interested in so do you also have a job yes we I do have a job so this is this is a job for us so we do we are trying to make this as a full-time job would be great in the future we plan to offer some online courses and kind of do a mix between some video lessons that are already recorded as well as doing some of these live lessons to make it more interactive so we're gonna offer those later hopefully later in the year and that is something that will you know you don't have to buy it but if students want to buy that they can but I also do teach I teach for another company that teaches kids in China so somebody else Abdul Aziz what do you advise to learn accent American or British honestly that that's up to you it depends I guess mm-hmm where you live where you're from if one accent is easier for you then maybe try and go with that one perhaps you might think that another the accent will provide you with some kind of advantage in the future maybe with your work in that case then then try to learn that one but I think both of them its comprehensible wherever you're traveling in the world where if you have the British accent or the American accent I think it's your personal preference let's see I'm trying to look through some of these older ones made from verbs are you talking about like again brightly you've said would you explain ing adjectives made from verbs I don't know if you have an example I think a lot of words have they have different forms so for example I think you could say the verb like to excite it could be would be the verb form you also have an ING adjective exciting you also have a needy adjective excited excited so the there are so many words that can take on different forms whether it's a noun whether it's a verb whether it's an adjective I think that's a great way to expand and build your vocabulary if because you already know the meaning of some of these words so I think it's a good jumping point to learn those different ones let's see who else we have how can we improve our reading skills honestly the best way is I think just to keep reading keep reading but most importantly read at your level I think this is something that a lot of many learners don't do especially if they're at the beginning level and they're an adult they want to read something that you know I think it's great tool eat read what you're interested in but if you're trying to find if you're a beginner learner or even intermediate and you find an online article that might be above your level and you don't know so many you don't have the you don't have the reading vocabulary to comprehend it it could make you feel a bit frustrated it could make you feel you know like you don't want to continue doing this so I think it's very important to read at your level or even below your level when I was learning Spanish I would read these books for teenagers like this these kids books they were like maybe like a hundred were a hundred pages they weren't very long some of them even had pictures it was a little bit like a Harry Potter fantasy type thing but it was at my level and I could read through the story I did not - I didn't understand every single word but I didn't always have to look it up in the dictionary and I could put the words into into context and that was very important how can I move from intermediate to advanced that's a great question mama would I'd say that it's very important to continue getting different exposure to the language exposure listening exposure reading exposure speaking practice your writing skills and as you continue doing that I think it's you know the way I look at it is somebody's curve is like when they start out you're just gonna be skyrocketing and the more you get intermediate and kind of go into advance it's gonna level off more and it's gonna level off to the point where you feel like oh I'm not making any progress it becomes harder to notice your progress as well but if you keep practicing and you're practicing maybe not every day but every other day or a few times a week you if as long as it's continuous you will keep improving even if you don't notice it let's see yo bro hello Wes teacher hello how are you santosh how to better writing an essay I think again it just becomes one of those things two things I'd say make sure you learn the different parts of an essay when you're talking you could learn the different types of an essay learn the different parts about an intro the body the conclusion and once you're kind of you know okay what the essay consists of read essays because the more you read them the more you're going to understand about that form about okay each paragraph should start with a topic sentence that's what the paragraph is about then you're going to have your support and it's going to support the topic sentence that is the main idea and then you're going to have a conclusion sentence so the more that you read essays too I think that you're going to internalize that information and it will improve your writing as well reading and writing I think they go hand in hand let's see let's see IRA hi how are you like it you guys kind of having a conversation I do want verses I want what's the difference I think I do want it would it sounds a little awkward but I think it's colloquial like kind of an added emphasis I think mostly in most cases you just want to say I want you don't need to use the helping verb do in that case unless you're talking about the negative I don't want something but I'd say like if I wanted to add emphasis and somebody says hey do you want some chocolate cake and I'd be like oh I do want some chocolate cake then again it's mostly in just informal speech that people might say it just just as an emphasis it's not touch the thesis is the last or last second sir so again there is a difference I've noticed when you're talking about writing between or which country you're talking about because the way that if you're talking about writing an essay for an American audience then yes there is a certain form that you should use if it's from another country that forum may be different so for example you're talking about a thesis the first part of the essay is going to be the introduction generally the thesis is going to go like the last sentence of the introduction that is your thesis that is when you're basically stating what you're what what your stance is what your opinion is what what the essay is about and then you go into the body as far as when you're writing in in the United States that's the form that they would teach you for an essay so it's really important that you also keep your audience in mind because it could be very different depending on the country you're writing for pauldron is your accent from North England or the Midwest I don't that I really don't know I have a I'd say a standard American accent I grew up in the southeast part of the United States I spent a lot of my childhood living in New England in the Northeast I did my University out in the Colorado in the Midwest and the last place I lived in the United States was in California all the way out on the west coast I took one of those I think one of those like BuzzFeed things about find out where your accent is from and they asked you about all these questions about oh what do you call this what word do you use do you say soda or pop and with the fauna results it gave me it said I was like from Oklahoma I've never lived in Oklahoma it's kind of the middle of the US which made me think okay maybe my accent is just kind of all over and they just gave me the middle let's see sometimes lose words Thanks helpful it'll back what are the best ways to improve your vocabulary and fast that's a good question I think to improve your vocabulary to continue building your vocabulary I'd say a few things that might be a little different the first thing I would say you know you want to build vocabulary think about the words that are specific to you as an individual okay what kind of vocabulary do want to learn because you know if you are a student then and you're studying a specific topic then you might want to learn vocabulary related to that topic or your job you might want to learn the vocabulary related to that job so I'd say I think it's good to start with vocabulary that's more meaningful to you and that's why I said like well what it what is it that you do think about that because those words are more meaningful that those are words are you're more likely to probably use those words when you're speaking when you're writing you might even be more likely to hear those words because that is the environment in which you're in and and that means you're more likely to remember it so I'd say start with that as far as identifying the type of vocabulary you want to learn and then you could use different techniques for example spaced repetition where you learn a vocabulary word you study it again a few days wait later then you wait a little longer maybe a week study that word again then by using those spaced intervals you're more likely to remember and recall the information so again I also say don't overdo it with vocabulary because I think it's good too if you want to learn like 1 2 3 4 words a day that might be I think reasonable some students I know they would they would get a big vocabulary list of about 20 words in one day and I I think maybe some people are able to do that I think the average language learner is not able to remember all of those words and I think if you overwhelm yourself with too much then you you forget most of it and it doesn't help you alright so good be active on Instagram sis Mira yes we do want to be more active on Instagram like I said I think at the beginning it's difficult because we're doing all these things Instagram YouTube Twitter Facebook and we try to stay as active as possible Instagram is something I think we've neglected a little more and we should be more active so yes we will try to do just that let's see all this view is so what's the difference between who in whom denรญlson so who would be you're talking about an unknown some an unknown person in the subject position like I'd say whom you know I'm trying to think who are you for example we we don't know whom is used in the object position so think about it if a question I'd say like Oh whom do you like and it's used whom in that case because think about the object I like this person this unknown person it's in the object position so then you would use whom I think in in writing it's more common to continue using whom I think I often and spoke in English people overwhelming just use who and they'd say who do you like I said I said that in a video while back and I think I got a lot of blowback a lot of native speakers like oh I still use whom in my opinion I think when you're talking about spoken English people overwhelmingly use who but in writing it's still grammatically correct appropriate to use whom somebody I've been using Anki for space Anke for space repetition I've heard of Enki I haven't tried it but thank you for sharing with us Jonas excellent let's see let's see all right trying to just go through so many of these alright guys well I just say the time it's getting late we do need to go out I need to get outside today so I am gonna end it right there I thank you guys so much for being here I'm sorry if I didn't get to your questions today if I didn't get to it I apologize please write them in the comments and I will try to to answer the question or at least give you a reference and send you somewhere so you can learn a little bit more about it but I really thank you guys for being with me today for for checking out the these live lessons and you know for being a part of our community it really does mean a lot to us we're very fortunate to have this this classroom and again I think you guys make it so special and I really appreciate that so thank you guys hmm farhat fancy marbella paul dragon i vanish I see that please answer my question I didn't see the question I hope try to write it in the comments Avenue show tried to to get that to get to that once it's posted marry Santosh princess Meera thank you guys serious I really thank you guys for being with me today again trying to give as many shout outs as I can Priya Carla thank you neckla Phyllis Maria the Inga Jonas Aurora big shout out to all of you guys interactive English keep an eye out because we will be back for more lessons we do lessons every Tuesday and Saturday it is it can be grueling at times to keep up with that pace but so far we've managed to do Tuesdays and Saturdays that those are the days all right so hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend even if you're watching this later write to us in the comments write us a question or just tell us you know tell us your name tell us where you're from we just want to hear from you guys so have a wonderful day I will see you guys later so long --- ## 742. โšก LIVE ENGLISH LESSON โšก Q&A with Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `YwgBdTUNkso` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwgBdTUNkso) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:31:46 | --- everyone welcome to today's live lesson so this is a lesson that we do pretty much once a month where I want to interact with all of you I want to take your questions and you can ask me anything when it comes to learning English you can ask me about vocabulary pronunciation grammar you can even ask some personal questions if you have questions that you want to know more about me and in case you don't know about me my name is Wes and this is Interactive English and our channel is all about trying to help learners practice and improve their English skills and we make interactive lessons so that it's not just passive learning that you're just watching a video we try to make it more active learning and get you engaged and have you answer questions have you write comments and and this is another way for us to do that to have these live lessons and be able to talk with all of you directly so just want to give some quick shout outs to everybody here some people hello Sayid Gibson Angela dual um un from Vietnam excellent Karishma dwith Thune sorry if i mispronounce names - I apologize Goethe dis tryin Hong hello Yasser how are you where am i so i am in budapest hungary in case you don't know so this is going to be a live Q&A and there you can see a picture of my family and that is in budapest that is the parliament building which is right behind us it is a gorgeous building and budapest is a lovely city which i suggest you that you visit if you ever have want to go take a vacation it's a good spot to be and yes I'm not not this video is not sponsored by the city of Budapest but that is where we are at so what I want to do again is take your questions and the only thing that I would ask you is if you're asking questions to try and and make them pretty specific if it's a specific Cabul airy word if it's a specific word and say how do you pronounce this word or if it's a specific grammar concept just try to make them specific sometimes I'll get questions like oh can you go over all 12 verb tenses no we've done that in another lesson but it you know I just want to be able to go through as many questions as I can and I'm gonna go ahead and say if I don't get to your question then I apologize first and foremost but write it in the write it in the comments later on once the lesson gets posted write to me in the comments because I we we really try to answer as many questions as we can and respond to everybody in the comments because that that's just what we want to do to build and grow this community because we're very happy about it so the first question some of you may be wondering is well this was going to be a live lesson with the whole family with my wife you wanna who has been on videos in the past you've probably seen some of her lessons as well if you are familiar with the channel and our little baby girl I mean which I'll just show you again she's right here okay so there's our little bear outfit but before the lesson was beginning she was starting to nod off Emme so we put her to sleep and that is a good query so nod off and and what it means is to start to go to sleep so if somebody is nodding off it means they're like they're almost falling asleep so she was nodding off or like okay we'll put her we'll put her in bed she can sleep and then you guys you're just stuck with me alright so again try to ask some questions I'll answer as many as I can and we'll just go through them so she hun says hello how are you I am fantastic thank you thank you I appreciate it but yeah we're doing well the the fall season I love fall I love the change of the colors and just falling of the leaves and it just it makes me feel like just something new something new is starting Katy from Germany hello how are you uh let's see what are good games I could do with my secondary students ah good question so there are so many great games I think for learning English because actually a lot of you out there I know I hear we hear from people and say oh I am an English teacher and again we love hearing from English teachers as well one game that I would love to do just off the top of my head which is which is an idiom and if you don't know what that means if something is off the top of your head it just means you suddenly think of it that you're not going to do any research you suddenly think about it this is more of an introduction game but it can use it you can use it to have students practice or certain grammar concepts so something that I would do as an introduction is depending on how big the class is you put everybody in a chair everybody's sitting in a chair and the room is pretty open and they're you I wouldn't put it in a circle but you would tell students one student has to be standing and I would play the game as well so basically it start out with I'm the first person standing at everybody's sitting and you have to say something true about yourself and if it's also true for another person then they have to find another seat so for example I'd be standing in front of the class and I would say well I have one brother and if somebody else has a brother then they must find another seat now as people are moving around I'm gonna try and sit down which means another person is left standing and then they have to say something about themselves so you can use it to practice different grammar concepts if you're using the present simple or maybe even present perfect and you'd have to somebody would have to consistently use the present perfect and then say well I have been to China and then people have been to China they would switch seats or I have seen some movie and then people that have seen it they switch seats so that is a good that is a fun game that you can use in a variety of ways to practice grammar vocabulary as well as a good introduction game so that is one that I would recommend let's see what else do we have how do you pronounce months all right so again this word when you're talking about the months of the year I'm emphasizing it a little there if I'm speaking quickly I'd say you know how many months are in the year it's almost like that that o is more of a schwa sound that ma ma months months when I say it I think that you might not even hear the th sound it's just so quick it almost sounds like an M unts months so again this is one thing I think when you're like speaking quickly and people will say you know oh there's 12 months out of the year so that is something I would say naturally um you know I was born in the month of November so I don't know if again it's up to you if you can hear that th or not it's very slight but that is what I would say about that what does every other day mean fabiola excellent so if you're talking about every other day basically it's talking about just every two days so for example every day would be Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday for example every other day would be Monday Wednesday friday-sunday Tuesday Thursday and you're doing it basically every two days another way they look at it is that if I'm teaching a number of classes all right say that I teach ten classes so there's basically lesson one to ten and I say you're going to get homework every other class which would then mean if I give homework in the first class then then the next time they'll get homework is on the third class and then the fifth class and then the seventh and it's every other so you can use that in a variety of ways every other day every other month every other you know every other lesson and again it just means you're kind of alternating but basically by twos all right so let's see what else do we have is as a con how to improve the your writing skills honestly I'll give a quick answer to this and this is something that I truly promote and recommend is just to read the best way I think to improve your your writing is just to read because when you're writing it's all about you know your thinking about what's the correct vocabulary uses what is the correct syntax the structure of the sentences that I'm going to use when you're reading you're able to see that you're able to see the correct form and I think that translates back into your writing when you then need to produce the language and try to write and think about okay which word should I use to express this thought this feeling this idea so reading I think is just such a great way to improve all of your language skills because it really helps build vocabulary it helps you see the correct grammar structure and then when you need to produce the language which is when you write and when you speak that you are more likely to be able to do that correctly so that is what I'd say that's my big hint to that so Briona house what does douche bag mean well that is just an insult so if you say that to somebody then you are insulting that person so there's not like again it does have another literal meaning which I'm not gonna explain but you can google that if you want to but it's something that you might hear other people say too about another person and it's a derogatory term so let's see hello from Bangladesh hi so again if you guys are just joining us I'm just taking your questions you can ask me about vocabulary grammar pronunciation and I just want to spend a little time with you guys and kind of go over that and just be able to connect with you so that is what we're doing and this is good also just for your listening for your listening comprehension to not just learn maybe about some more vocabulary and grammar but just to see if you can follow along because I think my speech is a little slower but I also articulate and enunciate my my speech which is probably why it may be easier to understand what I'm saying so again this is great if you guys can understand me then that's perfect I love hearing that because that means I am at your level let's see Juicin hi from Haiti hello let's see Ducati cuts he says hi one question please what is more used in spoken English also as well as or two it really depends on on what your what part so for example 2 is an adverb of degree and that's often gonna be used to modify an adjective and say it's too hot too cold I I'm just I was too tired to do something so I think it is it's a very common word but it's used differently than those other ones I think also are as well for example also is just more of a transition word when you're trying to add additional information like Oh yesterday I went to the supermarket also I went rollerskating I don't know I'm just giving more information and in that case I do think it's a very common transition word one that I like to use that's a little more academic if you're giving a presentation or you're writing something formal would be in addition in addition means the same is also but I think also is more common especially in spoken English but if you want to be a little more professional in a professional setting I like in addition in additions good let's see when I'm trying I said when I am trying to speak fast I make more mistakes um which I can avoid in writing what's your advice thanks in advance um what I would say is that again just just to keep doing it don't don't focus on the mistakes I think the idea as long as you keep getting exposure with reading and writing especially if you're more of an advanced level you are going to be able to just eliminate those mistakes over time without even realizing it like if you make a mistake with I don't know a preposition that follows an adjective people will still understand but if you're if I were to hear that I know okay that was a small mistake as long as you're reading long as you're writing and just keep practicing and listening and getting more exposure you will then eliminate those mistakes I I would not encourage you to try and again I would just say try to speak naturally don't worry about trying to speak too fast but don't worry about like oh I should slow down and then try to think about what I'm going to say the reason why writing people might make less grammar mistakes in their writing is because it is more of a reflective practice that you're writing it down and then you're actually able to see it and change it if you realize something is wrong and everybody does this I do this all the time if I'm writing something and I go back and look at it and say yeah I want to use this word instead or maybe I see a typo and like oh I didn't I made this mistake right here but as far as speaking definitely I would always encourage you just speak speak it your speed speak at a speed that feels comfortable and and just do it without worrying about if you said something wrong or if you made a grammar mistake just keep moving forward all right that's what I would say for when it comes to speaking so they asked where is it I guess it means what does I it says what does grim mean so if you describe something like a situation as grim it basically means that the outlook is not positive that the outlook is something probably what will happen is not going to be a good thing all right so if I say oh you know we are in a grim situation then that means that you're in a situation that's not good it's not positive it's a difficult situation so often I also think of maybe a doctor if you're if somebody is sick and they go to the hospital and they asked like well how is the patient doing how are they doing and the doctor says you know it's grim that would mean that well the it's it's not a good thing it's not positive in the future there could be some problems so right now the if it's grim it's just an it's not a good situation so that is what I would say Daniel asked what does bamboozle mean all right so to bamboozle usually you would bamboozle another purse so to bamboozle somebody would just mean to trick them and often I think to trick them in a way in which you are kind of stealing something from them you are taking something from them so it's not like you would play a practical joke on somebody a trick and say oh I bamboozled you know you would be bamboozling somebody if you are tricking them out of money or something or you're tricking them and you're they let you borrow their car and you're like oh I tricked them I bamboozled them I was able to get something so that is what bamboozle would mean to trick something in order to have something and actually obtain something George R George well Jorge Lopez I could say English name like kind of George hello how can I improve my intonation I've talked about this in some other lessons before the concept of shadowing and shadowing is when you listen to you know it could be something from a movie it could be something from one of our lessons and you listen to it and then you try to say it the exact same way and you try to say it right after they do so that it almost sounds like you're saying it at the same time think about singing a song when you hear music but many people if you're in the car you like to sing along with the song this is shadowing you are basically trying to sing the song in the same way you're trying to use the same emphasis the same intonation and you can use that not just with songs but anything you hear so if it's a phrase from a movie and somebody says it in a really unique way you can try to do that and say it in the exact same way recently we just had a lesson come out I talked about some famous movie quotes and in that lesson I discussed using those movie quotes to practice your shadowing if you have not seen the lesson I will throw a link in there right now so you can check that out and again movies it's a good way to practice shadowing you hear something and you try to say it in the exact same way in that case I think it's best to take like kind of like shorter lips it's not like you're going to hear a one-hour presentation and then repeat everything that the person is saying so I think if you have like for example if it's a speech maybe you have the transcript in front of you and you can read and follow along and you can try to say it the same way that's another good way to practice but the shadowing is a good way to practice your pronunciation your intonation and your emphasis okay so check out that that lesson how to take knows fast or dictate coding how to take notes fast or dictate while listening this is again I think more like a study habit skill about taking notes quickly when when you're thinking about your listening comprehension and I think that's going to be different for each individual what I would tell students when they're taking notes especially if you're doing it in a foreign language when I when the place that I worked in at the school in California the school was preparing students for University so most of the students that came to our school whatever country they were from most of the students were anywhere from they were from 18 to you know 26 years old and the idea is that they were learning English they were going to take the IELTS or the TOEFL and then attend University and that's one of the things we would practice was note-taking because when you're in university you're going to be sitting in a class the professor's going to be up there giving a lecture and they're gonna take notes and if you if English is not your first language I don't know again culturally how people in different countries would take notes but I would just often tell them that when you're listening you want to focus on those content words those are the nouns the adjectives the adverbs that first off they help put a picture in your mind but if you're listening to those content words then those are the most important things and try to write those down so we would practice this and I would read them some kind of excerpt or I would give a presentation about a topic and we would practice taking notes and the students would listen for those content words write down as much as they can as they could and then afterwards I would give them a little quiz so this something that you could practice on your own if you find some a website to help you practice your listening skills and they say listen to this and then answer the question well while you're listening try to take notes try to write down those content words that important information the names the dates the places and then see if you can answer the question so that is what I would recommend for taking some of those notes let's look at hmm so sad you said what is the difference between half two and must please give some examples both of them have to and must our modal's of obligations something you have to do it's it's an obligation you're required to do that something you must do it's also an obligation and and it's something that you you another way put it you have to do I would say that I think have to is probably a little more casual you will hear it more in colloquial speech people you know in the in just their everyday conversation I think they'll talk about things they have to do Oh like today you know well I have to go to work at this time and then afterwards I have to go to my friend house because I'm gonna help them with something and you talk about things you have to do must I think is a little more formal it's probably something you would see it a little more in writing a little more professional when you're you're talking about things that one must do or so if you're reading something you might come across that but both of them have the same meaning it is a modal of obligation hi hello from Siberia excellent awesome let's see what else do we have I like how some of you guys are chatting with each other and ancing answering questions and please help each other out I would always encourage you sometimes it's moving quickly and I miss some questions but if you see somebody ask a question and you know the answer help them out answer the question share your knowledge of the English language I would definitely encourage you to do that that is also another good way to practice your skills because I would do that with students all the time as well I would have something like well the student is actually going to teach the class and they would have to study some either some topic or maybe even some grammar concept and then they would come to the front and give a presentation and actually try to teach the grammar and in try and in teaching the grammar that means they have to learn and understand it so again it's a great way to practice your skills David says hello how can i improve my listening again I think it's just to keep getting exposure to the language you know I could tell you know listen to TV shows movies listen to music but the other thing I would say is because when people are listening like most of you are listening to me right now it is passive listening which means that you're just listening to me talk you're listening to me give information but you don't have to do anything if you don't want to I would say if you want to improve your skills it's good to get some passive listening whether you're watching a TV show or movie or listening to music but also try to do some active listening as well and actually try to have something you have to do afterwards so for example I gave you I just talked about listening to some presentation and then answering questions and you could take notes if you want to but if you have to answer questions if you have to do some action then that means that it's an active listening exercise so I would say don't just listen passively try to listen actively as well and we've done some of those lessons before on our channel where we try to do make it an active listening exercise where you will listen to me say something and then you actually have to try and answer the question you write something in the comments you actually have to do something recently I did a lesson about trying to listen for vocabulary and then put it into context and I took some of these words that were they were a bit obscure and if you don't know what obscure means obscure means that it's that it's not common and it's rather unknown now the idea was that I don't want you to say oh you have to know these I was trying to find words that many people have not heard of and what I wanted to do the listening practice was to listen to it and then try to put the word into in context and say oh I understand the word because I listened to the sentence and I understand everything else so if you haven't seen that lesson right there I'm gonna write it and I'll just put it in quotes listening listening practice but that is a good way to get some active listening practice all right is to do some of those sites those exercises let's see what else do we got I want to know the meaning on chinga I want to know the meaning of blaze of glory so I I'm guessing you may be asking me that because of the famous song by Bon Jovi blaze of glory so I'm just gonna use that as an example but it is another expression in English if somebody says you know I'm gonna go down in a blaze of glory so if they're there talking about a blaze of glory it kind of means like one final fight that you're gonna give it your all and kind of it's it's going to be glorious alright and it's often used that phrase to go down in a blaze of glory it basically means that you're going to lose you're not going to succeed you're gonna do it anyway you're gonna fight and you know if something happens if it goes wrong then it goes wrong so in that case when they say you know somebody goes down in a blaze of glory it could be a fight in which they say I'm gonna die and I'm gonna go out until the end I'm gonna go out fighting or it could be something where maybe somebody has to give a presentation and they they're not ready for it they're not prepared they don't know what they're going to say and instead of running away they might say you know I'm just gonna do it anyway and I'm gonna if I go down in a blaze of glory so what I don't care I'm gonna go down in a blaze of glory I'm just gonna say it and people are going to boo me they're gonna get upset but you do it anyway alright so that is the way I would define a blaze of glory right let's see some people excellent I love how it seems like you encourage people help each other with some answers excellent see people helping each other out so uh let's see where's your kid at the moment before I told you guys remember I said at the very beginning cuz we were gonna have this be like a family Q&A and I said right before we started Emmy was starting to nod off and do you guys remember from the people that were there at the beginning what does it mean to nod off if somebody is nodding off it means that they're kind of like they're starting to fall asleep so she was starting to fall asleep so we said okay we don't want to wake her up and and put her in front of the camera so she is sleeping right now that is where she is let's see I'm going to be an English teacher but I still can't speak fluently which makes me sad most of the time is Alana I'd say again keep just keep practicing keep getting exposure to the language I think that's awesome that that you're gonna be an English teacher and and again I think the more exposure you get the more comfortable you get the the better you know the better your skills will be but also as a teacher I think as well I think it all goes it goes hand in hand because I think that when I first started teaching even though I was a native speaker and it's like wow I know English I was I think I was a pretty terrible teacher at the beginning I'll go ahead and say that there was a lot that I had to learn and I did over the past 15 years I think I've improved I've gotten better I understand teaching and methodology a lot more and it's just it's all part of the the process all right so Luna assume the explain the possessive cause I'm not really sure what you mean I guess by possessive cause I don't know if you mean possessive Clause I don't know if you could give an example or if it's something again if I can't answer your question or I don't know if I don't understand one resource that I always say is just try to google it just throw it into Google usually you have sites that always come up with explanations and examples it is such a useful resource to use is just to to Google it so I'm not really sure exactly what it is and I know that probably one thing that's frustrating in English is that there are different words to identify different things for example you could talk about the present continuous verb tense well some people call it the present progressive it's the same thing but they use different names to identify that verb tense and I think that can be confirmed confusing for learners and it can be frustrating for teachers as well because I've had that some mix-up before when you're trying to talk about something and I'm saying the present present progressive and somebody else like wait I the present continuous why are you saying something different let's see do you have some rules the schwa can you says so if you guys don't know what the schwa sound is it is just an unstressed sound in English and it's it's an unstressed syllable and it most of the time sometimes it has no sound at all it's omitted but oftentimes it has like an uh sound just that uh and I think a great example would be the word banana all right but Nana so it's three syllables banana and that last one that nough because the it's ba na it's only the vowel the letter A but that last one has that schwa sound it's unstressed banana and it has that sound so we actually did a lesson before if you guys want to look at it on the schwa sound but again this is where I think you can study words that specifically have the schwa the schwa to be able to identify them but then you really just need to practice with more listening and and more speaking and actually trying to say these words out loud and produce the sound let's see we have some good questions I know that I am going to need this little short if I haven't gotten to your question please just write them in the chat I will try to get to them but every month this is something we want to do I want to do a Q&A I want to take as many questions as I can it's great for you guys to learn it's great for you to practice your listening skills and I just want to be able to do this as much as we can to be able to communicate with you guys directly so another thing one thing I want to say before we end if you guys do enjoy what we do if you enjoy our lessons please show us some love you can check out our patreon page we have some cool rewards it's just it's another great way to connect with us to interact with us and it really does it helped it goes a long way in helping us continue to do this and put out all of these free lessons on YouTube for anybody who wants to see them and we try to do two lessons a week we have we do one recorded lesson which we post and then these live lessons as well so you can check out our patreon page if you want to show us some love and be a patron if not that's okay no problem don't worry don't worry about it so thank you guys so much for being here with me again if I didn't get to your question write to me in the comments once the the lesson gets posted please hit that like button if you enjoy these Q&A sessions if you find them useful if they are helpful then let me know that's the way that you can tell me is by hitting that like button so I think okay this is something I need to continue doing because learners find value in actually being being able to ask me questions directly and have me answer them write to me in the comments check out our social media which is it's up here yes we're active on Facebook Twitter Instagram and YouTube and yeah just thank you guys so much for being here give some more shout outs to ish thank you so Chi Daniel miss reluctant Syed Angela hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 743. โœ๏ธ 35 Creative Ways to Write SAID | Make Your Writing POP | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `uCyp7ZCxQaI` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCyp7ZCxQaI) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 07:59:02 | --- let's talk about some creative ways that you can say the word said so why is this important well first it allows you to be more descriptive it's also going to keep the reader's attention because these words are just more engaging they're more captivating and you will avoid redundancies because you don't want to keep saying he said she said we said they said you need to mix it up so let's begin and say that you would like to persuade someone to do something or think something here are some verbs to help make your writing more descriptive you could use pleaded and this is when you're making an urgent or emotional request uh like don't leave he pleaded this is very similar to the next one which is begged except I I feel like begged is probably a little stronger than pleaded but once again this is a strong way to make an urgent request I want a balloon the child begged so in this case it's just more descriptive I'm capturing that feeling I want to balloon the child bag this is something that uh well yeah my child told me last week you can also use entreated which means to try hard to persuade someone to do something now this verb it's probably not as common as these others however it's still very useful because it's specific and if I want to capture a direct quote I could say if you help me with the presentation then I'll work your weekend shift for you he entreated and then we have the verb implored this means to ask someone to do something or not to do something in a very sincere and emotional way think about this situation say that a woman gets pulled over by the police for Speed and she's getting ready to get a ticket so she says please don't give me a speeding ticket she implored so she's imploring the police officer not to give her a ticket and doing this in a sincere way and of course I had to include the picture of that dog because I think this is a good association with these verbs because dogs May plead for things or beg for things or implore their owners to do something and to continue using these verbs like that last one I implore you to subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals and in this case I really want to help you build your vocabulary not only to help your speaking fluency if you're telling a story but really help you improve your writing because if you're writing a story you're probably going to use many different reporting verbs you will use the verb said but you can also use a lot of these other verbs to be more descriptive and if you would like a copy of the lesson notes check out the link down in the description so let's continue with some more verbs if you like to persuade someone you could use besieged which means to ask for something in a way that that shows you need it very much I need this raise he besieged his boss now this is not the most common verb in the world but once again it helps you get that variety same with the next verb cajoled this means to persuade someone to do something that they might not want to do and you're you're persuading them by just talking pleasantly and nicely like please pretty please say yes she could hold so this is a good reporting verb that I could use if I want to capture my little girl's direct speech if she wants something and I maybe I don't want to give it to her she might cajole me into giving it to her please pretty please the next two verbs I think are definitely more common insisted this means to say something firmly especially when others either disagree or just oppose what you're saying I want to see my client the lawyer insisted so in this context I it makes me think of a situation in which somebody is asking more than once and then they start insisting the next verb I think is a similar but it's a bit stronger demanded this means to ask for something forcefully and really in a way that you don't expect to be refused I want another candy the child demanded so again I'm yeah it's just I can't help but give many examples with children I have little girls so again these are these are things that I hear and this helps capture the mood and switch things up a little bit so you can avoid those redundancies so if you are wanting to express happiness or excitement there are some great verbs that you can use such as gushed this means to express a positive feeling especially praise but doing so in a way that it may not seem sincere perhaps they're doing it a little too much so if I'm writing a story and my character is just praising someone over and over and and he says you look amazing he gushed all right that that tells the reader that perhaps they're they're going a bit overboard it's a little too much and maybe the other person does not find it all that sincere then we have cheered which is to give a loud shout of approval or encouragement we won she cheered all right really expressing that happiness and I think this verb is calm commonly used it in the context of maybe a competition and you're really trying to encourage others then we have the verb touted it means to advertise talk about or praise something repeatedly and you're really you're doing this because you want the other person to accept what you're saying or maybe even buy something you won't find another car like this the salesman touted so in this case it's like well the salesman's really proud of the car they're really happy about it and they're kind of advertising it they're praising it yeah you won't find another car like this so this is a good verb for that context then we have these three verbs which are somewhat similar but also Express happiness and in all of the examples they really provide that extra bit of information to show you that well that something is funny like laughed it means that you are smiling and making sounds you believe that this is a funny situation I knew it was you she laughed we also have the verb chortled which is not as commonly used it means to laugh and really just showing some satisfaction did you hear the news she chortled giving that extra information that this news is funny it's satisfying and then there's the verb giggled this means to laugh repeatedly in in kind of an uncontrolled way I think it's perhaps not as strong as saying laugh but again this is something we all do giggle we all giggle from time to time where did you get that hat he giggled I'm telling you that this hat maybe it looks a little funny which is why he giggled here are some more verbs proclaimed this means to announce something officially especially something that is positive this is the start of a new beginning he proclaimed another verb announced which means to make something known or to tell people something officially we got engaged she announced all right really happy news there's also the verb declared and this means to announce something clearly firmly officially publicly uh I could say we made it to the finals the coach declared so with each of these verbs they may be used interchangeably depending on the context but it's still good to get that variety let's move from happiness to sadness if you want to show that you are upset about something there are many different verbs that you could use like pouted this is when you want to show that you are annoyed and you're pushing your lips together and really pushing out your lower lip like and you're just unhappy about something I want some ice cream the child pouted you can also use the verb complained which is very common it just means that that you're saying that something is wrong or or just not satisfactory we don't want to work over the weekend the employees complained all right it's not a good situation I would complain about it as well if you want to emphasize that sadness you could use a verb like sobbed it means to cry noisily and you're really taking these deep breaths so think about this situation if someone says I work so hard on this project and now it has been destroyed in a matter of seconds she sobbed you could also use cried which means you are well producing tears and expressing that strong emotion she told me it was over he cried and really conveying that sadness let's keep it going with some more sad verbs keep building your writing vocabulary with verbs like lamented and this means that you are expressing sadness and really just feeling sorry about something and I think that's a key part of it just feeling sorry maybe a little bit of regret I should never have accepted the offer he lamented you could also use the verb sneered when talking about someone or something in an unkind way that shows no respect is that the best you can do she sneered so it's not a good thing to sneer at someone but it does it really captures that emotion wind is making that long high sad sound I'm sure you can think of someone from your life who has whined before my ice cream melted the boy wide you're really sad and upset about this and then there's the verb bemoaned this means to complain or Express sadness about something great verb to use from time to time our department has to lay some people off the manager bemoaned all right the manager is not happy about this situation bemoaning this situation now let's raise the noise level and talk about well if somebody's being loud you could use verbs such as shouted this means to to speak in a loud voice especially when you're in a situation that well it's very noisy around you and you want others to hear so you have to shout we won they shouted so in this context I I feel like the atmosphere is very noisy and he's very excited and just shouting this we won we also have the verb exclaimed which means to shout something suddenly because of surprise fear or pleasure that's not fair she exclaimed in this situation makes me think well perhaps she's a little surprised that's not fair and then there's bellowed which is to shout in a loud voice who's there he bellowed tells the reader that wow this this is a very loud voice when someone Bellows let's move on with some more loud verbs like yelled this means to shout and make a loud noise because you're angry you're in pain maybe you're excited get out she yelled in this case uh makes me think she's not happy and I should probably get out then there's the verb screamed which is similar to yelled you may use these verbs interchangeably but let me give you a different context if uh people say help us they screamed and in this situation they are screaming for help and then there's the verb Hollard this means to shout loudly pass me the ball he hollered and you really want to get someone else's attention when you're hollering at them pass me the ball let's now bring the noise level down a little bit and talk about some verbs that you can use if you want to say someone's trying to be quiet like this verb right here murmured murmur just means to say something very quietly I love you the boy murmured and in this context it makes me think that well the boy is a little shy perhaps he doesn't want the other person to hear it but he's really just still feels the need to say it and he murmurs this then we have the verb muttered it means to speak quietly in a low voice so that it's not easy to hear and and when I think about this verb muttered I think that people do this because they don't really want the other person to hear what they're saying it could perhaps cause an argument so if we are in a classroom and maybe a teacher gets angry and they call a student lazy and the student's a little upset you're the lazy one the student muttered and they say it in that low voice because they don't necessarily want the teacher to hear and that's why you would mutter something and this verb is also used in the phrase to mutter something under someone's breath which has the same meaning you're speaking softly it's not easy to hear because you don't really want the other person to hear and you mutter something under your breath then there's mumbled which means to speak quietly and in a way that's not easy to understand so to give you an example of someone mumbling uh I could say I can't believe he mumbled and you're like wait wait what was that last part I can't believe they remembered he mumbled so when I'm mumbling it's kind of like you're just been trailing up in the and you you just don't understand what someone's saying because it's like they're trailing off it becomes quieter and they may be mixing some sounds together and you're like wait what was that can can you say that again and then there's whispered okay if somebody's really trying to be quiet it means that you were speaking quietly really so only the person next to you or close to you can hear what you're saying and you would whisper something she whispered so this is a very common and a great verb to use if you really want to show that somebody's trying to be quiet so I just gave you many different verbs that you can use instead of saying the verb said these are very useful reporting verbs that'll really help you improve your writing they're more descriptive they're more precise and it's just going to make your writing that much more captivating and remember if you'd like to get a copy of the lesson notes check out the link Down Below in the description and I will send them to you if you are already a part of our email Community then check your email I have already sent them to you if you enjoyed the lesson please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long --- ## 744. ๐Ÿ”ฅ FLUENCY TEST | What is your level of English? | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `F_9a20dhj34` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_9a20dhj34) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:05:46 | --- Do you want to know your English level? Let's find out because I want to test your fluency. And the way that we're going to do this is with some just keyword sentence transformations. And this is a great exercise in which I want you to use both your grammar skills as well as your knowledge of vocabulary and thinking about different words and phrases because basically I am going to give you a sentence and I want you to change it and create a second sentence that has the same meaning. And of course this is interactive English. I want you to participate. Write your answers in the comments in the chat. I just love hearing from you. And of course, if you would like to get and access these lesson notes, click on the link in the description. You can join our email community. If you are already a part of the community, check your inbox. I will send them to you. So, let's start. Let's just get get the ball rolling and begin with this first one. So, I I am uh you know, going to be this. You know, this is an informal test. I'll say that. All right. This is not like some official test, but I'm giving you a range of questions that are probably from a variety of levels. Some are going to be much easier than others. So, we'll start off maybe a little slower and then it's going to get increasingly more difficult. So, the school is behind the office buildings. I want you to change the sentence. Use the word of. And I'm giving you the start of the sentence now. the office buildings, what would you say? Now, when it comes to these sentence transformations, try to be as exact as you can. So, really think about the grammar. Think about the verb tense that you're using. Also, we're going to get into some of the vocabulary a little bit later. The school is behind the office buildings. The office buildings. M. What do you think? So, see, all right, some excellent answers. Perfect. So, I I've basically just switched it around. The school is behind the office buildings. So, I could say the office buildings. Think about the subject verb agreement. You need that verb in there. The school is the office buildings are in front of the school. The office buildings are in front of the school. So, I think for the most part, you know, these uh directions behind, in front of, but I tried to get a little tricky with that subjectverb agreement. The school is singular. Office buildings is plural. The school is, the office buildings are. Thank you guys. Excellent. Going to give some shout outs as I go through this. Uh Lai Tako, good to see you. Zuma, perfect. So, the next one, we're just going to move right through these because I have quite a few. My grandfather built the house. I want you to create another sentence. Use the word by and the the beginning of the sentence is going to be the house. My grandfather built the house. Another way of saying this so that it has the exact same meaning would be changing it to what type of uh lesson what type of sentence not what type of lesson what type of sentence what do you think I'll give you a moment because of course in this case I'm asking you to write something takes a little longer but if you're watching this later participate write it in the comments love hearing from you Guys, I love how Julia said, "Easy peasy lemon squeezy." My little girl says that all the time. I love it. So, we're talking about changing a sentence from active to passive. You see that keyword by? That is a a hint. So, we're making it passive. In which case, we're going to use the verb to be followed by the past participle by the actor. The house was built by my grandfather. All right. The house was built by my grandfather. Great job. Uh Raphaela, perfect. Vanera, you guys are are rocking this. So, I told you we're starting a little easier and then it'll get a little more challenging, but just because I like to add a few things, add some information in there. When to use the passive? This is a question that I often get because I think changing from active to passive, most people can think about the grammar structure and understand it. But there are specific times when you would want to use the passive. Overwhelmingly, you're going to use the active voice. But if you want to emphasize the action over the actor, like our example sentence, that would be a time when you'd use the passive. The house was built by my grandfather. We're emphasizing the action. if you want to avoid identifying the actor like mistakes were made. So maybe the the grandfather my grandfather built the house he made some mistakes but he doesn't want to admit he's just you know mistakes were made and you want to avoid identifying the actor. You describe a situation in which the actor is unknown. You don't know who it is. My wallet was stolen. So I'm not going to say my wallet was stolen by someone. I don't know who it is. I would just drop it and say my wallet is stolen. Or if you want to have a firm tone like this example, you travel somewhere and they say photos are not allowed. These are just some quick examples as to when you would use the the passive voice or when it it's appropriate to use the passive. How about this one? Very quick sentence. I disagree. Instead of saying I disagree, I want you to use the word differ and complete the next statement. Any of you have uh taken my uh speaking course, I feel like you you'll you'll get this one because we do some debates and talk about introducing your opinion, disagreeing with people, but what what could you use to uh complete? I mean, you're saying the same thing. Instead of saying I disagree, you would say this phrase instead. I think it's not as commonly used, of course, as disagree, but I do think it's appropriate. It's polite. It's a little more formal. It's a great way to disagree. Maybe you don't know the person and you don't want to be too aggressive. I disagree. So, in this case, I'm giving you differ, but you really need to think about the verb that you're going to use, which is beg. I beg to differ. Great job. Uh, Talal, Angela. Excellent, Raphaela. Knew you would get that. I beg to differ. So, instead of saying I disagree, and again, we're in a meeting. I want to be a little more polite. I'm going to say, look, you know, I beg to differ. I have a different opinion. I beg to differ. Then we have this question right here. I can't wait to go on vacation. It's not really a question. Again, we're just changing these sentences and and really testing both your grammar and vocabulary. I can't wait to go on vacation. I want you to use the word forward. That is our key word. and you're going to start out the sentence, I'm I'm really m on vacation. This, I believe, is another phrase that I think most of you are probably familiar with. You've heard of it, and I think it's a very common phrase. But just keep in mind the grammar when you're constructing this. I can't wait to go on vacation. I'm really what? because there is a common mistake that I hear or I I see when it comes to this phrase. Once again, I know you you're writing it right fast. I I would say try to be as specific as possible in order you want to with these keyword transformations. You got to get all of the words or try to get all of them. I can't wait to go on vacation. So, the phrase that I was talking about is to look forward to something. And if we want to put that into the sentence, I'm really looking forward to going on vacation. Looking forward to going on vacation. So, let's see. I have some uh good answers. There's one thing again I see this is when people make small mistakes where they you look forward to something and people that you have that to and they think infinitive. So instead of look forward to go keep in mind you look forward to doing something you're going to follow it with the gerand that ing. I look forward to going on vacation. I look forward to having a picnic in the park. I look forward to meeting your parents or something like that. I don't these are just examples but you can hear that uh or you can hear that ing going meeting playing. So keep that in mind. You look forward to doing something. If you enjoy these lessons, again, I would I'd ask you please subscribe, turn on those notifications. That way, I can become your teacher. I didn't introduce myself at the beginning, so I will right now. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And the way that I want to do that right now is with this fluency test. Here is the next transformation. My colleague sometimes gets on my nerves. I'll go ahead and tell you. I think you know, but if someone gets on your nerves, it's just somebody who annoys you, bothers you, I want you to change that and use the word neck, my colleague, m on my nerves. So this is when vocabulary really comes into play because there is a specific phrase that you would need to be familiar with so that you can complete this sentence. My colleague m on my nerves as we go through this. Try to if you can keep track as to how many you got correct, how many were incorrect. There is a total of 14 that we're going to look at. So my colleague [Music] on my nerves. I see a good answer. All right. One uh close and with these prepositions. So my colleague when we're talking about neck, we're going to use the verb have. You have a knack. colleague is singular. My colleague has so instead shrinking them up not have a knack. My colleague has a knack for something. Has a knack for following it with the jiren. Has a knack for getting on my nerves. My colleague has a knack for getting on my nerves. So this is when it really becomes uh I think a bit a lot trickier knowing the phrase that you a knack for something the ability we're going to use that with have and then follow it with for plus the jarn. You have a knack for something. Then we have what do you think about this one? Oh, just to just to give you a quick comment because I I know uh I saw in there like a knack of. I I it is it is okay. Generally, you're going to follow this with the preposition for. I think that is more common. You may hear people talk about a knack of. So, if you said a knack of, I think that's my colleague has a knack of getting on my nerves. That works. That's perfect. I saw that. I think uh uh Taya, excellent. Um, some people had put on that would not work. You would say a knack for doing something or a knack of doing something. To give you a little more context, uh, you can see these news headlines right here. And and all of them use for English instructor who stumbled on her knack for translation or Alexander Calder, the artist with a hidden knack for design. And then finally, making meth, how New Zealand's knack for pee turned into a homebaked disaster. And I think in this context down there, P is another informal name for meth. All right, this is I' I'd look this up. Not that I really know this by any any means. Um, so to give you a little more context with knack, but it's a a nice phrase. You have a knack for something. A a you are skilled at doing this thing. How about this one? Would you like to watch Netflix? A very simple basic question. I want you to come up with another question using the word feel. And I've I've given you part of it already. Do you m Netflix? This I think is a little easier. I think probably most of you can change this. Once again, even with these simple ones, keep in mind the grammar. This is when you want to pay a little closer attention to that because technically speaking, if even like part of it was wrong, like the conjugation or it should be in the past tense, if this were an exam, I think it would I would have to mark it wrong. Sorry, I'm going to be very very nitpicky with uh with these responses. So, would you like to not would you like to watch Netflix? Sorry, I can't speak today. Do you Do you feel like doing something? So, in this case, we're going to use the gerand watching. Do you feel like watching? Excellent. Stanley, Alicia, uh, Takaya, Rafella, Lai, Angela, Talal, uh, do you feel like watching Netflix? Perfect. Think you guys rock that one. Now, it's going to it's definitely going to start to get a a little more difficult. So, she rarely gets less than 70% on her English exam. I'm giving you the word rare. That is our key word and the sentence it that's our blank. There are several words missing. Get less than 70% on her English exam. What would you fill in there? What are the missing words using the word rare that has the same meaning as the original sentence? She rarely gets less than 70% on her English exam. Write your answers in the chat in the comments. I want you to participate. Or if you're writing it down on a separate piece of paper, that is okay as well. But that is what these lessons are all about to to kind of engage with the lesson. This is active learning, not passive learning. So if we want to use rare, I would start out the sentence, it is rare, saying something. It is rare. And then you could talk about a lot of different things. It is rare. We're going to follow that with the preposition for and then her. But keep in mind, we need that infinitive. It is rare for her to get less than 70% on her English exam. All right. It is rare for her to get less than 70% on her English exam. Well done. Uh Raphaela Lai Suma. Nice. Just trying to throw some shout outs whenever I can. One thing I want to keep in mind, I I didn't uh I I used on her English exam. This is when English can get a little tricky with some of these prepositions because sometimes there's more than one. We talked about a knack for something, a knack of. And if if I said in her English exam, that would be okay. Probably I would use on. I think in the United States, which is where I'm from, that would be more commonly used. I'm not sure if in would be more British English, but just to give show you a quick resource if you're ever wondering. Okay, you have these two phrases. You think, well, which one's more appropriate? Which is more commonly used? You can use engram viewer. Just type in engram viewer in a search. And this will show you the frequency of different words and phrases. So, I just put in on her exam, in her exam, and you can see that the usage is pretty similar. And basically engram viewer is taking a collection of written English whether it's academic or an informal blog and just puts it on that chart so that you can get an idea as to which one is more commonly used. So I wanted to point that out especially with these prepositions because it's not always well this is right this is wrong. Sometimes it is the case, but it can also be that there is more than one that you can use, but one may may be more commonly used. Okay, sorry for that. That was a little detour that we took wanting you to show you that resource. The next one, he thought that the music was too loud. And then I want you to create another sentence using far as m the music was too loud. This is kind of true in in my case. I think late at night out in the courtyard across the building there's always like a some music playing or people outside talking. It's kind it's kind of a dormatory and it can be loud. They have play play music and this like that's what this is what I would say. You know, I thought that the music was too loud. But the next part, the one of the key words is as because we're kind of bringing up like you the next part of the sentence, the music was too loud. So, you know that that first part is really introducing your opinion. And what phrase could you use to introduce your opinion as? And then we're going to use far. As far what think again like I think some of you are very close. We're not going to use thought in this case. We're going to use concerned as far as I'm concerned is a phrase if I were introducing my opinion. But in this case we're talking about he. So the subject is he as far as he was concerned. We're we're going to use it in the past as well. And these are like the small things. This is why I said it's really testing your grammar with these transformations because I feel like people know like oh as far as I'm concerned but then you got to keep in mind well what is the subject? Is this are we talking about the past or the present? As far as he was concerned, the music was too loud because in our first sentence, he thought the music was too loud. This has happened in the past. So, as far as he was concerned, the music was too loud. All right. Excellent. Um, good job. Again, I see like some of those uh slight mistakes either people didn't use the word concerned. You got to keep that in mind because this is kind of a fixed phrase. But then others with that verb tense instead of is was. How about this one? Once this contract is signed, the this agreement or once this contract is signed, this agreement is binding. Hopefully, as I talk about how specific I want you to be with your grammar, keep that in mind as we go through these other ones. Once this contract is signed, the agreement is binding. As soon as you And then the we end the sentence with agreement, but I want you to use the word by. As soon as you What? As soon as you do what? I don't want to give too much of it away, but we're going to end the sentence with the word agreement. I think uh one thing you're going to have to change in here grammatically is that you have that the agreement is binding. We're not going to use that. We're going to change it to a well, it's going to be the past participle or in this case like uh participle adjective. Once I I'll just say it again. I know people are probably like writing or thinking about it. How can I use by? Um as su once this contract is signed, this agreement is binding. As soon as you sign this contract, you are what? You are bound by the agreement. So this would be a way to express that. So instead of saying it's binding, you are bound by something. We're using the passive again. As soon as this as soon as you sign the contract, you are bound by the agreement. Here we go. Let's keep let's keep moving on. I want to do some more. This one I think is a little easier, but also it can really be tricky because with some of these that I think are easier, people may make like very small mistakes, whether it's the wrong preposition or the wrong verb tense. I am tired. She said, I want you to use the word said and complete that sentence. She m tired because you you see these quotes right here. You know that we're talking about changing something from direct speech to indirect speech or direct speech to reported speech. Now you know that's the case and I feel like you can change this sentence but keep in mind like those small little details. I am tired. She said she said that. All right. Nice. Excellent. Uh Taya Julia uh Alicia Suma. All right. Give some shout outs real quick. Okay. Tanisha. Perfect. Raphaela Li. Okay you guys right. She said that she was tired. I am tired. She said she said that she was tired. This is a quick little graph uh that if you're wondering about, you know, trying to be grammatically correct, you're changing from direct speech, the actual words a person says, which is why you see those quotation marks, to indirect speech, which is a description of what someone else said, the verb tense is going to change. So the the question or the statement with direct speech was the present simple. I am tired. When we change that to indirect speech, we're then going to use the past simple. She said that she was tired. The present continuous, we change to the past continuous. Past simple, past perfect, present perfect, past perfect will would change to would and can. something to keep in mind if you are changing from direct speech to indirect speech or reported speech. But I think you guys, for the most part, you guys nailed that. You rocked it. How about this one? And once again, vocabulary I think plays a larger role in getting this one correct. The police released the suspect because of new evidence. I want you to use the word light. The police released the suspect. New evidence. What phrase are we going to use so that the sentences have the same meaning? I told you this is more vocabulary related because you would really have to be able to come up with this specific phrase and pretty much know what it means. I imagine you probably have heard of it if you watch a lot of TV in English, movies, or read um the newspapers uh or the news a lot in English because you you would come across this I feel like especially in this context of like crime. All right, you guys again, Rocka Pelagoya, sorry I mispronounced names. Um Angela Tayo, Shirley. So, the phrase that we're looking for, and again, make sure that you're using the right preposition, in light. In light of new evidence. So, the phrase that I'm talking about is in light of something. The police released the suspect in light of new evidence. That this new evidence came about, so the person was released in light of new evidence. One thing I'll point out with this one is that I got this this is from uh Cambridge in in the light of something. It's it's an idiom. It means the same thing. So if you've said in the light of new evidence that that's perfectly fine. I just want to highlight that it's a little more British English. I don't know if you can see it down there. It does say idiom. It says US in light of something. That is what I would say because I'm from the US. in light of new evidence. But in the UK, they may add that definite article in there in the light of something. Again, just good to know you. Either one is correct. They're both correct. How about this one? I have waited for an hour and he still hasn't come. I have waited for an hour and he still hasn't come. I want you to use the word sign and complete the sentence after an hour. Hm. There are quite a few missing words uh in this. And then we're going to end it with him. I'm going we're going to use a phrase that I think you in this case probably have heard of. You've come across it. You may even use it. And I think once I show you the answer, then you'd probably oh yes, I I know this. Or I think you'll probably just know because that keyword is I think a pretty big hint. Sign. I have waited for an hour and he still hasn't come after an hour. What? And we're going to end it with him. So there there are quite a few words again and I would say try to see if you can get a after an hour of doing what? So I've given you part of it. After an hour of doing something, we're going to follow it with the gerand. In this case, we're talking about waiting. After an hour of waiting, what happens? Now, you can use that phrase sign. So, I have waited for an hour and he still hasn't come. It means the same thing. After waiting for an hour, there is still no sign of him. All right? He's still not here right now uh in the present. After waiting for an hour, there is still no sign of him. But again, I think you probably have heard that that phrase, that construction, no sign of someone. There's no sign of someone. Here's another one which I think is both well grammar and vocabulary but you really have to be aware of a certain phrase. And now again this is getting a little more difficult. This is more challenging, of course, but some of these phrases I think are are useful if you're able to build your vocabulary. If you hadn't heard of, well, in light of something, like because of or there's no sign of someone that they're not around, or in this case, my friend told me nothing about the surprise party. I want you to use the word dark. There is a specific phrase in this context, my friend. M surprise party. So I think you've probably again familiar, you've heard the expression before using dark, but then you got to fill in the pieces around it. Think about the verb. Is it the present tense? Is it the past tense? I I I will say I think um uh in the dark. All right, we're talking about in the dark, but what verb are you going to use with that? you would m someone in the dark. A a collocation would be to keep someone in the dark. Now, this is in the past tense, so we're also going to use the other one in the past tense. My friend kept who kept me in the dark about the surprise party. You would keep someone in the dark about something. So hopefully as I even before I show you the sentence, as I kind of talk through it, talk about the phrase, what verb is often used, it starts to make a bit more sense to keep someone in the dark about the surprise party. Well done, um Allan, uh K TV. Excellent. All right, you guys, I think pretty much did pretty pretty well on that one. How about this one? I apologize because I totally forgot about the meeting. I want you to use the word confess and complete the sentence. I must and then end it with mind. End it with mind. This is another one where there's uh another phrase which would be part of building your vocabulary that is necessary. So I want you to use the word confess. But the another key word in this would be that final word mind. So you probably notice as we do some of these others that are more difficult really you need to know some of the vocabulary like if you're in the dark you don't know about something you you know in light of because of and then as you build your vocabulary I think and start to use these or recognize them you'll see some of those words that go with them. For example, I mentioned you would keep someone in the dark is a common collocation with that uh phrase. So, I apologize because I totally forgot about the meeting. So, we're talking about forgetting something. I must what? We're using confess. So, basically that that is going to be our main verb. I must confess what what about the meeting? You want to say that you forgot it. And in that case, you could say that it what? So, I see Samantha. Nice. Uh, Lai, you got the phrase Ava Julia. So, we're talking about the phrase something slips your mind. If it slips your mind, then you forgot it. And if we want to complete this sentence grammatically, I must confess the meeting slipped my mind because it we're talking about uh uh it already happened. You forgot about the meeting. I must confess the meeting just slipped my mind. There are other phrases that you could use. You could use it with adverbs saying something just it completely slipped my mind or it totally slipped my mind. Or if somebody's asking you about something and you forgot, you could say, well, it must have slipped my mind. Well, I just didn't think about it. It must have slipped my mind. Those are some common phrases that you'll use with that um that expression to slip one's mind. All right, this is just a little funny, entertaining uh thing. Also kind of good way to test your fluency as well with these jokes. This is a sign from uh I guess out in Austin, Texas somewhere. I would tell you my best ice pun, but it slipped my mind. Do you find this funny? But a pun is just a play on words. You're having fun with words, and they're supposed to be funny. So, we're talking about an ice pun. And they would say it, but it slipped my mind. It's funny because you would slip on ice. It's very slippery. But in this case, we're saying like, well, I forgot. I would tell you. I would tell it to you, but I forgot. My best ice pun. It slipped my mind. Haha. I just I didn't honestly I didn't find it to be that funny, but I thought it was relevant and including this as another point of reference when it comes to using this phrase, but also just, you know, testing to see if you you got it as well. Here's the moment of truth. I I this is again, this is an informal test. This is just how I would kind of break it down. You can let me know uh how you did in the comments. If you just got, you know, one correct or none of them probably maybe A1, you're more of a beginner. Uh two to four correct, I would say maybe at an A2 level. This is again the like the European framework A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. Intermediate would be B1, B2, 5 to 7, maybe around the B, B1 level, eight or nine. Correct. B2 if you had 10 or 12 correct then I'd say you're about C1 very highly uh you're proficient and then 13 or all of them correct because there were 14 questions then yes you are C2 you are highly proficient. So let me based on this scale which is very informal mind you what what what level are you how did how did you guys do you can just kind of you can let me know the level in the chat and that way it I know kind of how many you got correct but there were 14 of them if this were uh an exam and I were grading it. You would really want to be specific with these and uh you know make sure that you're using the correct verb tense, those prepositions are correct, the infinitive, the garand, you're using the expression in the right order um and or in the correct way. So let me know how you did in the comments. I love hearing from you. And I this just again don't don't worry too much about this exam because I I feel like for the most part many of you who who join these lessons are definitely more proficient to go through to to listen to the entire lesson in English and pick up on it. But this is kind of informally how I uh I I labeled them. Okay. Uh Manuel see C1 Ava C1 Suma C2. Nice LC3. Wow, you you must have gotten you must have you you got the bonus question which I didn't even come up with. Um Lai A1. No. So again, don't don't worry too much. This is just a fun way of practicing another way of I I guess interacting with the language. I really like these sentence transformations because we're learning two different parts or you're you're working on two different things. You're working on the grammar, you're working on the vocabulary and really trying to think about this. If you do take an exam like the IELTS, I believe that this may be on of it. This may be a part of it doing some of these sentence transformations. But uh I do want to thank all of you for joining me today. It's great to see you Lai as always. Thanks for coming, participating in the lesson. Raphaela, great to see you. Uh we'll see you soon. Taio, thanks for joining me. A lot of All right. A lot of uh uh people are part of the speaking course. I love seeing that. A lot of members. Um great to have you, Suma, Angela. Um just trying to give some more shoutouts. Anna Takata, I wanted to to give you a shout out as well. another member. Uh, Atsuka, I I'm going to have to wrap this up, of course. Uh, Julia, I hope that you found the lesson useful. I hope that you learn something new. That is always my goal with these lessons, that something is new, and you can continue to improve, continue to build your vocabulary. Write to me in the comments if you have any thoughts, any questions. I love hearing from you. I hope that you have a wonderful day. If you want to get these notes, remember, click on that link down below in the description. You can join our email community if you're already a part of it. Check your inbox. The the the notes are on their way. So, I hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you very soon for another lesson. --- ## 745. ๐Ÿšจ CRIME VOCABULARY | Words & phrases you need to know | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `edItk0GSjbs` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edItk0GSjbs) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:16:59 | --- hello and welcome to today's lesson thank you guys so much for joining me i have i think this i think it's a very useful lesson because i think this is something that when it comes to entertainment people might hear a lot of these words so in general what we're talking about today is like will crime and punishment vocabulary so i've kind of separated this lesson into three different parts kind of the the first part at the beginning would be more related to like when when maybe a crime happens and then i have some vocabulary related more to law enforcement and then finally like once you get into the courtroom so like i said if you are somebody who likes watching tv shows that have like crime or mystery these are actually words that i think you will hear quite often so this is very useful useful vocabulary that i think it's it's good to know so the way i'm going to present this is like a little bit like a quiz because i want you to participate and see if you can write your answers in the chat even if you're watching this later i would like you to write your answers in the comments i i just want to hear from you and what i'm going to do um i'll probably end up going through this a bit quickly so here's the first one that i have for you and this is just asking like well what are the three basic classifications of criminal offenses and i know this can be a little bit challenging but i think when i show you the answer hopefully that you are familiar with some of these words now the other thing i will say is that this lesson because i'm from the united states some of the information that i'm giving you is going to be specific to the united states again these are things that you might hear in a movie or tv show so any any guesses about the three basic classifications of a criminal offense what do you think now i'll go ahead and show you the answer and then we're going to kind of get into it because i think when you see these words hopefully you recognize some of them so in general we're talking about like it goes from like number one which is the least severe to number three which is the most severe so the first one would be like um an infraction if there is an infraction it's kind of just like a minor offense so an infraction might just be something like um maybe jaywalking or you get a speeding ticket something like that that would be an infraction a misdemeanor would be something a little more serious perhaps a misdemeanor could be like you you steal clothes from a store and then a felony that is going to be the most severe type of criminal offense which would include things like murder so these in general are the three basic classifications but also these are good words to know let's move in to the next part which is these are all types of crimes so what i'm doing right here is i'm describing the crime to you and i want you to tell me the word what is the word that is this type of crime so the first one is the crime of intentionally starting a fire in order to damage or destroy something what do we call that crime so i have several of these for you where i'm talking about types of crimes again this is vocabulary that you may come across especially in in tv shows or movies all right what do you think write your answers in the chat even if you're watching this later write your answers uh write your answers in the comments i just love hearing from you and especially if this is your first time here please let me know tell me your name tell me where you're from so if we're talking about i think one of the the key words in this one is fire all right you see you hear that word fire and if you're talking about a crime you may be talking about arson all right arson is the crime of of starting a fire you're trying to damage some property destroy something and you might commit arson all right the next one um all right mom got it excellent the next one is giving money or granting favors to influence another person's decisions or their behavior so what what would you call that okay this again is a crime but this is also something that you i mean you could use in other contexts as well you could do this with your your friends or your family members you're trying to again you're you you may be doing giving favors in order to influence their their decision or their behavior it is called excellent um vishwa sleepwalker adele bribery we're talking about bribery again this this is uh this is a crime yes uh the next one excellent you guys got that one this um is talking is just killing a killing another person on purpose the act of murder there is one word it kind of it it means this and this definitely is a word that i think you will hear in movies and tv shows the people that are trying to solve these murders they may work in this department and maybe this department has the name yes salim you got it so once i get the answer i'm just going to give it to you all uh takayo perfect homicide so you like i said in a movie or tv show you might hear somebody say like oh i work in homicide and that means they work in this department where they're trying to perhaps solve murders and find out what happened so if you say there there was a homicide they're talking about there was a murder the next one is just simply stealing something from a store okay so if this is if this is what you do whether you're stealing like clothes or electronics you're taking it from a store then you are doing this what is it that you are doing what is the word and again this is a crime this is probably more of a misdemeanor um kind of a middle crime theft yes uh but the word the actual crime excellent we're talking about shoplifting all right stealing something from a store is going for shoplifting then we have stealing large amounts of money that you are often responsible for and typically people would do this like over a period of time um okay so this is probably a crime that might happen more in the context of like a company a business and somebody is responsible for a large amount of money and if they're stealing it typically over a longer period of time what is that call you it is a noun i think often times people will use this word as a verb you'll you'll you'll likely hear it as a verb most of the time i think all right excellent good job uh yashar adele victor um we're talking about embezzlement so embezzlement is the noun this is a crime i said often you might hear it as a verb like to embezzle like somebody was embezzling money then we have moving right along okay this is a good one lying in court while under oath all right what what crime is that and this yeah if you are in court and you are called upon to give testimony and talk about something you before you before you start talking you have to you have to take an oath that you're going to tell the truth and if it comes back that you were lying well then you could well you could be in trouble because that is a crime and that crime has a specific name what is it called if you're lying in court while under oath anybody know it's a felony oh muffin got it victor yes sleepwalker perjury all right and i think people might hear you might use this with the verb to commit somebody committed perjury all right and basically they were in that case they were caught lying when you commit perjury so perjury is the crime very good you guys rock that one the next one uh okay so those were all types of crimes now i want to get into other vocabulary and the way i've done this is like with person a person b uh oh wait a second oh no i gave you guys the answer i skipped ahead all right so maybe if you saw that still bear with me and we'll talk our way through this so this is the situation person a saw someone rob a store and describe the thief to the police the police then picked up person b so what might you call these people all right person a would be what and person b would be what what would you call these people again this is vocabulary related to crime but these are these are all people that you would uh that you would be describing so we're not talking about types of crimes we're talking about people okay so i showed you guys the answer the key word when you think of person a would be saw okay so you're talking about somebody seeing something which means they would be exactly sleepwalker a witness and then the police picked up person b so when i say pick up this is a phrasal verb that means well they they maybe they arrested this person they want to ask them questions and they arrested this person because they would think that person b is the suspect okay so person a is a witness they saw the crime person b is the suspect it's the person that they believe committed the crime all right now i have a couple more for you i'm not going to give you the the answers uh to begin with this one so now i've i've kind of continued the situation a witness saw someone rob a store and described the thief to the police the police then picked up a suspect all right the police believe the suspect may have received help from person c however the suspect tells the police he cannot be the thief because he was with person d at that time all right what might you call person c and person d okay what do you guys think uh again so we talked about a witness a suspect and these other two names again these are the names of um well this is vocabulary that would talk about people and these people have a specific meaning that goes with it i said a witness is a person who sees the crime suspect is the person you think maybe committed the crime person c if somebody receives help from somebody else exactly person c is an accomplice and the suspect says well no no it couldn't be with me it couldn't be me i was with person d person d would be their alibi so again these are other words to describe people an accomplice is somebody who may help you commit a crime and an alibi would be the person would be like well i didn't do it you can talk to this person i was with them this other person is your alibi it's the person who can say yes the this per they could not commit the crime because they were with me they would be the alibi all right so now let's uh let's get back into the that was all talking about like the cro types of crimes and um some of those uh other people now let's talk about a little bit more with law enforcement all right so here uh just just some general questions all right police will try to arrest the criminals all right now thinking about vocabulary thinking about synonyms that you may hear in this context talking about um crime and stuff like that what's another word for arrest all right what do you think what's another word for arrest so we could take this word and put it in for a rest and it has the the same meaning police will try to arrest the criminals all right um see some words like uh capture bust take into custody sure the word that i was looking for um is apprehend to apprehend is to kind of to to well it is to to capture somebody and typically like we'll bring them in for for questioning so to arrest to apprehend i think again apprehend is another common verb that you will hear in this context talking about that um let's uh look at the next one police need to obtain a in order to enter and search a premises what is it that police would need to get again these are this is a i'll actually give you a hint this is a phrase all right so it's two words so this phrase again is very common um i think the this is something you will hear all the time you're watching a movie or tv show i really hope that none of you have to actually deal with this vocabulary in real life i hope that you don't have to uh have trouble with the police or law enforcement uh so yes exactly yashar and tien victor we're talking about a warrant specifically i think you could say a search warrant was was i mentioned it's a phrase um so police need to obtain a search warrant in order to enter and search a premises a premises is just talking about some area maybe a building and you need a warrant but specifically like a search warrant so that you can enter and look around uh the next one this is where i said i think it this is more specific to the united states so after placing a suspect under arrest the officer the police officer will say you you have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law you have the right to an attorney if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for you okay so when the officer is saying that they're basically telling the person what what is that called that that whole phrase when people say that um it's again i'm sure just hearing me reading this you me it may sound familiar if you've listened to it already in a tv show or movie um all right so you don't have says rights but what what specific rights are we talking about so they are they are a person's rights but this phrase in particular has a specific name to it um so rights would be kind of vague but what specifically are these rights all right uh the answer and if you don't know this this is uh this is good your miranda rights so typically this would be called a miranda warning the police are giving a miranda warning and they're telling this to the suspect but the the suspect has these rights that they can they can stay silent and they have the right to an attorney that is their rights and that is their miranda rights it's called miranda because this was an old case i think a long time ago that went to court and i don't think the police were doing this at that time and ever since then police will always use this and they'll say this phrase and therefore it's called somebody's miranda rights then we have this one this is just a random word um i think miranda was the name of a person too like i said this was a case that i believe went to the supreme court and they rule down that yes police have to tell suspects this information this is their miranda rights the someone who takes the law into their own hands is referred to as a what all right what would you call that person who they're maybe they don't call the police they are going to try to solve the problem they're going to take the law into their own hands not something that i would recommend but you might refer to this person as a and to give you one further hint to think of like a word that might be associated with uh someone else think of batman i think batman has been used to people would describe batman as a what they take the law into their own hands uh nilla fur excellent that was good um marius we're talking about a vigilante so a vigilante is somebody who well yeah they don't call the police they try to take the um the law into their own hands you also may hear it used with the word justice and when somebody does that they might say oh well that's vigilante justice that saying that it's not right that people should not be doing this then we have this one this is an acronym okay a dui is a common misdemeanor in the united states what does dui stand for so as i mentioned this is a pretty common it's a it's a common misdemeanor so it's a common acronym that people will use if they've been in this situation maybe um you know somebody has gotten one before and you get a dui what does what does this stand for it's what does this acronym stand for so i don't want to give you too many hints with this one because i feel like uh i feel like it'll make it too easy uh pablo you nailed it perfect we're talking about a dui stands for driving under the influence driving under the influence and in general when you say influence you'd be talking about some kind of substance so it could be drugs or alcohol most of the time it's alcohol related and you get a dui and that's basically it's used in conversation most people are not going to say driving i i i got a ticket driving under the influence most people would say i got a dui they would just say i got a dui so let's now talk about some let's so we started out with talking about some crimes and then law enforcement now let's move into the courtroom all right so we're kind of following that process so here's more vocabulary that would be related to the courtroom this is i tried to make it a little easier i'm giving you um multiple choice now a um is in order for someone to appear in court what is it a a plea b a subpoena or c a warrant which one of those is an order that would compel a person to appear in court and they would get a what what would you call it all right so you guys i think most of you i think most of you are probably familiar with this again it's a very common word it's a subpoena the answer is b excellent i think a lot of you got that one a subpoena is in order for someone to appear in court so then we have okay this one hopefully hopefully is not too difficult because there's only two choices the lawyer against the accused is called the what so basically if you're talking about a courtroom you have well two sides all right and you have a judge a course who is going to possibly make a decision and you have two sides which means you have two lawyers one is a prosecutor and one is the defense all right so we're talking about the lawyer against the accused is called the excellent uh all right perfect uh muhammad pablo kareem angela yashar dave i just trying to throw out some names good job vionette jane uh angela bakir mohammed jim we we're talking about the prosecutor the answer is a the lawyer against the accused is the prosecutor so i think a lot of these tv shows and movies they happen they take place in the courtroom and again this is a word that you're going to hear very often you're talking about a specific lawyer the prosecutor this one is more again specific to the united states in court if someone refuses to answer questions because the answers might be harmful to them or might show that they have committed a crime then they are pleading the what all right is the answer a fourth b fifth or c sixth okay what do you think all right what are you going to plead and this is i've given you the situation um i've given you the situation what are they going to plead the fourth the fifth or the sixth i noticed that some of you had already uh mentioned this in one of the previous questions excellent the answer is b yes you are going to plead the fifth and again i so told you that this is more specific to the united states to plead the fifth which is your right not to incriminate yourself then we have okay a lawyer might say that unsubstantiated information or rumor is what okay we're running through these what do you think unsubstantiated information or rumor is that circumstantial is it extenuating is it hearsay or is it proof what do you guys think you guys are i don't know maybe it's uh much easier to be doing the multiple choice uh so we'll see hopefully this one's a little more challenging what do you think a b c or d so maybe this one could be a little more challenging but if you're talking about unsubstantiated information which basically means that you you cannot verify if this information is true which essentially means it's kind of a rumor or you could say in the court of law you would maybe the lawyer would say this is hearsay so hearsay is just referring to unsubstantiated information or rumor hearsay good word to know uh all right so i wanted to review we went through 20 of them um these are the the words that we talked about we talked started with those classifications talked about those people and then those types of crimes if you are a member or patron i will put um i'm gonna put these uh these notes up on there for you guys so here we talked about law enforcement and then the courtroom again this is great vocabulary to know especially if you like you end up watching movies or tv shows in which a crime is committed i think there are many shows out there that are crime related and these are words that you're going to hear quite often because they involve the police they involve criminals and they involve the courtroom as well so as i mentioned if you guys like what we do want to show us some love you can sponsor or support us with a youtube membership or join patreon there are links down below in the description and i just want to thank you guys for joining me i like with all of these lessons my the ultimate goal is i hope that you learned something new if you did learn something new please hit that like button let me know um it tells me that uh maybe i should do some more lessons like this in the future so if you learn some new words and phrases please hit that like button write to me in the comments i love hearing from you and i just hope that uh you guys join uh enjoy the rest of your weekend so thank you guys um muffin sleepwalker uh muhammad i'm sorry you showed up late it's gonna get posted you'll be able to watch take the whole quiz and learn all these words uh angela yashar luca uh alex rod good to see you uh manmon alex uh oh it's a little hard okay that's good i then a lot of these hopefully these words and phrases were new because like i said this is pretty common stuff if you're watching those shows and movies i i wasn't just pulling like random words that you'll never hear um thank you rod i appreciate that congrats on the 400 thousand yes that's a that was a good milestone for the channel uh takayo good to see you glad you enjoyed the lesson necklace uh teacher nay jane abdul rasheed hustina demos ariane sorry if i mispronounced names nilafar bakir mohammed angela thank you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and i will see you next --- ## 746. ๐Ÿšจ LIVE ENGLISH LESSON | Q&A with Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `pnDfCjSFmu0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnDfCjSFmu0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:33:24 | --- what's up everyone wow this is starting is this starting or no it's the heartache I don't know yes alright I've been live now just staring at the camera what's up everyone my name is Wes this is interactive English and welcome to today's interactive English lesson which is going to be a Q&A that I want to take questions from all of you and see if I can help you out and answer those questions that are related to learning English whether you have questions about pronunciation vocabulary grammar I will try to answer them the best that I can or if you even have questions about me or my wife our little girl our family I will be more than happy to try and answer some of those questions for you so again today it's all about just a nice little Q&A English lesson with interactive English and that is a recent picture of us from two days ago when we visited lake bled slovenia it was beautiful it was a short little road trip and we we had a great time so today is all about just again creating that that interaction I want to to help you guys out and even still if you're watching this later this is a great opportunity to practice your listening skills because it's always good not only to improve your other English skills but again constantly get that exposure to listening to the language that is such a useful tool for improving your skills so even all of you that are here with me right now you are actually you are improving your English skills right now just by listening to this Q&A so I just want to give some quick shout outs to people hello lollie anatolia sleepwalker hi Mark Andy cephalo Angela Musa hello hello hello Arina judy lily i will try and get some shout outs as we go through this but what what i want to say is that as we go through this and i want to take some of your questions try to make the questions as specific as you can for example if there is a word that you want to hear like how I say it because I am from the United States so I have that American accent so if you're wondering well how do you say this word how would it sound if somebody from the US says this you can ask me the pronunciation of a word or if you have a grammar question that's very specific ask that I will try to answer it same with vocabulary try not to keep it too vague when you sit when I say vague I'm talking about something that is very broad in scope so if you're like hey I need to learn all 12 verb tenses well that's something that I'm not just going to be able to run through quickly but it's always good to think about what you guys want to learn in the future that I can take some of those questions and I may make a lesson about that in the future we've done that several times before all right so let me jump into it I'm just going to scroll through somebody to talk about answer some questions somebody asked Alex I need someone to practice my English alright that is a great question so let's just start with that even though I don't know if you're asking me or if you're just talking to people in the chat I think it's always great to find other speaking partners this is a way to do it we noticed that people have made comments on our channel about hey I need a speaking partner would anybody like to practice their speaking skills and we can connect that might be a way to do it I think it's kind of sometimes difficult to try and connect with people and find the time to do it I always think a better way is to try and put yourself in a position to be able to speak English but not focus on the language for example find something that you're interested in maybe if you if you live in a big city or a big town a book club and in that case when when if you don't know what a book club is or if you never been to a book club like each week you would read a book and then a group of people come together and they talk about that book you could if there are enough people that you think live in your town that want to improve their skills think about starting a book club and try to get maybe five or six people around and you're to read a book in English and then get back together after one week or two weeks or even a month and you're going to talk about that story in English and that way you are practicing your language skills but it's focused on something else in this case the topic would be the book but you can use that with any of your interest if you're interested in cars if you're interested in fashion and try to use that to find somebody to communicate with to speak with it's a great way to find a speaking partner and practice your skills um mu gamma mu gamma o Moses hello its first time you attend an online class with you excellent we love hearing from new people all the time welcome I hope you find our lessons useful so somebody says let's see Angela says how do you pronounce luxurious luxurious so for me it almost sounds like that G that X when I say it quickly luxurious luxurious you don't really hear that xx sound as you would when it's in the final part of a word like when it's in that final sound like acts or relaxed this like luxurious alright so it kind of just sounds like when I say it that it almost sounds more like a G sound luxurious luxurious you do hear that X a little bit luxurious how to pronounce again these are good either or neither all right so there's two different ways either or neither or you might hear some people say either or neither and I think this just depends on you know where people grew up because in the United States you may hear people say either one of those I just said either in that case personally I catch myself saying both of them from time to time in certain situations when I'm just having a conversation like I just said right then either but I might say either to you we can do we can either do this or that so I think again either neither either neither you might hear somebody say all of them that is a great question as a not thank you very much uh let's see how can I work on my listening skills Dan yeah in regards to past tense endings in edy to me they always sound the same I think in this we have a lesson that we did on edy endings I am gonna track that down for you and I will put it in the chat but I think that if you're specifically wanting to focus on that I think you can find resources online such as our video lesson where we talk about the different rules for edie endings and say the words and you can listen for that so this is another example where I think in exposure is so important that the more exposure that you get to the language the more likely you are to be able to not only identify those word endings but distinguish between the two of them and that they are not always going to sound the same like you just said so again I think it's important to practice that and if you guys want to practice how to pronounce IDI word endings correctly I'm gonna throw this link in there right now so please go check out this lesson right here boom alright I just threw it in the chat wait a second I thought I put it in there no okay there it goes so this is a lesson that we did on IDI endings if you're looking to practice that and improve your skills please check that lesson out so let's see mad for English sir what's the difference between I am walking along the road and walking on the road which is correct and why both of them are correct so I'm just gonna tell you how I would interpret this if if somebody were telling me hey you know if I call somebody and they answer their phone I'm like hey where are you and they say well you know I'm just walking along the road if somebody's walking along the road it makes me think that they're walking next to the road perhaps there's a sidewalk and they're walking on that sidewalk they're walking along the road next to it but parallel if they're walking on the road then they're actually then it makes me think they're actually standing on the road and if there are cars coming down the road then they're probably going to have to get out of the way and move off of the road so along the road I think they're more next to it on the road they're actually standing on the road excellent good question prepositions are so confusing and I know that these tiny little function words you know the their their getting the way but again like like I said at the beginning of this lesson that you get more listening practice the more exposure you get that is what's so important with those prepositions when you constantly hear them when you read them every day it's just going to improve your skills i fynd would you respond on instagram yes we we are making an effort to get better and better at not only posting on Instagram but trying to respond on Instagram as well and if you guys haven't already followed us boom it's in the chat I'm just gonna make that sound anytime that I post a link in there check us out on Instagram this is more something we use to share more of our personal lives and we put a lot of pictures up there about things that we're doing around where we live or like where we traveled I showed you that picture that we just traveled to Lake Bled in Sylvania I'll neva show you again that is a picture of from Lake Bled in Slovenia and this is stuff that we post on our Instagram if you're talking about Facebook and Twitter also follow us on there but that is also we'll post some pictures but we actually tried to help help you practice more of your English skills we will post quiz we will post pictures but also include some questions for you as well that are related to vocabulary grammar a wide variety of things so just you know I'm gonna throw those in the chat as well just so I can make that sound effect boom there's Facebook and Twitter in case some of you are on Twitter follow us on social media here is a link to our Twitter account boom there's Twitter alright so let me get back let me get back to a few more questions so let's see uh who's saying yes you were speaking very fast uh this is something I noticed from time to time when I'm filming a lesson like I'm teaching or going through these lessons and actually have it up there I have the information on the screen I tend to speak a bit slower and people notice that and they say hey I have no trouble understanding you but when I listen to a TV show or movie it becomes very difficult and I think that's the reason why is that after so many years of teaching I've naturally slowed down the speed of my speech so that I think it becomes a little easier to listen to me and identify the words and phrases and understand what I'm saying and again that if you understand what I'm saying that's great I think you should always listen at your level if you're listening to something and you don't understand then that just means it's a little above your level it's perhaps a little too fast in this case I've been speaking quickly now because I think these live these Q&A s it's a little more informal it's just the like me just here chatting with you guys trying to answer your questions so I think in that sense I just end up speaking a bit faster like I just would if I'm talking to a friend or a family member Muhammad asks how can I pronounce the word pious alright Pio us pious that is a good word good word to know let's see how can I practice laelia sorry if i mispronounce names how can i practice myself can you give me some steps practice it depends on what you want to practice but I always think it's great to get as much exposure as you can and try to practice all of the language skills okay so what I mean is like when I think of the four primary language skills I think of reading writing listening and speaking try to make sure that you're you're able to try and practice all of those language seals to get a well-rounded approach to the language take a little bit of time each day each week try to read a little bit in English either online or perhaps you're reading a book make sure you're listening to English as well whether you're listening to somebody like me from the United States or you're listening to somebody from the UK or Canada or Australia it doesn't matter as long as you're getting that listening exposure again you're improving your skills you're trying to identify the words that you hear writing I always encourage you guys even after this right now you're writing to me in the chat write to me in the comments that's a good way to practice your writing and speaking is where it gets a little trickier because I know some people live in places where they're like ah I can't find a speaking partner I already gave that suggestion about try to find ways to speak that are not directly related to learning English whether you talk about forming a book club or you form some other kind of Club or meet up and you're gonna discuss cars or fashion or anything if it is just you I I think it's good talk to yourself in the mirror like I think of it like when when students would do test prep they're speaking questions are sometimes very specific like people would say hey you know tell me about your family what do you do for a living tell me about your job these are actually questions that you can practice answering on your own you can practice in front of the mirror you can record yourself giving these answers and even if you're saying it out loud that is useful don't worry about making mistakes the goal is that you're you're thinking about the words that you need to say in order to to talk about your job to talk about your vacation to talk about anything and then in the future when somebody were to ask you okay what do you do for a living tell me about your job you've already practiced this you've already done this on your own and then you're more likely to just come out and try and say it naturally and easily instead of thinking about oh what what what word is this what what word do I need to look up or say and then you start to stall and it doesn't sound as natural so again practice practice practice some more Imran says okay I'm guessing that's a pretend pronunciation word prestigious all right prestigious that that I and the middle has that long e sound prestigious I'm guessing that was asking about pronunciation so what else uh Chi arrow infer mundo could you help me you're trying to talk about thinking in English is another exercise that like you can do just like speaking but if you're afraid to actually come out and you know you're a little shy or embarrassed to talk in front of a camera or record yourself practice thinking in English the same way I would do this all the time when when I was learning Spanish or after I lived in a spanish-speaking country I lived in the Dominican Republic and I moved to California and I was not able to practice Spanish regularly with with people that I knew so what I would do is on my way home from work I had about a 10-minute walk in order to get to the bus but during that walk I would tell myself okay for the next five minutes I'm just gonna think in English instead of walking along and thinking about what I see and what I feel in English I'm gonna do the same thing in Spanish and that's what I would do I would just walk along the street whatever I was looking at I was thinking about it in Spanish whatever I was thinking about on my own maybe I was thinking about what am I going to eat tonight what am I going to do later what things do I need to accomplish for the next day I was thinking about it in Spanish over time after like five six minutes sometimes it does become a little more difficult to remind yourself because it easy it's easy to switch back to your native language and then you have think oh wait wait this is a this is an exercise that I'm practicing but you can make this thinking in English you can make it an active exercise on your own that when you have some time to yourself whether you're riding to work or whether you're taking a shower or whether you're cooking a meal and think okay for the next few minutes I am just going to think in English whatever it is that you want to think about just just try and say it in English so let's look what else do we got so how can I say I mean how can I say I love you well I guess you know you could be direct and just tell somebody that you love them or if you're talking about you want to imply that without directly saying it just pay that person a bunch of compliments and and talk to them and say hey you know I like your outfit or you a very nice smile or again just get to know them talk about their interest what are the things they are interested in so that you can start that conversation and then maybe tell somebody that you love them I don't know so what hello please talk about the past forms of can all right well can I so if you're talking about can as the ability like I can ride a bike if you're talking about something like the past ability then you would just say could all right for example I say oh all right when I when I was younger I could touch my toes it's true if I try it right now I'm not very flexible I can't touch my toes in the present I can't do it but in the past I could I could touch my toes when I was more flexible and more and better in shape that's something that I could do so past of can when talking about the ability is could somebody else had asked about transitive verbs this was a while back I forgot the name Wendy like what are transitive verbs that they forgot so remember you have two types you have either transitive verbs or intransitive verbs the transitive verbs are the verbs that will that can take on a direct object all right so if you're talking about verbs that can take on a direct object like play I play soccer in this case what do you play soccer is the direct object so play is a transitive verb I play soccer I play tennis if you want to say intransitive verbs are verbs that cannot have a that cannot take on a direct object so I'm trying to think of another just intransitive verb off the top of my head an example so for example an intransitive verb that cannot take on a direct object would be like the verb I'm drawing a blank alright um I I jump all right some kind of you know action when it's often followed by a preposition I jump on I jumped on the bus alright on we're following it with that preposition it's a prepositional phrase so you cannot follow it with a direct object so there's a bunch of them if you want to know again transitive intransitive and see a list of verbs use google images it is a great way just type in a Google search transitive verb go to images and you're gonna find a picture with a list of verbs that you can use let's see sorry I'm kind of skipping through some of this I'm trying to get to different people so tale teller says yes pronunciation plough alright PL ough to plough usually you're talking about like plowing a field to plow let's see what else what else do we got here got some great questions or no wait wait plow hold on I'm thinking no yeah alright what else do we have it's moving so fast all right Lally says can you explain catch-22 situations so this is a verb somebody else asked me this from one of our other lessons we did a advanced vocabulary lesson and I talked about the phrase catch-22 and this is a word that's become a part of the English language but it's actually the title of a book and over time the word has just been used in English to describe a certain situation so for example what it the way it's defined is it's a problem that cannot be solved because the solution to the problem is inherent in the problem itself so I think in the the lesson that I gave I gave an example many of you maybe you can relate to this or I think we've all been it when I've lived abroad you need to get a work visa alright so for example say that you want to go to another country and you want to work there and they say ok in order to get the visa you need to have a job you need to say Oh company is gonna be like ok I will give you a job and then you can say ok this is where I'm going to work and then they'll give you the visa now in order to get the visa you have to have a job now when you go to look for a job the company is gonna say well I'm not going to give you a job until you have the visa so you're probably thinking we'll wait how am I going to get a visa if if I need the visa I need a job in order to get the visa but I also need the visa in order to get a job so it's if it's kind of like this circular problem that just keeps spinning around and around and around and you're not able to solve it because I would say again the problem itself or the solution is inherent in the problem itself so that would be an example of a catch-22 I hope that makes sense so again I I can try and think of some other examples as well let's see do - let's see please we need more videos about contractions yes well we we've done a lot of contraction lessons already we will continue making those in the future that they're very useful because the we people use them a lot in speaking because a contraction you're just taking two words and you're shortening them together the reason we do it is to speak quicker and more efficiently so again it's something that I think is more common in spoken language the use of contractions how should we pronounce reductions of shouldn't should it have shouldn't have and couldn't have wouldn't have so say that's a good question in this case I think if I want to say a sentence like you shouldn't have done that I would say just naturally I'd say uh you shouldn't have done that so have almost gets it almost sounds like of in that case shouldn't of alright you're not really you should not shouldn't shouldn't have shouldn't of so if I say oh you shouldn't have done that even though it sounds like uh I'm really saying you should not have done that they were if I say like I wouldn't have if I want to give a conditional sentence oh if I wouldn't have gone if you if you had told me not to I don't know I'd say again and that situation if I were to say it quickly and naturally like oh I wouldn't have gone if if you had told me not to I wouldn't have gone if you had told me not to I wouldn't have it almost sounds like winter I wouldn't have gone if you hadn't told me to so again that's something to keep in mind and this is where I think listening can become a challenge because you see wouldn't have and like okay I know these words I understand them but then if you're listening to a conversation or you're listening to a movie or something and you hear wind of and you're thinking like wait a second what words are they saying so again that is a great example of you know these reductions that they're not going to be sounded out in their entirety ESMA says can you explain a gerund alright so a gerund is actually a noun it is an ing noun that it looks like a verb so it's taking like the verb form adding an ING but it's technically the part of speech is a noun so for example if I say smoking is bad in that case smoking it's a noun but it's also a gerund smoking is bad often times you would talk about prepositions that are are verbs or adjectives that are followed by gerunds so for example some of them can be followed by both a gerund and infinitive like I like to watch movies that's the infinitive form I like to watch movies you could use it with a gerund too and say I like watching movies watching would be the gerund or other verbs you only have to choose one like enjoy enjoy is followed by the gerund I enjoy dancing in that case dancing is a gerund it is an ing noun what is as such uh Deepa alright I think I don't maybe I would need a context to use it in as such so for example this is a good good way so I'm just gonna read you a sentence so if you're talking about like if you have a word or a phrase and I tell students this all the time and you're like okay I always say use it in context try to understand how it's used in context a great way to do that is to look up a word use the internet and find some example sentences so I looked up as such just to find out what example sentence that they gave you and it says it is possible to stay overnight here although there is no guest house as such in this case as such it means that well in that case that there there there is no house available so it's talking about such as talking about an earlier like noun phrase alright so where is it let me see if I can find some more examples to give you as such this is something I'll be honest I don't know if it's more common in British English it's not something this is not a phrase that I find myself using at all so you would use the information I'm finding us as such with negative to indicate that a word or expression is not very accurate description of an actual situation so you're using it with a negative you're saying that it's not a accurate description so an example another example I am NOT a learner as such I used to ride a bike years ago so it's that in that situation you're not learning to ride a bike you already knew it years ago so you're not a learner again it's it's not something that I've really used often another sentence mark joined mark joined as an office boy with no qualifications as such so he joined but it's not an accurate description that that if we doesn't have qualifications that's I don't know that's a little weird maybe somebody if you guys are in the chat and you know more about you've learned more British English let me know if that's a common phrase that you hear or use in British English as such so I'm hearing monatti says pronunciation rendezvous rendezvous r en de z vo u.s. rendezvous so this is a French word you're not gonna hear that Z sound at all rendez-vous so again that vo us root vous rendez vous we're going to rendezvous around 2:00 p.m. outside that's where we're going to get together to rendezvous [Music] which form I mean which form can be replaced by manage to I'm not sure what you mean by which form like you managed to you managed to do something we can use a lot of different prepositions with manage your managed by someone but I think again you managed to do something this case like you're it's it's followed by the infinitive I'm not sure if you have an example that you could throw in there that would make that a little more specific let's see what else do we have whoa alright how to pronounce fortnight so fortnight again is a it's a word it's not a very common word but a fortnight is just talking about a duration of time and it's a period of two weeks and I think it's more common in British English but it almost sounds like you're pronouncing those two words fortnight fortnight can you tell me when we add ing Edie at the end of an adjective yes all right that's another one I'm gonna do you one better because II D ing adjectives are ones that are commonly confused again and these are very important that you you know how to use these Edie and ing adjectives because it's very different if you say I am bored versus I am boring so we did another lesson fairly recently about Edie and ing adjectives and I am just going to throw it in there throw it in the chat so you can go over check that lesson out I explain a lot about it I give you some useful examples and again you get that exposure it's just gonna start sinking in oh it was actually a lesson that we did fairly recently when I talked about three common grammar mistakes that advanced learners often make so if you guys haven't already checked out this lesson about common grammar mistakes boom it's right there alright I wanted to give you a quick little thing if you guys again if if you guys like what we do please check us out if you want to show some love to us and help support our channel and help it grow check us out on patreon it's a way again another way to connect with us another way to get involved in our community show us some love where we're trying to continue growing the channel we have a lot of plans for the future and and this is just something that becomes very useful boom there's patreon link alright if you guys want to check that out let's see we talked about sorry I know that I'm missing questions right here but and I apologize that is why we do these monthly Q&A is I'm trying to make it a monthly thing where I can connect with you guys and actually answer your questions directly all right Harold Martel says please pronunciation of B and V so this is a good practice like with minimal pairs when you have like ban van so ban remember to look you can see my lips it's always great to look at some of these lists ban ban the B sound buh buh buh buh so we're talking about voice or voiceless but so it is a voice sound ban-ban there's gonna be a puff of air to that you should be able to feel it so just say again I'm saying the words van and van those are the words that I'm saying and you should feel that air if you say them ban ban ban that puff van van the the teeth are gonna touch the bottom lip and you're just gonna have it vibrate a little Van Van Van I'm trying to think of other BV minimal pairs let's see you have ban van bass vase alright that's another good minimal pair bass vase and those are other pronunciation lessons that you know we'll keep practicing I like working with minimal pairs it's very useful alright so what I want to do all right this again this is just a good way for us to connect with you guys to take some of your questions these Q&A sessions I think they're you know they're very useful we enjoy doing them we're going to keep doing them monthly at this point I'm gonna have to call it short thank you guys so much for for joining me I appreciate you being here I appreciate all your questions if you have other questions please leave them down in the comments once the video gets posted because this helps us decide what lessons we need to do in the future I know there were some other people that were asking about pronunciation they were asking about vocabulary write them in the comments because if it requires a more detailed response like I said that is a great lesson to do in the future whether it's a video lesson or it's a specific live lesson where we can talk about that information so please write to us in the comments let us know thank you guys for being here thanking you thank you for being a part woops wait a second for being a part of the community what happened here all right there I am all right put myself down there in the corner thank you guys so much if you like enjoy our lessons hit that like button we really appreciate it that lets us know that we're doing something right and we will continue to try and can help you guys practice and improve your English skills check out our social media I shared those links before all that boom boom boom and and that is another great way to connect with us and practice your skills hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend thank you menotti lolly Lila ESMA gallano Angela Matt for English thank you guys so much hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you next time so long --- ## 747. ๐Ÿšจ LIVE ENGLISH Q&A LESSON | Interactive English | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `77G_as7IFxY` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77G_as7IFxY) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:30:33 | --- hey everyone welcome to a Q&A lesson that I have for you so my name is Wes this is interactive English and today I want to take some of your questions and just interact with all of you guys that's what this is all about and again even if you don't have any questions that's okay it's always good to practice your listening comprehension and just get more and more exposure to the language that is very important so I just want to say a quick hello to everybody who's here hello Faisal Mohammad Vicki Gustav Sophia sleepwalker Estella mean Rosalinda red green how are you Jamil so I I will try and get some more shout outs in there a little later on so again I want to take some of your questions today if you have questions related to vocabulary grammar pronunciation even personal questions everything it's it's fair game okay and him that's a good expression if you say that something is fair game it just means that it's okay that you can do this thing it's acceptable all right so write your questions in the chat and I'll just try to go get to as many as I can the only thing I would say is try to keep them a little more specific because if it's too broad it becomes more difficult to answer so when I say specific if it's like well how do you pronounce this word or what does this word mean or something specific related to grammar that's the only thing that that I'd say all right so the first thing I want to do is apologize also because I there have been some technical difficulties and I know that you guys have been bearing with me through all of this and I appreciate it and still working on getting through that and again that's another good phrase to bear with someone it means that you are being patient and you are enduring this problem this hardship so I can say yes you are bearing with me through these internet problems so the first question Sophia just asks a simple one or hit an easy one how are you and your family doing we are doing really well our little girl Emilia turned one she turned one a couple of days ago so we had a nice little celebration I've been trying to take a little break these last few days to spend have a little more family time we went to the zoo it's a great ship trip but now I'm kind of starting again to really focus and hone in on interactive English and the things we want to do this year and accomplish like video courses and some other little surprises okay so let's see hello guys alright okay so Ladon asked again talking about uses of far for example he was saying far and so far and as far as so it's the same word you're using far but they take on different meanings so for example the first one I think often you say that that something is far it's an adjective it's talking about a distance alright so something is located far the distance between here and there you could say well it's far today we have to run far actually I'd say it's an adverb because you're talking about the distance that you are moving you're going so that is far alone if somebody's saying so far usually they would say this casually and speak in when they're speaking and all it means so far is the same meaning as like up until now alright so up and now something has been happening and that's what you would use like oh so far I could say so far the lesson I think it's kind of working I noticed that it's still freezing so I could say well so far it's okay but I still think some internet problems exist at this moment that's why you hear mic maybe another expression people might say so far so good up until now everything it's going okay it's going well so far so good so that is a good expression to know excellent great question sophia asks how to use the word OTT this is a modal and it's it's kind of instead of like saying you have to you should so you ought to so for example it's gosh I would say that in I can only speak I think in American English it's not as common most people would tell somebody like you should do this like giving using that modal of advice or you you have to do this but it's the same as saying you ought to do this I think in that case it's closely related to should you're giving somebody advice telling them something that you think they should do you ought to do this you ought to do this thing so I could say you know oh you you ought to study English a little bit each and every day I'm telling you the thing that you should do I can't really speak for for British English and and how common it is but when you're learning those modal's I think it's common you would learn you know you should you ought to you have to they fall in in that family Shimada asked what is the meaning as of now so if somebody says the expression again as of now it's also again similar to so far or up until now as of now up until this point you know something has happened so basically you're wanting to highlight some information and really say like okay at this moment you know something hasn't changed as of now I'm still having problems with my internet connection as of now so you can think of it that way um Heather asked do you pronounce I say Chicago so I I think it more that CH would have an SH sound Chicago that's how I would pronounce it I don't I can't really think of any accents or people place it because America is pretty it's a big country people pronounce words differently but I think Chicago is universally with that SH sound Chicago nobody's really pronouncing it with that ch let's see Mohammed says sir do you believe to be specific reading novels is the best way for rapid progression what I think I would take away novels and just say reading I think reading is incredibly useful for improving your English skills because when you're reading you are practicing your grammar your practicing vocabulary it's something that you can do at your speed because when you're having a conversation or you're you're listening to me right now some people might think well this is too fast others might say well you speak it's too slow I get that a lot I've been teaching English for a long time and I think in general I've just slowed down my speech so reading you can do it at your speed you can stop and look up information you can go back and try to understand what was going on so it's really great for improving your overall comprehension and because of that it's going to complement the other skills it's going to compliment your listening skills and improve your comprehension it's going to compliment your speaking skills because the next time you want to use a word or a phrase or use the grammar correctly you have already seen it or you've already understood how it's used correctly from the book so I wouldn't say just a novel I think that is up to you whether you enjoy reading newspapers or novels or short stories or poems I would just encourage all of you to read as much as you can let's see and again sorry if I miss questions I'm just gonna go through some that I spot could Alexander says could you have a class about vocabulary for call centers please interesting all right I'll I'll keep that in mind I'm always on the lookout for new vocabulary lessons and the way that I'm doing this the way that I've been doing it lately is trying to present vocabulary based on a topic and try to walk through it so for example all right spoiler alert this Tuesday is it's a vocabulary lesson it's all about airport and flying vocabulary but the way I'm going to try and present it is though that we are taking a flight we're starting at the beginning of the trip and we're gonna go over some vocabulary and then once we get on the plane and do some vocabulary and then once we land and do that vocabulary so that you can try to identify with what's happening and think about your own experience when you're flying and really connect those words to it I think that helps a lot so let me think about the call center and you know how that might be possible that's interesting mom who says you've been super helpful thank you I'm glad that these lessons are useful I and and again this with with this live stream I want to keep doing it I'm very frustrated that I've been having these problems lately and and I noticed it's still it's still freezing I don't know why I got a new computer but I don't think that's it because we had unless we had lessons earlier this month that were perfectly okay and I'm not really sure what the issue is all right so let's see lolli yes please tell the image plane achieve and accomplish honestly I feel like achieve and accomplish they I think they're very similar in their meaning talking about being able to succeed at something so you've got you often hear those words used when talking about goals and you want to achieve your goals or accomplish your goals in that sense they can be used interchangeably and you're talking about just wanting success so I think it's just a matter of when you might use those and I'm trying to think of some better examples as to how they may not be interchangeable I think in many instances you could use either or and this is when it goes back to reading because I think as the more exposure you get to the language you'll start to see which words are used in which situations and with other words and phrases and it just starts to sink in so you can achieve your goals you can accomplish your goals I I want to one thing I would say I feel like if you're talking about a project I feel like then like maybe accomplished or if you're talking about something in the past that you did I feel like that might be you more often used in the past if you're talking about something that was accomplished in the past but again that's just my personal opinion otherwise I'd say they're very similar and you could almost think of them as synonyms let's see what else we have I'm trying to think Michele Leonardo what does I helped myself mean is an American idiom so if somebody says like I I helped myself you usually help yourself to something and I would often say that it's used when talking about food so if somebody says well I help myself it just means I did it myself so this could be saying yes as an idiom that you did something yourself when I say that it's often used when talking about food somebody maybe there's food out on the table and you could say well I helped myself to some cake I didn't wait for somebody to get the cake for me I just went and got it and you'd say I helped myself so I think when you you might often hear it used just for your comprehension if you if somebody invites you somewhere and there's food out there's drinks somebody might say to you they say help yourself which means that hey you can go get it nobody's gonna bring it to you you help yourself but if you're saying I helped myself then you're just telling somebody that you did it on your own alright good question that's a good one let's see Angela asked like does hold it mean wait yes but I feel like hold it is often used more kind of like as a command like telling so wait wait hold it like stop what you're doing in that case so it wouldn't say like for example not all of these phrases are interchangeable and I think this is where vocabulary becomes challenging because I could say hold it means like weight in the sense of like you know wait stop what you're doing don't don't do anything else hold it or they might say hold up but you would not substitute this for any meaning of weight like I'd say uh I'm waiting for my friend you would not use hold it in that sense so when I think of hold it it's more like you know okay stop what you're doing wait don't do anything else just just hold it but I almost said I think maybe hold up maybe something maybe I might use a little bit more but it just means stop what you're doing let's see what else do we have when we use it is and is it again this would be an example it is would be a simple declarative sentence you're making a statement I could say that you know maybe I'm talking about my phone I'd say well it is an iPhone when you're asking a question that interrogative that's when you might switch around in verse the subject and the verb and I'd ask a question I say is it an iPhone so as a question that if you're saying is would come first is it an iPhone and then I say yes it is an iPhone it's an older iPhone an iPhone 6 I decided to upgrade my computer before upgrading the phone what else do we have let's see Esther asked what is the meaning of to go above and beyond this is an expression that means you do more than what is expected of you and often I think it's used in the context of work or maybe school when especially work and you'd say well this employee they did more than they then they really had to do this employee went above and beyond they did more than they had to do so I think it's often you're going to use it or you will hear it being used in a work environment when you're talking about somebody who did more than what was expected to go above and beyond um let's see from Gustav what's the meaning of shilly-shally honestly I'm not I'm not really sure of this expression uh shilly-shally I'm not sure I'm not sure which part because I know you're in the u.s. if that is a regional expression but I'm a little unfamiliar with it but because I have the internet right here I just looked it up I'm gonna learn something new it means to AH okay to fail to act decisively that you I guess maybe to hesitate shilly-shally it's a verb to shilly-shally I'd say uh I think it's more it's more of an informal expression I don't know if it would be used in an academic sense when now I know what I I'm thinking of I think of the word maybe it's similar to dilly-dally that you could also say to dither to dilly-dally is an expression it's also very informal maybe it could be considered slang is kind of like - basically you're you're doing nothing you haven't made a decision you don't know what you're gonna do you're you're just gonna you know people would say stop dilly-dallying stop doing nothing but shilly-shally yeah it's saying to fail to act interesting um I'm gonna have to look and see how it see if I can find other context being used let's see I mean asked how to speak usually I mean how to say that word that adverb usually that adverb of frequency which means like 75% of the time let's see trying to think I'm sorry it's like flipping through these question about the passive Farhat is a question about the passive voice is there a passive form for the present continuous can you convert this sentence to passive I've been waiting for you since this morning I've been waiting for you you have been waiting for I have been waiting for you you have been waiting for me I have been waiting you have been waiting I guess it and now I don't know that's no I don't I don't but most of the time I'd say when you're talking about passive and active voice one thing you should realize is that most times when you are writing something or when you're speaking you're going to use the active voice because it's straightforward it's more direct there are only certain instances when you would want to use the passive voice I know that when you take English classes and teachers like me will get up there and they say let's change sentences to the passive and it's more so practicing to see if you understand it you know bear in mind that you you do use the passive voice for certain situations like when the person doing the action or the subject may not be known or maybe when they don't want to say the the sentence for example I always think of like I say we made mistakes all right we made mistakes many people don't want to confess and say that oh you know we made mistakes so they would make it passive and they want to take that we out there and they would just say mistakes were made we don't know who they're not gonna save mistakes were made by us they just take that part out and they'd say mistakes were made so off the top of my head I can't think about changing that one I've been waiting for you since this morning I think if you wanted to actually say that and use that in a conversation or you're writing it stick with the active that's much better so that that's again keep that in mind you know you're gonna use active most of the time there's just certain situations mom said do or go boxing I'd say you you wouldn't do boxing there are certain sports that you're just going to say like I I like boxing like something to say like I like this activity I like ping-pong I like swimming all right you're not going to use do with those you could say go if you're talking about that you are actually going to do this in in the future and you say you know oh we're you know I'm going to go boxing in that case you wouldn't say like I'm going boxing no no no I just say I will go boxing or I'm going to go boxing which is a little different because if somebody says swimming many people would say yeah you know I'm going swimming this is what I'm going to do so again I wouldn't I would think of boxing forget about do and go and just think of it on its own let's see complex gerron's please that's something that's a little bigger topic maybe this again getting good ideas for possible live lessons later I know often I like to do grammar with some of these live streams and the reason for that is because you can do a deeper dive you can do a lot of practice and examples so it's always good if you have other questions once the video gets posted write to me in the comments because I love getting suggestions from all of you it really tells me what you're interested in and you know good good lessons that I could try to put together and answer some of these questions let's see shrewd all right a Tim is asking shrewd there's just one shrewd shrewd it's just yes it's one syllable shrewd shrewd yeah that's a difficult one so just talking about the pronunciation of shrewd and if somebody is shrewd in case you don't know that is an adjective and it means that they are I'd say almost like somebody is cunning and even like a little deceptive and they're just like it they're they're really looking out for themselves like somebody is shrewd makes me think of somebody who might be in a competition with somebody else and usually when people are competing against each other they they may be a bit shrewd that they're thinking about just winning and that causes them to be a little shrewd let's see mmm hi ginger Kamal what does it mean don't be saying especially be in the sentence um Stefano says what does it mean don't be saying honestly I don't know I feel like I'm and somebody if you're saying that for somebody not to say something I think it'd be more common that somebody say you should not say you shouldn't say don't be saying I don't think to me that sounds a little awkward but somebody may use it in order to kind of like maybe stand out and try to put emphasis on something but it's to me it just sounds awkward I'd say like you shouldn't say this you shouldn't say or just say like don't say I think this is where sometimes like the people will insert the verb to be in some cases when it's not needed also when I think it's kind of just like breaking rules especially when it comes to stative verbs and people will talk about like I am liking or I am loving grammatically that's not what you should be doing but people will tend to break those rules let's see let's see is asked about somebody whose asset hitherto let's see Fatimah asked so hitherto again I feel like this is something that it's a word you're going to encounter more in reading I don't think it's some a word that's often used in just casual conversation maybe if you're giving a presentation and it's a little more formal but it's an adverb and it just means that like until now all right until now this has happened so we've been talking a lot about those phrases like hitherto so far but again it's a word that you're going to find more in writing if it's something maybe you're reading a book but it's not something you might use this is in spoken English let's see can the phrasal verb to pile on be used in a figurative way to pile on so yeah well I mean to pile on means when I think of that phrasal verb being used that people are kind of picking on somebody one person is picking on another and then everybody else starts doing it and people start piling on it's almost like in the literal way people are piling on they're jumping on top of this person but I'd say in the figurative way its meaning is that like that that you're not literally jumping on this person but you're piling on whether you are teasing them you are saying something you know bad about them or maybe you're just reminding them of something bad like there's all this maybe bad things going on and then you tell somebody else like hey oh you forgot about this bad thing you're like ah don't there's no need to pile on so let's see for us what is difference between usage of do two and because of do two and because of I think though I mean you can use those interchangeably when you're talking about those phrases I think that I would say that both of them are common in spoken English I think in writing do two is a little more formal to me so if you're talking about academic writing I think it's a little more formal a little more appropriate to say due to that something is it's caused by this other thing if I'm just speaking to you and spoke in English it's a you know because of the rain we we couldn't go outside today but if I could say due to as well means the same thing but to me it just sounds a little more formal like Oh due to the rain we couldn't go outside today so I think in that context I think because of might be used a little more informally in just casual spoke in English alright so I I want to let you guys know again if you want to continue connecting with us you can join our community right here and connect with us via email if you haven't already I just put a post in the link right there you can join our email list because again it's a good way to connect with us you can access the secret fluency lesson and we will send you some updates about things that are happening and things that are changing and again if you're just looking to practice your English it's a great way to practice your reading because we'll send you emails from time to time and you can read through them they're not very long and we don't send I try not to overdo it I'm not gonna I don't send messages every single day but maybe once every I don't know one or two weeks and it's still something we're trying to kind of figure out and again you can always connect with us on patreon there is a link in the description if you want to check that out so I hope that you guys enjoyed this little Q&A I want to continue doing it each month it's a great way to connect with you to learn about some of your needs the things that you guys want to learn as well as the the questions that you have and it's just a nice way to connect i apologize for some of the internet issues I'm gonna keep working at this and see what what we can figure out so that we can continue doing this because I want this to be flawless all right I wanted to go very smoothly so I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend if there are other questions that I didn't get to answer the video will get posted pretty please write to me in the comments I will try to answer them or I will keep that in mind for a future lesson because always on the lookout for four things - - for new lessons to create so thank you for joining me lolly Shawn Ladon Aiden good to see you Marius sorry I didn't answer your question write it and write it in the comments and I'll have a look at that Michelle thank you guys for joining me today Steph Kofu Leah let's see Farhat Esther [Music] Richard Jamila Lucca hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will see you next time so long --- ## 748. ๐Ÿšจ LIVE English Lesson | Q&A Session | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `ispzhKI5_k0` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ispzhKI5_k0) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:35:30 | --- what's up everyone welcome my name is Wes and this is interactive English and if this is your first time here I want you to know that interactive English we are all about helping you practice and improve your English skills we're coming out with new lessons each week and we try to make them a little more interactive we want you guys to participate in these lessons whether it be asking us questions or writing your answers down in the comments that's what it's all about trying to practice and improve your skills what we're going to do today is we're doing a live Q&A so I am going to take some of your questions and and I will try to answer them but before we begin and you asked the questions if you're joining us in the chat today I will try to answer as many questions as possible even if you're watching this later I would suggest you know write your questions in the comments because it helps us come up with new ideas about well what is it that everybody in our community needs to learn what is it that people are interested in learning so please write to us in the comments we just want to hear from all of you write your name tell me where you're from I just want to give some shout outs to some people who are here with me today hello Carlo Ahmad I'm John Lally Bryan long welcome Maria thanks for joining me ludovic I will try to again give as many shout outs as I can as possible so again what we're going to do is I'm gonna try and take some of your questions I would suggest you can ask me about pronunciation you can ask me about grammar vocabulary you can ask some personal questions even if you want try to make the question specific because if they're too broad it becomes too difficult to answer but again that's okay ask whatever you want because again maybe if I'm not able to answer your question now that still gives us ideas for the future other lessons that we need to create that's all about helping you guys improve and practice your English skills so another great way to connect with us if you want to please you can connect with us and via email and join join the interactive English team you can access the secret fluency lesson and we just send you guys some really cool stuff from time to time I just threw it in there in the chat if you haven't joined already so let's before we begin all right I do these Q&A s and what I tried to do is I try to start with questions from our patreon community if you are unfamiliar with patreon it is basically it's a way to support our lessons and support what we do here it's just a monthly contribution if you're interested in joining patreon we have some cool rewards there is a link in the description and I will throw that link in the chat as well but what I've done is I've taken some questions from our patreon community and I've kind of turned them into a mini lesson so that's what we're going to do first and then I will take questions from all of you here so the first question that somebody had Danny had it was all about it was about collocation and they were talking about collocation z' with with ride if you need to get a ride somewhere or you need to travel or go somewhere what are the different ways in which you could ask somebody and what are the verbs that you use with rides so let's take a look at that first collocation z' with rides so this is very useful information because if you need to go somewhere well these are the questions that you will ask and there is a difference in meaning so for example let's look at this first part up here can you give me a ride all right Ken so the other person the other person gives a ride if I'm just talking about me I would say that second question can I get a ride so the difference between give a ride and get a ride so you give a ride I get a ride and that's the same with have alright I have a ride Ken I have a ride so be careful when you're talking don't confuse give and get if you want to ask somebody directly and I'd say talking to you I'd say hey can you give me a ride alright I could also say can I get a ride the meaning is the same but it's just a difference between using the verb give and get so you give a ride I get a ride I guess you could also say if you're just talking to a bunch of people and you're yelling out hey can I get a ride you could be talking to a number of different people and asking that and I think you could also say kit you can also say can I have a ride I don't think it's as common I think most of the time you know you would talk about giving a ride or getting a ride all right Andre awesome thank you for the super chat we love it we love it thanks so much we really appreciate it the next part is instead of ride you could say lift alright and it's the same can you give me a lift you you would give a lift or I would get a left can I get a lift or can I have a lift so again be careful of those verbs so you can say ride lifts is the same it's the same thing you could ask for a lift can you give me a lift can I get a lift now there are other ways that we can say it as well if you want to be more specific okay so if you want to be more specific and ask somebody like can you take me to what what place can you take me to the airport can you take me to the library or maybe you want to say again me same meaning can you drop me off at the park can you drop me off at school can you drop me off at home those are other ways that you're asking somebody to take you somewhere and and basically it implies that you're talking about a car you you know you're not talking about you know flying in a plane most of the time we're talking about just getting a ride in a car can you take me somewhere can you drop me off somewhere those are also other ways that you can be a little more specific because somebody might say hey can you take me to the airport and they say no no it's out of my way which is another great expression if something is out of your way it means that it's not you're not going in that direction you're not heading in that direction and you have to go way over here to get there and say hey it's out of my way so somebody might tell you that be careful and informal questions you could say you know tell somebody hey can i bum a ride the same way we can use bum to talk about getting something for free like people might be like oh can i bum a smoke or you could say can I catch a ride or can I hitch a ride those are more informal they are also they're not as commonly used if you want to stick with what most people say and they're talking about ride can you give me a ride or can I get a ride those are the most common collocations the verbs that you would use with this noun verb noun collocations excellent question another question dealt with causative verbs and this is something I just discovered like I said I love getting questions from you guys because it helps us think of new lessons that we still need to create because when you're talking about English there is just so much to talk about and we haven't done a lesson on causative verbs and I think we will in the future but if you don't know what a causative verb is it's a verb used to indicate that a person or a thing makes something happen and the reason why this might confuse some people is because of the form so this is kind of the form that it follows you have the causative verb you have the person or thing which would which would be the object and then it's followed by the base verb now it's not always followed by the base verb but I will give you an example these down here those are the most common positive verbs make let have get help all right so those are some causative verbs and let me show you some examples and maybe if you guys can just just write some examples in the chat using causative verbs because it's always great to practice your skills so again he made us do push-ups I've highlighted that form for you where you have the causative verb made followed by the object followed by the the base verb so when you're using make you follow the base verb made us do push-ups same with let they let me watch the movie okay you're not using the infinitive form there is no - they let me watch the movie also here again this is where it gets a little different I'll have her call you again we're talking about have have we use the base verb now if we're talking if it's a person alright we're talking about person I'll have her call you if we're talking about a thing for example we're having the house painted in this case if it's followed by a thing alright something like the house we're going to use the past participle of the verb alright you have something done so you're going to use the past participle in that case now if we're talking about the verb yet I got him to help me now this is where I said it's a little different because in this case you get someone to do something you're going to use the infinitive with get or again if I say if we're talking about something or a thing she's getting it done we follow it with the past participle and these are just grammar rules that you can study you can practice and again this is just going to help you improve your fluency it's also going to help you understand if you're having a conversation or reading a story it helps your comprehension now the bottom one you can use either she helped me wash the dishes follow it with the base verb or she helped me to wash the dishes you can use the infinitive the meaning is the same okay now the specific question that was asked was talking about this somebody if they say you know I have my students do the homework you're using have and or I have got my students to do the homework so again the main verb is different when we're talking about have you have someone do something you use the the base verb I have my students do homework if you're talking about have in this case we're using the past participle or the present perfect have got but the main verb is still yet so I have got my students to do homework in that case since the main verb is get you get someone to do something so the meaning is also the different because if you say I have my students do homework then that just means that the students are doing the homework if you say I have got my students to do the homework if you get someone to do something the meaning is slightly different because it means that you are encouraging them to do something or you're even convincing them to do it so it's like the students were convinced to do the homework and maybe you trick them in some way you're like yeah I've got my students to do the homework they weren't gonna do it but I've got them too so keep that in mind it's just a difference between the main verb have and the get all right you have someone do something or you get someone to do something all right now I want to open it up to all of you so again this is something that I want to do Q&A is each month for for our patrons you can ask questions and I'll go through and do like a little mini lesson before taking some comments from you I see some great sentences yes Olivia I have my house repaired good use of the causative verb I'll have my haircut yeah you're going to get your haircut you're going to get it done excellent love it thank you Oh Milan awesome thank you so much for the super chat alright and I will take your question yes I want to ask you about eight so eight is a contraction all right and basically what I would say I think this is I don't think it's used regularly in British English I think this is more American English specifically English from the South and that's where I grew up I grew up in the southeast so I'm very familiar with eight and it would be like somebody would use it to say I am NOT now generally if it what I would encourage you to do if you're going to use a contraction just say I'm not I'm not going to I'm not going to do the homework for example all right but in the South some people might use ain't and they contract am not and they contract those together and they say you know I ain't I ain't gonna do the homework all right you ain't going to do something you and it basically is contracting the verb to be with not again I think this is something very specific to the southern part of the United States but maybe the the question if you're asking because of a TV show or a movie and you hear somebody speaking and they use this ain't like I ain't gonna do this that's crazy I ain't gonna do that so again if you're talking about ain't it's just that contraction with B and not all right so hopefully hopefully that helped and I'm just curious I guess where that question came from if you've heard it somewhere or if you were reading a book and they used ain't because yeah I think it's very specific to American English some people wrote I'll have dinner tonight excellent am NOT yes I am NOT ain't perfect where am i from somebody asks oh I am from the United States I grew up around Atlanta Georgia but I've lived in about give you my bio really quickly I lived in about eight different states across the United States I went to undergrad and Colorado beautiful state I did my masters out in California which is where I met my beautiful wife but now we don't live in the u.s. we live in Hungary we live in Europe right now so we kind of were kind of all over the place let's see somebody else how do you pronounce Herrera Herrera Herrera I'm not sure what that if it's Victor it's about a product but yeah I just say Herrera Herrera is that no Victor Jara there's your name yes okay there you go now you can correct my pronunciation is that how you say your name Victor Herrera let's see what else do we got is this sentence correct I suggest that you be more careful yeah you could say that I think again it sounds a little verbose and when I say something is verbose it means you know it's a little wordy there's a lot of words in there in that case again because you're talking about a suggestion a recommendation that would be the subjunctive all right I suggest that you be more careful you would use that subjunctive so we're using be you be more careful I think a lot of people again commonly would say to me I'd say you know I think you should be more careful would be just something that naturally would come to me and that that again that reminds me that again that's just a difference in transformation the meaning is the same I suggest that you'd be more careful or I'd say like I said for me I just say yeah I think you should be more careful and again I think that is one of those cases where that can be omitted you don't have to have that in that sentence you don't have to have that in that sentence Olivia's do you like traveling yes we love traveling but now we have we have a little baby four month old we haven't been traveling as much but we hope to do more traveling in the future there are so many places that we want to visit we love hearing from you guys because all of these places that you guys are from like Constance I'm from Brazil we want to go to Brazil that's on our list we want to go to India that's on our list Russia there are just so many you know there's too many places to go in too little time so it says sir I want you to do some podcast that is something that we have thought about doing it's just a matter of finding time at this point between teaching and putting together these lessons videos editing live lessons we're putting together an online course as well so there's a lot going on but yes we we hope to we hope to maybe branch out and explore with some different avenues and do some podcasts sir please pronounce subtle all right subtle so again this is one of those words su btle where B is a silent it's a silent letter subtle subtle and again the way I say it with the Marriott it's that flat T sound so that T almost sounds like a D when I say a very light D sound subtle this will be a little different in British English but American English they use that flap T when the tea is in that middle position for example water so you can hear that D sound if I say hey I'm going to drink some water let's see what else do we have Oh somebody asked a great question Muhammad s is being in your late 40s a hurdle towards fluency honestly I you know in my just opinion I would say no I I hope that right now I've studied I my first language that I tried to learn that I learned was Spanish my second language I then learned Korean when I was living in Korea and now I'm learning Romanian so this is the the third language I'm trying to learn I have not achieved fluency and in like Korean or Romanian but to muhammad's point I think it's something that I hope to keep doing through for the rest of my life the only difference I'd say in fluency would be if you're talking about like an adult and a child I think when children learn a language there it's a different style of learning and be partly in part because of that the children tend to have a much better pronunciation they sound if you learn a language at a very very young age you're just going to sound more like a native speaker because you're not gonna have that accent as for adults I think whether you are 20 30 or 40 I think some of those challenges are still the same that people think more tend to think more about rules and they focus a lot on grammar and they want to things are more rule-based so it's again it's a different style of learning but no I think I think you guys should always keep practicing and I think it goes back to just the simple things how much time can you allocate to learning the language how much time can you dedicate to practicing your skills so it really is up to you you didn't iron your shirt I can help you can you okay all right I will send you I will now send you my laundry thank you thank you for thank you for taking care of that for me yes I didn't have time thanks Wes yeah again I I'm you know I one thing I love about this this community I think everybody is so amazing so wonderful and and very positive to about learning and appreciative we are so happy to be able to work with you guys and and to have these lessons after thinking thinking of you listen I'm not really sure about that question what could he Oh what could he have been thinking of why oh okay why of after thinking uh ooh that's a good question prepositions that is something okay that's that's a good one that's maybe a deep dive for later in in getting into that grammar alright because again you when you're talking about that you're thinking of something all right so when you're talking about ending us a question in a preposition grammatically speaking all right you know that people might say okay you shouldn't end a sentence in a preposition so for example who do you want to speak to all right - is that preposition it's a question we end it with that it's very common in spoken English but they would say oh no you shouldn't end it so if somebody says what are you thinking of again that what is that something you you you know you would end it with that that preposition of because we use that when you're talking about thinking of something all right the same with about you can use the preposition about has the same meaning what are you thinking about I'm thinking about something so those are it's more of I'd say again going back to collocation z' learning which words are used together so you could think of something you could think about something those prepositions are used with that verb yes mean how his little Emmy Emmy is doing wonderful thank you for asking she is just such a positive joy in our life she is always so smiley in the morning and it's such a great way to start out the day so let's see how do you pronounce bed bad so Andre you're talking about that short e sound and that short a so BAE yeah again I'd say the mouth is a little uh is a little more close when you're at you're gonna have the mouth will be wider so as far as positioning goes that short a bed bad alright that ah your mouth is going to widen out I think we did have a lesson on minimal pairs we do that from time to time that that is a good one the short a short a I'm gonna mark that down for a future lesson because we like doing those pronunciation practice lessons in talking about those minimal pairs because like right and light the RL consonant but I know that people have trouble with those the vowel sounds in English they they can be very confusing bed bad bed bad alright um let's see what else that's another one Rosalinda I think of saving for the future alright with reported speech there's a lot to cover with that so that is on our list I have a list of lessons that I'm going through one at a time and checking them off but yes reported speech is one of them have you ever been to China before yes I traveled to China about ten years ago I visited where Shanghai I had a friend there I was in Beijing Xian quailing Hong Kong and then back to Shanghai so it was a nice it was a long it was a long trip don't drink again don't drink what my water I need to drink water I need it to stay alive so you were coming on YouTube so a long time this is this has been we've been on YouTube now for a little over two years alright so this is it's a it's it's pretty amazing how much this has grown and we just there's so much more that we want to keep doing hi from Brazil oh hi well I tend what's up nice to have you here and again even if you guys are watching this later write some questions to us in the chat tell us what you want to learn because we do read through all those comments those of you who've watched a lot of our lessons you know I try and go and respond to every single one of those comments as much as possible dan are you teaching American English yes I think the channel the focus is not just like well just American English because a lot of concepts are broader for example grammar is a bit more Universal vocabulary we try to cover I think our channel I think we end up covering a bit more vocabulary than than anything else and talking about phrases expressions idioms advanced vocabulary academic vocabulary so a lot of that I think is applicable across all English varieties whether you're talking about American English British English Canadian English Australian English South African English a lot of that vocabulary is is applicable what does it mean in cahoots that's a good one so if you are in cahoots with somebody it basically means that you were working with this person you are working together to do something and I think it's something mischievous alright something that's not good so for example you're planning to do something bad and you're like oh you're in cahoots with this person or maybe you're keeping a secret from somebody you're in cahoots so it doesn't have to be something that's very bad but if you're in cahoots with somebody it means that you are working together with with somebody else or with these people to accomplish some goal all right de Lyonne how was your Spanish yo creo que habla mas o menos pero la la problema a problema el problema que hace mucho tiempo sin habla espanol entonces si muchas cosas que male-male Alvarado e por ESO necesito practical practical practical una cosa que tengo que espero and as the momento como como usted es que quieran aprender inglis okay i KN control tiempo para hacerlo e derek r el tiempo para ser lo tambien okay so just talking a little bit in Spanish all you have Spanish speakers out there now you can go through and correct my grammar or my pronunciation so again it's it's something that I'm constantly working on I think I've been spot studying Spanish and I've lived in three different spanish-speaking countries I've lived in Costa Rica I lived in the Dominican Republic and I lived it no no no just to - alright I'm getting ahead of myself but each time again you you I feel like when I'm there I'm practicing every day I'm more dedicated I'm speaking with people because when I was there I was there for work I think my Spanish improved greatly and over the last few years I just haven't practiced as much and I'm practicing on my own the same things that I tell you guys because I don't have anybody to speak to but I'll do some things where I'll speak to myself in front of the mirror a little bit at night when I'm brushing my teeth my teeth when I'm walking throughout the day I'll have a conversation with myself in Spanish and I love doing that because then I realize like I'll get to a point where it's like oh I know this word I forgot the word and then I go home I look it up and and again that's a great way to refresh your vocabulary skills so there are ways to practice if you've started learning a language and and now that you feel like okay you don't you're not taking classes or you don't have a speaking partner or you're not living in a certain area or traveling there are ways to practice on your own and and I always encourage you guys to do that let's see I said what is it oh let's see oh yes where'd you get this word Oh some I was asking about the word dude okay yeah dude is slang uh it's more slang in American English I don't know again I can't really speak if somebody's getting angry about that I don't know why I think some people might take things personally or I don't know I really I don't know that because I feel like I've worked I've lived in different countries and have met a lot of people who are English learners you know if people use British English and maybe they called me a a chap or bloke I'm not gonna get offended by that but again it depends on who you're talking to they might be like oh you know don't don't call me this even though it's not an offensive term alright to say somebody dude it's just very informal now it depends on who you're talking to if you're talking to maybe you know your professor or something like that you might want to be a little more formal and not call somebody to dude but again it really depends on the context there you go this is my first day join live program thank you alright welcome all of you who are new here again we're happy to have you this is this is great I want you guys to ask questions and again I hope that this is good practice for you guys especially like listening practice a lot of people tell me like oh I can easily understand you and part of that is because I've been teaching English for about almost 15 years now my speech has naturally slowed down and plus I put in a little more effort to try and speak clearly even now in my everyday life that's just part of my speech now so the way I'm talking to you now when I talk to my wife you wanna I don't I kind of speak in the same way but yeah some people are like when I go see some friends back home sometimes they may comment be like dude you're they say dude alright you're speaking so slow why are you talking so slow let's see where is it thank you cool Spanish thank you all right Oh Gibson thank you you speak great Spanish oh hey don't I don't have an English accent all right I I thank you I thank you for the compliment but there is a lot all right there is a lot of that I need to work on in my Spanish because it has it's been it's been a long time since I've just practiced regularly most of the time it's with myself it's been a long time too since I've been practicing it like trying to learn the grammar reading and doing all those things because right now I'm focusing more on Romanian that's kind of you know trying to build my skills in that language so let's see lucious you deserve more subscribers thank you all right we're we're growing slow and steady slow and steady that's another we've come out with these lessons on binomials that's another binomial pair slow and steady all right just take it slow and steady and you will get to where you need to go and what we're trying to do is just keep building keep working with you guys and and kind of eventually build like an online schools let's see let's see what's he looking at other questions how do you pronounce the word though all right th Oh ugh though all right I just say though so it almost sounds like that GH has that W sound though what the meaning of fella isn't it slang yes that is another I think slang term it's very informal somebody calls you fella and again this is another term that I don't think it's always meant to be mean but that could also somebody might be offended and be like yeah don't call me that even though it's not like you're saying something bad but it's not very common I tell you that like if you're wanting to travel somewhere and you start calling everybody fella it's it's it could sound a little awkward because it's not a common way to refer to somebody in person somebody's and what does it means so we you do something in person that means that you are there so for example maybe you have a meeting and they say you know oh can I can I call and listen to the meeting and they say no no no you need to come you need to join the meeting in person you need to come here in person which means that you actually need to do that often you might use it in that like a business sense when for example maybe you're you're looking for a job and they're hiring and they say we're only doing in-person interviews we're not going to do interviews over on skype and on the computer you have to actually come here and do an in-person interview you need to be here in person what Noir why are you learning Romanian so you wanna my wife who's been kind of taken a little bit of a break from interactive English but it's helping a lot behind the scenes is she is American Romanian so she has family in Romania which is very close to hungry so we go visit them from time to time so that's something that we you know I want to learn and be more part of that part of her life but also we want our daughter to grow up speaking English and Romanian and then as she gets older to start introducing other languages as well such as Spanish and and many more so let's see Unreal past okay my question I don't understand the Unreal past I feel like you're talking about the the third conditional so if we're talking about the third conditional of conditional statements if I had for example we were just talking about interviews all right if I had gone to the interview I would have gotten the job I'm not gonna go over the grammar with you but you're saying you know okay real quickly if I had gone to the interview you're using the past perfect alright in you're using the past perfect with your if statement and then in the the result I would have gotten alright you're using would plus half plus the past participle I would have gotten now in that context if I just say that sentence alright if I had if I had gone if I had gone on the interview I would have gotten the job okay it's unreal they often refer to the third conditional is unreal because did I go to the interview no this is something that's already happened it's in the past I cannot change this okay so sometimes in the third conditional they would say it's an unreal situation no no I actually know now I'm thinking uh maybe I'm conflating these two conflating means mixing things up alright third conditional would be impossible it's impossible because I can't go back and change time unreal maybe it's like a second conditional hypothetical situation I often use a second conditional and say it's a hypothetical situation because it's it's not possible you'd say it's unreal alright if I had wings I would fly I think that's even from a song - I don't have wings it's not possible it's hypothetical and it's an unreal situation so excuse me unreal second conditional third conditional think of impossible because you can't change the past all right sorry about that so what's the meaning of when you say past participle because then we're talking about grammar so for example the you'd have the present perfect tense all right I have done my work all right the main verb the the present perfect the helping verb have all right plus the main verb which is do but we're using the past participle fro so for example do in the present tense did in the past tense done is the past participle form of the verb so when you're learning verb tenses oftentimes people will go through especially with irregular verbs and they will just go through and they will try to memorize the the present tense simple past past participle and then just go through those go went gone gone is the past participle what does what does carry out meaning so again if you're talking about carry out I think as something is for carry out like you're doing it for take away maybe you're going to a restaurant and you're getting some food and say yeah I want it for carryout alright you are leaving with the food you could say I want it for carryout I want it for takeaway I want it for take-out there are many different expressions phrases that you can use to say you want to take the the food away it could also be used like you are going to actually carry something out of something all right so like for example somebody maybe got injured all right and a player on the soccer field all right and they had to carry him maybe you have to go out of the stadium you carry somebody off of the field but maybe they carried him out of the building they had to carry him out in that case so let's see all right thank you guys seems like we have a lot of new people here I love hearing that can you pronounce the as an old one came out so word though all right again you're not gonna hear at th e that's the word they were asking about again if you want to say it completely I think you might hear it from time to time like that especially with emphasis and it depends that also may be a little different for British English I can't speak completely about that the only one thing I would say about the word though is that it's often used that uh its schwa so that often becomes an unstressed syllable and that's what we call the schwa sound that sound the alright I'm going to the park I'm going to the library I'm going to the school all right so thank you guys so much for joining me today I appreciate it I'm gonna head out if you guys have other questions please leave those in the comments please also before you go hit that like button alright let us know that you enjoy these Q&A s the more people that hit the like button the more that I know okay I need to do more of these I need to directly take some of your questions so if you enjoyed this please hit that like button and write to us on the in the comments because we love hearing from you you can also find us up here on these different social media sites share the lesson to help others to help us spread the word and help others practice and improve their English skills again that's basically that that's all I got for you so I'll end it with some shout outs Thank You Diego Rosalinda prions you're not Olivia Sabine it's chika just off thank you again I think it was ARS and Andre for those super chats we really appreciate it goes a long way lolly thank you ona sim Karolina thank you thank you thank you hope you guys enjoy the rest of your weekend or if you're watching this summer there time later hope you're having hope you hope you have a great day alright I will see you guys next time so long --- ## 749. ๐Ÿšซ DON'T MAKE THESE GRAMMAR MISTAKES THAT EVEN NATIVE SPEAKERS MAKE | Metadata | Value | | :--- | :--- | | **Video ID** | `Pm-R0bMSa2M` | | **URL** | [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm-R0bMSa2M) | | **Language** | English (auto-generated) (en) | | **Type** | Yes (auto-generated) | | **Saved At** | 2026-06-05 10:07:48 | --- mistakes. It's something as a an English learner, it may be on your mind. And today I want to talk to you about some grammar mistakes that even native speakers make. Now, the first thing I want you to be aware of is that it is perfectly okay to make mistakes. It's normal. It's natural. The reason why I'm doing this is just to really show you that it happens all the time. I make mistakes when I'm speaking English or writing English and you you just try to learn from them. Sometimes I think when you're learning a second language, we tend to focus too much on our mistakes and that really impedes our progress when it comes to especially when it comes to speaking. So I want to talk to you about some mistakes that I think are are common and native speakers may even make some of these mistakes from time to time. And if you are someone who loves learning more about grammar, building your vocabulary, please subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications, that way I can become your teacher. My name is Wes. The channel is Interactive English. It's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals. And if you would like to get a copy of these notes that you see right next to me here, check out the link down below in the description. I'll go ahead and throw a link right there in the chat. join our email community and you will have access to these notes. If you are already a part of our community, I've sent them to you. So, check your inbox. So, let's look at the first mistake. And the way that I want to do this is I I'm going to give you an example and I want you to see I want to see if you can tell me what the mistake is and write it in the chat, write it in the comments. I want you to participate in the lesson and then I'll talk a little bit about well why some people tend to make this mistake. All right, the first one right here. I didn't do nothing. This is a grammar mistake. And again, let me know what you think. Can you identify the mistake? What is the problem with this sentence? And I I'm sorry. I really enjoyed uh seeing this picture of the dog. I I feel like it really captures this sentiment. I didn't do nothing. So, this sentence right here has uh well, there there's a problem. And the problem is did not and nothing. We're talking about a double negative. Excellent. I can't get past anything past you guys. Perfect. So, I did not do nothing. This is an example of a double negative. In this case, if you're talking about using the negative did not, you would want to use anything. We use anything with negative statements. And if you want to use nothing, you're going to use it with an affirmative statement. I did nothing. But sometimes again just in conversation you may hear this especially uh if you're watching a TV show movie the they try to capture the essence of a character and they may even intentionally put a double negative in there. But if you're unfamiliar with the meaning of a double negative, this is a statement that contains two negative words. And I thought this was a great little comic right here to follow up on that sentence. I didn't do nothing. And if this were a jury of English majors, they say, "Ooh, a confession." So basically, because we have that double negative, it's almost like you are then saying the affirmative. I didn't do nothing might imply that well, you did something in that case, which is why they're saying, "Ooh, a confession. the and the reason for this why this may come out from time to time if you're a native speaker or even an English learner is that we are exposed to double negatives and you may not even think about it or realize it to give you an example of double negatives that you may have heard or come across you you just you don't have to look any further than music. So, there are so many songs out there that would use double negatives even in the song title. So, I'm just going to talk about some of these. That first one, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman Turner Overdrive. I really like this song. It's a great song, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. And even this phrase is it's often it's basically an expression that you could use this if maybe you do something you perform well in some on some task or in some activity and somebody's giving you praise and you're like well look I can do much better. Wait until the next time. I could tell that person look you ain't seen nothing yet. Just wait until next time. I'm going to even exceed your expectations. And you could use this phrase to uh to say that. But again, it's a double negative. You ain't seen nothing yet. That song by the Rolling Stones, I can't get no satisfaction. Double negative. This song uh right down here by Pink. Actually, I haven't heard this song, but never going to not dance again. It's a It's an interesting sentence statement. Never going to not dance again. Double negative. And then Marvin Gay, ain't no mountain high enough. This is part of the language. People use this casually, informally. It is something that you may come across. But, uh, ultimately, people internalize that information and then they're having a conversation and it just may come out and somebody may use a double negative or you hear them use a double negative. Again, all of these mistakes, it's something that I'm also guilty of as well. And if you are somebody who makes mistakes, hit that like button. Let me know. Let me know. See how how many likes there are, how honest people are when it comes to making mistakes. [snorts] So, the next grammar mistake that uh I want to share with you is right here. Here's the sentence. I want you to look at this sentence and tell me what you think the problem is. This line is for people with 10 items or less. What is the issue with this sentence? And I I think because I'm telling you, these are grammar mistakes. I think maybe they'll be a little easier to identify. And that's great. I want you to be able to see the sentence and try to identify the issue or the problem. But once again, this is a grammar mistake that I hear quite often among English learners as well as native speakers. And I make this mistake all the time. I often catch myself after I make the mistake and be like, "Okay, yeah, I used the wrong word." So, the key word in here is less. This line is for people with 10 items or less. We're talking about items. That is a count noun. And when we use count nouns, we're going to use fewer. Excellent. I see everybody. I think you guys you guys got that one. Uh, and Yeah, this is something that's very common. What happens is and I would say again uh you you just want to be conscious uh of what's going on here. So just to clarify, fewer is used with countdowns. There are fewer boys than girls in the class. Fewer people live in the city than before. We can create more energy with fewer resources. Less is used with non-count nouns. My colleague was less critical than my boss. It rains less and less each year. She seems less interested than before. What I think happens is overwhelmingly when I hear this mistake being made and when I make the mistake, people use less when they should use fewer. It's not really the other way around. And that people end up using fewer when they should use less. This is what tends to happen. Instead of using fewer, people end up saying less. And what I want to show you with these images right here, you can see this is in places. This is in the United States right here. All of these checkout lines. Uh like this one. Express 10 items or less. Express checkout 10 items or less. Cash only please right here. 10 items or less. Express lane 10 items or less. you if if you are in the United States or you travel there and you go to the grocery store, I want you to look for this and see if you find one of these signs and they're using the correct grammar. But this is something that you will find quite quite often in stores around the US. The next mistake that I want to talk to you about is this one right here. Let me see if you can identify and tell me what the problem is. [sighs and gasps] I thought this was appropriate because in the US it is an election year and that's where uh this sentence irregardless of what the polls say we're going to win bigly. What do you think is the problem with this sentence and to give you a little bit of a hint there may be more than one problem. Irregardless of what the polls say we're going to win bigly. Once again, this is a mistake that's quite common. I I I'm guilty of this as well. And I feel like everybody can kind of relate to this mistake. And I see some people are saying, "Yes, okay. Regardless, bigly." There's one other issue with this sentence right here. And well, it's it's gonna as well. So these are I said they're not real words kind of and let me try to put a finer point on that when I say kind of because it's one of those things in English there there's not much of a standard. the language is constantly evolving and there we're adding new words each and every day and then as those words become used more often they tend to become accepted among different English varieties and at that point you you kind of have to ask yourself well if so many people are making this mistake is it really a mistake should this become uh an accepted part of either spoken or written English and this is kind of a debate that's constantly going on. So the three words in there irregardless, gonna and bigly are the ones that I wanted to talk to you about. So let's start with uh irregardless. It means the same thing as regardless. The the meaning of this word despite not being affected by something. Ireardless, regardless, they mean the same thing. Now technically speaking, we just talked about double negatives. You see when when when saying irregardless it has that prefix and suffix. The prefix that I also can mean like a negative irregular. And when we add less it means without uh tasteless. So the word in and of itself is a little bit of a double negative but it means the same thing as regardless. And here are just some examples, some headlines talking about this debate between irregardless and regardless. So regardless of what you think, irregardless is a word. Marian Webster just recognized irregardless as a real word. Is irregardless a real word? We asked our journalist as battle rages on. I will confess and I don't know where it it came from. I end up using irregardless from time to time. I'll be talking with my wife and I'll say, "Well, irregardless." And then make my statement. And she always corrects me. She's like, "Why are you saying irregardless? Just say regardless." So once again, just want to point out it's perfectly fine to make mistakes. I make them quite often. I think when it comes to teaching a foreign language, it's really a humbling experience because you start to recognize just how often you might make mistakes, but you're I'm constantly learning new things. Gonna, it's the reduction of going to. It's used often in spoken English. I I use it all the time. I've done several lessons talking about using gonna. I think it's natural. It's normal. The issue that uh I I would point out and the reason I highlighted it is because even though we use it in spoken English, I would recommend I I would avoid it when writing. But this is something that I think people, especially learners, you end up seeing because when writing text messages, you may see somebody write gun na or song lyrics and they use gonna. And then the next thing you know, I'm giving a class to I'm giving a an exam to my 11th grade students and I see Gunonna in an essay and I'm like, "Oh, no. That that's just not right." So even in this just to give you an example this is from Cambridge uh going to spelled the way it's often spoken going to what are you going to do about it? So even though you're I I would definitely encourage you to use this when you're speaking. It's natural. It's normal. Just be careful when you're writing. It's I I would say at this point it's not accepted. All right. So, the last one, bigly. [laughter] I told you it's an election year. We're going to win bigly. So, this word is and and there are many words like this that are kind of just made up and then people start using it and it's like, well, it's a question of, well, should should this be a word now? So, bigly is something that I think was popularized by Trump back in 2016. He throws out these weird words all the time. And what I really like about this is that people will use biggly just to be funny or sarcastic. And even when I look this up, I found this entry saying bigly. It is um it it's very informal. And even the dictionary listed as being humorous, using it as that adverb like to a great extent. And the example sentence they gave, we are going to reduce taxes bigly. So, you could use this or you may hear somebody use this if they're trying to be funny. As somebody who's learning the language, again, I would recommend that you avoid words like this because if you're talking to someone, they may think that you're just making a mistake. So, it really depends on the context. If you're if if you know the other person, they they they can tell you're trying to make a joke and then you could talk about something being bigly. But there are, like I said, there are many words out there that are kind of on the fence as to like, well, is this accepted? Is it not accepted? Uh, but something to keep in mind and even listen for. I told you it's an election year. See if you you hear bigly being thrown out from time to time. Mistake number four. All right, let's see if you can identify what's wrong with this. Simple, straightforward. I ate more. What is the problem with this sentence? And I'll add to this and give a little more context. But probably looking at this, you are thinking like, look, this sentence is a little strange. It's a little awkward. And that is because it's really kind of incomplete. And what I would say is that you need to add I ate more than and make it a comparison, a comparative sentence. So for example, I ate more than my cousin. I ate more than I did yesterday. And what really I'm talking about are these incomplete comparisons. And people are using these comparative adjectives without following it with than as well as something to compare it to. Now, the reason why I I think you may hear statements like this and I would say, well, it's not necessarily incorrect like the one right here. Our washing machine is better, faster, and more reliable. So, there is no then. This is not a comparative sentence. It's an incomplete comparative. But when in in this context of advertising or marketing, it's basically implied that the listener knows what it is that we're comparing. So if I'm saying this like I'm advertising our washing machine is better, faster, and more reliable, you probably know that I'm comparing this to other washing machines out there. So the incomplete comparisons is something that you will come across in advertising and marketing because it's it's kind of implied. But again, people make mistakes. I do this where I kind of start talking and I don't finish my thought or I don't really provide a full context and people are like, "Wait a second. What what are you talking about? What's what's going on?" So something something to keep in mind. The next mistake that I want to uh go over with you, [sighs] I want to go over with you is right here. Me and my neighbor had a property dispute several years ago. What is the problem with this sentence? Me and my neighbor had a property dispute several years ago. Again, the fact that you can see it, I think it probably makes it a little easier to identify, you know, that there's a mistake with this sentence. And I I do hear this mistake in English learners, native speakers from from time to time will also make this mistake. And the issue is yes, with that subject pronoun or the lack of a correct subject pronoun. So instead of me and my neighbor, my neighbor and I, I think you guys rock that, identified it. So we're talking about subject and object pronouns. And really the mistake that I think people end up making is when they're talking like in the first person and there they should they use me instead of using I because we often may be talking about ourselves. So use I when the pronoun is the subject. My girlfriend and I are getting married. Jim, K, and I will give the presentation. My daughter and I played a game. Use me when the pronoun is the object. The teacher gave extra homework to John and me. She told my wife and me that she's pregnant. Send the offer to my colleague and me. At the very bottom here, just something to keep in mind, especially I I'd say when you're writing, but even when you're speaking, it is preferred to always put I and me last in the list. I want to give you my personal opinion here as well. I think when we're talking about the subject, I I definitely think it's preferred to put I at the end. If you do not do that, it's not incorrect. Grammatically speaking, you could put I at the beginning of the list, but once again, I would say it's preferred. In this case, it's more common. That is what people do most of the time. So again, that's what I would say to you that it it may sound a little awkward if you don't. So yeah, just keep that in mind. Put I at the end when making a list. Me is the same way, but I think you're I think you can get away with it. I think it's more common that people might put me at the beginning of a list when it's the object as opposed to I. And I I do this as well, but just food for thought, it's preferred to put I and me last in the list. To give you some examples of mistakes, I I pulled up Twitter. Again, Twitter is not the best place to probably learn grammar or I should say X. It is X now. And these are different mistakes that you could easily find. I just put in um me and you come up uh as the subject and you come up with all these examples. Me and my friend are going to go out and play pool. So excited. Me and my wife trying to decide what we should do for dinner. Me and my friend are excited to watch the majors tonight. So in in each of these sentences, it should be I and we should use that subject pronoun. But like I said, this that is a mistake that I hear learners often make and even native speakers from time to time. me and something and they should be using the subject pronoun I. Mistake number six is right here. This curry is more spicy than before. What is the problem with this sentence right here? What do you think? Let me know in the chat, in the comments. I want you to participate in the lesson. This curry is more spicy than before. So, we talked about incomplete comparatives and just looking at this, you probably can see that, oh, this is a comparative sentence. But there is a problem with that comparative. This curry is not more spicy. It should be spicier. So that is the spicy spicier is the correct comparative. This curry is spicier than before. However, I think it's a common mistake. People would say more spicy instead of using the correct comparative spicier. So again, I'm going to go through this quickly. There's a lot that we could talk about when it comes to comparatives, but we usually add eer to shorter words, one or two syllables, and add eer to words that end in y. Spicy. It ends in y. It's a two-cllable word. Spicier, loud, louder. We use more with longer words. I know that's vague, but really uh words with two or more syllables, but more specifically probably three or more. more beautiful, more crowded. Of course, there are exceptions when it comes to comparatives. I put a couple down there. Fun, you would use more. More fun, likely, more likely. And then there are also irregular comparatives. There there's a lot that we could talk about, but let's let's focus on that spicy and more. And why why do people, including myself, why do we make this mistake? So it it really has to do with more. Now think about the this word more as a as a determiner. It means a greater or additional amount or degree of. And the example sentence up there, she she poured herself more coffee. All right, that is how we use more. Also used as a determiner. These are some other headlines. You should eat more spicy food. More loud booms may be heard across San Diego. So in these examples right here, we're using more followed by that noun, more spicy, but more means a greater or additional amount. More loud booms. Again, it means a greater or additional amount. And I think this this is just my theory of what's going on. Our brains, whether we're talking about math or language, our brains are trained to recognize patterns. So, in this case, you you read things, your your brain picks up on these patterns, you see sentences like this. Oh, you should eat more spicy food. More loud booms can be maybe heard across uh San Diego. And you're using more as a determiner. And then it kind of just it it ends up moving into those comparative sentences and somebody may make the speak uh the mistake when speaking and say more spicy because if we add to this let me get rid of those um article headlines more as an adverb again we're talking about it says if you can see it I know it's small forming the comparative of adjectives and adverbs especially those of more than one syllable. And the example sentence for them, enthusiasm is more important than talent. Um, so once again, I think that you end up coming across more being used with these words. Your brain picks up on those patterns and then you say a comparative sentence like this one right here and it just comes out. This curry is more spicy than before. Now, it's one of those mistakes that I don't think is, especially in spoken English, that somebody's going to be like, "Oh, wow. That was uh that was really bad." It is something that happens. I hear native speakers make this mistake uh from time to time. And again, just to just to let you know, I am not perfect. I make this mistake. And it's same same with less and fewer. It's one of those mistakes that after I say it, a lot of times I catch it and think to myself, okay, I just, yeah, I made a mistake and I use the wrong comparative, but just something to keep in mind. So, the next mistake, mistake number seven, this is more for writing. And here is the sentence that I want you to to look at. There are a lot of fun things you can do at the park, i.e. ride bikes, have a picnic, and climb trees. What is the problem with this sentence? And I really like again, this sentence is written. The issue is that this is a a writing mistake. This is not really a part of spoken English or it's not like a a mistake that ends up being made in spoken English. Maybe this is too much of a hint that I'm giving you as far as like what what you should focus on and why this is a problem. So I say that uh this is not a mistake that ends up being made in spoken English and it's more written English because we're we're talking about that abbreviation the IE. And when you're speaking you wouldn't you wouldn't say like i.e. e uh when when you're having a conversation conversation and the the mistake is that it's the wrong one. In this example, I should be using the abbreviation eg. And even in spoken English, I'm not going to say eg. Instead, I would just say for example, so eg versus iie. These are Latin abbreviations. Eg is used when you want to list examples and be more specific. It really means the same thing as for example. And if I'm having a conversation, that is the phrase that I would say. I would say, for example, ride bikes, have a picnic, climb trees. So, the sentence really should be like, there are a lot of fun things you can do at the park. Eg., for example, ride bikes, have a picnic, and climb trees. One thing about using eg, you're going to use this when making a list, but it's really going to come at the end of a sentence, and that is when you're going to list things out. I.e., on the other hand is used to clarify a statement and if you want to think about the meaning it really means the same as like in other words. So here is an example with iie. There are a lot of fun things you can do at the park i.e. have a picnic to have a relaxing time. So basically in other there are a lot of fun things in other words have a picnic to have a relaxing time. It's like I can just replace those two. I'm not making a list and I'm going to use this more. It's going to come in the middle of a sentence. So once again, this is more about writing than anything else. It's not something you're you're not going to have a conversation and say eg or i.e. this is more about writing. So that is th those are the seven mistakes that I wanted to go over with you. And again, just point out that it's common to make mistakes. You should not get hung up on your mistakes. I make mistakes all the time. And I thought it would be maybe helpful to talk about some of the mistakes that I make as well as some other native speakers uh as well. And again, just just keep that in mind. And maybe if you um feel like you're making these same mistakes, it's always good to learn that and then try to avoid them in the future. But in general, there's nothing wrong with making mistakes. If you enjoyed this lesson and you learned something new, hopefully some of this grammar was new. I feel like some of it's a little more uh advanced. Please let me know. hit that like button. Uh you can also let write to me in the comments. I always love hearing from you guys and I I try to get back to uh you as often as I can and and answer your your comments. So, thank you for being with me today. I hope you learned something new and of course I will be back very soon in the future for another amazing lesson. Thank you. Just give some quick shoutouts. Thanks for being here, Lai Teao, Angela, uh, Patricia, Cinderella, uh, Marie. Excellent. Thank you guys for being here. Hope you have a wonderful ---